scholarly journals Using environmental niche modelling to investigate abiotic predictors of crocodilian attacks on people

Oryx ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (5) ◽  
pp. 639-647
Author(s):  
George Powell ◽  
Thomas M. M. Versluys ◽  
Jessica J. Williams ◽  
Sonia Tiedt ◽  
Simon Pooley

AbstractCrocodilians are distributed widely through the tropics and subtropics, and several species pose a substantial threat to human life. This has important implications for human safety and crocodilian conservation. Understanding the drivers of crocodilian attacks on people could help minimize future attacks and inform conflict management. Crocodilian attacks follow a seasonal pattern in many regions, but there has been limited analysis of the relationship between attack occurrence and fine-scale contemporaneous environmental conditions. We use methods from environmental niche modelling to explore the relationships between attacks on people and abiotic predictors at a daily temporal resolution for the Nile crocodile Crocodylus niloticus in South Africa and Eswatini (formerly Swaziland), and the American alligator Alligator mississippiensis in Florida, USA. Our results indicate that ambient daily temperature is the most important abiotic temporal predictor of attack occurrence for both species, with attack likelihood increasing markedly when mean daily temperatures exceed 18 °C and peaking at 28 °C. It is likely that this relationship is explained partially by human propensity to spend time in and around water in warmer weather but also by the effect of temperature on crocodilian hunting behaviour and physiology, especially the ability to digest food. We discuss the potential of our findings to contribute to the management of crocodilians, with benefits for both human safety and conservation, and the application of environmental niche modelling for understanding human–wildlife conflicts involving both ectotherms and endotherms.

Author(s):  
Oscar Zapata

Abstract Changes in climatic patterns are expected to have significant effects on health and wellbeing. However, the literature on the effect of climate on subjective wellbeing remains scant and existing studies focus mostly on developed countries or cross-country analyses. This paper aims to identify the relationship between climate conditions on happiness after controlling for individual and social characteristics. Ecuador, a geographically fragmented country with varying climate conditions across municipalities, constitutes an ideal case study to assess the effect of climate variables on happiness. We employ a cross-section analysis to identify the effect of temperature, precipitation and humidity on happiness. The paper shows that climate conditions constitute an important determinant of people's subjective wellbeing. The results also suggest that income and education attenuate the effect of temperature on happiness and that substantial differences are observed depending on whether places are hot/humid or cold/dry.


2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 76-91
Author(s):  
E. D. Solozhentsev

The scientific problem of economics “Managing the quality of human life” is formulated on the basis of artificial intelligence, algebra of logic and logical-probabilistic calculus. Managing the quality of human life is represented by managing the processes of his treatment, training and decision making. Events in these processes and the corresponding logical variables relate to the behavior of a person, other persons and infrastructure. The processes of the quality of human life are modeled, analyzed and managed with the participation of the person himself. Scenarios and structural, logical and probabilistic models of managing the quality of human life are given. Special software for quality management is described. The relationship of human quality of life and the digital economy is examined. We consider the role of public opinion in the management of the “bottom” based on the synthesis of many studies on the management of the economics and the state. The bottom management is also feedback from the top management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 117-137
Author(s):  
Mustaqim Makki

