bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Obstacles to Effective Management of Conflicts Between National Parks and Surrounding Human Communities in Developing Countries
Authors: Hough John L. 
Published: August 2009

Conflicts between national parks and their surrounding human communities are apparently disfunctional for both. Both groups would appear to have incentives to resolve or at least reduce these conflicts. A major difficulty is the achievement of ready communication and trust between the powerful urban-based park authorities and the rural, possibly illiterate, local human populations who may have suffered at the hands of the park authorities in the past. Because of their greater power, the national park authorities are in the best position to take the first steps towards establishing trust—by making some positive concessions, and binding themselves in some way to real, rather than token, local participation in decision-making.Local elected officials with responsibilities both to their local electorate and to the objectives of central government, might be suitable agents for bringing the various parties together. When once effective communication is established, the early identification of areas of common interest, and positive actions to promote these, will continue the trust-building process and enable more difficult issues to be addressed. The identification, in advance, of options or alternatives that appear to be mutually beneficial, ‘positive sum’ solutions, will facilitate this and provide incentives for the initial participation of all parties.This approach to protected areas management will require new skills and training for park staff—in social and political as well as biological skills. It will also require a shift in the ruling paradigm of protected areas. The concept of national parks as inviolate havens of untouched Nature, controlled by an all-powerful central government agency, will have to give way to concepts of conservation through careful manipulation to achieve both conservation and local human development objectives. Although this approach is being hailed by conservation leaders through such worthy devices as Biosphere Reserves (Batisse, 1982), these concepts do not yet seem to have the international status that is required for their extensive adoption, nor do they necessarily build conflict-management processes into the management regime.The approach suggested above is not without risk both to park authorities and to the local human communities; but clarification of both conservation and development objectives should reduce such a risk and help to identify the information and analytical needs for working towards a mutually beneficial solution.
The Black-headed Gull's Adaptation to Polluted Environments: The Role of the Mixed-function Oxidase Detoxication System
Authors: Fossi Cristina , Leonzio Claudio , Focardi Silvano , Renzoni Aristeo 
Published: August 2009

This study was conducted to explore the role of the mixed-function oxidase (MFO) detoxication system in the ‘adaptation’ process of gulls to polluted environments. In two different populations of Black-headed Gull (Larus ridibundus), feeding in one case in a lagoon and in the other on an inland rubbish-dump, MFO hepatic activities (aldrin epoxidase, 7-ethoxyresorufin o-deethylase, NADPH-cytochrome c reductase, NADH-cytochrome c reductase, and NADH-ferrycianide reductase) and chlorinated hydrocarbon residues were determined. All the enzymatic activities detected, and the PCB residues, were higher in the Gulls feeding on the inland dump than in the gulls feeding in the lagoon.The results obtained suggest that the development of a strong detoxication system constitutes an important ‘survival mechanism’ for these birds when feeding customarily in polluted environments.
Environmental Priorities for Financing Institutions
Authors: Goodland Robert J.A. 
Published: August 2009

The reasons which recently forced the World Bank into environmental improvements are discussed, so that other financial institutions can profit from this experience. The reasons include due recognition that environmental abuse is constraining economic development, that environmental damage has now assumed massive proportions, and that such abuse is intensifying. The electorates of the World Bank's industrial shareholding nations began to pressure their representatives. Advocates of the poor, and of people affected by environmentally-bungled development projects, joined forces with environmental NGOs and added to the pressure for environmental reform.The World Bank's positive response led to a series of major institutional, procedural, and policy, reforms, which are provided as examples and suggestions to other financial bodies that need or at least desire to improve their environmental stance. The Bank's environmental policies are outlined, and the most powerful — Environmental Impact Assessment — is treated in detail.Based on this experience, the environmental opportunities available to other financiers are discussed. The case is presented that financiers becoming environmentally prudent in the ways suggested will out-compete their environmentally imprudent colleagues. The latter will go bust or be prosecuted. The paper ends with a rich menu of ideas through prosecution of which environmental responsibility can be sought by financiers.
Mahogany Conservation: Status and Policy Initiatives
Authors: Rodan Bruce D. , Newton Adrian C. , Verissimo Adalberto 
Published: August 2009

