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Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Kiva is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper examines the substantial spike in fatalities that occurred in El Paso, Texas in late 2020 due to an unprecedented surge in COVID-19 infection. It also considers various explanations for the fatality surge, and the fatality management issues observed during the event. The paper suggests what lessons can be learned from this event, in particular those preventable causes that could be avoided in a future outbreak. The paper also examines the gaps in existing mass fatality management processes as they apply to planning for pandemics and mass fatality crisis standards of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Blood spilling into the streets in Charlottesville in August 2017 during a "Unite the Right" white supremacist rally, an August 2019 murderous rampage targeting Latinos at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, and the most recent January 2021 storming of the U.S. Capitol represent only a few of the violent events that have occurred in the past 5 years initiated by far-right white supremacists. Fringe and violent behaviors do not exist in a vacuum. Every day, privileged white folks adhere to hegemonic ideals and engage in racist transgressions that stoke the fires of extreme violence. Significantly, however, some members of the privileged class eventually reject racist ideology and emerge as activists for marginalized populations. Drawing on the theoretical frameworks of Pedagogy for the Privileged, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Transformative Learning Theory, and Critical Whiteness Studies, this paper asks the question: What facilitates a significant ideological shift? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Misinformation (i.e. information identified as false) spreads widely and quickly on social media – a space where crowds of ordinary citizens can become leading voices – during a crisis when information is in short supply. Using the theoretical lenses of socially curated flow and networked gatekeeping frameworks, we address the following three aims: First, we identify emergent opinion leaders in misinformation-related conversations on social media. Second, we explore distinct groups that contribute to online discourses about misinformation. Lastly, we investigate the actual dominance of misinformation within disparate groups in the early phases of mass shooting crises. Design/methodology/approach: This paper used network and cluster analyses of Twitter data that focused on the four most prevalent misinformation themes surrounding the El Paso mass shooting. Findings: A total of seven clusters of users emerged, which were classified into five categories: (1) boundary-spanning hubs, (2) broadly popular individuals, (3) reputation-building hubs, (4) locally popular individuals and (5) non-opinion leaders. Additionally, a content analysis of 128 tweets in six clusters, excluding the cluster of non-opinion leaders, further demonstrated that the opinion leaders heavily focused on reiterating and propagating misinformation (102 out of 128 tweets) and collectively made zero corrective tweets. Originality/value: These findings expand the intellectual understanding of how various types of opinion leaders can shape the flow of (mis)information in a crisis. Importantly, this study provides new insights into the role of trans-boundary opinion leaders in creating an echo chamber of misinformation by serving as bridges between otherwise fragmented discourses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In arid regions characterized by large variations in groundwater salinity, the data derived from irrigation and domestic water supply wells may exhibit bias, reflecting an overall lower salinity than the true aquifer distribution. This bias stems from the decommissioning, non-use, or disrepair of wells that are frequently sources of higher salinity readings, rendering them unavailable for sampling. Baseflow-fed streams, agricultural drains, seeps, springs issuing into agricultural drains, and randomly located test hole samples tend to manifest higher averages and ranges of salinity when compared to supply wells. Agricultural drain flows, springs, and test holes, if sampled following recommended guidelines, are less susceptible to such bias. This study presents a case of groundwater bias identified through an initial water well sampling program in El Paso (Texas, USA). Subsequent rounds of sampling, incorporating drain samples, spring samples, and test hole samples, revealed a more comprehensive understanding of the salinity dynamics. The dataset not only highlights the existence of bias but also provides evidence for a combined geological and agricultural origin of salinity. Additionally, it demonstrates that drain sampling in an earlier study did not accurately depict a primary salinity source due to incomplete analysis of the data. Recommendations are outlined to mitigate bias, emphasizing the importance of sample control from baseflow-fed drains, springs, water wells, and test hole samples. The study also infers the upwelling of saline groundwater from deeper formations in the study area, contributing to a more comprehensive understanding of groundwater salinity dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the cultural identity expressed by The XII Travelers Memorial of the Southwest in El Paso, Texas, USA. According to the monument's statement, the memorial is an ongoing regional project formed by "... 12 heroic bronze monuments celebrating the multicultural contributions of both men and women to the development of the Southwest." The paper's argument is threefold. First, it argues that the XII Travelers project could be regarded as a collage that incorporates different historical and cultural references into a single narrative. Secondly, by doing this, the memorial blurs spatial scales and builds a regional history with El Paso at its center. Finally, the paper suggests that the construction of this heroic and multicultural regional identity must be understood in relation to growing tourist activities and the expectations that visitors have about a Southern border area in USA. The research is based on a critical review of the material produced by The XII Travelers Foundation and the examination of the characters and monuments of Fray García and Juan de Oñate, the only two approved travelers of the proposed list. