Water

(excerpt) "We should indeed look to watery natures for inspiration. We are all part of an oceanic commons that sustains and bonds all life. Turning to water as design muse can thus be understood as a moment of recognition, where our own watery natures are amplified. But when we hail the ocean as teacher, do we also consider the silent slippage between gift and theft, between use and usurpation? What happens when the sea ceases to be an unknowable mystery, and is figured instead as inexhaustible resource? Water—as substance or idea—cannot be simply ours for the taking."

El presente estudio se avoca a estudiar las causas y las dinámicas de conflicto por el agua en Guanacaste y su relación con las características del estilo de desarrollo allí implantado. El estudio concluye advirtiendo una problemática que, si no es controlada pronto por entidades estatales en conjunción de otros actores políticos, se arriesga a un impacto ambiental irreversible sobre los recursos hídricos en la provincia, al tiempo que a una elevación notable de la conflictividad regional.

Bacterial endotoxin is the lipopolysaccharide component of the cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria, together with other cellular material that combines to form an endotoxin complex. Endotoxin is pyrogenic and it presents a risk to patients who are administered intravenous and intramuscular preparations.1Thus bacterial endotoxins pose a risk to many pharmaceutical processes and, where not controlled, to the finished products. There are different methods for endotoxin removal. These include depyrogenation,2 such as dry-heat processes applied to glassware, and rinsing,3 as might be applied to closures. These areas receive reasonable coverage within the pharmaceutical sector. Areas that are actively discussed within biotechnology fields but which receive less attention in the wider pharmaceutical context are steps to remove endotoxin bound to protein. This article considers some of the biotechnological applications for endotoxin removal.

The Increasing pace of Industrialization throughout the world has brought with It a serious, and ever Increasing threat from air pollution. It Is true that this threat Is being taken seriously, and that many responsible research workers, government advisers and others are working towards Its reduction. But air pollution seems to have something of the nature of a hydra-headed monster: tackle one problem and another immediately grows to take its place. Actions taken sometimes have results that are far from what was envisioned, sometimes even seeming to make the problem worse.

In "The Forgotten Pollution", Roos shows clearly and In an often entertaining way, how many of the "unexpected" side effects of pollution by waste gases and particles can be explained by paying attention to the electrical activity of the atmosphere and the earth.
Using an Instrument, which he has developed the Electrostatic Charged Aerosol Monitor (ECAM), together with other instruments and reference to the literature, much of it dating back to the early days of science, when electrostatics was appreciated as a science more than It Is today, Roos has succeeded In explaining many hitherto "puzzling" phenomena in a clear, simple and intellectually satisfying way.

The ability to extract streamflow hydraulic settings using geoinformatic techniques, especially in high populated territories like urban and peri-urban areas, is an important aspect of any disaster management plan and flood mitigation effort. 1D and 2D hydraulic models, generated based on DEMs with high accuracy (e.g., Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)) and processed in geographic information systems (GIS) modeling software (e.g., HEC-RAS), can improve urban flood hazard maps. In this study, we present a small-scale conceptual approach using HEC-RAS multi-scenario methodology based on remote sensing (RS), LiDAR data, and 2D hydraulic modeling for the urban and peri-urban area of Bacău City (Bistriţa River, NE Romania). In order to test the flood mitigation capacity of Bacău 1 reservoir (rB1) and Bacău 2 reservoir (rB2), four 2D streamflow hydraulic scenarios (s1–s4) based on average discharge and calculated discharge (s1–s4) data for rB1 spillway gate (Sw1) and for its hydro-power...

Knowledge is material and angular.
Nonhuman animals often shape their material round. Perhaps: The hexagon of bees is
between round (Das Runde) and angular (Das Eckige) . Dancing knowledge.
Water is round. The knowledge of the octopus: materialized by the body – ink to the
outside. Blue clouds. Human animals materialize knowledge often angular.

