Major Expansion Research Articles

Utilizing shallow seismic reflection for mitigating seismic and geo-environmental hazards in the development project of Gabal Ataqa Area, Cairo–Suez District, Egypt

Nowadays, development projects are becoming so rapid in many developing countries worldwide. The study of interest focuses on Cairo–Suez District, which represents the most important location in Egypt for major infrastructure projects and urbanization expansion. Consequently, it is very important to reduce the hazards surrounding this area from natural disasters, so all information that supports geo-environmental hazards assessment is importantly needed. The Gabal Ataqa area has socioeconomic importance as it is considered the industrial zone in the national project for developing the northern part of the Gulf of Suez. The situation of Gabal Ataqa area for being rich with numerous geological structures, and its socioeconomic importance calls the need for the delineation of the subsurface structural features in this area using the appropriate method. The geological framework has recognized all Quaternary faults in the Gabal Ataqa area as they are exposed to the surface, at the same time, no seismic reflection data has been acquired in the Gabal Ataqa area. Accordingly, the shallow seismic reflection method is applied in the Gabal Ataqa area to detect the Quaternary faults that are not exposed to the surface and also to detect any subsurface features that may cause construction problems, such as water-wet sands, sabkhas, and limestone cavities. Three lines of 2D seismic profiles are acquired in the study area. After applying seismic data processing and interpretation, two Quaternary faults have been recognized in the first and third lines. The location of the first seismic line has been chosen to be between two historic earthquake events, increasing the probability that the sources causing these two events will be located on the newly recognized quaternary fault. A dim spot has been recognized in the second seismic line at a depth of 50 m, which may indicate the presence of a groundwater aquifer or wet sandstone layer. Based on these results, changing the industrial zone place to another side to be away from the area of the three seismic lines is highly recommended.

The RESOLVE and ECO Gas in Galaxy Groups Initiative: The Group Finder and the Group H i–Halo Mass Relation

We present a four-step group-finding algorithm for the Gas in Galaxy Groups (G3) initiative, a spin-off of the z ∼ 0 REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) and Environmental COntext (ECO) surveys. In preparation for future comparisons to intermediate redshift (e.g., the LADUMA survey), we design the group finder to adapt to incomplete, shallow, or nonuniform data. We use mock catalogs to optimize the group finder’s performance. Compared to friends-of-friends (with false-pair splitting), the G3 algorithm offers improved completeness and halo-mass recovery with minimal loss of purity. Combining it with the volume-limited H i census data for RESOLVE and ECO, we examine the H i content of galaxy groups as a function of group halo mass. Group-integrated H i mass M H I,grp rises monotonically over halo masses M halo ∼ 1011–1014.5 M ⊙, pivoting in slope at M halo ∼ 1011.4 M ⊙, the gas-richness threshold scale. We present the first measurement of the scatter in this relation, which has a median of ∼0.3 dex and is asymmetric toward lower M H I,grp. We discuss interesting tensions with theoretical predictions and prior measurements of the M H I,grp–M halo relation. In an appendix, we release RESOLVE DR4 and ECO DR3, including updates to survey redshifts, photometry, and group catalogs, as well as a major expansion of the ECO H i inventory with value-added data products.

A New Heuristic Tool for Designing Multiple-Valued Logic Systems

In this paper, a brand new heuristic optimization algorithm for multiple-valued logic (MVL) functions and the performance of the implementation will be introduced. In logic synthesis, optimization procedure is a fundamental process in order to design more efficient systems. The proposed algorithm, called MVL-MIN, utilizes Cube Algebra operators. MVL-MIN computes the prime cubes that cover a target cube at a time, instead of extracting all the primes for a given MVL function. MVL-MIN consists of five major procedures, called (a) checking, (b) expansion, (c) elimination, (d) nondisjoint sharp, and (e) prime determination. In order to find a near-minimal cover, three different prime determination functions are developed. The implementation based on the new algorithm is compared with MVSIS. For testing, three sets of test bench are prepared. Each set includes 5 MVL functions. Test results proved that MVL-MIN is able to solve all test files within a fixed allocation of computer resources while MVSIS could not. MVL-MIN achieved 1.9× to 9.7× speedup over MVSIS. In terms of cover size, since current MVL-MIN implementation cannot recognize redundant cubes, MVSIS computed more concise covers for all test benches than MVL-MIN.

