Next Steps to Reform the Regulations Governing Offshore Oil and Gas Planning and Leasing

The Department of the Interior manages offshore oil and gas activities in federal waters. While the agency has proposed and/or enacted important improvements to the rules that govern some of those activities, it has not modernized the regulations that govern offshore oil and gas planning, lease sales, or the review and permitting of exploratory drilling. These phases of the process are overseen by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), and, as was shown in our earlier publication on this topic, are ineffective and in need of modernization. In this Article, we argue that fundamental reform is necessary and highlight a series of key themes and topics that must be addressed to improve the regulatory process and promote better, more consistent management outcomes. While the Article draws on examples from frontier areas—in particular the U.S. Arctic Ocean—the recommended changes would apply to and benefit all areas of the OCS

Dynamics of cicrobial communities associated with \u3ci\u3eTypha angustifolia\u3c/i\u3e (cattail) litter in a wetland ecosystem: Effects of litter manipulations on microbial decay processes

Quantification of microbial processes involved in plant decomposition is important in understanding energy flow and nutrient recycling in wetlands. Prior studies examining emergent plant decomposition have often used litter that had been prematurely harvested (senescent) and/or manipulated (oven-dried). I examined the effects of litter manipulations on microbial decay dynamics associated with litter of the emergent macrophyte Typha angustifolia. Plant litter was harvested after senescence and after a period of standing-dead decay. This collected litter was either air-dried or oven-dried, placed into fine mesh (1 mm) litterbags, and submerged in the wetland. Litterbags were retrieved periodically and analyzed for microbial biomass, litter nutrient concentrations, rates of mass loss, fungal production, and microbial respiration. Significant differences were observed in measured microbial parameters and litter nutrients for all four litter treatments. These results point to contrasting patterns in microbial and nutrient dynamics during emergent macrophyte decay as a result of frequently employed litter manipulations

Beliefs do not come in degrees

Philosophers commonly say that beliefs come in degrees. Drawing from the literature, I make precise three arguments for this claim: an argument from degrees of confidence, an argument from degrees of firmness, and an argument from natural language. I show that they all fail. I also advance three arguments that beliefs do not come in degrees: an argument from natural language, an argument from intuition, and an argument from the metaphysics of degrees. On the basis of these arguments, I conclude that beliefs do not come in degrees

How a County Utility Can Catalyze the 21st Century Economy: Cuyahoga County’s Vision to Develop Clean and Resilient Energy Districts to Attract and Retain Commercial Activity

The Cuyahoga County Department of Sustainability and the Cleveland State University Energy Policy Center have for the past several years been researching strategies for development of clean, highly resilient commercial districts in Cuyahoga County. In the fall of 2021, the County created a new utility division for the purpose of developing such districts, with the goal of attracting and retaining commercial activity. This paper summarizes the vision of the County as it moves forward with this innovative strategy to develop microgrids and other 21st century infrastructure that will attract business to the County

Proficiency testing of laboratories for paralytic shellfish poisoning toxins in shellfish by QUASIMEME: A review

AbstractParalytic Shellfish Poisoning (PSP) toxins are some of the most toxic substances known to man and consumption of shellfish containing these naturally-occurring neurotoxins can lead to a range of different symptoms including death in extreme cases. It is imperative therefore, to implement robust shellfish monitoring programs to minimise the possibility of contaminated product reaching the marketplace. To improve the quality assurance of these programs, QUASIMEME, the proficiency test provider added to its scope PSP toxins in shellfish. Since 2009, six proficiency testing exercises have been delivered by QUASIMEME with a total of thirty-four different laboratories submitting data using a range of different methods. These include animal and antibody based assays, together with High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) techniques using post and pre-column oxidation and more recently LC-MS/MS methodologies.Data from these exercises is presented and laboratory performance is assessed to determine any changes in overall performance over the six rounds, together with any potential method-related performance issues. The data showed the improvement of laboratories over the six exercises with between laboratory CV% values decreasing from an average of 39% in the first year to 22% in 2014 and the average percentage of participants receiving satisfactory z-scores increasing from 50% in 2009 to over 66% in 2014

