Tide Gauge Observations of 2004–2007 Indian Ocean Tsunamis from Sri Lanka and Western Australia

Tide gauge data collected from Sri Lanka (three stations) and Western Australia (eleven stations) during the Indian Ocean tsunamis, which occurred in December 2004, March 2005, July 2006, and September 2007, and incorporated five tsunamis, were examined to determine tsunami behaviour during these events. During the December 2004 tsunami, maximum wave heights of 3.87 m and 1.75 m were recorded at Colombo (Sri Lanka) and Bunbury (Western Australia), respectively. The results indicated that although the relative magnitudes of the tsunamis varied, the tsunami behaviour at each station was similar. This was due to the effect of the local and regional topography. At all tide gauges, the spectral energy corresponding to periods between 20 and 85 minutes increased during the tsunami. The sea-level data obtained from the west and south coasts of Sri Lanka (Colombo and Kirinda) indicated the importance of wave reflections from the Maldives Island chain, which produced the maximum wave two to three hours after the arrival of the first wave. In contrast, Trincomalee on the east coast did not show evidence of a reflected wave. Similarly, along the west coast of Australia, the highest waves occurred 15 hours after the arrival of the first wave. Here, based on travel times, we postulated that the waves were reflected from the Mascarene Ridge and/or the Island of Madagascar. Reflected waves were not present in the 2006 tsunami, where the primary waves propagated away from topographic features. One of the main influences of the tsunami was to set up oscillations at the local resonance frequency. Because Sri Lanka and Western Australia have relatively straight coastlines, these oscillations were related to the fundamental period of the shelf oscillation. For Colombo, this corresponded to 75-minute period, whereas in Geraldton and Busselton (Australia), the four-hour period was most prominent; at Jurien Bay and Fremantle, the resonance period was 2.7 hours.     

Effects of dissolved oxygen on intestinal bacterial community and immunity of Atlantic salmon Salmo salar

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Dissolved oxygen (DO) is one of most important factors which affect wide range physiologic features of fish, including immune responses and intestinal...     

Mortality during Hurricane Sandy: the effects of waterfront flood protection on Staten Island,New York

Natural Hazards - Hard defenses, such as levees or land berms, are often considered the most effective approach to reduce flood risk. This study reveals a potential increase in mortality when hard...     

A global map of rainfed cropland areas (GMRCA) at the end of last millennium using remote sensing

The overarching goal of this study was to produce a global map of rainfed cropland areas (GMRCA) and calculate country-by-country rainfed area statistics using remote sensing data. A suite of spatial datasets, methods and protocols for mapping GMRCA were described. These consist of: (a) data fusion and composition of multi-resolution time-series mega-file data-cube (MFDC), (b) image segmentation based on precipitation, temperature, and elevation zones, (c) spectral correlation similarity (SCS), (d) protocols for class identification and labeling through uses of SCS R²-values, bi-spectral plots, space-time spiral curves (ST-SCs), rich source of field-plot data, and zoom-in-views of Google Earth (GE), and (e) techniques for resolving mixed classes by decision tree algorithms, and spatial modeling. The outcome was a 9-class GMRCA from which country-by-country rainfed area statistics were computed for the end of the last millennium. The global rainfed cropland area estimate from the GMRCA 9-class map was 1.13 billion hectares (Bha). The total global cropland areas (rainfed plus irrigated) was 1.53 Bha which was close to national statistics compiled by FAOSTAT (1.51 Bha). The accuracies and errors of GMRCA were assessed using field-plot and Google Earth data points. The accuracy varied between 92 and 98% with kappa value of about 0.76, errors of omission of 2–8%, and the errors of commission of 19–36%.     

Inhibition of fish nodavirus by gymnemagenol extracted from Gymnema sylvestre

Viral nervous necrosis(VNN)has emerged to become a major problem in the culture of larval and juvenile marine fish worldwide.Bioactive phytochemicals isolated from commonly available medicinal plants are often screened for their efficacy in controlling fish viral diseases.Occurrence of newer viral strains and resistance to existing antiviral drugs are problems currently as-sociated with treatment of VNN,which necessitates looking for alternate sources for effective antiviral drugs.The aim of the present study was to screen antiviral potential of gymnemagenol(C30H50O4)previously extracted from leaves of Gymnema sylvestre.The fish nodavirus,grouper nervous necrosis virus(GNNV)in infected Sahul Indian Grouper Eye(SIGE)cell lines were used to study the antiviral activity of gymnemagenol under in vitro conditions.The susceptibility of the virus to gymnemagenol was confirmed by measuring the viral titre(TCID50 mL?1)in virus-infected SIGE cells every 24 h.Gymnemagenol at 20 μg mL?1 inhibited the prolifera-tion of GNNV to 53% at the end of the 6th d by inhibiting the proliferation of GNNV-infected SIGE cells.The viable SIGE cells were reduced to 47% as determined by 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide(MTT)assay.The viral titre(TCID50 mL?1)was also reduced to log 2.8 at the end of the 7th d in gymnemagenol-treated SIGE cells after inoculated with GNNV when compared to untreated control SIGE cell viral titre(log 4.1).Based on our results it can be concluded that gymnemagenol could be used as an antiviral agent against GNNV infection.     

