Risk-based public health impact assessment for drinking water contamination emergencies.

Chemical spills in surface waters pose a significant threat to public health and the environment. This study investigates the public health impacts associated with organic chemical spill emergencies and explores timely countermeasures deployable by drinking water facilities. Using a dynamic model of a typical multi-sourced New England drinking water treatment facility and its distribution network, this study assesses the impacts of various countermeasure deployment scenarios, including source switching, enhanced coagulation via poly­aluminum chloride (PACl), addition of powdered activated carbon (PAC), and temporary system shutdown. This study reveals that the deployment of multiple countermeasures yields the most significant reduction in total public health impacts, regardless of the demand and supply availability. With the combination PAC deployed first with other countermeasures proving to be the most effective strategies, followed by the combination of facility shutdowns. By understanding the potential public health impacts and evaluating the effectiveness of countermeasures, authorities can develop proactive plans, secure additional funding, and enhance their capacity to mitigate the consequences of such events. These insights contribute to safeguarding public health and improving the resilience of drinking water systems in the face of the ever-growing threat of chemical spills.

Exploring TSPAN4 promoter methylation as a diagnostic biomarker for tuberculosis.

Background: Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is a persistent infectious disease threatening human health. The existing diagnostic methods still have significant shortcomings, including a low positivity rate in pathogen-based diagnoses and the inability of immunological diagnostics to detect active TB. Hence, it is urgent to develop new techniques to detect TB more accurate and earlier. This research aims to scrutinize and authenticate DNA methylation markers suitable for tuberculosis diagnosis. Concurrently, Providing a new approach for tuberculosis diagnosis. Methods: Blood samples from patients with newly diagnosed tuberculosis and healthy controls (HC) were utilized in this study. Examining methylation microarray data from 40 whole blood samples (22TB + 18HC), we employed two procedures: signature gene methylated position analysis and signature region methylated position analysis to pinpoint distinctive methylated positions. Based on the screening results, diagnostic classifiers are constructed through machine learning, and validation was conducted through pyrosequencing in a separate queue (22TB + 18HC). Culminating in the development of a new tuberculosis diagnostic method via quantitative real-time methylation specific PCR (qMSP). Results: The combination of the two procedures revealed a total of 10 methylated positions, all of which were located in the promoter region. These 10 signature methylated positions facilitated the construction of a diagnostic classifier, exhibiting robust diagnostic accuracy in both cross-validation and external test sets. The LDA model demonstrated the best classification performance, achieving an AUC of 0.83, specificity of 0.8, and sensitivity of 0.86 on the external test set. Furthermore, the validation of signature methylated positions through pyrosequencing demonstrated high agreement with screening outcomes. Additionally, qMSP detection of 2 potential hypomethylated positions (cg04552852 and cg12464638) exhibited promising results, yielding an AUC of 0.794, specificity of 0.720, and sensitivity of 0.816. Conclusion: Our study demonstrates that the validated signature methylated positions through pyrosequencing emerge as plausible biomarkers for tuberculosis diagnosis. The specific methylation markers in the TSPAN4 gene, identified in whole blood samples, hold promise for improving tuberculosis diagnosis. This approach could significantly enhance diagnostic accuracy and speed, offering a new avenue for early detection and treatment.

Dynamic short-term crash analysis and prediction at toll plazas for proactive safety management.

