Journal articles on the topic 'Crescentic bars'

The formation of crescentic bars is examined using a morphodynamic model based in linear stability analysis. The effect of surface rollers for off-normal wave conditions is examined. The effect of the rollers is to increase the efolding times with increasing the angle of incidence. For angles large enough the formation of crescentic bars is even inhibit. The main effect of the rollers it be through hydrodynamics. The longitudinal changes in current produced by the rollers cause the maximum of sediment concentration to be shifted towards the coast with the final effect of prevent the formation of crecscentic bars.

The formation and development of transverse and crescentic sand bars in the coastal marine environment has been investigated by means of a nonlinear numerical model based on the shallow-water equations and on a simplified sediment transport parameterization. By assuming normally approaching waves and a saturated surf zone, rhythmic patterns develop from a planar slope where random perturbations of small amplitude have been superimposed. Two types of bedforms appear: one is a crescentic bar pattern centred around the breakpoint and the other, herein modelled for the first time, is a transverse bar pattern. The feedback mechanism related to the formation and development of the patterns can be explained by coupling the water and sediment conservation equations. Basically, the waves stir up the sediment and keep it in suspension with a certain cross-shore distribution of depth-averaged concentration. Then, a current flowing with (against) the gradient of sediment concentration produces erosion (deposition). It is shown that inside the surf zone, these currents may occur due to the wave refraction and to the redistribution of wave breaking produced by the growing bedforms. Numerical simulations have been performed in order to understand the sensitivity of the pattern formation to the parameterization and to relate the hydro-morphodynamic input conditions to which of the patterns develops. It is suggested that crescentic bar growth would be favoured by high-energy conditions and fine sediment while transverse bars would grow for milder waves and coarser sediment. In intermediate conditions mixed patterns may occur.

At straight sandy coasts, wave-induced processes often lead to intriguing alongshore-variable morphology on spatial scales from 10s - 1000s of meters. Observations have shown that the horns of crescentic bars may separate from the bar during storms and subsequently migrate onshore towards the beach during calmer periods as a spatially coherent structure, termed Shoreward Propagating Accretionary Wave, or SPAW. Here, we aim to (1) quantify the morphological evolution of a SPAW and (2) unravel the physical processes underlying its onshore migration and spatial coherence. To do so, we studied onshore migration of a SPAW using a process-based morphodynamic model.Recorded Presentation from the vICCE (YouTube Link): https://youtu.be/5P22G_S0FJM

Abstract. Double sandbar systems often characterize the surf zone of wave-dominated beaches and display a variety of poorly explained spatial configurations. Here, we explore the morphodynamic stability of double-barred beaches using a model based on linear stability analysis. Surf zone hydrodynamics are described by coupling depth and wave-averaged conservation of mass and momentum with the wave energy and phase equations, including roller dynamics. A simplified sediment transport formulation relates flow to seabed changes. Under normal wave incidence, an alongshore uniform coast with a cross-shore profile characterized by the presence of two sandbars can be unstable, thereby resulting in the development of crescentic and/or rip channel patterns. Our study demonstrates that sandbar coupling can be either in phase (highs and lows of both sandbars are at the same alongshore position) or out of phase (highs and lows of one sandbar correspond to lows and highs of the other sandbar). In line with observations, results of simulations show a large variability in the possible emerging bottom patterns. Our analysis indicates that modes of which the amplitude of the inner sandbar perturbation is larger than that of the outer sandbar are dominant for large height–depth differences between the two sandbar crests and small offshore wave heights. Patterns related to the outer sandbar dominate for small values of the difference in sandbar depth. For intermediate differences between the two sandbar depths, patterns on both longshore bars appear to be fully coupled (similar growth rates and strongly correlated pattern shapes). For relatively large waves and large depth over the outer sandbar, patterns can also develop close to the shoreline and/or inner surf zone together with patterns in the inner or outer sandbar.

Short-term changes in shallow bathymetry affect the coastal zone, and therefore their monitoring is an essential task in coastal planning projects. This study provides a novel approach for monitoring shallow bathymetry changes based on drone multispectral imagery. Particularly, we apply a shallow water inversion algorithm on two composite multispectral datasets, being acquired five months apart in a small Mediterranean sandy embayment (Chania, Greece). Initially, we perform radiometric corrections using proprietary software, and following that we combine the bands from standard and multispectral cameras, resulting in a six-band composite image suitable for applying the shallow water inversion algorithm. Bathymetry inversion results showed good correlation and low errors (<0.3 m) with sonar measurements collected with an uncrewed surface vehicle (USV). Bathymetry maps and true-color orthomosaics assist in identifying morphobathymetric features representing crescentic bars with rip channel systems. The temporal bathymetry and true-color data reveal important erosional and depositional patterns, which were developed under the impact of winter storms. Furthermore, bathymetric profiles show that the crescentic bar appears to migrate across and along-shore over the 5-months period. Drone-based multispectral imagery proves to be an important and cost-effective tool for shallow seafloor mapping and monitoring when it is combined with shallow water analytical models.

Pseudomystus heokhuii, a new species of bagrid catfish is described from highly acidic blackwater habitats in central Sumatra. The new species can be distinguished from congeners by its unique color pattern of a pale midlateral stripe and pale oblique bands on the sides of the body. It is most similar to, and can be found sympatrically with, P. leiacanthus, but can be further distinguished from it in having two (vs. one) dark narrow irregular bars on the caudal fin, longer pectoral spine (19.3–22.4% SL vs. 15.2–18.6), longer caudal fin (33.5–40.0% SL vs. 25.7–31.9) with pointed (vs. rounded) lobes, longer nasal and maxillary barbels (63.1–81.1% HL vs. 31.3–51.5 and 86.2–125.3% HL vs. 70.9–91.3 respectively; nasal barbel reaching to dorsal insertion of opercular flap vs. to just beyond posterior orbital margin and maxillary barbel reaching just beyond base of last pectoral-fin ray vs. to base of pectoral spine), a straight (vs. crescentic) premaxillary tooth patch, a more sharply tapering snout when viewed dorsally, and an even (vs. slightly convex) predorsal profile.

<i>The process-based XBeach model has numerous empirical parameters because of insufficient understanding of hydrodynamics and sediment transport on the nearshore; hence, it is necessary to calibrate parameters to apply to various study areas and wave conditions. Therefore, the calibration process of parameters is essential for the improvement of model performance. Generally, the trial-and-error method is widely used; however, this method is passive and limited to various and comprehensive parameter ranges. In this study, the Generalized Likelihood Uncertainty Estimation (GLUE) method was used to estimate the optimal range of three parameters (gamma, facua, and gamma2) using morphological field data collected in Maengbang beach during the four typhoons that struck from September to October 2019. The model performance and optimal range of empirical parameters were evaluated using Brier Skill Score (BSS) along with the baseline profiles, sensitivity, and likelihood density analysis of BSS in the GLUE tools. Accordingly, the optimal parameter combinations were derived when facua was less than 0.15 and simulated well the shifting shape, from crescentic sand bar to alongshore uniform sand bars in the surf zone of Maengbang beach after storm impact. However, the erosion and accretion patterns nearby in the surf zone and shoreline remain challenges in the XBeach model.</i>

Coastal dunes have global importance as ecological habitats, recreational areas, and vital natural coastal protection. Dunes evolve due to variations in the supply and removal of sediment via both wind and waves, and on stabilization through vegetation colonization and growth. One aspect of dune evolution that is poorly understood is the longshore variation in dune response to morphodynamic forcing, which can occur over small spatial scales. In this paper, a fixed wing unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), is used to measure the longshore variation in evolution of a dune system in a megatidal environment. Dune sections to the east and west of the study site are prograding whereas the central portion is static or eroding. The measured variation in dune response is compared to mesoscale intertidal bar migration and short-term measurements of longshore variation in wave characteristics during two storms. Intertidal sand bar migration is measured using satellite imagery: crescentic intertidal bars are present in front of the accreting portion of the beach to the west and migrate onshore at a rate of 0.1–0.2 m/day; episodically the eastern end of the bar detaches from the main bar and migrates eastward to attach near the eastern end of the study area; bypassing the central eroding section. Statistically significant longshore variation in intertidal wave heights were measured using beachface mounted pressure transducers: the largest significant wave heights are found in front of the dune section suffering erosion. Spectral differences were noted with more narrow-banded spectra in this area but differences are not statistically significant. These observations demonstrate the importance of three-dimensionality in intertidal beach morphology on longshore variation in dune evolution; both through longshore variation in onshore sediment supply and through causing longshore variation in near-dune significant wave heights.

