Kruger (Canada)

Employment is a sought-after conservation-based benefit. The national Environmental Monitor (EM) programme was established in 2013 to address challenges of unemployment and biodiversity conservation adjacent to and inside South African protected areas (PAs). We used qualitative and quantitative methods to interview 109 EMs working in the Kruger to Canyons Biosphere Region, an area encompassing 72 PAs including the Kruger National Park, to document the positive and negative, tangible and intangible impacts of their jobs at an individual, family and community level. We recorded an extensive list of material (e.g. monetary income, improved health and shelter) and psychological well-being impacts (improved self-esteem, empowerment and personal image). Our findings highlight the role of learning new things and having positive social connections in the workplace. We suggest that positive workplace well-being is important for organisational sustainability in the conservation sector and has a role to play in reducing wildlife crime.Conservation implications: Understanding workplace well-being in the conservation sector is important not only for ensuring benefit flow by facilitating personal, family and community well-being, but also for enhancing productivity through increased performance and organisational citizenship behaviour. These findings have direct implications for people and wildlife globally in the context of increasing pressure for PAs to demonstrate their societal contributions, while financial resources for PA management decrease and the illegal use of wildlife inside parks is increasingly becoming a threat to both biodiversity and people.

Abstract Paper packaging coated with synthetic materials raises major environmental and health concerns. As a response, new promising approaches consist of using sustainable coatings based on nano‐biocomposites. In this work, polylactic acid (PLA)/organoclays (OC) aqueous dispersions thickened by xanthan gum were applied on paper using the bar coating technique. Morphological and topographical analyses using scanning electron microscopy and laser confocal microscopy showed a smooth polymeric layer completely covering the fibrous and porous surface of the paper, resulting in a substantial improvement in the barrier properties. Water vapor transmission rates and water absorptivity had undergone a major decrease when coatings containing 3 and 5 wt% OC were used, while no significant difference was observed between the 1 wt% OC formulation and pure PLA. Moreover, coated paper showed no air porosity with 0 mL/min values recorded for all samples, thus confirming the morphology observations of the surfaces and cross‐sections. Additionally, the contact angle measurements indicated a slight decrease in the hydrophobicity of the base paper when coated with PLA and 1 wt% OC. However, this reduction was reversed with the addition of 3 and 5 wt% OC, restoring the hydrophobicity.Highlights Polylactic acid (PLA)/organoclay (OC) coatings sealed and covered completely the paper's surface. Water resistance of the base paper had a major improvement due to the coatings. The porous surface of the paper was successfully sealed, leading to no air porosity. Adding 3 and 5 wt% OC resulted in excellent barrier performances. PLA/OC coatings have the potential to replace synthetic paper coatings.

Abstract Water based polylactic acid (PLA)‐surface modified montmorillonite (MMt) nanocomposites as biobased formulations for paper coating were successfully developed using emulsification solvent evaporation method. Electrostatic and steric stabilization mechanisms have contributed to the production of stable emulsions up to 5 months at 23 ± 1°C, revealing strong repulsive forces generated between the nanoparticles as confirmed by zeta potential (ζ) and dynamic light scattering (DLS) analysis. MMt particles were fully encapsulated by PLA as demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs. Meanwhile the film formation process highlighted the importance of emulsifier's type and solubility in the polymer matrix, as no films were obtained when sodium oleate was used alone compared with continuous, homogeneous, and free‐standing films obtained when the combination Tween 80 (80 wt%)—sodium oleate (20 wt%) was used. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs of the cross‐section's surfaces showed homogeneous dispersion of the MMt particles with no clusters or agglomerates formed. Thermal analyses using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis (DSC‐TGA) showed an overall reduction in the glass transition temperature (Tg) and the thermal stability of neat PLA, whoever this reduction was recovered when MMt was added due to the confinement effect. Thickened PLA and PLA/MMt emulsions using 1 wt% xanthan gum showed a non‐Newtonian behavior and shear thinning flow with suitable viscosity values for paper coating applications.Highlights Development of stable PLA/organoclay nanocomposite aqueous dispersions. Steric and electrostatic mechanisms provided excellent stability. Full encapsulation of organoclay platelets in nanometric PLA particles. Formation of free‐standing films from PLA/organoclay emulsions. Thickened PLA/organoclay emulsions using Xanthan gum for paper coatings.

Abstract Hypervariable region sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene plays a critical role in microbial ecology, offering insights into bacterial communities within specific niches. While providing valuable genuslevel information, its reliance on limited genetic data from targeted regions of this gene limits its overall utility. Advances in sequencing have enabled characterisation of the full-length 16S rRNA gene, enhancing species-level classification. Third-generation sequencing technologies can sequence genes in single reads, yet challenges in cost and accessibility persist. Although Illumina's short-read platforms are cost-effective and precise, they lack full-length 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing capability. This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a modified 150 bp paired-end 16S rRNA amplicon shortread sequencing technique on the Illumina iSeq 100 by utilising a mock microbial community and subsequently performing exploratory characterisation of captive (zoo) and free-ranging African elephant (Loxodonta africana) respiratory microbiota. Our findings support the viability of the sequencing technique through taxonomic assignment that is consistent with the microbial standard’s theoretical composition. Tentative bacterial signatures, potentially representative of distinct respiratory tract compartments (trunk and lower respiratory tract) were observed, necessitating further investigation with larger sample sizes to gain deeper insights into its implication for elephant physiology and health.

