Unsuitable Places Research Articles

Model for Determining Follow-up Actions in Slum Areas in North Sumatra: Case Study in Tebing Tinggi City

Even in various cities, inadequately habitable residential areas tend to become slums and no longer meet the standards of a healthy residential environment. This study utilizes descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression analysis with a total of 100 respondents. The Slum Environment Follow-up Determination Model shows the results of the settlement conditions in Tebing Tinggi City, where many people live in unsuitable places, with damaged or inadequate building structures, high housing density, and wooden buildings. As a result, they are vulnerable to fire hazards. Additionally, there is a lack of clean water services, drainage facilities, household waste disposal, waste management, and poor environmental road quality (many roads lack upper pavement or are dirt roads), as well as inadequate street lighting. The low levels of education and income indicate a low socioeconomic status in the slum areas of Tebing Tinggi City. Factors such as Building Density Level (BDL), Environmental Drainage, income, and education collectively significantly influence people's decisions to live in slum environments. However, factors such as Building Density Level (BDL), Environmental Drainage, income, and education partially influence people's decisions to live in slum environments. The pattern of community participation in tackling slum areas remains the same, with an average of 57% not participating in decision-making, implementation, achievement, and program result evaluation.

A Study on Arūpā Brahma in Theravāda Buddhism

While writing this topic of ‘A Study on Arūpā Brahma in Theravāda Buddhism”, about seven articles written on this type of Brahmas, some Samahta papers and Ahidhamma books were reviewed, studied and analyzed. Digha Nikaya Sutta translation (III), Parhtika web was also studied and reviewed. This paper points out that there are very few papers written on this topic and we can only get some kind of knowledge on Arūpā Brahma only from “DIALOGUES OF THE BUDDHA” articles and some papers written by our famous Buddhist Sayadaws. However, after reading this paper, one will hope to become believed in that : there are Arūpā Brahma realms in this Universe which we cannot see with our human naked eyes and these Arūpā Brahma realms are unsuitable places for beings to be reborn because these realms are included in the eight untimely, unseasonable intervals for life in a religious order.

URBAN SOUTHERN HOUSE WREN (TROGLODYTES MUSCULUS) NESTING IN APPARENTLY UNSUITABLE HUMAN-MADE STRUCTURES: IS IT WORTH IT?

Free-living birds in cities interact with humans and human-made objects. Here, we investigated whether nesting in human-made structures that are physically unstable and prone to frequent human intervention benefits urban Southern House Wrens (Troglodytes musculus). First, we describe the behavior of individuals that repeatedly attempted to nest in a motorcycle helmet (an unsuitable structure) based on ad libitum observations and camera trapping. We also reviewed nesting records of this wren throughout Brazilian cities deposited in crowdsourcing citizen science platforms, such as Wiki Aves, eBird, and iNaturalist. During our field study, in November and December 2019, wrens attempted to build a nest in the helmet for 8 days. Each attempt was interrupted by the removal of the helmet. We recorded 103 videos of nesting activity, including 3 days of high nest-building effort (up to 68 twigs deposited inside the helmet within a 6-h period) and high territory-defense efforts. Both of these behaviors were sometimes followed by one of four types of vocalizations (contact call, complete song, incomplete song, or sub-song). We found 372 Southern House Wren nesting records in online citizen science datasets: 100 were in urban areas with 86 nests built on 24 different human-made structures. Most nests (n = 71) were in what we deemed as stable structures (safe from human intervention) and 34 of them (47.8%) likely bred successfully (i.e., fledglings present). Only seven nests were built on unstable and unsafe structures, and four (57.1%) of these had sufficient evidence of successful nesting. Although nesting in unsuitable places in cities is less-frequent, their breeding success is comparable with nesting in suitable places. Therefore, the nesting of Southern House Wren in human-made structures might benefit the species, even if they eventually become ecological traps due the risk of human intervention. Our study adds knowledge about the life history of the species in urban environments.

