Scale and conservation planning in the real world

Conservation planning is carried out on a variety of geopolitical and biogeographical scales. Whereas considerable consensus is emerging about the most appropriate procedures for identifying conservation areas, the spatial implications of conducting conservation planning at divergent scales have received little attention. Here we explore the consequences of planning at different geopolitical scales, using a database of the mammalian fauna from the Northern Provinces of South Africa. The conservation network resulting from treating the region as one unit is compared with networks generated separately for the provinces nested in that region. These outcomes are evaluated in terms of (i) their land use efficiencies, (ii) their spatial overlap, and (iii) the impact of algorithm attributes. Although land use efficiencies are greater on broader scales, on average the spatial congruence between the broad-scale regional network and fine-scale provincial networks was less than 14%. Algorithms using different selection rules fail to improve this disturbing outcome. Consequently, scale has an overwhelming influence on areas identified as conservation networks in geopolitical units. This should be recognized in conservation planning

Rapid Induction of Ageing Character in Brandy Products – Part II. Influence of Type of Oak

As part of a broader study that investigated techniques for the rapid induction of the needed ageing character in brandyproducts, the effect of oak type on quality and chemical composition of oak wood extracts and matured and unmatured potstillbrandy, is reported on. Extracts, prepared from American and French oak chips supplied by a South African cooper,and from commercially obtained oak, and representing different levels of toasting, were added to 70% (v/v) unmaturedpot-still brandy and stored for eight months in glass containers (Schott bottles) at room temperature, or in the case ofcontrols, below 0°C. Matured and unmatured (control) pot-still brandy samples were analysed for wood-derived congenersby means of HPLC and GC. Although French oak initially yielded better quality products, these effects lost prominenceand, after eight months maturation, yielded similar sensory quality to American oak. French oak samples had higherconcentrations of wood-derived congeners (including eugenol, the furan derivatives and aromatic aldehydes). However,the American oak generally contained higher concentrations of oak lactones than their French counterparts, with higherproportions of the more sensorially potent cis-form of lactone than its trans-isomer

Rapid Induction of Ageing Character in Brandy Products. Ageing and General Overview

Ageing is one of the most important and most costly factors determining the quality of distilled beverages.As part of a broader study that investigated techniques for the rapid induction of a desirable ageing characterin brandy products, the effect of maturation for eight months at room temperature and below 0°C inglass bottles, and the relationship/correlation between treatment, chemical composition or wood-derivedcongener concentrations and pot-still brandy sensory quality, are reported on. Extracts representing differentoak types (American or French), levels of toasting, suppliers (i.e. cooper or commercial), types ofmedium (ethanol or water), concentration types (open or reduced pressure) and concentration levels (by45, 65 or 85%) were added to pot-still spirit and stored for eight months in glass containers. Matured andunmatured (control) pot-still brandy samples were analysed for wood-derived compounds by means ofHPLC and GC. The different treatments brought about chemical changes with a noticeable impact on theacceptability of oak extracts and the overall quality of pot-still brandies. Through application and selectionof the correct oak type and treatment combinations, it therefore was possible to rapidly produce goodquality brandies without the use of expensive oak barrels. Maturation in glass bottles had a lesser impacton further improvement of the final product, not the same as the reported improvement from ageing inwooden barrels. The production of good quality brandies and the rapid induction of the ageing characterthrough certain treatment combinations, with little need for further maturation, therefore was achieved inglass. The complexity of brandies aged in glass rather than wooden barrels might be different, since ageingin wooden barrels brings about all the characteristics, complexities and flavours that characteristicallyevolve over time under the more oxidative conditions in wooden barrels. Future research should focus ona combination of both technologies, using certain oak treatment combinations together with traditionalbarrel maturation for the improvement and rapid induction of the ageing character in brandy products

Exploring the Potential of a Wearable Camera to Examine the Early Obesogenic Home Environment: Comparison of SenseCam Images to the Home Environment Interview.

