Atmospheric Water Harvesting from Low-Humid Regions of Hail City in Saudi Arabia

Natural Resources Research - Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) is emerging as a promising technique of water production in remote and isolated areas away from natural water resources. The present...     

Impaired Functions in Nile Tilapia,Oreochromis niloticus (Linnaeus, 1757), from Polluted Waters

Oreochromis niloticus is an endemic species in the River Nile and represents the main object of fishery in the Nile Delta Lakes of which Lake Maryût is the smallest and most polluted. Due to current pollution problems, fish production in the lake greatly declined. Besides fish biology, this study considered a wide array of water databases in selected sites along the lake. Hydrologic and biologic data were compared to that of a reference fish hatchery. Water concentrations of ammonia, manganese, nickel, cadmium, lead and mercury proved hazardous to fish, whereas chromium, copper, iron, zinc, pH, alkalinity, hardness, phosphate, nitrate, and nitrite always fell within acceptable levels. Physiologic evaluation of O. niloticus pointed out improper growth, protein inadequacy, and functional impairment in fish inhabiting polluted sites, in particular the lake main basin. These were reflected by data of specific formulae as RNA/DNA and the relative RNA content (r) in cells of the liver and gill arches as well as by the relative mobilization of serum protein fractions. It seems, however, that growth competence is additionally affected by the stress impact exerted upon fish by massive population numbers in some cramped commercial ponds.     

Bacterial flora and antibiotic resistance from eggs of green turtles Chelonia mydas: An indication of polluted effluents

Sea turtles migrate to various habitats where they can be exposed to different pollutants. Bacteria were collected from turtle eggs and their resistance to antibiotics was used as pollutant bio-indicators of contaminated effluents. Eggs were collected randomly from turtles when they were laying their eggs. A total of 90 eggs were collected and placed into sterile plastic bags (3 eggs/turtle) during June-December of 2003. The bacteria located in the eggshell, albumen and yolk were examined, and 42% of the eggs were contaminated with 10 genera of bacteria. Pseudomonas spp. were the most frequent isolates. The albumen was found to be the part of the egg to be the least contaminated by bacterial infection. Bacterial isolates tested with 14 antibiotics showed variations in resistance. Resistance to ampicillin was the highest. The presence of antibiotic resistant bacteria in eggs indicates that the green turtle populations were subjected to polluted effluents during some of their migratory routes and feeding habitats. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that Salmonella typhimurium penetrated all eggshell layers.     

Predicting forest structural parameters using the image texture derived from WorldView-2 multispectral imagery in a dryland forest,Israel

Estimation of forest structural parameters by field-based data collection methods is both expensive and time consuming. Satellite remote sensing is a low-cost alternative in modeling and mapping structural parameters in large forest areas. The current study investigates the potential of using WordView-2 multispectral satellite imagery for predicting forest structural parameters in a dryland plantation forest in Israel. The relationships between image texture features and the several structural parameters such as Number of Trees (NT), Basal Area (BA), Stem Volume (SV), Clark-Evans Index (CEI), Diameter Differentiation Index (DDI), Contagion Index (CI), Gini Coefficient (GC), and Standard Deviation of Diameters at Breast Heights (SDDBH) were examined using correlation analyses. These variables were obtained from 30 m × 30 m square-shaped plots. The Standard Deviation of Gray Levels (SDGL) as a first order texture feature and the second order texture variables based on Gray Level Co-occurrence Matrix (GLCM) were calculated for the pixels that corresponds to field plots. The results of the correlation analysis indicate that the forest structural parameters are significantly correlated with the image texture features. The highest correlation coefficients were calculated for the relationships between the SDDBH and the contrast of red band (r = 0.75, p < 0.01), the BA and the entropy of blue band (r = 0.73, p < 0.01), and the GC and the contrast of blue band (r = 0.71, p < 0.01). Each forest structural parameter was modeled as a function of texture measures derived from the satellite image using stepwise multi linear regression analyses. The determination coefficient (R²) and root mean square error (RMSE) values of the best fitting models, respectively, are 0.38 and 109.56 ha⁻¹ for the NT; 0.54 and 1.79 m² ha⁻¹ for the BA; 0.42 and 27.18 m³ ha⁻¹ for the SV; 0.23 and 0.16 for the CEI; 0.32 and 0.05 for the DDI; 0.25 and 0.06 for the CI; 0.50 and 0.05 for the GC; and 0.67 and 0.70 for the SDDBH. The leave-one-out cross-validation technique was applied for validation of the best-fitted models (R² > 0.50). In conclusion, cross-validated statistics confirmed that the structural parameters including the BA, SDDBH, and GC can be predicted and mapped with a reasonable accuracy using the texture features extracted from the spectral bands of WorldView-2 image.     

