Modelling future patterns of urbanization, residential energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in Dar es Salaam with the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways

This paper presents three scenarios of urban growth, energy use and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in Dar es Salaam using narratives that are consistent with the Shared Socio-Economic Pathways (SSPs). We estimate residential energy demand and GHG emissions from 2015 to 2050 for household activities (including upstream electricity generation) and passenger (road) transport (Scopes 1 and 2). We project that by 2050, Dar es Salaam's total residential emissions would increase from 1,400 ktCO2e (in 2015) up to 25,000–33,000 ktCO2e (SSP1); 11,000–19,000 ktCO2e (SSP2); and 5,700–11,000 ktCO2e (SSP3), with ranges corresponding to different assumptions about household size. This correlates with an increase in per capita emissions from 0.2 tCO2e in 2015 to 1.5–2 tCO2e (SSP1); 0.7–1.3 tCO2e (SSP2); and 0.5–0.9 tCO2e (SSP3). Higher emissions in SSP1 (the sustainability scenario) are driven by a higher urban population in 2050 and increased energy access and electricity consumption. Through aggressive GHG mitigation policies focused on decarbonization of the electricity sector and road transport, total emissions under SSP1 can be reduced by ∼66% in 2050. Study insights aim to inform policies that identify and capture synergies between low-GHG investments and broader socio-economic development goals in Sub-Saharan African cities

The National Dutch Breast Implant Registry: user-reported experiences and importance

Background: Robust (inter-)national breast implant registries are important. For some, registries are an administrative burden, for others they represent a solution for the discussions involving breast implants. The DBIR is one of the first national, opt-out, clinical registries of breast implants, providing information for clinical auditing and product recall. Four years after its introduction, it is time to address users’ comments in order to keep improving quality of registration, and patient safety. This study assesses users’ feedback focusing on importance of registration, logistics and user experience, and areas of improvement. Methods: In May 2018, a standardized online study–specific questionnaire was sent out to all members of the Netherlands Society of Plastic Surgery. Descriptive statistics were reported in absolute frequencies and/or percentages. Results: A total of 102 members responded to the questionnaire (response rate, 24.2%). Of all respondents, 97.1% were actively registering in DBIR. Respondents rated the importance of registration in DBIR as 8.1 out of 10 points. Ninety-one respondents suggested improvements for the DBIR. All comments were related to registration convenience and provision of automatically generated data. Conclusions: Respondents believe that registration is highly important and worth the administrative burden. However, we should collectively keep improving accuracy, usability and sustainability of breast

Towards a typology of inter-municipal cooperation in emerging metropolitan regions. A case study in the solid waste management sector in Ecuador

Inter-municipal cooperation (IMC) is a widely studied governance solution. Most literature defines IMC as a particular service delivery arrangement. However, we argue that IMC manifests itself in several forms and thus a broader definition is necessary. To explore this, we conducted a case study in the solid waste management sector of the emerging metropolitan region in Cuenca-Azogues, Ecuador. Emerging metropolitan regions are particularly suitable for analysing IMC, and so far, there are few studies on IMC in Latin America. Based on the discrepancy between previous studies and the results of our research, we develop a new definition and a new typology of IMC, which can be related to multiple service delivery arrangements

Testing the efficacy of voluntary urban greenhouse gas emissions inventories

Drawing from an original dataset of urban metropolitan carbon footprints, we explore the correlations between national level climate change commitments and subnational level inventories. We ask: Does voluntary reporting allow a city to perform better than national average? Does ambitiousness in commitment have an impact on performance in footprint reduction? Does having long-term commitments affect performance in footprint reduction? Do binding national level commitments (such as those under the Kyoto Protocol) affect performance at the city level in terms of footprint reduction? To provide answers, we synthesize data from the largest repository of voluntary sub-national commitments and actions towards footprint reduction and greenhouse gas inventories from around the world, the Carbonn platform. More than 500 cities report at least one action, commitment or inventory to this database. We find, using a subset of this database, perhaps counter intuitively that cities with more ambitious commitments do not necessarily have steeper reductions in emissions. Our data also suggest that having long-term self-reported goals does not make the cities perform better in terms of footprint reduction. This appears to be true for both government and community commitments reported. Lastly, and positively, our data did reveal a statistically significant effect for cities belonging to countries that had committed to the Kyoto Protocol, suggesting the necessity of binding national (and supranational) climate targets

EEHV1A glycoprotein B subunit vaccine elicits humoral and cell-mediated immune responses in mice

DATA AVAILABILITY : Data will be made available on request.Asian elephants are an endangered species facing many threats, including severe hemorrhagic disease (HD) caused by the elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus (EEHV). EEHV-HD is the leading cause of death in captive juvenile Asian elephants in North America and Europe, and also affects elephants in their natural range countries. Significant challenges exist for successful treatment of EEHV-HD, which include timely recognition of disease onset and limited availability of highly effective treatment options. To address this problem, our goal is to prevent lethal disease in young elephants by developing a vaccine that elicits robust and durable humoral and cell-mediated immunity against EEHV. EEHV glycoprotein B (gB) is a major target for cellular and humoral immunity in elephants previously exposed to EEHV. Therefore, we generated a vaccine containing recombinant EEHV1A gB together with a liposome formulated TLR-4 and saponin combination adjuvant (SLA-LSQ). CD-1 mice that received one or two vaccinations with the vaccine elicited significant anti-gB antibody and polyfunctional CD4+ and CD8+ T cell responses, while no adverse effects of vaccination were observed. Overall, our findings demonstrate that an adjuvanted gB protein subunit vaccine stimulates robust humoral and cell-mediated immune responses and supports its potential use in elephants.The Cytometry and Cell Sorting Core at Baylor College of Medicine with funding from the CPRIT Core Facility Support Award, the NIH, the International Elephant Foundation (IEF) and Houston Zoo and funds acquired via Named Fund Friends of VetMed to the Utrecht University EEHV research group.http://www.elsevier.com/locate/vaccineam2023Veterinary Tropical Disease

Organic waste as a sustainable feedstock for platform chemicals

Biorefineries have been established since the 1980s for biofuel production, and there has been a switch lately from first to second generation feedstocks in order to avoid the food versus fuel dilemma. To a lesser extent, many opportunities have been investigated for producing chemicals from biomass using by-products of the present biorefineries, simple waste streams. Current facilities apply intensive pre-treatments to deal with single substrate types such as carbohydrates. However, most organic streams such as municipal solid waste or algal blooms present a high complexity and variable mixture of molecules, which makes specific compound production and separation difficult. Here we focus on flexible anaerobic fermentation and hydrothermal processes that can treat complex biomass as a whole to obtain a range of products within an integrated biorefinery concept

African Dreams: Locating Urban Infrastructure in the 2030 Sustainable Developmental Agenda

This paper examines African urban infrastructure and service delivery as an entry point for connecting African aspirations with the harsh developmental imperatives of urban management, creating a dialogue between scholarly knowledge and sustainable development policy aspirations. We note a shift to multi-nodal urban governance and highlight the significance of the synthesis of social, economic and ecological values in a normative vision of what an African metropolis might aspire to by 2030. The sustainable development vision provides a useful stimulus for Africa’s urban poly-crisis, demanding fresh interdisciplinary and normatively explicit thinking, grounded in a practical and realistic understanding of Africa’s infrastructure and governance challenges