This study developed a hybrid wavelet–bootstrapartifi cial neural network (WBANN) model for weekly (one week) urban water demand forecasting in situations with limited data availability. The proposed WBANN method is aimed at improving the accuracy and reliability of water demand forecasting. Daily maximum temperature, total precipitation and water demand data for almost three years were used in this study. It was concluded that the hybrid WBANN model was more accurate compared to the ANN, BANN and WANN methods, and can be applied successfully for operational water demand forecasting. The WBANN model simulated peak water demand very effectively. The better performance of the WBANN model indicated that wavelet analysis signifi cantly improved the model’s performance, whereas the bootstrap technique improved the reliability of forecasts by producing ensemble forecasts. The WBANN model was also found to be effective in assessing the uncertainty associated with water demand forecasts in terms of confi dence bands; this can be helpful in operational water demand forecasting.
Five new species and one new genus of the subfamily Harpirhynchinae (Acariformes: Harpirhynchidae) are described from birds in Canada: Harpyrhynchoides heatherae sp. nov. from Junco hyemalis (Passeriformes: Emberizidae), H. botaurus sp. nov. from Botaurus lentiginosus (Pelecaniformes: Ardeidae), H. phalaropus sp. nov. from Phalaropus lobatus (Charadriiformes: Scolopacidae), Neharpyrhynchus loxia sp. nov. from Loxia curvirostra (Passeriformes: Fringillidae), and Fainharpirhynchus contopus gen. nov., sp. nov. from Contopus cooperi (Passeriformes: Tyrannidae). Additionally, 3 species were recorded in Canada (Manitoba) for the first time: Harpyrhynchoides tracheatus (Fritsch, 1954) from Buteo jamaicensis (Accipitriformes: Accipitridae) (new host), H. modestus (Fain, 1976) from Columba livia (Columbiformes: Columbidae) (new host), and Neharpyrhynchus pilirostris (Berlese et Trouessart, 1889) from Passer domesticus (Passeriformes: Passeridae).
Colonies of the rugose corals Nemistium liardense sp. nov. and Heritschioides simplex sp. nov. were collected from limestone in the upper member of the Mattson Formation in the Liard Range in the Northwest Territories and are the only known identifiable coral species from the Mattson Fm. The Mattson Fm., deposited in the Liard Basin west of the syndepositional Bovie reverse fault, comprises sandstone with subordinate shale and carbonates deposited during several delta cycles. The close morphological similarity and identical mode of offsetting in N. liardense colonies from the Mattson Fm. and the allochthonous Stikine Terrane of British Columbia indicate they belong in the same species. This and the morphological similarity between H. simplex and the late Serpukhovian to early Bashkirian H. columbicum allow assignment of the coral-bearing part of the upper Mattson Fm. to Bashkirian Foraminiferal Biozone 20. Widespread occurrence of the genus Nemistium confirms open communication between the Liard Basin region and the western European and northern African seas.
A number of well exposed and structurally simple, graptolite sections, ranging in age from latest Ordovician through Wenlockian strata are present in the northern Canadian Cordillera. Recent more detailed sampling permits much finer zonation, than previously possible. The following lower and middle Llandoverian zones (following the zonal scheme of Hutt 1975) are recognized or tentatively recognized: acuminatus Zone, atavus Zone, acinaces Zone, gregarius Zone, triangulatus Zone, magnus Zone?, argenteus Zone, convotutus Zone, sedgwicki Zone, and turricutatus Zone. The crispus, griestoniensis and crenulata Zones are only tentatively and indirectly recognizable; instead, expanded and stratigraphically thick spiralis and Cyrtograptus sakmaricus - C. laqueus Zones appear to represent biofacies equivalents. The latter zone is correlated with the grandis and lapworthi Zone of some writers. The earliest Wenlockian centrifugus Zone may be present in a single section. The lowest Llandoverian persculptus Zone is only tentatively recognized, but there appears to be no evidence for a stratigraphic break between the Ordovician and Silurian. Lower and middle Llandoverian zones are thin, whereas those of the upper Llandoverian are considerably thicker, a fact probably related to the temporal duration of the zones.