scholarly journals Low-cost soil conservation technique for controlling gully erosion in the semi-arid area of the Free State province

Author(s):  
Joseph ◽  
Van der Westhuizen

In South Africa, soil erosion is a major problem confronting natural resources. Gully erosion has a huge negative impact on soil productivity and potable water supplies, while measures to control it are expensive. Sannaspos farm which has been threatened by gully erosion was selected as a demonstration site for controlling gully erosion using low-cost control measures. The main aim of this study was to control gully erosion resulting in improved rangeland production. The technique entailed the use of old tyres and bags filled with soil. Three reference points were selected along a 240 m gully in August 2016 and monitored over 42 months. After 17 months (January 2018), gully depth decreased from 70 to 34 cm, 45 to 20 cm and 35 to 19 cm at the three reference points. After 24 months (August 2018) gully depth further decreased from 34 to 27 cm, 20 to 14 cm, and 19 to 10 cm for the three points. Thirty months after installing control measures (February 2019), the gully was sealed at all reference points. By February 2020 (42 months after initiation of the trial), the entire gully was sealed and covered with various vegetation types. Use of this low-cost method to control gully erosion is recommended under similar conditions.

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Arie Herlambang

Clean water to poor communities who live in crowded municipal area is stillexpensive and a luxury. This condition is evidenced by the number of people whouse ground water for their daily water, because water taps still seems expensivefor them. Diarrheal disease is still relatively high for Indonesia, where nearly 16thousand people suffer from diarrhea due to poor sanitation. To help the poor inthe city, there are several alternative technologies that can be applied to publicaccess to clean water and adequate low-cost, including ground water treatmenttechnology with a filter system equipped with an ultraviolet sterilizer, or ozonegenerators, or using ultrafiltration, if possible can also use the reverse osmosismembrane that for fresh water. Arsinum is the best alternative should be chosenfor fulfilled potable water in slump area.Keywords : Sanitation, water treatment technology, portable water, low-cost, slump area


Author(s):  
Marina Yiasemidou

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic and infection control measures had an unavoidable impact on surgical services. During the first wave of the pandemic, elective surgery, endoscopy, and ‘face-to-face’ clinics were discontinued after recommendations from professional bodies. In addition, training courses, examinations, conferences, and training rotations were postponed or cancelled. Inadvertently, infection control and prevention measures, both within and outside hospitals, have caused a significant negative impact on training. At the same time, they have given space to new technologies, like telemedicine and platforms for webinars, to blossom. While the recovery phase is well underway in some parts of the world, most surgical services are not operating at full capacity. Unfortunately, some countries are still battling a second or third wave of the pandemic with severely negative consequences on surgical services. Several studies have looked into the impact of COVID-19 on surgical training. Here, an objective overview of studies from different parts of the world is presented. Also, evidence-based solutions are suggested for future surgical training interventions.


Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (8) ◽  
pp. 1554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Zhang ◽  
Imen Bahri ◽  
Xavier Mininger ◽  
Cristina Vlad ◽  
Hongqin Xie ◽  
...  

Due to their inherent advantages such as low cost, robustness and wide speed range, switched reluctance machines (SRMs) have attracted great attention in electrical vehicles. However, the vibration and noise problems of SRMs limit their application in the automotive industry because of the negative impact on driver and passengers’ comfort. In this paper, a new control method is proposed to improve the vibratory and acoustic behavior of SRMs. Two additional control blocks —direct force control (DFC) and reference current adapter (RCA)—are introduced to the conventional control method (average torque control (ATC)) of SRM. DFC is adopted to control the radial force in the teeth of the stator, since the dynamic of the radial force has a large impact on the vibratory performance. RCA is proposed to handle the trade-off between the DFC and ATC. It produces an auto-tuning current reference to update the reference current automatically depending on the control requirement. The effectiveness of the proposed control strategy is verified by experimental results under both steady and transient condition. The results show that the proposed method improves the acoustic performance of the SRM and maintains the dynamic response of it, which proves the potential of the proposed control strategy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 180
Author(s):  
Ogbette, Afamefuna Samuel ◽  
Idam, Macben Otu ◽  
Kareem, Akeem Olumide