Toll plazas are commonly recognized as bottlenecks on toll roads, where vehicles are prone to crashes. However, there has been a lack of research analyzing and predicting dynamic short-term crash risk specifically at toll plazas. This study utilizes traffic, geometric, and weather data to analyze and predict dynamic short-term collision occurrence probability at mainline toll plazas. A random-effects logit regression model is employed to identify crash precursors and assess their impacts on the probability of crash occurrence at toll plazas. Meanwhile, a Long Short-Term Memory Convolutional Neural Network (LSTM-CNN) network is applied for crash prediction. The results of random-effects logit regression model indicate that the flow standard deviation of downstream, upstream occupancy, speed difference and occupancy difference between upstream and downstream positively influence the probability of crash occurrence. Conversely, an increase in the proportion of ETC lanes negatively impacts the probability of crash occurrence. Additionally, there appears a higher likelihood of crashes occurring during summer at toll plaza area. Furthermore, to address the issue of data imbalance, Synthetic Minority Oversampling Techniques (SMOTE) and class weight methods were employed. Stacked Sparse AutoEncoder-Long Short-Term Memory (SSAE-LSTM) and CatBoost were developed and their performance was compared with the proposed model. The results demonstrated that the LSTM-CNN model outperformed the other models in terms of the Area Under the Curve (AUC) values and the true positive rate. The findings of this study can assist engineers in selecting suitable traffic control strategies to improve traffic safety in toll plaza areas. Moreover, the developed collision prediction model can be incorporated into a real-time safety management system to proactively prevent traffic crash.

3D-3D dentition superimposition for individual identification: A study of an Eastern Chinese population.

Recently, 3D dental intraoral scanning technology has been developed rapidly and applied widely in everyday dental practice. Since 3D dental scanning could provide valuable personal information, it enabled researchers to develop novel procedures for individual identification through 3D-3D dentition superimposition. This study aimed to test the applicability of this method in an Eastern Chinese population and propose a threshold for personal identification. For this purpose, 40 volunteers were recruited, and the initial 80 (upper and lower) 3D intraoral scans (IOS) were collected. After one year, 80 IOS of these volunteers were repeatedly collected. In addition, the other 120 IOS of 60 patients were extracted from the database. The 3D models were trimmed, aligned, and superimposed via Geomagic Control X software, and then the root mean square (RMS) value of point-to-point distance between the two models was calculated. The superimposition of two IOS belonging to the same individual was considered as a match, and superimposition of two IOS belonging to different individuals was considered as a mismatch. Totally, superimpositions of 80 matches and 3120 mismatches were obtained. Intra- and inter-observer errors were assessed through the calculation of relative technical error of measurement (rTEM). Mann-Whitney U test verified possible statistically significant differences between matches and mismatches (P < 0.05). The rTEM of intra- and inter-observer repeatability analyses was lower than 4.7 %. The range of RMS value was 0.05-0.18 mm in matches and 0.72-2.28 mm in mismatches without overlapping. The percentage of accurate identification reached 100 % in blind test through an arbitrary RMS threshold of 0.45 mm. The results indicated that individual identification through the 3D-3D dentition superimposition was effective in Eastern Chinese population. Successful identification could be achieved with high probability when the RMS value of the point-to-point distance of two dentitions is <0.45 mm.

Preparation and evaluation of sustained release pirfenidone-loaded microsphere dry powder inhalation for treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

Pirfenidone (PFND) is a recommended oral drug used to treat idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, but have low bioavailability and high hepatotoxicity. The study, therefore, seeks to improve the therapeutic activities of the drug via increased bioavailability and reduced associated side effects by developing a novel drug delivery system. The electrostatic spray technology was used to prepare a sustained release pirfenidone-loaded microsphere dry powder inhalation with PEG-modified chitosan (PFND-mPEG-CS-MS). The entrapment efficiency, drug loading, and in vitro cumulative drug release rate (at 24 h and with a sustained release effect) of PFND-mPEG-CS-MS were 77.35±3.01%, 11.45±0.64%, and 90.4%, respectively. The Carr's index of PFND-mPEG-CS-MS powder was 17.074±2.163% with a theoretical mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMADt) of 0.99±0.07 µm, and a moisture absorption weight gain rate (Rw) of 4.61±0.72%. The emptying rate, pulmonary deposition rate (fine particle fraction) and actual mass median aerodynamic diameter (MMADa) were 90%∼95%, 48.72±7.04% and 3.10±0.16 µm, respectively. MTT bioassay showed that mPEG-CS-MS (200 µg/mL) had good biocompatibility (RGR = 90.25%) and PFND-mPEG-CS-MS (200 µg/mL) had significant inhibitory activity (RGR = 49.82%) on fibroblast growth. The pharmacokinetic data revealed that the t1/2 (5.02 h) and MRT (10.66 h) of PFND-mPEG-CS-MS were prolonged compared with the free PFND (t1/2, 1.67 h; MRT, 2.71 h). The pharmacodynamic results also showed that the formulated-drug group had slight pathological changes, lower lung hydroxyproline content, and reduced hepatotoxicity compared with the free-drug group. The PFND-mPEG-CS-MS further significantly down-regulated TGF-ß cytokines, Collagen I, and α-SMA protein expression levels compared with the free drug. The findings indicated that the PFND-mPEG-CS-MS had a good sustained release effect, enhanced bioavailability, decreased toxicity, and increased anti-fibrotic activities.