Genuine or American mahogany is obtained from trees of the genus Swietenia (S. mahagoni, S. macrophylla, and S. humilis), and is one of the premier timbers of international commerce. The trade in mahogany commenced almost five centuries ago with S. mahagoni from the Caribbean; but following ‘commercial’ extinction of this resource, trade became centred on mahogany populations in South and Central America (S. macrophylla). The trade in mahogany is predominantly from primary forests, and has led to population and genetic resource declines — particularly in the Caribbean and Central America. More recently, there have been an increasing number of ‘commercial’ extinctions in South America. As the resource declines, pressures mount to accelerate the illegal extraction of mahogany from National Parks and lands reserved for indigenous (‘Indian’) peoples. Inability to control this trade threatens mahogany populations and genetic resources throughout its range, at the same time adversely affecting the livelihoods of indigenous peoples in the process.Mahogany often regenerates poorly following logging operations that are conducted using current management practices, and further research is required to determine the optimum biological and economic conditions for in situ silviculture. Attempts to cultivate mahogany in plantations have met with little success in the Americas, due mainly to effects of the shoot-borer (Hypsipyla grandella), a moth larva that damages terminal shoots, so leading to excessive branching and reduced timber value (Figs 3 and 4). The success of mahogany plantations in the neotropics will require the development of an integrated pest-management system, perhaps involving the incorporation of pestresistant genotypes within agro-forestry or mixed plantation systems.It is vital that appropriate silvicultural and trade practices are adopted to ensure sustainable mahogany extraction, while at the same time conserving an adequate population and genetic resource-base. To this end, effective trade monitoring and resource-regulation measures must be introduced to assist in controlling illegal trade and to encourage a scientifically managed, sustainable, utilization of mahogany. Two of the three mahogany species, S. humilis and S. mahagoni, have been listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The third and only other recognized species of Swietenia, S. macrophylla, should also be considered for listing in CITES Appendix II, thereby benefiting from the international trade-monitoring and resource regulation requirements consequent upon such listing.
Himalayan Mountaineering Expedition Garbage
Authors: Cullen Ross 
Published: August 2009

Expedition garbage is an unfortunate by-product of Himalayan mountaineering expeditions. High transport costs, lack of concern amongst climbers, and lack of direction by authorities, results in squalid garbage heaps around mountain campsites. Growth in numbers of expeditions, climbers, and trekkers, to the Himalaya necessitates prompt action to prevent despoliation of those areas.Such despoliation of campsites by inadequate treatment or unsatisfactory disposal practices cannot be halted by reliance on improved climber behaviour alone. Host-country authorities must develop and enforce more comprehensive guidelines and policies for garbage disposal than currently prevail. A combination of burning and transport to pits off-site seems likely to be typically the best disposal practice to follow. A combination of change in expedition behaviour, provision of leadership in garbage disposal, and use of environmental protection levies, seems necessary to combat the problem of growing squalor at campsites and expanding desecration of surrounding areas.
Problems of Protection Against Piping and Surface Erosion in Central Tunisia
Authors: Baillie Ian C. , Faulkner P.H. , Espin G.D. , Levett M.J. , Nicholson B. 
Published: August 2009

The formation of quasi-tubular voids in the subsoil, known as ‘piping’, is an important form of subsoil erosion that arises when substantial volumes of subsurface lateral throughflow pass through dispersible subsoils. Amongst the environmental factors that favour the development of piping are high contents of expansible clay minerals, a severe dry season, and convexities in the slope profile. The first two of these are characteristic of considerable areas in Central Tunisia.In addition to natural slope-convexities, further topographic loci for pipe initiation and development are provided by the artificial convexities introduced into the slope profile by the construction of conservation banks. The earthworks are designed as protection against surface erosion processes, which prevail for most of the year in this part of Tunisia. However, it appears that the banking is particularly vulnerable to piping, which is causing considerable disruption. Australian experience indicates that banking should be used very sparingly on soils which are at all prone to piping, and that care is needed in both the alignment and construction of such banks as are deemed unavoidable.
Environment and Law: A Perspective from Developing Countries
Authors: Biswas Asit K. 
Published: August 2009

Environmental law is an important tool for environmental management. A review of the environmental legislation existing in developing countries presents a very diverse picture. Generally speaking, the Asian countries have for the most part well-established and often highly-developed legal systems, which, when necessary, can assimilate new legal mechanisms and legislation for environmental management without undue turbulence. In contrast, the African countries have not on the whole made environmental protection a part of the fundamental laws that exist at present.Poor effectiveness of environmental legislation in developing countries should be a matter of very serious concern. Such poor effectiveness is primarily due to two major problems: a piecemeal, unsystematic legal approach to environmental management, and the lack of effective implementation of existing environmental legislation—irrespective of how good it may be to deal with the overall problem.
Tropical Forests: The Main Deforestation Fronts
Authors: Myers Norman 
Published: August 2009

