Exotic herbaceous species interact with severe drought to alter soil N cycling in a semi-arid shrubland

Mediterranean-type ecosystems are increasingly threatened by climate change and exotic annual species, jeopardizing the native communities and their global biodiversity. In these systems, soil nitrogen (N) limits net primary production, and its availability can be influenced by both of these stressors. To understand the interactive effects of droughts and exotic herbaceous species on soil N, we monitored the temporal variability of soil inorganic N, net N mineralization, net nitrification, and NO3- leaching under native- and exotic-dominated stands exposed to rainfall manipulation plots in a Mediterranean-type shrub-dominated community. Increasing drought severity resulted in the accumulation of soil NH4+ and NO3-, with a more pronounced increase in exotic-dominated plots. Increased net N mineralization and net nitrification and reduced leaching losses were observed as mechanisms of inorganic N accumulation. In comparison to soils under native plants, soils under exotic plants had enhanced leaching losses upon soil rewetting. We propose that distinct traits of exotic annual herbaceous species associated with higher N inputs, faster turnover, and reduced temporal uptake determine the changes in N cycling in response to droughts. Severe droughts and exotic plants may produce a larger, more vulnerable pool of N that is prone to losses while providing a competitive advantage to promote exotic growth in these N-limited ecosystems

The impacts of the transgenes on the modified crops, non-target soil and terrestrial organisms

Agriculture forms a basis for survival and advancement of civilization of mankind and economic growth. The production and quality of food depends on nature of cultivars that have hitherto been obtained by mutation and hybridization of selected plants. Since the productivity of many crops has reached a plateau the gene transfer technology is used to break the yield barriers to meet the demand of the growing population of mankind. The gene transfer although yielded intended effects including reduction of emission of greenhouse gases, caused several changes in the modified crop plants, interacted with soil food webs, affected the biota associated with agro system, inflicted damage to mammals and birds, and contaminated both the related and unrelated plant species through horizontal gene transfer.The gene transfer also caused the phenomena of resistance and ecological succession of biota in different habitats Keywords: Gene transfer, transgene, agriculture, modified crop

Effect of Bush Burning on Herbaceous Plant Diversity in Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu Campus, Lagos - Nigeria

Bush burning has been practiced in many parts of the world, and has been accepted as an integral part of the traditional agriculture. This study was conducted to assess the effect of bush burning on plant species diversity. Three frequently burnt sites denoted 1, 2, 3 as well as a Control site denoted as 4, were selected in Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu Campus, based on last burning time lapse being 5 months, 10 months, 3 years and no recent history of burning (control) respectively. Samples were taken using the systematic sampling procedure on three transects laid across 40m,2 area of each site. Plant samples were taken on each transect using a 0.25m2 quadrat. Samples were collected at 10m interval. Data obtained for plants were compared using % frequency, % stand and Simpson and Shannon diversity indices. Highest plant diversity was observed in the control site being 81% and 95% for Simpson and Shannon indices respectively whereas, values ranged between 31 and 35% and 47 and 50% for the Simpson and Shannon indices respectively in study sites. Total species encountered were highest in the control site and least in sites 1 and 2. Dominance of single species were observed in all except control site with Chromolaena odorata 79.5% stand in site 1 and Panicum maximum 82.5% and 79% in sites 2 and 3 respectively.Keywords: Bush Burning, Plant Diversity, Chromolaena Odorata, Panicum Maximu

A psychological perspective on elephant rewilding

Baker & Winkler describe the complexities of captive elephant conservation efforts in Thailand through multiple lenses. They advocate rewilding captive elephants within mixed elephant-human communities based on the benefits to captive elephants as well as to Karen mahout communities, given the entrenched economic and social systems in Thailand. From a psychological perspective, this advocacy is grounded in considerations of culture, cognition, speciesism, the differential valuing of others in social hierarchies, and the potential for positive interaction to build positive emotions and trust that enable successful rewilding in a world of elephants and humans

Race and Populist Radical Right Discourses: Implications for Roma Education Policy in Hungary

