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The purpose of this tool is to create a method for understanding the community-level impacts of marine spatial planning through the lens of well-being. Well-being consists of three dimensions, material, relational, and subjective. Assigning measurable indicators to each produces a quantitative and holistic measurement of well-being. Here, household well-being is measured through an 11-question, subjective survey, complemented by an additional set of subjective resilience questions. The household well-being and resilience scores generated from the surveys are aggregated to produce community-level well-being and resilience scores. These scores are useful for guiding marine spatial planners, as they identify vulnerable communities, highlight differences in communities, and track changes in community well-being over time. The insights gained from these scores can inform adaptive management measures, help planners select optimal locations for marine spatial plans, and inform planners’ understanding of changes in community well-being associated with marine spatial planning. This tool addresses the need for holistic, practical, and transferrable approaches and promotes mutually beneficial marine spatial plans.

Reduced defense against large herbivores has been suggested to be part of the island syndrome in plants. However, empirical evidence for this pattern is mixed. In this paper, we present two studies that compare putative physical and chemical defense traits from plants on the California Channel Islands and nearby mainland based on sampling of both field and common garden plants. In the first study, we focus on five pairs of woody shrubs from three island and three mainland locations and find evidence for increased leaf area, decreased marginal leaf spines, and decreased concentrations of cyanogenic glycosides in island plants. We observed similar increases in leaf area and decreases in defense traits when comparing island and mainland genotypes grown together in botanic gardens, suggesting that trait differences are not solely driven by abiotic differences between island and mainland sites. In the second study, we conducted a common garden experiment with a perennial herb-Stachys bullata (Lamiaceae)-collected from two island and four mainland locations. Compared to their mainland relatives, island genotypes show highly reduced glandular trichomes and a nearly 100-fold reduction in mono- and sesquiterpene compounds from leaf surfaces. Island genotypes also had significantly higher specific leaf area, somewhat lower rates of gas exchange, and greater aboveground biomass than mainland genotypes across two years of study, potentially reflecting a broader shift in growth habit. Together, our results provide evidence for reduced expression of putative defense traits in island plants, though these results may reflect adaptation to both biotic (i.e., the historical absence of large herbivores) and climatic conditions on islands.

The Galapagos Islands (Galapagos Province, Ecuador) are an archipelago located in the eastern Pacific, about 560 miles west from the Ecuadorian coast. Known for their unique biodiversity and for the visit of Charles Darwin in 1835 aboard the HMS Beagle , the islands are currently a highly protected area and, at the same time, witness to strong tourist pressure. The local population is about 25,000 stable inhabitants, all of them subject to severe regulations. In such a territory—full of debates and contradictions related, above all, to conservation policies—libraries and spaces for building knowledge, recovering memories, and debating informed decisions have been practically nonexistent. This article chronicles the implementation of the first mobile library program in the archipelago, emphasizing the natural and social contexts and the author's personal impressions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prior literature has long examined innovation as a recombination process within or across the boundaries of technological domains. However, limited attention is paid to boundaries per se. Building upon recent development of categorical contrast, this study distinguishes domains with crisp boundaries from those with fuzzy boundaries and examines their effects on innovation outputs. Analyzing a large sample of US patents, we find that spanning crisp boundaries is more likely to generate impactful inventions but at the same time leads to significantly higher recombinant uncertainty. We continue to explore what types of inventors are better able to span such types of domain boundaries. Focusing specifically on the role of inventors' knowledge expertise, we find that while both knowledge depth and breadth enhance the impact of technologies that span crisp boundaries, knowledge breadth is also found to escalate the associated uncertainty. Our emphasis on the contrast of technological domains contributes to the literature on recombinative innovation and boundary spanning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author has carried out a bibliographic survey of the status of breeding forest birds in Italy over 15 decades (1872-2022) in order to establish an objective long-term trend (stable, increasing, decreasing, etc.). The number of breeding forest birds in Italy amounts to 61; their distribution, with a few exceptions, indicates that they are widespread in Eurasia, but only a small percentage of Eurasian forest species have colonized Italy and the other Mediterranean peninsulas, namely 49 in Iberian, 61 in Italian and 64 in Balkan peninsulas; a small percentage of them (between 15.6 and 19.7%) belongs to trans-Saharan migrants, and between 31.2 and 40.8% increases their populations in winter. The similarity between the forest species on the three peninsulas (Iberian, Italian, and Balkan) results between 0.45 and 0.48, indicating a certain difference in the overall avifauna in the three territories. Not all species have penetrated southwards into the three peninsulas; for example, some that stopped in the Italian Alps have instead arrived in the forests of Greece, at a latitude corresponding to southern Italy, or species that in Italy stopped in the northern Apennines in the other two peninsulas have instead arrived far south. Iberian peninsula and the island of Corsica hold three endemic species among breeding forest birds, Italian and Balkan peninsulas have no endemic species. A tentative reconstruction of the climatic vicissitudes of the Mediterranean has been made to explain why only broadly distributed Eurasian forest species have penetrated the Mediterranean peninsulas. Overall, the Mediterranean presently hosts mainly neo-endemic taxa among forest bird species; the only paleo-endemics can be considered the three species of nuthatches living in Corsica, Algeria, and Turkey (other than Caucasus and the islet of Lesvos) and Le Vaillant’s woodpecker in the Maghreb (North Africa). Italian forests presently cover ca. 40% of the land surface, increasing since 1980’, but 22% of woodland is not of natural origin (3.3% due to afforestation). However, it is difficult to know the true increase of forests, because some of them are fired every year. The presence of some ecologically demanding forest birds depends on the age of the trees, permanent open spaces and other characteristics at the edge of woodland.

