Understanding conflicting cultural models of outdoor cats to overcome conservation impasse

Many conservation conflicts are scientifically complex yet are rooted in value conflicts, which result in an impasse. Additional biological information alone is insufficient to resolve this type of conflict. Conceptual models that articulate the material aspects of a system are increasingly used to identify areas where parties disagree. Yet, modeling processes typically follow the conveners’ rules for discussing and assessing the topic, which can exacerbate conflict. Researchers have identified a need for processes that require participants to reflect on the limits of their own philosophical assumptions and acknowledge other perspectives. Cultural models are a promising tool for this purpose because they include nonmaterial beliefs, morals, and values that guide people's understanding of how to interact with an issue, sometimes subconsciously. We explored how cultural models used with conceptual models can improve understanding of value conflicts and used outdoor cat management as a case study. We conducted interviews and focus group discussions with wildlife conservation and cat welfare professionals involved in outdoor cat policy discussions in Hawaii and Washington, D.C. From these conversations, we developed a conceptual model of the outdoor cat management system and cultural models that led stakeholders to weigh elements of the conceptual model differently. Although wildlife conservation professionals generally spoke about outdoor cats as invasive species, cat welfare professionals spoke about them as homeless pets. These conflicting conceptualizations of what an outdoor cat is may help explain the root of many long-standing disagreements. Examining how and when stakeholders invoke different cultural models allowed us to identify management actions that work with, rather than challenge, those models. Dialogue that embraces conflicting cultural models can be difficult and uncomfortable, but has great potential to overcome conservation impasse and achieve lasting conservation results.     

Effect of operational factors on bioregeneration of binary phenol and 4-chlorophenol-loaded granular activated carbon using PVA-immobilized biomass cryogels

The effects of dry biomass density in cryogel beads, shaking speed and initial concentration ratio of phenol to 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) on the bioregeneration efficiencies of binary phenol and 4-CP-loaded granular activated carbon (GAC) for phenol and 4-CP, respectively, were investigated under the simultaneous adsorption and biodegradation approach. The results revealed higher bioregeneration efficiencies of binary-loaded GAC for phenol and 4-CP at higher dry biomass density but moderate shaking speed. The optimum dry biomass density in cryogel beads and shaking speed for use in bioregeneration were found to be 0.01 g/mL and 250 rpm, respectively. With respect to the initial phenol to 4-CP concentration ratio, the bioregeneration efficiencies were lower under increasing phenol and 4-CP initial concentrations, respectively, with the effect being more conspicuous under increasing 4-CP concentration. Higher bioregeneration efficiencies were achieved with the use of immobilized rather than suspended biomasses.     

Clay, Phosphate Adsorption, Dispersion, and Rheology

Soluble phosphate is a common ingredient of fertilizer used in agriculture production all over the world. This chemical mixed with soil is transported into the water and marine environment via rainfall causing a range of environmental problems such as toxic algae bloom. Kaolin clay is a common material found in soil and is used as a model system to understand the effects of phosphate adsorption on the flocculation/dispersion of the clay slurries. In the topics, torrential downpours are common. The large water flow will easily disperse the unflocculated or weakly flocculated sediments over a wide area including river and marine environments. Phosphate adsorption was found to weaken the interparticle forces between clay platelets in the slurries. At high enough concentration, it will completely deflocculate the clay slurries, i.e. the net interparticle force is repulsive. A deflocculated slurry is characterised by a low viscosity and no yield stress. As a result, it is much easier to disperse this slurry over a wide area possible even in a small downpour. This study will present the flow and yield stress behaviour of kaolin clay slurries under the influence of adsorbed phosphate.     

