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This study quantitatively evaluated the impact of textile raw material access on Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) members' apparel exports to the United States. Results from the computable general equilibrium (CGE) model show that improving CAFTA-DR garment producers' textile raw material access would significantly enhance the price competitiveness of their apparel exports to the United States and increase the export volume. However, improving CAFTA-DR garment producers' textile raw material access would primarily benefit Asian textile suppliers but result in CAFTA-DR members' reduced dependence on the U.S. textile raw material supply. The study's findings provided new insights into the textile and apparel trade patterns in the Western Hemisphere and offered valuable inputs contributing to the public policy debate on expanding U.S. apparel sourcing from CAFTA-DR members from a unique supply chain perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first report of the stalk borer Diatraea impersonatella (Walker) on sugarcane in Honduras. A total of 167 larvae were collected from sugarcane crops in the Department Francisco Morazán, Municipality Villa de San Francisco, Honduras, during November 2022 to January 2023. The larval specimens were reared with the objective of obtaining adults for the morphological identification of the species through the inspection of male genitalia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: A unique risk faced by nocturnally migrating birds is the disorienting influence of artificial light at night (ALAN). ALAN originates from anthropogenic activities that can generate other forms of environmental pollution, including the emission of fine particulate matter (PM2.5). PM2.5 concentrations can display strong seasonal variation whose origin can be natural or anthropogenic. How this variation affects seasonal associations with ALAN and PM2.5 for nocturnally migrating bird populations has not been explored. Location: Western Hemisphere. Time Period: 2021 Major Taxa Studied: Nocturnally migrating passerine (NMP) bird species. Methods: We combined monthly estimates of PM2.5 and ALAN with weekly estimates of relative abundance for 164 NMP species derived using observations from eBird. We identified groups of species with similar associations with monthly PM2.5. We summarized their shared environmental, geographical, and ecological attributes. Results: PM2.5 was lowest in North America, especially at higher latitudes during the boreal winter. PM2.5 was highest in the Amazon Basin, especially during the dry season (August–October). ALAN was highest within eastern North America, especially during the boreal winter. For NMP species, PM2.5 associations reached their lowest levels during the breeding season (<10 μg/m3) and highest levels during the nonbreeding season, especially for long‐distance migrants that winter in Central and South America (~20 μg/m3). Species that migrate through Central America in the spring encountered similarly high PM2.5 concentrations. ALAN associations reached their highest levels for species that migrate (~12 nW/cm2/sr) or spend the nonbreeding season (~15 nW/cm2/sr) in eastern North America. Main Conclusions: We did not find evidence that the disorienting influence of ALAN enhances PM2.5 exposure during stopover in the spring and autumn for NMP species. Rather, our findings suggest biomass burning in the Neotropics is exposing NMP species to consistently elevated PM2.5 concentrations for an extended period of their annual life cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The westerly wind on the poleward side of the summer polar jet stream (PJS) over the Western Hemisphere has significantly weakened since the 1980s. A weak summer PJS causes warming surface temperatures and deficient precipitation over Alaska and western North America, favoring extreme wildfire events. This study investigates influences of Arctic sea ice loss on the summer PJS variability over the Western Hemisphere. Regression analysis first provides observational evidence that Arctic sea ice reduction is related to a weakening summer Western Hemisphere PJS at interannual time scales. Atmospheric model ensemble simulations are then used to demonstrate that Arctic sea ice loss significantly contributes to observed Western Hemisphere Arctic warming and reduced meridional temperature gradient between midlatitudes and the pole in the lower and middle troposphere, acting to weaken the troposphere zonal wind and vertical wind shear from 55° to 75°N, and about 20–30% of observed weakened summer PJS trend during 1979–2014. Observational analysis and the model-based results also indicate that a significant portion of the observed trends of the PJS and vertical wind shear during 1979–2014 might be attributed to the decadal variability of the summer North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). In the future climate, as more and more ice melts in the summer, the weakening effect of sea ice on the PJS will continue and will be