Innovations in the water chain – experiences in The Netherlands

Innovations in water chain are discussed based on experiences in the Netherlands. The available and new technological options, as well as their dissemination in the Netherlands, are presented for the prevailing system with add-on technologies (elongation), and for the emerging separation system with technologies at the source. Numerous new options are available for both systems but these options are rarely used. The low use is explained using economic theories and with practical examples from the Netherlands. In order to foster innovations, the mainstream, evolutionary, and behavioral theories pinpoint respectively the pricing of common goods, broad support of concerted action, and support for innovators’ entry. These actions may all be needed. Experiences with a stakeholder cluster in water management suggest that markets for high value water use invoke innovations and low-cost technology adaptations. The systematic development of services that foster high value water-based activities is recommended.     

Establishment of a constructed wetland in extreme dryland

Background, aim, and scope

The project was set to construct an extensive wetland in the southernmost region of Israel at Kibbutz Neot Smadar (30°02′45″ N and 35°01′19″ E). The results of the first period of monitoring, summary, and perspectives are presented. The constructed wetland (CW) was built and the subsequent monitoring performed in the framework of the Southern Arava Sustainable Waste Management Plan, funded by the EU LIFE Fund. The specific aims were: (1) To end current sewage disposal and pollution of the ground, the aquifer, and the dry river bed (wadi) paths by biologically treating the sewage as part of the creation of a sustainable wetland ecosystem. (2) Serve as an example of CW in the Negev highlands and the Arava Valley climates for neighboring communities and as a test ground for plants and building methods appropriate to hyper arid climate. (3) Serve as an educational resource and tourist attraction for groups to learn about water reuse, recycling, local wildlife and migrating birds, including serving the heart of a planned Ecological–Educational Bird Park. This report is intended to allow others who are planning similar systems in hyper arid climates to learn from our experience.

Materials and methods

The project is located in an extreme arid desert with less than 40 mm of rain annually and temperature ranges of ?5°C to +42°C. The site receives 165–185 m³ of municipal and agricultural wastes daily, including cowshed and goat wastes and winery outflow.

Results

The CW establishment at Neot Smadar was completed in October 2006. For 8 months, clean water flowed through the system while the plants were taking root. In June 2007, the wetland was connected to the oxidation pond and full operation began. Because of seepage and evaporation, during the first several months, the water level was not high enough to allow free flow from one bed to the next. To bed A, the water was pumped periodically from the oxidation pond (Fig. 1) and from there flowed by gravitation through the rest of the system. The initial results of the monitoring are promising. In nearly all measurements, the system succeeded as expected to reduce levels of contaminants at least to the level acceptable for irrigating fruit trees and often to the level of unlimited irrigation. The introduction of the plants in the system and their physiological performance were evaluated and were found to correlate well to the quality of water in the various beds.

Discussion

It should be said at the outset that evaluation of the performance of a CW system is a long-term process. Thus, the main aim of this report is to present the problems, difficulties, preliminary results, and concepts concerned with the first stage of establishment of CW in an extremely dry region.

Conclusions

The CW system was designed to dispose of municipal and agricultural wastes in a way that not merely reduces pollution, but adds to environmental quality by creating accessible parkland for local residents and tourists. Several factors affected the performance of the system at the initial stages of operation: ecological balance between microbes and plants, big seasonal variations, seepage and evaporation reduced the flow in the initial operation of the system. Despite the initial difficulties, the quality of water coming out the system is acceptable for irrigation.

Recommendations and perspectives

The CW can function well under extreme dryland conditions. The oxidation pond was the major source of evaporation and bad odors. Therefore, alternatives to the oxidation pond are needed. Cost effectiveness of the system still has to be evaluated systematically.     

Pediatric electric bicycle injuries and comparison to other pediatric traffic injuries

Objective: The objective of this study was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of demographics, injury characteristics and hospital resource utilization of significant pediatric electric bicycle (e-bike) injuries leading to hospitalization following an emergency department visit in comparison to pediatric injuries caused by other traffic related mechanisms.

Methods: A retrospective review of all pediatric traffic injury hospitalizations following an emergency department visit to a level I trauma center between October 2014 and September 2016 was conducted. Data regarding age, sex, number of computed tomography (CT) scans obtained, number of major procedures, length of hospital stay (LOS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), and number of injuries per patient were collected and compared between e-bike injuries and other traffic injuries.

