bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Spatiotemporal Variation of Land Surface Temperature and Vegetation in Response to Climate Change Based on NOAA-AVHRR Data over China
Authors: Wang Zhaoqi , Lu Zhiyuan , Cui Guolong
Published: April 2020

The dynamics of land surface temperature (LST) and its correlation with vegetation are crucial to understanding the effects of global climate change. This study intended to retrieve the LST of China, based on the NOAA-AVHRR images, by using a split-window algorithm. The spatiotemporal variation of LST, Normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), and the correlation between the two was investigated in China from 1982–2016. Moreover, eight scenarios were established to explore the driving forces in vegetation variation. Results indicated that the LST increased by 0.06 °C/year in nearly 81.1% of the study areas. The NDVI with an increasing rate of 0.1%/year and occupied 58.6% of the study areas. By contrast, 41.4% of the study areas with a decreasing rate of 0.7 × 10−3/year, was mainly observed in northern China. The correlation coefficients between NDVI and LST were higher than that between NDVI and precipitation, and the increase in LST could stimulate vegetation growth. Most regions of China have experienced significant warming over the past decades, specifically, desertification happens in northern China, because it is getting drier. The synergy of LST and precipitation is the primary cause of vegetation dynamics. Therefore, long-term monitoring of LST and NDVI is necessary to better understand the adaptation of the terrestrial ecosystem to global climate change.
COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevention and Protection Measures to Be Adopted at the Workplace
Authors: Cirrincione Luigi , Plescia Fulvio , Ledda Caterina , Rapisarda Venerando , Martorana Daniela , Moldovan Raluca Emilia , Theodoridou Kelly , Cannizzaro Emanuele
Published: April 2020

SARS-CoV-2, identified in Wuhan, China, for the first time in December 2019, is a new viral strain, which has not been previously identified in humans; it can be transmitted both by air and via direct and indirect contact; however, the most frequent way it spreads is via droplets. Like the other viruses belonging to the same family of coronaviruses, it can cause from mild flu-like symptoms, such as cold, sore throat, cough and fever, to more severe ones such as pneumonia and breathing difficulties, and it can even lead to death. Since no effective specific drug therapy has been found yet, nor any vaccine capable of limiting the spread of this pathogen, it is important for ways of preventing the spread of this infection to be established. The purpose of our research was to provide a protocol to prevent the spread of SARS-CoV-2 infection in light of the limited information related to this coronavirus. In detail, we analysed and searched targeted evidence-based guidelines issued in the various countries affected by this epidemic up till now. In addition, we analyzed the recommendations for the prevention and control of other epidemics caused by other pathogens belonging to the same family of coronaviruses or others that present the same mechanisms of transmission. General organizational measures regarding the containment and management of the epidemiological emergency of COVID-19 have been imposed by the competent authorities for an adequate and proportionate management of the evolution of the epidemiological situation. The prevention and protection organizational measures therefore aim to minimize the probability of being exposed to SARS-CoV-2. For this purpose, measures must also be taken at work to avoid new infections or even the spread of the virus where it has already been present. Furthermore, environmental measures are aimed at reducing the risk of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to individuals through contact with infected subjects, objects, equipment, or contaminated environmental surfaces. Protective devices must be used whenever there is potentially close contact with a suspect case, especially when the potentially infected person does not wear a surgical mask that could reduce the spread of viruses in the environment. By adopting this specific prevention and protection measures recommended in the workplace, it will be possible to help overcome this COVID-19 pandemic.
Economic, Environmental and Social Gains of the Implementation of Artificial Intelligence at Dam Operations toward Industry 4.0 Principles
Authors: Gomes Marcos Geraldo , da Silva Victor Hugo Carlquist , Pinto Luiz Fernando Rodrigues , Centoamore Plinio , Digiesi Salvatore , Facchini Francesco , Neto Geraldo Cardoso de Oliveira
Published: April 2020

Due to the increasing demand for water supply of urban areas, treatment and supply plants are becoming important to ensure availability and quality of this essential resource for human health. Enabling technologies of Industry 4.0 have the potential to improve performances of treatment plants. In this paper, after reviewing contributions in scientific literature on I4.0 technologies in dam operations, a study carried out on a Brazilian dam is presented and discussed. The main purpose of the study is to evaluate the economic, environmental, and social advantages achieved through the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in dam operations. Unlike automation that just respond to commands, AI uses a large amount of data training to make computers able to take the best decision. The current study involved a company that managed six reservoirs for treatment systems supplying water to almost ten million people at the metropolitan area of São Paulo City. Results of the study show that AI adoption could lead to economic gain in figures around US$ 51,000.00 per year, as well as less trips between sites and less overtime extra costs on the main operations. Increasing gates maneuvers agility result in significant environmental gains with savings of about 4.32 billion L of water per year, enough to supply 73,000 people. Also, decreasing operational vehicle utilization results in less emissions. Finally, the AI implementation improved the safety of dam operations, resulting in social benefits such as the flood risk mitigation in cities and the health and safety of operators.
(Un)Sustainable Creativity? Different Manager-Employee Perspectives in the Finnish Technology Sector
Authors: Lemmetty Soila , Glăveanu Vlad Petre , Collin Kaija , Forsman Panu
Published: April 2020

