Modeling and learning from the design recommendations for California's Greenhouse Gas Cap-and-Trade System

Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, System Design and Management Program, 2008.Includes bibliographical references (leaf 71).Climate Change has become a Major issue beginning with our generation. Governments the world over are now recognizing that industry cannot continue to pollute in a business-as-usual manner. Emitting Greenhouse gases has a global impact, unlike pollutants that are released into soil or water. Global warming created by the Greenhouse effect, amongst other things is causing an increase in the ambient global temperature, causing glaciers to melt and global weather patterns to change. At the same time the world population is increasing, the standard of living for an increasing percentage of the population is improving, and with that the global energy usage is going up and up. Currently, a large portion of the global energy is derived from fossil fuels. Combusting fossil fuels are the primary source of Greenhouse gas emissions. The challenge for governments then is two-fold. One is how to cap and/or reduce the Greenhouse gases from industry, and second, how to achieve this first goal without being detrimental to the industry in a large way, or as some say with the least cost. In the USA, due to lack of a federal standard, several states have either banded together or gone it alone, in defining their own attempt to address the Greenhouse gas problem. The state of California is one such state that has put together a committee of experts, to advise the state on how best to design a system with the two afore-said challenges in mind. A model has been put together to model Option A, Program Design 1 of the California Cap-and-Trade system.(cont.) The goal of the model is to give the regulator an understanding of how by varying the main lever, which is the cap set, the regulator can influence the covered Electric entities in optimally meeting the cap, based on the headroom they have for abatement, and their actual ability to act and the degree to which they can act in abatement; and secondly how this main lever, can create a thriving market for trading allowances, by trying to have almost an equal number of players that want to buy the requisite number of allowances to meet the cap, or sell their excess allowances.by Chester Fernandes.S.M

Physiotherapist-led suprascapular nerve blocks for persistent shoulder pain: Evaluation of a new service in the UK.

INTRODUCTION: This service evaluation explored and reported findings from a new physiotherapist-led service offering suprascapular nerve blocks (SSNBs) to patients with persistent shoulder pain. METHODS: We collected data before the SSNB injection and at the 6-weeks and 6-month follow-up from consecutive patients with persistent shoulder pain being treated by physiotherapists or an anaesthetist. Outcomes were patient-reported pain (numerical rating scale [NRS 0 to 10]), patient-specific functional score (PSFS) and health-related quality of life [the EuroQol five dimensions questionnaire (EQ5D-5 L)]. Exploratory analyses compared baseline and follow-up scores within each clinician delivery group (physiotherapists, anaesthetist). RESULTS: Forty patients (mean age 57 years [standard deviation {SD} 12]; 63% female) received an SSNB from a physiotherapist, eight patients (mean age 59 years [SD 11]; female 88%) received an SSNB from an anaesthetist. At the 6-week follow-up, the physiotherapy group showed a mean reduction in pain (on the NRS): 2.2 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3 to 3.0) and an improvement in function (on the PSFS): -1.3 (95% CI -1.9 to -0.4). Similar changes were found in those treated by the anaesthetist (pain: 1.3 [95% CI -1.18 to 3.80]; function: -1.4 (95% CI -3.18 to 0.35]). Very small changes, that were not statistically significant, were found in EQ5D-5 L scores. At the 6-month follow-up, the mean reduction in pain (NRS) was maintained at 2.0 (95% CI 0.99 to 2.95) for the physiotherapy group. CONCLUSION: The results provide early, exploratory evidence that patients with persistent shoulder pain treated by physiotherapists using palpation-guided SSNBs achieve clinically important changes in pain and function in the short and medium term

Effect of Interface Structure on Mechanical Properties of Advanced Composite Materials

This paper deals with the effect of interface structures on the mechanical properties of fiber reinforced composite materials. First, the background of research, development and applications on hybrid composite materials is introduced. Second, metal/polymer composite bonded structures are discussed. Then, the rationale is given for nanostructuring the interface in composite materials and structures by introducing nanoscale features such as nanopores and nanofibers. The effects of modifying matrices and nano-architecturing interfaces on the mechanical properties of nanocomposite materials are examined. A nonlinear damage model for characterizing the deformation behavior of polymeric nanocomposites is presented and the application of this model to carbon nanotube-reinforced and reactive graphite nanotube-reinforced epoxy composite materials is shown

