Surrounding Environment Research Articles

Geolocalization of apiaries in areas at risk of natural disasters using Geographic Information Systems in Villa Clara, Cuba

The honey bee depends on environmental conditions for its optimal development, its food base must be in healthy ecosystems and in equilibrium with diverse and abundant blooms, as well as abundant water. Cuba is exposed to different natural hazards and is affected every year by extreme meteorological phenomena. The objective of the study was to georeferenced apiaries in areas at risk to natural disasters in order to establish beekeeping reorganization and mitigation measures based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS). The work was carried out in Villa Clara province, Cuba. 100% of the apiaries and beehives were identified and an informative platform was created to locate them with the agroecosystem and their environment. The program Quantum GIS (QGIS, 2013) version 3.2.1 was used, a commercial and free GIS package for the basics of geospatial research, which made it possible to create an interactive platform of thematic layers for the evaluation and geographic analysis in relation to the apiaries and their environmental surroundings. The design of the information platform with thematic layers based on GIS facilitated the visualization of areas densely populated by beehives with bee colonies, the integral analysis of beekeeping agroecosystems, the identification and georeferencing of apiaries in areas at risk from natural disasters, and made it possible to establish measures for beekeeping reorganization and mitigation of meteorological events, such as flooding due to heavy rains, sea penetration, strong winds, and forest fires.

Harnessing the Power of Indigenous Zulu Music to Promote Language, Culture, and Diversity

Indigenous Zulu music is a reflection of the Zulu people’s cultural and environmental surroundings, incorporating natural sounds and rhythms that highlight their close relationship with nature. This article explores how this music promotes language, culture, and diversity within the Zulu community. Drawing on Cultural Ecology Theory, which underscores the link between culture and the environment, the study examines how Zulu music adapts to these contexts. Methodologically, this qualitative study relied on secondary data from accredited scholarly sources, including journals, books, online government bulletins, and academic databases. The systematic review process ensured data reliability and validity, emphasising the role of indigenous Zulu music in preserving language and cultural identity. The findings reveal that Zulu music, through its songs and performances, celebrates the Zulu language and conveys significant stories and myths. This cultural expression serves as a means of preservation, ensuring the continuity of Zulu heritage. Moreover, the article discusses how integrating Zulu music into modern contexts sustains cultural diversity in South Africa. By blending traditional and contemporary music, Zulu musicians broaden their audience and share their cultural richness. This integration fosters cultural sustainability and dialogue, enriching the cultural landscape. In conclusion, indigenous Zulu music plays a vital role in preserving language, culture, and diversity among the Zulu community. Through its celebration of language and cultural heritage, Zulu music fosters intercultural understanding and represents the cultural richness of the Zulu people.

RISK-TAKING PROPENSITY AND EMIGRATION DECISION-MAKING: A QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS

Risk-taking plays an important role for the psychological prediction of decision-making processes in a situation of uncertainty. The objective of this paper is to examine in-depth the association between risk-taking propensity as a personality tendency and emigration decision-making of young people. Although the correlation between risk-taking propensity and migration potential has been studied in some countries, it has not been examined to date in Bulgaria – an economy in transition. Furthermore, it was scrutinized neither in view of different risk domains (social, financial, health, ethical) nor in terms of desire, plan and preparation to move abroad as key aspects of the emigration decision-making process. The methods of in-depth calendar interviewing and qualitative data analysis were employed. Semi-structured calendar interviews (N=45) were carried out in June - November 2020 among young Bulgarian men (N=21) and women (N=24) aged 18-35 years from large, middle and small towns/villages in Bulgaria. The findings showed a positive association of risk-taking propensity and (e)migration decision-making. Respondents, identified as risk-seekers, were more likely to emigrate, compared to risk-avoiders. Social and financial domains of risk-taking turned out most closely associated with emigration decision-making. Young people, who were more willing to move away from their family, social surrounding and cultural environment, to improve their social-economic standing (education, income, career), were more positive about emigration and more likely to plan and prepare for relocation.  The findings have some important interdisciplinary implications both for psychological theory and for demographic policy.

