Development of a management tool for the equal evaluation of economic, social and ecological effects of adaptation scenarios for attenuating the effects of climate change induced flooding

Climate change is expected to influence river flooding which may have important implications for socio-economic and ecological systems. Changed flood risks require a proper policy. Water managers need to develop and select those adaptation scenarios that maximise welfare. Doing so requires addressing various challenges; integrating climate change effects in flood modelling, development of assessment methods for flood risk to social and ecological systems, development of methodologies for the assessment of non-flood related impacts from adaptation scenarios and, finally, integrating all effects, both positive and negative, related to an adaptation scenario in a comprehensive decision framework. The ADAPT project, which is financed by the Belgian Science Policy (BELSPO), aims to tackle these challenges by the development of a practical methodology, for assisting decision making about adaptation scenarios for attenuating the effects of climate change induced flooding, that builds on the integrated evaluation of economic, social as well as ecological effects. The study builds on two case studies, located in the two major Belgian river basins, for both the development and the illustration of the methodology.status: publishe

Assessment of co-creativity in the process of game design

We consider game design as a sociocultural and knowledge modelling activity, engaging participants in the design of a scenario and a game universe based on a real or imaginary socio-historical context, where characters can introduce life narratives and interaction that display either known social realities or entirely new ones. In this research, participants of the co-creation activity are Malaysian students who were working in groups to design game-based learning resources for rural school children. After the co-creativity activity, the students were invited to answer the co-creativity scale, an adapted version of the Assessment Scale of Creative Collaboration (ASCC), combining both the co-creativity factors and learners’ experiences on their interests, and difficulties they faced during the co-creativity process. The preliminary results showed a high diversity on the participants’ attitudes towards collaboration, especially related to their preferences towards individual or collaborative work

No change? A grounded theory analysis of depressed patients' perspectives on non-improvement in psychotherapy

Aim: Understanding the effects of psychotherapy is a crucial concern for both research and clinical practice, especially when outcome tends to be negative. Yet, while outcome is predominantly evaluated by means of quantitative pre-post outcome questionnaires, it remains unclear what this actually means for patients in their daily lives. To explore this meaning, it is imperative to combine treatment evaluation with quantitative and qualitative outcome measures. This study investigates the phenomenon of non-improvement in psychotherapy, by complementing quantitative pre-post outcome scores that indicate no reliable change in depression symptoms with a qualitative inquiry of patients' perspectives.Methods: The study took place in the context of a Randomised Controlled Trial evaluating time-limited psychodynamic and cognitive behavioral therapy for major depression. A mixed methods study was conducted including patients' pre-post outcome scores on the BDI-II-NL and post treatment Client Change Interviews. Nineteen patients whose data showed no reliable change in depression symptoms were selected. A grounded theory analysis was conducted on the transcripts of patients' interviews.Findings: From the patients' perspective, non-improvement can be understood as being stuck between knowing versus doing, resulting in a stalemate. Positive changes (mental stability, personal strength, and insight) were stimulated by therapy offering moments of self-reflection and guidance, the benevolent therapist approach and the context as important motivations. Remaining issues (ambition to change but inability to do so) were attributed to the therapy hitting its limits, patients' resistance and impossibility and the context as a source of distress. “No change” in outcome scores therefore seems to involve a “partial change” when considering the patients' perspectives.Conclusion: The study shows the value of integrating qualitative first-person analyses into standard quantitative outcome evaluation and particularly for understanding the phenomenon of non-improvement. It argues for more multi-method and multi-perspective research to gain a better understanding of (negative) outcome and treatment effects. Implications for both research and practice are discussed

γ-H2AX foci as in vivo effect biomarker in children emphasize the importance to minimize x-ray doses in paediatric CT imaging

