Blood metal levels and metal-influenced immune functions of harbour seals in captivity

Immunological blood parameters and the effects of environmental pollutants on the immune system are important to assess the health status of seals. Animals living permanently in seal centres are useful for development and validation of diagnostic tools for free-ranging animals. In this study, parameters of cellular immunity as well as metal concentrations in blood and metal influence on cell proliferation of seven seals from a seal centre were investigated repeatedly using multi-element analysis and a lymphocyte proliferation assay. The metal concentrations, except for tin and chromium, were in general comparable to those of free-ranging animals of the North Sea. The unstimulated and mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation showed strong intra- and inter-individual variability, which reflected variability in activation of the immune status. Furthermore, both immunosuppressive and stimulative influences of metals on lymphocytes were found. Summarising, the methods used in this investigation provided useful information on these animals, and their application to free-ranging animals can be recommended.     

Geographic Dimensions of Relocation Activity: A Comparative Analysis of Intrametropolitan and Out-of-State Relocation Activity

Over the years, research on relocation activity has provided insights about the characteristics of firms and regions that drive relocation. The spatial dimensions of these relocation decisions, however, particularly within states or metropolitan areas, remain an understudied aspect of the relocation literature. There is also little work comparing the destinations of relocations originating from within metropolitan areas compared to relocation activity from other states. Given the theoretical and practical importance of higher resolution, comparative research on relocation activity within metropolitan areas, this article uses both areal and point-based spatial statistics to test hypotheses about similarities and differences in the relocation behavior of locally oriented and out-of-state businesses within the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area. Analytical results highlight distinct differences in the destinations of relocation activity originating from within the metropolitan area compared to out-of-state relocation activity. Intrametropolitan relocations tend to locate in less expensive and racially and ethnically diverse neighborhoods, whereas out-of-state relocations locate in wealthier, well-known locations of the metropolitan area. Out-of-state relocations are also less likely to locate in the downtown core. This suggests that expensive smokestack-chasing efforts directed at attracting businesses from out of state are unlikely to help revitalize the downtown core.     

Can agriculture support climate change adaptation, greenhouse gas mitigation and rural livelihoods? insights from Kenya

Changes in the agriculture sector are essential to mitigate and adapt to climate change, meet growing food demands, and improve the livelihoods of poor smallholder producers. What agricultural strategies are needed to meet these challenges? To what extent are there synergies among these strategies? This paper examines these issues for smallholder producers in Kenya across several agroecological zones. Several practices emerge as triple wins, supporting climate adaptation, greenhouse gas mitigation, and profitability goals. In particular, integrated soil fertility management and improved livestock feeding are shown to provide multiple benefits across all agroecological zones examined. Triple wins of other agricultural practices are limited to specific agroecological zones. Irrigation and soil and water conservation, for example, are essential for adaptation, mitigation, and profitability in arid areas. The results suggest that agricultural investments targeted toward these triple-win strategies will have the greatest payoff in terms of increased resilience of farm and pastoralist households and global climate change mitigation. To reap the benefits of triple-win strategies will require that policymakers, researchers, and practitioners move away from isolated approaches focused on either adaptation or mitigation or rural income generation toward a more holistic assessment of joint strategies as well as their tradeoffs and synergies.     

Detecting infiltration and impacts of introduced water using strontium isotopes

Water introduced to surface drainages, such as agricultural and roadway runoff, mine drainage, or coalbed natural gas (CBNG)-produced water, potentially can be of environmental concern. In order to mitigate potential environmental effects, it may be important to be able to trace water discharged to the surface as it infiltrates and interacts with near-surface aquifers. We have chosen to study water withdrawn during CBNG production for isotope tracing in the hyporheic zone because it poses a variety of economic, environmental, and policy issues in the Rocky Mountain states. Ground water quality must be protected as CBNG water is added to semiarid ecosystems. Strontium (Sr) isotopes are effective fingerprints of the aquifer from which water originates. In this study, CBNG water was found to have a higher (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratio than the local alluvial aquifer water. This measurable difference allows the strontium isotope ratio and concentration to be used as tracers of CBNG water following its discharge to the surface. The dissolution and mobilization of salts from soil are an important contributor to ground water quality degradation. In the Powder River basin of Wyoming, the soils are calcium carbonate-buffered systems. The chemical similarity of strontium to calcium allows it to substitute into calcium minerals and enabled us to use strontium isotopes to identify calcium salts mobilized from the soil. Strontium isotopes are an effective monitor of the source of ions and the volume and direction of introduced water flow in the hyporheic zone.     

