Climate change negotiations and first-mover advantages: the case of the wind turbine industry

Individual EU member countries, such as Denmark and Germany, may have a rational economic interest in creating comparative advantages for renewable energy sources in order to capitalise on their first-mover advantages in these industries. We demonstrate that different means of implementing the Kyoto Agreement affect the potential to market new renewable technologies, e.g. wind turbines, to other countries subsequent to their ratification of the Kyoto target levels. This article shows that a transnationally grandfathered Tradable Permit System (TPS) renders the shadow price of emissions reductions lower in the high-cost reduction countries. Export opportunities to these countries will consequently be reduced under a transnational TPS, e.g. from the EU to the US. This could also serve to explain EU opposition to a fully flexible TPS in The Hague in 2001. Instead, the latest EU proposal delivered in Johannesburg pushed for setting a target of 15% of all energy to come from sources of renewable energy, e.g. wind turbines, solar panels, biomass and waves, by 2015. Such initiative would further EU industrial interests globally. Future research should, however, attempt to provide more empirical evidence concerning this proposition and its importance compared to other concerns.     

Radiation enteritis following radiotherapy for prostatic carcinoma

Two cases of radiation enteritis and small bowel obstruction are reported following supervoltage radiation therapy for carcinoma of the prostate. The mechanisms of radiation injury to the small bowel and contributing factors are discussed. It is suggested that lymph node staging procedures for carcinoma of the prostate be done extraperitoneally in order to avoid the enhanced sensitivity of small bowel to radiation injury following transperitoneal procedures.     

1997 American Urological Association Gallup survey: Changes in diagnosis and management of prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia, and other practice trends from 1994 to 1997

PURPOSE: The American Urological Association first commissioned the Gallup Organization to conduct a study to assess urologist practice patterns in 1992. We present the results of the 1997 survey, the sixth consecutive Gallup survey performed for the Association. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A random sample of 502 American urologists who had completed urological residency and practiced at least 20 hours weekly in 1996 was interviewed by telephone in February and March 1997. RESULTS: Emerging trends showed significant changes since 1994 in how urologists diagnosed and treated prostate cancer. The survey revealed a significant change in the tests routinely ordered to stage newly diagnosed prostate cancer and for diagnostic evaluation of patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia. CONCLUSIONS: Urologists are becoming more cost conscious and effective in ordering pretreatment testing. Urologists are becoming more oriented toward medical treatment for the management of benign prostatic hyperplasia, and less laser surgery is being performed.     

3-nitrobenzenesulfonic acid and 3-aminobenzesulfonic acid in a laboratory trickling filter: Biodegradability with different activated sludges

The biodegradation of 3-nitrobenzenesulfonate (3-NBS) or 3-aminobenzenesulfonate (3-ABS) was examined in a laboratory trickling filter device containing one of six activated sludges as the biocatalyst. No activated sludge from four communal treatment plants could degrade 3-NBS or 3-ABS. In contrast, each of the sludges from two plants treating wastes from the textile industry was able to completely degrade 3-NBS or 3-ABS. Under certain conditions, communal activated sludge could acclimate to degrade 3-NBS, even though inoculation with a degradative sludge was a more efficient process. In the absence of a carbon source, the degradative ability of trickling filters was retained for at least 1 week; thereafter, an adaptation phase was required before rapid and extensive degradation of recovered 3-NBS. Degradation was monitored by global parameters (DOC and release of CO₂) and specific determinations of substrate (HPLC). The global parameters indicated incomplete metabolism of 3-NBS, but this effect was found to be due to the presence of a non-degraded impurity (5%), 4-NBS, found in most commercial preparations of 3-NBS.     

Length-dependent extraction of single-walled carbon nanotubes

A two-phase liquid-liquid extraction process is presented which is capable of extracting water-soluble single-walled carbon nanotubes into an organic phase. The extraction utilizes electrostatic interactions between a common phase transfer agent and the sidewall functional groups on the nanotubes. Large length-dependent van der Waals forces for nanotubes allow the ability to control the length of nanotubes extracted into the organic phase as demonstrated by atomic force microscopy.     

Spectrophotometric determination of ferrate (Fe(VI)) in water by ABTS

A new method for the determination of low concentrations (0.03-35 microM) of the aqueous ferrate (Fe(VI)) was developed. The method is based on the reaction of Fe(VI) with 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) which forms a green radical cation (ABTS(+)) that can be measured spectrophotometrically at 415 nm (ABTS method). The reaction of Fe(VI) with ABTS has a stoichiometry of 1 : 1 in excess of ABTS (73 microM). The increase in absorbance at 415 nm for ABTS*+ generation was linear with respect to Fe(VI) added (0.03-35 microM) in buffered solutions (acetate/phosphate buffer at pH = 4.3) and was (3.40+/-0.05) x 10(4) M(-1) cm(-1). The reaction of Fe(VI) with ABTS was very rapid with a half-life time below 0.01 s at pH 4.3 and 73 microM of ABTS. This enables the ABTS method to measure Fe(VI) selectively. The residual absorbance of ABTS*+ was found to be stable in several water matrices (synthetic buffer solution and natural waters) and concentrations of Fe(VI) spiked in natural waters could be determined with high accuracy. The ABTS method can also be used as a tool to determine rate constants of reactions of Fe(VI). The second-order rate constant for the reaction of phenol with Fe(VI) was determined to be 90 M(-1) s(-1) at pH 7.     

Influence of diesel engine combustion parameters on primary soot particle diameter

Effects of engine operating parameters and fuel composition on both primary soot particle diameter and particle number size distribution in the exhaust of a direct-injected heavy-duty diesel engine were studied in detail. An electrostatic sampler was developed to deposit particles directly on transmission electron microscopy (TEM) grids. Using TEM, the projected area equivalent diameter of primary soot particles was determined. A scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS) was used for the measurement of the particle number size distribution. Variations in the main engine operating parameters (fuel injection system, air management, and fuel properties) were made to investigate soot formation and oxidation processes. Primary soot particle diameters determined by TEM measurements ranged from 17.5 to 32.5 nm for the diesel fuel and from 24.1 to 27.2 nm for the water-diesel emulsion fuel depending on the engine settings. For constant fuel energy flow rate, the primary particle size from the water-diesel emulsion fuel was slightly larger than that from the diesel fuel. A reduction in primary soot particle diameter was registered when increasing the fuel injection pressure (IP) or advancing the start of injection (SOI). Larger primary soot particle diameters were measured while the engine was operating with exhaust gas recirculation (EGR). Heat release rate analysis of the combustion process revealed that the primary soot particle diameter decreased when the maximum flame temperature increased for the diesel fuel.