Evaluation of deep learning algorithms for national scale landslide susceptibility mapping of Iran

The identification of landslide-prone areas is an essential step in landslide hazard assessment and mitigation of landslide-related losses.In this study,we applied two novel deep learning algorithms,the recurrent neural network(RNN)and convolutional neural network(CNN),for national-scale landslide susceptibility mapping of Iran.We prepared a dataset comprising 4069 historical landslide locations and 11 conditioning factors(altitude,slope degree,profile curvature,distance to river,aspect,plan curvature,distance to road,distance to fault,rainfall,geology and land-sue)to construct a geospatial database and divided the data into the training and the testing dataset.We then developed RNN and CNN algorithms to generate landslide susceptibility maps of Iran using the training dataset.We calculated the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve and used the area under the curve(AUC)for the quantitative evaluation of the landslide susceptibility maps using the testing dataset.Better performance in both the training and testing phases was provided by the RNN algorithm(AUC=0.88)than by the CNN algorithm(AUC=0.85).Finally,we calculated areas of susceptibility for each province and found that 6%and 14%of the land area of Iran is very highly and highly susceptible to future landslide events,respectively,with the highest susceptibility in Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari Province(33.8%).About 31%of cities of Iran are located in areas with high and very high landslide susceptibility.The results of the present study will be useful for the development of landslide hazard mitigation strategies.     

伊朗锡斯坦地区沙漠灾害区划(英文)

Desertification process as a great problem affects most of the countries in the world.This process has a high rate in arid and semiarid areas.Today,human societies are encountering the desertification phenomenon as a serious problem which causes various irreparable damages to economic and social sectors.In order to assess desertification results in production of different regional models for their application in another region the indices should be re-investigated and adjusted to local conditions.Several models have been developed for desertification evaluation.The present study,attempts to assess quantitatively the desertification process has in an area located at Sistan plain of Iran(Niatak region as a case study) by using Modified MEDALUS method.The obtained results indicated that of the whole studied region(comprising 4819.6 acres),2651.56 acres(55%) are located in medium desertification intensity class,1269.48 acres(26.34%) are positioned in severe desertification intensity class,and 898.54 acres(18.64%) are placed in vary severe desertification intensity class.     

Lower bound limit loads of ship structure components using the mα-tangent method based on single linear elastic analysis

Limit loads for ship structure components are determined in this paper based on a single linear elastic finite element analysis by invoking the concept of kinematically active reference volume in conjunction with the m_α-tangent method. The method enables rapid determination of lower bound limit loads for ship structure components by taking their kinematically inactive volume into consideration. This method is applied to a number of ship structure components possessing different percentages of inactive volume. Results are compared with the corresponding inelastic finite element results, and available analytical solutions.     

Astrophysical naturally moderated classical positron beam interaction with nonlinear waves in nonextensive astrophysical plasmas

The positron acoustic shock and solitary wave are explored in nonextensive electron-positron-ion plasma. The plasma system under-consideration, consists of a classical positron beam, q distributed electrons and positively charged bulky ions constitute a neutralizing background. The nonlinear Korteweg-de Vries and Burger equations are derived by employing the standard reductive perturbation method. The positron acoustic wave in linear limit is also discussed for dissipative as well as nondissipative cases of nonextensive plasmas. The plasma parameters such as, the concentration of neutralizing ions background, beam velocity, temperature and q parameter of the nonextensive electrons are noticed to significantly affect the positron acoustic shock and solitary waves. Our findings may be helpful in the understanding of laboratory beam plasma interaction experiments as well as the astrophysical nonextensive plasmas interacting with positron beam.     

Detectability and reliability analysis of the local seismic network in Pakistan

The detectability and reliability analysis for the local seismic network is performed employing by Bungum and Husebye technique.The events were relocated using standard computer codes for hypocentral locations.The de-tectability levels are estimated from the twenty-five years of recorded data in terms of 50%,90%and 100% cumu-lative detectability threshokls,which were derived from frequency-magnitude distribution.From this analysis the 100%level of detectability of the network is ML=1.7 for events which occur within the network.The accuracy in hypocentral solutions of the network is investigated by considering the fixed real hypocenter within the network.The epicentral errors are found to be less than 4km then the events occur within the network.Finally.the prob-lems faced during continuous operation of the local network,which effects its detectability,are discussed.     

