Taxonomy of Middle Miocene foraminifera from the northern Namibian continental shelf

Middle Miocene foraminifera from the northern Namibian outer continental shelf are indicators of a period prior to the initiation of the Benguela Upwelling System (BUS). This study provides an update to the occurrence and taxonomy of Miocene foraminifera from the continental margin of Namibia. The taxonomy of 51 benthic and 12 planktic foraminiferal species from the northern Namibian shelf are discussed, their stratigraphic significance given, and their ecological preferences and regional distribution summarised within this study. The identification of extinct planktic foraminifera provided key stratigraphic control for the middle Miocene strata of this region. The taxa identified in this study provide a distinct and different assemblage to the overlying younger strata. Many of the species recorded in this study have not been identified in the region and are reported for the first time from the middle Miocene on the southwestern continental shelf of Africa, off Namibia. A total of 47 species are identified and discussed for the first time from this region. Nineteen species recorded in this study are extinct and eleven taxa reported here have previously only been reported on the genus level on the southwestern shelf of South Africa. Seven benthic species (Amphicoryna scalaris, Marginulina obesa, Glandulina laevigata, Globocassidulina subglobosa, Uvigerina peregrina, Sphaeroidina bulloides and Melonis affinis) and two planktic species (Globigerina bulloides and Orbulina universa) did not disappear from the regional stratigraphy and continued to occur in Plio-Pleistocene to Recent sediments along the southwestern continental shelf of Africa.

Modeling Impacts of Mining Activity-induced Landscape Change on Local Climate

As a major energy source, coal has been mined on an increasingly larger scale as the social economy has continuously developed, resulting in drastic land type changes. These changes in turn cause changes in the local climate and affect the local ecological environment. Therefore, for coal cities, mining activities are an important factor influencing the local climate, and clarifying the impact of mining activities on the ecological environment is important for guiding regional development. In this paper, the impact of land use/cover changes (LUCCs) on local temperature in the spring and summer seasons from 1980 to 2018 was simulated using the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model with Xilinhot city as the study area, and the regional distribution of local surface energy was analyzed in conjunction with the ground-air energy transfer process. The results show that the grassland area in Xilinhot remained above 85% from 1980 to 2018, so mining activities had a small impact on the average temperature of the whole region. However, in the mining area, the warming effect caused by mining activities was more obvious, with an average temperature increase of 0.822 K. Among other land transformation types, the conversion to water bodies had a very obvious cooling effect, lowering the temperature by an average of 2.405 K. By comparing the latent heat flux (LH), sensible heat flux (SH) and ground heat flux (GRD) under different land use types, it was found that in 2018, the LH decreased by 0.487 W/m2, the SH decreased by 0.616 W/m2 and the GRD decreased by 0.753 W/m2. The conversion to built-up urban land caused a significant decrease in the LH in the corresponding area, allowing more energy to be used to increase SH values, which resulted in significantly higher urban temperatures than in other areas.

Improving Resiliency in Healthcare Service by Minimizing Unsatisfied Demand

Natural or manmade disasters can bring havoc to the healthcare industry in terms of poor services, out of stocks, cost overruns, and loss of lives. Specifically, the aftermath of disasters can be brutal if not managed properly. The quicker the healthcare providers recover, the lesser the impact would be. A resilient system has the potential to reduce the recovery time significantly. Healthcare providers under emergency scenarios may realize out-of-stock situations for their critical medical supplies. The out-of-stock supplies potentially cause poor patient care including death. COVID 19 is an unfortunate example where critical medical supplies were completely out for many medical providers and that had a serious negative impact on healthcare service deliveries. Healthcare providers needed to replenish their supplies from the overseas manufacturing plants, or central distribution centers, or unaffected regional distribution centers. Most of the times healthcare authorities struggle to secure critical medical supplies from other distribution centers due to operational and transportation issues. Depending on the disaster condition, sometimes many health care providers are beyond reach due to damaged transportation networks. This is the perfect time to share critical medical supplies from unaffected regions. Proven techniques like operation research can alleviate this situation. There are very few works that have been done in the field of healthcare service deliveries in case of a disaster. This chapter discusses the modeling techniques using operations research to improve the service levels while minimizing unsatisfied demand in the natural disaster-affected zones.

