A GIS-based multi-criteria analysis on cropland suitability in Bornuur Soum, Mongolia

Agriculture is one of the most critical sectors of the Mongolian economy. In Mongolia, land degradation is increasing in the cropland region, especially in a cultivated area. The country has challenges to identify new croplands with sufficient capacity for cultivation, especially for local decision-makers. GIS applications tremendously help science in making land assessments. This study was carried out in Bornuur soum, Mongolia. The goal of this study to estimate that best suitable area for supporting crop production in Bornuur soum, using a GIS-based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) and remote sensing. GIS-based multi-criteria analysis (MCA) has been widely used in land suitability analyses in many countries. In this research, the GIS-based spatial MCA among the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method has employed. The approach was enhanced for each criterion which as soil, topography and vegetation. The opinions of agronomist experts and a literature review helped in identifying criteria (soil data, topography, water and vegetation data) that are necessary to determine areas suitable for crops. The detailed cropland suitability maps indicate that 46.12 % is highly suitable for cropland, 34.68 % is moderate suitable, 13.64 % is marginal suitable and 5.56 % is not suitable. The MCA and AHP tools play an essential role in the multi-criteria analysis. Therefore, the results of these methods allow us to estimate an appropriate area for cultivation in Bornuur soum, Tuv province. The crop suitability method implies significant decisions on different levels and the result will be used for cropland management plan to make a decision. It is an integral role in agricultural management and land evaluation. Future research should further develop this method by including socio-economic (potential citizens for agriculture, current crop growth, water resource, etc.) and environmental variables (rainfall, vegetation types, permafrost distribution, etc.) to obtain specific results. However, it could be also be applied for a single crop type (mainly barley, wheat and potato) in Mongolia

Do Bar-Headed Geese Train for High Altitude Flights?

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from OUP via the DOI in this recordSYNOPSIS: Exercise at high altitude is extremely challenging, largely due to hypobaric hypoxia (low oxygen levels brought about by low air pressure). In humans, the maximal rate of oxygen consumption decreases with increasing altitude, supporting progressively poorer performance. Bar-headed geese (Anser indicus) are renowned high altitude migrants and, although they appear to minimize altitude during migration where possible, they must fly over the Tibetan Plateau (mean altitude 4800 m) for much of their annual migration. This requires considerable cardiovascular effort, but no study has assessed the extent to which bar-headed geese may train prior to migration for long distances, or for high altitudes. Using implanted loggers that recorded heart rate, acceleration, pressure, and temperature, we found no evidence of training for migration in bar-headed geese. Geese showed no significant change in summed activity per day or maximal activity per day. There was also no significant change in maximum heart rate per day or minimum resting heart rate, which may be evidence of an increase in cardiac stroke volume if all other variables were to remain the same. We discuss the strategies used by bar-headed geese in the context of training undertaken by human mountaineers when preparing for high altitude, noting the differences between their respective cardiovascular physiology.This work was supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council [BBSRC; BB/FO15615/1 to C.M.B. and P.J.B.]. Authors were supported by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) award [W.K.M.], and the FAO through the Animal Health Service EMPRES surveillance program

Western Pacific atmospheric nutrient deposition fluxes, their impact on surface ocean productivity

