WorldWideScience

Sample records for emerging water problems

  1. Water Utility Planning for an Emergency Drinking Water Supply

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reviews roles and responsibilities among various levels of government regarding emergency water supplies and seeks to encourage collaboration and partnership regarding emergency water supply planning.

  2. Simulation and the emergency department overcrowding problem

    OpenAIRE

    Nahhas, A.; Awaldi, A.; Reggelin, T.

    2017-01-01

    In this paper, a brief review on the emergency department overcrowding problem and its associated solution methodologies is presented. In addition, a case study of an urgent care center is investigated that demonstrates different simulation-based solution strategies to deal with the Emergency Department overcrowding problem. More precisely, a simulation study is conducted to identify critical aspects and propose possible scenarios to configure an urgent care center. Based on statistical data ...

  3. 33 CFR 203.61 - Emergency water supplies due to contaminated water source.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    .... (5) Loss of water supply is not a basis for assistance under this authority. (6) Water will not be... 33 Navigation and Navigable Waters 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Emergency water supplies due to... PROCEDURES Emergency Water Supplies: Contaminated Water Sources and Drought Assistance § 203.61 Emergency...

  4. Emergency Disinfection of Drinking Water

    Science.gov (United States)

    How to boil and disinfect water to kill most disease-causing microorganisms during emergency situations where regular water service has been interrupted and local authorities recommend using only bottled water, boiled water, or disinfected water.

  5. The Energy and Water Emergency Module; A containerized solution for meeting the energy and water needs in protracted displacement situations

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nerini, Francesco Fuso; Valentini, Francesco; Modi, Anish

    2015-01-01

    The world has faced many natural and man-made disasters in the past few years, resulting in millions of people living in temporary camps across the globe. The energy and clean water needs of the relief operators in such emergency situations are primarily satisfied by diesel engine based generators...... and importing clean water to the site, in certain cases even for several years after the emergency. This approach results in problems such as low security of supply and high costs. Especially targeting the prolonged displacement situations, this paper presents an alternative solution – the Energy and Water...

  6. Emergency cooling of presurized water reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sykora, D.

    1981-01-01

    The method described of emergency core cooling in the pressurized water reactor is characterized by the fact that water is transported to the disturbed primary circuit or direct to the reactor by the action of the energy and mass of the steam and/or liquid phase of the secondary circuit coolant, which during emergency core cooling becomes an emergency cooling medium. (B.S.)

  7. Development of emergency response plans for community water ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    All water services systems, irrespective of size, location etc., should have emergency response plans (ERPs) to guide officials, stakeholders and consumers through emergencies, as part of managing risks in the water supply system. Emergencies in the water supply system may result from, among other causes, natural ...

  8. Emerging genotype (GGIIb) of norovirus in drinking water, Sweden.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nygård, Karin; Torvén, Maria; Ancker, Camilla; Knauth, Siv Britt; Hedlund, Kjell-Olof; Giesecke, Johan; Andersson, Yvonne; Svensson, Lennart

    2003-12-01

    From May through June 2001, an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis that affected at least 200 persons occurred in a combined activity camp and conference center in Stockholm County. The source of illness was contaminated drinking water obtained from private wells. The outbreak appears to have started with sewage pipeline problems near the kitchen, which caused overflow of the sewage system and contaminated the environment. While no pathogenic bacteria were found in water or stools specimens, norovirus was detected in 8 of 11 stool specimens and 2 of 3 water samples by polymerase chain reaction. Nucleotide sequencing of amplicons from two patients and two water samples identified an emerging genotype designated GGIIb, which was circulating throughout several European countries during 2000 and 2001. This investigation documents the first waterborne outbreak of viral gastroenteritis in Sweden, where nucleotide sequencing showed a direct link between contaminated water and illness.

  9. Development of emergency response plans for community water ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    what to do if there is an emergency situation that may affect the water system. To assist water ... need to expand the water treatment system, a desire to improve the efficiency ..... notes on drinking-water, sanitation and hygiene in emergencies.

  10. Social Media Use and Conduct Problems in Emerging Adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Galica, Victoria L; Vannucci, Anna; Flannery, Kaitlin M; Ohannessian, Christine McCauley

    2017-07-01

    Social media use has become pervasive in the lives of emerging adults. Although social media may provide individuals with positive opportunities for communication and learning, social media sites also may provide an outlet for youth conduct problems, such as bullying, harassment, and intentional hostility and aggression toward others. Yet, the relationship between social media use and conduct problems remains unclear. This study investigated the association between conduct disorder (CD) symptoms before age 15 and social media use during emerging adulthood in a large, nationally representative sample. Concurrent associations between antisocial personality disorder (ASPD) symptoms and social media use in emerging adults also were examined. Data for this study were based on 567 emerging adults (50.2 percent female; M age  = 20.0 years). Self-report questionnaires were completed online. Results suggested that more childhood CD symptoms were significantly associated with greater daily social media use during emerging adulthood, and that more daily social media use was significantly associated with current ASPD symptoms. Possible directional and cyclical explanations for these findings are explored. Given the pervasiveness of social media in the lives of emerging adults, these results underscore the importance of considering nuanced methods for using social media sites to encourage positive social interactions and to displace the promotion of conduct problems.

  11. Emerging and potentially emerging viruses in water environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppina La Rosa

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available Among microorganisms, viruses are best fit to become emerging pathogens since they are able to adapt not only by mutation but also through recombination and reassortment and can thus become able to infect new hosts and to adjust to new environments. Enteric viruses are among the commonest and most hazardous waterborne pathogens, causing both sporadic and outbreak-related illness. The main health effect associated with enteric viruses is gastrointestinal illness, but they can also cause respiratory symptoms, conjunctivitis, hepatitis, central nervous system infections, and chronic diseases. Non-enteric viruses, such as respiratory and epitheliotrophic viruses are not considered waterborne, as they are not readily transmitted to water sources from infected individuals. The present review will focus on viral pathogens shown to be transmitted through water. It will also provide an overview of viruses that had not been a concern for waterborne transmission in the past, but that may represent potentially emerging waterborne pathogens due to their occurrence and persistence in water environments.

  12. The Energy and Water Emergency Module; A containerized solution for meeting the energy and water needs in protracted displacement situations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuso Nerini, Francesco; Valentini, Francesco; Modi, Anish; Upadhyay, Govinda; Abeysekera, Muditha; Salehin, Sayedus; Appleyard, Eduardo

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Energy and water services are a key need in long-term displacement situations. • At present electricity is supplied mostly with diesel generators and water is imported. • On-site electricity and clean water production can decrease costs and increase security. • The proposed containerized solution produces electricity and purifies water locally. • Model results show the cost-competitiveness and technical potential of the solution. - Abstract: The world has faced many natural and man-made disasters in the past few years, resulting in millions of people living in temporary camps across the globe. The energy and clean water needs of the relief operators in such emergency situations are primarily satisfied by diesel engine based generators and importing clean water to the site, in certain cases even for several years after the emergency. This approach results in problems such as low security of supply and high costs. Especially targeting the prolonged displacement situations, this paper presents an alternative solution – the Energy and Water Emergency Module. The proposed solution aims towards reducing the dependency on fossil fuel in prolonged emergency situations to a minimum while including local energy sources in the energy supply in a flexible and reliable way. The proposed module is built in a standard 20 ft container, and encompasses hybrid generation from solar, wind and biomass, with the possibility of using fossil sources too thanks to a dual fuel gas engine. The module can work both in grid connected and stand-alone mode. In addition the module includes a water purification unit to meet the water needs of displaced population. A demonstration unit was assembled at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm during the year 2012 as a ‘concept proof’, and is now being tested and optimized for future deployment on the field. Preliminary testing and modelling shows that the proposed solution can reliably support emergency

  13. Bioethics and Emergency Medicine: problems and perspectives

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maurizio Mori

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available Before examining the specific problems of emergency medicine, the article identifies the cardinal points for orientation in bioethics, in the conviction that the knowledge of the basic aspects of the subject allow the reader to make more conscious and suitable choices. The questions of moral relativism and the consequences of the biomedical revolution are addressed in detail in order to support the argument for a new ethical base for healthcare in general and for emergency medicine.

  14. A symptom based decision tree approach to boiling water reactor emergency operating procedures

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Knobel, R.C.

    1984-01-01

    This paper describes a Decision Tree approach to development of BWR Emergency Operating Procedures for use by operators during emergencies. This approach utilizes the symptom based Emergency Procedure Guidelines approved for implementation by the USNRC. Included in the paper is a discussion of the relative merits of the event based Emergency Operating Procedures currently in use at USBWR plants. The body of the paper is devoted to a discussion of the Decision Tree Approach to Emergency Operating Procedures soon to be implemented at two United States Boiling Water Reactor plants, why this approach solves many of the problems with procedures indentified in the post accident reviews of Three Mile Island procedures, and why only now is this approach both desirable and feasible. The paper discusses how nuclear plant simulators were involved in the development of the Emergency Operating Procedure decision trees, and in the verification and validation of these procedures. (orig./HP)

  15. An Ontology-Underpinned Emergency Response System for Water Pollution Accidents

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoliang Meng

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available With the unceasing development and maturation of environment geographic information system, the response to water pollution accidents has been digitalized through the combination of monitoring sensors, management servers, and application software. However, most of these systems only achieve the basic and general geospatial data management and functional process tasks by adopting mechanistic water-quality models. To satisfy the sustainable monitoring and real-time emergency response application demand of the government and public users, it is a hotspot to study how to make the water pollution information being semantic and make the referred applications intelligent. Thus, the architecture of the ontology-underpinned emergency response system for water pollution accidents is proposed in this paper. This paper also makes a case study for usability testing of the water ontology models, and emergency response rules through an online water pollution emergency response system. The system contributes scientifically to the safety and sustainability of drinking water by providing emergency response and decision-making to the government and public in a timely manner.

  16. The support for a purification of water contaminated with radioactivity, and problems of the radioactivity standard in an emergency situation at the stricken area 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maeda, Yoshiaki

    2011-01-01

    The accident of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Station of Tokyo Electric Power Company associated with the Great East Japan Earthquake incurred severe situation, where lifeline was cut off due to the discharge of a large amount of radioactive substances. In particular, the supply of safe foods and drinking water in radiation-polluted areas is urgently required. The authors have been developing up to now Crystal Valley water purifier and CV-Rescue water purifier that can purify well-water unsuitable for drinking due to contamination with toxic substances and produce drinkable water with safety without anxiety. This paper introduces the processes, in which verification test was performed to confirm that the above purifiers can be used for the removal of radioactivity discharged from the Great East Japan Earthquake this time, the validity of these purifiers was clarified, and these purifiers have actually been used for supporting water supply. This paper especially points out that a problem exists in the various standards on radioactivity that were temporarily determined in face of emergency of radiation pollution due to the nuclear power station accident this time. In these standards, the temporary standard on radioactive iodine 131 in drinking water is too high compared with the standards of WHO and those of advanced countries like U.S.A. It also points out the problem that radioactive substances in drinking water have not been removed yet. (O.A.)

  17. Present status and problems of radionuclide studies in emergency cases

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ogawa, Kiyoshi

    1983-01-01

    Scintigraphy is just right for diagnosing emergency cases due to its noninvasive and simple method, but emergency radionuclide studies have not become practical as a result of difficulty problems. Recently, nuclear medical devices have become easier to use in operations. It is become of this, that I have submitted this report regarding the problems of radionuclide studies in emergency cases. There were 101 cases (1.4 %) out of 7,310 cases for the year period Sept. 1981 - Aug. 1982. The studies consisted of 12 brain imaging cases, 9 plumonary imaging cases, 22 cardiac study cases (cardio-angiography cases 8, 99m-Tc-PYP myocardium imaging cases 12, 201-Tl myocardium imaging cases 2), 12 renal study cases, 11 G.I. blood loss cases, 35 peripheral angiography cases. In the near future, we will have to be ready to perform emergency radionuclide studies if the need arises. (author)

  18. Factors influencing emergency nurses' ethical problems during the outbreak of MERS-CoV.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choi, Jeong-Sil; Kim, Ji-Soo

    2018-05-01

    Whenever there has been a worldwide contagious disease outbreak, there have been reports of infection and death of healthcare workers. Particularly because emergency nurses have contact with patients on the front line, they experience ethical problems in nursing while struggling with infectious diseases in an unfavorable environment. The objective of this study was to explore emergency nurses' ethical problems and to identify factors influencing these problems during the outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus in Korea. For this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire survey was conducted with emergency nurses working in six hospitals selected through convenience sampling from the hospitals designated for Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus patients in the capital area. Data were collected from 169 emergency nurses in Korea during August 2015. Ethical considerations: This research was approved by the Institutional Review Board of G University in Korea. The findings of this study suggest that during the Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus outbreak, emergency nurses experienced ethical problems tied to a mind-set of avoiding patients. Three factors were found to influence emergency nurses' ethical problems (in order of influence): cognition of social stigmatization, level of agreement with infection control measures, and perceived risk. Through this study, we obtained information on emergency nurses' ethical problems during the Middle East respiratory syndrome-coronavirus outbreak and identified the factors that influence them. As found in this study, nurses' ethical problems were influenced most by cognitions of social stigmatization. Accordingly, to support nurses confidently care for people during future health disasters, it is most urgent to promote appropriate public consciousness that encourages healthcare workers.

  19. Emergency field water supply system using natural filtration elements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vikneswaran, M.; Yahya, Muhamad Azani; Yusof, Mohammed Alias; Ismail, Siti Nor Kamariah

    2018-02-01

    Water is the most important resource in times of emergency and during military missions. In addition, if there is a war in a country, sources of clean water are essential for life. But, the safety and cleanliness of the river water for the campers and hikers still uncertain. Usually, polluted and contaminated river water is not safe to be directly consumed by human. However, this problem can be partly resolved by using water filter where the river water can be consumed directly after the filtration process. In respect of that, this study was conducted to design the filter media for personal water purification system. Hence, the objective of this work also is to develop a personal, portable dual purpose handy water filter to provide an easier way to get safe, clean and healthy drinking water for human wherever they go. The water quality of samples collected before and after filtration were analyzed. Water samples were taken from a waterfall near Lestari Block and Lake beside Marine Centre UPNM Campus. The experimental results were analyzed based on the assessment of water quality parameters. Overall, the analysis of the results showed that the water filter was designed with basic mix tabs aqua filter water purification tablets is showing a better result where it achieve the class I of water quality index (WQI). In details, the water sample taken from waterfall near Lestari Block shown the WQI around 93 which is higher than WQI of water sample from Lake near Marine Centre UPNM which is 86, class II A which can be used for external purpose only.

  20. Safety problems of nuclear power plants with channel-type graphite boiling water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Emel'yanov, I.Ya.; Vasilevskij, V.P.; Volkov, V.P.; Gavrilov, P.A.; Kramerov, A.Ya.; Kuznetsov, S.P.; Kunegin, E.P.; Rybakov, N.Z.

    1977-01-01

    Construction of nuclear power plants in a highly populated region near large industrial centres necessitates to pay a special attention to their nuclear and radiation safety. Safety problems of nuclear reactor operation are discussed, in particular, they are: reliable stoppage of fission chain reaction at any emergency cases; reliable core cooling with failure of various equipment; emergency core cooling with breached pipes of a circulating circuit; and prevention of radioactive coolant release outside the nuclear power plant in amount exceeding the values adopted. Channel-type water boiling reactors incorporate specific features requiring a new approach to safety operation of a reactor and a nuclear power plant. These include primarily a rather large steam volume in the coolant circuit, large amount of accumulated heat, void reactivity coefficient. Channel-type reactors characterized by fair neutron balance and flexible fuel cycle, have a series of advantages alleviating the problem of ensuring their safety. The possibility of reliable control over the state of each channel allows to replace failed fuel elements by the new ones, when operating on-load, to increase the number of circulating loops and reduce the diameter of main pipelines, simplifies significantly the problem of channel emergency cooling and localization of a radioactive coolant release from a breached circuit. The concept of channel-type reactors is based on the solution of three main problems. First, plant safety should be assured in emergency switch off of separate units and, if possible, energy conditions should be maintained, this is of particular importance considering the increase in unit power. Second, the system of safety and emergency cooling should eliminate a great many failures of fuel elements in case of potential breaches of any tube in the circulating circuit. Finally, rugged boxes and localizing devices should be provided to exclude damage of structural elements of the nuclear power

  1. Geochemistry's vital contribution to solving water resource problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edmunds, W.M.

    2009-01-01

    As part of the events celebrating 40 a of IAGC, it is fitting to trace the modern evolution and development of hydrogeochemistry. However, fascination with water quality can be traced back more than 2 ka. In the post-war years, hydrogeochemistry was influenced heavily by the advances in other disciplines including physical chemistry, metallurgy and oceanography. Hydrological applications of isotope science also developed rapidly at this time, and important advances in analytical chemistry allowed multi-element and trace element applications to be made. Experimental studies on equilibrium processes and reaction kinetics allowed bench-scale insight into water-rock interaction. Consolidation of knowledge on processes in groundwaters and the current awareness of hydrogeochemistry by water professionals owe much to the work of Robert Garrels, John Hem, and co-workers in the early 1960s. Studies of down-gradient evolution enabled a field-scale understanding of groundwater quality and geochemical processes as a function of residence time (dissolution and precipitation processes in carbonate and non-carbonate aquifers; redox processes; cation exchange and salinity origins). Emerging water resource and water quality issues in the 1960s and 70s permitted the application of hydrogeochemistry to contaminant and related problems and this trend continues. The impacts of diffuse pollution from intensive agriculture, waste disposal and point source pollution from urban and industrial sources relied on geochemistry to solve questions of origin and attenuation. In semi-arid regions facing water scarcity, geochemical approaches have been vital in the assessment of renewability and characterising palaeowaters. The protection and new incoming regulation of water resources will rely increasingly on a sound geochemical basis for management.

  2. Improving Multi-Objective Management of Water Quality Tipping Points: Revisiting the Classical Shallow Lake Problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, J. D.; Reed, P. M.; Keller, K.

    2015-12-01

    Recent multi-objective extensions of the classical shallow lake problem are useful for exploring the conceptual and computational challenges that emerge when managing irreversible water quality tipping points. Building on this work, we explore a four objective version of the lake problem where a hypothetical town derives economic benefits from polluting a nearby lake, but at the risk of irreversibly tipping the lake into a permanently polluted state. The trophic state of the lake exhibits non-linear threshold dynamics; below some critical phosphorus (P) threshold it is healthy and oligotrophic, but above this threshold it is irreversibly eutrophic. The town must decide how much P to discharge each year, a decision complicated by uncertainty in the natural P inflow to the lake. The shallow lake problem provides a conceptually rich set of dynamics, low computational demands, and a high level of mathematical difficulty. These properties maximize its value for benchmarking the relative merits and limitations of emerging decision support frameworks, such as Direct Policy Search (DPS). Here, we explore the use of DPS as a formal means of developing robust environmental pollution control rules that effectively account for deeply uncertain system states and conflicting objectives. The DPS reformulation of the shallow lake problem shows promise in formalizing pollution control triggers and signposts, while dramatically reducing the computational complexity of the multi-objective pollution control problem. More broadly, the insights from the DPS variant of the shallow lake problem formulated in this study bridge emerging work related to socio-ecological systems management, tipping points, robust decision making, and robust control.

  3. Removal of emerging micropollutants from water using cyclodextrin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nagy, Zsuzsanna Magdolna; Molnár, Mónika; Fekete-Kertész, Ildikó; Molnár-Perl, Ibolya; Fenyvesi, Éva; Gruiz, Katalin

    2014-07-01

    Small scale laboratory experiment series were performed to study the suitability of a cyclodextrin-based sorbent (ß-cyclodextrin bead polymer, BCDP) for modelling the removal of micropollutants from drinking water and purified waste water using simulated inflow test solutions containing target analytes (ibuprofen, naproxen, ketoprofen, bisphenol-A, diclofenac, β-estradiol, ethinylestradiol, estriol, cholesterol at 2-6 μg/L level). This work was focused on the preliminary evaluation of BCDP as a sorbent in two different model systems (filtration and fluidization) applied for risk reduction of emerging micropollutants. For comparison different filter systems combined with various sorbents (commercial filter and activated carbon) were applied and evaluated in the filtration experiment series. The spiked test solution (inflow) and the treated outflows were characterized by an integrated methodology including chemical analytical methods gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS) and various environmental toxicity tests to determine the efficiency and selectivity of the applied sorbents. Under experimental conditions the cyclodextrin-based filters used for purification of drinking water in most cases were able to absorb more than 90% of the bisphenol-A and of the estrogenic compounds. Both the analytical chemistry and toxicity results showed efficient elimination of these pollutants. Especially the toxicity of the filtrate decreased considerably. Laboratory experiment modelling post-purification of waste water was also performed applying fluidization technology by ß-cyclodextrin bead polymer. The BCDP removed efficiently from the spiked test solution most of the micropollutants, especially the bisphenol-A (94%) and the hormones (87-99%) The results confirmed that the BCDP-containing sorbents provide a good solution to water quality problems and they are able to decrease the load and risk posed by micropollutants to the water systems. Copyright © 2014

  4. Emerging issues in environmental cracking in hot water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andresen, P.L.; Morra, M.M.

    2007-01-01

    Extensive research and engineering application efforts have been made to understand and manage environmentally assisted cracking (EAC) in high temperature water. EAC is a complex phenomena involving dozens of important parameters, and important issues continue to emerge as careful studies have been performed. This paper summarizes a number of emerging issues, and highlights the need for improvements in experimental sophistication and for deeper probing into the nature and importance of these emerging issues. (author)

  5. Hydrocomplexity: Addressing water security and emergent environmental risks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Praveen

    2015-07-01

    Water security and emergent environmental risks are among the most significant societal concerns. They are highly interlinked to other global risks such as those related to climate, human health, food, human migration, biodiversity loss, urban sustainability, etc. Emergent risks result from the confluence of unanticipated interactions from evolving interdependencies between complex systems, such as those embedded in the water cycle. They are associated with the novelty of dynamical possibilities that have significant potential consequences to human and ecological systems, and not with probabilities based on historical precedence. To ensure water security we need to be able to anticipate the likelihood of risk possibilities as they present the prospect of the most impact through cascade of vulnerabilities. They arise due to a confluence of nonstationary drivers that include growing population, climate change, demographic shifts, urban growth, and economic expansion, among others, which create novel interdependencies leading to a potential of cascading network effects. Hydrocomplexity aims to address water security and emergent risks through the development of science, methods, and practices with the potential to foster a "Blue Revolution" akin to the Green revolution for food security. It blends both hard infrastructure based solution with soft knowledge driven solutions to increase the range of planning and design, management, mitigation and adaptation strategies. It provides a conceptual and synthetic framework to enable us to integrate discovery science and engineering, observational and information science, computational and communication systems, and social and institutional approaches to address consequential water and environmental challenges.

  6. Generalizable open source urban water portfolio simulation framework demonstrated using a multi-objective risk-based planning benchmark problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trindade, B. C.; Reed, P. M.

    2017-12-01

    The growing access and reduced cost for computing power in recent years has promoted rapid development and application of multi-objective water supply portfolio planning. As this trend continues there is a pressing need for flexible risk-based simulation frameworks and improved algorithm benchmarking for emerging classes of water supply planning and management problems. This work contributes the Water Utilities Management and Planning (WUMP) model: a generalizable and open source simulation framework designed to capture how water utilities can minimize operational and financial risks by regionally coordinating planning and management choices, i.e. making more efficient and coordinated use of restrictions, water transfers and financial hedging combined with possible construction of new infrastructure. We introduce the WUMP simulation framework as part of a new multi-objective benchmark problem for planning and management of regionally integrated water utility companies. In this problem, a group of fictitious water utilities seek to balance the use of the mentioned reliability driven actions (e.g., restrictions, water transfers and infrastructure pathways) and their inherent financial risks. Several traits of this problem make it ideal for a benchmark problem, namely the presence of (1) strong non-linearities and discontinuities in the Pareto front caused by the step-wise nature of the decision making formulation and by the abrupt addition of storage through infrastructure construction, (2) noise due to the stochastic nature of the streamflows and water demands, and (3) non-separability resulting from the cooperative formulation of the problem, in which decisions made by stakeholder may substantially impact others. Both the open source WUMP simulation framework and its demonstration in a challenging benchmarking example hold value for promoting broader advances in urban water supply portfolio planning for regions confronting change.

  7. Passive system with steam-water injector for emergency supply of NPP steam generators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Il'chenko, A.G.; Strakhov, A.N.; Magnitskij, D.N.

    2009-01-01

    The calculation results of reliability indicators of emergency power supply system and emergency feed-water supply system of serial WWER-1000 unit are presented. To ensure safe water supply to steam generators during station blackout it was suggested using additional passive emergency feed-water system with a steam-water injector working on steam generators dump steam. Calculated analysis of steam-water injector operating capacity was conducted at variable parameters of steam at the entrance to injector, corresponding to various moments of time from the beginning of steam-and-water damping [ru

  8. Examining gender differences for gambling engagement and gambling problems among emerging adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wong, Gloria; Zane, Nolan; Saw, Anne; Chan, Alan Ka Ki

    2013-06-01

    Gambling is fast becoming a public health problem in the United States, especially among emerging adults (18-25 year olds). Since 1995, rates have recently doubled with around 7-11 % of the emerging adult population having problems with gambling (Shaffer et al. in Am J Public Health 89(9):1369-1376, 1999; Cyders and Smith in Pers Individ Diff 45(6):503-508, 2008). Some states have lowered their gambling age to 18 years old; in turn, the gambling industry has recently oriented their market to target this younger population. However, little is known about the gender variation and the factors placing emerging adults at risk for getting engaged and developing problems with gambling. The purpose of the study was to determine the risk factors accounting for gender differences at the two levels of gambling involvement: engagement and problems. Mediation analyses revealed that impulsive coping and risk-taking were significant partial mediators for gender differences on engagement in gambling. Men took more risks and had lower levels of impulsive coping than women, and those who took more risks and had lower levels of impulsive coping were more likely to engage in gambling. Risk-taking and social anxiety were the significant mediators for gender differences in problems with gambling. Men took more risks and were more socially anxious than women, and greater risk-taking and more socially anxious individuals tended to have more problems with gambling. Implications for counseling preventions and intervention strategies are discussed.

  9. A world wide public health problem: the principal re-emerging infectious diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Luca D'Alessandro, E; Giraldi, G

    2011-01-01

    The extraordinary progress in the knowledge of infectious disease, the discovery of antibiotics and effective vaccines are among the great achievement of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. These achievement have led to a dramatic reduction in the levels of mortality from these diseases. According to the World Health Organization, the term "re-emerging infectious diseases" refers to infectious diseases, which although well known, have not been of recent public health importance. However, climate change, migration, changes in health services, antibiotic resistance, population increase, international travel, the increase in the number of immune-depressed patients ,etc have lead to the re-emergence of these diseases. The climate changes are exposing sectors of the population to inadequate fresh air, water, food and resources for survival which, in consequence, provoke increases in both internal and international migration. In this particular period in which we find ourselves, characterized by globalization, the international community has become aware that the re-emergence of these diseases poses an important risk for public health underlines the necessity to adopt appropriate strategies for their prevention and control. The re-emerging diseases of the twenty-first century are a serious problem for public health and even though there has been enormous progress in medical science and in the battle against infectious diseases, they are still a long way from being really brought under control. A well organized monitoring system would enable the epidemiological characteristics of the infectious diseases to be analyzed and the success or otherwise of preventive interventions to be precisely evaluated. For this reason, the World Health Organization and the European Union have discussed the formation of a collaborative network for the monitoring and control of re-emerging diseases and has initiated special programmes. The battle between humanity and infectious disease

  10. Emerging Water Contaminants: Technical, Legal and Policy Challenges

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deeb, R. A.; Kresic, N.; Laugier, M. C.; Kavanaugh, M. C.

    2002-12-01

    Approximately 120 new chemicals are created each year due to ever-improving industry and technology markets. Releases of new contaminants into the environment can occur during production, use and disposal of these chemicals thereby leading to potential contamination of water supply sources. Very few emerging contaminants are regulated. In addition, knowledge gaps regarding emerging contaminants include lack health effects, occurrence (either because these compounds are not measured or because concentrations are below detection limits of readily available analytical techniques) and fate and transport in the environment especially with regards to mobility and persistence. The sources of these compounds are numerous. One source is treated wastewater, which is re-injected into groundwater aquifers for indirect potable reuse purposes. Emerging compounds of concern can be classified in various classes. This presentation will focus on contaminants, which have emerged in the last 10 years including pharmaceuticals (antibiotics/drugs), personal care products (polycyclic musks), pesticides/herbicides, industrial solvents (1,4-dioxane), gasoline additives (MTBE), disinfection byproducts such as NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine), and inorganic compounds such as perchlorate and arsenic. This presentation will present technical, legal and legislative challenges posed by the presence of these contaminants in water. Background information including chemical's history of use, sources in the environments, nationwide occurrence, physical and chemical properties, behavior in the environment and technologies for removal from soil and water will be presented. In addition, case studies on MTBE, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, 1,4-dioxane, arsenic and NDMA will be discussed.

  11. Pickering NGS emergency water supply system emergency start flow simulation and experiment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Davidge, E.; Misra, A. [Ontario Power Generation Inc., Nuclear Safety Analysis & Technology Department, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

    2012-07-01

    A proposed modification to the OPG Pickering Nuclear Generation Station Emergency Water Supply (EWS) system was analyzed using the Industry Standard Toolset code GOTHIC to determine the acceptability of the proposed system configuration during pump start-up. The new configuration of the system included a vertical dead-ended pipe, initially filled with air. The simulation demonstrated that no significant water hammer effects were predicted and tests performed with the new configuration confirmed the analysis results. (author)

  12. Toxicological relevance of emerging contaminants for drinking water quality

    OpenAIRE

    Schriks, M.; Heringa, M.B.; van der Kooij, M.M.E.; de Voogt, P.; van Wezel, A.P.

    2010-01-01

    The detection of many new compounds in surface water, groundwater and drinking water raises considerable public concern, especially when human health based guideline values are not available it is questioned if detected concentrations affect human health. In an attempt to address this question, we derived provisional drinking water guideline values for a selection of 50 emerging contaminants relevant for drinking water and the water cycle. For only 10 contaminants, statutory guideline values ...

  13. Goldratt’s Theory Applied to the Problems Associated with an Emergency Department at a Hospital

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soumya Nayak

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available Healthcare costs continue to increase dramatically, while quality remains a significant problem. Reform measures initiated by the government will drive expansion of these costs, further stressing taxpayers and employers, and forcing hospitals to adopt fundamental changes as they try to adjust to increased demands for services and to lessening reimbursements from all payers. This struggle is best seen at the point of entry for many at a hospital: the emergency department (ED. It is at the emergency department that patients’ expectations regarding staff communication with patients, wait times, the triage process, capacity and payment will determine a significant part of a hospital’s revenue. Using Dr. Eliyahu M. Goldratt’s Thinking Process, we will determine what core problem(s are causing a 362-bed regional West Texas hospital emergency department to lose revenue. Evaluation of the current emergency department will determine the Undesirable Effects (UDE. Using that information will lead to the construction of the Current Reality Tree (CRT, which will bring focus to the core problem(s. To break the constraints, which are the core problem(s, an Evaporative Cloud (EC is generated. And, the end result will be to construct a Future Reality Tree (FRT, which will validate the idea(s generated in the EC. It was determined that there are ten major UDE’s that affected this hospital’s emergency department. They were focused around staff communication, wait times, triage process, information management, service provided and bill collections. A conclusion was made that the core problem dealt with triaging patients and utilization of the services provided by the hospital. Since the reimbursement rate is affected by the patient’s satisfaction, the areas to focus on would be: triage, education, communication and retention. Although it may be neither feasible nor desirable to meet all the patient’s expectations, increased focus on those areas may

  14. Risk analysis of emergent water pollution accidents based on a Bayesian Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Caihong; Yi, Yujun; Yang, Zhifeng; Sun, Jie

    2016-01-01

    To guarantee the security of water quality in water transfer channels, especially in open channels, analysis of potential emergent pollution sources in the water transfer process is critical. It is also indispensable for forewarnings and protection from emergent pollution accidents. Bridges above open channels with large amounts of truck traffic are the main locations where emergent accidents could occur. A Bayesian Network model, which consists of six root nodes and three middle layer nodes, was developed in this paper, and was employed to identify the possibility of potential pollution risk. Dianbei Bridge is reviewed as a typical bridge on an open channel of the Middle Route of the South to North Water Transfer Project where emergent traffic accidents could occur. Risk of water pollutions caused by leakage of pollutants into water is focused in this study. The risk for potential traffic accidents at the Dianbei Bridge implies a risk for water pollution in the canal. Based on survey data, statistical analysis, and domain specialist knowledge, a Bayesian Network model was established. The human factor of emergent accidents has been considered in this model. Additionally, this model has been employed to describe the probability of accidents and the risk level. The sensitive reasons for pollution accidents have been deduced. The case has also been simulated that sensitive factors are in a state of most likely to lead to accidents. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Clean water and family forest management: some emerging issues

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peter A. Bisson

    2011-01-01

    Demand for clean water for a variety of uses will increase. Watersheds are where we live, grow crops and create various forms of industry. As the Pacific Northwest's human population expands, competition for water and the ecological goods and services that water provides will grow more intense. With this in mind it is helpful to review emerging issues that are of...

  16. Water tubing-related injuries treated in US emergency departments, 1991-2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heinsimer, Kevin R; Nelson, Nicolas G; Roberts, Kristin J; McKenzie, Lara B

    2013-02-01

    The objective was to describe the patterns and mechanisms of water tubing-related injuries treated in U.S. emergency departments. The National Electronic Injury Surveillance System was used to examine cases of water tubing-related injuries. Sample weights were used to calculate national estimates of water tubing-related injuries. Analyses were conducted in 2010. From 1991-2009 an estimated 69,471 injuries were treated in US emergency departments for water tubing-related injuries. The annual number of cases increased 250% over the 19-year study period (P tubing-related injuries differ for children and adults. Research is needed to determine how best to reduce these injuries.

  17. Palytoxin-Containing Aquarium Soft Corals as an Emerging Sanitary Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marco Pelin

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Palytoxin (PLTX, one the most potent marine toxins, and/or its analogs, have been identified in different marine organisms, such as Palythoa soft corals, Ostreopsis dinoflagellates, and Trichodesmium cyanobacteria. Although the main concern for human health is PLTXs entrance in the human food chain, there is growing evidence of adverse effects associated with inhalational, cutaneous, and/or ocular exposure to aquarium soft corals contaminated by PLTXs or aquaria waters. Indeed, the number of case reports describing human poisonings after handling these cnidarians is continuously increasing. In general, the signs and symptoms involve mainly the respiratory (rhinorrhea and coughing, skeletomuscular (myalgia, weakness, spasms, cardiovascular (electrocardiogram alterations, gastrointestinal (nausea, and nervous (paresthesia, ataxia, tremors systems or apparates. The widespread phenomenon, the entity of the signs and symptoms of poisoning and the lack of control in the trade of corals as aquaria decorative elements led to consider these poisonings an emerging sanitary problem. This review summarizes literature data on human poisonings due to, or ascribed to, PLTX-containing soft corals, focusing on the different PLTX congeners identified in these organisms and their toxic potential.

  18. Emergency water supply facility for nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karasawa, Toru

    1998-01-01

    Water is stored previously in an equipment storage pit disposed on an operator floor of a reactor building instead of a condensate storage vessel. Upon occurrence of an emergency, water is supplied from the equipment storage pit by way of a sucking pipeline to a pump of a high pressure reactor core water injection circuit and a pump of a reactor-isolation cooling circuit to supply water to a reactor. The equipment storage pit is arranged in a building so that the depth thereof is determined to keep the required amount of water by storing water at a level lower than the lower end of a pool gate during normal operation. Water is also supplied from the equipment storage pit by way of a supply pipeline to a spent fuel storage pool on the operation floor of the reactor building. Namely, water is supplied to the spent fuel storage pool by a pump of a fuel pool cooling and cleaning circuit. This can eliminate a suppression pool cleaning circuit. (I.N.)

  19. Ground-water problems in highway construction and maintenance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rasmussen, W.C.; Haigler, L.B.

    1953-01-01

    This report discusses the occurrence of ground water in relation to certain problems in highway construction and maintenance. These problems are: the subdrainage of roads; quicksand; the arrest of soil creep in road cuts; the construction of lower and larger culverts necessitated by the farm-drainage program; the prevention of failure of bridge abutments and retaining walls; and the water-cement ratio of sub-water-table concrete. Although the highway problems and suggested solutions are of general interest, they are considered with special reference to the State of Delaware, in relation to the geology of that State. The new technique of soil stabilization by electroosmosis is reviewed in the hope that it might find application here in road work and pile setting, field application by the Germans and Russians is reviewed.

  20. Organizational problems of Water Distribution in Khorezm, Uzbekistan

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wegerich, K.

    2004-01-01

    The paper addresses problems of water resource management on the district and provincial level in the Khorezm province, Uzbekistan. The district water organizations are responsible for equitable water distribution to the agricultural users. These organizations do not have the necessary logistical

  1. Drinking water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness in Atlanta, 1993-2004.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinker, Sarah C; Moe, Christine L; Klein, Mitchel; Flanders, W Dana; Uber, Jim; Amirtharajah, Appiah; Singer, Philip; Tolbert, Paige E

    2010-01-01

    The extent to which drinking water turbidity measurements indicate the risk of gastrointestinal illness is not well understood. Despite major advances in drinking water treatment and delivery, infectious disease can still be transmitted through drinking water in the United States, and it is important to have reliable indicators of microbial water quality to inform public health decisions. The objective of our study was to assess the relationship between gastrointestinal illness, quantified through emergency department visits, and drinking water quality, quantified as raw water and filtered water turbidity measured at the treatment plant. We examined the relationship between turbidity levels of raw and filtered surface water measured at eight major drinking water treatment plants in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, and over 240,000 emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness during 1993-2004 among the population served by these plants. We fit Poisson time-series statistical regression models that included turbidity in a 21-day distributed lag and that controlled for meteorological factors and long-term time trends. For filtered water turbidity, the results were consistent with no association with emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness. We observed a modest association between raw water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness. Our results suggest that source water quality may contribute modestly to endemic gastrointestinal illness in the study area. The association between turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness was only observed when raw water turbidity was considered; filtered water turbidity may not serve as a reliable indicator of modest pathogen risk at all treatment plants.

  2. Effect of training problem-solving skill on decision-making and critical thinking of personnel at medical emergencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heidari, Mohammad; Shahbazi, Sara

    2016-01-01

    Background: The aim of this study was to determine the effect of problem-solving training on decision-making skill and critical thinking in emergency medical personnel. Materials and Methods: This study is an experimental study that performed in 95 emergency medical personnel in two groups of control (48) and experimental (47). Then, a short problem-solving course based on 8 sessions of 2 h during the term, was performed for the experimental group. Of data gathering was used demographic and researcher made decision-making and California critical thinking skills questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The finding revealed that decision-making and critical thinking score in emergency medical personnel are low and problem-solving course, positively affected the personnel’ decision-making skill and critical thinking after the educational program (P problem-solving in various emergency medicine domains such as education, research, and management, is recommended. PMID:28149823

  3. Emerging mitigation needs and sustainable options for solving the arsenic problems of rural and isolated urban areas in Latin America - a critical analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bundschuh, Jochen; Litter, Marta; Ciminelli, Virginia S T; Morgada, María Eugenia; Cornejo, Lorena; Hoyos, Sofia Garrido; Hoinkis, Jan; Alarcón-Herrera, Ma Teresa; Armienta, María Aurora; Bhattacharya, Prosun

    2010-11-01

    In this work, current information about the contamination of ground- and surface-water resources by arsenic from geogenic sources in Latin America is presented together with possible emerging mitigation solutions. The problem is of the same order of magnitude as other world regions, such as SE Asia, but it is often not described in English. Despite the studies undertaken by numerous local researchers, and the identification of proven treatment methods for the specific water conditions encountered, no technologies have been commercialized due to a current lack of funding and technical assistance. Emerging, low-cost technologies to mitigate the problem of arsenic in drinking water resources that are suitable for rural and urban areas lacking centralized water supplies have been evaluated. The technologies generally use simple and low-cost equipment that can easily be handled and maintained by the local population. Experiences comprise (i) coagulation/filtration with iron and aluminum salts, scaled-down for small community- and household-scale-applications, (ii) adsorption techniques using low-cost arsenic sorbents, such as geological materials (clays, laterites, soils, limestones), natural organic-based sorbents (natural biomass), and synthetic materials. TiO(2)-heterogeneous photocatalysis and zerovalent iron, especially using nanoscale particles, appear to be promising emergent technologies. Another promising innovative method for rural communities is the use of constructed wetlands using native perennial plants for arsenic rhizofiltration. Small-scale simple reverse osmosis equipment (which can be powered by wind or solar energy) that is suitable for small communities can also be utilized. The individual benefits of the different methods have been evaluated in terms of (i) size of the treatment device, (ii) arsenic concentration and distribution of species, chemical composition and grade of mineralization in the raw water, (iii) guidelines for the remaining As

  4. FUTURE WATER MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS IN ASIAN MEGACITIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dieter Prinz

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Today, about half of the world population lives in urban areas and in the coming 20 years, urbanization is expected to increase steadily, especially in the Developing World. Based on UN data and projections, about 4 out of the 5 billion world urban population will live in developing countries by 2030. Large cities in the Developing World face the problem of unplanned growth, coupled with the financial and operational inability to offer the public services needed to sustain a decent life in urban environments. Water is one of those essential commodities which is often short in supply and/or of low quality. Additionally, flood poses a threat to urban dwellers during rainy season. The water management challenges in tropical urban areas today and in the decades to come can be characterized by (1 fighting physical shortcomings in water resources, (2 coping with contamination of groundwater, rivers, lakes, and reservoirs by domestic, agricultural or industrial waste and waste water, (3 mitigating environmental impacts of water extraction (such as loss of wetlands, subsidence and seawater intrusion , (4 preventing / mastering flood situations and (5 overcoming administrative and financial strains and operational incapacities. Solutions to the problems of urban water in 20 years time are to be found in supply side and demand side measures. The first group includes (1 optimal use of surface water and groundwater resources, (2 pollution protection, (3 watershed management and (4 more water storage. The second group includes (1 educational training, (2 technological innovation, (3 water conservation and (4 water pricing.

  5. Emerging contaminants of public health significance as water quality indicator compounds in the urban water cycle.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pal, Amrita; He, Yiliang; Jekel, Martin; Reinhard, Martin; Gin, Karina Yew-Hoong

    2014-10-01

    The contamination of the urban water cycle (UWC) with a wide array of emerging organic compounds (EOCs) increases with urbanization and population density. To produce drinking water from the UWC requires close examination of their sources, occurrence, pathways, and health effects and the efficacy of wastewater treatment and natural attenuation processes that may occur in surface water bodies and groundwater. This paper researches in details the structure of the UWC and investigates the routes by which the water cycle is increasingly contaminated with compounds generated from various anthropogenic activities. Along with a thorough survey of chemicals representing compound classes such as hormones, antibiotics, surfactants, endocrine disruptors, human and veterinary pharmaceuticals, X-ray contrast media, pesticides and metabolites, disinfection-by-products, algal toxins and taste-and-odor compounds, this paper provides a comprehensive and holistic review of the occurrence, fate, transport and potential health impact of the emerging organic contaminants of the UWC. This study also illustrates the widespread distribution of the emerging organic contaminants in the different aortas of the ecosystem and focuses on future research needs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Sleep problems: predictor or outcome of media use among emerging adults at university?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tavernier, Royette; Willoughby, Teena

    2014-08-01

    The pervasiveness of media use in our society has raised concerns about its potential impact on important lifestyle behaviours, including sleep. Although a number of studies have modelled poor sleep as a negative outcome of media use, a critical assessment of the literature indicates two important gaps: (i) studies have almost exclusively relied on concurrent data, and thus have not been able to assess the direction of effects; and (ii) studies have largely been conducted with children and adolescents. The purpose of the present 3-year longitudinal study, therefore, was to examine whether both sleep duration and sleep problems would be predictors or outcomes of two forms of media use (i.e. television and online social networking) among a sample of emerging adults. Participants were 942 (71.5% female) university students (M = 19.01 years, SD = 0.90) at Time 1. Survey measures, which were assessed for three consecutive years starting in the first year of university, included demographics, sleep duration, sleep problems, television and online social networking use. Results of a cross-lagged model indicated that the association between sleep problems and media use was statistically significant: sleep problems predicted longer time spent watching television and on social networking websites, but not vice versa. Contrary to our hypotheses, sleep duration was not associated with media use. Our findings indicate no negative effects of media use on sleep among emerging adults, but instead suggest that emerging adults appear to seek out media as a means of coping with their sleep problems. © 2014 European Sleep Research Society.

  7. A review on water pricing problem for sustainable water resource

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hek, Tan Kim; Ramli, Mohammad Fadzli; Iryanto

    2017-05-01

    A report that presented at the World Forum II at The Hague in March 2000, said that it would be water crisis around the world and some countries will be lack of water in 2025, as a result of global studies. Inefficient using of water and considering water as free goods which means it can be used as much as we want without any lost. Thus, it causes wasteful consumption and low public awareness in using water without effort to preserve and conserve the water resources. In addition, the excessive exploitation of ground water for industrial facilities also leads to declining of available freshwater. Therefore, this paper reviews some problems arise all over the world regarding to improper and improving management, policies and methods to determine the optimum model of freshwater price in order to avoid its wasteful thus ensuring its sustainability. In this paper, we also proposed a preliminary model of water pricing represents a case of Medan, North Sumatera, Indonesia.

  8. The Emergency Vehicle Routing Problem with Uncertain Demand under Sustainability Environments

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jin Qin

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available The reasonable utilization of limited resources is critical to realize the sustainable developments. In the initial 72-h crucial rescue period after the disaster, emergency supplies have always been insufficient and the demands in the affected area have always been uncertain. In order to improve timeliness, utilization and sustainability of emergency service, the allocation of the emergency supplies and the emergency vehicle routes should be determined simultaneously. Assuming the uncertain demands follow normal distribution, an optimization model for the emergency vehicle routing, by considering the insufficient supplies and the uncertain demands, is developed. The objective function is applied to minimize the total costs, including the penalty costs induced by more or less supplies than the actual demands at all demand points, as well as the constraints of the time windows and vehicle load capacity taken into account. In more details, a solution method for the model, based on the genetic algorithm, is proposed, which solves the problem in two stages. A numerical example is presented to demonstrate the efficiency and validity of the proposed model and algorithm.

  9. Decision support for water quality management of contaminants of emerging concern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fischer, Astrid; Ter Laak, Thomas; Bronders, Jan; Desmet, Nele; Christoffels, Ekkehard; van Wezel, Annemarie; van der Hoek, Jan Peter

    2017-05-15

    Water authorities and drinking water companies are challenged with the question if, where and how to abate contaminants of emerging concern in the urban water cycle. The most effective strategy under given conditions is often unclear to these stakeholders as it requires insight into several aspects of the contaminants such as sources, properties, and mitigation options. Furthermore the various parties in the urban water cycle are not always aware of each other's requirements and priorities. Processes to set priorities and come to agreements are lacking, hampering the articulation and implementation of possible solutions. To support decision makers with this task, a decision support system was developed to serve as a point of departure for getting the relevant stakeholders together and finding common ground. The decision support system was iteratively developed in stages. Stakeholders were interviewed and a decision support system prototype developed. Subsequently, this prototype was evaluated by the stakeholders and adjusted accordingly. The iterative process lead to a final system focused on the management of contaminants of emerging concern within the urban water cycle, from wastewater, surface water and groundwater to drinking water, that suggests mitigation methods beyond technical solutions. Possible wastewater and drinking water treatment techniques in combination with decentralised and non-technical methods were taken into account in an integrated way. The system contains background information on contaminants of emerging concern such as physical/chemical characteristics, toxicity and legislative frameworks, water cycle entrance pathways and a database with associated possible mitigation methods. Monitoring data can be uploaded to assess environmental and human health risks in a specific water system. The developed system was received with great interest by potential users, and implemented in an international water cycle network. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier

  10. Schistosomiasis mansoni and paddy-rice growing in Uganda: an emerging new problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bukenya, G B; Nsungwa, J L; Makanga, B; Salvator, A

    1994-08-01

    In Eastern Uganda, paddy-rice growing, which has only become popular in recent years, seems to be associated with the emergence of schistosomiasis mansoni as a new problem in public health. To estimate the magnitude of this problem, a cross-sectional, baseline survey was carried out in six villages of the Kibimba Rice Scheme. The overall prevalence of Schistosoma mansoni infection was found to be 20%. The highest prevalences and intensities of infection were seen in those aged 5-29 years, with more males infected than females. An attempt was then made to identify the important factors in the aetiology of S. mansoni in this area. Odds ratios indicated that working regularly in the rice paddies, fishing with baskets, and being male were statistically associated with an increased risk of S. mansoni infection. It is clear that schistosomiasis mansoni which is emerging as a new health problem in the study area is closely linked to working in the rice paddies. Encouraging the rice farmers to wear knee-high, waterproof boots while in the fields may help control the disease.

  11. A passive emergency heat sink for water-cooled reactors with particular application to CANDU reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spinks, N.J.

    1996-01-01

    Water in an overhead pool can serve as a general-purpose passive emergency heat sink for water-cooled reactors. It can be used for containment cooling, for emergency depressurization of the heat transport-system, or to receive any other emergency heat, such as that from the CANDU moderator. The passive emergency water system provides in-containment depressurization of steam generators and no other provision is needed for supply of low-pressure emergency water to the steam generators. For containment cooling, the pool supplies water to the tube side of elevated tube banks inside containment. The elevation with respect to the reactor heat source maximizes heat transport, by natural convection, of hot containment gases. This effective heat transport combines with the large heat-transfer coefficients of tube banks, to reduce containment overpressure during accidents. Cooled air from the tube banks is directed past the break in the heat-transport system, to facilitate removal of hydrogen using passive catalytic recombiners. (author)

  12. Problems of the water environment and water consumption

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Raetsep, Aavo

    1999-01-01

    Water extraction and consumption in Ida-Viru County are based mainly on the groundwater and surface water. The major part of the surface water is consumed by power engineering, while households and industry are the main consumers of groundwater. The difference between water extraction and consumption shows that the unused mine water pumped up for draining the oil shale mines and open pits and discharged into rivers forms an essential part (on the average 86%, quantitatively 159-226 millions m 3 /yr.). Serious water supply problems have risen in connection with oil shale mining: numerous village and household wells have been depleted due to a deep drawdown cone, the groundwater of the upper aquifers is polluted with nitrates, phenols and oil products. The poor condition of water-pipes and great leakages (up to 60%) make it difficult to supply townspeople and villagers with high-grade drinking water meeting the Estonian general standard EVS 663:1995. Water pollution is conditioned by poorly treated wastewaters and sewage directed practically into all the major rivers and lakes of the county by industrial and power engineering enterprises and towns and rural settlements. The rivers of the Purtse basin have been continuously under a heavy pollution load: both the mine waters with high minerality and phenolic wastewaters (so-called ash hill waters) of the oil shale thermal processing have been discharged into the rivers. Various water contamination from land areas has led to excessive pollution of Northeast Estonian coastal waters of the Gulf of Finland with toxic organic compounds and nutrients, specially in the regions of Purtse, Saka, Sillamaee and Narva-Joesuu. Up to now, Estonia has not managed completely fulfil the recommendations of the Helsinki Commission (HELCOM) of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area. In 1998-2010, water management in Ida-Viru County should be directed towards achieving two Principal objectives

  13. Optimal Water-Power Flow Problem: Formulation and Distributed Optimal Solution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dall-Anese, Emiliano [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zhao, Changhong [National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Zamzam, Admed S. [University of Minnesota; Sidiropoulos, Nicholas D. [University of Minnesota; Taylor, Josh A. [University of Toronto

    2018-01-12

    This paper formalizes an optimal water-power flow (OWPF) problem to optimize the use of controllable assets across power and water systems while accounting for the couplings between the two infrastructures. Tanks and pumps are optimally managed to satisfy water demand while improving power grid operations; {for the power network, an AC optimal power flow formulation is augmented to accommodate the controllability of water pumps.} Unfortunately, the physics governing the operation of the two infrastructures and coupling constraints lead to a nonconvex (and, in fact, NP-hard) problem; however, after reformulating OWPF as a nonconvex, quadratically-constrained quadratic problem, a feasible point pursuit-successive convex approximation approach is used to identify feasible and optimal solutions. In addition, a distributed solver based on the alternating direction method of multipliers enables water and power operators to pursue individual objectives while respecting the couplings between the two networks. The merits of the proposed approach are demonstrated for the case of a distribution feeder coupled with a municipal water distribution network.

  14. A triangular fuzzy TOPSIS-based approach for the application of water technologies in different emergency water supply scenarios.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Jianhua; Meng, Xianlin; Yu, Huan; You, Hong

    2016-09-01

    Because of the increasing frequency and intensity of unexpected natural disasters, providing safe drinking water for the affected population following a disaster has become a global challenge of growing concern. An onsite water supply technology that is portable, mobile, or modular is a more suitable and sustainable solution for the victims than transporting bottled water. In recent years, various water techniques, such as membrane-assisted technologies, have been proposed and successfully implemented in many places. Given the diversity of techniques available, the current challenge is how to scientifically identify the optimum options for different disaster scenarios. Hence, a fuzzy triangular-based multi-criteria, group decision-making tool was developed in this research. The approach was then applied to the selection of the most appropriate water technologies corresponding to the different emergency water supply scenarios. The results show this tool capable of facilitating scientific analysis in the evaluation and selection of emergency water technologies for enduring security drinking water supply in disaster relief.

  15. Investigation on legal problems encountered by emergency medicine physicians in Turkey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kayipmaz, Afsin Emre; Kavalci, Cemil; Gulalp, Betul; Kocalar, Ummu Gulsum; Giray, Tufan Akin; Yesilagac, Hasan; Ozel, Betul Akbuga; Celikel, Elif; Karagun, Ozlem

    2015-01-01

    Medicine is a profession that carries certain risks. One risky area of practice is the emergency department. Emergency physicians diagnose and treat a high volume of patients, and are also responsible for preparing reports for forensic cases. In this study, we aim to investigate emergency physicians' legal-administrative problems and reveal their level of understanding on forensic cases. An electronic questionnaire form was prepared after the approval of an ethical committee. This form was sent to the residents, specialists and academicians of emergency medicine by e-mail. The physicians were asked to fill out the form online. All the gathered data was analyzed. Descriptive statistics were presented as frequency percentages with mean and standard deviation. Chi-square tests were used to compare the groups. Correlation between number of complaint cases and age, sex, career, institution, and duration of service in emergency department were investigated. pmedicine and age. There was a significant difference between number of complaint reports and career (p<0.05). The physicians' level of awareness on forensic cases was found to be insufficient. Lack of legislation knowledge may be an important cause of complaint reports concerning emergency physicians, who have a high load of patients. Thus, we think that increasing the frequency of post-graduate education sessions and periodical reviews might be beneficial.

  16. DRINKING WATER TURBIDITY AND EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT VISITS FOR GASTROINTESTINAL ILLNESS IN ATLANTA, 1993 – 2004

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tinker, Sarah C.; Moe, Christine L.; Klein, Mitchel; Flanders, W. Dana; Uber, Jim; Amirtharajah, Appiah; Singer, Philip; Tolbert, Paige E.

    2013-01-01

    Background The extent to which drinking water turbidity measurements indicate the risk of gastrointestinal illness is not well-understood. Despite major advances in drinking water treatment and delivery, infectious disease can still be transmitted through drinking water in the U.S., and it is important to have reliable indicators of microbial water quality to inform public health decisions. The objective of our study was to assess the relationship between gastrointestinal illness, quantified through emergency department visits, and drinking water quality, quantified as raw water and filtered water turbidity measured at the treatment plant. Methods We examined the relationship between turbidity levels of raw and filtered surface water measured at eight major drinking water treatment plants in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia, and over 240 000 emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness during 1993–2004 among the population served by these plants. We fit Poisson time-series statistical regression models that included turbidity in a 21-day distributed lag and that controlled for meteorological factors and long-term time trends. Results For filtered water turbidity, the results were consistent with no association with emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness. We observed a modest association between raw water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness. This association was not observed for all treatment plants in plant-specific analyses. Conclusions Our results suggest that source water quality may contribute modestly to endemic gastrointestinal illness in the study area. The association between turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness was only observed when raw water turbidity was considered; filtered water turbidity may not serve as a reliable indicator of modest pathogen risk at all treatment plants. PMID:18941478

  17. Emergency reactor core cooling facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshikawa, Kazuhiro; Kinoshita, Shoichiro; Iwata, Yasutaka.

    1996-01-01

    The present invention provides an emergency reactor core cooling device for a BWR type nuclear power plant. Namely, D/S pit (gas/water separator storage pool) water is used as a water source for the emergency reactor core cooling facility upon occurrence of loss of coolant accidents (LOCA) by introducing the D/S pit water to the emergency reactor core cooling (ECCS) pump. As a result, the function as the ECCS facility can be eliminated from the function of the condensate storage tank which has been used as the ECCS facility. If the function is unnecessary, the level of quality control and that of earthquake resistance of the condensate storage tank can be lowered to a level of ordinary facilities to provide an effect of reducing the cost. On the other hand, since the D/S pit as the alternative water source is usually a facility at high quality control level and earthquake resistant level, there is no problem. The quality of the water in the D/S pit can be maintained constant by elevating pressure of the D/S pit water by a suppression pool cleanup (SPCU) pump to pass it through a filtration desalter thereby purifying the D/S pit water during the plant operation. (I.S.)

  18. Emergency reactor core cooling facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Yoshikawa, Kazuhiro; Kinoshita, Shoichiro; Iwata, Yasutaka

    1996-11-01

    The present invention provides an emergency reactor core cooling device for a BWR type nuclear power plant. Namely, D/S pit (gas/water separator storage pool) water is used as a water source for the emergency reactor core cooling facility upon occurrence of loss of coolant accidents (LOCA) by introducing the D/S pit water to the emergency reactor core cooling (ECCS) pump. As a result, the function as the ECCS facility can be eliminated from the function of the condensate storage tank which has been used as the ECCS facility. If the function is unnecessary, the level of quality control and that of earthquake resistance of the condensate storage tank can be lowered to a level of ordinary facilities to provide an effect of reducing the cost. On the other hand, since the D/S pit as the alternative water source is usually a facility at high quality control level and earthquake resistant level, there is no problem. The quality of the water in the D/S pit can be maintained constant by elevating pressure of the D/S pit water by a suppression pool cleanup (SPCU) pump to pass it through a filtration desalter thereby purifying the D/S pit water during the plant operation. (I.S.)

  19. Sino-US cooperation in water saving technologies: essential international problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    The United States and China share many agricultural problems, but one of great importance is the need to produce more crop yield in the face of water scarcity. Common recognition of this problem led to the development of a joint Sino-US Water Saving Technologies Flagship project within the larger US...

  20. Understanding enabling capacities for managing the 'wicked problem' of nonpoint source water pollution in catchments: a conceptual framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patterson, James J; Smith, Carl; Bellamy, Jennifer

    2013-10-15

    Nonpoint source (NPS) water pollution in catchments is a 'wicked' problem that threatens water quality, water security, ecosystem health and biodiversity, and thus the provision of ecosystem services that support human livelihoods and wellbeing from local to global scales. However, it is a difficult problem to manage because water catchments are linked human and natural systems that are complex, dynamic, multi-actor, and multi-scalar in nature. This in turn raises questions about understanding and influencing change across multiple levels of planning, decision-making and action. A key challenge in practice is enabling implementation of local management action, which can be influenced by a range of factors across multiple levels. This paper reviews and synthesises important 'enabling' capacities that can influence implementation of local management action, and develops a conceptual framework for understanding and analysing these in practice. Important enabling capacities identified include: history and contingency; institutional arrangements; collaboration; engagement; vision and strategy; knowledge building and brokerage; resourcing; entrepreneurship and leadership; and reflection and adaptation. Furthermore, local action is embedded within multi-scalar contexts and therefore, is highly contextual. The findings highlight the need for: (1) a systemic and integrative perspective for understanding and influencing change for managing the wicked problem of NPS water pollution; and (2) 'enabling' social and institutional arenas that support emergent and adaptive management structures, processes and innovations for addressing NPS water pollution in practice. These findings also have wider relevance to other 'wicked' natural resource management issues facing similar implementation challenges. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Identifying potential surface water sampling sites for emerging ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Emerging chemical pollutants (ECPs) are defined as new chemicals which do not have a regulatory status, but which may have an adverse effect on human health and the environment. The occurrence and concentrations of ECPs in South African water bodies are largely unknown, so monitoring is required in order to ...

  2. Emergence of forage legume seedlings influenced by water ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Emergence of forage legume seedlings influenced by water potential and soil strength. DMG Njarui, LM Bahnisch, B O'Hagan, B So. Abstract. No Abstract Available E. Afr. Agric. For. J. 2003 69(1), 29-38. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT.

  3. Water Security, Climate Forcings and Public Health Impacts in Emerging Regions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Serman, E. A.; Akanda, A. S.; Craver, V.; Boving, T. B.

    2014-12-01

    Our world is rapidly urbanizing, with more than 80% of world's population is expected to be living in a city by the end of the century. A majority of these nations are rapidly urbanizing due to massive rural-to-urban migratory trends, with rapid development of unplanned urban settlements, or slums, with lack of adequate water or sanitation facilities and other municipal amenities. With global environmental change, natural disasters will expose millions more to drought, floods, and disease epidemics, and existing vulnerabilities will worsen. At the same time, rapid urbanization and fast changing land-use leads to widespread damage of infrastructure by stormwater, especially in lowlands and economically poor areas. The factor that consistently stands out among different cities from both the developed and the developing worlds is that the slums are typically the most vulnerable to water related natural hazards and climatic threats, such as water scarcity and quality issues in drought conditions, or water and sanitation breakdown and stormwater contamination problems. Onsite or decentralized water, wastewater and stormwater treatment as well as point-of-use water treatment options can be an economic, safe, and reliable alternative to conventional large-scale treatment especially, in urban fringes as well as rural areas. These systems can be designed to fit communities in terms of their economic, cultural, environmental, and demographic resources. As part of this study, we develop a database of urban water quality and quantity indices such as with urban land-use, water usage, climate, and socio-economic characteristics in various emerging regions in the world. We analyze past and current data to identify and quantify long-term trends and the impacts of large-scale climatic and anthropogenic changes on urban hydrology and health impacts. We specifically focus on five major cities from distinct groups of countries and geographies: Providence, RI, USA from the developed

  4. Water assessment for the Lower Colorado River region-emerging energy technology development

    Science.gov (United States)

    1981-08-01

    Water supply availability for two hypothetical levels of emerging energy technology development are assessed. The water and related land resources implications of such hypothetical developments are evaluated. Water requirement, the effects on water quality, costs of water supplies, costs of disposal of wastewaters, and the environmental, economic and social impacts are determined, providing information for the development of non-nuclear energy research.

  5. 78 FR 63516 - Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for New Boiling-Water Reactors

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-24

    ... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2012-0134] Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling....79.1, ``Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for New Boiling-Water Reactors.'' This... emergency core cooling systems (ECCSs) for boiling- water reactors (BWRs) whose licenses are issued after...

