Rural biomass energy 2020: People's Republic of China

The developing world is looking for effective, creative ideas for upscaling clean, renewable energy. No place will gain more socially, economically, and environmentally from increased access to clean, reliable energy than poor, rural areas. Biomass energy, produced from animal and crop wastes, is a sensible renewable energy option for rural areas and it can be cost-effective at community and industry scales if guided effectively by governments. This publication explores the potential of biomass energy to close the urban–rural energy gap, raise farmer incomes, and mend the environment in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Its findings are instructive for other developing and medium-income countries exploring energy-for-all strategies. The report examines the promises and limitations of leading biomass energy technologies and resources for various distribution scales, including but not limited to household biogas digesters. The information is based on lessons learned and experiences from the Asian Development Bank–financed Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project in the PRC, as well as findings and conclusions from a technical assistance grant to assist the government draft a national strategy for developing rural biomass energy.rural biomass energy; rural development; biomass resources; biomass technologies; China

Bioethics and the Experiences of Hansen’s Disease Survivors

Historically, Hansen’s disease patients suffered from discrimination because their physical features changed due to the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae (M. leprae) and made them “ugly” in the eyes of society. Former Japanese governments saw them as a national disgrace and forced them to reside in leprosaria. Since the law requiring isolation continued after the silver bullet was developed, survivors could not leave the leprosaria and return to society. Currently, survivors’ average age is 82 and they live in 13 national sanatoriums. When they pass away, the history of Hansen’s disease in Japan will end, so we must record their experiences. We conducted qualitative and inductive studies with survivors. In this chapter, we reconstruct them from the perspective of bioethics and propose several theories surrounding them: (1) How former leprosaria and medical administrations in Japan threatened bioethical principles; (2) the wisdom of aging survivors, who lived through extreme situations, and what real restoration of their rights might look like; and (3) the ethical dilemmas of how we will care for the survivors—who have multiple severe sequelae—until they all pass away. Finally, we will introduce our ethical nursing practices in relation to caring and understanding via holism

What Behaviors Are Important for Successful Weight Maintenance?

Purpose. To examine behavioral factors related to successful weight maintenance. Methods. Subjects were 90 middle-aged participants who attended a weight loss program and were followed for one year. The subjects were classified into either successful weight maintainers (maintained a weight loss of 5% or more from their initial weight for one year) (SWM) or unsuccessful weight maintainers (USWM), and weight control practice, stress, obstacles, support, and self-efficacy during the program and follow-up period were compared. Results. SWM had mean loss of 12% from their initial weight during the program. They showed a greater improvement in their regularity of eating, walked more, and felt less stress regarding their increased physical activity than the USWM. During the follow-up period, significantly more SWM participants had self-efficacy (for measuring weight, practicing dietary objective, and assessing the practice and keeping records), actually kept records and measured weight more than the USWM participants. In contrast, more USWM participants felt stress about measuring weight. Conclusion. In addition to a substantial initial weight loss due to an increased amount of physical activity, having a higher self-efficacy and consistently keeping records of one's activities, as well as regularly weighing themselves, may be important for successful weight maintenance

Rural biomass energy 2020: People's Republic of China

The developing world is looking for effective, creative ideas for upscaling clean, renewable energy. No place will gain more socially, economically, and environmentally from increased access to clean, reliable energy than poor, rural areas. Biomass energy, produced from animal and crop wastes, is a sensible renewable energy option for rural areas and it can be cost-effective at community and industry scales if guided effectively by governments. This publication explores the potential of biomass energy to close the urban–rural energy gap, raise farmer incomes, and mend the environment in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Its findings are instructive for other developing and medium-income countries exploring energy-for-all strategies. The report examines the promises and limitations of leading biomass energy technologies and resources for various distribution scales, including but not limited to household biogas digesters. The information is based on lessons learned and experiences from the Asian Development Bank–financed Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project in the PRC, as well as findings and conclusions from a technical assistance grant to assist the government draft a national strategy for developing rural biomass energy

A STUDY ON METALLIC ELEMENT COMPOSITION OF PETALS FROM YOSHINO CHERRY TREE AND ITS REGIONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN TOKYO

