Water Quality Pilot Study for Traditional Water Structure Revitalization Potential in the Deccan Plateau of India

Traditional water structures such as stepwells and canal systems historically function as sustainable water sources. They are advantageous within India’s cyclic climate of flooding and drought, especially in regions of the Deccan plateau. Structures in the Deccan particularly tend to leverage laterite, a porous, geological feature specific to the region. Laterite is especially useful for collecting and maintaining water from surrounding aquifers, permitting reliable storage of water even during the dry season. Unfortunately, many of these structures have been damaged, polluted, and misused. This pilot study investigates the water quality of traditional water structures in the western Deccan Plateau region of India and their potential for revitalization. Samples were drawn from traditional water structures and domestic taps located across Central Maharashtra and Northern Karnataka. Water quality parameters were converted into a single water quality index (WQI) to characterize their current state. Qualitative site information such as degree of conservation and visible pollution level are compared via WQI. Quality amongst some traditional water structures was discovered to be comparable to domestic drinking sources despite a lack of conservation and usage in the former. Some sites exhibited strong potential for revitalization as domestic and agricultural water sources. Finally, a detailed case study of a Karez system in Bidar outlines current characteristics, challenges, and future work in promoting sustainable development practices for revitalizing traditional water structures

Developmental changes in resting‐state functional networks among individuals with and without internalizing psychopathologies

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147755/1/da22864.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/147755/2/da22864_am.pd

Can precursors improve the transmission of energy at optical frequencies?

The recent interest in precursors has been fuelled by the possibility of using them for the efficient transmission of information through absorbing media at radio or optical frequencies. Here we demonstrate that the low attenuation experienced by the Brillouin precursor is attributed to the inherently low absorption of dispersive media near DC, a characteristic already exploited with communications systems using the extremely low frequency (ELF) band. Pulses, regardless of their temporal width and carrier frequency, always obey Beer's law as long as they propagate in the linear time invariant regime. We conclude with an FDTD simulation of the Maxwell–Bloch equations that shows how optical coherent bleaching effects, which take place in the linear time variant regime of the Lorentz oscillator model, can cause sustained deviations from Beer's law over relatively long distances of water

Niraparib maintenance treatment improves time without symptoms or toxicity (TWiST) versus routine surveillance in recurrent ovarian cancer: a TWiST analysis of the ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial

Purpose: this study estimated time without symptoms or toxicity (TWiST) with niraparib compared with routine surveillance (RS) in the maintenance treatment of patients with recurrent ovarian cancer. Patients and methods: mean progression-free survival (PFS) was estimated for niraparib and RS by fitting parametric survival distributions to Kaplan-Meier data for 553 patients with recurrent ovarian cancer who were enrolled in the phase III ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial. Patients were categorized according to the presence or absence of a germline BRCA mutation-gBRCAmut and non-gBRCAmut cohorts. Mean time with toxicity was estimated based on the area under the Kaplan-Meier curve for symptomatic grade 2 or greater fatigue, nausea, and vomiting adverse events (AEs). Time with toxicity was the number of days a patient experienced an AE post-random assignment and before disease progression. TWiST was estimated as the difference between mean PFS and time with toxicity. Uncertainty was explored using alternative PFS estimates and considering all symptomatic grade 2 or greater AEs. Results: in the gBRCAmut and non-gBRCAmut cohorts, niraparib treatment resulted in a mean PFS benefit of 3.23 years and 1.44 years, respectively, and a mean time with toxicity of 0.28 years and 0.10 years, respectively, compared with RS. Hence, niraparib treatment resulted in a mean TWiST benefit of 2.95 years and 1.34 years, respectively, compared with RS, which is equivalent to more than four-fold and two-fold increases in mean TWiST between niraparib and RS in the gBRCAmut and non-gBRCAmut cohorts, respectively. This TWiST benefit was consistent across all sensitivity analyses, including modeling PFS over 5-, 10-, and 15-year time horizons. Conclusion: patients who were treated with niraparib compared with RS experienced increased mean TWiST. Thus, patients who were treated with niraparib in the ENGOT-OV16/NOVA trial experienced more time without symptoms or symptomatic toxicities compared with control

Appropriate Osteoporosis Treatment by Family Physicians inResponse to FRAX vs CAROC Reporting: Results Froma Randomized Controlled Trial

© 2014 The International Society for Clinical Densitometry. Canadian guidelines recommend either the FRAX or the Canadian Association of Radiologists and Osteoporosis Canada (CAROC) fracture risk assessment tools to report 10-yr fracture risk as low (20%). It is unknown whether one reporting system is more effective in helping family physicians (FPs) identify individuals who require treatment. Individuals ≥50yr old with a distal radius fracture and no previous osteoporosis diagnosis or treatment were recruited. Participants underwent a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan and answered questions about fracture risk factors. Participants\u27 FPs were randomized to receive either a FRAX report or the standard CAROC-derived bone mineral density report currently used by the institution. Only the FRAX report included statements regarding treatment recommendations. Within 3 mo, all participants were asked about follow-up care by their FP, and treatment recommendations were compared with anosteoporosis specialist. Sixty participants were enrolled (31 to FRAX and 29 to CAROC). Kappa statistics of agreement in treatment recommendation were 0.64 for FRAX and 0.32 for bone mineral density. The FRAX report was preferred by FPs and resulted in better postfracture follow-up and treatment that agreed more closely with a specialist. Either the clear statement of fracture risk or the specific statement of treatment recommendations on the FRAX report may have supported FPs to make better treatment decisions

