Active Corridor Research Articles

Potential Distribution of Colonizing Nine-Banded Armadillos at Their Northern Range Edge

The nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) has become a recent addition to the local fauna of Illinois as a response to habitat alteration and climate change. This range expansion has resulted in the presence of armadillos in areas not predicted by earlier models. Although these models have been revised, armadillos continue to move north and have reached areas of heavy agricultural use. We identified conditions that favor the presence of armadillos and potential corridors for dispersal. Identifying the distribution of the armadillo in Illinois is a vital step in anticipating their arrival in areas containing potentially sensitive wildlife populations and habitats. Armadillo locations (n = 37) collected during 2016–2020 were used to develop a map of the potential distribution of armadillos in southern Illinois. Environmental data layers included in the model were land cover type, distance to water, distance to forest edge, human modification, and climactic variables. Land cover type was the most important contributing variable to the model. Our results are consistent with the tenet that armadillo activity and dispersal corridors are centered around riparian areas, and that forested cover may provide corridors an agricultural mosaic.

Batik Solo Trans (BST) as Tourist Transportation and Integrated Payment System Preference that Supports the Tourism Sector in Surakarta City

Surakarta City is one of the tourist destinations in Indonesia with the existence of historical places such as the Keraton Surakarta, Pura Mangkunegaran and historical museums. Batik Solo Trans (BST), a public transportation launched by Surakarta City government, which is considered to be the choice of transportation used by tourists. This study aims to identify BST routes to determine whether BST can be used as tourist transportation and whether the available payment system supports the tourism sector in Surakarta City. The method used is the literature review method and descriptive analysis of the description of the questionnaire survey of tourists. The result states that the BST route with 4 active corridors from 8 planned corridors covers most of the historical tourist attractions in Surakarta City and the preference of the tourist payment system is 58.33% using electronic money cards for BST ticket payments supported by a non-cash card service system that is re-used after being dismissed inefficient.

Stimuli-responsive biodegradable polyurethane nano-constructs as a potential triggered drug delivery vehicle for cancer therapy.

Polyurethanes (PUs) constitute an essential class of stimuli-responsive and biodegradable material, which has significantly contributed to the advancement of polymers utilization in the biomedical field. The bio-erodible PUs construct an active corridor for facilitating drug into tumor cells, which has significantly impacted the progression of nano-micellar delivery systems. The self-assembledcolloidal PUs pose distinctive features such as enhancing the solubility of hydrophobic chemotherapeutics, rapid cellular uptake, triggered erosion and drug release, bio-stimulus sensitivity, improvement in the targeting and proficiency ofbioactive. Cationic PUs can easily be condensed with genetic material to form polyplexes and have shown excellent transfection efficiency for potential gene therapy against various cancers. Their modifiable chemistry offers a tool to impart the desired multifunctionality such as biocompatibility, sensitivity to pH, redox, temperature, enzyme, etc. and ligand conjugation for active targeting. These diverse exceptional properties make them excellent nano-carrier for a variety of bioactive, including chemotherapeutic drugs, DNA, RNA, and diagnostic moieties to the target tissue or cells. The PUs based nano-devices have certainly uncovered the path to achieve ideal systems for controlled personalized therapy. The literature discussed in this review shed light on the research innovations carried out in the last ten years for the development of multifunctional PUs for triggered delivery of bioactive to treat various cancers.

Restoring a glacier‐fed river: Past and present morphodynamics of a degraded channel in the Italian Alps