  6. Advanced Nuclear Measurements - Sensitivity Analysis Emerging Safeguards, Problems and Proliferation Risk

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dreicer, J.S.

    1999-01-01

    During the past year this component of the Advanced Nuclear Measurements LDRD-DR has focused on emerging safeguards problems and proliferation risk by investigating problems in two domains. The first is related to the analysis, quantification, and characterization of existing inventories of fissile materials, in particular, the minor actinides (MA) formed in the commercial fuel cycle. Understanding material forms and quantities helps identify and define future measurement problems, instrument requirements, and assists in prioritizing safeguards technology development. The second problem (dissertation research) has focused on the development of a theoretical foundation for sensor array anomaly detection. Remote and unattended monitoring or verification of safeguards activities is becoming a necessity due to domestic and international budgetary constraints. However, the ability to assess the trustworthiness of a sensor array has not been investigated. This research is developing an anomaly detection methodology to assess the sensor array

  7. Corporate and Hospital Profiteering in Emergency Medicine: Problems of the Past, Present, and Future.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Derlet, Robert W; McNamara, Robert M; Plantz, Scott H; Organ, Matthew K; Richards, John R

    2016-06-01

    Health care delivery in the United States has evolved in many ways over the past century, including the development of the specialty of Emergency Medicine (EM). With the creation of this specialty, many positive changes have occurred within hospital emergency departments (EDs) to improve access and quality of care of the nation's de facto "safety net." The specialty of EM has been further defined and held to high standards with regard to board certification, sub-specialization, maintenance of skills, and research. Despite these advances, problems remain. This review discusses the history and evolution of for-profit corporate influence on EM, emergency physicians, finance, and demise of democratic group practice. The review also explores federal and state health care financing issues pertinent to EM and discusses potential solutions. The monopolistic growth of large corporate contract management groups and hospital ownership of vertically integrated physician groups has resulted in the elimination of many local democratic emergency physician groups. Potential downsides of this trend include unfair or unlawful termination of emergency physicians, restrictive covenants, quotas for productivity, admissions, testing, patient satisfaction, and the rising cost of health care. Other problems impact the financial outlook for EM and include falling federal, state, and private insurance reimbursement for emergency care, balance-billing, up-coding, unnecessary testing, and admissions. Emergency physicians should be aware of the many changes happening to the specialty and practice of EM resulting from corporate control, influence, and changing federal and state health care financing issues. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Report: EPA Lacks Internal Controls to Prevent Misuse of Emergency Drinking Water Facilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Report #11-P-0001, October 12, 2010. EPA cannot accurately assess the risk of public water systems delivering contaminated drinking water from emergency facilities because of limitations in Safe Drinking Water Information System (SDWIS) data management.

  9. Problems of Financing Water Protection and Water Management Activities in the Republic of Buryatia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dondyukov Z. B.-D.

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The development of the payment system for using water objects in the Russian Federation is studied. The problem of insufficient financing the water protection and water management activities in the Republic of Buryatia under conditions of active environmental restrictions of the Baikal natural area is revealed. The necessity for amendments in Russia’s budget legislation concerning water tax and charges for using water objects is substantiated and relevant proposals are made

  10. Managing produced water from coal seam gas projects: implications for an emerging industry in Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Davies, Peter J; Gore, Damian B; Khan, Stuart J

    2015-07-01

    This paper reviews the environmental problems, impacts and risks associated with the generation and disposal of produced water by the emerging coal seam gas (CSG) industry and how it may be relevant to Australia and similar physical settings. With only limited independent research on the potential environmental impacts of produced water, is it necessary for industry and government policy makers and regulators to draw upon the experiences of related endeavours such as mining and groundwater extraction accepting that the conclusions may not always be directly transferrable. CSG is widely touted in Australia as having the potential to provide significant economic and energy security benefits, yet the environmental and health policies and the planning and regulatory setting are yet to mature and are continuing to evolve amidst ongoing social and environmental concerns and political indecision. In this review, produced water has been defined as water that is brought to the land surface during the process of recovering methane gas from coal seams and includes water sourced from CSG wells as well as flowback water associated with drilling, hydraulic fracturing and gas extraction. A brief overview of produced water generation, its characteristics and environmental issues is provided. A review of past lessons and identification of potential risks, including disposal options, is included to assist in planning and management of this industry.

  11. Acute health problems in African refugees: ten years' experience in a Swiss emergency department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pfortmueller, Carmen A; Graf, Fabienne; Tabbara, Malek; Tabarra, Malek; Lindner, Gregor; Zimmermann, Heinz; Exadaktylos, Aristomenis K

    2012-09-01

    Over the last two decades, the total number of applications from Africans for asylum in the countries of the European Union has increased from 578,000 to more than 2.9 million. About 20 % (7,196/36,100) of the asylum seekers in Switzerland originate from Africa. The disease profile of African asylum seekers is remarkably different from that of the native population in the country of application. We have therefore conducted an analysis of African asylum seekers presenting themselves to our emergency department. In a retrospective analysis, the central patient registry database was searched for patients originating from Africa admitted from 1 January 2000 to 30 November 2011 and labelled as "Asylbewerber" (asylum seeker) or "Flüchtling" (refugee). Three thousand six hundred and seventy-five African asylum seekers were admitted to our emergency department between 2000 and 2010. Thirty-four percent (n = 1,247) were female and 66 % (n = 2,426) male. Eighty percent (n = 1,940) of the men and 70 % (n = 823) of the women were younger than 40 years. Most of our patients originated from Algeria (n = 612). Forty-five percent (n = 1,628) of all patients presented with internal medical problems, 40 % (n = 1,487) with injuries. 3.5 % (n = 130) of all patients presented with psychiatric problems. Admission for psychiatric problems increased steadily from 2 % (n = 4) in 2001 to 10 % (n = 35) in 2011. The causes of presentation are manifold, including internal medical problems and injuries. Admissions for psychiatric problems are increasing. Establishing simple screening scores for somatization should be a key priority in providing more focused treatment in emergency departments.

  12. Reallocation of Water Resources in the Arab Region: An Emerging Challenge in Water Governance

    OpenAIRE

    Kannan Ambalam

    2014-01-01

    Water is an integral part of ecosystems. It is essential to earth’s living creatures and central to maintaining the earth’s ecosystems. In most part of the world, both water quantity andquality problems are becoming more acute, since the limited available water resource are being over-utilized and stressed beyond the sustainability point. The contemporary globalwater crises including inefficient use and lack of equitable distribution are mainly due to the crises of governance. Water governanc...

  13. 76 FR 23708 - Safety Zone; Pierce County Department of Emergency Management Regional Water Exercise, East...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-04-28

    ...-AA00 Safety Zone; Pierce County Department of Emergency Management Regional Water Exercise, East... the Regional Water Rescue Exercise. Basis and Purpose The Pierce County, Washington, Department of... to read as follows: Sec. 165.T13-0251 Safety Zone; Pierce County Department of Emergency Management...

  14. Mean Residence Time and Emergency Drinking Water Supply.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kralik, Martin; Humer, Franko

    2013-04-01

    Immediately after securing an endangered population, the first priority of aid workers following a disaster is the distribution of drinking water. Such emergency situations are reported from many parts of the world following regional chemical or nuclear pollution accidents, floods, droughts, rain-induced landslides, tsunami, and other extreme events. It is often difficult to organise a replacement water supply when regular water systems with short residence times are polluted, infiltrated or even flooded by natural or man-made disasters. They are either unusable or their restoration may take months or even years. Groundwater resources, proven safe and protected by the geological environment, with long residence times and the necessary infrastructure for their exploitation, would provide populations with timeous replacement of vulnerable water supply systems and make rescue activities more rapid and effective. Such resources have to be identified and investigated, as a substitute for affected drinking water supplies thereby eliminating or reducing the impact of their failure following catastrophic events. Even in many areas such water resources with long residence times in years or decades are difficult to find it should be known which water supply facilities in the region are matching these requirements to allow in emergency situation the transport of water in tankers to the affected regions to prevent epidemics, importing large quantities of bottled water. One should know the residence time of the water supply to have sufficient time to plan and install new safe water supply facilities. Development of such policy and strategy for human security - both long term and short term - is therefore needed to decrease the vulnerability of populations threatened by extreme events and water supplies with short residence times. Generally: The longer the residence time of groundwater in the aquifer, the lower its vulnerability. The most common and economic methods to estimate

  15. Emergency Response Proficiency Test for Japanese Laboratories: Determination of Selected Radionuclides in Water, Soil, Vegetation and Aerosol Filters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2013-01-01

    Reliable determination of natural and artificial radionuclides in environmental samples is necessary for compliance with radiation protection and environmental regulations. The IAEA assists Member State laboratories in maintaining and improving their readiness in this regard by producing reference materials, by developing standardized analytical methods, and by conducting interlaboratory comparisons and proficiency tests as tools for quality control. To fulfil this obligation and ensure a reliable, rapid and consistent worldwide response, the IAEA Terrestrial Environment Laboratory in Seibersdorf, Austria, organizes interlaboratory comparisons and proficiency tests. In addition, the IAEA coordinates the worldwide network of Analytical Laboratories for the Measurement of Environmental Radioactivity (ALMERA). After the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in March 2011, Japan requested the IAEA to organize an emergency response proficiency test for Japanese laboratories with the aim of assessing their capacity to rapidly and accurately measure radionuclides in environmental samples. The IAEA responded to the request by assembling a special sample set covering the main environmental samples and radionuclides of interest in the case of a nuclear emergency situation. Water, soil, vegetation and aerosol filter samples were made available to Japanese laboratories for analysis by gamma ray spectrometry. This report presents the results of the IAEA-TEL-2011-08 emergency response proficiency test for Japanese laboratories on the determination of selected radionuclides in water, soil, vegetation and aerosol filters. The report includes descriptions of the methodologies and data evaluation approach used, as well as summary evaluations of each radionuclide and individual evaluation reports of each laboratory. This proficiency test was designed to identify analytical problems and to support Member State laboratories in their efforts to improve the quality of

  16. 78 FR 64027 - Preoperational Testing of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for Pressurized-Water Reactors

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-10-25

    ... comments were received. A companion guide, DG-1277, ``Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2011-0129] Preoperational Testing of Emergency Core Cooling... (RG), 1.79, ``Preoperational Testing of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for Pressurized-Water Reactors...

  17. Water Conflicts and Entrenched Governance Problems in Chile’s Market Model

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carl J. Bauer

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available The Chilean system of tradable water rights and water markets has been well known and controversial in international water policy circles since the 1990s. Chile’s 1981 Water Code is a textbook example of neo-liberalism, with strong private property rights and weak government regulation, and the market in water rights has been the dominant theme in debates about Chilean water policy, both nationally and internationally. The Water Code was somewhat reformed in 2005 after over 13 years of political debate. In this paper I review the issues in water policy and politics in Chile during the decade since that reform. What does the ongoing Chilean experience tell us about water privatisation, markets, and commoditisation? Water conflicts have become the essential issue in Chile, rather than water markets. In the past decade conflicts among multiple water users have deepened and widened in many parts of the country, involving river basins and groundwater aquifers. The institutional framework for governing these water conflicts has worked poorly, for a variety of reasons, and the conflicts have become a serious national political problem. I review the evolving political and policy debates in Chile, including the current government’s proposal in 2014 for a new and stronger reform of the Water Code. In short, the critical problem of the Chilean water model is the lack of institutional capacity for governance or integrated water resources management, and the problem has worsened as water conflicts have become closely linked to conflicts in the energy and environmental sectors.

  18. Analysis of the problem of forced landing of aircraft on water surface and methods of simulation of aircraft crews at aircraft accidents of this type

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V. M. Nedilko

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available The article is devoted to an actual problem of emergency incidents of forced landing of aircraft on the water surface. The main content of the research is the analysis of statistical data and classification splashdown. The article reveals the main reasons that lead to the forced landing of aircraft. Analysis of accidents is interesting for us, as it can reveal the shortcomings and problems in the Rescue and disadvantages of rescue equipment. Considerable attention is paid to the analysis of simulators for flight and cabin crew. Based on the analysis of the problem the need for regular training and exercises is established. To conduct a full-fledged study on the problem of forced landing of airborne vessels on the water surface, the following methods were used: comparison method, generalization method, data analysis method.

  19. Emergency Response Planning to Reduce the Impact of Contaminated Drinking Water during Natural Disasters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Natural disasters can be devastating to local water supplies affecting millions of people. Disaster recovery plans and water industry collaboration during emergencies protect consumers from contaminated drinking water supplies and help facilitate the repair of public water system...

  20. Learning from elsewhere (problems at US and Canadian nuclear power plants)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Horgan, J.

    1984-01-01

    This article examines a series of technical and managerial problems that have struck US and Canadian nuclear power plants since 1979. Topics considered include the failure of automatic reactor trip components; ruptures, leaks, and corrosion in steam-generator tubes; pipe cracks in boiling-water reactors; leaks in pressure tubes of Canadian heavy-water reactors; the unreliability of emergency power sources for safety systems; mistakes by operators and other plant personnel; the lack of acceptable emergency-preparedness plans; and poor quality control at construction projects. Most of the discussed problems have solutions, either developed explicitly by a utility most affected by the problem or demonstrated implicitly by a utility that has avoided the problem. It is shown how incidents at sites other than Three Mile Island have expanded the nuclear knowledge base and may help contribute to the solutions of new and older problems

  1. A passive emergency heat sink for water cooled reactors with particular application to CANDU reg-sign reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Spinks, N.J.

    1996-01-01

    Water in an overhead pool can serve as a general-purpose passive emergency heat sink for water-cooled reactors. It can be used for containment cooling, for emergency depressurization of the heat transport-system, or to receive any other emergency heat, such as that from the CANDU reg-sign moderator. The passive emergency water system provides in-containment depressurization of steam generators and no other provision is needed for supply of low-pressure emergency water to the steam generators. For containment cooling, the pool supplies water to the tube side of elevated tube banks inside containment. The elevation with respect to the reactor heat source maximizes heat transport, by natural convection, of hot containment gases. This effective heat transport combines with the large heat-transfer coefficients of tube banks, to reduce containment overpressure during accidents. Cooled air from the tube banks is directed past the break in the heat-transport system, to facilitate removal of hydrogen using passive catalytic recombiners

  2. Ensuring safe water in post-chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Amar, Praveen Kumar

    2010-01-01

    Disaster scenarios are dismal and often result in mass displacement and migration of people. In eventuality of emergency situations, people need to be rehabilitated and provided with an adequate supply of drinking water, the most essential natural resource needed for survival, which is often not easily available even during non-disaster periods. In the aftermath of a natural or human-made disaster affecting mankind and livestock, the prime aim is to ensure supply of safe water to reduce the occurrence and spread of water borne disease due to interrupted, poor and polluted water supply. Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) emergencies augment the dilemma as an additional risk of “contamination” is added. The associated risks posed to health and life should be reduced to as low as reasonably achievable. Maintaining a high level of preparedness is the crux of quick relief and efficient response to ensure continuous supply of safe water, enabling survival and sustenance. The underlying objective would be to educate and train the persons concerned to lay down the procedures for the detection, cleaning, and treatment, purification including desalination, disinfection, and decontamination of water. The basic information to influence the organization of preparedness and execution of relief measures at all levels while maintaining minimum standards in water management at the place of disaster, are discussed in this article. PMID:21829321

  3. Ensuring safe water in post-chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear emergencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Praveen Kumar Amar

    2010-01-01

    Full Text Available Disaster scenarios are dismal and often result in mass displacement and migration of people. In eventuality of emergency situations, people need to be rehabilitated and provided with an adequate supply of drinking water, the most essential natural resource needed for survival, which is often not easily available even during non-disaster periods. In the aftermath of a natural or human-made disaster affecting mankind and livestock, the prime aim is to ensure supply of safe water to reduce the occurrence and spread of water borne disease due to interrupted, poor and polluted water supply. Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN emergencies augment the dilemma as an additional risk of "contamination" is added. The associated risks posed to health and life should be reduced to as low as reasonably achievable. Maintaining a high level of preparedness is the crux of quick relief and efficient response to ensure continuous supply of safe water, enabling survival and sustenance. The underlying objective would be to educate and train the persons concerned to lay down the procedures for the detection, cleaning, and treatment, purification including desalination, disinfection, and decontamination of water. The basic information to influence the organization of preparedness and execution of relief measures at all levels while maintaining minimum standards in water management at the place of disaster, are discussed in this article.

  4. Voluntary emergence and water detection in a newly recognized amphibious fish.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magellan, K

    2015-06-01

    Galaxias 'nebula', a small fish which has adaptations for air-breathing but is not known to be amphibious, voluntarily emerged from water and, in an unfamiliar environment, moved preferentially towards an alternative water source. Nebula may thus be considered one of the few truly amphibious fishes, and their ability to detect water provides a selective advantage which aids their survival in unpredictable natural environments. © 2015 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

  5. Complex organic pollutant mixtures originating from industrial and municipal emissions in surface waters of the megacity Jakarta-an example of a water pollution problem in emerging economies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dsikowitzky, Larissa; Hagemann, Lukas; Dwiyitno; Ariyani, Farida; Irianto, Hari Eko; Schwarzbauer, Jan

    2017-12-01

    During the last decades, the global industrial production partly shifted from industrialized nations to emerging and developing countries. In these upcoming economies, the newly developed industrial centers are generally located in densely populated areas, resulting in the discharge of often only partially treated industrial and municipal wastewaters into the surface waters. There is a huge gap of knowledge about the composition of the complex organic pollutant mixtures occurring in such heavily impacted areas. Therefore, we applied a non-target screening to comprehensively assess river pollution in a large industrial area located in the megacity Jakarta. More than 100 structurally diverse organic contaminants were identified, some of which were reported here for the first time as environmental contaminants. The concentrations of paper manufacturing chemicals in river water-for example, of the endocrine-disrupting compound bisphenol A (50-8000 ng L -1 )-were as high as in pure untreated paper industry wastewaters. The non-target screening approach is the adequate tool for the identification of water contaminants in the new global centers of industrial manufacturing-as the first crucial step towards the evaluation of as yet unrecognized environmental risks.

  6. An Investigation of Potable Water Supply Problems in Akinima ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The major sources of drinking water are harvested rainwater, water from boreholes, and rivers. These sources are indentified to have varied problems of contamination and pollution, which range from high levels of chemical and microbiological contamination of harvested rainwater and rivers respectively, to saline intrusion ...

  7. Effective water influx control in gas reservoir development: Problems and countermeasures

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xi Feng

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Because of the diversity of geological characteristics and the complexity of percolation rules, many problems are found ineffective water influx control in gas reservoir development. The problems mainly focus on how to understand water influx rules, to establish appropriate countermeasures, and to ensure the effectiveness of technical measures. It is hard to obtain a complete applicable understanding through the isolated analysis of an individual gas reservoir due to many factors such as actual gas reservoir development phase, research work, pertinence and timeliness of measures, and so on. Over the past four decades, the exploration, practicing and tracking research have been conducted on water control in gas reservoir development in the Sichuan Basin, and a series of comprehensive water control technologies were developed integrating advanced concepts, successful experiences, specific theories and mature technologies. Though the development of most water-drive gas reservoirs was significantly improved, water control effects were quite different. Based on this background, from the perspective of the early-phase requirements of water influx control, the influencing factors of a water influx activity, the dynamic analysis method of water influx performance, the optimizing strategy of a water control, and the water control experience of typical gas reservoirs, this paper analyzed the key problems of water control, evaluated the influencing factors of water control effect, explored the practical water control strategies, and proposed that it should be inappropriate to apply the previous water control technological model to actual work but the pertinence should be improved according to actual circumstances. The research results in the paper provide technical reference for the optimization of water-invasion gas reservoir development.

  8. Investigation on legal problems encountered by emergency medicine physicians in Turkey.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Afsin Emre Kayipmaz

    Full Text Available Medicine is a profession that carries certain risks. One risky area of practice is the emergency department. Emergency physicians diagnose and treat a high volume of patients, and are also responsible for preparing reports for forensic cases. In this study, we aim to investigate emergency physicians' legal-administrative problems and reveal their level of understanding on forensic cases.An electronic questionnaire form was prepared after the approval of an ethical committee. This form was sent to the residents, specialists and academicians of emergency medicine by e-mail. The physicians were asked to fill out the form online. All the gathered data was analyzed. Descriptive statistics were presented as frequency percentages with mean and standard deviation. Chi-square tests were used to compare the groups. Correlation between number of complaint cases and age, sex, career, institution, and duration of service in emergency department were investigated. p<0.05 was considered statistically significant.294 physicians participated in the questionnaire. According to the questionnaire, 170 of the physicians were reported to the patient communication units due to medical malpractice. Mean number of compliant reports was 3.20±3.5. 29 of the physicians received administrative penalties. 42 of the physicians were judged in the court for medical malpractice. 1 physician was fined 5000 Turkish Liras as a result of these judgments.We found that the number of complaint reports is negatively correlated with duration of service in emergency medicine and age. There was a significant difference between number of complaint reports and career (p<0.05. The physicians' level of awareness on forensic cases was found to be insufficient. Lack of legislation knowledge may be an important cause of complaint reports concerning emergency physicians, who have a high load of patients. Thus, we think that increasing the frequency of post-graduate education sessions and

  9. Performance of passive samplers for monitoring estuarine water column concentrations: 2. Emerging contaminants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perron, Monique M; Burgess, Robert M; Suuberg, Eric M; Cantwell, Mark G; Pennell, Kelly G

    2013-10-01

    Measuring dissolved concentrations of emerging contaminants, such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and triclosan, can be challenging due to their physicochemical properties resulting in low aqueous solubilities and association with particles. Passive sampling methods have been applied to assess dissolved concentrations in water and sediments primarily for legacy contaminants. Although the technology is applicable to some emerging contaminants, the use of passive samplers with emerging contaminants is limited. In the present study, the performance of 3 common passive samplers was evaluated for sampling PBDEs and triclosan. Passive sampling polymers included low-density polyethylene (PE) and polyoxymethylene (POM) sheets, and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-coated solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fibers. Dissolved concentrations were calculated using measured sampler concentrations and laboratory-derived partition coefficients. Dissolved tri-, tetra-, and pentabrominated PBDE congeners were detected at several of the study sites at very low pg/L concentrations using PE and POM. Calculated dissolved water concentrations of triclosan ranged from 1.7 ng/L to 18 ng/L for POM and 8.8 ng/L to 13 ng/L for PE using performance reference compound equilibrium adjustments. Concentrations in SPME were not reported due to lack of detectable chemical in the PDMS polymer deployed. Although both PE and POM were found to effectively accumulate emerging contaminants from the water column, further research is needed to determine their utility as passive sampling devices for emerging contaminants. © 2013 SETAC.

  10. On factors influencing air-water gas exchange in emergent wetlands

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, David T.; Engel, Victor C.; Ferron, Sara; Hickman, Benjamin; Choi, Jay; Harvey, Judson W.

    2018-01-01

    Knowledge of gas exchange in wetlands is important in order to determine fluxes of climatically and biogeochemically important trace gases and to conduct mass balances for metabolism studies. Very few studies have been conducted to quantify gas transfer velocities in wetlands, and many wind speed/gas exchange parameterizations used in oceanographic or limnological settings are inappropriate under conditions found in wetlands. Here six measurements of gas transfer velocities are made with SF6 tracer release experiments in three different years in the Everglades, a subtropical peatland with surface water flowing through emergent vegetation. The experiments were conducted under different flow conditions and with different amounts of emergent vegetation to determine the influence of wind, rain, water flow, waterside thermal convection, and vegetation on air-water gas exchange in wetlands. Measured gas transfer velocities under the different conditions ranged from 1.1 cm h−1 during baseline conditions to 3.2 cm h−1 when rain and water flow rates were high. Commonly used wind speed/gas exchange relationships would overestimate the gas transfer velocity by a factor of 1.2 to 6.8. Gas exchange due to thermal convection was relatively constant and accounted for 14 to 51% of the total measured gas exchange. Differences in rain and water flow among the different years were responsible for the variability in gas exchange, with flow accounting for 37 to 77% of the gas exchange, and rain responsible for up to 40%.

  11. Emergency cooling system with hot-water jet pumps for nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reinsch, A.O.W.

    1977-01-01

    The ECCS for a PWR or BWR uses hot-water jet pumps to remove the thermal energy generated in the reactor vessel and stored in the water. The hot water expands in the nozzle part (Laval nozzle) of the jet pump and sucks in coolant (borated water) coming from a storage tank containing subcooled water. This water is mixing with the hot water/steam mixture from the Laval nozzle. The steam is condensed. The kinetic energy of the water is converted into a pressure increase which is sufficient to feed the water into the reactor vessel. The emergency cooling may further be helped by a jet condenser also operating according to the principle of a jet pump and condensing the steam generated in the reactor vessel. (DG) [de

  12. Supported Photocatalyst for Removal of Emerging Contaminants from Wastewater in a Continuous Packed-Bed Photoreactor Configuration

    OpenAIRE

    Borges, Mª; García, Dulce; Hernández, Tania; Ruiz-Morales, Juan; Esparza, Pedro

    2015-01-01

    Water pollution from emerging contaminants (ECs) or emerging pollutants is an important environmental problem. Heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment, as advanced oxidation treatment of wastewater effluents, has been proposed to solve this problem. In this paper, a heterogeneous photocatalytic process was studied for emergent contaminants removal using paracetamol as a model contaminant molecule. TiO2 photocatalytic activity was evaluated using two photocatalytic reactor configurations: Photo...

  13. Trend analyses of the emergency diesel generator problem events in Japanese and U.S. nuclear power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shimada, Yoshio

    2011-01-01

    Up to 2009, the author and a colleague conducted trend analyses of problem events related to main generators, emergency diesel generators, breakers, motors and transformers which are more likely to cause problems than other electric components in nuclear power plants. Among the electric components with high frequency of defect occurrence, i.e., emergency diesel generators, several years have passed since the last analyses. These are very important components needed to stop a nuclear reactor safely and to cool it down during external power supply loses. Then trend analyses were conducted for the second time. The trend analyses were performed on 80 problem events with emergency diesel generators which had occurred in U.S. nuclear power plants in the five years from 2005 through 2009 among events reported in the Licensee Event Reports (LERs: event reports submitted to NRC by U.S. nuclear power plants) which have been registered in the nuclear information database of the Institute of Nuclear Safety System, Inc. (INSS) , as well as 40 events registered in the Nuclear Information Archives (NUCIA), which occurred in Japanese nuclear power plants in the same time period. It was learned from the trend analyses of the problem events with emergency diesel generators that frequency of defect occurrence are high in both Japanese and US plants during plant operations and functional tests (that is, defects can be discovered effectively in advance), so that implementation of periodical functional tests under plant operation is an important task for the future. (author)

  14. Removal of emerging contaminants in sewage water subjected to advanced oxidation with ozone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibáñez, M; Gracia-Lor, E; Bijlsma, L; Morales, E; Pastor, L; Hernández, F

    2013-09-15

    Advanced oxidation processes (AOP) based on ozone treatments, assisted by ultrasounds, have been investigated at a pilot-plant scale in order to evaluate the removal of emerging contaminants in sewage water. Around 60 emerging contaminants, mainly pharmaceuticals from different therapeutically classes and drugs of abuse, have been determined in urban wastewater samples (treated and untreated) by LC-MS/MS. In a first step, the removal efficiency of these contaminants in conventional sewage water treatment plants was evaluated. Our results indicate that most of the compounds were totally or partially removed during the treatment process of influent wastewater. Up to 30 contaminants were quantified in the influent and effluent samples analysed, being antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, cholesterol lowering statin drugs and angiotensin II receptor antagonists the most frequently detected. Regarding drugs of abuse, cocaine and its metabolite benzoylecgonine were the most frequent. In a second step, the effectiveness of AOP in the removal of emerging contaminants remaining in the effluent was evaluated. Ozone treatments have been proven to be highly efficient in the removal, notably decreasing the concentrations for most of the emerging contaminants present in the water samples. The use of ultrasounds, alone or assisting ozone treatments, has been shown less effective, being practically unnecessary. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Analysis and prevention of water hammer for the emergency core cooling system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhao Jun

    2008-01-01

    Emergency core cooling system (ECCS) is an engineered safety feature of nuclear power plant. If the water hammer happens during ECCS injection, the piping system may be broken. It will cause loss of ECC system and affect the safety of reactor core. Based on the functions and characteristics of ECCS and the theory of water hammer, the paper analyzed the potential risk of water hammer in ECCS in Qinshan III, and proposed modifications to prevent the water-hammer damage during ECCS injection. (authors)

  16. 77 FR 36014 - Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for Boiling-Water Reactors

    Science.gov (United States)

    2012-06-15

    ... NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [NRC-2012-0134] Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling... for public comment draft regulatory guide (DG), DG-1277, ``Initial Test Program of Emergency Core..., entitled, ``Initial Test Program of Emergency Core Cooling Systems for Boiling-Water Reactors,'' is...

  17. Emergency diesel generators manufactured by Transamerica Delaval, Inc. problems, their resolution and lessons learned

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berlinger, C.H.; Murphy, E.L.

    1986-01-01

    Emergency standby diesel generators manufactured by Transamerica Delaval, Inc. experienced a number of major problems during preoperational qualification testing at several U.S. nuclear sites. Most notably these have included a complete fracture of a crankshaft, an engine block failure, piston failures, and cracked and leaking cylinder heads. These problems appear to stem from deficiencies in design and manufacturing quality by the engine manufacturer. This paper discusses some of the more significant problems experienced and actions taken by the nuclear utility owners and the NRC to reestablish confidence in the reliability of these engines and to qualify these engines for nuclear service. (authors)

  18. Emergency diesel generators manufactured by Transamerica Delaval, Inc. problems, their resolution and lessons learned

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berlinger, C. H.; Murphy, E. L. [United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555 (United States)

    1986-02-15

    Emergency standby diesel generators manufactured by Transamerica Delaval, Inc. experienced a number of major problems during preoperational qualification testing at several U.S. nuclear sites. Most notably these have included a complete fracture of a crankshaft, an engine block failure, piston failures, and cracked and leaking cylinder heads. These problems appear to stem from deficiencies in design and manufacturing quality by the engine manufacturer. This paper discusses some of the more significant problems experienced and actions taken by the nuclear utility owners and the NRC to reestablish confidence in the reliability of these engines and to qualify these engines for nuclear service. (authors)

  19. Emergence and dissemination of antibiotic resistance: A global problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R Choudhury

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Antibiotic resistance is a major problem in clinical health settings. Interestingly the origin of many of antibiotic resistance mechanisms can be traced back to non-pathogenic environmental organisms. Important factors leading to the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance include absence of regulation in the use of antibiotics, improper waste disposal and associated transmission of antibiotic resistance genes in the community through commensals. In this review, we discussed the impact of globalisation on the transmission of antibiotic resistance genes in bacteria through immigration and export/import of foodstuff. The significance of surveillance to define appropriate use of antibiotics in the clinic has been included as an important preventive measure.

  20. Problems of pricing fresh water obtained from a sea water desalination plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gaussens, J.

    1967-01-01

    Integrating a double-purpose desalination and electricity generating plant into a water supply system alters the conditions in which the other water and electricity sources are used, as the peak and the base load water and electricity demands have to be met at the least cost. This paper attempts to show how the problem of determining optimal water supply structures can be approached, in definite cases, but against a global economic back-ground. It becomes necessary to define the competition between classical resources and desalination plants, as these plants introduce into optimum studies new factors due to the peculiar shape of their production functions. These new factors (fixed and proportional costs structures, flow availabilities) are studied in relation to the production functions in various management cases (private monopoly, public monopoly). (author) [fr

  1. Study of patient satisfaction and self-expressed problems after emergency caesarean delivery under subarachnoid block

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    V R Hemanth Kumar

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Background and Aims: Subarachnoid block is one of the common modes of anaesthesia opted for emergency caesarean section, if the maternal and foetal conditions are favourable. Various factors influence the quality of care administered during the procedure. This questionnaire based study was undertaken to look for self-expressed problems in peri-operative period in patients undergoing emergency caesarean surgery under subarachnoid block. Methods: All the parturients who underwent emergency caesarean section under subarachnoid block during 6 months period were distributed a questionnaire in post-operative period. They were encouraged to fill and return the form within 15 days. Patient satisfaction and the self-expressed problems were analysed at the end of 6 months. Results: One hundred and seventy five out of 220 parturients responded. 58.3% of them said that they were explained about the anaesthesia prior to surgery and 85.3% overall remained anxious. With people around them, 93.1% of them felt comfortable and 91.4% expressed that they were made comfortable inside the theatre. The self-expressed problems were shivering (43.4%, breathlessness (21.7%, pain (20%, post-operative headache (15.4% and backache (19.4%. Parturients who heard their babies cry was 85.1%. After their babies were shown after delivery, 77.1% mothers slept well; 86.9% fed their babies within 4 h of delivery. Conclusion: Pre-operative communication in emergency caesarean section by health personnel did not reduce the anxiety level, which shows that communication was ineffective. Intra-operative psychological support like making the patient comfortable, showing baby to mother and early breast feeding improve bonding between child and mother and essentially contribute to patient satisfaction.

  2. Appropriate technology for rural India - solar decontamination of water for emergency settings and small communities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Gagandeep; Roy, Sheela; Balraj, Vinohar

    2006-09-01

    A commercial solar water heating system was evaluated for its effectiveness in decontaminating drinking water with a view to use in emergency situations. A total of 18 seeding experiments carried out over 6 months with 10(5) to 10(7)Escherichia coli/ml showed that the solar heater produced 125 l of bacteriologically safe water in 4 h when the ambient temperature was above 30 degrees C, with a holding time of at least 2 h. The solar water heating system is inexpensive, easy to transport and set up and could provide safer drinking water for 50 people a day. It would be effective in the decrease and prevention of waterborne disease in emergency situations, and is appropriate for use in small communities.

  3. Comparative Study on Water Impact Problem

    OpenAIRE

    Yang, Liang; Yang, Hao; Yan, Shiqiang; Ma, Qingwei; Bihnam, Maria

    2016-01-01

    This paper presents a comparative numerical study for the water impact problems due to dropping of triangular wedges or ship sections. In the numerical investigation, both the dynamic mesh technique and immersed boundary method adopting fixed Cartesian grids have been adopted in order to conform to the motion of the structure. For the former, a multiple-phase solver with the volume of fluid for identifying the free surface is implemented. In the simulation using this method, both the compress...

  4. Corrosion problems in light water nuclear reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berry, W.E.

    1984-01-01

    The corrosion problems encountered during the author's career are reviewed. Attention is given to the development of Zircaloys and attendant factors that affect corrosion; the caustic and chloride stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of austenitic stainless steel steam generator tubing; the qualification of Inconel Alloy 600 for steam generator tubing and the subsequent corrosion problem of secondary side wastage, caustic SCC, pitting, intergranular attack, denting, and primary side SCC; and SCC in weld and furnace sensitized stainless steel piping and internals in boiling water reactor primary coolants. Also mentioned are corrosion of metallic uranium alloy fuels; corrosion of aluminum and niobium candidate fuel element claddings; crevice corrosion and seizing of stainless steel journal-sleeve combinations; SCC of precipitation hardened and martensitic stainless steels; low temperature SCC of welded austenitic stainless steels by chloride, fluoride, and sulfur oxy-anions; and corrosion problems experienced by condensers

  5. Detection of Emerging and Re-Emerging Pathogens in Surface Waters Close to an Urban Area

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stefania Marcheggiani

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available Current knowledge about the spread of pathogens in aquatic environments is scarce probably because bacteria, viruses, algae and their toxins tend to occur at low concentrations in water, making them very difficult to measure directly. The purpose of this study was the development and validation of tools to detect pathogens in freshwater systems close to an urban area. In order to evaluate anthropogenic impacts on water microbiological quality, a phylogenetic microarray was developed in the context of the EU project µAQUA to detect simultaneously numerous pathogens and applied to samples from two different locations close to an urban area located upstream and downstream of Rome in the Tiber River. Furthermore, human enteric viruses were also detected. Fifty liters of water were collected and concentrated using a hollow-fiber ultrafiltration approach. The resultant concentrate was further size-fractionated through a series of decreasing pore size filters. RNA was extracted from pooled filters and hybridized to the newly designed microarray to detect pathogenic bacteria, protozoa and toxic cyanobacteria. Diatoms as indicators of the water quality status, were also included in the microarray to evaluate water quality. The microarray results gave positive signals for bacteria, diatoms, cyanobacteria and protozoa. Cross validation of the microarray was performed using standard microbiological methods for the bacteria. The presence of oral-fecal transmitted human enteric-viruses were detected using q-PCR. Significant concentrations of Salmonella, Clostridium, Campylobacter and Staphylococcus as well as Hepatitis E Virus (HEV, noroviruses GI (NoGGI and GII (NoGII and human adenovirus 41 (ADV 41 were found in the Mezzocammino site, whereas lower concentrations of other bacteria and only the ADV41 virus was recovered at the Castel Giubileo site. This study revealed that the pollution level in the Tiber River was considerably higher downstream rather than

  6. The global dimension of water governance: Nine reasons for global arrangements in order to cope with local water problems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hoekstra, Arjen Ysbert

    2006-01-01

    Where water problems extend beyond the borders of local communities, the catchment area or river basin is generally seen as the most appropriate unit for analysis, planning and institutional arrangements. In this paper it is argued that addressing water problems at the river basin level is not

  7. School Learning Materials on Water Problems of New Mexico and the Southwest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buethe, Chris; And Others

    Schools typically make no special efforts to prepare students to cope with present and anticipated water problems. Using this as a premise, the objective of this study was to prepare a set of mediated learning packages based upon water problems of New Mexico and the dry regions of the Southwest. These learning materials were prepared and field…

  8. Evolution, opportunity and challenges of transboundary water and energy problems in Central Asia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Lidan; Zhou, Haiwei; Xia, Ziqiang; Huang, Feng

    2016-01-01

    Central Asia is one of the regions that suffer the most prominent transboundary water and energy problems in the world. Effective transboundary water-energy resource management and cooperation are closely related with socioeconomic development and stability in the entire Central Asia. Similar to Central Asia, Northwest China has an arid climate and is experiencing a water shortage. It is now facing imbalanced supply-demand relations of water and energy resources. These issues in Northwest China and Central Asia pose severe challenges in the implementation of the Silk Road Economic Belt strategy. Based on the analysis of water and energy distribution characteristics in Central Asia as well as demand characteristics of different countries, the complexity of local transboundary water problems was explored by reviewing corresponding historical problems of involved countries, correlated energy issues, and the evolution of inter-country water-energy cooperation. With references to experiences and lessons of five countries, contradictions, opportunities, challenges and strategies for transboundary water-energy cooperation between China and Central Asia were discussed under the promotion of the Silk Road Economic Belt construction based on current cooperation conditions.

  9. Sediment-water distribution of contaminants of emerging concern in a mixed use watershed

    Science.gov (United States)

    This study evaluated the occurrence and distribution of 15 contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in stream water and sediments in the Zumbro River watershed in Minnesota and compared these with sub-watershed land uses. Sixty pairs of sediment and water samples were collected across all seasons from...

  10. Occurrence and behavior of emerging contaminants in surface water and a restored wetland.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matamoros, Víctor; Arias, Carlos A; Nguyen, Loc Xuan; Salvadó, Victòria; Brix, Hans

    2012-08-01

    Pollution mitigation is an important target for restored wetlands, and although there is much information in relation to nutrient removal, little attention has been paid to emerging contaminants. This paper reports on the occurrence and attenuation capacity of 17 emerging contaminants in a restored wetland and two rivers in North-East Denmark. The compounds belong to the groups of pharmaceuticals, fragrances, antiseptics, fire retardants, pesticides, and plasticizers. Concentrations in surface waters ranged from 2 to 1476 ng L(-1). The compounds with the highest concentrations were diclofenac, 2-methyl-4-chlorophenoxyacetic acid (MCPA), caffeine, and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). The herbicide concentrations increased after a rain-fall event, demonstrating the agricultural run-off origin of these compounds, whereas the concentration of the other emerging contaminants was rather conservative. The mitigation capacity of the restored wetland for the compounds ranged from no attenuation to 84% attenuation (19% on average). Hence, restored wetlands may be considered as a feasible alternative for mitigating emerging contaminants from river waters. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Design and Development of Virtual Reality Simulation for Teaching High-Risk Low-Volume Problem-Prone Office-Based Medical Emergencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemheney, Alexander J.

    2014-01-01

    Physicians' offices are not the usual place where emergencies occur; thus how staff remains prepared and current regarding medical emergencies presents an ongoing challenge for private practitioners. The very nature of low-volume, high-risk, and problem-prone medical emergencies is that they occur with such infrequency it is difficult for staff to…

  12. Intermediate report on the problems of warm water drainage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1976-01-01

    The investigation into the solution of the problems of warm water drainage and its related matters was conducted, and the result was summarized by the warm water drainage sectional committee of the central public nuisance-prevention council entrusted by the Environment Agency. The first section of this report deals with the background of the warm water drainage problems. In December 1970, the environmental pollution prevention act was revised so as to include warm water drainage in the law. The second section deals with the progress of deliberation by the sectional committee. The third section deals with the actual conditions of warm water drainage. The temperature difference at the inlet and outlet of water was 5 to 11 0 C in power plants, 5 to 16 0 C in iron and steel works, 4 to 11 0 C in petroleum refineries, and 7 to 25 0 C in petrochemical plants. The amount of heat energy discharged from power plants was greater than that from the others. Other sections deal with its effects on the living things in water, the forecast of diffusion of warm drainage, the concept of the regulation of warm drainage, and the present countermeasure. Twelve points which require future investigation are listed. They are the change in the phases of living things affected by the change in temperature and flow of warm drainage, the effects on fishery resources, the estimation system for the environmental calorific capacity in the sea, the mechanism of diffusion and the forecasting method for the diffusion range. (Iwakiri, K.)

  13. Factores predictores de uso problemático de alcohol en personas atendidas en una sala de emergencia Predictive factors of alcohol use problems among patients visiting an emergency room

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fabián Fiestas

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Objetivos. Valorar el efecto predictivo de características claves de pacientes atendidos en salas de emergencia para detectar casos de uso problemático de alcohol. Materiales y Métodos. La muestra de estudio estuvo constituida por 371 personas atendidas en el lapso de siete días completos de enero de 2005 en el servicio de emergencia de un hospital público de Lima, Perú. Se aplicó un cuestionario demográfico, el SIDUC/CICAD para uso reciente de sustancias psicoactivas en salas de emergencias (i.e., uso dentro de las seis horas previas a la atención y el AUDIT para uso problemático de alcohol en el último año. El análisis de regresión logística simple y multivariada permitió valorar el efecto predictor de la edad, sexo, especialidad del servicio de atención, presencia de daño físico y el uso reciente de alcohol para detectar casos problemáticos de su uso. Resultados. El odds de tener uso problemático de alcohol en los varones es 26 veces el odds de tener dicho problema entre las mujeres (pObjectives. To assess the predictive effect of key individual-level characteristics to identify cases of alcohol use problems among patients visiting an emergency room. Materials and methods. The study sample was composed of 371 people attending an emergency room in a public hospital in Lima, Peru, during a period of seven complete days in January, 2005. For data gathering, we used a questionnaire for demographic information, the SIDUC/CICAD for recent use (i.e., in the last 6 hours of psychoactive substances before arriving to the emergency room, and the AUDIT, to identify alcohol use problems in the last year. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to estimate the predictive effect of age, sex, area of attention in the emergency room, presence of physical injuries and recent use of alcohol. Results. The odds of being a case of alcohol use problem for males is 26 times the odds of having that problem for females (p

  14. Developmental cascade models of a parenting-focused program for divorced families on mental health problems and substance use in emerging adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wolchik, Sharlene A; Tein, Jenn-Yun; Sandler, Irwin N; Kim, Han-Joe

    2016-08-01

    A developmental cascade model from functioning in adolescence to emerging adulthood was tested using data from a 15-year longitudinal follow-up of 240 emerging adults whose families participated in a randomized, experimental trial of a preventive program for divorced families. Families participated in the program or literature control condition when the offspring were ages 9-12. Short-term follow-ups were conducted 3 months and 6 months following completion of the program when the offspring were in late childhood/early adolescence. Long-term follow-ups were conducted 6 years and 15 years after program completion when the offspring were in middle to late adolescence and emerging adulthood, respectively. It was hypothesized that the impact of the program on mental health and substance use outcomes in emerging adulthood would be explained by developmental cascade effects of program effects in adolescence. The results provided support for a cascade effects model. Specifically, academic competence in adolescence had cross-domain effects on internalizing problems and externalizing problems in emerging adulthood. In addition, adaptive coping in adolescence was significantly, negatively related to binge drinking. It was unexpected that internalizing symptoms in adolescence were significantly negatively related to marijuana use and alcohol use. Gender differences occurred in the links between mental health problems and substance use in adolescence and mental health problems and substance use in emerging adulthood.

  15. Transportation for maternal emergencies in Tanzania: empowering communities through participatory problem solving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schmid, T; Kanenda, O; Ahluwalia, I; Kouletio, M

    2001-10-01

    Inadequate health care and long delays in obtaining care during obstetric emergencies are major contributors to high maternal death rates in Tanzania. Formative research conducted in the Mwanza region identified several transportation-related reasons for delays in receiving assistance. In 1996, the Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began an effort to build community capacity for problem-solving through participatory development of community-based plans for emergency transportation in 50 villages. An April 2001 assessment showed that 19 villages had begun collecting funds for transportation systems; of 13 villages with systems available, 10 had used the system within the last 3 months. Increased support for village health workers and greater participation of women in decision making were also observed.

  16. Engineering risk assessment for emergency disposal projects of sudden water pollution incidents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shi, Bin; Jiang, Jiping; Liu, Rentao; Khan, Afed Ullah; Wang, Peng

    2017-06-01

    Without an engineering risk assessment for emergency disposal in response to sudden water pollution incidents, responders are prone to be challenged during emergency decision making. To address this gap, the concept and framework of emergency disposal engineering risks are reported in this paper. The proposed risk index system covers three stages consistent with the progress of an emergency disposal project. Fuzzy fault tree analysis (FFTA), a logical and diagrammatic method, was developed to evaluate the potential failure during the process of emergency disposal. The probability of basic events and their combination, which caused the failure of an emergency disposal project, were calculated based on the case of an emergency disposal project of an aniline pollution incident in the Zhuozhang River, Changzhi, China, in 2014. The critical events that can cause the occurrence of a top event (TE) were identified according to their contribution. Finally, advices on how to take measures using limited resources to prevent the failure of a TE are given according to the quantified results of risk magnitude. The proposed approach could be a potential useful safeguard for the implementation of an emergency disposal project during the process of emergency response.

  17. Enhanced intelligent water drops algorithm for multi-depot vehicle routing problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ezugwu, Absalom E; Akutsah, Francis; Olusanya, Micheal O; Adewumi, Aderemi O

    2018-01-01

    The intelligent water drop algorithm is a swarm-based metaheuristic algorithm, inspired by the characteristics of water drops in the river and the environmental changes resulting from the action of the flowing river. Since its appearance as an alternative stochastic optimization method, the algorithm has found applications in solving a wide range of combinatorial and functional optimization problems. This paper presents an improved intelligent water drop algorithm for solving multi-depot vehicle routing problems. A simulated annealing algorithm was introduced into the proposed algorithm as a local search metaheuristic to prevent the intelligent water drop algorithm from getting trapped into local minima and also improve its solution quality. In addition, some of the potential problematic issues associated with using simulated annealing that include high computational runtime and exponential calculation of the probability of acceptance criteria, are investigated. The exponential calculation of the probability of acceptance criteria for the simulated annealing based techniques is computationally expensive. Therefore, in order to maximize the performance of the intelligent water drop algorithm using simulated annealing, a better way of calculating the probability of acceptance criteria is considered. The performance of the proposed hybrid algorithm is evaluated by using 33 standard test problems, with the results obtained compared with the solutions offered by four well-known techniques from the subject literature. Experimental results and statistical tests show that the new method possesses outstanding performance in terms of solution quality and runtime consumed. In addition, the proposed algorithm is suitable for solving large-scale problems.

  18. Water. Unresolved emergency of the Southern hemisphere

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lotti, C.

    2001-01-01

    Among the serious dramas in the Southern hemisphere, the most serious relates to health, and the most serious health problem is dysentery among the rural population, caused by the lack of unpolluted water. Bad management frustrates much of the aid sent to this part of the world, including projects to help the water crisis. In view of the success, it would appear that a concrete solution could be found within a decade, at a cost that can easily be sustained by the rich world, so long as funds are managed honestly. Much more ambitious and, at least for the moment, beyond all concrete possibility, is the project to provide a barrel of water per head to each person in the southern hemisphere. Providing unpolluted water and facilitating farming development through minor irrigation and family cattle-raising schemes is an idea that appears entirely Utopian. The conclusion provides a critical analysis of the major hydraulic works essential for true development, but effective only if the human environment is ready to receive them, whereas minor works are useful in any case - at village level - to resolve the thirst of the southern hemisphere [it

  19. Emerging Genotype (GGIIb) of Norovirus in Drinking Water, Sweden

    OpenAIRE

    Nygård, Karin; Torvén, Maria; Ancker, Camilla; Knauth, Siv Britt; Hedlund, Kjell-Olof; Giesecke, Johan; Andersson, Yvonne; Svensson, Lennart

    2003-01-01

    From May through June 2001, an outbreak of acute gastroenteritis that affected at least 200 persons occurred in a combined activity camp and conference center in Stockholm County. The source of illness was contaminated drinking water obtained from private wells. The outbreak appears to have started with sewage pipeline problems near the kitchen, which caused overflow of the sewage system and contaminated the environment. While no pathogenic bacteria were found in water or stools specimens, no...

  20. Nanofiltration vs. reverse osmosis for the removal of emerging organic contaminants in water reuse

    KAUST Repository

    Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor

    2011-10-01

    Reverse osmosis (RO) in existing water reuse facilities is a water industry standard. However, that approach may be questioned taking into consideration that "tight" NF can be equal or "better" than RO. NF can achieve the same removals of RO membranes when dealing with emerging organic contaminants (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, endocrine disruptors and others). Experiments using 18 emerging contaminants were performed using membranes NF200 and NF90 at bench-scale units, and for a more complete study, results of NF and RO pilot and full-scale experiments where compared to our experimental results. The removal results showed that NF can remove many emerging contaminants. The average removal by tight NF was 82% for neutral contaminants and 97% for ionic contaminants. The average removal by RO was 85% for neutral contaminants and 99% for ionic contaminants. Aquifer recharge and recovery (ARR) followed by NF can effectively remove emerging contaminants with removals over 90% when loose NF membranes are used.

  1. Nanofiltration vs. reverse osmosis for the removal of emerging organic contaminants in water reuse

    KAUST Repository

    Yangali-Quintanilla, Victor

    2011-01-01

    Reverse osmosis (RO) in existing water reuse facilities is a water industry standard. However, that approach may be questioned taking into consideration that "tight" NF can be equal or "better" than RO. NF can achieve the same removals of RO membranes when dealing with emerging organic contaminants (pharmaceuticals, pesticides, endocrine disruptors and others). Experiments using 18 emerging contaminants were performed using membranes NF200 and NF90 at bench-scale units, and for a more complete study, results of NF and RO pilot and fullscale experiments where compared to our experimental results. The removal results showed that NF can remove many emerging contaminants. The average removal by tight NF was 82% for neutral contaminants and 97% for ionic contaminants. The average removal by RO was 85% for neutral contaminants and 99% for ionic contaminants. Aquifer recharge and recovery (ARR) followed by NF can effectively remove emerging contaminants with removals over 90% when loose NF membranes are used. © 2011 2011 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

  2. Composition of emergency medical services teams and the problem of specialisation of emergency medical services physicians in the opinions of occupationally active paramedics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dorota Rębak

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: Emergency medicine includes prevention, prehospital care, specialised treatment, rehabilitation, and education. Aim of the research: The objective of the analysis was to determine the opinions of paramedics concerning the problem of the composition of emergency medical services (EMS teams and specialisation of EMS system physicians according to their education level and sense of coherence. Material and methods: The study was conducted among 336 occupationally active paramedics working in EMS teams delivering prehospital care in selected units in Poland. The study was conducted at Ambulance Stations and in Hospital Emergency Departments, which within their structure had an out-of-hospital EMS team. The study was conducted by the method of a diagnostic survey, and the research instrument was the Orientation to Life Questionnaire SOC-29 and a questionnaire designed by the author. Results: The respondents who had licentiate education relatively more frequently indicated paramedics with licentiate education level as persons most suitable to undertake medical actions (26.32% rather than physicians (21.05%. Paramedics with 2-year post-secondary school education relatively more often mentioned physicians (33.07% than those with licentiate education (17.32%. As many as 89.58% of the paramedics reported the need for a physician in the composition of the EMS team delivering prehospital care, while only 10.42% of them expressed an opinion that there should be teams composed of paramedics only. According to 30.65% of respondents, EMS team delivering prehospital care should include a physician with the specialty in emergency medicine, whereas 8.04% of respondents reported the need for a physician, irrespective of specialisation. However, 42.56% of the paramedics expressed an opinion that a physician is needed only in a specialist team with a specialisation in emergency medicine. The opinions of the paramedics concerning the need for a

  3. Corrosion problems in boiling water reactors and their remedies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosborg, B.

    1989-01-01

    This article briefly presents current corrosion problems in boiling water reactors and their remedies. The problems are different forms of environmentally assisted cracking, and the remedies are divided into material-, environment-, and stress-related remedies. The list of problems comprises: intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) in weld-sensitized stainless steel piping; IGSCC in cold-bent stainless steel piping; irradiation-assisted stress corrosion cracking (IASCC) in stainless alloys; IGSCC in high-strength stainless alloys. A prospective corrosion problem, as judged from literature references, and one which relates to plant life, is corrosion fatigue in pressure vessel steel, since the reactor pressure vessel is the most critical component in the BWR pressure boundary as regards plant safety. (author)

  4. Classical universe emerging from quantum cosmology without horizon and flatness problems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fathi, M.; Jalalzadeh, S. [Shahid Beheshti University, Department of Physics, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Moniz, P.V. [Centro de Matematica e Aplicacoes-UBI, Covilha (Portugal); Universidade da Beira Interior, Departmento de Fisica, Covilha (Portugal)

    2016-10-15

    We apply the complex de Broglie-Bohm formulation of quantum mechanics in Chou and Wyatt (Phys Rev A 76: 012115, 2007), Gozzi (Phys Lett B 165: 351, 1985), Bhalla et al. (Am J Phys 65: 1187, 1997) to a spatially closed homogeneous and isotropic early universe whose matter contents are radiation and dust perfect fluids. We then show that an expanding classical universe can emerge from an oscillating (with complex scale factor) quantum universe without singularity. Furthermore, the universe obtained in this process has no horizon or flatness problems. (orig.)

  5. Emergency reactor cooling device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arakawa, Ken.

    1993-01-01

    An emergency nuclear reactor cooling device comprises a water reservoir, emergency core cooling water pipelines having one end connected to a water feeding sparger, fire extinguishing facility pipelines, cooling water pressurizing pumps, a diesel driving machine for driving the pumps and a battery. In a water reservoir, cooling water is stored by an amount required for cooling the reactor upon emergency and for fire extinguishing, and fire extinguishing facility pipelines connecting the water reservoir and the fire extinguishing facility are in communication with the emergency core cooling water pipelines connected to the water feeding sparger by system connection pipelines. Pumps are operated by a diesel power generator to introduce cooling water from the reservoir to the emergency core cooling water pipelines. Then, even in a case where AC electric power source is entirely lost and the emergency core cooling system can not be used, the diesel driving machine is operated using an exclusive battery, thereby enabling to inject cooling water from the water reservoir to a reactor pressure vessel and a reactor container by the diesel drive pump. (N.H.)

  6. A qualitative study of health problems, risk factors, and prevention among Emergency Medical Service workers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dropkin, Jonathan; Moline, Jacqueline; Power, Paul M; Kim, Hyun

    2015-01-01

    Risk factors among Emergency Medical Service (EMS) workers are difficult to characterize and inconsistencies remain about their main health problems. To identify main work-related health problems among EMS workers in the United States; identify risk factors at the organizational, task, and exposure level; identify prevention strategies; examine these issues between participants (EMS workers and supervisors). Two types of qualitative research methods based on grounded theory were used: in-depth interviews with emergency medical technicians/paramedics (EMS workers) and focus groups (EMS workers and supervisors). Most participants reported similar health problems (musculoskeletal injuries) and the task related to these injuries, patient handling. Participants also reported similar physical exposures (ascending stairs with patients and patient weight). For organization/psychosocial factors, participants agreed that fitness, wages, breaks, and shift scheduling were linked with injuries, but overall, perceptions about these issues differed more than physical exposures. Lack of trust between EMS workers and supervisors were recurrent concerns among workers. However, not all organizational/psychosocial factors differed. EMS workers and supervisors agreed pre-employment screening could reduce injuries. Participants identified micro- and macro-level prevention opportunities. The grounded theory approach identified workers' main health problems, and the organizational factors and exposures linked with them. Perceptions about work organization/psychosocial exposures appeared more diverse than physical exposures. Prevention among all participants focused on mechanized equipment, but EMS workers also wanted more organizational support.

  7. A proposed simulation optimization model framework for emergency department problems in public hospital

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ibrahim, Ireen Munira; Liong, Choong-Yeun; Bakar, Sakhinah Abu; Ahmad, Norazura; Najmuddin, Ahmad Farid

    2015-12-01

    The Emergency Department (ED) is a very complex system with limited resources to support increase in demand. ED services are considered as good quality if they can meet the patient's expectation. Long waiting times and length of stay is always the main problem faced by the management. The management of ED should give greater emphasis on their capacity of resources in order to increase the quality of services, which conforms to patient satisfaction. This paper is a review of work in progress of a study being conducted in a government hospital in Selangor, Malaysia. This paper proposed a simulation optimization model framework which is used to study ED operations and problems as well as to find an optimal solution to the problems. The integration of simulation and optimization is hoped can assist management in decision making process regarding their resource capacity planning in order to improve current and future ED operations.

  8. [Challenges in the assessment and managment of health risks associated with emerging water micropollutants].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levi, Yves

    2009-06-01

    Analytical laboratories can now identify and quantify an impressive number of "new" pollutants present at very low concentrations in water. Nanotechnology products are a new cause for concern. " Emerging " pollutants are defined as substances that were not previously sought or detected (plasticizers, drugs, chlorination byproducts, persistant organic pollutants, ...) and that are now being identified in many continental water resources. The biological actions of these substances, alone and in combination with other more " classical "pollutants, include such effects as endocrine disruption. Contaminants may be present in surface and groundwater resources, may be generated during treatment, and are found in drinking water distribution networks. In industrialized countries, the main source of emerging pollutants for humans is not water, but rather food, cosmetics and air. Urgent measures are needed to protect biodiversity and human health, including quantitative risk assessment, toxicologic studies of xenobiotic mixtures and chronic effects, strategies to protect water resources, technological advances in wastewater treatment, reliable potable water production, and new inert materials for transport and storage. Good sanitation and safe tap water are major contributors to human health and well-being Major efforts and investments are needed, based on rigorous, objective assessments of risks for the environment and public health.

  9. Water quality status and trends in the United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larsen, Matthew C.; Hamilton, Pixie A.; Werkheiser, William H.; Ahuja, Satinder

    2013-01-01

    Information about water quality is vital to ensure long-term availability and sustainability of water that is safe for drinking and recreation and suitable for industry, irrigation, fish, and wildlife. Protecting and enhancing water quality is a national priority, requiring information on water-quality status and trends, progress toward clean water standards, continuing problems, and emerging challenges. In this brief review, we discuss U.S. Geological Survey assessments of nutrient pollution, pesticides, mixtures of organic wastewater compounds (known as emerging contaminants), sediment-bound contaminants (like lead and DDT), and mercury, among other contaminants. Additionally, aspects of land use and current and emerging challenges associated with climate change are presented. Climate change must be considered, as water managers continue their efforts to maintain sufficient water of good quality for humans and for the ecosystem.

  10. Pollutant dispersion studies - An update on the problems in Indian coastal waters

    Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

    Swamy, G.N.

    Pollutant dispersion problems along the Indian coastal waters are characterisEd. by site-specificity, as a result of seasonal and physiographic variabilities. Presence of large rivers, estuaries and backwaters add to the problems of waste disposal...

  11. Summary of principles for intervention in food and drinking water in a radiological emergency developed by several international organizations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugiyama, Hideo

    1994-01-01

    After the Chernobyl accident in April 1986 it became clear that the guidelines on the management of the consequence of a nuclear accident were needed for action over long time scales and for dealing with the widespread radioactive contamination that affected many countries at distances far from the accident site. One of the major difficulties in area away from the site of a nuclear accident concerns decisions on the safety of contaminated food and drinking water. International organizations, ICRP, IAEA, WHO and several other organizations, have considered it appropriate to develop guidelines to assist national authorities in making decisions on the control of food in the event of widespread contamination by radionuclides in a radiological emergency. These guidelines and the recommendations for intervention in food and drinking water by WHO, ICRP and CEC are summarized, and the considerations and problems to adopt the guidelines are proposed in this paper. (author)

  12. Water Related Health Problems in Central Asia—A Review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zakir Bekturganov

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available The present paper provides an extensive literature review on water related health issues in Central Asia. Even though the per capita amount of available freshwater is substantial in all Central Asian states the uneven distribution in time and space creates problems for water availability. Due to this, the Central Asian economies are developing under increasing water deficiency. The degradation of water supply systems and sewage treatment plants is often severe leading to potentially high water loss rates and inadequate accessibility to safe water supply. In this context, rural areas are the most affected. Low tariffs in combination with absent metering and low collection rates for water fees mean that operation and maintenance costs for basic services of water supply and sanitation are not covered. Unsafe water supply contains both microbiological and non-microbiological contaminants. Helminthiasis and intestinal protozoa infections are of considerable public health importance in Central Asia. Agricultural and industrial pollution is especially affecting downstream areas of Amu Darya and Syr Darya rivers. In large areas copper, zinc, and chromium concentrations in water exceed maximum permissible concentration. Thus, there is an urgent need to strengthen the environmental monitoring system. Small-scale water supply and sanitation systems need to be developed in line with more efficient public spending on these.

  13. Piping benchmark problems for the General Electric Advanced Boiling Water Reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bezler, P.; DeGrassi, G.; Braverman, J.; Wang, Y.K.

    1993-08-01

    To satisfy the need for verification of the computer programs and modeling techniques that will be used to perform the final piping analyses for an advanced boiling water reactor standard design, three benchmark problems were developed. The problems are representative piping systems subjected to representative dynamic loads with solutions developed using the methods being proposed for analysis for the advanced reactor standard design. It will be required that the combined license holders demonstrate that their solutions to these problems are in agreement with the benchmark problem set

  14. Exposure Path Perceptions and Protective Actions in Biological Water Contamination Emergencies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael K. Lindell

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This study extends the Protective Action Decision Model, developed to address disaster warning responses in the context of natural hazards, to “boil water” advisories. The study examined 110 Boston residents' and 203 Texas students' expectations of getting sick through different exposure paths for contact with contaminated water. In addition, the study assessed respondents' actual implementation (for residents or behavioral expectations (for students of three different protective actions – bottled water, boiled water, and personally chlorinated water – as well as their demographic characteristics and previous experience with water contamination. The results indicate that people distinguish among the exposure paths, but the differences are small (one-third to one-half of the response scale. Nonetheless, the perceived risk from the exposure paths helps to explain why people are expected to consume (or actually consumed bottled water rather than boiled or personally chlorinated water. Overall, these results indicate that local authorities should take care to communicate the relative risks of different exposure paths and should expect that people will respond to a boil water order primarily by consuming bottled water. Thus, they should make special efforts to increase supplies of bottled water in their communities during water contamination emergencies.

