Hunger-vulnerable groups within the metropolitan food system of Khartoum

Due to the current civil war and the economic and political deterioration in the Sudan, the majority of the Sudanese are suffering from food shortage. The dislocated southern Sudanese in Khartoum, however, belong to the group most affected. This paper tries to analyse the structure of hunger in the capital city of the Sudan. The formal and informal food supply systems are described. The reasons why the southern Sudanese are specially vulnerable to hunger and the indicators of this vulnerability are discussed.     

Social and economic geographical analysis of the Egyptian Copts

This paper gives a brief account of the social and economic situation of the Copts in Egypt. As an ethnic group the Copts are the pure successors of the ancient Egyptians. This does not imply that the Moslems are pure Arabs. At least 90% of the Egyptian Moslems are of Coptic origin, so that no particular differentiation should be made between the Copts and the Moslems of Egypt from the ethnical point of view. The Copts are fully integrated into the Egyptian population. Only in times of religious persecution, they huddled together in villages of Upper Egypt in the provinces of El Minia and Assiut. The recent wave of reislamisation in the Near East has inflicted some suffering on the Copts of Egypt. This was combined with economic losses. Nasser's nationalisation of private concerns and confiscation of large tenures of land was a blow directed against the Copts. Suggestions are made to improve their situation with the aim of giving them equal rigths with the Moslems in the political, social, economic, and religious fields.     

Petrography and geochemistry of carbonate void-filling cements in fossil reefs

An Investigation of the distribution of Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, Sr²⁺ and K⁺ as well as O¹⁸ and C¹³ in void-filling cements out of three fossil reefs — of Devonian and Triassic ages — shows a rhythmic fluctuation of these parameters in the successive layers. This reflects a similar change in the salinity conditions during cementation. It also leads to the presumption that the void filling process starts in early stages with a semi-closed system and later passes into a relatively closed one. Results obtained from factor analysis support this hypothesis.The original mineralogic constitution of the cements must have followed the rhythmic fluctuation of salinity with the result of forming alternative layers of aragonite and calcite. These lead, through inversion and grain growth, in later diagenetic stages to the formation of fibrous calcite.Blocky calcite represents the last stage of cementation. It crystallises out of exhausted solutions and shows no signs of inversion.Multivariate analysis of all investigated parameters reveals three factors. These were interpreted as representing Salinity, Temperature and original Mineralogy.

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Zusammenfassung Die Untersuchung der Verteilung von Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na⁺, Sr²⁺ und K⁺, sowie O¹⁸ und C¹³ in Hohlraumzementen aus drei fossilen Riffen von devonischem und triadischem Alter zeigt eine rhythmische Schwankung in den sukzessiven Zementschalen. Die Schwankung der geochemischen Parameter reflektiert eine änderung der Salinitätsbedingungen. Dies wird unter der Annahme erklärt, daß die Ausfüllung der Hohlräume zuerst in einem halbgeschlossenen, später dann in einem relativ geschlossenen System stattfindet. Die Faktorenanalyse bestätigt diese Hypothese.Die Mineralogie der gebildeten Zemente folgt der rhythmischen Salinitätsschwankung und daraus entstand zunächst eine Wechsellagerung von calcitischen und aragonitischen Zementen.über Inversion und Sammelkristallisation bildet sich während der späteren Diagenese der fibröse Calcit, dessen rhythmische Gefügeabfolge von der ursprünglichen Mineralogie der Zemente diktiert wird. Als letzte Zementgeneration folgt blockiger Calcit aus ionenarmen Lösungen, wobei keine Umwandlung dieser Zementphase mehr erfolgt.Aus der Faktorenanalyse aller geochemischen Parameter ergeben sich drei Faktorengruppen, die die Salinität, Temperatur und ursprüngliche Bildungsmineralogie charakterisieren.

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Résumé L'examen de la répartition du Ca₂₊, Mg₂₊, Na₊, Sr₂₊ et K₊, ainsi que O¹⁸ et C¹³ dans le ciment de remplissage des vides de 3 récifs fossiles d'âge dévonien à triasique, montre une variation rythmique dans les couches successives du ciment. La variation des paramètres chimiques reflète un changement dans les conditions de la salinité. Ceci s'explique si l'on accepte que le remplissage des vides a eu lieu dans un milieu d'abord à moitié fermé, et plus tard relativement fermé. L'analyse des facteurs confirme cette hypothèse. La minéralogie du ciment formé est conforme à la variation rythmique de la salinité, d'où résulta une alternance de ciment calcitique et aragonitique.Après l'inversion et la recristallisation coalescente, il s'est formé, durant la diagenèse ultérieure de la calcite fibreuse, dont la succession structurale rythmique est dictée par la minéralogie originelle du ciment. Comme dernière génération de ciment, vient de la calcite en bloc provenant d'une solution pauvre en ions, sans qu'il s'en suive une transformation decette phase de cimentation.L'analyse des facteurs de tous les paramètres chimiques fait apparaÎtre trois groupes de facteurs qui caractérisent la salinité, la température et la minéralogie originelle de formation.