BACKGROUND: The obesogenic home environment is usually examined via self-report, and objective measures are required. OBJECTIVE: This study explored whether the wearable camera SenseCam can be used to examine the early obesogenic home environment and whether it is useful for validation of self-report measures. METHODS: A total of 15 primary caregivers of young children (mean age of child 4 years) completed the Home Environment Interview (HEI). Around 12 days after the HEI, participants wore the SenseCam at home for 4 days. A semistructured interview assessed participants' experience of wearing the SenseCam. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs), percent agreement, and kappa statistics were used as validity estimates for 54 home environment features. RESULTS: Wearing the SenseCam was generally acceptable to those who participated. The SenseCam captured all 54 HEI features but with varying detail; 36 features (67%) had satisfactory validity (ICC or kappa ≥0.40; percent agreement ≥80 where kappa could not be calculated). Validity was good or excellent (ICC or kappa ≥0.60) for fresh fruit and vegetable availability, fresh vegetable variety, display of food and drink (except sweet snacks), family meals, child eating lunch or dinner while watching TV, garden and play equipment, the number of TVs and DVD players, and media equipment in the child's bedroom. Validity was poor (ICC or kappa <0.40) for tinned and frozen vegetable availability and variety, and sweet snack availability. CONCLUSIONS: The SenseCam has the potential to objectively examine and validate multiple aspects of the obesogenic home environment. Further research should aim to replicate the findings in a larger, representative sample

Rapid Induction of Ageing Character in Brandy Products – Part III. Influence of Toasting

As part of a broader study that investigated techniques for the rapid induction of the needed ageing character inbrandy products, the effect of oak wood toasting on quality and chemical composition of oak wood extracts andmatured and unmatured pot-still brandy, is reported on. Extracts, prepared from oak chips supplied by a SouthAfrican cooper, and from commercially obtained oak, and representing different oak types and levels of toasting(i.e. untoasted, light, medium and heavy), were added to 70% (v/v) unmatured pot-still brandy and stored for eightmonths in glass containers (Schott bottles) at room temperature, or in the case of controls, below 0°C. Matured andunmatured (control) pot-still brandy samples were analysed for wood-derived congeners by means of HPLC andGC. Toasted, as opposed to untoasted oak, gave acceptable extracts, the best overall quality pot-still brandies andgenerally higher concentrations of volatile (GC-determined) and less volatile (HPLC-determined) wood-derivedcongeners. Toasting provoked an important separation as indicated by discriminant analysis

Rapid Induction of Ageing Character in Brandy Products – Part I. Effects of Extraction Media and Preparation Conditions

The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of different wood types and treatments, and extraction mediato induce rapid ageing of brandy. Extracts were prepared from American and French oak, specially preparedand supplied by a cooper, and from commercially obtained oak; both representative of different toasting levels,including untoasted, light, medium and heavy toasted. To extract the wood components, wood chips in either 55%(v/v) neutral wine spirits or water media were boiled under reflux. Distillation was followed by either open (higherboiling temperature) or closed (vacuum or reduced pressure – lower boiling temperature) concentration of thedecanted solvent by 45, 65 and 85% (v/v). The concentrated extracts were fortified. Screened extracts were addedto unmatured pot-still brandy and aged for eight months at room temperature in glass containers. Controls werestored below 0°C. Matured and unmatured (control) pot-still brandy samples were analyzed for wood-derivedcongeners by means of HPLC and GC. This article focuses on the effects of the extraction media, and on level andmethod of concentration (open and reduced pressure) on sensory quality and chemical composition. The treatmentsthat gave acceptable extracts, and the best overall quality pot-still brandy were those that entailed (1) using ethanolinstead of water as extraction medium, and (2) levels of concentration above 45% (v/v). Open and reduced-pressureconcentrations showed little difference in the quality of the products yielded. Treatments yielding the most acceptableextracts and best overall quality pot-still brandy generally also contained higher concentrations of volatile andless volatile wood-derived congeners. Multivariate data analysis was conducted on the pot-still brandy samplesrepresenting the different treatments. Discriminate analysis provided better separation of samples than principalcomponent analysis

Effect of Juice Turbidity and Yeast Lees Content on Brandy Base Wine and Unmatured Pot-still Brandy Quality

