Assessment of WRF-3DVAR Data Assimilation on Simulation of Heavy Rainfall Events Associated with Monsoon Depressions over Bay of Bengal

The present study examines the performance of the Advance Research Weather Research and Forecasting model with three-dimensional variational data assimilation (WRF-3DVAR) associated with four heavy rainfall events (HREs) in the presence of monsoon depressions (MDs) over the Bay of Bengal (BoB). We have carried out two numerical experiments, control experiment (CNTL; without data assimilation) and 3DV (assimilation of observations from Global Telecommunication system). The resultant high-resolution analysis obtained from the successful insertion of additional observations through 3DVAR assimilation technique recaptures the better convection and synoptic features associated with the MDs. The 3DV-simulated values of hydrometeors (rainwater, cloud water, and ice + snow + graupel) are found to be reasonably well captured, compared to CNTL simulation. The MDs evolution at various phases of its life span is reasonably well simulated in the 3DV compared to the CNTL experiment. The qualitative and quantitative precipitations are examined with respect to satellite-estimated rainfall data. The quantitative validation of model simulated 24-h accumulated precipitation is evaluated through the feature-based diagnostic evaluation method. Numerous statistical skill scores are evaluated by virtue of the object-oriented tool and results revealed that the simulated rainfall is remarkably improved in 3DV experiment. The study envisages that the assimilation of observations through 3DVAR have positive impact for simulation of HREs due to the presence of MDs

Long-Short Term Memory for an Effective Short-Term Weather Forecasting Model Using Surface Weather Data

Part 7: Deep Learning - Convolutional ANNInternational audienceNumerical Weather Prediction (NWP) requires considerable computer power to solve complex mathematical equations to obtain a forecast based on current weather conditions. In this article, we propose a lightweight data-driven weather forecasting model by exploring state-of-the-art deep learning techniques based on Artificial Neural Network (ANN). Weather information is captured by time-series data and thus, we explore the latest Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) layered model, which is a specialised form of Recurrent Neural Network (RNN) for weather prediction. The aim of this research is to develop and evaluate a short-term weather forecasting model using the LSTM and evaluate the accuracy compared to the well-established Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) NWP model. The proposed deep model consists of stacked LSTM layers that uses surface weather parameters over a given period of time for weather forecasting. The model is experimented with different number of LSTM layers, optimisers, and learning rates and optimised for effective short-term weather predictions. Our experiment shows that the proposed lightweight model produces better results compared to the well-known and complex WRF model, demonstrating its potential for efficient and accurate short-term weather forecasting

Child feces management practices and fecal contamination: A cross-sectional study in rural Odisha, India.

Safe child feces management (CFM) is likely critical for reducing exposure to fecal pathogens in and around the home, but the effectiveness of different CFM practices in reducing fecal contamination is not well understood. We conducted a cross-sectional study of households with children <6 years in rural Odisha, India, using household surveys (188 households), environmental sample analysis (373 samples for 80 child defecation events), and unstructured observation (33 households) to characterize practices and measure fecal contamination resulting from CFM-related practices, including defecation, feces handling and disposal, defecation area or tool cleaning, anal cleansing, and handwashing. For environmental sampling, we developed a sampling strategy that involved collecting samples at the time and place of child defecation to capture activity-level fecal contamination for CFM practices. Defecating on the floor or ground, which was practiced by 63.7% of children <6 years, was found to increase E. coli contamination on finished floors (p < 0.001) or earthen ground surfaces (p = 0.008) after feces were removed, even if paper was laid down prior to defecation. Use of unsafe tools (e.g., paper, plastic bag, straw/hay) to pick up child feces increased E. coli contamination on caregiver hands after feces handling (p < 0.0001), whereas the use of safe tools (e.g., potty, hoe, scoop) did not increase hand contamination. Points of contamination from cleaning CFM hardware and anal cleansing were also identified. The most common disposal location for feces of children <6 years was to throw feces into an open field (41.6%), with only 32.3% disposed in a latrine. Several households owned scoops or potties, but use was low and we identified shortcomings of these CFM tools and proposed alternative interventions that may be more effective. Overall, our results demonstrate the need for CFM interventions that move beyond focusing solely on feces disposal to address CFM as a holistic set of practices

The association between women's sanitation experiences and mental health: A cross-sectional study in Rural, Odisha India.

