Identification of suitable zones and sites for rainwater harvesting using GIS and multicriteria decision analysis.

Identifying suitable zones for surface water storage and groundwater recharge is needed to enhance irrigation water availability. This study was undertaken to map rainwater harvesting (RWH) potential zones using geospatial tools and analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The suitable locations for RWH were also mapped using the Boolean logic concept. The surface runoff is a vital factor to demarcate the appropriate zones for RWH. The curve number approach was used to estimate the surface runoff potential. The runoff coefficient (RC) map was generated based on rainfall and surface runoff depth. Weights have been allocated to selected themes of RC, drainage density, and slope. The themes were integrated using geographic information system (GIS) and AHP to demarcate the suitable zones for RWH. The derived RWH potential map was categorized into zones like "very good," "good," "moderate," "poor," and "very poor" with an aerial extent of 14.3%, 24.7%, 28.3%, 20.2%, and 12.6%, respectively. The area suitable for farm ponds was found to be about 9% (408 km2), 13% (329 km2), and 4% (244 km2) in Mirzapur, Chandauli, and Sonbhadra districts, respectively. Furthermore, 22, 15, and 21 locations were found suitable for check dams in Mirzapur, Chandauli, and Sonbhadra districts, respectively. At a large scale, effective planning of water management strategies based on multicriteria decision analysis and GIS offers increased availability of surface and groundwater resources and may help for enhancing the agricultural land use options. The higher resolution maps may be further utilized to plan RWH strategies at village level.

Source, distribution and ecotoxicological assessment of multielements in superficial sediments of a tropical turbid estuarine environment: A multivariate approach.

The work examined the distribution, possible sources and ecotoxicological assessment of 51 trace elements covering 13 sampling stations in surface sediments of coastal regions of Sundarban mangrove wetland and adjacent Hugli river estuary. The element concentrations exhibited an increasing trend towards downstream of the estuary (except lanthanides) with maximum enrichment for 22 elements at Gangadharpur (Sundarban region). According to Sediment Quality Guidelines (SQGs), the concentrations of Cu, As, Cr and Cd exceeded the Effects-Range-Low values, while Ni at certain stations exceeded the Effects-Range-Medium suggesting adverse effects on the sediment-dwelling organisms. The geoaccumulation index revealed that the stations were unpolluted to moderately polluted. Risk Index (357.61) and Enrichment factor (11.42) depicted that Nimtala station (upstream) was at high ecological risk zone. The result of PCA endorsed that organic carbon and clay fraction play crucial role in accumulating the elements in sediments. This pilot study contributes to a better understanding of the geochemistry of this complex deltaic ecosystem.

PA1†An internal audit into the adequacy of pain assessment in a hospice setting.

BACKGROUND: Pain is the most common presenting symptom of patients referred to palliative services. The effective management of pain is therefore paramount to any palliative service. The SOCRATES mnemonic is a pain assessment framework that is widely used by healthcare professionals to help them to remember to ask about key questions concerning a patient's pain. The eight elements of this framework are Site, Onset, Character, Radiation, Associated Factors, Timing, Exacerbating and Relieving Factors and Severity. AIM: To assess whether 100% of patients admitted to the hospice in a three month period with pain as a symptom were fully assessed using all elements of the SOCRATES mnemonic. Furthermore to ensure whether these patients were written up for regular and breakthrough analgesia medication. METHODS: New admissions from February to April were identified using SystmOne™ and their records searched for mention of pain as a symptom and a score assigned according to the number of elements of SOCRATES used. The medications section on SystmOne™ was checked for the prescription of analgesia. RESULTS: The results revealed that 0% of patients were fully assessed using all elements of the SOCRATES mnemonic and 66.7% of patients were partially assessed. The mean average of SOCRATES elements used when assessing pain was 3.3. Regular and breakthrough analgesia were prescribed for 100% of patients who complained of pain. CONCLUSION: This hospice meets standards for prescribing analgesia, however significantly falls below standards on the assessment of pain using all elements of the SOCRATES mnemonic.

An assessment of mercury loading in core sediments of Sunderban mangrove wetland, India (a preliminary report).

This is a preliminary report on total mercury (T(Hg)) in core sediments (<63 microm particle size) of Sunderban mangrove wetland, northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, India. Cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CVAAS) was used for T(Hg) determination. The concentration varies from 9.8 to 535.1 ppb (ngg(-1)). Results revealed variations over premonsoon and postmonsoon month at different core depth, as well as in studied three sampling stations, located at the site of three rivers: Hugli River (S(1)), Matla River (S(2)) and Bidyadhari River (S(3)). Elevated concentration of T(Hg) in subsurface layer (4-8 cm) of the core at S(2) is attributed to remobilization of mercury from deeper sediment (32-36 cm). Positive correlation is present between total Hg and clay content. Based on index of geoaccumulation (I(geo)) and Effects-Range Low (ER-L) value (150 ppb) it is considered that the sediments are till now unpolluted. As a consequence, there is less chance of ecotoxicological risk to organisms living in studied sediments. Two statistical methods were applied to determine T(Hg) anomalies. Box plot method showed one extreme and three outliers in S(1) at postmonsoon season. Two extremes were found at S(2) at 4-8 and at 32-36 cm in premonsoon period. In S(3) there was no anomaly by box plot method. MAD method was more sensitive than box plot method and T(Hg) anomaly was detected at 12-16 cm in S(3) during postmonsoon season. The data reported are useful baselines for T(Hg) in Sunderban mangrove wetland, India and would be of help in future sediment quality studies.

Comparing treatment variances in repeated measures bioavailability trials.

In repeated measures bioavailability/bioequivalence studies involving two formulations, the underlying measurements, such as the area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) and the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), typically have a block compound-symmetric covariance matrix. To test the equality of the variances in such a covariance matrix, we derive in this paper an exact test and four asymptotic tests. We compare these tests using simulation to determine those that have good performance in terms of controlling the type I error rate as well as providing good power. We provide an example to demonstrate the proposed method.