The importance of creativity for working life and in organizations has increased in recent years. At the same time, the theme of sustainability has been intensely debated in research, society, and organizations. Together, creativity and sustainability have sometimes been described as a contradictory phenomenon: they are described in ways that place them in opposition to each other. To better understand creativity and sustainability and their differences from the perspective of people in different positions, we take advantage of a sociocultural approach in which we do not focus only on creative individuals but also on the impact of creativity on both organizational stakeholders and society at large. We aim to explore manager and employee descriptions of creativity and its relationship with sustainability at work in the Finnish technology sector, with a particular focus on how they relate to the sustainability of the creative processes and to workplace activities more generally. Based on a thematic analysis of 56 interviews, we found that the managers and employees in Finnish technology organizations described creativity in different ways, looking at the phenomenon from the viewpoints of clients, businesses, society, or colleagues, and had different perspectives on what it means to create, with the former treating creativity as huge innovations and the latter as daily problem-solving. We also found that sustainability in relation to creativity appears either as applying old solutions and thus recycling previous ideas or outcomes or as destroying old products and replacing them with the new (creative destruction). We discuss these partly conflicting discourses at the end of the article and present suggestions for future research.
Treatment of Wastewater Containing Runway De-Icing Agents in Biofilters as a Part of Airport Environment Management System
Authors: Rodziewicz Joanna , Mielcarek Artur , Janczukowicz Wojciech , Bryszewski Kamil , Ostrowska Kamila
Published: April 2020

Large volumes of pavement de-icing and anti-icing fluids, collectively termed de-icing agents, are used at airports to facilitate wintertime safe air travel. After use, most of the them get typically mixed with storm water runoff and may enter soil and waters near the airports. Wastewater resulting from airports’ winter operations is contaminated mainly with nitrogen and carbon compounds. Previous research results have shown that the use of biofilters filled with lightweight aggregates prepared from fly ash from sewage sludge thermal treatment (FASST LWA) could be an effective method for removing nitrogen and organic compounds at low temperatures, i.e., 0–8 °C. For this to be possible, it is necessary to maintain a proper ratio between the amounts of carbon and nitrogen in the treated wastewater, through the simultaneous application of de-icing agents containing urea and carbon compounds. Biofilter technology is part of the concept of sustainable development. Their filling is made of waste materials and one of the pollutants (organic compounds) present in the wastewater is used to remove other pollutants (nitrogen compounds). In this study, technological systems for the treatment of wastewater containing airport runway de-icing agents with biofilters were proposed, which allow for the treated wastewater to be discharged into natural waters, soil, and sewerage network.
Management of Product Configuration Conflicts to Increase the Sustainability of Mass Customization
Authors: Modrak Vladimir , Soltysova Zuzana
Published: April 2020

An important role in product variety management is finding an accurate variety extent to which the product matches the consumer’s expectations. In principle, customers prefer to have more rather than less versions of a product from which to choose. This motivates producers to offer a richer variety of goods. As a consequence, it brings a large amount of manufacturing complexity, and configuration conflicts may frequently occur. In order to avoid a situation in which a customer will select mutually incompatible components, product configurators usually recommend corrective actions for generating valid configurations. Nevertheless, the presence of infeasible configurations in customer options are negatively perceived by customers, and therefore it has an unfavorable impact on the sustainability of mass customization. One way to solve this problem is to eliminate, or at least reduce, mutually incompatible components. When considering the fact that eliminating all incompatible components may cause a rapid decrease in product variety, then the reduction of incompatible components can help to solve the product configuration problem. The proposed method aims to find a trade-off solution between minimizing configuration conflicts and maintaining a sufficient level of mass customization. Moreover, two supplementary methods for the determination of infeasible product configurations are proposed in this paper. The applicability and effectiveness of the proposed methods are demonstrated by two practical examples.
Intelligent Clustering and Dynamic Incremental Learning to Generate Multi-Codebook Fuzzy Neural Network for Multi-Modal Data Classification
Authors: Ma’sum Muhammad Anwar
Published: April 2020