The use of transcranial low-level laser (light) therapy (tLLLT) to treat stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) is attracting increasing attention. We previously showed that LLLT using an 810-nm laser 4 h after controlled cortical impact (CCI)-TBI in mice could significantly improve the neurological severity score, decrease lesion volume, and reduce Fluoro-Jade staining for degenerating neurons. We obtained some evidence for neurogenesis in the region of the lesion. We now tested the hypothesis that tLLLT can improve performance on the Morris water maze (MWM, learning, and memory) and increase neurogenesis in the hippocampus and subventricular zone (SVZ) after CCI-TBI in mice. One and (to a greater extent) three daily laser treatments commencing 4-h post-TBI improved neurological performance as measured by wire grip and motion test especially at 3 and 4 weeks post-TBI. Improvements in visible and hidden platform latency and probe tests in MWM were seen at 4 weeks. Caspase-3 express...

This thesis studies a specific relationship between matter and form which can no longer be related to stability, solidity and objectuality, as it has been traditionally interpreted. To this aim, it firstly explores the plurivocity in the concepts of 'matter' and 'artistic material'; and secondly it examines a case study about water as a material presence in contemporary art. Over the course of the study, certain issues arise, such as the problematic use of notions like form, information and memory in the specific context of the artwork .

The  methodological lines of this thesis are an alternative approach to the artwork technical and material system, this understood as a synergistic and complex structure of symbolic, technological and imaginative relations. This methodology focuses on the evolution of the technical and technological thinking in the 20th century, establishing the connection between past and current uses of media and materials. Based on the principle of transversality, this study contributes to the expansion of the Third Culture by visualizing the dialogical relationship between art, science, technology and aesthetics. Thus, its starting point is the states of water (solid, liquid, and gas) as well as the technical and conceptual operations associated with this specific material. A selection of 258 artists or working groups and more than 500 works have been gathered along diverse actional and conceptual tendencies of water in its three states.

Archeology, technological thinking, anthropology, and material imagination are the key epistemological elements used to reflect on the encounter between the so-called traditional art mediums and new media in the 20th century —or from a broader perspective, between both the deterministic-mechanistic and the systemic-cybernetic currents of thought. In this context, water provides a paradoxical and exemplary temporal connectivity.

Resumen
La presente investigación tiene por objeto definir una zona muy poco tratada dentro de la historia del arte, en la que la relación entre materia y forma deja de poder aprehenderse como un fenómeno vinculado a los sentidos de estabilidad, solidez y objetualidad tal como se ha interpretado tradicionalmente. Para ello explora la plurivocidad de los sentidos de `materia´ y `material artístico´, confrontando esta perspectiva con el estudio del agua como presencia material en el arte contemporáneo, de lo que se derivan una serie de problemáticas respecto a los conceptos de forma, información, y por extensión memoria de la obra de arte.

Paralelamente se dibujan las líneas metodológicas de la semántica material como alternativa de aproximación al sistema técnico-material de la obra de arte, entendiendo éste como una estructura sinérgica y compleja de relaciones simbólicas, tecnológicas e imaginativas. La metodología propuesta pretende incidir en la evolución del pensamiento técnico y tecnológico del siglo XX, estableciendo puntos de conexión entre el uso actual de los medios y materiales artísticos, y sus antecedentes. Partiendo de la transversalidad, esta investigación se propone en última instancia contribuir a la expansión de la tercera cultura visibilizando las relaciones dialógicas entre creación artística, ciencia, tecnología y estética. Su puesta en práctica toma como punto de partida el agua en todos sus estados y las operaciones técnico-conceptuales asociadas a este material concreto. Una selección constituida por 258 artistas o grupos de trabajo y más de quinientas obras han sido recogidas en torno a las tendencias accionales y conceptuales del agua en sus estados sólido, líquido y gaseoso.

En definitiva, arqueología y antropología del pensamiento tecnológico e imaginación material son los elementos epistemológicos clave utilizados para reflexionar acerca de las cuestiones que definen el encuentro en el siglo XX entre los medios artísticos llamados tradicionales y los new media −o en un plano más amplio entre el pensamiento determinista-mecanicista y el sistémico-cibernético−, vehiculizadas por la paradójica conectividad temporal que ofrece el agua.

