This approach represents the relative susceptibility of the topography of the earth to active deformation by means of geometrical distinctiveness of the river networks. This investigation employs the fractal analysis ...This approach represents the relative susceptibility of the topography of the earth to active deformation by means of geometrical distinctiveness of the river networks. This investigation employs the fractal analysis of drainage system extracted from ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM-30m resolution). The objective is to mark active structures and to pinpoint the areas robustly influenced by neotectonics. This approach was examined in the Hindukush, NE-Afghanistan. This region is frequently affected by deadly earthquakes and the modern fault activities and deformation are driven by the collision between the northward-moving Indian subcontinent and Eurasia. This attempt is based on the fact that drainage system is strained to linearize due to neotectonic deformation. Hence, the low fractal dimensions of the Kabul, Panjsher, Laghman, Andarab, Alingar and Kocha Rivers are credited to active tectonics. A comprehensive textural examination is conducted to probe the linearization, heterogeneity and connectivity of the drainage patterns. The aspects for these natural textures are computed by using the fractal dimension (FD), lacunarity (LA) and succolarity (SA) approach. All these methods are naturally interrelated, i.e. objects with similar FD can be further differentiated with LA and/or SA analysis. The maps of FD, LA and SA values are generated by using a sliding window of 50 arc seconds by 50 arc seconds (50" × 50"). Afterwards, the maps are interpreted in terms of regional susceptibility to neotectonics. This method is useful to pinpoint numerous zones where the drainage system is highly controlled by Hindukush active structures. In the North-Northeast of the Kabul block, we recognized active tectonic blocks. The region comprising, Kabul, Panjsher, Andrab, Alingar and Badakhshan is more susceptible to damaging events. This investigation concludes that the fractal analysis of the river networks is a bonus tool to localize areas vulnerable to deadly incidents influencing the Earth’s topography and consequently intimidate human lives.展开更多
As the first Afghan novel written in English by Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner provides reader a window into Afghan history and culture as well as the impact of trauma on individuals Through i...As the first Afghan novel written in English by Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner provides reader a window into Afghan history and culture as well as the impact of trauma on individuals Through interweaving progagonist Amir's personal trauma from sin to self-salvation with the racial and national conflicts as the collective trauma of the Afghan, Khaled Hosseinni not only foregrounds the coming-of-age theme of sin, guilt, and redemption but also successfully presents the racial conflicts and national pain in Afghanstain. Under the framework of trauma theory and through close reading of the novel, the aim of the present paper is to analyze how trauma is narrated in the novel and thus help readers to have a better understanding about the Afghan history and life展开更多
Employing inductive framing analysis and Entman's theory of framing, this project examines how the U.S. mainstream media defined Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans and their problems. This study used inductive framing analysi...Employing inductive framing analysis and Entman's theory of framing, this project examines how the U.S. mainstream media defined Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans and their problems. This study used inductive framing analysis with a sample of 180 articles from seven major newspapers and two wire services. The findings revealed five dominant frames: broken veteran, disoriented veteran, fighting the bureaucratic enemy, overwhelmed family, and the financial hardship frames. Two counter-frames that attempted to challenge the dominant frames were identified: moral obligation to help and the healing counter-frames. The finding of this research indicates that while news frames of Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans skew negative, these news frames are not as negative as one might suspect. Thus, veterans' groups, government agencies, and interested political actors need to sponsor counter-frames that emphasize the stability and employability of these veterans.展开更多
