Management Alternatives of Aquifer Storage, Distribution, and Simulation in Conjunctive Use

[EN] Aquifers are ubiquitous, and their water is easy to obtain with low extraction costs. On many occasions, these characteristics lead to overexploitation due to important water level declines, reduction of river base flows, enhanced seawater intrusion, and wetland affection. The forecasted increase in water demands and global warming will impact the future availability of water resources. Conjunctive use of surface and subsurface waters can help in mitigating these impacts. There are two main conjunctive use strategies: artificial recharge (AR) and alternate conjunctive use (ACU). AR stores waters that are not to be used directly in aquifers. ACU utilizes groundwater in dry periods, while surface waters are preferred in wet ones; this allows the increase of water supply with lower dam storage, economic gains, and environmental advantages. Efficient conjunctive use can prevent soil salinization and waterlogging problems in semiarid countries due to excessive recharge from irrigation return flows or other origins. Groundwater is a neglected and generally misused resource to maintain environmental conditions. When considering the solution to a water resources problem, groundwater should always be part of the design as an alternative or a complementary resource. Aquifers have large inertia, and changes in their volumes are only noticeable after years of observations. Unfortunately, groundwater observation networks are much poorer than surface ones, something that should be changed if groundwater is to come to the rescue in these times of climate change. Human and material resources should be made available to monitor, control, analyze, and forecast groundwater.This research was funded by AGREEMAR Project (PCI2022-133001 funded by Spain's MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, by European Union's NextGenerationEU/PRTR), the SIGLOAN project (RTI2018-101397-B-I00) from the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (Programa Estatal de I + D + i Orientada a los Retos de la Sociedad) and by project eGROUNDWATER funded by the PRIMA programme supported by the European's Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant number 1921.Sahuquillo, A.; Cassiraga, EF.; Gómez-Hernández, JJ.; Andreu Álvarez, J.; Pulido-Velazquez, M.; Pulido Velázquez, D.; Álvarez-Villa, ÓD.... (2022). Management Alternatives of Aquifer Storage, Distribution, and Simulation in Conjunctive Use. Water. 14(15):1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/w14152332115141

Clonal chromosomal mosaicism and loss of chromosome Y in elderly men increase vulnerability for SARS-CoV-2

The pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19) had an estimated overall case fatality ratio of 1.38% (pre-vaccination), being 53% higher in males and increasing exponentially with age. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, we found 133 cases (1.42%) with detectable clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations (mCA) and 226 males (5.08%) with acquired loss of chromosome Y (LOY). Individuals with clonal mosaic events (mCA and/or LOY) showed a 54% increase in the risk of COVID-19 lethality. LOY is associated with transcriptomic biomarkers of immune dysfunction, pro-coagulation activity and cardiovascular risk. Interferon-induced genes involved in the initial immune response to SARS-CoV-2 are also down-regulated in LOY. Thus, mCA and LOY underlie at least part of the sex-biased severity and mortality of COVID-19 in aging patients. Given its potential therapeutic and prognostic relevance, evaluation of clonal mosaicism should be implemented as biomarker of COVID-19 severity in elderly people. Among 9578 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 in the SCOURGE study, individuals with clonal mosaic events (clonal mosaicism for chromosome alterations and/or loss of chromosome Y) showed an increased risk of COVID-19 lethality

Returns on investment in conservation of tropical basins including the issuance of carbon credits

[EN] This paper presents the return-on-investment analysis for implementing conservation projects by the VivoCuenca Corporation. This water found operates for the Chinchiná river basin (Colombia) and supplies the water demands for Manizales city. This analysis consists in proposing a catalog of Nature-Based Solutions (NbS) to improve the following ecosystemic services: (i) sediment retention, (ii) carbon sequestration, and (iii) hydric regulation. We evaluated each set of proposed NbS s financial viability using the return of inversion analysis (ROA). ROA encompasses the balance between the operation costs, NbS implementation costs, avoided costs, and co-benefits. In this case, we consider potential savings due to reduced sediment treatment costs associated with the NbS implementation and co-benefits for emitting carbon credits. Since the primary information is scarce, we use distributed water and carbon cycle modeling to calculate the physical variables needed for financial balances, such as liquid discharges, solid discharges, biomass, and sequestrated CO2. Our results show that the business case is viable only when it is possible to emit and sell carbon credits supported in the CO2 sequestered in the implementation of the NbS.[ES] Se presenta un análisis de retorno de la inversión por la implementación de proyectos de conservación por parte de la Corporación VivoCuenca, Fondo de Agua que opera en la cuenca del río Chinchiná, Colombia, la cual abastece la ciudad de Manizales. Este análisis consiste en el planteamiento de un catálogo de escenarios de Soluciones Basadas en la Naturaleza (SbN) que propenden por mejorar los servicios ecosistémicos de retención de sedimentos, secuestro de carbono y regulación hídrica. Para cada conjunto de SbN propuestos se evalúa su viabilidad financiera mediante un análisis de retorno de inversión, el cual engloba el balance de los costos de operación, los costos de implementación de las SbN, costos evitados y co-beneficios. En este caso se consideran los ahorros potenciales por disminución de sedimentos tratados debido a la implementación de las SbN y co-beneficios asociados a la venta de bonos de carbono. Dada la escasez de información, las variables físicas requeridas para los balances financieros (caudales sólidos y líquidos, biomasa y emisiones de CO2 evitadas) se obtienen mediante la implementación de modelos distribuidos de los ciclos del agua y del carbono. Los resultados muestran que el caso de negocio es viable únicamente si se considera la emisión y venta de bonos de carbono por efecto del secuestro de CO2 en las SbN propuestas.El equipo de trabajo agradece a la Alianza Latinoamericana de Fondos del Agua, The Nature Conservancy, el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo y al Ministerio Federal de Medio Ambiente, Protección de la Naturaleza y Seguridad Nuclear de la República de Alemania por el apoyo financiero para el desarrollo de este trabajo.Álvarez-Villa, ÓD.; Franco, D.; Vergara, S.; García, V.; Cortés, M.; Giraldo, J.; Montoya, J.... (2023). Retornos de la inversión en la conservación de cuencas tropicales incluyendo la emisión de bonos de carbono. Ingeniería del Agua. 27(2):139-167. https://doi.org/10.4995/ia.2023.1919813916727

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)