scholarly journals Classifying Dams for Environmental Flow Implementation in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ang Chen ◽  
Miao Wu ◽  
Michael E. McClain

The implementation of environmental flows is of the utmost importance for ecosystem protection and restoration in dammed rivers. A key challenge in optimizing dam regulation is the uncertainty of the ecohydrology relationship between flow release and ecological response. In the present paper, we develop a framework of dam classification to organize the categories of the ecohydrology relationship for implementing environmental flows. Dams are classified from three major categories that differ in dam properties, hydrological alteration, and downstream hydrobiological diversities based on the relationship of hydrology and ecology. Finally, 773 dams in China are screened and ranked into four classes involving a great diversity of environmental flow components. A classification of dams that utilizes the implementation of environmental flows is presented. (1) Class 1 includes dams with rare and endangered fish species in the downstream. It is the category with the highest priority for environmental flow releases and regulation, requiring continuous flow and flood pulse components for fish spawning and migration. (2) Class 2 includes dams with significant hydrological alteration in the downstream. It is the category with second priority for environmental flow releases and regulation, requiring natural hydrological regimes simulation or complete flow component recovery for optimizing the flow duration curve and mitigating adverse impacts of dam operation. (3) Class 3 includes dams with a high degree of regulation where there is urgency for environmental flow releases and regulation, requiring that minimum flow is guaranteed by cascade reservoir regulation. (4) Class 4 includes dams with a low degree of regulation where there is less urgency for environmental flow releases and regulation. This classification method is important for future research, including environmental flow release regulation and the effectiveness evaluation of environmental flow adaptive management. It will be useful for guiding the implementation of environmental flows.

Author(s):  
Aldo Lombardo ◽  
Alfred R Antonetti ◽  
Joel Studin ◽  
Frank Stile ◽  
Dudley Giles ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Protective funnels devices are commonly used to deliver implants in primary breast augmentation (BA) yet there is a paucity of evidence-based data describing their safety in the literature. Objectives The purpose of the study was to assess the safety of protective funnels in primary BA within the first 30-days postoperatively. Methods This multi-center, Level 3 study retrospectively reviewed the surgical records of 380 consecutive patients (760 breasts) who underwent primary BA by nine board-certified plastic surgeons using the iNPLANT Funnel (Proximate Concepts LLC, Allendale, NJ, USA) for implant delivery between November 2019 and December 2020. Data was collected pertaining to demographics, implant information, surgery details, and postoperative complications. Results The mean patient age was 33 years and 76% patients had a BMI < 25. Of this cohort, 11.4% were smokers, 0.8% had diabetes, and 83% were ASA class 1. All patients received smooth implants with a median volume of 375cc. A total of 8 (2.1%) complications were reported including: 3 hematomas (0.79%), 1 seroma (0.26%) and 1 superficial infection (0.26%). No patient required explantation. We identified ASA class, BMI, surgery duration, and implant size as potential risk factors. Conclusions The data suggest that use of protective funnels, such as the iNPLANT Funnel, in primary BA are a safe option when used according to the manufacturer’s IFU. Its use led to a low infection rate (0.26%) and a complication rate (2.1%) consistent with the average reported in the literature (2%-2.5%). 1 Implications for clinical practice are encouraging and future research will include a prospective analysis with a larger case series and potentially a control group.


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 147-170
Author(s):  
Ellen Simon ◽  
Chloé Lybaert

Abstract As a result of growing mobility and migration flows, the number of non-native speakers of Dutch in Belgium and the Netherlands have gradually increased over the past decades and so have the number of people enrolled in Dutch as a Second Language education. While there is huge variation in the profiles of these non-native speakers, they almost exclusively have in common that their Dutch sounds, in some way and at some stage, accented. In line with worldwide trends in foreign language teaching, the pronunciation goal in Dutch as a Second Language education has shifted from native-like to intelligible. Indeed, the notion of intelligibility has become prominent in language teaching and assessment. In this paper, we discuss the complexity of this notion and set it off against related terms like ‘comprehensibility’ and ‘foreign accent’. Through a literature review, we argue that intelligibility is an interactional and context-sensitive phenomenon: it is as much a responsibility of the speaker as it is of the listener or conversational partner(s) in general, whose attitudes will have an impact on the intelligibility and thus on the conversational flow and communicative success. After reviewing literature on the intelligibility of Dutch as a Second Language, we end by formulating some promising lines for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  