RISK-TAKING PROPENSITY AND EMIGRATION DECISION-MAKING: A QUALITATIVE DATA ANALYSIS

Risk-taking plays an important role for the psychological prediction of decision-making processes in a situation of uncertainty. The objective of this paper is to examine in-depth the association between risk-taking propensity as a personality tendency and emigration decision-making of young people. Although the correlation between risk-taking propensity and migration potential has been studied in some countries, it has not been examined to date in Bulgaria – an economy in transition. Furthermore, it was scrutinized neither in view of different risk domains (social, financial, health, ethical) nor in terms of desire, plan and preparation to move abroad as key aspects of the emigration decision-making process. The methods of in-depth calendar interviewing and qualitative data analysis were employed. Semi-structured calendar interviews (N=45) were carried out in June - November 2020 among young Bulgarian men (N=21) and women (N=24) aged 18-35 years from large, middle and small towns/villages in Bulgaria. The findings showed a positive association of risk-taking propensity and (e)migration decision-making. Respondents, identified as risk-seekers, were more likely to emigrate, compared to risk-avoiders. Social and financial domains of risk-taking turned out most closely associated with emigration decision-making. Young people, who were more willing to move away from their family, social surrounding and cultural environment, to improve their social-economic standing (education, income, career), were more positive about emigration and more likely to plan and prepare for relocation.  The findings have some important interdisciplinary implications both for psychological theory and for demographic policy.

Optimal investment in driving automation: Individual vs. cooperative sensing

Connected automated vehicles (CAVs) use sensors to scan their surrounding environment in order to make safe and efficient motion decisions. The richness of a CAV’s vision depends on the configuration of on-board sensors and the ability of CAVs to share data with nearby vehicles. High-end sensors provide quality data, allowing CAVs to rely on their own sensors through individual sensing, and to become independent of other vehicles. In contrast, sensor data sharing enhances the collective vision of CAVs through cooperative sensing. This study investigates the trade-offs in the values and costs of individual versus cooperative sensing, and it proposes optimal investment strategies for short- and long-term planning. Exploiting the setting of a CAV-exclusive corridor, we propose two nonlinear programs to determine optimal investment in corridor capacity in the long-term, and to maximize social welfare in the short-term through road pricing. Capacity analysis shows disjointed investments in individual and cooperative sensing, first in the former until sensors reach a desired resolution, and then in the latter. Social welfare analysis shows travelers are granted a reward in certain settings, encouraging flows that achieve cooperative sensing. Such rewards are not observed in human-driven vehicle settings that cannot benefit from cooperative sensing.

Management of organic waste into liquid fertilizer and compost welcoming the blue economy of Rancabungur

Global waste management is estimated that every year, only 20% can be recycled or recovered. The rest is a problem because of the generation of waste that pollutes various ecosystems and has an impact on decreasing the value of environmental services. The blue economy concept of Rancabungur Village is a new discourse of development in Rancabungur that accelerates economic growth, community welfare, and environmental health. One of the efforts to increase economic growth is to increase public awareness of managing waste which can later produce economic value, creativity, and the environment. The purpose of this activity is to provide an understanding to the target audience about the importance of waste management, to socialize the importance of sorting waste, and to provide training on processing organic waste into organic liquid fertilizer and compost so that it can increase family income. This activity is carried out live and online. After getting material on waste management and management. The results show that participants who want to manage waste want their surrounding environment to be healthy and beautiful as much as 88.2%, followed by managing waste can make money as much as 48.5%, waste management 29.1%, trust management rate 20.6% and need a more detailed explanation 19.1%. This activity will provide solutions to problems that develop in the community, increasing people's income.

Sketch, Photo, Sound: Lived and Represented Space of the Child Experience in the Green Built Environments. Studying the Eco-districts in France

In contemporary forms of habitats and more precisely in the eco-districts, the nature presence becomes obviously dominant. The capacity of green infrastructure seems to welcome children in different urban typologies. The study crosses the effect of certain natural urban elements with the children sensory experiences that is reflected on specific behavioral attitudes taking place during the children’s free play. It draws the behavioral map of middle-aged children, about 5–12 years of age, in two selected eco-districts, in Paris suburbs and Grenoble, France, through multi-tasked qualitative methodologies. These collecting data methods include the following triad: children’s drawings, photographs, and sound recordings, where 16 sample were chosen for each. Reintroducing children in public spaces, seems crucial to investigate the form and type of young children’s presence in the Eco-Districts. Considered as special space users, the study aims to unveil the way they conceive, interact with, and experience their surrounding environment.