The resonant scattering of topographically trapped, low-mode progressive edge waves by longshore periodic topography is investigated using a multiple-scale expansion of the linear shallow water equations. Coupled evolution equations for the slowly varying amplitudes of incident and scattered edge waves are derived for small-amplitude, periodic depth perturbations superposed on a plane beach. In ‘single-wave scattering’, an incident edge wave is resonantly scattered into a single additional progressive edge wave having the same or different mode number (i.e. longshore wavenumber), and propagating in the same or opposite direction (forward and backward scattering, respectively), as the incident edge wave. Backscattering into the same mode number as the incident edge wave, the analogue of Bragg scattering of surface waves, is a special case. In ‘multi-wave scattering’, simultaneous forward and backward resonant scattering results in several (rather than only one) new progressive edge waves. Analytic solutions are obtained for single-wave scattering and for a special case of multi-wave scattering involving mode-0 and mode-1 edge waves, over perturbed depth regions of both finite and semi-infinite longshore extent. In single-wave backscattering with small (subcritical) detuning (i.e. departure from exact resonance), the incident and backscattered wave amplitudes both decay exponentially with propagation distance over the periodic bathymetry, whereas with large (supercritical) detuning the amplitudes oscillate with distance. In single-wave forward scattering, the wave amplitudes are oscillatory regardless of the magnitude of the detuning. Multi-wave solutions combine aspects of single-wave backward and forward scattering. In both single- and multi-wave scattering, the exponential decay rates and oscillatory wavenumbers of the edge wave amplitudes depend on the detuning. The results suggest that naturally occurring rhythmic features such as beach cusps and crescentic bars are sometimes of large enough amplitude to scatter a significant amount of incident low-mode edge wave energy in a relatively short distance (O(10) topographic wavelengths).

Crescentia cujete L. (C. cujete) has been known as a medicine for various diseases that caused by microorganisms. This research was aimed to identify the phytochemical compounds and to determine the antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts from stem bark and leaves of C. cujete. The phytochemical compounds in both extracts were identified by Harborne method, while antibacterial activity assay was performed by disc diffusion method with the concentration of bacteria 106 cfu/mL. Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) were used in antibacterial assay. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) was obtained by using contact method. The phytochemical compounds analysis showed that ethanol extracts of C. cujete stem bark and leaves contained alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, and steroids. The results of antibacterial activity test showed that both extracts have antibacterial activity with the highest inhibition showed by extracts with concentration of 100 %(w/v). The decreased percentage in the number of bacterial colonies on the extracts was less than 90 % so that the MIC value of both extracts against S. aureus could not be determined.

Pseudonereis gallapagensis Kinberg, 1865 and P. variegata (Grube & Kröyer in Grube, 1858) are the only two species of this genus commonly recorded along Atlantic American coasts, but their type localities are in the Eastern Pacific, and their morphology differs. Two new Pseudonereis species are described from Eastern Mexico: P. brunnea sp. n. from the Gulf of Mexico, and P. citrina sp. n. from the Caribbean Sea, previously confused with P. gallapagensis. In order to facilitate comparisons, descriptions based on specimens from near the type locality for P. gallapagensis (Peru and Ecuador), and topotypes for P. variegata (Valparaiso, Chile), are included. Based on these comparisons and current descriptions, the synonymies of Nereis ferox Hansen, 1882 described from Brazil with P. variegata, and of Pseudonereis formosa Kinberg, 1865 described from Hawaii with P. gallapagensis, are rejected. Consequently, both are regarded as distinct species and revised diagnoses are provided for them. The record of P. ferox from the Gulf of Guinea proved to be an undescribed species, and is herein described as P. fauveli sp. n. The number of paragnath rows in nereidid pharynx areas VII–VIII has been interpreted in several ways, leading to confusion; an alternative method to determine the number of bands and rows is proposed. The midventral region, the division of areas VII–VIII in furrow and ridge regions, and the description of the arrangement based on the pattern of paragnaths in such regions, are proposed. Further, the terms shield-shaped and pointed (P-bars) bars are redefined, and a new term, crescent-shaped bars, is proposed for paragnaths in the areas VI in some Pseudonereis and Perinereis species. A key for all Pseudonereis species is also included.

To reveal the energy consumption characteristics of a steel bar and all-lightweight shale ceramsite concrete (ALWSCC), focusing on hot rolled crescent ribbed bars (CRB) and hot rolled plain steel bars (PSB), a series of pull-out tests were carried out. The bonding failure modes, the contribution of the ribs to bond-slip failure and the energy consumption characteristics were analyzed based on the curves of pull-out load F-slip displacement S and energy consumption W–slip displacement S. Results show that the splitting failure is the main failure of the CRB specimen, and the pulling out failure is the main failure of the PSB one. The ratio of the total energy dissipation of splitting failure to that of the pulling out failure is less than 30%. The mechanical bite force between CRB and concrete contributes more than 95% to the bond strength. The pull-out force is divided into four stages, such as the chemical adhesive force stage (elastic and micro-elastic strain stage), the common-effect stage of mechanical bearing force and static frictional force (plastic development stage), and the frictional force stage (crushed stage). The new design is proposed to guarantee the ductility of the reinforced concrete structure, which is based on the bond-slip energy consumption rather than the traditional strength design. The conclusions provide a reference to the reinforced concrete practice.

Two new species and one new record species of the genus Pseudonereis are described from specimens collected from ecological surveys of coasts of Taiwan and an offshore island during the past 15 years: P. jihueiensis n. sp., P. kihawensis n. sp., and P. trimaculata. Epitokes of P. jihueiensis n. sp. and P. trimaculata are also described. Pseudonereis jihueiensis n. sp. can be distinguished from congeners by having edentate jaws, χ-shaped ridge pattern of Areas VI–V–VI, parapodial morphology (i.e., length ratio of dorsal cirrus to dorsal ligule or presence of small pennant-like dorsal ligule, shape of dorsal ligule in certain region of chaetigers), and no heterogomph spinigers in the subacicular fascicle of the neuropodia. Pseudonereis kihawensis n. sp. differs from congeners by having crescent-shaped pointed-bars in Area VI, λ-shaped ridge pattern of Areas VI–V–VI, parapodial morphology (i.e., length ratio of dorsal cirrus to dorsal ligule or presence of small pennant-like dorsal ligule or shape of dorsal ligule in certain region of chaetigers), and no heterogomph spinigers in the subacicular fascicle of the neuropodia. Pseudonereis trimaculata, a species originally described from Indonesia, is reported from Taiwan for the first time. A table of key characters for all species of Pseudonereis is provided.

