419 research outputs found
Torrent erosion in Lake District mountain catchments.
No full textThis thesis investigates torrent erosion in Lake District mountain catchments,Northern England. A nested research approach was used. Detailed investigations were undertaken at two case study sites (Iron Crag, Raise Beck) together with a survey of torrents across the Skiddaw and Helvellyn massifs.
At Iron Crag an annual sediment budget was constructed by monitoring hillslope,channel and fan processes. Particle size characteristics of sediments, and the history of fan development were investigated. Results show channel and bank sediments are the main source of material supplied to the fan. Large rainfall events cause significant change in the channel, banks and fan. The impact of different meteorological conditions on sediment characteristics is complex, however a seasonal cycle of sediment production (winter) and exhaustion (autumn) exists.
Historically, initial fan aggradation predates 36 BC, but a rapid phase of deposition began between 1200-1400 AD. Investigations at Raise Beck focussed on a flood that occurred in January 1995 and caused channel avulsion and shallow landsliding. This was reconstructed using a range of geomorphological and sedimentological evidence. Palaeohydrological methods give a discharge between 27- 74 in s-1. whereas as rainfall-runoff values range between 4-6 m3 s-1. The magnitude of the 1995 flood was smaller than two 19th Century events, but would still exceed the capacity of contemporary engineered channels.
The regional survey considered the characteristics and importance of torrents,mountain streams, and debris flows; and provided a context for work at the case
study sites. The case study sites are distinct members of the regional populations. Raise Beck being the largest (133 ha) and highest (858 m O. D. ); Iron Crag amongst
the smallest (2.4 ha) and lowest (600 m O. D. ). Overall, torrents and hillslope debris flows are minor components of the landscape (aerially 2.1 % Helvellyn massif, 0.4
% Skiddaw massif). Sites are preferentially located in regard to altitude and slope.Debris flows are related to geological type. Large torrent floods are relatively rare
and can be broadly related to regional flood episodes. Contemporary debris flow activity is of low magnitude and frequency
Improving P2P keyword search by combining .torrent metadata and user preference in a semantic overlay
No full textDeveloping a new similarity function for Tribler. Solution used a combination of item-item and user-user similarity, using metadata available in the .torrent files to reduce sparcity in dataset.Parallel and Distributed Systems groupElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
Household aeroalergens in the inception of infant atopy and asthma
No full textAquesta tesi doctoral consisteix en una sèrie de deu articles (8 publicats y 2 en premsa) basats en dades recollides a l'estudi AMICS (Asthma Multicentre Infant Cohort Study), portat a terme a Ashford (UK) a Barcelona y a Menorca. A més dels propis articles, s'inclouen una introducció i una discussió generals per a mostrar de forma conjunta les troballes i posar-les en el context de l'evidència científica actual. També s'inclou un apartat sobre les implicacions dels resultats obtinguts tant per la recerca etiològica de l'asma com per a la salut pública, així com una llista de recomanacions finals. Des de l'any 1997 soc el responsable del estudi de cohort AMICS a Menorca, que ha comptat amb diverses beques del Ministeri de Sanitat i Consum, de la Comunitat Europea i d'una fundació privada. L'objectiu inicial principal del projecte europeu era mesurar el paper del aeroal.lergens domèstics més comuns en el procés d'iniciació de l'atòpia i l'asma. La cohort de Menorca va ampliar el seus objectius incloent dades addicionals sobre dieta i nivells d'organoclorats a la sang. El projecte continua a Menorca i en el moment de presentar la tesi s'està realitzant el seguiment del 9 anys.The present doctoral thesis consists of a series of ten articles (8 published and 2 in press) based on data collected from the Asthma Multicentre Infant Cohort Study (AMICS), carried out in Ashford (UK) and Barcelona and Menorca (Spain). In addition to the articles themselves, a general introduction and a general discussion are included to put together the findings of the articles in the light of present scientific evidence. A section on the implications for the etiologic research of asthma and for public health and a list of final conclusions are also included. I have been responsible of the AMICS cohort in Menorca since its origin in 1997, which has been funded by different grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health, the European Commission and a private foundation. The main initial objective of the European project was to measure the role of common domestic aeroallergens in the inception of atopy and asthma. The Menorca cohort extended its objectives including additional data on dietary habits and blood levels of organochlorine compounds. The project continues in Menorca and at the moment of presenting this thesis the 9 years follow-up work is being carried out.Programa de doctorat en Biomedicin
Household aeroalergens in the inception of infant atopy and asthma
