Landsat surface temperature data analysis for urban heat resilience: case study of Adelaide

Meeting: CUPUM 2017: 15th International Conference on Computers in Urban Planning and Urban Management (11-14 July 2017 Adelaide, Australia )Smarter urban futures require resilient built environment in the context of climate change. This chapter demonstrates the application of satellite-based surface cover and temperature data to support planning for urban heat resilience. Landsat 7 ETM+ and Landsat 8 data is used to analyse the correlation of urban surface covers to the urban heat island effect in Adelaide. Methods for data source selection, surface cover classification, surface temperature calculation and analysis are detailed in this chapter. Results indicate that tree canopy and surface water covers had the least surface temperature variations in mesoscale. The average minimum surface temperature of tree canopy cover was 2.79 °C lower than asphalt and 4.74 °C lower than paved areas. Freely available satellite urban surface temperature data can assist urban planning authorities in planning heat resilient urban spaces for smarter urban futures in the context of climate change.Ehsan Sharifi, Alpana Sivam, Sadasivam Karuppannan and John W Bolan

Drive till you qualify : an alternative view of housing affordability

Choice of residential location and the transport options which flow from those choices may have significant impacts on family budgets as the combined share of expenditure on housing and transport increases. Thus the perception that housing is cheaper on the urban fringe of Australian cities may not be borne out by reality for income constrained households which are forced to spend a large share of their disposable income on transport to work. This paper builds on previous work reported elsewhere in respect of 2006 data, by examining evidence from Adelaide over two census periods, 2006 and 2011. Using census data and vehicle purchase and running cost data, a model is developed which analyses the proportion of household income devoted to housing and transport for specific locations within the metropolitan areas of both cities. Specifically we aim to address two questions. Firstly, are there affordability advantages for households on low incomes to live in the outer suburbs in the fringe metropolitan areas of Adelaide? Secondly, has there been any change in the affordability of housing, defined by its location and taking transportation costs into account, between the two census periods? The analysis aims both to inform potential housing purchasers of the likely implications for their household budgets of their choice of location and to assist planners in making zoning decisions in respect of urban fringe land and new transport infrastructure.Jon Kellett, John Morrissey, and Sadasivam Karuppanna

Elucidation of the ebola virus VP24 cellular interactome and disruption of virus biology through targeted inhibition of host-cell protein function

Viral pathogenesis in the infected cell is a balance between antiviral responses and subversion of host-cell processes. Many viral proteins specifically interact with host-cell proteins to promote virus biology. Understanding these interactions can lead to knowledge gains about infection and provide potential targets for antiviral therapy. One such virus is Ebola, which has profound consequences for human health and causes viral hemorrhagic fever where case fatality rates can approach 90%. The Ebola virus VP24 protein plays a critical role in the evasion of the host immune response and is likely to interact with multiple cellular proteins. To map these interactions and better understand the potential functions of VP24, label-free quantitative proteomics was used to identify cellular proteins that had a high probability of forming the VP24 cellular interactome. Several known interactions were confirmed, thus placing confidence in the technique, but new interactions were also discovered including one with ATP1A1, which is involved in osmoregulation and cell signaling. Disrupting the activity of ATP1A1 in Ebola-virus-infected cells with a small molecule inhibitor resulted in a decrease in progeny virus, thus illustrating how quantitative proteomics can be used to identify potential therapeutic targets

In vitro anti-HIV activity of some Indian medicinal plant extracts

Background Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) persists to be a significant public health issue worldwide. The current strategy for the treatment of HIV infection, Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy (HAART), has reduced deaths from AIDS related disease, but it can be an expensive regime for the underdeveloped and developing countries where the supply of drugs is scarce and often not well tolerated, especially in persons undergoing long term treatment. The present therapy also has limitations of development of multidrug resistance, thus there is a need for the discovery of novel anti-HIV compounds from plants as a potential alternative in combating HIV disease. Methods Ten Indian medicinal plants were tested for entry and replication inhibition against laboratory adapted strains HIV-1IIIB, HIV-1Ada5 and primary isolates HIV-1UG070, HIV-1VB59 in TZM-bl cell lines and primary isolates HIV-1UG070, HIV-1VB59 in PM1 cell lines. The plant extracts were further evaluated for toxicity in HEC-1A epithelial cell lines by transwell epithelial model. Results The methanolic extracts of Achyranthes aspera, Rosa centifolia and aqueous extract of Ficus benghalensis inhibited laboratory adapted HIV-1 strains (IC80 3.6–118 μg/ml) and primary isolates (IC80 4.8–156 μg/ml) in TZM-bl cells. Methanolic extract of Strychnos potatorum, aqueous extract of Ficus infectoria and hydroalcoholic extract of Annona squamosa inhibited laboratory adapted HIV-1 strains (IC80 4.24–125 μg/ml) and primary isolates (IC80 18–156 μg/ml) in TZM-bl cells. Methanolic extracts of Achyranthes aspera and Rosa centifolia, (IC801-9 μg/ml) further significantly inhibited HIV-1 primary isolates in PM1cells. Methanolic extracts of Tridax procumbens, Mallotus philippinensis, Annona reticulate, aqueous extract of Ficus benghalensis and hydroalcoholic extract of Albizzia lebbeck did not exhibit anti-HIV activity in all the tested strains. Methanolic extract of Rosa centifolia also demonstrated to be non-toxic to HEC-1A epithelial cells and maintained epithelial integrity (at 500 μg/ml) when tested in transwell dual-chamber. Conclusion These active methanolic extracts of Achyranthes aspera and Rosa centifolia, could be further subjected to chemical analysis to investigate the active moiety responsible for the anti-HIV activity. Methanolic extract of Rosa centifolia was found to be well tolerated maintaining the epithelial integrity of HEC-1A cells in vitro and thus has potential for investigating it further as candidate microbicide

Drilling of carbon epoxy composite using nanocrystalline nickel alloy coated tools

This paper is concerned with the effect of auto-catalytically deposited Nickel alloy coating on the machining performance of High Speed Steel (HSS) drill bits in the drilling of carbon composite. The present work is focussed on the performance comparison of nanocrystalline Nickel-Boron (Ni-B) coated and uncoated HSS twist drill bits of size 5 & 6 mm by evaluating tool wear, hole deviation error, extent of delamination, surface roughness of the hole when drilling carbon epoxy laminate. In addition to this the coating was also characterized by ICP-OES (Inductively Coupled Plasma), FESEM (Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscope), DSC (Differential Scanning Calorimetry) and NHT (Nanohardness Test) to study the composition, surface morphology, phase transformation behavior and nanohardness respectively. The coating showed typical nodular morphology in as-deposited condition. The activation energy required for the Ni-B coating to convert from meta-stable phase to stable crystalline phase was found out to be 160.4 kJ/mol. The coating showed the surface hardness of 1118HV30mN and 1445HV30mN in as-deposited and heat-treated conditions

Role of state and markets in housing delivery for low-income groups in India

10.1023/A:1014831817503Journal of Housing and the Built Environment17169-88JHBE

A versatile test system for lead acid batteries

The paper describes a versatile instrument system for evaluation of life cycle test of various types of lead acid batteries. It consists of a master time and function control using WD 55 microprocessor based timer chip that precisely controls discharge and charge sequences within preset durations. The system has constant current load banks both for charge and discharge circuit. The versatility of the system consists in the adoption of the unit for testing life cycle of any type of battery (with varying life cylce test procedures) and for independent charging or capacity test of the cells