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It is becoming increasingly common for cattle grazing routes to be encroached upon and changed to other land uses, and there is no clear indication of just how far these changes will go. The dynamics of land cover and how land is being used in the corridor of cattle grazing routes have received a great deal of attention. In view of this, it is imperative to assess past and future land use and land cover (LU/LC). The study aims to examine the trajectory of LU/LC changes in the cattle grazing route corridor in Benue state. The study used Landsat satellite images from 1980, 2000, and 2020, with a combination of field observations and interviews. A 200-meter buffer was created around the grazing routes, which were used to subset the Landsat images. The Random Forest supervised classification algorithm was used to classify the Landsat images. Cellular Automata (CA) and Land Change Modeler (LCM) were used to simulate the future LU/LC pattern of the grazing routes for 2050. Based on the findings, cropland and built-up areas had grown dramatically at the expense of forest and grassland. Cropland increased at an average rate of 18.18 km2/yr between 1980 and 2000. The study recommends stringent measures to regulate the causes of LU/LC changes in cattle grazing corridors.

Simple Summary: The clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa) is listed as "vulnerable" due to significant population declines across mainland Asia. Despite existing ecological research, the understanding of the species' habitat suitability, fragmentation, and corridor connectivity remains limited. The present investigation recognizes that, in addition to habitat suitability within its current extent, the species' historical ranges also encompass a significant proportion of suitable habitats. Climate change is expected to exacerbate habitat loss, intensifying fragmentation and reducing the number of viable habitat patches. This study highlights the importance of several transboundary biological corridors, with Southeast Asia predicted to experience the most pronounced connectivity declines, while Bhutan, Nepal, and India are projected to retain more robust ecological networks. To address these challenges, a coordinated conservation strategy is crucial, focusing on mitigating habitat loss and fragmentation as well as addressing the species' shrinking range and increased vulnerability to inbreeding. This study provides critical insights into potential translocation and reintroduction sites, laying the groundwork for a targeted conservation plan designed to protect the clouded leopard across South and Southeast Asia in response to climate change. Terrestrial carnivores, such as the clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), are 'vulnerable' and experiencing significant population declines in mainland Asia. Considering the assessed threats, the IUCN has repetitively revised the range of this felid and now characterized it into four distinct categories (extant, possibly extant, possibly extinct, and extinct). Although several ecological works have been accomplished on this enigmatic carnivore, the overall view of its habitat suitability, fragmentation, and corridor connectivity in both present and historical ranges is lacking. Thus, achieving this ecological information under present and future climate scenarios is crucial. The model identified merely 44,033 sq. km falling within the extant range (representing 31.66%) and 20,034 sq. km (8.13%) in the possibly extant range. Fascinatingly, within the historical ranges, an additional 15,264 sq. km (6.58%) has been identified as suitable habitat in the possibly extinct range and 14,022 sq. km (2.38%) in the extinct range. Notably, a total of 25,614 sq. km of suitable habitat is found within designated protected areas across the entire range. Nevertheless, climate change is expected to drive habitat loss of up to 41% (overall IUCN range) for N. nebulosa in both present and historical extent, with habitat patches becoming increasingly fragmented. This is reflected in a projected decline in the number of viable habitat patches (NP) by up to 23.29% in the future. This study also identified 18 transboundary biological corridors for N. nebulosa, with Southeast Asian countries expected to experience the most significant declines in corridor connectivity. In contrast, the South Asian countries (Bhutan, Nepal, and India) are projected to maintain relatively higher connectivity in the future. Nevertheless, a substantial decline in overall mean corridor connectivity is projected in the near future due to the impacts of climate change. This study underscores the urgent need for a coordinated and multifaceted conservation strategy for N. nebulosa, focusing on mitigating habitat loss and fragmentation. Practical measures must be implemented to protect the species' shrinking range, considering its declining corridor networks and heightened vulnerability to inbreeding depression. Moreover, the assessment of habitat suitability both within and beyond the extant range, alongside corridor connectivity measures, provides valuable insights into potential translocation and reintroduction sites for this species. These findings provide a critical foundation for developing a strategic conservation plan tailored to the specific needs of this felid species across South and Southeast Asia, ensuring enhanced climate resilience and mitigating associated threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protected areas and biological corridors play a crucial role in conserving biodiversity and promoting connectivity between habitat patches. Bhutan, known as a stronghold for tigers (Panthera tigris), has dedicated a significant portion of its land to a network of protected areas and biological corridors. However, these areas face risks from illegal activities, posing challenges for their management. To address this, the Department of Forests & Park Services in Bhutan deployed an adaptive management framework, informed by the Spatial Monitoring and Reporting Tool in 2016 in the Divisional Forest Office, Sarpang, an important corridor area outside of official protected area boundaries. This study analyses 5 years of data (2017–2021) recorded through a monitoring tool to assess changes in ranger activities and on‐ground observations. The results show improved data availability, increased patrol effort, enhanced monitoring of wildlife, and a reduction in threat detection over time. Furthermore, camera trap surveys targeting tigers reveal a potential increase in the number of individual tigers utilizing the corridor since the adoption of the tool and other management actions. These findings highlight the effectiveness of these efforts in a critical wildlife corridor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The taxi-out time of an airport scene can be categorized into the unimpeded taxi-out time and the additional taxi-out time. Usually, additional taxi-out time is used as a key index to monitor taxi-out performance, and its accurate prediction plays an important role in optimizing the allocation of time slots at an airport and improving scene operation efficiency. Taking Shanghai Pudong International Airport as the research object, we first analyze its layout and construct the origin–destination pairs (ODPs) based on the stand groups and runways. Then, we develop a multiple linear regression model based on the arrival and departure flows to calculate the unimpeded taxi-out times for all ODPs. The actual taxi-out time is then subtracted from the unimpeded taxi-out time to obtain the historical additional taxi-out time of each flight. We propose three new flow features related to the structure: the corridor departure flow, the corridor arrival flow, and the departure flow proportion of ODPs, based on which we construct a dataset for training the prediction model. We then propose an additional taxi-out time prediction model based on the nutcracker optimization algorithm (NOA) and XGBoost and run comparison experiments on the operation data of our target airport. The results show that the optimized prediction model we proposed has the best performance compared with the traditional XGBoost model and other commonly used prediction models, and the proposed structure-related features have high correlations with additional taxi-out time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Ecological corridors are one of the most recommended ways to mitigate biodiversity loss. With growing recognition of corridor importance, corridor modeling lags others in the development of robust, quantitative validation methods. Objective: We propose a post-hoc corridor validation framework, considering the range of methods across data needs and statistical intensity. We demonstrate the importance of post-hoc corridor validation by testing several validation methods on different corridor model outputs. Methods: We used three different transformations on