GLP-1 RA Improves Diabetic Retinopathy by Protecting the Blood-Retinal Barrier through GLP-1R-ROCK-p-MLC Signaling Pathway.

Background: GLP-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1RA) are common clinical agents that are clinically protective against diabetic complications, such as diabetic retinopathy (DR). Previous studies have shown that the RhoA/ROCK pathway plays an important role in the development of DR. However, the specific mechanism of action between GLP-1RA and DR remains unclear. The aim of this study was thus to investigate the main mechanism involved in the protective effect of GLP-1RA on DR. Methods: Type 2 diabetic mice were fed a high-sugar, high-fat diet. Changes in the retinal structure were observed via HE staining and transmission electron microscopy. The expression of retinal GLP-1R, blood-retinal barrier- (BRB-) related proteins, inflammatory factors, and related pathway proteins were studied via Western blot or immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence analysis. Results: GLP-1RA treatment reduced the blood glucose and lipid levels as well as the body weight of the diabetic mice while also improving retinal thickness, morphology, and vascular ultrastructure. Moreover, restored GLP-1R expression, increased Occludin and ZO-1 levels, and decreased albumin expression led to reduced retinal leakage and improved the BRB by inhibiting the RhoA/ROCK pathway. Conclusions: We found that the protective effect of GLP-1RA on the retina may be realized through the GLP-1R-ROCK-p-MLC signaling pathway.

Individual Identification in Facial Appearance Biometrics Based on Macroscopical Comparison.

Individual identification is one of the research hotspots in the practice of forensic science, and the judgment is usually built on the comparison of the unique biological characteristics of the individual, such as fingerprints, iris and DNA. With the dramatic increase in the number of cases related to video image investigations, there is an increasing need for the technology to identify individuals based on the macroscopic comparison of facial appearance biometrics. At present, with the introduction of computer three-dimensional (3D) modeling and 3D superimposition comparison technology, considerable progress has been made in individual identification methods based on macroscopic comparison of facial appearance biometrics. This paper reviews individual facial appearance biometric methods based on macroscopical comparison, comprehensively analyzes the advantages and limitations of different methods, and puts forward recommendations and prospects for subsequent research.

Integration of multi-objective spatial optimization and data-driven interpretation to direct the city-wide sustainable promotion of building-based decentralized water technologies.

