Employing nature to combat floods: some experiences from Malaysia

Natural undisturbed systems possess inherent mechanisms and their own ways and means of maintaining system stability. Forests and floodplains, also commonly known as wetlands, are nature's way of controlling floods. Forests and wetland forests control floods by controlling rainfall at source, a concept only recently adopted by flood control agencies. Layered and densely forested areas intercept a significant amount of rainfall and regulate the flow of rain down branches, trunks and roots before reaching the river. Interception, the amount of rainfall caught in the forest crown, is about 10 - 15% of total rainfall. Least interception occurs when forests are thinned and exposed due to clearing, while maximum interception (often reaching 100 %) occurs with dense virgin forests made up of evergreen trees. During heavy rainstorms, rainwater commences to drift as mists or droplets to earth as "throughfall" which averages about 75 - 85% of rain in humid climates like Malaysia. Runoff from upstream also has to penetrate the forest before reaching the river, hence increasing lead time. Wetland forests along rivers, estuaries and coastal areas also give runoff from precipitation (which eventually gets into rivers) a place to spread out, serving as natural retention basins. Wetland forests act like sponges soaking and absorbing a lot of water down into the ground and then releasing it slowly over time. As much as 2.3 million litres of water is absorbed per hectare, depending on the nature of the soil. Forests hold the water and release it slowly. When forests are cleared or destroyed, all the rainwater gets into rivers at a relatively rapid time, resulting in flash floods. The concentration of water into the main river channel over a much shorter period of time dramatically increases flooding. It is vital for engineers and all scientists to work with natural systems rather than against them. In this respect, the JPS Malaysia has initiated the mandatory Manual for Environmentally Friendly Drainage for all development projects, indicating an all-important change of mindset from conventional engineering approach to a more comprehensive multi¬disciplinary approach that taps on the expertise of all disciplines

Forest Conservation And Rehabilitation In Flood Hazard Reduction Experiences From USA China And Malaysia.

Increasing incidence of floods in recent decades in many countries, particularly the USA, China and Malaysia have been largely attributed to loss of natural water retention systems such as forest ecosystetns

Long-Term Neuropsychological Sequelae in HIV-Seronegative Cryptococcal Meningoencephalitis Patients with and without Ventriculoperitoneal Shunts: A Cine MRI Study

Background. Hydrocephalus in cryptococcal meningoencephalitis is most commonly managed with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. This study applied cine magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to evaluate initial disease severity on long-term cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) flow dynamics and associated neuropsychological sequelae in cryptococcal meningoencephalitis patients with and without ventriculoperitoneal shunts. Methods. Eighteen human immunodeficiency virus-seronegative cryptococcal meningoencephalitis patients (10 with shunts versus 8 without shunts) were compared with 32 age- and sex-matched healthy volunteers. All subjects underwent complete neurologic examination and neuropsychological testing. Cine MRI was conducted to evaluate CSF flow parameters. Initial CSF laboratory analysis and imaging findings were correlated with present CSF flow parameters and neuropsychological scores. Results. Patients without shunts had higher average flow than controls, suggesting chronic hydrocephalus. Initial Evans ratios and CSF glucose levels were associated with CSF peak velocity and flow. Worsening CSF flow parameters correlated with decreased neuropsychological performance. Conclusions. CSF flow parameter differences between the cryptococcal meningoencephalitis patients both with and without ventriculoperitoneal shunts could be detected by cine MRI and correlated with acute stage disease severity and chronic stage neuropsychological results. Cine MRI is useful for assessing the chronic hydrocephalus that may lead to neuropsychological deficits in cryptococcal meningoencephalitis patients

A Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial of a Traditional Chinese Herbal Formula in the Treatment of Primary Dysmenorrhoea

