First known case of carcass guarding by Black Kite Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) in urban landscape, north India

Behavioral traits of the species play an important role in functioning of the ecosystem and thus, biodiversity conservation and in evolving behavioural adaptations to survive according to environmental conditions. This note aims at adding a rare observation by placing photographic evidence of entanglement of a carcass of juvenile black kite Milvus migrans from the nest bowl and use of nest by an adult individual, guarding the carcass. Documenting such behavior and responses of species, underpinning the species’ ecology, especially in context of changing climatic conditions, would thus contributes towards the natural history and management of native species in an urban environment. Further, scientific studies are needed to be conducted to reach some conclusion as to why species perform such behaviour

The Impact of Perceived Parental Expectations on Career Adaptability: The Moderating Role of Parental Career Support

Background: Career adaptability is regarded as the core index to measure the adequacy of youth’s “career readiness”, which refers to the psychological resources of individuals to cope with current or expected career tasks, career changes or career difficulties. Methods: In this study, 529 students (246 male students, 46.5%, 283 female students, 53.5%) in the first grade of a senior high school in Beijing were assessed by the perceived Parental Expectation Scale, the Parental Career Support Scale and the Career Adaptability Scale. Results: (1) Parents’ expectations, parents’ career support and career adaptability were significantly positively correlated, and the scores were all higher than the average. (2) Parents’ expectations and parents’ careers are significantly positive predictors of career adaptability; (3) The variable of parental career support plays a moderating role in the path of perceived parental expectations on career adaptability. Conclusions: In the middle school stage, parents’ provision of career resources has a good promotion effect on students’ career preparation and coping with career difficulties

A Proposed Method for Evaluating Management Feasibility When Determining Weed Control Priorities after Major Fires and Floods

Major fires and floods have enormous impacts on natural ecosystems and are predicted to increase in frequency with global warming. Land managers need to make decisions on the prioritisation of weeds for control in post-disturbance landscapes, but little is available in the way of guidance to support timely decision making. Semi-quantitative models (e.g., scoring systems) have been employed routinely in weed risk assessment, which considers the potential impacts posed by weeds, as well as the likelihood of these impacts being realised. Some progress has been made in the development of similar models addressing the topic of weed risk management. Under conditions prevailing after major disturbances, changes (both positive and negative) can be expected in the multiple factors that determine weed management feasibility, relative to pre-disturbance conditions. A semi-quantitative model is proposed that is based on the key factors that contribute to weed management feasibility in post-disturbance environments, along with annotated modules that could be used by land managers in both post-fire and post-flood situations. The fundamental challenge for weed management in these scenarios lies in the identification of differences between weeds and native species in relation to (1) patterns of seedling emergence; and (2) detectability relative to the growth stage. These two factors will determine the timing of control actions that are designed to address the trade-off between weed control and off-target damage during the period when both types of plants are recovering from a major disturbance event. The model is intuitively sound, but field testing is required to determine both its practical value and any necessary improvement

Research on Residents' Willingness to Protect Privacy in the Context of the Personal Information Protection Law: A Survey Based on Foshan Residents' Data

The Personal Information Protection Law, as the frst law on personal information protection in China, hits the people’s most concerned, realistic and direct privacy and information security issues, and plays an extremely important role in promoting the development of the digital economy, the legalization of socialism with Chinese characteristics and social public security, and marks a new historical development stage in the protection of personal information in China. However, the awareness of privacy protection and privacy protection behavior of the public in personal information privacy protection is weak. Based on the literature review and in-depth understanding of current legal regulations, this study integrates the relevant literature and theoretical knowledge of the Personal Protection Law to construct a conceptual model of “privacy information protection willingness—privacy information protection behavior”. Taking the residents of Foshan City as an example, this paper conducts a questionnaire survey on their attitudes toward the Personal Protection Law, analyzes the factors infuencing their willingness to protect their privacy and their behaviors, and explores the mechanisms of their infuencing variables, to provide advice and suggestions for promoting the protection of privacy information and building a security barrier for the high-quality development of public information security

