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Water from the alluvium of ephemeral rivers in Zimbabwe is increasingly being used. These alluvial aquifers are recharged annually from infiltrating floodwater. Nonetheless, the size of this water resource is not without limit and an understanding of the hydrological processes of an alluvial aquifer is required for its sustainable management. This paper presents the development of a water balance model, which estimates the water level in an alluvial aquifer recharged by surface flow and rainfall, while allowing for abstraction, evaporation and other losses. The model is coupled with a watershed model, which generates inflows from upland catchment areas and tributaries. Climate, hydrological, land cover and geomorphological data were collected as inputs to both models as well as observed flow and water levels for model calibration and validation. The sand river model was found to be good at simulating the observed water level and was most sensitive to porosity and seepage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The old paternalistic system, where doctors could decide what to tell patients about the risks involved in a procedure, has gone. In this article, the authors describe how the requirements around informed consent are now clearly defined and need to be heeded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The objective of this research is to analyse temporal changes in historic rainfall variability across Scotland using different measures of variability. The CUSUM and sequential Mann-Kendall test applied to records from 28 weather stations with up to 80 years of daily precipitation data reveal the occurrence of abrupt changes in the rainfall trends. Most weather stations show a turning point between 1978 and 1985, although some stations situated in Eastern Scotland have more than one turning point. The temporal changes in rainfall variability across Scotland are presented using a number of measures of variability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper compares the overall water balance of two contrasting cities. Glasgow and Beijing have different soil and climate characteristics and also different water resource policies. Glasgow uses remote rural surface water catchments while Beijing relies more on groundwater. Both cities are introducing sustainable water management policies in various forms. In the case of Glasgow the policies are more directed to flood alleviation while in Beijing one of the drivers is groundwater recharge. The overall water balance of the two cities is modelled using an integrated three-stage numerical tank model. This model represents the processes of infiltration, evaporation, runoff and storage for both paved and unpaved surfaces and indicates the overall water balance over a typical year. The results of the modelling highlight the importance of evaporation in the overall urban water balance and the potential for using stormwater runoff to reduce water demand or to recharge groundwater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article is based on the Nephrology chapter in Medical Mistakes – Key Medical Issues in Clinical Negligence Cases published by Claerhout Publishing in 2007. It provides an overview of renal medicine, how renal problems are detected, common diseases of the kidneys and treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of water balance is frequently used to describe the main hydrological processes occurring in natural catchments. It can also be applied to urban catchments and in this paper the water balance principle is applied to small-scale samples of various paving materials. In particular, the relative importance of runoff, evaporation and infiltration is studied. This paper discusses these processes and describes some experimental measurements of water balance on various paving materials and the moisture content distribution within the materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comparative study of estimating the day-length, S 0, and extraterrestrial radiation, H, is conducted, with special reference to Sudan. Due to the definitions of the formulae of Cooper and Hay, differences in S 0-values are normal; however, the former formula revealed excellent agreement with data on the duration between sunrise and sunset. Hence, the paper recommends adopting Cooper's method for computing S 0 for Sudan. With regard to H 0, the use of the average days for the months, as recommended by Klein, has depicted no substantial errors. This has also been found true for day-length computations. The study further accentuates that the amount of solar energy available in Sudan is significantly large to be used for industrial purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The world of clinical negligence is facing and will continue to face major upheavals in the delivery of justice. The speciality depends on a heady witch's brew of claimants, doctors, experts, lawyers and judiciary, not to mention the political interests of the legislature, the financial interests of the accountants and, finally and most importantly, the moral interests of society. From our jaded perspective of about 40 years joint experience in the medico-legal skin trade we offer the benefits of our wisdom. In the dark moments late at night, answering difficult questions from lawyers, we do understand that 'Medical experts are like sewers - what you get out of them depends on what you put into them' (after Tom Lehrer) but we believe that the ideal instructing lawyer is able to prepare the scene in such a way that we can produce prompt, excellent and clear advice to our legal colleagues. In this article we set out to explore the relationship between medical experts and lawyers by examining the characteristics of the bad lawyer, as it was in the past, is now and might be in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PURPOSE AND PATIENTS AND METHODS: The purpose of this article is to report the experience of three centers with combined hepatic and renal transplantation for pyridoxine-resistant primary hyperoxaluria type I (alanine:glyoxylate aminotransferase [EC 2.6.1.44] deficiency), with particular emphasis on the selection criteria and timing of the operation. Nine patients with this inherited disease were treated by combined hepatic and renal transplantation. The former replaces the enzyme-deficient organ while the latter replaces the functionally affected organ. RESULTS: One patient with gross systemic oxalosis died in the immediate postoperative period and another died 8 weeks postoperatively of a generalized cytomegalovirus infection, having shown evidence of biochemical correction. One patient with particularly severe osteodystrophy at the time of the operation died 14 months postoperatively from renal failure due to progressive calcium oxalate nephrocalcinosis involving the transplanted kidney, plus thromboembolic disease. He also had very extensive systemic oxalosis. An additional patient with severe osteodystrophy died 9 months postoperatively. One patient developed hyper-rejection of the kidney and died later of gastrointestinal hemorrhage. The four long-term survivors (22 to 38 months) have remained asymptomatic from the standpoint of their renal disease, with resolution of any manifestations of systemic oxalosis that they may have had. They are either employed or continuing their education. CONCLUSIONS: A prolonged period of end-stage renal failure treated by dialysis regimens that are suitable for non-hyperoxaluric renal failure and extensive systemic oxalosis, particularly oxalotic osteodystrophy, are poor prognostic features. We propose that hepatic transplantation should be considered as definitive treatment before end-stage renal failure develops. This should be supplemented by renal transplantation with vigorous pre- and perioperative hemodialysis to... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]