Energy Efficiency and Distributed Solar Energy Targeted to Underserved Communities: Perspectives on the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act

This Article focuses on one of the most comprehensive state laws adopted to date, aimed at significantly advancing energy efficiency and distributed solar generation in underserved communities, the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act (FEJA). It begins by examining what constitutes energy justice and then discusses the disproportionate burdens and benefits related to energy production and use that underserved communities must deal with on a day-to-day basis. The Article then turns to a review of FEJA with a particular emphasis on the critical role community organizations played in designing, negotiating, and implementing the law. These efforts represent important development in both substantive and procedural energy justice. It then looks at the role of one particular community organization, Elevate Energy, in implementing the law with an emphasis on multi-family housing. FEJA, the engagement of community groups in the development and passage of FEJA, and the role of Elevate Energy all play a role in addressing critical issues of energy justice. The Article concludes by looking at new Illinois legislation that would build on FEJA to create more energy-related job opportunities for underserved communities

Introductory Chapter to Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law: Decisionmaking in Environmental Law

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the growth of environmental law and the decision making structures that governments have developed to adopt, administer, and enforce it. It traces the manner in which cooperative federalism and public participation have affected decision making structures in environmental law, primarily in the United States. It summarizes key challenges that policymakers continue to face in designing environmental laws, including choices on the allocation of authority among different levels of government, the appropriate mix of regulatory and non-regulatory tools to use in environmental protection initiatives, efforts to accommodate environmental protection and economic growth objectives, techniques to spur useful government action in the face of political stalemates, balancing the benefits of public participation with the potential for participatory procedures to slow or derail the implementation of environmental laws, and determining the role of judicial review. The chapter concludes with a road map of the all of the other chapters in the book

Introductory Chapter to Elgar Encyclopedia of Environmental Law: Decisionmaking in Environmental Law

This introductory chapter provides an overview of the growth of environmental law and the decision making structures that governments have developed to adopt, administer, and enforce it. It traces the manner in which cooperative federalism and public participation have affected decision making structures in environmental law, primarily in the United States. It summarizes key challenges that policymakers continue to face in designing environmental laws, including choices on the allocation of authority among different levels of government, the appropriate mix of regulatory and non-regulatory tools to use in environmental protection initiatives, efforts to accommodate environmental protection and economic growth objectives, techniques to spur useful government action in the face of political stalemates, balancing the benefits of public participation with the potential for participatory procedures to slow or derail the implementation of environmental laws, and determining the role of judicial review. The chapter concludes with a road map of the all of the other chapters in the book

The respiratory pathology in infants with sudden unexpected deaths in whom respiratory specimens were initially PCR-positive or PCR-negative for Bordetella pertussis

Background: In a previous controlled study, we investigated the relationship between Bordetella pertussis infections and sudden unexpected deaths among German infants (sudden infant death syndrome, SIDS). In this present study, we investigated further the respiratory pathology in a subset of infants in the original study. Methods: Originally, there were 234 infants with SIDS and, of these, 12 had either a nasopharyngeal swab (NPS) or a tracheal swab specimen (TS) that was positive for B. pertussis by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Here, tissue specimens from eight infants who were originally PCR-positive were compared with tissue specimens from seven infants in whom the original PCR studies were negative. Results: The histopathologic diagnoses were as follows: 14 of 15 had pulmonary edema and the remaining case had early diffuse alveolar damage. Although 14 of 15 cases had some histologic or clinical evidence suggesting respiratory tract infection, the features were more consistent with a viral etiology, and in none were the findings typical of respiratory disease attributable to B. pertussis. Conclusions: The findings in this present investigation do not support a direct role of B. pertussis at the site of infection (ciliated epithelium) in the causation of SIDS. The clinical aspects of this study were carried out in the 1990s when pertussis was widespread in Germany. Therefore, the original finding of some PCR-positive cases is not surprising. The possibility that B. pertussis infection could still be a factor in some SIDS cases, e.g., by a systemic release of toxins, cannot be definitely ruled ou

The human ehrlichioses in the United States.

The emerging tick-borne zoonoses human monocytic ehrlichiosis (HME) and human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) are under reported in the United States. From 1986 through 1997, 1,223 cases (742 HME, 449 HGE, and 32 not ascribed to a specific ehrlichial agent) were reported by state health departments. HME was most commonly reported from southeastern and southcentral states, while HGE was most often reported from northeastern and upper midwestern states. The annual number of reported cases increased sharply, from 69 in 1994 to 364 in 1997, coincident with an increase in the number of states making these conditions notifiable. From 1986 through 1997, 827 probable and confirmed cases were diagnosed by serologic testing at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although how many of these cases were also reported by states is not known. Improved national surveillance would provide a better assessment of the public health importance of ehrlichiosis

The Impact of Citizen Environmental Science in the United States

An increasingly sophisticated public, rapid changes in monitoring technology, the ability to process large volumes of data, and social media are increasing the capacity for members of the public and advocacy groups to gather, interpret, and exchange environmental data. This development has the potential to alter the government-centric approach to environmental governance; however, citizen science has had a mixed record in influencing government decisions and actions. This Article reviews the rapid changes that are going on in the field of citizen science and examines what makes citizen science initiatives impactful, as well as the barriers to greater impact. It reports on 10 case studies, and evaluates these to provide findings about the state of citizen science and recommendations on what might be done to increase its influence on environmental decisionmaking

GUI Interfacing of DICOM images including 3D Model Creation

The purpose of this project is to create a simple method for viewing DICOM images taken during a medical scan such as CT or MRI. To perform this, Matlab programming was used to create a graphical user interface. This interface shows the user the image and attached information with subsequent images accessible via a slider bar. Furthermore, the user has the option to view a three-dimensional model of the object scanned which can then be rotated and viewed at multiple angles. This modeling was achieved using custom edge detection algorithms which locate and exclude exterior edges to allow viewing of the targeted objects. For testing purposes, a DICOM set of lung images was used to reconstruct the interior lung structure

Rickettsia parkeri in Brazil

We report finding Rickettsia parkeri in Brazil in 9.7% of Amblyomma triste ticks examined. An R. parkeri isolate was successfully established in Vero cell culture. Molecular characterization of the agent was performed by DNA sequencing of portions of the rickettsial genes gltA, htrA, ompA, and ompB