Assessing the underlying drivers of change over two decades of land use and land cover dynamics along the Standard Gauge Railway corridor, Kenya

We acknowledge funding from the UK Research and Innovation’s Global Challenges Research Fund (UKRI GCRF) through the Development Corridors Partnership project (project number: ES/P011500/1).Land cover has been modified by anthropogenic activities for thousands of years, although the speed of change has increased in recent decades, particularly driven by socio-economic development. The development of transport infrastructure can accelerate land use land cover change, resulting in impacts on natural resources such as water, biodiversity, and food production. To understand the interaction between land cover and social–ecological drivers, changing land cover patterns and drivers of change must be identified and quantified. This study documents land cover dynamics along the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) corridor in Kenya and evaluates the underlying drivers of this change from 2000 to 2019. The study utilised GIS and remote sensing techniques to assess the land use and land cover changes along the SGR corridor, while correlational and regression analyses were used to evaluate various drivers of the changes. Results showed that built-up areas, bare lands, water bodies, croplands and forests increased by 144.39%, 74.73%, 74.42%, 9.32% and 4.85%, respectively, while wetlands, grasslands and shrub lands reduced by 98.54%, 67.00% and 33.86%, respectively. The underlying drivers responsible for these land use and land cover dynamics are population growth, urbanisation, economic growth and agro-ecological factors. Such land cover changes affect environmental sustainability, and we stress the need to adequately identify and address the cumulative social and environmental impacts of mega-infrastructure projects and their interacting investments. The findings of this study provide an evidence base for the evaluation of the social–ecological impacts of the SGR and the implementation of best practices that will lead to enhanced sustainability in the development corridors in Kenya and beyond.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The African Development Corridors Database: a new tool to assess the impacts of infrastructure investments

The large-scale expansion of built infrastructure is profoundly reshaping the geographies of Africa, generating lock-in patterns of development for future generations. Understanding the impact of these massive investments can allow development opportunities to be maximised and therefore be critical for attaining the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and African Union’s Agenda 2063 aims. However, until now information on the types, scope, and timing of investments, their evolution and spatial-temporal impact was dispersed amongst various agencies. We developed a database of 79 development corridors across Africa, synthesizing data from multiple sources covering 184 projects on railways, wet and dry ports, pipelines, airports, techno-cities, and industrial parks. The georeferenced interlinked tabular and spatial database includes 22 attributes. We expect this database will improve coordination, efficiency, monitoring, oversight, strategic planning, transparency, and risk assessments, among other uses for investment banks, governments, impact assessment practitioners, communities, conservationists, economists, and regional economic bodies

A systematic review of participatory scenario planning to envision mountain social-ecological systems futures

Mountain social-ecological systems (MtSES) provide crucial ecosystem services to over half of humanity. However, populations living in these highly varied regions are now confronted by global change. It is critical that they are able to anticipate change to strategically manage resources and avoid potential conflict. Yet, planning for sustainable, equitable transitions for the future is a daunting task, considering the range of uncertainties and the unique character of MtSES. Participatory scenario planning (PSP) can help MtSES communities by critically reflecting on a wider array of innovative pathways for adaptive transformation. Although the design of effective approaches has been widely discussed, how PSP has been employed in MtSES has yet to be examined. Here, we present the first systematic global review of single- and multiscalar, multisectoral PSP undertaken in MtSES, in which we characterize the process, identify strengths and gaps, and suggest effective ways to apply PSP in MtSES. We used a nine-step process to help guide the analysis of 42 studies from 1989 screened articles. Our results indicate a steady increase in relevant studies since 2006, with 43% published between 2015 and 2017. These studies encompass 39 countries, with over 50% in Europe. PSP in MtSES is used predominantly to build cooperation, social learning, collaboration, and decision support, yet meeting these objectives is hindered by insufficient engagement with intended end users. MtSES PSP has focused largely on envisioning themes of governance, economy, land use change, and biodiversity, but has overlooked themes such as gender equality, public health, and sanitation. There are many avenues to expand and improve PSP in MtSES: to other regions, sectors, across a greater diversity of stakeholders, and with a specific focus on MtSES paradoxes. Communicating uncertainty, monitoring and evaluating impacts, and engendering more comparative approaches can further increase the utility of PSP for addressing MtSES challenges, with lessons for other complex social-ecological systems

A systematic review of participatory scenario planning to envision mountain social-ecological systems futures

Mountain social-ecological systems (MtSES) provide crucial ecosystem services to over half of humanity. However, populations living in these highly varied regions are now confronted by global change. It is critical that they are able to anticipate change to strategically manage resources and avoid potential conflict. Yet, planning for sustainable, equitable transitions for the future is a daunting task, considering the range of uncertainties and the unique character of MtSES. Participatory scenario planning (PSP) can help MtSES communities by critically reflecting on a wider array of innovative pathways for adaptive transformation. Although the design of effective approaches has been widely discussed, how PSP has been employed in MtSES has yet to be examined. Here, we present the first systematic global review of single- and multiscalar, multisectoral PSP undertaken in MtSES, in which we characterize the process, identify strengths and gaps, and suggest effective ways to apply PSP in MtSES. We used a nine-step process to help guide the analysis of 42 studies from 1989 screened articles. Our results indicate a steady increase in relevant studies since 2006, with 43% published between 2015 and 2017. These studies encompass 39 countries, with over 50% in Europe. PSP in MtSES is used predominantly to build cooperation, social learning, collaboration, and decision support, yet meeting these objectives is hindered by insufficient engagement with intended end users. MtSES PSP has focused largely on envisioning themes of governance, economy, land use change, and biodiversity, but has overlooked themes such as gender equality, public health, and sanitation. There are many avenues to expand and improve PSP in MtSES: to other regions, sectors, across a greater diversity of stakeholders, and with a specific focus on MtSES paradoxes. Communicating uncertainty, monitoring and evaluating impacts, and engendering more comparative approaches can further increase the utility of PSP for addressing MtSES challenges, with lessons for other complex social-ecological systems. © 2020 by the author(s)

