Electric Car Purchase Price as a Factor Determining Consumers’ Choice and their Views on Incentives in Europe

The deployment of zero-emission vehicles has the potential to drastically reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions from road transport. The purpose of this study is to provide evidence on, and quantify the factors that influence, the European market for electric and fuel cell car technologies. The paper reports the results of a stated preference survey among 1,248 car owners in France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. The variables that influence powertrain choice are quantified in a nested multinomial logit model. We find that the electric car purchase price continues to be a major deterrent to sales in the surveyed countries. The majority of the respondents considered government incentives as fundamental or important for considering an electric car purchase. Because of the differences in the socio-economic characteristics of consumers in each country, the effectiveness of government incentives may vary across Europe

Environmental and effluent monitoring at ANSTO sites, 2005-2006.

This report presents the results of ANSTO's environmental and effluent monitoring at Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre (LHSTC) and the National Medical Cyclotron (NMC) sites, from July 2005 to June 2006. Estimated effective doses to the critical group of members of the public potentially affected by routine airborne emissions from the LHSTC were less that 0.005 mSv/year. The maximum potential dose was 23% of the ANSTO ALARA objective of 0.02 mSv/year, much lower than the public dose limit of 1mSv/year that is recommended by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Authority (ARPANSA). The effective doses to the critical groups of members of the public potentially exposed to routine liquid effluent releases from the LHSTC have been realistically estimated as a quarter (or less) of the estimated doses to the critical group for airborne releases. The medium tritium concentrations detected in groundwater and surface waters at the LHSTC were typically less than 2% of those set out in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The airborne emissions from the NMC were below the ARPANSA-approved notification levels. Results of environmental monitoring at both ANSTO sites confirm that the facilities continue to be operated well within regulatory limits. ANSTO's routine operations at the LHSTC and NMC make only a very small addition to the natural background radiation dose of ~1.5 mSv/year experienced by members of the Australian public

Environmental and effluent monitoring at ANSTO sites: 2003-2004.

This report presents the results of ANSTO's environmental and effluent monitoring at the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre (LHSTC) and the National Medical Cyclotron (NMC) sites, from July 2003 to June 2004. Effective doses to the critical group of members of the public potentially affected by routine airborne emissions from the LHSTC were less than 0.004 mSv/year. This estimated maximum potential dose is less than 20% of the ANSTO ALARA objective of 0.02 mSv/year and much lower than the public dose limit of 1 mSv/year that is recommended by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA). The effective doses to the critical group of members of the public potentially exposed to routine liquid effluent releases from the LHSTC have been realistically estimated as a quarter (or less) of the estimated doses to the critical group for airborne releases. The levels of tritium detected in groundwater and stormwater at the LHSTC were less than the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The airborne and liquid effluent emissions from the NMC were below the ARPANSA-approved notification levels and NSW Department of Environment and Conservation limits, respectively. Results of environmental monitoring at both ANSTO sites confirm that the facilities continue to be operated well within regulatory limits. Members of the public are exposed to only very small doses of radiation from ANSTO's routine airborne and liquid effluent releases

Environmental and effluent monitoring at ANSTO sites, 2004-2005.

This report presents the results of ANSTO's environmental and effluent monitoring at the Lucas Heights Science and Technology Centre (LHSTC) and the National Medical Cyclotron (NMC) sites, from July 2004 to June 2005. Effective doses to the critical group of members of the public potentially affected by routine airborne emissions from the LHSTC were less than 0.005 mSv/year. This estimated maximum potential dose is less than 24% of the ANSTO ALARA objective of 0.02 mSv/year, and much lower than the public dose limit of 1 mSv/year that is recommended by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA). The effective doses to the critical group of members of the public potentially exposed to routine liquid effluent releases from the LHSTC have been realistically estimated as a quarter (or less) of the estimated doses to the critical group for airborne releases. The levels of tritium detected in groundwater and stormwater at the LHSTC were less than those set out in the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The airborne and liquid effluent emissions from the NMC were below both the ARPANSA-approved notification levels and Sydney Water limits for acceptance of trade wastewater to sewer. Results of environmental monitoring at both ANSTO sites confirm that the facilities continue to be operated well within regulatory limits. ANSTO's routine operations at the LHSTC and NMC make only a very small addition to the natural background radiation dose of ~1.5 mSv/year experienced by members of the Australian public

Impact of routine cryptococcal antigen screening and targeted pre-emptive fluconazole therapy in antiretroviral naive HIV-infected adults with less than 100 CD4 cells/μL: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Cryptococcal antigen (CrAg) screening and targeted pre-emptive fluconazole in antiretroviral naive HIV-infected adults with less than 100 CD4 cells/μL seems promising to reduce the burden of cryptococcal meningitis (CM). We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Web of Science and used random-effect meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of blood CrAg-positivity (31 studies; 35,644 participants) and asymptomatic CM in CrAg-positives, incidence of CM and all-cause mortality in screened participants. Pooled prevalence of blood CrAg-positivity was 6% (95%CI: 5 - 7) and asymptomatic CM in CrAg-positives was 33% (95%CI: 21 - 45). Incidence of CM without pre-emptive fluconazole was 21.4% (95%CI: 11.6 - 34.4) and 5.7% (95%CI: 3.0 - 9.7) with pre-emptive fluconazole initiated at 800 mg/day. In CrAg-positives, post-screening lumbar puncture prior to initiating pre-emptive fluconazole at 800 mg/day further reduced incidence of CM to null and showed some survival benefits. However, all-cause mortality remained significantly higher in CrAg-positives than CrAg-negatives: RR: 2.2 (95%CI: 1.7 - 2.9, p<0.001)

