Monitoring Water Use Regimes and Density in a Tourist Mountain Territory

Lack of water use data at the user scale is frequently noted in integrated water management and water demand modelling studies. This situation affects particularly mountain tourist areas, where high seasonal water demand related to the variation of temporary population are rarely documented. Irrigation is also a major water use in moutain territories but is not commonly measured. This paper proposes a framework for local-scale monitoring of seasonal water use behaviours and their territorial inprint. A monitoring strategy was developed to collect water demand data at thin spatio-temporal scales which were analysed using two concepts: (i) the water use regime, describing the dynamics of water uses throughout the year using normalised values, and (ii) the water use density, expressing the territorial footprint of a water use, in terms of unit area. This strategy was applied in the alpine tourist municipality of Montana (Switzerland). A two-year monitoring campaign of irrigation and drinking water uses was carried out combining in-field measurement (water metres) with interviews of water users. The temporal resolution of the collected water use dataset (bi-weekly, daily) was sufficient to assess the specific water demand patterns and the short-term water use peaks responsible for water stress in Alpine tourist regions. It provided the first irrigation monitoring in the area and a classification of drinking water data according to their spatial distribution, the type of building and the permanency of residents. The water use density method gives a new prespective on the spatial intensity of water uses, highlighting the importance of garden irrigation in Montana. Also, the water use regime method identified July as the period of water demand peaking. The monitoring of water uses at such thin temporal scale constitutes the necessary dataset for the creation of water balance models that accurately reproduce the effective water use behaviours

Les Jessour dans le Sud-Est tunisien : un système hydro-agricole ancestral dans un milieu aride

Malgré un bilan hydrique largement déficitaire dans le Sud-Est tunisien à climat aride, l'Homme a pu pratiquer l'agriculture en développant la technique des Jessour. Cette technique est confrontée aujourd'hui au risque d'abandon suite aux changements socio-économiques qu'a connus cette région au cours des cinq dernières décennies. Cet article fait le point de l'intérêt hydro-agricole des Jessour et présente les grandes lignes d'une recherche visant à évaluer le bilan hydrique de parcelles utilisant cette technique. Le but est de participer à la conservation de ce savoir-faire ancestral et d'optimiser son utilisation

Analyse de l'événement pluviométrique intense du 11 novembre 2017 et ses effets sur le système hydraulique des Jessour (sud-est tunisien)

Les 11 et 12 novembre 2017, le sud-est tunisien a connu un événement pluviométrique intense. Les quantités tombées ont, dans plusieurs cas, atteint le total annuel. L'analyse climatique de l'événement démontre le rôle de la circulation azonale de secteur est, source des importantes pluies qui touchent la Tunisie orientale en général, associée à une circulation méridienne de secteur nord. Malgré des intensités horaires des averses faibles à modérées, les importantes quantités de pluies ont eu des effets considérables sur le système hydraulique des Jessour. Dans la région de Zammour, sur le plateau du Dahar, 85 % de ces ouvrages hydro-agricoles observés ont été affectés par ces pluies et 34 % sont devenus non fonctionnels suite à une destruction importante qui a touché une ou plusieurs de leurs composantes

Analyse de l'événement pluviométrique intense du 11 novembre 2017 et ses effets sur le système hydraulique des Jessour (sud-est tunisien)

Les 11 et 12 novembre 2017, le sud-est tunisien a connu un événement pluviométrique intense. Les quantités tombées ont, dans plusieurs cas, atteint le total annuel. L'analyse climatique de l'événement démontre le rôle de la circulation azonale de secteur est, source des importantes pluies qui touchent la Tunisie orientale en général, associée à une circulation méridienne de secteur nord. Malgré des intensités horaires des averses faibles à modérées, les importantes quantités de pluies ont eu des effets considérables sur le système hydraulique des Jessour. Dans la région de Zammour, sur le plateau du Dahar, 85 % de ces ouvrages hydro-agricoles observés ont été affectés par ces pluies et 34 % sont devenus non fonctionnels suite à une destruction importante qui a touché une ou plusieurs de leurs composantes

