Human-related Activities Research Articles

Water conservation for plateau lakeside cities under the new development philosophy

Urban progression influences water conservation by altering surface characteristics and local climate regimes, potentially posing significant risks to water sustainability and ecological integrity. Since 2015, the Chinese government has championed a new development philosophy aimed at promoting harmonious coexistence between human and nature. Based on the green connotation of the new development philosophy, this study simulated the spatial and temporal distribution of water conservation in five plateau lakeside cities (Plateau Lakeside City-PLC: Dianchi Lake Basin-DCB, Fuxian Lake Basin-FXB, Erhai Lake Basin-EHB, Qilu Lake Basin-QLB and Xingyun Lake Basin-XYB), established a comprehensive framework of indicators affecting water conservation, and quantified the changes in the drivers of water conservation. The results indicated that, except for DCB, the spatial distribution of water conservation in PLC exhibits similarity, but overall demonstrates a declining trend over time. The average importance of the factors in the PLC was weighed using Geodetector’s q value. The most critical factors affecting water conservation in PLC included climate change (precipitation: q_PRE=0.66; evaporation: q_ET=0.57) and land cover (q_LC=0.45). In addition, the topography (slope: q_SLOPE=0.39; elevation: q_DEM=0.43), vegetation coverage (q_NDVI=0.30), and soil (plant available water content: q_PAWC=0.38; root restricting layer depth: q_ROOT=0.18) were influential factors followed climate change and land cover. Among the social factors, population density (q_POP=0.37) has a small impact on water conservation, while economic activities and human-related land activities (q_CROP,q_NTL, and q_CITY are all less than 0.1) do not show a significant impact, due to the government’s implementation of the new development philosophy, which balances development and conservation.

Statistical and geospatial assessment of trace and toxic elements distribution in ground and surface water of northern parts of the Indo-Gangetic plains: Source identification and health risk assessment

This study focusses on ground and surface water resources in the northern parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plains. The study aims to identify potential contaminants, analyse their distribution, trace their origins, and evaluate associated health risk. Samples from 80 locations; groundwater (n = 69) and surface water (n = 11) were analysed for nineteen trace and toxic elements using ICP-MS. Eight elements in groundwater (Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, As, Tl, U and Se) and six in surface water (Al, Mn, Fe, Ni, Zn, and Tl) exceeded WHO (2011) and BIS (2012) limits in certain areas. The geospatial analysis reveals hotspots of trace and toxic element concentration, with higher levels detected in the southeast and western regions of the study area. Correlation matrices revealed a robust correlation (∼>0.75–0.99, p < 0.01) among all trace and toxic elements (excluding Li, Be, As, Ag, and U) in surface water samples when compared to groundwater samples. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) (explains 70.09 cumulative percent for total 6 of factors) of groundwater chemistry indicates that Zn, Ni and Tl contamination may originate from industrial activities (metallurgical processes and manufacturing). The potential sources of Mn may be both geological and human-induced, while Fe, Se, As and U can originate from specific geological formations or human-related activities like over-extraction and leaching of excess fertilizers into aquifers. For surface water, PCA (explains 92.92 cumulative percent for total 5 of factors) identifies industrial activities as the main source of Mn, Fe, Tl, Ni, and Zn, while Al originates from both geological and anthropogenic sources. The water quality index indicated poor to very poor water quality in the western and central regions, whereas the northern and eastern regions exhibited excellent water quality. Health risk assessment reveals HI values for groundwater water: 3.85 (adults), 7.70 (children); surface water: 1.52 (adults), 3.05 (children), emphasizing the urgent need for remediation measures.

CONTOURS OF THE NOOSPHERE IN THE XXI CENTURY: A LOOK INTO THE FUTURE

The article attempts to comprehend the modern understanding of the noosphere, taking into account both the achievements of mankind in the creation of high technologies and the crisis phenomena that arise in the process of reaching the planetary stage of development. Destructive types of activity and human desire for creation are considered; the dominant types of human activities in relation to nature in different types of civilizations are indicated. The global noospheric aspect of intelligence was discovered, which reveals the noospheric unity of nature and humanity; content of noospheric intelligence as a civilizational asset; it shows the signs of noosphericity in the intellectuality of the individual; we foresee four stages of formation and development of noosphere society.

