Biodegradation of municipal refuse and chicken manure in a winter-wheat ecosystem in Saudi Arabia

Addition and incorporation of organic fertilizers is known to improve the properties of agricultural soils. Therefore, during 22 weeks of field incubation we studied the biodegradation (measured by static absorption of CO₂) of two organic manures viz. municipal refuse and chicken manure incorporated into sandy soils, under sprinker irrigation, at the rates of 0, 16·5, 33·0, 49·5 and 66·0, and 0, 4·1, 8·25, 16·5, and 33·0 tonnes/ha, respectively.The results obtained indicated that the cumulative amount of CO₂ respired was linearly correlated with the rate of organic material applied (p < 0.001). Statistical analysis of the data obtained showed that both the intercept (rate of decomposition) and the slope (rate of reaction with time) increased with increasing rate of application of organic manure. The magnitude of increment was highest at the application rates of 33·0 and 8·25 tonnes/ha for municipal refuse and chicken manure, respectively. The rate of increment, generally, declined thereafter thus indicating that these two rates are the optimum levels of incorporation of the appropriate organic manures under the conditions of this study.The maximum organic-carbon mineralized, accounting for 10·5 and approximately 50%, was obtained at the optimum rates for municipal refuse and chicken manure, respectively. Both simple and multiple regression equations describing the relationship between soil temperature and soil-moisture content each separately and in combination, as independent variables, and the cumulative rate of CO₂ production were computed. A substantially strong relationship with soil temperature but inconsistent and contradicting results with soil moisture were obtained. Inclusion of soil temperature and moisture in a single model as an independent variable in relation to cumulative CO₂ as a dependent variable improved the soil moisture-CO₂ production relationship.     

Ray parameters of diffracted long period P and S waves and the velocities at the base of the mantle

The derivation of P and S velocities at the core-mantle boundary (CMB) from long-period diffracted waves by the use of the simple ray-theoretical formulav _CMB=r _c /p (v _CMB=velocity at the CMB;r _c =core radius;p=ray parameter) yields apparent velocity values which differ from the true velocities. Using a dominant period of about 20 sec for calculating theoretical seismograms, we found a linear relation between the apparent velocity and the average velocity in a transition zone at the base of the mantle with fixed velocity on top.The ray parameters determined from long-period earthquake data are found to be 4.540±0.035 and 8.427±0.072 sec/deg for P_diff and S_diff, respectively. These values yield apparent velocities of 13.378±0.103 for P and 7.207±0.062 km/sec for S waves. By means of the theoretical relation between apparent and average velocity and under the assumption of linear variation of velocity with depth, one can invert the apparent velocities into true CMB velocities of 13.736±0.170 and 7.320±0.124 km/sec. These results imply positive velocity gradients at the base of the mantle and hence no significant departures from adiabaticity and homogeneity.Contribution No. 211 of the Geophysical Institute, University of Karlsruhe.     

Radon and thoron content in atmospheric air at Giza,Egypt

Summary The radon and thoron content in atmospheric air at Giza was determined through the period from January (1958 to July 1959) by using the emanometrical technique. The concentration of radon and its decay products was equal to (88±4) 10^–18 Curie/c.c. and that of thoron and its decay products was equal to (51±11) 10^–18 Curie/c.c.     

An application of Markov Chain Model for wet and dry spell probabilities at Juba in Southern Sudan

The theoretical probabilities of wet and dry spells derived from the Markov Chain Model were found to fit very closely the observed probabilities of various sequence lengths at Juba, S Sudan. Monthly variation in the probability values does not seem to follow a secular trend. Anomogram relating observed sequence length frequency of wet and dry spells versus those computed by Markov model is presented.     

HAZMAP: A REMOTE DIGITAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM FOR WORK IN HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS

In a continuing drive to reduce the radiation exposure of nuclear workers, many routine aspects of nuclear plant maintenance and refurbishment are increasingly undertaken by robotic or remote handling tools. Accurate “as built” documentation of plant records is vital to the successful planning and execution of such operations since an unexpected obstruction or undocumented site modification may result in a costly disruption or even failure of the intervention. In recognition of the importance of such documentation, a recent European Community ? ? Teleman-Robotics and remote sensing operations in hazardous nuclear environments
sponsored project has been directed towards the development of techniques for cost effective survey and modelling of such plant. This paper will detail the rationale behind the design of such a system and will describe typical results from a number of pilot projects.     