  15. [Modern problems of maintenance of hygienic safety of drinking water consumption at the regional level].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tulakin, A V; Tsyplakova, G V; Ampleeva, G P; Kozyreva, O N; Pivneva, O S; Trukhina, G M

    Problems of hygienic reliability of the drinking water use in regions of the Russian Federation are observed in the article. The optimization of the water use was shown must be based on the bearing in mind of regional peculiarities of the shaping of water quality of groundwater and surface sources of the water use, taking into account of the effectiveness of regional water protection programs, programs for water treatment, coordination of the activity of economic entities and oversight bodies in the management of water quality on the basis of socio-hygienic monitoring. Regional problems requiring hygienic justification and accounting, include such issues as complex hydrological, hydrogeological, climatic and geographical conditions, pronouncement of the severity of anthropogenic pollution of sources of water supply, natural conditions of the shaping of water quality, efficiency of the water treatment. There is need in the improvement of the problems of the water quality monitoring, including with the use of computer technology, which allows to realize regional hygienic monitoring and spatial-temporal analysis of the water quality, to model the water quality management, to predict conditions of the water use by population in regions taking into account peculiarities of the current health situation. In the article there is shown the practicability of the so-called complex concept of multiple barriers suggesting the combined use of chemical oxidation and physical methods of the preparation of drinking water. It is required the further development of legislation for the protection of water bodies from pollution with the bigging up the status of sanitary protection zones; timely revision of the regulatory framework, establishing sanitary-epidemiological requirements to potable water and drinking water supply. The problem of the provision of the population with safe drinking water requires complex solution within the framework of the implementation of target programs

  16. Experience with emergency diesels at the Swiss NPP Goesgen (KKG)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Steffen, W. [Federal Office of Energy, Swiss Federal Nuclear Safety Inspectorate, CH-5303 Wuerenlingen (Switzerland)

    1986-02-15

    The Goesgen nuclear power plant, a 970 MWe KWU pressurized water reactor, is fitted with 4 x 50 X emergency diesels and 2 x 100 % special emergency (Notstand) diesel units. Since the start-up tests of the diesels in 1977 several severe incidents occurred. As a consequence, different back-fitting actions were taken on the diesels and the emergency electrical System. The presentation will treat the following subjects: - lay-out of the onsite electrical power sources, - experiences and problems, - back-fitting measures, - periodic testing of the diesels. (author)

  17. Experience with emergency diesels at the Swiss NPP Goesgen (KKG)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Steffen, W.

    1986-01-01

    The Goesgen nuclear power plant, a 970 MWe KWU pressurized water reactor, is fitted with 4 x 50 X emergency diesels and 2 x 100 % special emergency (Notstand) diesel units. Since the start-up tests of the diesels in 1977 several severe incidents occurred. As a consequence, different back-fitting actions were taken on the diesels and the emergency electrical System. The presentation will treat the following subjects: - lay-out of the onsite electrical power sources, - experiences and problems, - back-fitting measures, - periodic testing of the diesels. (author)

  18. The Palestinian Authority and 'Climate Change' as an Emergent Public Problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fustec, Klervi

    2014-01-01

    'Climate change' is an oft avowed environmental priority among cooperation and development actors. The Palestinian Territories, for their part, are one of the largest recipients of international aid. To the degree that the UNPD has played a role in promoting the question of 'climate change', the dependence of the Palestinian Authority on international aid has contributed to framing this emergent public problem; its construction is anchored in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Palestinian state's demand for recognition at the international level. In the international arenas dedicated to 'climate change', what's more, the Palestinian Authority discusses this question in terms of political and climatic injustice. Two questions thus merit study: what effect does the construction of the climate problem have on the Palestinian Authority and, conversely, what effect does the Palestinian Authority have on the construction of the climate problem?

  19. [Structure, organization and capacity problems in emergency medical services, emergency admission and intensive care units].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dick, W

    1994-01-01

    Emergency medicine is subjected worldwide to financial stringencies and organizational evaluations of cost-effectiveness. The various links in the chain of survival are affected differently. Bystander assistance or bystander CPR is available in only 30% of the emergencies, response intervals--if at all required by legislation--are observed to only a limited degree or are too extended for survival in cardiac arrest. A single emergency telephone number is lacking. Too many different phone numbers for emergency reporting result in confusion and delays. Organizational realities are not fully overcome and impair efficiency. The position of the emergency physician in the EMS System is inadequately defined, the qualification of too many emergency physicians are unsatisfactory. In spite of this, emergency physicians are frequently forced to answer out-of-hospital emergency calls. Conflicts between emergency physicians and EMTs may be overcome by providing both groups with comparable qualifications as well as by providing an explicit definition of emergency competence. A further source of conflict occurs at the juncture of prehospital and inhospital emergency care in the emergency department. Deficiencies on either side play a decisive role. At least in principle there are solutions to the deficiencies in the EMSS and in intensive care medicine. They are among others: Adequate financial compensation of emergency personnel, availability of sufficient numbers of highly qualified personnel, availability of a central receiving area with an adjacent emergency ward, constant information flow to the dispatch center on the number of available emergency beds, maintaining 5% of all beds as emergency beds, establishing intermediate care facilities. Efficiency of emergency physician activities can be demonstrated in polytraumatized patients or in patients with ventricular fibrillation or acute myocardial infarction, in patients with acute myocardial insufficiency and other emergency

  20. Complaints from emergency department patients largely result from treatment and communication problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, David McD; Wolfe, Rory; Cameron, Peter A

    2002-03-01

    Emergency department patient complaints are often justified and may lead to apology, remedial action or compensation. The aim of the present study was to analyse emergency department patient complaints in order to identify procedures or practices that require change and to make recommendations for intervention strategies aimed at decreasing complaint rates. We undertook a retrospective analysis of patient complaints from 36 Victorian emergency departments during a 61 month period. Data were obtained from the Health Complaint Information Program (Health Services Commissioner). In all, 2,419 emergency department patients complained about a total of 3,418 separate issues (15.4% of all issues from all hospital departments). Of these, 1,157 complaints (47.80%) were received by telephone and 829 (34.3%) were received by letter; 1,526 (63.1 %) complaints were made by a person other than the patient. Highest complaint rates were received from patients who were female, born in non-English-speaking countries and very young or very old. One thousand one hundred and forty-one issues (33.4%) related to patient treatment, including inadequate treatment (329 issues) and inadequate diagnosis (249 issues); 1079 (31.6%) issues related to communication, including poor staff attitude, discourtesy and rudeness (444 issues); 407 (11.9%) issues related to delay in treatment. Overall, 2516 issues (73.6%) were resolved satisfactorily, usually by explanation or apology. Only 59 issues (1.7%) resulted in a procedure or policy change. Remedial action was taken in 109 issues (3.2%) and compensation was paid to eight patients. Communication remains a significant factor in emergency department patient dissatisfaction. While patient complaints have resulted in major changes to policy and procedure, research and intervention strategies into communication problems are indicated. In the short term, focused staff training is recommended.

  1. Water chemistry at RBMK plants: Problems and solutions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mamet, V.; Yurmanov, V.

    2002-01-01

    After around 15 years of operation RBMK-1000 units undergo a major refit, which includes safety system upgrading, fuel tube replacement, etc. The above upgrading has created problems for water chemistry. In particular, in late 80's in-core insertion time of the portion of control rods was reduced 10-fold thanks to a transfer from water to filming cooling of scram channels. Scram channels are cooled with inner surface water film cooling and nitrogen is injected into heads via special pipelines. Such cooling system modernization ensures fast insertion of absorber rods. The above upgrade intensified nitric acid radiolytic generation in water coolant and pH 25 value shift to acid conditions (up to 4.5). The results of corrosion tests in such conditions proved the necessity to improve water chemistry to ensure corrosion protection of scram/control rod and circuit components, especially those made out of aluminium alloy. Since 1990 the new revision of the RBMK-1000 water chemistry standard specified the new normal operational limit and action levels for possible temporary deviations of pH 25 value. RBMK plant specific measures were implemented at RBMK plants to meet the above requirements of the 1990 revision of the RBMK-1000 water chemistry standard. Clean-up systems of the above circuit were upgraded to ensure intensive absorption of nitric acid from water and pH 25 maintenance in a slightly acid area. (authors)

  2. Water chemistry at RBMK plants: Problems and solutions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mamet, V.; Yurmanov, V. [VNIIAES (Russian Federation)

    2002-07-01

    After around 15 years of operation RBMK-1000 units undergo a major refit, which includes safety system upgrading, fuel tube replacement, etc. The above upgrading has created problems for water chemistry. In particular, in late 80's in-core insertion time of the portion of control rods was reduced 10-fold thanks to a transfer from water to filming cooling of scram channels. Scram channels are cooled with inner surface water film cooling and nitrogen is injected into heads via special pipelines. Such cooling system modernization ensures fast insertion of absorber rods. The above upgrade intensified nitric acid radiolytic generation in water coolant and pH{sub 25} value shift to acid conditions (up to 4.5). The results of corrosion tests in such conditions proved the necessity to improve water chemistry to ensure corrosion protection of scram/control rod and circuit components, especially those made out of aluminium alloy. Since 1990 the new revision of the RBMK-1000 water chemistry standard specified the new normal operational limit and action levels for possible temporary deviations of pH{sub 25} value. RBMK plant specific measures were implemented at RBMK plants to meet the above requirements of the 1990 revision of the RBMK-1000 water chemistry standard. Clean-up systems of the above circuit were upgraded to ensure intensive absorption of nitric acid from water and pH{sub 25} maintenance in a slightly acid area. (authors)

  3. 75 FR 32855 - Safety Zone; Pierce County, WA, Department of Emergency Management, Regional Water Exercise

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-06-10

    ...-AA00 Safety Zone; Pierce County, WA, Department of Emergency Management, Regional Water Exercise AGENCY: Coast Guard, DHS. ACTION: Temporary final rule. SUMMARY: The Pierce County, Washington, Department of... immediate action is necessary to ensure safety of participants in the Pierce County Regional Water Rescue...

  4. Emerging desalination technologies for water treatment: a critical review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Subramani, Arun; Jacangelo, Joseph G

    2015-05-15

    In this paper, a review of emerging desalination technologies is presented. Several technologies for desalination of municipal and industrial wastewater have been proposed and evaluated, but only certain technologies have been commercialized or are close to commercialization. This review consists of membrane-based, thermal-based and alternative technologies. Membranes based on incorporation of nanoparticles, carbon nanotubes or graphene-based ones show promise as innovative desalination technologies with superior performance in terms of water permeability and salt rejection. However, only nanocomposite membranes have been commercialized while others are still under fundamental developmental stages. Among the thermal-based technologies, membrane distillation and adsorption desalination show the most promise for enhanced performance with the availability of a waste heat source. Several alternative technologies have also been developed recently; those based on capacitive deionization have shown considerable improvements in their salt removal capacity and feed water recovery. In the same category, microbial desalination cells have been shown to desalinate high salinity water without any external energy source, but to date, scale up of the process has not been methodically evaluated. In this paper, advantages and drawbacks of each technology is discussed along with a comparison of performance, water quality and energy consumption. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  5. Material problems concerning the safety of light water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bocek, M.; Dienst, W.; Hofmann, P.; Leistikow, S.

    The problems dealt with in this lecture and the corresponding investigations refer to the behavior of LWR fuel rods at loss-of-coolant accidents. In the foreground is the deformation of zircaloy 4 cladding until rupture will take place, the following aspects being pointed out: obstruction of emergency cooling of fuel assemblies by heavily deformed cladding tubes, release of radioactive fission products through cracks in the cladding, local fragmentation of the fuel rods caused by extensive embrittlement of the cladding tubes. (orig./IHOE) [de

  6. Problems of reliability and economy work of thermal power plants water treatment based on baromembrane technologies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chichirova, N. D.; Chichirov, A. A.; Saitov, S. R.

    2017-11-01

    The introduction of baromembrane water treatment technologies for water desalination at Russian thermal power plants was beganed more than 25 years ago. These technologies have demonstrated their definite advantage over the traditional technologies of additional water treatment for steam boilers. However, there are problems associated with the reliability and economy of their work. The first problem is a large volume of waste water (up to 60% of the initial water). The second problem a expensive and unique chemical reagents complex (biocides, antiscalants, washing compositions) is required for units stable and troublefree operation. Each manufacturer develops his own chemical composition for a certain membrane type. This leads to a significant increase in reagents cost, as well as creates dependence of the technology consumer on the certain supplier. The third problem is that the reliability of the baromembrane units depends directly on the water preliminary treatment. The popular pre-cleaning technology with coagulation of aluminum oxychloride proves to be unacceptable during seasonal changes in the quality of the source water at a number of stations. As a result, pollution, poisoning and lesion of the membrane structure or deterioration of their mechanical properties are observed. The report presents ways to solve these problems.

  7. On some problems concerning the national emergency planning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Angelov, V [Civil Defence Administration, Sofia (Bulgaria); Bonchev, Ts [Sofia Univ. (Bulgaria). Fizicheski Fakultet; Andonov, S [Civil Defence Administration, Sofia (Bulgaria); Semova, T [Sofia Univ. (Bulgaria). Fizicheski Fakultet; Ganchev, N [Committee on the Use of Atomic Energy for Peaceful Purposes, Sofia (Bulgaria); Georgiev, V [Energoproekt, Sofia (Bulgaria)

    1996-12-31

    The basic principles of national emergency planning and preparedness in case of severe nuclear accident are discussed. Recommendations concerning the participating authorities in Bulgaria and their cooperation are given. The need to synchronize the plan with the NPP Kozloduy emergency plan is pointed out. The introduction of new legislation outlining the necessity of national emergency planning is stressed. 13 refs.

  8. On some problems concerning the national emergency planning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Angelov, V.; Bonchev, Ts.; Semova, T.; Georgiev, V.

    1995-01-01

    The basic principles of national emergency planning and preparedness in case of severe nuclear accident are discussed. Recommendations concerning the participating authorities in Bulgaria and their cooperation are given. The need to synchronize the plan with the NPP Kozloduy emergency plan is pointed out. The introduction of new legislation outlining the necessity of national emergency planning is stressed. 13 refs

  9. Accumulation of contaminants of emerging concern in food crops-part 1: Edible strawberries and lettuce grown in reclaimed water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hyland, Katherine C; Blaine, Andrea C; Dickenson, Eric R V; Higgins, Christopher P

    2015-10-01

    Contaminants of emerging concern present in domestic waste streams include a highly diverse group of potentially biologically active compounds that can be detected at trace levels in wastewater. Concerns about potential uptake into crops arise when reclaimed water is used in food crop production. The present study investigated how 9 contaminants of emerging concern in reclaimed water are taken up into edible portions of two food crops. Two flame retardant chemicals, tris(1-chloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TCPP) and tris(2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) and several polar pharmaceuticals (carbamazepine, diphenhydramine, sulfamethoxazole, and trimethoprim) accumulated in a linear, concentration-dependent manner in lettuce (Lactuca sativa) irrigated with reclaimed water, suggesting passive uptake of both neutral and ionizable chemical contaminants in lettuce. Furthermore, concentration-dependent accumulation of TCEP and TCPP from reclaimed water was also observed in strawberry fruits (Fragaria ananassa). Collectively, these data suggest that highly polar or charged contaminants can be taken up by crops from water bearing contaminants of emerging concern and can be accumulated in the edible portions. Using these data, however, estimates of human exposure to these contaminants from reclaimed water food crop accumulation suggest that exposure to the contaminants of emerging concern examined in the present study is likely substantially lower than current exposure guidelines. © 2015 SETAC.

  10. Modeled de facto reuse and contaminants of emerging concern in drinking water source waters

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Thuy; Westerhoff, Paul; Furlong, Edward T.; Kolpin, Dana W.; Batt, Angela L.; Mash, Heath E.; Schenck, Kathleen M.; Boone, J. Scott; Rice, Jacelyn; Glassmeyer, Susan T.

    2018-01-01

    De facto reuse is the percentage of drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) intake potentially composed of effluent discharged from upstream wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Results from grab samples and a De Facto Reuse in our Nation's Consumable Supply (DRINCS) geospatial watershed model were used to quantify contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) concentrations at DWTP intakes to qualitatively compare exposure risks obtained by the two approaches. Between nine and 71 CECs were detected in grab samples. The number of upstream WWTP discharges ranged from 0 to >1,000; comparative de facto reuse results from DRINCS ranged from 80% during lower streamflows. Correlation between chemicals detected and DRINCS modeling results were observed, particularly DWTPs withdrawing from midsize water bodies. This comparison advances the utility of DRINCS to identify locations of DWTPs for future CEC sampling and treatment technology testing.

  11. The Problem of Emergency in the American Supreme Court

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ugilt, Rasmus; Hartz, Emily

    2011-01-01

    Sixty years before Carl Schmitt wrote his Political Theology, and more than a 100 years before President Bush announced a ‘war on terrorism’ the American Supreme Court grappled with the difficult issue of emergency powers in connection with issues arising out of the American Civil War (1861......–1865). The question confronting the Court in a set of cases named the Prize Cases was whether President Lincoln’s decision to respond to acts of aggression by the secessionist Southern states with measures of war was lawful. The legal problem was that Lincoln had made this decision unilaterally although the American...... Constitution specifically allocates the power to declare war to Congress. The Court solved the dilemma by arguing that in cases where no war has been declared, the decision whether the country is in a state of war is ultimately ‘a question to be decided by him [the President], and [the Supreme] Court must...

  12. Influence of Coal Ash Leachates and Emergent Macrophytes on Water Quality in Wetland Microcosms

    Data.gov (United States)

    U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — Influence of Coal Ash Leachates and Emergent Macrophytes on Water Quality in Wetland Microcosms. This dataset is associated with the following publication: Olson,...

  13. U.S. national issues on environmental hydrology and hydrogeology - Local and emerging global perspectives

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharp, J.M. Jr.

    1991-01-01

    In the US, hydrologic considerations have risen to the forefront of a number of important national issues. These issues focus on aspects of water availability and quality, but also impact other environmental, economic, and social situations. Surface-water resources in the US are essentially allocated and new socioenvironmental concerns may limit further surface-water exploitation. Ground-water use is increasing, but availability is not uniform. Some areas suffer from ground-water depletion and associated social and economic hardships. The quality of US coastal waters, rivers, lakes, and ground-water resources has seriously deteriorated in the last fifty years. Pollution is ubiquitous; vast sums of money have been spent in attempts at remediation. New methods for the disposal of sewage, industrial wastes, and nuclear wastes and for water treatment must be developed. Furthermore, the widespread agricultural contamination of ground water is just now being documented. This is leading to development of well-head protection criteria, a small but important venture into land-use planning. It is in comprehensive land-use planning that hydrology and hydrogeology should be of greatest value. The loss of prime agricultural lands and wildlife habitat as well as localized problems, such as flooding, subsidence, and pollution of water resources are problems which require vigorous emerging global issues will place great reliance on hydrologists and hydrogeologists of the future. Potential climate changes may alter our water resources base; population growth and third-world development will stress global water resources; aerosols are polluting water resources; and pollution does not stop at national boundaries. How to solve these newly emerging global problems is also an important US national issue

  14. Dam construction as an engineering solution for water supply problem : environmental thrusts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hosseini, A.H. [Alberta Univ., Edmonton, AB (Canada). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

    2004-09-01

    Water supply management and the potential impacts associated with engineering practices in water supply systems were examined. Global aspects of increasing water demand were presented and compared with populations, urbanization and water demand. Engineering practices in waterworks developments such as dam construction, river intakes, infiltration galleries, wells, boreholes and adits were also discussed. Construction of large dams and the problems associated with damming the rivers were studied as large dams generally have substantial impacts on rivers, watersheds and aquatic ecosystems, leading to the irreversible loss of species populations and ecosystems. These problems include negative impacts on the terrestrial ecosystem, greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs due to decaying vegetation and carbon inflows from the catchment, changes in flow regimes, trapping of sediments and nutrients behind a dam, blocking migration of aquatic organisms, as well as negative impacts on flood plain ecosystems and fisheries. In addition, a case study, on the environmental impacts associated with damming in Three Gorges Valley in China was presented. 9 refs., 8 figs.

  15. Hypertensive emergencies remain a clinical problem and are associated with high mortality.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roubsanthisuk, Weranuj; Wongsurin, Unticha; Buranakitjaroen, Peera

    2010-01-01

    We suspect that hypertensive emergencies remain a clinical problem and data on their long-term prognosis are lacking. This study was conducted in order to determine the frequency, management, and outcome of hypertensive emergencies in this era, in which hypertension treatment is more effective than in the past. We reviewed the medical records of patients with hypertensive emergencies admitted to the medical wards of Siriraj Hospital in 2003 and collected data on their characteristic, management, investigations, and follow-ups through 31 December 2007. There were 184 patients included. Hypertension has been previously diagnosed in 89% of cases. Nearly half also had diabetes mellitus and around a quarter had chronic kidney failure. Mean +/- SD of blood pressure at presentation was 205.96 +/- 21.36/114.60 +/- 20.59 mmHg. Cardiac complications and stroke accounted for 71% and 23% of all target organ damage, respectively. Intravenous nitroglycerine and furosemide were most frequently prescribed. Additional investigations to search for the causes of hypertension were performed in only 55 cases. The average hospital stay was 9.8 days. The in-hospital mortality rate was 15%. Some 26% of patients were lost to follow-up and another 20% died later. Only 19% of patients had regular follow-ups until the end of 2007 and remained on an average of 2.4 antihypertensive drugs. Hypertensive emergencies are usually found in patients with a history of hypertension and diabetes mellitus or kidney failure. Recommended investigations usually failed to identify the cause of hypertension. The mortality rate of these patients was extremely high while their adherence to treatment was extremely poor.

  16. Flume Experiments for Optimizing the Hydraulic Performance of a Deep-Water Wetland Utilizing Emergent Vegetation and Obstructions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shang-Shu Shih

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Constructed ponds and wetlands are widely used in urban areas for stormwater management, ecological conservation, and pollution treatment. The treatment efficiency of these systems is strongly related to the hydrodynamics and hydraulic residence time. In this study, we developed a physical model and used rhodamine-WT as a tracer to conduct flume experiments. An equivalent Reynolds number was assumed, and the flume was a 1/25-scale model. Emergent obstructions (EOs, submerged obstructions (SOs, and high- and low-density emergent vegetation were placed along the sides of the flume, and 49 tracer tests were performed. We altered the density, spatial extent, aspect ratio, and configurations of the obstructions and emergent vegetation to observe changes in the hydraulic efficiency of a deep-water wetland. In the cases of low-aspect-ratio obstructions, the effects of the EOs on the hydraulic efficiency were significantly stronger than those of the SOs. In contrast, in the cases of high-aspect-ratio obstructions, the improvement effects of the EOs were weaker than those of the SOs. The high-aspect-ratio EOs altered the flow direction and constrained the water conveyance area, which apparently caused a short-circuited flow phenomenon, resulting in a decrease in hydraulic efficiency. Most cases revealed that the emergent vegetation improved the hydraulic efficiency more than the EOs. The high-density emergent vegetation (HEV improved the hydraulic efficiency more than the low-density emergent vegetation (LEV. Three cases involving HEV, two cases involving LEV, and one case involving EOs attained a good hydraulic efficiency (λ > 0.75. To achieve greater water purification, aquatic planting in constructed wetlands should not be overly dense. The HEV configuration in case 3-1 achieved optimum hydraulic performance for compliance with applicable water treatment standards.

  17. Contaminants of emerging concern in the open sea waters of the Western Mediterranean

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brumovský, Miroslav; Bečanová, Jitka; Kohoutek, Jiří; Borghini, Mireno; Nizzetto, Luca

    2017-01-01

    Pollution by chemical substances is of concern for the maintenance of healthy and sustainable aquatic environments. While the occurrence and fate of numerous emerging contaminants, especially pharmaceuticals, is well documented in freshwater, their occurrence and behavior in coastal and marine waters is much less studied and understood. This study investigates the occurrence of 58 chemicals in the open surface water of the Western Mediterranean Sea for the first time. 70 samples in total were collected in 10 different sampling areas. 3 pesticides, 11 pharmaceuticals and personal care products and 2 artificial sweeteners were detected at sub-ng to ng/L levels. Among them, the herbicide terbuthylazine, the pharmaceuticals caffeine, carbamazepine, naproxen and paracetamol, the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole, the antibacterial triclocarban and the two artificial sweeteners acesulfame and saccharin were detected in all samples. The compound detected at the highest concentration was saccharin (up to 5.23 ng/L). Generally small spatial differences among individual sampling areas point to a diffuse character of sources which are likely dominated by WWTP effluents and runoffs from agricultural areas or even, at least for pharmaceuticals and artificial food additives, from offshore sources such as ferries and cruising ships. The implications of the ubiquitous presence in the open sea of chemicals that are bio-active or toxic at low doses on photosynthetic organisms and/or bacteria (i.e., terbuthylazine, sulfamethoxazole or triclocarban) deserve scientific attention, especially concerning possible subtle impacts from chronic exposure of pelagic microorganisms. - Highlights: • First report on several classes of emerging contaminants in the open Mediterranean Sea. • 3 pesticides, 11 PPCPs and 2 artificial sweeteners detected in the surface marine water. • Saccharin, naproxen and DEET detected at the highest concentrations. • Spatial distribution independent of distance

  18. Toxicological risk assessment and prioritization of drinking water relevant contaminants of emerging concern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baken, Kirsten A; Sjerps, Rosa M A; Schriks, Merijn; van Wezel, Annemarie P

    2018-06-13

    Toxicological risk assessment of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in (sources of) drinking water is required to identify potential health risks and prioritize chemicals for abatement or monitoring. In such assessments, concentrations of chemicals in drinking water or sources are compared to either (i) health-based (statutory) drinking water guideline values, (ii) provisional guideline values based on recent toxicity data in absence of drinking water guidelines, or (iii) generic drinking water target values in absence of toxicity data. Here, we performed a toxicological risk assessment for 163 CEC that were selected as relevant for drinking water. This relevance was based on their presence in drinking water and/or groundwater and surface water sources in downstream parts of the Rhine and Meuse, in combination with concentration levels and physicochemical properties. Statutory and provisional drinking water guideline values could be derived from publically available toxicological information for 142 of the CEC. Based on measured concentrations it was concluded that the majority of substances do not occur in concentrations which individually pose an appreciable human health risk. A health concern could however not be excluded for vinylchloride, trichloroethene, bromodichloromethane, aniline, phenol, 2-chlorobenzenamine, mevinphos, 1,4-dioxane, and nitrolotriacetic acid. For part of the selected substances, toxicological risk assessment for drinking water could not be performed since either toxicity data (hazard) or drinking water concentrations (exposure) were lacking. In absence of toxicity data, the Threshold of Toxicological Concern (TTC) approach can be applied for screening level risk assessment. The toxicological information on the selected substances was used to evaluate whether drinking water target values based on existing TTC levels are sufficiently protective for drinking water relevant CEC. Generic drinking water target levels of 37 μg/L for

  19. Two-Stage Multiobjective Optimization for Emergency Supplies Allocation Problem under Integrated Uncertainty

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xuejie Bai

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a new two-stage optimization method for emergency supplies allocation problem with multisupplier, multiaffected area, multirelief, and multivehicle. The triplet of supply, demand, and the availability of path is unknown prior to the extraordinary event and is descriptive with fuzzy random variable. Considering the fairness, timeliness, and economical efficiency, a multiobjective expected value model is built for facility location, vehicle routing, and supply allocation decisions. The goals of proposed model aim to minimize the proportion of demand nonsatisfied and response time of emergency reliefs and the total cost of the whole process. When the demand and the availability of path are discrete, the expected values in the objective functions are converted into their equivalent forms. When the supply amount is continuous, the equilibrium chance in the constraint is transformed to its equivalent one. To overcome the computational difficulty caused by multiple objectives, a goal programming model is formulated to obtain a compromise solution. Finally, an example is presented to illustrate the validity of the proposed model and the effectiveness of the solution method.

  20. Emerging contaminants in surface waters in China—a short review

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Guang; Zhang, Guangming; Fan, Maohong

    2014-01-01

    Emerging contaminants (ECs) have drawn attention to many countries due to their persistent input and potential threat to human health and the environment. This article reviews the current contamination sources and their status for surface waters in China. The contamination levels of ECs in surface waters are in the range ng L −1 to μg L −1 in China, apparently about the same as the situation in other countries. ECs enter surface water via runoff, drainage, rainfall, and wastewater treatment effluent. The frequency of occurrence of ECs increased rapidly from 2006 to 2011; a significant reason is the production and consumption of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. As for the distribution of EC pollution in China, the frequency of occurrence of ECs in eastern regions is higher than in western regions. A majority of EC studies have focused on surface waters of the Haihe River and Pearl River watersheds due to their highly developed industries and intense human activity. Legislative and administrative regulation of ECs is lacking in China. To remove ECs, a number of technologies, such as absorption by activated carbon, membrane filtration technology, and advanced oxidation processes, have been researched. (letter)

  1. Emerging contaminants in surface waters in China—a short review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Guang; Fan, Maohong; Zhang, Guangming

    2014-07-01

    Emerging contaminants (ECs) have drawn attention to many countries due to their persistent input and potential threat to human health and the environment. This article reviews the current contamination sources and their status for surface waters in China. The contamination levels of ECs in surface waters are in the range ng L-1 to μg L-1 in China, apparently about the same as the situation in other countries. ECs enter surface water via runoff, drainage, rainfall, and wastewater treatment effluent. The frequency of occurrence of ECs increased rapidly from 2006 to 2011; a significant reason is the production and consumption of pharmaceuticals and personal care products. As for the distribution of EC pollution in China, the frequency of occurrence of ECs in eastern regions is higher than in western regions. A majority of EC studies have focused on surface waters of the Haihe River and Pearl River watersheds due to their highly developed industries and intense human activity. Legislative and administrative regulation of ECs is lacking in China. To remove ECs, a number of technologies, such as absorption by activated carbon, membrane filtration technology, and advanced oxidation processes, have been researched.

  2. Evaluation of the seasonal performance of a water reclamation pond-constructed wetland system for removing emerging contaminants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matamoros, Víctor; Salvadó, Victòria

    2012-01-01

    The capacity of a full-scale reclamation pond-constructed wetland (CW) system to eliminate 27 emerging contaminants (i.e. pharmaceuticals, sunscreen compounds, fragrances, antiseptics, fire retardants, pesticides, and plasticizers) and the seasonal occurrence of these contaminants is studied. The compounds with the highest concentrations in the secondary effluent are diclofenac, caffeine, ketoprofen, and carbamazepine. The results show that the constructed wetland (61%) removes emerging contaminants significantly more efficiently than the pond (51%), presumably due to the presence of plants (Phragmites and Thypa) as well as the higher hydraulic residence time (HRT) in the CW. A greater seasonal trend to the efficient removal of these compounds is observed in the pond than in the CW. The overall mass removal efficiency of each individual compound ranged from 27% to 93% (71% on average), which is comparable to reported data in advanced treatments (photo-fenton and membrane filtration). The seasonal average content of emerging contaminants in the river water (2488 ng L(-1)) next to the water reclamation plant is found to be higher than the content in the final reclaimed water (1490 ng L(-1)), suggesting that the chemical quality of the reclaimed water is better than available surface waters. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Perceived health problems in swimmers according to the chemical treatment of water in swimming pools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fernández-Luna, Álvaro; Burillo, Pablo; Felipe, José Luis; del Corral, Julio; García-Unanue, Jorge; Gallardo, Leonor

    2016-01-01

    The objective of this study was to determine which chemical treatment used for disinfecting water in indoor swimming pools had the least impact on users' perceptions of health problems, and which generated the greatest satisfaction with the quality of the water. A survey on satisfaction and perceived health problems was given to 1001 users at 20 indoor swimming pools which used different water treatment methods [chlorine, bromine, ozone, ultraviolet lamps (UV) and salt electrolysis]. The findings suggest that there is a greater probability of perceived health problems, such as eye and skin irritation, respiratory problems and skin dryness, in swimming pools treated with chlorine than in swimming pools using other chemical treatment methods. Pools treated with bromine have similar, although slightly better, results. Other factors, such as age, gender, time of day of use (morning and afternoon) and type of user (competitive and recreational), can also affect the probability of suffering health problems. For all of the above, using combined treatment methods as ozone and UV, or salt electrolysis produces a lower probability of perceived health problems and greater satisfaction.

  4. Effects of seedbed preparation, irrigation, and water harvesting of seedling emergence at the Nevada Test Site

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Winkel, V.K.; Ostler, W.K.; Gabbert, W.D.; Lyon, G.E.

    1994-02-01

    Approximately 800 hectares on the US Department of Energy Nevada Test Site and vicinity are contaminated with plutonium. As part of a cleanup effort, both the indigenous vegetation and the top 5--10 cm of soil may be removed, and the soil may or may not be replaced. Technologies must be developed to stabilize and revegetate these lands. A study was developed to determine adaptable plant species, methods to prepare seedbeds for direct seeding and water harvesting, and proper irrigation rates. Plots were cleared of indigenous vegetation, and then prepared with various seedbed/water harvesting treatments including, pitting, land imprinting, and mulching. Other plots were treated with large water harvesting structures. Three irrigation treatments were superimposed over the seedbed/water harvesting treatments. Seedling emergence data was collected, and the treatment combinations compared. Supporting meteorological and soil data were collected with an automatic data-logger. Specific data included precipitation, and air temperature. In a year of above-average precipitation, irrigation did not generally aid germination and emergence of seeded species, and only slightly increased densities of species from the native seedbank. With the exception of increased shrub seedling densities in desert strips, there were no strong seedbed preparation/water harvesting treatment effects. In years of above-average rainfall, mulching and water harvesting treatments, irrigation may not be necessary to insure adequate germination and emergence of adapted perennial grasses, forbs, and shrubs in the Mojave/Great Basin Transition Desert. Future collection of survival data will determine whether a maintenance irrigation program is necessary to ensure establishmnent of native plants

  5. The Effect of an Extended Wilderness Education Experience on Ill-Structured Problem-Solving Skill Development in Emerging Adult Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Rachel H.

    2014-01-01

    In a society that is becoming more dynamic, complex, and diverse, the ability to solve ill-structured problems has become an increasingly critical skill. Emerging adults are at a critical life stage that is an ideal time to develop the skills needed to solve ill-structured problems (ISPs) as they are transitioning to adult roles and starting to…

  6. Application of nanotechnologies for solving ecological problems on produced water utilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hajiyev, S.K.; Kalbaliyeva, E.S.; Kazimov, F.K.

    2010-01-01

    Utilization of produced water is connected with the problems of its purification, repeated use and following the corresponding ecological requirements.Constant growth of the amount of produced water in extracted fluid and contaminating components require improvement of existing methods of utilization and development of advanced technologies. In the result of development of nanocomposites on the base of metallic nanoparticles it has been achieved significant improvement of purification efficiency of produced water, as well as decrease of surface tension, viscosity, increase of corrosion resistance and protection against salt deposition.

  7. Expert forecasts and the emergence of water scarcity on public agendas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Graffy, E.A.

    2006-01-01

    Expert forecasts of worldwide water scarcity depict conditions that call for proactive, preventive, coordinated water governance, but they have not been matched by public agendas of commensurate scope and urgency in the United States. This disconnect can not be adequately explained without some attention to attributes of forecasts themselves. I propose that the institutional fragmentation of water expertise and prevailing patterns of communication about water scarcity militate against the formulation of a common public definition of the problem and encourage reliance on unambiguous crises to stimulate social and policy agenda setting. I do not argue that expert forecasts should drive public agendas deterministically, but if their purpose is to help prevent water crises (not just predict them), then a greater effort is needed to overcome the barriers to meaningful public scrutiny of expert claims and evaluation of water strategies presently in place. Copyright ?? 2006 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

  8. Syndromes of the global water crisis - exploring the emergent dynamics through socio-hydrological modeling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuil, Linda; Levy, Morgan; Pavao-Zuckerman, Mitch; Penny, Gopal; Scott, Christopher; Srinivasan, Veena; Thompson, Sally; Troy, Tara

    2014-05-01

    There is a great variety of human water systems at the global scale due to the types and timing of water supply/availability, and the high diversity in water use, management, and abstraction methods. Importantly, this is largely driven by differences in welfare, social values, institutional frameworks, and cultural traditions of communities. The observed trend of a growing world population in combination with changing habits that generally increase our water consumption per capita implies that an increasing number of communities will face water scarcity. Over the years much research has been done in order to increase our understanding of human water systems and their associated water problems, using both top-down and bottom-up approaches. Despite these efforts, the challenge has remained to generalize findings beyond the areas of interests and to establish a common framework in order to compare and learn from different cases as a basis for finding solutions. In a recent analysis of multiple interdisciplinary subnational water resources case studies, it was shown that a suite of distinct resources utilization patterns leading to a water crisis can be identified, namely: 1) groundwater depletion, 2) ecological destruction, 3) drought-driven conflicts, 4) unmet subsistence needs, 5) resource capture by elite and 6) water reallocation to nature (Srinivasan et al., 2012). The effects of these syndromes on long-lasting human wellbeing can be grouped in the following outcomes: unsustainability, vulnerability, chronic scarcity and adaptation. The aim of this group collaboration is to build on this work through the development of a socio-hydrological model that is capable of reproducing the above syndromes and outcomes, ultimately giving insight in the different pathways leading to the syndromes. The resulting model will be distinct compared to existing model frameworks for two reasons. First of all, feedback loops between the hydrological, the environmental and the human

  9. Contaminants of emerging concern in surface waters in Barbados, West Indies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Quincy A; Kulikov, Sergei M; Garner-O'Neale, Leah D; Metcalfe, Chris D; Sultana, Tamanna

    2017-11-14

    Contaminants of emerging concern (CECs), including pharmaceuticals, artificial sweeteners, steroid hormones, and current-use pesticides have been detected in surface waters around the world, but to date, there have been no reports in the peer-reviewed literature on the levels of these classes of contaminants in freshwater resources in the Caribbean region. In the present study, multi-residue solid phase extraction (SPE) and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectroscopy (LC-MS/MS) were used to analyze grab samples of surface waters collected from five different watersheds in Barbados, West Indies. The artificial sweeteners (AS), acesulfame, cyclamate, saccharin, and sucralose were widely detected in the watersheds, indicating contamination from domestic wastewater, and the concentrations of these chemical tracers in water were correlated with the concentrations of the non-prescription pharmaceutical, ibuprofen (R 2 values of 0.4-0.6). Surprisingly, the concentrations of another chemical tracer of domestic wastewater, caffeine were not correlated with ibuprofen or AS concentrations. Several other prescription pharmaceuticals and the steroid hormones, estrone and androstenedione, were detected in selected watersheds at low ng/L concentrations. The fungicide, chlorothalonil was widely detected in surface waters at low (contamination of water resources by pharmaceuticals.

  10. Screening for contaminants of emerging concern in Northern Colorado Plateau Network waters: 2015 surface-water data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weissinger, R; Battaglin, William A.; Bradley, Paul M.

    2016-01-01

    In 2015, as part of an on-going screening program for contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in conjunction with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8, surface waters at 18 locations in or near seven national park units within the Northern Colorado Plateau Network (NCPN) were sampled for pesticides and pesticide degradation products, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, hormones, organic-wastewater-indictor chemicals, and nutrients. Most sites were sampled in spring (May or June) and fall (September).

  11. Pathway from child sexual and physical abuse to risky sex among emerging adults: the role of trauma-related intrusions and alcohol problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walsh, Kate; Latzman, Natasha E; Latzman, Robert D

    2014-04-01

    Some evidence suggests that risk reduction programming for sexual risk behaviors (SRB) has been minimally effective, which emphasized the need for research on etiological and mechanistic factors that can be addressed in prevention and intervention programming. Childhood sexual and physical abuse have been linked with SRB among older adolescents and emerging adults; however, pathways to SRB remain unclear. This study adds to the literature by testing a model specifying that traumatic intrusions after early abuse may increase risk for alcohol problems, which in turn may increase the likelihood of engaging in various types of SRB. Participants were 1,169 racially diverse college students (72.9% female, 37.6% black/African-American, and 33.6% white) who completed anonymous questionnaires assessing child abuse, traumatic intrusions, alcohol problems, and sexual risk behavior. The hypothesized path model specifying that traumatic intrusions and alcohol problems account for associations between child abuse and several aspects of SRB was a good fit for the data; however, for men, stronger associations emerged between physical abuse and traumatic intrusions and between traumatic intrusions and alcohol problems, whereas for women, alcohol problems were more strongly associated with intent to engage in risky sex. Findings highlight the role of traumatic intrusions and alcohol problems in explaining paths from childhood abuse to SRB in emerging adulthood, and suggest that risk reduction programs may benefit from an integrated focus on traumatic intrusions, alcohol problems, and SRB for individuals with abuse experiences. Copyright © 2014 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.

  12. Mathematical Methodology for New Modeling of Water Hammer in Emergency Core Cooling System

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, Seungchan; Yoon, Dukjoo; Ha, Sangjun

    2013-01-01

    In engineering insight, the water hammer study has carried out through the experimental work and the fluid mechanics. In this study, a new access methodology is introduced by Newton mechanics and a mathematical method. Also, NRC Generic Letter 2008-01 requires nuclear power plant operators to evaluate the effect of water-hammer for the protection of pipes of the Emergency Core Cooling System, which is related to the Residual Heat Removal System and the Containment Spray System. This paper includes modeling, the processes of derivation of the mathematical equations and the comparison with other experimental work. To analyze the effect of water-hammer, this mathematical methodology is carried out. This study is in good agreement with other experiment results as above. This method is very efficient to explain the water-hammer phenomena

  13. Mathematical Methodology for New Modeling of Water Hammer in Emergency Core Cooling System

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lee, Seungchan; Yoon, Dukjoo; Ha, Sangjun [Korea Hydro Nuclear Power Co. Ltd, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-05-15

    In engineering insight, the water hammer study has carried out through the experimental work and the fluid mechanics. In this study, a new access methodology is introduced by Newton mechanics and a mathematical method. Also, NRC Generic Letter 2008-01 requires nuclear power plant operators to evaluate the effect of water-hammer for the protection of pipes of the Emergency Core Cooling System, which is related to the Residual Heat Removal System and the Containment Spray System. This paper includes modeling, the processes of derivation of the mathematical equations and the comparison with other experimental work. To analyze the effect of water-hammer, this mathematical methodology is carried out. This study is in good agreement with other experiment results as above. This method is very efficient to explain the water-hammer phenomena.

  14. Solving the Water Jugs Problem by an Integer Sequence Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Man, Yiu-Kwong

    2012-01-01

    In this article, we present an integer sequence approach to solve the classic water jugs problem. The solution steps can be obtained easily by additions and subtractions only, which is suitable for manual calculation or programming by computer. This approach can be introduced to secondary and undergraduate students, and also to teachers and…

  15. Integrated water resource management, institutional arrangements, and land-use planning

    OpenAIRE

    Bruce Mitchell

    2005-01-01

    A systems, holistic, or ecosystem approach is often advocated for water management, and has led to the emergence of integrated water resource management, or IWRM. Such an approach can be interpreted as ‘comprehensive’ or ‘integrated’, and analysts, planners, and managers need to understand the difference. Edge or boundary problems always are encountered when applying a holistic approach, and design of institutional arrangements cannot eliminate these problems but can minimize them. IWRM often...

  16. Corrosion, inspection and other problems associated with Heat exchangers in the heavy water industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Twigg, R.J.

    1980-01-01

    Corrosion, fabrication and inspection problems encountered in the heavy water industry Heat exchangers are discussed. Among the problems examined are erosion/corrosion of two pass exchangers, rolling of tubes, pitting, fretting and protection for long term storage. (auth)

  17. Quadratic head loss approximations for optimisation problems in water supply networks

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Pecci, Filippo; Abraham, E.; I, Stoianov

    2017-01-01

    This paper presents a novel analysis of the accuracy of quadratic approximations for the Hazen–Williams (HW) head loss formula, which enables the control of constraint violations in optimisation problems for water supply networks. The two smooth polynomial approximations considered here minimise the

  18. Water supply of the population as a problem of energy efficiency on the example of the Tyumen region of Russia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lezier, Victoria; Gusarova, Miroslava; Kopytova, Anna

    2017-10-01

    The purpose of this article is to draw public attention to the problems of water supply in the city of Tyumen, the capital of the oil region and one of the most important objects in Russia from the point of view of strategic water supply, located in the region with vast freshwater resources. The article outlines main water supply problems related to the quality of drinking water, its chemical composition, and risks of water contamination by industrial effluents, problems of water transport to the consumers, problems of energy efficiency. The issues raised are part of the energy efficiency not only of the Tyumen region, but also of the Sverdlovsk region, from which the waters of the drinking basin are transited, being a sewage channel for many industrial enterprises. The article touches the issues of water protection, conservation and quality of water coming from the Velizhansky water intake, as well as the possibilities of using alternative sources of drinking water. The article analyzes legal measures, and proposals for improving work with increasing the quality of drinking water, combating melt water and pollution with oil.

  19. Sudden water pollution accidents and reservoir emergency operations: impact analysis at Danjiangkou Reservoir.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Hezhen; Lei, Xiaohui; Shang, Yizi; Duan, Yang; Kong, Lingzhong; Jiang, Yunzhong; Wang, Hao

    2018-03-01

    Danjiangkou Reservoir is the source reservoir of the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (MRP). Any sudden water pollution accident in the reservoir would threaten the water supply of the MRP. We established a 3-D hydrodynamic and water quality model for the Danjiangkou Reservoir, and proposed scientific suggestions on the prevention and emergency management for sudden water pollution accidents based on simulated results. Simulations were performed on 20 hypothetical pollutant discharge locations and 3 assumed amounts, in order to model the effect of pollutant spreading under different reservoir operation types. The results showed that both the location and mass of pollution affected water quality; however, different reservoir operation types had little effect. Five joint regulation scenarios, which altered the hydrodynamic processes of water conveyance for the Danjiangkou and Taocha dams, were considered for controlling pollution dispersion. The results showed that the spread of a pollutant could be effectively controlled through the joint regulation of the two dams and that the collaborative operation of the Danjiangkou and Taocha dams is critical for ensuring the security of water quality along the MRP.

  20. Use of the internet in international emergency management: current problems and possible improvements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Palsson, S.E.

    2003-01-01

    Full text: The Internet has during the last decade grown rapidly to become one of the main tools for exchanging information in a modern society. This has been in parallel with similar growth in communication technology, providing both wired and wireless high capacity communication channels. Many special applications and services have been developed making use of the new technology. International emergency management is however currently only making use of a part of the possibilities the internet can offer. This is due to lack of co-operation, harmonization and not using recent standards for information exchange. This problem can be solved simply by more co-operation and active use of modern standards. The problem for international emergency management arises from the wide variety of users and their needs. On one hand there are users in countries with nuclear power plants and sophisticated decision support systems, on the other hand there are countries without nuclear reactors within or near their boarders. The latter may not be able to justify developing or setting up complex decision support systems, but in most cases they would want to be able to make use of internationally distributed information in some efficient way. Many of the sophisticated web based applications have been excellently tailored for the needs of the owners, but are often less suitable for others. Some of the typical problems are: too large files, integration of content and layout information in one file, device and web browser specific solutions, inconsistent structure. The HTML language traditionally used for web pages has tags to identify different types of information. But modern HTML web pages are generally loaded with nonstandard device specific formatting instructions. Having two web pages that look the same does not mean that the underlying code is the same. The author conducted a test a couple of years ago where commercial software was used to transform web pages from a few emergency

  1. Time of Emergence of Ocean Interior Acidification and De-oxygenation in a Water Mass Framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coronado, M.; Frenger, I.; Froelicher, T. L.; Rodgers, K. B.; Schlunegger, S.; Sasano, D.; Ishii, M.

    2016-02-01

    Potential marine ecosystem stressors, such as acidification and de-oxygenation, are expected to impact biology over the course of the 21st century. Detection of these changes in ocean biogeochemistry is made complicated by the background natural variability of the climate system (Frölicher et al., 2007 and Rodgers et al., 2015). Here we present a novel method for the interpretation of ocean interior measurement for environmental change. We use a water mass framework to compare a high-frequency repeat hydrographic section at 165E in the Pacific (Sasano et al., 2015) with initial condition ensemble experiments ran with GFDL's Earth System Model (ESM2M). In this study, "emergence" for a trend occurs when an anthropogenic signal (either modeled or observed) exceeds the noise (envelope of spread amongst ensemble members, generated by internal variability). By using a water mass as opposed to the standard depth framework, we remove the effects of anthropogenic trends and internal variability of deepening isopycnals, allowing for greater emergence of bio-geochemical signals. We find that emergence of anthropogenic trends in acidification and omega aragonite emerge sooner and with greater confidence than do trends in ocean interior oxygen concentrations. More broadly, this study demonstrates the utility of applying initial condition ensembles to interpret ocean interior variability and trends, rather than the traditional practice of using observations to validate models.

  2. The difficult medical emergency call

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, Thea Palsgaard; Kjærulff, Thora Majlund; Viereck, Søren

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Pre-hospital emergency care requires proper categorization of emergency calls and assessment of emergency priority levels by the medical dispatchers. We investigated predictors for emergency call categorization as "unclear problem" in contrast to "symptom-specific" categories and the ......BACKGROUND: Pre-hospital emergency care requires proper categorization of emergency calls and assessment of emergency priority levels by the medical dispatchers. We investigated predictors for emergency call categorization as "unclear problem" in contrast to "symptom-specific" categories...... and the effect of categorization on mortality. METHODS: Register-based study in a 2-year period based on emergency call data from the emergency medical dispatch center in Copenhagen combined with nationwide register data. Logistic regression analysis (N = 78,040 individuals) was used for identification...

  3. Occurrence of emerging contaminants in water and bed material in the Missouri River, North Dakota, 2007

    Science.gov (United States)

    Damschen, William C.; Lundgren, Robert F.

    2009-01-01

    The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, conducted a reconnaissance study to determine the occurrence of emerging contaminants in water and bed sediment within the Missouri River upstream and downstream from the cities of Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota, and upstream from the city of Fort Yates, North Dakota, during September-October 2007. At each site, water samples were collected twice and bed-sediment samples were collected once. Samples were analyzed for more than 200 emerging contaminants grouped into four compound classes - wastewater compounds, human-health pharmaceutical compounds, hormones, and antibiotics. Only sulfamethoxazole, an antibiotic, was present at a concentration higher than minimum detection limits. It was detected in a water sample collected downstream from the cities of Bismarck and Mandan, and in bed-sediment samples collected at the two sites downstream from the cities of Bismarck and Mandan and upstream from Fort Yates. Sulfamethoxazole is an antibiotic commonly used for treating bacterial infections in humans and animals.

  4. EPA and USGS scientists conduct study to determine prevalence of newly-emerging contaminants in treated and untreated drinking water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scientists from the EPA and USGS are collaborating on a research study to determine the presence of contaminants of emerging concern in treated and untreated drinking water collected from drinking water treatment plants.

  5. Pharmaceutical products as emerging contaminant in water: relevance for developing nations and identification of critical compounds for Indian environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chinnaiyan, Prakash; Thampi, Santosh G; Kumar, Mathava; Mini, K M

    2018-04-17

    Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) are contaminants of emerging concern and have been detected worldwide in water bodies in trace concentrations. Most of these emerging contaminants are not regulated in water quality standards except a few in the developed countries. In the case of developing countries, research in this direction is at a nascent stage. For the effective management of Pharmaceutical contaminants (PC) in developing countries, the relevance of PCs as an emerging contaminant has to be analyzed followed by regular monitoring of the environment. Considering the resource constraints, this could be accomplished by identifying the priority compounds which is again region specific and dependent on consumption behavior and pattern. In this work, relevance of pharmaceutical compound as emerging contaminant in water for a developing country like India is examined by considering the data pertaining to pharmaceutical consumption data. To identify the critical Pharmaceutical Contaminants to be monitored in the Indian environment, priority compounds from selected prioritization methods were screened with the compounds listed in National List of Essential Medicine (NLEM), India. Further, information on the number of publications on the compound as an emerging contaminant, data on monitoring studies in India and the number of brands marketing the compound in India were also analyzed. It is found that out of 195 compounds from different prioritization techniques, only 77 compounds were found relevant to India based on NLEM sorting.

  6. Evaluation of an accident management strategy of emergency water injection using fire engines in a typical pressurized water reactor

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Soo-Yong Park

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available Following the Fukushima accident, a special safety inspection was conducted in Korea. The inspection results show that Korean nuclear power plants have no imminent risk for expected maximum potential earthquake or coastal flooding. However long- and short-term safety improvements do need to be implemented. One of the measures to increase the mitigation capability during a prolonged station blackout (SBO accident is installing injection flow paths to provide emergency cooling water of external sources using fire engines to the steam generators or reactor cooling systems. This paper illustrates an evaluation of the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire trucks during a potential extended SBO accident in a 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactor. With regard to the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire engines, the strategies are judged to be very feasible for a long-term SBO, but are not likely to be effective for a short-term SBO.

  7. Evaluation of an accident management strategy of emergency water injection using fire engines in a typical pressurized water reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Soo Yong; Ahn, Kwang Il

    2015-01-01

    Following the Fukushima accident, a special safety inspection was conducted in Korea. The inspection results show that Korean nuclear power plants have no imminent risk for expected maximum potential earthquake or coastal flooding. However long- and short-term safety improvements do need to be implemented. One of the measures to increase the mitigation capability during a prolonged station blackout (SBO) accident is installing injection flow paths to provide emergency cooling water of external sources using fire engines to the steam generators or reactor cooling systems. This paper illustrates an evaluation of the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire trucks during a potential extended SBO accident in a 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactor. With regard to the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire engines, the strategies are judged to be very feasible for a long-term SBO, but are not likely to be effective for a short-term SBO

  8. Evaluation of an accident management strategy of emergency water injection using fire engines in a typical pressurized water reactor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Park, Soo Yong; Ahn, Kwang Il [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-10-15

    Following the Fukushima accident, a special safety inspection was conducted in Korea. The inspection results show that Korean nuclear power plants have no imminent risk for expected maximum potential earthquake or coastal flooding. However long- and short-term safety improvements do need to be implemented. One of the measures to increase the mitigation capability during a prolonged station blackout (SBO) accident is installing injection flow paths to provide emergency cooling water of external sources using fire engines to the steam generators or reactor cooling systems. This paper illustrates an evaluation of the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire trucks during a potential extended SBO accident in a 1,000 MWe pressurized water reactor. With regard to the effectiveness of external cooling water injection strategies using fire engines, the strategies are judged to be very feasible for a long-term SBO, but are not likely to be effective for a short-term SBO.

  9. A contribution on the problem of ground water pollution

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zilliox, L.; Muntzer, P.; Kresser, W.

    1982-01-01

    The authors present the underlying physics of processes relevant to the problem of ground water pollution. A series of models are discussed which include two-dimensional diffusion from a point source of pollution in a uniform homogeneous medium and the modifying effect of inhomogeneities, together with displacement processes for miscible liquids in saturated porous media. In conclusion an account of laboratory and theoretical investigations of these diffusion processes in layered media of different permeabilities is given. (J.R.B.)

  10. Decision-making support system based on MAS for emergency response to nuclear accidents of marine pressurized-water reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Dengke; Zhang Dafa; Jiang Wei; Chen Yonghong

    2007-01-01

    Emergency decision-making to Marine Pressurized-Water Reactor (MPWR) was severely restricted by the complex environment. To enhance the emergency decision-making ability of MPWR, reducing the effect of emergencies, an emergency Decision-making Support System (DSS) which based on Multi-agent System (MAS) was presented. In the system, the HLA/RTI was used as the support environment, and the structure and the Control Agent (SCA), Analyse Agent (AA), Countermeasure Agent (CA), Evaluation Agent (EVA) and Environment Agent (ENA) were designed. The MAS were with the characteristics of autonomy, reactivity and initiative, which were fully used in the system to make effective decision for emergencies. (authors)

  11. Emergent Toxins in North Atlantic Temperate Waters: A Challenge for Monitoring Programs and Legislation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa Silva

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB are complex to manage due to their intermittent nature and their severe impact on the economy and human health. The conditions which promote HAB have not yet been fully explained, though climate change and anthropogenic intervention are pointed as significant factors. The rise of water temperature, the opening of new sea canals and the introduction of ship ballast waters all contribute to the dispersion and establishment of toxin-producing invasive species that promote the settling of emergent toxins in the food-chain. Tetrodotoxin, ciguatoxin, palytoxin and cyclic imines are commonly reported in warm waters but have also caused poisoning incidents in temperate zones. There is evidence that monitoring for these toxins exclusively in bivalves is simplistic and underestimates the risk to public health, since new vectors have been reported for these toxins and as well for regulated toxins such as PSTs and DSTs. In order to avoid public health impacts, there is a need for adequate monitoring programs, a need for establishing appropriate legislation, and a need for optimizing effective methods of analysis. In this review, we will compile evidence concerning emergent marine toxins and provide data that may indicate the need to restructure the current monitoring programs of HAB.

  12. Emergent Toxins in North Atlantic Temperate Waters: A Challenge for Monitoring Programs and Legislation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Silva, Marisa; Pratheepa, Vijaya K.; Botana, Luis M.; Vasconcelos, Vitor

    2015-01-01

    Harmful Algal Blooms (HAB) are complex to manage due to their intermittent nature and their severe impact on the economy and human health. The conditions which promote HAB have not yet been fully explained, though climate change and anthropogenic intervention are pointed as significant factors. The rise of water temperature, the opening of new sea canals and the introduction of ship ballast waters all contribute to the dispersion and establishment of toxin-producing invasive species that promote the settling of emergent toxins in the food-chain. Tetrodotoxin, ciguatoxin, palytoxin and cyclic imines are commonly reported in warm waters but have also caused poisoning incidents in temperate zones. There is evidence that monitoring for these toxins exclusively in bivalves is simplistic and underestimates the risk to public health, since new vectors have been reported for these toxins and as well for regulated toxins such as PSTs and DSTs. In order to avoid public health impacts, there is a need for adequate monitoring programs, a need for establishing appropriate legislation, and a need for optimizing effective methods of analysis. In this review, we will compile evidence concerning emergent marine toxins and provide data that may indicate the need to restructure the current monitoring programs of HAB. PMID:25785464

  13. Transport and transformation of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern from wastewater discharge through surface water to drinking water intake and treatment

    Science.gov (United States)

    The ubiquitous presence of pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in surface-water resources have necessitated research that better elucidates pathways of transport and transformation for these compounds from their discharged wastewater, thro...

  14. Emergency operating procedure upgrade program and audit results

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Graham, P.D.

    1989-01-01

    This paper describes the method and results of upgrading the River Bend station boiling water reactor 6 emergency operating procedures (EOPs). The upgrade program replaced difficult-to-implement narrative procedures with well-developed flowcharts. The flowcharts eliminate a number of human factors problems, are user friendly, provide for easy implementation, and provide technical information in a clear, concise format. Positive results were seen immediately. The operating crews found the flowcharts to be clear, understandable, and usable. Simulator training and EOP implementation became something that the operators no longer dreaded, and their confidence in their ability to control emergency situations was greatly improved. The paper provides a summary of the EOP upgrade program

  15. Prague’s Water Supply Station in Podolí — a Solution for the Problems of Clean Water in the 1930s

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    K. Drnek

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In the 1920s Prague was seeking a solution to the problem of supplying its inhabitants with drinkable water. The water plant in Káraný was not able to provide enough water, and the bold plan to bring water from a reservoir and to provide a dual system of potable and non-potable water faced an uncertain future. In order to stave off the crisis and make time to complete its plans, the city council decided to construct a new water supply plant inside the city next to the Vltava river in the city district of Podolí.

  16. Relationships demand-supply of water and the rate of water shortage as tools for evaluating water resources in Colombia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dominguez Calle, Efrain Antonio; Gonzalo Rivera, Hebert; Vanegas, Sarmiento Raquel; Moreno, Pedro

    2008-01-01

    This paper shows updated results about Colombian water resources and their requirements by the economic sectors. Water demand water availability relationship is used as a pressure index on water resources. This relationship is expressed through the water scarcity index, which applies constraints over water availability; due to the runoff temporal variability and to the low levels of water during the dry season each year and for each geographic region to characterize average and low runoff years. Different water availability scenarios were building. One for modal runoff values and another for 95 percents for 2025 also were prepared. To the results call our attention to problems caused by the concentration of high density settlements and the presence of economics sectors in regions with low water availability. The infrastructure lag for management of a scarce high variable and over pressured resources emerges as a key factor to avoid a looming crisis in the process of water management

  17. A preliminary nationwide survey of the presence of emerging contaminants in drinking and source waters in Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machado, Kelly C; Grassi, Marco Tadeu; Vidal, Cristiane; Pescara, Igor C; Jardim, Wilson F; Fernandes, Andreia N; Sodré, Fernando F; Almeida, Fernanda V; Santana, Joyce S; Canela, Maria Cristina; Nunes, Camila R O; Bichinho, Kátia M; Severo, Flaviana J R

    2016-12-01

    This is the first nationwide survey of emerging contaminants in Brazilian waters. One hundred drinking water samples were investigated in 22 Brazilian state capitals. In addition, seven source water samples from two of the most populous regions of the country were evaluated. Samples were collected from June to September of 2011 and again during the same period in 2012. The study covered emerging contaminants of different classes, including hormones, plasticizers, herbicides, triclosan and caffeine. The analytical method for the determination of the compounds was based on solid-phase extraction followed by analysis via liquid chromatography electrospray triple-quadrupole mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Caffeine, triclosan, atrazine, phenolphthalein and bisphenol A were found in at least one of the samples collected in the two sampling campaigns. Caffeine and atrazine were the most frequently detected substances in both drinking and source water. Caffeine concentrations in drinking water ranged from 1.8ngL -1 to values above 2.0μgL -1 while source-water concentrations varied from 40ngL -1 to about 19μgL -1 . For atrazine, concentrations were found in the range from 2.0 to 6.0ngL -1 in drinking water and at concentrations of up to 15ngL -1 in source water. The widespread presence of caffeine in samples of treated water is an indication of the presence of domestic sewage in the source water, considering that caffeine is a compound of anthropogenic origin. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  18. Identifying potential surface water sampling sites for emerging chemical pollutants in Gauteng Province, South Africa

    OpenAIRE

    Petersen, F; Dabrowski, JM; Forbes, PBC

    2017-01-01

    Emerging chemical pollutants (ECPs) are defined as new chemicals which do not have a regulatory status, but which may have an adverse effect on human health and the environment. The occurrence and concentrations of ECPs in South African water bodies are largely unknown, so monitoring is required in order to determine the potential threat that these ECPs may pose. Relevant surface water sampling sites in the Gauteng Province of South Africa were identified utilising a geographic information sy...

