Short-term movements and behaviour govern the use of road mitigation measures by a protected amphibian

Road mitigation infrastructure for pond‐breeding amphibians aims to provide a safe and sustainable passage for individuals between critical habitat patches. However, relatively little is known about how amphibians interact with mitigation systems because of the challenges of documenting movements at sufficiently large sample sizes. The effect of real or perceived barriers to short‐term movement could ultimately determine the success or failure of road mitigation schemes. We quantified behavioural responses of the protected great crested newt Triturus cristatus in a complex road mitigation system in the UK. We used fluorescent paint to mark individuals in order to measure distance travelled and trajectory orientation over two seasons (spring when adults migrate to breeding ponds and autumn when newts disperse) and in three components of the mitigation system (fences, tunnel entrances and inside the tunnels). A total of 250 juveniles and 137 adult great crested newts were marked and tracked during 38 survey nights. Adults were individually identified using belly‐pattern recognition. There was substantially greater activity along the fences during autumn (82% of newt captures) compared to spring. Triturus cristatus typically moved short distances each night (3.21 m per night in spring and 6.72 m per night in autumn), with a maximum of 25.6 m travelled inside a tunnel. Adult recapture rates were low (9.7%) and only 3% of the newts found along the fences reached the tunnel entrances. Movements were straighter in spring and inside the tunnels and newts had higher crossing rates in autumn compared to spring. Overall, behaviour and seasonal movement patterns significantly influenced the use of the mitigation system, in a way that could impact landscape connectivity for T. cristatus over the long‐term. Adequate incorporation of fine‐scale movement dynamics could help develop new behavioural models, inform our understanding of amphibian ecology and substantially improve future road mitigation projects

9. Management of captive animals

Husbandry interventions for captive breeding amphibians Expert assessors Kay Bradfield, Perth Zoo, Australia Jeff Dawson, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, UK Devin Edmonds, Association Mitsinjo, Madagascar Jonathan Kolby, Honduras Amphibian Rescue and Conservation Center, Honduras Stephanie Jayson, Veterinary Department, Zoological Society of London, UK Daniel Nicholson, Queen Mary University of London, UK Silviu O. Petrovan, Cambridge University, UK and Froglife Trust, UK Jay Redbond, Wi..

Two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

The first measurement of two-pion Bose-Einstein correlations in central Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76$ TeV at the Large Hadron Collider is presented. We observe a growing trend with energy now not only for the longitudinal and the outward but also for the sideward pion source radius. The pion homogeneity volume and the decoupling time are significantly larger than those measured at RHIC.Comment: 17 pages, 5 captioned figures, 1 table, authors from page 12, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/388

Suppression of charged particle production at large transverse momentum in central Pb-Pb collisions at sNN=2.76\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}} = 2.76 TeV

Inclusive transverse momentum spectra of primary charged particles in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{_{\rm NN}}}$ = 2.76 TeV have been measured by the ALICE Collaboration at the LHC. The data are presented for central and peripheral collisions, corresponding to 0-5% and 70-80% of the hadronic Pb-Pb cross section. The measured charged particle spectra in $|\eta|<0.8$ and $0.3 < p_T < 20$ GeV/$c$ are compared to the expectation in pp collisions at the same $\sqrt{s_{\rm NN}}$, scaled by the number of underlying nucleon-nucleon collisions. The comparison is expressed in terms of the nuclear modification factor $R_{\rm AA}$. The result indicates only weak medium effects ($R_{\rm AA} \approx$ 0.7) in peripheral collisions. In central collisions, $R_{\rm AA}$ reaches a minimum of about 0.14 at $p_{\rm T}=6$-7GeV/$c$ and increases significantly at larger $p_{\rm T}$. The measured suppression of high-$p_{\rm T}$ particles is stronger than that observed at lower collision energies, indicating that a very dense medium is formed in central Pb-Pb collisions at the LHC.Comment: 15 pages, 5 captioned figures, 3 tables, authors from page 10, published version, figures at http://aliceinfo.cern.ch/ArtSubmission/node/98

A solution scan of societal options to reduce transmission and spread of respiratory viruses: SARS-CoV-2 as a case study.

Societal biosecurity - measures built into everyday society to minimize risks from pests and diseases - is an important aspect of managing epidemics and pandemics. We aimed to identify societal options for reducing the transmission and spread of respiratory viruses. We used SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) as a case study to meet the immediate need to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually transition to more normal societal conditions, and to catalog options for managing similar pandemics in the future. We used a 'solution scanning' approach. We read the literature; consulted psychology, public health, medical, and solution scanning experts; crowd-sourced options using social media; and collated comments on a preprint. Here, we present a list of 519 possible measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and spread. We provide a long list of options for policymakers and businesses to consider when designing biosecurity plans to combat SARS-CoV-2 and similar pathogens in the future. We also developed an online application to help with this process. We encourage testing of actions, documentation of outcomes, revisions to the current list, and the addition of further options

What Works in Conservation 2018

This book provides an assessment of the effectiveness of 1277 conservation interventions based on summarized scientific evidence. The 2018 edition contains new chapters covering practical global conservation of primates, peatlands, shrublands and heathlands, management of captive animals as well as an extended chapter on control of freshwater invasive species. Other chapters cover global conservation of amphibians, bats, birds and forests, conservation of European farmland biodiversity and some aspects of enhancing natural pest control, enhancing soil fertility and control of freshwater invasive species. It contains key results from the summarized evidence for each conservation intervention and an assessment of the effectiveness of each by international expert panels. The accompanying website www.conservationevidence.com describes each of the studies individually, and provides full references

Protection of oil-filled transformers against explosion: experiments and simulations

Eksplozje transformatorów olejowych są powodowane przez łuk elektryczy. W przeciągu milisekund łuk doprowadza do odparowania otaczającego go oleju a wygenerowany gaz znajduje się pod ciśnieniem ponieważ inercja oleju zapobiega jego ekspansji. To doprowadza do niebezpiecznych eksplozji, kosztownych awarii i ewentualnego zanieczyszczenia środowiska. Podczas gdy mury ochronne otaczające transformator mogą zahamować eksplozje a tryskacze zagasić wywołany pożar niniejszy dokument przedstawia strategię, która zapobiega eksplozji kadzi transformatora.Oil-filled transformer explosions are caused by electrical arc occurring in transformer tanks. Within milliseconds, arc vaporizes the surrounding oil and the generated gas is pressurized as the liquid inertia prevents its expansion. The pressure difference between the gas bubble and the surrounding oil generates pressure waves, which propagate and interact with the tank. The reflections of the pressure waves build up the static pressure, which rises and leads to the tank rupture since tanks are not designed to withstand such levels of static pressure. This results in dangerous explosions, expensive damages and possible environmental pollution. The current paper presents a strategy to prevent the transformer tank rupture. Once an electrical fault occurs, the fast depressurization of the tank is induced by quick oil evacuation to a reservoir in order to prevent the tank explosion. To evaluate the efficiency of this strategy, experiments and computer simulations are used. The experiments were performed on large scale transformers equipped with the protection. They confirmed that the protection prevents the explosion. Besides, simulations of the consequences of an electrical arc occurring in a 200 MVA transformer geometry were run and again, they confirmed that the static pressure increase can be prevented by a quick oil evacuation triggered by the first dynamic pressure peak generated by the electrical arc