Search results for: magazine cover page

Authors: Mahsa Khani Oushani, Mohammad Kazem Hasanvand

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Text and image have always been two important components in Iranian layout. The interactive connection between text and image has shaped the art of book design with multiple patterns. In this research, first the structure and visual elements in the research data were analyzed and then the position of the text element and the image element in relation to each other based on Roland Barthes theory on the three theories of text and image, were studied and analyzed and the results were compared, and interpreted. The purpose of this study is to investigate the pattern of text and image in the works of Kamaluddin Behzad based on three Roland Barthes communication theories, 1. Descriptive communication, 2. Reference communication, 3. Matched communication. The questions of this research are what is the relationship between text and image in Behzad's works? And how is it defined according to Roland Barthes theory? The method of this research has been done with a structuralist approach with a descriptive-analytical method in a library collection method. The information has been collected in the form of documents (library) and is a tool for collecting online databases. Findings show that the dominant element in Behzad's drawings is with the image and has created a reference relationship in the layout of the drawings, but in some cases it achieves a different relationship that despite the preference of the image on the page, the text is dispersed proportionally on the page and plays a more active role, played within the image. The text and the image support each other equally on the page; Roland Barthes equates this connection.

Keywords: text, image, Kamaluddin Behzad, Roland Barthes, communication theory

Procedia PDF Downloads 162

Authors: Lubaina Soni, Claire Farrell, Christopher Szota, Tim D. Fletcher

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Green roofs are a promising engineered ecosystem for reducing stormwater runoff and restoring vegetation cover in cities. Plants can contribute to rainfall retention by rapidly depleting water in the substrate; however, this increases the risk of plant drought stress. Green roof configurations, therefore, need to provide plants the opportunity to efficiently deplete the substrate but also avoid severe drought stress. This study used green roof modules placed in a rainout shelter during a six-month rainfall regime simulated in Melbourne, Australia. Rainfall was applied equally with an overhead irrigation system on each module. Aside from rainfall, modules were under natural climatic conditions, including temperature, wind, and radiation. A single species, Ficinia nodosa, was planted with five different treatments and three replicates of each treatment. In this experiment, we tested the impact of three plant cover treatments (0%, 50% and 100%) on rainfall retention and plant drought stress. We also installed two runoff zone treatments covering 50% of the substrate surface for additional modules with 0% and 50% plant cover to determine whether directing rainfall resources towards plant roots would reduce drought stress without impacting rainfall retention. The retention performance for the simulated rainfall events was measured, quantifying all components for hydrological performance and survival on green roofs. We found that evapotranspiration and rainfall retention were similar for modules with 50% and 100% plant cover. However, modules with 100% plant cover showed significantly higher plant drought stress. Therefore, planting at a lower cover/density reduced plant drought stress without jeopardizing rainfall retention performance. Installing runoff zones marginally reduced evapotranspiration and rainfall retention, but by approximately the same amount for modules with 0% and 50% plant cover. This indicates that reduced evaporation due to the installation of the runoff zones likely contributed to reduced evapotranspiration and rainfall retention. Further, runoff occurred from modules with runoff zones faster than those without, indicating that we created a faster pathway for water to enter and leave the substrate, which also likely contributed to lower overall evapotranspiration and retention. However, despite some loss in retention performance, modules with 50% plant cover installed with runoff zones showed significantly lower drought stress in plants compared to those without runoff zones. Overall, we suggest that reducing plant cover represents a simple means of optimizing green roof performance but creating runoff zones may reduce plant drought stress at the cost of reduced rainfall retention.

Keywords: green roof, plant cover, plant drought stress, rainfall retention

Procedia PDF Downloads 93

Authors: Naeemeh Silvari

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The phenomenon of the spread and epidemic of the corona virus caused many aspects of the social life of the people of the world to face various challenges. In this regard, and in order to improve the living conditions of the people, the World Health Organization has tried to publish the necessary instructions for its contacts in the world in the form of its media capacities. Considering the importance of cultural differences in the discussion of health communication and the distinct needs of people in different societies, some production contents were produced and published exclusively. This research has studied six videos published on the official page of the World Health Organization in Iran as a case study. The published content has the least semantic affinity with Iranian culture, and it has been tried to show a uniform image of the Middle East with the predominance of the image of the culture of the developing Arab countries.

Keywords: corona, representation, semiotics, instagram, health communication

Procedia PDF Downloads 58

Authors: Satyavati Shukla, Lakhan V. Rathod, Mohan V. Khire

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Rapid urbanization changes the land use/land cover pattern of a developing region. Due to these land surface changes, stream flow of the rivers also changes. It is important to investigate the factors affecting hydrological characteristics of the river basin for better river basin management planning. This study is aimed to understand the effect of Land Use/Land Cover (LU/LC) changes on stream flow of Upper Bhima River basin which is highly stressed in terms of water resources. In this study, Upper Bhima River basin is divided into two adjacent sub-watersheds: Mula-Mutha (urbanized) sub-watershed and Bhima (non-urbanized) sub-watershed. First of all, LU/LC changes were estimated over 1980, 2002, and 2009 for both Mula-Mutha and Bhima sub-watersheds. Further, stream flow simulations were done using Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) for the streams draining both watersheds. Results revealed that stream flow was relatively higher for urbanized sub-watershed. Through Sensitivity Analysis it was observed that out of all the parameters used, base flow was the most sensitive parameter towards LU/LC changes.