  19. Emerging organic contaminants in coastal waters: anthropogenic impact, environmental release and ecological risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Jheng-Jie; Lee, Chon-Lin; Fang, Meng-Der

    2014-08-30

    This study provides a first estimate of the sources, distribution, and risk presented by emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) in coastal waters off southwestern Taiwan. Ten illicit drugs, seven nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), five antibiotics, two blood lipid regulators, two antiepileptic drugs, two UV filters, caffeine, atenolol, and omeprazole were analyzed by solid-phase extraction and liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (SPE-LC-MS/MS). Thirteen EOCs were detected in coastal waters, including four NSAIDs (acetaminophen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, and codeine), three antibiotics (ampicillin, erythromycin, and cefalexin), three illicit drugs (ketamine, pseudoephedrine, and MDMA), caffeine, carbamazepine, and gemfibrozil. The median concentrations for the 13 EOCs ranged from 1.47 ng/L to 156 ng/L. Spatial variation in concentration of the 13 EOCs suggests discharge into coastal waters via ocean outfall pipes and rivers. Codeine and ampicillin have significant pollution risk quotients (RQ>1), indicating potentially high risk to aquatic organisms in coastal waters. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Emergency Response and Long Term Planning: Two sides of the Coin for Managing Water Resources

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metchis, K.; Beller-Simms, N.

    2014-12-01

    As projected by the US National Climate Assessment and the IPCC, extreme climate and weather events are occurring more frequently and with more intensity across the nation. Communities - and the water resource managers that serve them - are facing difficult choices to increase emergency preparedness, recover from costly impacts, and increase long term resilience. The presentation is based on a recent set of case studies about what happened in six communities that experienced one or more extreme events, focusing on water resource management. Two of the case studies will be presented, revealing that building climate resilience is not just about long term planning - it is also about taking the steps to be prepared for - and to be able to recover from - emergency events. The results of this study have implications for educating local officials on ways to think about resilience to balance both long-term and short-term preparedness.

  1. Specific features of emergency processes associated with water leacs into sodium in a reverse steam generator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sroelov, V.S.; Nikol'skij, R.V.; Chernobrovkin, Yu.V.; Privalov, Yu.V.; Bocharin, P.P.; Shtynda, Yu.E.

    1986-01-01

    Experimental and theoretical data characterizing the development of emergency processes arising in the course of water leaks into sodium in a reverse steam generator (sodium in tubes, water in intertube space) are considered. The results of calculations performed for BOR-60 reactor steam generator at initial leaks of 0.01 and 0.55 g/s are presented. It is shown that in the reverse steam generator the development of accident occurs much slower than in steam generators of traditional design. At same stage of accident sodium is displaced from the damaged tube and as a result the destruction of tube material discontinues. The conclusion is drawn that by the development of emergency protection systems for reverse steam generator the requirements for sensitivity and fast response of leak detectors could be reduced

  2. German standard problem No. 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Burkhardt, R.

    1980-02-01

    The German Standard Problem Nr. 2 (primary circuits) is meant to check whether the presently available computing programs dealing with ECCS problems are suitable to reflect with sufficient accuracy reload and flooding processes. Changing from conventional calculation methods to the ''best-estimate'' method requires for possibility of exact comparison, as is the case here because of experimental results from the primary circuit test plant. The test plant of KWU Erlangen with primary circuit modeups on a 1:134 scale with exact level indications allows comparative testing where emergency cooling water is loaded into the system filled with saturated steam over cold lanes, or rather over the annulus modeup. The report on hand goes into detail about calculations, anticipated results and their comparison to experimental results. (orig./RW) [de

  3. Post-head-emergence frost in wheat and barley: defining the problem, assessing the damage, and identifying resistance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frederiks, T M; Christopher, J T; Sutherland, M W; Borrell, A K

    2015-06-01

    Radiant frost is a significant production constraint to wheat (Triticum aestivum) and barley (Hordeum vulgare), particularly in regions where spring-habit cereals are grown through winter, maturing in spring. However, damage to winter-habit cereals in reproductive stages is also reported. Crops are particularly susceptible to frost once awns or spikes emerge from the protection of the flag leaf sheath. Post-head-emergence frost (PHEF) is a problem distinct from other cold-mediated production constraints. To date, useful increased PHEF resistance in cereals has not been identified. Given the renewed interest in reproductive frost damage in cereals, it is timely to review the problem. Here we update the extent and impacts of PHEF and document current management options to combat this challenge. We clarify terminology useful for discussing PHEF in relation to chilling and other freezing stresses. We discuss problems characterizing radiant frost, the environmental conditions leading to PHEF damage, and the effects of frost at different growth stages. PHEF resistant cultivars would be highly desirable, to both reduce the incidence of direct frost damage and to allow the timing of crop maturity to be managed to maximize yield potential. A framework of potential adaptation mechanisms is outlined. Clarification of these critical issues will sharpen research focus, improving opportunities to identify genetic sources for improved PHEF resistance. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Experimental Biology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  4. THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM OF USING GROUND WATER TO COOL LIVESTOCK BUILDINGS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thay Ngok Shon

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Ambient temperature in the central part of Vietnam in summer can reach 32–35°C; in some places it can be more than 42°C. Hot climate strongly affects the animal organism alongside with the animal weight reduction and reduction the quantity of egg-laying in poultry. Therefore, air conditioning in livestock buildings is necessary. There are several ways to cool the temperature in such buildings, and each one has its own advantages and disadvantages. We propose to use underground water at the temperature of 24–25°C for this purpose. One of the methods of cooling sheds for livestock is sprinkler irrigation of water on the roof. For calculating the amount of heat, removed from the indoor air in the shed to the cooling water, in the first approximation specialists believe in some cases that an appropriate amount of heat being removed is determined mainly by heat transfer from the air inside the shed to the cooling water through the surface of the roof, represented by the lower part of the wave that form the surface of a metal tile, neglecting the influence of heat conduction on top of the wave of the tile surface. Consequentially, such a simplification leads to possible errors. Therefore, the authors solved the problem of cooling shed by irrigation of water on the roof by an analytical method. Specifically, we solved the problem of heat conductivity of the fin of the finite length of constant cross section, wherein different sides of the fin are conjugate with different environments. Additionally, the calculation considered the effect of solar radiation. For this purpose, the authors have created a heat balance equation at steady state for any infinitesimal element of the fin, and solved the differential equation afterwards. The authors applied the results for calculating practical problem of ground water irrigation of a roof of a livestock shed made of metal areas tiles. 

  5. Laser inactivation of pathogenic viruses in water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grishkanich, Alexander; Zhevlakov, Alexander; Kascheev, Sergey; Sidorov, Igor; Ruzankina, Julia; Yakovlev, Alexey; Mak, Andrey

    2016-03-01

    Currently there is a situation that makes it difficult to provide the population with quality drinking water for the sanitary-hygienic requirements. One of the urgent problems is the need for water disinfection. Since the emergence of microorganisms that are pathogens transmitted through water such as typhoid, cholera, etc. requires constant cleansing of waters against pathogenic bacteria. In the water treatment process is destroyed up to 98% of germs, but among the remaining can be pathogenic viruses, the destruction of which requires special handling. As a result, the conducted research the following methods have been proposed for combating harmful microorganisms: sterilization of water by laser radiation and using a UV lamp.

  6. Medication problems are frequent and often serious in a Danish emergency department and may be discovered by clinical pharmacists

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Backer Mogensen, Christian; Thisted, Anette Rehn; Olsen, Inger

    2012-01-01

    Transferring a patient from one health-care sector to another implies a risk of medication errors. It is of interest to evaluate whether a specialist in clinical pharmacy is beneficial for the patients in the emergency departments (ED). The aim of the present study was to report the incidence, ca......, categories and seriousness of medication problems discovered by clinical pharmacists in an ED and to evaluate if it is possible for pharmacists to identify those groups of patients who are most at risk of medication problems....

  7. Application of molecularly imprinted and non-imprinted polymers for removal of emerging contaminants in water and wastewater treatment: a review.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Murray, Audrey; Ormeci, Banu

    2012-11-01

    Over the past decade, several studies have reported trace levels of endocrine disrupting compounds, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products in surface waters, drinking water, and wastewater effluents. There has also been an increased concern about the ecological and human health impact of these contaminants, and their removal from water and wastewater has become a priority. Traditional treatment processes are limited in their ability to remove emerging contaminants from water, and there is a need for new technologies that are effective and feasible. This paper presents a review on recent research results on molecularly imprinted (MIP) and non-imprinted (NIP) polymers and evaluates their potential as a treatment method for the removal of emerging contaminants from water and wastewater. It also discusses the relative benefits and limitations of using MIP or NIP for water and wastewater treatment. MIP, and in particular NIP, offer promising applications for wastewater treatment, but their toxicity and possible health effects should be carefully studied before they are considered for drinking water treatment. More research is also required to determine how best to incorporate MIP and NIP in treatment plants.

  8. The "oligoanalgesia problem" in the emergency care O "problema oligoanalgesia" no cuidado da emergência

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Maria Calil

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Pain is a common occurrence in trauma victims that provokes harmful effects on the body. However, there is a gap in the literature about this problem, which is still underevaluated and undertreated in Brazil, especially concerning the use of opioids. OBJECTIVES: To estimate pain intensity and the use of analgesia in traffic accident victims. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A prospective study, involving 100 accident victims (traffic accidents, who were interviewed at 2 separate posttraumatic moments, in a reference hospital of the city of São Paulo. All the medications used for these victims were recorded. All patients displayed a Glasgow Coma Scale (ECGl of 15, had stable hemodynamic parameters, and were brought directly from the scene of the accident. RESULTS: Pain of moderate and severe intensity (in 90% of cases was the most noted. After a 3-hour period, a significant number of patients with pain (48% continued without analgesia, and few opioids were used. CONCLUSION: Pain is a common event associated with trauma. It is still undertreated and underevaluated in Brazil, and the use of opioids for admittedly very severe pain is not frequently employed in the Emergency Service even in hemodynamically stable patients and with a Glasgow Coma Scale of 15.INTRODUÇÃO: A dor é um evento comum em vítimas de trauma com efeitos nocivos ao organismo, no entanto, há uma lacuna na literatura sobre essa problemática ainda sub-avaliada e sub-tratada em nosso meio, sobretudo na utilização de opióides. OBJETIVOS: Aferir a intensidade dolorosa e o uso da analgesia em vítimas de acidentes de transportes. MATERIAL E MÉTODO: Estudo prospectivo, envolvendo 100 vítimas de causas externas (acidentes de transporte, que foram entrevistadas em dois momentos distintos pós-trauma em um hospital de referência no Município de São Paulo.. Foram anotadas todas as medicações em uso para essas vítimas. Todos os pacientes tinham Escala de Coma de Gasglow

  9. Iterative solution to the optimal poison management problem in pressurized water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colletti, J.P.; Levine, S.H.; Lewis, J.B.

    1983-01-01

    A new method for solving the optimal poison management problem for a multiregion pressurized water reactor has been developed. The optimization objective is to maximize the end-of-cycle core excess reactivity for any given beginning-of-cycle fuel loading. The problem is treated as an optimal control problem with the region burnup and control absorber concentrations acting as the state and control variables, respectively. Constraints are placed on the power peaking, soluble boron concentration, and control absorber concentrations. The solution method consists of successive relinearizations of the system equations resulting in a sequence of nonlinear programming problems whose solutions converge to the desired optimal control solution. Application of the method to several test problems based on a simplified three-region reactor suggests a bang-bang optimal control strategy with the peak power location switching between the inner and outer regions of the core and the critical soluble boron concentration as low as possible throughout the cycle

  10. Analysis, Occurrence and Toxicity of Haloacetaldehydes in Drinking Waters: Iodacetaldehyde as an Emerging Disinfection ByProduct.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chlorinated and brominated haloacetaldehydes (HALs) are consideredthe 3rd largest class of disinfection by-products (DBPs) by weight. The iodinatedHAL, iodoacetaldehyde, has been recently reported as an emerging DBP infinished drinking waters. Overall, iodinated DBPs, e.g., iodoa...

  11. The problem related to the development of the Senegal river after the construction of the Diama and Manantali dams

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evora, N.D.; Ribeiro, J.; Rousselle, J.

    1996-01-01

    Two dams are operated on the Senegal river to prevent salt water from going upstream, to regularize the river flow and to make possible permanent navigation on the river, and to undertake irrigation and hydroelectric energy production projects. A few years after the filling of the last dam, the environmental and health consequences proved not to be as beneficial as expected. Problems emerged in four areas: (1) irrigated agriculture was not as popular as forecast, (2) tenure problems became widespread, (3) health problems related to various kinds of bilharziosis were noticed, and (4) environmental problems related to the lower salinity of the water, and water pollution due to the use of fertilizers occurred. Ecological changes along the river were also significant. Water management proposals and other corrective measures that should be taken to preserve the river as a source of life-sustaining water, and to avoid social and economic disaster for the riparian countries of Mauritania, Mali and Senegal, were described. 14 refs., 1 fig

  12. Problems of sanitary-hygienic arrangements in case of emergency situations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avetisov, G.M.; Borisov, B.K.; Volkov, N.N.; Grachev, M.I.; Korostin, A.S.; Prostakishin, G.P.

    1995-01-01

    The planning and carrying out sanitary-hygienic arrangements in emergency situation are based on scientific-research, organizing-methodical and practical trends of activities including: the necessity of taking into consideration the risk of sanitary-hygienic complications as a result of emergency situation; elaboration of criteria and classification of hazards potential danger of industrial plants and territories; the establishment of system of providing sanitary-hygienic measures in emergency situation; working out prophylactic measures for prevention, localization and liquidation of sanitary-hygienic after-effects of emergency situation; development of the system of control and express-analysis of hazardous factors; elaboration of rating-methodical base and arrangements aimed at protection of health and life of people. 5 refs

  13. The characteristics of hospital emergency department visits made by people with mental health conditions who had dental problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nalliah, Romesh P; Da Silva, John D; Allareddy, Veerasathpurush

    2013-06-01

    There is a paucity of knowledge regarding nationally representative estimates of hospital-based emergency department (ED) visits for dental problems made by people with mental health conditions. The authors conducted a study to provide nationwide estimates of hospital-based ED visits attributed to dental caries, pulpal and periapical lesions, gingival and periodontal lesions and mouth cellulitis/abscess made by people with mental health conditions. The authors used the Nationwide Emergency Department Sample, which is a component of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. ED visits attributable to dental caries, pulpal and periapical lesions, gingival and periodontal lesions and mouth cellulitis/abscess were identified by the emergency care provider by using diagnostic codes in International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification. The authors examined outcomes, including hospital charges. They used simple descriptive statistics to summarize the data. In 2008, people with mental health conditions made 15,635,253 visits to hospital-based ED in the United States. A diagnosis of dental caries, pulpal and periapical lesions, gingival and periodontal lesions and mouth cellulitis/abscess represented 63,164 of these ED visits. The breakdown of the ED visits was 34,574 with dental caries, 25,352 with pulpal and periapical lesions, 9,657 with gingival and periodontal lesions, and 2,776 with mouth cellulitis/abscess. The total charge for ED visits in the United States was $55.46 million in 2008. In 2008, people with mental health conditions made 63,164 visits to hospital-based EDs and received a diagnosis of dental caries, pulpal and periapical lesions, gingival and periodontal lesions or mouth cellulitis/abscess. These ED visits incurred substantial hospital charges. Programs designed to reduce the number of ED visits made by this population for common dental problems could have a

  14. Evaluation of Water Treatment Problems: Case Study of Maiduguri Water Treatment Plant (MWTP and Maiduguri Environs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. N. Idris

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Water remains the most useful universal solvent to human being and other animals, because of its derivative importance. However, effort to improve on raw water treatment would continue to be a subject of concern, because the process procedures are been violated or not properly upheld. This study was carried out in order to identify peculiar problems associate with water treatment at the Maiduguri Water Treatment Plant (MWTP. This research study was based on prompt time-schedules and plant site-visits, interviewed questions were made and accessing the technology adopted in the process stages. Analytical data were obtained through the use of sampling bottles, camera, record sheets and other necessary laboratory equipment. The analysis showed that treated water contained excess chlorine and aluminum with 1.10mg/l and 0.68mg/l respectively. From this study, the following are the root causes: poor facility lay out, poor organizational and functional structures, wear of pump impellers and surface deterioration in the transmission line, lack of calibration test, constant head system not operation properly, lack of jar test conduction, improper maintenance of filter system, and the use of chemical coagulant. Inferences were made at the end of the research to enhance process efficiency, healthier and more economical treatment MWTP.

  15. A rugged landscape model for self-organization and emergent leadership in creative problem solving and production groups.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guastello, Stephen J; Craven, Joanna; Zygowicz, Karen M; Bock, Benjamin R

    2005-07-01

    The process by which an initially leaderless group differentiates into one containing leadership and secondary role structures was examined using the swallowtail catastrophe model and principles of selforganization. The objectives were to identify the control variables in the process of leadership emergence in creative problem solving groups and production groups. In the first of two experiments, groups of university students (total N = 114) played a creative problem solving game. Participants later rated each other on leadership behavior, styles, and variables related to the process of conversation. A performance quality measure was included also. Control parameters in the swallowtail catastrophe model were identified through a combination of factor analysis and nonlinear regression. Leaders displayed a broad spectrum of behaviors in the general categories of Controlling the Conversation and Creativity in their role-play. In the second experiment, groups of university students (total N = 197) engaged in a laboratory work experiment that had a substantial production goal component. The same system of ratings and modeling strategy was used along with a work production measure. Leaders in the production task emerged to the extent that they exhibited control over both the creative and production aspects of the task, they could keep tension low, and the externally imposed production goals were realistic.

  16. Storm water runoff-a source of emerging contaminants in urban streams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xia, K.; Chen, C.; FitzGerald, K.; Badgley, B.

    2016-12-01

    Emerging contaminants (ECs) that refers to prescription, over-the-counter, veterinary, and illicit drugs in addition to products intended to have primary effects on the human body, such as sunscreens and insect repellants. Historically municipal wastewater treatment effluent has been considered to be the main source of ECs in aquatic environment. However, recent investigations have suggested urban storm water runoff as an important source of ECs in the environment. The objective of this multi-year study was to investigate the occurrence of a wide range of ECs and the special and temporal change of 4-Nonlyphenol (4-NP), an endocrine disruptor, in a stream solely impacted by the storm water runoff from Blacksburg, VA. Urban land cover has doubled during the past 15 years surrounding this. Water and sediment samples were collected periodically along the stream during a 3-year period and analyzed for 4-NP using a gas chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry and for EC screening using an ultra- performance liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry. In addition, human-associated Bacteroides sp. (HF183) was analyzed to explore possible cross contamination between the sewer system and storm water collection system of the city. Fifteen ECs were detected in water samples from various locations along the stream at estimated levels ranging from low ppt to low ppb. The levels of 4-NP in the storm water sediment samples, ranging from 30-1500 µg/kg (d.w.), positively correlated with the levels of Human-associated Bacteroides sp. (HF183) in the storm water. Our study suggested: 1) collective urban activity and leaky urban sewer systems are significant sources of ECs in storm water runoff that are often untreated or with minimum treatment before flowing into urban streams; and 2) sediment transport and re-suspension can further releases accumulated ECs back into stream water during rain events, resulting in occurrence of ECs downstream and possibly in the receiving river. This

  17. The SOLUTIONS project: challenges and responses for present and future emerging pollutants in land and water resources management.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brack, Werner; Altenburger, Rolf; Schüürmann, Gerrit; Krauss, Martin; López Herráez, David; van Gils, Jos; Slobodnik, Jaroslav; Munthe, John; Gawlik, Bernd Manfred; van Wezel, Annemarie; Schriks, Merijn; Hollender, Juliane; Tollefsen, Knut Erik; Mekenyan, Ovanes; Dimitrov, Saby; Bunke, Dirk; Cousins, Ian; Posthuma, Leo; van den Brink, Paul J; López de Alda, Miren; Barceló, Damià; Faust, Michael; Kortenkamp, Andreas; Scrimshaw, Mark; Ignatova, Svetlana; Engelen, Guy; Massmann, Gudrun; Lemkine, Gregory; Teodorovic, Ivana; Walz, Karl-Heinz; Dulio, Valeria; Jonker, Michiel T O; Jäger, Felix; Chipman, Kevin; Falciani, Francesco; Liska, Igor; Rooke, David; Zhang, Xiaowei; Hollert, Henner; Vrana, Branislav; Hilscherova, Klara; Kramer, Kees; Neumann, Steffen; Hammerbacher, Ruth; Backhaus, Thomas; Mack, Juliane; Segner, Helmut; Escher, Beate; de Aragão Umbuzeiro, Gisela

    2015-01-15

    SOLUTIONS (2013 to 2018) is a European Union Seventh Framework Programme Project (EU-FP7). The project aims to deliver a conceptual framework to support the evidence-based development of environmental policies with regard to water quality. SOLUTIONS will develop the tools for the identification, prioritisation and assessment of those water contaminants that may pose a risk to ecosystems and human health. To this end, a new generation of chemical and effect-based monitoring tools is developed and integrated with a full set of exposure, effect and risk assessment models. SOLUTIONS attempts to address legacy, present and future contamination by integrating monitoring and modelling based approaches with scenarios on future developments in society, economy and technology and thus in contamination. The project follows a solutions-oriented approach by addressing major problems of water and chemicals management and by assessing abatement options. SOLUTIONS takes advantage of the access to the infrastructure necessary to investigate the large basins of the Danube and Rhine as well as relevant Mediterranean basins as case studies, and puts major efforts on stakeholder dialogue and support. Particularly, the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) working groups, International River Commissions, and water works associations are directly supported with consistent guidance for the early detection, identification, prioritisation, and abatement of chemicals in the water cycle. SOLUTIONS will give a specific emphasis on concepts and tools for the impact and risk assessment of complex mixtures of emerging pollutants, their metabolites and transformation products. Analytical and effect-based screening tools will be applied together with ecological assessment tools for the identification of toxicants and their impacts. The SOLUTIONS approach is expected to provide transparent and evidence-based candidates or River Basin Specific Pollutants in the case

  18. Using ecotechnology to address water quality and wetland habitat loss problems in the Mississippi basin: a hierarchical approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, John W; Yañéz Arancibia, Alejandro; Mitsch, William J; Lara-Dominguez, Ana Laura; Day, Jason N; Ko, Jae-Young; Lane, Robert; Lindsey, Joel; Lomeli, David Zarate

    2003-12-01

    Human activities are affecting the environment at continental and global scales. An example of this is the Mississippi basin where there has been a large scale loss of wetlands and water quality deterioration over the past century. Wetland and riparian ecosystems have been isolated from rivers and streams. Wetland loss is due both to drainage and reclamation, mainly for agriculture, and to isolation from the river by levees, as in the Mississippi delta. There has been a decline in water quality due to increasing use of fertilizers, enhanced drainage and the loss of wetlands for cleaning water. Water quality has deteriorated throughout the basin and high nitrogen in the Mississippi river is causing a large area of hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico adjacent to the Mississippi delta. Since the causes of these problems are distributed over the basin, the solution also needs to be distributed over the basin. Ecotechnology and ecological engineering offer the only ecologically sound and cost-effective method of solving these problems. Wetlands to promote nitrogen removal, mainly through denitrification but also through burial and plant uptake, offer a sound ecotechnological solution. At the level of the Mississippi basin, changes in farming practices and use of wetlands for nitrogen assimilation can reduce nitrogen levels in the River. There are additional benefits of restoration of wetland and riverine ecosystems, flood control, reduction in public health threats, and enhanced wildlife and fisheries. At the local drainage basin level, the use of river diversions in the Mississippi delta can address both problems of coastal land loss and water quality deterioration. Nitrate levels in diverted river water are rapidly reduced as water flows through coastal watersheds. At the local level, wetlands are being used to treat municipal wastewater. This is a cost-effective method, which results in improved water quality, enhanced wetland productivity and increased accretion. The

  19. Drinking water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness in New York City, 2002-2009.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jennifer L Hsieh

    Full Text Available Studies have examined whether there is a relationship between drinking water turbidity and gastrointestinal (GI illness indicators, and results have varied possibly due to differences in methods and study settings.As part of a water security improvement project we conducted a retrospective analysis of the relationship between drinking water turbidity and GI illness in New York City (NYC based on emergency department chief complaint syndromic data that are available in near-real-time.We used a Poisson time-series model to estimate the relationship of turbidity measured at distribution system and source water sites to diarrhea emergency department (ED visits in NYC during 2002-2009. The analysis assessed age groups and was stratified by season and adjusted for sub-seasonal temporal trends, year-to-year variation, ambient temperature, day-of-week, and holidays.Seasonal variation unrelated to turbidity dominated (~90% deviance the variation of daily diarrhea ED visits, with an additional 0.4% deviance explained with turbidity. Small yet significant multi-day lagged associations were found between NYC turbidity and diarrhea ED visits in the spring only, with approximately 5% excess risk per inter-quartile-range of NYC turbidity peaking at a 6 day lag. This association was strongest among those aged 0-4 years and was explained by the variation in source water turbidity.Integrated analysis of turbidity and syndromic surveillance data, as part of overall drinking water surveillance, may be useful for enhanced situational awareness of possible risk factors that can contribute to GI illness. Elucidating the causes of turbidity-GI illness associations including seasonal and regional variations would be necessary to further inform surveillance needs.

  20. Drinking water turbidity and emergency department visits for gastrointestinal illness in New York City, 2002-2009.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsieh, Jennifer L; Nguyen, Trang Quyen; Matte, Thomas; Ito, Kazuhiko

    2015-01-01

    Studies have examined whether there is a relationship between drinking water turbidity and gastrointestinal (GI) illness indicators, and results have varied possibly due to differences in methods and study settings. As part of a water security improvement project we conducted a retrospective analysis of the relationship between drinking water turbidity and GI illness in New York City (NYC) based on emergency department chief complaint syndromic data that are available in near-real-time. We used a Poisson time-series model to estimate the relationship of turbidity measured at distribution system and source water sites to diarrhea emergency department (ED) visits in NYC during 2002-2009. The analysis assessed age groups and was stratified by season and adjusted for sub-seasonal temporal trends, year-to-year variation, ambient temperature, day-of-week, and holidays. Seasonal variation unrelated to turbidity dominated (~90% deviance) the variation of daily diarrhea ED visits, with an additional 0.4% deviance explained with turbidity. Small yet significant multi-day lagged associations were found between NYC turbidity and diarrhea ED visits in the spring only, with approximately 5% excess risk per inter-quartile-range of NYC turbidity peaking at a 6 day lag. This association was strongest among those aged 0-4 years and was explained by the variation in source water turbidity. Integrated analysis of turbidity and syndromic surveillance data, as part of overall drinking water surveillance, may be useful for enhanced situational awareness of possible risk factors that can contribute to GI illness. Elucidating the causes of turbidity-GI illness associations including seasonal and regional variations would be necessary to further inform surveillance needs.

  1. Neighbourhood effects and household responses to water supply problems in Nigerian cities

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Charisma Acey

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available Between 1990 and 2004, Nigeria’s urban population jumped to nearly half the national population, while access to improved sources of water in urban areas dropped by nearly 15 per cent during the same period. This paper presents preliminary results on the relationship between water supply, neighbourhood characteristics, and household strategies in response to dissatisfaction with water provision as reported by 389 respondents in 10 neighbourhoods in Lagos and Benin City, Nigeria between October 2007 and February 2008. In this paper, a conceptual model of consumer demand for water is used, based upon Hirschman’s exit, voice and loyalty (EVL framework. The model explicitly factors in the quality of water provision and variables at the household and neighbourhood levels that could affect perceptions about quality and the strategies that households use to cope with inadequate public services. Preliminary results show that reported household strategies to secure water are affected by community-level factors such as the range, cost, and quality of water supply alternatives, as well as neighbourhood composition. Furthermore, the percentage of urban migrants and households that live in rented flats in a neighbourhood seems to be associated with the use of exit strategies (as opposed to voice in response to problems with their primary water supply.

  2. Monitoring for contaminants of emerging concern in drinking water using POCIS passive samplers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metcalfe, Chris; Hoque, M Ehsanul; Sultana, Tamanna; Murray, Craig; Helm, Paul; Kleywegt, Sonya

    2014-03-01

    Contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) have been detected in drinking water world-wide. The source of most of these compounds is generally attributed to contamination from municipal wastewater. Traditional water sampling methods (grab or composite) often require the concentration of large amounts of water in order to detect trace levels of these contaminants. The Polar Organic Compounds Integrative Sampler (POCIS) is a passive sampling technology that has been developed to concentrate trace levels of CEC to provide time-weighted average concentrations for individual compounds in water. However, few studies to date have evaluated whether POCIS is suitable for monitoring contaminants in drinking water. In this study, the POCIS was evaluated as a monitoring tool for CEC in drinking water over a period of 2 and 4 weeks with comparisons to typical grab samples. Seven "indicator compounds" which included carbamazepine, trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole, ibuprofen, gemfibrozil, estrone and sucralose, were monitored in five drinking water treatment plants (DWTPs) in Ontario. All indicator compounds were detected in raw water samples from the POCIS in comparison to six from grab samples. Similarly, four compounds were detected in grab samples of treated drinking water, whereas six were detected in the POCIS. Sucralose was the only compound that was detected consistently at all five plants. The POCIS technique provided integrative exposures of CECs in drinking water at lower detection limits, while episodic events were captured via traditional sampling methods. There was evidence that the accumulation of target compounds by POCIS is a dynamic process, with adsorption and desorption on the sorbent occurring in response to ambient levels of the target compounds in water. CECs in treated drinking water were present at low ng L(-1) concentrations, which are not considered to be a threat to human health.

  3. Characteristics of Mexican women admitted to emergency care units: alcohol consumption and related problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Romero Martha

    2001-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective. This article describes the demographic characteristics and psychological differences in a sample of female heavy and non-heavy drinkers who attended three emergency services of the Mexican city of Pachuca, Hidalgo. Material and Methods. A sample of patients seen at emergency services (ES patients over the age of 18 was selected using ES admission forms. Twenty-five-minute, face-to-face interviews were conducted by a group of trained interviewers. Patients answered various questionnaires and scales to measure alcohol consumption and to provide information on variables that have proved to be related to female drinking. Results. Thirty-six women (5.2% out of 717 of the total number of women were found to be heavy drinkers according to the TWEAK scale. This group of women had 2.3 times the risk of becoming depressed, 2.87 times the risk of taking other drugs, 1.95 times the likelihood of having been sexually abused and 1.57 times the risk of displaying suicidal ideation. Conclusions. Data from this small analysis confirm international findings that problem drinking among females throughout the life cycle is linked to depression. As regards the screening instruments employed, it is necessary to conduct more in-depth research to enrich their contents and increase their reliability and validity when used among female populations. In this study, the TWEAK proved to be extremely useful for studies in emergency services. The English version of this paper is available too at: http://www.insp.mx/salud/index.html

  4. Lower Snake River Little Goose and Lower Granite Locks and Dams: Adult Fishway Systems Emergency Auxiliary Water Supply

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Wielick, Rolf

    2000-01-01

    The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), Endangered Species Act, Biological Opinion issued March 2, 1995, require the US Army Corps of Engineers to develop an emergency auxiliary water supply (EAWS...

  5. Dental problems and emergencies of trekkers--epidemiology and prevention. Results of the ADEMED Expedition 2008.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Küpper, Thomas; Hettlich, Malaika; Horz, Hans-Peter; Lechner, Karin; Scharfenberg, Christine; Conrads, Georg; Yekta, Said S; Lampert, Friedrich; Gore, Claudia

    2014-04-01

    Dental problems are rarely mentioned in the training of medical students or physicians in travel medicine, and there are little data on dental problems of travellers in the literature. We studied the epidemiology of dental problems amongst trekkers in Nepal to develop strategies for preventive care during/before travelling and propose a curriculum for dental First Aid training. We undertook a prospective, cross-sectional questionnaire and clinical dental survey of Trekkers at Manang (3550 m, Annapurna Circuit, Nepal). The questionnaire was developed based on published literature and clinical experience (exploring: availability of dental kits, dental history, current dental problems, and nutritional behavior). Dental examination included: dental status, papillary bleeding index (PBI), and plaque index (Quigley and Hein; QH). Questionnaire and clinical findings were compared to data of the Annapurna Conservancy Authority about the number of days of trekkers in the region to estimate the incidence of dental problems of trekkers. None of the 309 participants carried a dental first aid kit. Dental problems, potentially treatable with a dental first aid kit, were reported by 50/309 (16.5%). Oral hygiene en route was significantly worse than home hygiene practice; overall increased plaque indices were found (Median QH: 2.25 in women; 2.36 in men). Participants who visited a dentist ≤6 months before departure had significantly fewer problems, and had lower PBI [males 0.07 (IQR 0.0 to 0.29), females 0.0 (IQR 0.0 to 0.11)]. Combining our findings with data of the park authorities on person days in the region (2007), we found a risk of dental problems as follows: any dental problem 1:23.7 trekking days; gingival bleeding 1:37.7 trekking days; dental pain 1:145.2 trekking days; lost fillings 1:339 trekking days; fractured teeth 1:509 trekking days. Dental problems can pose significant discomfort for anybody travelling in regions with low/missing infrastructure. Improved

  6. Methodology to explore emergent behaviours of the interactions between water resources and ecosystem under a pluralistic approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    García-Santos, Glenda; Madruga de Brito, Mariana; Höllermann, Britta; Taft, Linda; Almoradie, Adrian; Evers, Mariele

    2018-06-01

    Understanding the interactions between water resources and its social dimensions is crucial for an effective and sustainable water management. The identification of sensitive control variables and feedback loops of a specific human-hydro-scape can enhance the knowledge about the potential factors and/or agents leading to the current water resources and ecosystems situation, which in turn supports the decision-making process of desirable futures. Our study presents the utility of a system dynamics modeling approach for water management and decision-making for the case of a forest ecosystem under risk of wildfires. We use the pluralistic water research concept to explore different scenarios and simulate the emergent behaviour of water interception and net precipitation after a wildfire in a forest ecosystem. Through a case study, we illustrate the applicability of this new methodology.

  7. Water and infection : Epidemiological studies of epidemic and endemic waterborne disease

    OpenAIRE

    Nygård, Karin

    2008-01-01

    Infections transmitted by water continue to be a public health problem both in developing and in developed countries. In the developed countries, the classical waterborne diseases such as typhoid and cholera are almost eliminated, whereas other pathogens and challenges have emerged. The overall aim of the thesis was to investigate and describe aspects of water-associated infections in a Nordic setting. Contaminated water may act as a transmitter of infectious disease by various routes. E...

  8. Emergency facility control device for nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ikehara, Morihiko.

    1981-01-01

    Purpose: To increase the reliability of a nuclear reactor by allowing an emergency facility to be manually started and stopped to make its operation more convenient and eliminate the possibility of erroneous operation in an emergency. Constitution: There are provided a first water level detector for detecting a level lower than the first low water level in a reactor container and a second water level detector for detecting a level lower than the second low water level lower than the first low water level, and an emergency facility can be started and stopped manually only when the level is higher than the second low water level, but the facility will be started regardless of the state of the manual operation when the level is lower than the second low water level. Thus, the emergency facility can be started by manual operation, but will be automatically started so as to secure the necessary minimum operation if the level becomes lower than the second low water level and the stopping operation thereafter is forgotten. (Kamimura, M.)

  9. Medical Geology: a globally emerging discipline

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bunnell, J.E.; Finkelman, R.B.; Centeno, J.A.; Selinus, O. [Armed Forces Institute of Pathology, Washington, DC (United States)

    2007-07-01

    Medical Geology, the study of the impacts of geologic materials and processes on animal and human health, is a dynamic emerging discipline bringing together the geoscience, biomedical, and public health communities to solve a wide range of environmental health problems. Among the Medical Geology described in this review are examples of both deficiency and toxicity of trace element exposure. Goiter is a widespread and potentially serious health problem caused by deficiency of iodine. In many locations the deficiency is attributable to low concentrations of iodine in the bedrock. Similarly, deficiency of selenium in the soil has been cited as the principal cause of juvenile cardiomyopathy and muscular abnormalities. Overexposure to arsenic is one of the most widespread Medical Geology problems affecting more than one hundred million people in Bangladesh, India, China, Europe, Africa and North and South America. The arsenic exposure is primarily due to naturally high levels in groundwater but combustion of mineralized coal has also caused arsenic poisoning. Dental and skeletal fluorosis also impacts the health of millions of people around the world and, like arsenic, is due to naturally high concentrations in drinking water and, to a lesser extent, coal combustion. Other Medical Geology issues described include geophagia, the deliberate ingestion of soil, exposure to radon, and ingestion of high concentrations of organic compounds in drinking water. Geoscience and biomedical/public health researchers are teaming to help mitigate these health problems as well as various non-traditional issues for geoscientists such as vector-borne diseases.

  10. The drinking water supply in the periphery of AMBA, Argentina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caceres, Veronica

    2013-01-01

    The paper analyzes the problem of drinking water supply in areas with little home network coverage in the main urban area of Argentina called Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires. It is recover contributions of exploratory research which appealed to the case and analysis of primary and secondary sources. It focuses on the characterization of the emerging commercial circuits that emerge in the absence of networks, included by the presence of formal and informal firms that perform drilling and install equipment that allows individual exploitation of the aquifers by households that have no access to water networks. It also examines the meager state control regulation and supervision.

  11. Investigating the Wicked Problems of (Un)sustainability Through Three Case Studies Around the Water-Energy-Food Nexus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Metzger, E. P.; Curren, R. R.

    2016-12-01

    Effective engagement with the problems of sustainability begins with an understanding of the nature of the challenges. The entanglement of interacting human and Earth systems produces solution-resistant dilemmas that are often portrayed as wicked problems. As introduced by urban planners Rittel and Webber (1973), wicked problems are "dynamically complex, ill-structured, public problems" arising from complexity in both biophysical and socio-economic systems. The wicked problem construct is still in wide use across diverse contexts, disciplines, and sectors. Discourse about wicked problems as related to sustainability is often connected to discussion of complexity or complex systems. In preparation for life and work in an uncertain, dynamic and hyperconnected world, students need opportunities to investigate real problems that cross social, political and disciplinary divides. They need to grapple with diverse perspectives and values, and collaborate with others to devise potential solutions. Such problems are typically multi-casual and so intertangled with other problems that they cannot be resolved using the expertise and analytical tools of any single discipline, individual, or organization. We have developed a trio of illustrative case studies that focus on energy, water and food, because these resources are foundational, interacting, and causally connected in a variety of ways with climate destabilization. The three interrelated case studies progress in scale from the local and regional, to the national and international and include: 1) the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill with examination of the multiple immediate and root causes of the disaster, its ecological, social, and economic impacts, and the increasing risk and declining energy return on investment associated with the relentless quest for fossil fuels; 2) development of Australia's innovative National Water Management System; and 3) changing patterns of food production and the intertwined challenge of

  12. Developing an integrated 3D-hydrodynamic and emerging contaminant model for assessing water quality in a Yangtze Estuary Reservoir.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Cong; Zhang, Jingjie; Bi, Xiaowei; Xu, Zheng; He, Yiliang; Gin, Karina Yew-Hoong

    2017-12-01

    An integrated 3D-hydrodynamic and emerging contaminant model was developed for better understanding of the fate and transport of emerging contaminants in Qingcaosha Reservoir. The reservoir, which supplies drinking water for nearly half of Shanghai's population, is located in Yangtze Delta. The integrated model was built by Delft3D suite, a fully integrated multidimensional modeling software. Atrazine and Bisphenol A (BPA) were selected as two representative emerging contaminants for the study in this reservoir. The hydrodynamic model was calibrated and validated against observations from 2011 to 2015 while the integrated model was calibrated against observations from 2014 to 2015 and then applied to explore the potential risk of high atrazine concentrations in the reservoir driven by agriculture activities. Our results show that the model is capable of describing the spatial and temporal patterns of water temperature, salinity and the dynamic distributions of two representative emerging contaminants (i.e. atrazine and BPA) in the reservoir. The physical and biodegradation processes in this study were found to play a crucial role in determining the fate and transport of atrazine and BPA in the reservoir. The model also provides an insight into the potential risk of emerging contaminants and possible mitigation thresholds. The integrated approach can be a very useful tool to support policy-makers in the future management of Qingcaosha Reservoir. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Strategies for monitoring the emerging polar organic contaminants in water with emphasis on integrative passive sampling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Söderström, Hanna; Lindberg, Richard H; Fick, Jerker

    2009-01-16

    Although polar organic contaminants (POCs) such as pharmaceuticals are considered as some of today's most emerging contaminants few of them are regulated or included in on-going monitoring programs. However, the growing concern among the public and researchers together with the new legislature within the European Union, the registration, evaluation and authorisation of chemicals (REACH) system will increase the future need of simple, low cost strategies for monitoring and risk assessment of POCs in aquatic environments. In this article, we overview the advantages and shortcomings of traditional and novel sampling techniques available for monitoring the emerging POCs in water. The benefits and drawbacks of using active and biological sampling were discussed and the principles of organic passive samplers (PS) presented. A detailed overview of type of polar organic PS available, and their classes of target compounds and field of applications were given, and the considerations involved in using them such as environmental effects and quality control were discussed. The usefulness of biological sampling of POCs in water was found to be limited. Polar organic PS was considered to be the only available, but nevertheless, an efficient alternative to active water sampling due to its simplicity, low cost, no need of power supply or maintenance, and the ability of collecting time-integrative samples with one sample collection. However, the polar organic PS need to be further developed before they can be used as standard in water quality monitoring programs.

  14. Self-esteem and illness self-concept in emerging adults with Type 1 diabetes: Long-term associations with problem areas in diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luyckx, Koen; Rassart, Jessica; Aujoulat, Isabelle; Goubert, Liesbet; Weets, Ilse

    2016-04-01

    This long-term prospective study examined whether illness self-concept (or the degree to which chronic illness becomes integrated in the self) mediated the pathway from self-esteem to problem areas in diabetes in emerging adults with Type 1 diabetes. Having a central illness self-concept (i.e. feeling overwhelmed by diabetes) was found to relate to lower self-esteem, and more treatment, food, emotional, and social support problems. Furthermore, path analyses indicated that self-esteem was negatively related to both levels and relative changes in these problem areas in diabetes over a period of 5 years. Illness self-concept fully mediated these associations. © The Author(s) 2014.

  15. Respiratory Problems Associated with Surfing in Coastal Waters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Halloran, Chris; Silver, Mary W; Lahiff, Maureen; Colford, John

    2017-03-01

    A pilot project was conducted to examine the health status and possible adverse health effects associated with seawater exposure (microbial water-quality indicators and phytoplankton abundance and their toxins) of surfers in Monterey Bay, Central California coastal waters. Forty-eight surfers enrolled in the study and completed an initial health background survey and weekly health surveys online using Survey Monkey. Descriptive statistics and generalized estimating equation, a regression technique, were used to identify longitudinal and correlated results. The surfers were predominately Caucasian, male, and physically active. They surfed approximately 4 h a week. Their average age was 34 years. The data indicated that the surfers were generally "healthy," with a low prevalence of diabetes, high cholesterol, and hypertension. Their most common health problems were allergies and asthma. During the study, 10% of the surfers reported gastrointestinal symptoms and 29% reported upper respiratory symptoms. This study suggests surfers were significantly more likely to report upper respiratory symptoms when they had a history of allergies, housemates with upper respiratory symptoms, and/or a history of previous adverse health symptoms while surfing during a "red tide" (an event often associated with the presence of phytoplankton toxins). Additionally, female surfers reported upper respiratory symptoms more than males.

  16. Emergency presurgical visit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alfredo Castro Díaz

    2009-07-01

    Full Text Available The objective has been to create a Protocol of Structured Presurgical Visit applicable to the patients who are undergoing an emergency surgery, to provide the user and his family all the necessary cares on the basis of those nursing diagnosis that prevail in all the cases of surgical emergency interventions. The used method has been an analysis of the emergency surgical interventions more prevalent from February 2007 until October 2008 in our area (a regional hospital, and statistic of those nursing diagnosis that more frequently appeared in these interventions, the previous moment to the intervention and in addition common to all of them. The results were the following ones: the more frequent emergency operations were: Caesarean, ginecological curettage, laparotomy, help in risk childbirth, orthopaedic surgery and appendectomy. The more frequent nursing diagnosis in all the emergency operations at the previous moment of the intervention were: risk of falls, pain, anxiety, deficit of knowledge, risk of infection, movement stress syndrome, risk of hemorrhage, cutaneous integrity deterioration. The conclusion is that users present at the previous moment to an emergency operation several problems, which force to the emergency surgical ward nurse to the introduction of the nursing methodology, in order to identify the problems, to mark results and to indicate the interventions to achieve those results, besides in a humanitarian way and with quality. This can be obtained by performing a Structured Emergency Presurgical Visit.

  17. Seed Burial Depth and Soil Water Content Affect Seedling Emergence and Growth of Ulmus pumila var. sabulosa in the Horqin Sandy Land

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiao Tang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We investigated the effects of seed burial depth and soil water content on seedling emergence and growth of Ulmus pumila var. sabulosa (sandy elm, an important native tree species distributed over the European-Asian steppe. Experimental sand burial depths in the soil were 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 cm, and soil water contents were 4%, 8%, 12% and 16% of field capacity. All two-way ANOVA (five sand burial depths and four soil water contents results showed that seed burial depths, soil water content and their interactions significantly affected all the studied plant variables. Most of the times, seedling emergence conditions were greater at the lower sand burial depths (less than 1.0 cm than at the higher (more than 1.0 cm seed burial depths, and at the lower water content (less than 12% than at the higher soil water content. However, high seed burial depths (more than 1.5 cm or low soil water content (less than 12% reduced seedling growth or change in the root/shoot biomass ratios. In conclusion, the most suitable range of sand burial was from 0.5 to 1.0 cm soil depth and soil water content was about 12%, respectively, for the processes of seedling emergence and growth. These findings indicate that seeds of the sandy elm should be kept at rather shallow soil depths, and water should be added up to 12% of soil capacity when conducting elm planting and management. Our findings could help to create a more appropriate sandy elm cultivation and understand sparse elm woodland recruitment failures in arid and semi-arid regions.

  18. Water security and the science agenda

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wheater, Howard S.; Gober, Patricia

    2015-07-01

    The freshwater environment is facing unprecedented global pressures. Unsustainable use of surface and groundwater is ubiquitous. Gross pollution is seen in developing economies, nutrient pollution is a global threat to aquatic ecosystems, and flood damage is increasing. Droughts have severe local consequences, but effects on food can be global. These current pressures are set in the context of rapid environmental change and socio-economic development, population growth, and weak and fragmented governance. We ask what should be the role of the water science community in addressing water security challenges. Deeper understanding of aquatic and terrestrial environments and their interactions with the climate system is needed, along with trans-disciplinary analysis of vulnerabilities to environmental and societal change. The human dimension must be fully integrated into water science research and viewed as an endogenous component of water system dynamics. Land and water management are inextricably linked, and thus more cross-sector coordination of research and policy is imperative. To solve real-world problems, the products of science must emerge from an iterative, collaborative, two-way exchange with management and policy communities. Science must produce knowledge that is deemed to be credible, legitimate, and salient by relevant stakeholders, and the social process of linking science to policy is thus vital to efforts to solve water problems. The paper shows how a large-scale catchment-based observatory can be used to practice trans-disciplinary science integration and address the Anthropocene's water problems.

  19. Biologically active filters - An advanced water treatment process for contaminants of emerging concern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Shuangyi; Gitungo, Stephen W; Axe, Lisa; Raczko, Robert F; Dyksen, John E

    2017-05-01

    With the increasing concern of contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in source water, this study examines the hypothesis that existing filters in water treatment plants can be converted to biologically active filters (BAFs) to treat these compounds. Removals through bench-scale BAFs were evaluated as a function of media, granular activated carbon (GAC) and dual media, empty bed contact time (EBCT), and pre-ozonation. For GAC BAFs, greater oxygen consumption, increased pH drop, and greater dissolved organic carbon removal normalized to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) were observed indicating increased microbial activity as compared to anthracite/sand dual media BAFs. ATP concentrations in the upper portion of the BAFs were as much as four times greater than the middle and lower portions of the dual media and 1.5 times greater in GAC. Sixteen CECs were spiked in the source water. At an EBCT of 18 min (min), GAC BAFs were highly effective with overall removals greater than 80% without pre-ozonation; exceptions included tri(2-chloroethyl) phosphate and iopromide. With a 10 min EBCT, the degree of CECs removal was reduced with less than half of the compounds removed at greater than 80%. The dual media BAFs showed limited CECs removal with only four compounds removed at greater than 80%, and 10 compounds were reduced by less than 50% with either EBCT. This study demonstrated that GAC BAFs with and without pre-ozonation are an effective and advanced technology for treating emerging contaminants. On the other hand, pre-ozonation is needed for dual media BAFs to remove CECs. The most cost effective operating conditions for dual media BAFs were a 10 min EBCT with the application of pre-ozonation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. [Effect of a simulation-based education on cardio-pulmonary emergency care knowledge, clinical performance ability and problem solving process in new nurses].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Yun Hee; Jang, Keum Seong

    2011-04-01

    This study was conducted to examine the effects of simulation-based education regarding care in a cardio-pulmonary emergency care as related to knowledge, clinical performance ability, and problem solving process in new nurses. An equivalent control group pre-post test experimental design was used. Fifty new nurses were recruited, 26 nurses for the experimental group and 24 nurses for the control group. The simulation-based cardio-pulmonary emergency care education included lecture, skill training, team-based practice, and debriefing, and it was implemented with the experimental group for a week in May, 2009. Data were analyzed using frequency, ratio, chi-square, Fisher's exact probability and t-test with the SPSS program. The experimental group who had the simulation-based education showed significantly higher know-ledge (t=5.76, pproblem solving process was not included (t=1.11, p=.138). The results indicate that a simulation-based education is an effective teaching method to improve knowledge and clinical performance ability in new nurses learning cardio-pulmonary emergency care. Further study is needed to identify the effect of a simulation-based team discussion on cognitive outcome of clinical nurses such as problem solving skills.

  1. Emergency Teacher Certification. ERIC Digest.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashburn, Elizabeth A.

    Emergency certification involves the issuance of teaching licenses to individuals who have not completed a traditional college or university teacher education program. This two-page information review examines the problems arising from emergency certification and its relationship to student achievement. Some alternatives to emergency certification…

  2. Proposing of an aerated water treatment plant for reducing water pollution problem in Losari Beach after reclamation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suryani, Sri; Maharani, Hamzah, Muhammad Alimuddin

    2017-01-01

    Losari Beach is the most important site in Makassar. It lies at the west side of Makassar city. This place is known as the place where people are relaxed and gathering with friends or family after working, and now it becomes the icon of Makassar city. As the biggest city in eastern Indonesia, Makassar grows very fast. We can find constructions for building hospitals, shopping malls, bussines activities, and residences everywhere. The most important construction activities that will effect Losari Beach is the reclamation to build the Center Point of Indonesia that takes an area of 157 hectares and it is located at the west side of Losari Beach. In the last research presented in 9th International Conference on Marine Technology (October 2014) using surface-water modeling system (SMS) software showed that reclamation will significantly increase concentrations of BOD and COD (± 7 mg/L for BOD and 6.2 mg/L for COD). This condition will cause Losari Beach becomes very polluted. A probable solution to overcome this problem is to clean the wastewater before introducing to the sea. This paper will describe the type of the wastewater treatment plant that can be used to solve the water pollution problem in Losari Beach.

  3. Design and operation problems related to water curtain system for underground water-sealed oil storage caverns

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhongkui Li

    2016-10-01

    Full Text Available The underground water-sealed storage technique is critically important and generally accepted for the national energy strategy in China. Although several small underground water-sealed oil storage caverns have been built in China since the 1970s, there is still a lack of experience for large-volume underground storage in complicated geological conditions. The current design concept of water curtain system and the technical instruction for system operation have limitations in maintaining the stability of surrounding rock mass during the construction of the main storage caverns, as well as the long-term stability. Although several large-scale underground oil storage projects are under construction at present in China, the design concepts and construction methods, especially for the water curtain system, are mainly based on the ideal porosity medium flow theory and the experiences gained from the similar projects overseas. The storage projects currently constructed in China have the specific features such as huge scale, large depth, multiple-level arrangement, high seepage pressure, complicated geological conditions, and high in situ stresses, which are the challenging issues for the stability of the storage caverns. Based on years' experiences obtained from the first large-scale (millions of cubic meters underground water-sealed oil storage project in China, some design and operation problems related to water curtain system during project construction are discussed. The drawbacks and merits of the water curtain system are also presented. As an example, the conventional concept of “filling joints with water” is widely used in many cases, as a basic concept for the design of the water curtain system, but it is immature. In this paper, the advantages and disadvantages of the conventional concept are pointed out, with respect to the long-term stability as well as the safety of construction of storage caverns. Finally, new concepts and principles

  4. Plant osmoregulation as an emergent water-saving adaptation under salt-stress conditions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perri, S.; Entekhabi, D.; Molini, A.

    2017-12-01

    emerges as a water-saving behavior similar to the strategies that xerophytes use to cope with aridity. Possible anatomical and morphological adaptations to long-term salinity exposure are addressed through an analysis of transpiration patterns for different values of root and leaf density and for diverse levels of salt-tolerance.

  5. Admissions through the emergency department due to drug-related problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yosef H Al-Olah; Khalifa M Al Thiab

    2010-01-01

    Hospital admissions due to drug-related problems (DRPs) have been studied internationally, but local data are limited. Therefore, we undertook a prospective, observational study of all admissions through the emergency department (ED) at a tertiary referral hospital in Saudi Arabia to determine the incidence of admissions through the ED due to DRPs, types of DRPs, length of stay (LOS) in the hospital after ED admissions due to DRPs, and assessment of preventability of admissions due to DRPs.All admissions through the ED over a period of 28 consecutive days were evaluated to determine if they were due to definite or possible DRPs. Data was collected on a daily basis for each admission over the previous 24 hours. Each incident was assessed by three investigators Of 557 patients admitted through the ED, 82 (14.7%) admissions were due to DRP (53 definite, 29 possible). The most common types of DRP were failure to receive medication in 25 cases (47.2%), an adverse drug reaction in 13 cases (24.5%), and drug overdose in 6 cases (11.3%). In the definite DRP group, 83.0% were definitely preventable, 3.8% were possibly preventable and 13.2% were definitely non-preventable.DRPs are a serious and costly issue facing health care professionals and health care systems. Most admissions due to DRPs are avoidable (Author).

  6. New Development in Greenhouse Technology can Mitigate the Water Shortage Problem of the 21st Century

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooten, van O.; Heuvelink, E.; Stanghellini, C.

    2008-01-01

    The world's fresh accessible water situation is deteriorating at a dismal pace. Though the situation is already quite dramatic in Africa, the near future will bring us great problems in Asia as well, considering the pace at which the population is growing and the rise in water use per capita as the

  7. Emergent Leadership in Children's Cooperative Problem Solving Groups

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Jingjng; Anderson, Richard C.; Perry, Michelle; Lin, Tzu-Jung

    2017-01-01

    Social skills involved in leadership were examined in a problem-solving activity in which 252 Chinese 5th-graders worked in small groups on a spatial-reasoning puzzle. Results showed that students who engaged in peer-managed small-group discussions of stories prior to problem solving produced significantly better solutions and initiated…

  8. RESOLUTION OF THE PROBLEM OF TREATMENT OF WASTE WATER GENERATED BY CAR WASHES AND TRANSPORT ENTERPRISES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gogina Elena Sergeevna

    2012-12-01

    big cities of Russia. At the same time, the quality of the waste water treated by local water treatment stations fails to meet the present-day standard requirements. Moreover, potable water shall not be used for the purpose of washing transport vehicles. Within the recent 10 years, MGSU has developed a number of research projects aimed at the resolution of this problem. The concept developed by the MGSU specialists is to attain the highest quality of treated waste water generated by car washes and transport enterprises using the most advanced technologies of water treatment rather than to design new water treatment plants. Various methods may be applied for this purpose: restructuring of water treatment facilities, advanced feed, updated regulations governing the operation of water treatment plants.

  9. Removal of emerging perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctane sulfonate contaminants from lake water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pramanik, Biplob Kumar; Pramanik, Sagor Kumar; Sarker, Dipok Chandra; Suja, Fatihah

    2017-08-01

    Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) are the major polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) contaminating global water environment. This study investigated the efficiency of granular activated carbon (GAC), ultrafiltration (UF) and nanofiltration (NF) treatment for removing PFOS and PFOA contaminants from lake water. NF gave greater removal of all contaminant types (in terms of organic matter, PFOS and PFOA) than GAC treatment which in turn was greater than UF treatment. The lower removal by UF was due to larger pore size of the membrane compared to the size of the target contaminants. For all treatment processes, lower pH (4) in the feedwater showed greater rejection of the organics and selected PFASs. This was likely due to increase in the electrostatic repulsion between solute and sorbent. It could be observed that on increasing the concentration of organics in the feed solution, the rejection of PFOA/PFOS decreased which was due to competition between organics and PFOS/PFOA for binding sites on the membrane/activated carbon surface. It was also noted that protein content led to greater influence for lower rejection of the PFOA/PFOS than carbohydrate or DOC content. This study demonstrated the potential use of membrane processes for removing emerging persistent organic pollutant removal from lake water.

  10. Comparison of Standard Light Water Reactor Cross-Section Libraries using the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission Boiling Water Reactor Benchmark Problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kulesza Joel A.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes a comparison of contemporary and historical light water reactor shielding and pressure vessel dosimetry cross-section libraries for a boiling water reactor calculational benchmark problem. The calculational benchmark problem was developed at Brookhaven National Laboratory by the request of the U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The benchmark problem was originally evaluated by Brookhaven National Laboratory using the Oak Ridge National Laboratory discrete ordinates code DORT and the BUGLE-93 cross-section library. In this paper, the Westinghouse RAPTOR-M3G three-dimensional discrete ordinates code was used. A variety of cross-section libraries were used with RAPTOR-M3G including the BUGLE93, BUGLE-96, and BUGLE-B7 cross-section libraries developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and ALPAN-VII.0 developed at Westinghouse. In comparing the calculated fast reaction rates using the four aforementioned cross-section libraries in the pressure vessel capsule, for six dosimetry reaction rates, a maximum relative difference of 8% was observed. As such, it is concluded that the results calculated by RAPTOR-M3G are consistent with the benchmark and further that the different vintage BUGLE cross-section libraries investigated are largely self-consistent.

  11. State planning for winter energy emergencies: workshop materials

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1978-04-01

    Workshops were conducted in 5 cities to improve communications between the states and the Federal government so that both might be better prepared to avoid or mitigate the impacts of energy emergencies during the winter; to provide a forum for the exchange of technical information regarding selected energy demand restraint measures which could be implemented by individual states or regions in an energy emergency; and to promote the concept of pre-crisis contingency planning and strategy development, with particuliar emphasis on the need for interstate coordination of emergency plans. The major topics addressed by the discussion guide involved net energy use impact, implementation procedures and problems, and social and economic effects. The Task Force performed extensive research into the technical considerations and prior experience in implementing each of the demand restraint measures selected for discussion. Results and conclusions are summarized for reduction of thermostat setting for space conditioning and water heating; reduction in hours of operation and lighting in commercial establishments; reduction in hours of operation in school, and industrial fuel substitution. (MCW)

  12. Emergency Vehicle Scheduling Problem with Time Utility in Disasters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaobing Gan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a flexible emergency rescue system which is chiefly composed of three parts, namely, disaster assistance center, relief vehicles, and disaster areas. A novel objective of utility maximization is used to evaluate the entire system in disasters. Considering the uncertain road conditions in the relief distribution, we implement triangular fuzzy number to calculate the vehicle velocity. As a consequence, a fuzzy mathematical model is built to maximize the utility of emergency rescue system and then converted to the crisp counterpart. Finally, the results of numerical experiments obtained by particle swarm optimization (PSO prove the validity of this proposed mathematical model.

  13. Drivers for the emergence and re-emergence of vector-borne protozoal and bacterial diseases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harrus, S; Baneth, G

    2005-10-01

    In recent years, vector-borne parasitic and bacterial diseases have emerged or re-emerged in many geographical regions causing global health and economic problems that involve humans, livestock, companion animals and wild life. The ecology and epidemiology of vector-borne diseases are affected by the interrelations between three major factors comprising the pathogen, the host (human, animal or vector) and the environment. Important drivers for the emergence and spread of vector-borne parasites include habitat changes, alterations in water storage and irrigation habits, atmospheric and climate changes, immunosuppression by HIV, pollution, development of insecticide and drug resistance, globalization and the significant increase in international trade, tourism and travel. War and civil unrest, and governmental or global management failure are also major contributors to the spread of infectious diseases. The improvement of epidemic understanding and planning together with the development of new diagnostic molecular techniques in the last few decades have allowed researchers to better diagnose and trace pathogens, their origin and routes of infection, and to develop preventive public health and intervention programs. Health care workers, physicians, veterinarians and biosecurity officers should play a key role in future prevention of vector-borne diseases. A coordinated global approach for the prevention of vector-borne diseases should be implemented by international organizations and governmental agencies in collaboration with research institutions.

  14. A FTA-based method for risk decision-making in emergency response

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Yang; Li, Hongyan

    2014-01-01

    Decision-making problems in emergency response are usually risky and uncertain due to the limited decision data and possible evolvement of emergency scenarios. This paper focuses on a risk decisionmaking problem in emergency response with several distinct characteristics including dynamic...... evolvement process of emergency, multiple scenarios, and impact of response actions on the emergency scenarios. A method based on Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) is proposed to solve the problem. By analyzing the evolvement process of emergency, the Fault Tree (FT) is constructed to describe the logical relations...

  15. Acute oncological emergencies.

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    Gabriel, J

    2012-01-01

    The number of people receiving systemic anti-cancer treatment and presenting at emergency departments with treatment-related problems is rising. Nurses will be the first point of contact for most patients and need to be able to recognise oncological emergencies to initiate urgent assessment of patients and referral to the acute oncology team so that the most appropriate care can be delivered promptly. This article discusses the role of acute oncology services, and provides an overview of the most common acute oncological emergencies.

  16. Triple Value System Dynamics Modeling to Help Stakeholders Engage with Food-Energy-Water Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Triple Value (3V) Community scoping projects and Triple Value Simulation (3VS) models help decision makers and stakeholders apply systems-analysis methodology to complex problems related to food production, water quality, and energy use. 3VS models are decision support tools that...

  17. Institutional planning for radiation emergencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keil, E.R.

    1986-01-01

    Persons providing health care pride themselves on their ability to handle emergencies. This pride is born of the daily experience of caring for the sick and injured. Emergencies include traumatic injuries, sudden changes in health status, and various minor disturbances in the physical environment inside the hospital. The effectiveness of this ability is unquestioned in limited-scale problems. However, survey experience of the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals (JCAH) reveals weaknesses when health care organizations are faced with larger scale problems such as earthquakes and plane crashes. One may speculate that a massive emergency such as occurred at Chernobyl would overwhelm this ability. Based on the same survey experience, JCAH believes that health care organizations can plan and train to prepare for large-scale emergencies in a careful and systematic manner. Through such study and practice, their existing confidence and ability to deal with limited emergencies can be explained

  18. Emergency reactor cooling circuit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Araki, Hidefumi; Matsumoto, Tomoyuki; Kataoka, Yoshiyuki.

