Informal Landscape Architecture: A Tool to Improve Water Quality for Informal Settlements along Waterways in Bangkok

The canals of Bangkok were a vital form of infrastructure from when the city was founded in 1782 until the 1850s, when the road system was introduced. Built for agricultural irrigation, the canals served as the primary means of transportation and significantly influenced the form and orientation of Bangkok’s early settlements and public institutions. With the implementation of roads, new buildings were constructed to be oriented towards the streets and away from the canals. The canals and their communities subsequently decreased in visibility. Today, most of the land along the waterways is publically owned. As a result, the land adjacent to the canals has come to house squatter communities, and the canals themselves have become dumping sites. In northern Bangkok, the Bang Bua Canal Community consists of 12 informal settlements that lie on the banks of the 13-kilometer long Bang Bua Canal. Baan Man Kong, a national slum upgrading program established by the Community Organizations Development Institute (CODI), has continuously worked in the Bang Bua Canal Community since 2004. The program’s general approach has been to provide government funds in the form of housing loans and infrastructure subsidies. A component of the development program has implemented the use of organic materials and water plants for regular canal cleaning. The CODI has also funded household grease-trap installation programs that provide wastewater filters to help limit the flow of wastewater directly to the canal. Despite these efforts, as of 2014, the canal is still polluted and the 3,400 families of this settlement still lack access to the water as an open space amenity. Most importantly, this illustrates that appropriate urban water management systems have not been utilized in this area. Using the Bang Bua Canal Community as a case study, this design thesis focuses on developing strategies to upgrade these informal settlements along Bangkok’s waterways with a holistic approach to reconnect these communities to the city. The proposal aims to develop systems for a dynamic landscape that will transform the water’s edge into a healthier urban environment. The study will illustrate how the built environment impacts society. In a broader sense, this proposal provides a vision for the use of urban water management techniques and landscape treatment systems in order to improve the water quality and the use of the water’s edge as public spaces in highly dense areas

Investigation of the influence on the teaching and learning of English in the Royal Thai Air Force Academy

This research investigates the influences on the teaching and learning of English in the Royal Thai Air Force Academy (RTAFA). In the study, a Mixed Methods design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research design features, was employed within a Case Study approach. Questionnaires and interviews were used as research techniques to examine and identify what constitute the influences on the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA and the factors that affect the limitation of the English proficiency of the RTAFA graduates. The quantitative methods included a pilot questionnaire for cadets (N = 35), questionnaires for every Year level of cadets in training (N = 517) and questionnaires for the English instructors (N = 9). The Quest software program (Adams & Khoo, 1993) was applied to analyse the questionnaires and group means and standard deviations were used to calculate effect sizes between students of different Year levels. In relation to the student questionnaire, some category items were also examined and analysed separately. In relation to the qualitative analysis, semi-structured interviews with a small number of the RTAFA cadets in all five years of training (N = 25), the English instructors (N = 9) and the senior administrators of the RTAFA (N = 4) were conducted to complement and triangulate the data gathered from the questionnaires. The results from the questionnaires and interviews suggest that the English curriculum influenced the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA, followed by issues in relation to cadets’ attitudes and motivations for studying English and cadets’ English educational background. Factors that affected the limitation of the English proficiency of the RTAFA graduates were a lack of realization by the cadets of the importance of English, the very structure of the English curriculum and the content of the English syllabus, the perceived low status of English as evidenced by the lack of academic credits given to the subject, the poor facilities of the language laboratories, the perceived lack of current teaching methods and techniques of the instructors, the varying experiences of the cadets’ background knowledge of English, the rigid military system and the need for more native speaking English instructors to develop the oral language skills of cadets. Based on the findings of all the data, suggested recommendations for improving the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA include a revision of the English curriculum, an improvement of the content of English with an emphasis on listening, speaking and conversation skills, an update of the English language laboratories, smaller English classes and a constant professional development for instructors in relation to techniques in English teaching and learning

Composition, abundance and distribution of ichthyoplankton in the South China Sea, Area III: Western Philippines

Composition, abundance and distribution of ichthyoplankton were investigated in the South China Sea, western Philippines. Larval fish samples were collected at 31 stations by surface and double oblique tows in April/May 1998. A total of 7371.67 fish larvae, representing 85 families, were collected in the samples. Abundance of fish larvae were dominated by the Myctophidae followed by the Gonostomatidae. The ten most abundant families of fish larvae found in this study were separated into three broad categories: (1) inshore fishes, represented mainly by the Bregmacerotidae, Gobiidae, Apogonidae, and Carangidae;(2) mid zone fishes represented mainly by the Hemiramphidae, Labridae and Engraulidae;(3) offshore fishes represented mainly by the Myctophidae and Gonostomatidae. Depth and time of day appeared to affect the abundance of fish larvae and fish eggs. Fish larvae were found mainly in double oblique tows while fish eggs were found mostly in surface tows. The larvae caught at night were more abundant than larvae caught during the day. Abundance and distribution of tuna larvae are also discussed

