Selvitys metallienjalostusteollisuuden lupamenettelyistä ja päästökaupasta

Suomen metallienjalostusteollisuus kattaa noin 12 % Suomen tavaraviennistä ja tuotteista 85 % menee vientiin. Syksyllä 2015 tutkijat haastattelivat yritysten edustajia lupamenettelyihin ja päästökauppaan liittyen Outokummun Tornion terästehtaalla, SSAB:n Raahen terästehtaalla, Bolidenin tehtailla Harjavallassa ja Bolidenin sinkkitehtaalla Kokkolassa. Tämän lisäksi SSAB:n Hämeenlinnan tehtaalta, Norilsk Nickelin nikkelitehtaalta Harjavallasta, Ovakon Imatran terästehtaalta ja Outotecilta tuli kirjallinen vastaus. Outotec edusti otannassa laitevalmistajia. Ulkomaisten yritysten toimintaympäristöä ja luvituskäytäntöjä selvitettiin lähinnä SSAB:n ja Outokummun kautta, joilla on tuotantoyksiköitä sekä Ruotsissa että Saksassa. Tutkijat tapasivat myös saksalaisen toimialajärjestön Non-Ferrous Metals Associationin edustajat Brysselissä. Katsaus rajattiin teräksen, sinkin, kuparin ja nikkelin valmistukseen. Yksi selvityksen tavoitteista oli verrata Saksan ja Ruotsin lupamenettelyjä ja päästökauppaa Suomen käytäntöihin. EU:n ympäristönsuojelua ohjaavat direktiivit sitovat kaikkia jäsenmaita. Jäsenvaltiot saattavat direktiivien velvoitteet voimaan kansallisella lainsäädännöllä, jonka noudattamista valvovat kunkin maan viranomaiset. On mahdollista, että direktiivien tulkinta vaihtelee. Tärkeimmät alaa koskevat EU-säädökset ovat teollisuuspäästödirektiivi, päästökauppadirektiivi ja -laki, energiatehokkuusdirektiivi ja päästökauppa, kemikaaleihin liittyvä REACH -asetus, vaarallisten aineiden RoHS -direktiivi, jätedirektiivi ja rikkidirektiivi. Suomessa toimivat yritykset toivovat globaaleja energiansäästö- ja ympäristönsuojelutavoitteita, joihin kaikki maat ovat sitoutuneita. Pariisin ilmastosopimus hiilidioksidipäästöjen vähentämisestä perustuu vapaaehtoisuuteen, ja sen vaikutukset alkavat näkyä vasta 2020 -luvulla. Yritykset esittivät, että päästökaupan aiheuttama sähkön hinnannousu kompensoidaan Suomessa samalle tasolle kuin Ruotsissa ja Saksassa. Kiinan terästeollisuuden ympäristönsuojelusta ja päästökauppakokeilusta tehtiin kirjallisuusselvitys, koska Kiina tuottaa lähes puolet raakateräksestä maailmassa. Kiinan terästuotanto on muutoksessa, sillä saastuttavimpia tehtaita ollaan sulkemassa. Rahoitus- ja omistusjärjestelyillä haetaan ratkaisuja kannattavuusongelmiin, koska tuotteiden hinnat painuvat alle tuotantokustannusten. Yrityshaastatteluissa tuli esiin seuraavia näkökohtia: • Vuorovaikutusta lupaviranomaisen ja luvan hakijan välillä olisi hyvä lisätä. • Metallienjalostusteollisuuden lupa-asiat kannattaisi keskittää yhdelle viranomaiselle tai muutoin hoitaa yhden luukun periaatteella, samoin muutoksenhaku yhteen tuomioistuimeen. • Kierrätyksen esteitä pitäisi selvittää ja mahdollisuuksien mukaan purkaa kiertotalouden edistämiseksi. • Lupakäsittelyä tekevien viranomaisten resurssit olisi turvattava menettelyjen sujuvoittamiseksi. • YVA-selostusten laajuutta ja sivumäärää toivottiin kohtuulliseksi, että olennaiset asiat tulisivat selkeästi esiin. Työ- ja elinkeinoministeriön yhdyshenkilö: toimialajohtaja Kirsti Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, puh. 029 506 008

Viral-bacterial co-infection in Australian Indigenous children with acute otitis media

Background: Acute otitis media with perforation (AOMwiP) affects 40% of remote Indigenous children during the first 18 months of life. Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Moraxella catarrhalis are the primary bacterial pathogens of otitis media and their loads predict clinical ear state. Our hypothesis is that antecedent respiratory viral infection increases bacterial density and progression to perforation

Severe influenza cases in paediatric intensive care units in Germany during the pre-pandemic seasons 2005 to 2008

