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In recent years, environmental problems have been increasing rapidly around the world and affecting a wide range of environments. Many campaigns are carried out to raise awareness about environmental problems. This study aims to determine the ideas of students at different education levels about environmental problems and to compare these ideas with each other according to their fields. The survey model was used as the research method. The study group of the research consists of a total of 298 students: 75 at the 4th grade level of primary school, 90 at the 7th grade level of secondary school, 56 at the 11th grade level of high school, and 68 at the 3rd and 4th grade level of the university. The "Environmental Problems Opinion Survey", consisting of four open-ended questions, for which validity studies were conducted, was applied to the study group. The descriptive analysis method was used to analyze the data. Environmental pollution is seen as the most important environmental problem at all levels of education. While the answer to the most important cause of environmental problems is littering at the primary school level, it is shown that people act unconsciously on environmental issues at other levels of education. While the answer to the question about your most frequent behavior to prevent environmental problems was "I throw away the garbage" at the primary school, high school and university levels, the answer to the question "I throw the garbage away" was encountered at the secondary school level. Finally, it was suggested that awareness-raising activities be held at all education levels regarding the solution of environmental problems. Based on all these results, it has been observed that similar answers are encountered at all levels of education regarding environmental problems. Conducting more studies to increase students' awareness of environmental problems is among the recommendations of this study.

In 2019 the Budj Bim cultural landscape in south western Victoria was listed on the World Heritage Register. It is significant firstly for the Gunditjmara people as a culmination of regaining control over their traditional lands and international recognition of their unbroken connection with the land extending back tens of thousands of years. It undermines a longstanding distinction made in heritage assessment between tangible (material) and intangible (immaterial) categories by instead seeing these as interdependent and 'constitutive entanglements' of everyday life. The corresponding distinction too often made between the built and the natural environment has resulted in a disproportionate acceptance that associates built environment heritage with European or Western societies and identities natural environmental heritage with Indigenous landscapes. Introducing a socio-material perspective where these formerly separate categories are seen as interdependent enables a new mode of understanding cultural connection to the land that is potentially transforming. Finally, it is significant as an exemplar of Indigenous led heritage work that brings together political struggle and advocacy, history work, and in the process creates new knowledge.

In the current study, an engineering design-based STEM activity was designed and implemented for 5th graders. The current activity is expected to provide guidance and perspective to teachers (practitioners) in designing and implementing an activity based on design-based learning, STEM activity, and engineering design process (EDP). At the same time, during the implementation of the activity, teachers and students experienced a STEM activity based on the EDP. In the fall semester of the 2022-2023 academic year, this STEM activity based on the engineering design process was planned for Friction force and water resistance in the 5th-grade middle school science course. Then, the activity was implemented in a class of 21 students. The activity was implemented in three class hours. This activity, titled "Let's Design a Water Slide Boat," aimed at designing a water slide boat that would be least affected by water resistance and friction force to improve students' engineering and design skills. This activity was based on NGSS and the objectives and outcomes set in the 5th-grade science curriculum of the Turkish Ministry of National Education.

Through a multistakeholder partnership, this research aims to catalyze the development of a blue economy corridor (BEC) through community-based asset mapping in the eastern portion of the Tar-Pamlico River Basin in North Carolina, a geographic area predominated by physically and culturally rural landscapes. Underpinned by appreciative inquiry, this project aims to counter a deficit model of community development in this portion of eastern North Carolina by increasing awareness of quality of life assets that communities currently possess and may leverage for sustainable economic, environmental, and social development through their inclusion in a digital interactive map freely available to the public.

This study aims to investigate environmentally responsible and sustainable development of 56 pre-service teachers which relevant to framework of sustainable development goals. The qualitative data were collected and analyzed by summarizing general perspectives. The 9 concepts were found and reported. The ways to sustain environments and education students to reach sustainable development can be done by reduce, reuse, recycle; conserve water; save energy; sustainable transportation; grow trees and keep open areas green; waste management; support eco-friendly products; reduce carbon footprint; and conserve biodiversity. These frameworks and perspectives should be incorporated in education and classroom in action.

As a result of human beings' activities to dominate nature and transform it for their own benefit as they continue to advance in science and technology, environmental problems such as climate change have become the biggest threat faced by the biosphere in the current century. One of the biggest problems of humanity today is the scarcity of water resources. It is important to reveal the meanings attributed to the concept of water in biology textbooks in order to identify and eliminate the deficiencies or gaps between the concepts related to the subject. The main purpose of this study is to analyze how the concept of water is presented in secondary school biology textbooks. In line with this purpose, answers to the following questions were sought: What biological concepts is water associated with in biology textbooks and how often is it used? Under which categories can the concept of water be classified in biology textbooks? In the study, document analysis was conducted on four biology textbooks published by the Ministry of National Education to be taught in high schools in the 2023-2024 academic year. A qualitative methodology based on inductive logic was used to analyze the data. How water is emphasized in biology textbooks was discussed, and categories were developed to conceptualize explanations about water. These categories were: water as a substance in the structure of organisms, water as a habitat for organisms, water as a substance involved in chemical reactions, water as a human health factor, water as an essential requirement for organisms, water as an environmental problem factor and water as a scarcity factor. According to the results of the textbook content analysis, it was seen that the relationships between water and health concepts in the category of water as a human health factor were well structured. In the study, it was seen that the concept of water was presented in accordance with the target achievements in line with the secondary school biology course curriculum and that the key concepts were given literally. However, it was revealed that the concept of water in textbooks should be structured according to the principles of the systems thinking approach.