a Florida black bear (Ursus americanus floidanus) habitat suitability model to create different resistance grids, independent GPS collar data from a case study population, and Circuitscape to create corridor models. We used several validation methods, including a novel method, to compare resulting corridors. Results: Transformed resistance grids were all correlated, yet differing validation and resistance grids resulted in different recommended corridors. The use of one resistance surface and one validation type can result in the selection of inefficient or ineffective corridors. At a minimum, modelers should determine what proportion of an independent population falls within resulting corridors and should move towards more robust, documented methods as resources allow. The use of multiple validation methods can ensure greater confidence of modeling results. Conclusions: We encourage the use and further development of the framework presented here to drive the corridor modeling field towards more effective corridor creation and improved conservation outcomes. If validation methods are not improved, the ecological and economic cost of poor corridor science will continue to increase with increasing biodiversity loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School buildings are essential in catering to children's psychological and educational needs. They enable children to learn, teach, play, and interact with peers. The corridor space within a school's structure is also significant, serving multiple purposes. The community in Erbil, Iraq, has expressed concerns about the economic challenges of constructing and designing new school buildings. Therefore, this research aimed to identify unused spaces in these corridors to ensure usability and flexibility while reducing the cost of building construction. A comprehensive approach was taken to achieve this, employing both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques. The qualitative analysis was conducted through surveys and documentation to provide an intense understanding of the issues. This research employed two distinct quantitative methods: first, the study used the Revit engineering software to compare the circulation ratio of pre-existing buildings with that recommended by the BB 103 guidelines, and second, student feedback was collected through a questionnaire to provide a holistic view of the situation. This study found that the built-up corridor area in the L-shaped school accounted for 34% of the total area, 11.5 percentage points more than the BB 103 guideline. Meanwhile, the built-up corridor area in the O-shaped school was 20.5 percentage points higher than the recommendation. According to the student feedback, the extra corridor space in the selected schools is not being efficiently utilized. Therefore, the proposed redesigns for the L-shaped and O-shaped schools focus on eliminating traditional corridors and integrating outdoor spaces to create functional areas, enhancing natural lighting and ventilation. These redesigned concepts ensure cost-effective, adaptable, and engaging educational spaces that support the well-being and academic success of students. This paper recommends that school designers and architects re-evaluate existing school designs with a focus on reducing corridor spaces and prioritizing outdoor learning areas. By adopting these strategies, schools can improve space utilization, foster healthier and more efficient learning environments, and promote sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, human-elephant conflict has been on the rise for the last few decades. The situation is worse in the state of Assam, where 5719 elephants are present, and the density of elephants is greater than that of other areas. Most of the elephant habitats in the state are fragmented or intermingled with human-used lands. As a result, human-elephant conflict (HEC) has been increasing in the state. Each year, an average of 80 elephants and 70 humans die in the state because of HEC. Most of these conflicts occur during the paddy harvesting season. At that time of year, the elephants come out from their habitats and take refuge in forest patches and tea gardens near agricultural fields and raid crops at night. Different methods have been adopted to identify conflict-affected areas, but none of the studies have tried to identify all the HEC-affected areas in the state. Here, we provide a rapid appraisal approach for identifying HEC hotspots in the state by using published news information as the primary source of data. A total of 216 villages were identified as HEC-affected areas in Assam. The identified areas can be used to understand site-specific problems and for HEC mitigation practices, as these areas are currently limited to only a few areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although studies of the sacral corridor dimension have been reported in the European population, little attention has been paid to this issue in the Asian population. The purpose of the study is to estimate the safe dimension of the corridor to avoid neurovascular damage during the fixation of the sacral fracture. The study aimed to examine the cephalocaudal (vertical) and the anteroposterior diameter of the bony passage in the upper three sacral segments. The study further examines the effect of age and sex on corridor dimensions at different sacral levels. Three-dimensionally reconstructed sacra from computed tomography of normal subjects were included in the study. Cephalocaudal and anteroposterior diameters were measured in coronal and axial sections using Geomagic Freeform Plus software. Anteroposterior diameter of the sacral corridor at the first, second, and third sacral segments are significantly higher in males (P=0.013, 0.0011, and <0.0001, respectively). The length of the sacrum also revealed sexual dimorphism (P<0.00016). The anteroposterior diameter of the second sacral segment (ap-S2c) correlated moderately with the first sacral anteroposterior diameter (ap-S1c) (R=0.519, P<0.001). The ap-S2c exhibited a moderate correlation to the third sacral segment (ap-S3c) (R=0.677, P<0.001). The sacral corridor at the level of S1 has the largest cephalocaudal (18.25 mm) and anteroposterior diameter (17.11 mm). Placement of the screw in the first sacral corridor may avoid damage to the neurovascular bundle during the fixation of the sacral fracture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Prey are more vulnerable during migration due to decreased familiarity with their surroundings and spatially concentrated movements. Predators may respond to increased prey vulnerability by shifting their ranges to match prey. Moose (Alces alces) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are primary gray wolf (Canis lupus) prey and important subsistence species for Indigenous communities. We hypothesized wolves would increase use of ungulate migration corridors during migrations and predicted wolf distributions would overlap primary available prey. Methods We examined seasonal gray wolf, moose, and white-tailed deer movements on and near the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Minnesota, USA. We analyzed GPS collar data during 2012–2021 using Brownian bridge movement models (BBMM) in Migration Mapper and mechanistic range shift analysis (MRSA) to estimate individual- and population-level occurrence distributions and determine the status and timing of range shifts. We estimated proportional overlap of wolf distributions with moose and deer distributions and tested for differences among seasons, prey populations, and wolf sex and pack affiliations. Results We identified a single migration corridor through which white-tailed deer synchronously departed in April and returned in October–November. Gray wolf distributions overlapped the deer migration corridor similarly year-round, but wolves altered within-range distributions seasonally corresponding to prey distributions. Seasonal wolf distributions had the greatest overlap with deer during fall migration (10 October–28 November) and greatest overlap with moose during summer (3 May–9 October). Conclusions Gray wolves did not increase their use of the white-tailed deer migration corridor but altered distributions within their territories in response to seasonal prey distributions. Greater overlap of wolves and white-tailed deer in fall may be due to greater predation success facilitated by asynchronous deer migration movements. Greater summer overlap between wolves and moose may be linked to moose calf vulnerability, American beaver (Castor canadensis) co-occurrence, and reduced deer abundance associated with migration. Our results suggest increases in predation pressure on deer in fall and moose in summer, which can inform Indigenous conservation efforts. We observed seasonal plasticity of wolf distributions suggestive of prey switching; that wolves did not exhibit migratory coupling was likely due to spatial constraints resulting from territoriality.

