This study reports a new and significantly enhanced analysis of US flood hazard at 30 m spatial resolution. Specific improvements include updated hydrography data, new methods to determine channel ...depth, more rigorous flood frequency analysis, output downscaling to property tract level, and inclusion of the impact of local interventions in the flooding system. For the first time, we consider pluvial, fluvial, and coastal flood hazards within the same framework and provide projections for both current (rather than historic average) conditions and for future time periods centered on 2035 and 2050 under the RCP4.5 emissions pathway. Validation against high‐quality local models and the entire catalog of FEMA 1% annual probability flood maps yielded Critical Success Index values in the range 0.69–0.82. Significant improvements over a previous pluvial/fluvial model version are shown for high‐frequency events and coastal zones, along with minor improvements in areas where model performance was already good. The result is the first comprehensive and consistent national‐scale analysis of flood hazard for the conterminous US for both current and future conditions. Even though we consider a stabilization emissions scenario and a near‐future time horizon, we project clear patterns of changing flood hazard (3σ changes in 100 years inundated area of −3.8 to +16% at 1° scale), that are significant when considered as a proportion of the land area where human use is possible or in terms of the currently protected land area where the standard of flood defense protection may become compromised by this time.
Plain Language Summary
We develop a method to estimate past, present, and future flood risk for all properties in the conterminous United States whether affected by river, coastal or rainfall flooding. The analysis accounts for variability within environmental factors including changes in sea level rise, hurricane intensity and landfall locations, precipitation patterns, and river discharge. We show that even for a conservative climate change trajectory we can expect locally significant changes in the land area at risk from floods by 2050, and by this time defenses protecting 2,200 km2 of land may be compromised. The complete dataset has been made available via a website (https://floodfactor.com/) created by the First Street Foundation in order to increase public awareness of the threat posed by flooding to safety and livelihoods.
Key Points
First complete high‐resolution flood hazard analysis of conterminous US flood risk from all major sources (fluvial, pluvial, and coastal)
In validation tests the model achieved Critical Success Index scores of 0.69–0.82, similar to many local custom‐built 2D models
By 2050, flood hazard increases for the Eastern seaboard and Western states, but decreases or changes little for the center and South‐West
‘Sponge City’ is managing stormwater through increased infiltration, detention, storage, treatment, and drainage. By implementing this concept, the impact of urban development on water-related ...problems and natural ecosystems is diminished. This scientometric study analyze the global articles on ‘Sponge City’ which have been indexed in the Clarivate Analytics. A total of 199 articles were analyzed for visualization of the sponge city researches. China, as the stabilizer of the issue, has the highest betweenness centrality (1.37). The analysis of keyword co-occurrence and Clarivate Analytics category showed that the trend of the field is gradually shifting to managerial and practical phases. Based on co-citation and bibliographic coupling, the principal authors and resources have not been recognized yet. More research should be done to form the main paths of bibliographic entities. Generally, this scientometric analysis may help practitioners, policymakers, funders, editors, and researchers to understand the current state of the field and serve as a turning point for future progress in the studies.