AbstractThe present study explores the evolutionary trajectory of the glacier‐fed Mareit River (South Tyrol, Italian Alps), where a large restoration programme was implemented in 2008–2009. River corridor changes before and after the restoration works were assessed using historical maps, recent field observations, topographic surveys and topographic differencing. Trends of anthropic (forest cover, channel works, gravel mining) and natural (glacial cover, precipitation, flow regime) factors controlling channel morphology – at both catchment and reach scales – were reconstructed. From the mid‐19th century, the evolutionary trajectory of the Mareit River followed a degradational trend, characterized by channel narrowing, bed incision and planform simplification. Direct, in‐channel human alterations – mainly in the form of bank protections (in the late 19th century), gravel mining (mostly in the 1970s) and grade‐control works (since the 1980s) – dominated the historical adjustments before the restoration. In 2008–2009, a segment of the Mareit was restored by widening the channel, partly removing the check‐dams and shaping a braided pattern within a laterally constrained corridor. Post‐work monitoring shows that the restoration improved both the morphological quality and the geomorphic diversity. At present, the channel is subject to narrowing and slight bed level incision, with islands and floodplains progressively expanding at the expenses of the active channel. This trend is likely to continue in the next decades based on the expected future flow regime, and indeed the Mareit River seems to be attaining a ‘miniaturized’ version of the anabranching pattern of the mid‐19th century. Overall, this restoration approach and the associated evolutionary trajectory is considered positive, because it leads to a complex mosaic of geomorphic units, dynamically self‐adjusting to the time‐varying driving variables. The formation of a morphodynamically active corridor, while keeping artificially non‐erodible boundaries, represents an optimal strategy to integrate ecological improvements with flood risk mitigation in the densely populated Alpine valleys. © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Mapping of basement structure beneath the Kohima Synclinorium, north-east India via Bouguer gravity data modelling

Kohima Synclinorium is one of the most tectonically active corridors of Indian subcontinent and displays complex tectonics of the region. Mapping the basement structure beneath the Kohima Synform is, therefore, vital to provide deep insight into the understanding of the crucial thrust geometry of the region. The vertical gravity gradient anomalies and available geological evidences suggest that the underlying area is occupied by thrust geometry embedded with prominently known tectonic trends of Schuppen Belt (SB), Kohima–Patkai Synclinal (KS–PS) and adjoining Inner Fold Belts (IFB). By keeping in view the massive complex tectonic upheaval in the region, we carried out 2D Bouguer gravity data analysis using the radially averaged power spectral techniques and GMSYS modelling to map the basement depth more precisely. Our results suggest that there is a wide range of heterogeneity in the underlying undulating basement indicating an average sedimentary thickness of the order of 2.2–5.5 km. The gravity PDEPTH modelling results show that source depth varies from 2.5 to 6.5 km. There is an uplifted basement tending towards the southwestern part while gradual deepening of basement was observed towards the eastern part of the study area. The profile modelling results show the presence of basement in a depth range of 2.5–3.8, 3.8–4.0, and 3.8–4.2 km beneath Foreland Basin (FB), Kohima–Patkai Synclinal structures (KS–PS), and Inner Fold Belts (IFB), respectively. The underlying results of integrated profiles, PDEPTH and GMSYS modelling would be useful to understand the detailed basement structure and tectonic trends of Belt of Schuppen (BS), Kohima–Patkai Synclinal structures (KS–PS) and adjacent Inner Fold Belts (IFB) of north-eastern region of India.

Contested urban streets: Place, traffic and governance conflicts of potential activity corridors

Activity Corridors have emerged as one redevelopment form for accommodating growth within dispersed, car-centric cities. This has seen a new interest in the form and function of urban arterial roads. Efforts to increase development intensity in established suburbia, however, are often highly contentious among local stakeholders. It is unclear whether the offer of improved public transportation infrastructure - a central component of the Activity Corridor concept - influences residents' support for taller or denser built form. This dynamic was explored using a case study along an urban arterial road in Perth, Western Australia. A household survey identified residents' attitudes to increasing development intensity in exchange for varying public transport provision scenarios. The results informed interpretive interviews with planning practitioners. Residents were more supportive of increasing development intensity if public transport was improved. Planners questioned whether recent land use and transport planning approaches adequately reflected community expectations for local “amenity”, and noted several key governance constraints to developing urban Activity Corridors.

Cross‐border freight movements in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Region, with insights from passive GPS data

AbstractThe Great Lakes and St. Lawrence binational region is one of the most significant concentrations of industrial production on earth and contains the most active corridors for goods movements in the Canada‐United States trade relationship. The history of industrial development in this region involves the exploitation of coal and iron ore for steel production, the development of the railroads and the expansion of commercial agriculture, and the growth of the automotive and other high value‐added manufacturing industries. Canadian and American industrial complexes became increasingly integrated with the support of trade agreements in the latter decades of the 20th century. Development of cross‐border supply chains led to massive international flows of intermediate goods. In this context, the performance of a few key border crossings is of critical economic importance. New information drawn from very large datasets of Global Positioning System records generated by cross‐border truck movements sheds new light on both the spatial patterns of cross‐border goods movement and the performance of border crossings.