RESUMO A Economia Criativa vem recebendo atenção crescente, podendo contribuir para um desenvolvimento centrado nas pessoas e como insumo para a criação de empregos e inovação, favorecendo a inclusão social, a diversidade cultural e a sustentabilidade. Para ampliar sua discussão no Brasil, este trabalho tem por objetivo analisar as potencialidades e os limites para um território localizado no bairro Cidade Baixa, em Porto Alegre, constituir-se como polo criativo. Entre os aspectos favoráveis destacam-se: a localização, o patrimônio histórico e o ambiente que reúne arte e cultura, bares, restaurante e casas de espetáculos, tornando-o atrativo para o turismo; a aceitação da diversidade; a concentração de empreendimentos criativos e o interesse de moradores e empreendedores no seu desenvolvimento como espaço criativo. Entre as limitações estão: as disputas entre moradores, proprietários de bares e promotores de eventos; a falta de comunicação; a ausência de laços fortes e de articulação entre atores ligados à economia criativa em prol de objetivos comuns; o risco de supervalorização de imóveis na região e de afastamento de artistas e estudantes para outros bairros, descaracterizando o seu tecido constituinte. Como principais contribuições deste estudo, alerta-se para: (a) a incorporação acrítica da noção de economia criativa por instituições públicas e privadas, reproduzindo modelos internacionais; (b) o predomínio do interesse em ganhos econômicos em detrimento da preservação de aspectos históricos e culturais do bairro; (c) a desarticulação entre os atores do território, o que amplia conflitos e compromete a construção de uma proposta integrada para a constituição de um polo criativo; e (d) o uso do conceito de território criativo para uma compreensão do espaço mais profunda do que a de polos criativos, que enfatiza elementos objetivos e convergentes, deixando de explorar contradições e disputas existentes no território.

O objetivo desta pesquisa foi avaliar o efeito de substratos preparados com diferentes proporções de solo e de coprólitos de minhoca na produção de mudas de mamoeiro. Foram realizados dois experimentos no viveiro de produção de mudas da Universidade Federal do Acre - UFAC, ambos obedecendo ao delineamento inteiramente casualizado, com 11 tratamentos e 10 repetições. Os tratamentos foram definidos pela mistura de diferentes concentrações (0; 10;20; 30; 40;50;60; 70; 80; 90 e 100%) de coprólitos de minhoca (Chibui bari) e de solo, sendo este distrófico (V = 29%) no experimento 1 e eutrófico (V = 80%) no experimento 2. Após 60 dias da semeadura, avaliaram-se altura das plantas e as massas da matéria seca da parte aérea, da raiz e total. Verificou-se que a adição de doses crescentes de coprólitos na composição do substrato resultou em aumento do crescimento das plantas no experimento 1 e em redução no experimento 2. Os resultados dos experimentos indicam que o uso de coprólitos de minhoca em substratos preparados com solo somente contribui para o aumento do crescimento de mudas de mamão formosa se a condição química desse material orgânico for mais adequada que a do solo em atender às necessidades nutricionais das plantas. Os resultados do experimento com solo distrófico indicam a possibilidade de uso dos coprólitos na produção tradicional de mudas de mamoeiro, especialmente em situações onde o solo apresenta restrições quanto à condição química.

A taxonomic revision of Cnemaspis siamensis (Smith 1925) revealed it to be a complex composed of four species: C. siamensis (Smith 1925) which occurs on Ko Tao Island, Surat Thani Province and on the peninsula ranges from Khao Mod, Surat Thani Province in the south, northward east of the Tenasserim Mountains to Kaeng Krachan National Park, Phetchaburi Province; C. chanardi sp. nov. ranging from Tai Rom Yen National Park, Surat Thani Province in the north, southward through the western foothills of the Nakhon Si Thammarat and Sankalakhiri Mountains to Phuphaphet Cave, Satun Province and westward to Khlong Thom District, Krabi Province; C. vandeventeri sp. nov. ranging from Kapur District, Ranong Province southward to at least Khlong Had Sompen, District, Ranong Province west of the Tenasserim and Phuket Mountains and possibly all the way to Phuket Island; and C. kamolnorranathi sp. nov. restricted to the northwestern section of the Itshmus of Kra, ranging from Tham Khao Sonk, Thachana District, Surat Thani Province southward to Tai Rom Yen National Park, Surat Thani Province. These species are easily separated from one another on the basis of their unique combination of having or lacking precloacal pores, dark gular markings, a series of lightly colored bars on the flanks, and a lightly colored, prescapular crescent as well as other aspects of squamation. Four additional new species from western and southern Thailand are also described: C. huaseesom sp. nov. from Sai Yok National Park, Kanchanaburi Province; C. punctatonuchalis sp. nov. from Thap Sakae District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province; C. narathiwatensis sp. nov. ranging from Waeng District, Narathiwat Province south to Bang Lang, Yala Province; and C. niyomwanae sp. nov. from Thum Khao Ting, Palean District, Trang Province, Thailand. These species are differentiated from each other and all other Cnemaspis on the basis of their unique combinations of color pattern and squamation characters. This brings the total number of species of Cnemaspis in Thailand from five to 12 and continues to illustrate that the unrealized diversity in this group is a function of unfocused collecting efforts coupled with poor taxonomy.

Background: Renal biopsy is an invaluable tool which provides histopathological description of renal disease in terms of severity of lesion and helps in formulating the long term plan. However such studies with histopathological description of renal biopsy among Nepalese children are scarce.Material and Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted among all children aged less than 18 years who underwent renal biopsy at two tertiary centers in Nepal between July 2015 and December 2017.Results: All 72 renal biopsies were done with Bard 18G spring loaded gun. Nephrotic syndrome and mixed nephritic-nephrotic features were the commonest indications for renal biopsy. IgA nephropathy was the most frequent histopathological diagnosis (20.8%) which was mainly observed in children of age group 11-18 years followed by minimal change disease (16.7%) and diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis (16.7%). Majority of children with recurrent gross hematuria (6/7) or mixed nephritic-nephrotic features (6/8) had IgA nephropathy. Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (6/8) was commonest in children with steroid resistant nephrotic syndrome and nephrotic syndrome with atypical features. Majority of children (10/12) with diffuse proliferative glomerulonephritis had features of poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis and 6/12 had crescents in glomeruli. Lupus nephritis (13.9%) was the commonest secondary cause of glomerular pathology and was observed predominantly in 11-18 years age.Conclusion: Renal biopsy is safe and not associated with clinically significant complications. Nephrotic syndrome was the commonest indication for renal biopsy and minimal change disease predominated. IgA nephropathy was the commonest histological diagnosis overall, as well as in children who presented with recurrent gross hematuria or mixed nephritic-nephrotic features.

A newly discovered species of Pliciloricus from the deep sea of the Angola Basin (Namibia, Atlantic) seems to have two types of postlarvae in its life cycle. Type I is a simplified but clearly identifiable postlarval stage, the other type II consists only of a thin layer of cuticle as the remnant of a postlarva. Both types contain adults that have moulted from them. The simplified type I postlarva has a fully developed lorica with an ornamentation identical to that of the adult, but other body regions are reduced with only a few structures left. The discovery of this clearly identifiable postlarva is important, because it supports the conclusion that Pliciloricus-species originally moults from postlarval stages as well as other taxa of Loricifera. Furthermore, it could be concluded that the simple cuticle layer surrounding most adults found during their metamorphosis is the remnant of a postlarval stage. The life cycle of the new species seems to include two phases. After to the bisexual is a unisexual phase, represented by a simplified parthenogenetic adult stage which lacks most parts of the adult morphology. The adults of P. diva sp. n. differ from other species in having among others (1) a mouth cone with four strong cuticular bars plus eight primary oral ridges; (2) leaf-like clavoscalids which are very broad basally and narrow distally, and have more than 22 transverse cross walls; (3) a strongly sclerotized double-organ consisting of four rami; (4) large spinoscalids of second row shorter than clavoscalids, (5) short type B spinoscalids of fourth row with claw-tips and with a double row of five teeth as well as distally with a double row of minute denticles; (6) an anterior margin of the lorica with bicuspid protrusions and specific crescent-shaped ornamentations; (7) a midventral plica with five bar-like transversal strengthened ridges. Distinguishing features of the Higgins-larva are (1) short clavoscalids with broad second segments; (3) a collar with seven flosculi located in small pits; posterolateral setae being short but strong and pod-like. The study also revealed new information about the double-organ of the adult and the buccal structures of the Higgins-larva.