This study explored the impact of an active project-based, aquaculture constructivist-learning program, as perceived by high school students. The purpose of this case study was to discover if participation in the program influenced students' interest, engagement, and future educational and career aspirations in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) when integrating aquaculture in and outside the classroom. Likewise, the study also wanted to explore students' knowledge about aquaculture and skill development after their participation in the program. The study employed a qualitative methods approach to explore students' attitudes and experiences. Qualitative data were collected from post-student focus groups at three different public, rural high schools in Kentucky. Other qualitative data included teacher journal reflections (e.g., personal documents) and public newspaper articles (e.g., public documents). Four emergent themes were found: (1) Students show excitement and enthusiasm in the hands-on, aquaculture program; (2) students show attention to detail in the hands-on, aquaculture tasks, it sticks, and are more responsible; (3) students are collaboratively engaged with their peers; and (4) greater interest and confidence in STEM through practical application. Results demonstrated that the program engaged learners in real-world problem-solving and decision-making situations while working collaboratively in small works. It also appears that students gained an important life skill, responsibility, as well as self-confidence in STEM, after participating in the program.

Local leaders are essential for helping Michigan achieve its 30-year water strategy goals. The Michigan Water School is an Extension nonformal educational program to address the knowledge gap of local leaders. We evaluated programs conducted from 2017 to 2019. Results revealed program outcomes in knowledge, attitudes, perceptions of criticalness to work, and stewardship and behavioral intentions aligned to water quality, water quantity, and field experience units. Growth areas for program improvement include water policy, economics, planning, and finance as well as expanding the focus of the program for transformational leadership and to broaden recruitment efforts.

Understanding the dynamic relationships of the entities that have the most impact on an organization - or that the organization impacts the most - is at the core of stakeholder management approaches. In this article, we present an experiential exercise that provides a creative practical, low-overhead, discussion-oriented classroom activity to engage in a critical examination of the concept of stakeholders. This exercise is especially effective for the stakeholders usually invisibilized. Rather than relying on presenting stakeholder theory, this exercise uses fictional writing as a way for students to give a voice to water, a most often invisibilized stakeholder on an academic campus. The activity encourages reflection on the perception we hold toward certain stakeholders and aims to raise awareness toward the underrepresentation of some of them despite the centrality of their contribution to the organization. The exercise also enables students to grasp that there are limits when trying to speak on behalf of someone or something that structurally does not have a voice. This exercise can be used at the graduate level. Recommendations for adapting the exercise to the large classes are included.

Over the past few years, we have worked together in a citizen science project called "Diamonds on the Soles of our Feet" (see also Goldin et al. 2021, Goldin et al., 2023). In this project we engaged with 420 young learners in the Limpopo Province of South Africa. We came to see participating schools as collaborative ecosystems where young citizens become entangled with water through experiential encounters that make science alive and relevant. Through our engagement with citizen science, we experienced the transformative power of affect and the relevance of emotions in education as a social and political project. In our pedagogy we depart from the idea that human beings are separate from the biosphere, thus recognising the interdependency of all life forms on earth. We believe that keeping science education in laboratories and libraries affirms what Bozalek and Zemblyas (2023) call "privileged irresponsibility". We propose that citizen science and its transformative potential can be one way to redress such irresponsibility. Through impactful encounters with human - nonhuman entanglement and the emotions which are evoked in this process, citizen science can create opportunities for response-ability (Bozalek & Zemblyas, 2023), through teaching and learning with the heart. Such entanglement also resonates with relationality as the currency of care theorists. In the context of our citizen science work, caring for unfamiliar others is a form of non-human-centred care with unfamiliar water bodies in which the binary of inside-outside learning becomes porous as the geographies of water penetrate the classroom walls. In "Diamonds on the Soles of our Feet," we noted how watery spaces and images move back and forth caring-with and through human bodies - waterbodies to school, school to waterbodies. The entanglement with the nonhuman resonates with Massumi's (2015) notion of becoming where there is an unrolling of an event that is a becoming of two together.

As a person obsessed, perhaps overly so, with preventing water damage, an ailing dishwasher led to a system whereby who did the dishes in our household became a matter of chance. What happened next, however, was besmirchment of my character from hockey teammates, close friends, and especially from a room full of future elementary school mathematics teachers. Most individuals, from those casting aspersions, were not even able to support their slander by, for example, providing me with a simple solution, the kind you would find in the back of a school mathematics textbook, demonstrating that the dishwasher system I had implemented was unfair. Making matters worse, data collected from a simulation of my system did not result in probabilistic discussions regarding order mattering, the number of outcomes, the assignment of labels, lists or diagrams; rather, a flimsily understanding of the data resulted in a rather raucous echo chamber where my fate was sealed. Unable to sit idly by any longer, I proposed a tweak to the system, which preyed on a school yard notion of fairness, that helped me regain my honour and perhaps proved that revenge is a dish best served cold.

After the mushrooming growth of the institutions providing technical education in India, questions are being raised about the quality of education dispensed to technical graduates. The purpose of this study is to recognise the various factors, in order of their importance, that are responsible for declining quality of technical education in Punjab, India. A structured questionnaire was administered to a random sample of 465 students and 310 teachers from 31 engineering institutions of the Punjab region in India. Kendall's Coefficient of Concordance was used to analyse the data. The result of the analysis of factors leading to deteriorating quality of technical education in Punjab reveals that at aggregate level, students have assigned rank I to economic factors; the teachers has assigned rank I to ethical factors.

Dehydration is a typical problem among the elderly people who live in nursing homes. It is a condition that is costly in terms of health care costs and length of treatment due to the illnesses it causes. It is a condition that can be prevented, and elderly people can benefit from initiatives to increase their fluid intake. This study aimed to find out how the hydration status of elderly people is affected by hydration education. It was also an assessment of the participants' hydration status and water intake from sources. Forty-three elderly people from two nursing homes participated in this quasi-experimental study. There were 25 elderly in the intervention group (IG) and 18 in the control group (CG). For one month, 40-minute sessions per week (20 minutes of education and 20 minutes of activity) were devoted to teaching about fluid consumption. To evaluate the effectiveness of the education, the water balance questionnaire, urine USG and pH measurement, and the Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly were assessed before, at the end of the intervention, and three months after. The results showed that the IG group's hydration improved, and their short-term water consumption increased. Education needs to be carefully implemented and the results followed up to ensure that elderly people develop a habit of drinking water.

