Clean development mechanism: a way to sustainable waste management in developing countries?

The Clean Development Mechanism established under the Kyoto Protocol allows investors in the developed world to invest in the developing world in return for emission credits. The CDM has two goals—to contribute to the reduction of emissions in the developed countries, and to promote sustainable development in the developing country. The objective of this paper is to analyze the project portfolio of 400 published CDM projects in the sector “waste handling and disposal” according to their project and technology characteristics.     

Enhancing institutional dynamics for multiple uses of water amidst climate‐related risks: The case of Lake Buhi,Philippines

This study examined the current governance system for Lake Buhi, Philippines. It describes stakeholder patterns of decision‐making, their roles in the decision‐making process based on their legal mandates, the manner of interactions, the sources of conflict and how these various issues are currently resolved. Stakeholders represent diverse interests, including irrigation, hydropower generation, fishery management and navigation. This study uses data generated from ten key informant interviews of the different stakeholders, information from five round table discussions, and secondary data and reports of various agencies. The results indicate that Lake Buhi and its watershed present classic man‐in‐nature governance challenges. The interplay of internal and external uncertainties regarding multiple uses results in a complex system that is difficult to effectively manage. Climate‐related hazards aggravate the pressures from activities within the lake watershed, complicating water allocation issues. The institutional arrangements that have emerged to address these challenges, however, appear to be fraught with overlaps, fragmentation and a lack of communication. It is thought these deficiencies could be addressed by establishing a lake basin council with representation from all the involved organizations, as well as any stakeholder groups not represented by organizations. The system of governance over the lake must address issues concerning water uses and access to the resource. The capacity of the organizations to participate in such an arrangement is weak, however, and capacity building is needed. The availability and sharing of data and information among stakeholders are also weak and must be strengthened if the work of the lake basin council is to be based on the best available information.     

Different preparative modes for the incorporation of additives in NR/SBR blends

Rubber goods usually require a combination of properties that cannot be provided by one elastomer only and then two or more polymer components have to be mixed to meet specific requirements. In such cases, the additives normally employed in rubber formulations are unevenly distributed, depending on the affinity of each compound to each polymeric phase. Thus, the dispersion of each one of these ingredients in the different rubbers will influence the rate and degree of vulcanization and, in consequence, the performance of the final composite. In this work, natural rubber (NR) and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) were mixed in a 1 : 1 ratio. The compositions were obtained according to ASTM D 3182, by using four different preparative modes for the incorporation of the additives. After vulcanization, morphological, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, tensile strength, hardness, and tear resistance of each composition were investigated. The results show that the best properties were found when the NR/SBR mixture was prepared in such a way as to favor the vulcanization of the SBR phase while preserving the NR phase from excessive vulcanization. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 483–489, 2004     

A variational approach to vesicle membrane reconstruction from fluorescence imaging

Biological applications like vesicle membrane analysis involve the precise segmentation of 3D structures in noisy volumetric data, obtained by techniques like magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or laser scanning microscopy (LSM). Dealing with such data is a challenging task and requires robust and accurate segmentation methods. In this article, we propose a novel energy model for 3D segmentation fusing various cues like regional intensity subdivision, edge alignment and orientation information. The uniqueness of the approach consists in the definition of a new anisotropic regularizer, which accounts for the unbalanced slicing of the measured volume data, and the generalization of an efficient numerical scheme for solving the arising minimization problem, based on linearization and fixed-point iteration. We show how the proposed energy model can be optimized globally by making use of recent continuous convex relaxation techniques. The accuracy and robustness of the presented approach are demonstrated by evaluating it on multiple real data sets and comparing it to alternative segmentation methods based on level sets. Although the proposed model is designed with focus on the particular application at hand, it is general enough to be applied to a variety of different segmentation tasks.     

Pretreatment of aqueous pectin solution by cross‐flow microfiltration: analysis of operational parameters,degree of concentration and pectin losses

Obtaining pectin through traditional precipitation processes requires a large amount of organic solvent. A reduction in solvent consumption may be achieved by incorporating a cross‐flow microfiltration step in which the extraction solution is removed and pectin is concentrated. In this study, we used α‐alumina tubular membrane (0.44 μm) in two operation modes: total recycle mode to evaluate the effect of temperature, initial concentration of pectin and transmembrane pressure on the permeate flux and pectin coefficient rejection; and batch mode to evaluate the degree of concentration and loss of pectin. It was observed that pectin coefficient rejection varied from 93.4 ± 0.7% to 97.8 ± 0.3%, and a maximum permeate flux of 238.69 ± 6.48 kg m^?2 h^?1 with 0.12 MPa at 50 °C and 1.0 g kg^?1. Using the optimum conditions, the flux observed at the end of the process was 32.8% lower than the flux in the total recycle mode, enabling a final concentration of pectin in the retained solution of 61.04 ± 0.87% with an average pectin loss in the permeate stream of 8.18%.     

How orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus) innovate for water.

We report an observational field study that aimed to identify innovative processes in rehabilitant orangutans’ (Pongo pygmaeus) water innovations on Kaja Island, Central Kalimantan, Indonesia. We tested for the basic model of innovating (make small changes to old behavior), 4 contributors (apply old behavior to new ends, accidents, independent working out, social cross-fertilization), development, and social rank. Focal observations of Kaja rehabilitants’ behavior over 20 months yielded 18 probable innovations from among 44 water variants. We identified variants by function and behavioral grain, innovations by prevalence, and innovative processes by relations between innovations, other behaviors, and social encounters. Findings indicate innovating by small changes and some involvement of all 4 contributors; midrank orangutans were the most innovative; and rehabilitants’ adolescent age profile, orphaning, and intense sociality probably enhanced innovativeness. Important complexities include: orangutan innovating may favor certain behavioral levels and narrowly defined similarities, and it may constitute a phase-like process involving a succession of changes and contributors. Discussion focuses on links with great ape cognition and parallels with innovating in humans and other nonhuman species. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

High-resolution multi-bit second-order incremental converter with 1.5-μV residual offset and 94-dB SFDR

This paper describes an incremental converter based on a second order ???? modulator. The scheme uses a 3-bit DAC with inherent linearity, an optimal reset of integrators, and gives rise to an effective offset cancellation with a novel technique based on single or double chopping. The circuit, fabricated in a mixed 0.18-0.6???m CMOS technology, obtains 1.5-??V residual offset with 2V_PP fully differential range. The measured resolution is 19 bit obtained with 512 clock periods.     

5 Fluorouracil‐loaded biosynthesised gold nanoparticles for the in vitro treatment of human pancreatic cancer cell

In this study, green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) was performed by a sunlight irradiation method using the Borassus flabellifer fruit extract as a reducing agent. 5‐Fluorouracil (5‐FU)‐loaded GG capped AuNPs (5FU‐G‐AuNPs) was prepared. The nanoparticles was further characterised by UV‐visible spectra, particle size analysis, zeta potential, SAED, HRTEM, and XRD. The MTT assay results showed the suitability 5‐FU‐G‐AuNPs. In this study, 5‐FU‐G‐AuNPs exhibited potential cytotoxic and apoptotic effects on (MiaPaCa‐2) cell line.Inspec keywords: gold, biochemistry, X‐ray diffraction, nanofabrication, biomedical materials, transmission electron microscopy, toxicology, electrokinetic effects, particle size, nanoparticles, cancer, visible spectra, cellular biophysics, ultraviolet spectra, nanomedicine, patient treatment, organic compoundsOther keywords: 5FU‐G‐AuNPs, suitability 5‐FU‐G‐AuNPs, human pancreatic cancer cell, green synthesis, sunlight irradiation method, 5‐Fluorouracil‐loaded GG, in vitro treatment, 5 fluorouracil‐loaded biosynthesised gold nanoparticles, borassus flabellifer fruit extract, reducing agent, UV‐visible spectra, particle size analysis, zeta potential, SAED, HRTEM, XRD, MTT assay, apoptotic effects, cytotoxic effects, MiaPaCa‐2 cell line, Au     

Progress in emitter wrap-through solar cell fabrication on boron doped Czochralski-grown silicon

We report on RISE-EWT (Rear Interdigitated Single Evaporation-Emitter Wrap-Through) solar cells on full area (12.5×12.5 cm²) pseudo square boron doped Czochralski-grown silicon wafers. We investigate the main efficiency optimisation factors of these cells by investigating the dependence of RISE-EWT cell parameters on the base dopant concentration N_A. We furthermore detail the effects of large feature sizes in base and emitter regions at the rear of the solar cell and investigate these effects with particular attention to the edge regions. EWT solar cells typically exhibit rather low fill factors. However, our results show that the improved fill factors can be achieved by increasing N_A, which in return leads to optimised efficiency values. For our RISE-EWT solar cells made from boron doped Cz-Si wafers, this benefit is maintained even after light-induced degradation. Our investigation of edge area related effects shows the importance of proper cell design in these areas, leading to a further 2.8% absolute improvement in the fill factor. Combining increased base dopant concentration with optimised edge design, we achieve 19.0% efficiency on (12.5×12.5 cm²) boron doped Cz silicon wafers before light-induced degradation, resulting in 18.1% efficiency in the light-degraded state.