Display omitted
•The scientometric review of scientific literature was done on “Sponge City”.•The China country has maintained the leading position in research on Sponge City.•The relationship between authors, countries, and journals was described visually.•From 2016 onwards, strong links between documents co-citation networks were detected.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with severe cognitive impairments as well as some metabolic defects. Scant studies in animal models indicate a link between probiotics and cognitive function. ...This randomized, double-blind, and controlled clinical trial was conducted among 60 AD patients to assess the effects of probiotic supplementation on cognitive function and metabolic status. The patients were randomly divided into two groups (
= 30 in each group) treating with either milk (control group) or a mixture of probiotics (probiotic group). The probiotic supplemented group took 200 ml/day probiotic milk containing
, and
(2 × 10
CFU/g for each) for 12 weeks. Mini-mental state examination (MMSE) score was recorded in all subjects before and after the treatment. Pre- and post-treatment fasting blood samples were obtained to determine the related markers. After 12 weeks intervention, compared with the control group (-5.03% ± 3.00), the probiotic treated (+27.90% ± 8.07) patients showed a significant improvement in the MMSE score (
<0.001). In addition, changes in plasma malondialdehyde (-22.01% ± 4.84 vs. +2.67% ± 3.86 μmol/L,
<0.001), serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (-17.61% ± 3.70 vs. +45.26% ± 3.50 μg/mL,
<0.001), homeostasis model of assessment-estimated insulin resistance (+28.84% ± 13.34 vs. +76.95% ± 24.60,
= 0.002), Beta cell function (+3.45% ± 10.91 vs. +75.62% ± 23.18,
= 0.001), serum triglycerides (-20.29% ± 4.49 vs. -0.16% ± 5.24 mg/dL,
= 0.003), and quantitative insulin sensitivity check index (-1.83 ± 1.26 vs. -4.66 ± 1.70,
= 0.006) in the probiotic group were significantly varied compared to the control group. We found that the probiotic treatment had no considerable effect on other biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation, fasting plasma glucose, and other lipid profiles. Overall, the current study demonstrated that probiotic consumption for 12 weeks positively affects cognitive function and some metabolic statuses in the AD patients.
http://www.irct.ir/, IRCT201511305623N60.
Varicocele is one of the most common treatable causes of male infertility, and its treatment may be beneficial for fertility. This study aimed to evaluate fertility rate and DNA fragmentation index ...(DFI) following varicocelectomy in primary infertile men with clinical varicocele.
This prospective longitudinal study was conducted on primary infertility men, in a tertiary center from December 2018 to December 2019 with one-year follow-up. Data of the semen parameters, DFI (%), and fertility rate were gathered before, as well as 4 and 12 months after undergoing varicocelectomy. For data analysis, SPSS software and analytical test were used.
Out of 76 patients who were analyzed, 22 (29%) became fertile and 54 (71%) remained infertile. Semen parameters and DFI (%) were improved significantly following varicocelectomy (P<0.001). Smoking history, occupational heated exposure, body mass index (BMI), and infertility duration were determined as predictors associated with fertility status (P<0.05).
Although varicocele repair improved the DFI, the fertility rate was achieved in less than one-third of patients; it seems that the other parameters, such as the history of smoking, occupational heated exposure, overweight, and duration of infertility should be considered as predictors of fertility status, in primary infertile men who are a candidate for varicocelectomy.
Interaction between researchers and policymakers is an essential factor to facilitate the evidence-informed policymaking. One of the effective ways to establish this relationship and promote ...evidence-informed policymaking is to employ people or organizations that can play the role of knowledge brokers. This study aims to analyze the communication network and interactions between researchers and policymakers in Iran's health sector and identify key people serving as academic knowledge brokers.
This study was a survey research. Using a census approach, we administered a sociometric survey to faculty members in the health field in top ten Iranian medical universities to construct academic-policymaker network using social network analysis method. Network maps were generated using UCINET and NetDraw software. We used Indegree Centrality, Outdegree Centrality, and Betweenness Centrality indicators to determine knowledge brokers in the network.
The drawn network had a total of 188 nodes consisting of 94 university faculty members and 94 policymakers at three national, provincial, and university levels. The network comprised a total of 177 links, with 125 connecting to policymakers and 52 to peers. Of 56 faculty members, we identified four knowledge brokers. Six policymakers were identified as key policymakers in the network, too.
It seems that the flow of knowledge produced by research in the health field in Iran is not accomplished well from the producers of research evidence to the users of knowledge. Therefore, it seems necessary to consider incentive and support mechanisms to strengthen the interaction between researchers and policymakers in Iran's health sector.
