Findings report on the endemic fluorosis in the lower reaches of Xiaoqing river [小清河下游地区地方性氟中毒调查报告]

Objective: To find out the present prevalent situation of the endemic fluorosis in the lower reaches of Xiao Qing River , and to look for an effective way to altering sources to lower fluoride level. Methods: To determine the water fluoride content in the drinking water sources and investigate the basic condition of the water sources (type of the water sources, the depth of well, etc) in the three towns of this area . Make a sampling survey of the children aged from 8 to 12 about the dent al fluoro sis and determine the urine fluoride, and the skeletal fluorosis among the crowd over 16 y ears of age. Results: The survey shows that the lower reaches of Xiaoqing river belong to the drinking water type of endemic fluorosis caused by drinking deep well water. In this area, 65.71% of the water sources contain high level of fluoride, 57.51% of the children suffer from dental fluorosis, 0.58% of the crowd over 16 years of age suffer from skeletal fluorosis. High water fluoride rate is related with the depth of the well. If the well is over 500 metres deep, the fluoride content rate is clearly low. Conclusions: In this area, there are still some water sources which contain normal level of fluoride. By increasing the depth of the well down to 500 metres, the problem of high fluoride in water might be solved.

The hydrogeology, hydrology and hydrochemistry of the Condamine River Valley alluvium

The Cainozoic alluvium of the Condamine River valley is interpreted to consist of sediments deposited as floodplain and sheetwash deposits in bedrock valleys eroded into Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and tertiary volcanics. A maximum recorded sediment accumulation of 134 m is centred just south of Dalby. The lower section ofboth the flood plain and sheetwash alluvium is composed of variegated sandy and clayey sediments and the upper section of brown and grey sandy and clayey sediments.

Turbulent velocity and suspended sediment concentration measurements in an urban environment of the Brisbane River Flood Plain at Gardens Point on 12-13 January 2011

The flood flow in urbanised areas constitutes a major hazard to the population and infrastructure as seen during the summer 2010-2011 floods in Queensland (Australia). Flood flows in urban environments have been studied relatively recently, although no study considered the impact of turbulence in the flow. During the 12-13 January 2011 flood of the Brisbane River, some turbulence measurements were conducted in an inundated urban environment in Gardens Point Road next to Brisbane's central business district (CBD) at relatively high frequency (50 Hz). The properties of the sediment flood deposits were characterised and the acoustic Doppler velocimeter unit was calibrated to obtain both instantaneous velocity components and suspended sediment concentration in the same sampling volume with the same temporal resolution. While the flow motion in Gardens Point Road was subcritical, the water elevations and velocities fluctuated with a distinctive period between 50 and 80 s. The low frequency fluctuations were linked with some local topographic effects: i.e, some local choke induced by an upstream constriction between stairwells caused some slow oscillations with a period close to the natural sloshing period of the car park. The instantaneous velocity data were analysed using a triple decomposition, and the same triple decomposition was applied to the water depth, velocity flux, suspended sediment concentration and suspended sediment flux data. The velocity fluctuation data showed a large energy component in the slow fluctuation range. For the first two tests at z = 0.35 m, the turbulence data suggested some isotropy. At z = 0.083 m, on the other hand, the findings indicated some flow anisotropy. The suspended sediment concentration (SSC) data presented a general trend with increasing SSC for decreasing water depth. During a test (T4), some long -period oscillations were observed with a period about 18 minutes. The cause of these oscillations remains unknown to the authors. The last test (T5) took place in very shallow waters and high suspended sediment concentrations. It is suggested that the flow in the car park was disconnected from the main channel. Overall the flow conditions at the sampling sites corresponded to a specific momentum between 0.2 to 0.4 m2 which would be near the upper end of the scale for safe evacuation of individuals in flooded areas. But the authors do not believe the evacuation of individuals in Gardens Point Road would have been safe because of the intense water surges and flow turbulence. More generally any criterion for safe evacuation solely based upon the flow velocity, water depth or specific momentum cannot account for the hazards caused by the flow turbulence, water depth fluctuations and water surges.

Exploratory spatial analysis of social and environmental factors associated with the incidence of Ross River Virus in Brisbane, Australia

We used geographic information systems and a spatial analysis approach to explore the pattern of Ross River virus (RRV) incidence in Brisbane, Australia. Climate, vegetation and socioeconomic data in 2001 were obtained from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the Brisbane City Council and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, respectively. Information on the RRV cases was obtained from the Queensland Department of Health. Spatial and multiple negative binomial regression models were used to identify the socioeconomic and environmental determinants of RRV transmission. The results show that RRV activity was primarily concentrated in the northeastern, northwestern, and southeastern regions in Brisbane. Multiple negative binomial regression models showed that the spatial pattern of RRV disease in Brisbane seemed to be determined by a combination of local ecologic, socioeconomic, and environmental factors.

