Field Performance of an EcoVault Facility for Stormwater Quality Treatment

As urbanization accelerates, stormwater management in cities has shifted from focusing strictly on water quantity to addressing water quality. Traditionally implemented systems, such as stormwater ponds, while offering effective solutions, often require large land areas to implement, making them impractical for dense urban environments. Underground stormwater systems, like EcoVault, offer a more compact solution; however, they lack scientific studies under real-world conditions to prove their effectiveness in treating pollutants. This study evaluates the treatment performance of two parallel EcoVault systems with the same design, consisting of a sedimentation step and a filtration step. These facilities were retrofitted into two different stormwater sewer networks draining two urban catchments. The systems were assessed for their ability to treat total suspended solids, metals, nutrients, and organic pollutants from urban runoff. Over 15 rain events, the average total suspended solids (TSS) removal rate was 40% for EcoVault A and 46% for EcoVault B. The removal rates for metals varied, with EcoVault B showing better performance for average metal treatment (53% for Cu and 58% for Zn). However, neither EcoVault system removed dissolved metals, often with an increase of dissolved metal concentration in the effluent. The filtration step did not contribute to pollutant treatment, likely due to clogging and high hydraulic loading rates. The study highlighted the potential of underground stormwater treatment in areas with limited space availability, while identifying challenges such as treatment of dissolved pollutants.Validerad;2025;Nivå 1;2025-11-11 (u2);Full text: CC BY license;This article has previously appeared as a manuscript in a thesis.</p

Sterile water injections for managing abdominal labour contraction pain : A randomised double blind placebo-controlled trial

Background: Sterile water injections have been demonstrated to effectively manage back pain experienced during labour with no side effects other than the administration pain. Abdominal labour pain differs to back pain in location and likely physiological derivation. It is not known if sterile water injections would be efficacious in the relief of abdominal labour contraction pain. Objective: To assess the efficacy of sterile water injections to reduce abdominal labour contraction pain. Design: A two-arm superiority randomised placebo-controlled trial. Setting: A referral maternity hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Participants: Women in spontaneous or induced labour at term requesting analgesia. Methods: Between April 2022 and November 2023 consenting participants were assigned (1:1) by an independently generated randomisation schedule to injections of either sterile water or saline placebo. The primary outcome was the difference between groups in self-reported visual analogue pain score at 30 min following allocated treatment. Secondary outcomes included use of pharmacologic analgesia following allocation. Analysis was by intention to treat. Results: 160 women were randomised to sterile water injections (n = 81) or injections of saline placebo (n = 79). Seven participants withdrew prior to treatment. Primary outcome data was provided by 68 women (intervention) and 64 (placebo). The mean visual analogue scores at 30 min were: intervention: 52.13 mm (with 100 mm indicating worst conceivable pain) and placebo: 71.14 mm; mean difference: − 19.00 mm (95 % Confidence interval (CI) − 26.10 to − 11.91). Pain scores in the secondary repeated measures model at 60 min post treatment were (61.28 mm vs.76.15 mm) − 14.84 (95 % CI − 22.23 to − 7.46). There was no difference in pain scores at 90 min, use of other pharmacological analgesia, or maternal or neonatal outcomes. Conclusion: Sterile water injections provided a statistically significant reduction in pain when compared to a placebo for up to 60 min following treatment. However, the use of other pharmacological analgesia such as epidural did not differ between groups. Trial registration: The trial is registered at the Australian and New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry (Trial ID: ACTRN12621001036808). Registration date 5/08/2021. First recruitment 29th April 2022.CC BY 4.0© 2025Correspondence Address: N. Lee; School of Nursing Midwifery and Social Work, Level 3 Chamberlain Building, University of Queensland, St Lucia, 4072, Australia; email: [email protected]; CODEN: IJNUAThe trial was funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Australian Federal Government (2006488). Dr Nigel Lee is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leadership Fellowship (EL1) (2016432). The funders had no role in the design of the study, the data collection, the data analysis, interpretation of data, or writing of the manuscript.</p

Neighborhood social structure in Sweden: A latent transition analysis using registry data from 1991 to 2020

Background: Neighborhoods shape daily life through physical and social structures, such as socioeconomic conditions, population density, and resident turnover. Decades of research link neighborhood characteristics to health and behavioral outcomes. However, these factors are often studied independently, neglecting their interrelated nature. Methods: Using Swedish population registry data, we employed latent class analyses to identify neighborhood typologies across six timepoints spanning 1991-2020. Neighborhoods, defined by Demographic Statistical Areas, were characterized by socioeconomic conditions, ethnic heterogeneity, residential instability, and urbanicity. Latent transition analyses examined changes over time. Results: Four neighborhood types emerged in the early period (1991-2000): Rural Low-Diversity (45 %), Urban Professional (27 %), Urban Affluent (21 %), and Resource-Limited (7 %). From 2001 onwards, five types were identified, with the addition of Urban High-Diversity (9 %) and Rural Resource-Limited (3 %). Three types, Rural Low-Diversity, Urban Professional, and Urban Affluent, persisted across 30 years, representing 87-93 % of neighborhoods, with over 90 % of neighborhoods retaining their classification over time. Conclusions: This multidimensional framework offers a foundation for future research, urban planning, and policy development.Funding Agencies|Swedish Research Council (Vetenskapsradet) [2021-02105]; Swedish Research Council [2021-02105] Funding Source: Swedish Research Council</p