This study examined the impact of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Nigeria. It solely depended on the secondary source for information. SARS is one of the Nigeria Police Force units that is saddled with the responsibility of fighting crime in the society; specifically, robbery and kidnapping. The impact was examined in two ways: Positive and Negative impact. From the positive point of view, SARS has been able to reduce robbery and kidnapping to an extent but unfortunately, people now use them as bodyguards to intimidate, suppress, and harass other people. From our findings, SARS tortures people mercilessly, extort, beat, kill and jail people who are not forthcoming with their demands. It was also discovered that, most of them lacks orientation on human relation which is a big gap the Nigeria Police Force need to cover by re-orienting them. Again, it was discovered that some of the personnel smoke and drink. They are often intoxicated while on duty, wielding sophisticated guns. From the study, the following recommendations were made: control measures should be put in place for SARS to be stopped from torturing people. They should equally be stopped from extorting, beating, killing (except in a battle ground) and framing people up just to be jailed. Investigative jobs as that of SARS should be exclusively for graduates in the Police Service. Again, the Nigeria Police Force and Nigeria Police Service Commission need to often re-orient these officers on human relations. Finally, officers caught drinking or smoking (especially hard drugs) on duty should be properly dealt with to serve as a deterrent to others.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-144
Author(s):  
S. M. Yessengaliyeva ◽  
M. A. Mansurova ◽  
A. D. Makhmudov ◽  
L. V. Fedorchenko

The article is devoted to the study and analysis of the current state of the animal husbandry industry in the Republic of Kazakhstan in the context of regions. The indicators of the dynamics of the number of livestock of farm animals for the period 2015-2019 by regions, indicators of productivity in the industry, indicators of the volume of production of meat products are analyzed. The dynamics and structure of costs in the country’s livestock industry are also considered.Today, one of the most pressing problems in the development of the agro-industrial complex is the low level of labor productivity due to low automation and digitalization of technological processes. The need to meet the demand for livestock products in the domestic market of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as to increase its export resources, poses a challenge for Kazakhstani science and practice to develop, scientifically substantiate and master modern technologies for the production of low-cost, environmentally friendly, competitive products of the industry. They should be resource-saving, aimed at maximizing the use and improvement of the genetic potential of farmed farm animals, adapted to the specific natural and economic conditions of the regions of the republic. The development and mastering of such technologies will make it possible to weaken the negative impact of the industry on the environment, reduce the cost of material resources, and effectively use the available land and water resources [5].The main problems hindering the effective development of the country’s livestock industry are identified. The promising strategic directions for the development of this industry have been determined. From the point of view of experts of the financial organization, the country has good potential and opportunities to export its beef and pork to China, and the lamb of the Edilbay sheep breed to the countries of the Middle East.


Complexity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Yi-Cheng Zhang ◽  
Zhi Li ◽  
Guo-Bing Zhou ◽  
Nai-Ru Xu ◽  
Jia-Bao Liu

After the occurrence of public health emergencies, due to the uncertainty of the evolution of events and the asymmetry of pandemic information, the public’s risk perception will fluctuate dramatically. Excessive risk perception often causes the public to overreact to emergencies, resulting in irrational behaviors, which have a negative impact on economic development and social order. However, low-risk perception will reduce individual awareness of prevention and control, which is not conducive to the implementation of government pandemic prevention and control measures. Therefore, it is of great significance to accurately evaluate public risk perception for improving government risk management. This paper took the evolution of public risk perception based on the COVID-19 region as the research object. First, we analyze the characteristics of infectious diseases in the evolution of public risk perception of public health emergencies. Second, we analyze the characteristics of risk perception transmission in social networks. Third, we establish the dynamic model of public risk perception evolution based on SEIR, and the evolution mechanism of the public risk perception network is revealed through simulation experiments. Finally, we provide policy suggestions for government departments to deal with public health emergencies based on the conclusions of this study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Nasser A. Alamrani ◽  
Hatem A. Al-Aoh ◽  
Meshari M. H. Aljohani ◽  
Suhair A. Bani-Atta ◽  
M. Sobhi ◽  
...  

