Multi-owner low-cost housing management in Malaysia : effects of owner-occupant characteristics and occupancy rates

Purpose – Homeownership is considered both economically and socially beneficial for homeowners. However, in the collective living arrangement, reaching a consensus with regard to the residential environment is difficult. The purpose of this paper is to identify factors that can reduce the conflict among the stakeholders in multi-owner low-cost housing in Malaysia.
Design/methodology/approach – This study tested three hypotheses examining whether the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of owner-occupants and occupancy rates affect owner-occupants' satisfaction with stakeholders' relationships. Data were collected through questionnaires from owner-occupants of multi-owner low-cost settlements in Selangor state. Data on housing characteristics were collected from chairpersons of the respective owners' organisations. The data were treated as parametric, and analysis of variance was conducted.
Findings – Four factors – number of children in the family, duration of residency, participation in social activities and participation in meetings – were found to affect owners-occupants' satisfaction with the stakeholders' relationships. The significant effect of occupancy rates was also indicated.
Practical implications – The Management Corporations (MCs) should encourage social relationships among residents. To avoid conflict, the costs and benefits of participation must be balanced. Policy makers should take two key aspects seriously: owner-managed strategy practices by the MCs and high rates of tenant-residents. A mechanism should be identified for assisting the MCs in housing management and for protecting the benefits of homeownership for owner-occupants.
Originality/value – Past studies on low-income household settlements examined public housing or low-income homeowners of single detached dwellings. This study adds to the existing body of knowledge by examining low-income homeowners in multi-owner low-cost settlements.

Using occupancy as a state variable for monitoring the critically endangered Alaotran gentle lemur Hapalemur alaotrensis

Although monitoring is an essential tool for biodiversity conservation, monitoring programmes are often poorly designed and thus unlikely to produce results that are meaningful for management. Monitoring is especially challenging when dealing with rare and elusive species in areas where conservation resources are particularly limited. In such cases, monitoring techniques aimed at estimating occupancy represent an attractive alternative to traditional methods concerned with estimating population size, as the collection of detection/non-detection data is in general less costly and easier to implement. In this study, we evaluated the use of occupancy as a state variable for the monitoring of the Alaotran gentle lemur Hapalemur alaotrensis, a Critically Endangered primate exclusively inhabiting the dense marshes around Lake Alaotra in Madagascar. We used a likelihood-based modelling approach that explicitly accounts for detectability. This showed that the probability of detection of H. alaotrensis was extremely low and depended on site characteristics that can vary in space and time, confirming the need to account for imperfect detection when monitoring this species. We used our models to explore factors affecting the probability of occupancy and detection to identify management implications, and also developed recommendations for the ongoing monitoring of this species. The method applied in this study provides an efficient tool for the monitoring of an elusive species and has the potential to provide a flexible sampling framework for local community based monitoring initiatives.

Representation of odometry errors on occupancy grids

SOUZA, Anderson A. S. ; SANTANA, André M. ; BRITTO, Ricardo S. ; GONÇALVES, Luiz Marcos G. ; MEDEIROS, Adelardo A. D. Representation of Odometry Errors on Occupancy Grids. In: INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATICS IN CONTROL, AUTOMATION AND ROBOTICS, 5., 2008, Funchal, Portugal. Proceedings... Funchal, Portugal: ICINCO, 2008.

Analysis of land use and occupancy in permanent preservation areas according to the hydrography of Ribeirão Água Fria - Bofete, SP - Brazil

Os conflitos de uso são determinados pelas ocupações inadequadas do solo, como é o caso de ocupação do solo dentro de áreas de preservação permanente. O presente trabalho teve como objetivos determinar as classes de uso do solo e se há conflitos dentro de áreas de preservação permanente ao longo da rede de drenagem da microbacia do Ribeirão Água Fria, município de Bofete (SP). Situa-se geograficamente entre as coordenadas: 48°09'30 a 48°18'30 de longitude WGr., 22°58'30 a 23°04'30 de latitude sul com uma área de 15.242,84 ha. O mapa de uso do solo foi elaborado por meio da interpretação diretamente na tela do computador de imagem digital de satélite. Nos dados orbitais, a área de estudo está inserida no quadrante A, da imagem TM/Landsat-5, órbita 220, ponto 76, passagem de 8/09/2007. O Sistema de Informação Geográfica empregado foi o Cartalinx. As áreas de conflito da microbacia foram obtidas a partir do cruzamento entre os mapas de uso do solo e de APPs. Os resultados permitiram concluir que mais da metade da área (51,09%) está ocupada por pastagens, reflexo de solos arenosos e de baixa fertilidade. Constatou-se, ainda, que apesar de quase metade da microbacia estar coberta com algum tipo de vegetação (48,78% de mata natural/reflorestamento), possui aproximadamente um terço das áreas de preservação permanente utilizadas inadequadamente por pastagens (88,15%), reflorestamento (10,42%) e solo exposto (1,43%), totalizando 343,07 ha de áreas conflitantes em um total de 993,26 ha de APPs.

