Stream Areas Research Articles

Analysis of Total Organic Matter, Total Nitrogen, and Total Phosphorus in the Estuary Waters of Maros as a Source of Brackish Water for Fish Ponds Aquaculture

Indonesia is a tropical area with high rainfall, the area on land is connected by around 472 large and small rivers that flow into the sea. The estuary area is the meeting area of ​​rivers or fresh water streams with the ocean. Transportation of organic matter, minerals and sediments from upstream to the estuary and from the sea containing minerals, hence estuarine waters are more fertile than other areas. In addition, estuary areas are important habitats for several types of marine and freshwater organisms to fulfill their life cycles, which are used as spawning, foraging, and nursery grounds.
 This study aimed to determine the total organic contents, total Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in the estuary waters of Maros as a source of brackish water for fish pond aquaculture in Maros Regency. The research was conducted in the estuary waters of Maros for three months from September to November 2020. Sampling was conducted four times with an interval of once every 15 days. Sampling was carried out at five stations based on water movements to the estuary, station A was located at the seawater, station B was located in the pond wastewater locations, station C was water sources from residential waste, station D was located in the river, and station E was the estuarine water. The results showed that the dominant water quality parameters affecting estuarine water quality were salinity, total organic matter, nitrogen content, either in the form of ammonia, nitrate, or nitrite, and phosphorus content, especially phosphate. Water entering the estuary has an impact on high concentrations of total organic matter, increased concentrations of Total N, and phosphorus. The results of water quality analysis in estuaries showed that salinity, organic matter, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate, and phosphate exceed the standard threshold for water quality standards for fish pond aquaculture. Thus, the waters of the Maros estuary are not suitable for aquaculture, especially for the 5 observed stations (A, B, C, D and E).

Spatial Frequency Tuning of Body Inversion Effects

Body inversion effects (BIEs) reflect the deployment of the configural processing of body stimuli. BIE modulates the activity of body-selective areas within both the dorsal and the ventral streams, which are tuned to low (LSF) or high spatial frequencies (HSF), respectively. The specific contribution of different bands to the configural processing of bodies along gender and posture dimensions, however, is still unclear. Seventy-two participants performed a delayed matching-to-sample paradigm in which upright and inverted bodies, differing for gender or posture, could be presented in their original intact form or in the LSF- or HSF-filtered version. In the gender discrimination task, participants' performance was enhanced by the presentation of HSF images. Conversely, for the posture discrimination task, a better performance was shown for either HSF or LSF images. Importantly, comparing the amount of BIE across spatial-frequency conditions, we found greater BIEs for HSF than LSF images in both tasks, indicating that configural body processing may be better supported by HSF information, which will bias processing in the ventral stream areas. Finally, the exploitation of HSF information for the configural processing of body postures was lower in individuals with higher autistic traits, likely reflecting a stronger reliance on the local processing of body-part details.

Analysis of Human Disturbance Features in Natural Reserves and Empirical Research on Their Restoration: A Case Study of the Huangchulin Nature Reserve in Fujian Province

Nature reserves are important areas delineated to protect natural resources and the ecological environment. They have various ecological functions, such as protecting biodiversity, conserving water sources, and purifying the atmosphere. However, with the rapid development of the social economy, human disturbance in natural reserves is becoming increasingly pronounced, which has seriously damaged the initial balance of the ecosystem in the reserves. Based on the specific local conditions of the reserve, this study selects four influencing factors that are closely related to human activities, namely, land use, vegetation cover, slope and elevation as the primary evaluation indicators of human disturbance. With the support of an analytic hierarchy process and GIS technology, this study conducts a comprehensive analysis of human disturbance in the Fujian Huangchulin Nature Reserve and proposes corresponding ecological restoration measures for different disturbed areas. The results indicate that the area that is seriously and completely disturbed by human activities is primarily that around the river basin, which accounts for 25.30% of the total area. The lightly disturbed area covers the largest area, followed by the intermediately disturbed area, which accounts for 37.91% and 32.96% of the total area, respectively. The smallest area is slightly disturbed and accounts for only 3.83% of the total area. Based on the comprehensive analytical results of human disturbance and the functional zoning of the natural reserves in China, the Shitan Stream area in the Huangchulin Nature Reserve is selected as the experimental site for ecological restoration. According to the human disturbance in different sectors of the Shitan Stream area and the concept of “Mountain, Water, Forest, Field, Lake and Grass,” the ecological restoration measures of the “Four-tiered Protection System” are proposed in the experiment, which are the river system restoration, brownfield restoration, soil and water conservation, and original ecological protection areas. Natural regeneration and active restoration are then combined to be implemented in different areas, and the ecological problems of brown land pollution, water system cutoff, and soil erosion have been effectively solved, and the plant coverage increased substantially. In summary, this study shows that only by taking social, economic and ecological factors into account and establishing a sound management system can restoration work proceed smoothly and achieve more environmental benefits.

