Fire protection problems with large forest fires in Deliblatska peščara (Serbia)

Purpose - The aim of the paper was to investigate the major forest fires in Deliblatska peščara, as well as to analyze the efficiency of fire protection measures. Design / methodology / approach - The analysis included interviews with participants in extinguishing the major fires. The questions referred to the course of fires, as well as to the main fire protection disadvantages. The documentation of the 'Banat' Forest Management - Pančevo (Public Enterprise 'Vojvodinašume') was also used in the paper for the period 1948-2012. Findings - The major forest fires in Deliblatska peščara in the studied period were recorded in 1973, 1990, 1996 and 2007. Although they account for only about 1.5 % of the total number of fires, they collectively have invaded more than half of the total burnt area and more than two-thirds of the forest area. According to the surveys, the main characteristics of these fires were: frequent appearance of new fire hot spots, strong wind variable in direction which crucially affects the spread of fire and the impossibility of direct action on fire. The main disadvantages of fire protection were: inefficiency of fire breaks, blockage of forest roads for the passage of vehicles and the lack of the modern means of fire protection equipment. Research limitations / implications - Given the specificities of the studied area (the absence of surface water, sandy soils, microclimate conditions and vegetation composition), the research results cannot be fully generalized for Serbia. Practical implications - The research results indicate the need for making changes in the fire prevention system, as well as the possibility of fire danger forecast based on the heliocentric hypothesis. Originality / value - What has been the importance of the paper is that it provides the basis for a new approach to the planning of fire prevention measures

Neki aspekti antropogenog uticaja na genezu klizišta na teritoriji grada Jagodine

The influence of anthropogenic factor on the landslide genesis is analyzed in this paper. Buildings, traffic, water supply and electro infrastructure are introduced in natural landscape as the result of human, living and economic activities in space. The conditions and processes which these objects can cause on the relation object-relief, and therefore initiate the occurrence of landslides, are the change of morphometric characteristics and the modifications of the water balance of slope. The zone with both qualitative and quantitative transformations of relief represents interactive zone in which the influence of man as a genetic factor or modifier of this colluvial process can be observed. .U radu je analiziran uticaj antropogenog faktora na genezu klizišta. Kao proizvod ljudskih životnih i privrednih aktivnosti u prostoru dolazi do introdukovanja građevinskih objekata, saobraćajne, vodovodne i elektro infrastrukture u prirodni pejsaž. Uslove i procese koje ovi objekti mogu da izazovu na relaciji objekat-reljef, i da time iniciraju pojavu klizišta, je izmena morfometrijskih karakteristika i izmena vodnog bilansa padine. Zona u kojoj je došlo do kvalitativne i kvantitativne transformacije reljefa predstavlja interaktivnu zonu u kojoj se može sagledati uticaj čoveka kao genetskog faktora ili modifikatora ovog koluvijalnog procesa.

Neki aspekti antropogenog uticaja na genezu klizišta na teritoriji grada Jagodine

The influence of anthropogenic factor on the landslide genesis is analyzed in this paper. Buildings, traffic, water supply and electro infrastructure are introduced in natural landscape as the result of human, living and economic activities in space. The conditions and processes which these objects can cause on the relation object-relief, and therefore initiate the occurrence of landslides, are the change of morphometric characteristics and the modifications of the water balance of slope. The zone with both qualitative and quantitative transformations of relief represents interactive zone in which the influence of man as a genetic factor or modifier of this colluvial process can be observed. .U radu je analiziran uticaj antropogenog faktora na genezu klizišta. Kao proizvod ljudskih životnih i privrednih aktivnosti u prostoru dolazi do introdukovanja građevinskih objekata, saobraćajne, vodovodne i elektro infrastrukture u prirodni pejsaž. Uslove i procese koje ovi objekti mogu da izazovu na relaciji objekat-reljef, i da time iniciraju pojavu klizišta, je izmena morfometrijskih karakteristika i izmena vodnog bilansa padine. Zona u kojoj je došlo do kvalitativne i kvantitativne transformacije reljefa predstavlja interaktivnu zonu u kojoj se može sagledati uticaj čoveka kao genetskog faktora ili modifikatora ovog koluvijalnog procesa.

Risk education in Serbia

Natural disaster risk reduction can be achieved through vulnerability reduction, as well as through strengthening the resilience of the population. One of the segments leading to these aims is a proper risk education. It is the public (compulsory) education system that reaches the greatest number of participants and represents a good platform for the natural disaster knowledge transfer. Geography, as a complex subject that includes both natural and social components, is the most appropriate to transfer the knowledge necessary to improve the resilience. Research done in Serbia (detailed analyses of curricula, textbooks, teachers' role and pupils' knowledge) shows that children do learn about natural disasters but not in a way which provides usable knowledge

Neki aspekti antropogenog uticaja na genezu klizišta na teritoriji grada Jagodine