Petrology of Cr-rich Podiform Chromitites of Bulqiza, Eastern Ophiolitic Belt, Albania

<正>The ultramafic massif of Bulqiza,which belongs to the eastern ophiolitic belt of Albania,is a major source of metallurgical chromitite ore.The massif consists of a thick(4 km)sequence,composed from the base upward of tectonized harzburgite with minor dunite,a transitional zone of dunite,and a magmatic sequence of wehrlite,     

A combined methodology of multiplet and composite focal mechanism techniques for identifying seismologically active zones in Syria

This contribution is an attempt to enlarge the current knowledge about the focal mechanisms as well as the seismotectonic settings in Syria. The seismologically active zones have been identified by applying an appropriate methodology to the events recorded during the period 1995–2003 by the Syrian National Seismological Network (SNSN). The recorded events in Syria were classified as weak during the research period. It was extremely important to propose and apply an appropriate methodology to identify the focal mechanisms generating this seismic activity. The proposed methodology consists of applying a combination of two techniques: the multiplet and the composite focal mechanisms. The combination of many events in one composite focal mechanism was realized by a multiplet technique using the spectral coherence of the events as a measure of similarity. The application of the proposed methodology allows a data set of composite fault plane solutions to be obtained. Most of the composite fault plane solutions had strike-slip mechanisms which are in agreement with the configuration of seismogenic belts in Syria.     

Comparison of biostimulation and bioaugmentation for remediation of soil contaminated with spent motor oil

Aerobic fixed bed bioreactors were used to study and compare biostimulation and bioaugmentation for remediation of soil contaminated with spent motor oil. Bioaugmentation using consortium of bacteria and biostimulation using inorganic fertilizer and potassium dihydrogen orthophosphate were investigated. The bioremediation indicators used were the oil and grease content removals, total heterotrophic bacteria counts and carbon dioxide respiration rates. Results showed that biodegradations were very effective with 50, 66 and 75 % oil and grease content removal efficiencies for control, bioaugmentation and biostimulation respectively after ten weeks. Carbon dioxide respiration followed similar pattern as the oil and grease content removals. Biostimulation option has the highest carbon dioxide generation (6 249 mg/kg) and the control with the least (4 276 mg/kg). Therefore, the biostimulation option can be used to develop a realistic treatment technology for soils contaminated with spent motor oil.     

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S167498711100048X

Metavolcanic rocks hosting base metal sulphide mineralization, and belonging to the Kid Metamorphic Complex, are exposed in the Samra-Tarr area, Southern Sinai. The rocks consist of slightly metamorphosed varicolored porphyritic lavas of rhyolite-to-andesite composition, and their equivalent pyroclastics. Geochemically, these metavolcanics are classified as high-K calc-alkaline, metaluminous andesites, trachyandesites, dacites, and rhyolites. The geochemical characteristics of these metavolcanics strongly point to their derivation from continental crust in an active continental margin. The sulphide mineralization in these metavolcanics occurs in two major ore zones, and is represented by four distinct styles of mineralization. The mineralization occurs either as low-grade disseminations or as small massive pockets. The associated hydrothermal alterations include carbonatization, silicification, sericitization and argillic alterations. The base metal sulphide mineralization is epigenetic and was formed by hydrothermal solutions associated with subduction-related volcanic activity.     

DOA estimation of wide-band signals based on time-frequencyanalysis

A numerical study on an approach based on the time-frequency analysis is performed for the high-resolution direction finding applications of wide-band signals. In this method, the direction of arrival (DOA) is estimated using a subband of the incoming signal instead of the whole signal spectrum. This treatment forces the DOA of the wide-band signals to be similar to that of the DOA of the narrow-band signals. The reason behind this can be thought of as the after effects of reducing the signal bandwidth, which constrains the signal subspace. An empirical analysis of the performance of the DOA estimator Is also investigated. This is done to compare the correct and estimated angles of separation between the targets, and it is demonstrated that there is a good agreement which implies that the use of prefiltering does not affect the resolution of the DOA estimator     

Remote sensing of urban growth and landscape pattern changes in response to the expansion of Chongming Island in Shanghai,China

Chongming Island in China is currently undergoing a rapid urbanization and an increasing environmental pressure due to its fast-paced social economic development. Owing to natural silts deposit phenomenon as well as artificial land reclamation practices, the Island is also experiencing an expansion phenomenon. The synergy between these natural and artificial phenomena results in a rapidly changing landscape on Chongming Island. Consequently, the tools and methods for a rapid and cost-effective detection and assessment of related issues are urgently needed to ensure a harmonious and sustainable development of the Island. We herein investigate the urban growth and the landscape pattern change in relation to the Island’s expansion phenomenon and the associated complexity of land use/cover change. Our investigation is based on a time series of Landsat satellite images spanning the past 34 years. The methodological approach adopted in the present study combines vegetation indices, images textural features and social statistics data in an object-oriented classification framework. With Chongming Island expanding by an annual rate of 0.9% between 1979 and 2013, we found that the proportion of vegetation area to the total area decreased from 71 to 45%, whereas the proportion of built-up area to the total area increased from 5 to 19.9%. The urban area expanded about six times from 1979 to 2013, and during the same period, the Island’s population did not change significantly. The urban spatial expansion of Chongming Island caused distinct expansion intensity index for each intervals, and significant fragmentation and diversity in the landscape pattern between 1979 and 2013. It was also found that the rapid urbanization process took place at the expense of landscape pattern changes at any time within the study period. This is a strong indication that besides the natural geographic element, economic development and policy orientation were the dominant driving factors. If the current rate of urban expansion is to be maintained and the vegetation cover is to keep decreasing at an annual rate of 0.1% (period 1979–2013), their combined effects would profoundly alter the ecological environment in the long term. These findings provide a basic objective and scientific information for knowledgeable decision-making and policy formulation regarding regional planning and management to ensure harmonious transition of Chongming towards ecologically oriented development.