A Device to Improve Collaborative Practices of Sanitation Department Agents of a Territory: The Case of the Lamkansa District in Casablanca

The aim of this article is to strengthen and improve the collaboration between professional agents of a service that manages one of the technical processes acting on a given territory by synchronizing the spatio-temporal dimensions including all agents assembled for the task. This proposal was tested in the Lamkansa neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco. The employed approach is based GIS resources and on systemic analysis of communication present in a territory. We were inspired by several methodological developments that carried multi-actor processes in land use planning. We focused our work on strengthening the collaboration between professionals, field agents and office agents, in the process of design and monitoring the liquid sanitation system. The device is based on geolocation and synchronous feedback of topological, geographical, and multimedia data related to the liquid sanitation network. Thanks to a geo-collaborative, participative, and motivating logic, we reduced the management costs of the network and made it faster and more efficient by equally mobilizing another type of non-specialized actors (the inhabitants). This device uses spatial and temporal dimensions to consolidate collaborative work tools through ICT and GIS technologies that thematize and exchange information collected in the field. Furthermore, this device raises great interest as it entails the concept of integration of several actors in a geo-collaborative mode while combining geomatics with communication and information sciences.

Territory and territorial behavior of migrating Common Coot (Fulica atra)

Territory and territorial behavior of the Common Coot（Fulica atra） were studied in two breeding sites,Anbanghe Nature Reserve and Daqing Longfeng wetland,in Heilongjiang Province,China from April to October in 2008 and 2009.In the breeding season,the breeding pairs occupied an area and protected it throughout the reproduction,and both interspecific and intraspecific conflicts were observed.Territory activities became severe since early May,the peak of territory behaviors appeared at late May,and then declined gradually.The territorial activities level was higher than that in the nest building period than in the laying and incubation periods.The most adopted behavioral model was expelling,which was the least energy cost.The degree of territorial behavior tended to be descended since the development of breeding phase.The territory size differed from 1 333 m2 to above 5 000 m2.Wintering population was observed in Poyang Lake of Jiangxi Province.The coots gathered in the open water;however,there was no territory behavior both in the interspecies and intraspecies in wintering sites.The hypotheses why there was territory behaviors for coots both in the interspecies and intraspecies were also discussed.

Urbanization has opposite effects on the territory size of two passerine birds

Background:Urban expansion has been identified as one of the leading drivers of biodiversity change or loss.For birds,urbanization is specifically related to survival,breeding success,and territory size.Understanding how different birds adjust territory size in response to urbanization is essential for their conservation in urban environments and to better understand why some species are lost and others persist under this condition.We evaluated the effect of urbanization on the territory size of an urban avoider species,White-eared Ground-Sparrow(Melozone leucotis),and an urban adapter species,House Wren(Troglodytes aedon),at five Costa Rican sites.Methods:We measured the size of 30 ground-sparrow and 28 wren territories using a total of 296 h of observation.We followed each individual for at least 1 h per day for at least 2 days of two consecutive years,and geo-referenced their locations.Territory size was estimated using the minimum convex polygon method.We measured the urban surfaces(roads,buildings,any other paved area,soccer fields,lawns,and gardens with short grass)within territories.Results:Ground-sparrow territories were larger at the highly urbanized site than at the non-urbanized site.Wren territories were larger at the low urbanized site than at the highly urbanized site.We found a positive relationship between urban surface and territory size for the ground-sparrow,but not for the wren.Conclusions:Our results showed that not all birds adjust territory size in the same way in response to urbaniza-tion.We showed that urban avoiders probably need to defend larger territories in urban environments to find all the resources required to survive because urban environments may provide insufficient resources such as food or shelter.Urban adapters on the other hand defend smaller territories in urban environments because even small territories may provide sufficient resources.These results suggest specific behavioral adaptations developed by Neotropical birds inhabiting urban environments.

Intruder familiarity and not duet similarity influences the territory defense in a year-round territorial bird species