superimposed onto the natural decadal variability of the PJS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The conversion of forest to agriculture is considered one of the greatest threats to avian biodiversity, yet how species respond to habitat modification throughout the annual cycle remains unknown. We examined whether forest bird associations with agricultural habitats vary throughout the year, and if species traits influence these relationships. Using data from the eBird community‐science program, we investigated associations between agriculturally‐modified land cover and the occurrence of 238 forest bird species based on three sets of avian traits: migratory strategy, dietary guild, and foraging strategy. We found that the influence of agriculturally‐modified land cover on species distributions varied widely across periods and trait groups but highlighting several broad findings. First, migratory species showed strong seasonal differences in their response to agricultural land cover while resident species did not. Second, there was a migratory strategy by season interaction; Neotropical migrants were most negatively influenced by agricultural land cover during the breeding period while short‐distance migrants were most negatively influenced during the non‐breeding period. Third, regardless of season, some dietary (e.g. insectivores) and foraging guilds (e.g. bark foragers) consistently responded more negatively to agricultural land cover than others (e.g. omnivores and ground foragers, respectively). Fourth, there were greater differences among dietary guilds in their responses to agricultural land cover during the breeding period than during the non‐breeding period, perhaps reflecting how different habitat and ecological requirements enhance the susceptibility of some guilds during reproduction. These results suggest that management efforts across the annual cycle may be oversimplified and thus ineffective when based on broad ecological generalisations that are static in space and time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article provides a summary of Canadian First Nations writing and publishing within the context of Native American literature, with references to the entire area of Western Hemisphere Native writing. Admittedly, some readers and scholars will notice the omission of certain writers and their works, but it is maintained that this is somewhat the essence of the article: Native writing in the Western Hemisphere is still in the process of being identified, read, and recognized as such. Thus this article underpins the notion that the work of recognizing and categorizing such work is a continuing, necessary, and wonderful endeavor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soybean’s protein concentration and amino acid profile vary geographically due to genotype and environment. We used 1817 on-farm grain samples from the United States, Brazil, and the Southern Cone to assess soybean protein variability in the Western Hemisphere, which accounts for 85% of global production. Our analysis found consistent spatial patterns for protein concentration and amino acid composition, with differences in protein concentration of up to 5.4% among regions. While there was a negative correlation between protein concentration and the abundance of critical amino acids (lysine, cysteine, threonine, methionine, and tryptophane), their amount per ton of grain increased with protein concentration. Our findings can guide market and industry in benchmarking soybean protein quality across the Western Hemisphere, which according to our projection could supply close to 120 million metric tons of protein and 17 million metric tons of the most critical amino acids annually by 2030.

The subject of this article is the economic system that has developed in the Netherlands Guiana, based on forced slave labor. The degree of cruelty of this system over the past centuries has been mythologized by both contemporaries of the events and later researchers. Today in Netherlands, at the highest official level, the era of colonial slavery has been condemned but at the same time it was recognized as a part of national history, which is largely due to the influential Caribbean community. However, the attitude towards this topic in society remains extremely polarized, becoming the subject of manipulation by populist and nationalist forces. The work is based on a wide range of foreign sources and research; the methodological basis includes the historical, genetic and comparative methods. The scientific novelty of the article is connected with the poor study of the topic in domestic science. A comparative study of the situation of slaves in the Western Hemisphere has shown that toughness was not unique to the Dutch colonial ethos. The high mortality and hardships of slaves in the Netherlands Guiana and the Caribbean are due to the specifics of sugar plantations, and not to a greater degree of racism compared to Iberoamerica. The author draws attention to the gradual progressive evolution of all slavery regimes on the American continent.