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) and Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.) are the main turfgrass species cultivated in Sicily (southern Italy) for ready lawn (sod) to ornamental purposes. In July 2004 and May 2005, a widespread disease was noticed in two turf nurseries on the eastern side of Sicily on a ready lawn mixture of F. arundinacea cv. Safari (94%) + P. pratensis cv. Cabaret (6%). Numerous yellow, circular- and crescent-shaped patches as much as 30 to 40 cm in diameter were observed. The turf usually died around the perimeter of the patch, but the grass remained green in the center of the ring with a tuft of green grass in the center (frog eye). Affected turf was initially reddish brown and turned brown as it died. Small, round and off-white or tan seed-like structures were dispersed on mycelial strands at the outer edge of the ring in the mat at the base of grasses. The pathogen was identified as Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. The fungus was isolated directly as aerial mycelium or sclerotia or following surface disinfection (2 min in 0.5% NaOCl) and plating diseased tissues on potato dextrose agar (PDA). Sclerotia were observed in vitro in 7-day-old cultures. Pathogenicity was tested by inoculating two com-mercial ready lawn strips (80 × 100 cm) of two healthy turfgrass species each with three isolates of the fungus. Thirty sclerotia were placed at the base of stems. Noninoculated ready lawn strips served as control. All plants were covered with plastic bags, exposed to diffused daylight for 5 days, and then maintained in a growth chamber at 25 to 28°C under fluorescent light. Disease symptoms and southern blight signs like the ones observed in the field occurred 2 weeks after inoculation. S. rolfsii was reisolated from affected tissues. Symptoms were not detected on any of the non-inoculated ready lawn strips. The disease was serious enough that chemical treatments were required for its control. Southern blight was previously detected on bermudagrass and other cool-season turfgrass genera (1).To our knowledge, this is the first report of southern blight on tall fescue and bluegrass in Italy. Reference: (1) R. W. Smiley. Common Names of Plant Diseases. Diseases of Turfgrasses. Online publication. The American Phytopathological Society, St. Paul, MN.

The genus Convolvulus has more than 200 species that are encountered in temperate to tropical climates all around the world. Convolvulus cneorum L., also known as silverbush, is a perennial shrub native to southern Europe (Sicily and Croatia) with dense, silver foliage and masses of large, circular, white flowers. During July of 2009, a widespread blight was observed on approximately 10% of 12,000 4-month-old potted silverbush plants. The plants were obtained from cuttings and produced by a commercial nursery in eastern Sicily, Italy. Symptomatic plants initially had sunken, tan lesions at the ground level that developed into typical southern blight. Circular and crescent-shaped patches were observed on the masses of weeds on the surface of the containers where silverbush were grown. At the soil line, white mycelia and small (1 to 2 mm in diameter), brown, spherical sclerotia with internally differentiated rind, cortex, and medulla characteristic of Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. were observed. Crown and stem lesions were surface disinfested (1% NaOCl) for 1 min, rinsed in sterile water, and placed on potato dextrose agar. Isolation consistently yielded colonies of Sclerotium rolfsii (teleomorph Athelia rolfsii (Curzi) Tu & Kimbrough) with typical sclerotia produced within 6 to 7 days (2). Pathogenicity tests were performed on 20 plants by placing 10 sclerotia obtained from 10-days-old cultures in the soil below the crown portion on each of 5-month-old healthy cuttings of silverbush. The same number of plants served as noninoculated controls. All plants were maintained in a growth chamber at 25 ± 1°C and enclosed for 7 days in polyethylene bags. Plants were then moved to a greenhouse where temperatures ranged from 24 to 28°C. Symptoms of southern blight developed after 7 to 20 days on all inoculated plants. Control plants remained symptomless. S. rolfsii was reisolated from symptomatic plants. S. rolfsii was reported for the first time in Sicily in 2004 in an ornamental nursery (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report in the world of S. rolfsii on silverbush and it is the first outbreak of southern blight on Convolvulus species. The high susceptibility of silverbush to the pathogen could be a limiting factor for the cultivation in nursery of this indigenous wildflower plant. References: (1) G. Polizzi et al. Plant Dis. 88:310, 2004. (2) Z. K. Punja and A. Damiani. Mycologia 88:694, 1996.

This study was conducted in the Wahat Elnukhila area, about 600 km northeast of El-fashier town, northern Darfur State, to produce broad–base data on the geographical distribution of soils, characterization of soils using some soil indicators (ECe, pH and SAR), explore the natural land cover and evaluate the soil suitability for agricultural activities in the study area. The study area covers (20000 feddans). This research was based on the data and information extracted from the soil survey, remote sensed landsat, Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) images dated 2018, in addition to field observation aided by GPS receivers and geographic information system were used to generate soil map in the study area. By using the American soil classification system (FAO, 1990 and 2006) study area may be classified into three units, the total area of the three units and natural vegetation cover decreased in the following order: unit1 (12734 feddans) &gt; unit 2 (3994 feddans) &gt; unit 3 (3272 feddans), green covers as a result of the availability of quantities of ground and surface water, which distinguishes it from the rest of the surrounding desert lands. The predominant vegetation cover is Imperata cylindrica (halfa), Tamarix (Tarfa), phragmites (communist)“ Alboes”, Citrullus Colocynthis (Hanzal), Ischaemum muticum and p. dactylifera (date palm). Regarding soil texture, drainage, soil depth, and fertility status for units 1, unit 2, and unit 3, can be described as follows: sandy to loamy sand, well-drained, shallow and low fertile, coarse texture to moderate, moderately drained, shallow to moderate and low fertile, gravelly surface, moderatly drained, shallow to moderate and very low fertile respectively. Soil analysis reveled that there was high inherent risk of soil salinity and sodicity, especially unit 1. In general, the result showed that there were clear aspects of wind erosion represented as large areas affected by the sand encroachment form of crescent dunes and rocks interspersed with hills and plateaus. Furthermore, soils of the targeted area were formed from the accumulation of creeping and portable aeolian sands. The research site lies in the southeastern part of the border triangle between Sudan, Egypt, Libya and Chad, which is severely affected by wind erosion because the site was bare, open with no wind barriers or shelter belts, also this area falls under the sand moving winds of the Sahara. These are the northerly winds that prevail in Northern Darfur State. Furthermore, the prevalent climatic conditions including high temperature, rainless area and relatively high wind speed are conducive to high wind erosion. The area in danger unless serious measures carried out to reduce wind erosion. The area has very low potential suitability for agriculture. The study area was rich in wild life such as deer, rabbits, birds, many insects and snakes.