    1994-01-01

    Cooling water in a gravitationally dropping water reservoir is injected into a reactor pressure vessel passing through a pipeline upon occurrence of emergency. The pipeline is inclined downwardly having one end thereof being in communication with the pressure vessel. During normal operation, the cooling water in the upper portion of the inclined pipeline is heated by convection heat transfer from the communication portion with the pressure vessel. On the other hand, cooling water present at a position lower than the communication portion forms cooling water lumps. Accordingly, temperature stratification layers are formed in the inclined pipeline. Therefore, temperature rise of water in a vertical pipeline connected to the inclined pipeline is small. With such a constitution, the amount of heat lost from the pressure vessel by way of the water injection pipeline is reduced. Further, there is no worry that cooling water to be injected upon occurrence of emergency is boiled under reduced pressure in the injection pipeline to delay the depressurization of the pressure vessel. (I.N.)

  19. Determination of silicone rubber and low-density polyethylene diffusion and polymer/water partition coefficients for emerging contaminants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pintado-Herrera, Marina G; Lara-Martín, Pablo A; González-Mazo, Eduardo; Allan, Ian J

    2016-09-01

    There is a growing interest in assessing the concentration and distribution of new nonregulated organic compounds (emerging contaminants) in the environment. The measurement of freely dissolved concentrations using conventional approaches is challenging because of the low concentrations that may be encountered and their temporally variable emissions. Absorption-based passive sampling enables the estimation of freely dissolved concentrations of hydrophobic contaminants of emerging concern in water. In the present study, calibration was undertaken for 2 polymers, low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and silicone rubber for 11 fragrances, 5 endocrine-disrupting compounds, 7 ultraviolet (UV) filters, and 8 organophosphate flame retardant compounds. Batch experiments were performed to estimate contaminant diffusion coefficients in the polymers (Dp ), which in general decreased with increasing molecular weight. The values for fragrances, endocrine-disrupting compounds, and UV filters were in ranges similar to those previously reported for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, but were 1 order of magnitude lower for organophosphate flame retardant compounds. Silicone rubber had higher Dp values than LDPE and was therefore selected for further experiments to calculate polymer/water partition coefficients (KPW ). The authors observed a positive correlation between log KPW and log octanol/water partition coefficient values. Field testing of silicone rubber passive samplers was undertaken though exposure in the River Alna (Norway) for an exposure time of 21 d to estimate freely dissolved concentration. Some fragrances and UV filters were predominant over other emerging and regulated contaminants, at levels up to 1600 ng L(-1) for galaxolide and 448 ng L(-1) for octocrylene. Environ Toxicol Chem 2016;35:2162-2172. © 2016 SETAC. © 2016 SETAC.

  20. Leadership emergence in engineering design teams.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guastello, Stephen J

    2011-01-01

    Leaders emerge from leaderless groups as part of a more complex emerging social structure. Several studies have shown that the emerging structure is aptly described by a swallowtail catastrophe model where the control parameters differ depending on whether creative problem solving, production, coordination-intensive, or emergency management groups are involved. The present study explored creative problem solving further where the participants were engaged in real-world tasks extending over several months rather than short laboratory tasks. Participants were engineering students who were organized into groups of to people who designed, built, and tested a prototype product that would solve a real-world problem. At the th week of work they completed a questionnaire indicating who was most like the leader of their group, second most like the leader, along with other questions about individuals' contributions to the group process. Results showed that the swallowtail model (R = .) exhibited a strong advantage over the linear alternative model (R = .) for predicting leadership emergence. The three control variables were control of the task, creative contributions to the group's work, and facilitating the creative contributions of others.

  1. Sediment–water distribution of contaminants of emerging concern in a mixed use watershed

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fairbairn, David J., E-mail: david.fairbairn@state.mn.us [University of Minnesota, Water Resources Center, 1985 Buford Ave., St Paul, MN 55108 (United States); Karpuzcu, M. Ekrem [University of Minnesota, Water Resources Center, 1985 Buford Ave., St Paul, MN 55108 (United States); Arnold, William A. [University of Minnesota, Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, 500 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Barber, Brian L. [University of Minnesota, Department of Soil, Water, and Climate, 1902 Dudley Ave, Saint Paul, MN 55108 (United States); Kaufenberg, Elizabeth F. [University of Minnesota, Water Resources Center, 1985 Buford Ave., St Paul, MN 55108 (United States); Koskinen, William C. [United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108 (United States); Novak, Paige J. [University of Minnesota, Civil, Environmental, and Geo-Engineering, 500 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Rice, Pamela J. [United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, 1991 Upper Buford Circle, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, MN 55108 (United States); Swackhamer, Deborah L. [University of Minnesota, Water Resources Center, 1985 Buford Ave., St Paul, MN 55108 (United States)

    2015-02-01

    This study evaluated the occurrence and distribution of 15 contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in stream water and sediments in the Zumbro River watershed in Minnesota and compared these with sub-watershed land uses. Sixty pairs of sediment and water samples were collected across all seasons from four stream sites for over two years and analyzed for selected personal care products, pesticides, human and veterinary medications, and phytoestrogens. Spatial and temporal analyses indicate that pharmaceuticals and personal care products (urban/residential CECs) are significantly elevated in water and/or sediment at sites with greater population density (> 100 people/km{sup 2}) and percentage of developed land use (> 8% of subwatershed area) than those with less population density and land area under development. Significant spatial variations of agricultural pesticides in water and sediment were detectable, even though all sites had a high percentage of agricultural land use. Seasonality in CEC concentration was observed in water but not in sediment, although sediment concentrations of three CECs did vary between years. Average measured non-equilibrium distribution coefficients exceeded equilibrium hydrophobic partitioning-based predictions for 5 of the 7 detected CECs by at least an order of magnitude. Agreement of measured and predicted distribution coefficients improved with increasing hydrophobicity and in-stream persistence. The more polar and degradable CECs showed greater variability in measured distributions across different sampling events. Our results confirm that CECs are present in urban and agricultural stream sediments, including those CECs that would typically be thought of as non-sorptive based on their log K{sub ow} values. These results and the observed patterns of sediment and water distributions augment existing information to improve prediction of CEC fate and transport, leading to more accurate assessments of exposure and risk to surface water

  2. Cognitive patterns of neuroanatomy concepts: Knowledge organizations that emerge from problem solving versus information gathering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weidner, Jeanne Margaret O'malley

    2000-10-01

    This study was motivated by some of the claims that are found in the literature on Problem-Based Learning (PBL). This instructional technique, which uses case studies as its primary instructional tool, has been advanced as an alternative to traditional instruction in order to foster more meaningful, integrative learning of scientific concepts. Several of the advantages attributed to Problem-Based Learning are that it (1) is generally preferred by students because it appears to foster a more nurturing and enjoyable learning experience, (2) fosters greater retention of knowledge and concepts acquired, and (3) results in increased ability to apply this knowledge toward solving new problems. This study examines the differences that result when students learn neuroanatomy concepts under two instructional contexts: problem solving vs. information gathering. The technological resource provided to students to support learning under each of these contexts was the multimedia program BrainStorm: An Interactive Neuroanatomy Atlas (Coppa & Tancred, 1995). The study explores the influence of context with regard to subjects' performance on objective post-tests, organization of knowledge as measured by Pathfinder Networks, differential use of the multimedia software and discourse differences emerging from the transcripts. The findings support previous research in the literature that problem-solving results in less knowledge acquisition in the short term, greater retention of material over time, and a subjects' preference for the method. However, both the degree of retention and preference were influenced by subjects' prior knowledge of the material in the exercises, as there was a significant difference in performance between the two exercises: for the exercise about which subjects appeared to have greater background information, memory decay was less, and subject attitude toward the problem solving instructional format was more favorable, than for the exercise for which subjects

  3. Emergency cooling system for a gas-cooled nuclear reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cook, R.K.; Burylo, P.S.

    1975-01-01

    The site of the gas-cooled reactor with direct-circuit gas turbine is preferably the sea coast. An emergency cooling system with safety valve and emergency feed-water addition is designed which affects at least a part of the reactor core coolant after leaving the core. The emergency cooling system includes a water emergency cooling circuit with heat exchanger for the core coolant. The safety valve releases water or steam from the emergency coolant circuit when a certain temperature is exceeded; this is, however, replaced by the emergency feed-water. If the gas turbine exhibits a high and low pressure turbine stage, which are flowed through by coolant one behind another, a part of the coolant can be removed in front of each part turbine by two valves and be added to the haet exchanger. (RW/LH) [de

  4. Rival framings: A framework for discovering how problem formulation uncertainties shape risk management trade-offs in water resources systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quinn, J. D.; Reed, P. M.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.

    2017-08-01

    Managing water resources systems requires coordinated operation of system infrastructure to mitigate the impacts of hydrologic extremes while balancing conflicting multisectoral demands. Traditionally, recommended management strategies are derived by optimizing system operations under a single problem framing that is assumed to accurately represent the system objectives, tacitly ignoring the myriad of effects that could arise from simplifications and mathematical assumptions made when formulating the problem. This study illustrates the benefits of a rival framings framework in which analysts instead interrogate multiple competing hypotheses of how complex water management problems should be formulated. Analyzing rival framings helps discover unintended consequences resulting from inherent biases of alternative problem formulations. We illustrate this on the monsoonal Red River basin in Vietnam by optimizing operations of the system's four largest reservoirs under several different multiobjective problem framings. In each rival framing, we specify different quantitative representations of the system's objectives related to hydropower production, agricultural water supply, and flood protection of the capital city of Hanoi. We find that some formulations result in counterintuitive behavior. In particular, policies designed to minimize expected flood damages inadvertently increase the risk of catastrophic flood events in favor of hydropower production, while min-max objectives commonly used in robust optimization provide poor representations of system tradeoffs due to their instability. This study highlights the importance of carefully formulating and evaluating alternative mathematical abstractions of stakeholder objectives describing the multisectoral water demands and risks associated with hydrologic extremes.

  5. The emergency department as a 'last resort': why parents seek care for their child's nontraumatic dental problems in the emergency room.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mostajer Haqiqi, Azadeh; Bedos, Christophe; Macdonald, Mary Ellen

    2016-10-01

    Over the last two decades, there has been an increasing trend in the number of families using emergency departments (EDs) for treating their children's nontraumatic dental problems. We do not know why families use the ED in this way; to date, little research has addressed parents' decisions. The purpose of this study was to explore the reasons that lead parents to select the ED over a dental clinic for their child's nontraumatic dental problem. Using a qualitative descriptive design, we conducted semi-structured interviews with parents of children under age 10 who sought care for nontraumatic dental problems in an ED of a pediatric hospital. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and coded for thematic analysis using Grembowski's dental care process model as a sensitizing construct. Fifteen parents were recruited (ten mothers and five fathers). Three salient themes were identified: (i) parental beliefs and socioeconomic challenges which contributed to their care seeking, (ii) barriers parents faced in finding oral healthcare options for their children in their communities (e.g., poor access to care and poor quality of care), and (iii) parent's high satisfaction with the care provided through the ED. The ED was families' last resort; parents took their child to the ED because of the lack of other options in their communities rather than a belief that the ED was the best choice for dental care. The current pattern of ED use resulted in stress for these parents and repercussions for the children (e.g., pain, longer waiting, and increased complications); further, it has been shown in the literature to be an economic strain on the health system. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. Communicable diseases associated with water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dil, A.S.

    1997-01-01

    The diseases associated with contaminated water remain among the most serious public health problems for much of the world's population living in developing countries. Most of the disease agents that contaminated water and food are biological and come from animal or human faeces. They include bacteria, viruses, protozoa and helminths and multiply in the alimentary tract and are excreted with the faeces. Without proper sanitation they find their way into other water bodies from where they can infect other people. Most of the diseases associated with water are communicable. According to Bradley the diseases associated with water can be classified in four categories: waterborne water-washed, water-based and water related and a fifth category emerging in developed countries could be called water-dispersed. The experiences of these diseases in various in various parts of Pakistan and the role played by National Institute of Health (NIH) in investigation will be discussed: some of them being hepatitis E epidemic in Islamabad (1993,94,95), experience at Nawabshah and some others will be discussed in detail along with their preventive and control measures. (author)

  7. Biological efficacy and toxic effect of emergency water disinfection process based on advanced oxidation technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Yiping; Yuan, Xiaoli; Xu, Shujing; Li, Rihong; Zhou, Xinying; Zhang, Zhitao

    2015-12-01

    An innovative and removable water treatment system consisted of strong electric field discharge and hydrodynamic cavitation based on advanced oxidation technologies was developed for reactive free radicals producing and waterborne pathogens eliminating in the present study. The biological efficacy and toxic effects of this advanced oxidation system were evaluated during water disinfection treatments. Bench tests were carried out with synthetic microbial-contaminated water, as well as source water in rainy season from a reservoir of Dalian city (Liaoning Province, China). Results showed that high inactivation efficiency of Escherichia coli (>5 log) could be obtained for synthetic contaminated water at a low concentration (0.5-0.7 mg L(-1)) of total oxidants in 3-10 s. The numbers of wild total bacteria (108 × 10(3) CFU mL(-1)) and total coliforms (260 × 10(2) MPN 100 mL(-1)) in source water greatly reduced to 50 and 0 CFU mL(-1) respectively after treated by the advanced oxidation system, which meet the microbiological standards of drinking water, and especially that the inactivation efficiency of total coliforms could reach 100%. Meanwhile, source water qualities were greatly improved during the disinfection processes. The values of UV254 in particular were significantly reduced (60-80%) by reactive free radicals. Moreover, the concentrations of possible disinfection by-products (formaldehyde and bromide) in treated water were lower than detection limits, indicating that there was no harmful effect on water after the treatments. These investigations are helpful for the ecotoxicological studies of advanced oxidation system in the treatments of chemical polluted water or waste water. The findings of this work suggest that the developed water treatment system is ideal in the acute phases of emergencies, which also could offer additional advantages over a wide range of applications in water pollution control.

  8. Modeling the photodegradation of emerging contaminants in waters by UV radiation and UV/H2O2 system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benitez, F Javier; Acero, Juan L; Real, Francisco J; Roldan, Gloria; Rodriguez, Elena

    2013-01-01

    Five emerging contaminants (1-H-Benzotriazole, N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide or DEET, Chlorophene, 3-Methylindole, and Nortriptyline HCl), frequently found in surface waters and wastewaters, were selected to be photooxidized in several water matrices. Previous degradation experiments of these compounds individually dissolved in ultra pure water were performed by using UV radiation at 254 nm and the Fenton's reagent. These oxidation systems allowed the determination of the quantum yields and the rate constants for the radical reaction between each compound and hydroxyl radicals. Later, the simultaneous photodegradation of mixtures of the selected ECs in several types of water (ultrapure water, reservoir water, and two effluents from WWTPs) was carried out and a kinetic study was conducted. A model is proposed for the ECs elimination, and the theoretically calculated concentrations with this model agreed well with the experimental results obtained, which confirmed that it constitutes an excellent tool to predict the elimination of these compounds in waters.

  9. REUSE OF TREATED WASTEWATER IN AGRICULTURE: SOLVING WATER DEFICIT PROBLEMS IN ARID AREAS (REVIEW

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Faissal AZIZ

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available In the arid and semiarid areas, the availability and the management of irrigation water have become priorities of great importance. The successive years of drought, induced by climate change and population growth, increasingly reduced the amount of water reserved for agriculture. Consequently, many countries have included wastewater reuse as an important dimension of water resources planning. In the more arid areas wastewater is used in agriculture, releasing high resource of water supplies. In this context, the present work is a review focusing the reuse of treated wastewater in agriculture as an important strategy for solving water deficit problems in arid areas. Much information concerning the wastewater reuse in different regions of the world and in Morocco, the different wastewater treatment technologies existing in Morocco were discussed. The review focused also the fertilizing potential of wastewater in agriculture, the role of nutrients and their concentrations in wastewater and their advantages effects on plant growth and yield.

  10. Present status of seawater desalination and problems of nuclear utilization. Aiming at coping with global shortage of water

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2006-07-01

    With recent global population increase and economic and life level improvement, water demand increases tremendously and in 2025 water scarcity will occur in almost the half of countries and regions in the world. Nuclear desalination is highly expected to cope with this issue. The Japan Atomic Industrial Forum (JAIF) established special committee on seawater desalination problems to discuss possibilities of nuclear desalination introduction. Present status of seawater desalination and problems of nuclear utilization were reviewed and the committee recommended the necessity of establishing medium and long-term plan on international business development of nuclear desalination and also the start of basic research on problems of nuclear utilization such as technical and institutional limits and efficient applicability of nuclear energy. (T. Tanaka)

  11. Analysis of Trends and Emerging Technologies in Water Electrolysis Research Based on a Computational Method: A Comparison with Fuel Cell Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takaya Ogawa

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Water electrolysis for hydrogen production has received increasing attention, especially for accumulating renewable energy. Here, we comprehensively reviewed all water electrolysis research areas through computational analysis, using a citation network to objectively detect emerging technologies and provide interdisciplinary data for forecasting trends. The results show that all research areas increase their publication counts per year, and the following two areas are particularly increasing in terms of number of publications: “microbial electrolysis” and “catalysts in an alkaline water electrolyzer (AWE and in a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer (PEME.”. Other research areas, such as AWE and PEME systems, solid oxide electrolysis, and the whole renewable energy system, have recently received several review papers, although papers that focus on specific technologies and are cited frequently have not been published within the citation network. This indicates that these areas receive attention, but there are no novel technologies that are the center of the citation network. Emerging technologies detected within these research areas are presented in this review. Furthermore, a comparison with fuel cell research is conducted because water electrolysis is the reverse reaction to fuel cells, and similar technologies are employed in both areas. Technologies that are not transferred between fuel cells and water electrolysis are introduced, and future water electrolysis trends are discussed.

  12. Bioassay battery interlaboratory investigation of emerging contaminants in spiked water extracts - Towards the implementation of bioanalytical monitoring tools in water quality assessment and monitoring.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Di Paolo, Carolina; Ottermanns, Richard; Keiter, Steffen; Ait-Aissa, Selim; Bluhm, Kerstin; Brack, Werner; Breitholtz, Magnus; Buchinger, Sebastian; Carere, Mario; Chalon, Carole; Cousin, Xavier; Dulio, Valeria; Escher, Beate I; Hamers, Timo; Hilscherová, Klára; Jarque, Sergio; Jonas, Adam; Maillot-Marechal, Emmanuelle; Marneffe, Yves; Nguyen, Mai Thao; Pandard, Pascal; Schifferli, Andrea; Schulze, Tobias; Seidensticker, Sven; Seiler, Thomas-Benjamin; Tang, Janet; van der Oost, Ron; Vermeirssen, Etienne; Zounková, Radka; Zwart, Nick; Hollert, Henner

    2016-11-01

    Bioassays are particularly useful tools to link the chemical and ecological assessments in water quality monitoring. Different methods cover a broad range of toxicity mechanisms in diverse organisms, and account for risks posed by non-target compounds and mixtures. Many tests are already applied in chemical and waste assessments, and stakeholders from the science-police interface have recommended their integration in regulatory water quality monitoring. Still, there is a need to address bioassay suitability to evaluate water samples containing emerging pollutants, which are a current priority in water quality monitoring. The presented interlaboratory study (ILS) verified whether a battery of miniaturized bioassays, conducted in 11 different laboratories following their own protocols, would produce comparable results when applied to evaluate blinded samples consisting of a pristine water extract spiked with four emerging pollutants as single chemicals or mixtures, i.e. triclosan, acridine, 17α-ethinylestradiol (EE2) and 3-nitrobenzanthrone (3-NBA). Assays evaluated effects on aquatic organisms from three different trophic levels (algae, daphnids, zebrafish embryos) and mechanism-specific effects using in vitro estrogenicity (ER-Luc, YES) and mutagenicity (Ames fluctuation) assays. The test battery presented complementary sensitivity and specificity to evaluate the different blinded water extract spikes. Aquatic organisms differed in terms of sensitivity to triclosan (algae > daphnids > fish) and acridine (fish > daphnids > algae) spikes, confirming the complementary role of the three taxa for water quality assessment. Estrogenicity and mutagenicity assays identified with high precision the respective mechanism-specific effects of spikes even when non-specific toxicity occurred in mixture. For estrogenicity, although differences were observed between assays and models, EE2 spike relative induction EC 50 values were comparable to the literature, and E2/EE2

  13. Fate factors and emission flux estimates for emerging contaminants in surface waters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hoa T. Trinh

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Pharmaceuticals, personal care products, hormones, and wastewater products are emerging environmental concerns for manifold reasons, including the potential of some compounds found in these products for endocrine disruption at a very low chronic exposure level. The environmental occurrences and sources of these contaminants in the water, soil, sediment and biota in European nations and the United States are well documented. This work reports a screening-level emission and fate assessment of thirty compounds, listed in the National Reconnaissance of the United States Geological Survey (USGS, 1999–2000 as the most frequently detected organic wastewater contaminants in U.S. streams and rivers. Estimations of the surface water fate factors were based on Level II and Level III multimedia fugacity models for a 1000 km2 model environment, the size of a typical county in the eastern United States. The compounds are categorized into three groups based upon the sensitivity of their predicted surface water fate factors to uncertainties in their physicochemical property values and the landscape parameters. The environmental fate factors, mass distributions, and loss pathways of all of the compounds are strongly affected by their assumed modes of entry into the environment. It is observed that for thirteen of the thirty organic wastewater contaminants most commonly detected in surface waters, conventional treatment strategies may be ineffective for their removal from wastewater effluents. The surface water fate factors predicted by the fugacity models were used in conjunction with the surface water concentrations measured in the USGS reconnaissance to obtain emission flux estimates for the compounds into U.S. streams and rivers. These include estimated fluxes of 6.8 × 10−5 to 0.30 kg/h km2 for the biomarker coprostanol; 1.7 × 10−5 to 6.5 × 10−5 kg/h km2 for the insect repellent N,N-diethyltoluamide; and 4.3 × 10−6 to 3.1 × 10−5 kg/h km2 for

  14. The emergence of the problem of Bukovina within the European geopolitical space

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aurelian Lavric

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available The problem of the North-Western Moldavia (named later on, by the Austrian occupants, Bukovina emerged within the European geopolitical space in 1775, when the territory has been annexed by the Habsburg Empire. However, before that moment, the Northern part of the future Bukovina (Şipeniţ district was disputed by Poland and Moldavia Yet, the Polish-Moldavian border was clearly established, including the Northern part of Bucovina (wanted by Poland within the Moldavian Principality. The Austrian emperor and administration used a few motivations for the annexation of the North-Western Moldavia: 1. the imposition of a cordon against the plague („which burned down long time before in Moldavia”; 2. „the need” to annex „a strip” (in reality, two big districts were annexed from the territory of Moldavia for the construction of a road linking Transylvania with Galicia; 3. the historical rights of the Pocuţia (i.e., Galicia, which have come in possession of Austria, on the North of Moldavia (Şipeniţ County. Some of the real reasons of occupation were: 1. „insatiable hunger for new territorial acquisitions; lust for the expansion of the Empire and seizing new territories bringing profit; 2. to compensate for the loss of another territory – Oltenia – in this case, with the North-Western Moldavia; 3. a desire to have a strategic area to be pursued in a subsequent expansion in Moldavia and Wallachia, respectively in the Danube region and in the Eastern Balkans. As in June 1940, the Soviet authorities have linked the issue of Bessarabia with the issue of Bukovina, I believe that the problem of Transnistria (Moldavia should be viewed in connection with the issue of ethnic Romanian Community territory of Northern Bukovina (now in Cernăuţi region. A solution for the problem of the Romanian community in Northern Bukovina is possible by the passage of municipalities inhabited by Romanians from Northern Bukovina to Republic of Moldavia, in

  15. Universal approximators for multi-objective direct policy search in water reservoir management problems: a comparative analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giuliani, Matteo; Mason, Emanuele; Castelletti, Andrea; Pianosi, Francesca

    2014-05-01

    The optimal operation of water resources systems is a wide and challenging problem due to non-linearities in the model and the objectives, high dimensional state-control space, and strong uncertainties in the hydroclimatic regimes. The application of classical optimization techniques (e.g., SDP, Q-learning, gradient descent-based algorithms) is strongly limited by the dimensionality of the system and by the presence of multiple, conflicting objectives. This study presents a novel approach which combines Direct Policy Search (DPS) and Multi-Objective Evolutionary Algorithms (MOEAs) to solve high-dimensional state and control space problems involving multiple objectives. DPS, also known as parameterization-simulation-optimization in the water resources literature, is a simulation-based approach where the reservoir operating policy is first parameterized within a given family of functions and, then, the parameters optimized with respect to the objectives of the management problem. The selection of a suitable class of functions to which the operating policy belong to is a key step, as it might restrict the search for the optimal policy to a subspace of the decision space that does not include the optimal solution. In the water reservoir literature, a number of classes have been proposed. However, many of these rules are based largely on empirical or experimental successes and they were designed mostly via simulation and for single-purpose reservoirs. In a multi-objective context similar rules can not easily inferred from the experience and the use of universal function approximators is generally preferred. In this work, we comparatively analyze two among the most common universal approximators: artificial neural networks (ANN) and radial basis functions (RBF) under different problem settings to estimate their scalability and flexibility in dealing with more and more complex problems. The multi-purpose HoaBinh water reservoir in Vietnam, accounting for hydropower

  16. Application of Ant-Colony-Based Algorithms to Multi-Reservoir Water Resources Problems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alireza Borhani Darian

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, the continuous Ant Colony Optimization Algorithm (ACOR is used to investigate the optimum operation of complex multi-reservoir systems. The results are compared with those of the well-known Genetic Algorithm (GA. For this purpose, GA and ACOR are used to solve the long-term operation of a three-reservoir system in Karkheh Basin, southwestern Iran. The solution must determine monthly releases from the three reservoirs and their optimum allocations among the four agricultural demand areas. Meanwhile, a minimum discharge must be maintained within the river reaches for environmental concerns. Review of past research shows that only a few applications of Ant Colony have been generally made in water resources system problems; however, up to the time of initiating this paper, we found no other application of the ACOR in this area. Therefore, unlike GA, application of Ant-Colony-based algorithms in water resources systems has not been thoroughly evaluated and deserves  serious study. In this paper, the ACOR is stuided as the most recent Ant-Colony-based algorithm and its application in a multi-reservoir system is evaluated. The results indicate that with when the number of decision variables increases, a longer computational time is required and the optimum solutions found are inferior. Therefore, the ACOR would be unable to solve complex water resources problems unless some modifications are considered. To overcome a part of these drawbacks, a number of techniques are introduced in this paper that considerably improve the quality of the method by decreasing the required computation time and by enhancing optimum solutions found.

  17. Supported Photocatalyst for Removal of Emerging Contaminants from Wastewater in a Continuous Packed-Bed Photoreactor Configuration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mª Emma Borges

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available Water pollution from emerging contaminants (ECs or emerging pollutants is an important environmental problem. Heterogeneous photocatalytic treatment, as advanced oxidation treatment of wastewater effluents, has been proposed to solve this problem. In this paper, a heterogeneous photocatalytic process was studied for emergent contaminants removal using paracetamol as a model contaminant molecule. TiO2 photocatalytic activity was evaluated using two photocatalytic reactor configurations: Photocatalyst solid suspension in wastewater in a stirred photoreactor and TiO2 supported on glass spheres (TGS configuring a packed bed photoreactor. The surface morphology and texture of the TGS were monitored by scanning electron microscope (SEM. The influence of photocatalyst amount and wastewater pH were evaluated in the stirred photoreactor and the influence of wastewater flowrate was tested in the packed bed photoreactor, in order to obtain the optimal operation conditions. Moreover, results obtained were compared with those obtained from photolysis and adsorption studies, using the optimal operation conditions. Good photocatalytic activities have been observed and leads to the conclusion that the heterogeneous photocatalytic system in a packed bed is an effective method for removal of emerging pollutants.

  18. Problem statement: international safeguards for a light-water reactor fuels reprocessing plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shipley, J.P.; Hakkila, E.A.; Dietz, R.J.; Cameron, C.P.; Bleck, M.E.; Darby, J.L.

    1979-03-01

    This report considers the problem of developing international safeguards for a light-water reactor (LWR) fuel reprocessing/conversion facility that combines the Purex process with conversion of plutonium nitrate to the oxide by means of plutonium (III) oxalate precipitation and calcination. Current international safeguards systems are based on the complementary concepts of materials accounting and containment and surveillance, which are designed to detect covert, national diversion of nuclear material. This report discusses the possible diversion threats and some types of countermeasures, and it represents the first stage in providing integrated international safeguards system concepts that make optimum use of available resources. The development of design methodology to address this problem will constitute a significant portion of the subsequent effort. Additionally, future technology development requirements are identified. 8 figures, 1 table

  19. Possibilities of mathematical models in solving flow problems in environmental protection and water architecture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1979-01-01

    The booklet presents the full text of 13 contributions to a Colloquium held at Karlsruhe in Sept. 1979. The main topics of the papers are the evaluation of mathematical models to solve flow problems in tide water, seas, rivers, groundwater and in the earth atmosphere. See further hints under relevant topics.

  20. Psychosocial problems of children whose parents visit the emergency department due to intimate partner violence, substance abuse or a suicide attempt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoytema van Konijnenburg, E M M; van der Lee, J H; Teeuw, A H; Lindeboom, R; Brilleslijper-Kater, S N; Sieswerda-Hoogendoorn, T; van Goudoever, J B; Lindauer, R J L

    2017-05-01

    High levels of maltreatment are found in children who are identified because their parents visit the emergency department due to partner violence, substance abuse or suicide attempt. However, it is unknown if these children experience psychosocial problems. This study aims to assess their levels of post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, behavioural problems and health-related quality of life. A cross-sectional study was conducted in six hospitals. All consecutive families of which a parent visited the emergency department due to partner violence, substance abuse or suicide attempt between 1 July 2012 and 1 March 2014 with children aged 1.5-17 years were approached for participation. Parents and children aged 8 years and older filled out questionnaires measuring post-traumatic stress [13-item version of Children's Revised Impact of Event Scale (CRIES-13)], anxiety, depression (Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale), behavioural problems [Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) and Youth Self-Report (YSR)] and health-related quality of life (PedsQL). Scores of participants were compared with reference data obtained in children in similar age ranges from representative Dutch community samples (CRIES-13, Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale, PedsQL and CBCL) and to a normed cutoff score (CRIES-13). Of 195 eligible families, 89 (46%) participated in the study. Participating children did not score different from community children, both on child-reported and parent-reported instruments. Standardized mean differences of total sum scores were 0 (CRIES-13 and CBCL 1.5-5), 0.1 (YSR), 0.2 (CBCL 6-18) and -0.3 (PedsQL) and not statistically different from community children. Thirty-five percent of the participating children scored above the cutoff score on the CRIES-13, indicating post-traumatic stress disorder, but this difference was not statistically significant from community children (mean difference 8%; 95% CI -4-22%). We found no differences in psychosocial

  1. Co-development of Problem Gambling and Depression Symptoms in Emerging Adults: A Parallel-Process Latent Class Growth Model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edgerton, Jason D; Keough, Matthew T; Roberts, Lance W

    2018-02-21

    This study examines whether there are multiple joint trajectories of depression and problem gambling co-development in a sample of emerging adults. Data were from the Manitoba Longitudinal Study of Young Adults (n = 679), which was collected in 4 waves across 5 years (age 18-20 at baseline). Parallel process latent class growth modeling was used to identified 5 joint trajectory classes: low decreasing gambling, low increasing depression (81%); low stable gambling, moderate decreasing depression (9%); low stable gambling, high decreasing depression (5%); low stable gambling, moderate stable depression (3%); moderate stable problem gambling, no depression (2%). There was no evidence of reciprocal growth in problem gambling and depression in any of the joint classes. Multinomial logistic regression analyses of baseline risk and protective factors found that only neuroticism, escape-avoidance coping, and perceived level of family social support were significant predictors of joint trajectory class membership. Consistent with the pathways model framework, we observed that individuals in the problem gambling only class were more likely using gambling as a stable way to cope with negative emotions. Similarly, high levels of neuroticism and low levels of family support were associated with increased odds of being in a class with moderate to high levels of depressive symptoms (but low gambling problems). The results suggest that interventions for problem gambling and/or depression need to focus on promoting more adaptive coping skills among more "at-risk" young adults, and such interventions should be tailored in relation to specific subtypes of comorbid mental illness.

  2. Emergent literacy skills, behavior problems and familial antecedents of reading difficulties: a follow-up study of reading achievement from kindergarten to fifth grade.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Hugo Câmara; Perdry, Hervé; Soria, Carmen; Pulgar, Salomé; Cusin, Françoise; Dellatolas, Georges

    2013-03-01

    This study examined the relation between emergent literacy skills, teachers' reports of behavioral problems, and word reading achievement in a community sample of French students. Family background was investigated and included familial antecedents of reading difficulties (Fa/Rd) and parents' educational level. The analyses explored the pattern of concurrent relations between behavioral, familial and emergent literacy measures in a sample of 812 preschoolers, and their predictive power in explaining word reading achievement in a sub-sample of 150 children followed from kindergarten to fifth grade. Word reading at fifth grade was predicted by kindergarten measures of phonological awareness and letter knowledge. Teachers' reports of inattention symptoms at each grade level were associated with early reading skills and with subsequent word reading. Fa/Rd were concurrently and longitudinally associated with emergent literacy skills, teachers' reported inattention and word reading. These results indicate that children with a family history of reading difficulties are at increased risk for the co-occurrence of reading difficulties and attention problems from kindergarten onward. These findings confirm the shared influence of Fa/Rd on the comorbidity between inattention symptoms and reading difficulties in a non-diagnosed community sample of preschool children followed through late elementary school. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  3. Emergence delirium

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Munk, Louise; Andersen, Lars Peter Holst; Gögenur, Ismail

    2013-01-01

    Emergence delirium (ED) is a well-known phenomenon in the postoperative period. However, the literature concerning this clinical problem is limited. This review evaluates the literature with respect to epidemiology and risk factors. Treatment strategies are discussed. The review concludes...

  4. Agricultural problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bickerton, George E.

    1997-01-01

    Although there were not reasons to deplore against major activity release from any of the 110 industrial reactors authorized to operate in US, the nuclear incident that occurred at the Three Mile Island Plant in 1979 urged the public conscience toward the necessity of readiness to cope with events of this type. The personnel of the Emergency Planning Office functioning in the frame of US Department of Agriculture has already participated in around 600 intervention drillings on a federal, local or state scale to plan, test or asses radiological emergency plans or to intervene locally. These exercises allowed acquiring a significant experience in elaborating emergency plans, planning the drillings, working out scenarios and evaluation of the potential impact of accidents from the agricultural point of view. We have also taken part in different international drillings among which the most recent are INEX 1 and RADEX 94. We have found on these occasions that the agricultural problems are essential preoccupations in most of the cases no matter if the context is international, national, local or of state level. The paper poses problems specifically related to milk, fruits and vegetables, soils, meat and meat products. Finally the paper discusses issues like drilling planning, alarm and notification, sampling strategy, access authorizations for farmers, removing of contamination wastes. A number of social, political and economical relating problems are also mentioned

  5. Monitoring emerging contaminants in the drinking water of Milan and assessment of the human risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riva, Francesco; Castiglioni, Sara; Fattore, Elena; Manenti, Angela; Davoli, Enrico; Zuccato, Ettore

    2018-04-01

    Emerging Contaminants (ECs) are ubiquitous in waters, arousing concern because of their potential risks for human health and the environment. This study investigated the presence of multiple classes of ECs in 21 wells over the drinking water network of Milan, in the most inhabited and industrialized area of Italy, and assessed the risks for consumers. Samples were analyzed using liquid chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Human risk assessment (HRA) was conducted by comparing the measured concentrations with drinking water thresholds from guidelines or calculated in this study; first considering the exposure to each single EC and then the entire mixture. Thirteen ECs were measured in the low ng/L range, and were generally detected in less than half of the wells. Pharmaceuticals, perfluorinated substances, personal care products, and anthropogenic markers were the most frequently detected. The results of the HRA excluded any risks for consumers in each scenario considered. This is one of the most comprehensive studies assessing the presence of a large number of ECs in the whole drinking water network of a city, and the risks for human health. Results improve the limited information on ECs sources and occurrence in drinking water and help establishing guidelines for regulatory purposes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  6. The problem of slurries of industrial wastes water treatments; Problematica de los lodos procedentes del tratamiento de las aguas residuales de la actividad industrial

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rodriguez Frutos, J.L. [Tecnologias del Medio Ambiente, Universidad del Pais Vasco (Spain)

    1995-07-01

    The water treatment is not a problem today. The major problem are the slurries and fungi produced by the industrial waste water treatment. This article explains the different utilizations and the main applications of the water in the industrial process. The different treatments (thermal inertization sanitary landfills, etc) are presented.

  7. The potential for expert system support in solving the pressurized water reactor fuel shuffling problem

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rothleder, B.M.; Poetschat, G.R.; Faught, W.S.; Eich, V.J.

    1988-01-01

    The fuel shuffling problem is posed by the need to reposition partially burned assemblies to achieve minimum X-Y pin power peaks reload cycles of pressurized water reactors. This problem is a classic artificial intelligence (AI) problem and is highly suitable for AI expert system solution assistance, in contrast to the conventional solution, which ultimately depends solely on trial and error. Such a fuel shuffling assistant would significantly reduce engineering and computer execution time for conventional loading patterns and, much more importantly, even more significantly for low-leakage loading patterns. A successful hardware/software demonstrator has been introduced, paving the way for development of a broadly expert system program. Such a program, upon incorporating the recently developed technique perverse depletion, would provide a directed path for solving the low-leakage problem

  8. Leptospirosis: an emerging global public health problem

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    PRAKASH KUMAR

    water. Contrastingly, the incidence appears to be increasing in developing countries ... reduction, environmental sanitation, more hygienic work-related and ..... Treatment. Antibiotic treatment is effective within 7 to 10 days of infection and it ...

  9. The switch to refillable bottled water in Indonesia: a serious health risk.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komarulzaman, Ahmad; de Jong, Eelke; Smits, Jeroen

    2017-10-01

    In recent years, the consumption of refillable bottled water has increased considerably in emerging countries. However, the quality of this water is often questionable, as authorities lack the capacity to properly check refilling depots. Given that refillable bottled water not only replaces unimproved water sources, but also better-quality sources, like piped and branded bottled water, its increasing use poses a major health risk. We investigate the motives behind the decision to switch to refillable bottled water in Indonesia. Findings indicate that this switch is driven by lifestyle motives, as well as by cost and availability considerations. It is mostly the young affluent households who switch from piped and 'other' sources to refillable bottled water. In rural areas, the tendency to make this switch is negatively affected by availability problems and the higher price of refillable bottled water. Availability and cost also influence the switch from branded bottled to refillable bottled water, but here it is the poorer households who have a higher propensity to switch. Further exploration of the lifestyle motive and affordability issues, as well as better monitoring of the refilling depots, are needed to improve the quality of drinking water in Indonesia and other emerging countries.

  10. Dimensioning of emergency condensers in accordance with safety requirements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Palavecino, C [SIEMENS, Energieerzeugung, Offenbach (Germany)

    1996-12-01

    The emergency condensers are heat exchangers consisting of a parallel arrangement of horizontal U-tubes between two common heads. The tope header is connected via piping to the reactor vessel steam space, while the lower header is connected to the reactor vessel below the reactor vessel water level. The heat exchangers are located in a pool filled with cold water. The emergency condensers and the reactor vessel thus form a system of communicating pipes. At normal reactor water level, the emergency condensers are flooded with cold, non-flowing water. No heat transfer takes place in this condition. If there is a drop in the reactor water level, the heat exchanging surfaces are gradually uncovered and the incoming steam condenses on the cold surfaces. The cold condensate in returned to the reactor vessel. In this way, heat is removed from the reactor vessel and water simultaneously supplied to the reactor vessel. This means that the emergency condensers function as a heat removal system while at the same time serving as HP and LP coolant injection systems. The emergency condensers operate with the highest possible degree of passivity imaginable, namely through a drop in the reactor vessel water level alone, requiring neither control systems nor power supply. The design of the emergency condensers must meet the requirements dictated by the thermal and the hydraulic conditions. Taking into consideration a redundancy degree of N + 2, a specific thermal rating of 63 MW per emergency condenser results for a reactor with an output of 2778 MW. The total performance of the emergency condenser system in thus 252 MW, or 9.1% of reactor output. The probability of failure of the emergency condenser of Siemens SWR 1000 is approximately 10{sup -4} per demand, while that of the older emergency condenser designs is approximately 2 to 3 x 10{sup -3} per demand. (author). 7 figs, 2 tabs.

  11. The Adults in the Making program: long-term protective stabilizing effects on alcohol use and substance use problems for rural African American emerging adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brody, Gene H; Yu, Tianyi; Chen, Yi-fu; Kogan, Steven M; Smith, Karen

    2012-02-01

    This report addresses the long-term efficacy of the Adults in the Making (AIM) prevention program on deterring the escalation of alcohol use and development of substance use problems, particularly among rural African American emerging adults confronting high levels of contextual risk. African American youths (M age, pretest = 17.7 years) were assigned randomly to the AIM (n = 174) or control (n = 173) group. Past 3-month alcohol use, past 6-month substance use problems, risk taking, and susceptibility cognitions were assessed at pretest and at 6.4, 16.6, and 27.5 months after pretest. Pretest assessments of parent-child conflict, affiliations with substance-using companions, and perceived racial discrimination were used to construct a contextual risk factor index. A protective stabilizing hypothesis was supported; the long-term efficacy of AIM in preventing escalation of alcohol use and substance use problems was greater for youths with higher pretest contextual risk scores. Consistent with a mediation-moderation hypothesis, AIM-induced reductions over time in risk taking and susceptibility cognitions were responsible for the AIM × contextual risk prevention effects on alcohol use and substance use problems. Training in developmentally appropriate protective parenting processes and self-regulatory skills during the transition from adolescence to emerging adulthood for rural African Americans may contribute to a self-sustaining decreased interest in alcohol use and a lower likelihood of developing substance use problems. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

  12. Application of Satellite Remote Sensing to Identify Climatic and Anthropogenic Changes Related to Water and Health Conditions in Emerging Megacities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Akanda, A. S.; Serman, E. A.; Jutla, A.

    2014-12-01

    By 2050, more than 70% of the world's population is expected to be living in a city. In many of the urbanizing regions in Asia and Africa, most new development is taking place without adequate urban or regional planning, and a majority population is crowded into densely populated unplanned settlements, also known as slums. During the same period, precipitation and temperature patterns are likely to see significant changes in many of these regions while coastal megacities will have to accommodate sea-level rise in their ecosystems. The rapid increase in population is usually observed in fringes of the urban sprawl without adequate water or sanitation facilities or access to other municipal amenities (such as utilities, healthcare, and education). Collectively, these issues make the ever increasing slum dwellers in emerging megacities significantly vulnerable to a combination of climatic and anthropogenic threats. However, how the growth of unplanned urban and peri-urban sprawl and simultaneous change in climatic patterns have impacted public health in the emerging megacities remain largely unexplored due to lack of readily available and usable data. We employ a number of Remote Sensing products (GRACE, LANDSAT, MODIS) to bridge above knowledge gaps and to identify relevant hydrologic and anthropogenic changes in emerging megacities that are most vulnerable due to the climate-water-health nexus. We explore one of the largest and the fastest growing megacities in the world - Dhaka, Bangladesh - on identifying and investigating the changes in the water environment and growth of slum areas, and impact on water services and health outcomes. The hydroclimatology of South Asia is highly seasonal and the asymmetric availability of water affects vast areas of Bangladesh differently in space and time, exposing the population of Dhaka region to both droughts and floods and periodic spring-fall outbreaks of diarrheal diseases, such as cholera and rotavirus. This research

  13. Solving radwaste problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Oyen, L.C.

    1976-01-01

    The combination of regulatory changes and increased waste volume has resulted in design changes in waste processing systems. Problems resulting from waste segregation as a basis for design philosophy are considered, and solutions to the problems are suggested. The importance of operator training, maintenance procedures, good housekeeping, water management, and offsite shipment of solids is discussed. Flowsheets for radioactive waste processing systems for boiling water reactors and pressurized water reactors are included

  14. Problems of pricing fresh water obtained from a sea water desalination plant; Problemes de tarification de l'eau douce obtenue a partir d'une installation de dessalement d'eau de mer

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gaussens, J [Commissariat a l' Energie Atomique, (France). Centre d' Etudes Nucleaires

    1967-07-01

    Integrating a double-purpose desalination and electricity generating plant into a water supply system alters the conditions in which the other water and electricity sources are used, as the peak and the base load water and electricity demands have to be met at the least cost. This paper attempts to show how the problem of determining optimal water supply structures can be approached, in definite cases, but against a global economic back-ground. It becomes necessary to define the competition between classical resources and desalination plants, as these plants introduce into optimum studies new factors due to the peculiar shape of their production functions. These new factors (fixed and proportional costs structures, flow availabilities) are studied in relation to the production functions in various management cases (private monopoly, public monopoly). (author) [French] L'intervention d'une installation egalement productrice d'energie electrique dans l'alimentation en eau d'une zone modifie les conditions d'utilisation des autres ressources en eau et en electricite, compte tenu de la necessite d'assurer les pointes et la base des diagrammes de demande d'eau et d'electricite au moindre cout. Cet expose se propose de montrer comment on peut approcher le probleme de la determination des structures optimales d'approvisionnement en eau pour des cas precis, mais dans un cadre economique global, II devient en effet necessaire de situer la competition: ressources classiques/installation de dessalement; ces dernieres introduisent, dans les etudes d'optimum, des elements nouveaux dus a la forme particuliere de leurs fonctions de production. On etudie ces elements nouveaux (structures des couts fixes et des couts proportionnels, disponibilite des debits) en liaison avec les fonctions de production dans divers cas de gestion (monopole prive, monopole public). (auteur)

  15. Emerging from Water: Underwater Image Color Correction Based on Weakly Supervised Color Transfer

    OpenAIRE

    Li, Chongyi; Guo, Jichang; Guo, Chunle

    2017-01-01

    Underwater vision suffers from severe effects due to selective attenuation and scattering when light propagates through water. Such degradation not only affects the quality of underwater images but limits the ability of vision tasks. Different from existing methods which either ignore the wavelength dependency of the attenuation or assume a specific spectral profile, we tackle color distortion problem of underwater image from a new view. In this letter, we propose a weakly supervised color tr...

  16. Endophthalmitis caused by Fusarium: An emerging problem in patients with corneal trauma. A case series.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrios Andrés, José Luis; López-Soria, Leyre Mónica; Alastruey Izquierdo, Ana; Echevarría Ecenarro, Jaime; Feijoó Lera, Raquel; Garrido Fierro, Jesus; Cabrerizo Nuñez, Francisco Javier; Canut Blasco, Andrés

    Although fortunately very rare in countries with a temperate climate, certain factors, such as clinical or pharmacological immunosuppression, may cause Fusarium-related fungal infections to become an emerging problem. Moreover, Fusarium is one of the most important etiological agents in exogenous endophthalmitis, which is often favored by the disruption of the epithelial barriers. The aim of this series of clinical cases is to identify characteristic clinical findings that may allow an early diagnosis and more efficient management of this ophthalmologic emergency. Three cases of endophthalmitis due to Fusarium solani and Fusarium oxysporum, diagnosed in 2009, 2010, and 2014 in patients from two different health regions belonging to the same health system and separated by around 43 miles, are presented. The Fusarium isolates were initially identified microscopically and the species subsequently confirmed by sequencing the elongation factor alpha (EFα) and internal transcribed spacers (ITS). Susceptibility to antifungal agents was determined using the EUCAST broth dilution method. Evolution was poor as two of the three patients progressed to phthisis bulbi despite surgical measures and broad-spectrum antifungal antibiotic therapy. It is essential to rapidly instigate multidisciplinary measures to combat suspected endophthalmitis due to Fusarium given the poor prognosis of this type of infection. Copyright © 2018 Asociación Española de Micología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

  17. Classification,Hazards and Countermeasures of Agricultural Environmental Pollution Emergencies

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Xiaoming; CHUAI; Haixia; ZHOU; Jianping; ZHAO; Shubo; CHENG; Jiang; YU

    2013-01-01

    Agricultural environmental pollution emergencies have become a hot research topic because of the high incidence and influence depth.This paper introduces classification and features of agricultural environmental pollution emergencies:by pollutant type,it falls into organic pollution emergencies and inorganic pollution emergencies;by the approach of entering agricultural environment,it falls into water resource agricultural environmental pollution emergencies and non-water resource agricultural environmental pollution emergencies.Hazards of agricultural environmental pollution emergencies are analyzed from 4 perspectives:personal security,indirect loss,ecological environment and social stability.In view of the hazards,countermeasures are given to deal with the pollution emergencies as(i)establishing a risk evaluation mechanism for agricultural environment;(ii)enhancing the capacity of handling agricultural environmental pollution emergencies;(iii)introducing new management concepts for environmental emergencies,and cultivating keen emergency management consciousness.

  18. Development of incident progress prediction technologies for nuclear emergency preparedness. Current status and future subjects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoshida, Yoshitaka; Yamamoto, Yasunori; Kusunoki, Takayoshi; Kawasaki, Ikuo; Yanagi, Chihiro; Kinoshita, Ikuo; Iwasaki, Yoshito

    2014-01-01

    Nuclear licensees are required to maintain a prediction system during normal condition for using a nuclear emergency by the Basic Plan for Disaster Prevention of government. With prediction of the incident progress, if the present condition of nuclear power plant is understood appropriately and it grows more serious with keeping the present situation, it is in predicting what kind of situation will be occurred in the near future, choosing the effective countermeasures against the coming threat, and understanding the time available of intervention time. Following the accident on September 30 1999 in the nuclear fuel fabrication facility in Tokai Village of Ibaraki Prefecture, the Institute of Nuclear Safety System started development of incident progress prediction technologies for nuclear emergency preparedness. We have performed technical applications and made improvements in nuclear emergency exercises and verified the developed systems using the observed values of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. As a result, our developed Incident Progress Prediction System was applied to nuclear emergency exercises and we accumulated knowledge and experience by which we improved the system to make predictions more rapidly and more precisely, including for example, the development of a prediction method for leak size of reactor coolant. On the other hand, if a rapidly progressing incident occurs, since end users need simple and quick predictions about the public's protection and evacuation areas, we developed the Radioactive Materials Release, Radiation Dose and Radiological Protection Area Prediction System which changed solving an inverse problem into a forward problem solution. In view of the water-level-decline incident of the spent fuel storage facility at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, the spent fuel storage facility water level and the water temperature evaluation tool were improved. Such incident progress prediction technologies were

  19. On problems in defining abstract and metaphysical concepts--emergence of a new model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nahod, Bruno; Nahod, Perina Vukša

    2014-12-01

    Basic anthropological terminology is the first project covering terms from the domain of the social sciences under the Croatian Special Field Terminology program (Struna). Problems that have been sporadically noticed or whose existence could have been presumed during the processing of terms mainly from technical fields and sciences have finally emerged in "anthropology". The principles of the General Theory of Terminology (GTT), which are followed in Struna, were put to a truly exacting test, and sometimes stretched beyond their limits when applied to concepts that do not necessarily have references in the physical world; namely, abstract and metaphysical concepts. We are currently developing a new terminographical model based on Idealized Cognitive Models (ICM), which will hopefully ensure a better cross-filed implementation of various types of concepts and their relations. The goal of this paper is to introduce the theoretical bases of our model. Additionally, we will present a pilot study of the series of experiments in which we are trying to investigate the nature of conceptual categorization in special languages and its proposed difference form categorization in general language.

  20. Effect of salt stress and seed priming methods on emergence and seedling characteristics of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masoumeh Salehi

    2018-06-01

    Full Text Available ]Introduction The main limiting factor for food security in Iran and world is water qualitative and quantitative. Agriculture sector is the main consumer of water and more vulnerable section from water crisis. In order to improve food security calorie requirement of growing population should be provided from nonsaline water resources. Quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa is diploeid, allotetraploied, C3 and facultative halophyte from Amaranthace family and categorized in pseudo cereal group. This plant has cultivated 5000 years in Ands, and the highest cultivated area is in Bolivia near salt flats. This plant can grow successfully in different countries such as, Europe countries, USA, Canada, Africa, Morocco, Pakistan and India. Protein content is between 13.81-21.9% and flour is gluten free and provides all essential amino acid of human. Because of high potential of quinoa for providing human calories and high salt and drought tolerance it could be considered for saline and marginal area. Quinoa was selected for cultivation with saline water because of salt tolerance and economic production with saline water which are not use for conventional crop. The main problem of quinoa is emergence and stand establishment with saline water. The aim of this study is evaluation of salinity stress on plant emergence and priming effect of emergence improvement under saline condition. Materials and methods In order to evaluate salinity stress on emergence and establishment of quinoa an experiment was conducted based on CRD design with 5 levels of salinity (0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 dS/m with four replication in soil and cocopit. Emergence recorded daily and finally plant height and dry weight was measured. Two piece and modified discount function model was fitted to emergence percent. In order to improve emergence under saline condition an experiment was conducted with three treatments (Gibberlic acid (10 ppm, H2O and Ascorbic acid (3 ppm and four levels of salinity (0, 4 and

  1. Safety of emerging nuclear energy systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Novikov, V.M.; Slesarev, I.S.

    1989-01-01

    The first stage of world nuclear power development based on light water fission reactors has demonstrated not only rather high rate but at the same time too optimistic attitude to safety problems. Large accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl essentially affects the concept of NP development. As a result the safety and social acceptance of NP became of absolute priority among other problems. That's why emerging nuclear power systems should be first of all estimated from this point of view. In the paper some quantitative criteria of safety derived from estimations of social risk and economic-ecological damage from hypothetical accidents are formulated. On the base of these criteria we define two stages of possible way to meet safety demands: first--development of high safety fission reactors and second--that of asymptotic high safety ENEs. The limits of tolorated expenses for safety are regarded. The basis physical factors determining hazards of NES accidents are considered. This permits to classify the ways of safety demands fulfillment due to physical principals used

  2. WATER: EMERGING CHALLENGE FOR INDIA'S BRIGHTEST A ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    T. N. Narasimhan

    2009-08-25

    Aug 25, 2009 ... of science, technology, and management will lead the way. • Justifiably so. Alumni of ... INDIA'S WATER CRISIS. • Water availability in India is ... developments stress India's already stressed water systems. • Economy drives ...

  3. Emerging tools for continuous nutrient monitoring networks: Sensors advancing science and water resources protection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pellerin, Brian; Stauffer, Beth A; Young, Dwane A; Sullivan, Daniel J.; Bricker, Suzanne B.; Walbridge, Mark R; Clyde, Gerard A; Shaw, Denice M

    2016-01-01

    Sensors and enabling technologies are becoming increasingly important tools for water quality monitoring and associated water resource management decisions. In particular, nutrient sensors are of interest because of the well-known adverse effects of nutrient enrichment on coastal hypoxia, harmful algal blooms, and impacts to human health. Accurate and timely information on nutrient concentrations and loads is integral to strategies designed to minimize risk to humans and manage the underlying drivers of water quality impairment. Using nitrate sensors as an example, we highlight the types of applications in freshwater and coastal environments that are likely to benefit from continuous, real-time nutrient data. The concurrent emergence of new tools to integrate, manage and share large data sets is critical to the successful use of nutrient sensors and has made it possible for the field of continuous nutrient monitoring to rapidly move forward. We highlight several near-term opportunities for Federal agencies, as well as the broader scientific and management community, that will help accelerate sensor development, build and leverage sites within a national network, and develop open data standards and data management protocols that are key to realizing the benefits of a large-scale, integrated monitoring network. Investing in these opportunities will provide new information to guide management and policies designed to protect and restore our nation’s water resources.

  4. Key scientific issues in developing drinking water guidelines for perfluoroalkyl acids: Contaminants of emerging concern.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Post, Gloria B; Gleason, Jessie A; Cooper, Keith R

    2017-12-01

    Perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs), a group of synthetic organic chemicals with industrial and commercial uses, are of current concern because of increasing awareness of their presence in drinking water and their potential to cause adverse health effects. PFAAs are distinctive among persistent, bioaccumulative, and toxic (PBT) contaminants because they are water soluble and do not break down in the environment. This commentary discusses scientific and risk assessment issues that impact the development of drinking water guidelines for PFAAs, including choice of toxicological endpoints, uncertainty factors, and exposure assumptions used as their basis. In experimental animals, PFAAs cause toxicity to the liver, the immune, endocrine, and male reproductive systems, and the developing fetus and neonate. Low-dose effects include persistent delays in mammary gland development (perfluorooctanoic acid; PFOA) and suppression of immune response (perfluorooctane sulfonate; PFOS). In humans, even general population level exposures to some PFAAs are associated with health effects such as increased serum lipids and liver enzymes, decreased vaccine response, and decreased birth weight. Ongoing exposures to even relatively low drinking water concentrations of long-chain PFAAs substantially increase human body burdens, which remain elevated for many years after exposure ends. Notably, infants are a sensitive subpopulation for PFAA's developmental effects and receive higher exposures than adults from the same drinking water source. This information, as well as emerging data from future studies, should be considered in the development of health-protective and scientifically sound guidelines for PFAAs in drinking water.

  5. An algorithm for the determination of emergency process parameters at water-into-sodium leaks in the BN-800 NPP steam generator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poplavsky, V.M.; Baklushin, R.P.

    1990-01-01

    The paper presents calculation relationships for the determination of parameters characterizing a sodium circuit state under water-into-sodium leak emergency conditions (mass of water penetrating into sodium, the leak size, amount of impurities in coolant, the size of expected heat-exchange surface damage). An approximation of some parameters as applied to the BN-800 NPP steam generator is presented. (author). 1 ref., 2 figs

  6. Assessment of the Extraction Methods for Monitoring Phthalate Emerging Contaminants in Groundwater and Tap Water

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cotto, I.; Padilla, I. Y.; De Jesús, N. H.; Torres, P. M.

    2015-12-01

    Trace organic contaminants such as phthalates, among other chemicals of emerging concerns, have not historically been considered as pollutants but are being detected in water, posing a potential risk to public health and the environment. One of the most common phthalates of particular concern is di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), a plasticizer normally found in plastics and consumer products, including: cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, food packages, water bottles, and wiring cables. DEHP has been associated with preterm birth, a major cause of neonatal mortality and health complications. This study aims at monitoring the presence and concentration of DEHP and other phthalates in groundwater and tap water systems in Puerto Rico, which has one of the highest rates of preterm birth in the U.S. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests a liquid-liquid extraction method that uses methylene chloride as the preferred organic solvent for the extractions. This work presents modified EPA methods that reduce the volume of sample and solvent used, lower the time of analysis, increase productivity, and decrease hazards and waste. Distribution coefficient of DEHP between methylene chloride and water are estimated and related to sample extraction efficiency. Research results indicate that DEHP is in fact distributed between water and methylene chloride with a distribution coefficient average value of 1.24. The study concludes that the sample and solvent volumes have influence on the efficiency but have not an effect on the distribution coefficient. The tests show higher extraction efficiencies for lower DEHP concentrations and higher extraction volumes. Results from the water analysis show presence of DEHP in 55% of groundwater and 44% of tap water samples, indicating a potential exposure through water.

  7. Water temperature issues in the 90's and beyond

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Railsback, S.F.

    1993-01-01

    Water temperature issues are expected to receive increasing attention in the 1990s. Temperature impacts are among the most common and most expensive environmental issues requiring mitigation at water projects, but few changes in mitigation technologies and little research have occurred in the past decade. Water projects alter water temperatures because the heat balances in reservoirs and in streams with altered flows are significantly different from natural. Several emerging environmental and regulatory concerns and issues are likely to focus additional attention on temperature. Climate change, should it occur as predicted, can be expected to worsen many water temperature problems and complicate the determination of appropriate mitigation for water projects. The purposes of this paper are to review current water temperature issues and mitigation methods, to identify new and future temperature issues, and to identify research needs

  8. Improving the reliability of emergency diesel generators through sustained maintenance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reddy, R.

    2000-01-01

    In Nuclear Power Stations Emergency Diesel Generators are vital safety related equipment which ensures power supply to essential equipment during loss of power. In view of their importance Reliability of Diesel generators should be very high. Since these Diesel generators are standby equipment and operate only during demand or during surveillance checks, their demand failure probability should be very low and once they operate their operational availability should be very high. Madras Atomic Power Station at Kalpakkam, India consists two pressurised heavy water Reactors each rated at 220 MWe. To supply standby power each unit has two Diesel Generators of I 500 kW capacity each. The Diesel Engine is 16 cylinder 'V' type engine and is cranked by Air starting motor and is connected to generator whose rating at 100% load is 1500 KW. During commissioning and in the initial years of operation these Diesel Generators have encountered many problems. Major problem was Diesel Engine failing to start on demand. This was due to non engagement of air motor pinion with ring gear or continued engagement air motor even after the engine had picked up speed and failure of timer to initiate multiple starts after initial incomplete starts Apart from these there were problems like fuel oil leaks, high jacket water temperatures, low fuel oil pressure trips. Another major problem was with excitation system. How these problems were dealt with thereby reducing the demand failure probability and increasing the operational availability are discussed in this paper. (author)

  9. Discussion on problems of terrestrial heat and moderate-hot water at an uranium deposit in Jiangxi province

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Xiangguo

    2003-01-01

    According to scientific research and technical summing up reports, based on the field investigation, the possible problems of terrestrial heat and moderate-hot water during the exploitation of an uranium deposit in Jiangxi Province are discussed. The preliminary analysis and discussion on the distribution, distribution regularity, causes of formation and correlation of terrestrial heat and moderate-hot water at the uranium deposit are carried out

  10. Tracing the source of emerging seepage water at failure slope downstream, Kampung Bharu Bukit Tinggi, Bentong, Pahang

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lakam Mejus; Wan Zakaria Wan Mohd Tahir; Md Shahid Ayub; Jeremy Andy; Johari Latif

    2006-01-01

    This paper discusses method and monitoring result of the source of seepage water emerging (mud flow) at downstream toe of the failure slope at Kampung Bharu Bukit Tinggi, Bentong Pahang. In this investigation, a saline-tracer experiment was conducted by injecting its solution into a drain at an upstream section (old road to Janda Baik town) where a pipeline was found leaking in the vicinity of the roadside and flowing towards hill slopes. Some parts of flowing water was left undetected and seeped through the soil on its way to downstream area. Seepage water downstream was monitored by using a conductivity sensor hooked up to a CR10X data logger and optical back scattering conductivity probes. From the result, it is believed that the source of seepage water is related to the water from the leaking pipeline upstream. The travelling time for the leaking water to reach downstream slope failure was within 16-17 hours. Based on this preliminary investigation, one can conclude that seepage water is one of the main contributing factors that cause slope failure in the vicinity of the investigated hill slopes. Further investigation to understand the failure mechanism at this place by conducting multi-experimental approaches in different seasons, particularly during continuous rain storms. (Author)

  11. Emerging contaminants in agricultural ecosystems: impact of selected pharmaceutical on water and soil ecology and pratical implications

    OpenAIRE

    Saccà, Maria Ludovica

    2010-01-01

    Pharmaceuticals are useful tools to prevent and treat human and animal diseases. Following administration, a significant fraction of pharmaceuticals is excreted unaltered into faeces and urine and may enter the aquatic ecosystem and agricultural soil through irrigation with recycled water, constituting a significant source of emerging contaminants into the environment. Understanding major factors influencing their environmental fate is consequently needed to value the risk, reduce contaminati...

