111 research outputs found
Alien Registration- Kourakos, Stella (Portland, Cumberland County)
https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/31343/thumbnail.jp
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Increasing Groundwater Availability and Seasonal Base Flow Through Agricultural Managed Aquifer Recharge in an Irrigated Basin
Groundwater aquifers provide an important “insurance” against climate variability. Due to prolonged droughts and/or irrigation demands, groundwater exploitation results in significant groundwater storage depletion. Managed aquifer recharge (MAR) is a promising management practice that intentionally places or retains more water in groundwater aquifers than would otherwise naturally occur. In this study, we examine the possibility of using large irrigated agricultural areas as potential MAR locations (Ag-MAR). Using the California Central Valley Groundwater-Surface Water Simulation Model we tested four different agricultural recharge land distributions, two streamflow diversion locations, eight recharge target amounts, and five recharge timings. These scenarios allowed a systematic evaluation of Ag-MAR on changes in regional, long-term groundwater storage, streamflow, and groundwater levels. The results show that overall availability of stream water for recharge is critical for Ag-MAR systems. If stream water availability is limited, longer recharge periods at lower diversion rates allow diverting larger volumes and more efficient recharge compared to shorter diversion periods with higher rates. The recharged stream water increases both groundwater storage and net groundwater contributions to streamflow. During the first decades of Ag-MAR operation, the diverted water contributed mainly to groundwater storage. After 80 years of Ag-MAR operation about 34% of the overall diverted water remained in groundwater storage while 66% discharged back to streams, enhancing base flow during months with no recharge diversions. Groundwater level rise is shown to vary with the spatial and temporal distribution of Ag-MAR. Overall, Ag-MAR is shown to provide long-term benefits for water availability, in groundwater and in streams
Reliability study of alternative fuels used for a ferry's plant efficiency
Batteries could be the near-term solution to the increasing Green House Gas Emissions problem and could also be a part of the future of the marine industry. If their role as storages of energy was combined with the production of "green" electricity, batteries would be an alternative to the traditional fuels with zero environmental footprint and thus a "green" solution. This study is investigating the reliability of a ferry diesel-electric propulsion system, after a multi-annual operation. The Dynamic Fault Tree Analysis method is used to analyse the propulsion system and detect any system failures and the components that cause them. After the analysis is complete a maintenance table is created for the least reliable components of the systems describing the approximate operation hours that when reached the component should be inspected and get replaced or repaired
Diabetic Patients are often Sub-Optimally Aware about their Disease and its Treatment
Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) represents a continuously growing worldwide threat with major financial impact on the healthcare systems. The importance of tight glycaemic control in patients with DM type II is well established and is most effectively accomplished with the proper cooperation of both the treating physicians aswell as the treated subjects.Aims: The aim of our study was to evaluate the level of awareness of patients with DM type II about the various aspects of DM, including the nature of the disease, its precipitating factors and complications, as well as its treatment.Methodology: The patients were asked to complete anonymously a questionnaire concerning their knowledge about diabetes, its basic pathophysiology and complications, the treatment options and possible side-effects. Data were analyzed using STATA statistical software (Version 9.0).Results: Eighty patients were on oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA), 34 on insulin while 4 were under a hybrid treatment. Among patients on OHA, 40 patients (50%) were taking a combination of them. 13.4% of the sample was aware of what DM stands for, 84.9% did not know the type of DM they were suffering from, while (85.7%) considered that obesity plays a major role in the pathogenesis of DM. Concerning the therapy of DM, only 54.83% of the patients were aware of the brand names of their antidiabetic medication, 88.2% did not know theirway of action, while 60.5% did not know the possible side effects. The majority of the sample, 60.5%, assumed that blood glucose should be measured only before meals.Conclusions: The knowledge of the subjects visiting the center for the first time was found to be inadequate. This is probably due to inadequate information, non-availability of educational material and improper guidance
The Importance of the Early Sending to the Nephrology Team within the Health Promotion
Introduction: The kidney disease is a common situation, it is accompanied by a significantmorbidity/mortality and despite the development of substitution renal functions methods (SRFM) and transplantation, the prognosis is unfavorable.Aim: The aim of the present review is the assessment of the necessity for sending to theNephrology Team (NT) in the early stage of RF.Results: Lately, it has been documented that the timely sending to the NT, can significantlyimprove the survival of patient with kidney disease. On the contrary, the delayed sending has asa result not only the non timely measure uptake for the delay of the loss of renal function, butalso the later therapy for the uremic complications.According to Eadington (1996) the sending is considered as a delayed, when the provision ofhealthcare services could be improved with the timely contact with the Nephrology Services.Both in Europe and North America, the delayed sending comes up to the 30-40% of