The atmospheric deposition of both macronutrients and micronutrients plays an important role in driving primary productivity, particularly in the low-latitude ocean. We report aerosol major ion measurements for five ship-based sampling campaigns in the western Pacific from similar to 25 degrees N to 20 degrees S and compare the results with those from Atlantic meridional transects (similar to 50 degrees N to 50 degrees S) with aerosols collected and analyzed in the same laboratory, allowing full incomparability. We discuss sources of the main nutrient species (nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and iron (Fe)) in the aerosols and their stoichiometry. Striking north-south gradients are evident over both basins with the Northern Hemisphere more impacted by terrestrial dust sources and anthropogenic emissions and the North Atlantic apparently more impacted than the North Pacific. We estimate the atmospheric supply rates of these nutrients and the potential impact of the atmospheric deposition on the tropical western Pacific. Our results suggest that the atmospheric deposition is P deficient relative to the needs of the resident phytoplankton. These findings suggest that atmospheric supply of N, Fe, and P increases primary productivity utilizing some of the residual excess phosphorus (P*) in the surface waters to compensate for aerosol P deficiency. Regional primary productivity is further enhanced via the stimulation of nitrogen fixation fuelled by the residual atmospheric iron and P*. Our stoichiometric calculations reveal that a P* of 0.1 mu mol L-1 can offset the P deficiency in atmospheric supply for many months. This study suggests that atmospheric deposition may sustain similar to 10% of primary production in both the western tropical Pacific

Head Position in Stroke Trial (HeadPoST)- sitting-up vs lying-flat positioning of patients with acute stroke: study protocol for a cluster randomised controlled trial

Background Positioning a patient lying-flat in the acute phase of ischaemic stroke may improve recovery and reduce disability, but such a possibility has not been formally tested in a randomised trial. We therefore initiated the Head Position in Stroke Trial (HeadPoST) to determine the effects of lying-flat (0°) compared with sitting-up (≥30°) head positioning in the first 24 hours of hospital admission for patients with acute stroke. Methods/Design We plan to conduct an international, cluster randomised, crossover, open, blinded outcome-assessed clinical trial involving 140 study hospitals (clusters) with established acute stroke care programs. Each hospital will be randomly assigned to sequential policies of lying-flat (0°) or sitting-up (≥30°) head position as a ‘business as usual’ stroke care policy during the first 24 hours of admittance. Each hospital is required to recruit 60 consecutive patients with acute ischaemic stroke (AIS), and all patients with acute intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH) (an estimated average of 10), in the first randomised head position policy before crossing over to the second head position policy with a similar recruitment target. After collection of in-hospital clinical and management data and 7-day outcomes, central trained blinded assessors will conduct a telephone disability assessment with the modified Rankin Scale at 90 days. The primary outcome for analysis is a shift (defined as improvement) in death or disability on this scale. For a cluster size of 60 patients with AIS per intervention and with various assumptions including an intracluster correlation coefficient of 0.03, a sample size of 16,800 patients at 140 centres will provide 90 % power (α 0.05) to detect at least a 16 % relative improvement (shift) in an ordinal logistic regression analysis of the primary outcome. The treatment effect will also be assessed in all patients with ICH who are recruited during each treatment study period. Discussion HeadPoST is a large international clinical trial in which we will rigorously evaluate the effects of different head positioning in patients with acute stroke. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02162017 (date of registration: 27 April 2014); ANZCTR identifier: ACTRN12614000483651 (date of registration: 9 May 2014). Protocol version and date: version 2.2, 19 June 2014

Flying Over an Infected Landscape: Distribution of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza H5N1 Risk in South Asia and Satellite Tracking of Wild Waterfowl

Highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus persists in Asia, posing a threat to poultry, wild birds, and humans. Previous work in Southeast Asia demonstrated that HPAI H5N1 risk is related to domestic ducks and people. Other studies discussed the role of migratory birds in the long distance spread of HPAI H5N1. However, the interplay between local persistence and long-distance dispersal has never been studied. We expand previous geospatial risk analysis to include South and Southeast Asia, and integrate the analysis with migration data of satellite-tracked wild waterfowl along the Central Asia flyway. We find that the population of domestic duck is the main factor delineating areas at risk of HPAI H5N1 spread in domestic poultry in South Asia, and that other risk factors, such as human population and chicken density, are associated with HPAI H5N1 risk within those areas. We also find that satellite tracked birds (Ruddy Shelduck and two Bar-headed Geese) reveal a direct spatio-temporal link between the HPAI H5N1 hot-spots identified in India and Bangladesh through our risk model, and the wild bird outbreaks in May–June–July 2009 in China (Qinghai Lake), Mongolia, and Russia. This suggests that the continental-scale dynamics of HPAI H5N1 are structured as a number of persistence areas delineated by domestic ducks, connected by rare transmission through migratory waterfowl

