1,720,960 research outputs found
Enhancing urban water resilience through stormwater reuse for toilet flushing
No full textDroughts can sometimes make water supply critical, particularly in urban areas, which are particularly vulnerable to water scarcity due to the growing demand caused by urbanization. To improve the resilience of water networks, the use of alternative water resources, such as rainwater, can support traditional networks. The present study proposes a new version of an analytic-probabilistic approach to evaluate the probability of stormwater reuse for toilet flushing. It considers water demand as a random variable in the modelling, simplifies the contribution of previous rainfalls to rainwater availability, and makes use of a cloud-streaming platform for the statistical analysis and predictions of users’ consumptions. The equations were tested in a case study in a residential district of the city of Palermo (Italy), where a field campaign collected measurements for water demand from toilet flushing for different users and roof surfaces. The validation of the new formulas confirms the reliability of the model, which allows for expeditious verification of the efficiency of rainwater harvesting systems under different weather and demand conditions. It serves as a supporting tool in both the design and performance estimation of such systems, contributing to the sustainable management of water resources
An Environmental Analysis of the Effect of Energy Saving, Production and Recovery Measures on Water Supply Systems under Scarcity Conditions
Full text linkWater is one of the primary resources provided for maintaining quality of life and social status in urban areas. As potable water is considered to be a primary need, water service has usually been managed without examining the economic and environmental sustainability of supply processes. Currently, due to increases in energy costs and the growth of environment preservation policies, reducing water leakage, energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) production have become primary objectives in reducing the environmental footprint of water service. The present paper suggests the implementation of some performance indicators that show the interdependence of water loss, energy consumption and GHG emission. These indicators are used to compare a few possible mitigation scenarios involving water loss reduction and increasing the system’s energy efficiency. The proposed indicators were applied to a complex urban water supply system serving the city of Palermo (Italy)
Climate change impact on urban water distribution and urban water demand
No full textThe increasing impacts of climate change are dramatically reshaping urban water demand, posing significant challenges for cities worldwide. As rising temperatures and shifting precipitation patterns lead to warmer and drier conditions, urban centers face an escalating demand for water to support residents, businesses, and green spaces. This intricate interplay between climate variability and water needs makes it necessary to develop and implement robust adaptation strategies. Research indicates that climate change not only intensifies existing water scarcity but also strains the hydrological cycle and exacerbates the complex socio-economic factors driving water demand. As urban populations continue to expand, particularly in densely populated and developing regions, insights into predictive modeling and integrated water management become crucial. Furthermore, innovative strategies such as digital transitions in water supply systems and diversification of water resources are being explored to enhance resilience, mitigate climate change effects, and promote sustainability. These approaches pave the way for sustainable urban planning and underscore the need for interdisciplinary efforts to ensure a secure water future in the face of climate challenges
Optimal water quality sensor positioning in urban drainage system for illicit intrusion identification
Full text linkIn the last decade, the growth of the micro-industry in urban areas has produced an increase in the
frequency of xenobiotic polluting discharges in drainage systems. Wastewater treatment plants are
usually characterized by low removal efficiencies in respect of such pollutants, which may have an
acute or cumulative impact on environmental and public health. To facilitate the early isolation of
illicit intrusions, this study aims to develop an approach for positioning water quality sensors
based on the Bayesian decision network (BDN). The analysis is focused on soluble conservative
pollutants, such as metals. The proposed methodology incorporates several sources of information,
including network topology, flows and non-formal ‘grey’ information about the possible locations
of contamination sources. The methodology is tested using two sewer systems with increasing
complexity: a literature scheme from the Storm Water Management Model (SWMM) manual and a
real combined sewer in Italy. In both cases, the approach identifies the optimal sensor location
gaining advantage from additional information, which reduces the computational effort needed to
obtain the solution. In the real case, the application of the method yielded a better solution with
regards to the real position of the implemented sensor network
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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