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Important changes have been observed in recent decades in small pelagic fish (SPF) populations of the NW Mediterranean Sea: declines in biomass and landings of European anchovy and sardine, and a geographical expansion of round sardinella. These changes have been linked to environmental factors directly influencing annual recruitment and growth. The role of climate change in affecting the composition of plankton has also been suggested to explain declines in SPF, while other causes could be the recovery of predators, competition with other pelagic organisms that prey on early life phases of SPF (i.e. gelatinous zooplankton), interspecific competition for food, or impacts from fisheries harvest. To test the role of these potential pressures, we developed qualitative mathematical models of a NW Mediterranean pelagic food web. We used analyses of sign directed graphs and Bayesian belief networks to compare alternative hypotheses about how SPF species may have responded to combinations of different pressures. Data documenting changes in SPF populations were used to test predicted directions of change from signed digraph models. An increase in sea surface temperature (SST) that had either a positive impact on round sardinella or on gelatinous zooplankton abundance was the pressure that alone provided the most plausible insights into observed changes. A combination of various pressures, including an increase in SST, an increase of exploitation and changes to zooplankton also delivered results matching current observations. Predators of SPF were identified as the most informative monitoring variable to discern between likely causes of perturbations to populations of SPF.

\"Covering three centuries of unprecedented demographic and economic changes, this textbook is an authoritative and comprehensive view of the shaping of Irish society, at home and abroad, from the famine of 1740 to the present day. The first major work on the history of modern Ireland to adopt a social history perspective, it focuses on the experiences and agency of Irish men, women and children, Catholics and Protestants, and in the North, South and the diaspora. An international team of leading scholars survey key changes in population, the economy, occupations, property ownership, class and migration, and also consider the interaction of the individual and the state through welfare, education, crime and policing. Drawing on a wide range of disciplinary approaches and consistently setting Irish developments in a wider European and global context, this is an invaluable resource for courses on modern Irish history and Irish studies. The first major work on the history of modern Ireland to move away from the traditional domination of political narratives and adopt a social history perspective. Incorporates up-to-date research on topics such as population, the economy, occupations, property ownership, class and migration. Examines the interaction of the individual and the state in the areas of welfare, education, crime and policing\"--Publisher description.

As the initial stage of the sewage treatment system, the degradation of pollutants inevitably involves an entropy change process. Microorganisms play a vital role, where they interact with pollutants and constantly adjust own ecosystem. However, there is a lack of research on the entropy change and external dissipation processes within the sewer system. In this study, considering the characteristics of microbial population changes in the biofilm within the urban sewage pipe network, entropy theory is applied to characterize the attributes of different microorganisms. Through revealing the entropy change of the microbial population and chemical composition, a coupling relationship between the functional bacteria diversity, organic substances composition, and external dissipation in the pipeline network is proposed. The results show that the changes of nutrient availability, microbial community structure, and environmental conditions all affect the changes of information entropy in the sewer network. This study is critical for assessing the understanding of ecological dynamics and energy flows within these systems and can help researchers and operation managers develop strategies to optimize wastewater treatment processes, mitigate environmental impacts, and promote sustainable management practices.

Identifies the next wave of trends reshaping the future of business, culture, and politics, sharing recommendations for entrepreneurs and business leaders for making the most of today's dynamic power relationships.

The annual rate of population change (λ t ) is a good metric for evaluating population performance because it summarizes survival and recruitment rates and can be used for open populations. Another measure of population performance, realized population change (Δ t ) is an encompassing metric of population trend over a period of time; it is the ratio of population size at an end time period relative to the initial population size. Our first goal was to compare mean λ and Δ t as summaries of population change over time. Our second goal was to evaluate different methods for estimating these parameters; specifically we wished to compare the value of estimates from fixed effects models, random effects estimates from mixed effects models, and Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods. Our final goal was to evaluate the use of the posterior distribution of Δ t as a means for estimating the probability of population decline retrospectively. To meet these goals, we used California spotted owl (Strix occidentalis occidentalis) data collected on 3 study areas from 1990 to 2011 as a case study. The estimated MCMC median λs for 2 of the study areas were 0.986 and 0.993, indicating declining populations, whereas median λ was 1.014 for the third study area, indicating an increasing population. For 2 of the study areas, estimated MCMC median Δ t s over the 18-year monitoring period were 0.78 and 0.89, suggesting 21% and 11% declines in population size, whereas the third study area was 1.22 suggesting a 22% increase. Results from Δ t analyses highlight that small differences in mean λ from 1.0 (stationary) can result in large differences in population size over a longer time period; these temporal effects are better depicted by Δ t . Fixed effects, random effects, and MCMC estimates of mean and median λ and of Δ t were similar (≤9% relative difference). The estimate of temporal process variance was larger for MCMC than the random effects estimates. Results from a Bayesian approach using MCMC simulations indicated that the probabilities of a ≥15% decline over 18 years were 0.69, 0.40, and 0.04 for the 3 study areas, whereas the probabilities the populations were stationary or increasing were 0.07, 0.22, and 0.82. For retrospective analyses of monitored populations, using Bayesian MCMC methods to generate a posterior distribution of Δ t is a valuable conservation and management tool for robustly estimating probabilities of specified declines of interest.