Fishery stock assessment of Kiddi shrimp (Parapenaeopsis stylifera) in the Northern Arabian Sea Coast of Pakistan by using surplus production models

Pakistani marine waters are under an open access regime.Due to poor management and policy implications,blind fishing is continued which may result in ecological as well as economic losses.Thus,it is of utmost importance to estimate fishery resources before harvesting.In this study,catch and effort data,1996-2009,of Kiddi shrimp Parapenaeopsis stylifera fishery from Pakistani marine waters was analyzed by using specialized fishery software in order to know fishery stock status of this commercially important shrimp.Maximum,minimum and average capture production of P.stylifera was observed as 15 912 metric tons(mt)(1997),9 438 mt(2009) and 11 667 mt/a.Two stock assessment tools viz.CEDA(catch and effort data analysis) and ASPIC(a stock production model incorporating covariates) were used to compute MSY(maximum sustainable yield) of this organism.In CEDA,three surplus production models,Fox,Schaefer and Pella-Tomlinson,along with three error assumptions,log,log normal and gamma,were used.For initial proportion(IP) 0.8,the Fox model computed MSY as 6 858 mt(CV=0.204,R~2=0.709) and 7 384 mt(CV=0.149,R~2=0.72) for log and log normal error assumption respectively.Here,gamma error produced minimization failure.Estimated MSY by using Schaefer and Pella-Tomlinson models remained the same for log,log normal and gamma error assumptions i.e.7 083 mt,8 209 mt and 7 242 mt correspondingly.The Schafer results showed highest goodness of fit R~2(0.712) values.ASPIC computed MSY,CV,R~2,F_(MSY)and B_(MSY) parameters for the Fox model as 7 219 mt,0.142,0.872,0.111 and 65 280,while for the Logistic model the computed values remained 7 720 mt,0.148,0.868,0.107 and 72 110 correspondingly.Results obtained have shown that P.stylifera has been overexploited.Immediate steps are needed to conserve this fishery resource for the future and research on other species of commercial importance is urgently needed.     

Transmission of light by slit designed for astronomical spectrograph

The paper discusses an investigation of linear polarization produced by the transmission of light through an astronomical spectrograph slit. An experimental apparatus was designed and set up to carry out this work. The parallel beam of plane polarized light was rotated in the measuring system, by optically active of half-wave plate. The intensity of normally incident of polarized light of wavelength 0.436 μm transmitted by various slit was measured as a function of slit width. The results indicate:

1. That the degree of polarization increased as thedepth of the narrow slit was increased.
2. That the degree of polarization increased as thewidth of the narrow slit was decreased.
3. That when the width of slit was widened the degree of polarization tended to approach a constant value asymptotically.
4. That the theoretical calculation of Slater (1942) predicts the measured experimental values more accurately than Thiessen (1947) and Jones and Richards (1954).

It is shown that the existence and order of magnitude of all these effects may be predicted from the propagation losses of the electromagnetic theory of light in metallic wave guide. The paper brings out the salient points related to the degree of polarization of light by a dielectric slit of finite depth. The polarization effects from one such slit have been investigated and the results were compared with those for metallic slits.     

巴基斯坦地方地震台网的检测能力和可靠性分析

利用Bungum和Husebye的方法，分析了地方地震台网的检测能力和可靠性．用标准的计算机定位程序重新测定了地震位置．根据25年的地震记录，分别由震级-频度关系导出的50%、90%和100%的累积检测率估计了检测水平．对台网内地震，相应于100%检测率的震级下限为ＭＬ＝1.7．用台网内固定的实际震源，研究了台网对震源位置的测定精度．对网内地震，震中测定误差小于4 km．最后讨论了台网连续工作时可能会遇到的影响检测能力的一些问题．      

Germination and seedling growth of corn (Zea mays l.) under varying levels of copper and zinc

The heavy metal tolerance in corn (Zea mays L.) var. ‘Neelum’ was assessed at germination and seedling growth after having subjected it to different concentrations of CuSO₄ and ZnSO₄. Germination was not affected by any of the metal tested, whereas initial growth was strongly inhibited by increasing concentrations of ZnSO₄. Seedlings developed toxicity symptoms in the presence of both metals but more chlorotic and necrotic regions were observed at varying levels of ZnSO₄ than CuSO₄. The metal accumulation was concentration dependent. Z. mays seedlings accumulated more copper in roots but greater contents of zinc in their shoots. On the basis of results presented here, it can be concluded that the cultivar of the species tested has shown a marked sensitivity to the presence of small amounts of metals present in the growth medium. The data support the assumption that metal sensitivity is probably due to strong tendency of the species to accumulate them. This justifies that the corn variety ‘Neelum’ is not suitable for the cultivation under situations where water and soil suffer from occasional and/ or transitory metal pollution.