The Impact of Weather Conditions on Culex pipiens and Culex restuans (Diptera: Culicidae) Abundance: A Case Study in Peel Region

2011 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 468-475 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiafeng Wang ◽  
Nick H. Ogden ◽  
Huaiping Zhu
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Jechow

Earth Hour is one of the most successful coordinated mass efforts worldwide to raise awareness of environmental issues, with excessive energy consumption being one driver of climate change. The campaign, first organized by the World Wildlife Fund in Australia in 2007, has grown across borders and cultures and was celebrated in 188 countries in 2018. It calls for voluntarily reduction of electricity consumption for a single hour of one day each year. Switching off non-essential electric lights is a central theme and resulted in 17,900 landmarks going dark in 2018. This switch-off of lights during Earth Hour also leads to reduction of light pollution for this specific period. In principle, Earth Hour allows the study of light pollution and the linkage to electricity consumption of lighting. However, quantitative analysis of the impact of Earth Hour on light pollution (and electricity consumption) are sparse, with only a few studies published showing no clear impact or the reverse, suffering from residual twilight and unstable weather conditions. In this work, light pollution measurements during Earth Hour 2018 in an urban park (Tiergarten) in Berlin, Germany, are reported. A novel light measurement method using differential photometry with calibrated digital cameras enables tracking of the switching off and switching back on of the lights of Berlin’s iconic Brandenburg Gate and the buildings of Potsdamer Platz adjacent to the park. Light pollution reduction during the event was measurable, despite the presence of moonlight. Strategies for future work on light pollution using such events are discussed.


Author(s):  
Eisa Alenzi ◽  
◽  
Sitti Asmah Hassan ◽  
Othman Che Puan ◽  
◽  
...  

The car following behaviour of a driver is the process of following the drivers to create an adjustment in the leading vehicle behaviour. In a condition, where the traffic volume is in a free-flowing situation, the selection of vehicles speed is typically limited by some factors such as weather conditions, lighting, and road geometry features. This study aims to investigate the effects of climates on driver’s car following behaviour and speed flow relationships for highways in Kuwait. The case study was conducted at Road 40 in Kuwait using RTMS Sx-300 device which is known as a radar device particularly used for monitoring traffic. The data was gathered between the periods from 29th December 2018 to 5th January 2019 within winter. MATLAB code was written to analyse and classify the gathered data. Then, the models were built using R-software. The study depicts that nearly 24.87% of the vehicles move between 60 km/h and 69 km/hour. Additionally, the vehicles were segmented according to their types i.e., Truck, Small, Medium and Large Sized Cars, in order to find the impact of following pattern on the vehicle average. It has been found that no significant association remains amidst the type of following pattern and the headway. Ultimately, a liner regression of data was developed to calculate a liner equation that shows the average headway as an element of speed for sixteen diverse following patterns. It has been recognized that an association could be supposed in medium-sized and small-sized vehicles. It has been observed that headway average could be placed in a linear equation for large, medium, and small as well as truck vehicles. It is worthy to denote that when data is bigger, the exactitude of a study enhances. Findings from each model of liner regression has more than 80% confidence level. The models of regression are deliberated as statistically significant where, the R (square) figures lies amidst 0.99 till 0.6. As per the findings, speed is the key influencing factor for headway value. The type of car does affect headway with drivers behind Heavy Good Vehicles and cars at the similar speed. According to the data, cars are identified to keep more headway when behind Heavy Good Vehicles in contrast with when behind other cars. These results will help the drivers to understand their behaviour that are associated with car crashes. Thus, increase road safety awareness and reduce traffic congestion in Kuwait.


Author(s):  
Xiajie Yi ◽  
Dries Goossens

Abstract In most sport leagues, a schedule is announced before the start of the season. However, due to unexpected events (e.g. bad weather conditions), some games cannot be played on the announced date. To handle this, before the start of the season, empty so-called catch-up rounds are positioned in the schedule as a buffer. During the season, games can then be rescheduled to these catch-up rounds. We develop a two-stage stochastic programming approach to determine where to position the catch-up rounds in order to maintain the quality of the realized schedule. While our method is generally applicable, we demonstrate its use with soccer. Scenarios and their probabilities are deduced from historical data from 10 major European soccer leagues. We study the impact of the number of catch-up rounds and costs on the positions of catch-up rounds and compare our method with other proactive strategies from the literature. We conclude with a case study based on the English Premier League. In particular when many games cannot be played as planned and few catch-up rounds are available, our stochastic programming approach outperforms existing methods with respect to maintaining a fair ranking and avoiding cancelled games.