The powder of Ocimum Basilicum leaves was treated by zinc chloride (ZnCl2) and applied as a new and low-cost sorbent for extraction of permanganate anions (MnO4−) from liquid phase. The functional groups of the ring stretching vibration, –NH2 deformation, stretching of C-O, stretching of CH, and stretching of –NH were found in the sorbent of zinc chloride Ocimum basilicum leaves powder (ZCOBLP) at 1516.21, 1629.33, 1047.00, 2929.88, and 3294.93 cm−1, respectively. This adsorbent has 8.3 pHZPC, 117.27 m2·g−1 surface area, 0.00711 cc·g−1 pore volume and average pore diameter of 264.144 Å. The outcomes of sorption experiments designate the positive impact for temperature, time of agitation, and started concentration of MnO4− and negative impact for pH. The optimal conditions were 1300 mg·L−1 as started adsorbate concentration, 55°C as solution temperature, agitation time of 420 min, and pH of 1.5. The outcomes of the equilibrium and dynamic approve that this sorption is spontaneous and heat-absorbing process, and the obtained data were described well by isotherm model of Langmuir and 2nd-order dynamic model. The capacities of this sorption were 588.235, 625.000, 666.667, and 714.286 mg·g−1 at 25, 35, 45, and 55 (°C), respectively. The superior sorption capacities of the uncostly ZCOBLP will make it successfully used for MnO4− ions extraction from liquid phases.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-241
Author(s):  
Franciane Mendonça Dos Santos ◽  
José Augusto Lollo

This study was developed at Caçula stream watershed of Ilha Solteira (Brazil) for potential infiltration estimation based on digital cartography. These methods aim at low-cost and quick analysis processes in order to support the territorial planning. The preliminary potential infiltration chart was produced using ArcHydro and pedological information of the study area. The curve-number method (Soil Conservation Service) was used to determine the potential infiltration combining information related to land-use and soil types in the watershed. We also used a methodology that assumes being possible to evaluate potential infiltration of a watershed combining average annual rainfall, land-use and watershed natural attributes (geomorphology, geology and pedology). Results show that ArcHydro is efficient for a preliminary characterization because it shows flow accumulation areas, allowing higher potential of degradation areas in terms of floods, mass movement and erosion. As land-use classes have significant weight in Soil Conservation Service method assessing potential infiltration, this method allow us to evaluate how land-use changes affect water dynamic in the watershed. The propose based on natural environment attributes enables to determine the homologous infiltration areas based on a higher number of natural characteristics of the area, and thereby obtain a result that is closer to the local conditions and, consequently for degradation surface processes identification.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Deborah Alaigba ◽  

Gully erosion remains a major threat to the people of Benin City. This study applies Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) and geospatial techniques to evaluate vulnerability to gully erosion in Benin City, Nigeria. Five essential criteria were identified based on literature, and evaluation by experts. Pairwise Comparison Matrix (PCM) was obtained and weights for each of the PCM were determined using AHP. The consistency of generated weights obtained is not above 0.07. The method resulted in a gully erosion vulnerability model. Analysis of the model revealed that 52.1% (488.69Km2) of the area is vulnerable to gully erosion, while 3.4% (32.37 Km2) was found to be highly vulnerable to gully erosion. Fieldwork was conducted to establish the people’s perception and identify the causes and control measures for the gully erosion problem in the area. Findings on the major contributing factor that leads to the gully erosion formation showed that lack of drainage system accounts for 56.25%, improper land use practice account for 25%, and bad road construction (18.75%). About 50% of the respondents are of the view that an adequate drainage system would go a long way to mitigate the gully erosion. This present study has provided information on the state of gully erosion vulnerability in Benin City through mapping of vulnerable areas.


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