Remote Mountainous Areas Research Articles

M-Health: A Critical Analysis of Awareness, Perception, and Attitude of Healthcare Among Providers in Himachal Pradesh, North India.

Providing healthcare in remote mountainous areas is challenging. The increasing availability of mobile connectivity needs to be exploited by offering healthcare through a mobile medium, popularly known as mobile health (m-health). It is essential to understand the awareness, perception, and attitude of healthcare providers (HCPs) in deploying m-health. Their outlook on new technologies influences patient adoption. Reports on attitudes regarding healthcare through mobile phones are now confined to views from the recipient. This study from August 1 to September 30, 2014 analyzed the views of 592 HCPs (12.3% of all HCPs) in Himachal Pradesh, India. They included faculty and students of the two medical colleges, as well as HCPs from all of the 12 districts. Although Himachal Pradesh has the highest teledensity of all states in India (117.6%), only 58.8% of HCPs (of those surveyed, 72% lived in suburban areas and 24.8% in Shimla, the state capital) would easily recommend m-health. Self-perceived ability to use mobile services was 85%. Fifty-nine percent used mobile devices for social networking, and 52.4% used Wi-Fi. Sixty-one percent of those interviewed were females, and 39% were males. The transformative potential of m-health hinges on its acceptance and use by all stakeholders. The study suggests that as HCPs in Himachal Pradesh are already using mobile value added services and are highly information technology literate, addressing their specific concerns could lead to use of m-health in Himachal Pradesh. Healthcare delivery in Himachal Pradesh is still suboptimal. With increasing connectivity, awareness, and commencement of telemedicine services in Himachal Pradesh, m-health has the potential to be a reality.

Enzymatic Kinetic Properties of the Lactate Dehydrogenase Isoenzyme C₄ of the Plateau Pika (Ochotona curzoniae).

Testis-specific lactate dehydrogenase (LDH-C4) is one of the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isozymes that catalyze the terminal reaction of pyruvate to lactate in the glycolytic pathway. LDH-C4 in mammals was previously thought to be expressed only in spermatozoa and testis and not in other tissues. Plateau pika (Ochotona curzoniae) belongs to the genus Ochotona of the Ochotonidea family. It is a hypoxia-tolerant species living in remote mountain areas at altitudes of 3000–5000 m above sea level on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Surprisingly, Ldh-c is expressed not only in its testis and sperm, but also in somatic tissues of plateau pika. To shed light on the function of LDH-C4 in somatic cells, Ldh-a, Ldh-b, and Ldh-c of plateau pika were subcloned into bacterial expression vectors. The pure enzymes of Lactate Dehydrogenase A4 (LDH-A4), Lactate Dehydrogenase B4 (LDH-B4), and LDH-C4 were prepared by a series of expression and purification processes, and the three enzymes were identified by the method of sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and native polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). The enzymatic kinetics properties of these enzymes were studied by Lineweaver-Burk double-reciprocal plots. The results showed the Michaelis constant (Km) of LDH-C4 for pyruvate and lactate was 0.052 and 4.934 mmol/L, respectively, with an approximate 90 times higher affinity of LDH-C4 for pyruvate than for lactate. At relatively high concentrations of lactate, the inhibition constant (Ki) of the LDH isoenzymes varied: LDH-A4 (Ki = 26.900 mmol/L), LDH-B4 (Ki = 23.800 mmol/L), and LDH-C4 (Ki = 65.500 mmol/L). These data suggest that inhibition of lactate by LDH-A4 and LDH-B4 were stronger than LDH-C4. In light of the enzymatic kinetics properties, we suggest that the plateau pika can reduce reliance on oxygen supply and enhance its adaptation to the hypoxic environments due to increased anaerobic glycolysis by LDH-C4.

