A Weight-of-Evidence Approach for Understanding the Recovery of Okanagan Sockeye Salmon.

The productivity of Pacific Sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) in the Columbia River has been declining over the past century. Yet, the Okanagan River Sockeye salmon population, which spawns in the Okanagan River, a Canadian tributary of the Columbia River, has seen a remarkable turnaround in abundance. Different hypotheses and lines of evidence covering multiple spatial scales have been proposed to explain this recovery; but they have never been comprehensively assessed.

Airborne influenza virus shedding by patients in health care units: Removal mechanisms affecting virus transmission.

In this study, we characterize the distribution of airborne viruses (influenza A/B) in hospital rooms of patients with confirmed infections. Concurrently, we monitored fine particulate matter (PM2.5 & PM10) and several physical parameters including the room air exchange rate, temperature, and relative humidity to identify corresponding correlations with virus transport and removal determinants.

Predicting water quality variability in a Mediterranean hypereutrophic monomictic reservoir using Sentinel 2 MSI: the importance of considering model functional form.

Anthropogenic eutrophication is a global environmental problem threatening the ecological functions of many inland freshwaters and diminishing their abilities to meet their designated uses. Water authorities worldwide are being pressed to improve their abilities to monitor, predict, and manage the incidence of harmful algal blooms (HABs). While most water quality management decisions are still based on conventional monitoring programs that lack the needed spatio-temporal resolution for effective lake/reservoir management, recent advances in remote sensing are providing new opportunities towards better understanding water quality variability in these important freshwater systems.

Disaster waste management challenges and enabling factors for strategic planning: The case of the Beirut Port explosion.

Disasters occur in both developed and developing countries, generating large amounts of disaster waste including construction and demolition (C&D) waste that needs to be appropriately managed. While developed countries are capable of implementing adequate disaster waste management (DWM) strategies to facilitate their recovery processes, developing countries generally struggle to find the resources and expertise needed to develop such strategies. Lebanon is a developing country vexed by several systemic challenges that hindered its abilities to manage disaster waste.

Analyzing eutrophication and harmful algal bloom dynamics in a deep Mediterranean hypereutrophic reservoir.

Excessive point and non-point nutrient loadings accompanied with elevated temperatures have increased the prevalence of harmful algal bloom (HAB). HABs pose significant environmental and public health concerns, particularly for inland freshwater systems. In this study, the eutrophication and HAB dynamics in the Qaraoun Reservoir, a hypereutrophic deep monomictic reservoir suffering from poor water quality, were assessed.

An integrated socio-economic agent-based modeling framework towards assessing farmers' decision making under water scarcity and varying utility functions.

A spatio-temporal Agent Based Modeling (ABM) framework is developed to probabilistically predict farmers' decisions concerning their future farming practices when faced with potential water scarcity induced by future climate change. The proposed framework forecasts farmers' behavior assuming varying utility functions. The functionality of the proposed ABM is illustrated in an agriculturally dominated plain along the Eastern Mediterranean coastline.

Airborne bacterial and PM characterization in intensive care units: correlations with physical control parameters.

In this study, the spatial variation of airborne bacteria in intensive care units (ICUs) was characterized. Fine particulate matter and several physical parameters were also monitored including temperature and relative humidity. The results showed that the total bacterial load ranged between 20.

Electromyography analysis: Comparison of maximum voluntary contraction exercises for the latissimus dorsi.

Background: A prerequisite for interpreting electromyography (EMG) data is to normalize them to a maximum voluntary contraction (MVC), expressing them as percentage of the MVC.

Objective: The objective of this study was to compare different recommended MVC exercises for the latissimus dorsi and identify the exercise that elicits the highest EMG amplitude.

Methods: Fifteen male participants were recruited.

Impacts of Climate Change and Heat Stress on Farmworkers' Health: A Scoping Review.

Due to the continuous rise of global temperatures and heatwaves worldwide as a result of climate change, concerns for the health and safety of working populations have increased. Workers in the food production chain, particularly farmworkers, are especially vulnerable to heat stress due to the strenuous nature of their work, which is performed primarily outdoors under poor working conditions. At the cross-section of climate change and farmworkers' health, a scoping review was undertaken to summarize the existing knowledge regarding the health impacts associated with climate change and heat stress, guide future research toward better understanding current and future climate change risks, and inform policies to protect the health and safety of agricultural workers.

Assessing the environmental risk and pollution status of soil and water resources in the vicinity of municipal solid waste dumpsites.

Municipal solid waste management remains a major challenge for many developing countries where unsanitary and environmentally damaging practices, such as open dumping and burning of wastes, are consistently utilized as means of waste disposal. This study aimed to assess the impact of local dumpsites in a region in Southern Lebanon and to assess/determine the level of pollution they cause on local ecosystems and the concomitant risks to public health. Accordingly, soil and water samples were collected from the seven dumpsites that were investigated over the course of two seasons.

Assessing the intra-urban variability of nitrogen oxides and ozone across a highly heterogeneous urban area.

High-resolution air quality maps are critical towards assessing and understanding exposures to elevated air pollution in dense urban areas. However, these surfaces are rarely available in low- and middle-income countries that suffer from some of the highest air pollution levels worldwide. In this study, we make use of land use regressions (LURs) to generate annual and seasonal, high-resolution nitrogen dioxide (NO), nitrogen oxides (NO), and ozone (O) exposure surfaces for the Greater Beirut Area (GBA) in Lebanon.

The feasibility of solar-powered small-scale brackish water desalination units in a coastal aquifer prone to saltwater intrusion: A comparison between electrodialysis reversal and reverse osmosis.

