Evaluation of a grid-based river flow model using regional climate model output over Europe

Regional Climate Models (RCMs) offer significant improvements over Global Cli- mate Models in terms of their representation of rainfall at the spatial and temporal scales required for hydrological modelling. Here we test a new implementation of a grid-based hydrological model embedded in a model of land-surface climatology (the Joint UK Land Exchange Scheme; JULES) against observed river flows in sev- eral major NW European rivers, including the Rhine, Maas, Elbe, Danube, Loire, and Seine. Our hydrological model includes a probability-distributed model of soil mois- ture and runoff production (PDM) coupled with a discrete approximation to the one- dimensional kinematic wave equation to route surface and subsurface water downs- lope (G2G). The model was driven with hourly output from the Hadley Centre regional climate model, using results from the ERA-40 reanalysis experiment as boundary con- ditions (1961-2000). The results of simulations for river catchments in northwest Eu- rope are presented and compared with measured river flows over the same time period, for the same locations. The success with which the runoff production and flow routing components of the land-surface model match observed flow data is evaluated

Land Use and Land Cover Change Analysis along the Coastal Regions of Cape Coast and Sekondi

The study sought to investigate and analyse land use and land cover change for the Cape Coastand Sekondi coastal regions in Ghana between 2005 and 2013. The methodology adopted for thestudy involved data acquisition and preprocessing, extraction and validation of land use/coverinformation. It also involved assessment and examination of the patterns of land use/cover changesin the two study areas. Aerial photographs and topographic maps were obtained from the SurveyDepartment of Ghana. The delineation of the different categories of land cover and land use in thestudy area was done manually through on-screen digitization in ESRI ArcGIS 10.1. The majorland use/cover types identified in the study sites were built up area, vegetation and farms. It wasfound that since the two study sites are both fast growing urban communities, most of the land wasused for human habitation, hence, large parts were covered by built-up area. It was recommendedthat, relevant agencies such as the metropolitan, municipal and district development planningcommittees, including town and country planning department should monitor, regulate and planthe pattern of development in both communities. This recommendation will help the city authoritiesto keep abreast of changes that will occur in the cover and use of land and also factor such changesin the planning of such communities

Current Management Issues in Health Information Technology

Health information technology can improve quality care delivery, thereby boosting the healthcare business reputation. However, it can negatively affect quality care delivery and lead to a negative business reputation if not efficiently managed. This single qualitative study aimed to explore the causes of the inefficiencies in managing health information technology and strategies that healthcare organizations use to ensure its efficiencies. In a purposive sample, the researcher conducted telephone interviews with twenty-one participants from Lancaster General Hospital. The participants comprised medical doctors, Doctor of Nursing practitioners, managers of health informatics, and informatics specialists working in various divisions and E-health operations. Other participants included the director of quality improvement within Epic Solutions and clinical applications, the director of health information management, the entity and privacy officer, the risk department manager, the executive director of ACO inter-community care, the pharmacist, and the director of operations. Data collected and analyzed yielded four themes: Users face various management challenges leading to HIT management efficiencies, primarily due to a need for adequate training. Strategies used to ensure the efficient management of health information technology comprised the use of robust policies and procedures, Management issues leading to the disruption of health information technology due to the issues with the design of tools of HIT, and Users reported more potential than actual impact on business reputation as judged through external organization ratings. This study could positively impact social change by fostering efficiencies in its adoption, implementation, and use, which could enhance better care delivery

The Effect of Bariatric Surgery on Adipose Tissue Energy Metabolism in Type 2 Diabetes

Obesity-related metabolic disturbances typically occur when the available energy exceeds the storage capacity of white adipose tissue (WAT), which can lead to ectopic lipid deposition, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. The re-discovery of the existence of energy consuming brown adipose tissue (BAT) in adult humans has ignited interest in finding novel approaches for BAT activation to be used for the treatment of obesity and diabetes. Currently, bariatric surgery procedures provide marked and sustained weight loss, and remission of diabetes in some severely obese patients. Energy metabolism in adipose tissue in the presence of obesity and diabetes, and the changes that occur after weight loss induced by surgery are largely understudied. The present work hypothesized that the WAT and BAT energy metab-olism are different between obese and non-obese subjects, and also between obese with and without diabetes subgroups. Bariatric surgery improves adipose energy metabolism in severely obese patients independent of diabetes status. Here, severely obese patients, with a mean BMI of 40 kg/m², roughly half with diabetes, and age-matched lean metabolically healthy controls, were studied with PET-CT and MRI to measure adipose tissue energy (glucose and fatty acid) metabolism, and blood flow distribution. The regional distribution of WAT; and the browning of supraclavicular BAT were also studied. White adipocyte size and numbers in biopsies were measured. Obese patients were studied before and at 6 months after surgery, and normal weight healthy controls studied once. When the obese patients were treated as a combined group, their blood flow distribution, glucose and fatty acid metabolism rates in WAT were significantly impaired compared to nonobese healthy control subjects. Blood flow, fatty acid or glucose uptake rates when expressed per expanded depot mass were higher in the obese group compared to controls. Fatty acid uptake per adipocyte was higher only for diabetic patients of the obese group compared to the controls. Excessive accumulation of WAT was a limiting factor with regards BAT fatty acid metabolism, or then the browning of adipose tissue in the supraclavicular depot. After surgery, adipose glucose uptake rates increased independent of diabetes status. Fatty acid and blood flow rates decreased significantly when expressed per depot size, and per adipocyte. However, the postsurgery depot glucose uptake rates were similar to values in the presurgery state. BAT lipid metabolism increased significantly with weight loss, and values were associated with decreased adiposity along with improved whole body insulin sensitivity. The current study highlights the negative impact of severe obesity and diabetes on adipose tissue energy metabolism, which appears to be partly due to expanded fat mass mediated by adipocyte hypertrophy or hyperplasia. Weight reduction with bariatric surgery improves adipose energy metabolism, and conse-quently the overall metabolic health in obese individuals regardless of the presence of diabetes