Classification in multi-modal data is one of the challenges in the machine learning field. The multi-modal data need special treatment as its features are distributed in several areas. This study proposes multi-codebook fuzzy neural networks by using intelligent clustering and dynamic incremental learning for multi-modal data classification. In this study, we utilized intelligent K-means clustering based on anomalous patterns and intelligent K-means clustering based on histogram information. In this study, clustering is used to generate codebook candidates before the training process, while incremental learning is utilized when the condition to generate a new codebook is sufficient. The condition to generate a new codebook in incremental learning is based on the similarity of the winner class and other classes. The proposed method was evaluated in synthetic and benchmark datasets. The experiment results showed that the proposed multi-codebook fuzzy neural networks that use dynamic incremental learning have significant improvements compared to the original fuzzy neural networks. The improvements were 15.65%, 5.31% and 11.42% on the synthetic dataset, the benchmark dataset, and the average of all datasets, respectively, for incremental version 1. The incremental learning version 2 improved by 21.08% 4.63%, and 14.35% on the synthetic dataset, the benchmark dataset, and the average of all datasets, respectively. The multi-codebook fuzzy neural networks that use intelligent clustering also had significant improvements compared to the original fuzzy neural networks, achieving 23.90%, 2.10%, and 15.02% improvements on the synthetic dataset, the benchmark dataset, and the average of all datasets, respectively.
Multi-Column Atrous Convolutional Neural Network for Counting Metro Passengers
Authors: Zhang Jun , Zhu Gaoyi , Wang Zhizhong
Published: April 2020

We propose a symmetric method of accurately estimating the number of metro passengers from an individual image. To this end, we developed a network for metro-passenger counting called MPCNet, which provides a data-driven and deep learning method of understanding highly congested scenes and accurately estimating crowds, as well as presenting high-quality density maps. The proposed MPCNet is composed of two major components: A deep convolutional neural network (CNN) as the front end, for deep feature extraction; and a multi-column atrous CNN as the back-end, with atrous spatial pyramid pooling (ASPP) to deliver multi-scale reception fields. Existing crowd-counting datasets do not adequately cover all the challenging situations considered in our work. Therefore, we collected specific subway passenger video to compile and label a large new dataset that includes 346 images with 3475 annotated heads. We conducted extensive experiments with this and other datasets to verify the effectiveness of the proposed model. Our results demonstrate the excellent performance of the proposed MPCNet.
Wannier States of FCC Symmetry Qualifying Paramagnetic NiO to Be a Mott Insulator
Authors: Krüger Ekkehard
Published: April 2020

This letter extends my recent paper on antiferromagnetic NiO [Structural Distortion Stabilizing the Antiferromagnetic and Insulating Ground State of NiO, Symmetry 2020, 12(1), 56] by including also the paramagnetic phase of this compound. I report evidence that paramagnetic NiO possesses a narrow, roughly half-filled energy band that produces a nonadiabatic atomic-like motion providing the basis for a Mott insulator in the paramagnetic phase. While the atomic-like motion operating in the antiferromagnetic phase is adapted to the symmetry of the antiferromagnetic state, in the paramagnetic phase, the related localized states are represented by optimally localized Wannier functions possessing the full fcc symmetry of paramagnetic NiO. The nonadiabatic Wannier states are twofold degenerate, have d-like symmetry, and are situated at the Ni atoms.
A New Strategy for One-Example Person re-ID: Exploit the Unlabeled Data Gradually Base on Style-Transferred Images
Authors: Li Qiang , Gao Ling
Published: April 2020

As a research field of symmetry journals, computer vision has received more and more attention. Person re-identification (re-ID) has become a research hotspot in computer vision. We focus on one-example person re-ID, where each person only has one labeled image in the dataset, and other images are unlabeled. There are two main challenges of the task, the insufficient labeled data, and the lack of labeled images cross-cameras. In dealing with the above issue, we propose a new one-example labeling scheme, which generates style-transferred images by CycleGAN (Cycle Generative Adversarial Networks) to ensure that for each person, there is one labeled image under each camera style. Then a self-learning framework is adopted, which iteratively train a CNN (Convolutional Neural Networks) model with labeled images and labeled style-transferred images, and mine the reliable images to assign a pseudo label. The experimental results prove that by integrating the camera style transferred images, we effectively expand the dataset, and the problem of low recognition rate caused by the lack of labeled pedestrian pictures across cameras is effectively solved. Notably, the rank-1 accuracy of our method outperforms the state-of-the-art method by 8.7 points on the Market-1501 dataset, and 6.3 points on the DukeMTMC-ReID dataset.
Asymmetry of Motor Behavior and Sensory Perception: Which Comes First?
Authors: Rogers Lesley J.
Published: April 2020

By examining the development of lateralization in the sensory and motor systems of the human fetus and chick embryo, this paper debates which lateralized functions develop first and what interactions may occur between the different sensory and motor systems during development. It also discusses some known influences of inputs from the environment on the development of lateralization, particularly the effects of light exposure on the development of visual and motor lateralization in chicks. The effects of light on the human fetus are related in this context. Using the chick embryo as a model to elucidate the genetic and environmental factors involved in development of lateralization, some understanding has been gained about how these lateralized functions emerge. At the same time, the value of carrying out much more research on the development of the various types of lateralization has become apparent.
Revisiting the Neuroblastoma Cell-Based Assay (CBA-N2a) for the Improved Detection of Marine Toxins Active on Voltage Gated Sodium Channels (VGSCs)
Authors: Viallon Jérôme , Chinain Mireille , Darius Hélène Taiana
Published: April 2020

