Applying the water safety plan to water reuse: towards a conceptual risk management framework

The Water Safety Plan (WSP) is receiving increasing attention as a recommended risk management approach for water reuse through a range of research programmes, guidelines and standards. Numerous conceptual modifications of the approach – including the Sanitation Safety Plan, the Water Cycle Safety Plan, and even a dedicated Water Reuse Safety Plan – have been put forward for this purpose. However, these approaches have yet to encapsulate the full spectrum of possible water reuse applications, and evidence of their application to reuse remains limited. Through reviewing the existing evidence base, this paper investigates the potential for adapting the WSP into an approach for water reuse. The findings highlight a need for the management of risk to reflect on, and facilitate the inclusion of, broader contexts and objectives for water reuse schemes. We conclude that this could be addressed through a more integrated approach to risk management, encapsulated within an overarching risk management framework (adapted from the WHO's Framework for safe drinking water) and operationalised through the Water Reuse Safety Plan (WRSP). We also propose that the WRSP should be based on modifications to the existing WSP approach, including an increased emphasis on supporting communication and engagement, and improvements in decision support mechanisms to better account for uncertainty, risk interactions and risk prioritisation

Modelling Acoustics in Ancient Maya Cities: Moving Towards a Synesthetic Experience Using GIS & 3D Simulation

Archaeological analyses have successfully employed 2D and 3D tools to measure vision and movement within cityscapes; however, built environments are often designed to invoke synesthetic experiences. GIS and Virtual Reality (VR) now enable archaeologists to also measure the acoustics of ancient spaces. To move toward an understanding of synesthetic experience in ancient Maya cities, we employ GIS and 3D modelling to measure sound propagation and reverberation using the main civic-ceremonial complex in ancient Copán as a case study. For the ancient Maya, sight and sound worked in concert to create ritually-charged atmospheres and architecture served to shape these experiences. Together with archaeological, iconographic, and epigraphic data, acoustic measures help us to (1) examine potential locations of ritual performance and (2) determine spatial placement and capacity of participants in these events. We use an immersive VR headset (Oculus Rift) to integrate vision with spatial sound and sight to facilitate an embodied experience

Informing public attitudes to non-potable water reuse – The impact of message framing

Water reuse is of increasing relevance for water-stressed regions but is often considered a contentious option. Research has shown that providing the public with information about reuse options can impact positively on its acceptability, although such impacts can be confined to specific groups. In this context, there is growing interest in understanding the impact of different forms and mechanisms of communication with the public around reuse. This contribution has investigated the use of video animations to communicate the safety of non-potable recycled water schemes. The aim of this study was to evaluate how different ways of framing messages about the safety of recycled water might impact on public attitudes. Participants were recruited in London (n = 689), UK, and randomly allocated to test and control groups, with the former being exposed to one of four video animations that used different frames to convey messages about recycled water safety. Surveys collected pre- and post-video message responses for dependent variables including the general acceptance of diverse non-potable recycled water uses, risk perceptions and trust. The findings complement existing knowledge on the impacts of different types of messaging on public attitudes to reuse schemes with important evidence for the positive impact of water safety communications framed in terms of compliance with water quality requirements. Contrarily, a positive attitudinal impact was not evident for safety message framed in terms of the selection of water treatment technology to remove contaminants nor in terms of non-potable water risks relative to other every-day risks. The results are of value to water resource planners looking to develop communication resources, as part of more comprehensive public engagement strategies, for improving perceptions of water reuse. Importantly, the findings help isolate the effects of specific message frames, and inform the debate on whether an increased understanding of risk positively or negatively influences willingness to support water reuse schemes