  12. Train operation in emergencies

    CERN Document Server

    Jia, Limin; Qin, Yong

    2017-01-01

    This book presents the latest findings on train operation theories and methods in the context of emergencies. It examines and assesses a range of aspects—including the definition of a railway emergency, transport organization modes in emergencies, calculating railway transport capacity in emergencies, line planning in emergencies, train re-pathing in emergencies and train re-scheduling in emergencies—that are urgently needed in the railway transportation field, which faces the serious challenge of dealing with emergencies worldwide. The book highlights the latest research results in an integrated and systematic way, and the methodology presented is oriented on real-world problems, allowing it to be used not only directly in railway operational management, but also as the point of departure for further applications or theoretical research. As such, the book will be of considerable interest to graduate students and researchers in the field of traffic and transportation engineering.>.

  13. Discussion on runoff purification technology of highway bridge deck based on water quality safety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tan, Sheng-guang; Liu, Xue-xin; Zou, Guo-ping; Xiong, Xin-zhu; Tao, Shuang-cheng

    2018-06-01

    Aiming at the actual problems existing, including a poor purification effect of highway bridge runoff collection and treatment system across sensitive water and necessary manual emergency operation, three kinds of technology, three pools system of bridge runoff purification, the integral pool of bridge runoff purification and ecological planting tank, are put forward by optimizing the structure of purification unit and system setting. At the same time, we come up with an emergency strategy for hazardous material leakage basing on automatic identification and remote control of traffic accidents. On the basis of combining these with the optimized pool structure, sensitive water safety can be guaranteed and water pollution, from directly discharging of bridge runoff, can be decreased. For making up for the shortages of green highway construction technology, the technique has important reference value.

  14. Metaphor and the 'Emergent Property' Problem: A Relevance-Theoretic Approach

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robyn Carston

    2008-08-01

    Full Text Available The interpretation of metaphorical utterances often results in the attribution of emergent properties; these are properties which are neither standardly associated with the individual constituents of the utterance in isolation nor derivable by standard rules of semantic composition. For example, an utterance of ‘Robert is a bulldozer’ may be understood as attributing to Robert such properties as single-mindedness, insistence on having things done in his way, and insensitivity to the opinions/feelings of others, although none of these is included in the encyclopaedic information associated with bulldozers (earth-clearing machines. An adequate pragmatic account of metaphor interpretation must provide an explanation of the processes through which emergent properties are derived. In this paper, we attempt to develop an explicit account of the derivation process couched within the framework of relevance theory. The key features of our account are: (a metaphorical language use is taken to lie on a continuum with other cases of loose use, including hyperbole; (b metaphor interpretation is a wholly inferential process, which does not require associative mappings from one domain (e.g. machines to another (e.g. human beings; (c the derivation of emergent properties involves no special interpretive mechanisms not required for the interpretation of ordinary, literal utterances.

  15. Emergency plan belgian experience

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Clymans, A.

    1989-01-01

    The Chernobyl disaster prompted authorities in Belgium to carry out a comprehensive review of all emergency plans and, in particular, those designed specifically for nuclear accidents. This review was aimed at determining what type of plans existed and to what extent such plans were operational. This paper sets out to present a broad overview of different aspects of this problem: organization of public emergency plans, co-ordination of operations, merits and demerits of centralization as opposed to decentralization, planning zones, obligation to release information to the public and relations with the media, and finally the international dimension to the problem. The author expresses the hope that the latter area will inspire practical suggestions [fr

  16. Integrative Governance of Environmental Water in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin: Evolving Challenges and Emerging Pathways.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bischoff-Mattson, Zachary; Lynch, Amanda H

    2017-07-01

    Integration, a widely promoted response to the multi-scale complexities of social-environmental sustainability, is diversely and sometimes poorly conceptualized. In this paper we explore integrative governance, which we define as an iterative and contextual process for negotiating and advancing the common interest. We ground this definition in a discussion of institutional factors conditioning integrative governance of environmental water in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin. The Murray-Darling Basin is an iconic system of social-ecological complexity, evocative of large-scale conservation challenges in other developed arid river basins. Our critical assessment of integrative governance practices in that context emerges through analysis of interviews with policy participants and documents pertaining to environmental water management in the tri-state area of southwestern New South Wales, northwestern Victoria, and the South Australian Riverland. We identify four linked challenges: (i) decision support for developing socially robust environmental water management goals, (ii) resource constraints on adaptive practice, (iii) inter-state differences in participatory decision-making and devolution of authority, and (iv) representative inclusion in decision-making. Our appraisal demonstrates these as pivotal challenges for integrative governance in the common interest. We conclude by offering a perspective on the potential for supporting integrative governance through the bridging capacity of Australia's Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder.

  17. Contaminants of emerging concern in reverse osmosis brine concentrate from indirect/direct water reuse applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romeyn, Travis R; Harijanto, Wesley; Sandoval, Sofia; Delagah, Saied; Sharbatmaleki, Mohamadali

    2016-01-01

    Water shortage is becoming more common due to droughts and global population increases resulting in the increasing popularity of water reuse to create new water sources. Reverse osmosis (RO) membrane systems are popular in these applications since they can produce drinking water quality effluent. Unfortunately, RO systems have the drawback of generating concentrate streams that contain contaminants rejected by the membrane including chemicals of emerging concern (CECs). CECs are chemicals such as hormones, steroids, pesticides, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products that are used for their intended purpose and then released into wastewater. CECs are believed to be detrimental to aquatic wildlife health and pose an unknown human health risk. This research gathered the existing knowledge on CEC presence in concentrate, available proven concentrate treatment methods, their CEC removal abilities, and current CEC regulations. It was found that 127 CECs have been measured in RO concentrate with 100 being detected at least once. The most potent treatment process available is UV/H2O2 as it offers the highest removal rates for the widest range of chemicals. The less expensive process of ozone/biologically activated carbon offers slightly lower removal abilities. This comprehensive report will provide the groundwork for better understanding, regulating and treating concentrate stream CECs.

  18. The Obstetrics Gynecology and Children's Hospital Emergency ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    EB

    The efficiency of emergency rooms is becoming increasingly important and has been addressed by legislation. Prompt emergency room service is expected when patients present to an emergency room with urgent health problems. However, depending on various factors, the wait times for access to health services can be ...

  19. Problems of medical personnel deontology during radiation emergency response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Poplavskij, K.K.; Popov, A.O.

    1990-01-01

    Problems of deontology in the process of liquidation of radiation accident consequences are considered in the article. It is noted, that shortages of ethical nature in the activities of physicians are related to insufficient qualification of medical personnel in the area of radiation medicine. Problems of medical personnel participation in the large scale propaganda activities among various groups of population are considered. 5 refs

  20. Occurrence of Emerging Micropollutants in Water Systems in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and North West Provinces, South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanda, Elijah M M; Nyoni, Hlengilizwe; Mamba, Bhekie B; Msagati, Titus A M

    2017-01-13

    The ubiquitous occurrence of emerging micropollutants (EMPs) in water is an issue of growing environmental-health concern worldwide. However, there remains a paucity of data regarding their levels and occurrence in water. This study determined the occurrence of EMPs namely: carbamazepine (CBZ), galaxolide (HHCB), caffeine (CAF), tonalide (AHTN), 4-nonylphenol (NP), and bisphenol A (BPA) in water from Gauteng, Mpumalanga, and North West provinces, South Africa using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography coupled to high resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GCxGC-HRTOFMS). Kruskal-Wallis test and ANOVA were performed to determine temporal variations in occurrence of the EMPs. Principal component analysis (PCA) and Surfer Golden Graphics software for surface mapping were used to determine spatial variations in levels and occurrence of the EMPs. The mean levels ranged from 11.22 ± 18.8 ng/L for CAF to 158.49 ± 662 ng/L for HHCB. There was no evidence of statistically significant temporal variations in occurrence of EMPs in water. Nevertheless, their levels and occurrence vary spatially and are a function of two principal components (PCs, PC1 and PC2) which controlled 89.99% of the variance. BPA was the most widely distributed EMP, which was present in 62% of the water samples. The detected EMPs pose ecotoxicological risks in water samples, especially those from Mpumalanga province.

  1. Problems with provision: barriers to drinking water quality and public health in rural Tasmania, Australia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whelan, Jessica J; Willis, Karen

    2007-01-01

    Access to safe drinking water is essential to human life and wellbeing, and is a key public health issue. However, many communities in rural and regional parts of Australia are unable to access drinking water that meets national standards for protecting human health. The aim of this research was to identify the key issues in and barriers to the provision and management of safe drinking water in rural Tasmania, Australia. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key local government employees and public health officials responsible for management of drinking water in rural Tasmania. Participants were asked about their core public health duties, regulatory responsibilities, perceptions and management of risk, as well as the key barriers that may be affecting the provision of safe drinking water. This research highlights the effect of rural locality on management and safety of fresh water in protecting public health. The key issues contributing to problems with drinking water provision and quality identified by participants included: poor and inadequate water supply infrastructure; lack of resources and staffing; inadequate catchment monitoring; and the effect of competing land uses, such as forestry, on water supply quality. This research raises issues of inequity in the provision of safe drinking water in rural communities. It highlights not only the increasing need for greater funding by state and commonwealth government for basic services such as drinking water, but also the importance of an holistic and integrated approach to managing drinking water resources in rural Tasmania.

  2. Presence of selected chemicals of emerging concern in water and bottom sediment from the St. Louis River, St. Louis Bay, and Superior Bay, Minnesota and Wisconsin, 2010

    Science.gov (United States)

    Christensen, Victoria G.; Lee, Kathy E.; Kieta, Kristen A.; Elliott, Sarah M.

    2012-01-01

    The St. Louis Bay of Lake Superior receives substantial urban runoff, wastewater treatment plant effluent, and industrial effluent. In 1987, the International Joint Commission designated the St. Louis Bay portion of the lower St. Louis River as one of the Great Lakes Areas of Concern. Concerns exist about the potential effects of chemicals of emerging concern on aquatic biota because many of these chemicals, including endocrine active chemicals, have been shown to affect the endocrine systems of fish. To determine the occurrence of chemicals of emerging concern in the St. Louis River, the St. Louis Bay, and Superior Bay, the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources collected water and bottom-sediment samples from 40 sites from August through October 2010. The objectives of this study were to (1) identify the extent to which chemicals of emerging concern, including pharmaceuticals, hormones, and other organic chemicals, occur in the St. Louis River, St. Louis Bay, and Superior Bay, and (2) identify the extent to which the chemicals may have accumulated in bottom sediment of the study area. Samples were analyzed for selected wastewater indicators, hormones, sterols, bisphenol A, and human-health pharmaceuticals. During this study, 33 of 89 chemicals of emerging concern were detected among all water samples collected and 56 of 104 chemicals of emerging concern were detected in bottom-sediment samples. The chemical N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide (DEET) was the most commonly detected chemical in water samples and 2,6-dimethylnaphthalene was the most commonly detected chemical in bottom-sediment samples. In general, chemicals of emerging concern were detected at a higher frequency in bottom-sediment samples than in water samples. Estrone (a steroid hormone) and hexahydrohexamethyl cyclopentabensopyran (a synthetic fragrance) were the most commonly detected endocrine active chemicals in

  3. SOLAR/VISIBLE LIGHT-ACTIVATED TIO2 PHOTOCATALYST FOR THE DEGRADATION OF CONTAMINANTS OF EMERGING CONCERN IN WATER

    Science.gov (United States)

    Many kinds of water contaminants, including pesticides, pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), and naturally occurring toxins (e.g., cyanotoxins) have been found in the environment [1-3]. Due to their adverse effects (toxicity, endocrine disruption, growth problems, ...

  4. Emergence of a signal from background noise in the "memory of water" experiments: how to explain it?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beauvais, Francis

    2012-01-01

    After more than 20 years, the case of the "memory of water" still has not been resolved satisfactorily. After the affair with the journal Nature, Benveniste extended his results on high dilutions to an "electromagnetic biology" and then to a "digital biology," where electromagnetic signals supposed to be emitted from biologically active solutions were said to be stored on magnetic memories. Although the results obtained by Benveniste and coworkers were obvious, the difficulties in reproducibility by other teams created doubt of the reality of the alleged phenomenon. In a first step, we analyzed a set of experiments obtained by Benveniste's team in the 1990s. We quantified the relationship between "expected" effects (ie, labels of the tested samples) and apparatus outcomes, and we defined the experimental conditions to observe significant correlations. We concluded that the results of these experiments were related to experimenter-dependent correlations, which did not support the initial "memory of water" hypothesis. The fact that a signal emerged from background noise, however, remained puzzling. Therefore, in a second step, we described Benveniste's experiments according to the relational interpretation of quantum physics of C. Rovelli. In this interpretation, the state of a system is observer-dependent and the collapse of the wave function appears only in the states relative to a given observer. This interpretation allowed us to elaborate a model describing Benveniste's experiments in which the emergence of a signal from background noise was described by the entanglement of the experimenter with the observed system. In conclusion, the pursuit of the experimental "proof" to support the "memory of water" hypothesis has prevented other interpretations. Although our hypothesis does not definitely dismiss the possibility of "memory of water," the experimenter-dependent entanglement could be an attractive alternative interpretation of Benveniste's experiments

  5. Winter Weather Emergencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Severe winter weather can lead to health and safety challenges. You may have to cope with Cold related health problems, including ... there are no guarantees of safety during winter weather emergencies, you can take actions to protect yourself. ...

  6. Problems especially relating to sea water condensers

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyer, Raymond.

    1975-01-01

    Sea water forms a nearly unlimited cold source well adapted to the open circuit cooling of large nuclear power plants. As a counter-part, its physico-chemical and biological characteristics generally require complicated arrangements for preventing: - first, the sea water to enter accidentally, especially as a consequence of corrosions and erosion-corrosions. Indeed, certain materials used in modern plants very badly suffer any introduction of salted water into the cycle steam-water mixture: - secondly, damaging the flow conditions of the cooling water (increase in friction coefficients, restriction of passage cross sections, blocking) and heat exchange parameters (resisting deposits, circulation troubles...) [fr

  7. Point Sources of Emerging Contaminants Along the Colorado River Basin: Impact on Water Use and Reuse in the Arid Southwest

    Science.gov (United States)

    Emerging contaminants (ECs) (e.g., pharmaceuticals, illicit drugs, personal care products) have been detected in waters across the United States. The objective of this study was to evaluate point sources of ECs along the Colorado River, from the headwaters in Colorado to the Gulf...

  8. Curved backgrounds in emergent gravity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaurasia, Shikha; Erlich, Joshua; Zhou, Yiyu

    2018-06-01

    Field theories that are generally covariant but nongravitational at tree level typically give rise to an emergent gravitational interaction whose strength depends on a physical regulator. We consider emergent gravity models in which scalar fields assume the role of clock and rulers, addressing the problem of time in quantum gravity. We discuss the possibility of nontrivial dynamics for clock and ruler fields, and describe some of the consequences of those dynamics for the emergent gravitational theory.

  9. Tonoplast aquaporins facilitate lateral root emergence

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Reinhardt, Hagen; Hachez, Charles; Bienert, Manuela Désirée

    2016-01-01

    Aquaporins (AQPs) are water channels allowing fast and passive diffusion of water across cell membranes. It was hypothesized that AQPs contribute to cell elongation processes by allowing water influx across the plasma membrane and the tonoplast to maintain adequate turgor pressure. Here, we report...... mutants showed no or minor reduction in growth of the main root. This phenotype was due to the retardation of LRP emergence. Live cell imaging revealed that tight spatiotemporal control of TIP abundance in the tonoplast of the different LRP cells is pivotal to mediating this developmental process. While...... lateral root emergence is correlated to a reduction of AtTIP1;1 and AtTIP1;2 protein levels in LRPs, expression of AtTIP2;1 is specifically needed in a restricted cell population at the base, then later at the flanks, of developing LRPs. Interestingly, the LRP emergence phenotype of the triple tip mutants...

  10. Water citizenship

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Paerregaard, Karsten; Stensrud, Astrid Bredholt; Andersen, Astrid Oberborbeck

    2016-01-01

    This article examines the implementation of Peru’s new water law and discusses how it produces new forms of water citizenship. Inspired by the global paradigm of “integrated water resources management,” the law aims to include all citizens in the management of the country’s water resources...... by embracing a “new water culture.” We ask what forms of water citizenship emerge from the new water law and how they engage with local water practices and affect existing relations of inequality. We answer these questions ethnographically by comparing previous water legislation and how the new law currently...... is negotiated and contested in three localities in Peru’s southern highlands. We argue that the law creates a new water culture that views water as a substance that is measurable, quantifiable, and taxable, but that it neglects other ways of valuing water. We conclude that water citizenship emerges from...

  11. Computational issues in complex water-energy optimization problems: Time scales, parameterizations, objectives and algorithms

    Science.gov (United States)

    Efstratiadis, Andreas; Tsoukalas, Ioannis; Kossieris, Panayiotis; Karavokiros, George; Christofides, Antonis; Siskos, Alexandros; Mamassis, Nikos; Koutsoyiannis, Demetris

    2015-04-01

    Modelling of large-scale hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) is a challenging task, for which several open computational issues exist. HRES comprise typical components of hydrosystems (reservoirs, boreholes, conveyance networks, hydropower stations, pumps, water demand nodes, etc.), which are dynamically linked with renewables (e.g., wind turbines, solar parks) and energy demand nodes. In such systems, apart from the well-known shortcomings of water resources modelling (nonlinear dynamics, unknown future inflows, large number of variables and constraints, conflicting criteria, etc.), additional complexities and uncertainties arise due to the introduction of energy components and associated fluxes. A major difficulty is the need for coupling two different temporal scales, given that in hydrosystem modeling, monthly simulation steps are typically adopted, yet for a faithful representation of the energy balance (i.e. energy production vs. demand) a much finer resolution (e.g. hourly) is required. Another drawback is the increase of control variables, constraints and objectives, due to the simultaneous modelling of the two parallel fluxes (i.e. water and energy) and their interactions. Finally, since the driving hydrometeorological processes of the integrated system are inherently uncertain, it is often essential to use synthetically generated input time series of large length, in order to assess the system performance in terms of reliability and risk, with satisfactory accuracy. To address these issues, we propose an effective and efficient modeling framework, key objectives of which are: (a) the substantial reduction of control variables, through parsimonious yet consistent parameterizations; (b) the substantial decrease of computational burden of simulation, by linearizing the combined water and energy allocation problem of each individual time step, and solve each local sub-problem through very fast linear network programming algorithms, and (c) the substantial

  12. Childhood constipation as an emerging public health problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajindrajith, Shaman; Devanarayana, Niranga Manjuri; Crispus Perera, Bonaventure Jayasiri; Benninga, Marc Alexander

    2016-08-14

    Functional constipation (FC) is a significant health problem in children and contrary to common belief, has serious ramifications on the lives of children and their families. It is defined by the Rome criteria which encourage the use of multiple clinical features for diagnosis. FC in children has a high prevalence (0.7%-29%) worldwide, both in developed and developing countries. Biopsychosocial risk factors such as psychological stress, poor dietary habits, obesity and child maltreatment are commonly identified predisposing factors for FC. FC poses a significant healthcare burden on the already overstretched health budgets of many countries in terms of out-patient care, in-patient care, expenditure for investigations and prescriptions. Complications are common and range from minor psychological disturbances, to lower health-related quality of life. FC in children also has a significant impact on families. Many paediatric clinical trials have poor methodological quality, and drugs proved to be useful in adults, are not effective in relieving symptoms in children. A significant proportion of inadequately treated children have similar symptoms as adults. These factors show that constipation is an increasing public health problem across the world with a significant medical, social and economic impact. This article highlights the potential public health impact of FC and the possibility of overcoming this problem by concentrating on modifiable risk factors rather than expending resources on high cost investigations and therapeutic modalities.

  13. Multi-tracer approach (18O, 3H/3He, CFC, SF6, 35S) to find the best emergency drinking water supply, Vorarlberg, Austria

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kralik, Martin; Vergnaud, Virginie; Uriostegui, Stephanie; Esser, Bradley

    2016-04-01

    To provide an emergency drinking water supply in case of catastrophic events (regional chemical accidents, floods, earth quakes etc.), wells and springs should be known which are fed by a large reservoir. Such reservoirs provide a good filtering capacity and long Mean Residence Times (MRTs) of the raw water. Their existence allows to use these resources for longer periods excluding the danger of contamination. This provides the water authorities the necessary time to set measures to protect the general water supply. After preselection of 16 wells and springs all over the territory of the province of Vorarlberg at the western end of Austria by the local water authority, these wells and springs were measured (water temperature, electric conductivity, pH and dissolved oxygen content) and sampled monthly for δ 18O/2H measurements over the winter half-year 2013/14. At the same time the tritium concentrations of the October and March samples were measured as well. Based on the variation of the monthly on-site measurements and the δ 18O/2H results 12 wells and springs were selected for further investigations. On these sites samples for 3H/3He, CFC-11/12/113, SF6 and sulphur-35 measurements were collected in August 2014. As expected from a humid alpine area, non of the selected springs or wells showed really long MRTs. Five out of 16 investigated sites are regarded as well suited to be used as emergency water source with a range of MRTs of 9 - 30 years. Five springs and wells are regarded of limited suitability due to the shorter MRTs of 5 - 9 years. In two springs the 3H/3He method could not be applied due to He-degassing in a karst-system and during sampling. CFC and SF6 excess at some sites with anthropogenic and geogenic sources hampered the utilisation of these gases as dating tool, but they were useful as source tracers. Sulphur-35 was detected in two wells only, indicating contribution of very young water (< 1 year). In both cases MRTs of 13 - 17 years, calculated

  14. Incorporation of IAEA recommendations in the Spanish nuclear emergency plan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Carrillo, D.; Diaz de la Cruz, F.; Murtra, J.; Ruiz del Arbol, E.

    1986-01-01

    This paper describes the way in which the Spanish authorities have incorporated the IAEA recommendations on the planning of action to be taken in the event of a nuclear accident, taking into account the national organization's own approach to the problem of dealing with a radiation emergency. First, the criteria and principles applied in devising the emergency plans are described. The criteria are concerned with the radiation problem as such and the principles take into account the sum total of problems associated with an emergency. Organizational and operational aspects of the plan are then discussed. The extent to which these arrangements are brought into play is determined by the type of abnormal event which occurs in the facility; since the evolution of this event cannot be exactly predicted, there must be enough flexibility in the operational plan so that it can be adapted rapidly and effectively to the circumstances. Another section deals with protection measures as a function of intervention (or reference) levels. Although non-radiological considerations may affect the measures adopted, a knowledge of the risks associated with the various intervention levels gives the authority a better understanding of the situation. The Nuclear Safety Board has had to inform the civil protection authorities of the distances at which specific protection measures should be taken. Considerations and hypotheses are described which, when applied, lead to general evacuation for distances of up to 3 km from the plant, partial evacuation for up to 5 km, containment and prophylactic measures up to 10 km and water and food monitoring up to 30 km. Finally, details are given of the Training and Information Plan which is being applied at present in Spain. (author)

  15. Medical preparedness for radiation emergency in Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Akashi, Makoto

    1997-01-01

    Medical preparedness for radiation emergency in Japan is primary for off-site public protection. Many things remains to be discussed about on-site emergency medical problems. On the other hand, each nuclear facility should have a countermeasure plan of radiation emergency including medical measures for the emergency. Disaster countermeasure act and a guideline from NSC entitled 'Off-site emergency planning and preparedness for nuclear power plants' establish the system for countermeasures in radiation emergencies. The guideline also establishes medical plans in radiation emergencies, including care system for the severely contaminated or injured. NIRS is designated by the guideline as the definite care hospital for radiation injuries and is prepared to dispatch medical specialists and to receive the injured. NIRS conducts clinical follow-up studies of the injured, researches of diagnosis and treatments for radiation injuries, and education and training for medical personnel. NIRS has the plans to serve as the reference center for emergency in Japan and also in Asia, if necessary. NIRS would like to serve as a member of WHO Collaborating Center for Radiation Emergency Medical Preparedness and Assistance (REMPAN). Now NIRS is making preparation for providing 24-hours direct or consultative assistance with medical problems associated with radiation accidents in local, national, and hopefully international incidents. (author)

  16. Emerging & re-emerging infections in India: An overview

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    T Dikid

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The incidence of emerging infectious diseases in humans has increased within the recent past or threatens to increase in the near future. Over 30 new infectious agents have been detected worldwide in the last three decades; 60 per cent of these are of zoonotic origin. Developing countries such as India suffer disproportionately from the burden of infectious diseases given the confluence of existing environmental, socio-economic, and demographic factors. In the recent past, India has seen outbreaks of eight organisms of emerging and re-emerging diseases in various parts of the country, six of these are of zoonotic origin. Prevention and control of emerging infectious diseases will increasingly require the application of sophisticated epidemiologic and molecular biologic technologies, changes in human behaviour, a national policy on early detection of and rapid response to emerging infections and a plan of action. WHO has made several recommendations for national response mechanisms. Many of these are in various stages of implementation in India. However, for a country of size and population of India, the emerging infections remain a real and present danger. A meaningful response must approach the problem at the systems level. A comprehensive national strategy on infectious diseases cutting across all relevant sectors with emphasis on strengthened surveillance, rapid response, partnership building and research to guide public policy is needed.

  17. Lake Orta chemical status 25 years after liming: problems solved and emerging critical issues

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michela Rogora

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Lake Orta, located in Piedmont, northwestern Italy, has been severely affected by industrial pollution since the 1930s. A successful liming intervention, performed in 1988-1990, returned pH levels in the lake to neutrality, and accelerated the reduction of aqueous trace metal concentrations. In this paper, we present an update knowledge of the chemical status of Lake Orta, focusing on the data collected from 1990 to 2014. In this period we sampled the lake at its deepest point (Qualba station, on a monthly (1990-2000 or seasonal (since 2001 basis. Samples were collected at nine depths through the water column, and analyzed for pH, conductivity, alkalinity, major ions, nutrients, and trace metals. Collectively, these data allowed us to evaluate the long-term response of the lake to the restoration treatment, with particular regard to its acid-base status; they also provided insights into emerging or potential critical issues, including eutrophication and re-suspension of trace metals that still linger in the lake. Furthermore, the evaluation of the present chemical condition of the lake is a precondition for any successive restoration measure, such as fish introduction. The recent data confirmed the lake’s water quality has recovered, i.e. returned to a pre-pollution chemical state. Lake water values of pH and concentrations of ammonium, sulphate and base cations have stabilized. Alkalinity and nitrate concentrations are also expected to reach stable level in the next few years. Levels of nitrate, reactive silica, and phosphorus compounds are now regulated by algal uptake, providing indirect evidence of a partial biological recovery. For instance, both the inter-annual average decline and the reappearance of a seasonal signal in silica confirmed the presence of a stable diatom community. The lake is presently oligotrophic, and concentrations of both N and P compounds are steady and low throughout the year. However, a monthly check of nutrient

  18. An in-line clean system for the solid-phase extraction of emerging contaminants in natural waters

    OpenAIRE

    Sodré, Fernando F.; Locatelli, Marco Antonio F.; Jardim, Wilson F.

    2010-01-01

    A solid-phase in-line extraction system for water samples containing low levels of emerging contaminants is described. The system was specially developed for large volume samples (up to 4 L) using commercial solid-phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. Four sets containing PTFE-made connectors, brass adapters and ball valves were used to fit SPE cartridges and sample bottles to a 4-port manifold attached to a 20 L carboy. A lab-made vacuum device was connected to the manifold cap. The apparatus i...

  19. Direct measurements of wind-water momentum coupling in a marsh with emergent vegetation and implications for gas transfer estimates

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tse, I.; Poindexter, C.; Variano, E. A.

    2013-12-01

    Among the numerous ecological benefits of restoring wetlands is carbon sequestration. As emergent vegetation thrive, atmospheric CO2 is removed and converted into biomass that gradually become additional soil. Forecasts and management for these systems rely on accurate knowledge of gas exchange between the atmosphere and the wetland surface waters. Our previous work showed that the rate of gas transfer across the air-water interface is affected by the amount of water column mixing caused by winds penetrating through the plant canopy. Here, we present the first direct measurements of wind-water momentum coupling made within a tule marsh. This work in Twitchell Island in the California Delta shows how momentum is imparted into the water from wind stress and that this wind stress interacts with the surface waters in an interesting way. By correlating three-component velocity signals from a sonic anemometer placed within the plant canopy with data from a novel Volumetric Particle Imager (VoPI) placed in the water, we measure the flux of kinetic energy through the plant canopy and the time-scale of the response. We also use this unique dataset to estimate the air-water drag coefficient using an adjoint method.

  20. Emergency neuroradiology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scarabino, T.; Hospital of Andria; Salvolini, U.; Jinkins, J.R.

    2006-01-01

    The book is directed at emergency radiologists and neuroradiologists. It aims at providing exhaustive information that will help the reader understand the clinical problems in the full range of neurological emergencies and to select the methodological and technical options that will ensure prompt and effective response and correct interpretation of the clinical findings. The various chapters address the most common neuroradiological emergencies, summarize their fundamental physiopathological features, describe the main semiological and differential diagnostic features, and provide operative suggestions for the selection of the appropriate techniques to be applied in a sequential order. The book addresses the application of state-of-the-art techniques and their implications for clinical practice (particularly the contributions of standard and functional MRI and of spiral and multislice CT). The illustrations provide not only training but also reference material for routine clinical work. (orig.)

  1. An overview of water disinfection in developing countries and the potential for solar thermal water pasteurization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Burch, J.; Thomas, K.E.

    1998-01-01

    This study originated within the Solar Buildings Program at the U.S. Department of Energy. Its goal is to assess the potential for solar thermal water disinfection in developing countries. In order to assess solar thermal potential, the alternatives must be clearly understood and compared. The objectives of the study are to: (a) characterize the developing world disinfection needs and market; (b) identify competing technologies, both traditional and emerging; (c) analyze and characterize solar thermal pasteurization; (d) compare technologies on cost-effectiveness and appropriateness; and (e) identify research opportunities. Natural consequences of the study beyond these objectives include a broad knowledge of water disinfection problems and technologies, introduction of solar thermal pasteurization technologies to a broad audience, and general identification of disinfection opportunities for renewable technologies.

  2. Paediatric medical emergency calls to a Danish Emergency Medical Dispatch Centre: a retrospective, observational study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Kasper; Mikkelsen, Søren; Jørgensen, Gitte; Zwisler, Stine Thorhauge

    2018-01-05

    Little is known regarding paediatric medical emergency calls to Danish Emergency Medical Dispatch Centres (EMDC). This study aimed to investigate these calls, specifically the medical issues leading to them and the pre-hospital units dispatched to the paediatric emergencies. We performed a retrospective, observational study on paediatric medical emergency calls managed by the EMDC in the Region of Southern Denmark in February 2016. We reviewed audio recordings of emergency calls and ambulance records to identify calls concerning patients ≤ 15 years. We examined EMDC dispatch records to establish how the medical issues leading to these calls were classified and which pre-hospital units were dispatched to the paediatric emergencies. We analysed the data using descriptive statistics. Of a total of 7052 emergency calls in February 2016, 485 (6.9%) concerned patients ≤ 15 years. We excluded 19 and analysed the remaining 466. The reported medical issues were commonly classified as: "seizures" (22.1%), "sick child" (18.9%) and "unclear problem" (12.9%). The overall most common pre-hospital response was immediate dispatch of an ambulance with sirens and lights with a supporting physician-manned mobile emergency care unit (56.4%). The classification of medical issues and the dispatched pre-hospital units varied with patient age. We believe our results might help focus the paediatric training received by emergency medical dispatch staff on commonly encountered medical issues, such as the symptoms and conditions pertaining to the symptom categories "seizures" and "sick child". Furthermore, the results could prove useful in hypothesis generation for future studies examining paediatric medical emergency calls. Almost 7% of all calls concerned patients ≤ 15 years. Medical issues pertaining to the symptom categories "seizures", "sick child" and "unclear problem" were common and the calls commonly resulted in urgent pre-hospital responses.

  3. 18 CFR 284.267 - Intrastate pipeline emergency transportation rates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... POLICY ACT OF 1978 AND RELATED AUTHORITIES Emergency Natural Gas Sale, Transportation, and Exchange... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Intrastate pipeline emergency transportation rates. 284.267 Section 284.267 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL...

  4. Abstracts of the Seminar on Modern State of Water Resources of Tajikistan - Problems and Perspectives of Rational Utilization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2003-01-01

    This publication contains the abstracts of papers presented at the Seminar on Modern State of Water Resources of Tajikistan - Problems and Perspectives of Rational Utilization, held in Dushanbe in 2003

  5. Reptile Critical Care and Common Emergencies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Music, Meera Kumar; Strunk, Anneliese

    2016-05-01

    Reptile emergencies are an important part of exotic animal critical care, both true emergencies and those perceived as emergencies by owners. The most common presentations for reptile emergencies are addressed here, with information on differential diagnoses, helpful diagnostics, and approach to treatment. In many cases, reptile emergencies are actually acute presentations originating from a chronic problem, and the treatment plan must include both clinical treatment and addressing husbandry and dietary deficiencies at home. Accurate owner expectations must be set in order to have owner compliance to long-term treatment plans. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  6. Mastitis associated with Prototheca zopfii - an emerging health and economic problem on dairy farms

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Milanov Dubravka

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available Increased incidence of protothecal mastitis has been recorded in several countries in the past ten years. The main goal of this article is to draw the attention of scientific and professional community to the emerging issue of mammary protothecosis. The article collates currently known facts about infection reservoirs, predisposing factors for the development of mastitis, clinical manifestations of the disease, and potential transmission routes within the herd as well as the measures for control and eradication. We would like to point out that identification of protothecal mastitis on a dairy farm is associated with a range of problems. Early detection of infected animals can be difficult because of predominantly subclinical course of early-stage infection, which easily spreads between cows via the milking system. Spontaneous recovery has not been recorded and infected cows typically develop chronic mastitis with granulomatous infiltration and progressive loss of functional parenchyma of the mammary gland. Substantial economic losses and health damages associated with mammary protothecosis strongly emphasise the need for developing effective prevention strategies aimed at control of the infection.

  7. Adsorption of selected emerging contaminants onto PAC and GAC: Equilibrium isotherms, kinetics, and effect of the water matrix.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Real, Francisco J; Benitez, F Javier; Acero, Juan L; Casas, Francisco

    2017-07-03

    The removal of three emerging contaminants (ECs) (amitriptyline hydrochloride (AH), methyl salicylate (MS) and 2-phenoxyethanol (PE)) dissolved in several water matrices by means of their adsorption onto powdered activated carbon (PAC) and granular activated carbon (GAC) has been investigated. When dissolved in ultrapure water, adsorption of the ECs followed the trend of AH > MS > PE, with a positive effect of the adsorbent dose. According to the analysis of the adsorption isotherms and adsorption kinetics, PAC showed strongly higher adsorption efficiency in both capacity and velocity of the adsorption, in agreement with its higher mesoporosity. Equilibrium isotherm data were fitted by Langmuir and Freundlich models. Pseudo-second order kinetics modeled very successfully the adsorption process. Finally, the effect of the presence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the water matrices (ultrapure water, surface water and two effluents from wastewater treatment plants) on the adsorption of the selected ECs onto PAC was established, as well as its performance on the removal of water quality parameters. Results show a negative effect of the DOM content on the adsorption efficiency. Over 50% of organic matter was removed with high PAC doses, revealing that adsorption onto PAC is an effective technology to remove both micro-pollutants and DOM from water matrices.

  8. Using Case Studies to Teach Interdisciplinary Water Resource Sustainability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orr, C. H.; Tillotson, K.

    2012-12-01

    Teaching about water resources and often emphasizes the biophysical sciences to understand highly complex hydrologic, ecologic and engineering systems, yet most impediments to improving management emerge from social processes. Challenges to more sustainable management often result from trade-offs among stakeholders (e.g., ecosystem services, energy, municipal use, and agriculture) and occur while allocating resources to competing goals of economic development, social equity, and efficient governance. Competing interests operating across multiple scales can increase tensions and prevent collaborative resolution of resource management problems. Here we discuss using specific, place-based cases to teach the interdisciplinary context of water management. Using a case approach allows instructors to first explore the geologic and hydrologic setting of a specific problem to let students understand where water comes from, then how it is used by people and ecosystems, and finally what conflicts arise from mismatches between water quality, quantity, timing, human demand, and ecosystem needs. The case approach helps students focus on specific problem to understand how the landscape influences water availability, without needing to first learn everything about the relevant fields. We look at geology, hydrology and climate in specific watersheds before addressing the human and ecosystem aspects of the broader, integrated system. This gives students the context to understand what limits water availability and how a water budget constrains possible solutions to sustainability problems. It also mimics the approach we have taken in research addressing these problems. In an example case the Spokane Coeur D'Alene basin, spanning the border between SE Washington and NW Idaho, includes a sole source aquifer system with high exchange between surface water and a highly conductive aquifer. The Spokane River does not meet water quality standards and is likely to face climate driven shifts

  9. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), an emerging drinking water contaminant: a critical review of recent literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Post, Gloria B; Cohn, Perry D; Cooper, Keith R

    2012-07-01

    well-studied drinking water contaminants, the human dose-response curve for several effects appears to be steepest at the lower exposure levels, including the general population range, with no apparent threshold for some endpoints. There is concordance in animals and humans for some effects, while humans and animals appear to react differently for other effects such as lipid metabolism. PFOA was classified as "likely to be carcinogenic in humans" by the USEPA Science Advisory Board. In animal studies, developmental effects have been identified as more sensitive endpoints for toxicity than carcinogenicity or the long-established hepatic effects. Notably, exposure to an environmentally relevant drinking water concentration caused adverse effects on mammary gland development in mice. This paper reviews current information relevant to the assessment of PFOA as an emerging drinking water contaminant. This information suggests that continued human exposure to even relatively low concentrations of PFOA in drinking water results in elevated body burdens that may increase the risk of health effects. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Nuclear emergency planning in Norway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baarli, J.

    1986-01-01

    The nuclear emergency planning in Norway is forming a part of the Search and Rescue Service of the country. Due to the fact that Norway do not have any nucleat power reactor, the nuclear emergency planning has not been given high priority. The problems however are a part of the activity of the National Institute of Radiation Hygiene, and the emergency preparedness is at the present time to a large extent based on the availability of professional health physicists and their knowledge, rather than established practices

  11. Work shifts in Emergency Medicine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Recupero

    2007-06-01

    Full Text Available Emergency Medicine is known as a high stress specialty. The adverse effect of constantly rotating shifts is the single most important reason given for premature attrition from the field. In this work problems tied with night shift work will be taken into account and some solutions to reduce the impact of night work on the emergency physicians will be proposed.

  12. Anorectal emergencies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lohsiriwat, Varut

    2016-01-01

    Anorectal emergencies refer to anorectal disorders presenting with some alarming symptoms such as acute anal pain and bleeding which might require an immediate management. This article deals with the diagnosis and management of common anorectal emergencies such as acutely thrombosed external hemorrhoid, thrombosed or strangulated internal hemorrhoid, bleeding hemorrhoid, bleeding anorectal varices, anal fissure, irreducible or strangulated rectal prolapse, anorectal abscess, perineal necrotizing fasciitis (Fournier gangrene), retained anorectal foreign bodies and obstructing rectal cancer. Sexually transmitted diseases as anorectal non-surgical emergencies and some anorectal emergencies in neonates are also discussed. The last part of this review dedicates to the management of early complications following common anorectal procedures that may present as an emergency including acute urinary retention, bleeding, fecal impaction and anorectal sepsis. Although many of anorectal disorders presenting in an emergency setting are not life-threatening and may be successfully treated in an outpatient clinic, an accurate diagnosis and proper management remains a challenging problem for clinicians. A detailed history taking and a careful physical examination, including digital rectal examination and anoscopy, is essential for correct diagnosis and plan of treatment. In some cases, some imaging examinations, such as endoanal ultrasonography and computerized tomography scan of whole abdomen, are required. If in doubt, the attending physicians should not hesitate to consult an expert e.g., colorectal surgeon about the diagnosis, proper management and appropriate follow-up. PMID:27468181

  13. The problem of adequacy in skin dosimetry for the case of a nuclear reactor emergency and for occupational exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osanov, D.

    1991-01-01

    The requirement for satisfactory skin dosimetry is, briefly, that the measured dosimetric values should be applicable for further unambiguous prediction of the radiation-induced effects. To fit these requirements the dose limits and actual dose burdens should be concerned with those target skin structures that are primarily responsible for biological effects. The problem of adequate skin dosimetry is here considered for the two most important situations: (1) for normal operation of nuclear power plants, and (2) for a nuclear reactor emergency. A method for determination of the absorbed dose of beta radiation in the surface tissues of the human body from a flat source produced by radionuclides accumulated on the ground surface is presented. Skin dose estimation techniques and actual values of personnel skin doses are also presented, as well as the application of such dose data in predicting the consequences of the irradiation. The principles of emergency and conventional skin dosemeter construction fulfilling the requirements for adequacy and for the measurement of the dose limits for occupational irradiation of the skin are discussed. (author)

  14. Iterative solution to the optimal control of depletion problem in pressurized water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Colletti, J.P.

    1981-01-01

    A method is described for determining the optimal time and spatial dependence of control absorbers in the core of a pressurized water reactor over a single refueling cycle. The reactor is modeled in two dimensions with many regions using two-group diffusion theory. The problem is formulated as an optimal control problem with the cycle length fixed and the initial reactor state known. Constraints are placed on the regionwise normalized powers, control absorber concentrations, and the critical soluble boron concentration of the core. The cost functional contains two terms which may be used individually or together. One term maximizes the end-of-cycle (EOC) critical soluble boron concentration, and the other minimizes the norm of the distance between the actual and a target EOC burnup distribution. Results are given for several test problems which are based on a three-region model of the Three Mile Island Unit 1 reactor. The resulting optimal control strategies are bang-bang and lead to EOC states with the power peaking at its maximum and no control absorbers remaining in the core. Throughout the cycle the core soluble boron concentration is zero

  15. Emergency planning for industrial hazards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gow, H.B.F.; Kay, R.W.

    1988-01-01

    The European Communities have produced a Directive on the Major Accident Hazards of Certain Industrial Activities which sets out standards for the control and mitigation of the hazards presented by sites and storages which contain significant quantities of dangerous substances. An essential element of these controls is the provision of effective on-and off-site emergency plans. This conference explores the considerable research effort which is going on throughout the world in the improvement of systems for emergency planning. Attention was also drawn to areas where difficulties still exist, for example in predicting the consequences of an accident, the complexities of communication problems and the difficulties arising from involvement of the public. The proceedings are in six parts which deal with organizations implementing emergency planning: on- and off-site emergency planning and design; techniques for emergency plans; expenses and auditing of emergency plans; lessons learnt from the emergency management of major accidents; information to the public to and during emergencies. (author)

  16. Thermal-hydraulic evaluation study of the effectiveness of emergency core cooling system for light water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sobajima, Makoto

    1985-08-01

    In order to evaluate the core cooling capability of the emergeny core cooling system, which is a safety guard system of light water reactors for a loss-of-coolant accident, a variety of large scale test were performed. Through the results, many phenomena were investigated and the predictabity of analytical codes were examined. The tests conducted were a single-vessel blowdown test, emergency core cooling test in a PWR simulation facility, spray cooling test for a BWR, large scale reflood test and a separate effect test on countercurrent flow. These test results were examined to clarify thermal-hydraulic phenomena and the effect of various test parameters and were utilized to improve predictability of the analytical codes. Some models for flow behavior in the upper core were also developed. By evaluating the effectiveness of various emergency core cooling system configurations, more effective cooling system than the current one was proposed and demonstrated. (author)

  17. Thermohydraulics of emergency core cooling in light water reactors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1989-10-01

    This report, by a group of experts of the OECD-NEA Committee on the Safety of Nuclear Installations, reviews the current state-of-knowledge in the field of emergency core cooling (ECC) for design-basis, loss-of-coolant accidents (LOCA) and core uncover transients in pressurized- and boiling-water reactors. An overview of the LOCA scenarios and ECC phenomenology is provided for each type of reactor, together with a brief description of their ECC systems. Separate-effects and integral-test facilities, which contribute to understanding and assessing the phenomenology, are reviewed together with similarity and scaling compromises. All relevant LOCA phenomena are then brought together in the form of tables. Each phenomenon is weighted in terms of its importance to the course of a LOCA, and appraised for the adequacy of its data base and analytical modelling. This qualitative procedure focusses attention on the modelling requirements of dominant LOCA phenomena and the current capabilities of the two-fluid models in two-phase flows. This leads into the key issue with ECC: quantitative code assessment and the application of system codes to predict with a well defined uncertainty the behaviour of a nuclear power plant. This issue, the methodologies being developed for code assessment and the question of how good is good enough are discussed in detail. Some general conclusions and recommendations for future research activities are provided

  18. An Instructors Guide to Water Pollution. Test Edition. AAAS Study Guides on Contemporary Problems, No. 5.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kidd, David E.

    This is one of several study guides on contemporary problems produced by the American Association for the Advancement of Science with support of the National Science Foundation. This study guide on water pollution includes the following units: (1) Overview of World Pollution; (2) History, Definition, Criteria; (3) Ecosystem Theory; (4) Biological…

  19. New problems and opportunities of oil spill monitoring systems

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    G. M. Barenboim

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Emergency oil and oil products spills represent a great danger to the environment, including ecosystems, and to the population. New problems of such dangerous spills and methods of early detection are discussed in this paper. It is proposed to conduct assessment of biological hazards of such spills on the basis of data on the distribution of individual oil hydrocarbons within the column of the water body and computer predictions of their toxicity. Oil radioactivity, which is associated with uranium and thorium, is seen as the important aspect of the oil spill danger, especially in watercourses. The need for an automated monitoring system for the early detection of oil spills in water bodies is analysed. The proposed system consists of three subsystems. The first remote sensing subsystem is based on powerful fluorescent lidars; experimental results on lidar registration of oil pollution of water are reported. The second subsystem uses a network of automatic monitoring stations with contact detectors. The third subsystem is the combined sensor system based on remote and contact technologies.

  20. Violence in the Emergency Department: A Global Problem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tadros, Allison; Kiefer, Christopher

    2017-09-01

    Violence against health care workers is an unfortunately common event. Because of several inherent factors, emergency departments are particularly vulnerable. Once an incident occurs, it often goes unreported and leads to both physical and mental trauma. Health care workers should learn to recognize the cues that patients are escalating toward violence and be familiar with various options for sedating agitated patients. If sedation is not successful, physical restraint may become necessary. There are measures that can be taken that may help minimize the likelihood of violence toward health care workers. These measures include legislation, physical design, and increased security. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. Policy statement--emergency information forms and emergency preparedness for children with special health care needs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    Children with chronic medical conditions rely on complex management plans for problems that cause them to be at increased risk for suboptimal outcomes in emergency situations. The emergency information form (EIF) is a medical summary that describes medical condition(s), medications, and special health care needs to inform health care providers of a child's special health conditions and needs so that optimal emergency medical care can be provided. This statement describes updates to EIFs, including computerization of the EIF, expanding the potential benefits of the EIF, quality-improvement programs using the EIF, the EIF as a central repository, and facilitating emergency preparedness in disaster management and drills by using the EIF.

  2. Sustainable water future with global implications: everyone's responsibility.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuylenstierna, J L; Bjorklund, G; Najlis, P

    1997-01-01

    The current use and management of freshwater is not sustainable in many countries and regions of the world. If current trends are maintained, about two-thirds of the world's population will face moderate to severe water stress by 2025 compared to one-third at present. This water stress will hamper economic and social development unless action is taken to deal with the emerging problems. The Comprehensive Assessment of the Freshwater Resources of the World, prepared by the UN and the Stockholm Environment Institute, calls for immediate action to prevent further deterioration of freshwater resources. Although most problems related to water quantity and quality require national and regional solutions, only a global commitment can achieve the necessary agreement on principles, as well as financial means to attain sustainability. Due to the central and integrated role played by water in human activities, any measures taken need to incorporate a wide range of social, ecological and economic factors and needs. The Assessment thus addresses the many issues related to freshwater use, such as integrated land and water management at the watershed level, global food security, water supply and sanitation, ecosystem requirements, pollution, strengthening of major groups, and national water resource assessment capabilities and monitoring networks. Governments are urged to work towards a consensus regarding global principles and guidelines for integrated water management, and towards their implementation in local and regional water management situations. The alternative development options available to countries facing water stress, or the risk thereof, needs to be considered in all aspects of development planning.

  3. The solution of the dam-break problem in the Porous Shallow water Equations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cozzolino, Luca; Pepe, Veronica; Cimorelli, Luigi; D'Aniello, Andrea; Della Morte, Renata; Pianese, Domenico

    2018-04-01

    The Porous Shallow water Equations are commonly used to evaluate the propagation of flooding waves in the urban environment. These equations may exhibit not only classic shocks, rarefactions, and contact discontinuities, as in the ordinary two-dimensional Shallow water Equations, but also special discontinuities at abrupt porosity jumps. In this paper, an appropriate parameterization of the stationary weak solutions of one-dimensional Porous Shallow water Equations supplies the inner structure of the porosity jumps. The exact solution of the corresponding dam-break problem is presented, and six different wave configurations are individuated, proving that the solution exists and it is unique for given initial conditions and geometric characteristics. These results can be used as a benchmark in order to validate one- and two-dimensional numerical models for the solution of the Porous Shallow water Equations. In addition, it is presented a novel Finite Volume scheme where the porosity jumps are taken into account by means of a variables reconstruction approach. The dam-break results supplied by this numerical scheme are compared with the exact dam-break results, showing the promising capabilities of this numerical approach. Finally, the advantages of the novel porosity jump definition are shown by comparison with other definitions available in the literature, demonstrating its advantages, and the issues raising in real world applications are discussed.

  4. Childhood constipation as an emerging public health problem

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rajindrajith, Shaman; Devanarayana, Niranga Manjuri; Crispus Perera, Bonaventure Jayasiri; Benninga, Marc Alexander

    2016-01-01

    Functional constipation (FC) is a significant health problem in children and contrary to common belief, has serious ramifications on the lives of children and their families. It is defined by the Rome criteria which encourage the use of multiple clinical features for diagnosis. FC in children has a

  5. Evaluating Capability of Devils Lake Emergency Outlets in Lowering Lake Water Levels While Controlling flooding Damage to Downstream

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shabani, A.; Zhang, X.

    2017-12-01

    a wicked problem solving Devils Lake flooding leads to extra discharge and water quality degradation in the Sheyenne River. Solving this problem requires trade of between Devils Lake flood control and the Sheyenne River water quality preservation.

  6. The Consequences of the FAA not Offering Emergency Agricultural UAS Rules for Water Conservation During the 2012 Drought

    Science.gov (United States)

    Darling, R. G.

    2016-12-01

    The FAA's policies for agricultural Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) is essential towards preservation and optimization of water use in the parched Western United States. Had FAA applied emergency rules putting farmers on equal-footing with hobbyists for sUAS use at the beginning of the 2012 drought, the Western US could have been able to save approximately 3 Million/AF of water through improved irrigation management. For perspective, Los Angeles city's annual current consumption is 587,000 acre-feet. This study uses various assumptions about developed water use in agriculture and urban areas to determine water use, energy consumption, monetary loss through delay in FAA regulations. If the saved water was added to the ground the energy savings could have been approximately 1.27 Terra-Watt hours, enough energy to power the entire University of California system for 5 years. It remains unclear if new FAA regulations are sufficiently permissive to allow for widespread adoption of sUAS based precision agriculture. Substantial opportunities exist for utilizing UAS traffic management software in rural areas of less crowed airspace: incorporating geofencing and a notification system to operators and air traffic control as an alternative to a difficult examination process.

  7. Desalination and Water Security: The Promise and Perils of a Technological Fix to the Water Crisis in Baja California Sur, Mexico

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jamie McEvoy

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Across the globe, desalination is increasingly being considered as a new water supply source. This article examines how the introduction of desalinated water into the municipal water supply portfolio has affected water security in the coastal tourist city of Cabo San Lucas in Baja California Sur (BCS, Mexico. It also analyses the competing discourses surrounding desalination in the region and discusses alternative water management options for achieving water security. This article challenges the notion that desalination is an appropriate and sufficient technological solution for arid regions. The findings provide evidence of increased yet delimited water security at a neighbourhood scale while identifying new vulnerabilities related to desalination, particularly in the context of the global South. This article concludes that implementing a technological fix on top of a water management system that is plagued with more systemic and structural problems does little to improve long-term water management and is likely to foreclose or forestall other water management options. This multi-scalar analysis contributes to the emerging literature on water security by considering both a narrow and broad framing of water security and identifying a range of factors that influence water security.

  8. Disposal of sediments from the 1300-N Emergency Dump Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Keen, R.; Duncan, G.M.

    1996-01-01

    This report describes the characterization of the 1300-N Emergency Dump Basin (EDB) sediments, summarizes the data obtained, the resultant waste categorization, and the preferred disposal method. The EDB is an outdoor, concrete storage pond with a 3/16-in. carbon steel liner. The basin (completed in 1963) originally served as a quenching pool for reactor blowdown in the event of a primary coolant leak. Later, the basin received blowdown from the N Reactor steam generators. The steam generator blowdowns and leading isolation valves allowed radioactively contaminated water (from primary and secondary reactor coolant leaks) to enter the basin. Windblown dust and sand have settled in the basin over the years (because of its outdoor location), causing the present layer of sediments. To minimize potential airborne contamination, the water level was kept constant by adding water. However, the addition of water was stopped to minimize the amount of contaminated water needing disposal. To ensure that the surfaces exposed as a result of evaporation pose no immediate airborne contaminant problem, the contamination levels are monitored by Radiation Control Technicians. As part of the deactivation of N Reactor facilities, the EDB will be stabilized for long-term surveillance and maintenance prior to final decontamination and demolition

  9. Problems and Alternatives of Settlement Lagoons for Mine Water Treatment System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Dong-Kil

    2015-04-01

    A field test and computational flow analysis were conducted to identify the structural problems with existing settlement lagoons and to propose effective alternatives. When it comes to existing settlement lagoons without any specifically designed internal structure, mine water flows along a specific route while other regions remained stagnant. Such a flow pattern along a specific region causes a significant reduction in retention time as well as the ineffective use of the space in a settlement lagoon. When applying the modified settlement lagoon design proposed in this study, the flow distribution of mine drainage became uniform and the time taken for mine drainage to reach the outlet was improved by as much as 360 times and the exchange efficiency was significantly enhanced from 14.5% to 82.7%.

  10. Emerging pollutants in the Esmeraldas watershed in Ecuador: discharge and attenuation of emerging organic pollutants along the San Pedro– Guayllabamba–Esmeraldas rivers

    OpenAIRE

    Voloshenko-Rossin, A.; Gasser, G.; Cohen, K.; Gun, J.; Cumbal-Flores, L.; Parra- Morales, W.; Sarabia, F.; Ojeda, F.; Lev, O.

    2015-01-01

    Water quality characteristics and emerging organic pollutants were sampled along the San Pedro–Guayllabamba–Esmeraldas River and its main water pollution streams in the summer of 2013. The annual flow rate of the stream is 22 000 Mm3 y 1 and it collects the wastewater of Quito-Ecuador in the Andes and supplies drinking water to the city of Esmeraldas near the Pacific Ocean. The most persistent emerging pollutants were carbamazepine and acesulfame, which were found to be stable along the San ...

  11. Assessing Emergency Preparedness and Response Capacity Using Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response Methodology: Portsmouth, Virginia, 2013.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kurkjian, Katie M; Winz, Michelle; Yang, Jun; Corvese, Kate; Colón, Ana; Levine, Seth J; Mullen, Jessica; Ruth, Donna; Anson-Dwamena, Rexford; Bayleyegn, Tesfaye; Chang, David S

    2016-04-01

    For the past decade, emergency preparedness campaigns have encouraged households to meet preparedness metrics, such as having a household evacuation plan and emergency supplies of food, water, and medication. To estimate current household preparedness levels and to enhance disaster response planning, the Virginia Department of Health with remote technical assistance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention conducted a community health assessment in 2013 in Portsmouth, Virginia. Using the Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response (CASPER) methodology with 2-stage cluster sampling, we randomly selected 210 households for in-person interviews. Households were questioned about emergency planning and supplies, information sources during emergencies, and chronic health conditions. Interview teams completed 180 interviews (86%). Interviews revealed that 70% of households had an emergency evacuation plan, 67% had a 3-day supply of water for each member, and 77% had a first aid kit. Most households (65%) reported that the television was the primary source of information during an emergency. Heart disease (54%) and obesity (40%) were the most frequently reported chronic conditions. The Virginia Department of Health identified important gaps in local household preparedness. Data from the assessment have been used to inform community health partners, enhance disaster response planning, set community health priorities, and influence Portsmouth's Community Health Improvement Plan.

  12. To built a solar hot water heater to work the sustainability problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Carretero Gómez, María Begoña

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available We are commemorating the Education Decade for Sustainable Development. If we want to create positive towards our environment and its sustainable development we have to begin working at school. It is necessary to show our students what problems of the environment are and which solutions can be adopted. That is the reason we have planned this activity in our secondary school. We do think that by doing daily activities we have a good opportunity to fulfil this goal. An example of such experiences is the fabrication of a solar hot water heater to make them and their families more environment conscience.

  13. Guidance on offsite emergency radiation measurement systems. Phase 2: The milk pathway

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1984-04-01

    This document provides guidance to State and local governments and to Federal agencies on offsite emergency measurement of radionuclides after an accident involving a light-water nuclear power plant; in particular, this document provides guidance on determining the dose commitment from the milk pathway. Protective action levels proposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for milk are used as the basis for monitoring requirements. Measurement of radionuclides in milk should be made at the earliest practical point in the production chain: dairy farms, receiving and transfer stations, processing plants or marketing facilities. Early monitoring will provide data to keep significantly contaminated milk out of distribution and will provide the basis for the most timely emergency response action. Radioiodine plus four other radionuclides, cesium-134, cesium-137, strontium-89, and strontium-90, contribute significantly to dose via the milk pathway; of the most severe potential accident, the short-term dose via the milk pathway from radioiodine is significantly greater than that of cesium or strontium. There is no emergency field monitoring instrumentation available for accurately monitoring cesium and strontium, particularly in the presence of radioiodine. Radioiodine can be a potential contamination problem in liquid milk, whereas radiocesium and radiostrontium can be a contamination problem in processed milk products. Monitoring for the long half-life nuclides such as cesium and strontium requires sophisticated equipment or chemistry procedures which are only available in a laboratory. 2 references, 21 figures, 21 tables

  14. Psychosocial characteristics of adolescent problem gambling

    OpenAIRE

    Dixon, Ramsay Wright

    2017-01-01

    Problem gambling among adolescents has emerged as a significant area of research interest. Youth gambling problems are associated with a range of interpersonal, familial, economic, psychological and legal problems. However, because not all adolescents who gamble will develop gambling problems, the research literature has begun to emphasise potential factors that may increase or ameliorate the risk of developing such difficulties. Those characteristics associated with higher levels of severity...

  15. Light Meets Water in Nonlocal Media: Surface Tension Analogue in Optics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horikis, Theodoros P.; Frantzeskakis, Dimitrios J.

    2017-06-01

    Shallow water wave phenomena find their analogue in optics through a nonlocal nonlinear Schrödinger (NLS) model in 2 +1 dimensions. We identify an analogue of surface tension in optics, namely, a single parameter depending on the degree of nonlocality, which changes the sign of dispersion, much like surface tension does in the shallow water wave problem. Using multiscale expansions, we reduce the NLS model to a Kadomtsev-Petviashvili (KP) equation, which is of the KPII (KPI) type, for strong (weak) nonlocality. We demonstrate the emergence of robust optical antidark solitons forming Y -, X -, and H -shaped wave patterns, which are approximated by colliding KPII line solitons, similar to those observed in shallow waters.

  16. Using underground mine Karst water to solve water supply problem in underground mine

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, W. [Wanbei Mining Administration (China). Liuqiao No. 2 Mine

    1995-05-01

    There is a very rich karst water resource under the Liuqiao No. 2 underground mine. Under normal mining conditions the drainage is 546 m{sup 3}/h while the maximum drainage is up to 819 m{sup 3}/h. If water inrush occurred from a broken zone of a fault or a sinkhole of the karst, the flow could be up to 3269 m{sup 3}/h. The karst water is of good quality and high in pressure. The water head pressure at -400 m level is about 3.5 MPa. To save mine construction cost, it was decided that the water supply for coal production equipment, mining operation and mine fire control was to be changed from the surface to the underground by drilling a water well to tap the karst water resource. A water well with a depth of 63.3 m was drilled in the -400 m transportation roadway. The diameter of the well is 127 mm and it has a casing pipe with a diameter of 108 mm which is connected to the water supply pipeline. The pressure of the water supply is measured at 23.5 MPa and the water flow rate is 252 m{sup 3}/h. The establishment of the water supply system has achieved great cost saving for Liuqiao No. 2 Mine. 2 figs.

  17. Arthropod borne diseases in Italy: from a neglected matter to an emerging health problem

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Romi

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available In medical entomology, "Arthropod Borne Diseases", or "Vector Borne Diseases" (VBD are intended as a group of human and animal infections caused by different pathogen organisms (protozoa, helminthes, bacteria and viruses transmitted by the bite of a bloodsucking insect or arachnid. It is commonly known that the infectious diseases transmitted by Arthropods are mainly affecting tropical and subtropical countries, nevertheless some of them were or are still common also in the northern hemisphere, where they are usually maintained under control. VBD still represent some of the most important public health problems in the endemic areas but are becoming source of concern for developed countries too. Since the last decades of the past century, a number of VBD has been spreading geographically, being recorded for the first time in areas outside their original range. This phenomenon is strictly related to the peculiar epidemiological characteristics of these diseases, that are considered the most susceptible to climatic, environmental and socioeconomic changes. This article is a short overview of the VBD endemic and emerging in Italy. The possibility that some exotic vectors and/or pathogens could be introduced and become established in Italy is also discussed.

  18. Emergency planning and preparedness: pre- and post-Three Mile Island

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Collins, H.E.

    1980-01-01

    The problems of radiological emergency response planning revealed by the Three-Mile Island nuclear power plant accident, are discussed. The most pressing problems are the need for an adequate planning basis, the improvement of accident assessment, the improvement and development of training programs, the need for adequate fundina and the development of emergency planning auidance. (H.K.)

  19. 25 CFR 170.812 - What is emergency maintenance?

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 25 Indians 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false What is emergency maintenance? 170.812 Section 170.812 Indians BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR LAND AND WATER INDIAN RESERVATION ROADS PROGRAM BIA Road Maintenance § 170.812 What is emergency maintenance? Emergency maintenance is work that...

  20. The emerging problem of physical child abuse in South Korea.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hahm, H C; Guterman, N B

    2001-05-01

    South Korea has had remarkably high incidence and prevalence rates of physical violence against children, yet the problem has received only limited public and professional attention until very recently. This article represents the first attempt in English to systematically analyze South Korea's recent epidemiological studies on child maltreatment. Discussed are sociocultural factors that have contributed both to delays in child protection laws and a low public awareness of the problem of child abuse. The article highlights methodological issues concerning the definition of physical abuse in South Korea and the complex attitudes toward violence. It also examines the role of the Korean women's movement in the reform of family laws and the recent establishment of new child protection legislation. Suggestions for future directions for the problem of child maltreatment within South Korea are presented.

