Solar geoengineering may lead to excessive cooling and high strategic uncertainty

Climate engineering-the deliberate large-scale manipulation of the Earth's climate system-is a set of technologies for reducing climate-change impacts and risks. It is controversial and raises novel governance challenges [T. C. Schelling, Climatic Change, 33, 303-307 (1996); J. Virgoe, Climatic Change, 95, 103-119 (2008)]. We focus on the strategic implications of solar geoengineering. When countries engineer the climate, conflict can arise because different countries might prefer different temperatures. This would result in too much geoengineering: the country with the highest preference for geoengineering cools the planet beyond what is socially optimal at the expense of the others-a theoretical possibility termed "free-driving" [M. L. Weitzman, Scand. J. Econ., 117, 1049-1068 (2015)]. This study is an empirical test of this hypothesis. We carry out an economic laboratory experiment based on a public "good or bad" game. We find compelling evidence of free-driving: global geoengineering exceeds the socially efficient level and leads to welfare losses. We also evaluate the possibility of counteracting the geoengineering efforts of others. Results show that countergeoengineering generates high payoff inequality as well as heavy welfare losses, resulting from both strategic and behavioral factors. Finally, we compare strategic behavior in bilateral and multilateral settings. We find that welfare deteriorates even more under multilateralism when countergeoengineering is a possibility. These results have general implications for governing global good or bad commons

In Vitro Comparative Biocompatibility Testing of Carbofilm Coated and Uncoated Polyetherimide for Cardiovascular Application

When blood contacts the surface of a material, several processes take place including the activation of coagulation and immune systems. The aim of this work is to study in vitro the biological reactions seen from the point of view of hemocompatibility and cytocompatibility of a new polymer suggested as an artificial surface for cardiovascular applications: Carbofilm® coated polyetherimide (C®PEI) in comparison to polyetherimide (PEI), the uncoated form. PEI and C®PEI showed no signs of acute cytotoxicity although following long term incubation with PEI cytotoxicity was somewhat increased; both materials supported good endothelial cell adhesion with a higher level of cell proliferation on the coated form. No significant difference was detected in the activation of the inflammatory response and in thrombogenicity tested by assay of prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and tromboxane B2 (TXB2) respectively, following incubation of the biomaterials with platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Complement activation assessed by sodium dodecyl sulfate - polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE)/Western Blot analysis of both contacting plasma and protein which adsorbed on the surface of the polymers showed both materials to be activators of complement. In conclusion, Carbofilm® coating, showing lower cytotoxic activity and higher endothelial cell growth in comparison with uncoated material, seems to increase PEI compatibility

Aspirin and the risk of colorectal and other digestive tract cancers: an updated meta-analysis through 2019

Aspirin has been associated with a reduced risk of colorectal cancer, and possibly of a few other digestive tract cancers. The quantification of risk reduction and the optimal dose and duration of aspirin use for the prevention of colorectal and other digestive tract cancers remains unclear

Artificial co-drivers as a universal enabling technology for future intelligent vehicles and transportation systems

This position paper introduces the concept of artificial “co-drivers” as an enabling technology for future intelligent transportation systems. In Sections I and II, the design principles of co-drivers are introduced and framed within general human–robot interactions. Several contributing theories and technologies are reviewed, specifically those relating to relevant cognitive architectures, human-like sensory-motor strategies, and the emulation theory of cognition. In Sections III and IV, we present the co-driver developed for the EU project interactIVe as an example instantiation of this notion, demonstrating how it conforms to the given guidelines. We also present substantive experimental results and clarify the limitations and performance of the current implementation. In Sections IV and V, we analyze the impact of the co-driver technology. In particular, we identify a range of application fields, showing how it constitutes a universal enabling technology for both smart vehicles and cooperative systems, and naturally sets out a program for future research