Change Detection in Protected Landscapes for Adaptive Protected Area Management A Practical Geoinformatics Approach

The Department of Wildlife Conservation (DWC), the entity which is entrusted with themandate to conserve fauna and flora of the country manages 14% of total land area of SriLanka, which are designated as Protected Areas (PA) under the Fauna and Flora ProtectionOrdinance (FFPO). Conservation of biodiversity and non destructive uses of wildliferesources especially for recreationl purposes within the PAs is a challanging task for theDWC. Horton Plains National Park is a one such PA which support higher diversity ofmontane fauna and flora in the country. The PA is at present also subjected some habitatchanges, which are taking place naturally. Managing such a sensitive landscape requrestimely and accuarare scientific information regarding the species richness of the area andtheir spatial and temporal distribution patterns. It is also important to understand the extent ofhabitat change, where it occurs and what habitats are converted into a different habitat.In conventional wildlife management approach thematic management plans are prepared fora ten year time frame. The review interval of such a plan is generally 5 years. However, in SriLankan context, due to the nature of the dynamics in protected areas and the taskenvironment, DWC uses a concept called “adaptive management” where the reviewing andadjustments of the activities are done frequently depending on the previous periods’experiences, usually less than five years. In this context temporal change detection of thehabitats is a task which should be carried out as frequent as possibleThis study focuses on developing classified vegetation map for two time periods (1998 and2008) and quntify the temporal area variation of the vegetation.Vegetation map wasdeveloped using IRS LISSA III images. The vegetation classes were classfied intoUndisturbed forest, Disturbed forest, Ecotone, Carpet Grass, Tussocky grass, and DwarfBamboo. The methodology was developed intergrating Normalize Difference VegitationIndex (NDVI) and Tasseled Cap Transformation. Finally the landscape of the PA wasclassified into different vegetation types using pixel based unsupervised classificationalgorithum. User and producer accuracies were calculated with the field observation data.The results clearly indicate that all the vegetation types within the PA have changed between1998 and 2008. Open forest cover increased from 23.56% to 28.41%, Marsh / dwarf bamboocover was increased from 5.35% to 8.76% during the period of ten years. It was also notedthat the dense forest areas are reduced from 48.19% to 47.52%, carpet grass dominant areareduced from 2.12% to 1.02% and tussock grass cover was reduced from 20.78% to 13.63%.In general forest cover of the PA has increased from 71.75% to 75.93% and grass cover(carpet and tussock) was reduced from 28.25% to 24.07% between 1998 and 2009 period.With the user accuracies of 83% in 1998 and 82% in 2008, and producer accuracy of 87% in1998 and 80% 2008 it can be concluded that the methodology adopted in the study issufficient in accuracy for practical usage. Hence, technique proposed in this study could bepracticed periodically to detect the vegetation changes quantitatively and effectively for themanagement activities of the park.

Biodegradable Polydepsipeptides

This paper reviews the synthesis, characterization, biodegradation and usage of bioresorbable polymers based on polydepsipeptides. The ring-opening polymerization of morpholine-2,5-dione derivatives using organic Sn and enzyme lipase is discussed. The dependence of the macroscopic properties of the block copolymers on their structure is also presented. Bioresorbable polymers based on polydepsipeptides could be used as biomaterials in drug controlled release, tissue engineering scaffolding and shape-memory materials

Global patient outcomes after elective surgery: prospective cohort study in 27 low-, middle- and high-income countries.

BACKGROUND: As global initiatives increase patient access to surgical treatments, there remains a need to understand the adverse effects of surgery and define appropriate levels of perioperative care. METHODS: We designed a prospective international 7-day cohort study of outcomes following elective adult inpatient surgery in 27 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital complications. Secondary outcomes were death following a complication (failure to rescue) and death in hospital. Process measures were admission to critical care immediately after surgery or to treat a complication and duration of hospital stay. A single definition of critical care was used for all countries. RESULTS: A total of 474 hospitals in 19 high-, 7 middle- and 1 low-income country were included in the primary analysis. Data included 44 814 patients with a median hospital stay of 4 (range 2-7) days. A total of 7508 patients (16.8%) developed one or more postoperative complication and 207 died (0.5%). The overall mortality among patients who developed complications was 2.8%. Mortality following complications ranged from 2.4% for pulmonary embolism to 43.9% for cardiac arrest. A total of 4360 (9.7%) patients were admitted to a critical care unit as routine immediately after surgery, of whom 2198 (50.4%) developed a complication, with 105 (2.4%) deaths. A total of 1233 patients (16.4%) were admitted to a critical care unit to treat complications, with 119 (9.7%) deaths. Despite lower baseline risk, outcomes were similar in low- and middle-income compared with high-income countries. CONCLUSIONS: Poor patient outcomes are common after inpatient surgery. Global initiatives to increase access to surgical treatments should also address the need for safe perioperative care. STUDY REGISTRATION: ISRCTN5181700

Terpolymers from lactide

The present invention is generally directed to a process for producing lactide-based polymers and the polymers produced by this process. The polymers of the present invention are terpolymers formed by the copolymerization of a lactide monomer, a linking monomer and an epoxy-terminated monomer. In one embodiment of the invention, the polymers may be formed from fluorine-containing monomers or aromatic ring-containing monomers. The disclosed materials may display improved hydrolytic and thermal characteristics as compared to previously known lactide-based materials. For example, the lactide based terpolymers may have a glass transition temperature over 60.degree. C. For instance, lactide-based thermoplastic terpolymers of the present invention can have a glass transition temperatures of about 80.degree. C. or higher. Lactide-based thermoset networks of the invention can have glass transition temperatures of up to about 200.degree. C

Copolymers from lactide

Disclosed is a process for producing lactide-based copolymers and copolymers produced by the process. The copolymers are formed by the copolymerization of a lactide monomer with a secondary material. In one embodiment, the secondary material can be derived from renewable resources, providing a product copolymer completely derived from renewable resources. The disclosed materials may display improved hydrolytic and thermal characteristics as compared to previously known lactide-based materials. Exemplary secondary materials that can be copolymerized with lactide can include polyhydroxy alkanoates, long chain primary alcohols, and depsipeptides