Urban Spatial Form and Structure and Greenhouse-gas Emissions From Commuting in the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico Valley

A considerable proportion of the greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted into the atmosphere is attributable to transport. In the case of large cities, GHG emissions associated with transport—especially commuting mobility—can be reduced by acting on the built environment. According to the Compact City Approach to urban sustainability, the amount of energy per capita used to move within a city—and therefore GHG emissions—can be reduced by increasing the density and mix of residential and economic functions and directing the city's growth toward greater centralization, or concentrated (not dispersed) decentralization near the subcenters of employment and the economic activity corridors along the main routes of communication. We tested the predictions of the Compact City Approach regarding the influence of the built environment on GHG emissions associated with commuting mobility in the Metropolitan Zone of Mexico Valley (MZMV). Our results indicate that almost all the predictions are fulfilled. Therefore, urban land policies in line with the Compact City Approach that seek to reduce the amount of emissions are fully relevant.

New features for scanned bioelectrical activity of motor unit in health and disease

Abstract The present study aims to find new features that support the differential diagnosis of neuromuscular diseases. Scanning EMG is an experimental method developed for understanding the motor unit organization and for observing temporal and spatial characteristics of motor unit’s electrical activity. A motor unit consists of a motor neuron and muscle fibers that are innervated by its motor neuron. Both simulation and biological data on neuromuscular diseases are considered in this study. Biological data were acquired from 3 patients with neurogenic involvement (2 with poliomyelitis sequela and 1 with spinal muscular atrophy), 2 patients with myopathy (1 with inflammatory myopathy and 1 with muscular dystrophy) and 4 healthy participants. Seven features are extracted by specifications of neuromuscular diseases and characteristics of EMG signals. These features are maximum amplitude, spike duration, the number of peaks, maximum amplitude x spike duration, number of peaks x spike duration, the ratio of the power outside the activity corridor to the power inside the activity corridor and the number of peaks outside of the activity corridor. The autocorrelation function of the sum of scanning EMG signals is effective in determining the activity corridor of these signals and the spike duration can be determined more easily by using the activity corridor. Wavelet transform based noise reduction and the windowing method are proposed for calculating the features correctly. By this method, spike duration and the number of peaks should be able to be calculated more precisely. It is confirmed that if the signals are filtered by a high pass filter with a cut off frequency of 2 KHz, the calculation of the number of peaks should be easier. While maximum amplitude and maximum amplitude times spike duration are found to be significant for diagnosing neurogenic diseases, other features are found to be significant for all groups by ANOVA test. It is determined that which features are more effective for differential diagnosis and the dataset that contains normal people and patients is classified using multi-layer perceptron (MLP), radial basis function network (RBF), support vector machines (SVM) and k nearest neighbor algorithm (k-NN). The best accuracy is obtained as 85% with MLP network.

Concentrated, ‘pulsed’ axial glacier flow: structural glaciological evidence from Kvíárjökull in SE Iceland

AbstractA detailed structural glaciological study carried out on Kvíárjökull in SE Iceland reveals that recent flow within this maritime glacier is concentrated within a narrow corridor located along its central axis. This active corridor is responsible for feeding ice from the accumulation zone on the south‐eastern side of Öræfajökull to the lower reaches of the glacier and resulted in a c. 200 m advance during the winter of 2013–2014 and the formation of a push‐moraine. The corridor comprises a series of lobes linked by a laterally continuous zone of highly fractured ice characterised by prominent flow‐parallel crevasses, separated by shear zones. The lobes form highly crevassed topographic highs on the glacier surface and occur immediately down‐ice of marked constrictions caused by prominent bedrock outcrops located on the northern side of the glacier. Close to the frontal margin of Kvíárjökull, the southern side of the glacier is relatively smooth and pock‐marked by a number of large moulins. The boundary between this slow moving ice and the active corridor is marked by a number of ice flow‐parallel strike‐slip faults and a prominent dextral shear zone which resulted in the clockwise rotation and dissection of an ice‐cored esker exposed on the glacier surface. It is suggested that this concentrated style of glacier flow identified within Kvíárjökull has affinities with the individual flow units which operate within pulsing or surging glaciers. © 2017 The Authors Earth Surface Processes and Landforms © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Background noise: a review of the effects of background infill on urban liveability in Perth

