Federal Energy Public Affairs : its inception, evolution and efforts to change a national lifestyle.

http://archive.org/details/federalenergypub00dav

The realities of storing carbon dioxide - A response to CO2 storage capacity issues raised by Ehlig-Economides & Economides

In a recent publication, Ehlig-Economides & Economides (2010) have sought to demonstrate that carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) is not technically or economically feasible, based on a supposed lack of underground storage capacity. We consider this to be a serious misrepresentation of the scientific, engineering and operational facts surrounding CCS. Ehlig-Economides & Economides raise a number of storage related issues: reservoir boundaries, capacity, pressure management, storage integrity, dissolution and storage in depleted reservoirs. We take each one in turn, highlighting specific errors in the paper but also drawing attention to more general background issues. Finally, we discuss in more detail some inconsistencies in the paper surrounding the reservoir engineering calculations

Adding Structure to Unstructured Data

. We develop a new schema for unstructured data. Traditional schemas resemble the type systems of programming languages. For unstructured data, however, the underlying type may be much less constrained and hence an alternative way of expressing constraints on the data is needed. Here, we propose that both data and schema be represented as edge-labeled graphs. We develop notions of conformance between a graph database and a graph schema and show that there is a natural and efficiently computable ordering on graph schemas. We then examine certain subclasses of schemas and show that schemas are closed under query applications. Finally, we discuss how they may be used in query decomposition and optimization. 1 Introduction The ability to represent and query data with little or no apparent structure arises in several areas: biological databases, database integration, and query systems for the World-Wide Web[PGMW95, TMD92, BDHS96a, MMM96, QRS + 95, KS95, CM90]. The general approach is to ..

Programming Constructs for Unstructured Data

We investigate languages for querying and transforming unstructured data by which we mean languages than can be used without knowledge of the structure (schema) of the database. There are two reasons for wanting to do this. First, some data models have emerged in which the schema is either completely absent or only provides weak constraints on the data. Second, it is sometimes convenient, for the purposes of browsing, to query the database without reference to the schema. For example one may want to "grep" all character strings in the database, or one might want to find the information associated with a certain field name no matter where it occurs in the database. This paper introduces a labelled tree model of data and investigates various programming structures for querying and transforming such data. In particular, it considers various restrictions of structural recursion that give rise to well-defined queries even when the input data contains cycles. It also discusses issues of obse..

Reduced crying in term infants fed high beta-palmitate formula: a double-blind randomized clinical trial

BACKGROUND: Beta-palmitate (sn-2 palmitate) mimics human milk fat, enabling easier digestion. Therefore, we hypothesized that infants consuming high beta-palmitate formula would have more frequent, softer stools and reduced crying compared to infants consuming low beta-palmitate formula. METHODS: Formula-fed infants were randomly assigned to receive either (1) formula with high beta-palmitate (HBP, n = 21) or (2) regular formula with a standard vegetable oil mix (LBP, n = 21). A matched group of breastfed infants served as a reference (BF, n = 21). Crying and stool characteristics data were recorded by the parents for 3 days before the 6- and 12-week visits. RESULTS: We found no significant differences in the stool frequency or consistency between the two formula groups. The percentage of crying infants in the LBP group was significantly higher than that in the HBP and BF groups during the evening at 6 weeks (88.2% vs. 56.3% and 55.6%, p < 0.05) and during the afternoon at 12 weeks (91.7% vs. 50.0% and 40%, p < 0.05). The infants fed HBP had significantly shorter crying durations when compared with infants fed LBP formula (14.90 ± 3.85 vs.63.96 ± 21.76 min/day, respectively; p = 0.047). CONCLUSIONS: Our study indicates that consumption of a high beta-palmitate formula affects infant crying patterns during the first weeks of life. Comparable to breastfeeding, it reduced crying duration and frequency, primarily during the afternoon and evening hours, thereby improving the well-being of formula-fed infants and their parents. TRIAL REGISTRATION: NCT00874068. Registration date March 31, 200

Classification of non-indigenous species based on their impacts: Considerations for application in marine management