Results: Three hundred thirty-seven admissions were analyzed: 46 (14%) were due to e-bike injuries (29% of patients >12 years). Age, proportion of brain injuries, and use of CT were significantly increased compared to mechanical bicycle injuries (13.1?±?3.4 vs. 10.6?±?3.6, 13% vs. 3%, 1 [0–3] vs. 1 [0–1], P < .01, P = .03, P = .05). Age, LOS, and use of CT were significantly increased compared to injuries caused to automobile passengers (13.1?±?3.4 vs. 7.4?±?5.3, 1 [1–3] vs. 1 [1–2], 1 [0–3] vs. 0 [0–1], P < .01, P = .03, P = .01), as well as ISS and number of injuries per patient (P = .04, P < .01). Injuries caused by e-bikes were similar to injuries caused to pedestrians, except for age (13.1?±?3.4 vs. 8.5?±?3.7, P < .01). Multivariable analysis revealed a significant association between mechanism of injury and ISS, with increased ISS among e-bike injuries compared to mecahnical bike injuries (OR 2.56, CI 1.1–5.88, P = 0.03) and automobile injuries (OR 4.16, CI 1.49–12.5, (P < .01).

Conclusion: E-bikes are a significant cause of severe injury in children compared to most other traffic injuries, particularly in older children.     

Song dialects do not restrict gene flow in an urban population of the orange-tufted sunbird, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Nectarinia osea</Emphasis>

Geographic variation in vocalizations is widespread in passerine birds, but its origins and maintenance remain unclear. In this study, we test the hypothesis that song dialect, a culturally transmitted trait, is related to the population genetic structure of the orange-tufted sunbird, Nectarinia osea. To address this, we compared mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence variation together with allele frequencies at five microsatellite loci from an urban population of sunbirds exhibiting two distinct song dialects on a microgeographic scale. Our findings reveal no association between dialect membership and genetic composition. All genetic measures, from both mitochondrial and nuclear DNA, indicate high levels of gene flow between both dialect populations. The low F _ST values obtained from mtDNA and microsatellite analysis imply that the variation among dialects does not account for more than 2%, at best, of the overall genetic variation found in the entire population. These measures fall well within the range of similar measures obtained in other studies of species exhibiting vocal dialects, most of which fail to detect any dialect-based genetic differentiation. The persistence of dialects in the orange-tufted sunbird may thus best be explained by dispersal of individuals across dialect boundaries and possibly from surrounding areas, followed by postdispersal vocal matching. Because genetic structuring appears weaker than cultural structure in this species, we discuss the behavioral mechanisms underlying dialect maintenance in the presence of apparent gene flow.     

Model Evaluation of Dry Deposition to Vegetation for Volatile and Semi-Volatile Organic Compounds in a Multimedia Environment

Gas-phase atmospheric deposition wasevaluated in a screening level model of themultimedia environmental distribution of toxics(MEND-TOX). Algorithmic additions to MEND-TOXfor the estimation of gas-phase depositionvelocity over vegetated surfaces were analyzedusing recently published dry deposition fluxmeasurements for nitric acid. Model outputs arecompared to similar estimates from the NOAAmultilayer dry deposition model. Results of theevaluation indicate that MEND-TOX performs wellas a screening level model for the estimation ofgas-phase dry deposition velocity of nitric acidover soybeans. The present study expandsprevious laboratory results for organic speciesto include an inorganic species and open fieldand dry leaf, conditions.(On assignment to the National Exposure Research Laboratory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency); (author for correspondence, e-mail     

Parametric analysis of vehicle design influence on the four phases of whiplash motion

OBJECTIVE: The objective is to establish a basis for motor vehicle test requirements that measure component contributions to Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD). METHODS: Selected vehicle design features are evaluated with regard to their relative contributions to WAD measures. The motion of the occupant cervical spine associated with WAD is divided into four phases: retraction, extension, rebound, and protraction. Injury measures from the literature (NIC, extension moment, N(km), and flexion moment) represent the injury potential during each of these phases. Four vehicle design factors that affect WAD motion (vehicle stiffness, seat stiffness, head restraint height and head restraint backset) were evaluated for their contributions to the injury measures. A detailed 50th percentile male model with a biofidelic neck was used in a 100-run Monte Carlo analysis of a rear impact, varying the design factors across the values documented in the literature. Total energy was held constant and Delta V was 10 kph. RESULTS: Vehicle stiffness has a strong influence on the retraction (70%), rebound (43%), and protraction (47%) phases. Headrest backset demonstrates a strong influence on the extension (49%) and rebound (39%) phases. CONCLUSIONS: For WAD protection rating, the vehicle should be viewed as a system whereby the complex interactions among the vehicle, seat, and occupant characteristics all contribute to the WAD potential.     

