Groundwater flooding within an urbanised flood plain

In Europe in recent years, there has been recognition of the need to better understand the risk from groundwater flooding. This recognition has been due both to the occurrence of major flooding events clearly attributable to groundwater and the inclusion of groundwater flooding in European and national legislation. The case study of the city of Oxford on the River Thames flood plain in UK is used to examine the mechanisms for groundwater flooding in urbanised flood plain settings. Reference is made to an extensive data set gathered during a major flood event in 2007. Groundwater flooding of a significant number of properties is shown to occur in areas isolated from fluvial flooding because of high ground created historically to protect property and the transport network from flood inundation. The options for mitigating this form of flooding are discussed; measures to increase the rate of conveyance of flood waters through Oxford, designed to reduce fluvial flood risk, have also been recognised as a means for reducing groundwater flood risk within the city

Breaking In, Breaking Out. How That First Book in Print Changed My Life, or Not

The author discussed how his first book changed the course of his life. It granted him an important role within his family, solidified his identity as an Aboriginal writer, and allowed him to tell the truth which often contradicted the portrayal of Aboriginal peoples in the media

The art of economic catch-up. Barriers, detoursand leapfrogging in innovation systems

Review of "The art of economic catch-up. Barriers, detours and leapfrogging in innovation systems", by Keun Lee, Cambridge, UK & New York, USA, Cambridge University Press, 2019, 279 pp., £64.99 (hardback), ISBN 9781108472876, £22.99 (paperback), ISBN 9781108460705, $24.00 (eBook), ISBN 978110863300

KEWENANGAN KOMISI PENYIARAN INDONESIA TERHADAP PENGAWASAN MEDIA DIGITAL DITINJAU DARI UNDANG-UNDANG NOMOR 32 TAHUN 2002 TENTANG PENYIARAN

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui bagaimana kewenangan komisi penyiaran Indonesia terhadap media digital ditinjau dari Undang-undang nomor 32 Tahun 2002 dan untuk memahami aturan hukum tentang kewenangan komisi penyiaran Indonesia terhadap media digital. Dengan menggunakan metode penelitian normatif, dapat ditarik kesimpulan yaitu : 1. Kewenangan di bidang penyiaran diatur secara khusus oleh Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia (KPI) berdasarkan Pasal 8 ayat (2) Undang-Undang Penyiaran. Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia memiliki kewenangan untuk menetapkan Pedoman Perilaku Penyiaran dan Standar Program Siaran, yang mencakup aturan tentang isi siaran, batasan-batasan, dan sanksi bagi pelanggar. Standar ini memastikan media penyiaran berfungsi sebagai media informasi, pendidikan, hiburan, dan kontrol sosial, serta memenuhi nilai-nilai agama, moral, dan hukum yang berlaku. 2. Aturan pengawasan Komisi Penyiaran Indonesia terhadap media digital belum diberlakukan dan baru ada dalam Draf Rancangan Undang-undang Penyiaran Pasal 1 Ayat (2). Pada Pasal 13 juga menyertakan tentang jasa penyiaran melalui Platform Digital. Dan lebih lanjut rincian tentang mekanisme penyelenggaraan platform digital ada dalam BAB IIIA Penyiaran Dengan Teknologi Digital mencakut Pasal 30A, Pasal 30B, Pasal 30C, Pasal 30D dan BAB IIIB Penyelenggara Platform Digital Penyiaran mencakup keseluruhan Pasal 34 dan Pasal 35.   Kata Kunci : KPI, media digita

Bodies of Evidence: documentary photography and the black subject in the work of Carrie Mae Weems and Romare Bearden

