The big story

When a mega-policy issue--health care reform--runs up against the Information Age, the result is likely to be increased earnings and career-making opportunities for journalists.     

A note on the equality of distribution of child mortality: Java-Bali, 1950-1976

Infant mortality is a widely recognized social indicator that is a useful index of the relative socioeconomic condition of subgroups of the population of a developing country. In developed countries, a more appropriate indicator of mortality is the proportion of babies who die before they reach their 5th birthday. 3 birth cohorts are identified from data provided by the Indonesian Fertility Survey conducted in Java and Bali in 1976 in order to examine the trend in mortality: births occurring 15 or more years before the survey, 10-14 years before the survey, and 5-9 years before the survey. 4 characteristics of parents related to education, occupation and urban vs. rural residence are used to analyze child mortality trends. A table shows the estimates for various combinations of these characteristics. Child mortality has decreased, but more importantly, it has decreased most for parents on the low end of the socioeconomic scale. Either parent having secondary education appears to be the key factor in the experience of low child mortality, although as more parents achieve secondary education, another factor may emerge as more important.     

拉丁美洲水电项目进展

在拉丁美洲众多水电项目中,秘鲁的切夫斯工程和奥尔莫斯工程,以及巴拿马奇里基梯级水电站项目进展较为顺利,这些项目因地下开挖及隧洞施工难度大而备受关注.目前切夫斯水电站处于施工前期阶段,奥尔莫斯引水项目近期将完成TBM施工,奇里基梯级水电站项目施工进展则介于前两者之间.介绍了这3个水电项目的施工进展情况.     

Water network cost optimization in a paper mill based on a new library of mathematical models

The increasing costs associated with water supply and the disposal of wastewater has stimulated industries to seek more efficient water management systems. Mathematical modelling and simulation can be a very valuable tool for the study of the multiple alternatives available whilst assessing optimum solutions for water management in industry. This study introduces a new steady state model library able to reproduce industrial water circuits. It has been implemented in a novel software framework for the representation, simulation and optimization of industrial water networks. A water circuit representing a paper mill has been modelled and simulated showing the capability to reproduce real case studies. Alternative scenarios for the water network have also been tested to assess the capability of the models to optimize water circuits minimizing total cost.     

In-house contamination of potable water in urban slum of Kolkata, India: a possible transmission route of diarrhea

We have investigated and determined the potentiality of different water sources, both for drinking and domestic purposes, in diarrheal disease transmission in diarrhea endemic foci of urban slums in Kolkata, India in a one and half year prospective study. Out of 517 water samples, collected from different sources, stored water (washing) showed higher prevalence of fecal coliforms (58%) (p < 0.0001) in comparison with stored (drinking) samples (28%) and tap/tubewell water (8%) respectively. Among different sources, stored water (washing) samples had the highest non-permissible range of physico-chemical parameters. Fecal coliform levels in household water containers (washing) were comparatively high and almost 2/3 of these samples failed to reach the satisfactory level of residual chlorine. Interestingly, 7% stored water (washing) samples were found to be harboring Vibrio cholerae Improper usage of stored water and unsafe/poor sanitation practices such as hand washing etc. are highlighted as contributory factors for sustained diarrheal episodes. Vulnerability of stored water for domestic usage, a hitherto unexplored source, at domiciliary level in an urban slum where enteric infections are endemic, is reported for the first time. This attempt highlights the impact of quality of stored water at domiciliary level for fecal-oral contamination vis-à-vis disease transmission.     

Economic assessment of climate adaptation options for urban drainage design in Odense, Denmark

Climate change is likely to influence the water cycle by changing the precipitation patterns, in some cases leading to increased occurrences of precipitation extremes. Urban landscapes are vulnerable to such changes due to the concentrated population and socio-economic values in cities. Feasible adaptation requires better flood risk quantification and assessment of appropriate adaptation actions in term of costs and benefits. This paper presents an economic assessment of three prevailing climate adaptation options for urban drainage design in a Danish case study, Odense. A risk-based evaluation framework is used to give detailed insights of the physical and economic feasibilities of each option. Estimation of marginal benefits of adaptation options are carried out through a step-by-step cost-benefit analysis. The results are aimed at providing important information for decision making on how best to adapt to urban pluvial flooding due to climate impacts in cities.