Search Results (17)

Yangzhi jingshui 楊枝淨水 (willow twigs and clean water) are part of one of the most popular rituals used in Chinese Buddhist practices. In order to preserve dental health and eliminate bad odors, the Vinaya texts specify rules on chewing willow twigs as a form of tooth brushing in one’s daily facial washing process. Willow twigs are also frequently employed in Esoteric (mijiao 密教) rituals, where they are accompanied by spells to create intricate ceremonies that have the power to heal illnesses, ward off bad luck, and bring about happiness and tranquility. For the development of this ritual in China, the usage of yangzhi jingshui was not originally connected to any particular deity, but later on, the ritual became primarily linked to Avalokitêśvara (Guanyin, 觀音), who was believed to use them as crucial tools for healing and saving lives. The symbolic meaning of using willow and water has been thoroughly discussed by Master Zhiyi 智顗 (538–597) and then has since developed into the more complete Repentance Practice of Guanyin (Guanyin chanfa 觀音懺法). Using yangzhi jingshui to save people as well as trees is also an important aspect described in Buddhist biographies and Chinese novels, such as Gaoseng zhuan 高僧傳 [The Biographies of Eminent Monks], Song Gaoseng Zhuan 宋高僧傳 [Biographies of Eminent Monks in the Song Dynasty], and stories of collected in Taiping guangji 太平廣記 [Extensive Records of the Taiping (xingguo) Period], Lunhui Xingshi 醒世輪回 [Reincarnation Stories to Awaken the World], and Xiyou ji 西遊記 [Journey to the West], which all demonstrate the rich cultural significance of this ceremony. Through the narratives of monks, the worship of Yangliu Guanyin, and its portrayal in the literature, yangzhi jingshui evolved from a cleansing tool in scriptures to a ritual object in Esoteric Buddhist healing ceremonies, ultimately becoming a common Buddhist practice. While new elements were added over time, its core themes of healing and purification have remained consistent. Full article

Most people in the world now live in urban areas and their shared quest for better cities is embodied in several Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. These indicate that successful cities need jobs, adequate housing stock, effective governance, and other support systems. At the most basic level, they need a basket of core public works services like clean water and efficient transit, among others. These must be provided to improve public trust in government by addressing equity and affordability while also improving operational and cost efficiency. These targets are moving as transitions are occurring from stove-piped to integrated services, even while social contracts between government and the private sector are also shifting. Essential tools to improve cities include urban planning and infrastructure development, but applying them effectively faces challenges like climate change, inequality, social disorder, and even armed conflicts. This paper focuses on seven core public works services for drinking water, wastewater, stormwater, trash collection, mass transit, streets and traffic control, and disaster management. It reviews how these have evolved in the US, how they are organized under the federalism system, and how the goal of integrated management is being pursued. Challenges to integrated approaches include increasing responsibilities but lack of funding, political stress, and rule-driven and internally oriented management. Methods for performance assessment are explained under legacy systems based on methods like indicators and benchmarking applied to public works systems. Current methods focus on regulatory targets and the details; information has been shallow and not always timely. This paper projects how the performance assessment of core public works systems can be broadened to address goals like those of the SDGs and assesses why it is difficult to rate major systems. Examples of the activities of NGOs are given and an example of how progress toward SDG6 is included to show why performance management of integrated management applied to linked systems is needed. Performance dashboards with open government are currently the most common pathways, but emerging methods based on data analytics and visualization offer new possibilities. Reviewing the status of public works management shows that it is an important branch of the field of public administration, and it can be presented as a professional field with its own identity. The findings will support educators and researchers as well as provide policy insights into public works and stakeholder engagement. Full article

Clean water is vital for a sustainable environment, human wellness, and welfare, supporting life and contributing to a healthier environment. Fuzzy-logic-based techniques are quite effective at dealing with uncertainty about environmental issues. This study proposes two methodologies for assessing water quality based on Mamdani and Sugeno fuzzy systems, focusing on water’s physiochemical attributes, as these provide essential indicators of water’s chemical composition and potential health impacts. The goal is to evaluate water quality using a single numerical value which indicates total water quality at a specific location and time. This study utilizes data from the Acea Group and employs the Mamdani fuzzy inference system combined with various defuzzification techniques as well as the Sugeno fuzzy system with the weighted average defuzzification technique. The suggested model comprises three fuzzy middle models along with one ultimate fuzzy model. Each model has three input variables and 27 fuzzy rules, using a dataset of nine key factors to rate water quality for drinking purposes. This methodology is a suitable and alternative tool for effective water-management plans. Results show a final water quality score of 85.4% with Mamdani (centroid defuzzification) and 83.5% with Sugeno (weighted average defuzzification), indicating excellent drinking water quality in Tivoli, Italy. Water quality evaluation is vital for sustainability, ensuring clean resources, protecting biodiversity, and promoting long-term environmental health. Intermediate model evaluations for the Mamdani approach with centroid defuzzification showed amounts of 72.4%, 83.4%, and 92.5% for the first, second, and third fuzzy models, respectively. For the Sugeno method, the corresponding amounts were 76.2%, 83.5%, and 92.5%. These results show the precision of both fuzzy systems in capturing nuanced water quality variations. This study aims to develop fuzzy logic methodologies for evaluating drinking water quality using a single numerical index, ensuring a comprehensive and scalable tool for water management. Full article

