scholarly journals The effects of parental age difference on the offspring sex and fitness of European blackbirds

PeerJ ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. e10858
Author(s):  
Marta Cholewa ◽  
Łukasz Jankowiak ◽  
Magdalena Szenejko ◽  
Andrzej Dybus ◽  
Przemysław Śmietana ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Local Population ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Age Difference ◽  
Parental Age ◽  
Transgenerational Effect ◽  
Offspring Sex ◽  
The City

Background Many studies of birds have indicated that offspring sex ratios can vary with environmental and parental traits. On the basis of long-term research, we first evaluated the possible influence of parental age difference and brood characteristics on offspring sex and fitness in multi-brooded Blackbirds Turdus merula. Methodology The study was conducted in the city-centre Stefan Żeromski Park in Szczecin, NW Poland, where the local population of Blackbirds has been studied since 1996. Data on the offspring sex and fitness were collected in five years, 2005–2007 and 2016–2017. During the breeding season we inspected the study area to locate the pairs’ territories and to track their nests and clutches. Results We found that the overall sex ratio did not differ statistically from 50:50, but that younger females bonded with older mates did tend to produce more sons, probably because of the greater fitness of male descendants. Accordingly, the sons’ breeding success increased with the father’s age, but this relationship was close to non-linear, which may indicate that the transgenerational effect of paternal senescence could negatively affect progeny fitness despite the high-quality of older fathers. Older females mated with younger males produced more daughters, which could have been due to the lesser attractiveness of the males and the mothers’ poorer condition caused by accelerated senescence. We found that neither offspring hatching sequence nor hatching date or clutch sequence were significant for sex determination. Conclusions We consider that in our Blackbird population, parental age could make a more significant contribution to shaping offspring sex and reproductive success.

scholarly journals Measurements of Local Sources of Particulates with a Portable Monitor along the Coast of an Insular City

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 261
Author(s):  
Christos Petsas ◽  
Marinos Stylianou ◽  
Antonis Zorpas ◽  
Agapios Agapiou
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Anthropogenic Activities ◽  
Portable Monitor ◽  
Traffic Jam ◽  
Modern Cities ◽  
Anthropogenic Processes ◽  
The City ◽  
Coastal Front

The air quality of modern cities is considered an important factor for the quality of life of humans and therefore is being safeguarded by various international organizations, concentrating on the mass concentration of particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter less than 10, 2.5 and 1 μm. However, the different physical and anthropogenic processes and activities within the city contribute to the rise of fine (<1 μm) and coarse (>1 μm) particles, directly impacting human health and the environment. In order to monitor certain natural and anthropogenic events, suspecting their significant contribution to PM concentrations, seven different events taking place on the coastal front of the city of Limassol (Cyprus) were on-site monitored using a portable PM instrument; these included both natural (e.g., dust event) and anthropogenic (e.g., cement factory, meat festival, tall building construction, tire factory, traffic jam, dust road) emissions taking place in spring and summer periods. The violations of the limits that were noticed were attributed mainly to the various anthropogenic activities taking place on-site, revealing once more the need for further research and continuous monitoring of air quality.

scholarly journals Regular Monitoring of the Condition of Soils and Green Plants As a Direction for Assessing the Quality of the Urban Environment

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-13
Author(s):  
Anna Tikhonova ◽  
◽  
Anna Kholodenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Urban Environment ◽  
Quality Index ◽  
Soil Cover ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The West ◽  
Regular Monitoring ◽  
Zone Of Influence ◽  
The City

This paper examines the existing in the Russian Federation approaches to assessing the quality of the urban environment, the concept of the quality index of the urban environment; the analysis of indicators for calculating the quality index of the urban environment and the factors that form the ecological well-being of the urban environment for the local population has been carried out. The territory of the northern industrial hub of Volgograd was chosen as the object of research, in particular, the zone of influence of the ferrous metallurgy enterprise AO “VMK ‘Krasny Oktyabr’”, which has a historically specific location relative to the functional zones of the city. The analysis of the results of monitoring the content of mobile forms of heavy metals in the soil cover, carried out by the method of atomic absorption spectrometry, and the assessment of the general life state of tree green plantations in the territory of the sanitary protection zone of the enterprise based on the enumeration of trees is presented. The identified zone of influence of the enterprise, taking into account the presence of additional sources of pollution of the soil cover and MPC of metals, instead of their background concentrations, extends for 3.5–3.7 km from the border of the enterprise in the form of elongated areas of increased concentrations. Cartographic visualization reveals the presence of two clearly pronounced foci of pollution located to the west of the existing SOC of the enterprise. When assessing the general condition of trees, it is also possible to recognize the worst territory of the test plots located to the west of the operating TWCs in accordance with the directions of the prevailing winds. The data obtained confirm the feasibility of organizing regular monitoring of the soil cover and the state of green forests in the city as one of the directions for assessing the quality of the environment and taking these indicators into account when calculating the quality index of the urban environment.

