Energy use for water provision in cities

Energy demand for urban water supply is emerging as a significant issue. This work undertakes a multi-city time-series analysis of the direct energy use for urban water supply. It quantifies the energy use and intensity for water supply in 30 cities (total population of over 170 million) and illustrates their performance with a new time-based water-energy profiling approach. Per capita energy use for water provision ranged from 10 kWh/p/a (Melbourne in 2015) to 372 kWh/p/a (San Diego in 2015). Raw water pumping and product water distribution dominate the energy use of most of these systems. For 17 cities with available time-series data (between 2000 and 2015), a general trend in reduction of per capita energy use for water provision is observed (11%–45% reduction). The reduction is likely to be a result of improved water efficiency in most of the cities. Potential influencing factors including climate, topography, operational efficiency and water use patterns are explored to understand why energy use for water provision differs across the cities, and in some cities changes substantially over time. The key insights from this multi-city analysis are that i) some cities may be considered as benchmarks for insight into management of energy use for water provision by better utilising local topography, capitalising on climate events, improving energy efficiency of supply systems, managing non-revenue water and improving residential water efficiency; ii) energy associated with non-revenue water is found to be very substantial in multiple cities studied and represents a significant energy saving potential (i.e. a population-weighted average of 16 kWh/p/a, 25% of the average energy use for water provision); and iii) three Australian cities which encountered a decade-long drought demonstrated the beneficial role of demand-side measures in reducing the negative energy consequences of system augmentations with seawater desalination and inter-basin water transfers

The effect of water demand management in showers on household energy use

This paper explores the range of potential energy use impacts of shower water demand management in a case study of five highly characterised households in Melbourne (Australia), and assesses the difference in energy and cost responses for four different hot water system types. Results show that a shift to four minute showers (from current durations of between six and ten minutes) would lead to a reduction of between 0.1 and 3.8 kWh p(-1) d(-1) in the households studied, comprising between 9% and 64% of baseline hot water system energy use. Contrasted with an average energy use for water service provision in Melbourne of 0.3 kWh p(-1) d(-1), such household reductions demonstrate significant potential for urban water cycle energy management. Combined water and energy (natural gas) cost savings in response to the four-minute shower scenario were $37 to$500 hh(-1) y(-1) in the households studied. Energy cost savings would be more significant for households with electric storage hot water systems than those with gas systems, at $39 to$900 hh(-1) y(-1), due to higher variable tariffs for electricity than natural gas in Victoria ($0.2678 kWh(-1) vs$0.0625 kWh(-1)). Households with electric storage hot water systems may therefore have greater financial incentive to participate in water-related energy demand management (assuming similar tariff structures). (c) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

What we talk about when we talk about "global mindset": managerial cognition in multinational corporations

Recent developments in the global economy and in multinational corporations have placed significant emphasis on the cognitive orientations of managers, giving rise to a number of concepts such as “global mindset” that are presumed to be associated with the effective management of multinational corporations (MNCs). This paper reviews the literature on global mindset and clarifies some of the conceptual confusion surrounding the construct. We identify common themes across writers, suggesting that the majority of studies fall into one of three research perspectives: cultural, strategic, and multidimensional. We also identify two constructs from the social sciences that underlie the perspectives found in the literature: cosmopolitanism and cognitive complexity and use these two constructs to develop an integrative theoretical framework of global mindset. We then provide a critical assessment of the field of global mindset and suggest directions for future theoretical and empirical research

