Geographical Terrain Research Articles

Spatial Structured Prediction Models: Applications, Challenges, and Techniques

Spatial structure patterns are prevalent in many real-world data and applications. For example, in biochemistry, the geometric topology of a molecular surface indicates protein functions; in hydrology, irregular geographic terrains and topography on the Earth’s surface control water flows and distributions; in civil engineering, wetland parcels in remote sensing imagery are often made up of contiguous patches. Spatial structured prediction aims to learn a prediction model whose input and output data contain a spatial structure. Modeling spatial structural information in prediction models is critical for interdisciplinary applications due to two reasons. First, explicit spatial structural information often indicates the underlying physical process, and thus enhances model interpretability. Second, spatial structural constraints also have positive side-effects of enhancing model robustness against noise and obstacles and regularizing model learning when training labels are limited. However, spatial structured prediction also poses several unique challenges, such as the existence of implicit spatial structure in continuous space, structural complexity in geometric topology, and high computational costs. Over the years, various techniques have been proposed for spatial structured prediction in different applications. This paper aims to provide an overview of the spatial structured prediction problem. We provide a taxonomy of techniques based on the underlying approaches. We also discuss several future research directions. The paper can potentially not only help interdisciplinary researchers find relevant techniques but also help machine learning researchers identify new research opportunities.

Uncrewed aircraft systems versus motorcycles to deliver laboratory samples in west Africa: a comparative economic study

Transportation of laboratory samples in low-income and middle-income countries is often constrained by poor road conditions, difficult geographical terrain, and insecurity. These constraints can lead to long turnaround times for laboratory diagnostic tests and hamper epidemic control or patient treatment efforts. Although uncrewed aircraft systems (UAS)-ie, drones-can mitigate some of these transportation constraints, their cost-effectiveness compared with land-based transportation systems is unclear. We did a comparative economic study of the costs and cost-effectiveness of UAS versus motorcycles in Liberia (west Africa) for transportation of laboratory samples under simulated routine conditions and public health emergency conditions (based on the 2013-16 west African Ebola virus disease epidemic). We modelled three UAS with operational ranges of 30 km, 65 km, and 100 km (UAS30, UAS65, and UAS100) and lifespans of 1000 to 10 000 h, and compared the costs and number of samples transported with an established motorcycle transportation programme (most commonly used by the Liberian Ministry of Health and the charity Riders for Health). Data for UAS were obtained from Skyfire (a UAS consultancy), Vayu (a UAS manufacturer), and Sandia National Laboratories (a private company with UAS research experience). Motorcycle operational data were obtained from Riders for Health. In our model, we included costs for personnel, equipment, maintenance, and training, and did univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses for UAS lifespans, range, and accident or failures. Under the routine scenario, the per sample transport costs were US$0·65 (95% CI 0·01-2·85) and $0·82 (0·56-5·05) for motorcycles and UAS65, respectively. Per-sample transport costs under the emergency scenario were $24·06 (95% CI 21·14-28·20) for motorcycles, $27·42 (95% CI 19·25-136·75) for an unadjusted UAS model with insufficient geographical coverage, and $34·09 (95% CI 26·70-127·40) for an adjusted UAS model with complementary motorcycles. Motorcycles were more cost-effective than short-range UAS (ie, UAS30). However, with increasing range and operational lifespans, UAS became increasingly more cost-effective. Given the current level of technology, purchase prices, equipment lifespans, and operational flying ranges, UAS are not a viable option for routine transport of laboratory samples in west Africa. Field studies are required to generate evidence about UAS lifespan, failure rates, and performance under different weather conditions and payloads. None.

Development of Scaled Real Time Augmented Reality Sandbox

This paper presents a scaled version of Augmented Reality Sandbox (ARSAND). Original ARSAND consist of short throw projector, Kinect 3D camera, dedicated computer with high end graphic card and sandbox. ARSAND has been gaining recognition and popularity for its rapid and accurate capabilities in designing landscapes and simulating geographical real-world terrain. The proposed scaled version of the ARSAND consists of ultra-short throw projector with different configuration, Kinect 3D camera, dedicated computer with high end graphic card, and calibrated sandbox with less amount of sand. The proposed scaled version of ARSAND is able to perform basic functions of the original ARSAND such as simulating real-world terrain and rain fall.

