Identification of submarine landslides in the Colombian Caribbean Margin (Southern Sinú Fold Belt) using seismic investigations

Submarine landslides can be triggered by several processes and involve a variety of mechanisms. These phenomena are important sediment transport processes, but they also constitute a significant geohazard. Mapping of the southwestern Caribbean Sea using 3D seismic data has allowed identification of several submarine landslides in the Colombian Margin in the area dominated by the Southern Sinú Fold Belt (SSFB). A poststack depth-migrated seismic cube survey with a 12.5 by 12.5 m bin spacing was used to identify landslides in an area covering 5746 km2. Landslides were interpreted using a seafloor morphologic parameter identification process and the internal deformation of the slope-forming material, as seen from seismic data. A total of 93 landslides were identified and classified based on their movement styles as follows: 52 rotational, 29 translational, and 12 complex landslides. In addition, 12 distinct deformational zones and a zone of mass transport complex (MTC) were identified. Five different ground condition terrains were interpreted based on landslide type and distribution as well as in geologic structures and seismic reflection analysis. Two main processes seem to influence landslides in the study area. First is the folding and faulting involved in the SSFB evolution. This process results in oversteepened slopes that start as deformational zones and then fail as translational or rotational slides. Those individual landslides progressively become complex landslide zones that follow geologic structural orientation. Second is the continental shelf break erosion by debris flows, which fills in intraslope subbasins and continental rise with several MTCs. According to the results, risk of damage by landslides increases in distances shorter than 4 km along structural ridge foothills in the study zone.

Solar Dome Integration as Technical New in Water Desalination: Case Study Morocco Region Rabat-Kenitra

In order to improve distillate water, this paper presents a study of the solar dome system that is considered as one of the most important economical solutions in the domain of drinking water production. For this, a mathematical model was built from equations describing the optical and thermal phenomenon involved in this process. The concentration of radiation and the heat flow were simulated in each 0.1m² of the dome which using the metrological parameters of Morocco’s region Rabat-Salé-Kenitra. The results can follow the evolution of the temperature of glass, salt water, point dew temperature, saturation pressure and evaporation rate as well as humidity reached in August month for the study zone. For this, a numerical implementation on Matlab and Ansys are compared with measurements for the same parameters showed in the domain study of single slope. The comparison results are more significant by the rise of the ray concentration rate reached until 99% if the inclination angle of the heliostat divided into three intervals. The saturation pressure increases as long as with the rate of evaporation and the humidity that produces ordinary daily fresh water.

Current Status of Insecticide Susceptibility in the Principal Malaria Vector, Anopheles gambiae in Three Northern States of Nigeria

Background: Malaria is a major public health problem in Nigeria with 97% of its population with high morbidity and mortality. Mosquitoes play an important role in the transmission of malaria parasites. This study was conducted to eval­uate the current resistance status of Anopheles gambiae to insecticides. Methods: Larvae of An. gambiae was collected from three zones; A, B and C differentiated on the basis of variation in agricultural ecosystems between August and November, 2018 in the northeast and northwestern parts of Nigeria. They were carefully reared to adult stage and insecticidal susceptibility tests were conducted. Results: The mosquitoes tested showed high levels of resistance to all the insecticides used with the exception of mala­thion. Study zone A, recorded 74% mortality after 24h to deltamethrin compared to 81% from zone B and 82% from zone C, respectively. Mosquitoes from zone B exposed to DDT had the highest level of resistance at 37% compared to 40% and 53% from zones A and C, respec­tively. Resistant to bendiocarb was also observed, with zone A having the lowest mortality of 44% com­pared to 48% from zone C and 55% from Zone B, respectively. According to the results of knockdown tests, mosquitoes from Zone A exposed to deltamethrin recorded the lowest knockdown across the study locations while zone B recorded the lowest knockdown for DDT. Conclusion: The results of the study provide an insight into the current status of An. gambiae to four major insecticides in northern Nigeria as guideline for mosquitocontrol.

