Life cycle management (LCM)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Remmen, Arne; Thrane, Mikkel

2004-01-01

The chapter gives an introduction to Life Cycle Management (LCM) and shows how LCM can be practiced in different contexts and at different ambition levels.......The chapter gives an introduction to Life Cycle Management (LCM) and shows how LCM can be practiced in different contexts and at different ambition levels....

Does It Have a Life Cycle?

Science.gov (United States)

Keeley, Page

2010-01-01

If life continues from generation to generation, then all plants and animals must go through a life cycle, even though it may be different from organism to organism. Is this what students have "learned," or do they have their own private conceptions about life cycles? The formative assessment probe "Does It Have a Life Cycle?" reveals some…

10 CFR 436.19 - Life cycle costs.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... operation and maintenance costs: (c) Replacement costs less salvage costs of replaced building systems; and... 10 Energy 3 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Life cycle costs. 436.19 Section 436.19 Energy DEPARTMENT... Procedures for Life Cycle Cost Analyses § 436.19 Life cycle costs. Life cycle costs are the sum of the...

HIV-1 Vif's Capacity To Manipulate the Cell Cycle Is Species Specific.

Science.gov (United States)

Evans, Edward L; Becker, Jordan T; Fricke, Stephanie L; Patel, Kishan; Sherer, Nathan M

2018-04-01

Cells derived from mice and other rodents exhibit profound blocks to HIV-1 virion production, reflecting species-specific incompatibilities between viral Tat and Rev proteins and essential host factors cyclin T1 (CCNT1) and exportin-1 (XPO1, also known as CRM1), respectively. To determine if mouse cell blocks other than CCNT1 and XPO1 affect HIV's postintegration stages, we studied HIV-1 NL4-3 gene expression in mouse NIH 3T3 cells modified to constitutively express HIV-1-compatible versions of CCNT1 and XPO1 (3T3.CX cells). 3T3.CX cells supported both Rev-independent and Rev-dependent viral gene expression and produced relatively robust levels of virus particles, confirming that CCNT1 and XPO1 represent the predominant blocks to these stages. Unexpectedly, however, 3T3.CX cells were remarkably resistant to virus-induced cytopathic effects observed in human cell lines, which we mapped to the viral protein Vif and its apparent species-specific capacity to induce G 2 /M cell cycle arrest. Vif was able to mediate rapid degradation of human APOBEC3G and the PPP2R5D regulatory B56 subunit of the PP2A phosphatase holoenzyme in mouse cells, thus demonstrating that Vif NL4-3 's modulation of the cell cycle can be functionally uncoupled from some of its other defined roles in CUL5-dependent protein degradation. Vif was also unable to induce G 2 /M cell cycle arrest in other nonhuman cell types, including cells derived from nonhuman primates, leading us to propose that one or more human-specific cofactors underpin Vif's ability to modulate the cell cycle. IMPORTANCE Cells derived from mice and other rodents exhibit profound blocks to HIV-1 replication, thus hindering the development of a low-cost small-animal model for studying HIV/AIDS. Here, we engineered otherwise-nonpermissive mouse cells to express HIV-1-compatible versions of two species-specific host dependency factors, cyclin T1 (CCNT1) and exportin-1 (XPO1) (3T3.CX cells). We show that 3T3.CX cells rescue HIV-1

Introducing Life Cycle Impact Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Huijbregts, Mark AJ

2015-01-01

This chapter serves as an introduction to the presentation of the many aspects of life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) in this volume of the book series ‘LCA Compendium’. It starts with a brief historical overview of the development of life cycle impact assessment driven by numerous national LCIA...... methodology projects and presents the international scientific discussions and methodological consensus attempts in consecutive working groups under the auspices of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) as well as the UNEP/ SETAC Life Cycle Initiative, and the (almost) parallel...

Emissions from photovoltaic life cycles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fthenakis, V.M.; Kim, H.C.; Alsema, E.A.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/073416258

2008-01-01

Photovoltaic (PV) technologies have shown remarkable progress recently in terms of annual production capacity and life cycle environmental performances, which necessitate timely updates of environmental indicators. Based on PV production data of 2004–2006, this study presents the life-cycle

Projected life expectancy of people with HIV according to timing of diagnosis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nakagawa, Fumiyo; Lodwick, Rebecca K; Smith, Colette J

2012-01-01

positive in 2010. The effect of altering the diagnosis rate was investigated. Results: Assuming a high rate of HIV diagnosis (median CD4 cell count at diagnosis, 432¿cells/µl), projected median age at death (life expectancy) was 75.0 years. This implies 7.0 years of life were lost on average due to HIV......Background and objectives: Effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) has contributed greatly toward survival for people with HIV, yet many remain undiagnosed until very late. Our aims were to estimate the life expectancy of an HIV-infected MSM living in a developed country with extensive access to ART...... and healthcare, and to assess the effect of late diagnosis on life expectancy. Methods: A stochastic computer simulation model of HIV infection and the effect of ART was used to estimate life expectancy and determine the distribution of potential lifetime outcomes of an MSM, aged 30 years, who becomes HIV...

Hormonal levels among HIV-1-seropositive women compared with high-risk HIV-seronegative women during the menstrual cycle. Women's Health Study (WHS) 001 and WHS 001a Study Team.

Science.gov (United States)

Cu-Uvin, S; Wright, D J; Anderson, D; Kovacs, A; Watts, D H; Cohn, J; Landay, A; Reichelderfer, P S

2000-10-01

There is a paucity of normative data on hormonal levels among HIV-infected women. Hormonal levels may influence fertility and HIV-related immunological and virological factors. The objective of this study was to determine progesterone and estradiol levels during the menstrual cycle in HIV-seropositive women compared with high-risk seronegative women. The study enrolled 55 HIV-infected and 10 high-risk uninfected women with self-reported regular menstrual cycles (25-30-day cycles). Progesterone and estradiol levels were determined on a weekly basis for 8 weeks. The analysis included evaluations from the first complete menstrual cycle for the 54 HIV-infected and 9 uninfected women who had at least one complete cycle. The median age was 35 years for HIV-infected women and 36 years for uninfected women. The median CD4+ count for HIV-seropositive women was 210 cells/mm3. The median menstrual cycle length was 28 days (range 22-49 days) for HIV-infected women and 25 days (range 24-44 days) for uninfected women. The maximum progesterone level during the luteal phase was normal (>3.0 ng/ml) for 52 (96%) of 54 HIV-seropositive women and 7 (78%) of 9 HIV-seronegative women (p = 0.09, Fisher's exact test). The median maximum progesterone level was 12.2 ng/ml in HIV-seropositive women and 7.2 ng/ml in HIV-seronegative women (p = 0.07, Wilcoxon test). The median maximum estradiol value during the follicular phase was 148 pg/ml for HIV-seropositive women and 111 pg/ml for HIV-seronegative women (p = 0.04, Wilcoxon test). Among HIV-infected women, there were no significant differences in progesterone and estradiol levels by antiretroviral therapy, baseline plasma viral load, or median CD4+ cell count. We conclude that HIV-infected women with self-reported normal menstrual cycles have normal levels of progesterone and estradiol during the menstrual cycle.

Life Cycle Assessment for Biofuels

Science.gov (United States)

A presentation based on life cycle assessment (LCA) for biofuels is given. The presentation focuses on energy and biofuels, interesting environmental aspects of biofuels, and how to do a life cycle assessment with some examples related to biofuel systems. The stages of a (biofuel...

Towards Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marzia Traverso

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Sustainability is nowadays accepted by all stakeholders as a guiding principle for both public policy making and corporate strategies. However, the biggest challenge for most organizations remains in the real and substantial implementation of the sustainability concept. The core of the implementation challenge is the question, how sustainability performance can be measured, especially for products and processes. This paper explores the current status of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA for products and processes. For the environmental dimension well established tools like Life Cycle Assessment are available. For the economic and social dimension, there is still need for consistent and robust indicators and methods. In addition to measuring the individual sustainability dimensions, another challenge is a comprehensive, yet understandable presentation of the results. The “Life Cycle Sustainability Dashboard” and the “Life Cycle Sustainability Triangle” are presented as examples for communication tools for both experts and non expert stakeholders.

SAMHD1 controls cell cycle status, apoptosis and HIV-1 infection in monocytic THP-1 cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bonifati, Serena; Daly, Michele B.; St Gelais, Corine; Kim, Sun Hee; Hollenbaugh, Joseph A.; Shepard, Caitlin; Kennedy, Edward M.; Kim, Dong-Hyun; Schinazi, Raymond F.; Kim, Baek; Wu, Li

2016-01-01

SAMHD1 limits HIV-1 infection in non-dividing myeloid cells by decreasing intracellular dNTP pools. HIV-1 restriction by SAMHD1 in these cells likely prevents activation of antiviral immune responses and modulates viral pathogenesis, thus highlighting a critical role of SAMHD1 in HIV-1 physiopathology. Here, we explored the function of SAMHD1 in regulating cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in monocytic THP-1 cells. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generated THP-1 cells with stable SAMHD1 knockout. We found that silencing of SAMHD1 in cycling cells stimulates cell proliferation, redistributes cell cycle population in the G_1/G_0 phase and reduces apoptosis. These alterations correlated with increased dNTP levels and more efficient HIV-1 infection in dividing SAMHD1 knockout cells relative to control. Our results suggest that SAMHD1, through its dNTPase activity, affects cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis, and emphasize a key role of SAMHD1 in the interplay between cell cycle regulation and HIV-1 infection.

SAMHD1 controls cell cycle status, apoptosis and HIV-1 infection in monocytic THP-1 cells

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bonifati, Serena [Center for Retrovirus Research, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Daly, Michele B. [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); St Gelais, Corine; Kim, Sun Hee [Center for Retrovirus Research, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States); Hollenbaugh, Joseph A.; Shepard, Caitlin [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); Kennedy, Edward M. [Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University, Durham, NC (United States); Kim, Dong-Hyun [Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Kyung-Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Schinazi, Raymond F. [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); Kim, Baek, E-mail: baek.kim@emory.edu [Center for Drug Discovery, Department of Pediatrics, School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (United States); Department of Pharmacy, School of Pharmacy, Kyung-Hee University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Wu, Li, E-mail: wu.840@osu.edu [Center for Retrovirus Research, Department of Veterinary Biosciences, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH (United States)

2016-08-15

SAMHD1 limits HIV-1 infection in non-dividing myeloid cells by decreasing intracellular dNTP pools. HIV-1 restriction by SAMHD1 in these cells likely prevents activation of antiviral immune responses and modulates viral pathogenesis, thus highlighting a critical role of SAMHD1 in HIV-1 physiopathology. Here, we explored the function of SAMHD1 in regulating cell proliferation, cell cycle progression and apoptosis in monocytic THP-1 cells. Using the CRISPR/Cas9 technology, we generated THP-1 cells with stable SAMHD1 knockout. We found that silencing of SAMHD1 in cycling cells stimulates cell proliferation, redistributes cell cycle population in the G{sub 1}/G{sub 0} phase and reduces apoptosis. These alterations correlated with increased dNTP levels and more efficient HIV-1 infection in dividing SAMHD1 knockout cells relative to control. Our results suggest that SAMHD1, through its dNTPase activity, affects cell proliferation, cell cycle distribution and apoptosis, and emphasize a key role of SAMHD1 in the interplay between cell cycle regulation and HIV-1 infection.

Life cycle assessment : Past, present, and future

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Guinée, Jeroen B.; Heijungs, Reinout; Huppes, Gjalt; Zamagni, Alessandra; Masoni, Paolo; Buonamici, Roberto; Ekvall, Tomas; Rydberg, Tomas

2011-01-01

Environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) has developed fast over the last three decades. Whereas LCA developed from merely energy analysis to a comprehensive environmental burden analysis in the 1970s, full-fledged life cycle impact assessment and life cycle costing models were introduced in the

HIV-Related Self-Stigma and Health-Related Quality of Life of People Living With HIV in Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Nobre, Nuno; Pereira, Marco; Roine, Risto P; Sutinen, Jussi; Sintonen, Harri

We examined how HIV-related self-stigma was associated with different domains of quality of life (QoL), as measured by the World Health Organization Quality of Life in HIV-infected persons instrument (WHOQOL-HIV-Bref), and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) as measured by the generic 15D (15-dimensional measure of HRQoL), to identify the factors associated with self-stigma of people living with HIV (PLWH). The study sample included 440 patients living with HIV followed at the Infectious Disease Clinic of Helsinki University Hospital. Participants with more severe self-stigma reported significantly lower QoL and HRQoL. Male gender, cohabiting with a partner, and disclosure of HIV status were associated with less self-stigma; high education level and financial difficulties were associated with greater self-stigma. Having lived longer with HIV, being unemployed, and living alone were also predictors of self-stigma via financial difficulties. The findings suggest that self-stigma is a complex and multidimensional phenomenon that impacts the HRQoL of PLWH. Psychosocial interventions to enhance the well-being of PLWH are increasingly needed. Copyright © 2017 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Developing Asset Life Cycle Management capabilities through the implementation of Asset Life Cycle Plans – an Action Research project

OpenAIRE

Ruitenburg, Richard; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan

2017-01-01

Asset Life Cycle Management is a strategic approach to managing physical assets over their complete life cycle. However, the literature and the recent ISO 55,000 standard do not offer guidance as to how to develop such an approach. This paper investigates the main capabilities for Asset Life Cycle Management by means of a four year Action Research project implementing Asset Life Cycle Plans. Five main capabilities emerged: 1. strategic information use; 2. alignment of operations and strategy;...

Life cycle sustainability assessment of chemical processes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Xu, Di; Lv, Liping; Ren, Jingzheng

2017-01-01

In this study, an integrated vector-based three-dimensional (3D) methodology for the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) of chemical process alternatives is proposed. In the methodology, a 3D criteria assessment system is first established by using the life cycle assessment, the life cycl...

A case study by life cycle assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Shuyun

2017-05-01

This article aims to assess the potential environmental impact of an electrical grinder during its life cycle. The Life Cycle Inventory Analysis was conducted based on the Simplified Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) Drivers that calculated from the Valuation of Social Cost and Simplified Life Cycle Assessment Model (VSSM). The detailed results for LCI can be found under Appendix II. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment was performed based on Eco-indicator 99 method. The analysis results indicated that the major contributor to the environmental impact as it accounts for over 60% overall SLCA output. In which, 60% of the emission resulted from the logistic required for the maintenance activities. This was measured by conducting the hotspot analysis. After performing sensitivity analysis, it is evidenced that changing fuel type results in significant decrease environmental footprint. The environmental benefit can also be seen from the negative output values of the recycling activities. By conducting Life Cycle Assessment analysis, the potential environmental impact of the electrical grinder was investigated.

Sustainable Building Life Cycle Design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ginzburg Alexander

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The current building life cycle management system in the Russian Federation is a family of discrete subsystems that exist independently for different building life cycle stages. In this situation building reliability and sustainable functioning are out of the question. The implementation of a united information model (BIM-model intended to describe building entire life cycle will allow to raise the sustainability, but this will happen only if goals and concerns of all participants of the project process are properly coordinated. An important figure of process sustainability is the organizational and technological reliability (OTR that describes the possibility of a system to reach a goal. In case of building life cycle design, the economical efficiency of a building can be considered as the goal. The required technical, ecological, organizational, and other parameters form a complex of constraints that determine the area of allowable values for building functioning. In its broad meaning, OTR may be understood as the probability of receiving an economical effect based on the value of organizational and economical reliability (OER.

Life cycle management of analytical methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Parr, Maria Kristina; Schmidt, Alexander H

2018-01-05

In modern process management, the life cycle concept gains more and more importance. It focusses on the total costs of the process from invest to operation and finally retirement. Also for analytical procedures an increasing interest for this concept exists in the recent years. The life cycle of an analytical method consists of design, development, validation (including instrumental qualification, continuous method performance verification and method transfer) and finally retirement of the method. It appears, that also regulatory bodies have increased their awareness on life cycle management for analytical methods. Thus, the International Council for Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH), as well as the United States Pharmacopeial Forum discuss the enrollment of new guidelines that include life cycle management of analytical methods. The US Pharmacopeia (USP) Validation and Verification expert panel already proposed a new General Chapter 〈1220〉 "The Analytical Procedure Lifecycle" for integration into USP. Furthermore, also in the non-regulated environment a growing interest on life cycle management is seen. Quality-by-design based method development results in increased method robustness. Thereby a decreased effort is needed for method performance verification, and post-approval changes as well as minimized risk of method related out-of-specification results. This strongly contributes to reduced costs of the method during its life cycle. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

HIV Genome-Wide Protein Associations: a Review of 30 Years of Research

Science.gov (United States)

2016-01-01

SUMMARY The HIV genome encodes a small number of viral proteins (i.e., 16), invariably establishing cooperative associations among HIV proteins and between HIV and host proteins, to invade host cells and hijack their internal machineries. As a known example, the HIV envelope glycoprotein GP120 is closely associated with GP41 for viral entry. From a genome-wide perspective, a hypothesis can be worked out to determine whether 16 HIV proteins could develop 120 possible pairwise associations either by physical interactions or by functional associations mediated via HIV or host molecules. Here, we present the first systematic review of experimental evidence on HIV genome-wide protein associations using a large body of publications accumulated over the past 3 decades. Of 120 possible pairwise associations between 16 HIV proteins, at least 34 physical interactions and 17 functional associations have been identified. To achieve efficient viral replication and infection, HIV protein associations play essential roles (e.g., cleavage, inhibition, and activation) during the HIV life cycle. In either a dispensable or an indispensable manner, each HIV protein collaborates with another viral protein to accomplish specific activities that precisely take place at the proper stages of the HIV life cycle. In addition, HIV genome-wide protein associations have an impact on anti-HIV inhibitors due to the extensive cross talk between drug-inhibited proteins and other HIV proteins. Overall, this study presents for the first time a comprehensive overview of HIV genome-wide protein associations, highlighting meticulous collaborations between all viral proteins during the HIV life cycle. PMID:27357278

Developing Asset Life Cycle Management capabilities through the implementation of Asset Life Cycle Plans – an Action Research project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruitenburg, Richard; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan

2017-01-01

Asset Life Cycle Management is a strategic approach to managing physical assets over their complete life cycle. However, the literature and the recent ISO 55,000 standard do not offer guidance as to how to develop such an approach. This paper investigates the main capabilities for Asset Life Cycle

Assessment of HIV/AIDS and Life Skills Delivery in Primary Schools in Tanzania

Science.gov (United States)

Rushahu, Bernadetha Gabriel

2015-01-01

This study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of HIV/AIDS and the Life Skills Education delivery in primary schools in Tanzania. Specifically the study investigated pupils' views about the effect of HIV/AIDS and Life Skills teaching in primary schools in Tanzania; assessed pupils' knowledge related to HIV/AIDS and Life Skills education, and…

Life-cycle energy of residential buildings in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Yuan; Ries, Robert J.; Wang, Yaowu

2013-01-01

In the context of rapid urbanization and new construction in rural China, residential building energy consumption has the potential to increase with the expected increase in demand. A process-based hybrid life-cycle assessment model is used to quantify the life-cycle energy use for both urban and rural residential buildings in China and determine the energy use characteristics of each life cycle phase. An input–output model for the pre-use phases is based on 2007 Chinese economic benchmark data. A process-based life-cycle assessment model for estimating the operation and demolition phases uses historical energy-intensity data. Results show that operation energy in both urban and rural residential buildings is dominant and varies from 75% to 86% of life cycle energy respectively. Gaps in living standards as well as differences in building structure and materials result in a life-cycle energy intensity of urban residential buildings that is 20% higher than that of rural residential buildings. The life-cycle energy of urban residential buildings is most sensitive to the reduction of operational energy intensity excluding heating energy which depends on both the occupants' energy-saving behavior as well as the performance of the building itself. -- Highlights: •We developed a hybrid LCA model to quantify the life-cycle energy for urban and rural residential buildings in China. •Operation energy in urban and rural residential buildings is dominant, varying from 75% to 86% of life cycle energy respectively. •Compared with rural residential buildings, the life-cycle energy intensity of urban residential buildings is 20% higher. •The life-cycle energy of urban residential buildings is most sensitive to the reduction of daily activity energy

Life Cycle Collection Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helen Shenton

2003-09-01

Full Text Available Life cycle collection management is a way of taking a long-term approach to the responsible stewardship of the British Library's collections and is one of the Library's strategic strands. It defines the different stages in a collection item's existence over time. These stages range from selection and acquisitions processing, cataloguing and press marking, through to preventive conservation, storage and retrieval. Life cycle collection management seeks to identify the costs of each stage in order to show the economic interdependencies between the phases over time. It thereby aims to demonstrate the long-term consequences of what the library takes into its collections, by making explicit the financial and other implications of decisions made at the beginning of the life cycle for the next 100 plus years. This paper describes the work over the past year at the British Library on this complex and complicated subject. It presents the emerging findings and suggests how it can be used for practical reasons (by individual curators and selectors and for economic, governance and political purposes. The paper describes the next steps in the project, for example, on a predictive data model. The British Library is seeking to benchmark itself against comparable organisations in this area. It intends to work with others on specific comparison for example, of life cycle costing of electronic and paper journals, as a prelude to eliding digital and 'traditional' formats.

The Sphinx's Riddle: Life and Career Cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Burack, Elmer H.

1984-01-01

Career cycles should be considered apart from life cycles, even though the two are interrelated. This essay examines five theories about life and career cycles, and offers insights into their limitations and potential uses. (JB)

A comparison of production system life cycle models

Science.gov (United States)

Attri, Rajesh; Grover, Sandeep

2012-09-01

Companies today need to keep up with the rapidly changing market conditions to stay competitive. The main issues in this paper are related to a company's market and its competitors. The prediction of market behavior is helpful for a manufacturing enterprise to build efficient production systems. However, these predictions are usually not reliable. A production system is required to adapt to changing markets, but such requirement entails higher cost. Hence, analyzing different life cycle models of the production system is necessary. In this paper, different life cycle models of the production system are compared to evaluate the distinctive features and the limitations of each model. Furthermore, the difference between product life cycle and production life cycle is summarized, and the effect of product life cycle on production life cycle is explained. Finally, a production system life cycle model, along with key activities to be performed in each stage, is proposed specifically for the manufacturing sector.

Impact of the Menstrual Cycle on Immunologic Markers in HIV-Infected Taiwanese Women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kuang-Han Chao

2006-03-01

Conclusions: The CD8+ T cells were increased and activated in women with HIV infection but these alterations were not affected by the menstrual cycle. Therefore, sex hormones seem not to affect the course of HIV infection.

Life Cycle Environmental Management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Claus Stig; Jørgensen, Jørgen; Pedersen, Morten Als

1996-01-01

A precondition for environmentally conscious management is the awareness of the environmental impact potentials created by an industrial company. There is an obvious need for management tools to support the implementation of relevant environmental criteria into the industrial decision making...... processes. The discipline of life cycle environmental management (LCEM) focuses on the incorporation of environmental criteria from the life cycles of products and other company activities into the company management processes. This paper introduces the concept of LCEM as an important element...... of the complete set of environmental objects in an industrial manufacturing company....

Quality of Life of Pregnant Women Living with HIV/AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Silveira, Marysabel Pinto Telis; Silveira, Mariângela Freitas; Müller, Cristina Heloisa

2016-05-01

Objective to evaluate the quality of life of HIV positive (HIV+) pregnant women using the HIV/AIDS Target Quality of Life (HAT-QoL) instrument. Methods cross-sectional study, conducted between May 2014 and November 2015, with HIV+ pregnant women selected by convenience sampling. Sociodemographic and behavioral data were collected through interviews, and the HAT-QoL questionnaire was applied. Clinical and laboratorial data were collected from medical records. Results twenty-seven pregnant women participated in the study. Their mean age was 27 years (standard deviation - SD: 7.3). The majority (59%) had up to 8 years of education, 52% identified themselves as white, 56% were unemployed, and 59% had a household income higher than the minimum wage. The mean infection time by the virus was 68.4 months (5.7 years). The majority (74%) were contaminated with HIV through sexual intercourse, and 67% declared not having a HIV+ relative. Regarding the use of condoms, 41% reported using them sporadically, and the same number did not have proper knowledge about them. Only 23 patients (85%) reported having been prescribed antiretrovirals. Fourteen (64%) had a CD4 count higher than 500 cells/mm(3), and 13 pregnant women (59%) had an undetectable viral load. The scores from the quality of life questionnaire dimensions that were more affected are: infection "disclosure concerns" (mean: 39.8; SD: 27.1), followed by "financial concerns" (mean: 49.1; SD: 36), and "HIV acceptance" (mean: 49.1; SD: 35.8). The dimension with the best score was "medication concerns" (mean: 80.8; SD: 26.5). Conclusion quality of life has been increasingly used as a clinical outcome evaluation parameter. The results of this study contribute to the establishment of interventions based on the needs of HIV+ pregnant women. Thieme Publicações Ltda Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Life skills training as HIV/AIDS preventive strategy in secondary ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

A life skills and HIV/AIDS education programme was implemented in secondary schools as a strategy to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS among school-going young people in South Africa. As part of a joint effort of the Departments of Health and Education, two teachers per school were trained to implement life skills training ...