Identifying critical source areas using multiple methods for effective diffuse pollution mitigation

Diffuse pollution from agriculture constitutes a key pressure on the water quality of freshwaters and is frequently the cause of ecological degradation. The problem of diffuse pollution can be conceptualised with a source-mobilisation-pathway (or delivery)-impact model, whereby the combination of high source risk and strong connected pathways leads to ‘critical source areas’ (CSAs). These areas are where most diffuse pollution will originate, and hence are the optimal places to implement mitigation measures. However, identifying the locations of these areas is a key problem across different spatial scales within catchments. A number of approaches are frequently used for this assessment, although comparisons of these assessments are rarely carried out. We evaluate the CSAs identified via traditional walkover surveys supported by three different approaches, highlighting their benefits and disadvantages. These include a custom designed smartphone app; a desktop geographic information system (GIS) and terrain analysis-based SCIMAP (Sensitive Catchment Integrated Modelling and Analysis Platform) approach; and the use of a high spatial resolution drone dataset as an improved input data for SCIMAP modelling. Each of these methods captures the locations of the CSAs, revealing similarities and differences in the prioritisation of CSA features. The differences are due to the temporal and spatial resolution of the three methods such as the use of static land cover information, the ability to capture small scale features, such as gateways and the incomplete catchment coverage of the walkover survey. The relative costs and output resolutions of the three methods indicate that they are suitable for application at different catchment scales in conjunction with other methods. Based on the results in this paper, it is recommended that a multi-evidence-based approach to diffuse pollution management is taken across catchment spatial scales, incorporating local knowledge from the walkover with the different data resolutions of the SCIMAP approach.

Writing Place: Mimesis, Subjectivity and Imagination in the Works of George Gissing, by Rebecca Hutcheon

Reviewed by: Writing Place: Mimesis, Subjectivity and Imagination in the Works of George Gissing by Rebecca Hutcheon Tom Ue (bio) Writing Place: Mimesis, Subjectivity and Imagination in the Works of George Gissing, by Rebecca Hutcheon; pp. xiv + 233. London and New York: Routledge, 2018, £120.00, $145.00. Midway through Veranilda (1904), George Gissing's unfinished novel about Rome in the sixth century, we learn about the hero Basil's roots and how poorly his privileged position had prepared him for his beloved Veranilda's disappearance and for the war between the Roman emperor Justinian and the Gothic king Totila. Gissing explains how Basil's "dispirited idleness" is occasioned by want of a bath: "for all the Roman's exercises and amusements were associated with the practice of luxurious bathing, and without that refreshment the gymnasium, the tennis-court, the lounge, no longer charmed as before" ([The Harvester Press, 1987], 153). Once responsible for the cleanliness of the Romans and for promoting social interaction, the bath is now a relic, and vanishing with it is a way of life to which Basil had grown accustomed: "Now, to enter the Thermae was to hear one's footsteps resound in a marble wilderness; to have statues for companions and a sense of ruin for one's solace" (153). Places, as we see here, serve multiple rhetorical functions: the Thermae enables Basil (and Gissing) to reminisce about earlier and better times. Its abandonment leads to the changes in Basil's appearance and colors his current views. Basil's lament for, and internalization of, such losses—he "thought more than the average Roman about these changes" (153)—liken him to the cast of sensitive and conscientious figures that people Gissing's fiction, characters who, like Edwin Reardon and Henry Ryecroft, have felt the weight of the world on their shoulders. This episode would have been at home in Rebecca Hutcheon's rich and insightful study, Writing Place: Mimesis, Subjectivity and Imagination in the Works of George Gissing, which attends to some of the ways in which Gissing resists clear spatial demarcations and which illuminates some of the nuances in his writing. "In Gissing," Hutcheon argues, "sites are subject to shifts and fluxes that challenge the reader's preset expectations" (2). Gissing ruminated on these [End Page 492] dynamics throughout his career. In the essay "On Battersea Bridge," which appeared in the Pall Mall Gazette (30 November 1883) many years before he wrote Veranilda, he describes pedestrians heading home, "too weary to spend one thought upon the noble picture to be seen for a turning of the head" (Collected Essays, edited by Pierre Coustillas [Grayswood Press, 2015], 102). The first-person narrator finds company in a working man, who "was more awake to leisurely sympathies than his fellows" (104). The narrator projects his own interests onto his neighbor, imagining him to be of like mind. The conceit, of course, is that no two people can see the same thing in the same way. When the man notices the narrator's appeal, he nods downward, and observes, "Throws up a deal o'mud don't it?" (104). Identification does not necessarily mean consensus, and Gissing, even in this early essay, suggests dialogic relationships between literature and geography, between seeing and reading. Scholarship by Michelle Elizabeth Allen, Richard Dennis, Jason Finch, Jeremy Tambling, David Welsh, Julian Wolfreys, Tim Youngs, and others has opened new ways of reading Gissing geographically. Yet, as Hutcheon suggests, criticism has routinely revolved around three dominant strands—biography, the urban, and chronology—all of which imply mimesis. These narrow foci may spur us to overlook some of the imaginative aspects of Gissing's fiction and to concentrate on a select number of texts and locations. Writing Place contributes to scholarship by canvasing larger literary and geographical terrains. The four chapters assembled here examine Gissing's treatment of the North and the South, London in the 1880s, the country, and the Mediterranean. The conclusion offers a spatial chronology by considering representative works from three phases of Gissing's career. The rewards of this study lie in Hutcheon's ability to extract every drop of meaning from different passages, the poetic quality of her own...

