Evidence-Based Contingency Planning to Enhance Local Resilience to Flood Disasters

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 addresses the importance of “Enhancing disaster preparedness for effective response and to ‘Build Back Better’ in recovery, rehabilitation and reconstruction” as the fourth priority action. One of the practical tools to achieve effective preparedness for flood disaster response is evidence-based contingency planning, which is based on scientific approaches such as flood simulation and quantitative risk assessment. This method, however, is not always feasible to disaster-prone areas in Asia due to the lack of data on natural and social conditions. This chapter proposes a method with six steps for local communities to conduct contingency planning by assuming the dynamic change of inundation using flood simulation, assessing flood risk with key indicators, deciding response strategies against the identified flood risk and developing a contingency plan beforehand. This method was first applied to one of the Asian flood-prone areas, Calumpit Municipality in the Pampanga River basin of the Philippines, to verify its effectiveness in areas where the availability of natural and socio-economic data is limited

Methodology for Agricultural Flood Damage Assessment

This chapter describes a method for assessing flood damage to the agricultural sector, specifically focusing on flood damage to rice crops. The chapter also includes the case studies of flood damage assessment conducted in the Asian river basins, the Pampanga River basin of the Philippines, and the Lower Indus River basin of Pakistan. The assessment was performed by defining flood damage to rice crops as a function of flood depth, duration, and growth stage of rice plants and using depth-duration-damage function curves for each growth stage of rice plants. In the case studies, flood characteristics such as flood depth, duration, and distribution were computed using a rainfall-runoff-inundation (RRI) model. Flood damage to rice crops was assessed for the 2011 flood and 100-year flood events in the case of the Pampanga River basin and for the 2010 flood in the case of Lower Indus River basin. The calculated values of agricultural damage were compared with reported data for validation of methodology, and it was found that the calculated damage reasonably agreed with reported data. The rice-crop damage assessment method described in this chapter can also be applied in other areas for flood risk assessment

Characterization of α-gustducin

Aims/Introduction: Taste receptors, T1rs and T2rs, and the taste‐selective G‐protein, α‐gustducin, are expressed outside the taste‐sensing system, such as enteroendocrine L cells. Here, we examined whether α‐gustducin also affects nutrition sensing and insulin secretion by pancreatic β‐cells. Materials and Methods: The expression of α‐gustducin and taste receptors was evaluated in β‐cell lines, and in rat and mouse islets either by quantitative polymerase chain reaction or fluorescence immunostaining. The effects of α‐gustducin knockdown on insulin secretion and on cyclic adenosine monophosphate and intracellular Ca2+ levels in rat INS‐1 cells were estimated. Sucralose (taste receptor agonist)‐induced insulin secretion was investigated in INS‐1 cells with α‐gustducin suppression and in islets from mouse disease models. Results: The expression of Tas1r3 and α‐gustducin was confirmed in β‐cell lines and pancreatic islets. Basal levels of cyclic adenosine monophosphate, intracellular calcium and insulin secretion were significantly enhanced with α‐gustducin knockdown in INS‐1 cells. The expression of α‐gustducin was decreased in high‐fat diet‐fed mice and in diabetic db/db mice. Sucralose‐induced insulin secretion was not attenuated in INS‐1 cells with α‐gustducin knockdown or in mouse islets with decreased expression of α‐gustducin. Conclusions: α‐Gustducin is involved in the regulation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate, intracellular calcium levels and insulin secretion in pancreatic β‐cells in a manner independent of taste receptor signaling. α‐Gustducin might play a novel role in β‐cell physiology and the development of type 2 diabetes

THE IMPACT OF RAINFALL VARIATIONS ON FLASH FLOODING IN HAOR AREAS IN BANGLADESH

The north-eastern part of Bangladesh is famous for rice production and fishing. A lot of bawl shaped depressed areas are located in this region which is locally called as haor area. Among seven haor districts Sunamganj has the maximum extent of haors and net cultivable area. The flash flood which is recurrent during April and May is the number one ranked hazard that affects agriculture in Sunamganj severely. Flash flood in 2017 was the most devastated in the recent past. Different researchers predicted that the rainfall during April/May will increase here due to the impact of climate change in future. The objective of present study is to evaluate the impact of rainfalls on inundations owing to flash floods using rainfall runoff inundation model (RRI-model) proposed. Ten rainfall events are prepared for computations of inundation, using reference rainfall in April in 2017, and their sizes normalized by the reference event range from 0.6 to 2.0, respectively. The size level of a flash flood is determined by means of RRI-model by water surface elevation at Sunamganj station in the Surma river and it is translated into return period. The inundation proc ess were computed for each of the specified rainfall events, together with inundation depths in Tahirpur upazilla (sub-district) in Sunamganj district in order to investigate the relation between the sizes of rainfall event, flash flood event and extents of inundation. The computed results suggest that the return periods of the computed flash floods are determined as 3.7,10, —,142.86 years corresponding to the normalized rainfall sizes such as 0.6, 0.9, —, 2.0 and suggest that inundated areas increase with the size of normalized rainfall and increase sharply in the range of rainfall size larger than about 1.1-1.2. Such results are useful to identify and quantify the associated inundated areas due to temporal variation of rainfall which is necessary for disaster preparedness and management

