Short-term seasonal changes of the Dzita beach of Ghana using geographic information system and photogrammetry

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-50
Author(s):  
Brempong K. Brempong ◽  
Donatus Bapentire Angnuureng ◽  
Kwasi Appeaning-Addo ◽  
Philip-Neri Jayson-Quashigah
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Information ◽  
Eastern Coast ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Short Term ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
Shoreline Changes ◽  
Sediment Volume ◽  
Gravel Mining ◽  
Soft Engineering ◽  
Term Basis

Coastal erosion has become an issue globally. As the sea level continues to rise due to global warming, projections are that erosion would increase. To address the issue sustainably, relevant scientific information such as sediment transport and shoreline dynamics is required at local scales. Over the years, erosion at the eastern coast of Ghana has been mainly evaluated using low-resolution imagery due to the challenges in retrieving high-resolution data in the nearshore region. An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) approach was used to assess beach evolution on a seasonal and short-term basis between May 2018 and December 2019. Using the UAV approach, shoreline changes, sediment volume changes, and profile elevation parameters were extracted for the Dzita beach of Ghana. Shoreline changes indicated the dominance of erosion during the first and third phases (May 2018 to December 2018 and June 2019 to December 2019, respectively) at a rate of −7.23 ± 0.23 and −4.85 ± 0.23 m/yr, whereas the second phase showed accretion of +8.44 ± 0.23 m/yr. Beach profiles from the first, second, and third phases had steep and gentle slopes, respectively. From these observations, it was recommended that soft engineering approaches such as beach nourishment should be implemented to protect the shoreline and strict prevention of nearshore sand mining and gravel mining. It is also possible that the beach could go through a cycle of changes. Further studies using this same approach should be done as well as probing into other parameters such as nearshore bathymetry to have a better understanding of beach dynamics as envisaged.

scholarly journals Effect of Short-Term Carbapenem Restriction on Antimicrobial Susceptibility of Resistant Gram-Negative Bacilli in an ICU

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s200-s201
Author(s):  
Mariana Melo ◽  
Raquel Bandeira ◽  
lio de Castro Giselle Dias ◽  
Braulio Couto
Keyword(s):  
High Mortality ◽  
Bacterial Resistance ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Public Health Problem ◽  
Resistance Rate ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Intervention Phase ◽  
Carbapenem Resistant ◽  
The Impact

Background: Carbapenem-resistant GNB infections are a serious public health problem worldwide, particularly due to the high mortality associated with them and the low number of therapeutic options. One approach to this challenge is the development of antimicrobial stewardship programs. Objective: We evaluated the impact of a carbapenem restriction program on reducing of bacterial resistance in an intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: A retrospective study conducted in 2 phases in the 80-bed ICU of an acute-care public hospital in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The preintervention phase lasted 16 months (January 2018–April 2019) and the second phase (carbapenem restriction), after the intervention, lasted 4 months (May–August 2019). The intervention was defined as carbapenem-sparing and the use of meropenem was authorized in 3 situations: (1) treatment of serious infections documented by extended-spectrum β-lactamase–producing Enterobacteriacea (ESBL); (2) therapeutic failure with the use of another antimicrobial; and (3) infectious disease recommendation. Data were obtained through consultation of electronic medical records and microbiological results, as standardized by the CLSI, for patients with a >48-hour stay in the ICU and who met the criteria for healthcare-associated infection (HAI) according to the CDC NHSN definition. Results: Before the intervention, on average, 50 cultures were obtained with positive results for multidrug-resistant GNB–MER-GNB (SD, 12.2) and in the intervention phase, this number was 31 cultures (SD, 12.8; P = .010). Average carbapenem consumption decreased significantly with corresponding increase in cefepime consumption in the same period (Fig. 1). The ATB (DDD per 1,000 patient days) before the intervention for carbapenems was 110.6 (SD, 97.1) and for cefepime was 8.2 (SD, 5.9). In the intervention phase, the ATB for carbapenems was 44.7 (SD, 38.5; P = .015) and for cefepime it was 32.0 (SD, 20.3; P < .001). In terms of multidrug resistance rate, before the intervention, 95 of 149 of Acinetobacter (64%) were resistant and during the intervention, 13 of 30 Acinetobacter (43%) were resistant (P = .043). Other GNB (Klebsiella, Proteus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas) reduced the resistance rate, but without statistical significance. We observed a reduction in the HAI rate per MDR-GNB (Fig. 2): before the intervention, it was 22.7 (SD, 5.5) and during the intervention phase it was 16.5 (SD, 7.7; P = .07), although this change did not reach statistical significance. Nevertheless, the ICU Klebsiella infection rate did significantly decrease; it was 5.5 (SD, 1.9) before the intervention and 2.4 (SD, 1.8) after the intervention (P = .009). Conclusions: Short-term carbapenem restriction may be an effective strategy to reduce the incidence of carbapenem-resistant GNB infections in the ICU. The scarce arsenal available for the treatment of MDR-GNB and the high mortality rate justify the growing need for stewardship programs in Brazilian ICUs.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None