Amazônia, com inúmeras peculiaridades tem na água uma preciosidade ímpar, que chama a atenção do mundo. Entre lendas, mitos e contos, as comunidades indígenas têm na água fonte de vida, intimamente ligada à cultura tradicional, sendo reverenciada. É apresentado um panorama geral dos indígenas no Brasil, apresenta origem dos rios e rituais relacionados à água, e apresentando uma visão de preservação dos recursos hídricos. Foi utilizado o método dedutivo-qualitativo, através da pesquisa bibliográfica, com uso de doutrina, jurisprudência e texto legal. Tem-se na água um elemento da criação, de transformação, cuja relação com o homem é de solidariedade, no âmbito mítico, marca o início das relações entre os homens e os outros domínios, sendo reverenciada como integrante da família, trazendo consigo toda uma simbologia carregada de tradições e costumes.

Aim  To evaluate marginal seal, water sorption, solubility and loss of mass after brushing of several temporary filling materials.Methodology  For marginal seal, Class I cavities, including endodontic access preparations, were made in human molar teeth and restored using one or other of several temporary filling materials (n = 10): zinc oxide/calcium sulphate-based cement (Cavit, 3M,ESPE, St. Paul, MN, USA), zinc oxide/eugenol cement (IRM, Dentsply Caulk, Milford, DE, USA), glass ionomer cement (Vidrion R, SSWhite, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil) or a dimethacrylate-based filling (Bioplic, Biodinâmica, Londrina, PR, Brazil). Dye penetration was assessed after thermocycling and immersion in 0.5% basic fuchsine solution. For water sorption, solubility and loss of mass analyses, disc-shaped specimens were made. Water sorption and solubility were evaluated by mass alteration after storage in distilled water for 7 days (n = 7). Loss of mass was calculated based on the difference of mass after abrasion with a toothbrush (n = 5), and surfaces were analysed by SEM. Data of water sorption, solubility and loss of mass were submitted to anova and Tukey’s test, and marginal sealing data to Kruskal–Wallis test (P < 0.05).Results  Statistically significant differences were observed for marginal sealing (P < 0.0001), water sorption (P < 0.01), solubility (P < 0.01) and loss of mass (P < 0.05). Bioplic had the best marginal seal. Cavit had the greatest water sorption and solubility. Vidrion R and Bioplic had the lowest solubility. Loss of mass after brushing was higher for Cavit, followed by Bioplic, IRM and Vidrion R. Cavit and Vidrion R were worn aggressively by brushing.Conclusions  The resin-based temporary filling Bioplic produced the best marginal seal, and was associated with the lowest water sorption, solubility and loss of mass.

It is through specific genealogies of scholarship on race and coloniality, Indigenous feminisms, and Black feminisms that we can escape the well-rehearsed trope of 'land as body'. Within a comparative hemispheric American studies framework, I consider the centre of struggles over empire and extractivism that show the unravelling of the binary between embodiment and territories. I also consider submerged perspectives and forms of solidarity by those who refuse the material and symbolic infrastructures of racial and extractive capitalism.

La investigación en el campo de las técnicas y materiales en el arte contemporáneo requiere la aplicación de nuevas metodologías transdisciplinares que permitan obtener una perspectiva renovada sobre los contenidos que entraña la amplia experimentación artística desarrollada en esta dirección durante el siglo  XX. El cambio de paradigma de la física y el progreso tecnológico han dado lugar a un caudal de nuevas narrativas posibles en las que se ha visto alterado profundamente el sentido tradicional de nociones como las de
materia
o
memoria
en el arte. La presencia material del agua en el arte de la segunda mitad del siglo  XX como objeto de estudio, nos permite proponer una metodología que revisa dichos conceptos a través del análisis de los planos imaginativo y técnico-operativo, así como afrontar los problemas que plantea a nivel teórico una estética de lo fluido.

Referencia completa:
MOÑIVAS, Esther. “Narrativas fluidas. El agua como presencia material en las artes plásticas contemporáneas” en: Dept. Història de l'Art i CEHA-Comité Español de Historiadores del Arte (coords.). CEHA, XVII Congrés Nacional d´História de l´art. Art i Memóri. [Actas]. Granada: Editorial Atrio, 2012, pp. 249-263.