In Memoriam: Heinz Oberhummer (1941–2015)

Heinz Oberhummer was an Austrian nuclear physicist with extraordinary interests. As a child he grew up in a remote mountainous area not far from Salzburg. There he gazed at the stars at night and hoped to receive a star map as a Christmas present. When he did not get it, he was very disappointed. At the age of 14 he went by boat to New York, hitchhiked about 8,000 km to San Francisco, and spent two years at the High School in Los Gatos, Santa Clara County. After the Californian experience he returned to Austria and finished Gymnasium in Salzburg. Then he studied Physics and Mathematics at the University of Graz, where he received his PhD in 1970. Shortly thereafter he joined the Atominstitut of the University of Technology in Vienna (TU Wien), where he became a professor of Theoretical Physics. Remembering his admiration of the starry sky during his childhood, Oberhummer's main research focused on nuclear astrophysics. In 1990 he organized the first International Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos in the historic spa town of Baden near Vienna. This symposium developed into a bi-annual meeting of nuclear astrophysicists around the world, and continues till today. The 14th International Symposium on Nuclei in the Cosmos will take place in Niigata, Japan, 19–24 June 2016.

Teachers’ agency and the enactment of educational reform in Vietnam

Scholars concerned with language policies (LPs) argue that globalization has brought about various political, socio-economic, and linguistic shifts that increasingly impact on teacher agency (e.g., Zhao & Baldauf, 2012). Recently, the LP literature has increasingly acknowledged the agentive role of teachers as a critical factor in implementing policy (Liddicoat & Baldauf, 2008). These and other scholars argue that teachers have the potential to exercise their transformative roles in implementing and responding to the LP changes (Menken & Garcia, 2010). However, agency has remained under-examined (Hamid, Nguyen, & Baldauf, 2013; Ramanathan & Morgan, 2007; Zhao & Baldauf, 2012) especially in developing settings like Vietnam. In the context of national English language education policy reforms in Vietnam, the need to explore teacher agency in response to the reforms to better understand the policy implementation process at the local level is critical. Using Fullan's (1993) theory on change agency, this paper examines how a group of English teachers in a remote mountainous area in Vietnam interpret, interrogate, and appropriate the current English LP. Data were collected from interviews and classroom observation of the teachers to shed light on their visions and practices in responding to the reform policy. The findings indicate that teachers are highly capable of exercising their agency as comprehensive policy implementers. They do so by resisting the poorly regulated English LPs and working towards meaningful pedagogical transformations. The study thus emphasizes the urgent need for a comprehensive understanding of teachers’ agency in LP decision-making and implementation. It also makes a contribution to explicitly theorizing the concept of teacher agency from the perspective of Fullan's theory on change agency. Lastly, the study considers implications for teachers, policy-makers, and school leaders to support the active roles of the teachers in reform implementation.

Long-Term Dynamics of Ozone in Surface Atmosphere at Remote Mountain, Rural and Urban Sites of South-East Siberia, Russia

Long-term monitoring of near-ground ozone concentration was performed in the remote mountain area as well as at rural and urban sites of South-East Siberia. Ozone concentrations at all three sites had similar seasonal dynamics with its maximum in spring and minimum in autumn. Such seasonal trends were characteristic of many areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Diurnal fluctuations of ozone concentrations were caused by photochemical generation of ozone at daytime and its partial depletion at night. Diurnal fluctuations were maximal in spring and summer and minimal in December and January in accordance with solar radiation intensity. At the urban site, mean ozone concentrations were significantly lower (about 2 times) than those in the rural and background areas. This was likely attributed to the increased consumption of ozone for oxidation of air pollutants in the urbanized area. A tendency to the decrease of mean annual ozone concentrations was recorded during long-term observations at the mountain site Mondy.

Establishment of an on-site diagnostic procedure for detection of orf virus from oral lesions of Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus) by loop-mediated isothermal amplification.

