Search results for: spatiotemporal

Authors: Majid Aldalbahi

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In 2009, over 3.4 billion people in the world resided in urban areas as a result of rapid urban growth. This figure is estimated to increase to 6.5 billion by 2050. This urban growth phenomenon has raised challenges for many countries in both the developing and developed worlds. Urban growth is a complicated process involving the spatiotemporal changes of all socio-economic and physical components at different scales. The socio-economic components of urban growth are related to urban population growth and economic growth, while physical components of urban growth and economic growth are related to spatial expansion, land cover change and land use change which are the focus of this research. The interactions between these components are complex and no-linear. Several factors and forces cause these complex interactions including transportation and communication, internal and international migrations, public policies, high natural growth rates of urban populations and public policies. Urban growth has positive and negative consequences. The positive effects relates to planned and orderly urban growth, while negative effects relate to unplanned and scattered growth, which is called sprawl. Although urban growth is considered as necessary for sustainable urbanization, uncontrolled and rapid growth cause various problems including consumption of precious rural land resources at urban fringe, landscape alteration, traffic congestion, infrastructure pressure, and neighborhood conflicts. Traditional urban planning approaches in fast growing cities cannot accommodate the negative consequences of rapid urban growth. Microsimulation programme, and modelling techniques are effective means to provide new urban development, management and planning methods and approaches. This paper aims to use these techniques to understand and analyse the complex interactions for the case study of Riyadh city, a fast growing city in Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: policy implications, urban planning, traffic congestion, urban growth, Suadi Arabia, Riyadh

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Authors: Zeina Merabi, Arij Dao

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The temporal order of information processing in the brain is an important code in many acoustic signals, including speech, music, and animal vocalizations. Despite its significance, surprisingly little is known about its underlying cellular mechanisms and network manifestations. In the songbird telencephalic nucleus HVC, a subset of neurons shows temporal combination sensitivity (TCS). These neurons show a high temporal specificity, responding differently to distinct patterns of spectral elements and their combinations. HVC neuron types include basal-ganglia-projecting HVCX, forebrain-projecting HVCRA, and interneurons (HVC¬INT), each exhibiting distinct cellular, electrophysiological and functional properties. In this work, we develop conductance-based neural network models connecting the different classes of HVC neurons via different wiring scenarios, aiming to explore possible neural mechanisms that orchestrate the combination sensitivity property exhibited by HVCX, as well as replicating in vivo firing patterns observed when TCS neurons are presented with various auditory stimuli. The ionic and synaptic currents for each class of neurons that are presented in our networks and are based on pharmacological studies, rendering our networks biologically plausible. We present for the first time several realistic scenarios in which the different types of HVC neurons can interact to produce this behavior. The different networks highlight neural mechanisms that could potentially help to explain some aspects of combination sensitivity, including 1) interplay between inhibitory interneurons’ activity and the post inhibitory firing of the HVCX neurons enabled by T-type Ca2+ and H currents, 2) temporal summation of synaptic inputs at the TCS site of opposing signals that are time-and frequency- dependent, and 3) reciprocal inhibitory and excitatory loops as a potent mechanism to encode information over many milliseconds. The result is a plausible network model characterizing auditory processing in HVC. Our next step is to test the predictions of the model.

Keywords: combination sensitivity, songbirds, neural networks, spatiotemporal integration

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Authors: Israel Ropo Orimoloye, Johanes A. Belle, Olusola Adeyemi, Olusola O. Ololade

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With more than 100,000 orbits during the past 20 years, Terra has significantly improved our knowledge of the Earth's climate and its implications on societies and ecosystems of human activity and natural disasters, including drought events. With Terra instrument's performance and the free distribution of its products, this study utilised Terra MOD13Q1 satellite data to assess drought disaster events and its spatiotemporal patterns over the Free State Province of South Africa between 2001 and 2019 for summer, autumn, winter, and spring seasons. The study also used high-resolution downscaled climate change projections under three representative concentration pathways (RCP). Three future periods comprising the short (the 2030s), medium (2040s), and long term (2050s) compared to the current period are analysed to understand the potential magnitude of projected climate change-related drought. The study revealed that the year 2001 and 2016 witnessed extreme drought conditions where the drought index is between 0 and 20% across the entire province during summer, while the year 2003, 2004, 2007, and 2015 observed severe drought conditions across the region with variation from one part to the another. The result shows that from -24.5 to -25.5 latitude, the area witnessed a decrease in precipitation (80 to 120mm) across the time slice and an increase in the latitude -26° to -28° S for summer seasons, which is more prominent in the year 2041 to 2050. This study emphasizes the strong spatio-environmental impacts within the province and highlights the associated factors that characterise high drought stress risk, especially on the environment and ecosystems. This study contributes to a disaster risk framework to identify areas for specific research and adaptation activities on drought disaster risk and for environmental planning in the study area, which is characterised by both rural and urban contexts, to address climate change-related drought impacts.

Keywords: remote sensing, drought disaster, climate scenario, assessment

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Authors: Poonam Sharma, Ankur Srivastav

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Cities are complex and dynamic systems that constitute a significant challenge to urban planning. The increasing size of the built-up area owing to growing population pressure and economic growth have lead to massive Landuse/Landcover change resulted in the loss of natural habitat and thus reducing the green covers in urban areas. Urban environmental quality is influenced by several aspects, including its geographical configuration, the scale, and nature of human activities occurring and environmental impacts generated. Cities have transformed into complex and dynamic systems that constitute a significant challenge to urban planning. Cities and their sustainability are often discussed together as the cities stand confronted with numerous environmental concerns as the world becoming increasingly urbanized, and the cities are situated in the mesh of global networks in multiple senses. A rapid transformed urban setting plays a crucial role to change the green area of natural habitats. To examine the pattern of urban growth and to measure the Landuse/Landcover change in Gurgoan in Haryana, India through the integration of Geospatial technique is attempted in the research paper. Satellite images are used to measure the spatiotemporal changes that have occurred in the land use and land cover resulting into a new cityscape. It has been observed from the analysis that drastically evident changes in land use has occurred with the massive rise in built up areas and the decrease in green cover and therefore causing the sustainability of the city an important area of concern. The massive increase in built-up area has influenced the localised temperatures and heat concentration. To enhance the decision-making process in urban planning, a detailed and real world depiction of these urban spaces is the need of the hour. Monitoring indicators of key processes in land use and economic development are essential for evaluating policy measures.

Keywords: cityscape, geospatial techniques, green cover index, urban environmental quality, urban planning

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Authors: A. Kyprianou, A. Tjirkallis

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Condition monitoring of structures in service is very important as it provides information about the risk of damage development. One of the essential constituents of structural condition monitoring is the damage detection methodology. In the context of condition monitoring of in service structures a damage detection methodology analyses data obtained from the structure while it is in operation. Usually, this means that the data could be affected by operational and environmental conditions in a way that could mask the effects of a possible damage on the data. This, depending on the damage detection methodology, could lead to either false alarms or miss existing damages. In this article a damage detection methodology that is based on the Spatio-temporal continuous wavelet transform (SPT-CWT) analysis of a sequence of experimental time responses of a cantilever beam is proposed. The cantilever is subjected to white and pink noise excitation to simulate different operating conditions. In addition, in order to simulate changing environmental conditions, the cantilever is subjected to heating by a heat gun. The response of the cantilever beam is measured by a high-speed camera. Edges are extracted from the series of images of the beam response captured by the camera. Subsequent processing of the edges gives a series of time responses on 439 points on the beam. This sequence is then analyzed using the SPT-CWT to identify damage. The algorithm proposed was able to clearly identify damage under any condition when the structure was excited by white noise force. In addition, in the case of white noise excitation, the analysis could also reveal the position of the heat gun when it was used to heat the structure. The analysis could identify the different operating conditions i.e. between responses due to white noise excitation and responses due to pink noise excitation. During the pink noise excitation whereas damage and changing temperature were identified it was not possible to clearly identify the effect of damage from that of temperature. The methodology proposed in this article for damage detection enables the separation the damage effect from that due to temperature and excitation on data obtained from measurements of a cantilever beam. This methodology does not require information about the apriori state of the structure.

