Synthesizing habitat connectivity analyses of a globally important human-dominated tiger-conservation landscape

As ecological data and associated analyses become more widely available, synthesizing results for effective communication with stakeholders is essential. In the case of wildlife corridors, managers in human-dominated landscapes need to identify both the locations of corridors and multiple stakeholders for effective oversight. We synthesized five independent studies of tiger (Panthera tigris) connectivity in central India, a global priority landscape for tiger conservation, to quantify agreement on landscape permeability for tiger movement and potential movement pathways. We used the latter analysis to identify connectivity areas on which studies agreed and stakeholders associated with these areas to determine relevant participants in corridor management. Three or more of the five studies’ resistance layers agreed in 63% of the study area. Areas in which all studies agree on resistance were of primarily low (66%, e.g., forest) and high (24%, e.g., urban) resistance. Agreement was lower in intermediate resistance areas (e.g., agriculture). Despite these differences, the studies largely agreed on areas with high levels of potential movement: >40% of high average (top 20%) current-flow pixels were also in the top 20% of current-flow agreement pixels (measured by low variation), indicating consensus connectivity areas (CCAs) as conservation priorities. Roughly 70% of the CCAs fell within village administrative boundaries, and 100% overlapped forest department management boundaries, suggesting that people live and use forests within these priority areas. Over 16% of total CCAs’ area was within 1 km of linear infrastructure (437 road, 170 railway, 179 transmission line, and 339 canal crossings; 105 mines within 1 km of CCAs). In 2019, 78% of forest land diversions for infrastructure and mining in Madhya Pradesh (which comprises most of the study region) took place in districts with CCAs. Acute competition for land in this landscape with globally important wildlife corridors calls for an effective comanagement strategy involving local communities, forest departments, and infrastructure planners.     

Adsorption of PCDD/F on MWI fly ash

The removal of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/F) from waste incinerator off-gas is a costly task, because a considerable part of the PCDD/F may exist in the gas phase (often 50-100% around 200 degrees C). The volatile fraction passes the particle filter and the subsequent gas cleaning equipment, so that an additional unit is needed to remove the gaseous PCDD/F from the flue gas. Moreover, dioxins and furans can accumulate in some parts of the equipment in a way that they can act as a latent source. In this work, we investigate the possibility to adsorb the PCDD/F at the fly ash particles and to remove them during the filtration. The gas/particle partitioning of the PCDD/F depends on the temperature, the vapor pressure, the particle size, the particle number density and on the physical and chemical properties of the particle surface. These relationships are investigated by model calculations and by pilot scale experiments (500 Nm3/h) which employ one selected hexachlorinated dioxin congener. At room temperature, approx. 90% of the HxCDD are found in the particulate phase, while at 135 degrees C that portion is only 10%. This means that at ambient temperatures, the gas/particle partitioning of the dioxin corresponds well to the sublimation equilibrium. At higher temperatures, it is much different from the sublimation equilibrium and the apparent adsorption enthalpy is smaller than the enthalpy of sublimation. This observation is in agreement with literature data. From the above experiments and from similar literature data, the efficiency of fly ash particles as a sink for PCDD/F can be evaluated. The data suggest that the adsorption rate is not the limiting factor for the transfer into the particulate phase. The important factors appear to be the chemical composition of the fly ash and the temperature.     

Continuous gaseous and total ammonia measurements from the southeastern aerosol research and characterization (SEARCH) study