Orf virus infection has been prevalent continuously in the population of wild Japanese serows (Capricornis crispus), goat-like grazing cloven-hoofed mammal species that live mainly in mountainous areas of Japan. Currently, definitive diagnosis of infection requires time-consuming laboratory work. To diagnose rapidly on-site, we developed a field-friendly procedure for the detection of orf virus from oral cavity lesions. DNA was extracted from goat saliva spiked with orf virus as a proxy for Japanese serows by a commercial kit without the use of electricity, and the quality of the extracted DNA was evaluated by conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Extracted DNA was amenable to DNA amplification, the same as when extracted in a laboratory. Next, to find optimal conditions for DNA amplification by loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), Bst and Csa DNA polymerases and 3 colorimetric indicators for visual diagnosis, hydroxy naphthol blue (HNB), malachite green and D-QUICK, were compared using a portable cordless incubator. The combination of Bst or Csa DNA polymerase with HNB was found to be easiest for visual diagnosis by the naked eye, and viral DNA was successfully amplified from all orf virus strains used. These results suggest that the procedure established here can work completely on-site and can be useful for definitive diagnosis and differentiation of orf virus infection in Japanese serows in remote mountainous areas.

基于数据驱动的贵州水资源智能配置研究

随着经济的快速发展和人口的急剧增加，水资源危机日益严重。现阶段研究贵州偏远山区水资源的是否能够满足当地人们的需求以及是否合理利用显得尤为重要。本文主要基于数据驱动研究贵州山区水资源，建立最大可支撑人口模型和GM(1,1)灰色预测模型，研究当前贵州省的水资源承载力以及预测未来该地区的水资源承载力，进而得出贵州省的水资源总量相当丰富。丰富的水资源要得以合理优化的配置，进而建立基于AHP的模糊综合评价模型对贵州省水资源智能优化配置做出合理的评价方案。 With the rapid development of the economy and the dramatic growth of population, the intensifying crisis of water resource has raised common concern. In the current stage, it is extremely important to make researches on whether the water resource in Guizhou’s remote mountain areas is capable of satisfying local demands and whether it is rational utilized. This thesis studies the water resource in Guizhou Province mainly on account of data drive; in accordance with the largest supporting population model and GM(1,1) Grey Forecasting Model, it studies the current water resource capacity of Guizhou Province, and predicts the future water resource capacity of the area, thus drawing a conclusion that water resource in Guizhou is of abundant total volume. As for the allocation that optimizes the abundant water resource, however, it is shown in the researches that the water resource in Guizhou Province is of rather low utilization efficiency and poor mobilization capability. On this basis, a fuzzy synthetic evaluation model is set up based on AHP so as to provide a reasonable evaluation plan of intelligently optimized allocation of water resource in Guizhou Province.

Experimental Study of the In-Plane Behavior of Confined Stone Masonry Walls

AbstractStone masonry construction is still a common practice in remote mountainous areas of many developing countries. Field investigations have shown that the traditional construction practices do not usually provide adequate seismic resistance for such buildings. This study was carried out to investigate and improve the construction of single-story stone masonry buildings in terms of safety in extreme events, economy, and ease of construction. The current construction methods were first studied through field investigations, and their deficiencies were identified. Then, improved stone masonry walls were designed that provide some confinement for the masonry by adding steel and reinforced-concrete tie-beams and tie-columns. The in-plane behavior of these walls was then studied experimentally. A total of seven stone masonry walls with different configurations of confining elements and openings were examined. These studies revealed the benefits of using steel and concrete confining elements for the improve...

High-resolution spatial analysis of cholera patients reported in Artibonite department, Haiti in 2010–2011

