Using spatially explicit commodity flow and truck activity data to map urban material flows

To analyze and promote resource efficiency in urban areas, it is important to characterize urban metabolism and particularly, material flows. Material flow analysis (MFA) offers a means to capture the dynamism of cities and their activities. Urban‐scale MFAs have been conducted in many cities, usually employing variants of the Eurostat methodology. However, current methodologies generally reduce the study area into a “black box,” masking details of the complex processes within the city's metabolism. Therefore, besides the aggregated stocks and flows of materials, the movement of materials—often embedded in goods or commodities—should also be highlighted. Understanding the movement and dispersion of goods and commodities can allow for more detailed analysis of material flows. We highlight the potential benefits of using high‐resolution urban commodity flows in the context of understanding material resource use and opportunities for conservation. Through the use of geographic information systems and visualizations, we analyze two spatially explicit datasets: (1) commodity flow data in the United States, and (2) Global Positioning System‐based commercial vehicle (truck) driver activity data in Singapore. In the age of “big data,” we bring advancements in freight data collection to the field of urban metabolism, uncovering the secondary sourcing of materials that would otherwise have been masked in typical MFA studies. This brings us closer to a consumption‐based, finer‐resolution approach to MFA, which more effectively captures human activities and its impact on urban environments.     

Phylogenetic Survey of Proteins Related to Synapsin I and Biochemical Analysis of Four Such Proteins from Fish Brain

A phylogenetic survey of proteins immunologically related to Synapsin I, a major synaptic vesicle-associated phosphoprotein in mammals was carried out. Proteins antigenically related to Synapsin I were found by use of radioimmunoassay and other radioimmunochemical techniques in the nervous systems of several vertebrate and invertebrate species, which included birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, echinoderms, arthropods, and mollusks. Four proteins present in fish brain, antigenically related to Synapsin I, were further studied and found to resemble mammalian Synapsin I in several respects. Like Synapsin I, the fish proteins were present in high amounts in nervous tissue, were enriched in synaptosomal fractions of brain where they were substrates for endogenous protein kinases, were acid extractable, and were sensitive to digestion by collagenase. In addition, two-dimensional peptide-mapping analysis revealed some homology between major phosphopeptide fragments of Synapsin I and the fish proteins. The results indicate that proteins related to Synapsin I are wide-spread in the animal kingdom.     

Survey of Campylobacter jejuni in stray cats in southern Italy

Aim: To evaluate the presence of thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. in stray cats in southern Italy. Methods and Results: One hundred and thirteen animals were trapped in two different environments (urban area, harbour area) of the city of Naples. From each cat, rectal swabs were collected. The samples were processed in order to detect thermotolerant Campylobacter spp. by culture methods. The positive samples were then confirmed by multiplex polymerase chain reaction. Campylobacter jejuni was isolated from 19/113 (16·8%) stray cats, whereas Campylobacter coli was not isolated. The cat data (age, environment and sex) were analysed by two statistical analyses using the C. jejuni status (positive/negative) as a dependent variable. As regards statistical regression model results, age and environment were risk factors for C. jejuni positivity. In particular, cats older than 1 year had a significantly higher risk of being positive for C. jejuni than cats aged up to 1 year (OR = 10·440; P = 0·000). Moreover, cats living in the harbour area had a significantly higher risk to be a carrier of C. jejuni than cats living in urban area (OR = 17·911; P = 0·008). Conclusion: The findings of the present survey confirm stray cats as potential carriers of C. jejuni. Significance and Impact of the Study: This is the first study on the prevalence of C. jejuni in stray cats in Europe.     

扁桃体部分切除术最新进展

扁桃体切除术是耳鼻咽喉科最常见的手术之一,临床上治疗由于扁桃体肥大所致的儿童睡眠阻塞性呼吸暂停综合征,最常用的手术方式为双侧扁桃体切除术。扁桃体在儿童生长发育过程中具有重要的免疫功能,完全切除扁桃体对儿童的免疫功能具有一定的影响。且扁桃体全部切除术后常见一些并发症如出血及疼痛,这使得许多学者提出了扁桃体部分切除术。扁桃体部分切除术较扁桃体全部切除术相比,手术时间短、术后并发症少,在缓解儿童阻塞症状的同时,保留了一部分扁桃体,对于免疫功能也有一定的保留。本文将从扁桃体部分切除术治疗儿童睡眠呼吸暂停综合征的临床疗效以及术后出血、术后疼痛方面作一综述,为扁桃体部分切除术应用于临床提供合理依据。     

