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The book "Western Ceramic Traditions: Prehistoric and Historic Native American Ceramics of the Western U.S." edited by Suzanne Griset explores the diversity of ceramic traditions and social identities reflected in pottery production in the far southwestern desert and coastal region of the U.S. The book features 11 chapters that critically examine traditional typologies of plainware pottery and explore new datasets for dating and identifying the composition of pottery. The volume provides important discussions on the sociocultural aspects of pottery technology and challenges the limitations of typological classification. The book is recommended for researchers working with plainware or other ceramic wares, although the technical ceramic data presented may be daunting for readers without an archaeological or ceramic analyst background. [Extracted from the article]

Arid areas account for more than 20% of Earth's surface. Many of these arid areas suffer from harsh climates where energy consumption is high and production coexists with high hydrological stresses. In such areas, the production of water is directly linked to the production of electricity, bringing the Energy–Water nexus to a higher level [Heggy et al., Sustainable Energy-Water-Environment Nexus in Deserts (Springer, 2022)]. Under the current energy transition from a fossil-based economy to a renewable energy-based system, arid areas are seen as potential reservoirs for electricity production due to their high solar potential, thereby helping to achieve global decarbonation targets. This energy production transition will strongly affect the Energy–Water nexus as it will contribute to the decoupling of electricity from water production. The International Conference on Sustainable Energy–Water–Environment Nexus 2019 (ICSEWEN19) conference was the first to address the Sustainable Energy–Water Nexus in Deserts, bridging the gap between research and industry and highlighting the research capabilities relevant to Qatar, the region, and internationally. The Invited Papers from the International Conference on Sustainability, Energy, Water, and Environment Nexus in Desert Climates Special Collection in Journal of Renewable and Sustainable Energy presents articles covering the main elements of the conference with respect to solar photovoltaic implementation in desert environments as a key element to succeed in this global energy transition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I review my scientific career in terms of eight areas and 16 papers. The first two areas are associated with childhood. The other six are associated with residual maximum likelihood (REML), canonical transformation, inbreeding in selected populations, average information residual maximum likelihood (AIREML), the computer program ASReml and sampling‐based estimation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desert cities are special type of places that need extra environmental care and additional health planning during the process of growth and development. Special considerations and regards ought to be paid to health-related projects like building hospitals, primary health care (PHC) centers, emergency services, sanitation facilities, etc. In a country like Saudi Arabia, where deserts form a large part of the available biome, selecting which cities and places to focus on during health-related project development can be a difficult process, lacking proper ways of classifying and comparing the general health status of the population. While there are established indices to calculate other health-related qualities, like the Air Quality Health Index, there is no general health quality index. The article presented herein advocates an appropriate formula for a health quality index, HQI, as a tool for quantifying health quality for any given desert community. HQI is intended to offer a unique number, which expresses overall health quality at a certain desert locality, at a specified period of time, which is based on several quality parameters and health indicators. The objective of HQI is to turn complex health quality data into flat, simple information that is understandable and usable by health authorities, the public and desert community members. HQI depicts the composite influence of different public health quality parameters and communicates health quality information to the general public and legislative decision makers. It is intended to represent a reliable picture of the overall health quality within a particular community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In their article on the Rutbah and the Hussainiyat Formations, Tamar Agha et al. (2016) interpreted the depositional environments of the Cenomanian Rutbah Formation of the Western Desert of Iraq as that of continental meandering fluvial setting. On a recent study of the same outcrops by the present authors, we could not find a single evidence to support a continental, fluvial deposition interpretation. Instead, all available evidence (both physical and biogenic sedimentary structures) seen in the sandstones outcropped in these locations overwhelmingly suggests deposition in shallow marine transgressive shelf, dominated by tidal currents. Below, we will describe our field observations in detail and advance a radically different interpretation to that of Tamar Agha et al. (2016). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, Web of Science (a database) is used to retrieve related literature in the field of heavy metal pollution in desert. CiteSpace is used to make a quantitative and qualitative evaluation on the literature in the field on the basis of a brief analysis on the research status, research focus, and evolution process in the field. Through CiteSpace visual analysis, a comparative analysis is given on related literature in terms of annual number of published papers, author groups, and their countries and regions, journals, publishing institutions, highly cited papers, research focuses, and burst terms, so as to explore the research status and future development trend of the field on a global scale. The results are shown as follows: (1) The literature in the field was originally published in 2000; the number of published papers increased steadily. The literature was mostly published on high-quality journals, the USA topped in terms of the number of published papers, and the research results achieved by developed countries had a greater influence. Chinese Acad Sci topped with the highest centrality and most published papers, which have made outstanding contributions to the field and occupy a leading position in the field. However, the fact is that there lacks communication and cooperation among research institutions. The most influential journal is Science of the Total Environment. (2) The hot research words in the field are as follows: heavy metal, soil, pollution, lead, desert, cadmium, and microelement. (3) In the field, burst terms have transformed from atmospheric deposition, biomonitoring, and phytoremediation to trace element, stream sediment, street dust, and water quality, and finally transformed to river and sediment. New words keep emerging in the research, and more and more attention is paid to the issue of heavy metal pollution in river sediment, which will be a future research hotspot in the field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quantitative extraction and evolution stage identification of the Nitraria tangutorum nebkhas are the basis for the restoration of regional plants and the reconstruction of degraded ecosystems. In this paper, the Nitraria tangutorum nebkha in Dengkou County of China was taken as the research object. Through the spectral and texture information of Gaofen-2 satellite image, the quantitative extraction of Nitraria tangutorum nebkha area and coverage information was completed using methods of gray threshold method, mathematical morphology, FCLSU mixed pixel decomposition, kernel density spatial analysis; the current evolution