Molecular islands of various shapes and sizes composed of a few tens of molecules only are formed at the liquid--solid interface, at room temperature, by an alkoxylated dehydrobenzo[12]annulene (DBA) derivative. Molecules are packed into hexagons. Scanning tunneling microscopy reveals the variety in molecular island structures and their stability. For molecular islands up to 7 hexagonal pores, all 244 possible structures are simulated and compared with experimental observations. Force field calculations give insights into the relative stability of the molecular islands and the factors contributing to it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is characterized by absolute insulin deficiency primarily due to autoimmune destruction of pancreatic β‐cells. The prevailing treatment for T1DM involves daily subcutaneous insulin injections, but a substantial proportion of patients face challenges such as severe hypoglycemic episodes and poorly controlled hyperglycemia. For T1DM patients, a more effective therapeutic option involves the replacement of β‐cells through allogeneic transplantation of either the entire pancreas or isolated pancreatic islets. Unfortunately, the scarcity of transplantable human organs has led to a growing list of patients waiting for an islet transplant. One potential alternative is xenotransplantation of porcine pancreatic islets. However, due to inter‐species molecular incompatibilities, porcine tissues trigger a robust immune response in humans, leading to xenograft rejection. Several promising strategies aim to overcome this challenge and enhance the long‐term survival and functionality of xenogeneic islet grafts. These strategies include the use of islets derived from genetically modified pigs, immunoisolation of islets by encapsulation in biocompatible materials, and the creation of an immunomodulatory microenvironment by co‐transplanting islets with accessory cells or utilizing immunomodulatory biomaterials. This review concentrates on delineating the primary obstacles in islet xenotransplantation and elucidates the fundamental principles and recent breakthroughs aimed at addressing these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the resizing, reshaping and connectivity of islands by examining ongoing relations between land and sea in the context of the Channel Island of Guernsey. Ideas of materiality, temporality and vertical depth are employed to explore how contemporary tides and past sea‐level change impact island–island connections, and island–mainland connections between Guernsey and France. By focusing on the littoral zone as a space of encounter between land and sea, the paper explores some of the processes that challenge the notion of an island having fixed edges, emphasising the island's shape and size as always in flux. The paper then explores how tides alternatively reveal and hide material structures such as rocks and causeways, making the underwater scape temporally visible and differently accessible as an extension of land. It enables connections to be made and remade. This is demonstrated through the example of Guernsey and the tidal island of Lihou. The paper subsequently considers these ideas in the context of Quaternary sea‐level change. The land known as Guernsey alternated between literal island surrounded by water, and a steep‐sided plateau on the Normanno‐Breton plain, coinciding with interglacials and glacials. This connection is referred to as geologic. I argue that by acknowledging Guernsey's former visible connection with France, lack of contemporary visibility in the underwater scape does not render this a disconnection. Rather, the geologic, as further evidenced in the contemporary natural and built environment of Guernsey, continues through an underwater scape. It reappears in other Channal Islands and France, demonstrating ongoing connections at a land–sea–geologic interface. The paper argues for geology as a form of vertical depth. It calls for greater consideration of the geologic in the human geographical study of islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid climatic warming of the Antarctic Peninsula is driving regional population declines and distribution shifts of predators and prey. Affected species include Antarctic ice seals and the southern elephant seal, all of which rely on the peninsula region for critical stages of their life cycle. However, data collection is difficult in this remote region, and therefore long-term time series with which to identify and investigate population trends in these species are rare. We present the Cape Shirreff Phocid Census (CS-PHOC) dataset: weekly counts of phocids (crabeater, leopard, southern elephant, and Weddell seals) hauled out at Cape Shirreff, Livingston Island, during most austral summers since 1997. Data from these censuses were cleaned and aggregated, resulting in robust and comparable count data from 284 censuses across 23 field seasons. The CS-PHOC dataset, which is publicly available through the SCAR Biodiversity Portal, will be updated yearly to provide important information about Southern Ocean phocids in the Antarctic Peninsula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experimental study and transplantation of pancreatic islets requires their isolation from the surrounding tissue, and therefore, from the vasculature. Under these conditions, avascular islets rely on the diffusion of peripheral oxygen and nutrients to comply with the requirements of islet cells while responding to changes in body glucose. As a complement to the experimental work, computational models have been widely used to estimate how avascular islets would be affected by the hypoxic conditions found both in culture and transplant sites. However, previous models have been based on simplified representations of pancreatic islets which has limited the reach of the simulations performed. Aiming to contribute with a more realistic model of avascular human islets, in this work we used architectures of human islets reconstructed from experimental data to simulate the availability of oxygen for α, β and δ-cells, emulating culture and transplant conditions at different glucose concentrations. The modeling approach proposed allowed us to quantitatively estimate how the loss of cells due to severe hypoxia would impact interactions between islet cells, ultimately segregating the islet into disconnected subnetworks. According to the simulations performed, islet encapsulation, by reducing the oxygen available within the islets, could severely compromise cell viability. Moreover, our model suggests that even without encapsulation, only microislets composed of less than 100 cells would remain viable in oxygenation conditions found in transplant sites. Overall, in this article we delineate a novel modeling methodology to simulate detailed avascular islets in experimental and transplant conditions with potential applications in the field of islet encapsulation. Author summary: Pancreatic islets are clusters of cells dispersed throughout the pancreas that play a critical role for the regulation of blood glucose in the human body. Islets are mainly composed of α, β and δ-cells that respectively secrete glucagon, insulin and somatostatin in response to glucose changes. When islets are isolated, either to use them for transplantation for the treatment of type 1 diabetes or to study them experimentally, they are removed from the vasculature, thus limiting the oxygenation and nutrition of islet cells. Moreover, aiming to protect transplanted islets from the immune system, encapsulation of isolated islets is intensively explored. Under these conditions, isolated islets, either naked or encapsulated, rely entirely on the diffusion of oxygen and nutrients available in their surroundings until a new functional vasculature is developed. In this work, we use a detailed computational model of avascular islets based on reconstructed architectures of human islets to study how the availability of oxygen and glucose impacts the viability and connectivity of islet cells emulating experimental and transplant conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Heracleum is a large genus of plants belonging to Apiaceae family that includes about 90 species of biennial or perennial herbs. Several species of this genus are extensively used in various traditional medicines and, despite their content in toxic furanocoumarins, also as food. In the present study the chemical composition of the essential oil (EO) from flowering aerial parts of Heracleum sphondylium L. subsp. sphondylium, a plant distributed in Europe and North-West Africa, collected in the Isle of Skye (Scotland), was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. No one report has been previously published on any British accession. The result showed the presence of large quantity of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons and aliphatic esters, with bicyclogermacrene (31.6%) and octyl acetate (29.5%), by far, as the most abundant components. Considerations with respect all the other EOs of H. sphondylium taxa, studied so far, were carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim Location Time Period Major Taxa Studied Methods Results Main Conclusions We map global patterns of taxonomic and functional change between past (pre‐human impacts) and present (after anthropogenic extinctions and introductions) in large oceanic island bird assemblages and investigate if these patterns can be explained by island characteristics and anthropogenic factors.Sixty‐four oceanic islands (>100 km2).Late Holocene.Terrestrial and freshwater bird species.We compiled information on extinct, extant native and introduced bird species for all islands and used a probabilistic hypervolume approach to build a multi‐dimensional trait space and calculate several functional diversity metrics before and after extinctions and introductions. We identified which islands are global hotspots of human‐induced transformation by mapping multiple facets of biotic change and investigated intrinsic island characteristics and anthropogenic factors as drivers for these observed patterns.The Hawaiian and Mascarene islands stand out as hotspots of taxonomic and functional change, but all islands changed taxonomically and functionally, mostly gaining species but losing functional richness. Taxonomic and functional changes vary across islands but are often consistent within the same archipelago. Island isolation and surface can explain some of the observed variations, but anthropogenic factors, namely human occupation, also shaped both taxonomic and functional changes. Islands with higher human pressure, as well as larger islands with high elevation ranges, tended to have greater losses in functional richness.Most biodiversity change assessments are still largely based exclusively on taxonomic diversity, which is particularly worrying in the case of oceanic islands given that the magnitude of functional diversity change is often considerably larger. We call for comprehensive assessments of changes in both taxonomic and functional diversity across oceanic islands in order to better understand the drivers of these changes and, in turn, predict future trends. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Even after the division of the island in 1974, the ‘Cyprus Issue’ remained a significant determinant in the relations between Greece and Turkey. In the context of the ongoing Cold War, the Eastern Bloc sought to exploit this situation, aiming to undermine the cohesion of NATO’s southeastern wing. The primary objective of this study is to assess how one of the socialist states, Czechoslovakia, attempted to influence the Cyprus conflict between 1974 and 1989 through its foreign intelligence services. The study illustrates this through the example of the Czechoslovak residency in Nicosia, showcasing Czechoslovakia’s intelligence methods in recruiting foreign collaborators, acquiring information, and conducting intelligence operations in one of the world’s most geopolitically exposed regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes data from surveys conducted in two Pacific Island communities—Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands—to assess relationships among news literacy, news literacy efficacy, critical thinking about content, and news credibility. Results, on the one hand, show that news literacy is positively associated with both critical thinking about content and news literacy efficacy. On the other hand, news literacy is negatively related to news credibility. Also, the positive association between news literacy and critical thinking about content is mediated by news literacy efficacy. Results support the role of news literacy in facilitating critical thinking about news messages across the two sociocultural settings. We discuss theoretical implications of findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Primates show large interindividual variability in the character and quantity of interactions between mothers and their immature offspring. Multiple studies have documented associations between maternal behavior and the occurrence or frequency of certain behaviors among offspring, but it remains unclear whether and how early maternal interactions generally affect behavioral development in offspring. We followed two wild groups of Japanese macaques on Yakushima island and investigated the relationship between maternal behavior and several types of behavior performed by 35 juvenile offspring. We further asked if the impact of maternal behavior on juvenile behavior persists regardless of the distance between mother and offspring, testing whether the influence extends beyond cases when the mother is nearby. We found that juveniles whose mothers frequently rejected them approached and played with others more often, independent of their mother's presence. Juveniles of more protective mothers were in proximity to fewer other individuals and played less, but only if their mothers were nearby. Maternal rejection appears to exert a generalized effect on offspring behavior that endures when mothers are absent. In contrast, effects of maternal protectiveness may be temporary and/or reflect direct maternal influences, such as active intervention in offspring interactions, or effects of the mother's own social relationships on offspring interactions. Our results suggest that understanding how maternal behavior affects offspring development requires paying attention to the context of juvenile behavior, including the mother's distance from her offspring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim Methods Results Conclusions To investigate the effect of G protein‐coupled receptor 55 (GPR55) deletion on glucose homeostasis and islet function following diet‐induced obesity.GPR55−/− and wild‐type (WT) mice were fed ad libitum either standard chow (SC) or a high‐fat diet (HFD) for 20 weeks. Glucose and insulin tolerance tests were performed at 9/10 and 19/20 weeks of dietary intervention. Insulin secretion in vivo and dynamic insulin secretion following perifusion of isolated islets were also determined, as were islet caspase‐3/7 activities and β‐cell 5‐bromo‐20‐deoxyuridine (BrdU) incorporation.GPR55−/− mice fed a HFD were more susceptible to diet‐induced obesity and were more glucose intolerant and insulin resistant than WT mice maintained on a HFD. Islets isolated from HFD‐fed GPR55−/− mice showed impaired glucose‐ and pcacahorbol 12‐myristate 13‐acetate‐stimulated insulin secretion, and they also displayed increased cytokine‐induced apoptosis. While there was a 5.6 ± 1.6‐fold increase in β‐cell BrdU incorporation in the pancreases of WT mice fed a HFD, this compensatory increase in β‐cell proliferation in response to the HFD was attenuated in GPR55−/− mice.Under conditions of diet‐induced obesity, GPR55−/− mice