Outdoor Background Radiation Levels in Mining Locations and Major Activity Areas of Ebonyi State, South-Eastern, Nigeria and Their Radiological Impacts

Background: Miners and the people living close to mining sites are exposed to elevated levels of ionizing radiation with or without their knowledge. This study was designed to evaluate the outdoor background radiation levels in some selected mining locations and major activity areas of Ebonyi State, South-Eastern, Nigeria and their radiological impacts. Materials and Methods: The levels of background radiation in these mining areas were estimated using a well calibrated International Medicom CRM-100 Digital Radiation Monitor (survey meter). A cross-sectional survey was adopted for this study. Based on standard method, the radiation monitor was held at a distance of 1.0 meters above the ground and three readings taken at each location and the mean recorded. The radiation dose rates were calculated. A descriptive statistic and inferential statistic were used to summarize the data using statistical package for social Sciences SPSS version 21. Results: The mean dose rate for all the mining locations studied is 0.269+0.039(µSv/hr) and OAEDR of 0.470+0.068(mSv/yr). The excess life cancer risk for adult and children are 1.645 x 10-3 and 1.175 x 10-3 in the mining areas respectively. The mean outdoor Annual Equivalent Dose Rate (OAEDR) for the mining locations of Ebonyi States was 0.470±0.068 and mean of the radiation dose values recommended by UNSCEAR (2008) was 2.4± 0.48. There was statistically significance mean difference between the mean of OAEDR and the UNCEAR recommended value (p = 0.001). Conclusion: the outdoor background radiation levels emitted from the study area are within permissible limits for the general population. Therefore there is little risk of instantaneous radiation hazard within the mining areas of Ebonyi State. Key words: Absorb dose, excess life Cancer risk, radiation hazard.

Spatial Behavior and Habitat Use of Two Sympatric Bat Species

Movement behavior and habitat use of the long-eared bat species Plecotus auritus and Plecotus austriacus were studied in the Havelland region in Brandenburg (Germany). Data collection included mist-netting, radiotelemetry, reconstruction of prey items, and monitoring of roosting sites. Body measurements confirm a high degree of phenotypic similarity between the two species. Total activity areas (100% Minimum Convex Polygons, MCPS) of Plecotus austriacus (2828.3 ± 1269.43 ha) were up to five-fold larger compared to Plecotus auritus (544.54 ± 295.89 ha). The activity areas of Plecotus austriacus contained up to 11 distinct core areas, and their mean total size (149.7 ± 0.07 ha) was approximately three-fold larger compared to core areas of Plecotus auritus (49.2 ± 25.6 ha). The mean distance between consecutive fixes per night was 12.72 ± 3.7 km for Plecotus austriacus and 4.23 ± 2.8 km for Plecotus auritus. While Plecotus austriacus was located most frequently over pastures (>40%) and meadows (>20%), P. auritus was located mostly within deciduous (>50%) and mixed forests (>30%) in close vicinity to its roosts. Roost site monitoring indicates that the activity of P. austriacus is delayed relative to P. auritus in spring and declined earlier in autumn. These phenological differences are probably related to the species’ respective diets. Levins’ measure of trophic niche breadth suggests that the prey spectrum for P. auritus is more diverse during spring (B = 2.86) and autumn (B = 2.82) compared to P. austriacus (spring: B = 1.7; autumn: B = 2.1). Our results give reason to consider these interspecific ecological variations and species-specific requirements of P. auritus and P. austriacus to develop adapted and improved conservation measures.

Inclusive Higher Education in Russia (by the Example of the Volga Federal District)

The article covers the possibility of establishing resource centers in higher education institutions for teaching people with disabilities and health limitations. The implementation of the project «Monitoring, research and information support of activities provided by the regional resource centers of higher education for people with disabilities" is considered. The university has developed a model of information-analytical guidance to educate people with disabilities with the help of regional resource centers of higher education for people with health limitations. A number of measures for establishing educational activities at the university are presented. The main effect of the organized events by the resource training and methodological center is considered. It is the involvement of all participants of the process at all its levels in the problem of inclusive higher education. Priority activity areas of the resource training and methodological center of Minin University are highlighted. The results of the inclusive higher education on the base of Minin University were summed up.