Contribution to assessement of the tourism impact on Landscape

Tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the world and it has a variety of impacts on the environment and local communities as well. For a long time it was considered as the purest part of human business. Many adverse tourism impacts on landscape have appeared in context of tourism development, therefore sustainable tourism should be taken into consideration. That is why it is necessary to find out limits to maintain the environment as well as tourism, because as it turns out in status quo it does not work as it should do. As the scale of tourism grows, the resources become more unsustainable. Destination with damaged environment loses its attraction and this fact causes increasing of building a new tourist destination mostly on unsuitable places. Mostly visitors and entrepreneurs do not realize that each place does not fit to build all tourist activities. Then the landscape is under the uncontrolled load which weights the environment. But tourism does not have only this dark side. In many regions it is a necessary human activity for further region development. The specific assessment of the tourism impact should bring a closer look on this problem and help to specify which regions are suitable for tourism spreading or not. In realized research focused on selected communities in the Nizky Jesenik Highlands there was the idea to quantify three suggested data sets (specific environmental area value, tourism potential and tourism infrastructure load) necessary for tourism impact assessment. Data sets were evaluated according to points distribution using pair wise comparison and compared based on correlation and regression. Finally the outputs were used for further recommendations. <b>Příspěvek k hodnocení vlivu cestovního ruchu na krajinu</b> Článek je zaměřen na posouzení dopadu cestovního ruchu na životní prostředí. Přináší bližší pohled na tento problém a definuje oblasti, které pro turistiku jsou vhodné a které nikoliv. Výzkum je zaměřen na specifické oblasti životního prostředí, hodnoty potenciálu cestovního ruchu a zatížení infrastruktury cestovního ruchu, které jsou potřebné pro posouzení dopadů cestovního ruchu. Pro testování byly vybrány obce v oblasti Nízkého Jeseníku.

Changes in the structure of seed dispersal networks when including interaction outcomes from both plant and animal perspectives

Interaction frequency is the most common currency in quantitative ecological networks, although interaction quality can also affect benefits provided by mutualisms. Here, we evaluate if interaction quality can modify network topology, species' role and whether such changes affect community vulnerability to species loss. We use a well‐examined study system (bird–lizard and fleshy‐fruited plants in the ‘thermophilous' woodland of the Canary Islands) to compare network and species‐level metrics from a network based on fruit consumption rates (interaction frequency, IF), against networks reflecting functional outcomes: a seed dispersal effectiveness network (SDE) quantifying recruitment, and a fruit resource provisioning network (FRP), accounting for the nutrient supply of fruits. Nestedness decreased in the FRP and the SDE networks, due to the lack of association between fruit consumption rates and 1) nutrient content and; 2) recruitment at the seed deposition sites, respectively. The FRP network showed lower niche overlap due to resource use complementarity among frugivores. Interaction evenness was lower in the SDE network, in response to a higher dominance of lizards in the recruitment of heliophilous species. Such changes, however, did not result in enhanced vulnerability against extinctions. At the plant species level, strength changed in the FRP network in frequently consumed or highly nutritious species. The number of effective partners decreased for species whose seeds were deposited in unsuitable places for recruitment. In frugivores, strength was consistent across networks (SDE vs IF), showing that consumption rates outweighed differences in dispersal quality. In the case of lizards, the increased importance of nutrient‐rich species resulted in a higher number of effective partners.Our work shows that although frequency strongly impacts interaction effects, accounting for quality improves our inferences about interaction assembly and species role. Thus, future studies including interaction outcomes from both partners' perspectives will provide valuable insights about the net effects of mutualistic interactions.

GIS-based multi-criteria analysis to identify site suitability of flood shelters in Kuantan, Malaysia

The aim of this paper was to identify site suitability of flood shelters in Kuantan by using GIS based multi-criteria analysis integrated with Analytic Hierarchy Process. Based on the developed criteria range, result shows that, 21% of flood shelters in Kuantan are located at unsuitable places; 32% of the shelters are located at moderate to more suitable site; 39% of the flood shelters are located at very suitable site; and 8% of the shelters are located at extremely suitable site.

ATRIBUTOS FUNCIONALES DE PLÁNTULAS DE MANGLE BAJO CONDICIONES AMBIENTALES CONTRASTANTES

En Veracruz, México, los manglares se distribuyen en 750 km del litoral. Los principales factores de pérdida de manglares han sido causados por la sobreexplotación de recursos por empresas comerciales. El 11 % de los manglares se encuentra en el estuario del río Tuxpan, por ello se seleccionó la laguna Tampamachoco, que fue estudiada en tres sectores: Norte, Centro y Sur. El objetivo fue la restauración de la zona afectada por actividades comerciales. Se estudiaron las condiciones propicias para el crecimiento de nuevas plántulas en lugares no aptos. Se hicieron colectas y se midieron las características morfométricas y fisicoquímicas para determinar el desarrollo del manglar. Los factores que se identificaron como limitantes fueron: poca fluidez del agua, un índice extremo de salinidad y temperaturas altas. Los resultados mostraron que las tres zonas registran condiciones variantes entre ellas, lo cual puede estar relacionado a las altas temperaturas y al estrés ocasionado por los cambios fisicoquímicos.