Difference in mosquito species (Diptera: Culicidae) and the transmission of Ross River Virus between coastline and inland areas in Brisbane, Australia

This study examined the distribution of major mosquito species and their roles in the transmission of Ross River virus (RRV) infection for coastline and inland areas in Brisbane, Australia (27°28′ S, 153°2′ E). We obtained data on the monthly counts of RRV cases in Brisbane between November 1998 and December 2001 by statistical local areas from the Queensland Department of Health and the monthly mosquito abundance from the Brisbane City Council. Correlation analysis was used to assess the pairwise relationships between mosquito density and the incidence of RRV disease. This study showed that the mosquito abundance of Aedes vigilax (Skuse), Culex annulirostris (Skuse), and Aedes vittiger (Skuse) were significantly associated with the monthly incidence of RRV in the coastline area, whereas Aedes vigilax, Culex annulirostris, and Aedes notoscriptus (Skuse) were significantly associated with the monthly incidence of RRV in the inland area. The results of the classification and regression tree (CART) analysis show that both occurrence and incidence of RRV were influenced by interactions between species in both coastal and inland regions. We found that there was an 89% chance for an occurrence of RRV if the abundance of Ae. vigifax was between 64 and 90 in the coastline region. There was an 80% chance for an occurrence of RRV if the density of Cx. annulirostris was between 53 and 74 in the inland area. The results of this study may have applications as a decision support tool in planning disease control of RRV and other mosquito-borne diseases.

Detailed landscape plan for the North section of the Bailang River north of Jiqing Highway, Weifang

International practice-led design research in landscape architecture has identified wetland sites as highly significant and potentially fragile environments in many countries. China has considerable wetland acreage that has been drained and transformed into farmland to address local poverty of farmers. An important gap in knowledge exists as to how to design Chinese public open spaces to reduce water contamination, flood severity and loss of farmland for local villagers as urban development expands. This project responded to the opportunity of introducing a new type of wetland design to Stage 3 of the Bailang River Redevelopment, Weifang City, Shandong Province. The work proposed a range of wetland design innovations for Chinese wetland environments to encourage on-site solutions to contamination and flooding problems.

Stage 1 of the Yueyang Urban Water System Project: Landscape planning and design of Wangjia River

Chinese landscape architects are largely focused on objective practical solutions to environmental problems. In the West, theoretical landscape knowledge is largely conceptual and abstract. This research debated how Australian ecological concepts could or should be transposed to Chinese landscapes. This project responded to severe water and soil pollution issues in the estuarine and riparian zones of rivers flowing into Dongting Lake, in Yueyang City, Hunan Province. This work proposed a range of waterfront design innovations that challenged the notion of corridor as habitat, filter, barrier and conduit in a Chinese riparian context.

The development of urban river corridors in Malaysia

Malaysian urban river corridors are facing major physical transformations in the 21st century. The effects of rapid development exacerbated by the competition between two key industry sectors, commercial base and tourism development in conjunction with urbanisation and industrialisation, have posted a high demand for the uses of these spaces. The political scenario and lack on consideration of ecological principles in its design solution have sparked stiff environmental and cultural constraint towards its landscape character as well as the ecological system. Therefore, a holistic approach towards improving the landscape design processes is extremely necessary to protect values of these places. Limited research has been carried out and further has created an urgent need to explore better ways to improve the landscape design processes of Malaysian urban river corridor developments that encompass the needs and aspirations of its multi-ethnic society without making any drastic changes to the landscape character of the rivers. This paper provides a brief introduction to address this significant gap and hence serves to contribute to the literature review.

Methodology for evaluating the landscape character of Malaysian heritage urban river corridors

The effects of rapid development have increased pressures on these places exacerbated by the competition between two key industry sectors, commercial base and tourism development. This, in supplement with urbanisation and industrialisation, has posted a high demand for the uses of these spaces. The political scenario and lack of adaptation on ecological principles and public participations in its design approach have sparked stiff environmental, historical and cultural constraint towards its landscape character as well as the ecological system. Therefore, a holistic approach towards improving the landscape design process is extremely necessary to protect human well being, cultural, environmental and historical values of these places. Limited research also has been carried out to overcome this situation. This further has created an urgent need to explore better ways to improve the landscape design process of Malaysian heritage urban river corridor developments that encompass the needs and aspirations of the Malaysian multi-ethnic society without making any drastic changes to the landscape character of the rivers. This paper presents a methodology to develop an advanced Landscape Character Assessment (aLCA) framework for evaluating the landscape character of the places, derived from the perception of two keys yet oppositional stakeholders: urban design team and special interest public. The triangulation of subjectivist paradigm methodologies: the psychophysical approach; the psychological approach; and, the phenomenological approach will be employed. The outcome will be used to improve the present landscape design process for future development of these places. Unless a range of perspectives can be brought to bear on enhancing the form and function of their future development and management, urban river corridors in the Malaysian context will continue to decline.