To avoid unnecessary energy expenditures in territorial defense,many species(e.g.,insects,amphibians,birds,and mammals)have developed the capability to distinguish between different intruder types using visual,acoustic,and/or chemical signals.Determining the mechanism used for intruder recognition is key to understanding the dynamics of territorial behaviors.In birds that use vocalizations for territorial defense,the frequency and duration of vocalizations or the familiarity with the intruder may be the main mechanism used for intruder recognition.Here,we conducted a playback experiment with territorial White-eared Ground-sparrows(Melozone leucotis),to analyze if territorial pairs recognize intruders using frequency and duration characteristics(a bird’s response is based on how structurally similar the intruders’duets are to their own)or by familiarity with the intruders(neighbors vs.non-neighbors).We focused on duets because this species uses duets exclusively for territorial defense.We broadcasted a duet from a territorial neighbor,two duets from non-neighbors(with different frequency and duration characteristics),and a duet from a control species in 39 territorial pair from three populations.During playback we measured five behavioral responses:latency of the first vocalization,latency of the approach to the speaker,time spent close the speaker(within 5 m),number of individuals that approached the speaker,and the number of vocalizations.We found that territorial White-eared Ground-sparrow pairs responded stronger to neighbors than non-neighbors,and this response is not influenced by duet duration or frequency characteristics.This result suggests that neighbors represent a greater territorial threat for White-eared Ground-sparrows than non-neighbors.Further work is necessary to understand how common this observation is for tropical species that defend small territories year-round.

The Territory and the Respect for Borders,as a Condition for the Peace and Stability in the Balkans

States cannot be considered as such,if lacking these two elements:their population and their territory.The territory of a state consists of what is called the opportunity for development,advancement,and well-being of its citizens.But territories cannot be considered occupied or not,unless people live in them.Thus,people,not territories,are the object and subject of conquests and rulers,of governance and self-governance.All Balkan conflicts are caused by disputes over territories.They are often referred to as ethnic or religious conflicts,but,in fact,they were and they still remain conflicts over territories.These conflicts neither were nor appeared as civil wars for social or religious reasons,but they were ethnic wars.Therefore,the establishment and continuation of the peace process depends both on mutual respect of the Balkan states for their territorial integrity,as well as on respect for minorities.The current discussion on the modification of the Kosovo borders,as well as the tendency that Serbia gains territories from Kosovo in exchange for resolving the Albanian-Serbian conflict,is a precedent for a new chain of conflicts in the Balkans.The reasons why there can be no such solution to the conflict between Kosovo and Serbia are numerous.But the main one is that all states would gain the right to change borders in favor of creating ethnically purified societies.Any change of borders in Europe,but also elsewhere sets a precedent for further changes.The aim of this paper is to lay the argument why the modification of borders between Kosovo and Serbia has no ground in the international law and,to make clear the danger that such modification produces for the peace,stability,and security in the Balkans and beyond.

Education,Cultural Change,Territory:The Third Sector’Innovation.An Italian Case Study

This contribution proposes a theoretical‐empirical reflection on the relationship among the three sociological concepts identified by the authors as essential dimensions of the innovation:cultural change,education,and territory.The aim is to illustrate the complex relationship among these dimensions and the implications involved in terms of sociological perspectives and research tools,on the basis of the analysis of an emblematic case study:“FQTS”,Italian acronym of the project of Education of Executives and Leaders of the Third Sector in the Southern Italy.In particular,this investigation will be aimed at:(re)defining sociological concepts considered fundamental for the study of innovation;reconstructing the main empirical evidence emerging from the analysis of the case study;and summarizing the relevance of the research results,in terms of new themes and sociological perspectives,as well as of methodological questions.

Territory maximization hypothesis during peripheral nerve regeneration

Territory awareness refers to the notion that an organism lives in a territory, considers this territory its own, and prevents entry of other organisms. Generally, an organism maximizes its territory for best survival advantages, which subsequently allows for species continuation.

Spatio-Temporal Change of Atmospheric Precipitation on Territory of North-West of Ukraine

The direction of the trend of precipitation over time is an important characteristic for both theoretical and practical use.The presented study is devoted to the analysis of changes in the territory of the trend of precipitation over the year over time.At the present stage of climate change in the north-west of Ukraine,there is a general tendency to increase rainfall over the year.This trend is not the same across the territory and depends on the height and latitude of the area.The amount of precipitation varies both in space and in time,however,the distribution of the characteristics of the rains themselves(intensity,duration and others)continue to remain similar throughout the territory.The revealed features of changes in the amount of precipitation in space and time can be useful in studying the unevenness of wetting,forecasting floods,changes in erosion activity,etc.

China: A New Territory for the Global 500

From watching cautiously, sounding out the road by throwinga stone, to systematic investment, the multinationals have all playedthe China card. The process is accompanied by some disharmony such as when the intention of the multinationals is different from thatof the Chinese government, and frictions has arisen because the Chinese transforming market is not well regulated, but one thing is becoming more and more clear.

