Evaluating households’ preferences regarding reducing power outages in rural areas: cases in the Ganges Floodplain in Bangladesh

This paper investigates household preferences regarding an improved supply of electricity in rural Bangladesh, where the expansion of stable electricity is an urgent policy issue. The paper examines household preferences regarding reductions in the frequency and duration of power outages. It also examines prior notification mechanisms that do not necessarily provide an increased supply of electricity but that allow households to prepare for potential power failures. A questionnaire survey designed as a choice experiment was applied to households to elicit preferences. The econometric analysis reveals that villagers prefer a reduction in both the frequency and duration of power outages and a 1-day prior notification of power outages. There are slight disparities in preferences according to the season and the timing of improvements (e.g., summer or winter and all day or peak hours). Thus, the present study may be beneficial for policymakers when considering the provision of electricity supply improvements in rural areas in exchange for slight increases in electricity tariffs.     

Evaluation of environmentally friendly lubricant for aluminum cold forging using friction test based on spline extrusion

It is required to replace the aluminum fluoride coating, which is a popular lubricant for aluminum alloy cold forging in Japan, with environmentally friendly lubricants, because the aluminum fluoride coating has high environmental risks and needs much expense. Evaluations of lubrication performance are necessary before lubricant replacement. The authors proposed new friction test based on combined forward spline-backward can extrusion. It can realize large surface expansion, which is a characteristic of aluminum cold forging. In the present paper, a double-layer-type environmentally friendly solid lubricant film and the aluminum fluoride coating were applied to a precipitation hardened aluminum alloy. The lubrication performance was evaluated by the friction test. The double-layer-type lubricant showed superior performance enough for the replacement. The effect of surface treatment applied to workpiece on the lubrication performance was also investigated. The surface asperity generated by a wet-blasting showed high pickup resistance and low friction.     

Arthropods associated with fungal galls: do large galls support more abundant and diverse inhabitants?

Fungus-induced galls can attract spore-feeding arthropods as well as gall-feeding ones, resulting in diverse communities. Do large fungal galls support more abundant and diverse arthropod communities than small fungal galls? To address this question, we investigated the structure of the arthropod community associated with bud galls induced by the fungus Melanopsichium onumae on the tree species Cinnamomum yabunikkei (Lauraceae) in central Japan. Thirteen species of arthropods were associated with M. onumae galls. Dominant arthropod species were represented by the larvae of a salpingid beetle (a spore feeder), a nitidulid beetle (a spore feeder), a cosmopterigid moth (a spore feeder), an unidentified moth (a gall tissue feeder), and a drosophilid species (a gall tissue feeder). Arthropod abundance and species richness were positively correlated with gall diameter. The majority of the most abundant species were more frequently found in large galls than in small ones, indicating that large fungal galls, which have more food and/or space for arthropods, could support a more abundant and diverse arthropod community.     

Deer predation on leaf miners via leaf abscission

The evergreen oak Quercus gilva Blume sheds leaves containing mines of the leaf miner Stigmella sp. (Lepidoptera: Nepticulidae) earlier than leaves with no mines in early spring in Nara, central Japan. The eclosion rates of the leaf miner in abscised and retained leaves were compared in the laboratory to clarify the effects of leaf abscission on leaf miner survival in the absence of deer. The leaf miner eclosed successfully from both fallen leaves and leaves retained on trees. However, sika deer (Cervus nippon centralis Kishida) feed on the fallen mined leaves. Field observations showed that deer consume many fallen leaves under Q. gilva trees, suggesting considerable mortality of leaf miners due to deer predation via leaf abscission. This is a previously unreported relationship between a leaf miner and a mammalian herbivore via leaf abscission.     

