FLOOD SUSCEPTIBILITY MODELLING USING GEOSPATIAL-BASED MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING IN LARGE SCALE AREAS

Flood is one of the most hazardous natural disasters that cause damages and poses a major threat to human lives and infrastructures worldwide, and its prevention is almost unfeasible. Thus, the detection of flood susceptible areas can be a key to lessen the amount of destruction and mortality. This study aims to implement a framework to identify flood potential zones in an ungauged large-scale area with frequent flood events in recent years. We used two Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) approaches combined with geospatial analysis, and remote sensing observations for this susceptibility analysis. Nine geomorphological and environmental factors that have an impact on flood behaviour were selected and used for susceptibility modelling. At first, the criteria’s weights were estimated using two MCDM approaches and based on experts’ knowledge. The resultant weights revealed that Flow Accumulation, Topographic wetness index, and Distance to River were the most influential flood susceptibility criteria. After calculating these weights, the criteria’s layers were aggregated through geospatial analysis, which resulted in generating flood susceptibility map. The area under the curve (AUC) and statistical measures such as the Kappa index were used to evaluate the proposed method's efficiency. The validation results illustrate that hybrid FAHP, with AUC= 96.68 and Kappa = 81.36 performed more efficiently than standard AHP, with AUC= 94.53 and Kappa=76.35. Overlaying these maps with the historical flood inventory dataset revealed that 86.43% of flooded areas were categorized as “high” and “very high”. Therefore, the flood susceptibility maps generated through the proposed approach can help the decision-makers and managers allocate the mitigation equipment and facility in data-scarce and ungauged large-scale areas

IDENTIFYING SUITABLE LOCATIONS FOR MANGROVE PLANTATION USING GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SYSTEM AND REMOTE SENSING

Mangroves provide numerous environmental benefits, such as carbon sequestration, water purification, climate change mitigation, and flood and Tsunami impact reduction. Despite these unique advantages, mangroves are threatened by the combined adverse impacts of human activities and climate change. Therefore, it is essential to implement reasonable practices to avoid further degradation of mangroves and provide efficient workflows to increase their extent. Accordingly, better plantation policies are principally required for their conservation and rehabilitation. In this study, we desired to detect suitable locations for mangrove plantation in coastal areas of Hormozgan Province, Iran. We considered a relatively new Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique to combine ten criteria derived from remote sensing in a GIS environment. The Best Worst Method (BWM), as an MDCM technique, was implemented to determine the relative importance of each criterion. Afterward, all criteria were aggregated using the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method to produce a mangrove plantation suitability map. Statistical measures, including Overall Accuracy (OA = 95%), Kappa Coefficient (KC = 87.9%), and Area Under Curve (AUC = 98.79%), indicated the high applicability of the implemented method for mangrove plantation site allocation. The produced map could give managers a profound insight into finding optimal spots to plant mangroves

IDENTIFYING SUITABLE LOCATIONS FOR MANGROVE PLANTATION USING GEOSPATIAL INFORMATION SYSTEM AND REMOTE SENSING

Mangroves provide numerous environmental benefits, such as carbon sequestration, water purification, climate change mitigation, and flood and Tsunami impact reduction. Despite these unique advantages, mangroves are threatened by the combined adverse impacts of human activities and climate change. Therefore, it is essential to implement reasonable practices to avoid further degradation of mangroves and provide efficient workflows to increase their extent. Accordingly, better plantation policies are principally required for their conservation and rehabilitation. In this study, we desired to detect suitable locations for mangrove plantation in coastal areas of Hormozgan Province, Iran. We considered a relatively new Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique to combine ten criteria derived from remote sensing in a GIS environment. The Best Worst Method (BWM), as an MDCM technique, was implemented to determine the relative importance of each criterion. Afterward, all criteria were aggregated using the Weighted Linear Combination (WLC) method to produce a mangrove plantation suitability map. Statistical measures, including Overall Accuracy (OA = 95%), Kappa Coefficient (KC = 87.9%), and Area Under Curve (AUC = 98.79%), indicated the high applicability of the implemented method for mangrove plantation site allocation. The produced map could give managers a profound insight into finding optimal spots to plant mangroves

Comparison of complications of spinal and general anesthasia in percutaneous kidney stone removal