Afghanistan has a tremendous resource potential of renewable energy especially solar and the wind. Therefore, utilization of these resources has a special rule for the remote areas where access to the electrical grid ...Afghanistan has a tremendous resource potential of renewable energy especially solar and the wind. Therefore, utilization of these resources has a special rule for the remote areas where access to the electrical grid or secure power supply is a dream for most of the people. This paper presents a feasibility and usefulness of hybrid power generation based on PV/wind/diesel generator for an off-grid rural village that feeds the load at a rate of average 7.9 kWh/day with 1.32 kW peak load. GsT (geospatial toolkit) is used to obtain the solar and wind data of the site. Windographer software is used to analyze the wind resource data of the site. HOMER Pro software package is used to select the suitable and reliable hybrid generation system and calculate the optimal capacities and costs of the components. Through the study, it is found that this state of the art adaptation could provide vast opportunities for off-grid rural communities such as in Afghanistan where enough high penetration of renewable energy is available.展开更多
Afghanistan electricity sector has experienced many ups and downs of transitions from 1893 to date. With the growing global interest in Afghanistan rehabilitation, this paper presents an over view of Afghanistan elect...Afghanistan electricity sector has experienced many ups and downs of transitions from 1893 to date. With the growing global interest in Afghanistan rehabilitation, this paper presents an over view of Afghanistan electricity sector which includes the historical development trends, power generation potential, sustainable energy exploitation, electricity policy transition and immature policies experiences, and the legacy of the war. The lack of access to the basic information about Afghanistan power sector was one of the serious concerns of international donors and investors. Still, this information somehow has been kept in official documents wrap up. In this collection, the Afghanistan's electricity sector is pictured as a reference for Afghanistan electricity. It can be opening toward primary sources of Afghanistan electricity sector of the lessons learned and asset for researchers interesting in this topic.展开更多
This paper focused on generation scheduling problem with consideration of wind, solar and PHES (pumped hydro energy storage) system. Wind, solar and PHES are being considered in the NEPS (northeast power system) o...This paper focused on generation scheduling problem with consideration of wind, solar and PHES (pumped hydro energy storage) system. Wind, solar and PHES are being considered in the NEPS (northeast power system) of Afghanistan to schedule all units power output so as to minimize the total operation cost of thermal units plus aggregate imported power tariffs during the scheduling horizon, subject to the system and unit operation constraints. Apart from determining the optimal output power of each unit, this research also involves in deciding the on/off status of thermal units. In order to find the optimal values of the variables, GA (genetic algorithm) is proposed. The algorithm performs efficiently in various sized thermal power system with equivalent wind, solar and PHES and can produce a high-quality solution. Simulation results reveal that with wind, solar and PHES the system is the most-cost effective than the other combinations.展开更多
The rapid change in economic growth and human civilization has led to a dramatic increase in energy utilization and electricity demand. That faces nations with the challenge of maintaining cost-effective and clean pow...The rapid change in economic growth and human civilization has led to a dramatic increase in energy utilization and electricity demand. That faces nations with the challenge of maintaining cost-effective and clean power energy production. This paper aims to present Afghanistan electricity sector development and energy resources exploitation in a broad context. With the global growing interest in Afghanistan rehabilitation, this paper presents energy development trends in Afghanistan. Besides, the future outlook up to 2032 and the challenges that face electricity sector are highlighted. This study tries to emerge the historical development, current status, and future direction of Afghanistan electricity sector till 2032, in a precise collection.展开更多
Are there some relationships among species diversity and soil chemical properties of high altitude natural grasslands? Plant community composition and chemical properties of soil samples were compared to investigate t...Are there some relationships among species diversity and soil chemical properties of high altitude natural grasslands? Plant community composition and chemical properties of soil samples were compared to investigate the relationship between soil and species diversity, and the richness in Tibetan alpine grasslands. Results showed that species diversity was significantly positively related to soil organic matter(SOM), total nitrogen(TN),available nitrogen(AN), total phosphorus(TP),available phosphorus(AP), and available potassium(AK) in the high alpine grasslands. Margalef's species richness index was also significantly positively related to SOM, TN, AN, and TP. Most soil chemical properties showed significantly positive correlation with species diversity and Margalef's richness index.Our results suggested that higher plant species richness index and diversity occurred in more fertile soil habitats in high altitude natural grassland community. In practice, fertilization management for the restoration of degraded grassland should be conducted with reference to the nutrient levels ofnatural grassland without the additional artificial fertilizer and with higher species-diversity and richness index.展开更多