stage of the Nitraria tangutorum nebkha was identified, and their spatial distribution characteristics were analyzed. The results showed that: (1) The user accuracy and mapping accuracy of Nitraria tangutorum nebkha extracted from Random Forest combined with object-oriented classification method were up to 90.32%. (2) The method proposed can achieve an accuracy of 93.76% in extracting the spatial position of Nitraria tangutorum nebkhas. (3) The evolution of Nitraria tangutorum nebkhas can be divided into three stages: embryonic or developmental stage, stable stage, and declining stage, with a proportion of 60.70%, 20.97%, and 18.33%, respectively; The Nitraria tangutorum nebkhas in the study area is mainly in their embryonic or developmental stage, and the proportion of Nitraria tangutorum nebkhas in the declining stage is also large. It can provide technical and theoretical support for the precise extraction of nebkhas in arid and semi-arid desert areas, the identification of their current evolutionary stages, and the study of their spatial distribution patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Image semantic segmentation using deep learning algorithms plays a vital role in identifying different rock-forming minerals. In this paper, we employ the U-net model for its architecture that guarantees precise localization and efficient data utilization. We implement this deep learning model across two distinct datasets: (1) the first dataset from the ALEX Streckeisen website, and (2) the second dataset from the Gabal Nikeiba area, South Eastern Desert of Egypt. Our model exhibits excellent performance in both datasets, with an average accuracy of precision at 0.89 and 0.83, recall at 0.80 and 0.78, and F1 score at 0.82 and 0.79, respectively, helping in identifying and detecting rock-forming minerals in thin-section images. The model's most exceptional performance is clearly in eleven different basement rock-forming minerals with precision up to 0.89, recall at 0.80, and F1 score at 0.82 on average. This study is significant as it represents the key to identifying and detecting minerals in the thin sections of rock samples in Egypt and the Arabian–Nubian Shield as a whole. By significantly reducing analysis time and improving accuracy compared to manual methods, it revolutionizes geological research and resource exploration in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desert areas contain abundant desert sand (DS) resources, and high-volume recycling of DS resources as components of cement-based materials can achieve high-value applications. In this paper, DS was processed into desert sand powder (DSP) and replaced with cement in high volumes (20 wt.%–60 wt.%) to produce cement pastes. The mechanical properties, heat evolution, nanomechanical characteristics, microstructure, and economic and environmental impact of cement pastes were studied. The results show that adding 20 wt.% DSP increases the compressive strength of pastes and accelerates cement hydration, compared with the control group (0 wt.% DSP). Meanwhile, incorporating an appropriate amount of DSP (20 wt.%) effectively reduces porosity, increases the proportion of harmless and less harmful pores, and reduces the proportion of more harmful pores. From the perspective of nanoscopic properties, the addition of 20 wt.% DSP increases the C-S-H volume fraction, especially enhancing the transformation of low-density C-S-H to high-density C-S-H. Notably, the sample incorporating 60 wt.% DSP exhibits the lowest values for CI coefficients (13.02 kg/MPa·m3) and Cp coefficients (2.29 USD/MPa·m3), thereby validating the application of high-volume DSP feasibility in cement-based materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Acute hepatitis, which is a rising public health issue globally, is mostly caused by the hepatitis E virus (HEV). There is a potential risk of camel-borne zoonotic HEV infection in the desert regions of the Middle East and Africa, where camels frequently interact with human populations and camel-derived food products constitute a component of the food chain. To better understand the current state of this subject, the current work's objective is to provide a scientific review of the detection of HEV genotypes seven and eight in camels around the world. Until today, no review paper has been published compiling and discussing the reports available on HEV in camels. More studies are required to ascertain the prevalence of HEV infection in camels worldwide. Additionally, because camels are utilized as a form of transportation in many countries and because HEV in these animals may pose a threat to public health, there is a possibility of foodborne transmission through contaminated camel products. Hepatitis E virus (HEV) represents a major cause of acute hepatitis and is considered an emerging public health problem around the world. In the Middle East's and Africa's arid regions, where camels frequently interact with human populations and camel-derived food products are a component of the food chain, camel-borne zoonotic HEV infection is a potential threat. To date, no review paper has been published on HEV in camels. As such, the purpose of the current work is to provide a scientific review of the identification of HEV genotypes seven and eight in camels worldwide to have a better understanding of the current status of this topic and to identify gaps in the current knowledge. Searches were carried out in the electronic databases PubMed, Mendeley, Web of Science, and Scopus, including studies published until 31 December 2022 (n = 435). Once the databases were checked for duplicate papers (n = 307), the exclusion criteria were applied to remove any research that was not relevant (n = 118). As a result, only 10 papers were found to be eligible for the study. Additionally, in eight of the ten studies, the rates of HEV infection were found to be between 0.6% and 2.2% in both stool and serum samples. Furthermore, four studies detected HEV genotype seven in dromedary camels, and two studies have shown HEV genotype eight in Bactrian camels. Interestingly, these genotypes were recently reported in camels from the Middle East and China, where one human infection with HEV genotype seven has been associated with the consumption of contaminated camel meat and milk. In conclusion, more research will be needed to determine the prevalence of HEV infection in camels around the world as well as the risk of foodborne transmission of contaminated camel products. As camels are utility animals in several countries, HEV in these animals may pose a potential risk to public health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microorganisms are an important source of compounds that are pharmaceutically active, both as leads and as scaffolds for synthesis. Often, interesting chemistry is uncovered by exploring new biomes, of which the Chilean Atacama Desert is a prime example. This paper describes the isolation and structural characterisation, using HR-LCMS and 1D and 2D NMR, of a new compound belonging to a family of compounds called radstrictins. The compound was isolated from a fungus, that had itself been isolated from a soil sample from the Atacama Desert. The compound was tested against pathogenic strains associated with bovine mastitis, but was found to be devoid of antimicrobial activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the remapping of the American landscape as a mass reproducible visual medium onto foreign territories - particularly Afghanistan - during the Cold War. A series of films produced by the US Bureau of Mines and later screened in these territories are the sites of analysis. These films were the source material that applied the American landscape in its many forms, climates and uses to the US's physical infrastructure projects during the time. As sights, these projects of infrastructure building are indicative of the colonial gaze US technicians used to reproduce these landscapes and their underlying systems of power and class