While the complications of spinal anesthesia are much less than general anesthesia, percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PCNL) is still performed under general anesthesia in most centers. Therefore, in this study spinal anesthesia is compared with general anesthesia in patients undergoing PCNL. This research was a double-blind clinical trial study which was conducted on 130 patients with inclusion criteria. Patients were nonrandomly assigned into two general anesthesia (n=65) and spinal anesthesia (n=65) groups and underwent PCNL surgery.In group A, patients were given intravenously midazolam (2 mg), fentanyl (100 μg), atracurium (0.5 mg/kg), propofol (2 mg/kg) and morphine (10 mg) and then were incubated. In group B, Marcaine 0.5% (15 mg) was injected into the L3-L4 or L4-L5 lumbar spinal space in a sitting position. Patient’s blood pressure was measured and recorded at various times and in recovery as well as in the surgery room. Intra-operative bleeding, pain in the surgery area, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath and sore throat were recorded for the two groups in the ward and during hospitalization.Changes of blood pressure were the same in both groups. In the general anesthesia group, intra-operative bleeding, pain at the site of the surgery, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath and sore throat and duration of hospitalization were significantly higher. Changes in other tests were equal in both groups. Spinal anesthesia might be a safer method than general anesthesia for PCNL surgery.Keywords: Complication, Spinal Anesthesia, General Anesthesia, Kidney Stone Removal, Percutaneou

Prevalence and risk factors of complication of endotracheal extubation in teaching hospitals affiliated with Jahrom University of medical science

Endotracheal intubation is to maintain a safe open airway to prevent pulmonary aspiration by administrating general anesthesia. Endotracheal tube, as a foreign body, can stimulate the patients’ airway during the emergence from general anesthesia and cause various reactions and complications immediately or within a multi-day delay.The present study intended to determine the prevalence and associated risk factors of the complications of endotracheal extubation (removal of endotracheal tube / ETT) within 24 hrs. since the surgery. To this end, a descriptive research was conducted on 200 adult candidates for elective and emergency surgery of endotracheal intubation by administrating general anesthesia. Data about the intended associated risk factors and complications were respectively collected in operating room (OR) and within 24 hrs. since surgery and were recorded in the questionnaire. The results indicated that the prevalent complications were sore throat (%21), cough (%12.5) and hoarseness (%15.5). There was not any case of dysphagia and bloody sputum (blood-streaked expectorant). Also, there was a significant relationship between sore throat and the type of surgery (P˂0.001). On the other hand, there was not any statistically significant relationship between sore throat and other associated risk factors (sex, age, weight, type of surgery and size of endotracheal tube). Likewise, not any significant relationship was observed between cough, hoarseness and the intended risk factors. To conclude, the present study found that the type of surgery has a significant effect on the incidence of sore throat within 24 hrs. since the surgical operation; thus, raising awareness of these risk factors and taking proper actions, particularly during intubation, can reduce the incidence of complications, in particular sore throat, and improve patients’ satisfaction.Keywords: General Anesthesia; Intubation; Complication

On thermodynamics second law in the modified Gauss Bonnet gravity

The second law and the generalized second law of thermodynamics in cosmology in the framework of the modified Gauss-Bonnet theory of gravity are investigated. The conditions upon which these laws hold are derived and discussed.Comment: 9pages, typos corrected, references adde

Inhibition of profibrotic microRNA-21 affects platelets and their releasate.

Fibrosis is a major contributor to organ disease for which no specific therapy is available. MicroRNA-21 (miR-21) has been implicated in the fibrogenetic response, and inhibitors of miR-21 are currently undergoing clinical trials. Here, we explore how miR-21 inhibition may attenuate fibrosis using a proteomics approach. Transfection of miR-21 mimic or inhibitor in murine cardiac fibroblasts revealed limited effects on extracellular matrix (ECM) protein secretion. Similarly, miR-21-null mouse hearts showed an unaltered ECM composition. Thus, we searched for additional explanations as to how miR-21 might regulate fibrosis. In plasma samples from the community-based Bruneck Study, we found a marked correlation of miR-21 levels with several platelet-derived profibrotic factors, including TGF-β1. Pharmacological miR-21 inhibition with an antagomiR reduced the platelet release of TGF-β1 in mice. Mechanistically, Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein, a negative regulator of platelet TGF-β1 secretion, was identified as a direct target of miR-21. miR-21-null mice had lower platelet and leukocyte counts compared with littermate controls but higher megakaryocyte numbers in the bone marrow. Thus, to our knowledge this study reports a previously unrecognized effect of miR-21 inhibition on platelets. The effect of antagomiR-21 treatment on platelet TGF-β1 release, in particular, may contribute to the antifibrotic effects of miR-21 inhibitors