Along with the widespread rise in immigration and the increase in the number of immigrants, academic interest in migration research has also grown. Although there are many studies conducted in various fields, the number of studies who approached migration from an intersectional perspective is rather small. The number of studies approaching migration and the social psychological processes of migrants from the perspective of intersectionality is even smaller in Turkey. Considering the large number of immigrants in Turkey, it is obviously essential to understand and study intersectionality in these particular contexts. Therefore, this article is written to explicate the concept of intersectionality and review migration studies adopting an intersectional approach. The basis of the concept of intersectionality, historical background that led to the birth of it, its subtypes as well as the importance of race, class and gender in intersectionality are among the issues discussed in this article. Moreover, with respect to migration studies from the perspective of intersectionality, studies conducted in various culturally diverse countries are outlined. The last but not the least, the prominence of conducting research on intersectionality in the Turkish context is also emphasized. In this review, we aim to present the literature to students and academics in the field as well as to provide direction for future research. Keywords: Migration, intersectionality, intersectional discrimination


2015 ◽  
Vol 127 (2) ◽  
pp. 28
Author(s):  
Errol J. McLean ◽  
Jon B. Hinwood

The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia, discharging to the Tasman Sea via a barrier estuary, with its entrance constricted by marine sands. Since the construction of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, river flows have not been sufficient to maintain the river channel. A program of environmental flow releases (EFR) is returning water to the river to restore the fluvial reaches and is now trialling flow regimes that may also benefit the estuarine reaches. This paper documents the response of the estuarine segments of the Snowy River to two EFRs; the release in 2010 was designed to scour the upper reaches of the Snowy River while the larger 2011 release was intended to extend the scouring downstream. For each release, the effects on the entrance morphology, tides and salinity through the flow peak and recovery are described. Each EFR caused minor increases in depth and very minor longshore movement of the entrance channel, although each EFR had been preceded by a larger fresh flow that would have scoured the channels. The small increase in fresh water inflow in the 2010 EFR pushed salinity contours seawards and steepened vertical salinity gradients. The larger inflow in the 2011 EFR purged the upper estuary of saltwater. After the peak flow, salinity recovery was rapid in the principal estuarine channels but took weeks where poorly connected wetlands could store fresh flood waters. Critical flows for scouring the entrance and purging salinity are estimated.


Author(s):  
Yesid Carvajal-Escobar ◽  
Ziad Mimi ◽  
Saed Khayat ◽  
Saleh Sulieman ◽  
Wilson Garces ◽  
...  

The demand for sustainable water management has promoted the development of methodologies for estimating environmental flows (EF). In this paper, the EF in an Andean river (Pance, Colombia) for conservation and a Mediterranean river (Wadi-Zomar, Palestine) for restoration purposes is made. Different methodologies are applied given the objectives for each river. The authors used hydrological indices proposed for watersheds with different water regimes and adaptations and validations were made to the local context. These methods allow for estimating the EF at various points in the river and the assessment of disruption scenarios for decision-making. In the Wadi Zomar River, three sampling points were selected. The water samples were then examined for the presence of pathogens. No one indicator or simple hydrological parameter is entirely suitable for all environmental systems and pathogens. In the base flow conditions, the amount of pollutant load varied temporally according to the amount of load from point sources along the Wadi, and spatially with distance from the same sources. Significant variation was observed in response to the hydrological behavior of the catchment. The assessment for the water quality in the Zomar reflects a potentially serious threat to the environment. The results emphasize the need for regulating the seepage effluent from industries and sewage system along the stream.


2019 ◽  
Vol 101 (3) ◽  
pp. 514-525 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Comizzoli ◽  
William V Holt

Abstract Because of higher extinction rates due to human and natural factors, more basic and applied research in reproductive biology is required to preserve wild species and design proper strategies leading to sustainable populations. The objective of the review is to highlight recent, inspiring breakthroughs in wildlife reproduction science that will set directions for future research and lead to more successes in conservation biology. Despite new tools and approaches allowing a better and faster understanding of key mechanisms, we still know little about reproduction in endangered species. Recently, the most striking advances have been obtained in nonmammalian species (fish, birds, amphibians, or corals) with the development of alternative solutions to preserve fertility or new information about parental nutritional influence on embryo development. A novel way has also been explored to consider the impact of environmental changes on reproduction—the allostatic load—in a vast array of species (from primates to fish). On the horizon, genomic tools are expected to considerably change the way we study wildlife reproduction and develop a concept of “precision conservation breeding.” When basic studies in organismal physiology are conducted in parallel, new approaches using stem cells to create artificial gametes and gonads, innovations in germplasm storage, and more research on reproductive microbiomes will help to make a difference. Lastly, multiple challenges (for instance, poor integration of new tools in conservation programs, limited access to study animals, or few publication options) will have to be addressed if we want reproductive biology to positively impact conservation of biodiversity.


