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As the COVID‐19 pandemic continues to affect societies across the world, the ongoing economic and social disruptions are likely to present fundamental challenges for current and future biodiversity conservation.We review the literature for outcomes of past major societal, political, economic and zoonotic perturbations on biodiversity conservation, and demonstrate the complex implications of perturbation events upon conservation efforts. Building on the review findings, we use six in‐depth case studies and the emerging literature to identify positive and negative outcomes of the COVID‐19 pandemic, known and anticipated, for biodiversity conservation efforts around the world.A number of similarities exist between the current pandemic and past perturbations, with experiences highlighting that the pandemic‐induced declines in conservation revenue and capacity, livelihood and trade disruptions are likely to have long‐lasting and negative implications for biodiversity and conservation efforts.Yet, the COVID‐19 pandemic also brought about a global pause in human movement that is unique in recent history, and may yet foster long‐lasting behavioural and societal changes, presenting opportunities to strengthen and advance conservation efforts in the wake of the pandemic. Enhanced collaborations and partnerships at the local level, cross‐sectoral engagement, local investment and leadership will all enhance the resilience of conservation efforts in the face of future perturbations. Other actions aimed at enhancing resilience will require fundamental institutional change and extensive government and public engagement and support if they are to be realised.The pandemic has highlighted the inherent vulnerabilities in the social and economic models upon which many conservation efforts are based. In so doing, it presents an opportunity to reconsider the status quo for conservation, and promotes behaviours and actions that are resilient to future perturbation. A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article., A free Plain Language Summary can be found within the Supporting Information of this article.

Identifying the genetic determinants of pain is a scientific imperative given the magnitude of the global health burden that pain causes. Here, we report a genetic screen for nociception, performed under the auspices of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium. A biased set of 110 single-gene knockout mouse strains was screened for 1 or more nociception and hypersensitivity assays, including chemical nociception (formalin) and mechanical and thermal nociception (von Frey filaments and Hargreaves tests, respectively), with or without an inflammatory agent (complete Freund's adjuvant). We identified 13 single-gene knockout strains with altered nocifensive behavior in 1 or more assays. All these novel mouse models are openly available to the scientific community to study gene function. Two of the 13 genes (Gria1 and Htr3a) have been previously reported with nociception-related phenotypes in genetically engineered mouse strains and represent useful benchmarking standards. One of the 13 genes (Cnrip1) is known from human studies to play a role in pain modulation and the knockout mouse reported herein can be used to explore this function further. The remaining 10 genes (Abhd13, Alg6, BC048562, Cgnl1, Cp, Mmp16, Oxa1l, Tecpr2, Trim14, and Trim2) reveal novel pathways involved in nociception and may provide new knowledge to better understand genetic mechanisms of inflammatory pain and to serve as models for therapeutic target validation and drug development.

Tropical peatlands in Southeast Asia (SEA) have undergone large-scale degradation in recent times due to extensive land use changes and drainage associated with their conversion for economic gains, and resulting fires during dry periods. This has had detrimental impacts on key peatland ecosystem processes and services such as hydrology, peat formation, carbon storage, fire prevention and biodiversity. Palaeoecological and geochemical proxies have been increasingly used in tropical peatland studies to extend contemporary instrumental records of peat conditions. Despite not yet being used to actively inform tropical peatland degradation and restoration interventions, these proxies are able to provide long-term trends in responses, resilience (threshold) and feedback processes of vegetation dynamics, groundwater level, peat pH, peat decomposition and accumulation rates, and degradation history. In this review, through the assessment of relevant tropical peatland studies in SEA, the palaeoecological and geochemical proxies were evaluated for their potential to reconstruct long-term peatland responses to climatically and anthropogenically-driven degradation. This information can potentially be utilised to provide better understanding of the extent of degradation and assist with the development of restoration management plans in SEA through its application in peat-hydrology restoration models.

