Water exploitation of Karoon River for fish culturing through monitoring and simulation systems

Heavy metal pollution dispersion simulation in rivers and predicting spatial and temporal variations of pollutants can be used to determine the precise place and to schedule water withdrawal time for drinking, agriculture, aquaculture and ecosystem studies. To study the movement of heavy metal pollution through Karoon flow model, MIKE 11 was employed for simulation of the flow model of Karoon River as well as heavy metal moving. The model was run for lead along the 214 km of Karoon River from Ahwaz to Darkhvein. The input data used for this model were river morphology parameters, statistical data of water flow and water contamination. The output of the model conformed to real data collected from different locations along the River. It was concluded that Karoon River water exploitation for fish culturing (e.g., salmon culture) should be at least 40 km far from Ahwaz (close to Bayoz City) from July to December and 20 km for the rest of the year

Age structure and growth rate of (Squalius cephalus Linnaeus, 1758) in Tuji tributary from Talar River, Mazandaran Province

A structure and growth pattern of Squalius cephalus (Linnaeus, 1758) in Tuji tributary of Talar River, Mazandaran Province, was studied during the period from August 2008 till August 2009. In total, 298 fish were caught by electrofishing and fixed in 10% formalin. The weight and length of fish were measured and the age was determinated by scallometric method. The age data showed that fishes were between 0+ to 4+ age groups. Pauli`s applied growth pattern showed a positive alometric for male and female and total fish and a negative isometric for unmature fishes. The average instantaneous growth rate of European Chub showed that the age groups 2+ and 3+ with 1.1 had the fastest growth compare to 3+ and 4+ age groups with 0.89. Condition factor of specimens showed that the highest one with 1.58 (r2 = 0.983) belong to females and the lowest with 1.17 (r2 = 0.901) belong to unmature fishes. The total sex ratio (123 males to 115 females) showed no significant differences between them

Constraints on chiral operators in N=2 SCFTs

Open Access, © The Authors. Article funded by SCOAP3. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( CC-BY 4.0 ), which permits any use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited

Renegotiating Third World Debt

The debt crisis facing the Third World is one so severe that it threatens to shatter the economy of countless nations and leaves the future of their lenders in doubt. The only viable solution is to come up with an alternative method of dispute resolution to deal with the debt crisis - one that is a cross between arbitration and mediation. A disinterested body should be created to recover some, or if possible, all of the outstanding loans owed to financial institutions, while alleviating the extreme hardships the debt and current debt repayment methods have inflicted. It should be noted, however, that the creators of such a solution cannot precede along the lines of traditional mediation methods. Traditional methods will be futile for the simple reason that both sides freely admit the loans are outstanding. This fact is undisputed. The dispute arises over how to repay the loans and by what methods. The first part of this paper will explain what the Third World is; the nature of Third World debt; why the search for a solution for this economic quagmire is one of the most important tasks facing the world today; and how mediation can help. The second part of this paper will focus on why some form of debt relief is needed and the importance of arriving at a better system of loan repayment and disbursement than the one currently being employed. The final part of this paper will pose possible alternative solutions that can help alleviate the problem of Third World debt without further straining an already volatile relationship that exists between the lenders and debtor nations, and most importantly, between the West and The Third World

Mapping spot blotch resistance genes in four barley populations

Bipolaris sorokiniana (teleomorph: Cochliobolus sativus) is the fungal pathogen responsible for spot blotch in barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) and occurs worldwide in warmer, humid growing conditions. Current Australian barley varieties are largely susceptible to this disease and attempts are being made to introduce sources of resistance from North America. In this study we have compared chromosomal locations of spot blotch resistance reactions in four North American two-rowed barley lines; the North Dakota lines ND11231-12 and ND11231-11 and the Canadian lines TR251 and WPG8412-9-2-1. Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT)-based PCR, expressed sequence tag (EST) and SSR markers have been mapped across four populations derived from crosses between susceptible parental lines and these four resistant parents to determine the location of resistance loci. Quantitative trait loci (QTL) conferring resistance to spot blotch in adult plants (APR) were detected on chromosomes 3HS and 7HS. In contrast, seedling resistance (SLR) was controlled solely by a locus on chromosome 7HS. The phenotypic variance explained by the APR QTL on 3HS was between 16 and 25% and the phenotypic variance explained by the 7HS APR QTL was between 8 and 42% across the four populations. The SLR QTL on 7HS explained between 52 to 64% of the phenotypic variance. An examination of the pedigrees of these resistance sources supports the common identity of resistance in these lines and indicates that only a limited number of major resistance loci are available in current two-rowed germplasm

Measurement of Heat Transfer Rates of Polypropylene and Cotton Nonwoven Fabrics via Thermal Conduction

Industrial textiles are widely being used for different simple and complex applications. Two samples of nonwoven fabrics were used in this study to assess their ability to transfer heat. They were made of polypropylene and carded cotton web. A simple model consisting of three 1×1 m2 brick rooms was used having two of them being coated from inside by the samples using a polymeric adhesive. The third room was left blank. The outdoors and the conjugated indoors temperature degrees, at different periods of time during the day, were measured and recorded. A mathematical correlation was carried out. The samples showed delayed heat transfer rates compared to the untreated room, which indicates better insulation properties. On the other hand the cotton carded web fabric was even better than the polypropylene fabric

Adjunctive Glucocorticoid Therapy in Patients with Septic Shock.

