Search

The impact of plasma temperature on the formation and evolution of distinct and unique molecular species recorded as molecular signatures from laser induced plasma (LIP) was examined in this study. A definitive correlation between plasma temperature and the formation of molecular species has been established through a comprehensive temporal analysis of BO and BO2 molecular bands. The utilization of the signal-to-envelope ratio diagrams allowed for pinpointing the optimal temperature range for molecule emission. Notably, the molecule BO exhibited an ideal temperature range of 10,000–11,000 K for the proper formation of molecular emission bands, while BO2 preferred temperatures between 8,000–9,000 K. These optimal temperature ranges remained consistent regardless of the laser irradiation wavelength or ambient gas conditions of Ar, air or He studied in this work. These key findings highlight the significant influence of plasma temperature in shaping the molecular species observed in LIP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the influence of emotional factors on entrepreneurial decision-making, specifically focusing on early-stage entrepreneurs and those with more years of experience in the entrepreneurial process. The aim is to understand how emotional intensity affects business decisions at different stages of entrepreneurship. Neuroqualitative interviews were conducted using a stratified sample of entrepreneurs. The methodology included semi-structured interviews. Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) technology was employed to simultaneously measure participants' emotional levels during the interviews. The results revealed significant differences in emotional levels between novice and experienced entrepreneurs concerning the analysed emotional factors. Novice entrepreneurs exhibited higher levels of anxiety and fear, especially in questions not previously anticipated, while experienced entrepreneurs showed confidence and a more optimistic outlook, particularly on topics related to long-term consolidation and revenue forecasting. This study highlights originality by demonstrating the importance of emotional factors in entrepreneurial decision-making and their variation over time in the entrepreneurial process. The use of GSR technology in neuroqualitative interviews adds a unique dimension by providing an objective assessment of entrepreneurs' emotional levels, thus complementing the qualitative richness of verbal responses. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of emotional complexity in business decision-making and emphasize the need to consider these aspects in entrepreneurship support strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On-site sanitation systems such as septic tanks are widely used for treating domestic wastewater in urban and rural areas which lack sewage systems. However, a large portion of these systems do not properly treat human excreta. A main challenge to improve this is the absence of comprehensive data regarding the usage, emptying and maintenance. In this study, records of septic tank desludging frequency during 2009–2022 and the sewerage coverage updated to 2022 were used to investigate their spatial and temporal utilisation, and the persistence of septic tank usage in areas with sewer networks and uncover the current state of Faecal Sludge Management in Cuenca, Ecuador. The spatial behaviour revealed that OSSs are still in use besides the presence of a sewer network. In 2022, there were 109 septic tanks in urban areas with 14.7% in sectors with sewerage service. In rural areas, 469 septic tanks were recorded with 7.8% situated in areas with sewer networks. Although there is no specialised infrastructure in place for the treatment and disposal of faecal sludge, the city has effectively managed it with the existing sanitation facilities. This assessment contributes to the formulation of a secure framework for a safely managed sanitation. HIGHLIGHTS Septic tanks are still in use in places where there is a sewage system (14.7% in urban areas and 7.8% in rural areas).; Urban districts, that are located close to the rural ones, have a septic tank/inhabitants ratio comparable to the rural districts.; A successful measure that promoted the end-user connection to the sewage system was the removal of the septic tank desludging subsidy.;

Iron in soil exists in various valence states and is prone to changes with alterations in soil environmental conditions. Its migration and transformation are crucial for soil formation and understanding soil evolution. This study focuses on Quaternary red soils found in woodland, sparse forest grassland, grassland, and cultivated land located in the semi-humid region of the middle temperate zone. For comparison, buried Quaternary red soil was also examined. A soil reconstruction model was used to quantitatively calculate the variation of different forms of iron in order to analyze various forms of iron composition, migration, and transformation within the soil profile, as well as the evolutionary traits of Quaternary red soils influenced by diverse land use activities. This study found that after exposure and use, iron from the topsoil of buried Quaternary red soil migrated to the subsoil, altering the iron distribution. Free iron and crystalline oxides decreased in the topsoil but increased in specific subsoil layers, with woodland and grassland showing the most significant changes. Silicate-bound iron pooled in the soil weathered to form free iron under different land uses, and poorly crystalline iron oxides transformed into crystalline oxides, with grassland exhibiting the highest transformation intensity. Conversion processes predominated over iron migration in the Quaternary red soils. The evolution of Quaternary red soils can be divided into three stages, marked by changes in iron composition and crystallization due to anthropogenic land use activities. Initially, during 140−94 ka BP, iron composition was stable. Then, between 94–24 ka BP, plant decomposition formed iron–metal complexes, releasing and crystallizing poorly crystalline iron oxides. Finally, from 24 ka BP to the present, anthropogenic activities intensified, increasing the formation and conversion rates of these oxides. This study quantifies iron migration and transformation in Quaternary red soils, providing insights for sustainable soil management, especially in regions where human activities have accelerated iron evolution. Based on these findings, the following policy recommendations are proposed: implement sustainable land use practices, encourage land management strategies that preserve natural vegetation, promote research on soil management techniques, develop and implement regulatory policies, and support educational programs to maintain the health and stability of Quaternary red soils, particularly in regions prone to accelerated iron evolution due to anthropogenic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding solvent‐solute interactions is essential to designing and synthesising soft materials with tailor‐made functions. Although the interaction of the solute with the solvent mixture is more complex than the single solvent medium, solvent mixtures are exciting to unfold several unforeseen phenomena in supramolecular chemistry. Here, we report two unforeseen pathways observed during the hierarchical assembly of cationic perylene diimides (cPDIs) in water and amphiphilic organic solvent (AOS) mixtures. When the aqueous supramolecular polymers (SPs) of cPDIs are injected into AOS, initially kinetically trapped short SPs are formed, which gradually transform into thermodynamically stable high aspect ratio SP networks. Using various experimental and theoretical investigations, we found that this temporal evolution follows two distinct pathways depending on the nature of the water‐AOS interactions. If the AOS is isopropanol (IPA), water is released from cPDIs into bulk IPA due to strong hydrogen bonding interactions, which further decreases the monomer concentration of cPDIs (Pathway‐1). In the case of dioxane AOS, cPDI monomer concentration further increases as water is retained among cPDIs (Pathway‐2) due to relatively weak interactions between dioxane and water. Interestingly, these two pathways are accelerated by external stimuli such as