Catalyzing strategic transformation to a low-carbon economy: A CCS roadmap for China

China now faces the three hard truths of thirsting for more oil, relying heavily on coal, and ranking first in global carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions. Given these truths, two key questions must be addressed to develop a low-carbon economy: how to use coal in a carbon-constrained future? How to increase domestic oil supply to enhance energy security? Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) may be a technological solution that can deal with today's energy and environmental needs while enabling China to move closer to a low-carbon energy future. This paper has been developed to propose a possible CCS roadmap for China. To develop the roadmap, we first explore major carbon capture opportunities in China and then identify critical CCS-enabling technologies, as well as analyze their current status and future prospects. We find that coal gasification or polygeneration in combination with CCS could be a nearly unbeatable combination for China's low-carbon future. Even without CCS, gasification offers many benefits: once coal is gasified into syngas, it can be used for many different purposes including for alternative fuels production, thereby increasing the domestic oil supply and the flexibility of the energy system.     

Estimation of Listeria monocytogenes transfer coefficients and efficacy of bacterial removal through cleaning and sanitation

Listeria monocytogenes is readily found in the environment of retail deli establishments and can occasionally contaminate food handled in these establishments. Here we synthesize the available scientific evidence to derive probability distributions and mathematical models of bacterial transfers between environmental surfaces and foods, including those during slicing of food, and of bacterial removal during cleaning and sanitizing (models available at www.foodrisk.org). Transfer coefficients varied considerably by surface type, and after log(10) transformation were best described by normal distributions with means ranging from -0.29 to -4.96 and standard deviations that ranged from 0.07 to 1.39. 'Transfer coefficients' during slicing were best described by a truncated logistic distribution with location 0.07 and scale 0.03. In the absence of protein residues, mean log inactivation indicated a greater than 5 log(10) reduction for sanitization with hypochlorite (mean: 6.5 log(10); 95% confidence interval (CI): 5.0-8.1 log(10)) and quaternary ammonium compounds (mean: 5.5 log(10); 95% CI: 3.6-7.3 log(10)), but in the presence of protein residues efficacy reduced dramatically for hypochlorite (mean: 3.8 log(10); 95% CI: 2.1-5.4 log(10)) as well as quaternary ammonium compounds (mean: 4.4log(10); 95% CI: 2.5-6.4 log(10)). Overall, transfer coefficients are therefore low, even though cross-contamination can be extremely efficient under certain conditions. Dozens of food items may consequently be contaminated from a single contaminated slicer blade, albeit at low concentrations. Correctly performed sanitizing efficiently reduces L. monocytogenes contamination in the environment and therefore limits cross-contamination, even though sanitization is only performed a few times per day. However, under unfavorable conditions reductions in bacterial concentration may be far below 5 log(10). The probability distributions and mathematical models derived here can be used to evaluate L. monocytogenes cross-contamination dynamics in environments where foods are handled, and to assess the potential impact of different intervention strategies.     

Retrospective assessment of marital adjustment and depression during the first 2 years of spousal bereavement.

Two hundred twelve bereaved elders rated marital adjustment using items drawn from the H. J. Locke and K. M. Wallace (1959) Marital Adjustment Test and completed the Beck Depression Inventory 2 months, 12 months, and 30 months after the loss of their spouses. Their responses were compared with those of 162 nonbereaved individuals of comparable age who were tested at the same times. More positive ratings of marital adjustment were made by bereaved subjects than by nonbereaved subjects. Among nonbereaved elders, more severe ratings of depression were associated with lower ratings of marital adjustment. In the bereaved sample, however, the opposite was found: More severe ratings of depression were associated with higher ratings of marital adjustment. This pattern of results changed only slightly over the 2.5-year course of bereavement and was not influenced by gender. These results are discussed in terms of cognitive processes (e.g., idealization) that influence retrospective assessments of marital adjustment during bereavement. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Musculoskeletal disorders as a fatigue failure process: evidence,implications and research needs

Abstract

Mounting evidence suggests that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) may be the result of a fatigue failure process in musculoskeletal tissues. Evaluations of MSD risk in epidemiological studies and current MSD risk assessment tools, however, have not yet incorporated important principles of fatigue failure analysis in their appraisals of MSD risk. This article examines the evidence suggesting that fatigue failure may play an important role in the aetiology of MSDs, assesses important implications with respect to MSD risk assessment and discusses research needs that may be required to advance the scientific community’s ability to more effectively prevent the development of MSDs.

Practitioner Summary: Evidence suggests that musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) may result from a fatigue failure process. This article proposes a unifying framework that aims to explain why exposure to physical risk factors contributes to the development of work-related MSDs. Implications of that framework are discussed.     