This dissertation considers the work of African American artists Carrie Mae Weems and Romare Bearden in relation to the difficulties inherent in representating the black subject in documentary photography. By taking images directly from institutional archives and media archives Weems and Bearden aim to reinterpret and reinvigorate the black subject through the processes of mixed media art. Documentary photography is inextricably linked to the configuration of the photographic process as an exact science which has led to its use in criminal and racial profiling. As such the black identity, when captured on film, has been defined solely through the racial classification and objectification of the body. Through processes of defamiliarisation, Weems and Bearden move beyond the physical to focus on the internal; on memory, African American culture and spirituality. How effective is this process in reinterpreting and reclaiming the black body? Are African Americans shielded from visual objectification in these works; or are they merely another form of appropriation? In addition to exploring the methods and consequences of Bearden and Weem's work, this dissertation will also act as an interrogation into claims made by both critics and the artists that their works generate towards the possibility of a “universal black subjectâ€ÂÂÂÂ�. Why is this problematic and how far can it be realised? Also involved in this process is a consideration of the methods presently used in African American art criticism, and a conscious move away from traditional methods of legitimising the work of these artists, to a detailed and critical examination of it

Investigation of the key chemical structures involved in the anticancer activity of disulfiram in A549 non-small cell lung cancer cell line

© 2018 The Author(s). Background: Disulfiram (DS), an antialcoholism medicine, demonstrated strong anticancer activity in the laboratory but did not show promising results in clinical trials. The anticancer activity of DS is copper dependent. The reaction of DS and copper generates reactive oxygen species (ROS). After oral administration in the clinic, DS is enriched and quickly metabolised in the liver. The associated change of chemical structure may make the metabolites of DS lose its copper-chelating ability and disable their anticancer activity. The anticancer chemical structure of DS is still largely unknown. Elucidation of the relationship between the key chemical structure of DS and its anticancer activity will enable us to modify DS and speed its translation into cancer therapeutics. Methods: The cytotoxicity, extracellular ROS activity, apoptotic effect of DS, DDC and their analogues on cancer cells and cancer stem cells were examined in vitro by MTT assay, western blot, extracellular ROS assay and sphere-reforming assay. Results: Intact thiol groups are essential for the in vitro cytotoxicity of DS. S-methylated diethyldithiocarbamate (S-Me-DDC), one of the major metabolites of DS in liver, completely lost its in vitro anticancer activity. In vitro cytotoxicity of DS was also abolished when its thiuram structure was destroyed. In contrast, modification of the ethyl groups in DS had no significant influence on its anticancer activity. Conclusions: The thiol groups and thiuram structure are indispensable for the anticancer activity of DS. The liver enrichment and metabolism may be the major obstruction for application of DS in cancer treatment. A delivery system to protect the thiol groups and development of novel soluble copper-DDC compound may pave the path for translation of DS into cancer therapeutics.This work was supported by grant from British Lung Foundation (RG14–8) and Innovate UK (104022).Published versio

Impact of alternative solid state forms and specific surface area of high-dose, hydrophilic active pharmaceutical ingredients on tabletability

YesIn order to investigate the effect of using different solid state forms and specific surface area (TBET) of active pharmaceutical ingredients on tabletability and dissolution performance, the mono- and dihydrated crystalline forms of chlorothiazide sodium and chlorothiazide potassium (CTZK) salts were compared to alternative anhydrous and amorphous forms, as well as to amorphous microparticles of chlorothiazide sodium and potassium which were produced by spray drying and had a large specific surface area. The tablet hardness and tensile strength, porosity, and specific surface area of single-component, convex tablets prepared at different compression pressures were characterized. Results confirmed the complexity of the compressibility mechanisms. In general it may be concluded that factors such as solid-state form (crystalline vs amorphous), type of hydration (presence of interstitial molecules of water, dehydrates), or specific surface area of the material have a direct impact on the tabletability of the powder. It was observed that, for powders of the same solid state form, those with a larger specific surface area compacted well, and better than powders of a lower surface area, even at relatively low compression pressures. Compacts prepared at lower compression pressures from high surface area porous microparticles presented the shortest times to dissolve, when compared with compacts made of equivalent materials, which had to be compressed at higher compression pressures in order to obtain satisfactory compacts. Therefore, materials composed of nanoparticulate microparticles (NPMPs) may be considered as suitable for direct compaction and possibly for inclusion in tablet formulations as bulking agents, APIs, carriers, or binders due to their good compactibility performanceSolid State Pharmaceutical Cluster (SSPC), supported by Science Foundation Ireland under Grant No. 07/SRC/B1158