The influence of anthropogenic factor on the landslide genesis is analyzed in this paper. Buildings, traffic, water supply and electro infrastructure are introduced in natural landscape as the result of human, living and economic activities in space. The conditions and processes which these objects can cause on the relation object-relief, and therefore initiate the occurrence of landslides, are the change of morphometric characteristics and the modifications of the water balance of slope. The zone with both qualitative and quantitative transformations of relief represents interactive zone in which the influence of man as a genetic factor or modifier of this colluvial process can be observed. .U radu je analiziran uticaj antropogenog faktora na genezu klizišta. Kao proizvod ljudskih životnih i privrednih aktivnosti u prostoru dolazi do introdukovanja građevinskih objekata, saobraćajne, vodovodne i elektro infrastrukture u prirodni pejsaž. Uslove i procese koje ovi objekti mogu da izazovu na relaciji objekat-reljef, i da time iniciraju pojavu klizišta, je izmena morfometrijskih karakteristika i izmena vodnog bilansa padine. Zona u kojoj je došlo do kvalitativne i kvantitativne transformacije reljefa predstavlja interaktivnu zonu u kojoj se može sagledati uticaj čoveka kao genetskog faktora ili modifikatora ovog koluvijalnog procesa.

Search for neutral MSSM Higgs bosons decaying into a pair of bottom quarks

A search for neutral Higgs bosons decaying into a b (b) over bar quark pair and produced in association with at least one additional b quark is presented. This signature is sensitive to the Higgs sector of the minimal supersymmetric standard model (MSSM) with large values of the parameter tan beta. The analysis is based on data from proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV collected with the CMS detector at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The results are combined with a previous analysis based on 7 TeV data. No signal is observed. Stringent upper limits on the cross section times branching fraction are derived for Higgs bosons with masses up to 900 GeV, and the results are interpreted within different MSSM benchmark scenarios, m(h)(max), m(h)(mod+), m(h)(mod-), light-stau and light-stop. Observed 95% confidence level upper limits on tan beta, ranging from 14 to 50, are obtained in the m(h)(mod+) benchmark scenario

Search for long-lived particles that decay into final states containing two electrons or two muons in proton-proton collisions at root s=8Tev

A search is performed for long-lived particles that decay into final states that include a pair of electrons or a pair of muons. The experimental signature is a distinctive topology consisting of a pair of charged leptons originating from a displaced secondary vertex. Events corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 19.6 (20.5) fb(-1) in the electron (muon) channel were collected with the CMS detector at the CERN LHC in proton-proton collisions at root s TeV. No significant excess is observed above standard model expectations. Upper limits on the product of the cross section and branching fraction of such a signal are presented as a function of the long-lived particles mean proper decay length. The limits are presented in an approximately model-independent way, allowing them to be applied to a wide class of models yielding the above topology. Over much of the investigated parameter space, the limits obtained are the most stringent to date. In the specific case of a model in which a Higgs boson in the mass range 125-1000 GeV/c(2) decays into a pair of long-lived neutral bosons in the mass range 20-350 GeV= c(2), each of which can then decay to dileptons, the upper limits obtained are typically in the range 0.2-10 fb for mean proper decay lengths of the long-lived particles in the range 0.01-100 cm. In the case of the lowest Higgs mass considered (125 GeV/c(2)), the limits are in the range 2-50 fb. These limits are sensitive to Higgs boson branching fractions as low as 10(-1)

Performance of photon reconstruction and identification with the CMS detector in proton-proton collisions at root s=8TeV

A description is provided of the performance of the CMS detector for photon reconstruction and identification in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 8 TeV at the CERN LHC. Details are given on the reconstruction of photons from energy deposits in the electromagnetic calorimeter (ECAL) and the extraction of photon energy estimates. The reconstruction of electron tracks from photons that convert to electrons in the CMS tracker is also described, as is the optimization of the photon energy reconstruction and its accurate modelling in simulation, in the analysis of the Higgs boson decay into two photons. In the barrel section of the ECAL, an energy resolution of about 1% is achieved for unconverted or late-converting photons from H - GT gamma gamma decays. Different photon identification methods are discussed and their corresponding selection efficiencies in data are compared with those found in simulated events

Search for the production of dark matter in association with top-quark pairs in the single-lepton final state in proton-proton collisions at root s=8 TeV

A search is presented for particle dark matter produced in association with a pair of top quarks in pp collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of root s = 8TeV. The data were collected with the CMS detector at the LHC and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). This search requires the presence of one lepton, multiple jets, and large missing transverse energy. No excess of events is found above the SM expectation, and upper limits are derived on the production cross section. Interpreting the findings in the context of a scalar contact interaction between fermionic dark matter particles and top quarks, lower limits on the interaction scale are set. These limits are also interpreted in terms of the dark matter-nucleon scattering cross sections for the spin-independent scalar operator and they complement direct searches for dark matter particles in the low mass region

Search for the associated production of the Higgs boson with a top-quark pair

A search for the standard model Higgs boson produced in association with a top-quark pair (t (t) over barH) is presented, using data samples corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 5.1 fb(-1) and 19.7 fb(-1) collected in pp collisions at center-of-mass energies of 7 TeV and 8 TeV respectively. The search is based on the following signatures of the Higgs boson decay: H - GT hadrons, H - GT photons, and H - GT leptons. The results are characterized by an observed t (t) over barH signal strength relative to the standard model cross section, mu = sigma/sigma(SM), under the assumption that the Higgs boson decays as expected in the standard model. The best fit value is mu = 2.8 +/- 1.0 for a Higgs boson mass of 125.6 GeV