Assessing climate and land-use change impacts on streamflow in a mountainous catchment
JOURNAL OF WATER AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Authors: Liu, Qiang; Liang, Liqiao; Cai, Yanpeng; Wang, Xuan; Li, Chunhui
Abstract
It is essential to assess streamflow response to climate and land-use change in catchment basins that serve cities and their surrounding areas. This study used the Distributed Hydrology Soil Vegetation Model (DHSVM) to simulate streamflow under different climate and land-use change scenarios in the Dashi River catchment, China. The most sensitive soil parameters were maximum infiltration, porosity, field capacity, and wilting point, while the most sensitive vegetation parameters were leaf area index (LAI) and vegetation height. The suitability of the DHSVM model was aligned with Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficients (NSE) greater than 0.41 and 0.84 at daily and monthly scales, respectively. Streamflow increased/decreased with increasing/decreasing precipitation, while it decreased with increasing air temperature. Furthermore, streamflow decreased with the increase in forestland due to higher water consumption, especially during summer. Results from this study could help us to better understand streamflow response to changes in climate and land use.
Long-term prognosis and predictors of outcomes after negative stress echocardiography
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CARDIOVASCULAR IMAGING
Authors: Rachwan, Rayan Jo; Mshelbwala, Fakilahyel S.; Bou Chaaya, Rody G.; El-Am, Edward A.; Sabra, Mohammad; Dardari, Zeina; Jaradat, Ziad A.; Batal, Omar
Abstract
Negative stress echocardiography (NSE) is associated with low cardiovascular morbidity and overall mortality. We aimed to determine the clinical and echocardiographic predictors of overall and cardiovascular outcomes following NSE. Patients who underwent SE between 2013 and 2017 were reviewed. Patients with a history of solid organ transplant or being evaluated for transplant, history of end-stage renal or liver disease, and positive SE were excluded. NSE results were divided into negative diagnostic if patient reached target heart rate (THR) and had no wall motion abnormality (WMA) at rest or stress; negative non-diagnostic if patient had no WMA but did not reach THR or if image quality was non-diagnostic; and abnormal non-ischemic if patient had a resting WMA not worsened at stress along with a personal history of coronary artery disease (CAD). New CAD lesion at 1 year was defined as >= 50% stenosis on cardiac catheterization. Of 4119 patients with SE, 2575 were included. All-cause mortality rate was 1.1%/year and CAD rate was 3.1%/year. Predictors of all-cause mortality were age, male gender, history of smoking and being selected for dobutamine SE. Predictors of a new CAD lesion at 1 year were male gender, diabetes, personal history of CAD and abnormal non-ischemic SE. We identified clinical and echocardiographic characteristics in a subset of NSE patients who are at higher risk for subsequent adverse events. These characteristics should be accounted for during the clinical interpretation of SE, and patients found at increased risk for morbidity and mortality warrant continued follow-up.