Endogenous derivation of the optimal policy measures to improve the water quality in Barada Basin, Syria

Barada Basin, where the capital of Syria, Damascus, is located, in hence where most of the human activities are concentrated, suffers from serious environmental problems due to urbanization, industrialization, and overexploitation of environmental media. Huge amounts of wastewater (domestic, industrial, and agricultural) are discharged everyday to the land, Barada and Awaj Rivers without sufficient treatment converting the only-two water bodies in the region to waste dump. In this paper, an optimal policy will be introduced including set of policy measures to improve the water quality in the rivers by running a mathematical model and simulating the data available.

The megageomorphology of the radar rivers of the eastern Sahara

The Eastern Sahara is devoid of surface drainage; this unusual characteristic distinguishes its morphology from that of most other desert regions where running water dominates landscape development. A map derived from SIR-A/B and LANDSAT images and the literature, shows the major presently known paleodrainages in the Eastern Sahara. This compilation permits consideration of the key questions: Where did the radar rivers come from and where did they go? Analysis of SIR-A data led McCauley et al. to suggest that the radar rivers, because of their southwestward trends, once flowed into the Chad basin. This key North African feature is a regional structural low formed in the Early Cretaceous in response to initial opening of the South Atlantic. The problem of the origin of headwaters for the radar rivers was less tractable. The idea that the source areas of the radar rivers might originally have been the same as those later captured by the Nile was proposed tentatively. A more extensive review of the Cenozoic tectonic history of North Africa reveals no reason now to suppose that the Central African tributaries of the present Nile were ever connected to the large alluvial valleys in southwestern Egypt and northwestern Sudan. formed in the Early Cretaceous in response to initial opening of the South Atlantic. The problem of the origin of headwaters for the radar rivers was less tractable. The idea that the source areas of the radar rivers might originally have been the same as those (The Ethiopian Highlands) later captured by the Nile was proposed tentatively. A more extensive review of the Cenozoic tectonic history of North Africa reveals no reason now to support that the Central African tributaries of the present Nile were ever connected to the large alluvial valleys in southwestern Egypt and northwestern Sudan

Gastropod communities of the reservoirs and the rivers of the Ciechanowska Upland = Сообщества Gastropodа в водохранилишах и реках Цехановского Нагорья

The aims of research were: analysis of the number of species, density, domination, constancy and commonness of the gastropod communities in the water environments of the Ciechanowska Upland (northeastern part of Po-land), analysis of biodiversity of the snail communities and similarity among them, research on the relationship among freshwater snail communities and the certain environmental factor, research on usefulness of snail communities as a factor of water quality. Four rivers: the Lydynia, the Pelta, the Sona, the Wkra, 4 old beds of the Wkra river and 9 anthropogenic reservoirs (clay-pits) were researched. The zoocenology analysis of snail com-munities was carried out using dominancy, constancy, commonness indices and biodiversity indices: Simpson Diversity Index (D), Shannon-Wiener Diversity Index (H'), Evennes Index (J’). 27 gastropod species are presented in the rivers of the Ciechanowska Upland. The first permanent population of Ferrissia wautieri (Mirolli) in Poland has been recorded from the clay-pit. Gastropods in running waters can be biological indicators of oxygen level of water. If the level of oxygen increases, the number of species will increase. Viviparus viviparus (L.) and Radix peregra (O.F. Mull) can be indicators of anthropopressure

Ecological status assessment of clay rivers with naturally enhanced water phosphorus concentrations

