Conjunctive Water Use Planning with Water Quality Constraints in Tooele Valley, Utah

The need for more efficient water management is gaining recognition due to the increased cost of water supply, the growth in the demand for water, and greater environmental and social impacts of water programs. Conjunctive use of surfact and groundwater resources provides opportunities for increasing net benefits to the water users. Past conjunctive use studies, however, have usually not included water quality constraints. In Tooele valley, Utah, spatial variation of groundwater qualtity (total dissolved solids) is significant. The areas of good (400-500 mg/1), fair (500-1,000 mg/1), and poor (1,000-3,000 mg/1) quality groundwaters were identified in an earlier study by the USGS. The water quality dimension was incorporated into the conjunctive use planning to account for crop yield changes due to changes in salinity levels in irrigation water. The possibilities for increasing total net benefits by blending surface and groundwater of different qualities were examined by developing a linear programming optimization model. The optimization model provides for mixing the different qualities of water available for the cops to maximize benefits. It applies linear programming to the Tooele Valley water supply system and optimizes over three locations, four coprs, and five qualities of water of differing costs. The groundwater withdrawals at the locations dictated by the optimization model were input to the Tooele Valley groundwater simulation model developed by USGS to study the effects on the valley\u27s principal artesian aquifer. Economic analyses of the probable scenarios of future agricultural development in Tooele Valley did not suggest that extensive increases in groundwater with drawals will occur. Economic infeasibility of major increases in groundwater extraction is a limiting factor for agricultural development in most parts of the valley. Groundwater mining therefore does not seem like a major future problem. The areas where new wells can be drilled without interference causing technological diseconomies are indicated. Profitable application of blending technology to irrigated agriculture in Tooele Valley is not possible without making a drastic shift to some higher valued crop such as fruit trees. All surface water sources should be fully utilized before developing additional and expensive groundwater. Even though an additional 20,000 to 25,000 ac-ft of groundwater can be extracted without mining, there would be a high risk of destroying natural phreatophyte habitats and degradation of water quality in at least some parts of the artesian aquifer

The modulatory effect of septilin on cytotoxicity of cisplatin in a human breast adenocarcinoma cell line

Cisplatin (Csp) is a recurrently used chemotherapeutic drug but its use is inadequate due to undesirable adverse effects. In search of alternative medicine more attention has been given to phytochemicals. Septilin (Spt), a polyherbal drug and its therapeutic potential is huge but there is a scarcity of studies on its cytotoxic potential on cancer cells. The current study was designed to examine the effects of Spt in combination with Csp on human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and normal human breast epithelial (MCF-10A) cell lines. Cell viability for Spt treated cells was studied using MTT assay. IC50 value of Csp on MCF-7 cells was found to be 10 μg/mL at 24 h. This dose was further used to study the combined effects of Csp with Spt on MCF-7 and MCF-10A cell lines. Maximum cytotoxicity of Spt on MCF-7 cells was observed at Spt 5 μg/mL. The mechanism of Spt induced cytotoxicity was studied using apoptosis assay. Spt did not show any cytotoxic effects on MCF-10 A normal human breast epithelial cells, indicating Spt has no effect on normal cells. Our findings suggest that Spt can be used in combination with an anticancer drug Csp to increase its efficacy and/or to minimize its side effects on normal cells

The modulatory effect of septilin on cytotoxicity of cisplatin in a human breast adenocarcinoma cell line

435-441Cisplatin (Csp) is a recurrently used chemotherapeutic drug but its use is inadequate due to undesirable adverse effects. In search of alternative medicine more attention has been given to phytochemicals. Septilin (Spt), a polyherbal drug and its therapeutic potential is huge but there is a scarcity of studies on its cytotoxic potential on cancer cells. The current study was designed to examine the effects of Spt in combination with Csp on human breast adenocarcinoma (MCF-7) and normal human breast epithelial (MCF-10A) cell lines. Cell viability for Spt treated cells was studied using MTT assay. IC50 value of Csp on MCF-7 cells was found to be 10 µg/mL at 24 h. This dose was further used to study the combined effects of Csp with Spt on MCF-7 and MCF-10A cell lines. Maximum cytotoxicity of Spt on MCF-7 cells was observed at Spt 5 µg/mL. The mechanism of Spt induced cytotoxicity was studied using apoptosis assay. Spt did not show any cytotoxic effects on MCF-10 A normal human breast epithelial cells, indicating Spt has no effect on normal cells. Our findings suggest that Spt can be used in combination with an anticancer drug Csp to increase its efficacy and/or to minimize its side effects on normal cells

