Threshold to maturity in a long-lived reptile: interactions of age, size, and growth

Thresholds to sexual maturity—either age or size—are critical life history parameters. Usually investigated in short-lived organisms, these thresholds and interactions among age, size, and growth are poorly known for long-lived species. A 34-year study of captive green turtles (Chelonia mydas) that followed individuals from hatching to beyond maturity provided an opportunity to evaluate these parameters in a long-lived species with late maturity. Age and size at maturity are best predicted by linear growth rate and mass growth rate, respectively. At maturity, resource allocation shifts from growth to reproductive output, regardless of nutrient availability or size at maturity. Although captive turtles reach maturity at younger ages than wild turtles, the extensive variation in captive turtles under similar conditions provides important insights into the variation that would exist in wild populations experiencing stochastic conditions. Variation in age/size at maturity should be incorporated into population models for conservation and management planning.     

An overview of the impacts of changes in common property resources management in the context of globalisation: A case study of India

Socio-economic development of mankind and well-being depend on the environment and the way in which development influences the environment. Thus, environment and development are interdependent. In fact, economic development is closely linked with the development of resources. These resources can be classified into three categories: public goods, semi-public goods (also known as common property resources) and private goods. In poor countries common property resources make a valuable contribution to the sustainable livelihoods of rural populations. The impact of globalisation on the commons shows various patterns of ownership, control, use and misuse. The commons were subjected to degradation as well as conservation in the process of centralized management in India. After the reform period, the administration of natural resources was given significant attention by specialized departments such as the Forest Department and the Revenue Department. All the land, apart from private land, was regarded as state property and controlled by the state. This paper highlights the need to examine the common property resources sector in the context of wider economic policy reform processes in the Indian economy.     

Hybrid Bottom Line: another perspective on the sustainability of organizations

In recent years, there has been a growing concern and an increasing number of proactive initiatives from various stakeholders on issues related to the environment, social matters, and economic aspects and this has been the main driving force toward sustainability. However, most players that are deeply involved with environmental and social agendas indicate that these actions have been more of a temporary palliative for the current unsustainability problems than real structural solutions, especially in what concerns the relationship between short-term actions and long-term structural planning. Even though the general literature on sustainability is comprehensive, there is a paucity of papers which look at it at the organizational level, and under a cross-sectoral perspective. This paper is an attempt to address this gap. It presents the concept of ‘Hybrid Bottom Line’ as a new perspective in understanding and sustainability at the organizational level.     

Effects of controller-pilot communication medium,flight phase and the role in the cockpit on pilots’ workload and situation awareness

This study explores the effects of communication medium, flight phase, and the role in the cockpit on pilots’ workload and situation awareness. Eight pilots with the experience of Controller-Pilot Data Link Communications (CPDLCs) participated in this simulated experiment. Two types of communication medium (voice and datalink), three types of flight phase (departure, cruise, and arrival), and two types of role (pilot flying and pilot non-flying) were investigated in the experiment. The results indicated that flight phase is a significant factor and cruise is the most suitable phase for datalink use on pilots’ acceptance, workload, and situation awareness performance. Both medium and role were not the significant factors. Since there is no significant difference on medium when no extra tasks and interferences involved in a normal flight, that the use of CPDLC can be justified during all phases of a no-event flight. In addition, the results of usability indicated that the simulated CPDLC with command selection functions proposed in this study provides good utility for the participants. In order to use the CPDLC for all phases of flight in the future, adding more command selection functions in place of typing messages by pilots and accommodating appropriate interfaces for different phases are recommended to enhance the usability of the CPDLC unit.     