The neuroblastoma cell-based assay (CBA-N2a) is widely used for the detection of marine biotoxins in seafood products, yet a consensus protocol is still lacking. In this study, six key parameters of CBA-N2a were revisited: cell seeding densities, cell layer viability after 26 h growth, MTT incubation time, Ouabain and Veratridine treatment and solvent and matrix effects. A step-by-step protocol was defined identifying five viability controls for the validation of CBA-N2a results. Specific detection of two voltage gated sodium channel activators, pacific ciguatoxin (P-CTX3C) and brevetoxin (PbTx3) and two inhibitors, saxitoxin (STX) and decarbamoylsaxitoxin (dc-STX) was achieved, with EC50 values of 1.7 ± 0.35 pg/mL, 5.8 ± 0.9 ng/mL, 3 ± 0.5 ng/mL and 15.8 ± 3 ng/mL, respectively. When applied to the detection of ciguatoxin (CTX)-like toxicity in fish samples, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) values were 0.031 ± 0.008 and 0.064 ± 0.016 ng P-CTX3C eq/g of flesh, respectively. Intra and inter-assays comparisons of viability controls, LOD, LOQ and toxicity in fish samples gave coefficients of variation (CVs) ranging from 3% to 29%. This improved test adaptable to either high throughput screening or composite toxicity estimation is a useful starting point for a standardization of the CBA-N2a in the field of marine toxin detection.
The Occurrence of Potential Harmful Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins in the Obrzyca River (Poland), a Source of Drinking Water
Authors: Czyżewska Wanda , Piontek Marlena , Łuszczyńska Katarzyna
Published: April 2020

Harmful cyanobacteria and their cyanotoxins may contaminate drinking water resources and their effective control remains challenging. The present study reports on cyanobacterial blooms and associated cyanotoxins in the Obrzyca River, a source of drinking water in Poland. The river was examined from July to October 2019 and concentrations of microcystins, anatoxin-a, and cylindrospermopsin were monitored. The toxicity of water samples was also tested using an ecotoxicological assay. All studied cyanotoxins were detected with microcystins revealing the highest levels. Maximal microcystin concentrations (3.97 μg/L) were determined in September at Uście point, exceeding the provisional guideline. Extracts from Uście point, where the dominant species were Dolichospermum flos-aquae (August), Microcystis aeruginosa (September), and Planktothrix agardhii (October), were toxic for Dugesia tigrina Girard. Microcystin concentrations (MC-LR and MC-RR) were positively correlated with cyanobacteria biovolume. Analysis of the chemical indicators of water quality has shown relationships between them and microcystins as well as cyanobacteria abundance.
The Role of Gut Dysbiosis in the Bone–Vascular Axis in Chronic Kidney Disease
Authors: Evenepoel Pieter , Dejongh Sander , Verbeke Kristin , Meijers Bjorn
Published: April 2020

Patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) are at increased risk of bone mineral density loss and vascular calcification. Bone demineralization and vascular mineralization often concur in CKD, similar to what observed in the general population. This contradictory association is commonly referred to as the ‘calcification paradox’ or the bone–vascular axis. Mounting evidence indicates that CKD-associated gut dysbiosis may be involved in the pathogenesis of the bone–vascular axis. A disrupted intestinal barrier function, a metabolic shift from a predominant saccharolytic to a proteolytic fermentation pattern, and a decreased generation of vitamin K may, alone or in concert, drive a vascular and skeletal pathobiology in CKD patients. A better understanding of the role of gut dysbiosis in the bone–vascular axis may open avenues for novel therapeutics, including nutriceuticals.
Cellular Factors Targeting HIV-1 Transcription and Viral RNA Transcripts
Authors: Nchioua Rayhane , Bosso Matteo , Kmiec Dorota , Kirchhoff Frank
Published: April 2020

Restriction factors are structurally and functionally diverse cellular proteins that constitute a first line of defense against viral pathogens. Exceptions exist, but typically these proteins are upregulated by interferons (IFNs), target viral components, and are rapidly evolving due to the continuous virus–host arms race. Restriction factors may target HIV replication at essentially each step of the retroviral replication cycle, and the suppression of viral transcription and the degradation of viral RNA transcripts are emerging as major innate immune defense mechanisms. Recent data show that some antiviral factors, such as the tripartite motif-containing protein 22 (TRIM22) and the γ-IFN-inducible protein 16 (IFI16), do not target HIV-1 itself but limit the availability of the cellular transcription factor specificity protein 1 (Sp1), which is critical for effective viral gene expression. In addition, several RNA-interacting cellular factors including RNAse L, the NEDD4-binding protein 1 (N4BP1), and the zinc finger antiviral protein (ZAP) have been identified as important immune effectors against HIV-1 that may be involved in the maintenance of the latent viral reservoirs, representing the major obstacle against viral elimination and cure. Here, we review recent findings on specific cellular antiviral factors targeting HIV-1 transcription or viral RNA transcripts and discuss their potential role in viral latency.
Systems Approach to Management of Water Resources—Toward Performance Based Water Resources Engineering
Authors: Simonovic Slobodan
Published: April 2020

