Special Issues for Program Design and Evaluation for Industrial Energy Programs

Designing energy efficiency programs that include serving industrial customers, and evaluating them, carries with it a set of challenges. A summary view from prior efficiency program evaluations will be presented that examines these challenges, how they vary and implications for energy efficiency program design and program evaluation

Special Issues for Program Design and Evaluation for Industrial Energy Programs

Designing energy efficiency programs that include serving industrial customers, and evaluating them, carries with it a set of challenges. A summary view from prior efficiency program evaluations will be presented that examines these challenges, how they vary and implications for energy efficiency program design and program evaluation

Arizona Water Resource Vol. 18 No. 2 (Spring 2010)

The water resource field is among those areas expected to benefit from nanotechnology, its application holding special promise for treatment and remediation; sensing and detection; and pollution prevention. That cuts a rather wide swath in the water resources field. The nanorevolution or movement is being met with both optimism and caution as scientists ponder how best to take advantage of its benefits and at the same time understand and reckon with its possible risks.This item is part of the Water Resources Research Center collection. For more information, please contact the Center, (520) 621-9591 or see http://wrrc.arizona.edu

Climate change and water resources management in the Upper Santa Cruz River, Arizona

SummaryEpisodic streamflow events in the Upper Santa Cruz River recharge a shallow alluvial aquifer that is an essential water resource for the surrounding communities. The complex natural variability of the rainfall-driven streamflow events introduces a water resources management challenge for the region. In this study, we assessed the impact of projected climate change on regional water resources management. We analyzed climate change projections of precipitation for the Upper Santa Cruz River from eight dynamically downscaled Global Circulation Models (GCMs). Our analysis indicates an increase (decrease) in the frequency of occurrence of dry (wet) summers. The winter rainfall projections indicate an increased frequency of both dry and wet winter seasons, which implies lower chance for medium-precipitation winters. The climate analysis results were also compared with resampled coarse GCMs and bias adjusted and statistically downscaled CMIP3 and CMIP5 projections readily available for the contiguous U.S. The impact of the projected climatic change was assessed through a water resources management case study. The hydrologic framework utilized includes a rainfall generator of likely scenarios and a series of hydrologic models that estimate the groundwater recharge and the change in groundwater storage. We conclude that climatic change projections increase the uncertainty and further exacerbate the already complicated water resources management task. The ability to attain an annual water supply goal, the accrued annual water deficit and the potential for replenishment of the aquifer depend considerably on the selected management regime

Night-Shift Work and Breast Cancer Risk in a Cohort of Chinese Women

Shift work involving disruption of circadian rhythms has been classified as a probable cause of human cancer by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, based on limited epidemiologic evidence and abundant experimental evidence. The authors investigated this association in a population-based prospective cohort study of Chinese women. At baseline (1996–2000), information on lifetime occupational history was obtained from 73,049 women. Lifetime night-shift exposure indices were created using a job exposure matrix. During 2002–2004, self-reported data on frequency and duration of night-shift work were collected. Hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals, adjusted for major breast cancer risk factors, were calculated. During follow-up through 2007, 717 incident cases of breast cancer were diagnosed. Breast cancer risk was not associated with ever working the night shift on the basis of the job exposure matrix (adjusted hazard ratio = 1.0, 95% confidence interval: 0.9, 1.2) or self-reported history of night-shift work (adjusted hazard ratio = 0.9, 95% confidence interval: 0.7, 1.1). Risk was also not associated with frequency, duration, or cumulative amount of night-shift work. There were no indications of effect modification. The lack of an association between night-shift work and breast cancer adds to the inconsistent epidemiologic evidence. It may be premature to consider shift work a cause of cancer