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Desalination will become an increasingly important water resource to supply a growing world population that will face greater water scarcity in the coming decades. Desalination processes are energy‐intensive and currently rely on fossil fuels that contribute to global warming and exacerbate the planet's water woes. Solar power, as a low‐carbon energy resource, can reduce desalination's environmental footprint. However, there are many logistical considerations to take into account when planning solar desalination projects. This paper examines six of these issues, which include: (a) the spatial distribution of solar energy and saline water, (b) modeling tools to measure the financial feasibility of solar powered desalination plants, (c) community approval, (d) interconnection policies for solar desalination plants connected to the regional grid, (e) combining solar energy with other renewable energy sources, and (f) potential carbon savings from switching to solar energy. The paper will conduct its analysis through four key case studies in El Paso, Texas, Abilene, Texas, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, and Denmark, Australia. The paper concludes with a discussion on how improved solar technology will further the economic prospects of solar desalination and an analysis of brine disposal options that include siting seawater desalination operations in waters with high circulation and explaining how brine harvesting could lead to useful economic mineral products such as sodium, chlorine, potassium, and magnesium. This article is categorized under:Engineering Water > Sustainable Engineering of Water [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With Patrick Crusuis' 2019 attack that killed twenty-two people in El Paso, Texas, discussions of ecofascism were thrust into mainstream news outlets and magazines. In his manifesto, Crusius described himself as an "ecofascist" seeking to challenge the "environmental warfare" of immigration. His choice of target, a Walmart frequented by Mexican immigrants, reflects this ideological connection between ecological priorities and violent white supremacist ideology. In this paper, the authors provide a review of existing theoretical literature on ecofascism to identify its key characteristics, namely, its Romantic sensibilities, anti-humanism, and mysticism. The authors argue that these features distinguish ecofascism from what other scholars have deemed "far-right ecologisms." Following this, the authors draw on a larger corpus of data gathered from Twitter and Telegram between November 2019 and November 2020 to identify common themes in ecofascist circles, including the thinkers they frequently cite. The dataset examined shows notable differences in the types of content shared in ecofascist groups compared to the far-right more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay examines public artworks by Jari "WERC" Alvarez and Geraldine "Gera" Lozano in San Diego, California, and El Paso, Texas. It theorizes "bricozaje," a concept that combines the terms "bricolage" and "mestizaje," to argue that the artists enact a reparative relationship to the works' sites through their use of imagery. The essay first looks at Alvarez's and Lozano's sketchbooks to trace bricozaje's valences as a material practice and critique of bricolage. It proceeds to examine bricozaje as a collaborative practice through the creation of La Entrada (2009), a mural project in San Diego. It then contextualizes the public art project Bright Women (2011) in relation to representations of the US-Mexico border, and concludes by articulating how bricozaje acts as a formal strategy through Lozano's engagement with gendered iconography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Cuadernos de Literatura del Caribe e Hispanoamerica is the property of Revista Cuadernos de Literatura del Caribe e Hispanoamerica and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper uses primary and secondary sources to analyse the El Paso-Ciudad Juárez binational monorail project from 1964 to 1976 within the overall context of the growth of the cities as urban centres and the development of cross-border public transit links. The most significant of the earlier ties was the international streetcar line, which functioned for over 90 years and was a predecessor to the monorail project. The paper examines the complexities of negotiating and building an international transport project of this nature as well as the principal business and political directors of the El Paso International Monorail Corporation (IMC) and its Juárez counterpart, Monorriel Internacional (MI). It concludes with an assessment of the current outlook for cross-border mass transit projects in the light of the notable increment in USA border security and inspection controls of recent decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On August 3rd, 2019, a racially-charged mass shooting occurred at Walmart in El Paso, TX that killed 23 people and injured another 23. Following the Walmart shooting, students in this borderland region wrote essays related to their experiences. We used the themes we identified to inform implications for teaching writing and composition for middle school level instruction. Student themes reflected affective, behavioral and cognitive reactions to violence. Students' proposed actions to address violence included themes at the national/global level and personal level. Essential attributes from This We Believe and critical expressivism provide insights for writing pedagogy which encourages students to connect their experiences with violence to their own personal thoughts, emotions, and solutions. Some recommended critical expressivist activities educators can include in their work with students are: low-stakes writing focused on experiences with violence, specific readings connected to experiences of violence, journaling about encounters with violence, poetry, and the creation of a research paper on the effects of violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper documents the experience of teaching college students how to rethink the border by doing fieldwork in El Paso, Texas. Students were asked to encounter the border fence through, for example, personal visits to a part of the borderline, journaling, photography, writing poetry, or creating multimedia. Classroom discussions before the assignments revealed that many students had not previously taken the time and effort to study their communities from a larger social, theoretical, and historical perspective. This article discusses the initial challenges and the overall pedagogical success of this approach by showcasing some of the student work reflecting on the border fence. The paper includes some of the insights that border residents have about the U.S.