Afghanistan is an important country for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21 st Century Maritime Silk Road(the Belt and Road) proposed by China. Due to years of war,Afghanistan is not well-developed economically. ...Afghanistan is an important country for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21 st Century Maritime Silk Road(the Belt and Road) proposed by China. Due to years of war,Afghanistan is not well-developed economically. However,Afghanistan has abundant mineral resources and unique geographical advantages that are of far-reaching significance for Chinese economic strategic development. To investigate the sustainability of the eco-economic system of Afghanistan,we completed a quantitative evaluation of the emergy of Afghanistan during the period 2008 to 2015 by establishing an indicator system based on an emergy analysis. Results showed that from 2008 to 2015,the total emergy used of Afghanistan increased from 5.56×10^(22) sej to 9.75×10^(22) sej,among which the proportion of non-renewable emergy was less than 25.7%. This indicates that local resources in Afghanistan have yet to be exploited and utilized effectively and that its economic development relied heavily on the input of external resources. Meanwhile,the Emergy Sustainability Index(ESI) of Afghanistan from 2008 to 2015 dropped from 3.00 to 0.72,the Environmental Loading Ratio(ELR) increased from 0.77 to 2.06,and the Emergy Yield Ratio(EYR) dropped from 2.31 to 1.49,reflecting the imbalanced utilization of resources and the low level of economic development in Afghanistan. As a result,the potential for sustainable development of Afghanistan is relatively great. Basic infrastructure construction and reasonable exploitation of natural resources are the urgent needs.展开更多
The Wakhan Corridor is surrounded by the Mackinder's Heart Land. Located at the cross roads of four countries: Main land Afghanistan, Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan. The Wakhan Corridor has been the most important ...The Wakhan Corridor is surrounded by the Mackinder's Heart Land. Located at the cross roads of four countries: Main land Afghanistan, Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan. The Wakhan Corridor has been the most important junction point of the Silk Route since its inception. The corridor has long been used as a trade route by Europeans and Chinese to reach the Indian Plains and the Indian Ocean's Sea Lines of Communications through the Arabian Sea Coasts. Extra regional aspects in forms of quest for the Great Game between Russia and Britain since 1838, the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan for a decade followed by the NATO invasion of Afghanistan since 2001 has unfortunately kept any kind of infrastructural development in Wakhan as a fallacy. The opening up of Wakhjir Pass by China will surely improve regional trade and relations; however, India feels threatened as it thinks that the opening up of the Wakhan Corridor will be an outflanking maneuvre against its interests in Indianheld Kashmir; however, it cannot remain aloof of other regional and extra regional players and will be forced to share Central Asian energy resources for its economic development along with countries under the U.S. umbrella. The U.S. in combination with China must play its role for enhancing regional stability.展开更多
Four-nation meetings advance the peace process in Afghanistan A meeting involving representatives from Afghanistan,Pakistan,China and the United States held on January 11 in Islamabad,Pakistan,established the Quadrila...Four-nation meetings advance the peace process in Afghanistan A meeting involving representatives from Afghanistan,Pakistan,China and the United States held on January 11 in Islamabad,Pakistan,established the Quadrilateral Coordination Group(QCG)to further the peace process in Afghanistan.展开更多
