Coastal modelling of sea level rise for the Christchurch coastal environment

Predictive modelling provides an efficient means to analyse the coastal environment and generate knowledge for long term urban planning. In this study, the numerical models SWAN and XBeach were incorporated into the ESRI ArcGIS interface by means of the BeachMMtool. This was applied to the Greater Christchurch coastal environment to simulate geomorphological evolution through hydrodynamic forcing. Simulations were performed using the recent sea level rise predictions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2013) to determine whether the statutory requirements outlined in the New Zealand Coastal Policy Statement 2010 are consistent with central, regional and district designations. Our results indicate that current land use zoning in Greater Christchurch is not consistent with these predictions. This is because coastal hazard risk has not been thoroughly quantified during the process of installing the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority residential red zone. However, the Christchurch City Council’s flood management area does provide an extent to which managed coastal retreat is a real option. The results of this research suggest that progradation will continue to occur along the Christchurch foreshore due to the net sediment flux retaining an onshore direction and the current hydrodynamic activity not being strong enough to move sediment offshore. However, inundation during periods of storm surge poses a risk to human habitation on low lying areas around the Avon-Heathcote Estuary and the Brooklands lagoon

Brain size varies with temperature in vertebrates

The tremendous variation in brain size among vertebrates has long been thought to be related to differences in species’ metabolic rates. It is thought that species with higher metabolic rates can supply more energy to support the relatively high cost of brain tissue. And yet, while body temperature is known to be a major determinant of metabolic rate, the possible effects of temperature on brain size have scarcely been explored. Thus, here we explore the effects of temperature on brain size among diverse vertebrates (fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals). We find that, after controlling for body size, brain size increases exponentially with temperature in much the same way as metabolic rate. These results suggest that temperature-dependent changes in aerobic capacity, which have long been known to affect physical performance, similarly affect brain size. The observed temperature-dependence of brain size may explain observed gradients in brain size among both ectotherms and endotherms across broad spatial and temporal scales

Newer Methods for Further Increasing the Safety of Surgical Operations

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Further observations on hemolysis in cancer

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A brief account of American surgery during the past twelve months

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Design Instrumentation in an Immersive Virtual Environment

This research examines the integration of Immersive Virtual Environments (IVE) in an architectural design workflow. Of particular interest to this research is the use of relatively inexpensive and commercially available Head Mounted Displays and controllers, paired with existing software, to test a design environment where sketching, modeling, and collaboration occur simultaneously in a 3D workspace

Analyzing local people’s opinions on incidences, magnitude and mitigation measures of human-elephant interactions adjacent to the Serengeti National Park

We analysed local people’s opinions to understand their knowledge on the magnitude, incidence, adverse impacts and techniques for minimizing the adverse impacts of human-interactions in the Bunda district. The survey involved 130 local people from 12 villages for survey and interviews. The survey used a purposive sampling technique to locate local people with relevant knowledge on human-elephant interactions occurrences. Researchers are grateful to incorporate local people's opinions into this study because their consolidated knowledge and skills, have for centuries, contributed to undisputed scientific knowledge in environmental conservation. In this study, researchers have learnt that crop damage was the main adverse impacts of human-elephant interactions while house damage was the least recorded incident. Despite crop damage being the most common impact of human-elephant interactions but hidden impacts are the largest adverse impacts. The majority of locals use traditional techniques to prevent and control problem elephants. However, the habituation of elephants to the techniques hinders their effectiveness. A minority of villagers use wounding traps, report to conservation agencies to reduce the damage from elephants. Local people claimed that elephants are docile as it was possible to approach them as close as 50 meters without any harm. Despite their docility, locals also claim that stopping elephants from crop damage may result into human deaths. Villagers acknowledge sighting more than 11 elephants every day in the farming areas. The study recommends the adoption and application of spatial and simulation technologies to identify where, why, how negative impacts of human-elephant interactions. This will suggest the appropriate size of landscape interface of human-elephant interactions in the district