We present an example of one of the modelling projects we assign to students in our differential equations classes. Students are asked to determine how to run a cost-efficient hot water heating system. We consider a cylindrical tank filled with water and heated by a heating element immersed in it. Together with students we discuss physical laws governing the process and make assumptions necessary to build a model. One of the goals of the modelling activity is to compute the time needed for water to reach the desired temperature given the power of the heating element and the size of the water tank. Several different scenarios can be discussed. Assuming the cost of heating the water is directly related to the time for which the power is ON, students can choose the most cost-efficient scenario. We provide the description of several modelling activities and obtained results.

Purpose: This study aims to identify and analyze research that promotes sustainable consumption among university students, understand what areas of consumption were addressed, how consumption was intended to become more sustainable and what results were reported. Design/methodology/approach: A systematic literature review was conducted using the Scopus and Web of Science databases and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses methodology. Main criteria for inclusion were focus on changing the consumption behavior of university students, not just diagnosing them, and that students were directly involved in the efforts. Findings: A total of 1,619 articles were extracted, and 34 were included in the study. These selected investigations conducted between 2012 and 2022 focused on areas of consumption such as food, plastic waste, fashion, energy and water. Sustainable consumption was promoted through training programs ranging from one-hour seminars to full-semester courses, marketing and communication campaigns and direct experimentation and interventions. Most articles reported positive results. Research limitations/implications: This study is limited to research carried out to reduce current consumption by university students; it does not include research aimed at improving students' professional skills for promoting sustainable consumption. Practical implications: This study compiles previous research on reducing consumption by university students in a structured manner according to the consumption area, applied strategy and the results obtained. Originality/value: This research is unique and will serve as a source of inspiration and consultation for academics and university managers concerned about human consumption. It presents successful projects and strategies that can be implemented in their own universities to make their students' consumption more sustainable.

Interdisciplinary environmental and sustainability (IES) programs are different from other fields because they focus on a complex integration of humanities, social, and natural sciences concepts centered on the interactions of coupled human and natural systems. The interdisciplinary nature of IES programs does not lend itself to traditional discipline-specific concept inventory frameworks for critically evaluating preconceptions and learning. We discuss the results of the first phase of a research project to develop a next generation concept inventory for evaluating interdisciplinary concepts important for introductory IES courses. Using the Food-Energy-Water (FEW) Nexus (the intersections/interdependencies of food, energy, and water sectors) as our focus, we conducted a content analysis of eight representative college-level introductory environmental course syllabi and course materials (e.g., textbooks, journal articles, print media) to identify common interdisciplinary FEW Nexus concepts taught in introductory IES courses. Results demonstrate that all IES introductory course materials reference the FEW Nexus. Food, energy, and/or water resources as individual elements of the FEW Nexus are frequently described, but connections between these resource systems are included less often. Biology, energy systems, waste and pollution in the natural environment, agriculture, earth sciences and geology, climate change, behavioral social sciences, and economics concepts are most associated with FEW concepts, hinting at commonalities across IES topics that anchor systems thinking. Despite differences in IES programs, there appears to be some alignment between core concepts being taught at the FEW Nexus in introductory courses.

Objective: To determine differences in glucose control and cardiovascular disease risk factors following three weeks of added soda, 100% fruit juice, or water in apparently healthy, college-aged adults. Participants: Thirty-six adults (18 males; 18 females) between the ages of 18 and 30 years of age. Methods: A 3-arm randomized controlled parallel-arm trial; at baseline and after three weeks consuming the assigned beverage, participants completed glucose control and cardiovascular disease risk factor assessments. Results: There were no significant differences between beverage conditions for glucose control or cardiovascular disease risk factors (ps > 0.05). There were no significant changes in caloric intake or differences in caloric intake between conditions, p = 0.17. p Conclusions: In healthy, young adults, under free-living conditions, short-term consumption of two commercially packaged servings of SBs did not lead to significant glucose control or cardiovascular disease risk factor changes, indicating potential compensation and/or resilience to negative short-term effects.

In this paper, drawing on an extensive research project across three countries (VET Africa 4.0 Collective 2023), we produce an emerging argument that it is necessary to rethink and reframe VET logics and approaches in a warming future dominated by informality and mass unemployment. Currently, neither the formal VET college or workplace are adequately set up to provide the type(s) of VET that are in demand or needed for just transitioning and sustainable futures. We acknowledge the importance of political economy accounts in developing a richer understanding of VET, but suggest these are not sufficient for dealing with the existential and practical crisis of the climate emergency. We note that many scholars have sought to address this tension in the academic literature by adopting a political ecology account that reframes the theoretical and political challenge. This leads us to call for a political-economy-ecology account of VET. Although we acknowledge the limited nature of our approach here, we offer some thoughts for VET analysis with reflection on these theoretical issues applied to four cases studies from Uganda and South Africa of VET provisioning in oil, transport, water and food (which materially shape our cases).

Digital game-based and gamified technologies hold much promise to promote the development of learners' conceptual knowledge. This efficacy study used desktop virtual reality (dVR) to investigate how the place-based digital gameful learning experience (DGLE) "Watershed Explorers", implemented as a curriculum enhancement activity, impacted students' watershed literacy as well as their attitudes towards playing and learning during dVR gameplay. Thirty-five middle school students completed a pretest-posttest content assessment measuring watershed literacy, a motivation to play with a dVR game survey, and a perception of learning with dVR games survey. Results showed that using "Watershed Explorers" as a curriculum enhancement activity can positively impact learning, especially middle school students' ability to identify their own local watershed and its connections to the ocean. Most participants perceived this DGLE as a helpful and engaging type of learning technology that can promote stimulating ways of presenting content materials and make school learning more interesting. Implications for the design of future iterations of "Watershed Explorers" to enhance learning are also discussed.