BackgroundCholera is caused by Vibrio cholerae, and is transmitted through fecal-oral contact. Infection occurs after the ingestion of the bacteria and is usually asymptomatic. In a minority of cases, it causes acute diarrhea and vomiting, which can lead to potentially fatal severe dehydration, especially in the absence of appropriate medical care. Immunity occurs after infection and typically lasts 6–36 months.Cholera is responsible for outbreaks in many African and Asian developing countries, and caused localised and episodic epidemics in South America until the early 1990s. Haiti, despite its low socioeconomic status and poor sanitation, had never reported cholera before the recent outbreak that started in October 2010, with over 720,000 cases and over 8700 deaths (Case fatality rate: 1.2%) through 8 december 2014. So far, this outbreak has seen 3 epidemic peaks, and it is expected that cholera will remain in Haiti for some time. Methodology/findingsTo trace the path of the early epidemic and to identify hot spots and potential transmission hubs during peaks, we examined the spatial distribution of cholera patients during the first two peaks in Artibonite, the second-most populous department of Haiti. We extracted the geographic origin of 84,000 patients treated in local health facilities between October 2010 and December 2011 and mapped these addresses to 63 rural communal sections and 9 urban cities. Spatial and cluster analysis showed that during the first peak, cholera spread along the Artibonite River and the main roads, and sub-communal attack rates ranged from 0.1% to 10.7%. During the second peak, remote mountain areas were most affected, although sometimes to very different degrees even in closely neighboring locations. Sub-communal attack rates during the second peak ranged from 0.2% to 13.7%. The relative risks at the sub-communal level during the second phase showed an inverse pattern compared to the first phase. Conclusion/significanceThese findings demonstrate the value of high-resolution mapping for pinpointing locations most affected by cholera, and in the future could help prioritize the places in need of interventions such as improvement of sanitation and vaccination. The findings also describe spatio-temporal transmission patterns of the epidemic in a cholera-naïve country such as Haiti. By identifying transmission hubs, it is possible to target prevention strategies that, over time, could reduce transmission of the disease and eventually eliminate cholera in Haiti.

Determinants of marginalization and inequitable maternal health care in North–Central Vietnam: a framework analysis

BackgroundVietnam has achieved great improvements in maternal healthcare outcomes, but there is evidence of increasing inequity. Disadvantaged groups, predominantly ethnic minorities and people living in remote mountainous areas, do not gain access to maternal health improvements despite targeted efforts from policymakers.ObjectiveThis study identifies underlying structural barriers to equitable maternal health care in Nghe An province, Vietnam. Experiences of social inequity and limited access among child-bearing ethnic and minority women are explored in relation to barriers of care provision experienced by maternal health professionals to gain deeper understanding on health outcomes.DesignIn 2012, 11 focus group discussions with women and medical care professionals at local community health centers and district hospitals were conducted using a hermeneutic–dialectic method and analyzed for interpretation using framework analysis.ResultsThe social determinants ‘limited negotiation power’ and ‘limited autonomy’ orchestrate cyclical effects of shared marginalization for both women and care professionals within the provincial health system’s infrastructure. Under-staffed and poorly equipped community health facilities refer women and create overload at receiving health centers. Limited resources appear diverted away from local community centers as compensation to the district for overloaded facilities. Poor reputation for low care quality exists, and professionals are held in low repute for causing overload and resulting adverse outcomes. Country-wide reforms force women to bear responsibility for limited treatment adherence and health insight, but overlook providers’ limited professional development. Ethnic minority women are hindered by relatives from accessing care choices and costs, despite having advanced insight about government reforms to alleviate poverty. Communication challenges are worsened by non-existent interpretation systems.ConclusionsFor maternal health policy outcomes to become effective, it is important to understand that limited negotiation power and limited autonomy simultaneously confront childbearing women and health professionals. These two determinants underlie the inequitable economic, social, and political forces in Vietnam’s disadvantaged communities, and result in marginalized status shared by both in the poorest sectors.

