Are Marine Protected Areas in the Turks and Caicos Islands ecologically or economically valuable?

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are often advocated by ecologists as a method of conserving valuable fish stocks while ensuring the integrity of ecological processes in the face of increasing anthropogenic disturbance. In the Turks and Caicos Islands there is little evidence that current MPAs are ecologically beneficial but there are indications that boundary changes may enhance queen conch and finfish production. Implementing boundary changes usually requires political will and, hence, quantifiable economic benefits. Assessing the value of reef fish is particularly important because they are potentially valuable for consumptive and nonconsumptive purposes. We demonstrate the nonconsumptive economic value of increased Nassau grouper size and abundance to the dive tourism industry through a paired comparison conjoint survey of visiting divers. Our results suggest that accounting for the non-consumptive economic value of increased Nassau grouper abundance and size may have a large impact on the economic viability of ecologically functional MPAs

Evaluating the outcomes of payments for ecosystem services programmes using a capital asset framework

There is a limited understanding of the conditions under which payments for ecosystem services (PES) programmes achieve improvements in ecosystem service (ES) flows, enhance natural resource sustainability or foster sustainable livelihoods. We used a capital asset framework to evaluate PES programmes in terms of their social, environmental, economic and institutional outcomes, focusing on efficiency, effectiveness and equity trade-offs. We found that PES schemes can provide positive conservation and development outcomes with respect to livelihoods, land-use change, household and community incomes, and governance. However, programmes differ with regards to contract agreements, payment modes, and compliance, and have diverse cross-sector institutional arrangements that remain primarily state-structured and external donor-financed. There is a consistent lack of focus on evaluating and fostering human, social and institutional capital. This reflects general inattention to how PES programmes consider the causal links between ES and outcomes. To enhance ES production and PES scheme accessibility and participation, we recommend strengthening the linkages between ES production and land-use practices, boosting private and voluntary sector involvement, encouraging property rights and tenure reform, improving financial viability, and adequately accounting for the distribution of programme costs and benefits among participants

Towards an engineering model for curve squeal

Curve squeal is a strong tonal noise that may arise when a railway vehicle negotiates a curve. The wheel/rail contact model is the central part of prediction models, describing the frictional instability occurring in the contact during squeal. A previously developed time-domain squeal model considers the wheel and rail dynamics, and the wheel/rail contact is solved using Kalker’s nonlinear transient CONTACT algorithm with Coulomb friction. In this paper, contact models with different degree of simplification are compared to CONTACT within the previously developed squeal model in order to determine a suitable contact algorithm for an engineering curve squeal model. Kalker’s steady-state FASTSIM is evaluated, and, without further modification, shows unsatisfying results. An alternative transient single-point contact algorithm named SPOINT is formulated with the friction model derived from CONTACT. Comparing with the original model results, the SPOINT implementation results are promising and similar to results from CONTACT

Signal analysis and feature generation for pattern identification of partial discharges in high-voltage equipment

This paper proposes a method for the identification of different partial discharges (PDs) sources through the analysis of a collection of PD signals acquired with a PD measurement system. This method, robust and sensitive enough to cope with noisy data and external interferences, combines the characterization of each signal from the collection, with a clustering procedure, the CLARA algorithm. Several features are proposed for the characterization of the signals, being the wavelet variances, the frequency estimated with the Prony method, and the energy, the most relevant for the performance of the clustering procedure. The result of the unsupervised classification is a set of clusters each containing those signals which are more similar to each other than to those in other clusters. The analysis of the classification results permits both the identification of different PD sources and the discrimination between original PD signals, reflections, noise and external interferences. The methods and graphical tools detailed in this paper have been coded and published as a contributed package of the R environment under a GNU/GPL license

SPACA3gene variants in a New Zealand cohort of infertile and fertile couples

SPRASA (also referred to as SLLP1) is a protein identified in the acrosome of human sperm and encoded by the gene SPACA3. SPRASA is associated with sperm-oocyte recognition and binding, and may play a role in fertility. In order to determine whether variants in the SPACA3 gene are associated with human infertility, we undertook a genetic analysis of 102 infertile and 104 fertile couples. Three gene variants were identified using PCR-based DNA sequencing; 1) an insertion of TGC within a quadruple tri-nucleotide (TGC) repeat region in the 5’ untranslated region (UTR) (g.–22TGC(4_5), 2) a guanine to adenosine transition at position 239 (c.239G> A) resulting in a non-synonymous amino acid substitution from cysteine to tyrosine (p.C80Y) at position 80 in the putative transmembrane region, and 3) a novel nucleotide variant (c.691G> C) located in the 3’UTR. A functional effect of the g.–22TGC (4_5) was confirmed by a luciferase expression assay, while the effects of the variants c.239G> A and c.691G> C were predicted using in silico analysis. Although the frequencies of these variants were not significantly different between the infertile and fertile populations, we present evidence that the variants could affect the expression levels or function of SPRASA, thereby affecting a couple's fertility. Larger populations, especially individuals/couples with unexplained infertility, need to be screened for these variants to validate a relationship with fertility

Toward sustainable environmental quality : priority research questions for Europe

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals have been established to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for all. Delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals will require a healthy and productive environment. An understanding of the impacts of chemicals which can negatively impact environmental health is therefore essential to the delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals. However, current research on and regulation of chemicals in the environment tend to take a simplistic view and do not account for the complexity of the real world, which inhibits the way we manage chemicals. There is therefore an urgent need for a step change in the way we study and communicate the impacts and control of chemicals in the natural environment. To do this requires the major research questions to be identified so that resources are focused on questions that really matter. We present the findings of a horizon-scanning exercise to identify research priorities of the European environmental science community around chemicals in the environment. Using the key questions approach, we identified 22 questions of priority. These questions covered overarching questions about which chemicals we should be most concerned about and where, impacts of global megatrends, protection goals, and sustainability of chemicals; the development and parameterization of assessment and management frameworks; and mechanisms to maximize the impact of the research. The research questions identified provide a first-step in the path forward for the research, regulatory, and business communities to better assess and manage chemicals in the natural environment. Environ Toxicol Chem 2018;9999:1-15