Objectives: Investigation of DNA damage induced by CT x-rays in paediatric patients versus patient dose in a multicentre setting. Methods: From 51 paediatric patients (median age, 3.8 years) who underwent an abdomen or chest CT examination in one of the five participating radiology departments, blood samples were taken before and shortly after the examination. DNA damage was estimated by scoring gamma-H2AX foci in peripheral blood T lymphocytes. Patient-specific organ and tissue doses were calculated with a validated Monte Carlo program. Individual lifetime attributable risks (LAR) for cancer incidence and mortality were estimated according to the BEIR VII risk models. Results: Despite the low CT doses, a median increase of 0.13 gamma-H2AX foci/cell was observed. Plotting the induced gamma-H2AX foci versus blood dose indicated a low-dose hypersensitivity, supported also by an in vitro dose-response study. Differences in dose levels between radiology centres were reflected in differences in DNA damage. LAR of cancer mortality for the paediatric chest CT and abdomen CT cohort was 0.08 and 0.13% respectively. Conclusion: CT x-rays induce DNA damage in paediatric patients even at low doses and the level of DNA damage is reduced by application of more effective CT dose reduction techniques and paediatric protocols

High-Performance Carbon Electrodes Modified with Polyaniline for Stable and Selective Anion Separation

Capacitive deionization (CDI) is a technology used for water desalination and ion recovery based on the use of capacitive electrodes. Typically, the porous carbon electrodes used for CDI display limited ion storage capacity and selectivity due to the mechanism of ion storage in the electric double layer, but impressive improvements have been achieved using alternative, redox-based electrode materials, including conducting polymers like polyaniline (PAni). PAni is capable of capturing anions based on redox chemistry, but it degrades at anodic potentials typically used in CDI. In this work, we employed a multi-channel membrane CDI cell to map the stability window of a porous carbon electrode modified with PAni by controlling the anodic potential. We demonstrated for the first time that applying a potential as low as + 0.35 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) yields a stable and high chloride removal capacity (65 mgCl/gAnode) with charge and coulombic efficiencies close to 100% for CDI. Furthermore, this is first work to explore the selectivity of the PAni-modified CDI electrodes towards chloride in binary solutions, evidencing that chloride is preferred regardless the valence of the competing anions. We believe that this work provides an important contribution for a larger figure, one in which CDI can be used for both high-performance water desalination, and efficient anion-selective removal and recovery.This work was supported by the European Research Council (ERC Consolidator Grant 682444, E-motion, PI L.d.S)". L.A.M.R. thanks the Sao Paulo State Research Foundation (FAPESP, grant 2017/19838-5). The authors thank Kaíque S. G. C. Oliveira for the synthesis of the PAC material, Dr Sidharam Pujari for the AES measurements, and Ellen Dautzenberg for the nitrogen adsorption/desorption measurements. The authors also would like to thank the participants of the Advanced Materials for Chemical Selectivity group of the Laboratory of Organic Chemistry (WUR), particularly the CDI team, for the fruitful discussions

San Francisco Bay Area corporate history : a selected annotated bibliography

Human activities, among which dredging and land use change in river basins, are altering estuarine ecosystems. These activities may result in changes in sedimentary processes, affecting biodiversity of sediment macrofauna. As macrofauna controls sediment chemistry and fluxes of energy and matter between water column and sediment, changes in the structure of macrobenthic communities could affect the functioning of an entire ecosystem. We assessed the impact of sediment deposition on intertidal macrobenthic communities and on rates of an important ecosystem function, i.e. sediment community oxygen consumption (SCOC). An experiment was performed with undisturbed sediment samples from the Scheldt river estuary (SW Netherlands). The samples were subjected to four sedimentation regimes: one control and three with a deposited sediment layer of 1, 2 or 5 cm. Oxygen consumption was measured during incubation at ambient temperature. Luminophores applied at the surface, and a seawater–bromide mixture, served as tracers for bioturbation and bio-irrigation, respectively. After incubation, the macrofauna was extracted, identified, and counted and then classified into functional groups based on motility and sediment reworking capacity. Total macrofaunal densities dropped already under the thinnest deposits. The most affected fauna were surficial and low-motility animals, occurring at high densities in the control. Their mortality resulted in a drop in SCOC, which decreased steadily with increasing deposit thickness, while bio-irrigation and bioturbation activity showed increases in the lower sediment deposition regimes but decreases in the more extreme treatments. The initial increased activity likely counteracted the effects of the drop in low-motility, surficial fauna densities, resulting in a steady rather than sudden fall in oxygen consumption. We conclude that the functional identity in terms of motility and sediment reworking can be crucial in our understanding of the regulation of ecosystem functioning and the impact of habitat alterations such as sediment deposition