Life cycle management in product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Skelton, Kristen; Pattis, Anna

2013-01-01

The integration of Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) and Life Cycle Management (LCM) into business operations poses great challenges, as it requires a wider range of environmental responsibility often extending beyond a company's immediate control. Simultaneously, it offers many opportunities...

Measuring quality of life among people living with HIV: a systematic review of reviews.

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Vanessa; Clatworthy, Jane; Harding, Richard; Whetham, Jennifer

2017-11-15

A systematic review of reviews was conducted to identify and appraise brief measures of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) that have been used in peer-reviewed research with people living with HIV. The review was conducted in two stages: 1) search of electronic databases to identify systematic reviews of tools used to measure HRQoL in adults living with HIV, published since the year 2000; 2) selection of HRQol scales from those identified in the reviews. Inclusion criteria included scales that could be self-administered in 10 min or less, covering at least 3 domains of quality of life (physical function, social/role function and mental/emotional function). For generic scales, inclusion criteria included the availability of normative data while for HIV-specific scales, patient input into the development of the scale was required. Ten reviews met the inclusion criteria. Nine generic scales met the inclusion criteria: the EuroQol five dimensions questionnaire (EQ-5D); Health Utilities Index; McGill Quality of Life questionnaire; Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Short Form (SF)-12; SF-36; World Health Organisation Quality of Life (WHOQOL- BREF), Questions of Life Satisfaction (FLZM) and SF-20. Available psychometric data supported the EQ-5D and SF-36. Seven HIV-specific scales met the inclusion criteria: the AIDS Clinical Trials Group (ACTG)-21; HIV-QL-31; MOS-HIV; Multidimensional Quality of Life Questionnaire for Persons with HIV/AIDS (MQOL-HIV), PROQOL-HIV, Symptom Quality of Life Adherence (HIV-SQUAD) and the WHOQOL-HIV BREF. Of the HIV -specific measures, the MOS-HIV was considered to have the most well-established psychometric properties, however limitations identified in the reviews included insufficient input from people living with HIV in the development of the scale, cross-cultural relevance and continued applicability. Two relatively new measures, the WHOQOL-HIV BREF and PROQOL-HIV, were considered to have promising psychometric properties and may have

Antifreeze life cycle assessment (LCA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kesić Jelena

2005-01-01

Full Text Available Antifreeze based on ethylene glycol is a commonly used commercial product The classification of ethylene glycol as a toxic material increased the disposal costs for used antifreeze and life cycle assessment became a necessity. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA considers the identification and quantification of raw materials and energy inputs and waste outputs during the whole life cycle of the analyzed product. The objectives of LCA are the evaluation of impacts on the environment and improvements of processes in order to reduce and/or eliminate waste. LCA is conducted through a mathematical model derived from mass and energy balances of all the processes included in the life cycle. In all energy processes the part of energy that can be transformed into some other kind of energy is called exergy. The concept of exergy considers the quality of different types of energy and the quality of different materials. It is also a connection between energy and mass transformations. The whole life cycle can be described by the value of the total loss of exergy. The physical meaning of this value is the loss of material and energy that can be used. The results of LCA are very useful for the analyzed products and processes and for the determined conditions under which the analysis was conducted. The results of this study indicate that recycling is the most satisfactory solution for the treatment of used antifreeze regarding material and energy consumption but the re-use of antifreeze should not be neglected as a solution.

Physics of HIV

Science.gov (United States)

Tristram-Nagle, Stephanie

2018-05-01

This review summarizes over a decade of investigations into how membrane-binding proteins from the HIV-1 virus interact with lipid membrane mimics of various HIV and host T-cell membranes. The goal of the work was to characterize at the molecular level both the elastic and structural changes that occur due to HIV protein/membrane interactions, which could lead to new drugs to thwart the HIV virus. The main technique used to study these interactions is diffuse x-ray scattering, which yields the bending modulus, K C, as well as structural parameters such as membrane thickness, area/lipid and position of HIV peptides (parts of HIV proteins) in the membrane. Our methods also yield information about lipid chain order or disorder caused by the peptides. This review focuses on three stages of the HIV-1 life cycle: (1) infection, (2) Tat membrane transport, and (3) budding. In the infection stage, our lab studied three different parts of HIV-1 gp41 (glycoprotein 41 fusion protein): (1) FP23, the N-terminal 23 amino acids that interact non-specifically with the T-cell host membrane to cause fusion of two membranes, and its trimer version, (2) cholesterol recognition amino acid consensus sequence, on the membrane proximal external region near the membrane-spanning domain, and (3) lentiviral lytic peptide 2 on the cytoplasmic C-terminal tail. For Tat transport, we used membrane mimics of the T-cell nuclear membrane as well as simpler models that varied charge and negative curvature. For membrane budding, we varied the myristoylation of the MA31 peptide as well as the negatively charged lipid. These studies show that HIV peptides with different roles in the HIV life cycle affect differently the relevant membrane mimics. In addition, the membrane lipid composition plays an important role in the peptides’ effects.

Life Cycle Assessment and Risk Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Stig Irving

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a tool for environmental assessment of product and systems – over the whole life cycle from acquisition of raw materials to the end-of-life of the product – and encompassing all environmental impacts of emissions and resource usage, e.g. global warming, acidification...... cycle. The models for assessing toxic impacts in LCA are to a large extent based on those developed for RA, e.g. EUSES, and require basic information about the inherent properties of the emissions like solubility, LogKow,ED50 etc. Additionally, it is a prerequisite to know how to characterize...

How can a life cycle inventory parametric model streamline life cycle assessment in the wooden pallet sector?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Niero, Monia; Di Felice, Francesco; Ren, Jingzheng

2014-01-01

, as the information required for fulfilling the LCI are standard information about the features of the wooden pallet and its manufacturing process. The contribution analysis on the reference product revealed that the most contributing life cycle stages are wood and nails extraction and manufacturing (positive value......This study discusses the use of parameterization within the life cycle inventory (LCI) in the wooden pallet sector, in order to test the effectiveness of LCI parametric models to calculate the environmental impacts of similar products. Starting from a single case study, the objectives of this paper......; these correlations can be used to improve the design of new wooden pallets.The conceptual scheme for defining the model is based on ISO14040-44 standards. First of all, the product system was defined identifying the life cycle of a generic wood pallet, as well as its life cycle stages. A list of independent...

Recent developments in Life Cycle Assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Finnveden, Göran; Hauschild, Michael Z.; Ekvall, Tomas; Guinée, Jeroen B.; Heijungs, Reinout; Hellweg, Stefanie; Koehler, Annette; Pennington, David; Suh, Sangwon

2009-01-01

Life Cycle Assessment is a tool to assess the environmental impacts and resources used throughout a product's life cycle, i.e., from raw material acquisition, via production and use phases, to waste management. The methodological development in LCA has been strong, and LCA is broadly applied in

Educational Focuses in Organisational Life Cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Harry G.

1985-01-01

Presents four stages frequently associated with the stages of an organization's life cycle: experimentation, growth, maturity, and decline or stability. The author also demonstrates that the impact of employment and thus training related to organizational life cycles suggests a need for understanding the technical preparation required for…

Environmental analysis of natural gas life cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Riva, A.; D'Angelosante, S.; Trebeschi, C.

2000-01-01

Life Cycle Assessment is a method aimed at identifying the environmental effects connected with a given product, process or activity during its whole life cycle. The evaluation of published studies and the application of the method to electricity production with fossil fuels, by using data from published databases and data collected by the gas industry, demonstrate the importance and difficulties to have reliable and updated data required for a significant life cycle assessment. The results show that the environmental advantages of natural gas over the other fossil fuels in the final use stage increase still further if the whole life cycle of the fuels, from production to final consumption, is taken into account [it

Age and life course location as interpretive resources for decisions regarding disclosure of HIV to parents and children: Findings from the HIV and later life study.

Science.gov (United States)

Rosenfeld, Dana; Ridge, Damien; Catalan, Jose; Delpech, Valerie

2016-08-01

Studies of disclosure amongst older people living with HIV (PLWH) are uninformed by critical social-gerontological approaches that can help us to appreciate how older PLWH see and treat age as relevant to disclosure of their HIV status. These approaches include an ethnomethodologically-informed social constructionism that explores how 'the' life course (a cultural framework depicting individuals' movement through predictable developmental stages from birth to death) is used as an interpretive resource for determining self and others' characteristics, capacities, and social circumstances: a process Rosenfeld and Gallagher (2002) termed 'lifecoursing'. Applying this approach to our analysis of 74 life-history interviews and three focus groups with older (aged 50+) people living with HIV in the United Kingdom, we uncover the central role that lifecoursing plays in participants' decision-making surrounding disclosure of their HIV to their children and/or older parents. Analysis of participants' accounts uncovered four criteria for disclosure: the relevance of their HIV to the other, the other's knowledge about HIV, the likelihood of the disclosure causing the other emotional distress, and the other's ability to keep the disclosed confidential. To determine if these criteria were met in relation to specific children and/or elders, participants engaged in lifecoursing, evaluating the other's knowledge of HIV, and capacity to appropriately manage the disclosure, by reference to their age. The use of assumptions about age and life-course location in decision-making regarding disclosure of HIV reflects a more nuanced engagement with age in the disclosure decision-making process than has been captured by previous research into HIV disclosure, including on the part of people aging with HIV. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Emissions from photovoltaic life cycles.

Science.gov (United States)

Fthenakis, Vasilis M; Kim, Hyung Chul; Alsema, Erik

2008-03-15

Photovoltaic (PV) technologies have shown remarkable progress recently in terms of annual production capacity and life cycle environmental performances, which necessitate timely updates of environmental indicators. Based on PV production data of 2004-2006, this study presents the life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions, criteria pollutant emissions, and heavy metal emissions from four types of major commercial PV systems: multicrystalline silicon, monocrystalline silicon, ribbon silicon, and thin-film cadmium telluride. Life-cycle emissions were determined by employing average electricity mixtures in Europe and the United States during the materials and module production for each PV system. Among the current vintage of PV technologies, thin-film cadmium telluride (CdTe) PV emits the least amount of harmful air emissions as it requires the least amount of energy during the module production. However, the differences in the emissions between different PV technologies are very small in comparison to the emissions from conventional energy technologies that PV could displace. As a part of prospective analysis, the effect of PV breeder was investigated. Overall, all PV technologies generate far less life-cycle air emissions per GWh than conventional fossil-fuel-based electricity generation technologies. At least 89% of air emissions associated with electricity generation could be prevented if electricity from photovoltaics displaces electricity from the grid.

Impact of HIV/AIDS mortality on South Africa's life expectancy and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study seeks to raise awareness and expand knowledge about the deleterious effect of HIV/AIDS mortality on South Africa's life expectancy, a country with a relatively high HIV/AIDS prevalence rate (19. percent). Using the multiple and associated single decrement life table techniques, the study estimates the total ...

A comparison of quality of life between HIV positive and negative ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Jeff Gow

2014-01-03

Jan 3, 2014 ... positive and negative diamond miners in South Africa, SAHARA-J: Journal of Social Aspects of HIV/AIDS: An Open ..... It was found that for HIV-workers, the mean quality of life value .... Mining-Sector Workplace in South Africa. .... Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) II Instrument Overview and Creation.

Impact of comorbidity and ageing on health-related quality of life in HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Langebeek, Nienke; Kooij, Katherine W.; Wit, Ferdinand W.; Stolte, Ineke G.; Sprangers, Mirjam A. G.; Reiss, Peter; Nieuwkerk, Pythia T.

2017-01-01

HIV-infected individuals may be at risk for the premature onset of age-associated noncommunicable comorbidities. Being HIV-positive, having comorbidities and being of higher age may adversely impact health-related quality of life (HRQL). We investigated the possible contribution of HIV infection,

Social Life Cycle Assessment: An Introduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moltesen, Andreas; Bonou, Alexandra; Wangel, Arne

2018-01-01

An expansion of the LCA framework has been going on through the development of ‘social life cycle assessment’—S-LCA. The methodology, still in its infancy, has the goal of assessing social impacts related to a product’s life cycle. This chapter introduces S-LCA framework area and the related...

Mosquito Life Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Knowing the stages of the mosquito's life will help you prevent mosquitoes around your home and help you choose the right pesticides for your needs, if you decide to use them. All mosquito species go through four distinct stages during their live cycle.

Defining the baseline in social life cycle assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Andreas; Finkbeiner, Matthias; Jørgensen, Michael Søgaard

2010-01-01

A relatively broad consensus has formed that the purpose of developing and using the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is to improve the social conditions for the stakeholders affected by the assessed product's life cycle. To create this effect, the SLCA, among other things, needs to provide...... valid assessments of the consequence of the decision that it is to support. The consequence of a decision to implement a life cycle of a product can be seen as the difference between the decision being implemented and 'non-implemented' product life cycle. This difference can to some extent be found...... using the consequential environmental life cycle assessment (ELCA) methodology to identify the processes that change as a consequence of the decision. However, if social impacts are understood as certain changes in the lives of the stakeholders, then social impacts are not only related to product life...

Fuel cell hybrid taxi life cycle analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baptista, Patricia, E-mail: patricia.baptista@ist.utl.pt [IDMEC-Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Ribau, Joao; Bravo, Joao; Silva, Carla [IDMEC-Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade Tecnica de Lisboa, Av. Rovisco Pais, 1, 1049-001 Lisboa (Portugal); Adcock, Paul; Kells, Ashley [Intelligent Energy, Charnwood Building, HolywellPark, Ashby Road, Loughborough, LE11 3GR (United Kingdom)

2011-09-15

A small fleet of classic London Taxis (Black cabs) equipped with hydrogen fuel cell power systems is being prepared for demonstration during the 2012 London Olympics. This paper presents a Life Cycle Analysis for these vehicles in terms of energy consumption and CO{sub 2} emissions, focusing on the impacts of alternative vehicle technologies for the Taxi, combining the fuel life cycle (Tank-to-Wheel and Well-to-Tank) and vehicle materials Cradle-to-Grave. An internal combustion engine diesel taxi was used as the reference vehicle for the currently available technology. This is compared to battery and fuel cell vehicle configurations. Accordingly, the following energy pathways are compared: diesel, electricity and hydrogen (derived from natural gas steam reforming). Full Life Cycle Analysis, using the PCO-CENEX drive cycle, (derived from actual London Taxi drive cycles) shows that the fuel cell powered vehicle configurations have lower energy consumption (4.34 MJ/km) and CO{sub 2} emissions (235 g/km) than both the ICE Diesel (9.54 MJ/km and 738 g/km) and the battery electric vehicle (5.81 MJ/km and 269 g/km). - Highlights: > A Life Cycle Analysis of alternative vehicle technologies for the London Taxi was performed. > The hydrogen powered vehicles have the lowest energy consumption and CO{sub 2} emissions results. > A hydrogen powered solution can be a sustainable alternative in a full life cycle framework.

Fuel cell hybrid taxi life cycle analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baptista, Patricia; Ribau, Joao; Bravo, Joao; Silva, Carla; Adcock, Paul; Kells, Ashley

2011-01-01

A small fleet of classic London Taxis (Black cabs) equipped with hydrogen fuel cell power systems is being prepared for demonstration during the 2012 London Olympics. This paper presents a Life Cycle Analysis for these vehicles in terms of energy consumption and CO 2 emissions, focusing on the impacts of alternative vehicle technologies for the Taxi, combining the fuel life cycle (Tank-to-Wheel and Well-to-Tank) and vehicle materials Cradle-to-Grave. An internal combustion engine diesel taxi was used as the reference vehicle for the currently available technology. This is compared to battery and fuel cell vehicle configurations. Accordingly, the following energy pathways are compared: diesel, electricity and hydrogen (derived from natural gas steam reforming). Full Life Cycle Analysis, using the PCO-CENEX drive cycle, (derived from actual London Taxi drive cycles) shows that the fuel cell powered vehicle configurations have lower energy consumption (4.34 MJ/km) and CO 2 emissions (235 g/km) than both the ICE Diesel (9.54 MJ/km and 738 g/km) and the battery electric vehicle (5.81 MJ/km and 269 g/km). - Highlights: → A Life Cycle Analysis of alternative vehicle technologies for the London Taxi was performed. → The hydrogen powered vehicles have the lowest energy consumption and CO 2 emissions results. → A hydrogen powered solution can be a sustainable alternative in a full life cycle framework.

Long life nickel electrodes for a nickel-hydrogen cell: Cycle life tests

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, H. S.; Verzwyvelt, S. A.

1985-01-01

In order to develop a long life nickel electrode for a Ni/H2 cell, the cycle life of nickel electrodes was tested in Ni/H2 boiler plate cells. A 19 test cell matrix was made of various nickel electrode designs including three levels each of plaque mechanical strength, median pore size of the plaque, and active material loading. Test cells were cycled to the end of their life (0.5v) in a 45 minute low Earth orbit cycle regime at 80% depth-of-discharge. It is shown that the active material loading level affects the cycle life the most with the optimum loading at 1.6 g/cc void. Mechanical strength does not affect the cycle life noticeably in the bend strength range of 400 to 700 psi. It is found that the best plaque is made of INCO nickel powder type 287 and has median pore size of 13 micron.

Asset Allocation Over the Life Cycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Marcel; Kraft, Holger; Munk, Claus

2013-01-01

We study the welfare effect of tax-optimizing portfolio decisions in a life cycle model with unspanned labor income and realization-based capital gain taxation. For realistic parameterizations of our model, certainty equivalent welfare gains from fully tax-optimized portfolio decisions are less...... and instead assumes mark-to-market taxation, these gains are less than 0.5%. That is, our work provides a justification for ignoring taxes in life cycle portfolio choice problems - a wide-spread assumption in that literature. However, if capital gains are forgiven at death (as in the U.S.), investors...... with strong bequest motives face substantial welfare costs when not tax-optimizing their portfolio decisions towards the end of the life cycle....

Quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS and antiretroviral therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Oguntibeju, Oluwafemi O

2012-01-01

The development of antiretroviral drugs has significantly changed the perception of HIV/AIDS from a very fatal to a chronic and potentially manageable disease, and the availability and administration of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly reduced mortality and morbidity associated with HIV and AIDS. There is a relationship between ART and quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS, and several studies have reported a strong positive association between ART and improved quality of life in different domains among people living with HIV and AIDS in both developed and developing countries. However, a few studies have reported on the negative effects of ART, which directly or indirectly relate to the quality of life and longevity of HIV-infected persons. In this review, the effects and benefits of ART on people living with HIV and AIDS based on studies done in developed and developing countries is examined.

Quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS and antiretroviral therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Oguntibeju, Oluwafemi O

2012-01-01

The development of antiretroviral drugs has significantly changed the perception of HIV/AIDS from a very fatal to a chronic and potentially manageable disease, and the availability and administration of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly reduced mortality and morbidity associated with HIV and AIDS. There is a relationship between ART and quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS, and several studies have reported a strong positive association between ART and improved quality of life in different domains among people living with HIV and AIDS in both developed and developing countries. However, a few studies have reported on the negative effects of ART, which directly or indirectly relate to the quality of life and longevity of HIV-infected persons. In this review, the effects and benefits of ART on people living with HIV and AIDS based on studies done in developed and developing countries is examined. PMID:22893751

Correlation of depression and quality of life in HIV/AIDS patients

Science.gov (United States)

Siregar, M. L.; Abdullah, V.; Mamfaluti, T.

2018-03-01

Depression in HIV/AIDS patients will influence the quality of life (QoL) demographically or by its own HIV disease. QoL-affected factors could be helpful in making important policy decisions and health care interventions, especially in Banda Aceh. The study aims to find the relationship between depression and quality of life in HIV/AIDS patients. A cross sectional design and the sample recruitment technique was done by total sampling that all outpatient and inpatient HIV/AIDS patients who had received antiretroviral therapy or not and were willing to be interviewed in Zainoel Abidin Hospital, Aceh Province, Indonesia. QoLwas assessed using WHOQoL and depression data werecollectedusing the BDI questionnaires. The study resulted in 29 HIV/AIDS patients which the most were men (62.1%), and the mean age was 33.14 ± 6.13 years old. The most transmitted type was by IVDU, and the CD4+ count was less than 350 cells. There is a strong relationship between sex and QoL (p = 0.005) and depression is strongly negative correlation with QoL (r = -0.619, p < 0.00). The conclusion of the study i.e there is a relationship between depression and quality of life in HIV/AIDS patients.

Addressing the effect of social life cycle assessments

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Andreas; Dreyer, Louise Camilla; Wangel, Arne

2012-01-01

the validity of these hypotheses. Results: Three in some cases potentially overlapping SLCA approaches are presented, assumed to create a beneficial effect in the life cycle in different ways. However, empirical and theoretical findings show that the beneficial effects proposed to arise from the use of each......Purpose: In the recently published ‘Guidelines for social life cycle assessment of products’, it is stated that the ultimate objective of developing the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is to promote improvements of social conditions for the stakeholders in the life cycle. This article addresses...... how the SLCA should be developed so that its use promotes these improvements. Methods: Hypotheses of how the use of SLCA can promote improvement of social conditions in the life cycle are formulated, after which theories and empirical findings from relevant fields of research are used to address...

A framework for social life cycle impact assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dreyer, Louise Camilla; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Schierbeck, Jens

2006-01-01

Goal, Scope and Background. To enhance the use of life cycle assessment (LCA) as a tool in business decision-making, a methodology for Social life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) is being developed. Social LCA aims at facilitating companies to conduct business in a socially responsible manner...... by providing information about the potential social impacts on people caused by the activities in the life cycle of their product. The development of the methodology has been guided by a business perspective accepting that companies, on the one hand, have responsibility for the people affected...... in the life cycle rather than to the individual industrial processes, as is the case in Environmental LCA. Inventory analysis is therefore focused on the conduct of the companies engaged in the life cycle. A consequence of this view is that a key must be determined for relating the social profiles...

The Life Cycle of Centrioles

OpenAIRE

Hatch, E.; Stearns, T.

2010-01-01

Centrioles organize the centrosome and nucleate the ciliary axoneme, and the centriole life cycle has many parallels to the chromosome cycle. The centriole cycle in animals begins at fertilization with the contribution of two centrioles by the male gamete. In the ensuing cell cycles, the duplication of centrioles is controlled temporally, spatially, and numerically. As a consequence of the duplication mechanism, the two centrioles in a typical interphase cell are of different ages and have di...

Life Cycle Assessment of Greenhouse Gas Emissions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijnders, L.; Chen, W.Y.; Suzuki, T.; Lackner, M.

2015-01-01

Life cycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions have been developed for analyzing products "from cradle to grave": from resource extraction to waste disposal. Life cycle assessment methodology has also been applied to economies, trade between countries, aspects of production, and waste

Psychiatric symptoms, quality of life, and HIV status among people using opioids in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

Science.gov (United States)

Desrosiers, Alethea; Blokhina, Elena; Krupitsky, Evgeny; Zvartau, Edwin; Schottenfeld, Richard; Chawarski, Marek

2017-03-01

The Russian Federation is experiencing a very high rate of HIV infection among people who inject drugs (PWID). However, few studies have explored characteristics of people with co-occurring opioid use disorders and HIV, including psychiatric symptom presentations and how these symptoms might relate to quality of life. The current study therefore explored a.) differences in baseline psychiatric symptoms among HIV+ and HIV- individuals with opioid use disorder seeking naltrexone treatment at two treatment centers in Saint Petersburg, Russia and b.) associations between psychiatric symptom constellations and quality of life. Participants were 328 adults enrolling in a randomized clinical trial evaluating outpatient treatments combining naltrexone with different drug counseling models. Psychiatric symptoms and quality of life were assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory and The World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF, respectively. Approximately 60% of participants were HIV+. Those who were HIV+ scored significantly higher on BSI anxiety, depression, psychoticism, somatization, paranoid ideation, phobic anxiety, obsessive-compulsive, and GSI indexes (all pHIV-. A K-means cluster analysis identified three distinct psychiatric symptom profiles; the proportion of HIV+ was significantly greater and quality of life indicators were significantly lower in the cluster with the highest psychiatric symptom levels. Higher levels of psychiatric symptoms and lower quality of life indicators among HIV+ (compared to HIV-) individuals injecting drugs support the potential importance of combining interventions that target improving psychiatric symptoms with drug treatment, particularly for HIV+ patients. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Life-Cycle Cost-Benefit Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thoft-Christensen, Palle

2010-01-01

The future use of Life-Cycle Cost-Benefit (LCCB) analysis is discussed in this paper. A more complete analysis including not only the traditional factors and user costs, but also factors which are difficult to include in the analysis is needed in the future.......The future use of Life-Cycle Cost-Benefit (LCCB) analysis is discussed in this paper. A more complete analysis including not only the traditional factors and user costs, but also factors which are difficult to include in the analysis is needed in the future....

Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijnders, L.; Chen, W.Y.; Seiner, J.; Suzuki, T.; Lackner, M.

2012-01-01

Life cycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions have been developed for analyzing products "from cradle to grave": from resource extraction to waste disposal. Life cycle assessment methodology has also been applied to economies, trade between countries, aspects of production and to waste

Life cycle assessment of greenhouse gas emissions

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Reijnders, L.; Chen, W.-Y.; Suzuki, T.; Lackner, M.

2017-01-01

Life cycle assessments of greenhouse gas emissions have been developed for analyzing products “from cradle to grave”: from resource extraction to waste disposal. Life cycle assessment methodology has also been applied to economies, trade between countries, aspects of production, and waste

Corporate entrepreneurship in organisational life-cycle

OpenAIRE

Duobienė, Jurga

2013-01-01

Paper deals with the development of corporate entrepreneurship in different stages of organisational life-cycle. The research presents a model for the evaluation of corporate entrepreneurship and systemises relevant theoretical and empirical research in the field of entrepreneurship and corporate entrepreneurship. Moreover, it describes the development of corporate entrepreneurship in the entire organisational life-cycle since most of researchers who discuss the topics of corporate entreprene...

The Role of Spirituality in Quality of Life Patients with AIDS/HIV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Z Nikmanesh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: AIDS will change route of life people with disease and to be cause loss of self – esteem, increased vulnerability feeling and confusion thoughts in their. The purpose of this study is investigating the role of spirituality in quality of life of patients with AIDS/HIV. Methods: This study was conducted with a sample of 43 patients with AIDS/HIV in Sistan & Baluchestan province in 1390 that had been selected via method of available sampling. Spirituality was measured using the Spirituality Questionnaire (Parsian and Dunning, 2009 and quality of life was measured using the World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient,s stepwise multiple regression, t Test and ANOVA. Results: The study results indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between spirituality and quality of life, but there is no significant relationship between demographic variables (gender, marital status, age, and disease duration and quality of life. Results of regression analyses indicated that component of self-awareness is best predictor of physical health, psychological health and social relationships. Also, there was a significant difference among male and female patients in quality of life. Conclusion: According to these results, it can be deduced that spirituality has an impact on quality of life in patients with AIDS/HIV, and it can be used as a coping method for improving mental health and increasing quality of patients' life with AIDS/HIV

LIFE CYCLE OF A WINE BRAND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Viktoriia Paziuk

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The aim of the work is to determine the life cycle of the wine brand, the development of ways to improve its effectiveness at different stages of the life cycle. Being scientifically informed of the existence of the life cycle of the brand allows modern enterprises to enhance their competitive position in the market and take advantage of the acquired differences in order to attract more attention from consumers. Methods. The study is based on scientific methods of research of economic phenomena: the dialectic, abstract logical (in the exercise of theoretical generalizations to the definition of the concept of «life cycle of the perpetrator of the brand, a scientific abstraction, comparison and ordering (the study of factors influencing the life cycle of the perpetrator of the brand and the factors influencing a choice of products for consumers, statistical and problem-chronological (the study of the requirements of the brand in a changing consumer preferences, logical generalization (in determining the social and ethical functions guilty brand. Results. The stages of the life cycle of the wine brand, which take into account its characteristics and form its social and ethical functions. Describing the requirements for the wine brand in the changing tastes and preferences of consumers. Specification of wine promotion of the brand in an increasingly competitive environment. Preconditions have been set for a new wine brand. The practical significance. The brand always increases the value of the product and its entry into new markets, as well as reduces the time to attract consumers. Possibility to ensure the growth of the brand in a declining market; building market share in a highly competitive environment; marketing innovative products in order to create a new sales strategy. After all, to gain and maintain the popularity of a certain product, one must personalize it with giving associations and a way to provide it with distinctive features. Only

Life Cycle Development of Obesity and Its Determinants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cavaco, Sandra; Eriksson, Tor; Skalli, Ali

This paper is concerned with how obesity and some of its determinants develop over individuals’ life cycles. In particular we examine empirically the role and relative importance of early life conditions (parents’ education and socioeconomic status) and individuals’ own education as adults and how...... their impacts on the probability of overweight and obesity evolves over the life cycle. As the data set includes information about the individuals’ health behaviours (smoking and physical exercise) at various ages we can also examine the impact of these at different stages of the persons’ life cycle. The data......’ socioeconomic status predicts obesity in early adulthood whereas individuals’ own socioeconomic status as adults is more important in explaining obesity at later stages of the life cycle, and (iii) changes in obesity status are associated with changes in health behaviours....

Metadata Life Cycles, Use Cases and Hierarchies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ted Habermann

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The historic view of metadata as “data about data” is expanding to include data about other items that must be created, used, and understood throughout the data and project life cycles. In this context, metadata might better be defined as the structured and standard part of documentation, and the metadata life cycle can be described as the metadata content that is required for documentation in each phase of the project and data life cycles. This incremental approach to metadata creation is similar to the spiral model used in software development. Each phase also has distinct users and specific questions to which they need answers. In many cases, the metadata life cycle involves hierarchies where latter phases have increased numbers of items. The relationships between metadata in different phases can be captured through structure in the metadata standard, or through conventions for identifiers. Metadata creation and management can be streamlined and simplified by re-using metadata across many records. Many of these ideas have been developed to various degrees in several Geoscience disciplines and are being used in metadata for documenting the integrated life cycle of environmental research in the Arctic, including projects, collection sites, and datasets.

Specification of life cycle assessment in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abbaspour, M.; Kargari, N.; Mastouri, R.

2008-01-01

Life Cycle Assessment is an environmental management tool for assessing the environmental impacts of a product of a process. life cycle assessment involves the evaluation of environmental impacts through all stages of life cycle of a product or process. In other words life cycle assessment has a c radle to grave a pproach. Some results of life cycle assessment consist of pollution prevention, energy efficient system, material conservation, economic system and sustainable development. All power generation technologies affect the environment in one way or another. The main environmental impact does not always occur during operation of power plant. The life cycle assessment of nuclear power has entailed studying the entire fuel cycle from mine to deep repository, as well as the construction, operation and demolition of the power station. Nuclear power plays an important role in electricity production for several countries. even though the use of nuclear power remains controversial. But due to the shortage of fossil fuel energy resources many countries have started to try more alternation to their sources of energy production. A life cycle assessment could detect all environmental impacts of nuclear power from extracting resources, building facilities and transporting material through the final conversion to useful energy services

HIV after 40 in rural South Africa: A life course approach to HIV vulnerability among middle aged and older adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Mojola, Sanyu A; Williams, Jill; Angotti, Nicole; Gómez-Olivé, F Xavier

2015-10-01

South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV in the world (over 6 million) as well as a rapidly aging population, with 15% of the population aged 50 and over. High HIV prevalence in rural former apartheid homeland areas suggests substantial aging with HIV and acquisition of HIV at older ages. We develop a life course approach to HIV vulnerability, highlighting the rise and fall of risk and protection as people age, as well as the role of contextual density in shaping HIV vulnerability. Using this approach, we draw on an innovative multi-method data set collected within the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in South Africa, combining survey data with 60 nested life history interviews and 9 community focus group interviews. We examine HIV risk and protective factors among adults aged 40-80, as well as how and why these factors vary among people at older ages. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS and antiretroviral therapy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oguntibeju OO

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Oluwafemi O OguntibejuOxidative Stress Research Centre, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South AfricaAbstract: The development of antiretroviral drugs has significantly changed the perception of HIV/AIDS from a very fatal to a chronic and potentially manageable disease, and the availability and administration of antiretroviral therapy (ART has significantly reduced mortality and morbidity associated with HIV and AIDS. There is a relationship between ART and quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS, and several studies have reported a strong positive association between ART and improved quality of life in different domains among people living with HIV and AIDS in both developed and developing countries. However, a few studies have reported on the negative effects of ART, which directly or indirectly relate to the quality of life and longevity of HIV-infected persons. In this review, the effects and benefits of ART on people living with HIV and AIDS based on studies done in developed and developing countries is examined.Keywords: benefits, negative effects, oxidative stress, treatment, modifications of desires

From life cycle talking to taking action

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Potting, J.; Curran, M.A.; Blottnitz, von H.

2010-01-01

Introduction - The biannual Life Cycle Management conference series aims to create a platform for users and developers of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and related tools to share their experiences. A key concern of the LCM community has been to move beyond the production of LCA reports toward using

Asset life cycle plans: twelve steps to assist strategic decision-making in asset life cycle management

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ruitenburg, Richard Jacob; Braaksma, Anne Johannes Jan; van Dongen, Leonardus Adriana Maria; Carnero, Maria Carmen; Gonzalez-Prida, Vicente

2017-01-01

Effective management of physical assets should deliver maximum business value. Therefore, Asset Management standards such as PAS 55 and ISO 55000 ask for a life cycle approach. However, most existing methods focus only on the short term of the asset's life or the estimation of its remaining life.

Health-related quality of life of HIV infected adults with and without Visceral Leishmaniasis in Northwest Ethiopia.

Science.gov (United States)

Alemayehu, Mekuriaw; Wubshet, Mamo; Mesfin, Nebiyu; Tamiru, Aschalew; Gebayehu, Abebaw

2017-08-30

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome measure among HIV infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). When HIV infected patients coinfected with Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) the problem become severe because VL accelerates HIV replication and disease progression. The impact of VL on the quality of life of HIV infected patients has not been studied. In this study in Ethiopia, we compared the quality of life of HIV infected patients with and without VL. A cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2015 to September 2016 in selected health centers and hospitals, in Northwest Ethiopia. Data on quality of life was collected by trained nurses. The instrument used to collect the data was the short Amharic version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life for HIV clients (WHOQoL-HIV). Depression was assessed using the validated version of Kessler scale. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Descriptive statistics, bivariate and multivariate linear regression model was used to summarize the results. A total of 590 study participants were included in the study with response rate of 95%. Of the 590 patients included in our study 125 (21%) were HIV-VL coinfection. HIV-VL coinfected patients had a lower quality of life in all the domains as compared to HIV patients without VL. Depression was consistently and strongly associated with all the quality of life domains of both groups. Also, in HIV infected patients a longer duration in ART was associated with higher HRQoL domains except for the spiritual and level of independence domains. With regard to HIV-VL coinfected patients, a longer duration in ART was associated with psychological, spiritual and level of independence domains of HRQoL. Demographics, clinical, and treatment characteristics resulted few significant associations with HRQoL domains of both groups. HIV-VL coinfected patients had a poor quality of life in all the domains of the WHOQoL-HIV instrument

Health-related quality of life of HIV infected adults with and without Visceral Leishmaniasis in Northwest Ethiopia

OpenAIRE

Alemayehu, Mekuriaw; Wubshet, Mamo; Mesfin, Nebiyu; Tamiru, Aschalew; Gebayehu, Abebaw

2017-01-01

Background Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important outcome measure among HIV infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). When HIV infected patients coinfected with Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) the problem become severe because VL accelerates HIV replication and disease progression. The impact of VL on the quality of life of HIV infected patients has not been studied. In this study in Ethiopia, we compared the quality of life of HIV infected patients with and withou...

A life cycle database for parasitic acanthocephalans, cestodes, and nematodes

Science.gov (United States)

Benesh, Daniel P.; Lafferty, Kevin D.; Kuris, Armand

2017-01-01

Parasitologists have worked out many complex life cycles over the last ~150 years, yet there have been few efforts to synthesize this information to facilitate comparisons among taxa. Most existing host-parasite databases focus on particular host taxa, do not distinguish final from intermediate hosts, and lack parasite life-history information. We summarized the known life cycles of trophically transmitted parasitic acanthocephalans, cestodes, and nematodes. For 973 parasite species, we gathered information from the literature on the hosts infected at each stage of the parasite life cycle (8510 host-parasite species associations), what parasite stage is in each host, and whether parasites need to infect certain hosts to complete the life cycle. We also collected life-history data for these parasites at each life cycle stage, including 2313 development time measurements and 7660 body size measurements. The result is the most comprehensive data summary available for these parasite taxa. In addition to identifying gaps in our knowledge of parasite life cycles, these data can be used to test hypotheses about life cycle evolution, host specificity, parasite life-history strategies, and the roles of parasites in food webs.

Gas fired combined cycle plant in Singapore: energy use, GWP and cost-a life cycle approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kannan, R.; Leong, K.C.; Osman, Ramli; Ho, H.K.; Tso, C.P.

2005-01-01

A life cycle assessment was performed to quantify the non-renewable (fossil) energy use and global warming potential (GWP) in electricity generation from a typical gas fired combined cycle power plant in Singapore. The cost of electricity generation was estimated using a life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) tool. The life cycle assessment (LCA) of a 367.5 MW gas fired combined cycle power plant operating in Singapore revealed that hidden processes consume about 8% additional energy in addition to the fuel embedded energy, and the hidden GWP is about 18%. The natural gas consumed during the operational phase accounted for 82% of the life cycle cost of electricity generation. An empirical relation between plant efficiency and life cycle energy use and GWP in addition to a scenario for electricity cost with varying gas prices and plant efficiency have been established

Impact of thyroid function abnormalities on reproductive hormones during menstrual cycle in premenopausal HIV infected females at NAUTH, Nnewi, Nigeria.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nkiruka Rose Ukibe

Full Text Available This was a prospective study designed to evaluate the impact of thyroid function abnormalities on reproductive hormones during menstrual cycle in HIV infected females at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, South-East Nigeria.The study randomly recruited 35 Symptomatic HIV infected females and 35 Symptomatic HIV infected females on antiretroviral therapy (HAART for not less than six weeks from an HIV clinic and 40 apparently heathy control females among the hospital staff of NAUTH Nnewi. They were all premenopausal females with regular menstrual cycle and aged between 15-45 years. Blood samples were collected at follicular and luteal phases of their menstrual cycle for assay of Thyroid indices (FT3, FT4 and TSH and Reproductive indices (FSH, LH, Estrogen, Progesterone, Prolactin and Testosterone using ELISA method.The result showed significantly higher FSH and LH but significantly lower progesterone (prog and estrogen (E2 in the test females compared to control females at both phases of menstrual cycle (P<0.05. There was significantly lower FT3 but significantly higher TSH value in Symptomatic HIV females (P<0.05. FSH, LH and TSH values were significantly lowered while prog and FT3 were significantly higher in Symptomatic HIV on ART compared to Symptomatic HIV females (P<0.05. FT3, FT4, Prog and E2 were inversely correlated while FSH and LH were positively correlated with duration of HIV infection in HIV females (P<0.05 respectively. There was a direct correlation between CD4+ count and FT3 while inverse correlation was found between CD4+ count and TSH levels (P<0.05.The present study demonstrated hypothyroidism with a significant degree of primary hypogonadism in Symptomatic HIV infected females at both follicular and luteal phases of menstrual cycle which tends to normalize on treatments.

Impact of thyroid function abnormalities on reproductive hormones during menstrual cycle in premenopausal HIV infected females at NAUTH, Nnewi, Nigeria.

Science.gov (United States)

Ukibe, Nkiruka Rose; Ukibe, Solomon Nwabueze; Emelumadu, Obiageli Fidelia; Onyenekwe, Chinedum Charles; Ahaneku, Joseph Eberendu; Igwegbe, Anthony Osita; Monago, Ifeoma Nwamaka; Ilika, Amobi Linus

2017-01-01

This was a prospective study designed to evaluate the impact of thyroid function abnormalities on reproductive hormones during menstrual cycle in HIV infected females at Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital Nnewi, South-East Nigeria. The study randomly recruited 35 Symptomatic HIV infected females and 35 Symptomatic HIV infected females on antiretroviral therapy (HAART) for not less than six weeks from an HIV clinic and 40 apparently heathy control females among the hospital staff of NAUTH Nnewi. They were all premenopausal females with regular menstrual cycle and aged between 15-45 years. Blood samples were collected at follicular and luteal phases of their menstrual cycle for assay of Thyroid indices (FT3, FT4 and TSH) and Reproductive indices (FSH, LH, Estrogen, Progesterone, Prolactin and Testosterone) using ELISA method. The result showed significantly higher FSH and LH but significantly lower progesterone (prog) and estrogen (E2) in the test females compared to control females at both phases of menstrual cycle (P<0.05). There was significantly lower FT3 but significantly higher TSH value in Symptomatic HIV females (P<0.05). FSH, LH and TSH values were significantly lowered while prog and FT3 were significantly higher in Symptomatic HIV on ART compared to Symptomatic HIV females (P<0.05). FT3, FT4, Prog and E2 were inversely correlated while FSH and LH were positively correlated with duration of HIV infection in HIV females (P<0.05 respectively). There was a direct correlation between CD4+ count and FT3 while inverse correlation was found between CD4+ count and TSH levels (P<0.05). The present study demonstrated hypothyroidism with a significant degree of primary hypogonadism in Symptomatic HIV infected females at both follicular and luteal phases of menstrual cycle which tends to normalize on treatments.

Mass HIV Treatment and Sex Disparities in Life Expectancy: Demographic Surveillance in Rural South Africa.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jacob Bor

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Women have better patient outcomes in HIV care and treatment than men in sub-Saharan Africa. We assessed--at the population level--whether and to what extent mass HIV treatment is associated with changes in sex disparities in adult life expectancy, a summary metric of survival capturing mortality across the full cascade of HIV care. We also determined sex-specific trends in HIV mortality and the distribution of HIV-related deaths in men and women prior to and at each stage of the clinical cascade.Data were collected on all deaths occurring from 2001 to 2011 in a large population-based surveillance cohort (52,964 women and 45,688 men, ages 15 y and older in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Cause of death was ascertained by verbal autopsy (93% response rate. Demographic data were linked at the individual level to clinical records from the public sector HIV treatment and care program that serves the region. Annual rates of HIV-related mortality were assessed for men and women separately, and female-to-male rate ratios were estimated in exponential hazard models. Sex-specific trends in adult life expectancy and HIV-cause-deleted adult life expectancy were calculated. The proportions of HIV deaths that accrued to men and women at different stages in the HIV cascade of care were estimated annually. Following the beginning of HIV treatment scale-up in 2004, HIV mortality declined among both men and women. Female adult life expectancy increased from 51.3 y (95% CI 49.7, 52.8 in 2003 to 64.5 y (95% CI 62.7, 66.4 in 2011, a gain of 13.2 y. Male adult life expectancy increased from 46.9 y (95% CI 45.6, 48.2 in 2003 to 55.9 y (95% CI 54.3, 57.5 in 2011, a gain of 9.0 y. The gap between female and male adult life expectancy doubled, from 4.4 y in 2003 to 8.6 y in 2011, a difference of 4.3 y (95% CI 0.9, 7.6. For women, HIV mortality declined from 1.60 deaths per 100 person-years (95% CI 1.46, 1.75 in 2003 to 0.56 per 100 person-years (95% CI 0.48, 0.65 in

DETERMINANTS OF ENTERPRISES LIFE CYCLE IN MODERN CONDITIONS OF DEVELOPMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alla Polianska

2016-03-01

Full Text Available In the article the theoretical basis of organization life cycle research as well as the particularly of the organization life cycle concept implementation for solving of modern targets of enterprises and organizations development are highlighted. The determinants of one life cycle stage transformation to the other at the enterprises, that allows to better understand the conditions of its functioning and to identify factors that affect the viability of the company and its duration, are considered. Management technologies at different stages of organizations life cycle are proposed. Keywords: enterprise, development, organizations life cycle, determinants, Oil and Gas company JEL: M 20

The Life Cycle Analysis Toolbox

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bishop, L.; Tonn, B.E.; Williams, K.A.; Yerace, P.; Yuracko, K.L.

1999-01-01

The life cycle analysis toolbox is a valuable integration of decision-making tools and supporting materials developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) to help Department of Energy managers improve environmental quality, reduce costs, and minimize risk. The toolbox provides decision-makers access to a wide variety of proven tools for pollution prevention (P2) and waste minimization (WMin), as well as ORNL expertise to select from this toolbox exactly the right tool to solve any given P2/WMin problem. The central element of the toolbox is a multiple criteria approach to life cycle analysis developed specifically to aid P2/WMin decision-making. ORNL has developed numerous tools that support this life cycle analysis approach. Tools are available to help model P2/WMin processes, estimate human health risks, estimate costs, and represent and manipulate uncertainties. Tools are available to help document P2/WMin decision-making and implement programs. Tools are also available to help track potential future environmental regulations that could impact P2/WMin programs and current regulations that must be followed. An Internet-site will provide broad access to the tools

The life cycle of centrioles.

Science.gov (United States)

Hatch, E; Stearns, T

2010-01-01

Centrioles organize the centrosome and nucleate the ciliary axoneme, and the centriole life cycle has many parallels to the chromosome cycle. The centriole cycle in animals begins at fertilization with the contribution of two centrioles by the male gamete. In the ensuing cell cycles, the duplication of centrioles is controlled temporally, spatially, and numerically. As a consequence of the duplication mechanism, the two centrioles in a typical interphase cell are of different ages and have different functions. Here, we discuss how new centrioles are assembled, what mechanisms limit centriole number, and the consequences of the inherent asymmetry of centriole duplication and segregation.

Life Cycle Costing: An Introduction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rödger, Jan-Markus; Kjær, Louise Laumann; Pagoropoulos, Aris

2018-01-01

The chapter gives an introduction to life cycle costing (LCC) and how it can be used to support decision-making. It can form the economic pillar in a full life cycle sustainability assessment, but often system delimitations differ depending on the goal and scope of the study. To provide a profound...... as well as guidance on how to collect data to overcome this hurdle. In an illustrative case study on window frames, the eLCC theory is applied and demonstrated with each step along the eLCC procedure described in detail. A final section about advanced LCC introduces how to monetarise externalities and how...

Towards a Life Cycle Based Chemical Alternative Assessment (LCAA)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jolliet, O.; Huang, L.; Overcash, Michael

2017-01-01

approach combines the following elements: a) The manufacturing phase chemical inventory is based on the environmental genome of industrial products database, ensuring mass and energy balance, b) near-field exposure to consumer products during the use phase is determined based on the mass of chemical......There is a need for an operational quantitative screening-level assessment of alternatives, that is life-cycle based and able to serve both Life cycle Assessment (LCA and chemical alternatives assessment (CAA). This presentation therefore aims to develop and illustrate a new approach called “Life...... Cycle Based Chemical Alternative Assessment (LCAA)” that will quantify exposure and life cycle impacts consistently and efficiently over the main life cycle stages. The new LCAA approach is illustrated though a proof-of-concept case study of alternative plasticizers in vinyl flooring. The proposed LCAA...

HIV after 40 in Rural South Africa1: A Life Course Approach to HIV Vulnerability among Middle Aged and Older Adults

Science.gov (United States)

Williams, Jill; Angotti, Nicole; Gómez-Olivé, Xavier

2015-01-01

South Africa has the highest number of people living with HIV in the world (over 6 million) as well as a rapidly aging population, with 15% of the population aged 50 and over. High HIV prevalence in rural former apartheid homeland areas suggests substantial aging with HIV and acquisition of HIV at older ages. We develop a life course approach to HIV vulnerability, highlighting the rise and fall of risk and protection as people age, as well as the role of contextual density in shaping HIV vulnerability. Using this approach, we draw on an innovative multi-method data set collected within the Agincourt Health and Demographic Surveillance System in South Africa, combining survey data with 60 nested life history interviews and 9 community focus group interviews. We examine HIV risk and protective factors among adults aged 40–80, as well as how and why these vary among people at older ages. PMID:26364007

Survey on the life cycle system of a product with shared information; Joho kyoyugata product life cycle system ni kansuru chosa hokokusho

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-03-01

This report provides and proposes new concept and optimization technology on the life cycle system of product for emission minimum. For the proposed life cycle system of product with shared information, the global emission minimum is realized by considering the final emission, the information is given to the product and shared in all the life cycle system, the information sending function is considered from the product, and the information necessary for material processing are actively used. For this life cycle system of product, development of the information model for the system, development of the technology of data saving, renewing, searching and sending, development of sensing and re-using technologies of the product for life cycle, development of the technology attaching information in the product for emission minimum, design of the guidelines of material composition, and research and development of materials for emission minimum are extracted and provided as tasks. 26 refs., 69 figs., 8 tabs.

Comparing the Life Cycle Energy Consumption, Global ...