An Efficient Approach to Monocular Depth Estimation for Autonomous Vehicle Perception Systems

Depth estimation is critical for autonomous vehicles (AVs) to perceive their surrounding environment. However, the majority of current approaches rely on costly sensors, making wide-scale deployment or integration with present-day transportation difficult. This issue highlights the camera as the most affordable and readily available sensor for AVs. To overcome this limitation, this paper uses monocular depth estimation as a low-cost, data-driven strategy for approximating depth from an RGB image. To achieve low complexity, we approximate the distance of vehicles within the frontal view in two stages: firstly, the YOLOv7 algorithm is utilized to detect vehicles and their front and rear lights; secondly, a nonlinear model maps this detection to the corresponding radial depth information. It is also demonstrated how the attention mechanism can be used to enhance detection precision. Our simulation results show an excellent blend of accuracy and speed, with the mean squared error converging to 0.1. The results of defined distance metrics on the KITTI dataset show that our approach is highly competitive with existing models and outperforms current state-of-the-art approaches that only use the detected vehicle’s height to determine depth.

Efficiency of Bacteria-Based Self-Healing Mechanism in Concrete

Concrete is most widely used as an essential building material in the construction industry all over the globe. Concrete deteriorates over time, and cracks eventually form on its surface for many reasons, such as environmental surroundings and extra. This deterioration and cracks might lead to the ingress of water and chemicals that susceptible steel bars or reinforcements to corrosion. Since this deterioration is inevitable, maintenance and repair are also necessary. This process requires skilled labor and is cost-effective. Thus, researchers suggested alternative techniques to enhance concrete's mechanical properties and search for treatments to be applied to concrete's surface for healing and sealing the cracks by producing calcium carbonate precipitation. Therefore, self-healing concrete was introduced; this method is significant as it's proven environmentally friendly. This research aims to investigate the use of liquid bacteria incorporated in concrete mix and assess whether there would be improvements in the mechanical properties of the bacterial concrete compared to the conventional mix and an autogenous self-healing mix. Two different concentrations of an alkaliphile bacterium called Bacillus Subtilis were incorporated into the concrete mixes to test their ability to repair cracks by producing calcium carbonate and sealing them. This experiment showed a remarkable increase in bacterial concrete's compressive and tensile strengths. A visible partial crack sealing was also observed in specimens containing different concentrations of Bacillus Subtilis. Results also indicate that optimum results were obtained when the bacterial solution of concentration 108 cells/ml was incorporated, especially at early ages.

Prenatal exposure to bisphenol AF induced male offspring reproductive dysfunction by triggering testicular innate and adaptive immune responses

As an emerging endocrine-disrupting component with a chemical structure related to Bisphenol A (BPA), Bisphenol AF (BPAF) has become widely distributed in the environment and human surroundings. Although numerous studies have focused on its reproductive toxicity, the impact of prenatal BPAF exposure on the reproductive system of adult male offspring, particularly testicular morphology and function, as well as the underlying mechanisms, remains largely understudied. This study found prenatal BPAF exposure at a dose of 300 μg/kg b.w. induced a 32% loss of seminal vesicle weight, a 12% reduction in the anogenital distance index (AGI), and impairments to testicular morphology, such as a reduced diameter of seminiferous tubules and thickness of the seminiferous epithelium, as well as a more than 2 - fold decrease in testosterone level, and 41% and 19% reduction of sperm count and vitality, respectively, in the 10 week-old male offsprings. Testicular RNA-Seq data showed that 334 differential expressed genes (DEGs) were primarily involved in several immunological processes, including host defense response, innate and adaptive immune response, cellular response to interferon (IFN)-β and γ, antigen processing and presentation, regulation of T cell activation, etc. Importantly, our results revealed a pattern recognition receptor — absent in melanoma-2 (Aim2) was significantly increased in the testes of exposed males, thus triggering a testicular innate antiviral immunological response, leading to an increase of F4/80+ and CD11b+ macrophage. Subsequently, Aim2 activated the downstream signaling nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB), stimulated the transcription of IFN-β and -γ, and then induced cytokine production while upregulating MHC class II molecules to activate CD4+ and CD8+ Tcells, suggesting that an adaptive immune response was also elicited. The results demonstrated that prenatal BPAF exposure could provoke innate and adaptive immunological responses in the testes of adult males through the Aim2-NF-κB-IFNs signaling pathway. Our work provided insights into understanding the reproductive toxicity caused by BPAF and clarified the possible mechanisms, which offered a potential therapeutic target and treatment strategy for BPAF exposure-induced reproductive dysfunction.