-Mexico border between Ciudad Juárez and El Paso. These reflections and testimonies show how various individuals create different social meanings about the border region in general and the border fence in particular depending on their own positionality based on age, gender, ethnicity, language, and immigration experience. The border changes form along its distance and different actors interpret their encounters with it in diametrically different ways. The border is not a moving target but it manifests differently in the lives of border residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reliable forecasts of water demand that account for factors that drive demand are imperative to understanding future urban water needs. The effects of meteorological dynamics and sociocultural settings are expressed weakly in many published municipal water demand models, limiting their utility for high-accuracy urban water demand modeling. To fill this gap, this paper presents an empirical daily urban water demand model based on a 365-day trailing average per capita demand that incorporates functions and factors for meteorological, seasonal, policy, and cultural driving forces. A nonlinear iterative regression model of daily water demand was calibrated and validated with historical data (2005–2015) for El Paso, Texas, a major urban area in the American southwest which had a consistent water conservation policy during the study period. The model includes daily temperature and precipitation response functions (which modify demand by as much as ±20% relative to the annual average), as well as factors that capture effects of month of the year, day of the week, and special holidays (which modify demand within ±15% relative to the annual average). For the validation period (2011–2015), the model performed well, with a coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.95, a Nash–Sutcliff efficiency of 0.94, a mean absolute-value relative error of 4.38%, a relative standard error of estimate of 5.82%, a relative RMS error of 5.71%, and a mean absolute-value peak-day error of 2.78%. The use of these site-specific demand variables and response curves facilitates parsimonious urban water demand forecast modeling for regional water security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the early precursors of organized criminal subcultures using the U.S.-Mexico border city of El Paso, Texas as a case-study. El Paso is known as the birthplace of the pachuco; the Mexican Americans' original street-oriented subculture. It formed the basis for the numerous delinquent groups that would emerge there throughout the decades, ultimately producing a binational organized crime syndicate called the Barrio Azteca. This barrio-prison-cartel hybrid is a modern group with deep roots in the street-gang subcultures of the region. The current study shows that its ties to drug gangs in Ciudad Juárez and subsequent federal prosecutions were recent catalysts in its escalation as a unique cross-border entity. The work is informed by archival material, police data, and multi-faceted fieldwork with gang members and police. It illustrates how the El Paso-Juárez metroplex has fostered particular criminological dynamics not seen in any other place in the U.S. to date. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article uses a 1958–1962 strike at the Peyton Packing Company in El Paso, Texas, to examine how labor unions in the U.S.–Mexico borderlands used racial stereotypes and Cold War paranoia to influence the adoption of a more rigorous labor certification standard for those applying for a visa to enter the United State. Ultimately, labor unions and Mexican American workers sought to end the practice of border commuting by adopting and advancing the language of immigration restriction deployed by many Mexican American civil rights leaders of the era. This rhetoric ignored pleas for improving the minimum wage laws and protections and overlooked the fact that many border commuters wanted to migrate to the United States, but were often prevented from doing so by existing immigration laws. This case study forces historians of immigration and labor to reassess the role that labor unions played in helping to make the 1965 Hart-Cellar Act more exclusionary than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We continue to address the challenge of improving concentrate disposal for the large 15 mgd (2370 m³/h) inland reverse osmosis (RO) plant in El Paso, Texas. For the first time on a pilot scale, the feasibility of using two RO systems in tandem and using appropriate antiscalants and pH control, continuous production of permeate to limiting osmotic pressure of about 1000 psi (69 Bars) is possible [1,2,12]. Recovery is simply limited by the highest pump pressure available to overcome the resulting osmotic pressure [2]. Tandem RO without interstage treatment is being demonstrated. We envision that such a continuously operated tandem RO process can recover all the water possible to be produced from brackish ground waters at the highest possible pump pressures. At the maximum system pressure of 1000 psi, the highest total dissolved solids attainable in the concentrate are about 8-9% by weight. Anticipating the universal application of the continuous tandem RO process to generate super RO concentrates, an alternate path is now open for fractional crystallization of salts before thermal evaporation of water. Pursuing the development of an economical zero-liquid-discharge process applicable to inland municipal water treatment plants, we wish to explore the feasibility of fractionating the less soluble divalent calcium and magnesium salts from the monovalent sodium