Integrated water resources management and flood risk management: Opportunities and challenges in developing countries

Flood events and flood-related impacts have been increasing across the globe; in particular, riparian communities in developing countries are the worst sufferers due to insufficient preparedness. Conventional flood risk management (FRM) measures are usually structural measures, and they have limited potential to reduce impacts, whereas integrated water resources management (IWRM) is a multi-dimensional and holistic approach for FRM. It deals with enhancing the adaptive capacity of a community, and it recommends a variety of social, economic, technical, knowledge-related, institutional, and cultural measures. This chapter reviews the status and journey of adoption of IWRM for FRM in countries across the world such as the United States, European Union, India, Bangladesh, and representative African countries. Based on the review, it can be observed that IWRM has been accepted and adopted by countries across the globe for FRM. However, due to diverse levels of financial capability, technical skill sets, governance structure, cross-sectoral engagements, and stakeholder participation, the countries are at diverse levels of IWRM adoption

Design and Development of Underground Cable Fault Location

This abstract presents an overview of the design and development of an underground cable fault detector. The system aims to provide an efficient and reliable solution for detecting faults in underground power cables, facilitating quick identification and repair of faults to ensure uninterrupted power supply. The underground cable fault detector comprises several essential components and functionalities. It incorporates sensors, data processing algorithms and a user interface for fault detection and localization. The sensors are deployed along the underground cable network to monitor parameters such as voltage, current. The data processing algorithms analyse the sensor data in real-time to identify abnormal patterns and deviations that indicate cable faults. These algorithms employ advanced signal processing techniques, pattern recognition, and fault signature analysis to distinguish between normal cable operation and fault conditions. The fault detector system also includes a user interface which provides visual indications to alert operators about the presence and location of cable faults. The interface may display fault information such as fault type and distance from the detection point to aid in efficient fault location and repair. During the design and development process, considerations are given to factors such as system sensitivity, accuracy, and reliability. Extensive testing and validation procedures are conducted to ensure the system's performance under various fault scenarios and environmental conditions

Pectoral tropical pyomyositis: Arare case report

Tropical Pyomyositis is a suppurative infection commonly involving the skeletal muscle. Trauma in an immunocompromised patient predisposes to this condition. Early and prompt diagnosis along with parenteral antibiotics, analgesia and surgical debridement as and when necessary forms the main stay of treatment. In this case report, we present how a 49-year-old male who had a missed diagnosis in general outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital, was later promptly diagnosed in specialist department and treated aggressively without progressing in to worst systemic complications. [Med-Science 2021; 10(2.000): 627-30

Structure and stability of biodegradable polymer nanoparticles in electrolyte solution

The structure and stability of biodegradable hydrophobic [Poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA)] and amphiphilic [Poly(ethylene glycol) methyl ether-block-poly(L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PEG-PLGA)] polymer nanoparticles in aqueous electrolyte solution have been investigated by small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), dynamic light scattering (DLS), and ζ-potential measurements. The results show that PLGA forms stable, spherical nanoparticles (size ~ 90 nm, ζ ~ −50 mV) in the aqueous solution. The stability of PLGA nanoparticles rapidly decreases in the presence of NaCl, leading to the formation of micron-sized aggregates even at low salt concentrations (~50 mM), because of the suppression of the stabilizing electrostatic repulsion in the presence of salt. However, the presence of NaCl even at high concentrations (~500 mM) is unable to destabilize the spherical PEG-PLGA nanoparticles (size ~ 35 nm, ζ ~ −15 mV), mostly due to the additional steric repulsion barrier of hydrated PEG shell around the PLGA core, preventing nanoparticles aggregation. Such high stability of PEG-PLGA nanoparticles could be useful for ultra-small nanocarriers (sub-40 nm) applications like deep penetration in tumor tissues, etc

Fluorescence based studies on the interaction and characterization of surface-active ionic liquids with polarity sensitive intramolecular charge transfer probe

Surface-active ionic liquids (SAILs) are of tremendous interest in recent times due to their improved application in the field of food, detergent, and health. The modulated fluorescence behavior of an intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) probe, trans‐ethyl‐p‐(dimethylamino) cinnamate (EDAC), in presence of five different SAILs with varying head groups (viz. imidazolium, pyridinium, and morpholinium) and different alkyl chain length (decyl, dodecyl, and tetradecyl) was monitored by steady state and time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Extreme sensitivity of EDAC fluorescence was used to characterize different physicochemical properties of the SAILs, including critical micelle concentration, static polarity, and empirical solvent polarity scale, ET(30) of the microenvironment. The estimated parameters are in good agreement with the literature reports and measured independently from other complimentary experiments discussed here. Time‐resolved fluorescence experiments show a significant retardation in different nonradiative decay channels of EDAC, when compared to that in aqueous phase, indicating a preferential association of the probe in presence of SAILs. The results indicate that the physicochemical properties of SAILs can be tuned by controlling the nature of both the cations and as well as the chain length of the alkyl group. These properties also show significant modulation in solutions with varying SAIL concentration, particularly in the pre- and post-micellar region. The results, particularly the surface-active properties and the self-assembly behavior presented in this study, are expected to provide new knowledge towards the design and development of novel SAILs with specific industrial and biological applications