Science.gov (United States)

Managing the water-energy-nutrient nexus for the built environment requires, in part, a full system analysis of energy consumption, global warming and eutrophication potentials of municipal water services. As an example, we evaluated the life cycle energy use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and aqueous nutrient releases of the whole anthropogenic municipal water cycle starting from raw water extraction to wastewater treatment and reuse/discharge for five municipal water and wastewater systems. The assessed options included conventional centralized services and four alternative options following the principles of source-separation and water fit-for-purpose. The comparative life cycle assessment identified that centralized drinking water supply coupled with blackwater energy recovery and on-site greywater treatment and reuse was the most energyand carbon-efficient water service system evaluated, while the conventional (drinking water and sewerage) centralized system ranked as the most energy- and carbon-intensive system. The electricity generated from blackwater and food residuals co-digestion was estimated to offset at least 40% of life cycle energy consumption for water/waste services. The dry composting toilet option demonstrated the lowest life cycle eutrophication potential. The nutrients in wastewater effluent are the dominating contributors for the eutrophication potential for the assessed system configurations. Among the parameters for which variability

Analysis of interconnecting energy systems over a synchronized life cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nian, Victor

2016-01-01

Highlights: • A methodology is developed for evaluating a life cycle of interconnected systems. • A new concept of partial temporal boundary is introduced via quantitative formulation. • The interconnecting systems are synchronized through the partial temporal boundary. • A case study on the life cycle of the coal–uranium system is developed. - Abstract: Life cycle analysis (LCA) using the process chain analysis (PCA) approach has been widely applied to energy systems. When applied to an individual energy system, such as coal or nuclear electricity generation, an LCA–PCA methodology can yield relatively accurate results with its detailed process representation based on engineering data. However, there are fundamental issues when applying conventional LCA–PCA methodology to a more complex life cycle, namely, a synchronized life cycle of interconnected energy systems. A synchronized life cycle of interconnected energy systems is established through direct interconnections among the processes of different energy systems, and all interconnecting systems are bounded within the same timeframe. Under such a life cycle formation, there are some major complications when applying conventional LCA–PCA methodology to evaluate the interconnecting energy systems. Essentially, the conventional system and boundary formulations developed for a life cycle of individual energy system cannot be directly applied to a life cycle of interconnected energy systems. To address these inherent issues, a new LCA–PCA methodology is presented in this paper, in which a new concept of partial temporal boundary is introduced to synchronize the interconnecting energy systems. The importance and advantages of these new developments are demonstrated through a case study on the life cycle of the coal–uranium system.

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Stressful Life Events Among Rural Women With HIV Disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Kemppainen, Jeanne K; MacKain, Sally; Alexander, Melissa; Reid, Paula; Jackson, Morgan Parks

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and stressful life events are frequent and distressing problems for women living with HIV (WLWH). Studies have independently focused on the impact of these problems, but little work has examined the relationship between PTSD and stressful life events. Our cross-sectional study examined relationships between PTSD and recent stressful life events in WLWH. A sample of 60 women recruited through HIV community agencies in southeastern North Carolina completed the Stressful Life Events Questionnaire and the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C). PTSD prevalence was high (43.2%). Two-thirds (66%) reported three or more recent life stressors. Women who experienced a higher number of recent life stressors scored higher on the PCL-C than those with fewer life stressors (p stressful life events may accelerate PTSD symptoms. Findings underscore the importance of addressing mental health issues in HIV treatment settings. Implications for nursing practice are provided. Copyright © 2016 Association of Nurses in AIDS Care. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

HIV-Related Stress and Life Chaos Mediate the Association Between Poverty and Medication Adherence Among People Living with HIV/AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Kalichman, Seth C; Kalichman, Moira O

2016-12-01

HIV treatment depends on high-levels of antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence, which is severely impeded by poverty. Men and women living with HIV infection (N = 92) completed computerized interviews of demographic and health characteristics, poverty markers, stressful life events, and life chaos, as well as unannounced pill counts to determine prospective medication adherence and medical record chart abstractions for HIV viral load. Poverty markers were associated with both stressors and chaos, and the direct effects of all three factors predicted ART non-adherence. The multiple mediation model showed that accounting for stressors and chaos resulted in a non-significant association between poverty markers and ART adherence. The indirect effect of poverty markers on adherence through life chaos was significant, whereas the indirect effect of poverty markers on adherence through stressors was not significant. Factors that render HIV-related stress and create chaos offer intervention targets that are more amenable to change than poverty itself.

Life Cycle Impact Assessment Research Developments and Needs

Science.gov (United States)

Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) developments are explained along with key publications which record discussions which comprised ISO 14042 and SETAC document development, UNEP SETAC Life Cycle Initiative research, and research from public and private research institutions. It ...

Predicting product life cycle using fuzzy neural network

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ali Mohammadi

2014-09-01

Full Text Available One of the most important tasks of science in different fields is to find the relationships among various phenomena in order to predict future. Production and service organizations are not exceptions and they should predict future to survive. Predicting the life cycle of the organization's products is one of the most important prediction cases in an organization. Predicting the product life cycle provides an opportunity to identify the product position and help to get a better insight about competitors. This paper deals with the predictability of the product life cycle with Adaptive Network-Based Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS. The Population of this study was Pegah Fars products and the sample was this company's cheese products. In this regard, this paper attempts to model and predict the product life cycle of cheese products in Pegah Fars Company. In this due, a designed questionnaire was distributed among some experts, distributors and retailers and seven independent variables were selected. In this survey, ANFIS sales forecasting technique was employed and MATLAB software was used for data analysis. The results confirmed ANFIS as a good method to predict the product life cycle.

Effect of menstrual cycle on HIV-1 levels in the peripheral blood and genital tract. WHS 001 Study Team.

Science.gov (United States)

Reichelderfer, P S; Coombs, R W; Wright, D J; Cohn, J; Burns, D N; Cu-Uvin, S; Baron, P A; Coheng, M H; Landay, A L; Beckner, S K; Lewis, S R; Kovacs, A A

2000-09-29

To assess the variation in HIV-1 over the menstrual cycle, including RNA levels in the female genital tract, plasma HIV-1-RNA levels, CD4 cell counts, and culturable virus. A prospective analysis of 55 HIV-1-infected women. Blood and genital tract specimens were collected weekly over 8 weeks, spanning two complete menstrual cycles. Applying repeated-measures models that used menses as the reference level, the variation in viral RNA levels was compared in endocervical canal fluid and cells (collected by Sno-strips and cytobrush, respectively) and ectocervicovaginal lavage (CVL) fluid. Repeated-measures models were also used to assess the variation in plasma CD4 cell counts and viral load. Shedding patterns differed among the three sampling methods, independent of genital tract co-infections. Genital tract HIV-1-RNA levels from CVL fluid and endocervical canal cytobrush specimens were highest during menses and lowest immediately thereafter (P = 0.001 and P = 0.04). The HIV-1-RNA level in endocervical canal fluid was highest in the week preceding menses (P = 0.003). The menstrual cycle had no effect on blood levels of RNA (P = 0.62), culturable virus (P = 0.34), or CD4 cell counts (P = 0.55). HIV-1-RNA levels were higher in endocervical canal fluid than in peripheral blood plasma during the late luteal phase (P = 0.03). HIV-1-RNA levels vary with the menstrual cycle in the female genital tract but not the blood compartment. HIV-1-RNA levels are higher in endocervical canal fluid than in blood plasma. These findings may have important implications for sex-specific pathogenesis, heterosexual transmission, and contraceptive hormone interventions in HIV-1-infected women.

Developing the Social Life Cycle Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Andreas

social audits. Through an interview with a social auditor it is suggested that the auditor varies the procedures for carrying out the audit in order to get the most valid result. For example, the auditor has to take into account the various tricks a company in a given context normally uses to cheat......This thesis seeks to add to the development of the Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA), which can be defined as an assessment method for assessing the social impacts connected to the life cycle of a product, service or system. In such development it is important to realise that the SLCA is only...... appealing to the extent that it does what it is supposed to do. In this thesis, this goal of SLCA is defined as to support improvements of the social conditions for the stakeholders throughout the life cycle of the assessed product, system or service. This effect should arise through decision makers...

Implementing risk-informed life-cycle design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Ralph S.

2009-01-01

This paper describes a design process based on risk-informed probabilistic design methodologies that cover a facility's life-cycle from start of conceptual design through decontamination and decommissioning. The concept embodies use of probabilistic risk assessments to establish target reliabilities for facility systems and components. The target reliabilities are used for system based code margin exchange and performance simulation analyses to optimize design over all phases (design, construction, operation and decommissioning) of a facility's life-cycle. System based code margin exchange reduces excessive level of construction margins for passive components to appropriate levels resulting in a more flexible structure of codes and standards that improves facility reliability and cost. System and subsystem simulation analyses determine the optimum combination of initial system and component construction reliability, maintenance frequency, and inspection frequency for both active and passive components. The paper includes a description of these risk-informed life-cycle design processes, a summary of work being done, and a discussion of additional work needed to implement the process.

Selective neurocognitive deficits and poor life functioning are associated with significant depressive symptoms in alcoholism-HIV infection comorbidity.

Science.gov (United States)

Sassoon, Stephanie A; Rosenbloom, Margaret J; Fama, Rosemary; Sullivan, Edith V; Pfefferbaum, Adolf

2012-09-30

Alcoholism, HIV, and depressive symptoms frequently co-occur and are associated with impairment in cognition and life function. We administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), measures of life function, and neurocognitive tests to 67 alcoholics, 56 HIV+ patients, 63 HIV+ alcoholics, and 64 controls to examine whether current depressive symptom level (significant, BDI-II>14 vs. minimal, BDI-IIalcoholism-HIV comorbidity. Participants with significant depressive symptoms demonstrated slower manual motor speed and poorer visuospatial memory than those with minimal depressive symptoms. HIV patients with depressive symptoms showed impaired manual motor speed. Alcoholics with depressive symptoms showed impaired visuospatial memory. HIV+ alcoholics with depressive symptoms reported the poorest quality of life; alcoholics with depressive symptoms, irrespective of HIV status, had poorest life functioning. Thus, significant depressive symptoms were associated with poorer selective cognitive and life functioning in alcoholism and in HIV infection, even though depressive symptoms had neither synergistic nor additive effects on cognition in alcoholism-HIV comorbidity. The results suggest the relevance of assessing and treating current depressive symptoms to reduce cognitive compromise and functional disability in HIV infection, alcoholism, and their comorbidity. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

KOH concentration effect on cycle life of nickel-hydrogen cells

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Hong S.; Verzwyvelt, S. A.

1987-01-01

A cycle life test of Ni/H2 cells containing electrolytes of various KOH concentrations and a sintered type nickel electrode was carried out at 23 C using a 45 min accelerated low Earth orbit (LEO) cycle regime at 80 percent depth of discharge. One of three cells containing 26 percent KOH has achieved over 28,000 cycles, and the other two 19,000 cycles, without a sign of failure. Two other cells containing 31 percent KOH electrolyte, which is the concentration presently used in aerospace cells, failed after 2,979 and 3,620 cycles. This result indicates that the cycle life of the present type of Ni/H2 cells may be extended by a factor of 5 to 10 simply by lowering the KOH concentration. Long cycle life of a Ni/H2 battery at high depth-of-discharge operation is desired, particularly for an LEO spacecraft application. Typically, battery life of about 30,000 cycles is required for a five year mission in an LEO. Such a cycle life with presently available cells can be assured only at a very low depth-of-discharge operation. Results of testing already show that the cycle life of an Ni/H2 cell is tremendously improved by simply using an electrolyte of low KOH concentration.

Life-cycle analysis of renewable energy systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Bent

1994-01-01

An imlementation of life-cycle analysis (LCA) for energy systems is presented and applied to two renewable energy systems (wind turbines and building-integrated photovoltaic modules) and compared with coal plants......An imlementation of life-cycle analysis (LCA) for energy systems is presented and applied to two renewable energy systems (wind turbines and building-integrated photovoltaic modules) and compared with coal plants...

Impact of childhood trauma on functionality and quality of life in HIV-infected women.

Science.gov (United States)

Troeman, Zyrhea C E; Spies, Georgina; Cherner, Mariana; Archibald, Sarah L; Fennema-Notestine, Christine; Theilmann, Rebecca J; Spottiswoode, Bruce; Stein, Dan J; Seedat, Soraya

2011-09-30

While there are many published studies on HIV and functional limitations, there are few in the context of early abuse and its impact on functionality and Quality of Life (QoL) in HIV. The present study focused on HIV in the context of childhood trauma and its impact on functionality and Quality of Life (QoL) by evaluating 85 HIV-positive (48 with childhood trauma and 37 without) and 52 HIV-negative (21 with childhood trauma and 31 without) South African women infected with Clade C HIV. QoL was assessed using the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q), the Patient's Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory (PAOFI), the Activities of Daily Living (ADL) scale and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS). Furthermore, participants were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ). Subjects had a mean age of 30.1 years. After controlling for age, level of education and CES-D scores, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) demonstrated significant individual effects of HIV status and childhood trauma on self-reported QoL. No significant interactional effects were evident. Functional limitation was, however, negatively correlated with CD4 lymphocyte count. In assessing QoL in HIV-infected women, we were able to demonstrate the impact of childhood trauma on functional limitations in HIV.

Impact of childhood trauma on functionality and quality of life in HIV-infected women

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Spottiswoode Bruce

2011-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background While there are many published studies on HIV and functional limitations, there are few in the context of early abuse and its impact on functionality and Quality of Life (QoL in HIV. Methods The present study focused on HIV in the context of childhood trauma and its impact on functionality and Quality of Life (QoL by evaluating 85 HIV-positive (48 with childhood trauma and 37 without and 52 HIV-negative (21 with childhood trauma and 31 without South African women infected with Clade C HIV. QoL was assessed using the Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire (Q-LES-Q, the Patient's Assessment of Own Functioning Inventory (PAOFI, the Activities of Daily Living (ADL scale and the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS. Furthermore, participants were assessed using the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ. Results Subjects had a mean age of 30.1 years. After controlling for age, level of education and CES-D scores, analysis of covariance (ANCOVA demonstrated significant individual effects of HIV status and childhood trauma on self-reported QoL. No significant interactional effects were evident. Functional limitation was, however, negatively correlated with CD4 lymphocyte count. Conclusions In assessing QoL in HIV-infected women, we were able to demonstrate the impact of childhood trauma on functional limitations in HIV.

Life cycle versus balanced funds: An emerging market perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elbie Louw

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Background: Inadequate retirement savings is an international challenge. Additionally, individuals are not cognisant of how asset allocation choices ultimately impact retirement savings. Life cycle and balanced funds are popular asset allocation strategies to save towards retirement. However, recent research is questioning the efficacy of life cycle funds that switch to lower risk asset classes as retirement approaches. Aim: The purpose of this study is to compare the performance of life cycle funds with balanced funds to determine whether either dominates the other. The study compares balanced and life cycle funds with similar starting asset allocations as well as those where the starting asset allocations differ. Setting: The study has a South African focus and constructs funds using historical data for the main local asset classes; that is, equity, fixed income and cash, as well as a proxy for foreign equity covering the period 1986–2013. Method: The study makes use of Monte Carlo simulations and bootstrap with replacement, and compares the simulated outcomes using stochastic dominance as decision-making criteria. Results: The results indicate that life cycle funds fail to dominate balanced funds by first-order or almost stochastic dominance when funds have a similar starting asset allocation. It is noteworthy that there are instances where the opposite is true, that is, balanced funds dominate life cycle funds. These results highlight that while the life cycle funds provide more downside protection, they significantly suppress the upside potential compared to balanced funds. When the starting asset allocations of the balanced and life cycle funds differ, the stochastic dominance results are inconsistent as to the efficacy of the life cycle fund strategies considered. Conclusion: The study shows that whether one fund is likely to dominate the other is strongly dependent on the underlying asset allocation strategies of the funds

Analysis within the systems development life-cycle

CERN Document Server

Rock-Evans, Rosemary

1987-01-01

Analysis within the Systems Development Life-Cycle: Book 1, Data Analysis-The Deliverables provides a comprehensive treatment of data analysis within the systems development life-cycle and all the deliverables that need to be collected in analysis. The purpose of deliverables is explained and a number of alternative ways of collecting them are discussed. This book is comprised of five chapters and begins with an overview of what """"analysis"""" actually means, with particular reference to tasks such as hardware planning and software evaluation and where they fit into the overall cycle. The ne

19th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering

CERN Document Server

Linke, Barbara

2012-01-01

The 19th CIRP Conference on Life Cycle Engineering continues a strong tradition of scientific meetings in the areas of sustainability and engineering within the community of the International Academy for Production Engineering (CIRP). The focus of the conference is to review and discuss the current developments, technology improvements, and future research directions that will allow engineers to help create green businesses and industries that are both socially responsible and economically successful.  The symposium covers a variety of relevant topics within life cycle engineering including Businesses and Organizations, Case Studies, End of Life Management, Life Cycle Design, Machine Tool Technologies for Sustainability, Manufacturing Processes, Manufacturing Systems, Methods and Tools for Sustainability, Social Sustainability, and Supply Chain Management.

Effective Integration of Life Cycle Engineering in Education

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Oude Luttikhuis, Ellen; Toxopeus, Marten E.; Lutters, Diederick

2015-01-01

In practice, applying life cycle engineering in product design and development requires an integrated approach, because of the many stakeholders and variables (e.g. cost, environmental impact, energy, safety, quality) involved in a complete product life cycle. In educating young engineers, the same

When Product Life Cycle Meets Customer Activity Cycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tan, Adrian Ronald

2007-01-01

Manufacturing companies have traditionally focused their efforts on designing, developing and producing products to offer on the market. Today global competition and demands for greater company responsibility of products throughout their entire life cycle are driving manufacturing companies to sh...

Implementing Life Cycle Assessment in Product development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhander, Gurbakhash Singh

2003-01-01

The overall aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the environmental issues involved in the early stages of product development and the capacity of life cycle assessment techniques to address these issues. The paper aims to outline the problems for the designer in evaluating the envir......The overall aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the environmental issues involved in the early stages of product development and the capacity of life cycle assessment techniques to address these issues. The paper aims to outline the problems for the designer in evaluating......, and of the opportunities for introducing environmental criteria in the design process through meeting the information requirements of the designer on the different life cycle stages, producing an in-depth understanding of the attitudes of practitioners among product developers to the subject area, and an understanding...... of possible future directions for product development. An Environmentally Conscious Design method is introduced and trade-offs are presented between design degrees of freedom and environmental solutions. Life cycle design frameworks and strategies are addressed. The paper collects experiences and ideas around...

Optimizing the data life cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schwarz, Kilian [GSI, Planckstr. 1, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Jung, Christopher [KIT, Kaiserstrasse 12, 76131 Karlsruhe (Germany)

2013-07-01

Today, data play a central role in most fields of Science. In recent years, the amount of data from experiment, observation, and simulation has increased rapidly and the data complexity has grown. Also, communities and shared storage have become geographically more distributed. Therefore, methods and techniques applied for scientific data need to be revised and partially be replaced, while keeping the community-specific needs in focus. The Helmholtz Portfolio Extension ''Large Scale Data Management and Analysis'' (LSDMA) focuses on the optimization of the data life cycle in different research areas. In its five Data Life Cycle Labs (DLCLs), data experts closely collaborate with the communities in joint research and development to optimize the respective data life cycle. In addition, the Data Services Integration Team provides data analysis tools and services which are common to several DLCLs. This presentation describes the various activities within LSDMA and focuses on the work done in the DLCL ''Structure of Matter''. The main topics of this DLCL are the support for the international projects FAIR (Facility for Anti Proton and Ion Research) which will evolve around GSI in Darmstadt and the European XFEL and PETRA III at DESY in Hamburg.

Computer Software for Life Cycle Cost.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-04-01

34 111. 1111I .25 IL4 jj 16 MICROCOPY RESOLUTION TEST CHART hut FILE C AIR CoMMNAMN STFF COLLG STUJDET PORTO i COMpUTER SOFTWARE FOR LIFE CYCLE CO879...obsolete), physical life (utility before physically wearing out), or application life (utility in a given function)." (7:5) The costs are usually

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Solar Photovoltaics (Fact Sheet)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

2012-11-01

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently led the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Harmonization Project, a study that helps to clarify inconsistent and conflicting life cycle GHG emission estimates in the published literature and provide more precise estimates of life cycle GHG emissions from PV systems.

LIFE CYCLE DESIGN OF AMORPHOUS SILICON PHOTOVOLTAIC MODULES

Science.gov (United States)

The life cycle design framework was applied to photovoltaic module design. The primary objective of this project was to develop and evaluate design metrics for assessing and guiding the Improvement of PV product systems. Two metrics were used to assess life cycle energy perform...

Improving life-cycle cost management in the US. Army: analysis of the U.S. Army and Commercial Businesses life-cycle cost management.

OpenAIRE

White, Bradley A.

2001-01-01

The roles and responsibilities of the Army acquisition and logistics communities, as they pertain to the life-cycle management, are undergoing fundamental change. The early identification and total control of life-cycle cost, in particular operations and sustainment costs which comprises as much as 70-80% of a systems total life-cycle cost, is a high priority for the Army. The basis of this change is adoption of commercial best practices to support the Army's goal to organize. tram. equip, an...

Development of an Enhanced Generic Data Mining Life Cycle (DMLC)

OpenAIRE

Hofmann, Markus; Tierney, Brendan

2017-01-01

Data mining projects are complex and have a high failure rate. In order to improve project management and success rates of such projects a life cycle is vital to the overall success of the project. This paper reports on a research project that was concerned with the life cycle development for large scale data mining projects. The paper provides a detailed view of the design and development of a generic data mining life cycle called DMLC. The life cycle aims to support all members of data mini...

The circle of life: A cross-cultural comparison of children's attribution of life-cycle traits.

Science.gov (United States)

Burdett, Emily R R; Barrett, Justin L

2016-06-01

Do children attribute mortality and other life-cycle traits to all minded beings? The present study examined whether culture influences young children's ability to conceptualize and differentiate human beings from supernatural beings (such as God) in terms of life-cycle traits. Three-to-5-year-old Israeli and British children were questioned whether their mother, a friend, and God would be subject to various life-cycle processes: Birth, death, ageing, existence/longevity, and parentage. Children did not anthropomorphize but differentiated among human and supernatural beings, attributing life-cycle traits to humans, but not to God. Although 3-year-olds differentiated significantly among agents, 5-year-olds attributed correct life-cycle traits more consistently than younger children. The results also indicated some cross-cultural variation in these attributions. Implications for biological conceptual development are discussed. © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

Life cycle management and assessment: approaches and visions towards sustainable manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westkämper, Engelbert; Alting, Leo; Arndt, Günther

2000-01-01

. The goal of this approach is to protect resources and maximize effectiveness by means of life cycle assessment, product data management, technical support and, last but not least, life cycle costing. This paper shows the existing approaches of LCM and discusses their prospects and further development....... concepts are required, new regulations have been passed or consumer values are changing, the differences between business areas are disappearing. Life cycle management (LCM) considers the product life cycle as a whole and optimizes the interaction of product design, manufacturing and life cycle activities...

20th CIRP International Conference on Life Cycle Engineering

CERN Document Server

Song, Bin; Ong, Soh-Khim

2013-01-01

This edited volume presents the proceedings of the 20th CIRP LCE Conference, which cover various areas in life cycle engineering such as life cycle design, end-of-life management, manufacturing processes, manufacturing systems, methods and tools for sustainability, social sustainability, supply chain management, remanufacturing, etc.

Total Product Life Cycle (TPLC)

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Department of Health & Human Services — The Total Product Life Cycle (TPLC) database integrates premarket and postmarket data about medical devices. It includes information pulled from CDRH databases...

The HIV Anticaptory Saving Motive : An Empirical Analysis in South Africa

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lammers, J.; van de Kuilen, G.

2007-01-01

This paper studies the effect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on saving behaviour. Two important characteristics of HIV result in opposing forces on savings: mortality increases, which reduces savings, and long-term illness risk increases, which enhances savings. We use a two period life-cycle model with

Three Sides of a Coin in the Life of People Living with HIV (PLWH).

Science.gov (United States)

Khakha, Deepika Cecil; Kapoor, Bimla; Manju; Sharma, Singh K

2015-01-01

Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) is a global epidemic, a major challenge as a health care problem of modern times. As the survival of life increases from the time of an HIV-positive diagnosis, growing concern for the quality of the life has been extended. To assess and correlate the coping, social support and quality of life. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at antiretroviral therapy (ART) clinic of AIIMS, New Delhi. The sample comprised people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) who were seropositive for last six months. The tools used to assess the coping, social support and quality of life were BREF COPE, MOS social support survey and WHO QOL-HIV BREF, respectively. Permission was taken from the authors of the tools. The ethical permission was taken from the center. The coping, social support and quality of life were assessed and their association was observed. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17. The most commonly used coping styles were acceptance and religion. The social support used by most of PLWHA was tangible support and affectionate support, while the least used support was positive social interaction. The lowest quality of life is seen in social relations, followed by physical quality of life. There was positive association seen between coping and quality of life as well as social support and quality of life. There was positive association between coping, social support and quality of life.