Alzheimer's disease(AD) is a serious neurodegenerative disorder and its cause remains largely elusive.In past years,genome-wide association(GWA) studies have provided an effective means for AD research.However,the...Alzheimer's disease(AD) is a serious neurodegenerative disorder and its cause remains largely elusive.In past years,genome-wide association(GWA) studies have provided an effective means for AD research.However,the univariate method that is commonly used in GWA studies cannot effectively detect the biological mechanisms associated with this disease.In this study,we propose a new strategy for the GWA analysis of AD that combines random forests with enrichment analysis.First,backward feature selection using random forests was performed on a GWA dataset of AD patients carrying the apolipoprotein gene(APOEε4) and 1058 susceptible single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) were detected,including several known AD-associated SNPs.Next,the susceptible SNPs were investigated by enrichment analysis and significantly-associated gene functional annotations,such as 'alternative splicing','glycoprotein',and 'neuron development',were successfully discovered,indicating that these biological mechanisms play important roles in the development of AD in APOEε4 carriers.These findings may provide insights into the pathogenesis of AD and helpful guidance for further studies.Furthermore,this strategy can easily be modified and applied to GWA studies of other complex diseases.展开更多
文摘This approach represents the relative susceptibility of the topography of the earth to active deformation by means of geometrical distinctiveness of the river networks. This investigation employs the fractal analysis of drainage system extracted from ASTER Global Digital Elevation Model (GDEM-30m resolution). The objective is to mark active structures and to pinpoint the areas robustly influenced by neotectonics. This approach was examined in the Hindukush, NE-Afghanistan. This region is frequently affected by deadly earthquakes and the modern fault activities and deformation are driven by the collision between the northward-moving Indian subcontinent and Eurasia. This attempt is based on the fact that drainage system is strained to linearize due to neotectonic deformation. Hence, the low fractal dimensions of the Kabul, Panjsher, Laghman, Andarab, Alingar and Kocha Rivers are credited to active tectonics. A comprehensive textural examination is conducted to probe the linearization, heterogeneity and connectivity of the drainage patterns. The aspects for these natural textures are computed by using the fractal dimension (FD), lacunarity (LA) and succolarity (SA) approach. All these methods are naturally interrelated, i.e. objects with similar FD can be further differentiated with LA and/or SA analysis. The maps of FD, LA and SA values are generated by using a sliding window of 50 arc seconds by 50 arc seconds (50" × 50"). Afterwards, the maps are interpreted in terms of regional susceptibility to neotectonics. This method is useful to pinpoint numerous zones where the drainage system is highly controlled by Hindukush active structures. In the North-Northeast of the Kabul block, we recognized active tectonic blocks. The region comprising, Kabul, Panjsher, Andrab, Alingar and Badakhshan is more susceptible to damaging events. This investigation concludes that the fractal analysis of the river networks is a bonus tool to localize areas vulnerable to deadly incidents influencing the Earth’s topography and consequently intimidate human lives.
文摘As the first Afghan novel written in English by Afghan American writer Khaled Hosseini, The Kite Runner provides reader a window into Afghan history and culture as well as the impact of trauma on individuals Through interweaving progagonist Amir's personal trauma from sin to self-salvation with the racial and national conflicts as the collective trauma of the Afghan, Khaled Hosseinni not only foregrounds the coming-of-age theme of sin, guilt, and redemption but also successfully presents the racial conflicts and national pain in Afghanstain. Under the framework of trauma theory and through close reading of the novel, the aim of the present paper is to analyze how trauma is narrated in the novel and thus help readers to have a better understanding about the Afghan history and life
文摘Employing inductive framing analysis and Entman's theory of framing, this project examines how the U.S. mainstream media defined Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans and their problems. This study used inductive framing analysis with a sample of 180 articles from seven major newspapers and two wire services. The findings revealed five dominant frames: broken veteran, disoriented veteran, fighting the bureaucratic enemy, overwhelmed family, and the financial hardship frames. Two counter-frames that attempted to challenge the dominant frames were identified: moral obligation to help and the healing counter-frames. The finding of this research indicates that while news frames of Iraq-Afghanistan Veterans skew negative, these news frames are not as negative as one might suspect. Thus, veterans' groups, government agencies, and interested political actors need to sponsor counter-frames that emphasize the stability and employability of these veterans.