Funder: Arcus Foundation; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100016681, Funder: Darwin Initiative, Funder: European Association of Zoos and Aquaria; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100009167, Funder: European Outdoor Conservation Association; Id: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013711, Funder: Fundacion Bioparc, Funder: Ocean Parks Conservation Foundation Hong Kong, Funder: Orangutan Land Trust, Funder: Save the Orangutan, Funder: Taronga Zoo, Funder: The Orangutan Project, Funder: Ministry of Environment & Forestry, Funder: PT Rimba Makmur Utama, Degraded tropical peatlands lack tree cover and are often subject to seasonal flooding and repeated burning. These harsh environments for tree seedlings to survive and grow are therefore challenging to revegetate. Knowledge on species performance from previous plantings represents an important evidence base to help guide future tropical peat swamp forest (TPSF) restoration efforts. We conducted a systematic review of the survival and growth of tree species planted in degraded peatlands across Southeast Asia to examine (1) species differences, (2) the impact of seedling and site treatments on survival and growth and (3) the potential use of plant functional traits to predict seedling survival and growth rates. Planted seedling monitoring data were compiled through a systematic review of journal articles, conference proceedings, reports, theses and unpublished datasets. In total, 94 study‐sites were included, spanning three decades from 1988 to 2019, and including 141 indigenous peatland tree and palm species. Accounting for variable planting numbers and monitoring durations, we analysed three measures of survival and growth: (1) final survival weighted by the number of seedlings planted, (2) half‐life, that is, duration until 50% mortality and (3) relative growth rates (RGR) corrected for initial planting height of seedlings. Average final survival was 62% and half‐life was 33 months across all species, sites and treatments. Species differed significantly in survival and half‐life. Seedling and site treatments had small effects with the strongest being higher survival of mycorrhizal fungi inoculated seedlings; lower survival, half‐life and RGR when shading seedlings; and lower RGR and higher survival when fertilising seedlings. Leaf nutrient and wood density traits predicted TPSF species survival, but not half‐life and RGR. RGR and half‐life were negatively correlated, meaning that slower growing species survived for longer. Synthesis and applications. To advance tropical peat swamp reforestation requires expanding the number and replication of species planted and testing treatments by adopting control vs. treatment experimental designs. Species selection should involve slower growing species (e.g. Lophopetalum rigidum, Alstonia spatulata, Madhuca motleyana) that survive for longer and explore screening species based on functional traits associated with nutrient acquisition, flooding tolerance and recovery from fire.

Conservation projects are likely to fail if plans to preserve important wildlife habitats and species are not co-developed between conservation organisations and local communities to reflect the needs and diverse values of the latter. Tropical peatland conservation represents a case in point: local community livelihoods have only recently come into focus, particularly within academic literature. Instead, many previous studies emphasise the need to conserve intact peat swamp forests for their carbon storage, as a habitat for flagship species such as the orangutan, and to provide fire-free landscapes. Here, we explore the socio-environmental issues being faced in the peatland landscapes of Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. This includes the loss of peat-swamp forest, decreases in peatland fish populations and related socio-cultural challenges such as potential loss of fishing livelihoods along with historic and continued experiences of marginalisation of indigenous communities. To find solutions to these complex and interrelated problems, an interdisciplinary approach which focuses on interdependencies and includes multiple worldviews is required. We propose an approach which deploys both Ethan Miller’s use of livelihoods (incl. Miller, 2019) and biocultural approaches to conservation to analyse human-nonhuman relationships, with a focus on fish and fishing livelihoods. We draw on data from in-depth social and ecological research in two village communities in Central Kalimantan, and in so doing illustrate how fish conservation has the potential to support important biocultural and livelihood relationships between human and nonhuman communities in peatland areas. Our findings lend support to previous calls for biocultural approaches to conservation in other socio-ecological contexts, and lead us to conclude that tropical peatland conservation initiatives that integrate such approaches will result in improved outcomes for peatlands, forests, biodiversity and people. These findings will be relevant to other tropical peatland areas with high dependence on fishing as a source of livelihood, such as the peatlands of the Amazon and Congo basins.

Fire modifies vegetation spectral reflectances in the optical, thermal and microwave domains due to the changes it induces in vegetation canopy components (leaves, needles, branches) and in soil properties. Freely available satellite-derived (Landsat) Vegetation Indices (VIs) and PALSAR Mosaic backscatter measurements (known to be sensitive to vegetation structure) were used to help understand vegetation properties (species richness, basal area) in relation to fire return time (FRT) across a range of tropical biomes (open savanna, savanna forest, evergreen forest, peat-swamp forest) in Mato Grosso (Brazil), Kruger National Park (South Africa) and Central Kalimantan (Indonesia).For each site, we combined: (i) post-fire Landsat imagery (30 m) to derive VIs sensitive to vegetation diversity with (ii) PALSAR (25 m) backscatter that employes a longer wavelength (21 cm) and dual polarisation (Horizontal-Horizontal, Horizontal-Vertical) enabling the capture of strong backscattering of signal by branches and trunks.Most of the Landsat VI values showed greater variability in forests compared to open savanna, reflecting the greater diversity in species’ composition and growth form. A strong positive relationship was found between VIs and FRT across biomes and especially in forests. The amount of vegetation burned per fire as recorded by the magnitude of changes in these VIs, was highest in annual burn regimes (FRT = 1 year). Green and red-edge bands provided better discrimination of vegetation species richness and basal area. A significant positive relationship to basal area in response to fire return time was also found using PALSAR data due to its deeper canopy penetration level and strong backscattering from woody components. The observed responses of VI- and PALSAR-inferred species’ richness and basal area in response to FRT in different tropical biomes suggest that the green and red-edge channels from optical and longer wavelength HV-backscatter are useful metrics to quantify post-fire tropical vegetation dynamics.