Albumin Versus Gelatin Solution for the Treatment of Refractory Septic Shock: A Patient Baseline-Matched-Cohort Study

Objective: Although albumin solution is the colloid of choice to resuscitate septic shock patients who do not respond to crystalloid solutions, its usage is limited by its cost. Gelatin solution, is less expensive, but its efficacy has not yet been identified. This study aimed to compare the outcomes of gelatin and albumin solutions for septic shock resuscitation. Methods: This baseline-matched-cohort study, enrolled septic shock patients who had a mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) below 65 mmHg after receiving at least 30 mL per kilogram of crystalloid resuscitation fluid, and who required either an albumin or gelatin solution as fluid therapy. The primary outcome was the 28-day mortality. Results: In all, 224 patients who were administered either an albumin or gelatin solution were examined. After adjusting for differences in their baseline characteristics, 206 patients were included (104 receiving albumin, and 102 given gelatin). A comparison of the albumin and gelatin groups revealed no significant baseline differences in their respective mean APACHE II scores (22.8±8.5vs.23.2±8.1), MAPs (55.1±8.0vs.54.6±9.1mmHg), and lactate levels (5.6±4.7vs.6.3±4.9mmol/L). The 28-day mortality rates were 27.9% and 38.2% for the albumin and gelatin groups, respectively, with adjusted p=0.02. Moreover, the accumulation of fluid intake over output at 72 hours was significantly lower for the albumin than the gelatin group (5,964.5±4,959.7 vs. 8,133.2±3,743.2 ml; p=0.01). The RRT rate was higher for the albumin group (30.8% vs. 15.7%; p=0.01). Conclusion: Albumin resuscitation associated with lower 28-day mortality than gelatin resuscitation. The patients in the albumin group had a higher RRT rate and a lower fluid accumulation as at 72 hours

The role of Ce addition in catalytic activity enhancement of TiO2-supported Ni for CO2 methanation reaction

In this work, various amounts of Ce were added to TiO2 to form a mixed oxide support; CexTi1−xO2 (x = 0, 0.003, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) and then those synthesized supports were impregnated by 10 wt% Ni to produce a catalysts. The 10 wt% Ni–CexTi1−xO2 (x = 0, 0.003, 0.05, 0.10 and 0.15) catalysts were tested for CO2 methanation reaction by using a fixed-bed reactor in the temperature range of 100–500 °C. The sample was pretreated at 450 °C under H2 and then a mixed feed gas of CO2 and H2 was switched into the reactor to start the reaction. The results showed that 10 wt% Ni–Ce0.003Ti0.997O2 catalyst (the lowest Ce content) exhibited the highest CO2 conversion and CH4 yield. Moreover, 10 wt% Ni–Ce0.003Ti0.997O2 showed highly stable during the stability test (50 h.). The results indicated that upon addition of small amount of Ce into TiO2-supported Ni, the surface, structural, electrical and redox properties of the catalyst were improved to the extent that these properties can promote the catalytic activities for CO2 methanation. The Ce addition can improve the CO2 methanation catalytic activity by several ways. First, higher dispersion of Ni on catalysts surface upon addition of Ce was observed which resulted in higher adsorption rate of H2 on this metal active site. Second, formation of a larger amounts of oxygen vacancies as well as basicity improvement upon addition of Ce were occurred which can increase the CO2 adsorption on catalyst surface. Third, incorporation of Ce resulted in improving of a starting reduction temperature of Ni2+ to Ni0 for TiO2-supported Ni catalyst which can indicate that the reducibility of Ce-doped TiO2-supported Ni catalyst was enhanced and then alter its catalytic activity. However, increasing of Ce content led to lowering of CO2 methanation activities which resulted from increasing of basicity by Ce addition. The excess amounts of adsorbed CO2 would lead to competitive adsorption to H2 and then lead to a decrease of catalytic activity. Therefore, an appropriate amount of H2 and CO2 adsorption ability on catalyst surface was a prominent factor to dominate the catalytic activity

Clinical Role of Interstitial Pneumonia in Patients with Scrub Typhus: A Possible Marker of Disease Severity

Interstitial pneumonia (IP) frequently occurs in patients with scrub typhus, but its clinical significance is not well known. This study was designed to evaluate interstitial pneumonia as a marker of severity of the disease for patients with scrub typhus. We investigated clinical parameters representing the severity of the disease, and the chest radiographic findings for 101 patients with scrub typhus. We then compared these clinical factors between patients with and without IP. We also studied the relationship between IP and other chest radiographic findings. The chest radiography showed IP (51.4%), pleural effusion (42.6%), cardiomegaly (14.9%), pulmonary alveolar edema (20.8%), hilar lymphadenopathy (13.8%) and focal atelectasis (11.8%), respectively. The patients with IP (n=52) had higher incidences in episode of hypoxia (p=0.030), hypotension (p=0.024), severe thrombocytopenia (p=0.036) and hypoalbuminemia (p=0.013) than the patients without IP (n=49). The patients with IP also had higher incidences of pleural effusion (p<0.001), focal atelectasis (p=0.019), cardiomegaly (p<0.001), pulmonary alveolar edema (p=0.011) and hilar lymphadenopathy (p<0.001) than the patients without IP. Our data suggest that IP frequently occurs for patients with scrub typhus and its presence is closely associated with the disease severity of scrub typhus