A Study on the Size of Encirclement Space According to Coastal of Geographical Names and Terrain in Korea

A Study on the Size of Encirclement Space According to Coastal of Geographical Names and Terrain in Korea

Levels of Health Care and Health Outcomes in Northeast India

This article investigates basic parameters of health, namely health profile, health infrastructure, health expenditure and health care utilization in Northeast India and provides an analysis of regional disparities in health care sector. Health profile is represented through different health indicators like crude birth rate, infant mortality rate, total fertility rate and so on in the region. The status of Sub Centres, Primary Health Centres and Community Health Centres with their various facilities and manpower resources indicates better performance of most Northeastern states compared to the rest of India. However, in practice, the health centres in Northeast India do not fulfil some of the objectives and norms of Indian Public Health Standards. Further, the coefficient of variation shows the regional disparities is widening and worsening for health workforce in Northeast India. The geographic condition and inaccessible terrain of Northeast India seems to be a constraint, among others, in providing health infrastructure in the region.

Health Services Related Factors Influencing Utilization of Antenatal Care (ANC) Services among Expectant Women in Turkana County, Kenya

Antenatal Care (ANC) is a strategic intervention for promoting safe motherhood and reducing maternal mortality and morbidity. A woman dies every minute due to pregnancy-related complications whereas developing countries account for 99% of the global maternal deaths. Low utilization of antenatal care services remains a key indicator of maternal mortality and morbidity in some parts of Kenya like Turkana County where the geographical terrain is complex as well other social and cultural implications that pose significant risks to pregnant women. The purpose of the study was to assess health service-related factors influencing the utilization antenatal care (ANC) services among expectant women in Turkana County, Kenya. The study was carried out in Lodwar County Referral Hospital (LCRH) among pregnant women attending ANC clinic at LCRH and nurses working in the Maternal and Child Health department. Structured questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data involving 297 women and selected using simple random sampling while qualitative data involving 3 nurses working in maternal and child health department was selected purposively and collected using in-depth interviews. Majority of the respondents (48%) were aged 25-35 years, were married (73%), Christians (83%), and had primary education (51%). Quality of services was significantly associated with the utilization of antenatal care services (χ2=12.950; df=6; p=0.044*). There was no significant association between ANC utilization and the means of transport to seek ANC services (χ2=3.411; df=4; p=0.179) and where ANC services are accessed (χ2=1.590; df=4; p=0.452).Women’s attitude towards the ANC services and good communication between the health staff and clients also influence women to seek antenatal services. The study recommends the need to train health workers providing antenatal care services not only on clinical skills but also on client-provider interaction in order to ensure quality and professional delivery of ANC services.

Changes of vegetation carbon sequestration in the tableland of Loess Plateau and its influencing factors.