Zakat merupakan salah satu sendi pokok ajaran Islam. Urgensi zakat yang merupakan anjuran agama Islam untuk menunaikan zakat dan memberikannya kepada yang berhak dengan ketentuan mencapai nishabnya, (kadar minimum harta tertentu) mempunyai nilai sangat signifikan dalam kehidupan manusia. Seorang insan yang sarat akan segala permasalahan pada fitrahnya menuntut untuk selalu berinteraksi kepada sesama, baik berupa materi maupun non materi. Zakat merupakan maliyah ijtima’iyyah yang mengandung nilai-nilai filantropi yang sangat tinggi, karena ketika mengaplikasikan kewajiban zakat kita telah membantu sesama serta mengurangi kesenjangan yang disebabkan beberapa sifat manusia diantaranya adalah sifat kikir, dengki dan iri hati. Menguatnya kembali harapan banyak kalangan terhadap implementasi filantropi Islam, baik dalam bentuk zakat, infak, sedekah, dan wakaf, memiliki keterkaitan erat dengan kondisi bangsa yang belum sepenuhnya bangkit dari keterpurukan sebagai dampak dari krisis ekonomi yang berkepanjangan. Kondisi ini berakibat kesenjangan penguasaan perekonomian antar warga negara menjadi kian lebar. Pada saat itulah, ziswaf (zakat, infak, sedekah, dan wakaf) kembali dilirik dan diharapkan menjadi alternatif solusi terhadap problem kemiskinan umat. Manusia sebagai khalifah fil ardh dalam Al Qurán menekankan muatan fungsional yang harus diemban oleh manusia dalam melaksanakan tugas-tugas kesejarahan dalam kehidupannya di muka bumi. Kaitan dengan konsep tersebut, ada dua fungsi manusia. Pertama: Manusia sebagai hamba (ábid), dituntut untuk sukses menjalin hubungan secara vertikal dalam hal ini hubungannya dengan ketuhanan (Teologis). Kedua adalah manusia sebagai khalifah, dituntut untuk sukses menjalin hubungan secara horizontal dalam hal ini hubungan terhadap manusia.Kata kunci: tafsir ayat zakat, filantropi, ekonomi keummatanAbstract:Zakat is one of the main points of Islamic teachings. The urgency of zakat which is suggested by Islam to fulfill and give it to those who are referred to with the provisions to reach their nishab, (minimum level of certain assets) has a very significant value in human life. A person who is full of all problems in his/her natural demands will always get interaction with other people, either material or non-material. Zakat is maliyah ijtima’iyyah which contains very high philanthropic values, because when applying the obligation of zakat we have helped others and reduced the gaps caused by some human traits including miser, jealousy and envy. The reinforcement of the expectations (estimation) from any levels on the implementation of Islamic philanthropy, which in the form of zakat, donation, alms and endowments, has a close relationship with the condition of the country that has not fully risen from bad economic adversity due to economic crisis. This condition causes a widening of the economic mastery among the citizens. At that moment, ziswaf (zakat, infaq, alms, and waqf) was again given a serious attentition and expected to be an alternative solution to the problem of poverty among citizens. Humans as khalifah fil ardh in the Qur'an emphasize the functional content that must be carried by humans in carrying out historical tasks in their lives on earth. In accordance with this concept, there are two human functions. First: Humans as servants (ábid), are required to succeed in establishing a vertical relationship in this case the relationship with God (Theological). Second, humans as caliphs, are required to succeed in establishing horizontal relationships in this case the relationship to humans.


EMPIRISMA ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Arif Dan Yuli Darwati

This paper will try to explain the relationship between religion and culture. These two topics are the most important items that are inseparable in the history of human civilization from the classical to the modern period. Religion is ahuman belief system that is related to God. If the rule comes from God, then it cannot be said to be a culture, because it is not human creation, but God’s creation that is absolute. Religion is interpreted as part of the life (culture) ofindividuals or groups, each of which has the authority to understand religion and apply it. With the characteristics as indicated by Fazlur Rahman, wherever religion is located, it is hoped that it can provide guidance on values or moralsfor all activities of human life, whether social, cultural, economic or political. Not infrequently also religion becomes a determining factor in the adhesive process of social cultural interaction of the community as well as unifying thenation. Culture and religion are something different but can influence each other so that new cultures or mixing of cultures emerge. The opinion of Endang Saifudin Anshari who said in his writing that religion and culture do notinclude each other, in principle one is not part of the other and each consists of itself. Between them, of course, they are closely related like us, we see in everyday life and human life. As also seen in the close relationship between husband and wife who can give birth to a son but the husband is not part of the wife, and vice versa. Religion and culture are two different things but cannot be separated. The existence of a religion will be greatly influenced and affect thepractice of a religion in question. And conversely, a culture will be greatly influenced by the beliefs of the society in which culture develops. Therefore religion is not only an individual problem but religion is also a social affair whichultimately religious people are not only able to give birth to individual piety but also must be able to give birth to social piety.Key words: Interaction, Religion, Culture,