Non-government organizations and policy makers agree that the best route to eradicating the widespread discrimination and poverty among the Roma is to improve the quality of and access to education. A cursory glance at the Hungarian Government website suggests that policy makers are on top of the problem with good laws and initiatives in place. Yet, indicators from non-government groups and academics suggest the situation remains bleak for the Roma, and practices such as the segregation of Roma school children persist. Progressive change in Hungary first requires a serious confrontation of the widespread and deeply ingrained racism against the Roma. This paper makes no attempt at such an ambition; however, the paper aims to begin acknowledging the role race plays in populist radical right discourses about education policies in Hungary using a discourse analysis method informed by Critical Race Theory. The paper advances two arguments. First, there is a mismatch between official policy and actual progress on Roma education. Second, an examination of how populist radical right discourses about the Roma are racialized provides insight into why there is a mismatch.Les organisations non-gouvernementales et les décideurs publiques sont d’accord pour dire que la meilleure façon d’éliminer la discrimination répandue contre les Roms et la pauvreté généralisée dans laquelle ils vivent est d’améliorer la qualité de l’éducation qu’ils reçoivent et leur accès à celle-ci. Un examen rapide du site web du gouvernement hongrois laisse penser que les décideurs publiques maitrisent la situation grâce à des lois et des initiatives judicieuses. Toutefois, les indicateurs provenant de groupes non-gouvernementaux et de chercheurs portent à croire que la situation des Roms demeure sombre et que des pratiques telles la ségrégation des élèves roms persiste. Avant de connaitre une évolution positive en Hongrie, il est nécessaire d’affronter efficacement le racisme généralisé et profondément ancré contre les Roms. Cet article ne prétend pas entretenir une telle ambition; il veut plutôt commencer à reconnaitre le rôle que joue la race dans les discours de groupes populistes d’extrême droite évoquant les politiques hongroises en matière d’éducation. La méthode employée est celle d’une analyse du discours appuyée par la théorie critique axée sur la relation entre la race et la loi. L’article fait deux affirmations : d’abord, il y a une inadéquation entre la politique officielle et les progrès réel quant à l’éducation des Roms et deuxièmement, un examen de la racisation des discours de groupes populistes d’extrême droite portant sur les Roms offrent des explications sur l’existence de cette inadéquation.

Protocol-based verification of message-passing parallel programs

© 2015 ACM.We present ParTypes, a type-based methodology for the verification of Message Passing Interface (MPI) programs written in the C programming language. The aim is to statically verify programs against protocol specifications, enforcing properties such as fidelity and absence of deadlocks. We develop a protocol language based on a dependent type system for message-passing parallel programs, which includes various communication operators, such as point-to-point messages, broadcast, reduce, array scatter and gather. For the verification of a program against a given protocol, the protocol is first translated into a representation read by VCC, a software verifier for C. We successfully verified several MPI programs in a running time that is independent of the number of processes or other input parameters. This contrasts with alternative techniques, notably model checking and runtime verification, that suffer from the state-explosion problem or that otherwise depend on parameters to the program itself. We experimentally evaluated our approach against state-of-the-art tools for MPI to conclude that our approach offers a scalable solution

Optimizing culture conditions for the production of endo-&#946-1,4-glucanase by Aspergillus awamori strain Vietnam Type Culture Collection (VTCC)-F099

In the present study, twenty six strains of Aspergillus awamori from the Vietnam Type Culture Collection (Institute of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vietnam University Hanoi) were used for the endoglucanase production by growing at 37°C in the growth medium. Result showed that A. awamori strain VTCC-F099 produced the highest level of endo β-1,4-glucanase in the growth medium, pH 6.5, at 30°C for 96 h, agitated at 200 rpm. The optimal concentration of the inducer CMC (carboxymethyl cellulose) for the endoglucanase production by A. awamori VTCC-F099 was 2%. Among tested carbon sources (coconut fiber, coffee shell, corncob, dried tangerine skin, peanut shell, rice bran, saw dust, sugar-cane bagasse as organic wasters and glucose, lactose sucrose as pure carbon sources), corncob showed the highest endoglucanase production by A. awamori VTCC-F099 at the concentration of 3%. Ammonium acetate was the best among nitrogen source (casein, peptone, fish powder, soybean powder as organic sources and CH3COONH4, NH4NO3, (NH4)2SO4, urea as inorganic sources) for the endoglucanase production by A. awamori VTCC-F099 at the concentration of 0.3%.Key words: Aspergillus awamori, carboxymethyl cellulose, endoglucanase production, optimization of culture conditions