scholarly journals Effects of Short-Term Inhibition of Rho Kinase on Dromedary Camel Oocyte In Vitro Maturation

Animals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 750
Author(s):  
Hammed A. Tukur ◽  
Riyadh S. Aljumaah ◽  
Ayman Abdel-Aziz Swelum ◽  
Abdullah N. Alowaimer ◽  
Mutassim Abdelrahman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
In Vitro Maturation ◽  
Rho Kinase ◽  
Positive Outcome ◽  
Dromedary Camel ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Rock Inhibitor ◽  
Nuclear Maturation ◽  
Significant Difference

This is the first report on a biphasic in vitro maturation (IVM) approach with a meiotic inhibitor to improve dromedary camel IVM. Spontaneous meiotic resumption poses a major setback for in vitro matured oocytes. The overall objective of this study was to improve in vitro maturation of dromedary camel oocytes using ROCK inhibitor (Y-27632) in a biphasic IVM to prevent spontaneous meiotic resumption. In the first experiment, we cultured immature cumulus–oocyte complexes (COCs, n = 375) in a prematuration medium supplemented with ROCK inhibitor (RI) for 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, and 24 h before submission to normal in vitro maturation to complete 28 h. The control was cultured for 28 h in the absence of RI. In the first phase of experiment two, we cultured COCs (n = 480) in the presence or absence (control) of RI for 2 h, 4 h, 6 h, and 24 h, and conducted real-time relative quantitative PCR (qPCR) on selected mRNA transcripts. The same was done in the second phase, but qPCR was done after completion of normal IVM. Assessment of nuclear maturation showed that pre-IVM for 4 h yielded an increase in MII oocyte (54.67% vs. 26.6% of control; p < 0.05). As expected, the same group showed the highest degree (2) of cumulus expansion. In experiment 2, qPCR results showed significantly higher expression of ACTB and BCL2 in the RI group treated for 4 h when compared with the other groups. However, their relative quantification after biphasic IVM did not reveal any significant difference, except for the positive response of BCL2 and BAX/BCL2 ratio after 4 and 6 h biphasic IVM. In conclusion, RI prevents premature oocyte maturation and gave a significantly positive outcome during the 4 h treatment. This finding is a paradigm for future investigation on dromedary camel biphasic IVM and for improving the outcome of IVM in this species.

The importance of the salivary glands in the maintenance of phosphorus homeostasis in the sheep

1973 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 913 ◽  
Author(s):  
RC Clark ◽  
OE Budtz-Olsen ◽  
RB Cross ◽  
P Finnamore ◽  
PA Bauert
Keyword(s):  
Salivary Glands ◽  
Potassium Dihydrogen Phosphate ◽  
Phosphorus Loading ◽  
Dihydrogen Phosphate ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Potassium Dihydrogen ◽  
Phosphorus Excretion ◽  
Phosphorus Absorption ◽  
Term Basis ◽  
Urinary Phosphorus Excretion

Urinary and faecal phosphorus excretion were measured in five sheep for 4 days after acute intravenous infusion of 3.38 g of phosphorus as potassium dihydrogen phosphate. Urinary phosphorus excretion was increased for 12 hr after the infusion, but urinary phosphorus output was small compared with the marked increase in faecal phosphorus output. The increase in faecal phosphorus excretion coincided with and followed the appearance in the faeces of Cr-EDTA, which had been introduced into the rumen as a marker at the time of the phosphate infusion. This suggests that secretion of phosphorus into gut regions below the reticulo-rumen is not quantitatively altered in response to intravenous phosphorus loading, and that phosphorus absorption is also unaffected (at least not on a short-term basis). The additional phosphorus entered the alimentary canal at the level of the reticulo-rumen, and it was deduced that this occurred predominantly via the salivary glands. Persistence of the increase in faecal phosphorus excretion for some time after the Cr-EDTA marker had been cleared emphasizes the importance of the phosphorus recirculation system to ruminants like the sheep.