around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, I examine the iconography, religious function and text–image relationship of one of the earliest illustrations of the apocryphal Visualization Sūtra, namely, the mural painting on the left (south) wall of Cave 20 at the Toyok Grottoes in Turfan created in the late sixth century. I study this mural with a structuralist approach to situate it within the overall pictorial program of the cave temple. I argue that this wall painting was designed as a set of visual and verbal cues to assist the meditating monks in situ to separately visualize the different individual visions constituting the "Thirteen Visualizations" taught in the sutra, excluding the five visions directly related to the Amitāyus Triad, namely, the eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and thirteenth visualizations. These five visualizations were likely facilitated by icons of the Amitāyus Triad placed in the center of the cave. The meditators started from the contemplations of the impure represented on the right (north) wall as preparatory practices to eliminate their sins, improve their karma and thereby enhance their spiritual purity to a level appropriate for performing the Pure Land visualizations. They then turned to the left wall to perform the Pure Land visualizations represented there that end with the twelfth visualization: imagining oneself being reborn in Sukhāvatī. Continuing from the twelfth visualization, the meditators facing the rear wall entered the Western Pure Land via the lotus ponds represented on the rear wall while in a state of meditational concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Western Desert region between Cairo and Fayoum in Egypt is a geologically interesting area due to its active seismicity status and the continuous bidirectional urban expansions ongoing northward and southward growth. This work aims to develop a geological model of the region by combining magnetic intensity data (aeromagnetic) and potential field data (airborne gravity) with magnetotelluric (MT) data to offer decision-makers an additional evaluation tool for long-term future planning. Applying a number of filters to aerial gravity and magnetic data allowed us to calculate the subsurface density distribution and structure of the area between Cairo and Fayoum. In addition, the surface of the crust was imaged down to a depth of 6 km using a 3-D inversion of gravity data. Magnetotelluric data were gathered at eight locations over the NS-extended Cairo-Fayoum Road profile. MT data were inverted in 2-D to generate a resistivity model that defines the subsurface structure of the researched region. The subsurface geometry in the MT-derived resistivity model agrees with the results of airborne potential measurements, and no consideration was given to any faults that may have been undetected from the potential maps. Long-term seismological observations indicated that the likely active sources of earthquakes are limited to the recognized main faults and that the ongoing "1185 buildings" construction project did not and will not cause unanticipated seismicity. The paper concludes that urban growth is secure so long as the earthquake codes are rigorously considered while planning civil projects. The northern study region must be regularly monitored for induced seismicity. On the Cairo-Fayoum Road's western side, the middle sector of the study area is the safest place for future civil developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Road fatalities were labelled a pandemic as early as 1973 (BMJ 1973). The number of road fatalities reached 1.35 million in 2016. Currently over 3 500 people perish every day on the world's roads. South Africa has one of the highest road fatality rates in the world, with a fatality rate of 25.9 deaths per 100 000 population (WHO 2018). In order to understand and improve the road safety situation of a region, effective road safety assessments must be carried out. This paper presents a comparison of four different road safety assessment approaches, both traditional and novel, and serves as a proof of concept for the 'road safety desert' methodology, a new technique adapted from the 'transit desert' concept. This new approach to road safety assessment explores the possibility of geo-coded supply and demand comparisons to identify 'road safety deserts' - areas that have a comparatively higher road safety risk. This paper shows that there are several unique and effective ways to assess road safety, and that each approach incorporates different characteristics within their methodologies. It is recommended that road safety analysis is conducted using a multitude of methods, so as to improve understanding and intervention selection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Several algorithms have been proposed in recent decades to solve optimization problems, some of which have been inspired by nature. The collective behavior of ants is an example of intelligence in the nature which has been a source of inspiration for optimization algorithms. Based on the concept of path integration, ants are able to continuously calculate their current location from their previous trajectory when exploring to find food. In the return journey, they go by calculating the outcome of the route, without returning exactly from their path, choosing a direct path to return to their original point. In this paper, the behavior of desert ants in finding their return path to the nest is the source of inspiration. By modeling the swarm intelligence of these ants based on the results of empirical scientific research, a new optimization algorithm is presented, termed Ant Path Integration. In this paper, the mathematical relationships governing the concept of path integration are presented. Simulation results on a variety of benchmark functions, including some of the CEC2019 benchmarks, show the superiority of this algorithm in finding the optimal solution in comparison to some well-known optimization algorithms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the wide application of remote sensing technology, target detection based on deep learning has become a research hotspot in the field of remote sensing. In this paper, aimed at the problems of the existing deep-learning-based desert land intelligent extraction methods, such as the spectral similarity of features and unclear texture features, we propose a multispectral remote sensing image desert land intelligent extraction method that takes into account band information. Firstly, we built a desert land intelligent interpretation dataset based on band weighting to enhance the desert land foreground features of the images. On this basis, we introduced the deformable convolution adaptive feature extraction capability to U-Net and developed the Y-Net model to extract desert land from Landsat remote sensing images covering the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Finally, in order to analyze the spatial and temporal trends of the desert land in the study area, we used a structural equation model (SEM) to evaluate the direct and indirect effects of natural conditions and human activities, i.e., population density (PD), livestock volume (LS), evaporation (Evp), temperature (T), days of sandy wind conditions (LD), humidity (RH), precipitation (P), anthropogenic disturbance index (Adi), and cultivated land (CL). The results show that the F1-score of the Y-Net model proposed in this paper is 95.6%, which is 11.5% more than that of U-Net. Based on the Landsat satellite images, the area of desert land in the study area for six periods from 1990 to 2020 was extracted. The results show that the area of desert land in the study area first increased and then decreased. The main influencing factors have been precipitation, humidity, and anthropogenic disturbance, for which the path coefficients are 0.646, 0.615, and 0.367, respectively. This study will be of great significance in obtaining large-scale and long-term time series of desert land cover and revealing the inner