Media-N ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Shreepali Patel

This article explores the impact of drone regulations on the narrative potential of drone filming. The central focus of this exploration is a Case Study analysis of the production of a multi-screen audio-visual digital installation, The Crossing (Patel, 2016). The Crossing [1], filmed in central London, utilized the use of a heavy weight Unmanned Aerial System (UAS) also known as a drone with a 5-kilo weight load capacity with the Alexa Mini WCU-4. Combined with the CForce Mini lens control system, the UAS gave unparalleled camera and lens control at extended ranges, providing complete pan, tilt and lens control and allowing dynamic moves in the air. The result was the ability to navigate through spaces to give intimate and playful shots that give the viewer ‘alternate’ versions of reality that only a ‘machine’ can provide. Artists, performers and filmmakers are finding new kinds of beauty through automated programming where the drones are not just capturing the story but the machines themselves become the story. However, the operational scope of drones is limited by legal and health and safety regulations, particularly within built up urban environments. These regulations govern the vertical and horizontal distance from objects and people, line of sight, time constraints, weather conditions as well as security implications. Further restrictions include requiring a trained and fully licensed crew with permission from the relevant aviation bodies. This article seeks to answer whether these restrictions limit the creativity of the artist or challenge the creator to consider alternate ways of using these Autonomous Art Systems to inform the aesthetic scope of the captured image. This article will draw on a combination of original filming and broadcast examples to examine how legal and security restrictions on UAS inform the narrative and aesthetic realization of the final art form and subsequent emotional and physical response of the spectator.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 279-291
Author(s):  
António Lobo ◽  
Sara Ferreira ◽  
Isabel Iglesias ◽  
António Couto

AbstractWalking safety has been a primary concern for researchers and authorities, who have developed numerous studies concerning the interaction between pedestrians and vehicles. Nevertheless, few studies have focused on the impacts of weather conditions on pedestrian–vehicle collisions. This research aims at improving knowledge on this subject by investigating the impact of daily precipitation and the lagged effects associated with past accumulated precipitation. Using the city of Porto, Portugal, as a case study, an incremental approach consisting of three models, one Poisson and two negative binomial, was developed to explore the relation between weather conditions and the occurrence of pedestrian–vehicle collisions. The first model accounts exclusively for meteorological variables, providing an insight into the trends of crash frequency under the effects of temperature and precipitation. Then, variables for road classification and land use were introduced in the second and third models, respectively, to account for the diversity of the urban environment. These variables act as proxies for the level of exposure associated with different types of urban space, allowing for a more in-depth understanding of the impacts caused by meteorological conditions. The modeling results show that the number of pedestrian–vehicle collisions tends to increase on rainy days, following the general trend observed in the literature for other types of crashes. Regarding the lagged effects, the results show that the number of pedestrian–vehicle collisions is likely to decrease after a wet week but increases after a wet month.


Author(s):  
Ali K. Jasim ◽  
Ammar Al-Sabounchi ◽  
Ahmad Bubshait ◽  
Zuhair S. Al-Sagar

Distributed Photovoltaic applications bring considerable benefits to the distribution network, especially in regions with high irradiation levels. This work contributes to the efforts of adapting Distributed Photovoltaic applications in Iraq, as it has high irradiation levels. The development of a Photovoltaic physical model for Distributed Photovoltaic installations under actual weather conditions has been presented. Additionally, the impact of Distributed Photovoltaic installations connected at downstream points of distribution feeders on the voltage profile along those feeders has been discussed. Based on that, a suitable procedure to assess this impact has been developed under four different scenarios. A case study of the existing 11 kV feeder in Baghdad has been used to apply the developed procedure by considering different scenarios of Distributed Photovoltaic integration. The case study concluded no over-voltage issues along the feeder, even with the extreme conditions of applied scenarios, related to voltage level at the feeder head, capacity and location of the Distributed Photovoltaic plant, and load/ Distributed Photovoltaic profiles of summer and winter.


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