文摘Afghanistan has a tremendous resource potential of renewable energy especially solar and the wind. Therefore, utilization of these resources has a special rule for the remote areas where access to the electrical grid or secure power supply is a dream for most of the people. This paper presents a feasibility and usefulness of hybrid power generation based on PV/wind/diesel generator for an off-grid rural village that feeds the load at a rate of average 7.9 kWh/day with 1.32 kW peak load. GsT (geospatial toolkit) is used to obtain the solar and wind data of the site. Windographer software is used to analyze the wind resource data of the site. HOMER Pro software package is used to select the suitable and reliable hybrid generation system and calculate the optimal capacities and costs of the components. Through the study, it is found that this state of the art adaptation could provide vast opportunities for off-grid rural communities such as in Afghanistan where enough high penetration of renewable energy is available.
文摘Afghanistan electricity sector has experienced many ups and downs of transitions from 1893 to date. With the growing global interest in Afghanistan rehabilitation, this paper presents an over view of Afghanistan electricity sector which includes the historical development trends, power generation potential, sustainable energy exploitation, electricity policy transition and immature policies experiences, and the legacy of the war. The lack of access to the basic information about Afghanistan power sector was one of the serious concerns of international donors and investors. Still, this information somehow has been kept in official documents wrap up. In this collection, the Afghanistan's electricity sector is pictured as a reference for Afghanistan electricity. It can be opening toward primary sources of Afghanistan electricity sector of the lessons learned and asset for researchers interesting in this topic.
文摘This paper focused on generation scheduling problem with consideration of wind, solar and PHES (pumped hydro energy storage) system. Wind, solar and PHES are being considered in the NEPS (northeast power system) of Afghanistan to schedule all units power output so as to minimize the total operation cost of thermal units plus aggregate imported power tariffs during the scheduling horizon, subject to the system and unit operation constraints. Apart from determining the optimal output power of each unit, this research also involves in deciding the on/off status of thermal units. In order to find the optimal values of the variables, GA (genetic algorithm) is proposed. The algorithm performs efficiently in various sized thermal power system with equivalent wind, solar and PHES and can produce a high-quality solution. Simulation results reveal that with wind, solar and PHES the system is the most-cost effective than the other combinations.
文摘The rapid change in economic growth and human civilization has led to a dramatic increase in energy utilization and electricity demand. That faces nations with the challenge of maintaining cost-effective and clean power energy production. This paper aims to present Afghanistan electricity sector development and energy resources exploitation in a broad context. With the global growing interest in Afghanistan rehabilitation, this paper presents energy development trends in Afghanistan. Besides, the future outlook up to 2032 and the challenges that face electricity sector are highlighted. This study tries to emerge the historical development, current status, and future direction of Afghanistan electricity sector till 2032, in a precise collection.
基金supported by Projects of Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. NSFC41371282)the Strategic Priority Research Program–Climate Change: Carbon Budget and Related Issues of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) (Grant No. XDA05050403)+1 种基金"100-Talents Program" of CAS, the Action Plan for West Development Project ofCAS (KZCX2-XB3-13)funds of State Key Laboratory of Loess and Quaternary Geology,Institute of Earth Environment of CAS (Grant No. SKLLQG1123)
文摘Are there some relationships among species diversity and soil chemical properties of high altitude natural grasslands? Plant community composition and chemical properties of soil samples were compared to investigate the relationship between soil and species diversity, and the richness in Tibetan alpine grasslands. Results showed that species diversity was significantly positively related to soil organic matter(SOM), total nitrogen(TN),available nitrogen(AN), total phosphorus(TP),available phosphorus(AP), and available potassium(AK) in the high alpine grasslands. Margalef's species richness index was also significantly positively related to SOM, TN, AN, and TP. Most soil chemical properties showed significantly positive correlation with species diversity and Margalef's richness index.Our results suggested that higher plant species richness index and diversity occurred in more fertile soil habitats in high altitude natural grassland community. In practice, fertilization management for the restoration of degraded grassland should be conducted with reference to the nutrient levels ofnatural grassland without the additional artificial fertilizer and with higher species-diversity and richness index.
