Recent advances in chemical sensors for soil analysis: a review

The continuously rising interest in chemical sensors' applications in environmental monitoring, for soil analysis in particular, is owed to the sufficient sensitivity and selectivity of these analytical devices, their low costs, their simple measurement setups, and the possibility to perform online and in-field analyses with them. In this review the recent advances in chemical sensors for soil analysis are summarized. The working principles of chemical sensors involved in soil analysis; their benefits and drawbacks; and select applications of both the single selective sensors and multisensor systems for assessments of main plant nutrition components, pollutants, and other important soil parameters (pH, moisture content, salinity, exhaled gases, etc.) of the past two decades with a focus on the last 5 years (from 2017 to 2021) are overviewed

Natural and Technological Hazards in Urban Areas

Natural hazard events and technological accidents are separate causes of environmental impacts. Natural hazards are physical phenomena active in geological times, whereas technological hazards result from actions or facilities created by humans. In our time, combined natural and man-made hazards have been induced. Overpopulation and urban development in areas prone to natural hazards increase the impact of natural disasters worldwide. Additionally, urban areas are frequently characterized by intense industrial activity and rapid, poorly planned growth that threatens the environment and degrades the quality of life. Therefore, proper urban planning is crucial to minimize fatalities and reduce the environmental and economic impacts that accompany both natural and technological hazardous events

斜面崩壊の分布図作成、分類、発生しやすさの評価 : 日本と中国を例に

学位の種別: 課程博士審査委員会委員 : （主査）東京大学教授 小口 高, 東京大学教授 斎藤 馨, 東京大学教授 須貝 俊彦, 東京大学准教授 芦 寿一郎, 東京大学准教授 早川 裕一University of Tokyo(東京大学

The impact of herbivores on the natural regeneration of temperate deciduous woodland

Many studies have reported deficient or intermittent patterns of natural regeneration in temperate deciduous woodland. The present study aimed to assess the relative impact of herbivore-mediated plant mortality on the natural regeneration dynamics of representative tree species (Acer pseudoplatanus, Betula pendula, Fraxinus excelsior, Ilex aquifolium, Sorbus aucuparia, Taxus baccata and Ulmus glabra) in representative temperate deciduous woodland (Shipley Wood and Derwent Gorge, County Durham). Sapling density and the density, spatial association and size distribution of adult tree populations varied significantly between tree species and study sites, reflecting contrasting patterns of current and historical regeneration. Rates of post-dispersal seed predation and seedling herbivory were quantified using field-based 'cafeteria' trials. Rodents were the principal agents responsible for seed predation, whereas seedling herbivory was attributable to a mixed suite of herbivores including invertebrates, rodents and larger mammals. Rates of seed predation and seedling herbivory varied significantly between tree species, most likely reflecting individualistic, trade-off responses to chemical and physical attributes. Fine-scale spatial variation most likely reflected the preferential foraging of rodents beneath protective vegetation cover. There was no consistent evidence to support the hypothesis that dispersed seeds may escape disproportionately high offspring mortality beneath parent plants resulting from increased herbivore activity. Natural seedling density varied significantly between years and between tree species, according to the abundance of viable seeds produced by conspecific adult trees. Although seedling survivorship varied significantly between species, the survivorship of each species was similar between years and between cohorts of the same year. Canopy cover, field layer cover or correlated factors were significant determinants of seed germination and seedling emergence, establishment and survival, according to age- and species-specific tolerances. In relative terms, patterns of natural regeneration were primarily herbivore- limited (Acer and Taxus), microsite-limited (Betula, Fraxinus, Ilex and Ulmus) or limited by herbivores and microsites (Sorbus). The availability of viable seeds may have also limited the recruitment of Ilex, Sorbus, Taxus and Ulmus. Vegetative expansion, mast seeding, seed bank regeneration and repeated, prolonged reproduction may have reduced the actual impact of herbivory on natural regeneration, such that long-lived iteroparous tree species were unlikely to have been critically dependent on current recruitment

Advances in Sustainable River Management

The main objective of this Special Issue is to contribute in understanding and provide science-based knowledge, new ideas/approaches and solutions in sustainable river management, to improve water management policies and practices following different environmental requirements aspects

Big Data Analysis application in the renewable energy market: wind power

Entre as enerxías renovables, a enerxía eólica e unha das tecnoloxías mundiais de rápido crecemento. Non obstante, esta incerteza debería minimizarse para programar e xestionar mellor os activos de xeración tradicionais para compensar a falta de electricidade nas redes electricas. A aparición de técnicas baseadas en datos ou aprendizaxe automática deu a capacidade de proporcionar predicións espaciais e temporais de alta resolución da velocidade e potencia do vento. Neste traballo desenvólvense tres modelos diferentes de ANN, abordando tres grandes problemas na predición de series de datos con esta técnica: garantía de calidade de datos e imputación de datos non válidos, asignación de hiperparámetros e selección de funcións. Os modelos desenvolvidos baséanse en técnicas de agrupación, optimización e procesamento de sinais para proporcionar predicións de velocidade e potencia do vento a curto e medio prazo (de minutos a horas)

World Multidisciplinary Civil Engineering- Architecture- Urban Planning symposium

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all 900+ submissions by 600+ participants of WMCAUS 2018 from 60+ different countries all over the world for their interests and contributions in WMCAUS 2018. We wish you enjoy the World Multidisciplinary Civil Engineering-Architecture-Urban Planning Symposium – WMCAUS 2018 and have a pleasant stay in the city of romance Prague. We hope to see you again during next event WMCAUS 2019 which will be held in Prague (Czech Republic) approximately in the similar period

Molecular phylogeny of horseshoe crab using mitochondrial Cox1 gene as a benchmark sequence

An effort to assess the utility of 650 bp Cytochrome C oxidase subunit I (DNA barcode) gene in delineating the members horseshoe crabs (Family: xiphosura) with closely related sister taxa was made. A total of 33 sequences were extracted from National Center for Biotechnological Information (NCBI) which include horseshoe crabs, beetles, common crabs and scorpion sequences. Constructed phylogram showed beetles are closely related with horseshoe crabs than common crabs. Scorpion spp were distantly related to xiphosurans. Phylogram and observed genetic distance (GD) date were also revealed that Limulus polyphemus was closely related with Tachypleus tridentatus than with T.gigas. Carcinoscorpius rotundicauda was distantly related with L.polyphemus. The observed mean Genetic Distance (GD) value was higher in 3rd codon position in all the selected group of organisms. Among the horseshoe crabs high GC content was observed in L.polyphemus (38.32%) and lowest was observed in T.tridentatus (32.35%). We conclude that COI sequencing (barcoding) could be used in identifying and delineating evolutionary relatedness with closely related specie