Arsenic contamination of groundwater: A global synopsis with focus on the Indian Peninsula

More than 2.5 billion people on the globe rely on groundwater for drinking and providing high-quality drinking water has become one of the major challenges of human society.Although groundwater is considered as safe,high concentrations of heavy metals like arsenic(As) can pose potential human health concerns and hazards.In this paper, we present an overview of the current scenario of arsenic contamination of groundwater in various countries across the globe with an emphasis on the Indian Peninsula.With several newly affected regions reported during the last decade, a significant increase has been observed in the global scenario of arsenic contamination.It is estimated that nearly 108 countries are affected by arsenic contamination in groundwater(with concentration beyond maximum permissible limit of 10 ppb recommended by the World Health Organization.The highest among these are from Asia(32) and Europe(31), followed by regions like Africa(20), North America(11), South America(9) and Australia(4).More than 230 million people worldwide, which include 180 million from Asia, are at risk of arsenic poisoning.Southeast Asian countries, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan,China, Nepal, Vietnam, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia, are the most affected.In India, 20 states and 4 Union Territories have so far been affected by arsenic contamination in groundwater.An attempt to evaluate the correlation between arsenic poisoning and aquifer type shows that the groundwater extracted from unconsolidated sedimentary aquifers, particularly those which are located within the younger orogenic belts of the world, are the worst affected.More than 90% of arsenic pollution is inferred to be geogenic.We infer that alluvial sediments are the major source for arsenic contamination in groundwater and we postulate a strong relation with plate tectonic processes, mountain building, erosion and sedimentation.Prolonged consumption of arsenic-contaminated groundwater results in severe health issues like skin, lung, kidney and bladder cancer; coronary heart disease;bronchiectasis; hyperkeratosis and arsenicosis.Since the major source of arsenic in groundwater is of geogenic origin, the extend of pollution is complexly linked with aquifer geometry and aquifer properties of a region.Therefore, remedial measures are to be designed based on the source mineral, climatological and hydrogeological scenario of the affected region.The corrective measures available include removing arsenic from groundwater using filters, exploring deeper or alternative aquifers, treatment of the aquifer itself, dilution method by artificial recharge to groundwater, conjunctive use, and installation of nano-filter, among other procedures.The vast majority of people affected by arsenic contamination in the Asian countries are the poor who live in rural areas and are not aware of the arsenic poisoning and treatment protocols.Therefore, creating awareness and providing proper medical care to these people remain as a great challenge.Very few policy actions have been taken at international level over the past decade to reduce arsenic contamination in drinking water, with the goal of preventing toxic impacts on human health.We recommend that that United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP) and WHO should take stock of the global arsenic poisoning situation and launch a global drive to create awareness among people/medical professionals/health workers/administrators on this global concern.     

Fabrication of Nanoparticle-Doped Polyvinyl Alcohol-Cellulose Acetate Membrane and Characterization of the Surface Enhancement

In the present study, nanocomposite polymeric membranes are fabricated using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), cellulose acetate (CA) as polymers, and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as the solvent. To enhance the performance of the membrane, nanoparticles like TiO₂, CaO, CdO, and ZrO are added to the polymeric solution and the doped polymeric solution is cast on a glass plate. Nine combinations of membranes are fabricated with two different concentrations (0.1% and 0.2%) of nanoparticles. The basic properties of the membranes such as density, porosity, viscosity, permeability, pure water flux, and water content are studied for the samples. Membrane pore structure and surface properties are identified and it is found that doping nanoparticles on the surface of membranes improve mechanical strength, stability, pore size, etc., allowing the membranes to perform better in extreme industrial-level effluent treatment applications. High-resolution scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows the homogeneous dispersion of ZrO, TiO₂, CaO, and CdO nanoparticles on the surface of the PVA-CA membrane. The doping of nanoparticles on the PVA-CA membrane results in improved mechanical strength and good chemical oxidation stability. In comparison, the PCD-TiO₂ sample shows high thermal stability and oxidation stability at high temperatures until 200°C, which has a high potential for treating industrial effluents.