CONCEPT ABOUT ABIIOGENIC THEORY OF OIL GENESIS

The article considers alternative arguments, that contradict the accepted the organic hypothesis of oil origin, which must be taken into account at carrying out of oil and gas prospecting works. These conclusions must be used in the exploratory oil and gas well engineering in nonconventional reservoir types. The substantiation of the inorganic genesis of oil and gas, the assumption about the current age of hydrocarbon formation is proposed. The oil of many modern deposits undergoes dynamic processes, exchanges matter, information, while in the reservoir. This is proven by the chemistry of hydrocarbon molecules, characteristic only of oil, and their increased content in the surround-ing geological environment. A brief strategy of prospecting and exploration of commercial hydrocarbon reserves is outlined. The basic geological conditions for the potential belonging of the structure to the oil trap have been established. The well-known drilling data of an oil field dedicated to the Krasnoleninsky arch of the West Siberian oil and gas province are presented. The prospecting and exploration of oil reservoir is considered as the removal of two uncertainties: dynamic and static. The prospecting for oil involves the removal of dynamic uncertainty, which is a derivative of oil discrete reproduction and the formation of an accumulation. Its result is difficult to reliably identify. Geo chemical characteristics and prerequisites are no less important markers for prospecting and exploration.

A Machine Learning Approach for Real-Time Wheel-Rail Interface Friction Estimation

Abstract Predicting friction at the wheel-rail interface is a key problem in the rail industry. Current forecasts give regional-level predictions, however, it is well known that friction conditions can change dramatically over a few hundred meters. In this study, we aimed to produce a proof-of-concept friction prediction tool which could be used on trains to give an indication of the limiting friction present at a precise location. To this end, field data including temperature, humidity, friction, and images were collected. These were used to fit a statistical model including effects of local environmental conditions, surroundings, and railhead state. The model predicted the friction well with an R2 of 0.97, falling to 0.96 for naive models in cross validation. With images and environmental data collected on a train, a real-time friction measurement would be possible.

The Effect of Mosque Acoustic Design and the Surrounding Environment on Prayer Health in Riyadh City Post-COVID-19

The Mosques in Saudi Arabia have recently witnessed a remarkable development in audio systems. However, residents complain about the high sound levels. This research aims to measure the sound level and study the factors that affect the noise in the interior and outdoor environment, health and management. The research utilizes a sound measuring device to determine inside and outside mosque noise, distribute a questionnaire to prayers at different times during the day, including at peak times. Three case studies in Riyadh. The result shows that the indoor sound level is above 60 ± 7 dB, which is within the limit. The maximum outdoor value exceeded the 68 ± 20 dB limit, and the minimum outdoor value was 58 ± 18 dB post-COVID-19. The research recommends reducing the level of noise The research results will be applied to manage sound levels inside the mosques using smart devices.

Research on The Impact of Ciliwung River Water on The Surrounding Environment in The DKI Jakarta Area

Ciliwung River flows through central Jakarta, passing through many residential and densely populated areas that cause heavy pollution in the Ciliwung River resulting from wastewater and solid waste. This research aims to know the water quality and pollution level in the Ciliwung river and determine the locations to install water quality online monitoring stations. The research method used in this study is to analyze the quality of water samples taken from several points of the Ciliwung River. The analysis results show that the Ciliwung river is highly polluted, especially in the areas going downstream of the river. In addition, the analysis results have determined 8 (eight) points/locations where the online water quality monitoring devices will be installed. Due to limited funds, however, only 3 (three) online monitoring devices are currently installed on site, representing upstream, middle, and downstream areas of the Ciliwung river.