The variations of vegetation carbon sequestration have become a gauge for evaluating the ecological effect of vegetation restoration. In this study, the spatiotemporal patterns of the net ecosystem production (NEP) were simulated using an improved CASA model and GSMSR model. It showed that the NEP markedly increased in the tableland of Loess Plateau during 2003-2012, with an annual average growth of 3.65g C·m-2a-1. The mixed broadleaf-conifer forest ranked first (127.23g C·m-2a-1) while the bare land and sparse vegetation presented the lowest carbon sequestration (14.64g C·m-2a-1). The NEP manifested a significantly uneven overall spatial distribution: high in the southwest and low in the northeast. The spatial variations of NEP resulted from the combined effects of geographic position, terrain, meteorology, and soil and vegetation, respectively. Quantitative isolation revealed that the most dominant factor of vegetation carbon sequestration was soil and vegetation, while terrain exerted insignificant impacts on the NEP.

Morbidity profile of the patients attending the health camp in Ramanagar district, Karnataka

Background: Free health camp is an important means to cater health services to the needy people in an underdeveloped county like India with difficult geographical terrain. The objective of this study was to assess the morbidities of patients attending the free health camp in Ramanagara District, Karnataka.Methods: A cross sectional descriptive study was conducted at free health camp in Jogaradoddi, Ramanagara District, Karnataka, by the staff and interns of department of community medicine of a medical college. All the individuals who attended the camp were included in the study. Patients who attended the health checkup camp were assessed for morbidity. Data collected by semi structured questionnaire was entered into Microsoft Excel and analyzed using SPSS version-17.0.Results: A total of 123 patients visited the health camp, among them 68(55.28%) of them were males and 55 (44.71%) were females. 41 (33.8%) were in the age group of 21-30 years. Majority were skilled workers with 30(26.1%), 18 (15.7%) were unemployed and only 1 (0.9%) were professionals .About 47 (46.1%) had normal body mass index, 26 (25.5%) were overweight, 10 (9.8%) were obese and 19 (18.6%) were underweight. It was observed that diseases with musculoskeletal system and gastrointestinal system were reported among 35 (28.5%) and 20 (16.3%) of the attendees respectively, 9 (7.7%) individuals presented with hypertension, 6 (5.5%) with diabetes mellitus.Conclusions: The study helped identify the common diseases in the selected area, improve the health, provide counselling and create awareness at the community level.

Testing a multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicle for spray application in high slope terraced vineyard

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being increasingly used for the spraying of pesticides for crop protection in complex geographic terrains that are not easily accessible by operators. This experiment was conducted to investigate the sprayer performance of a commercial UAV, equipped with different types of nozzles, and compare this new technology with the sprayers usually used on small size mountain vineyards (i.e. a knapsack sprayer and a sprayer gun). Field tests were conducted in a small high slope terraced vineyard. The operative parameters of the sprayers were calculated. Data on droplet coverage, density and size were collected by using water sensitive papers attached with clips to the leaves and analysed. The results showed that the working capacity of the UAV was 2-fold that of the sprayer gun 1.6-fold that of the knapsack sprayer. Droplet coverage, density and size were variable and affected by the position of the targets (water sensitive papers) and the type of sprayer used.

A Comparative Economic Study on the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems versus Motorcycles to Transport Laboratory Samples in Liberia

Background: Laboratory sample transport in low and middle income countries is constrained by poor roads, difficult geographical terrain, and insecurity. This often leads to delayed laboratory diagnostic turn-around times, and hampers epidemic control or patient treatment efforts. While unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, may mitigate some of these transportation constraints, their cost-effectiveness relative to land-based transportation systems is unclear. Methods: We compared the costs and cost-effectiveness of UAS versus motorcycles in Liberia for laboratory sample transportation under routine and public health emergency conditions. We modeled three UAS systems with operational ranges of 30 km, 65 km, and 100 km, and compared them to an established motorcycle transport system. We included personnel, equipment, maintenance, and training costs, and conducted univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses for equipment operational lifespans, operational range, and accident/failure rates. Findings: Under the routine scenario, the per sample transport costs are $0·65 ($0·10:$2·85) for motorcycles and $0·82 ($0·66:$5·05) for UAS. Per sample costs under the emergency scenario are $24·06 ($21·14:$28·20) for motorcycles and $34·09 ($26·70: $127·40) for UAS. Motorcycles are more cost-effective than UAS under most scenarios with the exception of 100 km range aircraft with operational lifespans of more than 3,000 hours and prices less than $15,000. Interpretation: Given the current level of technology, purchase prices, equipment lifespans, and operational flying ranges, UAS are less cost-effective than motorcycles for routine transport of laboratory samples in Liberia. Field studies are needed to generate evidence on UAS lifespan, failure rates and performance under various weather conditions and payloads. Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this paper. Declaration of Interest: The authors of this paper declare no financial conflicts of interest. Ethical Approval: We did not seek IRB approval consistent with Human Research Protection Policy {45CFR46.101(b)(4)}.