Individual change agents for corporate sustainability transformation: a systematic literature review

PurposeIndividual change agents for corporate sustainability can drive the transformation of organizations and foster sustainable development. Current research literature is growing and is published in a wide variety of journals. This systematic literature review provides an overview and synthesis of different understandings of individual change agents for corporate sustainability transformation. It identifies gaps and puts forward propositions to contribute to theoretical development in the field.Design/methodology/approachThis paper conducts a systematic literature review and thematic content analysis of individual agency in light of corporate sustainability transformation.FindingsThe analysis identifies five research streams, three key dimensions of individual change agency for sustainability (beliefs, actions and competencies) and presents levels of individual agency for transformation. An integrated definition of change agents for sustainability is proposed.Research limitations/implicationsThe review concludes with implications to support individuals in fostering sustainability transformations of organizations, markets and societies. The synthesis and propositions help in identifying which dimensions are already and could in future be addressed by individual change agents. While acknowledging the usual limitations of literature reviews, this paper can inspire future empirical research on the effectiveness of individual change agents for sustainability.Originality/valueBy synthesizing different understandings in the literature of individual change agents for sustainability, this article contributes to the theoretical development of individual agency in the areas of understandings, research streams, dimensions and perspectives. It also develops propositions on how individual change agency can effectively contribute to sustainability transformations at individual, organizational and systems levels.

Simulation Study on the Environmental Impact of Rare Earth Ore Development on Groundwater in Hilly Areas: A Case Study in Nuodong, China

Mineral extraction can significantly affect the groundwater flow and hydrochemical environment. However, for hilly areas, significant ground elevation changes and complex geological conditions make it difficult to accurately analyze and predict the impact of mineral mining. This study takes the Nuodong rare earth mining area as an example. Based on field investigations and experiments, GOCAD software (version 2022) was used to establish a geological model in combination with GMS numerical simulation software, which was used to build a groundwater flow model and a solute transport model. The flow model in the hilly area indicated that the absolute error between the simulated and measured water levels of each observation well is 0.554 m. The solute-transport model showed that the maximum pollutant concentration of ammonia-nitrogen (NH3-N) in the liquid injection area, stream area, and village area monitoring wells reaches 139.15, 27.9, and <0.5 mg/L, respectively. During the mining period, streams in the area are affected by NH3-N, which threatens the safety of the water for mine area residents. To control pollutant transport, two stages of pumping were adopted to reduce NH3-N concentrations in groundwater. After adopting the first stage, the peak concentration of the stream area monitoring wells decreased significantly, with the maximum peak concentration decreasing from 27.9 mg/L to 5.51 mg/L. Based on the results of the first stage of the pump-out treatment, a second stage was adopted. The model results showed that the peak concentration of NH3-N pollutants discharged into the stream is less than 0.5 mg/L. The results provide a theoretical basis and reference for groundwater monitoring and pollution control after mining in this area.

An adaptive three-dimensional hydrodynamic focusing microfluidic impedance flow cytometer.

Microfluidic impedance cytometry is emerging as a label-free, low-cost and portable solution for cell analysis. Impedance-based cell or particle characterization is provided by microfluidic and electronic devices. We report the design and characterization of a miniaturized flow cytometer based on a 3-dimensional (3D) hydrodynamic focusing mechanism. A sheath adaptively concentrated the sample laterally and vertically at the bottom of the microchannel, reducing the variance of particle translocation height and increasing the signal-to-noise ratio of the particle impedance pulse. Through simulation and confocal microscopy experiments, it has been verified that an increase in the ratio of sheath to sample decreased the cross-sectional area of the concentrated stream, which can be reduced to 26.50% of the pre-focusing value. The appropriate sheath flow settings increased the impedance pulse amplitude for different particles, and the coefficient of variation reduced by at least 35.85%, contributing to a more accurate representation of the particle impedance characteristic distribution. The system displayed the difference of HepG2 cell impedance before and after drug treatment, which is consistent with the results of flow cytometry, providing a convenient and inexpensive solution for monitoring cell status.