Emerging qualitative research suggests women's sanitation experiences may impact mental health. However, specific associations remain unclear. We aimed to determine if sanitation access and sanitation experiences were associated with mental health among women in rural Odisha, India. Using a cross-sectional design, we evaluated the association between sanitation access and sanitation experiences and selected mental health outcomes. Data were collected from 1347 randomly selected women across four life course stages in 60 rural communities (December 2014-February 2015). Our four primary outcomes included: mental well-being, and symptoms of anxiety, depression, and distress. The primary exposures were (1) access to a functional latrine within the household compound and (2) sanitation insecurity (SI), evaluated using a seven domain measure assessing women's negative sanitation experiences and concerns. We used hierarchical linear modeling to determine associations between the exposures and mental health outcomes, adjusting for covariates (life stage, poverty, current health status, social support). Mean well-being scores were moderate and mean anxiety, depression, and distress scores were above a threshold indicating the potential presence of any of the three conditions. Access to a functional household latrine was associated with higher well-being scores, but not with anxiety, depression or distress. Women's SI domains were associated with all four outcomes: four domains were significantly associated with lower well-being scores, two were significantly associated with higher anxiety scores, three were significantly associated with higher depression scores, and three were significantly associated with higher distress scores, all independent of functional household latrine access. Women in rural Odisha, India may suffer assaults to their well-being and have higher symptoms of anxiety, depression, and distress when urinating and defecating, even if they have an available facility. These findings suggest that sanitation-related interventions should consider how to accommodate women's experiences beyond excreta management to comprehensively impact health

Toward Improving Safety in Neurosurgery with an Active Handheld Instrument

Microsurgical procedures, such as petroclival meningioma resection, require careful surgical actions in order to remove tumor tissue, while avoiding brain and vessel damaging. Such procedures are currently performed under microscope magnification. Robotic tools are emerging in order to filter surgeons’ unintended movements and prevent tools from entering forbidden regions such as vascular structures. The present work investigates the use of a handheld robotic tool (Micron) to automate vessel avoidance in microsurgery. In particular, we focused on vessel segmentation, implementing a deep-learning-based segmentation strategy in microscopy images, and its integration with a feature-based passive 3D reconstruction algorithm to obtain accurate and robust vessel position. We then implemented a virtual-fixture-based strategy to control the handheld robotic tool and perform vessel avoidance. Clay vascular phantoms, lying on a background obtained from microscopy images recorded during petroclival meningioma surgery, were used for testing the segmentation and control algorithms. When testing the segmentation algorithm on 100 different phantom images, a median Dice similarity coefficient equal to 0.96 was achieved. A set of 25 Micron trials of 80 s in duration, each involving the interaction of Micron with a different vascular phantom, were recorded, with a safety distance equal to 2&nbsp;mm, which was comparable to the median vessel diameter. Micron’s tip entered the forbidden region 24% of the time when the control algorithm was active. However, the median penetration depth was 16.9&nbsp;μm, which was two orders of magnitude lower than median vessel diameter. Results suggest the system can assist surgeons in performing safe vessel avoidance during neurosurgical procedures

A cluster-randomized multi-level intervention to increase latrine use and safe disposal of child feces in rural Odisha, India: the Sundara Grama research protocol.

BACKGROUND: Despite health benefits of sanitation, an estimated 12% of the global population practices open defecation, including an estimated 50% of the population of India. Current estimates, however, do not include households that own toilets but do not use them, suggesting that the actual number of people defecating in the open is underestimated. This protocol describes a cluster randomized controlled trial to evaluate an intervention specifically designed to increase latrine use, including the safe disposal of child feces, in rural Odisha, India. METHODS: The trial engages 66 villages in Puri district, 33 randomly allocated to receive the intervention and 33 to serve as controls. The primary outcome is latrine use and is recorded at baseline and endline for all members of all households that own latrines in all trial vilalges. Additional data on determinants of latrine use and safe child feces disposal are also collected to assess change based on the intervetntion. A process evaluation assesses the delivery of the intervention and qualiative research takes place in non-trial villages as well as post-endline in trial villages to help explain trial findings. DISCUSSION: This is one of four trials taking place simultaneously in rural India with latrine use as the primary outcome. All four studies use the same outcome to gerenate comparable data across sites that can serve the government of India. The trial in Odisha is unique in that it collects latrine use data from all potential users in all households that own latrines, enabling a thorough view of the sanitation situation and factors that influence use at the community level. That latrine use is collected via self-report is a limitation, however any bias in reporting should be the same across villages and not impact the overall assessment of intervention impact. TRIAL REGISTRATION: This trial is registered at clinicaltrials.gov: NCT03274245

Molybdenum oxide on Fe2O3 Core-Shell catalysts: Probing the nature of the structural motifs responsible for methanol oxidation catalysis