scholarly journals Short-Term Spatio-Temporal Drought Forecasting Using Random Forests Model at New South Wales, Australia

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhirup Dikshit ◽  
Biswajeet Pradhan ◽  
Abdullah M. Alamri
Keyword(s):  
Random Forest ◽  
Time Scales ◽  
New South ◽  
New South Wales ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Drought Forecasting ◽  
Short Term ◽  
South Wales ◽  
Drought Classes ◽  
Statistical Metrics

Droughts can cause significant damage to agriculture and water resources, leading to severe economic losses and loss of life. One of the most important aspect is to develop effective tools to forecast drought events that could be helpful in mitigation strategies. The understanding of droughts has become more challenging because of the effect of climate change, urbanization and water management; therefore, the present study aims to forecast droughts by determining an appropriate index and analyzing its changes, using climate variables. The work was conducted in three different phases, first being the determination of Standard Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI), using global climatic dataset of Climate Research Unit (CRU) from 1901–2018. The indices are calculated at different monthly intervals which could depict short-term or long-term changes, and the index value represents different drought classes, ranging from extremely dry to extremely wet. However, the present study was focused only on forecasting at short-term scales for New South Wales (NSW) region of Australia and was conducted at two different time scales, one month and three months. The second phase involved dividing the data into three sample sizes, training (1901–2010), testing (2011–2015) and validation (2016–2018). Finally, a machine learning approach, Random Forest (RF), was used to train and test the data, using various climatic variables, e.g., rainfall, potential evapotranspiration, cloud cover, vapor pressure and temperature (maximum, minimum and mean). The final phase was to analyze the performance of the model based on statistical metrics and drought classes. Regarding this, the performance of the testing period was conducted by using statistical metrics, Coefficient of Determination (R2) and Root-Mean-Square-Error (RMSE) method. The performance of the model showed a considerably higher value of R2 for both the time scales. However, statistical metrics analyzes the variation between the predicted and observed index values, and it does not consider the drought classes. Therefore, the variation in predicted and observed SPEI values were analyzed based on different drought classes, which were validated by using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC)-based Area under the Curve (AUC) approach. The results reveal that the classification of drought classes during the validation period had an AUC of 0.82 for SPEI 1 case and 0.84 for SPEI 3 case. The study depicts that the Random Forest model can perform both regression and classification analysis for drought studies in NSW. The work also suggests that the performance of any model for drought forecasting should not be limited only through statistical metrics, but also by examining the variation in terms of drought characteristics.

STUDY OF FORBUSH DECREASE EVENT AND ASSOCIATED GEOMAGNETIC FIELD AND COSMIC RAY INTENSITY VARIATION

2005 ◽  
Vol 20 (29) ◽  
pp. 6717-6719 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. K. MISHRA ◽  
D. P. TIWARI ◽  
S. C. KAUSHIK
Keyword(s):  
Forbush Decrease ◽  
Intensity Variation ◽  
Cosmic Ray ◽  
Strong Relationship ◽  
Geomagnetic Disturbances ◽  
Slow Recovery ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Cosmic Ray Intensity ◽  
Transient Disturbances ◽  
Term Basis

Transient decrease in cosmic ray intensity following by a slow recovery typically lasting for several days is identified as Forbush decrease (Fd) event. As a result the geomagnetic index (Dst) decreased up to 300 nT, indicating a large geomagnetic storm and the percentage Fd decrease has gone to 16% giving rise a cosmic ray storm. Both events coincided with interplanetary conditions. Therefore, a systematic study has been performed to investigate the variation of cosmic ray intensity along with the interplanetary and geomagnetic disturbances. Results indicate a strong relationship between geomagnetic activity and Forbush decrease on short-term basis. Two types of interplanetary transient disturbances, namely magnetic cloud events and bidirectional events are analyzed to study the short-term changes in the solar wind (SW) plasma components as well as in cosmic ray intensity.

