How should fracking research be funded?

The use of hydraulic fracturing (‘fracking’) to extract oil or gas from shales is a subject of controversy. There are many scientific questions about the risks associated with the technique, and much research remains to be done. ReFINE (Researching Fracking In Europe) is a research consortium led by Newcastle University and Durham University in the UK, focusing on the environmental impacts of shale gas and oil exploitation using fracking methods. The project was established to answer questions raised by members of the public across Europe on the risks of fracking. It aims to inform the debate surrounding fracking by undertaking scientific research, which will be peer-reviewed and openly accessible. This case study discusses the structure of ReFINE and the issues associated with using funding from oil and gas companies to support the research

Increasing citizen voice and government responsiveness: What does success really look like, and who decides?

Narratives in the field of information and communications technology (ICT) for governance are full of claims, of either enormous success or almost none. But understanding ‘success’ and ‘failure’ depends on how these are framed. Research supported by Making All Voices Count suggests that different actors can seek very different goals from the same ICT-enabled interventions – some stated, some not.This programme learning report proposes two important dimensions for framing variations in visions of success for ICT-enabled governance interventions: (1) the kind of change in governance systems sought (‘functional’, ‘instrumental’, ‘transformative’ and ‘no change’); and (2) the vision of the ideal citizen–state relationship. It applies this framing to three areas where ICTs are being used, at least on paper, to encourage and channel citizen voice into governance processes, and to improve government responsiveness in return: participatory policy- and strategy-making; participatory budgeting; and citizen feedback to improve service delivery. In terms of the kind of change in governance systems sought, much of the rhetoric touts the use of ICTs as inherently ‘transformative’. However, findings suggest that it has mostly been deployed in ‘functional’, ‘instrumental’ and ‘no change’ ways. That said, the possibility of ICT-enabled ‘transformative’ change appears somewhat higher when citizens have more direct control over outcomes, and more online and offline processes are mixed and used in ways that foster collective, rather than individualised, inputs, deliberation and answerability. In terms of the vision of the state–citizen relationship, the findings show great variation in outcomes sought regarding the kinds and levels of participatory democracy, who this should benefit, the ideal size of the state, and the desired stability of actor groups and decision-making structures. The evidence suggests that the use of ICTs may have the potential to support change, including transformative change, but only when the political goals of key actors are pre-structured to support this. The choice of ICTs does matter to the effectiveness of this support, as does the way in which they are used. But overall, ICTs do not appear to be inherently ‘generative’ of change. They are, rather, ‘reflective’, ‘enabling’ or ‘amplifying’ of existing political agendas and levels of commitment.DFIDUSAIDSidaOmidyar Networ

A STUDY OF BIOGAS UTILIZATION EFFICIENCY HIGHLIGHTING INTERNAL COMBUSTION ELECTRICAL GENERATOR UNITS

The purpose of the study was to determine the efficiency of methane utilization for a currently operating anaerobic digestion system on an agricultural facility. A dairy anaerobic digester was chosen for the study. A cogeneration system was implemented at this location using three biogas gen-set’s, each with a 710 kW capacity. Methane flow and pressure data, and electrical output (kW) data were collected on three units operating at the facility from January 23, 2009 to February 2, 2009. A sample was taken every minute. Hourly averages were then calculated and analyzed. An energy balance was then used to calculate instantaneous efficiency. Instantaneous gen-set efficiency over this period was found to be 25.51% with a 5.93% standard deviation. This value was higher than that found in previous studies, of 22% electrical power to methane power. Lower methane energy flow rates were found to have a positive effect on gen-set efficiency; however total output was small compared to the generator size. Efficiency stabilized from 1358 kW (29% efficient) to 1958 kW (22% efficent) methane flows. Gen-set efficiency had a similar trend when compared to biogas flow rate, with higher efficiency at lower flow rates and lower efficiency at higher flow rates. Efficiency stablized when biogas flow was 117 cubic feet per minute to 148 cubic feet per minute. Methane content in the biogas was assumed 55.5% by volume from previous tests.No embarg