基金The International Fellowship Initiative in the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research,Chinese Academy of Sciences(2017VP05)
文摘Afghanistan is an important country for the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21 st Century Maritime Silk Road(the Belt and Road) proposed by China. Due to years of war,Afghanistan is not well-developed economically. However,Afghanistan has abundant mineral resources and unique geographical advantages that are of far-reaching significance for Chinese economic strategic development. To investigate the sustainability of the eco-economic system of Afghanistan,we completed a quantitative evaluation of the emergy of Afghanistan during the period 2008 to 2015 by establishing an indicator system based on an emergy analysis. Results showed that from 2008 to 2015,the total emergy used of Afghanistan increased from 5.56×10^(22) sej to 9.75×10^(22) sej,among which the proportion of non-renewable emergy was less than 25.7%. This indicates that local resources in Afghanistan have yet to be exploited and utilized effectively and that its economic development relied heavily on the input of external resources. Meanwhile,the Emergy Sustainability Index(ESI) of Afghanistan from 2008 to 2015 dropped from 3.00 to 0.72,the Environmental Loading Ratio(ELR) increased from 0.77 to 2.06,and the Emergy Yield Ratio(EYR) dropped from 2.31 to 1.49,reflecting the imbalanced utilization of resources and the low level of economic development in Afghanistan. As a result,the potential for sustainable development of Afghanistan is relatively great. Basic infrastructure construction and reasonable exploitation of natural resources are the urgent needs.
文摘The Wakhan Corridor is surrounded by the Mackinder's Heart Land. Located at the cross roads of four countries: Main land Afghanistan, Tajikistan, China, and Pakistan. The Wakhan Corridor has been the most important junction point of the Silk Route since its inception. The corridor has long been used as a trade route by Europeans and Chinese to reach the Indian Plains and the Indian Ocean's Sea Lines of Communications through the Arabian Sea Coasts. Extra regional aspects in forms of quest for the Great Game between Russia and Britain since 1838, the Chinese Communist Revolution of 1949, the Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan for a decade followed by the NATO invasion of Afghanistan since 2001 has unfortunately kept any kind of infrastructural development in Wakhan as a fallacy. The opening up of Wakhjir Pass by China will surely improve regional trade and relations; however, India feels threatened as it thinks that the opening up of the Wakhan Corridor will be an outflanking maneuvre against its interests in Indianheld Kashmir; however, it cannot remain aloof of other regional and extra regional players and will be forced to share Central Asian energy resources for its economic development along with countries under the U.S. umbrella. The U.S. in combination with China must play its role for enhancing regional stability.
文摘Four-nation meetings advance the peace process in Afghanistan A meeting involving representatives from Afghanistan,Pakistan,China and the United States held on January 11 in Islamabad,Pakistan,established the Quadrilateral Coordination Group(QCG)to further the peace process in Afghanistan.
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 2100230024 and 2100230023)
文摘Alzheimer's disease(AD) is a serious neurodegenerative disorder and its cause remains largely elusive.In past years,genome-wide association(GWA) studies have provided an effective means for AD research.However,the univariate method that is commonly used in GWA studies cannot effectively detect the biological mechanisms associated with this disease.In this study,we propose a new strategy for the GWA analysis of AD that combines random forests with enrichment analysis.First,backward feature selection using random forests was performed on a GWA dataset of AD patients carrying the apolipoprotein gene(APOEε4) and 1058 susceptible single nucleotide polymorphisms(SNPs) were detected,including several known AD-associated SNPs.Next,the susceptible SNPs were investigated by enrichment analysis and significantly-associated gene functional annotations,such as 'alternative splicing','glycoprotein',and 'neuron development',were successfully discovered,indicating that these biological mechanisms play important roles in the development of AD in APOEε4 carriers.These findings may provide insights into the pathogenesis of AD and helpful guidance for further studies.Furthermore,this strategy can easily be modified and applied to GWA studies of other complex diseases.