Integrated land use and multiple water supply-demand modelling framework: a peri-urban case study

The South Creek catchment with an area 620 km2 confronts increased competition between potable water, irrigation and environmental flows. Peri-urban areas also generate a large volume of effluent and stormwater and can often meet some or all the irrigation and industrial water needs provided adequate infrastructure is available. An adequate harmonisation of these multiple supplies and land use using a total system analysis approach leads to a better understanding and evaluation of the limitation and opportunities to enhance the overall performance of the system. This paper descriers the developed modelling framework to simulate water supplies and forecast future demands and integrate supplies and demands in finding water allocations with different climate change and land use scenarios. The integrated model is applied to the South Creek catchment to plan future land use and water supply in an environment of water scarcity under system harmonisation water resources management concept

An Assessment of Climate Change Impacts on Streamflows in the Musi Catchment, India

The long-term impacts of climate change on water resources are expected to be considerable in Southern India especially in the semi-arid regions. The effects of the changes on precipitation and temperature are expected to alter the hydrology of catchments and ultimately water security. A complicating factor in dealing with climate change from a water resource management perspective in India is the current government policies that promote watershed development (WSD), a policy that promotes the capture of runoff to increase groundwater recharge and irrigation development. In this paper the aim is to quantify the impacts climate change and WSD will have on the hydrologic behavior of the Musi catchment Andhra Pradesh. Global Climate Model (GCM) predictions of future climate are too coarse for hydrological modelling and fail to account for the most important influence on the monsoon rainfall patterns over India. In order to increase the spatial resolution of the models, a dynamic downscaling approach was used in this research. Three climate simulations corresponding to the IPCC-SRES A1B scenario were downscaled for the period 1961- 2098 using “Providing REgional Climates for Impact Studies” (PRECIS) regional climate modelling system. These simulations were based on three versions of the HadCM3 global climate model that showed realistic results for the Indian summer monsoon. The hydrology of the catchment was modelled using the SWAT hydrologic model. The model was set up for the entire Musi catchment in the Krishna Basin for which the model calibration and validation was carried out at the Osman Sagar and Himayat Sagar gauging stations. Monthly and annual inflows were used to carry out the model calibration. The model calibration and validation yielded Nash-Sutcliffe coefficients ranging between 0.65 and 0.75, which indicate a good model performance. The downscaled climate data was then used as forcing data in the model to carry out simulations for all three versions of the climate projection data ((Q0, Q1 and Q14). An analysis of flows at different time slices shows that stream flows decline in the near future (2011-40) and then an increasing trend towards the end of the century. Under the Q1 scenario, annual stream flows show a systematic decline over the period of analysis. The Q14 scenario shows an increase in stream flows over the next few decades followed by a decline towards the end of the century. Potential evapotranspiration is predicted to increase for all the climate scenarios. The reservoir component option available in SWAT was used to assess the impact of watershed development structures in the catchment and the analysis shows that stream flows have been declining due to the growth and impact of these structures in the catchment

Sleep and Circadian Rhythm Regulation in Early Parkinson Disease

Importance: Sleep disturbances are recognized as a common nonmotor complaint in Parkinson disease but their etiology is poorly understood. Objective: To define the sleep and circadian phenotype of patients with early-stage Parkinson disease. Design, Setting, and Participants: Initial assessment of sleep characteristics in a large population-representative incident Parkinson disease cohort (N=239) at the University of Cambridge, England, followed by further comprehensive case-control sleep assessments in a subgroup of these patients (n=30) and matched controls (n=15). Main Outcomes and Measures: Sleep diagnoses and sleep architecture based on polysomnography studies, actigraphy assessment, and 24-hour analyses of serum cortisol, melatonin, and peripheral clock gene expression (Bmal1, Per2, and Rev-Erbα). Results: Subjective sleep complaints were present in almost half of newly diagnosed patients and correlated significantly with poorer quality of life. Patients with Parkinson disease exhibited increased sleep latency (P = .04), reduced sleep efficiency (P = .008), and reduced rapid eye movement sleep (P = .02). In addition, there was a sustained elevation of serum cortisol levels, reduced circulating melatonin levels, and altered Bmal1 expression in patients with Parkinson disease compared with controls. Conclusions and Relevance: Sleep dysfunction seen in early Parkinson disease may reflect a more fundamental pathology in the molecular clock underlying circadian rhythms