Advancing the Early Detection of Atrial Fibrillation Through In Silico Tissue Modeling

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a widely prevalent arrhythmia which affects approximately 4.5 million people in Europe and the US, reducing quality of life and increasing risk of stroke and death. Considerable research effort is currently directed to the arrhythmia because the mechanisms causing its initiation, maintenance, and termination are not well understood. This study addresses, at a tissue level, the basic descriptors of atrial fibrillation, known causes, and a model to utilize in analyzing heart wave characteristics such as propagation velocity, action potential duration and others for potential use in developing early detection methods of AF. The tissue model methodology, based on epicardial tissue and kinetics from a cellular model, utilized the MATLAB PDEPE solver on a 1 X .0011 cm tissue strip, enabling research into complex action potential (AP) and AP propagation characteristics. The model represented left atrial tissue sinus rhythm (SR) and AF states as defined in Grandi et al.23 with comprehensive state variables and ionic currents as well as complete cellular physiology including excitation contraction coupling with sarcoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ ATPase, calcium-induced calcium release, Ca2+ and Na+ buffer fluxes, subcellular sections and diffusion factors, Based on following the nonlinear response cascade of the potassium channels during the progression to AF, the tissue model study provides insight into wave propagation velocity, atrial AP amplitude, action potential duration, non-refractory periods, in addition to other wave characteristics through rates of change, greater then 50%. Regardless of the many known forms of AF, which often involve polygenetic and other cardiac pathologies, this human tissue model study, with its completeness of cardiac cell and tissue representation, provides a basis for further analysis research and modeling because the cardiac structures used can be modified to represent or independently model other potential pathologies that represent early risk warning indicators

Stream ecosystems in human-dominated landscapes: investigating land use impacts and integrating public participation, restoration, and research

In spite of increasingly stringent water policy and years of stream ecology research, urban and agricultural land uses continue to degrade stream ecosystems across the United States. This is due in part to incomplete scientific understanding of land use impacts on streams. I quantified relationships among land use, in-stream environmental metrics, and invertebrate metrics in streams of central Iowa to provide insight into differential impacts of agriculture and urbanization on stream condition, and to identify potential mechanisms of land use effects on stream condition. Results suggest that even moderate levels of urban land use can have greater adverse effects on headwater stream ecosystems than intensive agriculture. However, even in highly degraded streams, invertebrate assemblages and related ecosystem functions likely benefit from practices that maintain or increase abundance of coarse substrate, particulate organic matter, and plants. In urban areas, continuing degradation of stream ecosystems also results from difficulty in fully integrating human and non-human factors into research of stream ecosystems, and from inadequate knowledge of effectiveness of stream restoration practices. We addressed these challenges in a project that integrated public participation, urban stream restoration, and ecological research. We facilitated mutual learning through public participation in the design and implementation of an urban riparian buffer, a process that was informed by ecological research. Evaluations of learning revealed that participants\u27 knowledge about urban water quality issues and stormwater management practices increased, and their perceptions about the importance of stream ecosystem functions changed. Infiltration tests and in-stream monitoring provided early evidence of buffer effectiveness in absorption of runoff and pollutants from surrounding surfaces. Elements essential to the success of this project included an opportunity for dialog focused on a specific natural feature, sustained interaction between participants and researchers, opportunities for hands-on participation, and flexibility in restoration practice installation. Integrated research and restoration projects like this one can overcome many of the obstacles that hinder efforts to reduce human impacts on streams

Evaluation of greenhouse gas emissions from three dairy production systems in Iowa--conventional, grazing, and combination conventional/grazing