<p>Objetivou-se avaliar o efeito da inoculação de <em>Azospirillum brasilense </em>(AzBr) com e sem enraizador, no crescimento, produção de biomassa e resistência a pragas da alface, cultivar Lucy Brown. O experimento foi conduzido em casa de vegetação em recipientes plásticos com capacidade de 8,0 L no espaçamento 40 x 20 cm. O delineamento experimental foi de blocos casualizados em esquema fatorial (2x3)+1, sendo o primeiro fator <em>Azospirillum</em> com e sem enraizador de crescimento e o segundo doses de nitrogênio em cobertura, 0%, 50% e 100% da recomendação de adubação e uma testemunha com adubação convencional, com quatro repetições. Em doses médias de 50% de N em cobertura, tanto o AzBr, quanto a associação AzBr mais enraizador, apresentaram um incremento significativo na massa fresca da parte aérea e de raízes de 19,36% e 23,66%, respectivamente, em relação a dose máxima de N e a testemunha. A massa seca da parte aérea não diferiu significativamente nos diferentes tratamentos, embora tenha mostrado um pequeno aumento com as doses crescente de N. A massa seca de raízes diminuiu 29,24% no tratamento com 100% de N, quando comparado ao tratamento sem cobertura nitrogenada mais AzBr. O estande final de plantas foi significativamente maior no tratamento no qual N não foi aplicado em cobertura, destacando-se a inoculação com AzBr, média de 96,98% de plantas estabelecidas, contra 51,56% na testemunha convencional, observando-se que até a dose média de N, houve uma maior tolerância das plantas aos sintomas de minas foliares e as viroses do Grupo Tospovirus.</p><p align="center"><em>Azospirillum</em> <em>brasilense <strong>inoculation efficiency associated with rooting growth and production of lettuce</strong></em></p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>In the survey evaluated the effect of <em>Azospirillum brasilense </em>(AzBr) inoculated with and without rooting, on growth, biomass production and lettuce pest resistance, cultivar Lucy Brown. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse in plastic bags with 8.0 L capacity in the spacing, 40 x 20 cm. The experimental followed a design randomized blocks in a factorial scheme (2x3) +1, the first factor, <em>Azospirillum </em>with and without rooting growth and second fator, levels of nitrogen in coverage, 0%, 50% and 100% of fertilizer recommendation and a control with conventional fertilization, with four replications. At mean doses of 50% N in coverage, both AzBr and the AzBr plus rooting association showed a significant increase in fresh shoot and root mass of 19.36% and 23.66%, respectively, in relation to maximum dose of N and the control. The shoot dry mass did not differ significantly in the different treatments, although it has shown a small increase with increasing doses of N. The dry root mass decreased 29.24% in the treatment with 100% N, when compared to treatment without nitrogen cover more AzBr. The final plant stand was significantly higher in the treatment in wich N was not applied in coverage, especially inoculation with AzBr, mean of 96.98% of established plants, against 51.56% in conventional control, observing that average dose of N, there was a greater tolerance of plants to symptoms of leaf mining and the viruses of Tospovirus Group.</p>

During the summer of 2006, a widespread blight was observed on 6-month-old potted plants of firewheel tree (Stenocarpus sinuatus Endl.) and 3-month-old potted plants of bay laurel (Laurus nobilis L.) growing in a nursery in eastern Sicily, Italy. On both species, symptomatic plants initially had sunken, tan lesions at ground level where white mycelia and small (1 to 2 mm in diameter), brown, spherical sclerotia typical of Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc. were formed. As the disease progressed, the mycelia extended up the stem and entire plants collapsed. A sudden wilting affecting 4-month-old potted seedlings of bird of paradise (Strelitzia reginae Aiton) and 5-month-old potted seedlings of Mediterranean fan palm (Chamaerops humilis L.) was occasionally detected in other greenhouses of the same nursery. Liverwort (Marchantia polymorpha L.) was abundantly present on the surfaces of the containers where these plants were grown. Circular and crescent-shaped patches as much as 100 cm in diameter were observed on the massed liverwort plants. In these patches, the liverwort died and sclerotia typical of S. rolfsii were dispersed on white mycelial strands. Symptomatic tissues of the ornamental plants and liverwort were surface disinfested in 1% NaOCl for 1 min, rinsed in sterile water, and plated on potato dextrose agar. Tissues consistently yielded S. rolfsii (teleomorph Athelia rolfsii (Curzi) Tu & Kimbrough) and typical sclerotia with internally differentiated rind, cortex, and medulla were produced within 6 or 7 days (3). Pathogenicity tests were performed by placing 30 sclerotia obtained from 10-day-old cultures in the soil below the crown portion on each of 2-month-old healthy seedlings of Stenocarpus sinuatus, L. nobilis, Strelitzia reginae, and C. humilis (20 seedlings per host). In addition, liverwort growing in 10 pots (7 cm in diameter) was inoculated with 30 sclerotia per pot. For each species, the same number of plants or pots served as control. All ornamental plants and liverwort were maintained in a growth chamber at 25 ± 1°C and enclosed for 7 days in polyethylene bags and then moved to a greenhouse where temperatures ranged from 24 to 28°C. The inoculation trial was repeated once. Symptoms of southern blight developed after 5 to 20 days on all inoculated plants of Stenocarpus sinuatus and sporadically (two to five plants) after 20 days on L. nobilis, Strelitzia reginae, and C. humilis. After 5 days, liverwort in all inoculated pots was colonized and plants died within 12 days. Control plants of all species remained symptomless. S. rolfsii was reisolated from symptomatic plants. S. rolfsii was reported for the first time in Sicily in 2004 on ornamental plants (2). Strelitzia reginae was previously reported as a host of Corticium rolfsii (synonym S. rolfsii) in Portugal (1). To our knowledge, this is the first report of S. rolfsii on Stenocarpus sinuatus, L. nobilis, and C. humilis. In addition, this is the first report of the susceptibility of M. polimorpha to S. rolfsii. Liverwort could provide a food source for the fungus in container-grown nursery plants. References: (1) M. R. de Sousa Dias and M. T. Lusas. Bol. Soc. Brot. 53:469, 1980. (2) G. Polizzi et al. Plant Dis. 88:310, 2004. (3) Z. K. Punja and A. Damiani. Mycologia 88:694, 1996.

IntroductionTo clarify the effects of microtopography on plant growth and soil water, salt and nutrient characteristics of saline soils in mudflats within muddy coastal zones and explore suitable microtopographic modifications.MethodsSix microtopographic modification patterns, namely, S-shaped, stripe-shaped, pin-shaped, stepshaped, dense stripe-shaped and crescent-shaped patterns, were established in the coastal mudflats of the Yellow River Delta. The soil water, salt, ion, total carbon, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus contents and their ecological stoichiometric characteristics were measured and analyzed after theimplementation of different microtopographic modification patterns, with bare mudflats as the control.ResultsThe results showed that microtopographic modification significantly changed the soil water and salt contents and the soil total carbon, total nitrogen and total phosphorus contents. Compared with the bare ground, microtopographic transformation significantly promoted the growth of the pioneer plant Suaeda salsa, significantly increased the soil water and nutrient contents, and significantly decreased the soil salinity. The soil salinity was mainly reduced by Na+ and Cl- ions. The soil salinity and nutrient contents gradually decreased with increasing soil depth, indicating the occurrence of surface aggregation. Compared to that of the bare ground, the soil C/N was significantly lower and the N/P was significantly higher in the microtopographic treatments, and the overall performance suggested soil N limitation. The ions contained in the saline soil were dominated by Na+ and Cl-, followed by Mg2+ and SO42-, with lower contents of K+, Ca2+ and HCO3-. Among the six microtopography modification patterns, the crescent-shaped pattern best promoted vegetation restoration. This pattern was the most effective in reducing soil salinity, with a 98.53% reduction in soil salinity compared with that of bare ground, followed by the pin-shaped pattern. Compared with that in the bare ground samples, the nutrient content in the samples from the step-shaped modification increased by 23.27%; finally, the S-shaped, step-shaped and dense stripe-shaped patterns performed poorly in terms of plant restoration and soil improvement.DiscussionIt is suggested that a crescent-shaped pattern should be considered first when carrying out microtopographic transformation on the beaches of the Yellow River Delta, followed by stripe-shaped and pin-shaped patterns. The dense strip-shaped should not be adopted.

RESUMO O turismo religioso é um segmento crescente ligado ao calendário de eventos do país, um fenômeno social que por meio dos deslocamentos a festas e espaços religiosos, reúne multidões, adeptos que se utilizam do tripé turístico: transporte, hospedagem e alimentação, proporcionando desenvolvimento econômico as localidades com a geração de emprego e renda. No entanto, a pandemia do COVID-19, a mais severa crise sanitária dos últimos tempos e a necessidade de medidas como isolamento social para conter a disseminação do vírus causaram um profundo impacto a economia mundial, sendo o turismo o setor mais impactado. Nesse sentido, este artigo que é parte final da pesquisa realizada durante a pandemia em São José de Ribamar, cidade conhecida pela cultura religiosa, tem como objetivo apresentar um estudo acerca dos impactos da pandemia no setor de bares e restaurantes. Para tanto, fez-se pesquisa bibliográfica e de campo onde utilizou-se instrumento de questionário sendo aplicado junto aos donos dos empreendimentos que fazem parte do setor turístico que mais fechou postos de trabalho no Brasil, de acordo com o Relatório de Impacto do Ministério do Turismo (2020). A pesquisa foi realizada na cidade em setembro de 2021, durante o festejo de São José de Ribamar, o qual teve parte realizado virtualmente, sem romarias nem procissões. Para os resultados, aponta-se a ausência em maior parte dos empreendimentos, em relação ao uso de mídias digitais para divulgação de produtos e serviços, descontentamento com medidas governamentais, endividamento e melhora com o retorno às atividades, ainda que de forma regular. Palavras-chave: Turismo Religioso. Covid-19. Bares e Restaurantes. Festejo de São José de Ribamar.

