Subtropical dust storms and downslope wind events

We performed detailed mesoscale observational analyses and Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model simulations to study the terrain-induced downslope winds that generated dust-emitting winds at the beginning of three strong subtropical dust storms in three distinctly different regions of North Africa and the Arabian Peninsula. We revisit the Harmattan dust storm of 2 March 2004, the Saudi dust storm of 9 March 2009, and the Bodélé Depression dust storm of 8 December 2011 and use high-resolution WRF modeling to assess the dynamical processes during the onset of the storms in more depth. Our results highlight the generation of terrain-induced downslope winds in response to the transition of the atmospheric flow from a subcritical to supercritical state in all three cases. These events precede the unbalanced adjustment processes in the lee of the mountain ranges that produced larger-scale dust aerosol mobilization and transport. We see that only the higher-resolution data sets can resolve the mesoscale processes, which are mainly responsible for creating strong low-level terrain-induced downslope winds leading to the initial dust storms. ©2017. The Authors

PCR Based Genotyping of Lulu Cattle of Nepal for A1, A2 Type Beta-caseins

Lulu is an indigenous breed of cattle (Bos taurus) found in high altitude regions of western Nepal. Population of Lulu cattle has been declining due to introgression with other exotic breeds to increase milk productivity. Here we aimed at finding potential approach for conserving Lulu cattle and its assets by studying the milk contents and investigating which variant of beta-casein protein is present in this breed. Beta caseins are an abundant protein in cow milk with A1 and A2 being the most common genetic variants of this protein. Consumption of A1 type of milk has numerous health-related complications whereas A2 type of milk has numerous human health promoting factors. We used restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) for determining the A1 and A2 variant of beta casein in Lulu cattle. For performing DNA extraction, we collected (n = 18) blood samples of Lulu from Mustang and (n=17) Nepal Agriculture research council farm. The amplified fragments in 3% agarose at 251bp and 213bp respectively confirmed the presence of both A1 and A2 gene in Lulu; however, A2 was of greater abundance. Our study indicated that Lulu has A2 variant of beta-casein predominantly. The gene frequency of A1A1 is 0, A1A2 is 0.06 and A2A2 is 0.94. We further found that the allele frequency of A1 and A2 is 0.03 and 0.97 respectively. We designed special primer for sequencing CSN2 genes since A2 type beta casein gene was predominantly seen on Lulu. The sequencing result further supports our RFLP result as most of our samples have “C” nucleotide SNP in amplified CSN2 gene sequence. The Chi-square value of the current study is 0.04 which supports Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium inferring that Lulu cattle are still in the pure state, where there is no genetic introgression with the exotic breed for the sake of improvement of productivity

The design of green supply chains under carbon policies: A literature review of quantitative models

Carbon footprinting of products and services is getting increasing attention due to the growing emphasis on carbon related policies in many countries. As a result, many enterprises are focusing on the design of green supply chains (GSCs) with research on supply chains (SCs) focused not only on cost efficiency, but also on its environmental consequences. The review presented in this paper focuses on the implications of carbon policies on SCs. The concept of content analysis is used to retrieve and analyze the information regarding drivers (carbon policies), actors (for example, manufacturers and retailers), methodologies (mathematical modeling techniques), decision-making contexts (such as, facility location and order quantity), and emission reduction opportunities. The review shows a lack of emissions analysis of SCs that face carbon policies in different countries. The research also focuses on the design of carbon policies for emissions reduction in different operating situations. Some possible research directions are also discussed at the end of this review.A NPRP award NPRP No.5-1284-5-198 from the Qatar National Research Fund (a member of The Qatar Foundation).Scopu

Modeling a Nb\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eSn Cryounit in GPT at UITF

