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Since it is necessary to isolate the most significant factors influencing personal concern for the environment, this paper utilizes loglinear models for identifying the interactions and interrelationships underlying multidimensional environmental survey data. A field study in Guyana conducted face-to-face interviews with 1600 citizens. Acquired categorical data were then subjected to loglinear modeling techniques to determine what significance the factors education, age, residential location, and gender have on personal concern for the environment. The loglinear models obtained from the five-dimensional contingency table suggest that there is a direct relationship between education and personal concern for the environment. Age has an interaction with education, and some influence on environmental concern, with younger respondents expressing higher concern for the environment than older respondents. Other results from the loglinear model demonstrate that residential location and the gender of the respondents do not have any statistically significant association with personal concern for the environment.

ABSTRACT:The nearshore marine environment of the Caspian sea is a major repository for toxic metals originating from various sources. Since the persistent toxic metals pose serious health risks this research concentrated on investigating the concentrations and spatial distribution of metals in the nearshore sediments along the Iranian coast of the Caspian sea. Fourteen sampling sites were selected along the coast and approximately 400 g of surficial sediments were obtained. Samples were sieved and three grain size fractions from each sample plus fourteen bulk samples were selected for the analysis of metals. Laboratory analysis of the samples utilized the Cold Acetic protocol, followed by Inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy. The statistical techniques were used to analyze all obtained data. Linear regression analysis demonstrated that grain size of the sediments was not a major factor controlling the concentrations and spatial distributions of heavy metals. Box and Whisker plots emphasized that metal concentrations were not homogeneously distributed. Discriminant analysis was also proved to be useful in identifying geographic areas where heavy metal concentrations occur along the coast.

This paper forwards an advanced subpixel mapping algorithm to provide detailed information on the spatial distribution of land covers within a mixed pixel. This is achieved by utilizing the area proportions of the endmember components of a mixed pixel and its neighboring pixels. Fraction values, obtained through soft classification, are used to calculate the area ratios of the endmember components of the mixed pixel and the neighboring pixels. After testing the algorithm with both artificial and synthetic images, the performance of the algorithm can be evaluated as being computationally efficient and accurate for obtaining comprehensive information on the spatial distribution of land covers.

With the use of semi-annual data collected from May 1985 to May 1995, this study assesses the evolution of a log-spiral shaped embayment at the Northeast Beach, located at Canada's southernmost promontory. The emplacement of stone breakwaters initiated scour of the shoreline, and the embayment which developed thereafter adjusted to reflect changes in lake levels, and naturally occurring variance in wave and sediment dynamics. Each of the 21 recorded measurements of the embayment configuration is assessed for characteristics of log-spiral morphology. The results demonstrate that logarithmic-spiral curves fit the 21 recorded embayment configurations very closely. The significant parameters and statistics associated with each log-spiral curve show that no heteroschedacity of variance is present among the residuals and only one significant autocorrelation is observed. The appropriateness of the log-spiral fits is verified by the coefficients of determination which, with the exception of the November 1988 dataset, are all over the required value of 0·98.Both the spiral angle and the radius show decreasing trends through time, and the graphical plots illustrate only minor fluctuations after May 1991. These results suggest that the embayment may have shifted from some form of quasiequilibrium condition to approach a state of dynamic equilibrium. The persistence of the logarithmic-spiral configuration through time supports the findings of other investigators who claim that the log-spiral planform represents the equilibrium embayment shape that might be expected on the flank of a breakwater system.