Reinforced model selection for resource efficient anomaly detection in edge clouds

Web application services and networks encounter a broad range of security and performance anomalies, necessitating sophisticated detection strategies. However, performing anomaly detection in edge cloud environments, often constrained by limited resources, presents significant computational challenges and demands minimized detection time for real-time response. In this paper, we propose a model selection approach for resource efficient anomaly detection in edge clouds by leveraging an adapted Deep Q-Network (DQN) reinforcement learning technique. The primary objective is to minimize the computational resources required for accurate anomaly detection while achieving low latency and high detection accuracy. Through extensive experimental evaluation in our testbed setup over different representative scenarios, we demonstrate that our adapted DQN approach can reduce resource usage by up to 45 % and detection time by up to 85 % while incurring less than an 8 % drop in F1 score. These results highlight the potential of the adapted DQN model selection strategy to enable efficient, low-latency anomaly detection in resource-constrained edge cloud environments

Lack of increase in mercury contamination in coastal Western Australia since European settlement

Current knowledge of long-term mercury (Hg) deposition is predominantly based on studies from the Northern Hemisphere, leading to a geographical bias in the comprehension of the global Hg cycle. Aiming to contribute to fill this knowledge gap, our study presents a high-resolution Hg record of a seagrass Posidonia australis sedimentary archive encompassing the last 3300 years in the Waychinicup estuary (Western Australia, WA). This setting is an ideal site for studying the natural Hg cycle, as it is located in the southwest of the state, outside the prevailing wind patterns that transport emissions from major Hg sources. Our results show that Hg concentrations fluctuated from ∼1300 BCE to 100 CE with a shift in the paleorecord around 350 BCE, which could potentially be associated with an intensified El Niño Southern Oscillation period. From around 100 until ∼1880 CE, the Hg concentration remained relatively constant (∼2 μg kg−1) with an increase up to 8 μg kg−1 from 1880 CE until present. Although Hg accumulation doubled since European settlement in WA (from 2.4 to 4.8 μg m−2 yr−1), such an increase can be explained by enhanced organic carbon accumulation, rather than changes in external Hg fluxes. Therefore, our study showcases the importance of considering biogeochemical processes when reconstructing long-term Hg accumulation based on sedimentary archives. Furthermore, the results demonstrate the key role of seagrass meadows as natural paleoarchives of environmental contamination, providing valuable insights into human impacts on coastal areas and to establish pre-anthropogenic baseline metal concentrations

Long-acting nitrate use before and after revascularization to evaluate angina in chronic coronary syndrome : a case-crossover study from SCAAR

Background: The ORBITA and ORBITA-2 trials have valuable insights into the effects of coronary revascularization in chronic coronary syndrome (CCS). However, uncertainties remain regarding the efficacy of revascularization on symptoms in large real-world populations. To evaluate the efficacy of revascularization, we used dispensed long-acting nitrates as a proxy for the presence of angina. Methods: The Swedish Coronary Angiography and Angioplasty Registry (SCAAR) was used to identify all patients with CCS and at least one stenosis &gt;= 50% undergoing angiography between the 1st of January 2014 and the 16th of January 2020. Four groups were defined based on treatment strategy: coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, complete revascularization with percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), incomplete revascularization with PCI, and no revascularization. As patients in these treatment arms are inherently different, we employed a case-crossover design where each patient served as their own control with data collected during two periods: 1 year before up until angiography and 1-2 years after. This study design inherently controls for time-invariant confounding. The primary outcome was the use of long-acting nitrates defined as a dispensed prescription during the studied periods. Conditional Poisson regression was used to analyse the data. Findings: For this study, 15,955 patients were eligible. CABG, complete revascularization with PCI, and incomplete revascularization with PCI were associated with a decrease in dispensed prescriptions of long-acting nitrates (from 989/2218 [30.8%] to 156/3207 [4.9%]; risk-ratio (RR): 0.16 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.13-0.19]), (from 1676/ 7525 [22.3%] to 966/7525 [12.8%]; RR: 0.58 [95% CI: 0.53-0.62]), and (from 601/2180 [27.6%] to 495/2180 [22.7%]; RR: 0.82 [95% CI: 0.73-0.93]), respectively. No difference was observed for no revascularization (from 864/3043 [28.4%] to 856/3043 [28.1%]; RR: 0.99 [95% CI: 0.90-1.09]). Interpretation: Revascularization reduces the use of long-acting nitrates in patients with CCS, suggesting angina symptom improvement. CABG appears to provide a more significant effect than PCI, with complete PCI demonstrating greater effectiveness than incomplete revascularization. Funding: This work was supported by The Swedish Heart and Lung Foundation, ALF, Skane University Hospital funds, the Crafoord Foundation and the Swedish Medical Association. Copyright (c) 2025 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