Assessment of the ecological and economic/societal impacts of the introduction of non-indigenous species (NIS) is one of the primary focus areas of bioinvasion science in terrestrial and aquatic environments, and is considered essential to management. A classification system of NIS, based on the magnitude of their environmental impacts, was recently proposed to assist management. Here, we consider the potential application of this classification scheme to the marine environment, and offer a complementary framework focussing on value sets in order to explicitly address marine management concerns. Since existing data on marine NIS impacts are scarce and successful marine removals are rare, we propose that management of marine NIS adopt a precautionary approach, which not only would emphasise preventing new incursions through pre-border and at-border controls but also should influence the categorisation of impacts. The study of marine invasion impacts requires urgent attention and significant investment, since we lack the luxury of waiting for the knowledge base to be acquired before the window of opportunity closes for feasible management

Combining information from surveys of several species to estimate the probability of freedom from Echinococcus multilocularis in Sweden, Finland and mainland Norway

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The fox tapeworm <it>Echinococcus multilocularis </it>has foxes and other canids as definitive host and rodents as intermediate hosts. However, most mammals can be accidental intermediate hosts and the larval stage may cause serious disease in humans. The parasite has never been detected in Sweden, Finland and mainland Norway. All three countries require currently an anthelminthic treatment for dogs and cats prior to entry in order to prevent introduction of the parasite. Documentation of freedom from <it>E. multilocularis </it>is necessary for justification of the present import requirements.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The probability that Sweden, Finland and mainland Norway were free from <it>E. multilocularis </it>and the sensitivity of the surveillance systems were estimated using scenario trees. Surveillance data from five animal species were included in the study: red fox (<it>Vulpes vulpes</it>), raccoon dog (<it>Nyctereutes procyonoides</it>), domestic pig, wild boar (<it>Sus scrofa</it>) and voles and lemmings (Arvicolinae).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The cumulative probability of freedom from EM in December 2009 was high in all three countries, 0.98 (95% CI 0.96-0.99) in Finland and 0.99 (0.97-0.995) in Sweden and 0.98 (0.95-0.99) in Norway.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Results from the model confirm that there is a high probability that in 2009 the countries were free from <it>E. multilocularis</it>. The sensitivity analyses showed that the choice of the design prevalences in different infected populations was influential. Therefore more knowledge on expected prevalences for <it>E. multilocularis </it>in infected populations of different species is desirable to reduce residual uncertainty of the results.</p

Number, Density, and Surface/Cytoplasmic Distribution of GABA Transporters at Presynaptic Structures of Knock-In Mice Carrying GABA Transporter Subtype 1–Green Fluorescent Protein Fusions

GABA transporter subtype 1 (GAT1) molecules were counted near GABAergic synapses, to a resolution of ∼0.5 μm. Fusions between GAT1 and green fluorescent protein (GFP) were tested in heterologous expression systems, and a construct was selected that shows function, expression level, and trafficking similar to that of wild-type (WT) GAT1. A strain of knock-in mice was constructed that expresses this mGAT1–GFP fusion in place of the WT GAT1 gene. The pattern of fluorescence in brain slices agreed with previous immunocytochemical observations. [^3H]GABA uptake, synaptic electrophysiology, and subcellular localization of the mGAT1–GFP construct were also compared with WT mice. Quantitative fluorescence microscopy was used to measure the density of mGAT1–GFP at presynaptic structures in CNS preparations from the knock-in mice. Fluorescence measurements were calibrated with transparent beads and gels that have known GFP densities. Surface biotinylation defined the fraction of transporters on the surface versus those in the nearby cytoplasm. The data show that the presynaptic boutons of GABAergic interneurons in cerebellum and hippocampus have a membrane density of 800–1300 GAT1 molecules per square micrometer, and the axons that connect boutons have a linear density of 640 GAT1 molecules per micrometer. A cerebellar basket cell bouton, a pinceau surrounding a Purkinje cell axon, and a cortical chandelier cell cartridge carry 9000, 7.8 million, and 430,000 GAT1 molecules, respectively; 61–63% of these molecules are on the surface membrane. In cultures from hippocampus, the set of fluorescent cells equals the set of GABAergic interneurons. Knock-in mice carrying GFP fusions of membrane proteins provide quantitative data required for understanding the details of synaptic transmission in living neurons