Keywords: land use/land cover, remote sensing, stream flow, urbanization

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Larry V. Aceres, Jesryl B. Paulite, Emelie M. Pelicano, J. B. Anciano, J. A. Esteban

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Enhancing the population of beneficial arthropods under less diverse agroecosystem is the most sought by many researchers and plant growers. This strategy was done through the establishment of pintoi peanut, Arachis pintoi as live mulch or cover crop in pummelo orchard of the University of Southeastern Philippines (USeP), Mabini, Compostela Valley Province, Philippines. This study was conducted to compare and compute population dynamics and diversity of beneficial arthropods in pummelo in with and without Arachis pintoi cover crop. Data collections were done for the 12-month period (from June 2013 to May 2014) at the pummelo orchard of USeP Mabini Campus, COMVAL Province, Philippines and data were analyzed using the Independent Samples T-Test to compare the effect of the presence and absence of Arachis pintoi on beneficial arthropods incidence in pummelo orchard. Moreover, diversity and family richness analyses were computed using the Margalef’s diversity index for family richness; the Shannon index of general diversity and the evenness index; and the Simpson index of dominance. Results revealed numerically and statistically higher density of important beneficial arthropods such as microhymenopterans, macrohymenopterans, spiders, tachinid flies and ground beetles were recorded in pummelo orchard with Arachis pintoi than from without Arachis pintoi cover crop for the 12-month observation period. Further, the result of the study revealed the high family richness and diversity index with more or less even distribution of individuals within the family and low dominance index were documented in pummelo with Arachis pintoi cover crop than from pummelo without Arachis pintoi cover crop. The study revealed that planting A. pintoi in pummelo orchard could enhance natural enemy populations.

Keywords: Arachis pintoi, cover crop, beneficial arthropods, pummelo

Procedia PDF Downloads 295

Authors: Alemayehu Muluneh, Saskia Keesstra, Leo Stroosnijder, Woldeamlak Bewket, Ashenafi Burka

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There are some scientific evidences and a belief by many that forests attract rain and deforestation contributes to a decline of rainfall. However, there is still a lack of concrete scientific evidence on the role of forests in rainfall amount. In this paper, we investigate the forest-rainfall relationships in the environmentally hot spot area of the Central Rift Valley (CRV) of Ethiopia. Specifically, we evaluate long term (1970-2009) rainfall variability and its relationship with historical forest cover and the relationship between existing forest cover and topographical variables and rainfall distribution. The study used 16 long term and 15 short term rainfall stations. The Mann-Kendall test, bi variate and multiple regression models were used. The results show forest and wood land cover continuously declined over the 40 years period (1970-2009), but annual rainfall in the rift valley floor increased by 6.42 mm/year. But, on the escarpment and highlands, annual rainfall decreased by 2.48 mm/year. The increase in annual rainfall in the rift valley floor is partly attributable to the increase in evaporation as a result of increasing temperatures from the 4 existing lakes in the rift valley floor. Though, annual rainfall is decreasing on the escarpment and highlands, there was no significant correlation between this rainfall decrease and forest and wood land decline and also rainfall variability in the region was not explained by forest cover. Hence, the decrease in annual rainfall on the escarpment and highlands is likely related to the global warming of the atmosphere and the surface waters of the Indian Ocean. Spatial variability of number of rainy days from systematically observed two-year’s rainfall data (2012-2013) was significantly (R2=-0.63) explained by forest cover (distance from forest). But, forest cover was not a significant variable (R2=-0.40) in explaining annual rainfall amount. Generally, past deforestation and existing forest cover showed very little effect on long term and short term rainfall distribution, but a significant effect on number of rainy days in the CRV of Ethiopia.

Keywords: elevation, forest cover, rainfall, slope

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Authors: Kang Zijian, Zhang Tingyu, Burra Venkata Durga Kumar

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This article investigates the challenges in memory migration during the live migration of virtual machines. We found three challenges probably existing in pre-copy technology. One of the main challenges is the challenge of downtime migration. Decrease the downtime could promise the normal work for a virtual machine. Although pre-copy technology is greatly decreasing the downtime, we still need to shut down the machine in order to finish the last round of data transfer. This paper provides an optimization scheme for the problems existing in pro-copy technology, mainly the optimization of the dirty page migration mechanism. The typical pre-copy technology copy n-1th’s dirty pages in nth turn. However, our idea is to create a double iteration method to solve this problem.

