The Economic Impacts of GM Contamination Incidents on the Organic Sector

This paper examines the economic impact of GM co-existence on the global organic sector to date through GM contamination of organic food and crops. A total of 15 GM contamination incidents in the organic sector are identified, occurring either from cross-pollination from GM crops being grown in the area or due to contamination in the post-harvest supply chain. The financial losses incurred by organic farmers and food companies due to GM contamination are considerable, through lost markets, lost sales, lower prices, negative publicity, withdrawal of organic certification and product recalls. It is important that co-existence regimes address all of these impacts, with the GM sector being held accountabl

Synthesis of bio-based thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers containing isosorbide and polycarbonate diol and their biocompatible properties.

A new family of highly elastic polyurethanes (PUs) partially based on renewable isosorbide were prepared by reacting hexamethylene diisocyanate with a various ratios of isosorbide and polycarbonate diol 2000 (PCD) via a one-step bulk condensation polymerization without catalyst. The influence of the isorsorbide/PCD ratio on the properties of the PU was evaluated. The successful synthesis of the PUs was confirmed by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy and (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance. The resulting PUs showed high number-average molecular weights ranging from 56,320 to 126,000 g mol(-1) and tunable Tg values from -34 to -38℃. The thermal properties were determined by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. The PU films were flexible with breaking strains from 955% to 1795% at from 13.5 to 54.2 MPa tensile stress. All the PUs had 0.9-2.8% weight lost over 4 weeks and continual slow weight loss of 1.1-3.6% was observed within 8 weeks. Although the cells showed a slight lower rate of proliferation than that of the tissue culture polystyrene as a control, the PU films were considered to be cytocompatible and nontoxic. These thermoplastic PUs were soft, flexible and biocompatible polymers, which open up a range of opportunities for soft tissue augmentation and regeneration

Study on waste from hospital and clinics in Phitsanulok

Waste generation depends on numerous factors such as established waste management methods, type of hospital establishment, hospital specialization, proportion of reusable items employed in hospital, and proportion of patients treated on a day-care basis. This study surveyed the waste from hospital and clinics in Phitsanulok and found the average daily waste generated as general, medical and hazardous waste from all hospitals in Phitsanulok Province at 1.751, 0.284 and 0.013 kg/bed respectively and at 0.323, 0.041 and 0.002 kg/bed respectively from all clinics in Phitsanulok Province. Medical waste from all hospitals consisted of needles, gloves, drain tubes, cottons and gauze, napkins, plastic syringes, swap and body parts with total daily generation at 0.452, 0.480, 0.390, 0.404, 0.018, 0.355, 0.004 and 0.382 kg/bed respectively. Information about proper waste management process is needed to improve hospital waste management. Hospital waste management is an important and necessary component of environmental health protection

MYTH AND REALITY:ORGANIC VS NON-ORGANIC

This report examines some of the key issues around organic food and its production. It takes up the challenge of answering the critics - critics who range from companies defending agri-business, through to the heads of national food authorities and some academics. It exposes the misleading and erroneous statements made against organic food, and provides the facts that proves them wrong

Driven to distraction: Determining the effects of roadside advertising on driver attention

There is growing concern that roadside advertising presents a real risk to driving safety, with conservative estimates putting external distractors responsible for up to 10% of all accidents. In this report, we present a simulator study quantifying the effects of billboards on driver attention, mental workload and performance in Urban, Motorway and Rural environments. The results demonstrate that roadside advertising has a clear detrimental effect on lateral control, increases mental workload and eye fixations, and on some roads can draw attention away from more relevant road signage. Detailed analysis of the data suggests that the effects of billboards may in fact be more consequential in scenarios which are monotonous or of lower workload. Nevertheless, the overriding conclusion is that prudence should be exercised when authorising or placing roadside advertising. The findings are discussed with respect to governmental policy and guidelines.Final report of a study funded by The Rees Jeffreys Road Fun

“Dead cities, crows, the rain and their ripper, the Yorkshire ripper”: The red riding novels (1974, 1977, 1980, 1983) of David Peace as Lieux d’horreur

This article explores the role and importance of place in the Red Riding novels of David Peace. Drawing on Nora’s (1989) concept of Lieux de mémoire and Rejinders’ (2010) development of this work in relation to the imaginary world of the TV detective and engaging with a body of literature on the city, it examines the way in which the bleak Yorkshire countryside and the city of Leeds in the North of England, in particular, is central to the narrative of Peace’s work and the locations described are reflective of the violence, corruption and immorality at work in the storylines. While Nora (1984) and Rejinders (2010) describe places as sites of memory negotiated through the remorse of horrific events, the authors agree that Peace’s work can be read as describing L’ieux d’horreur; a recalling of past events with the violence and horror left in

A Word from the Writing Center (March 2018)

This issue includes: Writing Center News Resources for Writing and Publishing Writing Caf

Formation of exoplanetary satellites by pull-down capture.

The large size and wide orbit of the recently announced exomoon candidate Kepler-1625b-i are hard to explain within traditional theories of satellite formation. We show that these properties can be reproduced if the satellite began as a circumstellar co-orbital body with the original core of the giant planet Kepler-1625b. This body was then drawn down into a circumplanetary orbit during the rapid accretion of the giant planet gaseous envelope, a process termed "pull-down capture." Our numerical integrations demonstrate the stability of the original configuration and the capture process. In this model, the exomoon Kepler-1625b-i is the protocore of a giant planet that never accreted a substantial gas envelope. Different initial conditions can give rise to capture into other co-orbital configurations, motivating the search for Trojan-like companions to this and other giant planets