mechanism of desert land area change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the spatial-temporal evolution and the interconnectedness of land use/cover change (LUCC) and ecosystem service value (ESV). Such analysis can offer theoretical guidance and support decision-making for sustainable land resource development and ecological preservation in ecologically vulnerable cities within the Loess Plateau-Maowusu Desert transition zone. Utilizing Landsat data spanning 2000–2020, the paper examines the synergistic relationship between ESV and land use intensity in Shenmu City through bivariate spatial autocorrelation and the coupled coordination degree (CCD) model. Our findings indicate that the area of construction land in Shenmu City experienced the most significant change between 2000 and 2020, with a dynamism rate of 76.8%. This shift resulted in a decrease in the total ESV, from RMB 10.059 billion in 2000 to RMB 9.906 billion in 2020. The bivariate spatial autocorrelation analysis reveals a significant positive spatial correlation between ESV and land use intensity, while the CCD levels for both demonstrate a fluctuating yet overall upward trend over the 20-year period. The paper uncovers the spatial-temporal evolution of LUCC and ESV in Shenmu City along with their interconnected dynamics. The research outcomes can contribute valuable insights for reinforcing land resource utilization and promoting sustainable regional development within cities in the Loess Plateau-Maowusu Desert transition zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims at presenting newly-found safaitic inscriptions discovered in the Black Desert, north-eastern Jordan by the Badia Epigraphic Survey (BES) during the second (2017) field season at Wādī ar-Ru'aylah and in Wādī Suway'id. Through this paper, we aim to explain the toponyms Gl'd and Ngd in the Safaitic inscriptions, shed light on their interpretation in Safaitic and give translation and some commentary. This paper provides a comparison of inscriptions that mention these two toponyms in order to determine whether those names belong to a toponym or an adjective of a toponym. All photo credits are of 'Badia Epigraphic Survey (BES) Project'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to investigate the morphological characteristics of fruits and seeds from Diptychocarpus strictus, a plant species inhabiting the cold desert pastoral area of China. Furthermore, this study sought to evaluate the germination potential of these seeds following digestion by sheep. This study employed the sheep rumen fistula method to simulate rumen digestion at various time intervals. Subsequently, an in vitro simulation method was utilized to simulate true gastric and intestinal digestion after rumen digestion. Paper germination tests were then conducted to assess the impact of the digestive process on the heteromorphic seed morphology and germination. During rumen digestion, the seeds were protected by wide wings. The results revealed a highly significant negative correlation (p < 0.01) between seed wing length and digestion time. Post-rumen digestion, variations in the germination rate among seeds from fruits at different locations were observed. Indicators, such as germination rate, exhibited a highly significant negative correlation with rumen digestion time (p < 0.01). In vitro simulated digestion tests demonstrated that Diptychocarpus strictus seeds retained their ability to germinate even after complete digestion within the livestock's digestive tract. The polymorphic nature of Diptychocarpus strictus seeds, coupled with their capacity to survive and germinate through the digestive tract, facilitates the spread of these seeds. This finding has implications for mitigating desert grassland degradation and promoting sustainable ecological development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this paper is to propose different solutions and techniques for local residential constructions in desert regions characterized by a hot and arid climate. These solutions aim to solve the problem of thermal discomfort of the occupants during winter and summer, and to minimize energy loads due to heating and cooling systems. This can lead to significant long-term annual energy savings. To achieve this goal, three conventional external thermal insulation (ETI) systems for opaque walls based on natural insulators (hemp fiber and sheep wool) under different techniques (under coating, under cladding, and a combination of the two insulators) were selected. The evaluation and study of these ETI systems was carried out using "TRNSYS" software. A technical-economic study was also carried out for all the systems tested, in order to determine the actual savings achieved. The results obtained show that the combined insulation system (hemp fiber and sheep wool) is the best performing solution among the proposed systems, with an average cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many rivers are tightly coupled and intersected with aeolian sand dunes, whose geomorphological evolution involves not only fluvial processes but also aeolian processes that pose a new challenge to fluvial geomorphological studies. However, due to few field studies, our overall understanding of the desert channel geomorphic process is limited. In this paper, we present an outstanding example of desert river channel evolution regulated by aeolian–fluvial interactions in the Ulan Buh Desert of the Yellow River, based on a long time series data set (1966–2019) of channel cross-sections. The results indicate that the lateral addition of aeolian sand, the water–sediment relationship and human interference have a significant role at different periods of channel evolution. Before 1986, higher discharge, lower sediment content and greater intensity of aeolian activity caused aeolian–fluvial interactions and a relative scouring and silting balance in the channel, with little human activity. From 1986 to 2000, an increase in large reservoir operation, vegetation coverage and floodplain farming, coupled with water–sediment relationship variation, caused rapid deposition and shrinkage of the river channel. From 2000 to 2014, the channel kept a slight scouring state. With Haibowan reservoir operation beginning in 2014, the talweg experienced rapid scouring and undercut rebound. However, an expanding and stable floodplain accelerated sedimentation on the floodplain and weakened river lateral erosion, indicating that the channel has shown a shrinkage trend. Meanwhile, wavelet analysis results indicate that human interferences and aeolian activities have no significant role in the periodical characteristics of the channel's longitudinal erosion and deposition. Therefore, on the whole, increasing human interferences and decreasing wind dynamics have driven this desert wandering channel to be stable, and to gradually form a new balance between erosion and sedimentation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China prioritizes ecological civilization construction and embraces the concept of "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Great achievements have been made in ecological protection and restoration through implementing a series of policies and projects. This paper reviews the history of ecological restoration in China and the current development of the "integrated protection and restoration project of mountains, rivers, forests, farmlands, lakes, grasslands, and deserts (IPRP)." Furthermore, the characteristics of IPRP were systematically elaborated from the perspectives of the ecological civilization thought, the policy management, and the key scientific issues. Also, the current achievements were summarized in the fields of national ecological space management, biodiversity conservation, and ecological protection and restoration. Existing challenges in management policy, scientific issues, and engineering practices were highlighted. Future perspectives include ecological space control, nature-based Solutions, biodiversity big data platform, modern