Large greenhouse gases emissions from lakes in Inner Mongolia, China

Lakes are important component of the regional carbon cycle and a significant sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to the atmosphere. However, the regional variations in carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) emissions, as well as the factors regulating these emissions are poorly constrained. To investigate the regional GHG emission from lakes and their potential influencing factors, we conducted field measurements in 13 lakes in Inner Mongolia from July to August 2020. We found that the studied lakes were predominantly sources of atmosphere CO2 and CH4. The CO2 partial pressure (pCO2) exhibited supersaturation in 80 % of samplings, but all samplings of CH4 partial pressure (pCH4) showed supersaturation. Moreover, the average pCH4 is 40 times greater than that in the atmosphere. The lakes emitted substantial amounts CO2 and CH4 with average values of 25.8 ± 4.9 mmol m−2 d−1 and 2.1 ± 0.3 mmol m−2 d−1, respectively. At the regional scale, the dynamics of pCO2 and pCH4 are regulated by combination of various environmental factors. CO2 emissions from studied lakes decreased with the catchment net primary productivity (NPP), normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and nighttime lights which is indicative of urbanization. Conversely, CH4 fluxes increased with NPP, NDVI, and nighttime lights. We conclude that terrestrial carbon-cycling related variables and human activities significantly affect CO2 and CH4 emissions from lakes by transporting different nutrients, but they show opposite trends. Our results also exhibited that the freshwater lakes are the main contributors of CH4, while saline lakes are the main contributors of CO2. We suggest that increased human activity leads to changes in terrestrial carbon-cycle related processes which affects lake carbon emissions by altering the amount of nutrients input to the lakes.

Differences in aerosol chemistry at a regional background site in Hong Kong before and during the COVID-19 pandemic

Restrictions on human-related activities implemented in Hong Kong to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic provided an opportunity to investigate the anthropogenic impact on organic aerosols (OA) composition. In this study, we conducted a comparative analysis of online measurements of non-refractory submicron particulate matters (NR-PM1) at a regional background site in Hong Kong, covering the periods before the COVID-19 control (November 2018) and during the COVID-19 control (October to November 2020), to investigate changes in OA sources and formation mechanisms. Among the measured NR-PM1 components, organics were the most dominant species with an average percentage of 51.0 ± 0.5 %, exceeding pre-control levels of 44.0 ± 0.7 %. Moreover, 88 % of the organics were attributed to oxygenated OA (OOA). Diurnal variations of all bulk components in NR-PM1 consistently showed afternoon peaks, indicating photochemical processes during COVID-19 control. Similar to the pre-restriction period, the positive matrix factorization (PMF) model showed that OOA was composed of three factors, including two less-oxidized oxygenated factors (LO-OOA1 and LO-OOA2) and one more-oxidized oxygenated factor (MO-OOA). The contribution of the LO-OOA2 factor remained small and stable during both sampling campaigns, which might imply background levels of OOA at this site. The formation of the two predominant components of organics (e.g., LO-OOA1 and MO-OOA) was further discussed. Compared with before control, observational evidence showed that the levels of MO-OOA exceeded LO-OOA1 during the control period, and the average concentration of odd oxygen (Ox = ozone + nitrogen dioxide) increased by 53 % during the COVID-19 control. Besides, the results showed that both LO-OOA1 and MO-OOA exhibited similar diurnal variations to Ox, and their concentrations generally enhanced with increasing Ox levels. This suggested that the formation of OOA was closely related to the photochemical oxidation processes when anthropogenic emissions were reduced. By correlating LO-OOA1 and MO-OOA with speciated OA markers, we found that the formation of LO-OOA1 remained associated with anthropogenic sources, while biogenic emissions contributed to the formation of MO-OOA during the COVID-19 control. Our findings highlight the interplay between emissions, atmospheric conditions, and aerosol composition, providing valuable insights to guide strategic decisions for future air quality improvement.

