Prospective Mapping of Land Cover and Land Use in The Classified Forest of The Upper Alibori Based on Satellite Imagery

The dynamics of land cover and land use in the classified forest of the upper Alibori (FCAS) in relation to the disturbance of agro-pastoral activities is a major issue in the rational management of forest resources. The objective of this research is to simulate the evolutionary trend of land cover and land use in the FCAS by 2069 based on satellite images. Landsat images from 2009, 2014 and 2019 obtained from the earthexplorer-usgs archive were used. The methods used are diachronic mapping and spatial forecasting based on senarii. The MOLUSCE module available under QGIS remote sensing 2.18.2 is used to simulate the future evolution of land cover and land use in the FCAS. The land cover and use in the year 2069 is simulated using cellular automata based on the scenarios. The results show that natural land cover units have decreased while anthropogenic formations have increased between 2009 and 2014 and between 2014 and 2019. Under the "absence multi-criteria zoning (MZM)" scenario over a 50-year interval, land cover and use will be dominated by crop-fallow mosaics (88%). On the other hand, the scenario "implementation of a multicriteria zoning (MZE)", was issued with the aim of reversing the regressive trend of vegetation types by making a rational and sustainable management of resources.

Corruption, Credit Risk, and Bank Profitability

The economies of African countries are generally characterized by inefficient management of resources, strong heterogeneity in the rate of economic growth, as well as high levels of corruption and embezzlement of public funds, clearly highlighting the need to consider the role of government in the performance of the economic environment. Corruption is characterized by three key behaviors—bribery, embezzlement, and nepotism—characteristics that can influence the performance of any financial system. The objective is to examine the effect of corruption on credit risk in Angola. The result of the feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) estimation suggests that corruption increases non-performing loans in the Angolan economy; additionally, the authors find that the larger the bank's assets (bank size), the more averse to credit risk they become, and the smaller the state's stake in the banking system, the lower the non-performing loans.

Understanding Water-Food-Energy Nexus in the Climate Change Era and the Roadmap to Implementation in South Africa

WFE nexus is an important aspect in building sustainable economies. Water is used in food production while water supply and food processing require energy. Understanding the interrelationships of the nexus components is a growing interest for researchers and policymakers towards sustainable development. This chapter analyses the in-depth meaning of the WFE nexus, its importance, and its involved processes. The chapter also evaluates the effects of climate change on the nexus using case examples in South Africa. It also proposes a road map to facilitate better management of the nexus by recommending useful action plans. These action plans prioritize on baseline data collection, optimization of WFE nexus processes and cooperative management of resources, and climate change adaptation.

SMA-LinR Energy and SLA aware autonomous management of virtual machines

Cloud datacenters consume enormous energy and generate heat, which affects the environment. Hence, there must be proper management of resources in the datacenter for optimum usage of energy. Virtualization enabled computing improves the performance of the datacenters in terms of these parameters. Therefore, Virtual Machines (VMs) management is a required activity in the datacenter, which selects the VMs from the overloaded host for migration, VM migration from the underutilized host, and VM placement in the suitable host. In this paper, a method (SMA-LinR) has been developed using the Simple Moving Average (SMA) integrated with Linear Regression (LinR), which predicts the CPU utilization and determines the overloading of the host. Further, this predicted value is used to place the VMs in the appropriate PM. The main aim of this research is to reduce energy consumption (EC) and service level agreement violations (SLAV). Extensive simulations have been performed on real workload data, and simulation results indicate that SMA-LinR provides better EC and service quality improvements.

Recent Advances in Evolving Computing Paradigms: Cloud, Edge, and Fog Technologies

Cloud computing has become integral lately due to the ever-expanding Internet-of-things (IoT) network. It still is and continues to be the best practice for implementing complex computational applications, emphasizing the massive processing of data. However, the cloud falls short due to the critical constraints of novel IoT applications generating vast data, which entails a swift response time with improved privacy. The newest drift is moving computational and storage resources to the edge of the network, involving a decentralized distributed architecture. The data processing and analytics perform at proximity to end-users, and overcome the bottleneck of cloud computing. The trend of deploying machine learning (ML) at the network edge to enhance computing applications and services has gained momentum lately, specifically to reduce latency and energy consumed while optimizing the security and management of resources. There is a need for rigorous research efforts oriented towards developing and implementing machine learning algorithms that deliver the best results in terms of speed, accuracy, storage, and security, with low power consumption. This extensive survey presented on the prominent computing paradigms in practice highlights the latest innovations resulting from the fusion between ML and the evolving computing paradigms and discusses the underlying open research challenges and future prospects.

Needs Detection for Carers of Family Members with Dementia

Aim: To determine the perceived needs of carers of non-institutionalized family members that suffer from dementia. Methods: Two-steps qualitative study by focus groups of relatives in three centres of different characteristics from the Girona Health Region (step 1) and two in-depth interviews with significant professionals in dementia care (step 2). The analysis was performed based on the interpretation of the transcribed data and the bottom-up coding of categories and themes. The information was triangulated and coding was agreed upon. Results: There were three groups, 26 main carers of community-dwelling relatives with dementia in step 1 and two in-depth interviews with dementia-specialised healthcare and social care professionals in step 2. The demands were categorised according to three main themes: whether they were addressed to the members of care services for more direct and close care, to the agencies for a better joint working and less fragmented system, or to society for better comprehension and social recognition. We emphasize the need for a consultation-liaison reference figure throughout the process both for aspects of greater efficiency in the management of resources and for greater empowerment of carers.