Summary: In this paper, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI)‐based weighted centroid localization (WCL) method for indoor corridor scenarios is developed and tested. The contribution of the proposed system is that, to scope the area of an unknown target position, the possible corridor area where the target node should be located is automatically selected, and only reference nodes deployed in such an area are applied for position estimation. Additionally, to improve the estimation precision, distance values converted from measured RSSIs and used for the WCL are also compensated to alleviate the RSSI variation problem caused by physical environments. Therefore, our methods can save a number of reference nodes to be used, while localization accuracy can also be achieved. Experiments in the corridor environment using a 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 wireless sensor network with four reference nodes deployed in the test field dimension of 22 m × 9.3 m have been performed. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method, which requires only two reference nodes, outperforms the original WCL method with four reference nodes by 53.053%, as indicated by average localization errors. The results also reveal that the proposed method provides error distances lower than the WCL method for all test target positions, while all estimated positions fall within the corridor areas by 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Prey are more vulnerable during migration due to decreased familiarity with their surroundings and spatially concentrated movements. Predators may respond to increased prey vulnerability by shifting their ranges to match prey. Moose (Alces alces) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) are primary gray wolf (Canis lupus) prey and important subsistence species for Indigenous communities. We hypothesized wolves would increase use of ungulate migration corridors during migrations and predicted wolf distributions would overlap primary available prey. Methods: We examined seasonal gray wolf, moose, and white-tailed deer movements on and near the Grand Portage Indian Reservation, Minnesota, USA. We analyzed GPS collar data during 2012–2021 using Brownian bridge movement models (BBMM) in Migration Mapper and mechanistic range shift analysis (MRSA) to estimate individual- and population-level occurrence distributions and determine the status and timing of range shifts. We estimated proportional overlap of wolf distributions with moose and deer distributions and tested for differences among seasons, prey populations, and wolf sex and pack affiliations. Results: We identified a single migration corridor through which white-tailed deer synchronously departed in April and returned in October–November. Gray wolf distributions overlapped the deer migration corridor similarly year-round, but wolves altered within-range distributions seasonally corresponding to prey distributions. Seasonal wolf distributions had the greatest overlap with deer during fall migration (10 October–28 November) and greatest overlap with moose during summer (3 May–9 October). Conclusions: Gray wolves did not increase their use of the white-tailed deer migration corridor but altered distributions within their territories in response to seasonal prey distributions. Greater overlap of wolves and white-tailed deer in fall may be due to greater predation success facilitated by asynchronous deer migration movements. Greater summer overlap between wolves and moose may be linked to moose calf vulnerability, American beaver (Castor canadensis) co-occurrence, and reduced deer abundance associated with migration. Our results suggest increases in predation pressure on deer in fall and moose in summer, which can inform Indigenous conservation efforts. We observed seasonal plasticity of wolf distributions suggestive of prey switching; that wolves did not exhibit migratory coupling was likely due to spatial constraints resulting from territoriality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid economic development in the Chengdu–Chongqing Economic Circle (CCEC) has exerted significant pressure on the ecological environment of the Sichuan–Chongqing Region in China. Balancing ecological protection and economic development has become an imperative challenge that needs to be addressed. In this study, we employed land use/cover data and environmental threat factors to construct Ecological Security Patterns (ESPs) for the CCEC using the InVEST model and Circuit Theory. The research findings revealed the following key outcomes: (1) The total area of suitable habitat in the CCEC was 208,728.3 km2, accounting for 87.14% of the study area. Habitat quality exhibited regional variations, with higher quality habitats predominantly found in the western and northeastern parts, and lower quality habitats in the central region. (2) The CCEC consisted of areas with low, medium, high, and optimal habitat quality, spanning 140,912.18 km2, 15,341.89 km2, 15,578.38 km2, and 36,895.85 km2, respectively. These areas accounted for 58.83%, 6.40%, 6.50%, and 15.40% of the study area, respectively. (3) The ESPs in the CCEC encompassed 22 ecological nodes, 36 clusters of ecological corridors, and 136 ecological sources. Ecological corridors served as radial connections, linking each ecological node and ecological source along mountain ranges, forested areas, river networks, and valleys. (4) The core ecological regions forming the ESPs of the CCEC included the Qionglai–Minshan–Longquan Mountains in the west, Tiefeng–Fangdou–Qiyue–Wushan Mountains in the east and northeast, and Dalou Mountain in the southeast. These regional-scale findings provide valuable insights for policymakers to implement targeted measures for ecological protection and promote green development. They offer objective guidance and constraints for managing urban expansion and anthropogenic activities, ultimately enhancing the ecological security level of the CCEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Functional connectivity models are essential in identifying major dispersal pathways and developing effective management strategies for expanding populations of invasive alien species. However, the extrapolation of models parameterized within current invasive ranges may not be applicable even to neighbouring areas, if the models are not based on the expected responses of individuals to landscape structure. Objectives: We have developed a high-resolution connectivity model for both terrestrial and aquatic habitats using solely potential sources. The model is used here for the invasive, principally-aquatic, African