When bioregionalisation emphasises the presence of vulnerable marine ecosystem indicator species in Nephrops fishing grounds: Evidence in the Bay of Biscay/Irish Sea continuum

Under the apparent homogeneity of soft-bottom ecosystems hides an heterogeneity of habitats driven by variations in sediment composition and environmental conditions.Using an extensive underwater video survey dataset, we explored the taxonomic diversity of soft-bottom Nephrops fishing grounds and their environmental drivers on a large latitudinal scale from the Bay of Biscay to the Irish Sea (Northeast Atlantic). Biogeographical network clustering highlighted indicator species of the different communities and a Between-Class Analysis characterised the abiotic factors influencing each community.Our analyses confirmed a biogeographical limit between the Bay of Biscay and the northern areas driven by a latitudinal temperature gradient and highlighting the distribution of Lusitanian and Boreal species. Mobile fish and crustaceans, and sessile filter-feeder assemblages differed along a depth, bottom current and fishing gradient. Some species assemblages covered the whole latitudinal range, implying a greater influence of optimal environmental surroundings rather than their geographical position. Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem indicator taxa such as Virgularia mirabilis and Pennatula phosphorea are potential indicator species of some clusters, while harvested species such as Nephrops norvegicus or mobile fish characterized other bioregions.Spatial knowledge produced in this study could be integrated as biodiversity layers together with fisheries activities layers in decision support tools such as Marine Spatial Planning in order to define compromise between conservational and fishing objectives. Outcomes of management scenarios would then consider the whole species stock (e.g. Nephrops) rather that local populations independently.

Error Covariance Estimation of 3D Point Cloud Registration Considering Surrounding Environment

To realize autonomous vehicle safety, it is important to accurately estimate the vehicle’s pose. As one of the localization techniques, 3D point cloud registration is commonly used. However, pose errors are likely to occur when there are few features in the surrounding environment. Although many studies have been conducted on estimating error distribution of 3D point cloud registration, the real environment is not reflected. This paper presents real-time error covariance estimation in 3D point cloud registration according to the surrounding environment. The proposed method provides multiple initial poses for iterative optimization in the registration method. Using converged poses in multiple searches, the error covariance reflecting the real environment is obtained. However, the initial poses were limited to directions in which the pose error was likely to occur. Hence, the limited search efficiently determined local optima of the registration. In addition, the process was conducted within 10 Hz, which is laser imaging detection and ranging (LiDAR) period; however, the execution time exceeded 100 ms in some places. Therefore, further improvement is necessary.

Kebijakan Pengelolaan Sampah Bernilai Ekonomi di Desa Tanjung Atap Barat Ogan Ilir

This activity addressed waste problems in Tanjung Atap Barat Village, Ogan Ilir Regency. The community has tried to deal with it, but it has not been optimal. Another reason is to increase public awareness of waste management so it becomes a medium to improve the economy and create a society’s legal awareness. Thus, what is village regulations' role in waste management in Tanjung Atap Barat village? What steps can be taken so that the waste problem in Tanjung Atap Barat village becomes of economic value? By following the Regulation of Tanjung Atap Barat Village Number 003 of 2020 About the Management of Household Waste and the Surrounding Environment, the community improves waste management in the village and raises awareness of environmental issues. Village Regulation Number 003 of 2020 has a system consisting of 14 chapters and 37 articles. If it is examined more deeply, waste has the potential to affect household income. Therefore, improvement can start through its citizens, especially women and the younger generation. Every household is involved in managing at least its own waste, socialization, training, mentoring, and direct practice to increase public understanding and knowledge in handling waste into economic value. Especially in Tanjung Atap Barat village, it has started with placing trash cans in every house. Also, waste is segregated by its type: plastic, paper, and household waste.

