Journal of Water and Environment Technology, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2009 - 293 - Long-term trends in water quality in an under-populated watershed and influence of precipitation Ikuo TAKEDA*, Akira FUKUSHIMA**, Hiroaki SOMURA* *Faculty of Life and Environmental Science, Shimane University, 1060 Nishikawatsu, Matsue, 690-8504, Japan ** Emeritus Professor, Shimane University, 1060 Nishikawatsu, Matsue, 690-8504, Japan ABSTRACT An investigation of the water quality in an under-populated watershed was conducted over a 15-year period in which data was collected at weekly intervals. The purposes of this study were to analyze the long-term trends in water quality and to evaluate the relationship between the water quality and precipitation. Concentrations of total phosphorus (T–P), chemical oxygen demand (COD), and suspended solids (SS) reached remarkably high values under heavy precipitation conditions, and these concentrations increased exponentially with the amount of precipitation. Over the course of this study, the population, number of factories, animals (cow and pig), and area of agricultural land exhibited clearly decreasing trends, while steady progress in domestic wastewater treatment was realized. However, no clear decrease in the parameters of water quality was observed, and some nitrogen, phosphorus, and COD concentrations increased even though no significant change in precipitation occurred. A possible hypothesis explaining this lack of a clear decrease in water quality is that specific pollutant outflows from forests and agricultural lands may have increased in recent years. This is because poorly managed forests and agricultural lands in the under-populated watershed have adversely affected the water quality of the rivers. Keywords: long-term trend, precipitation, under-populated watershed, water quality. INTRODUCTION In recent years, the deterioration of water quality in closed water areas such as lakes, reservoirs, and ponds has been regarded as one of the most serious problems threatening the aquatic environment. In Japan, the water quality in many such areas has not shown clear improvement in the last 30 years and the chemical oxygen demand (COD) in the water meets environmental standards in only 40–50% of cases (Ministry of Environment of Japan, 2008). Two of those lakes that fail to meet COD standards are Lake Shinji (area = 79.2 km 2 , mean depth = 4.5 m) and Lake Nakaumi (86.8 km 2 , 5.4 m) in the eastern part of Shimane Prefecture, which are representative of brackish lakes in Japan. In these lakes, the water quality has never met the expected environmental standards for total nitrogen (T–N), total phosphorus (T–P), and COD, which are 0.4 mg L -1 , 0.03 mg L -1 , and 3 mg L -1 , respectively (Shimane Prefecture, 2008a). In addition, blooms of blue-green algae and red tide are occasionally observed. On the other hand, the pollutant fluxes from terrestrial areas, which can have a marked effect on the aquatic environment in lakes, can differ greatly from year to year, because the water quality and pollutant load in rivers is strongly influenced by the uncontrollable hydrological condition of precipitation. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate Journal of Himalayan Earth Sciences Volume 47, No 1, 2014, pp 107-121 Assessment of recent temperature trends in Mangla watershed Muhammad Yaseen1, Tom Rientjes2, Ghulam Nabi1, Habib-ur-Rehman3 and Muhammad Latif1 Centre of Excellence in Water Resources Engineering, UET Lahore, Pakistan Department of Water Resources Faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC)University of Twente, The Netherlands Civil Engineering Department, UET, Lahore, Pakistan Abstract Climate change in the region in terms of changes in temperatures may seriously affect snow melting rates in the watershed and hence flows at dam The main source of flows is snowmelt and rainfall that varies with temporal and spatial scale So, understanding of spatial and temporal variability of climatic parameters is most important for the management of water resources The present study was conducted to test the existence of monotonic trends and relative change (step change) in the annual and seasonal regional maximum, minimum, and mean and diurnal temperature data produced by thiessen polygon method from a meteorological network of stations in Mangla watershed for the period 1971-2010 Significant trends were detected by applying the student t test, Mann Whitney U, Spearman and Mann Kendall tests in time series of temperature for Mangla catchment and its sub-basins (Kanshi, Poonch, Kunhar and Neelum) The results of this study revealed that Climate change is occurring more severe with warming trends in lower part of Mangla catchment whereas cooling trends were in higher part The prevailing trends, caused by climate change, have an effect on the flows that should be considered by the water managers for better water management in a water