Background The detailed complexity of triceps brachii insertional footprint continues to challenge surgeons as evidenced by continued reports of triceps-associated complications following elbow procedures. The purpose of this study is to describe the three-dimensional footprint of the triceps brachii at its olecranon insertion at the elbow. Methods 22 cadaveric elbows were dissected leaving only the distal insertion of the triceps intact. The insertion was defined and probed with a three-dimensional digitizer to create a digital three-dimensional footprint allowing width, height, and surface area of the footprint to be recorded relative to the bare area. The insertional soft tissues of tendon versus muscle along with the shape of the footprints were qualitatively described. Results The mean width and surface area of the lateral segment was greater in males than in females (30.07 mm vs. 24.37 mm, p = 0.0339 and 282.1 mm vs. 211. 56 mm, p = 0.0181, respectively). No other statistically significant differences between the sexes were noted. The triceps insertional footprint was “crescent-shaped” and consisted of three regions: central tendon, medial muscular extension, and lateral muscular extension. Discussion These findings can help explain the importance of avoiding these muscular structures during triceps-off approaches and provides the framework for future clinical studies. Clinical Relevance: Basic Science, anatomy study, cadaver dissection.

Purpose. Morphodynamic system of the accumulative sandy coast can include one or more underwater bars. Position and shape of the underwater bar can reflect both seasonal changes of the coastal profile and its unidirectional movements landward and seaward. Determination of the character of the underwater bar movement under the influence of various wave conditions permits to reveal common factors of the coastal deposit multidirectional transport along the coast profile. Methods and Results. The results of field observations of morphodynamics of a section of the Baltic Spit sandy coast (600 m length) were analyzed. From May to November 2019, a series of measurements of the coastal zone relief were conducted. The obtained data were analyzed along with the wave regime parameters (reanalysis ERA5 data was used). The coastal profile of the area under study is complicated by the external underwater bar with its crest located at the depth 2.65 m, and by the internal one of a crescent shape. Conclusions. Analysis of displacement of the external underwater bar from May to November showed that this form was of a morphodynamics two-dimensional character, i.e. it possessed the same morphometric characteristics along the coast. It was revealed that the underwater bar crest was located at the depths close to those of wave breaking during the most recent relatively strong and sustainable storm. Based on this concept as well as on the available literature data on the relationship between a wave height and dynamics of an underwater bar crest, described is the landward displacement (recorded during the observation period) of the external underwater bar. Due to the field data, it was shown that the underwater bar morphodynamics was effected both by duration of individual waves and by difference between the wave parameters of a sequence of storm events.

Objectives: To compare graft stability, patient discomfort and surgical time between autologus blood and sutures for autologus conjunctival graft adherence in pterygium surgery. Study Design: Prospective interventional study. Setting: Department of Ophthalmology, Pak Red Crescent Medical and Dental College, Dina Nath. Period: January 2017 to December 2017. Materials and Methods: Fifty eyes of fifty patients requiring pterygium surgery were enrolled. The patients were divided in two groups (A and B). Under peribulbar anesthesia pterygium was excised in all patients. Bare sclera was covered with conjuctival autograft using autologus blood as adhesive agentin Group A while in Group B conjuctival autograft was fixed with 10/0 Nylon sutures. The patients were examined postoperatively on day 1, day 7, day 14 and day 30. The groups were compared in terms of surgical time, graft displacement and patient discomfort. Results: Mean surgical time was (20.96 ±2.05 minutes) in Group A and (30.04±3.38 minutes) in Group B. There was nasal displacement of conjunctival autograft in 3 (12%) of patients on 1stpost-operative day in Group A whereas no graft displacement was seen in any case of Group B. Level of patient discomfort measured on visual analogue scale in Group A was (0.56 ± 0.92 on day 1, 0.40 ± 0.71 on day 7, 0.04 ± 0.20 on day 14 and 0 ± 0 on day 30). In Group B level of patient discomfort was (3.92 ± 1.12 on day1, 1.24 ± 1.09 on day 7, 0.12 ± 0.33 on day 14 and0 ±0 on day 30). Conclusions: The use of autologus blood to affix the conjuctival autograft in pterygium surgery is a reliable method. It is associated with less patient discomfort post operatively and requires shorter surgical time, as compared to conjunctival autograft with sutures.

