Assessment of Natural Resources Use for Sustainable Development - DPSIR Framework for Case Studies in Portsmouth and Thames Gateway, U.K.

This chapter reports on the uses of the DPSIR framework to assess the sustainability of the intertidal environments within the two UK case study areas, Portsmouth and Thames Gateway. It focuses on statutory conservation areas dominated by intertidal habitats. Two are located in Portsmouth (Portsmouth and Langstone Harbours) and four in the Thames Gateway (Benfleet Marshes, South Thames Estuary, Medway Estuary and the Swale in the Thames Gateway). Based on the reduction of a number of pressures and impacts observed in recent decades and the improvement of overall environmental quality, all six SSSIs are considered to be sustainable in the short and medium term. In the future, it is possible that the impacts of climate change, especially sea-level rise, might result in further reduction in the area and/or quality of intertidal habitats. Further integration between conservation and planning objectives (both for urban development and management of flood risk) at local level is needed to support the long-term sustainability of intertidal habitats

An investigation of magnetic field distortions in accretion discs around neutron stars. II. Analysis of the toroidal field component

Millisecond pulsars are believed to be old pulsars spun up by a surrounding accretion disc. Magnetic fields are thought to play a leading role in this, both by determining the location of the inner edge of the disc and by exerting an additional torque on the star (as a result of the interaction between the stellar magnetic field and the disc plasma motion, which creates a toroidal component B\u3c6). In some well-known analytic models, developed in the 1980s, the B\u3c6 profile was taken to be proportional to the relative angular velocity between the disc plasma and the neutron star, multiplied by a vertical dipolar field. The present work stands in the line of improving those models, suggesting a new profile for B. In a previous paper, we discussed the poloidal component of the magnetic field and here we consider the toroidal component, again making the kinematic approximation and looking for steady solutions of the induction equation for axisymmetric models. The poloidal magnetic field is not assumed to be dipolar and the poloidal velocity field is not taken to be zero everywhere. We also do not use the thin disc approximation to simplify the induction equation but instead solve it numerically in full 2D. The profile obtained in the earlier analytic models is shown to have very limited validity and a more general semi-analytic solution is proposed

An investigation of magnetic field distortions in accretion discs around neutron stars. I. Analysis of the poloidal field component

We report results from calculations investigating stationary magnetic field configurations in accretion discs around magnetised neutron stars. Our strategy is to start with a very simple model and then progressively improve it providing complementary insight into results obtained with large numerical simulations. In our first model, presented here, we work in the kinematic approximation and consider the stellar magnetic field as being a dipole aligned with the stellar rotation axis and perpendicular to the disc plane, while the flow in the disc is taken to be steady and axisymmetric. The behaviour in the radial direction is then independent of that in the azimuthal direction. We investigate the distortion of the field caused by interaction with the disc matter, solving the induction equation numerically in full 2D. The influence of turbulent diffusivity and fluid velocity on the poloidal field configuration is analysed, including discussion of outflows from the top and bottom of the disc. We find that the distortions increase with increasing magnetic Reynolds number R_m (calculated using the radial velocity). However, a single global parameter does not give an adequate description in different parts of the disc and we use instead a `magnetic distortion function' D_m(r,\theta) (a magnetic Reynolds number defined locally). Where D_m<<1 (near to the inner edge of the disc) there is little distortion, but where D_m>1 (most of the rest of the disc), there is considerable distortion and the field becomes weaker than the dipole would have been. Between these two regions, there is a transition zone where the field is amplified and can have a local minimum and maximum. The location of this zone depends sensitively on the diffusivity. The results depend very little on the boundary conditions at the top of the disc.Comment: Published in A&A; 10 pages and 8 figures; ver. 4: compactification of content

Neuropathic pain after thoracotomy: tracking signs and symptoms before and at monthly intervals following surgery

Background: Because the development of neuropathic symptoms contributes to pain severity and chronification after surgery, their early prediction is important to allow targeted treatment. Objectives: We longitudinally investigated trajectories of signs and symptoms in patients undergoing thoracotomy and assessed whether and at which time they were related to the development of neuropathic pain symptoms six months after surgery. Methods: Presurgical and six, monthly postsurgical assessments included questionnaires for mental and physical well-being (e.g. depression/anxiety, pain catastrophizing, sleep quality, neuropathic pain symptoms), and quantitative sensory testing (QST). Results: QST trajectories indicated nerve impairment of the surgery site with predominant loss of function. Signs of recovery towards the end of the assessment period were observed for some tests. Unsupervised cluster analysis with NPSI scores six months after surgery as clustering variable identified one group with no/low levels of neuropathic symptoms and one with moderate levels. The two groups differed w.r.t. several signs and symptoms already at early time points. Notably, neuropathic pain anywhere in the body differed already preoperatively and sleep impairment differentiated the two groups at all time points. Regression analysis revealed three factors that seemed particularly suited to predicted six months NPSI scores, namely preoperative neuropathic pain symptoms, with contributions from sleep impairment one month after surgery and the presence of dynamic mechanical allodynia three months after surgery. Conclusions: Clinical routine should focus on the individual’s physiological state, including pre-existing neuropathic pain and sleep quality to identify patients early who might be at risk to develop chronic post-surgical neuropathic pain