Indoor Air quality related to occupancy at an air-conditioned public building

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)

Niche occupancy and the relative role of micro-habitat and diet in resource partitioning among pond dwelling tadpoles.

We determined microhabitat and diet niche for tadpoles from two ponds in an agricultural landscape. Additionally, we verified the intraspecific variation in resource use, and if diet and microhabitat use were correlated. Tadpoles found in the two ponds differed in microhabitat use, because in the larger pond they explored deeper places far from the margin. There were three groups with high microhabitat niche overlap. In both ponds, plant cover was the best descriptor to explain interspecific variation in microhabitat use. Tadpoles of all species ingested mainly Bacillariophyceae and Trachellomonas however the diet differed intraspecifically in the species from the two ponds. Ten items in the temporary pond and 15 items in the permanent one were ingested by all species; however, the relative abundance of each item differed. Diet similarity was not correlated to similarity in microhabitat use. In this study, diet was as important as microhabitat use to explain resource partitioning.

HIGH-TEMPERATURE SUPERFLUIDITY WITH ABNORMAL FERMIONIC OCCUPANCY

We examine a Lipkin based two-level pairing model at finite temperature and in the thermodynamic limit. Whereas at T = 0 the model exhibits a superconducting ground state for sufficiently high values of the coupling constant, a partially superconducting phase in which some of the particles are paired, is found to survive at high temperatures in a special treatment. This phase is a mixture of abnormally-occupied eigenstates, which lie at higher energy, of the interactionless model Hamiltonian.

Determination of the local site occupancy of Eu3+ ions in ZnAl2O4 nanocrystalline powders

Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)

Label-free Capacitive Diagnostics: Exploiting Local Redox Probe State Occupancy

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)

Using occupancy models to investigate space partitioning between two sympatric large predators, the jaguar and puma in central Brazil

Coexistence of sympatric species is mediated by resource partitioning. Pumas occur sympatrically with jaguars throughout most of the jaguar's range but few studies have investigated space partitioning between both species. Here, camera trapping and occupancy models accounting for imperfect detection were employed in a Bayesian framework to investigate space partitioning between the jaguar and puma in Emas National Park (ENP), central Brazil. Jaguars were estimated to occupy 54.1% and pumas 39.3% of the sample sites. Jaguar occupancy was negatively correlated with distance to water and positively correlated with the amount of dense habitat surrounding the camera trap. Puma occupancy only showed a weak negative correlation with distance to water and with jaguar presence. Both species were less often present at the same site than expected under independent distributions. Jaguars had a significantly higher detection probability at cameras on roads than at off-road locations. For pumas, detection was similar on and off-road. Results indicate that both differences in habitat use and active avoidance shape space partitioning between jaguars and pumas in ENP. Considering its size, the jaguar is likely the competitively dominant of the two species. Owing to its habitat preferences, suitable jaguar habitat outside the park is probably sparse. Consequently, the jaguar population is likely largely confined to the park, while the puma population is known to extend into ENP's surroundings. (C) 2011 Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Saugetierkunde. Published by Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Territory Occupancy and Parental Quality as Proxies for Spatial Prioritization of Conservation Areas

In order to maximize their fitness, individuals aim at choosing territories offering the most appropriate combination of resources. As population size fluctuates in time, the frequency of breeding territory occupancy reflects territory quality. We investigated the relationships between the frequency of territory occupancy (2002–2009) vs. habitat characteristics, prey abundance, reproductive success and parental traits in hoopoes Upupa epops L., with the objective to define proxies for the delineation of conservation priority areas. We predicted that the distribution of phenotypes is despotic and sought for phenotypic characteristics expressing dominance. Our findings support the hypothesis of a despotic distribution. Territory selection was non-random: frequently occupied territories were settled earlier in the season and yielded higher annual reproductive success, but the frequency of territory occupancy could not be related to any habitat characteristics. Males found in frequently occupied territories showed traits expressing dominance (i.e. larger body size and mass, and older age). In contrast, morphological traits of females were not related to the frequency of territory occupancy, suggesting that territory selection and maintenance were essentially a male's task. Settlement time in spring, reproductive success achieved in a given territory, as well as phenotypic traits and age of male territory holders reflected territory quality, providing good proxies for assessing priority areas for conservation management.