Modeling Biofuel Expansion Effects on Land Use Change Dynamics

Increasing demand for crop-based biofuels, in addition to other human drivers of land use, induces direct and indirect land use changes (LUC). Our system dynamics tool is intended to complement existing LUC modeling approaches and to improve the understanding of global LUC drivers and dynamics by allowing examination of global LUC under diverse scenarios and varying model assumptions. We report on a small subset of such analyses. This model provides insights into the drivers and dynamic interactions of LUC (e.g., dietary choices and biofuel policy) and is not intended to assert improvement in numerical results relative to other works. Demand for food commodities are mostly met in high food and high crop-based biofuel demand scenarios, but cropland must expand substantially. Meeting roughly 25% of global transportation fuel demand by 2050 with biofuels requires \u3e2 times the land used to meet food demands under a presumed 40% increase in per capita food demand. In comparison, the high food demand scenario requires greater pastureland for meat production, leading to larger overall expansion into forest and grassland. Our results indicate that, in all scenarios, there is a potential for supply shortfalls, and associated upward pressure on prices, of food commodities requiring higher land use intensity (e.g., beef) which biofuels could exacerbate

Doubling Energy Efficiency at the University of Michigan by 2030

Approximately 84 million Americans spend their days in colleges, universities, and public or private primary and secondary schools.ii The commercial building sector, which includes educational institutions, accounts for 18.44 percent of overall energy consumption in the United States.iii Education buildings are ranked third highest of all commercial buildings, consuming over 600 trillion Btus of energy each year.iv Given these consumption levels, educational institutions have an opportunity to make a significant impact to increase energy efficiency in this country. The University of Michigan (herein, also “the University” or “UM”) has been working diligently to be leaders in this charge. In 2012, the Alliance to Save Energy proposed a goal of doubling energy productivity in the United States by 2030, thereby getting twice as much economic output for every unit of energy input.v This goal inspired Johnson Controls, Inc. (herein, “Johnson Controls” or “JCI”) to approach the University with a Master’s Project, enabling a group of students to learn from the expertise of Johnson Controls, and to be active participants in sustainability efforts at the University of Michigan. Additionally, the findings and recommendations developed to increase energy productivity on campus should likely contribute towards the University’s existing sustainability goal of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This project seeks to harness the knowledge, technology and best practices honed by Johnson Controls from decades of experience in energy conservation projects, as well as the expertise from the University of Michigan, including various professionals and organizations that actively work towards energy efficiency measures on campus. Leveraging these and other resources, our six graduate student member team (Appendix A) analyzed the University of Michigan’s current energy demand and management. We learned about the extensive work the energy management team has already been doing for several decades in some areas on campus, and about what opportunities there are for improvement. Our master's project team identified several recommendations for furthering the collective energy efficiency performance of the University, as well as recommendations on measures that can be taken in the Samuel T. Dana building (herein, the “Dana building”), which serves as a case study for the project. The key findings and recommendations, both campus-wide and for the Dana building, are detailed here.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/117588/3/Doubling Energy Efficiency at the University of Michigan by 2030.pd

Risk-adjusted Outcomes of Clinically Relevant Pancreatic Fistula Following Pancreatoduodenectomy: A Model for Performance Evaluation

Objective: To evaluate surgical performance in pancreatoduodenectomy using clinically relevant postoperative pancreatic fistula (CR-POPF) occurrence as a quality indicator.Background: Accurate assessment of surgeon and institutional performance requires (1) standardized definitions for the outcome of interest and (2) a comprehensive risk-adjustment process to control for differences in patient risk.Methods: This multinational, retrospective study of 4301 pancreatoduodenectomies involved 55 surgeons at 15 institutions. Risk for CR-POPF was assessed using the previously validated Fistula Risk Score, and pancreatic fistulas were stratified by International Study Group criteria. CR-POPF variability was evaluated and hierarchical regression analysis assessed individual surgeon and institutional performance.Results: There was considerable variability in both CR-POPF risk and occurrence. Factors increasing the risk for CR-POPF development included increasing Fistula Risk Score (odds ratio 1.49 per point, P = 15 cases) for nonrisk-adjusted performance, only 6 remained in this high-performing category following risk adjustment.Conclusions: This analysis of pancreatic fistulas following pancreatoduodenectomy demonstrates considerable variability in both the risk and occurrence of CR-POPF among surgeons and institutions. Disparities in patient risk between providers reinforce the need for comprehensive, risk-adjusted modeling when assessing performance based on procedure-specific complications. Furthermore, beyond inherent patient risk factors, surgical decision-making influences fistula outcomes