Continuous ammonia (NH₃) measurements with a temporal resolution of 5 min were implemented at selected SEARCH sites in the southeastern U. S. during 2007. The SEARCH continuous NH₃ instrument uses a citric acid denuder difference technique employing a dual-channel nitric oxide-ozone chemiluminescence analyzer. Data from two SEARCH sites are presented, Jefferson Street, Atlanta (JST) (urban), and Yorkville, Georgia (YRK) (rural), for the period July–December, 2007. Highest NH_x (total ammonia = gaseous NH₃ + PM_2.5 NH₄⁺) values were observed in August and September at both JST and YRK. Highest NH₃ values occurred in August and September at JST, but in August through October at YRK. Lowest NH₃ and NH_x values occurred in December at both sites. YRK is significantly impacted by nearby poultry sources, routinely experiencing hourly average NH₃ mixing ratios above 20 ppbv. Wind sector analysis clearly implicates the nearby poultry operations as the source of the high NH₃ values. Weekday versus weekend differences in composite hourly mean diurnal profiles of NH₃ at JST indicate that mobile sources have a measurable but relatively small impact on NH₃ observed at that site, and little or no impact on NH₃ observed at YRK. A distinctive composite mean hourly diurnal variation was observed at both JST and YRK, exhibiting maxima in the morning and evening with a broad minimum during midday. Analysis of observed NH₃ diurnal variations from the literature suggests a hypothesized mechanism for the observed behavior based on interaction of local emissions and dry deposition with the formation and collapse of the dynamically mixed atmospheric boundary layer during the day and shallow nocturnal layer at night. Simple mixed layer concentration box model simulations confirm the plausibility of the suggested mechanism.     

Non-Thermal Effect of Microwave Radiation on Human Brain

Summary This study focuses on an origin of interaction mechanism of microwave radiation with nervous system—quasi-thermal field effect. The microwave field can cause fluctuations and vibration of the charged particles and membranes in tissues. The hypothesis is, that this phenomenon is similar to the effect caused by Brown motion initiated by temperature and results in the same effects without rise in temperature. The electric field of 1 V/cm can introduce disturbance of the thermal equilibrium inside a cell of 10 μm radius, which is equivalent to disturbance produced by temperature rise of 1 K. The hypothesis, that microwave heating should cause an effect independent of the microwave modulation frequency, while field effect depends on modulation frequency, was examined experimentally. The 450 MHz microwave radiation, modulated at 7, 14 and 21 Hz frequencies, power density at the skin 0.16 mW/cm², was applied. The experimental protocol consisted of two series of five cycles of the repetitive microwave exposure at fixed modulation frequencies. Relative changes in EEG theta, alpha and beta rhythms of the group of 13 healthy volunteers were analysed. Analysis of the experimental data shows that: (1) statistically significant changes in EEG rhythms depend on modulation frequency of the microwave field; (2) microwave stimulation causes an increase of the EEG energy level; (3) the effect is most intense at beta1 rhythm and higher modulation frequencies. These findings confirm the quasi-thermal origin of the effect, different from average heating.     

Predicting phosphorus losses with the PLEASE model on a local scale in Denmark and the Netherlands

To reduce losses from agricultural soils to surface water, mitigation options have to be implemented as a local scale. For a cost-effective implementation of these measures, an instrument to identify critical areas for P leaching is indispensable. In many countries, P-index methods are used to identify areas as risk for P losses to surface water. In flat areas, where losses by leaching are dominant, these methods have their limitations because leaching is often not described in detail, PLEASE, is a simple mechanistic model designed to stimulate P Losses by leaching at the field scale using a limited amount of local field data. In this study, PLEASE, was applied to 17 lowland sites in Denmark and 14 lowland sites in the Netherlands. Results show that the simple model simulated measured fluxes and concentrations in water from pipe drains, suction cups, and groundwater quite well. The modeling efficiency ranged from 0.92 for modeling total-P fluxes to 0.36 fr modeling concentrations in groundwater. Poor results were obtained for heavy clay soils and eutrophic peat soils, where fluxes and concentration were strongly underestimated by the model. The poot performance for the heavy clay soil can be explained by the transport of P through macropores to the drain pipes and the underestimation of overland flow on this heavy-textured soil. In the eutrophic peat soils, fluxes were underestimated due to the release of P from deep soil layers.     

Benefits of indoor plants on attention capacity in an office setting

This research studied possible benefits of indoor plants on attention capacity in a controlled laboratory experiment. Participants were 34 students randomly assigned to one of two conditions: an office setting with four indoor plants, both flowering and foliage, or the same setting without plants. Attention capacity was assessed three times, i.e. immediately after entering the laboratory, after performing a demanding cognitive task, and after a five-minute break. Attention capacity was measured using a reading span test, a dual processing task known to tap the central executive function of attention. Participants in the plant condition improved their performance from time one to two, whereas this was not the case in the no-plant condition. Neither group improved performance from time two to three. The results are discussed in the context of Attention Restoration Theory and alternative explanations.