Highlights • SBRT for CRC results in excellent local control rates for nodal metastases. • Median PFS for NM was 19 months versus 9 months for VM. • Nodal site was significant prognostic factor on multivariate analysis for PFS/OS. • We hypothesise an immunoediting basis for the improved outcomes of NM., Background Stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SBRT) is a radical option for oligometastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) patients, but most data relate to visceral metastases. Methods A prospective, multi-centre database of CRC patients treated with SBRT was interrogated. Inclusion criteria were ECOG PS 0–2, ≤3 sites of disease, a disease free interval of >6 months unless synchronous liver metastases. Primary endpoints were local control (LC), progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). Results 163 patients (172 metastases) were analysed. The median FU was 16 months (IQR 12.2–22.85). The LC at 1 year was 83.8% (CI 76.4%−91.9%) with a PFS of 55% (CI 47%−64.7%) respectively. LC at 1 year was 90% (CI 83%−99%) for nodal metastases (NM), 75% (63%−90%) for visceral metastases (VM). NM had improved median PFS (9 vs 19 months) [HR 0.6, CI 0.38–0.94, p = 0.032] and median OS (32 months vs not reached) [HR 0.28, CI 0.18–0.7, p = 0.0062] than VM, regardless of whether the NM were located inside or outside the pelvis. On multivariate analysis, NM and ECOG PS 0 were significant good prognostic factors. An exploratory analysis suggests KRAS WT is also a good prognostic factor. Conclusion Nodal site is an important prognostic determinant of SBRT that should incorporated into patient selection. We hypothesise this may have an immunoediting basis.

Tropical tree species distributions are determined by a wide range of biotic and abiotic factors, including topography and hydrology. Tropical peat swamp forests (TPSFs) are characterized in part by small‐scale variations in topography (‘hummocks’ and ‘hollows’) that create distinct microhabitats and thus may contribute to niche diversification among TPSF tree species. Using tree elevations calibrated to daily peat water levels collected using a data logger and a permutation test, we evaluated topographical microhabitat preferences for 21 tree species in a relatively undisturbed TPSF in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, to determine whether these species show preferential association with hummocks or hollows and to quantify the prevalence of microhabitat specialization among them. Only one species, Tetractomia tetrandrum, emerged as a hollow specialist, with no hummock specialists among the species tested. The remaining 20 species, including Psydrax dicoccos, which had the lowest mean observed elevation, and Maasia hypoleuca, which had the highest mean observed elevation, showed no clear microtopographic preference. This suggests that many TPSF species may be resilient to the natural hydrologic variations that occur in relatively intact peat swamp forests. Such studies of microtopographic preferences of tree species in TPSF and other wetland forest ecosystems can inform selection of tree species for reforestation projects, and potentially also provide information on how future climate change may impact these habitats and their resident tree species.

© 2020 The Authors. 1. Interactions between conservation and the social sciences are frequently characterized by either critique (of conservation by social scientists) or co-optation (of social scientific methods and insights by conservationists). 2. This article seeks to push beyond these two dominant positions by exploring how conservationists and social scientists can engage in mutually transformative dialogue. Jointly authored by conservation scientists and social scientists, it uses the global nexus of orangutan conservation as a lens onto current challenges and possibilities facing the conservation–social science relationship. 3. We begin with a cross-disciplinary overview of recent developments in orangutan conservation—particularly those concerned with its social, political and other human dimensions. 4. The article then undertakes a synthetic analysis of key challenges in orangutan conservation—working across difference, juggling scales and contexts and dealing with politics and political economy—and links them to analogous concerns in the conservation–social science relationship. 5. Finally, we identify some ways by which orangutan conservation specifically, and the conservation–social science relationship more generally, can move forward: through careful use of proxies as bridging devices, through the creation of new, shared spaces, and through a willingness to destabilize and overhaul status quos. This demands an open-ended, unavoidably political commitment to critical reflexivity and self-transformation on the part of both conservationists and social scientists. Brunel University London. Grant Number: R33648; H2020 European Research Council. Grant Number: 758494