First estimate of distribution, abundance, and risk of encounter with aquaculture vessels for the rare Chilean dolphin in the entire Northern Chilean Patagonia

Abstract Assessing distribution and abundance patterns for rare species is challenging yet imperative, considering the extant, potentially hazardous, anthropogenic activities. In particular, the poorly studied Chilean dolphin (Cephalorhynchus eutropia) exhibits an extremely patchy distribution and low densities, co‐occurring with the intensive aquaculture industry in Southern Chile, among other anthropogenic activities. The distribution and abundance patterns of Chilean dolphins were assessed in the entire Northern Chilean Patagonia. A hierarchical species distribution model was fitted to data from line transect surveys using distance sampling techniques and environmental variables derived from topographic features and oceanographic models. A second version of this model used a joint‐likelihood approach to incorporate presence–pseudoabsence data for improving parameter estimation. Spatial predictions arising from these models were used to evaluate the relative probability of a dolphin encountering vessels from the local, predominantly aquaculture fleet. The results show that using a joint‐likelihood approach drastically reduced uncertainty in the parameters controlling the effect of covariates and in the total abundance estimates. This model estimated an overall low abundance (median 2,225.8; 95% CI 1,340–3,867) for this species in the region, and indicates their preference for shallow, sheltered bays and inner channels, near river mouths, where low salinity is expected. The highest probabilities of dolphin–vessel interactions were found on the eastern coast of Chiloe Big Island, coinciding with the largest number of aquaculture concessions in the area. Considering that the overall population of the Chilean dolphin is expected to be in the low thousands, that suitable habitat for the species is highly restricted, and that the species is facing increasing anthropogenic impacts, with some areas undergoing or planning major expansions in development, the results provided here should be considered in management plans for extant marine protected areas, and in the evaluation of current International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and national conservation categories for the species.

Summer Compound Drought-Heat Extremes Amplify Fire-Weather Risk and Burned Area beyond Historical Thresholds in Chongqing Region, Subtropical China

Global warming is associated with an increase in compound drought-heat events (CDHEs), leading to larger and more extreme fire-weather risk in mesic forests. Wildfire activity in subtropical China, under the influence of monsoonal rainfall, was historically limited to dry winters and rare in rainy summers. Here, we seek to test whether this area is on the brink of a major change in its fire regime characterized by larger fire seasons, extending into the summer, leading to increases in fire activity (burned area). We analyze fire activity in Chongqing Municipality (46,890 km2), an important area of subtropical China hosting the Three Gorges Reservoir Area. We observed significant increases in summer forest fires under anomalous dry-hot summer conditions, where the total burned area was 3–6 times the historical annual mean (previously confined to the winter season). Vapor pressure deficit (VPD), an indicator of hot and dry weather conditions (i.e., fire-weather risk), was a strong predictor of fire activity, with larger wildfires occurring on days where VPD was higher than 3.5 kPa. Results indicate that a major wildfire activity expansion may occur in the area due to climate change and the widening time window of fire-weather risk, unless strong fire prevention and local adaptation policies are implemented.

