Journeys to the street: the complex migration geographies of Ugandan street children

Children have generally been afforded little attention in migration research or unsatisfactorily included within family migration. Although they are an important consideration in family decisions to move, children also engage in autonomous, independent migration. Further, researchers now argue for the need to situate migration within political, economic and social conditions to obtain a full understanding of why people migrate. Through the use of children-centred research methods, and in-depth interviews with key informants, this paper considers children's journeys to the street in Uganda. By integrating an analysis of Ugandan street children's spatial origins with the familial and societal contexts of their migration decisions, this research highlights the complexity of their migration. In addition, an exploration of the impact of changing social, spatial and temporal conditions on street children's movements illustrates that their journeys are far more than just single processes.     

Tidal Stress/Strain and the b-values of Acoustic Emissions at the Underground Research Laboratory, Canada

The correlation between the b-values of acoustic emissions (AEs) and the phase of the moon was investigated at the Underground Research Laboratory (URL) in Canada. The same data as those used in Iwata (2002) were examined, which showed that the occurrence of AEs is correlated with the phase of the moon. It was expected, therefore, that the b-value of the AEs would also be sensitive to tidal stress/strain fluctuations. We investigated the variation of the b-values as a function of the phase of the moon. Results show that b-values immediately following the times of full/new moon are higher than those at other times. Using AIC (Akaike Information Criterion) and random (Monte Carlo) simulations, it was confirmed that this feature is statistically significant. We also investigated whether or not there was a change in the b-values immediately before the times of full/new moon, but no statistically significant change was observed. The results suggest that the effect of stress/strain fluctuations on AE occurrences at the URL is asymmetric to the times of full/new moon.All authors are members of the Academic Robotics Group. In listing The Academic Robotics Group, the authors are endeavoring to place each of the participant institutions on an equal footing in terms of effort and authorship. M. A. Talamini is serving as presenter.     

Planetesimal sulfate and aqueous alteration in CM and CI carbonaceous chondrites

Water-soluble sulfate salts extracted from six CM chondrites have oxygen isotope compositions that are consistent with an extraterrestrial origin. The Δ¹⁷O of sulfate are correlated with previously reported whole rock δ¹⁸O and with an index of meteorite alteration, and may display a correlation with the date of the fall. The enrichments and depletions for Δ¹⁷O of water-soluble sulfate from the CM chondrites relative to the terrestrial mass dependent fractionation line are consistent with sulfate formation in a rock dominated asteroidal environment, and from aqueous fluids that had undergone relatively low amounts of oxygen isotope exchange and little reaction with anhydrous components of the meteorites. It is unresolved how the oxidation of sulfide to sulfate can be reconciled with the inferred low oxidation state during the extraterrestrial alteration process. Oxygen isotope data for two CI chondrites, Orgueil and Ivuna, as well as the ungrouped C2 chondrite Essebi are indistinguishable from sulfate of terrestrial origin and may be terrestrial weathering products, consistent with previous assertions. Our oxygen isotope data, however, can not rule out a preterrestrial origin either.     

Including spatial distribution in a data‐driven rainfall‐runoff model to improve reservoir inflow forecasting in Taiwan

Multi‐step ahead inflow forecasting has a critical role to play in reservoir operation and management in Taiwan during typhoons as statutory legislation requires a minimum of 3‐h warning to be issued before any reservoir releases are made. However, the complex spatial and temporal heterogeneity of typhoon rainfall, coupled with a remote and mountainous physiographic context, makes the development of real‐time rainfall‐runoff models that can accurately predict reservoir inflow several hours ahead of time challenging. Consequently, there is an urgent, operational requirement for models that can enhance reservoir inflow prediction at forecast horizons of more than 3 h. In this paper, we develop a novel semi‐distributed, data‐driven, rainfall‐runoff model for the Shihmen catchment, north Taiwan. A suite of Adaptive Network‐based Fuzzy Inference System solutions is created using various combinations of autoregressive, spatially lumped radar and point‐based rain gauge predictors. Different levels of spatially aggregated radar‐derived rainfall data are used to generate 4, 8 and 12 sub‐catchment input drivers. In general, the semi‐distributed radar rainfall models outperform their less complex counterparts in predictions of reservoir inflow at lead times greater than 3 h. Performance is found to be optimal when spatial aggregation is restricted to four sub‐catchments, with up to 30% improvements in the performance over lumped and point‐based models being evident at 5‐h lead times. The potential benefits of applying semi‐distributed, data‐driven models in reservoir inflow modelling specifically, and hydrological modelling more generally, are thus demonstrated. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Carbon and nitrogen dynamics of the intertidal seagrass, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Zostera japonica</Emphasis>, on the southern coast of the Korean peninsula

Seagrasses require a large amount of nutrient assimilation to support high levels of production, and thus nutrient limitation for growth often occurs in seagrass habitats. Seagrasses can take up nutrients from both the water column and sediments. However, since seagrasses inhabiting in the intertidal zones are exposed to the air during low tide, the intertidal species may exhibit significantly different carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) dynamics compared to the subtidal species. To examine C and N dynamics of the intertidal seagrass, Zostera japonica, C and N content and stable isotope ratios of above- and below-ground tissues were measured monthly at the three intertidal zones in Koje Bay on the southern coast of Korea. The C and N content and stable isotope (δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N) ratios of seagrass tissues exhibited significant seasonal variations. Both leaf and rhizome C content were not significantly correlated with productivity. Leaf δ¹³C values usually exhibited negative correlations with leaf productivity. These results of tissue C content and δ¹³C values suggest that photosynthesis of Z. japonica in the study site was not limited by inorganic C supply, and sufficient inorganic C was provided from the atmosphere. The tissue N content usually exhibited negative correlations with leaf productivity except at the upper intertidal zone, suggesting that Z. japonica growth was probably limited by N availability during high growing season. In the upper intertidal zone, no correlations between leaf productivity and tissue elemental content and stable isotope ratios were observed due to the severely suppressed growth caused by strong desiccation stress.