Factors influencing health managers’ acceptance of eHealth services in Saudi Arabia

Introduction: The World Health Organization (WHO) refers to the term of Electronic Health (eHealth) as “the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for health”. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) where difficult geographical terrain makes the delivery of healthcare services challenging, eHealth offers innovative solutions for improving the access and management of healthcare delivery. Health managers are professionals with responsibility for services, resources and partnership in healthcare including eHealth. They are drawn from a range of backgrounds, many are clinicians employed in health management roles. For the purpose of gaining a deeper and broader understanding of the questions under investigation, this doctoral study has been planned to be carried out in three sequential phases in which findings from each phase informs the next one. A systematic review (SR) of the status of eHealth in Saudi Arabia from the perspectives of multiple professionals was the first phase. It was conducted in 2017. Findings showed that despite the growth of eHealth services in KSA, research publications related to the end-users’ acceptance/intention to use services remains scarce. Thirty-nine influencing factors to the acceptance and use of eHealth services were identified and similarities and differences between these outcomes and what had been found from other studies such as were highlighted.

Haifa: City of Steps by Nili Scharf Gold

Reviewed by: Haifa: City of Steps by Nili Scharf Gold Karen Grumberg Nili Scharf Gold. Haifa: City of Steps. Waltham, MA: Brandeis University Press, 2018. 266 pp. doi:10.1017/S036400941900028X Nili Scharf Gold's Haifa: City of Steps crosses conventional academic boundaries, interweaving autobiography with analyses of architecture, urban planning, and literature. It joins other personally inspired explorations of place in Hebrew literature, such as Ranen Omer-Sherman's Imagining the Kibbutz: Visions of Utopia in Literature and Film. Gold's book, which is more emphatically autobiographical, is extensively researched and rooted in a variety of historical records, oral and written, that she worked diligently to access. This scholarly rigor is balanced by a lively writing style that transitions smoothly among Gold's different roles, from historian to storyteller to memoirist to literary scholar. In her introduction, Gold outlines the temporal and geographic terrain of the book: part of the Hadar ha-Carmel neighborhood, "the most important Jewish neighborhood in Haifa," from 1948 to 1966 (70). While the book deviates from this terrain to wander farther afield in time and space, it is focused on the Haifa of Gold's memory and experience and is thus concerned with Jewish and Hebrew Haifa, acknowledging political currents mostly in the background of its more immediate concerns with the buildings, streets, and institutions serving the Jews of Hadar ha-Carmel. A map opens each chapter, accentuating the significance of microgeography in Gold's analyses. Haifa's distinctive, lyrical landscape of slope and sea permeates the study. Haifa begins with an introduction that provides a historical and an autobiographical foundation for the five chapters that follow. The chapters are organized spatially, beginning with the western edge of Hadar ha-Carmel, the site of Gold's first home. This first chapter examines kav ha-tefer, the seamline, where during the British Mandate period the older Al Burj neighborhood bordered the developing Hadar ha-Carmel. The area offered a convenient location for government buildings, and these—city hall and the courthouse, as well as other public landmarks, such as the Zion hotel, and private ones, like the author's first house—are the chapter's focus. In this as in subsequent chapters, Gold provides meticulous historical detail about important city officials involved in Haifa's development, the buildings, their architects, and the circumstances surrounding their planning and [End Page 237] construction, as well as her own family's engagement with these structures. The second chapter examines the Technion, the prestigious Technological Institute of Israel, as the heart of Hadar ha-Carmel specifically and of Jewish Haifa as a whole. This chapter intersperses an account of the Technion's construction with the civic life that sprouted around it, as encapsulated in several buildings, such as cafes, the Clock House, and the business center. Gold considers this architectural constellation through the influence and legacy of the architect who designed the Technion, Alexander Baerwald. The third chapter shifts gears, elaborating on the steps clinging to the city's sloping topography, its most characteristic architectural element. The "meeting of human and mountain" that Gold identifies therein is particularly apparent in the area of the Talpiot market, where, she writes, "the geography takes on a quasi-emotional quality that is physically felt with every stair and interval down the slope" (107). Such observations, and the spatial analysis that supports them, lend the book an intimacy not often encountered in scholarly studies. Gold does not consider theories of space and place in this study, choosing a more historical approach; however, those familiar with the theories of Yi-Fu Tuan and other humanistic geographers concerned with the experiential or phenomenological dimensions of space and place will recognize affinities to Gold's approach to spatiality. In this chapter, centered on the theme of steps, Gold is at her most compelling and dynamic. She begins with a lengthy discussion of the Talpiot market, an important site in the quotidian lives of Haifa's residents. From there, she moves to the fascinating relationship between the market's Viennese Jewish architect, Moshe Gerstel, and the wealthy Arab developer Hajj Tahir Karaman. She then recalls her father's shop in the Bet Talpiot building and her own...