Orbital Forcing and Evolution of the Southern African Monsoon From Late Miocene to Early Pliocene

AbstractThe late Miocene‐early Pliocene (7.4‐4.5 Ma) is a key interval in Earth's history where intense reorganization of atmospheric and ocean circulation occurred within a global cooling scenario. The Southern African monsoon (SAFM) potentially played an important role in climate systems variability during this interval. However, the dynamics of this important atmospheric system is poorly understood due to the scarcity of continuous records. Here, we present an exceptional continuous late Miocene to early Pliocene reconstruction of SAFM based on elemental geochemistry (Ca/Ti and Si/K ratios), stable isotope geochemistry (δ18O and δ13C recorded in the planktonic foraminiferaOrbulina universa), and marine sediment grain size data from the International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1476 located at the entrance of the Mozambique Channel. Spectral characteristics of the Si/K ratio (fluvial input) was used to identify the main orbital forcing controlling SAFM. Precession cycles governed precipitation from 7.4 to ∼6.9 Ma and during the early Pliocene. From ∼6.9 to ∼5.9 Ma, the precession and long eccentricity cycles drove the SAFM. The major Antarctic ice sheet expansion across this interval appear to influence the isotopic records ofO. universaimprinting its long‐term variability signal as a response to the ocean and atmospheric reorganization. Precession cycles markedly weakened from 5.9 to 5.3 Ma, almost the same period when the Mediterranean Outflow Water ceased. These findings highlight important teleconnections among the SAFM, Mediterranean Sea, and other tropical regions.

Landscape-scale benefits of protected areas for tropical biodiversity.

The United Nations recently agreed to major expansions of global protected areas (PAs) to slow biodiversity declines1. However, although reserves often reduce habitat loss, their efficacy at preserving animal diversity and their influence on biodiversity in surrounding unprotected areas remain unclear2-5. Unregulated hunting can empty PAs of large animals6, illegal tree felling can degrade habitat quality7, and parks can simply displace disturbances such as logging and hunting to unprotected areas of the landscape8 (a phenomenon called leakage). Alternatively, well-functioning PAs could enhance animal diversity within reserves as well as in nearby unprotected sites9 (an effect called spillover). Here we test whether PAs across mega-diverse Southeast Asia contribute to vertebrate conservation inside and outside their boundaries. Reserves increased all facets of bird diversity. Large reserves were also associated with substantially enhanced mammal diversity in the adjacent unprotected landscape. Rather than PAs generating leakage that deteriorated ecological conditions elsewhere, our results are consistent with PAs inducing spillover that benefits biodiversity in surrounding areas. These findings support the United Nations goal of achieving 30% PA coverage by 2030 by demonstrating that PAs are associated with higher vertebrate diversity both inside their boundaries and in the broader landscape.

International developments in doctoral education: The case of Türkiye

ABSTRACT Doctoral education has been of significance in Türkiye particularly in the last 20 years due to the major expansion of higher education in the country. Between 2002 and 2022, the number of universities in the country almost tripled to reach 207, exacerbating the shortage in the number of academicians and researchers. This, along with the pressure to enhance universities’ performance in international rankings, has made the improvement of doctoral education a priority. Additionally, there have been political, economic and cultural changes in the country in recent years, and these as well as the influences of globalisation, massification, diversification, capitalism and neoliberalism have led to significant policy changes in higher education. In this article, an overview is provided of the developments in doctoral education in Türkiye in response to these changes, focusing on policies related to producing qualified academicians, enabling the diversification of universities through mission differentiation, and facilitating university–industry partnership approaches.

Antarctic Ice Sheet paleo-constraint database

Abstract. We present a database of observational constraints on past Antarctic Ice Sheet changes during the last glacial cycle intended to consolidate the observations that represent our understanding of past Antarctic changes and for state-space estimation and paleo-model calibrations. The database is a major expansion of the initial work of Briggs and Tarasov (2013). It includes new data types and multi-tier data quality assessment. The updated constraint database, AntICE2 (https://theghub.org/resources/4884, Lecavalier et al., 2022), consists of observations of past grounded- and floating-ice-sheet extent, past ice thickness, past relative sea level, borehole temperature profiles, and present-day bedrock displacement rates. In addition to paleo-observations, the present-day ice sheet geometry and surface ice velocities are incorporated to constrain the present-day ice sheet configuration. The method by which the data are curated using explicitly defined criteria is detailed. Moreover, the observational uncertainties are specified. The methodology by which the constraint database can be applied to evaluate a given ice sheet reconstruction is discussed. The implementation of the AntICE2 database for Antarctic Ice Sheet model calibrations will improve Antarctic Ice Sheet predictions during past warm and cold periods and yield more robust paleo-model spin ups for forecasting future ice sheet changes.