Salt Loading from Efflorescence and Suspended Sediments in the Price River Basin

Salinity control is a major component of water management in arid climates and irrigated areas and one of particular concern in the Colorado River Basin. The alts enter the water as it flows over land or moves through the soil or geologic formations. The principal salt collection processes are 1) dissolution from the soil surface during runoff events, 2) transpiration of soil water leaving salt residuals, 3) efflorescence left by evaporating seepage and then dissolved by subsequent runoff, 4) dissolution with weathering of fixed bed channels, 5) salts released by sediments entering the channel from sheet, gulley, and bank erosion, and 6) deep percolation through saline aquifer reaching the stream as base flow. This study examined processes 3 and 5. Salt efflorescence was examined by field observation and instrumentation, laboratory experiments, and mathematical modeling. The field data showed near saturation conditions of sodium sulfate waters below crusts of densities between 0.14 and 0.36 g/cm^2 and which formed over abouta 10-day period following channel cleaning by storm runoff. Laboratory data on salt crusting in soil columns were also used in developing a model which when applied to the Price River Basin estimated that no more than 7.5 percent of the total salt loading comes from salt efflorescence being carried away in the stream flow. The conditions favorable to the accumulation of salt efflorescence are highly saline water just below the soil surface and a source of heat for vaporizing the water. Salt release from suspended sediments was studied by laboratory experimentation with sediment material obtained from various locations in the Price River Basin. The Buckinham Pi Theorem was employed to derive relationships expressing the EC of a sediment water system as a function o fthe controlling factors. The results were presented in two salt release equations, one excluding the effect of initial EC and the other providing for initially saline solutions. The salt release equations were incorporated into an adapted version of the Watershed Erosion and Sediment Transport (WEST) model and applied to a small tributary of Coal Creek. Extrapolation to the entire Price River Basin led to an estimate that about 0.50 percent of the total annual salt load is released from suspened sediments. This study concludes that surface salt sources produce a relatvely small fraction of the total loading. Future studies need to go underground. They need to quantify and examine the flow lines of water movement from mountain source and valley floow recharge areas to points of emergence as base flow in the larger stream channels. They need to investigate the aquifers and their soluble salt content

Hydrologic Evaluation of the Coastal Belt Water Project Sarir and Tazerbo Well Fields, Libya

Executive Summary: The basic purpose of this study was to conduct a finite-element computer model and give an dindependent appraisal of the reliability of the groundwater supply for the proposed Coastal Belt Water Project (CBWP_ Well Fields at Sarir and Tazerbo. There is no doubt that ample quantities of groundwater of acceptable quality occur at the sites selected for these well fields for the estimated 50-year life of the project and longer. Of major concern is the predicted drawdown of wells and total pumping lifts throughout the 50-year period. Excessive drawdowns could cause operating costs to become prohibitibely expensive. Average drawdown in wells not including well-field interference and hydraulic friction losses at the CBWP Well Field at Sarir is expected to be only about 30 m at the end of 50 years, but the static water level is relatively deep (56 m) which makes the total pumping lift fairly high when well-field interference and other losses are added. This optimistic estimate of drawdown is based upon computer analysis for almost 7 years of pumping history of the existing Sarir South agricultural well field nearby, where the subsurface geology is believed to be quite similar to that at the propsed CBWP Well Field at Sarir. The average dpumping lift, which includes many other factors besides aquifer drawdown, is estimated to be about 142 m. at the end of the 50-year pumping period at Sarir and should average about 136 m during the 50 years. Interference from pumpage at the existing agricultural well fields at Sarir may be responsible for about 10 m of this predicted pumping lift. Drawdown at Tazerbo is predicted to be about 90 m. at the end of 50 years, but the static water level is only about 9 m. there. Consequently its average pumping lift should be about 133 m at the end of the 50-year pumping period and should average about 118 m during the 50 years. no appreciable interference from nearby well fields is expected in the Tazerbo area based upon presently known conditions. Significatn reductions in pumping lifts at Tazerbo and in water-collection network costs at Sarir are possible by improved well field layout and well design. Suggested inprovements and estimated cost savings are presented in detail in Appendix A (especially see well-field design comparisons of Tables A-1 and A-4)

Effects of Fe substitution on the transport properties of the superconductor MgB2

