N-Nitrosodimethylamine Formation and Mitigation in Potable Reuse Treatment Trains Employing Ozone nd Biofiltration

Potable reuse has been growing as a strategy to augment water supplies, especially in highly populated and water-scarce regions. Ozone and chloramines have emerged as important disinfectants and oxidants in potable reuse applications, but reactions with wastewater-derived constituents can lead to the formation of potentially carcinogenic disinfection byproducts (DBPs). One DBP that has received considerable attention is the nitrogenous DBP N-nitrosodimethylamine (NDMA). NDMA is a potential human carcinogen and mutagen at trace concentrations — even at the sub-ng/L level. Several studies have reported successful attenuation of NDMA in biofiltration systems at wastewater treatment plants, but the associated mechanisms and design criteria are not well understood. In the current study, a pilot-scale ozone-biofiltration system was used to treat membrane bioreactor (MBR) filtrate from a full-scale water reclamation plant to assess the role of various operational parameters, including ozone dose and empty bed contact time (EBCT), on NDMA removal. In the ozonated biological activated carbon (BAC) and anthracite columns, longer EBCTs (e.g., 10-20 minutes) achieved \u3e90% NDMA removal, while shorter EBCTs (e.g., 2 min) achieved only 30-40% NDMA removal. In the non-ozonated BAC column, longer EBCTs were more important, with NDMA attenuation exhibiting a relatively steady increase toward ~45% for an EBCT of 20 min. Pre-oxygenation of the MBR filtrate (i.e., instead of ozonation) also achieved ~90% removal in the BAC column, thereby suggesting that biodegradable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC) availability did not impact NDMA removal. Interestingly, when receiving ambient MBR filtrate (no pre-oxygenation or pre-ozonation), the typically ozonated column still achieved \u3e90% NDMA removal, while the typically non-ozonated column only achieved 50% NDMA removal. In other words, NDMA removal was dependent on EBCT but did not necessarily require high concentrations of BDOC or dissolved oxygen. Instead, long-term exposure to ozonated MBR filtrate may have been critical in promoting the development of microbial taxa that were better adapted to NDMA biodegradation. The presence of monooxygenase genes responsible for NDMA biodegradation was confirmed by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), although possible DNA extraction limitations for the BAC media prevented a reliable comparison by media type. Finally, this study confirmed the efficacy of ozonebiofiltration (but not biofiltration alone) for attenuating chloramine-reactive NDMA precursors. An overall reduction of 96% was observed, with a majority of that attenuation achieved by ozonation because of its ability to transform primary and secondary amines into nitrated intermediates and tertiary amines into N-oxides. These data suggest that ozone-biofiltration is effective in achieving net reductions in NDMA in some potable reuse systems, particularly when chloramines are expected to be used as a final disinfectant. However, UV photolysis might still be necessary as a final polishing step to ensure compliance with relevant guidelines and regulations (e.g., 10-ng/L notification level in California). Also, additional studies are needed to better characterize microbial community structure and function in potable reuse systems

Use of remote sensing techniques to estimate plant diversity within ecological networks: a worked example

As there is an urgent need to protect rapidly declining global diversity, it is important to identify methods to quickly estimate the diversity and heterogeneity of a region and effectively implement monitoring and conservation plans. The combination of remotely sensed and field-collected data, under the paradigm of the Spectral Variation Hypothesis (SVH), represents one of the most promising approaches to boost large scale and reliable biodiversity monitoring practices. Here, the potential of SVH to capture information on plant diversity at fine scale in an ecological network (EN) embedded in a complex landscape, has been tested using two new and promising methodological approaches, based on “biodivMapR” and “rasterdiv” R packages. The first estimates α and β spectral diversity and the latter ecosystem spectral heterogeneity expressed as Rao's Quadratic heterogeneity measure (Rao’s Q). Our aims were to investigate if spectral diversity and heterogeneity provide reliable information to assess and/or monitor over time floristic diversity maintained in an EN selected as an example and located in North-East Italy. We analyzed and compared spectral and taxonomic α and β diversities and spectral and landscape heterogeneity, based on field-based plant data collection and remotely sensed data from Sentinel-2A, using different statistical approaches. We observed a positive relationship between taxonomic and spectral diversity and also between spectral heterogeneity, landscape heterogeneity, and the amount of alien species in relation to the native ones. Our results confirmed the effectiveness of estimating and mapping α and β spectral diversity and ecosystem spectral heterogeneity using remotely sensed images. Moreover, we highlighted that spectral diversity values become more effective to identify biodiversity-rich areas, representing the most important diversity hotspots to be preserved. While the spectral heterogeneity index in anthropogenic landscapes could be a powerful method to identify those areas most at risk of biological invasion

