Impact of climate change on water resources in MENA countries: an assessment of temporal changes of land cover/land use and water resources using multi-temporal MODIS and Landsat data and GIS techniques

Water resources are crucial to food security and rural livelihood. Global climatic variation, particularly global warming and changes of precipitation patterns greatly affect the agricultural production and food security. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) includes countries with poor economies and resources (e.g. Morocco, Yemen) as well as oil-rich economies of Gulf countries (e.g. Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia). Water resources are being increasingly scarce in the MENA countries and have great impact on the standard of living particularly in countries with poor economies. In addition to water scarcity, poor water management has also been contributing to the water issues. For example, the countries with the highest per capita water consumption (e.g. UAE) in the world are also found in the MENA countries while in some countries (Jordan, Syria) agriculture consumes more than 85% of water. Mapping water resources, monitoring the temporal changes of land cover and land use are the main ingredients in managing water resources. There are no better technologies than GIS and remote sensing to generate this information. Geospatial technologies, particularly GIS and remote sensing can be used to identify changes, vulnerable areas and potential areas for watershed development. Satellite data are available at varying level of detail ranging from 1km to 0.6m pixel size in spatial resolution supporting studies at global, regional and local levels. Once the vulnerable watersheds are identified, high resolution satellite and GIS data can be used to develop action plans at local levels. The purpose of this paper is to map and monitor water resources and land cover/use to identify vulnerable areas in the MENA region using two countries (Morocco and Yemen) for a comparative assessment. Both Morocco (North African country) and Yemen (Middle-East country) are poor countries and characterize water scarcity, poor water management, desertification and growing food security issues. The objectives are to: * Map water resources and catchments * Map land use and land cover in the region * Identify and map areas of potential hotspots or vulnerable areas The methods include developing a data base including satellite imagery and GIS data (e.g. elevation, climate, socio-economic data), use image processing techniques to extract land cover, land use and catchment information, and use GIS techniques to analyse data and modelling vulnerability. The outcome of the paper are useful in understanding the current status of water resources, production of an inventory of resources, understanding the potential areas of water resources as well as identifying vulnerable areas in selected countries

Effects of Deliberate Ingestion of Organophosphate or Paraquat on Brain Stem Auditory-Evoked Potentials

Organophosphate (OP) and paraquat (PQ) ingestion is a serious health problem. A common pathology behind OP or PQ poisoning is the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which is known to cause ototoxicity. The aim of the study was to identify the effects of deliberate ingestion of OP or PQ on brain stem auditory-evoked potentials (BAEPs). Consecutive patients with deliberate self-poisoning with OP or PQ who were admitted to a secondary and a tertiary care hospital in the Southern province of Sri Lanka and matched controls were recruited. BAEPs were performed at 1 week (first assessment) and 6 weeks (second assessment) after the exposure. Interpeak latencies of I–III, III–V, and I–V were measured. There were 70 and 28 patients in the OP and PQ arms with the mean age of 32 ± 12 and 29 ± 12 years, respectively. There were 70 controls and their mean age was 33 ± 12 years. In OP and PQ poisoning, 53/70 and 18/28 came for the second assessment, respectively. The interpeak latency was not statistically different in the controls vs the first assessment, controls vs the second assessment, and the first vs the second assessment. There were no significant lesions in the auditory pathway in OP or PQ poisoned patients. The generation of ROS within the perilymphatic space following the ingestion of OP or PQ may not be sufficient to cause lesions in the auditory pathway. Further studies with the assessment of auditory threshold are needed

Autonomic Function following Acute Organophosphorus Poisoning: A Cohort Study

Autonomic dysfunction after chronic low level exposure to organophosphorus (OP) pesticides has been consistently reported in the literature, but not following a single acute overdose. In order to study autonomic function after an acute OP overdose, sixty-six overdose patients were compared to 70 matched controls. Assessment of autonomic function was done by heart rate response to standing, deep breathing (HR-DB) and Valsalva manoeuvre; blood pressure (BP) response to standing and sustained hand grip; amplitude and latency of sympathetic skin response (SSR); pupil size and post-void urine volume. The patients were assessed one and six weeks after the exposure. The number of patients who showed abnormal autonomic function compared to standard cut-off values did not show statistically significantly difference from that of controls by Chi-Square test. When compared to the controls at one week the only significant differences consistent with autonomic dysfunction were change of diastolic BP 3 min after standing, HR-DB, SSR-Amplitude, SSR-Latency, post-void urine volume and size of the pupil. At 6 weeks significant recovery of autonomic function was observed and only HR-DB was decreased to a minor degree, −5 beats/min [95%CI 2–8]. This study provides good evidence for the lack of long term autonomic dysfunction following acute exposure to OP pesticides

Slow Repetitive Nerve Stimulation in Patients with Acute Organophosphorus Poisoning after Clinical Recovery