We analysed the elemental composition of Yoshino cherry tree (Prunus × yedoensis)petals and soils from the Tokyo Metropolitan area to understand their regional variations and theenvironmental factors that affect these variations. Petal samples were collected from 130 sitesduring 2010–2011. K, Ca, S, P, Si, Fe, Mn, Zn and Rb were detected in petals usingenergy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Based on the presence of five elements (Ca, Mn,Fe, Zn and Rb), the petal samples were classified into three areas: eastern Tokyo (downtownarea), central Tokyo (upland area) and western Tokyo (mountainous and hilly area). Petals fromeastern Tokyo contained relatively high concentrations of Fe and Zn, and low concentrations ofMn and Rb. Central Tokyo samples contained relatively high Rb, while western Tokyo samplescontained high Mn, low Rb and Fe. Soil samples were collected from beneath Yoshino cherrytrees at 35 sites and their elemental compositions were measured using EDX. Nineteen elementswere detected in the soils. The compositions of the soil elements were analysed using principalcomponents analysis, where the first and third principal components corresponded to mafic andfelsic properties in the parent soils, respectively. Because some elements correlated with thesecond principal component and had a high elemental enrichment factor, this component wasconsidered to represent anthropogenic influences. Ca and Rb in petals correlated with mafic soilproperties, whereas Zn correlated with felsic soil properties. Fe in petals correlated with theanthropogenic component. We concluded that the elements in petals are not always influencedby the soil elemental composition, but changes in soil properties due to the soil parent materialproperties and human impacts also affect plant uptake of elements and their transfer to petals

Exploring the use of weathering index in alluvial fan chronology

Alluvial fan sediments can act as an archive of local environmental history. Sedimentation on alluvial fans is controlled by fluvial erosional processes occurring in upland drainage basins and slopes, and the subsequent transport processes which deliver the sediments from the catchment area to the fan. Low sedimentation rates are marked by buried soils and in situ weathering of sediments, while pedogenically unmodified sediment between buried soils reflects times of rapid sedimentation of the alluvial fan. Two borehole cores (FN 350 cm and AG 850 cm) from Holocene alluvial fans located in the Qu’Appelle Valley in southern Saskatchewan, Canada were analyzed in order to establish a relative chronology by using weathering indices. We evaluated if weathering indexes (the CaO/ZrO2 molar ratio, the Product Index and the Parker Index) are suitable to assess sediment weathering within alluvial fan. To quantify the degree of weathering within the sediment samples the three indices of weathering were calculated using the proportions of elements measured by Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. There was an inverse relationship between weathering index and sample age

Effect of soil profile structure on seasonal changes of soil temperature in urban forests

Field observations of soil temperature were carried out in an urban park to compare the characteristics of heat transfer in urban forest soils having different soil profile structures. The diurnal variation of soil temperature was significant down to 10 cm depth. Their patterns in the layers deeper than 30 cm differed by seasons and soil profile structures having contrasted soil properties. Temperature transmission to deeper layers was faster in the soil profile having stronger soil compaction and abundant artifacts than in the soil profile with weaker soil compaction and no artifacts. From February to April, the soil temperature was higher in the undisturbed profile, having lower soil pH (acidic), lower compaction, smaller bulk density, and larger carbon content, than in the lithological disturbed profile containing a large amount of concrete rubbles with higher soil pH (neutral to weak alkaline), higher compaction, larger bulk density, and smaller carbon content. The reverse trend appeared from mid-April to December. Moreover, the annual range of soil temperature was larger and occurred deeper in the lithological disturbed profile than in the undisturbed profile. Thermal diffusivity and thermal conductivity were 0.9-7.9 × 10^ cm^2 s^ and 0.20-1.85 Wm^K^ for the lithological disturbed profile, respectively. The values were smaller, 0.3-5.3 ×10^ cm^2 s^ and 0.02-0.45 Wm^K^, respectively for the undisturbed profile. Based on our two years observation, we conclude that the intensive soil compaction and lithological discontinuity regulate soil thermal properties of urban forests, by which soils may likely to be assigned to a higher soil temperature regime

Rural biomass energy 2020: People's Republic of China

The developing world is looking for effective, creative ideas for upscaling clean, renewable energy. No place will gain more socially, economically, and environmentally from increased access to clean, reliable energy than poor, rural areas. Biomass energy, produced from animal and crop wastes, is a sensible renewable energy option for rural areas and it can be cost-effective at community and industry scales if guided effectively by governments. This publication explores the potential of biomass energy to close the urban–rural energy gap, raise farmer incomes, and mend the environment in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). Its findings are instructive for other developing and medium-income countries exploring energy-for-all strategies. The report examines the promises and limitations of leading biomass energy technologies and resources for various distribution scales, including but not limited to household biogas digesters. The information is based on lessons learned and experiences from the Asian Development Bank–financed Efficient Utilization of Agricultural Wastes Project in the PRC, as well as findings and conclusions from a technical assistance grant to assist the government draft a national strategy for developing rural biomass energy