Small-scale fisheries in Madeira: recreational vs artisanal fisheries

Small-scale recreational and artisanal fisheries are popular activities in the Autonomous Region of Madeira, and to date no information is available on their impact on regional coastal ecosystems. Through fishers’ surveys and official registers of fish landings, we described and characterized these fisheries in Madeira, comparing artisanal and recreational fisheries. In 2017, artisanal boats landed 91 species in fishing ports, while recreational catches landed 58 species. The most frequent catches were Dentex gibbosus, Phycis phycis and Pagrus pagrus for artisanal fishery and P. pagrus, Serranus atricauda and Diplodus spp. for recreational fishery. Comparing the same techniques, artisanal fishery always showed higher catch per unit effort values than recreational boat fishery. Nevertheless, the low number of artisanal fishery boats in comparison with the recreational ones reflected the lower total landings of the artisanal fishery, which in 2017 were 62.3 t, compared with the 509.8 t estimated catches for the recreational fishery. Though the estimated recreational fishing data were based on surveys and thus subject to various biases, this activity seems to negatively affect coastal ecosystems and, together with artisanal fishing, exerts a combined pressure on targeted species. Improved legislation for both fisheries is essential for an appropriate management of resources.

Critical Insight into Defects in Malaysia Hospital Buildings Maintenance Management

Healthcare buildings require efficient maintenance management to afford patients, visitors, and other users of hospital buildings such as healthcare professionals a serene and safe environment that accelerates wellbeing and provides maximum comfort. To achieve this goal, hospital buildings must adopt effective maintenance management approaches and services. Apart from ensuring the safety of the environment, users of the buildings must be satisfied with the quality of available services, particularly, those offered to patients. Against this backdrop, this study assesses the effects of defects on hospital buildings and analyzes the practicality of maintenance best practices such as sufficient allocations of funds and appropriate management of resources (including time and labor) towards the improvement of the prevalent status quo. This is important because the maintenance practices employed in hospitals intrinsically impact the performance of the hospital buildings as a result of defects. Survey questionnaires were administered to users of hospital buildings in Malaysia. The most significant defects reported concerned Algae on concrete floors, weather and climate conditions, and sanitary appliance & fittings damages. These defects depreciate the appearance, functionality and utility of hospital buildings thereby lessening their performance and efficiency. Therefore, this study asserts the pertinence of reevaluating the maintenance management approaches employed towards the rectification of the highlighted defects in hospital buildings across Malaysia. The study posits the adoption of systemic proactive maintenance procedures to preempt decay, causalities and reduce cost implications.

Processus De Creation D’une Zone De Conservation De La Biodiversite Sur Le Barrage Hydroelectrique De Soubre, Sud-Ouest De La Côte D’ivoire

Cette étude a pour objectif de montrer l’importance de la participation des communautés locales à la réussite d’un projet de création de zone de conservation de la biodiversité. La mise en place de ladite zone a nécessité la formation des autorités et communautés locales sur les services écosystémiques. Cette formation a permis une meilleure implication des communautés à la gestion durable des ressources. Ainsi, 20 représentants ont servi de personnel d’appui pour les travaux d’aménagement et de restauration du site. L’état initial de la flore et la végétation a été évalué. L’analyse des données a mis en évidence la présence de 346 espèces végétales reparties en 262 genres et 89 familles. Parmi celles-ci il a été enregistré 50 espèces prioritaires pour la conservation. Au sein des espèces utilitaires de la région, 13 sont plus importantes. Cependant, six d’entre elles sont moins abondantes dans la zone de conservation de biodiversité. La caractérisation de la flore initiale a guidé dans le choix des espèces de reboisement pour la restauration. Ainsi, les espèces prioritaires pour la conservation et celles désignées importantes pour la population ont été privilégiées au cours de la restauration. Les résultats obtenus renseignent d’une part sur les outils d’acceptation sociale et les niveaux d’implication de la communauté locale d’un projet de mise en place d’une zone de conservation de biodiversité et d’autre part sur l’importance de la caractérisation de la flore initiale. This paper focuses on showing the importance of the participation of local communities in the success of a project to create a biodiversity conservation area. The establishment of this zone required the training of local authorities and communities on ecosystem services. This training allowed for a better involvement of the communities in the sustainable management of resources. Twenty (20) community representatives served as support staff for the development and restoration of the site. The initial state of the flora and vegetation was assessed. The analysis of the data revealed the presence of 346 plant species divided into 262 genera and 89 families. Of these, 50 priority species for conservation were recorded. Of the utilitarian species of the region, 13 are more important. Six of them are less abundant in the biodiversity conservation area. The characterisation of the initial flora guided the selection of reforestation species for restoration. Priority species for conservation and those designated as important for the population were favoured during the restoration. The results obtained provide information, on the one hand, on the tools for social acceptance and the levels of involvement of the local community of a project to set up a biodiversity conservation area and, on the other hand, on the importance of characterizing the initial flora.