•A new modelling framework for analysing environmental flow was proposed.•SWAT-FEM model better estimated the baseflow contribution to streamflow.•The environmental flow regime was evaluated using a ...set of flow health indices.•Modified management practices improved the flow health in Upper and Lower Son.
Rapidly increasing population, industrialisation, and unsustainable consumption have resulted in deterioration of water quantity and quality, thus affecting the health of the river. One of the essential components for ensuring river health is environmental flow. Nevertheless, the environmental flow is neglected or not appropriately accounted in most of the water management assessments. The objective of this study was to better quantify and assess the environmental flow requirements and developing management practices for ensuring the ecological health of the river. Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) coupled with a finite element groundwater model, was used for hydrological modelling. The environmental flow regime was evaluated using an index 'Flow Health Score' (FHS), based on a Flow Health Tool. The model was simulated for three conditions – Virgin condition, Managed condition, and Modified condition for Upper and Lower Son separately. Virgin condition assumed no hydraulic interventions, while managed condition incorporated the existing management practices, and modified condition corresponded to the management practices modified in this study for ensuring environmental flow. This approach was demonstrated for the Son River in the Ganga basin. The modelled streamflow agreed with the observed discharge data (R2 = 0.78–0.85). Further, SWAT-FEM coupled model better estimated the low flows than the SWAT model, thus demonstrating the importance of accounting for surface water – groundwater interaction in such environmental flow assessments. Flow health assessment indicated that reservoirs and irrigation diversions have severely affected the high flows in the Upper Son (high flow and highest monthly flow index less than 0.2), and low flows in the Lower Son (low flow index less than 0.2). The model simulation with the modified management practices increased the Flow Health Score (FHS) from 0.4 to 0.6 in Upper Son, and 0.4 to 0.7 in Lower Son. This study showed that coupled SWAT-FEM model, along with the flow health tool, could be effectively used for assessing the in-stream flow requirements and for designing alternative management plans to meet the in-stream flow requirements.
Representations of land use change in hydrologic impact assessment studies mostly rely on static land use information of two points in time, even though the availability of dense time series of land ...use data allows for the incorporation of dynamic land use changes. We compare the hydrologic impacts of dynamic land use change assessments to those of static land use change assessments. These effects are illustrated with the help of two land use scenarios applied to a hydrologic model of a rapidly developing meso-scale (2036 km2) catchment upstream of Pune, India. The results show that a linear dynamic land use development could be better approximated with the static approach than a non-linear development. An analysis of the impact of the frequency of land use updates indicates that the prediction of non-linear land use change impacts already improves substantially when frequent land use information every five to nine years is used.
•Frequency of required land use information depends on the development rate of land use change.•Non-linear land use change scenarios are hard to approximate with static land use change assessments.•Land use information every five to nine years meant a pronounced improvement of prediction accuracy.
Abstract A progressive loss of neuronal structure and function is a signature of many neurodegenerative conditions including chronic traumatic encephalopathy, Parkinson's, Huntington's and ...Alzheimer's diseases. Mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative and nitrative stress have been implicated as key pathological mechanisms underlying the neurodegenerative processes. However, current therapeutic approaches targeting oxidative damage are ineffective in preventing the progression of neurodegeneration. Mitochondria-targeted antioxidants were recently shown to alleviate oxidative damage. In this work, we investigated the delivery of biodegradable polyanhydride nanoparticles containing the mitochondria-targeted antioxidant apocynin to neuronal cells and the ability of the nano-formulation to protect cells against oxidative stress. The nano-formulated mitochondria-targeted apocynin provided excellent protection against oxidative stress-induced mitochondrial dysfunction and neuronal damage in a dopaminergic neuronal cell line, mouse primary cortical neurons, and a human mesencephalic cell line. Collectively, our results demonstrate that nano-formulated mitochondria-targeted apocynin may offer improved efficacy of mitochondria-targeted antioxidants to treat neurodegenerative disease.