Dry ice blast cleaning originated in the aircraft industry when they were looking for alternative ways to strip paint off older aircraft, at that time. The technology did not become commercially available until around 1987. The dry ice cleaning process begins with the creation and use of pellet or granular shapes made from liquid Carbon Dioxide (CO<inf xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</inf>).This type of cleaning method is non-abrasive and does no damage to the base substrate materials. Therefore, it can even be used on sensitive mechanical and electrical equipment. The process is not electrically conductive and can be safely used on electric motors and other electrical equipment.Dry ice exists as a liquid only when under very high pressure. When the pressure drops to near normal atmospheric pressure, approximately half of the dry ice turns back into a gaseous form and half turns to a solid. These solids, usually in the form of fluffy snow-like material, are then compressed to form dry ice blocks, pellets, or nuggets for use in the cleaning process.

Introduction/Hypothesis: Heart failure presents as the leading cause of infant mortality in individuals with the rare genetic disease, Barth Syndrome (BTHS). The causative mutation underlying the BTHS phenotype has been mapped to the tafazzin ( TAZ) g ene, which encodes for a phospholipid transacylase critical for the remodelling of the mitochondrial phospholipid, cardiolipin. Perturbations in myocardial energy metabolism may contribute to the development and progression of cardiomyopathy in BTHS. Given that cardiac glucose oxidation is impaired in a mouse model of human BTHS, we hypothesized that pharmacological enhancement of glucose oxidation through dichloroacetate (DCA) treatment could mitigate BTHS-related cardiac dysfunction. Methods: DCA was added to the drinking water (84 mM) of 6-week-old mice with experimental BTHS (doxycycline-inducible Taz knockdown (TazKD) mice) for 6-weeks. In vivo cardiac function was assessed via ultrasound echocardiography prior to and following the DCA treatment period. Hearts were extracted from TazKD mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates for protein expression profiling and enzyme activity assessment at the end of the treatment protocol. Results: Prior to treatment at 4-5 weeks of age, TazKD mice exhibited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as demonstrated by an increase in the ratio between left ventricular (LV) anterior and posterior wall thickness during diastole in relation to lean body mass (0.042±0.003 vs 0.062±0.008 mm/g; 0.049±0.002 vs 0.069±0.005 mm/g). TazKD mice also exhibited impaired LV systolic and diastolic volumes. Treatment with DCA decreased inhibitory phosphorylation of pyruvate dehydrogenase, the rate-limiting enzyme of glucose oxidation, and trended to increase its activity ( p =0.19) in ventricular extracts from TazKD mice compared to their WT littermates, thus suggestive of increased myocardial glucose oxidation. However, despite a potential improvement of cardiac energy metabolism, treatment with DCA did not improve cardiac structural and functional parameters in TazKD mice. Conclusions: Our findings suggest that optimization of cardiac glucose oxidation may not be a feasible strategy for alleviating BTHS-associated cardiomyopathy.

Public IP addresses from a private or public higher education institution receive large amounts of network traffic. However, the data network is vulnerable to the possibility of security attacks. This study develops a case in a practical way based in the use of the Advance IP Scanner and Shodan software tools, and following a methodology that consists of discovering an education institution IP network and scanning its hosts of interest to then find the security vulnerabilities of the main network addresses. From a statistical universe consisting of the entire range of IP addresses in the institution's network, a group of hosts of interest were defined as a sample set for further examination. On that base, the aim of this study is to analyze and classify the obtained vulnerabilities information by severity of the vulnerability for each found host using the described methodology, in order to obtain statistics at a host level and at the entire network level of the vulnerabilities by severity and quantity. It is concluded that most of the hosts have vulnerabilities in their Apache servers’ HTTP daemons, and they cause in a high percentage of them having vulnerabilities at the Critical level.

Small-scale wood pellet producers often use a trial-and-error approach for determining adequate blending of available wood processing residues and pelletizing parameters. Developing general guidelines for optimizing wood pellet quality and meeting market standards would facilitate their market entry and profitability. Four types of hardwood residues, including green wood chips, dry shavings, and solid and engineered wood sawdust, were investigated to determine the optimum blends of feedstocks and pelletizing conditions to produce pellets with low friction force, high density and high mechanical strength. The feedstock properties reported in this study included particle size distribution, wood moisture content, bulk density, ash content, calorific values, hemicelluloses, lignin, cellulose, extractives, ash major and minor elements, and carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur. All residues tested could potentially be used for wood pellet production. However, high concentrations of metals, such as aluminum, could restrict their use for accessing markets for high-quality pellets. Feedstock moisture content and composition (controlled by the proportions of the various residue sources within blends) were the most important parameters that determined pellet quality, with pelletizing process parameters having less overall influence. Residue blends with a moisture content of 9%–13.5% (dry basis), composed of 25%–50% of sawdust generated by sawing of wood pieces and a portion of green chips generated by trimming of green wood, when combined with a compressive force of 2000 N or more during pelletizing, provided optimum results in terms of minimizing friction and increasing pellet density and mechanical strength. Developing formal relationships between the type of process that generates residues, the properties of residues hence generated, and the quality of wood pellets can contribute to optimize pellet production methods.

In North America, many utility‐scale turbines are approaching, or are beyond the half‐way point of their originally anticipated lifespan. Accurate estimation of the times to failure of major turbine components can provide wind farm owners insight into how to optimise the life and value of their farm assets. In this study, data records from a wind farm have been used to estimate the reliability of wind turbine (WT) generators. For this study, non‐parametric life data analysis, Weibull Standard Folio life data analysis, and ALTA Standard Folio life data analysis have been used to predict the reliability of the generators. The naive prediction interval procedure also has been used here to provide an approximate range for the remaining life of each generator. This study provides some insight into how reliable a subset of WT generators is and the lifetime distribution of individual generators. These outcomes may be leveraged further by the research community for companion applications like prognostic maintenance and investment decision support systems. This study also begins to investigate how electrical loads may influence turbine generator reliability. The work also illustrates a valuable example of how to estimate component remaining useful life based on truncated/limited data records.