Integrated methods and scenario development for urban groundwater management and protection during tunnel road construction: a case study of urban hydrogeology in the city of Basel, Switzerland

In the northwestern area of Basel, Switzerland, a tunnel highway connects the French highway A35 (Mulhouse-Basel) with the Swiss A2 (Basel-Gotthard-Milano). The subsurface highway construction was associated with significant impacts on the urban groundwater system. Parts of this area were formerly contaminated by industrial wastes, and groundwater resources are extensively used by industry. During some construction phases, considerable groundwater drawdown was necessary, leading to major changes in the groundwater flow regime. Sufficient groundwater supply for industrial users and possible groundwater pollution due to interactions with contaminated areas had to be taken into account. A groundwater management system is presented, comprising extensive groundwater monitoring, high-resolution numerical groundwater modeling, and the development and evaluation of different scenarios. This integrated approach facilitated the evaluation of the sum of impacts, and their interaction in time and space with changing hydrological boundary conditions. For all project phases, changes of the groundwater system had to be evaluated in terms of the various goals and requirements. Although the results of this study are case-specific, the overall conceptual approach and methodologies applied may be directly transferred to other urban area

Adaptives Grundwassermanagement in urbanen Gebieten: Einfluss der Oberflächengewässer-Grundwasser-Interaktion am Beispiel künstlicher Grundwasseranreicherung sowie variabler In-/Exfiltration der Birs (Schweiz)

Zusammenfassung: Der Nutzungsdruck auf Grundwasserressourcen in intensiv genutzten Flussebenen wird zunehmend größer. Ziel dieses Beitrages ist, anhand eines repräsentativen, instationären Datensatzes eines urbanen Grundwassersystems (Unteres Birstal CH) aufzuzeigen, wie mit Ansätzen des adaptiven Grundwassermanagements die Voraussetzungen für die nachhaltige Nutzung von Grundwasserressourcen geschaffen werden können. Mithilfe eines instationären Grundwassermodells können spezifische Fragen der Fluss-Grundwasser-Interaktion und dem Betrieb künstlicher Grundwasseranreicherung beantwortet werden. Die Instationarität der Fluss-Grundwasser-Interaktion und eine damit zusammenhängende Änderung von In - und Exfiltrationsverhältnissen konnte für verschiedene Flussabschnitte ermittelt werden. Die Datenauswertung eines Jahrhunderthochwassers trug wesentlich zum Verständnis dieser Prozesse bei. Durch ein Experiment mit der längerfristigen Außerbetriebnahme einer künstlichen Grundwasseranreicherung im Untersuchungsgebiet konnten die Auswirkungen von geplanten Nutzungsänderungen abgeschätzt werden. Die Untersuchungen tragen zum Prozessverständnis des Grundwassersystems bei und liefern die Grundlage für eine Diskussion über lang-, mittel- und kurzfristige Ziele hinsichtlich der regionalen Bewirtschaftung urbaner Wasserressource

The first year of the ST Operation Committee: is there a future ?

The main objective of the ST Operation Committee (STOC) was to develop a proactive and homogeneous service of operation that satisfies the needs of the service users. Furthermore, the role of the Technical Control Room (TCR) should have been developed to a unique and competent entry point for ST operation by bringing the operation teams closer together on a daily basis. Have these objectives been achieved and to what extend? Is there a future for this committee and what could it look like? What are the implications of the first year of work on ST operation as a whole? This paper answers these questions and gives recommendations how to make best use of the STOC for the ST partners and ST, respectively

High Incidence of Non-Random Template Strand Segregation and Asymmetric Fate Determination In Dividing Stem Cells and their Progeny

Decades ago, the “immortal strand hypothesis” was proposed as a means by which stem cells might limit acquiring mutations that could give rise to cancer, while continuing to proliferate for the life of an organism. Originally based on observations in embryonic cells, and later studied in terms of stem cell self-renewal, this hypothesis has remained largely unaccepted because of few additional reports, the rarity of the cells displaying template strand segregation, and alternative interpretations of experiments involving single labels or different types of labels to follow template strands. Using sequential pulses of halogenated thymidine analogs (bromodeoxyuridine [BrdU], chlorodeoxyuridine [CldU], and iododeoxyuridine [IdU]), and analyzing stem cell progeny during induced regeneration in vivo, we observed extraordinarily high frequencies of segregation of older and younger template strands during a period of proliferative expansion of muscle stem cells. Furthermore, template strand co-segregation was strongly associated with asymmetric cell divisions yielding daughters with divergent fates. Daughter cells inheriting the older templates retained the more immature phenotype, whereas daughters inheriting the newer templates acquired a more differentiated phenotype. These data provide compelling evidence of template strand co-segregation based on template age and associated with cell fate determination, suggest that template strand age is monitored during stem cell lineage progression, and raise important caveats for the interpretation of label-retaining cells

Groundwater, geothermal modelling and monitoring at city-scale : reviewing European practice and knowledge exchange : TU1206 COST sub-urban WG2 report