techniques, and value realization mechanisms of ecological products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summer visits to coastal sea destinations are the most represented in world tourism, accounting for 55% of global tourist travel. A seaside vacation is a form of relaxation and recreation with numerous benefits for a person's psychological, physical, and mental health. Sea water and air rich in marine minerals have a profound effect on the human psyche and provide a pleasant holiday in relation to oceanographic motifs as the main tourist attractions during the summer season. This paper explores the key tourism attributes of seawater from the perspectives of sea recreational tourism and humans' health and comfort. Chemical composition, temperature, salinity, dynamics, and water purity have been identified as major attractiveness factors (elements) for planning healthy sea activities and the swimming tourist season at coastal destinations. It was found that tropical and subtropical coastal regions are mostly touristically significant, while coastal desert regions are gaining significant popularity. The study's findings are educational and applicable to the tourist valorisation and tourism planning of the seas, as well as for understanding the new trends in global sea tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the ways in which the Letters of Ammonas, John Cassian's Conference IV, and the corpus of Macarius-Symeon appropriate and develop the motif of divine abandonment found in St. Antony and shifts it into a distinctly pneumatological key through Scriptural exegesis. Correcting a misconception popularized by Vladimir Lossky, this paper argues for a normative experience of divine abandonment in the Eastern Christian tradition via sustained engagement with the experience of those practitioners of desert spirituality. Engaging with the hermeneutics of Hans Georg Gadamer and following the previously established trajectories of Douglas Burton-Christie, I argue that the desert fathers, despite initial hesitation and eventual qualification, accepted the reality of pneumatic abandonment due to the interlocking pressures of Scripture and monastic experience. The paper concludes with some implications for contemporary pneumatological discussions by drawing critical parallels between the pneumatological tradition of the desert and the contemporary pneumatic doctrine of Ephraim Radner. Radner is affirmed in his insistence on individual pneumatic abandonment but is critically questioned regarding his articulation of the pneumatic abandonment of the Church through the vantage of Macarius-Symeon's stabilized pneumatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a new of economic and environmental study of a hybrid system (wind turbine and diesel generator) in Algerian desert regions using HOMER software. The principal interests of the hybrid system are clean production at the place of consumption, the combined use of resources, energy storage, and supply security. Using an experimental device outfitted with Homer software, models were developed and successfully compared to reality. The obtained results confirm that the proposed system proved to be accurate enough to distinguish energy transfers and fast enough to enable optimizing the sizing and handling of the system's energy transfers. The purpose of this paper is to confirm the robustness of the HOMER software and to check the technical, economic, and environmental criteria of the integrated system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the need to simplify the comparison between different climatic conditions. Therefore, the concept of Mission Profiles is introduced to PV. Mission Profiles are a set of climatic stresses compiled to allow direct comparisons such as temperature, humidity, and UV exposure. The use-case in this paper is a comparison of a temperate with a hot climate. The results show that temperature driven processes are highly accelerated for the hot climate, whereas processes that involve humidity may lead to a similar annual degradation. The impact of light, particularly UV, is even more complex. UV triggered reaction processes can be photon absorption triggered and accelerated by temperature. However, for most observed interactions and material changes UV light goes in conjunction with moisture (H2O) for the chemical reaction and is accelerated by temperature. Calculating the impact of temperature and UV is possible. However, the impact of moisture is almost impossible as it requires the knowledge of the local microclimate. Only a "worst-case" scenario can be assumed while using ambient relative humidity for most events of the day, that, however, do typically not include condensation. With the introduction of Mission Profiles, it should be possible to assess stress more easily for particular sites in general. Differences in mounting such as open rack compared to e.g., BiPV can also better addressed, however, with some assumption to define the microclimate (e.g., exclude rear side cooling). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Zoos and botanical gardens (ZBGs) play a variety of roles in regional conservation partnerships, including their most common role as the ex situ managers of rare plant and animal populations. Using case studies from a 70-year history of conservation work at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum in Tucson, Arizona, USA, this paper illustrates these roles and the characteristics of ZBGs that make them versatile and effective regional conservation partners. ZBGs commonly play the role of conservation advocates, as discussed in the context of the establishment of protected islands in the Gulf of California. ZBGs also conduct field research, including the collection of long-term datasets, as exemplified by the establishment of the Ironwood Forest National Monument and a 40-year Sonoran Desert phenology database. ZBGs can be effective conveners of communities and conservation partners in regional-scale efforts, such as the Sonoran Desert Conservation Plan and Cooperative Weed Management Areas. The paper also explores the challenges faced by ZBGs in sustaining their conservation work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Elimination of random noise is crucial in seismic data processing. Especially in desert area, field record generally has problems of weak effective reflection wave and strong noise due to its special surface factors. Besides, desert noise has characteristics of low-frequency, non-stationary and non-Gaussian. Thus, it is difficult to separate the effective signal from desert noise in low-frequency band. In order to solve these problems, this paper proposes an iterative low-rank denoising method based on synchrosqueezed wavelet transform (SWT). The algorithm first transforms seismic signal into time–frequency domain by SWT, then the signal is decomposed by iterative low-rank decomposition. Different from a traditional low-rank algorithm, this paper performs an adaptive iterative convergence on low-rank decomposition algorithm. When the error of decomposition reaches the predetermined range, the effective low-rank component is extracted. In the end, the low-rank matrix is converted back to time domain by inverse SWT to achieve the denoising. The results of the synthetic and field records verify the effectiveness of the proposed method so that it can be applied to the denoising of desert seismic data. In addition, the surface waves in real desert seismic record have obvious suppression effects and the advantages of the algorithm are shown in the comparison experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subsistence technology of forager communities has varied greatly over space and time. This paper (i) reviews briefly the main causal factors the literature identifies as responsible for this variation; (ii) analyzes in some detail the most prominent idea in the literature on spatial variation:Complex technology is an adaptive response to elevated risks of subsistence