Phylogenetic and Phenogenetic Diversity of Synechococcus along a Yellow Sea Section Reveal Its Environmental Dependent Distribution and Co-Occurrence Microbial Pattern

Synechococcus is a dominant genus of the coastal phytoplankton with an effective contribution to primary productivity. Here, the phylogenetic and phenogenetic composition of Synechococcus in the coastal Yellow Sea was addressed by sequencing marker gene methods. Meanwhile, its co-occurrence pattern with bacterial and eukaryotic microbes was further investigated based on the construction of networks. The result revealed that Synechococcus abundance ranged from 9.8 × 102 cells mL−1 to 1.6 × 105 cells mL−1, which was significantly correlated to sampling depth and nutrient contents of nitrite, ammonia, and dissolved silicon. A total of eight Synechococcus phylogenetic lineages were detected, of which clade III was dominant in most of the samples. Meanwhile, clade I increased along the water column and even reached a maximum value of 76.13% at 20 m of station B. Phenogenetically, Synechococcus PT3 was always the predominant pigment type across the whole study zone. Only salinity was significantly correlated to the phenogenetic constitution. The networks revealed that Synechococcus co-occurred with 159 prokaryotes, as well as 102 eukaryotes including such possible grazers as Gymnodinium clades and Alveolata. Potential function prediction further showed that microbes co-occurring with Synechococcus were associated with diverse element cycles, but the exact mechanism needed further experimentation to verify. This research promotes exploring regularity in the genomic composition and niche position of Synechococcus in the coastal ecosystem and is significant to further discuss its potential participation in materials circulation and bottom-up effects in microbial food webs.

Study of Investors’ Preference for the Selection of an Insurance Product

Human Being’s life is the most significant asset and life-insurance is the most significant sort of insurance which gives financial protection to theindividualhimself/herself and to his family at the hour of dubious dangers or harm. Life insurance gives both safety and protection to people and furthermore encourages investment funds among individuals. The present exploratory based investigation was chosen with a target to analyze those factors which impact client’s strategy purchasing choice and furthermore examine the inclinations of clients while making decision about insurance policy investment. Different insurance-related factors have been examined in the paper. Also, the said study has been conducted to know the satisfaction level of the clients and also to know the benefit they have been receiving from the company (if any). The information for the research has been gathered from primary data. The study zone is restricted to Maharashtra state and the test sample is 30 investors. The hypotheses have been based on the basis of demographic and the factors related to the insurance-based preference.factors and tested the same with the help of statistical tool T-test. The analyzed data had been produced in the form of a tables and graphs/charts. Insurance agencies should spread more awareness about life insurance, a decrease in the premium amount, and giving more attention to need-based innovative products are a portion of the recommendations which I would suggest. The paper closes with the segment that factors of the individuals play a significant and essential role in choosing the purchase of insurance policies.

ARCHITECTURE ADAPTATION TO CLIMATE CHANGE: DATA PROJECTION AND ENERGY SIMULATION OF TWO SCENARIOS FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS IN COSTA RICA

Climate change represents the biggest challenge in a global scale. Architecture should be able to adapt to this new conditions and ensure comfort and energy efficiency. The main goal of this research is to adapt existent public buildings and reach hygrothermal comfort for two climate change scenarios in Costa Rica. To determine the study zone three areas were analyzed: ecological, demographic and regional economic. Subsequently case studies are chosen through criteria to evaluate the impact of the intervention. A scaled bioclimatic analysis is done for each case and through a comparative analysis two cases are selected to be simulated. Hourly Weather Data files are created for the year 2080 by using observed data from “Instituto Meteorológico Nacional” (IMN) and projected data from “Centro de Investigaciones Geofísicas” (CIGEFI). Lastly, two adaptation proposals are done for each case, a mild one and a complete redesign; it’s behavior is evaluated using the software DesignBuilder® and design recommendations are proposed. Keywords: bioclimatic architecture, climate change, hygrothermal comfort, adaptation, simulation.