scholarly journals Quality of models supplied to dental laboratories for the fabrication of partial removable denture framework

2020 ◽  
Vol 68 ◽  
Author(s):  
Luma de Vasconcelos MENEZES ◽  
Thais Carine SILVA ◽  
Catia Maria Fonseca GUERRA ◽  
Renata CIMÕES ◽  
Bruna de Carvalho Farias VAJGEL
Keyword(s):  
Poor Quality ◽  
Metallic Structure ◽  
Removable Denture ◽  
The City ◽  
Plaster Models

ABSTRACT Objective The aim of this study was to evaluate the models and plannings of metallic framework of removable partial prosthesis sent to dental laboratories in the city of Recife. Methods: The physical and technical conditions of plaster models were sent by the dentists to 4 dental laboratories. All models were examined, photographed and recorded on a form according to the research objective. Results: A total number of 235 models sent by dental surgeons were used to prepare the metallic structure, in which none of the models presented surveying nor the path of insertion. Out of the 235 models, 41 (17.44%) presented serious failures, such as positive and negative bubbles, broken dental elements, direct retainers and damaged edentulous areas. With respect to the planning, only 22 (9.35%) models were presented with the metallic framework planning, but in an unsatisfactory way. Regarding mouth preparation, no model presented a guide plane, and only 6.8% of models had rests seats, but incorrectly prepared. Conclusion: The models evaluated presented poor quality, lack of planning and no mouth preparation. This shows the need for dental surgeons to be aware of the appropriate prosthesis models and plannings in order to ensure a satisfactory and long-term rehabilitation of the patient, as well as preserving the remaining mouth structures.

scholarly journals Lessons For Toronto From Melbourne’s City Centre Revitalization

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brent Gilliard
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Public Life ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Physical Quality ◽  
Social Quality

Public space is important to a city’s economic and social quality. Downtown Toronto is not known for its public spaces but Melbourne is widely recognized for recently revitalizing its city centre with improved public spaces. A case study of Melbourne investigates its comparability to Toronto as well as the details of its "renaissance." It is concluded that Melbourne is, in fact, highly comparable to Toronto. Interventions in Melbourne were characterized by the principles: long-term vision, emphasizing local strengths, investment in quality, making space for people on foot, and using effective arguments and evidence. To emulate Melbourne’s city-centre revitalization, Toronto first should facilitate a civic conversation about the long-term vision for its downtown; second, it should initiate a public life survey of the downtown; third, it should invest is the physical quality of downtown public spaces; and fourth, it should begin an incremental program to reclaim roadway space from cars in locations of high pedestrian use.

Urban Change and Reform Agendas in Cleveland’s Black Middle-Class Neighborhoods, 1950–1980

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Todd M. Michney
Keyword(s):  
Juvenile Delinquency ◽  
Middle Class ◽  
Traffic Safety ◽  
Black Middle Class ◽  
Reform Agenda ◽  
Acceptable Quality ◽  
The City ◽  
Middle Class Blacks

This chapter looks at the ambitious reform agenda that black middle-class activist residents went on to mount in these outlying city neighbourhoods, encompassing housing upkeep, business revitalization, traffic safety, trash removal, and efforts to reduce liquor availability, juvenile delinquency, vice, and crime – all in an attempt to maintain what they considered an acceptable quality of life. Perhaps the most ambitious effort along these lines was a venture in which a group of African American investors purchased and renovated the Lee-Harvard Shopping Center, making it during its existence from 1972-1978 the “largest black-owned commercial complex in the nation.” Sometimes these reform efforts involved moralizing or exhibited an explicit class bias; upwardly mobile middle-class blacks did not always recognize that less well-off newcomers were motivated by similar concerns with liveability. In the end, however, their various attempts to take charge of their lives and communities contributed to the long-term vitality of these neighbourhoods and the city as a whole.