This paper stemmed from discussions at a workshop held in Cornwall, UK, for which we thank the Biotechnology and Biosciences Research Council (BBSRC) through a GCRF‐IAA grant to the University of Exeter, and Borneo Nature Foundation (BNF) for funding. M.E.H.'s drafting of this paper was supported financially by BNF and A.H.'s research was funded through a doctoral scholarship by DAAD (German Academic Exchange Service). Tropical forests and peatlands provide important ecological, climate and socio‐economic benefits from the local to the global scale. However, these ecosystems and their associated benefits are threatened by anthropogenic activities, including agricultural conversion, timber harvesting, peatland drainage and associated fire. Here, we identify key challenges, and provide potential solutions and future directions to meet forest and peatland conservation and restoration goals in Indonesia, with a particular focus on Kalimantan.Through a round‐table, dual‐language workshop discussion and literature evaluation, we recognized 59 political, economic, legal, social, logistical and research challenges, for which five key underlying factors were identified. These challenges relate to the 3Rs adopted by the Indonesian Peatland Restoration Agency (Rewetting, Revegetation and Revitalization), plus a fourth R that we suggest is essential to incorporate into (peatland) conservation planning: Reducing Fires.Our analysis suggests that (a) all challenges have potential for impact on activities under all 4Rs, and many are inter‐dependent and mutually reinforcing, implying that narrowly focused solutions are likely to carry a higher risk of failure; (b) addressing challenges relating to Rewetting and Reducing Fire is critical for achieving goals in all 4Rs, as is considering the local socio‐political situation and acquiring local government and community support; and (c) the suite of challenges faced, and thus conservation interventions required to address these, will be unique to each project, depending on its goals and prevailing local environmental, social and political conditions.With this in mind, we propose an eight‐step adaptive management framework, which could support projects in both Indonesia and other tropical areas to identify and overcome their specific conservation and restoration challenges. Publisher PDF

Fire disturbance in many tropical forests, including peat swamps, has become more frequent and extensive in recent decades. These fires compromise a variety of ecosystem services, among which mitigating global climate change through carbon storage is particularly important for peat swamps. Indonesia holds the largest amount of tropical peat carbon globally, and mean annual CO 2 emissions from decomposition of deforested and drained peatlands and associated fires in Southeast Asia have been estimated at ∼2000 Mt y-1. A key component to understanding and therefore managing fire in the region is identifying the land use/land cover classes associated with fire ignitions. We assess the oft-asserted claim that escaped fires from oil palm concessions and smallholder farms near settlements are the primary sources of fire in a peat-swamp forest area in Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, equivalent to around a third of Kalimantan's total peat area. We use the MODIS Active Fire product from 2000 to 2010 to evaluate the fire origin and spread on the land use/land cover classes of legal, industrial oil palm concessions (the only type of legal concession in the study area), non-forest, and forest, as well as in relation to settlement proximity. We find that most fires (68–71%) originate in non-forest, compared to oil palm concessions (17%–19%), and relatively few (6–9%) are within 5 km of settlements. Moreover, most fires started within oil palm concessions and in close proximity to settlements stay within those boundaries (90% and 88%, respectively), and fires that do escape constitute only a small proportion of all fires on the landscape (2% and 1%, respectively). Similarly, a small proportion of fire detections in forest originate from oil palm concessions (2%) and within close proximity to settlements (2%). However, fire ignition density in oil palm (0.055 ignitions km −2 ) is comparable to that in non-forest (0.060 km-2 ignitions km- 2 ), which is approximately ten times that in forest (0.006 ignitions km −2 ). Ignition density within 5 km of settlements is the highest at 0.125 ignitions km −2 . Furthermore, increased anthropogenic activity in close proximity to oil palm concessions and settlements produces a detectable pattern of fire activity. The number of ignitions decreases exponentially with distance from concessions; the number of ignitions initially increases with distance from settlements, and, around from 7.2 km, then decreases with distance from settlements. These results refute the claim that most fires originate in oil palm concessions, and that fires escaping from oil palm concessions and settlements constitute a major proportion of fires in this study region. However, there is a potential for these land use types to contribute substantially to the fire landscape if their area expands. Effective fire management in this area should therefore target not just oil palm concessions, but also non-forested, degraded areas where ignitions and fires escaping into forest are most likely to occur.

The UK led PersonaLising Anal cancer radioTherapy dOse(PLATO) is a complex integrated protocol, consisting of 3 distinct anal cancer trials. Anal cancer IMRT contouring is challenging as there are several nodal areas that are electively irradiated and the primary tumour is not well visualised on CT. We identified FALCON, an ESTRO supported multifunctional online contouring platform (EduCase), aimed at reducing contouring variability, as a method to streamline pre-trial radiotherapy (RT) quality assurance (QA). Investigators contoured a benchmark case using FALCON prior to attending workshops aimed at evaluating contouring variation and refining the trial RT protocol. We present qualitative feedback received from workshop participants. We also present conformity analysis of contours compared with a reference contour.