Evolution of the rates of mass wasting and fluvial sediment transfer from the epicentral area of the 1999, Mw 7.6 earthquake

The 1999 Chichi earthquake (Mw=7.6) triggered more than 20,000 landslides in the epicentral area in central west Taiwan, and subsequent typhoons have caused an even larger number of slope failures. As a result, the suspended sediment load of the epi- central Choshui River has increased dramatically. Measurements of suspended sedi- ment at a downstream gauging station indicate that the unit sediment concentration increased about six times due to the earthquake, and decreased exponentially due to flushing by subsequent typhoons. The e-folding time scale of the seismic perturbation of sediment transfer in the Choshui River is 3-5 years. Based on this estimate of the de- cay of the erosional response to the earthquake, a mass balance can be calculated for the earthquake, including co-seismic uplift and subsidence, post-seismic relaxation, and erosion. This mass balance shows that the Chi-Chi earthquake has acted to build ridge topography in the hanging wall of the fault, but in the far field, some destruc- tion of topography has occurred. However, our estimate of seismically-driven erosion may be incomplete. A detailed analysis of landsliding in the Chenyoulan tributary of the Choshui River indicates that most co-and post seismic landslide debris remains on hillslopes within the catchment. Recent typhoons have continued to cause high rates of landsliding high in the landscape, but rates of mass wasting near the stream net- work have decreased. The full geomorphic response to the Chi-Chi earthquake may be much larger, and more protracted than indicated by river gauging data

Um viso-rei que faz trovas. The Count of Salinas, Diego Silvay Mendoza, poetic and political patronage between Madrid and Lisboa

Cuando Diego de Silva y Mendoza, conde de Salinas y marqués de Alenquer, llegó a Lisboa a principios de abril de 1617 para ocupar los puestos de virrey y capitán general, fue con fama de poeta además de político. Por tanto, fue recibido como posible mecenas por algunos escritores portugueses, quienes rápidamente le dedicaron sus nuevas obras. En este trabajo estudiamos las relaciones literario-políticas entre el conde medio castellano medio portugués y sus súbditos portugueses, al mismo tiempo que su mecenazgo de escritores castellanos e italianos. Terminamos con unas consideraciones más generales sobre el mecenazgo ejercido por Salinas y su importancia en el estudio y análisis de ciertos manuscritos de su obra, en especial el célebre Cancionero de Mendes Britto.When Diego de Silva y Mendoza, Count of Salinas and Marquis of Alenquer, arrived in Lisbon in early April 1617 to take up the posts of Viceroy and Captain General, he was already well known as a poet as well as a politician. He was therefore received by a number of Portuguese writers as a possible benefactor or patron, and they, as a result, quickly dedicated a number of their works to him. In this article I study the literary-political relations between the half Portuguese half Castilian Salinas and his Portuguese subjects as well as his role as a patron of Castilian and Italian writers. The chapter ends with some more general considerations of Salinas as a benefactor and the importance of this in the study and analysis of certain manuscripts of his work, in particular thecelebrated Cancionero de Mendes Britto

Un palacio para un conde: la compra y rehabilitación del palacio de Buenavista por Diego de Silva y Mendoza, conde de Salinas

Sin resume

Spatio-Temporal Analysis of Shoreline Movements along the Coastal Stretch from Bortianor to Winneba, Ghana

Shoreline movement is largely dependent on the extent of erosion and accretion, thus making it one of the most dynamic geomorphic phenomena along the coast. The study sought to assess the spatio-temporal dynamics of shoreline movements along the coastal stretch between Bortianor in the Greater Accra Region and Winneba in the Central Region of Ghana from 2000 to 2020.  The study used shoreline data mapped from field-based high resolution aerial imagery and Landsat 7 and 8 images. Digital Shoreline Analysis System (DSAS) software 5 was used for the data processing and analysis, with reference to Shoreline Change Envelope, Net Shoreline Movement, End Point Rate, Linear Regression Rate and Weighted Linear Regression. It was observed that the entire shoreline under study generally experienced a continuous retreat than advancement due to the moderate to very high accretion. This notwithstanding, very high erosion was observed on the eastern side of the coast in Fete, leading to an advancement of the shoreline. The study recommends constant monitoring of the coastline by researchers and relevant stakeholders and also the need to put in place protective mechanisms such as sea defenses by the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing to avoid the worse scenarios being experienced in other parts of the Ghanaian coastline. Keywords: shoreline movements, accretion, erosion, shoreline retreat, shoreline advancement DOI: 10.7176/JEES/11-1-04 Publication date: January 31st 202