Suburban Morphology Dynamics: The Case of the Tricity Agglomeration, Poland

Suburbanization is a phase of the development of cities that consists in the growth of the suburban zone at the expense of the city center, which becomes gradually depopulated. The phenomenon of uncontrolled suburbanization (urban sprawl) causes infrastructural (including transport), environmental, social, economic, and legal problems. This paper presents the results of a study of the phenomenon of suburbanization conducted on the basis of vector data using two methods: one based on the use of a grid of primary square fields, and one based on the use of concentric zones/rings. The analyses were conducted in the surroundings of the Tricity agglomeration, which is located in the northern part of Poland on the Gulf of Gdansk, and covered the period from 2000 to 2018. Using a grid of primary fields, the areas of the greatest increase and decrease in the developed areas, irrespective of administrative boundaries, were determined for the selected periods, and the areas of the constant positive and negative balance of the buildings were identified. Using concentric rings, the process of the shifting of the new development zones was traced. The paper also refers to the route of the Pomeranian Metropolitan Railway (PKM), which was commissioned in 2015, and its potential impact on suburbanization in the Tricity area. The results made it possible to trace the suburbanization process in time and space and to learn the advantages and disadvantages of the use of vector data in spatial studies.

Influence of humic preparations on productivity increase of cucurbits in arid farming conditions

The paper presents the results of studying the influence of liquid humic fertilizer produced from milled lowland peat on biological activity, the dynamics of nutrients in brown semi-desert soils in arid climate conditions with leaf fertilization of cucurbits. In arable farming of the Astrakhan region most of the harvest is formed by mobilizing soil fertility without compensation for the elements of nutrition carried out with the harvest, which leads to a negative balance of humus and nutrients, as a consequence, the soil is depleted, its fertility becomes lower. It is shown, that application of humates promotes increase of the content of humus in soil in arable horizons and reception of higher harvests of an early ripe watermelon that is caused by activization of biochemical processes in soil and increase of nutrients availability that has accelerated development and ripening of fruits of studied crop.

Productivitatea fitoplanctonului fluviului Nistru și lacului de acumulare Dubăsari în condițiile impactului factorilor naturali și antropici

The article presents the results on the study of productivity of phytoplankton and destruction of organic matter in the Dniester River and Dubasari reservoir in 2020. The values of primary production in Dniester River varied during the vegetation period within the limits of 0.81-3.79 gO2/m-2 24h, and of the destruction of organic substances between 3.9-45.12 gO2/m-2 24h. In the Dubasari reservoir, the primary production of phytoplankton was significantly influenced by the hydrochemical and hydrobiological state of the waters from the middle sector of the Dniester River and varied within 0.572.82 gO2/m-2 24h. The values of destruction of organic substances exceeded the values of primary production and registering values between 2.1623.66 gO2/m-2 24h. The seasonal and spatial fluctuations of phytoplankton primary production values in Dniester river and Dubasari reservoir are followed by successions of phytoplankton structure, changes in nutrient concentrations and oscillations of water transparency values. The values of destruction of organic substances were higher than primary production values. The A/R ratio reflect a negative balance of formation of organic substances in Dniester River and Dubasari reservoir.

Effects of Organic and Inorganic Fertilizers on the Growth of Senecio biafrae (WOROWO) OLIVE & HIERN

Soils have shown a negative balance in nutrient budget which poses a great threat to sustainable soil management for increase in growth and crop yield. This study thus investigated the effects of organic and inorganic fertilizers on the growth of Senecio biafrae (Oliv. &Hiern). Topsoil, organic (poultry manure) and inorganic fertilizers (NPK 15:15:15) were used. The fertilizers were weighed and applied to the soil at 5g, 10g, 15g each; control topsoil without application of fertilizers and were replicated five times. Growth parameters including height, number of leaves and stem diameter were taken weekly for the period of the experiment. Application ofpoultry manure and NPK fertilizer had significant effects on all the growth parameters considered. The application of poultry manure resulted into significant increase in the growth parameters towards the latter part of the study. This study has shown that organic manure has great potential for improving soil productivity and plant growth. Keywords: Senecio biafrae, investigate, organic, inorganic, plant yield

A Review of the Occurrence and Mechanisms of Induction of Osteoporosis Following Spinal Cord Injury