Evaluation of buckwheat and barley tea wastes as ethanol fermentation substrates

Buckwheat tea waste (BWTW) and barley tea waste (BTW), by-products of the beverage industry, are alternative carbohydrate sources for ethanol production. In this study, optimal enzyme loading for enzymatic saccharification of BWTW and BTW was determined, and simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was performed by Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Mucor indicus to produce ethanol. Optimal enzyme loading for enzymatic saccharification of 2?% w/v BWTW and BTW was 0.5?% (weight of enzyme/weight of tea wastes) for BWTW and 0.1?% for BTW. Ethanol production from BWTW by S. cerevisiae and M. indicus after 48?h of SSF was 49.9/100?g of BWTW and 47.9/100?g of BWTW, respectively, with 0.5?% enzyme loading. Ethanol production from BTW by S. cerevisiae and M. indicus after 48?h of SSF was 20.5/100?g of BTW and 21.6/100?g of BTW, corresponding to 62 and 66?% of the theoretical yield based on starch content, respectively, with 0.1?% of enzyme loading. Furthermore, S. cerevisiae produced 76?% of the theoretical yield based on the total glucose from starch in BWTW and BTW when a mixture of BWTW and BTW was used as a substrate, with 0.2?% enzyme loading and no additional nitrogen or mineral sources.     

A roadmap for the conservation of freshwater mussels in Europe

Europe has a long history of human pressure on freshwater ecosystems. As pressure continues to grow and new threats emerge, there is an urgent need for conservation of freshwater biodiversity and its ecosystem services. However, whilst some taxonomic groups, mainly vertebrates, have received a disproportionate amount of attention and funds, other groups remain largely off the public and scientific radar. Freshwater mussels (Bivalvia, Unionida) are an alarming example of this conservation bias and here we point out six conceptual areas that need immediate and long-term attention: knowledge, threats, socioeconomics, conservation, governance and education. The proposed roadmap aims to advance research, policy and education by identifying the most pressing priorities for the short- and long-term conservation of freshwater mussels across Europe.     

Spatial and temporal population dynamics of the crown-of-thorns starfish,Acanthaster planci,over a 24-year period along the central west coast of Okinawa Island,Japan

Boom and bust dynamics are a prominent characteristic of the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci) populations. Outbreaking starfish populations damage coral communities extensively and then often disappear quickly. In contrast, Onna village, on the central west coast of Okinawa Island, Japan, has been experiencing chronically high population densities of A. planci for decades. In this study, we examined spatial and temporal population dynamics of A. planci along the coast of Onna village, using removal data gathered over 24 years by a local fisheries cooperative. The results demonstrate that A. planci populations along the Onna coast often experienced high densities prior to 2003 and that recently, populations have again been increasing drastically. Size-frequency distributions suggest multiple, successive recruitment, as one of the driving factors maintaining A. planci populations in this location. Moreover, within the Onna area, the timing of outbreak peaks varied among different locations, showing a northward progression.     

Fitness of occupational exposure data to inverse Gaussian distribution

Short-term exposure datasets of 10 workers exposed to organic solvents and daily average exposure datasets of seven workers exposed to cobalt and organic solvents were analyzed in order to clarify whether these exposure data fit an inverse Gaussian distribution. The goodness-of-fit test showed that time-weighted average (TWA) values with averaging times of 30 min, 60 min and 8 hours can be described by an inverse Gaussian distribution, but not those with averaging times of 7.5 min and 15 min.     

Parthenogenesis,apogamy and apospory in Alaria crassifolia (Laminariales)

In cultures of Alaria crassifolia Kjellman, unfertilized eggs developed normally into haploid sporophytes which differentiated into a holdfast, stipe and blade with a midrib. The terminal cells of a male gametophyte grew apogamously into haploid sporophytes with narrow blades which lack the midrib. Further, diploid gametophytes were formed by apospory from vegetative cells of a diploid sporophyte. They were monoecious and their fertilized eggs developed into tetraploid sporophytes. Nuclear phases of the sporophytes and gametophytes concerned were confirmed by cytological observations.This work was supported by Grant No. 38803 from the Ministry of Education of Japan.