Awareness assessment of biophilic design principles application

The green architecture has developed in the last few years, since the sustainable system have evolved specially in buildings construction. The aim is to keep sources of non-renewable energy. With this evolution, a new concept related to the green architecture has been emerged called biophilia, or the living nature which is related to the human inheritance of loving nature. Many studies have proved that the existence of humans in the external environment reduces physiological and neurological distress and makes them feel better. This research deal with definition of architectural biophilic design with relation to the physical and physiological human health; as well as the merging of building interior with nature and their effects on the employee in terms of health and productivity. Moreover, it investigated the applications of the biophilic design inside work place to make it more comfortable and effective for the employee to enhance their productivity. The aim of this paper is to assess awareness about the biophilic design and its impact on employees and their wellbeing in Egypt because it’s too important to apply biophilic design especially at workspaces here in Egypt which had big percentage of unsuitable places to work full of stress and anxiety.

The Potential of Marine Resources in Cosmetics

The Ocean is a continuous body of saltwater that covers more than 70 percent of the Earth's surface. Despite the fact that oceanic habitats exhibit chemical and physical properties that make certain ocean zones suitable or unsuitable places for different species to live, the chemical (salinity and dissolved gases) and physical (temperature, density, buoyancy, waves, tides, and currents) properties of ocean water are delicately intermingled which produce one of the most self-sustaining life support systems on earth. This unique characteristic has made the marine environment an untapped source of bioactive natural products with unique structural and chemical features. Although many marine-derived compounds have been explored for their potential in pharmaceutical industry and some of which are already on the market, these molecules are still underexplored for natural cosmetics when compared to plant-derived compounds. However, recently many cosmetic firms have turned their attention to the sea to obtain several kinds of marine-derived compounds for cosmetic ingredients such as moisturizer, anti-ageing, photoprotection and skin whitening agents. With more research on the small molecules, biopolymers and enzymes from the marine environment, it is expected that the era of “blue cosmetics” will be dominating this sector very soon.

Temperature dependence bending rigidity of 2D membranes: Graphene as an example

Bending rigidity plays an important role in graphene from mechanical behavior to magnetic and electrical properties. However, it is still in a theoretical debate whether the bending rigidity of graphene increase or decrease with increasing temperature. The liquid membranes renormalization theory is always used to calculate the bending modulus of 2D membrane (graphene) at different temperatures. Although this theory has been successfully used to describe the mechanical behavior of liquid membranes like cell membrane, we point out some possible unsuitable places when it is used to evaluate the temperature effect on the bending rigidity of graphene. The energy difference between the notional planar and pure bending graphene is related to the definition of the bending rigidity directly. Based on this energy variation analysis, we demonstrate that the bending rigidity of graphene increases with increasing temperature. Moreover, we reveal the mechanism is that the configurational entropy plays a crucial role in the variation of the free energy of graphene with increasing temperature. Our approach also paves a way to investigate the temperature effect on the bending rigidity of other 2D materials.

Establishment of Aedes aegypti (L.) in mountainous regions in Mexico: Increasing number of population at risk of mosquito-borne disease and future climate conditions

The study was conducted in the central region of Veracruz Mexico, in the metropolitan area of Xalapa. It is a mountainous area where Aedes aegypti (L.) is not currently endemic. An entomological survey was done along an elevation gradient using the Ae. aegypti occurrences at different life cycle stages. Seven sites were sampled and a total of 24 mosquito species were recorded: 9 species were found in urban areas, 18 in non-urban areas with remnant vegetation, and 3 occurred in both environments. Ae. aegypti was found only in the urban areas, usually below 1200m a.s.l., but in this study was recorded for the first time at 1420m a.s.l. These occurrences, together with additional distribution data in the state of Veracruz were used to developed species distribution models using Maxlike software in R to identify the current projected suitable areas for the establishment of this vector and the human populations that might be affected by dengue transmission at higher elevations. Its emergence in previously unsuitable places appears to be driven by both habitat destruction and biodiversity loss associated with biotic homogenization. A border study using data from the edges of the vector’s distribution might allow sensitive monitoring to detect any changes in this mosquito’s distribution pattern, and any changes in the anthropic drivers or climate that could increase transmission risk.

Dunes, hills, waterholes, and saltpeter beds: Attractors for human populations in western Pampa, Argentina

Desert environments have generally been considered unsuitable places for the development of human communities. However, archaeological research shows that they have been intensively populated and traveled landscapes. These environments share common characteristics (scarcity of surface water, desert vegetation, high evapotranspiration, water imbalance, among others). But archaeological investigations account for the variability of both, desert settings and social trajectories of their populations.In Western Pampa (southwest of La Pampa province, Argentina), the distribution and availability of fresh water is the main variable for spatial organization of prehispanic populations. Also the crossroads of Indian trails or rastrilladas, articulated and connected places that mitigated its hostility, such as dune fields, springs, hill ranges, natural pools, temporary or permanent ponds. It is around these reservoirs that prehispanic human activities are recorded. Archaeological sites are sometimes ephemeral, in other of recurrent use. Considering the significant environmental dynamics of this landscape, it is possible to discuss the differential organizational patterns recorded alongside this arid region.

