Design Considerations in Food Irrigation

Flood-irrigation is primarily a system of irrigation which utilizes a part or all of the surface run-off is diverted from contributing watersheds and distributed over the fields by dikes or ditches. Diversion is accomplished through the use of a dam or of dikes if the volume of water diverted is not too great. There are thousands upon thousands of fertile acres throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of the Great Plains which could be materially benefited if bolstered by a little additional rainfall. It is not possible to increase the normal precipitation over the area , but it is possible, through proper land use and farming methods, to conserve a large part of the moisture that falls and, with irrigation, to furnish additional water

A Plant Efficiency Survey and Experimental Plant Results Obtained at The Sioux Falls Sewage Treatment Plant, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Sioux Falls, the largest city in South Dakota is situated on a bend in the Sioux River. The flow of this river ranges from a recorded minimum flow or 9 to a maximum flood flow of 500 cu. ft. per second. As originally designed and built the sewage system emptied into the river at three main outlets. In 1910 the City had a population of approximately 14000 people, and during the next decade its population practically doubled. During this period of growth there was added to the industries of the City a large meat packing plant which has been steadily growing and has exercised a marked influence upon the liquid wastes of the City, until at the present time when the waste from this source alone is approximately 50 percent in volume of the total amount of waste produced by the rest of the City

Effects of food-borne nanomaterials on gastrointestinal tissues and microbiota

Ingestion of engineered nanomaterials is inevitable due to their addition to food and prevalence in food packaging and domestic products such as toothpaste and sun cream. In the absence of robust dosimetry and particokinetic data, it is currently challenging to accurately assess the potential toxicity of food-borne nanomaterials. Herein, we review current understanding of gastrointestinal uptake mechanisms, consider some data on the potential for toxicity of the most commonly encountered classes of food-borne nanomaterials (including TiO2 , SiO2 , ZnO, and Ag nanoparticles), and discuss the potential impact of the luminal environment on nanoparticle properties and toxicity. Much of our current understanding of gastrointestinal nanotoxicology is derived from increasingly sophisticated epithelial models that augment in vivo studies. In addition to considering the direct effects of food-borne nanomaterials on gastrointestinal tissues, including the potential role of chronic nanoparticle exposure in development of inflammatory diseases, we also discuss the potential for food-borne nanomaterials to disturb the normal balance of microbiota within the gastrointestinal tract. The latter possibility warrants close attention given the increasing awareness of the critical role of microbiota in human health and the known impact of some food-borne nanomaterials on bacterial viability. For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website.</p

Spatiotemporal mortality and demographic trends in a small cetacean: Strandings to inform conservation management

With global increases in anthropogenic pressures on wildlife populations comes a responsibility to manage them effectively. The assessment of marine ecosystem health is challenging and often relies on monitoring indicator species, such as cetaceans. Most cetaceans are however highly mobile and spend the majority of their time hidden from direct view, resulting in uncertainty on even the most basic population metrics. Here, we discuss the value of long-term and internationally combined stranding records as a valuable source of information on the demographic and mortality trends of the harbour porpoise (Phocoena phocoena) in the North Sea. We analysed stranding records (n = 16,181) from 1990 to 2017 and demonstrate a strong heterogeneous seasonal pattern of strandings throughout the North Sea, indicative of season-specific distribution or habitat use, and season-specific mortality. The annual incidence of strandings has increased since 1990, with a notable steeper rise particularly in the southern North Sea since 2005. A high density of neonatal strandings occurred specifically in the eastern North Sea, indicative of areas important for calving, and large numbers of juvenile males stranded in the southern parts, indicative of a population sink or reflecting higher male dispersion. These findings highlight the power of stranding records to detect potentially vulnerable population groups in time and space. This knowledge is vital for managers and can guide, for example, conservation measures such as the establishment of time-area-specific limits to potentially harmful human activities, aiming to reduce the number and intensity of human-wildlife conflicts

The stranding anomaly as population indicator: the case of Harbour Porpoise <i>Phocoena phocoena</i> in North-Western Europe

