Natural Flood Management (NFM) is receiving much attention in the United Kingdom and across Europe and is now widely seen as a valid solution to help sustainably manage flood risk whilst offering significant multiple benefits. However, there is little empirical evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of NFM interven-

There is evidence to suggest that modern rural land-use management practices have led to increased runoff production at the farm scale. There are concerns that this may have contributed to downstream flooding of towns/villages, especially during intense local storm events. This paper presents an investigation into the potential attenuation of rural runoff through the application of soft-engineered structures upstream of flood-prone settlements, through a demonstration of ongoing initiatives in the Belford catchment, Northumberland (5.7 km 2 ). The soft-engineered features that have been considered in the study include storage ponds, barriers, bunds, and the planting of vegetation and the positioning of woody debris in the riparian zone. The Belford study has been active since November 2007 and is yielding an abundance of good-quality data, including several significant flood events, on how runoff propagates through the small rural catchment and causes flooding of the village, and how flood propagation can be attenuated using Runoff Attenuation Features (RAFs). Plate 1 RAF (Example 1) -Full of water following a storm event in September 2008 (left: from Wilkinson et al. 2010b; right: demonstrating permeability) 466 Nicholson et al.

Abstract. The Yangtze River basin is home to more than 400 million people and contributes to nearly half of China's food production. Therefore, planning for climate change impacts on water resource discharges is essential. We used a physically based distributed hydrological model, Shetran, to simulate discharge in the Yangtze River just below the Three Gorges Dam at Yichang (1 007 200 km 2 ), obtaining an excellent match between simulated and measured daily discharge, with Nash-Sutcliffe efficiencies of 0.95 for the calibration period (1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000) and 0.92 for the validation period (2001)(2002)(2003)(2004)(2005). We then used a simple monthly delta change approach for 78 climate model projections (35 different general circulation models -GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) to examine the effect of climate change on river discharge for 2041-2070 for Representative Concentration Pathway 8.5. Projected changes to the basin's annual precipitation varied between −3.6 and +14.8 % but increases in temperature and consequently evapotranspiration (calculated using the Thornthwaite equation) were projected by all CMIP5 models, resulting in projected changes in the basin's annual discharge from −29.8 to +16.0 %. These large differences were mainly due to the predicted expansion of the summer monsoon north and west into the Yangtze Basin in some CMIP5 models, e.g. CanESM2, but not in others, e.g. CSIRO-Mk3-6-0. This was despite both models being able to simulate current climate well. Until projections of the strength and location of the monsoon under a future climate improve, large uncertainties in the direction and magnitude of future change in discharge for the Yangtze will remain.

Various concentrations of L-dopa (levodopa, L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) were incorporated in the diets of young male Swisg albino mice, and the highest coneentrations to which these mice became adapted within 3 weeks were determined. One such concentration administered indefinitely eventually indticed a youthful appearance, a signifilantly prolonged life-span, but also corneal opaeities compatible with traumatic or chemical keratitis.The use of idopa (L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, levodopa) in the long-term treatment of Parkinson's disease, a chronic affliction, necessitates initial adaptation to high doses followed by sustained consumption of this amino acid (1, 2). Like other long-term regimens, treatment with t-dopa requires the physician's skill and care and the patient's cooperation, and even so, certain side effects can emerge (3). Shortly after the publication of papers describing the therapeutic effects of L-dopa (1, 2), many kinds of illness in patients with Parkinsonism wete being ascribed by others to idopa as its side effects, whether or not the recommended regimen was followed. The accruing literature, too voluminous even for references here, gave rise to fears about the long-term influence of idopa on patients' general health. These fears have been slow to recede despite (i) subsequent reports that iLdopa is the most effective drug for treating Parkinson's disease (see ref. 4) and (ii) the fact that no deaths of treated patients have been ascribed to idopa, in sharp contrast to findings with all other major drugs.In our investigations on the effects of L dopa on general health, we initiated animal experiments to supplement our long-term observations on human patients. Since life-span can be considered as an indicator of health, we determined the maximal concentrations of -dopa incorporated in the chow to which mice could become adapted so that we could then study the effects of a very high concentration on longevity. The results show that this amino acid could either kill the mice or significantly extend their life-span and apparent prime of life, depending on the way it was given. Some of the longevity data, although preliminary, are being presented here to expedite studies of the relevance of these long-lasting experiments to human patients. MATERIALS AND METHODSAnimals. Most of the animals were 4-5 week-old, male Swiss albino mice of the Hale-Stoner strain. In some experiments females of the same strain and age, and aging males, were also used. Cages containing six mice (or two, in the case of aging males) were kept in air-conditioned rooms with controlled humidity, lighted 12 hr each day.Diets. Ground Purina chow was given freely, plain for the controls and with certain concentrations of idopa (levodopa, i-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine, Nutritional Biochem. Corp.) added for the test mice. The Purina chow itself, in contrast to some other rodent diets (5, 6), did not contain a measurable amount of idopa. The different -dopa concentrations in the chow mixtures, as determined spectrofl...

No abstract

No abstract

The Pitt Review of the 2007 summer floods in the UK, published in 2008, commended the potential of natural flood management (NFM) for reducing flood risk. NFM is a nature‐based approach that has since gained substantial interest from both practitioners and academics. The review further highlighted the need for catchment‐based flood management (CBFM) to enhance resilience to flooding and climate change by incorporating NFM and wider nature‐based solutions into hard flood protection systems. Such integrated approaches are considered to be more sustainable and adaptable than the traditional hard‐engineered measures. More recently, the European Commission's European Green Deal also highlighted the need for greater use of nature‐based solutions including NFM for managing flood risk. Whilst there have been many attempts to quantify the effects of NFM through hydraulic and hydrological modelling, there is still no systematic review conducted for these modelling works. This review aims to summarise the current NFM modelling approaches, as well as discussing their key limitations related to data, model methods, and real‐world applications. This paper then goes further to highlight potential solutions to some of these challenges and provides guidance to assist modellers to improve future modelling and data collection process.

No abstract