An entrepreneurial activity implementation and assessment among pharmacy students amid the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown

Objective: To implement and assess innovation and entrepreneurship (IE) learning experience in professional pharmacy students using presentations based on the Shark Tank model. Methods: First-year doctor of pharmacy students were invited to participate in an IE learning experience emphasising the importance of self-care needs of the society during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. Students’ proposals were assessed by Sharks (inquisitors) based on a grading rubric, and a post-activity survey captured students’ reflections of their experience. Results: Twelve students participated in the IE activity, and presented their proposals virtually in a Shark Tank style format. Students’ scores for the proposals ranged from 87.5% (capable entrepreneurs) to 56.8% (incapable entrepreneurs), with the winner receiving a gift certificate. Survey ratings given by students on a scale of one to five for the IE activity were overwhelmingly favourable, with both the activity (4.73 (1.09)) and presentation style (4.27 (0.37)) viewed to be timely and relevant. Conclusion: An IE learning activity was implemented and assessed in the pharmacy programme using Shark Tank style presentations. The authors believe such initiatives, conducted either virtually or face-to-face, could serve as prototypes for professional pharmacy schools interested in creating exciting ways to implement IE activities in their programmes.

Comparisons of distributed and lumped rainfall-runoff model for soil moisture estimation

Soil moisture is an important parameter in landslides because of increased pore pressure and decreased shear strength. This research aims to derive soil moisture indicators from two hydrological models: the physically-based distributed hydrological model and the lumped model. Rainfall-Runoff-Inundation (RRI) Model is used to simulate the hydrological response of catchments to the rainfall-induced landslide in a distributed manner. Tank Model as a lumped hydrological model is also used in this study to simulate the dynamic of soil moisture. The study area is the upper Brantas River Basin, prone to landslides due to heavy rainfall and steep slope. Calibration of the model is conducted by tuning the model according to the river discharge data. The simulation indicates that acceptable performance is confirmed. Tank Model can provide the dynamic of the soil moisture. However, by using this approach, the spatial variation of the soil moisture cannot be presented. Regarding the quantitative amount of soil water content, RRI Model could make a reasonable simulation though the temporal variation is not adequately reproduced. Validation of this method with satellite soil moisture as well as ground measurement is also presented. The challenges of using these approaches to develop landslide hazard assessment are discussed.

Occurrences of Deep-Seated Creeping Landslides in Accordance with Hydrological Water Storage in Catchments

Rainfall is one of the most important triggers of both shallow debris flows and deep-seated landslides. The triggering mechanism involves the process of water infiltration into the failure zone. For deep-seated landslides, the deeper and more extensive failure surfaces delay the effect of the process and thus delay landslide initiations. The delay is difficult to assess, especially if the sites only have scarce or insufficient monitoring data. Under these circumstances, we illustrate that the occurrences of landslides can be estimated by their correlations with the phenomenological water storage index (WSI) of a given catchment. In the present study, a total of five deep-seated landslides in TienChih (4) and SiangYang (1) are investigated. The displacements of the landslides were recorded by global positioning system (GPS) and the WSI was modelled using the tank model. The result demonstrates that the WSI correlates closer in time to the landslide motion than the rainfall, and the WSI thresholds for the landslides are inferred. Thus, this technique can be applied as an associated method to evaluate landslide initiation.

Estimate Gas Initially in Place of Tight Gas Reservoirs Based on Developed Methodology of Dynamic Material Balance Technique

With growing global demand for hydrocarbons and decreasing conventional reserves, the gas industry is shifting its focus in the direction of unconventional reservoirs. Tight gas reservoirs have typically been deemed uneconomical due to their low permeability which is understood to be below 0.1mD, requiring advanced drilling techniques and stimulation to enhance hydrocarbons. However, the first step in determining the economic viability of the reservoir is to see how much gas is initially in place. Numerical simulation has been regarded across the industry as the most accurate form of gas estimation, however, is extremely costly and time consuming. The aim of this study is to provide a framework for a simple analytical method to estimate gas. Usually during production three variables are readily accessible: production rate, production time, and pressure-volume-temperature properties. This paper develops an analytical approach derived from the dynamic material balance proposing a new methodology to calculate pseudo time, with an interactive technique. This model encompasses pseudo functions accounting for pressure dependent fluid and rock variables. With the dynamic material balance yielding weak results in the linear flow regimes, an additional methodology derived from the volumetric tank model has been taken into consideration whereby equivalent drainage area is linked to total reservoir area. It has been shown even with short production data this volumetric approach yields accurate results. This proposed methodology has been validated against previous literature and additional cases considered to determine the sensitivity of each of it to reservoir parameters. Finally, it is shown that this method works for both fractured and unfractured wells in tight gas reservoirs, however, it is sensitive to the quantity of data based within the pseudo steady state flow period.