clawed frog Xenopus laevis, which is a species of global concern. Methods: All ponds were considered as suitable habitats for the African clawed frog. Resistance costs of lotic aquatic and terrestrial landscape features were determined through a combination of remote sensing and laboratory trials. Maximum cumulative resistance values were obtained via capture-mark-recapture surveys, and validation was performed using independently collected presence data. We applied this approach to an invasive population of the American bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus, in France to assess its transferability to other pond-dwelling species. Results: The model revealed areas of high and low functional connectivity. It primarily identified river networks as major dispersal pathways and pinpointed areas where local connectivity could be disrupted for management purposes. Conclusion: Our model predicts how the dispersal of individuals connect suitable lentic habitats, through river networks and different land use types. The approach can be applied to species of conservation concern or interest in pond ecosystems and other wetlands, including aquatic insects, birds and mammals, for which distribution data are limited or challenging to collect. It serves as a valuable tool for forecasting colonization pathways in expanding populations of both native and invasive alien species and for identifying regions suitable for preventive or adaptive control measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scene taxiing time is an important indicator for assessing the operational efficiency of airports as well as green airports, and it is also a fundamental parameter in flight regularity statistics. The accurate prediction of taxiing time can help decision makers to further optimize flight pushback sequences and improve airport operational efficiency while increasing flight punctuality. In this paper, we propose a hybrid deep learning model for departure taxiing time prediction based on the new influence factors of taxiing time. Taking Pudong International Airport as the research object, after analyzing the scene operation mode, we construct the origin–destination pairs (ODPs) with stand groups and runways and then propose two structure-related factors, corridor departure flow and departure flow proportion of ODP, as the new features. Based on the new feature set, we construct a departure taxiing dataset for training the prediction model. Then, a departure taxiing time prediction model based on convolutional neural networks (CNNs) and gated recurrent units (GRUs) is proposed, which uses a CNN model to extract the high-dimensional features from the taxiing data and then inputs them to a GRU model for taxiing time prediction. Finally, we conduct a series of comparison experiments on the historical taxiing dataset of Pudong Airport. The prediction results show that the proposed hybrid prediction model has the best performances compared with other deep learning models, and the proposed structure-related features have high correlations with departure taxiing time. The prediction results of taxiing time for different ODPs also verify the generalizability of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Persian Gulf-Black Sea International Transport and Transit Corridor is a multimodal and combined network of ships, rails, and road freight routes connecting Iran, Armenia, Georgia, Bulgaria, and Greece. Iran is the trustee of the agreement and has played the central role in establishing a transit route to the Black Sea region as 'Tehran's forgotten bridge to Europe' since its inception in 2016. Nonetheless, the Persian Gulf-Black Sea Corridor faces significant obstacles and challenges: resolving Iran's nuclear issues, resolving disputes between Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan, and stabilizing the security situation in the Black Sea following the Ukraine war, all of which reduce its efficiency and quality. In these circumstances, connecting the Iranian railway to the Caucasus and Armenia and building Armenia's North-South highway and the deep port of Anaklia on Georgia's Black Sea coast can stretch the capacities of the Persian Gulf-Black Sea Corridor. It can also strengthen the Wider Black Sea Region and the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying suitable habitats and conserving corridors are crucial to the long-term conservation of large and conflict-prone animals. Being a flagship species, survival of Asian elephants is threatened by human-induced mortality and habitat modification. We aimed to assess the habitat suitability and connectivity of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 habitat in the state of Odisha in eastern India. We followed the ensemble of spatial prediction models using species presence data and five environmental variables. We used least-cost path and circuit theory approaches to identify the spatial connectivity between core habitats for Asian elephants. The results revealed that normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; variable importance 42%) and terrain ruggedness (19%) are the most influential variables for predicting habitat suitability of species within the study area. Our habitat suitability map estimated 14.6% of Odisha's geographical area (c. 22,442 km²) as highly suitable and 13.3% (c. 20,464 km²) as moderate highly suitable. We identified 58 potential linkages to maintain the habitat connectivity across study area. Furthermore, we identified pinch points, bottlenecks, and high centrality links between core habitats. Our study offers management implications for long-term landscape conservation for Asian elephants in Odisha and highlights priority zones that can help maintain spatial links between elephant habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines and analyzes the problems and issues of the dynamics of the country’s economy (GDP) under the influence of external and internal factors and conditions in the second half of the year and in general for 2023. The dynamics of inflation and the value of the key rate of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, the volatility of the Russian ruble, the real effectiveness of the ruble exchange rate, which reveals the dynamics of exchange rates through the average value of the exchange rates of trading partners. Provides a short list of sanctions imposed in the second half of 2023 by unfriendly countries against Russia, effective measures taken by government agencies and business to ensure the successful functioning of the economy countries in the context of geopolitical tensions and sanctions restrictions.

