Distribution of Respiratory Tracy Infectious Diseases in Relation to Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Concentration in Selected Urban Centres in Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Due to the visibility of soot in the environment of the Niger Delta especially Rivers State that has led to the increase of espiratory Tract Infections (RTIs) in the region, this study was undertaken to determine the relationship between Particulate Matter (PM2.5) concentration and the incident of Respiratory Tract Infections (RTIs) in selected urban centres of the Niger Delta. Data on RTIs were collected from the Hospital Management Boards of the Ministries of Health of Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States and the data for PM2.5 were remotely sensed from 2016 to 2019, and subsequently analyzed with ANOVA and Spearman’s rank correlation statistics. The findings of this study revealed that there was significant variation in the occurrence of PM2.5 across the selected urban centres in the Niger Delta Region. The PM2.5 for the reviewed years was far above the World Health Organization (WHO) annual permissible limit of 10 µg/m3 thereby exacerbating Respiratory Tract Infections (RTIs).The epidemiology of the RTIs showed that there are basically four (4) prominent RTI diseases: Asthma, Tuberculosis, Pneumonia and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD). The result of this study showed that the concentration of PM2.5 varies in all the selected cities, and the mean monthly variation (2016-2019) showed that Port Harcourt had 47.27 µg/m3 for January while Yenagoa and Asaba had 46 µg/m3 and 47.51 µg/m3 respectively for January; while the lowest mean value in the cities were seen within the month of September and October, which also had a strong seasonal influence on the concentration of PM2.5. The concentration of PM2.5 and the numbers of RTIs also gradually increases in the study areas from 2016 to 2019. The study recommends that the necessary regulatory bodies should closely monitor the activities of the companies likely to cause such pollution; guild them through their operations and give prompt sanctions and heavy fines to defaulters of the accepted standards.

Culture Dynamics across the World Today: Tourism and the Palette of Imagination

In general,this manuscript critiques the contemporary dynamisms of the formation/deformation of the cultural sphere under the increased mobilisations of globalization.In particular,it inspects the symphysis [SYMPHYSIS] between 'tourism' and 'culture',where the latter stands as an immense portmanteau phenomenon embracing many different things (under the vicissitudes of globalisation/glocalisation) across the protean realms of race, gender, entertainment, consumerism, meaning-making, et cetera.Critiquing Jamal and Robinson's recent attempt at panoramic coverage of the geography of tourism/tourism studies), it argues that tourism is regularly implicated in cultural practices relating to power-exercises in/across society. Then, in synthesising Bauman’s vision of contemporary society as that moving from seemingly well-ordered stabilities to a geographic realm where change is the-only-permanence and uncertainty the-onlycertainty, the manuscript generates five lead propositions calling for 'plural knowability',viz.,for a deeper/richer palette-of-imagination on the teeming multiplicities and throbbing provisionalities of culture as it emerges/unfolds or otherwise gets recast under the destabilising 'nomadic logics' of our time. In viewing culture as a vehicle of both 'impermanence' and 'seduction nowadays, the paper notes how in so many places and spaces, individuals are less inclined to be engaged locally/regionally/nationally as culture —partly through the volatile iterability of travel/tourism — has become an ever-widening polylogue.

Using Landsat Images to Determine Water Storing Capacity in Mediterranean Environments

Reservoirs play an important role in water management and are key elements for water supply. Monitoring is needed in order to guarantee the quantity and quality of stored water. However, this task is sometimes not easy. The objective of this study was to develop a procedure for predicting volume of stored water with remote sensing in water bodies under Mediterranean climate conditions. To achieve this objective,multispectral Landsat 7 and 8 images (NASA) were analyzed for the following five reservoirs: La Serena,La Pedrera, Beniarrés, Cubillas and Negratín (Spain). Reservoirs water surface was computed with the spectral angle mapper (SAM) algorithm.After that, cross-validation regression models were computed in order to assess the capability of water surface estimations to predict stored water in each of the reservoirs. The statistical models were trained with Landsat 7 images and were validated by using Landsat 8 images. Our results suggest a good capability of water volume prediction from free satellite imagery derived from surface water estimations. Combining free remote sensing images and open source GIS algorithms can be a very useful tool for water management and an integrated and efficient way to control water storage,especially in low accessible sites.

Old Geographical Materialities. Recover the Past and the Heritage in the Present of Pheripherical European Rural Spaces: A Research Proposal

The past has had a minor consideration in geographic studies the transformation of rural areas, usually dominated by socioeconomic analysis. Incorporating the old and in many cases, the materialities of the past through a reconsideration of heritage to the future of rural space requires an adequate conceptualization and reconsideration of rural materialities and especially of popular housing. In this way, it is intended to decentralize the human and functionalist point of view to give a life of their own to rural cultural and natural materialities in the context of more-thanhuman-geographies. The renewed study of heritage and the historical past acquires a notable value in the present and future of rural areas through: (1) the interpretation of dissymmetrical realities where the old confronts new activities; (2) for adequate and realistic management of rural heritage and the processes of selective recovery of heritage in certain historical places.

Road Network Analysis with GIS and GRASS-GIS: A Probabilistic Approach

In this paper we show how it can be useful to the probability of intersections in the determination of a classification rule for raster conversions in Geographical Information System (GIS) and GRASS GIS for the Road Network Analysis (RNA). We use a geometric probabilities approach for irregular path considering these results for transportation planning operations. We study two particular problems with irregular tessellations, in order to have a situation more realistic respect to map GIS and considering also the maximum value of probability to narrow the range of possible probability values.

