Modeling the spatial and temporal trends of water quality in boreal managed watersheds

Land use changes have altered natural hydrological pathways and biogeochemical cycling of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, among other elements, affecting the quality of aquatic ecosystems such as rivers, lakes and coastal areas. In this dissertation, the spatial and temporal trends of water quality variation in Finnish managed watersheds was studied by applying methods of multivariate statistics, time-series analysis, ecohydrological modeling and high-resolution geospatial data. The results show the complex effects of current land use, particularly agriculture, on stream water quality. New emerging trends of nutrient concentrations and loads were detected in the time-series analysis, such as an increase in the concentrations and loads of dissolved reactive phosphorus and total nitrogen, and a decrease in suspended sediment concentration in streams. This might be linked to the current erosion reduction strategy of land management for water protection. An ecohydrological modeling assessment showed an increasing downstream nutrient export from agricultural watershed under climate change scenarios. The modeling results also showed a potential nutrient export reduction by restoring potential biogeochemical hotspot areas - wet areas or areas prone to water saturation. These areas can function as nutrient sinks and enhance the watershed resiliency. High-resolution geospatial data allowed easier and more accurate mapping of wet areas as well as the extracting of their hydraulic characteristics. However, the ecohydrological models involved several sources of uncertainties, which need to be carefully addressed with extensive observational data, expert knowledge of model parameter definitions, proper modeling unit selection and empirical knowledge of the functioning of the studied watershed system. The results of this dissertation highlight the importance of combined methods for watershed management research, and the proper identification of the biophysical processes in the modeling of non-point pollutant sources; this can in turn lead to an efficient water protection measure, and restoring biogeochemical hotspot areas within the watershed.Vedenlaadun alueellisten ja ajallisten vaihteluiden mallintaminen viileän vyöhykkeen valuma-alueilla. Maankäytön muutokset ovat vaikuttaneet luonnollisiin hydrologisiin prosesseihin sekä hiilen, typen ja fosforin biogeokemiallisiin kiertoihin. Nämä puolestaan vaikuttavat vesiekosysteemien tilaan joissa, järvissä ja rannikkoalueella. Väitöstutkimuksessa tutkittiin vedenlaadun alueellisia ja ajallisia muutoksia suomalaisessa maaseutumaisemassa käyttäen monimuuttujamenetelmiä, aikasarja-analyysejä, ekohydrologista mallinnusta ja erotuskyvyltään tarkkoja paikkatietoaineistoja. Tulokset todentavat maatalouteen kytkeytyvien maankäytön piirteiden kompleksisia vaikutuksia jokivesien laatuun. Aikasarja-analyysit osoittivat myös aiemmin tuntemattomia trendejä jokivesien ravinteiden määrissä ja pitoisuuksissa, esimerkkeinä liuenneen reaktiivisen fosforin määrän ja pitoisuuden lisääntyminen sekä sedimenttisuspension väheneminen; molemmat eroosion vähentämiseen tähtäävien vesiensuojelutoimien seurauksena. Ekohydrologinen mallinnus osoitti myös sen, että ravinteiden huuhtoutuminen maatalousvaltaisilla valuma-alueilla lisääntyy ilmastonmuutoksen seurauksena. Tulokset kannustavat biogeokemiallisten avainalueiden, kuten kosteikkojen ja vettä keräävien painanteiden kunnostamiseen, jolloin ravinteiden huuhtoutuminen vähenee. Ravinnenieluina toimiessaan ne voivat myös parantaa