Performance and Institutional Delivery Capacity of Key Road Sector Agencies in Uganda

Sustainable development of road infrastructure can be achieved by establishing autonomous institutions. The road network must operate efficiently so that activities, operations and movements are conducted seamlessly. Competent institutions are required to achieve this goal. Unfortunately, the roads subsector in Uganda is facing numerous challenging empirics: nascent and emerging institutions, high unit rate cost of road works, traffic jams, overloading, harsh climatic conditions, varied geographic terrain, inadequate drainage, and lack of timely maintenance, lack of policy guidelines, overlapping mandates, fragmentation of planning, inadequate numbers of trained and experienced staff, lack of centralized database, shortage of financial resources, weak corporate governance, delayed procurements, over reliance on foreign expertise, and corruption. The main objective of this paper was therefore to review the institutional capability, organizational capacity and professional competence of road sector-specific agencies. The methodology used included; documentation review, meetings, interviews, questionnaires, participatory workshops, and field work. It was established that balanced economic and development status of the country was directly related to its road network. It was found that the total length of road network was 146,400km of which less than 5% was paved, comprising: national, district, urban and rural roads. It was further found that the road sector was a major driver of economic social transformation since it: links the producer with the consumer, promotes economies of scale and specialization, saves time, facilitates exploitation of natural resources, promotes industrial development, encourages agricultural linkages, facilitates defense good governance and security, promotes tourism, social and cultural activities. These were regarded as being meritorious. It is recommended that since the roads sector serves multiple purposes, but is always changing, radical but flexible solutions be continuously proposed. The main conclusion is that there is still a lot of work to be done to improve all road sector-specific institutions in the country.

Studies on the Distribution Characteristics of the Cloud-to-Ground Lightning and Its Disasters Prevention in Xinjiang, China in 2017

Xinjiang, China is affected by geographical terrain and other factors, and is prone to lightning disasters. In order to effectively carry out lightning protection and disaster reduction work and improve defense capabilities, based on the data of lightning location monitoring in Xinjiang in 2017 and the statistics reports of the lightning disasters from 2015 to 2017, the characteristics of the cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning activities and disasters in Xinjiang were statistically analyzed. The results show that the CG lightning in Xinjiang is mainly the negative one, accounting for 79.7% of the total lightning. In 2017, the distribution of positive, negative and total the CG lightning months mainly focuses on June to August, and the main occurrence period is from 14 to 23 hours. The intensity of total the CG lightning and negative the CG lightning mainly distributes from 20 to 40 kA, and the peak value appears in 30 kA. The CG lightning intensity is mainly distributed in 30 - 70 kA. The distribution of the CG lightning density in Xinjiang is larger in the north than in the south and larger in the west than in the east. Lightning disasters mainly occur from May to August, accounting for 93.2 percent of the total, with the largest number in June. From 2005 to 2017, 44.6% of lightning accidents occurred in farming and pastoral areas, followed by civil electronic equipment damage. In addition, electrical equipment, buildings and factory equipment are damaged by lightning strikes to varying degrees.