Global change, that results from population growth, global warming and land use change (especially rapid urbanization), is directly affecting the complexity of water resources management problems and the uncertainty to which they are exposed. Both, the complexity and the uncertainty, are the result of dynamic interactions between multiple system elements within three major systems: (i) the physical environment; (ii) the social environment; and (iii) the constructed infrastructure environment including pipes, roads, bridges, buildings, and other components. Recent trends in dealing with complex water resources systems include consideration of the whole region being affected, explicit incorporation of all costs and benefits, development of a large number of alternative solutions, and the active (early) involvement of all stakeholders in the decision-making. Systems approaches based on simulation, optimization, and multi-objective analyses, in deterministic, stochastic and fuzzy forms, have demonstrated in the last half of last century, a great success in supporting effective water resources management. This paper explores the future opportunities that will utilize advancements in systems theory that might transform management of water resources on a broader scale. The paper presents performance-based water resources engineering as a methodological framework to extend the role of the systems approach in improved sustainable water resources management under changing conditions (with special consideration given to rapid climate destabilization). An illustrative example of a water supply network management under changing conditions is used to convey the basic principles of performance-based water resources engineering methodology.
Impact of Microplastic Fibers from the Degradation of Nonwoven Synthetic Textiles to the Magdalena River Water Column and River Sediments by the City of Neiva, Huila (Colombia)
Authors: Martínez Silva Paula , Nanny Mark A.
Published: April 2020

Magdalena River surface water and shoreline sediments were sampled for microplastic particles at three locations in the city of Neiva, Colombia: upstream, city center, and downstream of the raw wastewater outflow. The absence of an industrial and manufacturing sector in Neiva provided an opportunity to assess the impact of upstream agricultural practices, as well as municipal activities such as wastewater outflow and laundry washing, on the quantity, polymer composition, and morphology of microplastic particles produced per capita and entering a river system. Microplastic particle concentrations increased with downstream distance, with microfiber concentrations ranging from 0.097 to 0.135 fibers/L in the river water and 25.5 to 102.4 fibers/kg in shoreline sediment. Microplastic fragment concentrations were 0.013–0.028 fragments/L in surface water and 10.4–12.7 fragments/kg of sediment. Raman microscope and scanning electron microscopy identified the relative composition of the polymers comprising the microplastic particles was similar regardless of sampling site or whether the sample was collected from the surface water or shoreline sediments, with polypropylene and polyethylene comprising at least 75% of the total polymers in all samples. Average fiber widths of < 20 µm in all but one sample, along with the lack of acrylic and polyester fibers used predominantly in woven synthetic textiles, indicated that the degradation of nonwoven synthetic textiles is the predominant origin of these microplastic fibers in the Magdalena River.
Probability Distribution and Characterization of Daily Precipitation Related to Tropical Cyclones over the Korean Peninsula
Authors: Alcantara Angelika L. , Ahn Kuk-Hyun
Published: April 2020

Rainfall events are known to be driven by various synoptic disturbances or dominant processes in the atmosphere. In spite of the diverse atmospheric contributions, the assumption of homogeneity is commonly adopted when a hydrological frequency analysis is conducted. This study examines how the dominant processes, particularly the landfalling tropical cyclones (TCs) and non-TC events, have various effects to the characteristics of rainfall in South Korea. With rainfall data from the fifty-nine weather stations spread across the country, the multiple contributions of the TC and non-TC rainfall to the relative amount of rainfall, duration, intensity and maximum rainfall, on a seasonal and monthly scale, are first explored in this study. For the second objective, suitable probability distributions for the TC and non-TC time series are identified potentially for a synthetic analysis. Our results indicate that TCs cause a heterogeneous spatial distribution in the rainfall characteristics over the gauge networks particularly in the southern and eastern coastal areas. Some gauges in these areas attribute a significant portion of their amount and annual maximum rainfall to landfalling TCs. The results also show that the Pearson Type III distribution best represents the non-TC wet-day series, while the TC wet-day series can be represented by various distributions including the Weibull and Gamma distributions. From the analysis, we present how the characteristics of TCs differ from non-TCs with the emphasis on the need to consider their individual effects when conducting synthetic analyses.
A Review on Hydrodynamics of Free Surface Flows in Emergent Vegetated Channels
Authors: Maji Soumen , Hanmaiahgari Prashanth , Balachandar Ram , Pu Jaan , Ricardo Ana , Ferreira Rui
Published: April 2020