Nb3Sn is a prospective material for future superconducting radio frequency (SRF) accelerator cavities. Compared to conventional niobium, the material can achieve higher quality factors, higher temperature operation, and potentially higher accelerating gradients (Eacc ≈ 96 MV/m). In this work, we performed modeling of the Upgraded Injector Test Facility (UITF) at Jefferson Lab utilizing newly constructed Nb3Sn cavities. We studied the effects of the buncher cavity and varied the gun voltage from 200-500 keV. We have calibrated and optimized the SRF cavity gradients and phases for the Nb3Sn five-cell cavities\u27 energy gains with the framework of the General Particle Tracer (GPT). Our calculations show the beam goes cleanly through the unit. There is full energy gain out of the second SRF cavity but not from the first SRF cavity due to non-relativistic phase shifts

Understanding how children and young people with disabilities experience COVID-19 and humanitarian emergencies in low- and middle-income countries: a scoping review protocol

Introduction: People with disabilities have been disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and there is a need to understand the diversity of experience globally to plan and implement responses. The experience of children and young people with disabilities is often overlooked as research focuses on younger children or adults, and they are not often engaged in the design of research methods to capture their experience. As part of a research project to develop participatory methods with children and young people with disabilities in rural Nepal to research their experience of COVID-19 (PARDAN), we sought to map the literature about experiences of children and young people with disabilities in emergency and COVID-19 contexts, and describe the methods used. This review will inform the development of our methods and will help identify gaps in the literature. / Methods: We will use Arksey and O’Malley’s (1) and Levac et al’s (2) framework to search for grey and published literature. We will search Scopus, Web of Science, ASSIA, Jstor, Source, Google Scholar, Academia.edu, Researchgate, and Google. We will also search websites of organisations working in emergencies such as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), World Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Humanity and Inclusion (HI), CBM International, International Disability Alliance (IDA), Women’s Refugee Commission (WRC), and National Federation of the Disabled Nepal (NFDN). We will approach our advisory committee and personal contacts in disabled persons organisations in the global south to help us locate additional relevant grey literature. Predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria will be applied by five reviewers to determine study eligibility. Studies published in English and Nepali and between May 2011 and May 2021 will be reviewed. Methods and findings from literature will be extracted and a descriptive summary will be presented to an advisory committee of disabled persons organisations in Nepal. / Discussion: Through this review we will identify research gaps and develop implications of our findings which will be presented in a webinar and in publications. The review will be an important resource for those seeking to conduct research about children and young people with disabilities and will inform a global inclusive response to the pandemic which includes the perspectives of children and young people

Disaster management in industrial areas: perspectives, challenges and future research

Purpose: In most countries, development, growth, and sustenance of industrial facilities are given utmost importance due to the influence in the socio-economic development of the country. Therefore, special economic zones, or industrial areas or industrial cities are developed in order to provide the required services for the sustained operation of such facilities. Such facilities not only provide a prolonged economic support to the country but it also helps in the societal aspects as well by providing livelihood to thousands of people. Therefore, any disaster in any of the facilities in the industrial area will have a significant impact on the population, facilities, the economy, and threatens the sustainability of the operations. This paper provides review of such literature that focus on theory and practice of disaster management in industrial cities. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper, content analysis method is used in order to elicit the insights of the literature available. The methodology uses search methods, literature segregation and developing the current knowledge on different phases of industrial disaster management. Findings: It is found that the research is done in all phases of disaster management, namely, preventive phase, reactive phase and corrective phase. The research in each of these areas are focused on four main aspects, which are facilities, resources, support systems and modeling. Nevertheless, the research in the industrial cities is insignificant. Moreover, the modeling part does not explicitly consider the nature of industrial cities, where many of the chemical and chemical processing can be highly flammable thus creating a very large disaster impact. Some research is focused at an individual plant and scaled up to the industrial cities. The modeling part is weak in terms of comprehensively analyzing and assisting disaster management in the industrial cities. Originality/value: The comprehensive review using content analysis on disaster management is presented here. The review helps the researchers to understand the gap in the literature in order to extend further research for disaster management in large scale industrial cities.Peer Reviewe