Tropical moist forests are being depleted at an ecobiome-wide rate of c. 2% per year. Certain countries are losing very little forest, while others are losing it at a rate of twice the average, and a few at a rate several times higher. An initial assessment of 14 ‘deforestation fronts’ — being areas that feature the most intensive, widespread, and rapid, deforestation — reveals that they currently feature 43% of all deforestation in 25% of tropical moist forests' expanse.There is urgent need for additional documentation of these deforestation fronts, and to monitor their evolving status — especially of those that look likely to lose forest cover at ever-more rapid rates. Even more important, the analysis allows us to derive criteria for major foci of deforestation, thus enabling us to anticipate new fronts while they are still emergent. In turn, this affords opportunity for preventive measures in the form of ‘silver bullet’ strategies on the part of conservationists, forestry experts, land-use planners, and policymakers. An early-warning system would go far towards supplying us with a more substantive and methodical understanding of depletive processes overtaking tropical forests.
Park–People Relations in Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal: A Socio-economic Analysis
Authors: Heinen Joel T. 
Published: August 2009

Park-people interactions in Kosi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, located in the lowlands of Southeastern Nepal, were studied intensively over a two-years' period from 1986 to 1988, through a variety of economic and attitu-dinal surveys. The Reserve had been established for the conservation of wild Water Buffalo and migratory waterfowl, and protects some of the most important wetland habitat in Nepal; it is therefore vital for the conservation of biodiversity on a national and regional level. The results showed that people in the area are dependent on the Reserve for the collection of grasses etc. which they use as building materials, while the Reserve provides fish which are sold cheaply in local markets. Other products, such as fuel-wood, edible and medicinal plants, and seeds, are occasionally collected legally in the Reserve.Despite the measurable benefits, attitudes about the Reserve are generally poor in the region, at least among local inhabitants who do not understand its main raisons d'être. The best predictors of attitudes were the caste or ethnic group and the literacy rate of the family of the respondent, and not the socio-economic standing of, or the direct cost to, the respondent due to crop damage by wildlife. These results suggest that religious inculcation, societal discrimination, and education, may all play a role in shaping attitudes and therefore influencing park-people relations. Short-term solutions to park-people conflicts should include more education and extension programmes on the part of the Reserve's management, and legal efforts to return at least some control to local villages.
Soil Compaction as a Constraint to Tree Growth in Tropical & Subtropical Urban Habitats
Authors: Jim Chi Yung 
Published: August 2009

Of the many forms of above- and below-ground stresses facing urban trees, physical soil limitations are generally among the most persistent and least amenable to amelioration. Soil compaction is a common soil malady that afflicts many planting-sites and causes tree decline. The concept of soil structure in terms of porosity and moisture-suction is reviewed, to provide a basis for the interpretation of compaction as structural degradation. The reorganization of solid and interstitial void constituents, which can result in increased dentity of packing, is related to some fundamental physical and physico-chemical soil properties.Compaction brings about changes in a wide spectrum of related geometric and other soil attributes, the consequences of which are often inimical to plant growth. Many deliberate and inadvertent actions in urban areas increase packing density, which can be diagnosed through some field and laboratory tests. The harmful effects of compaction is exertedviamechanical impediment and other indirect impacts on root growth. Excessively loose soils and soil crusts are discussed in the light of compaction concepts and in relation to tree growth.A wide range of measures could be adopted to alleviate the problems of soil compaction. Preventive actions taken before tree planting are preferred to post-planting remedies which are cumbersome, and injurious to roots. Soils at planting sites could be partially improved by various mechanical means to reduce packing density and enhance aggregation. Coarse-textured materials with inherently high strength and resistance to dense packing could provide a stable medium for tree growth. The installation of subsurface aeration and drainage pipes could alleviate the ill-effects of compaction. Care should be taken to avoid structural degradation in stockpiling and construction activities.
Eye growth in sharks: Ecological implications for changes in retinal topography and visual resolution
Authors: LITHERLAND LENORE , COLLIN SHAUN P. , FRITSCHES KERSTIN A. 
Published: August 2009

AbstractThe visual abilities of sharks show substantial interspecific variability. In addition, sharks may change their habitat and feeding strategy throughout life. As the eyes of sharks continue to grow throughout the animal’s lifetime, ontogenetic variability in visual ability may also occur. The topographic analysis of the photoreceptor and ganglion cell distributions can identify visual specializations and assess changes in visual abilities that may occur concurrently with eye growth. This study examines an ontogenetic series of whole-mounted retinas in two elasmobranch species, the sandbar shark,Carcharhinus plumbeus, and the shortspine spurdog,Squalus mitsukurii, to identify regional specializations mediating zones for improved spatial resolution. The study examines retinal morphology and presents data on summation ratios between photoreceptor and ganglion cell layers, anatomically determined peak spatial resolving power, and the angular extent of the visual field. Peak densities of photoreceptors and ganglion cells occur in similar retinal locations. The topographic distribution of neurons in the ganglion cell layer does not differ substantially with eye growth. However, predicted peak spatial resolution increases with eye growth from 4.3 to 8.9 cycles/deg inC. plumbeusand from 5.7 to 7.2 cycles/deg inS. mitsukurii. The topographic distribution of different-sized ganglion cells is also mapped inC. plumbeus, and a population of large ganglion cells (soma area 120–350μm2) form a narrow horizontal streak across the retinal meridian, while the spatial distribution of ordinary-sized ganglion cells (soma area 30–120μm2) forms anareain the central retina. Species-specific retinal specializations highlight differences in visually mediated behaviors and foraging strategies betweenC. plumbeusandS. mitsukurii.
FISH spots microdeletion in heart defects
Authors: Ferraz-Gameiro P. , Ferrão J. , Mendes C. , Pires L. M. , Matoso E. , Carreira I. M. 
Published: August 2009