Developing millennial tree-ring chronology for Turku (Åbo) and comparing palaeoclimaticsignals inferred from archaeological, subfossil and living Pinus sylvestris datain Southwest Finland

Archaeological and living tree data were used to construct tree-ring chronologies over the medieval (AD 1183–1430) and recent (AD 1812–2020) periods in Turku, which is historically an important population centre in Southwest Finland and the country. Comparisons between the two tree-ring assemblages, and between the previously built chronologies from the Åland (historical timber) and Tavastia (lacustrine subfossils and living trees) sites, provided ways of understanding the growth patterns and their linkages to climatic, environmental, and edaphic factors. Tree growth in and around Turku was affected by warm-season precipitation and winter temperature. Similar relationships were previously evident also in the Åland tree rings, whereas the data from a wetter Tavastia site did not exhibit similar precipitation signal. The site conditions influence also the correlations which are higher between Turku and Åland than between Turku and Tavastia chronologies. Construction of long continuous chronology is impaired by human-related activities, the Great Fire of Turku in 1827 and logging, which have diminished the availability of dead and living-tree materials, respectively. These conditions lead to hardships of filling the gap between the medieval and recent periods and updating the archaeological datasets with compatible living-tree data, which are both demonstrated by our results.

Changes of Surface Water Resources in China's Mountains in the Past 50 Years

Mountains, provide crucial water resources for the development of human society, are the water towers of the world. However, mountain water resources have undergone marked changes in recent decades, posing a threat to sustainable human development. Based on long-term hydrological, meteorological, and related environmental data, this study analyzes the evolving patterns of water resources in China's mountains over the past 50 years using trend analysis methods. The results indicate that surface water resources in China's major mountains have undergone noticeable changes over the past 50 years, with varying trends among different mountains. The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Tianshan regions show an overall increasing trend in surface water resources, while the Hengduan Mountains, Taihang Mountains, Qinling Mountains, Changbai Mountains, and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau have witnessed decreasing trends to varying degrees. Furthermore, there are differences in the primary processes influencing surface water resource changes across various mountains. For example, climate change plays a predominant role in driving surface water resource changes in the high-altitude Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Tianshan region, while human-related activities exert a stronger impact on surface water resource changes in other mountains. To address the challenges brought about by changes in China's mountain surface water resources, it is crucial to take into full consideration the unique natural environments and social systems of each mountain.

Kalmyk meteorological vocabulary of the off-season in comparison with closely related languages

Kalmyk meteorological vocabulary related to lifestyle, environment and mentality belongs to the primordial stratum, as in other closely related languages of the Altai family. The commonality of the grammatical foundations of this vocabulary is confirmed by lexicographic data recorded in old Mongolian, Kalmyk and Turkic sources. The object of the study is nominative units (words, phrases and phraseological units) in the Kalmyk language, denoting the weather phenomena of the off-season. Special attention is paid to the meteorological vocabulary of the off-season of the autumn-winter intermediate period. The relevance of this study is related to the study of meteorological vocabulary in the Kalmyk language, the identification of the features of the linguistic picture of the world of the people as a whole and its influence on vocabulary. The linguistic and cultural analysis of meteorological vocabulary makes it possible to consider the life and culture of the Kalmyk people. This article uses a descriptive method, a comparative method, a method of linguistic and cultural analysis of lexical units. The meteorological vocabulary of the off-season is considered in this article taking into account the modern linguistic and cultural orientation and is presented in the aspect of an interdisciplinary category: a) the role of this phenomenon in human life (natural landmarks and human locations); b) the vocabulary of the off-season and related human economic activity; c) the comparative and evaluative feature of the use of this vocabulary in oral and written samples in the languages under consideration. The Kalmyk meteorological vocabulary of the off-season is an independent integral category that is present in all Mongolian and Turkic languages, recorded in old-written sources and has retained its original meaning in the modern Kalmyk language. This vocabulary reflects the peculiarities of the linguistic picture of the world and worldview, the specifics of the way of life and the inner world of the Kalmyks and is universal for other closely related peoples belonging to the Altai linguistic community.