Background Whether hydrocortisone reduces mortality among patients with septic shock is unclear. Methods We randomly assigned patients with septic shock who were undergoing mechanical ventilation to receive hydrocortisone (at a dose of 200 mg per day) or placebo for 7 days or until death or discharge from the intensive care unit (ICU), whichever came first. The primary outcome was death from any cause at 90 days. Results From March 2013 through April 2017, a total of 3800 patients underwent randomization. Status with respect to the primary outcome was ascertained in 3658 patients (1832 of whom had been assigned to the hydrocortisone group and 1826 to the placebo group). At 90 days, 511 patients (27.9%) in the hydrocortisone group and 526 (28.8%) in the placebo group had died (odds ratio, 0.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82 to 1.10; P=0.50). The effect of the trial regimen was similar in six prespecified subgroups. Patients who had been assigned to receive hydrocortisone had faster resolution of shock than those assigned to the placebo group (median duration, 3 days [interquartile range, 2 to 5] vs. 4 days [interquartile range, 2 to 9]; hazard ratio, 1.32; 95% CI, 1.23 to 1.41; P<0.001). Patients in the hydrocortisone group had a shorter duration of the initial episode of mechanical ventilation than those in the placebo group (median, 6 days [interquartile range, 3 to 18] vs. 7 days [interquartile range, 3 to 24]; hazard ratio, 1.13; 95% CI, 1.05 to 1.22; P<0.001), but taking into account episodes of recurrence of ventilation, there were no significant differences in the number of days alive and free from mechanical ventilation. Fewer patients in the hydrocortisone group than in the placebo group received a blood transfusion (37.0% vs. 41.7%; odds ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.72 to 0.94; P=0.004). There were no significant between-group differences with respect to mortality at 28 days, the rate of recurrence of shock, the number of days alive and out of the ICU, the number of days alive and out of the hospital, the recurrence of mechanical ventilation, the rate of renal-replacement therapy, and the incidence of new-onset bacteremia or fungemia. Conclusions Among patients with septic shock undergoing mechanical ventilation, a continuous infusion of hydrocortisone did not result in lower 90-day mortality than placebo. (Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia and others; ADRENAL ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT01448109 .)

Barriers to product return in a circular supply chain: a case from a retailing industry

The circular supply chain (CSC) plays a pivotal role in delivering sustainable products to end users, profoundly affecting organizational performance and societal welfare. In this ecosystem, effective Product Return Management (PRM) is crucial, as consumers play a pivotal role in returning used products for reuse or recycling. Despite its significance in waste reduction and attaining environmental and economic goals, scant research has explored product return barriers within CSC. This study bridges this gap by investigating and prioritising these barriers to enhance the circular economy. Employing a systematic literature review (SLR), we extracted and screened 13 product return barriers in CSC using the Grey Delphi method. Subsequently, we introduced an enhanced version of the Group Grey-Best–Worst Method (GG-BWM), a novel approach that harmonises expert judgments by addressing uncertainties through Grey Theory and incorporating both individual-level and group-level inconsistency ratios. The findings highlight lack of motivation, lack of consumer awareness, and lack of proper infrastructure as the most critical barriers. Furthermore, sensitivity analysis conducted across 11 scenarios emphasises the significance of our results. This study contributes to the group multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) methods and CSC literature, while offering actionable insights practitioners seeking to improve the effectiveness of their CSC strategies

Noninvasive Ventilation of Patients with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome: Insights from the LUNG SAFE Study

Abstract RATIONALE: Noninvasive ventilation (NIV) is increasingly used in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). The evidence supporting NIV use in patients with ARDS remains relatively sparse. OBJECTIVES: To determine whether, during NIV, the categorization of ARDS severity based on the PaO2/FiO2 Berlin criteria is useful. METHODS: The LUNG SAFE (Large Observational Study to Understand the Global Impact of Severe Acute Respiratory Failure) study described the management of patients with ARDS. This substudy examines the current practice of NIV use in ARDS, the utility of the PaO2/FiO2 ratio in classifying patients receiving NIV, and the impact of NIV on outcome. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Of 2,813 patients with ARDS, 436 (15.5%) were managed with NIV on Days 1 and 2 following fulfillment of diagnostic criteria. Classification of ARDS severity based on PaO2/FiO2 ratio was associated with an increase in intensity of ventilatory support, NIV failure, and intensive care unit (ICU) mortality. NIV failure occurred in 22.2% of mild, 42.3% of moderate, and 47.1% of patients with severe ARDS. Hospital mortality in patients with NIV success and failure was 16.1% and 45.4%, respectively. NIV use was independently associated with increased ICU (hazard ratio, 1.446 [95% confidence interval, 1.159-1.805]), but not hospital, mortality. In a propensity matched analysis, ICU mortality was higher in NIV than invasively ventilated patients with a PaO2/FiO2 lower than 150 mm Hg. CONCLUSIONS: NIV was used in 15% of patients with ARDS, irrespective of severity category. NIV seems to be associated with higher ICU mortality in patients with a PaO2/FiO2 lower than 150 mm Hg. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT 02010073)