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ABSTRACT As a migratory agricultural pest, the fall armyworm has been in the spotlight since it invaded Africa in 2016. Invasive populations have now colonized much of the Eastern Hemisphere, causing severe damage to a wide range of crops. However, there is still disagreement internationally on the origin and mode of invasion of fall armyworm populations, especially from the Americas to China. In this study, we provided an in‐depth insight into the invasion of the fall armyworm in the Eastern hemisphere based on genome‐wide data from 124 fall armyworm individuals collected from 14 sites across three continents and trajectory simulation. First, based on 770,423 high‐quality SNPs, the PCA and ADMIXTURE analyses clearly distinguished the geographical populations of the Eastern and Western hemispheres. Second, the genetic diversity results revealed that the invasive populations exhibited higher heterozygosity than the native populations. Third, the results of integrated individual assignment tests and migration path simulations showed that the W1 (Florida, Texas, and Puerto Rico) population may be the potential source of the invasive populations in Africa, and a low possibility of trans‐sea migration between the Americas and Africa suggested that fall armyworms may have spread through trade in goods. Fourth, our results indicate that the Indian population is a genetically admixed group derived from the E1 (Benin, Ethiopia, and South Africa) population, which subsequently migrated to the Indo‐China Peninsula through natural trans‐sea dispersal and to Yunnan via Myanmar. These findings not only provide new insights into the invasion of the fall armyworm in the Eastern Hemisphere but also present a method to improve the prediction accuracy of migratory pests.

COVID-19 has caused severe economic crises, unemployment, and disruptions to the global tourism industry. This study aims to establish the current body of knowledge on crisis management in tourism published from to 2001–2021, with the objective of providing research avenues on how to manage crises, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The study shows that crisis management in tourism is based on the survival strategies of the tourism subsectors in Europe, Asia, the USA, and Australia. A universal approach is limited, indicating the immaturity of the research in this area. There is a need to expand the analysis including approaches in Africa and strategies of the tourism subsectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. This knowledge of the local tourism subsectors that focus need to be put upon are limited. The literature is fragmented, lacks precision, and is a common approach that the tourism industry should follow during uncertain situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The absence of a theoretical framework on crisis management that is inclusive of what tourism could rely on during such situations is a concern. This study contributes to the framework that tourism researchers, policymakers, and practitioners could rely upon when dealing with crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. IMPACT STATEMENT: COVID-19 has caused severe economic crisis, unemployment, and disruptions for the tourism industry globally. This study aims to establish the current body of knowledge on crisis management in tourism published from 2001-2021, with objective to provide research avenues on how to manage crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The study shows that crisis management in the tourism is based on survival strategies of the tourism subsectors in the context of Europe, Asia, USA, and Australia. A universal approach is limited, indicating the immaturity of research in the area. There is need to expand the analysis including approaches in Africa and strategies of tourism subsectors during the COVID-19 pandemic. This knowledge of the local tourism subsectors that focus need to be put upon are limited. The study contributes with a framework that the tourism researchers, policy makers and practioners could rely upon when dealing with crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global membership of the HEA fellowship scheme is increasing. Despite the focus by academic developers on supporting staff to achieve fellowship, there is limited research that examines whether it improves teaching and the learning experience. Our detailed survey of educators in the UK and Australia indicates perceptions of impact on individuals, practice, and community. Importantly for academic developers, the reflective act of developing a fellowship has potential to shape the student learning experience. However, some staff are frustrated and disillusioned by their experience. We call for institutions to design development and recognition that maximise impact and acknowledge the benefits valued by educators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1980s, rapid Arctic sea ice loss has been observed, and its potential influences on the midlatitude weather and climate have been extensively examined, but strongly debated. This study instead investigates influences of Arctic sea ice loss on the Eastern Hemisphere westerly wind on the poleward side of the polar front jet (PFJ), which has significantly weakened in winter but strengthened in summer since 1980s. Observational analyses indicate that the Eastern Hemisphere PFJ anomalies in winter and summer are strongly correlated with Northern Hemisphere (NH) atmospheric circulation, surface air temperature and precipitation changes, and that the winter PFJ variability is significantly