Do alternative spatial healthcare access measures tell the same story?

To effectively target area and population with relatively poorer healthcare access requires information on how access to healthcare varies spatially. Considering hospitals as important components of the healthcare system, this case study of Central Missouri presents a comparison of the relatively underserved areas and population based on the results from three alternative indicators of spatial hospital access calculated at three different levels of geography. Results indicate that the alternative spatial healthcare access indicators show considerably different pictures of the relative ranking of census units, and identification of the relatively underserved areas and population. The relative ranking of census units and the identification of relatively underserved area and population are all critical indicators for policy makers when public resources are limited and distributive choices must be made.     

Seismicity and reservoir induced crustal motion study around the Tehri Dam, India

The Tehri Dam is located in a seismotectonically active region in the Indian Himalayan belt. This 260.5 m high dam has a live water storage of 2615 × 10⁶ m³ and is capable of generating crustal deformation corresponding to water fluctuation. Filling of the reservoir started in October 2005. Seismic data around the dam between 2000 and 2010 shows that seismicity is corresponding to drawdown levels of the reservoir rather than to higher water levels. GPS data at twelve local benchmarks were collected from 2006 to 2008 during filling and drawdown reservoir levels. The velocity vectors show ground motion to be between ～0.69–1.50 mm in the different filling-drawdown cycles with reference to the permanent station at Ghuttu. The motion appears to be inwards into the reservoir when the reservoir is filled and outwards when the reservoir is drained. This ground motion corresponds to elastic deformation and rebound due to effect of the oscillating water levels.     

Plane relativistic shock waves at the edge of a gas

Similarity solutions for propagation of plane relativistic shock waves through a medium of decreasing nucleon density and approaching the edge of the gas as well as for the subsequent motion of the gas after the shock front arrives at the vacuous boundary are studied in this paper. The medium in the pre-disturbed stage is assumed cold and in the disturbed stage its equation of state is taken as that of a photonic gas.     

A petrologic model for the constitution of the upper mantle and crust of the Koolau shield,Oahu, Hawaii,and Hawaiian magmatism

A petrological model for the uppermost upper mantle and crust under the Koolau shield to a depth of about 60 km has been derived on the basis of petrology of the upper mantle and crustal xenoliths in nephelinites of the Honolulu Volcanic Series. Three main xenolith suites exist in the Koolau shield: dunites, spinel lherzolites, and garnet-bearing pyroxenites. On the basis of mineralogy, it is inferred that the dunites represent cumulates in shallow crustal tholeiitic magma chambers, the spinel lherzolites form a thick (～ 40 km) layer in the upper mantle, and the garnet pyroxenite suite occurs as veins and stringers in the spinel lherzolites at about 60 km depth.The eruption sequence in a Hawaiian volcano, i.e., tholeiite → transitional basalt → alkali basalt, is generated by partial melting of a volatile-bearing garnet-lherzolite part of a lithospheric plate as it rides over a hot spot. If the tholeiite, transitional, and alkali basalts of Hawaiian volcanoes are generated at the same depth, then the observed sequence of lavas requires replenishment of the source area with volatiles and gradual decrease of the degree of partial melting with time. Post-erosional olivine nephelinites are produced from isotopically distinct, deeper source area, which may be the asthenosphere.     

A scientometric analysis of ICT-assisted disaster management

Natural Hazards - In recent years, natural and manmade disasters such as floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and tsunamis have occurred with human losses and environmental deterioration. Henceforth, to...     

The assessment of aerosol optical properties over Mohal in the northwestern Indian Himalayas using satellite and ground-based measurements and an influence of aerosol transport on aerosol radiative forcing

The present study deals with the aerosol optical properties which are assessed during the period 2007 to 2009 over Mohal (31.9oN, 77.12oE) in the northwestern Indian Himalaya, using ground-based measurements and multi-satellite data. The daily average value of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500?nm, ?ngstr?m exponent and turbidity coefficient are 0.24?±?0.08, 1.02?±?0.34 and 0.13?±?0.05, respectively. The comparative study of satellite and ground-based measurements reveals that the percentage retrieval for daily AOD at 550?nm over Mohal within the expected accuracy (???? _p?? ?=?±0.05?±?0.15?? _p?? ) is around 87%, with a significant correlation coefficient of 0.76. The present study suggests that the retrieval of AOD through satellite data is able to characterise the distribution of AOD over Mohal. However, further efforts are needed in order to eliminate systematic errors in the existing Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) algorithm. The transport of desert dust and anthropogenic aerosol during high aerosol loading days caused a significant reduction in surface-reaching solar radiation by 149 and 117%, respectively. This large reduction in surface-reaching solar radiation increased the atmospheric heating rate by 0.93 and 0.72?K?day^?1, respectively. This study indicates significant climatic implications due to the transport of aerosols in the northwestern Indian Himalaya.     