Impact of Multiple Mild Stenoses on the Movement of Casson Fluid in a Non-Uniform Tube

The impact of multiple stenoses on the stream of a Casson fluid over a non-uniform pipe has been studied. Under the assumption of mild-stenosis, explicit solutions have been derived to calculate the flow resistance and shear-stress on the wall. The consequences of numerous relevant factors on these flow qualities are deliberated. It is experiential that the flow resistance declines with a change of radius in the plug region, where as the shear stress increases with the same. Further, both the above two flow characteristics upsurge with the elevations of the stenoses. The impacts of boundaries identified with statures of stenoses on shear-stress may support in improved recognition of the fluid mechanical viewpoints in stenotic stream area, which thusly would support in further comprehension of the advancement and improvement of ‘Arteriosclerosis’ in biological frameworks.

Flood hazard assessment in a mountainous river basin in Thessaly, Greece, based on 1D/2D numerical simulation

• Flood inundation and hazard maps, under steady and unsteady flow conditions based on GIS and 1D/2D flow model usage, were generated. • Proposed methodology was based on a comparison between different transform methods. • Flood hazard maps creation is necessary for the positioning and planning of appropriate flood protection projects. • Comparison between 1D/2D numerical results. Floods are amongst the greatest natural hazards in the world. In the last decade, many flood events have been observed and recorded in Greece, which have had a direct effect on river ecosystem consistency. Flood hazard assessment is a critical parameter for flood hazard areas identification and for taking relevant mitigation measures to prevent the hazard. Therefore, the study and evaluation of streams’ hydraulic behaviour is necessary for flood management. The aim of this research work is to present a substantial methodology for flood hazard management based on GIS and hydrological/hydraulic numerical models. Flood inundation and flood hazard maps in a stream area under steady and unsteady flow conditions, using one–dimensional and two–dimensional flow models were generated, as an extension of the European Directive 2007/60/EC. For unsteady flow simulations, a hydrograph was used, based on the available rainfall data of the flood occurrence period. The simulation under steady flow conditions was performed for return periods of 100 and 1000 years. Numerical results of one–dimensional and two–dimensional numerical models were adequately compared with available field measurements providing the reliability of the current methodology.

Antimicrobial resistance in Escherichia coli from cecal samples of cattle for meat slaughtered in meat processing plants of the Mburicao stream area, Asuncion, Paraguay. 2021

La resistencia a los antimicrobianos es una de las preocupaciones más importantes a nivel mundial, ya que determina un aumento de la morbimortalidad de los pacientes y el incremento de los costos de la atención de salud; problema cuyo abordaje debe ser realizado bajo el enfoque de Una Salud. El objetivo principal de este trabajo fue evaluar la resistencia antimicrobiana en Escherichia coli provenientes de muestras cecales de bovinos de carne faenados en frigoríficos de la zona del Arroyo Mburicao, Asunción-Paraguay, de setiembre a noviembre de 2021. Fueron colectadas 181 muestras de ganados provenientes de la Región Oriental y Occidental, y cultivadas en agar cromogénico suplementados con ciprofloxacina, colistina, cefotaxima y meropenem. Las colonias aisladas fueron identificadas, genotipificadas (PCR convencional) y sometidas a pruebas de susceptibilidad. El principal hallazgo fue la confirmación de la resistencia a las fluoroquinolonas en un 8,3% debida a la portación de los genes Qnr S, Qnr B y aac-6´-Ib-cr, involucrados en el mecanismo plasmídico de resistencia a quinolonas. Además, la resistencia acompañante encontrada en los aislamientos resistentes del 100% a tetraciclina y 53% a trimetoprim/sulfametoxazol. No se encontraron aislamientos con resistencia a cefotaxima, colistina y meropenem. Los resultados obtenidos son de suma relevancia para la generacion de conocimiento sobre los perfiles de resistencia de microorganismos en el sector veterinario, pudiendo contribuir a la elaboración de guías nacionales para el uso prudente de antimicrobianos y apoyando al trabajo multisectorial en la lucha para la contención de la resistencia antimicrobiana

The longevity of fencing out livestock as a method of decreasing contaminant concentrations in a headwater stream.