Tuning Nanoparticle–Micelle Interactions and Resultant Phase Behavior

The evolution of the interaction between an anionic nanoparticle and a nonionic surfactant and their resultant phase behavior in aqueous solution in the presence of electrolyte and ionic surfactants have been studied. The mixed system of anionic silica nanoparticles (Ludox LS30) with nonionic surfactant decaethylene glycol monododecylether (C12E10) forms a highly stable clear phase over a wide concentration range of surfactant. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and dynamic light scattering data show that the surfactant micelles adsorb on the surface of the nanoparticle, resulting in micellar-decorated nanoparticle structures. With the addition of a small amount of electrolyte into this system, the stability gets disturbed substantially and turns to a two-phase (turbid) system. The evolution of interaction in this system has been examined, and it was found that micelle-induced long-range depletion attraction (modeled by a double Yukawa potential) between nanoparticles leads to their aggregation. Interestingly, the addition of anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) in this two-phase system transforms it to a transparent one-phase state, suppressing the depletion-mediated aggregation of nanoparticles. This is attributed to the formation of anionic C12E10–SDS mixed micelles, and it is their repulsive micelle–micelle interaction that disrupts the depletion phenomenon. On the other hand, the addition of cationic surfactant dodecyl trimethylammonium bromide (DTAB) to the turbid LS30–C12E10 electrolyte system shows no change in the turbidity arising from an aggregated nanoparticle system. The driving interaction, in this case, is different from that of the surfactant-mediated depletion attraction; it is due to the attraction between the nanoparticles mediated by the presence of oppositely charged DTAB micelles between them, resulting in a charge-driven bridging aggregation of nanoparticles. Each of these multicomponent systems has been investigated using contrast variation SANS measurements for different contrast conditions where the role of individual components (nanoparticle or surfactant) in the mixed system has been selectively studied. These results thus show that nanoparticle–surfactant micelle interactions can be tuned by the presence of electrolyte and/or choice of surfactant combination

Lichen as Bioindicator for Monitoring Environmental Status in Western Himalaya, India

The use of bioindicator communities (lichen) to assess the environmental status of an area is a well-proved strategy to monitor any habitat without any logistic and instrumental facilities. In the present study, 13 bioindicator communities of lichen have been used to assess the environmental status of holy pilgrimage (Badrinath), western Himalaya, India. Three sites (i.e. Badrinath, Mana &amp; pilgrimage route from Bhimpul to Vasudhara) have been comparatively assessed. The results of the study reveals that Badrinath site is less polluted and experiences low degree of anthropogenic disturbances compared to Mana, and pilgrimage route (Bhimpul to Vasudhara). Human settlements, construction of civil works, vehicular emission, and trampling and trekking by tourists are the major threats on these habitats, which ultimately decrease the quality of vegetation and adjacent environment. Controlled vehicular use, promotion of modern way of cooking and managed trekking in these pilgrimage routes could be helpful to combat the decreasing vegetation and environmental quality therein.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTVolume-5, Issue-2, Mar-May 2016 page: 1-15</p

pH-Dependent Interaction and Resultant Structures of Silica Nanoparticles and Lysozyme Protein

Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) and UV–visible spectroscopy studies have been carried out to examine pH-dependent interactions and resultant structures of oppositely charged silica nanoparticles and lysozyme protein in aqueous solution. The measurements were carried out at fixed concentration (1 wt %) of three differently sized silica nanoparticles (8, 16, and 26 nm) over a wide concentration range of protein (0–10 wt %) at three different pH values (5, 7, and 9). The adsorption curve as obtained by UV–visible spectroscopy shows exponential behavior of protein adsorption on nanoparticles. The electrostatic interaction enhanced by the decrease in the pH between the nanoparticle and protein (isoelectric point ∼11.4) increases the adsorption coefficient on nanoparticles but decreases the overall amount protein adsorbed whereas the opposite behavior is observed with increasing nanoparticle size. The adsorption of protein leads to the protein-mediated aggregation of nanoparticles. These aggregates are found to be surface fractals at pH 5 and change to mass fractals with increasing pH and/or decreasing nanoparticle size. Two different concentration regimes of interaction of nanoparticles with protein have been observed: (i) unaggregated nanoparticles coexisting with aggregated nanoparticles at low protein concentrations and (ii) free protein coexisting with aggregated nanoparticles at higher protein concentrations. These concentration regimes are found to be strongly dependent on both the pH and nanoparticle size