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The various intuitive reasoning types in many cases comprise the core of students' misconceptions about concepts, procedures and phenomena that pertain to natural sciences. Some researchers support the existence of a relatively closer connection between the right hemisphere and intuitive thought, mainly due to a notably closer relation of individual intuitive cognitive processes with specific right hemisphere regions. It has been suggested that individuals show a different preference in making use of each hemisphere's cognitive capacity, a tendency which has been termed Hemisphericity or Hemisphere Preference. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between hemispheric preference and students' misconceptions. A correlational explanatory research approach was implemented involving 100 seventh grade students from a public secondary school. Participants completed a hemispheric preference test and a misconceptions documentation tool. The results revealed that there wasn't any differentiation in the mean score of misconceptions among the students with right hemispheric dominance and those with left hemispheric dominance. These findings imply a number of things: (a) the potential types of intuitive processes, that might be activated by the students, in interpreting the biology procedures and phenomena and their total resultant effect on students' answers, probably do not have any deep connection with the right hemisphere; (b) it is also possible that students might use reflective and analytic thought more frequently than we would have expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article underscores the urgent need to revive the Western Hemisphere Convention on Nature Protection and Wildlife Preservation. It emphasizes the enduring relevance of this 1940 convention in safeguarding the shared biodiversity and habitats of the Western Hemisphere. It further advocates for cross-regional cooperation among nations, stressing the importance of scientific knowledge sharing and collaborative conservation efforts.

The coconut rhinoceros beetle (CRB: Oryctes rhinoceros L.) is one of the most damaging pests of coconut and oil palms in the Asia/Pacific region but has not been reported from the Western Hemisphere. Here, we report a possible establishment of CRB in Nayarit, Mexico, based on an analysis of social media reports and photographs indicating the presence of the beetle and the distinctive v‐shaped notches in palm fronds caused by the beetle feeding. CRB populations are destructive once established, therefore, urgent actions are required to contain the pest and prevent damage to coconut and oil palm in the Americas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article "American Imaginaries: Civilizations and Plurality in the Multiple Americas" presents the perspective of sociologist S. N. Eisenstadt on the Americas as a plurality of social and political orders. Eisenstadt theorized multiple civilizations and modernities as two master patterns of new social and civilizational formations. The article also proposes the alternative proposal of using the paradigms of social imaginaries and civilizational analysis to capture the plurality of the Americas since Independence. Five regional Americas based on patterns of modernity are mentioned: the United States, the Caribbean, Canada, Latin America, and a transnational sphere of indigenous America. In this work, the author analyzes the Southern United States and Brazil as potential candidates in the context of the Americas. The work of Johann Arnason and his focus on encounters between civilizations and social imaginaries is mentioned. The author highlights the importance of variations in Brazil and the Southern United States, as well as the need to consider Mexico's interconnections with its neighboring countries and regional counterparts. The diversity in the Americas and the relevance of social imaginaries in the creation of societies and cultures are also mentioned. The author proposes three dimensional imaginaries: the formation of cities, capitalism and state formation, and the political imaginary of ideological landscapes in nation-states. In addition, the dimensions of intercivilizational engagement are mentioned: migration, economic exchange, cultural exchange, and models of politics. The text discusses the diversification of imperial legacies in the Western Hemisphere and how nation-states orient themselves towards regions. It is mentioned that capitalism and slavery are intertwined in Atlantic modernity. Castoriadis' perspective on capitalist imaginary significations and how they guide economic agency is referenced. The research of Johann Arnason, Luc Boltanski, Eve Chiapello, Peter Wagner, and Max Weber on capitalism is also mentioned. The importance of political economy doctrines in diversifying the trajectories of capitalist economies in the Americas is highlighted. The text discusses social imaginaries and civilizational analysis in the Americas. The existence of different imaginaries to examine, including the ecological imaginary, is mentioned. It is concluded that the image of the two archetypes of America does not represent the variety of American societies and regions, and that there is a plurality of deeply distinct societies and constellations. Several bibliographic references related to the topic are mentioned. [Extracted from the article]

