Automated calibration of the EPA-SWMM model for a small suburban catchment using PEST: a case study

Rainfall-runoff models must be calibrated and validated before they can be used for urban stormwater management. Manual calibration is very difficult and time-consuming due to the large number of model parameters that must be estimated concurrently. Automatic calibration offers as a promising alternative, ideally supporting a user-independent and time-efficient approach to model parameters estimation. In this article, we test the use of a state-of-the-art standard package (PEST, Parameter ESTimation, http://www.pesthomepage.org/) for the automatic calibration of a rainfall-runoff EPA-SWMM (Storm Water Management Model) model developed for a small suburban catchment. Results reported in the paper demonstrate that the performance of automatically calibrated models still depends on a number of user-dependent choices (the level of catchment discretization, the selection of significant parameters, the optimization techniques adopted). Through a systematic analysis of the results, we try to identify the guidelines for the effective use of automatic calibration procedures based on modeling assumptions and target of the analysis

HDAC4 in cancer: A multitasking platform to drive not only epigenetic modifications

Controlling access to genomic information and maintaining its stability are key aspects of cell life. Histone acetylation is a reversible epigenetic modification that allows access to DNA and the assembly of protein complexes that regulate mainly transcription but also other activities. Enzymes known as histone deacetylases (HDACs) are involved in the removal of the acetyl-group or in some cases of small hydrophobic moieties from histones but also from the non-histone substrate. The main achievement of HDACs on histones is to repress transcription and promote the formation of more compact chromatin. There are 18 different HDACs encoded in the human genome. Here we will discuss HDAC4, a member of the class IIa family, and its possible contribution to cancer development

Child Under-weight and Agricultural Productivity in India: Implications for Public Provisioning and Women’s Agency

This study is part of the ongoing research program on Leveraging Agriculture for Nutrition in South Asia (LANSA) funded by UK Aid from the Department for International Development, UK. The authors are consultants or regular staff of M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, India, one of the six partner institutions of LANSA.A recent global hunger index indicated a 12 percent decline in child underweight rates. This study attempts an empirical explanation of the factors that influence child underweight rates at the district level. Agricultural land productivity, share of women educated above the secondary level and participating in work, maternal, and child health seem to contribute to the reduction in child underweight. However government health and water supply facilities turn out to be ineffective

Large?scale Investments in Agriculture in India

Public investment in agriculture has significant poverty?reducing effects. This article attempts to analyse trends in agricultural investments in India between the 1950s and the 2000s. It argues that public investment and expenditure on agriculture in India have grown only slowly and have not decisively increased even after more than 60 years of independence. While public capital formation and expenditure do show a moderate rise in the 2000s, a revival of India's agricultural growth requires a far greater thrust to public spending. Major and medium irrigation projects require special attention, as irrigation is instrumental not just in raising yields, but also the number of days of employment for labourers. Increasing public investment in agricultural research and extension is central to bridging the yield gap that persists. Formal credit flows to agriculture have to specifically target small and marginal farmers, and emphasis should move away from generating agricultural growth by channelling credit to agri?business firms and corporate players in agriculture. If India's second green revolution has to contribute to an accelerated reduction of poverty, hunger and malnourishment, it undoubtedly has to be a state?led project

Effect of BG-Lures on the Male Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae) Sound Trap capture rates

With global expansion of the two main vectors of dengue, Aedes aegypti (Linnaeus, Diptera: Culicidae) and Aedes albopictus (Skuse, Diptera: Culicidae), there is a need to further develop cost-effective and user-friendly surveillance tools to monitor the population dynamics of these species. The abundance of Ae. aegypti and Ae. Albopictus, and associated bycatch captured by Male Aedes Sound Traps (MASTs) and BG-Sentinel (BGS) traps that were unbaited or baited with BG-Lures were compared in Cairns, Australia and Madang, Papua New Guinea. Mean male Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus catch rates in MASTs did not significantly differ when deployed with BG-Lures. Similarly, males of both these species were not sampled at statistically different rates in BGS traps with or without BG-Lures. However, MASTs with BG-Lures caught significantly less male Ae. aegypti than BGS traps baited with BG-Lures in Cairns, and MASTs without BG-Lures caught significantly more male Ae. albopictus than BGS traps without BG-Lures in Madang. Additionally, BG-Lures significantly increased female Ae. aegypti catch rates in BGS traps in Cairns. Lastly, bycatch capture rates in BGS traps were not significantly influenced by the addition of the BG-Lures. While this study provides useful information regarding the surveillance of Ae. aegypti and Ae. albopictus in these locations, further development and investigation is required to successfully integrate an olfactory lure into the MAST system

Scaling?up ICDS: Can Universalisation Address Persistent Malnutrition?

A countrywide initiative, the ICDS programme is India's primary response to addressing child malnutrition, but has had mixed success on the state of malnutrition in India. This article reviews the ICDS from the perspective of a scaling?up management framework and analyses aspects of design, advocacy, implementation and monitoring in the scaling?up of ICDS. Universalisation of ICDS with quality is well within the means of government and recent advocacy has resulted in increased funding; the scaling?up of ICDS is challenging. Successful scaling?up of ICDS requires the implementation of a multicomponent model, demanding a high level of quality and performance, coordination and convergence in the face of varying and limited management and technical capacity, poor governance environments, and little experience of engaging communities. Success in addressing these constraints is possible but attention to detail is critical and lessons should be adapted to suit local context

Técnicas microscópicas aplicadas na identificação e localização de bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio e biomacromoléculas em tecidos vegetais.

Preparo de amostras de tecidos vegetais para microscopia. Fixadores. Resinas. Corantes/Contrastantes. Ultramicrotomia. Aplicações com o microscópio de luz. Microscopia de campo escuro, contraste de fase e interferência. Outras técnicas de microscópia ótica e video-microscopia. Aplicações ao microscopio eletrônico. A imunologia e a microscopia.bitstream/CNPAB-2010/27241/1/doc050.pd

‘Bordering’ Life: denying the right to live before being born

This study pushes the boundaries of the border thinking discourse to examine grassroots perceptions of foeticide together with how women are valued in a society that is underpinned by preference for a male child. Using a bordering conceptual framework, the paper re-visits the female positionality within epistemic locations of culture and societal values in both colonial and the modern Indian context. Grounded in primary research in the state of Haryana that exhibits lowest female to male ratio at birth in the country, the analyses indicate rigid or at best sluggish movements in social norms as the key driver for India’s declining sex ratio. The border thinking discourse further enables to situate the different aspects of female positionality and gender perceptions in the society into the specific domains of the bordering conceptual framework. This offers a novel approach to engage with social norms that border life and opportunities for females in the society