Ijen was one of the roads in Malang City with land use intensity dominated by education and trade and services, generating land use caused a large movement. The main purpose of the study was to identify some problems and propose solutions to improve the performance of Ijen corridor. The meaning of “Omotenashi” is Japanese-style excellent service mindset consisting of hospitality aspect, familiarity and warmth aspects. The study employed Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Analysis of the familiarity aspect was descriptive evaluative interaction of public transport passengers. The analysis of the warmth aspect was descriptive evaluative in physical, social and historical attractiveness. The results showed that hospitality level at Ijen Corridor was 2.038 (hospitable), the familiarity aspect was 61 out of 100 people have interacted on the public transport, while the warmth aspect showed that many buildings are physical attractions and historical areas. The Ijen Corridor's alternative development strategies include raising public awareness of the use of public transportation, restricting access to motorized vehicles, law enforcement, and improving bicycle infrastructure, as well as enhancing the quality of public transportation services, pedestrian facilities, parking management, and carpooling/sharing.

This article assesses the implementation of Mongolia's “New Recovery Policy”, evaluates the current status of cargo and passenger transport, analyzes the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on these sectors, and identifies issues within the transport and logistics industry. Following the research, three primary conclusions were drawn: firstly, proposing actual solutions to the problems mentioned in this study; secondly, to augment transit traffic passing through Mongolia; and thirdly, the establishment of an autonomous government body, crucial for creating the central economic corridor connecting China, Mongolia, and Russia. The proposal suggests establishing an analysis institute to coordinate medium and long-term development policies of Russia and China, manage projects in the transport infrastructure domain, align legal frameworks among the three nations, and oversee the construction of the corridor.

The taxi-out time of an airport scene can be categorized into the unimpeded taxi-out time and the additional taxi-out time. Usually, additional taxi-out time is used as a key index to monitor taxi-out performance, and its accurate prediction plays an important role in optimizing the allocation of time slots at an airport and improving scene operation efficiency. Taking Shanghai Pudong International Airport as the research object, we first analyze its layout and construct the origin–destination pairs (ODPs) based on the stand groups and runways. Then, we develop a multiple linear regression model based on the arrival and departure flows to calculate the unimpeded taxi-out times for all ODPs. The actual taxi-out time is then subtracted from the unimpeded taxi-out time to obtain the historical additional taxi-out time of each flight. We propose three new flow features related to the structure: the corridor departure flow, the corridor arrival flow, and the departure flow proportion of ODPs, based on which we construct a dataset for training the prediction model. We then propose an additional taxi-out time prediction model based on the nutcracker optimization algorithm (NOA) and XGBoost and run comparison experiments on the operation data of our target airport. The results show that the optimized prediction model we proposed has the best performance compared with the traditional XGBoost model and other commonly used prediction models, and the proposed structure-related features have high correlations with additional taxi-out time.

Threats caused by human activities have reduced the quantity and quality of wildlife habitats connectivity. This research seeks to protect habitat biodiversity by creating a network of high quality habitats that remained. Therefore, it is very necessary to know about the dynamic effects of changes in the landscape pattern on the quality of the habitat, because it helps to preserve biodiversity, guarantee ecological security, and environmental sustainability. In the present study, a systematic process was used to design a network of habitat services comprising hotspots and corridors in arid and semi-arid ecosystems of eastern Iran, South Khorasan Province. In this process, habitat quality was first modeled using the InVEST software, then data mining methods were used to identify habitat hotspots and their spatial distribution. In the next step, habitat corridors were extracted based on the circuit theory and using the Circuitscape software. In the ultimate step, using graph theory based on the concept of ecological security, the connectivity of the habitat network was evaluated. The results of habitat network construction showed that 8% and 6% of the total area of the study area included key habitat patches and corridors, respectively. On the other hand, the overlapping of habitat network components with the conserved areas of the study area showed that free or non-conservation areas make up a significant amount of network components (49.18% of the habitat patch and 80.02% of the habitat corridor). These results reveal the existence of habitat protection potential and can help in updating the new boundaries of conservation areas. Also, the composite indices of dPC and dIIC could determine the importance of each of the network's components in evaluating the connectivity of the habitat network, so that the application of the results can show the priority options to the land managers for protecting the habitat network. In general, the systematic process proposed in this research can be used in planning the sustainable conservation of habitat networks, identifying patterns of ecological security, evaluating and constructing habitat networks in lands with similar climates, and changing and wisely reviewing the conservation area boundaries.

Identifying suitable habitats and conserving corridors are crucial to the long-term conservation of large and conflict-prone animals. Being a flagship species, survival of Asian elephants is threatened by human-induced mortality and habitat modification. We aimed to assess the habitat suitability and connectivity of the Asian elephant Elephas maximus Linnaeus, 1758 habitat in the state of Odisha in eastern India. We followed the ensemble of spatial prediction models using species presence data and five environmental variables. We used least-cost path and circuit theory approaches to identify the spatial connectivity between core habitats for Asian elephants. The results revealed that normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI; variable importance 42%) and terrain ruggedness (19%) are the most influential variables for predicting habitat suitability of species within the study area. Our habitat suitability map estimated 14.6% of Odisha’s geographical area (c. 22,442 km2) as highly suitable and 13.3% (c. 20,464 km2) as moderate highly suitable. We identified 58 potential linkages to maintain the habitat connectivity across study area. Furthermore, we identified pinch points, bottlenecks, and high centrality links between core habitats. Our study offers management implications for long-term landscape conservation for Asian elephants in Odisha and highlights priority zones that can help maintain spatial links between elephant habitats.