Decentralized water technologies such as rainwater harvesting (RWH) and greywater recycling (GWR) can supplement centralized urban water systems, helping reduce water withdrawal and improve water reliability. These benefits only emerge when decentralized water technologies are widely implemented. Several decision-supporting frameworks have been developed to identify suitable locations for deploying decentralized water technologies in a city. Yet, the support remains inadequate regarding: (1) the evaluation of the trade-off between environmental benefits and economic costs in selecting locations, and (2) the interpretation of the transition of optimal selections from low to high investment to assist in the promotion. This study presents an integrated analytic framework that combines multi-objective optimization and data-driven interpretation to direct the city-wide sustainable promotion of building-based decentralized water technologies. We select single-family houses in the city of Boston and apply the framework to study the promotion of building-based RWH and GWR. The framework starts with multi-objective spatial optimization to identify the non-dominant optimal selections (i.e., Pareto-front) of houses and technologies at the trade-off between maximizing energy savings and minimizing financial investment. Then, we evaluate the impact of the initial selection setting and the community-based maximum water saving constraint on the Pareto-optimal front. The spatial optimization shows that RWH is much more applicable than GWR for single-family house communities in Boston. When interpreting the Pareto-front, two clusters of census blocks stand out based on the change in the percentages of houses selected to invest RWH and GWR in each census block along with different investment levels. One cluster demonstrates its priority of being first selected to deploy RWH. Using Random Forest, critical features explain why one cluster should be selected first for promotion, including the larger demand for non-potable water use, longer distance from the centralized facilities, and larger rooftop for collecting rainwater. Finally, we discuss possible future improvements of the proposed spatial optimization and interpretation framework. Overall, our study can be useful to promote decentralized water technologies in cities.

STIM1 promotes IPEC-J2 porcine epithelial cell restitution by TRPC1 signaling.

Intestinal epithelial restitution is partly dependent on cell migration, which reseals superficial wounding after injury. Here, we tested the hypothesis that stromal interaction molecule 1(STIM1) regulates porcine intestinal epithelial cell migration by activating transient receptor potential canonical 1 (TRPC1) signaling. Results showed that the knockdown of STIM1 repressed cell migration after wounding, reduced the protein concentration of STIM1 and TRPC1, and decreased the inositol trisphosphate (IP3) content in IPEC-J2 cells (p < 0.05). However, overexpression of STIM1 obtained opposite results (p < 0.05). The inhibition of TRPC1 activity by treatment with SKF96365 in cells overexpressing wild-type and mutant STIM1 attenuated the STIM1 overexpression-induced increase of cell migration, STIM1, TRPC1 and IP3 (p < 0.05). In addition, polyamine depletion caused by α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO) resulted in the decrease of above-mentioned parameters, and exogenous polyamine could attenuate the negative effects of DFMO on IPEC-J2 cells (p < 0.05). Moreover, the overexpression of STIM1 could rescue cell migration, the protein level of STIM1 and TRPC1, and IP3 content in polyamine-deficient IPEC-J2 cells (p < 0.05). These results indicated that STIM1 could enhance porcine intestinal epithelial cell migration via the TRPC1 signaling pathway. Inhibition of cell migration by polyamine depletion resulted from the reduction of STIM1 activity.

The role of climate change and decentralization in urban water services: A dynamic energy-water nexus analysis.

Urban water services, including drinking water supply and wastewater treatment, are highly energy dependent, contributing to the challenges described under the water-energy nexus. Both future climate change and decentralized water system adoptions can potentially influence the energy use of the urban water services. However, the trend and the extent of such influences have not been well understood. In this study, a modeling framework was developed to quantify both the separate and the combined influences of climate change and decentralization on the life cycle energy use of the urban water cycle, using the City of Boston, MA as a testbed. Two types of household decentralized systems were considered, the greywater recycling (GWR) systems and the rainwater harvesting (RWH) systems. This modeling framework integrates empirical models based on multilinear regression analysis, hydrologic modeling, water balance models, and life cycle assessment to capture the complex interactions among centralized water services, decentralized water system adoptions, and climate parameters for cumulative energy demand (CED) assessment, considering all residential buildings in Boston. It was found that climate change alone will slightly increase the energy use of the centralized systems towards the end of the century, due to the cancelation effect amongst changes in water quality, flow rate, and space and water heating demand. When decentralization is considered alone, we found economically viable decentralized systems may not necessarily produce energy savings. In fact, RWH adoptions may increase energy use. When climate change and decentralization are combined, they will increase the water yield and cost savings of the decentralized systems, while reducing the energy use from the centralized systems. When the centralized systems are further added into the picture, the CED of the entire urban water cycle is projected to increase by 0.9% or 2.3% towards the end of the century under climate change if GWR or RWH systems are adopted by respective cost saving positive buildings.

