Coupling of remote sensing data and environmental-related parameters for dengue transmission risk assessment in Subang Jaya,Malaysia

In Malaysia, the endemic level of dengue fever (DF) has already changed morbidity indicators, and the magnitude of these incidences in the last few years has surpassed the incidences of all other diseases of compulsory notification. The reasons for the dramatic emergence of DF are complex and not well understood. There are many factors that contribute to the epidemiological conditions that favour viral transmission by the main mosquito vector. This study, therefore, is filling this gap by analysing the impact of dengue incidence at a local (Subang Jaya) scale using environmental factors. Meteorological data and land-use pattern were consolidated using geographic information system (GIS) and its components as an analytical tool. We have shown that weather variables (relative humidity, temperature and precipitation) have significant correlation with DF incidence with seasonal variation. Besides land-use pattern, DF incidence shows the higher distribution in the residential area, followed by commercial and industrial area. This is due to the higher population density in residential area as well as favourable places for the breeding of dengue-carrying Aedes mosquitos created by humans in the residential area, especially one-storey houses. The analysis on the trends of DF incidence towards various housing types indicate that most of the victims’ houses fall into interconnection houses and mixed houses types compared to the independent houses area. The outcome driven from this analysis suggested that each character of the environmental factors has their own risk towards dengue incidence. In line with that, it is possible to develop a dynamic model of DF transmission using the knowledge produced by this comprehensive time series data and the results provided by the different analyses.     

Effect of Ozone and Ozone/Fenton in the Advanced Oxidation Process on Biodegradable Characteristics of Semi‐aerobic Stabilized Leachate

This study investigated the effects of O₃ and O₃/H₂O₂/Fe²⁺ in the advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) on the biodegradable and soluble characteristics of semi‐aerobic stabilized solid waste leachate. The biodegradability (BOD₅/chemical oxygen demand, COD) ratio improved from 0.034 to 0.05 and 0.1 following O₃ and O₃/H₂O₂/Fe²⁺, respectively. Fractions of biodegradable COD_(bi) (24%), non‐biodegradable COD_(ubi) (76%), soluble COD_(s) (59%), biodegradable soluble COD_(bsi) (38%), non‐biodegradable soluble COD_(ubsi) (62%), and particulate COD (PCOD) (41%) in stabilized leachate were also investigated. The fraction of COD_(bi) increased to 28 and 36% after applying O₃ and O₃/AOPs, respectively. COD_(S) increased to 59% after O₃ and to 72% after O₃/AOPs, whereas COD_(bsi) increased to 38 and 51% after O₃ and O₃/AOPs, respectively. The removal efficiency of COD_(S) was obtained at 5% after O₃ alone and improved to 51% following ozone‐based AOPs, whereas the removal efficiency of PCOD improved from 25% after O₃ to 71% after ozone‐based AOPs.     

Impacts of human activities on the sedimentological and geochemical characteristics of Mabahiss Bay, North Hurghada, Red Sea, Egypt