Keywords: virtual machine, pre-copy technology, memory migration process, downtime, dirty pages migration method

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Authors: Shiliang Wu, Huanxin Zhang, Aditya Kumar

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There have been increasing concerns on atmospheric mercury as a toxic and bioaccumulative pollutant in the global environment. Global change, including changes in climate change, land use, land cover and wildfires activities can all have significant impacts on atmospheric mercury. In this study, we use a global chemical transport model (GEOS-Chem) to examine the potential impacts from global change on atmospheric mercury. All of these factors in the context of global change are found to have significant impacts on the long-term evolution of atmospheric mercury and can substantially alter the global source-receptor relationships for mercury. We also estimate the global Hg emissions from wildfires for present-day and the potential impacts from the 2000-2050 changes in climate, land use and land cover and Hg anthropogenic emissions by combining statistical analysis with global data on vegetation type and coverage as well as fire activities. Present global Hg wildfire emissions are estimated to be 612 Mg year-1. Africa is the dominant source region (43.8% of global emissions), followed by Eurasia (31%) and South America (16.6%). We find significant perturbations to wildfire emissions of Hg in the context of global change, driven by the projected changes in climate, land use and land cover and Hg anthropogenic emissions. 2000-2050 climate change could increase Hg emissions by 14% globally. Projected changes in land use by 2050 could decrease the global Hg emissions from wildfires by 13% mainly driven by a decline in African emissions due to significant agricultural land expansion. Future land cover changes could lead to significant increases in Hg emissions over some regions (+32% North America, +14% Africa, +13% Eurasia). Potential enrichment of terrestrial ecosystems in 2050 in response to changes in Hg anthropogenic emissions could increase Hg wildfire emissions both globally (+28%) and regionally. Our results indicate that the future evolution of climate, land use and land cover and Hg anthropogenic emissions are all important factors affecting Hg wildfire emissions in the coming decades.

Keywords: climate change, land use, land cover, wildfires

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Authors: Hanaa A. S. Oraby, Amal A. M. Hassan, Mahmoud M. Sakr, Atef A. A. Haiba

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Applying the profiling approach for the assessment of proteomic variations due to genetic modification of the Egyptian tomato cultivar "Edkawy", three complementary approaches were used. These methods are amino acids analysis, gel electrophoresis, and Gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The results of the present study Show evidence of proteomic variations between both modified tomato and its non-modified counterpart. Amino acids concentrations, and the protein patterns separation on the 1D SDS-PAGE were not similar in the case of transformed tomato compared to that of the non-transformed counterpart. These detected differences are most likely derived from the process of transformation. Results also revealed that the efficiency of GC/MS approach to identify a mixture of unknown proteins is limited. GC/MS analysis was only able to identify few number of protein molecules. Therefore, more advanced and specific technologies like MALDI-TOF-MS are recommended to be employed.

Keywords: GMOs, unintended effects, proteomic variations, 1D SDS-PAGE, GC/MS

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Authors: Bouzidi Yassine

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This experimental work was aimed to characterize the porosity of the concrete cover zone using the capillary absorption test, and establish the links between open porosity characterized by the initial absorption, the compressive strength and carbonation depth. Eight formulations of workability similar made from ordinary Portland cement (CEM I 42.5) and a compound cement (CEM II/B 42.5) four of each type are studied. The results allow us to highlight the effect of the cement type. Indeed, concretes-based cement CEM II/B 42.5 carbonatent approximately faster than concretes-based cement CEM I 42.5. This effect is attributed in part to the lower content of portlandite Ca(OH)2 of concretes-based cement CEM II/B 42.5, but also the impact of the cement type on the open porosity of the cover concrete. The open porosity of concretes-based cement CEM I 42.5 is lower than that of concretes-based cement CEM II/B 42.5. The carbonation depth is a decreasing function of the compressive strength at 28 days and increases with the initial absorption. Through the results obtained, correlations between the quantity of water absorbed in 1 h, the carbonation depth at 180 days and the compressive strength at 28 days were performed in an acceptable manner.

Keywords: initial absorption, cover concrete, compressive strength, carbonation depth

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: Savannah Rugg, Carlo Moreno, Pushpa Soti, Alexis Racelis

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Situated in deep South Texas, the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) is considered one the most productive agricultural regions in the southern US. With the highest concentration of organic farms in the state (Hidalgo county), the LRGV has a strong potential to be leaders in sustainable agriculture. Finding management practices that comply with organic certification and increase the health of the agroecosytem and the farmers working the land is increasingly pertinent. Cover cropping, or the intentional planting of non-cash crop vegetation, can serve multiple functions in an agroecosystem by decreasing environmental pollutants that originate from the agroecosystem, reducing inputs needed for crop production, and potentially decreasing on-farm costs for farmers—overall increasing the sustainability of the farm. Use of cover crops on otherwise fallow lands have shown to enhance ecosystem services such as: attracting native beneficial insects (pollinators), increase nutrient availability in topsoil, prevent nutrient leaching, increase soil organic matter, and reduces soil erosion. In this study, four cover crops (Lablab, Sudan Grass, Sunn Hemp, and Pearl Millet) were analyzed in the subtropical region of south Texas to see how their multiple functions enhance ecosystem services. The four cover crops were assessed to see their potential to harbor native insects, their potential to increase soil nitrogen, to increase soil organic matter, and to suppress weeds. The preliminary results suggest that these subtropical varieties of cover crops have potential to enhance ecosystem services on agricultural land in the RGV by increasing soil organic matter (in all varieties), increasing nitrogen in topsoil (Lablab, Sunn Hemp), and reducing weeds (Sudan Grass).