heat and mechanical agitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seasonal evolution of both surface signature and subsurface structure of a Mediterranean mesoscale anticyclones is assessed using the Coastal and Regional Ocean Community high‐resolution numerical model with realistic background stratification and fluxes. In good agreement with remote‐sensing and in‐situ observations, our numerical simulations capture the seasonal cycle of the anomalies induced by the anticyclone, both in the sea surface temperature (SST) and in the mixed layer depth (MLD). The eddy signature on the SST shifts from warm‐core in winter to cold‐core in summer, while the MLD deepens significantly in the core of the anticyclone in late winter. Our sensitivity analysis shows that the eddy SST anomaly can be accurately reproduced only if the vertical resolution is high enough (∼4 m in near surface) and if the atmospheric forcing contains high‐frequency. In summer with this configuration, the vertical mixing parameterized by the k − ϵ closure scheme is three times higher inside the eddy than outside the eddy, and leads to an anticyclonic cold core SST anomaly. This differential mixing is explained by near‐inertial waves, triggered by the high‐frequency atmospheric forcing. Near‐inertial waves propagate more energy inside the eddy because of the lower effective Coriolis parameter in the anticyclone core. On the other hand, eddy MLD anomaly appears more sensitive to horizontal resolution, and requires SST retroaction on air‐sea fluxes. These results detail the need of high frequency forcing, high vertical and horizontal resolutions to accurately reproduce the evolution of a mesoscale eddy. Plain Language Summary: Mesoscale eddies are turbulent structures present in every regions of the world ocean, and accounting for a significant part of its kinetic energy budget. These structures can be tracked in time and recently revealed a seasonal cycle from in situ data. An anticyclone (clockwise rotating eddy in the northern hemisphere) is observed in the Mediterranean to be predominantly warm at the surface and to deepen the mixed layer in winter, but shifts to a cold‐core summer signature. This seasonal signal is not yet understood and studied in ocean models. In this study we assess the realism of an anticyclone seasonal evolution in high resolution numerical simulations. Eddy surface temperature seasonal shift is retrieved and is linked to an increased mixing at the eddy core spontaneously appearing at high vertical resolution (vertical grid size smaller than 4 m) in the presence of high frequency atmospheric forcing. This increased mixed is due to the preferred propagation of near‐inertial waves in the anticyclone due to its negative relative vorticity. Eddy‐induced mixed layer depth anomalies also appear to be triggered by sea surface temperature retroaction on air‐sea fluxes. These results suggest that present‐day operational ocean forecast models are too coarse to accurately retrieve mesoscale evolution. Key Points: Enhanced mixing in anticyclones explain inverse eddy sea surface temperature (SST) signatureVertical resolution is crucial to model eddy core mixing triggered by near‐inertial wavesMixed layer anomaly is mainly driven by SST retroaction on air‐sea fluxes [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the temporal evolution of secondary streamers in N2/O2 mixtures at atmospheric pressure under DC voltage were investigated using a two-dimensional axisymmetric fluid model. The effects of voltage amplitude, polarity and oxygen concentration were analyzed. The propagation of secondary streamers is divided into two stages: fast propagation followed by slow propagation. The interior of secondary streamers is filled with positive space charges, while the exterior contains negative space charges. The reduced electric field in the secondary streamer is initially linearly proportional to the applied voltage and decreases linearly with the length of secondary streamers. The length of secondary streamers is primarily determined by the applied voltage, regardless of the oxygen concentration. A reversed propagation direction is simulated under negative applied voltage. We propose a different mechanism for secondary streamers. The high-density positive charge layer near the electrode initiates the propagation of secondary streamers, and the extension of positive charge region dominates the propagation. The distribution of electric field along the channel is mainly determined by the distribution of net space charge. The propagation direction is opposite to the direction of electron drift. The secondary streamer eventually stagnates due to the decrease in electron density in high oxygen concentration, while it is caused by the uniform current density at the front of the secondary streamer in low oxygen concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Seasonal evolution of both surface signature and subsurface structure of a Mediterranean mesoscale anticyclones is assessed using the Coastal and Regional Ocean Community high‐resolution numerical model with realistic background stratification and fluxes. In good agreement with remote‐sensing and in‐situ observations, our numerical simulations capture the seasonal cycle of the anomalies induced by the anticyclone, both in the sea surface temperature (SST) and in the mixed layer depth (MLD). The eddy signature on the SST shifts from warm‐core in winter to cold‐core in summer, while the MLD deepens significantly in the core of the anticyclone in late winter. Our sensitivity analysis shows that the eddy SST anomaly can be accurately reproduced only if the vertical resolution is high enough (∼4 m in near surface) and if the atmospheric forcing contains high‐frequency. In summer with this configuration, the vertical mixing parameterized by the k − ϵ closure scheme is three times higher inside the eddy than outside the eddy, and leads to an anticyclonic cold core SST anomaly. This differential mixing is explained by near‐inertial waves, triggered by the high‐frequency atmospheric forcing. Near‐inertial waves propagate more energy inside the eddy because of the lower effective Coriolis parameter in the anticyclone core. On the other hand, eddy MLD anomaly appears more sensitive to horizontal resolution, and requires SST retroaction on air‐sea fluxes. These results detail the need of high frequency forcing, high vertical and horizontal resolutions to accurately reproduce the evolution of a mesoscale eddy.

Video prediction aims to predict future frames through modeling the complex spatial-temporal correlations between given frames, which plays an important role in the computer vision community. Despite significant progress has been achieved, there are still obvious limitations in existing methods, e.g., (1) several methods heavily rely on external information or inputs (e.g., semantic map, optical flow, etc.) to help predict, which hinders their wider applications; (2) most existing methods still struggle to model the accurate future motion from given video frames while simultaneously keeping the consistency of its appearance across video frames, resulting in blurry artifacts in predicted frames and low visual quality. In this work, to predict more accurate future motion and maintain consistent appearance across video frames, we propose a dual-branch video prediction network. Specifically, to predict accurate future motion, we propose a novel motion prediction unit (MPU) to sequentially capture inter-frame motion and intra-frame appearance. To better learn temporal evolution, the temporal attention is utilized in the MPU to enhance the feature interactions of the temporal domain. The multiple-scale convolution layers in the MPU are utilized to enlarge the receptive field. Additionally, to preserve appearance consistency, we design the spatial prediction unit (SPU) to focus on spatial information by capturing various appearance features of given video frames. Moreover, considering that mean squared error (MSE) loss is more concerned with static features, we introduce a novel divergence regularization to constrain global motion variations to generate naturalistic future frames. Extensive experiments demonstrate that our method performs better or comparable to state-of-the-art methods on several public benchmarks.

