Towards a smallholder hydrology for equitable and sustainable water management

Situations of water scarcity challenge sustainability and threaten small users' access to water. In response to this problem, there has been a search for a method of hydrological analysis that can better represent the needs of small water users. While this search is rooted in the debate favouring a more participatory and inclusive allocation of the resource, it also requires a new focus on smallholder hydrology that can confront the gaps and biases found in current hydrological practices in many countries. This article looks at past hydrological practices and also at results of recent studies, highlighting the perspective of smallholder irrigators in surface water planning in Zimbabwe, and groundwater planning in India. These case studies show that wider social forces, not always best science, drive hydrological practices. However, new frameworks focusing on the water user can emerge for more equitable and sustainable water management.     

Detection of fetal HLA-DQα sequences in maternal blood: A gender-independent technique of fetal cell identification

The objective of this study was to detect fetal HLA-DQα gene sequences in maternal blood. HLA-DQα genotypes of 70 pregnant women and their partners were determined for type A1. We specifically sought couples where the father, but not the mother, had genotype A1. In 12 women, maternal blood samples were flow-sorted. Candidate fetal cells were isolated and amplified by using PCR primers specific for a paternal HLA-DQα A1 allele. Fetal HLA-DQα A1 genotype was predicted from sorted cells; amniocytes or cheek swabs were used for confirmation. Six of twelve sorted samples had amplification products indicating the presence of the HLA-DQα A1 allele; 6/12 did not. Prediction of the fetal genotype was 100 per cent correct, as determined by subsequent amplification of amniocytes or cheek swabs. We conclude that paternally inherited uniquely fetal HLA-DQα gene sequences can be identified in maternal blood. This system permits the identification of fetal cells independent of fetal gender, and has the potential for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of paternally inherited conditions.     

Can we infer avalanche–climate relations using tree-ring data? Case studies in the French Alps

Dendrogeomorphology is a powerful tool to determine past avalanche activity, but whether or not the obtained annually resolved chronologies are sufficiently detailed to infer avalanche–climate relationships (in terms of temporal resolution) remains an open question. In this work, avalanche activity is reconstructed in five paths of the French Alps and crossed with a set of snow and weather variables covering the period 1959–2009 on a monthly and annual (winter) basis. The variables which best explain avalanche activity are highlighted with an original variable selection procedure implemented within a logistic regression framework. The same approach is used for historical chronologies available for the same paths, as well as for the composite tree-ring/historical chronologies. Results suggest that dendrogeomorphic time series allow capturing the relations between snow or climate and avalanche occurrences to a certain extent. Weak links exist with annually resolved snow and weather variables and the different avalanche chronologies. On the contrary, clear statistical relations exist between these and monthly resolved snow and weather variables. In detail, tree rings seem to preferentially record avalanches triggered during cold winter storms with heavy precipitation. Conversely, historical avalanche data seem to contain a majority of events that were released later in the season and during episodes of strong positive temperature anomalies.     

Bibliometric analysis of simulated driving research from 1997 to 2016

Objective: The objective of this study was to explore the evolution footprints of simulated driving research in the past 20 years through rigorous and systematic bibliometric analysis, to provide insights regarding when and where the research was performed and by whom and how the mainstream content evolved over the years.

Methods: The analysis began with data retrieval in Web of Science with defined search terms related to simulated driving. BibExcel and CiteSpace were employed to conduct the performance analysis and co-citation network analysis; that is, probe of the performance of institutes, journals, authors, and research hotspots.

Results: A total of 3,766 documents were filtered out and presented an exponential growth from 1997 to 2016. The United States contributed the most publications as well as international collaborations followed by Germany and China. In addition, several universities in The Netherlands and the United States dominated the list of contributing institutes. The leading journals were in transportation and ergonomics. The leading researchers were also recognized among the 8,721 contributing authors, such as J. D. Lee, D. L. Fisher, J. H. Kim, and K. A. Brookhuis. Finally, the co-citation analysis illuminated the evolution of simulated driving research that covered the following topics roughly in chronological order: task-induced stress, drivers with neurological disorders, alertness and sleepiness while driving, trust toward driving assistance systems, driver distraction, the effect of drug use, the validity of simulators, and automated driving.

Conclusions: This article employed bibliometric tools to probe the contributing countries, institutes, journals, authors, and mainstream hotspots of simulated driving research in the past 20 years. A systematic bibliometric analysis of this field will help researchers realize the panorama of global simulated driving and establish future research directions.     