Keywords: cover crops, ecosystem services, subtropical agriculture, sustainable agriculture

Procedia PDF Downloads 271

Authors: Hamid Tavakolipour, Mohsen Mokhtarian, Ahmad Kalbasi Ashtari

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In this study, the effect of various drying methods (sun drying, shade drying and industrial drying) on final moisture content, shell splitting degree, shrinkage and color change were studied. Sun drying resulted higher degree of pistachio nuts shell splitting on pistachio nuts relative other drying methods. The ANOVA results showed that the different drying methods did not significantly effects on color change of dried pistachio nut. The results illustrated that pistachio nut dried by industrial drying had the lowest moisture content. After the end of drying process, initially, the experimental drying data were fitted with five famous drying models namely Newton, Page, Silva et al., Peleg and Henderson and Pabis. The results indicated that Peleg and Page models gave better results compared with other models to monitor the moisture ratio’s pistachio nut in industrial drying and open sun (or shade drying) methods, respectively.

Keywords: industrial drying, pistachio, quality properties, traditional drying

Procedia PDF Downloads 309

Authors: Jang-Hwan Jo

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Implementing sustainable island forest management policies requires categorizing islands into groups based on key indicators and establishing a consistent management system. Building on the results of previous studies, a typology of forested islands was established: Type 1 – connected islands with high natural vegetation cover; Type 2 – connected islands with moderate natural vegetation cover; Type 3 – connected islands with low natural vegetation cover; Type 4 – unconnected islands with high natural vegetation cover; Type 5 – unconnected islands with moderate natural vegetation cover; and Type 6 – unconnected islands with low natural vegetation cover. An AHP analysis was conducted with island forest experts to identify priority ecosystem services (ESs) for the sustainable management of each island type. In connected islands, provisioning services (natural resources, natural medicines, etc.) assumed greater importance than regulating (erosion control) and supporting services (genetic diversity). In unconnected islands, particularly those with a small proportion of natural vegetation, regulating services (erosion control) requires greater emphasis in management. Considering that Type 3 islands require urgent management as connectivity to the mainland makes natural vegetation-sparse island forest ecosystems vulnerable to anthropogenic activities, the land-use scoring method was carried out on Jin-do, a Type 3 forested island. Comparisons between AHP-derived expert demand for key island ESs and the spatial distribution of ES supply potential revealed mismatches between the supply and demand of erosion control, freshwater supply, and habitat provision. The framework developed in this study can help guide decisions and indicate where interventions should be focused to achieve sustainable island management.

Keywords: ecosystem service, sustainable management, forested islands, Analytic hierarchy process

Procedia PDF Downloads 43

Authors: Adesuyi Ayodeji Steve, Zahn Munch

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This study investigates the use of MODIS NDVI to identify agricultural land cover change areas on an annual time step (2007 - 2012) and characterize the trend in the study area. An ISODATA classification was performed on the MODIS imagery to select only the agricultural class producing 3 class groups namely: agriculture, agriculture/semi-natural, and semi-natural. NDVI signatures were created for the time series to identify areas dominated by cereals and vineyards with the aid of ancillary, pictometry and field sample data. The NDVI signature curve and training samples aided in creating a decision tree model in WEKA 3.6.9. From the training samples two classification models were built in WEKA using decision tree classifier (J48) algorithm; Model 1 included ISODATA classification and Model 2 without, both having accuracies of 90.7% and 88.3% respectively. The two models were used to classify the whole study area, thus producing two land cover maps with Model 1 and 2 having classification accuracies of 77% and 80% respectively. Model 2 was used to create change detection maps for all the other years. Subtle changes and areas of consistency (unchanged) were observed in the agricultural classes and crop practices over the years as predicted by the land cover classification. 41% of the catchment comprises of cereals with 35% possibly following a crop rotation system. Vineyard largely remained constant over the years, with some conversion to vineyard (1%) from other land cover classes. Some of the changes might be as a result of misclassification and crop rotation system.

Keywords: change detection, land cover, modis, NDVI

Procedia PDF Downloads 375

Authors: Gashaw Gismu Chakilu

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Climate and land cover change are very important issues in terms of global context and their responses to environmental and socio-economic drivers. The dynamic of these two factors is currently affecting the environment in unbalanced way including watershed hydrology. In this paper individual and combined impacts of climate change and land use land cover change on hydrological processes were evaluated through applying the model Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in Gumara watershed, Upper Blue Nile basin Ethiopia. The regional climate; temperature and rainfall data of the past 40 years in the study area were prepared and changes were detected by using trend analysis applying Mann-Kendall trend test. The land use land cover data were obtained from land sat image and processed by ERDAS IMAGIN 2010 software. Three land use land cover data; 1973, 1986, and 2013 were prepared and these data were used for base line, model calibration and change study respectively. The effects of these changes on high flow and low flow of the catchment have also been evaluated separately. The high flow of the catchment for these two decades was analyzed by using Annual Maximum (AM) model and the low flow was evaluated by seven day sustained low flow model. Both temperature and rainfall showed increasing trend; and then the extent of changes were evaluated in terms of monthly bases by using two decadal time periods; 1973-1982 was taken as baseline and 2004-2013 was used as change study. The efficiency of the model was determined by Nash-Sutcliffe (NS) and Relative Volume error (RVe) and their values were 0.65 and 0.032 for calibration and 0.62 and 0.0051 for validation respectively. The impact of climate change was higher than that of land use land cover change on stream flow of the catchment; the flow has been increasing by 16.86% and 7.25% due to climate and LULC change respectively, and the combined change effect accounted 22.13% flow increment. The overall results of the study indicated that Climate change is more responsible for high flow than low flow; and reversely the land use land cover change showed more significant effect on low flow than high flow of the catchment. From the result we conclude that the hydrology of the catchment has been altered because of changes of climate and land cover of the study area.

