Framework for remediation of rivers impacted by legacy metal mine pollution

Seven percent of surface waters in England and Wales are impacted by pollution from abandoned non-ferrous metal mines. It is estimated that there are about five thousand five hundred of these. There is no legal liability to any party attached to abandoned metal mines in the UK if they ceased operation before 1999. Preventing pollution from entering river catchments from these sources can be expensive and public funds are limited in extent. These enduring sources of pollution are a significant impediment to compliance with the legislative requirements, such as the European Water Framework Directive. This thesis develops a framework for integrating pre-existing tools and methodologies to address this environmental problem: Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) and Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES). By fully quantifying the economic, social and environmental impacts of abandoned mine discharges and the net benefits of potential management interventions over different scales, it is proposed that the framework can provide a sustainable way forward for identifying appropriate cost-effective remedial interventions, identify sources of funding for remediation to take place through PES, while at the same time being sensitive to stakeholder concerns. To determine the effectiveness of this framework two phases of research have been undertaken. The first was a series of interviews with a range of key stakeholders with relevant knowledge and expertise, targeting key concerns and conflicts that arise in managing legacy pollution. The second was to apply the framework to a specific mine-impacted catchment to determine the effectiveness of the framework and an optimal solution for that site. Key findings of stakeholder interviews revealed the general positive attitude towards PES-schemes also discrepancies in knowledge between different sectors. Industrial representatives emphasised the likely need for regulation to initiate such processes. The potentially important role of stewardship and conservation organisations as “ethical brokers” for such schemes was highlighted, given their expertise at communicating and managing a range of stakeholder opinions. The application of the framework to the Hebden Beck catchment in North Yorkshire found that multiple small scale passive remediation at affected locations would be an optimal solution. The full costs of such systems are outweighed by the potential ecosystem service benefits of metal removal from upland streams. Fundamental to the acceptability and sustainability of the remedial solution was the requirement for habitat offsetting to be incorporated into the proposed works

The Large N Limits of the Chiral Potts Model

In this paper we study the large-N limits of the integrable N-state chiral Potts model. Three chiral solutions of the star-triangle equations are derived, with states taken from all integers, or from a finite or infinite real interval. These solutions are expected to be chiral-field lattice deformations of parafermionic conformal field theories. A new two-sided hypergeometric identity is derived as a corollary.Comment: 41 pages, 3 figures, LaTeX 2E file, using elsart.cls and psbox.tex (version 1.31 provided), [email protected]

Analysis of an Abandoned Reform Initiative: The Case of Mathematics in British Columbia

Throughout this era of greater educational accountability, assessment researchers have argued that large-scale comparative assessment data can enhance learning within and across systems of education and can foster reforms based on the practices of high achieving jurisdictions. Other researchers are less optimistic, warning that educational reform is fraught with danger. This paper explores an unsuccessful British Columbia Ministry of Education initiative to reform its mathematics curricula. This case study illustrates the myriad factors which prevent the success of planned reforms.

When Does Response End and Recovery Begin? What Can Resilience Practitioners Learn from Academia?

The aim of this research project is to improve planning and preparation for the more effective long-term recovery of communities, which will improve future resilience and contribute the Scottish Climate Change Adaptation (SCCAP). A series of semi structured in-depth interviews were conducted with expert stakeholders in community resilience. These interviews were supplemented by two online workshops with professional resilience practitioners. The following conclusions were drawn from this data and supplemented by the findings from the first phase of this two-phase research project. This project focuses upon community resilience within Scotland and the Scottish governments are guidance on community resilience. The argument is made that a response to an event is dealing directly with the impacts of the emergency and the aim of a response is to protect from and mitigate those direct harms associated with the event. Recovery from an event is dealing with the impacts and consequences resultant from that event having occurred and ensuring that the community is able to better protect and mitigate itself from direct harms associated with any subsequent events. Response and recovery occur simultaneously. What is happening, why, and the community’s perception of this affects their immediate reactions and emotional responses. A formal transition period which is part of planning and preparation and is incorporated into Scottish guidance has potential to address some of the key challenges raised by participants in this research project. Presenting an opportunity to engage with and empower communities, giving them time to consider, what their recovery looks like to them. The SCCAP program and its seven outcomes have a role in building communities’ resilience to natural hazard emergencies (NHE). Community resilience is a core part of SCCAP, which can be used as a framework for communities to use when considering how they would recover from the impacts of an NHE. The following recommendations have been made based upon the findings from this research project: • Guidance on a formal transition phase which is incorporated into category one and two planning and preparation is needed • Local citizen assemblies to engage and empower local communities in advance of any NHE or other emergency event to engage with SCCAP • TSO should be actively engaged with and encouraged to participate in local citizen assemblies • TSI should form part of RRPs and LRPs as part of preparation and planning for response and recovery • Response and recovery phases should be delineated by a transition phase • Engagement and empowerment of communities should be part of how category one and two responders manage a community’s expectations of, the response to, and recovering from an NHE or other emergenc

