Phenology effects on productivity and hatching-asynchrony of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) across a continent

Climate-driven advances in spring can result in phenological mismatch between brood rearing and prey availability and consequently cause decreased productivity in birds. How consequences of mismatch vary across species' ranges, and how individual behavior can mitigate mismatch effects is less studied. We quantified the relationship between phenological mismatch, productivity, and behavioral adaptations of American kestrels (Falco sparverius) across their breeding range in the United States and southern Canada. We obtained phenology and productivity data using nest observations from long term nest box monitoring, remote trail cameras, and community-scientist based programs. We collected data on parental incubation behavior and hatch asynchrony using trail cameras in nest boxes. Kestrels that laid eggs after the start of spring had higher rates of nest failure and fewer nestlings than earlier nesters, and effects of mismatch on productivity were most severe in the Northeast. In contrast, kestrels in the Southwest experienced a more gradual decline in productivity with seasonal mismatch. We attribute the effect of location to the growing season and temporal nesting windows (duration of nesting season). Specifically, resource availability in the Northeast is narrow and highly peaked during the breeding season, potentially resulting in shorter nesting windows. Conversely, resource curves may be more prolonged and dampened in the Southwest, and growing seasons are becoming longer with climate change, potentially resulting in longer nesting windows. We found that the onset of male incubation was negatively associated with lay date. Males from breeding pairs that laid eggs after the start of spring began incubation sooner than males from breeding pairs that laid before the start of spring. Early-onset male incubation was positively associated with hatching asynchrony, creating increased age variation in developing young. In sum, we demonstrate that American kestrels are vulnerable to phenological mismatch, and that this vulnerability varies across space. Northeastern populations could be more vulnerable to mismatch consequences, which may be one factor contributing to declines of kestrels in this region. Also, we demonstrate early onset of incubation as a potential adaptive behavior to advance average hatch date and spread out offspring demands, but it is unknown how impactful this will be in mitigating the fitness consequences of phenology mismatch.

DIMENSIONS OF ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE (INVOLVEMENT, CONSISTENCY, ADJUSTMENT, AND MISSION) WITH NURSE WORK PRODUCTIVITY

Background: Nursing is one of the service providers in hospitals that is excellent, efficient, and productive. for organizational culture at RSU Labuang Makassar obtained a moderate level of involvement of 56.7%, a high level of consistency of 53.3%. The results of these studies indicate that a strong organizational culture does not show any influence in increasing organizational effectiveness. Objectives: This study aimed to determine organizational culture with the work productivity of the nurses. Methods: This research uses quantitative research with a descriptive correlation research design. Is a questionnaire, with several variables, namely involvement, adjustment, consistency, mission, and work productivity. Data analysis using correlation analysis. The research subjects were 81 nurses. Results: There is a relationship between involvement and work productivity with p-value = .001 (r = .469). There is a relationship between consistency and work productivity with p-value = .001 (r = .782). And also, there is the relationship between adjustment and work productivity with p-value = .001 (r = .820), and the relationship between mission and work productivity with p-value = .001 (r = .635). Conclusion: The relationship between organizational culture and the work productivity of nurses has a positive impact on the hospital, where organizational culture can lead nurses to be productive.

Integrated Assessment of Drought Impacts on Rural Areas: The Case of the Chapada Diamantina Region in Brazil

Drought is one of the most significant hazards that farmers face in rural areas. This study aims to examine an integrated assessment of the drought impacts in rural territories, considering the social perceptions related to the effects of natural hazards on health, social relations, income, and other impacts. The study area is located in the rural area of the Chapada Diamantina region in Northern Brazil. The characterization of the region was carried out based on historical meteorological and agricultural productivity data. The method used in this study was based on a survey of social perceptions regarding drought impacts by small rural producers through a participatory process. The results indicated how extreme events such as drought influence rural areas. In addition to agricultural productivity (~50%), aspects such as social migration and health problems were observed.

