scholarly journals Ecological and Landscape Factors Affecting the Spread of European Mistletoe (Viscum album L.) in Urban Areas (A Case Study of the Kaliningrad City, Russia)

Plants ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 394
Author(s):  
Liubov Skrypnik ◽  
Pavel Maslennikov ◽  
Pavel Feduraev ◽  
Artem Pungin ◽  
Nikolay Belov

Green spaces are very important for an urban environment. Trees in cities develop under more stressful conditions and are, therefore, more susceptible to parasite including mistletoe infestation. The aim of this study was to investigate the ecological, microclimatic, and landscape factors causing the spread of European mistletoe (Viscum album L.) in urban conditions. The most numerous hosts of mistletoe were Tilia cordata (24.4%), Acer platanoides (22.7%), and Populus nigra (16.7%). On average, there were more than 10 mistletoe bushes per tree. The mass mistletoe infestations (more than 50 bushes per the tree) were detected for Populus × berolinensis, Populus nigra, and Acer saccharinum. The largest number of infected trees was detected in the green zone (city parks), historical housing estates, and green zone along water bodies. Based on the results of principal component analysis (PCA), the main factors causing the spread of mistletoe on the urban territories are trees’ age and relative air humidity. The factors reflecting environmental pollution (the content of heavy metals in the soil and the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in the air) did not statistically affect the mistletoe distribution in the study area. However, this result may be due to the heterogeneity of other parameters in the studied areas. Therefore, additional research is required to more accurately interpret the data on the relationship between environmental pollutions and distribution of mistletoe infestation of trees in urban areas.

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (5(J)) ◽  
pp. 18-26
Author(s):  
Kyei KA ◽  
Tshisikhawe TH ◽  
Dube LM

South Africa has a very high crime rate compared to most countries. Crime affects the society, business and psychology of the people. It compels people to move out or come into a particular area. It is most prevalent in the urban areas where poverty gap is conspicuous. Western Cape and Gauteng Provinces are the best developed provinces in the country and therefore have higher crime levels. But the question is: what types of crime are prevalent in the Western Cape Province? And what are the major causes of these crimes? The purpose of this paper is to identify the different types of crimes committed in the Western Cape Province which are prominent. Principal Component analysis (PCA) has been use in this study to gauge the patterns of crime and the distinct important factors affecting the level of crime. Secondary data from a website have been used in the analysis. The results show that violence and vehicle thefts are the most committed crimes in the province. The areas where crime occurs most frequently are Bellville, Cape Town Central, Gugulethu, Harare, Khayelisha, Mitchells Plain, Nyanga and Parow. Firearms have been identified as major means for committing crime. The paper recommends that attempts be made by the provincial government to clamp down unlicensed fire arm holders/dealers. Amnesty should be granted to encourage holders of unlicensed fire arms to surrender without punishment and the public should report to the police all those dealing in unlicensed firearms in order to root out crime in the province.


Author(s):  
Tue Nguyen Dang

This research examines the factors affecting the financial literacy of Vietnamese adults. Using a sample of 266 observations of adults in 2 big cities in Vietnam (Hanoi and Vinh in Nghe An Province), the author evaluates the literacy level of adults in these urban areas. The financial literacy of the interviewed people is low. The multiple regression results show that lower financial literacy levels associate with higher age and married status and higher financial literacy levels associate with higher education, more family members, the person making financial decisions and the person attending a useful financial course. This research also explores the association between financial literacy and financial behaviors of individuals employing logistic models. It is found that higher financial literacy associates with less probability of overspending and higher probability of saving money and careful spending. Higher financial literacy is also found to associate with higher probability of opening a savings account and making various investments. 


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1865
Author(s):  
Bala Bhavya Kausika ◽  
Wilfried G. J. H. M. van Sark

Geographic information system (GIS) based tools have become popular for solar photovoltaic (PV) potential estimations, especially in urban areas. There are readily available tools for the mapping and estimation of solar irradiation that give results with the click of a button. Although these tools capture the complexities of the urban environment, they often miss the more important atmospheric parameters that determine the irradiation and potential estimations. Therefore, validation of these models is necessary for accurate potential energy yield and capacity estimations. This paper demonstrates the calibration and validation of the solar radiation model developed by Fu and Rich, employed within ArcGIS, with a focus on the input atmospheric parameters, diffusivity and transmissivity for the Netherlands. In addition, factors affecting the model’s performance with respect to the resolution of the input data were studied. Data were calibrated using ground measurements from Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI) stations in the Netherlands and validated with the station data from Cabauw. The results show that the default model values of diffusivity and transmissivity lead to substantial underestimation or overestimation of solar insolation. In addition, this paper also shows that calibration can be performed at different time scales depending on the purpose and spatial resolution of the input data.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2130
Author(s):  
Ken’ichi Matsumoto ◽  
Yui Nakamine ◽  
Sunyong Eom ◽  
Hideki Kato