A Comparative Economic Study on the Use of Unmanned Aerial Systems versus Motorcycles to Transport Laboratory Samples in Liberia

Background: Laboratory sample transport in low and middle income countries is constrained by poor roads, difficult geographical terrain, and insecurity. This often leads to delayed laboratory diagnostic turn-around times, and hampers epidemic control or patient treatment efforts. While unmanned aerial systems (UAS), commonly known as drones, may mitigate some of these transportation constraints, their cost-effectiveness relative to land-based transportation systems is unclear. Methods: We compared the costs and cost-effectiveness of UAS versus motorcycles in Liberia for laboratory sample transportation under routine and public health emergency conditions. We modeled three UAS systems with operational ranges of 30 km, 65 km, and 100 km, and compared them to an established motorcycle transport system. We included personnel, equipment, maintenance, and training costs, and conducted univariate and probabilistic sensitivity analyses for equipment operational lifespans, operational range, and accident/failure rates. Findings: Under the routine scenario, the per sample transport costs are $0·65 ($0·10:$2·85) for motorcycles and $0·82 ($0·66:$5·05) for UAS. Per sample costs under the emergency scenario are $24·06 ($21·14:$28·20) for motorcycles and $34·09 ($26·70: $127·40) for UAS. Motorcycles are more cost-effective than UAS under most scenarios with the exception of 100 km range aircraft with operational lifespans of more than 3,000 hours and prices less than $15,000. Interpretation: Given the current level of technology, purchase prices, equipment lifespans, and operational flying ranges, UAS are less cost-effective than motorcycles for routine transport of laboratory samples in Liberia. Field studies are needed to generate evidence on UAS lifespan, failure rates and performance under various weather conditions and payloads. Funding: The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship, and publication of this paper. Declaration of Interest: The authors of this paper declare no financial conflicts of interest. Ethical Approval: We did not seek IRB approval consistent with Human Research Protection Policy {45CFR46.101(b)(4)}.

A People's History of Malaysia

A People's History of Malaysia Felice Noelle Rodriguez and Jomo Kwame Sundaram Syed Husin Ali Petaling Jaya: SIRD for Pusat Sejarah Rakyat, 2018. ISBN 9789672165101 Syed Husin Ali's book is the most important alternative national historical narrative of Malaysia available. It is written very much in the spirit of the late Renato Constantino's The Nationalist Alternative,1 translated into Malay as Pilihan Nasionalis.2 Why is this nationalist narrative still important more than six decades after Merdeka for Malaya in 1957? For at least two reasons. First, because Malaysia is a product of imperialism and anti-colonialism. Malaysia today is not some 'natural' cultural or geographic entity. Rather, like most former colonial countries, it is a product of earlier globalizations, especially the British empire, preceded by the Portuguese conquest of Melaka from 1511, and then the Dutch conquest in 1641. Without being legally pedantic, British colonialism was episodic and uneven, memorialized by history books as the Straits Settlements from almost two centuries ago, the Federated Malay States of Perak, Selangor, Negri Sembilan and Pahang from the late 19th century, and the Unfederated Malay States of Johor and the former Siamese-ruled northern states of Kelantan, Terengganu, Kedah and the British-created buffer of Perlis. Although Labuan was a British colony earlier, where the Torrens land registration system was first tried in the British empire, Sabah came under the chartered British North Borneo Company in the late nineteenth century with the 'consent' of the Sultan of Sulu. Over time, James Brooke and his descendants gained control of Sarawak after defeating 'native resistance'. Sarawak was their reward from the Sultan of Brunei, which gave its name to the island of Borneo. [End Page 137] Malaysia3 was proposed by the British, via Tunku Abdul Rahman, as a convenient post-colonial arrangement to 'reliably' govern British possessions in Southeast Asia, before the withdrawal of Brunei before its formation in 19634 and Singapore in 1965, the two richest territories of the proposed federation. Syed Husin's slim volume also reminds us of the often heroic resistance to Western, especially British, expansion, though little is said about resistance to Siamese and other 'local' or 'regional' expansions, or projections or extensions of power. But what about popular resistance to oppression and exploitation by those geographically nearer and less culturally alien as status and class differences grew? So, this is not really a social history of popular resistance 'from below' in the pre-Merdeka or pre-Malaysia past. The book would also have benefited from some treatment of the geographic terrain of today's Malaysia in relation to its neighbours, reminding us of interconnections before European colonization. This could have been incorporated into Chapter 2 which speaks of the prehistory of Malaysia. Recent archaeological and other findings could have been incorporated to give a fuller understanding of its peoples and links with the Nusantara world. Syed Husin also reminds us that in 1947, a decade before Merdeka, radical nationalists—led by Dr Burhanuddin al-Helmy, Shamsiah Fakeh, Ishak Haji Muhamad (Pak Sako), Ahmad Boestamam and those in the AMCJA (All Malayan Council for Joint Action)—had agreed to the Perlembagaan Rakyat, or People's Constitution.5 This People's Constitution for an independent Malaya was agreed to by leaders of all ethnic communities in the peninsula, years before UMNO joined demands for independence in 1951, after Tunku replaced UMNO founding leader Onn Jaffar, with the British-sponsored MCA joining later. After repressing patriotic anti-colonial forces, such as API (Angkatan Pemuda Insaf), from early 1948, well before declaring the 'Emergency' in June, and giving up on Dato' Onn, the British turned to Tunku's Alliance to protect imperial, especially business, interests in the post-colonial order. Tun Razak is remembered for FELDA and NEP affirmative action efforts to reduce inter-ethnic socio-economic disparities, but he also saw greater national ownership of the economy, facilitated by the state, as necessary for national progress. Perhaps this is the reason the young Razak was under British Special Branch (SB) surveillance from the late 1940s, together with the only two-time Agung, the late Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah, according to long-serving former Inspector...