Residential Preferences and Moving Behavior: A Family Life Cycle Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

McAuley, William J.; Nutty, Cheri L.

The relationship of family life cycle changes to housing preferences and residential mobility is examined. Two residential decision-making issues are explored in detail--how family life cycle stages influence what people view as important to their choice of residential setting and what individuals at different family life cycle stages view as the…

Methodologies for Social Life Cycle Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jørgensen, Andreas; Le Bocq, Agathe; Nazakina, Liudmila

2008-01-01

Goal, Scope and Background. In recent years several different approaches towards Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) have been developed. The purpose of this review is to compare these approaches in order to highlight methodological differences and general shortcomings. SLCA has several similarit......Goal, Scope and Background. In recent years several different approaches towards Social Life Cycle Assessment (SLCA) have been developed. The purpose of this review is to compare these approaches in order to highlight methodological differences and general shortcomings. SLCA has several...... similarities with other social assessment tools, but in order to limit the review, only claims to address social impacts from an LCA-like framework is considered. Main Features. The review is to a large extent based on conference proceedings and reports of which some are not easily accessible, since very...... stage in the product life cycle. Another very important difference among the proposals is their position towards the use of generic data. Several of the proposals argue that social impacts are connected to the conduct of the company leading to the conclusion that each individual company in the product...

Integrated corporate structure life cycle management modeling and organization

OpenAIRE

Naumenko, M.; Morozova, L.

2011-01-01

Integrated business structure presented as complementary pool of its participants skills. The methodical approach to integrated business structure life cycle modeling proposed. Recommendations of enterprises life cycles stages correlate are submitted.

Comparative life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of lodging in the Himalaya

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bhochhibhoya, Silu; Pizzol, Massimo; Achten, Wouter M.J.; Maskey, Ramesh Kumar; Zanetti, Michela; Cavalli, Raffaele

2017-01-01

Purpose: The main aim of the study is to assess the environmental and economic impacts of the lodging sector located in the Himalayan region of Nepal, from a life cycle perspective. The assessment should support decision making in technology and material selection for minimal environmental and

Application of Life Cycle Assessment on Electronic Waste Management: A Review

Science.gov (United States)

Xue, Mianqiang; Xu, Zhenming

2017-04-01

Electronic waste is a rich source of both valuable materials and toxic substances. Management of electronic waste is one of the biggest challenges of current worldwide concern. As an effective and prevailing environmental management tool, life cycle assessment can evaluate the environmental performance of electronic waste management activities. Quite a few scientific literatures reporting life cycle assessment of electronic waste management with significant outcomes have been recently published. This paper reviewed the trends, characteristics, research gaps, and challenges of these studies providing detailed information for practitioners involved in electronic waste management. The results showed that life cycle assessment studies were most carried out in Europe, followed by Asia and North America. The research subject of the studies mainly includes monitors, waste printed circuit boards, mobile phones, computers, printers, batteries, toys, dishwashers, and light-emitting diodes. CML was the most widely used life cycle impact assessment method in life cycle assessment studies on electronic waste management, followed by EI99. Furthermore, 40% of the reviewed studies combined with other environmental tools, including life cycle cost, material flow analysis, multi-criteria decision analysis, emergy analysis, and hazard assessment which came to more comprehensive conclusions from different aspects. The research gaps and challenges including uneven distribution of life cycle assessment studies, life cycle impact assessment methods selection, comparison of the results, and uncertainty of the life cycle assessment studies were examined. Although life cycle assessment of electronic waste management facing challenges, their results will play more and more important role in electronic waste management practices.

A resource guide to nuclear plant life-cycle management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Negin, C.A.; Klein, D.J.

1993-11-01

Forecasting the useful economic life of a nuclear unit and addressing the complementary issue of license renewal, both key elements of life cycle management, are complex undertakings. This guide is a resource document emphasizing the technical elements of life cycle management (LCM) with focus on the determination of adequate maintenance programs and the identification of data and records necessary to support them. Information on other life cycle management issues, such as license renewal regulation, is also provided. Because of the volume of information required for LCM evaluations and the need for periodic updating, this Guide is presented as an updatable ''electronic book.''

Life cycle management and assessment: approaches and visions towards sustainable manufacturing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Westkämper, Engelbert; Alting, Leo; Arndt, Günther

2001-01-01

and optimizes the interaction of product design, manufacturing and life cycle activities. The goal of this approach is to protect resources and maximize effectiveness by means of life cycle assessment, product data management, technical support and, last but not least, life cycle costing. This paper shows....... Economically successful business areas can also be explored. Whether new service concepts are required, new regulations have been passed or consumer values are changing, the differences between business areas are disappearing. Life cycle management (LCM) considers the product life cycle as a whole...... the existing approaches of LCM and discusses their prospects and further development....

Risk informed life cycle plant design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Ralph S. III; Nutt, Mark M.

2003-01-01

Many facility life cycle activities including design, construction, fabrication, inspection and maintenance are evolving from a deterministic to a risk-informed basis. The risk informed approach uses probabilistic methods to evaluate the contribution of individual system components to total system performance. Total system performance considers both safety and cost considerations including system failure, reliability, and availability. By necessity, a risk-informed approach considers both the component's life cycle and the life cycle of the system. In the nuclear industry, risk-informed approaches, namely probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) or probabilistic safety assessment (PSA), have become a standard tool used to evaluate the safety of nuclear power plants. Recent studies pertaining to advanced reactor development have indicated that these new power plants must provide enhanced safety over existing nuclear facilities and be cost-competitive with other energy sources. Risk-informed approaches, beyond traditional PRA, offer the opportunity to optimize design while considering the total life cycle of the plant in order to realize these goals. The use of risk-informed design approaches in the nuclear industry is only beginning, with recent promulgation of risk-informed regulations and proposals for risk-informed codes. This paper briefly summarizes the current state of affairs regarding the use of risk-informed approaches in design. Key points to fully realize the benefit of applying a risk-informed approach to nuclear power plant design are then presented. These points are equally applicable to non-nuclear facilities where optimization for cost competitiveness and/or safety is desired. (author)

Life Cycle Thinking in Impact Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bidstrup, Morten

2015-01-01

It has been advocated that life cycle thinking (LCT) should be applied in impact assessment (IA) to a greater extent, since some development proposals pose a risk of significant impacts throughout the interconnected activities of product systems. Multiple authors have proposed the usage of life...

Socio-Demographic Factors, Social Support, Quality of Life, and HIV/AIDS in Ghana.

Science.gov (United States)

Abrefa-Gyan, Tina; Cornelius, Llewellyn J; Okundaye, Joshua

2016-01-01

The increase in the access to biomedical interventions for people living with HIV/AIDS in the developing world has not been adequately matched with the requisite psychosocial treatments to help improve the effectiveness of biomedical interventions. Therefore, in this study the author seeks to determine whether socio-demographic characteristics and social support are associated with quality of life in individuals diagnosed with HIV/AIDS in Ghana. A convenience sample of 300 HIV/AIDS support group members was obtained via cross-sectional design survey. The Medical Outcome Studies (MOS) HIV Health Survey, the MOS Social Support Survey (MOS-SSS), and demographic questionnaire instruments were used to assess quality of life, social support, and demographic information respectively. Multiple regression analysis showed that there was a positive association between overall social support and overall quality of life (r = .51). It also showed that being younger, male, attending support group meetings for over a year, and having ≥ 13 years of schooling related to higher quality of life. Implications of the findings for practice, policy, and research in Ghana and the rest of the developing world are discussed.

Evaluation of life-cycle air emission factors of freight transportation.

Science.gov (United States)

Facanha, Cristiano; Horvath, Arpad

2007-10-15

Life-cycle air emission factors associated with road, rail, and air transportation of freight in the United States are analyzed. All life-cycle phases of vehicles, infrastructure, and fuels are accounted for in a hybrid life-cycle assessment (LCA). It includes not only fuel combustion, but also emissions from vehicle manufacturing, maintenance, and end of life, infrastructure construction, operation, maintenance, and end of life, and petroleum exploration, refining, and fuel distribution. Results indicate that total life-cycle emissions of freight transportation modes are underestimated if only tailpipe emissions are accounted for. In the case of CO2 and NOx, tailpipe emissions underestimate total emissions by up to 38%, depending on the mode. Total life-cycle emissions of CO and SO2 are up to seven times higher than tailpipe emissions. Sensitivity analysis considers the effects of vehicle type, geography, and mode efficiency on the final results. Policy implications of this analysis are also discussed. For example, while it is widely assumed that currently proposed regulations will result in substantial reductions in emissions, we find that this is true for NOx, emissions, because fuel combustion is the main cause, and to a lesser extent for SO2, but not for PM10 emissions, which are significantly affected by the other life-cycle phases.

Rules of Thumb in Life-Cycle Saving Decisions

OpenAIRE

Winter, Joachim; Schlafmann, Kathrin; Rodepeter, Ralf

2011-01-01

We analyse life-cycle saving decisions when households use simple heuristics, or rules of thumb, rather than solve the underlying intertemporal optimization problem. We simulate life-cycle saving decisions using three simple rules and compute utility losses relative to the solution of the optimization problem. Our simulations suggest that utility losses induced by following simple decision rules are relatively low. Moreover, the two main saving motives re ected by the canonical life-cyc...

Life Cycle Inventory Analysis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjørn, Anders; Moltesen, Andreas; Laurent, Alexis

2018-01-01

of different sources. The output is a compiled inventory of elementary flows that is used as basis of the subsequent life cycle impact assessment phase. This chapter teaches how to carry out this task through six steps: (1) identifying processes for the LCI model of the product system; (2) planning...

Management system and organizational life cycle: A qualitative study

OpenAIRE

Selma Zone Fekih Ahmed

2013-01-01

This research deals with the importance of the components of the management system according to the phases of organizational life cycle. The goal of our research is to provide the theoretical reflection on the life cycle of the organization and to shed light on the components of the management system for each phase. The conceptual analysis shows that the management system is made up of its three components: ethics, mode of functioning and procedure of regulation. The organizational life cycle...

Designer and Constructor Practices to Ensure Life Cycle Performance

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Shelton, Joelle

1998-01-01

.... Many of these attempts focus on reducing costs and improving functionality, such as life cycle cost analysis and value engineering, while others, such as design-build, focus on specific phases of the life cycle...

Life cycle reliability assessment of new products—A Bayesian model updating approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peng, Weiwen; Huang, Hong-Zhong; Li, Yanfeng; Zuo, Ming J.; Xie, Min

2013-01-01

The rapidly increasing pace and continuously evolving reliability requirements of new products have made life cycle reliability assessment of new products an imperative yet difficult work. While much work has been done to separately estimate reliability of new products in specific stages, a gap exists in carrying out life cycle reliability assessment throughout all life cycle stages. We present a Bayesian model updating approach (BMUA) for life cycle reliability assessment of new products. Novel features of this approach are the development of Bayesian information toolkits by separately including “reliability improvement factor” and “information fusion factor”, which allow the integration of subjective information in a specific life cycle stage and the transition of integrated information between adjacent life cycle stages. They lead to the unique characteristics of the BMUA in which information generated throughout life cycle stages are integrated coherently. To illustrate the approach, an application to the life cycle reliability assessment of a newly developed Gantry Machining Center is shown

Three sides of a coin in the life of people living with HIV (PLWH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Deepika Cecil Khakha

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS is a global epidemic, a major challenge as a health care problem of modern times. As the survival of life increases from the time of an HIV-positive diagnosis, growing concern for the quality of the life has been extended. Objectives: To assess and correlate the coping, social support and quality of life. Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at antiretroviral therapy (ART clinic of AIIMS, New Delhi. The sample comprised people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA who were seropositive for last six months. The tools used to assess the coping, social support and quality of life were BREF COPE, MOS social support survey and WHO QOL-HIV BREF, respectively. Permission was taken from the authors of the tools. The ethical permission was taken from the center. The coping, social support and quality of life were assessed and their association was observed. Data were analyzed using SPSS 17. Results: The most commonly used coping styles were acceptance and religion. The social support used by most of PLWHA was tangible support and affectionate support, while the least used support was positive social interaction. The lowest quality of life is seen in social relations, followed by physical quality of life. There was positive association seen between coping and quality of life as well as social support and quality of life. Conclusion: There was positive association between coping, social support and quality of life.

Future of lignite resources: a life cycle analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Qingsong; Liu, Wei; Yuan, Xueliang; Zheng, Xiaoning; Zuo, Jian

2016-12-01

Lignite is a low-quality energy source which accounts for 13 % of China's coal reserves. It is imperative to improve the quality of lignite for large-scale utilization. To further explore and analyze the influence of various key processes on the environment and economic costs, a lignite drying and compression technology is evaluated using an integrated approach of life cycle assessment and life cycle costs. Results showed that lignite mining, direct air emissions, and electricity consumption have most significant impacts on the environment. An integrated evaluation of life cycle assessment and life cycle costs showed that the most significant contributor to the environmental impacts and economic costs was the lignite mining process. The impact of transportation and wastewater treatment process on the environment and economic costs was small enough to be ignored. Critical factors were identified for reducing the environmental and economic impacts of lignite drying and compression technology. These findings provide useful inputs for both industrial practice and policy making for exploitation, processing, and utilization of lignite resources.

Sustainable Nanotechnology: Through Green Methods and Life-Cycle Thinking

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rapinder Sawhney

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Citing the myriad applications of nanotechnology, this paper emphasizes the need to conduct “life cycle” based assessments as early in the new product development process as possible, for a better understanding of the potential environmental and human health consequences of nanomaterials over the entire life cycle of a nano-enabled product. The importance of this reasoning is further reinforced through an illustrative case study on automotive exterior body panels, which shows that the perceived environmental benefits of nano-based products in the Use stage may not adequately represent the complete picture, without examining the impacts in the other life cycle stages, particularly Materials Processing and Manufacturing. Nanomanufacturing methods often have associated environmental and human health impacts, which must be kept in perspective when evaluating nanoproducts for their “greenness.” Incorporating life-cycle thinking for making informed decisions at the product design stage, combining life cycle and risk analysis, using sustainable manufacturing practices, and employing green chemistry alternatives are seen as possible solutions.

An ideal sealed source life-cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tompkins, Joseph Andrew

2009-01-01

we have today. This regulation created a new regulatory framework seen as promising at the time. However, now they recognize that, despite the good intentions, the NIJWP/85 has not solved any source disposition problems. The answer to these sealed source disposition problems is to adopt a philosophy to correct these regulatory issues, determine an interim solution, execute that solution until there is a minimal backlog of sources to deal with, and then let the mechanisms they have created solve this problem into the foreseeable future. The primary philosophical tenet of the ideal sealed source life cycle follows. You do not allow the creation (or importation) of any source whose use cannot be justified, which cannot be affordably shipped, or that does not have a well-delinated and affordable disposition pathway. The path forward dictates that we fix the problem by embracing the Ideal Source Life cycle. In figure 1, we can see some of the elements of the ideal source life cycle. The life cycle is broken down into four portions, manufacture, use, consolidation, and disposition. These four arbitrary elements allow them to focus on the ideal life cycle phases that every source should go through between manufacture and final disposition. As we examine the various phases of the sealed source life cycle, they pick specific examples and explore the adoption of the ideal life cycle model.

Implementing Life Cycle Assessment in systems development

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhander, Gurbakhash Singh; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; McAloone, Timothy Charles

2003-01-01

and the rapid changes in markets for many products. The overall aim of the paper is to provide an understanding of the environmental issues involved in the early stages of product development and the capacity of life cycle assessment techniques to address these issues. The paper aims to outline the problems...... for the designer in evaluating the environmental benignity of the product from the outset and to provide the designer with a framework for decision support based on the performance evaluation at different stages of the design process. The overall aim of this paper is to produce an in-depth understanding...... of possibilities which can be introduced in the design stage compared to the other life cycle stages of the product system. The paper collects experiences and ideas around the state-of-the-art in eco-design, from literature and personal experience and further provides eco-design life cycle assessment strategies...

Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of anesthetic drugs.

Science.gov (United States)

Sherman, Jodi; Le, Cathy; Lamers, Vanessa; Eckelman, Matthew

2012-05-01

Anesthesiologists must consider the entire life cycle of drugs in order to include environmental impacts into clinical decisions. In the present study we used life cycle assessment to examine the climate change impacts of 5 anesthetic drugs: sevoflurane, desflurane, isoflurane, nitrous oxide, and propofol. A full cradle-to-grave approach was used, encompassing resource extraction, drug manufacturing, transport to health care facilities, drug delivery to the patient, and disposal or emission to the environment. At each stage of the life cycle, energy, material inputs, and emissions were considered, as well as use-specific impacts of each drug. The 4 inhalation anesthetics are greenhouse gases (GHGs), and so life cycle GHG emissions include waste anesthetic gases vented to the atmosphere and emissions (largely carbon dioxide) that arise from other life cycle stages. Desflurane accounts for the largest life cycle GHG impact among the anesthetic drugs considered here: 15 times that of isoflurane and 20 times that of sevoflurane on a per MAC-hour basis when administered in an O(2)/air admixture. GHG emissions increase significantly for all drugs when administered in an N(2)O/O(2) admixture. For all of the inhalation anesthetics, GHG impacts are dominated by uncontrolled emissions of waste anesthetic gases. GHG impacts of propofol are comparatively quite small, nearly 4 orders of magnitude lower than those of desflurane or nitrous oxide. Unlike the inhaled drugs, the GHG impacts of propofol primarily stem from the electricity required for the syringe pump and not from drug production or direct release to the environment. Our results reiterate previous published data on the GHG effects of these inhaled drugs, while providing a life cycle context. There are several practical environmental impact mitigation strategies. Desflurane and nitrous oxide should be restricted to cases where they may reduce morbidity and mortality over alternative drugs. Clinicians should avoid

Software Safety Life cycle and Method of POSAFE-Q System

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jang-Soo; Kwon, Kee-Choon

2006-01-01

This paper describes the relationship between the overall safety life cycle and the software safety life cycle during the development of the software based safety systems of Nuclear Power Plants. This includes the design and evaluation activities of components as well as the system. The paper also compares the safety life cycle and planning activities defined in IEC 61508 with those in IEC 60880, IEEE 7-4.3.2, and IEEE 1228. Using the KNICS project as an example, software safety life cycle and safety analysis methods applied to the POSAFE-Q are demonstrated. KNICS software safety life cycle is described by comparing to the software development, testing, and safety analysis process with international standards. The safety assessment of the software for POSAFE-Q is a joint Korean German project. The assessment methods applied in the project and the experiences gained from this project are presented

Ecology and Life Cycle Patterns of Echinococcus Species.

Science.gov (United States)

Romig, T; Deplazes, P; Jenkins, D; Giraudoux, P; Massolo, A; Craig, P S; Wassermann, M; Takahashi, K; de la Rue, M

2017-01-01

The genus Echinococcus is composed of eight generally recognized species and one genotypic cluster (Echinococcus canadensis cluster) that may in future be resolved into one to three species. For each species, we review existing information on transmission routes and life cycles in different geographical contexts and - where available - include basic biological information of parasites and hosts (e.g., susceptibility of host species). While some Echinococcus spp. are transmitted in life cycles that involve predominantly domestic animals (e.g., dog - livestock cycles), others are wildlife parasites that do or do not interact with domestic transmission. In many cases, life cycle patterns of the same parasite species differ according to geography. Simple life cycles contrast with transmission patterns that are highly complex, involving multihost systems that may include both domestic and wild mammals. Wildlife transmission may be primary or secondary, i.e., resulting from spillovers from domestic animals. For most of the species and regions, existing information does not yet permit a conclusive description of transmission systems. Such data, however, would be highly relevant, e.g., for anticipation of geographical changes of the presence and frequency of these parasites in a warming world, or for initiating evidence-based control strategies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Life Cycle Engineering – from methodology to enterprise culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Alting, Leo; Poll, Christian

2003-01-01

As part of a sustainable development, the environmental efficiency of industry must increase by a factor four to ten. This engenders attention to the environmental impact of products and technical systems over their entire life cycle. The last decade has seen the development of a number of method......As part of a sustainable development, the environmental efficiency of industry must increase by a factor four to ten. This engenders attention to the environmental impact of products and technical systems over their entire life cycle. The last decade has seen the development of a number...... of methodologies and tools for life cycle assessment and development of more eco-efficient products, from complex to simplified, catering to the needs of especially small and medium-sized enterprizes. The tools and data are in place, but dissemination lacks behind. Propagation of life cycle thinking and life cycle...... engineering to larger parts of industry is attempted by strengthening the market pull through integrated product policy measures, and at the same time pushing through information activities, training and dissemination of tools. Experience hitherto shows that these forces are insufficient and that stronger...

Life Cycle Design - a Route to the Sustainable Industrial Culture?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Wenzel, Henrik; Alting, Leo

1999-01-01

In the attempt to reorient Society's development in a more sustainable direction attention is focused on the environmental impact of products and systems over their entire life cycle, but how can the environmental life cycle perspective be introduced into the design of new solutions and how much...... can be optained through life cycle design? The authors' experience with integration of environmental considerations in product development is presented, ranging from the detailed interactive approach to the EDIP-method through various simplified approaches. The potential for environmental improvements...... is reviewed and the overall question of to what extent life cycle design is a route to the sustainable industrial culture is discussed....

Life Cycle Energy Analysis of Reclaimed Water Reuse Projects in Beijing.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Yupeng; Guo, Erhui; Zhai, Yuanzheng; Chang, Andrew C; Qiao, Qi; Kang, Peng

2018-01-01

  To illustrate the benefits of water reuse project, the process-based life cycle analysis (LCA) could be combined with input-output LCA to evaluate the water reuse project. Energy is the only evaluation parameter used in this study. Life cycle assessment of all energy inputs (LCEA) is completed mainly by the life cycle inventory (LCI), taking into account the full life cycle including the construction, the operation, and the demolition phase of the project. Assessment of benefit from water reuse during the life cycle should focus on wastewater discharge reduction and water-saving benefits. The results of LCEA of Beijing water reuse project built in 2014 in a comprehensive way shows that the benefits obtained from the reclaimed water reuse far exceed the life cycle energy consumption. In this paper, the authors apply the LCEA model to estimate the benefits of reclaimed water reuse projects quantitatively.

Life cycle and nano-products: end-of-life assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Asmatulu, Eylem; Twomey, Janet; Overcash, Michael

2012-01-01

Understanding environmental impacts of nanomaterials necessitates analyzing the life cycle profile. The initial emphasis of nanomaterial life cycle studies has been on the environmental and health effects of nanoproducts during the production and usage stages. Analyzing the end-of-life (eol) stage of nanomaterials is also critical because significant impacts or benefits for the environment may arise at that particular stage. In this article, the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) Consumer Products Inventory (CPI) model was used, which contains a relatively large and complete nanoproduct list (1,014) as of 2010. The consumer products have wide range of applications, such as clothing, sports goods, personal care products, medicine, as well as contributing to faster cars and planes, more powerful computers and satellites, better micro and nanochips, and long-lasting batteries. In order to understand the eol cycle concept, we allocated 1,014 nanoproducts into the nine end-of-life categories (e.g., recyclability, ingestion, absorption by skin/public sewer, public sewer, burning/landfill, landfill, air release, air release/public sewer, and other) based on probable final destinations of the nanoproducts. This article highlights the results of this preliminary assessment of end-of-life stage of nanoproducts. The largest potential eol fate was found to be recyclability, however little literature appears to have evolved around nanoproduct recycling. At lower frequency is dermal and ingestion human uptake and then landfill. Release to water and air are much lower potential eol fates for current nanoproducts. In addition, an analysis of nano-product categories with the largest number of products listed indicated that clothes, followed by dermal-related products and then sports equipment were the most represented in the PEN CPI (http

Life cycle and nano-products: end-of-life assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Asmatulu, Eylem; Twomey, Janet; Overcash, Michael, E-mail: mrovercash@earthlink.net [Wichita State University, Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering (United States)

2012-03-15

Understanding environmental impacts of nanomaterials necessitates analyzing the life cycle profile. The initial emphasis of nanomaterial life cycle studies has been on the environmental and health effects of nanoproducts during the production and usage stages. Analyzing the end-of-life (eol) stage of nanomaterials is also critical because significant impacts or benefits for the environment may arise at that particular stage. In this article, the Woodrow Wilson Center's Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (PEN) Consumer Products Inventory (CPI) model was used, which contains a relatively large and complete nanoproduct list (1,014) as of 2010. The consumer products have wide range of applications, such as clothing, sports goods, personal care products, medicine, as well as contributing to faster cars and planes, more powerful computers and satellites, better micro and nanochips, and long-lasting batteries. In order to understand the eol cycle concept, we allocated 1,014 nanoproducts into the nine end-of-life categories (e.g., recyclability, ingestion, absorption by skin/public sewer, public sewer, burning/landfill, landfill, air release, air release/public sewer, and other) based on probable final destinations of the nanoproducts. This article highlights the results of this preliminary assessment of end-of-life stage of nanoproducts. The largest potential eol fate was found to be recyclability, however little literature appears to have evolved around nanoproduct recycling. At lower frequency is dermal and ingestion human uptake and then landfill. Release to water and air are much lower potential eol fates for current nanoproducts. In addition, an analysis of nano-product categories with the largest number of products listed indicated that clothes, followed by dermal-related products and then sports equipment were the most represented in the PEN CPI (http

Life cycle cost report of VHLW cask

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-06-01

This document, the Life Cycle Cost Report (LCCR) for the VHLW Cask, presents the life cycle costs for acquiring, using, and disposing of the VHLW casks. The VHLW cask consists of a ductile iron cask body, called the shielding insert, which is used for storage and transportation, and ultimately for disposal of Defense High Level Waste which has been vitrified and placed into VHLW canisters. Each ductile iron VHLW shielding insert holds one VHLW canister. For transportation, the shielding insert is placed into a containment overpack. The VHLW cask as configured for transportation is a legal weight truck cask which will be licensed by NRC. The purpose of this LCCR is to present the development of the life cycle costs for using the VHLW cask to transport VHLW canisters from the generating sites to a disposal site. Life cycle costs include the cost of acquiring, operating, maintaining, and ultimately dispositioning the VHLW cask and its associated hardware. This report summarizes costs associated with transportation of the VHLW casks. Costs are developed on the basis of expected usage, anticipated source and destination locations, and expected quantities of VHLW which must be transported. DOE overhead costs, such as the costs associated with source and destination facility handling of the VHLW, are not included. Also not included are costs exclusive to storage or disposal of the VHLW waste

The Vicious Cycle of Stigma and Disclosure in "Self-Management": A Study Among the Dutch HIV Population.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vries, Daniel H; Koppen, Luca; Lopez, Adolfo Mejia; Foppen, Reina

2016-12-01

Though HIV has become a chronic disease, HIV-related stigma has remained. This article reports on a study that asked how Dutch people living with HIV-AIDS (PLWHA) experienced stigmatization and devised self-management strategies. We used qualitative findings from a survey questionnaire conducted among 468 Dutch HIV-positive people (3% of the population), using a stratified research sample. Findings show how respondents experience relatively high public (30%), self- (26%) and structural (15%) stigma. At the same time, results show the importance of selective disclosure as a self-management strategy. About half the respondents disclose selectively, while 16% does not disclose at all. We conclude that many Dutch PLHWA remain caught up in a vicious cycle of stigma and nondisclosure. To break the cycle, respondents point at the importance of stigma reduction campaigns using actual PLWHA. We highlight the importance of workplace programs and training of medical professionals.