2005 Revised Omaha Economic Development Plan: Plan for Northeast Omaha

The 2005 Revised OEDP provides OEDC with current data and analysis to initiate and complete a strategic process to develop an action plan for community and economic development activities and projects. The 2005 Revised Overall Economic Development Plan (OEDP) prepared by the Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR) at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) for the Omaha Economic Development Corporation (OEDC) replaces the original OEDP first prepared in 1978. While a variety of revisions and updates over the years helped keep the original OEDP relatively current and helpful in development activities, in 2005 OEDC President Alvin Goodwin commissioned CPAR to provide a new basic planning document for the organization. Working with OEDC staff, and using the original OEDP as a framework, faculty and staff from CPAR, with the assistance of UNO graduate students, collected and analyzed data for the 2005 Revised Overall Economic Development Plan. The Revised OEDP retains and updates several of the sections from the original Plan but also adds new sections. Overall economic development plans contain a wealth of information about the demographic, social, and economic characteristics of the geographic area targeted for development by a community development corporation (CDC). CDCs, like the Omaha Economic Development Corporation, engage in many and varied community and economic development projects in its service area, and the overall economic development plan provides needed information to implement these projects. For example, the OEDP helps the community development corporation identify community needs as well as opportunities for business and economic development. Data from the OEDP can also be utilized for marketing and promotional purposes to attract new firms and customers. The OEDP serves as a source of information for formulating broad, long-term organizational goals, as well as specific, short-term development strategies and actions. Finally, the OEDP helps coordinate development activities, plans, and projects among the range of other organizations working in or adjacent to the target area

Stakeholder evaluations of risk interventions for non-potable recycled water schemes: a case study

Non-potable recycled water schemes can benefit sustainable urban water management through reducing demand for drinking water and mitigating environmental loadings through the provision of advanced wastewater treatment. However, scheme feasibility can be diminished by high capital and operating costs which can be elevated by perceptions of health risks and subsequently overly cautious risk reduction measures. Conversely, a failure to anticipate the risk management expectations of stakeholders can undermine scheme feasibility through insufficient demand for recycled water. The aim of this study was to explore how stakeholders' perceptions and preferences for risk management and recycled water end-uses might influence scheme design. Using a case study scheme in London, four risk management intervention scenarios and six alternative end uses were evaluated using a stochastic PROMETHEE-based method that incorporated quantitative microbial risk assessment and stakeholder criteria weights together with an attitudinal survey of stakeholders' risk perceptions. Through pair-wise criteria judgements, results showed that stakeholders prioritised health risk reductions which led to the more conservative management intervention of adding water treatment processes being ranked the highest. In contrast, responses to the attitudinal survey indicated that the stakeholders favoured maintaining the case study's existing levels of risk control but with more stakeholder engagement. The findings highlighted potential benefits of understanding risk perceptions associated with different design options and contrasting these with multi-criteria model results. Extrapolating from these findings, future research could explore potential challenges and benefits of providing flexibility in scheme designs to appeal to a wider range of stakeholder needs as well as being more adaptable to future social, environmental or economic challenges. The study concludes that contemporary risk management guidance would benefit from more explicitly outlining constructive ways to engage stakeholders in scheme evaluation

Early Prediction of Alzheimers Disease Leveraging Symptom Occurrences from Longitudinal Electronic Health Records of US Military Veterans

Early prediction of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is crucial for timely intervention and treatment. This study aims to use machine learning approaches to analyze longitudinal electronic health records (EHRs) of patients with AD and identify signs and symptoms that can predict AD onset earlier. We used a case-control design with longitudinal EHRs from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Veterans Health Administration (VHA) from 2004 to 2021. Cases were VHA patients with AD diagnosed after 1/1/2016 based on ICD-10-CM codes, matched 1:9 with controls by age, sex and clinical utilization with replacement. We used a panel of AD-related keywords and their occurrences over time in a patient's longitudinal EHRs as predictors for AD prediction with four machine learning models. We performed subgroup analyses by age, sex, and race/ethnicity, and validated the model in a hold-out and "unseen" VHA stations group. Model discrimination, calibration, and other relevant metrics were reported for predictions up to ten years before ICD-based diagnosis. The study population included 16,701 cases and 39,097 matched controls. The average number of AD-related keywords (e.g., "concentration", "speaking") per year increased rapidly for cases as diagnosis approached, from around 10 to over 40, while remaining flat at 10 for controls. The best model achieved high discriminative accuracy (ROCAUC 0.997) for predictions using data from at least ten years before ICD-based diagnoses. The model was well-calibrated (Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit p-value = 0.99) and consistent across subgroups of age, sex and race/ethnicity, except for patients younger than 65 (ROCAUC 0.746). Machine learning models using AD-related keywords identified from EHR notes can predict future AD diagnoses, suggesting its potential use for identifying AD risk using EHR notes, offering an affordable way for early screening on large population.Comment: 24 page