Analysis of land suitability for urban development in Ahwaz County in southwestern Iran using fuzzy logic and analytic network process (ANP).

The ever-increasing development of cities due to population growth and migration has led to unplanned constructions and great changes in urban spatial structure, especially the physical development of cities in unsuitable places, which requires conscious guidance and fundamental organization. It is therefore necessary to identify suitable sites for future development of cities and prevent urban sprawl as one of the main concerns of urban managers and planners. In this study, to determine the suitable sites for urban development in the county of Ahwaz, the effective biophysical and socioeconomic criteria (including 27 sub-criteria) were initially determined based on literature review and interviews with certified experts. In the next step, a database of criteria and sub-criteria was prepared. Standardization of values and unification of scales in map layers were done using fuzzy logic. The criteria and sub-criteria were weighted by analytic network process (ANP) in the Super Decision software. Next, the map layers were overlaid using weighted linear combination (WLC) in the GIS software. According to the research findings, the final land suitability map was prepared with five suitability classes of very high (5.86%), high (31.93%), medium (38.61%), low (17.65%), and very low (5.95%). Also, in terms of spatial distribution, suitable lands for urban development are mainly located in the central and southern parts of the Ahwaz County. It is expected that integration of fuzzy logic and ANP model will provide a better decision support tool compared with other models. The developed model can also be used in the land suitability analysis of other cities.

Ageing in Unsuitable Places

Much of the focus of ageing in place policy is concerned with the provision of support to enable older people to age in the community in residences adapted to their needs. There has been little examination of why older people make choices to age in particular places in later life. In this paper, we drew on 143 interviews with older people in New Zealand to examine the narratives older people use to describe their housing preferences in later life. Older people drew upon personal and public narratives to story housing in later life, and construct four identifiable identities: ‘practical planner’, ‘rugged pioneer’, ‘where I belong’ and ‘rooted in place’. This analysis demonstrates that some older people do narrate decisions to age in ‘sensible’ places with good access to services and have clear plans for change as their physical health declines. Other older people live proudly in unsuitable places and do not wish for support to move or accommodations made to their housing. These older people draw upon narratives of place as foundational to their identity, of relationships with people both living and dead as social relationships that bolster their identity and of housing as part of situated lifelong narratives. Both the situation of their home and the condition of the home provide the backdrop to alternative narrative identities that require them to remain in housing because of, or irrespective of, its unsuitability. To understand the limitations and the possibilities of ageing in place, we need to identify the multiple narratives that structure the lives of older people. By doing so, we can support ageing in place processes that do not disrupt the strong identities that have been developed in and through housing.

Diagnostic Evaluation of Insect Attack on Existing Timber Structures: A Review of some Case Studies

The problem of wood-boring insect attacks is gaining greater interest in Italy today. Wood-boring insects (Coleoptera, termites) often cause both structural and aesthetic damage on wooden structures which can sometimes give rise to human health concerns. Possible causes of current insect infestations include the use of timber originating from plantations, as well as bad post-felling practices such as late harvesting and stocking in unsuitable places before final processing. In the past, these insects were not thought to pose an economic threat to timber in service in Italy, but, in recent years, they have become a problem. The aim of this paper is to report on case studies concerning the occurrence of these unusual wood-boring insects on timber in service and, on the basis of the Authors experience, to formulate an in situ inspection protocol. The species we are dealing with in the case studies are: Bostrichus capucinus, family Bostrichidae, associated with Lyctus spp. (Fam. Lyctidae) and Lymexylon navale, family Lymexylonidae, belonging to the group of the so-called ambrosia beetles or pinhole borers. All these species were found on hardwoods, where they had bored into the sapwood except for L. navale which was also able to bore into heartwood, causing major concerns about its potential danger to timber in service. A technical integrated approach in evaluating insect attacks on on-site timber elements is also described here. The assessment is based on different methods, i.e. visual inspection and acoustic detection. This procedure is proposed as a basis for the development of an intervention protocol in the early stages of infestation.