Plant-derived visual signals may protect beetle herbivores from bird predators

Insect herbivores often use chemical signals obtained from their food plants to deter enemies and/or attract sexual partners. Do plant-based visual signals act similarly, i.e., repel consumers' enemies and appeal to potential mates? We explored this question using the pollen-feeding beetle Pygopleurus israelitus (Glaphyridae), a specialized pollinator of Anemone coronaria's chemically defended red-morph flowers. We presented dead beetles, which had fed either on anemones or on cat food, to young domestic chicks on a red (anemone-like) or a green (leaf-like) background. We determined whether the beetles' background color and diet affected the chicks' feeding. Cuticle surface extracts from anemone-fed beetles, but not from cat food-fed beetles, contained a secondary metabolite characteristic of anemones. Latencies to the first picking up and consuming of beetles from green backgrounds were shorter than of beetles from red backgrounds. The picking up order of beetles also indicated that prey from the green background was preferred. The chicks retained this preference when re-tested, 3 days later. Handling times of anemone-fed beetles were longer than of cat food-fed beetles. A previous study showed that glaphyrids improve their mate-finding prospects by orienting to large red anemone flowers. Here, female beetles preferred cat food-fed to anemone-fed males in mate-choice assays, thus anemone-derived chemicals did not increase mating success. Instead, the combined results indicate that A. coronaria's red flowers provide a visual signal that may both deter its herbivore's predators and attract its mates. To our knowledge, this is the first experimental evidence for a potential protective role of plant-derived visual signals for insect herbivores/pollinators.     

Frequent summer nuptial flights of ants provide a primary food source for bats

In many ant species, nuptial flight tends to be short in time and assumed to be synchronous across a large area. Here, we report that, in the upper Jordan Valley, northern Israel, massive nuptial flights of Carpenter ants (Camponotus sp.) occur frequently throughout the summer, and their alates form up to 90% of the diet of the greater mouse-tailed bat (Rhinopoma microphyllum) during this period. This fat and protein-rich diet enables female bats to lactate during summer, and the large amount of fat that both sexes accumulate may serve as an energy source for their following winter hibernation and posthibernation mating in early spring (March–April). We suggest that the annual movement of these bats to the Mediterranean region of Israel may have evolved in order to enable them to exploit the extremely nutritious forms of ant alates when the bats’ energetic demands are highest.     

Reducing primary and secondary impact loads on the pelvis during side impact

OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine which vehicle factors are significantly related to pelvic injury in side impact collisions. Identification of relevant parameters could aid in the reduction of these injuries. METHOD: Side impact crashes from the CIREN database were separated into those in which the occupant sustained a pelvic fracture and those in which no pelvic fracture occurred, although all occupants had serious injuries. A multibody MADYMO model was created of a USDOT SINCAP (U.S. Department of Transportation Side Impact New Car Assessment Program) test of a vehicle with a large center console. RESULTS: From a study of 113 side impact crashes in the ciren database, nearside occupants with pelvic fractures (n = 78) had (i) more door intrusion (mean, 37 vs. 32 cm, p = 0.02) than those who had serious injuries, but not pelvic fractures (ii) a greater likelihood that the lower border of the door intruded more than the upper part (40% vs. 18%, p < 0.025); and (iii) a greater likelihood that their vehicle had a center console (47 vs. 17%, p < 0.005). Other parameters such as occupant age, weight, gender, vehicle weight, and struck vehicle speed change were not significantly different. MADYMO modeling showed that with a center console, an initial positive pelvic acceleration occurred at about 30 msec, followed at about 45 msec by a second acceleration peak in the opposite direction. Reducing console stiffness reduced the second acceleration but not the initial peak. Allowing the seat to translate laterally when contacted by the door reduced the initial pelvic acceleration by 50% and eliminated the second acceleration peak. CONCLUSIONS: Redesigning the center console using less stiff materials and allowing some lateral translation of the seat could aid in reducing pelvic injuries in side impact collisions.