Spatial variations in leaching of a low-grade, low-porosity chalcopyrite ore identified using X-ray μCT

© 2017 Elsevier LtdThis study presents an investigation, using 3D X-ray micro computed tomography (μCT), into the effect of sulfide mineral position within an ore particle on leaching efficiency. Three sections of an unsaturated mini-leaching column that had been packed with agglomerated low-grade, low-porosity chalcopyrite ore and leached with an acidified ferric iron solution were imaged at different stages of a 102 day experiment. Image analysis was used to quantify changes in the mineral content and the influence on this of the mineral distance from the ore particle surface, local voidage and radial position within the column. The main factor affecting the mineral recovery was identified to be proximity of the mineral to the ore particle surface, with recovery decreasing with increasing distance from the ore surface. A maximum leaching penetration was observed to exist at 2 mm from the surface, beyond which no recovery was achieved. Higher recoveries at the column wall indicated that preferential flow in this higher voidage had an additional, albeit smaller, impact on leaching efficiency

Frequency tuning of the efferent effect on cochlear gain in humans

Cochlear gain reduction via efferent feedback from the medial olivocochlear bundle is frequency specific (Guinan, Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg 18:447-453, 2010). The present study with humans used the Fixed Duration Masking Curve psychoacoustical method (Yasin et al., J Acoust Soc Am 133:4145-4155, 2013a; Yasin et al., Basic aspects of hearing: physiology and perception, pp 39-46, 2013b; Yasin et al., J Neurosci 34:15319-15326, 2014) to estimate the frequency specificity of the efferent effect at the cochlear level. The combined duration of the masker-plus-signal stimulus was 25 ms, within the efferent onset delay of about 31-43 ms (James et al., Clin Otolaryngol 27:106-112, 2002). Masker level (4.0 or 1.8 kHz) at threshold was obtained for a 4-kHz signal in the absence or presence of an ipsilateral 60 dB SPL, 160-ms precursor (200-Hz bandwidth) centred at frequencies between 2.5 and 5.5 kHz. Efferent-mediated cochlear gain reduction was greatest for precursors with frequencies the same as, or close to that of, the signal (gain was reduced by about 20 dB), and least for precursors with frequencies well removed from that of the signal (gain remained at around 40 dB). The tuning of the efferent effect filter (tuning extending 0.5-0.7 octaves above and below the signal frequency) is within the range obtained in humans using otoacoustic emissions (Lilaonitkul and Guinan, J Assoc Res Otolaryngol 10:459-470, 2009; Zhao and Dhar, J Neurophysiol 108:25-30, 2012). The 10 dB bandwidth of the efferent-effect filter at 4000 Hz was about 1300 Hz (Q10 of 3.1). The FDMC method can be used to provide an unbiased measure of the bandwidth of the efferent effect filter using ipsilateral efferent stimulation

A GBF1-Dependent Mechanism for Environmentally Responsive Regulation of ER-Golgi Transport

How can anterograde membrane trafficking be modulated by physiological cues? A screen of Golgi-associated proteins revealed that the ARF-GEF GBF1 can selectively modulate the ER-Golgi trafficking of prohaemostatic von Willebrand factor (VWF) and extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins in human endothelial cells and in mouse fibroblasts. The relationship between levels of GBF1 and the trafficking of VWF into forming secretory granules confirmed GBF1 is a limiting factor in this process. Further, GBF1 activation by AMPK couples its control of anterograde trafficking to physiological cues; levels of glucose control GBF1 activation in turn modulating VWF trafficking into secretory granules. GBF1 modulates both ER and TGN exit, the latter dramatically affecting the size of the VWF storage organelles, thereby influencing the hemostatic capacity of the endothelium. The role of AMPK as a central integrating element of cellular pathways with intra- and extra-cellular cues can now be extended to modulation of the anterograde secretory pathway

Increased Oxidative Burden Associated with Traffic Component of Ambient Particulate Matter at Roadside and Urban Background Schools Sites in London

As the incidence of respiratory and allergic symptoms has been reported to be increased in children attending schools in close proximity to busy roads, it was hypothesised that PM from roadside schools would display enhanced oxidative potential (OP). Two consecutive one-week air quality monitoring campaigns were conducted at seven school sampling sites, reflecting roadside and urban background in London. Chemical characteristics of size fractionated particulate matter (PM) samples were related to the capacity to drive biological oxidation reactions in a synthetic respiratory tract lining fluid. Contrary to hypothesised contrasts in particulate OP between school site types, no robust size-fractionated differences in OP were identified due high temporal variability in concentrations of PM components over the one-week sampling campaigns. For OP assessed both by ascorbate (OPAA m−3) and glutathione (OPGSH m−3) depletion, the highest OP per cubic metre of air was in the largest size fraction, PM1.9–10.2. However, when expressed per unit mass of particles OPAA µg−1 showed no significant dependence upon particle size, while OPGSH µg−1 had a tendency to increase with increasing particle size, paralleling increased concentrations of Fe, Ba and Cu. The two OP metrics were not significantly correlated with one another, suggesting that the glutathione and ascorbate depletion assays respond to different components of the particles. Ascorbate depletion per unit mass did not show the same dependence as for GSH and it is possible that other trace metals (Zn, Ni, V) or organic components which are enriched in the finer particle fractions, or the greater surface area of smaller particles, counter-balance the redox activity of Fe, Ba and Cu in the coarse particles. Further work with longer-term sampling and a larger suite of analytes is advised in order to better elucidate the determinants of oxidative potential, and to fuller explore the contrasts between site types.\ud \u