Patterns of synchrony in natterjack toad breeding activity and reproductive success at local and regional scales

Empirical studies of the spatiotemporal dynamics of populations are required to better understand natural fluctuations in abundance and reproductive success, and to better target conservation and monitoring programmes. In particular, spatial synchrony in amphibian populations remains little studied. We used data from a comprehensive three year study of natterjack toad Bufo calamita populations breeding at 36 ponds to assess whether there was spatial synchrony in the toad breeding activity (start and length of breeding season, total number of egg strings) and reproductive success (premetamorphic survival and production of metamorphs). We defined a novel approach to assess the importance of short-term synchrony at both local and regional scales. The approach employs similarity indices and quantifies the interaction between the temporal and spatial components of populations using mixed effects models. There was no synchrony in the toad breeding activity and reproductive success at the local scale, suggesting that populations function as individual clusters independent of each other. Regional synchrony was apparent in the commencement and duration of the breeding season and in the number of egg strings laid (indicative of female population size). Regional synchrony in both rainfall and temperature are likely to explain the patterns observed (e.g. Moran effect). There was no evidence supporting regional synchrony in reproductive success, most likely due to spatial variability in the environmental conditions at the breeding ponds, and to differences in local population fitness (e.g. fecundity). The small scale asynchronous dynamics and regional synchronous dynamics in the number of breeding females indicate that it is best to monitor several populations within a subset of regions. Importantly, variations in the toad breeding activity and reproductive success are not synchronous, and it is thus important to consider them both when assessing the conservation status of pond-breeding amphibians. © 2012 The Authors. Ecography © 2012 Nordic Society Oikos.

Local materials for building houses: laterite valorization in Africa

This paper presents the preliminary results of geological and geomechanical studies on the laterite stone exploited at Dano quarry in Burkina Faso. The field work described the geological structure of quarry sites and their environment to determine the rocks alteration and the links between the bedrock and lateritic material. Physic-mechanical properties have been studied for assessing the potentiality of this material for lightweight housing, to be completed with thermal and environmental considerations. Some social and economic evaluations are in progress in order to foster its utilization under local conditions.

Rethinking Local Government Support for Youth Arts:The Case of NOISE South Dublin

Within Ireland, interest in strategically supporting young people’s participation in the arts has increased. Additionally, awareness of the Internet’s potential for promot- ing engagement with the arts has grown. Addressing national directives and local needs assessments, South Dublin County Council’s Arts Office initiated NOISE South Dublin (http://www.noisesouthdublin.com), an interactive Web site based on Australia Council’s NOISE project (http://www.noise.net), to promote the creative development of young people in the county. This article presents the practical chal- lenges and potential of youth arts Web-based programs for harnessing the creative engagement of youth. It concludes that the Internet is only useful if it expands online engagement offline.

Local materials for building houses: Laterite valorization in Africa

This paper presents the preliminary results of geological and geomechanical studies on the laterite stone exploited at Dano quarry in Burkina Faso. The field work described the geological structure of quarry sites and their environment to determine the rocks alteration and the links between the bedrock and lateritic material. Physic-mechanical properties have been studied for assessing the potentiality of this material for lightweight housing, to be completed with thermal and environmental considerations. Some social and economic evaluations are in progress in order to foster its utilization under local conditions. © (2014) Trans Tech Publications, Switzerland.

Brunetta’s reform swan song? An assessment of its success in local governments through the analysis of its tools

The work aims at assessing the success of Brunetta’s reform (Legislative Decree n. 150/2009), a far-reaching reform that aimed at improving both organizational and individual performance in Italian public administration through a specific planning and control process (the performance cycle) and most of all through two new tools, Performance Plan and Performance Report. The success of the reform is assessed, with particular emphasis on local governments, analyzing the diffusion and use of these new tools. The study has been conducted using a deductive-inductive methodology. Thus, after a study of managerial reforms in Italy and performance measurement literature, a possible model (PerformEL Model) local governments could follow to draw up Performance Plan and Report as effective tools for performance measurement has been designed (deductive phase). Performance Plans 2011-2013 and Performance Report 2011 downloaded from Italian big sized municipalities’ websites have been analyzed in the light of PerformEL Model, to assess the diffusion of the documents and their coherence with legal requirements and suggestions from literature (inductive phase). Data arising from the empirical analysis have been studied to evaluate the diffusion and the effectiveness of big sized municipalities’ Performance Plans and Reports as performance measurement tools and thus to assess the success of the reform (feedback phase). The study shows a scarce diffusion of the documents; they are mostly drew up because of their compulsoriness or to gain legitimization. The results testify the failure of Brunetta’s reform, at least with regard to local governments.

Local versus nonlocal cloning in a noisy environment

We address the distribution of quantum information among many parties in the presence of noise. In particular, we consider how to optimally send to m receivers the information encoded into an unknown coherent state. On one hand, a local strategy is considered, consisting in a local cloning process followed by direct transmission. On the other hand, a telecloning protocol based on nonlocal quantum correlations is analysed. Both the strategies are optimized to minimize the detrimental effects due to losses and thermal noise during the propagation. The comparison between the local and the nonlocal protocol shows that telecloning is more effective than local cloning for a wide range of noise parameters. Our results indicate that nonlocal strategies can be more robust against noise than local ones, thus being suitable candidates for playing a major role in quantum information networks.