Life cycle assessment of Libyan crude oil

Petroleum products such as petrol and diesel are fossil fuels and have a high environmental impact. There is a demand to minimize these impacts especially in the upstream and midstream oil operations, i.e. exploration, production and refining processes, due to current and upcoming environmental regulations/policies and increased environmental consumer awareness. Thus, integration of the tools, methods and techniques for sustainability into products is becoming essential to comply with environmental regulations. The Libyan petroleum industry appears to be very slow in approaching modern concepts of approaches of sustainability including Life Cycle Assessment and studies. Therefore, this paper presents a novel environmental Life Cycle assessment of Libyan petroleum refining processes conducted with the support of Life Cycle Assessment methods and related tools including Software SimaPro. The refining processes from the Azzawya Oil refinery, are analyzed and used in the assessment and the data for the assessments was collected through fieldwork conducted in Feb 2013 in both El-Sharara oil field (Repsol Oil Company) and Azzawya Oil refinery in Libya. The results show that the first significant environmental impacts are associated with fossil fuels and the second major impacts are the respiratory inorganic impacts

Promoting sustainable Indian textiles: final report to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), London, UK

In 2009, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), through the Sustainable Development Dialogue (SDD) fund, backed the Centre for Sustainable Fashion (CSF) at London College of Fashion and Pearl Academy of Fashion (PAF), New Delhi to run a project to promote Indian sustainable textiles. Improving patterns of sustainable consumption and production (SCP) in India and the UK is one of the agreed areas for collaboration under the UK-India Sustainable Development Dialogue. The project is also part of a body of work taking place under the Defra Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, which aims to improve the sustainability of clothing. Defra has identified that ‘while an economic success story (globally worth over £500 billion) the industry has a significant environmental and social footprint across its supply chain.’ The Roadmap aims to improve the sustainability of clothing by gathering a robust evidence base of impacts and working with a wide range of stakeholders, to build on existing interventions. For more details on the roadmap see: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/business/products/roadmaps/clothing/index.htm This report is only one of the dissemination tools associated with the project. The project film, images and website should be viewed in conjunction with this report

Constitutional Advocacy Explains Constitutional Outcomes

In oral argument in Baker v. Carr, Attorney Z.T. Osborn, Jr., on behalf of Tennessee voters arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court should hold legislative apportionment ajusticiable issue, exclaimed that the motto of the Supreme Court of Tennessee is Fiat justicia ruat caelum; Let justice be done if the skies should fall. With that exhortation, Osborn remarked to the Court, We have no other place to go. Weare at the capital of the world

Constitutional Advocacy Explains Constitutional Outcomes

In oral argument in Baker v. Carr, Attorney Z.T. Osborn, Jr., on behalf of Tennessee voters arguing that the U.S. Supreme Court should hold legislative apportionment ajusticiable issue, exclaimed that the motto of the Supreme Court of Tennessee is Fiat justicia ruat caelum; Let justice be done if the skies should fall. With that exhortation, Osborn remarked to the Court, We have no other place to go. Weare at the capital of the world

Analysis and evaluation of the environmental impacts of upstream petroleum operations

Sustainability is increasingly considered an essential business function, but in Libya, petroleum companies are slow to address operational issues that could reduce environmental concerns. This study aims to evaluate the environmental impacts of upstream petroleum operations. The methods adopted in the study are a literature review, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study and qualitative analyses from, fieldwork trials and 56 semi-structured interviews. The results of the study show that the main environmental impacts are aquatic, terrestrial or atmospheric, with the most significant pollutants linked to the latter category, mainly from engine exhausts, turbine emissions, gas flaring and venting. Major environmental degradations are identified in Libyan upstream operations and a number of recommendations formulated minimising their effect. Particular importance is placed on establishing strict sustainability policies and regulations, and the implementation of an environmental management system

PEPFAR Public Health Evaluation-Care and Support -Phase I Kenya

Phase 1, a survey of 120 care facilities in Kenya and Uganda, found that over 90% of facilities provided some level of clinical, psychological,and preventive care. Pain control was very limited with paracetamol often the only analgesic. In focus group discussions, patients appreciated free care and positive attitudes from staff, but said that services would be improved by more staff, shorter queues, and reliable drug supplies

End of life content in geriatric textbooks: what is the current situation?

BACKGROUND: Physicians caring for elderly people encounter death and dying more frequently than their colleagues in most other disciplines. Therefore we sought to examine the end-of-life content in popular geriatric textbooks and determine their usefulness in helping geriatricians manage patients at the end of their lives. METHODS: Five popular geriatric textbooks were chosen. Chapters on Alzheimer's disease, stroke, chronic heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer were examined because of their high mortality rates among the elderly patients. Text relevant to end-of-life care was highlighted. Two reviewers independently coded text into 10 pre specified domains and rated them for the presence of end-of-life information. Content was rated as absent, minimally helpful, or helpful. The proportion of helpful information was calculated. RESULTS: The textbook with the best end-of-life coverage contained 38% helpful information, the worst had only 15% helpful information. Minimally helpful information ranged from 24% to 50%. As much as 61% of the content in one textbook contained no helpful information at all. Of the ten domains, epidemiology, disease progression and prognostic factors were fairly well covered. Information on advance care planning, ethical issues, decision making and effects of death and dying on patient's family were generally lacking under the individual diseases though they were covered as general topics in other parts of the textbooks. All except one textbook dedicated a chapter to the care of the dying. CONCLUSION: This study showed that end-of-life content in geriatric textbooks differed significantly. Most of the textbooks lack good coverage on end-of-life care and more can be done to improve on this

Symptoms and quality of life in late stage Parkinson syndromes: a longitudinal community study of predictive factors

BACKGROUND Palliative care is increasingly offered earlier in the cancer trajectory but rarely in Idiopathic Parkinson's Disease(IPD), Progressive Supranuclear Palsy(PSP) or Multiple System Atrophy(MSA). There is little longitudinal data of people with late stage disease to understand levels of need. We aimed to determine how symptoms and quality of life of these patients change over time; and what demographic and clinical factors predicted changes. METHODS We recruited 82 patients into a longitudinal study, consenting patients with a diagnosis of IPD, MSA or PSP, stages 3-5 Hoehn and Yahr(H&Y). At baseline and then on up to 3 occasions over one year, we collected self-reported demographic, clinical, symptom, palliative and quality of life data, using Parkinson's specific and generic validated scales, including the Palliative care Outcome Scale (POS). We tested for predictors using multivariable analysis, adjusting for confounders. FINDINGS Over two thirds of patients had severe disability, over one third being wheelchair-bound/bedridden. Symptoms were highly prevalent in all conditions - mean (SD) of 10.6(4.0) symptoms. More than 50% of the MSA and PSP patients died over the year. Over the year, half of the patients showed either an upward (worsening, 24/60) or fluctuant (8/60) trajectory for POS and symptoms. The strongest predictors of higher levels of symptoms at the end of follow-up were initial scores on POS (AOR 1.30; 95%CI:1.05-1.60) and being male (AOR 5.18; 95% CI 1.17 to 22.92), both were more predictive than initial H&Y scores. INTERPRETATION The findings point to profound and complex mix of non-motor and motor symptoms in patients with late stage IPD, MSA and PSP. Symptoms are not resolved and half of the patients deteriorate. Palliative problems are predictive of future symptoms, suggesting that an early palliative assessment might help screen for those in need of earlier intervention