My personal exploration of how digital technology can support my Montessori practice has been a 20+-year journey. This journey has taken me to many places-- some fascinating, some frustrating. One place I never imagined it would take me (because I didn't even know this place existed) was to a lake in Massachusetts.

Purpose: This paper aims to present insights on the governance of sustainability transitions in higher education in Africa. The authors interrogate the research literatures on the governance of socio-technical transitions in water, electricity, transport and waste management, and identify barriers and enabling factors that enhance transformative practices in universities. Design/methodology/approach: The analytical framework proposed in this paper combines the elements of governance network theory (GNT) and transition topology. The framework of this study is grounded in an actor-centric approach using GNT to understand networks conducive to sustainability transitions. Events and governance networks were mapped on a transition topology to visualise organisational and institutional changes over time. The study engaged students, management, academic and administrative staff in building a community of practice towards sustainability. This research is based on qualitative content analysis grounded in interview data, focus group discussions, workshops, webinars and secondary data analysis. Findings: The findings show that the university has consolidated a sustainability vision and targets, but several factors prevent the community from achieving these targets, including hierarchical decision-making processes, a multitude of disjointed committees and fragmentation in the campus community. Originality/value: This research adds to an emerging body of literature in the field of sustainability in higher education with two contributions. Firstly, the study presents a novel perspective(s) on the governance of sustainability transitions by combining the literatures on governance and sustainability transitions using a new methodological approach of transition topology to show organisational and institutional changes. Secondly, the study presents new empirical evidence for improving the governance of sustainability transitions in a diverse and highly unequal African university community in the process of (de)colonisation of knowledge and governance.

The Learning Team at The Florida Aquarium in Tampa received funding in 2014 to create and conduct a long-term outdoor learning experience for Hillsborough County, Florida, fifth-grade students. The program was designed with four parts to optimize students' experiences in their local watershed, including both classroom and field activities. This study examined learning gains and trends in student attitudes related to watershed topics. Via pre- and post-assessment, data suggests that students increased their knowledge through this program, and their attitudes became more positive about being able to effect change regarding climate change but not as much when it came to their confidence that they could make an impact on their local waterways. This study provides a strong example of how an informal learning environment can improve knowledge and attitudes of elementary students through an outdoor experience.

Action researchers are empowered because they carry out research "with" rather than "on" participants. Likewise, the Tanzanian government has been attempting to devolve power to the people since independence. The latest efforts started in the 1980s and focused on the devolution of power from central government to the people through local governments. The uniqueness of the decentralization process and the associated reforms in the country have attracted some scholarly attention, with researchers asserting that the existing model of local government, famously known as Decentralization by Devolution (D-by-D), has considerable potential. However, past research on decentralization has generally been disempowering. Using Action Research (AR), this study aimed to explore strategies to empower local marginalized communities, as co-researchers, to identify key local challenges in accessing public resources, notably water, and enable them to take initial steps towards addressing them through existing local government structures. The application of AR suggests that Tanzania has strong local government structures that can accommodate the participation of marginalized communities in the management of water and other public resources. Nevertheless, local communities need to be empowered through participatory approaches to best interact with the local government structures and ensure accountability in the management of such resources.

This case study explores a collaboration between young people, researchers and artists which captured stories of how people in the Red River Catchment of Northern Vietnam are responding to climate change, and then used the local art of water puppetry to communicate those stories to a wider audience. The performance evoked the interdependence of the human and physical worlds, showing the impacts of climate change but also people's adaptiveness. In this way, the piece highlighted how communities along the Red River are practising how to 'live with hope', as Gallagher describes it (2022), and how others could do so, too.

As part of its STEM programming initiatives, Community Boating, Inc., the nation's oldest public sailing organization introduced an "Introduction to Microscopy" course merging principles of scientific investigation with analytical techniques using compound light microscopes. Boston's Charles River provided the environmental setting for five two-day sessions. In all, 49 students between the ages of 10 and 15 took part. Students developed an ability to analyze river water samples they had collected during field expeditions in kayaks. Once in the laboratory, following instruction in the use of the microscope, wet mount slides were prepared for microscopic investigation for cyanobacteria and photosynthetic phytoplankton, diatoms, and dinoflagellates crucial for a healthy aquatic ecosystem. With these new skills students were able to better appreciate the biodiversity of the microbial life within the river, and better understand the importance of environmental stewardship in a world threatened by global climate change and the effects of urban pollution. This program demonstrated the feasibility of developing sophisticated STEM programming founded upon principles of the scientific method for important environmental initiatives in the unique setting of a community sailing program.

