Back to Kyoto? US Participation and the Linkage between R&D and Climate Cooperation

The US decision not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and the recent outcomes of the Bonn and Marrakech Conferences of the Parties drastically reduces the effectiveness of the Kyoto Protocol in controlling GHG emissions. The reason is not only the reduced emission abatement in the US, but also the spillover effects on technology and countries’ relative bargaining power induced by the US decision. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse whether an incentive strategy exists that could induce the US to revise their decision and to comply with the Kyoto commitments. One solution, occasionally proposed in the literature and in actual policymaking, is to link negotiations on climate change control with decisions concerning international R&D cooperation. This paper explores this idea by analysing on the one hand the incentives for EU, Japan and Russia to adopt this strategy, and on the other hand the incentives for the US to join a coalition which cooperates both on climate change control and on technological innovation. The extended regime in which cooperation takes place on both dimensions (GHG emissions and R&D) will be examined from the view point of countries’ profitability and free-riding incentives. Finally, after having assessed the effectiveness and credibility of the issue linkage strategy, we explore the economic and environmental benefits of a new, recently proposed regime, which aims at achieving GHG emission control by enhancing cooperation on technological innovation and diffusion (without targets on emissions).agreements, climate, incentives, negotiations, policy, technological change

Rumen Microbial Ecology And Rumen-Derived Fatty Acids: Determinants Of And Relationship To Dairy Cow Production Performance

Rumen microbiota enable dairy cattle to breakdown fiber into useable energy for milk production. Rumen bacteria, protozoa, and fungi ferment feedstuff into volatile fatty acids (VFA), the main energy source, while methanogens utilize fermentation by-products to produce methane. Milk fat contains several bioactive rumen-derived fatty acids (FA), including odd-chain FA (OCFA) and branched-chain FA (BCFA), important for maintenance of human health. The overarching dissertation goal was to determine which factors affect rumen methanogen and protozoal community structures and their metabolism products, while defining relationships between rumen microbiota and animal performance. Results presented contribute to the goals of providing new knowledge to dairy farmers, maintaining ruminant health, and enhancing bioactive FA in milk. The first objective was to use next-generation sequencing techniques to determine if lactation stage and dairy breed affect rumen methanogen and protozoal community structures and protozoa cell FA compositions in Jersey, Holstein, and Holstein-Jersey crossbred cows at 3, 93, 183, and 273 days in milk (DIM). A core methanogen community persisted by lactation stage and breed. At 3 DIM, methanogen 16S rRNA gene sequences formed distinct clusters apart from 93, 183, and 273 DIM, reflective of the dietary transition period post-partum. The starch-utilizing protozoal genus Entodinium, was more abundant in Holsteins than in Jerseys and Holstein-Jersey crossbred cows and positively correlated with milk yield. Jerseys had greater iso-BCFA contents in protozoa and milk and protozoa of the genus Metadinium. The second objective was to determine if supplementation of mixed cool-season grasses with annual forages (AF) alters the forage, microbial, and milk FA contents during typical periods of decreased pasture growth in Northeastern US. In short-term grazing (21d) of AF, ruminal VFA and major rumen-derived FA were not altered in bacterial and protozoal cells, suggesting little alteration of biohydrogenation and maintenance of ruminant health. In spring, milk contents of iso-15:0 and 17:0 per serving of whole milk were greater in control (CON)-fed cows, while contents of 12:0 and 14:0 per serving were greater in AF-fed cows. Contents of de novo FA and OCFA per serving of whole milk were greater in summer AF-fed cows than CON-fed cows, while total contents and BCFA did not differ, suggesting post-ruminal FA modifications in adipose tissue and the mammary gland. The third objective was to characterize and relate the rumen microbiota from CON- and AF-fed cows to animal performance. Rumen protozoal taxa were not altered, while less abundant bacterial taxa (\u3c 5%) were different in both periods. The protozoal genus Diplodinium was positively correlated with feed efficiency and milk fat yield. In spring, AF-fed cows had greater abundances of the methanogen species Methanobrevibacter millerae, whereas CON-fed cows had greater abundances of the methanogen species Methanobrevibacter ruminantium, potentially as a result of differences in substrate availability. In conclusion, the work presented identifies several factors that influence rumen microbiota, rumen microbial FA, and milk FA, while providing new information to dairy farmers, researchers, and consumers