Multifunctional triboelectric nanogenerator based on porous micro-nickel foam to harvest mechanical energy

To strengthen the effective contact area of two materials with the opposite triboelectric polarities was proved to be an effective solution to enhance the electronic output of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). Presently, that mainly focused on the surface modification of negative materials by micro/nano structure, however, rarely for the positive materials. Here, we presented a simple, low-cost and multifunctional TENG based on the porous micro-nickel foam (PMNF) for harvesting the natural vibration energy. With the surface modification of PMNF with the positive polarity, the newly designed TENG produced an open-circuit voltage up to 187.8V and a short-circuit current of 71.9μΑ with the peak power density of 3.7W/m2 at the resonance frequency of 13.9Hz by harvesting vibration energy. This TENG could simultaneously and continuously light up 100 commercial light-emitting diode bulbs. Additionally, by the footfalls force of about 500N, the corresponding open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current were as high as 403V and 336μA, respectively. The newly designed TENG can be used for the self-powdered floor by footfalls and also for powering some wireless electronics by harvesting the vibration energy from highways, railways, and tunnels in remote mountain areas.

Perceived changes in climatic variables and impacts on the transhumance system in the Himalayas

Indigenous people whose subsistence livelihoods depend upon the direct utilization of natural resources are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, and can yet be unaware of actual and possible change. Changes in seasonality, temperatures and rainfall could undermine traditional systems built in group's experience. In one such system in the Himalayas, some herders practice vertical transhumance whereby they ascend in stages to high-altitude rangelands for summer and similarly descend in winter. Climate change models have predicted warming in the Himalayan region but there is no information on whether or not herders are aware of any changes. For this study, temperature and rainfall data for the nearest stations were collected and analysed, 145 transhumant herders were interviewed and 6 focus group discussions were conducted in or near 3 mountainous Protected Areas of Nepal. Perceptions of herders corresponded with the trends of climatic variables but with some exceptions. The majority of transhumant herders reported early onset of summer and rapid melting of snow, early greening, early flowering/maturing of vegetation and the appearance of new plant species in the rangelands. They also reported reduced water availability, an increase in the number of droughts and the appearance of new livestock diseases. Findings suggest that the perceptions of local people towards changes in key climatic variables and other bio-physical indicators are useful in advancing understanding of climate change in remote mountainous areas.

Trichinellosis in Vietnam.

Trichinellosis is a zoonotic parasitic disease with a worldwide distribution. The aim of this work was to describe the epidemiological and clinical data of five outbreaks of trichinellosis, which affected ethnic minorities living in remote mountainous areas of northwestern Vietnam from 1970 to 2012. Trichinellosis was diagnosed in 126 patients, of which 11 (8.7%) were hospitalized and 8 (6.3%) died. All infected people had consumed raw pork from backyard and roaming pigs or wild boar at wedding, funeral, or New Year parties. The short incubation period (average of 9.5 days), the severity of the symptoms, which were characterized by diarrhea, abdominal pain, fever, myalgia, edema, weight loss, itch, and lisping, and the high mortality, suggest that patients had ingested a high number of larvae. The larval burden in pigs examined in one of the outbreaks ranged from 70 to 879 larvae/g. These larvae and those collected from a muscle biopsy taken from a patient from the 2012 outbreak were identified as Trichinella spiralis. Data presented in this work show that the northern regions of Vietnam are endemic areas for Trichinella infections in domestic pigs and humans.

Constructed wetland with a polyculture of ornamental plants for wastewater treatment at a rural tourism facility

Sewage management in remote rural and mountain areas constitutes a challenge because of the lack of adequate infrastructure and economic capability. Tourism facilities, in particular, possess a special challenge because of huge variability in sewage production and composition as a consequence of variations in number of guests and their activities. Constructed wetlands (CWs) are recognized as a robust and economical ecotechnology capable of meeting these challenges.A horizontal subsurface flow CW system was established at a guest house located in a rural and mountain area of Portugal. The substrate of the bed was an expanded clay substrate, and the system was planted with a polyculture of ornamental flowering plants (Canna flaccida, Zantedeschia aethiopica, Canna indica, Agapanthus africanus and Watsonia borbonica). The load and composition of sewage varied significantly seasonally (17–579kg CODha−1d−1), but removal efficiencies of BOD and COD were generally high (>90%) and independent of the loading conditions. The system also reduced PO43− (up to 92%), NH4+ (up to 84%) and total coliform bacteria (up to 99%). The ornamental polyculture provided an aesthetic pleasing system with different appearance during the seasons. Of the five species tested, four grew well (C. flaccida, C. indica, Z. aethiopica and W. borbonica), whereas A. africanus was outcompeted. The system owner cut flowers from the CW system and used them for decorations at the guest house. It was demonstrated that CW systems planted with a polyculture of ornamental plant species, besides the water treatment function, possess several additional benefits including aesthetics and biodiversity enhancement.