Postexercise hydration is fundamental to replace fluid loss from sweat. This study evaluated rehydration and gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms for each of three beverages: water (W), sports drink (SD), and skimmed, lactose-free milk (SLM) after moderate-intensity cycling in the heat. Sixteen college students completed three exercise sessions each to lose ≈2% of their body mass. They drank 150% of body mass loss of the drink assigned in randomized order; net fluid balance, diuresis, and GI symptoms were measured and followed up for 3 hr after completion of fluid intake. SLM showed higher fluid retention (∼69%) versus W (∼40%; p <.001); SD (∼56%) was not different from SLM or W (p >.05). Net fluid balance was higher for SLM (−0.26 kg) and SD (−0.42 kg) than W (−0.67 kg) after 3 hr (p <.001), resulting from a significantly lower diuresis with SLM. Reported GI disturbances were mild and showed no difference among drinks (p >.05) despite ingestion of W (1,992 ± 425 ml), SD (1,999 ± 429 ml), and SLM (1,993 ± 426 ml) in 90 min. In conclusion, SLM was more effective than W for postexercise rehydration, showing greater fluid retention for the 3-hr follow-up and presenting with low-intensity GI symptoms similar to those with W and SD. These results confirm that SLM is an effective option for hydration after exercise in the heat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water has been a factor in wars and other violent conflicts for thousands of years. Water can be a trigger of conflict, a casualty of conflict, or a weapon of conflict. In modern times, water-related conflicts appear to be increasing in number, with many of these occurring at the sub-state level, such as between opposing militant groups or between groups with different ethnic and cultural heritages. Action to prevent, mitigate, and recover from these conflicts is possible and available, but insufficiently applied. Investments in the broader effort to create more equitable, sustainable, resilient societies are urgently needed. The good news is that we no longer lack the technological capability to create that world, and action at all levels of society, from the local to the global, will help to foster peace and sustain and protect water resources for everyone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Large volumes of liquid water transiently existed on the surface of Mars more than 3 billion years ago. Much of this water is hypothesized to have been sequestered in the subsurface or lost to space. We use rock physics models and Bayesian inversion to identify combinations of lithology, liquid water saturation, porosity, and pore shape consistent with the constrained mid-crust (∼11.5 to 20 km depths) seismic velocities and gravity near the InSight lander. A mid-crust composed of fractured igneous rocks saturated with liquid water best explains the existing data. Our results have implications for understanding Mars' water cycle, determining the fates of past surface water, searching for past or extant life, and assessing in situ resource utilization for future missions.

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) has been widely used to reveal the structures of proteins at atomic resolution. One key challenge is that almost all proteins are predominantly adsorbed to the air-water interface during standard cryo-EM specimen preparation. The interaction of proteins with air-water interface will significantly impede the success of reconstruction and achievable resolution. Here, we highlight the critical role of impenetrable surfactant monolayers in passivating the air-water interface problems, and develop a robust effective method for high-resolution cryo-EM analysis, by using the superstructure GSAMs which comprises surfactant self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) and graphene membrane. The GSAMs works well in enriching the orientations and improving particle utilization ratio of multiple proteins, facilitating the 3.3-Å resolution reconstruction of a 100-kDa protein complex (ACE2-RBD), which shows strong preferential orientation using traditional specimen preparation protocol. Additionally, we demonstrate that GSAMs enables the successful determinations of small proteins (

California agriculture will undergo significant transformations over the next few decades in response to climate extremes, environmental regulation and policy encouraging environmental justice, and economic pressures that have long driven agricultural changes. With several local climates suited to a variety of crops, periodically abundant nearby precipitation, and public investments that facilitated abundant low-priced irrigation water, California hosts one of the most diverse and productive agroecosystems in the world. California farms supply nearly half of the high-nutrient fruit, tree nut, and vegetable production in the United States. Climate change impacts on productivity and profitability of California agriculture are increasing and forebode problems for standard agricultural practices, especially water use norms. We highlight many challenges California agriculture confronts under climate change through the direct and indirect impacts on the biophysical conditions and ecosystem services that drive adaptations in farm practices and water accessibility and availability. In the face of clear conflicts among competing interests, we consider ongoing and potential sustainable and equitable solutions, with particular attention to how technology and policy can facilitate progress.

Purpose: We examined fluid intake, the relation between body mass (BM) loss and performance, and core temperature in young triathletes during a competition in tropical climate. Methods: Fluid intake and pre and post BM were measured in 35 adolescent athletes, and core temperature was measured in one female and one male. Results: Mean urine specific gravity (1.024 [0.007]) indicated that athletes were in suboptimal state of hydration upon waking. Race time was 73.2 (8.0) minutes. BM decreased by 0.6 (0.3) kg (P <.05). Fluid intake (528.5 [221.6] mL) replaced 47% of the fluid loss (1184.9 [256.4] mL) and was higher during run (11.5 [6.6] mL·min−1) compared to bike (7.3 [3.1] mL·min−1), P <.01. Loss in BM was ≥1.0% in 66% and ≥1.5% in 29% of the athletes. Males showed a moderate association between percentage loss in BM and finishing time (r = −.52), higher sweat rates (1.0 [0.3] L·h−1), and faster times (69.4 [7.5] min; P <.05). Core temperature rose to 40.1 °C in the female and 39.6 °C in the male. Conclusion: Young triathletes competing in a hot/humid climate became mildly to moderately dehydrated and hyperthermic even when water and sports drinks were available but did not show symptoms of heat illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure and mechanism of the water-oxidation chemistry that occurs in photosystem II have been subjects of great interest. The advent of X-ray free electron lasers allowed the determination of structures of the stable intermediate states and of steps in the transitions between these intermediate states, bringing a new perspective to this field. The room-temperature structures collected as the photosynthetic water oxidation reaction proceeds in real time have provided important novel insights into the structural changes and the mechanism of the water oxidation reaction. The time-resolved measurements have also given us a view of how this reaction-which involves multielectron, multiproton processes-is facilitated by the interaction of the ligands and the protein residues in the oxygen-evolving complex. These structures have also provided a picture of the dynamics occurring in the channels within photosystem II that are involved in the transport of the substrate water to the catalytic center and protons to the bulk.