Bacteriophage Lysin Mediates the Binding of Streptococcus mitis to Human Platelets through Interaction with Fibrinogen

The binding of bacteria to human platelets is a likely central mechanism in the pathogenesis of infective endocarditis. We have previously found that platelet binding by Streptococcus mitis SF100 is mediated by surface components encoded by a lysogenic bacteriophage, SM1. We now demonstrate that SM1-encoded lysin contributes to platelet binding via its direct interaction with fibrinogen. Far Western blotting of platelets revealed that fibrinogen was the major membrane-associated protein bound by lysin. Analysis of lysin binding with purified fibrinogen in vitro confirmed that these proteins could bind directly, and that this interaction was both saturable and inhibitable. Lysin bound both the Aα and Bβ chains of fibrinogen, but not the γ subunit. Binding of lysin to the Bβ chain was further localized to a region within the fibrinogen D fragment. Disruption of the SF100 lysin gene resulted in an 83±3.1% reduction (mean ± SD) in binding to immobilized fibrinogen by this mutant strain (PS1006). Preincubation of this isogenic mutant with purified lysin restored fibrinogen binding to wild type levels. When tested in a co-infection model of endocarditis, loss of lysin expression resulted in a significant reduction in virulence, as measured by achievable bacterial densities (CFU/g) within vegetations, kidneys, and spleens. These results indicate that bacteriophage-encoded lysin is a multifunctional protein, representing a new class of fibrinogen-binding proteins. Lysin appears to be cell wall-associated through its interaction with choline. Once on the bacterial surface, lysin can bind fibrinogen directly, which appears to be an important interaction for the pathogenesis of endocarditis

Catalytic activities of titania-supported nickel for carbon-dioxide methanation

Titania-supported nickel catalysts (3, 6, 12 and 20 wt% Ni/TiO2) were prepared by a sol-gel method. The results showed that the CO2 conversion increased with increasing Ni content and 20 wt% Ni/TiO2 exhibited the highest CO2 conversion and CH4 yield. The results on XRD and EXAFS revealed unit cell expansion and lattice distortion, which indicated that Ni2+ was incorporated into the TiO2 lattice. Upon increasing the Ni content, the NiO phase was observed. The oxidation states of nickel and titanium were analyzed to be +2 and +4, respectively for fresh catalysts. After pretreatment by H-2, Ni2+ was converted to Ni-0 and this electronic state remained unchanged during the course of methanation while Ti4+ was kept unaltered for fresh catalysts and those during the reaction. The addition of Ni led to the formation of oxygen vacancy and NiO phase which might act as adsorption sites for CO2 and H-2, respectively. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Early Stages of Marine Fishes in Southeast Asian Region

This monograph contains morphological characters of marine fish larvae found in the Southeast Asia region. Seventy‐two families in the fourteen orders are selected as the commercially important taxa for the marine capture fisheries in the region. Each chapter of the families consists of a morphological character table, a meristic table in genus level and illustrations

Facile Synthesis Method of Zeolite NaY and Zeolite NaY-Supported Ni Catalyst with High Catalytic Activity for the Conversion of CO₂ to CH₄

In this work, the facile reflux method was used as a crystallization procedure for zeolite NaY synthesis. The zeolite mixture was aged for 7 days and then refluxed for crystallization at 100 °C for 12 h. The synthesized zeolite NaY was impregnated with 10, 20 and 30 wt%Ni solution to use as a catalyst for CO2 methanation. The 30 wt% of Ni on the zeolite NaY catalyst showed the highest CO2 methanation catalytic activity, with almost 100% CH4 selectivity. This can be explained by an appropriate H2 and CO2 adsorption amount on a catalyst surface being able to facilitate the surface reaction between them and further react to form products. The oxidation state of Ni and the stability of the catalyst were monitored by time-resolved X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The oxidation state of Ni2+ was reduced during the catalyst reduction prior to the CO2 methanation and it was completely reduced to Ni° at 600 °C. During CO2 methanation, Ni° remained unchanged. In addition, the stability test of the catalyst was conducted by exposing the catalyst to a fluctuating condition (CO2 + H2 and only CO2). The oxidation state of Ni° remained unchanged under the fluctuating condition. This indicated that the Ni/zeolite catalyst has high stability, which can be attributed to an appropriate binding strength between Ni and the zeolite support