show impaired glucose handling, which is associated with reduced insulin secretory capacity, increased islet cell apoptosis and insufficient compensatory increases in β‐cell proliferation. These observations support that GPR55 plays an important role in positively regulating islet function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is characterized by absolute insulin deficiency, which requires life‐long insulin replacement. Exogenous multiple‐daily insulin injections are most commonly prescribed for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. However, exogenous insulin supply often fails to cope with real‐time changing life‐log variables, such as activity, diet and stress, which results in recurrent hypo‐ and hyperglycemia in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Islet transplantation is an ideal method to treat patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus, as it can restore the endogenous capacity of glucose‐stimulated insulin secretion. However, due to donor scarcity and technical barriers, only a limited number of islet transplantations have been carried out in Asia, including South Korea. Since 2013, our center has carried out two allogenic islet transplantations, with one case leading to near total insulin independence after one‐to‐one islet transplantation. Although the other patient failed to restore endogenous insulin production, there was a remarkable improvement in hypoglycemia. We speculate that islet transplantation remains an important and ideal treatment option for patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus who suffer from recurrent severe hypoglycemia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microtubules are dynamic polymers that interconvert between phases of growth and shrinkage, yet they provide structural stability to cells. Growth involves hydrolysis of GTP-tubulin to GDP-tubulin, which releases energy that is stored within the microtubule lattice and destabilizes it; a GTP cap at microtubule ends is thought to prevent GDP subunits from rapidly dissociating and causing catastrophe. Here, using in vitro reconstitution assays, we show that GDP-tubulin, usually considered inactive, can itself assemble into microtubules, preferentially at the minus end, and promote persistent growth. GDP-tubulin-assembled microtubules are highly stable, displaying no detectable spontaneous shrinkage. Strikingly, islands of GDP-tubulin within dynamic microtubules stop shrinkage events and promote rescues. Microtubules thus possess an intrinsic capacity for stability, independent of accessory proteins. This finding provides novel mechanisms to explain microtubule dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The border river of the Evros/Meriç/Maritsa has been shaped during the century since its demarcation by the Lausanne peace treaty. Over this period, a dense overlap of environmental, geopolitical, legal and cultural actors has turned it into both a riverised border and a borderised river. The border regime appropriates the riverine characteristics of flow, erosion, mud, turbulence and fog as much as it is founded on military technology, international law, agricultural and conservation practices, resource logistics, border crossing and the denial thereof. Here, the river's movement of sand and alluvium has become an agent in the policing of the river border. Drawing on interviews with asylum seekers, locals, forensic pathologists, legal scholars and fish scientists, this paper weaves field research, primarily undertaken on the Greek side, with a historic and ecosystemic perspective of a century‐old border that has become a hotspot for violent practices. These practices themselves harness the uncertain physical conditions that the riverscape affords. In this article we argue that the disjunctures of the river's dynamic geomorphology and the history of demarcation of the median line frame the contemporary politics of mobility of those illegalised by the border regime. In the ambiguous territorial pockets produced by the movement of the river away from the median line of 1926, islands of hyperlegality have been produced where state violence takes place with impunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Successful island conservation is critical to achieving global biodiversity targets, but significant gaps remain in our understanding of how to effectively engage island communities in conservation efforts. Social and political factors often play a major role in decision‐making processes on inhabited islands, making effective community engagement critical. To better understand the issue, we conducted an international survey of practitioners across 43 islands to understand how they engage with local communities and which methods they consider to be most effective to support their conservation goals. Most respondents used at least one form of community engagement, many using five or more different methods. Communicative and consultative modes of engagement were most commonly used, which require fewer resources and less intensive participation by the community, while only half used the more demanding collaborative approaches to engagement. Indigenous co‐management was reported by practitioners to be the most effective method for positive engagement and to support conservation outcomes, and was implemented on two‐thirds of islands with an indigenous population. Our study supports the view that practitioners consider community engagement an important part of island conservation management, but that there is a tendency for practitioners to rely on one‐way communication, rather than more resource intensive, collaborative approaches to working with communities. Future research should investigate how the communities themselves perceive different engagement methods to gain the full picture of engagement effectiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural-density modeling of the Earth's crust carried out using a deep seismic sounding profile previously tested along the western shelf of Sakhalin Island offered a clearer view of the layered block structure of the main tectonic faults and their system within the crust of the region, which accumulate a large number of strong crustal earthquakes. The density structures of the resulting model were compared with geological data on the adjacent territory of Sakhalin Island. Our structural-density model made it possible to separate volcanic blocks and blocks of basified sialic crust and to trace the submarine prolongation of the largest geological complexes of the western margin of Sakhalin Island to the shelf. A spatial correlation between seismic events and some tectonic faults is observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A previously healthy 8-year-old girl was transferred to a Boston hospital from Nantucket (an island off the coast of Massachusetts) with a 12-day history of fevers, sore throat, and cervical lymphadenopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two new large muricids gastropods are named from the American tropics; one from the Lucasian Infraprovince of the Magdalenan Subprovince, Panamic Molluscan Province of the Eastern Pacific and the other from the Martiniquean Infraprovince of the Grenadian Subprovince, Caribbean Molluscan Province of the Caribbean Sea. The new Panamic species, Neorapana iwamasai Petuch, Berschauer, and Powell n. sp., is found on a very small stretch of coastline along Baja California Sur, Mexico. The other species, Phyllonotus bellettii Petuch, Berschauer, and Powell n. sp., is endemic to the islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe, and adjacent smaller islands, in the French West Indies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A