Search

Wastewater-Based Epidemiology (WBE) has become a powerful tool for assessing disease occurrence in communities. This study investigates the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) epidemic in the United States during 2023–2024 using wastewater data from 189 wastewater treatment plants in 40 states and the District of Columbia. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and pepper-mild mottle virus normalized SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentration data were compared with COVID-19 hospitalization admission data at both national and state levels. We further investigate temporal features in wastewater viral RNA abundance, with peak timing and cross-correlation lag analyses indicating that wastewater SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations precede hospitalization admissions by 2 to 12 days. Lastly, we demonstrate that wastewater treatment plant size has a significant effect on the variability of measured SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations. This study highlights the effectiveness of WBE as a non-invasive, timely and resource-efficient disease monitoring strategy, especially in the context of declining COVID-19 clinical reporting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a biological process that breaks down organic matter in the absence of oxygen, producing biogas and nutrient-rich digestate. Various reactor designs and mixing strategies are well-established in AD processes, each with their own advantages and benefits. The presented study summarizes and investigates the state of the art of AD in domestic wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in an Austrian alpine region, with a primary focus on finding similarities among the most efficient plants regarding digester design, mixing approaches, and biogas production. By combining surveys and detailed field studies in cooperation with 34 WWTPs, the study provides a comprehensive overview of common AD practices, reactor shapes, and inherent mixing methods, highlighting their potential regarding energetic efficiency and biogas production. The results of the survey reveal qualitative trends in efficient AD design alongside detailed quantitative data derived from the supervised in-field optimization studies. Notably, one of the studies demonstrated energetic savings of 52% with no decrease in biogas production, achieved by transitioning from gas injection to mechanical agitation. Redundant impeller-based overmixing was also practically investigated and demonstrated in another field study. After optimization, the adaptations also resulted in energy savings of 30%, still proving sufficient substrate mixing with biomethane potential analysis. In conclusion, this research emphasizes the economic and environmental importance of energy-refined practices and optimized processes while highlighting the sustainability of AD, particularly for large domestic WWTPs but also for different comparable applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanization alters land surface properties in absorbing, reflecting and emitting radiation as well as infiltrating, evaporating and storing water. This consequently modifies surface energy and water fluxes and, thus, urban climates. Weak synoptic flow, clear sky conditions and higher surface temperatures in cities compared to their rural surroundings create a buoyancy‐driven atmospheric circulation, in which surface energy fluxes become the main determinants of urban daytime overheating. Here, we demonstrate the role of surface energy fluxes for warming and cooling processes in the urban canopy layer under buoyancy‐driven atmospheric conditions. We improve and apply an integrated CFD‐GIS modeling approach to provide a detailed analysis of fine‐scale land‐atmosphere interactions and assess the surfaces' profound implications on energy and water exchange. We show that variations in the ratios of the surface energy fluxes to the net radiation can be separated from meteorological conditions (wind speed, air temperature and incoming solar radiation) and emissivity values, varying explicitly with changes in land surface type and water availability for vegetated areas. Based on the energy flux ratios, we introduce an approach to assess the surface‐induced warming and cooling effect and its contribution to urban overheating in the urban canopy layer, under buoyancy‐driven atmospheric conditions, directly applicable to strategic urban planning for climate change adaptation. Independent of meteorological conditions, this approach can be used to evaluate different surface materials (both natural and artificial) and climate adaptation measures, such as urban nature‐based solutions and blue‐green infrastructures, and to monitor changes in the energy and water balance. Plain Language Summary: The aim of this study is to better understand the impact of different surface characteristics (both natural and artificial) on soil‐surface‐atmosphere interactions and, consequently, on the urban meteorology. This is important to improve the assessment of climate change impacts and adaptation strategies in cities. We present an approach, directly applicable in strategic urban planning for climate change adaptation, that can describe