Life Cycle Assessment of the Environmental Benefits of Using Wood Products and Planting Trees at an All-Electric University Laboratory

Many countries across the globe have set targets for different economic sectors, aiming to tackle global warming by reducing the overall carbon footprint of human-related activities. Among these sectors, the building industry stands out as a major consumer of materials and energy resources, making it a key player in achieving carbon neutrality. It is one of the main contributors responsible for energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, including both operational emissions and embodied emissions in materials and equipment manufacturing. Nature-based design solutions, such as planting trees in urban spaces, or incorporating the use of wood products, have regained attention in recent years due to their potential to mitigate carbon emissions from buildings. Within this context, this paper presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment (LCA) of a recently built research facility, with a focus on demonstrating how the benefits of nature-based solutions, specifically carbon sequestration from trees and biogenic carbon content in wood products, can be quantified and reported using the latest LCA standards and tools. The analysis is provided under three end-of-life scenarios for wood products: wood incineration with energy recovery, wood landfilling, and wood recycling/repurposing. The results indicate that the set of strategies adopted in this building, i.e., tree planting, the use of wood products, and the end-of-life treatment of materials, can potentially offset carbon emission by 37.2% up to 83.9% when included in the LCA, depending on the scenario considered. By continuing to refine LCA standards and tools, and fostering collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and industry professionals, we can advance our understanding and ultimately achieve the widespread adoption of carbon-neutral buildings.

City infrastructure ontologies

Sustainable urban infrastructure planning and maintenance require an integrated approach that considers various infrastructure assets (e.g., the ground, roads, and buried pipes) and their inter-linkages as a holistic system. To facilitate the usage of this integrated approach, we propose a model of city infrastructure assets and their interdependencies, providing details on how asset properties and processes affect each other. This model is represented as ontologies in OWL 2 Web Ontology Language Manchester Syntax, which can be read and interpreted by machines automatically. These ontologies cover the classifications, properties and processes of the ground, roads and buried water pipes, as well as some related human activities and natural phenomena (e.g., precipitation). The ontologies not only provide a foundation for integrating various types of infrastructure and environmental data, but also for understanding the potential knock-on effects of asset failures. The ontologies have been utilised in a decision support system for integrated urban inter-asset management.

Impact of urbanization on the spatial and temporal evolution of the water system pattern: A study of the Wuhan metropolitan area in China

With the rapid economic development and continuous urbanization, the status of river ecosystems is undergoing profound changes. Therefore, quantitative assessment of the impact of urbanization on the water system is highly desirable. Considering Wuhan metropolitan area as the study area, this study constructed an indicator system and used the entropy technique for order preference similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) method to quantify the urbanization level of each city. The urbanization process was divided into four periods based on the results of the urbanization level measurement. Then, the theory of landscape ecology was used to establish the evaluation index system of the water system pattern. Finally, the study used the grey relational analysis model to analyze the relationship between urbanization and evolution of water patterns under different periods. The results indicate that (1) from 2000 to 2019, the urbanization level of Wuhan metropolitan area exhibited an increasing trend, while the four indicators of the quantitative attribute and the two indicators of complexity showed a decline. (2) A negative correlation was observed between urbanization level and water system pattern indicators, with the correlation ranging from 0.55 to 0.62 (maximum value is 1). The urbanization process shows the most significant impact on the quantitative characteristics of water systems. (3) After classifying the urbanization stages, the correlation further increased between 0.55 and 0.95. (4) The four indicators of water patterns with the highest correlation with urbanization in the given periods are class area, area-weighted mean patch fractal dimension, edge density, and number of patches. Management can judge the corresponding human activities in relation to the current stage of the urbanization process and targeted protection of the water systems.

African Swine Fever Outbreak in an Enclosed Wild Boar Hunting Ground in Serbia.