International debate continues about the potential effects of global warming and agriculture\u27s role in creating and mitigating it. Needed in this discussion are detailed analyses of production systems and the factors within systems that may reduce emissions with global warming potential. I created a life cycle assessment computer model to quantify emissions from three dairy systems in Iowa--grazing, conventional, and conventional/grazing. These were modeled using system expansion methodology and SimaPro 7.1 software. Results suggest that there is a difference in emissions between system types, but more potential for reduction exists within each system than the difference between the systems. Previously unanalyzed characteristics of dairy systems, such as interval between calving and culling rate differ between systems and have considerable effects on the net emissions. Using the COWPOLL mechanistic enteric fermentation estimation method was key in accurately differentiating emissions from grass-fed and concentrate-fed animals. Sensitivity analysis on each individual characteristic of the dairy systems leads us to conclusions of how emissions may be reduced, which differs between the dairy systems. Life cycle assessments such as this one may help lower emissions from dairy systems by targeting individual characteristics within dairy systems that can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Engineering the Cambrian explosion: the earliest bioturbators as ecosystem engineers

By applying modern biological criteria to trace fossil types and assessing burrow morphology, complexity, depth, potential burrow function and the likelihood of bioirrigation, we assign ecosystem engineering impact (EEI) values to the key ichnotaxa in the lowermost Cambrian (Fortunian). Surface traces such as Monomorphichnus have minimal impact on sediment properties and have very low EEI values; quasi-infaunal traces of organisms that were surficial modifiers or biodiffusors, such as Planolites, have moderate EEI values; and deeper infaunal, gallery biodiffusive or upward-conveying/downward-conveying traces, such as Teichichnus and Gyrolithes, have the highest EEI values. The key Cambrian ichnotaxon Treptichnus pedum has a moderate to high EEI value, depending on its functional interpretation. Most of the major functional groups of modern bioturbators are found to have evolved during the earliest Cambrian, including burrow types that are highly likely to have been bioirrigated. In fine-grained (or microbially bound) sedimentary environments, trace-makers of bioirrigated burrows would have had a particularly significant impact, generating advective fluid flow within the sediment for the first time, in marked contrast with the otherwise diffusive porewater systems of the Proterozoic. This innovation is likely to have created significant ecospace and engineered fundamentally new infaunal environments for macrobiotic and microbiotic organisms alike

A new subsurface record of the Pliensbachian-Toarcian, Lower Jurassic, of Yorkshire

Here, we describe the upper Pliensbachian to middle Toarcian stratigraphy of the Dove's Nest borehole, which was drilled near Whitby, North Yorkshire, in 2013. The core represents a single, continuous vertical section through unweathered, immature Lower Jurassic sedimentary rocks. The thickness of the Lias Group formations in the Dove's Nest core is approximately the same as that exposed along the North Yorkshire coast between Hawsker Bottoms and Whitby. The studied succession consists of epeiric-neritic sediments and comprises cross-laminated very fine sandstones, (oolitic) ironstones, and argillaceous mudstones. Dark argillaceous mudstone is the dominant lithology. These sediments were deposited in the Cleveland Basin, a more subsident area of an epeiric sea, the Laurasian Sea. We present a set of geochemical data that includes organic carbon isotope ratios (δ13Corg) and total organic carbon (TOC). The δ13Corg record contains a negative excursion across the Pliensbachian–Toarcian boundary and another in the lower Toarcian that corresponds to the Toarcian Oceanic Anoxic Event (T-OAE). Below the T-OAE negative excursion, δ13Corg values are less 13C-depleted than above it. We find no evidence of a long-term δ13Corg positive excursion. TOC values below the T-OAE negative excursion are lower than above it. Sedimentary evidence suggests that, during much of the Pliensbachian–Toarcian interval, the seafloor of the Cleveland Basin was above storm wave-base and that storm-driven bottom currents were responsible for much sediment erosion, transport, and redeposition during the interval of oceanic anoxia. The abrupt shifts observed in the δ13Corg record (lower Toarcian) are likely to reflect the impact of erosion by storms on the morphology of the δ13C record of the T-OAE