The timing and frequency of flowering and fruiting events are key tropical forest characteristics that have substantial influence on fauna. Although our understanding of geographic variation in habitat-wide timing and frequency of flowering and fruiting is advancing, corresponding information for individual tree species is limited. Thus, we compared climate and reproductive phenology of 16 tree species over 70 mo at two Bornean tropical peat-swamp forest sites. We found significant inter-site correlations in rainfall and temperature, and only small absolute temperature differences. In both sites, most species exhibited within-site synchrony in flowering and fruiting onset. Broad-scale flowering and fruiting onset frequency classifications showed high congruence between sites. Significant correlations in flowering and fruiting onset timing between sites were found for only 19 and 17 percent of the species, respectively. This remained the case when applying 1- and 2-month lag periods for both sites, with neither site consistently lagging behind. Significant differences in the exact frequency of new flowering and fruiting events were detected for 44 and 58 percent of species, respectively, and no significant relationships between the onset timing synchrony and exact frequency of new reproductive events were found for either flowers or fruit. We conclude that inter-site climatic and ecological similarities do not necessarily lead to high inter-site synchrony in either onset timing or exact frequency of tree reproductive events. Potential reasons for this are discussed, as are the implications for understanding tropical forest ecology and improving forest restoration project seed collections.

1. Tropical fruit-feeding Nymphalidae butterflies are widely used in research, monitoring, and conservation projects, but to date a key aspect of their behaviour – dispersal – remains poorly understood. They have anecdotally been described as ‘relatively sedentary’ based on movement vectors from mark-recapture studies, but this may be inaccurate because plot-based studies in small sampling areas often underrepresent long-distance movements. 2. Based on data from a peat-swamp forest in Borneo, it was found that these butterflies may be much more mobile than previously thought, as they frequently moved distances of 1–2 km between sampling plots. Median daily movements were approximately 200–250 m, and over lifespans of one or more months these movements may sum to total life-time dispersals of several kilometres. 3. Recapture rates for long-distance movements between sampling plots were between 28.2% and 41.6% of the re-encounter rates that would be predicted by a random-walk approximation/Brownian motion (without accounting for survival rates), supporting the hypothesis that it is a suitable model of dispersal in this group, although further research is needed to confirm this. 4. There was no evidence that butterflies occupied permanent home ranges, and it is suggested that a permanent home range or territorial behaviour would be maladaptive in this group. Pseudo-replication caused by ‘trap-happy’ behaviour was not found to be widespread, and some recommendations are provided regarding the treatment of recapture data in trap-based studies. 5. These findings substantially increase the spatial parameters for future research and conservation projects in this group and are also applicable to theoretical modelling studies. An abstract for this article in Bahasa Indonesia is included in the online supporting information File S1.

Background. Simulation in pediatrics is described often in more procedurally-heavy areas, such as in intensive care, emergency medicine, and neonatology. However, there is a paucity of literature related to simulation in general pediatrics. We sought to improve students’ comfort with and knowledge about selected procedures using simulation mannequins during their pediatric rotation. Methods. During a workshop, third year medical students received a lecture on male circumcisions, lumbar punctures, the Ortolani and Barlow maneuvers, and ear examinations. Following the lecture, the students were given hands-on instruction and feedback on the techniques for performing ear and hip exams, lumbar punctures, and circumcisions. Students took a pre- and post-encounter assessment regarding their confidence level, procedural knowledge, and perceived usefulness of the training. Wilcoxon Signed Rank tests were used to determine changes in the students’ confidence levels and knowledge. Alpha was set at 0.05 for all comparisons. Results. Sixty medical students (100%) participated in the study during the 2012/2013 academic year. Confidence and knowledge increased significantly on all procedures following the simulation experience (p < 0.001). Perception of usefulness of the training also increased significantly at post-test (p = 0.019). Conclusion. Medical students benefited from using simulation to demonstrate and practice common pediatric procedures, both in their confidence and knowledge. The use of simulation for general pediatric procedures should improve patient safety, as well as remove some of the anxiety of performing procedures in actual clinical scenarios. KS J Med 2015; 8(2):72-79.

The first International Peat Congress (IPC) held in the tropics – in Kuching (Malaysia) – brought together over 1000 international peatland scientists and industrial partners from across the world (“International Peat Congress with over 1000 participants!,” 2016). The congress covered all aspects of peatland ecosystems and their management, with a strong focus on the environmental, societal and economic challenges associated with contemporary large-scale agricultural conversion of tropical peat.