Albay, M., Oruç Babuşçu, F., Berberoğlu, U., Biçkici, E., Çakmak, Ö., Çamur, D., ... Yılmaz, Ş. (2014). Su Sağlığı ve Su Kalitesinin İyileştirilmesi. In M. Müezzinoğlu, & E. Gümüş (Eds.), Çok Paydaşlı Sağlık Sorumluluğunu Geliştirme Programı 2013-2023 "Sağlığın Korunması ve Geliştirilmesine Çok Paydaşlı Yaklaşım" - Fiziksel Çevrenin Geliştirilmesi (pp.17-196). Ankara: T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı.

Project Page:
https://hsgm.saglik.gov.tr/tr/cokpaydasli-anasayfa

YÖNETİCİ ÖZETİ:
Su, canlıların biyolojik açıdan en temel gereksinimi konumundadır. Su, yaşam için olmazsa olmaz bir maddedir. İnsanlar biyolojik olarak açlığa ve susuzluğa uzun süre dayanabilir gibi gözükmesine karşın, vücut fonksiyonları ve duygusal olarak susuzluğa dayanabilmek sanılanın aksine kolay değildir. Bununla birlikte su sadece içme ve bireysel olarak beslenme ve temizlikte kullanılmaz. Tarımsal üretimin, hidro enerjinin, sanayi üretiminin ve ekosistemin varlığı ve sürdürülebilmesi için de su olmazsa olmaz koşuldur. Dünyada kullanılabilir tatlı su potansiyelinin sadece %1 oranında olması ve bu oranın dünyanın her yerine eşit olarak dağılmaması, hızlı ve çarpık kentleşme ile birlikte nüfusun yoğun olduğu bölgelerde suyun bulunmaması veya mevcut suyun yetersiz kalması veya sağlığa uygun özellikler taşımaması bir çok hastalıkların ortaya çıkmasına ve hatta toplu ölümlere dahi neden olabilmektedir. İnsan, çevre ve doğanın sağlıklı sürdürülebilmesinde “su yönetimi” çok önemli bir kavramdır. Bu nedenle, suya erişim haklarının korunabildiği doğru su yönetiminin hangi kurallar çerçevesinde ve hangi örgütsel yapıyla sağlanabileceğinin tespiti genel koşuldur. Bu çalışmada suyun kulanım alanlarına göre korunması ve yönetimi öncelikle olarak değerlendirilmiştir.