In the face of increasing water shortages worldwide, water desalination has the potential to expand the available freshwater supply options in many water stressed regions. This paper assesses the feasibility of adopting photovoltaic powered small-scale brackish water desalination units in a coastal aquifer facing saltwater intrusion and chronic water shortages. Moreover, a detailed cost comparison, which incorporates the associated environmental costs, is conducted between the Electrodialysis Reversal (EDR) technique and Reverse Osmosis (RO).

Determinants of Waste Management Practices and Willingness to Pay for Improving Waste Services in a Low-Middle Income Country.

In many low and middle-income countries, solid waste management (SWM) systems remain weak and lack standardization. Moreover, these systems fail to account for citizen's insight on the proposed solid waste initiatives. This study aims to identify the main determinants of SWM practices in a low-middle income country while accounting for citizens' perceived knowledge, attitudes, structural barriers, and willingness to pay for different services.

SWOT risk analysis towards sustainable aquifer management along the Eastern Mediterranean.

This study examines the risks of seawater intrusion (SWI) in data scarce aquifers along the Eastern Mediterranean by quantifying the interaction of the main natural, anthropogenic and climatic drivers, while also considering varying abilities of implementing adaptation and mitigation measures. For this purpose, we conducted a semi-quantitative Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis representing a first attempt at integrating a complex physical process with multi layered influences in a SWOT analysis model that was tested at 26 coastal aquifers with varying levels of SWI severity. The analysis results showed alarming signs of SWI at several eastern and southeastern aquifers, particularly those underlying densely populated centers (i.

Detection of influenza virus in air samples of patient rooms.

Background: Understanding the transmission and dispersal of influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) via aerosols is essential for the development of preventative measures in hospital environments and healthcare facilities.

Methods: During the 2017-2018 influenza season, patients with confirmed influenza or RSV infections were enrolled. Room air samples were collected close (0.

Dynamic Bayesian Networks to Assess Anthropogenic and Climatic Drivers of Saltwater Intrusion: A Decision Support Tool Toward Improved Management.

Saltwater intrusion (SWI) is a global coastal problem caused by aquifer overpumping, land-use change, and climate change impacts. Given the complex pathways that lead to SWI, coastal urban areas with poorly monitored aquifers are in need of probabilistic-based decision support tools that can assist in better understanding and predicting SWI, while exploring effective means for sustainable aquifer management. In this study, we develop a Bayesian Belief Network (BBN) to account for the complex interactions of climatic and anthropogenic processes leading to SWI, while relating the severity of SWI to associated socioeconomic impacts and possible adaptation strategies.

Drivers of seasonal and annual air pollution exposure in a complex urban environment with multiple source contributions.

Outdoor air pollution is a global health concern, but detailed exposure information is still limited for many parts of the world. In this study, high-resolution exposure surfaces were generated for annual and seasonal fine particulate matter (PM), coarse particulate matter (PM), and carbon monoxide (CO) for the Greater Beirut Area (GBA), Lebanon, an urban zone with a complex topography and multiple source contributions. Land use regression models (LUR) were calibrated and validated with monthly data collected from 58 locations between March 2017 and March 2018.

Nutrient pollutant loading and source apportionment along a Mediterranean river.

Rivers are increasingly being subjected to increased anthropogenic pollution stresses that undermine their designated uses and negatively affect sensitive coastal regions. The degradation of river water quality is attributed to both point and nonpoint sources of pollution. In this study, we determine the relative contribution of point and nonpoint pollutant loads in the Beirut River basin, a poorly monitored seasonal Mediterranean river.

The implications of Simpson's paradox for cross-scale inference among lakes.

Using cross-sectional data for making ecological inference started as a practical means of pooling data to enable meaningful empirical model development. For example, limnologists routinely use sample averages from numerous individual lakes to examine patterns across lakes. The basic assumption behind the use of cross-lake data is often that responses within and across lakes are identical.

Assessing the transferability of landuse regression models for ultrafine particles across two Canadian cities.

Land use regression (LUR) models have been increasingly used to predict intra-city variations in the concentrations of different air pollutants. However, limited research assessing the transferability of these models between cities has been published to date. In this study, LUR models were generated for Ultra-Fine Particles (UFP) (<0.

Hindcasting eutrophication and changes in temperature and storage volume in a semi-arid reservoir: a multi-decadal Landsat-based assessment.

In situ monitoring of freshwater systems is often constrained by cost and accessibility, particularly in developing countries and in remote areas. Satellite remote sensing is therefore increasingly being integrated with existing in situ water quality monitoring programs. In this study, we use the Landsat TM/ETM+ image record collected between 1984 and 2015 to track temporal changes in trophic status, chlorophyll-a levels, algal bloom incidences, water clarity, water temperature, and reservoir water volume in a poorly monitored hypereutrophic semi-arid reservoir.

Data-Worth Assessment for a Three-Dimensional Optimal Design in Nonlinear Groundwater Systems.

Groundwater model predictions are often uncertain due to inherent uncertainties in model input data. Monitored field data are commonly used to assess the performance of a model and reduce its prediction uncertainty. Given the high cost of data collection, it is imperative to identify the minimum number of required observation wells and to define the optimal locations of sampling points in space and depth.

Factors influencing the reuse of reclaimed water as a management option to augment water supplies.

The reuse of treated wastewater, whether direct or indirect, can raise public concerns as a result of the overall risk perception. As such, community acceptance plays a significant role in the implementation of alternative water systems. Public attitudes towards water reuse are highly influenced by perceived health risk, religious prohibition, political issues, and the degree of human contact with recycled water.