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Sediment delivery to reservoirs causes a reduction in storage capacity, leading to emergency water conditions and difficulties in managing water resources and dams, especially on dry land. This paper presents a methodology for calculating the time period of sedimentation-induced operational failures of a water supply dam, based on the reservoir’s daily water balance equation. The method applies a shot noise stochastic model to generate daily streamflow data calibrated with historical data, and accounts for sedimentation rates and the water volumes supplied to users. A Monte Carlo simulation was employed to generate different combinations of inflow and water supply release scenarios. The proposed methodology, which is completely generalizable, was applied in a case study of the Camastra reservoir in southern Italy. The results were in good agreement with the reservoir’s historical operational data.

Teaching science is a dynamic process. Along with the advancement of technology, the methodology of the teaching process must be innovative to adapt to the current trends of education. Teachers then are prompted with perseverance to the task of providing innovative answers to modern need of the science curriculum. This quasi - experimental study aimed to determine the effect of model making as a tool in teaching selected human body systems. The study was conducted to a total of 102 university freshmen enrolled in Biological Sciences. Pre-test, post-test and interview guide were conducted to gather the data. Analysis on the pre-test and post-test scores revealed a significant improvement on the performance of the students. Furthermore, the group when exposed to the model making activity showed a significant mean difference between the pre-test and the post-test scores. The feedback of the students indicated that the model making activity made the learning process more challenging and interesting. Results showed that with model making, the teaching of selected human organ systems is effective. Model making, therefore, could be an alternative teaching technique to enhance students’ creative thinking and better understanding of the concept.Keywords: Education Model Making, Teaching Technique, Human Organ Systems, Quasi-experimental Design, Philippines

Reservoir silting is an unavoidable issue. It is estimated that in Italy, the potential rate of silting-up in large reservoirs ranges from 0.1% to 1% in the presence of wooded river basins and intensive agricultural land use, respectively. In medium and small-sized reservoirs, these values vary between 0.3% and 2%. Considering both the types of reservoirs, the annual average loss of storage capacity would be of about 1.59%. In this paper, a management strategy aimed at sediment productive reuse is presented. Particularly, the main engineering outcomes of an extensive experimental program on geopolymer binder synthesis is reported. The case study deals with Occhito reservoir, located in Southern Italy. Clay sediments coming from this silted-up artificial lake were characterized, calcined and activated, by means of a wide set of alkaline activating solutions. The results showed the feasibility of this recovery process, optimizing a few chemical parameters. The possible reuse in building material production (binders, precast concrete, bricks, etc.) represents a relevant sustainable alternative to landfill and other more consolidated practices.

Present work introduces the sustainable useful storage capacity as the minimum storage capacity able to satisfy the water demand for drinkable, industrial and irrigational purposes and necessary in order to overcome water deficit situations which, at least in Central Southern Italy, occur in the summer, when agricultural demand is really high. Sediment volumes to be removed from the reservoir bottom will be calculated as the difference between the current and the sustainable useful storage capacities of the reservoir in study. The calculation methodology of the useful sustainable storage capacity, based on the reservoir water balance between inflows at the reservoir and water demand, has been applied to the Camastra reservoir (Basilicata, Southern Italy), for which numerous reliable data including more than 40 years of inflows and water supplied volumes and data relative to 7 bathymetric surveys are available. Result analysis shows that this methodology, at least in the study case, enables sediment quantities to be removed more sustainably from a technical, economical and environmental point of view.

An experimental data-gathering project was carried out on two boulding aggregations of limited size in the urban area of Naples. Flow-rate measurements were continuously taken during a period of 24 h while the delivered volumes were recorded for approximately three years. The pattern of water demand in the day of maximum consumption is presented in a histogram of the hourly distribution which allows the hourly and istantaneous peak coefficients to be determined. The determination of the average daily consumption per year and the daily peak coefficient is made possible by the availability of quarterly invoicings.

In the present work, the migration of chemicals through the unsaturated zone of the aquifers has been analysed, with particular reference to the infiltration of petrol and diesel oil. According to the flow and transport basic equations for the vadose zone, we have investigated the relationship between the hydro-geological characteristics of the porous formation, the physical/chemical properties of the contaminant and its fate after release.We have focused on a simple model [GroundWater 25 (1990)] which needs a limited number of parameters and allows to derive very practical remediation criteria. Even though the method analysed in this paper was tested in laboratory for homogeneous porous media, the results of its application to a real case of contamination, here presented, shows that it is able to provide very useful information also for heterogeneous media allowing to estimate the time of transition of contaminants that could be classified as non-aqueous phase liquids through the vadose zone

We hypothesized that the negative functional effects of cyclic GMP (cGMP) are attenuated by cyclic AMP (cAMP) and this interaction is reduced in pacing-induced failure of hypertrophic hearts. 8-Bromo-cyclic-GMP (8Br) (2 μg/kg/min) was infused into the left anterior descending artery (LAD) in eight control, eight ventricular hypertrophy (LVH), and eight pacing-induced failure (failure) dogs. After return to baseline, isoproterenol (0.1 μg/kg/min) was infused, followed by 8Br. Regional myocardial work [force ∗ segment shortening], and O 2 consumption (VO 2 ) [coronary blood flow ∗ O 2 extraction] were measured. cGMP levels were determined by radioimmunoassay. 8Br decreased regional work from 3812 ± 839 g ∗ mm/min by 17% ( P = 0.05) and VO 2 by 29% ( P = 0.05) in control, but not in LVH (from 1073 ± 182 by −10%, VO 2 by −16%) or failure (from 495 ± 145 by −9%, VO 2 by 0%). Isoproterenol increased work by 43% and VO2 by 48% in controls ( P = 0.05) and in LVH (work by 54%, VO 2 by 39%; P = 0.05) but not in failure (work by −28%, VO 2 by −5%). Subsequently, 8Br had no effect on work or VO 2 in control (−2%, −13%), LVH (−12%, −30%), or failure (+13%, +14%). cAMP levels were elevated by isoproterenol in control (381 ± 115 pmol/g versus 553 ± 199 pmol/g) and LVH (313 ± 55 versus 486 ± 227; P = 0.05), but not in failure (300 ± 60 versus 284 ± 126). After isoproterenol, 8Br further elevated cAMP in control (687 ± 122; P = 0.05), but not in LVH or failure. In controls, cAMP attenuates cGMP’s negative functional and metabolic effects. This interaction is blunted in LVH and pacing-induced failure.