Evaluation of the Level of Mercury Pollution in the Sediments of the Rivers Draining the Gold Panning Sites in the Territory of Fizi, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

The sediments collected respectively from the Etó, Kacumvi, Kimbi, Lubichako, Makungu, Kuwa, Mandje, Misisi and Kimuti Rivers draining the gold panning sites in the Fizi territory were studied during a 16-month cycle (August and December 2016 to August and December 2017) in order to assess their degree of mercury pollution in the dry season as well as in the rainy season. The assessment of the degree of pollution of the said sediments focused on six parameters including the total mercury content (THg) and the indices of mercury pollution such as the mercury enrichment factor (EF), the mercury contamination factor (CF), the mercury geoaccumulation index (Igeo), the mercury potential ecological risk factor (PERF) and the mercury ecological risk index (ERI). Total mercury was determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry (AAS) while the mercury pollution indices were successively calculated using the appropriate formulas. The results thus obtained revealed that all the sediments of the rivers studied are considerably polluted by mercury according to the values relative to their total mercury content and mercury pollution indices, including the mercury enrichment factor (EF), the mercury contamination factor (CF), the mercury geoaccumulation index (Igeo), the mercury potential ecological risk factor (PERF) and the mercury ecological risk index (ERI), which greatly exceed the standards recommended by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. In particular, the sediments of the Kimbi River are highly polluted by mercury compared to those of other rivers studied. This reported pollution is the result of anthropogenic gold panning activities that generate effluents and elemental mercury that pollute the streams.

The International Mobility of Students Apprentices at the Heart of Building a Skills Economy: the Example of the Corsican Territory

At a time of exacerbated globalization,education,and more generally training,is a key factor for our society,at the heart of territories challenged to renew themselves in the face of the emergence around the globe of new centers of economic and demographic gravity,with their own models.Training,and its link with working life,is a real challenge to face,in the near future,the technological,economic,political and environmental revolutions that we are already facing.Beyond what is called sandwich training or continuing vocational training in Higher Education,the current challenge is indeed around lifelong learning,old concept but whose forms always call for an actualization in modernity.At the heart of a small island territory like Corsica,this challenge is all the more crucial to take up as it foreshadows its attractiveness in a context of glocalisation[8]now durably anchored.In an ever-changing global environment,with moving landmarks,increasingly complex personal and professional lives,and where everything that seemed well compartmentalized yesterday faces increasing porosity,the purpose of this contribution is to explain that the international mobility of students apprentices,at the heart of the construction of a skills economy,is a major strategic issue for the development and structuring of a small territory such as Corsica.

How to Achieve Local Resilience to Flood Risks by Increasing Solidarity: The Example of the “Syndicat Mixte” (Inter-Municipal Cooperation Structure) of the French Territory of Belfort-Montbéliard

This paper illustrates approaches to flooding risk governance in a territory where a high density of population corresponds to a high level of industrial activities and a significant development of transport infrastructures in a transboundary context between France, Germany and Switzerland. In the last few years, some fundamental changes in European official instructions about risks and especially about flooding risks occurred. Substantial public policy challenges remain in order to promote a broad-based resilient territory twinned with local knowledge of sustainable land management and civic participation in local governance. The survey is based on a GIS study and questionnaires with a representative panel of 235 stakeholders from the studied territory. Our statistical results demonstrate that, in spite of a deep-rooted mindset as regards flooding hazards, local population awareness of the territorial vulnerability is not related to important challenges. A hierarchical analysis of the data shows that the awareness of stakeholders is less related to the importance of risks when the territorial level decreases. It also highlights the decline of solidarity among neighbouring communities when the distance from the industrial axis increases. Greatly impacted by flooding risks, industrial activities of the regional basin are paradoxically not really perceived as common challenges. Such a case study illustrates how public policies need to be relevant to the adapted levels. Awareness of common issues is a central target to develop acceptance in order to provide an efficient framework of resilience, including willingness to pay to reduce the risk and solidarity in local development compensations.

The emotional structuring of the Andean territory: Mapping embodied narratives in Coporaque, Peru

This research explores the subject of territory,understood based on the life world of Andean inhabitants of the Colca Valley(Arequipa,Peru),who are descendants of ancient local Indigenous groups that,since prehistoric times,have known how to adapt to the rugged geographical reality of the Andes.Through a phenomenological approach,which assesses the subjective experience,it was possible to corroborate the existence of routine patterns of spatiality that preserve the emotional essence of past territorial conceptions,which have prevailed despite the hegemonic impositions systematically forced upon the land ever since the Spanish conquest in the 16th century.Through carrying out coexistence fieldwork in situ,five layers of territorial sense have been registered,which,besides being very useful in order to optimize and give coherence to their agricultural and animal husbandry tasks,are periodically represented through verbal and corporal narratives,which have been mapped in this work in order to make their dynamics of symbolization visible and to conclude in the existence of an emotional Andean territory.