the surface‐induced warming and cooling effect under low wind and clear sky conditions, when surface thermal forcing is the dominant factor in urban overheating. Separable from meteorological conditions (wind speed, air temperature and incoming solar radiation) and emissivity values, our approach can be used to rapidly evaluate changes to the surface characteristics, for example, through the implementation of urban nature‐based solutions and blue‐green infrastructure in cities. We highlight the importance of water availability in heat mitigation strategies to ensure evaporative cooling from green areas, and the hazardous potential of impermeable artificial surfaces to increase diurnal and nocturnal heat transfer. Key Points: Variations in the ratios of surface energy fluxes to net radiation separable from meteorological conditions and emissivity valuesA Bowen ratio lower than 0.52 for vegetated surfaces necessary to maintain a prevailing evaporative cooling effectLack of water from precipitation and irrigation exacerbates the heat transfer between the soil, surface and atmosphere [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wastewater-based epidemiology has garnered considerable research interest, concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Restrictive public health interventions and mobility limitations are measures to avert a rising case prevalence. The current study integrates WBE monitoring strategies, Google mobility data, and restriction information to assess the epidemiological development of COVID-19. Various SARIMAX models were employed to predict SARS-CoV-2 cases in Liechtenstein and two Austrian regions. This study analyzes four primary strategies for examining the progression of the pandemic waves, described as follows: 1—a univariate model based on active cases; 2—a multivariate model incorporating active cases and WBE data; 3—a multivariate model considering active cases and mobility data; and 4—a sensitivity analysis of WBE and mobility data incorporating restriction policies. Our key discovery reveals that, while WBE for SARS-CoV-2 holds immense potential for monitoring COVID-19 on a societal level, incorporating the analysis of mobility data and restriction policies enhances the precision of the trained models in predicting the state of public health during the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the effects of intelligence, perceptual speed and age on intraindividual growth in attentional speed and attentional accuracy over the course of a 6-minute testing session. A sample of 193 subjects completed the Advanced Progressive Matrices and the Vienna Matrices Test representing intelligence, the tests Alertness and GoNogo representing simple perceptual processing, and the Frankfurt Adaptive Concentration-Performance Test, a measure of executive attention. Growth curve modeling demonstrated an increase of attentional speed and accuracy performance following linear and logarithmic trajectories, respectively. For attentional speed, intelligence significantly predicted baseline performance, but not performance growth, while for perceptual speed the reverse pattern of results held. For attentional accuracy, intelligence did not have an effect, neither on baseline performance nor on performance growth, whereas perceptual speed influenced both baseline performance and performance growth. Thus, intelligence was not associated with the ability to learn to perform the attention task quickly and accurately. Age differences were mainly related to baseline performance. Results indicate that the concurrent performance aspects, speed and accuracy, are distinct in the shape of growth and in the prediction of growth curve parameters by intelligence, perceptual speed, and age. (Contains 2 figures and 1 table.)

Since the start of the 2019 pandemic, wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has proven to be a valuable tool for monitoring the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2. With methods and infrastructure being settled, it is time to expand the potential of this tool to a wider range of pathogens. We used over 500 archived RNA extracts from a WBE program for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance to monitor wastewater from 11 treatment plants for the presence of influenza and norovirus twice a week during the winter season of 2021/2022. Extracts were analyzed via digital PCR for influenza A, influenza B, norovirus GI, and norovirus GII. Resulting viral loads were normalized on the basis of NH4-N. Our results show a good applicability of ammonia-normalization to compare different wastewater treatment plants. Extracts originally prepared for SARS-CoV-2 surveillance contained sufficient genomic material to monitor influenza A, norovirus GI, and GII. Viral loads of influenza A and norovirus GII in wastewater correlated with numbers from infected inpatients. Further, SARS-CoV-2 related non-pharmaceutical interventions affected subsequent changes in viral loads of both pathogens. In conclusion, the expansion of existing WBE surveillance programs to include additional pathogens besides SARS-CoV-2 offers a valuable and cost-efficient possibility to gain public health information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]