Water quality can be improved by fencing off streams from livestock. However, the remedial effect of fencing can fail as livestock trample near stream areas. Water samples were taken every 3-4 wk, and flow was monitored over time in a headwater stream from 2003 to 2019. In November 2005, the stream edge and an area near the stream used for wallowing by farmed red deer was fenced off and planted in native trees, shrubs, and grasses. Contaminant (nitrogen and phosphorus species, sediment, and the fecal indicator bacteria Escherichia coli) concentrations decreased after fencing until at least 2013 (55-84%). However, nitrate concentrations more than doubled owing to the use of a portion of the catchment for a grazed winter forage crop in 2013. Most concentrations remained low after fencing, but sediment concentrations slowing increased (3% yr-1 ), which was attributed to animal tracking near the fence line. The presence of stock in the catchment enriched stormflow losses but prevented losses during baseflow. These data indicate that, when implemented well, fencing and planting could potentially sustain good water quality for decades in farmed red deer systems.

Growth regulation by air stream-based mechanical stimulation in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) – Part II: Phenotypic and physiological responses

Plant responses to mechanical stimulation have a great potential for growth control of ornamentals plants and vegetable seedlings and is a major requirement to ensure plant compactness and stability. 21 days old tomato (Solanum lycopersicum cv. ‘Romello’) plants were exposed to regularly applied mechanical stimuli for 14 days by applying of a defined air stream through a custom-built air stream applicator. Air stream application gradually reduced total plant leaf area by 14% and promoted radial growth relative to internode length compared to the untreated control, resulting in a more compact and stable plant phenotype, which was also related to an increased stem dry matter content of the air stream-treated plants. The reduction in total plant leaf area was compensated for the translocation of proportionally more assimilates to light-harvesting tissues and to stems at the expense of dry mass accumulation in petioles. Total stem, leaf and root dry mass of air stream-treated plants were unaffected. The specific leaf area of the air stream treated plants was reduced compared to the control, resulting in an increased relative leaf greenness and consequently in an 8% higher net carbon assimilation rates on average compared to the control. Thereby, air stream-treated plants were able to maintain overall biomass accumulation at the same level as the control. Leaf transpiration rate of air stream treated plants was not markedly affected in the long-term. The technique presented should be easily transferable to other plants, such as ornamentals where the application of chemical plant growth regulators is still the most common technique for plant growth control.

북한강유역 미사리유형 취락의 입지환경 변화 연구

This study reviewed the changes of the settlements in the Misari Assemblage in Bukhan River and Soyang River, focusing on the Chuncheon basin, and investigated the reasons for the changes in such locations. In Bukhan River basin, the Doldae Mun pottery show three stages of change. Approximately 3,100 BP as the starting point, temporal changes are shown from appearance, development, and decline. These changes can also be found from the locations. In Stage 1 of the settlements of the Misari Assemblage in Bukhan River basin, the Misari Assemblage residential area is created for the first time in Cheoncheon-ri area and the southwestern part of Jungdo-dong. This area takes the form of a small-scale settlement with mid- to large-sized rectangular residential sites and small-sized square residential sites. In Stage 2, the numbers of midto large-sized rectangular residential sites and the small-sized square residential sites, which are the common house types of the intergenerational communities, increase. In Jungdo site, residential areas are first created in areas B1 and D1. Afterwards, residential areas gradually spread to the eastern part (E1) and northern parts (D2 and 3). Ultimately, with more residential areas in other settlement areas, it is possible to identify large-scale settlement types. In Stage 3, the scale of the settlements decreases. In Jungdo area, residential areas are created in some parts in the northwest, and the residential areas move to nearby Geumsan-ri, Hyeonam-ri, or Geunhwa-dong areas. The changes in the Doldae Mun pottery follow the changes in residential sites. This is closely related to climate change. That is, with climate change occurring in certain areas starting from the Bronze Age, the landscape of the Chuncheon basin changed as well, which led to the changes in the locations of settlements. The settlements of the Misari Assemblage that was constructed on the Chuncheon basin, a flat land, was mostly focused in the stream areas of Bukhan River and Soyang River, which were the areas that have easy access to rivers. Then, when the river started to flow with rising temperatures, the locations became more diverse as there were more areas where the river could be accessed. In Stage 3, with the falling temperatures, settlements of the Misari Assemblage return to the streams of Bukhan River and Soyang River. However, they are more focused around the stable grounds located in the mid to upper streams of Bukhan River. The location of settlements of the Misari Assemblage in Stage 3 changes in landscape to the locations of Stage 1. The settlements also tend to go back to their original locations. However, the Yeoksam-dong Assemblage appears at Bukhan River basin. Therefore, it is judged that the terrace terrains of Udu-dong and Cheonjeon-ri and the river island areas of Jungdo-dong were no longer accessible. Later, the Chuncheon basin changes to become the settlement area during the early and mid Bronze Age periods.

