Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes) in the Great Lakes: Playing with fire?

The Laurentian Great Lakes have been successfully invaded by at least 182 nonindigenous species. Here we report on two new species, water hyacinth Eichhornia crassipes and water lettuce Pistia stratiotes, that were found at a number of locations in Lake St. Clair and Detroit River during autumn 2010. Both species are commonly sold in the water garden and aquarium trade in southern Ontario and elsewhere. While it is not clear whether these species are established or can establish in the Great Lakes, the historic assumption that neither of these subtropical to tropical plants pose an invasion risk must be questioned in the light of changing environmental conditions associated with climate warming that may render Great Lakes\u27 habitats more suitable for these species and increase the likelihood of their successful establishment. © 2011 The Author(s)

The rights of the accused from a jurisprudence view

Abstract The penal legal procedure is a certain mechanism to find out the crime with respect to the behavior of the accused and the guilty. This mechanism must ensure the principles which guarantee justice and fairness, and provide the individual rights and freedoms that are the extreme goal of every just fair legal procedure. So in the proper execution of Islamic commands, the necessity of observing the citizenship rights, guarding human greatness and other principles related to rights of the accused necessitates that the accused would have the minimum guaranty in such a way that his/her individual rights and freedoms are not in jeopardy. The goal of this article is to investigate the special rights of accused in Islamic legal procedure, regardless of the natural human rights in the Islamic legal procedure. Therefore it is attempted to extract the principles and guaranties providing the rights of accused from the source of commands deduction and judgments of jurisprudence

The Protection of Literary and Artistic Rights without Formalities; A Comparative Study in French, Iranian and Shiite Laws

Literary and artistic property is the right of the author to his/her mental creatorships. In French legal system the genuine literary and aritsitic works are subject to protection solely due to their creation and manifestation, and not only is the form of manifestation unimportant but also no formality is required for protection of the work. Also, in some cases when the registration and deposit of a copy or copies of the work are under consideration, it has been regarded just for the burden of proof. However, in Iranian legal system besides the exterior manifestation of the literary and artistic work, the protection of such work respectively depends on some formalities such as its being first published in Iran or bearing some special signs. Also, with respect to computer softwares, the judicial protection of the work requires the achievement of technical confirmation. The attention to the jurisprudential basics of the subject especially the common sense and the generality of the provisions that require the protection of the properties and a consideration of undesirable effects of tying the protection to formalities point out the necessity of protection without formalities. However, the recognition of a role for the formalities in determination of burden of proof may be beneficial

Invasion risk posed by macroinvertebrates transported in ships\u27 ballast tanks

Invasions by non-indigenous macroinvertebrates often cause ecological and economic problems, and commercial ships have been implicated as a principal mechanism for their dispersal. We explored the presence and species diversity of adult macroinvertebrates transported by transoceanic and coastal vessels arriving to ports on the Atlantic coast of Canada. We sampled 67 ballast tanks from 62 ships operating along discrete geographic pathways and tested whether mid-ocean exchange or voyage length affects the probability for translocation of macroinvertebrates. Additionally, we assessed the relationship between macroinvertebrate presence and the amount of sediment in ballast tanks. We document the presence of highly invasive European green crab (Carcinus maenas), mud crab (Rhithropanopeus harrisii), common periwinkle (Littorina littorea), soft shell clam (Mya arenaria) and blue mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis) in ballast tanks of surveyed ships. Mid-ocean exchange did not affect macroinvertebrate occurrence, suggesting that current ballast water management regulations are ineffective for this taxonomic group. Viable individuals were recorded in vessels undertaking shorter voyages (average and maximum of 4.5 and 15 days, respectively) and presence was not related to the amount of sediment in tanks. While presence and densities of macroinvertebrates were low, invasion risk may nonetheless be significant during reproductive seasons owing to high fecundity of some taxa. The highest risk may be posed by decapods since gravid females may carry thousands to several million eggs per clutch, and after several weeks of brooding, two or more subsequent clutches may be fertilized by retained sperm from an earlier mating. © 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Studying the application of officiousness in the Letting contracts

Although, there is no single definition of Letting contracts (like: borrowed, trust, Subrogation) and some have denied its very existence, but if we accept these contracts and present this minimum definition for it as " the contracts in whose nature the letting is sufficient" then we must ask that whether interference happens in them or not. There are two views about it. Some believe that interference does not happen in them because when there is the letting then there is interference or lack of interference makes no difference. While, others believe that interference in letting contracts is not problematic. The authors have strengthened the speech of probability by their reasons