Developing Flood Vulnerability Functions through Questionnaire Survey for Flood Risk Assessments in the Meghna Basin, Bangladesh

Flood vulnerability is estimated by Flood Damage Functions (FDFs), which are crucial for integrated flood risk assessment for developing sustainable flood management, mitigation, and adaptation strategies under global change. However, the FDFs, either empirical or synthetic, are not available in Bangladesh. Therefore, this paper focused on developing the synthetic type of FDFs for agriculture and rural households through the data of a well–structured questionnaire survey conducted in two pilot sub–districts of northeastern Bangladesh in the Meghna River basin. Multiple regression analyses were performed on the collected data, and the best performing models were selected to establish FDFs. The FDF for agriculture (~196 samples) was developed concerning damage to Boro rice, whereas the FDFs for households (~165 samples) were developed concerning damage to the buildings and household property of three house types (Mud, Brick, and Concrete), separately. The results revealed that there were no yield losses when the water levels were lower than 25 cm (~rice tiller height), and the yield losses were ~100% when the water levels were 70–75 cm deep (~rice grain height). Mud houses and their household property were found the most flood–vulnerable and likely to experience total damage when the water levels exceeded 150 cm above the plinth level, whereas the damage to Brick and Concrete houses and their household property was found likely to remain partial even when the water levels exceeded 150 cm above the plinth level. The developed FDFs can be used to assess potential flood risk in the study area for sustainable and effective management of flood disasters and build back better under global change in the future

Developing Flood Vulnerability Functions through Questionnaire Survey for Flood Risk Assessments in the Meghna Basin, Bangladesh

Flood vulnerability is estimated by Flood Damage Functions (FDFs), which are crucial for integrated flood risk assessment for developing sustainable flood management, mitigation, and adaptation strategies under global change. However, the FDFs, either empirical or synthetic, are not available in Bangladesh. Therefore, this paper focused on developing the synthetic type of FDFs for agriculture and rural households through the data of a well–structured questionnaire survey conducted in two pilot sub–districts of northeastern Bangladesh in the Meghna River basin. Multiple regression analyses were performed on the collected data, and the best performing models were selected to establish FDFs. The FDF for agriculture (~196 samples) was developed concerning damage to Boro rice, whereas the FDFs for households (~165 samples) were developed concerning damage to the buildings and household property of three house types (Mud, Brick, and Concrete), separately. The results revealed that there were no yield losses when the water levels were lower than 25 cm (~rice tiller height), and the yield losses were ~100% when the water levels were 70–75 cm deep (~rice grain height). Mud houses and their household property were found the most flood–vulnerable and likely to experience total damage when the water levels exceeded 150 cm above the plinth level, whereas the damage to Brick and Concrete houses and their household property was found likely to remain partial even when the water levels exceeded 150 cm above the plinth level. The developed FDFs can be used to assess potential flood risk in the study area for sustainable and effective management of flood disasters and build back better under global change in the future

Benefits Of Flood-Prone Land Use And The Role Of Coping Capacity, Candaba Floodplains, Philippines

Socio-ecological benefits provided by floods and use of flood-prone land can be essential, particularly where livelihoods are tied to natural hydrologic cycles, for instance in many developing countries. We use a physically based rainfall-runoff model and remotely sensed data to characterize seasonal inundation in Candaba, Philippines. Through community surveys and focus groups, we identify strategies that allow residents to cope with floods and benefit from the use of flood-prone lands. We apply direct market pricing methods to assess seasonal land use benefits in flood-prone and dry villages. While primary benefits are associated with rice cultivation, we find that flood-prone communities adapt their livelihoods to seasonal inundation, for instance, by using land alternately for agriculture and wild catch fisheries during dry and wet seasons, respectively. Livelihood benefits in flood-prone villages (US $2266/ha) were similar to benefits in non-flooded villages (US$ 2746/ha). In flood-prone villages, mean benefits from wild fish capture (US $190/ha) are marginal to mean benefits from farming during the wet season (US$ 1200/ha). However, the adaptive practice of wet season fisheries and dry season agriculture in flood-prone lands yields annual benefits (US $ 1754/ha) that are significant within the context of the local economy. We conclude that discounting benefits from direct flood-prone land use may misrepresent the socio-economic role of floodplains. Supporting benefits from floodplain use while targeting coping capacities may enhance resilience to seasonal flooding, livelihoods and ecosystem function linked to natural hydrologic processes