What factors are associated with ambulance use for non-emergency problems in children?:A systematic mapping review and qualitative synthesis

Objective To explore what factors are associated with ambulance use for non-emergency problems in children. Methods This study is a systematic mapping review and qualitative synthesis of published journal articles and grey literature. Searches were conducted on the following databases, for articles published between January 1980 and July 2020: MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and AMED. A Google Scholar and a Web of Science search were undertaken to identify reports or proceedings not indexed in the above. Book chapters and theses were searched via the OpenSigle, EThOS and DART databases. A literature advisory group, including experts in the field, were contacted for relevant grey literature and unpublished reports. The inclusion criteria incorporated articles published in the English language reporting findings for the reasons behind why there are so many calls to the ambulance service for non-urgent problems in children. Data extraction was divided into two stages: extraction of data to generate a broad systematic literature € map', and extraction of data from highly relevant papers using qualitative methods to undertake a focused qualitative synthesis. An initial table of themes associated with reasons for non-emergency calls to the ambulance for children formed the € thematic map' element. The uniting feature running through all of the identified themes was the determination of € inappropriateness' or € appropriateness' of an ambulance call out, which was then adopted as the concept of focus for our qualitative synthesis. Results There were 27 articles used in the systematic mapping review and 17 in the qualitative synthesis stage of the review. Four themes were developed in the systematic mapping stage: socioeconomic status/geographical location, practical reasons, fear of consequences and parental education. Three analytical themes were developed in the qualitative synthesis stage including practicalities and logistics of obtaining care, arbitrary scoring system and retrospection. Conclusions There is a lack of public and caregiver understanding about the use of ambulances for paediatrics. There are factors that appear specific to choosing ambulance care for children that are not so prominent in adults (fever, reassurance, fear of consequences). Future areas for attention to decrease ambulance activation for paediatric low-acuity reports were highlighted as: identifying strategies for helping caregivers to mitigate perceived risk, increasing availability of primary care, targeted education to particular geographical areas, education to first-time parents with infants and providing alternate means of transportation. PROSPERO registration number CRD42019160395

Focal plant observations as a standardised method for pollinator monitoring: opportunities and limitations for mass participation citizen science

Background: Recently there has been increasing focus on monitoring pollinating insects, due to concerns about their declines, and interest in the role of volunteers in monitoring pollinators, particularly bumblebees, via citizen science. Methodology/Principal Findings: The Big Bumblebee Discovery was a one-year citizen science project run by a partnership of EDF Energy, the British Science Association and the Centre for Ecology & Hydrology which sought to assess the influence of the landscape at multiple scales on the diversity and abundance of bumblebees. Timed counts of bumblebees ( Bombus spp.; identified to six colour groups) visiting focal plants of lavender (Lavendula spp.) were carried out by about 13 000 primary school children (7 – 11 years old) from over 400 schools across the UK. 3948 reports were received totalling 26 868 bumblebees. We found that while the wider landscape type had no significant effect on reported bumblebee abundance, the local proximity to flowers had a significant effect (fewer bumblebees where other flowers were reported to be > 5m away from the focal plant). However, the rate of mis-identifcation, revealed by photographs uploaded by participants and a photo-based quiz, was high. Conclusions/Significance: Our citizen science results support recent research on the importance of local floral resources on pollinator abundance. Timed counts of insects visiting a lure plant is potentially an effective approach for standardised pollinator monitoring, engaging a large number of participants with a simple protocol. However, the relatively high rate of mis-identifications (compared to reports from previous pollinator citizen science projects) highlights the importance of investing in resources to train volunteers. Also, to be a scientifically valid method for enquiry, citizen science data needs to be sufficiently high quality, so receiving supporting evidence (such as photographs) would allow this to be tested and for records to be verified

Knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to COVID-19 testing:A rapid scoping review

Testing programs for COVID-19 depend on the voluntary actions of members of the public for their success. Understanding people’s knowledge, attitudes, and behavior related to COVID-19 testing is, therefore, key to the design of effective testing programs worldwide. This paper reports on the findings of a rapid scoping review to map the extent, characteristics, and scope of social science research on COVID-19 testing and identifies key themes from the literature. Main findings include the discoveries that people are largely accepting of testing technologies and guidelines and that a sense of social solidarity is a key motivator of testing uptake. The main barriers to accessing and undertaking testing include uncertainty about eligibility and how to access tests, difficulty interpreting symptoms, logistical issues including transport to and from test sites and the discomfort of sample extraction, and concerns about the consequences of a positive result. The review found that existing research was limited in depth and scope. More research employing longitudinal and qualitative methods based in under-resourced settings and examining intersections between testing and experiences of social, political, and economic vulnerability is needed. Last, the findings of this review suggest that testing should be understood as a social process that is inseparable from processes of contact tracing and isolation and is embedded in people’s everyday routines, livelihoods and relationships