correlated to Barents-Kara sea ice anomalies from autumn and winter at interannual time scales. About 58% of the observed winter PFJ weakened trend during 1979–2014 is congruent with the autumn sea ice index over the Barents-Kara Seas. Atmospheric model ensemble simulations from four models show that Arctic sea ice loss contributes to Arctic warming in winter and reduces the northern Eurasia-pole temperature contrast, leading to an significant weakening winter PFJ. Ensemble mean effects of four models and each model due to Arctic sea ice loss explain about 10–20% of the observed winter PFJ weakening trend, because the model simulations underestimate observed impacts of sea ice reduction on Arctic troposphere warming. In summer, the strengthening PFJ is mostly controlled by increasing greenhouse gases and sea surface temperature changes outside the Arctic, but is little affected by Arctic sea ice loss. Our observational and numerical results consistently suggest that a dynamical pathway linking observed Arctic sea ice loss to northern Eurasian winter is through its weakening effect on the westerly wind on the poleward side of the PFJ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The migration of the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda) is of topical interest because of its recent introduction and rapid dissemination throughout the Eastern Hemisphere. This study compares fall armyworm from island and mainland locations in Ecuador to estimate migration behavior. The Galápagos Islands is a province of Ecuador whose mainland coast lies approximately 1000 km to the west and is the closest major land mass. Air transport modeling indicates that natural migration from the mainland to the Galápagos is unlikely, suggesting that most, if not all, the introgressions of mainland fall armyworm into the Galápagos are occurring through trade-assisted transport in contaminated cargo, which is offloaded at the Galápagos port of entry in San Cristóbal island. Haplotype studies are consistent with this limited migration and further show divergence in the fall armyworm from San Cristóbal with those from the neighboring island of Santa Cruz despite their close proximity (less than 100 km distance) and favorable winds for inter-island flights. These observations indicate that water poses a significant barrier for moth migration in this region, with human-assisted transport probably playing a more important role than natural migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ntensification of the Arctic hydrologic cycle and permafrost melt is expected as concentrations of atmospheric greenhouse gases increase. Quantifying hydrologic cycle change is difficult in remote northern regions; however, monitoring the stable isotopic composition of water runoff from Arctic rivers provides a means to investigate integrated basin-scale changes. We measured river water and precipitation δ18O and δD to partition the river flow into snow and rain components in the Kolyma River basin. On an annual basis, we found water leaving the basin through the river consisted of 60% snow and 40% rain. This is compared with annual precipitation inputs to the watershed of 47% snow and 53% rain. Despite the presence of continuous permafrost, and fully frozen soils in the spring, our analysis showed not all spring snowmelt runs off into the river immediately. Instead, a substantial portion is retained and leaves the basin as growing season evapotranspiration.

In this paper we explain how a person can celebrate 24 New Year Eves in a single year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Observational features of atmospheric fields during a zonal wave number 2‐type major sudden stratospheric warming (MSSW) event in February 2018 (MSSW18) are analyzed using the Japanese 55‐year Reanalysis, satellite measurements by a microwave limb sounder, and a new three‐dimensional wave activity flux. MSSW18 is characterized by a clear polar vortex split, continuance of easterlies with evident double peaks, clear planetary wave propagation in the easterly region of the upper stratosphere and extraordinary upward propagation of wave number 2 planetary waves from the upper troposphere. The upward propagation peak is comparable to that during an MSSW event in January 2009 (MSSW09), although MSSW18 shows relatively modest warming, unclear disappearance of the stratopause and weak stratopause elevation compared to those during MSSW09. Further analyses reveal that wave packets propagates upward simultaneously in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Those observed in the Eastern Hemisphere converge strongly at the western edge of the Aleutian High, and most of them do not propagate further into the upper stratosphere. The wave packets observed in the Western Hemisphere propagate locally into the upper stratosphere over North America despite the fact that easterlies were predominant there in the mature stage of MSSW18. Furthermore, the results of our study reveal that the regions and levels of wave packet attenuation correspond well to the areas that smaller‐scale waves have weak eastward phase tilt or are in the quasi‐barotropic condition during MSSW18, whereas during MSSW09 the westward phase tilts of smaller‐scale waves were clearly visible in the upper stratosphere. Plain Language Summary: A major sudden stratospheric warming (MSSW) event occurred in February 2018 (MSSW18). We analyze observational features of atmospheric fields during MSSW18 using an atmospheric reanalysis and satellite observational data. We also use a new three‐dimensional wave activity flux that can represent wave packet propagation