DNA damage repair machinery and HIV escape from innate immune sensing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christelle eBregnard

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Viruses have been long known to perturb cell cycle regulators and key players of the DNA damage response to benefit their life cycles. In the case of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV, the viral auxiliary protein Vpr activates the structure-specific endonuclease SLX4 complex to promote escape from innate immune sensing and, as a side effect, induces replication stress in cycling cells and subsequent cell cycle arrest at the G2/M transition. This novel pathway subverted by HIV to prevent accumulation of viral reverse transcription by-products adds up to facilitating effects of major cellular exonucleases that degrade pathological DNA species. Within this review we discuss the impact of this finding on our understanding of the interplay between HIV replication and nucleic acid metabolism and its implications for cancer-related chronic inflammation.

Life cycle assessment of palm-derived biodiesel in Taiwan

KAUST Repository

Maharjan, Sumit; Wang, Wei-Cheng; Teah, Heng Yi

2016-01-01

. This study aims to evaluate the cradle-to-grave life cycle environmental performance of palm biodiesel within two different Asian countries, Malaysia and Taiwan. The phases of the life cycle such as direct land-use-change impact, plantation and milling

Life-cycle cost analysis of adsorption cycles for desalination

KAUST Repository

Thu, Kyaw

2010-08-01

This paper presents the thermo-economic analysis of the adsorption desalination (AD) cycle that is driven by low-temperature waste heat from exhaust of industrial processes or renewable sources. The AD cycle uses an adsorbent such as the silica gel to desalt the sea or brackish water. Based on an experimental prototype AD plant, the life-cycle cost analysis of AD plants of assorted water production capacities has been simulated and these predictions are translated into unit cost of water production. Our results show that the specific energy consumption of the AD cycle is 1.38 kWh/m3 which is the lowest ever reported. For a plant capacity of 1000 m3/d, the AD cycle offers a unit cost of $0.457/m3 as compared to more than $0.9 for the average RO plants. Besides being cost-effective, the AD cycle is also environment-friendly as it emits less CO2 emission per m3 generated, typically 85% less, by comparison to an RO process. © 2010 Desalination Publications.

HIV-1 Nef control of cell signalling molecules: multiple strategies

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

HIV-1 has at its disposal numerous proteins encoded by its genome which provide the required arsenal to establish and maintain infection in its host for a considerable number of years. One of the most important and enigmatic of these proteins is Nef. The Nef protein of HIV-1 plays a fundamental role in the virus life cycle.

Life cycle assessment and life cycle costing of bioethanol from sugarcane in Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Luo, Lin; Van der Voet, Ester; Huppes, Gjalt

2009-01-01

Brazil has always been the pioneer in the application of bioethanol as a main fuel for automobiles, hence environmental and economic analyses of the Brazilian ethanol industries are of crucial importance. This study presents a comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) on gasoline and ethanol as fuels, and with two types of blends of gasoline with bioethanol, all used in a midsize car. The focus is on a main application in Brazil, sugarcane based ethanol. The results of two cases are presented: base case - bioethanol production from sugarcane and electricity generation from bagasse; future case - bioethanol production from both sugarcane and bagasse and electricity generation from wastes. In both cases sugar is co-produced. The life cycles of fuels include gasoline production, agricultural production of sugarcane, ethanol production, sugar and electricity co-production, blending ethanol with gasoline to produce E10 (10% of ethanol) and E85 (85%), and finally the use of gasoline, E10, E85 and pure ethanol. Furthermore, a life cycle costing (LCC) was conducted to give an indication on fuel economy in both cases. The results show that in the base case less GHG is emitted; while the overall evaluation of these fuel options depends on the importance attached to different impacts. The future case is certainly more economically attractive, which has been the driving force for development in the ethanol industry in Brazil. Nevertheless, the outcomes depend very much on the assumed price for crude oil. In LCC a steady-state cost model was used and only the production cost was taken into account. In the real market the prices of fuels are very much dependent on the taxes and subsidies. Technological development can help in lowering both the environmental impact and the prices of the ethanol fuels. (author)

All-Round Manipulation of the Actin Cytoskeleton by HIV.

Science.gov (United States)

Ospina Stella, Alberto; Turville, Stuart

2018-02-05

While significant progress has been made in terms of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) therapy, treatment does not represent a cure and remains inaccessible to many people living with HIV. Continued mechanistic research into the viral life cycle and its intersection with many aspects of cellular biology are not only fundamental in the continued fight against HIV, but also provide many key observations of the workings of our immune system. Decades of HIV research have testified to the integral role of the actin cytoskeleton in both establishing and spreading the infection. Here, we review how the virus uses different strategies to manipulate cellular actin networks and increase the efficiency of various stages of its life cycle. While some HIV proteins seem able to bind to actin filaments directly, subversion of the cytoskeleton occurs indirectly by exploiting the power of actin regulatory proteins, which are corrupted at multiple levels. Furthermore, this manipulation is not restricted to a discrete class of proteins, but rather extends throughout all layers of the cytoskeleton. We discuss prominent examples of actin regulators that are exploited, neutralized or hijacked by the virus, and address how their coordinated deregulation can lead to changes in cellular behavior that promote viral spreading.

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT FOR PC BLEND 2 AIRCRAFT RADOME DEPAINTER

Science.gov (United States)

This report describes the life cycle assessment on a potential replacement solvent blend for aircraft radome depainting at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base. The life cycle assessment is composed of three separate but interrelated components: life cy...

The Role of HIV Stigma in ART Adherence and Quality of Life Among Rural Women Living with HIV in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekstrand, Maria L; Heylen, Elsa; Mazur, Amanda; Steward, Wayne T; Carpenter, Catherine; Yadav, Kartik; Sinha, Sanjeev; Nyamathi, Adey

2018-05-22

HIV stigma continues to be a barrier to physical and mental health among people living with HIV globally, especially in vulnerable populations. We examined how stigma is associated with health outcomes and quality of life among rural women living with HIV in South India (N = 600). Interviewer-administered measures assessed multiple dimensions of stigma, as well as loneliness, social support, ART adherence, time since diagnosis, and quality of life. Internalized stigma and a lack of social support were associated with a lower quality of life, while the association between internalized stigma and adherence was mediated by the use of stigma-avoidant coping strategies, suggesting that keeping one's diagnosis a secret may make it more difficult to take one's medications. These findings suggest that these women constitute a vulnerable population who need additional services to optimize their health and who might benefit from peer support interventions and stigma-reduction programs for family and community members.

INFORMATION MODELING OF LIFE CYCLE OF HIGH-RISE CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gusakova Elena Aleksandrovna

2018-02-01

Full Text Available To date, many years’ experience in the construction and operation of high-rise buildings has been accumulated. Its analysis reveals not only the engineering and organizational-technological specifics of such projects, but also systemic gaps in the field of management. In the implementation of large-scale and unique projects for high-rise buildings, the problems and tasks of improving approaches to managing the full life cycle of projects and methods, which will improve their competitiveness, become topical. The systems being used have largely exhausted their resource efficiency, which is associated with automation of traditional “inherited” processes and management structures, as well as development of IT-systems focused on digitalization of the activities of construction company, rather than the project. To solve these problems, it is proposed to carry out: reengineering of the schemes of information interaction between the project’s participants; formation of integrated digital environment for the life cycle of the project; development of systems for integrating data management and project management. Subject: problems, approaches and methods of digitalization of project’s life cycle management in relation to the specifics and features of high-rise buildings. Research objectives: substantiation of the most perspective approaches and methods of information modeling of high-rise construction as the basis for managing the full life cycle of the given project. Materials and methods: the experience of digitalization of design, construction, operation and development of high-rise buildings, presented in specialized literature, is analyzed. The methods for integrating information models of various stages of project’s life cycle and for information interaction of project’s participants are considered. Results: the concept of forming a single digital environment for the project is proposed, taking into account the features of the life

Life cycle assessment of renewable energy sources

CERN Document Server

Singh, Anoop; Olsen, Stig Irving

2013-01-01

Governments are setting challenging targets to increase the production of energy and transport fuel from sustainable sources. The emphasis is increasingly on renewable sources including wind, solar, geothermal, biomass based biofuel, photovoltaics or energy recovery from waste. What are the environmental consequences of adopting these other sources? How do these various sources compare to each other? Life Cycle Assessment of Renewable Energy Sources tries to answer these questions based on the universally adopted method of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). This book introduces the concept and impor

Comparative myoanatomy of cycliophoran life cycle stages

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Neves, Ricardo C.; Cunha, Maria R.; Funch, Peter

2010-01-01

The metazoan phylum Cycliophora includes small cryptic epibionts that live attached to the mouthparts of clawed lobsters. The life cycle is complex, with alternating sexual and asexual generations, and involves several sessile and free-living stages. So far, the morphological and genetic characte......The metazoan phylum Cycliophora includes small cryptic epibionts that live attached to the mouthparts of clawed lobsters. The life cycle is complex, with alternating sexual and asexual generations, and involves several sessile and free-living stages. So far, the morphological and genetic...

Applying life cycle management of colombian cocoa production

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oscar Orlando Ortiz-R

2014-03-01

Full Text Available The present research aims to evaluate the usefulness of the application of Life Cycle Management in the agricultural sector focusing on the environmental and socio-economic aspects of decision making in the Colombian cocoa production. Such appraisal is based on the application of two methodological tools: Life Cycle Assessment, which considers environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of the cocoa production system, and Taguchi Loss Function, which measures the economic impact of a process' deviation from production targets. Results show that appropriate improvements in farming practices and supply consumption can enhance decision-making in the agricultural cocoa sector towards sustainability. In terms of agri-business purposes, such qualitative shift allows not only meeting consumer demands for environmentally friendly products, but also increasing the productivity and competitiveness of cocoa production, all of which has helped Life Cycle Management gain global acceptance. Since farmers have an important role in improving social and economic indicators at the national level, more attention should be paid to the upgrading of their cropping practices. Finally, one fundamental aspect of national cocoa production is the institutional and governmental support available for farmers in face of socio-economic or technological needs.

Life-cycle air emissions from PV power systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Watt, M.E.; Johnson, A.J.; Outhred, H.R.; Ellis, M.

1998-01-01

This paper addresses the air emission of grid supply versus grid-connected and off-grid photovoltaic power generation, using the framework of life-cycle assessment, in the contents of rural household energy supply in Australia. Emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxde and nitrous oxides are calculated for the three life-cycle stages of manufacture, use and disposal. Sensitivities to materials and data inputs, as well as to component efficiencies, lifetimes and sizing are discussed. For each supply option, demand management options, including insulation and appliance choice, and the substitution of solar heating or bottled gas for electricity are considered. The best option in all cases, in terms of life-cycle air emissions, is a grid-connected photovoltaic system used to supply an energy-efficient household with a mix of solar, gas and electric appliances. However, in financial terms, with current Australian energy prices, this option represents a high capital and life-cycle costs. Additionally, for the grid options, electricity costs do not significantly disadvantage the high demand scenarios. Both results provide a clear illustration of current Australian energy-pricing policies being in conflict with long-term environmental sustainability. (Author)

Life cycle assessment (LCA) and exergetic life cycle assessment (ELCA) of the production of biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Talens Peiro, L.; Lombardi, L.; Villalba Mendez, G.; Gabarrell i Durany, X.

2010-01-01

The paper assesses the life cycle of biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO). Such life cycle involves 4 stages: 1) collection, 2) pre-treatment, 3) delivery and 4) transesterification of UCO. Generally, UCO is collected from restaurants, food industries and recycling centres by authorised companies. Then, UCO is pre-treated to remove solid particles and water to increase its quality. After that, it is charged in cistern trucks and delivered to the biodiesel facility to be then transesterified with methanol to biodiesel. The production of 1 ton of biodiesel is evaluated by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to assess the environmental impact and by an Exergetic Life Cycle Assessment (ELCA) to account for the exergy input to the system. A detailed list of material and energy inputs is done using data from local companies and completed using Ecoinvent 1.2 database. The results show that the transesterification stage causes 68% of the total environmental impact. The major exergy inputs are uranium and natural gas. If targets set by the Spanish Renewable Energy Plan are achieved, the exergy input for producing biodiesel would be reduced by 8% in the present system and consequently environmental impacts and exergy input reduced up to 36% in 2010.

Optimization of life cycle management costs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Banerjee, A.K.

1994-01-01

As can be seen from the case studies, a LCM program needs to address and integrate, in the decision process, technical, political, licensing, remaining plant life, component replacement cycles, and financial issues. As part of the LCM evaluations, existing plant programs, ongoing replacement projects, short and long-term operation and maintenance issues, and life extension strategies must be considered. The development of the LCM evaluations and the cost benefit analysis identifies critical technical and life cycle cost parameters. These open-quotes discoveriesclose quotes result from the detailed and effective use of a consistent, quantifiable, and well documented methodology. The systematic development and implementation of a plant-wide LCM program provides for an integrated and structured process that leads to the most practical and effective recommendations. Through the implementation of these recommendations and cost effective decisions, the overall power production costs can be controlled and ultimately lowered

Life cycle strategies of copepods in coastal upwelling zones

Science.gov (United States)

Peterson, W.

1998-06-01

Life cycles of copepods of coastal upwelling zones are of the multigenerational type—as many as 10 or more generations may be produced each year, depending upon water temperature, food concentration and length of the upwelling season. Abundant food resources and moderate temperature convey advantages to those copepods living in coastal upwelling zones, however, there is a clear disadvantage in that coastal upwelling zones are highly advective environments. Typically, water circulation patterns are such that surface waters are carried offshore, deeper waters carried onshore and most of the water column over the continental shelf is moving equatorward. The challenge to copepod species that inhabit upwelling systems is life cycle closure—how do eggs, nauplii, juveniles and adults avoid being swept out of these ecosystems in the face of persistent transport out of the system? In this review, I first list the species which dominate coastal upwelling ecosystems then discuss three variations on the multigenerational life cycle scheme that are observed in upwelling systems. The latter part of the review is devoted to discussion of how individuals are retained in the productive continental shelf waters within coastal upwelling ecosystems. The suggestion is made that the only copepod species that successfully achieve life cycle closure in such systems are those that are preadapted to upwelling circulation patterns. Our quantitative understanding of the relative importance of physical factors (such as advection) and biological factors (birth, growth, and mortality) on life cycle strategies and population dynamics is quite rudimentary. It would help our understanding if there were more field studies and more computer modeling studies that focused on seasonal cycles of abundance, development times and vertical distribution of life cycle stages, and measurements of water circulation patterns.

Influence of service life on Life Cycle Assessments

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Nunen, H.; Hendriks, N.A.; Erkelens, P.A.

2003-01-01

Environmental assessment is part of present decision making. But, because of difficulties the assessments are not as profound as could be. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a cradle-to-grave approach and consequently a time factor is embedded. Until now this time factor is fixed and calculations are

From BIM to life cycle information management in infrastructure

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nederveen, G.A. van; Wolfert, R.; Ruitenbeek, M. van de

2014-01-01

In principle, Building Information Modelling (BIM) should provide a basis for infrastructure information management during the whole life-cycle. In practice however, the use of BIM is normally limited to the design and construction phases. It seems that the use of BIM information in other life-cycle

Waste-to-energy: A review of life cycle assessment and its extension methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhou, Zhaozhi; Tang, Yuanjun; Chi, Yong; Ni, Mingjiang; Buekens, Alfons

2018-01-01

This article proposes a comprehensive review of evaluation tools based on life cycle thinking, as applied to waste-to-energy. Habitually, life cycle assessment is adopted to assess environmental burdens associated with waste-to-energy initiatives. Based on this framework, several extension methods have been developed to focus on specific aspects: Exergetic life cycle assessment for reducing resource depletion, life cycle costing for evaluating its economic burden, and social life cycle assessment for recording its social impacts. Additionally, the environment-energy-economy model integrates both life cycle assessment and life cycle costing methods and judges simultaneously these three features for sustainable waste-to-energy conversion. Life cycle assessment is sufficiently developed on waste-to-energy with concrete data inventory and sensitivity analysis, although the data and model uncertainty are unavoidable. Compared with life cycle assessment, only a few evaluations are conducted to waste-to-energy techniques by using extension methods and its methodology and application need to be further developed. Finally, this article succinctly summarises some recommendations for further research.

Formation and psychometric evaluation of a health-related quality of life instrument for children living with HIV in India.

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Aritra; Detels, Roger; Afifi, Abdelmonem A; Javanbakht, Marjan; Sorvillo, Frank; Panda, Samiran

2018-03-01

In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to inform the development of an instrument to measure the health-related quality of life of children living with HIV. The QOL-CHAI instrument consists of four generic core scales of the "Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory" and two HIV-targeted scales-"symptoms" and "discrimination." A piloting exercise involving groups of children living with HIV and HIV-negative children born to HIV-infected parents provided evidence for the acceptable psychometric properties and usability of the instrument. It is expected that the QOL-CHAI can serve well as a brief, standardized, and culturally appropriate instrument for assessing health-related quality of life of Indian children living with HIV.

Optimal Life Cycle Portfolio Choice with Housing Market Cycles

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fischer, Marcel; Stamos, Michael Z.

2013-01-01

income, and pre-existing housing wealth but also the state of the housing market significantly affect household decisions. Consistently with the data, the model predicts that in good states of housing market cycles (1) homeownership rates increase, (2) households buying homes invest a larger share......In recent decades U.S. households have experienced residential house prices moving persistently, that is, returns being positively serially correlated. We set up a realistically calibrated life cycle model with slow-moving time variation in expected housing returns, showing that not only age, labor...

Estimating pesticide emissions for life cycle assessment of agricultural products

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Røpke, Inge

2004-01-01

As the first country in Europe Denmark almost 2 years ago established an official center for Life Cycle Assessments and life cycle approaches as an element of the national IPP (Integrated Product Policy). The Danish EPA lends financial support to this important initiative, the aim of which is to: 1....... promote the use of Life Cycle Assessment and other product-oriented environmental tools in companies, 2. support companies and other in using environmental assessment of products and services, 3. ensure that the effort in the LCA area is based on a solid and scientific basis, and 4. maintain the well...... evaluation finished in September 2004. Important learnings for all who are engaged in dissemination of life cycle thinking in industry will be presented....

A Framework for BIM-Enabled Life-Cycle Information Management of Construction Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xun Xu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available BIM has been widely used in project management, but on the whole the applications have been scattered and the BIM models have not been deployed throughout the whole project life-cycle. Each participant builds their own BIM, so there is a major problem in how to integrate these dynamic and fragmented data together. In order to solve this problem, this paper focuses on BIM-based life-cycle information management and builds a framework for BIM-enabled life-cycle information management. To organize the life-cycle information well, the information components and information flow during the project life-cycle are defined. Then, the application of BIM in life-cycle information management is analysed. This framework will provide a unified platform for information management and ensure data integrity.

14-3-3 theta binding to cell cycle regulatory factors is enhanced by HIV-1 Vpr

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sakai Keiko

2008-04-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Despite continuing advances in our understanding of AIDS pathogenesis, the mechanism of CD4+ T cell depletion in HIV-1-infected individuals remains unclear. The HIV-1 Vpr accessory protein causes cell death, likely through a mechanism related to its ability to arrest cells in the G2,M phase. Recent evidence implicated the scaffold protein, 14-3-3, in Vpr cell cycle blockade. Results We found that in human T cells, 14-3-3 plays an active role in mediating Vpr-induced cell cycle arrest and reveal a dramatic increase in the amount of Cdk1, Cdc25C, and CyclinB1 bound to 14-3-3 θ during Vprv-induced G2,M arrest. By contrast, a cell-cycle-arrest-dead Vpr mutant failed to augment 14-3-3 θ association with Cdk1 and CyclinB1. Moreover, G2,M arrest caused by HIV-1 infection strongly correlated with a disruption in 14-3-3 θ binding to centrosomal proteins, Plk1 and centrin. Finally, Vpr caused elevated levels of CyclinB1, Plk1, and Cdk1 in a complex with the nuclear transport and spindle assembly protein, importin β. Conclusion Thus, our data reveal a new facet of Vpr-induced cell cycle arrest involving previously unrecognized abnormal rearrangements of multiprotein assemblies containing key cell cycle regulatory proteins. Reviewers This article was reviewed by David Kaplan, Nathaniel R. Landau and Yan Zhou.

Life Cycle Assessment of Slurry Management Technologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Wesnæs, Marianne; Wenzel, Henrik; Petersen, Bjørn Molt

This report contains the results of Life Cycle Assessments of two slurry management technologies - acidification and decentred incineration. The LCA foundation can be used by the contributing companies for evaluating the environmental sustainability of a specific technology from a holistic Life...... Cycle perspective. Through this the companies can evaluate the environmental benefits and disadvantages of introducing a specific technology for slurry management. From a societal perspective the results can contribute to a clarification of which slurry management technologies (or combination...... of technologies) having the largest potential for reducing the overall environmental impacts....

Analysis within the systems development life-cycle

CERN Document Server

Rock-Evans, Rosemary

1987-01-01

Analysis within the Systems Development Life-Cycle: Book 4, Activity Analysis-The Methods describes the techniques and concepts for carrying out activity analysis within the systems development life-cycle. Reference is made to the deliverables of data analysis and more than one method of analysis, each a viable alternative to the other, are discussed. The """"bottom-up"""" and """"top-down"""" methods are highlighted. Comprised of seven chapters, this book illustrates how dependent data and activities are on each other. This point is especially brought home when the task of inventing new busin

Analysis within the systems development life-cycle

CERN Document Server

Rock-Evans, Rosemary

1987-01-01

Analysis within the Systems Development Life-Cycle: Book 2, Data Analysis-The Methods describes the methods for carrying out data analysis within the systems development life-cycle and demonstrates how the results of fact gathering can be used to produce and verify the analysis deliverables. A number of alternative methods of analysis other than normalization are suggested. Comprised of seven chapters, this book shows the tasks to be carried out in the logical order of progression-preparation, collection, analysis of the existing system (which comprises the tasks of synthesis, verification, an

The value of the exergetic life cycle assessment besides the LCA

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cornelissen, Rene; Hirs, Gerard

2002-01-01

In this paper the value of the exergetic life cycle assessment (ELCA) has been analysed. The ELCA uses the framework of the life cycle assessment (LCA) and can be seen as the exergy analysis of a complete life cycle. The value of the ELCA besides the LCA has been discussed. It is shown that the ELCA

Consumption Over Life Cycle: How Different is Housing?

