Reducing waste : repair, recondition, remanufacture or recycle?

Between 1980 and 1997, municipal waste in OECD countries increased by around 40%. This paper outlines the very real negative effects of this increase and then introduces the two main European Union policies that have been established to address this problem: a landfill directive and legislation on extended producer responsibility (EPR). The paper then describes and compares the four alternative strategies to reducing end-of-life waste within the context of extended producer responsibility: namely repairing, reconditioning, remanufacturing or recycling. It also introduces a more robust definition of remanufacturing, validated by earlier research, which differentiates it from repair and reconditioning. From a consideration of the different factors involved, it concludes that remanufacturing may well be the best strategy. This is because it enables the embodied energy of virgin production to be maintained, preserves the intrinsic added value of the product for the manufacturer and enables the resultant products to be sold as new with updated features if necessary

Estimation of the shear force in transverse dynamic force microscopy using a sliding mode observer

Open access journalIn this paper, the problem of estimating the shear force affecting the tip of the cantilever in a Transverse Dynamic Force Microscope (TDFM) using a real-time implementable sliding mode observer is addressed. The behaviour of a vertically oriented oscillated cantilever, in close proximity to a specimen surface, facilitates the imaging of the specimen at nano-metre scale. Distance changes between the cantilever tip and the specimen can be inferred from the oscillation amplitudes, but also from the shear force acting at the tip. Thus, the problem of accurately estimating the shear force is of significance when specimen images and mechanical properties need to be obtained at submolecular precision. A low order dynamic model of the cantilever is derived using the method of lines, for the purpose of estimating the shear force. Based on this model, an estimator using sliding mode techniques is presented to reconstruct the unknown shear force, from only tip position measurements and knowledge of the excitation signal applied to the top of the cantilever. Comparisons to methods assuming a quasi-static harmonic balance are made.Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC

Could Large CP Violation Be Detected at Colliders?

We argue that CP--violation effects below a few tenths of a percent are probably undetectable at hadron and electron colliders. Thus only operators whose contributions interfere with tree--level Standard Model amplitudes are detectable. We list these operators for Standard Model external particles and some two and three body final state reactions that could show detectable effects. These could test electroweak baryogenesis scenarios.Comment: 11pp, LaTeX, UM--TH--92--27(massaged to make TeX output cleaner), no picture

Efficacy and Safety of Vancomycin Loading Doses in Critically Ill Patients with Methicillin-Resistant \u3ci\u3eStaphylococcus aureus\u3c/i\u3e Infection

Background: While vancomycin loading doses may facilitate earlier pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic target attainment, the impact of loading doses on clinical outcomes remains understudied. Critically ill patients are at highest risk of morbidity and mortality from methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection and hypothesized to most likely benefit from a loading dose. We sought to determine the association between receipt of a vancomycin loading dose and clinical outcomes in a cohort of critically ill adults. Methods: Four hundred and forty-nine critically ill patients with MRSA cultures isolated from blood or respiratory specimens were eligible for the study. Cohorts were established by receipt of a loading dose (⩾20 mg/kg actual body weight) or not. The primary outcome was clinical failure, a composite outcome of death within 30 days of first MRSA culture, blood cultures positive ⩾7 days, white blood cell count up to 5 days from vancomycin initiation, temperature up to 5 days from vancomycin initiation, or substitution (or addition) of another MRSA agent. Results: There was no difference in the percentage of patients experiencing clinical failure between the loading dose and no loading dose groups (74.8% versus 72.8%; p = 0.698). Secondary outcomes were also similar between groups, including mortality and acute kidney injury, as was subgroup analysis based on site of infection. Exploratory analyses, including assessment of loading dose based on quartiles and a multivariable logistic regression model showed no differences. Conclusion: Use of vancomycin loading doses was not associated with improved clinical outcomes in critically ill patients with MRSA infection

The role of ongoing dendritic oscillations in single-neuron dynamics

The dendritic tree contributes significantly to the elementary computations a neuron performs while converting its synaptic inputs into action potential output. Traditionally, these computations have been characterized as temporally local, near-instantaneous mappings from the current input of the cell to its current output, brought about by somatic summation of dendritic contributions that are generated in spatially localized functional compartments. However, recent evidence about the presence of oscillations in dendrites suggests a qualitatively different mode of operation: the instantaneous phase of such oscillations can depend on a long history of inputs, and under appropriate conditions, even dendritic oscillators that are remote may interact through synchronization. Here, we develop a mathematical framework to analyze the interactions of local dendritic oscillations, and the way these interactions influence single cell computations. Combining weakly coupled oscillator methods with cable theoretic arguments, we derive phase-locking states for multiple oscillating dendritic compartments. We characterize how the phase-locking properties depend on key parameters of the oscillating dendrite: the electrotonic properties of the (active) dendritic segment, and the intrinsic properties of the dendritic oscillators. As a direct consequence, we show how input to the dendrites can modulate phase-locking behavior and hence global dendritic coherence. In turn, dendritic coherence is able to gate the integration and propagation of synaptic signals to the soma, ultimately leading to an effective control of somatic spike generation. Our results suggest that dendritic oscillations enable the dendritic tree to operate on more global temporal and spatial scales than previously thought