newly discovered population of Monetaria caputdraconis has been identified on Easter Island. This new population has a high occurrence of specimens expressing morphology that appear both melanistic and rostrate, and is named herein Monetaria caputdraconis form darkini. It is suggested that the geology of the island, which comprises Roiho basalt containing olivine tholeiite with relatively high concentrations of heavy metals, may contribute to this unique morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the importance of the infocommunication wargame as a research platform to improve commanders' command and planning of infocommunication support, the infocommunication wargame counters are chosen for modelling studies as an important component. Firstly, the modeling framework of infocommunication wargame counters is designed, the modeling steps of entity decomposition, attribute extraction, data description and corresponding products are clarified. Then a precategorization ontology-based approach for modelling infocommunication wargame counters is proposed, defining the base classification of entities, the ontology models of different entities and the computer language description of the counters. Finally, with the help of the ontology modelling software Protégé, an experimental analysis is carried out, using the example of infocommunication support in island offensive battles, verifying the feasibility and scientificity of this method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If Gaelic has been symbolically appropriated to represent Scotland, then it follows that we need to look more closely at the part played by documentary film both of and from the Scottish Hebrides, in furthering the dissemination of what is an idealised and contested identity. As documentary is a negotiated contract between the producer and those they 'represent', the discussion needs to consider whether the representation of a Hebridean identity, and by extension a mythical Scottish identity, is constructed by the filmmaker, and if so, how filmic constraints and practices inform this representation. Within this framework is an acknowledgement of the extent to which Hebridean identity has been mediated by books, photographs and films for the past 300 years. This article will deliver the findings of a research project undertaken in the in the Outer Hebrides (also known as the Western Isles and Lewis & Harris). The research investigates the extent to which interviewees themselves collude with documentary makers in presenting a view of the Gael that reflects the Gaelic-speaker's own self-assigned role as guardian of the land and traditions. As this research marries practice with research, it will present it in a semi-autobiographical style. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family Pipunculidae is being recorded from Martinique for the first time. During a dipterological expedition on the island in January – February 2018, mainly based on the pan-trap method, four specimens of Eudorylas dumbardonisp. nov. were collected. This species is described, illustrated, and compared with E. cressoni Johnson, a similar species based mainly on the yellow body coloration, originally described from the Bahamas and Jamaica, and also recorded from the Dominican Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in vegetation status generally also represents changes in the ecological health of islands and reefs (IRs). However, studies are limited of drivers and trends of vegetation change of Nansha Islands, China and how they relate to climate change and human activities. To resolve this limitation, we studied changes to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) vegetation-greenness index for 22 IRs of Nansha Islands during normal and extreme conditions. Trends of vegetation greenness were analyzed using Sen' s slope and Mann-Kendall test at two spatial scales (pixel and island), and driving factor analyses were performed by time-lagged partial correlation analyses. These were related to impacts from human activities and climatic factors under normal (temperature, precipitation, radiation, and Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI)) and extreme conditions (wind speed and latitude of IRs) from 2016 to 2022. Results showed: 1) among the 22 IRs, NDVI increased/decreased significantly in 15/4 IRs, respectively. Huayang Reef had the highest NDVI change-rate (0.48%/mon), and Zhongye Island had the lowest (−0.29%/mon). Local spatial patterns were in one of two forms: dotted-form, and degradation in banded-form. 2) Under normal conditions, human activities (characterized by NDBI) had higher impacts on vegetation-greenness than other factors. 3) Under extreme conditions, wind speed (R2 = 0.2337, P < 0.05) and latitude (R2 = 0.2769, P < 0.05) provided limited explanation for changes from typhoon events. Our results provide scientific support for the sustainable development of Nansha Islands and the United Nations 'Ocean Decade' initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: The intrinsic characteristics of islands make them a unique study system for the investigation of ecological and evolutionary dynamics. The Mediterranean Basin, an island‐rich biodiversity hotspot, still lacks a comprehensive spatial database for these geographic features. This study presents the first comprehensive spatial database of all Mediterranean islands larger than 0.01 km2, aiding ecological investigations and interdisciplinary research. Main types of variable contained: The MEDIS spatial database offers detailed information on 39 geographic, climatic, ecological and land‐use variables, including island area, perimeter, isolation metrics, climatic space, terrain data, land cover, palaeogeography, road networks and geological information, providing a multifaceted view of each island's characteristics. Spatial location and grain: The study encompasses 2217 islands in the Mediterranean Basin larger than 0.01 km2. The spatial grain of the datasets on which the selected variables are based varies from 10 m (ESA WorldCover) to 1 km (CHELSA‐BIOCLIM+). Time period and grain: The spatial database incorporates data from various sources, each with its own timeframe, such as the Global Shoreline Vector from 2014 Landsat imagery and the WorldCover dataset from 2021. Historical data like the Paleocoastlines GIS dataset offer insights into island configurations during the Last Glacial Maximum. Major taxa and level of measurement: While not focusing on specific taxa, the study lays the foundation for comprehensive research on Mediterranean islands, facilitating comparisons and investigations into the distribution of native, endemic or alien species. The level of measurement is extensive, encompassing a wide range of variables and providing polygonal features rather than centroids' coordinates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Investigating the extent of insular invasions by non‐native species (i.e., the number of islands they occupy) is central to island conservation. However, interrelationships among plant life history traits, naturalization histories, and island characteristics in determining island occupancy by non‐native plant species are poorly understood. We investigated whether island occupancy by different non‐native plant species declines in relation to their year of first naturalization and whether periods of first naturalization differ among growth forms, dispersal modes, and biogeographic origins. Then, we asked if non‐native plants that naturalized more recently occur more frequently on islands that are large, less isolated, and close to urban areas. We contrasted trends across growth forms, dispersal modes, and biogeographic origins. Location: 