Examining ecosystem (dis-)services on liver fluke infection in rural Northeast Thailand

BackgroundThe direct reliance of humans on and their interactions with freshwater ecosystems in the Lower Mekong Basin have given rise to parasitic infections, which is particularly prevalent in Northeast Thailand where raw fish consumption is practiced. This study examined the interactions between environments, ecosystem (dis-)services, human raw fish consumption habits, and raw fish dish sharing on liver fluke infection risk.MethodWater fecal contents and the first intermediate snail host were sampled between June and September of 2019. One hundred twenty questionnaires were surveyed in two villages of different environmental surroundings, one next to a river and the other located inland, in Northeast Thailand. Multivariate regression analyses using linear mixed effect models assessed the influence of social, behavioral and perceptual factors on raw fish consumption frequency, willingness to avoid consumption and liver fluke infection status. Social network analysis compared the degree of raw fish dish sharing between the villages and assessed the probable influence of connections to fish procurement locations and sharing activities on liver fluke infection risk.ResultsHigh abundance of the first intermediate snail host and presence of fecal contamination in water could endanger both villages to ecosystem disservices of parasitic transmission. The river-side village relied more on provisioning ecosystem services than the inland village (29.7% vs. 16.1% of villages) to consume raw fish as their main source of protein. Males in both villages (64.5 and 40.4 days/year for the respective villages) are also likely to consume koi pla and pla som, higher risk fish dishes, more frequently than females (4.1 and 4.3 days/year for the respective villages). The consumption habits of both villages were driven mostly by deriving cultural ecosystem services. Participation in raw fish dish sharing activities significantly reduced the odds of an individual being willing to avoid the consumption (Odds ratio = 0.19). Network analysis suggested that river-side villagers had a more direct raw fish dish sharing interaction and they procured fish from multiple locations; these characteristics might potentially account for more liver fluke infected households in the village.ConclusionVillagers’ raw fish consumption is driven by deriving cultural ecosystem services, and the geographic settings of the villages potentially affect villagers’ fish procurement locations and infection risk. The findings underscore the linkages between villagers and their surrounding ecosystem environments as pertinent determinants for foodborne parasitic disease risk.Graphical

Sr2+ doped CsPbBrI2 perovskite nanocrystals coated with ZrO2 for applications as white LEDs

Perovskite nanocrystals (NCs) feature adjustable bandgap, wide absorption range, and great color purity for robust perovskite optoelectronic applications. Nevertheless, the absence of lasting stability under continues energization, is still a major hurdle to the widespread use of NCs in commercial applications. In particular, the reactivity of red-emitting perovskites to environmental surroundings is more sensitive than that of their green counterparts. Here, we present a simple synthesis of ultrathin ZrO2 coated, Sr2+ doped CsPbBrI2 NCs. Introducing divalent Sr2+ may significantly eliminate Pb° surface traps, whereas ZrO2 encapsulation greatly improves environmental stability. The photoluminescence quantum yield of the Sr2+-doped CsPbBrI2/ZrO2 NCs was increased from 50.2% to 87.2% as a direct consequence of the efficient elimination of Pb° surface defects. Moreover, the thickness of the ZrO2 thin coating gives remarkable heat resistance and improved water stability. Combining CsPbSr0.3BrI2/ZrO2 NCs in a white light emitting diode (LED) with an excellent optical efficiency (100.08 lm W−1), high and a broad gamut 141% (NTSC) standard. This work offers a potential method to suppress Pb° traps by doping with Sr 2+and improves the performance of perovskite NCs by ultrathin coating structured ZrO2, consequently enabling their applicability in commercial optical displays.

Graph Neural Networks in IoT: A Survey

The Internet of Things (IoT) boom has revolutionized almost every corner of people’s daily lives: healthcare, environment, transportation, manufacturing, supply chain, and so on. With the recent development of sensor and communication technology, IoT artifacts, including smart wearables, cameras, smartwatches, and autonomous systems can accurately measure and perceive their surrounding environment. Continuous sensing generates massive amounts of data and presents challenges for machine learning. Deep learning models (e.g., convolution neural networks and recurrent neural networks) have been extensively employed in solving IoT tasks by learning patterns from multi-modal sensory data. Graph neural networks (GNNs), an emerging and fast-growing family of neural network models, can capture complex interactions within sensor topology and have been demonstrated to achieve state-of-the-art results in numerous IoT learning tasks. In this survey, we present a comprehensive review of recent advances in the application of GNNs to the IoT field, including a deep dive analysis of GNN design in various IoT sensing environments, an overarching list of public data and source codes from the collected publications, and future research directions. To keep track of newly published works, we collect representative papers and their open-source implementations and create a Github repository at GNN4IoT.