This review paper addresses the structure of the mean flow and key turbulence quantities in free-surface flows with emergent vegetation. Emergent vegetation in open channel flow affects turbulence, flow patterns, flow resistance, sediment transport, and morphological changes. The last 15 years have witnessed significant advances in field, laboratory, and numerical investigations of turbulent flows within reaches of different types of emergent vegetation, such as rigid stems, flexible stems, with foliage or without foliage, and combinations of these. The influence of stem diameter, volume fraction, frontal area of stems, staggered and non-staggered arrangements of stems, and arrangement of stems in patches on mean flow and turbulence has been quantified in different research contexts using different instrumentation and numerical strategies. In this paper, a summary of key findings on emergent vegetation flows is offered, with particular emphasis on: (1) vertical structure of flow field, (2) velocity distribution, 2nd order moments, and distribution of turbulent kinetic energy (TKE) in horizontal plane, (3) horizontal structures which includes wake and shear flows and, (4) drag effect of emergent vegetation on the flow. It can be concluded that the drag coefficient of an emergent vegetation patch is proportional to the solid volume fraction and average drag of an individual vegetation stem is a linear function of the stem Reynolds number. The distribution of TKE in a horizontal plane demonstrates that the production of TKE is mostly associated with vortex shedding from individual stems. Production and dissipation of TKE are not in equilibrium, resulting in strong fluxes of TKE directed outward the near wake of each stem. In addition to Kelvin–Helmholtz and von Kármán vortices, the ejections and sweeps have profound influence on sediment dynamics in the emergent vegetated flows.
The Costs of Sea-Level Rise: Coastal Adaptation Investments vs. Inaction in Iberian Coastal Cities
Authors: Abadie Luis Maria , Sainz de Murieta Elisa , Galarraga Ibon
Published: April 2020

Iberian coastal cities are subject to significant risks in the next decades due to climate change-induced sea-level rise. These risks are quite uncertain depending on several factors. In this article, we estimate potential economic damage in 62 Iberian coastal cities from 2020 to 2100 using regional relative sea-level rise data under three representative concentration pathways (RCP 8.5, RCP 4.5 and RCP 2.6). We analyze the expected accumulated damage costs if no adaptation actions take place and compare this scenario to the investment cost of some adaptation strategies being implemented. The results show that some adaptation strategies are less costly than the potential damage under inaction. In other words, it is economically rational to invest in adaptation even in a context of high uncertainty. These calculations are very relevant to inform climate change adaptation decisions and to better manage the risk posed by sea-level rise. Moreover, our findings show the importance of a good understanding of the shape of the sea-level rise and damage cost distributions to calculate the expected damage. We show that using the 50th percentile for these calculations is not adequate as it leads to a serious underestimation of expected damage and coastal risk.
Environmental Land Use Conflicts in a Macroscale River Basin: A Preliminary Study Based on the Ruggedness Number
Authors: Guidolini Janaína , Ometto Jean , Arcoverde Gustavo , Giarolla Angélica
Published: April 2020

Inadequate land use planning is one of the main driving forces leading to the occurrence of erosion and environmental degradation. The negative impacts of poor planning influence soil physical quality and fertility, agricultural productivity, water quality and availability, biodiversity and other ecosystem services. In some areas, actual land use is not consistent with potential use. When this occurs, the area is termed as being in environmental land use conflict. Many studies have demonstrated the efficiency of the ruggedness number (RN) method for determining land use potential in watersheds. The RN method is simple and can be carried out using geographic information systems (GIS). However, the absence of potential land use or agricultural land suitability assessments is recurrent in territorial management plans or integrated water resources plans (IWRP), especially for macroscale river basins. Therefore, the aim of this preliminary study is to identify possible environmental land use conflicts at the Rio Grande Basin (BHRG), Brazil, using the Ruggedness Number. The results indicate high agricultural use potential and the predominance of appropriate or acceptable soil use at the BHRG. However, class 1, 2 and 3 environmental conflicts were identified in some Rio Grande sub-basins, suggesting greater environmental degradation risks. The findings clearly indicate that more exhaustive studies on environmental quality (soil capability, water, biodiversity) are required at the BHRG, especially in environmental land use conflict areas. We emphasize that this is an important preliminary study which may be carried out in any other macroscale hydrographic basin.
Studying the Wake of an Island in a Macro-Tidal Estuary
Authors: Guo Bin , Ahmadian Reza , Evans Paul , Falconer Roger A.
Published: April 2020

Tidal flow can generate unsteady wakes, large eddies, and recirculation zones in the lee or around complex natural and artificial obstructions, such as islands, headlands, or harbours. It is essential to understand the flow patterns around such structures given the potential impacts they can have on sedimentation, the marine environment, ecology, and anthropogenic activities. In this paper, the wake around an island in a macro-tidal environment has been studied using a widely used hydro-environmental model, Telemac-2D. Current data collected using moored acoustic Doppler current profilers (ADCPs) were used to validate and refine the Telemac-2D model. Four different turbulence models and several different solver options for the k- ε model were tested in this study to assess which representation could best replicate the hydrodynamics. The classic k- ε model with the solver of conjugate residual was the most suitable method to simulate the wake in the lee of the island. The model results showed good correlation with measured data. The island wake parameter used to predict the wake behaviour and its predictions matched the model results for different tidal conditions, suggesting that the island wake parameter could be used to predict the wake behind obstacles in macro-tidal environments. The model predictions showed the development of a wake is similar between ebb and flood tides in the neap tide while showing more difference in spring tide. With the increase of velocity in the neap tide, two side-by-side vortices will appear and then changing to stable Karman Vortex Street. During the ebb phase of spring tide, the wake will develop from a stable vortex to an unstable Karman Vortex Street, while the wake remained stable with two vortices during an flood tide.
Wetting Body Characteristics and Infiltration Model of Film Hole Irrigation
Authors: Jie Fei-long , Fei Liang-jun , Zhong Yun , Liu Li-hua , Kang Shou-xuan
Published: April 2020