Keywords: spatiotemporal continuous wavelet transform, damage detection, data normalization, varying temperature

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Authors: Sharein El-Tourky, Sharon Smith, Gary Hitchcock

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Effective fisheries management is necessarily dependent on the accuracy of fisheries models, which can be limited if they omit critical elements. One critical element in the formulation of these models is the trophic interactions at the larval stage of fish development. At this stage, fish mortality rates are at their peak and survival is often determined by resource limitation. Thus it is crucial to identify and quantify essential prey resources and determine how they vary in abundance and availability. The main resources larval fish consume are mesozooplankton. In the Straits of Florida, little is known about temporal and spatial variability of the mesozooplankton community despite its importance as a spawning ground for fish such as the Blue Marlin. To investigate mesozooplankton distribution patterns in the Straits of Florida, a transect of 16 stations from Miami to the Bahamas was sampled once a month in 2003 and 2004 at four depths. We found marked temporal and spatial variability in mesozooplankton biomass, diversity, and depth distribution. Mesozooplankton biomass peaked on the western boundary of the SOF and decreased gradually across the straits to a minimum at eastern stations. Midcurrent stations appeared to be a region of enhanced year-round variability, but limited seasonality. Examination of dominant zooplankton groups revealed groups could be parsed into 6 clusters based on abundance. Of these zooplankton groups, copepods were the most abundant zooplankton group, with the 20 most abundant species making up 86% of the copepod community. Copepod diversity was lowest at midcurrent stations and highest in the Eastern SOF. Interestingly, one copepods species, previously identified to compose up to 90% of larval blue marlin and sailfish diets in the SOF, had a mean abundance of less than 7%. However, the unique spatial and vertical distribution patterns of this copepod coincide with peak larval fish spawning periods and larval distribution, suggesting an important relationship requiring further investigation.

Keywords: mesozooplankton biodiversity, larval fish diet, food web, Straits of Florida, vertical distribution, spatiotemporal variability, cross-current comparisons, Gulf Stream

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Authors: Arafan Traore, Teiji Watanabe

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Conakry, the capital city of the Republic of Guinea, has experienced a rapid urban expansion and population increased in the last two decades, which has resulted in remarkable local weather and climate change, raise energy demand and pollution and treating social, economic and environmental development. In this study, the spatiotemporal variation of the land surface temperature (LST) is retrieved to characterize the effect of urban growth on the thermal environment and quantify its relationship with biophysical indices, a normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a normalized difference built up Index (NDBI). Landsat data TM and OLI/TIRS acquired respectively in 1986, 2000 and 2016 were used for LST retrieval and Land use/cover change analysis. A quantitative analysis based on the integration of a remote sensing and a geography information system (GIS) has revealed an important increased in the LST pattern in the average from 25.21°C in 1986 to 27.06°C in 2000 and 29.34°C in 2016, which was quite eminent with an average gain in surface temperature of 4.13°C over 30 years study period. Additionally, an analysis using a Pearson correlation (r) between (LST) and the biophysical indices, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) and a normalized difference built-up Index (NDBI) has revealed a negative relationship between LST and NDVI and a strong positive relationship between LST and NDBI. Which implies that an increase in the NDVI value can reduce the LST intensity; conversely increase in NDBI value may strengthen LST intensity in the study area. Although Landsat data were found efficient in assessing the thermal environment in Conakry, however, the method needs to be refined with in situ measurements of LST in the future studies. The results of this study may assist urban planners, scientists and policies makers concerned about climate variability to make decisions that will enhance sustainable environmental practices in Conakry.

Keywords: Conakry, land surface temperature, urban heat island, geography information system, remote sensing, land use/cover change

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Authors: Chiqian Zhang, Kyle D. McIntosh, Nathan Sienkiewicz, Ian Struewing, Erin A. Stelzer, Jennifer L. Graham, Jingrang Lu

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Phytoplankton plays an essential role in freshwater aquatic ecosystems and is the primary group synthesizing organic carbon and providing food sources or energy to ecosystems. Therefore, the identification and quantification of phytoplankton are important for estimating and assessing ecosystem productivity (carbon fixation), water quality, and eutrophication. Microscopy is the current gold standard for identifying and quantifying phytoplankton composition and abundance. However, microscopic analysis of phytoplankton is time-consuming, has a low sample throughput, and requires deep knowledge and rich experience in microbial morphology to implement. To improve this situation, quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was considered for phytoplankton identification and quantification. Using qPCR to assess phytoplankton composition and abundance, however, has not been comprehensively evaluated. This study focused on: 1) conducting a comprehensive performance comparison of qPCR and microscopy techniques in identifying and quantifying phytoplankton and 2) examining the use of qPCR as a tool for assessing eutrophication. Twelve large rivers located throughout the United States were evaluated using data collected from 2017 to 2019 to understand the relation between qPCR-based phytoplankton abundance and eutrophication. This study revealed that temporal variation of phytoplankton abundance in the twelve rivers was limited within years (from late spring to late fall) and among different years (2017, 2018, and 2019). Midcontinent rivers had moderately greater phytoplankton abundance than eastern and western rivers, presumably because midcontinent rivers were more eutrophic. The study also showed that qPCR- and microscope-determined phytoplankton abundance had a significant positive linear correlation (adjusted R² 0.772, p-value < 0.001). In addition, phytoplankton abundance assessed via qPCR showed promise as an indicator of the eutrophication status of those rivers, with oligotrophic rivers having low phytoplankton abundance and eutrophic rivers having (relatively) high phytoplankton abundance. This study demonstrated that qPCR could serve as an alternative tool to traditional microscopy for phytoplankton quantification and eutrophication assessment in freshwater rivers.

Keywords: phytoplankton, eutrophication, river, qPCR, microscopy, spatiotemporal variation

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Authors: Molakala Mourya Vardhan Reddy, Kandimala Revanth, Koduru Sumanth, Beena B. M.

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Emergency response and recovery operations are severely hampered by natural catastrophes, especially floods. Understanding post-flood scenarios is essential to disaster management because it facilitates quick evaluation and decision-making. To this end, we introduce FloodNet, a brand-new high-resolution aerial picture collection created especially for comprehending post-flood scenes. A varied collection of excellent aerial photos taken during and after flood occurrences make up FloodNet, which offers comprehensive representations of flooded landscapes, damaged infrastructure, and changed topographies. The dataset provides a thorough resource for training and assessing computer vision models designed to handle the complexity of post-flood scenarios, including a variety of environmental conditions and geographic regions. Pixel-level semantic segmentation masks are used to label the pictures in FloodNet, allowing for a more detailed examination of flood-related characteristics, including debris, water bodies, and damaged structures. Furthermore, temporal and positional metadata improve the dataset's usefulness for longitudinal research and spatiotemporal analysis. For activities like flood extent mapping, damage assessment, and infrastructure recovery projection, we provide baseline standards and evaluation metrics to promote research and development in the field of post-flood scene comprehension. By integrating FloodNet into machine learning pipelines, it will be easier to create reliable algorithms that will help politicians, urban planners, and first responders make choices both before and after floods. The goal of the FloodNet dataset is to support advances in computer vision, remote sensing, and disaster response technologies by providing a useful resource for researchers. FloodNet helps to create creative solutions for boosting communities' resilience in the face of natural catastrophes by tackling the particular problems presented by post-flood situations.

Keywords: image classification, segmentation, computer vision, nature disaster, unmanned arial vehicle(UAV), machine learning.

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Authors: Nassima Noufail, Sara Bouhali

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In this work, we develop a semi-supervised solution for the purpose of action detection in videos and propose an efficient algorithm for video segmentation. The approach is divided into video segmentation, feature extraction, and classification. In the first part, a video is segmented into clips, and we used the K-means algorithm for this segmentation; our goal is to find groups based on similarity in the video. The application of k-means clustering into all the frames is time-consuming; therefore, we started by the identification of transition frames where the scene in the video changes significantly, and then we applied K-means clustering into these transition frames. We used two image filters, the gaussian filter and the Laplacian of Gaussian. Each filter extracts a set of features from the frames. The Gaussian filter blurs the image and omits the higher frequencies, and the Laplacian of gaussian detects regions of rapid intensity changes; we then used this vector of filter responses as an input to our k-means algorithm. The output is a set of cluster centers. Each video frame pixel is then mapped to the nearest cluster center and painted with a corresponding color to form a visual map. The resulting visual map had similar pixels grouped. We then computed a cluster score indicating how clusters are near each other and plotted a signal representing frame number vs. clustering score. Our hypothesis was that the evolution of the signal would not change if semantically related events were happening in the scene. We marked the breakpoints at which the root mean square level of the signal changes significantly, and each breakpoint is an indication of the beginning of a new video segment. In the second part, for each segment from part 1, we randomly selected a 16-frame clip, then we extracted spatiotemporal features using convolutional 3D network C3D for every 16 frames using a pre-trained model. The C3D final output is a 512-feature vector dimension; hence we used principal component analysis (PCA) for dimensionality reduction. The final part is the classification. The C3D feature vectors are used as input to a multi-class linear support vector machine (SVM) for the training model, and we used a multi-classifier to detect the action. We evaluated our experiment on the UCF101 dataset, which consists of 101 human action categories, and we achieved an accuracy that outperforms the state of art by 1.2%.