African swine fever (ASF) has been detected in many European countries since its introduction in Georgia in 2007. Serbia suffered its first case of ASF in the domestic pig population in 2019. At the beginning of 2020, ASF was detected in wild boars in open hunting grounds in the southeastern region of the country in districts along the country's borders with Romania and Bulgaria. Since then, all ASF outbreaks in wild boar were clustered in the population located in the same bordering areas. Despite the newly implemented biosecurity protocols for hunters in 2019, ASF was detected for the first time in June 2021 in the wild boar population located in an enclosed hunting ground in the northeast region of the country. In this study, we reported the first ASF outbreak in a wild boar population located in an enclosed hunting ground in close proximity to the Serbian-Romanian border. The epizootiological data on the field investigation of the ASF outbreak, with descriptions of the clinical signs and gross pathological lesions detected, including the total number as well as the estimated age, sex, and postmortem interval, were analyzed. Clinical signs were detected only in nine diseased wild boars, while in total, 149 carcasses were found in the open and enclosed part of the hunting ground. In addition, 99 carcasses from which samples (parts of spleen or long bones) were collected for molecular diagnostics (RT-PCR) were confirmed as ASF-positive. The results of the epidemiological investigations indicate the central role of wild boar movements as well as the constant risk of human-related activities in the countries bordering area.

Extent of anthropogenic influence on groundwater quality and human health-related risks: an integrated assessment based on selected physicochemical characteristics

Majority of people living on earth rely on groundwater as their primary supply of water for daily needs. However, human activities continuously threaten this natural resource. In an attempt to unravel the extent of impact of human-related activities on groundwater physicochemical characteristics in Nnewi and Awka urban clusters (Nigeria), several techniques were integrated in this study. Groundwater samples were warm and acidic in nature. Concentrations of SO4 2-, NO3 -, PO4 3-, Cl-, HCO3 -, Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, and K+ were within set benchmarks. Water nutrient pollution index (ranging from 0.060-0.745), nitrate pollution index (varying between -0.999 and -0.790), and water pollution index (ranging from 0.057-0.630) estimated the extent of anthropogenic contamination and showed low anthropogenic impact on the groundwater physicochemical characteristics. The health risks due to the ingestion and skin absorption of the nitrate-contaminated water computed for six age groups (6-12 months, 5-10 years, 10-15 years, 15-20 years, 20-60 years, and > 60 years) showed health risk values that were < 1, implying low chronic health risks to humans. The cumulative total health hazard index ranged between 0.006 and 0.787 with a mean value of 0.167. Chemometric analyses and geochemical plots revealed the relationships between the variables and contamination sources. Chadha’s plot showed that 55% of the samples were Ca2+-Mg2+-Cl- waters, predominating over Na+-Cl- and Ca2+-Mg2+-HCO3 - waters. Bivariate and multivariate geochemical plots also indicated low anthropogenic impact. Furthermore, principal component analysis and R-type hierarchical clustering confirmed that the groundwater chemistry and quality were mostly influenced by geogenic processes than human-related acts. Conclusively, the extent of anthropogenic influence on the groundwater physicochemical characteristics is low. These findings would be useful in future monitoring of groundwater in both urban clusters.

Combined Effects of Clime, Vegetation, Human-Related Land Use and Livestock on the Distribution of the Three Indigenous Species of Gazelle in Eritrea.

The status and habitat selection of the three species of gazelle indigenous to Eritrea, i.e., Nanger soemmerringii, Gazella dorcas and Eudorcas tilonura, are not well known. In this study, we analyzed the present distribution of the three species in the country in order to identify preferred habitats and assess the effect of human disturbance (land use for agricultural purposes and livestock) on species occurrence. These data represent baseline information for evidence-based strategies for conservation of the three species in Eritrea. Presence/absence data of the three species in each of the 67 administrative subregions (Sub Zoba) composing the country were collected using direct (field surveys) and indirect methods (questionnaires). For each sampling unit, we collected fifteen environmental variables, of which three are associated with climatic features, eight with vegetation structure and four with human disturbance (human-related land use and livestock). The occurrence probability of each species was modeled through Generalized Linear Models (GLM). The analyses showed that Dorcas gazelle occurred more frequently in warmer conditions and in a wide range of natural vegetation types. Heuglin's gazelle occurred in warmer regions with higher seasonality in both temperature and precipitation with a preference for closed woody and open grassland areas. In the case of Soemmerring's gazelle, the GLM with climatic variables predicted a preference for warmer conditions but with lower seasonality of temperature and precipitation. The species also seemed to prefer arid and semi-arid open vegetation. Human disturbance is the variable with the strongest, negative, effect on the species occurrence. Indeed, the occurrence probability of each species decreased with increasing livestock density and agricultural land use. Most of these gazelle occurred in unprotected areas, thus the human-related activities are undoubtedly the most important threat for the three species of gazelle in Eritrea. Therefore, the establishment of protected areas that preserve the potential optimal habitats for gazelle and reduce the impact of livestock ranching are essential to ensure a future for these gazelle in Eritrea.