The human use of numbering systems

The design of numbering systems for use both by the general public and in industry is considered from the point of view of the individual user. The role of short-term memory is considered with particular reference to the manipulation of numbers and letters. Guidelines are finally given for the improved design of numbering systems.     

Responsive Hybrid Polymeric/Metallic Nanoparticles for Catalytic Applications

The aims of the current study were to synthesize new responsive polymeric microgels with embedded silver nanoparticles and then to employ these particles as catalyst for reduction reactions. To these ends, stimuli‐responsive microgels from PNIPAAm and the chitosan derivative were firstly synthesized by free radical precipitation polymerization. Then, silver nanoparticles were synthesized inside these microgel networks by in situ reduction of AgNO₃. These microgels were temperature/pH sensitive with a phase transition temperature of 32–35 °C in water at pH = 3 and 8, respectively. The catalytic activity of the Ag nanoparticles for the reduction of 4‐nitrophenol can be tuned through the swelling or collapse of the responsive microgel network hosting the active nanoparticles.

     

Root-secreted Allelochemical in the Noxious Weed <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phragmites Australis</Emphasis> Deploys a Reactive Oxygen Species Response and Microtubule Assembly Disruption to Execute Rhizotoxicity

Phragmites australis is considered the most invasive plant in marsh and wetland communities in the eastern United States. Although allelopathy has been considered as a possible displacing mechanism in P. australis, there has been minimal success in characterizing the responsible allelochemical. We tested the occurrence of root-derived allelopathy in the invasiveness of P. australis. To this end, root exudates of two P. australis genotypes, BB (native) and P38 (an exotic) were tested for phytotoxicity on different plant species. The treatment of the susceptible plants with P. australis root exudates resulted in acute rhizotoxicity. It is interesting to note that the root exudates of P38 were more effective in causing root death in susceptible plants compared to the native BB exudates. The active ingredient in the P. australis exudates was identified as 3,4,5-trihydroxybenzoic acid (gallic acid). We tested the phytotoxic efficacy of gallic acid on various plant systems, including the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Most tested plants succumbed to the gallic acid treatment with the exception of P. australis itself. Mechanistically, gallic acid treatment generated elevated levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the treated plant roots. Furthermore, the triggered ROS mediated the disruption of the root architecture of the susceptible plants by damaging the microtubule assembly. The study also highlights the persistence of the exuded gallic acid in P. australis’s rhizosphere and its inhibitory effects against A. thaliana in the soil. In addition, gallic acid demonstrated an inhibitory effect on Spartina alterniflora, one of the salt marsh species it successfully invades. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Fate and transport of copper-based crop protectants in plasticulture runoff and the impact of sedimentation as a best management practice

The fate and distribution of copper-based crop protectants, applied to plasticulture tomato fields to protect against disease, were investigated in a greenhouse-scale simulation of farming conditions in a coastal environment. Following rainfall, 99% of the applied copper was found to remain on the fields sorbed to the soil and plants; most of the soil-bound copper was found sorbed to the top 2.5 cm of soil between the plasticulture rows. Of the copper leaving the agricultural fields, 82% was found in the runoff with the majority, 74%. sorbed to the suspended solids. The remaining copper, 18%, leached through the soil and entered the groundwater with 10% in the dissolved phase and 8% sorbed to suspended solids. Although only 1% copper was found to leave the field, this was sufficient to cause high copper concentrations (average 2102+/-433 microg/L total copper and 189+/-139 microg/L dissolved copper) in the runoff. Copper concentrations in groundwater samples were also high (average 312+/-198 microg/L total copper and 216+/-99 microg/L dissolved copper). Sedimentation, a best management practice for reducing copper loadings. was found to reduce the total copper concentrations in runoff by 90% to a concentration of 245+/-127 microg/L; however, dissolved copper concentrations remained stable, averaging 139+/-55 microg/L. Total copper concentrations were significantly reduced by the effective removal of suspended solids with sorbed copper.     

Influence of sketch types on distributed design team work

Product development is a collaborative activity more often than ever carried out by distributed design teams. It is critical to determine how sketches are used in such environments in order to improve the design process. Sketches produced by students participating in a collaborative design project of three European Universities are classified according to the intention of the designer when producing a sketch, the level of detail shown in the sketch and the phase when the sketch was produced. The adapted classification system used in this paper helps to analyse type of sketches with most variety of ideas. Furthermore, this paper reviews which type of sketches offers the most potential to be further developed. Results show that persuasive sketches offer the broadest range of ideas since they are produced as a combination of ideas from brainstorming sessions. Shared sketches help to achieve consensus in decision-making since the sketches are most likely to be produced by the entire group rather than individually.