We present clear evidence that orthophosphate (PO43-), commonly used by drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) operators to reduce lead pipe corrosion, can move beyond its intended domain and enter urban stream networks. This migration influences stream biogeochemistry in ways previously undocumented. In collaboration with a DWTP in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, we conducted a study across five urban streams, capturing pre- and post-implementation phases of PO43- -based corrosion control. Through comprehensive chemical analyses of nutrients, anions, metals, and nitrate isotopes, as well as nutrient limitation bioassays with Cylindrospermopsis sp. and Raphidocelis subcapitata, we demonstrate statistically robust increases in streamwater phosphorous concentrations (total dissolved phosphorus: p < 0.0001; total reactive phosphorus and total phosphorus: p < 0.05). These shifts coincide with elevated dissolved metal concentrations, implicating corrosion control byproducts as co-transported constituents. Principal Component Analysis reveals urban stream chemistry is governed by a complex interplay of solutes derived from PO43- -treated drinking water, pipe corrosion, mineral weathering, and wastewater. Bioassays confirm that nutrient additions, particularly P and NP, significantly stimulate algal biomass (p < 0.05) with Cylindrospermopsis sp. showing heightened responsiveness to N additions shortly after PO43- deployment. These findings expose a critical, underrecognized pathway by which drinking water infrastructure contributes to nutrient enrichment and eutrophication in urban aquatic systems. The implications are clear: subsurface infrastructure is not a closed system, and its chemical footprint extends into the urban hydroscape with ecological consequences that warrant closer attention.

This innovative practice WIP paper describes a cross-disciplinary collaboration between middle school educators, educational researchers, and civil engineers and scientists to design a series of community-centered STEM learning activities focused on water quality and local water concerns in the southeastern United States. The RWE partnership promotes STEM literacy and workforce readiness for students in grades 6-8 through hands-on STEM learning, student-led research projects, and advocacy opportunities based on water treatment and wastewater-related research occurring in a rural community.

What factors affect listeners’ perception of the emotions conveyed by music? Ali and Peynircioğlu conducted a series of experiments in which listeners rated emotional judgments of the melodies and lyrics of songs. Here, we present a pre-registered replication and extension of their study with newly adapted stimuli, including several covariates using the Goldsmiths Musical Sophistication Index (Gold-MSI). Using a within-subjects design, we asked participants ( n = 104) to rate the emotions they perceived to be conveyed by unfamiliar happy, sad, calm, and angry songs, with and without lyrics, to model the extent to which each factor contributed to participants’ ratings. The results we obtained in our replication contradicted those of the original study, for several variables. The results of our extension, revealing a significant effect of the emotional engagement subscale of the Gold-MSI, indicate that emotion perception can and should be divorced from aspects of musical training. Taken together, the findings of our replication and extension highlight the value of replicating frequently cited studies in music psychology literature.

Though verbal rehearsal is a frequently endorsed strategy for remembering short lists among adults, there is ambiguity around when children deploy it, and what circumstantial factors encourage them to rehearse. We recoded data from a recent multilab replication of a serial picture memory task in which children were observed for evidence of task-related speech or lip movements to extract finer-grained detail about how children spoke during the task. With these data, we aimed to better understand the manner in which children rehearse and the task scenarios which elicit overt rehearsal. Children in several countries from 5 to 10 years old were tasked with remembering 2-5 nameable pictures in serial order across a 15-second delay. Coders categorized children's speech or lip movements as reflecting fixed rehearsal of the last-presented item only, cumulative rehearsal of all the items presented so far, or some attempt at cumulative rehearsal. We found that most children, regardless of age, did not overtly rehearse at all during presentation of the objects or during the delay period. However, children who sometimes overtly rehearsed recalled longer lists of items than children who did not. Though rare, cumulative rehearsal was most frequently observed for list lengths close to the participant's demonstrated maximum recall length. Critically, on the trials where overt rehearsal was observed, recall improved. This evidence supports previous suggestions that rehearsal strategy, and possibly also its effectiveness, changes with task difficulty, and raises further questions about how verbal rehearsal affects serial recall.

