Oil palm land conversion in Pará, Brazil, from 2006-2014: evaluating the 2010 Brazilian Sustainable Palm Oil Production Program.

Global models of biophysical suitability for oil palm consistently rank Brazil as having the greatest potential for expansion, with estimates as high as 238 Mha of suitable lands. In 2010, Brazil launched the Sustainable Palm Oil Production Program (SPOPP) to incentivize oil palm development without deforestation on as much as 30Mha. Here we examine oil palm expansion before and after the SPOPP?s launch. In Par´a, the major oil palm producing state in Brazil, we analyze the extent and change in oil palm cultivation from 2006&#8722;2014 using satellite imagery, ground-truthed verification, site-based interviews, and rural environmental (land) registration data. Between 2006&#8722;2014, oil palm area (&#8805;9 ha) expanded >200% to &#8764;219 000 ha. Of the &#8764;148 000 ha of oil palm developed, &#8764;91% converted pasturelands while &#8764;8% replaced natural vegetation, including intact and secondary forests. Although >80% of all oil palm parcels rest <0.5 km from intact forests, direct conversion of intact forests declined from &#8764;4% pre-SPOPP (2006&#8722;2010) to <1% post-SPOPP (2010&#8722;2014). Despite low and declining deforestation rates associated with oil palm expansion in Par´a, our results also show a low area of oil palm development overall compared with reported land suitability. To explore potential contributing factors, we conducted semi-structured interviews with researchers, company representatives, and government officials involved in the sector to characterize the perceived factors influencing oil palm development and the role of agro-ecological suitability mapping among them. Interviews indicated that: (1) individual effects of suitability mapping efforts to encourage oil palm expansion on cleared areas, i.e. without deforestation, cannot be disentangled from pre-existing public and private deforestation reduction initiatives; and, (2) socio-economic constraints, e.g. high relative production costs and limited familiarity with this crop, appear to partially explain the major discrepancy between estimated potential suitable areas with realized oil palm development

Compound effect of EHD and surface roughness in pool boiling and CHF with R-123

This article is a post-print version of the fianl published article which may be accessed at the link below.Saturated pool boiling of R-123 at 1 bar, including the critical heat flux (CHF), was enhanced by modifying the surface characteristics and applying a high intensity electrostatic field, the latter termed electrohydrodynamic (and abbreviated EHD) enhancement. The heat flux was varied from very low values in the natural convection regime up to CHF. Experiments were performed with increasing and decreasing heat flux to study boiling hysteresis without and with EHD. Boiling occurred on the sand blasted surface of a cylindrical copper block with embedded electrical heating elements, with standardized surface parameter Pa = 3.5 μm. The electric field was generated by a potential of 5 kV to 25 kV, applied through a 40 mm diameter circular electrode of ss-304 wire mesh, aperture size 5.1 mm, located at distances of 5 - 60 mm from the surface, with most of the data obtained for 20 mm. The data for the rough surface were compared with earlier data for a smooth surface and indicated a significant increase in the heat transfer rates. EHD produced a further increase in the heat transfer rates, particularly at low heat flux values and near the CHF. Boiling hysteresis was reduced progressively by EHD and eliminated at high field strength.This work was supported by Government of Pakistan under a scholarship programme

Pediatric Mesothelioma Tumors: The European Expert Group Contribution.

Background and Aims: In adults with mesothelioma, cytoreductive surgery with hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (CRSHIPEC) is a standard of care in limited tumor, but long-term survival is very uncommon. Very little is known about the characteristics of this tumor in the pediatric population. Methods: The EXPeRT group of very rare pediatric tumors reviewed retrospectively children and youths ( 6421 year) diagnosed in Europe with mesothelioma tumors treated between 1987 and 2018. Results: Thirty three patients were identified, 14 males and 18 females. Only one exposure to asbestos was documented. Primary tumor was located into the peritoneum (23 patients), pleura (2), vagina (2), pericardium (1), and in multiple sites (5). Histology was multicystic peritoneal mesothelioma (MCPM; 6 patients; median age 14.1year, range 2.2-21.1) or malignant (27 patients; median age 13.4 year, range 0.2- 18.7): epithelioid (21), biphasic (4) and unspecified (2). All patients with MCPM are alive despite 4 peritoneal relapses, after surgery (5 patients) and CRS-HIPEC (1pt). Metastasis at diagnosis were present in 9/27 patients with malignant mesothelioma. Among them, first line treatment was heterogeneous: preoperative chemotherapy (14 cases), exclusive surgery (3 cases), exclusive chemotherapy (5 cases), adjuvant chemotherapy (3 cases) or palliative (2 cases). Response rate to cisplatin-pemetrexed was 50% (6/12 cases) with no response to other regimens (0/12 cases). Two patients have long term tumor controlwith targeted therapy. CRS-HIPEC was performed in 19 patients (upfront 3 cases, after neoadjuvant therapy 12 patients, or after tumor progression 6 cases, including 3 twice). After a median follow-up of 6.7y (range, 0-20), 5 year overall and event free survivals are respectively 82.3% (95%IC 67.8-99.9) and 45.1% (95%IC 28.4-71.7). Conclusions: Pediatric Mesothelioma is exceptional and seems to be different from its adult counterpart with few asbestos exposures and a better outcome. Cisplatin-pemetrexed regimen showed some efficacy. Relapses could be salvaged with active therapy including CRS-HIPEC. Targeted therapy should be considered