SONUÇ VE GENEL DEĞERLENDİRME:
Suyun, çevre ve canlı yaşamı için önemi tartışılmaz. Bununla birlikte su, hava ile birlikte çevresel faktörlerden etkilenmekte ve kirlemektedir. Canlıların ve özellikle insanların doğrudan kullabilediği su miktarı ise kısıtlıdır. Kısıtlı olan doğrudan kullanılabilir su kaynaklarını İnsani faaliyetlernedeniyle kirlenmesi beraberinde birçok sağlık sorununu getirmektedir. Bu sağlık sorunları akut, kronik, harra gelecek nesilleri etkileyebilecek genetik sorunlardır.İnsani faaliyetler sonucu hem içme-kullanma suyu gibi doğrudan kullanılabilen, hem de deniz gibi doğrudan tüketilmeyen su kaynakları bile olumsuz etkilenebilmektedir. Bu nedenler su, bireyler ve yerel-merkezi yönetimlerce öncelikli ele alınması gereken bir konudur. Yerel ve merkezi yönetimlerin en temel görevlerinden birisii hatta en başlıcası suyun ve su kaynaklarının korunması, insanlara sürekli, kesintisiz ve sağlıklı su sağlanmasıdır. Yerel ve merkezi yönetimlerin suyun öneminin farkına varmaları, suyu ayrı bir konu olarak ele almalı ve kirlenmeye, kıtlığına yönelik önlem almaları, hem şu an yaşayan topluma hem de gelecek nesillere yapacakları en büyük hizmettir. Su, sağlık sektörü, yerel ve merkezi yönetimler, özel kuruluşlar, üniversiteler, bilimsel kuruluşlar gibi bir çok sektörü ilgiliendiren çok sektörlü bir konudur. Sektörler zaman zaman işbirliği içerisinde çalışmaları gerekeceği gibi, bazen de yetki ve sorumluluk karmaşası ile karşı karşıya kalabilmektedirler. Bu nedenle öncelikle su ile ilgili mevzuatın bütüncül bir şekilde ele alınıp düzenlenmesi, güncellenmesi ve geleceğe yönelik yenilerinin hazırlanması gerekmektedir. Mevzuatta özellikle etkin ve uygulanabilir yaptırımlar tanımlanmalı, bunlar yetkili kişi / kurumlarca uygulanabilmelidir. Suyun merkezi ve yerel yönetimlerde yetkilileri ve sorumluları tanımlanmalıdır. Son yapılan bakanlık adları ve görevlerindeki değişiklikler, yerel yönetimlere de yansıtılabilmelidir. Suyun temini, sağlıklı bir şekilde sürekliliğinin sağlanması mali desteği gerektirmektedir. Merkezi ve yerel yönetimler suya yeterince ilgi göstermeli, bütçelerinde olmazsa olmaz payları ayırmalıdır. Suyun insani tüketimine sunulması, gerekli işlemlerden geçirilmesine ve sağlıklı sistemlerler iletilmesine bağlıdır. Gelecekte kentleşme olgusu ve nüfus projeksiyonlarına göre alt yapının oluşturulması vazgeçilemez zorunluluktur. Kentleşme olgusu, medya, yaşanan sorunlar maalesef şehir şebekelerine ve bu sistemlerle bireylere ulaşan suya olan güveni sarsmış durumdadır. Oysa, başta devlet olmak üzere merkezi ve yerel yönetimlerin insanların ev/ iş yerleri çeşmelerinden sürekli su akmasını sağlamaları en temel görevlerinden birisi olmasıyla birlikte, akan suyun sağlıklı olmasını sağlamak da en büyük görevlerindendir. Ambalajlı sular, bireysel su gereksinimini sağlamada çok öenmli yerleri vardır. Ancak, ev ve işyerlerinde şehir şebeke suyu en az ambalajlı sular kadar kaliteli olmak zorundadır. Bu nedenle olmaması gereken şehir şebeke suyuna olan güvensizliğin giderilmesi, bu gidişatı tersine çevrilmesi merkezi ve yerel yönetimlere düşmektedir.

Water stands as one of the most symbolically significant images in most of the world’s religious communities. Yet Islam’s intellectual, contemplative, and popular traditions accord distinctive and variegated meaning to this image, uniquely influenced by pre-Islamic Arabic literary convention, the text of the Qur’ān, Muslim rituals, Islamic literature, and the cultural context within which Islam blossomed. It is difficult to say that there is an image of water in Islam at all, but one can discern an accumulation of images and connotations that contribute to a concept of water as indefinite as it is rich. While, broadly speaking, that “image” relays life, knowledge, and purity, this work assumes that studying particular, illustrative instances of the meaning of water will yield a picture more indicative of Islam’s unique symbolic heritage.

This paper is a lyrical-philosophical exploration of becoming a body of water.

Undutiful Daughters (Table of Contents)

Preface: The Society of Undutiful Daughters
Rosi Braidotti

I. NEW CONCEPTS

Introduction: A Politics of Polyphony
Fanny Söderbäck

1. The Future of Feminist Theory: Dreams for New Knowledges
Elizabeth Grosz

2. The Need for the New in Feminist Activist Discourse: Notes Towards
a Scene of Anachronism
Red Chidgey

3. The Interruptive Feminine: Aleatory Time and Feminist Politics
Emanuela Bianchi

4. Écriture Futuriste
M. F. Simone Roberts


II. NEW BODIES AND ETHICS

Introduction: A Politics of Displeasure
Chrysanthi Nigianni

5. Feminist Extinction
Claire Colebrook

6. Hydrofeminism: Or, On Becoming a Body of Water
Astrida Neimanis

7. The Breathing Body in Movement
Davina Quinlivan

8. Incubators, Pumps, and Other Hard-Breasted Bodies
Katie Lloyd Thomas


III. NEW SUBJECTIVITIES

Introduction: A Politics of Visibility
Henriette Gunkel

9. Rethinking Sexual Difference and Kinship in Juliet Mitchell’s
Psychoanalysis and Feminism
Judith Butler

10. Transgenres and the Plane of Gender Imperceptibility
Jami Weinstein

11. Primal Scenes, Forbidden Words, and Reclaimed Spaces:
Voice, Body and Poetic Form in Recent South African Writing
Gabeba Baderoon