Ecological indicators for monitoring strategies are expected to combine three major characteristics: ecological significance, statistical credibility, and cost-effectiveness. Strategies based on stranding networks rank highly in cost-effectiveness, but their ecological significance and statistical credibility are disputed. Our present goal is to improve the value of stranding data as population indicator as part of monitoring strategies by constructing the spatial and temporal null hypothesis for strandings. The null hypothesis is defined as: small cetacean distribution and mortality are uniform in space and constant in time. We used a drift model to map stranding probabilities and predict stranding patterns of cetacean carcasses under H-0 across the North Sea, the Channel and the Bay of Biscay, for the period 1990-2009. As the most common cetacean occurring in this area, we chose the harbour porpoise <i>Phocoena phocoena</i> for our modelling. The difference between these strandings expected under H-0 and observed strandings is defined as the stranding anomaly. It constituted the stranding data series corrected for drift conditions. Seasonal decomposition of stranding anomaly suggested that drift conditions did not explain observed seasonal variations of porpoise strandings. Long-term stranding anomalies increased first in the southern North Sea, the Channel and Bay of Biscay coasts, and finally the eastern North Sea. The hypothesis of changes in porpoise distribution was consistent with local visual surveys, mostly SCANS surveys (1994 and 2005). This new indicator could be applied to cetacean populations across the world and more widely to marine megafauna

Etest® versus broth microdilution for ceftaroline MIC determination with Staphylococcus aureus: results from PREMIUM, a European multicentre study

Objectives: To compare the concordance of ceftaroline MIC values 24 by reference broth microdilution (BMD) and Etest (BioMérieux, France) for MSSA and MRSA isolates, respectively, in isolates from PREMIUM (D372SL00001), a European multi-centre study.  Methods: Ceftaroline MICs were determined by reference BMD and by Etest for 1,242 MSSA and MRSA from adult patients with community-acquired pneumonia or complicated skin and soft tissue infections collected between February and May 2012; tests were performed across six European laboratories. Selected isolates with ceftaroline resistance in broth (MIC >1 mg/L) were retested in three central laboratories to confirm their behaviour.  Results: Overall concordance between BMD and Etest was good, with >97% essential agreement and >95% categorical agreement. Nevertheless, 12 of the 26 MRSA isolates found resistant by BMD scored as susceptible by Etest, with MICs ≤1 mg/L, thus counting as very major errors, whereas only five of 380 MRSA found ceftaroline susceptible in BMD were mis-categorised as resistant by Etest. Twenty-one of the 26 isolates with MICs of 2 mg/L by BMD were then re-tested twice by each of three central laboratories: BMD MICs of 2 mg/L were consistently found for 19 of the 21 isolates. Among 147 Etest results for these 21 isolates (original plus six repeats per isolate) 112 were >1 mg/L.  Conclusions: BMD and Etest have good overall agreement for ceftaroline against Staphylococcus aureus; nevertheless, reliable Etest-based discrimination of the minority of ceftaroline-resistant (MIC 2 mg/L) MRSA is extremely challenging, requiring careful reading of strips, ideally with duplicate testing

Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA

CITATION: Watson, R., et al. 2016. Proceedings of the 13th annual conference of INEBRIA. Addiction Science & Clinical Practice, 11:13, doi:10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9.The original publication is available at https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.comENGLISH SUMMARY : Meeting abstracts.https://ascpjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13722-016-0062-9Publisher's versio

Gastrointestinal System

The epithelial lining of the gastrointestinal tract (GIT) acts as a barrier to uptake of potentially dangerous material while allowing absorption of processed food. The gut may be exposed to a diverse range of engineered nanomaterials due to their deliberate addition to food and consumer products and in the form of particulate delivery vehicles for drugs and vaccines, and inadvertently via contaminated food and water and after efflux of material from the respiratory tract. The extent of inadvertent ingestion of nanomaterials is not currently known, but it is nevertheless prudent to assess interactions of nanomaterials with GIT cells in order to assess the potential impact of nanomaterial uptake. Although nanomaterial toxicity within the GIT has been much less extensively studied than that at other interfaces or compartments, over the past decade a number of studies have begun to address the impact, behavior, and interaction of nanomaterials in the GIT. Some reports suggest that GIT cells may be less responsive to nanomaterial toxicity, but it is also clear that nanomaterials may affect the function of cultured GIT epithelial cells in ways that are not detected by standard toxicity assays. This chapter summarizes the current knowledge of the uptake and potential toxicity of nanomaterials in the gut and highlights potential research priorities.</p

A review of the efficacy of the protected area system of East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

