Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 virus and ambient temperature: a critical review

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought unprecedented public health, and social and economic challenges. It remains unclear...     

Anatomical changes,osmolytes accumulation and distribution in the native plants growing on Pb-contaminated sites

Environmental Geochemistry and Health - Native plants growing on heavy-metal-contaminated sites are the potential candidates for phytoremediation of contaminated sites due to their tolerance and...     

Identifying potential stakeholders for the management of Lower Mgeta and Upper Zigi water catchments of Tanzania,East Africa

Community participation in natural resources management is a basis for sustainable management of these resources. However, the question of which actors/assets within communities are more connected to the natural resources based on their knowledge, skills and talents is not well captured. This study, therefore, combines Asset Based Community Development approach and Bio-Cultural approach, to identify influential stakeholders in the utilization of catchment resources in Upper Zigi and Lower Mngeta catchments, in the United Republic of Tanzania. Participatory rural appraisal tools; participatory bio-physical resource mapping (PBRM) and participatory community asset mapping (PCAM) were used for data collection. Similar observations were made in both study sites, that, the most influential community assets were traditional healers, traditional dancers, hunters, Village Government, fishermen, farmers and family, and therefore, these most influential community assets should get involved in the management of catchment resources because they are true representatives of the community.     

Stabilising cooperation through pragmatic tolerance: the case of the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) tuna fishery

Purse seine fishing of skipjack tuna in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (WCPO) raises concern over increasing impacts on yellowfin and bigeye tuna by-catch. To address sustainability concerns, the Parties to the Nauru Agreement (PNA) adopted the vessel day scheme (VDS) for the management of purse seine fishing in the WCPO. The VDS has the potential to improve economic benefits for PNA members and to contribute to sustainability of the tuna stocks, and since 2012, has become an important mechanism to regulate fishing access rights in PNA waters. Despite this, monitoring and enforcement remains weak leading to violations of the agreement. Using a game theoretic framework, this paper examines the effectiveness of the VDS and its implications for fisheries regionalism. We examine the payoffs of member countries of the Nauru Agreement under full compliance and payoffs under the currently observed partial compliance. Our findings indicate that member states’ partial compliance with VDS rules plays a role in stabilising the agreement. Requiring full compliance, on the other hand, may encompass strong incentives for PNA members to deviate from the VDS since third parties offer attractive benefits in return for privileged access to fishing grounds. However, pragmatic tolerance of deviations from full VDS compliance seems to play a facilitative role in promoting cooperation and fisheries regionalism.

     

Using crowd-sourced photos to assess seasonal patterns of visitor use in mountain-protected areas

Managing protected areas effectively requires information about patterns of visitor use, but these data are often limited. We explore how geotagged photos on Flickr, a popular photo-sharing social-media site, can generate hotspot maps and distribution models of temporal and spatial patterns of use in two mountain-protected areas of high conservation value. In Aconcagua Provincial Park (Argentina), two routes to the summit of Aconcagua were used in summer, but most visitors stayed close to the main road, using formal and informal walking trails and the Visitor Centre, while in winter, there was very limited visitation. In Kosciuszko National Park (Australia), alpine walking trails were popular in summer, but in winter, most visitors stayed in the lower altitude ski resorts and ski trails. Results demonstrate the usefulness of social-media data alone as well as a complement for visitor monitoring, providing spatial and temporal information for site-specific and park-level management of visitors and potential impacts in conservation areas.     

Temporal genetic variation in populations of the limpet Cellana grata from Hong Kong shores

Variations in the relative contributions of gene flow and spatial and temporal variation in recruitment are considered the major determinants of population genetic structure in marine organisms. Such variation can be assessed through repeated measures of the genetic structure of a species over time. To test the relative importance of these two phenomena, temporal variation in genetic composition was measured in the limpet Cellana grata, among four annual cohorts over 10 years at four rocky shores in Hong Kong. A total of 408 limpets, comprising individuals from 1998, 1999, 2006 and 2007 cohorts were screened for genetic variation using five microsatellite loci. Minor but significant genetic differentiation was detected among samples from the 1998/1999 collection (F _ST = 0.0023), but there was no significant differentiation among the 2006/2007 collection (F _ST = 0.0008). Partitioning of genetic variation among shores was also significant in 1998/1999 but not in the 2006/2007 collection, although there was no correlation between genetic and geographic distances. There was no significant difference between collections made in 1998/1999 and 2006/2007. This lack of clear structure implies a high level of gene flow, but differentiation with time may be the result of stochastic recruitment variation among shores. Estimates of effective population size were not high (599, 95% C.L. 352–11397), suggesting the potential susceptibility of the populations to genetic drift, although a significant bottleneck effect was not detected. These findings indicate that genetic structuring between populations of C. grata in space and time may result from spatio-temporal variation in recruitment, but the potential development of biologically significant differentiation is suppressed by a lack of consistency in recruitment variability and high connectivity among shores.     