scarcity country like Pakistan Keywords: Mangla watershed; Climate change; Trends; Temperatures; Regional century has been a subject of great topical interest The potential adverse impact due to climate change worries the scientific community, as it could have a major impact on natural and social systems at local, regional and national scales The climatologists (Parker and Horton, 1999; IPCC, 2001; Jones and Moberg, 2003) agree that there has been a largescale warming of the Earth’s surface over the last one hundred years or so The globe is warming due to anthropogenic factors such as emission of greenhouse gases The climate is changing due to global warming in the Hindukush-KarakoramHimalaya (HKH) region The warming in the higher Himalaya of HKH is greater than the global average temperature For instance warming in Nepal was 0.6°C per decade between 1977 and 2000 (Shrestha et al., 1999) Another recent study indicate that warming is undergoing in major part of eastern HKH and increasing trend in the temperature was found at the rate of 0.01°C pear year (Shrestha and Devkota, 2010) Introduction Scientific evidence indicates that due to increased concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, the climate of the Earth is changing; temperature is increasing and the amount and distribution of rainfall is being altered (Yue and Hashino, 2003; Andrighetti et al., 2009) The IPCC Scientific Assessment suggests that global average temperature may increase between 1.5 and 4.5°C, with a ‘best estimate’ of 2.0°C, in the next century with a doubling of the CO2 concentration in the atmosphere Global warming induced changes in temperature and rainfall are already evident in many parts of the world, as well as in Pakistan (IPCC AR4, 2008, Bates et al., 2008; Fowler and Archer, 2006) According to International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC, 2008), the global temperature has been increased by 0.13 °C (± 0.03°C) per decade over the last 50 years due to changing climate Climate change over the last 107 sub catchments (Kunhar, Neelum, Kanshi and Poonch) on a regional data for the period (19712010) In addition, the trend-free pre-whitening (TFPW) approach was used to eliminate the influences of significant lag-1 serial correlation trend tests Thus for better management and planning, suitable studies related to climate change is necessary for this region These results can be used for local and regional planning of water resources sections and helps governors for selecting optimum strategies related to water management In fact the goal of the study is to determine trends in temperature series and these results will be suitable for better water management in the Mangla catchment Pakistan’s economy is based on agriculture that is highly dependent on Indus Basin Irrigation system (IBIS) The Indus Basin Irrigation System serves an area of 22.2 million hectares and irrigated land accounts for 85% of all crop/food production (Khan et al., 2002) Pakistan has three major reservoirs (Tarbela, Mangla and Chasma), which have original storage capacity of 19.43 BM3 The Mangla reservoir has original storage capacity 6.6 BM3 (34% of total storage) and installed capacity of 1000 MW (WRM, 2008) Its command area is about million hectares) In ...Veritas Prep Presents: Trends in MBA Admissions: Perceptions of Admissions Officers at Top 30 Business Schools A white paper analyzing the issues and perceptions among admissions officers at the leading U.S. business schools to provide prospective students with the insight to improve their chances for admission in an increasingly competitive landscape. Copyright ©2009. Veritas Prep. All rights reserved. www.veritasprep.com Introduction 1 Selected Results Student Applications 2 Student Evaluation Criteria 3 What Admissions Officers Want 6 The Emerging Role of Parents in the Student Application Process 8 Conclusion ………………………….9 Table of Contents www.veritasprep.com 1 “Understanding the issues and perceptions among admissions officers at the leading MBA programs provides prospective students with the knowledge and insight to improve their chances for admission.” Introduction Application volume continues to climb as the economy slumps. The applicant pool is becoming more diverse. Demand for various types of graduate business education grows as applicants look for more flexible learning options. To spread their bets and improve their chances of admissions success, applicants are applying to more schools than ever before. Clearly, gaining admission to a graduate business program is getting more and more difficult. Business school applicants face a myriad of challenges and con- siderations throughout the graduate admissions process. As the world’s fastest-growing GMAT preparation and MBA admissions consulting provider, Veritas Prep is committed to helping ap- plicants leverage their academic and personal strengths to gain admission into the top business schools in the