Water Level Sensors, What Works?

ABSTRACT: Water level sensors come in all shapes, sizes, and types and can range in price from a couple hundred to several thousand US dollars. This project utilizes real world examples from around the western United States to determine what level sensors work well and to document what characteristics may prevent them from providing accurate water level measurements in differing climates. Researchers have developed a calibration procedure that can be used in field or laboratory situations to obtain accurate calibrations of multiple types of water level sensors. Sensors that have been calibrated and installed are being monitored to determine their accuracy and reliability over several irrigation seasons

Identification of senescence and death in Emiliania huxleyi and Thalassiosira pseudonana: Cell staining, chlorophyll alterations, and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) metabolism

We measured membrane permeability, hydrolytic enzyme, and caspase-like activities using fluorescent cell stains to document changes caused by nutrient exhaustion in the coccolithophore Emiliania huxleyi and the diatom Thalassiosira pseudonana, during batch-culture nutrient limitation. We related these changes to cell death, pigment alteration, and concentrations of dimethylsulfide (DMS) and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) to assess the transformation of these compounds as cell physiological condition changes. E. huxleyi persisted for 1 month in stationary phase; in contrast, T. pseudonana cells rapidly declined within 10 d of nutrient depletion. T. pseudonana progressively lost membrane integrity and the ability to metabolize 5-chloromethylfluorescein diacetate (CMFDA; hydrolytic activity), whereas E. huxleyi developed two distinct CMFDA populations and retained membrane integrity (SYTOX Green). Caspase-like activity appeared higher in E. huxleyi than in T. pseudonana during the post-growth phase, despite a lack of apparent mortality and cell lysis. Photosynthetic pigment degradation and transformation occurred in both species after growth; chlorophyll a (Chl a) degradation was characterized by an increase in the ratio of methoxy Chl a : Chl a in T. pseudonana but not in E. huxleyi, and the increase in this ratio preceded loss of membrane integrity. Total DMSP declined in T. pseudonana during cell death and DMS increased. In contrast, and in the absence of cell death, total DMSP and DMS increased in E. huxleyi. Our data show a novel chlorophyll alteration product associated with T. pseudonana death, suggesting a promising approach to discriminate nonviable cells in nature

Urban greening and mobility justice in Dhaka’s informal settlements

Urban greening in Dhaka, Bangladesh is fraught with injustice for slum dwellers. Access to the commons for the enactment of gardening, farming and foraging by the urban poor, many recent internal migrants from rural areas, is contested by wealthier citizens, developers and political elites. Through qualitative research with households within the informal settlement of Korail in Dhaka’s urban core, and a range of stakeholders in governmental and non-governmental organizations, this study critiques competing policy visions that involve urban greening and urban green infrastructure. Repurposing the conceptual lense of ‘mobility justice’ to analyse environmental and ecological issues in the global South, the findings highlight the importance of mobility concerns to just futures for urban planning

Breathlessness in the elderly during the last year of life sufficient to restrict activity

OBJECTIVES: Breathlessness is prevalent in older people. Symptom control at the end of life is important. This study investigated relationships between age, clinical characteristics and breathlessness sufficient to have people spend at least one half a day in that month in bed or cut down on their usual activities (restricting breathlessness) during the last year of life. DESIGN: Secondary data-analysis SETTING: General community PARTICIPANTS: 754 non-disabled persons, aged 70 and older. Monthly telephone interviews were conducted to determine the occurrence of restricting breathlessness. The primary outcome was the percentage of months with restricting breathlessness reported during the last year of life. RESULTS: Data regarding breathlessness were available for 548/589 (93.0%) decedents (mean age 86.7 years (range 71 to 106; males 38.8%). 311/548 (56.8%) reported restricting breathlessness at some time-point during the last year of life but no-one reported this every month. Frequency increased in the months closer to death irrespective of cause. Restricting breathlessness was associated with anxiety, (0.25 percentage point increase in months breathlessness per percentage point months reported anxiety, 95% CI 0.16 to 0.34, P<0.001), depression (0.14, 0.05 to 0.24, P=0.002) and mobility problems (0.07, 0.03 to 0.1, P=0.001). Percentage months of restricting breathlessness increased if chronic lung disease was noted at the most recent comprehensive assessment (6.62 percentage points, 95% CI 4.31 to 8.94, P<0.001), heart failure (3.34, 0.71 to 5.97, P<0.01), and ex-smoker status (3.01, 0.94 to 5.07, P=0.002), but decreased with older age (─0.19, ─0.37 to ─0.02, P=0.03). CONCLUSION: Restricting breathlessness increased in this elderly population in the months preceding death from any cause. Breathlessness should be assessed and managed in the context of poor prognosis