No full textAquesta tesi doctoral consisteix en una sèrie de deu articles (8 publicats y 2 en premsa) basats en dades recollides a l'estudi AMICS (Asthma Multicentre Infant Cohort Study), portat a terme a Ashford (UK) a Barcelona y a Menorca. A més dels propis articles, s'inclouen una introducció i una discussió generals per a mostrar de forma conjunta les troballes i posar-les en el context de l'evidència científica actual. També s'inclou un apartat sobre les implicacions dels resultats obtinguts tant per la recerca etiològica de l'asma com per a la salut pública, així com una llista de recomanacions finals. Des de l'any 1997 soc el responsable del estudi de cohort AMICS a Menorca, que ha comptat amb diverses beques del Ministeri de Sanitat i Consum, de la Comunitat Europea i d'una fundació privada. L'objectiu inicial principal del projecte europeu era mesurar el paper del aeroal.lergens domèstics més comuns en el procés d'iniciació de l'atòpia i l'asma. La cohort de Menorca va ampliar el seus objectius incloent dades addicionals sobre dieta i nivells d'organoclorats a la sang. El projecte continua a Menorca i en el moment de presentar la tesi s'està realitzant el seguiment del 9 anys.The present doctoral thesis consists of a series of ten articles (8 published and 2 in press) based on data collected from the Asthma Multicentre Infant Cohort Study (AMICS), carried out in Ashford (UK) and Barcelona and Menorca (Spain). In addition to the articles themselves, a general introduction and a general discussion are included to put together the findings of the articles in the light of present scientific evidence. A section on the implications for the etiologic research of asthma and for public health and a list of final conclusions are also included. I have been responsible of the AMICS cohort in Menorca since its origin in 1997, which has been funded by different grants from the Spanish Ministry of Health, the European Commission and a private foundation. The main initial objective of the European project was to measure the role of common domestic aeroallergens in the inception of atopy and asthma. The Menorca cohort extended its objectives including additional data on dietary habits and blood levels of organochlorine compounds. The project continues in Menorca and at the moment of presenting this thesis the 9 years follow-up work is being carried out.Programa de doctorat en Biomedicin
Glutathione-S-transferase genes and asthma phenotypes: a Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) systematic review and meta-analysis including unpublished data
No full textBackground: oxidative stress is thought to be involved in the pathogenesis of asthma. Glutathione-S-transferase (GST) enzymes, which play an important role in antioxidant defences, may therefore influence asthma risk. Two common deletion polymorphisms of GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes and the GSTP1 Ile105Val polymorphism have been associated with asthma in children and adults, but results are inconsistent across studies.Methods: systematic review and meta-analysis of the effects of GST genes on asthma, wheezing and bronchial hyper-responsiveness (BHR), with inclusion of unpublished data from three studies, including the large Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). Random effect or fixed effect models were used as appropriate, and sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the impact of study characteristics and quality on pooled results.Results: the meta-analyses of GSTM1 (n = 22 studies) and GSTT1 (n = 19) showed increased asthma risk associated with the null genotype, but there was extreme between-study heterogeneity and publication bias and the association disappeared when meta-analysis was restricted to the largest studies. Meta-analysis of GSTP1 Ile105Val (n = 17) and asthma suggested a possible protective effect of the Val allele, but heterogeneity was extreme. Few studies evaluated wheezing and BHR and most reported no associations, although weak evidence was found for positive associations of GSTM1 null and GSTP1 Val allele with wheezing and a negative association of GSTP1 Val allele with BHR.Conclusions: our findings do not support a substantial role of GST genes alone in the development of asthma. Future studies of large size should focus on interactions of GST genes with environmental oxidative exposures and with other genes involved in antioxidant pathways. Quality of study conduct and reporting needs to be improved to increase credibility of the evidence accumulating over tim
Deep Ion Torrent sequencing identifies soil fungal community shifts after frequent prescribed fires in a southeastern US forest ecosystem
No full textPrescribed burning is a common management tool to control fuel loads, ground vegetation, and facilitate desirable game species. We evaluated soil fungal community responses to long-term prescribed fire treatments in a loblolly pine forest on the Piedmont of Georgia and utilized deep Internal Transcribed Spacer Region 1 (ITS1) amplicon sequencing afforded by the recent Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (PGM). These deep sequence data (19,000+ reads per sample after subsampling) indicate that frequent fires (3 year fire interval) shift soil fungus communities whereas infrequent fires (6 year fire interval) permit system resetting to a state similar to that without prescribed fire. Furthermore, in nonmetric multidimensional scaling analyses, primarily ectomycorrhizal taxa were correlated with axes associated with long fire intervals whereas soil saprobes tended to be correlated with the frequent fire recurrence. We conclude that 1) multiplexed Ion Torrent PGM analyses allow deep cost effective sequencing of fungal communities, but may suffer from short read lengths and inconsistent sequence quality adjacent to the sequencing adaptor; 2) frequent prescribed fires elicit a shift in soil fungal communities; and, 3) such shifts do not occur when fire intervals are longer. Our results emphasize the general responsiveness of these forests to management, and the importance of fire return intervals in meeting management objectives