Dimethyl Fumarate's Effectiveness and Safety in Psoriasis: A Real-Life Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is approved as oral systemic treatment for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Scarce evidence is available for DMF treatment in psoriatic patients at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term effectiveness and safety of DMF monotherapy in moderate-to-severe psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: This multicenter, retrospective study included patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis who had received a 48-week DMF treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Selected outcomes were: variation of mean PASI, proportion of patients achieving PASI50 and PASI75, variation of mean PGA and face PGA, genital PGA, scalp PGA, mean itch VAS and mean DLQI. Results: Forty-four patients were enrolled, and four patients became COVID-19 positive during the observation period but did not discontinue DMF therapy. DMF produced a significant improvement of signs and symptoms of psoriasis as expressed by mean PASI variation from 13.07 at baseline to 6.11 at week 48 (p < 0.0001), itch VAS from 3.22 at baseline to 1.18 at week 48 (p < 0.001), PGA from 2.84 at baseline to 1.30 at week 48 (p < 0.0001) and DLQI from 13.09 at baseline to 6.07 at week 48 (p < 0.0001). The percentage of patients who achieved PASI50 and PASI75 was 4.55% at week 4 and 59.09% at week 48 and 0% at week 4 and 22.73% at week 48, respectively. A clinical important decrease of mean PGA score was observed in all subgroups, face psoriasis, genital psoriasis and scalp psoriasis. Adverse events were predictable and manageable. Conclusions: DMF monotherapy is an effective and safe treatment option in moderate-to-severe psoriasis also in patients who develop SARS-CoV-2 infection

Data-driven appraisal of renewable energy potentials for sustainable freshwater production in Africa

Clean water scarcity plagues several hundred million people worldwide, representing a major global problem. Nearly half of the total population lacking access to safe and drinkable water lives in Africa. Nonetheless, the African continent has a remarkable yet untapped potential in terms of renewable energy production, which may serve to produce clean water from contaminated or salty resources and for water extraction and distribution. In this view, the analysis of possible scenarios relies on data-driven approaches due to the scale of the problem and the general lack of comprehensive, direct on-site experience. In this work, we aim to systematically review and map the renewable potentials against the freshwater shortage in Africa to gain insight on perspective possible policies and provide a readily usable and well-structured framework and database for further analyses. All reported datasets are critically discussed, organized in tables, and classified by a few metadata to facilitate their usability in further analyses. The accompanying discussion focuses on regions that, in the near future, are expected to significantly exploit their renewable energy potentials, and on the reasons at the basis of the local water shortage, including technological and distribution problems

Dimethyl Fumarate's Effectiveness and Safety in Psoriasis: A Real-Life Experience During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: Dimethyl fumarate (DMF) is approved as oral systemic treatment for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. Scarce evidence is available for DMF treatment in psoriatic patients at the time of COVID-19 pandemic. The objective of this study was to assess the long-term effectiveness and safety of DMF monotherapy in moderate-to-severe psoriasis during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Methods: This multicenter, retrospective study included patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis who had received a 48-week DMF treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Selected outcomes were: variation of mean PASI, proportion of patients achieving PASI50 and PASI75, variation of mean PGA and face PGA, genital PGA, scalp PGA, mean itch VAS and mean DLQI. Results: Forty-four patients were enrolled, and four patients became COVID-19 positive during the observation period but did not discontinue DMF therapy. DMF produced a significant improvement of signs and symptoms of psoriasis as expressed by mean PASI variation from 13.07 at baseline to 6.11 at week 48 (p < 0.0001), itch VAS from 3.22 at baseline to 1.18 at week 48 (p < 0.001), PGA from 2.84 at baseline to 1.30 at week 48 (p < 0.0001) and DLQI from 13.09 at baseline to 6.07 at week 48 (p < 0.0001). The percentage of patients who achieved PASI50 and PASI75 was 4.55% at week 4 and 59.09% at week 48 and 0% at week 4 and 22.73% at week 48, respectively. A clinical important decrease of mean PGA score was observed in all subgroups, face psoriasis, genital psoriasis and scalp psoriasis. Adverse events were predictable and manageable. Conclusions: DMF monotherapy is an effective and safe treatment option in moderate-to-severe psoriasis also in patients who develop SARS-CoV-2 infection