world, via sound intelligence and thorough preparation. Understanding the issues and perceptions among admissions officers at the leading MBA programs provides prospective students with the knowledge and insight to improve their chances for admission. This white paper highlights notable findings from the Veritas Prep Survey of MBA Admissions Officers, an eight-week online survey conducted during the 2008-09 admissions cycle among the top 30 business schools in the United States, according to bi-annual rankings compiled by BusinessWeek. Based on responses from admissions officers at over half of the top 30 business schools nationwide, the survey sought to glean current trends in the ap- plication process. The result is an enlightening snapshot of where the MBA admissions landscape is currently, and where it is likely headed in the next five years. www.veritasprep.com 2 Student Applications The MBA application process at top 30 U.S. business schools can be a complex and arduous exercise. Today, business schools re- ceive more applications than ever before for the same number of available seats, and the applicant demographic is shifting younger as applicants try to outmaneuver one another for an advantage in the process. In this dynamic landscape, applicants are urged to avoid common mistakes that irk admissions officers and jeopar- dize their chances of admission. • Carelesserrors(81%)rankedasthetopfauxpascom- mittedbyapplicants.Inconsistencybetweeninstitution- alchoiceandstudents’educationalobjectivesandambi- tionsrankedsecond,andtheinclusionofunrequested items and inappropriate interview conduct tied as the thirdmostcommonapplicationfauxpas. • Fortythreepercentsaidtheywouldnotpreferalarger applicant Trends in Childhood Cancer Incidence in the U.S. (1992–2004) Amy M. Linabery, MS, MPH 1 Julie A. Ross, PhD 1,2 1 Division of Pediatric Epidemiology and Clinical Research, Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. 2 University of Minnesota Cancer Center, Minnea- polis, Minnesota. BACKGROUND. The etiology of most pediatric neoplasms remains elusive. Exami- nation of population-based incidence data provides insight regarding etiology among various demographic groups and may result in new hypotheses. The objective of the current study was to present updated information regarding childhood cancer incidence and trends in the U.S. overall and among demo- graphic subgroups, including Asian/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics, for whom to the authors’ knowledge trends have not been previously examined. METHODS. Data obtained by 13 registries of the National Cancer Institute’s Surveil- lance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program were evaluated to assess incidence and trends of common primary cancers diagnosed between 1992 and 2004 among children aged birth to 19 years. Frequencies, age-adjusted incidence rates, and joinpoint regression results, including annual percent change (APC) in incidence rates (and 95% confidence intervals [95% CI]), were calculated. RESULTS. Between 1992 and 2004, a modest, nonsignificant increase in the average annual incidence rate (APC, 0.4%; 95% CI, 20.1%–0.8%) was observed for all pedi- atric cancer diagnoses combined. There was a suggestion of an increase in leuke- mia (APC, 0.7%; 95% CI, 20.1%–1.5%), and acute lymphoblastic leukemia in particular (APC, 0.8%; 95% CI, 20.4%–1.9%), whereas rates for central nervous sys- tem tumors overall were stable (APC, 20.1%; 95% CI, 21.1%–1.0%); 2 joinpoints were observed for astrocytoma. Rate increases were noted for hepatoblastoma (APC, 4.3%; 95% CI, 0.2%–8.7%) and melanoma (APC, 2.8%; 95% CI, 0.5%–5.1%). Differences by demographic group (sex, age, and race/ethnicity) are also described. CONCLUSIONS. The observed trends reinforce an ongoing need for population- based surveillance and further etiologic studies. Cancer 2008;112:416–32. Ó 2007 American Cancer Society. KEYWORDS: epidemiology, childhood cancer, incidence, trends. I t is estimated that in 2007, approximately 10,400 U.S. children aged birth to 14 years will develop cancer. 1 There have been ongoing public concerns regarding pediatric cancers, 2–6 underscor- ing a need to monitor incidence rates. The last comprehensive reports concerning U.S. incidence trends included data through 1995 7,8 ; incidence statistics are publicly available in the National Cancer Institute’s (NCI’s) annual Cancer Statistics Review (available at URL: http://seer.cancer.gov/publications). 9 Herein we provide data regarding recent childhood cancer incidence and trends, including an analysis of trends in several demographic groups. MATERIALS AND METHODS Data were obtained from the NCI’s Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) program. 