Deep Learning-Based Building Extraction from Remote Sensing Images: A Comprehensive Review

Building extraction from remote sensing (RS) images is a fundamental task for geospatial applications, aiming to obtain morphology, location, and other information about buildings from RS images, which is significant for geographic monitoring and construction of human activity areas. In recent years, deep learning (DL) technology has made remarkable progress and breakthroughs in the field of RS and also become a central and state-of-the-art method for building extraction. This paper provides an overview over the developed DL-based building extraction methods from RS images. Firstly, we describe the DL technologies of this field as well as the loss function over semantic segmentation. Next, a description of important publicly available datasets and evaluation metrics directly related to the problem follows. Then, the main DL methods are reviewed, highlighting contributions and significance in the field. After that, comparative results on several publicly available datasets are given for the described methods, following up with a discussion. Finally, we point out a set of promising future works and draw our conclusions about building extraction based on DL techniques.

The Distribution, Density and Movements of Feral Pigeons Columba livia and their Relationship with People

<p>Worldwide increases in the urban human population have led to a rise in human-wildlife conflict in cities. Mitigating human-wildlife conflict requires understanding of both wildlife and their relationship with humans. Feral pigeons (Columba livia), a ubiquitous commensal animal, are a source of human-wildlife conflict due to their waste which fouls and corrodes buildings and pavements, public health concerns and their tendency to forage in groups around people. Feral pigeons are abundant in Wellington City and information is needed to advise a new management strategy to reduce conflict. I aimed to measure the distribution and density of feral pigeons on a landscape scale in Wellington City and their movements in relation to artificial food. I also evaluated people's attitudes to feral pigeons and tolerance for control methods. I measured distribution using a resource use/availability study and density using distance sampling along eight line transects across the city centre in summer and winter. Variables measured for sites used and available to pigeons were assembled into models and compared using an Information Theoretic approach. Pigeon distribution was best explained by the model distance to pigeon feeder site, distance to public space, and landscape type (w = 0.696). Density was higher in winter (6.8 pigeons/ha) than summer (4.5 pigeons/ha), especially in commercial areas (17.8 pigeons/ha winter c.f. summer 5.9 pigeons/ha). Pigeons selected areas closer to pigeon feeder sites and to public spaces, and to landscape types with a higher human density, which suggests public feeding is the main influence on pigeon distribution in Wellington City and limitation of public feeding should form the basis of a management strategy. I observed the movements of 48 banded birds caught at five park capture sites over 38 search sites from June to December in Wellington City to construct minimum convex polygons for the 20 birds that had nine or more observations. The average activity area was 1.87ha, and activity areas ranged from 0.04ha to 10.26ha. Pigeons showed limited movement between sites, with 14 out of the 20 (70%) seen at three or fewer sites. The small activity areas suggest food is locally abundant as pigeons do not have to travel far to meet daily energy requirements. A significant food reduction may be required to decrease the population and should focus on major feeding sites. To investigate people's attitudes to feral pigeons and their control I hand-delivered 800 two page questionnaires to 50 residents at 16 stratified random sites around Wellington City. Questions were asked on residents' attitudes towards pigeons, their environmental knowledge, experiences and actions, and their support for control methods. Attitude towards pigeons was ranked on a scale of -1, 0, and 1 and tested using models composed of different variables. Respondents' attitudes towards pigeons were best explained by whether they fed birds and visited green space. Respondents who fed birds were less negative towards pigeons, while respondents who visited green spaces often were more likely to have a negative opinion. Bird feeders made up 21.5% of respondents while 5% of respondents stated they fed feral pigeons. Regulatory control methods for limiting pigeon population size had support over lethal methods. Survey respondents who fed pigeons had little support for control methods, yet their behaviour change is crucial to the success of a management programme. This shows the importance of consulting the public and allowing them to participate in the management decision making process. As regulatory methods were not considered practical, and banning bird feeding was not considered sensible due to its popularity and the appreciation for wildlife it provides, recommendations were made to use an education and social marketing campaign to reduce pigeon feeding and promote responsible bird feeding.</p>

The Distribution, Density and Movements of Feral Pigeons Columba livia and their Relationship with People