  1. Pollution problems plague Poland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bajsarowicz, J.F.

    1989-01-01

    Poland's environmental problems are said to stem from investments in heavy industries that require enormous quantities of power and from the exploitation of two key natural resources: coal and sulfur. Air and water pollution problems and related public health problems are discussed

  2. Hydrochemical modelling of water quality in terms of emerging micropollutants in Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West Provinces

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wanda, Elijah M. M.; Mamba, Bhekie B.; Msagati, Titus A. M.

    2017-08-01

    Emerging micropollutants (EMPs) are ubiquitous in aquatic systems and are associated with a wide range of eco-toxicological effects worldwide. There remains a lack of scientific understanding of the major underlying hydrochemical factors behind variations in concentration heterogeneities of EMPs in time and space. This study was therefore conducted to determine major hydrochemical processes controlling water quality and the occurrence of EMPs mainly, carbamazepine (CBZ), tonalide (AHTN), galaxolide (HHCB), caffeine (CAF), technical 4-nonylphenol (NP) and bisphenol A (BPA) in water from Mpumalanga, Gauteng and North West Provinces in South Africa. Grab water samples were collected bi-monthly between June 2014 and April 2016 from 44 water sources using standard sampling procedures. BPA, NP, CAF, HHCB, AHTN, CBZ were extracted, cleaned and enriched using autotrace-SPE at neutral pH and analyzed using GC × GC-TOFMS. Kruskal Wallis-test was used to test for temporal variations in occurrence of the analytes. The Geochemist's Workbench® Release 11 software, Surfer Golden Graphics for surface mapping, PHREEQC software and bivariate ion plots were used determine the major hydrogeochemical processes. The mean concentrations of EMPs varied from 3.48 μg/L for CAF to 421.53 μg/L for HHCB. Although the Kruskal Wallis test revealed no any statistically significant temporal variations in concentrations of the analytes in water samples at 95% confidence level, their occurrence and distribution vary spatially with BPA being the most widely distributed EMP and was present in 62% of the sampled sites. Municipal waste water inputs, agricultural pollution, ion-exchange reactions, carbonate and silicate weathering were the major processes controlling water quality in the study area. This study may assist water resource managers to ably address and manage water pollution resulting from a number of natural and anthropogenic hydrochemical processes in the study area.

  3. Identifying the causes of water crises: A configurational frequency analysis of 22 basins world wide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinivasan, V.; Gorelick, S.; Lambin, E.; Rozelle, S.; Thompson, B.

    2010-12-01

    Freshwater "scarcity" has been identified as being a major problem world-wide, but it is surprisingly hard to assess if water is truly scarce at a global or even regional scale. Most empirical water research remains location specific. Characterizing water problems, transferring lessons across regions, to develop a synthesized global view of water issues remains a challenge. In this study we attempt a systematic understanding of water problems across regions. We compared case studies of basins across different regions of the world using configurational frequency analysis. Because water crises are multi-symptom and multi-causal, a major challenge was to categorize water problems so as to make comparisons across cases meaningful. In this study, we focused strictly on water unsustainability, viz. the inability to sustain current levels of the anthropogenic (drinking water, food, power, livelihood) and natural (aquatic species, wetlands) into the future. For each case, the causes of three outcome variables, groundwater declines, surface water declines and aquatic ecosystem declines, were classified and coded. We conducted a meta-analysis in which clusters of peer-reviewed papers by interdisciplinary teams were considered to ensure that the results were not biased towards factors privileged by any one discipline. Based on our final sample of 22 case study river basins, some clear patterns emerged. The meta-analysis suggests that water resources managers have long overemphasized the factors governing supply of water resources and while insufficient attention has been paid to the factors driving demand. Overall, uncontrolled increase in demand was twice as frequent as declines in availability due to climate change or decreased recharge. Moreover, groundwater and surface water declines showed distinct causal pathways. Uncontrolled increases in demand due to lack of credible enforcement were a key factor driving groundwater declines; while increased upstream abstractions

  4. Influence of the South-North Water Diversion Project and the mitigation projects on the water quality of Han River.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Y P; Zhang, H P; Chen, L; Zhao, J F

    2008-11-15

    Situated in the central part of China, the Han River Basin is undergoing rapid social and economic development with some human interventions to be made soon which will profoundly influence the water environment of the basin. The integrated MIKE 11 model system comprising of a rainfall-runoff model (NAM), a non-point load evaluation model (LOAD), a hydrodynamic model (MIKE 11 HD) and a water quality model (ECOLab) was applied to investigate the impact of the Middle Route of the South-North Water Diversion Project on the Han River and the effectiveness of the 2 proposed mitigation projects, the 22 wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) and the Yangtze-Han Water Diversion Project. The study concludes that business as usual will lead to a continuing rapid deterioration of the water quality of the Han River. Implementation of the Middle Route of the South-North Water Diversion Project in 2010 will bring disastrous consequence in the form of the remarkably elevated pollution level and high risk of algae bloom in the middle and lower reaches. The proposed WWTPs will merely lower the pollution level in the reach by around 10%, while the Yangtze-Han Water Diversion Project can significantly improve the water quality in the downstream 200-km reach. The results reveal that serious water quality problem will emerge in the middle reach between Xiangfan and Qianjiang in the future. Implementation of the South-North Water Diversion Project (phase II) in 2030 will further exacerbate the problem. In order to effectively improve the water quality of the Han River, it is suggested that nutrient removal processes should be adopted in the proposed WWTPs, and the pollution load from the non-point sources, especially the load from the upstream Henan Province, should be effectively controlled.

  5. Agent-Based Crowd Simulation Considering Emotion Contagion for Emergency Evacuation Problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faroqi, H.; Mesgari, M.-S.

    2015-12-01

    During emergencies, emotions greatly affect human behaviour. For more realistic multi-agent systems in simulations of emergency evacuations, it is important to incorporate emotions and their effects on the agents. In few words, emotional contagion is a process in which a person or group influences the emotions or behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotion states and behavioral attitudes. In this study, we simulate an emergency situation in an open square area with three exits considering Adults and Children agents with different behavior. Also, Security agents are considered in order to guide Adults and Children for finding the exits and be calm. Six levels of emotion levels are considered for each agent in different scenarios and situations. The agent-based simulated model initialize with the random scattering of agent populations and then when an alarm occurs, each agent react to the situation based on its and neighbors current circumstances. The main goal of each agent is firstly to find the exit, and then help other agents to find their ways. Numbers of exited agents along with their emotion levels and damaged agents are compared in different scenarios with different initialization in order to evaluate the achieved results of the simulated model. NetLogo 5.2 is used as the multi-agent simulation framework with R language as the developing language.

  6. AGENT-BASED CROWD SIMULATION CONSIDERING EMOTION CONTAGION FOR EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROBLEM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    H. Faroqi

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available During emergencies, emotions greatly affect human behaviour. For more realistic multi-agent systems in simulations of emergency evacuations, it is important to incorporate emotions and their effects on the agents. In few words, emotional contagion is a process in which a person or group influences the emotions or behavior of another person or group through the conscious or unconscious induction of emotion states and behavioral attitudes. In this study, we simulate an emergency situation in an open square area with three exits considering Adults and Children agents with different behavior. Also, Security agents are considered in order to guide Adults and Children for finding the exits and be calm. Six levels of emotion levels are considered for each agent in different scenarios and situations. The agent-based simulated model initialize with the random scattering of agent populations and then when an alarm occurs, each agent react to the situation based on its and neighbors current circumstances. The main goal of each agent is firstly to find the exit, and then help other agents to find their ways. Numbers of exited agents along with their emotion levels and damaged agents are compared in different scenarios with different initialization in order to evaluate the achieved results of the simulated model. NetLogo 5.2 is used as the multi-agent simulation framework with R language as the developing language.

  7. Modeling and managing urban water demand through smart meters: Benefits and challenges from current research and emerging trends

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cominola, A.; Giuliani, M.; Castelletti, A.; Piga, D.; Rizzoli, A. E.

    2015-12-01

    Urban population growth, climate and land use change are expected to boost residential water demand in urban contexts in the next decades. In such a context, developing suitable demand-side management strategies is essential to meet future water demands, pursue water savings, and reduce the costs for water utilities. Yet, the effectiveness of water demand management strategies (WDMS) relies on our understanding of water consumers' behavior, their consumption habits, and the water use drivers. While low spatial and temporal resolution water consumption data, as traditionally gathered for billing purposes, hardly support this understanding, the advent of high-resolution, smart metering technologies allowed for quasi real-time monitoring water consumption at the single household level. This, in turn, is advancing our ability in characterizing consumers' behavior, modeling, and designing user-oriented residential water demand management strategies. Several water smart metering programs have been rolled-out in the last two decades worldwide, addressing one or more of the following water demand management phases: (i) data gathering, (ii) water end-uses characterization, (iii) user modeling, (iv) design and implementation of personalized WDMS. Moreover, the number of research studies in this domain is quickly increasing and big economic investments are currently being devoted worldwide to smart metering programs. With this work, we contribute the first comprehensive review of more than 100 experiences in the field of residential water demand modeling and management, and we propose a general framework for their classification. We revise consolidated practices, identify emerging trends and highlight the challenges and opportunities for future developments given by the use of smart meters advancing residential water demand management. Our analysis of the status quo of smart urban water demand management research and market constitutes a structured collection of information

  8. Strengthening DiD in Emergency Preparedness and Response by Pre-Establishing Tools and Criteria for the Effective Protection of the Public During a Severe Emergency at a Light Water Reactor or its Spent Fuel Pool

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mckenna, T.; Welter, P. Vilar; Callen, J.; Buglova, E., E-mail: T.Mckenna@iaea.org [International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Department of Nuclear Safety and Security, Wagramer Strasse 5, P.O. Box 100, 1400 Vienna (Austria)

    2014-10-15

    Defence in depth can be divided into two parts: first, to prevent accidents and, second, if prevention fails, to limit their consequences and prevent any evolution to more serious conditions. This paper will cover the second part, by providing tools and criteria to be used during a severe emergency to limit the consequences to the public from a severe accident. Severe radiation-induced consequences among the public off-site are only possible if there is significant damage to fuel in the reactor core or spent fuel pools. Consequently, the tools and criteria have been specifically developed for individuals responsible for making and for acting on decisions to protect the public in the event of an emergency involving actual or projected severe damage to the fuel in the reactor core or spent fuel pool of a light water reactor (LWR). These tools and criteria, developed by the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC), will facilitate the implementation of the ‘Emergency Response’ defence in depth concept. (author)

  9. Impact of emerging clean vehicle system on water stress

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cai, Hua; Hu, Xiaojun; Xu, Ming

    2013-01-01

    Graphical abstract: Display Omitted - Highlights: • Clean vehicles may increase US water consumption up to 2810 billion gallons/year. • Large-scale clean vehicle adoption could lead to severe regional water stress. • Fuel choice for clean vehicle is crucial in minimizing regional water stress. • Regional optimization illustrated the importance of regional consideration. - Abstract: While clean vehicles (i.e., vehicles powered by alternative fuels other than fossil fuels) offer great potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline-based vehicles, the associated impact on water resources has not yet been fully assessed. This research provides a systematic evaluation of the impact of a fully implemented clean vehicle system on national and state-level water demand and water stress. On the national level, based on existing policies, transitioning the current gasoline-based transportation into one with clean vehicles will increase national annual water consumption by 1950–2810 billion gallons of water, depending on the market penetration of electric vehicles. On the state level, variances of water efficiency in producing different fuels are significant. The fuel choice for clean vehicle development is especially crucial for minimizing water stress increase in states with already high water stress, high travel demands, and significant variations in water efficiency in producing different alternative fuels. Current development of clean vehicle infrastructure, however, has not reflected these state-level variations. This study takes an optimization approach to further evaluate impacts on state-level water stress from a fully implemented clean vehicle system and identified potential roles (fuel producer or consumer) states may play in real world clean vehicle development scenario. With an objective of minimizing overall water stress impact, our optimization model aims to provide an analytical framework to better assess impacts on state-level water

  10. A method for emergency flooding of the gland in the main circulating pump of pressurized water reactors and the connection therefor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Skalicky, A.

    1978-01-01

    A method is described for the emergency flooding of the main circulating pumps of a pressurized water reactor such that in pressure drop in the flooded gland owing to pump suction, the pump head is connected by the pressure difference action to the flooding gland pipe, this via the heat sink and the filter of the emergency flooding circuit connected to the pump head. The emergency flooding circuit consisting of a pressure reducing valve, a check valve and a stop valve is connected to the pump head, behind the heat sink and the filter. The pressure reducing valve separates two pressure spaces. The former is connected to the pump head via the check valve and to the flooding pipe via the stop valve and the check valve. The latter is connected to the suction pump. (B.S.)

  11. Benchmark problems for repository siting models

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ross, B.; Mercer, J.W.; Thomas, S.D.; Lester, B.H.

    1982-12-01

    This report describes benchmark problems to test computer codes used in siting nuclear waste repositories. Analytical solutions, field problems, and hypothetical problems are included. Problems are included for the following types of codes: ground-water flow in saturated porous media, heat transport in saturated media, ground-water flow in saturated fractured media, heat and solute transport in saturated porous media, solute transport in saturated porous media, solute transport in saturated fractured media, and solute transport in unsaturated porous media

  12. Something in the Water: Hospital Responds to Water Crisis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Redfern, Roberta; Micham, Jennifer; Daniels, Rebecca; Childers, Sue

    2018-02-05

    Early on August 2, 2014, in the city of Toledo, Ohio, a media alert informed the public that traces of microcystin, a hazardous toxin, had been detected in the drinking water. The warning stated that residents should not drink, boil, or even touch the contaminated water. A water crisis of this magnitude was recognized to pose a potentially serious and significant impact on patient care and safety in health care environments. ProMedica Toledo Hospital's Emergency Operation Plan addressed 3 critical issues: safe water availability, alternate cleaning solutions, and preparations for a prolonged crisis. This report details some of the lessons learned throughout the response to the crisis: particularly, because the impact was county-wide which affected other hospitals who used the same vendors, alternate water sources should have been secured in advance; the courier service was vital to delivery of supplies and moving equipment to alternate areas for sterilization processes; and finally, communication with staff and patients was jeopardized by external media outlets. Changes to the emergency plan considering these unanticipated aspects proved useful in a later incident and should be considered by all health care facilities as water emergency policies and procedures are created and reviewed. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2018;page 1 of 3).

  13. Management of gynecologic oncology emergencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harwood-Nuss, A.L.; Benrubi, G.I.; Nuss, R.C.

    1987-01-01

    Gynecologic malignancies are the third most common cancer among women in the United States. Because of often subtle early findings, the diagnosis may not be made before the widespread dissemination of the disease. The Emergency Department physician will commonly encounter a woman with vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, or a symptomatic abdominal mass. In this article, we have described the epidemiology, recognized patterns of spread, and associated findings of gynecologic tumors. The proper Emergency Department evaluation and management of these problems is emphasized with guidelines for the timing of referrals and consultation with the gynecologic oncologist. The treatment of gynecologic malignancies is often complicated and responsible for Emergency Department visits. The various modalities are addressed according to the organ systems affected and include sections on postoperative problems, gastrointestinal complaints, urologic complications of therapy, radiation therapy and its complications, with an emphasis on the most serious complications necessitating either careful outpatient management or hospital admission. As cost-containment pressure grows, we have included sections on chemotherapy and total parenteral nutrition, both of which are becoming common outpatient events for the cancer patient. 28 references

  14. Electron density in surface barrier discharge emerging at argon/water interface: quantification for streamers and leaders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cvetanović, Nikola; Galmiz, Oleksandr; Synek, Petr; Zemánek, Miroslav; Brablec, Antonín; Hoder, Tomáš

    2018-02-01

    Optical emission spectroscopy, fast intensified CCD imaging and electrical measurements were applied to investigate the basic plasma parameters of surface barrier discharge emerging from a conductive water electrode. The discharge was generated at the triple-line interface of atmospheric pressure argon gas and conductive water solution at the fused silica dielectrics using a sinusoidal high-voltage waveform. The spectroscopic methods of atomic line broadening and molecular spectroscopy were used to determine the electron densities and the gas temperature in the active plasma. These parameters were obtained for both applied voltage polarities and resolved spatially. Two different spectral signatures were identified in the spatially resolved spectra resulting in electron densities differing by two orders of magnitude. It is shown that two discharge mechanisms take a place: the streamer and the leader one, with electron densities of 1014 and 1016 cm-3, respectively. This spectroscopic evidence is supported by the combined diagnostics of electrical current measurements and phase-resolved intensified CCD camera imaging.

  15. Quantification of total and water extractable essential elements in medicinal plants used for stomach problems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sahito, S.R.; Kazi, T.G.; Shar, G.Q.; Mangrio, A.M; Shaikh, M.S.

    2004-01-01

    The role of elements particularly trace elements in health and disease is well known. Present study has been undertaken in our laboratories to quantify the commonly occurring elements in three medicinal plans. Peganum harmala Linn, Phyllanthus emblica Linn, Tamarix dioca used for stomach problems using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Wet digestion method has been used to extract the acid extractable metals. Samples were boiled in water to obtain water extractable metals. The validation of the method was checked with the NBS-1570 (Spinach) as Standard Reference Material. Levels of essential elements were found high as compared to concentration of toxic elements. The considerable amounts of essential such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron were found in all these plant samples. (author)

  16. A deep-learning-based emergency alert system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Byungseok Kang

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Emergency alert systems serve as a critical link in the chain of crisis communication, and they are essential to minimize loss during emergencies. Acts of terrorism and violence, chemical spills, amber alerts, nuclear facility problems, weather-related emergencies, flu pandemics, and other emergencies all require those responsible such as government officials, building managers, and university administrators to be able to quickly and reliably distribute emergency information to the public. This paper presents our design of a deep-learning-based emergency warning system. The proposed system is considered suitable for application in existing infrastructure such as closed-circuit television and other monitoring devices. The experimental results show that in most cases, our system immediately detects emergencies such as car accidents and natural disasters.

  17. "Emergence" vs. "Forcing" of Empirical Data? A Crucial Problem of "Grounded Theory" Reconsidered

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Udo Kelle

    2005-05-01

    Full Text Available Since the late 1960s Barney GLASER and Anselm STRAUSS, developers of the methodology of "Grounded Theory" have made several attempts to explicate, clarify and reconceptualise some of the basic tenets of their methodological approach. Diverging concepts and understandings of Grounded Theory have arisen from these attempts which have led to a split between its founders. Much of the explication and reworking of Grounded Theory surrounds the relation between data and theory and the role of previous theoretical assumptions. The book which initially established the popularity of GLASER's and STRAUSS' methodological ideas, "The Discovery of Grounded Theory", contains two conflicting understandings of the relation between data and theory—the concept of "emergence" on the one hand and the concept of "theoretical sensitivity" on the other hand. Much of the later developments of Grounded Theory can be seen as attempts to reconcile these prima facie diverging concepts. Thereby GLASER recommends to draw on a variety of "coding families" while STRAUSS proposes the use of a general theory of action to build an axis for an emerging theory. This paper first summarises the most important developments within "Grounded Theory" concerning the understanding of the relation between empirical data and theoretical statements. Thereby special emphasis will be laid on differences between GLASER's and STRAUSS' concepts and on GLASER's current critique that the concepts of "coding paradigm" and "axial coding" described by STRAUSS and Juliet CORBIN lead to the "forcing" of data. It will be argued that GLASER's critique points out some existing weaknesses of STRAUSS' concepts but vastly exaggerates the risks of the STRAUSSian approach. A main argument of this paper is that basic problems of empirically grounded theory construction can be treated much more effectively if one draws on certain results of contemporary philosophical and epistemological discussions and on widely

  18. Water data: bad TPC pads, 3.6 µs and 100 ns problems

    CERN Document Server

    Dydak, F; Nefedov, Y; Wotschack, J; Zhemchugov, A

    2004-01-01

    Out of the 3972 pads of the HARP TPC, about 9% are 'bad' and not useful for the correct reconstruction of clusters. Bad pads comprise dead pads, noisy pads, and pads with low or undefined amplification. Pads may be bad at one time, but not at another. This memo discusses the sources of information which were used to declare a pad 'bad', and gives the list of bad pads for the water data (runs 19146 to 19301). Also, the 3.6 µs and 100 ns problems of the TPC readout are discussed, including the corrective measures which have been taken.

  19. Drinking Water - Multiple Languages

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... dialect)) PDF Centers for Disease Control and Prevention French (français) Expand Section Keep Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Emergency - English HTML Keep Food and Water Safe After a Disaster or Emergency - français (French) HTML Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Haitian ...

  20. THE SURFACE WATER STORAGE PROBLEM IN ARID REGIONS:

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    H. Benfetta

    2017-09-01

    Sep 1, 2017 ... This dam is located in an arid zone where water resources are becoming increasingly scarce. It is situated 5 km ... Leakage leads to considerable losses of valuable, scarce water. ...... Detection of water leaks in the restraints ...

  1. Portrait of rural emergency departments in Quebec and utilisation of the Quebec Emergency Department Management Guide: a study protocol.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fleet, Richard; Archambault, Patrick; Légaré, France; Chauny, Jean-Marc; Lévesque, Jean-Frédéric; Ouimet, Mathieu; Dupuis, Gilles; Haggerty, Jeannie; Poitras, Julien; Tanguay, Alain; Simard-Racine, Geneviève; Gauthier, Josée

    2013-01-01

    Emergency departments are important safety nets for people who live in rural areas. Moreover, a serious problem in access to healthcare services has emerged in these regions. The challenges of providing access to quality rural emergency care include recruitment and retention issues, lack of advanced imagery technology, lack of specialist support and the heavy reliance on ambulance transport over great distances. The Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services published a new version of the Emergency Department Management Guide, a document designed to improve the emergency department management and to humanise emergency department care and services. In particular, the Guide recommends solutions to problems that plague rural emergency departments. Unfortunately, no studies have evaluated the implementation of the proposed recommendations. To develop a comprehensive portrait of all rural emergency departments in Quebec, data will be gathered from databases at the Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services, the Quebec Trauma Registry and from emergency departments and ambulance services managers. Statistics Canada data will be used to describe populations and rural regions. To evaluate the use of the 2006 Emergency Department Management Guide and the implementation of its various recommendations, an online survey and a phone interview will be administered to emergency department managers. Two online surveys will evaluate quality of work life among physicians and nurses working at rural emergency departments. Quality-of-care indicators will be collected from databases and patient medical files. Data will be analysed using statistical (descriptive and inferential) procedures. This protocol has been approved by the CSSS Alphonse-Desjardins research ethics committee (Project MP-HDL-1213-011). The results will be published in peer-reviewed scientific journals and presented at one or more scientific conferences.

  2. A Structural Knowledge Representation Approach in Emergency Knowledge Reorganization

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Qingquan; Rong, Lili

    2007-01-01

    Facing complicate problems in emergency responses, decision makers should acquire sufficient background knowledge for efficient decision-making. Emergency knowledge acquired can be a kind of special product that is transferred among emergency decision makers and functional departments. The processing of knowledge product motivates the emergency knowledge decomposition and event-oriented knowledge integration, i.e. knowledge reorganization. Supported by the semantic power of category theory, t...

  3. Mediational links among parenting styles, perceptions of parental confidence, self-esteem, and depression on alcohol-related problems in emerging adulthood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patock-Peckham, Julie A; Morgan-Lopez, Antonio A

    2009-03-01

    Depression is often found to be comorbid with alcohol-related problems. Parental overprotection, which may be of particular importance during emerging adulthood, has been linked to internalizing symptoms in offspring. This article evaluates the impact of parenting styles and parental confidence in their offspring on an internalizing pathway to alcohol-related problems through self-esteem and depression. Mediational links were tested among parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive), parental confidence (overprotection, autonomy), self-esteem, depression, and alcohol-related problems. A two-group, multiple indicator multiple-cause structural equation model with 441 (216 female, 225 male) college students was examined. Overall, having a father who was confident in his child's ability to make autonomous decisions was protective against depression for both genders. Perceptions of paternal autonomy mediated the impact of the fathers' parenting styles (authoritative, permissive) on depression for both genders. For men, parental overprotection mediated the impact of an authoritarian father on self-esteem, and self-esteem mediated the impact of parental overprotection on depression. Moreover, among men, perceptions of maternal autonomy mediated the impact of the mothers' parenting styles (authoritative, permissive) on self-esteem, and self-esteem mediated the impact of maternal autonomy on depression. The current pattern of findings is distinct from pathways through behavioral undercontrol with influences from the same-sex parent for both genders. These findings indicate that parenting may have differential influences on internalizing pathways to alcohol-related problems.

  4. Mediational Links Among Parenting Styles, Perceptions of Parental Confidence, Self-Esteem, and Depression on Alcohol-Related Problems in Emerging Adulthood*

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patock-Peckham, Julie A.; Morgan-Lopez, Antonio A.

    2009-01-01

    Objective: Depression is often found to be comorbid with alcohol-related problems. Parental overprotection, which may be of particular importance during emerging adulthood, has been linked to internalizing symptoms in offspring. This article evaluates the impact of parenting styles and parental confidence in their offspring on an internalizing pathway to alcohol-related problems through self-esteem and depression. Method: Mediational links were tested among parenting styles (authoritative, authoritarian, permissive), parental confidence (overprotection, autonomy), self-esteem, depression, and alcohol-related problems. A two-group, multiple indicator multiple-cause structural equation model with 441 (216 female, 225 male) college students was examined. Results: Overall, having a father who was confident in his child's ability to make autonomous decisions was protective against depression for both genders. Perceptions of paternal autonomy mediated the impact of the fathers' parenting styles (authoritative, permissive) on depression for both genders. For men, parental overprotection mediated the impact of an authoritarian father on self-esteem, and self-esteem mediated the impact of parental overprotection on depression. Moreover, among men, perceptions of maternal autonomy mediated the impact of the mothers' parenting styles (authoritative, permissive) on self-esteem, and self-esteem mediated the impact of maternal autonomy on depression. Conclusions: The current pattern of findings is distinct from pathways through behavioral undercontrol with influences from the same-sex parent for both genders. These findings indicate that parenting may have differential influences on internalizing pathways to alcohol-related problems. PMID:19261233

  5. Materials technology and the energy problem : application to the reliability and safety of nuclear pressure vessels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garrett, G.G.

    1975-01-01

    In the U.S.A. over the past few months, widespread plant shutdowns because of cracking problems has produced considerable public pressure for a reappraisal of the reliability and safety of nuclear reactors. The awareness of such problems, and their solution, is particularly relevant to South Africa at this time. Some materials problems related to nuclear plant failure are examined in this paper. Since catastrophic failure (without prior warning from slow leakage) is in principle possible for light water (pressurised) reactors under operating conditions, it is essential to maintain rigorous manufacturing and quality control procedures, in conjunction with thorough and frequent examination by non-destructive testing methods. Although tests currently in progress in the U.S.A. on large-scale model reactors suggest that mathematical stress and failure analyses, for simple geometries at least, are sound, current in situ surveillance programmes aimed at categorizing the effects of irradiation are inadequate. In addition, the effects on materials properties and subsequent fracture resistance of the combined effects of irradiation and thermal shock (arising from the injection of emergency cooling water during a loss-of coolant accident) are unknown. The problem of stress corrosion cracking in stainless steel pipelines is considerable, and at present virtually impossible to predict. Much of the available laboratory data is inapplicable in that it cannot account for the complex interactions of stress state, temperature, material variations and segregation effects, and water chemistry, especially in conjunction with irradiation effects, that are experienced in an operating environment

  6. A bibliometric model for identifying emerging research topics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wang, Qi

    2018-01-01

    –1843, 2015), the most serious problems are the lack of an acknowledged definition of emergence and incomplete elaboration of the linkages between the definitions that are used and the indicators that are created. With these issues in mind, this study first adjusts the definition of an emerging technology...... that Rotolo et al. (2015) have proposed to accommodate the analysis. Next, a set of criteria for the identification of emerging topics is proposed according to the adjusted definition and attributes of emergence. Using two sets of parameter values, several emerging research topics are identified. Finally...

  7. Bioactive contaminants of emerging concern in National Park waters of the northern Colorado Plateau, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weissinger, Rebecca H; Blackwell, Brett R.; Keteles, Kristen; Battaglin, William A.; Bradley, Paul M.

    2018-01-01

    Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), wastewater indicators (WWIs), and pesticides (herein, Contaminants of Emerging Concern [CECs]) have been documented in surface waters throughout the world and have associated risks to aquatic life. While much research has focused on temperate and urbanized watersheds, less is known about CEC presence in semi-arid landscapes, where water availability is limited and populations are low. CEC presence in water and sediment is reported for 21 sites in eight U.S. national parks in the northern Colorado Plateau region. From 2012 to 2016, at least one PPCP and/or WWI was detected at most sites on over half of sampling visits, indicating that CECs are not uncommon even in isolated areas. CEC detections were generally fewer and at lower concentrations than in urbanized or agricultural watersheds. Consistent with studies from other U.S. regions, the most frequently detected CECs in this study include DEET, caffeine, organophosphorus flame retardants, and bisphenol A in water and fecal indicators and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment. Maximum concentrations in this study were generally below available water quality benchmarks, sediment quality guidelines, and risk assessment thresholds associated with vertebrates. Additional work is needed to assess the potential activity of hormones, which had high reporting limits in our study, and potential bioactivity of environmental concentrations for invertebrates, microbial communities, and algae. Potential sources of CEC contamination include upstream wastewater effluent discharges and National Park Service invasive-plant-control herbicide applications. CEC occurrence patterns and similarities between continuous and isolated flow locations suggest that direct contamination from individual visitors may also occur. While our data indicate there is little aquatic health risk associated with CECs at our sites, our results demonstrate the ubiquity of CECs on the landscape and a

  8. Emerging organic contaminants in surface water and groundwater: a first overview of the situation in Italy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meffe, Raffaella; de Bustamante, Irene

    2014-05-15

    This paper provides the first review of the occurrence of 161 emerging organic compounds (EOCs) in Italian surface water and groundwater. The reported EOCs belong to the groups of industrials, pharmaceuticals, estrogens and illicit drugs. Occurrence of 137 pesticides was also reported. The reviewed research works have been published between 1997 and 2013. The majority of the studies have been carried out in Northern Italy (n. 30) and to a lower extent in Central Italy (n. 13). Only a limited number of research studies report EOC concentrations in water resources of Southern Italy. The EOCs that have been more frequently studied are in the following descending order, pesticides (16), pharmaceuticals (15), industrials (13), estrogens (7) and illicit drugs (2). Research activities investigating the EOC occurrence in surface water are more numerous than those in groundwater. This is consistent with the higher complexity involved in groundwater sampling and EOC detection. Among the reported EOCs, industrials and pesticides are those occurring in both surface water and groundwater with the highest concentrations (up to 15 × 10(6) and 4.78 × 0(5)ng L(-1), respectively). Concentrations of pharmaceuticals in surface water reach a maximum of 3.59 × 10(3)ng L(-1), whereas only the antimicrobial agent josamycin has been encountered in groundwater with a concentration higher than 100 ng L(-1). Both estrogens and illicit drugs appeared in surface water with concentrations lower than 50 ng L(-1). Groundwater concentrations for estrogens were measured to be below the detection limits, whereas illicit drugs have so far not been studied in groundwater. The present review reveals the serious contamination status of Italian surface water and groundwater especially by pesticides, industrials and to a lower extent by pharmaceuticals and the necessity to foster the research on EOC occurrence in Italian water resources, in particular in Southern Italy where a limited number of

  9. Problem - oriented studies on plant - soil - water relations : sowing strategies for maize in rainfed agriculture in Southern Mozambique : water management in bog relicts in the Netherlands

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schouwenaars, J.M.

    1990-01-01

    Plant-soil-water models are applied in two case studies. Attention is given to the desired level of accuracy in (agro-)hydrological. research when applied in problem-oriented studies. In the case studies it is shown that when decision criteria are only roughly known and when only

  10. Problems In Indoor Mapping and Modelling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zlatanova, S.; Sithole, G.; Nakagawa, M.; Zhu, Q.

    2013-11-01

    Research in support of indoor mapping and modelling (IMM) has been active for over thirty years. This research has come in the form of As-Built surveys, Data structuring, Visualisation techniques, Navigation models and so forth. Much of this research is founded on advancements in photogrammetry, computer vision and image analysis, computer graphics, robotics, laser scanning and many others. While IMM used to be the privy of engineers, planners, consultants, contractors, and designers, this is no longer the case as commercial enterprises and individuals are also beginning to apply indoor models in their business process and applications. There are three main reasons for this. Firstly, the last two decades have seen greater use of spatial information by enterprises and the public. Secondly, IMM has been complimented by advancements in mobile computing and internet communications, making it easier than ever to access and interact with spatial information. Thirdly, indoor modelling has been advanced geometrically and semantically, opening doors for developing user-oriented, context-aware applications. This reshaping of the public's attitude and expectations with regards to spatial information has realised new applications and spurred demand for indoor models and the tools to use them. This paper examines the present state of IMM and considers the research areas that deserve attention in the future. In particular the paper considers problems in IMM that are relevant to commercial enterprises and the general public, groups this paper expects will emerge as the greatest users IMM. The subject of indoor modelling and mapping is discussed here in terms of Acquisitions and Sensors, Data Structures and Modelling, Visualisation, Applications, Legal Issues and Standards. Problems are discussed in terms of those that exist and those that are emerging. Existing problems are those that are currently being researched. Emerging problems are those problems or demands that are

  11. Water Resilience

    Science.gov (United States)

    The Drinking Water and Wastewater Resiliency site provides tools and resources for drinking water and wastewater utilities in the full spectrum of emergency management which includes prevention, mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

  12. 18 CFR 153.13 - Emergency reconstruction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... loss of gas supply or capacity are applicable to facilities subject to section 3 of the Natural Gas Act... 18 Conservation of Power and Water Resources 1 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Emergency reconstruction. 153.13 Section 153.13 Conservation of Power and Water Resources FEDERAL ENERGY REGULATORY...

  13. Application of reliability-centered maintenance to boiling water reactor emergency core cooling systems fault-tree analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, Y.A.; Feltus, M.A.

    1995-01-01

    Reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) methods are applied to boiling water reactor plant-specific emergency core cooling system probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) fault trees. The RCM is a technique that is system function-based, for improving a preventive maintenance (PM) program, which is applied on a component basis. Many PM programs are based on time-directed maintenance tasks, while RCM methods focus on component condition-directed maintenance tasks. Stroke time test data for motor-operated valves (MOVs) are used to address three aspects concerning RCM: (a) to determine if MOV stroke time testing was useful as a condition-directed PM task; (b) to determine and compare the plant-specific MOV failure data from a broad RCM philosophy time period compared with a PM period and, also, compared with generic industry MOV failure data; and (c) to determine the effects and impact of the plant-specific MOV failure data on core damage frequency (CDF) and system unavailabilities for these emergency systems. The MOV stroke time test data from four emergency core cooling systems [i.e., high-pressure coolant injection (HPCI), reactor core isolation cooling (RCIC), low-pressure core spray (LPCS), and residual heat removal/low-pressure coolant injection (RHR/LPCI)] were gathered from Philadelphia Electric Company's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station Units 2 and 3 between 1980 and 1992. The analyses showed that MOV stroke time testing was not a predictor for eminent failure and should be considered as a go/no-go test. The failure data from the broad RCM philosophy showed an improvement compared with the PM-period failure rates in the emergency core cooling system MOVs. Also, the plant-specific MOV failure rates for both maintenance philosophies were shown to be lower than the generic industry estimates

  14. Nicotine intake and problem solving strategies are modified during a cognitively demanding water maze task in rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nesil, Tanseli; Kanit, Lutfiye; Pogun, Sakire

    2015-11-01

    Nicotine is the major addictive component in tobacco, and despite well-established adverse health effects of tobacco addiction, some smokers have difficulty quitting. The acute cognitive enhancement and/or the amelioration of the cognitive disruption during withdrawal that some smokers experience after smoking are among important factors that hinder quit attempts. The animal model presented in the current study is comparable to the human smoking condition although nicotine intake routes are different. Rats were exposed to a free choice of oral nicotine starting at adolescence, and given a water maze (WM) task as adults. This design allowed us to see if rats alter their nicotine intake during the WM task and if nicotine preference and intake modify abilities and strategies rats use for problem solving. Male and female rats were exposed to a free choice of oral nicotine/water for 24weeks, starting at five weeks of age. After this period, they were selected based on their nicotine intake and, together with control animals that received only water, were subjected to a place-learning task in the WM. Free-choice nicotine exposure continued during WM testing. Following acquisition, the probe trial presented the rats with a choice between using two different strategies for problem solving. Nicotine supported acquisition and rats increased their nicotine intake during WM testing; this effect was more pronounced in male rats with minimum nicotine preference and intake. Furthermore, nicotine modified the "female type" strategy in solving the place-learning task and nicotine treated female rats, unlike control females, behaved like males. The increase in nicotine intake during mental engagement, and the sexually dimorphic effect of nicotine on problem solving strategies that we have observed in rats, may suggest that implementing sex-specific smoking cessation approaches, especially under stressful and cognitively demanding conditions, may be useful in helping smokers quit

  15. Estimating the burden of illness in an Ontario community with untreated drinking water and sewage disposal problems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chambers, L W; Shimoda, F; Walter, S D; Pickard, L; Hunter, B; Ford, J; Deivanayagam, N; Cunningham, I

    1989-01-01

    The Hamilton-Wentworth regional health department was asked by one of its municipalities to determine whether the present water supply and sewage disposal methods used in a community without piped water and regional sewage disposal posed a threat to the health of its residents. Three approaches were used: assessments by public health inspectors of all households; bacteriological and chemical analyses of water samples; and completion of a specially designed questionnaire by residents in the target community and a control community. 89% of the 227 residences in the target community were found to have a drinking water supply that, according to the Ministry of Environment guidelines, was unsafe and/or unsatisfactory. According to on-site inspections, 32% of households had sewage disposal problems. Responses to the questionnaire revealed that the target community residents reported more symptoms associated with enteric infections due to the water supply. Two of these symptoms, diarrhea and stomach cramps, had a relative risk of 2.2 when compared to the control community (p less than 0.05). The study was successfully used by the municipality to argue for provincial funding of piped water.

  16. Fuzzy cognitive maps for issue identification in a water resources conflict resolution system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giordano, R.; Passarella, G.; Uricchio, V. F.; Vurro, M.

    In water management, conflicts of interests are inevitable due to the variety in quality demands and the number of stakeholders, which are affected in different ways by decisions concerning the use of the resources. Ignoring the differences among interests involved in water resources management and not resolving the emerging conflicts could lead to controversial strategies. In such cases, proposed solutions could generate strong opposition, making these solutions unfeasible. In our contribution, a Community Decision Support System is proposed. Such a system is able to support discussion and collaboration. The system helps participants to structure their problem, to help them learn about possible alternatives, their constraints and implications and to support the participants in the specification of their own preferences. More in detail, the proposed system helps each user in representing and communicating problem perspectives. To reach this aim, cognitive maps are used to capture parts of the stakeholders’ point of view and to enhance negotiation among individuals and organizations. The aim of the negotiation process is to define a shared cognitive map with regard to water management problems. Such a map can be called a water community cognitive map. The system performance has been tested by simulating a real conflict on water resources management that occurred some years ago in a river basin in the south of Italy.

  17. Eye problems in mountain and remote areas: prevention and onsite treatment--official recommendations of the International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine ICAR MEDCOM.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellerton, John A; Zuljan, Igor; Agazzi, Giancelso; Boyd, Jeffrey J

    2009-01-01

    Although eyes are not frequently injured in the mountains, they are exposed to many adverse factors from the environment. This article, intended for first responders, paramedics, physicians, and mountaineers, is the consensus opinion of the International Commission for Mountain Emergency Medicine (ICAR-MEDCOM). Its aim is to give practical advice on the management of eye problems in mountainous and remote areas. Snow blindness and minor injuries, such as conjunctival and corneal foreign bodies, could immobilize a person and put him or her at risk of other injuries. Blunt or penetrating trauma can result in the loss of sight in the eye; this may be preventable if the injury is managed properly. In almost all cases of severe eye trauma, protecting the eye and arranging an immediate evacuation are necessary. The most common eye problems, however, are due to ultraviolet light and high altitude. People wearing contact lenses and with previous history of eye diseases are more vulnerable. Any sight-threatening eye problem or unexplained visual loss at high altitude necessitates descent. Wearing appropriate eye protection, such as sunglasses with sidepieces and goggles with polarized or photochromic lenses, could prevent most of the common eye problems in mountaineering.

  18. A Dynamic Framework for Water Security

    Science.gov (United States)

    Srinivasan, Veena; Konar, Megan; Sivapalan, Murugesu

    2017-04-01

    Water security is a multi-faceted problem, going beyond mere balancing of supply and demand. Conventional attempts to quantify water security starting rely on static indices at a particular place and point in time. While these are simple and scalable, they lack predictive or explanatory power. 1) Most static indices focus on specific spatial scales and largely ignore cross-scale feedbacks between human and water systems. 2) They fail to account for the increasing spatial specialization in the modern world - some regions are cities others are agricultural breadbaskets; so water security means different things in different places. Human adaptation to environmental change necessitates a dynamic view of water security. We present a framework that defines water security as an emergent outcome of a coupled socio-hydrologic system. Over the medium term (5-25 years), water security models might hold governance, culture and infrastructure constant, but allow humans to respond to changes and thus predict how water security would evolve. But over very long time-frames (25-100 years), a society's values, norms and beliefs themselves may themselves evolve; these in turn may prompt changes in policy, governance and infrastructure. Predictions of water security in the long term involve accounting for such regime shifts in the cultural and political context of a watershed by allowing the governing equations of the models to change.

  19. Constructing development and integrated coastal zone management in the conditions of the landslide slopes of Cheboksary water reservoir (Volga River)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nikonorova, I. V.

    2018-01-01

    Uncontrolled construction and insufficient accounting of engineering-geological and hydro-geological conditions of the coastal zone, intensified technogenic impact on sloping surfaces and active urbanization led to the emergence of serious problems and emergency situations on the coasts of many Volga reservoirs, including the Cheboksary reservoir, within Cheboksary urban district and adjacent territories of Chuvashia. This article is devoted to substantiation of the possibility of rational construction development of landslide slopes of the Cheboksary water reservoir.

  20. Unexpected and undesired conservation outcomes of wildlife trade bans—An emerging problem for stakeholders?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diana S. Weber

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available CITES regulates international trade with the goal of preventing over-exploitation, thus the survival of species are not jeopardized from trade practices; however it has been used recently in nontrade conservation measures. As an example, the US proposed to up-list polar bears under CITES Appendix I, despite that the species did not conform to the biological criteria. Polar bears were listed as ‘threatened’ under US ESA in 2008, in response to loss of sea-ice and warming temperatures. In Nunavut, where most of Canada’s polar bears are harvested, the resulting trade ban did not decrease total harvest after the ESA listing but reduced US hunter participation and the proportion of quotas taken by sport hunters from specific populations. Consequently, the import ban impacted livelihoods of Arctic indigenous communities with negative conservation — reduced tolerance for dangerous fauna and affected local participation in shared management initiatives. The polar bear may be the exemplar of an emerging problem: the use of trade bans in place of action for non-trade threats, e.g., climate change. Conservation prospects for this species and other climate-sensitive wildlife will likely diminish if the increasing use of trade bans to combat non-trade issues cause stakeholders to lose faith in participatory management.

  1. Technological features of contamination and purification of drilling waste water

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Striletskiy, I V

    1981-01-01

    The most efficient solution to the problem of preventing contamination of the reservoirs with waste water is their reuse for water supply of the borehole. Requirements are presented which the purified waste water must meet. As a result of the conducted studies it has been established that in reservoirs, only coarsely dispersed mixture, weighting compounds and floating petroleum products are removed from the water. Finely dispersed suspension and colloid particles have a sedimentation stability and do not settle out under the influence of the gravity force. For drilling waste water there is a characteristic inconsistency in the degree of contamination both at the different boreholes and at one borehole with the passage of time. Physical-chemical characteristics of the waste waters are presented. The greatest degree of contamination of water is observed when such operations are performed as replacement of the drilling fluid, lifting of the drilling tool, cementing as well as the development of emergencies. Studies on the purification of drilling water were conducted on an experimental-industrial unit.

  2. Radiation emergency planning in Poland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Niewodniczanski, J [National Atomic Energy Agency, Warsaw (Poland)

    1996-08-01

    The paper presents a schematic outline of the radiation emergency policy in Poland, rather from the point of view of logistics of the problem than discussing details of existing or proposed procedures. (author). 5 refs, 1 fig.

  3. Disordered Eating Behaviors in Emerging Adults With Type 1 Diabetes: A Common Problem for Both Men and Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doyle, Elizabeth A; Quinn, Sheila M; Ambrosino, Jodie M; Weyman, Kate; Tamborlane, William V; Jastreboff, Ania M

    Emerging adults (EA) with disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) and Type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at increased risk for severe complications of T1D, and these behaviors have been reported in EA women with T1D. Few studies, though, have included men. This study assessed the prevalence of DEB in both EA men and women with T1D. DEB was measured with the diabetes-specific Diabetes Eating Problem Survey-Revised (DEPS-R); scores of 20 or greater indicate need for further evaluation for DEB. A total of 27 women and 33 men (age range = 21 ± 2.5 years) completed the DEPS-R; 27% of women and 18% of men had scores of 20 or greater (p = .23). Hemoglobin A1c level was significantly higher in subjects with elevated DEPS-R scores (10.4 ± 2.1% vs. 7.8 ± 1.3%; p < .001), and DEPS-R scores correlated with increased body mass index values (r = 0.27, p < .05). Clinicians should assess for DEB in both male and female emerging adults with T1D, especially overweight patients with poor glycemic control. Copyright © 2016 National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Using problem-based learning to improve students' creative thinking skills on water purification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wahyu, Wawan; Kurnia, Eli, Rohaeni Nur

    2016-02-01

    The aim of this study is to obtain information about the using Problem-based Learning (PBL) to improve students' creative thinking skills on water purification. The research adopted quasi-experimental method with one group pre-test-post-test design, involving 31students of class XI in one SMK in Cimahi as the subjects of study. The students were divided into three groups categories: high, medium, and low based on the average grades of daily tests. The used instruments in this study were essay, observation sheet, questionnaire (Likert scale), and interview sheet Aspects of creative thinking skills are developed including: fluency, flexibility, originality, detailing (elaborative), and judging (evaluative). To identify the improvement of students' creative thinking skills on water purification, "normalized gain" or of the pre-test and post-test scores was calculated. The results showed that PBL can enhance students' creative thinking skills by means high category (percentage of = 70.12%). This nformation can be used as an input to teachers in the school and teacher education programs.

  5. Emergency core cooling device

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suzaki, Kiyoshi; Inoue, Akihiro.

    1979-01-01

    Purpose: To improve core cooling effect by making the operation region for a plurality of water injection pumps more broader. Constitution: An emergency reactor core cooling device actuated upon failure of recycling pipe ways is adapted to be fed with cooling water through a thermal sleeve by way of a plurality of water injection pump from pool water in a condensate storage tank and a pressure suppression chamber as water feed source. Exhaust pipes and suction pipes of each of the pumps are connected by way of switching valves and the valves are switched so that the pumps are set to a series operation if the pressure in the pressure vessel is high and the pumps are set to a parallel operation if the pressure in the pressure vessel is low. (Furukawa, Y.)

  6. Evaluation of cooling water treatment programme at RAPS-3 and 4 with reference to chlorination and microbial control

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kora, Aruna Jyothi; Rao, T.S.; Narasimhan, S.V.

    2008-01-01

    Water from Rana Pratap Sagar Lake is used in Rajasthan Atomic Power Station (RAPS) units 3 and 4 for cooling the condenser system. As the lake water is rich in nutrients and microflora, investigations were carried out on the nutrient quality, microflora distribution and chlorine decay to evaluate the cooling water treatment programme. Algal growth in emergency storage makeup water pools, weed growth on the cooling tower decks and biofilm growth on various materials (carbon steel, stainless steel, admiralty brass and cupronickel) were studied with an objective to understand the reasons for corrosion and failure of fire water pipeline. Visual examination showed that the emergency makeup water pools were infested with green algae and cyano-bacterial mats. Some algal growth was observed on induced draft cooling tower-3 structures. The bacterial counts in various water samples were low, except in emergency makeup water pool. Sulphate reducing bacteria (SRB) were present in makeup and demineralised waters. Chlorophyll pigment analysis showed that the makeup and emergency storage water pool had abundant algal growth. To prevent biofouling, chlorine is dosed at the rate of 7 kg/hr for 10 minutes; free residual oxidant (FRO) and chlorine decay were monitored at regular intervals. After 24 hrs, biofilm thickness on different materials ranged from 27-45 μm. However, the thickness was reduced by 50 % after exposure to 2 ppm of chlorine for 15 minutes. In further investigations, it was found that the anion resin beads of demineraliser plant were infested with filamentous microbes. Hence, It is recommended to treat the feed water of DM plant. Tubercles were observed inside the failed fire water carbon steel pipeline and on removing the tubercles concentric ring patterns, typical signatures of SRB corrosion were observed. For controlling the biofouling problem in the cooling water system, it is recommended to maintain a chlorine dose of 2.3 ppm (which gives 0.8 ppm FRO) for two

  7. Emergency core cooling system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ando, Masaki.

    1987-01-01

    Purpose: To actuate an automatic pressure down system (ADS) and a low pressure emergency core cooling system (ECCS) upon water level reduction of a nuclear reactor other than loss of coolant accidents (LOCA). Constitution: ADS in a BWR type reactor is disposed for reducing the pressure in a reactor container thereby enabling coolant injection from a low pressure ECCS upon LOCA. That is, ADS has been actuated by AND signal for a reactor water level low signal and a dry well pressure high signal. In the present invention, ADS can be actuated further also by AND signal of the reactor water level low signal, the high pressure ECCS and not-operation signal of reactor isolation cooling system. In such an emergency core cooling system thus constituted, ADS operates in the same manner as usual upon LOCA and, further, ADS is operated also upon loss of feedwater accident in the reactor pressure vessel in the case where there is a necessity for actuating the low pressure ECCS, although other high pressure ECCS and reactor isolation cooling system are not operated. Accordingly, it is possible to improve the reliability upon reactor core accident and mitigate the operator burden. (Horiuchi, T.)

  8. EMERGENCY CONTRACEPTION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragana Pantić

    2007-10-01

    Full Text Available Emergency contraception refers to any device or drug that is used as an emergency procedure to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sexual intercourse.The first method of emergency contraception was high dose of estrogen. Concern about side effects led to subsequent development of the so-called Yuzpe regimen which combined ethinil estradiol with levonorgestrel and levonorgestrel alone. Less convenient to use is the copper intauterine contraceptive device.It is known that in some women sexual steroids may inhibit or delay ovulation and may interfere with ovum and sperm transport and implantation. Copper intrauterine device causes a foreign-body effect on the endometrium and a direct toxic effect to sperm and blastocyst.The Yuzpe regimen reduces the risk of pregnancy after a single act of sexual intercourse by about 75% and the levonorgestrel alone by about 85%. The copper intrauterine device is an extremely effective method for selected patients.Nausea and vomiting are common among women using the Yuzpe regimen and considerably less common among women using levonorgestrel alone regimen.Emergency contraception is relatively safe with no contraindications except pregnancy. It is ineffective if a woman is pregnant. There is no need for a medical hystory or a phisical examination before providing emergency contraceptive pills. They are taken long before organogenesis starts, so they should not have a teratogenic effect.Counseling should include information about correct use of the method, possible side effects and her preferences for regular contraception.Unintended pregnancy is a great problem. Several safe, effective and inexpensive methods of emergency contraception are available including Yuzpe regimen, levonorges-trel-only regimen and copper intrauterine device.

  9. Pharmaceuticals as emerging organic contaminants in Umgeni River water system, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agunbiade, Foluso O; Moodley, Brenda

    2014-11-01

    The occurrences of pharmaceuticals and personal care products as emerging organic contaminants (EOCs) have been reported in several countries of the world except from African countries. This study was therefore conducted to investigate the occurrence of nine antibiotics, five antipyretics, atenolol, bezafibrate, and caffeine in wastewater and surface water samples from the Umgeni River. The water samples were extracted with solid-phase extraction using hydrophilic-lipophilic balance (HLB) and C-18 cartridges for the acidic and neutral drugs, respectively. The quantification was carried out with high-performance liquid chromatography-diode array detector (HPLC-DAD) using the standard addition method. The method limits of detections were in the range of 0.14-0.97 μg/L while the recoveries were between 53.8 and 108.1 %. The wastewater had 100 % occurrence of the analytes studied, with caffeine having the highest concentration at 61 ± 5 μg/L and nalidixic acid being the most observed antibiotic at 31 ± 3 μg/L. The waste treatment process reduced the influent concentrations by 43.0-94.2 % before discharge except for atenolol removal that is lower. The concentrations of the analytes were lower in the surface water with most compounds having concentrations below 10 μg/L except acetaminophen and atenolol. The estuary mouth and Blue Lagoon had the highest concentrations of some of the compounds in surface water which depict downstream load. The factors governing the fate and mobility of these compounds in this environment are not fully understood yet and will require further studies.

  10. Emergency team calls for critically ill non-trauma patients in the emergency department

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Jensen, Søren Marker; Do, Hien Quoc; Rasmussen, Søren W.

    2015-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Handling critically ill patients is a complex task for Emergency Department (ED) personnel. Initial treatment is of major importance and requires adequately experienced ED doctors to initiate and decide for the right medical or surgical treatment. Our aim was, with regard to clinical...... the study period. RESULTS: A total of 109 emergency team calls were triggered (79 orange and 30 red), comprising 66 (60.6 %) men and 43 women, with a median age of 64 years. Patients presented with: 4 Airway, 27 Breathing, 41 Circulation, 31 Disability, 2 Exposure and 4 Other problems. Overall, 58/109 (53.......2 %) patients were admitted to the ICU, while 20/109 (18.3 %) patients were deemed ineligible for ICU admission. 30-day mortality was 34/109 (31.2 %), and circulatory problems were the most frequent cause of death (61.8 %, p = 0.02). Patients who died were significantly older than those who survived (p = 0...

  11. Emergency Power For Critical Items

    Science.gov (United States)

    Young, William R.

    2009-07-01

    Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods, tornados, and tsunami, are becoming a greater problem as climate change impacts our environment. Disasters, whether natural or man made, destroy lives, homes, businesses and the natural environment. Such disasters can happen with little or no warning, leaving hundreds or even thousands of people without medical services, potable water, sanitation, communications and electrical services for up to several weeks. In our modern world, the need for electricity has become a necessity. Modern building codes and new disaster resistant building practices are reducing the damage to homes and businesses. Emergency gasoline and diesel generators are becoming common place for power outages. Generators need fuel, which may not be available after a disaster, but Photovoltaic (solar-electric) systems supply electricity without petroleum fuel as they are powered by the sun. Photovoltaic (PV) systems can provide electrical power for a home or business. PV systems can operate as utility interactive or stand-alone with battery backup. Determining your critical load items and sizing the photovoltaic system for those critical items, guarantees their operation in a disaster.

  12. Emergence of communities and diversity in social networks

    OpenAIRE

    Han, Xiao; Cao, Shinan; Shen, Zhesi; Zhang, Boyu; Wang, Wen-Xu; Cressman, Ross; Stanley, H. Eugene

    2017-01-01

    Understanding how communities emerge is a fundamental problem in social and economic systems. Here, we experimentally explore the emergence of communities in social networks, using the ultimatum game as a paradigm for capturing individual interactions. We find the emergence of diverse communities in static networks is the result of the local interaction between responders with inherent heterogeneity and rational proposers in which the former act as community leaders. In contrast, communities ...

  13. Advertising Emergency Department Wait Times

    OpenAIRE

    Weiner, Scott G

    2013-01-01

    Advertising emergency department (ED) wait times has become a common practice in the United States. Proponents of this practice state that it is a powerful marketing strategy that can help steer patients to the ED. Opponents worry about the risk to the public health that arises from a patient with an emergent condition self-triaging to a further hospital, problems with inaccuracy and lack of standard definition of the reported time, and directing lower acuity patients to the higher cost ED se...

  14. Japanese situations to emerging themes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kubota, Ryuji

    2011-01-01

    Japanese regulatory body has audited more than ten cases of licensee's RCA since December 2007. We approve of opinions to emerging themes in 'CSNI Activity Plan', and based on achievements of these audits, Japanese situations to emerging themes are explained. As our conclusion, the more experience to identify HOF licensees have, the more problems may be solved. But as CA is difficult to measure for effectiveness, we propose to develop the outcome indicators such as the frequency of events. (author)

  15. The Relationship of Parental Warm Responsiveness and Negativity to Emerging Behavior Problems Following Traumatic Brain Injury in Young Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wade, Shari L.; Cassedy, Amy; Walz, Nicolay C.; Taylor, H. Gerry; Stancin, Terry; Yeates, Keith Owen

    2013-01-01

    Parenting behaviors play a critical role in the child's behavioral development, particularly for children with neurological deficits. This study examined the relationship of parental warm responsiveness and negativity to changes in behavior following traumatic brain injury (TBI) in young children relative to an age-matched cohort of children with orthopedic injuries (OI). It was hypothesized that responsive parenting would buffer the adverse effects of TBI on child behavior, whereas parental negativity would exacerbate these effects. Children, ages 3–7 years, hospitalized for TBI (n = 80) or OI (n = 113), were seen acutely and again 6 months later. Parent–child dyads were videotaped during free play. Parents completed behavior ratings (Child Behavior Checklist; T. M. Achenbach & L. A. Rescorla, 2001) at both visits, with baseline ratings reflecting preinjury behavior. Hypotheses were tested using multiple regression, with preinjury behavior ratings, race, income, child IQ, family functioning, and acute parental distress serving as covariates. Parental responsiveness and negativity had stronger associations with emerging externalizing behaviors and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder symptoms among children with severe TBI. Findings suggest that parenting quality may facilitate or impede behavioral recovery following early TBI. Interventions that increase positive parenting may partially ameliorate emerging behavior problems. PMID:21244154

  16. A novel two-stage evaluation system based on a Group-G1 approach to identify appropriate emergency treatment technology schemes in sudden water source pollution accidents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qu, Jianhua; Meng, Xianlin; Hu, Qi; You, Hong

    2016-02-01

    Sudden water source pollution resulting from hazardous materials has gradually become a major threat to the safety of the urban water supply. Over the past years, various treatment techniques have been proposed for the removal of the pollutants to minimize the threat of such pollutions. Given the diversity of techniques available, the current challenge is how to scientifically select the most desirable alternative for different threat degrees. Therefore, a novel two-stage evaluation system was developed based on a circulation-correction improved Group-G1 method to determine the optimal emergency treatment technology scheme, considering the areas of contaminant elimination in both drinking water sources and water treatment plants. In stage 1, the threat degree caused by the pollution was predicted using a threat evaluation index system and was subdivided into four levels. Then, a technique evaluation index system containing four sets of criteria weights was constructed in stage 2 to obtain the optimum treatment schemes corresponding to the different threat levels. The applicability of the established evaluation system was tested by a practical cadmium-contaminated accident that occurred in 2012. The results show this system capable of facilitating scientific analysis in the evaluation and selection of emergency treatment technologies for drinking water source security.

  17. The effect of environmental health and water supply quality on children's health in Karary locality - Omdurman Area

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Salih, N.S.M.

    2007-07-01

    There are many joint factors that have negative effects on children's health, such as environmental health and water supply quality. Therefore, the importance of this study was emerged to contribute in finding suitable solutions for this problem. The study was done in Khartoum State, Omdurman area mainly Karary locality. Three methodologies were used; field work to collect data about the most common diseases that affect children, water sampling from the drinking wells, questionnaire to collect data about public awareness. Data collected from Omdurman hospital- children emergency unit dealing with the most common diseases that affect children. The data were divided into three categories: category (1) for infants < one year old, category (2) children from 1-4 years old and category (3) from 5-14 years old. This study consists of five chapters: chapter one explains the problem, importance, objectives, limitations, terms and methods of the research. Chapter two is a literature review of environmental health and water pollution. Chapter three explains samples, methodology, and procedures of the research. Chapter four discusses data analysis, discussions and results. Chapter five concentrates on conclusions and recommendations. The results revealed that most of the diseases that attack children were caused due to drinking water quality. Some of the diseases seemed to be very serious regarding the number of incidence and number of children admitted to hospitals especially during February to April 2005. It was also found that pneumonia, tuberculosis, malaria, food poisoning, hepatitis, dysentery, gardiasis, gastro enteritis and diarrhoea, are the most common diseases that attack children, through out the year. The results revealed that there was an environmental problem of housing condition that cause some of the diseases, some of the drinking water wells found to be contaminated and not suitable for human consumption. The study recommendations include income improvement

  18. 40 CFR 264.227 - Emergency repairs; contingency plans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... 40 Protection of Environment 25 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false Emergency repairs; contingency plans... FACILITIES Surface Impoundments § 264.227 Emergency repairs; contingency plans. (a) A surface impoundment... days after detecting the problem. (c) As part of the contingency plan required in subpart D of this...

  19. [Cryptosporidiosis: an emerging zoonosis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Coco, V F; Córdoba, M A; Basualdo, J A

    2009-01-01

    The genus Cryptosporidium, responsible for producing cryptosporidiosis, includes several species. Humans and livestock are the main sources of infection. Waterborne cryptosporidiosis outbreaks are associated with drinking water. The infective parasite stage is the oocyst, which is resistant to conventional potabilization treatments. In immunocompetent hosts it produces acute, self-limiting diarrhoea. In immunocompromised people, it could develop severe, life-threatening pattern forms of the infection. People with AIDS are especially susceptible to these clinical forms. Cryptosporidium infections are also considered a major cause of morbimortality in calves, which leads to important economic losses. In the last years, there has been an increase of patients suffering from different causes of immunosuppression, and the need to find an effective therapy against Cryptosporidium has become greater. In spite of the many attempts of the pharmaceutical industry to develop an effective antiparasitic agent to treat cryptosporidiosis, this infection and its clinical consequences still constitute a major public health problem. This article analizes the taxonomy, morphology, biology and life cycle of Cryptosporidium. Clinical, immunological, epidemiological features and diagnosis of cryptosporidiosis are also included. Treatment and prevention of the infection are discussed, and future tendencies are suggested for this emerging parasitic infection.

  20. Application of perturbation methods and sensitivity analysis to water hammer problems in hydraulic networks

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balino, Jorge L.; Larreteguy, Axel E.; Andrade Lima, Fernando R.