Interaction of Rossby waves with the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio using altimetry in a framework of a vortex layer model

In this paper, we show the potential of satellite altimetry to study the interaction of Rossby waves with the shear flow. The Miles-Ribner approach, which was developed in gas dynamics in the 1960 s, is used to describe Rossby waves interacting with the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio areas. The region of interaction is approximated by a nonzonal vortex layer. We apply the main formulations of the problem of a nonzonal vortex layer on the β-plane in the formulation of Miles-Ribner to observations in the real ocean. Earlier, we showed that the interaction of waves with a nonzonal flow gives rise to a new class of solutions, which is absent in the case of a zonal flow. This new class of solutions can be interpreted as the pure emission of Rossby waves by the nonzonal flow. We apply this theoretical approach to the areas of the Gulf Stream and Kuroshio as well. We use for analysis altimetry data available at Copernicus Marine Environment Monitoring Service. The analysis of Hovmöller diagrams in the areas under consideration confirms the previously obtained theoretical conclusions of the problem of the interaction of planetary waves with a nonzonal flow on the β-plane in the formulation of Miles-Ribner. The incident waves, as well as refracted and reflected waves are distinguished. The speed of refracted and reflected waves exceeds the speed of incident waves, which confirms the conclusions about the existence of mechanisms for the amplification of planetary waves when they interact with a nonzonal flow.

Dynamics of Ca and Mg storage of non-woody debris in a subtropical forest headwater stream during the rainy season.

Forest headwater streams are the monumental cement for relating habitats of the terrene and water. Nutri-ent dynamics of non-woody debris in stream can directly and indirectly regulate the cycle and transport of forest nutrients, for example, Ca and Mg. In the rainy season (from March to August) of 2021, we monitored the dyna-mics of Ca and Mg storage of non-woody debris in a typical headwater stream in a subtropical forest. The results showed that total Ca and Mg storage of non-woody debris per unit area of stream ranged from 178.1 to 890.5 mg·m-2 and 13.8 to 61.6 mg·m-2 during the rainy season, respectively. The Ca and Mg storages of non-woody debris per unit area of stream during the rainy season displayed a pattern of first increase and then decrease, and overall a decrease pattern. The storage varied significantly among different sites, with higher values in stream source than others. The total Ca and Mg storage of non-woody debris positively correlated with precipitation, but negatively with stream water alkalinity, temperature, and dissolved oxygen. The variation of riparian forest type (e.g., Castano-psis carlesii forests or mixed coniferous forests) and with or without tributaries did not affect the storage of Ca and Mg in stream non-woody debris. During the rainy season, total Ca and Mg storage of non-woody debris in the headwater stream from forest generally decreased over time, which was mainly controlled by the characteristics of rainfall and stream.

Dissociation between Attention-Dependent and Spatially Specific Illusory Shape Responses within the Topographic Areas of the Posterior Parietal Cortex.