failure; (iii) it argues that the alleged empirical support for this hypothesis depends on dubious proxies of risk; (iv) it argues that it fails to explain the subsistence technologies of desert foragers, who generally live with simple technologies in high‐risk environments; (v) it offers an alternative analysis, based on the reduced opportunity costs of complex technologies in highly seasonal environments, on the high value of typical forager targets in those environments and their relatively predictable location in space and time; and (v) the paper concludes with a conjecture about the role of environmental variation in toolkit change over deep time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Four species of plague locust, namely the brown locust, the African migratory locust, the red locust, and the southern African desert locust, have threatened agricultural production in South Africa for centuries. The history of the plague invasions of the red locust and African migratory locust into South Africa are described, as well as the rare local outbreaks of the southern African desert locust in the Kalahari Desert region. The dynamics of the locally produced outbreaks of the African migratory locust in the cereal crop environment on the Highveld are discussed in detail. However, the brown locust is by far the most economically important locust species in South Africa, with a very high frequency of outbreaks occurring in the semi-arid Karoo region. After synthetic insecticides became available in 1945, most of the outbreaks were contained within the Karoo following vigorous control campaigns with only short-lived escapes of swarms into grain production areas outside the Karoo and into surrounding countries. However, the large-scale plague eruptions of the brown locust are almost impossible to stop with the resources currently available to the South African locust control organization, and the threat that the brown locust poses to food security in southern Africa is very real. The current paper provides a detailed review of the historical outbreaks of each of the four plague locust species found in South Africa, namely the brown locust, the African migratory locust, the red locust, and the southern African desert locust. The history and dynamics of the plague infestations and the major local outbreaks are summarized. The typical patterns of the outbreaks of the different species are described, and the threat of these locusts to agriculture in South Africa is defined. The brown locust produces regular outbreaks in the semi-arid Karoo, with large-scale eruptions of plague proportions occurring about once per decade. Patterns of outbreaks often repeat themselves, but the sheer size of the plague outbreaks is almost impossible to stop, and the brown locust has the potential to threaten food security throughout southern Africa. The African migratory locust produces outbreaks in some of the main maize and wheat cropping areas where it is difficult to control. This locust has taken advantage of the man-made crop environment to produce an extra generation per year that was not previously possible in the original grasslands. The coastal area of KwaZulu Natal Province in South Africa was a prime reception and breeding area for plague invasions of the red locust in the past, and the country, therefore, relies on the successful control of outbreaks in east and central Africa to prevent the recurrence of the plague invasions. The southern African desert locust occurs in the Kalahari Desert area, and outbreaks requiring chemical control are rare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During gravity field modeling, the conventional acceleration approach rarely incorporates KBR inter-satellite range rate data from the GRACE mission. To propose an improved acceleration method, this study introduces initial orbital position and velocity vectors to be estimated along with a combination of Cowell, KSG, and Adams integrators. In addition to achieving a full-rank design matrix regarding orbit corrections when constructing observation equations, the proposed method is capable of utilizing range rate observations for gravity field estimation. To verify the reliability of this approach, GRACE data from April 2002 to December 2016 was used to calculate a time series of monthly gravity solutions up to a degree and order of 96, referred to as Tongji-Acc RL06 in this paper. The computed time series are compared with the official models (i.e., CSR RL06, GFZ RL06, and JPL RL06) in terms of geoid degree variances, signal contents over distinct areas, and noise levels in desert regions. The investigations lead to the following conclusions: (a) the geoid degree variances indicate that Tongji-Acc RL06 exhibits comparable signal levels (approximately below 20 degrees) to the other three models while demonstrating lower noise at higher degrees (above 40 degrees); (b) the analysis over the globe, typical river basins, and land–ice regions illustrates that the solutions derived using the proposed acceleration method agree well with the official models based on the dynamic approach; (c) especially over the two large-scale river basins (i.e., Amazon and Zambezi) and another two small-scale river basins (i.e., Tennessee and Irrawaddy), Tongji-Acc RL06 significantly improves the SNR values; and (d) in the cases of the Sahara and Karakum deserts, Tongji-Acc RL06 achieves noise reductions of over 55.8% and 61.5% relative to CSR RL06, respectively. In general, the signal and noise analyses demonstrate that the proposed acceleration-based approach can effectively extract gravity field signals from KBR inter-satellite range rate observations with improved SNR, while significantly reducing the high-frequency noise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between the spatial structure of shelter forests and the diversity of understory herbaceous plants in desert–oasis ecotones is important for maintaining biodiversity indices and protecting the oasis ecosystem. In this paper, we explore the coupling relationship between tree layer structure (competition index, angle scale, neighborhood comparison, DBH, etc.) and understory herb diversity in the transition zone of shelter forest plots near oases and near deserts; in addition, we also aim to elucidate the dominant stand structure factors affecting herb biodiversity. The results indicated the following: A total of 13 herbaceous plant species were discovered in the transitional zone, with 11 species found near the oasis area and 4 species near the desert region. The Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou indices of understory herbaceous plants were significantly higher near the oasis area compared to the desert region. The Margalef index mean was higher in the oasis area compared to the desert region. Pearson and canonical correlation analyses revealed significant associations between specific stand structure indicators and diversity in the herbaceous layer. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis revealed that the competition index had a significant impact on the Shannon, Simpson, and Pielou diversity indices of the herbaceous layer in the understory of the shelterbelt forest near the oasis, with corresponding impact coefficients of 0.911, 0.936, and 0.831, respectively. The mingling degree was found to be the primary influencing factor for the Margalef index, with an impact coefficient of 0.825. However, in the understory of the shelterbelt forest near the desert, the neighborhood comparison ratio negatively affected the Shannon and Margalef indices, with impact coefficients of −0.634 and −0.736, respectively. Additionally, tree height negatively impacted the Simpson and Pielou indices, with impact coefficients of −0.645 and −0.677, respectively. In order to enhance the diversity of understory herbaceous species in the transitional zone and preserve the ecological system of the oasis, specific modifications to the forest structure and arrangement are essential. Pruning and thinning are necessary for shelterbelt forests located near desert regions, while shelterbelt forests near oases should use a suitable mix of tree species. These measures can help preserve or enhance the diversity of understory herbaceous plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The origin of Libyan Desert Glass (LDG) found in the western parts of Egypt close to the Libyan border is debated in planetary science. Two major theories of its formation are currently competing: (1) melting by airburst and (2) formation by impact-related melting. While mineralogical and textural evidence for a high-temperature event responsible for the LDG formation is abundant and convincing, minerals and textures indicating high shock pressure have been scarce. This paper provides a nanostructural study of the LDG, showing new evidence of its high-pressure and high-temperature origin. We mainly focused on the investigation of Zr-bearing and phosphate aggregates enclosed within LDG. Micro- and nanostructural evidence obtained with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are spherical inclusions of cubic, tetragonal, and orthorhombic (Pnma or OII) zirconia after zircon, which indicate high-pressure, high-temperature decomposition of zircon and possibly, melting of ZrO2. Inclusions of amorphous silica and amorphous Al-phosphate with berlinite composition (AlPO4) within mosaic whitlockite and monazite aggregates point at decomposition and melting of phosphates, which formed an emulsion with SiO2 melt. The estimated temperature of the LDG melts was above 2750 °C, approaching the point of SiO2 boiling. The variety of textures with different degrees of quenching immediately next to each other suggests an extreme thermal gradient that existed in LDG through radiation cooling. Additionally, the presence of quenched orthorhombic OII ZrO2 provides direct evidence of high-pressure (>13.5 GPa) conditions, confirming theory 2, the hypervelocity impact origin of the LDG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: The paper presents the first syntaxonomic overview for the semi-deserts and desert steppes of the alpine belt in the Pamir and south-western Tian Shan Mts. in Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with some remarks on its environmental conditions. Methods: A total of 285 relevés were sampled in 2015-2019 using the Braun-Blanquet scale. All these samples were classified by the modified TWINSPAN method. Diagnostic species were identified using the phi coefficient as a fidelity measure. The detrended correspondence analysis was used to explore the relationships between groups in the data set and to determine the environmental gradients that predict the species composition and distributional patterns of particular communities. Results: We detected eight associations and four communities. Most of the distinguished vegetation units are assigned to desert steppes and cryophilous semi-deserts of the cold highlands in Central Asia. The main factors responsible for the species composition of the researched vegetation are latitudinal and longitudinal position, mean annual temperature and precipitation seasonality. Conclusions: Despite the fact that this vegetation type is poor in species, it demonstrates a high degree of distinctiveness and diversity between individual mountain ranges, which is evidenced by a clear compositional dissimilarity between desert steppes and steppes in Hindu Kush and in the Pamirs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Citizen science and related engagement programmes have proliferated in recent years throughout the sciences but have been reasonably limited in the cryospheric sciences. In the semiarid Andes we at the Centro de Estudios Avanzados en Zonas Áridas have developed a range of initiatives together with the wider community and stakeholder institutions to improve our understanding of the role snow and ice play in headwater catchments. In this paper we reflect on ongoing engagement with communities living and working in and near study sites of cryospheric science in northern Chile as a strategy that can both strengthen the research being done and empower local communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The historical concept of the "desert" is both cultural and geographic in Argentina, connecting nineteenth-century territorial conquest to twentieth-century public works projects. Between 1936 and 1940, the architect Francisco Salamone constructed a series of roads, plazas, municipal headquarters, slaughterhouses, and cemeteries. These buildings and infrastructure projects highlight the necessary relationship between settler colonialism and changing labor patterns in the South American nation's uneasy transition into global capitalism. This paper synthesizes a range of historiography and analyzes visual material, including photographs, architectural drawings, and cartographic documents, to demonstrate the powerful connection between architectural production, cultural erasure, and economic change in Argentina. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite being some of the harshest environments to design for and inhabit, deserts are considered some of the most malleable in our imagination. Countless military bases, proving grounds, gunneries, and practice fields that simulate other locales prove that in military imagination, deserts are nondescript proxy spaces waiting to be filled with the character of whatever location they are to imitate. The developers' imagination is not far behind. Through a historical case study of California City, an ambitiously planned but only partially built desert development project, and unpacking of the terms "desert" and "wasteland," this essay examines the colonial gaze towards the desert that often shapes our perceptions of this unique environment and exposes the fallacies in our thinking that lead us to imagine deserts as a blank slate waiting to be transformed. The paper also highlights the dangers of overconfidence in technology to create techno-utopias and the need to acknowledge the reality of the desert's harsh environment in any planning or development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses three different representations (aerial photograph, map, photograph) to shed light on how environmental imaginaries of the desert systematically created a "wasteland" that enabled an architecture of exploitation and extraction in which the histories, characteristics, and narratives of Saudi Arabia were replaced. Organized in chronological order, the images were produced in connection with US geologist Karl Saben Twitchell's desire to extract resources from Saudi Arabia through his role as the Saudi King's confidant and US expert. Here, representation and extraction allowed Twitchell and his company, Saudi Arabian Mining Syndicate, to frame the landscape as a "regime of emptiness" that enabled the systematic transformation of the Saudi desert. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the history and artifacts related to the forty-nine communities that originated from St. Joseph's monastery in St. Marys, Pennsylvania. The article mentions that artifacts connected to the sisters' presence in St. Marys for 162 years were donated to St. Mary's Parish for a permanent display. The paper archives are located in Mt. Scholastica Monastery in Atchison, KS, and other artifacts are in the Haehn Museum at St. Benedict's Monastery in St. Joseph, MN. The article also reviews the book "Desert Ascetics of Egypt" by Darlene L. Brooks Hedstrom, which explores the history of early monasticism in Egypt and the use of documentary and archaeological evidence in understanding the lives of the desert ascetics. The author recommends the book as a valuable resource for those interested in early monastic teaching and spirituality. [Extracted from the article]