The genera Isocheles Stimpson, 1858 and Loxopagurus Forest, 1964 are endemic to America and occur in tropical and subtropical waters. There are five species of Isocheles , two of them are found in the Western Atlantic (I. sawayai Forest & de Saint Laurent, 1968 and I. wurdemanni Stimpson 1859) and three in the Eastern Pacific (I. pilosus (Holmes, 1900), I. pacificus Bouvier, 1907 , and I. aequimanus (Dana, 1852)). Loxopagurus is a monotypic genus and occurs only in southeastern South America. These two genera are morphologically similar, with differences in shape and size of chelae. The published information on the taxonomy of these genera is scant, and there have been some recent doubts about their phylogenetic relationship. Our study aimed to elucidate the phylogenetic relationship of Isocheles and Loxopagurus and evaluate their taxonomic validity and contextualization in Diogenidae Ortmann, 1892. We performed an integrative analysis using multigene data (16S rRNA, COI, and H3) and a detailed morphological evaluation, including redescriptions, seeking characters that allow the clear identification of these species. The type specimens of I. aequimanus , I. pilosus , and L. loxochelis (Moreira, 1901) were lost and errors are common regarding the identification of the species of Isocheles. Characters that clearly delimit these species, such as the ornamentation and shape of the chelipeds and the number of teeth on the second article of the antenna, were stated. The morphological and molecular analyses corroborated the taxonomical validity of Isocheles and Loxopagurus as two distinct genera based on the differences of the shield and chelipeds, on the topology of the trees, and on the genetic divergence inferred from three molecular markers. We also verified that the five amplified species of Isocheles constitute five distinct clades and described a new species of Isocheles , using both molecular and morphological differences from congeners. An identification key for Isocheles is proposed. Although the type material of two out of the five species of Isocheles and the holotype of Loxopagurus loxochelis were lost, the designation of neotypes is not recommended in these cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay analyzes the Havana-based literary weekly La Habana Elegante to consider the hemispheric dimensions of late nineteenth-century media change and the role that writers of Latin American descent played in it. As new electric media and improved print technology powered an expanding and interconnected world of print, La Habana Elegante mediated a hemispheric, Spanish-speaking print culture, especially through its foreign correspondence from New York City. The periodical defined that print culture through a notion of latinidad that bridged Latin America and the United States--and by envisioning a two-way flow of ideas between writers and readers. As US-based English-language newspapers developed emerging mass cultural forms that starkly divided producers and consumers, La Habana Elegante tapped into notions of simultaneity inspired by the telegraph and, especially, the telephone to promote a more interactive modern media system meant to circulate Latin American culture throughout the hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This position paper offers a reflection on Edmundo O'Gorman's seminal La invención de América as a critique of the New World exceptionalism underwriting much of twentieth-century hemispheric American studies. It suggests that the paradigm of New World exceptionalism emerges, as a state of exception, from the modern Western (Protestant) idea that America was discovered by Europeans in the fifteenth century, or that America was ever "discovered" by anyone at all. This exceptionalist paradigm of discovery can be understood in terms of a "White Legend" that structurally depends on the idea of the "Black Legend" of the Spanish conquest, for, contrary to conventional wisdom, it was the conquest of America (not its "discovery") that legitimated themodern idea of discovery in international law and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Falklands Crisis reflects a somewhat similar situation between China and Taiwan. China, like Argentina, would invade islands off its coast and then fend off a relief force -- most likely from the U.S., which, like the British, would need to travel thousands of miles. Another similarity is that most Taiwanese people consider themselves Taiwanese rather than Chinese1 like residents of the Falklands; nearly all want to remain British.2 Therefore, the author attempts to examine what the USG would put into perspective when facing a crisis related to the sovereignty issues of one of its allies during the decision-making process. This paper adopts Allison's Rational Actor Model (RAM), Organizational Behavior Model (OBM), and Governmental Politics (GPM) to examine how the "tilt" policy towards Britain was done during the Falklands Crisis and subsequent war between a powerful U.S. regional partner, Argentina, and the United States' closest ally, the U.K. over the sovereignty issue of the Falklands. The crisis prompted a clash within the U.S. foreign policymaking establishment as administration officials balanced the costs of the conflict for U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere against the risks of undermining the Western Alliance. To maximize the U.S. interests, the U.S. took a neutral stand at the beginning of the crisis and launched mediation to defuse the conflict between the two allies. However, the mediation was overtaken by events and had to be changed to pursue U.S. interests