Annual nitrate load patterns in an agricultural watershed in consecutive dry years

Nitrate (NO3-N) load characteristics in consecutive dry years in the Huai River Basin (HRB), China, were examined using streamflow and NO3-N concentration data. The data set spanned 12 years including three consecutive dry years. Baseflow separation, load estimation, and nonparametric linear regression were applied to separate point source (PS), baseflow, and surface runoff NO3-N loads from the total load. The mean annual nonpoint source (NPS) load was 2.84 kg·ha−1·yr−1, accounting for 90.8% of the total load. Baseflow contributed approximately one-fourth of the natural runoff and half of the NPS load. The baseflow nitrate index (i.e., the ratio of baseflow NO3-N load to total NPS NO3-N load) was 25.4% higher in consecutive dry years than in individual dry years. This study demonstrated that baseflow is the preferential hydrological pathway for NO3-N transport in the HRB and that baseflow delivers a higher NO3-N percentage to streams under long-term drought than under short-term drought. This study highlights the alarming evidence that continuous drought caused by climate change may lead to a higher rate of nitrogen loss in agricultural watersheds.

Lower Urine Tenofovir Concentrations among Individuals Taking Tenofovir Alafenamide versus Tenofovir Disoproxil Fumarate: Implications for Point-of-Care Testing

From directly-observed-therapy studies, urine tenofovir (TFV) levels were 74% lower when taking tenofovir alafenamide (TAF) versus tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. Urine TFV remains quantifiable across a range of TAF adherence patterns, but a separate point-of-care lateral flow immunoassay with a lower TFV threshold will be needed to support TAF adherence monitoring.

Selecting grounding points to reduce the interference level of the signal of high-impedance measuring channel

The study was carried out (2020) to reduce the effect of electromagnetic interference generated by a device for the formation of temperature effects based on Peltier element on a plant biopotential meter. Four variants of equipment grounding circuits are considered in the absence of a separate grounding bus for power equipment; graphs of biopotential signals are given. The type of interference that the device for the formation of temperature effects induces on the biopotential measurement channel is shown. The control unit case for the temperature-controlled stage based on Peltier element and the power cable shield for connecting Peltier element to the control unit must be grounded at a separate point from the biopotential meter. Biopotential meter electrodes should be grounded as far as possible from the control unit case and at a separate point from the grounding of the plate of the temperature-controlled stage. Recommendations are given for the grounding of high impedance input measuring devices and the power equipment emitting powerful inductive interference and causing interference in the grounding bus located in the same laboratory room, in the absence of separate grounding for power equipment. To reduce interference to an acceptable level, in addition to the selection of the grounding point, filtering is required. If the grounding point is selected incorrectly, a signal with a high level of interference is present at the filter output. The application of the proposed recommendations for grounding a device for the formation of a temperature effect based on Peltier element and a biopotential meter makes it possible to assess the response of a plant placed on the temperature-controlled stage to a temperature effect and not complicate programmed filtering of the signal received by the biopotential meter.

Physicochemical characterization of drinking water of selected regions in Bangladesh

Water, the most vital resources for the survival of life is of major importance not only to have an adequate and accessible supply, but also to have quality water that is considered safe for human consumption. The study was designed with a view to investigating water quality by assessing physicochemical properties of drinking water collected from selected regions and to compare the regional variation among the quality of water. The analysed physical properties were pH, electrical conductivity (EC), total dissolved solids (TDS) and the chemical properties were Iron (Fe) Lead (Pb), Sulphate (SO42-) and Phosphate (PO43-). Water samples were collected from separate point of tap water and tube well water and most of them were collected from restaurant, house hold and governmental office within the study areas. The result revealed:(a) the highest value for physical parameters pH, EC and TDS were 7.8, 723 µs/cm and535 mg/L respectively whereas for chemical parameters SO42-, PO43- and Fe it was 1.6, 0.53 and 1.1 mg/L respectively; (b) the lowest value for pH, EC and TDS were 6.9, 430 µs/cm and 180 mg/L respectively whereas for SO42-, PO43- and Fe it was 0.05, 0.04 and 0.05 mg/L respectively. All of them were present in water within the permissible limits except Fe (1.1 mg/L) and TDS (535 mg/L) as it exceeds WHO standards (0.3-1 mg/L) for Fe and (500 mg/L) for TDS (WHO, 2012). The result obtained for experimental parameters indicates that the water quality is slightly harmful for drinking purposes in terms of (Fe) household and (TDS) govt. office in some regions. Progressive Agriculture 31 (1): 36-44, 2020

Integrated reservoir characterization of a Utica Shale with focus on sweet spot discrimination