A preliminary study of ozone trend and its impact on environment in Hong Kong

As far as the impact of air pollutants on human health being is concerned, ozone (O3) is one of the most pollutant sources, and, in particular, the ground level ozone is responsible for a variety of adverse effects on both human being and plant life. To protect the population from such adverse health effects, early information and precautions about the high ozone level need to be ascertained. In this study, statistical characteristics of ground level ozone is analyzed according to field monitoring data in mixed residential, commercial and industrial areas, e.g., Tsuen Wan area in Hong Kong. The study deals with the characteristics of hourly and daily mean ozone levels under different climatic conditions such as temperature, solar radiation (SR), wind speed (WS), and other pollutant concentration levels. The study aims to investigate the importance of meteorological factors and their impact on relevant pollutant concentration levels from a chemical aspect. Further, reasons for the spatial and temporal variation of ozone levels are discussed. All these results will provide a physical basis for accurately predicting ozone concentration in similar research.     

Nature and fate of Hudson Bay permafrost

Two aspects of the permafrost of the Hudson Bay region are examined. The first is the climatological conditions that support permafrost especially along the southwestern shore of Hudson Bay. The second is the fate of the permafrost using recent climate change scenarios. The continuous permafrost along the shores of southwestern Hudson Bay is examined from a climatological perspective. Two hypotheses are explored to explain the presence of continuous permafrost in this region in spite of the relatively "warm" local climate. Possible errors in the calculation of thawing degree days and the asymmetries in frozen and unfrozen soil thermal conductivities are successively examined. Only the second hypothesis is likely to explain the presence of permafrost in southwestern Hudson Bay. Sophisticated climate models are used to assess the potential change in permafrost distribution in the Hudson Bay region. Nine simulations using three different versions of the Canadian Centre of Climate Modelling and Analysis (CCCma) general circulation model are used to project permafrost distribution. Two surface temperature thresholds, –5 and –10 °C, are used to diagnose permafrost grid points. All simulations, including those that include reduction of CO₂ emissions, showed at least a 50% reduction of permafrost by 2100 using these temperature thresholds. Electronic Publication     

Sizing pressure relief valves in flashing and two-phase service: an alternative procedure

In view of the greater accuracy of the ω HEM correlation and the resulting conservative PR valve sizing (relative to the traditional PR valve sizing methods), the ω HEM-based flow calculations are recommended for all situations where flashing or two-phase flow occurs within the PR valve. However, as with any correlation, the accuracy of the ω HEM correlation results drops as the system to which it is applied diverges from the data used to develop it. Analysis of 15 different systems representative of actual refinery streams indicate that for fluids with a wide boiling range and for very non-ideal systems such as those containing hydrogen, the HEM correlation underpredicts the mass flux significantly (i.e. overpredicts the PR valve size). Since the large deviations are on the conservative side, the procedure will result in excessively large PR valves that may cause problems because of chattering of the PR valves, but would not present potential for vessel failure. The majority of the deviations are a result of the fact that the simplifying assumptions built into the correlation for single component do not truly characterize the actual flashing behaviour of many multicomponent fluids. The alternative approach presented, in which the correlation parameter ω is based on the actual flashing behaviour, eliminates nearly all the deviations and significantly improves the results of the correlation regardless of the system analysed. For trouble systems (those containing more than 0.1 wt% hydrogen and for some multicomponent fluids with a nominal boiling range greater than 80°C (150°F), the alternative approach should be used to define the correlation parameter ω. Use of this alternative approach is valid for any system (and will improve the accuracy of the correlation) but does require an additional flash calculation. However, for other systems the original formulation of ω is adequate and can be used.