Keywords: video segmentation, action detection, classification, Kmeans, C3D

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Authors: Juliana Bom-Tempo

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The proposed composition occurs between images, performances, clinics and philosophies. For this enterprise we depart for what is not known beforehand, so with a question as a compass: "would it be in the creation, production and implementation of images in a performance a 'when' for the event of a poetic clinic?” In light of this, there are, in order to think a 'when' of the event of a poetic clinic, images in performances created, produced and executed in partnerships with the author of this text. Faced with this composition, we built four indicators to find spatiotemporal coordinates that would spot that "when", namely: risk zones; the mobilizations of the signs; the figuring of the flesh and an education of the affections. We dealt with the images in performances; Crútero; Flesh; Karyogamy and the risk of abortion; Egg white; Egg-mouth; Islands, threads, words ... germs; Egg-Mouth-Debris, taken as case studies, by engendering risks areas to promote individuations, which never actualize thoroughly, thus always something of pre-individual and also individuating a environment; by mobilizing the signs territorialized by the ordinary, causing them to vary the language and the words of order dictated by the everyday in other compositions of sense, other machinations; by generating a figure of flesh, disarranging the bodies, isolating them in the production of a ground force that causes the body to leak out and undo the functionalities of the organs; and, finally, by producing an education of affections, by placing the perceptions in becoming and disconnecting the visible in the production of small deserts that call for the creation of a people yet to come. The performance is processed as a problematizing of the images fixed by the ordinary, producing gestures that precipitate the individuation of images in performance, strange to the configurations that gather bodies and spaces in what we call common. Lawrence proposes to think of "people" who continually use umbrellas to protect themselves from chaos. These have the function of wrapping up the chaos in visions that create houses, forms and stabilities; they paint a sky at the bottom of the umbrella, where people march and die. A chaos, where people live and wither. Pierce the umbrella for a desire of chaos; a poet puts himself as an enemy of the convention, to be able to have an image of chaos and a little sun that burns his skin. The images in performances presented, thereby, were moving in search for the power of producing a spatio-temporal "when" putting the territories in risk areas, mobilizing the signs that format the day-to-day, opening the bodies to a disorganization and the production of an education of affections for the event of a poetic clinic.

Keywords: Experimentations , Images in Performances, Poetic Clinic, Risk

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Authors: Yun Chen, David Penton, Fazlul Karim, Santosh Aryal, Shahriar Wahid, Peter Taylor, Susan M. Cuddy

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Droughts have severely affected Afghanistan over the last four decades, leading to critical food shortages where two-thirds of the country’s population are in a food crisis. Long years of conflict have lowered the country’s ability to deal with hazards such as drought, which can rapidly escalate into disasters. Understanding the spatial and temporal distribution of droughts is needed to be able to respond effectively to disasters and plan for future occurrences. This study used Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) at monthly, seasonal, and annual temporal scales to map the spatiotemporal change dynamics of drought characteristics (distribution, frequency, duration, and severity) in Afghanistan. SPEI indices were mapped for river basins, disaggregated into 189 sub-catchments, using monthly precipitation and potential evapotranspiration derived from temperature station observations from 1980 to 2017. The results show these multi-dimensional drought characteristics vary along different years, change among sub-catchments, and differ across temporal scales. During the 38 years, the driest decade and period are the 2000s and 1999–2022, respectively. The 2000–01 water year is the driest, with the whole country experiencing ‘severe’ to ‘extreme’ drought, more than 53% (87 sub-catchments) suffering the worst drought in history, and about 58% (94 sub-catchments) having ‘very frequent’ drought (7 to 8 months) or ‘extremely frequent’ drought (9 to 10 months). The estimated seasonal duration and severity present significant variations across the study area and throughout the study period. The nation also suffered from recurring droughts with varying length and intensity in 2004, 2006, 2008, and, most recently, 2011. There is a trend towards increasing drought with longer duration and higher severity extending all over sub-catchments from southeast to north and central regions. These datasets and maps help to fill the knowledge gap on detailed sub-catchment scale meteorological drought characteristics in Afghanistan. The study findings improve our understanding of the influences of climate change on drought dynamics and can guide catchment planning for reliable adaptation to and mitigation against future droughts.

Keywords: SPEI, precipitation, evapotranspiration, climate extremes

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Authors: Deniz Yurtoğlu

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Aerosols directly affect the radiative balance of the earth by absorbing and/or scattering the sun rays reaching the atmosphere and indirectly affect the balance by acting as a nucleus in cloud formation. The composition, physical, and chemical properties of aerosols vary depending on their sources and the time spent in the atmosphere. The Eastern Mediterranean Basin has a high aerosol load that is formed from different sources; such as anthropogenic activities, desert dust outbreaks, and the spray of sea salt; and the area is subjected to atmospheric transport from other locations on the earth. This region, which includes the deserts of Africa, the Middle East, and the Mediterranean sea, is one of the most affected areas by climate change due to its location and the chemistry of the atmosphere. This study aims to investigate the spatiotemporal deviation of aerosol load in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin between the years 2018-2022 with the help of a new pioneer satellite of ESA (European Space Agency), Sentinel-5P. The TROPOMI (The TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument) traveling on this low-Earth orbiting satellite is a UV (Ultraviolet)-sensing spectrometer with a resolution of 5.5 km x 3.5 km, which can make measurements even in a cloud-covered atmosphere. By using Absorbing Aerosol Index data produced by this spectrometer and special scripts written in Python language that transforms this data into images, it was seen that the majority of the aerosol load in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin is sourced from desert dust and anthropogenic activities. After retrieving the daily data, which was separated from the NaN values, seasonal analyses match with the normal aerosol variations expected, which are high in warm seasons and lower in cold seasons. Monthly analyses showed that in four years, there was an increase in the amount of Absorbing Aerosol Index in spring and winter by 92.27% (2019-2021) and 39.81% (2019-2022), respectively. On the other hand, in the summer and autumn seasons, a decrease has been observed by 20.99% (2018-2021) and 0.94% (2018-2021), respectively. The overall variation of the mean absorbing aerosol index from TROPOMI between April 2018 to April 2022 reflects a decrease of 115.87% by annual mean from 0.228 to -0.036. However, when the data is analyzed by the annual mean values of the years which have the data from January to December, meaning from 2019 to 2021, there was an increase of 57.82% increase (0.108-0.171). This result can be interpreted as the effect of climate change on the aerosol load and also, more specifically, the effect of forest fires that happened in the summer months of 2021.