to a lesser extent. The final "tilt" emerged as a result of the rational deliberation to preserve U.S. strategic objectives, the component organizations: State Department, CIA, the Congress, and the Defense Department carrying out their missions based on their routines, SOPs and culture as well as the pulling and hauling between central players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The puma Puma concolor is the fourth largest wild felid and the most widespread native terrestrial mammal of the Americas. We synthesised published literature documenting the biotic interactions of pumas, in order to: 1) advance our understanding of the ecological roles pumas play in natural systems, and 2) support strategic decision‐making about conservation investments, public education, and whole‐ecosystem conservation management.We divided puma biotic interactions into five categories: 1) diet and prey regulation, 2) fear effects on prey (including trophic cascades), 3) effects via carrion production, 4) effects on other carnivores, and 5) ecosystem services. We reviewed 162 studies that met our search criteria, which described 543 ecological interactions between pumas and 485 other species.Puma diet and prey regulation was the most common research topic. The geographic distribution of research was highly skewed towards the USA and Canada, and research in Tropical moist forests was underrepresented. We found a steep increase in the number of scientific publications exploring the biotic interactions associated with pumas over time, but publications that reported effect sizes or measured the strength of interactions did not increase as quickly. We noted numerous gaps in our knowledge of puma biotic interactions and found few well‐controlled studies of prey fear effects, trophic cascades, or ecosystem services.We conclude that pumas are influential ecological actors in natural systems and important brokers of energy and nutrients throughout ecosystems in the Western Hemisphere, linking disparate species from many trophic levels. Ultimately, we found evidence for investing in and prioritising the protection and restoration of puma populations to conserve biodiversity in the Americas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Falklands Crisis reflects a somewhat similar situation between China and Taiwan. China, like Argentina, would invade islands off its coast and then fend off a relief force -- most likely from the U.S., which, like the British, would need to travel thousands of miles. Another similarity is that most Taiwanese people consider themselves Taiwanese rather than Chinese1 like residents of the Falklands; nearly all want to remain British.2 Therefore, the author attempts to examine what the USG would put into perspective when facing a crisis related to the sovereignty issues of one of its allies during the decision-making process. This paper adopts Allison's Rational Actor Model (RAM), Organizational Behavior Model (OBM), and Governmental Politics (GPM) to examine how the "tilt" policy towards Britain was done during the Falklands Crisis and subsequent war between a powerful U.S. regional partner, Argentina, and the United States' closest ally, the U.K. over the sovereignty issue of the Falklands. The crisis prompted a clash within the U.S. foreign policymaking establishment as administration officials balanced the costs of the conflict for U.S. interests in the Western Hemisphere against the risks of undermining the Western Alliance. To maximize the U.S. interests, the U.S. took a neutral stand at the beginning of the crisis and launched mediation to defuse the conflict between the two allies. However, the mediation was overtaken by events and had to be changed to pursue U.S. interests to a lesser extent. The final "tilt" emerged as a result of the rational deliberation to preserve U.S. strategic objectives, the component organizations: State Department, CIA, the Congress, and the Defense Department carrying out their missions based on their routines, SOPs and culture as well as the pulling and hauling between central players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is adversely affecting natural systems worldwide, including the disorienting influence of ALAN on nocturnally migrating birds. Understanding how ALAN trends are developing across species' seasonal distributions will inform mitigation efforts, such as Lights Out programs. Here, we intersect ALAN annual trend estimates (1992–2013) with weekly estimates of relative abundance for 42 nocturnally migrating passerine bird species that breed in North America using observations from the eBird community science database for the combined period 2005–2020. We use a cluster analysis to identify species with similar weekly associations with ALAN trends. Our results identified three prominent clusters. Two contained species that occurred in northeastern and western North America during the breeding season. These species were associated with moderate ALAN levels and weak negative ALAN trends during the breeding season, and low ALAN levels and strong positive ALAN trends during the nonbreeding season. The difference between the breeding and nonbreeding seasons was lower for species that occurred in northern South America and greater for species that occurred in Central America during the nonbreeding season. For species that occurred in South America during the nonbreeding season, positive ALAN trends increased in strength as species migrated through Central America, especially in the spring. The third