Spatiotemporal patterns of plant water uptake, loss, and storage exert a first-order control on photosynthesis and evapotranspiration. Many studies of plant responses to water stress have focused on differences between species because of their different stomatal closure, xylem conductance, and root traits. However, several other ecohydrological factors are also relevant, including soil hydraulics, topographically driven redistribution of water, plant adaptation to local climatic variations, and changes in vegetation density. Here, we seek to understand the relative importance of the dominant species for regional-scale variations in woody plant responses to water stress. We map plant water sensitivity (PWS) based on the response of remotely sensed live fuel moisture content to variations in hydrometeorology using an auto-regressive model. Live fuel moisture content dynamics are informative of PWS because they directly reflect vegetation water content and therefore patterns of plant water uptake and evapotranspiration. The PWS is studied using 21,455 wooded locations containing U.S. Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis plots across the western United States, where species cover is known and where a single species is locally dominant. Using a species-specific mean PWS value explains 23% of observed PWS variability. By contrast, a random forest driven by mean vegetation density, mean climate, soil properties, and topographic descriptors explains 43% of observed PWS variability. Thus, the dominant species explains only 53% (23% compared to 43%) of explainable variations in PWS. Mean climate and mean NDVI also exert significant influence on PWS. Our results suggest that studies of differences between species should explicitly consider the environments (climate, soil, topography) in which observations for each species are made, and whether those environments are representative of the entire species range.

Combined water, sanitation, and handwashing (WSH) interventions could reduce fecal contamination along more transmission pathways than single interventions alone. We measured Escherichia coli levels in 3909 drinking water samples, 2691 child hand rinses, and 2422 toy ball rinses collected from households enrolled in a 2-year cluster-randomized controlled trial evaluating single and combined WSH interventions. Water treatment with chlorine reduced E. coli in drinking water. A combined WSH intervention improved water quality by the same magnitude but did not affect E. coli levels on hands or toys. One potential explanation for the limited impact of the sanitation intervention (upgraded latrines) is failure to address dog and livestock fecal contamination. Small ruminant (goat or sheep) ownership was associated with increased E. coli levels in stored water and on child hands. Cattle and poultry ownership was protective against child stunting, and domesticated animal ownership was not associated with child diarrhea. Our findings do not support restricting household animal ownership to prevent child diarrheal disease or stunting but do support calls for WSH infrastructure that can more effectively reduce household fecal contamination.

Most of the available data on diffusion in natural clayey rocks consider tracer diffusion in the absence of a salinity gradient despite the fact that such gradients are frequently found in natural and engineered subsurface environments. To assess the role of such gradients on the diffusion properties of clayey materials, through-diffusion experiments were carried out in the presence and absence of a salinity gradient using salt-diffusion and radioisotope tracer techniques. The experiments were carried out with vermiculite samples that contained equal proportions of interparticle and interlayer porosities so as to assess also the role played by the two types of porosities on the diffusion of water and ions. Data were interpreted using both a classical Fickian diffusion model and with a reactive transport code, CrunchClay that can handle multi-porosity diffusion processes in the presence of charged surfaces. By combining experimental and simulated data, we demonstrated that (i) the flux of water diffusing through vermiculite interlayer porosity was minor compared to that diffusing through the interparticle porosity, and (ii) a model considering at least three types of porous volumes (interlayer, interparticle diffuse layer, and bulk interparticle) was necessary to reproduce consistently the variations of neutral and charged species diffusion as a function of salinity gradient conditions.

Purpose: To assess the core temperature fluctuations during 10-km open-water swimming (OWS) in cool water and the relationship between thermal sensation (TS) after 10-km OWS, core temperature, and local skin thermal sensitivity. Methods: Nine highly trained OWS swimmers (4 female; age 22 [3] y) completed a single 10-km trial in cool water (22.3 °C) wearing swimsuits for OWS. During the trial, core temperature was continuously recorded via ingestible temperature sensors, and TS after trial was also measured. Then, local skin warm/cool sensitivity was measured in the forearm. Results: All swimmers completed the 10-km OWS. Mean swimming speed for males and females were 1.39 (1.37–1.42 m/s) and 1.33 m/s (1.29–1.38 m/s), respectively. Core temperature increased in 8 out of 9 swimmers during 10-km OWS (P =.047), with an average increase of 0.8 °C. TS after 10-km OWS varied among swimmers. There were no correlations between post-OWS TS and post-OWS core temperature (P =.9333), whereas there was a negative correlation between post-OWS TS and local skin cool sensitivity (P =.0056). Conclusion: These results suggest that core temperature in elite swimmers might not decrease during 10-km OWS in the cool water temperature of official OWS. In addition, individual differences in TS after 10-km OWS may be related to skin cool sensitivity rather than core temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Non-structural carbohydrates (NSCs) are building blocks for biomass and fuel metabolic processes. However, it remains unclear how tropical forests mobilize, export, and transport NSCs to cope with extreme droughts. We combined drought manipulation and ecosystem 13CO2 pulse-labeling in an enclosed rainforest at Biosphere 2, assessed changes in NSCs, and traced newly assimilated carbohydrates in plant species with diverse hydraulic traits and canopy positions. We show that drought caused a depletion of leaf starch reserves and slowed export and transport of newly assimilated carbohydrates below ground. Drought effects were more pronounced in conservative canopy trees with limited supply of new photosynthates and relatively constant water status than in those with continual photosynthetic supply and deteriorated water status. We provide experimental evidence that local utilization, export, and transport of newly assimilated carbon are closely coupled with plant water use in canopy trees. We highlight that these processes are critical for understanding and predicting tree resistance and ecosystem fluxes in tropical forest under drought.