ObjectivesSevere weather events have mental health consequences for survivors that may change over time. We assessed post-flood mental health longitudinally in three groups of mostly middle-aged and older adults who varied in current and prior severe weather experiences.MethodPredictors of central interest were age, perceived social support, state hope (including agency and pathways), recovery stressors, and prior lifetime trauma. Criterion variables included symptoms of depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and worry.ResultsAnalyses of variance yielded significant Disaster Exposure Group x Wave interactions for depression and PTSD symptoms. Those with flooded homes and properties had elevated symptoms at Wave 1 which were reduced at Wave 2. Older age was associated with fewer symptoms of depression, PTSD, and worry. Recovery stressors and lifetime trauma predicted more PTSD symptoms. Greater agency predicted less PTSD and depression symptoms, whereas pathways predicted less worry.ConclusionThese data show that mental health symptoms may decrease over time for those directly impacted by severe flooding. State hope appears to contribute to better mental health after exposure to a devastating flood. Implications for understanding the dynamic relationships among risk variables and positive factors that promote post-disaster mental health in the years after a flood are considered.

Increases in phosphate availability in drinking water distribution systems (DWDSs) from the use of phosphate-based corrosion control strategies may result in nutrient and microbial community composition shifts in the DWDS. This study assessed the year-long impacts of full-scale DWDS orthophosphate addition on both the microbial ecology and density of drinking-water-associated pathogens that infect the immunocompromised (DWPIs). Using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and droplet digital PCR, drinking water microbial community composition and DWPI density were examined. Microbial community composition analysis suggested significant compositional changes after the orthophosphate addition. Significant increases in total bacterial density were observed after orthophosphate addition, likely driven by a 2 log 10 increase in nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM). Linear effect models confirmed the importance of phosphate addition with phosphorus concentration explaining 17% and 12% of the variance in NTM and L. pneumophila density, respectively. To elucidate the impact of phosphate on NTM aggregation, a comparison of planktonic and aggregate fractions of NTM cultures grown at varying phosphate concentrations was conducted. Aggregation assay results suggested that higher phosphate concentrations cause more disaggregation, and the interaction between phosphate and NTM is species specific. This work reveals new insight into the consequences of orthophosphate application on the DWDS microbiome and highlights the importance of proactively monitoring the DWDS for DWPIs.

In this study, we examined religiosity and social support as predictors of resilience after a devastating flood. Three flood exposure groups of primarily middle-aged and older adults were compared: (1) non-flooded adults as controls, (2) once-flooded adults with structural damage to homes and property in the 2016 flood, and (3) twice-flooded adults who had relocated inland because of prior catastrophic losses in the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and then flooded again in 2016. Resilience was assessed using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Correlation analyses confirmed that older age was correlated with higher religiosity, charitable work done for others, and resilience. Regression analyses indicated that religious beliefs and coping, social support, and charitable work done for others were associated with higher levels of resilience, whereas flood damage was unrelated to resilience. Implications for current views on post-disaster adversity and resilience in later life are discussed.

Abstract Exposure to multiple back-to-back disasters may threaten physical and mental health for people who live in geographic areas that are prone to severe weather events. In 2005, coastal residents from south Louisiana lost homes in Hurricane Katrina and many moved inland to presumably higher and safer ground. In August of 2016, historic flooding brought widespread destruction, creating a second round of catastrophic losses for those who had permanently relocated to Baton Rouge, Louisiana after Katrina. The present research is part of a larger longitudinal study on health and well-being after multiple disaster exposures. In this study, we examined associations among current and prior flood experience and health-related quality indexed by the SF-36 Health Survey (Ware & Sherbourne, 1992). Three flood exposure groups were compared across two waves of testing: non-flooded (controls), single disaster (flooded in 2016) and double disaster (flooded in 2005 and again in 2016). Results indicated that the flood exposure groups did not differ in physical health, although mental health was poorer for those whose homes flooded relative to the non-flooded controls at both waves of testing. Correlation analyses revealed that age was negatively associated with intolerance of uncertainty and physical health, but positively correlated with mental health at both waves of testing, consistent with the inoculation view of post-disaster psychological reactions. Implications of these data for understanding health-related quality of life after multiple disaster exposures are discussed.