Sleep Well, Study Well: A Systematic Review of Longitudinal Studies on the Interplay between Sleep and School Experience in Adolescence

Adolescents spend most of their daily time in school and performing school-related activities. Different aspects of their school experiences, such as school performance, psychological factors related to school, and structural factors, consistently impact adolescents' health and are likely to be intertwined with their sleep (i.e., quantity and quality, sleep disturbances). This systematic review aimed to comprehensively summarize the reciprocal and longitudinal associations between adolescents' sleep and multiple aspects of their school experience. Using multiple search strategies and applying a two-step selection process, 25 journal articles matched the eligibility criteria and were thus included in the review. The results highlighted the contribution of poor sleep quality and sleep disturbances in predicting longitudinal school experiences-related outcomes (i.e., decreasing school engagement and performance, and increasing school-related burnout, absenteeism, and bullying). At the same time, the results showed how experiences related to the school's psychological factors (e.g., high levels of school burnout and stressful environment) and structural characteristics (e.g., early school entrance time) affect youth sleep over time (i.e., decreasing sleep quality and quantity). These main findings provided novel insights into the bidirectional relationship between school experience and sleep health, highlighting the importance of more longitudinal research investigating all aspects of healthy sleep, including the size and direction of the association

“Using digital media or sleeping … that is the question”. A meta-analysis on digital media use and unhealthy sleep in adolescence

This systematic review with meta-analysis aims to examine the relation between different aspects of digital media use and sleep health patterns. Eligible studies had to be longitudinal and with adolescents' sample. Multiple search strategies were applied until January 28, 2023 in order to identify relevant research published in peer-reviewed journal articles or available grey literature. A final set of 23 studies (N = 116,431; 53.2% female; Mage at baseline = 13.4 years) were included. The quality of the studies, assessed with an adapted version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale, was high with a consequent low risk of bias. Meta-analytic results showed that tradi-tional media use (r =-0.33 [-0.44;-0.22]), social media use (r =-0.12 [-0.22;-0.01]), prolonged use (r = -0.06 [-0.11;-0.01]), and dysfunctional use (r =-0.19 [-0.29;-0.09]) are negatively related to adolescents' sleep health at a later time point. Conversely, sleep patterns were not related to social media use (r =-.05 [-0.10; 0.00]) and utilization time (r =-0.13 [-0.30; 0.04]), but they were related to dysfunctional use of media (r = -0.22 [-0.33; -0.10]). Overall, this review highlights the presence of a vicious cycle between digital media use and sleep health in adolescence

Conversão de formatos heterogêneos para o Agritempo.

Este artigo tem como objetivo apresentar o processo de migração de dados meteorológicos (como temperaturas máxima e mínima, umidade relativa, pressão atmosférica, entre outros) de instituições brasileiras para o Sistema de Monitoramento Agrometeorológico (AGRITEMPO, 2012)

Embedded in Contexts: A Systematic Review of the Longitudinal Associations Between Contextual Factors and Sleep