ABSTRACTWhile Activity Centres and Activity Corridors are the flagships of Western Australian State Government urban infill policy, much of infill development which is being delivered is ‘background infill’ – the subdivision of suburban lots to create two to five new dwellings. This paper assesses this background infill with reference to the State Government’s goal of enhancing ‘liveability’ using criteria such as access to nature, cultural assets and public transport. The conclusion is that background infill is producing mixed results, in all of these areas, and that the policies producing such infill require attention.

Defining The Identity of Technocentric Transformations In An Urban Edge – A Case of Kazhakuttom, Trivandrum

Technocentric developments often result in creating a socio-spatial duality in different contexts, forming a place identity with contesting nature of the global and local settlements. The location of technocentric campuses in the urban periphery results in a haphazard development with little response to the context, also resulting in social strife and generating possibilities of marginalisation and gentriication of the local communities in near future. This will affect the urban life due to a discontinuity in the urban realm. The current transformations include functional change of existing residential units into mixed-use commercial and lodging facilities and, conversion of vacant plots into high density residential and commercial functions.The transformations seen at the site of the case study also include the conversion of the earlier dead bypass stretch into a highly active corridor with restaurants, informal eateries, and hang out areas targeting the techie population which adds to the changing urban identity of Kazhakuttom. This paper attempts to envision the future development and urban identity of Kazhakuttom as the new economic district of Trivandrum city as a favourable work-live-entertainment environment with support facilities, while also incorporating local aspirations to ensure social and spatial continuity.The methodology involved a detailed macro and micro level primary study and analysis of Kazhakuttom so as to identify the issues. The methodology included correlating the primary study with literature study on concepts and theories of identity, glocalization, and hybridization. The design cues from related technocentric contexts in Silicon Valley, Gurgaon and Bengaluru allowed developmemnt of design strategies for integrating the technocentric campuses with the local context and culture of the place.

Development of Channel Characteristics during Post-Avulsion Period-A Case Study on a Part of Torsa River, West Bengal

Avulsion in any river course is the change of the system in a complex manner where river has to readjust it through different behavioral responses. Channel shifting in recent time on piedmont part of Sub-Himalayan West Bengal is high flood discharge induced while river captures an old course and neo-tectonic reasons are underneath. In the last decade one of the biggest changes in river courses in West Bengal occurred when Torsa River left its actual course and captured one of its old course called Bura Torsa or Sil Torsa (eastern branch) below Hasimara Railway Bridge in Jalpaiguri district (now Alipurduar district). Abandonment of former course, readjustment into the new course and development of new floodplain are the consequent actions. Development of present channel and plan form characteristics are controlled by few natural factors like vegetation, physiography, discharge, sediment load etc. Geomorphic characteristics of Torsa River are accompanied with development of gravel and sand bars, formation of swamps within the braid plain while high discharge induced by intensive rainfall associated with high suspended load are the major hydrological characteristics. In recent time braiding intensity as well as average width of the floodplains and width of the active corridor of Sil Torsa has increased. Distinctions among phases of channel development of the newer part within the stretch downstream of bifurcation are quite clear.

Ground-dwelling arthropod communities across braided river landscape mosaics: a Mediterranean perspective

River floodplains with their constituent biodiversity are among the most endangered ecosystems worldwide. These systems are conceptualised as mosaics of aquatic and terrestrial patches at different successional stages colonised by a wide range of aquatic, semi-aquatic and terrestrial species. In three reaches in the active corridor of a French Mediterranean braided river, we tested whether community structure and composition of ground-dwelling terrestrial arthropods varied across the mosaic of terrestrial patches, and identified some of the underlying mechanisms. We predicted that arthropod community structure and composition would vary consistently with the age and position of the patches in the mosaic, due to species habitat preferences and dispersal. We also predicted that between-patch species turnover would contribute to corridor diversity to a greater extent than within-patch diversity. The natural flow regime of the Asse River promoted patch diversity in all the reaches considered. Arthropod communities differed according to patch age, indicating that successions had occurred over a decennial timescale. By contrast, the location of patches within the mosaics seemed not to affect communities, suggesting that dispersal was not limited. The contribution of between-patch diversity to corridor diversity far exceeded that of within-patch diversity, as predicted by mosaic theory. These results put the onus on river ecosystem managers to preserve natural flow regimes in braided rivers, so as to foster various types of pioneer and mature habitat patches and maintain associated biodiversity.