10 With an estimated 98% case Address for reprints: Julie A. Ross, PhD, Depart- ment of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, 420 Delaware Street SE, MMC 422, Minneapolis, MN 55455; Fax: (612) 626-4842; E-mail: rossx014@ umn.edu Supported by National Institutes of Health Grant T32 CA099936 and the Children’s Cancer Research Fund. Received December 27, 2006; revision received August 14, 2007; accepted August 16, 2007. ª 2007 American Cancer Society DOI 10.1002/cncr.23169 Published online 11 December 2007 in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). 416 ascertainment rate, 11 the SEER 13 Genome Biology 2004, 5:R50 comment reviews reports deposited research refereed research interactions information Open Access 2004Kechriset al.Volume 5, Issue 7, Article R50 Method Detecting DNA regulatory motifs by incorporating positional trends in information content Katherina J Kechris *§ , Erik van Zwet *¶ , Peter J Bickel * and Michael B Eisen †‡ Addresses: * Department of Statistics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. † Department of Genome Sciences, Life Sciences Division, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Cyclotron Road, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. ‡ Center for Integrative Genomics, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. § Current address: Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, 600 16th Street 2240, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. ¶ Current address: Mathematical Institute, University Leiden, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. Correspondence: Katherina J Kechris. E-mail: kechris@genome.ucsf.edu © 2004 Kechris et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article: verbatim copying and redistribution of this article are permitted in all media for any purpose, provided this notice is preserved along with the article's original URL. Detecting DNA regulatory motifs by incorporating positional trends in information content<p>On the basis of the observation that conserved positions in transcription factor binding sites are often clustered together, we propose a simple extension to the model-based motif discovery methods. We assign position-specific prior distributions to the frequency parameters of the model, penalizing deviations from a specified conservation profile. Examples with both simulated and real data show that this exten-sion helps discover motifs as the data become noisier or when there is a competing false motif.</p> Abstract On the basis of the observation that conserved positions in transcription factor binding sites are often clustered together, we propose a simple extension to the model-based motif discovery methods. We assign position-specific prior distributions to the frequency parameters of the model, penalizing deviations from a specified conservation profile. Examples with both simulated and real data show that this extension helps discover motifs as the data become noisier or when there is a competing false motif. Background DNA-binding transcription factors have a crucial role in tran- scriptional regulation, linking nuclear DNA to the transcrip- tional regulatory machinery in a sequence-specific manner. Transcription factors generally bind to short, redundant fam- ilies of sequences. Although experimental methods exist to characterize the sequences bound by a given factor, the sys- tematic enumeration of transcription factor binding sites is greatly aided by computational methods that identify sequences or families of sequences that are enriched in spe- cific collections of regulatory DNA. Two major strategies exist to discover repeating sequence patterns occurring in both DNA and protein sequences: enu- meration and probabilistic sequence modeling. Enumeration strategies rely on word counting to find words that are over- represented [1]. Model-based methods represent the pattern as a matrix, called a motif, consisting of nucleotide base (or amino-acid residue) multinomial probabilities for each posi- tion in the pattern and different probabilities for background positions outside the pattern [2,3]. For example, Figure 1 shows the motif representation of the binding sites for the yeast transcription factor Gal4, which regulates the transcrip- tion of genes under galactose-rich conditions. The goal of the model-based methods is to estimate the parameters of this model, the position-specific and background multinomial probabilities, and then to determine likely occurrences of the motif by scoring sequence positions according to the esti- mated motif ... warming trends in lower part of Mangla catchment whereas in higher part of catchment cooling trends were observed 5.2 Trends in annual temperatures Table presents the results of trends analysis in. .. lies in Indian held Kashmir and 45% lies in Pakistan including Azad Kashmir Due to unavailability of data in Indian held catchment, so study area was confined in catchment carrying within Pakistan... for winter, spring and autumn seasons has strong warming trend in upper, medium and lower region of Upper Indus Basin (UIB) but in case of Mangla catchment 119 where mean and DTR is increasing