Estimation of distribution algorithm enhanced particle swarm optimization for water distribution network optimization

The optimization of a water distribution network (WDN) is a highly nonlinear, multi-modal, and constrained combinatorial problem. Particle swarm optimization (PSO) has been shown to be a fast converging algorithm for WDN optimization. An improved estimation of distribution algorithm (EDA) using historic best positions to construct a sample space is hybridized with PSO both in sequential and in parallel to improve population diversity control and avoid premature convergence. Two water distribution network benchmark examples from the literature are adopted to evaluate the performance of the proposed hybrid algorithms. The experimental results indicate that the proposed algorithms achieved the literature record minimum (6.081 M$) for the small size Hanoi network. For the large size Balerma network, the parallel hybrid achieved a slightly lower minimum (1.921M€) than the current literature reported best minimum (1.923M€). The average number of evaluations needed to achieve the minimum is one order smaller than most existing algorithms. With a fixed, small number of evaluations, the sequential hybrid outperforms the parallel hybrid showing its capability for fast convergence. The fitness and diversity of the populations were tracked for the proposed algorithms. The track record suggests that constructing an EDA sample space with historic best positions can improve diversity control significantly. Parallel hybridization also helps to improve diversity control yet its effect is relatively less significant.     

Rethinking the Significance of Reovirus in Water and Wastewater

The genus Orthoreovirus contains nonenveloped viruses with double-stranded gene segments encased in a double-layered icosahedral capsid shell. These features constitute major determinants of virion stability in the environment and virion resistance against physical and chemical agents. Reovirus (ReoV) is the general term most commonly used for all virus strains that infect humans and nonhuman animals. Several studies have demonstrated the frequent occurrence of ReoV in wastewaters and natural waters, including surface and ground waters from different geographical areas. Most of these studies have reported higher concentrations of ReoV than any other enteric virus analyzed. They are more commonly isolated in chlorine-disinfected wastewaters than other enteric viruses, and appear to survive longer in water. The ability of ReoV to form large aggregates, even with different types of enteric viruses (e.g., poliovirus) and their ability to undergo mechanisms of gene segment reassortment among different serotypes may also explain their greater stability. Different approaches have been applied for concentration of ReoV from water; however, the recovery efficiency of the filtration methods has not been fully evaluated. Recently, molecular methods for identification of ReoV strains and quantification of virus genome have been developed. Studies have shown that the overall detection sensitivity of ReoV RNA is enhanced through initial replication of infectious virions in cell culture. More studies are needed to specifically address unresolved issues about the fate and distribution of ReoV in the environment since this virus is not commonly included in virological investigations.     

Methane production from anaerobic digestion of date palm leaflet waste in Morocco

Journal of Material Cycles and Waste Management - The recovery of date palm leaflet waste (DPLW), generated by palms through anaerobic digestion (AD) technology, attracts more attention...     

Circuit-theory applications to connectivity science and conservation

Conservation practitioners have long recognized ecological connectivity as a global priority for preserving biodiversity and ecosystem function. In the early years of conservation science, ecologists extended principles of island biogeography to assess connectivity based on source patch proximity and other metrics derived from binary maps of habitat. From 2006 to 2008, the late Brad McRae introduced circuit theory as an alternative approach to model gene flow and the dispersal or movement routes of organisms. He posited concepts and metrics from electrical circuit theory as a robust way to quantify movement across multiple possible paths in a landscape, not just a single least-cost path or corridor. Circuit theory offers many theoretical, conceptual, and practical linkages to conservation science. We reviewed 459 recent studies citing circuit theory or the open-source software Circuitscape. We focused on applications of circuit theory to the science and practice of connectivity conservation, including topics in landscape and population genetics, movement and dispersal paths of organisms, anthropogenic barriers to connectivity, fire behavior, water flow, and ecosystem services. Circuit theory is likely to have an effect on conservation science and practitioners through improved insights into landscape dynamics, animal movement, and habitat-use studies and through the development of new software tools for data analysis and visualization. The influence of circuit theory on conservation comes from the theoretical basis and elegance of the approach and the powerful collaborations and active user community that have emerged. Circuit theory provides a springboard for ecological understanding and will remain an important conservation tool for researchers and practitioners around the globe.