46 research outputs found
Pathways and Management of Phosphorus in urban areas
Due to the finite nature of mineral phosphorus reserves, effective management of anthropogenic
phosphorus flows is currently under investigation by the international research
community. This article emphasizes the importance of urban phosphorus flows, which are
often marginalized due to the greater magnitude of agricultural phosphorus flows. A study
on phosphorus flows in Gothenburg, Sweden, points out the potential role of solid waste in
nutrient management, as the amounts of phosphorus in solid waste and in wastewater were
found to be equal. Importation of food commodities accounts for 50% of the total inflow
of phosphorus, and food waste is a major contributor of phosphorus to solid waste. The
results suggest that solid waste incineration residues represent a large underestimated sink
of phosphorus. Focusing on wastewater as the sole source of recovered phosphorus is not
sufficient. The Swedish national goal on phosphorus recycling, which is limited to sewage
sludge, targets only a part of the total phosphorus flow that can potentially be recovered.
In contrast to previous studies, agricultural flows in Gothenburg were marginal compared
to flows related to the urban waste management infrastructure. We emphasize the need
for debate on preferable routes for disposal of waste with a high phosphorus content. Both
recovery potential and usefulness of the recovered product for agricultural purposes have
to be considered. Impacts of five waste management strategies on phosphorus flows were
evaluated: incineration of all the waste, comprehensive food waste separation, installation
of kitchen grinders, urine diversion, and separation of blackwater and food waste
Gaugino production in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV
Motivated by hints for a light Standard Model-like Higgs boson and a shift in
experimental attention towards electroweak supersymmetry particle production at
the CERN LHC, we update in this paper our precision predictions at
next-to-leading order of perturbative QCD matched to resummation at the
next-to-leading logarithmic accuracy for direct gaugino pair production in
proton-proton collisions with a center-of-mass energy of 8 TeV. Tables of total
cross sections are presented together with the corresponding scale and parton
density uncertainties for benchmark points adopted recently by the experimental
collaborations, and figures are presented for up-to-date model lines attached
to them. Since the experimental analyses are currently obtained with parton
showers matched to multi-parton matrix elements, we also analyze the precision
of this procedure by comparing invariant-mass and transverse-momentum
distributions obtained in this way to those obtained with threshold and
transverse-momentum resummation.Comment: 28 pages, 7 figures, 9 tables; version to appear in JHE
Evidence Use and the Institutions of the State: The Role of Parliament and the Judiciary
This chapter explores the role of parliaments and the judiciary in shaping evidence use in health policy making. Most analyses of the role of scientific evidence focus on the executive, i.e. national governments and ministries of health, as the key state actors in health policy and health system governance. This chapter shifts attention to the other two powers within the state, the legislative and the judiciary. Using the examples analysed in this book the chapter examines how parliaments can use evidence to inform legislative processes and to hold governments to account, although there are substantial differences between countries and political systems. However, there was little suggestion that such approaches were undertaken systematically. In cases in which policies are brought to court, judges may have to deal with scientific evidence within a countryâs legal and constitutional framework, again with significant differences between national legal practices
Dose-effect study of Gelsemium sempervirens in high dilutions on anxiety-related responses in mice
Introduction
This study was designed to investigate the putative anxiolytic-like activity of ultra-low doses of Gelsemium sempervirens (G. sempervirens), produced according to the homeopathic pharmacopeia.
Methods
Five different centesimal (C) dilutions of G. sempervirens (4C, 5C, 7C, 9C and 30C), the drug buspirone (5 mg/kg) and solvent vehicle were delivered intraperitoneally to groups of ICR-CD1 mice over a period of 9 days. The behavioral effects were assessed in the open-field (OF) and light\u2013dark (LD) tests in blind and randomized fashion.
Results
Most G. sempervirens dilutions did not affect the total distance traveled in the OF (only the 5C had an almost significant stimulatory effect on this parameter), indicating that the medicine caused no sedation effects or unspecific changes in locomotor activity. In the same test, buspirone induced a slight but statistically significant decrease in locomotion. G. sempervirens showed little stimulatory activity on the time spent and distance traveled in the central zone of the OF, but this effect was not statistically significant. In the LD test, G. sempervirens increased the % time spent in the light compartment, an indicator of anxiolytic-like activity, with a statistically significant effect using the 5C, 9C and 30C dilutions. These effects were comparable to those of buspirone. The number of transitions between the compartments of the LD test markedly increased with G. sempervirens 5C, 9C and 30C dilutions.
Conclusion
The overall pattern of results provides evidence that G. sempervirens acts on the emotional reactivity of mice, and that its anxiolytic-like effects are apparent, with a non-linear relationship, even at high dilutions
Immune stress in late pregnant rats decreases length of gestation and fecundity, and alters later cognitive and affective behaviour of surviving pre-adolescent offspring
Immune challenge during pregnancy is associated with preterm birth and poor perinatal development. The mechanisms of these effects are not known. 5α-Pregnan-3α-ol-20-one (3α,5α-THP), the neuroactive metabolite of progesterone, is critical for neurodevelopment and stress responses, and can influence cognition and affective behaviours. To develop an immune challenge model of preterm birth, pregnant LongâEvans rat dams were administered lipopolysaccharide [LPS; 30 ÎŒg/kg/ml, intraperitoneal (IP)], interleukin-1ÎČ (IL-1ÎČ; 1 ÎŒg/rat, IP) or vehicle (0.9% saline, IP) daily on gestational days 17â21. Compared to control treatment, prenatal LPS or IL-1ÎČ reduced gestational length and the number of viable pups born. At 28â30 days of age, male and female offspring of mothers exposed to prenatal IL-1ÎČ had reduced cognitive performance in the object recognition task compared to controls. In females, but not males, prenatal IL-1ÎČ reduced anxiety-like behaviour, indicated by entries to the centre of an open field. In the hippocampus, progesterone turnover to its 5α-reduced metabolites was lower in prenatally exposed IL-1ÎČ female, but not in male offspring. IL-1ÎČ-exposed males and females had reduced oestradiol content in hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex and diencephalon compared to controls. Thus, immune stress during late pregnancy reduced gestational length and negatively impacted birth outcomes, hippocampal function and central neurosteroid formation in the offspring