A series of MoOx-modified Fe2O3 catalysts have been prepared in an attempt to make core–shell oxidic materials of the type MoOx/Fe2O3. It is conclusively shown that for three monolayers of Mo dosed, the Mo stays in the surface region, even after annealing to high temperature. It is only when the material is annealed above 400 °C that it reacts with the iron oxide. We show by a combination of methods, and especially by XAFS, that at temperatures above 400 °C, most of the Mo converts to Fe2(MoO4)3, with Mo in a tetrahedral structure, whereas below that temperature, nanocrystalline MoO3 is present in the sample; however, the active catalysts have an octahedral MoOx layer at the surface even after calcination to 600 °C. This surface layer appears to be present at all temperatures between 300 and 600 °C, and it is the nanoparticles of MoO3 that are present at the lower temperature that react to form ferric molybdate, which underlies this surface layer. It is the MoOx layer on the Fe2(MoO4)3 underlayer that makes the surface active and selective for formaldehyde synthesis, whereas the iron oxide surface itself is a combustor. The material is both activated and improved in selectivity due to the dominance of the methoxy species on the Mo-doped material, as opposed to the much more stable formate, which is the main intermediate on Fe2O3

A qualitative assessment of mothers' perceptions and behaviors in response to an intervention designed to encourage safe child feces management practices in rural Odisha, India

Abstract Child feces are not always safely disposed of into a latrine, potentially contributing to fecal exposure in the household environment. In India, safe disposal of child feces is a relatively uncommon practice despite gains in latrine coverage. This study took place after the delivery of a behavior change intervention that also included the provision of potties and scoops. The aims of this research were to (1) describe current child feces management (CFM) practices, (2) explore perceptions and behaviors of mothers who participated in intervention activities, and (3) assess the spillover of intervention activities in neighboring villages. Twenty-four in-depth interviews and four focus group discussions were conducted across six villages, three of which received the intervention. Using thematic analysis, we explored caregivers' descriptions of the different strategies to manage their child's feces. The study found (i) women's access to and perception of the intervention informed their knowledge, attitudes, perceived risk, and behaviors related to CFM, (ii) most women positively perceived the messages of the intervention with varying use of the tools provided for feces disposal, and (iii) there was no spillover in the neighboring villages. Our findings underscore that CFM practices must be addressed to reduce fecal contamination of the environment

Effect of a combined household-level piped water and sanitation intervention on reported menstrual hygiene practices and symptoms of urogenital infections in rural Odisha, India.

Adequate menstrual hygiene management (MHM) requires access to water and sanitation and can be challenging for many women and girls living in resource-poor settings. Inadequate MHM has been associated with urogenital infections. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of a combined household-level piped water and sanitation intervention on MHM practices and urogenital infection symptoms (UGS) among women living in rural communities of Odisha (India). This study was nested within a pair-matched cohort study designed to assess impact of the Gram Vikas MANTRA program, which provided household-level piped water, bathing areas and latrine to all households in intervention villages, on diarrheal disease (primary outcome). The program did not specifically promote menstrual hygiene practices. Forty-five intervention villages were randomly selected from a list of those where implementation was previously completed at least five years before and matched to 45 control villages. Data for the main study was collected in four rounds from June 2015 to October 2016. For the MHM sub study, household surveys were administered in round four to randomly selected women aged 18 or older among study households from the 90 villages, to assess self-reported MHM practicesand urogenital infections symptoms. MHM practices were deemed adequate if they met some of the criteria developed on the basis of international monitoring that the GV program could modify (adequate frequency of absorbent change, washing the body with soap and privacy for managing menstruation). Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression with a random effect distribution at the level of the pair and village was used to estimate the effect of the intervention on adequate MHM practices (primary outcome) and reported UGS (secondary outcome). A total of 1045 women (517 from intervention and 528 from control) were included in the study. Women who lived in the villages receiving the intervention, were more likely to report adequate MHM practices than those in control villages (Adjusted OR (AOR) 3.54, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.86-6.78). 14.51% and 15.53% of women living in the control and intervention villages reported having at least one UGS. There was no evidence of an intervention effect on reported UGS (AOR = 0.97, 95%CI: 0.64-1.46). While household latrines or bathing areas with access to piped water improve the environment that enable MHM practices related to privacy, the provision of such facilities alone had only a moderate impact in adequate MHM and did not have an effect on self-reported UGS. More targeted inventions that include behavior change strategies and that address other barriers may be necessary to improve MHM practices