cluster contained species whose associations with positive ALAN trends remained high across the annual cycle, peaking during migration, especially in the spring. These species occurred in southeastern North America during the breeding season where they were associated with high ALAN levels, and in northern South America during the nonbreeding season where they were associated with low ALAN levels. Our findings suggest reversing ALAN trends in Central America during migration, especially in the spring, would benefit the most individuals of the greatest number of species. Reversing ALAN trends in southeastern North America during the breeding season and Central America during the nonbreeding season would generate the greatest benefits outside of migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Artificial light at night (ALAN) is adversely affecting natural systems worldwide, including the disorienting influence of ALAN on nocturnally migrating birds. Understanding how ALAN trends are developing across species' seasonal distributions will inform mitigation efforts, such as Lights Out programs. Here, we intersect ALAN annual trend estimates (1992–2013) with weekly estimates of relative abundance for 42 nocturnally migrating passerine bird species that breed in North America using observations from the eBird community science database for the combined period 2005–2020. We use a cluster analysis to identify species with similar weekly associations with ALAN trends. Our results identified three prominent clusters. Two contained species that occurred in northeastern and western North America during the breeding season. These species were associated with moderate ALAN levels and weak negative ALAN trends during the breeding season, and low ALAN levels and strong positive ALAN trends during the nonbreeding season. The difference between the breeding and nonbreeding seasons was lower for species that occurred in northern South America and greater for species that occurred in Central America during the nonbreeding season. For species that occurred in South America during the nonbreeding season, positive ALAN trends increased in strength as species migrated through Central America, especially in the spring. The third cluster contained species whose associations with positive ALAN trends remained high across the annual cycle, peaking during migration, especially in the spring. These species occurred in southeastern North America during the breeding season where they were associated with high ALAN levels, and in northern South America during the nonbreeding season where they were associated with low ALAN levels. Our findings suggest reversing ALAN trends in Central America during migration, especially in the spring, would benefit the most individuals of the greatest number of species. Reversing ALAN trends in southeastern North America during the breeding season and Central America during the nonbreeding season would generate the greatest benefits outside of migration.

US policies of immigrant exclusion evolved from the so-called Asiatic barred zone of 1917 to the Asian 'triangle', but also included people of the Island Pacific. In the latter case, the test for eligibility to enter the United States (US) as a potential citizen was race based. World War II induced pressures by US citizens in the occupying armed forces for marriage to both Asian and Pacific Island women. Internal lobbying in the US plus diplomatic expediency resulted in some post-war relaxation of the ban on Asian immigration via marriage. In New Zealand there was at least one challenge to the extent of the Pacific boundary of the Western Hemisphere wherein greater mobility of migrants was acceptable to the US government. Political Cold War pressure, more than geographic boundaries, proved eventually more potent for potential immigration via marriage but this was too late for most Pacific partners of US servicemen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current antimicrobial treatment recommendations for melioidosis, the disease caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, are largely based on studies of strains isolated from the Eastern Hemisphere (EH), where most human cases are identified and reported. In this study, we evaluated the antimicrobial susceptibility of 26 strains in the CDC (Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention) collection from the Western Hemisphere (WH) isolated from 1960 to 2015. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values were measured by standard broth microdilution for 16 antimicrobials following Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines. Twenty-four of the 26 WH strains were susceptible to the six antimicrobials with CLSI-defined MIC susceptibility interpretive criteria for B. pseudomallei: amoxicillin/clavulanate, ceftazidime, imipenem, doxycycline, tetracycline, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. One WH strain demonstrated intermediate amoxicillin/clavulanate resistance and another strain had intermediate resistance to tetracycline. For all antimicrobials tested, the susceptibility profiles of WH isolates were comparable with previously reported MIC results of EH strains. The overall similarities suggest that the same antimicrobials are useful for melioidosis treatment in both the WH and EH. Using in silico analyses of WH genomes, we identified a novel amino acid substitution P258S in the beta-lactamase PenA, which may contribute to decreased susceptibility to amoxicillin/clavulanate in