Is tidal forcing critical to trigger large Sumatra earthquakes?

Complexity in the earthquake mechanism is manifested in different forms such as fractal distribution, clustering of seismicity, etc., and characterized as critical phenomenon. Occurrences of earthquakes generally represent the state of metastable equilibrium. The Andaman–Sumatra subduction zone is one of the most seismically active corridors (possibly in metastable state) in the world. Recently, the region faced three major earthquakes of magnitude more than 8.5 (M ~ 9.1 on December 26, 2004; M ~ 8.6 on March 28, 2005; M ~ 8.6 on April 11, 2012). Researchers have suggested multiple causes of earthquake generation in this region including the one with possible correlation of tidal stresses with earthquake occurrences. The latter issue, however, has been hotly debated in view of the fact that a small stress generated due to tidal forcing cannot cause such a bigger magnitude earthquake. We study here the impact of tidal forcing on critically generated earthquake phenomena. We examined the statistical behavior of recurrence time interval of earthquakes using the available data for period of about 40 years from 1973 to 2013. We constrain the simple empirical toy model using the concept of catastrophe theory to evaluate the impact of small tidal forcing on the critical state of earthquakes occurrences. In addition to the major role of Helmholtz free energy during the plate motion, our analysis suggests that the stability and critical behavior of the earthquake in Sumatra region could be associated with tidal forcing, however, only for triggering of some of the “Catastrophic–Chaotic” earthquake phenomenon.

A chronology for glacial Lake Agassiz shorelines along Upham's namesake transect

Four traditionally recognized strandline complexes in the southern basin of glacial Lake Agassiz are the Herman, Norcross, Tintah and Campbell, whose names correspond to towns in west-central Minnesota that lie on a linear transect defined by the Great Northern railroad grade; the active corridor for commerce at the time when Warren Upham was mapping and naming the shorelines of Lake Agassiz (ca.1880–1895). Because shorelines represent static water planes, their extension around the lake margin establishes time-synchronous lake levels. Transitions between shoreline positions represent significant water-level fluctuations. However, geologic ages have never been obtained from sites near the namesake towns in the vicinity of the southern outlet. Here we report the first geologic ages for Lake Agassiz shorelines obtained at field sites along the namesake transect, and evaluate the emerging chronology in light of other paleoclimate records. Our current work from 11 sampling sites has yielded 16 independent ages. These results combined with a growing OSL age data set for Lake Agassiz's southern basin provide robust age constraints for the Herman, Norcross and Campbell strandlines with averages and standard deviations of 14.1±0.3ka, 13.6±0.2ka, and 10.5±0.3ka, respectively.

Interactions between river flows and colonizing vegetation on a braided river: exploring spatial and temporal dynamics in riparian vegetation cover using satellite data

ABSTRACTField, laboratory, and numerical modelling research are increasingly demonstrating the potential of riparian tree colonization and growth to influence fluvial dynamics and the evolution of fluvial landforms. This paper jointly analyses multi‐temporal, multispectral ASTER data, continuous river stage and discharge data, and field observations of the growth rates of the dominant riparian tree species (Populus nigra) along a 21 km reach of the Tagliamento River, Italy. Research focuses on the period 2004–2009, during which there was a bankfull flood on 24 October 2004, followed by 2 years with low water levels, nearly 2 years with only modest flow pulses, and then a final period from 15 August 2008 that included several intermediate to bankfull flow events. This study period of increasing flow disturbance allows the exploration of vegetation dynamics within the river's active corridor under changing flow conditions. The analysis demonstrates the utility of ASTER data for investigating vegetation dynamics along large fluvial corridors and reveals both spatial and temporal variations in the expansion, coalescence, and erosion of vegetated patches within the study reach. Changes in the extent of the vegetated area and its dynamics vary along the study reach. In sub‐reaches where riparian tree growth is vigorous, the vegetated area expands rapidly during time periods without channel‐shaping flows, and is subsequently able to resist erosion by bankfull floods. In contrast, in sub‐reaches where tree growth is less vigorous, the vegetated area expands at a slower rate and is more readily re‐set by bankfull flood events. This illustrates that the rate of growth of riparian trees is crucial to their ability to contribute actively to river corridor dynamics. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The topographic signature of vegetation development along a braided river: Results of a combined analysis of airborne lidar, color air photographs, and ground measurements