264 offshore islands in northern Aotearoa New Zealand. Taxa: Vascular plant species. Methods: We combined field surveys and published data for 767 non‐native plant species on the islands. We categorized each species according to its growth form (n = 3), dispersal mode (n = 4) and biogeographic origin (n = 5) and identified its year of first naturalization in Aotearoa New Zealand. We tested our hypotheses using ANCOVA and generalized linear models (GLMs). Results: There were similar declines in island occupancy in relation to the year of first naturalization in Aotearoa New Zealand across all trait and biogeographic origin categories. First naturalization times of herbaceous species, those with unspecialized dispersal modes, and those originating from Eurasia and the Mediterranean basin were disproportionately earlier than other categories. Non‐native plants with more recent first naturalization occur more frequently on large islands close to urban areas, but not on less isolated ones. Relationships with island characteristics did not differ among trait and biogeographic origin categories. Main Conclusions: Overall, time of first naturalization was more important than trait and biogeographic origin categories in explaining non‐native plant invasion patterns on islands. Since there were similar relationships between island occupancy and the year of first naturalization in Aotearoa New Zealand for all categories, management bodies should focus on non‐native plant species of trait and biogeographic origin categories that have naturalized recently (e.g., woody species from other regions within Oceania), and on large islands close to urban areas. Introduction and naturalization histories provide essential context for interpreting the role of plant traits and biogeographic origin in understanding plant invasions on islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ios (an island in the Cycladic archipelago, Greece) was the first recognized Aegean metamorphic core complex. There is a paradoxical absence of an age jump in low‐temperature geochronology transects across the Ios Detachment Fault. This paper explains why this is so, by modelling the conductive response to detachment faulting. We demonstrate that transects across detachment faults consistently record age jumps only at shallow palaeodepths. Conductive relaxation of the perturbed geotherm keeps pace with fault movement, so the hangingwall heats just as fast as the footwall cools. Key variables are the fractional depth to the partial resetting zone, d [0.0.1], and the magnitude and rate of slip on the detachment. At shallow palaeodepths (d < 0.3, 10–50 km slip), significant age jumps occur across the actual fault contact. At deeper levels of exposure, this is no longer the case, and the effects of a 'stewing zone' readily become evident. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late Miocene Monte Capanne and Porto Azzurro plutons are investigated by means of coupled U–Pb zircon and 40Ar/39Ar white mica dating to test the occurrence of long‐lived magmatic systems in the upper crust. Zircon crystallized for >1 Ma in both plutonic systems, with supersolidus conditions overlapping for ~220 ka indicating previously unrecognized co‐existence of the two reservoirs. The development of the Porto Azzurro high T‐aureole is post‐dated by continuous igneous zircon crystallization until ~6.0 Ma. By linking crystallization to post‐emplacement cooling of late‐stage pulses in both western and eastern Elba we constrain long‐lived sizeable reservoirs (possibly the same reservoir) in the Tyrrhenian upper crust between ~8 and 6 Ma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Albatrosses are renowned for their high philopatry, which has been proposed as a major barrier to their dispersal and hybridization with other albatross species. Except for shy-type albatross species from New Zealand, examples of colonization of new breeding sites and interbreeding with closely related species are rare. During the austral summer of 2022, while conducting land-based monitoring of resident Black-browed (Thalassarche melanophris) and Grey-headed (T. chrysostoma) albatross populations on the Diego Ramírez Islands, Chile (56 S), we documented the first (and southernmost) breeding record of a nesting pair of White-capped Albatross (T. steadi), a species endemic to the Auckland Islands, New Zealand (~ 7000 km away). The species identity was confirmed through molecular analysis. This discovery underscores the importance of Diego Ramírez and its surrounding waters as a hotspot for global albatross conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a multidimensional urban sprawl assessment in 15 Indonesian island cities using 17 indicators across densities, composition, and configuration dimensions. The analysis utilizes data from the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL). Larger-sized islands serving as provincial capitals or regional activity centers, governed by multidistrict jurisdictions, tend to be more sprawl. Island-level planning and governance are crucial for managing sprawl effectively. The study highlights the coexistence of multiple sprawl typologies within single-island cities and emphasizes the limitations of simplistic binary/linear sprawl assessments. The findings offer insights applicable beyond island contexts, bridging regional and urban units in multilevel settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Red Sea had inimitable geological ancient times and is considered a new ocean basin model. It has many islands of numerous sizes in the southern sector and a widespread group of shoals, such as Farasan (Saudi Arabia) and Dahlak (Eretria), due to its geological setting differences. In this work, a group of applications was used to provide a wider vision of the potential field, as well as to image the thermal and subsurface structures of the study area (Farasan and Dahlak Islands) using available marine potential field datasets (marine gravity and magnetic) and topographic and bathymetric datasets. These datasets were downloaded from the GEOSOFT server (Data sources: http://dap.geosoft.com/). We applied different filters of the marine potential field datasets data (e.g., horizontal gradient filter) to create a subsurface structure image. The horizontal gradient technique was used to locate density edges/boundaries from gravity data. The basement depth was displayed, as it was required during the Curie depth estimation by means of mathematical formulas. The profile ~ 500 km in length was selected to cross the study area and its surroundings so as to perform the joint 2D inversion modeling process. The results showed that the Farasan Islands have a shallower Curie point depth and basement relief than Dahlak Islands, indicating that both island groups were not isolated from each other but molded and formed independently. The results revealed that the islands' different thermal systems were based on heat flow values calculated for each group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Island species-area relationship (ISAR) is the most documented pattern in island biogeography. Different hypotheses were advanced to explain this pattern. In this study, I selected 27 remote Tuamotu atolls in the South Pacific Ocean with complete surveys of native species richness of birds and vascular plants to test the influence of four abiotic predictors on species richness (atoll emerged area, habitat diversity, mean elevation, and number of islets). Linear regressions were used to assess the relative influence of predictors on native species richness while stepwise regression was then used to identify the best model. Atoll area was a significant predictor to explain native bird and