Heath Forest on Borneo is a forest type mostly found between the transitions from the peat-swamp forests in lowlands to the Dipterocarp Forest in hillier areas. Heath forest soil structure is characterized by a dominant sand layer with a thin organic horizon on top. Tropical Heath Forest has been understudied and undervalued for many years, considered as a low-diversity habitat due to a nutrient-poor sandy soil, unable to aggregate and bind nutrients, resulting in stunted, low canopy forest. Despite its reputation, our research in the KHDTK Mungku Baru(it is a Forest Area with Special Purpose (KHDTK)) in southern Central Kalimantan is revealing heath forest of remarkably high quality, with large trees, high canopy and high biodiversity, including important endemic and emblematic flora and fauna species. Fourteen 30 m x 30 m nested plots were established, where all the trees ≥ 10 cm diameter breast height (DBH) were identified and measured. Additional 5 x 5m and 2 x2 m nested plots were used to define the micro-habitat and soil composition, determining the pH, organic layer depth, water moisture, and canopy cover. A total of 1,007 trees were recorded, representing 87 species in 58 genus and 40 families. Soil layers exhibited visual differences and analysis of soil composition was used to define 2 sub-habitat types of Heath Forest, named as Black sand Heath Forest (BHF) and White sand heath forest (WHF). Significant differences were found on peat/organic layer depth (BHF 26.4 cm; WHF 6.1 cm) and soil moisture (BHF 18.3 %; WHF 11.1 %). Independent analysis for the tree community compositions was done for each sub-habitat type. Few differences were found between sub-habitat types on DBH (BHF 18.9 ± 11.7 cm; WHF 18.6 ± 9.7 cm) and tree height (BHF 18.9 ±5.5 m; WHF 17.9 ± 5.4 m). Tree species composition analysis reveals in both cases a high species richness, with no differences in distribution (Simpson’s Diversity Index BHF=0.96; WHF=0.95) but significant differences in species abundance (Fisher’s alpha index BHF=23.74; WHF=18.01). BHF is a more homogeneous sub-habitat type, dominated by species belonging to Dipterocarpaceae (19.5 %), Myrtaceae (19.2 %) and Sapotaceae (13 %) families, whereas WHF is largely dominated by Dipterocarpaceae species (43.4 %) including Dipterocarpus borneensis and Shorea teysmanniana. The preliminary results of this study indicate that the Central Kalimantan’s Heath Forest presents high tree species diversity with high conservation value, with potentially 2 different sub-habitat types characterized by their soil and tree composition. This highlights the importance of protecting this rare and understudied habitat in the context of Borneo biodiversity conservation.

Southeast Asia's lowland dipterocarp forests experience supra-annual "mast" fruiting and flowering events, in which the majority of trees reproduce simultaneously at irregular intervals, with extensive intervening periods of very low primate food availability. This scarcity of food results in a negative energy balance and a reliance on "fallback foods" in some primate species. By contrast, ombrogenous tropical peat-swamp forests are non-masting, and show lower variability of food availability. We sought to test the influence of fruit availability on primate diet and preference in peat-swamp habitats and assess whether it differs from masting forests. We collected behavioral-dependent feeding data on three adult females in a group of red langurs (Presbytis rubicunda: Colobinae) between January and December 2011 in Sabangau tropical peat-swamp forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, as colobine monkeys are adaptated for folivory, and are therefore generally considered less reliant on temporally variable fruits than monogastric primates. We documented the highest level of granivory recorded to date in colobine monkeys: mean annual diet comprised 76.4% seeds and 7.3% other fruit parts; 7.7% young and 2.5% mature leaves; 2.8% flowers; 2.6% piths, and

This paper explores the evolving industrial control paradigm of product intelligence. The approach seeks to give a customer greater control over the processing of an order – by integrating technologies which allow for greater tracking of the order and methodologies which allow the customer [via the order] to dynamically influence the way the order is produced, stored or transported. The paper examines developments from four distinct perspectives: conceptual developments, theoretical issues, practical deployment and business opportunities. In each area, existing work is reviewed and open challenges for research are identified. The paper concludes by identifying four key obstacles to be overcome in order to successfully deploy product intelligence in an industrial application.

Forest degradation is leading to widespread negative impacts on biodiversity in South-east Asia. Tropical peat-swamp forests are one South-east Asian habitat in which insect communities, and the impacts of forest degradation on them, are poorly understood. To address this information deficit, we investigated the impacts of forest gaps on fruit-feeding butterflies in the Sabangau peat-swamp forest, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. Fruit-baited traps were used to monitor butterflies for 3 months during the 2009 dry season. A network of 34 traps (ngap = 17, nshade = 17) was assembled in a grid covering a 35 ha area. A total of 445 capture events were recorded, comprising 384 individuals from 8 species and 2 additional species complexes classified to genera. On an inter-site scale, canopy traps captured higher species richness than understory traps; however, understory traps captured higher diversity within each site. Species richness was positively correlated with percent canopy cover and comparisons of diversity indices support these findings. Coupled with results demonstrating morphological differences in thorax volume and forewing length between species caught in closed-canopy traps vs. those in gaps, this indicates that forest degradation has a profound effect on butterfly communities in this habitat, with more generalist species being favored in disturbed conditions. Further studies are necessary to better understand the influences of macro-habitat quality and seasonal variations on butterfly diversity and community composition in South-east Asian peat-swamp forests.