The human visual system consists of multiple topographic maps that extend from the early visual cortex (EVC) along the dorsal and ventral processing streams. Responses to illusory shapes within these maps have been demonstrated in the ventral stream areas, in particular the lateral occipital complex (LOC). Recently, the intraparietal sulcus (IPS) of the dorsal stream has been linked to the processing of illusory shapes defined by motion. It remains unclear whether the topographically organized parietal areas also respond to stationary illusory shapes, which would suggest their generic role in representing illusory content. In the current study we measured brain responses using fMRI while 30 human participants (12 male) observed flickering inducers around the fixation task. The inducers either formed an illusory diamond in the center, a triangle in the left or right hemifield, or were inverted such that no illusory figure was formed. We compared responses of parietal regions IPS0-IPS5 and SPL1 to each illusory figure with the nonillusory condition. To determine the role of attentional modulation on illusory shape responses we manipulated the difficulty of the fixation task. Our results show that all IPS areas responded to illusory shapes. The more posterior areas IPS0-IPS3 additionally displayed a preference toward contralateral shapes, while the more anterior areas IPS4 and IPS5 showed response attenuation with increased task difficulty. We suggest that the IPS can represent illusory content generated not only by moving, but also by stationary stimuli, and that there is a functional dissociation between attention-dependent anterior and spatially specific posterior topographic maps.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT The traditional view of the ventral visual pathway being solely responsible for representation of objects has recently been challenged by demonstrating illusory shape representation within the dorsal visual pathway with moving bistable stimuli. Our results provide evidence for the dorsal stream contribution to representing not only moving, but also stationary illusory shapes. Our results also show a functional subdivision along the topographic maps, with spatially specific shape responses in the more posterior, and attention-dependent responses in the more anterior areas. These findings have implications for our understanding of the relationship between attention and grouping in healthy individuals and neuropsychological patients. Furthermore, IPS areas should be considered in theoretical accounts and models of how subjective content is generated in the brain.

Estimating the Routing Parameter of the Xin’anjiang Hydrological Model Based on Remote Sensing Data and Machine Learning

The parameters of hydrological models should be determined before applying those models to estimate or predict hydrological processes. The Xin’anjiang (XAJ) hydrological model is widely used throughout China. Since the prediction in ungauged basins (PUB) era, the regionalization of the XAJ model parameters has been a subject of intense focus; nevertheless, while many efforts have targeted parameters related to runoff yield using in-site data sets, classic regression has predominantly been applied. In this paper, we employed remotely sensed underlying surface data and a machine learning approach to establish models for estimating the runoff routing parameter, namely, CS, of the XAJ model. The study was conducted on 114 catchments from the Catchment Attributes and MEteorology for Large-sample Studies (CAMELS) data set, and the relationships between CS and various underlying surface characteristics were explored by a gradient-boosted regression tree (GBRT). The results showed that the drainage density, stream source density and area of the catchment were the three major factors with the most significant impact on CS. The best correlation coefficient (r), root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) between the GBRT-estimated and calibrated CS were 0.96, 0.06 and 0.04, respectively, verifying the good performance of GBRT in estimating CS. Although bias was noted between the GBRT-estimated and calibrated CS, runoff simulations using the GBRT-estimated CS could still achieve results comparable to those using the calibrated CS. Further validations based on two catchments in China confirmed the overall robustness and accuracy of simulating runoff processes using the GBRT-estimated CS. Our results confirm the following hypotheses: (1) with the help of large sample of catchments and associated remote sensing data, the ML-based approach can capture the nonstationary and nonlinear relationships between CS and the underlying surface characteristics and (2) CS estimated by ML from large samples has a robustness that can guarantee the overall performance of the XAJ mode. This study advances the methodology for quantitatively estimating the XAJ model parameters and can be extended to other parameters or other models.

Numerical Simulation of Pulverized Coal Injection in the Dome Zone of a COREX Melter Gasifier

The dome zone is the freeboard at the top of the COREX melter gasifier (MG), and the secondary injection systems are installed in the dome zone to recycle dust and oxygen. Pulverized coal injection (PCI) in the dome zone of the COREX MG is used to transform the oxygen burners (OBs) into oxygen–coal burners (OCBs) and cooperates with the dust burners (DBs) to realize the function of gasification. In this work, a three-dimensional (3-D) steady-state mathematical model was developed to simulate the transport phenomenon in the dome zone with and without PCI. The results show that when 150 kg/t of pulverized coal is injected into the dome zone, the impinging stream area expands and the average temperature in the dome zone increases by about 40 K. The proportion of CO2 in the reduction gas decreases by 7.8 pct, while the proportion of H2 increases by 7.4 pct at the outlet of the MG with the PCI in the dome zone. The total effective volume fraction of reducing gas at the outlet of MG can reach 83.3 pct, which is a benefit to improving the reduction processes in the shaft furnace. Due to the intensification of circulation and the complexity of particle behavior, the residence time of particles increases by about 10 seconds in the case of PCI and the burnout rate of recycling dust and pulverized coal can reach above 99 pct.Graphical abstract

Anthropomorphic or non-anthropomorphic? Effects of biological sex in observation of actions in a digital human model and a gantry robot model.