AWARENESS OF USAGE OF SUNSCREENS AMONG SCHOOL CHILDREN IN KANDY, SRI LANKA

Objective: The objective of this research was to evaluate the awareness of usage of sunscreens among school children in Kandy, Sri Lanka.Methods: School children (138) who do outdoor sports were recruited from six schools. Knowledge and attitudes towards the usage and application of sunscreens were assessed using a researcher administered questionnaire. Statistical analyses were done using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS version-16).Results: Among the school children who do outdoor sports, 71 (51.4%) of participants used sunscreens and 67 (48.6%) of participants did not use sunscreens.Conclusion: According to the results most of the school children have a lack of knowledge, attitudes and practice towards the usage of sunscreens

Towards Digital Thinking and Practices: Experiences of Sri Lankan Teachers and Students

Commonwealth Digital Education Leadership Training in Action (C-DELTA), an open and free online programme of the Commonwealth of Learning, provides a framework to foster digital education. The Open University of Sri Lanka implemented an intervention during 2020-2021 to promote digital education in Sri Lankan secondary schools, through the adoption of C-DELTA. This paper presents how C-DELTA supported developing digital thinking and practices among teachers and students, challenges faced and supports received by them, and impacts of the intervention. Participants’ experiences were captured through questionnaire surveys, concept maps, focus group interviews, reflective stories, and video narratives. The findings revealed that the intervention has enhanced developing digital learning skills of teachers and students, and changing their thinking and practices, yet, amid various challenges. While the implementation of C-DELTA in schools has been slow during the COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic itself has shown the significance of improving digital literacy and digital practices

Compartmental Genomics in Living Cells Revealed by Single-Cell Nanobiopsy

The ability to study the molecular biology of living single cells in heterogeneous cell populations is essential for next generation analysis of cellular circuitry and function. Here, we developed a single-cell nanobiopsy platform based on scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM) for continuous sampling of intracellular content from individual cells. The nanobiopsy platform uses electrowetting within a nanopipette to extract cellular material from living cells with minimal disruption of the cellular milieu. We demonstrate the subcellular resolution of the nanobiopsy platform by isolating small subpopulations of mitochondria from single living cells, and quantify mutant mitochondrial genomes in those single cells with high throughput sequencing technology. These findings may provide the foundation for dynamic subcellular genomic analysis

Estimating embodied carbon emissions of buildings in developing countries : a case study from Sri Lanka

Even with the increasing attention on reduction of Embodied Carbon (EC) emissions in the global built environment sector, yet most of the developing countries focus only on reduction of Operational Carbon (OC) through improved operational energy performance. The significance of EC estimation and reduction in buildings in these countries are yet to be fully realised. Therefore, this paper provides a case study of an office building located in Western province in Sri Lanka, which is used as a drive to identify the potential for estimating EC emissions of buildings in developing countries. Accordingly, the estimation was carried out confining to the cradle to gate system boundary and structural elements of a building. The estimation process revealed that the EC estimation is a challenging process for a developing country like Sri Lanka as it encountered many challenges such as lack of accurate and up to date EC co-efficient for building materials, time consuming and work intensive nature of estimation, difficulty in choosing a system boundary and unavailability of an appropriate estimation tool. The case study findings revealed that the total structural elemental EC emission per gross floor area is 191.11 kgCO2/m2. Similar to many previous studies, it was identified that the top most EC intensive element of this building is also substructure. However, this study was carried out as a pilot study of a further research and can be extended to incorporate all the elements of the building to provide an accurate value for the overall and elemental EC emissions

Integrated modeling framework to evaluate conjunctive use options in a canal irrigated area

