Towards life cycle sustainability assessment

Sustainability is nowadays accepted by all stakeholders as a guiding principle for both public policy making and corporate strategies. However, the biggest challenge for most organizations remains in the real and substantial implementation of the sustainability concept. The core of the implementation challenge is the question, how sustainability performance can be measured, especially for products and processes. This paper explores the current status of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA) for products and processes. For the environmental dimension well established tools like Life Cycle Assessment are available. For the economic and social dimension, there is still need for consistent and robust indicators and methods. In addition to measuring the individual sustainability dimensions, another challenge is a comprehensive, yet understandable presentation of the results. The “Life Cycle Sustainability Dashboard” and the “Life Cycle Sustainability Triangle” are presented as examples for communication tools for both experts and non expert stakeholders

Systematic effects in the extraction of the 'WMAP haze'

The extraction of a 'haze' from the WMAP microwave skymaps is based on subtraction of known foregrounds, viz. free-free (bremsstrahlung), thermal dust and synchrotron, each traced by other skymaps. While the 408 MHz all-sky survey is used for the synchrotron template, the WMAP bands are at tens of GHz where the spatial distribution of the radiating cosmic ray electrons ought to be quite different because of the energy-dependence of their diffusion in the Galaxy. The systematic uncertainty this introduces in the residual skymap is comparable to the claimed haze and can, for certain source distributions, have a very similar spectrum and latitudinal profile and even a somewhat similar morphology. Hence caution must be exercised in interpreting the 'haze' as a physical signature of, e.g., dark matter annihilation in the Galactic centre.Comment: 17 pages, 12 figures; improved diffusion model; extended discussion of spectral index maps; clarifying comments, figures and references added; to appear in JCA

Towards a sustainable and equitable blue economy

The global rush to develop the \u2018blue economy\u2019 risks harming both the marine environment and human wellbeing. Bold policies and actions are urgently needed. We identify five priorities to chart a course towards an environmentally sustainable and socially equitable blue economy

The COVID-19 Pandemic, Small-Scale Fisheries and Coastal Fishing Communities

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly spread around the world with extensive social and economic effects. This editorial focuses specifically on the implications of the pandemic for small-scale fishers, including marketing and processing aspects of the sector, and coastal fishing communities, drawing from news and reports from around the world. Negative consequences to date have included complete shut-downs of some fisheries, knock-on economic effects from market disruptions, increased health risks for fishers, processors and communities, additional implications for marginalized groups, exacerbated vulnerabilities to other social and environmental stressors, and increased Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated fishing. Though much of the news is dire, there have been some positive outcomes such as food sharing, the revival of local food networks, increases in local sales through direct marketing and deliveries, collective actions to safeguard rights, collaborations between communities and governments, and reduced fishing pressure in some places. While the crisis is still unfolding, there is an urgent need to coordinate, plan and implement effective short- and long-term responses. Thus, we urge governments, development organizations, NGOs, donors, the private sector, and researchers to rapidly mobilize in support of small-scale fishers, coastal fishing communities, and associated civil society organizations, and suggest actions that can be taken by each to help these groups respond to the COVID-19 pandemic

Parameterized Synthesis

www.lmcs-online.or

Combinations of model checking and theorem proving

Abstract. The two main approaches to the formal verification of reactive systems are based, respectively, on model checking (algorithmic verification) and theorem proving (deductive verification). These two approaches have complementary strengths and weaknesses, and their combination promises to enhance the capabilities of each. This paper surveys a number of methods for doing so. As is often the case, the combinations can be classified according to how tightly the different components are integrated, their range of application, and their degree of automation.

Extended temporal logic revisited

vardi Abstract. A key issue in the design of a model-checking tool is the choice of the formal language with which properties are specified. It is now recognized that a good language should extend linear temporal logic with the ability to specify all-regular properties. Also, designers, who are familiar with finite-state machines, prefer extensions based on automata than these based on fixed points or propositional quantification. Early extensions of linear temporal logic with automata use nondeterministic Büchi automata. Their drawback has been inability to refer to the past and the asymmetrical structure of nondeterministic automata. In this work we study an extension of linear temporal logic, called ETL ©� � , that uses two-way alternating automata as temporal connectives. Two-way automata can traverse the input word back and forth and they are exponentially more succinct than one-way automata. Alternating automata combine existential and universal branching and they are exponentially more succinct than nondeterministic automata. The rich structure of two-way alternating automata makes ETL ©� � a very powerful and convenient logic. We show that ETL ©� � formulas can be translated to nondeterministic Büchi automata with an exponential blow up. It follows that the satisfiability and model-checking problems for ETL ©� � are PSPACEcomplete, as are the ones for LTL and its earlier extensions with automata. So, in spite of the succinctness of two-way and alternating automata, the advantages of ETL ©� � are obtained without a major increase in space complexity. The recent acceptance of alternating automata by the industry and the development of symbolic procedures for handling them make us optimistic about the practicality of ETL ©� �.