ADAMTS-13-regulated nuclear factor E2-related factor 2 signaling inhibits ferroptosis to ameliorate cisplatin-induced acute kidney injuy.

ADAMTS-13 plays an important role in acute kidney injury (AKI), but the mechanism of cisplatin (CP) induced AKI remains unclear. Ferroptosis is increased in CP-induced AKI, and ADAMTS13 levels are associated with ferritin expression. In this article, we will explore the relationship between the three. After CP induction, mice were given 0.1 and 0.3 nmol/kg ADAMTS-13, and then serum creatinine (Scr) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were detected by the kits. The pathological changes of renal tissue were observed by staining with HE and PAS staining, and Western blot detected the expressions of KIM1 and NGAL in renal tissu. Perl's staining detected iron deposition in renal tissues, the kits detected iron levels, and western blot detected the expression of ferroptosis related proteins. Then the mechanism was further explored by adding ferroptosis inhibitors Ferrostatin 1 (Fer-1) and iron supplements Fe. The expression of Nrf2 pathway related proteins were detected by Western blot. We found that ADAMTS13 alleviated CP-induced ferroptosis in AKI mice with renal function impairment and tubular damage. Fer-1partially reversed CP-induced AKI, and Fe exacerbated this effect. ADAMTS13 alleviated CP-induced inflammatory response and oxidative stress in AKI mice, during which the Nrf2 signaling pathway was abnormal. Overall, ADAMTS-13-regulated Nrf2 signaling inhibits ferroptosis to ameliorate CP-induced AKI.

Environmental, human health, and economic implications of landfill leachate treatment for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance removal.

Landfill leachate is commonly treated offsite with municipal wastewater. This offsite leachate treatment may be limited or no longer applicable due to the increasingly stringent regulations and concerns related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) discharge into the environment, resulting in development of full-scale, onsite leachate treatment facilities. To help landfills prepare for the potential shift from offsite to onsite leachate treatment for PFAS compliance, this study analyzed and compared the environmental, human health, and economic performances of a typical onsite and a typical offsite leachate treatment alternative through life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) using a landfill site located in Zhuzhou, China as a testbed. Two distinct functional units (FUs) were investigated: 1 m3 of leachate treated and 1 g of PFAS removed. Our results show that the onsite scenario offered benefits from human health and economic perspectives, while the offsite scenario generally performed better from the environmental perspective when a leachate PFAS concentration of 150,704 ng/L was assumed. The extent of this tradeoff varied when different functional units were adopted. The onsite scenario will not be competitive from all three perspectives when PFAS concentration in the raw leachate is less than 1666 ng/L.

A spatial life cycle cost assessment of stormwater management systems.

Although widely implemented, the research and understanding of the economic impacts and benefits of green infrastructure (GI) systems remain limited. Currently, few studies have investigated the economics of GI systems from a spatial perspective and typically opportunity costs related to land and property tax were ignored. This study aims at bridging these gaps by investigating both the equivalent annual costs (EAC) and cost effectiveness of seven GI systems and compare them against local wastewater treatment facilities in five different US cities. To do this, we utilized capital and maintenance cost data obtained from GI systems that are currently installed at the University of New Hampshire. The costing data were then extrapolated across five different cities considering reported local material, land, tax, and labor rates. A system dynamics model was utilized to calculate the total stormwater reduction as well as the amounts of nitrogen and phosphorous removed by each GI system over its life cycle under a certain city setting. Based upon these outcomes, the cost effectiveness (CE) in terms of stormwater reduction, nitrogen treatment, and phosphorous treatment of the GI systems was calculated. Land and tax costs were found to be a significant component of the EAC for GI systems with larger footprints in cities with higher property values, accounting for up to 78% in some cities. The rankings of the GI systems differ significantly when different types of cost effectiveness are under consideration. The tree filter performs the best when the CE is calculated based on stormwater reductions, while the subsurface gravel wetland performs the best considering nitrogen treatment, and either the subsurface gravel wetland or the sand filter performs the best considering phosphorous treatment. Our study suggests recommendations of GI systems need to be made based on local needs and issues to achieve the most cost-effective solution.