This paper combines archived remotely sensed data (airborne lidar and digital color air photographs) with nonsynchronous ground observations (including observations of topographic form and vegetation cover and growth) to test the hypothesis that colonization of exposed river sediments by riparian trees has an impact on channel form and to quantify any impact that is identified. This is achieved along a 21 km reach of the braided, gravel bed Tagliamento River, in northeast Italy, where the width of the braided corridor typically exceeds 800 m. Lidar data are analyzed to extract a 2 m resolution digital evolution model (DEM) and determine riparian vegetation extent, height, and structure within the active corridor. Aerial photographs are used to map the topography of the submerged parts of the corridor. These data are divided into 1 km length subreaches, which possess strong contrasts in vegetation height and extent. Joint analysis of vegetation and morphological properties of these subreaches reveals significant associations between vegetation properties and reach morphology. Residuals from a gamma function fitted to the topographic data for each subreach show a good fit with poorly vegetated reaches, but a weakening fit with increasing vegetation cover, largely as a result of the appearance of secondary peaks in the elevation frequency distribution associated with the heavily vegetated areas. Furthermore, the overall skewness and kurtosis of the elevation frequency distribution within each of the subreaches are both significantly correlated with vegetation extent, height, median elevation, and growth rate, indicating a clear topographic signature of vegetation development along this braided river that reflects sediment accumulation within and around the vegetated patches.

Relationships between tectonics, slope instability and climate change: Cosmic ray exposure dating of active faults, landslides and glacial surfaces in the SW Alps

In the Argentera massif (French Southern Alps), large active landslides develop along strike of an active corridor of dextral strike-slip faults revealed by shallow ongoing seismicity. Glacially polished bedrock outcrops are offset by right-lateral strike-slip faults. Gravitational structures appear to be spatially connected to these active faults. Dating using the in situ-produced 10Be cosmogenic nuclide performed on glacial, tectonic and gravity surfaces. The late glacial–interglacial Holocene transition is constrained by 10Be ages between 12 and 15ka obtained on glacially polished surfaces. The main tectonic activity closely post-dates the main deglaciation event and is constrained by 10Be ages of 11 and 7–8ka obtained on fault scarps. Three successive periods of landsliding are recognized, at 11–12, 7–9 and 2.5–5.5ka. These Holocene ages were obtained on right-lateral strike-slip fault scarps indicating that recent Alpine tectonics are expressed by transcurrent movements. The discussed close age relationship between deglaciation and a tectonic pulse may suggest that post-glacial rebound and enhanced pore water pressure do influence seismogenic tectonic activity. Gravitational destabilizations at 11–12 and 7–9ka are coincidental with the main tectonic activity, and suggest tectonic shaking as a landslide trigger. The third gravitational destabilization at 2.5–5.5ka could be attributed either to slope weakness resulting from multiple low-magnitude earthquake events, as currently revealed by the seismic activity or to climatic causes during the wetter optimum climatic period. These early and middle Holocene ages coincide with a phase of large landslide throughout the Alps scale which suggests that these large gravitational mass movements could be related to combined effects of intense tectonic activity and transitions form cold and dry period to warm and wetter phase.

Transitioning urban arterial roads to activity corridors

A new planning concept, the activity corridor, proposes changes to the management of Greater Perth's existing arterial road network. This raises the challenge of how to transition from arterial roads conceived around a vehicular traffic function to activity corridors conceived around the principles of place-making and accessibility by all modes. We examine the drivers for current and past design practice for arterial roads in cities of the developed world. Using a Perth case study, our research evaluates existing arterial roads looking at their physical, functional and social dimensions. Using this knowledge, we develop a management tool designed to guide the transition of appropriate urban arterials to activity corridors across the city region.