scholarly journals An account of fog over Chennai

MAUSAM ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (4) ◽  
pp. 501-512
Author(s):  
R. SURESH ◽  
M. V. JANAKIRAMAYYA ◽  
E. R. SUKUMAR
Keyword(s):  
High Concentration ◽  
Industrial Growth ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Surface Inversion ◽  
Weather Observations ◽  
Annual Frequency ◽  
Nocturnal Inversion ◽  
Good Number ◽  
Level Inversion

Climatologically (based on 1951-1980) the annual fog frequency of Chennai airport is 4.3 days. But, the operational aviation meteorological forecasters often experienced more number of foggy days during the past decade. Hence the fog frequency has been critically analysed based on current weather observations made by aerodrome meteorological office, Chennai during 1981-2002 (barring 1984 for which data is not readily available). It has been found that the annual frequency based on the present study has shot up to 21.5 days. The most favourable period for fog over Chennai airport has been identified as January followed by February and March. The formation of fog has been mostly observed during 0000-0200 UTC although in good number of cases it was during 2200-2400 UTC. The most common duration of fog is 60-120 minutes albeit duration as high as 540-570 minutes are also probable. The low level (surface) nocturnal inversion frequency has alarmingly increased during 1990s and the inversion is almost a day-to-day phenomenon during 2000s. Rapid urbanisation, vehicular traffic and industrial growth could be the cause for the increased  atmospheric pollution which has  increased the nocturnal stability conditions as well the fog frequency. Visibility as low as zero had been recorded on a number of cases and their causes  have been analysed. Neutral or absolutely unstable stratification at 1200 UTC coupled with high relative humidity and high concentration of pollution cause the fog to form from 2200 UTC onwards and the nocturnal surface inversion / isotherm at 0000 UTC maintains the fog. Though the low level inversion maintains the fog once it is formed already, inversion alone is not a sufficient condition for the formation of fog.

Increase associated risk of gynaecological cancer due to long-term exposure to high concentration of atmospheric SO2 industrial pollutant

2021 ◽  
pp. 1420326X2110036
Author(s):  
Qian Xu ◽  
Chan Lu ◽  
Rachael Gakii Murithi ◽  
Lanqin Cao
Keyword(s):  
Time Windows ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Gynaecological Cancer ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
The Past ◽  
Short And Long Term ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Air Quality Monitoring Stations ◽  
Control Study

A cohort case–control study was conducted in XiangYa Hospital, Changsha, China, which involved 305 patients and 399 healthy women, from June 2010 to December 2018, to evaluate the association between Chinese women’s short- and long-term exposure to industrial air pollutant, SO2 and gynaecological cancer (GC). We obtained personal and family information from the XiangYa Hospital electronic computer medical records. Using data obtained from the air quality monitoring stations in Changsha, we estimated each woman’s exposure to the industrial air pollutant, sulphur dioxide (SO2), for different time windows, including the past 1, 5, 10 and 15 years before diagnosis of the disease. A multiple logistic regression model was used to assess the association between GC and SO2 exposure. GC was significantly associated with long-term SO2 exposure, with adjusted odds ratio (95% confidence interval) = 1.56 (1.10–2.21) and 1.81 (1.07–3.06) for a per interquartile range increase in the past 10 and 15 years, respectively. Sensitivity analysis showed that different groups reacted in different ways to long-term SO2 exposure. We concluded that long-term exposure to high concentration of industrial pollutant, SO2 is associated with the development of GC. This finding has implications for the prevention and reduction of GC.

scholarly journals Role of Camel Husbandry in Food Security of the Republic of Kazakhstan

Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 614
Author(s):  
Ayan Orazov ◽  
Liudmila Nadtochii ◽  
Kazybay Bozymov ◽  
Mariam Muradova ◽  
Araigul Zhumayeva
Keyword(s):  
Food Security ◽  
Meat Products ◽  
Daily Consumption ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Food Security Indicators ◽  
Security Indicators ◽  
High Degree

This paper examines the problem of food security in the Republic of Kazakhstan over the past 10 years. Based on statistical data, an assessment was made of the prevalence of malnutrition among the population of the country, including children under 5 years of age. There has been a trend towards for an improvement in the nutrition of the population for a few indicators; however, further optimization of food security indicators is required to achieve the goals of sustainable development (SDGs) of the FAO WHO Agenda for the period up to 2050 in Kazakhstan and in its individual regions. The paper reflects data on demographic changes over the past 10 years and its self-sufficiency in basic foods for 2019. A high degree of self-sufficiency in meat products (117.6%) is revealed in the population of the Republic of Kazakhstan. However, self-sufficiency in dairy products is at an extremely low level (0.1%). Camel breeding has been successfully developing in the country over the past 10 years. However, the number of camels in the country is still at a low level. Camel milk can be considered as a great source of macronutrients, its daily consumption partially facilitates the problem of Food Security in Kazakhstan.