Film hole irrigation is a relatively low cost and high efficiency irrigation method, which can significantly improve the efficiency of agricultural water use. In order to establish the quantitative model of film hole irrigation between cumulative infiltration and the wetting body and the irrigation volume model of crops, the infiltration process and wetting body characteristics of four different soils (Xi’an silt loam, silt, silt loam and loam) were studied in laboratory experiments and numerical HYDRUS simulation experiments. The relationship between cumulative infiltration and wetting body radius was established using a mathematical method, and a crop irrigation volume model was proposed based on the root distribution and the required water content of different crops. The experimental results showed that the shape of the wetting body of film hole irrigation is approximately half of the rotating ellipsoid, and the curve shape of the wetting front can be expressed using an elliptic equation. From the center of the film hole to the surface of the wetting front, the soil water content of the wetting body gradually decreases, and the change rate of water content gradually increases, reaching its maximum value near the wetting front. Furthermore, the distribution of water content in the wetting body can be accurately expressed using an elliptic curve equation. The cumulative infiltration of film hole irrigation is proportional to the third power of the equivalent radius of the wetting body, and the equivalent radius is equal to the geometric mean of the horizontal and vertical migration distances of the wetting front. In addition, based on the distribution of crop roots and the demand of crop roots on soil water content, the irrigation model of crops was established. This study provides a theoretical basis for the calculation of the irrigation volume for film hole irrigation under the condition of experiment, and has a guiding significance for the field experiment and application of film hole irrigation in different crops in future.
Spatial and Temporal Characterization of Escherichia coli, Suspended Particulate Matter and Land Use Practice Relationships in a Mixed-Land Use Contemporary Watershed
Authors: Petersen Fritz , Hubbart Jason A.
Published: April 2020

Understanding land use practice induced increases in Escherichia (E.) coli and suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations is necessary to improve water quality. Weekly stream water samples were collected from 22 stream gauging sites with varying land use practices in a representative contemporary mixed-land use watershed of the eastern USA. Over the period of one annual year, Escherichia (E.) coli colony forming units (CFU per 100 mL) were compared to suspended particulate matter (SPM) concentrations (mg/L) and land use practices. Agricultural land use sub-catchments comprised elevated E. coli concentrations (avg. 560 CFU per 100 mL) compared to proximate mixed development (avg. 330 CFU per 100 mL) and forested (avg. 206 CFU per 100 mL) sub-catchments. Additionally, agricultural land use showed statistically significant relationships (p < 0.01) between annual E. coli and SPM concentration data. Quarterly PCA biplots displayed temporal variability in land use impacts on E. coli and SPM concentrations, with agricultural land use being closely correlated with both pollutants during Quarters 2 and 3 but not Quarters 1 and 4. The data collected during this investigation advance the understanding of land use impacts on fecal contamination in receiving waters, thereby informing land use managers on the best management practices to reduce exposure risks.
Framework, Procedure, and Tools for Comprehensive Evaluation of Sustainable Stormwater Management: A Review
Authors: Wu Tiange , Song Haihong , Wang Jianbin , Friedler Eran
Published: April 2020

To better evaluate and enhance the performance and benefit of sustainable stormwater management (SSWM) in developing countries, this study proposes a comprehensive evaluation framework based on thorough literature review. This framework re-classifies evaluation goals and indicators into four aspects—stormwater system, integrated management, social engagement, and urban development. The purpose of this review is to provide a guideline for decision makers to choose appropriate goals and indicators according to different regional context. Meanwhile, a structured procedure for comprehensive evaluation of SSWM is proposed to guide a well-organised decision-making process. Furthermore, pros and cons of eight decision support tools, as well as their functional focus, are compared, aiming to provide references for SSWM in developing countries. Outcomes presented in this review are expected to support decision makers in the process of screening optimal SSWM strategies and monitoring SSWM projects.
Study on the Transport of Terrestrial Dissolved Substances in the Pearl River Estuary Using Passive Tracers
Authors: Hong Bo , Wang Guangyu , Xu Hongzhou , Wang Dongxiao
Published: April 2020