Keywords: aerosols, eastern mediterranean basin, sentinel-5p, tropomi, aerosol index, remote sensing

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Authors: Ibrahim A. Adeniran, Rui F. Zhu, Man S. Wong

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Owing to the insufficiency in the spatial representativeness and continuity of in situ temperature measurements from weather stations (WS), the use of temperature measurement from WS for large-range diurnal analysis in heterogenous landscapes has been limited. This has made the accurate estimation of land surface temperature (LST) from remotely sensed data more crucial. Moreover, the study of dynamic interaction between the atmosphere and the physical surface of the Earth could be enhanced at both annual and diurnal scales by using optimal LST data derived from satellite sensors. The tradeoff between the spatial and temporal resolution of LSTs from satellite’s thermal infrared sensors (TIRS) has, however, been a major challenge, especially when high spatiotemporal LST data are recommended. It is well-known from existing literature that polar satellites have the advantage of high spatial resolution, while geostationary satellites have a high temporal resolution. Hence, this study is aimed at designing a framework for the cross-comparison of LST data from polar and geostationary satellites in a heterogeneous landscape. This could help to understand the relationship between the LST estimates from the two satellites and, consequently, their integration in diurnal LST analysis. Landsat-8 satellite data will be used as the representative of the polar satellite due to the availability of its long-term series, while the Himawari-8 satellite will be used as the data source for the geostationary satellite because of its improved TIRS. For the study area, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HK SAR) will be selected; this is due to the heterogeneity in the landscape of the region. LST data will be retrieved from both satellites using the Split window algorithm (SWA), and the resulting data will be validated by comparing satellite-derived LST data with temperature data from automatic WS in HK SAR. The LST data from the satellite data will then be separated based on the land use classification in HK SAR using the Global Land Cover by National Mapping Organization version3 (GLCNMO 2013) data. The relationship between LST data from Landsat-8 and Himawari-8 will then be investigated based on the land-use class and over different seasons of the year in order to account for seasonal variation in their relationship. The resulting relationship will be spatially and statistically analyzed and graphically visualized for detailed interpretation. Findings from this study will reveal the relationship between the two satellite data based on the land use classification within the study area and the seasons of the year. While the information provided by this study will help in the optimal combination of LST data from Polar (Landsat-8) and geostationary (Himawari-8) satellites, it will also serve as a roadmap in the annual and diurnal urban heat (UHI) analysis in Hong Kong SAR.

Keywords: automatic weather station, Himawari-8, Landsat-8, land surface temperature, land use classification, split window algorithm, urban heat island

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Authors: Zenebu Adere Tola

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Informal settlements behave dynamically over space and time and the number of people living in such housing areas is growing worldwide. In the cities of developing countries especially in sub-Saharan Africa, poverty, unemployment rate, poor living condition, lack transparency and accountability, lack of good governance are the major factors to contribute for the people to hold land informally and built houses for residential or other purposes. In most of Ethiopian cities informal settlement is highly seen in peripheral areas this is because people can easily to hold land for housing from local farmers, brokers, speculators without permission from concerning bodies. In Adama informal settlement has created risky living conditions and led to environmental problems in natural areas the main reason for this was the lack of sufficient knowledge about informal settlement development. On the other side there is a strong need to transform informal into formal settlements and to gain more control about the actual spatial development of informal settlements. In another hand to tackle the issue it is at least very important to understand the scale of the problem. To understand the scale of the problem it is important to use up-to-date technology. For this specific problem, it is good to use high-resolution imagery to detect informal settlement in Adama city. The main objective of this study is to assess the spatiotemporal dynamics and environmental impacts of informal settlement using OBIA. Specifically, the objective of this study is to; identify informal settlement in the study area, determine the change in the extent and pattern of informal settlement and to assess the environmental and social impacts of informal settlement in the study area. The methods to be used to detect the informal settlement is object-oriented image analysis. Consequently, reliable procedures for detecting the spatial behavior of informal settlements are required in order to react at an early stage to changing housing situations. Thus, obtaining spatial information about informal settlement areas which is up to date is vital for any actions of enhancement in terms of urban or regional planning. Using data for this study aerial photography for growth and change of informal settlements in Adama city. Software ECognition software for classy to built-up and non-built areas. Thus, obtaining spatial information about informal settlement areas which is up to date is vital for any actions of enhancement in terms of urban or regional planning.

Keywords: informal settlement, change detection, environmental impact, object based analysis

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Authors: A. Shakoor, M. Arshad

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The utilization of groundwater resources in irrigation has significantly increased during the last two decades due to constrained canal water supplies. More than 70% of the farmers in the Punjab, Pakistan, depend directly or indirectly on groundwater to meet their crop water demands and hence, an unchecked paradigm shift has resulted in aquifer depletion and deterioration. Therefore, a comprehensive research was carried at central Punjab-Pakistan, regarding spatiotemporal variation in groundwater level and quality. Processing MODFLOW for window (PMWIN) and MT3D (solute transport model) models were used for existing and future prediction of groundwater level and quality till 2030. The comprehensive data set of aquifer lithology, canal network, groundwater level, groundwater salinity, evapotranspiration, groundwater abstraction, recharge etc. were used in PMWIN model development. The model was thus, successfully calibrated and validated with respect to groundwater level for the periods of 2003 to 2007 and 2008 to 2012, respectively. The coefficient of determination (R2) and model efficiency (MEF) for calibration and validation period were calculated as 0.89 and 0.98, respectively, which argued a high level of correlation between the calculated and measured data. For solute transport model (MT3D), the values of advection and dispersion parameters were used. The model used for future scenario up to 2030, by assuming that there would be no uncertain change in climate and groundwater abstraction rate would increase gradually. The model predicted results revealed that the groundwater would decline from 0.0131 to 1.68m/year during 2013 to 2030 and the maximum decline would be on the lower side of the study area, where infrastructure of canal system is very less. This lowering of groundwater level might cause an increase in the tubewell installation and pumping cost. Similarly, the predicted total dissolved solids (TDS) of the groundwater would increase from 6.88 to 69.88mg/L/year during 2013 to 2030 and the maximum increase would be on lower side. It was found that in 2030, the good quality would reduce by 21.4%, while marginal and hazardous quality water increased by 19.28 and 2%, respectively. It was found from the simulated results that the salinity of the study area had increased due to the intrusion of salts. The deterioration of groundwater quality would cause soil salinity and ultimately the reduction in crop productivity. It was concluded from the predicted results of groundwater model that the groundwater deteriorated with the depth of water table i.e. TDS increased with declining groundwater level. It is recommended that agronomic and engineering practices i.e. land leveling, rainwater harvesting, skimming well, ASR (Aquifer Storage and Recovery Wells) etc. should be integrated to meliorate management of groundwater for higher crop production in salt affected soils.

Keywords: groundwater quality, groundwater management, PMWIN, MT3D model

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Authors: Yonas Shuke Kitawa

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Background: Although malaria incidence has substantially fallen sharply over the past few years, the rate of decline varies by district, time, and malaria type. Despite this turn-down, malaria remains a major public health threat in various districts of Ethiopia. Consequently, the present study is aimed at developing a predictive model that helps to identify the spatio-temporal variation in malaria risk by multiple plasmodium species. Methods: We propose a multivariate spatio-temporal Bayesian model to obtain a more coherent picture of the temporally varying spatial variation in disease risk. The spatial autocorrelation in such a data set is typically modeled by a set of random effects that assign a conditional autoregressive prior distribution. However, the autocorrelation considered in such cases depends on a binary neighborhood matrix specified through the border-sharing rule. Over here, we propose a graph-based optimization algorithm for estimating the neighborhood matrix that merely represents the spatial correlation by exploring the areal units as the vertices of a graph and the neighbor relations as the series of edges. Furthermore, we used aggregated malaria count in southern Ethiopia from August 2013 to May 2019. Results: We recognized that precipitation, temperature, and humidity are positively associated with the malaria threat in the area. On the other hand, enhanced vegetation index, nighttime light (NTL), and distance from coastal areas are negatively associated. Moreover, nonlinear relationships were observed between malaria incidence and precipitation, temperature, and NTL. Additionally, lagged effects of temperature and humidity have a significant effect on malaria risk by either species. More elevated risk of P. falciparum was observed following the rainy season, and unstable transmission of P. vivax was observed in the area. Finally, P. vivax risks are less sensitive to environmental factors than those of P. falciparum. Conclusion: The improved inference was gained by employing the proposed approach in comparison to the commonly used border-sharing rule. Additionally, different covariates are identified, including delayed effects, and elevated risks of either of the cases were observed in districts found in the central and western regions. As malaria transmission operates in a spatially continuous manner, a spatially continuous model should be employed when it is computationally feasible.