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Data on complications in children with seasonal influenza virus infection are limited. We initiated a nation-wide three-year surveillance of children who were admitted to a paediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with severe seasonal influenza.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>From October 2005 to July 2008, active surveillance was performed using an established reporting system for rare diseases (ESPED) including all paediatric hospitals in Germany. Cases to be reported were hospitalized children < 17 years of age with laboratory-confirmed influenza treated in a PICU or dying in hospital.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Twenty severe influenza-associated cases were reported from 14 PICUs during three pre-pandemic influenza seasons (2005-2008). The median age of the patients (12 males/8 females) was 7.5 years (range 0.1-15 years). None had received vaccination against influenza. In 14 (70%) patients, the infection had been caused by influenza A and in five (25%) by influenza B; in one child (5%) the influenza type was not reported. Patients spent a median of 19 (IQR 12-38) days in the hospital and a median of 11 days (IQR 6-18 days) in the PICU; 10 (50%) needed mechanical ventilation. Most frequent diagnoses were influenza-associated pneumonia (60%), bronchitis/bronchiolitis (30%), encephalitis/encephalopathy (25%), secondary bacterial pneumonia (25%), and ARDS (25%). Eleven (55%) children had chronic underlying medical conditions, including 8 (40%) with chronic pulmonary diseases. Two influenza A- associated deaths were reported: <it>i) </it>an 8-year old boy with pneumococcal encephalopathy following influenza infection died from cerebral edema, <it>ii) </it>a 14-year-old boy with asthma bronchiale, cardiac malformation and Addison's disease died from cardiac and respiratory failure. For nine (45%) patients, possibly permanent sequelae were reported (3 neurological, 3 pulmonary, 3 other sequelae).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Influenza-associated pneumonia and secondary bacterial infections are relevant complications of seasonal influenza in Germany. The incidence of severe influenza cases in PICUs was relatively low. This may be either due to the weak to moderate seasonal influenza activity during the years 2005 to 2008 or due to under-diagnosis of influenza by physicians. Fifty% of the observed severe cases might have been prevented by following the recommendations for vaccination of risk groups in Germany.</p

Pregnancy outcome following gestational exposure to azithromycin

BACKGROUND: Azithromycin is an azalide antibiotic with an extensive range of indications and has become a common treatment option due to its convenient dosing regimen and therapeutic advantages. Human studies addressing gestational use of azithromycin have primarily focused on antibiotic efficacy rather than fetal safety. Our primary objective was to evaluate the possibility of teratogenic risk following gestational exposure to azithromycin. METHODS: There were 3 groups of pregnant women enrolled in our study: 1) women who took azithromycin. 2) women exposed to non-teratogenic antibiotics for similar indications, and 3) women exposed to non-teratogenic agents. They were matched for gestational age at time of call, maternal age, cigarette and alcohol consumption. Rates of major malformations and other endpoints of interest were compared among the three groups. RESULTS: Pregnancy outcome of 123 women in each group was ascertained. There were no statistically significant differences among the three groups in the rates of major malformations; 3.4% (exposed) versus 2.3% (disease matched) and 3.4% (non teratogen) or any other endpoints that were examined. In the azithromycin group, 88 (71.6%) women took the drug during the first trimester CONCLUSION: Results suggest that gestational exposure to azithromycin is not associated with an increase in the rate of major malformations above the baseline of 1–3%. Our data adds to previous research showing that macrolide antibiotics, as a group, are generally safe in pregnancy and provides an evidence-based option for health professionals caring for populations with chlamydia

Beyond climate envelopes: effects of weather on regional population trends in butterflies

Although the effects of climate change on biodiversity are increasingly evident by the shifts in species ranges across taxonomical groups, the underlying mechanisms affecting individual species are still poorly understood. The power of climate envelopes to predict future ranges has been seriously questioned in recent studies. Amongst others, an improved understanding of the effects of current weather on population trends is required. We analysed the relation between butterfly abundance and the weather experienced during the life cycle for successive years using data collected within the framework of the Dutch Butterfly Monitoring Scheme for 40 species over a 15-year period and corresponding climate data. Both average and extreme temperature and precipitation events were identified, and multiple regression was applied to explain annual changes in population indices. Significant weather effects were obtained for 39 species, with the most frequent effects associated with temperature. However, positive density-dependence suggested climatic independent trends in at least 12 species. Validation of the short-term predictions revealed a good potential for climate-based predictions of population trends in 20 species. Nevertheless, data from the warm and dry year of 2003 indicate that negative effects of climatic extremes are generally underestimated for habitat specialists in drought-susceptible habitats, whereas generalists remain unaffected. Further climatic warming is expected to influence the trends of 13 species, leading to an improvement for nine species, but a continued decline in the majority of species. Expectations from climate envelope models overestimate the positive effects of climate change in northwestern Europe. Our results underline the challenge to include population trends in predicting range shifts in response to climate change

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in pp collision events at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV

The performance of muon reconstruction, identification, and triggering in CMS has been studied using 40 inverse picobarns of data collected in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV at the LHC in 2010. A few benchmark sets of selection criteria covering a wide range of physics analysis needs have been examined. For all considered selections, the efficiency to reconstruct and identify a muon with a transverse momentum pT larger than a few GeV is above 95% over the whole region of pseudorapidity covered by the CMS muon system, abs(eta) < 2.4, while the probability to misidentify a hadron as a muon is well below 1%. The efficiency to trigger on single muons with pT above a few GeV is higher than 90% over the full eta range, and typically substantially better. The overall momentum scale is measured to a precision of 0.2% with muons from Z decays. The transverse momentum resolution varies from 1% to 6% depending on pseudorapidity for muons with pT below 100 GeV and, using cosmic rays, it is shown to be better than 10% in the central region up to pT = 1 TeV. Observed distributions of all quantities are well reproduced by the Monte Carlo simulation.Comment: Replaced with published version. Added journal reference and DO