Keywords: climate, LULC, SWAT, Ethiopia

Procedia PDF Downloads 358

Authors: Arlett A. Rosado-Torres, Ismael Marino-Tapia

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Changes in benthic cover of coral dominated systems to macroalgae dominance are widely studied worldwide. Watershed pollutants are potentially as important as overfishing causing phase shift. In certain regions of the world most of the continental inputs are through submarine groundwater discharges (SGD), which can play a significant ecological role because the concentration of its nutrients is usually greater that the one found in surface seawater. These stressors have adversely affected coral reefs, particularly in the Caribbean. Measurements of benthic cover (with video tracing, through a Go Pro camera), reef roughness (acoustic estimates with an Acoustic Doppler Current Velocity profiler and a differential GPS), thermohaline conditions (conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) instrument) and nutrient measurements were taken in different sites in the reef lagoon of Puerto Morelos, Q. Roo, Mexico including those with influence of SGD and without it. The results suggest a link between SGD, macroalgae cover and structural complexity. Punctual water samples and data series from a CTD Diver confirm the presence of the SGD. On the site where the SGD is, the macroalgae cover is larger than in the other sites. To establish a causal link between this phase shift and SGD, the DELFT 3D hydrodynamic model (FLOW and WAVE modules) was performed under different environmental conditions and discharge magnitudes. The model was validated using measurements of oceanographic instruments anchored in the lagoon and forereef. The SGD is consistently favoring macroalgae populations and affecting structural complexity of the reef.

Keywords: hydrodynamic model, macroalgae, nutrients, phase shift

Procedia PDF Downloads 126

Authors: Funda Buyuk Mazari, Adnan Mazari, Antonin Havelka, Jakub Wiener, Jawad Naeem

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The use of super absorbent polymers (SAP) for moisture absorption and comfort is still unexplored. In this research the efficiency of different SAP fibrous webs are determined under different moisture percentage to examine the sorption and desorption efficiency. The SAP fibrous web with low thickness and high moisture absorption are tested with multilayer sandwich structure of car seat cover to determine the moisture absorption through cover material. Sweating guarded hot plate (SGHP) from company Atlas is used to determine the moisture permeability of different car seat cover with superabsorbent layer closed with impermeable polyurethane foam. It is observed that the SAP fibrous layers are very effective in absorbing and desorbing water vapor under extreme high and low moisture percentages respectively. In extreme humid condition (95 %RH) the 20g of SAP layer absorbs nearly 3g of water vapor per hour and reaches the maximum absorption capacity in 6 hours.

Keywords: car seat, comfort, SAF, superabsorbent

Procedia PDF Downloads 437

Authors: Sheetal Sharma

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Runoff,decreasing water levels and recharge in urban areas have been a complex issue now a days pointing defective urban design and increasing demography as cause. Very less has been discussed or analysed for water sensitive Urban Master Plans or local area plans. Land use planning deals with land transformation from natural areas into developed ones, which lead to changes in natural environment. Elaborated knowledge of relationship between the existing patterns of land use-land cover and recharge with respect to prevailing soil below is less as compared to speed of development. The parameters of incompatibility between urban functions and the functions of the natural environment are becoming various. Changes in land patterns due to built up, pavements, roads and similar land cover affects surface water flow seriously. It also changes permeability and absorption characteristics of the soil. Urban planners need to know natural processes along with modern means and best technologies available,as there is a huge gap between basic knowledge of natural processes and its requirement for balanced development planning leading to minimum impact on water recharge. The present paper analyzes the variations in land use land cover and their impacts on surface flows and sub-surface recharge in study area. The methodology adopted was to analyse the changes in land use and land cover using GIS and Civil 3d auto cad. The variations were used in  computer modeling using Storm-water Management Model to find out the runoff for various soil groups and resulting recharge observing water levels in POW data for last 40 years of the study area. Results were anlayzed again to find best correlations for sustainable recharge in urban areas.

Keywords: geology, runoff, urban planning, land use-land cover

Procedia PDF Downloads 289

Authors: Ella Sèdé Maforikan

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Accurate land cover mapping is essential for effective environmental monitoring and natural resources management. This study focuses on assessing the classification performance of two satellite datasets and evaluating the impact of different input feature combinations on classification accuracy in the Beterou catchment, situated in the northern part of Benin. Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 images from June 1, 2020, to March 31, 2021, were utilized. Employing the Random Forest (RF) algorithm on Google Earth Engine (GEE), a supervised classification categorized the land into five classes: forest, savannas, cropland, settlement, and water bodies. GEE was chosen due to its high-performance computing capabilities, mitigating computational burdens associated with traditional land cover classification methods. By eliminating the need for individual satellite image downloads and providing access to an extensive archive of remote sensing data, GEE facilitated efficient model training on remote sensing data. The study achieved commendable overall accuracy (OA), ranging from 84% to 85%, even without incorporating spectral indices and terrain metrics into the model. Notably, the inclusion of additional input sources, specifically terrain features like slope and elevation, enhanced classification accuracy. The highest accuracy was achieved with Sentinel-2 (OA = 91%, Kappa = 0.88), slightly surpassing Landsat-8 (OA = 90%, Kappa = 0.87). This underscores the significance of combining diverse input sources for optimal accuracy in land cover mapping. The methodology presented herein not only enables the creation of precise, expeditious land cover maps but also demonstrates the prowess of cloud computing through GEE for large-scale land cover mapping with remarkable accuracy. The study emphasizes the synergy of different input sources to achieve superior accuracy. As a future recommendation, the application of Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) technology is proposed to enhance vegetation type differentiation in the Beterou catchment. Additionally, a cross-comparison between Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 for assessing long-term land cover changes is suggested.

