Statistical precipitation variability changes under climate change scenarios simulations using a statistical downscaling model (SDSM)

The climate impact studies in hydrology often rely on climate change information at fine spatial resolution. However, General Circulation Models (GCMs), which are among the most advanced tools for estimating future climate change scenarios, operate on a coarse scale. Therefore the output from a GCM has to be downscaled to obtain the information relevant to hydrologic studies. The results presented in this thesis have indicated that it is feasible to link large-scale atmospheric variables by GCM simulations from Hadley Centre 3rd generation (HadCM3) outputs with daily precipitation at a local site. Statistical Downscaling Model (SDSM) was applied using three set of data; daily precipitation data for the period 1961-1990 corresponding to Endau rainfall (Station no. 2536168) and Muar (Station no. 2228016) located in Johor at the Southern region of Peninsular Malaysia; The observed daily data of large-scale predictor variables derived from the National Centre for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) and GCM simulations from Hadley Centre 3rd generation (HadCM3). The HadCM3 data from 1961 to 2099 were extracted for 30-year time slices. The result clearly shows increasing increment of daily mean precipitation of most of the months within a year in comparison to current 1961-1990 to future projections 2020’s, 2050’s and 2080’s considering SRES A2 and B2 scenarios developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Frequency analysis techniques were carried out using the observed annual daily maximum precipitation for period 1961-1990 and downscaled future periods 2020’s, 2050’s and 2080’s. Therefore, it does appear that SDSM can be considered as a bench mark model to interpret the impact of climate change

Adsorption of uranium and thorium on new adsorbent prepared from Moroccan oil shale impregnated with phosphoric acid

Attention has been focused recently on the production of new adsorbents from Moroccan oil shale of Tarfaya (layer R3) by chemical activation with phosphoric acid and its application in wastewaters treatment. The optimal conditions for the preparation were searched and the tests of adsorption of uranium and thorium ions were affected. The best product was obtained by used of the ratio of activated agent/precursor equal 3 and activation of the mixture in air at 250°C during two hours after prepocessing at 120°C in air. Under these conditions the maximal adsorption capacity of methylene blue and specific area (SBET) of the new adsorbent were 526 mg/g and 630 m2/g, respectively. A batch mode experiment was used to explore the performances of this adsorbent for the removal of the U and Th from aqueous solutions prepared from UO2(NO3)2.6H2O and Th(NO3)4.5H2O. The adsorption parameters for the two radioelements were determined by application of the Langmuir, Freundlich and Elovich models

LOWER AND UPPER EXTREMITY COORDINATION PARAMETERS DURING THE FENCING LUNGE

The fencing lunge executed by a combined action of leg extension and stretching of the arm on the weapon side is one of the most important motion elements of this sport. The lunge is most often used to attack the opponent, hitting the opponent as quickly as possible, and ending by scoring a hit. The translational motion of the weapon during the fencing lunge is determined by muscular properties of the athlete in the force-time domain and by coordination of the actions of the lower and upper extremities. Neglecting the influences of reaction time and without considering special fighting situations this study focused on the description of the linear and angular velocities of different points and body angles, (e.g., weapon, arm, hip, elbow, knee) in order to estimate the reproducibility of the actions. A test situation was created in the same way as this is done in the fencer’s training. Investigations were carried out with a group of highly skilled female fencers. The kinematics of the relevant body points were obtained using an electro-optical system (SELSPOT II), which delivered the three-dimensional coordinates of all points needed in the research analysis. The quantitative results showed a high reproducibility of the different parameters for each test person - the shape of the curves varying from subject to subject. As a conclusion, it can be confirmed that even in fencing higher-level athletes perform their motions with a high degree of precision, using their own individual performance schemes

On the Gamma-Logistic Distribution

A new generalization of the logistic distribution is defined and studied, namely, the gamma-logistic distribution. Various properties of the gamma-logistic are obtained. The structural analysis of the distribution includes moments, mode, quantiles, skewness, kurtosis, Shannon\u27s entropy and order statistics. The method of maximum likelihood estimation is proposed for estimating the model parameters. For illustrative purposes, a real data set is analyzed as an application of the gamma-logistic distribution

KINEMATICS OF LOWER AND UPPER EXTREMITIES MOTIONS DURING THE FENCING LUNGE: RESULTS AND TRAINING IMPLICATIONS

INTRODUCTION: The fencing lunge belongs to the type of motions mostly used in this sport: a substantial element is represented by the action speed, avoiding or reducing the possibility of a defense or counterattack action by the opponent athlete. The objectives of this study are the presentation and valuation of the actual state of the execution of the fencing lunge on the basis of quantitative aspects using data of a three-dimensional analysis of lower and upper extremity movements. METHODS: Data were obtained using an electro-optical system (SELSPOT II), yielding the spatial coordinates of different body points of interest, and, by execution of a differentiation process, the velocity parameters of these points. Four female fencers of a higher fencing level served as test persons. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: The interpretation of the numerical results consists at first of a description of the actual ‘state of the art’ of execution of the fencing lunge. In all test persons, the begin of the movement of hip and sword arm was registrated at the same time, the hip reaching horizontal values of about 2 m/s and the maximal foil velocity being about 4 m/s. It could be noticed the hit (measured and registrated using a wall target) coincided with the maximum speed value of the foil. Furthermore, taking into account the individual variations of the data, the possibilities of an optimization of the training technique are discussed, giving methodological hints towards a better or more effective training of the fencing lunge

Tradition and Perspectives of Arab Herbal Medicine: A Review

Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), including herbal medicine, are popular in the general population worldwide. Parallel to the increasing interest in ‘modern’ CAM therapies and the historical importance of Arab medicine, there is also a similar trend in research activities dealing with the efficacy and safety of medicinal plants in our region. Historical and current studies and surveys indicate that the Eastern region of the Mediterranean has been distinguished throughout the generations with a rich inventory of natural medicinal herbs. It is well documented that indigenous Arab medicine has contributed greatly to the development of modern medicine in Europe and remains one of the closest forms of original European medicine. The rapid increase in consumption of herbal remedies worldwide has been stimulated by several factors, including the notion that all herbal products are safe and effective. This article presents a systematic review on traditional Arab medicine including historical background, medical innovations introduced by Arab physicians in the field of safety and efficacy of herbal medicine and a state-of-the-art description of traditional Arab herbal medicine in the Mediterranean region