ObjectiveCartilage degeneration involves structural, compositional, and biomechanical alterations that may be detected non-invasively using quantitative MRI. The goal of this study was to determine if topographical variation in T1rho values correlates with indentation stiffness and biochemical contents of human patellar cartilage.DesignCadaveric patellae from unilateral knees of 5 donors with moderate degeneration were imaged at 3-Telsa with spiral chopped magnetization preparation T1rho sequence. Indentation testing was performed, followed by biochemical analyses to determine water and sulfated glycosaminoglycan contents. T1rho values were compared to indentation stiffness, using semi-circular regions of interest (ROIs) of varying sizes at each indentation site. ROIs matching the resected tissues were analyzed, and univariate and multivariate regression analyses were performed to compare T1rho values to biochemical contents.ResultsGrossly, superficial degenerative change of the cartilage (i.e., roughened texture and erosion) corresponded with regions of high T1rho values. High T1rho values correlated with low indentation stiffness, and the strength of correlation varied slightly with the ROI size. Spatial variations in T1rho values correlated positively with that of the water content (R2 = 0.10, p

BACKGROUND: Diarrheal disease is a leading cause of childhood morbidity and mortality globally. Household water, sanitation, and handwashing (WASH) interventions can reduce exposure to diarrhea-causing pathogens, but meteorological factors may impact their effectiveness. Information about effect heterogeneity under different weather conditions is critical to refining these targeted interventions. OBJECTIVES: We aimed to determine whether temperature and precipitation modified the effect of low-cost, point-of-use WASH interventions on child diarrhea. METHODS: We analyzed data from a trial in rural Bangladesh that compared child diarrhea prevalence between clusters (N=720) that were randomized to different WASH interventions between 2012 and 2016 (NCT01590095). We matched temperature and precipitation measurements to diarrhea outcomes (N=12,440 measurements, 6,921 children) by geographic coordinates and date. We estimated prevalence ratios (PRs) using generative additive models and targeted maximum likelihood estimation to assess the effectiveness of each WASH intervention under different weather conditions. RESULTS: Generally, WASH interventions most effectively prevented diarrhea during monsoon season, particularly following weeks with heavy rain or high temperatures. The PR for diarrhea in the WASH interventions group compared with the control group was 0.49 (95% CI: 0.35, 0.68) after 1 d of heavy rainfall, with a less-protective effect [PR=0.87 (95% CI: 0.60, 1.25)] when there were no days with heavy rainfall. Similarly, the PR for diarrhea in the WASH intervention group compared with the control group was 0.60 (95% CI: 0.48, 0.75) following above-median temperatures vs. 0.91 (95% CI: 0.61, 1.35) following below-median temperatures. The influence of precipitation and temperature varied by intervention type; for precipitation, the largest differences in effectiveness were for the sanitation and combined WASH interventions. DISCUSSION: WASH intervention effectiveness was strongly influenced by precipitation and temperature, and nearly all protective effects were observed during the rainy season. Future implementation of these interventions should consider local environmental conditions to maximize effectiveness, including targeted efforts to maintain latrines and promote community adoption ahead of monsoon seasons. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13807.

Single-particle cryo-EM is widely used to determine enzyme-nucleosome complex structures. However, cryo-EM sample preparation remains challenging and inconsistent due to complex denaturation at the air-water interface (AWI). Here, to address this issue, we develop graphene-oxide-coated EM grids functionalized with either single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) or thiol-poly(acrylic acid-co-styrene) (TAASTY) co-polymer. These grids protect complexes between the chromatin remodeler SNF2h and nucleosomes from the AWI and facilitate collection of high-quality micrographs of intact SNF2h-nucleosome complexes in the absence of crosslinking. The data yields maps ranging from 2.3 to 3 Å in resolution. 3D variability analysis reveals nucleotide-state linked conformational changes in SNF2h bound to a nucleosome. In addition, the analysis provides structural evidence for asymmetric coordination between two SNF2h protomers acting on the same nucleosome. We envision these grids will enable similar detailed structural analyses for other enzyme-nucleosome complexes and possibly other protein-nucleic acid complexes in general.

Experience-dependent gene expression reshapes neural circuits, permitting the learning of knowledge and skills. Most learning involves repetitive experiences during which neurons undergo multiple stages of functional and structural plasticity. Currently, the diversity of transcriptional responses underlying dynamic plasticity during repetition-based learning is poorly understood. To close this gap, we analyzed single-nucleus transcriptomes of L2/3 glutamatergic neurons of the primary motor cortex after 3 d motor skill training or home cage control in water-restricted male mice. Train and control neurons could be discriminated with high accuracy based on expression patterns of many genes, indicating that recent experience leaves a widespread transcriptional signature across L2/3 neurons. These discriminating genes exhibited divergent modes of coregulation, differentiating neurons into discrete clusters of transcriptional states. Several states showed gene expressions associated with activity-dependent plasticity. Some of these states were also prominent in the previously published reference, suggesting that they represent both spontaneous and task-related plasticity events. Markedly, however, two states were unique to our dataset. The first state, further enriched by motor training, showed gene expression suggestive of late-stage plasticity with repeated activation, which is suitable for expected emergent neuronal ensembles that stably retain motor learning. The second state, equally found in both train and control mice, showed elevated levels of metabolic pathways and norepinephrine sensitivity, suggesting a response to common experiences specific to our experimental conditions, such as water restriction or circadian rhythm. Together, we uncovered divergent transcriptional responses across L2/3 neurons, each potentially linked with distinct features of repetition-based motor learning such as plasticity, memory, and motivation.

Vitrification is a promising approach for ice-free cryopreservation of biological material, but progress is hindered by the limited set of experimental tools for studying processes in the interior of the vitrified matter. Isochoric cryopreservation chambers are often metallic, and their opacity prevents direct visual observation. In this study, we introduce photon counting X-ray computed tomography (CT) to compare the effects of rigid isochoric and unconfined isobaric conditions on vitrification and ice formation during cooling of two aqueous solutions: 50 wt% DMSO and a coral vitrification solution, CVS1. Previous studies have only compared vitrification in isochoric systems with isobaric systems that have an exposed air-liquid interface. We use a movable piston to replicate the surface and thermal boundary conditions of the isochoric system yet maintain isobaric conditions. When controlling for the boundary conditions we find that similar ice and vapor volume fractions form during cooling in isochoric and isobaric conditions. Interestingly, we observe distinct ice and vapor cavity morphology in the isochoric systems, possibly due to vapor outgassing or cavitation as rapid cooling causes the pressure to drop in the confined systems. These observations highlight the array of thermal-fluid processes that occur during vitrification in confined aqueous systems and motivate the further application of imaging techniques such as photon counting X-ray CT in fundamental studies of vitrification.

