A new approach to urban water management: Safe and sure

This paper introduces a new approach to water management that is 'Safe & SuRe'. This includes presenting a conceptual framework to link the emerging threats of climate change and variability, rapid urbanization and population growth, energy constraint and tightening environmental regulation through to their consequences on social, economic and environmental recipients. The framework allows identification of the role and need for mitigation, adaptation and coping strategies. The paper proposes definitions and discusses what engineering, organizational and/or social options can potentially develop the degree of resilience and sustainability needed to deal with these 21st century threats. The paper goes on to propose how these approaches might be objectively assessed and identifies gaps in our knowledge that require further research

Stratospheric Effects on UV, Speed of Sound, Pressure, and Temperature

The atmosphere is composed of several layers, each with its own distinct environment varying in temperature, pressure, and levels of UV radiation. Quantifying these varying parameters proves to be useful in understanding atmospheric composition in greater detail. Variance in the composition of the atmosphere allows for the study of the evolution of physical phenomena at different altitudes. Our group quantified this variance using a high-altitude weather balloon and designed an experimental method to observe the nature of sound propagation through varying altitudes. The goal was to develop an altitude-dependent model of the speed of sound by using an open-air, microcontroller-based payload. Using our platform, we found that the open-air payload design results in noisy readings. Additionally, our method was restricted to low altitude environments, unable to produce reliable data above 6,700 meters. We address possible improvements and constraints in developing an open-air payload design to derive an altitude-dependent model for sound propagation. Furthermore, we present our findings on the variations in pressure, temperature, and levels of UV radiation during balloon flights at altitudes of up to 30,000 meters. These variations included a proportional decrease in pressure, a temperature inversion at 15,000 meters, and an exceptional increase in both UVA and UVB radiation as altitude increases

Variétés Chifaa et Bounejmate : Caractérisation et Etude de leur effet sur la structure alvéolaire du pain par analyse d’image numérique

The alveolar structure of bread products is one of the factors that the bakery industry seeks to control. The objective of this work is to elucidate the effect of this parameter through the evaluation of the alveolar structure of bread by image analysis. The naked barley variety "Chifaà" and the naked oat variety "Bounejmate" were used for this purpose. The work consists on the characterisation of the physical and chemical criteria regarding these two varieties followed by the constitution of mixtures from a commercial flour of soft wheat and complete flours of barley and oat, respectively, as follows: (100% wheat), (barley or oats/wheat) : (10/90), (20/80) and (30/70). Seven loaves of bread (6 mixed loaves and the control loaf) were made using a bread machine. Slices of the obtained loaves were then analysed by image analysis for the following criteria (crumb development, total area of the alveoli, % alveoli in the crumb, number of alveoli). The results showed variability in the composition of the studied varieties. The variety "Chifaà" is marked by a high content of β-glucan (7.9%) and the variety "Bounejmate" is marked by a high content of protein (17.6%) and fat (10.4%). The addition of oat induced a 44.7% decrease in crumb development from 10% addition, whereas barley showed a similar effect at 30% addition. Moreover, barley at 30% addition had more negative effect on the crumb alveoli which decrease until disappearance of the majority.La structure alvéolaire des produits de panification constitue un des facteurs que la profession cherche à maitriser. L’objectif de ce travail est d’élucider l’effet de cet ajout à travers l’évaluation de la structure alvéolaire du pain par analyse d’image. La variété d’orge à grains nus « Chifaa » et la variété d’avoine à grains nus « Bounejmate » ont été utilisées à cet effet. Le travail consiste à une caractérisation des critères physico-chimiques des deux variétés suivi de la constitution des mélanges à partir d’une farine commerciale de blé tendre et des farines complètes d’orge et d’avoine, respectivement, comme suit ; (100% blé), (orge ou avoine/blé) : (10/90), (20/80) et (30/70). Sept pains (6 pains mélanges et le pain contrôle) ont été fabriqués à l’aide d’une machine à pain. Des tranches des pains obtenus ont subies par la suite une analyse d’image pour les critères suivants (développement de la mie, aire total des alvéoles, % d’alvéoles dans la mie, nombre d’alvéoles). Les résultats ont montré une variabilité dans la composition des variétés utilisées, en effet la variété « Chifaa» est marquée par une forte teneur en β-glucane (7,9%) et la variété « Bounejmate » est marquée par une forte teneur en protéine (17,6%) et en lipides (10,4%). L’ajout d’avoine a induit une diminution de 44.7% du développement de la mie à partir de 10% d’ajout alors que l’orge n’a montré un effet similaire qu’à partir de 30% d’ajout. En outre, l’orge à 30% d’ajout a montré plus d’effet négatif sur les alvéoles de la mie qui diminuent jusqu’à disparition de la majorité

