Views of South Asian Physicians on Climate Related Health Effects: A Multinational Cross-Sectional Pilot Study

Background: South Asian populations are vulnerable to poor health outcomes associated with climate due to the region’s complex topography, poverty, lack of education, and population density. Physicians, being highly trusted members of society, can help mitigate climate change effects in their countries. Objectives: The present study assessed perceptions of physicians from four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Pakistan). We hypothesized that physicians from these countries will be aware and knowledgeable about health effects of climate change. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of physicians between March and July 2022. Data of 201 physicians was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn’s post hoc method. Results: Physicians from four South Asian countries were attuned to the health risks associated with climate change. A majority of physicians (86.6%) believed that climate change would make health conditions in their countries more severe or frequent (Bangladesh 83.3%;Bhutan 70%;India 91% and Pakistan 90.8%). The most common health effect related to climate change was illnesses related to reduced outdoor air quality (54.3%). Common barriers to discuss climate change with patients from all four countries were physicians’ lack of knowledge (strongly agree, 13.8%;agree 47.7%) in how to approach the issue with patients, lack of time (strongly agree, 12%;agree, 48%) and their perception that patients were not interested in knowing about climate change (strongly agree, 8.6%;agree, 42.6%). More than half (56.2%) of the physicians reported no training (Bangladesh, 51.7%;Bhutan, 80%;India, 44.6%;Pakistan, 63.1%) and approximately 30% reported less than 20 hours of training (Bangladesh, 28.3%;Bhutan, 15.0%;India, 39.3%;Pakistan, 27.7%) in climate-change-related health effects. Conclusion: While additional large-scale research is needed to understand the trends observed in our pilot study, our findings identify the need to introduce interventions to improve physicians’ knowledge of the health impacts of climate crisis.

氟硅油合成工艺与应用性能研究进展

该文总结了氟硅油的制备方法,包括硅氢加成法、水解法、开环聚合法,并讨论了分子结构对性能的影响,包括氟硅油多种界面功能的作用机理、氟-硅协同效应等。此外,该文还综述了氟硅油作为润滑剂、消泡剂、整理剂、超疏水材料的研究应用现状。氟硅油应用过程中,以有机磷化合物、硅醇铁等为添加剂能有效地提升氟硅油的抗剪切性、抗氧化性;在分子链中引入聚醚或氨基等制备共改性硅油,能够有效地提升氟硅油的表面性能。最后,对于氟硅油的发展方向和应用前景进行了展望。

A multi-purpose National Forest Inventory in Bangladesh:design,operationalisation and key results

Background:National forest inventory and forest monitoring systems are more important than ever considering continued global degradation of trees and forests.These systems are especially important in a country like Bangladesh,which is characterised by a large population density,climate change vulnerability and dependence on natural resources.With the aim of supporting the Government’s actions towards sustainable forest management through reliable information,the Bangladesh Forest Inventory(BFI)was designed and implemented through three components:biophysical inventory,socio-economic survey and remote sensing-based land cover mapping.This article documents the approach undertaken by the Forest Department under the Ministry of Environment,Forests and Climate Change to establish the BFI as a multipurpose,efficient,accurate and replicable national forest assessment.The design,operationalization and some key results of the process are presented.Methods:The BFI takes advantage of the latest and most well-accepted technological and methodological approaches.Importantly,it was designed through a collaborative process which drew from the experience and knowledge of multiple national and international entities.Overall,1781 field plots were visited,6400 households were surveyed,and a national land cover map for the year 2015 was produced.Innovative technological enhancements include a semi-automated segmentation approach for developing the wall-to-wall land cover map,an object-based national land characterisation system,consistent estimates between sample-based and mapped land cover areas,use of mobile apps for tree species identification and data collection,and use of differential global positioning system for referencing plot centres.Results:Seven criteria,and multiple associated indicators,were developed for monitoring progress towards sustainable forest management goals,informing management decisions,and national and international reporting needs.A wide range of biophysical and socioeconomic data were collected,and in some cases integrated,for estimating the indicators.Conclusions:The BFI is a new information source tool for helping guide Bangladesh towards a sustainable future.Reliable information on the status of tree and forest resources,as well as land use,empowers evidence-based decision making across multiple stakeholders and at different levels for protecting natural resources.The integrated socioeconomic data collected provides information about the interactions between people and their tree and forest resources,and the valuation of ecosystem services.The BFI is designed to be a permanent assessment of these resources,and future data collection will enable monitoring of trends against the current baseline.However,additional institutional support as well as continuation of collaboration among national partners is crucial for sustaining the BFI process in future.

