Effects of Artificial Enrichment on Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) Activity Budgets

The benefits of enrichment and proper husbandry protocols and their applicability in wildlife research have been important topics of zoological research. Examining activity budgets of various species throughout zoological facilities reap biological, educational, and conservation benefits. We collected data on the behavioral responses of five western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) (1 adult male, 2 adult females, 2 infants/juveniles) to a novel climbing structure in the outdoor enclosure at the Philadelphia Zoo. Over a period of 53 nonconsecutive months, we conducted 30-minute focals with 2-minute scan samples on the gorillas (488 total observation hours). We recorded the frequency of behaviors for each gorilla (e.g., playing, foraging, traveling, resting), variations of those behaviors between indoor and outdoor, general outdoor use, and general climbing structure usage. Our results suggest that, on average, the troop increased general outdoor usage by 37%, indoor foraging by 11.4%, and outdoor regurgitation and reingestion by 19%. The troop also decreased outdoor foraging by 17.2% and overall sedentary behaviors by 21.5%. Zoological facilities invest in enrichment, with the hope of satisfying captive species’ biological needs. In addition, our data suggest that the novel climbing structure at the Philadelphia Zoo provided an important enrichment opportunity for specific gorillas, while it may not have been particularly useful for other gorillas, suggesting there are individual differences. Additional comparisons at other zoos would expand this research and further offer critical insight into the enrichment needs of captive gorilla populations

SUPPORTING REENTRY AT THE EGOCENTRIC LEVEL: INVESTIGATING THE ROLE SOCIAL NETWORKS PLAY POST INCARCERATION

Reentry is an important subject matter to investigate. With high incarceration and recidivism rates it is essential to highlight ways to reduce the flow of offenders into the criminal justice system and understand how to foster desistance. Borrowing from social capital theory, this study investigates the barriers reentrants face, their ability to overcome these obstacles and the role supportive and non-supportive relationships play in reintegration. Exploring how offenders’ networks constrain or support community reentry, this study found that structural characteristics indicative of higher social capital covaried with successful reentry. Thematic coding of open-ended survey responses revealed that quality of social relations and resources were critical to successful reentry. Results show that access to resources like housing, employment, and transportation, as well as emotional and psychological support and fortitude are critical to reentry. While family and associates play instrumental roles in the reentry process, cohesive supportive networks and minimally connected non- supportive networks may position reentrants to take advantage of resources and opportunities they are exposed to. These structural characteristics of egocentric social networks are observed to covary with reentry outcomes. Professional non- governmental agencies such as reentry programs aid in reentry efforts as correctional government agencies like parole affiliates create or maintain barriers, as perceived by the reentrant. These findings draw attention to the need for reentry policy and programs to serve reentrant needs, as well as their most critical supporters

La valutazione dei finanziamenti pubblici per le politiche strutturali

Il regolamento 1083/2006 del consiglio della UE, che definisce le regole fondamentali per i fondi strutturali europei per il periodo di programmazione 2007-2013, ha stabilito l’obbligo dei paesi beneficiari di determinare il contributo richiesto all’UE come cofinanziamento non rimborsabile per la costruzione di infrastrutture, tenendo conto delle entrate attese dai pagamenti da parte degli utenti dei servizi erogati dalle infrastrutture stesse. Il principio, di semplice applicazione per gli aspetti di pianificazione finanziaria che ne sono alla base, comporta non poche difficoltà nella pratica della programmazione e della progettazione, e potrebbe generare significative conseguenze sulla attuazione dei programmi operativi dei fondi strutturali, specie nelle regioni dell’obiettivo convergenza. In questo contributo ci si propone di analizzare gli aspetti metodologici rilevanti nelle diverse fasi del ciclo di progetto, di analizzare lo stato di attuazione di questa regola soprattutto nelle regioni italiane dell’obiettivo convergenza , ed infine di discutere alcuni aspetti critici. La programmazione 2007-2013 dei fondi strutturali sta entrando nella fase centrale dell’attuazione, ed al livello nazionale ed europeo si osserva un dibattito vivace sulla efficienza ed efficacia della politica di coesione e sulle opzioni per continuare questo intervento oltre il 2013 (EC DG regional development. Fifth report on Europe’s future 2011), specie nei paesi vecchi membri della Unione, dove i risultati di oltre un ventennio di intervento sono sottoposti a numerose critiche in termini di efficacia e di efficienza della gestione. La modulazione del cofinanziamento Europeo in funzione della sostenibilità finanziaria degli investimenti per lo sviluppo, che attua i principi fondamentali della politica di coesione, trova nelle infrastrutture generatrici di entrate un caso particolarmente interessante. In Italia, un’efficace e piena attuazione di questo principio potrebbe dare un utile contributo al successo della politica di coesione europea

Economic Sustainability of Quality Wine Districts in the South of Italy. The Case Of Vulture

The paper presents an analysis of economic performance and long-term sustainability of the quality wine production in the Vulture District, in the South of Italy. This case is considered as it is representative of many Italian quality wine districts that produce a very large variety of high quality wines, and present, in almost all cases, a fragmented structure in small and micro farms. The analysis aims to two objectives. First is the assessing of current financial profitability of micro grape wine farms. Second is the analysing of the feasibility and impact of process innovations and structural adjustments. According to the results of the analysis, a large majority of grape wine farms are currently producing with negative returns on the investment. Financial and economic sustainability could be improved at least for a share of them with the available process innovations, combined with consolidation of the farm structures to reduce land fragmentation. The results are relevant for the design of public policies and private investment strategies

Endogenous annexin A1 counter-regulates bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis

PMCID: PMC3212807This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Effects of Artificial Enrichment for Captive Western Lowland Gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) Activity Budgets

The benefits of enrichment and proper husbandry protocols and their applicability in wildlife research have been important topics of zoological research. Examining activity budgets of various species throughout zoological facilities reap biological, educational and conservation benefits. We collected data on the behavioral responses of five western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) (1 adult male, 2 adult females, 2 infants/juveniles) to a novel climbing structure in the outdoor enclosure at the Philadelphia Zoo. Over a period of 53 nonconsecutive months, we conducted 30-minute focals with 2-minute scan samples on the gorillas (488 total observation hours). We recorded frequency of behaviors for each gorilla (e.g., playing, foraging, traveling, resting), variations of those behaviors between indoor and outdoor, and general outdoor use. Our results suggest that, on average, the troop increased general outdoor usage by 37%, indoor foraging by 11%, and outdoor regurgitation and reingestion by 19%. The troop also decreased outdoor foraging by 17% and sedentary behaviors by 12%. Zoological facilities invest in enrichment, with the hope of satisfying captive species’ biological needs. Our data suggest that the novel climbing structure at the Philadelphia Zoo provided an important enrichment opportunity for specific gorillas, while it may not have been particularly useful for other gorillas, suggesting there are individual differences. Additional comparisons at other zoos would expand this research and further offer critical insight into the enrichment needs of captive gorilla populations

Controlling inflammation: a fat chance?

The inflammatory response protects the body against infection and injury but can itself become deregulated with deleterious consequences to the host. It is now clear that several endogenous biochemical pathways activated during defense reactions can counterregulate inflammation. New experimental evidence adds resolvin E1 to this group of endogenous inhibitors and provides further rationale for the beneficial effects of dietary supplementation with fish oils. It also highlights an unexpected twist in the pharmacology of aspirin