Keywords: land cover mapping, Google Earth Engine, random forest, Beterou catchment

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Authors: Te-Jen Chang, I-Hui Pan, Kuang-Hsiung Tan, Shan-Jen Cheng, Chien-Wu Lan, Chih-Chan Hu

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With the event of multimedia age in order to protect data not to be tampered, damaged, and faked, information hiding technologies are proposed. Information hiding means important secret information is hidden into cover multimedia and then camouflaged media is produced. This camouflaged media has the characteristic of natural protection. Under the undoubted situation, important secret information is transmitted out.Reversible information hiding technologies for high capacity is proposed in this paper. The gray images are as cover media in this technology. We compress gray images and compare with the original image to produce the estimated differences. By using the estimated differences, expression information hiding is used, and higher information capacity can be achieved. According to experimental results, the proposed technology can be approved. For these experiments, the whole capacity of information payload and image quality can be satisfied.

Keywords: cover media, camouflaged media, reversible information hiding, gray image

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Authors: Ahmad E. Aldousaria, Abdulla Al Kafy

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Urbanization is an incessant process that involves the transformation of land use/land cover (LULC), resulting in a reduction of cool land covers and thermal comfort zones (TCZs). This study explores the directional shrinkage of TCZs in Kuwait using Landsat satellite data from 1991 – 2021 to predict the future LULC and TCZ distribution for 2026 and 2031 using cellular automata (CA) and artificial neural network (ANN) algorithms. Analysis revealed a rapid urban expansion (40 %) in SE, NE, and NW directions and TCZ shrinkage in N – NW and SW directions with 25 % of the very uncomfortable area. The predicted result showed an urban area increase from 44 % in 2021 to 47 % and 52 % in 2026 and 2031, respectively, where uncomfortable zones were found to be concentrated around urban areas and bare lands in N – NE and N – NW directions. This study proposes an effective and sustainable framework to control TCZ shrinkage, including zero soil policies, planned landscape design, manmade water bodies, and rooftop gardens. This study will help urban planners and policymakers to make Kuwait an eco–friendly, functional, and sustainable country.

Keywords: land cover change, thermal environment, green cover loss, machine learning, remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 203

Authors: M. Irannezhad, E. H. N. Gashti, S. Mohammadighavam, M. Zarrini, B. Kløve

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Climate warming would increase rainfall by shifting precipitation falling form from snow to rain, and would accelerate snow cover disappearing by increasing snowpack. Using temperature and precipitation data in the temperature-index snowmelt model, we evaluated variability of snowfall and continuous snow cover duration(CSCD) during 1944-2010 over Pelso, central Finland. MannKendall non-parametric test determined that annual precipitation increased by 2.69 (mm/year, p<0.05) during the study period, but no clear trend in annual temperature. Both annual rainfall and snowfall increased by 1.67 and 0.78 (mm/year, p<0.05), respectively. CSCD was generally about 205 days from 14 October to 6 May. No clear trend was found in CSCD over Pelso. Spearman’s rank correlation showed most significant relationships of annual snowfall with the East Atlantic (EA) pattern, and CSCD with the East Atlantic/West Russia (EA/WR) pattern. Increased precipitation with no warming temperature caused the rainfall and snowfall to increase, while no effects on CSCD.

Keywords: variations, snowfall, snow cover duration, temperature-index snowmelt model, teleconnection patterns

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Authors: Karen Cilliers, Benedict John Page

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The middle cerebral artery (MCA) is the most complex cerebral artery although few anomalies are found compared to the other cerebral arteries. The branches of the MCA cover a large part of each hemisphere, therefore it is exposed in various operations. Although the segments of the MCA are similarly described by most authors, there is some disagreement on the branching pattern of the MCA. The aim of this study was to review the available literature on the anatomy and variations of the MCA, and to compare this to a pilot study. For the pilot study, 20 hemispheres were perfused with coloured silicone and the MCA was dissected. According to the literature, the two most common branching configurations are the bifurcating and trifurcating patterns. In the pilot study, bifurcation was observed in 19 hemispheres, and in one hemisphere there was no branching (monofurcation). No trifurcation was observed. The most commonly duplicated branch was the anterior parietal artery in 30%, and most commonly absent was the common temporal artery in 65% and the temporal polar artery in 40%. Very few studies describe the origins of the branches of the MCA, therefore a detailed description is given. Middle cerebral artery variations that are occasionally reported in the literature include fenestration, and a duplicated or accessory MCA, although no variations were observed in the pilot study. Aneurysms can frequently be observed at the branching of cerebral vessels, therefore a thorough knowledge of the vascular anatomy is vital. Furthermore, knowledge of possible variations is important since variations can have serious clinical implications.