Increased resource investment in conservation is generating greater appreciation of the importance of ecolog- ical monitoring programmes to assess the effectiveness of conservation interventions in achieving their stated goals. A key component for developing such a programme is an appropriate conceptual model of ecosystem function and the effects of human activities on this. Tropical peat- swamp forests are a particularly important ecosystem for reducing carbon emissions and biodiversity conservation. This is leading to increased investment in their protection and, consequently, an increased need for effective ecological monitoring programmes and conceptual models of ecosys- tem function on which to base these. Here, I adapt previous conceptual models of ecosystem function developed for terrestrial forests and other wetland ecosystems, to create a habitat-specific model for tropical peat-swamp forests. This provides a tool to guide thinking in developing ecological monitoring studies in this habitat and understanding (i) ecosystem processes and function, (ii) the impact of human activities on these, and (iii) subsequent impacts on ecosys- tem services. This is relevant for monitoring the effective- ness of conservation interventions with varying goals in tropical peat-swamp forest, including emission reductions; and highlights considerations relevant for conservation management and ecological monitoring in other wetland habitats.

Our objective was to assess the impact of disruption by a new 2-week vacation break on outcomes of required third-year clerkships.Mean scores on National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) clerkship specific clinical science subject ("subject") examinations and overall student evaluations were compared for clerkships with the break and those over the previous 3 years without the break. Students were surveyed about the impact of the break on learning and the time spent studying during the break.No significant differences were found in examination scores between clerkships with the break and those without. Overall student clerkship evaluations were significantly different only for the surgery clerkship. The break was regarded more favorably by students on the 8-week than the 6-week clerkships, but student perspectives varied significantly by specialty. The time reported studying varied significantly by specialty and campus. Student comments were predominantly supportive of the break and focused on the advantages of opportunity to relax, spend time with family, and to study. Concerns included forgetting content knowledge, losing skills, and having difficulty regaining momentum on return to the clerkship.Interruption of clerkships by a 2-week break was not associated with any significant change in subject examination scores or overall student evaluation of the clerkship, despite predominantly positive comments. Significant differences were reported by specialty in student perception of benefit and reported time studying during the break.

One major concern regarding the biodiversity impacts of Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD+) is “leakage” of threats from REDD+ to non-REDD+ forests, particularly if those forests storing the highest amounts of carbon – and thus prioritized under REDD+ – do not coincide with those most important for biodiversity conservation. This concern applies globally, and has been previously discussed in Indonesia, where the highest-carbon forests on peat are known to support lower species diversity and concentrations of threatened species than lowland mineral-soil forests. To help refine management of this risk, we discuss previously overlooked considerations regarding biodiversity threat leakage, suggest three strategies for managing leakage risk, and outline important questions to address with respect to these. We emphasize (1) the need to recognize intrinsic differences in threat displacement vulnerability among forests not currently protected/proposed to be protected under REDD+; and (2) ...

The influence of habitat structure and support availability on support use is an important aspect of understanding locomotor behavior in arboreal primates. We compared habitat structure and support availability in three orangutan study sites—two on Sumatra (Pongo abelii) in the dry-lowland forest of Ketambe and peat swamp forest of Suaq Balimbing, and one on Borneo (Pongo pygmaeus wurmbii) in the disturbed peat swamp forest of Sabangau—to better understand orangutan habitat use. Our analysis revealed vast differences in tree and liana density between the three sites. Sabangau had a much higher overall tree density, although both Sumatran sites had a higher density of larger trees. The two peat swamp forests were more similar to each other than to Ketambe, particularly with regard to support availability. Ketambe had a wider variety of supports of different sizes and types, and a higher density of larger lianas than the two peat swamps. Orangutans in all three sites did not differ substantially in terms of their preferred supports, although Sumatran orangutans had a strong tendency to use lianas, not observed in Sabangau. Differences in observed frequencies of locomotor behavior suggest the homogeneous structure of Sabangau limits the locomotor repertoire of orangutans, with high frequencies of fewer behaviors, whereas the wider range of supports in Ketambe appears to have facilitated a more varied locomotor repertoire. There were no differences among age-sex classes in the use of arboreal pathways in Suaq Balimbing, where orangutans selected larger trees than were typically available. This was less apparent in Sabangau, where orangutans generally used trees in relation to their environmental abundance, reflecting the homogeneous nature of disturbed peat swamp forest. These results demonstrate that forest architecture has an important influence on orangutan locomotion, which may become increasingly important as the structure of orangutan habitat continues to be altered through human disturbance. Am. J. Primatol. 74:1128-1142, 2012. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Development of a standard monitoring protocol for assessing the impacts of REDD+ (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) projects on biodiversity is desirable. Drawing on the conservation literature and our personal experience, we review whether such a one-size-fits-all approach is justifiable on scientific and practical grounds. We conclude that achieving a model biodiversity monitoring protocol suitable for use in all potential REDD+ sites is probably an unrealistic objective, owing to the huge differences among the world's forests in terms of structure, species composition, ecological interactions and ecosystem services provided. Moreover, to provide useful feedback for conservation managers, ecological monitoring programmes must be designed around a project's conservation goals, which will vary from project to project, owing to these differences in forest ecology and human threats faced. Thus, site-specific biodiversity monitoring programmes are needed. No single monitoring method is likely to be optimal, or even suitable for use, in all REDD+ forests. Instead, we suggest that a standard approach be adopted, in which ecological monitoring research is (i) designed to reflect a project's biodiversity conservation goals; (ii) based upon scientifically-tractable, policy-relevant questions regarding the impacts of management interventions on the ecosystem; (iii) founded on detailed knowledge of the habitat type in question; (iv) includes monitoring of a number of indicators, as appropriate to the project; and (v) defines appropriate reference/baseline conditions against which progress can be assessed.