Keywords: disease mapping, MSTCAR, graph-based optimization algorithm, P. falciparum, P. vivax, waiting matrix

Procedia PDF Downloads 41

Authors: M. Mortas, H. Asar, P. Dursun Cebi

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The visionary works of architectural representation in the 21st century's present situation, are practiced through the methodologies which try to expose the intellectual and theoretical essences of futurologist positions that are revealed with this era's interactions. Expansions of conceptual and contextual inputs related to one architectural design representation, depend on its deepness of critical attitudes, its interactions with the concepts such as experience, meaning, affection, psychology, perception and aura, as well as its communication with spatial, cultural and environmental factors. The purpose of this research study is to be able to offer methodological application areas for the design dimensions of experiential practices into architectural design studios, by focusing on the architectural representative narrations of 'transformation,' 'metamorphosis,' 'morphogenesis,' 'in-betweenness', 'superposition' and 'intertwine’ in which they affect and are affected by the today’s spatiotemporal hybridizations of architecture. The narrative representations and the visual theory paradigms of the designers are chosen under the main title of 'transformation' for the investigation of these visionary and critical representations' dismantlings and decodings. Case studies of this research area are chosen from Neil Spiller, Bryan Cantley, Perry Kulper and Dan Slavinsky’s transformative, morphogenetic representations. The theoretical dismantlings and decodings which are obtained from these artists’ contemporary architectural representations are tried to utilize and practice in the structural design studios as alternative methodologies when to approach architectural design processes, for enriching, differentiating, diversifying and 'transforming' the applications of so far used design process precedents. The research aims to indicate architectural students about how they can reproduce, rethink and reimagine their own representative lexicons and so languages of their architectural imaginations, regarding the newly perceived tectonics of prosthetic, biotechnology, synchronicity, nanotechnology or machinery into various experiential design workshops. The methodology of this work can be thought as revealing the technical and theoretical tools, lexicons and meanings of contemporary-visionary architectural representations of our decade, with the essential contents and components of hermeneutics, etymology, existentialism, post-humanism, phenomenology and avant-gardism disciplines to re-give meanings the architectural visual theorists’ transformative representations of our decade. The value of this study may be to emerge the superposed and overlapped atmospheres of futurologist architectural representations for the students who need to rethink on the transcultural, deterritorialized and post-humanist critical theories to create and use the representative visual lexicons of themselves for their architectural soft machines and beings by criticizing the now, to be imaginative for the future of architecture.

Keywords: architectural design studio, visionary lexicon, narrative architecture, transformative representation

Procedia PDF Downloads 114

Authors: F. Ainlhout, S. Boutaleb, M. C. Diaz-Barradas, M. Zunzunegui

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Argania spinosa is an endemic tree of the southwest of Morocco, occupying 828,000 Ha, distributed mainly between Mediterranean vegetation and the desert. This tree can grow in extremely arid regions in Morocco, where annual rainfall ranges between 100-300 mm where no other tree species can live. It has been designated as a UNESCO Biosphere reserve since 1998. Argania tree is of great importance in human and animal feeding of rural population as well as for oil production, it is considered as a multi-usage tree. Admine forest located in the suburbs of Agadir city, 5 km inland, was selected to conduct this work. The aim of the study was to investigate the temporal variation in root-zone moisture dynamic in response to variation in climatic conditions and vegetation water uptake, using a geophysical technique called Electrical resistivity imaging (ERI). This technique discriminates resistive woody roots, dry and moisture soil. Time-dependent measurements (from April till July) of resistivity sections were performed along the surface transect (94 m Length) at 2 m fixed electrode spacing. Transect included eight Argan trees. The interactions between the tree and soil moisture were estimated by following the tree water status variations accompanying the soil moisture deficit. For that purpose we measured midday leaf water potential and relative water content during each sampling day, and for the eight trees. The first results showed that ERI can be used to accurately quantify the spatiotemporal distribution of root-zone moisture content and woody root. The section obtained shows three different layers: middle conductive one (moistured); a moderately resistive layer corresponding to relatively dry soil (calcareous formation with intercalation of marly strata) on top, this layer is interspersed by very resistant layer corresponding to woody roots. Below the conductive layer, we find the moderately resistive layer. We note that throughout the experiment, there was a continuous decrease in soil moisture at the different layers. With the ERI, we can clearly estimate the depth of the woody roots, which does not exceed 4 meters. In previous work on the same species, analyzing the δ18O in water of xylem and in the range of possible water sources, we argued that rain is the main water source in winter and spring, but not in summer, trees are not exploiting deep water from the aquifer as the popular assessment, instead of this they are using soil water at few meter depth. The results of the present work confirm the idea that the roots of Argania spinosa are not growing very deep.

Keywords: Argania spinosa, electrical resistivity imaging, root system, soil moisture

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Authors: Raja Lahiani

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'Locksley Hall' is a poem that Lord Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) published in 1842. It is believed to be his first attempt to face as a poet some of the most painful of his experiences, as it is a study of his rising out of sickness into health, conquering his selfish sorrow by faith and hope. So far, in Victorian scholarship as in modern criticism, 'Locksley Hall' has been studied and approached as a canonical Victorian English poem. The aim of this project is to prove that some strategies of translation were used in this poem in such a way as to guarantee its assimilation into the English canon and hence efface to a large extent its Arabic roots. In its relationship with its source text, 'Locksley Hall' is at the same time mimetic and imitative. As part of the terminology used in translation studies, ‘imitation’ means almost the exact opposite of what it means in ordinary English. By adopting an imitative procedure, a translator would do something totally different from the original author, wandering far and freely from the words and sense of the original text. An imitation is thus aimed at an audience which wants the work of the particular translator rather than the work of the original poet. Hallam Tennyson, the poet’s biographer, asserts that 'Locksley Hall' is a simple invention of place, incidents, and people, though he notes that he remembers the poet claiming that Sir William Jones’ prose translation of the Mu‘allaqat (pre-Islamic poems) gave him the idea of the poem. A comparative work would prove that 'Locksley Hall' mirrors a great deal of Tennyson’s biography and hence is not a simple invention of details as asserted by his biographer. It would be challenging to prove that 'Locksley Hall' shares so many details with the Mu‘allaqat, as declared by Tennyson himself, that it needs to be studied as an imitation of the Mu‘allaqat of Imru’ al-Qays and ‘Antara in addition to its being a poem in its own right. Thus, the main aim of this work is to unveil the imitative and mimetic strategies used by Tennyson in his composition of 'Locksley Hall.' It is equally important that this project researches the acculturating assimilative tools used by the poet to root his poem in its Victorian English literary, cultural and spatiotemporal settings. This work adopts a comparative methodology. Comparison is done at different levels. The poem will be contextualized in its Victorian English literary framework. Alien details related to structure, socio-spatial setting, imagery and sound effects shall be compared to Arabic poems from the Mu‘allaqat collection. This would determine whether the poem is a translation, an adaption, an imitation or a genuine work. The ultimate objective of the project is to unveil in this canonical poem a new dimension that has for long been either marginalized or ignored. By proving that 'Locksley Hall' is an imitation of classical Arabic poetry, the project aspires to consolidate its literary value and open up new gates of accessing it.

Keywords: comparative literature, imitation, Locksley Hall, Lord Alfred Tennyson, translation, Victorian poetry