The transportation sector is a major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions, and the resulting climate change. The diffusion of alternative fuel vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), is an important solution for these issues. This study aimed to evaluate the factors affecting the ownership ratio of HEVs, particularly passenger vehicles, and the regional differences in the purchase of HEVs in Japan. This study performed a fixed-effects regression analysis with panel data for 47 prefectures during the period 2005–2015 to evaluate the factors affecting the HEV ownership ratio and conducted three cluster analyses to investigate the regional differences in diffusion in terms of price categories, body types, and drive systems of HEVs. Some demographic and social factors were found to affect the ownership ratio in Japan, whereas economic factors, including prefecture-level subsidies for purchasing HEVs, were not. Regarding regional differences, prefectures in urban areas with higher income levels tend to purchase more expensive and large-sized HEVs. These results suggest that a strategy to sell the right vehicle to the right person and region is essential for further promoting HEVs in Japan.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7211
Author(s):  
Juan Ramón López Soler ◽  
Panayotis Christidis ◽  
José Manuel Vassallo

Teleworking and online shopping became commonplace during the COVID-19 pandemic and can be expected to maintain a strong presence in the foreseeable future. They can lead to significant changes in mobility patterns and transport demand. It is still unclear, however, how extensive their adoption can be, since each individual has different preferences or constraints. The overall impact on transport depends on which segments of the population will modify their behaviour and on what the substitutes to the current patterns will be. The purpose of this work is to identify the user profiles and spatial aspects that affect the adoption of teleworking and online shopping, and to explore the potential impact on transport demand. To that end, data from an EU-wide survey on mobility were analysed using a Machine Learning methodology. The results suggest that while the take up of the new work and consumption patterns is high on average, there are significant differences among countries and across different socio-economic profiles. Teleworking appears to have a high potential mainly in certain services sectors, affecting commuting patterns predominantly in large urban areas. Online shopping activity is more uniform across the population, although differences among countries and age groups may still be relevant. The findings of this work can be useful for the analysis of policies to encourage the uptake of new technologies in transport and mobility. They can be also a good reference point for future studies on the ex-post analysis of the impacts of the pandemic on mobility.


2017 ◽  
Vol 44 (6) ◽  
pp. 715-731 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivy Drafor

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to analyse the spatial disparity between rural and urban areas in Ghana using the Ghana Living Standards Survey’s (GLSS) rounds 5 and 6 data to advance the assertion that an endowed rural sector is necessary to promote agricultural development in Ghana. This analysis helps us to know the factors that contribute to the depravity of the rural sectors to inform policy towards development targeting. Design/methodology/approach A multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis were applied to data from the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 to determine the characteristics of the rural-urban divide in Ghana. Findings The findings reveal that the rural poor also spend 60.3 per cent of their income on food, while the urban dwellers spend 49 per cent, which is an indication of food production capacity. They have low access to information technology facilities, have larger household sizes and lower levels of education. Rural areas depend a lot on firewood for cooking and use solar/dry cell energies and kerosene for lighting which have implications for conserving the environment. Practical implications Developing the rural areas to strengthen agricultural growth and productivity is a necessary condition for eliminating spatial disparities and promoting overall economic development in Ghana. Addressing rural deprivation is important for conserving the environment due to its increased use of fuelwood for cooking. Absence of alternatives to the use of fuelwood weakens the efforts to reduce deforestation. Originality/value The application of PCA to show the factors that contribute to spatial inequality in Ghana using the GLSS-5 and GLSS-6 data is unique. The study provides insights into redefining the framework for national poverty reduction efforts.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 460-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. G. Liu ◽  
S. S. Wang ◽  
J. Y. Liu ◽  
F. Liu ◽  
X. L. Fu

2013 ◽  
Vol 291-294 ◽  
pp. 2381-2386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wen Xia Liu ◽  
Ji Kai Xu ◽  
Hong Yuan Jiang ◽  
Yong Tao Shen

It is the foundation for evaluating the reliability of transmission lines to obtain and analyze the original reliability parameters. However, these parameters depend on long- term statistic and calculation. In the case of lacking such parameters in a new project , this paper proposes a method of Principal Component Analysis to obtain the principal component of the impacting factors ,in which various factors affecting reliability parameters are taken into account. Through this method, we can use PCR to obtain the failure rate of the unknown transmission lines on the base of the known credible lines’ rates. The simulation results show that the proposed approach possesses higher forecasting accuracy and provides references for the power system dispatching departments and transmission lines maintenance departments.


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