Successful conservation hinges on the reliable prediction and prioritisation of population core habitats and dispersal corridors. However, reliance on singlespecies connectivity has produced mixed results and, in most cases, failed to protect other species under the appealing but often unfulfilled guise of umbrella protection. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to identify core habitats and dispersal corridors for population connectivity of 15 terrestrial mammal species across Bhutan, (2) to identify indicator species of wildlife connectivity, (3) to prioritise core areas and dispersal corridors for the focal umbrella and indicator species, (4) to develop composite multispecies connectivity maps and evaluate the effectiveness of the existing protected area network. We used kernel density (KD) to identify core habitat areas and factorial least-cost path (LCP) to map dispersal corridors. We used correlation and cluster analyses to identify umbrella and indicator species, and quantitative ranking to prioritise core areas and corridors for these focal species. Finally, we produced maps of multispecies core areas and corridors, and identified gaps in the existing protected area network (PAN). We found that ungulates were generally more effective than carnivores in serving as umbrella species for core habitat protection, with Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) emerging as the most effective umbrella for core habitats and muntjac (Muntiacus muntjac) for dispersal corridors. We identified six focal connectivity indicator species in Bhutan: tiger (Panthera tigris), dhole (Cuon alpinus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), Asian elephant, and sambar deer (Rusa unicolor). Most indicator species' core areas and dispersal corridors outside the PAN were in southern Bhutan, indicating opportunities for increased multispecies connectivity through expanding protected area network in this region. A total of 40% of multispecies core areas and 24% of dispersal corridors were under PAN, with large parts of Bhutan offering suitable core areas and corridors for multispecies conservation. Core areas and corridors of the 15 considered species only partially overlapped, stressing the importance of multi-species consideration in designating wildlife corridors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal wetlands are crucial ecosystems at the interface between land and sea. In the context of economic development and urbanization, these wetlands face challenges such as reduction in area and fragmentation. Ecological networks can connect fragmented habitats, creating corridors for material, information, and energy transmission. This is vital for maintaining biological and landscape diversity and ensuring the healthy development of ecosystems. However, there is currently no research on the ecological networks in the Hebei-Tianjin coastal wetlands. In this study, the morphological spatial pattern analysis method is employed to identify wetlands sources, while the minimum cumulative resistance model is used to extract potential ecological corridors. By combining these with existing river corridors, the ecological network of coastal wetlands in Hebei and Tianjin is constructed, and regional network characteristics are analyzed. Critical areas of ecological protection and restoration are determined, including important ecological corridors, ecological pinch points, and ecological breakpoints. The results showed that: (1) The ecological network of Hebei-Tianjin coastal wetlands consisted of 38 ecological sources, 171 potential ecological corridors, and 399 river corridors, with a total area of 851.31 km2. (2) Key ecological protection and restoration areas were proposed, including 35 crucial potential wetlands ecological corridors, 343 ecological pinch points, and 99 ecological breakpoints. Targeted restoration of these critical areas could significantly improve the connectivity of wetlands ecological networks. (3) At present, priority should be given to protecting critical ecological corridors and existing river corridors with high similarity to potential ecological corridors. The findings of this study can provide a scientific basis for the network construction and protection of Hebei-Tianjin coastal wetlands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Estimates of gene flow resulting from landscape resistance inferences frequently inform conservation management decision‐making processes. Therefore, results must be robust across approaches and reflect real‐world gene flow instead of methodological artefacts. Here, we tested the impact of 32 individual‐based genetic distance metrics on the robustness and accuracy of landscape resistance modelling results. We analysed three empirical microsatellite datasets and 36 simulated datasets that varied in landscape resistance and genetic spatial autocorrelation. We used ResistanceGA to generate optimised multi‐feature resistance surfaces for each of these datasets using 32 different genetic distance metrics. Results of the empirical dataset demonstrated that the choice of genetic distance metric can have strong impacts on inferred optimised resistance surfaces. Simulations showed accurate parametrisation of resistance surfaces across most genetic distance metrics only when a small number of environmental features was impacting gene flow. Landscape scenarios with many features impacting gene flow led to a generally poor recovery of true resistance surfaces. Simulation results also emphasise that choosing a genetic distance metric should not be based on marginal R2‐based model fit. Until more robust methods are available, resistance surfaces can be optimised with different genetic distance metrics and the convergence of results needs to be assessed via pairwise matrix correlations. Based on the results presented here, high correlation coefficients across different genetic distance categories likely indicate accurate inference of true landscape resistance. Most importantly, empirical results should be interpreted with great caution, especially when they appear counter‐intuitive in light of the ecology of a species. see also the Perspective by William E. Peterman [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Bulletin of Ablai Khan KazUIRandWL: Series 'International Relations & Regional Studies' is the property of Kazakh Ablai Khan University of International Relations & World Languages and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Zpravoday Hnede Uhli is the property of Brown Coal Research Institute, j.s.c. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Aim: The goal of this study was to evaluate consistency among multiple connectivity models for jaguar and puma across Panama to evaluate the plausible current patterns of habitat connectivity for these and potentially other species in this critical biogeographic linkage zone. Approach: We compared 72 different models of landscape connectivity for both large felids using both empirically based and expert opinion derived resistance layers. We conducted resistant kernel modeling with different dispersal abilities to reflect uncertainty in the movement potential of the two species. We applied three transformations to the resulting connectivity surfaces to account for uncertainty about the shape of the dispersal kernel function. We then evaluated the similarities and differences among these connectivity models, identifying several factors that drive their differences. We quantified the factors that drive differences in connectivity predictions using surface correlation, Mantel testing, and agglomerative hierarchical clustering. Results: We found that the main differences among predicted connectivity surfaces were related to species and resistance modeling approach, with relatively little consistent difference related to dispersal ability and nonlinear kernel transformation. Based on the ensemble connectivity prediction across the 72 models, we identified two major core areas, corresponding to the eastern and western portions of the central mountain range, significant attenuation of connectivity in lowland and developed areas of Panama, a major breakage in connectivity in the Canal Zone spanning the width of the country, and weak but potentially critical movement routes connecting the two core areas across the Canal Zone. Implications: This paper contributes to both a theoretical and practical understanding of the functional connectivity of large felids, confirming the strong effect of differences in source points and resistance surfaces on connectivity predictions and identifying and mapping key core areas, barriers, and potential corridors for carnivore movement across the critical Pan-American linkage of the Isthmus of Panama. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to practice the concept of coordinated development of “Lucid Waters and Lush Mountains are Invaluable Assets” and “mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands and deserts are part of the community of life”, this study takes “pursuing green development and promoting harmony between humanity and nature” proposed in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China as the theoretical guidance. With the goal of enhancing ecosystem integrity and connectivity, enhancing population communication, enhancing population viability, and providing a model for the construction of ecological corridors for flagship species, based on the current distribution and habitat selection strategies of Asian elephants, the study follows the technological process of “Obtaining species distribution—Identifying habitat sources and resistance surface relating to elephant distribution—Constructing corridors based on the least cost path model—Extracting corridor centrality, pinch points, and barrier through circuit theory—Field investigation and validation—Adjusting and optimizing corridor design—Recommending corridor construction design scheme—Carrying out long-term monitoring of wildlife utilization of corridors”, and suggests construction idea of Asian elephant ecological corridor and related conservation advices. Above conceptions and advice serve for the strategic layout of “intensifying the protection of ecosystems”, “improving the system of shields for ecological security, and developing corridors and biodiversity protection networks”, providing technical support for scientific protection and effective management of Asian elephant population, offering a scientific basis for habitat restoration and layout of planned national parks and other protected area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Commuter trains are a popular mode of transportation among lowincome earners in Ghana. However, due to the economic turmoil of the 1970s, the government struggled to invest in and manage this travel option effectively. With the increasing trend towards mass commuter services worldwide, this study aimed to examine how commuters perceive the quality of railway services in Ghana, using the Accra-Nsawam corridor as a case study. The study involved an on-board survey of 430 passengers using questionnaires. The results showed that factors such as speed, punctuality, safety, comfort, and improved customer care were significant predictors of commuters' preference for commuter services. However, variables such as advanced technology and ticketing systems were found to be less important. The study recommends expanding rail services to other parts of the country while simultaneously improving technology [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