Patterns of recurrence in the randomised PORTEC-3 trial of chemoradiotherapy for endometrial cancer

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Long-Term Toxicity and Health-Related Quality of Life After Adjuvant Chemoradiation Therapy or Radiation Therapy Alone for High-Risk Endometrial Cancer in the Randomized PORTEC-3 Trial

PURPOSE: The survival results of the PORTEC-3 trial showed a significant improvement in both overall and failure-free survival with chemoradiation therapy versus pelvic radiation therapy alone. The present analysis was performed to compare long-term adverse events (AE) and health-related quality of life (HRQOL). METHODS AND MATERIALS: In the study, 660 women with high-risk endometrial cancer were randomly assigned to receive chemoradiation therapy (2 concurrent cycles of cisplatin followed by 4 cycles of carboplatin/paclitaxel) or radiation therapy alone. Toxicity was graded using Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events, version 3.0. HRQOL was measured using EORTC QLQ-C30 and CX24/OV28 subscales and compared with normative data. An as-treated analysis was performed. RESULTS: Median follow-up was 74.6 months; 574 (87%) patients were evaluable for HRQOL. At 5 years, grade ≥2 AE were scored for 78 (38%) patients who had received chemoradiation therapy versus 46 (24%) who had received radiation therapy alone (P = .008). Grade 3 AE did not differ significantly between the groups (8% vs 5%, P = .18) at 5 years, and only one new late grade 4 toxicity had been reported. At 3 and 5 years, sensory neuropathy toxicity grade ≥2 persisted after chemoradiation therapy in 6% (vs 0% after radiation therapy, P < .001) and more patients reported significant tingling or numbness at HRQOL (27% vs 8%, P < .001 at 3 years; 24% vs 9%, P = .002 at 5 years). Up to 3 years, more patients who had chemoradiation therapy reported limb weakness (21% vs 5%, P < .001) and lower physical (79 vs 87, P < .001) and role functioning (78 vs 88, P < .001) scores. Both treatment groups reported similar long-term global health/quality of life scores, which were better than those of the normative population. CONCLUSIONS: This study shows a long-lasting, clinically relevant, negative impact of chemoradiation therapy on toxicity and HRQOL, most importantly persistent peripheral sensory neuropathy. Physical and role functioning impairments were seen until 3 years. These long-term data are essential for patient information and shared decision-making regarding adjuvant chemotherapy for high-risk endometrial cancer

Alessioporus rubriflavus (Boletaceae), a new species from the eastern United States

2017. Alessioporus rubriflavus (Boletaceae), a new species from the eastern United States. North American Fungi 12(2): 1-8. http://dx. Abstract: In 2014 Alessioporus was erected as a monotypic genus. Here we describe a new species from the eastern United States, Alessioporus rubriflavus, based on unique morphology and molecular data (ITS and LSU nrDNA genes). Ecology, geographical distribution and comparison to other closely allied taxa are discussed

Simple, sustainable, water straight from the sun - batteryless electrodialysis desalination

There is a need for reliable, low maintenance off-grid desalination for drinking water in resource-constrained regions. However, current off-grid desalination systems rely on large solar arrays and battery capacity for sufficient power and energy storage - such systems greatly increase the capital costs, operating costs, complexity and maintenance. Electrodialysis is a flexible technology with significant energy and water efficiency in comparison to other thermal and membrane processes and thus provides significant reduction in solar array capacity; however, it has not been exhibited off-grid without significant energy storage. This work proposes and validates a simple, robust, and maximal water production rate control scheme which enables batteryless off-grid desalination. The control scheme proposed involves cascade control with an outer PID loop tracking power and commanding flow rate, and a coupled inner model based control loop which always produces the maximum allowable current and thus, maximum desalination rate for the real-time power. This control scheme is applicable and adaptable to any continuous power system but can be most advantageous in direct-drive variable power situations, such as with solar panels. The controller is extremely simple, computationally efficient, and robust to implement: it relies on two sensors - a flow meter and a conductivity meter, one equation, and a PID controller. We demonstrate and conduct initial validation of this capability in a field pilot using direct-drive photovoltaic batch electrodialysis. We demonstrate a battery reduction of 99.4% from comparable prior art (20 kwh to 120 wh) on a 2 kwh system at a control speed of 100 milliseconds and utilization of 79% and 91% of total solar energy on two separate days of testing. This control scheme enables significant reduction and even elimination of batteries and is a step towards minimal-maintenance, high production off-grid desalination.S.M