and potassium salts. In relatively large amounts, even in mixtures, these fractionated salts may have economic values such as in soil and dust control and for softening and deicing applications. Further more, 8-9% brine softened by the removal of multivalent salts and silica may have utility in cooling towers while being thermally concentrated for the ultimate recovery of the soluble sodium and potassium salts. In this paper, we present our initial investigation into a super-concentrate depleted of bicarbonates due to acidification needed for silica control. The concentrate at maximum recovery with a secondary RO in tandem in the demonstration plant was treated for calcium sulfate, magnesium, iron and silica precipitation. This paper describes the laboratory conditions used and observations made on the use of lime in preparation for scale-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incidents are a major source of traffic congestion and can lead to long and unpredictable delays, deteriorating traffic operations and adverse environmental impacts. The emergence of connected vehicles and communication technologies has enabled travelers to use real-time traffic information. The ability to exchange traffic information among vehicles has tremendous potential impacts on network performance especially in the case of non-recurrent congestion. To this end, this paper utilizes a microscopic simulation model of traffic in El Paso, Texas to investigate the impacts of incidents on traffic operation and fuel consumption at different market penetration rates (MPR) of connected vehicles. Several scenarios are implemented and tested to determine the impacts of incidents on network performance in an urban area. The scenarios are defined by changing the duration of incidents and the number of lanes closed. This study also shows how communication technology affects network performance in response to congestion. The results of the study demonstrate the potential effectiveness of connected vehicle technology in improving network performance. For an incident with a duration of 900 s and MPR of 80%, total fuel consumption and total travel time decreased by approximately 20%; 26% was observed in network-wide travel time and fuel consumption at 100% MPR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents results of a small scale study that utilized particle-tracking techniques to evaluate transport of river water through an alluvial aquifer in a bank infiltration testing site in El Paso, Texas, USA. The particle-tracking survey was used to better define filtration parameters. Several simulations were generated to allow visualization of the effects of well placement and pumping rate on flow paths, travel time, the size of the pumping influence zone, and proportion of river-derived water and groundwater mixing in the pumping well. Simulations indicate that migration of river water into the aquifer is generally slow. Most water does not arrive at the well by the end of an 18-day pumping period at 0.54 m3/min pumping rate for a well located 18 m from the river. Forty-four percent of the water pumped from the well was river water. The models provided important information needed to design appropriate sampling schedules for bank filtration practices and ensured meeting adequate soil-retention times. The pumping rate has more effect on river water travel time than the location of the pumping well from the river. The examples presented in this paper indicate that operating the pumping well at a doubled distance from the river increased the time required for the water to travel to the well, but did not greatly change the capture zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Betty Mary Goetting opened the first birth control clinic on the U.S.-Mexico border in 1937. The rhetoric she used to advocate for contraception in El Paso, Texas, paralleled eugenic trends in the birth control movement nationwide, focused on curbing fertility rates among those considered of poor mind and body. Where previous studies focus on the urban North, this borderlands case study places the birth control movement’s attention to overpopulation within the context of immigration restrictions at the U.S.- Mexico border. Goetting’s birth control campaigns, supported by the movement’s pioneer Margaret Sanger, targeted Mexican-origin women as part of a larger process that sought to protect the body politic from non-white immigrants while simultaneously exploiting their labor. Despite Catholic backlash against birth control and the racist rhetoric of Anglo birth control advocates, Mexican-origin women enthusiastically visited the El Paso birth control clinic. Given the dearth of health care afforded working-class, Mexican-origin women at this time, hundreds of women used the clinic’s services for their own purposes—reminding us that birth control movements offer a paradox of coercion and choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay contributes to literature on the intersections of white settler colonialisms, racial capitalism, and U.S.-Mexico borderlands history by tracing the web of spatial, temporal, and legal power relations that produced El Paso, Texas' seemingly legitimate possession of stolen Mexican territory known as "El Chamizal" in the El Paso-Cd. Juárez borderlands. This land theft became the Chamizal Dispute: an international land and boundary conflict between the U.S. and Mexico caused by the meandering Río Grande that defines the "fixed" international border between El Paso, Texas and Cd. Juárez, Chihuahua. In the 1860s, multiple shifts in the Rio Grande "relocated" El Chamizal north of this river/boundary. Soon thereafter, and despite Mexico's sustained claim to and jurisdiction over this land, recently arrived Anglo American settlers incorporated El Chamizal into the nascent City of El Paso. In 1964, the U.S. and Mexico finally agreed to resolve this conflict by virtue of the landmark Chamizal Treaty, which ceded 630-acres of El Paso to Cd. Juárez as El Chamizal. Contrary to what dominant state accounts and the mainstream historical literature on this settlement would have us believe, however, this ceded land includes only a fraction of the original contested terrain. El Chamizal therefore remains a stolen tract of land nestled within the heart of El Paso. Drawing on oral histories, court testimonies and affidavits, and an array of binational records, this essay demonstrates that this ongoing theft is not a finite or complete project. Rather, the process hinges on a fragile web of spatial, white settler temporal, and legal practices of concealment/denial anchored to a colonial rumor that refuses to open this region to the mystery and wonder of the Río Grande's "wayward life, beautiful experiment in how to live." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Children in low-income neighborhoods tend to be disproportionately exposed to environmental toxicants. This is cause for concern because exposure to environmental toxicants negatively affects health, which can impair academic success. To date, it is unknown if associations between air toxics and academic performance found in previous school-level studies persist when studying individual children. In pairing the National Air Toxics Assessment risk estimates for respiratory and diesel particulate matter risk disaggregated by source, with individual-level data collected through a mail survey, this paper examines the effects of exposure to residential environmental toxics on academic performance for individual children for the first time and adjusts for school-level effects using generalized estimating equations. We find that higher levels of residential air toxics, especially those from non-road mobile sources, are statistically significantly associated with lower grade point averages among fourth- and fifth-grade school children in El Paso (Texas, USA). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug-related homicides in Ciudad Juárez drastically increased beginning in 2008. Few studies have been carried out which assess the economic impacts of crime and homicides. Furthermore, the existing literature generally lacks regional assessment efforts. Because of geographical proximity and close economic ties, this paper reviews some of the potential impacts the Ciudad Juárez homicides may have on the El Paso regional economy. A time series data approach is employed to quantify links between organized crime homicides in Ciudad Juárez and economic conditions in El Paso as measured by the metropolitan business cycle index and total nonagricultural employment. Findings indicate that fluctuations in the number of Ciudad Juárez homicides impact both variables in statistically significant manners at multiple time lags. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper places El Paso's queer community in a larger discussion with the theory of intersectionality by exploring the city's longest running "alternative" nightclub, the Old Plantation (or OP), across four decades -- the 1970s to 2010s. By examining queer encounters along the U.S-Mexico border, it uncovers racial and sexual anxieties between the American imperial state vis-à-vis military soldiers in Fort Bliss and the surrounding queer Latina/o population. Different than other studies of homosexual life, it argues that scholars should engage community-based methods such as oral history to "create" an archive of queer historical memory. In analyzing several testimonies, it demonstrates how the history of borderland sexuality cannot be studied as a monolith, but through intersectional lenses, as many people of various ethnic origins and communities throughout El Paso defined and negotiated their sexuality in numerous ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The border is everyone's, can be seen by everyone, and is travelled and crossed in multiple and dynamic ways. Northern Mexico's border cities have particular characteristics that distinguish them from others. Ciudad Juárez is one of the 100 most resilient cities, and along with its sister city of El Paso, Texas, is a space that claims the right to the city through "artivism", a series of actions and manifestations of art and resistance. This paper maps and analyses these spatial appropriations in Ciudad Juárez as an essential dimension of the right to urban life and a symbolic territory for dialogue between urban residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper demonstrates how phonetic evidence from the Linguistic Atlas of the United States and Canada can contribute to dialect formation research in the Western United States. Data from A Foundational Sample of El Paso English, a modified Linguistic Atlas-style survey of forty middle-class European Americans native to El Paso, Texas, who came of age during World War II provides evidence comparable to Linguistic Atlas data. Comparison with Texas data from the Linguistic Atlas of the Gulf States in particular reveals outcomes not predicted by the high proportion of original settlers from Texas when El Paso was repopulated as a railroad town and army base in 1880, following the exodus of European Americans during the Civil War. The failure of El Paso English to proportionally reflect the influence of the founder population illuminates the complexity of the forces that drive language change. Dialect formation research in the United States enabled by Linguistic Atlas evidence informs and suggests new directions for developing theories of dialect formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residents in Paso del Norte (El Paso, Texas; Sunland Park, New Mexico; and Juárez, Mexico) have been concerned about heavy metal contamination in their communities since the 1970s, when high blood lead levels were found in children living in Smeltertown – a company town for the local metals smelter. After the smelter's closure in 1999, and throughout onsite and offsite cleanup efforts, residents have continued to express concerns about these contamination issues. Using a politics of scale framework and analysing ethnographic data and government, media and scientific documents, this paper identifies a set of major disjunctures between the scales of heavy metal contamination and the scales at which that contamination is regulated. These disjunctures exacerbate regional environmental injustice by complicating public participation, neglecting vulnerability and displacing hazards to new communities. Consequently, applying a politics of scale framework to this case study highlights regulatory and policy failures to address environmental justice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abudu, S., J.P. King, Z. Sheng, 2011. Comparison of the Performance