Long-term manure application increased soil organic carbon and nitrogen mineralization through accumulation of unprotected and physically protected carbon fractions

Soil organic carbon(SOC)and nitrogen(N)mineralization are important biogeochemical processes associated with soil fertility.These processes are influenced by physically,chemically,and biologically stabilized SOC fractions,the mechanisms of which are not well known.The present study was conducted to evaluate the combined effect of manure and mineral fertilizers on the contents of SOC fractions to promote the mineralization of SOC and N.Treatments included:i)no fertilizer control(CK);ii)a combination of mineral N,phosphorus,and potassium fertilizers(NPK);iii)manure alone(M);iv)manure combined with NPK(MNPK);and v)a high dose of manure combined with NPK(hMNPK).The combined uses of manure and mineral fertilizers(MNPK and hMNPK)enhanced the accumulation of the unprotected coarse particulate organic carbon(C)fraction(cPOC)by 44%-72%compared to CK.Manure applications(M,MNPK and hMNPK)enhanced physically microaggregate-protected organic C(μagg),physicochemically protected organic C within the microaggregate-derived silt(μsilt)fraction(H-μsilt),and physicobiochemically protected organic C within theμsilt fraction(NH-μsilt)by 30%-56%,62%-150%,and 27%-51%,respectively.In contrast,all chemically and biochemically protected SOC fractions showed a minor response to manure application.Accumulation of cPOC,μagg,H-μsilt,and physicochemically protected organic C within the microaggregate-derived clay fraction(H-μclay)significantly contributed to the mineralization of SOC and N,resulting in a significant increase in rice grain yield with long-term manure application.In summary,long-term combined use of manure and mineral fertilizers improved SOC accumulation in unprotected and physically protected fractions,which enhanced SOC and N mineralization and benefited soil productivity in a rice-wheat cropping system.

Slippery Photothermal Trap for Outstanding Deicing Surfaces

Ice accumulation is a safety and operational threat in power lines,wind turbines,and transportations.Surfaces having both passive anti-icing and active deicing functionalities are very rare.Here,we report a self-cleaning slippery photothermal trap,which is icephobic passively and deice the surfaces actively by converting sun light to heat at the ice-substrate interface.The photothermal trap consists of three layers:a candle soot layer act as solar radiation absorber,a magnetic iron oxide Fe_(3)O_(4) nanoparticles layer act as heat spreader for lateral dispersal of sun light,and Room Temperature Vulcanized(RTV)insulation to reduce the transverse heat loss.Upon illumination under microsolar 300,the temperature of the surface increased by 40℃ within 200 s.The heat confinement at the magnetic Fe_(3)O_(4) na-noparticles layer leads to rapid increase of the surface temperature,ice start to melt and silicone lubricant facilitates the ice removal.The slippery photothermal trap removed the frozen droplet(10 fiL)within 40 s upon the illumination of sun light and the frozen droplet was completely converted into water after 7 min illumination of solar light at-20℃.The developed slippery photothermal trap also melted the fully frost covered layer within 100 s at-20℃ under sunlamp.The average defrosted length(25 mm)was also observed by irradiation of laser light for 45 s.The self-cleaning slippery photothermal coating showed outstanding deicing performance at subzero temperature for long term due to the infusion of silicone oil into the nanostructures and same chemical composition with binder.

Performance evaluation of multicast relay network using LDPC and convolutional channel codes along-with XOR network coding

In this paper, we have compared the performance of joint network channel coding （JNCC） for multicast relay network using low density parity check （LDPC） codes and Convolutional codes as channel codes while exclusive or （XOR） network coding used at the intermediate relay nodes. Multicast relay transmission is a type of transmission scheme in which two fixed relay nodes contribute in the second hop of end-to-end transmission between base transceiver station （BTS） and a pair of mobile stations. We have considered one way and two way multicast scenarios to evaluate the bit error rate （BER） and throughput performance. It has been shown that when using XOR network coding at the intermediate relay nodes, the same transmission becomes possible in less time slots hence throughput performance can be improved. Moreover we have also discussed two possible scenarios in the proposed system model, in which both diversity and multiplexing gain has been considered. It is worth notifying that BER and throughput achieved for LDPC codes is better than Convolutional codes for all the schemes discussed.

A flexible nickel phthalocyanine resistive random access memory with multi-level data storage capability

Metal phthalocyanine is considered one of the most promising candidates for the design and fabrication of flexible resistive random access memory(RRAM)devices due to its intrinsic flexibility and excellent functionality.However,performance degradation and the lack of multi-level capability,which can directly expand the storage capacity in one memory cell without sacrificing additional layout area,are the primary obstacles to the use of metal phthalocyanine RRAMs in information storage.Here,a flexible RRAM with pristine nickel phthalocyanine(Ni Pc)as the resistive layer is reported for multi-level data storage.Due to its high trap-concentration,the charge transport behavior of the device agrees well with classical space charge limited conduction controlled by traps,leading to an excellent performance,including a high on-off current ratio of 10^(7),a long-term retention of 10^(6)s,a reproducible endurance over6000 cycles,long-term flexibility at a bending strain of 0.6%,a write speed of 50 ns under sequential bias pulses and the capability of multi-level data storage with reliable retention and uniformity.