There is an urgent need for an effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccine. Heterologous prime-boost regimens induce potent cellular immunity. MVA85A is a candidate TB vaccine. This phase I clinical trial ...was designed to evaluate whether alternating aerosol and intradermal vaccination routes would boost cellular immunity to the Mycobacterium tuberculosis antigen 85A (Ag85A).
Between December 2013 and January 2016, 36 bacille Calmette-Guérin-vaccinated, healthy UK adults were randomised equally between 3 groups to receive 2 MVA85A vaccinations 1 month apart using either heterologous (Group 1, aerosol-intradermal; Group 2, intradermal-aerosol) or homologous (Group 3, intradermal-intradermal) immunisation. Bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) were performed 7 days post-vaccination. Adverse events (AEs) and peripheral blood were collected for 6 months post-vaccination. The laboratory and bronchoscopy teams were blinded to treatment allocation. One participant was withdrawn and was replaced. Participants were aged 21-42 years, and 28/37 were female. In a per protocol analysis, aerosol delivery of MVA85A as a priming immunisation was well tolerated and highly immunogenic. Most AEs were mild local injection site reactions following intradermal vaccination. Transient systemic AEs occurred following vaccination by both routes and were most frequently mild. All respiratory AEs following primary aerosol MVA85A (Group 1) were mild. Boosting an intradermal MVA85A prime with an aerosolised MVA85A boost 1 month later (Group 2) resulted in transient moderate/severe respiratory and systemic AEs. There were no serious adverse events and no bronchoscopy-related complications. Only the intradermal-aerosol vaccination regimen (Group 2) resulted in modest, significant boosting of the cell-mediated immune response to Ag85A (p = 0.027; 95% CI: 28 to 630 spot forming cells per 1 × 106 peripheral blood mononuclear cells). All 3 regimens induced systemic cellular immune responses to the modified vaccinia virus Ankara (MVA) vector. Serum antibodies to Ag85A and MVA were only induced after intradermal vaccination. Aerosolised MVA85A induced significantly higher levels of Ag85A lung mucosal CD4+ and CD8+ T cell cytokines compared to intradermal vaccination. Boosting with aerosol-inhaled MVA85A enhanced the intradermal primed responses in Group 2. The magnitude of BAL MVA-specific CD4+ T cell responses was lower than the Ag85A-specific responses. A limitation of the study is that while the intradermal-aerosol regimen induced the most potent cellular Ag85A immune responses, we did not boost the last 3 participants in this group because of the AE profile. Timing of bronchoscopies aimed to capture peak mucosal response; however, peak responses may have occurred outside of this time frame.
To our knowledge, this is the first human randomised clinical trial to explore heterologous prime-boost regimes using aerosol and systemic routes of administration of a virally vectored vaccine. In this trial, the aerosol prime-intradermal boost regime was well tolerated, but intradermal prime-aerosol boost resulted in transient but significant respiratory AEs. Aerosol vaccination induced potent cellular Ag85A-specific mucosal and systemic immune responses. Whilst the implications of inducing potent mucosal and systemic immunity for protection are unclear, these findings are of relevance for the development of aerosolised vaccines for TB and other respiratory and mucosal pathogens.
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT01954563.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Computational Thinking (CT) pervasively shares its methods, practices, and dispositions across other disciplines as a new way of thinking about problem-solving. Few studies have been carried out ...studying CT from an Information Systems (IS) perspective. This study elaborates on how systems thinking (ST), an acknowledged theory in the IS field, bonds to CT to address some well-known common issues related to CT such as reductionism and dogmatism, and to supplement the computing nature of CT with behavioral and societal facets involved in its implications. We studied how ST is applied to CT research in the literature. To do so, two primary approaches have been identified that link ST and CT. First, ST is embedded in CT practices meaning that ST is considered as a component of CT. Second, ST and CT are parallelly studied, and ST is considered as a supplementary concept to CT. Correspondingly, we propose a complementary approach that looks at CT from the ST lenses to provide a clearer picture of CT in an educational context. Moreover, we expect this new perspective can help to broaden the development of educational CT concepts and scenarios by including new notions such as framework, interpretation, norms, paradigm, and context.