Accurate estimation of local scour depth has long been considered to be an important step for the design of bridge piers. Methods currently serving in different countries are generally based on equilibrium equations, which have been found to either overestimate or underestimate the local scour depth. In this study, we proposed a new design method for clear-water local scour depth based on temporal evolution characteristics. We collected data from 67 experiments from the referenced literature and conducted four in-house experiments. Using factor analysis and trial calculation, we derived a new temporal equation for local scour depth evolution. Comparison showed that the maximum predicting error of the total 71 experiments was reduced from 162% to 534% using four existing temporal equations to 34% using the new equation. The corresponding design method was illustrated by an idealized scenario. In addition to its understandability and usability, the new method had better flexibility and fault tolerance, because it did not involve the concept of equilibrium scour depth, which lacked an objective and universal criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, bridge collapse accidents have become increasingly frequent during the flooding season, and foundation scour is one of the main reasons. Tracking scour evolution accurately is a key premise for preventing and controlling hydrological damage. Scour identification according to the changing dynamic characteristics during the scouring process tends to be one of the top technical methodologies in scour monitoring. Although efforts have been made to investigate the dynamic identification of foundation scour, the investigations have mainly focused on the qualification of foundation scour utilizing numerical simulations. Quantitative analysis and validation through laboratory experiments with large-scale water flumes are still lacking. To bridge the gap, this study performed physical modeling experiments with a large-scale water flume for foundation scour to investigate the relationship between structural frequency and scour evolution. The research sought to validate the feasibility of using structural frequency in dynamic identification. First, scour experiments with a large-scale water flume for three piers were performed to collect the time history of acceleration signals. Then, the acceleration signals were processed to recognize the temporal evolution of structural frequency during the scouring process. Finally, the relationship between the temporal scour depth and frequency was assumed to be linear and nonlinear to fit the time history of structural frequency. The results indicated that the frequency and the square of frequency can be taken as the dynamic fingerprint in scour identification according to the frequency range. Based on the validation of large-scale flume experiments, the proposed nonlinear temporal models of frequency in the study demonstrated a good indicator for predicting scour depth. The methodology can greatly enhance the practicality and convenience of bridge scour dynamic identification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2018 an unexpected number of earthquakes have been occurring offshore Mayotte, in the Mozambique Channel. They are linked to the eruption of the Fani Maoré submarine volcano. Using a recently-developed comprehensive automatic catalog, we explore two years of volcano-tectonic (VT) seismicity between March 2019 and March 2021 and analyse in detail the active structures of the magmatic plumbing system using ~33,000 events. The VT earthquakes highlight three magma storage zones and two aseismic conduits that had never been observed before. The temporal evolution of the seismicity reveals a probable regime change in March 2020. While before, the plumbing system reacted to the drainage of magma from a deep reservoir and to the migration of magma towards the seafloor, it is now responding to new migrations of fluids and to the redistribution of the stress-load across the system's pre-existing faults. This analysis is key to better understand long-term volcanism worldwide.

Iron in soil exists in various valence states and is prone to changes with alterations in soil environmental conditions. Its migration and transformation are crucial for soil formation and understanding soil evolution. This study focuses on Quaternary red soils found in woodland, sparse forest grassland, grassland, and cultivated land located in the semi-humid region of the middle temperate zone. For comparison, buried Quaternary red soil was also examined. A soil reconstruction model was used to quantitatively calculate the variation of different forms of iron in order to analyze various forms of iron composition, migration, and transformation within the soil profile, as well as the evolutionary traits of Quaternary red soils influenced by diverse land use activities. This study found that after exposure and use, iron from the topsoil of buried Quaternary red soil migrated to the subsoil, altering the iron distribution. Free iron and crystalline oxides decreased in the topsoil but increased in specific subsoil layers, with woodland and grassland showing the most significant changes. Silicate-bound iron pooled in the soil weathered to form free iron under different land uses, and poorly crystalline iron oxides transformed into crystalline oxides, with grassland exhibiting the highest transformation intensity. Conversion processes predominated over iron migration in the Quaternary red soils. The evolution of Quaternary red soils can be divided into three stages, marked by changes in iron composition and crystallization due to anthropogenic land use activities. Initially, during 140−94 ka BP, iron composition was stable. Then, between 94–24 ka BP, plant decomposition formed iron–metal complexes, releasing and crystallizing poorly crystalline iron oxides. Finally, from 24 ka BP to the present, anthropogenic activities intensified, increasing the formation and conversion rates of these oxides. This study quantifies iron migration and transformation in Quaternary red soils, providing insights for sustainable soil management, especially in regions where human activities have accelerated iron evolution. Based on these findings, the following policy recommendations are proposed: implement sustainable land use practices, encourage land management strategies that preserve natural vegetation, promote research on soil management techniques, develop and implement regulatory policies, and support educational programs to maintain the health and stability of Quaternary red soils, particularly in regions prone to accelerated iron evolution due to anthropogenic activities.

Outbreaks of infectious diseases pose significant threats to human life, and countries around the world need to implement more precise prevention and control measures to contain the spread of viruses. In this study, we propose a spatial-temporal diffusion model of infectious diseases under a discrete grid, based on the time series prediction of infectious diseases, to model the diffusion process of viruses in population. This model uses the estimated outbreak origin as the center of transmission, employing a tree-like structure of daily human travel to generalize the process of viral spread within the population. By incorporating diverse data, it simulates the congregation of people, thus quantifying the flow weights between grids for population movement. The model is validated with some Chinese cities with COVID-19 outbreaks, and the results show that the outbreak point estimation method could better estimate the virus transmission center of the epidemic. The estimated location of the outbreak point in Xi'an was only 0.965 km different from the actual one, and the results were more satisfactory. The spatiotemporal diffusion model for infectious diseases simulates daily newly infected areas, which effectively cover the actual patient infection zones on the same day. During the mid-stage of viral transmission, the coverage rate can increase to over 90%, compared to related research, this method has improved simulation accuracy by approximately 18%. This study can provide technical support for epidemic prevention and control, and assist decision-makers in developing more scientific and efficient epidemic prevention and control policies.