秦岭宁陕县森林植被碳储量与碳密度特征

以秦岭南坡中段宁陕县林区2003年二类森林调查资料为基础,采用政府间气候变化委员会(IPCC)推荐使用的森林碳储量估算方法,从森林类型、林种、年龄和林分起源的角度,对该林区森林植被碳储量和碳密度进行估算。结果显示:(1)宁陕县森林植被碳储量为12.31Tg(1Tg=1×1012 g),平均碳密度为66.36Mg/hm2(1Mg=1×106 g),其各乡镇森林植被碳储量和碳密度在空间上的分布不平衡。(2)各森林类型中针叶林总碳储量为0.71Tg,平均碳密度为64.11 Mg/hm2,阔叶林总碳储量为11.61Tg,占宁陕县总碳储量的94.3%,碳密度为67.65Mg/hm2。(3)各林种中防护林碳储量最大(8.13Tg),占宁陕县总碳储量的66%,特种用途林碳密度最大(81.43Mg/hm2)。(4)不同林分起源中,天然林碳储量为12.231Tg,占宁陕县总碳储量的99.3%,人工林碳储量较小。(5)不同年龄森林中未成熟森林(包括幼龄林、中龄林和近熟林)碳储量为12.13Tg,占总碳储量的98.5%,近熟林碳密度最大(80.14Mg/hm2),幼龄林碳密度最小(39.85Mg/hm2)。研究表明,宁陕县森林具有较大的固碳能力和固碳潜力,其森林面积和蓄积是决定森林碳储量大小的重要因子,而森林碳密度的大小与森林类型、年龄组成和林分起源方式密切相关。     

Survey of the howling monkey population at La Pacifica: A seven-year follow-up

We surveyed the howling monkey population at La Pacifica in Costa Rica over a 1-month period in July and August 1991. The survey method consisted of an initial 6-day survey, directly comparable to a 1984 survey, and at least two repeat surveys of all areas to locate all groups and to identify all animals. The initial survey indicated an increase in the number of groups and a decrease in the size of groups from earlier surveys, though the group composition was unchanged. We used the results of initial and repeat surveys to determine population size and composition. We located 30 groups with a total of 370 animals. Twenty-one groups contained animals marked with collars and/or legbands, and four additional groups contained animals with clearly identifiable white markings. Although the population structure has changed over 7 years, it is still within the species-typical range for Alouatta palliata.     

More and more generalists: two decades of changes in the European avifauna

Biotic homogenization (BH) is a process whereby some species (losers) are systematically replaced by others (winners). While this process has been related to the effects of anthropogenic activities, whether and how BH is occurring across regions and the role of native species as a driver of BH has hardly been investigated. Here, we examine the trend in the community specialization index (CSI) for 234 native species of breeding birds at 10 111 sites in six European countries from 1990 to 2008. Unlike many BH studies, CSI uses abundance information to estimate the balance between generalist and specialist species in local assemblages. We show that bird communities are more and more composed of native generalist species across regions, revealing a strong, ongoing BH process. Our result suggests a rapid and non-random change in community composition at a continental scale is occurring, most likely driven by anthropogenic activities.     

Changing use of camera traps in mammalian field research: habitats,taxa and study types

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Pond Acoustic Sampling Scheme: A draft protocol for rapid acoustic data collection in small waterbodies

1. Freshwater conservation is vital to the maintenance of global biodiversity. Ponds are a critical, yet often under‐recognized, part of this, contributing to overall ecosystem functioning and diversity. They provide habitats for a range of aquatic, terrestrial, and amphibious life, often including rare and declining species.
2. Effective, rapid, and accessible survey methods are needed to enable evidence‐based conservation action, but freshwater taxa are often viewed as “difficult”—and few specialist surveyors are available. Datasets on ponds are therefore limited in their spatiotemporal coverage.
3. With the advent of new recording technologies, acoustic survey methods are becoming increasingly available to researchers, citizen scientists, and conservation practitioners. They can be an effective and noninvasive approach for gathering data on target species, assemblages, and environmental variables. However, freshwater applications are lagging behind those in terrestrial and marine spheres, and as an emergent method, research studies have employed a multitude of different sampling protocols.
4. We propose the Pond Acoustic Sampling Scheme (PASS), a simple protocol to allow a standardized minimal sample to be collected rapidly from small waterbodies, alongside environmental and methodological metadata. This sampling scheme can be incorporated into a variety of survey designs and is intended to allow access to a wide range of participants, without requiring complicated or prohibitively expensive equipment.
5. Adoption of this sampling protocol would enable consistent sound recordings to be gathered by researchers and conservation organizations, and allow the development of landscape‐scale surveys, data sharing, and collaboration within an expanding freshwater ecoacoustic community—rather than individual approaches that produce incompatible datasets. The compilation of standardized data would improve the prospects for effective research into the soundscapes of small waterbodies and aid freshwater conservation efforts.