2013 ◽  
Vol 295-298 ◽  
pp. 2181-2186
Author(s):  
Chang Chun Chen ◽  
La Chun Wang ◽  
Xue Zhang Cao ◽  
Jie Song

Environmental flow is a key factor to protect river ecological system, however, there is no international agreement concerned with environmental flows exclusively so far. This paper demonstrated the importance and urgency of environment water demand in the world and presented summary and analysis of environmental flows legislation and regulations. Europe and other countries have been investigated and compared systematically. At last, specialized legislative proposals were provided for protection of aquatic ecosystems and their environment in China.


2017 ◽  
Vol 80 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-424 ◽  
Author(s):  
Allah Bux Baloch ◽  
Hua Yang ◽  
Yuqing Feng ◽  
Meili Xi ◽  
Qian Wu ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to determine the presence and characteristics of Escherichia coli in ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. A total of 300 RTE foods samples were collected in Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China: 50 samples of cooked meat, 165 samples of vegetable salad, 50 samples of cold noodles, and 35 samples of salted boiled peanuts. All samples were collected during summer (in July to October) 2011 and 2012 and surveyed for the presence of E. coli. E. coli isolates recovered were classified by phylogenetic typing using a PCR assay. The presence of Shiga toxin genes 1 (stx1) and 2 (stx2) was determined for these E. coli isolates by PCR, and all isolates were analyzed for antimicrobial susceptibility and the presence of class 1 integrons. Overall, 267 (89.0%) RTE food samples were positive for E. coli: 49 cold noodle, 46 cooked meat, 150 salad vegetable, and 22 salted boiled peanut samples. Of the 267 E. coli isolates, 73.0% belong to phylogenetic group A, 12.4% to group B1, 6.4% to group B2, and 8.2% to group D. All isolates were negative for both Shiga toxin genes. Among the isolates, 74.2% were resistant to at least one antimicrobial agent, and 17.6% were resistant to three or more antimicrobial agents. Resistance to ampicillin (75.6% of isolates) and tetracycline (73.1% of isolates) was most frequently detected; 26.2% of E. coli isolates and 68.8% of multidrug-resistant E. coli isolates were positive for class 1 integrons. All isolates were sensitive to amikacin. Our findings indicate that RTE foods in Shaanxi were commonly contaminated with antibiotic-resistant E. coli, which may pose a risk for consumer health and for transmission of antibiotic resistance. Future research is warranted to track the contamination sources and develop appropriate steps that should be taken by government, industry, and retailers to reduce microbial contamination in RTE foods.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (9) ◽  
pp. 1295 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivor Stuart ◽  
Clayton Sharpe ◽  
Kathryn Stanislawski ◽  
Anna Parker ◽  
Martin Mallen-Cooper

Worldwide, riverine fish are the target of environmental water because populations have declined in lotic river habitats following river regulation. Murray cod is an endangered Australian riverine fish with remaining populations associated with lotic river reaches with instream habitat, including some creeks operated as part of irrigation systems. Our objectives were to develop a life history model, apply the building block method of environmental flows to enhance the abundance of juvenile Murray cod and promote population recovery. From 2008 to 2018 we evaluated changes to Murray cod juvenile abundance before and after implementation of a perennial environmental flow regime that began in 2013. During the first year of the environmental flow, larvae were collected as evidence of spawning. Murray cod abundance can be enhanced with environmental flows that target: (1) an annual spring spawning or recruitment flow with no rapid water level drops; (2) maximising hydrodynamic complexity (i.e. flowing habitats that are longitudinally continuous and hydrodynamically complex); and (3) an annual base winter connection flow. Recognition that incorporating hydraulics (water level and velocity) at fine and coarse time scales, over spatial scales that reflect life histories, provides broader opportunities to expand the scope of environmental flows to help restore imperilled fish species in regulated ecosystems.


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