Pandemic fueled a major expansion of home‐based treatment provider

Leaders of a home‐based substance use treatment company that experienced substantial growth during the COVID‐19 pandemic said they are establishing important models in both service delivery and payment structure. Most of the media attention to Aware Recovery Care's work has focused on counteracting the notion that addiction care must take place in a facility, but the company's CEO also pointed out that its pioneering managed care contract brings the field closer to value‐based payment for services.

Indigenous crop diversity maintained despite the introduction of major global crops in an African centre of agrobiodiversity

Societal Impact StatementThe global success and expansion of a small pool of major crops, including rice, wheat and maize, risks homogenising global agriculture. Focusing on the agriculturally diverse Ethiopian Highlands, this study tested whether farm diversity tends to be lower among farmers who grow more introduced crops. Surprisingly, it was found that farmers have successfully integrated introduced crops, resulting in more diverse and heterogenous farms without negatively impacting indigenous crop diversity. This is encouraging because diverse farms, comprising indigenous agricultural systems supplemented by introduced crops, may help address global challenges such as food insecurity.Summary The global expansion of a handful of major crops risks eroding indigenous crop diversity and homogenising agroecosystems, with significant consequences for sustainable and resilient food systems. Here, we investigate the farm‐scale impact of introduced crops on indigenous agroecosystems. We surveyed 1369 subsistence farms stratified across climate gradients in the Ethiopian Highlands, a hotspot of agrobiodiversity, to characterise the richness and cultivated area of the 83 edible crops they contained. We further categorise these crops as being indigenous to Ethiopia, or introduced across three different eras. We apply non‐metric multidimensional scaling and mixed effects modelling to characterise agroecosystem composition across farms with different proportions of introduced crops. Crops from different periods do not differ significantly in frequency or abundance across farms. Among geographically matched pairs of farms, those with higher proportions of modern introduced crops had significantly higher overall crop richness. Furthermore, farms with a high proportion of modern introduced crops showed higher heterogeneity in crop composition. An analysis of socio‐economic drivers indicated that poverty is negatively associated with the cultivated area of introduced crops. In our Ethiopian case study, global patterns of major crop expansion are not necessarily associated with agrobiodiversity loss at the farm scale or higher homogeneity across indigenous agricultural systems. Importantly, socioeconomic factors may influence farmers' propensity to adopt novel species, suggesting targets for agricultural extension policies. Given the rapid climatic, economic and demographic changes impacting global food systems and the threats to food security these entail, robust indigenous agricultural systems enriched with diverse introduced crops may help maintain resilience.

The Political Acceptability of Time-Limited Labor Mobility: Five Levers Opening the Overton Window

Abstract A substantial expansion of migration and labor mobility in the rich industrial countries currently seems outside the Overton window, the range of acceptable political discourse. If anything, the general political mood seems to favor even greater restrictiveness of immigration. I argue that five trends that are already well underway could, within a decade or less, bring much larger flows of migrants and labor mobility—including a major expansion of time-limited labor mobility—squarely onto the domestic political agenda in rich industrial countries.