Focusing on social change in the Soviet Union, this work explores the way in which the social, economic and political transformations encompassed by modernisation affect values and behaviours. Its analytical focus is the family and the system of norms and values governing sex roles and familial relations.

Specific microbial profiles and changes in intestinal microbiota have been widely demonstrated to be associated with the pathogenesis of a number of extra-intestinal (obesity and metabolic syndrome) and intestinal (inflammatory bowel disease) diseases as well as other metabolic disorders, such as non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. Thus, maintaining a healthy gut ecosystem could aid in avoiding the early onset and development of these diseases. Furthermore, it is mandatory to evaluate the alterations in the microbiota associated with pathophysiological conditions and how to counteract them to restore intestinal homeostasis. This review highlights and critically discusses recent literature focused on identifying changes in and developing gut microbiota-targeted interventions (probiotics, prebiotics, diet, and fecal microbiota transplantation, among others) for the above-mentioned pathologies. We also discuss future directions and promising approaches to counteract unhealthy alterations in the gut microbiota. Altogether, we conclude that research in this field is currently in its infancy, which may be due to the large number of factors that can elicit such alterations, the variety of related pathologies, and the heterogeneity of the population involved. Further research on the effects of probiotics, prebiotics, or fecal transplantations on the composition of the human gut microbiome is necessary.

\"Climate Anxiety and the Kid Question looks at how environmental emotions influence whether, when, and why people today decide to become parents--or not. Jade S. Sasser argues that we can and should continue to create the families we desire, but that doing so equitably requires deep commitment to social, reproductive, and climate justice. This book presents original research, drawing from in-depth interviews and national survey results that analyze the role of race in environmental emotions and the reproductive plans young people are making as a result. Sasser concludes that climate emotions, climate justice, and reproductive justice are inseparable, and that culturally appropriate mental and emotional health services are a necessary precondition to ensure climate justice for vulnerable communities\"--Page 4 of cover.

1. Introduced carnivores are often cryptic, making it difficult to quantify their presence in ecosystems, and assess how this varies in relation to management interventions. Survey design should thus seek to improve detectability and maximize statistical power to ensure sound inference regarding carnivore population trends. Roads may facilitate carnivore movements, possibly leading to high detectability. Therefore, targeting roads may improve inferences about carnivore populations. 2. We assessed our ability to monitor feral cats Felis catus and red foxes Vulpes vulpes on‐ and off‐road, with explicit consideration of the location of monitoring sites on our ability to detect population changes. We also assessed whether there was evidence of spatial or temporal interaction between these species that might influence their road‐use. 3. Surveys were conducted in a conservation reserve in south‐eastern Australia between 2016 and 2018. At each of 30 sites, we deployed two motion‐sensor cameras, one on‐road, and the other off‐road. Using occupancy models, we estimated cat and fox occupancy and detectability, and conducted a power analysis to assess our ability to detect declines in occupancy under three monitoring regimes (efforts targeted equally on‐ and off‐road, efforts targeted entirely off‐road and efforts targeted entirely on‐road). 4. On average, on‐road detectability was seven times higher for cats and three times higher for foxes. Targeting survey effort on‐road yielded the greatest power for detecting declines in both species, but our ability to detect smaller declines decreased with decreasing initial occupancy probability. No level of decline was detectable for cats when survey efforts were targeted off‐road, while only large declines (>50%) were detectable for foxes (assuming high initial occupancy probabilities). We found little evidence of spatial or temporal segregation, suggesting limited avoidance or suppression between the two species within this landscape. 5. Our results suggest that targeting monitoring on roads may be an effective approach for detecting declines in introduced carnivore populations, particularly following management intervention (e.g. lethal control), and in the face of resource limitations. We provide a framework that can help assist land managers to make informed decisions, which balance monitoring efforts and resource constraints with sufficient statistical power to assess management objectives. Wide‐ranging carnivores are often cryptic, making it difficult to quantify their presence in ecosystems. Here, we assessed our ability to monitor feral cats Felis catus and red foxes Vulpes vulpes on‐ and off‐road, with explicit consideration of survey location on our ability to detect population changes. We show that targeting cats and foxes on‐road may be an effective approach for detecting declines, and provide a framework that can help assist land managers to make informed decisions that balance monitoring efforts and resource constraints with sufficient statistical power to assess management objectives.