CPS Energy: Leading The Way To A Sustainable Future

As the production and distribution costs of energy continue to rise, end-consumers are increasingly realizing the impact on their pocketbook. Moreover, with these climbing monthly utility bills, the natural monopoly structure of the energy industry deserves examination to determine best-practices. The vast majority, a full 69% of utility companies in the United States are structured in the form of an investor-owned utility. The remaining 31% of energy companies are publicly-owned, either as cooperatives or as publicly-owned utilities accountable to the cities and municipalities that own them. This case study presents CPS Energy, the Nation’s largest city-owned and publicly-operated energy company, which serves the Country’s seventh largest City. CPS has provided natural gas and electric service for more than a half century to the 1.5 million Texans who call the Alamo City home. With its impressive record of reliability, customer service, financial integrity, renewable energy policies, progressive environmental policies, community relations, and, perhaps, most important to consumers, low rates, CPS is the model of what a sustainable, 21st Century energy company can be

Dangerous dietary supplements: Garcinia cambogia-associated hepatic failure requiring transplantation.

Commercial dietary supplements are marketed as a panacea for the morbidly obese seeking sustainable weight-loss. Unfortunately, many claims cited by supplements are unsupported and inadequately regulated. Most concerning, however, are the associated harmful side effects, often unrecognized by consumers. Garcinia cambogia extract and Garcinia cambogia containing products are some of the most popular dietary supplements currently marketed for weight loss. Here, we report the first known case of fulminant hepatic failure associated with this dietary supplement. One active ingredient in this supplement is hydroxycitric acid, an active ingredient also found in weight-loss supplements banned by the Food and Drug Administration in 2009 for hepatotoxicity. Heightened awareness of the dangers of dietary supplements such as Garcinia cambogia is imperative to prevent hepatoxicity and potential fulminant hepatic failure in additional patients

“Natural” Sunscreens Although More Expensive Are Not More Effective at Preventing UV Exposure

Skin cancer, the most common type of cancer within humans, has approximately 3.5 million cases each year. The evidence supports that the use of sunscreen can help to prevent different forms of skin cancers. There are a multitude of brands that make sunscreen, each claiming to be better than the next. The two main types of sunscreen are physical and chemical. Physical sunscreens deflect the ultraviolet (UV) rays of the sun and are normally made of zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, whereas chemical sunscreen absorb the suns UV rays and can be composed of many different ingredients. It was hypothesized that the physical sunscreens would do a better job at protecting against the sun’s rays than the chemical sunscreen brands. In this experiment E. coli growth was tested under UV light exposure with an application of five different brands of sunscreen. The control was exposed to UV with no sunscreen protection. After exposure to the UV light, the bacteria were set aside to grow and colonies were counted for survival. A statistical ANOVA was used to look at the significance between each brand of sunscreen, physical and chemical. Through the statistical analysis it was found that there was no significant difference between each brand of sunscreen. However, there was a significant difference in E. coli counts between each sunscreen application and the control. There was no statistical difference in E. coli counts between sunscreen types, indicating both types of sunscreen provide the same amount of protection from UV radiation

Personal Care Products: Where are the Phthalates?

Phthalates are chemicals that are commonly used as a plasticizer in personal care products. This class of compounds is added to help prevent products from drying out. Phthalates have been shown to have potential negative impacts on reproductive organs, cause birth defects, effect the endocrine system, as well as causing other ill effects. For example, previous work found that phthalates can have an effect on the endocrine system of adolescent individuals. In an intervention study, phthalate exposure was reduced when these products were not being used. The purpose of the present study is to examine phthalate abundance in personal care products and to design an intervention study to lessen exposure. To identify products containing phthalates, we used the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic database. This database contains personal care products and their ingredients. We used the database to identify products that contain phthalates and the type of phthalates used. The most commonly used phthalate is polyethylene terephthalate, with it currently found in 610 products, with 314 of which are nail polish. There are also 12 other kinds of phthalates that are regularly used in personal care products, ranging from lipstick to sunscreen. We can see that there are still a multitude of products that contain potentially harmful phthalates. This study is the foundation to future work looking at exposure to phthalates in adult populations and assessing sources of exposure from personal care products

Personal Care Products: Where are the Phthalates?

Phthalates are chemicals that are commonly used as a plasticizer in personal care products. This class of compounds is added to help prevent products from drying out. Phthalates have been shown to have potential negative impacts on reproductive organs, cause birth defects, effect the endocrine system, as well as causing other ill effects. For example, previous work found that phthalates can have an effect on the endocrine system of adolescent individuals. In an intervention study, phthalate exposure was reduced when these products were not being used. The purpose of the present study is to examine phthalate abundance in personal care products and to design an intervention study to lessen exposure. To identify products containing phthalates, we used the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetic database. This database contains personal care products and their ingredients. We used the database to identify products that contain phthalates and the type of phthalates used. The most commonly used phthalate is polyethylene terephthalate, with it currently found in 610 products, with 314 of which are nail polish. There are also 12 other kinds of phthalates that are regularly used in personal care products, ranging from lipstick to sunscreen. We can see that there are still a multitude of products that contain potentially harmful phthalates. This study is the foundation to future work looking at exposure to phthalates in adult populations and assessing sources of exposure from personal care products

The OSIRIS-REx Visible and InfraRed Spectrometer (OVIRS): Spectral Maps of the Asteroid Bennu

The OSIRIS-REx Visible and Infrared Spectrometer (OVIRS) is a point spectrometer covering the spectral range of 0.4 to 4.3 microns (25,000-2300 cm-1). Its primary purpose is to map the surface composition of the asteroid Bennu, the target asteroid of the OSIRIS-REx asteroid sample return mission. The information it returns will help guide the selection of the sample site. It will also provide global context for the sample and high spatial resolution spectra that can be related to spatially unresolved terrestrial observations of asteroids. It is a compact, low-mass (17.8 kg), power efficient (8.8 W average), and robust instrument with the sensitivity needed to detect a 5% spectral absorption feature on a very dark surface (3% reflectance) in the inner solar system (0.89-1.35 AU). It, in combination with the other instruments on the OSIRIS-REx Mission, will provide an unprecedented view of an asteroid's surface.Comment: 14 figures, 3 tables, Space Science Reviews, submitte