The species composition of benthic algae changes as water phosphorus concentrations increase, and these changes can be used for ecological status assessment according to the Water Framework Directive. Natural background phosphorus concentrations in rivers and streams that are unaffected by anthropogenic impacts are usually low. Running waters draining catchments with deposits of marine clay, however, may have enhanced phosphorus concentrations, because the clay is naturally rich in apatite. Almost all clay rich areas have been cultivated for centuries, however, and fertilization has increased the soil phosphorus levels. It has, therefore, been difficult to disentangle natural from anthropogenically enhanced phosphorus in streams draining clay rich areas. We compared water phosphorus concentrations, and the Periphyton Index of Trophic Status PIT, between clay and non-clay, impacted and unimpacted rivers in Norway. We found that water phosphorus concentrations and the PIT index were higher in unimpacted clay rivers than in unimpacted non-clay rivers, indicating that natural phosphorus concentrations in clay rivers are indeed enhanced compared to rivers without deposits of marine clay. In addition, phosphate-P contributed 18–23% to total phosphorus in unimpacted clay rivers, but 33–37% in unimpacted and impacted non-clay rivers and clay rivers affected by agriculture. This indicates that the total phosphorus in unimpacted clay rivers is less bioavailable than in non-clay rivers and in impacted clay rivers. Water total phosphorus concentrations in unimpacted clay rivers significantly increased with catchment clay cover. Based on these findings, we derived new status class boundaries for the PIT index in clay rivers. Clay rivers are suggested to be assessed in only two status classes, i.e., “good or better” or “moderate or worse”, respectively. The good/moderate status class boundary for the PIT index was shown to increase with increasing catchment clay cover.publishedVersio

Atrocalopteryx melli orohainani ssp. nov. on the Island of Hainan, China (Zygoptera: Calopterygidae)

The new sp. is described from the mountain core of Hainan, southern China, where it usually occurs at altitudes not lower than 300 m asl. It lives on the same type of small, shaded rivers as the nominate ssp. on the continent, and is distinguished by its larger size, slightly less enfumed wings, and a 2.6% difference in the sequence of the barcoding portion of the mitochodrial DNA-cytochrome c oxidase subunit I gene (COI). Holotype male: Diaoluoshan mountain, 6-VIII-2011; deposited in the Inst. Hydrobiol., Jinan Univ., Guanghou. It is argued that this geographically defined ssp. evolved because of persistent poor gene flow with continental populations, caused by the lowland "panhandle" between Hainan and the continent. This barrier was probably functioning equally well during interglacials (like at present) as during pleniglacials (when Hainan was connected to the mainland), because lack of suitable environments (small sized running waters), and dry and cold conditions continued to limit the contact with A. melli of the mainland

Master of Arts

thesisBetween 1936 and 1949, Norm Nevills operated a river running company called Nevills Expedition in Mexican Hat, Utah. Norm and his wife, Doris, guided multiple river trips down the San Juan and Colorado rivers each summer. From all over the United States, men and women would travel to Mexican Hat to experience the rivers of southern Utah under Norm's careful ministration. This thesis explores the gendered implications of Norm's trips and the extraordinary (and sometimes ordinary) women who participated in them. I argue that the nuanced interaction between these women, Norm, and traditional gender roles demonstrates the complexity and fluidity of gender as a social construct. Through a close reading of the Doris D. and Norman Nevills papers at the University of Utah's Marriott library, I show that Norm and Doris' river trips offered their passengers a unique way to explore what being a man or woman meant in contemporary society. The different characters that emerge from this reading highlight important gendered expectations that river running allowed them to challenge or accept

The classification and prediction of macroinvertebrate communities in British rivers

This article describes the progress of the River Communities Project which commenced in 1977. This project aimed to develop a sensitive and practical system for river site classification using macroinvertebrates as an objective means of appraising the status of British rivers. The relationship between physical and chemical features of sites and their biological communities were examined. Sampling was undertaken on 41 British rivers. Ordination techniques were used to analyze data and the sites were classified into 16 groups using multiple discrimination analysis. The potential for using the environmental data to predict to which group a site belonged and the fauna likely to be present was investigated

Prospective associations between loneliness and emotional intelligence

Loneliness has been linked cross-sectionally to emotional skill deficits (e.g., Zysberg, 2012), but missing from the literature is a longitudinal examination of these relationships. The present study fills that gap by examining the prospective relationships between loneliness and emotional functioning in young adolescents in England. One hundred and ninety-six adolescents aged 11-13 years (90 females) took part in the study and completed the youth version of the Mayer-Salovey-Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT-YV) and the peer-related subscale of the Loneliness and Aloneness Scale for Children and Adolescents (LACA) at two time points, which were 10 months apart. Prospective associations were obtained for male and female adolescents separately using cross-lagged statistical techniques. Our results showed prospective links between understanding and managing emotions and loneliness for both females and males. Perceiving and using emotions were prospectively linked to loneliness in males only. Possible explanations and directions for future research are discussed