Habitat quality affects stress responses and survival in a bird wintering under extremely low ambient temperatures

Animals normally respond to stressful environmental stimuli by releasing glucocorticoid hormones. We investigated whether baseline corticosterone (CORT), handling-induced corticosterone concentration(s), and body condition indices of members of willow tit (Poecile montanus) groups differed while wintering in old growth forests and managed young forests in mild weather conditions and during cold spells. Willow tits spend the winter season in non-kin groups in which dominant individuals typically claim their priority to access resources, while subordinate individuals may experience greater levels of stress and higher mortality, especially during cold spells. We captured birds to measure baseline CORT and levels of handling-induced CORT secretion after 20 min of capture. Willow tits in the young forests had higher baseline CORT and a smaller increase in CORT in response to capture than individuals in the old forests. Baseline CORT was higher in females and juvenile birds compared to adult males, whereas handling-induced CORT secretion did not differ between birds of different ages. During cold spells, baseline CORT of willow tits increased and handling-induced CORT secretion decreased, especially in birds in young forests. Willow tits’ survival was higher in the old forests, with dominant individuals surviving better than subordinates. Our results show that changes in CORT secretion reflect responses to habitat quality and climate harshness, indicating young managed coniferous forests as a suboptimal habitat for the willow tit.     

Twin climate cities—an exploratory study of their potential use for awareness-raising and urban adaptation

Twin climate cities are pairs of cities for which it is appropriate to assume that the future climate of a city “A” will be significantly similar to the current climate of another city “B”. In this paper, we explore the potential use of the climate twins approach for the development of adaptation strategies to climate change in urban areas. We propose an innovative and robust climate-matching method that is suitable to link cities’ current and future climates. Of the 100 cities investigated, 70 have at least one twin climate region, and 39 have a twin climate city. The case-study revealed a highly significant similarity for temperature variables and heat-related indices, but a less significant similarity for precipitation variables. The Climate Twins approach appears to be a potentially effective mechanism for raising awareness about the pace of climate change and for easily identifying (1) future impacts and vulnerabilities associated with climate change as well as (2) policies, infrastructure, and best practices that should be implemented in a city in order to cope efficiently with future extreme temperature events.     

Challenging Investigation of a Norovirus Foodborne Disease Outbreak During a Military Deployment in Central African Republic

In January 2016, a large-scale outbreak of acute gastroenteritis was reported among French armed forces deployed in the Central African Republic. Challenging investigations, conducted from France, made it possible to identify a norovirus genogroup II in both stool and food samples, confirming a norovirus foodborne disease outbreak. Infected food handler management is discussed.     

From the ground up: holistic management and grassroots rural adaptation to bovine spongiform encephalopathy across western Canada

Bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) has been documented in 28 countries and adversely affected farmers and rural communities around the world. Our study examines the impacts of and adaptive responses of producers to BSE in western Canada. Moreover, it explores the role that holistic management (HM), and its combined focus on environmental, social, and economic sustainability, might play in mitigating the effects of BSE. One survey was sent to 835 HM producers and another to 9,740 producers across Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The disease, and concomitant climate change and low commodity prices, had devastating impacts on both groups. Yet, HM producers were much more optimistic about their ability to adapt to BSE and the future of agriculture than their non-HM counterparts. Social networks, namely HM clubs and the larger HM community, enabled these producers to mitigate the impacts of BSE. Agronomic responses, especially those associated with rotational grazing and increases in on-farm biodiversity were also important. That HM has been such an effective adaptive response to BSE indicates the importance of this and other grassroots responses to rural crises, whether they be associated with zoonotic diseases or indeed environmental change as a whole.     

Conversion of the refractory ammonia and acetic acid in catalytic wet air oxidation of animal byproducts

Wet air oxidation (WAO) and catalytic wet air oxidation (CWAO) of slaughtered animal byproducts (ABPs) were investigated. Two step experiment was carried out consisting of a non-catalysedWAO run followed by a CWAO run at 170–275°C , 20 MPa, and reaction time 180 min. TheWAO (1st step) of sample (5 g/L total organic carbon (TOC)) yielded (82.0 4)% TOC removal and (78.4 13.2)% conversion of the initial organic-N into NH4 +-N. Four metal catalysts (Pd, Pt, Rh, Ru) supported over alumina have been tested in catalytic WAO (2nd step) at elevated pH to enhance ammonia conversion and organic matter removal, particularly acetic acid. It was found that the catalysts Ru, Pt, and Rh had significant e ects on the TOC removal (95.1%, 99.5% and 96.7%, respectively) and on the abatement of ammonia (93.4%, 96.7% and 96.3%, respectively) with high nitrogen selectivity. The catalyst Pd was found to have the less activity while Pt had the best performance. The X-Ray di raction analysis showed that the support of catalyst was not stable under the experimental conditions since it reacted with phosphate present in solution. Nitrite and nitrate ions were monitored during the oxidation reaction and it was concluded that CWAO of ammonia in real waste treatment framework was in good agreement with the results obtained from the literature for ideal solutions of ammonia.     

Interpersonal emotion regulation strategies: Enabling flexibility in high-stress work environments

While scholars have demonstrated that emotions play a central role in cognition, behavior, and decision making, most of the studies on emotions in work contexts show that emotions, or their expression, are often suppressed. We thus investigated how workers in high-stress work environments deal with emotions and remain functional by focusing on the range of extrinsic regulation strategies used by workers in these environments. Drawing from participant observations and in-depth, semistructured interviews, we show how police officers are flexible in their choices of emotion-regulation strategies and how contextual factors emerge as the crux of this process. We contribute to the understanding of regulatory flexibility—defined as the process of matching emotion regulation strategies to environmental circumstances as they unfold in real work situations—by identifying two main enabling factors: coregulation and third party interference.     

Design of Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) Microbeads with Tunable Functional Properties and High Biodegradability in Seawater

Journal of Polymers and the Environment - Poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyhexanoate) were used to prepare microbeads, with diameter ranging from...