Promoting foreign trade development based on a circular economy is the key to dealing with the problems between the resource environment and economic growth. This paper first constructs a comprehensive evaluation index system of circular economy and foreign trade by taking 19 urban agglomerations in China as research objects. Secondly, the entropy value method is used to measure and analyze the circular economy development and foreign trade development of Chinese urban agglomerations from 2014 to 2021. Finally, the coupled coordination level of circular economy and foreign trade of Chinese urban agglomerations was measured using the coupled coordination degree model in physics, and the spatial and temporal evolution process of the synergistic development of circular economy and foreign trade of Chinese urban agglomerations was studied. The results show that the mean values of the coupling coordination degree of circular economy and foreign trade in the east and west regions of China from 2014 to 2021 are generally maintained above 0.85, and all tend to 0.95 equilibrium value, which is at a high coupling stage, indicating that there is an obvious interaction between the circular economy and foreign trade in China. This paper analyzes the spatial and temporal evolution of the coupling degree and coupling coordination degree of circular economy and foreign trade in Chinese urban agglomerations and provides a theoretical basis for governments at all levels to formulate policies and regulations on the synergistic development of circular economy and foreign trade in Chinese urban agglomerations.

Resource-based cities are important bases for resources and energy in China. However, the world and the country's sustainable development goals require them to undergo transformation. The complexity of this transformation poses challenges for these cities. This study aims to evaluate the transformation performance of resource-based cities in Shaanxi, Gansu, and Ningxia. The findings will help understand their capabilities and achievements in transformation and provide guidance for future transformation planning. To evaluate the transformation performance, this study employs the entropy weight Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution method. An index system is constructed, including the industrial diversification and specialization indices. These indices serve as benchmarks for assessing the transformation performance. The period 2010–2019 is considered, and the transformation performance of resource-based cities is evaluated based on different development stages and regions. The results reveal the following insights: (1) Most resource-based cities demonstrate favorable transformation performance. Although variations exist between cities, the gaps are gradually narrowing. (2) Over an extended period, the transformation performance of each city undergoes continuous changes, with high-performing areas shifting. (3) The transformation performance of resource-based cities varies significantly across different development stages. (4) An imbalance exists among the regions where resource-based cities are located, and a diffusion effect can be observed. Accordingly, the following enlightenment and policy suggestions are obtained: (1) exploring targeted management policies for resource-based cities; (2) fostering a dynamic and open transformation environment; (3) promoting the concept of regional cooperation in transformation; (4) improving the business environment; (5) promoting enterprise innovation; (6) establishing and improving a long-term mechanism for sustainable development and a compensation mechanism for resource development; and (7) optimizing the talent training system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As two metrics that depict convection features, lightning and hail are generated through different physical mechanisms but are related. The Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) provides a unique approach to monitoring and studying the continual evolution of lightning in hailstorms. In this study, 3 years of GLM observations were used to analyze the lightning evolution in hailstorms over the contiguous United States. The lightning rate had two peaks at −2 min (t1) (relative to the hail occurrence time) and 59 min (t3), with a valley at 23 min (t2). The lightning rates of large hail were lower at t1 and higher at t2 than those of small hail. The maximum lightning rate grid generally moved from northwest to southeast but suddenly moved westward around 23 min. Observations of WWLLN confirmed these results but also highlighted differences, such as the high ratio between the WWLLN and GLM lightning rates around t1 and t3. The events per flash and flash duration/area/energy showed opposite variations with lightning rate, and their low values were accompanied by high lightning rate and low detection efficiency of GLM relative to WWLLN. However, the event energy continued to decrease with two local maxima at approximately t1 and t3. Furthermore, if the regional event rate was used in the lightning jump (LJ) algorithm, LJs preceded 71% of the hail reports, and the mean lead time reached 29 min. These results provide new insights into lightning features in hailstorms and verify the performance of the GLM in studying and monitoring hailstorms. Plain Language Summary: Hail and lightning are two kinds of common phenomena that occur in convection cells and are both used as metrics to measure convection intensity. However, they are generated via different microphysical processes and the literature has shown their different spatial distribution patterns in many regimes, including the CONUS. Here, we used the observations from the Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) to investigate how lightning evolves during hailstorms. The temporal evolution of lightning rate shows a two‐peak and one‐valley feature. Lightning rate began to drop 2 min before hail occurrence time and reached a local minimum of around 23 min. Spatially, the location with the highest lightning rate moved from northwest to southeast, but suddenly moved 0.2° to west around 23 min. Moreover, the lightning rates of large hail were lower at the first peak and higher at the second peak than those of small hail. Other lightning features, such as flash energy, flash area, and flash duration, were highly related to event counts per flash and showed opposite variations with the lightning rate, resulting in two‐valley and one‐peak features over time. These results would promote our understanding in lightning and hail processes and aid in monitoring severe convection with the GLM. Key Points: Two peaks and a valley are revealed in the temporal evolution and sudden backward movement of the maximum lightning gridDuring the compact lightning period, the events per flash and flash duration/area/energy values are lowBased on the event rate, the lightning jump percentages and mean lead time reach 71% and 29 min, respectively [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of natural hazards on nations and societies is a global challenge and concern. Worldwide, studies have been conducted within and between countries, to examine the spatial distribution and temporal evolution of fatalities and their impact on societies. In Brazil, no studies have comprehensively identified the fatalities associated with all natural hazards and their specificities by decade, region, sex, age, and other victim characteristics. This study carries out an in-depth analysis of the Brazilian Mortality Data of the Brazilian Ministry of Health, from 1979 to 2019, identifying the natural hazards that kill the most people in Brazil and their particularities. Lightning is the deadliest natural hazard in Brazil during this period, with a gradual decrease in the number of fatalities. The number of hydro-meteorological fatalities increases from 2000 onwards, with the highest number of fatalities occurring between 2010 and 2019. Although Brazil is a tropical country affected by severe droughts, extreme heat has the lowest number of fatalities compared to other natural hazards. The period from December to March has a higher number of fatalities, and the southeast is the most populous region where most people die. The number of male victims is twice as high as the number of female victims, across all ages groups, and unmarried victims are the most likely to die. It is therefore essential to recognize and disseminate the knowledge about the impact of different natural hazards on communities and societies, namely on people and their livelihoods, in order to assess the challenges and identify opportunities for reducing the effects of natural hazards in Brazil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Introduction The objective of this study was to examine the evolution of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKp) infections and their impact at a tertiary care hospital in South India. Methods A comparative analysis of clinical data from two prospective cohorts of patients with CRKp bacteremia (C1, 2014–2015; C2, 2021–2022) was carried out. Antimicrobial susceptibilities and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of selected isolates were also analyzed. Results A total of 181 patients were enrolled in the study, 56 from C1 and 125 from C2. CRKp bacteremia shifted from critically ill patients with neutropenia to others (ICU stay: C1, 73%; C2, 54%; p = 0.02). The overall mortality rate was 50% and the introduction of ceftazidime-avibactam did not change mortality significantly (54% versus 48%; p = 0.49). Oxacillinases (OXA) 232 and 181 were the most common mechanisms of resistance. WGS showed the introduction of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-5 (NDM-5), higher genetic diversity, accessory genome content, and plasmid burden, as well as increased convergence of hypervirulence and carbapenem resistance in C2. Conclusions CRKp continues to pose a significant clinical threat, despite the introduction of new antibiotics. The study highlights the evolution of resistance and virulence in this pathogen and the impact on patient outcomes in South India, providing valuable information for clinicians and researchers.