School buildings are essential in catering to children’s psychological and educational needs. They enable children to learn, teach, play, and interact with peers. The corridor space within a school’s structure is also significant, serving multiple purposes. The community in Erbil, Iraq, has expressed concerns about the economic challenges of constructing and designing new school buildings. Therefore, this research aimed to identify unused spaces in these corridors to ensure usability and flexibility while reducing the cost of building construction. A comprehensive approach was taken to achieve this, employing both qualitative and quantitative analysis techniques. The qualitative analysis was conducted through surveys and documentation to provide an intense understanding of the issues. This research employed two distinct quantitative methods: first, the study used the Revit engineering software to compare the circulation ratio of pre-existing buildings with that recommended by the BB 103 guidelines, and second, student feedback was collected through a questionnaire to provide a holistic view of the situation. This study found that the built-up corridor area in the L-shaped school accounted for 34% of the total area, 11.5 percentage points more than the BB 103 guideline. Meanwhile, the built-up corridor area in the O-shaped school was 20.5 percentage points higher than the recommendation. According to the student feedback, the extra corridor space in the selected schools is not being efficiently utilized. Therefore, the proposed redesigns for the L-shaped and O-shaped schools focus on eliminating traditional corridors and integrating outdoor spaces to create functional areas, enhancing natural lighting and ventilation. These redesigned concepts ensure cost-effective, adaptable, and engaging educational spaces that support the well-being and academic success of students. This paper recommends that school designers and architects re-evaluate existing school designs with a focus on reducing corridor spaces and prioritizing outdoor learning areas. By adopting these strategies, schools can improve space utilization, foster healthier and more efficient learning environments, and promote sustainability.

This study proposes a novel method for estimating the axial velocity of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) using motion blur images captured in environments where GPS signals are unavailable and lighting conditions are poor, such as underground tunnels and corridors. By correlating the length of motion blur observed in images with the UAV’s axial speed, the method addresses the limitations of traditional techniques in these challenging scenarios. We enhanced the accuracy by synthesizing motion blur images from neighboring frames, which is particularly effective at low speeds where single-frame blur is minimal. Six flight experiments conducted in the corridor of a hydropower station demonstrated the effectiveness of our approach, achieving a mean velocity error of 0.065 m/s compared to ultra-wideband (UWB) measurements and a root-mean-squared error within 0.3 m/s. The results highlight the stability and precision of the proposed velocity estimation algorithm in confined and low-light environments.

Effective transboundary corridors play a crucial role in jaguar Panthera onca conservation. Local residents reported jaguar sightings along the Baritú–Tariquía Biological Corridor, which prompted us to carry out this camera-trap survey. We surveyed an area of 1,243 km2 across the corridor to confirm jaguar presence. We used 50 single camera stations, with cameras placed c. 5 km apart. We placed the cameras along trails, streams and mountain ridges. We recorded jaguars at seven sites across the Corridor; at least three different individuals were identified. These records confirm the presence of the jaguar in the Baritú–Tariquía Biological Corridor between Argentina and Bolivia, a trans-frontier area of the Austral Yungas facing multiple threats but hosting one of the southernmost jaguar populations. Conservation efforts in border regions can promote collaboration and synergies between agencies and other conservation stakeholders, with important implications for wide-ranging predators such as jaguars and their habitats.

Successful conservation hinges on the reliable prediction and prioritisation of population core habitats and dispersal corridors. However, reliance on single-species connectivity has produced mixed results and, in most cases, failed to protect other species under the appealing but often unfulfilled guise of umbrella protection. The main objectives of this study were: (1) to identify core habitats and dispersal corridors for population connectivity of 15 terrestrial mammal species across Bhutan, (2) to identify indicator species of wildlife connectivity, (3) to prioritise core areas and dispersal corridors for the focal umbrella and indicator species, (4) to develop composite multispecies connectivity maps and evaluate the effectiveness of the existing protected area network. We used kernel density (KD) to identify core habitat areas and factorial least-cost path (LCP) to map dispersal corridors. We used correlation and cluster analyses to identify umbrella and indicator species, and quantitative ranking to prioritise core areas and corridors for these focal species. Finally, we produced maps of multispecies core areas and corridors, and identified gaps in the existing protected area network (PAN). We found that ungulates were generally more effective than carnivores in serving as umbrella species for core habitat protection, with Asian elephant (Elephas maximus) emerging as the most effective umbrella for core habitats and muntjac (Muntiacus muntjac) for dispersal corridors. We identified six focal connectivity indicator species in Bhutan: tiger (Panthera tigris), dhole (Cuon alpinus), clouded leopard (Neofelis nebulosa), Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus), Asian elephant, and sambar deer (Rusa unicolor). Most indicator species’ core areas and dispersal corridors outside the PAN were in southern Bhutan, indicating opportunities for increased multispecies connectivity through expanding protected area network in this region. A total of 40% of multispecies core areas and 24% of dispersal corridors were under PAN, with large parts of Bhutan offering suitable core areas and corridors for multispecies conservation. Core areas and corridors of the 15 considered species only partially overlapped, stressing the importance of multi-species consideration in designating wildlife corridors.