PTF11eon/SN2011dh: Discovery of a Type IIb Supernova From a Compact Progenitor in the Nearby Galaxy M51

On May 31, 2011 UT a supernova (SN) exploded in the nearby galaxy M51 (the Whirlpool Galaxy). We discovered this event using small telescopes equipped with CCD cameras, as well as by the Palomar Transient Factory (PTF) survey, and rapidly confirmed it to be a Type II supernova. Our early light curve and spectroscopy indicates that PTF11eon resulted from the explosion of a relatively compact progenitor star as evidenced by the rapid shock-breakout cooling seen in the light curve, the relatively low temperature in early-time spectra and the prompt appearance of low-ionization spectral features. The spectra of PTF11eon are dominated by H lines out to day 10 after explosion, but initial signs of He appear to be present. Assuming that He lines continue to develop in the near future, this SN is likely a member of the cIIb (compact IIb; Chevalier and Soderberg 2010) class, with progenitor radius larger than that of SN 2008ax and smaller than the eIIb (extended IIb) SN 1993J progenitor. Our data imply that the object identified in pre-explosion Hubble Space Telescope images at the SN location is possibly a companion to the progenitor or a blended source, and not the progenitor star itself, as its radius (~10^13 cm) would be highly inconsistent with constraints from our post-explosion photometric and spectroscopic data

Effect of Floor Cooling on Behavior and Heart Rate of Late Lactation Sows Under Acute Heat Stress

Much U.S. swine production is in Köppen climate types classified as “hot-summer humid continental” and “humid subtropical.” As a result, farrowing sows are often exposed to temperatures above their upper critical temperature. This heat stress (HS) can affect sow welfare and productivity and have a negative economic impact. The study objective was to evaluate the impact of a cooling pad on sows' behavioral and heart rate responses to acute HS. Treatments were randomly allotted to ten multiparous sows to receive a constant cool water flow of 0.00 (CONTROL, n = 4), 0.25 (LOW, n = 2), 0.55 (MEDIUM, n = 2), or 0.85 (HIGH, n = 2) L/min for 100 min and replicated eight times, switching treatments so that each sow was exposed to each treatment. The cooling was initiated 1 h after the room reached 35°C for 100 min. Eating, drinking and nursing behaviors, postures, and heart rate were recorded before heating (Period 1), prior to cooling (Period 2), and during cooling (Period 3). There were no differences between LOW, MEDIUM, and HIGH flow rates for any periods on all behavioral and heart rate traits, so data were pooled (COOLED). There were no differences in any of the measures during Periods 1 and 2, except for the ratio of short term to long term heart rate variability (SD1:SD2) with higher values for CONTROL than COOLED sows in Period 2. During Period 3, CONTROL sows changed postures more frequently (11.5 ±1.6 vs. 5.1 ±1.6 changes per hour), spent more time drinker-pressing/drinking (4.4 ± 0.5 vs. 1.4 ± 0.4% of time), standing (6.6 ± 1.7 vs. 3.8 ± 1.6% of time), sitting (10.0 ± 1.2 vs. 4.0 ± 1.1), less time lying (83.0 ±1.8 vs. 92.0 ±1.7% of time), especially lying laterally (62.0 ± 5.6 vs. 75.0 ± 5.3% of time), than sows in all three cooling treatments (all P < 0.001). Heart rate during Period 3 was lower for COOLED sows compared to the CONTROL sows (100.2 ± 3.4 vs. 119.0 ± 4.0 beat per min, P < 0.001). Sows response to increased thermal load can be effectively reduced using water-cooled cooling pads, thereby improving sow comfort and welfare. The beneficial effects on behavior are noticeable from the lowest flow rate

“Dogged” Search of Fresh Nakhla Surfaces Reveals New Alteration Textures

Special Issue: 74th Annual Meeting of the Meteoritical Society, August 8-12, 2011, London, U.K.International audienceCarbonaceous chondrites are considered as amongst the most primitive Solar System samples available. One of their primitive characteristics is their enrichment in volatile elements.This includes hydrogen, which is present in hydrated and hydroxylated minerals. More precisely, the mineralogy is expected to be dominated by phyllosilicates in the case of CM chondrites, and by Montmorillonite type clays in the case of CI. Here, in order to characterize and quantify the abundance of lowtemperature minerals in carbonaceous chondrites, we performed thermogravimetric analysis of matrix fragments of Tagish Lake, Murchison and Orgueil

Search for the Standard Model Higgs Boson with the OPAL Detector at LEP

This paper summarises the search for the Standard Model Higgs boson in e+e- collisions at centre-of-mass energies up to 209 GeV performed by the OPAL Collaboration at LEP. The consistency of the data with the background hypothesis and various Higgs boson mass hypotheses is examined. No indication of a signal is found in the data and a lower bound of 112.7GeV/C^2 is obtained on the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson at the 95% CL.Comment: 51 pages, 21 figure