AI Data Governance : Overlaps Between the AI Act and the GDPR

This article examines the overlaps between the AI Act and the GDPR, analysing their overall relationship, conceptual similarities and differences, as well as specific provisions in the AI Act that explicitly overlap with the GDPR. The primary focus of this article lies on AI data governance, with a detailed analysis of the requirements set out in Article 10 AI Act. This provision establishes quality criteria for data and data governance in high-risk AI systems that rely on training AI models with data. The article introduces a novel approach to understanding, interpreting, and applying these criteria to facilitate GDPR compliance. As a result, we propose a principles-based framework for AI data governance, categorising the quality criteria in Article 10 into three overarching principles: data accuracy, data transparency, and data fairness. To ensure practical quality assurance, providers of high-risk AI systems should adopt specific methods outlined in the AI Act, such as data-preparation processing operations and the processing of personal data for bias detection and correction. Finally, we propose a cycle-approach to AI data governance, aligning the requirements of Article 10 AI Act with the limitations imposed by the GDPR

Sustainable solid-state polymer electrolyte based on PEO-Xanthan gum blend for enhanced lithium-metal batteries

Despite their widespread adoption, LIBs are still facing several challenges, mainly related with safety concerns of conventional electrolytes that are currently limiting their practical use. Solid-state polymer electrolytes (SPEs) represent a promising alternative to produce safer devices, as they offer higher flexibility and energy density, easy processability, non-flammability and improved mechanical strength, even if they often suffer from low ionic conductivity at room temperature. To address the latter issue, the development of novel SPEs based on a blend of polyethylene oxide (PEO) and Xanthan gum (XG), a natural polysaccharide with notable mechanical and rheological properties, is proposed. In this study, the thermal, physical, and electrochemical properties of the PEO-XG blends were investigated, aiming to assess their potential as electrolyte for all solid-state lithium metal batteries. Improved ionic conductivity, electrochemical stability window and cycling stability are achieved, confirming the effectiveness of XG incorporation. The most promising electrolyte formulation was studied using self-diffusion 7Li pulse-field-gradient (PFG) NMR measurements and different temperatures and further evaluated in full-cell configurations employing two olivine-type cathodes (LFP and LMFP). When paired with a lithium manganese iron phosphate (LMFP) cathode and cycled over an extended voltage window of 2.5–4.5 V, the cell demonstrates high specific capacity and excellent capacity retention, maintaining stable performance for at least 750 cycles.Validerad;2025;Nivå 2;2025-11-25 (u5);Full text license: CC BY 4.0;</p

“The real life is to be with other people”: A social lens on immigrant integration through outdoor recreation

This article explores the role of domestic tourism, specifically outdoor recreational sports and events, in fostering immigrant integration, with a focus on Jämtland County in northern Sweden. While friluftsliv (outdoor recreation) holds a central place in Swedish leisure and domestic tourism culture, immigrants are often underrepresented in such activities. Rather than framing this solely as a matter of cultural difference, we investigate how immigrants perceive outdoor engagement, the barriers they encounter, and how social connections shaped through social capital can offer empowering, integrative experiences. The study draws on in-depth interviews with thirty-four immigrants, adding new knowledge to how outdoor recreation intersects with social capital, social sustainability, and integration. Our analysis highlights three key themes: belonging to outdoors, barriers to participation, and the role of sports and events in shaping social connections. We argue that outdoor engagement can support integration and enhance social sustainability, offering insights into both theory and inclusive practice in domestic tourism and recreation planning

Work is not enough! : Addressing mid-career professionals' needs for leadership development

Business schools face growing pressure to develop socially responsible and effective leaders, particularly among mid-career professionals. This study explores a reversed work-integrated learning (WIL) model, with a starting point in participants’ real-world leadership practices, integrating theory and continuous structured reflection. This contrasts with traditional WIL models that start with academic theory and rely on formal partnerships between academia and industry for work placements. Drawing on five years of qualitative data from 99 participants in a master's level leadership program, the study explores how this contract-free, practice-first approach supports leadership development by leveraging participants' ongoing professional experience. The pedagogical design emphasizes contextualized, lifelong learning through continuous individual and peer reflection. Reflexive thematic analysis reveals that the reversed WIL model effectively addresses leadership development gaps, enhances workplace impact, and offers a strong return on investment for individual participants and organizations. The study contributes a novel framework for leadership development education tailored to experienced professionals based on five key design principles: learner adaptation, contextualization, self-efficacy building, flexible structure, and peer-based learning.CC BY 4.0</p