Background: Prolonged inhibition of acetylcholine esterase may lead to the intermediate syndrome. Neuromuscular junction (NMJ) dysfunction has been shown with repetitive nerve stimulation (RNS). Subclinical NMJ dysfunction may also occur. We aimed to examine the NMJ function following acute organophosphorus (OP) poisoning by using exercise modified slow RNS. Methods: A cohort study was conducted with matched controls. Patients with acute OP poisoning were enrolled. NMJ function, muscle power and tendon reflexes were assessed at discharge and six weeks after exposure. NMJ function was assessed with exercise modified supramaximal slow RNS of the median nerve. Results: There were 68 patients and 71 controls. Mean (SD) age of patients and controls were 32 (12) and 33 (12) years. In some particular amplitude, the decrement response was statistically significant. They were decrement response at rest, at fourth amplitude (95% CI: -0.2 to -2.7) and two minutes post-exercise at fourth and fifth amplitudes (95% CI: -0.8 to -5, -1 to -5 respectively) in the second assessment compared to controls, decrement response at rest at fourth and fifth amplitudes (95% CI: -4 to -0.5, -3.9 to -0.01 respectively) and two minutes post-exercise at fourth amplitude (95% CI: -5 to -0.8) in the second assessment compared to the first assessment. Patients in the first assessment and controls showed more than 8% decrement response either to the second, fourth or fifth stimuli in seven and five occasions respectively. Conclusion:  There was no significant neuromuscular junction dysfunction assessed by exercise modified slow repetitive stimulation following acute exposure to OP. Since, NMJ dysfunctions are likely to occur following OP poisoning, other electrodiagnostic modalities such as SF-EMG are probably more efficient to assess these abnormalities

The role of MODIS data in visualizing flood disaster information for mass media

After its successful launch in 1999, MODIS mission has caused a revolutionary change in earth surface monitoring. Due to very high spatial, spectral, temporal resolutions, easy to use data archive, and, free data availability, MODIS data is becoming popular among researchers and general public, alike. In this paper, we introduced another timely important use of MODIS images, mass media content production to visualize flood disasters. In addition to loss of life, flood disasters often cause unbearable economic and infrastructure destructions to developing countries. Bringing effective visual contents of disasters in such locations to the media of developed world, a positive boost can be expected in the field of flood relief operations and disaster mitigation efforts. A detail case study on recent flood occurred in northeast India and Bangladesh (June 2006) is included to explain various aspects of content production for mass medi

SAP YIELD VARIATION OF Caryota urenus

Caryota urenus is know as kitul palm (Wine palm). It belongs to the family Palmaceae and plays an important role in the village economy of Sri Lanka. The most important non-wood forest product of kitul palm is the sap. The sap yields were estimated for more than 200 tappers in Matara district. This was organized with school teachers and students. The yield varied from 472.5 ml to 16,500 ml per day per palm. Two common kitul types were recognised. They are the tall type having straight and cylindrical trunks and identified as "Perimi kitul" and the Barrall type having a greater diameter in the upper trunk than at ground level and called " Gahanu kitul". The barrall type of kitul recorded higher yields than the tall kitul type.The shape of the inflorescence can be categorized into two major types, elongate and compact. The compact type produced more sap yield than the elongate type. The sap yield variation during the period of day and night was further examined. Night yield was measured in the early morning and the Day yield late evening. Significant yield differences were observed during day and night collecting. More yield was recorded for the night collection

Associated factors for cognition of physically independent elderly people living in residential care facilities for the aged in Sri Lanka

Abstract Background As the elderly population and prevalence of dementia is increasing, it is necessary to have a better comprehension of the influence of specific factors on cognitive function. Dementia is not an inevitable consequence of ageing. Lifestyle factors might either increase or decrease the risk. Even though different studies have focused on individual factors, only a few studies are available which assess all these factors as a whole. Available evidence on these factors is mainly from high income countries and much less evidence is available from low and middle income countries. As cognition is critical for elderly people to engage in a physically independent life, we aimed to identify the associated factors of cognition. Methods This was a descriptive cross sectional study performed with 421 elderly people dwelling in residential care facilities for the aged in two selected districts in the Southern Province of Sri Lanka. Cognition was assessed using the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Independent sample t test, ANOVA and regression analyses were used to explore associated factors for cognition. The statistical significance was kept at bonferroni adjusted p < 0.004. Results The study included elderly people with a mean age of 71.9 ± 6.7 years and of them 65.8% were females. Factors affecting higher level of cognition were, having upper secondary, advanced and higher education; being married; arriving at the facility on one’s own accord; being visited by family members; higher physical activity levels and engaging in social and leisure activities (p < 0.004). The factors, namely physical activity level, educational status, visits by family members and engaging in leisure activities were the predictors of cognition in the regression model. Conclusion Though there were several factors that associated with the level of cognition such as educational status, marital status, reason for attending the facility, visits by family members, physical activity levels and participation in social and leisure activities, only the factors, such as physical activity levels, visits by family members, educational status and engaging in leisure activities were the predictors of cognition

Cut-off values of autonomic function tests [11].

<p>Cut-off values of autonomic function tests <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0037987#pone.0037987-Ewing3" target="_blank">[11]</a>.</p

Number of poisoned cases by type of OP.

<p>Number of poisoned cases by type of OP.</p

Autonomic function assessment in patients and controls.

<p>Values are in mean (SD) except</p>†<p>median (interquartile range),</p>‡<p>significant at 0.05 level (2-tailed).</p