Guest Species: Rethinking Our Approach to Biodiversity in the Anthropocene

Western environmental law rests on an outdated philosophy that only fully “natural” places, species, and ecosystems should receive full protection, while human influenced places, species, and ecosystems are lesser habitats not worthy of full-throated protection. As we move into the Anthropocene—a dawning geologic age marked by the emergence of humanity as the dominant force shaping the natural world—this simplistic view loses its power to guide our decisionmaking. In a world where more than 75% of ice free land shows evidence of human alteration, if anthropogenic species, places, or ecosystems are not worth protecting, then there simply is not enough left to protect. This Article examines management of nonnative species to illustrate the problems with using the false dichotomy between nature and humanity to determine what is environmentally good or environmentally bad. Nonnative species in North America cause more than $120 billion per year in damages. But the broad narrative of evil invasive species obfuscates something important—many nonnative species offer important cultural, economic, and environmental benefits that outweigh their negative impacts. The existing legal literature virtually ignores these species and the moral and legal questions they raise. In light of the Anthropocene and the philosophical and regulatory readjustment it requires, we should not vilify all nonnative species, but rather evaluate them on their own merits. This Article provides case studies of several guest species, a neologism I use to describe the nonnative species that we welcome into our ecosystems. Guest species meet human needs and wants and offer environmental benefits, but our environmental laws and administrative decisions fail to honestly address the costs and benefits of welcoming these species. I conclude that we must, in limited cases, welcome guest as valuable ecosystem components worthy of protection. Guest species provide an example of the hard decisions and novel approaches involved in managing our new nature

Maternal/infant Characteristics And Birth Location Impact On Breastfeeding Initiation And Duration

PURPOSE: Healthy People 2020 goals emphasize the importance of breast milk as the best source of nutrition for infants. Variability in breastfeeding outcomes (initiation and duration) is attributable to maternal/infant characteristics and healthcare practices. Studies in Australia and Sweden reported no significant differences in breastfeeding duration by location; however, no U.S. study has evaluated duration outcomes in relation to birth location. OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the influence of maternal/infant characteristics and birth location on breastfeeding outcomes. Design: A descriptive, secondary analysis was conducted using the CDC’s National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG) 2006-2010. Participants: Data were obtained from in-person interviews. The sample (N=4,485) consists of women between the ages of 15 and 44 who reported their first live birth. DATA ANALYSIS: ANOVA, Chi-Square, t-tests, and Pearson (r) were used to evaluate differences in breastfeeding outcomes among birth location and maternal/infant characteristics. RESULTS: Mothers who delivered in a birth center breastfed significantly (p ≤ .01) longer (M=44.1 weeks) than mothers who delivered in a hospital (M=17.2 weeks). Full term infants were breastfed significantly (p < .001) longer (M=19.2 weeks) than preterm infants (M=14.7 weeks). Maternal demographic factors that strongly influenced breastfeeding initiation and duration included race, education, marital status, smoking status, and poverty level. CONCLUSIONS: The results support that birth centers consistently practice care associated with longer breastfeeding duration. Improving access to birth centers for care and integrating Baby Friendly care practices into hospitals may enhance efforts to meet the Healthy People 2020 goals for breastfeeding

YAHUDİLİK, HIRİSTİYANLIK VE İSLAM GELENEKLERİNDE İŞ AHLAKI: KARŞILAŞTIRMALI BİR ANALİZ

Bu çalışmada, Yahudi, Hıristiyan ve İslam geleneklerinin iş ahlakını belirleyen kriterler tespit edilerek ahlaki normlar açısından aralarındaki temel farklılıklar ortaya konulmaya çalışılmaktadır. Çalışmada, kültürel değerlerin iş hayatında belirleyici bir role sahip olduğu varsayımından hareketle tarihsel açıdan önemli kabul edilen üç farklı dini geleneğin iş hayatının ahlaki açıdan etkisi incelenmektedir. Bu doğrultuda çalışmada, temel kutsal kitaplar ve ikincil kaynaklar veri alınarak yapılan literatür taramasında, bu metinlerde geçen hadiselerin sembolik olarak anlamları ürettikleri/gösterdikleri ahlaki değerler bağlamında analiz edilerek ve önemli dini temellerin ortaya çıkarmış olduğu ahlak yapıları bu yöntemle karşılaştırmalı olarak incelenmektedir