The aims of this project were to identify a suitable grape juice clarification technique for the attainment of the optimal brandy base wine turbidity, to determine the importance of chemical components (volatile components and long-chain fatty acids) in brandy base wine and unmatured pot-still brandy quality, and to study the effect of yeast lees content on quality. Although common industry practice is to use the grape cultivars Colombar(d) and Chenin blanc for the production of brandy base wine, the optimal conditions for Chenin blanc have been defined in this study. The juice clarification treatments applied included no settling, cold settling, whisk, large- and small-scale centrifugation and bentonite. Yeast strain 228 was compared with VIN13, large-scale (L) distillation was compared with small-scale (s) distillation, and the use of no enzyme was compared with the use of pectolytic enzyme. The data for four vintages were compiled and evaluated. Settling with or without pectolytic enzyme, bentonite, small-scale centrifugation and whisk treatments gave clearer Chenin blanc juice, higher concentrations of certain volatile components and long-chain fatty acids, and higher quality brandy base wine and unmatured pot-still brandy. No settling and large-scale centrifugation yielded the most turbid and lowest quality products. There is a definite relationship between treatments, turbidity, concentrations of esters, higher alcohols and acids, and overall brandy base wine and unmatured pot-still brandy quality. The use of yeast strain VIN13 (as opposed to strain 228), in conjunction with an increased yeast lees content of 1.5x that is normally found in brandy base wine, yielded the best quality unmatured pot-still brandy. Based on the results of this study, it is possible to recommend the best juice clarification method(s) for optimal turbidity as well as optimal levels of yeast lees addition, and to identify chemical compounds that positively relate to quality

Optimization of Inventory and Capacity in Large-Scale Assembly Systems Using Extreme-Value Theory

High-tech systems are typically produced in two stages: (1) production of components using specialized equipment and staff and (2) system assembly/integration. Component production capacity is subject to fluctuations, causing a high risk of shortages of at least one component, which results in costly delays. Companies hedge this risk by strategic investments in excess production capacity and in buffer inventories of components. To optimize these, it is crucial to characterize the relation between component shortage risk and capacity and inventory investments. We suppose that component production capacity and produce demand are normally distributed over finite time intervals, and we accordingly model the production system as a symmetric fork-join queueing network with N statistically identical queues with a common arrival process and independent service processes. Assuming a symmetric cost structure, we subsequently apply extreme value theory to gain analytic insights into this optimization problem. We derive several new results for this queueing network, notably that the scaled maximum of N steady-state queue lengths converges in distribution to a Gaussian random variable. These results translate into asymptotically optimal methods to dimension the system. Tests on a range of problems reveal that these methods typically work well for systems of moderate size

An integrated transport planning approach for Sandton - how do we balance the demands for road space

During the past four decades, Sandton experienced significant land use growth, particularly in office and retail development. This is evident from the number of new buildings that have been built recently including the Ernest & Young and Alexander Forbes buildings on Rivonia Road, expansion of Sandton shopping centre and the construction of the Norton Rose Precinct on Fredman Street. The development of the transport system serving Sandton developed largely in response to the land use growth and is mainly rooted on private car based transport. Currently the roads in Sandton are wide and a disproportionate number serves a high-order mobility function. Pedestrian infrastructure and facilities are limited and not thoroughly planned and public transport has little impact on the travel choice of commuters. Due to the limited availability of residential development within or close to Sandton, the greater majority of trips are medium and long distance and therefore erodes the potential for non-motorised transport. Sandton is in many aspects not a unique node and other established areas experience similar transport issues present in Sandton. This paper explores some of these transport issues within established nodes and also outlines solutions presented in the Sandton Integrated Transport Master plan recently developed for the area which may be applicable elsewhere. This plan realises that the current car-based transport network development approach, mainly fuelled by new developments adding to the road network cannot be maintained and that significant intervention is required. Future year scenarios include business as usual, a focus on public transport and a truly integrated land-use and transport view and the implications of each scenario were considered. To reach the desired transport outcome for Sandton over a period of 20 years, the master plan identified a number of structuring interventions addressing all modes of transport but also land use development issues. These interventions aim to create a balanced multi-modal transportation network that accommodates a high level of accessibility and rebalancing streets to provide space for people walking and cycling and in this way creating a liveable city environment. This paper advocates an alternative, more sustainable approach to maintaining the accessibility of established nodes.Paper presented at the 34th Annual Southern African Transport Conference 6-9 July 2015 "Working Together to Deliver - Sakha Sonke", CSIR International Convention Centre, Pretoria, South Africa.The Minister of Transport, South AfricaTransportation Research Board of the US