Most research on wild bees has focused on their role as pollinators, while their importance as soil ecosystem engineers has been largely overlooked, despite the fact that most species nest in the soil. There is limited quantitative knowledge regarding the architecture of nests created by wild bees and the temporal evolution of bee burrows. The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of repeatedly scanning ground-nesting bee nests using X-ray computed tomography to quantify the morphology and temporal evolution of burrow systems created by both solitary and social species. We installed eleven large cylinders at locations with ongoing nesting activity of ground-nesting bees, and repeatedly scanned these soil columns with a medical X-ray scanner over a period of 16 months. From the X-ray images, we extracted bee burrows to visualize and quantitatively characterize their morphology and temporal evolution. The architecture and temporal evolution of burrows strongly differed between the studied social and solitary ground-nesting bee species. Burrows created by the solitary species were simple, linear and unbranched burrows, which were not reused and decayed with time. The burrow systems created by the social species were more complex, with highly branched networks of horizontal and vertical burrows, which increased in complexity and size over time during the bee activity period. The persistence of burrows created by ground-nesting bees varied greatly, with some decaying within a few weeks and others remaining mostly intact for the entire 16-month study period. This study demonstrates the potential of X-ray imaging to provide new insights into the underground life of ground-nesting bees, and highlights the locally important role of ground-nesting bees as soil ecosystem engineers.

The deep gray nuclei are paired interconnected gray nuclei comprising the basal ganglia and thalami. Injury to the deep gray nuclei secondary to hypoxic-ischemic injury is associated with poor short- and long-term clinical outcomes. The signal changes following hypoxic-ischemic injury are dynamic and evolve over a period of time from injury to resolution. Radiologically relevant events following hypoxic-ischemic injury include the onset of anaerobic metabolism immediately following hypoxic-ischemic injury, increase in cytotoxic edema followed by its resolution, and the onset and progression of neuronal necrosis and gliosis. Appearance of lactate peak on proton spectroscopy is the initial radiologic evidence of hypoxic-ischemic injury. Diffusion-weighted imaging has the highest prognostic value and pseudo-normalizes following 1 week of hypoxic-ischemic injury. Recommended timing for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is between 4 and 7 days. MR imaging performed between 1 and 6 months underestimates the extent of injury because radiologic changes are subtle. This review provides a detailed timeline of radiologic abnormalities in the deep gray nuclei following hypoxic-ischemic injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Federated learning (FL) is a privacy-preserving machine learning paradigm that enables multiple clients to train a unified model without disclosing their private data. However, susceptibility to membership inference attacks (MIAs) arises due to the natural inclination of FL models to overfit on the training data during the training process, thereby enabling MIAs to exploit the subtle differences in the FL model’s parameters, activations, or predictions between the training and testing data to infer membership information. It is worth noting that most if not all existing MIAs against FL require access to the model’s internal information or modification of the training process, yielding them unlikely to be performed in practice. In this paper, we present with TEAR the first evidence that it is possible for an honest-but-curious federated client to perform MIA against an FL system, by exploring the Temporal Evolution of the Adversarial Robustness between the training and non-training data. We design a novel adversarial example generation method to quantify the target sample’s adversarial robustness, which can be utilized to obtain the membership features to train the inference model in a supervised manner. Extensive experiment results on five realistic datasets demonstrate that TEAR can achieve a strong inference performance compared with two existing MIAs, and is able to escape from the protection of two representative defenses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequent occurrence of meteorological disasters in China has caused huge losses to agriculture. Risk assessment serves as a bridge from disaster crisis management to disaster risk management. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a refined comprehensive risk assessment of meteorological disasters in typical areas. However, several limitations remain in the disaster loss risk research, such as too coarse resolution and too single risk indicator. Additionally, less research has examined geographical information on risk clustering and barycenter migration, as well as temporal information on the sustainability of trends. Consequently, it is significant to unearth the geographical and temporal information on disaster loss and identify the refined spatial and temporal evolution pattern of crop risk. For this reason, we evaluated the risk of corn production in Gansu Province. First, based on maize yield data, a risk evaluation index system was constructed using the characteristics of variation trends, fluctuations, and extreme values of disaster losses. Then, the spatial distribution patterns and temporal evolution characteristics of maize production risks on a county scale in Gansu Province were determined using spatial analysis and climate diagnosis technology. The results show that there is a large interdecadal fluctuation in risk. In the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s, the average yield reduction rates of maize in Gansu Province were −11.8%, −12.6%, −8.7%, and −8.5%, and the proportions of counties with severe yield reduction were 34.8%, 44.4%, 20.8%, and 9.7%, respectively. Second, most counties belong to medium-low or low-risk areas for maize production. High-risk counties are primarily located in eastern and southern Gansu, whereas low-risk counties are mostly found along the Hexi Corridor. Third, most risk indicators exhibit some geographical aggregation. The Jiuquan region falls within the low-low-risk aggregation zone. In contrast, the Qingyang region is a high-high aggregation zone with a gradual expansion trend. Four, each risk indicator's geographical barycenter migrates over a complicated path, but the direction and distance vary considerably. The comprehensive risk migrates along the south-northwest-southeast trajectory, albeit at a shorter distance. Five, the proportion of counties with a medium, medium-severe, severe, and total yield reduction tended to decline. In addition, the annual precipitation is significantly or very significantly correlated with most risk indicators and the comprehensive risk level. The results can guide agricultural production processes at all levels, as well as government disaster prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technology is an emerging technology with large-scale emission reduction potential and an essential component of the global response to climate change to achieve net-zero goals. As the two most important countries in global climate governance, it is necessary to review and examine the current status and trends of research in the field of CCUS in China and the USA. This paper uses bibliometric tools to review and analyze peer-reviewed articles in the Web of Science from both countries during 2000–2022. The results show a significant increase in research interest among scholars from both countries. The number of publications in the CCUS field in China and the USA was 1196 and 1302, respectively, showing an increasing trend. China and the USA have