PENINGKATAN KUALITAS LINGKUNGAN PESISIR MELALUI AKSI BERSIH PANTAI DI DESA RUMAH TIGA KOTA AMBON

Contaminants entering marine systemts have become environmental issues because of their significantly negative impacts. Coasts of Rumah Tiga Village are connected to Ambon Bay and provide marine habitats and tourist attractions due to their location close to Merah Putih Bridge (including recreations, restaurants and aquaculture sites). These human related activities contribute to the discharge of wastes into marine waters. Due to their location at inshore outer Ambon Bay, marine pollutants from the bay tend to be applied at the location. Because of the concentrated pollutants at the location, the coasts of Rumah Tiga Village are a suitable location to conduct beach clean-ups in Ambon Bay. The beach clean-up activities also aim to allow Study Program of Marine Science of Faculty of Fisheries and Marine Sciences, Pattimura University to raise awareness to its students and local community to care for environment.

IDENTIFICATION OF ANTHROPOGENIC IMPACT ON NATURAL HABITATS BY ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE QUANTIFICATION IN TWO NEOTROPICAL WILD CATS AND THEIR GEOSPATIAL ANALYSIS.

Human activities such as habitat degradation and fragmentation threaten biodiversity in Neotropical areas. This work proposes an analytical methodology to identify natural areas in Central America with anthropogenic impact, analyzing the presence of antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) in accordance with their theoretical relationship with human-related activities. Sixteen ARGs were quantified in feces of different individuals of 13 jaguars (Panthera onca) and 13 pumas (Puma concolor) in three conservation areas in Costa Rica by real-time PCR. At least one ARG was detected in all samples. Of the ARGs encoding tetracycline resistance, the most frequent were tetQ and tetY (85% and 69%, respectively). The sulfonamides (sulI and sulII; 69% each), phenicols (catI and catII; 19% and 54%, respectively), and quinolones (qnrS; 12%) were also detected. The presence of human settlements, livestock farms (pigs, cattle, and poultry), roads, human health centers, flood zones, and rivers were identified within each area to generate an index of human activity. We found no difference between the presence of ARG by roads, agricultural activities, and human settlements (P>0.05). However, tetW showed higher percentages with porcine and bovine farms; both tetY and tetW were more frequent in jaguars than in pumas. Of concern is that many of the most contaminated samples were taken from national parks, such as Braulio Carrillo and Tortuguero, where animals should not have direct contact with humans.

Assessing the Importance of Native Mycorrhizal Fungi to Improve Tree Establishment after Wildfires.

The Chilean matorral is a heavily threatened Mediterranean-type ecosystem due to human-related activities such as anthropogenic fires. Mycorrhizal fungi may be the key microorganisms to help plants cope with environmental stress and improve the restoration of degraded ecosystems. However, the application of mycorrhizal fungi in the restoration of the Chilean matorral is limited because of insufficient local information. Consequently, we assessed the effect of mycorrhizal inoculation on the survival and photosynthesis at set intervals for two years after a fire event in four native woody plant species, namely: Peumus boldus, Quillaja saponaria, Cryptocarya alba, and Kageneckia oblonga, all dominant species of the matorral. Additionally, we assessed the enzymatic activity of three enzymes and macronutrient in the soil in mycorrhizal and non-mycorrhizal plants. The results showed that mycorrhizal inoculation increased survival in all studied species after a fire and increased photosynthesis in all, but not in P. boldus. Additionally, the soil associated with mycorrhizal plants had higher enzymatic activity and macronutrient levels in all species except in Q. saponaria, in which there was no significant mycorrhization effect. The results suggest that mycorrhizal fungi could increase the fitness of plants used in restoration initiatives after severe disturbances such as fires and, consequently, should be considered for restoration programs of native species in threatened Mediterranean ecosystems.

