Lithostratigraphy, sedimentation and evolution of the Volta Basin in Ghana

We present a revised lithostratigraphy for the Voltaian Supergroup of Ghana, based on a review of existing literature, interpretations of remotely sensed data and reconnaissance field survey of the Volta Basin. These strata thicken eastwards, to a maximum of between 5 and 6 km adjacent to the Pan-African Dahomeyide orogen. They began to accumulate some time after about 1000 Ma, along the margin of an epicontinental sea. Initial sedimentation, comprising the age-equivalent Kwahu and Bombouaka Groups, shows a cyclical mode of deposition controlled by eustatic changes in sea-level that produced a range of nearshore marine, littoral and terrestrial environments. A major erosional interval was followed by deposition of the 3–4 km thick Oti-Pendjari Group. Basal tillites and associated sandy diamictons are correlated with the Marinoan (end-Cryogenian) glaciation, indicating a maximum depositional age of about 635 Ma. The overlying cap carbonates and tuffs were deposited within a shallow epeiric sea bordered by a volcanically active rift system. The main part of the group records the transition from a rifted passive margin to a fully developed foreland basin receiving marine flysch in the form of argillaceous strata interbedded with highly immature wacke-type sandstones and conglomerates. Maximum accommodation space was developed within a foredeep adjacent to the Dahomeyide belt. Towards the end of the orogenic phase, the foredeep succession became partially inverted and then was buried under coarse terrestrial, red-bed molasse of the Obosum Group

Connecting Green Infrastructure with Transportation Planning

The development of green infrastructure planning is increasingly espoused by landscape, conservation, and metropolitan planners as an effective way to create a network of ecological functionality in regions that are otherwise highly impacted by anthropogenic changes. The most common condition is one of expanding metropolitan growth transforming cultivated and natural landscapes into developed ones. Despite its promise, several critical problems arise with green infrastructure planning. We will consider three. The first is that the definition of green infrastructure within the public realm remains highly variable if not embryonic. The second is green infrastructure is a long-term investment whose effects will not be able to be measured until years after implementation, yet there are very few cases of green infrastructure planning that have actually resulted in adopted and implemented plans, which can be used as models of success. And third, although the public benefits of green infrastructure are positive, other forms of regional scale planning have more dominant influence and impacts, most notably transportation planning. Concerning this last point, our thesis is that green infrastructure and transportation infrastructure have important interactions. Furthermore, transportation infrastructure potentially degrades green infrastructure networks through fragmentation, ecosystem impairment, and loss of connectivity. Mitigating the impacts of transportation infrastructure could potentially be an important asset to green infrastructure planning. Coordination of transportation and green infrastructure holds promise for sustainable development across regional landscapes. We address this thesis by assessing the landscape significance of both green and transportation infrastructure planning and presenting a case study from Maryland, USA. The case study indicates that there are numerous logical connections between the two types of plans, some of them conflicting. However, it also indicates that there is much research still necessary on green infrastructure, especially in the areas of implementation and efficacy

Perceived quality of life impacts and tourism-related stress

Tourism has many impacts on residents’ quality of life. One outcome that can result from these impacts is the experience of stress. Individuals who experience stress are at increased risk for mental and physical illnesses. This paper examines the relationship between residents’ perceived impacts of tourism on their quality of life and their experience of tourism related stress. Paper surveys were completed by 247 residents of the Hawai’ian island of Oahu, a heavily developed tourism destination that is economically reliant on the tourism industry. A logistic regression model revealed that clean air and water, crowding and congestion, the preservation of residents’ way of life, the value of residents’ house and/or land, and plenty of festivals, fairs, and museums, were all significantly related to the experience of tourism related stress. Tourism decision makers can address tourism quality of life impacts in these specific areas to help mitigate tourism related stress

Wind tunnel results of the low-speed NLF(1)-0414F airfoil

The large performance gains predicted for the Natural Laminar Flow (NLF)(1)-0414F airfoil were demonstrated in two-dimensional airfoil tests and in wind tunnel tests conducted with a full scale modified Cessna 210. The performance gains result from maintaining extensive areas of natural laminar flow, and were verified by flight tests conducted with the modified Cessna. The lift, stability, and control characteristics of the Cessna were found to be essentially unchanged when boundary layer transition was fixed near the wing leading edge. These characteristics are very desirable from a safety and certification view where premature boundary layer transition (due to insect contamination, etc.) must be considered. The leading edge modifications were found to enhance the roll damping of the Cessna at the stall, and were therefore considered effective in improving the stall/departure resistance. Also, the modifications were found to be responsible for only minor performance penalties

EFFECTS OF TASK CONSTRAINTS ON SIDESTEPPING JOINT KINETICS

The purpose of this study was to assess the change in lower limb joint kinetics associated with anterior cruciate ligament injury (ACL) risk in sidesteps with and without task constraints. Female athletes (n=21) performed pre-planned and unplanned sidesteps with and without task constraints to the trunk and the preparatory step. Statistical differences in negative peak joint power for the hip, knee and ankle during the execution step, the entry velocity and the sidestep angle between the constrained and unconstrained sidesteps were determined with a linear mixed model. The entry velocity decreased for all unplanned sidesteps compared to pre-planned sidesteps. Trunk constraints increased knee joint loading in pre-planned sidesteps (-24.51 ± 11.27 W·kg-1) compared to unconstrained unplanned sidesteps (-17.69 ± 8.58 W·kg-1). Understanding how constraints can alter the magnitude of lower-body joint loading can help design effective drills to overload single-joint capacities

Aggresion in terrorism

Behavioral scientists have attempted to describe and explain terroristic aggression in various ways. Acts of terrorism have typically been labeled as instrumentally aggressive in nature, however, we argue that this descriptor is insufficient in capturing the complexity of terroristic aggression. In light of this, we propose a new term called “programmatic aggression” that may better serve to capture the multiple levels of influence in generating terroristic aggression. We also review how personality and psychopathological models and theories of aggression, including the frustration-aggression hypothesis, social learning theory, and the General Aggression Model, have been applied and fall short in the explication of terroristic aggression. Finally, we suggest some future directions of research that would likely benefit the study of terrorism and aggression, including analysis of social psychological work on group dynamics and their influence on individual and group behavior, as well as forensic risk and threat assessment research that could inform future efforts at predicting and hopefully, preventing acts of terroristic aggression

Distinguishing Oceans of Water from Magma on Mini-Neptune K2-18b

Mildly irradiated mini-Neptunes have densities potentially consistent with them hosting substantial liquid-water oceans ("Hycean" planets). The presence of CO2 and simultaneous absence of ammonia (NH3) in their atmospheres has been proposed as a fingerprint of such worlds. JWST observations of K2-18b, the archetypal Hycean, have found the presence of CO2 and the depletion of NH3 to 4 μm region, where CO2 and CO features dominate: magma ocean models suggest a systematically lower CO2/CO ratio than estimated from free-chemistry retrieval, indicating that deeper observations of this spectral region may be able to distinguish between oceans of liquid water and magma on mini-Neptunes