1,341 research outputs found
Assessment of freshwater ecosystem services in the Beas River Basin, Himalayas region, India
River systems provide a diverse range of ecosystem
services, examples include: flood regulation (regulating), fish
(provisioning), nutrient cycling (supporting) and recreation (cultural).
Developing water resources through the construction of dams (hydropower or
irrigation) can enhance the delivery of provisioning ecosystem services.
However, these hydrologic alterations result in reductions in less tangible
regulating, cultural and supporting ecosystem services. This study seeks to
understand how multiple impoundments, abstractions and transfers within the
upper Beas River Basin, Western Himalayas, India, are affecting the delivery
of supporting ecosystem services. Whilst approaches for assessing supporting
ecosystem services are under development, the immediate aim of this paper is
to set out a framework for their quantification, using the macroinvertebrate
index Lotic-Invertebrate Index for Flow Evaluation (LIFE). LIFE is a
weighted measure of the flow velocity preferences of the macroinvertebrate
community. Flow records from multiple gauging stations within the basin were
used to investigate flow variability at seasonal, inter-annual and decadal
time scales. The findings show that both mean monthly and seasonal
cumulative flows have decreased over time in the Beas River Basin. A
positive hydroecological relationship between LIFE and flow was also
identified, indicative of macroinvertebrate response to seasonal changes in
the flow regime. For example, high LIFE scores (7.7–9.3) in the winter and
summer seasons indicate an abundance of macroinvertebrates with a preference
for high flows; this represents a high potential for instream supporting
ecosystem services delivery. However, further analysis is required to
understand these hydroecological interactions in the study basin and the
impact on instream supporting ecosystem services delivery
Magnetic X-ray Spectroscopy Studies of PLD grown Magnetoelectric Hexaferrites
The work here in was undertaken with two main objectives. The first has been to design and develop a bespoke pulsed laser deposition growth system to enable the growth of high quality transition metal oxide thin films. The system has been constructed to allow for the growth of multi-block or layered systems, such as the R, S and T-blocks of hexaferrites, by utilising an alternating target approach. Ultimately, the growth system’s ability to grow complex oxide thin films has been tested and the
successful growth of an epitaxial M-type hexaferrite, with material properties that compare well to the literature, has been realised.
Additionally, the magnetoelectric effect in M-type Ti-Co doped strontium hexaferrite, SrCo2Ti2Fe8O19, has been studied using a combination of magnetometry and element specific soft x-ray spectroscopies. A large increase (>30x) in the magnetoelectric coefficient is found when Co2+ enters the trigonal bi-pyramidal site. The 5-fold trigonal bi-pyramidal site has been shown to provide an
unusual mechanism for electric polarization based on the displacement of magnetic transition metal ions. For Co entering this site, an off-centre displacement of the cation may induce a large local electric dipole as well as providing an increased magnetostriction enhancing the magnetoelectric effect
Land management for increased flood resilience
Natural Flood Management (NFM) (e.g. restoring watercourses, riparian tree planting, washland and wetland creation) is a core component of flood risk management strategies in Scotland. However little is known of its potential impact on the farming and land management communities, individual farm businesses, or the socioeconomic impacts and perceptions of its potential wide-spread introduction. To support policy implementation, information is required on land managers’ willingness to implement NFM, and to be able to relate willingness to generic farm characteristics (farming systems, land use types, geographical location), different types and locations of NFM measures, and to farm economics.The main objectives of the project are to undertake:1. A large scale survey of farmers’ attitudes to NFM and to the use of potential policy instruments to promote its uptake and delivery; and2. Farm-scale economic analyses of the impact of NFM measures under different scenarios
Applications of ultrasound for the functional modification of proteins and nanoemulsion formation::A review
Traffic pollution and the incidence of cardiorespiratory outcomes in an adult cohort in London.
OBJECTIVES: The epidemiological evidence for adverse health effects of long-term exposure to air and noise pollution from traffic is not coherent. Further, the relative roles of background versus near traffic pollution concentrations in this process are unclear. We investigated relationships between modelled concentrations of air and noise pollution from traffic and incident cardiorespiratory disease in London. METHODS: Among 211 016 adults aged 40-79 years registered in 75 Greater London practices between 2005 and 2011, the first diagnosis for a range of cardiovascular and respiratory outcomes were identified from primary care and hospital records. Annual baseline concentrations for nitrogen oxide (NOx), particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter <2.5 μm (PM2.5) attributable to exhaust and non-exhaust sources, traffic intensity and noise were estimated at 20 m(2) resolution from dispersion models, linked to clinical data via residential postcode. HRs were adjusted for confounders including smoking and area deprivation. RESULTS: The largest observed associations were between traffic-related air pollution and heart failure (HR=1.10 for 20 μg/m(3) change in NOx, 95% CI 1.01 to 1.21). However, no other outcomes were consistently associated with any of the pollution indicators, including noise. The greater variations in modelled air pollution from traffic between practices, versus within, hampered meaningful fine spatial scale analyses. CONCLUSIONS: The associations observed with heart failure may suggest exacerbatory effects rather than underlying chronic disease. However, the overall failure to observe wider associations with traffic pollution may reflect that exposure estimates based on residence inadequately represent the relevant pattern of personal exposure, and future studies must address this issue
Editorial to the special issue : Impacts of compound hydrological hazards or extremes
Hydrological hazards, or 'hydro-hazards', are defined as "extreme events associated with the occurrence, movement and distribution of water, such as floods and droughts" (Visser-Quinn et al., 2019 [1]). Singular or interacting physical process which drive hydro-hazards can combine to produce a range of compounding and cascading impacts, which may interact across multiple spatial and temporal scales. For example, urban flooding may result from excess runoff from one or multiple sources (e.g., extreme rainfall, groundwater), causing disruption to the built environment
Regulation of the Cardiac Na+/K+ ATPase by Phospholemman
Hansraj Dhayan, Rajender Kumar, Andreas Kukol, ‘Regulation of the Cardiac Na+/K+ ATPase by Phospholemman’, in Sajal Chakraborti, Naranjan Dhalla, eds., Regulation of Membrane Na+-K+ ATPase, (Switzerland: Springer, 2016), ISBN 978-3-319-24748-9, eISBN 978-3-319-24750-2.Peer reviewe
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