    1995-01-01

    The differential method was applied to the sensitivity analysis for water hammer problems in hydraulic networks. Starting from the classical water hammer equations in a single-phase liquid with friction, the state vector comprising the piezometric head and the velocity was defined. Applying the differential method the adjoint operator, the adjoint equations with the general form of their boundary conditions, and the general form of the bilinear concomitant were calculated. The discretized adjoint equations and the corresponding boundary conditions were programmed and solved by using the so called method of characteristics. As an example, a constant-level tank connected through a pipe to a valve discharging to atmosphere was considered. The bilinear concomitant was calculated for this particular case. The corresponding sensitivity coefficients due to the variation of different parameters by using both the differential method and the response surface generated by the computer code WHAT were also calculated. The results obtained with these methods show excellent agreement. (author). 11 refs, 2 figs, 2 tabs

  1. Results of an interlaboratory comparison of analytical methods for contaminants of emerging concern in water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vanderford, Brett J; Drewes, Jörg E; Eaton, Andrew; Guo, Yingbo C; Haghani, Ali; Hoppe-Jones, Christiane; Schluesener, Michael P; Snyder, Shane A; Ternes, Thomas; Wood, Curtis J

    2014-01-07

    An evaluation of existing analytical methods used to measure contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) was performed through an interlaboratory comparison involving 25 research and commercial laboratories. In total, 52 methods were used in the single-blind study to determine method accuracy and comparability for 22 target compounds, including pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and steroid hormones, all at ng/L levels in surface and drinking water. Method biases ranged from caffeine, NP, OP, and triclosan had false positive rates >15%. In addition, some methods reported false positives for 17β-estradiol and 17α-ethynylestradiol in unspiked drinking water and deionized water, respectively, at levels higher than published predicted no-effect concentrations for these compounds in the environment. False negative rates were also generally contamination, misinterpretation of background interferences, and/or inappropriate setting of detection/quantification levels for analysis at low ng/L levels. The results of both comparisons were collectively assessed to identify parameters that resulted in the best overall method performance. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry coupled with the calibration technique of isotope dilution were able to accurately quantify most compounds with an average bias of <10% for both matrixes. These findings suggest that this method of analysis is suitable at environmentally relevant levels for most of the compounds studied. This work underscores the need for robust, standardized analytical methods for CECs to improve data quality, increase comparability between studies, and help reduce false positive and false negative rates.

  2. A unified innovation approach to emerging markets

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agarwal, Nivedita; Brem, Alexander; Grottke, Michael

    2014-01-01

    for emerging markets (2) and establish relative importance of key factors for product managers while conceptualizing a new product for emerging markets. In the first part, the study assembles the list of characteristics from the selected innovation theories revolving around emerging markets. Subsequently...... the overarching innovation approach for emerging markets and provides a common definition for a product considered relevant for emerging market. The results show high prioritization given to cost effective, easy to use and problem centric as compared to the sustainability, no-frills, resourceful, breakthrough...... and fast-to-market factors by product managers. However, the paper acknowledges that the prioritization results are subject to change given different motivation behind the various theories. Finally the paper proposes that, the eight key factors required factors to “play in” emerging markets would...

  3. Proposal of new framework in nuclear emergency response based on problem in East Japan Great Earthquake

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2013-08-15

    In the nuclear emergency response activity in a East Japan great earthquake, the weakness the frame and the activity procedure (scheme) of the emergency response activity of our country that had been constructed after the accident of JCO became clear. Especially, it is necessary to recognize the importance of the enhancement of a prior plan after not only provision to response but also the damage to the environment occurs in the emergency for measures for restoration. Moreover, it is necessary to examine a concrete strategy about the management system strengthening of the radiation exposure at the accident. In this study, the experience and the finding in a East Japan great earthquake are arranged. The accident scenario that should be targeted is rearranged, and it proposes a new frame in the nuclear emergency response field through the requirement examinations such as the points of procedure, equipment, and the capital machine parts that lie a regulations frame of the nuclear emergency response, the activity frame of the nuclear emergency response, and materialized of the nuclear emergency response activity. (author)

  4. Proposal of new framework in nuclear emergency response based on problem in East Japan Great Earthquake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2013-01-01

    In the nuclear emergency response activity in a East Japan great earthquake, the weakness the frame and the activity procedure (scheme) of the emergency response activity of our country that had been constructed after the accident of JCO became clear. Especially, it is necessary to recognize the importance of the enhancement of a prior plan after not only provision to response but also the damage to the environment occurs in the emergency for measures for restoration. Moreover, it is necessary to examine a concrete strategy about the management system strengthening of the radiation exposure at the accident. In this study, the experience and the finding in a East Japan great earthquake are arranged. The accident scenario that should be targeted is rearranged, and it proposes a new frame in the nuclear emergency response field through the requirement examinations such as the points of procedure, equipment, and the capital machine parts that lie a regulations frame of the nuclear emergency response, the activity frame of the nuclear emergency response, and materialized of the nuclear emergency response activity. (author)

  5. Proposal of new framework in nuclear emergency response based on problem in East Japan Great Earthquake

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2012-01-01

    In the nuclear emergency response activity in a East Japan great earthquake, the weakness the frame and the activity procedure (scheme) of the emergency response activity of our country that had been constructed after the accident of JCO became clear. Especially, it is necessary to recognize the importance of the enhancement of a prior plan after not only provision to response but also the damage to the environment occurs in the emergency for measures for restoration. Moreover, it is necessary to examine a concrete strategy about the management system strengthening of the radiation exposure at the accident. In this study, the experience and the finding in a East Japan great earthquake are arranged. The accident scenario that should be targeted is rearranged, and it proposes a new frame in the nuclear emergency response field through the requirement examinations such as the points of procedure, equipment, and the capital machine parts that lie a regulations frame of the nuclear emergency response, the activity frame of the nuclear emergency response, and materialized of the nuclear emergency response activity. (author)

  6. Water Chemistry and Chemistry Monitoring at Thermal and Nuclear Power Plants: Problems and Tasks (Based on Proceedings of Conferences)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Larin, B. M.

    2018-02-01

    In late May-early June 2017, two international science and technology conferences on problems of water chemistry and chemistry monitoring at thermal and nuclear power plants were held. The participants of both the first conference held at OAO VTI and the second conference that took place at NITI formulated the problems of the development of the regulatory base and implementation of promising water treatment technologies and outlined the ways of improving the water chemistry and chemistry monitoring at TPPs and NPPs for the near future. It was pointed out that the new amine-containing VTIAMIN agent developed by OAO VTI had been successfully tested on the power-generating units equipped with steam-gas plants to establish the minimum excess of the film-forming amine in the power-generating unit circuit that ensures the protection of the metal as 5-10 μg/dm3. A flow-injection technique for the analysis of trace concentrations of chlorides was proposed; the technique applied to the condensate of the 1000-MW steam turbine of the NPP power-generating unit yields the results comparable with the results obtained by the ion chromatography and the potentiometric method using the solver electrode. The participants of the conferences were demonstrated new Russian instruments to analyze the water media at the TPPs and NPPs, including the total organic carbon analyzer and the analyzer of mineral impurities in the condensate and feed water, that won a gold medal at the 45th International Exhibition of Inventions held in Geneva this April.

  7. PAs and NPs in an emergency room-linked acute care clinic.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Currey, C J

    1984-12-01

    The use of hospital emergency rooms for nonurgent care during evenings hours often strains medical resources and may affect the quality of emergency care. One facility's effective use of an after-hours acute care clinic staffed by PAs and NPs to divert nonurgent problems away from its emergency room is outlined. PAs and NPs work during peak demand hours (evenings and weekends) under the supervision of an emergency room physician, and receive supplementary support from other emergency room personnel. Incoming patients are referred to the emergency room or acute care clinic, depending on the nature of their problems. Acute care clinic patients are then treated by the PA or NP and either released or referred to an emergency room physician, if their conditions warrant additional treatment. As a result, use of the acute care clinic has greatly reduced the amount of non-urgent medical treatment in the emergency room and has provided other advantages to both patients and staff as well. These advantages and the encouraging statistics following six months of the clinic's operation are discussed.

  8. How Do Severe Constraints Affect the Search Ability of Multiobjective Evolutionary Algorithms in Water Resources?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Clarkin, T. J.; Kasprzyk, J. R.; Raseman, W. J.; Herman, J. D.

    2015-12-01

    This study contributes a diagnostic assessment of multiobjective evolutionary algorithm (MOEA) search on a set of water resources problem formulations with different configurations of constraints. Unlike constraints in classical optimization modeling, constraints within MOEA simulation-optimization represent limits on acceptable performance that delineate whether solutions within the search problem are feasible. Constraints are relevant because of the emergent pressures on water resources systems: increasing public awareness of their sustainability, coupled with regulatory pressures on water management agencies. In this study, we test several state-of-the-art MOEAs that utilize restricted tournament selection for constraint handling on varying configurations of water resources planning problems. For example, a problem that has no constraints on performance levels will be compared with a problem with several severe constraints, and a problem with constraints that have less severe values on the constraint thresholds. One such problem, Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) portfolio planning, has been solved with a suite of constraints that ensure high reliability, low cost variability, and acceptable performance in a single year severe drought. But to date, it is unclear whether or not the constraints are negatively affecting MOEAs' ability to solve the problem effectively. Two categories of results are explored. The first category uses control maps of algorithm performance to determine if the algorithm's performance is sensitive to user-defined parameters. The second category uses run-time performance metrics to determine the time required for the algorithm to reach sufficient levels of convergence and diversity on the solution sets. Our work exploring the effect of constraints will better enable practitioners to define MOEA problem formulations for real-world systems, especially when stakeholders are concerned with achieving fixed levels of performance according to one or

  9. Extractability of radiocesium from processed green tea leaves with hot water. The first emergent tea leaves harvested after the TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tagami, K.; Uchida, S.; Ishii, N.

    2012-01-01

    In some tea tree planting areas within 300 km from the TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP), it was found that newly emerged tea plant leaves for green tea contained two radiocesium species (cesium-134 and cesium-137). In this study, using processed green tea leaves for drinking, extraction ratios of radiocesium under several brew conditions were observed. When 90 deg C water was used, 50-70% of radiocesium was extracted into the water, while 54-60% of radiocesium was extracted with 60 deg C water. A part of radiocesium would be removed from leaves if the leaves were washed with 20 and 60 deg C water before brewing, and the efficiencies were 11 and 32%, respectively. Newly emerged camellia leaves were used to simulate the radiocesium removal ratio from raw tea leaves by washing and boiling; radioactivity concentration was decreased to 60% of the original concentration with washing and 10 min boiling. From these results, it was found that almost half of the radiocesium would not be removed from raw or processed tea leaves. The values obtained in the present study could be used for internal radiation dose estimation from tea leaves. (author)

  10. Radiation Emergency Planning in Petroleum Industry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    El-Shinawy, R.M.K.; El-Naggar, M.A.; Abdel-Fattah, A.T.; Gomaa, A.M.

    2001-01-01

    Similar to all industrial activities utilizing radiation sources, or dealing with radioactive materials in its operations, petroleum industry requires the organization of a Radiation Emergency Plan. This plan should be based on a comprehensive and subtle understanding of the extensive multidisciplinary operations involved in petroleum processing and the dangers that threaten human health, environment and property; both from ordinary emergency situations common to petroleum industry activities and also from radiation emergency events. Radiation emergencies include radiological source accidents involving occurrence of high dose exposures. Radioactive contamination or spill are also major problems that may cause low dose exposures and environmental radioactive contamination. The simultaneous occurrence of other industrial emergency events such as fires or structural collapses will add to the seriousness of the emergency situation. The essential aspects of Radiation Emergency Planning include notification, assessment of situation, foresight, definition of roles and responsibilities including health safety and environmental concepts. An important contribution to the Emergency Planning is the proper intelligent medical response. Another essential parameter is the training of personnel that will undertake the responsibility of executing the emergency procedures according to the various emergency situations. The main features of the radiation Emergency Plan in Petroleum industry is presented in the text

  11. Scenario guidance handbook for emergency-preparedness exercises at nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Laughlin, G.J.; Martin, G.F.; Desrosiers, A.E.

    1983-01-01

    As part of the Emergency Preparedness Implementation Appraisal Program conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) with the technical assistance of the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL), emergency preparedness exercises are observed on an annual basis at all licensed reactor facilities. One of the significant findings to arise from these observations was that a large number of the commonly observed problems originated in the design of the scenarios used as a basis for each exercise. In an effort to help eliminate some of these problems a scenario guidance handbook has been generated by PNL for the NRC to assist nuclear power plant licensees in developing scenarios for emergency preparedness exercises

  12. 2013 Flood Waters "Flush" Pharmaceuticals and other Contaminants of Emerging Concern into the Water and Sediment of the South Platte River, Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Battaglin, W. A.; Bradley, P. M.; Paschke, S.; Plumlee, G. S.; Kimbrough, R.

    2016-12-01

    In September 2013, heavy rainfall caused severe flooding in Rocky Mountain National Park (ROMO) and environs extending downstream into the main stem of the South Platte River. In ROMO, flooding damaged infrastructure and local roads. In the tributary canyons, flooding damaged homes, septic systems, and roads. On the plains, flooding damaged several wastewater treatment plants. The occurrence and fate of pharmaceuticals and other contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) in streams during flood conditions is poorly understood. We assessed the occurrence and fate of CECs in this flood by collecting water samples (post-peak flow) from 4 headwaters sites in ROMO, 7 sites on tributaries to the South Platte River, and 6 sites on the main stem of the South Platte; and by collecting flood sediment samples (post-flood depositional) from 14 sites on tributaries and 10 sites on the main stem. Water samples were analysed for 110 pharmaceuticals and 69 wastewater indicators. Sediment samples were analysed for 57 wastewater indicators. Concentrations and numbers of CECs detected in water increased markedly as floodwaters moved downstream and some were not diluted despite the large flow increases in downstream reaches of the affected rivers. For example, in the Cache la Poudre River in ROMO, no pharmaceuticals and 1 wastewater indicator compound (camphor) were detected. At Greeley, the Cache la Poudre was transporting 19 pharmaceuticals [total concentration of 0.69 parts-per-billion (ppb)] and 22 wastewater indicators (total concentration of 2.81 ppb). In the South Platte downstream from Greeley, 24 pharmaceuticals (total concentration of 1.47 ppb) and 24 wastewater indicators (total concentration of 2.35 ppb) were detected. Some CECs such as the combustion products pyrene, fluoranthene, and benzo(a)pyrene were detected only at sub-ppb concentrations in water, but were detected at concentrations in the hundreds of ppb in flood sediment samples.

  13. More efficient response to nuclear emergencies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1979-12-01

    Three documents related to the first volume of this report are presented here. These are a description of the emergency provisions organisation, an analysis of the weaknesses in the present organisation and proposed improvements (with appendices on the information problem in excercises with the emergency provisions at Ringhals and attitudes to tasks connected with evacuation following a power reactor accident) and agreements with Denmark, Finland, Norway and the IAEA for mutual assistance. (JIW)

  14. Emergency planning zone reduction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edwards, C.

    2002-01-01

    This paper describes the process used by a large industrial Department of Energy (DOE) site to communicate changing hazards to its stakeholders and install the confidence necessary to implement the resulting emergency planning changes. Over the last decade as the sites missions have shifted from full-scale production to a greater emphasis on environmental restoration and waste management, the off-site threat from its operations has substantially decreased. The challenge was to clearly communicate the reduced hazards, install confidence in the technical analysis that documented the hazard reduction, and obtain stakeholder buy-in on the path forward to change the emergency management program. The most significant change to the emergency management program was the proposed reduction of the sites Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ). As the EPZ is defined as an area for which planning is needed to protect the public in the event of an accident, the process became politically challenging. An overview of how the site initially approached this problem and then learned to more substantially involve the state and local emergency preparedness agencies and the local Citizens Advisory Board will be presented. (author)

  15. Life Cycle Assessment and Water Footprint of Hydrogen Production Methods: From Conventional to Emerging Technologies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andi Mehmeti

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available A common sustainability issue, arising in production systems, is the efficient use of resources for providing goods or services. With the increased interest in a hydrogen (H2 economy, the life-cycle environmental performance of H2 production has special significance for assisting in identifying opportunities to improve environmental performance and to guide challenging decisions and select between technology paths. Life cycle impact assessment methods are rapidly evolving to analyze multiple environmental impacts of the production of products or processes. This study marks the first step in developing process-based streamlined life cycle analysis (LCA of several H2 production pathways combining life cycle impacts at the midpoint (17 problem-oriented and endpoint (3 damage-oriented levels using the state-of-the-art impact assessment method ReCiPe 2016. Steam reforming of natural gas, coal gasification, water electrolysis via proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEM, solid oxide electrolyzer cell (SOEC, biomass gasification and reforming, and dark fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass were analyzed. An innovative aspect is developed in this study is an analysis of water consumption associated with H2 production pathways by life-cycle stage to provide a better understanding of the life cycle water-related impacts on human health and natural environment. For water-related scope, Water scarcity footprint (WSF quantified using Available WAter REmaining (AWARE method was applied as a stand-alone indicator. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each production pathway, identify the drivers of environmental impact, quantify midpoint environmental impact and its influence on the endpoint environmental performance. The findings of this study could serve as a useful theoretical reference and practical basis to decision-makers of potential environmental impacts of H2 production systems.

  16. Umedecimento do substrato na emergência e vigor de plântulas de pupunheira Substrate moisture level effect on seedling emergency and vigor of peach palm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cibele Chalita Martins

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available A germinação rápida e uniforme das sementes, seguida por pronta emergência das plântulas são características altamente desejáveis na formação de mudas. O objetivo deste trabalho foi verificar o efeito de diferentes níveis de umedecimento do substrato vermiculita sobre a porcentagem de emergência e o vigor de plântulas de pupunheira. O umedecimento da vermiculita com água nas quantidades de 60 a 90 ml/100 g de substrato (de 0,6 a 0,9 x o peso deste em água ou 77,6 a 86,7% da capacidade de retenção do substrato em água, respectivamente resultaram na maior porcentagem de emergência das plântulas. O umedecimento com 90 ml água/100 g de vermiculita resultou em maior velocidade de emergência e vigor de plântulas (comprimento, diâmetro e massa.The rapid and uniform germination of seeds, followed by prompt emergency are highly desirable characteristics for seedlings formation. This research aimed to determine the effect of different level of vermiculite substrate wetting on the emergency percentage and vigor of peach palm seedlings. The wetting of vermiculite with water in quantities from 60 to 90 ml/100 g of substrate (from 0.6 to 0.9 x the weight of water or 77.6 to 86.7% of the retention capacity of the substrate in water, respectively had shown higher emergence percentage of seedlings. The wetting with 90 ml water /100 g of vermiculite resulted in the higher speed of emergency and vigor of seedlings (length, diameter and mass.

  17. Narrative inspiration: using case based problem solving for emergent story generation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Swartjes, I.M.T.; Vromen, Joost; Bloom, Niels; Cardoso, A.; Wiggins, G.A.

    We consider a system that can generate stories as a creative system. One approach to building such a system is to simulate and narrate the behaviour of believable characters in a virtual story world. A risk of this approach is that no interesting story emerges. In order to make the behaviour of the

  18. Emerging Communities of Practice

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAlister, Martha

    2016-01-01

    Communities of practice are emerging as an innovative approach to faculty development. While collaborative learning is becoming popular in the classroom, autonomy and individualism continue to dominate the culture of higher education for faculty. However, as we begin to recognize that old solutions to new problems are no longer effective, there is…

  19. Computer technologies for industrial risk prevention and emergency management

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Balduccelli, C.; Bologna, S.; Di Costanzo, G.; Vicoli, G.

    1996-07-01

    This document provides an overview about problems related to the engineering of computer based systems for industrial risk prevention and emergency management. Such systems are rather complex and subject to precise reliability and safety requirements. With the evolution of informatic technologies, such systems are becoming to be the means for building protective barriers for reduction of risk associated with plant operations. For giving more generality to this document, and for not concentrating on only a specific plant, the emergency management systems will be dealt with more details than ones for accident prevention. The document is organized in six chapters. Chapter one is an introduction to the problem and to its state of art, with particular emphasis to the aspects of safety requirements definition. Chapter two is an introduction to the problems related to the emergency management and to the training of operators in charge of this task. Chapter three deals in details the topic of the Training Support Systems, in particular about MUSTER (multi-user system for training and evaluation of environmental emergency response) system. Chapter four deals in details the topic of decision support systems, in particular about ISEM (information technology support for emergency management) system. Chapter five illustrates an application of support to the operators of Civil Protection Department for the management of emergencies in the fields of industrial chemical. Chapter six is about a synthesis of the state of art and the future possibilities, identifying some research and development activities more promising for the future

  20. Bioactive contaminants of emerging concern in National Park waters of the northern Colorado Plateau, USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weissinger, Rebecca H; Blackwell, Brett R; Keteles, Kristen; Battaglin, William A; Bradley, Paul M

    2018-05-02

    Pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs), wastewater indicators (WWIs), and pesticides (herein, Contaminants of Emerging Concern [CECs]) have been documented in surface waters throughout the world and have associated risks to aquatic life. While much research has focused on temperate and urbanized watersheds, less is known about CEC presence in semi-arid landscapes, where water availability is limited and populations are low. CEC presence in water and sediment is reported for 21 sites in eight U.S. national parks in the northern Colorado Plateau region. From 2012 to 2016, at least one PPCP and/or WWI was detected at most sites on over half of sampling visits, indicating that CECs are not uncommon even in isolated areas. CEC detections were generally fewer and at lower concentrations than in urbanized or agricultural watersheds. Consistent with studies from other U.S. regions, the most frequently detected CECs in this study include DEET, caffeine, organophosphorus flame retardants, and bisphenol A in water and fecal indicators and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment. Maximum concentrations in this study were generally below available water quality benchmarks, sediment quality guidelines, and risk assessment thresholds associated with vertebrates. Additional work is needed to assess the potential activity of hormones, which had high reporting limits in our study, and potential bioactivity of environmental concentrations for invertebrates, microbial communities, and algae. Potential sources of CEC contamination include upstream wastewater effluent discharges and National Park Service invasive-plant-control herbicide applications. CEC occurrence patterns and similarities between continuous and isolated flow locations suggest that direct contamination from individual visitors may also occur. While our data indicate there is little aquatic health risk associated with CECs at our sites, our results demonstrate the ubiquity of CECs on the landscape and a

  1. The Integration of Palliative Care into the Emergency Department

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nursah BASOL

    2015-06-01

    Full Text Available SUMMARY: Palliative care (PC is a new and developing area. It aims to provide the best possible quality of life for patients with life-limiting diseases. It does not primarily include life-extending therapies, but rather tries to help patients spend the rest of their lives in the best way. PC patients often are admitted to emergency departments during the course of a disease. The approach and management of PC include differences with emergency medicine. Thus, there are some problems while providing PC in the ED. With this article, the definition, main features, benefits, and problems of providing PC are presented, with the primary aim of emphasizing the importance of PC integration into the ED. Key words: Emergency department, integration, palliative care, training

  2. Clinical Aspects and Emergent Management of Snake Bites Presented to Emergency Department

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bedriye Sonmez

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Aim: Evaluating the epidemiologic characteristics and management of snake bites presenting to emergency departments. Material and Method: In this retrospective study 74 cases of snakebites admitted to Emergency Department of Diyarbakir Training and Research Hospital between 2008 and 2009 were retrospectively evaluated. Results: Fourty-six (62.2% of patients were male and 28 (37.8% were female. Mean age of the study population was 34.85±19.17 (min 7- max 80 years. Most of the snakebites occurred between 18.00 to 06.00 hours and at home (73%. 79.7% of snake bites occurred to upper extremities. %93 of cases had intravenous administration of antivenin (one dose. Neither none of the patients needed recurrent administration. Discussion: Snake bites are still a major public health problem especially in rural areas. Particularly emergency care physicians should be adequately capable and sophisticated in multidisciplinary management of snake bites.

  3. Water supply of Zaporizhzhya Priazovye: nascent, stages of development, problems of nowadays and hygienic substantiation of ways of their solutions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zagorodniuk K.Yu.

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available At the modern stage of development humanity is on the verge of the pandemic of non-communicable diseases. It is not an exception for the population of the Ukraine, among which more than 2/3 of the total morbidity incidences is non-communicable diseases: desieses of cardiovascular system, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes. To the mind of experts in the field of public health and environment protection, the first place among factors affecting the level of population’s health in Ukraine is given to the water that is ahead of air and food products in this aspect. Taking into consideration the fact that after annexation of the Crimea by the Russian Federation in March of 2014 and uncertainty in the military-political situation on the East of the Ukraine, Zaporizhzhya Priazovye is becoming a recreational zone, and with each year it will be used by more and more Ukrainian citizens. The objective of our research was to investigate nascent, stages of development and nowadays problems of region’s water supply as well as hygienic substantiation of complex ways of nowadays problem of Zaporizhzhya Priazovye water supply. As a result of conducted researches it was found that single economically feasible way of providing population of Zaporizhzhya Priazovye with water with normative total hardness and general mineralization is supply of the Dnipro water carried out by operation of Western group water conduit. To reduce the formation of chlorination by-products in the process of water purification it is necessary to use iron-containing chlorine-sulfate coagulant "Aula" of brand A according to the technical requirements TR U 24.1-33075701-002: 2011. For utilization of flush water of contact clarifiers, it is necessary to retool water purification facilities by clarifiers-recirculators with sediment recirculation in “inner contour”. It was proved that corrosive aggressiveness is an indicator of water quality which will determine further

  4. New Water Management Institutions in Mexico’s ‘New Culture of Water’: Emerging Opportunities and Challenges for Effective Use of Climate Knowledge and Climate Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wilder, M.; Varady, R. G.; Pineda Pablos, N.; Browning-Aiken, A.; Diaz Caravantes, R.; Garfin, G.

    2007-05-01

    Since 1992, Mexico has developed a new set of water management institutions to usher in a ‘new culture of water’ that focuses on decentralized governance and formalized participation of local water users. Reforms to the national water legislation in April 2004 regionalized the governance of water and highlighted the importance of river basin councils as a mechanism for integrated management of major watersheds across Mexico. As a result of the dramatic national water policy reforms, water service delivery in Mexico has been decentralized to the state and municipal level, resulting in a critical new role for municipal governments charged with this important function. A network of river basin councils accompanied and sub-basin councils has been developed to undertake watershed planning. Decentralization and local participation policies embody numerous significant goals and promises, including greater efficiency, more financial accountability, fostering the beginnings of a sense of local stewardship of precious resources, and enhanced environmental sustainability. This paper examines the implications of municipalized water services and emerging river basin councils for utilization of climate knowledge and climate science. We analyze whether these changes open new windows of opportunity for meaningful use of climate science (e.g., forecasts; models). How effectively are municipal water managers and river basin councils utilizing climate knowledge and climate science, and for what purposes? Are there ways to improve the fit between the needs of water managers and river basin councils and the science that is currently available? What is the role of local participation in water policy making in urban settings and river basin councils? The study found overall that the promises and potential for effective utilization of climate science/knowledge to enhance sustainability exists, but is not yet being adequately realized. Binational efforts to develop climate science and

  5. General design and main problems of a gas-heavy-water power reactor contained in a pressure vessel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Roche, R.; Gaudez, J.C.

    1964-01-01

    In the framework of research carried out on a CO 2 -cooled power reactor moderated by heavy water, the so-called 'pressure vessel' solution involves the total integration of the core, of the primary circuit (exchanges and blowers) and of the fuel handling machine inside a single, strong, sealed vessel made of pre-stressed concrete. A vertical design has been chosen: the handling 'attic' is placed above the core, the exchanges being underneath. This solution makes it possible to standardize the type of reactor which is moderated by heavy-water or graphite and cooled by a downward stream of carbon dioxide gas; it has certain advantages and disadvantages with respect to the pressure tube solution and these are considered in detail in this report. Extrapolation presents in particular.problems due specifically to the heavy water (for example its cooling,its purification, the balancing of the pressures of the heavy water and of the gas, the assembling of the internal structures, the height of the attic, etc. (authors) [fr

  6. Water chemistry related problems in captive power plant of Heavy Water Plant [Manuguru

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Prasada Rao, G.; Mohapatra, C.

    2000-01-01

    This study is intended to improve the power generating capacity of Turbo Generator-3 in CPP. It was observed that steam flow through TG-3 was not as per rated; however there were no abnormal vibrations. After stopping and opening the turbine, deposits were found on turbine blade. Turbine blade scales were analysed for all the stages, HP, middle, LP, casings. Boiler drum water, feed water, DM water, filter water chemistry were studied. LP blade scale mainly consists of silica, whereas HP blade scale consists of iron oxide, sodium phosphate, silica etc. It was concluded that less generating capacity of power was because of scaling on turbine blade. (author)

  7. [Peripheral venous catheter use in the emergency department: reducing adverse events in patients and biosafety problems for staff].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomás Vecina, Santiago; Mozota Duarte, Julián; Ortega Marcos, Miguel; Gracia Ruiz Navarro, María; Borillo, Vicente; San Juan Gago, Leticia; Roqueta Egea, Fermin; Chanovas Borrás, Manuel

    2016-01-01

    To test a strategy to reduce the rate of adverse events in patients and safety problems for emergency department staff who insert peripheral venous catheters (PVCs). The strategy consisted of training, implementing a protocol, and introducing safety-engineered PVCs. Prospective, multicenter, observational, preauthorization study in patients requiring PVC placement in an emergency department. The study had 2 phases. The first consisted of training, implementing a protocol for using conventional PVCs, and monitoring practice. The second phase introduced safety-engineered PVC sets. The number of adverse events in patients and threats to safety for staff were compared between the 2 phases. A total of 520 patients were included, 180 in the first phase and 340 in the second. We detected breaches in aseptic technique, failure to maintain a sterile field, and improper management of safety equipment and devices. Some practices improved significantly during the second phase. Eighty-six adverse events occurred in the first phase and 52 (15.4%) in the second; the between-phase difference was not statistically significant. The incidence of postinfusion phlebitis was 50% lower in the second phase. Seven splash injuries and 1 accidental puncture occurred with conventional PVCs in the first phase; 2 splash injuries occurred with the safety-engineered PVCs in the second phase (36% decrease, P = .04). Differences were particularly noticeable for short-term PVC placements (P = .02). Combining training, a protocol, and the use of safety-engineered PVC sets offers an effective strategy for improving patient and staff safety.

  8. Development of seedlings of watermelon cv. Crimson Sweet irrigated with biosaline water

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    José E. S. B. da Silva

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available ABSTRACTThe limited access and the scarcity of good quality water for agriculture are some of the major problems faced in agricultural areas, particularly in arid and semiarid regions. The aim of this study was to evaluate the quality of watermelon seedlings (cv. Crimson Sweet, irrigated with different concentrations of biosaline water of fish culture. The experimental design was completely randomized with five treatments, corresponding to biosaline water at different concentrations (0, 33, 50, 67 and 100%, and four replicates of 108 seedlings. Watermelon seeds were sown in plastic trays filled with commercial substrate and irrigated with different solutions of biosaline water. Seedlings were harvested for biometric analysis at 14, 21 and 28 days after sowing. The use of biosaline water did not affect emergence and establishment of seedlings until 14 days after sowing, the period recommended for transplantation. However, the use of biosaline water affected the development of seedlings with longer exposure time.

  9. Experience and lessons learned from emergency disposal of Fukushima nuclear power station accident

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Xiegu; Zhen Bei; Yang Xiaoming; Chen Xiaohua

    2012-01-01

    After Fukushima nuclear accident, we visited the related medical aid agencies for nuclear accidents and conducted investigations in disaster-affected areas in Japan. This article summarizes the problems with emergency disposal of Fukushima nuclear accident while disclosing problems should be solved during the emergency force construction for nuclear accidents. (authors)

  10. [Hospital emergency rooms].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tudela, Pere; Mòdol, Josep Maria

    2003-05-17

    Overuse of hospital emergency rooms (HERs) is parallel to their controversy. To understand this problem, some concepts should be first clarified. In HERs, there are some intrinsic aspects which are directly related to the emergency itself and thus cannot be modified (intermittent patient flow, need to prioritize, difficulty to achieve a rapid diagnosis, influence of time on treatment, value of clinical follow up, patient's expectations, impact of HER on the overall hospital working dynamics). On the other hand, there are some extrinsic aspects which indeed are not related to HER itself but are rather historically associated with it (precarious structure, delay on admission, lack of privacy, inadequate triage of cases, lack of professionalization); these latter aspects may be potentially modified and should be reconsidered.

  11. Emergency core cooling system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Arai, Kenji; Oikawa, Hirohide.

    1990-01-01

    The device according to this invention can ensure cooling water required for emerency core cooling upon emergence such as abnormally, for example, loss of coolant accident, without using dynamic equipments such as a centrifugal pump or large-scaled tank. The device comprises a pressure accumulation tank containing a high pressure nitrogen gas and cooling water inside, a condensate storage tank, a pressure suppression pool and a jet stream pump. In this device there are disposed a pipeline for guiding cooling water in the pressure accumulation tank as a jetting water to a jetting stream pump, a pipeline for guiding cooling water stored in the condensate storage tank and the pressure suppression pool as pumped water to the jetting pump and, further, a pipeline for guiding the discharged water from the jet stream pump which is a mixed stream of pumped water and jetting water into the reactor pressure vessel. In this constitution, a sufficient amount of water ranging from relatively high pressure to low pressure can be supplied into the reactor pressure vessel, without increasing the size of the pressure accumulation tank. (I.S.)

  12. Evaluation of emerging contaminants in a drinking water treatment plant using electrodialysis reversal technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gabarrón, S; Gernjak, W; Valero, F; Barceló, A; Petrovic, M; Rodríguez-Roda, I

    2016-05-15

    Emerging contaminants (EC) have gained much attention with globally increasing consumption and detection in aquatic ecosystems during the last two decades from ng/L to lower ug/L. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence and removal of pharmaceutically active compounds (PhACs), endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and related compounds in a Drinking Water Treatment Plant (DWTP) treating raw water from the Mediterranean Llobregat River. The DWTP combined conventional treatment steps with the world's largest electrodialysis reversal (EDR) facility. 49 different PhACs, EDCs and related compounds were found above their limit of quantification in the influent of the DWTP, summing up to a total concentration of ECs between 1600-4200 ng/L. As expected, oxidation using chlorine dioxide and granular activated carbon filters were the most efficient technologies for EC removal. However, despite the low concentration detected in the influent of the EDR process, it was also possible to demonstrate that this process partially removed ionized compounds, thereby constituting an additional barrier against EC pollution in the product. In the product of the EDR system, only 18 out of 49 compounds were quantifiable in at least one of the four experimental campaigns, showing in all cases removals higher than 65% and often beyond 90% for the overall DWTP process. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Fungi from a Groundwater-Fed Drinking Water Supply System in Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oliveira, Helena M B; Santos, Cledir; Paterson, R Russell M; Gusmão, Norma B; Lima, Nelson

    2016-03-09

    Filamentous fungi in drinking water distribution systems are known to (a) block water pipes; (b) cause organoleptic biodeterioration; (c) act as pathogens or allergens and (d) cause mycotoxin contamination. Yeasts might also cause problems. This study describes the occurrence of several fungal species in a water distribution system supplied by groundwater in Recife-Pernambuco, Brazil. Water samples were collected from four sampling sites from which fungi were recovered by membrane filtration. The numbers in all sampling sites ranged from 5 to 207 colony forming units (CFU)/100 mL with a mean value of 53 CFU/100 mL. In total, 859 isolates were identified morphologically, with Aspergillus and Penicillium the most representative genera (37% and 25% respectively), followed by Trichoderma and Fusarium (9% each), Curvularia (5%) and finally the species Pestalotiopsis karstenii (2%). Ramichloridium and Leptodontium were isolated and are black yeasts, a group that include emergent pathogens. The drinking water system in Recife may play a role in fungal dissemination, including opportunistic pathogens.

  14. Grow-out mariculture techniques in tropical waters: A case study of problems and solutions in Hong Kong.

    OpenAIRE

    Wu, R; Lee, J

    1989-01-01

    Raft culture is practised and trash fish is being used as feed in Hong Kong. Culture space is limited and most of the culture sites are over-crowded. Food conversion ratio is poor (about 10-15), grow-out mortality is high (30-50%) and fish kills caused by oxygen depletions, algal blooms and red tides occur frequently. Disease and water pollution are also problems.

  15. Actions to Protect the Public in an Emergency due to Severe Conditions at a Light Water Reactor. Date Effective: May 2013

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    2013-01-01

    Under Article 5.a(ii) of the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency (the 'Assistance Convention'), one function of the IAEA is to collect and disseminate to States Parties and Member States information concerning methodologies, techniques and results of research relating to response to a nuclear or radiological emergency. This publication is intended to help fulfil in part these functions assigned to the IAEA in the Assistance Convention. The aim of this publication is to provide those persons who are responsible for making and for acting on decisions in the event of an emergency at a light water reactor with an understanding of the actions that are necessary to protect the public. The publication provides a basis for developing the tools and criteria at the preparedness stage that would be needed in taking protective actions and other actions in response to such an emergency. The publication applies the safety principles stated in IAEA Safety Standards Series No. SF-1, Fundamental Safety Principles, and it will be of assistance to Member States in meeting the requirements established in IAEA Safety Standards Series No. GS-R-2, Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency. The application of these requirements is intended to minimize the consequences for people and the environment in any nuclear or radiological emergency. This guidance should be adapted to fit the State's organizational arrangements, language, terminology, concept of operation and capabilities. The IAEA General Conference, in resolution GC(55)/RES/9: 'Emphasizes the importance for all Member States to implement emergency preparedness and response mechanisms and develop mitigation measures at a national level, consistent with the Agency's Safety Standards, for improving emergency preparedness and response, facilitating communication in an emergency and contributing to harmonization of national criteria for protective and other

  16. Hanford Site ground-water monitoring for 1994

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dresel, P.E.; Thorne, P.D.; Luttrell, S.P.

    1995-08-01

    This report presents the results of the Ground-Water Surveillance Project monitoring for calendar year 1994 on the Hanford Site, Washington. Hanford Site operations from 1943 onward produced large quantities of radiologic and chemical waste that have impacted ground-water quality on the Site. Monitoring of water levels and ground-water chemistry is performed to track the extent of contamination and trends in contaminant concentrations. The 1994 monitoring was also designed to identify emerging ground-water quality problems. The information obtained is used to verify compliance with applicable environmental regulations and to evaluate remedial actions. Data from other monitoring and characterization programs were incorporated to provide an integrated assessment of Site ground-water quality. Additional characterization of the Site's geologic setting and hydrology was performed to support the interpretation of contaminant distributions. Numerical modeling of sitewide ground-water flow also supported the overall project goals. Water-level monitoring was performed to evaluate ground-water flow directions, to track changes in water levels, and to relate such changes to changes in site disposal practices. Water levels over most of the Hanford Site continued to decline between June 1993 and June 1994. These declines are part of the continued response to the cessation of discharge to U Pond and other disposal facilities. The low permeability in this area which enhanced mounding of waste-water discharge has also slowed the response to the reduction of disposal

  17. Hanford Site ground-water monitoring for 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dresel, P.E.; Thorne, P.D.; Luttrell, S.P. [and others

    1995-08-01

    This report presents the results of the Ground-Water Surveillance Project monitoring for calendar year 1994 on the Hanford Site, Washington. Hanford Site operations from 1943 onward produced large quantities of radiologic and chemical waste that have impacted ground-water quality on the Site. Monitoring of water levels and ground-water chemistry is performed to track the extent of contamination and trends in contaminant concentrations. The 1994 monitoring was also designed to identify emerging ground-water quality problems. The information obtained is used to verify compliance with applicable environmental regulations and to evaluate remedial actions. Data from other monitoring and characterization programs were incorporated to provide an integrated assessment of Site ground-water quality. Additional characterization of the Site`s geologic setting and hydrology was performed to support the interpretation of contaminant distributions. Numerical modeling of sitewide ground-water flow also supported the overall project goals. Water-level monitoring was performed to evaluate ground-water flow directions, to track changes in water levels, and to relate such changes to changes in site disposal practices. Water levels over most of the Hanford Site continued to decline between June 1993 and June 1994. These declines are part of the continued response to the cessation of discharge to U Pond and other disposal facilities. The low permeability in this area which enhanced mounding of waste-water discharge has also slowed the response to the reduction of disposal.

  18. Research on Crowdsourcing Emergency Information Extraction of Based on Events' Frame

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Bo; Wang, Jizhou; Ma, Weijun; Mao, Xi

    2018-01-01

    At present, the common information extraction method cannot extract the structured emergency event information accurately; the general information retrieval tool cannot completely identify the emergency geographic information; these ways also do not have an accurate assessment of these results of distilling. So, this paper proposes an emergency information collection technology based on event framework. This technique is to solve the problem of emergency information picking. It mainly includes emergency information extraction model (EIEM), complete address recognition method (CARM) and the accuracy evaluation model of emergency information (AEMEI). EIEM can be structured to extract emergency information and complements the lack of network data acquisition in emergency mapping. CARM uses a hierarchical model and the shortest path algorithm and allows the toponomy pieces to be joined as a full address. AEMEI analyzes the results of the emergency event and summarizes the advantages and disadvantages of the event framework. Experiments show that event frame technology can solve the problem of emergency information drawing and provides reference cases for other applications. When the emergency disaster is about to occur, the relevant departments query emergency's data that has occurred in the past. They can make arrangements ahead of schedule which defense and reducing disaster. The technology decreases the number of casualties and property damage in the country and world. This is of great significance to the state and society.

  19. Arsenic in Drinking Water-A Global Environmental Problem

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Joanna Shaofen; Wai, Chien M.

    2004-01-01

    Information on the worldwide occurrence of groundwater pollution by arsenic, the ensuing health hazards, and the debatable government regulations of arsenic in drinking water, is presented. Diagnostic identification of arsenic, and methods to eliminate it from water are also discussed.

  20. Matrices in Engineering Problems

    CERN Document Server

    Tobias, Marvin

    2011-01-01

    This book is intended as an undergraduate text introducing matrix methods as they relate to engineering problems. It begins with the fundamentals of mathematics of matrices and determinants. Matrix inversion is discussed, with an introduction of the well known reduction methods. Equation sets are viewed as vector transformations, and the conditions of their solvability are explored. Orthogonal matrices are introduced with examples showing application to many problems requiring three dimensional thinking. The angular velocity matrix is shown to emerge from the differentiation of the 3-D orthogo

  1. Pathogens in drinking water: Are there any new ones

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reasoner, D.J.

    1993-01-01

    Since 1976 three newly recognized human pathogens have become familiar to the drinking water industry as waterborne disease agents. These are: the legionnaires disease agent, Legionella pneumophila and related species; and two protozoan pathogens, Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium parvum, both of which form highly disinfectant resistant cysts that are shed in the feces of infected individuals. The question frequently arises - are there other emerging waterborne pathogens that may pose a human health problem that the drinking water industry will have to deal with. The paper will review the current state of knowledge of the occurrence and incidence of pathogens and opportunistic pathogens other than Legionella, Giardia and Cryptosporidium in treated and untreated drinking water. Bacterial agents that will be reviewed include Aeromonas, Pseudomonas, Campylobacter, Mycobacterium, Yersinia and Plesiomonas. Aspects of detection of these agents including detection methods and feasibility of monitoring will be addressed.

  2. Emergency automatic signalling system using time scheduling

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rayavel, P.; Surenderanath, S.; Rathnavel, P.; Prakash, G.

    2018-04-01

    It is difficult to handle traffic congestion and maintain roads during traffic mainly in India. As the people migrate from rural to urban and sub-urban areas, it becomes still more critical. Presently Roadways is a standout amongst the most vital transportation. At the point when a car crash happens, crisis vehicles, for example, ambulances and fire trucks must rush to the mischance scene. There emerges a situation where a portion of the crisis vehicles may cause another car crash. Therefore it becomes still more difficult for emergency vehicle to reach the destination within a predicted time. To avoid that kind of problem we have come out with an effective idea which can reduce the potential in the traffic system. The traffic system is been modified using a wireless technology and high speed micro controller to provide smooth and clear flow of traffic for ambulance to reach the destination on time. This is achieved by using RFID Tag at the ambulance and RFID Reader at the traffic system i.e., traffic signal. This mainly deals with identifying the emergency vehicle and providing a green signal to traffic signal at time of traffic jam. — By assigning priorities to various traffic movements, we can control the traffic jam. In some moments like ambulance emergency, high delegates arrive people facing lot of trouble. To overcome this problem in this paper we propose a time priority based traffic system achieved by using RFID transmitter at the emergency vehicle and RFID receiver at the traffic system i.e., traffic signal. The signal from the emergency vehicle is sent to traffic system which after detecting it sends it to microcontroller which controls the traffic signal. If any emergency vehicle is detected the system goes to emergency system mode where signal switch to green and if it is not detected normal system mode.

  3. Emerging organic pollutants in the vadose zone of a soil aquifer treatment system: Pore water extraction using positive displacement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sopilniak, Alexander; Elkayam, Roy; Rossin, Anna Voloshenko; Lev, Ovadia

    2018-01-01

    Trace organic compounds in effluents, water streams and aquifers are amply reported. However, the mobile pool of Emerging Organic Contaminants (EOCs) in the deep parts of the vadose zone is hard to estimate, due to difficulties in extraction of sufficient quantity of pore water. Here, we present a new methodology for depth profiling of EOCs in pore water by Positive Displacement Extraction (PDE): Pore water extraction from unsaturated soil samples is carried out by withdrawal of soil cores by direct-push drilling and infiltrating the core by organics free water. We show that EOC concentrations in the water eluted in the plateau region of the inverse breakthrough curve is equal to their pore water concentrations. The method was previously validated for DOC extraction, and here the scope of the methodology is extended to pore water extraction for organic pollutants analysis. Method characteristics and validation were carried out with atrazine, simazine, carbamazepine, venlafaxine, O-desmethylvenlafaxine and caffeine in the concentration range of several ng to several μg/liter. Validation was carried out by laboratory experiments on three different soils (sandy, sandy-clayey and clayey). Field studies in the vadose zone of a SAT system provided 27 m deep EOC profiles with less than 1.5 m spatial resolution. During the percolation treatment, carbamazepine remained persistent, while the other studied EOCs were attenuated to the extent of 50-99%.The highest degradation rate of all studied EOCs was in the aerobic zone. EOC levels based on PDE and extraction by centrifugation were compared, showing a positive bias for centrifugation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. Study of water recovery and solid waste processing for aerospace and domestic applications. Volume 2: Final report

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guarneri, C. A.; Reed, A.; Renman, R. E.

    1972-01-01

    The manner in which current and advanced technology can be applied to develop practical solutions to existing and emerging water supply and waste disposal problems is evaluated. An overview of water resource factors as they affect new community planning, and requirements imposed on residential waste treatment systems are presented. The results of equipment surveys contain information describing: commercially available devices and appliances designed to conserve water; devices and techniques for monitoring water quality and controlling back contamination; and advanced water and waste processing equipment. System concepts are developed and compared on the basis of current and projected costs. Economic evaluations are based on community populations of from 2,000 to 250,000. The most promising system concept is defined in sufficient depth to initiate detailed design.

  5. Green analytical determination of emerging pollutants in environmental waters using excitation-emission photoinduced fluorescence data and multivariate calibration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hurtado-Sánchez, María Del Carmen; Lozano, Valeria A; Rodríguez-Cáceres, María Isabel; Durán-Merás, Isabel; Escandar, Graciela M

    2015-03-01

    An eco-friendly strategy for the simultaneous quantification of three emerging pharmaceutical contaminants is presented. The proposed analytical method, which involves photochemically induced fluorescence matrix data combined with second-order chemometric analysis, was used for the determination of carbamazepine, ofloxacin and piroxicam in water samples of different complexity without the need of chromatographic separation. Excitation-emission photoinduced fluorescence matrices were obtained after UV irradiation, and processed with second-order algorithms. Only one of the tested algorithms was able to overcome the strong spectral overlapping among the studied pollutants and allowed their successful quantitation in very interferent media. The method sensitivity in superficial and underground water samples was enhanced by a simple solid-phase extraction with C18 membranes, which was successful for the extraction/preconcentration of the pollutants at trace levels. Detection limits in preconcentrated (1:125) real water samples ranged from 0.04 to 0.3 ng mL(-1). Relative prediction errors around 10% were achieved. The proposed strategy is significantly simpler and greener than liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry methods, without compromising the analytical quality of the results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Dose limit for emergency workers. Application of Fukushima-Daiichi NPP accident and problems for the future

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sugai, Kenji

    2012-01-01

    Described are details of management for workers' personal exposure dose, of problems raised and of their solutions taken under various complicated conditions of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) Accident (Mar. 2011). As the entrance/exit (en/ex) for the NPP site with regular control were impossible due to the hydrogen explosion which expanded the control area to 20 km distance from the site, Japan Football Village (J-Village) localizing at the border and Important Anti-seismic Building in the site were defined to be the bases of en/ex and of their control, respectively. Flooded 5,000 alarm pocket dosimeters (APD) by tsunami were not usable and only 320 APD remained available. At the quite early stage of working at the site, one representative worker in a group had only one APD. Management of internal exposure was also difficult essentially because the power source of the whole body counter was unavailable. At an early emergent stage alone, workers with higher dose than the limit (100 mSv for emergency) were observed, but >90% of workers were exposed to <50 mSv (the limit for the radiation worker). Six male Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) personnel were exposed to 250 mSv (specially defined dose limit) or more with the maximum 678.80 mSv, in whom the internal exposure due to radioiodine largely attributed. They were examined for their health by the expert doctors in National Institute of Radiological Sciences, were found free of abnormality and were to be followed up thereafter. Out of 19 female TEPCO personnel, two had exceeded the dose limit 5 mSv/3 mo and other 2, the annual limit 1 mSv. They received the examination by the industrial doctor, were found free of abnormality, but were decided not to work at the site. Recently, about 5,000 APD have been purchased for personal usage and dose management is conducted by bar-coding of individual workers, and internal exposure is managed with 11 whole body counters by once a month measurement in J

  7. Outcomes of medical emergencies on commercial airline flights.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, Drew C; Martin-Gill, Christian; Guyette, Francis X; Tobias, Adam Z; McCarthy, Catherine E; Harrington, Scott T; Delbridge, Theodore R; Yealy, Donald M

    2013-05-30

    Worldwide, 2.75 billion passengers fly on commercial airlines annually. When in-flight medical emergencies occur, access to care is limited. We describe in-flight medical emergencies and the outcomes of these events. We reviewed records of in-flight medical emergency calls from five domestic and international airlines to a physician-directed medical communications center from January 1, 2008, through October 31, 2010. We characterized the most common medical problems and the type of on-board assistance rendered. We determined the incidence of and factors associated with unscheduled aircraft diversion, transport to a hospital, and hospital admission, and we determined the incidence of death. There were 11,920 in-flight medical emergencies resulting in calls to the center (1 medical emergency per 604 flights). The most common problems were syncope or presyncope (37.4% of cases), respiratory symptoms (12.1%), and nausea or vomiting (9.5%). Physician passengers provided medical assistance in 48.1% of in-flight medical emergencies, and aircraft diversion occurred in 7.3%. Of 10,914 patients for whom postflight follow-up data were available, 25.8% were transported to a hospital by emergency-medical-service personnel, 8.6% were admitted, and 0.3% died. The most common triggers for admission were possible stroke (odds ratio, 3.36; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.88 to 6.03), respiratory symptoms (odds ratio, 2.13; 95% CI, 1.48 to 3.06), and cardiac symptoms (odds ratio, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.37 to 2.77). Most in-flight medical emergencies were related to syncope, respiratory symptoms, or gastrointestinal symptoms, and a physician was frequently the responding medical volunteer. Few in-flight medical emergencies resulted in diversion of aircraft or death; one fourth of passengers who had an in-flight medical emergency underwent additional evaluation in a hospital. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health.).

  8. Model or Myopia? Exploiting Water Markets to Address Population and Drought Risks in a Changing World

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reed, P. M.

    2012-12-01

    Climate change, population demands, and evolving land-use represent strong risks to the sustainable development and stability of world-wide urban water supplies. There is a growing consensus that non-structural supply management instruments such as water markets have significant potential to reduce the risks and vulnerabilities in complex urban water systems. This paper asks a common question, what are the tradeoffs for a city using water market supply instruments?. This question emerges quickly in policy and management, but its answer is deceptively difficult to attain using traditional planning tools and management frameworks. This research demonstrates new frameworks that facilitate rapid evaluation of hypotheses on the reliability, resiliency, adaptability, and cost-effectiveness of urban water supply systems. This study considers a broader exploration of the issues of "nonstationarity" and "uncertainty" in urban water planning. As we invest in new information and prediction frameworks for the coupled human-natural systems that define our water, our problem definitions (i.e., objectives, constraints, preferences, and hypotheses) themselves evolve. From a formal mathematical perspective, this means that our management problems are structurally uncertain and nonstationary (i.e., the definition of optimality changes across regions, times, and stakeholders). This uncertainty and nonstationarity in our problem definitions needs to be more explicitly acknowledged in adaptive management and integrated water resources management. This study demonstrates the potential benefits of exploring these issues in the context of a city in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of Texas, USA determining how to use its regional water market to manage population and drought risks.

  9. Emergency core cooling system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sato, Akira; Kobayashi, Masahide.

    1983-01-01

    Purpose: To enable a stable operation of an emergency core cooling system by preventing the system from the automatic stopping at an abnormally high level of the reactor water during its operation. Constitution: A pump flow rate signal and a reactor water level signal are used and, when the reactor water level is increased to a predetermined level, the pump flow rate is controlled by the reactor water level signal instead of the flow rate signal. Specifically, when the reactor water level is gradually increased by the water injection from the pump and exceeds a setting signal for the water level, the water level deviation signal acts as a demand signal for the decrease in the flow rate of the pump and the output signal from the water level controller is also decreased depending on the control constant. At a certain point, the output signal from the water level controller becomes smaller than the output signal from the flow rate controller. Thus, the output signal from the water level controller is outputted as the output signal for the lower level preference device. In this way, the reactor water level and the pump flow rate can be controlled within a range not exceeding the predetermined pump flow rate. (Horiuchi, T.)

  10. Dangerous goods emergency response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Price, K.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on a general overview of the State of Western Australia including: the legal framework of the Dangerous Goods and Emergency response management scenarios (which consist mainly of fuel products such as LP gas); particular problems unique to the Western Australian environment; what has been done to overcome those problems. Western Australia has an area of about two and a half million square kilometers. The demography of the State is such that the population is concentrated in the south-west corner of the State with isolated pockets, mainly associated with mineral development but also associated with agriculture, scattered throughout the State

  11. Workplace violence against emergency versus non-emergency nurses in Mansoura university hospitals, Egypt.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abou-ElWafa, Hala Samir; El-Gilany, Abdel-Hady; Abd-El-Raouf, Samar E; Abd-Elmouty, Samia Mahmoud; El-Sayed, Rabab El-Sayed Hassan

    2015-03-01

    Workplace violence (WPV) against nurses is a common but neglected problem in Egypt. The objectives are to estimate the prevalence and associated risk factors of different types of violence against nurses working in the emergency hospital compared with those working in non-emergency clinics, circumstances of violence, type of perpetrators, and victims' response. This cross-sectional comparative study was carried out at Mansoura University Hospitals, Egypt, during January 2013. The data were collected through the adapted version of a self-administered questionnaire developed by the International Labor Office/International Council of Nurses/World Health Organization/Public Services International on WPV in the health sector. All types of WPV are common among nurses. Precipitating factors for violent incidents identified by respondents are emergency specialty, having work shift, and younger age. Violent incidents result in work dissatisfaction and consequently impair work productivity. Nurses working in emergency hospital experienced a higher level of different types of WPV. There is an urgent need to formulate and implement a policy for dealing with violent events. © The Author(s) 2014.

  12. Integration into JRODOS the models of radionuclide transport in rivers, reservoirs and coastal waters to support the emergency response in early accidental stages

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zheleznyak, M.; Bezhenar, R.; Boyko, O.; Ievdin, I.; Koshebutsky, V.; Maderich, V. [Institute of Mathematical Machines and Systems, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (Ukraine); Raskob, W.; Trybushnyi, D. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institut fuer Kern- und Energietechnik (Germany)

    2014-07-01

    The decision support system for offsite nuclear emergency management RODOS (Real-time on-line decision support), developed under several EC RTD Framework Programs, contains many models related to support decision making in case of a nuclear or radiological emergency. Based on the request of the end users, it was re-engineered based on the JAVA technology and further named JRODOS. The consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident clearly demonstrated the importance of modeling tools predicting the radionuclide transport in marine and freshwater environment and assessing the doses to the public via the aquatic food chain to improve decision making in general. As a consequence, such an activity was launched as part of the European project PREPARE aiming to integrate the 3-dimensional model THREETOX for the radionuclide transport in coastal waters, estuaries, deep lakes, and reservoirs into hydrological model chain of JRODOS - JHDM (JRODOS Hydrological Dispersion Module). So far JHDM contains several aquatic radionuclide transport models describing the sequence of the processes 'atmospheric fallout to watershed' - 'radionuclide inflow to a river net' - 'radionuclide transport in river' - 'doses via aquatic pathways'. The implementation of the THREETOX model into this chain by developing also a user friendly interface will extend the applicability of JRODOS to deep fresh water bodies and marine coastal waters. This paper describes the assessment capabilities of this advanced model chain for two examples of the JRODOS implementation in Ukraine. JRODOS is installed in the emergency centers for two Ukrainian Nuclear Power Plants (NPP) - Zaporizzhya NPP (ZNPP) and Rivne NPP (RNPP). The different models of the JHDM were customized for these NPPs taking into account the characteristics of the water bodies in the surroundings of the NPPs. For the RNPP, located at the bank of the Sozh River which is a tributary of the

  13. Developing Optimal Procedure of Emergency Outside Cooling Water Injection for APR1400 Extended SBO Scenario Using MARS Code

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hwang, Jong Rok; Oh, Seung Jong [KEPCO International Nuclear Graduate School, Ulsan (Korea, Republic of)

    2013-10-15

    In this study, we examined optimum operator actions to mitigate extended SBO using MARS code. Particularly, this paper focuses on analyzing outside core cooling water injection scenario, and aimed to develop optimal extended SBO procedure. Supplying outside emergency cooling water is the key feature of flexible strategy in extended SBO situation. An optimum strategy to maintain core cooling is developed for typical extended SBO. MARS APR1400 best estimate model was used to find optimal procedure. Also RCP seal leakage effect was considered importantly. Recent Fukushima accident shows the importance of mitigation capability against extended SBO scenarios. In Korea, all nuclear power plants incorporated various measures against Fukushima-like events. For APR1400 NPP, outside connectors are installed to inject cooling water using fire trucks or portable pumps. Using these connectors, outside cooling water can be provided to reactor, steam generators (SG), containment spray system, and spent fuel pool. In U. S., similar approach is chosen to provide a diverse and flexible means to prevent fuel damage (core and SFP) in external event conditions resulting in extended loss of AC power and loss of ultimate heat sink. Hence, hardware necessary to cope with extended SBO is already available for APR1400. However, considering the complex and stressful condition encountered by operators during extended SBO, it is important to develop guidelines/procedures to best cope with the event.

  14. Problems related to public perceptions of radiological emergency planning and response

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reilly, Margaret A.

    1989-01-01

    Beyond the scientific, the administrative and procedural issues of radiological emergency planning and response there is the issue of public perception. This paper emphasises that, radiation crises being a rare occurrence there is no enough database for generating scholarly quantitative reports. It suggests the need for disseminating timely and accurate information through a single spokesman from a responsible public agency

  15. Cooling water treatment for heavy water project (Paper No. 6.9)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Valsangkar, H.N.

    1992-01-01

    With minor exceptions, water is the preferred industrial medium for the removal of unwanted heat from process systems. The application of various chemical treatments is required to protect the system from water related and process related problems of corrosion, scale and deposition and biofouling. The paper discusses the cooling water problems for heavy water industries along with the impact caused by associated fertilizer units. (author). 6 figs

  16. Medical problems of survivors of nuclear war: Infection and the spread of communicable disease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Abrams, H.L.; VonKaenel, W.E.

    1984-01-01

    The nature of the medical problems produced by the aftermath of nuclear war is discussed. The survivors of nuclear war will live without the social structure needed to assure food, water, and shelter. They will experience malnutrition, exposure, and fatigue, which are all favorable to infection and the epidemic spread of communicable disease. The authors analyze the problem of infectious illness in the postattack period, assuming the 6,559 megaton attack scenario used by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. A particular contribution of this analysis is that it is based on government technical reports that describe the available computer modeling of postattack conditions. Such simulations allow a semiquantitative estimate of deaths due to infection. They estimate that postattack infectious disease mortality will be 25%. These studies are not accessible to the general reader and are difficult for health professionals to interpret

  17. Main problems of external monitoring in the accidental zone

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gavrikov, O.K.; Gul'din, A.N.; Komarov, V.I.; Malkov, V.L.; Smirnov, N.V.; Sukhoruchkin, A.K.; Proskuryakov, A.G.

    1989-01-01

    Operational experience of the external monitoring service during emergency response is analysed as applied to the problems of optimization of environmental monitoring under accidental conditions. Problems of rapid and strategical environmental radiation monitoring are considered

  18. Contaminants of emerging concern in the open sea waters of the Western Mediterranean.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brumovský, Miroslav; Bečanová, Jitka; Kohoutek, Jiří; Borghini, Mireno; Nizzetto, Luca

    2017-10-01

    Pollution by chemical substances is of concern for the maintenance of healthy and sustainable aquatic environments. While the occurrence and fate of numerous emerging contaminants, especially pharmaceuticals, is well documented in freshwater, their occurrence and behavior in coastal and marine waters is much less studied and understood. This study investigates the occurrence of 58 chemicals in the open surface water of the Western Mediterranean Sea for the first time. 70 samples in total were collected in 10 different sampling areas. 3 pesticides, 11 pharmaceuticals and personal care products and 2 artificial sweeteners were detected at sub-ng to ng/L levels. Among them, the herbicide terbuthylazine, the pharmaceuticals caffeine, carbamazepine, naproxen and paracetamol, the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole, the antibacterial triclocarban and the two artificial sweeteners acesulfame and saccharin were detected in all samples. The compound detected at the highest concentration was saccharin (up to 5.23 ng/L). Generally small spatial differences among individual sampling areas point to a diffuse character of sources which are likely dominated by WWTP effluents and runoffs from agricultural areas or even, at least for pharmaceuticals and artificial food additives, from offshore sources such as ferries and cruising ships. The implications of the ubiquitous presence in the open sea of chemicals that are bio-active or toxic at low doses on photosynthetic organisms and/or bacteria (i.e., terbuthylazine, sulfamethoxazole or triclocarban) deserve scientific attention, especially concerning possible subtle impacts from chronic exposure of pelagic microorganisms. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Actual problems of municipal cleaner’s waste waters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konko¾ová Patrícia

    2000-03-01

    Full Text Available In paper are evaluated social and economical changes in water economy with emphasis on complex evaluation of municipal cleaner’s waste waters with respect of legislative, position of ownerskip relationskips and financial security of public experiences of water economy.

  20. An intelligent IoT emergency vehicle warning system using RFID and Wi-Fi technologies for emergency medical services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lai, Yeong-Lin; Chou, Yung-Hua; Chang, Li-Chih

    2018-01-01

    Collisions between emergency vehicles for emergency medical services (EMS) and public road users have been a serious problem, impacting on the safety of road users, emergency medical technicians (EMTs), and the patients on board. The aim of this study is to develop a novel intelligent emergency vehicle warning system for EMS applications. The intelligent emergency vehicle warning system is developed by Internet of Things (IoT), radio-frequency identification (RFID), and Wi-Fi technologies. The system consists of three major parts: a system trigger tag, an RFID system in an emergency vehicle, and an RFID system at an intersection. The RFID system either in an emergency vehicle or at an intersection contains a controller, an ultrahigh-frequency (UHF) RFID reader module, a Wi-Fi module, and a 2.4-GHz antenna. In addition, a UHF ID antenna is especially designed for the RFID system in an emergency vehicle. The IoT system provides real-time visual warning at an intersection and siren warning from an emergency vehicle in order to effectively inform road users about an emergency vehicle approaching. The developed intelligent IoT emergency vehicle warning system demonstrates the capabilities of real-time visual and siren warnings for EMS safety.