Procedia PDF Downloads 175

Authors: Priyanka Mondal, Santosh K. Sarkar

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The present study investigated the spatiotemporal distribution and ecological risk assessment of trace elements of surface sediments (top 0 - 5 cm; grain size ≤ 0.63 µm) in relevance to sediment quality characteristics along the Ganges River Estuary, India. Sediment samples were collected during ebb tide from intertidal regions covering seven sampling sites of diverse environmental stresses. The elements were analyzed with the help of ICPAES. This positive, mixohaline, macro-tidal estuary has global significance contributing ecological and economic services. Presence of fine-clayey particle (47.03%) enhances the adsorption as well as transportation of trace elements. There is a remarkable inter-metallic variation (mg kg-1 dry weight) in the distribution pattern in the following manner: Al (31801± 15943) > Fe (23337± 7584) > Mn (461±147) > S(381±235) > Zn(54 ±18) > V(43 ±14) > Cr(39 ±15) > As (34±15) > Cu(27 ±11) > Ni (24 ±9) > Se (17 ±8) > Co(11 ±3) > Mo(10 ± 2) > Hg(0.02 ±0.01). An overall trend of enrichment of majority of trace elements was very much pronounced at the site Lot 8, ~ 35km upstream of the estuarine mouth. In contrast, the minimum concentration was recorded at site Gangasagar, mouth of the estuary, with high energy profile. The prevalent variations in trace element distribution are being liable for a set of cumulative factors such as hydrodynamic conditions, sediment dispersion pattern and textural variations as well as non-homogenous input of contaminants from point and non-point sources. In order to gain insight into the trace elements distribution, accumulation, and their pollution status, geoaccumulation index (Igeo) and enrichment factor (EF) were used. The Igeo indicated that surface sediments were moderately polluted with As (0.60) and Mo (1.30) and strongly contaminated with Se (4.0). The EF indicated severe pollution of Se (53.82) and significant pollution of As (4.05) and Mo (6.0) and indicated the influx of As, Mo and Se in sediments from anthropogenic sources (such as industrial and municipal sewage, atmospheric deposition, agricultural run-off, etc.). The significant role of the megacity Calcutta in relevance to the untreated sewage discharge, atmospheric inputs and other anthropogenic activities is worthwhile to mention. The ecological risk for different trace elements was evaluated using sediment quality guidelines, effects range low (ERL), and effect range median (ERM). The concentration of As, Cu and Ni at 100%, 43% and 86% of the sampling sites has exceeded the ERL value while none of the element concentration exceeded ERM. The potential ecological risk index values revealed that As at 14.3% of the sampling sites would pose relatively moderate risk to benthic organisms. The effective role of finer clay particles for trace element distribution was revealed by multivariate analysis. The authors strongly recommend regular monitoring emphasizing on accurate appraisal of the potential risk of trace elements for effective and sustainable management of this estuarine environment.

Keywords: pollution assessment, sediment contamination, sediment quality, trace elements

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: Samuele Ghignoli, Valentina de Lorenzi, Gianmarco Ferri, Stefano Luin, Francesco Cardarelli

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Insulin and glucagon are the two essential hormones for maintaining proper blood glucose homeostasis, which is disrupted in Diabetes. A constantly growing research interest has been focused on the study of the subcellular structures involved in hormone secretion, namely insulin- and glucagon-containing granules, and on the mechanisms regulating their behaviour. Yet, while several successful attempts were reported describing the dynamic properties of insulin granules, little is known about their counterparts in α cells, the glucagon-containing granules. To fill this gap, we used αTC1 clone 9 cells as a model of α cells and ZIGIR as a fluorescent Zinc chelator for granule labelling. We started by using spatiotemporal fluorescence correlation spectroscopy in the form of imaging-derived mean square displacement (iMSD) analysis. This afforded quantitative information on the average dynamical and structural properties of glucagon granules having insulin granules as a benchmark. Interestingly, the iMSD sensitivity to average granule size allowed us to confirm that glucagon granules are smaller than insulin ones (~1.4 folds, further validated by STORM imaging). To investigate possible heterogeneities in granule dynamic properties, we moved from correlation spectroscopy to single particle tracking (SPT). We developed a MATLAB script to localize and track single granules with high spatial resolution. This enabled us to classify the glucagon granules, based on their dynamic properties, as ‘blocked’ (i.e., trajectories corresponding to immobile granules), ‘confined/diffusive’ (i.e., trajectories corresponding to slowly moving granules in a defined region of the cell), or ‘drifted’ (i.e., trajectories corresponding to fast-moving granules). In cell-culturing control conditions, results show this average distribution: 32.9 ± 9.3% blocked, 59.6 ± 9.3% conf/diff, and 7.4 ± 3.2% drifted. This benchmarking provided us with a foundation for investigating selected experimental conditions of interest, such as the glucagon-granule relationship with the cytoskeleton. For instance, if Nocodazole (10 μM) is used for microtubule depolymerization, the percentage of drifted motion collapses to 3.5 ± 1.7% while immobile granules increase to 56.0 ± 10.7% (remaining 40.4 ± 10.2% of conf/diff). This result confirms the clear link between glucagon-granule motion and cytoskeleton structures, a first step towards understanding the intracellular behaviour of this subcellular compartment. The information collected might now serve to support future investigations on glucagon granules in physiology and disease. Acknowledgment: This work has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement No 866127, project CAPTUR3D).

Keywords: glucagon granules, single particle tracking, correlation spectroscopy, ZIGIR

Procedia PDF Downloads 65

Authors: Ryan B. Simpson, Margaret A. Waskow, Aishwarya Venkat, Elena N. Naumova

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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 31 known foodborne pathogens cause 9.4 million cases of these illnesses annually in US. Over 90% of these illnesses are associated with exposure to Campylobacter, Cryptosporidium, Cyclospora, Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, Shiga-Toxin Producing E.Coli (STEC), Vibrio, and Yersinia. Contaminated products contain parasites typically causing an intestinal illness manifested by diarrhea, stomach cramping, nausea, weight loss, fatigue and may result in deaths in fragile populations. Since 1998, the National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) has allowed for routine collection of suspected and laboratory-confirmed cases of food poisoning. While retrospective analyses have revealed common pathogen-specific seasonal patterns, little is known concerning the stability of those patterns over time and whether they can be used for preventative forecasting. The objective of this study is to construct a calendar of foodborne outbreaks of nine infections based on the peak timing of outbreak incidence in the US from 1996 to 2017. Reported cases were abstracted from FoodNet for Salmonella (135115), Campylobacter (121099), Shigella (48520), Cryptosporidium (21701), STEC (18022), Yersinia (3602), Vibrio (3000), Listeria (2543), and Cyclospora (758). Monthly counts were compiled for each agent, seasonal peak timing and peak intensity were estimated, and the stability of seasonal peaks and synchronization of infections was examined. Negative Binomial harmonic regression models with the delta-method were applied to derive confidence intervals for the peak timing for each year and overall study period estimates. Preliminary results indicate that five infections continue to lead as major causes of outbreaks, exhibiting steady upward trends with annual increases in cases ranging from 2.71% (95%CI: [2.38, 3.05]) in Campylobacter, 4.78% (95%CI: [4.14, 5.41]) in Salmonella, 7.09% (95%CI: [6.38, 7.82]) in E.Coli, 7.71% (95%CI: [6.94, 8.49]) in Cryptosporidium, and 8.67% (95%CI: [7.55, 9.80]) in Vibrio. Strong synchronization of summer outbreaks were observed, caused by Campylobacter, Vibrio, E.Coli and Salmonella, peaking at 7.57 ± 0.33, 7.84 ± 0.47, 7.85 ± 0.37, and 7.82 ± 0.14 calendar months, respectively, with the serial cross-correlation ranging 0.81-0.88 (p < 0.001). Over 21 years, Listeria and Cryptosporidium peaks (8.43 ± 0.77 and 8.52 ± 0.45 months, respectively) have a tendency to arrive 1-2 weeks earlier, while Vibrio peaks (7.8 ± 0.47) delay by 2-3 weeks. These findings will be incorporated in the forecast models to predict common paths of the spread, long-term trends, and the synchronization of outbreaks across etiological agents. The predictive modeling of foodborne outbreaks should consider long-term changes in seasonal timing, spatiotemporal trends, and sources of contamination.

Keywords: foodborne outbreak, national outbreak reporting system, predictive modeling, seasonality

Procedia PDF Downloads 102

Authors: Ankan Roy, Niharika, Samir Kumar Patra

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Anomalous nexus of complex topological assemblies and spatiotemporal epigenetic choreography at chromosomal territory may forms the most sophisticated regulatory layer of gene expression in cancer. Colon cancer is one of the leading malignant neoplasms of the lower gastrointestinal tract worldwide. There is still a paucity of information about the complex molecular mechanisms of colonic cancerogenesis. Bioinformatics prediction and analysis helps to identify essential genes and significant pathways for monitoring and conquering this deadly disease. The present study investigates and explores potential hub genes as biomarkers and effective therapeutic targets for colon cancer treatment. Colon cancer patient sample containing gene expression profile datasets, such as GSE44076, GSE20916, and GSE37364 were downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and thoroughly screened using the GEO2R tool and Funrich software to find out common 2 differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Other approaches, including Gene Ontology (GO) and KEGG pathway analysis, Protein-Protein Interaction (PPI) network construction and hub gene investigation, Overall Survival (OS) analysis, gene correlation analysis, methylation pattern analysis, and hub gene-Transcription factors regulatory network construction, were performed and validated using various bioinformatics tool. Initially, we identified 166 DEGs, including 68 up-regulated and 98 down-regulated genes. Up-regulated genes are mainly associated with the Cytokine-cytokine receptor interaction, IL17 signaling pathway, ECM-receptor interaction, Focal adhesion and PI3K-Akt pathway. Downregulated genes are enriched in metabolic pathways, retinol metabolism, Steroid hormone biosynthesis, and bile secretion. From the protein-protein interaction network, thirty hub genes with high connectivity are selected using the MCODE and cytoHubba plugin. Survival analysis, expression validation, correlation analysis, and methylation pattern analysis were further verified using TCGA data. Finally, we predicted COL1A1, COL1A2, COL4A1, SPP1, SPARC, and THBS2 as potential master regulators in colonic cancerogenesis. Moreover, our experimental data highlights that disruption of lipid raft and RAS/MAPK signaling cascade affects this gene hub at mRNA level. We identified COL1A1, COL1A2, COL4A1, SPP1, SPARC, and THBS2 as determinant hub genes in colon cancer progression. They can be considered as biomarkers for diagnosis and promising therapeutic targets in colon cancer treatment. Additionally, our experimental data advertise that signaling pathway act as connecting link between membrane hub and gene hub.