Variability in rainfall dispersion in Madhya Pradesh

An attempt has been made to examine distribution and dispersion in rainfall variability in Madhya Pradesh by applying Gamma distribution probability model, The spatial and regional distribution of shape and scale parameters of the Gamma distribution have been examined, Periods of water surpluses and deficiencies have been identified by comparing the probability rainfall with the water requirement. Regression equations have been developed to find probabilitistic rainfall from the mean rainfall. Agronomic practices have been evaluated for efficient utilization of water resources for crop planning.

LCA-Based Regional Distribution and Transference of Carbon Emissions from Wind Farms in China

As a clean form of energy utilization, wind power is important for alleviating climate change. Although no direct carbon emissions occur in wind power generation, there exist upstream carbon emissions from manufacturing and installation, which have indirect effects on both the locations of wind farms and areas involved in upstream production and manufacturing. In this paper, based on Input–Output based Life Cycle Analysis (IO-LCA), we explored the lifetime carbon emissions of 378 wind farms in China that were still in operation in 2015. The regional distributions of carbon emissions from wind farms during the whole lifetime were depicted. The embodied carbon emission transfers from the location of the wind farm operation to upstream turbine manufacturing regions were traced. The net emission reduction benefits among regions were also calculated. Results show that carbon emissions mainly distribute in Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, and Tianjin in the turbine manufacturing stage, with a total amount of 3.36 MT. Inner Mongolia contributes the largest carbon emissions (5.94 MT) in the farm construction stage. Inner Mongolia has transferred about 0.99 MT carbon emissions to itself and has the largest net emission reduction. Recognizing the carbon emission transfer of wind farms and dividing the carbon emission reduction responsibilities among regions may shed light on supply chain carbon emission reduction and provincial carbon quota allocation.

Whose Policy Matters? Elite Disagreement on Illegal Fishing Problems

Neo-realism predicted the state will choose a certain balancing strategy accordingly to the given strategic environment and the relative power of respective states. Since Southeast Asia recognized as informal and norm-based regionalism, state balancing strategy will maximize the regional organization as a means to restraining member state's behavior and managing basic interaction within states. However, neo-realism unable to explain why states would not adopting the expected balancing strategy despite already obtained necessary international pressure and relative power. This condition occurred in Indonesia’s foreign policy toward ASEAN, especially on combating illegal fishing disputes. Ever since the foundation of the regional group, Indonesia has applied the ASEAN-led mechanism as a means to the dispute. However, the regional distribution of power and Jakarta’s relative power do not change but Indonesia’s balancing strategy does. To explain such conditions, this research will employ neo-classical realism to examine why Indonesia not adopting an institutional balancing strategy. Neoclassical-realist argued that it is the intervening variable that determined the state’s balancing strategy. This research will analyze Indonesia’s intervening variable using Randall Scwheller’s elite consensus framework and found out the shift of Indonesia's balancing strategy occurred due to elite dissensus on how perceiving ASEAN as a regional group

On assessment of Rospotrebnadzor surveillance and control activities efficiency and effectiveness aimed at preserving the health of workers

In order to achieve the national development purposes of the Russian Federation for the protection and improvement of public health as declared in the strategic documents, under conditions of limited budgetary resources it is relevant to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of public administration, including that of organizations carrying out control and supervision functions. The aim of the study was to develop methods for assessing the efficiency and effectiveness of Rospotrebnadzor control and supervision activities and the interpretation of the assessment results, as well as to test the proposed approaches in the analysis of the regional distribution of efficiency and effectiveness indicators in the Russian Federation Regions. Using methods of mathematical statistics, the cause-effect relationships between medical and demographic indicators, environmental quality indicators and Rospotrebnadzor activities in the triple system "Rospotrebnadzor activities - environmental quality - public health" were established and parameterized. The actual and prevented health and demographic (morbidity and mortality) economic losses associated with the negative impact of environmental factors have been assessed as a result of control and supervision activities. The calculation of indicative indicators of effectiveness and efficiency of control and supervision activities of Rospotrebnadzor in the Russian Federation Regions and the Russian Federation in general, has been carried out. The analysis of the regional distribution of the indicator of the effectiveness of the control and supervision activities of Rospotrebnadzor is performed. Using the method of k-means cluster analysis, typology of the Russian Federation Regions was carried out according to a set of indicators characterizing the performance of Rospotrebnadzor, the level of macroeconomic development of the region and the amount of funds allocated for control and surveillance activities to ensure sanitary and epidemiological welfare in the Russian Federation Regions. The results obtained from the analysis of the regional distribution of indicative indicators and the typology of the Russian Federation Regions (compared with the national average) can be used as a reference point for the Russian Federation Regions when assessing management reserves and developing programmes of measures to reduce risks to public health.