Tracking progress on the economic costs of disasters under the indicators of the sustainable development goals

The Sustainable Development Goals indicator framework identifies as an indicator of progress the objective of reducing disaster losses as a proportion of global gross domestic product. This short analysis presents data on this indicator from 1990. In constant 2017 US dollars, both weather-related and non-weather related catastrophe losses have increased, with a 74% increase in the former and 182% increase in the latter since 1990. However, since 1990 both overall and weather/climate losses have decreased as proportion of global GDP, indicating progress with respect to the SDG indicator. Extending this trend into the future will require vigilance to exposure, vulnerability and resilience in the face of uncertainty about the future frequency and magnitude of extreme events.     

Pervaporation of ethanol produced from banana waste

Banana waste has the potential to produce ethanol with a low-cost and sustainable production method. The present work seeks to evaluate the separation of ethanol produced from banana waste (rejected fruit) using pervaporation with different operating conditions. Tests were carried out with model solutions and broth with commercial hollow hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane membranes. It was observed that pervaporation performance for ethanol/water binary mixtures was strongly dependent on the feed concentration and operating temperature with ethanol concentrations of 1–10%; that an increase of feed flow rate can enhance the permeation rate of ethanol with the water remaining at almost the same value; that water and ethanol fluxes was increased with the temperature increase; and that the higher effect in flux increase was observed when the vapor pressure in the permeate stream was close to the ethanol vapor pressure. Better results were obtained with fermentation broth than with model solutions, indicated by the permeance and membrane selectivity. This could be attributed to by-products present in the multicomponent mixtures, facilitating the ethanol permeability. By-products analyses show that the presence of lactic acid increased the hydrophilicity of the membrane. Based on this, we believe that pervaporation with hollow membrane of ethanol produced from banana waste is indeed a technology with the potential to be applied.     

Modeling effects of a tidal barrage on water quality indicator distribution in the Severn Estuary

In this study, emphasis has focused on assessing the potential hydro-environmental impacts of a barrage across the Severn Estuary, with a numerical model being developed and applied to the estuary to assess the impacts of proposed Severn Barrage on the hydrodynamic, sediment transport and faecal indicator organism distribution within the estuary. The results show that the Severn Barrage has the potential to reduce the tidal currents in a highly dynamic estuary. This leads to the reduction of suspended sediment concentrations, which in turn affects the bacterial transport processes which is highly related to the sediment transport processes.     

De Novo terpenoid biosynthesis by the dendronotid nudibranch Melibe leonina

Summary. Stable isotope feeding studies using [1,2-¹³C₂]-sodium acetate have demonstrated that 2,6-dimethyl-5-heptenal (1), a putative defensive allomone, is made by the Dendronotid nudibranch Melibe leonina via de novo biosynthesis.     

Recherches sur la situation trophique d'un groupe d'organismes pélagiques (Euphausiacea). V. Relations avec les thons

The examination of stomach contents of large subsurface tunas caught by long-line fishing, as well as of those of micronektonic fishes which they had eaten, allows us to assess the role played by euphausiids in food webs concerning these fishes. Long-line tunas do not utilize euphausiids as food because, in the tropical Pacific Ocean, their feeding activity is restricted to light hours, i.e., to a time when large euphausiids which could serve as potential prey, occupy deeper (below 400 m) water layers. Euphausiids constitute approximately 10% of the total food ingested by epipelagic micronektonic fishes which, in turn, are preyed upon by tunas; these fishes, measuring usually 30 to 60 mm in total length, are fast swimmers and are rarely collected by pelagic trawls. Among this ichthyofauna, the main predators of euphausiids appear to be Gempylidae (Diplospinus multistriatus), Paralepididae, and Bramidae (Collybus, Taractes, Pteraclis). Euphausiids ingested by these fishes chiefly belong to the genera Stylocheiron (64%) and Nematoscelis (15%). This means that the fishes which serve as prey for tunas are able to utilize for food only organisms which inhabit subsurface (0 to 400 m) layers during daytime and not those (Euphausia, Thysanopoda) which remain at this time in the deeper layers and rise to the subsurface only at night. Therefore, these fishes, like tunas themselves, appear to display their main feeding activity in the 0 to 400 m water layer and during daytime.     

The reciprocal nature of trust: a longitudinal study of interacting teams

This research develops and investigates the concept of reciprocal trust between interacting teams. Reciprocal trust is defined as the trust that results when a party observes the actions of another and reconsiders one's trust‐related attitudes and subsequent behaviors based on those observations. Twenty‐four teams of systems analysis and design students were involved in a 6‐week controlled field study focused on the development of an information systems project. Each team was responsible for both developing a system (development role) and for supervising the development of a system by another team (management role). Risk‐taking actions exhibited by one team in an interacting pair were found to predict the other team's trustworthiness perceptions and subsequent trust. The level of trust formed in turn predicted the team's subsequent risk‐taking behaviors with respect to the other team. This pattern of reciprocal trust repeated itself as the teams continued to interact over the duration of the project, thus supporting our model of reciprocal trust. Findings also indicate that trust and trust formation can occur at the team level. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

SIMULATION OF URBAN NON-POINT SOURCE POLLUTION1

ABSTRACT: Public Law 92–00 has mandated the need for evaluating the impact of nonpoint source pollution on receiving water quality, primarily through Section 208 Areawide Planning. The Management of Urban Non-Point Pollution (MUNP) model was developed to estimate the accumulation of eight non-point pollutants on urban streets, their removal by both rainfall and street sweeping operations. The model can simulate the following pollutants: total solids or sediment-like material, volatile solids, five-day biochemical oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, Kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrates, phosphates, and total heavy metals. The simulated results can be used for investigation of non-point pollution management alternatives. The model is capable of reflecting variation in such diverse factors as physical and chemical characteristics of accumulated pollutants, land use characteristics, rainfall characteristics, street sweeper characteristics, roadway characteristics, and traffic conditions. By using mean estimates of many input variables for large segments of a city, the MUNP model could be used to quickly assess the magnitude of pollutants annually entering receiving waterways due to nonpoint source pollution alone. If the results indicate that non-point pollution loadings are sizeable and require futher analysis, the MUNP model could be used to define the specific nonpoint source pollution areas within a city. Hypothetical locations and actual rainfall data for Washigton D.C. were used to demonstrate some capabilities of the MUNP model.