Child injury mortality in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Reducing child injury mortality is an important factor in directing national and international policy-makers to program appropriate cause-specific interventions. The systematic review and meta-analysis study was performed to provide a clear view of child injury mortality in Iran. Methods: A systematic electronic search of PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, SID, and Elmnet was performed to identify the Persian and English articles published between 2005 and 2018. All studies reporting child injury mortality were gathered according to our inclusion and exclusion criteria. After quality appraisal, data were extracted and analyzed. Results: Twelve studies with an overall sample size of 22,721 met our inclusion criteria. The prevalence of mortality due to road accident, falling, drowning, poisoning and other causes of death were 56.8, 11.3, 8.6, 5.7 and, 17.6, respectively. The proportion of injury in all-cause mortality in 0�19 and 0�6 age groups were 11.9 and 16.9, respectively. Conclusion: Our findings suggest a relatively high mortality rate for road traffic accidents, which should be taken into account seriously. Developing preventive policies is essential to achieve better standards of road transportation and reduce related mortality in Iran. © 201

Adjuvant drugs for peripheral nerve blocks: The role of nmda antagonists, neostigmine, epinephrine, and sodium bicarbonate

The potential for misuse, overdose, and chronic use has led researchers to look for other methods to decrease opioid consumption in patients with acute and chronic pain states. The use of peripheral nerve blocks for surgery has gained increasing popularity as it minimizes peripheral pain signals from the nociceptors of local tissue sustaining trauma and inflammation from surgery. The individualization of peripheral nerve blocks using adjuvant drugs has the potential to improve patient outcomes and reduce chronic pain. The major limitations of peripheral nerve blocks are their limited duration of action and dose-dependent adverse effects. Adjuvant drugs for peripheral nerve blocks show increasing potential as a solution for postoperative and chronic pain with their synergistic effects to increase the duration of action and decrease the required dosage of local anesthetic. N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonists are a viable option for patients with opioid resistance and neuropathic pain due to their affinity to the neurotransmitter glutamate, which is released when patients experience a noxious stimulus. Neostigmine is a cholinesterase inhibitor that exerts its effect by competitively binding at the active site of acetylcholinesterase, which prevents the hydrolysis of acetylcholine and subsequently retaining acetylcholine at the nerve terminal. Epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, can potentially be used as an adjuvant to accelerate and prolong analgesic effects in digital nerve blocks. The theorized role of sodium bicarbonate in local anesthetic preparations is to increase the pH of the anesthetic. The resulting alkaline solution enables the anesthetic to more readily exist in its un-ionized form, which more efficiently crosses lipid membranes of peripheral nerves. However, more research is needed to show the efficacy of these adjuvants for nerve block prolongation as studies have been either mixed or have small sample sizes

Impacts of COVID-19 on the Energy System

This Briefing Paper explores the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had on the UK’s energy sector over the course of the first government-mandated national lockdown that began on 23 March 2020. Research from several aspects of the Integrated Development of Low-carbon Energy Systems (IDLES) programme at Imperial College London is presented in one overarching paper. The main aim is to determine what lessons can be learnt from that lockdown period, given the unique set of challenges it presented in our daily lives and the changes it brought about in energy demand, supply, and use. Valuable insights are gained into how working-from-home policies, electric vehicles, and low-carbon grids can be implemented, incentivised, and managed effectively

Height-diameter allometry and above ground biomass in tropical montane forests: Insights from the Albertine Rift in Africa

Tropical montane forests provide an important natural laboratory to test ecological theory. While it is well-known that some aspects of forest structure change with altitude, little is known on the effects of altitude on above ground biomass (AGB), particularly with regard to changing height-diameter allometry. To address this we investigate (1) the effects of altitude on height-diameter allometry, (2) how different height-diameter allometric models affect above ground biomass estimates; and (3) how other forest structural, taxonomic and environmental attributes affect above ground biomass using 30 permanent sample plots (1-ha; all trees ≥ 10 cm diameter measured) established between 1250 and 2600 m asl in Kahuzi Biega National Park in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. Forest structure and species composition differed with increasing altitude, with four forest types identified. Different height-diameter allometric models performed better with the different forest types, as trees got smaller with increasing altitude. Above ground biomass ranged from 168 to 290 Mg ha-1, but there were no significant differences in AGB between forests types, as tree size decreased but stem density increased with increasing altitude. Forest structure had greater effects on above ground biomass than forest diversity. Soil attributes (K and acidity, pH) also significantly affected above ground biomass. Results show how forest structural, taxonomic and environmental attributes affect above ground biomass in African tropical montane forests. They particularly highlight that the use of regional height-diameter models introduces significant biases in above ground biomass estimates, and that different height-diameter models might be preferred for different forest types, and these should be considered in future studies