Phosphorylation of clock protein PER1 regulates its circadian degradation in normal human fibroblasts.

Recent advances suggest that the molecular components of the circadian clock generate a self-sustaining transcriptional-translational feedback loop with a period of approx. 24 h. The precise expression profiles of human clock genes and their products have not been elucidated. We cloned human clock genes, including per1, per2, per3, cry2 and clock, and evaluated their circadian mRNA expression profiles in WI-38 fibroblasts stimulated with serum. Transcripts of hPer1, hPer2, hPer3, hBMAL1 and hCry2 (where h is human) underwent circadian oscillation. Serum-stimulation also caused daily oscillations of hPER1 protein and the apparent molecular mass of hPER1 changed. Inhibitor studies indicated that the CKI (casein kinase I) family, including CKIepsilon and CKIdelta, phosphorylated hPER1 and increased the apparent molecular mass of hPER1. The inhibition of hPER1 phosphorylation by CKI-7 [ N -(2-aminoethyl)-5-chloro-isoquinoline-8-sulphonamide], a CKI inhibitor, disturbed hPER1 degradation, delayed the nuclear entry of hPER1 and allowed it to persist for longer in the nucleus. Furthermore, proteasome inhibitors specifically blocked hPER1 degradation. However leptomycin B, an inhibitor of nuclear export, did not alter the degradation state of hPER1 protein. These findings indicate that circadian hPER1 degradation through a proteasomal pathway can be regulated through phosphorylation by CKI, but not by subcellular localization

Preferences for improved early warning services among coastal communities at risk in cyclone prone south-west region of Bangladesh

Cyclone early warning systems are the primary sources of information that enable people to develop a preparedness strategy to mitigate the hazards of cyclones to lives and livelihoods. In Bangladesh, cyclone early warnings have significantly decreased the number of cyclone related fatalities over the last two decades. Nevertheless, several challenges remain for existing early warning services (EWS), urging for both technical and non-technical improvements in the said services. Given limited financial resources, the economic efficiency assessment of the improvement is highly important. Therefore, this study aims to estimate the willingness to pay (WTP) for improved warning services by considering the at-risk households' trade-off between proposed improved EWS and existing EWS in coastal Bangladesh. Applying systematic random sampling, 490 respondent households were selected from Khulna, Satkhira, and Barguna districts, with whom a choice experiment (CE) was performed. The CE was designed by incorporating impact-based scenarios for improved EWS. As analytical tools, Conditional and Mixed-Logistic regression models were used that derived the WTP for improved EWS attributes. Empirical results show that the WTP of an at-risk household for improved EWS was estimated at Bangladeshi Taka BDT 468 (≈ US$ 5.57) per year, implying respondents were ready to pay for the improvement of the warning attributes, including precise information of the cyclones landfall time with possible impacts, more frequent radio forecasts, and voice messages in the local dialects over mobile phones. A revenue stream for improved EWS was developed, implying investments in EWS would be a no-regrets approach. This study concludes with four policy recommendations on mitigating the existing challenges for improving EWS in Bangladesh

The Effects of Brown Algae-Derived Monosaccharide L-Fucose on Lipid Metabolism in C57BL/6J Obese Mice

Obesity is a global public health problem and a risk factor for several metabolic disorders as well as cancer. In this study, we investigated the effects of L-fucose on lipid metabolism through chronic and acute in vivo experiments in mice. In the chronic test, mice were fed a high-calorie diet (HCD) containing 0.0001%, 0.001%, 0.01%, and 0.1% L-fucose for one month. The L-fucose supplementation inhibited body weight and visceral fat mass gain in HCD-fed mice. The results of the acute test showed that L-fucose increased the ratio of serum high molecular weight adiponectin and enhanced glucose and lipid catabolism. Furthermore, L-fucose also decreased the expression of adipogenic genes (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ and cluster of differentiation 36). In conclusion, this study provides a new approach to combat obesity and the related diseases