AbstractThe 22q11.2 microdeletion is found in most of DiGeorge and velocardiofacial syndromes. These individuals have a wide range of anomalies including congenital heart disease, palatal abnormalities, characteristic facial features, hypocalcaemia, immune deficiency, and learning difficulties. Congenital heart disease, particularly conotruncal malformations are associated with 29% of deletions. This syndrome may be inherited as an autosomal dominant trait, but the majority of patients (93%) have a de novo deletion. To access the presence of the microdeletion in those individuals whose phenotipic changes suggested abnormalities in chromosome 22, a study has been made in several children with congenital heart defects.
ERK activation in noradrenergic and serotonergic brainstem nuclei in chronic pain upon noxious stimulation and antidepressants treatment
Authors: Borges G. , Berrocoso E. , Ortega-Alvaro A. , Micó J. A. , Neto F. L. 
Published: August 2009

AbstractChronic neuropathic pain is a pathology that affects thousands of people worldwide. Antidepressants have been prescribed for the treatment of this sort of pain but the mechanisms underlying their analgesic action remain unknown. Extracellular-signal regulated kinases (ERKs) are being implicated in pain transmission and modulation as well as in the pathophysiology of depression. In order to clarify some of the mechanisms which might be related to the analgesic effect of antidepressants, we started by evaluating possible changes in the pattern of activation of ERKs in rats with chronic constriction injury (CCI), an experimental model of chronic
TEM identification of Pseudo-nitzschia species from Lisbon Bay (NE Atlantic)
Authors: Amorim A. , Veloso V. , Frazão B. , de Matos A. P. Alves 
Published: August 2009

AbstractSeveral species of the chain-forming marine diatom genus Pseudo-nitzschia produce domoic acid (DA), a neuroexcitant amino acid, responsible for a human amnesic syndrome after consumption of toxified shellfish (ASP). Since 1995, the Portuguese monitoring program has regularly detected the presence of DA in shellfish. So far only P. australis has been implicated, and references therein. Identification of the causative species of Pseudo-nitzchia in natural samples is hampered by difficulties in identification at the light microscope level. Recent studies have shown that ultrastructural details of the wall, observed by transmission electron microscopy, allow the identification of species in good agreement with the phylogenetic and biological species concept.
Characterization of Monocarboxylate Transporters' expression in prostate carcinoma
Authors: Gomes Nelma , Vizcaíno José Ramón , Pinheiro Céline , Baltazar Fátima 
Published: August 2009

AbstractHighly proliferative cancer cells maintain high rates of glycolysis, producing large amounts of acids, mainly lactic acid. Despite this fact, only the interstitial pH of tumours is low, while the intracellular pH of tumours is either normal or higher than that of normal tissues. Monocarboxylate transporters (MCTs) are transmembrane proteins that, by promoting the efflux of the accumulating acids, constitute one of the most important mechanisms in the maintenance of tumour intracellular pH. MCTs play a central role in cellular metabolism and are essential for the transport of metabolically important monocarboxylates, such as lactate, across the plasma membrane.
Morphometric and molecular study of corpus cavernosum of the rat after longterm high-fat diet intake
Authors: Tomada I. , Tomada N. , Almeida H. , Vendeira P. , Neves D. 
Published: August 2009

AbstractErectile dysfunction (ED) is considered equivalent to endothelial dysfunction and thus an early manifestation of atherosclerosis and cardiovascular disease (CVD). Atherosclerosis that is frequently provoked by regular consumption of high-fat diet (HFD) has been recently recognized as a chronic inflammation condition associated to vessel lipid deposition and vascular smooth cells proliferation that together impair endothelium-dependent relaxation of corpus cavernosum (CC) smooth muscle. It is also well established that HFD regular intake by its own induces endothelial dysfunction. The main objective of this study was to evaluate effects of HFD continuous intake on atherosclerosis progression of CC vessels of the rat. Due to their intervention on atherosclerosisrelated vascular remodelling pathways, angiopoietins (Ang1, Ang2) expression in erectile tissue of this rat experimental model was characterized.