accurately. We explore that the clear polar vortex split is observed and easterlies become predominant in the stratosphere. However, the stratospheric temperature warming during MSSW18 is relatively modest compared with that in an MSSW event in January 2009. The modest warming during MSSW18 is related to the suppression of upward planetary wave propagation into the stratosphere. We find that eastward phase tilt or the quasi‐barotropic condition of smaller‐scale waves (zonal wave number 5 or more) play an important role in this suppression of the upward planetary wave propagation during MSSW18. Key Points: This event exhibits only modest warming and weak stratopause elevation despite extraordinary upward wave propagation from the troposphereUpward wave packet propagation persists in the upper stratosphere despite the predominance of easterlies during the mature stageEastward phase tilt or the quasi‐barotropic condition of smaller‐scale waves contributes to the attenuation of stratospheric wave packets [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a prevailing indicator to present the status and trend of sustainability of nations, hereby offers a valuable measurement on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Revealing the dynamics of the HDI of the Eastern Hemisphere countries is vital for measurement and evaluation of the human development process and revealing the spatial disparities and evolutionary characteristics of human development. However, the statistical data-based HDI, which is currently widely applied, has defects in terms of data availability and inconsistent statistical caliber. To tackle such an existing gap, we applied nighttime lights (NTL) data to reconstruct new HDI indicators named HDINTL and quantify the HDINTL at multispatial scales of Eastern Hemisphere countries during 1992–2013. Results showed that South Central Asia countries had the smallest discrepancies in HDINTL, while the largest was found in North Africa. The national-level HDINTL values in the Eastern Hemisphere ranged between 0.138 and 0.947 during 1992–2013. At the subnational scale, the distribution pattern of HDINTL was spatially clustered based on the results of spatial autocorrelation analysis. The evolutionary trajectory of subnational level HDINTL exhibited a decreasing and then increasing trend along the northwest to the southeast direction of Eastern Hemisphere. At the pixel scale, 93.52% of the grids showed an increasing trend in HDINTL, especially in the urban agglomerations of China and India. These results are essential for the ever-improvement of policy making to reduce HDI’s regional disparity and promote the continuous development of humankind’s living qualities. This study offers an improved HDI accounting method. It expects to extend the channel of HDI application, e.g., potential integration with environmental, physical, and socioeconomic data where the NTL data could present as well.

Graphical abstract Highlights • Examined the effectiveness of emission reduction policies under climate change. • Used the LEAP-OSeMOSYS model for optimisation analysis in Australia. • Results show that policies may be less effective considering future climate. • Carbon tax policies were economically beneficial. • Recommend clean energy substitution and innovative energy policies. Abstract The power sector exercises huge impacts on global warming through emitted greenhouse gases [GHGs], with Australia not an exception. Over the years, the effectiveness of policies that have emerged to curtail GHGs emissions from electricity generation seem barely investigated. To address this gap, the study identifies potential energy reduction policies and climate change scenarios for the Australian power sector by applying approaches from combined backcasting and exploratory scenario. The Long-range Energy Alternative Planning (LEAP) system and its integrated Open Source Energy Modelling System (OSeMOSYS) was used for optimisation analysis. Results identified cost optimisation scenarios as a least-cost generation pathway with less climate change impact, followed by renewable energy target and energy productivity scenarios. Economic analysis shows that emission reduction policy will result in added cost to the economy, while carbon tax policies will yield economic benefit in installation cost, resource savings and environmental externalities reductions by 2050. The environmental analysis reveals that emission reduction policy will increase cumulative emissions, while future temperatures may double the emissions from the base case scenario. We conclude that future low-carbon pathways lie in clean energy substitutions and innovative energy policies, while global warming raises the need to switch to clean energy technologies early. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Watermelon chlorotic stunt virus (WmCSV) is a bipartite begomovirus that causes severe diseases to cucurbits, particularly watermelon, across Eastern Mediterranean countries. Watermelon plants showing begomovirus-associated symptoms and virus vector whitefly infestation were collected from a cultivated area in Sonora, Mexico. Using rolling circle amplification (RCA) and sequencing, the full-length genome of an isolate of WmCSV was obtained. Agrobacterium-mediated virus inoculation to Solanaceae ( Nicotiana benthamiana and tomato) and Cucurbitaceae (Squash, melon and watermelon) plants, fulfilled Koch's postulates confirming the disease causal agent. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of WmCSV associated to cucurbit diseases in the Western Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the next decade, the global water crisis remains the risk of highest concern, and ranks ahead of climate change, extreme weather events, food crises and social instability. Across the globe, nearly one in ten people is without access to an improved drinking water source. Least Developed Countries (LDCs) especially in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) are the most affected, having disproportionately more of the global population without access to clean water than other major regions. Population growth, changing lifestyles, increasing pollution and accelerating urbanization will continue to widen the gap between the demand for water and available supply especially in urban areas, and disproportionately affect informal settlements, where the majority of SSA's urban population resides. Distribution and allocation of water will be affected by climate-induced water stresses, poor institutions, ineffective governance, and weak political will to address scarcity and mediate uncertainties in future supply. While attempts have been made by many scientists to examine different dimensions of water scarcity and urban population dynamics, there are few comprehensive reviews, especially focused on the particular situation in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper contributes to interdisciplinary understanding of urban water supply by distilling and integrating relevant empirical knowledge on urban dynamics and water issues in SSA, focusing on progress made and associated challenges. It then points out future research directions including the need to understand how alternatives to centralized water policies may help deliver sustainable water supply to cities and informal settlements in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of a Global Monsoon (GM) has been proposed based on modern precipitation observations, but its application over a wide range of temporal scales is still under debate. Here, we present a synthesis of 268 continental paleo-moisture records collected from monsoonal systems in the Eastern Hemisphere, including the East Asian Monsoon (EAsM), the Indian Monsoon (IM), the East African Monsoon (EAfM), and the Australian Monsoon (AuM) covering the last 18,000 years. The overall pattern of late Glacial to Holocene moisture change is consistent with those inferred from ice cores and marine records. With respect to the last 10,000 years (10 ka), i.e. a period that has high spatial coverage, a Fuzzy c -Means clustering analysis of the moisture index records together with “Xie-Beni” index reveals four clusters of our data set. The paleoclimatic meaning of each cluster is interpreted considering the temporal evolution and spatial distribution patterns. The major trend in the tropical AuM, EAfM, and IM regions is a gradual decrease in moisture conditions since the early Holocene. Moisture changes in the EAsM regions show maximum index values between 8 and 6 ka. However, records located in nearby subtropical areas, i.e. in regions not influenced by the intertropical convergence zone, show an opposite trend compared to the tropical monsoon regions (AuM, EAfM and IM), i.e. a gradual increase. Analyses of modern meteorological data reveal the same spatial patterns as in the paleoclimate records such that, in times of overall monsoon strengthening, lower precipitation rates are observed in the nearby subtropical areas. We explain this pattern as the effect of a strong monsoon circulation suppressing air uplift in nearby subtropical areas, and hence hindering precipitation. By analogy to the modern system, this would mean that during the early Holocene strong monsoon period, the intensified ascending airflows within the monsoon domains led to relatively weaker ascending or even descending airflows in the adjacent subtropical regions, resulting in a precipitation deficit compared to the late Holocene. Our conceptual model therefore integrates regionally contrasting moisture changes into the Global Monsoon hypothesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lack of long-term studies remains a limiting factor in understanding the home range, spatial ecology and movement of giraffes. We equipped eight giraffes with GPS satellite units and VHF capacity, which were built in to the collars for the remote collection of data on their movements and home ranges over two years on Khamab Kalahari Nature Reserve (KKNR) within the Kalahari region of South Africa. Giraffe numbers in KKNR dropped from 135 individuals to 111 in just five years, revealing the lack of knowledge about their required habitat needs, space use and diet. With over 1000 km 2 available for roaming within the reserve, habitat selection, principle and preferred food species played a significant role in home range size and overlap between individuals. These giraffes used an average annual home range of 206 km 2 (20 602 ha) as calculated by a 95% minimum convex polygon (MCP) with a standard deviation core home range calculated by a 50% MCP of 10.1 km 2 to satisfy their annual needs for survival and reproduction in their preferred vegetation. In the wet, hot season (summer: December–February) when food was abundant, giraffes frequented smaller areas (average 177 km 2 ), while in the dry, cool season (winter: June to August) the mean home range size increased to approximately 245 km 2 . Rainfall influenced spatial distribution since it determined vegetation productivity and leaf phenology. The different seasons influenced giraffe movements, while different vegetation types and season influenced their home range size. Season and food availability also influenced home range overlap between different giraffe herds. Home range overlap occurred when giraffes were forced to roam in overlapping areas during the dryer months when the winter deciduous nature of the majority of the tree species resulted in lower food availability. In winter, the overlap was approximately 31% and in autumn approximately 23%. During the wet and warmer months, overlapping was 15% in summer and 19% in spring, respectively. The percentage of time spent in different vegetation type areas was influenced by the abundance of the principal food species of that plant community. It is thus concluded that the movements of giraffes were primarily influenced by a combination of environmental factors such as season, rainfall and vegetation density. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present preliminary results of an Earth observation approach for the study of past human occupation and landscape reconstruction in the Central Sahara. This region includes a variety of geomorphological features such as palaeo-oases, dried river beds, alluvial fans and upland plateaux whose geomorphological characteristics, in combination with climate changes, have influenced patterns of human dispersal and sociocultural activities during the late Holocene. In this paper, we discuss the use of medium- and high-resolution remotely sensed data for the mapping of anthropogenic features and paleo- and contemporary hydrology and vegetation. In the absence of field inspection in this inaccessible region, we use different remote sensing methods to first identify and classify archaeological features, and then explore the geomorphological factors that might have influenced their spatial distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a growing expectation that volunteers will have a greater role in disaster management in the future compared to the past. This is driven largely by a growing focus on building resilience to disasters. At the same time, the wider landscape of volunteering is fundamentally changing in the twenty-first century. This paper considers implications of this changing landscape for the resilience agenda in disaster management, with a focus on Australia. It first reviews major forces and trends impacting on disaster volunteering, highlighting four key developments: the growth of more diverse and episodic volunteering styles, the impact of new communications technology, greater private sector involvement and growing government expectations of and intervention in the voluntary sector. It then examines opportunities in this changing landscape for the Australian emergency management sector across five key strategic areas and provides examples of Australian responses to these opportunities to date. The five areas of focus are: developing more flexible volunteering strategies, harnessing spontaneous volunteering, building capacity to engage digital (and digitally enabled) volunteers, tapping into the growth of employee and skills-based volunteering and co-producing community-based disaster risk reduction. Although there have been considerable steps taken in Australia in some of these areas, overall there is still a long way to go before the sector can take full advantage of emerging opportunities. The paper thus concludes by identifying important research and practice gaps in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Lagrangian atmospheric dispersion model NAME (Numerical Atmospheric-dispersion Modelling Environment), has been used to simulate the formation and transport of PM 10 over North-West Europe in 2008. The model has been evaluated against UK measurement data and been shown to adequately represent the observed PM 10 at rural and urban sites on a daily basis. The Lagrangian nature of the model allows information on the origin of pollutants (and hence their secondary products) to be retained to allow attribution of pollutants at receptor sites back to their sources. This source apportionment technique has been employed to determine whether the different components of the modelled PM 10 have originated from UK, shipping, European (excluding the UK) or background sources. For the first time this has been done to evaluate the composition during periods of elevated PM 10 as well as the annual average composition. The episode data were determined by selecting the model data for each hour when the corresponding measurement data was >50 μg/m 3 . All the modelled sites show an increase in European pollution contribution and a decrease in the background contribution in the episode case compared to the annual average. The European contribution is greatest in southern and eastern parts of the UK and decreases moving northwards and westwards. Analysis of the speciated attribution data over the selected sites reveals that for 2008, as an annual average, the top three contributors to total PM 10 are UK primary PM 10 (17–25%), UK origin nitrate aerosol (18–21%) and background PM 10 (11–16%). Under episode conditions the top three contributors to modelled PM 10 are UK origin nitrate aerosol (12–33%), European origin nitrate aerosol (11–19%) and UK primary PM 10 (12–18%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agriculture is the mainstay of economy in Malawi - the warm heart of Africa. It employs 85 % of the labour force, and produces one third of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 90 % of foreign exchange earnings. Maize farming covers over 92 % of Malawi's agricultural land and contributes over 54 % of national caloric intake. With a subtropical climate and ~99 % rainfed agriculture, Malawi relies heavily on precipitation for its agricultural production. Given the significance of