Keywords: hub genes, colon cancer, DNA methylation, epigenetic engineering, bioinformatic predictions

Procedia PDF Downloads 100

Authors: Elham Koohi, Silvio Jose Gumiere, Hossein Bonakdari, Saeid Homayouni

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Water used in agricultural crops can be managed by irrigation scheduling based on soil moisture levels and plant water stress thresholds. Automated irrigation scheduling limits crop physiological damage and yield reduction. Knowledge of crop water stress monitoring approaches can be effective in optimizing the use of agricultural water. Understanding the physiological mechanisms of crop responding and adapting to water deficit ensures sustainable agricultural management and food supply. This aim could be achieved by analyzing and diagnosing crop characteristics and their interlinkage with the surrounding environment. Assessments of plant functional types (e.g., leaf area and structure, tree height, rate of evapotranspiration, rate of photosynthesis), controlling changes, and irrigated areas mapping. Calculating thresholds of soil water content parameters, crop water use efficiency, and Nitrogen status make irrigation scheduling decisions more accurate by preventing water limitations between irrigations. Combining Remote Sensing (RS), the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Machine Learning Algorithms (MLAs) can improve measurement accuracies and automate irrigation scheduling. This paper is a review structured by surveying about 100 recent research studies to analyze varied approaches in terms of providing high spatial and temporal resolution mapping, sensor-based Variable Rate Application (VRA) mapping, the relation between spectral and thermal reflectance and different features of crop and soil. The other objective is to assess RS indices formed by choosing specific reflectance bands and identifying the correct spectral band to optimize classification techniques and analyze Proximal Optical Sensors (POSs) to control changes. The innovation of this paper can be defined as categorizing evaluation methodologies of precision irrigation (applying the right practice, at the right place, at the right time, with the right quantity) controlled by soil moisture levels and sensitiveness of crops to water stress, into pre-processing, processing (retrieval algorithms), and post-processing parts. Then, the main idea of this research is to analyze the error reasons and/or values in employing different approaches in three proposed parts reported by recent studies. Additionally, as an overview conclusion tried to decompose different approaches to optimizing indices, calibration methods for the sensors, thresholding and prediction models prone to errors, and improvements in classification accuracy for mapping changes.

Keywords: agricultural crops, crop water stress detection, irrigation scheduling, precision agriculture, remote sensing

Procedia PDF Downloads 40

Authors: C. Silveira, A. Ascenso, J. Ferreira, A. I. Miranda, P. Tuccella, G. Curci

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Poor air quality is one of the main environmental causes of premature deaths worldwide, and mainly in cities, where the majority of the population lives. It is a consequence of successive land cover (LC) and use changes, as a result of the intensification of human activities. Knowing these landscape modifications in a comprehensive spatiotemporal dimension is, therefore, essential for understanding variations in air pollutant concentrations. In this sense, the use of air quality models is very useful to simulate the physical and chemical processes that affect the dispersion and reaction of chemical species into the atmosphere. However, the modelling performance should always be evaluated since the resolution of the input datasets largely dictates the reliability of the air quality outcomes. Among these data, the updated LC is an important parameter to be considered in atmospheric models, since it takes into account the Earth’s surface changes due to natural and anthropic actions, and regulates the exchanges of fluxes (emissions, heat, moisture, etc.) between the soil and the air. This work aims to evaluate the performance of the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem), when different LC classifications are used as an input. The influence of two LC classifications was tested: i) the 24-classes USGS (United States Geological Survey) LC database included by default in the model, and the ii) CLC (Corine Land Cover) and specific high-resolution LC data for Portugal, reclassified according to the new USGS nomenclature (33-classes). Two distinct WRF-Chem simulations were carried out to assess the influence of the LC on air quality over Europe and Portugal, as a case study, for the year 2015, using the nesting technique over three simulation domains (25 km², 5 km² and 1 km² horizontal resolution). Based on the 33-classes LC approach, particular emphasis was attributed to Portugal, given the detail and higher LC spatial resolution (100 m x 100 m) than the CLC data (5000 m x 5000 m). As regards to the air quality, only the LC impacts on tropospheric ozone concentrations were evaluated, because ozone pollution episodes typically occur in Portugal, in particular during the spring/summer, and there are few research works relating to this pollutant with LC changes. The WRF-Chem results were validated by season and station typology using background measurements from the Portuguese air quality monitoring network. As expected, a better model performance was achieved in rural stations: moderate correlation (0.4 – 0.7), BIAS (10 – 21µg.m^-3) and RMSE (20 – 30 µg.m^-3), and where higher average ozone concentrations were estimated. Comparing both simulations, small differences grounded on the Leaf Area Index and air temperature values were found, although the high-resolution LC approach shows a slight enhancement in the model evaluation. This highlights the role of the LC on the exchange of atmospheric fluxes, and stresses the need to consider a high-resolution LC characterization combined with other detailed model inputs, such as the emission inventory, to improve air quality assessment.

Keywords: land use, spatial resolution, WRF-Chem, air quality assessment

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Authors: Emma Castiglioni, Nigel Scrutton, Derren Heyes, Alistair Fielding

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By using light as trigger, it is possible to study many biological processes, such as the activity of genes, proteins, and other molecules, with precise spatiotemporal control. Caged compounds, where biologically active molecules are generated from an inert precursor upon laser photolysis, offer the potential to initiate such biological reactions with high temporal resolution. As light acts as the trigger for cleaving the protecting group, the ‘caging’ technique provides a number of advantages as it can be intracellular, rapid and controlled in a quantitative manner. We are developing caging strategies to study the catalytic cycle of a number of enzyme systems, such as nitric oxide synthase and ethanolamine ammonia lyase. These include the use of caged substrates, caged electrons and the possibility of caging the enzyme itself. In addition, we are developing a novel freeze-quench instrument to study these reactions, which combines rapid mixing and flashing capabilities. Reaction intermediates will be trapped at low temperatures and will be analysed by using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy to identify the involvement of any radical species during catalysis. EPR techniques typically require relatively long measurement times and very often, low temperatures to fully characterise these short-lived species. Therefore, common rapid mixing techniques, such as stopped-flow or quench-flow are not directly suitable. However, the combination of rapid freeze-quench (RFQ) followed by EPR analysis provides the ideal approach to kinetically trap and spectroscopically characterise these transient radical species. In a typical RFQ experiment, two reagent solutions are delivered to the mixer via two syringes driven by a pneumatic actuator or stepper motor. The new mixed solution is then sprayed into a cryogenic liquid or surface, and the frozen sample is then collected and packed into an EPR tube for analysis. The earliest RFQ instrument consisted of a hydraulic ram unit as a drive unit with direct spraying of the sample into a cryogenic liquid (nitrogen, isopentane or petroleum). Improvements to the RFQ technique have arisen from the design of new mixers in order to reduce both the volume and the mixing time. In addition, the cryogenic isopentane bath has been coupled to a filtering system or replaced by spraying the solution onto a surface that is frozen via thermal conductivity with a cryogenic liquid. In our work, we are developing a novel RFQ instrument which combines the freeze-quench technology with flashing capabilities to enable the studies of both thermally-activated and light-activated biological reactions. This instrument also uses a new rotating plate design based on magnetic couplings and removes the need for mechanical motorised rotation, which can otherwise be problematic at cryogenic temperatures.