IntroductionAs both a historical and cultural entity, the city of New Orleans has long-maintained a reputation as a centre for hedonistic and carnivaleque pleasures. Historically, images of mardi gras, jazz, and parties on the shores of the Mississippi have pervaded the cultural vision of the city as a “mecca” for “social life” (Marina 2), and successfully fed its tourism narratives. Simultaneously, however, a different kind of narrative also exists in the historical folds of the city’s urban mythology. Many tales of vampire sightings and supernatural accounts surround the area, and have contributed, over the years, to the establishment and mystification of New Orleans as a ‘vampire city’. This has produced, in turn, its own brand of vampire tourism (Murphy 2015). Mixed with historical rumours and Gothic folklore, the recent narratives of popular culture lie at the centre of the re-imagination of New Orleans as a vampire hub. Taking this idea as a point of departure, this article provides culturally- and historically-informed critical considerations of New Orleans as a ‘vampire city’, especially as portrayed in The Originals (2013-2017), a contemporary television series where vampires are the main protagonists. In the series, the historical narratives of New Orleans become entangled with – and are, at times, almost inseparable from – the fictional chronicles of the vampire in both aesthetic and conceptual terms.The critical connection between urban narratives and vampires representation, as far as New Orleans is concerned, is profoundly entangled with notions of both tourism and fictionalised popular accounts of folklore (Piatti-Farnell 172). In approaching the conceptual relationship between New Orleans as a cultural and historical entity and the vampire — in its folkloristic and imaginative context — the analysis will take a three-pronged approach: firstly, it will consider the historical narrative of tourism for the city of New Orleans; secondly, the city’s connection to vampires and other Gothicised entities will be considered, both historically and narratively; and finally, the analysis will focus on how the connection between New Orleans and Gothic folklore of the vampire is represented in The Originals, with the issue of cultural authenticity being brought into the foreground. A critical footnote must be given to the understanding of the term ‘New Orleans’ in this article as meaning primarily the French Quarter – or, the Vieux Carre – and its various representations. This geographical focus principally owes its existence to the profound cultural significance that the French Quarter has occupied in the history of New Orleans as a city, and, in particular, in its connection to narratives of magic and Gothic folklore, as well as the broader historical and contemporary tourism structures. A History of TourismSocial historian Kevin Fox Gotham agues that New Orleans as a city has been particularly successful in fabricating a sellable image of itself; tourism, Gotham reminds us, is about “the production of local difference, local cultures, and different local histories that appeal to visitors’ tastes for the exotic and the unique” (“Gentrification” 1100). In these terms, both the history and the socio-cultural ‘feel’ of the city cannot be separated from the visual constructs that accompany it. Over the decades, New Orleans has fabricated a distinct network of representational patterns for the Vieux Carre in particular, where the deployment of specific images, themes and motifs – which are, in truth, only peripherally tied to the city’ actual social and political history, and owe their creation and realisation more to the success of fictional narratives from film and literature – is employed to “stimulate tourist demands to buy and consume” (Gotham, “Gentrification” 1102). This image of the city as hedonistic site is well-acknowledged, has to be understood, at least partially, as a conscious construct aimed at the production an identity for itself, which the city can in turn sell to visitors, both domestically and internationally. New Orleans, Gotham suggests, is a ‘complex and constantly mutating city’, in which “meanings of place and community” are “inexorably intertwined with tourism” (Authentic 5). The view of New Orleans as a site of hedonistic pleasure is something that has been heavily capitalised upon by the tourism industry of the city for decades, if not centuries. A keen look at advertising pamphlets for the city, dating form the late Nineteenth century onwards, provides an overview of thematic selling points, that primarily focus on notions of jazz, endless parties and, in particular, nostalgic and distinctly rose-tinted views of the Old South and its glorious plantations (Thomas 7). The decadent view of New Orleans as a centre of carnal pleasures has often been recalled by scholars and lay observers alike; this vision of he city indeed holds deep historical roots, and is entangled with the city’s own economic structures, as well as its acculturated tourism ones. In the late 19th and early 20th century one of the things that New Orleans was very famous for was actually Storyville, the city’s red-light district, sanctioned in 1897 by municipal ordinance. Storyville quickly became a centralized attraction in the heart of New Orleans, so much so that it began being heavily advertised, especially through the publication of the ‘Blue Book’, a resource created for tourists. The Blue Book contained, in alphabetical order, information on all the prostitutes of Storyville. Storyville remained very popular and the most famous attraction in New Orleans until its demolition in 1919 Anthony Stanonis suggests that, in its ability to promote a sellable image for the city, “Storyville meshed with the intersts of business men in the age before mass tourism” (105).Even after the disappearance of Storyville, New Orleans continued to foster its image a site of hedonism, a narrative aided by a favourable administration, especially in the 1930s and 1940s. The French Quarter, in particular, “became a tawdry mélange of brothers and gambling dens operating with impunity under lax law enforcement” (Souther 16). The image of the city as a site for pleasures of worldly nature continued to be deeply rooted, and even survives in the following decades today, as visible in the numerous exotic dance parlours located on the famous Bourbon Street.Vampire TourismSimultaneously, however, a different kind of narrative also exists in the recent historical folds of the city’s urban mythology, where vampires, magic, and voodoo are an unavoidable presence. Many tales of vampire sightings and supernatural accounts surround the area, and have contributed, over the years, to the establishment and mystification of New Orleans as a ‘vampire city’. Kenneth Holditch contends that ‘”New Orleans is a city in love with its myths, mysteries and fantasies” (quoted in McKinney 8). In the contemporary era, these qualities are profoundly reflected in the city’s urban tourism image, where the vampire narrative is pushed into the foreground. When in the city, one might be lucky enough to take one of the many ‘vampire tours’ — often coupled with narratives of haunted locations — or visit the vampire bookshop, or even take part in the annual vampire ball. Indeed, the presence of vampires in New Orleans’s contemporary tourism narrative is so pervasive that one might be tempted to assume that it has always occupied a prominent place in the city’s cultural fabric. Nonetheless, this perception is not accurate: the historical evidence from tourism pamphlets for the city do not make any mentions of vampire tourism before the 1990s, and even then, the focus on the occult side of new Orleans tended to privilege stories of voodoo and hoodoo — a presence that still survives strongly in the cultural narrative city itself (Murphy 91). While the connection between vampires and New Orleans is a undoubtedly recent one, the development and establishment of New Orleans as vampire city cannot be thought of as a straight line. A number of cultural and historical currents appear to converge in the creation of the city’s vampire mystique. The history and geography of the city here could be an important factor, and a useful starting point; as the site of extreme immigration and ethnic and racial mingling New Orleans holds a reputation for mystery. The city was, of course, the regrettable site of a huge marketplace for the slave trade, so discussions of political economy could also be important here, although I’ll leave them for another time. As a city, New Orleans has often been described – by novelists, poets, and historians alike – as being somewhat ‘peculiar’. Simone de Behaviour was known to have remarked that that the city is surrounded by a “pearl grey” and ‘luminous’ air” (McKinney 1). In similar fashion, Oliver Evans claims the city carries “opalescent hints” (quoted in McKinney 1). New Orleans is famous for having a quite thick mist, the result of a high humidity levels in the air. To an observing eye, New Orleans seems immersed in an almost otherworldly ‘glow’, which bestows upon its limits an ethereal and mysterious quality (Piatti-Farnell 173). While this intention here is not to suggest that New Orleans is the only city to have mist – especially in the Southern States – one might venture to say that this physical phenomenon, joined with other occurrences and legends, has certainly contributed to the city’s Gothicised image. The geography of the city also makes it sadly famous for floods and their subsequent devastation, which over centuries have wrecked parts of the city irrevocably. New Orleans sits at a less than desirable geographical position, is no more than 17 feet above sea level, and much of it is at least five feet below (McKinney 5). In spite of its lamentable fame, hurricane Katrina was not the first devastating geo-meteorological phenomenon to hit and destroy most of New Orleans; one can trace similar hurricane occurrences in 1812 and 1915, which at the time significantly damaged parts of the French Quarter. The geographical position of New Orleans also owes to the city’s well-known history of disease such as the plague and tuberculosis – often associated, in previous centuries, with the miasma proper to reclaimed river lands. In similar terms, one must not forget New Orleans’s history of devastating fires – primarily in the years 1788, 1794, 1816, 1866 and 1919 – which slowly destroyed the main historical parts of the city, particularly in the Vieux Carre, and to some extent opened the way for regeneration and later gentrification as well. As a result of its troubled and destructive history, Louise McKinnon claims that the city ‒ perhaps unlike any others in the United States ‒ hinges on perpetual cycles of destruction and regeneration, continuously showing “the wear and tear of human life” (McKinney 6).It is indeed in this extremely important element that New Orleans finds a conceptual source in its connection to notions of the undead, and the vampire in particular. Historically, one can identify the pervasive use of Gothic terminology to describe New Orleans, even if, the descriptions themselves were more attuned to perceptions of the city’s architecture and metrological conditions, rather than the recollection of any folklore-inspired narratives of unread creatures. Because of its mutating, and often ill-maintained historical architecture – especially in the French Quarter - New Orleans has steadily maintained a reputation as a city of “splendid decay” (McKinney, 6). This highly lyrical and metaphorical approach plays an important part in building the city as a site of mystery and enchantment. Its decaying outlook functions as an unavoidable sign of how New Orleans continues to absorb, and simultaneously repel, as McKinney puts it, “the effects of its own history” (6).Nonetheless, the