Pulmonary mantle cell lymphoma: a rare manifestation of an uncommon condition

Herein we describe the case of a 64-year old man with a history of mantle cell lymphoma found to have evidence of pulmonary parenchymal involvement by recurrence of his lymphoma. While lung involvement is not necessarily uncommon with Non-Hodgkin's lymphomas as a group, it is very rare for mantle cell lymphoma to involve the lung parenchyma. In addition, the radiographic manifestation of his pulmonary lymphoma as a discrete FDG-avid ground-glass lesion on chest imaging was also distinctly uncommon for pulmonary lymphoma which classically appears in one of three patterns: scattered ill-defined nodules, a bronchovascular/lymphangitic process, or pneumonic/alveolar consolidation effectively indistinguishable from bacterial pneumonia. Due to significant underlying lung disease our patient was not a candidate for high-dose conditioning and autologous stem cell transplantation. He was ultimately treated with rituximab and cladribine therapy and had early signs of clinical response at last correspondence

Retrieval of vegetative fluid resistance terms for rigid stems using airborne lidar.

Hydraulic resistance of riparian forests is an unknown but important term in flood conveyance modeling. Lidar has proven to be a very important new data source to physically characterize floodplain vegetation. This research outlines a recent campaign that aims to retrieve vegetation fluid resistance terms from airborne laser scanning to parameterize trunk roughness. Information on crown characteristics and vegetation spacing can be extracted for individual trees to aid in the determining of trunk stem morphology. Airborne lidar data were used to explore the potential to characterize some of the prominent tree morphometric properties from natural and planted riparian poplar zones such as tree position, tree height, trunk location, and tree spacing. Allometric equations of tree characteristics extrapolated from ground measurements were used to infer below-canopy morphometric variables. Results are presented from six riparian-forested zones on the Garonne and Allier rivers in southern and central France. The tree detection and crown segmentation (TDCS) method identified individual trees with 85% accuracy, and the TreeVaW method detected trees with 83% accuracy. Tree heights were overall estimated at both river locations with an RMSE error of around 19% for both methods, but crown diameter at the six sites produced large deviations from ground-measured values of above 40% for both methods. Total height-derived trunk diameters using the TDCS method produced the closest roughness coefficient values to the ground-derived roughness coefficients. The stem roughness values produced from this method fell within guideline values

Comparative effect of intraoperative propacetamol versus placebo on morphine consumption after elective reduction mammoplasty under remifentanil-based anesthesia: a randomized control trial [ISRCTN71723173]

BACKGROUND: Postoperative administration of paracetamol or its prodrug propacetamol has been shown to decrease pain with a morphine sparing effect. However, the effect of propacetamol administered intra-operatively on post-operative pain and early postoperative morphine consumption has not been clearly evaluated. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of analgesic protocols in the management of post-operative pain, a standardized anesthesia protocol without long-acting opioids is crucial. Thus, for ethical reasons, the surgical procedure under general anesthesia with remifentanil as the only intraoperative analgesic must be associated with a moderate predictable postoperative pain. METHODS: We were interested in determining the postoperative effect of propacetamol administered intraoperatively after intraoperative remifentanil. Thirty-six adult women undergoing mammoplasty with remifentanil-based anesthesia were randomly assigned to receive propacetamol 2 g or placebo one hour before the end of surgery. After remifentanil interruption and tracheal extubation in recovery room, pain was assessed and intravenous titrated morphine was given. The primary end-point was the cumulative dose of morphine administered in the recovery room. The secondary end-points were the pain score after tracheal extubation and one hour after, the delay for obtaining a Simplified Numerical Pain Scale (SNPS) less than 4, and the incidence of morphine side effects in the recovery room. For intergroup comparisons, categorical variables were compared using the chi-squared test and continuous variables were compared using the Student t test or Mann-Whitney U test, as appropriate. A p value less than 0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: In recovery room, morphine consumption was lower in the propacetamol group than in the placebo group (p = 0.01). Pain scores were similar in both groups after tracheal extubation and lower in the propacetamol group (p = 0.003) one hour after tracheal extubation. The time to reach a SNPS < 4 was significantly shorter in the propacetamol group (p = 0.02). The incidence of morphine related side effects did not differ between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative propacetamol administration with remifentanil based-anesthesia improved significantly early postoperative pain by sparing morphine and shortening the delay to achieve pain relief