PRESENÇA DE CORPOS ESTRANHOS NO APARELHO DIGESTÓRIO DE JABUTIS PIRANGA (Chelonoidis carbonaria): RELATO DE CASO

The ingestion of foreign bodies by captive reptiles is related to the maintenance of these animals in unsuitable places. This report refers to the description of ingestion cases of weird foreign bodies by three jabuti piranga (Chelonoidis carbonaria) from keepers in Sergipe, Brazil. The animals were sent for medical care with a history of apathy, prostration, loss of appetite and constipation. After anamnesis and clinical evaluation the specimens were submitted to simple ventrodorsal radiographs that confirmed the presence of radiopaque material in the digestive tract. Therapeutic procedures were different and one of the animals died due to the seriousness of his condition. From that report we concluded that the occurrence of ingestion of foreign bodies may occur when treatment is inadequate. Keywords: Reptiles, digestive tube, foreign body.

Egg-Dumping: A Strategy for Host Range Expansion in &lt;I&gt;Callosobruchus maculatus&lt;/I&gt; (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Herbivorous and parasitic females often show adaptive behavioral plasticity in response to their resources for oviposition. However, the phenomenon of individuals continuing oviposition on unsuitable places if hosts are unavailable also occurs, which is referred to as egg-dumping behavior. In previous studies, this egg-dumping behavior was considered to be a maladaptive behavior because some physiological constraints. In the current study, by clearly designating individuals as a dumper or nondumper in a population within 24 h, the life-history traits of female weevils, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.), with different oviposition characters were compared, and no significant differences were observed. In addition, this study provides two lines of evidence: 1) the egg-dumping rate was influenced by host experience; and 2) different host acceptance to novel beans between dumper and nondumper females. The inferences are that egg-dumping behavior may be a strategy for host range expansion by cowpea weevils if preferred hosts are not available.

Egg-Dumping: a Strategy for Host Range Expansion in Callosobruchus maculatus (Coleoptera: Bruchidae)

Herbivorous and parasitic females often show adaptive behavioral plasticity in response to their resources for oviposition. However, the phenomenon of individuals continuing oviposition on unsuitable places if hosts are unavailable also occurs, which is referred to as egg-dumping behavior. In previous studies, this egg-dumping behavior was considered to be a maladaptive behavior because some physiological constraints. In the current study, by clearly designating individuals as a dumper or nondumper in a population within 24 h, the life-history traits of female weevils, Callosobruchus maculatus (F.), with different oviposition characters were compared, and no significant differences were observed. In addition, this study provides two lines of evidence: 1) the egg-dumping rate was influenced by host experience; and 2) different host acceptance to novel beans between dumper and nondumper females. The inferences are that egg-dumping behavior may be a strategy for host range expansion by cowpea weevils if preferred hosts are not available.

Soil Structure Interaction between Two Adjacent Buildings under Earthquake Load

In some cases, tall buildings are located in geotechnically unsuitable places, due to their high ratio of height to width; there is risk of uplift and other effects such as overturning and reduction structure serviceability during earthquake. This research is aimed to evaluate the effect of Soil-Structure Interaction (SSI) on seismic behavior of two adjacent 32 story buildings such as time period, base shear and displacements. The interaction effects are investigated for variable distance between the two buildings. Three types of soil such as soft clay, sandy gravel and compacted sandy gravel are considered for this study. The result obtained that the interaction effect increases time period of both buildings base shear and lateral displacement of the structures increases.

Marine natural products influencing larval settlement and metamorphosis of marine sessile organisms

Most marine sessile organisms have a planktonic larval phase in their life cycles, and then larvae settle and metamorphose into their adult forms. The selection of settlement sites is a critical event for these organisms because settlement on unsuitable places affects their survivorship severely. Ascidians live gregariously, and conspecific chemical cues are thought to play an important role in gregarious settlement of larvae. The extracts of conspecific adults or larvae have been claimed to contain "natural metamorphosis inducers." Little is known, however, about their chemical properties. To discover natural signal substances for larval metamorphosis in ascidians, we surveyed the metamorphosis-inducing activity of the medium conditioned by ascidian larvae, and succeeded in isolating a metamorphosis-inducing substance from the conditioned medium of Halocycthia roretzi larvae and found that it was identical to lumichrome. We have also isolated more than 40 active metabolites, which may mimic lumichrome, from marine sponges. On the contrary, marine sessile organisms cause serious problems by settling on fishing nets, hulls of ships, and cooling systems of power plants. Organotin compounds have been widely used for the control of these organisms, but they are known to be toxic to marine biota. Therefore, nontoxic antifouling substances are urgently needed. Marine sessile organisms possess chemical defense systems using their secondary metabolites, which might be potential by nontoxic antifouling agents. We have attempted to obtain antibarnacle substances from marine sponges and isolated 26 antifoulants.