Simultaneous 3D measurement of the translation and rotation of finite size particles and the flow field in a fully developed turbulent water flow

We report a novel experimental technique that measures simultaneously in three dimensions the trajectories, the translation, and the rotation of finite size inertial particles together with the turbulent flow. The flow field is analyzed by tracking the temporal evolution of small fluorescent tracer particles. The inertial particles consist of a super-absorbent polymer that renders them index and density matched with water and thus invisible. The particles are marked by inserting at various locations tracer particles into the polymer. Translation and rotation, as well as the flow field around the particle are recovered dynamically from the analysis of the marker and tracer particle trajectories. We apply this technique to study the dynamics of inertial particles much larger in size (Rp/{\eta} \approx 100) than the Kolmogorov length scale {\eta} in a von K\'arm\'an swirling water flow (R{\lambda} \approx 400). We show, using the mixed (particle/fluid) Eulerian second order velocity structure function, that the interaction zone between the particle and the flow develops in a spherical shell of width 2Rp around the particle of radius Rp. This we interpret as an indication of a wake induced by the particle. This measurement technique has many additional advantages that will make it useful to address other problems such as particle collisions, dynamics of non-spherical solid objects, or even of wet granular matter.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures, submitted to "Measurement Science and Technology" special issue on "Advances in 3D velocimetry

Apigenin oxidovanadium(IV) cation interactions : Synthesis, spectral, bovine serum albumin binding, antioxidant and anticancer studies

Continuing and expanding our previous work on flavonoid oxidovanadium(IV) (VO) metal complexes as possible anti-cancer agents, the VOapigenin compound was synthesized and characterized. An “acetylacetone-like” coordination through the C=O and O moieties of the ligand to the metal center with one apigenin ligand per metal ion was assumed using different spectroscopies and elemental analysis as well as thermal measurements. The vibrational experimental spectrum of VOapigenin was supported by theoretical calculations. According to the structure of the flavonoid it exerted mild antioxidant properties that were enhanced by metal coordination. The compounds showed moderate anticancer activity on lung A549 and cervix HeLa cancer cell lines, displaying an incubation time dependent behavior. Cellular increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and glutathione depletion have been measured upon incubation with the compounds. These cell killing activities were reverted when natural antioxidants were incubated with the compounds and the addition of the antioxidant agent Nacetylcysteine generated depletion of the cellular ROS levels. Therefore, a stress oxidative mechanism of action has been assumed. Moreover, the compounds showed no toxicity against Artemia salina and were not mutagenic. Both apigenin and the complex could be transported and stored by bovine serum albumin with similar binding constants and mechanisms than other VOflavonoid complexes.Centro de Química Inorgánic

Antioxidant and anticancer effects and bioavailability studies of the flavonoid baicalin and its oxidovanadium(IV) complex

Based on the known antioxidant effect of flavonoids, baicalin (baic) found in roots of Scutellaria has been selected. Its coordination complex with the oxidovanadium(IV) cation, Na4[VO(baic)2].6H2O (VIVO(baic)), was synthesized at pH 9 in ethanol and characterized by physicochemical methods. Spectrophotometric studies at pH 9 showed a ligand: metal stoichiometry of 2:1. By vibrational spectroscopy a coordination mode through the cis 5-OH and 6-OH deprotonated groups is inferred. EPR spectroscopy shows an environment of four aryloxide (ArO−) groups in the equatorial plane of the V=O moiety, both in solution and in the solid complex. The antioxidant capacity against superoxide and peroxyl radicals of VIVO(baic) resulted greater than for baicalin and correlated with previous results obtained for other VOflavonoid complexes. The coordination mode produces delocalization of the electron density and the stabilization of the radical formed by interaction with external radicals. The complex and the ligand displayed no toxic (Artemia salina test) and no mutagenic (Ames test) effects. The complex improved the ability of the ligand to reduce cell viability of human lung cancer cell lines (A549) generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) in cells, being this effect reversed by pre-incubation of the cells with antioxidants such as vitamins C and E. The addition of NAC (N-acetyl-L-cysteine, a sequestering agent of free radicals) suppresses the anticancer effect, confirming the oxidative stress mechanism. The complex interacted with bovine serum albumin (BSA) with stronger binding than baicalin and the mechanisms involved H bonding and van der Waals interactions.Centro de Química Inorgánic