Classification of territory risk by generalized linear and generalized linear mixed models

Territory risk analysis has played an important role in the decision-making of auto insurance rate regulation.Due to the optimality of insurance loss data groupings,clustering methods become the natural choice for such territory risk classification.In this work,spatially constrained clustering is first applied to insurance loss data to form rating territories.The generalized linear model(GLM)and generalized linear mixed model(GLMM)are then proposed to derive the risk relativities of obtained clusters.Each basic rating unit within the same cluster,namely Forward Sortation Area(FSA),takes the same risk relativity value as its cluster.The obtained risk relativities from GLM or GLMM are used to calculate the performance metrics,including RMSE,MAD,and Gini coefficients.The spatially constrained clustering and the risk relativity estimate help obtain a set of territory risk benchmarks used in rate filings to guide the rate regulation process.

Frontier Progress of Landscape Character Assessment in China

The role of Landscape Character Assessment(LCA)at the level of territorial landscape governance spans both natural and social sciences.By analyzing the development history,research distribution,methods and applications of cutting-edge cases of LCA in China,the following conclusions are drawn:①the LCA research in China originated earlier than that in Europe,but has not yet been systematically applied to the implementation of urban and rural planning at all levels;②the fundamental theory of LCA in China has been well constructed,with three main research directions:technologyled,assessment-led,and assessment combined with other theories;③the development of LCA in rural areas is more mature than in urban areas,but the progress of research is uneven across regions;④the current research presents significant“bottom-up”academic characteristics,and there is an urgent need for government decision-making authorities and academia to jointly promote a“top-down”standardized governance mechanism to comprehensively promote the modernization of territorial landscape governance.

The potential function of post-fledging dispersal behavior in first breeding territory selection for males of a migratory bird

One possible hypothesis for the function of post-fledging dispersal is to locate a suitable future breeding area.This post-fledging period may be particularly important in migratory species because they have a limited period to gather information prior to autumn migration,and in protandrous species,males must quickly acquire a territory after returning from spring migration to maximize their fitness.Here we use color-ring resightings to investigate how the post-fledging dispersal movements of the Cyprus wheatear Oenanthe cypriaca,a small migratory passerine,relate to their first breeding territory the following year when they return from migration.We found that males established first breeding territories that were significantly closer to their post-fledging location than to their natal sites or to post-fledging locations of other conspecifics,but these patterns were not apparent in females.Our findings suggest that familiarity with potential breeding sites may be important for juveniles of migratory species,particularly for the sex that acquires and advertises breeding territories.Exploratory dispersal prior to a migrant’s first autumn migration may contribute toward its breeding success the following year,further highlighting the importance of early seasonal breeding on fitness and population dynamics more generally.

Malignant middle-cerebral artery territory infarction in tuberculous vasculitis

Intracranial large vessel involvement is an unusual complication of tuberculous meningitis.The authors report a 39-year-old female presenting with an episode of seizure,followed by rapid decline in sensorium without prominent systemic features.An initial cranial magnetic resonance imaging revealed tuberculomata and patchy infarcts.Despite antituberculous therapy,she progressively worsened.A cranial computed tomography scan done following the worsening revealed a massive middle-cerebral artery(MCA)infarct.Unfortunately,the patient died in spite of decompressive craniotomy.Malignant MCA territory infarct is a rare and potentially fatal complication of tuberculous meningitis.

One Territory,Two Administrations

The conflicts between Fatah and Hamas have split the Palestinian territory.Now the future of peaceful negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian is dim The violent conflicts between Palestine’s two main mili-tary parties, the Palestine National Liberation Movement (Fatah) and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), have quickly expandedsince June.

Population structure and body condition of White-crested Elaenia(Elaenia albiceps)in relation to habitat in a modiffed Neotropical forest landscape

Despite the widely accepted view that planted forests are valuable habitat for wildlife species,there is a lack of empirical evidence showing the suitability of this novel habitat,especially in relation to plantations of exotic tree species.Furthermore,little is known about the effects of forest management on the ecology and dynamics of wild populations in the Neotropics.During the breeding season,the migrant flycatcher White-crested Elaenia is the most abundant bird species in forested landscapes in Chile.For several years we have studied different aspects of these artificial forests in the coastal range of south-central Chile as habitat for the species,particularly in contrast to the native forest.In general,our results indicate that plantation forests offer a poorer quality habitat,where the density of the species tends to be lower than in the native forest,although a significant edge effect suggests that its quality can be mitigated by planting as a matrix mosaic with native forest.Furthermore,compared to native forests,populations in plantations contained a higher proportion of younger adult individuals maintaining larger territories,and showing poorer body condition.We suggest that these differences could also have an impact on the birds'longevity and survival.