Dynamic life cycle economic and environmental assessment of residential solar photovoltaic systems.

With the increasing implementation of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems, comprehensive methods and tools are required to dynamically assess their economic and environmental costs and benefits under varied spatial and temporal contexts. This study integrated system dynamics modeling with life cycle assessment and life cycle cost assessment to evaluate the cumulative energy demand, carbon footprint, water footprint, and life cycle cost of residential grid-connected (GC) and standalone (SA) solar PV systems. The system dynamics model was specifically used for simulating the hourly solar energy generation, use, and storage during the use phase of the solar PVs. The modeling framework was then applied to a residential prototype house in Boston, MA to investigate various PV panel and battery sizing scenarios. When the SA design is under consideration, the maximum life cycle economic saving can be achieved with 20 panels with no battery in the prototype house, which increases the life cycle economic savings by 511.6% as compared to a baseline system sized based upon the engineering rule-of-thumb (40 panels and 40 batteries), yet decreases the demand met by 55.7%. However, the optimized environmental performance was achieved with significantly larger panel (up to 300 units) and battery (up to 320 units) sizes. These optimized configurations increase the life cycle environmental savings of the baseline system byup to 64.6%, but significantly decrease the life cycle economic saving by up to 6868.4%. There is a clear environmental and economic tradeoff when sizing the SA systems. When the GC system design is under consideration, both the economic and environmental benefits are the highest when no battery is installed, and the benefits increase with the increase of panel size. However, when policy constraints such as limitations/caps of grid sell are in place, tradeoffs would present as whether or not to install batteries for excess energy storage.

Digestive abilities, amino acid transporter expression, and metabolism in the intestines of piglets fed with spermine.

This study evaluated the effects of spermine supplementation on the digestion, transport, and metabolism of nutrients in the jejuna of piglets. Of the 80 piglets examined, 40 received 0.4 mmol/kg body weight spermine, and the other half were randomly distributed such that the restricted nutrient intake supplemented with the saline solution for 7 hr and 3, 6, or 9 days in pairs. Spermine supplementation increased the lipase and trypsin activities (p < .05), and spermine increased the mRNA levels of maltase, sucrase, and aminopeptidase N (APN) but decreased the lactase gene expression (p < .05). Moreover, spermine increased the mRNA expression levels of amino acid transporters (p < .05). Spermine increased the jejunum glycerolphosphocholine, lipid, and taurine levels and decreased the choline and amino acids levels (p < .05). In summary, spermine can promote the digestion, transport, and metabolism of nutrients in piglets. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Meat, fish, dairy products, and fruits contain polyamines (i.e., spermine, spermidine, and putrescine). Spermine plays an important role in the cell proliferation, growth, and differentiation, and spermine supplementation can improve the growth of broilers, growth performance of early weaning piglets, and intestinal maturation. The results of this study suggest that spermine can improve the digestion, transport, and metabolism of nutrients in piglets.

Effects of spermine on ileal physical barrier, antioxidant capacity, metabolic profile and large intestinal bacteria in piglets.