Introduction: Spinal cord injury (SCI) causes devastating injuries in patients. The main mechanisms of the pathogenesis of secondary injury include nerve degeneration, gliosis, and inflammation. Spinal cord injury induces a disorder or failure in several organs due to the vital role of the spinal cord in regulating bodily functions. Osteoporosis is a consequence of spinal cord injury that occurs in the vast majority of patients with spinal cord injury. Articles on the related topic were searched in the following databases: Science Direct, Scopus, Springer Science, PubMed and Google scholar to have been used in writing from this review article. A total of 120 related research papers, including quantitatve and qualitative researches in English, from the last 57 years papers (1962- 2019) were included in this study. The review article is written according to 120 articles and the keywords “Spinal cord injury, Osteoporosis, Inflammation, Osteoblast and Osteoclast”. Conclusion: Although weight loss is an important factor in the development of osteoporosis following SCI, inflammation, nerve damage, and hormonal changes also contribute to this process. Hormonal changes mediated by SCI may contribute to postoperative osteoporosis with several mechanisms. These mechanisms included: increased renal excretion and decreased intestinal absorption of calcium, consequently, a negative balance of calcium ions; Vitamin D deficiency; impair the function of the gonads and inhibits the osteoanabolic (ossification) activity of sex steroids; elevated blood leptin; Pituitary suppression of parathyroid hormone, and bone loss following SCI may (at least in part) be caused directly by insulin resistance and insulin-like growth factor.

Coronavirus Market-Crash – How Far Did FIRE Retiree’s Capital Drawdown?

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the destruction of capital held by FIRE-retirees in the US stock- market as represented by the S&P500 index during the coronavirus market-crash. The performance of a lumpsum of $1,000,000 invested by retirees at the end of each year from 2009 to 2019 were calculated using 4% inflation adjusted withdrawal rates. Findings suggest that at the low point of March 23, 2020 the retirees of the first 4 years (2009 till 2012) using 4% inflation adjusted withdrawals all had their initial $1,000,000 capital plus growth. (Highest positive balance: 2009, $1,485,574, increase of 48.6%. Lowest positive balance: 2012, $1,282,147, increase 28.2%). All retirees from the end of 2013 had their initial $1,000,000 investment decreased to below initial capital (Lowest negative balance: 2019, $692,500, decrease 30.75%). Despite 4% inflation adjusted withdrawals, the longer the retirement period the more likely to experience net capital growth. The investigation also revealed the effect of 0% or negative returns during the beginning years of an investment. Some $1,000,000 investments made in earlier years (2010, 2014 and 2017) ending in lower balances than investments made in the next year (2011, 2015 and 2018). KEYWORDS: FIRE movement, Retirement, S&P500 index, CPI adjusted, Coronavirus market-crash

Influence of the Average per Capita Income on Credit and Savings Behavior of the Population in Russia

The successful functioning of the national economy is largely determined by the stability of its banking system. The article is aimed at studying the features of credit and savings behavior of the population based on the reporting data of the Central Bank of Russia and Rosstat for the period 01.02.2011 – 01.08.2020. It is proposed to characterize the features of such behavior based on an analysis of the relationship between the volumes of deposit and credit transactions of the population. The theoretical part of the article considers various aspects of determining the behavioral approach to savings: bank contribution, as a form of realization of investments; conservation as a form of reaction to instability; appeal to the bank as part of the fight against the economic crisis, etc. In the practical part of the study, using comparison and graphical analysis methods, 3 periods of transformation of these types of population behavior were identified based on a change in the relationship between the volume of debt on loans and the volume of deposits. Absolute parameters of marginal sizes of fluctuations of indicators of deposit and credit transactions for use in prognostic purposes were evaluated. The value of the deposit volume shift was calculated, which ensured a reduction in the size of the negative balance of deposit and loan operations in the domestic banking system during the crisis of 2015–2016, which contributed to the stability of this system. The analysis of the compared indicators showed the comparability of the dynamics of the change in the ratio of deposits and debt on loans with the dynamics of the average per capita monetary income of the population. The study revealed a stable increase in the volume of deposits of the population in most monthly indicators, which allows us to expect the stability of the banking system of Russia in terms of a balanced subsystem of deposit and credit operations.

