Evaluating residential satisfaction with an innovative dual water supply system in water sensitive urban development

The Australian water industry is facing two major challenges: a rise in water demand due to a growing population and a decrease in rainfall availability due to a drying climate. This situation has triggered a re-evaluation of traditional water schemes and promoted consideration of alternatives for sustainable urban water management. One possibility is to replace drinking water usage in garden and outdoor irrigation with non-potable groundwater. This could save almost half of the water supplied in the residential sector, which is the biggest consumer of scheme water in most Australian cities. A major hurdle for the success of such fit-for-purpose groundwater schemes can be the lack of the resident’s participation and support. Currently there are uncertainties about the dynamic nature of individual’s attitudes in terms of satisfaction and accepting behaviours towards the fit-for-purpose water use. This can cause ambiguity in planning and implementation of such projects. The main purpose of this thesis is to address the following specific research questions: What are the factors that determine residential satisfaction with and behaviours towards the fit-for-purpose groundwater system? and What are the implications of such water system for community, water utilities and urban planners? These questions have been addressed through a quasi-experimental study utilizing two northern suburbs in Perth metropolitan: Ridgewood and “The Green”. “The Green” is selected as an experimental suburb and Ridgewood is selected as a control suburb, which is a standard metropolitan suburb having the usual main drinking water system. The use of non-drinking groundwater through the dual water supply system in “The Green” began in 2008 alongside the main water scheme. A broad spectrum of parallel literature from many disciplines was drawn upon to inform the research. Concurrent preliminary informal conversations with local residents and a number of field observations were helpful in refining and contextualising the research hypotheses regarding the determinants of residential satisfaction with the fit-for-purpose groundwater supply system in the context of water sensitive urban development. An exploratory mixed method approach was adopted starting with qualitative preliminary interviews with local residents to inform the development of a survey instrument. This was followed by the administration of the survey questionnaires at household level to collect quantitative data to measure the relationship among variables and test a model of residential satisfaction. The survey data and the secondary data about residential water consumption were analysed to develop a workable model for residential satisfaction with and behaviour towards the dual water supply system and water sensitive urban environment. Finally, qualitative information during stakeholder interviews, meetings, and seminars was used to interpret the planning implications of the model and behavioural responses towards the water system and urban development. The research results indicated that the majority of residents (70%) are satisfied with the nondrinking groundwater supply system in their home and neighbourhood. In “The Green”, the household drinking water consumption was reduced by 40% compared to the metropolitan average; however, excessive garden watering exemptions for new garden establishment caused 30% more water usage in “The Green” than the metropolitan average. This study found that the major components of residential environment satisfaction were the neighbourhood, neighbours, and home. Home satisfaction in “The Green” was determined mainly by home attributes and the garden satisfaction, which in turn was dependent upon garden attributes and satisfaction with the groundwater system. In this way, groundwater satisfaction had an indirect impact on home satisfaction mediated by garden satisfaction. The major determinants of groundwater satisfaction were: positive perceptions of operational issues, and risk of groundwater use (negative relationship), and preference for continuation of the groundwater system after its trial period. The major research findings are explained in Chapter Six, Seven, and Eight. The dynamic nature of community attitudes and community behaviours towards the fit-for-purpose water projects at urban settings were explored, and the planning and development consequences of the implementation of the alternative water systems were explained. The results of this study are highly applicable for water providers, urban planners, and community developers in promoting the successful implementation as well as improvement of fit-for-purpose water systems from a policy perspective. This thesis equally contributes to building knowledge and understanding of residential satisfaction and its relationship to innovative dual water systems in water sensitive urban environments. It facilitates the sustainable management and planning of urban water resources. The research also demonstrates the need to integrate general models of community satisfaction with specific water system attitudes to provide an indication of the role of water supply systems in the overall success of water sensitive developments

Rehabilitation in Nepal

As a low-income country with a significant burden of disease and frequent natural disasters, the need for rehabilitation in Nepal is significant. Rehabilitation services currently available in Nepal are limited, but the government has recently adopted a 10-year action plan to address rehabilitation needs nationwide. Rehabilitation education and training is necessary to provide and retain adequate multidisciplinary rehabilitation providers for current and future needs in Nepal. The implementation of evidence-based recommendations to improve the quality of rehabilitation services and access to rehabilitation is critical to maximize individual and community well-being