Mapping collective human activity in an urban environment based on mobile phone data

Identifying and characterizing variations of human activity – specifically changes in intensity and similarity – in urban environments provide insights into the social component of those eminently complex systems. Using large volumes of user-generated mobile phone data, we derive mobile communication profiles that we use as a proxy for the collective human activity. In this article, geocomputational methods and geovisual analytics such as self-organizing maps (SOM) are used to explore the variations of these profiles, and its implications for collective human activity. We evaluate the merits of SOM as a cross-dimensional clustering technique and derived temporal trajectories of variations within the mobile communication profiles. The trajectories’ characteristics such as length are discussed, suggesting spatial variations in intensity and similarity in collective human activity. Trajectories are linked back to the geographic space to map the spatial and temporal variation of trajectory characteristics. Different trajectory lengths suggest that mobile phone activity is correlated with the spatial configuration of the city, and so at different times of the day. Our approach contributes to the understanding of the space-time social dynamics within urban environments.     

A physical model for the precursory magnetic anomalies of the M5.4 Alum Rock and M6.0 Parkfield earthquakes

Here, we propose an alternative physical model, based on the concept of criticality, for the explanation of the observed magnetic signals prior to the M6.0 Parkfield and the M5.4 Alum Rock earthquakes. Motivated by an analogous experience from major earthquakes in Greece, where both magnetic field variations and seismic electric signals were also recorded few weeks before the main shock, we suggest that in all these cases, similar dynamic processes characterized by critical behaviour should govern the corresponding pre-focal areas when the relevant precursory signals emerged.     

Non-destructive estimation of potato leaf chlorophyll from canopy hyperspectral reflectance using the inverted PROSAIL model

Optimizing nitrogen (N) fertilization in crop production by in-season measurements of crop N status may improve fertilizer N use efficiency. Hyperspectral measurements may be used to assess crop N status by estimating leaf chlorophyll content. This study evaluated the ability of the PROSAIL canopy-level reflectance model to predict leaf chlorophyll content. Trials were conducted with two potato cultivars under different N fertility rates (0–300 kg N ha⁻¹). Canopy reflectance, leaf area index (LAI) and leaf chlorophyll and N contents were measured. The PROSAIL model was able to predict leaf chlorophyll content with reasonable accuracy later in the growing season. The low estimation accuracy earlier in the growing season could be due to model sensitivity to non-homogenous canopy architecture and soil background interference before full canopy closure. Canopy chlorophyll content (leaf chlorophyll content × LAI) was predicted less accurately than leaf chlrophyll content due to the low estimation accuracy of LAI for values higher than 4.5.     

Indigenous participation in coastal management in the Northern Territory, Australia: issues and options

The issue of Aboriginal participation in coastal management is pressing in the Northern Territory of Australia, given the current extent of Aboriginal land ownership and the potential for the proliferation of native title claims over the sea. This paper discusses Aboriginal involvement in coastal activities in the Northern Territory and identifies the extent to which coastal areas are owned by Aboriginal communities. Northern Territory law provides for sea closures adjacent to Aboriginal-owned land which restrict access to and use of such areas. Problems and opportunities associated with sea closures are examined. Two other Acts, relating to Sacred Sites and Native Title, are also important in determining indigenous rights over coastal and marine areas. Future possibilities for a negotiated outcome on indigenous sea rights are put forward.