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, : Sa²⁺, Mg²⁺, Na²⁺, Sr²⁺ K⁺, ¹⁸O ¹³S . . , , , . . , . , . , , - . 3 , , .

     

Short note: A simple nomogram for interpretation due to magnetic horizontal cylinders

The magnetic anomaly ΔF due to a long horizontal cylinder yields three points related to its extrema. A nomogram is presented for the determination of some source parameters of the causative body.     

Multivariate analysis of heavy metal contents of sediments from Gumusler creek, Nigde, Turkey

In this study, heavy metal contents of samples from Gumusler creek in Turkey were studied and the metal contamination characteristics were investigated. In this respect, considering the pollutant sites in the area, systematic sediment samples were collected in a zone starting from the manifestation part of the water to the entrance of the Karasu creek in Gumusler town. Samples were taken from lower section of the river bed at 30 stations along Gumusler creek, 13 km in length and their heavy metal contents were analyzed with XRF Spectrometer. Correlation coefficients, element coefitic coefficient correlation, dendogram hierarchical cluster, model summary and Annova analysis statistical methods were applied to data. Strong positive correlations were determined for some elements which are believed to have possibly the same origin. In addition, mineralizations in the area are thought to cause variation in metal contents. Results of chemical analysis show that soil limit values and clark values were exceeded. The heavy metal accumulation in the creek is believed to be derived from non-operated Sb-Hg-W and Fe quarries.     

Fitting optimum order of Markov chain models for daily rainfall occurrences in Peninsular Malaysia

The analysis of the daily rainfall occurrence behavior is becoming more important, particularly in water-related sectors. Many studies have identified a more comprehensive pattern of the daily rainfall behavior based on the Markov chain models. One of the aims in fitting the Markov chain models of various orders to the daily rainfall occurrence is to determine the optimum order. In this study, the optimum order of the Markov chain models for a 5-day sequence will be examined in each of the 18 rainfall stations in Peninsular Malaysia, which have been selected based on the availability of the data, using the Akaike’s (AIC) and Bayesian information criteria (BIC). The identification of the most appropriate order in describing the distribution of the wet (dry) spells for each of the rainfall stations is obtained using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov goodness-of-fit test. It is found that the optimum order varies according to the levels of threshold used (e.g., either 0.1 or 10.0 mm), the locations of the region and the types of monsoon seasons. At most stations, the Markov chain models of a higher order are found to be optimum for rainfall occurrence during the northeast monsoon season for both levels of threshold. However, it is generally found that regardless of the monsoon seasons, the first-order model is optimum for the northwestern and eastern regions of the peninsula when the level of thresholds of 10.0 mm is considered. The analysis indicates that the first order of the Markov chain model is found to be most appropriate for describing the distribution of wet spells, whereas the higher-order models are found to be adequate for the dry spells in most of the rainfall stations for both threshold levels and monsoon seasons.     

Development of a Compressibility Prediction Model Based on Soil Index Properties and Area Under/Bounded by Consolidation and Rebound Curves

Geotechnical and Geological Engineering - In any geotechnical design, knowing the magnitude of the compression of the loaded soil layer is essential. This can be achieved by determining the value...     

Agrobiodiversity of Muda Rice Agroecosystem:A case Study in Largest Granary Area of Malaysia

A survey was carried out at the largest rice cultivation area in Peninsular Malaysia,the Muda rice agroecosystem.The main objective of this study was to document the overall biodiversity associated with this unique agroecosystem by using a combination of sampling techniques in order to record different groups of fauna and flora.The total number of biota recorded and identified from the rice field ecosystem during the study period consisted of 46 species of zooplankton,81 species of aquatic insects,5 species of rodents,7 species of bats,87 species of birds,11 species of fishes and 58 species of weeds.A long-term study should be carried out as more species are expected to be recorded when more of the Muda rice agroecosystem area has been sampled to obtain sufficient information on the Muda rice agrobiodiversity.