Costs and benefits of community water fluoridation in remote Aboriginal communities of the Northern Territory.

OBJECTIVE: To undertake an economic evaluation of community water fluoridation (CWF) in remote communities of the Northern Territory (NT). DESIGN: Dental caries experiences were compared between CWF and non-CWF communities before and after intervention. Costs and benefits of CWF are ascertained from the health sector perspective using water quality, accounting, oral health, dental care and hospitalisation datasets. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Remote Aboriginal population in the NT between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2020. INTERVENTION: CWF. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Potential economic benefits were estimated by changes in caries scores valued at the NT average dental service costs. RESULTS: Given the total 20-year life span of a fluoridation plant ($1.77 million), the net present benefit of introducing CWF in a typical community of 300-499 population was $3.79 million. For each $1 invested in CWF by government, the estimated long-term economic value of savings to health services ranged from $1.1 (population ≤300) to $16 (population ≥2000) due to reductions in treating dental caries and associated hospitalisations. The payback period ranged from 15 years (population ≤300) to 2.2 years (population ≥2000). CONCLUSIONS: The economic benefits of expanding CWF in remote Aboriginal communities of NT outweigh the costs of installation, operation and maintenance of fluoridation plants over the lifespan of CWF infrastructure for population of 300 or more.

Predicting molecular docking of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to blood protein using generative artificial intelligence algorithm DiffDock.

This study computationally evaluates the molecular docking affinity of various perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAs) towards blood proteins using a generative machine-learning algorithm, DiffDock, specialized in protein-ligand blind-docking learning and prediction. Concerns about the chemical pathways and accumulation of PFAs in the environment and eventually in the human body has been rising due to empirical findings that levels of PFAs in human blood has been rising. DiffDock may offer a fast approach in determining the fate and potential molecular pathways of PFAs in human body.

Formulation of a Simulated Wastewater Influent Composition for Use in the Research of Technologies for Managing Wastewaters Generated during Manned Long-Term Space Exploration and Other Similar Situations-Literature-Based Composition Development.

The prospect of humans inhabiting planetary bodies is gaining interest among research and development communities, with the moon being considered as a transitory base camp and Mars the next planet humans will inhabit. NASA's Mission to Mars program is set to have humans inhabiting Mars within on-planet space camps by the Year 2030, which has tremendously increased research and development for space exploration-including research oriented toward human life support in long-term planetary lodging camps. The sustenance of human life on Mars will not be trivial due to the unavailability of an appropriate atmosphere and usable water. This situation requires a self-sustaining human life support system that can provide the basic needs such are breathable air, potable water, food, and energy. The feasibility of sending a payload with resources adequate to support long-term human inhabitation is not reasonable, which means every resource within a Mars space camp is valuable, including human-produced wastes. A biorefinery system that treats wastewater and can also produce valuable products such as oxygen, food, and energy offers a form of circular utilization of valuable resources. To conduct research for such systems requires a wastewater influent that is representative of the wastewater to be generated by the space crew within this isolated, confined environment, which is different from what is generated on Earth due to limited variability in diet, human activity, and lifestyle in this confined area. Collection of actual wastewater influent from an isolated environment supporting humans is challenging. Additionally, to ensure a safe working environment in the laboratory and avoid the imposed threat of handling actual human feces, the proposed synthetic, non-human feces containing wastewater influent formulation offers an easy-to-produce and safer-to-handle option. This paper reviews several synthetic wastewater compositions that have been formulated for space exploration purposes. None of the formulations were found to be realistic nor adequate for a space-camp-type scenario. Thus, the formulation of a synthetic wastewater for simulating a wastewater influent from a human space-based camp is proposed in this paper. In addition, the physical, chemical, and biodegradation characteristics of the final formulation designed are presented to illustrate the value of the proposed influent formulation.

A Methodology for Global Sensitivity Analysis of Activated Sludge Models: Case Study with Activated Sludge Model No. 3 (ASM3).

The main objective of this study was to demonstrate a computational approach of global sensitivity analysis (GSA) integrated with functional principal component analysis (fPCA) for activated sludge models through aggregation of time-dependent model response patterns into time-independent coefficients of functional principal components (PCs). This proposed approach addresses the main issue of time-varying character of GSA indices when calculated solely on the time-dependent model outputs. The GSA-fPCA methodology was implemented using the rigorous model Activated Sludge Model No. 3 (ASM3) as case study. The approach transforms the time-dependent model outputs into functional PCs prior to calculation of GSA indices to remove the time-varying character of the calculated GSA indices. This work focused on the evaluation of the following key computational factors that may significantly influence the performance of the GSA-fPCA methodology: (a) model parameter sampling range, (b) model simulation period, (c) basis functions system, and (d) state of the system being modeled-batch or continuous activated sludge process. Results show that first few functional PCs capture up to 100% of the curve patterns in the time-dependent model outputs. The sensitivity indices calculated from the PC scores via Morris' GSA technique elucidated parameter sensitivity patterns inherent to the complex mathematical structure of ASM3. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Functional principal components-mediated GSA technique to remove time-varying character of sensitivity indices derived from time-dependent dynamical models. Technique amenable to improving efficiency of capturing response patterns into few functional principal components through various basis functions. Identifying priority parameters for ASM3 model calibration requires specification of target model outputs to which parameter sensitivities are calculated. GSA-fPCA offers a comprehensive numerical approach to manipulating models depending on the intended applications: simple fast-responding models to complex models.