Ilustrar los sentimientos. El arte de Dani Torrent, metáfora educativa
No full textDaniel Torrent Riba (Barcelona, 1974) is an illustrator of children's, young adult and adult literature, press and advertising. He is also a painter and writer. He graduated in Art History from the University of Barcelona, and studied illustration at the Llotja School of Design and Art in the same city. His academic training includes studies in film direction and doctoral courses in Fine Arts. In illustration he finds a place where he can synthesize his knowledge of visual narrative from cinema with the visual baggage of Art History. He has specialized in the creation of illustrated albums, for which he is often the author of both the text and the illustration.Daniel Torrent Riba (Barcelona, 1974) es ilustrador de literatura infantil, juvenil y adulta, prensa y publicidad. También es pintor y escritor. Se licenció en Historia del Arte por la Universitat de Barcelona, y estudió ilustración en la Escuela Superior de Diseño y Arte Llotja de la misma ciudad. Su formación académica incorpora estudios de dirección cinematográfica y cursos de doctorado en Bellas Artes. En la ilustración encuentra un lugar donde sintetizar los conocimientos de narrativa visual del cine junto al bagaje visual de la Historia del Arte. Se ha especializado en la creación de álbumes ilustrados, de los que a menudo es autor tanto del texto como de la ilustración.
オーストリアにおける最近の環境砂防の動向について
No full textA comprehensive approach to natural habitats with the ecological points of view as well as those with regard to the aesthetics of the landscape is necessary in projects of the torrent control. The author has been carrying out various research works on the nature-orientated torrent control engineering in the above mentioned sense. In the previous report the author has considered the general ideas and the theoretical backgrounds of the nature-orientated torrent control engineering and introduced some examples of such type of torrent control works in Austria and Bavaria in Germany. Further in 1996 the author has presented a paper which discussed the basic idea of the landscape ecologically reasonable torrent control engineering. During recent several years there are some remarkable developments in nature-orientated torrent control works in Austria. This report is an attempt to introduce and to evaluate such newly developed torrent control works in Austria from the view point of the comprehensive approach to natural habitats
The influence of organochlorine compound exposure on the physiological development of children
No full textThe present study summarizes the advances on the knowledge of the health disturbances associated to fetal exposure to organochlorine compounds in a cohort of children from Menorca. Higher incidence of diverse deleterious health effects at 4 years of age have been observed, e.g. hexachlorobenzene (HCB) and poor social behavior and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, 4,4’-DDE and asthma, wheeze, lower respiratory tract infections and alteration of urinary coproporphyrins, HCB, ß-hexachlorocyclohexane and 4,4’-DDE and alteration of thyroid hormones, HCB, 4,4’-DDE and polychlorobiphenyls (PCBs) and overweight, 4,4’-DDT and PCBs and lower neurodevelopment. A protective effect of breastfeeding against decreases of cognitive skills in children due to 4,4’-DDT exposure has also been documented. This protective effect shows that other factors besides pollutant exposure and genetic variability influence on the health effects of environmental pollutants into human populations. These results are important for the understanding of the health implications of exposome studies.Aquest estudi resumeix els avenços en el coneixement dels trastorns de salut associats a l’exposició fetal a compostos organoclorats en una cohort de nens de Menorca. S’ha observat una incidència major de diversos efectes perjudicials per la salut als 4 anys d’edat, per exemple, hexaclorobenzè (HCB) i comportament social pobre i trastorn per dèficit d’atenció amb hiperactivitat, 4,4’- DDE i asma, xiulets pulmonars, infeccions de les vies respiratòries baixes i alteració de coproporfirines urinàries, HCB, ß-hexaclorociclohexà i 4,4’-DDE i alteració de les hormones tiroïdals, HCB, 4,4’-DDE i policlorobifenils (PCBs) i sobrepès, 4,4’-DDT i PCBs i menor desenvolupament neurològic. També s’ha documentat un efecte protector de la lactància materna contra la disminució de les habilitats cognitives dels nens a causa de l’exposició a 4,4’-DDT. Aquest efecte protector mostra que altres factors, a més de l’exposició a contaminants i genètica personal, influeixen en els efectes de salut dels contaminants ambientals en les poblacions humanes. Aquests resultats són importants per comprendre les implicacions per la salut dels estudis d’exposomes
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