of Statistical Models in Forecasting Monthly Total Dissolved Solids in the Rio Grande. Journal of the American Water Resources Association (JAWRA) 48(1): 10-23. DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-1688.2011.00587.x Abstract: This paper presents the application of autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), transfer function-noise (TFN), and artificial neural networks (ANNs) modeling approaches in forecasting monthly total dissolved solids (TDS) of water in the Rio Grande at El Paso, Texas. Predictability analysis was performed between the precipitation, temperature, streamflow rates at the site, releases from upstream reservoirs, and monthly TDS using cross-correlation statistical tests. The chi-square test results indicated that the average monthly temperature and precipitation did not show significant predictability on monthly TDS series. The performances of one- to three-month-ahead model forecasts for the testing period of 1984-1994 showed that the TFN model that incorporated the streamflow rates at the site and Caballo Reservoir release improved monthly TDS forecasts slightly better than the ARIMA models. Except for one-month-ahead forecasts, the ANN models using the streamflow rates at the site as inputs resulted in no significant improvements over the TFN models at two-month-ahead and three-month-ahead forecasts. For three-month-ahead forecasts, the simple ARIMA showed similar performance compared to all other models. The results of this study suggested that simple deseasonalized ARIMA models could be used in one- to three-month-ahead TDS forecasting at the study site with a simple, explicit model structure and similar model performance as the TFN and ANN models for better water management in the Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Marcus Felson suggests that analysis of "organized crime" should be undertaken via the study settings, events, and their sequences. This study examines four intertwining settings in the Paso del Norte area: Ciudad Juárez as a plaza, El Paso as a plaza, Prisons, and the streets. It shows just how important settings are for understanding the events that lead to the establishment and maintenance of the protection that allows organized criminal events related to the drug trade to unfold in the region. By examining one region, bifurcated by an international border, this article shows that settings, even those that are in close proximity with one another, can significantly shift the way that protection arrangements are developed, which in turn affect how events unfold. However, criminal actors who move between these settings adapt their strategies to the available protection to maximize opportunity for the illicit enterprises they are involved in. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the decades leading up to the Iranian Revolution of 1978-79, student activism both within Iran as well as abroad played a significant role in developing widespread opposition to Shah Reza Pahlavi's dictatorial government. Youth mobilisation among the Iranian student diaspora reached a pinnacle during the years immediately preceding the revolution and drew direct connections with other anti-imperialist, pro-democratic campaigns simultaneously occurring around the world. In the US/Mexico border city, El Paso, Texas, this global phenomenon manifested in the cross-cultural collaboration of Chicano and Iranian student activists. This paper presents a micro-history of the interethnic collaborative activism of these two groups; and how it provided a community of solidarity for the Iranian youth who comprised a social base that helped bring about the Iranian Revolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a case study of using remote sensing and geographic information system technology for extracting green-surface areas of a residential neighborhood (933.20 acres) of El Paso, Texas. Four IKONOS images (September 2000) and a parcel layer were used to identify the green-surface areas which is an important variable in modelling the outdoor water use of individual households. The modelled outdoor water use together with indoor water use was compared with water meter reading and was used to analyse the behaviour of individual household-based water consumption. The modelling processes improve our understanding of water consumption and resource distributions so that a better decision in water management can be made. The results showed that pervious (green) and impervious surfaces constitute 26% and 74% of the total area of the 2422 parcel lots, and 21% and 79% of the entire study area, respectively. Average indoor water use of 2374 residential parcels is 31 m3 (or 11 ccf) per month, derived by averaging the water use of December, January and February. Estimation of outdoor water demand for the landscape was based on monthly potential evapotranspiration information and the delineated green-surface area of each parcel. Thus, the difference between the water meter reading and estimated (indoor and outdoor) water uses can be calculated. This study provides an alternative and quick approach to help water departments in efficiently monitoring the water use of each household. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, ground-level ozone exposure has led to a significant increase in environmental and health risks. Thus, it is essential to measure and monitor atmospheric ozone concentration levels. Specifically, recent improvements in machine learning (ML) processes, based on statistical modeling, have provided a better approach to solving these risks. In this study, we compare Naive Bayes, K-Nearest Neighbors, Decision Tree, Stochastic Gradient Descent, and Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) algorithms and their ensemble technique to classify ground-level ozone concentration in the El Paso-Juarez area. As El Paso-Juarez is a non-attainment city, the concentrations of several air pollutants and meteorological parameters were analyzed. We found that the ensemble (soft voting classifier) of algorithms used in this paper provide high classification accuracy (94.55%) for the ozone dataset. Furthermore, variables that are highly responsible for the high ozone concentration such as Nitrogen Oxide (NOx), Wind Speed and Gust, and Solar radiation have been discovered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Hueco