In canal irrigated areas, where interactions between surface water and groundwater are high, the conjunctive management of surface water and groundwater can play a significant role in improving water availability in time and space, thereby promoting more equitable distribution of water while maintaining long-term availability of groundwater resources. Achieving a harmonious balance between the use of surface water and groundwater requires careful consideration of the associated benefits, impacts, and trade-offs. In this study, a simple, integrated framework was developed and implemented to characterize and quantify interactions between surface water and groundwater in a canal irrigated area; this framework was used to evaluate the impacts of alternative levels of conjunctive use under varying climate and cropping conditions. Applying the model to a case study area of the Srisailam Right Branch Canal project in Andhra Pradesh, India, indicated that regulating canal supplies to optimum levels can prompt sustainable groundwater use and save up to 48% of allocated canal water; these water savings could be reallocated elsewhere within the irrigated area to promote equity

Roof runoff capture for home garden crop cultivation in Sri Lanka

Tropical home gardens in developing countries are a traditional land-use system, which contributes to the basic food requirements of the farming families, as well as providing a small but important income throughout the year. Most of these home gardens rely on rain for survival, i.e., rainfed systems. At present home gardens are being neglected due to social and environmental problems. Among these issues, the scarcity of water during cropping seasons is the most important issue that adversely affects crop production from home gardens. This is mainly due to the occurrence of unexpected dry periods during the cropping seasons, and the requirement to have a water source at the farmer’s residence to irrigate the home garden during the dry spells (to capture and conserve roof runoff in the home gardens for subsequent use) is an appropriate green option to mitigate this situation. Microlevel rainwater tanks are promoted to be used to collect roof runoff water during wet periods enabling the farmer to irrigate his home garden crops during dry periods. Field experiments were carried out at Mapalana Research Farm in Sri Lanka to obtain the roof runoff coefficients from commonly used roof types; namely: asbestos, tiles, and thatched (either straw or woven coconut leaves). The objective of the case study is to develop a methodology to estimate the optimum size of a rainwater tank based on the roof size, roof cover, climatic conditions, and the irrigation requirement for home garden irrigation. This paper presents the experimental setup, the runoff coefficients obtained from different types of roof materials, and the methodology used to calculate the optimum storage capacity of the tank for home garden irrigation. In designing the rainwater tank sizes, microirrigation systems with both drip and pot irrigation systems were assessed. The water-use efficiency of drip systems was comparatively small compared to the subsurface pot irrigation. Based on the tank sizes obtained in the study, roof runoff water from the farmer’s own roof is sufficient and recommended to be used as the irrigation source for home gardens

Life Cycle Energy and Greenhouse Gas Emission Analysis of Groundwater-Based Irrigation Systems

The reliance on groundwater for irrigation is increasing in Australia and India, which is causing concerns to policy makers about energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, it is important to quantify the GHG emissions of all components of the groundwater-based irrigation systems, over the entire life cycle to develop more environmentally friendly groundwater management strategies. This study identified and analysed energy use and GHG emissions associated with different components in the supply chain of groundwater-based irrigation systems. An existing GHG emissions and energy-accounting framework was adapted to enhance its capabilities by considering drilling techniques, water distribution and irrigation application methods. The results of this study highlighted that embodied and direct GHG emissions from drilling tube wells were higher in the Musi catchment, India, compared to South Australia. The study also highlighted that GHG emissions associated with water conveyance were higher for concrete and plastic-lined channels than unlined channels. Drip irrigation systems in both countries were found to have more GHG emissions than gravity-fed systems. Centre pivot systems were found to be emitting more than the drip systems in South Australia. We conclude that different components of the system have an impact on total GHG emissions and energy consumption for both countries. Any change in the most commonly used methods of drilling bore wells, water distribution in channels, and the irrigation methods, will have distinct impacts on energy consumption rates and GHG emissions. The developed conceptual framework provided a systematic complete analysis of the energy-consuming and GHG-emitting components associated with groundwater-based irrigation systems. Policy makers and decision makers may use the developed framework to compare different system components to develop strategies that have minimal impact on the environment