A Measure of the Hurst Exponent Variability on Ground Based Magnetometer Data for Quiet and Active Magnetospheric Periods

Ground-based magnetometer data were analyzed for the period of 1991-2001. The data were classified into periods of quiet and active magnetospheric activity. Those periods classified as quiet required that Kp \u3c 1 for not less than 48 consecutive hours and active periods required a Kp \u3e 4 for not less than 24 consecutive hours. Detrended fluctuation analysis was employed to analyze 40 events. A monofractal approach was used to identify differences in the Hurst exponent of quiet and active events. No statistical differences were found using this approach since both types of events displayed quasirandom walk behavior. A second approach determined the temporal variations in the Hurst exponent for each event. The Hurst exponent is temporally dynamic — active events are more correlated than quiet events - suggesting a multifractional rather than monofractal behavior. The results are useful to suggest an appropriate model of magnetic field fluctuations

Evaluation of novel hovering strategies to improve gravity-tractor deflection merits

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on October 18, 2012).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Craig A. KlueverVita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2011."May 2011"The gravity-tractor (GT) consists of a spacecraft hovering inertially over a small asteroid. This equilibrium state is achieved by the action of a pair of engines that balance the gravitational acceleration. Due to Newton's law of gravitation the spacecraft causes a small gravitational pull on the asteroid that after prolonged time intervals causes a small change in its trajectory preventing it from impacting the Earth. This dissertation introduces a novel concept in the implementation of the GT to augment its deflection merits. Two novel guidance laws are designed to take advantage of the asteroid shape and rotation rate forcing the GT spacecraft to move towards and away the center of mass of the asteroid in synchronous motion with its rotation, resulting in an increased gravitational pull. The asteroid model was generalized as a solid, homogeneous triaxial ellipsoid. A small GT spacecraft was proposed and a detailed model of the NSTAR ion thrusters was used to investigate the efficiency of the GT operating under these novel guidance laws and the classical inertial hovering. The performance of these hovering laws was examined over a wide range of asteroid shapes and rotation rates. The results obtained suggest that it is possible to improve the deflection merits by up to 60%. The propellant efficiency showed to be sensitive to the spacecraft parameters; in particular, the engine model and the controller used to sustain the desired hovering state play an important role in the propellant penalties associated with these extended hovering modes. Furthermore, these results indicate that previous works have overestimated the propellant efficiency of a typical GT by using oversimplified models of solar electric engines.Includes bibliographical reference

Liraglutideas Adjunct Therapy in the Management of Obesity

The obesity epidemic has reached a new level with some impressive numbers recently published in the United States of America. Even more alarming is the rapid increase in childhood obesity, which has been universally documented over the past few decades. The reasons underlying the problem of obesity can be simplified into three categories: i) routine consumption of bigger portion size meals; ii) confusing messages from food industry to consumers; and iii) physical inactivity is the “new normal”. Considering that the medical consequences of obesity are serious and directly affect morbidity and mortality, it has become necessary to act concomitantly to prevent and treat the increase in body weight and fat excess accumulation. The prevention of obesity is a formidable task that can only be accomplished with a concerted effort put together by several governmental agencies, especially those interested in agriculture, health and education, the food industry and health care providers, including physicians and nutrition specialists. Treatment of obesity with behavioral management, nutritional manipulations (“diets”) and, even bariatric surgery has had some success, but these strategies are accompanied by limited benefits and only to a select group of individuals. More importantly, the overall impact of these on the growing obesity pandemic is disappointing, at best. Some dietary recommendations with caloric restriction and adjustments in nutrient intake combined to pharmacotherapy have expanded our ability to manage obese patients.The recent approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agency of the Glucagon-Like-Peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor analog liraglutide, at the dose of 3.0 mg once daily, has provided us with an additional tool to combat the disease and minimize its complications. In this particular study, a significant reduction in the conversion ratesfrom pre-diabetes to diabetes was also shown and represents an important findingof the trial. Despite the fact that nausea, vomiting and diarrhea were frequently reported during the 1-year period of observation, tolerance was acceptable and most subjects completed the study.These data clearly indicate that combination drug therapy with dietary adjustments can be successful in promoting weight reduction and further support routine utilization of adjuvant pharmacotherapy in the management of obesity

