Zerreißprobe für die Hauptschlagader : "Center for Biomedical Engineering" (CBME) arbeitet an verbessertem Vorhersagemodell für Aneurysmenrupturen

Krankhafte Erweiterungen der Bauchschlagader (Aorten-Aneurysmen), sind wie tickende Zeitbomben: Wenn sie platzen, stirbt der Betroffene oft noch bevor er ein Krankenhaus erreicht an inneren Blutungen. Niemand kann mit Bestimmtheit vorhersagen, wann dies eintritt, aber gemeinsam mit Ingenieuren finden Gefäßchirurgen jetzt neue Anhaltspunkte dafür, wann eine Operation ratsam ist

The potential of greenhouse sinks to underwrite improved land management: A case study from Western Australia

The current agricultural systems of broad areas of Australia are unsustainable, with large projected increases in salinisation, decreases in water quality and losses of biodiversity. Increased concentrations of greenhouse gases have been linked to global warming. The international response to this warming, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, include provisions that enable greenhouse sinks, or the sequestration of carbon in soils and vegetation to be used by Parties as one strategy to fulfil their obligations. The Kyoto Protocol, which is yet to be ratified by Australia, also allows for trading in emission reductions, and this opens the possibility that investment in carbon sinks may help underwrite broader natural resource management objectives. This paper describes a study that examined the possibilities for improved land management in Western Australia arising from the development of carbon sinks. This considered (a) the likelihood of a carbon market developing and the likely depth of that market as a result of current national and international policies, (b) the data available to provide estimates on different types of sinks and (c) the likely benefits of wide-scale sink investment. The study was designed to quantify an upper limit to sink potential. It was estimated that the total amount of carbon that could be sequestered by revegetating 16.8 Mha of cleared farmland was 2.2 Gt CO2-e, and 3.3 Gt CO2-e by destocking 94.8 Mha of Western Australian rangelands. It was considered that there were insufficient data to produce estimates of sequestration following changes in tillage practice in cropping systems or the revegetation of already salinized land. We conclude that carbon sinks are only likely to become profitable as a broad-scale stand-alone enterprise when carbon prices reach A$15/t CO2-e. However, below this price their value can be significant as an adjunct to reforestation schemes that are aimed at providing other products (wood, pulp, bioenergy) and land and water conservation benefits. Irrespective of this, carbon sinks provide an opportunity to both sequester carbon in a least-cost fashion and improve soil and watershed management

The potential of greenhouse sinks to underwrite improved land management

The current agricultural systems of broad areas of Australia are unsustainable, with large projected increases in salinization, decreases in water quality, wind erosion, and losses of biodiversity. It is well known that these problems can be partially resolved by farmland reforestation; however, a major issue is financing the scale of activity required. The international response to global warming, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and its Kyoto Protocol, includes provisions that enable greenhouse sinks (sequestration of carbon in soils and vegetation) to be used by parties to fulfil their obligations. The Kyoto Protocol also allows for trading in emission reductions, and this opens the possibility that investment in carbon sinks may help underwrite broader natural resource management objectives. This paper examines the possibilities for improved land management in Western Australia arising from the development of carbon sinks by considering: (a) the likelihood of a carbon market developing and the likely depth of that market as a result of current national and international policies, (b) the data available to provide estimates on different types of sinks, and (c) the likely benefits of wide-scale sink investment. It was estimated that the total amount of carbon that could be sequestered by reforesting 16.8 Mha of cleared farmland is 2200 Mt CO2-e, and between 290 and 1170 Mt CO2-e by destocking 94.8 Mha of rangelands. There were insufficient data to produce estimates of sequestration following changes in tillage practice in cropping systems or the revegetation of already salinized land. We conclude that carbon sinks are only likely to become profitable as a broad-scale stand-alone enterprise when carbon prices reach AUD$15/t CO2-e, with this threshold value varying with carbon yield and project costs. Below this price, their value can be significant as an adjunct to reforestation schemes that are aimed at providing other products (wood, pulp, bioenergy) and land and water conservation benefits. Irrespective of this, carbon sinks provide an opportunity to both sequester carbon in a least-cost fashion and improve soil and watershed management

Astrobiology and the possibility of life on Earth and elsewhere…

Astrobiology is an interdisciplinary scientific field not only focused on the search of extraterrestrial life, but also on deciphering the key environmental parameters that have enabled the emergence of life on Earth. Understanding these physical and chemical parameters is fundamental knowledge necessary not only for discovering life or signs of life on other planets, but also for understanding our own terrestrial environment. Therefore, astrobiology pushes us to combine different perspectives such as the conditions on the primitive Earth, the physicochemical limits of life, exploration of habitable environments in the Solar System, and the search for signatures of life in exoplanets. Chemists, biologists, geologists, planetologists and astrophysicists are contributing extensively to this interdisciplinary research field. From 2011 to 2014, the European Space Agency (ESA) had the initiative to gather a Topical Team of interdisciplinary scientists focused on astrobiology to review the profound transformations in the field that have occurred since the beginning of the new century. The present paper is an interdisciplinary review of current research in astrobiology, covering the major advances and main outlooks in the field. The following subjects will be reviewed and most recent discoveries will be highlighted: the new understanding of planetary system formation including the specificity of the Earth among the diversity of planets, the origin of water on Earth and its unique combined properties among solvents for the emergence of life, the idea that the Earth could have been habitable during the Hadean Era, the inventory of endogenous and exogenous sources of organic matter and new concepts about how chemistry could evolve towards biological molecules and biological systems. In addition, many new findings show the remarkable potential life has for adaptation and survival in extreme environments. All those results from different fields of science are guiding our perspectives and strategies to look for life in other Solar System objects as well as beyond, in extrasolar worlds