Keywords: caged compounds, freeze-quench apparatus, photolysis, radicals

Procedia PDF Downloads 186

Authors: Andrey Cherdantsev, Mikhail Cherdantsev, Sergey Isaenkov, Dmitriy Markovich

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In annular gas-liquid flow, liquid flows as a film along pipe walls sheared by high-velocity gas stream. Film surface is covered by large-scale disturbance waves which affect pressure drop and heat transfer in the system and are necessary for entrainment of liquid droplets from film surface into the core of gas stream. Disturbance waves are a highly complex and their properties are affected by numerous parameters. One of such aspects is flow development, i.e., change of flow properties with the distance from the inlet. In the present work, this question is studied using brightness-based laser-induced fluorescence (BBLIF) technique. This method enables one to perform simultaneous measurements of local film thickness in large number of points with high sampling frequency. In the present experiments first 50 cm of upward and downward annular flow in a vertical pipe of 11.7 mm i.d. is studied with temporal resolution of 10 kHz and spatial resolution of 0.5 mm. Thus, spatiotemporal evolution of film surface can be investigated, including scenarios of formation, acceleration and coalescence of disturbance waves. The behaviour of disturbance waves' velocity depending on phases flow rates and downstream distance was investigated. Besides measuring the waves properties, the goal of the work was to investigate the interrelation between disturbance waves properties and integral characteristics of the flow such as interfacial shear stress and flow rate of dispersed phase. In particular, it was shown that the initial acceleration of disturbance waves, defined by the value of shear stress, linearly decays with downstream distance. This lack of acceleration which may even lead to deceleration is related to liquid entrainment. Flow rate of disperse phase linearly grows with downstream distance. During entrainment events, liquid is extracted directly from disturbance waves, reducing their mass, area of interaction to the gas shear and, hence, velocity. Passing frequency of disturbance waves at each downstream position was measured automatically with a new algorithm of identification of characteristic lines of individual disturbance waves. Scenarios of coalescence of individual disturbance waves were identified. Transition from initial high-frequency Kelvin-Helmholtz waves appearing at the inlet to highly nonlinear disturbance waves with lower frequency was studied near the inlet using 3D realisation of BBLIF method in the same cylindrical channel and in a rectangular duct with cross-section of 5 mm by 50 mm. It was shown that the initial waves are generally two-dimensional but are promptly broken into localised three-dimensional wavelets. Coalescence of these wavelets leads to formation of quasi two-dimensional disturbance waves. Using cross-correlation analysis, loss and restoration of two-dimensionality of film surface with downstream distance were studied quantitatively. It was shown that all the processes occur closer to the inlet at higher gas velocities.

Keywords: annular flow, disturbance waves, entrainment, flow development

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Authors: Nejmeddine Ouhichi, Fethi Lachaal, Radhouane Hamdi, Olivier Grunberger

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Located in Cap Bon peninsula (Tunisia), the Lebna dam was built in 1987 to balance local water salt intrusion taking place in the coastal aquifer of Korba. The first intention was to reduce coastal groundwater over-pumping by supplying surface water to a large irrigation system. The unpredicted beneficial effect was recorded with the occurrence of a direct localized recharge to the coastal aquifer by leakage through the geological material of the southern bank of the lake. The hydrological balance of the reservoir dam gave an estimation of the annual leakage volume, but dynamic processes and sound quantification of recharge inputs are still required to understand the localized effect of the recharge in terms of piezometry and quality. Present work focused on simulating the recharge process to confirm the hypothesis, and established a sound quantification of the water supply to the coastal aquifer and extend it to multi-annual effects. A spatial frame of 30km² was used for modeling. Intensive outcrops and geophysical surveys based on 68 electrical resistivity soundings were used to characterize the aquifer 3D geometry and the limit of the Plio-quaternary geological material concerned by the underground flow paths. Permeabilities were determined using 17 pumping tests on wells and piezometers. Six seasonal piezometric surveys on 71 wells around southern reservoir dam banks were performed during the 2019-2021 period. Eight monitoring boreholes of high frequency (15min) piezometric data were used to examine dynamical aspects. Model boundary conditions were specified using the geophysics interpretations coupled with the piezometric maps. The dam-groundwater flow model was performed using Visual MODFLOW software. Firstly, permanent state calibration based on the first piezometric map of February 2019 was established to estimate the permanent flow related to the different reservoir levels. Secondly, piezometric data for the 2019-2021 period were used for transient state calibration and to confirm the robustness of the model. Preliminary results confirmed the temporal link between the reservoir level and the localized recharge flow with a strong threshold effect for levels below 16 m.a.s.l. The good agreement of computed flow through recharge cells on the southern banks and hydrological budget of the reservoir open the path to future simulation scenarios of the dilution plume imposed by the localized recharge. The dam reservoir-groundwater flow-model simulation results approve a potential for storage of up to 17mm/year in existing wells, under gravity-feed conditions during level increases on the reservoir into the three years of operation. The Lebna dam groundwater flow model characterized a spatiotemporal relation between groundwater and surface water.

Keywords: leakage, MODFLOW, saltwater intrusion, surface water-groundwater interaction

Procedia PDF Downloads 111

Authors: Turky Al-Qahtani, Roustem Miftahof

Abstract:

Introduction: Under common assumptions of excitabi-lity, morphological (cellular) homogeneity, and spatial structural anomalies added as required, it has been shown that biological systems are able to display travelling wave dynamics. Being not self-sustainable, existence depends on the electrophysiological state of transmembrane ion channels and it requires an extrinsic/intrinsic periodic source. However, organs in the body are highly multicellular, heterogeneous, and their functionality is the outcome of electro-mechanical conjugation, rather than excitability only. Thus, peristalsis in the gut relies on spatiotemporal myoelectrical pattern formations between the mechanical, represented by smooth muscle cells (SM), and the control, comprised of a chain of primary sensory and motor neurones, components. Synaptically linked through the afferent and efferent pathways, they form a functional unit (FU) of the gut. Aims: These are: i) to study numerically the complex dynamics, and ii) to investigate the possibility of self-sustained myoelectrical activity in the FU. Methods: The FU recreates the following sequence of physiological events: deformation of mechanoreceptors of located in SM; generation and propagation of electrical waves of depolarisation - spikes - along the axon to the soma of the primary neurone; discharge of the primary neurone and spike propagation towards the motor neurone; burst of the motor neurone and transduction of spikes to SM, subsequently producing forces of contraction. These are governed by a system of nonlinear partial and ordinary differential equations being a modified version of the Hodgkin-Huxley model and SM fibre mechanics. In numerical experiments; the source of excitation is mechanical stretches of SM at a fixed amplitude and variable frequencies. Results: Low frequency (0.5 < v < 2 Hz) stimuli cause the propagation of spikes in the neuronal chain and, finally, the generation of active forces by SM. However, induced contractions are not sufficient to initiate travelling wave dynamics in the control system. At frequencies, 2 < v < 4 Hz, multiple low amplitude and short-lasting contractions are observed in SM after the termination of stretching. For frequencies (0.5 < v < 4 Hz), primary and sensory neurones demonstrate strong connectivity and coherent electrical activity. Significant qualitative and quantitative changes in dynamics of myoelectical patterns with a transition to a self-organised mode are recorded with the high degree of stretches at v = 4.5 Hz. Increased rates of deformation lead to the production of high amplitude signals at the mechanoreceptors with subsequent self-sustained excitation within the neuronal chain. Remarkably, the connection between neurones weakens resulting in incoherent firing. Further increase in a frequency of stimulation (v > 4.5 Hz) has a detrimental effect on the system. The mechanical and control systems become disconnected and exhibit uncoordinated electromechanical activity. Conclusion: To our knowledge, the existence of periodic activity in a multicellular, functionally heterogeneous biological system with mechano-electrical dynamics, such as the FU, has been demonstrated for the first time. These findings support the notion of possible peristalsis in the gut even in the absence of intrinsic sources - pacemaker cells. Results could be implicated in the pathogenesis of intestinal dysrythmia, a medical condition associated with motor dysfunction.

Keywords: complex dynamics, functional unit, the gut, dysrythmia

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