Crop rotation yield depending on from the receptions of biologization

Among the methods of cultivation that increase the productivity of crops, a prominent role is assigned to crop rotation. In a properly constructed crop rotation, the efficiency of all agrotechnical methods aimed at improving the use of land increases, the biological needs of crops are satisfied, the rational use of technology is achieved, and the cost of production is reduced [1]. The soils are low in nitrogen, medium in phosphorus and high in potassium. The humus content is 1.2–2.0%, pH = 7–8. Studies have shown that green manure (sweet clover, oats, phacelia) have a positive effect on the balance of organic matter. The negative balance of organic matter is noted for pure steam. The stock of productive moisture in the 0–0.3 cm soil layer varied from 4.1 to 29.5 mm for winter wheat, 28.1–32.7 mm for chickpea and 28–35.3 mm for spring barley, depending on the weather conditions. conditions and methods of biologization. On average, over three years, the highest yield was in winter wheat for a busy fallow (phacelia) and amounted to 1.0 t/ha, which depended on weather conditions. A reliable correlation was revealed for the factors of yield-precipitation; temperature; batteries, etc.

Water management in the Mucille area (NE Italy) through hydrologic balance estimation

<p>After abundant rainfalls, the Mucille area (Ronchi dei Legionari, Northeastern Italy) is subject to frequent flooding. Although this area has always been exposed to such hazard, these inundations become problematic since 2001 as they more frequently affect housing and recreational areas, leading the population to believe that the swallow holes draining the area stopped functioning. The increased frequency of intense rainfall events led the municipal technicians to involve the Department of Mathematics and Geosciences of the University of Trieste to assess the situation. The Mucille karstic depression is fed by a spring area and drained by two swallow holes one of which is permanently active while the other operates only during floods. The Mucille springs represent the westernmost drain of the Classical Karst aquifer. During floods, as in-situ discharge measurements are impossible, only a hydrologic balance model may assess the inflow or outflow discharges. The extension of the flooded areas has been mapped. The obtained flooded surface together with high resolution DEM coverage allows to calculate the volume of surface water. Combined with water table levels recorded in an adjacent piezometer, this volume can be computed over time. Thus, the hydrologic balance (inflow minus outflow) can be estimated. This model has been applied to several flood events among which, two were the most important in terms of flooded areas: one in December 2017 and the other in November 2019. During the event of December 2017, the water level reached 7,5 m a.s.l. and the difference between the inflow and the outflow was 880 l/s. The day following the peak, the discharge difference decreased to 273 l/sand the 5 subsequent days the water balance was close to equilibrium. From the eighth day on, the outflow became predominant resulting in a negative budget between -233 and -78 l/s. The flood event of November 2019 reached the maximum inundated area at a water level of 7,8 m a.s.l. with a difference between the inflow and the outflow of 750 l/s . Two days after the peak a negative balance of -200 l/s was recorded and remained negative for the next 5 days. A period of intermittent precipitations increased again the inflow up to 600 l/s. Following a period of ten days with a negative balance the water level returned to the initial values of 5 m a.s.l. This study provides evidences fundamental for the design of measures to mitigate the risk. It estimates the discharge of the swallow holes, confirming their efficiency. Nonetheless it also emphasises the need to improve their draining capacity, especially considering the unsuspected high outflow of the springs at the onset of the flood.</p>

Perspective Design of Algae Photobioreactor for Greenhouses—A Comparative Study

The continued growth and evolving lifestyles of the human population require the urgent development of sustainable production in all its aspects. Microalgae have the potential of the sustainable production of various commodities; however, the energetic requirements of algae cultivation still largely contribute to the overall negative balance of many operation plants. Here, we evaluate energetic efficiency of biomass and lipids production by Chlorella pyrenoidosa in multi-tubular, helical-tubular, and flat-panel airlift pilot scale photobioreactors, placed in an indoor environment of greenhouse laboratory in Central Europe. Our results show that the main energy consumption was related to the maintenance of constant light intensity in the flat-panel photobioreactor and the culture circulation in the helical-tubular photobioreactor. The specific power input ranged between 0.79 W L−1 in the multi-tubular photobioreactor and 6.8 W L−1 in the flat-panel photobioreactor. The construction of multi-tubular photobioreactor allowed for the lowest energy requirements but also predetermined the highest temperature sensitivity and led to a significant reduction of Chlorella productivity in extraordinary warm summers 2018 and 2019. To meet the requirements of sustainable yearlong microalgal production in the context of global change, further development towards hybrid microalgal cultivation systems, combining the advantages of open and closed systems, can be expected.