Quantifying Canopy Tree Loss and Gap Recovery in Tropical Forests under Low-Intensity Logging Using VHR Satellite Imagery and Airborne LiDAR

Logging, including selective and illegal activities, is widespread, affecting the carbon cycle and the biodiversity of tropical forests. However, automated approaches using very high resolution (VHR) satellite data (≤1 m spatial resolution) to accurately track these small-scale human disturbances over large and remote areas are not readily available. The main constraint for performing this type of analysis is the lack of spatially accurate tree-scale validation data. In this study, we assessed the potential of VHR satellite imagery to detect canopy tree loss related to selective logging in closed-canopy tropical forests. To do this, we compared the tree loss detection capability of WorldView-2 and GeoEye-1 satellites with airborne LiDAR, which acquired pre- and post-logging data at the Jamari National Forest in the Brazilian Amazon. We found that logging drove changes in canopy height ranging from −5.6 to −42.2 m, with a mean reduction of −23.5 m. A simple LiDAR height difference threshold of −10 m was enough to map 97% of the logged trees. Compared to LiDAR, tree losses can be detected using VHR satellite imagery and a random forest (RF) model with an average precision of 64%, while mapping 60% of the total tree loss. Tree losses associated with large gap openings or tall trees were more successfully detected. In general, the most important remote sensing metrics for the RF model were standard deviation statistics, especially those extracted from the reflectance of the visible bands (R, G, B), and the shadow fraction. While most small canopy gaps closed within ~2 years, larger gaps could still be observed over a longer time. Nevertheless, the use of annual imagery is advised to reach acceptable detectability. Our study shows that VHR satellite imagery has the potential for monitoring the logging in tropical forests and detecting hotspots of natural disturbance with a low cost at the regional scale

“Working the System”—British American Tobacco's Influence on the European Union Treaty and Its Implications for Policy: An Analysis of Internal Tobacco Industry Documents

Katherine Smith and colleagues investigate the ways in which British American Tobacco influenced the European Union Treaty so that new EU policies advance the interests of major corporations, including those that produce products damaging to health

Thinking about Race: The Salience of Racial Identity at Two- and Four-Year Colleges and the Climate for Diversity

Racial identity salience is an important component of identity development that is associated with a number of educational outcomes. Using the Diverse Learning Environments Survey, this study identifies precollege and college experiences that contribute to a heightened salience of racial identity, and its relationship to perceptions of campus climate

Prevenção e controle de infecção em unidade de terapia intensiva neonatal

Objetivou-se identificar o conhecimento da equipe de enfermagem de uma Unidade de Terapia Intensiva Neonatal(UTIN) sobre o controle de infecção, identificando os fatores que facilitam ou dificultam o controle e prevençãodas Infecções Relacionadas à Assistência a Saúde (IRAS). Estudo descritivo com abordagem qualitativa, realizadocom três enfermeiras e 15 técnicas de enfermagem, que atuam em uma UTIN de uma instituição filantrópica, naregião sul do Brasil. Evidenciou-se que a equipe de enfermagem possui grande conhecimento sobre os fatores quefacilitam a prevenção e controle das IRAS em UTIN, sendo o principal, a higienização das mãos. Entre os fatoresque dificultam o controle e prevenção, estão a superlotação e a excessiva carga de trabalho. A atuação eficiente equalificada da equipe de enfermagem constitui-se em estratégia de prevenção e controle das IRAS

Imperfect perfection and wheelchair bodybuilding: Challenging ableism or reproducing normalcy?

This article explores the impact of the binary configuration of disabled bodies as opposite and unequal to able bodies, and whether or not contemporary bodybuilding provides a space where this dualism can be overcome. Drawing on life history interviews with Dan, a professional wheelchair bodybuilder, we consider how his hyper-muscular upper body may position him as a supercrip and thereby reinforce bodily and gender norms. Simultaneously, Dan’s powerful, disabled body and a competitive context that applies standard judgement criteria across all bodies potentially subverts this normative configuration. We reflect on the contradictions engendered by Dan’s corporeality by drawing on notions of the bodybuilder as body-garde involved in a process of enfreakment that disrupts and transcends contemporary bodily ideals. Here, variable self reflexive bodybuilding projects can accommodate contingent conceptualisations of perfection, including disability, with implications for disabled bodies and identities more broadly