The cavitation water jet cleaning and coating removal technique represents an innovative sustainable method for cleaning and removing coatings, with the nozzle serving as a crucial component of this technology. Developing an artificially submerged nozzle with a reliable structure and excellent cavitation performance is essential for enhancing cavitation water jets’ cleaning and coating removal efficacy in an atmosphere environment (non-submerged state). This study is based on the shear flow cavitation mechanism of an angular nozzle, the resonance principle of an organ pipe, and the jet pump principle. A dual-nozzle co-current cavitation water jet nozzle structure was designed and manufactured. The impact of the nozzle’s inlet pressure on the vapor volume percentage, as well as the axial and radial velocities inside the flow field, were examined utilizing ANSYS Fluent software with the CFD method. The dynamic change rule of the cavitation cloud is derived by analyzing the picture of the cavitation cloud in the nozzle’s outflow field utilizing pseudo-color imaging techniques. The results show that the maximum vapor volume percentage is more significant than 95% for different inlet pressures in the internal nozzle. The changes that occur in the cavitation cloud exhibit notable regularity, including the four stages of cavitation, which are inception, development, shedding, and collapse. A change period is 1.5 ms, which proves that the homemade co-current cavitation water jet nozzle can achieve good cavitation effects. Full article

Water availability is a local issue of growing importance in Mediterranean areas where water scarcity linked to climate change and population growth is already leading to increased competition for this resource. This study is aimed at the following: (i) assessing the water-related environmental impacts (water use, freshwater ecotoxicity and eutrophication, marine eutrophication, acidification, human toxicity, and ionizing radiation) along the production chain of cow milk in Catalonia, northeastern Spain; and (ii) addressing the issues encountered (modelling choices, data gaps and inconsistencies) which t can affect the quality of results when performing a water-footprint comprehensive assessment, focusing on water use and associated water scarcity impacts. The scope included the process from the extraction of raw materials up to the distribution of the packaged fat- and protein-corrected milk to the distribution centres of the supermarket chains and markets. Results showed the farm stage to be determinant (contributing to over 60% of the impact), due to the impact of feed production. Impact results were in the range of the European benchmark given by the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for dairy products, except for the water scarcity footprint which was one order of magnitude larger than the reference value, due to water scarcity in Spain. Considering compound feed ingredients with a lower water scarcity footprint, and research into slurry treatment for its use as irrigation and cleaning water (without compromising safety and health) could help reduce this impact. Water accounting and traceability along the production chain could support the dairy industry to take responsibility for the consequences of their production choices. Full article

Clean fracturing fluid has the characteristics of being environmentally friendly and causing little damage to reservoirs. Meanwhile, its backflow gel-breaking fluids (GBFs) can be reutilized as an oil displacement agent. This paper systematically evaluates the feasibility and EOR mechanism of a GBF based on a polymer surfactant as an oil displacement system for reutilization. A rotating interfacial tensiometer and contact angle measuring instrument were used to evaluate the performance of reducing the oil–water interfacial tension (IFT) and to change the rock wettability, respectively. Additionally, a homogeneous apparatus was used to prepare emulsions to evaluate GBF’s emulsifying properties. Finally, core flooding experiments were used to evaluate the EOR effect of GBFs, and the influence rules and main controlling effects of various properties on the EOR were clarified. As the concentration of GBFs increases, the IFT first decreases to the lowest of 0.37 mN/m at 0.20 wt% and then increases and the contact angle of the rock wall decreases from 129° and stabilizes at 42°. Meanwhile, the emulsion droplet size gradually decreases and stabilizes with increases in GBF concentration, and the smallest particle size occurs when the concentration is 0.12–0.15 wt%. The limited adsorption area of the oil–water interface and the long molecular chain are the main reasons that limit the continued IFT reduction and emulsion stability. The oil displacement experiment shows that the concentration of GBF solution to obtain the best EOR effect is 0.15 wt%. At this concentration, the IFT reduction and the emulsification performance are not optimal. This shows that the IFT reduction performance, reservoir wettability change performance, and emulsification performance jointly determine the EOR effect of GBFs. In contrast, the emulsifying performance of GBFs is the main controlling factor for the EOR. Finally, the optimal application concentration of GBFs is 0.15–0.20 wt%, and the optimal injection volume is 0.5 PV. Full article