Reconciliation of energy use disparities in brick production in India

Energy conservation in brick production is crucial to achieving net-zero carbon emissions from the building sector, especially in countries with major expansions in the built environment. However, widely disparate energy consumption estimates impede benchmarking its importance relative to the steel and cement industries. Here we modelled Indian brick production and its regional energy consumption by combining a nationwide questionnaire survey on feedstock, process variables and practices with remote sensing data on kiln enumeration. We found a large underreporting in current official estimates of energy consumption, with actual energy consumption comparable to that in the steel and cement industries in the country. With a total estimated production of 233 ± 15 billion bricks per year, the brick industry consumes 990 ± 125 PJ yr−1 of energy, 35 ± 6 Mt yr−1 coal and 25 ± 6 Mt yr−1 biomass. The main drivers of energy consumption for brick production are the kiln technology, the production capacity and the fuel mix used. The results suggest that improving operating practices would be a first step in making brick production more energy efficient.

SECDED code and its extended applications in DRAM system

SECDED code is the combinational logic for communication of data between microprocessors and memories which is commonly used in semiconductor systems due to its advantage in implementation. With advances in semiconductor integrated circuit technology, the soft error rate and importance of selecting optimal codes increase. This paper presents SECDED codes and their major expansion theoretical application and gives suggestions for optimization needs.

Gaussian Process Regression for Astronomical Time Series

The past two decades have seen a major expansion in the availability, size, and precision of time-domain data sets in astronomy. Owing to their unique combination of flexibility, mathematical simplicity, and comparative robustness, Gaussian processes (GPs) have emerged recently as the solution of choice to model stochastic signals in such data sets. In this review, we provide a brief introduction to the emergence of GPs in astronomy, present the underlying mathematical theory, and give practical advice considering the key modeling choices involved in GP regression. We then review applications of GPs to time-domain data sets in the astrophysical literature so far, from exoplanets to active galactic nuclei, showcasing the power and flexibility of the method. We provide worked examples using simulated data, with links to the source code; discuss the problem of computational cost and scalability; and give a snapshot of the current ecosystem of open-source GP software packages. In summary: ▪GP regression is a conceptually simple but statistically principled and powerful tool for the analysis of astronomical time series.▪It is already widely used in some subfields, such as exoplanets, and gaining traction in many others, such as optical transients.▪Driven by further algorithmic and conceptual advances, we expect that GPs will continue to be an important tool for robust and interpretable time-domain astronomy for many years to come.

Expansion of the Materials Cloud 2D Database.

Two-dimensional (2D) materials are among the most promising candidates for beyond-silicon electronic, optoelectronic, and quantum computing applications. Recently, their recognized importance sparked a push to discover and characterize novel 2D materials. Within a few years, the number of experimentally exfoliated or synthesized 2D materials went from a few to more than a hundred, with the number of theoretically predicted compounds reaching a few thousand. In 2018 we first contributed to this effort with the identification of 1825 compounds that are either easily (1036) or potentially (789) exfoliable from experimentally known 3D compounds. Here, we report on a major expansion of this 2D portfolio thanks to the extension of the screening protocol to an additional experimental database (MPDS) as well as the updated versions of the two databases (ICSD and COD) used in our previous work. This expansion leads to the discovery of an additional 1252 monolayers, bringing the total to 3077 compounds and, notably, almost doubling the number of easily exfoliable materials to 2004. We optimize the structural properties of all these monolayers and explore their electronic structure with a particular emphasis on those rare large-bandgap 2D materials that could be precious in isolating 2D field-effect-transistor channels. Finally, for each material containing up to 6 atoms per unit cell, we identify the best candidates to form commensurate heterostructures, balancing requirements on supercell size and minimal strain.