ABSTRACTCommuter trains are a popular mode of transportation among low-income earners in Ghana. However, due to the economic turmoil of the 1970s, the government struggled to invest in and manage this travel option effectively. With the increasing trend towards mass commuter services worldwide, this study aimed to examine how commuters perceive the quality of railway services in Ghana, using the Accra-Nsawam corridor as a case study. The study involved an on-board survey of 430 passengers using questionnaires. The results showed that factors such as speed, punctuality, safety, comfort, and improved customer care were significant predictors of commuters’ preference for commuter services. However, variables such as advanced technology and ticketing systems were found to be less important. The study recommends expanding rail services to other parts of the country while simultaneously improving technology.

AimThe goal of this study was to evaluate consistency among multiple connectivity models for jaguar and puma across Panama to evaluate the plausible current patterns of habitat connectivity for these and potentially other species in this critical biogeographic linkage zone.ApproachWe compared 72 different models of landscape connectivity for both large felids using both empirically based and expert opinion derived resistance layers. We conducted resistant kernel modeling with different dispersal abilities to reflect uncertainty in the movement potential of the two species. We applied three transformations to the resulting connectivity surfaces to account for uncertainty about the shape of the dispersal kernel function. We then evaluated the similarities and differences among these connectivity models, identifying several factors that drive their differences. We quantified the factors that drive differences in connectivity predictions using surface correlation, Mantel testing, and agglomerative hierarchical clustering.ResultsWe found that the main differences among predicted connectivity surfaces were related to species and resistance modeling approach, with relatively little consistent difference related to dispersal ability and nonlinear kernel transformation. Based on the ensemble connectivity prediction across the 72 models, we identified two major core areas, corresponding to the eastern and western portions of the central mountain range, significant attenuation of connectivity in lowland and developed areas of Panama, a major breakage in connectivity in the Canal Zone spanning the width of the country, and weak but potentially critical movement routes connecting the two core areas across the Canal Zone.ImplicationsThis paper contributes to both a theoretical and practical understanding of the functional connectivity of large felids, confirming the strong effect of differences in source points and resistance surfaces on connectivity predictions and identifying and mapping key core areas, barriers, and potential corridors for carnivore movement across the critical Pan-American linkage of the Isthmus of Panama.

The natural frequency of the long-span steel structure corridor is close to the pedestrian step frequency, which makes it very easy to cause resonance. This paper aims to study crowd-induced vibration control of long-span steel pedestrian corridors with different dynamic characteristics by combining methods of site measurement and numerical simulation. First, based on the steel structure corridor project of a multi-tower structure, the field modal test and the acceleration response under pedestrian load excitation are measured, and the dynamic characteristics and acceleration response under different frequency pedestrian loads are studied. Then, the finite element model of the large-span corridor is established, and the results of the measured and numerical simulation are compared and analyzed. Finally, with the relevant norms, a reasonable evaluation of pedestrian comfort is carried out. The results show that this paper's measured and finite element results have a certain accuracy. The damping characteristics of humans can absorb the vibration energy of the structure to reduce the vibration acceleration of the structure, and the results are conservative when human action is not considered. After installing the TMD system, the acceleration response of the corridor is significantly reduced, and the vibration reduction effect reaches 54%, which meets the comfort control requirements of the large-span corridor under pedestrian load excitation. The research results and methods in this paper can have particular engineering practical values for carrying out field measurements and comfort control in similar projects and provide a reference for engineering designers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hindrance in the ecological connectivity and gene transfer in the ecosystem affects numerous animals from large mammals to small invertebrates. For foraging, mating, and dispersal, many animal species need wide-ranging habitats such as ungulates—deer, elk, as well as bears, wolves, mountain lions, elephants and tigers. Their access to suitable habitats might be restricted by fragmented landscapes, which can also block essential movement corridors. Moreover, increased human inhabitants and population shift towards the edge of forests provides animals with very less or no scope of living in the wilderness thereby isolating the population. As a result, ecological connectivity analysis and landscape planning are integral part of one another. This paper gives a scoping review of the modelling techniques used to address the ecological connectivity in a landscape. The literature on existing modelling technique, highlighting its uses, advantages, limitations, and developments, is analysed and summarised in the paper. An exhaustive discussion on modelling techniques such as graph theoretic approaches (least cost path analysis, network analysis, etc.), circuit theoretic approaches, agent-based models and machine learning-based approach is compiled for improved decision-making. This review paper aims to support evidence-based decision-making by synthesising the current state of knowledge, identifying research gaps, and providing insights into future directions for advancing connectivity modelling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2013, China and Pakistan agreed to jointly build infrastructure and to generate power in order to support the development of Pakistan alongside the successful implementation of Belt and Road Initiative. The projects carried out under this agreement are collectively called the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), and the CPEC is anticipated to bring prosperity and peace to South Asia. Notably, the CPEC will improve the respective economies of both countries and the trade between them, establish a regional connection between these countries, solve their energy issues, increase their people's interactions, and develop their infrastructure, by the establishment of 2000 km-transportation infrastructure (pipelines, railways, and roads) between China (Kashgar) and Pakistan (Gwadar port) on the Arabian Sea, improving the China-Pakistan connectivity. However, Pakistan faces numerous potential eco-environmental vulnerabilities in implementing this multibillion-dollar CPEC. Although, the CPEC is a collection of game-changing infrastructure projects that will improve Pakistan's destiny and modernize it. The study also confirms that the people serving in different sectors of Pakistan have sufficient awareness and understanding of CPEC project. They are hopeful towards the advantages and execution of the CPEC project, indicating the effective strategies for supporting the sustainable development of Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]