Performance Analysis of Non Burn Cooking Device Using Commercial Grade Quicklime as Heating Fuel

The need for portability and easy to handle devices has been felt by the trekkers and campers. In a country like Nepal, with tough geographical terrain and changing climates, a non burn cooking alternative is sought for outdoor cooking. Quicklime or Calcium Oxide (CaO) is commercially available in abundance. CaO releases 64 kJ of heat during slaking at Normal temperature and Pressure. Boiling of water, preparing tea, boiling egg, preparing omelet and preparing instant noodles were tested with an average of 32.7 % deviation from theoretical values without considering the manufacturing specification of 90 % purity. Calculating with the manufacturing specification, the error reduced to 27.3 %. Though cooking is correlated to the subjective preference of individuals, the highest cooking temperature was recorded 86.5 °C (boiling water), and the highest temperature of inner pot reached was 121.1 °C in that case. The highest temperature reached in each of cooking purposes were respectively as; boiling egg on water(75.6 °C), boiling egg without using water (11.2 °C), preparing tea(85.9 °C) and preparing instant noodles (68.3 °C). The quantity of cooing material resulted in higher efficiencies as evident by the factor that minimum deviation from theoretical calculation was seen during the cooking of noodles (17.5 %) and the maximum deviation was observed during preparation of boiled egg without using water or secondary pot (58.5 %). The device was not found financially feasible for household cooking and for cases where transportation cost incurred is high; the device was financially feasible (Rs. 14 as compared to above Rs. 400 and Rs. 250 of LPG based and kerosene based cooking respectively).

Earthquake Damage Data Collection Using Omnidirectional Imagery

The unique perspectives and viewpoints offered by omnidirectional camera technology has the potential to help improve the outcomes of technical post-earthquake reconnaissance missions. Omnidirectional imagery can be used to virtually ‘walk through’ damaged streets post hoc with a 360-degree, immersive view. A common reconnaissance mission aim is to accurately collect damage data; however, there are time challenges for surveyors in the field. The manuscript explores the potential for using omnidirectional imagery to improve damage surveying, firstly by comparing results from damage surveys completed in the field with results obtained using omnidirectional images collected during a mission and surveyed by an experienced engineer virtually and secondly by comparing damage assessment obtained through omnidirectional imagery collected on the ground with the EU Copernicus damage assessment maps. The omnidirectional imagery data was collected during two separate Earthquake Engineering Field Investigation Team post-earthquake reconnaissance missions, namely the area affected by the 2016, 7.8 Muisne Earthquake in Ecuador and the area struck by the 2016, 6.2 Amatrice earthquake in Italy. Notwithstanding the diverse geographic scale, terrain and urban context of the two reconnaissance missions, the results consistently show significant capabilities for this technology in the identification of construction typologies, number of storeys, aggregated ‘low’ and ‘high’ damage grades, and failure modes. The work highlights potential issues with correct identification of disaggregated lower damage grades (e.g. European Macroseismic Scale (EMS-98) damage grades 0 to 3). Challenges identified in the virtual survey process included poor image quality, insufficient photo sphere captures, and obstructions such as trees, walls or vehicles. The omnidirectional imagery represents a substantial improvement in damage assessment accuracy in respect to satellite imagery, especially for lower damage grades, while it is an essential tool for comprehensive surveys in reduced access zones with high levels of damage.