Sea level rise adaptation: emerging lessons for local policy development

Many coastal communities across the United States are beginning to plan for climate-related sea level rise. While impacts and solutions will vary with local conditions, jurisdictions which have begun this process seem to pass through three common stages when developing policy for local sea level rise adaptation: l) building awareness about local sea level rise threats, 2) undertaking analyses of local vulnerabilities, and 3) developing plans and policies to deal with these vulnerabilities. The purpose of this paper is to help advance community dialogue and further inform local decision-makers about key elements and steps for addressing climate-related sea level rise. It summarizes the results of a project the Marine Policy Institute (MPI) undertook during 2011-12 to review experiences from fourteen U.S. coastal jurisdictions representing a variety of city, county, and state efforts with sea level adaptation. There are many more initiatives underway than those reflected in this sample, but the “focus jurisdictions” were selected because of the extensive information publically available on their experiences and lessons being learned that could provide insights for coastal communities, especially in Southwest Florida

Estimulantes da salivação

A saliva humana é um fluído complexo produzido pelas glândulas salivares as quais, às vezes, apresentam defeitos, como em pacientes com xerostomia ou hipossalivação, podendo-se utilizar fármacos estimulantes ou substitutivos salivares. O objetivo com este trabalho foi evidenciar a ação dos fármacos estimulantes e análogos da saliva, explicando efeitos adversos, posologia e interação medicamentosa. A revisão de literatura foi realizada em artigos publicados nas bases de dados SciELO e Capes e em livros de Fisiologia humana e farmacologia aplicada à odontologia. A Cevimelina (Evoxac®) e a Pilocarpina (Salagen®) são fármacos utilizados para estimular a salivação e ambos atuam nos receptores muscarínicos não-seletivos, como agonistas parassimpaticomiméticos dos receptores M3 da acetilcolina, estimulando a secreção das glândulas exócrinas. Embora não disponível no Brasil, a Cevimelina é mais segura, com menores taxas de efeitos adversos por ser mais seletiva sobre receptores M37. As doses recomendadas via oral são: Cevimelina 30 mg e Pilocarpina 5 mg, três vezes ao dia, 30 minutos antes das refeições, tendo absorção reduzida quando ingeridas com alimentos. Podem apresentar alguns efeitos adversos como cefaleia, lacrimejamento, sudorese, náuseas, diarreia, tremores, além disso, a Cevimelina pode causar distúrbios visuais. Não são conhecidas interações medicamentosas desses fármacos. A saliva artificial (Salivan®) é usada quando as glândulas salivares não produzem saliva, pois ela atua como substitutiva salivar para aliviar os sintomas ou a falta dela. Consiste em uma solução aquosa de sais minerais, como cálcio e fosfato, é composta por mucinas de origem animal ou derivados de carbometilcelulose, possui capacidade antimicrobiana feita por enzimas, apresenta agentes de sabor (açúcares não cariogênicos – sorbitol e xilitol) e seu pH mostra-se geralmente entre 4 e 7. Muitos pacientes apresentam inadequada função salivar e têm maior suscetibilidade para desenvolver infeções orais, complicações associadas à fala, mastigação e deglutição, recomendando-se, assim, a utilização desses fármacos pelo profissional mais competente nessa área, o cirurgião-dentista.Palavras-chave: Saliva artificial. Estimulantes salivares. Xerostomia. Hipossalivação. Odontologia

Nanostructured Electrocatalysts for Triglyceride Hydrogenation.

An electrochemical process for the reduction of organic compounds could have a number of advantages over thermochemical reduction, including enhanced separation between reactants and products, lower operating temperatures and pressures, and improved mass transfer of reactants to and from catalyst surfaces. This research investigated the use of noble metal, base metal, transition metal carbide, and carbide-supported metal catalysts for the electrochemical hydrogenation of triglycerides. We report that many of these catalysts, including W2C-supported Pd catalysts, had high rates and/or selectivities for the hydrogenation reaction. Low activities for certain catalysts were hypothesized to be related to lack of stability in the electrochemical hydrogenation reactor. The solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) used in this study is known to be strongly acidic, which can create a corrosive environment under certain applied potentials. Two techniques, thermogravimetric analysis of the post-reaction membrane electrode assemblies and chronoamperometry in a model SPE cell, were used to characterize catalyst stabilities. It was concluded that the low activities of these base metal and carbide catalysts for triglyceride hydrogenation were due to their incompatibility with the SPE. This study is among the first to investigate the nature of the hydrogenation mechanism is the context of the SPE reactor. By varying the applied voltage across the SPE reactor, it was found that catalytic activities varied with potential. Linear sweep voltammetry was used with the various catalysts in a model SPE cell, which showed that this dependence was due to the electrochemical nature of the hydrogenation rate determining step. Variations in the hydrogenation activities of the different catalysts were found to correlate with their activities for the hydrogen evolution reaction, suggesting that similar sites are involved in each reaction. With this understanding of the triglyceride hydrogenation mechanism, catalyst formulations could be modified to improve the activities and selectivities for this and related reactions. A preliminary economic analysis indicated that the electrochemical hydrogenation of triglycerides may be economically viable in comparison to the thermochemical process currently used in industry.Ph.D.Chemical EngineeringUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89668/1/lausche_1.pd

The legal aspects of connectivity conservation: a concept paper

This publication aims to advance conceptual thinking and legal understanding about important law and policy tools and options for supporting the connectivity of protected area systems. The legal research and analyses reflected in this paper span international, regional, national and local levels. A range of legal instruments existing in most national legal systems, from conservation and sustainable use laws to land use planning, development control, voluntary conservation and economic instruments are explored. The paper is intended to offer concrete ideas of existing and potential legal tools and approaches that countries can use immediately to initiate priority connectivity conservation actions and to strengthen them progressively. It also is intended to provide a conceptual baseline for future research and case studies to continue to define and develop connectivity conservation law for supporting protected areas and for providing opportunities to address climate change as part of biodiversity conservation agendas