Loop-mediated isothermal aplification detection of SARS-CoV-2 and myriad other applications

As the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic begins, it remains clear that a massive increase in the ability to test for SARS-CoV-2 infections in a myriad of settings is critical to controlling the pandemic and to preparing for future outbreaks. The current gold standard for molecular diagnostics is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), but the extraordinary and unmet demand for testing in a variety of environments means that both complementary and supplementary testing solutions are still needed. This review highlights the role that loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has had in filling this global testing need, providing a faster and easier means of testing, and what it can do for future applications, pathogens, and the preparation for future outbreaks. This review describes the current state of the art for research of LAMP-based SARS-CoV-2 testing, as well as its implications for other pathogens and testing. The authors represent the global LAMP (gLAMP) Consortium, an international research collective, which has regularly met to share their experiences on LAMP deployment and best practices; sections are devoted to all aspects of LAMP testing, including preanalytic sample processing, target amplification, and amplicon detection, then the hardware and software required for deployment are discussed, and finally, a summary of the current regulatory landscape is provided. Included as well are a series of first-person accounts of LAMP method development and deployment. The final discussion section provides the reader with a distillation of the most validated testing methods and their paths to implementation. This review also aims to provide practical information and insight for a range of audiences: for a research audience, to help accelerate research through sharing of best practices; for an implementation audience, to help get testing up and running quickly; and for a public health, clinical, and policy audience, to help convey the breadth of the effect that LAMP methods have to offer.The Epigenomics Core Facility at Weill Cornell Medicine, the Scientific Computing Unit (SCU), XSEDE Supercomputing Resources, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, the Saphier Endowment for Translational Research, the Irma T. Hirschl and Monique Weill-Caulier Charitable Trusts, the Bert L. and N. Kuggie Vallee Foundation, the WorldQuant Foundation, the Pershing Square Sohn Cancer Research Alliance, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.https://jbt.pubpub.orgam2023Electrical, Electronic and Computer EngineeringSDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification Detection of SARS-CoV-2 and Myriad Other Applications

As the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic begins, it remains clear that a massive increase in the ability to test for SARS-CoV-2 infections in a myriad of settings is critical to controlling the pandemic and to preparing for future outbreaks. The current gold standard for molecular diagnostics is the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), but the extraordinary and unmet demand for testing in a variety of environments means that both complementary and supplementary testing solutions are still needed. This review highlights the role that loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) has had in filling this global testing need, providing a faster and easier means of testing, and what it can do for future applications, pathogens, and the preparation for future outbreaks. This review describes the current state of the art for research of LAMP-based SARS-CoV-2 testing, as well as its implications for other pathogens and testing. The authors represent the global LAMP (gLAMP) Consortium, an international research collective, which has regularly met to share their experiences on LAMP deployment and best practices; sections are devoted to all aspects of LAMP testing, including preanalytic sample processing, target amplification, and amplicon detection, then the hardware and software required for deployment are discussed, and finally, a summary of the current regulatory landscape is provided. Included as well are a series of first-person accounts of LAMP method development and deployment. The final discussion section provides the reader with a distillation of the most validated testing methods and their paths to implementation. This review also aims to provide practical information and insight for a range of audiences: for a research audience, to help accelerate research through sharing of best practices; for an implementation audience, to help get testing up and running quickly; and for a public health, clinical, and policy audience, to help convey the breadth of the effect that LAMP methods have to offer