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Escotet Espinoza

UNSTRUCTURED Over half of Americans report looking up health-related questions on the internet, including questions regarding their own ailments. The internet, in its vastness of information, provides a platform for patients to understand how to seek help and understand their condition. In most cases, this search for knowledge serves as a starting point to gather evidence that leads to a doctor’s appointment. However, in some cases, the person looking for information ends up tangled in an information web that perpetuates anxiety and further searches, without leading to a doctor’s appointment. The Internet can provide helpful and useful information; however, it can also be a tool for self-misdiagnosis. Said person craves the instant gratification the Internet provides when ‘googling’ – something one does not receive when having to wait for a doctor’s appointment or test results. Nevertheless, the Internet gives that instant response we demand in those moments of desperation. Cyberchondria, a term that has entered the medical lexicon in the 21st century after the advent of the internet, refers to the unfounded escalation of people’s concerns about their symptomatology based on search results and literature online. ‘Cyberchondriacs’ experience mistrust of medical experts, compulsion, reassurance seeking, and excessiveness. Their excessive online research about health can also be associated with unnecessary medical expenses, which primarily arise from anxiety, increased psychological distress, and worry. This vicious cycle of searching information and trying to explain current ailments derives into a quest for associating symptoms to diseases and further experiencing the other symptoms of said disease. This psychiatric disorder, known as somatization, was first introduced to the DSM-III in the 1980s. Somatization is a psycho-biological disorder where physical symptoms occur without any palpable organic cause. It is a disorder that has been renamed, discounted, and misdiagnosed from the beginning of the DSMs. Somatization triggers span many mental, emotional, and cultural aspects of human life. Our environment and social experiences can lay the blueprint for disorders to develop over time; an idea that is widely accepted for underlying psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. The research is going in the right direction by exploring brain regions but needs to be expanded on from a sociocultural perspective. In this work, we explore the relationship between somatization disorder and the condition known as cyberchondria. First, we provide a background on each of the disorders, including their history and psychological perspective. Second, we proceed to explain the relationship between the two disorders, followed by a discussion on how this relationship has been studied in the scientific literature. Thirdly, we explain the problem that the relationship between these two disorders creates in society. Lastly, we propose a set of intervention aids and helpful resource prototypes that aim at resolving the problem. The proposed solutions ranged from a site-specific clinic teaching about cyberchondria to a digital design-coded chrome extension available to the public.


Author(s):  
D. T. Gauld ◽  
J. E. G. Raymont

The respiratory rates of three species of planktonic copepods, Acartia clausi, Centropages hamatus and Temora longicornis, were measured at four different temperatures.The relationship between respiratory rate and temperature was found to be similar to that previously found for Calanus, although the slope of the curves differed in the different species.The observations on Centropages at 13 and 170 C. can be divided into two groups and it is suggested that the differences are due to the use of copepods from two different generations.The relationship between the respiratory rates and lengths of Acartia and Centropages agreed very well with that previously found for other species. That for Temora was rather different: the difference is probably due to the distinct difference in the shape of the body of Temora from those of the other species.The application of these measurements to estimates of the food requirements of the copepods is discussed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Zhang ◽  
Yujie Meng ◽  
Hejia Song ◽  
Ran Niu ◽  
Yu Wang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Although exposure to air pollution has been linked to many health issues, few studies have quantified the modification effect of temperature on the relationship between air pollutants and daily incidence of influenza in Ningbo, China. Methods The data of daily incidence of influenza and the relevant meteorological data and air pollution data in Ningbo from 2014 to 2017 were retrieved. Low, medium and high temperature layers were stratified by the daily mean temperature with 25th and 75th percentiles. The potential modification effect of temperature on the relationship between air pollutants and daily incidence of influenza in Ningbo was investigated through analyzing the effects of air pollutants stratified by temperature stratum using distributed lag non-linear model (DLNM). Stratified analysis by sex and age were also conducted. Results Overall, a 10 μg/m3 increment of O3, PM2.5, PM10 and NO2 could increase the incidence risk of influenza with the cumulative relative risk of 1.028 (95% CI 1.007, 1.050), 1.061 (95% CI 1.004, 1.122), 1.043 (95% CI 1.003, 1.085), and 1.118 (95% CI 1.028, 1.216), respectively. Male and aged 7–17 years were more sensitive to air pollutants. Through the temperature stratification analysis, we found that temperature could modify the impacts of air pollution on daily incidence of influenza with high temperature exacerbating the impact of air pollutants. At high temperature layer, male and the groups aged 0–6 years and 18–64 years were more sensitive to air pollution. Conclusion Temperature modified the relationship between air pollution and daily incidence of influenza and high temperature would exacerbate the effects of air pollutants in Ningbo.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1867
Author(s):  
Emilie Sophie Le Caous ◽  
Fenghueih Huarng