Abe Barek landslide and landslide susceptibility assessment in Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan

Landslide is one of the most widely distributed mass movements in mountainous areas. With its wide spreading, abrupt, and seasonal characteristics, landslide always causes huge risks towards transportation, human settlements, industrial and mining plants, water resources facilities, and hydropower stations. Abe Barek landslide, which happened in the morning of May 2, 2014, in Ago District, Badakhshan Province, Afghanistan, buried 86 houses and took the lives of almost 2700 people. Many factors triggered the occurrence of this disaster. Firstly, the landslide-impacted area has a complex geologic structure that bears concentrated faults with mountain slopes covered by thick loess. Secondly, at the time of landslide, a continuous rainfall had deepened the level of moisture in the loess layer, which made the loess mass heavier and changed the soil body's mechanical properties. Thirdly, a similar landslide once happened on the same slope, which destroyed the land cover and transformed the topology of the slope. In addition, farming and irrigating activities may have also affected the stability of loess mass in this area. Upon an initial examination of landslide distribution in Badakhshan Province by using high-resolution remote sensing images from Google Earth, a total number of 609 landslide sites were identified in this area, and a landslide susceptibility assessment was completed by utilizing weight-of-evidence method. Several suggestions on landslide risk reduction in this remote mountainous area are proposed at the end of this paper.

Recent sediment accumulation rates in contrasting lakes in the Carpathians (Romania): impacts of shifts in socio-economic regime

Longer-term environmental studies are increasingly used to better understand contemporary ecosystems conditions and for forecasting their future trajectories. Here, we use radiometric measurements and the characterisation of sediment properties from six mountain and a lowland lake in Central Eastern Europe with the aim to assess temporal and spatial variability in sediment accumulation rates (SARs) in relation to three socio-economic regimes: traditional (1840–1948), socialist (1948–1989) and post-socialist (post-1990). We also set out to determine reference conditions for these lakes i.e. conditions before significant human impact. Our results show a trend of increasing SARs from basal sediments (pre 1840) towards the present at only two sites. This contrasts with findings from Western and Central European lakes where SARs have predominantly increased from 1850 towards the top of cores. We highlight the differential impacts of the traditional, socialist and post-socialist periods on the SARs at these lakes. Lowland and mid-elevations lakes (n = 2) were most markedly impacted by the socialist period of land use regime; lakes from the southern Carpathians (n = 2) were more impacted in the traditional period (transhumance pastoral activities), whereas those from the north (n = 3) in the socialist and post-socialist periods (summer pastoralism). Results from our study show a continuous anthropogenic impact during the entire period considered, even in remote mountain areas. This suggests that a temporal frame of 100–150 years is too short to meaningfully register the reference conditions of these lakes. Furthermore, a predominantly natural state may not have existed for centuries in this region.

A Low-Cost GPS-Based Protocol to Create High-Resolution Digital Elevation Models for Remote Mountain Areas