plant species richness, attesting ISAR on the remote surveyed atolls. Stepwise model demonstrated that both habitat diversity and atoll area explained bird species richness, whereas atoll area and mean elevation were the best predictors for native plants. These results suggest that ISAR can be related to different hypotheses, depending on the taxon studied. Among hypotheses, the simple "target-area" hypothesis was a suitable framework to explain ISAR of native birds, while the "disturbance" hypothesis was relevant to support ISAR of native plants observed on the atolls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deep circumflex iliac artery (DCIA) flap is one of the bone flaps commonly used for mandibular reconstruction. Observation of the skin paddle and Doppler ultrasound are methods that are usually used to monitor DCIA flaps after mandibular reconstruction surgery. The aim of this study was to introduce a novel DCIA flap with a perforator-supported external oblique abdominal muscle (EOAM) island for postoperative flap monitoring. This study included five patients who underwent mandibular reconstruction using this modified technique. The DCIA flap and the EOAM island supplied by the ascending branch of the DCIA were harvested during the surgery. After mandibular reconstruction, the EOAM island was placed in the submandibular region to monitor the blood supply to the DCIA flap after surgery. The blood supply to the DCIA flap was monitored by observing the colour, texture, and bleeding condition of the EOAM island. After the monitoring period, the EOAM was removed and the ascending branch of the DCIA was ligated. The outcome was successful in all patients. The EOAM island supported by the ascending branch of the DCIA is reliable and safe, thus providing a robust option to monitor the blood supply to the DCIA flap. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Flightless steamer ducks preferred nesting on islets and along rocky coasts. • Upland geese preferred nesting in medium-dense shrubland. • Nest detection decreased with denser vegetation. • Invasive mink was present on 100 % of ten islets studied. • Interactive map for designing mink control actions. The introduction of carnivores to islands affects the conservation status of native prey. For two decades, American mink (Neogale vison) has expanded its distribution in the sub-Antarctic archipelago of Austral Patagonia, while preying on nests of solitary ground-nesting birds. Here, upland geese (Chloephaga picta) and flightless steamer ducks (Tachyeres pteneres) are naïve to such predation risk because of the lack of native terrestrial predators. We used nest occupancy models to reveal preferred breeding habitats of those two ground-nesting waterbirds to prioritize areas for future mink control programs. We searched for nests along 80 transects on Navarino Island, southernmost Chile, and 11 transects on 10 nearby islets (3 ± 2.9 ha). Our results showed that islets were essential for breeding in comparison to the main island (5.3 nests/km versus 0.8 nests/km, respectively). The occupancy models revealed that islets were particularly important for flightless steamer ducks, endemic to western Patagonia. As breeding habitat, upland geese preferred medium-dense shrubland, and flightless steamer ducks preferred rocky coastlines. Nest detection was negatively affected by dense vegetation and, in the case of the upland geese, towards the end of the survey. Ten camera traps (n = 385 trap nights) revealed mink presence on all islets, highlighting their capacity to swim in cold water, up to 340 m distance from the main island. We conclude that islets represent breeding refuges for ground-nesting waterbirds and therefore advocate allocating resources for mink control during the warm season on islets. We also provide predictive maps of nesting habitat preference of upland geese and flightless steamer ducks for conservation managers to focus their often scarce human and financial resources on areas critical for breeding. Finally, we argue that detection probability should be an integral part of bird breeding studies, which can be methodologically achieved through targeting transects, not nests, as sample units. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving high‐precision extraction of sea islands from high‐resolution satellite remote sensing images is crucial for effective resource development and sustainable management. Unfortunately, achieving such accuracy for sea island extraction presents significant challenges due to the presence of extensive background interference. A more widely applicable noise‐tolerant matched filter (NTMF) scheme is proposed for sea island extraction based on the MF scheme. The NTMF scheme effectively suppresses the background interference, leading to more accurate and robust sea island extraction. To further enhance the accuracy and robustness of the NTMF scheme, a neural dynamics algorithm is supplemented that adds an error integration feedback term to counter noise interference during internal computer operations in practical applications. Several comparative experiments were conducted on various remote sensing images of sea islands under different noisy working conditions to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed neural dynamics algorithm‐assisted NTMF scheme. These experiments confirm the advantages of using the NTMF scheme for sea island extraction with the assistance of neural dynamics algorithm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Humans and wildlife experience complex interactions in urban ecosystems, favoring the presence of commensal species, among which invasive species are particularly successful. Rodents are the main vertebrate group introduced to oceanic islands, where the invasion process and dispersal patterns strongly influence their evolutionary and genetic patterns. We evaluated the house mouse Mus musculus and the black rat Rattus rattus on Cozumel Island, Mexico. We assessed genetic diversity and structure, connectivity, gene flow, relatedness and bottleneck signals based on microsatellite loci. Our genetic findings suggest that introduction of individuals of different geographic sources to the island promotes high allelic diversity and the effective establishment of migrants. We identified a clear genetic structure and low connectivity for the two species, tightly linked with anthropogenic and urban features. Notably, we found that the genetic structure of the house mouse sampled within the city of San Miguel Cozumel is associated with the historical human population growth pulses accompanying the urbanization of the city. At the fine-scale genetic level, the main urban drivers of connectivity of the house mouse were both the impervious land surfaces, i.e. the urban landscape, and the informal commerce across the city (a proxy of resources availability). Chances of a secondary invasion to natural environments have been relatively low, which is crucial for the endemic taxa of the island. Nonetheless, improving urban planning to regulate future expansions of San Miguel Cozumel is of the outmost importance to prevent these invasive species to disperse further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a reintroduction progresses through the establishment, growth, and regulation phases, density-dependent mechanisms increasingly drive population dynamics. This can complicate efforts to reinforce these populations if the translocated individuals (henceforth reinforcers) are excluded, or existing residents become displaced. This is especially pertinent for islands and fenced havens, where immigration is often only possible by translocation. Conspecific associations offer insights into how these density-dependent