Incorporating project uncertainty in novel environmental biotechnologies: illustrated using phytoremediation

"Pollution of the environment by metals and organic contaminants is an intractable global problem, with cleanup costs running into billions of dollars using current engineering technologies. The availability of alternative, cheap and effective technologies would significantly improve the prospects of cleaning-up metal contaminated sites. Phytoremediation has been proposed as an economical and ‘green' method of exploiting plants to extract or degrade the contaminants in the soil. To date, the majority of phytoremediation efforts have been directed at leaping the biological, biochemical and agronomic hurdles to deliver a working technology, with scant attention to the economic outlook other than simple estimates of the cost advantages of phytoremediation over other techniques. In this paper we use a deterministic actuarial model to show that uncertainty in project success (the possibility that full clean up may not be realized) may significantly increase the perceived costs of remediation works for decision-makers." Authors' Abstractbiotechnology, Soil contaminants, Environmental remediation Economic aspects, Industrial crop technologies,

Chronic pain and substance use disorders among older HIV-infected sexual minority men: implications for engagement in care

Accepted versio

Vaginal lubricants in the couple trying-to-conceive:Assessing healthcare professional recommendations and effect on in vitro sperm function

Vaginal lubricants are commonly used by couples trying-to-conceive. However, most vaginal lubricants are sperm toxic and therefore should not be used by couples trying-to-conceive. Despite this, lubricant sperm toxicity is insufficiently reported and guidance for healthcare professionals (HCPs) is absent. In this study, lubricant-related practices of fertility-based HCPs in Scotland were sampled via an online survey. Lubricants identified as being utilised in the fertility setting were subsequently incubated with prepared sperm samples to establish effects on sperm motility. HCP recommendations (n = 32) on lubricant use were varied although knowledge related to sperm toxicity was generally poor. HCPs infrequently asked about lubricant use and were unaware of guidance in this area. Aquagel, the only prescribed lubricant identified in this study, reduced sperm progressive motility to 49% of control after 10 minutes, even at concentrations as low as 5%. Vitality testing suggested the deterioration in progressive motility with Aquagel was not as a result of cell death. Conversely, Pré Vaginal Lubricant, a ‘sperm-safe’ lubricant, did not significantly affect any markers of sperm function assessed. Development of clinical guidance in this area is recommended to ensure HCPs deliver informed advice as lubricant use in couples trying-to-conceive may inadvertently contribute to delay in conception.</div

Evidences for Rapid Formation and Failure of Pleistocene Lava Dams of the Western Grand Canyon, AZ.

Over 200 isolated outcrops of horizontally stratified, basaltic lava flows within the inner gorge of western Grand Canyon indicate that several natural lava dams blocked the flow of the Colorado River during the Pleistocene, resulting in the formation of several lakes within the canyon. The largest lake was 90 m above the high water level of present-day Lake Powell and backed up a distance of over 480 km to Moab, Utah . Although early studies indicated that three or less dams once blocked the inner gorge, work completed in 1994 indicated that at least 13 distinct lava dams may have blocked the Colorado River. Comparison with modern erosion rates of cliff retreat (Niagara Falls) indicate that the 13 dams would have required a minimum of 250,000 years to erode during the Pleistocene. However, geologic features and relationships not previously considered indicate that the dams formed rapidly (hours, days, or months) and failed catastrophically soon after formation. Excess radiogenic argon is contain within many basalts of Grand Canyon. This initial argon invalidates K-Ar model ages which are assumed by many geologists to require an age of more than one million years for the oldest lava dams. We envision that the entire episode of the lava darns can easily be reconciled within a time-frame of less than two thousand years. Our observations and interpretations reveal serious flaws in the current long-age timescale of the Pleistocene Epoch

A Gate-To-Gate Life-Cycle Inventory of Solid Hardwood Flooring in the Eastern US

Environmental impacts associated with building materials are under increasing scrutiny in the US. A gate-to-gate life-cycle inventory (LCI) of solid strip and solid plank hardwood flooring production was conducted in the eastern US for the reporting year 2006. Survey responses from hardwood flooring manufacturing facilities in this region accounted for nearly 28% of total US solid hardwood flooring production for that year. This study examined the materials, fuels, and energy required to produce solid hardwood flooring, coproducts, and the emissions to air, land, and water. SimaPro software was used to quantify the environmental impacts associated with the reported materials use and emissions. Impact data were allocated on their mass contribution to all product and coproduct production of 1.0 m3 (oven-dry mass basis) of solid hardwood flooring. Carbon flow and transportation data are provided in addition to the LCI data. Results of this study are useful for creating a cradle-to-gate inventory when linked to LCIs for the hardwood forest resource and the production of solid hardwood lumber in the same region

On Automated Message Processing in Electronic Commerce and Work Support Systems: Speech Act Theory and Expressive Felicity

Electronic messaging, whether in an office environment or for electronic commerce, is normally carried out in natural language, even when supported by information systems. For a variety of reasons, it would be useful if electronic messaging systems could have semantic access to, that is, access to the meanings and contents of, the messages they process. Given that natural language understanding is not a practicable alternative, there remain three approaches to delivering systems with semantic access: electronic data interchange (EDI), tagged messages, and the development of a formal language for business communication (FLBC). We favor the latter approach. In this article we compare and contrast these three approaches, present a theoretical basis for an FLBC (using speech act theory), and describe a prototype implementation

Message Management Systems: Concepts, Motivations, and Strategic Effects

This paper motivates the need for system-level message management software. It begins by considering information flows in the workplace as a source of potential gains in efficiency. We next investigate work-flow automation and electronic data interchange (EDI) as indicative of current technologies applied to work processes and message management. Having described current technology and our vision of work processes, we propose an alternative, general-purpose, software technology for supporting application-to-application communication. Problems of EDI, of process-to-process communication, and of describing information items are discussed in terms of the communication problems they present. We then justify the need for this kind of software and layout the criteria (or plausibility conditions) for evaluating a proposal for this sort of system software. The use of a formal communication language is proposed as a common solution to these problems. This proposal is examined in the context of the EDI problem, in order to demonstrate how the proposal might work in practice. Practical benefits of the proposal are discussed that highlight the impact such a technology might have on business practices. The proposed solution is measured against the plausibility conditions presented earlier in the paper; it is found to be sufficient in some cases and in need of further investigation in others. We then discuss the industrial-organizational implications of the availability of such a technology, and hypothesize that it would affect the number and form of cooperative business relationships as well as their scope and depth. We also hypothesize that it would provide advantages to those firms that quickly adopt the technology

The Total Synthesis of (–)-Scabrolide A

The first total synthesis of the norcembranoid diterpenoid scabrolide A is disclosed. The route begins with the synthesis of two chiral pool-derived fragments, which undergo a convergent coupling to expediently introduce all 19 carbon atoms of the natural product. An intramolecular Diels–Alder reaction and an enone–olefin cycloaddition/fragmentation sequence are then employed to construct the fused [5–6–7] linear carbocyclic core of the molecule and complete the total synthesis