Prioritizing livestock grazing right buyouts to safeguard Asiatic cheetahs from extinction

The article processing charge was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 491192747 and the Open Access Publication Fund of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin.Livestock husbandry exerts major pressures on wildlife across the world. Large carnivores are particularly at risk because they are often killed by pastoralists as a preventive or precautionary response to livestock depredation. Minimizing the overlap between pastures and carnivore habitat can thus be a conservation strategy, but it remains often unclear which pastures should be targeted to maximize conservation benefits given a limited budget. We addressed this question for the last viable population of the Asiatic cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus) in northeastern Iran. By combining species distribution modeling with a spatial prioritization framework, we aimed to identify where grazing right buyouts should take place to reduce cheetah killing by herders and their dogs. We assessed the Asiatic cheetah habitat using species distribution models, highlighting large, contiguous areas that overlap with livestock pastures (5792 km2, equaling 72% of the total predicted suitable habitat). Subsequently, we used data on the number and distribution of livestock (~47,000 animals in 80 pastures) and applied a spatial prioritization method to identify pastures for grazing right buyouts for a range of budget scenarios (US$100,000–600,000). Pastures selected had a high level of irreplaceability and were generally stable across budget scenarios. Our results provide a novel approach to minimize encounter rates between cheetah and livestock, and thus the mortality risk, for one of the world's most endangered felids and highlight the potential of spatial prioritization as a tool to devise urgent conservation actions.Peer Reviewe

Occupational Health Problems and Safety Conditions among Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Cross-sectional Study in Shiraz, Iran

Background: Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) include a large part of manufacturing jobs and play an important role in developing national economics and employment. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate occupational health problems and safety conditions among SMEs in Shiraz, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out on 711 SMEs, including 371 small enterprises (fewer than 25 workers) and 340 medium enterprises (25–99 workers), in Shiraz, Iran. The participants were selected randomly among the workplaces under the coverage of social security insurance. The researcher-made questionnaire, which consisted of demographic characteristics, the frequency rate of occupational accidents, and exposure to workplace harmful agents, were distributed among participants. Findings: The results showed there were significantly more physical and chemical harmful agents in medium enterprises compared to small ones (P < 0.001). However, the frequency rate of accidents in small enterprises was significantly higher than in medium enterprises (P < 0.001). Also, there was no significant difference between the studied enterprises in ergonomic hazards, except for awkward posture, whose frequency rate was significantly higher in small enterprises (P < 0.05). Finally, among the reported symptoms, the prevalence of eye, skin, ear, and respiratory symptoms was significantly higher in medium enterprises compared to small enterprises (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Occupational health and safety (OHS) regulations in medium enterprises have led to improved OHS conditions compared to small enterprises. Therefore, small enterprises should be included in OHS regulations

Cost estimation models for seismic retrofit of masonry school buildings

Seismic retrofits can significantly reduce the vulnerability of masonry buildings. Multiple seismic retrofit alternatives are often available for a given building. Estimating the cost of each candidate action is essential to selecting and implementing the appropriate seismic retrofit initiatives. This research harnesses the capabilities of various regression models for cost estimation. A dataset from 167 retrofit projects for masonry school buildings was used to develop models. Three main retrofit actions were taken into consideration: shotcrete, steel belt and fiber-reinforced polymer. Various regression methods, including multiple linear regression, ridge regression, lasso regression, and elastic net regression, were applied to develop models that estimate the cost of each of the three retrofit actions based on a set of explanatory variables. Next, the models underwent a reduction process to simplify and increase their prediction precision. In most models, the reduction process eliminated multiple terms and enhanced the model prediction performance. This article identifies the height of the building as the most influential parameter governing retrofit costs. It examines the effect of proxy variables (e.g. lateral area of walls and added lateral strength) on the final retrofit cost by adding them as explanatory variables.</p

Effects of different mushroom levels on immunity indices of tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) exposed to chlorpyrifos in experimental condition

Abstract The aim of this study was to investigate the prebiotic effect of mushroom on the immune indices of tilapia mucus exposed to chlorpyrifos on 120 juveniles tilapia with an average weight of 20 g. So, 4 treatments were considered as (1) control without prebiotics, (2) treatments containing 0.05%, (3) 0.1% and (4) 0.2% of dietary prebiotics. At the end of the feeding period, fish were exposed to chlorpyrifos toxin at a concentration of 0.05 ppm for 14 days and mucus sampling was taken from the fish skin. Experimental treatments exhibited significant effects on alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme, soluble protein, and mucus immunoglobulin (p<0.05). So that, the amounts of alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme and mucus soluble protein were significantly increased in treatments fed with prebiotic-supplemented diets by increasing in prebiotic concentration (40.40 IU/L, 36 Unit/mg Pro and 99.54 µg/100 µL, respectively). However, the amount of mucosal immunoglobulin decreased in these treatments (69 µg/100 µL). Overall, supplementing diets with prebiotic (mushroom powder), leads to enhanced immune system (elevating alkaline phosphatase, lysozyme, immunoglobulin, and soluble protein) when exposed pollutants and stressors

Prevalence of self-reported work-related illness and injuries among building construction workers, Shiraz, Iran

The construction industry is one of the largest and most hazardous industries in the world, which has a direct role in the development of countries. The purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of self-reported workrelated illness and injuries among construction workers in Shiraz, Iran. 850 randomly selected workers from 2450 construction sites completed a self-statement questionnaire regarding the prevalence of self-reported work-related illness and injuries (WRIIs), in Shiraz, Iran. The association of WRII with demographic variables were studied. The overall prevalence rate of occupational injuries was 31 %. Musculoskeletal disorders (53.3 %), eye diseases (34.1 %) and skin diseases (30.1 %) have been the most prevalent work-related illnesses among construction workers, respectively. The prevalence of WRIIs among construction workers was significantly associated with age, education, marriage, work experience, safety training programs and number of workers in the workplace as well as employment status. Considering the high prevalence of WRIIs among construction workers, more stringent occupational safety and health interventions are recommended in construction workplaces