The Relationship between Water Resources Use Efficiency and Scientific and Technological Innovation Level: Case Study of Yangtze River Basin in China

The Yangtze River Basin's water resource utilization efficiency (WUE) and scientific and technological innovation level (STI) are closely connected, and the comprehension of these relationships will help to improve WUE and promote local economic growth and conservation of water. This study uses 19 provinces and regions along the Yangtze River's mainstream from 2009 to 2019 as its research objects and uses a Vector Auto Regression (VAR) model to quantitatively evaluate the spatiotemporal evolution of the coupling coordination degree (CCD) between the two subsystems of WUE and STI. The findings show that: (1) Both the WUE and STI in the Yangtze River Basin showed an upward trend during the study period, but the STI effectively lagged behind the WUE; (2) The CCD of the two subsystems generally showed an upward trend, and the CCD of each province was improved to varying degrees, but the majority of regions did not develop a high-quality coordination stage; (3) The CCD of the two systems displayed apparent positive spatial autocorrelation in the spatial correlation pattern, and there were only two types: high-high (H-H) urbanization areas and low-low (L-L) urbanization areas; (4) The STI showed no obvious response to the impact of the WUE, while the WUE responded greatly to the STI, and both of them were highly dependent on themselves. Optimizing their interaction mechanisms should be the primary focus of high-quality development in the basin of the Yangtze River in the future. These results give the government an empirical basis to enhance the WUE and promote regional sustainable development

Is the Long-term Economic Decline of the Philippines Unstoppable? Trends, Reasons, Outlook

The Philippines was in the 1960s a model of development in Asia and second to Japan, but occupies presently only the 11th position under South-East and East Asian countries in terms of GDP-per capita. The article explores why this important Asian country with a long colonial past and enormous economic potential still ranks under lowerincome countries and has in the last decades let pass by many other Asian countries. In answering this question, the approach of external triggers for accelerated development is being applied. In stark contrast to the success stories of the strongly outward-looking Asian countries like the four Tigers, later of Thailand and Vietnam the Philippines never developed a vision of an open economy connecting pro-actively to the world markets. Trade is hampered by a noncompetitive and highly protected national economy. The existing FDI is more oriented to the profitable local markets. Foreign debts were never effectively used and international tourism was never well promoted. Linking these failures to the existing power structures in the country, it seems very much that the backward forces like the big landowners, the local producers and industrialists never wanted and continue not to want to open up the economy to international competition and governments are complacent with these groups. Various indicators demonstrate the long-term decline of the Philippines: Among them the slow growth of the GDP and the continuously high poverty rates. As the alliance of big business and policy holds firm no change in the failing nationalistic economic model can be detected leaving the bleak outlook that the economic decline will continue

Experimental Study and Fragility Analysis of Effective-Length Factors in Column Buckling

The design of columns relies heavily on the basis of Leonhard Euler's Theory of Elastic Buckling. However, to increase the accuracy in determining the maximum critical load a column can withstand before buckling, a constant was introduced. This dimensionless coefficient is K, also known as the effective-length factor. This constant is often found in building design codes and varies in value depending on the type of column support that is applied. This paper presents experimental and analytical studies on the determination of the effective-length factor in the buckling stability of columns with partially-fixed support conditions. To this end, the accurate K value of the columns tested by the Instron Testing Machine (ITM) at California State University, Northridge’s (CSUN’s) Mechanics Laboratory is determined. The ITM is used in studying the buckling of columns where the supports are neither pinned nor fixed, and the material cross-section rather rests upon the machine while loading is applied axially. Several column specimens were tested and the experimental data were analyzed in order to estimation of the accurate effective-length factor. The calculations from the tested results as well as the conducted probabilistic analysis shed light on how a fragility curve may aid in predicting the effective-length value of future tests

Spatial and Temporal Variation of Particulate Matter (PM10 and PM2.5) and Its Health Effects during the Haze Event in Malaysia