Regional Differences in Control Operations during the 2019–2021 Desert Locust Upsurge

The desert locust remains a major threat to global food security. Control operations are a crucial tool to manage crisis; this research investigated the nature of control operations conducted between 2019–2021. Historical data on desert locust and control operations were obtained from the survey reports at the FAO Locust Hub and analysed with respect to survey reports, land cover types, cropland/rangeland extent and crop productivity data. We found that 16.1% of the grid cells with locust presence and 14.9% of the grid cells with control operations had a proportion of rangeland higher than 0.75; while 13.3% of the grid cells with locust presence and 13.2% of the grid cells with control operations had a proportion of croplands higher than 0.75, highlighting that locust presence and control operations were reported in both rangeland and cropland. Control operations continue to be used both to reduce overall locust numbers and to protect crops. Furthermore, through identifying which crops were most at risk, our analyses indicate that wheat production was under the highest strain during periods of increased locust infestations.

Regional Differences in Control Operations During the 2019-2021 Desert Locust Upsurge

The desert locust remains a major threat to global food security. Control operations are a crucial tool to manage crisis; this research investigated the nature of control operations conducted between 2019-2021. Historical data on desert locust and control operations were obtained from the survey reports at the FAO Locust Hub and analysed with respect to survey reports, land cover types, cropland/rangeland extent and crop productivity data. We found that 16.1% of the grid cells with locust presence and 14.9% of the grid cells with control operations had a proportion of rangeland higher than 0.75; while 13.3% of the grid cells with locust presence and 13.2% of the grid cells with control operations had a proportion of croplands higher than 0.75, highlighting that locust presence and control operations were reported in both rangeland and cropland. Control operations continue to be used both to reduce overall locust numbers and to protect crops. Furthermore, through identifying which crops were most at risk, our analyses indicate that wheat production was under the highest strain during periods of increased locust infestations.

Production of bacterial cellulose from glycerol: the current state and perspectives

Current research in industrial microbiology and biotechnology focuses on the production of biodegradable microbial polymers as an environmentally friendly alternative to the still dominant fossil hydrocarbon-based plastics. Bacterial cellulose (BC) is important among microbial polymers due to its valuable properties and broad applications in variety of fields from medical to industrial technologies. However, the increase in BC production and its wider deployment is still limited by high costs of traditionally used raw materials. It is therefore necessary to focus on less expensive inputs, such as agricultural and industrial by-products or waste including the more extended use of glycerol. It is the environmentally harmful by-product of biofuel production and reducing it will also reduce the risk of environmental pollution. The experimental data obtained so far confirm that glycerol can be used as the renewable carbon source to produce BC through more efficient and environmentally friendly bioprocesses. This review summarizes current knowledge on the use of glycerol for the production of commercially prospective BC, including information on producer cultures, fermentation modes and methods used, nutrient medium composition, cultivation conditions, and bioprocess productivity. Data on the use of some related sugar alcohols, such as mannitol, arabitol, xylitol, for the microbial synthesis of cellulose are also considered, as well as the main methods and applications of glycerol pre-treatment briefly described.

Regional Differences in Control Operations During the 2019-2021 Desert Locust Upsurge

The desert locust remains a major threat to global food security. Control operations are a crucial tool to manage crisis; this research investigated the nature of control operations conducted between 2019-2021. Historical data on desert locust and control operations were obtained from the survey reports at the FAO Locust Hub and analysed with respect to survey reports, land cover types, cropland/rangeland extent and crop productivity data. We found that 16.1% of the grid cells with locust presence and 14.9% of the grid cells with control operations had a proportion of rangeland higher than 0.75; while 13.3% of the grid cells with locust presence and 13.2% of the grid cells with control operations had a proportion of croplands higher than 0.75, highlighting that locust presence and control operations were reported in both rangeland and cropland. Control operations continue to be used both to reduce overall locust numbers and to protect crops. Furthermore, through identifying which crops were most at risk, our analyses indicate that wheat production was under the highest strain during periods of increased locust infestations.