Water Distribution and Silt Clogging in the Strong-Seepage Zone Infiltration Process of Yufuhe River from Yellow River Water Based on the Two-Dimensional Sand Tank Model

A two-dimensional sand tank experiment was designed to explore the mechanism of water distribution and silt clogging of Yellow River water whilst replenishing groundwater in ‘open window’ reach of the piedmont river and strong seepage area consisting of a gravel and karst layer from top to bottom. Water released through the reach was divided into surface, pore and fracture karst water, of which karst water was an effective recharge from the surface water. A reasonable released water plan is necessary in recharging to avoid invalid recharge. The karst water accounted for 60–70% of the amount of water released before clogging, and this value was reduced to approximately 10–20% whilst a thin clay layer formed from suspended particles on the surface layer of the medium after clogging. The removal rate of suspended solids along vertical and lateral directions in the medium can reach over 96%. The retained amount of suspended particles was mainly distributed on the surface and upper layer region of the medium. A rubber dam can improve effective infiltration whilst promoting suspended solid deposition in the medium. The fitting degree of the numerical simulation and measured results was above 0.9, which proves the reliability of the sand tank model results.

Aplicação do Tank Model como Ferramenta de Gestão na Bacia do Rio Perdizes – Cambará do Sul/RS

A representação do processo precipitação-vazão por meio de modelos hidrológicos conceituais visa quantificar o volume escoado em uma bacia como consequência de uma determinada precipitação. Aliados a eles, os índices têm sido uma ferramenta útil para quantificar eventos extremos, como o Soil Moisture Index (TMI) que foi formulado a partir do modelo hidrológico Tank Model. Desta forma, o objetivo deste trabalho foi aplicar o Tank Model para a bacia do rio Perdizes, em Cambará do Sul (RS), e avaliar o desempenho do TMI para prever a ocorrência de cheias, limiar este utilizado para o fechamento da Trilha do rio do Boi, no Parque Nacional de Aparados da Serra (PNAS). Os dados utilizados na simulação foram obtidos pelas estações meteorológica e fluviométrica instaladas na bacia. Após a calibração e validação de três séries históricas no Tank Model, os valores obtidos do TMI foram comparados com os dias que a Trilha foi fechada, a partir de altos níveis registrados no rio Perdizes. O TMI demonstrou que o nível utilizado para fechar a Trilha do rio do Boi correspondeu a cheias em 72% das vezes. Portanto, o TMI mostrou bom desempenho ao indicar a ocorrência de cheias na área estudada, sendo uma ferramenta útil para a tomada de decisões na gestão do PNAS. Application of the Tank Model as a Management Tool in the Perdizes River Basin - Cambará do Sul/RS.ABSTRACTThe representation of the rainfall-runoff process by means of conceptual hydrological models aims to quantify the volume drained in a basin as result of a specific precipitation. Allied to them, the indices have been a useful tool to quantify extreme events, such as the Tank Moisture Index (TMI) which was formulated from the Tank Model. Thus, the objective of this work was to apply the Tank Model to the Perdizes river basin, in Cambará do Sul (RS), and to evaluate the performance of the TMI to predict the occurrence of floods, the threshold used for the closure of the Rio do Boi trail, in the Aparados da Serra National Park (PNAS). The data used in the simulation were obtained at the meteorological and fluviometric stations installed in the basin. After the calibration and validation of three historical series in the Tank Model, the values obtained in the TMI were compared with the days when the Trail was closed, from high levels recorded in the Perdizes river. The average TMI values demonstrated that the level used to close the Rio do Boi Trail corresponded to floods 72% of the time, and the median, 75%. Therefore, the TMI showed good performance in indicating the occurrence of floods in the study area, being a useful tool for decision making in the PNAS management.Keywords: Tank Moisture Index, trail closure, Aparados da Serra National Park.