This study aims to assess and compare levels of particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5) in urban and industrial areas in Malaysia during haze episodes, which typically occur in the south west monsoon season. The high concentrations of atmospheric particles are mainly due to pollution from neighbouring countries. Daily PM concentrations were analysed for urban and industrial areas including Alor Setar, Tasek, Shah Alam, Klang, Bandaraya Melaka, Larkin, Balok Baru, and Kuala Terengganu in 2018 and 2019. The analysis employed spatiotemporal to examine how PM levels were distributed. The data summary revealed that PM levels in all study areas were right-skewed, indicating the occurrence of high particulate events. Significant peaks in PM concentrations during haze events were consistently observed between June and October, encompassing the south west monsoon and inter-monsoon periods. The study on acute respiratory illnesses primarily focused on Selangor. Analysis revealed that Klang had the highest mean number of inpatient cases for acute exacerbation of bronchial asthma (AEBA) and acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) with values of 260.500 and 185.170, respectively. Similarly, for outpatient cases of AEBA and AECOPD, Klang had the highest average values of 41.67 and 14.00, respectively. Shah Alam and Sungai Buloh did not show a significant increase in cases during periods of biomass burning. The statistical analysis concluded that higher concentrations of PM were associated with increased hospital admissions, particularly from June to September, as shown in the bar diagram. Haze episodes were associated with more healthcare utilization due to haze-related respiratory illnesses, seen in higher inpatient and outpatient visits (p < 0.05). However, seasonal variability had minimal impact on healthcare utilization. These findings offer a comprehensive assessment of PM levels during historic haze episodes, providing valuable insights for authorities to develop policies and guidelines for effective monitoring and mitigation of the negative impacts of haze events

Assessing the Impact of Gas Flaring and Carbon Dioxide Emissions on Precipitation Patterns in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria Using Geospatial Analysis

This research utilizes geospatial methodologies to investigate the influence of gas flaring and carbon dioxide emissions on precipitation patterns within the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study relies on average mean precipitation data sourced from CHRS at the University of Arizona and carbon dioxide emissions data from NASA’s AIRS in Giovanni, spanning from July 2002 to November 2011. To carry out the analysis, ArcGIS 5.0 and SPSS 25, employing Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW), were employed to assess CO2 emissions and rainfall for both November and July during the period from 2002 to 2011. Over the course of this study, it was observed that CO2 emission exhibited an upward trend, increasing from 327.5226 parts per million (ppm) in July 2002 to 390.0077 ppm in November 2011. Simultaneously, the rainfall demonstrated an increase, rising from 56.66 millimeters to 390.78 millimeters for both July and November from 2002 to 2011. Noteworthy findings emerged from the correlation analysis conducted. Specifically, from July 2000 to 2011, there was a weak positive correlation (0.3858) observed between CO2 emissions and minimum rainfall, while a strong negative correlation (–0.7998) was identified for maximum rainfall values. In November, both minimum and maximum CO2 emissions displayed strong negative correlations with rainfall, with coefficients of –0.8255 and –0.7415, respectively. These findings hold significant implications for comprehending the environmental dynamics within the Niger Delta. Policymakers and stakeholders can leverage this knowledge to formulate targeted strategies aimed at mitigating CO2 emissions and addressing potential climate change-induced alterations in rainfall patterns

Sub-nano Layers of Li, Be, and Al on the Si(100) Surface: Electronic Structure and Silicide Formation

Within the framework of the density functional theory and the pseudopotential method, the electronic structure calculations of the “metal-Si(100)” systems with Li, Be and Al as metal coverings of one to four monolayers (ML) thickness, were carried out. Calculations showed that band gaps of 1.02 eV, 0.98 eV, and 0.5 eV, respectively, appear in the densities of electronic states when the thickness of Li, Be and Al coverings is one ML. These gaps disappear with increasing thickness of the metal layers: first in the Li-Si system (for two ML), then in the Al-Si system (for three ML), and then in the Be-Si system (for four ML). This behavior of the band gap can be explained by the passivation of the substrate surface states and the peculiarities of the electronic structure of the adsorbed metals. In common the results can be interpreted as describing the possibility of the formation of a two-dimensional silicide with semiconducting properties in Li-Si(100), Be-Si(100), and Al-Si(100) systems