Gendered Perceptions of Climate Variability and Change among Local Communities Living around Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda

Climate change affects both men and women which, in turn, shapes their varied and contrasting perceptions of climate variability and change. This paper examined the gendered perceptions of climate variability and change among local communities in Queen Elizabeth National Park in Uganda.The objectives are threefold: - identify climatic shocks faced by the local communities; examine the perceptions of men and women of climate variability and change; and to compare their perceptions with empirical meteorological data. This study employed both qualitative and quantitative methods, with data collected from 215 respondents using survey, interviews and focused group discussions. From the findings, indicators of climate variability and change included reduced flooding events, occurrence of human diseases, increasing crop pests and diseases, dry spells and intensity of rains. There was increasing significant temperatures while rainfall was declining. Both male and female significantly associated with increasing temperatures and reduced flooding events. While climatic shocks affected both males and females, the impact was more pronounced depending on distinct livelihood activities and roles and responsibilities undertaken. The study concluded that people’s perceptions of climate change should be taken on by the government and integrated in the national climate programs that support people’s livelihoods and survival mechanisms.

KRIFS Quartet Model Improving Livelihoods and Fueling Tourism in Kitagwenda District,Western Uganda

Kyabwanswa Rural Integrated Farming Systems (KRIFS) is a Community Based Organization (CBO) with its Head Office in Kitagwenda Town Council. KRIFS quartet model involves emphasis of integrating four agricultural activities namely: Apiculture, agro-forestry, coffee and at least one type of livestock. The paper utilizes data obtained from January 2017 surveys, interviews, focus group discussions and observations by the authors. The authors observe that the four activities are symbiotic income generating enterprises. The quartet model has greatly contributed in reducing poverty, increasing agricultural productivity, facilitating value addition, conserving the environment, halting biodiversity loss and mitigating climate change. The model is strongly hinged on training of farmers in organized groups more especially the youth and the women.The involvement of KRIFS in integrated farming that involves introducing new innovations to improve production and productivity in agriculture through improved breeds of livestock and crops as well as environmental conservation being pivotal in its operations, has culminated to agro-tourism in the district. The authors recommend that the model be implemented in the whole of Uganda. Apiculture should be included in the priority commodity list for the parish model. Agro-tourism is yet another economi cactivity that should be exploited to reduce unemployment, conserve the environment and reduce effects of climate change.

Land recycling, food security and Technosols

The world population will grow up to 9.8 billion by 2050. The intensification in urban growth will occur on all continents and in all sizes of cities, especially in developing countries, experiencing a greater rising in urban agglomerations of 300,000 to 500,000 people, those of 500,000 to 1 million and those of 1 to 5 million, by 2035. In this way, the demand of soil to host human activities (land take) will increase, mainly affecting soils with greater agricultural potential close to cities, at the same time as the need for food will increase. Land rehabilitation can contribute to human food security, to enhance ecosystem services and, if made by waste Technosols, those are viable as substrate for urban agroforestry systems.Although the references for brownfield reclamation for urban agriculture,adding constructed Technosols and de-sealed soils can recover its ecosystem functions even food supply services and would be the solution in urban areas.

Spatial Heterogeneity Association of HIV Incidence with Socio-economic Factors in Zimbabwe

This study examined the spatial heterogeneity association of HIV incidence and socio-economic factors including poverty severity index,permanently employed females and males, unemployed females, percentage of poor households i.e., poverty prevalence, night lights index, literacy rate,household food security, and Gini index at district level in Zimbabwe.A mix of spatial analysis methods including Poisson model based on original log likelihood ratios (LLR), global Moran’s I, local indicator of spatial association - LISA were employed to determine the HIV hotspots.Geographically Weighted Poisson Regression (GWPR) and semi-parametric GWPR (s-GWPR) were used to determine the spatial association between HIV incidence and socio-economic factors. HIV incidence (number of cases per 1000) ranged from 0.6 (Buhera district) to 13.30 (Mangwe district). Spatial clustering of HIV incidence was observed (Global Moran’s I = - 0.150; Z score 3.038; p-value 0.002). Significant clusters of HIV were observed at district level. HIV incidence and its association with socioeconomic factors varied across the districts except percentage of females unemployed. Intervention programmes to reduce HIV incidence should address the identified socio-economic factors at district level.

State Restructuring and Urban Innovation Development in Post-reform China: Shanghai’s Innovation Action in Review

Given the ample evidences from present studies on national-level innovation policies evolution and mechanisms, this paper contributes to a city-level understanding towards innovation-related state restructuring,the consequent innovation policy change and its relational performance with urban development in post-reform Shanghai, China from an inputoutput perspective. It unfolds that state restructuring relinquishing state power to the market has revived non-government innovation activities and a synchronous, though a bit backward, firms-oriented transition towards innovation development in Shanghai throughout 1990s has been observed.Though scholars are reluctant to label the party-state in post-reform China as a developmental state due to dysfunctionality of state intervention in corporate sectors, in the field of technological upgrading, such topdown, elite driven and state-sponsored mode giving priority to innovation competitiveness well captures the developmental state model at local level, thus exhibits elements of local developmental state. Impacts of this restructuring and policy change are substantial, which can be observed in the soaring increase of science and technology expenditures and patents applications in Shanghai. Additional analysis further unveils that in most circumstances, innovation growth kept paces with urban development, yet its synergy with economic development and permanent residents is more significant than with other aspects.