Ejidos, Urbanization, and the Production of Inequality in Formerly Agricultural Lands, Guadalajara, Mexico, 1975–2020

The ejido is an institution of communal land tenure and governance administered by the Mexican government. This paper assesses the current visual appearance of landscapes and implicit land use in ejidal lands on the periphery of Guadalajara, Mexico, using Google Street View (GSV) images tagged for signs of urban distress. Distressed landscapes are associated with the temporal process of urban expansion—newer settlements tend to be more visibly impoverished. Concentrations of vulnerable housing are correlated with encroached-upon ejidal lands in a process that was underway by the 1970s, well before Mexico’s neoliberal turn. Ejidos on the urban periphery, created to support agricultural communities during Mexico’s radical period of agrarian reform, are now sites of urban sprawl and impoverishment. Nevertheless, these communities remain legally salient as federal entities with respect to the disposition of land. Their presence complicates the historical evolution of land use in the urban periphery in ways that do not fit into classical central place models. We conclude that the presence of ejidos is associated with rapid and chaotic urbanization by migrants and the loss of agricultural capacity in Guadalajara’s periphery

Restoration of semi-natural grasslands, a success for phytophagous beetles (Curculionidae)

Semi-natural pastures have rich plant and animal communities of high conservation value which depend on extensive management. As the area of such land decreases, abandoned semi-natural grasslands have been restored to re-establish biodiversity. Restoration schemes, which include thinning of woody plants and reintroduction of grazing, are mainly designed according to the responses of well-studied groups (such as vascular plants and birds). Weevils (Curculionidae) are a very diverse phytophagous beetle family. Here, we evaluated the restoration success of pastures for weevils (Curculionidae), by comparing their species diversity in abandoned, restored, and continuously grazed semi-natural pastures on 24 sites in central Sweden. Weevils were sampled by sweep-netting. We recorded 3019 weevil individuals belonging to 104 species. There was no statistically significant difference in species numbers between the pasture management treatments. However, weevil species composition of abandoned pastures differed from those in restored and continuously managed pastures, but there was no significant difference in community composition between restored and continuously grazed pastures. The abandoned sites tended to be dominated by polyphagous species, whereas the grazed sites contained more monophagous and oligophagous species. The number of weevil species was positively related to understory vegetation height and connectivity to other semi-natural grasslands and negatively related to the cover of trees and shrubs in the pastures. We conclude that restoration of abandoned semi-natural pastures is a good approach to restore weevil communities. To maintain a species rich weevil community, pastures should be managed to be relatively open, but still have patches of tall field- layer vegetation. Restoration and conservation measures should primarily be targeted on regions and landscapes where a high proportion of semi-natural grassland stil

Development of the Physical Activity Tracking Preference Questionnaire

International Journal of Exercise Science 12(5): 297-309, 2019. The present study aims to develop the Physical Activity Tracking Preference Questionnaire (PATPQ), a measure of unit (distance, steps, calories, minutes) preference for tracking physical activity. The PATPQ was developed in two phases. During Phase One, the initial PATPQ was created (24 items), was assessed by an expert panel for face validity, and tested in 557 adults. Results were used to revise and modify the PATPQ. In Phase Two, the item pool was expanded and tested in 374 adults. Kuder‐Richardson Formula 20 scores for internal consistency and interclass correlations for test-retest reliability were calculated. Internal consistency for the final questionnaire was 0.78, 0.79, 0.89 and 0.69 for the distance, steps, calories, and minutes components, respectively. Test-retest reliability coefficients were within acceptable ranges (0.65-0.75). Overall, the PATPQ can be used to identify individual preferences for tracking physical activity to help personalize exercise programs

Exploring the potential for sustainable accessibility across settlement types : a Swedish case

The potential for residents of smaller urban and rural areas to benefit from sustainable accessibility is an under-researched area. This paper explores accessibility to important every-day amenities within short travel times and how this differs across geography and mode of travel. The analysis draws on a combination of novel open-source data of the transport system and official Swedish register data of the total population of individuals and workplaces geocoded at a 100-meter resolution. The findings show considerable variation in accessibility to everyday amenities by travel mode for different settlement types. While the car provides good accessibility, short trips by bicycle are a very competitive alternative in urban and suburban areas. Access to every-day amenities by active travel modes is limited outside urban areas. Employing accessibility analysis by settlement type offers a powerful policy support tool for planners charged with developing measures to address sustainable accessibility for small urban and rural areas

Restoration of semi-natural grasslands, a success for phytophagous beetles (Curculionidae)