The problem of water scarcity is already serious and risks becoming dramatic in terms of human health as well as environmental safety. Recovery of freshwater by means of eco-friendly technologies is an urgent matter. Membrane distillation (MD) is an accredited green operation for water purification, but a viable and sustainable solution to the problem needs to be concerned with every step of the process, including managed amounts of materials, membrane fabrication procedures, and cleaning practices. Once it is established that MD technology is sustainable, a good strategy would also be concerned with the choice of managing low amounts of functional materials for membrane manufacturing. These materials are to be rearranged in interfaces so as to generate nanoenvironments wherein local events, conceived to be crucial for the success and sustainability of the separation, can take place without endangering the ecosystem. In this work, discrete and random supramolecular complexes based on smart poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPAM) mixed hydrogels with aliquots of ZrO(O₂C-C₁₀H₆-CO₂) (MIL-140) and graphene have been produced on a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sublayer and have been proven to enhance the performance of PVDF membranes for MD operations. Two-dimensional materials have been adhered to the membrane surface through combined wet solvent (WS) and layer-by-layer (LbL) spray deposition without requiring further subnanometer-scale size adjustment. The creation of a dual responsive nanoenvironment has enabled the cooperative events needed for water purification. According to the MD’s rules, a permanent hydrophobic state of the hydrogels together with a great ability of 2D materials to assist water vapor diffusion through the membranes has been targeted. The chance to switch the density of charge at the membrane–aqueous solution interface has further allowed for the choice of greener and more efficient self-cleaning procedures with a full recovery of the permeation properties of the engineered membranes. The experimental evidence of this work confirms the suitability of the proposed approach to obtain distinct effects on a future production of reusable water from hypersaline streams under somewhat soft working conditions and in full respect to environmental sustainability. Full article

Hydropower is an important clean renewable energy that plays a key role in coping with issues such as global energy security, environmental protection, and climate change. In order to improve the optimal operation ability of hydropower reservoirs in the context of forecast runoff with limited accuracy and prediction period, there has been a growing interest in deriving operating rules of hydropower reservoirs. Reasonable operation decision is very important for safe operation of reservoirs and efficient utilization of water resources. Therefore, a novel method of operation rules derivation is proposed in this study. Optimal operation model of hydropower reservoir is established and support vector machine (SVM) is used to derive operation rules based on the optimal operation results. In order to improve the performance of SVM, the Henry gas solubility optimization (HGSO) is used to optimize its hyperparameters for the first time. Meanwhile, multiple strategies are applied to overcome the drawbacks of HGSO. The multi-verse optimizer (MVO) is used to enhance the exploration capability of basic HGSO. Quadratic interpolation (QI) is used to improve the exploitation ability of HGSO. In this study, the Xiluodu and Xiangjiaba hydropower reservoirs in the upper Yangtze River of China were selected as a case study. First, the improved HGSO called MVQIHGSO was tested on 23 classical benchmark functions. Then, it was employed to optimize hyperparameters of SVM model for deriving operation rules. The results and statistical studies indicate that the improved HGSO outperforms the comparison algorithms in exploration and exploitation. The obtained results imply that the novel method named MVQIHGSO-SVM can provide a new practical tool to deriving operation rules for hydropower reservoirs, which is conducive to the safe and efficient utilization of water resources. Full article