Dramatic changes in sleep duration, schedules, and quality put adolescents at higher risk of negative outcomes, such as poorer physical and psychosocial adjustment. While significant attention has been paid to the role of proximal contexts (e.g., family), less is known about the longitudinal interplay between exo- (e.g., neighborhood characteristics) and macro-contextual (e.g., ethnic/racial discrimination) influences and adolescents’ sleep quality. Therefore, this review aimed to summarize findings from available longitudinal research to understand the role of structural factors and experiences in the distal contexts of development in influencing sleep quality in adolescence. A total of 10 studies were included in this systematic review. The results highlighted the detrimental consequences of structural factors and experiences at the exo- and macro-systems for adolescents’ sleep duration, quality, and disturbances. Specifically, neighborhood economic deprivation, ethnic/racial minority status, community violence and victimization, and ethnic/racial discrimination were all linked to significantly lower sleep quality. Overall, this review highlighted the need for more longitudinal and multi-method studies addressing sleep quality as embedded in contexts and the reciprocal influences among the multiple layers of adolescents’ development

A meta-analysis of longitudinal studies on the interplay between sleep, mental health, and positive well-being in adolescents

Objective: This review aimed to summarize longitudinal research about the interplay between sleep, mental health, and positive well-being in adolescents. Method: Multiple search strategies were applied until 28th January 2023 to identify relevant research published in peer-reviewed journal articles or available grey literature. A final set of 63 studies were included in the systematic review and 42 in the meta-analysis. Results: Results highlighted that long sleep duration, good sleep quality, and low insomnia symptoms were bidirectionally related to lower internalizing (Sleep T1 → Internalizing symptoms T2: r = -.20, p < .001; Internalizing symptoms T1 → Sleep T2: r = -.21, p < .001) and externalizing (Sleep T1 → Externalizing symptoms T2: r = -.15, p < .001; Externalizing symptoms T1→ Sleep T2: r = -.17, p < .001) symptoms, and to higher levels of psychological well-being (Sleep T1 → Psychological well-being T2: r = .15, p < .001; Psychological well-being T1 → Sleep T2: r = .15, p < .05). Moreover, good sleep was positively related to higher subjective well-being at a later time point (r = .18, p < .001). Conclusions: Overall, these findings suggest a bidirectional relation between different aspects of sleep, mental health, and positive well-bein

Use of Remote Sensing Techniques to Estimate Plant Diversity within Ecological Networks: A Worked Example

As there is an urgent need to protect rapidly declining global diversity, it is important to identify methods to quickly estimate the diversity and heterogeneity of a region and effectively implement monitoring and conservation plans. The combination of remotely sensed and field-collected data, under the paradigm of the Spectral Variation Hypothesis (SVH), represents one of the most promising approaches to boost large-scale and reliable biodiversity monitoring practices. Here, the potential of SVH to capture information on plant diversity at a fine scale in an ecological network (EN) embedded in a complex landscape has been tested using two new and promising methodological approaches: the first estimates α and β spectral diversity and the latter ecosystem spectral heterogeneity expressed as Rao’s Quadratic heterogeneity measure (Rao’s Q). Both approaches are available thanks to two brand-new R packages: “biodivMapR” and “rasterdiv”. Our aims were to investigate if spectral diversity and heterogeneity provide reliable information to assess and monitor over time floristic diversity maintained in an EN selected as an example and located in northeast Italy. We analyzed and compared spectral and taxonomic α and β diversities and spectral and landscape heterogeneity, based on field-based plant data collection and remotely sensed data from Sentinel-2A, using different statistical approaches. We observed a positive relationship between taxonomic and spectral diversity and also between spectral heterogeneity, landscape heterogeneity, and the amount of alien species in relation to the native ones, reaching a value of R2 = 0.36 and R2 = 0.43, respectively. Our results confirmed the effectiveness of estimating and mapping α and β spectral diversity and ecosystem spectral heterogeneity using remotely sensed images. Moreover, we highlighted that spectral diversity values become more effective to identify biodiversity-rich areas, representing the most important diversity hotspots to be preserved. Finally, the spectral heterogeneity index in anthropogenic landscapes could be a powerful method to identify those areas most at risk of biological invasion