Neonicotinoid insecticides are among the most used insecticides and their residues are frequently found in surface water due to their persistence and mobility. Neonicotinoid insecticides exhibit toxicity to a wide range of aquatic invertebrates at environmentally relevant levels, and therefore their contamination in surface water is of significant concern. In this study, we investigated the spatiotemporal distribution of six neonicotinoids in a large wetland system, the Prado Wetlands, in Southern California, and further evaluated the wetlands' efficiency at removing these insecticides. Total neonicotinoid concentrations in water ranged from 3.17 to 46.9 ng L-1 at different locations within the wetlands, with imidacloprid and dinotefuran among the most detected. Removal was calculated based on concentrations as well as mass flux. The concentration-based removal values for a shallow pond (vegetation-free), moderately vegetated cells, densely vegetated cells, and the entire wetland train were 16.9%, 34.2%, 90.2%, and 61.3%, respectively. Principal component analysis revealed that pH and temperature were the primary factors affecting neonicotinoids removal. Results from this study demonstrated the ubiquitous presence of neonicotinoids in surface water impacted by urban runoff and wastewater effluent and highlighted the efficiency of wetlands in removing these trace contaminants due to concerted effects of uptake by wetland plants, photolysis, and microbial degradation.

Many diarrhea-causing pathogens are climate-sensitive, and populations with the lowest socioeconomic position (SEP) are often most vulnerable to climate-related transmission. Household Water, Sanitation, and Handwashing (WASH) interventions constitute one potential effective strategy to reduce child diarrhea, especially among low-income households. Capitalizing on a cluster randomized trial population (360 clusters, 4941 children with 8440 measurements) in rural Bangladesh, one of the worlds most climate-sensitive regions, we show that improved WASH substantially reduces diarrhea risk with largest benefits among children with lowest SEP and during the monsoon season. We extrapolated trial results to rural Bangladesh regions using high-resolution geospatial layers to identify areas most likely to benefit. Scaling up a similar intervention could prevent an estimated 734 (95% CI 385, 1085) cases per 1000 children per month during the seasonal monsoon, with marked regional heterogeneities. Here, we show how to extend large-scale trials to inform WASH strategies among climate-sensitive and low-income populations.

Coral bleaching is a well-documented and increasingly widespread phenomenon in reefs across the globe, yet there has been relatively little research on the implications for reef water column microbiology and biogeochemistry. A mesocosm heating experiment and bottle incubation compared how unbleached and bleached corals alter dissolved organic matter (DOM) exudation in response to thermal stress and subsequent effects on microbial growth and community structure in the water column. Thermal stress of healthy corals tripled DOM flux relative to ambient corals. DOM exudates from stressed corals (heated and/or previously bleached) were compositionally distinct from healthy corals and significantly increased growth of bacterioplankton, enriching copiotrophs and putative pathogens. Together these results demonstrate how the impacts of both short-term thermal stress and long-term bleaching may extend into the water column, with altered coral DOM exudation driving microbial feedbacks that influence how coral reefs respond to and recover from mass bleaching events.

Phospholipid bilayers are dynamic cellular components that undergo constant changes in their topology, facilitating a broad diversity of physiological functions including endo- and exocytosis, cell division, and intracellular trafficking. These shape transformations consume energy, supplied invariably by the activity of proteins. Here, we show that cycles of oppositely directed osmotic stresses─unassisted by any protein activity─can induce well-defined remodeling of giant unilamellar vesicles, minimally recapitulating the phenomenologies of surface area homeostasis and macropinocytosis. We find that a stress cycle consisting of deflationary hypertonic stress followed by an inflationary hypotonic one prompts an elaborate sequence of membrane shape changes ultimately transporting molecular cargo from the outside into the intravesicular milieu. The initial osmotic deflation produces microscopic spherical invaginations. During the subsequent inflation, the first subpopulation contributes area to the swelling membrane, thereby providing a means for surface area regulation and tensional homeostasis. The second subpopulation vesiculates into the lumens of the mother vesicles, producing pinocytic vesicles. Remarkably, the gradients of solute concentrations between the GUV and the daughter pinocytic vesicles create cascades of water current, inducing pulsatory transient poration that enable solute exchange between the buds and the GUV interior. This results in an efficient water-flux-mediated delivery of molecular cargo across the membrane boundary. Our findings suggest a primitive physical mechanism for communication and transport across protocellular compartments driven only by osmotic stresses. They also suggest plausible physical routes for intravesicular, and possibly intracellular, delivery of ions, solutes, and molecular cargo stimulated simply by cycles of osmotic currents of water.

Water, weather, and climate affect everyone. However, their impacts on various communities can be very different based on who has access to essential services and environmental knowledge. Structural discrimination, including racism and other forms of privileging and exclusion, affects peoples lives and health, with ripples across all sectors of society. In the United States, the need to equitably provide weather, water, and climate services is uplifted by the Justice40 Initiative (Executive Order 14008), which mandates 40% of the benefits of certain federal climate and clean energy investments flow to disadvantaged communities. To effectively provide such services while centering equity, systemic reform is required. Reform is imperative given increasing weather-related disasters, public health impacts of climate change, and disparities in infrastructure, vulnerabilities, and outcomes. It is imperative that those with positional authority and resources manifest responsibility through (1) recognition, inclusion, and prioritization of community expertise; (2) the development of a stronger and more representative and equitable workforce; (3) communication about climate risk in equitable, relevant, timely, and culturally responsive ways; and (4) the development and implementation of new models of relationships between communities and the academic sector.