Multiclient 3D seismic data were acquired in 2015 in eastern Ohio for reservoir characterization of the Utica Shale consisting of the Utica and Point Pleasant Formations. I attained accurate, high-fidelity acoustic impedance, shear impedance, density, and [Formula: see text], from elastic inversion. These accurate inversion results allow consistent calculation of reservoir and geomechanical properties of the Utica Shale. I found density critically important affecting the accuracy of other reservoir and geomechanical properties. More than a dozen properties in geologic, geomechanical, and reservoir categories were acquired from logs, cores, and seismic inversion, for this integrated reservoir characterization study. These properties include buried depth, formation thickness, mineralogy, density, Young’s modulus, Poisson’s ratio (PR), brittleness, total organic carbon (TOC), porosity, water saturation, permeability, clay content, and natural fractures. A ternary diagram of core samples from 18 wells demonstrates that the Point Pleasant is dominant with calcite, whereas the Utica mainly contains clay. Inverted density clearly divides Point Pleasant as low density from the overlying Utica. Calculated reservoir properties undoubtedly delineate the traditional Utica Shale as two distinctive formations. I calculated that the Utica Formation contains 1%–2% TOC, 3.5%–4.8% porosity, 10%–24% water saturation, and 40%–58% clay content, whereas Point Pleasant contains 3%–4.5% TOC, 5%–9% porosity, 2%–10% water saturation, and 15%–35% clay content. The PR and brittleness clearly separate Point Pleasant from the overlying Utica, with a lower PR and a higher brittleness index in Point Pleasant than in Utica. The higher brittleness in Point Pleasant makes it easier to frac, leading to enhanced permeability. Both formations exhibit spatial variations of reservoir and geomechanical properties. Nevertheless, the underlying Point Pleasant is obviously better than the Utica Shale with favorable reservoir and geomechanical properties for optimal development and production, although Utica is thicker and shallower. The central and southeastern portions of Point Pleasant have the sweetest reservoirs.

Mapping Potential Habitat and Range-Wide Surveying for the Texas Kangaroo Rat

The Texas kangaroo rat Dipodomys elator is considered a species of conservation concern by state and federal agencies. There have been a limited number of sightings in only seven counties in northern Texas during the past 30 y. The apparent decline of the species has been attributed to habitat loss due to increasing conversion of natural areas into cropland. The magnitude and exact cause of the decline are difficult to determine because of insufficient data on the distribution of the species and its habitat within its relatively small geographic range. Habitat studies have focused on the microhabitat of burrows rather than a coarser-scale identification of habitat and its distribution within the species' historic range. Multiple species of Dipodomys have demonstrated strong associations with certain soil and land-cover types. Therefore our goal was to develop a range-wide map of potential habitat on the basis of the association of D. elator with specific soil and land-cover types. We used the map to guide roadside surveys and also updated the map with information on D. elator distribution obtained during the surveys. Over the course of two summers (2016 and 2017) we documented D. elator at 138 separate point locations in five counties. A geographic information system-based analysis of soil and land-cover data revealed that the species is associated with clay-loam and loam soils and mixed-grass/shortgrass prairie. We also found an unexpected association with cropland, although we do not know the exact extent to which D. elator actually uses cropland. The surveys provide an updated assessment of the species distribution and the maps of potential habitat indicate areas where the species may still exist.

FOVEON VS BAYER: COMPARISON OF 3D RECONSTRUCTION PERFORMANCES

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The main idea of this particular study was to validate if the new FOVEON technology implemented by sigma cameras can provide better overall results and outperform the traditional Bayer pattern sensor cameras regarding the radiometric information that records as well as the photogrammetric point cloud quality that can provide. Based on that, the scope of this paper is separated into two evaluations. First task is to evaluate the quality of information reconstructed during de-mosaicking step for Bayer pattern cameras by detecting potential additional colour distortion added during the de-mosaicking step, and second task is the geometric comparisons of point clouds generated by the photos by Bayer and FOVEON sensors against a reference point cloud. The first phase of the study is done using various de-mosaicking algorithms to process various artificial Bayern pattern images and then compare them with reference FOVEON images. The second phase of the study is carried on by reconstructing 3D point clouds of the same objects captured by a Bayer and a FOVEON sensor respectively and then comparing the various point clouds with a reference one, generated by a structured light hand-held scanner. The comparison is separated into two parts, where initially we evaluate five separate point clouds (RGB, Gray, Red, Green, Blue) for each camera sensor per site and then a second comparison is evaluated on colour classified RGB point cloud segments.</p>

