Harmonizing Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation in Transportation and Land-Use Planning in California Cities

Abstract: Recent extreme weather events in California—wildfires, drought, and flooding—make abundantly clear the need to plan effective responses to both the causes and the consequences of climate change. A central challenge for climate planning efforts has been identifying transportation and land-use (TLU) strategies that simultaneously reduce greenhouse gas emissions (“mitigation”) and adapt communities so that they will be less affected by the adverse impacts of climate change (“adaptation”). Sets of policies that collectively address both mitigation and adaptation are known as “integrated actions.” This study explores municipal climate planning in California to determine whether cities incorporate integrated actions into their plans, assess the potential drivers of conflict between mitigation and adaptation in municipal plans, and identify ways the State of California can help cities more effectively incorporate integrated actions. The study methods consisted of a detailed analysis of climate planning documents from 23 California cities with particularly long histories of climate planning, plus interviews with 25 local, regional, and state officials who work on municipal climate planning. The authors found that some cities did adopt packages of integrated actions, and, promisingly, two cities with recently updated climate plans explicitly focused on the need for integrated actions. However, most cities addressed climate mitigation and adaptation in separate efforts, potentially reducing synergies between the two types of action and even creating conflicts. Since the first generation of climate action plans focused primarily on mitigation of greenhouse gases (GHGs), adaptation strategies have not yet been effectively or fully combined into mitigation plans in many cities. Also, a cross-comparison of plan content and interview data suggests that cities often had sets of policies that could potentially create conflicts—mitigation policies that would undermine adaptation capacity, and vice versa. In addition, where a city did adopt integrated actions, these efforts are typically not labeled as such, nor do the policies appear within the same policy document. The study findings suggest promising steps that both municipal and state governments can take to support integrated TLU actions at the local level. For example, cities can proactively link the content in climate mitigation and adaptation plans—a process that will require building the capacity for cross-collaboration between the various departments in charge of developing, implementing, and monitoring climate-related plans. As for the state government, it can provide funding specifically for planning and implementing integrated actions, offer technical support to help municipalities adopt programs and projects that produce integrated mitigation and adaptation benefits, and fund research in the area of integrated actions

Synthesis of Reduced Graphene Oxide Using Novel Exfoliation Technique and its Characterizations

For processing of graphene based composite materials Graphene oxide is considered to be the main precursor. Though epitaxial growth and chemical vapor deposition techniques have been utilized to get monolayers of graphene, wet chemical process have been used for its large scale synthesis. For the extraction of graphene monolayer the chemical route relies on the weakening of the Van der Waals cohesive force upon the insertion of reactants in the inter layer space as a consequence sp2 lattice is partially degraded into a sp2-sp3 sheet that possesses a less π-π stacking stability. The method described here uses a novel chemical exfoliation technique. The graphite from the pencil lead is used as the precursor and it is treated with alcohol-ketone-surfactant mixture and mechanically and thermally agitated so as to get the golden brown colored suspension. The material was characterized by Fourier Transform Infra Red spectroscopy. The absence of 1570 cm – 1 peak clearly indicates the oxidation of C = C bonds. The SEM images confirmed the presence of the nanoplatelets of graphene oxide. The AFM analysis confirmed the sheet thickness of the graphene oxide sheets to be < 5 nm. The sheet resistance of the sheets of thermally treated graphene oxide or reduced graphene oxide on Si wafer (p-type, 4-6 Ω/cm) was measured as 200-300 Ω/□. The Ellipsometric characterisations also matches with that of the thermally reduced graphene oxide films formed. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/3102

A rare case report on uterine perforation by levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine device

A levonorgestrel-containing intrauterine contraceptive devices are widely used in contemporary gynaecology, primarily as an effective method for contraception and for control of menstrual disorders like menorrhagia and dysmenorrhea. A case report of the uterine perforation by the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (LNG-IUD) in a 33-year-old asymptomatic woman after an 18-month of insertion. On routine cervical smear examination, the LNG-IUD threads were not visualised through the cervical os. After abdominal ultrasound scan the confirmation of perforated LNG-IUD was done and was removed laparoscopically

A comparative study to assess the efficacy of oral versus vaginal route of misoprostol in missed first trimester abortion

Background: Aim of the study to contrast the effectiveness of misoprostol taken oral vs vaginal method, for the management of missed abortion in the early trimester, and to acknowledge misoprostol value in cervical dilatation before any surgical pregnancy termination, Methods: Comparing the efficacy of misoprostol, by vaginal and oral routes, for termination of first trimester missed abortion was conducted in the department of obstetrics and gynaecology, at DR B. R. Ambedkar medical college and hospital, Bangalore. 2 groups were made as group A and group B which had 24 participants in each group and a total of 48 participants, in which group A was given misoprostol 400 mcg orally, maximum up to 3 doses and group B was given misoprostol 400 mcg maximum up to 3 doses and outcome was documented. Primary outcome expecting drug-induced complete expulsion of products of conception (POCs). Secondary outcomes measured were induction expulsion interval, number of doses required, classification of failures, cervical canal permeability in women requiring surgical evacuation, side effects. Results: Both oral and vaginal routes are highly effective (oral=75%, vaginal=91.7%, p=2.400), safe and acceptable with tolerable side effects. The mean time to expulsion was longer (10.55 hours) in the oral than vaginal group (8.09 hours). All unsuccessful cases, 2 in vaginal group and 6 in oral group had permeable cervices prior to surgical evacuation. Most of the side effects were tolerable in both groups. Conclusions: Vaginal route of misoprostol is more effective than oral misoprostol for first trimester missed abortion.