Athletes who flout doping bans are generally thought to have gained an unfair advantage. In this paper, I critically examine this view. I begin by defending an effort-based account of desert in sport, explaining why it is preferable to the hybrid account that is favoured in the literature. Drawing on the effort-based account, I construct the Unfair Advantage Argument formally, in what I take to be its most plausible form. I then argue that the Unfair Advantage Argument should be rejected, for two main reasons. First, I challenge its assumption that dopers have put in less effort than their opponents. Second, I explain why, even if dopers have put in less effort, they have still exerted a sufficient amount. Though doping is problematic from an institutional perspective, it is not – from a pre-institutional perspective – cause for moral concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desert-realists maintain that those who do wrong without an excuse deserve blame. Desert-skeptics deny this, holding that though we may be responsible for our actions in some sense, we lack the kind of responsibility needed to deserve blame. In two recent papers, Randolph Clarke (Philosophical Explorations 16:153–164, 2013 and Journal of Ethics 20:121–137, 2016) advances an innovative defense of desert-realism. He argues for deserved-guilt, the thesis that the guilty deserve to feel guilt. In his 2013 paper, Clarke suggests two strategies for defending deserved-guilt: the fitting-guilt strategy and the good-guilt strategy. In his 2016 paper, Clarke issues a challenge to the desert-skeptic: he calls on them to provide a non-desert based account of guilt's fittingness. In the first two thirds of the paper, I respond to Clarke's challenge to the desert-skeptic, showing that guilt felt by the guilty is alethic-fitting, reason-fitting, and value-fitting. None of these notions of fittingness, I argue, are desert based. In the last third of the paper, I show how the work done in previous sections affords us the tools to finely diagnose the failures of both the fitting-guilt and the good-guilt strategies. Here, I draw on one of Clarke's own insights—namely, that desert is intimately connected to the value of justice. I propose that showing that guilt is fitting, or again non-instrumentally good, fails to show that it is deserved because to show that it is deserved one must show that guilt is fitting or good in a sense that implicates justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the hyperarid Namib Desert, the sand termite Psammotermes allocerus Silvestri, 1908 (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae) establishes colonies that create conspicuous, barren patches known as 'fairy circles' on permeable, sandy soils. The central bare areas of fairy circles serve the key function of storing moisture received from sparse rainfall. The sandy soil texture allows rapid infiltration and percolation of precipitation, while localized herbivory by the termites creates the bare patch, thereby reducing the rapid loss of soil moisture by the uptake and transpiration of water by plants. The resulting storage of rain water even during prolonged periods of drought enables perennial life in hyperarid desert environments and forms a globally unique example of ecosystem engineering by social insects. During the past decade, most publications primarily debated the origin of fairy circles. Here, we contribute to the special issue with a focus on the functional and evolutionary dimension of the structure of the Psammotermes colony with two differing nest types and two spatially separated key resources, as a successful adaptation to extreme desert environment. The paper is primarily a review and a synthesis of previous work, with the inclusion of new, relevant findings. This article is part of the theme issue 'The evolutionary ecology of nests: a cross-taxon approach'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a typical desert in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the Ulan Buh Desert has a dry climate and scarce precipitation all year round. Groundwater has become the main factor limiting the growth of vegetation in this region. It is of great significance to study the influence of groundwater depth on the spatial distribution pattern of vegetation in this region. Based on the PIE-Engine platform and using long-term time-series Landsat data, this paper analyzed the spatial–temporal distribution characteristics and trends in vegetation coverage in the Ulan Buh Desert in the last 20 years using a pixel dichotomy model and the image difference method. The Kriging interpolation method was used to interpolate the groundwater depth data from 106 monitoring wells in the Ulan Buh Desert over the past 20 years, and the spatial distribution characteristics of groundwater depth in the Ulan Buh Desert were analyzed. Finally, the correlation coefficient between changes in vegetation coverage and changes in groundwater depth was calculated. The results showed the following: (1) The vegetation coverage in the Ulan Buh Desert was higher in the periphery and lower in the center of the desert. The overall vegetation level showed an increasing trend year by year; the growth rate was 4.73%/10 years, and the overall vegetation cover showed an improving trend. (2) The overall groundwater depth in the Ulan Buh Desert was deep in the southwest and shallow in the northeast. In the past 20 years, the groundwater depth in the Ulan Buh area has become shallower, and the ecological condition has gradually improved. (3) On the whole, the vegetation coverage varied with the groundwater depth, and the shallower the groundwater depth, the greater the vegetation coverage. When the groundwater depth increased to more than 4 m, the change in the groundwater depth had a significant effect on the vegetation coverage. However, when the groundwater depth was greater than 6 m, the change in the groundwater depth had no significant effect on the change in vegetation coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Paycheck Protection Program was a highly unusual policy measure enacted to provide bridge capital to support small businesses coping with the dramatic downturn in demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. By design, the program effectively required potential applicants to work through the bank with whom they had a relationship. Yet large swathes of the country are effectively banking deserts, which dramatically steepen the gradient for those regions' businesses seeking Paycheck Protection Program support. This paper tests the proposition that the exogenous distribution of banks effectively discriminated against those regions where banking services were limited, while also looking at whether loans were distributed to those areas with less dense employment opportunities and higher concentrations of small businesses. The authors find that areas with fewer banking services and lower employment opportunities were systematically disadvantaged in the Paycheck Protection Program distribution, while there were no significant flows to areas with higher rates of small businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Some time-consuming and labor-intensive techniques, like manual drawing or interactive modeling with an image editing system, are often used to show how a desert area might look after being transformed into a green field (oasis) in an image way. In order to improve the rendering efficiency of image style transformation and increase the variety of renderings, we can build an algorithm for automatically generating style images based on machine learning. In this paper, after comparing seven generative adversarial network (GAN) models in the way of theory analysis, we propose a method for generating green fields using desert images as input data, and a comprehensive comparison is presented on how GANs are currently applied to solve the desert-to-oasis problem. Experimental results show that two GAN models, geometrically consistent GAN and cyclic consistent GAN, have the best transfer effect of a desert image to oasis one in the view of quantitative indicators, Fréchet inception distance, and learned perceptual image patch similarity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]