The Car and the City

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Blanke
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Urban Transit ◽  
Cultural Attitudes ◽  
Congested Traffic ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Recent Phase ◽  
Ease Of Access ◽  
The City

The relationship between the car and the city remains complex and involves numerous private and public forces, innovations in technology, global economic fluctuations, and shifting cultural attitudes that only rarely consider the efficiency of the automobile as a long-term solution to urban transit. The advantages of privacy, speed, ease of access, and personal enjoyment that led many to first embrace the automobile were soon shared and accentuated by transit planners as the surest means to realize the long-held ideals of urban beautification, efficiency, and accessible suburbanization. The remarkable gains in productivity provided by industrial capitalism brought these dreams within reach and individual car ownership became the norm for most American families by the middle of the 20th century. Ironically, the success in creating such a “car country” produced the conditions that again congested traffic, raised questions about the quality of urban (and now suburban) living, and further distanced the nation from alternative transit options. The “hidden costs” of postwar automotive dependency in the United States became more apparent in the late 1960s, leading to federal legislation compelling manufacturers and transit professionals to address the long-standing inefficiencies of the car. This most recent phase coincides with a broader reappraisal of life in the city and a growing recognition of the material limits to mass automobility.

scholarly journals Poverty Alleviation Through the Program Slums in the City of Kendari, Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 35
Author(s):  
Joko Tri Brata ◽  
La Ode Bariun ◽  
Asri Djauhar ◽  
Andi Gusti Tantu
Keyword(s):  
Quality Improvement ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Poverty Alleviation ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Governance Model ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The City

The long-term goal of the concept of poverty reduction is to give the same level of welfare for the Indonesian people, and in this research is the development of innovative Models of Poverty Reduction, with the subject on (1) How the application design model of the institutional prevention of poverty through interface Program Quality Improvement of Slums and (2) how the efforts in governance of slum through simulation integration with poverty alleviation. The method used is the description by sharpening the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) about the handling of the slums in the city of Kendari and intervention efforts Increase the quality of housing and slums, so that the governance model can be used in other areas in Southeast Sulawesi.

Sea level rise in the Venetian lagoon inferred from the 150-year-long tidal record

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Rubinetti ◽  
Carla Taricco ◽  
Davide Zanchettin ◽  
Enrico Arnone ◽  
Angelo Rubino
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Reference Level ◽  
Decadal Scale ◽  
Historical Series ◽  
Venetian Lagoon ◽  
The City

&lt;p&gt;The city of Venice (Northern Italy), together with its lagoon, is a historic, cultural and artistic heritage of inestimable value. One of its peculiarities consists in the recurrent storm surge phenomena, referred to as &lt;em&gt;acqua alta&lt;/em&gt;. Sea level rise and local subsidence made their frequency to increase dramatically with respect to the past, causing severe damages to the lagoon and in particular to the city centre, as during the exceptional high tide verified on November 12, 2019.&lt;br&gt;Here we show the analysis of the historical time series of tidal maxima and minima recorded in the Venetian lagoon, covering the period 1872-2018. It is the longest and most complete historical series of the Venetian area and one of the longest records of the entire Mediterranean region. During this period, the relative sea level height has increased of about 30 cm with respect to the reference level, while the average number of &lt;em&gt;acqua alta&lt;/em&gt; events &amp;#8211; evaluated over a 40-year time interval - has passed from about 4 to 70 per year. These events usually occur during the fall season (from October to December), even if a not negligible number has been also recorded during winter. Therefore, we analyse the October-March average annual time series with advanced spectral analysis methods, like Monte Carlo Singular Spectrum Analysis (MC-SSA), to extract and reconstruct the significant variability modes characterizing the record. They are the increasing long-term trend and components with multidecadal, decadal and interannual periods. The trend results from the superposition on the global eustacy of the local subsidence affecting the Venetian lagoon, which is due to both natural causes and human activities. We also discuss the possible linkage of the other significant spectral components to large scale climatic patterns. In particular, the decadal-scale oscillation is one of the most important variability modes affecting Northern Italian hydrology.&lt;br&gt;Finally, we apply simple statistical methods (autoregressive models and feed-forward neural networks) to forecast the long-term evolution of sea level over the next ten years. In this contribution, we illustrate results from this state of the art two-fold statistical prediction system that provides robust predictions of sea level in the Venetian lagoon for the next decade and discuss them in the light of current longer-term projections of future sea level rise. Finally, we will test the predictive skill of the applied methods using tidal measurements recorded during 2019, to verify if our predictions are able to describe tidal variability characterizing the current year. &amp;#160; &amp;#160; &amp;#160;&amp;#160;&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Vietnam’s Development of Human Resources in Science and Technology

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
M.A Kien ◽  
Tran Thi
Keyword(s):  
Human Resources ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Knowledge Economy ◽  
Significant Contribution ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Science And Technology ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
The Government

In the knowledge-economy era, the quality of human resources has become a key factor in determining a nation's future. Many people agree that improving not only the skill level of individuals but also management practices and the entire human resources system is the prerequisite for the long-term competitiveness and prosperity of a country. Recently, the Government of Vietnam has issued the number of policies to develop human resources in S&T. Although, Vietnam's human resource in science and technology has increased markedly, both in quality and quantity, making a significant contribution to the development and prosperity of the country, but these policies have not brought the expected results.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document