people whoare inducted in dialysis.The benefit from the early sending to the NT, it is important and consists of the regimens forthe delay of the kidney disease development,, timely information for the patient about theSRFM, timely vascular preparation or other kind of accessibility, non-urgent dialysis initiation,patients’ training, lower financial cost, less hospitalization days, transplantation preparation andlower mortality.Conclusions: Optimal sending is the timely sending since it makes possible the diagnosis, thedelay of the development of KD and the prevention of the complications. Furthermore, givestime for the appropriate medical and psychological preparation of the patient and the initiation ofdialysis in the appropriate time.The measures which should be adopted include the improvement training and communication ofhealthcare workers and services interference, as well as the enactment of guidelines
A surrogate model for simulation–optimization of aquifer systems subjected to seawater intrusion
This study presents the application of Evolutionary Polynomial Regression (EPR) as a pattern recognition system to predicate the behavior of nonlinear and computationally complex aquifer systems subjected to
seawater intrusion (SWI). The developed EPR models are integrated with a multi objective genetic algorithm
to examine the efficiency of different arrangements of hydraulic barriers in controlling SWI. The
objective of the optimization is to minimize the economic and environmental costs. The developed EPR model is trained and tested for different control scenarios, on sets of data including different pumping
patterns as inputs and the corresponding set of numerically calculated outputs. The results are compared
with those obtained by direct linking of the numerical simulation model with the optimization
tool. The results of the two above-mentioned simulation–optimization (S/O) strategies are in excellent
agreement. Three management scenarios are considered involving simultaneous use of abstraction and
recharge to control SWI. Minimization of cost of the management process and the salinity levels in the
aquifer are the two objective functions used for evaluating the efficiency of each management scenario.
By considering the effects of the unsaturated zone, a subsurface pond is used to collect the water and artificially
recharge the aquifer. The distinguished feature of EPR emerges in its application as the metamodel
in the S/O process where it significantly reduces the overall computational complexity and time. The
results also suggest that the application of other sources of water such as treated waste water (TWW)
and/or storm water, coupled with continuous abstraction of brackish water and its desalination and use is the most cost effective method to control SWI. A sensitivity analysis is conducted to investigate
the effects of different external sources of recharge water and different recovery ratios of desalination
plant on the optimal results
Evaluation of Analytical Methods to Study Aquifer Properties with Pumping Tests in Coastal Aquifers with Numerical Modelling (Motril-Salobreña Aquifer)
Two pumping tests were performed in the unconfined Motril-Salobreña detrital
aquifer in a 250 m-deep well 300 m from the coastline containing both freshwater and
saltwater. It is an artesian well as it is in the discharge zone of this coastal aquifer. The two
observation wells where the drawdowns are measured record the influence of tidal fluctuations, and the well lithological columns reveal high vertical heterogeneity in the aquifer. The
Theis and Cooper-Jacob approaches give average transmissivity (T) and storage
coefficient (S) values of 1460 m2
/d and 0.027, respectively. Other analytical solutions,
modified to be more accurate in the boundary conditions found in coastal aquifers,
provide similar T values to those found with the Theis and Cooper-Jacob methods,
but give very different S values or could not estimate them. Numerical modelling in a
synthetic model was applied to analyse the sensitivity of the Theis and Cooper-Jacob
approaches to the usual boundary conditions in coastal aquifers. The T and S values
calculated from the numerical modelling drawdowns indicate that the regional flow,
variable pumping flows, and tidal effect produce an error of under 10 % compared to results
obtained with classic methods. Fluids of different density (freshwater and saltwater) cause an
error of 20 % in estimating T and of over 100 % in calculating S. The factor most affecting T and
S results in the pumping test interpretation is vertical heterogeneity in sediments, which can
produce errors of over 100 % in both parameters.This research has been financed by Project CGL2012-32892 (Ministerio de EconomĂa y
Competitividad of Spain) and by the Research Group Sedimentary Geology and Groundwater (RNM-369) of the
Junta de AndalucĂa
Soil suitability index identifies potential areas for groundwater banking on agricultural lands
Groundwater pumping chronically exceeds natural recharge in many agricultural regions
in California. A common method of recharging groundwater — when surface water is available
— is to deliberately flood an open area, allowing water to percolate into an aquifer.
However, open land suitable for this type of recharge is scarce. Flooding agricultural
land during fallow or dormant periods has the potential to increase groundwater recharge
substantially, but this approach has not been well studied. Using data on soils, topography
and crop type, we developed a spatially explicit index of the suitability for groundwater
recharge of land in all agricultural regions in California. We identified 3.6 million
acres of agricultural land statewide as having Excellent or Good potential for groundwater
recharge. The index provides preliminary guidance about the locations where groundwater
recharge on agricultural land is likely to be feasible. A variety of institutional,
infrastructure and other issues must also be addressed before this practice can be
implemented widely
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