scholarly journals Specificity and promiscuity of gonadotropin receptors

Reproduction ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 130 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabine Costagliola ◽  
Eneko Urizar ◽  
Fernando Mendive ◽  
Gilbert Vassart
Keyword(s):  
Hormone Receptors ◽  
Fsh Receptor ◽  
Ovarian Hyperstimulation ◽  
High Concentration ◽  
Glycoprotein Hormone ◽  
Functional Specificity ◽  
The Past ◽  
Glycoprotein Hormone Receptors ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Available Information

The dichotomy between hormone recognition by the ectodomain and activation of the G protein by the rhodopsin-like serpentine portion is a well established property of glycoprotein hormone receptors. The specificity barrier avoiding promiscuous activation of the FSH receptor by the high concentration of human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) prevailing during human pregnancy was thus believed to lie in the ectodomain. In the past two years, mutations responsible for rare spontaneous cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndromes have partially modified this simple view. Five naturally occurring mutations have been identified which cause an increase in the sensitivity of the FSH receptor to hCG. Surprisingly, these mutations are all located in the serpentine portion of the receptor. In addition to their effect on sensitivity to hCG, they increase sensitivity of the FSH receptor to TSH, and are responsible for activating the receptor constitutively. Together, the available information indicates that the ectodomain and the serpentine domain of the FSH receptor each contribute to the specificity barrier preventing its spurious activation by hCG. While the former is responsible for establishment of binding specificity, the latter introduces a novel notion of functional specificity.Recent data demonstrate that LH and FSH receptors can constitute functional homo- and heterodimers. This suggests the possibility that in cells co-expressing the two receptors, such as granulosa cells, the heterodimers might be endowed with functional characteristics different from those of each homodimer.

“The ice has gone”: Vernacular meteorology, fisheries and human–ice relationships on Sakhalin Island

Polar Record ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadezhda Mamontova
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Rural People ◽  
The Past ◽  
Weather Observations ◽  
The Pacific ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
Subsistence Activities ◽  
Human Subsistence

Abstract This paper examines vernacular weather observations amongst rural people on Sakhalin, Russia’s largest island on the Pacific Coast, and their relationship to the ice. It is based on a weather diary (2000–2016) of one of the local inhabitants and fieldwork that the author conducted in the settlement of Trambaus in 2016. The diary as a community-based weather monitoring allows us to examine how people understand, perceive and deal with the weather both daily and in the long-term perspective. Research argues that amongst all natural phenomena, the ice is the most crucial for the local inhabitants as it determines human subsistence activities, navigation and relations with other environmental forces and beings. People perceive the ice as having an agency, engage in a dialogue with it, learn and adjust themselves to its drifting patterns. Over the past decade, the inability to predict the ice’s behaviour has become a major problem affecting people’s well-being in the settlement. The paper advocates further integrating vernacular weather observations and their relations with natural forces into research on climate change and local fisheries management policies.

The Efficiency of the Modern Practice of Teaching the Critical Analysis of Historical Sources in Russian Teachers' Self-Assessments

2021 ◽  
pp. 226-235
Author(s):  
Olga M. Khlytina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Internet Survey ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Sources ◽  
History Teachers ◽  
Functional Literacy ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Dominant Feature ◽  
The Subject

The article summarizes the results of an Internet survey of history teachers, in which 216 teachers from 31 regions of Russia took part. The author considers the development of the subject-oriented ability to work with historical sources in the context of the development of schoolchildren's functional literacy as a priority task of the modern Russian school. The aim of the study is to characterize the methodological ways of teaching schoolchildren the methods of analyzing historical sources dominant in teachers' work based on expert teachers' assessments of how well graduates of the 9th and 11th grades mastered the ability to critically analyze historical sources, identify their effectiveness, suggest options for improving mass teaching practice. The analysis of literature has shown that the ability to analyze historical sources is interpreted as the basis for the development of historical and critical thinking, a person's ability to independently cognize the past. Methodological science has substantiated various models of student analysis of historical sources based on the methodology of modern historical science and focused on the development of schoolchildren' subject and metasubject skills, functional literacy. At the same time, the results of the survey indicate that the vast majority of the teachers organize work with sources outside any system and sequence, and no more than once or twice during the term. Explaining the reasons for this, the teachers point to work overload, lack of high-quality didactic support of courses, and a low level of student learning. They also say they need advanced training in teaching schoolchildren to work with historical sources. The teachers note the low level of their students' mastery of the basic procedures for analyzing historical sources: according to the teachers' assessments, in 60-80% of classes in Russian schools, less than half of the students mastered the basic ability to “read” sources (extract explicit and implicit information). According to a third of the teachers, no more than 20% of their students are able to complete tasks on commenting on a historical source when a student, relying on knowledge of the context, begins to understand the past, think as historians think. Another quarter of the teachers indicated an interval of 30-40%. When working with sources, the dominant feature is the formation of historical knowledge, and the tasks of the students' learning the activity- and value-based components of educational historical knowledge are not solved effectively enough, which ultimately makes it difficult for students to achieve results in the subject and complicates the solution of the complex tasks of improving the quality of education that Russian education is faced with today.