Prospective relationships between body weight and physical activity: an observational analysis from the NAVIGATOR study

Objectives: While bidirectional relationships exist between body weight and physical activity, direction of causality remains uncertain and previous studies have been limited by self-reported activity or weight and small sample size. We investigated the prospective relationships between weight and physical activity. Design: Observational analysis of data from the Nateglinide And Valsartan in Impaired Glucose Tolerance Outcomes Research (NAVIGATOR) study, a double-blinded randomised clinical trial of nateglinide and valsartan, respectively. Setting Multinational study of 9306 participants. Participants: Participants with biochemically confirmed impaired glucose tolerance had annual measurements of both weight and step count using research grade pedometers, worn for 7 days consecutively. Along with randomisation to valsartan or placebo plus nateglinide or placebo, participants took part in a lifestyle modification programme. Outcome measures: Longitudinal regression using weight as response value and physical activity as predictor value was conducted, adjusted for baseline covariates. Analysis was then repeated with physical activity as response value and weight as predictor value. Only participants with a response value preceded by at least three annual response values were included. Results: Adequate data were available for 2811 (30%) of NAVIGATOR participants. Previous weight (χ2=16.8; p<0.0001), but not change in weight (χ2=0.1; p=0.71) was inversely associated with subsequent step count, indicating lower subsequent levels of physical activity in heavier individuals. Change in step count (χ2=5.9; p=0.02) but not previous step count (χ2=0.9; p=0.34) was inversely associated with subsequent weight. However, in the context of trajectories already established for weight (χ2 for previous weight measurements 747.3; p<0.0001) and physical activity (χ2 for previous step count 432.6; p<0.0001), these effects were of limited clinical importance. Conclusions: While a prospective bidirectional relationship was observed between weight and physical activity, the magnitude of any effect was very small in the context of natural trajectories already established for these variables

Molar morphology and occlusion of the Early Jurassic mammaliaform Erythrotherium parringtoni

Funding Information: We thank Bhart-Anjan Bhullar (Yale University, New Haven, USA) and Roger Smith (ISAM), who kindly provided the scan of Erythrotherium parringtoni, as well as Pip Brewer (Natural History Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark), Michael Day, Farah Ahmed, Amin Garbout (all Natural History Museum, London, UK), Robert Asher and Mathew Lowe (both UMZC) for scans and access to comparative material of Morganucodon and Megazostrodon. We are also grateful to Anton Du Plessis (ISAM), Fernando Abdala (Bernard Price Institute for Palaeontological Research, Johannesburg, South Africa) and Amin Garbout (Natural History Museum, London, United Kingdom), who scanned the material used in this study. We also thank Richard Cifelli (Sam Noble Museum, Norman, USA) and David Grossnickle (University of Washington, Seattle, USA) for their kind and helpful reviews. This study was funded by grants MA 1643/15-2 and MA 1643/20-1 of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) to TM. Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2022 K.R.K. Jäger et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (for details please see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The South African Early Jurassic morganucodontan Erythrotherium is considered by some authors to be potentially synonymous with Morganucodon, due to similar tooth morphology. However, despite their similar dental morphology, the occlusal pattern of Erythrotherium parringtoni has been described as embrasure occlusion, close to the mode of Megazostrodon rudnerae, rather than that of Morganucodon. In this study the molars of Erythrotherium were re-examined and the two alternative occlusal hypotheses were tested using the Occlusal Fingerprint Analyser (OFA). Morphological comparison of the molars of Erythrotherium parringtoni to those of Morganucodon watsoni showed similarities in cusp height and shape in lingual/buccal views, but the molars and individual cusps of Erythrotherium parringtoni are considerably narrower linguo-buccally, and more gracile. With cusps a and c close together in Erythrotherium parringtoni, cusp positioning differs from that of Morganucodon watsoni and shows similarities to the pattern in Megazostrodon rudnerae. Also, the upper molars of Erythrotherium parringtoni are aligned in a straight row and lack the angle, relative to the longitudinal axis, between the first and second upper molars that is present in Morganucodon watsoni. This results in embrasure occlusion being the only viable occlusal mode for Erythrotherium parringtoni, which was confirmed by the OFA analysis. A Morganucodon-like occlusion would allow only the main cusps a/A to contact their antagonists and thus major gaps would be present, causing considerable reduction of functionality of the dentition. Based on the morphological evidence and the differing occlusal mode, the perpetuation of Erythrotherium parringtoni as a separate genus is confirmed.Peer reviewe