B. pseudomallei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent increases in turkey vulture (Cathartes aura) and black vulture (Coragyps atratus) populations in North America have been attributed in part to their success adapting to human-modified landscapes. However, the capacity for such landscapes to generate favorable roosting conditions for these species has not been thoroughly investigated. We assessed the role of anthropogenic and natural landscape elements on roosting habitat selection of 11 black and 7 turkey vultures in coastal South Carolina, USA using a GPS satellite transmitter dataset derived from previous research. Our dataset spanned 2006–2012 and contained data from 7916 nights of roosting. Landscape fragmentation, as measured by land cover richness, influenced roosting probability for both species in all seasons, showing either a positive relationship or peaking at intermediate values. Roosting probability of turkey vultures was maximized at intermediate road densities in three of four seasons, and black vultures showed a positive relationship with roads in fall, but no relationship throughout the rest of the year. Roosting probability of both species declined with increasing high density urban cover throughout most of the year. We suggest that landscape transformations lead to favorable roosting conditions for turkey vultures and black vultures, which has likely contributed to their recent proliferations across much of the Western Hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most birds that show geographic variation in their songs discriminate between local and foreign songs, which may help them avoid unnecessary conflicts with vagrant individuals or similar-sounding congeners. However, some species respond equally to foreign and local songs, which may be useful if foreign individuals present territorial threats or if there are no sympatric congeners to avoid. Species without sympatric congeners are not commonly tested in playback studies, but they offer an opportunity to see how song variation and recognition unfolds when the pressure to avoid similar congeners is absent. Here, we use Verdins (Auriparus flaviceps), a monotypic genus of songbird with no confamilials in North America, to explore song variation and recognition in a species living without close relatives. We assessed geographic variation in song across the Verdin range and conducted a playback experiment using exemplars from 2 acoustically divergent and geographically distant regions as treatments. We found significant geographic variation in song that mapped well onto ecologically distinct desert regions. We found that Verdins had stronger vocal responses to local-sounding songs, but had equal movement responses to local-sounding and foreign songs. These results are similar to results found in other species without sympatric congeners and provide an example of a species that investigates acoustically divergent conspecific songs, despite recognizing salient differences in those songs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The jaguarundi (Herpailurus yagouaroundi) has one of the most extensive latitudinal ranges among felids of the Western Hemisphere. Its wide geographic distribution and range of habitats may result in patterns of cranial morphological variation. Thus, we investigated the hypothesis of the existence of morphological ecotypes adapted to specific environments used by the species. The crania of 54 museum specimens from three different ecoregions in Brazil were digitized in ventral, dorsal, and lateral views. No sexual dimorphism was detected. Our hypothesis was supported by the fact that the specimens from the Amazon were significantly larger than those from the Atlantic Forest and Uruguayan savanna. Cranial shape variation between sexes, as well as among ecoregions, was mostly explained by the effect of size. Correlations between geographical distance and cranial shape were not significant. There was a significant correlation between cranium size and latitude, in a pattern that is the reverse of Bergmann's rule, with larger specimens in lower latitudes. The environmental variables positively correlated with cranium size indicated that larger cats occurred in regions with greater temperature and precipitation. Resource availability might be the cause of the observed variation in cranium size, since jaguarundis probably show different prey size preferences along the species distribution range. However, more ecological data for most ecoregions are needed to test the "resource rule" and to fully understand the patterns and causes of cranial variation in this cat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the export behaviors of the U.S. textile and apparel (T&A) manufacturers and related affecting factors. Based on a logistic regression analysis of the 122 U.S. T&A manufacturers collected from the Office of Textiles and Apparel (OTEXA) 'Made in the USA' database, the study finds that the product category and the size of the firm were both statistically significant factors that affected the U.S. T&A manufacturer's likelihood of engaged in exports. The result of contingency analysis also shows that Western Hemisphere was a preferred export destination for the U.S. T&A manufacturers than other regions in the world. The findings of the study significantly enhanced our understanding of the export behaviors of the U.S. T&A manufacturers and the state of the U.S. T&A industry in today's global economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper summarizes the current archaeological, physiographic, demographic, molecular, and bioarchaeological understanding of the initial peopling and subsequent population dynamics of South America. Well-dated sites point to a colonization by relatively few broad-spectrum foragers from northeastern Asia between ~13,000 and 12,000 cal BC via the Panamanian Peninsula. By ~11,500–11,000 cal BC, a number of regional, specialized bifacial technologies were developed, with evidence for the seasonal scheduling of resources and the colonization of extreme environments. Restricted mobility, landscape modification, and the cultivation of domesticates were underway by ~8000 cal BC. The early migration routes followed by colonists resulted in a broad east-west population structure among ancient South Americans. Genetic, demographic, and skeletal morphological data indicate that a subsequent demographically driven dispersal into South America largely replaced preexisting central Andeans ~5000 BC, due to increased fertility associated with the shift to agriculture. Beyond the Andes, however, there is little evidence of impact of these later expansions on foragers and horticulturists of the Amazon and Southern Cone who were largely descended from Paleoindians and early Holocene populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Twenty years after the unanimous adoption of UNSCR 1325 and the beginning of the women, peace and security agenda, the UN Security Council, for the first time, explicitly addressed equal access to education for uniformed female personnel. On August 28, 2020, the UN Security Council issued resolution 2538, and with it, the need by Member States to provide equal access to education, training and capacity building to all uniformed women. This paper explores the importance of providing equal access to education for uniformed women, it identifies barriers erected against women’s access to education in the defense sector in the Western Hemisphere, and it recommends proactive measures to eliminate barriers. This research is supported by a review of primary and secondary sources, autoethnography, and an analysis of data from countries such as the United States, Colombia, Argentina, Chile, Peru, and Brazil.

Collective efforts among governments and regional organizations is a vital part of the fight against piracy that represents a security threat to all nationstates with respect to freedom to navigate the high seas. This paper provides a concise overview of piracy, contemporary maritime drug laws, and cases among the circuit courts to illustrate the procedural concerns that affect fundamental constitutional principles of jurisdiction. A possible solution to existing substantive and procedural due process issues is establishment of a regional judicial institution with broad powers to preside over criminal prosecutions that include maritime crimes. The suggestion may be a viable means to resolve some concerns with respect to jurisdictional principles, regional stability, and the need for a comprehensive, coordinated response within the Western Hemisphere. Establishing a tribunal to preside over enforcement practices alleviates dependency on the existing legal framework that may not fully resolve jurisdictional issues associated with maritime drug trafficking. In addition, a regional tribunal minimizes the need for the United States to function as the only viable, sovereign nation-state in the Americas to ensure that pirates engaged in illicit trades are not roaming the high seas with impunity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Mascarene High (MH) is a semi-permanent subtropical high-pressure zone in the South Indian Ocean. Apart from its large influence on African and Australian weather patterns, it also helps in driving the inter-hemispheric circulation between the Indian Ocean in the south and subcontinental landmass in the north. Using observations and reanalysis products, this study for the first time investigates recent warming trend observed in the MH region during the Global Warming Hiatus (GWH) period (1998–2016). Significant positive trends are observed in sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface height (SSH) and oceanic heat content (OHC) during this period in the MH region. Mixed layer heat budget analysis reveals the dominant role of heat advection in the observed warming trend. During the GWH period, stronger zonal currents advect the warm waters from the Western Pacific (WP) towards the MH region via the Indonesian Throughflow (ITF). This warming in the MH reduces the sea level pressure therein and establishes a weak pressure gradient between the MH and the northern hemisphere landmass. This in-turn weakens the cross-equatorial winds in the western Indian Ocean. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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

Types of the species Platytomus freudei (Balthasar, 1960) and P. gregalis (Cartwright, 1948) were studied. Redescriptions of the two species based on a P. freudei paratype and the P. gregalis holotype, respectively, are presented together with general as well as detailed photos of the type specimens. Combinations of characters important in terms of the differentiation from other Platytomus Mulsant, 1842 species occurring in the South-American Continent are emphasized. Some further specimens of the two species were studied and their locality data are also presented. Platytomus freudei is reported from Bolivia for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]