A systematic study has been made on the effect of Fe substitution by means of resistivity, thermal conductivity, and Seebeck coefficient of the Mg1−xFexB2 superconductor involving 0%, 0.3%, 0.6%, 1.2%, and 3.0% Fe content. The superconducting transition has been found to be very sharp 0.2 K for a pristine sample and substitution of Fe results in the decrease of TC with the increase in the transition width. Thermal conductivity is found to decrease with Fe content in general, such that the shoulder present in the pristine sample tends to fade away with increasing Fe. An analysis has been made on the normal state resistivity in terms of a two-band model, and of the thermal conductivity in terms of the Wiedemann-Franz law and the lattice thermal conductivity,and the information obtained on the basis of this analysis has been discussed. Besides, the electronic density of states DOS near the Fermi level remains nearly unaffected upon Fe substitution, as evidenced by the Seebeck coefficient measurements. When compared with Mn, Fe behaves like a nonmagnetic element with a modest variation in TC and on the other hand, the TC depression is much stronger when compared with other elements like Al, Cu, etc. Therefore, the observed variation in TC for the presently investigated concentrations of Fe is attributed to the specific nature of the given substituent element Fe in altering the phonon frequency and/or electron-phonon coupling strength rather than spin-flip scattering or change in DOS or disorder

Teamwork delivers biotechnology products to Indian small-holder crop-livestock producers: Pearl millet hybrid “HHB 67 Improved” enters seed delivery pipeline

HHB 67, released in 1990 by CCS Haryana Agricultural University, is one such single-cross pearl millet hybrid. HHB 67 is highly popular because of its extra-early maturity (it needs less than 65 days from sowing to grain maturity) and is now grown on over 500 000 ha in Haryana and Rajasthan, India. Recent surveys have indicated that this hybrid is starting to succumb to downy mildew (DM; caused by the pseudo-fungus Sclerospora graminicola), showing up to 30% incidence in farmers' fields. By rapidly adopting hybrid "HHB 67 Improved", farmers in Haryana and Rajasthan can avoid grain production losses of Rs36 crores (US$8 million) which would be expected in the first year of a major DM outbreak on the original HHB 67

ICAR: endoscopic skull‐base surgery

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Canagliflozin and renal outcomes in type 2 diabetes and nephropathy

BACKGROUND Type 2 diabetes mellitus is the leading cause of kidney failure worldwide, but few effective long-term treatments are available. In cardiovascular trials of inhibitors of sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2), exploratory results have suggested that such drugs may improve renal outcomes in patients with type 2 diabetes. METHODS In this double-blind, randomized trial, we assigned patients with type 2 diabetes and albuminuric chronic kidney disease to receive canagliflozin, an oral SGLT2 inhibitor, at a dose of 100 mg daily or placebo. All the patients had an estimated glomerular filtration rate (GFR) of 30 to <90 ml per minute per 1.73 m2 of body-surface area and albuminuria (ratio of albumin [mg] to creatinine [g], >300 to 5000) and were treated with renin–angiotensin system blockade. The primary outcome was a composite of end-stage kidney disease (dialysis, transplantation, or a sustained estimated GFR of <15 ml per minute per 1.73 m2), a doubling of the serum creatinine level, or death from renal or cardiovascular causes. Prespecified secondary outcomes were tested hierarchically. RESULTS The trial was stopped early after a planned interim analysis on the recommendation of the data and safety monitoring committee. At that time, 4401 patients had undergone randomization, with a median follow-up of 2.62 years. The relative risk of the primary outcome was 30% lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group, with event rates of 43.2 and 61.2 per 1000 patient-years, respectively (hazard ratio, 0.70; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.59 to 0.82; P=0.00001). The relative risk of the renal-specific composite of end-stage kidney disease, a doubling of the creatinine level, or death from renal causes was lower by 34% (hazard ratio, 0.66; 95% CI, 0.53 to 0.81; P<0.001), and the relative risk of end-stage kidney disease was lower by 32% (hazard ratio, 0.68; 95% CI, 0.54 to 0.86; P=0.002). The canagliflozin group also had a lower risk of cardiovascular death, myocardial infarction, or stroke (hazard ratio, 0.80; 95% CI, 0.67 to 0.95; P=0.01) and hospitalization for heart failure (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% CI, 0.47 to 0.80; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in rates of amputation or fracture. CONCLUSIONS In patients with type 2 diabetes and kidney disease, the risk of kidney failure and cardiovascular events was lower in the canagliflozin group than in the placebo group at a median follow-up of 2.62 years