Researchers and development practitioners in remote mountain areas rely on elevation data to study vegetation dynamics, natural hazards, land use, and other patterns. However, despite advances in technology, accurate digital elevation models (DEMs) with spatial resolution <30 m do not exist for most of the world's montane regions. We used a low-cost GPS-based protocol to construct a high-resolution (10 m) DEM for a rugged, remote mountain site in the northern Peruvian Andes. Elevation data were collected with handheld GPS units and combined with digitized and interpolated points within a Geographic Information System to generate a 10 m DEM. Additional DEMs were generated using 50%, 20%, and 15% of the surface points collected and from a 1∶100,000 topographic map and ASTER GDEMv2 data. Estimated absolute vertical accuracy of the GPS surface-point DEMs was significantly lower than that of the ASTER GDEMv2 and topographic map DEMs. Relative vertical accuracy, a better measure of DEM quality, was considerably lower for all 6 DEMs than absolute vertical accuracy. Depending on project budget, time, and labor availability, this method can be used to produce DEMs with high spatial resolution and substantially improved relief maps for research, visualization, and communication purposes. Implementation of this method is practical in locations without access to electricity or post-processing correction facilities, open-canopy land covers, and projects with small budgets that involve local participants.

Validation of the Accuracy of Different Precipitation Datasets over Tianshan Mountainous Area

Precipitation is one of the important water supplies in the arid and semiarid regions of northwestern China, playing a vital role in maintaining the fragile ecosystem. In remote mountainous area, it is difficult to obtain an accurate and reliable spatialization of the precipitation amount at the regional scale due to the inaccessibility, the sparsity of observation stations, and the complexity of relationships between precipitation and topography. Furthermore, accurate precipitation is important driven data for hydrological models to assess the water balance and water resource for hydrologists. Therefore, the use of satellite remote sensing becomes an important means over mountainous area. Precipitation datasets based on station data or pure satellite data have been increasingly available in spite of several weaknesses. This paper evaluates the usefulness of three precipitation datasets including TRMM 3B43_V6, 3B43_V7, and Asian Precipitation Highly Resolved Observational Data Integration Towards Evaluation with rain gauge data over Tianshan mountainous area where precipitation data is scarce. The results suggest that precipitation measurements only provided accurate information on a small scale, while the satellite remote sensing of precipitation had obvious advantages in basin scale or large scale especially over remote mountainous area.

Lizards along an agricultural land abandonment gradient in Pindos Mountains, Greece

Agricultural land abandonment is recognized as one of the main environmental drivers in Southern Europe, affecting ecological communities. Lizards, as ectothermic species with low dispersal capacity, are particularly prone to the threats associated with land use changes. We investigated the effect of land abandonment on lizards in a remote mountainous area in Greece, using line transect sampling, in 20 randomly selected sites [1 km × 1 km], along a four grade abandonment gradient in terms of forest encroachment. We recorded four species: Algyroides nigropunctatus, Lacerta viridis/trilineata, Podarcis tauricus and Podarcis muralis, the latter being the most abundant. Our results did not provide evidence for a significant effect of forest encroachment or grazing on lizard diversity, given the dominance of P. muralis, the availability of all microhabitat types along the gradient and the low grazing intensity in the study area. Environmental parameters at the macrohabitat scale did not prove determinant for habitat variance, but microhabitat analysis showed a clear preference of P. muralis to bare ground. Despite the non-significant effects of land abandonment on lizard diversity, the dominance of P. muralis tends to indicate a lizard community shift towards species inhabiting forested habitats. The preservation of open microhabitats, such as bare land, is considered of great importance for promoting high levels of lizard diversity, as their loss would affect even species currently widespread in forested ecosystems. Low intensity grazing, as well as the enhancement of wild ungulate populations in abandoned areas, can contribute to halting forest encroachment and maintaining the required habitat heterogeneity.

Elementary Mathematics Education of Preschool Children in the Ukrainian Highlands

The paper highlights the challenges of establishment and characteristics of educationalinstitutions functioning in the highlands. It is analyzed the work of preparatory groups that aremeant to replace kindergartens in the remote mountainous areas in terms of preparing children forschool. In the context of logical and mathematical development of senior preschool children weanalyze the Program "Sure Start" and the issue of elementary mathematics education. It isconcluded that the acquisition of this knowledge in preschool institutions and preparatory groupsaffects the quality of further mathematics education. In this regard effective solution to theimplementation of the tasks of the Program "Sure Start" in mountainous regions is seen incooperation on the part of kindergartens, schools and parents