Sustainable water management for urban agriculture, gardens and public open space irrigation: a case study in Perth

Urban agriculture has been increasingly popular as a form of modern agriculture in urban settings. It includes community gardens, fruit orchards, home gardens, veggie patches, public open spaces, reserves, urban forest, and recreational landscaping. However, irrigation using urban water supply has been identified as a major constraints for the development of urban agriculture. This study presents a sustainable water management trial at Butler, a northern sub-urban development in Perth, Western Australia, for urban irrigation. The trial system consists of a number of water saving features including untreated fit-for-purpose groundwater supplied via a third pipe network, drip irrigation, local weather station, soil moisture sensors connected with a local weather station, night time irrigation, soil enhancement with conditioning and mulching, and use of native plants and vegetation. The trial outcome was compared against controlled areas in terms of irrigation efficiency and sustainable water management for urban agriculture. The study demonstrated that a fit-for-purpose irrigation along with water sensitive land management could be a sustainable alternative for urban agriculture that would achieve a significant water saving and irrigation efficiency at urban settings. However, quality of untreated groundwater can be an issue while utilizing it for irrigation, but the research has shown that it can be managed with innovative irrigation techniques. This indicates that the fit-for-purpose irrigation system with water sensitive land management practices would be highly supportive in sustainable development of urban agriculture, vegetation and recreational landscaping

The demographics and traumatic causes of spinal cord injury in Nepal: An observational study

Introduction: There has been little systematic study of the epidemiology of traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) in Nepal, South-East Asia, and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in general. One third of the global morbidity and mortality due to injuries is concentrated in South-East Asia. We need to better understand the circumstances leading to TSCI if we are to make progress with prevention. Method: The Spinal Injury Rehabilitation Centre (SIRC) in Nepal systemically collected prospective data describing people with TSCI admitted between September 2015 and August 2016. Descriptive analyses of variables yielded demographic, aetiological and clinical descriptors of this cohort. Cross-tabulations were used to explore the associations between variables. Results: Of 184 admissions over one year, males were admitted to SIRC almost 2.3 times more often than females. Young adults (21–30 years) were the largest age group (34%). The majority of TSCI resulted in paraplegia (67%) and was complete in nearly half (49%). Falls caused the majority of TSCI (69%), and falls from trees were the most common. Road traffic injuries (RTIs) were the second leading cause (29%); the majority involved two- or three-wheeled motorised vehicles and patients were most commonly driving. Conclusion: Falls were the leading cause of TSCI across both genders and all age groups, followed by RTIs, which occurred most often in young adults and men. Injury surveillance and further research would provide a greater understanding of the pattern of TSCI and enable progress in TSCI prevention and rehabilitation

A team effort in Nepal: experiences from managing a large COVID-19 rehabilitation hospital outbreak

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or be any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic

Mechanical characteristics of groundnut shell particle reinforced polylactide nano fibre

ABSTRACT The PLA-groundnut shell solution is electrospun to produce nanocomposite fibre. The spinneret containing the composite solution was placed 24.7 cm away from the aluminium collector, tilted at an angle of 30 °, and the solution flow rate kept at 1 mL/min. Groundnut Shell particle (GSP) weight fraction used was varied from 3 - 8 wt. %. Particle reinforced nanofibres were formed on the collector from the composite solution at 26 kV. These nanofibres were subjected to tensile test and the result indicates that at 6 wt. % untreated GSP reinforced fibre possessed the best tensile stiffness of 24.62 MPa. This corresponds to 2.201 % increase in Modulus of Elasticity over the unreinforced PLA (1.07 MPa). The 7 wt. % treated GSP fibre showed the least stiffness (0.33 MPa), which is 69 % reduction over that of unreinforced fibre. PLA fibre reinforced with 5 wt. % untreated GSP displayed best blend of properties over the unreinforced with increase of 286 % (4.43 x 10-4 HB), 1,502 % (1.07 MPa), 286 % (0.22 MPa), 6.8 % (0.05 J) and 1,081 % (~ 0.15 MPa) in hardness, stiffness, UTS, energy at break and stress at break respectively. However, ductility decreased by ~33.3 % when compared to the unreinforced (18.27). The 5 wt. % untreated GSP PLA reinforced fibre showed the highest UTS (0.855 MPa). The micrographs showed beads on reinforced fibres, while the virgin PLA showed no beads