Overfeeding, Autonomic Regulation and Metabolic Consequences

The autonomic nervous system plays an important role in the regulation of body processes in health and disease. Overfeeding and obesity (a disproportional increase of the fat mass of the body) are often accompanied by alterations in both sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic functions. The overfeeding-induced changes in autonomic outflow occur with typical symptoms such as adiposity and hyperinsulinemia. There might be a causal relationship between autonomic disturbances and the consequences of overfeeding and obesity. Therefore studies were designed to investigate autonomic functioning in experimentally and genetically hyperphagic rats. Special emphasis was given to the processes that are involved in the regulation of peripheral energy substrate homeostasis. The data revealed that overfeeding is accompanied by increased parasympathetic outflow. Typical indices of vagal activity (such as the cephalic insulin release during food ingestion) were increased in all our rat models for hyperphagia. Overfeeding was also accompanied by increased sympathetic tone, reflected by enhanced baseline plasma norepinephrine (NE) levels in both VMH-lesioned animals and rats rendered obese by hyperalimentation. Plasma levels of NE during exercise were, however, reduced in these two groups of animals. This diminished increase in the exercise-induced NE outflow could be normalized by prior food deprivation. It was concluded from these experiments that overfeeding is associated with increased parasympathetic and sympathetic tone. In models for hyperphagia that display a continuously elevated nutrient intake such as the VMH-lesioned and the overfed rat, this increased sympathetic tone was accompanied by a diminished NE response to exercise. This attenuated outflow of NE was directly related to the size of the fat reserves, indicating that the feedback mechanism from the periphery to the central nervous system is altered in the overfed state.

Nuclear Markers of Danube Sturgeons Hybridization

Acipenseriformes are composed of 25 sturgeon species and two paddlefish species distributed exclusively in the northern hemisphere. The Danube River and the Black Sea were originally inhabited by six sturgeon species but two are extinct and only four are still reproducing currently in the Lower Danube: Huso huso, Acipenser stellatus, A. gueldenstaedtii and A. ruthenus. Sturgeon species hybridize more easily than other fish and the determination of pure species or hybrid status is important for conservation and for breeding in fish farms. This survey demonstrated that morphological determination of this status is not reliable and a molecular tool, based on eight microsatellites genotypes is proposed. This method, based on three successive statistical analyses including Factorial Correspondence Analysis (FCA), Structure assignation and NewHybrids status determination, showed a high efficiency in discriminating pure species specimens from F1, F2 and two kinds of backcross individuals involving three of the four reproducing Lower Danube sturgeon species

Lunar phobia in the greater fishing bat Noctilio leporinus (Chiroptera: Noctilionidae)

The nightly activity patterns of Noctilio leporinus, a piscivorous neotropical bat, were documented by visual observation over one lunar cycle at a large dock in Golfito, Costa Rica. The activity patterns were compared to the intensity of the moonlight, and a strong correlation between darkness and activity was observed (n= 776, r2= 0.96). This correlation has been observed in many species of mammals and may indicate adaptation by potential prey species to avoid predation by visually oriented nighttime predators and/or an adaptation by predators to maximize hunting success.Documenté los patrones de actividad nocturna de Noctilio leporinus, murciélago piscívoro neotropical, mediante observaciones visuales durante un ciclo lunar en un muelle de Golfito, Costa Rica. Considerando la intensidad de la luz lunar, hubo una fuerte correlación entre la oscuridad y la actividad (n= 776, r2 = 0.96). Esta correlación ha sido observada en muchas especies de mamíferos y puede indicar una adaptación de presas potenciales para evadir los depredadores nocturnos y/o una adaptación de los depredadores para maximizar el éxito de cacería