mechanisms manifest in space and time. We investigated how movement, habitat use, and conspecific associations differed between eastern quoll (Dasyurus viverrinus) residents and reinforcers at a conservation-fenced haven. We used GPS collars to quantify distances travelled per night, home and core ranges, nocturnal (activity) and diurnal (denning) habitat use and preference, and conspecific associations over three periods: baseline (residents only, days 3–21), release (both cohorts, days 22–32), and settlement (reinforcers only, days 33–52) for ≤ 42 days post-release (depending on GPS unit longevity). Eastern quolls travelled greater mean distances per night (< 2.15 km, x̄ 1.75 km) and had larger home ranges (< 251 ha, x̄ 178 ha) during the release period. Reinforcers had larger home ranges (249 ha) and greater overlap with other collared eastern quolls (115 ha) when compared to residents (range 90 ha, overlap 46 ha). We found a significant preference for grassland habitat across all animals and periods. During the settlement period, we found a preference for nocturnal activity in greater understory and south-west facing aspects, and lower movement correlation, sociality, and den sharing between collared eastern quolls. Finally, we found lower den sharing in reinforcers (29%) compared to residents (52%), and for fawn- animals compared to dark-morphs. Our results revealed short-term movements, habitat use, and conspecific associations at a greater spatiotemporal resolution than has ever been achieved for this species. Our findings offer important insights into the importance of appropriate habitat and conspecific cueing for reintroductions, and highlight the need to monitor density-dependent mechanisms to inform adaptive management to promote positive outcomes for both initial reintroductions and reinforcements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Crown-of-thorns seastar (CoTS, Acanthaster cf. solaris) outbreaks remain a significant cause of coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and across the West-Pacific Ocean. Previous outbreaks on the GBR have only been discovered once fully established, which constrains opportunities for effective control. Early detection of outbreaks would provide an important opportunity for early intervention and increase understanding of outbreak cause(s). Here, we assess the utility of environmental DNA (eDNA) monitoring to detect the initiation of a population outbreak at Lizard Island over five years (2019–2023), compared with density estimates obtained using Scooter-Assisted Large Area Diver-based (SALAD) surveys. At each of the five eDNA sampling sites, 30 replicate samples were collected annually and analysed with CoTS-specific primer sets and digital droplet PCR. Both methods detected distinct increases in CoTS densities from 2020/21 onwards, indicating the start of a new population outbreak. A large part of the observed variation in eDNA (expressed as the percentage of positive samples) was explained by changes in recorded CoTS density, confirming that eDNA data provide a quantitative estimate for adult CoTS abundance. SALAD surveys and eDNA are new and complementary monitoring methods that facilitate early detection of CoTS outbreaks, which will enable more effective management intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The primary priority of bridge construction over a waterway is to support and confirm constant communication. Conversely, it may locally disrupt the health of the river which will have an adverse influence on the hydrological as well as morphological behavior of nearby regions by way of the river's narrowing. The current study evaluated the effect of bridge structure on river morphological characteristics for Teesta River. Hence to do, this work robbed two approaches. Firstly, the Landsat images from a pre-road bridge (2001 and 2006) and post-road bridge construction (2011, 2016, and 2021) are processed and used for bar formation and bank line shifting. Secondly, the bar properties, differences in channel width, and changes in river bank were evaluated using geospatial technology. The outcomes revealed a recurrent change of bar area and channel width at the upstream side of the bridges and likewise dominating at the downstream side. Throughout the post-road bridge period, the average bar area has increased noticeably by 32.45 sq.km which is 7.75% of the total river area and the downstream bar area has also increased considerably. Besides, both bank lines of the river were dominated by erosion in the post-road bridge construction era. Accordingly, the Teesta Road bridge's existence has had a significant impact on the morphological modification in recent years. The study also reveals that the bars and islands of Teesta River undergo a drastic change and the river can be treated as a braided one, and also showed the minor trend of meandering. The findings of this research may be supportive for sustainable and long-term planning and development of the rivers and neighboring floodplains in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel ocean profiling float system for calibrating and validating satellite-based ocean color observations has been developed and tested. The float-based radiometric sampling system, herein referred to as HyperNav, is complementary to traditional moored in-situ observing systems and provides additional capability due to the relatively small platform size and high radiometric accuracy that allows for opportunistic deployments at locations during seasons and conditions that are best for ocean color observations. The purpose of this study is to optimize the deployment locations of an array of HyperNav systems to support the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission by performing System Vicarious Calibration (SVC) observations. Specifically, we present the development of logistical and scientific criteria for selecting suitable sites for developing an SVC network of profiling-float-based radiometric systems capable of calibrating and validating ocean color observations. As part of the analyses described in this paper, we have synthetically deployed HyperNav at potential US-based and international sites, including: north of Crete island; south-east of Bermuda island; south of Puerto Rico island; southwest of Port Hueneme, CA; west of Monterey, CA; west of Kona, HI; and south-west of Tahiti island. The synthetic analyses identified Kona, Puerto Rico, Crete, and Tahiti as promising SVC sites. All sites considered are suitable for generating a significant number of validation match-ups. Optimally deploying HyperNav systems at these sites during the PACE post-launch SVC campaign is expected to cost-effectively provide a large number of SVC match-ups to fulfill the PACE calibration requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The island syndrome is defined as a suite of predictable and consistent differences between island and mainland organisms. In seed plants, much of what we know about the island syndrome comes from work in the Southwest Pacific, which is comprised of the three main islands of New Zealand and ten surrounding archipelagos. These surrounding archipelagos are all remote and relatively small. They were never connected to another landmass and their floras are derived by overwater dispersal, mostly from the main islands of New Zealand, making them an ideal system for the study of island evolution. In this review, we summarise work on the island syndrome conducted on New Zealand’s outlying islands, establish whether these findings are in line with global patterns of island biology or whether they are unique to this region, and propose directions for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]