Assessment of Treatment Alternatives for Laboratory COD Wastewater: a Practical Comparison with Emphasis on Cost and Performance

This study focused on investigation of treatment alternativesfor COD wastewater from academic laboratories, using a number oftechnologies including chemical reduction/precipitation, ion exchange and adsorption by chitosan. Results showed that highconcentrations of 375 mg l^-1 chromium, 1,740 mg l^-1mercury and 993 mg l^-1 silver in COD wastewater can be reduced to 2.34 mg l^-1, 3.65 mg l^-1 and 1.89 mg l^-1 respectively, by the chemical reduction/precipitationprocess. Results from ion exchange at a flowrate of 20 ml min^-1 showed breakthrough effluent concentrations obtainedat 0.59 mg l^-1 chromium, 3.92 g l^-1 mercury and 0.65 mg l^-1 silver corresponding to 75.6 l at 63 hr, 40.8 l at 34 hr and 33.6 l at 28 hr respectively. Kinetic and isotherm studies revealed that chitosan can adsorb Cr⁶⁺, Hg²⁺ and Ag⁺ ions most effectively at a flowrate of 20 ml min^-1 and the optimum pH for feed solution is 4. Chitosan column experiments indicated that average effluent concentrations at breakthrough point for chromium, mercury andsilver are 0.76 mg l^-1, 6.04 mg l^-1 and 0.51 mg l^-1 respectively with throughput volumes and retention times of 120 l at 100 hr, 60 l at 50 hr and 48 l at 40 hr. Results of solidification experiments for chemical sludge and residual chitosan based on compressive strength and metal leachabilitytests showed, that the acceptable ranges of the solidificationparameters were: sludge/cement = 0.1–1.0 (weight/weight), water/cement = 0.5–0.6 (weight/weight) and sand/cement = 0.5–3.0 (weight/weight). Operating cost per litre of COD wastewater treated, based on the current prices in Thailand wasfound to be Baht 19.95 for the chemical reduction/precipitationprocess, Baht 96.35 for ion exchange treatment and Baht 18.29 forchitosan adsorption.     

Environmental Monitoring and Impact Assessment of a Solid Waste Disposal Site

The objective of this study is an attempt to conduct an environmentalmonitoring and impact assessment of the On-Nooch solid waste disposal sitein Bangkok, Thailand. Four water and five air sampling stations (2 upwindand 3 downwind directions) were established at the site. Grab water samplesfrom leachate treatment plant and Khlong Song Hong, a nearby stream, werecollected during the rainy and dry seasons. Analytical results of the wastewater discharged by the leachate treatment plant, during dry season showedchemical oxygen demand: 618 mg/l; biochemical oxygen demand: 80 mg/l;suspended solid: 101 mg/l; Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen: 283 mg/l, which werestill higher than standard limit for effluents in Thailand. During the dryseason, results also showed widespread heavy metal pollution from leachate(chromium: 1.03 mg/l; manganese: 1.07 mg/l; mercury: 0.025 mg/l) and werehigher than the allowable level of heavy metals for the Industrial EffluentStandard in Thailand. The direct discharge of untreated leachate into inlandwater will cause considerable water pollution in the study area. Compositeair samples in this study area were collected during the rainy and dryseasons and were analyzed for methane (CH₄), carbon dioxide(CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide(SO₂), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) andsuspended particulate matter (SPM). The average concentration of SPM rangedbetween 0.1–0.36 mg/m³ for 24-hour average, dependingupon the season. The level of CH₄ and CO₂ inthe ambient air of the study area were found to be 3.48–65.71mg/m³ and 886-1758 mg/m³ respectively which weremuch higher than the normal concentration of CH₄ andCO₂ in the air (CH₄: 2.41 mg/m³;CO₂: 585 mg/m³). Hence, adverse health andenvironmental effects could be expected from water and air pollution.     

Maternal serum free beta hCG screening: Results of studies including 480 cases of down syndrome

The median maternal serum free beta human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) multiple of the median (MOM) of 480 Down syndrome cases in the second trimester was 2·64, significantly greater than the reported median MOM of intact hCG (p<0·0001). In 234 of these cases from retrospective and prospective studies, the effectiveness of maternal serum free beta hCG was evaluated in combination with alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) and maternal age in second-trimester Down syndrome screening. Down syndrome detection in the gestational age range of 14–16 weeks was 82 per cent. In all gestational weeks (14–22), a 77·7 per cent Down syndrome detection rate was achieved. In prospective screening of 44 272 patients under the age of 35 years, 69 per cent of Down syndrome cases were detected (73 per cent in gestational weeks 14–16). The false-positive rate for the prospective study was 3·8 per cent. The use of free beta hCG combined with maternal serum AFP and maternal age-related risk for Down syndrome in a screening population (i.e., women under 35 years) yields an improved detection efficiency over other protocols.     