In 1982 the Indonesian government adopted policy for establishing a national network of protected areas to conserve the nation's biodiversity. The design of the reserve network was based on scientific principles of representation and proposed a major ecosystem reserve, supplemented by smaller reserves, in each biogeographic unit of the country. We review the protected area system for East Kalimantan Province and show that key reserves either have not been established or are degraded. As a result, the present network exhibits major gaps in representation of key biodiversity attributes. We identified the potential for establishing a new major ecosystem reserve, covering more than 440,000 ha in the Sebuku-Sembakung region, which would fill important gaps in representation. Although this proposal has the support of central government and the international donor community, it might not receive the provincial endorsement that is required for designation. We conclude that for East Kalimantan, turning systematic reserve planning into practice has failed because key assumptions of reserve planning principles are invalid in the contemporary sociopolitical landscapes of Indonesia. In our view, strategies for in situ conservation of biodiversity in the protected areas of East Kalimantan need a complete reevaluation. En 1982 el gobierno de Indonesia adoptó una política de establecimiento de una red nacional de áreas protegidas para conservar la biodiversidad e la nación. El diseño de esta red de reservas se basó en los principios científicos de representación y propuso una reserva mayor de ecosistema, suplementada por reservas menores, en cada unidad biogeográfica del país. Revisamos el sistema de áreas protegidas de la provincia de Kalimantan Este, mostramos que las reservas claves no fueron establecidas o están degradadas. Como resultado, la red presente exhibe deficiencias mayores en la representación en los atributos claves de biodiversidad. Hemos identificado el potential de establecer una nueva reserva de ecosistema, de 440,000 ha, en las regiones de Sebuku y Sembakung, que podría salvar importantes fallas en la represerntación. Aunque este propuesta tiene el apoyo del gobierno central y la comunidad donante internacional, no recibe la garantía provincial que se requiere para la designación. Para Kalimantan Este, concluimos que falló en ponerse en práctica el sistema de planeo de reservas porque las asumpciones claves de los principios de planeamiento son inválidos en la situación sociopolítica contemporánea de Indonesia. Para nosotros, las estrategias de conservación in situ de biodiversidad en las áreas protegidas de Kalimantan Este necesitan una completa reevaluación

A review of the efficacy of the protected area system of East Kalimantan Province, Indonesia

In 1982 the Indonesian government adopted policy for establishing a national network of protected areas to conserve the nation's biodiversity. The design of the reserve network was based on scientific principles of representation and proposed a major ecosystem reserve, supplemented by smaller reserves, in each biogeographic unit of the country. We review the protected area system for East Kalimantan Province and show that key reserves either have not been established or are degraded. As a result, the present network exhibits major gaps in representation of key biodiversity attributes. We identified the potential for establishing a new major ecosystem reserve, covering more than 440,000 ha in the Sebuku-Sembakung region, which would fill important gaps in representation. Although this proposal has the support of central government and the international donor community, it might not receive the provincial endorsement that is required for designation. We conclude that for East Kalimantan, turning systematic reserve planning into practice has failed because key assumptions of reserve planning principles are invalid in the contemporary sociopolitical landscapes of Indonesia. In our view, strategies for in situ conservation of biodiversity in the protected areas of East Kalimantan need a complete reevaluation. En 1982 el gobierno de Indonesia adoptó una política de establecimiento de una red nacional de áreas protegidas para conservar la biodiversidad e la nación. El diseño de esta red de reservas se basó en los principios científicos de representación y propuso una reserva mayor de ecosistema, suplementada por reservas menores, en cada unidad biogeográfica del país. Revisamos el sistema de áreas protegidas de la provincia de Kalimantan Este, mostramos que las reservas claves no fueron establecidas o están degradadas. Como resultado, la red presente exhibe deficiencias mayores en la representación en los atributos claves de biodiversidad. Hemos identificado el potential de establecer una nueva reserva de ecosistema, de 440,000 ha, en las regiones de Sebuku y Sembakung, que podría salvar importantes fallas en la represerntación. Aunque este propuesta tiene el apoyo del gobierno central y la comunidad donante internacional, no recibe la garantía provincial que se requiere para la designación. Para Kalimantan Este, concluimos que falló en ponerse en práctica el sistema de planeo de reservas porque las asumpciones claves de los principios de planeamiento son inválidos en la situación sociopolítica contemporánea de Indonesia. Para nosotros, las estrategias de conservación in situ de biodiversidad en las áreas protegidas de Kalimantan Este necesitan una completa reevaluación.This article is not currently available via ORA