Robots are ever more relevant for everyday life, such as healthcare or rehabilitation, as well as for modern industrial environment. One important issue in this context is the way we perceive robots and their actions. From our previous study, evidence exists that sex can affect the way people perceive certain robot's actions. In our fMRI study, we analyzed brain activations of female and male participants, while they observed anthropomorphic and robotic movements performed by a human or a robot model. While lying in the scanner, participants rated the perceived level of anthropomorphic and robotic likeness of movements in the two models. The observation of the human model and the anthropomorphic movements similarly activated the biological motion coding areas in posterior temporal and parietal areas. The observation of the robot model activated predominantly areas of the ventral stream, whereas the observation of robotic movements activated predominantly the primary and higher order motor areas. To note, this later activation originated mainly from female participants, whereas male participants activated, in both robot model and robotic movements contrasts, areas in the posterior parietal cortex. Accordingly, the general contrast of sex suggests that men tend to use the ventro-dorsal stream most plausibly to rely on available previous knowledge to analyze the movements, whereas female participants use the dorso-dorsal and the ventral streams to analyze online the differences between the movement types and between the different models. The study is a first step toward the understanding of sex differences in the processing of anthropomorphic and robotic movements.

Caves in clastic rocks (Muğla, SW Türkiye)

Caves evolution is controlled by lithological properties, discontinuities, water, climate, and physico-mechanical properties of soluble rocks, vegetation and human impact. This study investigates the cave formation in Upper Miocene-Pliocene clastic rock in Menteşe town of Muğla. The lithology, physico-mechanical properties and hydrogeologic factors of host rocks and morphology of the caves in Asar Hill and Damlam stream valley were examined. The caves are 1.47-9.71 m long, 2.24-19.36 m wide and 1.38-27 m high. Four joint sets and bedding planes affect the clastics in the Asar Hill area. Mudstones (low plasticity clay, sandy clay) are in soft-very soft rock, while conglomerate is in moderate-hard rock class. The mudstone removal has started the formation of the caves. The vegetation roots act as groundwater circulation paths in the Damlam stream area. Water has eroded mudstone and muddy matrix of conglomerate following cracks and led to the formation of the caves. Water infiltration may have led to stalactite, flowstone and travertine formation in Damlam stream caves. Possible cave collapse could threaten life and property in the Asar Hill area, and may cause the destruction of internal structures of the caves in the Damlam stream. Thus, precautionary measures such as continuous monitoring and protection must be taken in both cave areas.

Groundwater travel times predict DOC in streams and riparian soils across a heterogeneous boreal landscape

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) in surface waters is an important component of the boreal landscape carbon budget and a critical variable in water quality. A dominant terrestrial DOC source in the boreal landscape is the riparian zone. These near stream areas play a key role in regulating DOC transport between land and aquatic ecosystems. The groundwater dynamics at this interface have been considered a major controlling variable for DOC export to streams. This study focuses on the regulating role of groundwater levels and mean travel times (MTT) on riparian DOC concentrations and, subsequently, stream DOC. This is done by comparing them as explanatory variables to capture the spatial and intra-annual variability of the stream and riparian groundwater DOC. We used a physically based 3D hydrological model, Mike SHE, to simulate DOC concentrations of the riparian zones for 14 sub-catchments within the Krycklan catchment (Sweden). The model concept assumes that DOC concentrations will be higher in groundwater moving through shallow flow paths. In the model, this can be linked to the position of the groundwater table at a point of observation or the travel time, which will generally be shorter for water that has travelled through shallow and more conductive soil layers. We compared the results with both observed stream and groundwater concentrations. The analysis revealed that the correlation between modelled and observed annual averages of stream DOC increased from r = 0.08 to r = 0.87 by using MTT instead of groundwater level. MTT also better captured the observed spatial variability in riparian DOC concentrations and more successfully represented seasonal variability of stream DOC. We, therefore, suggest that MTT is a better predictor than groundwater level for riparian DOC concentration because it can capture a greater variety of catchment heterogeneities, such as variation in soil properties, catchment size, and input from deep groundwater sources.