Highly populated river deltas are experiencing marine environment degradation resulting from the tremendous input of terrestrial dissolved substances (TeDS). The Pearl River Delta is one of the deltas with degradation of the water quality and ecological condition. The Pearl River Estuary (PRE) was investigated to reveal the fate and transport timescales of TeDS in order to provide guidance on water resource management and pollutant transport prediction. By using passive tracers in a calibrated 3D numerical model, the TeDS transports from five different outlet groups were investigated systematically. The TeDS transport time was computed by using the concept of water age, which is a measure of the time that has elapsed since the tracer was transported from the upstream boundary to the downstream concerned area. The tracer impacted area was defined by the area with tracer concentrations > 0.2 (arbitrary unit). The domains that were impacted by the tracer coming from each outlet group were identified separately. In the wet season, the impacted area was larger than in other seasons. The most prominent variations appeared in the Jiaomen–Hengmen–Hongqili (JHH) and Modaomen (MD) outlets. The hydrodynamic conditions controlled the offshore spreading of the TeDS. Assuming the TeDS were conservative, it took approximately 10–20 days for the TeDS to be transported from the head water to the entrance of the outlet. For the TeDS coming from the head water of the Humen outlet, it took approximately 40 (80) days for the TeDS to be transported out of the mouth of the Lingding Bay during the wet (dry) season. For the case of the TeDS coming from the head water of the JHH outlets, it took approximately 20 (40) days for the TeDS to be transported out of the Lingding Bay during the wet (dry) season. For the MD, Jiti and Yamen–Hutiao outlets, it usually took approximately 10 days for the TeDS to be transported from the head water to the inner shelf. The correlation coefficient between the river flow and tracer concentrations was 0.78, and between the river flow and transport time it was −0.70 at a station in the lower Lingding Bay. At the estuary mouth, the impacts of other forcing fields got stronger.
Multi-Residue Screening of Pesticides in Aquaculture Waters through Ultra-High-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Q/Orbitrap Mass Spectrometry
Authors: Wang Shou-Ying , Fodjo Essy Kouadio , Kong Cong , Yu Hui-Juan
Published: April 2020

Pesticide residues in foodstuffs can lead to several undesirable effects. A simple and high-throughput targeted screening method analyzing multi-residue pesticide in aquaculture water based on ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography-Q/Orbitrap mass spectrometry (UHPLC-Q/Orbi MS) was developed and validated. In this technique, the peaks of the compound using precursor ions were recorded by the full scan, which was used for rough quantitative analysis with single point matrix matched calibration. The qualitative identification was performed following the stringent confirmation criteria with fragment ions, retention time, and an isotopic pattern. Additionally, solid-phase extraction with an HLB (Hydrophilic/Lipophilic Balanced) column was selected to enrich and separate target pesticides from water. The screening detection limit of 33 compounds are less than 2 ng·L−1, while 26 compounds range from 2 ng·L−1 to 10 ng·L−1, 19 compounds are at the range of 10–200 ng·L−1, and the other two compounds are 200 ng·L−1 and 1000 ng·L−1. Most of the recovery results were found to be between 60~130%. Finally, the method was successfully applied to the analysis of pesticide residues in 30 water samples from aquaculture environment in Shanghai, indicating its applicability in pesticide screening for environmental monitoring.
The Wicked Problem the Water Framework Directive Cannot Solve. The Governance Approach in Dealing with Pollution of Nutrients in Surface Water in the Netherlands, Flanders, Lower Saxony, Denmark and Ireland
Authors: Wiering Mark , Liefferink Duncan , Boezeman Daan , Kaufmann Maria , Crabbé Ann , Kurstjens Nanda
Published: April 2020

The Water Framework Directive (WFD) is typically a framework directive that tries to encourage integration of policies for water quality and agriculture. Nutrients (nitrates, phosphates) from agricultural sources remain a ‘wicked problem’ in realizing the aims of the WFD, partly because the directive has to rely on other, neighboring policies to tackle to problem pressure of nutrients; it seems to lack instruments and measures to directly intervene in relevant agricultural policies. This contribution describes the different governance approaches of five member states and regions (The Netherlands, Flanders in Belgium, Lower Saxony- in Germany, Denmark and Ireland) to the nutrients problem and specifically focuses on the relationship between the nature of governance and the nature of measures taken. On the one hand, countries can vary in terms of a more consensual or antagonistic approach to dealing with water quality and diffuse pollution by agriculture, and emphasize more integration or separation in organization and programs. On the other hand, they can vary in the ‘outcomes’ in terms of more source-based measures or effect-based measures and the emphasis in policy instruments used. This article is based on the screening of policy documents, 44 interviews and several (international) feedback workshops. We found a great variety in governance approaches, while the nature of measures, in terms of source-based and effect-based, is only slightly different. On closer inspection, there are interesting differences in the consensual or antagonist discourses and differences in the use of more mandatory instruments or area-based policies. In many countries, the major challenge is to strike a balance between taking source-based measures, where necessary, and accommodating the difficult situations farmers very often find themselves in, as the reduction of nutrients (as a source-based measure) use can lead to lower yields and higher costs for manure disposal.