Bolson aquifer is a binational aquifer shared by the United States of America (USA) and Mexico that is strongly interconnected with the transboundary river, Rio Grande/Rio Bravo. Limited recharge, increasing urbanization, and intensified agriculture have resulted in the over-drafting of groundwater resources and stressed the aquifer, threatening its sustainability if mitigation actions are not taken soon. Research indicates that the aquifer's hydraulic gradients and flow directions have changed due to the high groundwater withdrawal rates from the two major cities—El Paso (USA) and Ciudad Juarez (Mexico). This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the Hueco Bolson aquifer modeling history and makes a case for future modeling and binational engagement efforts. First, we discuss the evolution of groundwater modeling for Hueco Bolson from the past to recent times. Second, we discuss the main water management issues in the area, including water quality and quantity, stakeholders' participation, and climate change. To address the challenges of holistic water management, we propose developing a graphical quantitative modeling framework (e.g., system model and Bayesian belief network) to include experts' opinions and enhance stakeholders' participation in the model. Though the insights are based on a case study of Hueco Bolson, the approaches discussed in this study can provide new strategies to overcome the challenges of managing a transboundary aquifer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Because of the growing internationalization of the US economy, a literature has developed on the impacts of globalization on US industries and regions. In this paper we look at four MSAs that have a long history of integration with Mexico and test how their overall business cycles are connected to those of the broader economies that surround them. As globalization increases in the US, the lessons learned from these MSAs can be useful for cities trying to understand how globalization may impact them in the future. Results suggest that the border MSAs are significantly integrated with the broader economies that surround them but that the integration varies based on the structure of the local economy. Border MSAs that have large retail sectors that sell to Mexican nationals are more integrated with the Mexican economy, while El Paso, which has a close relationship with the maquiladora sector in Juarez, is more integrated with the US and Texas economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this multidisciplinary study, mathematical and economic tools are used to assess the potential benefits of water transfers between the agricultural and municipal sectors in El Paso County, Texas. The scenarios are based on water consumption and revenue data over the last 20 years. The study demonstrates that pima cotton has historically consumed the greatest quantities of water while generating the least revenue to farmers (average gross revenues over 20 years equals US$3OO/acre-foot of water); peppers and onions have gross revenues of US$980/acre-foot and US$1,260/acre-foot, respectively. The study also indicates that equal amounts of water generate higher revenues in the municipal sector versus the agricultural sector In 1999, 90,000 million gallons of water would have generated US$175,000,000 in the municipal sector in comparison to US$ 90,000,000 in the agricultural sector Finally, an “El Paso Water Transfer Center” is proposed to create a water market in El Paso County and dictate water prices based on supply/demand interactions. The water transfer center will also insure that farmers receive monetary incentives for the water they conserve and transfer to the municipal sector An acre-foot (AF) is the volume of water that would cover one acre to a depth of one foot, which is 43,560 cubic feet or 1233.5 cubic meters. This measurement unit is used in this paper since the literature, agreements and negotiations rely on acre-foot measurements in this region. Keeping the units in acre-feet will facilitate negotiations and applications of this study to regional users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This section is maintained by Vladik Kreinovich. Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to: Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traffic-related air pollutants are especially prevalent in border cities with multiple ports of entry (POEs). Excessive emissions due to long delays of idling commercial and passenger vehicles at the POEs could exacerbate various types of respiratory health conditions for the POE users and workers. We conducted a 1-month in-traffic air monitoring campaign at a POE in El Paso, Texas using three continuous FEM instruments for three criteria pollutants (PM, O3, and NO2). Concurrent monitoring of PM in the nearby community was performed using a number of low-cost PM sensors. The 1-month average PM2.5 concentration at the POE was found below 11.6 µg/m3, while the 5-min average of in-traffic PM2.5 concentration could be as high as 450 µg/m3. The in-traffic PM2.5 concentrations were comparable to the data concurrently measured in a state-operated community monitoring site approximately 0.4 km away from the POE. Ozone (O3) concentrations remained low in the region. The in-traffic 1-h NO2 concentrations were below the 1-h NAAQS of 100 ppb, except for only two 5-min intervals. Our results suggest that traffic emissions do not result in elevated levels of pollutant concentrations at this POE compared to the concentration levels observed in the nearby community. In addition, the performance and accuracy of the low-cost sensors appear to be less reliable during our study, although the devices were capable of detecting the trends and variability in pollutant concentrations in real time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