valumaalueen ekologista kestävyyttä ja palautumiskykyä. Tutkimuksessa osoitettiin myös erotuskyvyltään tarkkojen paikkatietoaineistojen hyödyllisyys avainalueiden kartoituksessa ja alueiden hydrologisten ominaisuuksien tunnistamisessa. Ekohydrologiseen mallinnukseen sisältyy toisaalta myös epävarmuustekijöitä, joihin tulisi paneutua vielä kattavammin hyödyntäen asiantuntijatietoa parametrien täsmentämisessä, määrittämällä tarkennettuja mallinnusyksiköitä tai hyödyntäen empiirisiä tutkimustietoja valuma-alueen toiminnasta. Väitöstutkimus osoittaa myös sen, miten erilaisten tutkimusmenetelmien yhdistely vahvistaa valuma-aluetarkastelua ja siihen liittyen erilaisten biofysikaalisten prosessien ymmärtämistä ja keskeisten päästölähteiden mallintamista. Näin muodoin yhdistelmämenetelmien käyttö tukee entistä tehokkaampien vesiensuojelutoimien kehittämistä ja valumaalueiden biogeokemiallisten avainalueiden kunnostamistaModelado de las tendencias temporales y espaciales de la calidad del agua en cuencas hidrográficas boreales manejados. El cambio del uso del suelo ha alterado los procesos hidrológicos naturales y los ciclos biogeoquímicos del carbono, el nitrógeno y el fósforo, entre otros elementos, afectando directamente la calidad de los ecosistemas acuáticos como los ríos, lagos y zonas costeras. En esta disertación, las tendencias espaciales y temporales de la variación de la calidad del agua en cuencas hidrográficas finlandesas se estudiaron mediante la aplicación de métodos de estadística multivariante, análisis de series de tiempo, modelos ecohidrológicos y datos geoespaciales de alta resolución. Los resultados muestran los efectos complejos del uso actual del suelo, particularmente la agricultura, en la calidad del agua de los ríos y corrientes. Se detectaron nuevas tendencias emergentes de concentraciones y cargas de nutrientes en el análisis de series temporales, como un aumento en la concentración y carga del fósforo disuelto reactive y nitrógeno total, y una disminución en la concentración de sedimentos en suspensión en los ríos y corrientes. Esto podría estar vinculado a la estrategia actual de manejo del suelo, orientado a la reducción de la erosión para la protección del agua. Una evaluación a través de modelización ecohidrológica mostró un aumento de la exportación de nutrientes aguas abajo de la cuenca agrícola bajo escenarios de cambio climático. Los resultados de la modelización también mostraron una posible reducción de la exportación de nutrientes mediante la restauración de posibles zonas críticas biogeoquímicas: áreas húmedas o áreas propensas a la saturación de agua. Estas áreas pueden funcionar como sumideros de nutrientes y mejorar la resiliencia de la cuenca. Los datos geoespaciales de alta resolución permitieron un fácil y más preciso cartografiado de las áreas húmedas, así como la extracción de sus características hidráulicas. Sin embargo, los modelos ecohidrológicos involucraron varias fuentes de incertidumbre, que deben abordarse cuidadosamente con bastantes datos de observación, conocimiento experto de las definiciones de los parámetros del modelo, selección adecuada de la unidad de modelado y conocimiento empírico del funcionamiento del sistema de la cuenca estudiada. Los resultados de esta disertación destacan la importancia de los métodos combinados para la investigación de gestión de cuencas hidrográficas y la identificación adecuada de los procesos biofísicos en la modelización de fuentes contaminantes difusas; esto a su vez puede conducir a una medidaeficiente de protección del agua, y restauración de áreas claves de alta función biogeoquímica dentro de la cuenca

