A Research Agenda for the Future of Urban Water Management: Exploring the Potential of Nongrid, Small-Grid, and Hybrid Solutions.

Recent developments in high- and middle-income countries have exhibited a shift from conventional urban water systems to alternative solutions that are more diverse in source separation, decentralization, and modularization. These solutions include nongrid, small-grid, and hybrid systems to address such pressing global challenges as climate change, eutrophication, and rapid urbanization. They close loops, recover valuable resources, and adapt quickly to changing boundary conditions such as population size.

Applying GIS and population genetics for managing livestock insect pests: case studies of tsetse and screwworm flies.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have supported a Co-ordinated Research Project (CRP) on 'Applying GIS and population genetics for managing livestock insect pests'. This six-year CRP (2008-2013) focused on research aimed at under-pinning the Area-Wide Integrated Pest Management (AW-IPM) of populations of tsetse and screwworm flies, and this introductory paper to the Special Issue integrates the findings of the CRP participants and discusses them in a broader context. The tools and techniques for mapping and modelling the distributions of genetically-characterised populations of tsetse and screwworm flies are increasingly used by researchers and managers for more effective decision-making in AW-IPM programmes, as illustrated by the reports in this Special Issue.

Assembling a geospatial database of tsetse-transmitted animal trypanosomosis for Africa.

Background: African animal trypanosomosis (AAT), or nagana, is widespread within the tsetse-infested belt of sub-Saharan Africa. Although a wealth of information on its occurrence and prevalence is available in the literature, synthesized and harmonized data at the regional and continental scales are lacking. To fill this gap the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) launched the Atlas of tsetse and AAT, jointly implemented with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the framework of the Programme Against African Trypanosomosis (PAAT).

Comparative validation of computer programs for haplotype frequency estimation from donor registry data.

Estimation of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) haplotype frequencies from unrelated stem cell donor registries presents a challenge because of large sample sizes and heterogeneity of HLA typing data. For the 14th International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop, five bioinformatics groups initiated the 'Registry Diversity Component' aiming to cross-validate and improve current haplotype estimation tools. Five datasets were derived from different donor registries and then used as input for five different computer programs for haplotype frequency estimation.