Public perceptions of household IoT smart water ‘event’ meters in the UK – implications for urban water governance

Cities around the world are facing water availability challenges, intensified by increasing populations and climate change. Technology, such as household smart meters measuring domestic water consumption, can play a role in demand management, yet a deeper understanding of public expectations and the practicalities of city-wide implementation is required. This article explores public perceptions of smart water meters that use Internet of Things (IoT) technology and machine learning to profile household water use “events” and anomalies. By leveraging insights from an online survey implemented in the UK (n = 558), this article explores factors influencing the likelihood of citizens choosing to have this type of meter installed along with potential societal barriers and opportunities. Nearly half of the participants said they would choose to have such a meter installed and logistic regression showed predictive variables were younger ages, being male, those with existing water meters and those with other smart devices. The likelihood of choosing this type of water meter was also associated with preferences to have control over data privacy, whether the meter would reduce water bills and whether it was provided free of charge. We locate these results within other contemporary experiences of smart meters and water grids in urban contexts to discuss practical challenges of using real-time environmental data for urban water governance. Policymakers and water resources planners should continue to monitor public perceptions, implement urban experiments and cost-benefit analyses to better interpret the wider benefits of such technology for behavioral and educational interventions within a more digitized and increasingly data-centric water grid.Creative E

Multiple sclerosis health-related quality of life utility values from the UK MS register

This is the final version. Available on open access from SAGE Publications via the DOI in this recordThis study makes use of anonymised data held by the UK Multiple Sclerosis Register funded by the MS Society and based on technology established by the SAIL databank.BACKGROUND: New interventions for multiple sclerosis (MS) commonly require a demonstration of cost-effectiveness using health-related quality of life (HRQoL) utility values. The EQ-5D is the utility measure approved for use in the UK NHS funding decision-making. There are also MS-specific utility measures - e.g., MS Impact Scale Eight Dimensions (MSIS-8D) and MSIS-8D-Patient (MSIS-8D-P). OBJECTIVES: Provide EQ-5D, MSIS-8D and MSIS-8D-P utility values from a large UK MS cohort and investigate their association with demographic/clinical characteristics. METHODS: UK MS Register data from 14,385 respondents (2011 to 2019) were analysed descriptively and using multivariable linear regression, with self-report Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) scores. RESULTS: The EQ-5D and MSIS-8D were both sensitive to differences in demographic/clinical characteristics. An inconsistency found in previous studies whereby mean EQ-5D values were higher for an EDSS score of 4 rather than 3 was not observed. Similar utility values were observed between MS types at each EDSS score. Regression showed EDSS score and age were associated with utility values from all three measures. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides generic and MS-specific utility values for a large UK MS sample, with the potential for use in cost-effectiveness analyses of treatments for MS.National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR

Tailored Interface Energetics for Efficient Charge Separation in Metal Oxide-Polymer Solar Cells.

Hybrid organic-inorganic heterointerfaces in solar cells suffer from inefficient charge separation yet the origin of performance limitations are widely unknown. In this work, we focus on the role of metal oxide-polymer interface energetics in a charge generation process. For this purpose, we present novel benzothiadiazole based thiophene oligomers that tailor the surface energetics of the inorganic acceptor TiO2 systematically. In a simple bilayer structure with the donor polymer poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT), we are able to improve the charge generation process considerably. By means of an electronic characterization of solar cell devices in combination with ultrafast broadband transient absorption spectroscopy, we demonstrate that this remarkable improvement in performance originates from reduced recombination of localized charge transfer states. In this context, fundamental design rules for interlayers are revealed, which assist the charge separation at organic-inorganic interfaces. Beside acting as a physical spacer in between electrons and holes, interlayers should offer (1) a large energy offset to drive exciton dissociation, (2) a push-pull building block to reduce the Coulomb binding energy of charge transfer states and (3) an energy cascade to limit carrier back diffusion towards the interface