In Mabahiss Bay, north Hurghada City, Red Sea, Egypt, the bathymetric measurements show the irregular topography of the bottom. The bottom sediments are mainly composed of sand fractions (average 73.5%). Gravel and sand contents decrease with depth. On the other hand, silt and clay percents show indirect relation with depth. Abnormally, there are some spots found near the coast where the percent of both silt and clay increases. They also show carbonate sediments (average 90.15%) increasing toward the bay center. The narrow belt adjacent to the shore area has lower carbonate content reflecting the effect of clastic sediments input into the area. The sediments in the study area have more than one source as indicated from the results of the mechanical analysis. Wide range of grain size distributions, clay spots and low carbonate content near the shore indicate change in the nature of sedimentary environment (i.e., pollution) which may be caused by land filling accompanied with urbanization and building of touristic resorts and centers. The organic matter content in the sediments is much higher than that of the other areas in the Red sea (average 4.8%) with considerable accumulation in the inner most parts of the bay. This may be due to relative abundance of organic productivity, direct discharge of domestic waste in some spots along the coast of the study area, and/or local contamination of hydrocarbons (i.e., tar balls thrown out on shore by weak waves through the few inlets of the study area). The average concentrations of lead, nickel, copper, and cadmium are 44, 34, 51, and 3.1?ppm, respectively. The suggested origin of these metals is either organic (localized oil pollution), or using of antifouling and anticorrosive paints from fishing and tourist boats. Other metals, particularly manganese (average 77?ppm), cobalt (average 51?ppm), and zinc (average 16?ppm) as well as sodium (average 0.32%) and potassium (av. 0.10%) show a common trend of increasing concentration toward the outermost parts of the bay. Some parts along shoreline have increasing concentrations, even if these parameters having a common trend of increase towards the center of the bay. This may be either due to sewage and wastewaters discharges from many outlets of tourist centers and fishermen and cargo boats, and/or terrestrial sediments input. Direct comparison of the present levels of heavy metals in Mabahiss Bay with other published data along the Red Sea and Gulf of Suez shows that the study area has higher concentrations. Dredging, land filling, localized oil pollution, using of antifouling and anticorrosive paints from fishing and tourist boats (where the bay is used as harbor for many of fishermen and cargo boats), sewage, variable amounts of municipal wastewater from many outlets of tourist centers considered to be the sources of pollution within Mabahiss bay. There are many effects of pollution on Mabahiss Bay environment among which: (1) death of fishes, seaweeds, birds, marine mammals, etc., (2) damage of beaches and other recreational areas, (3) damage of marine ecosystem by eliminating or decreasing population of certain species, (4) hazard to human from ingesting contaminated food, and more.     

Origin of wehrlite cumulates in the Moho transition zone of the Neoproterozoic Ras Salatit ophiolite,Central Eastern Desert,Egypt: crustal wehrlites with typical mantle characteristics

Ultramafic cumulates, mainly crustal true wehrlites, were discovered and described in the mantle–crust transition zone (MTZ) and the extremely lower layered gabbro sequence of the Ras Salatit ophiolite, Central Eastern Desert, Egypt. They form either boudinaged lensoidal tabular bodies or interdigitated layers often concordant with the planolinear fabrics of the Ras Salatit ophiolite rocks. The contact between wehrlites and the host MTZ dunite or layered gabbro is razor sharp, lobate and/or sinuous, without chilled margins or any visible deformations. The Ras Salatit wehrlites are orthopyroxene-free and composed mainly of olivine and clinopyroxene. They are texturally equilibrated and show a characteristic poikilitic texture. Crystallization order of the Ras Salatit wehrlites is olivine/spinel followed by clinopyroxene with the absence of plagioclase. Olivine and clinopyroxene of the Ras Salatit wehrlites are compositionally uniform and conspicuously high in Mg#, mostly around 0.93 and 0.92, respectively. Moreover, the clinopyroxene shows low Ti and Al contents coupled with marked depletion in LILE. The calculated melt in equilibrium with clinopyroxene from the Ras Salatit wehrlites is largely similar to lavas from the Izu-Bonin forearc. Given the above characteristics, the Ras Salatit wehrlites were produced by crystal accumulation from a hydrous depleted basaltic/tholeiitic melt corresponding to temperatures between 1,000 and 1,100°C at the oceanic crustal pressure (~2 kbar). The involved hydrous tholeiitic melt has been probably formed by fluid-assisted partial melting of a refractory mantle source (similar to the underlying harzburgites) in a somewhat shallow sub-arc environment.     

Bedload transport of small rivers in Malaysia

Numerous time-consuming equations, based on the relationship between the reliability and representativeness of the data utilized in defining variables and constants, require complex parameters to estimate bedload transport. In this study the easily accessible data including flow discharge, water depth, water surface slope, and surface grain diameter （ds0） from small rivers in Malaysia were used to estimate bedload transport. Genetic programming （GP） and artificial neural network （ANN） models are applied as complementary tools to estimate bed load transport based on a balance between simplicity and accuracy in small rivers. The developed models demonstrate higher performance with an overall accuracy of 97% and 93% for ANN and GP, respectively compared with other traditional methods and empirical equations.     