Losing Our Minds? New Research Directions on Skilled Migration and Development

This paper critiques the last decade of research on the effects of high-skill emigration from developing countries, and proposes six new directions for fruitful research. The study singles out a core assumption underlying much of the recent literature, calling it the Lump of Learning model of human capital and development, and describes five ways that research has come to challenge that assumption. It assesses the usefulness of the Lump of Learning model in the face of accumulating evidence. The axioms of the Lump of Learning model have shaped research priorities in this literature, but many of those axioms do not have a clear empirical basis. Future research proceeding from established facts would set different priorities, and would devote more attention to measuring the effects of migration on skilled-migrant households, rigorously estimating human capital externalities, gathering microdata beyond censuses, and carefully considering optimal policy among others. The recent literature has pursued a series of extensions to the Lump of Learning model. This study urges discarding the Lump of Learning model, pointing toward a new paradigm for research on skilled migration and development

Risk propensity in the foreign direct investment location decision of emerging multinationals

A distinguishing feature of emerging economy multinationals is their apparent tolerance for host country institutional risk. Employing behavioral decision theory and quasi-experimental data, we find that managers’ domestic experience satisfaction increases their relative risk propensity regarding controllable risk (legally protectable loss), but decreases their tendency to accept non-controllable risk (e.g., political instability). In contrast, firms’ potential slack reduces relative risk propensity regarding controllable risk, yet amplifies the tendency to take non-controllable risk. We suggest that these counterbalancing effects might help explain observation that risk-taking in FDI location decisions is influenced by firm experience and context. The study provides a new understanding of why firms exhibit heterogeneous responses to host country risks, and the varying effects of institutions

Procalcitonin Is Not a Reliable Biomarker of Bacterial Coinfection in People With Coronavirus Disease 2019 Undergoing Microbiological Investigation at the Time of Hospital Admission

Abstract Admission procalcitonin measurements and microbiology results were available for 1040 hospitalized adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (from 48 902 included in the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infections Consortium World Health Organization Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK study). Although procalcitonin was higher in bacterial coinfection, this was neither clinically significant (median [IQR], 0.33 [0.11–1.70] ng/mL vs 0.24 [0.10–0.90] ng/mL) nor diagnostically useful (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve, 0.56 [95% confidence interval, .51–.60]).</jats:p

Implementation of corticosteroids in treating COVID-19 in the ISARIC WHO Clinical Characterisation Protocol UK:prospective observational cohort study

BACKGROUND: Dexamethasone was the first intervention proven to reduce mortality in patients with COVID-19 being treated in hospital. We aimed to evaluate the adoption of corticosteroids in the treatment of COVID-19 in the UK after the RECOVERY trial publication on June 16, 2020, and to identify discrepancies in care. METHODS: We did an audit of clinical implementation of corticosteroids in a prospective, observational, cohort study in 237 UK acute care hospitals between March 16, 2020, and April 14, 2021, restricted to patients aged 18 years or older with proven or high likelihood of COVID-19, who received supplementary oxygen. The primary outcome was administration of dexamethasone, prednisolone, hydrocortisone, or methylprednisolone. This study is registered with ISRCTN, ISRCTN66726260. FINDINGS: Between June 17, 2020, and April 14, 2021, 47 795 (75·2%) of 63 525 of patients on supplementary oxygen received corticosteroids, higher among patients requiring critical care than in those who received ward care (11 185 [86·6%] of 12 909 vs 36 415 [72·4%] of 50 278). Patients 50 years or older were significantly less likely to receive corticosteroids than those younger than 50 years (adjusted odds ratio 0·79 [95% CI 0·70–0·89], p=0·0001, for 70–79 years; 0·52 [0·46–0·58], p80 years), independent of patient demographics and illness severity. 84 (54·2%) of 155 pregnant women received corticosteroids. Rates of corticosteroid administration increased from 27·5% in the week before June 16, 2020, to 75–80% in January, 2021. INTERPRETATION: Implementation of corticosteroids into clinical practice in the UK for patients with COVID-19 has been successful, but not universal. Patients older than 70 years, independent of illness severity, chronic neurological disease, and dementia, were less likely to receive corticosteroids than those who were younger, as were pregnant women. This could reflect appropriate clinical decision making, but the possibility of inequitable access to life-saving care should be considered. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research and UK Medical Research Council