The Sava River Basin (SRB) extends across six countries (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Albania, and Montenegro) and is a major tributary of the Danube River (DR). The Sava River (SR) originates in the alpine region of Slovenia, and, in support of a Slovenian government initiative to increase clean, sustainable energy, multiple hydropower facilities have been constructed within the past ~20 years. Given the importance of this river system for varying demands, including energy production, information about past (paleo) drought and pluvial periods would provide important information to water managers and planners. Seasonal (April–May–June–July–August–September—AMJJAS) streamflow data were obtained for two SRB gauges (Jesenice and Catez) in Slovenia. The Jesenice gauge is in the extreme headwaters of the SR, upstream of any major water control structures, and is considered an unimpaired (minimal anthropogenic influence) gauge. The Catez gauge is located on the SR near the Slovenia–Croatia border, thus providing an estimate of streamflow leaving Slovenia (entering Croatia). The Old World Drought Atlas (OWDA) provides an annual June–July–August (JJA) self-calibrating Palmer Drought Severity Index (scPDSI) derived from 106 tree-ring chronologies for 5414 grid points across Europe from 0 to 2012 AD. In lieu of tree-ring chronologies, this dataset was used as a proxy to reconstruct (for ~2000 years) seasonal streamflow. Prescreening methods included the correlation and temporal stability of seasonal streamflow and scPDSI cells. The retained scPDSI cells were then used as predictors (independent variables) to reconstruct streamflow (predictive and/or dependent variables) in regression-based models. This resulted in highly skillful reconstructions of SRB seasonal streamflow from 0 to 2012 AD. The reconstructions were evaluated, and both low flow (i.e., drought) and high flow (i.e., pluvial) periods were identified for various filters (5-year to 30-year). When evaluating the most recent ~20 years (2000 to present), multiple low-flow (drought) periods were identified. For various filters (5-year to 15-year), the 2003 end-year consistently ranked as one of the lowest periods, while the 21-year period ending in 2012 was the lowest flow period in the ~2000-year reconstructed-observed-historic period of record. The ~30-year period ending in 2020 was the lowest flow period since the early 6th century. A decrease in pluvial (wet) periods was identified in the observed-historic record when compared to the paleo record, again confirming an apparent decline in streamflow. Given the increased activities (construction of water control structures) impacting the Sava River, the results provide important information to water managers and planners.

Stream channel burial drastically alters watershed flowpaths by routing surface waters underground and increasing the potential for interactions between stream water and urban infrastructure such as storm and sanitary sewers. While numerous studies have investigated storm event solute loads from urban watersheds, the influences of stream channel burial and sewer overflows are often overlooked. This study uses grab samples and natural abundance stable isotope tracers to quantify the event dynamics of solute concentration-discharge relationships as well as cumulative loads in a buried urban stream. Our results demonstrate that different solutes, as well as different sources of the same solute (atmospheric NO3− and sewer-derived NO3− differentiated by the Δ17O tracer), are delivered via separate watershed flowpaths and thus have different timings within the event and contrasting relationships to flow. This inter-event variability reveals dynamics that result from temporal and spatial heterogeneity in infiltration, exfiltration, and pipe overflows. These results can help guide system-wide infrastructure maintenance as cities seek to meet challenges in sustaining and improving water quality as infrastructural systems age.

In August 2016, widespread flooding occurred across south Louisiana a decade after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the U.S. Gulf Coast. In this study, we examined self-reported flood stressors among adults who varied in current and prior severe weather experiences (M-age = 50.2 years, age range 19-89 years). All responded to an open-ended question that assessed the most stressful aspect of the 2016 flood. Narrative responses from three flood exposure groups were compared: (a) nonflooded controls; (b) single disaster adults with 2016 flood damage to homes and property, and (c) double disaster adults who permanently relocated inland because of catastrophic losses in the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita and flooded in 2016. To permit inferences about age-related differences in self-perceived flood stressors, age was split at the median within each flood exposure group. Content analyses of the narrative responses yielded three core themes: (a) Immediate impact and flood-related destruction; (b) Friends, neighbors, and family lend a helping hand; and (c) Lingering consequences of flood-related damage. Flood stressors were similar for the younger and older cohorts across the first two themes. Age-related differences in responses were more salient and frequent in the third theme. The older cohorts described more financial worries over mounting debt due to costly repairs of flooded homes than did the younger cohort. For older adults with prior catastrophic losses, both the financial and material impacts of the 2016 flood were significant stressors. Implications of these data for understanding age-related vulnerabilities after severe weather events are discussed.