Final design of a space debris removal system

The objective is the removal of medium sized orbital debris in low Earth orbits. The design incorporates a transfer vehicle and a netting vehicle to capture the medium size debris. The system is based near an operational space station located at 28.5 degrees inclination and 400 km altitude. The system uses ground based tracking to determine the location of a satellite breakup or debris cloud. This data is unloaded to the transfer vehicle, and the transfer vehicle proceeds to rendezvous with the debris at a lower altitude parking orbit. Next, the netting vehicle is deployed, tracks the targeted debris, and captures it. After expending the available nets, the netting vehicle returns to the transfer vehicle for a new netting module and continues to capture more debris in the target area. Once all the netting modules are expended, the transfer vehicle returns to the space station's orbit, where it is resupplied with new netting modules from a space shuttle load. The new modules are launched by the shuttle from the ground, and the expended modules are taken back to Earth for removal of the captured debris, refueling, and repacking of the nets. Once the netting modules are refurbished, they are taken back into orbit for reuse. In a typical mission, the system has the ability to capture 50 pieces of orbital debris. One mission will take about six months. The system is designed to allow for a 30 degree inclination change on the outgoing and incoming trips of the transfer vehicle

Heritage, health and place:The legacies of local community-based heritage conservation on social wellbeing

Geographies of health challenge researchers to attend to the positive effects of occupying, creating and using all kinds of spaces, including 'green space' and more recently 'blue space'. Attention to the spaces of community-based heritage conservation has largely gone unexplored within the health geography literature. This paper examines the personal motivations and impacts associated with people's growing interest in local heritage groups. It draws on questionnaires and interviews from a recent study with such groups and a conceptual mapping of their routes and flows. The findings reveal a rich array of positive benefits on the participants' social wellbeing with/in the community. These include personal enrichment, social learning, satisfaction from sharing the heritage products with others, and less anxiety about the present. These positive effects were tempered by needing to face and overcome challenging effects associated with running the projects thus opening up an extension to health-enabling spaces debates

Computerized 3-dimensional Localization of a Video Capsule in the Abdominal Cavity: Validation by Digital Radiography

Background: Video capsule endoscopy has become the gold standard for examining the small bowel and defining pathological lesions, however, localization of a specific lesion remains largely guesswork. We report the validation of a new 3D localization software using radiological localization in volunteers. Methods: 30 volunteers with no known prior history of gastrointestinal disease swallowed the EC-10 video capsule. A sensor array with six radiopaque markers was placed on the anterior abdominal wall. Once the capsule was visualized to be in the small intestine using a real time viewer, five sets of low dose x-rays were taken every thirty minutes. Distances between sensor points and the capsule were measured on the x-rays to provide X, Y, and Z coordinates and compared with the distances calculated by the software from the same points. Results: Data from 27 of the 30 subjects were suitable for analysis. There were three technical failures. Our study evaluated the accuracy of the “Capsule 3D Track function” which calculated the capsule position based on the signal strength received at the sensor array. The accuracy of the position was compared to the actual position of the capsule as determined by radiographic images obtained during the capsule’s transit through the small bowel. The average error for the software measurement for each of the three coordinates was: X -2.00 cm (SD 1.64 cm), Y -- 2.64 cm (SD 2.39 cm), and Z --2.51 cm (1.83 cm). Conclusion: The localization error reported here is comparable to the existing system for localization, however, it provides localization across all three spatial dimensions which has never been achieved before. The potential utility of this technology is yet to be seen, however, as it needs to now be studied in a prospective clinical trial for patients with suspected small bowel pathology

The Administration of a Republican Form of Government (enforcement)

Panel on enforcement