12. Going Gaga: Dissent, Refusal, and Feminism
Jack Halberstam

13. (Un)naming the Third Sex After Beauvoir: Towards a Third
Dimensional Feminism
Kyoo Lee

Su, yaşamın özüdür. Bu tezde amaç yaşam kaynağı suyun klasik Türk şiirinde nasıl ve ne yönde ele alındığını ortaya çıkarmaktır. Söz konusu amaç dahilinde Kutadgu Bilig’den (11. yüzyıl) başlanarak Fuzûlî’nin Türkçe Dîvân’ına (16. yüzyılın ilk yarısı) kadar on dört eser (Risaletü’n-nushiyye, Nesîmî’nin Türkçe Dîvânı, Mantıku’t-tayr, Süheyl ü Nevbahâr, İskendernâme, Kıssa-i Yûsuf, Ahmed-i Dâî Dîvânı, Cemşid ü Hurşid, Ahmed Paşa Dîvânı, Avnî Dîvânı, Vesîletü’n-necât, Hevesnâme) tarama yöntemiyle incelenmiştir. Tespit edilen suyla ilgili kavramlar yorumlanarak yakınlıklarına göre gruplandırılmış, suyun anlam çerçevesi bütün yönleriyle gösterilmek istenmiştir. Üç bölümden oluşan çalışmanın ilk bölümünde medeniyet ve kültür bağlamında su konusuna değinilmiş, ikinci bölümde suyun dinlerdeki yerine dair bilgi verilmiş ve su temelli inanışlar ile uygulamalar ele alınmış, üçüncü ve son bölümde de su ile ilgili şiirler yorumlanarak suyun klasik Türk şiirindeki önemi ortaya konmaya çalışılmıştır.

Water is the essence of life. And aim in this thesis is to find out how water is handled in old Turkish poetry and what direction is used for this. Within the purpose of the subject matter has studied fourteen work from Kutadgu Bilig to Turkish Dîvân of Fuzûlî (Risaletu’n-nushiyye, Turkish Dîvân of Nesîmî, Mantıku’t-tayr, Suheyl u Nevbahâr, Iskendernâme, Kıssa-i Yûsuf, Dîvân of Ahmed-i Dâî, Cemshid ü Hurshid, Dîvân of Ahmed Pasha, Dîvân of Avnî, Vesîletü’n-necât, Hevesnâme). In the thesis scanning method is used. Water concepts that found in study are commented and grouped. In this way, meaning frame of water is wanted to be shown in all aspects. The thesis have got three parts. First part of it concern with water within the context of civilization and culture. Second part about water’s meaning and using in religions like Judaism, Christianity and Islam are called Abrahamic religions. Also this part of the thesis deal with believes and practices about water in Turkish and near surroundings cultures. Third part of the thesis which is the last one is put interpretation of poems and thus importance of water in Ottoman poetry is tried to be revealed.