We used the timing of serial recall in several situations to reveal important aspects of recall groupings that participants construct and the reasons those groupings occur. We examined the timing of responses in the recall of digit strings within two published experiments. Cowan, Saults, Elliott, and Moreno (2002) examined memory for nine-item lists in a way that deconfounded the presentation modality, input versus output serial position (using a varied starting point of recall), memory load from items not yet recalled (using whole vs. partial recall), and the presence or absence of the temporal grouping of the lists into triads. Accuracy was strikingly different in the two modalities, with grouping drastically changing recall of acoustic lists but with little difference between grouped versus ungrouped visual lists. Despite the modality difference in recall, the present timing results show that participants imposed a similar grouped structure in recall for both modalities. When errors were made, the original grouping structure still was maintained in the output timing. Cowan et al. (2005, Experiment 1) presented ungrouped acoustic lists of varying lengths in a span task. In this case, there was never a grouping structure presented to the participant and the accuracy data did not reveal evidence of grouping, but we show clear grouping in the timing structure. This grouping structure varied with both the list length and an individual's span. Timing in both experiments shows that a grouping structure is imposed on responses in a manner that is dependent on several factors not present in the stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Abstract Hurricanes and floods have psychosocial consequences for directly and indirectly affected individuals. In August of 2016, historic flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana resulted in catastrophic damage across a 22-parish (county) region only 11 years after the 2005 Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the US Gulf Coast. In this study, we compared three groups of mostly middle-aged and older adults on the SF-36 Health Survey Questionnaire: (1) non-flooded (controls), (2) single disaster (flooded in 2016), and (3) double disaster (flooded in 2005 and again in 2016). Results indicated that the groups did not differ in self-reported physical health, although the single and double disaster groups reported worse mental health than did the controls. Correlation analyses revealed that age was positively associated with mental health. State hope was positively associated with both physical and mental health. Implications of these findings for reducing vulnerabilities after multiple disaster exposures are considered.

Introduction This study recruited participants from a range of music training experiences and focused on short-term memory tasks to examine the abilities of trained, informally trained, and those without any music training.

Although human reshaping of the nitrogen (N) cycle is well established, contributions of individual N sources to riverine and coastal eutrophication are less certain. Urban N fluxes are potentially substantial, particularly from sewer overflows. Results from four longitudinal surveys in rivers in and around the city of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, were used to characterize N chemistry and isotopic composition and were compared with LOADEST‐model‐derived total N (TN) flux budgets from three urban areas along the Ohio River (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Cincinnati, Ohio; and Louisville, Kentucky). Triple nitrate isotopes reveal that riverine nitrate in the Pittsburgh region is dominated by wastewater inputs despite high atmospheric deposition rates. Our budget estimates demonstrate that the magnitude of urban N yields is comparable to yields reported for agricultural watersheds and that these high urban N yields cannot consist of permitted, point‐source discharges alone. Our results reveal that nonpoint sources in urban systems represent an important but overlooked source of TN to overall riverine budgets.