OpenAIRE

Fang (Annie) Yang

2006-01-01

Micro data over the life cycle shows different patterns of consumption for housing and non-housing goods: the consumption profile of non-housing goods is hump-shaped while the consumption profile for housing first increases monotonically and then flattens out. These patterns hold true at each consumption quartile. This paper develops aquantitative, dynamic general equilibrium model of life-cycle behavior, which generates consumption profiles consistent with the observed data. Borrowing constr...

Sourcing Life Cycle Inventory Data

Science.gov (United States)

The collection and validation of quality lifecycle inventory (LCI) data can be the most difficult and time-consuming aspect of developing a life cycle assessment (LCA). Large amounts of process and production data are needed to complete the LCI. For many studies, the LCA analyst ...

Life cycle planning: An evolving concept

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Moore, P.J.R.; Gorman, I.G.

1994-01-01

Life-cycle planning is an evolving concept in the management of oil and gas projects. BHP Petroleum now interprets this idea to include all development planning from discovery and field appraisal to final abandonment and includes safety, environmental, technical, plant, regulatory, and staffing issues. This article describes in the context of the Timor Sea, how despite initial successes and continuing facilities upgrades, BHPP came to perceive that current operations could be the victim of early development successes, particularly in the areas of corrosion and maintenance. The search for analogies elsewhere lead to the UK North Sea, including the experiences of Britoil and BP, both of which performed detailed Life of Field studies in the later eighties. These materials have been used to construct a format and content for total Life-cycle plans in general and the social changes required to ensure their successful application in Timor Sea operations and deployment throughout Australia

Life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) using the ecological scarcity ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

After it is done, the inventory will be interpreted to the environmental impacts in life cycle impact assessment (LCIA). Two LCIA methods identified were “midpoint and endpoint” approaches. The ecological scarcity (ecopoints) is an LCIA method using “midpoint” approach. From the analysis to both life cycle stages, analysis ...

Associations between perceived HIV stigma and quality of life at the dyadic level: the actor-partner interdependence model.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hongjie; Xu, Yongfang; Lin, Xinjin; Shi, Jian; Chen, Shiyi

2013-01-01

Few studies have investigated the relationship between HIV-related stigma and quality life at the dyadic level. The objective of this study was to examine the actor and partner effects of stigma that was perceived by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and caregivers on quality of life at the dyadic level. A survey was conducted among 148 dyads consisting of one PLWHA and one caregiver (296 participants) in Nanning, China. The interdependent relationship between a pair of dyadic members that influences the associations between stigma and quality of life was analyzed, using an innovative dyadic analysis technique: the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). We found in this dyadic analysis that (1) PLWHAs compared to their caregivers exhibited a higher level of perceived HIV stigma and lower level of quality of life measured in four domains; (2) both PLWHAs' and caregivers' perceived HIV stigma influenced their own quality of life; (3) The quality of life was not substantially influenced by their partners' perceived stigma; and (4) Both actor and partner effects of stigma on quality of life were similar among PLWHAs and their caregivers. As HIV stigma and quality of life are complex phenomena rooted in cultures, intervention programs should be carefully planned based on social or cognitive theories and should be culturally adopted.

State-of-the-Art Solid Waste Management Life-Cycle Modeling Workshop

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Damgaard, Anders; Levis, James W.

There are many alternatives for the management of solid waste including recycling, biological treatment, thermal treatment and landfill disposal. In many cases, solid waste management systems include the use of several of these processes. Solid waste life-cycle assessment models are often used...... to evaluate the environmental consequences of various waste management strategies. The foundation of every life-cycle model is the development and use of process models to estimate the emissions from solid waste unit processes. The objective of this workshop is to describe life-cycle modeling of the solid...... waste processes and systems. The workshop will begin with an introduction to solid waste life-cycle modeling and available models, which will be followed by sessions on life-cycle process modeling for individual processes (e.g., landfills, biological treatment, and thermal treatment). The first part...

sensitivity analysis on flexible road pavement life cycle cost model

African Journals Online (AJOL)

user

of sensitivity analysis on a developed flexible pavement life cycle cost model using varying discount rate. The study .... organizations and specific projects needs based. Life-cycle ... developed and completed urban road infrastructure corridor ...

Life-cycle assessment of biodiesel versus petroleum diesel fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Coulon, R.; Camobreco, V.; Sheehan, J.; Duffield, J.

1995-01-01

The US Department of Energy's Office of Transportation Technologies, DOE's National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the US Department of Agriculture's Office of Energy, and Ecobalance are carrying out a comprehensive Life-Cycle Assessment of soy-based diesel fuel (biodiesel) to quantify the environmental aspects of the cradle-to-grave production and use of biodiesel. The purpose of the project is to produce an analytical tool and database for use by industry and government decision makers involved in alternative fuel use and production. The study also includes a parallel effort to develop a life-cycle model for petroleum diesel fuel. The two models are used to compare the life-cycle energy and environmental implications of petroleum diesel and biodiesel derived from soybean. Several scenarios are studied, analyzing the influence of transportation distances, agricultural practice and allocation rules used. The project also includes effort to integrate spatial data into the inventory analysis and probabilistic uncertainty considerations into the impact assessment stage. Traditional life-cycle inventory analysis includes an aggregation process that eliminates spatial, temporal, and threshold information. This project will demonstrate an approach to life-cycle inventory analysis that retains spatial data for use in impact assessment. Explicit probabilistic treatment of uncertainty in impact assessment will take account of scientific uncertainties, and will attempt to identify the level of spatial detail that most efficiently reduces impact assessment uncertainties

Main and interactive effects of emotion dysregulation and HIV symptom severity on quality of life among persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Science.gov (United States)

Brandt, Charles P; Jardin, Charles; Sharp, Carla; Lemaire, Chad; Zvolensky, Michael J

2017-04-01

HIV symptoms are associated with a poorer quality of life (QOL) among persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). Yet, there is little understanding of emotional factors that impact the relation between HIV symptom severity and QOL. The present study examined the main and interactive effects of emotion dysregulation and HIV symptom severity on multiple indices of QOL, including physical (impact of physical problems related to HIV), psychological (frequency of negative feelings), independence (necessity of medical treatment to function in daily life), social (feelings of acceptance), environmental (satisfaction with living conditions and medical care), and spiritual (fear of the future and death) among a sample of 74 PLWHA. Participants (72.9% male; mean age = 48.24, SD = 7.85) were recruited from AIDS Service Organizations in the United States. Results indicated that higher HIV symptom severity is significantly associated with lower physical and independence QOL, whereas higher emotion dysregulation is significantly associated with lower scores on all measured aspects of QOL. Additionally, results indicated that the interaction of emotion dysregulation and HIV symptom severity was significantly associated with both physical and environmental QOL. The form of the observed significant interactions indicated that HIV symptom severity was related to poorer QOL among those with lower (versus higher) emotion dysregulation. The present findings indicate that emotion dysregulation is related to QOL among PLWHA and may interact with HIV symptom severity to negatively impact certain aspects of QOL. Given the profound impact that HIV has on QOL, this finding is important in understanding these relations mechanistically, and may be important in the development of novel psychological treatment strategies.

Improving Life-Cycle Cost Management of Spacecraft Missions

Science.gov (United States)

Clardy, Dennon

2010-01-01

This presentation will explore the results of a recent NASA Life-Cycle Cost study and how project managers can use the findings and recommendations to improve planning and coordination early in the formulation cycle and avoid common pitfalls resulting in cost overruns. The typical NASA space science mission will exceed both the initial estimated and the confirmed life-cycle costs by the end of the mission. In a fixed-budget environment, these overruns translate to delays in starting or launching future missions, or in the worst case can lead to cancelled missions. Some of these overruns are due to issues outside the control of the project; others are due to the unpredictable problems (unknown unknowns) that can affect any development project. However, a recent study of life-cycle cost growth by the Discovery and New Frontiers Program Office identified a number of areas that are within the scope of project management to address. The study also found that the majority of the underlying causes for cost overruns are embedded in the project approach during the formulation and early design phases, but the actual impacts typically are not experienced until late in the project life cycle. Thus, project management focus in key areas such as integrated schedule development, management structure and contractor communications processes, heritage and technology assumptions, and operations planning, can be used to validate initial cost assumptions and set in place management processes to avoid the common pitfalls resulting in cost overruns.

Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: making informed choices on products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ciroth, Andreas [GreenDeltaTC, Berlin (Germany); Finkbeiner, Matthias; Traverso, Marzia [TU Berlin (Germany); Hildenbrand, Jutta [Chalmers University (United States); Kloepffer, Walter [Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (Germany); Mazijn, Bernard [Ghent University (Belgium); Prakash, Siddharth [Oeko-Institut (Germany); Sonnemann, Guido; Valdivia, Sonia [UNEP (France); Ugaya, Cassia Maria Lie [Technological Federal University of Parana, ACV (Brazil); Vickery-Niederman, Gina [University of Arkansas (United States)

2011-07-01

In this introduction to the concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), we acknowledge the foundations laid by previous works and initiatives. One such initiative has been the ISO 14040 series (Environmental management -- Life cycle assessment -- Principles and framework), which in addition to the ISO 26000: Social Responsibility Guidance Standard, and the contribution of a number of international initiatives (Appendix A) have been essential for the development of this publication. The life cycle of a product involves flows of material, energy and money. Nonetheless, the picture is not complete unless we look also at the production and consumption impacts on all actors along the 'value chain' -- workers, local communities, consumers and society itself. Different life cycle assessment techniques allow individuals and enterprises to assess the impact of their purchasing decisions and production methods along different aspects of this value chain. An (Environmental) life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at potential impacts to the environment as a result of the extraction of resources, transportation, production, use, recycling and discarding of products; life cycle costing (LCC) is used to assess the cost implications of this life cycle; and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) examines the social consequences. However, in order to get the 'whole picture', it is vital to extend current life cycle thinking to encompass all three pillars of sustainability: (i) environmental, (ii) economic and (iii) social. This means carrying out an assessment based on environmental, economic and social issues -- by conducting an overarching life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This publication shows how all three techniques -- which all share similar methodological frameworks and aims -- can be combined to make the move towards an overarching LCSA possible. Because it is holistic, systemic and rigorous, (environmental) LCA is the preferred technique

Towards a life cycle sustainability assessment: making informed choices on products

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ciroth, Andreas [GreenDeltaTC, Berlin (Germany); Finkbeiner, Matthias; Traverso, Marzia [TU Berlin (Germany); Hildenbrand, Jutta [Chalmers University (United States); Kloepffer, Walter [Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment (Germany); Mazijn, Bernard [Ghent University (Belgium); Prakash, Siddharth [Oeko-Institut (Germany); Sonnemann, Guido; Valdivia, Sonia [UNEP (France); Ugaya, Cassia Maria Lie [Technological Federal University of Parana, ACV (Brazil); Vickery-Niederman, Gina [University of Arkansas (United States)

2011-07-01

In this introduction to the concept of life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA), we acknowledge the foundations laid by previous works and initiatives. One such initiative has been the ISO 14040 series (Environmental management -- Life cycle assessment -- Principles and framework), which in addition to the ISO 26000: Social Responsibility Guidance Standard, and the contribution of a number of international initiatives (Appendix A) have been essential for the development of this publication. The life cycle of a product involves flows of material, energy and money. Nonetheless, the picture is not complete unless we look also at the production and consumption impacts on all actors along the 'value chain' -- workers, local communities, consumers and society itself. Different life cycle assessment techniques allow individuals and enterprises to assess the impact of their purchasing decisions and production methods along different aspects of this value chain. An (Environmental) life cycle assessment (LCA) looks at potential impacts to the environment as a result of the extraction of resources, transportation, production, use, recycling and discarding of products; life cycle costing (LCC) is used to assess the cost implications of this life cycle; and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) examines the social consequences. However, in order to get the 'whole picture', it is vital to extend current life cycle thinking to encompass all three pillars of sustainability: (i) environmental, (ii) economic and (iii) social. This means carrying out an assessment based on environmental, economic and social issues -- by conducting an overarching life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA). This publication shows how all three techniques -- which all share similar methodological frameworks and aims -- can be combined to make the move towards an overarching LCSA possible. Because it is holistic, systemic and rigorous, (environmental) LCA is the preferred technique when it comes to

Selective neurocognitive deficits and poor life functioning are associated with significant depressive symptoms in alcoholism-HIV infection comorbidity

OpenAIRE

Sassoon, Stephanie A.; Rosenbloom, Margaret J.; Fama, Rosemary; Sullivan, Edith V.; Pfefferbaum, Adolf

2012-01-01

Alcoholism, HIV, and depressive symptoms frequently co-occur and are associated with impairment in cognition and life function. We administered the Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), measures of life function, and neurocognitive tests to 67 alcoholics, 56 HIV+ patients, 63 HIV+ alcoholics, and 64 controls to examine whether current depressive symptom level (significant, BDI-II ≥ 14 vs. minimal, BDI-II < 14) was associated with poorer cognitive or psychosocial function in alcoholism-HIV co...

Life cycle assessment and the agri-food chain

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hermansen, John Erik; Nguyen, T Lan T

2012-01-01

Our food consumption is responsible for a major part of the environmental impact related to our total consumption. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a product-oriented tool that can be used efficiently to identify improvement options within the food chain covering a product’s life cycle from cradle...... to grave, which is very complex for many foods, and to support choices of consumption. The LCA methodology is supported by public standards and public policy measures and has proved its value in business development for more environmentally friendly products. It is an essential feature that the effects...... of resource use and emissions associated with a product’s life cycle can be aggregated into impact categories (e.g., nonrenewable energy use, land occupation, global warming, acidification, etc.) and further aggregated into overall damage impacts (e.g., impacts on biodiversity, human health, and resource...

Life cycle human health impacts of 875 pesticides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fantke, Peter; Jolliet, Oliver

2016-01-01

present a consistent framework for characterizing human toxicological impacts associated with pesticides applied to agricultural crops in the frame of life cycle impact assessment based on state-of-the-art data and methods. Methods We combine a dynamic multicrop plant uptake model designed for evaluating......-crop combinations of 10 orders of magnitude. Conclusions Our framework is operational for use in current life cycle impact assessment models, is made available for USEtox, and closes an important gap in the assessment of human exposure to pesticides. For ready use in life cycle assessment studies, we present...... pesticide-crop combination-specific characterization factors normalized to pesticide mass applied and provide default data for application times and loss due to post-harvest food processing. When using our data, we emphasize the need to consult current pesticide regulation, since each pesticide...

Technology development life cycle processes.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Beck, David Franklin

2013-05-01

This report and set of appendices are a collection of memoranda originally drafted in 2009 for the purpose of providing motivation and the necessary background material to support the definition and integration of engineering and management processes related to technology development. At the time there was interest and support to move from Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level One (ad hoc processes) to Level Three. As presented herein, the material begins with a survey of open literature perspectives on technology development life cycles, including published data on %E2%80%9Cwhat went wrong.%E2%80%9D The main thrust of the material presents a rational expose%CC%81 of a structured technology development life cycle that uses the scientific method as a framework, with further rigor added from adapting relevant portions of the systems engineering process. The material concludes with a discussion on the use of multiple measures to assess technology maturity, including consideration of the viewpoint of potential users.

Life-Cycle Models for Survivable Systems

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Linger, Richard

2002-01-01

.... Current software development life-cycle models are not focused on creating survivable systems, and exhibit shortcomings when the goal is to develop systems with a high degree of assurance of survivability...

Nuclear plant life cycle management implementation guide. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sliter, G.E.; Negin, C.A.

1998-11-01

Nuclear power plants, as baseload suppliers of electricity, are major corporate assets. As the nuclear industry enters its fourth decade as a major producer of clean electricity, the structure of the utility industry is undergoing a historical landmark transition from economic deregulation to a competitive, market-driven industry. An integral part of competition is to manage the operation of the key asset, the plant, in the long term, thereby enhancing its long-term profitability. Life cycle management (LCM) is a well-known technical-economic decision-making process for any large industrial facility. LCM optimizes the service life of a facility and maximizes its life-cycle asset value. LCM integrates aging management (maintaining the availability of costly-to-replace components and structures) with asset management (plant valuation and investment strategies that account for economic, performance, regulatory, and environmental uncertainties). LCM involves predicting maintenance, repair, and other capital costs for a nuclear unit far into the future, as well as planning and managing strategic issues such as waste disposal, fuel storage, decommissioning, and public acceptance. This Life Cycle Management Implementation Guide introduces the reader to the LCM concept and its benefits, describes the elements and activities associated with an LCM program (most of which already exist in all plants), gives an overview of asset and aging management, and provides key references related to life cycle management for nuclear power plants. It also summarizes the major elements of life cycle management required for license renewal or, for newer plants, keeping open the option of license renewal

A Life-Cycle Analysis of Social Security with Housing

OpenAIRE

Chen, Kaiji

2009-01-01

This paper incorporates two features of housing in a life-cycle analysis of social security: housing as a durable good and housing market frictions. We find that with housing as a durable good unfunded social security substantially crowds out housing consumption throughout the life cycle. By contrast, aggregate non-durable consumption is higher when social security is present, although it is postponed until late in life. Moreover, in the presence of housing market frictions, social security l...

KOH concentration effect on the cycle life of nickel-hydrogen cells

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, H. S.; Verzwyvelt, S. A.

1985-01-01

Effects of KOH concentration on the cycle life of a sintered-type nickel electrode were studied in a boiler plate nickel-hydrogen cell at 23 C using an accelerated 45-min cycle regime at 80 percent depth of discharge. The cycle life improved greatly as the KOH concentration decreased, although the initial capacity of the cell decreased slightly. The cycle life improved by a factor of two or more when the KOH concentration was reduced from 36 to 31 percent and by a similar factor from reductions of 31 to 26 percent. For many applications, this life improvement may outweigh the initial capacity decrease.

Life cycle assessment of electronic waste treatment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hong, Jinglan; Shi, Wenxiao; Wang, Yutao; Chen, Wei; Li, Xiangzhi

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Life cycle assessment of electronic waste recycling is quantified. • Key factors for reducing the overall environmental impact are indentified. • End-life disposal processes provide significant environmental benefits. • Efficiently reduce the improper disposal amount of e-waste is highly needed. • E-waste incineration can generate significant environmental burden. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment was conducted to estimate the environmental impact of electronic waste (e-waste) treatment. E-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario is environmentally beneficial because of the low environmental burden generated from human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity categories. Landfill and incineration technologies have a lower and higher environmental burden than the e-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario, respectively. The key factors in reducing the overall environmental impact of e-waste recycling are optimizing energy consumption efficiency, reducing wastewater and solid waste effluent, increasing proper e-waste treatment amount, avoiding e-waste disposal to landfill and incineration sites, and clearly defining the duties of all stakeholders (e.g., manufacturers, retailers, recycling companies, and consumers)

Life cycle assessment of electronic waste treatment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hong, Jinglan, E-mail: hongjing@sdu.edu.cn [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Shandong University Climate Change and Health Center, Public Health School, Shandong University, Jinan 250012 (China); Shi, Wenxiao [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Wang, Yutao [School of Life Science, Shandong University, Shanda South Road 27, Jinan 250100 (China); Chen, Wei [Shandong Provincial Key Laboratory of Water Pollution Control and Resource Reuse, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shandong University, Jinan 250100 (China); Li, Xiangzhi, E-mail: xiangzhi@sdu.edu.cn [School of Medicine, Shandong University, Jinan 250012 (China)

2015-04-15

Highlights: • Life cycle assessment of electronic waste recycling is quantified. • Key factors for reducing the overall environmental impact are indentified. • End-life disposal processes provide significant environmental benefits. • Efficiently reduce the improper disposal amount of e-waste is highly needed. • E-waste incineration can generate significant environmental burden. - Abstract: Life cycle assessment was conducted to estimate the environmental impact of electronic waste (e-waste) treatment. E-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario is environmentally beneficial because of the low environmental burden generated from human toxicity, terrestrial ecotoxicity, freshwater ecotoxicity, and marine ecotoxicity categories. Landfill and incineration technologies have a lower and higher environmental burden than the e-waste recycling with an end-life disposal scenario, respectively. The key factors in reducing the overall environmental impact of e-waste recycling are optimizing energy consumption efficiency, reducing wastewater and solid waste effluent, increasing proper e-waste treatment amount, avoiding e-waste disposal to landfill and incineration sites, and clearly defining the duties of all stakeholders (e.g., manufacturers, retailers, recycling companies, and consumers)

The quality of life of HIV-infected South African university students: Experiences with the WHOQOL-HIV-Bref.

Science.gov (United States)

Cronje, Johan Herman; Williams, Margaret; Steenkamp, Liana; Venter, Danie; Elkonin, Diane

2017-05-01

HIV and AIDS has serious repercussions on psychological, social and physical well-being, and the assessment of Quality of Life (QoL) of people living with HIV and AIDS is essential to gauge how these challenges are met. The WHOQoL-HIV Bref forms part of a suite of instruments developed by the World Health Organisation. The purpose of this paper is to describe the quality of life of a sample of HIV-infected students at a South African university, as well as explain the internal consistency between questions within each of the QoL domains. A descriptive, cross-sectional study design using a quantitative approach was applied. A non-probability, purposive sampling approach was utilized and students enrolled in the antiretroviral therapy or wellness programme were invited to voluntarily participate in this study. The WHOQOL-HIV Bref was self-administered after explanation of the questions by a registered, trained health care professional. A total of 63 students returned completed questionnaires that were included in the analysis. Acceptable to good reliability scores were established for the following domains: Level of Independence; Social Relations; Environment and Spiritual or Personal Beliefs. Assessing QoL in the sample, the lowest score was for "Spirituality" and the highest "Social Relations". The "Physical" and "Psychological" domain scores for females were significantly lower than the score for males. There was no significant difference between any of the domain scores among participants with CD4 cell counts above or below 350 cells/mm 3 . In general the performance of this sample is encouraging and it is recommended that the measure be utilized for QoL screening, and further research. The WHOQOL-HIV Bref for students does not contain an academic wellness component which should be added considering the significant effects of HIV on neuropsychological functioning. Also further investigation into the reasons for poor scores obtained in physical and psychological

Life cycle evaluation of spaceflight qualified nickel-hydrogen batteries

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Coates, D.K.; Brill, J.N. [Eagle-Picher Industries, Inc., Joplin, MO (United States). Advanced Systems Operation

1995-12-31

Life cycle test results are summarized from more than 300 spaceflight qualified nickel-hydrogen (NiH{sub 2}) battery cells currently on life test. Cells ranging in size from 4 ampere-hours (Ah) to 120 Ah are being tested under a variety of conditions to support current NiH{sub 2} battery applications. Results to date include 55,600 accelerated LEO cycles at 30% DOD; 102,840 accelerated LEO cycles at 15% DOD; 44,900 cycles under a real-time LEO profile; 44,100 cycles in real-time LEO; 30 accelerated GEO eclipse seasons and 7 real-time GEO eclipse seasons, both at 75% DOD maximum. Alternative separator materials have completed more than 40,000 charge/discharge cycles in accelerated LEO testing and advanced design electrocatalytic hydrogen electrodes have completed more than 16,000 cycles in real-time LEO testing. Common pressure vessel cell designs have completed 18,000 cycles in real-time LEO testing at 45% DOD.

Life cycle assessment of a wind farm and related externalities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schleisner, Liselotte

2000-01-01

This paper concentrates on the assessment of energy and emissions related to the production and manufacture of materials for an offshore wind farm as well as a wind farm on land based on a life cycle analysis (LCA) model. In Denmark a model has been developed for life cycle assessments of different...... materials. The model is able to assess the energy use related to the production, transportation and manufacture of 1 kg of material. The energy use is divided into fuels used in order to estimate the emissions through the life cycle. In the paper the model and the attached assumptions are described......, and the model is demonstrated for two wind farms. The externalities for the wind farms are reported, showing the importance of life cycle assessment for renewable energy technologies. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved....

Petri Net Modeling of Computer Virus Life Cycle | Ikekonwu ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Virus life cycle, which refers to the stages of development of a computer virus, is presented as a suitable area for the application of Petri nets. Petri nets a powerful modeling tool in the field of dynamic system analysis is applied to model the virus life cycle. Simulation of the derived model is also presented. The intention of ...

Organizational Life Cycle and the Growth of Information Technology Stage Theory

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jamshid Nazemi

2012-10-01

Full Text Available : Organizations have the different patterns of behaviors on management practice and the use of systems during their life cycle and due to rapid growth of information technology, the application of appropriate technologies is becoming an essential part of business, as well. The adaptation of appropriate management systems on different stages of organizational life period will affect on sustainability of the firms and success to move to next stage and alignment and collaboration schema of IS/IT and business requirement affects on management effectiveness at every stage. This research investigated the significance of relationship between management behavior and IS/IT usage and the generic approach selected by companies. The results showed that organizations have chosen different approach during their life cycle and as they faced with unique challenges on each stage, a common practice on using information technology and applications became part of organizational life cycle. A generic model for information technology usage on organization life cycle was also developed that will assist organizations to select and develop IS/IT plans which addresses the requirements for each stage of life cycle.