U-Pb (zircon) ages for the gneissic terrane west of the Nile,southern Egypt

The first U-Pb zircon ages are reported for the gneissic bedrock inliers previously interpreted as part of the Nile Craton. The inliers crop out in the Egyptian Western Desert, east of the Uweinat area and west of the Eastern Desert. Multi- and single-grain zircon analyses of granitoid gneiss and migmatite from Gebel Um Shagir, Aswan, and another locality approximately 160 km south-west of Aswan, yield simple discordia with near modern day Pb loss trajectories, and the following Neoproterozoic crystallization ages: 626+4/–3, 634 ± 4 and 741 ± 3 Ma. In contrast, multi- and single-grain U-Pb analyses (zircon and sphene) from an anorthositic gabbro at Gebel Kamil (22°46N 26°21E) and an anorthosite at Gebel El Asr (22°46N 31°10E) yield Archean and Paleoproterozoic emplacement ages. The former yield a crystallization age of > 2.67 Ga and a metamorphic age of 2.0 Ga; the latter a metamorphic age of 0.69 Ga and an inheritance age of 1.9–2.1 Ga. Because high grade gneiss and migmatite of Neoproterozoic, Paleoproterozoic and Archean age crop out west of the Nile, pre-Neoproterozoic crust should no longer be identified by its metamorphic grade. By contrast, mapping the anorthosite and related rocks might provide first-order estimates for the extension of pre-Neoproterozoic crust in north-east Africa. It is suggested that Archean and Paleoproterozoic crust of the Uweinat and Congo Craton are contiguous because these U-Pb (zircon) data show no evidence for a Neoproterozoic thermal overprint in the Gebel Kamil area and there is no pronounced Neoproterozoic magmatic activity south of the Uweinat inlier and north of the Congo Craton.     

Synthetic light curves of two eclipsing binary systems,U Sge and AW UMa

Photometric curve fits have been investigated by means of numerical quadratures to develop theoretical light curves appropriate to stars built up in accordance with the Roche model. The method has been applied previously to β Per (Al-Naimiy and Budding, 1977) on the basis of available observations in red and infrared, while presently applied to two systems with contact components.

1. U Sge, spherical primary totally eclipsed by a contact component secondary. Improved photometric elements of the system have been found, and compared with those obtained by Kopal's method in the frequency domain. The outcome of the curve fitting corresponds well with the results of an analysis in the frequency domain.
2. AW UMa, exhibiting the shallowest minima known for totally eclipsing W UMa systems. The physical and geometrical elements of the system have been found, and the contact nature of the two components confirmed.

     

Time series forecasting of river flow using an integrated approach of wavelet multi-resolution analysis and evolutionary data-driven models. A case study: Sebaou River (Algeria)

The complexity of hydrological processes and lack of data for modeling require the use of specific tools for non-linear natural phenomenon. In this paper, an effort has been made to develop a conjunction model – wavelet transformation, data-driven models, and genetic algorithm (GA) – for forecasting the daily flow of a river in northern Algeria using the time series of runoff. This catchment has a semi-arid climate and strong variability in runoff. The original time series was decomposed into multi-frequency time series by wavelet transform algorithm and used as inputs to artificial neural networks (ANN) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) models. Several factors must be optimized to determine the best model structures. Wavelet-based data-driven models using a GA are designed to optimize model structure. The performances of wavelet-based data-driven models (i.e. WANFIS and WANN) were superior to those of conventional models. WANFIS (RMSE = 12.15 m³/s, EC = 87.32%, R = .934) and WANN (RMSE = 15.73 m³/s, EC = 78.83%, R = .888) models improved the performances of ANFIS (RMSE = 23.13 m³/s, EC = 54.11%, R = .748) and ANN (RMSE = 22.43 m³/s, EC = 56.90%, R = .755) during the test period.     

Soil organic carbon mapping using remote sensing techniques and multivariate regression model

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important aspect of soil quality and plays an imperative role in soil productivity in the agriculture ecosystems. The present study was applied to estimate the SOC stock using space-borne satellite data (Landsat 4–5 Thematic Mapper [TM]) and ground verification in the Medinipur Block, Paschim Medinipur District and West Bengal in India. In total, 50 soil samples were collected randomly from the region according to field surveys using a hand-held Global Positioning System (GPS) unit to estimate the surface SOC concentrations in the laboratory. Bare soil index (BSI) and normalized difference vegetation ndex (NDVI) were explored from TM data. The satellite data-derived indices were used to estimate spatial distribution of SOC using multivariate regression model. The regression analysis was performed to determine the relationship between SOC and spectral indices (NDVI and BSI) and compared the observed SOC (field measure) to predict SOC (estimated from satellite images). Goodness fit test was performed to determine the significance of the relationship between observed and predicted SOC at p ≤ 0.05 level. The results of regression analysis between observed SOC and NDVI values showed significant relationship (R² = 0.54; p < 0.0075). A significant statistical relationship (r = ?0.72) was also observed between SOC and BSI. Finally, our model showed nearly 71% of the variance of SOC distribution could be explained by SOC and NDVI values. The information from this study has advanced our understanding of the ongoing ecological development that affects SOC dissemination and might be valuable for effective soil management.