become the most influential countries in CCUS. And the USA has a more significant academic influence on a global scale. Furthermore, the research hotspots in the field of CCUS are diverse and differentiated. That is, China and the USA pay attention to different research hotspots or have different focuses in different periods. This paper also finds that new capture materials and technology development, geological storage monitoring and early warning, CO2 utilization and new energy development, sustainable business models, incentive policies and measures, and public awareness are critical directions for future research in the field of CCUS, to provide a comprehensive review and comparison of CCUS technology development in China and the USA. It helps to gain insight into the research differences and linkages between the two countries in the field of CCUS and identify the research gaps between them. And place some consensus that policymakers can use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The change in agricultural soil organic carbon (SOC) at a global scale has a great impact on the soil quality, crop yields, and greenhouse gas concentration in the atmosphere. Plant-derived C input into soil is an effective strategy to increase the SOC; meanwhile, it promotes SOC mineralization. The SOC dynamics after plant-derived C input have received widespread attention in the past 20 years. This bibliometric study was performed to identify the basic characteristics, research output, and knowledge base as well as to understand the research trends and key topics of agricultural SOC mineralization. We collected data from the Web of Science Core Collection databases, with dates ranging from 2000 to 2022. The parameter calculated from the default indicators of bibliometric software tools was used to indicate the contribution of the journal/author/institution/countries. The activity and attractive index were calculated separately to evaluate the relative effort and impact made by a country. The results showed that: (1) the number of articles increased gradually during 2000–2010 and thereafter sharply increased; (2) Soil Biology & Biochemistry was the most representative journal, and agriculture was the most popular subject category; (3) the most productive institution was the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is based China and cooperates closely with other institutions; (4) although the number of articles from China was the largest, both the cited frequency and activity index were much lower for China than for the USA, which had the highest citation and centrality among countries; and (5) the studies involving agricultural SOC mineralization have primarily investigated the effect of exogenous C and nutrient addition, as well as biotic processes, especially the microbial process. We concluded that there was an increasing trend in research on agricultural SOC mineralization, with a focus on the interaction between SOC and nutrient/microbial communities. The physical processes, such as the association of minerals and occlusion of aggregate and pores, were paid less attention relative to biotic processes despite their importance in SOC mineralization. Through an in-depth analysis of agricultural SOC mineralization research, this study provides a better understanding of development trends that have emerged in this field over the past 22 years. In future studies, more attention should be paid to the physical processes to understand the physical protection mechanism of agricultural SOC mineralization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recent study has proposed and tested a semi-empirical method to estimate crop irrigation based on a water balance logic and Sentinel-2 Multi Spectral Instrument (MSI) NDVI imagery. The current paper aims at extending the same approach to the analysis of the main irrigation patterns occurred in Tuscany (Central Italy) during the 2000–2019 period. This operation was made possible by feeding the irrigation water (IW) estimation method with 250-m spatial resolution Terra/Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI images. The results of this operation were first assessed versus various reference datasets available for the region; next, the annual maps of IW estimated for the 20 study years were analyzed at province scale in conjunction with relevant agricultural statistics. The use of MODIS in place of MSI images reduces the IW estimation accuracy irregularly at local scale, depending on the size and spatial arrangement of irrigated and non-irrigated fields; the reduction in accuracy is, however, marginal over relatively large areas. Irrigated crops are decreasing throughout most Tuscany provinces, while they are increasing in the most southern and driest province. The possible reasons and implications of these findings are finally discussed in relation to the main environmental issues affecting the region.

The temporal growth and aging of ZnO nanoparticles (NP's) in colloidal solution were investigated both experimentally and theoretically. UV–Vis spectroscopy revealed that the nucleation and growth of NP's in solution occurs in less than 2 min. Transmission electron microscopy images depict the morphology of aggregated NP's. In atomically balanced reaction (for sample S1), first growth takes place and then aging were observed. However, in the case of the atomically unbalanced reaction (for sample S2), decoupling of nucleation from growth was seen after 20 min. This result was confirmed by the slopes of dEg/dt (Eg = band gap) and dαmax/dt (αmax = absorption maximum) with time, which remains constant for sample S1 but shows abrupt decrease for sample S2 after 20 min. Thereafter, growth was found to be controlled by the diffusion and reaction parameters. The growth of NP's was modelled using the phase-field model. The result from the current work reveals that the nucleation, growth and aging of NP's occur in the atomically balanced reaction whereas decoupling of nucleation from growth happens in atomically unbalanced reaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The objective of this study was to examine the evolution of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKp) infections and their impact at a tertiary care hospital in South India. Methods: A comparative analysis of clinical data from two prospective cohorts of patients with CRKp bacteremia (C1, 2014–2015; C2, 2021–2022) was carried out. Antimicrobial susceptibilities and whole genome sequencing (WGS) data of selected isolates were also analyzed. Results: A total of 181 patients were enrolled in the study, 56 from C1 and 125 from C2. CRKp bacteremia shifted from critically ill patients with neutropenia to others (ICU stay: C1, 73%; C2, 54%; p = 0.02). The overall mortality rate was 50% and the introduction of ceftazidime-avibactam did not change mortality significantly (54% versus 48%; p = 0.49). Oxacillinases (OXA) 232 and 181 were the most common mechanisms of resistance. WGS showed the introduction of New Delhi metallo-β-lactamase-5 (NDM-5), higher genetic diversity, accessory genome content, and plasmid burden, as well as increased convergence of hypervirulence and carbapenem resistance in C2. Conclusions: CRKp continues to pose a significant clinical threat, despite the introduction of new antibiotics. The study highlights the evolution of resistance and virulence in this pathogen and the impact on patient outcomes in South India, providing valuable information for clinicians and researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work examines the temporal evolution of dune number density in desert barchan dune fields and the effects of wind velocity, particle diameter and sand supply thickness using the Comprehensive Scale‐Coupled Model of dune field considering turbulence. Results show that the dune number density exhibits a temporal evolution trend of "increase—decrease—tend to be stable," which is similar to the "overshoot" phenomenon of the per unit width sand transport rate evolving with time. The