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is associated with cognitive dysfunction. Evidence indicates that gut microbiota is altered in the AD and, hence, modifying the gut flora may affect the disease. In the ...previous clinical research we evaluated the effect of a probiotic combination on the cognitive abilities of AD patients. Since, in addition to pathological disorders, the AD is associated with changes in oxidant/antioxidant and inflammatory/anti-inflammatory biomarkers, the present work was designed to evaluate responsiveness of the inflammatory and oxidative biomarkers to the probiotic treatment. The control (CON) and probiotic (PRO) AD patients were treated for 12 weeks by the placebo and probiotic supplementation, respectively. The patients were cognitively assessed by Test Your Memory (TYM = 50 scores). Also serum concentrations of nitric oxide (NO), glutathione (GSH), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), malondialdehyde (MDA), 8-hydroxy-2' -deoxyguanosine (8-OHdG) and cytokines (TNF-a, IL-6, and IL-10) were measured. The cognitive test and the serum biomarkers were assessed pre- and post-treatment. According to TYM test 83.5% of the patients showed severe AD. The CON (12.86% ± 8.33) and PRO (-9.35% ± 16.83) groups not differently scored the cognitive test. Not pronounced change percent was found in the serum level of TNF-α (1.67% ± 1.33 vs. -0.15% ± 0.27), IL-6 (0.35% ± 0.17 vs. 2.18% ± 0.15), IL-10 (0.05% ± 0.10 vs. -0.70% ± 0.73), TAC (0.07% ± 0.07 and -0.06% ± 0.03), GSH (0.08% ± 0.05 and 0.04% ± 0.03) NO (0.11% ± 0.06 and 0.05% ± 0.09), MDA (-0.11% ± 0.03 and -0.17% ± 0.03), 8-OHdG (43.25% ± 3.01 and 42.70% ± 3.27) in the CON and PRO groups, respectively. We concluded that the cognitive and biochemical indications in the patients with severe AD are insensitive to the probiotic supplementation. Therefore, in addition to formulation and dosage of probiotic bacteria, severity of disease and time of administration deeply affects results of treatment.
This paper presents thermodynamic investigation and environmental consideration of combined Stirling-organic Rankine cycle (ORC) power cycle. Combined cycle can be assisted by solar energy and an ORC ...used as an annular cold-side heat rejector for a free piston Stirling cycle. ORC can increase the power output efficiency by 4% to 8% compared to that of a Stirling standard cycle. Operating temperatures of ORC are between 80°C and 140°C. The main objective of this work is to model the combined cycle for performance optimization in respect to the use of several different working fluids with relevant temperature ranges. Total power efficiency in the range of 34% to 42% was observed for different cases. Several working fluids in the ORC were investigated from a thermal, operational, and environmental point of view. Working fluids considered were FC72, FC87, HFE7100, HFE7000, Novec649,
n
-pentane,
n
-decane, R245fa, and toluene. Practical issues like thermodynamic cycle efficiency, latent heat, density, toxicity, flammability, ozone depletion potential, global warming potential, and atmospheric lifetime are considered. Considering the cycle efficiency,
n
-decane shows the best performance at both levels of temperature supposed. However, this fluid has the highest saturated vapor specific volume (resulting in a larger condenser) and the lowest condenser saturation pressure (higher infiltration of non-condensable gases). The best candidates for the cycle regarding all the considered aspects were found to be toluene, HFE7100, and
n
-pentane. Comparing these three fluids, toluene presents the highest efficiency, the highest impact on the environment, the biggest vapor specific volume, and the minimum mass flow rate in Rankine cycle, therefore decreasing the pump power consumption.
N
-pentane exhibits the lowest cycle efficiency and vapor specific volume, but this fluid has super-atmospheric saturation pressure advantage. HFE7100 is a good working fluid from environmental and safety point of view.
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