Keywords: anatomy, anomaly, description, middle cerebral artery, origin, variation

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Authors: John Wangui, Charles Gachene, Stephen Mureithi, Boniface Kiteme

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Land use changes caused by demographic, natural variability, economic, technological and policy factors affect the goods and services derived from an ecosystem. In the past few decades, Lake Ol Bolossat catchment in Nyandarua County Kenya has been facing challenges of land cover changes threatening its capacity to perform ecosystems functions and adversely affecting communities and ecosystems downstream. This study assessed land cover changes in the catchment for a period of twenty eight years (from 1986 to 2014). Analysis of three Landsat images i.e. L5 TM 1986, L5 TM 1995 and L8 OLI/TIRS 2014 was done using ERDAS 9.2 software. The results show that dense forest, cropland and area under water increased by 27%, 29% and 3% respectively. On the other hand, open forest, dense grassland, open grassland, bushland and shrubland decreased by 3%, 3%, 11%, 26% and 1% respectively during the period under assessment. The lake was noted to have increased due to siltation caused by soil erosion causing a reduction in Lake’s depth and consequently causing temporary flooding of the wetland. The study concludes that the catchment is under high demographic pressure which would lead to resource use conflicts and therefore formulation of mitigation measures is highly recommended.

Keywords: land cover, land use change, land degradation, Nyandarua, Remote sensing

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Authors: A. O. Abulibdeh

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The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the changes in the Land Surface Temperature (LST) as a function of urbanization, particularly land use/land cover changes, in three cities in the UAE, mainly Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Al Ain. The scale of this assessment will be at the macro- and micro-levels. At the macro-level, a comparative assessment will take place to compare between the four cities in the UAE. At the micro-level, the study will compare between the effects of different land use/land cover on the LST. This will provide a clear and quantitative city-specific information related to the relationship between urbanization and local spatial intra-urban LST variation in three cities in the UAE. The main objectives of this study are 1) to investigate the development of LST on the macro- and micro-level between and in three cities in the UAE over two decades time period, 2) to examine the impact of different types of land use/land cover on the spatial distribution of LST. Because these three cities are facing harsh arid climate, it is hypothesized that (1) urbanization is affecting and connected to the spatial changes in LST; (2) different land use/land cover have different impact on the LST; and (3) changes in spatial configuration of land use and vegetation concentration over time would control urban microclimate on a city scale and control macroclimate on the country scale. This study will be carried out over a 20-year period (1996-2016) and throughout the whole year. The study will compare between two distinct periods with different thermal characteristics which are the cool/cold period from November to March and warm/hot period between April and October. The best practice research method for this topic is to use remote sensing data to target different aspects of natural and anthropogenic systems impacts. The project will follow classical remote sensing and mapping techniques to investigate the impact of urbanization, mainly changes in land use/land cover, on LST. The investigation in this study will be performed in two stages. Stage one remote sensing data will be used to investigate the impact of urbanization on LST on a macroclimate level where the LST and Urban Heat Island (UHI) will be compared in the three cities using data from the past two decades. Stage two will investigate the impact on microclimate scale by investigating the LST and UHI using a particular land use/land cover type. In both stages, an LST and urban land cover maps will be generated over the study area. The outcome of this study should represent an important contribution to recent urban climate studies, particularly in the UAE. Based on the aim and objectives of this study, the expected outcomes are as follow: i) to determine the increase or decrease of LST as a result of urbanization in these four cities, ii) to determine the effect of different land uses/land covers on increasing or decreasing the LST.

Keywords: land use/land cover, global warming, land surface temperature, remote sensing

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Authors: Tahsien Okasha

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Transplantation medicine is one of the most challenging and complex areas of modern medicine. Some of the key areas for medical management are the problems of transplant rejection, during which the body has an immune response to the transplanted organ, possibly leading to transplant failure and the need to immediately remove the organ from the recipient. When possible, transplant rejection can be reduced through serotyping to determine the most appropriate donor-recipient match and through the use of immunosuppressant drugs. Postoperative care actually begins before the surgery in terms of education, discharge planning, nutrition, pulmonary rehabilitation, and patient/family education. This also allows for expectations to be managed. A multidisciplinary approach is the key, and collaborative team meetings are essential to ensuring that all team members are "on the same page.". The following clinical pathway map and guidelines with the aim to decrease alteration in clinical practice and are intended for those healthcare professionals who look after organ transplant patients. They are also intended to be useful to both medical and surgical trainees as well as nurse specialists and other associated healthcare professionals involved in the care of organ transplant patients. This pathway is general pathway include the general guidelines that can be applicable for all types of organ transplant with special considerations to each organ.

Keywords: organ transplant, clinical pathway, postoperative care, same page

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Authors: Elif Aykin Dincer, Mustafa Erbas

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The vacuum drying behavior of beef slices (10 x 4 x 0.2 cm3) was experimentally investigated at the temperature of 60, 70, and 80°C under 25 mbar ultimate vacuum pressure and the mathematical models (Lewis, Page, Midilli, Two-term, Wangh and Singh and Modified Henderson and Pabis) were used to fit the vacuum drying of beef slices. The increase in drying air temperature resulted in a decrease in drying time. It took approximately 206, 180 and 157 min to dry beef slices from an initial moisture content to a final moisture content of 0.05 kg water/kg dry matter at 60, 70 and 80 °C of vacuum drying, respectively. It is also observed that the drying rate increased with increasing drying temperature. The coefficients (R2), the reduced chi-square (x²) and root mean square error (RMSE) values were obtained by application of six models to the experimental drying data. The best model with the highest R2 and, the lowest x² and RMSE values was selected to describe the drying characteristics of beef slices. The Page model has shown a better fit to the experimental drying data as compared to other models. In addition, the effective moisture diffusivities of beef slices in the vacuum drying at 60 - 80 °C varied in the range of 1.05 – 1.09 x 10-10 m2/s. Consequently, this results can be used to simulate vacuum drying process of beef slices and improve efficiency of the drying process.