rainfed maize for the nation's labour force and GDP, we have investigated climate change effects on this staple crop. We show that rainfed maize production in the Lilongwe District, the largest maize growing district in Malawi, may decrease up to 14 % by mid-century due to climate change, rising to as much as 33 % loss by the century's end. These declines can substantially harm Malawi's food production and socioeconomic status. Supplemental irrigation, crop diversification and natural conservation methods are promising adaptation strategies to improve Malawi's food security and socioeconomic stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The genus Paramollugo with the type species Paramollugo nudicaulis (≡Mollugo nudicaulis) has recently been described after molecular investigations. Here we report two new endemic Malagasy species: Paramollugo simulans and P. elliotii, and transfer a forgotten New Caledonian endemic Mollugo digyna to Paramollugo (P. digyna). Consequently, the number of Paramollugo species in the Eastern Hemisphere is increased from three to six. Almost all genus representatives (except P. nudicaulis, which has a wide distribution in Southern Asia, Arabia and tropical Africa) are endemic to Madagascar, Somalia, or New Caledonia. Since the type of seed coat ornamentation is crucial for species delimitation, a diagnostic key with new taxonomically significant carpological characters and other new traits is provided for all the herbaceous Paramollugo. The distribution patterns of P. nudicaulis s.str., P. simulans and P. elliotii are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The harmful effects of carbon emissions and carbon dioxide caused by over dependence on oil is a global issue, which is currently being addressed by encouraging renewable energy (RE) resources contribution to the energy mix. Encouraging RE is important in order to solve the unsustainable nature of electricity generation especially in the sub-Saharan African countries. One of the REs that have vast potential especially in sub-Saharan Africa is the solar energy. This paper provides an overview of the solar photovoltaic (PV) developments in selected countries of sub-Saharan Africa – in terms of research, installed capacity, solar radiation level, RE policies and the percentage of solar PV in the future energy mix of these countries. Finally, this paper identified the barriers to RE deployment and proposed scaling-up solar PV as one of the solution in the development of energy mix in these countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hepatitis E, although commonly recognized in the Eastern Hemisphere, is less well recognized in the West. Particularly owing to this disease's grave impact on outcomes after liver transplantation, greater consideration of hepatitis E is necessary in the context of abnormal liver tests. Here, we review the most recent data on detecting and managing hepatitis E, both pre- and post-liver transplantation, discuss major detection assay limitations, consider future directions, and propose an algorithm for the diagnosis and management of pre-and post-transplantation hepatitis E. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the proportion of renewable energy in the electricity system increases, a new suite of barriers becomes apparent. These include the unsuitability of traditional network configurations for often remote renewable resources, and the need to develop a diverse range of renewable-energy sources to ensure electricity system stability and security. Substantial legal reform will be necessary to develop an electricity system that can accommodate high volumes of renewable energy. This paper analyses recent legal reforms for renewable energy in the United Kingdom and Germany to illuminate a regulatory shift away from single-plant support to whole-of-system approaches to electricity system development. Regulatory attention has shifted to reform regulatory frameworks for electricity networks to be more accommodating of renewable energy, rather than simply providing financial support for renewable sources. These changes have been supported by a high-level commitment to develop an electricity system that is both efficient and sustainable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past few years have witnessed a surge of judicial activity relating to renewable energy in the European Union. Several renewable-energy disputes have come before dispute-settlement bodies, such as the Court of Justice of the European Union, wto bodies, investment-dispute tribunals, and national courts. Behind these disputes is often a tension between, on the one hand, state- or European Union-level regulations seeking to promote renewable energy and achieve climate-policy objectives, and, on the other, economic considerations related to investor protection and free movement of goods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pachyseius accedenssp. nov. andPachyseius arrhenobasissp. nov. are described and illustrated based on specimens from litter and soil detritus of montane forest habitats in Bulgaria (Rhodope Mts., Malesh Mts.) and Romania (Carpathian Mts.: Bârgău Mts., Călimani Mts.), respectively. In addition,Pachyseius angustiventrisWillmann, 1935, a little known and inadequately described congeneric species, is newly redescribed and illustrated, based on females from the Western and Central Europe (Wales, Germany). Comparing the type material of the following species,Pachyseius morenoiMoraza, 1993 is not considered to be a valid species, and is included in synonymy withP. angustiventris. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]