Many cities across the nation are plagued by lead contamination in drinking water. As such, many drinking water utilities have undertaken lead service line (LSL) replacement to prevent further lead contamination. However, given the urgency of lead mitigation, and the socioeconomic challenges associated with LSL replacement, cities have used phosphate-based corrosion inhibitors (i.e., orthophosphate) alongside LSL replacement. While necessary to ensure public health protection from lead contamination, the addition of orthophosphate into an aging and leaking drinking water system may increase the concentration of phosphate leaching into urban streams characterized by century-old failing water infrastructure. Such increases in phosphate availability may cascade into nutrient and microbial community composition shifts. The purpose of this study was to determine how this occurs and to understand whether full-scale distribution system orthophosphate addition impacts the microbial ecology of urban streams. Through monthly collection of water samples from five urban streams before and after orthophosphate addition, significant changes in microbial community composition (16S rRNA amplicon sequencing) and in the relative abundance of typical freshwater taxa were observed. In addition, key microbial phosphorus and nitrogen metabolism genes (e.g., two component regulatory systems) were predicted to change via BugBase. No significant differences in the absolute abundances of total bacteria, Cyanobacteria, and "Candidatus Accumulibacter" were observed. Overall, the findings from this study provide further evidence that urban streams are compromised by unintentional hydrologic connections with drinking water infrastructure. Moreover, our results suggest that infiltration of phosphate-based corrosion inhibitors can impact urban streams and have important, as-yet-overlooked impacts on urban stream microbial communities. IMPORTANCE Elevated lead levels in drinking water supplies are a public health risk. As such, it is imperative for cities to urgently address lead contamination from aging drinking water supplies by way of lead service line replacements and corrosion control methods. However, when applying corrosion control methods, it is also important to consider the chemical and microbiological effects that can occur in natural settings, given that our water infrastructure is aging and more prone to leaks and breaks. Here, we examine the impacts on the microbial ecology of five urban stream systems before and after full-scale distribution system orthophosphate addition. Overall, the results suggest that infiltration of corrosion inhibitors may impact microbial communities; however, future work should be done to ascertain the true impact to protect both public and environmental health.

The dataset of environmental parameters and sequence fastqs used to create figures and do analysis in the paper Exploring the Impacts of Full-Scale Distribution System Orthophosphate Corrosion Control Implementation on the Microbial Ecology of Hydrologically Connected Urban Streams submitted to Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

Abstract Catastrophic hurricanes and flooding threaten health and well-being, although the long-term consequences of these events for survivors are poorly understood. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated the US Gulf Coast. Many lost homes in these storms and relocated permanently inland. In August of 2016, historic flooding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana devastated a 22-parish (county) region, resulting in widespread destruction and a second round of disaster-related losses for those who relocated to Baton Rouge after Katrina. The present research is part of a larger longitudinal study on health and well-being after multiple disasters. Cherry et al. (2021) reported that greater flood damage was associated with more symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress during the Wave 1 immediate impact phase. Here we examined symptoms of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress at Wave 2, a follow-up assessment that occurred 9 (+/- 3) months after Wave 1 testing. Three flood exposure groups were compared: non-flooded (controls), single disaster (flooded in 2016) and double disaster (flooded in 2005 and again in 2016). Results indicated that symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress, which were elevated at Wave 1 for the single and double disaster groups relative to the non-flooded controls, were reduced at Wave 2 and did not differ from the controls. Correlation analyses revealed that age was negatively associated with symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety, consistent with the inoculation view of post disaster psychological reactions. Implications of these data for understanding older adults’ psychological health after multiple disaster exposures are discussed.

Fast hydrologic responses to storms in urban areas are often attributed to high percentages of impervious surfaces; however, another factor affecting urban storm response is channel burial. No previous studies have documented storm event responses in buried streams despite how common stream burial is in urban areas, with some US cities having over 75% of all headwater channels buried. Understanding event dynamics is particularly important as climate change predictions suggest an increase in frequency of high intensity storms and urban flooding. This study used 15-min precipitation and discharge data over a period of 6.5 years to categorize storm event responses in Nine Mile Run, an urban watershed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where 98% of all channels are buried. Extensive stream burial led to lower watershed retention capacity and resulted in faster storm event responses relative to other urban streams with comparable imperviousness. Additionally, urban water subsidies in the form of sewer overflows, hydrant flushing, or water line breaks can have measurable contributions to flow event responses and result in seemingly unfeasible runoff ratios. This study demonstrates novel watershed runoff responses in systems dominated by subsurface infrastructure, which play a key role in urban water balance. Additionally, this study highlights the fact that stream restoration is not a universal solution to urban stream flashiness because downstream restoration cannot resolve the impacts of upstream burial.