Adaptive state estimation of groundwater contaminant boundary input flux in a 2-dimensional aquifer

In many circumstances involving heat and mass transfer issues,it is considered impractical to measure the input flux and the resulting state distribution in the domain.Therefore,the need to develop techniques to provide solutions for such problems and estimate the inverse mass flux becomes imperative.Adaptive state estimator(ASE)is increasingly becoming a popular inverse estimation technique which resolves inverse problems by incorporating the semi-Markovian concept into a Bayesian estimation technique,thereby developing an inverse input and state estimator consisting of a bank of parallel adaptively weighted Kalman filters.The ASE is particularly designed for a system that encompasses independent unknowns and/or random switching of input and measurement biases.The present study describes the scheme to estimate the groundwater input contaminant flux and its transient distribution in a conjectural two-dimensional aquifer by means of ASE,which in particular is because of its unique ability to efficiently handle the process noise giving an estimation of keeping the relative error range within 10%in 2-dimensional problems.Numerical simulation results show that the proposed estimator presents decent estimation performance for both smoothly and abruptly varying input flux scenarios.Results also show that ASE enjoys a better estimation performance than its competitor,Recursive Least Square Estimator(RLSE)due to its larger error tolerance in greater process noise regimes.ASE's inherent deficiency of being slower than the RLSE,resulting from the complexity of algorithm,was also noticed.The chosen input scenarios are tested to calculate the effect of input area and both estimators show improved results with an increase in input flux area especially as sensors are moved closer to the assumed input location.     

Geophysical interpretation of the Rashidpur structure Surma Basin,Bangladesh

The Rashidpur structure is located in the southern part of the Surma Basin, Bangladesh. This paper presents an integrated interpretation of seismic and other geophysical data considering the available geologic information in terms of hydrocarbon potential of this structure. The study area lies within a gravity high and a high magnetic intensity. Fifteen seismic sections of the study area have been analyzed to interpret the subsurface geology, structure and stratigraphy. Based on the analysis of seismic sections and correlation with well data, four prominent reflecting horizons have been identified. The litho-stratigraphy of the Rashidpur structure is prepared on the basis of well information. The lithological sequences encountered in the Rashidpur structure range in age from Miocene to Plio-Pliestocene. The gas producing sands of the structure are within Bokabil to Bhuban Formations of the Miocene age. The seismic study indicates that the Rashidpur structure is a narrow, NS elongated anticline affected by a major reverse fault on the eastern flank. It is an asymmetrical anticline with the axis swinging slightly to the east on the northern plunge and thus attaining a slight concavity to the east. There are various geophysical indications of hydrocarbons in this structure.     

Sedimentology and depositional environments of the Ordovician Umm Sahm Sandstone Formation in southern Jordan

The Ordovician Umm Sahm Sandstone Formation of Jordan comprises approximately 200-m-thick succession of fluvial quartzarenites with subordinate claystone and siltstone lithologies of shallow marine conditions. The Umm Sahm Formation is characterized by its dark brown color, frequent jointing, and steep scarps. The Umm Sahm Formation is bounded by the marine claystones of Hiswah Formation at the top and the fluvial sandstones of the Disi Formation at the bottom. The Umm Sahm Formation is composed of two main facies: fluvial facies and tidal facies. The fluvial facies constitutes about 93% of the total thickness. The lower few meters of the succession passes upward from the Disi Sandstone Formation into similar massive white sandstone facies exhibiting similar white color, fine- to coarse-grained sandstone, with round-shaped pebbles. Trough and planar cross-bedding show a northwest unidirectional palaeocurrent trend. Light brown colored quartzarenites similar to those of the Cambrian Umm Ishrin Sandstone Formation are most common in the upper part of the succession. The tidal facies occupies three intervals in the middle part of the succession. It is composed of laminated and thin-bedded sandstones, siltstones, and claystones. They are rippled and varicolored with abundant trace fossils (Cruziana, Harlania, ruzophycus). The presence of hummocky cross stratification indicates the earliest short-lived tempestite conditions during the Paleozoic erathem of Jordan. The first appearance of Graptolites in the Ordovician rocks of Jordan was recorded during this study in the tidal facies of the Umm Sahm Formation. The vertical arrangement of both fluvial and tidal facies indicates three successive short-lived transgressions and regressions. These marine incursions indicate the successive shoreline advances of the Tethys Ocean, which was located northward, and inundated the southern braid plain. The three short-lived transgressive events took place, and the Tethys marine margin was displaced southward, giving rise to deposition of tidal facies in an open coast tidal flat. Following the transgressive events, renewed progradation and strandline retreat took place, fed by large amounts of siliciclastics derived from the continent and transported by braided streams across the intertidal zone.     