El Paso, bilingual from the outset, becomes ever more so because its larger twin, Ciudad Juárez, is monolingual, and because Juárez grows rapidly. This paper discusses the linguistic impact on work, commerce and education of the fact that Spanish has a demographic advantage in the international region. In El Paso, many Juárez residents work with other Mexicans or Mexican Americans who emigrated after childhood, guaranteeing that certain jobs are hispanophone. El Pasoans unable or unwilling to speak English can take advantage of the extent to which El Paso functions in Spanish for the benefit of Juárez residents. Also discussed is the relationship between neighborhood and language proficiency; the issue of national identity; and the large number of Juárez youngsters who attend El Paso schools. For clearly instrumental reasons alone, El Paso's Mexican Americans must learn English but cannot afford to relinquish Spanish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This critical classroom study of language oppression draws from the notion of existing inequalities based on power relations in education research, as addressed in a critical ethnography. This critical classroom study explores the cases of two recent immigrant students, "Manuel" and "Malena," on the – U.S.–Mexican border near El Paso, Texas, who were attending a fifth-grade dual language class at "Border PK-5 Elementary School" (pseudonyms). This school followed a 50/50 dual immersion model from K-fourth grade. By the fifth grade in this school, 70% of the academic time was taught in English and 30% in Spanish. Documented data from observations in the classroom and students' multimodal testimonios reveal acts of linguistic bullying against the two recent immigrants based on their underdeveloped second language, English, when self-regulated learning was at work in a cooperative learning environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The terrorist attacks in Christchurch in March 2019 and El Paso five months later emphasised the renewed relevance of ecofascism to the extreme right. This study advances an integrated definition of ecofascism with respect to the historical and contemporary extreme right. It found ecofascism to be a reactionary and revolutionary ideology that champions the regeneration of an imagined community through a return to a romanticised, ethnopluralist vision of the natural order. Ecofascists believe that their chosen community has weakened because the connection to nature has been disrupted by the forces of modernity, spanning industrialisation, urbanisation, multiculturalism, materialism, and individualism. Ecofascists therefore seek the complete rebirth of their imagined community through a return to nature, which they believe will restore the people to a state of authenticity and dominance. Because the community is based on racial constructs, the ecofascist vision of ecological harmony manifests as racial segregation based on place. This provides a platform for ecofascists to justify expelling or destroying people they deem unnatural or disruptive to the ecosystem. In settler societies, ecofascism provides the premise by which immigrants can reject and expel other immigrants, while simultaneously claiming an authentic connection with nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Studies focusing on virga are rare, even though it is a commonly occurring phenomenon. In this study, we investigated aerosol backscatter profiles from a ceilometer located on The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) campus from 2015–2021 to identify virga events. Ceilometer data effectively captured virga events from regular precipitation based on the backscattering intensities. To characterize the virga phenomena, a systematic method was developed using ceilometer profiles, soundings, surface rain gauges, and radar data from the nearest National Weather Service (NWS) site. A total of 50 virga events were identified during the study period. These events appeared only during a specific time of the year, revealing a seasonal occurrence pattern. We identified and classified these virga events and investigated their impact on the surface measurements recorded by the on-campus Continuous Ambient Air Monitoring Station (CAMS). Virga events were classified as columnar and non-columnar events based on their aerosol profiles. We observed that during some of the columnar virga events, surface particulate matter (PM) levels displayed a sudden upward trend indicating aerosol loading in the surface layer after precipitation evaporation. In total, 20 of the virga events showed a columnar structure out of the 50 identified in this study. More detailed analysis of selected events shows that virga affects regional air quality. A significant result of this study is that analysis of sudden changes in local air quality needs to consider the possible effects of virga on the surface layer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is to establish a new approach to estimate river salinity of semi‐arid agricultural watershed and identify drivers by using hydrologic modeling and machine learning. We augmented the limitations of the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) to model salinity by coupling with eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost), a decision‐tree‐based ensemble machine learning algorithm. Streamflow, precipitation, elevation, main reach length, and dominant soil texture of the top two layers were used along with NO3, NO2, and total phosphorus (TP) output from a calibrated SWAT model are used as predictors to Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) in the XGBoost algorithm. Then, the SWAT model simulations of streamflow, NO3+NO2, and TP from 2000 to 2015 are used as inputs of the XGBoost model to predict monthly water TDS distribution along the river. The predicted river water TDS showed a higher concentration as going downstream from El Paso (inlet) through the Hudspeth canal to Fort Quitman (outlet). Finally, this study carried out cause analysis focusing on soil physical characteristics. The soil salinity level is directly affected by the soil permeability and irrigation water. As a result, the highest TDS is shown in sites with silt loam, whereas the lowest TDS was shown in sites with very cobbly soil. Silt soils can hold more water and are slower to drain than soils of a sand type. These analyses can be used to better understand the mitigation of water salinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please send your abstracts (or copies of papers that you want to see reviewed here) to vladik@utep.edu, or by regular mail to Vladik Kreinovich, Department of Computer Science, University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, TX 79968, USA... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]