The need for cities to make more effective use of the subsurface on which they stand, is increasingly being recognised in Europe and further afield to be essential for future cities to be sustainable and more resilient [1,2]. However, city planning worldwide remains largely 2D, with very few cities having any substantial subsurface planning or Masterplans – the cities of Helsinki, Montreal, Singapore being rare exceptions [3,4]. The consequences of inadequate consideration and planning of the subsurface are far-reaching, in economic, environmental and social terms. Across Europe, poor understanding of ground conditions is recognised as the largest single cause of construction project delay and overspends [5]. Management of urban groundwater and shallow geothermal energy resources is becoming increasingly important as cities are increasingly looking to use these resources to meet current and future energy and heating and water needs. Whilst these are, alongside potential underground building space, the two most important resources for future cities, the monitoring and regulation of these resource is widely variable across Europe. For subsurface opportunities such as groundwater and geothermal energy to be realised and utilised to greatest effect to support growing city populations and infrastructure, city planners must be both aware of, and have some understanding of the resources, available data and research, and both the opportunities and risks which the resources provide to city development [6,7]. To supply this understanding to city municipalities and others, geological surveys must have robust datasets of groundwater and geothermal resources at city-scale, and the relevant knowledge and understanding from these data must be made accessible to inform subsurface planning in appropriate datasets relevant to different scale of interest in different planning stages. What density and frequency of data are required for a robust understanding of a city’s groundwater and geothermal resources will be different in different cities, according to the complexity of the resources, and the intensity of subsurface use and demands on the resources. Indeed, no one design of city-scale monitoring or modelling of ground-water and -heat resources is appropriate for all cities, or for all monitoring objectives. However, the guiding principles of good practice for developing robust city-scale monitoring, and datasets are widely applicable, as are the key principles for ensuring these data inform city planning processes. This report provides an initial review of existing examples of current practices in Europe with respect to groundwater and geothermal monitoring and modelling, as a resource for other cities to learn from and build upon. The report also provides an overview of some of the different practices used for communicating groundwater and geothermal energy data and knowledge to inform urban planning and managemen

The application of the repertory grid in forensic practice

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the utility of the repertory grid method with forensic populations. Three case studies are presented, each using an adapted variation of the repertory grid method with a different forensic clients: an individual maintaining their innocence, an individual convicted of sexual offenses, and an individual convicted of stalking. An analysis of the repertory grid findings is presented for each case study, including a Principal Component Analysis and a Self-Identity Plot. This analysis of subjective meaning and idiosyncratic belief systems proves invaluable ordinarily, but particularly when working with populations who present as suspicious and guarded in research or clinical settings. Relationship and offending-related psychological vulnerabilities are explored, with small psychological changes documented and the use of the repertory grid approach as a clinical tool is highlighted. The findings provide a significant contribution to the field of forensic practice, by demonstrating the utility of the repertory grid method when working with forensic populations. This may, in turn, contribute to researchers’ and practitioners’ consideration of its use within future forensic practice

Učinkovitost u zadacima fine motorike i prostornih odnosa tijekom menstrualnog ciklusa

Various studies have shown fl uctuations in task performance during the menstrual cycle. The aim of this study was to see the effects of the menstrual cycle on performing fi ne motor and spatial tasks of different level of complexity in twenty students aged 18 to 21 years, with regular menstrual cycle (28 to 30 days). The students performed O’Connor Finger Dexterity Test and mental rotation test during the menstrual, late follicular, and midluteal phase. Before the tests were performed, we administered Spielberger’s State-Trait Anxiety Inventory for each phase. After the tasks were completed, the subjects ranked their diffi culty on Borg’s scale. The results showed the best performance in both tests in the midluteal phase (with sex hormones at their peak). The anxiety level and task diffi culty ranking were the highest in the menstrual phase, when the hormone levels were the lowest.Različita su istraživanja pokazala promjene učinkovitosti tijekom menstrualnog ciklusa. U zadacima u kojima su uspješnije žene, najveća učinkovitost događa se tijekom kasne folikularne ili srednje lutealne faze. U zadacima u kojima su pak uspješniji muškarci najveća je učinkovitost nađena u menstrualnoj fazi. Na osnovi uporabe zadataka fi ne motorike i prostornih zadataka različitih razina kompleksnosti, cilj ovog istraživanja bio je ispitati utjecaj menstrualnog ciklusa na kognitivne funkcije. U istraživanju je sudjelovalo dvadeset ispitanica, dobi od 18 do 21 godinu, s redovitim menstrualnim ciklusima (28 do 30 dana). Ispitanice su izvodile O’Connorov deksterimetar i zadatke mentalne rotacije tijekom menstrualne, kasne folikularne i srednje lutealne faze. Prije izvođenja zadataka, u svakoj fazi ciklusa primijenjen je Spielbergerov upitnik stanja anksioznosti. Nakon izvođenja zadataka, ispitanice su procjenjivale njihovu težinu na Borgovoj skali. Rezultati su pokazali najbolju učinkovitost u oba zadatka u fazi visokih razina spolnih hormona (srednja lutealna faza). Stanje anksioznosti i procijenjene težine zadataka bili su najviši u menstrualnoj fazi, kada su razine spolnih hormona najniže

Digit Ratio Predicts Sense of Direction in Women

The relative length of the second-to-fourth digits (2D:4D) has been linked with prenatal androgen in humans. The 2D:4D is sexually dimorphic, with lower values in males than females, and appears to correlate with diverse measures of behavior. However, the relationship between digit ratio and cognition, and spatial cognition in particular, has produced mixed results. In the present study, we hypothesized that spatial tasks separating cue conditions that either favored female or male strategies would examine this structure-function correlation with greater precision. Previous work suggests that males are better in the use of directional cues than females. In the present study, participants learned a target location in a virtual landscape environment, in conditions that contained either all directional (i.e., distant or compass bearing) cues, or all positional (i.e., local, small objects) cues. After a short delay, participants navigated back to the target location from a novel starting location. Males had higher accuracy in initial search direction than females in environments with all directional cues. Lower digit ratio was correlated with higher accuracy of initial search direction in females in environments with all directional cues. Mental rotation scores did not correlate with digit ratio in either males or females. These results demonstrate for the first time that a sex difference in the use of directional cues, i.e., the sense of direction, is associated with more male-like digit ratio.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF ECCS-1028319)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (NSF Graduate Student Fellowship)Mary Elisabeth Rennie Endowment for Epilepsy Researc