Deliberation, demobilization, and limited empowerment: a survey study on participatory pricing in China

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 694-708 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuan Qin ◽  
Baogang He
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Political Activism ◽  
Specific Form ◽  
Public Deliberation ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
High Quality ◽  
Low Level ◽  
The Past ◽  
Significant Negative Impact

AbstractAuthoritarian deliberation has been used widely to describe the specific form of deliberation developed in China. However, whether its practice will strengthen authoritarianism or lead to democratization remains unknown. In this study, we examine this question from the perspective of participants in public deliberation. Surveying the participants in participatory pricings held in Shanghai over the past 5 years, we find that participants’ perception of deliberative quality has a statistically significant negative impact on their level of political activism, while their level of empowerment has a moderating effect on this negative relationship. In this light, Chinese deliberative practices characterized by high-quality deliberation and low-level empowerment are likely to have a demobilization effect; thus, they reinforce the authoritarian rules.

scholarly journals Reporting of medication errors by pediatric nurses

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (9) ◽  
pp. 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derya Gök ◽  
Hatice Yıldırım Sarı
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Medication Errors ◽  
Small Groups ◽  
Growth And Development ◽  
Psychological Characteristics ◽  
Pediatric Nurses ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Children's Hospital ◽  
The Past ◽  
Demographic Questionnaire

Background and objective: Children have a higher risk of being exposed to medication errors and are more prone to harm due to reasons such as differences in their growth and development, and their physiological and psychological characteristics which are different from those of adults. The purpose of this study is to determine pediatric nurses’ attitudes towards reporting of medication errors and causes of not reporting of medication errors and to determine their views on the incidence of medication errors.Methods: The study was conducted in a Children’s Hospital in the province of Izmir, with the participation of 179 pediatric nurses. To collect the data, two forms were used in the study, socio-demographic questionnaire and Questionnaire for Medication Errors.Results: While 34.6% (n = 62) of the nurses thought that medication errors never happened in the clinics over the past year. While 94.4% (n = 169) of the participating nurses did not report any medication errors within the past year, 5.6% reported 1-2 times. The highest proportion (75.4%) (n = 135) of the nurses, the reason for not reporting medication errors was the fear of receiving legal punishment.Conclusions: Reporting medication errors is low level. In conclusion, the main reason for not reporting medication errors was the perception of receiving punishment. Implications for nursing and/or health policy: Education to nurses should be given at regular intervals and in small groups by using case samples. If the managers are to promote reporting, they should eliminate the perception of receiving punishment, and make necessary arrangements to develop non-accusatory culture aiming to learn from the results of reported errors.

The Breakdown of a Low-level Inversion Studied by Means of Detailed Soundings with a Modified Radiosonde

1952 ◽  
Vol 33 (9) ◽  
pp. 373-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Gifford
Keyword(s):  
Minimum Temperature ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Short Series ◽  
Pilot Balloon ◽  
Level Inversion

A short series of unusually detailed temperature, humidity, and wind soundings to a height of about 750 mb., made at Silver Hill, Md. on the night of October 30th and 31st, 1950, and consisting of eight flights of specially modified radiosondes and 26 double-theodolite pilot balloon runs, is presented. The nocturnal breakdown of the ground inversion with steep wind gradients, a phenomenon first remarked by Durst in 1933, is here observed apparently to be associated with the sudden lowering of an upper (turbulence or subsidence) inversion. Alternative explanations for this are advanced, and implications for minimum temperature and stratus forecasting noted. The accuracy of the observations is discussed.

scholarly journals Religiosity versus Spirituality in the Contemporary Nigerian Gospel Music

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-132
Author(s):  
Floribert Patrick Calvain Endong
Keyword(s):  
Music Industry ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Gospel Music ◽  
The Past ◽  
Literary Sources ◽  
Musical Cultures ◽  
Sex Scandals ◽  
Religious Landscape ◽  
Good Number

Abstract There have been remarkable (r)evolutions in the Nigerian gospel music industry for the past decades. These revolutions have led to the emergence and survival of various modern and controversial musical cultures/traditions, modes and performances including worldliness and paganism in the industry. In view of these relatively nefarious musical cultures, a good number of scholars and observers tend to arguably redefine and (re)brand Christian communication in general and Nigerian gospel music in particular. It is in following this premise that this paper examines the phenomenon of religiosity and worldliness in the Nigerian gospel music industry. Based on observations and secondary data (literary sources), the paper argues that the Nigerian gospel music industry is just a vivid reflection of the country’s gloomy socio-religious landscape, characterized by the emergence/prevalence of fake ministers and various ubiquitous instrumentalities that perpetrate spiritual bareness in the country. Aspects of religiosity observed in some Nigerian gospel songs include controversial rhythms, imitations/adaptations of worldly songs, lyrical emphasis on prosperity (materialism, fame and earthly glories) at the detriment of spirituality/salvation, gospel artists being associated with sex scandals and occult practices.

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