There is general agreement on the need for sustainable development, but the concept has remained rather vague until seventeen specific goals (SDGs) were approved by the UN Assembly in 2015, including targets and indicators. The EU followed this example by introducing their Green Deal in 2019. Soils play a very important role in realizing these goals by the intended year of 2030 in terms of (amongst other less directly related goals) contributing to food production (SDG2: “zero hunger”), good health and wellbeing (SDG3), water quality (SDG6: “clean water and sanitation”), sustainable production (SDG12: ”sustainable consumption and production”), carbon capture and greenhouse gas emission (SDG13: “climate action”) and soil health and biodiversity preservation (SDG15: “life on land”). Of course, not only soils but many other scientific disciplines contribute to achieving the SDGs, and the EU Mission Board for Soil Health and Food has, therefore, defined soil health in terms of specific soil contributions to interdisciplinary ecosystem services: “soils supporting ecosystem services in line with the SDGs and the Green Deal”. Restricting attention in this paper to soils, the Board has defined six indicators for soil health that allow an integrated assessment of the role of soils, reported in this paper in a slightly modified version: presence of soil pollutants, organic matter content, structure, biodiversity, nutrient content and water regimes. Currently, different indicator systems are being used while soil research is rather fragmented, as future environmental policies are still being discussed. The research and policy arenas face major challenges at this point in time to rise to the occasion by defining clear operational assessment procedures for soil health that will, above all, be accepted and internalized by land users, of which farmers manage the largest land area. Only then can implementation be realized in practice. An effort is needed to test the vast body of existing techniques and expertise and focus new research on gaps that appear. This is discussed in detail for the six indicators distinguished, and particular attention is paid to defining threshold values, separating the “good” from the “not yet good enough”. New ways have to be explored to achieve real and productive interactions between scientists and stakeholders, including farmers. The establishment of Living Labs aimed at realizing successful Lighthouses is, therefore, seen as an effective way for scientists to work with farmers in developing innovative management schemes, including the role of soils, expressed in terms of indicators and thresholds for soil health. Such procedures should be the basis for future rules and regulations, where a “one-out, all-out” principle can be used for the various indicators to avoid the current complex discussions about deriving a single, overall soil health indicator. Full article

The randomness and volatility of large-scale clean energy output represented by wind power and photovoltaic lead to difficulties in grid connection. The problems of abandoned wind, light, and water become increasingly prominent. The adjustment capacity of traditional thermal power is limited and it is difficult to ensure the consumption of high proportion clean energy. On this basis, the marginal benefit hedging rule in economics is introduced into the hydropower and photovoltaic joint operation system in this paper. A two-stage spatio-temporal hedging strategy is designed to solve the spatio-temporal conflict problem in the hydropower and photovoltaic joint system. The multi-objective joint dispatching model of hydropower and photovoltaic system considering system benefits, risks, and stability is established, which can be solved by a MOEA/D-GABS algorithm with selection strategy. The joint system scheduling schemes under different schemes are analyzed by case. The results demonstrate that, compared with the traditional multi-objective decision-making scheme, the flood control risk in each period of the reservoir in the proposed method is controlled to be no more than 1.63 × 10⁻³ (the flood control standard corresponding to the 50-year flood control risk is 0.006); the flood limit water level of the reservoir is increased from 583.00 m to 583.70 m, which improves the benefit of the reservoir; and the water utilization rate is effectively improved. On the other hand, compared with the traditional scheme, the proposed method reduces the peak valley difference of the combined system by 50.67% and 59.68% in typical sunny and cloudy scenarios, respectively, which greatly reduces the uncertainty of photovoltaic output, and the stability of the combined system is improved. It is shown that the proposed method can be used to guide the economic dispatch of a complementary system with hydropower as the regulating energy. Full article

Dihydrogen (H₂) is generated by fluid–rock interactions along mid-ocean ridges (MORs) and was not, until recently, considered as a resource. However, in the context of worldwide efforts to decarbonize the energy mix, clean hydrogen is now highly sought after, and the production of natural H₂ is considered to be a powerful alternative to electrolysis. The Afar Rift System has many geological features in common with MORs and offers potential in terms of natural H₂ resources. Here, we present data acquired during initial exploration in this region. H₂ contents in soil and within fumaroles were measured along a 200 km section across the Asal–Ghoubbet rift and the various intervening grabens, extending from Obock to Lake Abhe. These newly acquired data have been synthesized with existing data, including those from the geothermal prospect area of the Asal–Ghoubbet rift zone. Our results demonstrate that basalt alteration with oxidation of iron-rich facies and simultaneous reduction in water is the likely the source of the hydrogen, although H₂S reduction cannot be ruled out. However, H₂ volumes at the surface within fumaroles were found to be low, reaching only a few percent. These values are considerably lower than those found in MORs. This discrepancy may be attributed to bias introduced by surface sampling; for example, microorganisms may be preferentially consuming H₂ near the surface in this environment. However, the low H₂ generation rates found in the study area could also be due to a lack of reactants, such as fayalite (i.e., owing to the presence of low-olivine basalts with predominantly magnesian olivines), or to the limited volume and slow circulation of water. In future, access to additional subsurface data acquired through the ongoing geothermal drilling campaign will bring new insight to help answer these questions. Full article