Sea turtle (Reptilia, Testudines) diversity and occurrence in the Azores Archipelago (NE Atlantic).

Six species of marine turtles occur in the Azores Archipelago. The loggerhead, Carettacaretta (Linnaeus, 1758), is by far the most common species and is being constantly monitored and tagged by a joint project between the University of the Azores and the University of Florida since 1989. With the implementation of the tuna fishery observers (for dolphin safe seals), an increment of sea turtle reports has been verified as expected. The leather back turtle, Dermochelyscoriacea (Vandelli, 1761) is the second most observed species in the Azores' EEZ, a fact probably also linked to the tuna fishery observation programme. All other species are occasional/vagrant albeit the green turtle, Cheloniamydas (Linnaeus, 1758) is more commonly seen than the others. Historically, sea turtles were occasionally taken for food in specific fishing villages and ports. Since 1986, sea turtles, as well as all marine mammals, are fully protected in the Azores although human-related activities (e.g. plastics, discarded fishing gear) do generate serious injuries and deaths. In this paper, we update sea turtle species' checklist for the Azores and give detailed geographic coordinates on their known occurrences.

Temporal dynamics clustering for analyzing cell behavior in mobile networks

In recent years, management and resource allocation of mobile networks have become crucial because of a dramatic growth of mobile traffic. For Internet service providers, resource allocation is a challenging problem due to the inhomogeneous distributed nature of user demand, which increases the difficulty of configuring base stations in complicated urban environments. To manage mobile networks in an efficient way, understanding the typical usage behavior is very valuable for network operators. This paper aims at providing tools to analyze the behavior of mobile network cells in an urban environment. To achieve this goal, we propose a new time series clustering algorithm denoted as temporal dynamics clustering. Unlike conventional clustering approaches, this algorithm generates a new representation of time series by summarizing the distribution of the sequence of differences; in this way, temporal dynamics clustering creates clusters based on the variability of time series. We apply the proposed algorithm on a real-world mobile network dataset, showing its superior performance and much faster running time with respect to conventional methods such as hierarchical clustering and K-medoids. We also train neural networks on the clusters generated by temporal dynamics clustering, and the results show that the forecasting difficulty of time series is closely related to its temporal dynamics. Using this approach, we have analyzed the cell behavior with two weeks observation collected in Turin, and obtained interpretable results, in that the behavior of each cell is strongly related to the characteristics of the area and the related human activity. We also study the cell behavior in different time slots by considering time-dependent characteristic of human activity. Through experiments, we show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm at providing a deeper understanding of traffic usage patterns in intricate urban environments.

Functional immune diversity in reindeer reveals a high Arctic population at risk

Climate changes the geographic range of both species as well as pathogens, causing a potential increase in the vulnerability of populations or species with limited genetic diversity. With advances in high throughput sequencing (HTS) technologies, we can now define functional expressed genetic diversity of wild species at a larger scale and identify populations at risk. Previous studies have used genomic DNA to define major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II diversity in reindeer. Varying numbers of expressed genes found in many ungulates strongly argues for using cDNA in MHC typing strategies to ensure that diversity estimates relate to functional genes. We have used available reindeer genomes to identify candidate genes and established an HTS approach to define expressed MHC class I and class II diversity. To capture a broad diversity we included samples from wild reindeer from Southern Norway, semi-domesticated reindeer from Northern Norway and reindeer from the high Artic archipelago Svalbard. Our data show a medium MHC diversity in semi-domesticated and wild Norwegian mainland reindeer, and low MHC diversity reindeer in Svalbard reindeer. The low immune diversity in Svalbard reindeer provides a potential risk if the pathogenic pressure changes in response to altered environmental conditions due to climate change, or increased human-related activity.