Widespread hunting of flying foxes has generated concern regarding population declines and the spread of emerging infectious diseases. To investigate the potential impacts of this trade, we conducted questionnaires in 45 settlements across 12 population centres within Central Kalimantan, Indonesia, a region previously identified as a hunting hotspot. By combining results from 63 hunter and 88 vendor interviews, we highlight two population centres (Palangka Raya and Buntok/Tamiang Layang) with higher hunting rates than other areas, which act as flying fox trading hubs. Flying fox populations were perceived to be declining province-wide: declines in captures and sales were reported by 81% of hunters and 60% of market vendors, who also reported availability as the key factor underlying temporal variations in trade. There was substantial risk of zoonotic disease transmission between bats, hunters and traders: the vast majority of respondents were unaware that flying foxes carry potentially fatal viruses, and so few people protected themselves from physical contact. Moreover, both hunters and vendors were frequently bitten and the majority of bites drew blood. Most hunters (58%) also reported unintentional by-catches that included keystone bird species and slow lorises. The scale of hunting over Central Kalimantan represents a serious threat to the long-term viability of flying fox populations (and potentially those of other species), and could have serious public health implications. Reducing or eliminating hunting and trade would mitigate the risk of disease transmission, while maintaining the economic and ecosystem benefits that flying foxes provide, in terms of pollination and seed dispersal.

Supply chain visibility is one of the main levers for achieving operational efficiency. Modern supply chain tracking systems can deliver serial-level information about the location of items progressing through the chain. However, these systems still fail to meet the managers' visibility requirements in full, since they provide discrete information about product location at specific time instances only. This paper proposes a model that uses the data provided by these tracking systems to deliver enhanced tracking information to the final user. Following a Bayesian approach, the model produces realistic continuous estimates about the current and future locations of products across a supply network, taking into account the characteristics of the product behavior as well as the configuration of the data-collection points. These estimates can then be used to optimize operational decisions that depend on product availability at different locations. This paper demonstrates how the proposed model can enhance tracking information delivered by the radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and the electronic product code (EPC) network. The enhancement of tracking information quality is highlighted through an example.

The Internet of Things (IoT) concept is being widely presented as the next revolution toward massively distributed information, where any real-world object can automatically participate in the Internet and thus be globally discovered and queried. Despite the consensus on the great potential of the concept and the significant progress in a number of enabling technologies, there is a general lack of an integrated vision on how to realize it. This paper examines the technologies that will be fundamental for realizing the IoT and proposes an architecture that integrates them into a single platform. The architecture introduces the use of the Smart Object framework to encapsulate radio-frequency identification (RFID), sensor technologies, embedded object logic, object ad-hoc networking, and Internet-based information infrastructure. We evaluate the architecture against a number of energy-based performance measures, and also show that it outperforms existing industry standards in metrics such as network throughput, delivery ratio, or routing distance. Finally, we demonstrate the feasibility and flexibility of the architecture by detailing an implementation using Wireless Sensor Networks and Web Services, and describe a prototype for the real-time monitoring of goods flowing through a supply chain.

Developments in the area of radio frequency identification (RFID) and sensor network technologies have created new possibilities for product lifecycle management (PLM). These technologies are enabling building blocks upon which various business applications for product management can be built. A significant aspect in the through-life management of products is the gathering and management of data related to the product during the various phases of its lifecycle. Both RFID and wireless sensor technologies have created novel levels of product status visibility and automatic identification with granularity to the level of individual components. We consider three approaches that leverage automatic identification technologies and miniaturised wireless sensors to support PLM strategies at the product instance level based on a product centric computing paradigm. The paper draws upon a number of case studies focusing on the various phases of a product's lifecycle: Beginning of Life, Middle of Life and End of Life. We used the case studies to extract technical, capability and information requirements needed to support PLM strategies. We compared the ability and suitability of existing architectural approaches to meet the key requirements we identified. Furthermore we assessed them to evaluate their level of support for managing product instances at different lifecycle phases. Finally, we present an extension to significantly improve the ability of the most promising architecture for supporting PLM strategies.