Relationship of firm attributes,ownership structure and business network on climate change efforts: evidence from Malaysia

This paper presents a case study of land-use/land-cover (LULC) changes from 1975 to 2014 in the central highlands of Ethiopia and traces out its impact on socioeconomic conditions of the local community in the study area. We used four time series Landsat satellite images, that is, Landsat MSS (1975), Landsat Thematic Mapper (1986), Enhanced Thematic Mapper (2000), and Landsat 8 OLI scenes (2014), to investigate the changes in LULC. In addition, individual interviews with 51 randomly selected households, discussions with focus group and key informants, and field observations were also incorporated for the study. The image classification indicated four categories of LULC classes: Natural forest, eucalyptus plantations, cropland/settlements, and grasslands. Between 1975 and 2014, cropland/settlements and eucalyptus plantations considerably increased, whereas grassland cover drastically decreased. According to the results, the area under cropland/settlements and eucalyptus plantations increased by 62 and 335%, respectively, with 74% concomitant decrease in the area of grasslands in the same period. Survey results showed that deterioration of soil fertility (41.2%) followed by shortage of land (35.3%) is the major constraint for crop production for poor farmers in the study area. However, better-off farmers ranked deterioration of soil fertility (64.7%) followed by lack of credit (17.6%) as priority constraints for crop production. Interviews mainly focused on selected women group revealed that the expansion of eucalyptus in the area greatly curbed the burdens of collecting fuel woods from long distances in the past. The availability of too many religious holidays (on average 16 days/month) directly or indirectly contributes to the current seasonal food shortages of the community. Generally, our results show that the community in the study area is beset with a host of social, economic, and institutional challenges. As a result, majority of the farming households are destitute, unable to make a livelihood from their small plot of land and live in absolute poverty. Therefore, in light of these finding, it is imperative that timely interventions by government and other development stakeholders are needed to come to grips with problems of soil fertility, land-use change, and food insecurity in the study area.     

Application of proteomics in environmental science

Proteomics involves the separation of proteins, identification of the amino acid sequence of the interested or target proteins, study of the function of the proteins, modification, structure and ultimate assignments to functional pathways in the cell. The proteomic investigations have contributed greatly to human diseases studies, new drugs discovery researches, and environmental science in recent years. This article provides a review on the development of the main proteomic technologies, including both the gel based and non-gel based technologies, and their applications in environmental science. Proteomic technologies have been utilized in the environmental stresses studies to analyze the induction or reduction of proteins at expression level and identify the target proteins to investigate their function in response to environmental stresses, such as high or low pH, oxidation stress, and toxic chemicals. Such protein responses are also helpful to understand the mechanisms of some cellular activities and the functions of some proteins.     

Health implication among occupational exposed workers in a chromium alloy factory, Thailand

IntroductionNationalStatisticalOffice ,Thailand (NSO ,2 0 0 0 )reportedthattheneedformetalmanufacturingindustriesandassociatedproductionsectorhasincreasedatanextremelyrapidrate ,especiallyinthecentralpartofThailand .Itisestimatedthattherearemorethan 10 0 …     

Benzene and lead exposure assessment among occupational bus drivers in Bangkok traffic

IntroductionAirpollutionproblemsasaresultoffastgrowthinthetotalnumberofvehiclesinurbancitiesareontheincrease .PreliminaryepidemiologicalexposureassessmentsuggestthatthedetrimentaleffectofairpollutiongeneratedbyvehiculartrafficindevelopingcitieslikeBangkok…