Spermine, a polyamine, exerts important roles in alleviating oxidative damage, improving immunity, increasing antioxidant status and digestive enzyme activities, and promoting the development of small intestine. However, information is not available regarding the effects of spermine supplementation on gut barrier function, intestinal microbiota and metabolic profile in piglets. Therefore, this study was designed to explore the effect of spermine administration on these parameters. The experiment was conducted on twenty 12 day-old suckling piglets, which were allocated either to the group fed basal formula milk (control group) or to that fed a basal formula milk that contained spermine (0.4 mmol kg-1 BW per day) for 3 days. Caecal and colonic digesta and ileal tissues were collected at the end of the three-day feeding experiment. The results were as follows: (1) supplementation with spermine increased glutathione S-transferase (GST) capacity by 27.84% and glutathione content by 18.68% in the ileum (P < 0.05). (2) Glutathione peroxidase 1 (GPx1), catalase (CAT), GST, nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and Kelch-like ECH-associated protein1 (Keap1) mRNA levels in ileum were increased in the spermine-supplemented group in contrast to those in the control group (P < 0.05). (3) The spermine-supplemented group increased zonula occludens-1 (ZO-1) (by 42.0%), ZO-2 (by 101.0%), occludin (by 84.0%), claudin 2 (by 98.0%), claudin 3 (by 121.0%), claudin 12 (by 47.0%), claudin 14 (by 68.0%) and claudin 16 (by 73.0%) mRNA levels in ileum relative to the control group (P < 0.05). (4) Supplementation with spermine increased ZO-2 and occludin mRNA levels in ileum by reducing myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) (by 23.0%) mRNA level. (5) Spermine supplementation increased choline, glycerolphosphocholine, creatine and serine levels, and decrease alanine, glutamate, lysine, phenylalanine, threonine, lactate, tyrosine levels in ileum (P < 0.05). (6) The population of Lactobacilli, Bifidobacteria and total bacteria increased, but the number of Escherichia coli decreased in the caecal and colonic digesta after spermine supplementation (P < 0.05). In summary, dietary spermine supplementation promotes ileal health by enhancing antioxidant properties, improving ileal barrier function, modulating metabolic profiles, and maintaining large intestinal microbial homeostasis.

Protection through participation: Crowdsourced tap water quality monitoring for enhanced public health.

Lead contamination in municipal drinking water is a national public health issue and is generally the result of water contact with leaded distribution piping and on premise plumbing. As a result, the US Environmental Protection Agency's Lead and Copper Rule requires point of use sampling methods at a small fraction of consumer taps on the public water distribution system. While this approach is practical, it leaves large gaps of consumers without direct monitoring and protection. In response, a novel contest-based crowdsourcing study was conducted to engage the public in monitoring their own water quality at their home taps and study factors that shaped participation in drinking water monitoring. Participants were asked to collect samples of their household drinking water through social media postings, kiosks, and community events with the chance to win a cash prize. The project distributed approximately 800 sampling packets and received 147 packets from participants of which 93% had at least partially completed surveys. On average, private wells were found to have higher lead levels than the public water supply, and the higher lead levels were not attributed to older building age. There is also no statistical relevance between the participants' perceived and actual tap water quality. Survey responses indicated that citizens were motivated to participate in the project due to concerns about their own health and/or the health of their families. In contrast, participants reported that they were not motivated by the cash prize. This project helps inform future public engagement with water quality monitoring, create new knowledge about the influence of personal motivations for participation, and provide recommendations to help increase awareness of water quality issues.

Decentralized water collection systems for households and communities: Household preferences in Atlanta and Boston.

