How Can Communities Be Engaged in Climate Change?

Grade Level: Advanced High School, AP, IB Students will use materials to practice how stakeholders engage in climate change adaptation planning to make decisions for Lynnhaven (the second largest watershed) in the City of Virginia Beach. Their Lynnhaven adaptation strategy project will demonstrate that they understand what community engagement for climate change adaptation planning is and how to conduct five phases of community engagement

How Resilient Is It? The Resilience Quotient Zoning Ordinance

Grades: 9-12 Subjects: Environmental Science, Earth Science, Oceanography The Resilience Quotient (RQ) system uses zoning ordinance to address coastal resilience development issues in the city of Norfolk, Virginia. This lesson plan goes through key resilience concepts and its strategies that can promote flood risk reduction, stormwater management, and energy resilience. The activity provides several scenarios to help students understand, simulate, visualize, discuss, and practice how the Resilience Quotient works for coastal developments in the city

Efficacy of co-administration of oxiracetam and butylphthalide in the treatment of elderly patients with hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage, and its effect on NIHSS and ADL scores

Purpose: To investigate the effect of combined use of oxiracetam and butylphthalide on hypertensive intracerebral hemorrhage (HICH) in elderly patients, and its influence on NIHSS and activities of daily living (ADL) scores of patients.Methods: Ninety (90) elderly patients with HICH who were admitted to Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China served as study subjects, and were randomly assigned to control and study groups, with 45 patients per group. The patients in the control group were treated with oxiracetam alone, while patients in the study group received a combination of oxiracetam and butylphthalide. Clinical efficacy, undesirable side effects and serum indices were determined. The NIHSS and ADL rating scales were used to evaluate cerebral nerve function and ADL score before and after treatment.Results: There were significantly higher total treatment effectiveness and lower incidence of adverse reactions in the study group than in control group, while tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase-1 (TIMP-1) index, matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9) index and NIHSS score were reduced in study patients, relative to controls (p < 0.001). However, ADL score in the study group was higher than that in the control group (p < 0.001).Conclusion: Treatment of elderly patients with HICH using a combination of oxiracetam and butylphthalide improves various serum indices, cerebral nerve function and ADL, as well as clinical efficacy. Further research on the combined medication will help to establish a reliable treatment plan for these patients

Terrestrial water storage changes over the Pearl River Basin from GRACE and connections with Pacific climate variability

AbstractTime-variable gravity data from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellite mission are used to study terrestrial water storage (TWS) changes over the Pearl River Basin (PRB) for the period 2003–Nov. 2014. TWS estimates from GRACE generally show good agreement with those from two hydrological models GLDAS and WGHM. But they show different capability of detecting significant TWS changes over the PRB. Among them, WGHM is likely to underestimate the seasonal variability of TWS, while GRACE detects long-term water depletions over the upper PRB as was done by hydrological models, and observes significant water increases around the Longtan Reservoir (LTR) due to water impoundment. The heavy drought in 2011 caused by the persistent precipitation deficit has resulted in extreme low surface runoff and water level of the LTR. Moreover, large variability of summer and autumn precipitation may easily trigger floods and droughts in the rainy season in the PRB, especially for summer, as a high correlation of 0.89 was found between precipitation and surface runoff. Generally, the PRB TWS was negatively correlated with El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. However, the modulation of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) may impact this relationship, and the significant TWS anomaly was likely to occur in the peak of PDO phase as they agree well in both of the magnitude and timing of peaks. This indicates that GRACE-based TWS could be a valuable parameter for studying climatic influences in the PRB

News Letter

コラム派遣研究員レポー

Change and Changes to and Ways of Passing Down the Traditions of Ceremonial Rituals in ContemporarγJapanese Society －Focusing on Epidemic Elimination Ceremonial Rituals Originating with the SusanaδMyth－

神奈川大

Current Significance of Rituals to Drive Away Illness : the Case of Ja mo Ka mo （Snake Also, Mosquito Also） Festival in Kanagawa Prefecture Originating in Susanoo Mythology

In ancient times when medical technology was not developed, rituals to drive away illness must have been an expression of peopleʼs fear of it. Thousands of years ago, people were totally helpless against illness. Therefore, it was quite common to turn to the power of God not only in Japan but also in China and Korea. Regular worship of God, who was believed to ward off illness, represented peopleʼs wish to keep diseases away.　Nowadays, however, with advanced medical technology, when one suffers from infectious diseases including influenza, one goes to a clinic or hospital and draws on the power of scientific medical technology rather than pray to God. Nevertheless, rituals to drive away illness ― the only hope for overcoming illness thousands of years ago ― are still observed throughout Japan, even though technology is available in almost every field.　Japanʼs rapid economic growth in the mid 20th century significantly affected its traditional folk culture. Rituals to chase away illness have been preserved as a form of the culture, but the makeup of organizers of the rituals, the elements of driving away diseases and the significance of those rites for people who would pass down the folk custom to the next generation have changed considerably over time. This paper will focus on the Ja mo Ka mo Festival, which has its origin in Susanoo Mythology and has been held in Namamugi, Tsurumi Ward, in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture, in examining changes in rituals to ward away illness and their significance in modern Japanese society.論

疫神の足跡を探る道

コラム　招聘研究員レポー