Assessing invasion risk across taxa and habitats: life stage as a determinant of invasion success

Aim Many aquatic invertebrates produce dormant life-history stages as a means to endure inhospitable environments and to facilitate natural long-distance dispersal, yet we have little understanding of the role of dormant stages as a mechanism for human-mediated introductions of non-indigenous species. We explore the survival of invertebrate dormant eggs in collected ships\u27 ballast sediment over a 1-year period to determine relative invasion potential across taxa (i.e. rotifers, copepods, cladocerans and bryozoans) and different habitats (freshwater, marine). Location Canadian Atlantic and Pacific coasts and Laurentian Great Lakes. Methods During 2007 and 2008, 19 ballast samples were collected as a part of a larger study. The degradation rate of dormant eggs was assessed by enumerating dormant eggs and by conducting viability hatching experiments. Results Taxa examined included rotifers, copepods, anomopods, onychopods and bryozoans. Dormant eggs of rotifers degraded at the highest rate of all taxa examined, with no viable eggs remaining within 10months. Copepods showed a less rapid degradation rate than rotifers. The degradation rate of anomopod dormant eggs was significantly slower than that of both rotifers and copepods. Onychopods and bryozoans did not visibly degrade at all over 12months. Viability hatching experiments were successful for rotifers, copepods, and anomopods. Onychopods and bryozoans did not hatch during any of the three hatching trials. Main conclusions Dormancy is not equally beneficial to all invertebrate taxa. Our results indicate that dormant eggs of rotifers and copepods degrade at a rapid rate and may not pose high invasion risk. In contrast, the slow degradation rate of anomopod dormant eggs and the lack of degradation of onychopod and bryozoan dormant eggs could result in high invasion risk because of their accumulation in ballast tanks. Species having resistant dormant eggs mostly belong to freshwater taxa making freshwater habitats at higher invasion risk by dormant invertebrates than marine habitats. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Are genetic databases sufficiently populated to detect non-indigenous species?

Correct species identifications are of tremendous importance for invasion ecology, as mistakes could lead to misdirecting limited resources against harmless species or inaction against problematic ones. DNA barcoding is becoming a promising and reliable tool for species identifications, however the efficacy of such molecular taxonomy depends on gene region(s) that provide a unique sequence to differentiate among species and on availability of reference sequences in existing genetic databases. Here, we assembled a list of aquatic and terrestrial non-indigenous species (NIS) and checked two leading genetic databases for corresponding sequences of six genome regions used for DNA barcoding. The genetic databases were checked in 2010, 2012, and 2016. All four aquatic kingdoms (Animalia, Chromista, Plantae and Protozoa) were initially equally represented in the genetic databases, with 64, 65, 69, and 61 % of NIS included, respectively. Sequences for terrestrial NIS were present at rates of 58 and 78 % for Animalia and Plantae, respectively. Six years later, the number of sequences for aquatic NIS increased to 75, 75, 74, and 63 % respectively, while those for terrestrial NIS increased to 74 and 88 % respectively. Genetic databases are marginally better populated with sequences of terrestrial NIS of plants compared to aquatic NIS and terrestrial NIS of animals. The rate at which sequences are added to databases is not equal among taxa. Though some groups of NIS are not detectable at all based on available data—mostly aquatic ones—encouragingly, current availability of sequences of taxa with environmental and/or economic impact is relatively good and continues to increase with time. © 2016, The Author(s)

Can tropical macrophytes establish in the Laurentian Great Lakes?

Tropical macrophytes sold in the live garden trade are perceived as unlikely to invade temperate regions owing to climate mismatches. Here we study two tropical macrophytes (Pistia stratiotes and Eichhornia crassipes) not previously considered an invasion risk but which were recently discovered in the Great Lakes, and determine mechanisms that may be responsible for their continued presence including human introduction, reproduction through viable seeds and tolerance of winter conditions. Surveys conducted in 2011 and 2012 revealed recurrent presence of one or both species at some sites. Macrophytes in in situ enclosures failed to survive winter conditions, with plant health declining progressively prior to mortality. Water hyacinth seeds were field-collected, identified using Sanger sequencing, and germinated at 28°C with or without scarification. Germination was highest for scarified versus non-scarified seeds. Human introduction was observed at two sites, one involving both species, the other only water hyacinth. These species likely persist through a combination of annual reintroduction (both species) and possibly by production of viable seed (water hyacinth). Macrophytes, particularly water hyacinth, that were not previously viewed as a threat to the Great Lakes owing to environmental incompatibility may need to be reassessed. © 2015, Springer International Publishing Switzerland