The COVID‐19 Pandemic Not Only Poses Challenges, but Also Opens Opportunities for Sustainable Transformation

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted social, economic, and environmental systems worldwide, slowing down and reversing the progress made in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). SDGs belong to the 2030 Agenda to transform our world by tackling humankind's challenges to ensure well-being, economic prosperity, and environmental protection. We explore the potential impacts of the pandemic on SDGs for Nepal. We followed a knowledge co-creation process with experts from various professional backgrounds, involving five steps: online survey, online workshop, assessment of expert's opinions, review and validation, and revision and synthesis. The pandemic has negatively impacted most SDGs in the short term. Particularly, the targets of SDG 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 13 have and will continue to have weakly to moderately restricting impacts. However, a few targets of SDG 2, 3, 6, and 11 could also have weakly promoting impacts. The negative impacts have resulted from impeding factors linked to the pandemic. Many of the negative impacts may subside in the medium and long terms. The key five impeding factors are lockdowns, underemployment and unemployment, closure of institutions and facilities, diluted focus and funds for non-COVID-19-related issues, and anticipated reduction in support from development partners. The pandemic has also opened a window of opportunity for sustainable transformation, which is short-lived and narrow. These opportunities are lessons learned for planning and action, socio-economic recovery plan, use of information and communication technologies and the digital economy, reverse migration and “brain gain,” and local governments' exercising authorities

Estimation of heterosis in yield and yield attributing traits in single cross hybrids of maize

A field experiment was conducted at National Maize Research Program, Rampur, Chitwan, Nepal during winter season from 6th October, 2015 to 5th March 2016 to estimate different heterosis on single cross maize hybrids . Thirteen maize hybrids were tested randomized complete block design with three replications. Hybrid namely RML-98/RL-105 gave the highest standard heterosis (57.5%) for grain yield over CP-666 followed by RML-4/NML-2 (32.6%), RML-95/RL-105 (29%) and RML-5/RL-105 (20.6%). The hybrid RML-98/RL-105 produced the highest standard heterosis (75.1%) for grain yield over Rajkumar followed by RML-4/NML-2(50.2%), RML-95/RL-105(46.6%), RML-5/RL-105 and (35.7%). Mid and better parent heterosis were significantly higher for yield and yield attributes viz. ear length, ear diameter, no of kernel row per ear, no of kernel per row and test weight. The highest positive mid-parent heterosis for grain yield was found in RML-98/RL-105 followed by RML-5/RL-105, RML-95/RL-105, and RML-4/NML-2. For the grain yield the better parent heterosis was the highest in RML-98/RL-105, followed by RML-5/RL-105, RML-95/RL-105, and RML-4/NML-2. These results suggested that maize production can be maximized by cultivating hybrids namely RML-98/RL-105, RML-5/RL-105, RML-95/RL-105, and RML-4/NML-2

Multiple tracheobronchial diverticula in a post‐TB patient: A case report

Abstract The presence of multiple tracheal and bronchial diverticula is a rare condition. We present a case of a 22‐years old non‐smoker male with a history of pulmonary tuberculosis, having multiple tracheal and bronchial diverticula along with other common sequelae such as stenosed and collapsed upper lobe bronchi

Acute reversible monoparesis in multiple neurocysticercosis: A case report and review of literature

Abstract Focal neurological deficit like monoparesis due to cortical lesions is a rare entity. In spite of the common presentations like seizures and headaches in neurocysticercosis, occurrence of reversible monoparesis is an atypical phenomenon. Even in the absence of infarct or hemorrhages, manifestation of neural deficit due to compressive effect only is an interesting finding. And on top of that, reversible nature of the deficit in space occupying lesion is a rare occurrence in the existing literature. Here, we describe a known case of neurocysticercosis with reversible acute monoparesis secondary to multiple neurocysticercosis. The variations with which neurocysticercosis can present broaden our understanding in its pathophysiology and management protocol