The process of privatization in Turkey started as a result of some agreements signed with the World Bank and the IMF in the 1980s. A decade later this process started to include also water services and became already dominant by the beginning of 2000. The main actors of privatization in the world are a few water multinationals, some international organizations such as the World Water Council (WWC) a global water privatization lobby that builds the necessary social, economic, and legal grounds for these corporations to create a global water market and take control of it, and the nation-states which are in an increasing competition for “development”. The main discourse of these actors is that the growing world population despite the limited and constant amount of water resources causes a global water crisis and the public sector fails to deal with it. This view became also official in Turkey within decades resulting in global scale gatherings taking place in the country such as the 5th World Water Forum (WWF) in 2009 organized by the WWC.
First, contrary to this discourse, the growing pressure on the world’s water resources results from increasing demand from unsustainable economic activities rather than the increasing human need for water due to population growth. For as much as, only 15% of total water consumption in Turkey is urban while 85% is agricultural and industrial together. For this reason, the decrease in water use per capita per year fails in explaining the water crisis in Turkey. In addition, Turkey aims at increasing its share, in both agricultural and industrial sectors, in the global market. This means that pressure on water resources will grow and an increasing share of water will be used for meeting the demands of economic sectors instead of human needs. Second, the public sector is not primarily responsible for failing to deal with water problems. In both, the world and Turkey privatization in the water domain has a relatively short history while it is the contrary for the public sector. Even though the public sector in Turkey has long been affected adversely by centralist and anti-democratic structures, it provides us with much experience and many lessons to learn in water management. Instead of abandoning the public sector as the pro-privatization lobbies suggest, it seems essential to redefine the meaning of public and search for ways to make it closer to citizens and the local scale through public participation.
In the last decades, many social and ecological problems arose around the globe due to practices of privatization. These problems caused various social counter-movements in almost every country they occurred. To overcome this problem, the pro-privatization lobby, through its international think-tanks and investment organizations, defined a “new” term called Public-Private Partnership (PPP) which is neither new nor has anything to do with public content but privatization itself. As a result of many reforms of commercialization and privatization of water resources and services in Turkey: i) water has become an economic commodity rather than a human right, ii) the cost of water has risen while its quality has dropped down; iii) water services have become profit-driven rather than human-centered; iv) water consumption has been promoted rather than water conservation; v) private companies have become richer from common property water resources while some economically disadvantaged people and locals such as the river basin communities have become poorer; vi) water multinationals have taken risks whose price are often paid by the public; vii) local governments have become increasingly dependent on multinationals, and viii) corruption has flourished. In defending water resources and water as human rights, there is a growing need for Public Public Partnership (PuP) in contrast with PPP. Water, which belongs to the public, should naturally be managed in the hands of the public.
This field study is based on in-depth interviews and focuses on group meetings held with over 60 key water actors in Ankara, Batman, Diyarbakır, İstanbul, and Van in May and November 2011. Among these actors were mayors and technical staff working in municipalities and “water and sanitation services authorities”, activists of civil society organizations, and academics working on the water policy and management in Turkey. Actors indicate that a new water policy should adopt the following principles in Turkey:
• Water is neither an instrument for building hegemony in the region (in particular the Middle East) nor a national security weapon, but an opportunity for promoting dialogue and peace among states and nations.
• Water is not an instrument of economic development, but a fundamental right to life for both humans and other living beings.
• The main actors of water management are neither water corporations nor central government bureaucrats, but people.
• As water is a right for all living beings including humans, its management should not be in the hands of water corporations and the central government supporting them, but in the hands of the public.
• The sacrifice of the locals for the so-called “general public good” is the root cause of all social-ecological injustice.
• An essential approach in water management is not more consumption, but conservation of water resources.
• Raising the cost of water is not the best but the most unjust way of conserving water resources as it creates more debts for economically disadvantaged people.
• The scale of water management is not defined by the nation-states but the water basin itself.
The building of a new water policy under the guidance of these principles could only be possible with the involvement of the local actors. This study shows that local authorities should shoulder several responsibilities at the stage of defining a new water policy and empowering it so that it challenges the existing one. The success of both stages depends entirely on the local authorities’ performance in attracting a growing public involvement from all segments of society. One efficient way to achieve such performance is an exchange of experience and political empowerment through PuPs at regional, national and global scales.

The Tigris River is the second-longest river in Western Asia and runs through heavily populated areas, especially in Baghdad city with nearly 8 million inhabitants. The water demand is at its highest levels, nevertheless the Tigris discharge has severely declined in the last decades; combined with the fact that the wastewater quantities are increasing, and the wastewater treatment plants are experiencing a deficiency. Four sites were chosen: the Tharthar-Tigris Canal which is located in the north part of Baghdad city, Baghdad city, the Diyala River conjunction with the Tigris River site, and Al-Azizziyah site in the south of Baghdad city near Kut government, to determine the effect of the decreasing Tigris River flow on the water quality and to identify the sources of pollution. In this research, the used method evaluates the concentration of the contaminants along the course of the Tigris River to determine the source of the contaminants as the novelty of this research. The data in...