Conjuntos excepcionais e alguns problemas de Mahler

Dissertação (mestrado)—Universidade de Brasília, Instituto de Ciências Exatas, Departamento de Matemática, 2017.Seja f uma função inteira e transcendente. Denotamos por Sf o conjunto de todos os α ∈ ´Q tais que f(α) ∈ ´Q (o conjunto excepcional de f). Nessa dissertação, mostraremos quais subconjuntos de ´Q podem ser o conjunto excepcional de alguma função inteira e transcendente. Além disso, trataremos de dois problemas de Mahler relacionados a propriedades de funções inteiras e transcendentes. Mostraremos que existem funções inteiras e transcendentes que levam um subconjunto dos números de Liouville nele mesmo e daremos uma resposta positiva ao Problema B de Mahler: Problema B: Existe uma função inteira e transcendente f(z) = Σn =0 ∞ a nz n com coeficientes racionais tal que f( ´Q ) ⊆ ´Q e f−1( ´Q ) ⊆ ´Q ? .Let f be an entire transcendental function. We denote by Sf the set of all α ∈ ´Q such that f(α) ∈ ´Q (exceptional set of f). Throughout this dissertation, we will show which subsets of ´Q can be the exceptional set of some entire transcendental function. Moreover, we will deal with two of Mahler’s problems related to properties of entire transcendental functions. We will show that there are entire transcendental functions that map a subset of Liouville numbers in itself and we will give a positive answer for Mahler’s Problem B: Problem B: Is there an entire transcendental function f(z) = Σn =0 ∞ a nz n with rational coefficients such that que f( ´Q ) ⊆ ´Q e f−1( ´Q ) ⊆ ´Q ?

Soil moisture analysis using multispectral data in north central part of Mongolia

Soil moisture (SM) content is one of the most important environmental variables in relation to land surface climatology, hydrology, and ecology. Long-term SM data-sets on a regional scale provide reasonable information about climate change and global warming specific regions. The aim of this research work is to develop an integrated methodology for SM of kastanozems soils using multispectral satellite data. The study area is Tuv (48°40′30″N and 106°15′55″E) province in the forest steppe zones in Mongolia. In addition to this, land surface temperature (LST) and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) from Landsat satellite images were integrated for the assessment. Furthermore, we used a digital elevation model (DEM) from ASTER satellite image with 30-m resolution. Aspect and slope maps were derived from this DEM. The soil moisture index (SMI) was obtained using spectral information from Landsat satellite data. We used regression analysis to develop the model. The model shows how SMI from satellite depends on LST, NDVI, DEM, Slope, and Aspect in the agricultural area. The results of the model were correlated with the ground SM data in Tuv province. The results indicate that there is a good agreement between output SM and SM of ground truth for agricultural area. Further research is focused on moisture mapping for different natural zones in Mongolia. The innovative part of this research is to estimate SM using drivers which are vegetation, land surface temperature, elevation, aspect, and slope in the forested steppe area. This integrative methodology can be applied for different regions with forest and desert steppe zones

Final technical report : blended technology education program; using technology to level education playing field in Mongolia", January 15, 2009 - January 15, 2010

Attachment 5 and accompanying documents not includedThe project aimed to test whether good quality education content in computer science and English language training, can be delivered to children, especially to those who lack high quality educational resources, using the most recent development of technologies in the context of Mongolia- where 35% of the population is under the age of 18. Results revealed a clear impact on student performance, learning, interest, and skill development. Often children in rural and peri-urban areas lack critical information, guidance and counselling on career choice, social mobility, graduation and entrance examinations