<p>Worldwide increases in the urban human population have led to a rise in human-wildlife conflict in cities. Mitigating human-wildlife conflict requires understanding of both wildlife and their relationship with humans. Feral pigeons (Columba livia), a ubiquitous commensal animal, are a source of human-wildlife conflict due to their waste which fouls and corrodes buildings and pavements, public health concerns and their tendency to forage in groups around people. Feral pigeons are abundant in Wellington City and information is needed to advise a new management strategy to reduce conflict. I aimed to measure the distribution and density of feral pigeons on a landscape scale in Wellington City and their movements in relation to artificial food. I also evaluated people's attitudes to feral pigeons and tolerance for control methods. I measured distribution using a resource use/availability study and density using distance sampling along eight line transects across the city centre in summer and winter. Variables measured for sites used and available to pigeons were assembled into models and compared using an Information Theoretic approach. Pigeon distribution was best explained by the model distance to pigeon feeder site, distance to public space, and landscape type (w = 0.696). Density was higher in winter (6.8 pigeons/ha) than summer (4.5 pigeons/ha), especially in commercial areas (17.8 pigeons/ha winter c.f. summer 5.9 pigeons/ha). Pigeons selected areas closer to pigeon feeder sites and to public spaces, and to landscape types with a higher human density, which suggests public feeding is the main influence on pigeon distribution in Wellington City and limitation of public feeding should form the basis of a management strategy. I observed the movements of 48 banded birds caught at five park capture sites over 38 search sites from June to December in Wellington City to construct minimum convex polygons for the 20 birds that had nine or more observations. The average activity area was 1.87ha, and activity areas ranged from 0.04ha to 10.26ha. Pigeons showed limited movement between sites, with 14 out of the 20 (70%) seen at three or fewer sites. The small activity areas suggest food is locally abundant as pigeons do not have to travel far to meet daily energy requirements. A significant food reduction may be required to decrease the population and should focus on major feeding sites. To investigate people's attitudes to feral pigeons and their control I hand-delivered 800 two page questionnaires to 50 residents at 16 stratified random sites around Wellington City. Questions were asked on residents' attitudes towards pigeons, their environmental knowledge, experiences and actions, and their support for control methods. Attitude towards pigeons was ranked on a scale of -1, 0, and 1 and tested using models composed of different variables. Respondents' attitudes towards pigeons were best explained by whether they fed birds and visited green space. Respondents who fed birds were less negative towards pigeons, while respondents who visited green spaces often were more likely to have a negative opinion. Bird feeders made up 21.5% of respondents while 5% of respondents stated they fed feral pigeons. Regulatory control methods for limiting pigeon population size had support over lethal methods. Survey respondents who fed pigeons had little support for control methods, yet their behaviour change is crucial to the success of a management programme. This shows the importance of consulting the public and allowing them to participate in the management decision making process. As regulatory methods were not considered practical, and banning bird feeding was not considered sensible due to its popularity and the appreciation for wildlife it provides, recommendations were made to use an education and social marketing campaign to reduce pigeon feeding and promote responsible bird feeding.</p>

Behavioral and Biophysical Studies of Dugong (Dugong dugon) Habitat in Waters Mali Beach, Kabola District, Indonesia.

Dugongs are generally shy animals, so observing their existence is very limited to hundreds of meters. In contrast to the behavior of Dugong who lives in the coastal waters of Mali, Kabola Regency, Indonesia. Its uniqueness can interact with humans at a very close distance and can even be on the back. It is, therefore, necessary to explore other behavioral patterns and habits and biophysical habitats of Dugongs as information to maintain their survival. This research aims to find out the behavior and biophysics of dugong habitat in the coastal waters of Mali, Kabola Subdistrict, Indonesia. The study uses direct observation methods in the form of observing the characteristics and biophysical conditions of dugong habitats including (1) determining dugong activity areas using GPS coordinates; (2) observe habitat characteristics and biophysical conditions by observing biotic and abiotic conditions, and (3) measuring physicochemical parameters, namely temperature, salinity, and pH. Next, to observe the daily behavior of dugongs when interacting with their habitat environment in the form of time: breathing, going around the boat, swimming at the bottom, swimming on the surface, swimming in the water column, resting at the bottom, eating and exposing the back. In the observations, dugongs swimming around the ship immediately responded and then approached and rubbed his body to the leg then through the pectoral fins that tried to hug to get a leg on the model being tested. Then turn under the boat and remove the penis. In general, the biophysical conditions of sandy and dense habitats are overgrown with seagrass.