Assessing the resilience of water supply systems in Oman

Water systems in the Sultanate of Oman are inevitably exposed to varied threats and hazards due to both natural and man-made hazards. Natural disasters, especially tropical cyclone Gonu in 2007, cause immense damage to water supply systems in Oman. At the same time water loss from leaks is a major operational problem. This research developed an integrated approach to identify and rank the risks to the water sources, transmission pipelines and distribution networks in Oman and suggests appropriate mitigation measures. The system resilience was evaluated and an emergency response plan for the water supplies developed. The methodology involved mining the data held by the water supply utility for risk and resilience determination and operational data to support calculations of non-revenue water. Risk factors were identified, ranked and scored at a stakeholder workshop and the operational information required was principally gathered from interviews. Finally, an emergency response plan was developed by evaluating the risk and resilience factors. The risk analysis and assessment used a Coarse Risk Analysis (CRA) approach and risk scores were generated using a simple risk matrix based on WHO recommendations. The likelihoods and consequences of a wide range of hazardous events were identified through a key workshop and subsequent questionnaires. The thesis proposes a method of translating the detailed risk evaluations into resilience scores through a methodology used in transportation networks. A water audit indicated that the percentage of NRW in Oman is greater than 35% which is similar to other Gulf countries but high internationally. The principal strategy for managing NRW used in the research was the AWWA water audit method which includes free to use software and was found to be easy to apply in Oman. The research showed that risks to the main desalination processes can be controlled but the risk due to feed water quality might remain high even after implementing mitigation measures because the intake is close to an oil port with a significant risk of oil contamination and algal blooms. The most severe risks to transmission mains were found to be associated with pipe rather than pump failure. The systems in Oman were found to be moderately resilient, the resilience of desalination plants reasonably high but the transmission mains and pumping stations are very vulnerable. The integrated strategy developed in this study has a wide applicability, particularly in the Gulf area, which may have risks from exceptional events and will be experiencing NRW. Other developing countries may also experience such risks but with different magnitudes and the risk evaluation tables could provide a useful format for further work.

The Effect of Dietary Tartrazine on Brain Dopamine and the Behavioral Symptoms of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is a neurodevelopmental disorder correlated with a decrease in brain dopamine and an increase in behavioral symptoms of hyperactivity and impulsivity. This experiment explored how tartrazine (Yellow #5) impacts these symptoms. After tartrazine administration to Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats (SHR), dopamine concentrations in regions of brain tissue were measured using Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay analysis. Behavioral testing with a T-maze and open field test measured impulsivity and hyperactivity, respectively. Results indicate that dietary tartrazine increases hyperactive behaviors in the SHR. However, results do not indicate a relationship between dietary tartrazine and brain dopamine. No conclusions regarding the relationship between dietary tartrazine and impulsivity were drawn.

RELATIONAL MEMORY IN EARLY CHILDHOOD: DOES UNITIZATION HELP?

Young children often experience relational memory failures, which are thought to be due to underdeveloped recollection processes. Manipulations with adults, however, have suggested that relational memory tasks can be accomplished with familiarity, a processes that is fully developed during early childhood. The goal of the present study was to determine if relational memory performance could be improved in early childhood by teaching children a memory strategy (i.e., unitization) shown to increase familiarity in adults. Six- and 8-year old children were taught to use visualization strategies that either unitized or did not unitize pictures and colored borders. Analysis revealed inconclusive results regarding differences in familiarity between the two conditions, suggesting that the unitization memory strategy did not improve the contribution of familiarity as it has been shown to do in adults. Based on these findings, it cannot be concluded that unitization strategies increase the contribution of familiarity in childhood.

A three dimensional model of Caspian Sea circulation

Observations of Caspian Sea during August - September 1995 are used to develop a three dimensional numerical for calculating temperature and current. This period was chosen because of extensive set of observational data including surface temperature observations. Data from the meteorological buoy network on Caspian Sea are combined with routine observation at first order synoptic station around the lake to obtain hourly values of wind stress and pressure fields. Initial temperature distribution as a function of depth and horizontal coordinates are derived from ship cruises. The model has variable grid resolution and horizontal smoothing which filters out small scale vertical motion. The hydrodynamic model of Caspian Sea has 6 vertical levels and a uniform horizontal grid size of 50 km The model is driven with surface fluxes of heat and momentum derived from observed meteorological. The model was able to reproduce all of the basic feature of the thermal structure in Caspian sea and: larger scale circulation patterns tend to be cyclone, with cyclone circulation with each sub basin. Result has agreement with observations.

IG II(3) 914 - Decree concerning public physicians - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 928 - Fragment of a decree honoring a benefactor - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 933 - Fragment of a decree - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 936 - Fragment of a proxeny decree - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 969 - Fragment of a decree - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 984 - Fragment of an honorary decree - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 1001 - Fragment of a decree honoring an archon - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 1026 - Decree honoring a priestess of Athena Polias

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IG II(3) 1039 - Fragment of a decree - stoichedon

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IG II(3) 1110 - Fragment of a decree - stoichedon

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