How urban spatial expansion influences CO2 emissions in Latin American countries

The way urban development will be shaped during the next decade will have a decisive impact on our ability to limit global temperature increase. The goal of this paper is to develop a better understanding of the relationship between carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the spatial expansion of cities to inform how urban planning can help shape low-carbon urban systems. To this end, a new methodology is proposed: cities are delineated based on a population-based clustering approach; and spatially disaggregated fossil fuel CO2 emissions are used to systematically evaluate the CO2 emissions of 635 cities across seven Latin American countries for the years 2000 and 2015. City spatial expansion is then characterized through the evolution of two indicators: population density, which is used to proxy city compactness; and the suburban ratio, which captures suburban sprawl and potential relocation effects. Using a spatial panel model, results unveil that a 1 % increase in density reduces CO2 emissions by 0.58 %, while a 1 % growth in the suburban ratio boosts emissions by 0.41 % ceteris paribus. These coefficients imply opposite CO2 effects for most Latin-American cities, which have experienced a concomitant increase in density and suburban ratio. Finally, city-level emissions are projected until 2030 using these elasticities and the growth rates associated with the three major spatial expansion patterns identified during the period 2000–2015. The findings are important for future planning purposes given that the ‘compact expansion’ model generates a 12 percentage points smaller increase in emissions than its passive counterpart. However, even under this compact scenario, city-level emissions grow faster than city population.

The evolution of fast-growing coral reef fishes.

Individual growth is a fundamental life history trait1-4, yet its macroevolutionary trajectories have rarely been investigated for entire animal assemblages. Here we analyse the evolution of growth in a highly diverse vertebrate assemblage-coral reef fishes. We combine state-of-the-art extreme gradientboosted regression trees with phylogenetic comparative methods to detect the timing, number, location and magnitude of shifts in the adaptive regime of somatic growth. We also explored the evolution of the allometric relationship between body size and growth. Our results show that the evolution of fast growth trajectories in reef fishes has been considerably more common than the evolution of slow growth trajectories. Many reef fish lineages shifted towards faster growth and smaller body size evolutionary optima in the Eocene (56-33.9 million years ago), pointing to a major expansion of life history strategies in this Epoch. Of all lineages examined, the small-bodied, high-turnover cryptobenthic fishes shifted most towards extremely high growth optima, even after accounting for body size allometry. These results suggest that the high global temperatures of the Eocene5 and subsequent habitat reconfigurations6 might have been critical for the rise and retention of the highly productive, high-turnover fish faunas that characterize modern coral reef ecosystems.

Guiding the Lean Design of a Hospital's New Laboratory: A Case Study.

To present the process used by a clinical laboratory to guide the design of their new facility, part of a major campus expansion at a pediatric hospital. The primary objective was to generate information about arrangement and allocation of laboratory space and functional flows in the early phases of the expansion project. Seattle Children's Hospital has increased the capacity of their primary campus in response to growing demand for specialized services. The clinical laboratory was identified as one of the functional groups that would move their operations to the new building. The clinical laboratory team agreed on a three-stage process to guide the development of their initial design specifications: formulate the concept, develop design alternatives, and evaluate those alternatives. The different tasks were executed successfully. The process defined-based on Plan, Do, Check, Act (PDCA)-provided a context for collaboration among sections of the clinical laboratory, reducing silo thinking, so common in the specialized sections within a large clinical laboratory. The process was developed to guide the lean design efforts, even when initial space and location parameters had not yet been decided and was sufficiently flexible to accommodate changes in the project constraints and emergent information generated by the concurrent design activities of other hospital functional groups to be included in the campus expansion. The three-stage process allowed the team to review each laboratory section's complexity, create multiple conceptual designs for review, and ultimately increase the likelihood of an efficient physical configuration that would satisfy a diverse group of stakeholders.

Older workers’ employment and Social Security spillovers through the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic

AbstractThe COVID-19 pandemic triggered a large and immediate drop in employment among U.S. workers, along with major expansions of unemployment insurance (UI) and work from home. We use Current Population Survey and Social Security application data to study employment among older adults and their participation in disability and retirement insurance programs through the second year of the pandemic. We find ongoing improvements in employment outcomes among older workers in the labor force, along with sustained higher levels in the share no longer in the labor force during this period. Applications for Social Security disability benefits remain depressed, particularly for Supplemental Security Income. In models accounting for the expiration of expanded UI, we find some evidence that the loss of these additional financial supports resulted in an increase in disability claiming. Social Security retirement benefit claiming is approximately 3% higher during the second year of the pandemic.