Social Cartography as a Tool for Conflict Analysis and Resolution: The Experience of the Afro-Colombian Communities of Robles

The field of conflict resolution is in constant evolution. Every day, theories are defined and redefined, and new contributions are made to the field. This continuous process challenges scholars, researchers, and practitioners to develop new conceptual and methodological frameworks for the analysis of conflict. This article highlights the potential of social cartography (participatory mapping) as a tool for the transformation of environmental and social conflicts at the household, community, national, and international levels. The advantages of social cartography as an appraisal, planning, and analytical tool for conflict transformation are illustrated here with a case study of the Afro-Colombian community of Robles

Modeling of renewable energy production from the treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater with ruminal liquor in microbial fuel cells

The present study aims to optimize the application of a microbial fuel cell (MFC) in the treatment of slaughterhouse wastewater and the production of electricity. The methodology included the response surface analysis (RSA) to evaluate the effect of three factors: the standard reduction potential, SRP (copper, zinc, and graphite; electrode surface area (ESA), and the doses of ruminal liquor (DOSE). The power density (PD) and the removal of the chemical oxygen demand (COD) were determined as the main response variables. The results indicated that the generation of electrical energy depended significantly on the SRP applied, highlighting the copper-graphite arrangement that generated a maximum PD (0.5685 W/m3) and the graphite-graphite that produced the highest removal of COD (81.33%). Consequently, the RSA produced significant predictive models for the generation of PD (R2 = 0.9485, p = 0.029) and removal of COD (R2 = 0.9888, p = 0.002). MFC is presented as a technology intended to be part of the diversification of renewable energy sources and at the same time recover water resources sustainably.Campus San Juan de Luriganch

Reading Comprehension and Behavior in Children Using E-books vs. Printed Books

The purpose of this research is to investigate the influence that personalized, gamified, and PDF electronic reading practices have on the attitudes which fifth-grade students possess toward e-reading experiences, as well as how these stances affect the students' motivation and reading comprehension while they are learning English as a second/foreign language (EFL). For the purpose of the study, there were a total of 84 fifth-grade kids from public schools in Greece, who participated. These students were split up into three different experimental groups and a control one. Participants in the experimental groups read throughout the treatment period according to a preset schedule using one of three diverse electronic reading formats (PDF, gamified, or customized), whilst participants in the control group read utilizing a paper guided reading plan. The participants' experiences playing video games online were analyzed via a technique called the quasi-experimental approach. According to the findings of the research, the experimental group and the control group did not significantly vary from one another in terms of their levels of reading comprehension. On the other hand, in comparison to the participants in the control group, those who took part in the experiments reported having more favorable sentiments regarding their electronic reading experiences and were more inspired to read. As indicated from the research findings, kids may experience an increase in their desire to read when they use electronic gadgets. This study has implications for educators and policymakers as they consider incorporating digital reading practices into their teaching methods, particularly when it comes to improving students' motivation to read

Analysis of Neptune's 2017 Bright Equatorial Storm

We report the discovery of a large ($\sim$8500 km diameter) infrared-bright storm at Neptune's equator in June 2017. We tracked the storm over a period of 7 months with high-cadence infrared snapshot imaging, carried out on 14 nights at the 10 meter Keck II telescope and 17 nights at the Shane 120 inch reflector at Lick Observatory. The cloud feature was larger and more persistent than any equatorial clouds seen before on Neptune, remaining intermittently active from at least 10 June to 31 December 2017. Our Keck and Lick observations were augmented by very high-cadence images from the amateur community, which permitted the determination of accurate drift rates for the cloud feature. Its zonal drift speed was variable from 10 June to at least 25 July, but remained a constant $237.4 \pm 0.2$ m s$^{-1}$ from 30 September until at least 15 November. The pressure of the cloud top was determined from radiative transfer calculations to be 0.3-0.6 bar; this value remained constant over the course of the observations. Multiple cloud break-up events, in which a bright cloud band wrapped around Neptune's equator, were observed over the course of our observations. No "dark spot" vortices were seen near the equator in HST imaging on 6 and 7 October. The size and pressure of the storm are consistent with moist convection or a planetary-scale wave as the energy source of convective upwelling, but more modeling is required to determine the driver of this equatorial disturbance as well as the triggers for and dynamics of the observed cloud break-up events.Comment: 42 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables; Accepted to Icaru

Evaluación de la remoción de arsénico en agua superficial utilizando filtros domiciliarios

El objetivo del estudio fue evaluar filtros domiciliarios para remover arsénico presente en agua proveniente del río Sama. El sistema estuvo compuesto de un filtro tradicional de arena y un filtro con el material adsorbente de hierro cerovalente estabilizado en quitosano. La evaluación del sistema fue por un período de 12 semanas en 18 puntos de uso; las primeras ocho semanas se determinó la concentración de arsénico del agua filtrada empleando tiras reactivas, y las cuatro últimas fueron a través de espectrometría de absorción atómica (EAA-FIAS). Durante las primeras ocho semanas se redujo la concentración de arsénico en el rango de 0,005 y 0,025 mg/L, y durante las cuatro últimas en el rango de 0,001 y 0,052 mg/L, a partir de una concentración promedio de 0,51 mg/L. Se demostró que el sistema de filtración es eficiente para remover arsénico a condiciones naturales