In the fight against foodborne diseases, expanding access to information for different groups is needed. In this aspect, it is crucial to evaluate the target audience’s particularities. This study constructed and validated an instrument containing three questionnaires to identify the level of knowledge, practices, and risk perception of food safety by low-income students between 11 and 14 years old. The following steps were used: systematic search of the databases; conducting and analyzing focus groups; questionnaires development; and questionnaires analysis. After two judges’ rounds, the final version was reached with 11 knowledge items, 11 practice items, and five risk perception items. The content validation index values were higher than 0.80. The adopted methodology considered the students’ understanding and perceptions, as well the appropriate language to be used. Besides, it allowed the development of questionnaires that directly and straightforwardly covers the rules set by the World Health Organization for foodborne disease control called Five Keys to Safer Food (keep clean; separate raw and cooked; cook thoroughly; keep food at safe temperatures; and use safe water and raw materials). Its use can result in a diagnosis for elaborating educational proposals and other actions against foodborne illness in the most vulnerable population. Full article

Ttukdo Water Purification Plant, built in 1908, is the first modern waterworks facility in Seoul and the first waterworks industrial heritage in Korea. Modern waterworks were established in order to resolve insanitary conditions of the city as a part of modernization projects; however, it had been developed with discrimination and colonial domination under Japanese occupation. This paper investigates how Ttukdo Water Purification Plant, a product of colonial modernity, became the representative modern waterworks heritage in both aspects of a colonial and civil engineering heritage. Based on archival research, this study analyzes the transformation process of Ttukdo Water Purification Plant, and the changing meaning and value with the historical background. As a result, Ttukdo Water Purification Plant has been characterized by the universal features of water industry heritage, continuity as a facility to produce clean water, and symbolic meaning as the guardian of urban sanitation. On the other hand, Ttukdo plant is regarded as a monument which was conceived under complicated historical conditions—at the confluence of modernization, colonial rule, and emergent urban needs. Full article

Colorado, the headwaters for much of the United States, is one of the fastest growing states in terms of both population and land development. These land use changes are impacting jurisdictional streams, and thus require compensatory stream mitigation via environmental restoration. In this article, we first characterize current demand and supply for stream mitigation for the entire state of Colorado. Second, we assess future demand by forecasting and mapping the lengths of streams that will likely be impacted by specific development and land use changes. Third, based on our interviews with experts, stakeholders, resource managers, and regulators, we provide insight on how regulatory climate, challenges, and water resource developments may influence demand for stream mitigation. From geospatial analyses of permit data, we found that there is currently demand for compensatory stream mitigation in 13 of the 89 HUC-8 watersheds across Colorado. Permanent riverine impacts from 2012–2017 requiring compensatory mitigation totaled 38,292 linear feet (LF). The supply of stream mitigation credits falls well short of this demand. There has only been one approved stream mitigation bank in Colorado, supplying only 2539 LF credits. Based on our analyses of future growth and development in Colorado, there will be relatively high demand for stream mitigation credits in the next 5–10 years. While most of these impacts will be around the Denver metropolitan area, we identified some new areas of the state that will experience high demand for stream mitigation. Given regulatory agencies’ stated preference for mitigation banks, the high demand for stream mitigation credits, and the short supply of stream credits, there should be an active market for stream mitigation banks in Colorado. However, there are some key obstacles preventing this market from moving forward, with permanent water rights’ acquisitions at the top of the list. Ensuring stream mitigation compliance is essential for restoring and maintaining the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of stream systems in Colorado and beyond. Full article

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) is an important industrial crop that is often cultivated on marginal lands, where salt stress negatively affects yield and quality. High-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) using the powerful Illumina platform was employed for transcript analysis and gene discovery to reveal flax response mechanisms to salt stress. After cDNA libraries were constructed from flax exposed to water (negative control) or salt (100 mM NaCl) for 12 h, 24 h or 48 h, transcription expression profiles and cDNA sequences representing expressed mRNA were obtained. A total of 431,808,502 clean reads were assembled to form 75,961 unigenes. After ruling out short-length and low-quality sequences, 33,774 differentially expressed unigenes (DEUs) were identified between salt-stressed and unstressed control (C) flax. Of these DEUs, 3669, 8882 and 21,223 unigenes were obtained from flax exposed to salt for 12 h (N1), 24 h (N2) and 48 h (N4), respectively. Gene function classification and pathway assignments of 2842 DEUs were obtained by comparing unigene sequences to information within public data repositories. qRT-PCR of selected DEUs was used to validate flax cDNA libraries generated for various durations of salt exposure. Based on transcriptome sequences, 1777 EST-SSRs were identified of which trinucleotide and dinucleotide repeat microsatellite motifs were most abundant. The flax DEUs and EST-SSRs identified here will serve as a powerful resource to better understand flax response mechanisms to salt exposure for development of more salt-tolerant varieties of flax. Full article