This study coupled the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) with a ground water finite element model (FEM) with the enhancements of multiple interface conversions and management practices. The ...coupled model, SWAT_FEM was applied to assess the hydrology of the Chennai River basin in India, a coastal zone with significant irrigation. The SWAT_FEM enhanced the predictions of stream flows and ground water levels (R
2
:0.69,0.81; Nash Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE):0.64,0.74) compared to the standalone model, SWAT (R
2
:0.64,0.66; NSE:0.60,0.63) respectively. The coupled model produced an all-inclusive representation of the impacts of management practices on the hydrological processes and generated insights into the spatiotemporal patterns of the surface water and ground water interactions in the study area. The results showed that the interactions of surface water and ground water were significant in the mainstream of Chennai River basin. The seasonal ground water levels obtained with the SWAT_FEM model reinforced the increases in exorbitant ground water abstraction rates (9%-44%) with the introduction of management practices including reservoirs, pond irrigation, and agricultural water use. The results emphasized that if the ground water demand continued to increase, accelerated and unregulated ground water extraction is bound to happen shortly to suffice the water use, which can bring about environmental problems to this basin. Overall, this study demonstrated the applicability of the SWAT_FEM model and its value to the water resources management in irrigated areas with management practices. The developed model can be utilized in water resources assessment tools for effective predictions of ground water contributions in river basins.
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection is a leading cause of severe acute lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children worldwide. Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is one of the most ...prevalent nutrition-related health problems in the world and is a significant risk factor in the development of severe respiratory infections in infants and young children. Bovine RSV (BRSV) is a primary cause of lower respiratory tract disease in young cattle. The calf model of BRSV infection is useful to understand the immune response to human RSV infection. We have previously developed an amphiphilic polyanhydride nanoparticle (NP)-based vaccine (i.e., nanovaccine) encapsulating the fusion and attachment proteins from BRSV (BRSV-NP). Calves receiving a single, intranasal dose of the BRSV-NP vaccine are partially protected from BRSV challenge. Here, we evaluated the impact of VAD on the immune response to the BRSV-NP vaccine and subsequent challenge with BRSV. Our results show that VAD calves are unable to respond to the mucosal BRSV-NP vaccine, are afforded no protection from BRSV challenge and have significant abnormalities in the inflammatory response in the infected lung. We further show that acute BRSV infection negatively impacts serum and liver retinol, rendering even well-nourished individuals susceptible to VAD. Our results support the use of the calf model for elucidating the impact of nutritional status on mucosal immunity and respiratory viral infection in infants and underline the importance of VA in regulating immunity in the respiratory mucosa.
Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) is a leading cause of severe acute lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children worldwide. Bovine RSV (BRSV) is closely related to HRSV and a ...significant cause of morbidity in young cattle. BRSV infection in calves displays many similarities to RSV infection in humans, including similar age dependency and disease pathogenesis. Polyanhydride nanoparticle-based vaccines (i.e., nanovaccines) have shown promise as adjuvants and vaccine delivery vehicles due to their ability to promote enhanced immunogenicity through the route of administration, provide sustained antigen exposure, and induce both antibody- and cell-mediated immunity. Here, we developed a novel, mucosal nanovaccine that encapsulates the post-fusion F and G glycoproteins from BRSV into polyanhydride nanoparticles and determined the efficacy of the vaccine against RSV infection using a neonatal calf model. Calves receiving the BRSV-F/G nanovaccine exhibited reduced pathology in the lungs, reduced viral burden, and decreased virus shedding compared to unvaccinated control calves, which correlated with BRSV-specific immune responses in the respiratory tract and peripheral blood. Our results indicate that the BRSV-F/G nanovaccine is highly immunogenic and, with optimization, has the potential to significantly reduce the disease burden associated with RSV infection in both humans and animals.
Abstract Interest in nanoneuromedicine has grown rapidly due to the immediate need for improved biomarkers and therapies for psychiatric, developmental, traumatic, inflammatory, infectious and ...degenerative nervous system disorders. These, in whole or in part, are a significant societal burden due to growth in numbers of affected people and in disease severity. Lost productivity of the patient and his or her caregiver, and the emotional and financial burden cannot be overstated. The need for improved health care, treatment and diagnostics is immediate. A means to such an end is nanotechnology. Indeed, recent developments of health-care enabling nanotechnologies and nanomedicines range from biomarker discovery including neuroimaging to therapeutic applications for degenerative, inflammatory and infectious disorders of the nervous system. This review focuses on the current and future potential of the field to positively affect clinical outcomes. From the Clinical Editor Many nervous system disorders remain unresolved clinical problems. In many cases, drug agents simply cannot cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the nervous system. The advent of nanomedicines can enhance the delivery of biologically active molecules for targeted therapy and imaging. This review focused on the use of nanotechnology for degenerative, inflammatory, and infectious diseases in the nervous system.
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