Development of sustainable and resilient water infrastructure is an urgent challenge for urban areas to secure long-term water availability and mitigate negative impacts of water consumption and urban development. A hybrid system that combines centralized water infrastructure and household decentralized water facilities, including rainwater harvesting and greywater recycling, may be a solution to more sustainable and resilient water management in urban areas. Understanding household and community preferences for decentralized water facilities is important to inform the design and ultimately the promotion and adoption of such systems. In this study, we conducted a discrete choice experiment, via Amazon Mechanical Turk, to collect data on household choices of different decentralized water facility designs in two U.S. cities, Atlanta, Georgia and Boston, Massachusetts. Based on the responses to the choice experiment, we then developed a latent-class choice model to predict households' preferences of decentralized system design features and examine the influence of socioeconomic and personal characteristics on heterogeneous class membership. We identified six major classes of preferences in Atlanta and Boston, respectively, and evaluated how readily each class is likely to choose a decentralized water facility. Atlanta and Boston have some classes sharing similar preferences for decentralized water systems, but the socioeconomic and personal characteristics of these classes in the two cities are different. We found that the early adoption of decentralized water facilities is positively related to neighbors' adoptions and pressure of water scarcity increases households' willingness to share a decentralized facility. The visualization of spatial distribution of the classes highlighted early demand of decentralized water facilities is likely to emerge in low-property-value communities, which creates a unique opportunity for introducing decentralized water facilities during water infrastructure renovations. Our study provides a framework through citizen engagement to understand social demand and to inform the promotion of decentralized water facilities.

A dynamic life cycle assessment of green infrastructures.

As stormwater and its associated nutrients continue to impair our nation's waterways, green infrastructures (GIs) are increasingly applied in urban and suburban communities as a means to control combined sewer system overflows and stormwater related pollutants. Although GIs have been widely studied for their life cycle impacts and benefits, most of these studies adopt a static approach which prevents that information from being scaled or transferred to different spatial and temporal settings. To overcome this limitation, this research utilizes a dynamic life cycle assessment (LCA) approach to evaluate seven different GIs by integrating a traditional LCA with a system dynamics model which simulates the daily loadings and treatments of nutrients by the GIs across a 30-year life span. A base model was first developed, calibrated, and validated for seven GIs that are currently installed on the campus of the University of New Hampshire. The base model was then expanded to assess different scenarios in terms of geographic locations, land uses, GI design sizes, and climate changes. Our results show these aforementioned factors have significant influences on GIs' life cycle performances, with life cycle nitrogen reductions varying -100.90 to 512.09kgNeq. and life cycle phosphorous reductions varying from -23.77 to 63.43kg P eq. Furthermore, nutrient loading thresholds exist for certain GIs to offset nutrient emissions from their construction and maintenance activities. Accordingly, an optimal GI design size can be estimated for a given spatial and temporal setting. Such thresholds and optimal sizes are important to be identified to inform the decision-making and future planning of GIs.

Managing dams for energy and fish tradeoffs: What does a win-win solution take?

Management activities to restore endangered fish species, such as dam removals, fishway installations, and periodic turbine shutdowns, usually decrease hydropower generation capacities at dams. Quantitative analysis of the tradeoffs between energy production and fish population recovery related to dam decision-making is still lacking. In this study, an integrated hydropower generation and age-structured fish population model was developed using a system dynamics modeling method to assess basin-scale energy-fish tradeoffs under eight dam management scenarios. This model ran across 150 years on a daily time step, applied to five hydroelectric dams located in the main stem of the Penobscot River, Maine. We used alewife (Alosa pseudoharengus) to be representative of the local diadromous fish populations to link projected hydropower production with theoretical influences on migratory fish populations on the model river system. Our results show that while the five dams can produce around 427 GWh/year of energy, without fishway installations they would contribute to a 90% reduction in the alewife spawner abundance. The effectiveness of fishway installations is largely influenced by the size of reopened habitat areas and the actual passage rate of the fishways. Homing to natal habitat has an insignificant effect on the growth of the simulated spawner abundance. Operating turbine shutdowns during alewives' peak downstream migration periods, in addition to other dam management strategies, can effectively increase the spawner abundance by 480-550% while also preserving 65% of the hydropower generation capacity. These data demonstrate that in a river system where active hydropower dams operate, a combination of dam management strategies at the basin scale can best balance the tradeoff between energy production and the potential for migratory fish population recovery.