Outcomes from elective colorectal cancer surgery during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

This study aimed to describe the change in surgical practice and the impact of SARS-CoV-2 on mortality after surgical resection of colorectal cancer during the initial phases of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic

Omecamtiv mecarbil in chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, GALACTIC‐HF: baseline characteristics and comparison with contemporary clinical trials

Aims: The safety and efficacy of the novel selective cardiac myosin activator, omecamtiv mecarbil, in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) is tested in the Global Approach to Lowering Adverse Cardiac outcomes Through Improving Contractility in Heart Failure (GALACTIC‐HF) trial. Here we describe the baseline characteristics of participants in GALACTIC‐HF and how these compare with other contemporary trials. Methods and Results: Adults with established HFrEF, New York Heart Association functional class (NYHA) ≥ II, EF ≤35%, elevated natriuretic peptides and either current hospitalization for HF or history of hospitalization/ emergency department visit for HF within a year were randomized to either placebo or omecamtiv mecarbil (pharmacokinetic‐guided dosing: 25, 37.5 or 50 mg bid). 8256 patients [male (79%), non‐white (22%), mean age 65 years] were enrolled with a mean EF 27%, ischemic etiology in 54%, NYHA II 53% and III/IV 47%, and median NT‐proBNP 1971 pg/mL. HF therapies at baseline were among the most effectively employed in contemporary HF trials. GALACTIC‐HF randomized patients representative of recent HF registries and trials with substantial numbers of patients also having characteristics understudied in previous trials including more from North America (n = 1386), enrolled as inpatients (n = 2084), systolic blood pressure < 100 mmHg (n = 1127), estimated glomerular filtration rate < 30 mL/min/1.73 m2 (n = 528), and treated with sacubitril‐valsartan at baseline (n = 1594). Conclusions: GALACTIC‐HF enrolled a well‐treated, high‐risk population from both inpatient and outpatient settings, which will provide a definitive evaluation of the efficacy and safety of this novel therapy, as well as informing its potential future implementation

Development of a New Approach to Aid in Visual Identification of Murine iPS Colonies Using a Fuzzy Logic Decision Support System

<div><p>The <i>a priori</i> identification of induced pluripotent stem cells remains a challenge. Being able to quickly identify the most embryonic stem cell-similar induced pluripotent stem cells when validating results could help to reduce costs and save time. In this context, tools based on non-classic logic can be useful in creating aid-systems based on visual criteria. True colonies when viewed at 100x magnification have been found to have the following 3 characteristics: a high degree of border delineation, a more uniform texture, and the absence of a cracked texture. These visual criteria were used for fuzzy logic modeling. We investigated the possibility of predicting the presence of alkaline phosphatase activity, typical of true induced pluripotent stem cell colonies, after 25 individuals, with varying degrees of experience in working with murine iPS cells, categorized the images of 136 colonies based on visual criteria. Intriguingly, the performance evaluation by area under the ROC curve (16 individuals with satisfactory performance), Spearman correlation (all statistically significant), and Cohen's Kappa agreement analysis (all statistically significant) demonstrates that the discriminatory capacity of different evaluators are similar, even those who have never cultivated cells. Thus, we report on a new system to facilitate visual identification of murine- induced pluripotent stem cell colonies that can be useful for staff training and opens the possibility of exploring visual characteristics of induced pluripotent stem cell colonies with their functional peculiarities. The fuzzy model has been integrated as a web-based tool named “2see-iPS” which is freely accessed at <a href="http://genetica.incor.usp.br/2seeips/" target="_blank">http://genetica.incor.usp.br/2seeips/</a>.</p></div

Specialists were asked for classify colonies based on their own perception.

<p>Cohen's Kappa agreement analysis of prejudgment of colony status. Values ranging from 0 to 0.19 were considered poor agreement, 0.20 to 0.39 satisfactory, 0.40 to 0.59 moderate, 0.60 to 0.79 substantial and 0.80 to 1.00 almost perfect agreement.</p