NO2 pollution over selected cities in the Po valley in 2018-2021 and its possible effects on boosting COVID-19 deaths

This work analyzes nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution over a set of cities in the Po Valley in northern Italy, using satellite and in situ observations. The cities include Milan, Bergamo, and Brescia, the first area of the COVID-19 outbreak and diffusion in Italy, with a higher mortality rate than in other parts of Italy and Europe. The analysis was performed for three years, from May 2018 to April 2021, including the period of first-wave diffusion of COVID-19 over the Po Valley, that is, January 2020-April 2020. The study aimed at giving a more general picture of the NO2 temporal and spatial variation, possibly due to the lockdown adopted for the pandemic crisis containment and other factors, such as the meteorological conditions and the seasonal cycle. We have mainly investigated two effects: first, the correlation of NO2 pollution with atmospheric parameters such as air and dew point temperature, and second the possible correlation between air quality and COVID-19 deaths, which could explain the high mortality rate. We have found a good relationship between air quality and temperature. In light of this relationship, we can conclude that the air quality improvement in March 2020 was primarily because of the lockdown adopted to prevent and limit virus diffusion. We also report a good correlation between NO2 pollution and COVID-19 deaths, which is not seen when considering a reference city in the South of Italy. The critical factor in explaining the difference is the persistence of air pollution in the Po Valley in wintertime. We found that NO2 pollution shows a seasonal cycle, yielding a non-causal correlation with the COVID-19 deaths. However, causality comes in once we read the correlation in the context of current and recent epidemiological evidence and leads us to conclude that air pollution may have acted as a significant risk factor in boosting COVID-19 fatalities

Niccolò Bertuzzi. I movimenti animalisti in Italia. Strategie, politiche e pratiche di attivismo. Meltemi ed. (Milano 2018) 253 p

Italian animal advocacy is a complex reality, the actors of which have different origins, ideas and relations even within the same group. Niccolò Bertuzzi, Research Fellow at the Scuola Normale of Pisa (Italy) dealt with this topic from a sociological perspective. His investigation is presented in a book published in 2018, in which he describes the socio-political aspects of this phenomenon with a critical analysis of the results. This book provides a deep insight on a dynamic part of society, whose ethical needs could contribute to enrich the debate of the XXI.El activismo animalista italiano es una realidad compleja, cuyos actores tienen diferentes orígenes, ideas y relaciones entre ellos, incluso dentro del mismo grupo. Niccolò Bertuzzi, investigador en la Scuola Normale de Pisa (Italia) ha tratado este tema desde una perspectiva sociológica. Su investigación se presenta en un libro publicado en 2018, en el que se describen los aspectos sociopolíticos de este fenómeno con un análisis crítico de los resultados. Este libro proporciona una visión profunda de una parte dinámica de la sociedad, cuyas exigencias éticas podrían contribuir a enriquecer el debate del XXI.Obra ressenyada: Niccolò BERTUZZI, I movimenti animalisti in Italia. Strategie, politiche e pratiche di attivismo. Milano: Meltemi ed., 2018

Nutrology and type 2 diabetes: Nutrient pathophysiology and the transition from health to disease

From a Nutrology point of view, type 2 diabetes is a multi-factorial form of clinical “malnutrition” resulting from the intake of an imbalanced diet in combination with adverse environmental conditions and in the presence of predisposing genetic factors. In this review article, we present evidence of a close association between clinical obesity in a specific genetic background as the pillars of the process underlying the development of type 2 diabetes. We review the basics of the energy balance and the role of fat storage and body distribution in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance. We describe some molecular aspects of nutrients under normal physiology and during the metabolic and hormonal abnormalities that accompany type 2 diabetes. We conclude with a brief discussion of the principles behind popular dietary recommendations aimed at preventing the full development of diabetes mellitus and its complications