Semi-natural pastures have rich plant and animal communities of high conservation value which depend on extensive management. As the area of such land decreases, abandoned semi-natural grasslands have been restored to re-establish biodiversity. Restoration schemes, which include thinning of woody plants and reintroduction of grazing, are mainly designed according to the responses of well-studied groups (such as vascular plants and birds). Weevils (Curculionidae) are a very diverse phytophagous beetle family. Here, we evaluated the restoration success of pastures for weevils (Curculionidae), by comparing their species diversity in abandoned, restored, and continuously grazed semi-natural pastures on 24 sites in central Sweden. Weevils were sampled by sweep-netting. We recorded 3019 weevil individuals belonging to 104 species. There was no statistically significant difference in species numbers between the pasture management treatments. However, weevil species composition of abandoned pastures differed from those in restored and continuously managed pastures, but there was no significant difference in community composition between restored and continuously grazed pastures. The abandoned sites tended to be dominated by polyphagous species, whereas the grazed sites contained more monophagous and oligophagous species. The number of weevil species was positively related to understory vegetation height and connectivity to other semi-natural grasslands and negatively related to the cover of trees and shrubs in the pastures. We conclude that restoration of abandoned semi-natural pastures is a good approach to restore weevil communities. To maintain a species rich weevil community, pastures should be managed to be relatively open, but still have patches of tall field-layer vegetation. Restoration and conservation measures should primarily be targeted on regions and landscapes where a high proportion of semi-natural grassland still remains

Timing Termination of a Biofumigant Cover Crop for Weed Suppression in Chile Pepper

Overwinter mustard cover crops incorporated into soil may suppress early-season weeds in chile pepper (Capsicum annuum). However, the potential for mustard cover crops to harbor beet leafhoppers (Circulifer tenellus) is a concern because beet leafhoppers transmit beet curly top virus to chile pepper. The objectives of this study were to determine the amounts of a biopesticidal compound (sinigrin) added to soil from ‘Caliente Rojo’ brown mustard (Brassica juncea) cover crops ended on three different days before beet leafhopper flights during spring and to determine the effects of the cover crop termination date on weed densities and hand-hoeing times for chile pepper. To address these objectives, a field study was conducted in southern New Mexico. In 2019–20, the cover crop was ended and incorporated into soil 45, 31, and 17 days before beet leafhopper flights. In 2020–21, cover crop termination occurred 36, 22, and 8 days before beet leafhopper flights. Treatments also included a no cover crop control. Cover crop biomass and sinigrin concentrations were determined at each termination. Chile pepper was seeded 28 days after the third termination date. Weed densities and hand-hoeing times were determined 28 and 56 days after chile pepper seeding. In 2019–20, the third termination (17 days before beet leafhopper flights) yielded the maximum cover crop biomass (820 g⋅m−2) and greatest sinigrin addition to soil (274 mmol⋅m−2). However, only the second termination (31 days before beet leafhopper flights) suppressed weeds in chile pepper. In 2020–21, the third termination (8 days before beet leafhopper flights) yielded the maximum cover crop biomass (591 g⋅m−2) and greatest sinigrin addition to soil (213 mmol⋅m−2), and it was the only treatment that suppressed weeds. No cover crop treatment reduced hand-hoeing times. These results indicate that overwinter mustard cover crops can be ended to evade beet leafhopper flights and suppress weeds in chile pepper

Motif oriented high-resolution analysis of ChIP-seq data reveals the topological order of CTCF and cohesin proteins on DNA

BACKGROUND: ChIP-seq provides a wealth of information on the approximate location of DNA-binding proteins genome-wide. It is known that the targeted motifs in most cases can be found at the peak centers. A high resolution mapping of ChIP-seq peaks could in principle allow the fine mapping of the protein constituents within protein complexes, but the current ChIP-seq analysis pipelines do not target the basepair resolution strand specific mapping of peak summits. RESULTS: The approach proposed here is based on i) locating regions that are bound by a sufficient number of proteins constituting a complex; ii) determining the position of the underlying motif using either a direct or a de novo motif search approach; and iii) determining the exact location of the peak summits with respect to the binding motif in a strand specific manner. We applied this method for analyzing the CTCF/cohesin complex, which holds together DNA loops. The relative positions of the constituents of the complex were determined with one-basepair estimated accuracy. Mapping the positions on a 3D model of DNA made it possible to deduce the approximate local topology of the complex that allowed us to predict how the CTCF/cohesin complex locks the DNA loops. As the positioning of the proteins was not compatible with previous models of loop closure, we proposed a plausible "double embrace" model in which the DNA loop is held together by two adjacent cohesin rings in such a way that the ring anchored by CTCF to one DNA duplex encircles the other DNA double helix and vice versa. CONCLUSIONS: A motif-centered, strand specific analysis of ChIP-seq data improves the accuracy of determining peak positions. If a genome contains a large number of binding sites for a given protein complex, such as transcription factor heterodimers or transcription factor/cofactor complexes, the relative position of the constituent proteins on the DNA can be established with an accuracy that allow one to deduce the local topology of the protein complex. The proposed high resolution mapping approach of ChIP-seq data is applicable for detecting the contact topology of DNA-binding protein complexes