Keywords: beef slice, drying models, effective diffusivity, vacuum

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Authors: Elif Tugce Aksun Tumerkan, Chris Lowe, Hannah Krupa

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Fluorescent proteins are self-sufficient in forming chromophores with a visible wavelength from 3 amino acids sequence within their own polypeptide structure. This chromophore – a molecule that absorbs a photon of light and exhibits an energy transition equal to the energy of the absorbed photon. Fluorescent proteins (FPs) consisted of a chain of 238 amino acid residues and composed of 11 beta strands shaped in a cylinder surrounding an alpha helix structure. A better understanding of the system of the chromospheres and the increasing advance in protein engineering in recent years, the properties of FPs offers the potential for new applications. They have used sensors and probes in molecular biology and cell-based research that giving a chance to observe these FPs tagged cell localization, structural variation and movement. For clarifying functional uses of fluorescent proteins, electrophoretic properties of these proteins are one of the most important parameters. Sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis is used for determining electrophoretic properties commonly. While there are many techniques are used for determining the functionality of protein-based research, SDS-PAGE analysis can only provide a molecular level assessment of the proteolytic fragments. Before SDS-PAGE analysis, fluorescent proteins need to successfully purified. Due to directly purification of the target, FPs is difficult from the animal, gene expression is commonly used which must be done by transformation with the plasmid. Furthermore, used gel within electrophoresis and staining agents properties have a key role. In this review, the different factors that have the impact on the electrophoretic properties of fluorescent proteins explored. Fluorescent protein separation and purification are the essential steps before electrophoresis that should be done very carefully. For protein purification, gene expression process and following steps have a significant function. For successful gene expression, the properties of selected bacteria for expression, used plasmid are essential. Each bacteria has own characteristics which are very sensitive to gene expression, also used procedure is the important factor for fluorescent protein expression. Another important factors are gel formula and used staining agents. Gel formula has an effect on the specific proteins mobilization and staining with correct agents is a key step for visualization of electrophoretic bands of protein. Visuality of proteins can be changed depending on staining reagents. Apparently, this review has emphasized that gene expression and purification have a stronger effect than electrophoresis protocol and staining agents.

Keywords: cell biology, gene expression, staining agents, SDS-page

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Authors: A. Zaidi, F. Khelifi, R. Masmoudi, M. Bouhicha

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5 In order to eradicate the degradation of reinforced concrete structures due to the steel corrosion, professionals in constructions suggest using fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) for their excellent properties. Nevertheless, high temperatures may affect the bond between FRP bar and concrete, and consequently the serviceability of FRP-reinforced concrete structures. This paper presents a nonlinear numerical investigation using ADINA software to investigate the effect of the spacing between glass FRP (GFRP) bars embedded in concrete on circumferential thermal deformations and the distribution of radial thermal cracks in reinforced concrete beams submitted to high temperature variations up to 60 °C for asymmetrical problems. The thermal deformations predicted from nonlinear finite elements model, at the FRP bar/concrete interface and at the external surface of concrete cover, were established as a function of the ratio of concrete cover thickness to FRP bar diameter (c/d_b) and the ratio of spacing between FRP bars in concrete to FRP bar diameter (e/d_b). Numerical results show that the circumferential thermal deformations at the external surface of concrete cover are linear until cracking thermal load varied from 32 to 55 °C corresponding to the ratio of e/d_b varied from 1.3 to 2.3, respectively. However, for ratios e/d_b >2.3 and c/d_b >1.6, the thermal deformations at the external surface of concrete cover exhibit linear behavior without any cracks observed on the specified surface. The numerical results are compared to those obtained from analytical models validated by experimental tests.

Keywords: concrete beam, FRP bars, spacing effect, thermal deformation

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Authors: Isa Muhammad Zumo, Musa Lawan

Abstract:

This study analyzes the land use/land cover changes in Damaturu metropolis from 1986 to 2005. LandSat TM Images of 1986, 1999, and 2005 were used. Built-up lands, agric lands, water body and other lands were created as themes within ILWIS 3.4 software. The images were displayed in False Colour Composite (FCC) for a better visualization and identification of the themes created. Training sample sets were collected based on the ground truth data during field the checks. Statistical data were then extracted from the classified sample set. Area in hectares for each theme was calculated for each year and the result for each land use/land cover types for each study year was compared. From the result, it was found out that built-up areas have a considerable increase from 37.71 hectares in 1986 to 1062.72 hectares in 2005. It has an annual increase rate of approximately 0.34%. The results also reveal that there is a decrease of 5829.66 hectares of other lands (vacant lands) from 1986 to 2005.

Keywords: land use, changes, analysis, environmental pollution

Procedia PDF Downloads 314