The potential of Pleurotus ostreatus spent mushroom compost (PSMC) as a green biosorbent for nickel (II) biosorption was investigated in this study. A novel approach of using the half-saturation concentration of biosorbent to rapidly determine the uptake, kinetics and mechanism of biosorption was employed together with cost per unit uptake analysis to determine the potential of this biosorbent. Fifty per cent nickel (II) biosorption was obtained at a half-saturation constant of 0.7 g biosorbent concentration, initial pH in the range of 4–8, 10 min contact time, 50 mL 50 mg/L nickel (II) initial concentration. The experimental data were well fitted with the Langmuir isotherm model and the maximum nickel (II) biosorption was 3.04 mg/g. The results corresponded well to a second pseudo order kinetic model with the coefficient of determination value of 0.9999. Based on FTIR analysis, the general alkyl, hydroxyl or amino, aliphatic alcohol and carbonyl functional groups of biosorbent were...

Structural resilience describes urban drainage systems’ (UDSs) ability to minimize the frequency and magnitude of failure due to common structural issues such as pipe clogging and cracking or pump failure. Structural resilience is often neglected in the design of UDSs. The current literature supports structural decentralization as a way to introduce structural resilience into UDSs. Although there are promising methods in the literature for generating and optimizing decentralized separate stormwater collection systems, incorporating hydraulic simulations in unsteady flow, these approaches sometimes require high computational effort, especially for flat areas. This may hamper their integration into ordinary commercially designed UDS software due to their predominantly scientific purposes. As a response, this paper introduces simplified cost and structural resilience indices that can be used as heuristic parameters for optimizing the UDS layout. These indices only use graph connectivit...

ABSTRACT form only given. Data exchange in many underwater applications such as oceanographic data collection, scientific ocean sampling, pollution and environmental monitoring, disaster prevention, underwater system maintenance, recreational scuba diving, is an exciting task. Due to the reduced visibility (for optical) or high attenuations (for radio) link, in most of the cases the communication between different locations cannot take place. When possible, this limitations are alleviated employing data transmission via cables, a solution that can be employed for both dynamic (e.g. on the scuba divers) or static (e.g. sensor nodes) systems. However, its use assumes that the movement among the different communicating objects is clearly strongly limited. On the other hand, the total lack of the possible communication among the divers substantially reduces the possibility of preventing dangers, avoiding the considered activity to be conducted in safe way.

Legionella is one of the emerging concerns of water quality in built water environments. Premise plumbing systems are among the recognised sources of infection. In the present study, colonisation of hot water networks in health care facilities, schools, hotels, private residences, office and industrial buildings was investigated. Data was analysed in connection with building and premise plumbing characteristics. Over 60% of all buildings were colonised by Legionella; counts were over 1000 CFU/L in 49%. The most prevalent type was Legionella pneumophila serogroup 2-14, isolated from 75% of the positive samples. Centrally produced hot water was found to be a key risk factor (46% of the samples were positive vs. 16% in individual systems); within this group the type of the building was less relevant. Colonisation levels in schools were similar to hotels or hospitals, representing a previously underestimated risk setting. Systems supplied by water from deep groundwater sources were significantly less likely to be colonised than more vulnerable sources (bank-wall filtration, surface water abstraction or karstic water; 28% vs. 51% positive), regardless of the type of treatment applied, including the presence of disinfection. The aggravating effect of larger, more complex and older buildings on colonisation was also confirmed. The present study represents the first baseline analysis, pre-empting regulation or monitoring requirements for Legionella. The prevalence of legionellae and the identified risk factors are indicative for other settings lacking targeted interventions. The statistically confirmed risk factors can serve as indicators for preliminary risk assessment and the prioritisation of interventions.

In this editorial, the authors (and guest editors) introduce the Special Issue titled Understanding Game-based Approaches for Improving Sustainable Water Governance: The Potential of Serious Games to Solve Water Problems. The authors take another look at the twelve contributions, starting from the subtitle question: what is the potential? The authors summarize the insights and give directions for future research.