Living in a world where we can expand our economic wealth and the richness of human life is the core of the human development concept. Greater well-being for all can be achieved by improving people’s capabilities and more importantly, by giving individuals the ability to use their knowledge and skills. The economic complexity index (i.e., ECI) is a new indicator that defines a country’s complexity. Through a vast network, citizens can transfer an enormous quantity of relevant knowledge, leading to the creation of diversified and complex products. However, the relationship between economic complexity and human development is not that simple. Thus, this paper aimed to understand it deeper—international migration and logistics performance are used as moderators. Hierarchical linear modeling was the statistical tool used to analyze two groups of countries from 1990 to 2017. For robustness and to deal with possible endogeneity issues, different year lags were also included. The results show that international migration and logistics performance are decisive moderators as they change the relationship between economic complexity and human development.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (20) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole J. Bale ◽  
Marton Palatinszky ◽  
W. Irene C. Rijpstra ◽  
Craig W. Herbold ◽  
Michael Wagner ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT “Candidatus Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” is the only cultured moderately thermophilic member of the thaumarchaeotal order Nitrosopumilales (NP) that contains many mesophilic marine strains. We examined its membrane lipid composition at different growth temperatures (37°C, 46°C, and 50°C). Its lipids were all membrane-spanning glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraethers (GDGTs), with 0 to 4 cyclopentane moieties. Crenarchaeol (cren), the characteristic thaumarchaeotal GDGT, and its isomer (crenʹ) were present in high abundance (30 to 70%). The GDGT polar headgroups were mono-, di-, and trihexoses and hexose/phosphohexose. The ratio of glycolipid to phospholipid GDGTs was highest in the cultures grown at 50°C. With increasing growth temperatures, the relative contributions of cren and crenʹ increased, while those of GDGT-0 to GDGT-4 (including isomers) decreased. TEX86 (tetraether index of tetraethers consisting of 86 carbons)-derived temperatures were much lower than the actual growth temperatures, further demonstrating that TEX86 does not accurately reflect the membrane lipid adaptation of thermophilic Thaumarchaeota. As the temperature increased, specific GDGTs changed relative to their isomers, possibly representing temperature adaption-induced changes in cyclopentane ring stereochemistry. Comparison of a wide range of thaumarchaeotal core lipid compositions revealed that the “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” cultures clustered separately from other members of the NP order and the Nitrososphaerales (NS) order. While phylogeny generally seems to have a strong influence on GDGT distribution, our analysis of “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” demonstrates that its terrestrial, higher-temperature niche has led to a lipid composition that clearly differentiates it from other NP members and that this difference is mostly driven by its high crenʹ content. IMPORTANCE For Thaumarchaeota, the ratio of their glycerol dialkyl glycerol tetraether (GDGT) lipids depends on growth temperature, a premise that forms the basis of the widely applied TEX86 paleotemperature proxy. A thorough understanding of which GDGTs are produced by which Thaumarchaeota and what the effect of temperature is on their GDGT composition is essential for constraining the TEX86 proxy. “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” is a moderately thermophilic thaumarchaeote enriched from a thermal spring, setting it apart in its environmental niche from the other marine mesophilic members of its order. Indeed, we found that the GDGT composition of “Ca. Nitrosotenuis uzonensis” cultures was distinct from those of other members of its order and was more similar to those of other thermophilic, terrestrial Thaumarchaeota. This suggests that while phylogeny has a strong influence on GDGT distribution, the environmental niche that a thaumarchaeote inhabits also shapes its GDGT composition.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (10) ◽  
pp. 5227
Author(s):  
Yu Sawada ◽  
Motonobu Nakamura

Daily lifestyle is a fundamental part of human life and its influence accumulates daily in the human body. We observe that a good daily lifestyle has a beneficial impact on our health; however, the actual effects of individual daily lifestyle factors on human skin diseases, especially skin cancers, have not been summarized. In this review, we focused on the influence of daily lifestyle on the development of skin cancer and described the detailed molecular mechanisms of the development or regulation of cutaneous malignancies. Several daily lifestyle factors, such as circadian rhythm disruption, smoking, alcohol, fatty acids, dietary fiber, obesity, and ultraviolet light, are known to be associated with the risk of cutaneous malignancies, malignant melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma, basal cell carcinoma, and Merkel cell carcinoma. Although the influence of some daily lifestyles on the risk of skin cancers is controversial, this review provides us a better understanding of the relationship between daily lifestyle factors and skin cancers.


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