Black carbon aerosols in urban air in South Asia

We report data from a yearlong (2006–2007) study of black carbon concentrations ([BC]) measured at 5-min intervals with an Aethalometer in Karachi, Pakistan. Daily mean [BC] varied from about 1 to 15 μg m^?3. However, short-term spikes exceeding 40 μg m^?3 were common, occurring primarily during the morning and evening rush-hour periods. The [BC] values were highest during November through February, ～10 μg m^?3, and lowest during June through September, ～2 μg m^?3. Diurnal, seasonal, and day-of-the-week trends are discussed. It is demonstrated that these trends are strongly affected by meteorological patterns. A simple expression is applied to the concentration profiles to separate the effects of meteorological conditions and elucidate the underlying emissions patterns. Daily emissions varied from 14,000 to 22,000 kg of BC per day. When integrated over the year emissions for Karachi Proper were estimated at 6.7 kilometric tons per year and emissions for greater Karachi were 17.5 kilometric tons per year. Folding in the populations of each area yields BC emissions of 0.74 and 1.1 kg per person per year, respectively. Applying the model to previously collected data at Lahore, Pakistan yields emissions during November–January that are around a factor of two higher than those in Karachi, but because the BC measurements in Lahore covered only three months, no estimates of annual emissions were attempted. Given the large populations of these cities the local health impact from PM alone is expected to be severe but because of the high [BC] emissions the impact on the global climate may be equally significant.     

Academic expertise in assisting private companies in the fields of environment and environmental toxicology: the role of individual expertise

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The scientific knowledge produced by academic research can be valued in all sectors of human activity, including private sector. The ROVALTAIN...     

Toxicity and genotoxic evaluations in African catfish Clarias gariepinus (Burchell 1822) exposed to Act Force Gold®, Butaforce®, and Atraforce®

Act Force Gold^®, Butaforce^®, and Atraforce^® are among the most commonly used pesticides in Nigeria. The lethal concentrations and the respective toxic units for the three pesticides were determined. The genotoxic effects of the three pesticides were investigated in the red blood cells of Clarias gariepinus using micronucleus (MN) assay. The 96 h LC₅₀ was 4.75, 4.84, and 54.74 mg L⁻¹ for Act Force Gold^®, Butaforce^®, and Atraforce^®, respectively. The toxic units in ascending order of toxicity were 1.83, 20.66, and 21.05 for Act Force Gold^®, Butaforce^®, and Atraforce^® respectively. The estimated safe levels based on NAS/NAE varied from 4.75 × 10⁻¹–4.75 × 10⁻⁵ in Act Force Gold^® through 4.64 × 10⁻¹–4.85 × 10⁻⁵ in Butaforce^® to 5.74–5.74 × 10⁻⁵ in Atraforce^®. Fish specimens were exposed to the pesticides and sampling was done at regular intervals at days 1, 7, 14, and 21 and after another 7-day recovery period. The results obtained indicated concentration- and duration-dependent increase in % MN formation with maximum values of 3.40 ± 0.25 for Act Force Gold^® on day 14 and 3.05 ± 0.36 and 2.35 ± 0.14 for Butaforce^® and Atraforce^® respectively on day 7 of exposure. The 7-day recovery period could not reverse the trend as the % MN values obtained were significantly different from the control. The results further support the use of MN assay in assessing the toxicity of aquatic pollutants and can be used in the monitoring of aquatic ecosystems.

     

The mystery of a missing bone: revealing the orbitosphenoid in basal Epicynodontia (Cynodontia,Therapsida) through computed tomography

The basal non-mammaliaform cynodonts from the late Permian (Lopingian) and Early Triassic are a major source of information for the understanding of the evolutionary origin of mammals. Detailed knowledge of their anatomy is critical for understanding the phylogenetic transition toward mammalness and the paleobiological reconstruction of mammalian precursors. Using micro-computed tomography (μCT), we describe the internal morphology of the interorbital region that includes the rarely fossilized orbitosphenoid elements in four basal cynodonts. These paired bones, which are positioned relatively dorsally in the skull, contribute to the wall of the anterior part of the braincase and form the floor for the olfactory lobes. Unlike procynosuchids and the more basal therapsids in which the orbitosphenoids are well developed, dense, and bear a ventral keel, the basal epicynodonts Cynosaurus, Galesaurus, and Thrinaxodon display cancellous, reduced, and loosely articulated orbitosphenoids, a condition shared with many eucynodonts. The hemi-cylindrical orbitosphenoid from which the mammalian condition is derived re-evolved convergently in traversodontid and some probainognathian cynodonts.