An Experiment with DDT against Pests of stored Products

1947 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 347-352 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. M. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Gum Arabic ◽  
Stored Products ◽  
Limited Time ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Carrier Medium ◽  
Rhizopertha Dominica ◽  
Term Basis ◽  
Adhesive Quality ◽  
Increased Activity ◽  
Very High

(1) The experiment was carried out on a short term basis due mainly to the limited time available for stored food products work, but it does show the possibilities of giving to the carrier medium an “adhesive” quality for the purpose of retaining an external layer of DDT upon bagged commodities.(2) The increased activity at night of insects attacking stored food is interesting and the movement of insect densities in bags containing foodstuffs needs further detailed investigation. It does seem that a very high percentage of adult beetles will migrate to the surface of bags from inside the contained foodstuffs, and this makes it possible to achieve a fair measure of control by coating bags with a deposit of DDT.(3) When a concentrate mist of a DDT emulsion-gum arabic solution is allowed to settle upon a bag surface, there is no detectable penetration of DDT through the sacking texture and therefore no danger of contaminating the contained foodstuffs.(4) A deposit of such a DDT film, at a concentration rate of 50 mgm. DDT/sq.ft. upon a jute bag surface, remains appreciably toxic to Tribolium castaneum, Calandra oryzae, Rhizopertha dominica and Laemophloeus spp. for a period of approximately 60 days.

Evidence of Brain Dopamine Deficiency in Schizophrenia

1979 ◽  
Vol 24 (7) ◽  
pp. 661-667 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy Chouinard ◽  
Barry D. Jones
Keyword(s):  
Negative Symptoms ◽  
Late Onset ◽  
Pharmacological Therapy ◽  
Positive Symptoms ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Onset Of Action ◽  
Double Blind ◽  
Dopamine Hypothesis ◽  
Term Basis ◽  
Dopamine Supersensitivity

Summary It is proposed that the increased dopamine function suggested by the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia is a dopaminergic postsynaptic receptor supersensitivity resulting from a dopamine deficiency. In support of this, three double-blind controlled studies conducted on drugs which alter brain dopaminergic activity in a manner different from that of classic neuroleptics are reported. 1) α-methyldopa-neuroleptic interaction proved efficacious for schizophrenic positive symptoms but only on a short-term basis. 2) Rubidium improved negative symptoms rapidly, and in contrast has a late onset of action on positive symptoms of schizophrenia. 3) Tryptophan-benserazide was efficacious in controlling both negative and positive symptoms of schizophrenia (although less so than chlorpromazine). It is concluded that currently accepted modes of pharmacological therapy (classical neuroleptics) are in the short-term controlling the dopamine supersensitivity secondary to a deficiency, but contributing in the long-term to increase the dopamine deficiency, and so exacerbate the supersensitivity. More effective forms of treatment may involve the use of agents which alter dopamine activity without inducing dopamine supersensitivity.

scholarly journals Joint Impact of Forecast Tendency and State Error Biases in Ensemble Kalman Filter Data Assimilation of Inner-Core Tropical Cyclone Observations

2013 ◽  
Vol 141 (9) ◽  
pp. 2992-3006 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tomislava Vukicevic ◽  
Altuğ Aksoy ◽  
Paul Reasor ◽  
Sim D. Aberson ◽  
Kathryn J. Sellwood ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Tropical Cyclone ◽  
Data Assimilation ◽  
Inner Core ◽  
Systematic Errors ◽  
Secondary Circulation ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Background Error ◽  
High Resolution Data ◽  
Boundary Layer Dynamics ◽  
The Impact

Abstract In this study the properties and causes of systematic errors in high-resolution data assimilation of inner-core tropical cyclone (TC) observations were investigated using the Hurricane Weather Research and Forecasting (HWRF) Ensemble Data Assimilation System (HEDAS). Although a recent study by Aksoy et al. demonstrated overall good performance of HEDAS for 83 cases from 2008 to 2011 using airborne observations from research and operational aircraft, some systematic errors were identified in the analyses with respect to independent observation-based estimates. The axisymmetric primary circulation intensity was underestimated for hurricane cases and the secondary circulation was systematically weaker for all cases. The diagnostic analysis in this study shows that the underestimate of primary circulation was caused by the systematic spindown of the vortex core in the short-term forecasts during the cycling with observations. This tendency bias was associated with the systematic errors in the secondary circulation, temperature, and humidity. The biases were reoccurring in each cycle during the assimilation because of the inconsistency between the strength of primary and secondary circulation during the short-term forecasts, the impact of model error in planetary boundary layer dynamics, and the effect of forecast tendency bias on the background error correlations. Although limited to the current analysis the findings in this study point to a generic problem of mutual dependence of short-term forecast tendency and state estimate errors in the data assimilation of TC core observations. The results indicate that such coupling of errors in the assimilation would also lead to short-term intensity forecast bias after the assimilation for the same reasons.

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