Validation of TRMM 3B42 V6 for estimation of mean annual rainfall over ungauged area in semiarid climate

This research compares data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission 3B42 V6 with data obtained from 19 synoptic rain gauges during the period 1998–2010 over the semiarid climate of Khorasan Razavi, Iran. Validation was performed using three spatial extents, including 1 TRMM grid face from the synoptic station (1PTRM), 3 TRMM points surrounding the synoptic station (3PTRM) and 5 TRMM points surrounding the synoptic station (5PTRM), using ArcGIS 10.2 software. The perfect and poor r were obtained at stations S08 and S19, with values of 0.92 and 0.26, respectively. According to the Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency coefficient, the TRMM satellite can predict the spatial variation of the mean annual rainfall by 0.23, 0.43 and 0.38 for 1PTRM, 3PTRM and 5PTRM, respectively, at 19 stations. The agreement significantly increases by 0.88, 0.83 and 0.80 for 1PTRM, 3PTRM and 5PTRM, respectively, when gauges S05, S07, S11 and S13 are excluded from the dataset, which may be associated with orographic or instrumental error at the stations.     

Sr–Nd isotopes and geochemistry of the infrastructural rocks in the Meatiq and Hafafit core complexes, Eastern Desert, Egypt: Evidence for involvement of pre-Neoproterozoic crust in the growth of Arabian–Nubian Shield

Abstract Meatiq and Hafafit core complexes are large swells in the Eastern Desert of Egypt, comprising two major tectono‐stratigraphic units or tiers. The lower (infrastructure) unit is composed of variably cataclased gneissose granites and high‐grade gneisses and schists. It is structurally overlain by Pan–African ophiolitic mélange nappes (the higher unit). The two units are separated by a low‐angle sole thrust, along which mylonites are developed. Major and trace element data indicate formation of the gneissose granites in both volcanic arc and within‐plate settings. Nevertheless, all analyzed gneissose granites and other infrastructural rocks, exhibit low initial ratios (Sr_i) (<0.7027), positive ε_Nd(t) (+4.9 to +10.3) and Neoproterozoic Nd model age (T_DM) (592–831 Ma for the gneissose granite samples). Although these values are compatible with other parts of the Arabian– Nubian Shield considered to be juvenile, the ε_Nd(t) values and several incompatible element ratios of the gneissose granites are too low to be derived from a mantle source without contribution from an older continental crust. Our geological, Sr–Nd isotopic and chemical data combined with the published zircon ages indicate the existence of a pre‐Neoproterozoic continent in the Eastern Desert that started to break up at ca 800 Ma. Rifting and subsequent events caused the formation of oceanic crust and emplacement within‐plate alkali basalts in the hinterland domains of the old continent. The emplacement of basaltic magma might have triggered melting of lower crust in the old continent and resulted in emplacement of the within‐plate granite masses between 700 Ma and 626 Ma. The granite masses and other rocks in the old continent have been subjected to deformation during the over‐thrusting of Pan–African nappes, probably because of the oblique convergence between East and West Gondwanaland. Rb–Sr isotopes of the gneissose granites in both Meatiq and Hafafit core complexes defines an isochron age of 619 ± 25 Ma with Sr_i of 0.7009 ± 0.0017 and mean squares of weighted deviates = 2.0. We interpret this age as the date of thrusting of the Pan–African nappes in the Eastern Desert. Continued oblique convergence between East and West Gondwanaland could have resulted in the formation northwest–southeast‐trending Meatiq and Hafafit anticlinoriums.