larger the wind velocity and the smaller the particle diameter are, the enhanced surface sand transport by wind causes the dune number density peak to be larger and appear earlier, but the more active dune interactions result in a higher decay rate during the decline stage. In addition, a small sand supply thickness slows sand accumulation and thus delays the initial development of barchans. With an increase in the sand supply thickness, more small‐scale barchans are formed earlier in dune fields due to gradually sufficient sand amounts, which promotes dune interactions and thus accelerates the decay of dune number density. Nevertheless, as the sand supply thickness continuously increases, the barchans link together to form dune chains, resulting in a slowed migration velocity and a reduced spatial density of interactions. The present work makes up for the lack of understanding of the initial evolution stage of barchan dune fields and the dune interactions in existing studies, and thus may be helpful for gaining insight into the dynamic evolution process of aeolian dune systems. Plain Language Summary: The temporal evolution of dune number density reflects changes in dune distribution patterns and dune interaction characteristics and thus is crucial to study the formation and evolution of dune fields. The present work analyzes the temporal evolution of barchan dune number density and the influence of environmental factors on the evolution. We found that the dune number density shows a temporal evolution trend similar to the "overshoot" phenomenon of the per unit width sand transport rate. Wind velocity, sand particle diameter, and sand supply thickness have significant effects on the peak value and its occurrence time of dune number density in the early evolution stage and the density decay rate in the decline stage, but they do not affect the qualitative trend of dune number density temporal evolution. In the early evolution stage, the increase in dune number density exhibits a similar dynamic mechanism to that of per unit width sand transport rate, while they are different during the decline stage. With an increasing evolution time, the dune number density and the sand transport rate gradually approach a stable state because the interactions within a system tend to be in equilibrium. The present work may help to enrich the understanding of aeolian dune systems. Key Points: By a trans‐scale simulation, the dune number density is found to exhibit a temporal evolution trend of "increase—decrease—tend to be stable"The earlier the dune number density peak value appears, the larger the peak value is, and the greater the density decay rate during the decline stage becomesThe underlying dynamic mechanisms of the temporal evolution processes of dune number density and per unit width sand transport rate are partly similar [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive stationary optical solitons for the case when the nonlinear refractive index of Kudryashov's quintuple form is coupled with a nonlocal type of self-phase modulation in the presence of nonlinear chromatic dispersion. An enhanced Kudryashov's approach has made this derivation of soliton solutions possible for the case of generalized temporal evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management practices that increase the surface albedo of cultivated land could mitigate climate change, with similar effectiveness to practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions or favor natural CO _2 sequestration. Yet, the efficiency of such practices is barely quantified. In this study, we quantified the impacts of seven different management practices on the surface albedo of winter wheat fields (nitrogen fertilizer, herbicide, fungicide, sowing, harvest, tillage, and crop residues) by analyzing observed daily albedo dynamics from eight European flux-tower sites with interpretable machine learning. We found that management practices have significant influences on surface albedo dynamics compared with climate and soil conditions. The nitrogen fertilizer application has the largest effect among the seven practices as it increases surface albedo by 0.015 ± 0.004 during the first two months after application, corresponding to a radiative forcing of −4.39 ± 1.22 W m ^−2 . Herbicide induces a modest albedo decrease of 0.005 ± 0.002 over 150 d after application by killing weeds in the fallow period only, resulting in a magnitude of radiative forcing of 1.33 ± 1.06 W m ^−2 which is higher than radiative forcing of other practices in the same period. The substantial temporal evolution of the albedo impacts of management practices increases uncertainties in the estimated albedo-mediated climate impacts of management practices. Although these albedo effects are smaller than published estimates of the greenhouse gas-mediated biogeochemical practices, they are nevertheless significant and should thus be accounted for in climate impact assessments.

A recent study has proposed and tested a semi-empirical method to estimate crop irrigation based on a water balance logic and Sentinel-2 Multi Spectral Instrument (MSI) NDVI imagery. The current paper aims at extending the same approach to the analysis of the main irrigation patterns occurred in Tuscany (Central Italy) during the 2000–2019 period. This operation was made possible by feeding the irrigation water (IW) estimation method with 250-m spatial resolution Terra/Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) NDVI images. The results of this operation were first assessed versus various reference datasets available for the region; next, the annual maps of IW estimated for the 20 study years were analyzed at province scale in conjunction with relevant agricultural statistics. The use of MODIS in place of MSI images reduces the IW estimation accuracy irregularly at local scale, depending on the size and spatial arrangement of irrigated and non-irrigated fields; the reduction in accuracy is, however, marginal over relatively large areas. Irrigated crops are decreasing throughout most Tuscany provinces, while they are increasing in the most southern and driest province. The possible reasons and implications of these findings are finally discussed in relation to the main environmental issues affecting the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, the new label of UNESCO Global Geoparks (UGGps) has been ratified by UNESCO, attracting more public attention. By 2021, there are 169 UNESCO Global Geoparks in 44 countries. Different from the Biosphere Reserves and World Heritage Sites, UENSCO Global Geoparks are nascent projects that face various challenges. How to continuously enhance its impact in future and realize sustainable development attracted the attention of researchers. In this study, we analyzed the spatial structure of UGGp in the world and the factors affecting it. Afterwards, we made some suggestions for sustainable development of UGGp. In this research, we obtained information on the geographical location of UNESCO Global Geoparks. The spatial structure was analyzed using quantitative geography models, such as nearest neighbor index, Ripley’s K function, Gini coefficient and uniformity of distribution, kernel density analysis, taking into account the influence of economy, local policies, and geological structure. The results of econometric geographical analysis demonstrate that the distribution of UGGp is obviously non-uniform, with a calculated nearest neighbor index value R of 0.553 and a Gini coefficient of 0.804. This implies that further balancing of regional differences and sustainable development should be considered in future development. This study also found that the distribution is influenced by the level of economic development and geological structure of Geopark territories. The distribution of UGGp is denser in economically developed regions, except for the USA, which is not part of the program. In contrast, the number of UGGp increased in areas with complex geological structures due to various