The structure of space in Ptolemy’s Geography: methodological challenges in georeferencing ancient toponyms

In this paper I would like to draw attention to several features inherent to Ptolemy’s Geography that limit the effectiveness of different mathematical approaches to georeferencing (i.e. locating within the modern coordinate system) its unidentified places. Out of the 6,300 coordinate points listed in Ptolemy’s Geography, approximately 50% still don’t have recognized identifications on the modern map. This makes the Geography a real bonanza for researchers developing different methods to translate Ptolemy’s coordinates into the modern ones. Most of these methods can be effective only insofar as Ptolemy’s Geography is regarded as an example of what David Woodward called “equipollent-coordinate space” where “every place in the system is of equal geometric significance.” This kind of space is supposed to be as continuous and homogeneous as the space of the modern maps is. My central thesis is that Ptolemy’s space was closer to what Woodward has called “route-enhancing space,” in which “the routes are endowed with the importance of direct observation,” hiding behind the mask of the “equipollent” one. This hidden nature of Ptolemy’s space manifests itself in two interrelated aspects: it was discrete and hierarchically organized. On the one hand, there are reasons to suppose that most points on Ptolemy’s map were originally located not in relation to their nearest neighbors, but rather in relation to a few distant reference points. On the other hand, Ptolemy tended to distribute all places more evenly throughout the entire space they occupy and to round their coordinates as much as possible. These features of Ptolemy’s method result in that, even if he tried to follow his sources most closely, each separate point on his map could have been displaced relative to its original neighborhood. The displacements are often so significant and unpredictable that they cannot be adequately described by a single continuous function. Mathematical methods remain, of course, an important tool for studying Ptolemy’s Geography and, in particular, for georeferencing its unidentified places. However, like any instrument, these methods have limited effectiveness. The specific features of Ptolemy’s method pointed out in the present paper can contribute to our understanding of how these methods can be improved and enhanced.

Samuel Nikel as a First Soviet Researcher of the History of Volyn Germans

The biography of a first Soviet researcher of the history of the Volyn Germans, Samuel Nickel, is presented and analyzed on the basis of the materials of the archives and judicial investigation. The main focus is made on the circumstances of his arrest, his “crime” investigation and Nickel’s long struggle for his justification, including against the blame about the content of his book «Germans in Volyn». Samuel Nickel came from background of the German colonists of Eastern Volyn. In the early 1920s he joined the Komsomol, that helped him get higher education at the Zhytomyr Institute of Public Education. It was the basis of his rapid career development in the field of education and in the local bodies of Soviet power. In 1927 he became a member of the Communist Party of the Bolsheviks of Ukraine. In 1931–1935 S. Nickel worked in Kharkiv at the important positions in the editions of the German speaking Soviet journals. In 1935 he finished his book about the history of the Volyn Germans and it was published under the title «Die deutschen in Wolhynien» («Germans in Volyn»). In October 1935 he was arrested by NKVD. He was accused of anti-Soviet propaganda and campaigning. A separate point of accusation was against his book «Germans in Volyn». The investigation was not fair, and there was lack of evidences against the author. S. Nickel bravely fought for himself, but in 1936 he was convicted by the court. He was trying to defend his book and his honest name for many years. He was exonerated in 1960.

APPLICABILITY ANALYSIS OF CLOTH SIMULATION FILTERING ALGORITHM FOR MOBILE LIDAR POINT CLOUD

Classifying the original point clouds into ground and non-ground points is a key step in LiDAR (light detection and ranging) data post-processing. Cloth simulation filtering (CSF) algorithm, which based on a physical process, has been validated to be an accurate, automatic and easy-to-use algorithm for airborne LiDAR point cloud. As a new technique of three-dimensional data collection, the mobile laser scanning (MLS) has been gradually applied in various fields, such as reconstruction of digital terrain models (DTM), 3D building modeling and forest inventory and management. Compared with airborne LiDAR point cloud, there are some different features (such as point density feature, distribution feature and complexity feature) for mobile LiDAR point cloud. Some filtering algorithms for airborne LiDAR data were directly used in mobile LiDAR point cloud, but it did not give satisfactory results. In this paper, we explore the ability of the CSF algorithm for mobile LiDAR point cloud. Three samples with different shape of the terrain are selected to test the performance of this algorithm, which respectively yields total errors of 0.44&amp;thinsp;%, 0.77&amp;thinsp;% and1.20&amp;thinsp;%. Additionally, large area dataset is also tested to further validate the effectiveness of this algorithm, and results show that it can quickly and accurately separate point clouds into ground and non-ground points. In summary, this algorithm is efficient and reliable for mobile LiDAR point cloud.