history of New Orleans as a cultural entity, especially in terms of tourism, has not been tied to vampires for centuries, as many imagine, and the city itself insists in its contemporary tourism narratives. Although a lot of folklore has survived around the city in connection to magic and mysticism, for a number of reasons, vampires have not always been in the foreground of its publicised cultural narratives. Mixed with historical rumours and Gothic folklore, the recent narratives of popular culture lie at the centre of the re-imagination of New Orleans as a vampire spot: most scholars claim that it all started with the publication of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire (1976), but actually evidence shows that the vampire narrative for the city of New Orleans did not fully explode until the release of Neil Jordan’s cinematic adaptation of Interview with the Vampire (1994). This film really put New Orleans at the centre of the vampire narrative, indulging in the use of many iconic locations in the city as tied to vampire, and cementing the idea of New Orleans as a vampiric city (Piatti-Farnell 175). The impact of Rice’s work, and its adaptations, has also been picked up by numerous other examples of popular culture, including Charlaine Harris’s Southern Vampire mystery series, and its well-known television adaptation True Blood. Harris herself states in one of her novels: “New Orleans had been the place to go for vampires and those who wanted to be around them ever since Anne Rice had been proven right about their existence” (2). In spite of the fact that popular culture, rather than actual historical evidence, lies at the heart of the city’s cultural relationship with vampires, this does not detract from the fact that vampires themselves – as fabricated figures lying somewhere between folklore, history, and fiction – represent an influential part of New Orleans’s contemporary tourism narrative, building a bridge between historical storytelling, mythologised identities, and consumerism. The Originals: Vampires in the CityIndeed, the impact of popular culture in establishing and re-establishing the success of the vampire tourism narrative in New Orleans is undeniable. Contemporary examples continue to capitalise on the visual, cultural, and suggestively historical connection between the city’s landmarks and vampire tales, cementing the notion of New Orleans as a solid entity within the Gothic tourism narrative. One such successful example is The Originals. This television show is actually a spin-off of the Vampires Diaries, and begins with three vampires, the Mikaelson siblings (Niklaus, Elijah, and Rebekkah) returning to the city of New Orleans for the first time since 1919, when they were forced to flee by their vengeful father. In their absence, Niklaus's protégé, Marcel, took charge of the city. The storyline of The Originals focuses on battles within the vampire factions to regain control of the city, and eliminate the hold of other mystical creatures such as werewolves and witches (Anyiwo 175). The central narrative here is that the city belongs to the vampire, and there can be no other real Gothic presence in the Quarter. One can only wonder, even at this embryonic level, how this connects functions in a multifaceted way, extending the critique of the vampire’s relationship to New Orleans from the textual dimension of the TV show to the real life cultural narrative of the city itself. A large number of the narrative strands in The Originals are tied to city and its festivals, its celebrations, and its visions of the past, whether historically recorded, or living in the pages of its Gothic folklore. Vampires are actually claimed to have made New Orleans what it is today, and they undoubtedly rule it. As Marcel puts it: “The blood never stops flowing, and the party never ends” (Episode 1, “Always and Forever”). Even the vampiric mantra for New Orleans in The Originals is tied to the city’s existing and long-standing tourism narrative, as “the party never ends” is a reference to one of Bourbon Street’s famous slogans. Indeed, the pictorial influence of the city’s primary landmarks in The Originals is undeniable. In spite of the fact the inside scenes for The Originals were filmed in a studio, the outside shots in the series reveal a strong connections to the city itself, as viewers are left with no doubt as to the show’s setting. New Orleans is continuously mentioned and put on show – and pervasively referred to as “our city”, by the vampires. So much so, that New Orleans becomes the centre of the feud between supernatural forces, as the vampires fight witches and werewolves – among others- to maintain control over the city’s historical heart. The French Quarter, in particular, is given renewed life from the ashes of history into the beating heart of the vampire narrative, so much so that it almost becomes its own character in its own right, instrumental in constructing the vampire mystique. The impact of the vampire on constructing an image for the city of New Orleans is made explicit in The Originals, as the series explicitly shows vampires at the centre of the city’s history. Indeed, the show’s narrative goes as far as justifying the French Quarter’s history and even legends through the vampire metaphor. For instance, the series explains the devastating fire that destroyed the French Opera House in 1919 as the result of a Mikaelson vampire family feud. In similar terms, the vampires of the French Quarter are shown at the heart of the Casquette Girls narrative, a well-known tale from Eighteenth-century colonial New Orleans, where young women were shipped from France to the new Louisiana colony, in order to marry. The young women were said to bring small chests – or casquettes – containing their clothes (Crandle 47). The Originals, however, capitalises on the folkloristic interpretation that perceives the girls’ luggage as coffins potentially containing the undead, a popular version of the tale that can often be heard if taking part in one of the many vampire tours in New Orleans. One can see here how the chronicles of the French Quarter in New Orleans and the presumed narratives of the vampire in the city merge to become one and the same, blurring the lines between history and fiction, and presenting the notion of folklore as a verifiable entity of the everyday (Kirshenblatt-Gimblett 25) It is essential to remember, en passant, that, as far as giving the undead their own historical chronicles in connection to New Orleans, The Originals is not alone in doing this. Other TV series like American Horror Story have provided Gothicised histories for the city, although in this case more connected to witchcraft, hoodoo, and voodoo, rather than vampires.What one can see taking place in The Originals is a form of alternate and revisionist history that is reminiscent of several instances of pulp and science fiction from the early 20th century, where the Gothic element lies at the centre of not only the fictional narrative, but also of the re-conceptualisation of historical time and space, as not absolute entities, but as narratives open to interpretation (Singles 103). The re-interpretation here is of course connected to the cultural anxieties that are intrinsic to the Gothic – of changes, shifts, and unwanted returns - and the vampire as a figure of intersections, signalling the shift between stages of existence. If it is true that, to paraphrase Paul Ricoeur’s famous contention, the past returns to “haunt” us (105), then the history of New Orleans in The Originals is both established and haunted by vampires, a pervasive shadow that provides the city itself with an almost tangible Gothic afterlife. This connection, of course, extends beyond the fictional world of the television series, and finds fertile ground in the cultural narratives that the city constructs for itself. The tourism narrative of New Orleans also lies at the heart of the reconstructive historical imagination, which purposefully re-invents the city as a constructed entity that is, in itself, extremely sellable. The Originals mentions on multiple occasions that certain bars — owned, of course, by vampires — host regular ‘vampire themed events’, to “keep the tourists happy”. The importance of maintaining a steady influx of vampire tourism into the Quarter is made very clear throughout, and the vampires are complicit in fostering it for a number of reasons: not only because it provides them and the city with a constant revenue, but also because it brings a continuous source of fresh blood for the vampires to feed on. As Marcel puts it: “Something's gotta draw in the out-of-towners. Otherwise we'd all go hungry” (Episode 1, “Always and Forever”). New Orleans, it is made clear, is not only portrayed as a vampire hub, but also as a hot spot for vampire tourism; as part of the tourism narratives, the vampires themselves — who commonly feign humanity — actually further ‘pretend’ to be vampires for the tourists, who expect to find vampires in the city. It is made clear in The Originals that vampires often put on a show – and bear in mind, these are vampires who pretend to be human, who pretend to be vampires for the tourists. They channel stereotypes that belong in Gothic novels and films, and that are, as far as the ‘real’ vampires of the series, are concerned, mostly fictional. The vampires that are presented to the tourists in The Originals are, inevitably, inauthentic, for the real vampires themselves purposefully portray the vision of vampires put forward by popular culture, together with its own motifs and stereotypes. The vampires happily perform their popular culture role, in order to meet the expectations of the tourist. This interaction — which sociologist Dean MacCannell would refer to, when discussing the dynamics of tourism, as “staged authenticity” (591) — is the basis of the appeal, and what continues to bring tourists back, generating profits for vampires and humans alike. Nina Auerbach has persuasively argued that the vampire is often eroticised through its connections to the “self-obsessed’ glamour of consumerism that ‘subordinates history to seductive object” (57).With the issue of authenticity brought into sharp relief, The Originals also foregrounds questions of authenticity in relation to New Orleans’s own vampire tourism narrative, which ostensibly bases into historical narratives of magic, horror, and folklore, and constructs a fictionalised urban tale, suitable to the tourism trade. The vampires of the French Quarter in The Originals act as the embodiment of the constructed image of New Orleans as the epitome of a vampire tourist destination. ConclusionThere is a clear suggestion in The Originals that vampires have evolved from simple creatures of old folklore, to ‘products’ that can be sold to expectant tourists. This evolution, as far as popular culture is concerned, is also inevitably tied to the conceptualisation of certain locations as ‘vampiric’, a notion that, in the contemporary era, hinges on intersecting narratives of culture, history, and identity. Within this, New Orleans has successfully constructed an image for itself as a vampire city, exploiting, in a number ways, the popular and purposefully historicised connection to the undead. In both tourism narratives and popular culture, of which The Originals is an ideal example, New Orleans’s urban image — often sited in constructions and re-constructions, re-birth and decay — is presented as a result of the vampire’s own existence, and thrives in the Gothicised afterlife of imagery, symbolism, and cultural persuasion. In these terms, the ‘inauthentic’ vampires of The Originals are an ideal allegory that provides a channelling ground for the issues surrounding the ‘inauthentic’ state of New Orleans a sellable tourism entity. 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