BACKGROUND: Most traditional Chinese herbal formulas consist of at least four herbs. Four-Agents-Decoction (Si Wu Tang) is a documented eight hundred year old formula containing four herbs and has been widely used to relieve menstrual discomfort in Taiwan. However, no specific effect had been systematically evaluated. We applied Western methodology to assess its effectiveness and safety for primary dysmenorrhoea and to evaluate the compliance and feasibility for a future trial. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: A randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pilot clinical trial was conducted in an ad hoc clinic setting at a teaching hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. Seventy-eight primary dysmenorrheic young women were enrolled after 326 women with self-reported menstrual discomfort in the Taipei metropolitan area of Taiwan were screened by a questionnaire and subsequently diagnosed by two gynaecologists concurrently with pelvic ultrasonography. A dosage of 15 odorless capsules daily for five days starting from the onset of bleeding or pain was administered. Participants were followed with two to four cycles for an initial washout interval, one to two baseline cycles, three to four treatment cycles, and three follow-up cycles. Study outcome was pain intensity measured by using unmarked horizontal visual analog pain scale in an online daily diary submitted directly by the participants for 5 days starting from the onset of bleeding or pain of each menstrual cycle. Overall-pain was the average pain intensity among days in pain and peak-pain was the maximal single-day pain intensity. At the end of treatment, both the overall-pain and peak-pain decreased in the Four-Agents-Decoction (Si Wu Tang) group and increased in the placebo group; however, the differences between the two groups were not statistically significant. The trends persisted to follow-up phase. Statistically significant differences in both peak-pain and overall-pain appeared in the first follow-up cycle, at which the reduced peak-pain in the Four-Agents-Decoction (Si Wu Tang) group did not differ significantly by treatment length. However, the reduced peak-pain did differ profoundly among women treated for four menstrual cycles (2.69 (2.06) cm, mean (standard deviation), for the 20 women with Four-Agents-Decoction and 4.68 (3.16) for the 22 women with placebo, p = .020.) There was no difference in adverse symptoms between the Four-Agents-Decoction (Si Wu Tang) and placebo groups. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Four-Agents-Decoction (Si Wu Tang) therapy in this pilot post-market clinical trial, while meeting the standards of conventional medicine, showed no statistically significant difference in reducing menstrual pain intensity of primary dysmenorrhoea at the end of treatment. Its use, with our dosage regimen and treatment length, was not associated with adverse reactions. The finding of statistically significant pain-reducing effect in the first follow-up cycle was unexpected and warrants further study. A larger similar trial among primary dysmenorrheic young women with longer treatment phase and multiple batched study products can determine the definitive efficacy of this historically documented formula. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Controlled-Trials.com ISRCTN23374750

A Single Nucleotide in Stem Loop II of 5′-Untranslated Region Contributes to Virulence of Enterovirus 71 in Mice

BACKGROUND: Enterovirus 71 (EV71) has emerged as a neuroinvasive virus responsible for several large outbreaks in the Asia-Pacific region while virulence determinant remains unexplored. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this report, we investigated increased virulence of unadapted EV71 clinical isolate 237 as compared with isolate 4643 in mice. A fragment 12 nucleotides in length in stem loop (SL) II of 237 5'-untranslated region (UTR) visibly reduced survival time and rate in mice was identified by constructing a series of infectious clones harboring chimeric 5'-UTR. In cells transfected with bicistronic plasmids, and replicon RNAs, the 12-nt fragment of isolate 237 enhanced translational activities and accelerated replication of subgenomic EV71. Finally, single nucleotide change from cytosine to uridine at base 158 in this short fragment of 5'-UTR was proven to reduce viral translation and EV71 virulence in mice. Results collectively indicated a pivotal role of novel virulence determinant C158 on virus translation in vitro and EV71 virulence in vivo. CONCLUSIONS: These results presented the first reported virulence determinant in EV71 5'-UTR and first position discovered from unadapted isolates

Women with endometriosis have higher comorbidities: Analysis of domestic data in Taiwan

AbstractEndometriosis, defined by the presence of viable extrauterine endometrial glands and stroma, can grow or bleed cyclically, and possesses characteristics including a destructive, invasive, and metastatic nature. Since endometriosis may result in pelvic inflammation, adhesion, chronic pain, and infertility, and can progress to biologically malignant tumors, it is a long-term major health issue in women of reproductive age. In this review, we analyze the Taiwan domestic research addressing associations between endometriosis and other diseases. Concerning malignant tumors, we identified four studies on the links between endometriosis and ovarian cancer, one on breast cancer, two on endometrial cancer, one on colorectal cancer, and one on other malignancies, as well as one on associations between endometriosis and irritable bowel syndrome, one on links with migraine headache, three on links with pelvic inflammatory diseases, four on links with infertility, four on links with obesity, four on links with chronic liver disease, four on links with rheumatoid arthritis, four on links with chronic renal disease, five on links with diabetes mellitus, and five on links with cardiovascular diseases (hypertension, hyperlipidemia, etc.). The data available to date support that women with endometriosis might be at risk of some chronic illnesses and certain malignancies, although we consider the evidence for some comorbidities to be of low quality, for example, the association between colon cancer and adenomyosis/endometriosis. We still believe that the risk of comorbidity might be higher in women with endometriosis than that we supposed before. More research is needed to determine whether women with endometriosis are really at risk of these comorbidities

Heavy metal concentrations in soils and crops of Baoshan-Wusong area, Shanghai, China

Sampling around the Baoshan-Wusong area indicated that concentrations of heavy metals in soils were higher than the background levels of agricultural soils of Shanghai-suburbs. Statistical test showed Zn, Cd, Cr, Hg, F, and Pb contaminants were present in the surface soils, and high correlation coefficients were identified between the soluble fraction of those contaminants in soils and their concentrations in wheat grains and leaves. To characterize its spatial variation, the fuzzy pattern recognition was introduced to assess comprehensively polluted conditions at sites, and logarithm regression was used to identify the main polluted source. Results showed that soil pollution occurred predominantly around the industrial complex, covering about 20 sq.km but was not widespread. This finding plus other statistical data revealed that the high level of metal concentrations were primarily due to industrial activities but not from soil parent materials and farming practices. The metal concentrations decreased with the increasing distance away from the complex along the southeast direction. © 1990