Hydraulics of a partially penetrating well with skin zone in a confined aquifer

A steady/quasi-steady model is developed for predicting flow into a partially penetrating well with skin zone in a confined aquifer overlying an impervious layer. The model takes into account flow through the bottom of the wellbore, finite skin thickness and finite horizontal and vertical extent of the aquifer. Moreover, the solution can be easily extended to include the mixed-type boundary condition at the well face, where a Dirichlet in the form of a specified hydraulic head and a Neumann in the form of zero flux coexist at the same time at different portions of the well face. The validity of the proposed solution is tested by comparing a few results obtained from the developed model with corresponding results obtained by analytical and numerical means. The study shows that, among other factors remaining constant, both the horizontal and vertical extent of an artesian aquifer, thickness of the skin zone, bottom flow and conductivity contrast of the skin and formation zones, play an important part in deciding flow to a well dug in the aquifer, and hence these factors must be considered while analyzing the problem. The model proposed here can be used to estimate skin thickness as well as hydraulic conductivities of the skin and formation zones of a well with skin zone in an artesian aquifer underlain by an impervious layer by utilizing pumping test data falling in the steady or quasi-steady state of a typical pumping test. As the proposed solution is of a general nature in the sense that it can handle, apart from partial penetration and bottom flow, the finite size skin zone and finite horizontal and vertical extent of an artesian aquifer together with the mixed-type boundary condition at the well face, it is hoped that the predictions coming out of the model will be more realistic than those obtained using solutions developed with more stringent assumptions.     

Seismic fragility assessment on the post-mainshock damaged shield building considering aftershock duration and damage ratio

In general, historical earthquake events have shown that a strong mainshock might trigger several aftershocks, which can cause additional damage and seismic risk to the structures. This work tries to investigate the aftershock duration on seismic fragility of the shield building in consideration of initial damage. For this purpose, a three-dimensional finite element model of shield building is established using a concrete damage plastic model. A series of mainshock-aftershock sequences with different durations are selected and scaled to match the target spectrum. A damage ratio of tensile damage is developed to evaluate the additional damage caused by mainshock and aftershocks. Aftershocks with three durations, namely, 20 s, 40 s, and 60 s, are used to study the effect of initial damage levels and aftershock durations on the accumulative damage and seismic fragility of the shield building. The results indicate that those aftershocks with longer durations may wreak more worse cumulative damage to the post-mainshock damaged structure and significantly affect the probability of exceedance. It is also indicated that the initial damage levels have a significant impact on the fragility curves of the shield building. This work can directly incorporate the influence of mainshock-damaged states into the fragility assessment for Nuclear Power Plant.

     

Water Quality Monitoring of Tropical Ponds: Location and Depth Effect in Two Case Studies

The variability in water chemistry of samples taken on a monthly basis (March 1999 to February 2000) from two shallow tropical ponds was studied. The effect of location and pond depth on water chemistry was also examined. The study demonstrated that intraannual variability in nutrient concentration is high. Thus, a high annual sampling frequency is required to provide representative annual mean water quality data. Routine monitoring during the monsoons is important for studies on dissolved oxygen and macrophyte growth. Significant differences were found between the topmost and bottommost points for samples of dissolved oxygen collected from the deepest part of both ponds. For nutrient analysis (nitrogen and phosphorus), sample from any location was found to be representative of the whole pond.     

Geoenvironmental impact analysis of G.B. Pant Sagar reservoir (Rihand Reservoir), U.P. and M.P.

A comparison of aerial photointerpreted data around G.B. Pant Sagar (Rihand Reservoir) for pre-dam (1944) and post-dam (1967) periods and satellite imagery of 1988 shows that slope stability of the hills surrounding the reservoir has not been affected adversely as a result of impounding of the reservoir as no landslides are observed in the area in post-dam period. However, significant changes in the landuse of the area surrounding the reservoir are noticed in the post-dam aerial photographs and satellite imagery. Large areas show decrease in vegetation density as a result of deforestation while the areas bordering the reservoir show increase in vegetation density. The area under cultivation has decreased on the western side due to development of a number of coal fields in post-dam period. Improper management of coal ash disposal from a number of thermal power plants located around the reservoir is causing siltation of the reservoir.