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Paleontological Resources Management Plan (Public Version)

Executive Summary Since Agate Springs Ranch was founded by James H. Cook in 1887, exquisite examples of transitional Miocene mammalian fauna have been found along this stretch of the Niobrara River valley. Collectively these paleontological discoveries, along with the existing archeological and historical Native American collection, were the basis for establishing Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (AGFO) as a unit of the National Park System (NPS). The fossil remains from the Harrison and Anderson Ranch formations span a short, but important, time period within the Miocene Epoch. AGFO has provided science with an intimate look into North American mammalian evolution of the time that is matched nowhere else, with body fossils and trace fossils (burrows) of many mammals in excellent condition. Investigation of the paleontological resources at AGFO has been very limited since its establishment, but the opportunities for research and discovery are still substantial. Public and academic interest in the Monument’s paleontological resources are considerable. Although there are existing legal authorities, policies and guidelines regarding the management of paleontological resources, at both the departmental and agency levels, more specific guidance would be helpful for the management of AGFO’s non-renewable fossils. This document has been prepared to provide more specific guidance and recommendations for paleontological resources management at AGFO. The Introduction outlines the significance of AGFO’s paleontological resources and defines the purpose, need, and objectives for the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Paleontological Resources Management Plan (PRMP). This plan also identifies the legal authorities, requirements, and mandates underpinning AGFO’s mission as a unit of the NPS, with special attention to authorities that address managing and preserving paleontological resources. Background Geology and Paleontology provides a basic park geologic description, discusses the scope of AGFO’s paleontological resources, and summarizes past paleontological work performed at the Monument. This information includes historical information from periods both before and after authorization of the Monument as a unit of the NPS. This section also presents the paleontological significance of AGFO and its specimens, such as how AGFO’s taxa are cornerstones of North American geochronology and biostratigraphy. Paleontological Resources Management begins by listing in greater detail the strategic objectives related to paleontological resources within the NPS and at AGFO. This section then proceeds to discuss the specific considerations related to paleontological resource inventories and monitoring along with management requirements (from policy and guidelines) specific to AGFO. This section discusses what a paleontology inventory is and why, when and how to conduct one; fundamentals of paleontological resource monitoring; the various types of threats to paleontological resources and how to mitigate them; and resource condition assessment and site monitoring protocols. It also addresses how to handle paleontological resources discovered or recovered during other park activities. Paleontological Research Management presents NPS and AGFO research goals, how to evaluate the scientific significance of research, and how to weigh the significance of research against other park mandates, operations, and goals. The section also includes a description of the permitting process, recommended park-specific permit conditions, and rules for overseeing collection and excavation. Museum Collections and Curation documents AGFO’s current paleontological collections, collections management and curation policies, AGFO’s photographic archives, collections from AGFO in external repositories, type specimens from AGFO, and Monument compliance with museum security policies. Interpretation discusses goals and current implementation for how AGFO interprets its paleontological resources for the public. This includes: the primary themes for interpretation; the exhibits, tools and programs used by AGFO to interpret fossil resources; the target audiences for the interpretive programs; teaching good stewardship of paleontological resources; and a discussion of public accessibility to AGFO, its interpretive materials, and the paleontological resources. Relation of Paleontological Resources to Other Park Programs provides an overview of how each park division may interact with paleontological resources and have their duties cross over with paleontological resource management related actions. It also discusses the potential impacts of paleontological resource management on other types of AGFO resources (archeological, biological, historical, and physical). Paleontological Resource Data Management discusses various paleontological resource records, datasets, and other archives. AGFO’s paleontological archives and library, as well as their current status, are discussed along with an overview of the type of contents stored within them. The NPS Paleontology Program Archives and Library, and how to exchange data and records between them and the AGFO archives, are also described. This section also reviews geospatial data available to AGFO and issues of sensitivity and confidentially related to paleontological resource data and information. Finally, the Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations summarizes the work done on the AGFO PRMP, discusses ongoing and planned projects which assist in implementing the instructions and goals set out in this PRMP, and makes a variety of recommendations for future paleontological resource management at AGFO