types of geological relics. In order to promote sustainable economic development of local communities, more consideration should be given to construction of more UGGps in less economically developed areas in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Freak waves have posed a serious threat to the safety of marine structures. Thus, the accurate simulation and prediction of freak waves are crucial for maritime safety. This paper proposes a nonlinear numerical method based on phase modulation. This method achieves precise time and location simulation of two-dimensional freak waves, while preserving the key statistical characteristics of the wave sequence, thereby obtaining more accurate two-dimensional wave height information. Additionally, this paper constructs a Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) deep neural network integrated with a Sequence-to-Sequence (seq2seq) framework for predicting sequences of freak wave heights. In this study, we conduct an in-depth predictive analysis of the experimental data for sequences of freak wave heights. And this paper provides a comprehensive assessment of the performance of Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs), Gated Recurrent Units (GRUs), and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks in the task of freak wave prediction. The experimental results indicate that the seq2seq-LSTM model demonstrates significant performance advantages in predicting the wave heights of freak waves, particularly for long-term predictions. In summary, the numerical simulation method based on phase modulation and the improved seq2seq-LSTM deep learning model are of significant practical value for enhancing the safety of offshore platforms and ships. • Simulate 2D freak waves based on the improved Longuet-Higgins model. • Enhance an LSTM deep neural network model integrated with a seq2seq framework. • Effectively improve the predictive accuracy of freak wave height sequences. • Evaluate the performance of RNN, GRU, and LSTM in the task of predicting. • Improve the prediction method of freak wave height based on deep learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In hydrothermal environments, diffuse fluids emanations provide optimal conditions for the development of iron-rich microbial mats. Here, we present a unique spatial and temporal study of phylogenetic and chemical data from this type of mats and their associated hydrothermal fluids from two sites of the Lucky Strike Hydrothermal Field (EMSO-Azores deep-sea observatory), collected annually from 2016 to 2020. Our metabarcoding analyses reveal a completely different microbial community at each site, linked to the distinctive chemical composition of the diffuse fluids nourishing the mats. Capelinhos site is dominated by microorganisms with metabolisms related to iron, methane, and reduced sulphur compounds, coming from hydrothermal fluids, while North Tour Eiffel site presents higher abundances of microorganisms with metabolisms related to nitrogen, organic and oxidized sulphur compounds, coming from seawater. We present for the first time the yearly evolution of these mats over a five-year period. This analysis reveals similar variations of the microbial communities over time at both sites, indicating a regional Lucky Strike influence on the temporal scale. We also highlight more diversified microbial communities at both sites in 2016, pointing out the occurrence of a geological event that could have affected them during this specific year. Except for this year, our study shows that the communities of iron-rich microbial mats remain stable over time at both sites.

This paper is aimed to investigate the temporal variation of scour depths and bed topography in the presence of a group of six vertical and inclined piers placed in a 180-degree bend flume. For this purpose, a series of tests were performed in a test flume provided by Hydraulics Laboratory of Persian Gulf University, Bushehr, Iran. The piers were placed at the angle of 60-degree of the bent flume. The flume was 1 m wide and the ratio of curvature to the width of 2 and has two straight sections at its upstream and downstream with 6.5 m and 5.1 m length, respectively. The results showed the temporal evolution of scour depth was decreased with the passage of time. The location of the maximum scour depth was time dependent so that as the experiment progressed, it moved from the vicinity of the inner bank to the middle of the flume and eventually to the outer bank. Also, the inception of the scour holes near the inner bank and outer bank was different. However, this difference was decreased during the test progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bridge abutment-induced sediment scour in compound river channels is time-sensitive during floods, and, thus, estimating the scour rate has significance in design. In the current study, large-scale laboratory experiments were done to examine the influence of multiple factors on scour evolution, including channel geometry, bed mobility (clear-water or live-bed), and lateral (embankment intrusion) and vertical (deck submergence) flow contractions. A new method is applied for scour measurement and determination of characteristic scour trends. Results show that the non-dimensional time scale is related to flow intensity and may peak before reaching the clear-water scour threshold; the corresponding equations also are derived. It is found that the use of scour countermeasures has a significant impact on the scour rate, and the existing equations for unprotected abutments have limitations. Under clear-water conditions, the scour rate is closely related to the overall flow contraction, which can be better reflected by the ratio of the approaching unit discharge to that at the bridge section. Specifically, the effect of vertical flow contraction on scour rate is more dominant than other factors. Two scour rate curves are derived to suit different structural and flow contraction types for clear-water scour. In contrast, the live-bed scour rate data are generally consistent and fall in a narrow band, showing less dependence on other factors. Finally, a new design approach is established to estimate the time scale and scour rate using the new equations proposed in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is one of the main problems currently strongly conditioning ecosystems all over the world. Coastal lagoons are amongst the most vulnerable habitats, and they are undergoing extensive human impact due to their high production rates and the close proximity of urban and agricultural centers. The Mar Menor, the largest saltwater lagoon in Europe, is an example of a highly impacted ecosystem. In December 2016 and September 2019, climate change-induced DANA (upper-level isolated atmospheric depression) flooding events took place there, temporarily altering the lagoon oceanographic properties. Data gathered throughout the lagoon (11 stations inside and 1 outside the lagoon) from 2016 to 2021 were analyzed in order to assess the variability of seawater parameters: salinity, density, chlorophyll-a, turbidity, and dissolved oxygen, due to DANA events. Results showed a change in seawater parameters that were reestablished at different rates, 4 and 10 months in 2016 and 2019, respectively, following a description of the environmental conditions and effects that have been reported after extreme rainfall in the lagoon. The amount of rainfall correlated with changes in the analyzed seawater parameters, such as an increase in turbidity and chlorophyll-a values. Furthermore, turbidity correlated with chlorophyll-a and oxygen saturation, while density correlated with salinity. Such extreme weather events are worsened by climate change, growing more frequent and between shorter intervals in time. In order to decelerate ecosystem decline, comprehensive management plans are needed to address the various factors that might add to anthropic impacts in natural environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]