Spatio -Temporal Assessments of Rainfall Variability and Trends in the Highlands to Coastal Regions of Papua New Guinea

The present study assesses spatio-temporal rainfall variability of the most highlands to the coastal zones, comprising of eight provinces, of PNG. The variability investigation was carried out over for a period of 50 years starting from the year 1968 to 2018. After testing and checking for serial autocorrelation in the data series, Mann-Kendal non-parametric statistical evaluation was carried out to investigate rainfall trends and variability. Sen’s method was also used to investigate the magnitude of change in millimeters (mm) per year. Furthermore, the ArcGIS spatial analysis tools were used for the calculation of mean rainfall and to carry out spatial investigation. The assessments were carried out on an annual and seasonal basis within each designated study zone. CRU TS 4.03 gridded rainfall data on a 0.50 x 0.50 spatial resolution was used as an input data for trend as well as variability investigation. The CRU gridded station wise analysis was carried out to understand the variability at each specific location. From the assessments, it was found out that a higher rainfall is observed in the Eastern parts of Morobe, Southern Highlands region and central to northern part of Madang Province, while a low rainfall was observed in Goroka, the Western part of Morobe, Simbu, Western Highlands, Jiwaka and Enga province. From the trend investigation, it was observed that more grid stations show an increasing trend than a decreasing trend. On annual assessments, the significant decreasing trend is observed in the Enga and SH province, while significantly increasing trend is observed in the whole parts of Madang, and to the northern part of EH and Simbu Province. From overall assessments, it was found out that, there has been an increasing trend since 1968 up to the present.

Measuring and Evaluating the Quality of Urban Walkways from the Perspective of the Creative Urban Space

In recent years, urban planners and designers have paid attention to improve the creative factors in big and small cities in order to make the urban environment more attractive. It seems that improving desirable urban environmental qualities and walkability approaches such as flexibility, happiness, and vitality, provides the necessary background for creating creative urban spaces. The case study zone is urban walkways in Rasht that which has been completed four years ago. In this paper, after conceptualizing the nature of the creative city, as well as reviewing the views of the thinkers regarding the qualities of the environment, a conceptual model of creative urban space has been developed. Then, the indicators and criteria of creative urban space have been evaluated through the questionnaire and analysis through SPSS software and regression model, Pearson and Friedman. The result of the analyses of the five spatial, functional, social, perceptual, and environmental components and their relationship is expressed that factors such as paving streets, the development of local markets, the Suitability of urban walkways for physically and mentally handicapped people, the use of cultural elements, the use of diverse urban furniture and nightlife after building urban walkways play an important role in the realization of urban creative space in Rasht city.

The effects of biocrusts on soil parameters in a semi-arid pediment at north-eastern Iran

The biocrusts are organized by soil-surface communities of biota that live within or on the very top of soil surface and play an important role in soil conservation. They include lichens, mosses, fungi, cyanobacteria, eukaryotic algae, and other heterotrophic bacteria. The interaction between biocrusts and soil is very important and good awareness from that help to better manage soil specially in arid and semi-arid areas. The linkage between cyanobacteria species and soil physicochemical parameters and mineralogy in two geomorphic zones in the northeastern Iran was studied. Samples were collected in summer along a linear transect by using 50 x 50 cm quadrates for each study zone. Individual mineral soil particles were analyzed by a scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The amounts of Na, K, Ca, and Mg contents as well as EC and SOC altered significantly between two study zones. Biocrusts increased levels of organic carbon, pH, calcium carbonate, exchangeable sodium and potassium percentages. The main soil properties of SOC, CaCO3 and amount of clay changed among biocrust sand bare soils.

Status and Prospects of Agroforestry at Kaligonj Upazila in Satkhira District

This study presents a synopsis of different types of agroforestry practiced and farmer’s perception and attitudes towards it at Kaligonj Upazila in Satkhira district. It particularly focused on demography of respondents, land use pattern, land tenureship, choices of species for agroforestry, farmers’ perceptions towards agroforestry, status and problems of agroforestry practices. A survey was conducted and a total 100 of respondents were selected to collect information about the types of agroforestry accomplished here. In the study area, different types of agroforestry were practiced like homestead agroforestry, cropland agroforestry, agri-aqua silviculture, agri-silvopastoral and agro-aqua culture. The majority of the farmers were middle-aged 54% (between 36-50 years). In the study zone, the mainstream of the respondents (97%) were male and only 5% of the respondents were female who worked in homestead agroforestry. Most of the farmers about 56% were educated to the primary level. Mostly the farmers (70%) have their own land and they practiced agroforestry, but the farmers (12%) took leased land from others were not agreed. The majority of farmers (38%) had shown positive perception (agree) and 36% strongly agreed about agroforestry. About 98% of farmers had a positive attitude towards homestead agroforestry, 66% towards cropland agroforestry and 82% towards fish farm agroforestry.