Evaluation and comparison of analgesic activity of essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis and Thymus vulgaris: an experimental study

Background: Since the time of stone age herbs in its natural forms are used for a variety of medicinal purposes including the treatment of pain. Research in herbal medicine is in a relatively early phase. Herbal approaches usually have been pursued because of the perception that these therapies are gentler and cause fewer side effects than allopathic treatment. The aim was to evaluate and compare the analgesic activity of essential oil of Rosmarinus officinalis and Thymus vulgaris in wistar rats.Methods: Wistar rats and hot plate method was used for this study. Control group (Group A) of 6 animals was given normal saline. Group B of 6 animals was given standard analgesic drug, aspirin (200mg/kg body weight). Group C of 6 rats was given REO at 100, 200, 300 and 400 mg/kg body weight on day 1, 2, 3 and 4 while Group D of 6 animals was given TEO at doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg body wt. The analgesic activity of REO and TEO in terms of Response Time were noted and depicted in tabular form.Results: Results were analyzed by one-way-Anova and Tukey tests. Analgesic effect of Rosemary oil found to be statistically significant at all four doses, 100, 200, 300 and 400mg/kg body wt compared to control group. TEO was found significantly analgesic at 100 and 200mg/kg body wt compared to control group but at 300mg/kg body it was found lethal. REO was found superior.Conclusions: Analgesic effect of REO and TEO was not comparable to aspirin even at higher concentration like 400mg/kg (REO) but it was significantly more compare to control group

Meeting the Needs of Students with Learning Disabilities in Inclusive Mathematics Classrooms: The Role of Schema-Based Instruction on Mathematical Problem-Solving

In this article, we discuss schema-based instruction (SBI) as an alternative to traditional instruction for enhancing the mathematical problem solving performance of students with learning disabilities (LD). In our most recent research and developmental efforts, we designed SBI to meet the needs of middle school students with LD in inclusive mathematics classrooms by addressing the research literatures in special education, cognitive psychology, and mathematics education. This innovative instructional approach encourages students to look beyond surface features of word problems to grasp the underlying mathematical structure of ratio and proportion problems. In addition, SBI introduces students to multiple strategies for solving ratio and proportion problems and encourages the selection of appropriate strategies

The effect of substituted benzene dicarboxylic acid linkers on the optical band gap energy and magnetic coupling in manganese trimer metal organic frameworks

We have systematically studied a series of eight metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) in which the secondary building unit is a manganese trimer cluster, and the linkers are differently substituted benzene dicarboxylic acids (BDC). The optical band gap energy of the compounds vary from 2.62 eV to 3.57 eV, and theoretical studies find that different functional groups result in new states in the conduction band, which lie in the gap and lower the optical band gap energy. The optical absorption between the filled Mn 3d states and the ligands is weak due to minimal overlap of the states, and the measured optical band gap energy is due to transitions on the BDC linker. The Mn atoms in the MOFs have local moments of 5 mu B, and selected MOFs are found to be antiferromagnetic, with weak coupling between the cluster units, and paramagnetic above 10 K

Aqueous Bark Extract of Terminalia Arjuna Protects Against Cigarette Smoke-induced Alterations in Serum Lipid Profile of Albino Rats

The present study aimed to evaluate the protective effect of aqueous bark extract of Terminalia arjuna against cigarette smoke-induced changes in serum lipid profile of albino rats. The rats were divided into three groups. One control group (I) and two experimental groups (II and III), all three groups consisting of five rats each. The control group (I) was unexposed to cigarette smoke. Experimental group (II) was exposed to cigarette smoke (6 cigarettes) for one hour/day for 30 days and experimental group (III) was exposed to cigarette smoke along with oral administration of aqueous bark extract of Terminalia arjuna (5mg/rat/day) for 30 days. The findings showed a significant (P&lt;0.01) increase in serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) with significant (P&lt;0.01) decrease in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) level in cigarette smoke-exposed albino rats in comparison to control rats while a significant (P&lt;0.01) decrease in serum cholesterol, serum triglyceride, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) and very-low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) with significant (P&lt;0.01) increase in high-density lipoprotein (HDL) after oral administration of aqueous bark extract of Terminalia arjuna in comparison to cigarette smoke-exposed albino rat

An exploratory study contrasting high- and low-ability students' word problem solving: The role of schema-based instruction.

This study evaluated whether schema-based instruction (SBI), a promising method for teaching students to represent and solve mathematical word problems, impacted the learning of percent word problems. Of particular interest was the extent that SBI improved high- and low-achieving students' learning and to a lesser degree on the indirect effect of SBI on transfer to novel problems, as compared to a business as usual control condition. Seventy 7th grade students in four classrooms (one high- and one low-achieving class in both the SBI and control conditions) participated in the study. Results indicate a significant treatment by achievement level interaction, such that SBI had a greater impact on high-achieving students' problem solving scores. However, findings did not support transfer effects of SBI for high-achieving students. Implications for improving the problem-solving performance of low achievers are discussed