Welder learning curves behaviour: “focus on welding productivity with the TIG process of marine platforms stainless steel pipes”

PurposeThe purpose of the study is to analyse the feasibility of using the potential and exponential curve models to assess the learning of a group of welders, when welding stainless steel piping with the tungsten inert gas process.Design/methodology/approachThe welding productivity data grouped according to the requirements of the ASME SECTION IX code is organised into two groups: average productivity and baseline productivity. When processing the adjustment to the two models, the Excel software Solver tool was used. The criteria for assessing the quality of the fit were: least squared method, Spearman's correlation coefficient and graphical method. The impact of the variation coefficient on the average productivity and the amplitude (difference between the minimum and maximum productivity) was also evaluated on the baseline productivity.FindingsThe curves elaborated based on the average productivity presented better quality of adjustment than those constructed from the baseline productivity. The potential and exponential models presented similar adjustment conditions, with the second having a slightly superior performance. There were no productivity gains due to learning in the studied time interval. The grouping of the average daily productivity data based on the diameter range established in the ASME code section IX presented satisfactory results, enabling its use by the industry.Originality/valueThere is no news of work on piping welding with this focus. The proposal to group the productivity data according to the degree of difficulty of execution established by the ASME code section IX, widely used in the industry, is a significant contribution to monitoring the evolution of learning. In the same way, the results allow to adopt the average productivity determined from the first 20 days of realisation of a project, as a reasonable indicator to estimate the future performance of the work, helping to correct deadlines during the realisation of a project.

The Effect of Soil Chemicals on Cocoa Productivity in West Sulawesi

As Indonesia is one of the largest cocoa producing countries in the world, cocoa plays an important role in the Indonesian economy. However, cocoa bean production has continued to decline since 2012 in several cocoa producing regions in Indonesia, including West Sulawesi. The main problem for cocoa in Indonesia is the low productivity of the plants. The average productivity of cacao cocoa plants in West Sulawesi in 2019 was only 797 kg/ha/year. The productivity of the cocoa plants can reach 2,000-3,000 kg/ha/year. One of the causes of the low cocoa plant productivity of their cocoa plant is the mismatch between plant needs of and with soil chemical properties. This study uses quantitative methods with a deductive approach. Theis research took place in four districts in West Sulawesi, namely : Polewali Mandar, Majene, Mamasa and Mamuju Regencies. The determination of the 30 sampling point stations to provide representative profiles was based on cocoa productivity data. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between cation exchange capacity (CEC) and cocoa productivity. The amount abundance of exchangeable bases cations (Ca+, Ma+ and K+) hads a significant effect on cocoa plants in the high productivity category . There was a negative correlation between salinity for and cocoa plant productivity in the high (1500-2500 kg/ha/year) and low (<800kg/ha/year) productivity categories productivity category (1500-2500 kg / ha / year. Higher salinity causes lower productivity of cocoa plants. Likewise in the low productivity category (<800kg/ha/year). There was no correlation between pH H2OH2O pH with and cocoa productivity at all the representative profile points stations. There was a positive correlation between pH H2O pH and four other soil chemical characteristics, namely: C-Organic carbon, salinity, base saturation and the abundance of the number of exchangeable base cations can be exchanged.

Comparative Analysis of Learning Curve Models on Construction Productivity of Diaphragm Wall and Pile

In the analysis of construction operations, Learning Curves (LC) are considered one of the most important factors that determines the on-site variation in the productivity, which is usually considered in the construction projects during the estimation and planning stage. This research attempts to assess the suitability of LC models for the analysis of the learning phenomenon using productivity data for fairly complicated construction operations concerning the Diaphragm Wall and Pile Construction process from large-scale construction projects. In this study, the role of different LC models (i.e., Wright or Straight Line, Quadratic, Cubic, Knecht or Combined Exponential Log-linear, Stanford B) is investigated by the comparison of their outcomes through the utilization of cumulative productivity data of the activities involved in the Diaphragm Wall and Pile Construction process. The two main research objectives are (i) the investigation of the model which is the best bit for the historical productivity data of the completed construction activities (ii) an endeavour is formed to work out which model predicts the future performance better. The best suited LC model is predicted based on the least deviation from the yielded results of each model with respect to the actual construction data. Analysis of the cumulative average productivity data predicted that the Knecht or Combined Exponential Log-linear Model best fits both the complete Diaphragm Wall and Pile Construction Process in both the cases of fitting Historical data and in predicting future performance.