Assessing environmental impacts in a life cycle perspective

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

2005-01-01

is focused on the product system which comprises all the processes which the product and its components meet throughout their lives- from the extraction of raw materials via manufacture, use and waste management to final disposal, or in short from the cradle to the grave (see Figure 1). The focus......What are the environmental impacts from an armchairor a cellular phone or a steak, if you take into account all the activities needed to produce, maintain, use or consume and eventually dispose of it? Life cycle impact assessment is the part of life cycle assessment (LCA) where the inventory...... of material flows in the life cycle of a product are translated into environmental impacts and consumption of resources, and questions like these are given an answer. The environmental impacts may range from very local (e.g. land use) to global (like climate change). As an environmental analysis tool, LCA...

Geothermal life cycle assessment - part 3

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sullivan, J. L. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Frank, E. D. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Han, J. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Elgowainy, A. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Wang, M. Q. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2013-11-01

A set of key issues pertaining to the environmental performance of geothermal electric power have been addressed. They include: 1) greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) from geothermal facilities, 2) the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂) as a geofluid for enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), 3) quantifying the impact of well field exploration on the life cycle of geothermal power, and finally 4) criteria pollutant emissions for geothermal and other electric power generation. A GHG emission rate (g/kWh) distribution as function of cumulative running capacity for California has been developed based on California and U. S. government data. The distribution is similar to a global distribution for compared geothermal technologies. A model has been developed to estimate life cycle energy of and CO₂ emissions from a coupled pair of coal and EGS plants, the latter of which is powered by scCO₂ captured from coal plant side. Depending on the CO₂ capture rate on the coal side and the CO₂ consumption rate on the EGS side, significant reductions in GHG emissions were computed when the combined system is compared to its conventional coal counterpart. In effect, EGS CO₂ consumption acts as a sequestration mechanism for the coal plant. The effects CO₂ emissions from the coupled system, prompt on the coal side and reservoir leakage on the EGS side, were considered as well as the subsequent decline of these emissions after entering the atmosphere over a time frame of 100 years. A model was also developed to provide better estimates of the impact of well field exploration on the life cycle performance of geothermal power production. The new estimates increase the overall life cycle metrics for the geothermal systems over those previously estimated. Finally, the GREET model has been updated to include the most recent criteria pollutant emissions for a range of renewable (including geothermal) and other power

Development of computer software for pavement life cycle cost analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

1988-01-01

The life cycle cost analysis program (LCCA) is designed to automate and standardize life cycle costing in Virginia. It allows the user to input information necessary for the analysis, and it then completes the calculations and produces a printed copy...

Associations between perceived HIV stigma and quality of life at the dyadic level: the actor-partner interdependence model.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hongjie Liu

Full Text Available Few studies have investigated the relationship between HIV-related stigma and quality life at the dyadic level. The objective of this study was to examine the actor and partner effects of stigma that was perceived by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs and caregivers on quality of life at the dyadic level.A survey was conducted among 148 dyads consisting of one PLWHA and one caregiver (296 participants in Nanning, China. The interdependent relationship between a pair of dyadic members that influences the associations between stigma and quality of life was analyzed, using an innovative dyadic analysis technique: the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM.We found in this dyadic analysis that (1 PLWHAs compared to their caregivers exhibited a higher level of perceived HIV stigma and lower level of quality of life measured in four domains; (2 both PLWHAs' and caregivers' perceived HIV stigma influenced their own quality of life; (3 The quality of life was not substantially influenced by their partners' perceived stigma; and (4 Both actor and partner effects of stigma on quality of life were similar among PLWHAs and their caregivers.As HIV stigma and quality of life are complex phenomena rooted in cultures, intervention programs should be carefully planned based on social or cognitive theories and should be culturally adopted.

Associations between Perceived HIV Stigma and Quality of Life at the Dyadic Lvel: The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hongjie; Xu, Yongfang; Lin, Xinjin; Shi, Jian; Chen, Shiyi

2013-01-01

Background Few studies have investigated the relationship between HIV-related stigma and quality life at the dyadic level. The objective of this study was to examine the actor and partner effects of stigma that was perceived by people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs) and caregivers on quality of life at the dyadic level. Method A survey was conducted among 148 dyads consisting of one PLWHA and one caregiver (296 participants) in Nanning, China. The interdependent relationship between a pair of dyadic members that influences the associations between stigma and quality of life was analyzed, using an innovative dyadic analysis technique: the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM). Results We found in this dyadic analysis that (1) PLWHAs compared to their caregivers exhibited a higher level of perceived HIV stigma and lower level of quality of life measured in four domains; (2) both PLWHAs' and caregivers' perceived HIV stigma influenced their own quality of life; (3) The quality of life was not substantially influenced by their partners' perceived stigma; and (4) Both actor and partner effects of stigma on quality of life were similar among PLWHAs and their caregivers. Conclusion As HIV stigma and quality of life are complex phenomena rooted in cultures, intervention programs should be carefully planned based on social or cognitive theories and should be culturally adopted. PMID:23383343

The product life cycle revisited

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ulhøi, John Parm

1995-01-01

Efter et introduktionsafsnit følger afsnit II, hvor der gives en historisk analyse af Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) og Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). I afsnit III munder analysen ud i en vurdering af ligheder og forskelle mellem LCA analyser og EIA analyser, og en diskussion følger af...

Menopause: A Life Cycle Transition.

Science.gov (United States)

Evarts, Barbara Kess; Baldwin, Cynthia

1998-01-01

Family therapists need to address the issue of menopause proactively to be of benefit to couples and families during this transitional period in the family life cycle. Physical, psychological, and psychosocial factors affecting the menopausal woman and her family, and ways to address these issues in counseling are discussed. (Author/EMK)

Life cycle uses of concrete for more sustainable construction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Horvath, A. [Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States). Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering

2001-07-01

This paper examined ways in which the environmental burdens of construction in general and concrete production in particular can be reduced. Aggregates for concrete production include sand, gravel and stone. They account for most (80 per cent) of the materials used in the United States. This paper argued that given the fact that environmental concerns are an important social issue, the issue of natural resource conservation should be addressed. Some of the life-cycle assessments and comparative design issues associated with concrete construction were summarized. The author presented the example that often the initial cost of a new pavement application may indicate a lower environmental impact than an equivalent design when asphalt is used over reinforced concrete. However, annualized impacts may result in comparable environmental assessments. The same is true for bridge girders, reinforced concrete also seems to be a better environmental choice than steel. This paper also described end-of-life options that involve the use of waste products and recycled products in concrete and other materials to reduce the overall environmental impacts of a product or facility. This paper was divided into several sections entitled: life cycle assessments; life cycle inventory assessment of concretes and asphalt pavements; and, life cycle inventory assessment of concrete and steel bridge girders. 16 refs., 4 tabs.

Life-cycle design for sustainable architecture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Thiébat

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Sustainability in architecture should involve environmental and social aspects and also economic aspects. However, in a design process budget issues usually outweigh ecological aspects. How can we then drive clients and builders to put more socially responsible buildings on the market that do not exceed the fixed budget but are environmentally friendly? This paper propose an economic and environmental assessment tool to aid private or public building designers and owners to find the global sustainability value of a green building within a life cycle perspective. Sustainable life cycle tools for buildings design and construction help to achieve successfully integrated architecture. The research here presented proposes a new point of view of the “time-cost-quality triangle” of Project Management, by introducing three further aspects: environment, society and aesthetics.

HIV/AIDS Content Knowledge and Presentation Strategies in Biology for Effective Use in Everyday Life

Science.gov (United States)

Mnguni, Lindelani; Abrie, Mia

2012-01-01

HIV/AIDS education should empower students to create knowledge using everyday life experiences. Such knowledge should then be used to construe experience and resolve social problems such as risk behaviour that leads to infection. In South Africa, attempts to reduce the spread of HIV include incorporating HIV/AIDS education in the biology…

Incorporating time-corrected life cycle greenhouse gas emissions in vehicle regulations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kendall, Alissa; Price, Lindsay

2012-03-06

Beginning with model year 2012, light-duty vehicles sold in the U.S. are subject to new rules that regulate tailpipe greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions based on grams of CO(2)-equivalent per mile (gCO(2)e/mi). However, improvements in vehicle technology, lower-carbon fuels, and improvements in GHG accounting practices which account for distortions related to emissions timing all contribute to shifting a greater portion of life cycle emissions away from the vehicle use phase and toward the vehicle production phase. This article proposes methods for calculating time-corrected life cycle emissions intensity on a gCO(2)e/mi basis and explores whether regulating only tailpipe CO(2) could lead to an undesirable regulatory outcome, where technologies and vehicle architectures with higher life cycle GHGs are favored over technologies with lower life cycle emissions but with higher tailpipe GHG emissions. Two life cycle GHG assessments for future vehicles are presented in addition to time correction factors for production and end-of-life GHG emissions. Results demonstrate that, based on the vehicle designs considered here, there is a potential for favoring vehicles with higher life cycle emissions if only tailpipe emissions are regulated; moreover, the application of time correction factors amplifies the importance of production emissions and the potential for a perverse outcome.

LIFE Materials: Fuel Cycle and Repository Volume 11

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shaw, H; Blink, J A

2008-12-12

The fusion-fission LIFE engine concept provides a path to a sustainable energy future based on safe, carbon-free nuclear power with minimal nuclear waste. The LIFE design ultimately offers many advantages over current and proposed nuclear energy technologies, and could well lead to a true worldwide nuclear energy renaissance. When compared with existing and other proposed future nuclear reactor designs, the LIFE engine exceeds alternatives in the most important measures of proliferation resistance and waste minimization. The engine needs no refueling during its lifetime. It requires no removal of fuel or fissile material generated in the LIFE engine. It leaves no weapons-attractive material at the end of life. Although there is certainly a need for additional work, all indications are that the 'back end' of the fuel cycle does not to raise any 'showstopper' issues for LIFE. Indeed, the LIFE concept has numerous benefits: (1) Per unit of electricity generated, LIFE engines would generate 20-30 times less waste (in terms of mass of heavy metal) requiring disposal in a HLW repository than does the current once-through fuel cycle. (2) Although there may be advanced fuel cycles that can compete with LIFE's low mass flow of heavy metal, all such systems require reprocessing, with attendant proliferation concerns; LIFE engines can do this without enrichment or reprocessing. Moreover, none of the advanced fuel cycles can match the low transuranic content of LIFE waste. (3) The specific thermal power of LIFE waste is initially higher than that of spent LWR fuel. Nevertheless, this higher thermal load can be managed using appropriate engineering features during an interim storage period, and could be accommodated in a Yucca-Mountain-like repository by appropriate 'staging' of the emplacement of waste packages during the operational period of the repository. The planned ventilation rates for Yucca Mountain would be sufficient for LIFE waste

LIFE Materials: Fuel Cycle and Repository Volume 11

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shaw, H.; Blink, J.A.

2008-01-01

The fusion-fission LIFE engine concept provides a path to a sustainable energy future based on safe, carbon-free nuclear power with minimal nuclear waste. The LIFE design ultimately offers many advantages over current and proposed nuclear energy technologies, and could well lead to a true worldwide nuclear energy renaissance. When compared with existing and other proposed future nuclear reactor designs, the LIFE engine exceeds alternatives in the most important measures of proliferation resistance and waste minimization. The engine needs no refueling during its lifetime. It requires no removal of fuel or fissile material generated in the LIFE engine. It leaves no weapons-attractive material at the end of life. Although there is certainly a need for additional work, all indications are that the 'back end' of the fuel cycle does not to raise any 'showstopper' issues for LIFE. Indeed, the LIFE concept has numerous benefits: (1) Per unit of electricity generated, LIFE engines would generate 20-30 times less waste (in terms of mass of heavy metal) requiring disposal in a HLW repository than does the current once-through fuel cycle. (2) Although there may be advanced fuel cycles that can compete with LIFE's low mass flow of heavy metal, all such systems require reprocessing, with attendant proliferation concerns; LIFE engines can do this without enrichment or reprocessing. Moreover, none of the advanced fuel cycles can match the low transuranic content of LIFE waste. (3) The specific thermal power of LIFE waste is initially higher than that of spent LWR fuel. Nevertheless, this higher thermal load can be managed using appropriate engineering features during an interim storage period, and could be accommodated in a Yucca-Mountain-like repository by appropriate 'staging' of the emplacement of waste packages during the operational period of the repository. The planned ventilation rates for Yucca Mountain would be sufficient for LIFE waste to meet the thermal constraints of

Life-cycle assessment of Nebraska bridges.

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-01

Life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is a necessary component in bridge management systems (BMSs) for : assessing investment decisions and identifying the most cost-effective improvement alternatives. The : LCCA helps to identify the lowest cost alternati...

Life Cycle Thinking, Measurement and Management for Food System Sustainability.

Science.gov (United States)

Pelletier, Nathan

2015-07-07

Food systems critically contribute to our collective sustainability outcomes. Improving food system sustainability requires life cycle thinking, measurement and management strategies. This article reviews the status quo and future prospects for bringing life cycle approaches to food system sustainability to the fore.

Quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS and on highly active ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS and on highly active ... the Short Form-36 Health Survey (SF-36) was used to measure quality of life among patients on ... instrument for use in Ethiopia to assess the quality of life of people living with ...

Life cycle management of service water systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Egan, Geoffrey R.; Besuner, Philip M.; Mahajan, Sat P.

2004-01-01

As nuclear plants age, more attention must focus on age and time dependent degradation mechanisms such as corrosion, erosion, fatigue, etc. These degradation mechanisms can best be managed by developing a life cycle management plan which integrates past historical data, current conditions and future performance needs. In this paper we present two examples of life cycle management. In the first example, the 20-year maintenance history of a sea water cooling system (cement-lined, cast iron) is reviewed to develop attributes like maintenance cost, spare part inventory, corrosion, and repair data. Based on this information, the future expected damage rate was forecast. The cost of managing the future damage was compared with the cost to replace (in kind and with upgraded materials. A decision optimization scheme was developed to choose the least cost option from: a) Run as-is and repair; b) replace in kind; or c) replace with upgraded material and better design. In the second example, life cycle management techniques were developed for a ceilcote lined steel pipe cooling water system. Screens (fixed and traveling), filters, pumps, motors, valves, and piping were evaluated. (author)

The Adult Life Spiral: A Critique of the Life Cycle Model.

Science.gov (United States)

Stein, Peter; Etzkowitz, Henry

We can identify and describe alternate paths of adulthood utilizing data from interviews with single adults. Our review of major models used in adulthood studies suggests that a developmental model, such as Daniel Levinson's life cycle model, is too tied to the notion of the imminent unfolding of the life course. The age-stratification theory…

Techno-Economics & Life Cycle Assessment (Presentation)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dutta, A.; Davis, R.

2011-12-01

This presentation provides an overview of the techno-economic analysis (TEA) and life cycle assessment (LCA) capabilities at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and describes the value of working with NREL on TEA and LCA.

Organizational Life Cycles and Shifting Criteria of Effectiveness: Some Preliminary Evidence

OpenAIRE

Robert E. Quinn; Kim Cameron

1983-01-01

This paper discusses the relationships between stage of development in organizational life cycles and organizational effectiveness. We begin the paper by reviewing nine models of organizational life cycles that have been proposed in the literature. Each of these models identifies certain characteristics that typify organizations in different stages of development. A summary model of life cycle stages is derived that integrates each of these nine models. Next, a framework of organizational eff...

Environmental impacts of construction materials use: a life cycle perspective

CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

Ampofo-Anti, N

2009-02-01

Full Text Available of the environmental impacts of a product (or service). The Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) concept previously known as Life Cycle Analysis has emerged as one of the most appropriate tools for assessing product-related environmental impacts and for supporting an effective...

Dealing with Emergy Algebra in the Life Cycle Assessment Framework

Science.gov (United States)

The Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) represents one of the four steps of the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, which is a standardized procedure (ISO 14040:2006) to estimate the environmental impacts generated by the production, use and disposal of goods and services. In this co...

A CASKCOM: A cask life cycle cost model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1989-01-01

CASKCOM (cask cost model) is a computerized model which calculates the life cycle costs (LCC) associated with specific transportation cask designs and discounts those costs, if the user so chooses, to a net present value. The model has been used to help analyze and compare the life cycle economics of burnup credit and nonburnup credit cask designs being considered as conditions for a new generation of spent fuel transportation casks. CASKCOM is parametric in the sense that its input data can be easily changed in order to analyze and compare the life cycle cost implications arising from alternative assumptions. The input data themselves are organized into two main groupings. The first grouping comprises a set of data which is independent of cask design. This first grouping does not change from the analysis of one cask design to another. The second grouping of data is specific to each individual cask design. This second grouping thus changes each time a new cask design is analyzed

Small business life cycle: statics and dynamics (S

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matejun Marek

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is the presentation of theoretical foundations and the structure of original, 8-stage statics and dynamics model in the small business life cycle. Based on theoretical considerations, two hypotheses concerning the impact of dynamic and static nature of the life-cycle stages on selected determinants and effects of SMEs’ development were formulated. The hypotheses were verified based on the results of the survey conducted on a sample of 1,741 SMEs from 22 countries of the European Union. The results indicate that companies in the dynamic life-cycle stages are run by more enterprising owners, operate in more promising markets with a higher potential and make greater use of market niches thus limiting the level of competition. At the same time, such companies are characterised by higher levels of flexibility and involvement in innovative activities, which translates into obtaining a significantly higher level of business performance, in the area of quantitative as well as qualitative results.

Quantifying Cost Risk Early in the Life Cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mar, B.

2004-01-01

A new method for analyzing life cycle cost risk on large programs is presented that responds to an increased emphasis on improving sustainability for long-term programs. This method provides better long-term risk assessment and risk management techniques. It combines standard Monte Carlo analysis of risk drivers and a new data-driven method developed by the BMDO. The approach permits quantification of risks throughout the entire life cycle without resorting to difficult to support subjective methods. The BMDO methodology is shown to be relatively straightforward to apply to a specific component or process within a project using standard technical risk assessment methods. The total impact on system is obtained using the program WBS, which allows for the capture of correlated risks shared by multiple WBS items. Once the correlations and individual component risks are captured, a Monte Carlo simulation can be run using a modeling tool such as ANALYTICA to produce the overall life cycle cost risk

Sustainable Development Factors in Pavement Life-Cycle: Highway/Airport Review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peyman Babashamsi

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Sustainability has gained as much importance as management in business. Sustainable pavement development as a business practice should involve making evaluations according to the triple bottom line in the pavement life-cycle. Despite the current approaches to evaluating the social as well as economic and environmental feasibility of pavement projects (involving highway and airport infrastructure, there has recently been a lack of consensus on a methodology to guarantee sustainability upon assessment and analysis during the pavement life-cycle. As sustainability is a complex issue, this study intends to further explore sustainability and elaborate on its meaning. The second step involves a general depiction of the major sustainability appraisal tools, namely cost-benefit analysis, life-cycle cost analysis, life-cycle assessment, multi-criteria decision-making, environmental impact assessment and social life-cycle assessment, and an explanation of their cons and pros. Subsequently, the article addresses the application of an organized methodology to highlight the main factors or concepts that should be applied in sustainable pavement development and, more specifically, in sustainable pavement management. In the final step, research recommendations toward sustainability are given. This study is aimed to assist decision-makers in pavement management to plan sustainability frameworks in accordance with probable boundaries and restrictions.

Biological catalysis of the hydrological cycle: life's thermodynamic function

Science.gov (United States)

Michaelian, K.

2011-01-01

Darwinian theory depicts life as being overwhelmingly consumed by a fight for survival in a hostile environment. However, from a thermodynamic perspective, life is a dynamic out of equilibrium process, stabilizing and coevolving in concert with its abiotic environment. The living component of the biosphere on the surface of the Earth of greatest biomass, the plants and cyanobacteria, are involved in the transpiration of a vast amount of water. Transpiration is part of the global water cycle, and it is this cycle that distinguishes Earth from its apparently life barren neighboring planets, Venus and Mars. The dissipation of sunlight into heat by organic molecules in the biosphere and its coupling to the water cycle (as well as other abiotic processes), is by far the greatest entropy producing process occurring on Earth. Life, from this perspective, can be viewed as performing an important thermodynamic function; acting as a dynamic catalyst by aiding irreversible abiotic process such as the water cycle, hurricanes, and ocean and wind currents to produce entropy. The role of animals in this view is that of unwitting but dedicated servants of the plants and cyanobacteria, helping them to grow and to spread into initially inhospitable areas.

Computer-based intervention in HIV clinical care setting improves antiretroviral adherence: the LifeWindows Project.

Science.gov (United States)

Fisher, Jeffrey D; Amico, K Rivet; Fisher, William A; Cornman, Deborah H; Shuper, Paul A; Trayling, Cynthia; Redding, Caroline; Barta, William; Lemieux, Anthony F; Altice, Frederick L; Dieckhaus, Kevin; Friedland, Gerald

2011-11-01

We evaluated the efficacy of LifeWindows, a theory-based, computer-administered antiretroviral (ARV) therapy adherence support intervention, delivered to HIV + patients at routine clinical care visits. 594 HIV + adults receiving HIV care at five clinics were randomized to intervention or control arms. Intervention vs. control impact in the intent-to-treat sample (including participants whose ARVs had been entirely discontinued, who infrequently attended care, or infrequently used LifeWindows) did not reach significance. Intervention impact in the On Protocol sample (328 intervention and control arm participants whose ARVs were not discontinued, who attended care and were exposed to LifeWindows regularly) was significant. On Protocol intervention vs. control participants achieved significantly higher levels of perfect 3-day ACTG-assessed adherence over time, with sensitivity analyses maintaining this effect down to 70% adherence. This study supports the utility of LifeWindows and illustrates that patients on ARVs who persist in care at clinical care sites can benefit from adherence promotion software.

Life cycle replacement by gene introduction under an allee effect in periodical cicadas.

Science.gov (United States)

Nariai, Yukiko; Hayashi, Saki; Morita, Satoru; Umemura, Yoshitaka; Tainaka, Kei-ichi; Sota, Teiji; Cooley, John R; Yoshimura, Jin

2011-04-06

Periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.) in the USA are divided into three species groups (-decim, -cassini, -decula) of similar but distinct morphology and behavior. Each group contains at least one species with a 17-year life cycle and one with a 13-year cycle; each species is most closely related to one with the other cycle. One explanation for the apparent polyphyly of 13- and 17-year life cycles is that populations switch between the two cycles. Using a numerical model, we test the general feasibility of life cycle switching by the introduction of alleles for one cycle into populations of the other cycle. Our results suggest that fitness reductions at low population densities of mating individuals (the Allee effect) could play a role in life cycle switching. In our model, if the 13-year cycle is genetically dominant, a 17-year cycle population will switch to a 13-year cycle given the introduction of a few 13-year cycle alleles under a moderate Allee effect. We also show that under a weak Allee effect, different year-classes ("broods") with 17-year life cycles can be generated. Remarkably, the outcomes of our models depend only on the dominance relationships of the cycle alleles, irrespective of any fitness advantages.

Life cycle replacement by gene introduction under an allee effect in periodical cicadas.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yukiko Nariai

2011-04-01

Full Text Available Periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp. in the USA are divided into three species groups (-decim, -cassini, -decula of similar but distinct morphology and behavior. Each group contains at least one species with a 17-year life cycle and one with a 13-year cycle; each species is most closely related to one with the other cycle. One explanation for the apparent polyphyly of 13- and 17-year life cycles is that populations switch between the two cycles. Using a numerical model, we test the general feasibility of life cycle switching by the introduction of alleles for one cycle into populations of the other cycle. Our results suggest that fitness reductions at low population densities of mating individuals (the Allee effect could play a role in life cycle switching. In our model, if the 13-year cycle is genetically dominant, a 17-year cycle population will switch to a 13-year cycle given the introduction of a few 13-year cycle alleles under a moderate Allee effect. We also show that under a weak Allee effect, different year-classes ("broods" with 17-year life cycles can be generated. Remarkably, the outcomes of our models depend only on the dominance relationships of the cycle alleles, irrespective of any fitness advantages.

Life-cycle assessment of textiles manufacture of polyester shirt (VB)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Othman, Samer; Peter, Oduro Justice; Hassan, Osama

1998-01-01

According to the EDIP (Environmental Design of Industrial Products), It is made possible to perform resource and environmental profile analysis of the 100% polyester shirt. In order to understand the true life-cycle consequences, life-cycle analysis of a typical 100% polyester shirt was carried out...

Data life cycle: a perspective from the Information Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ricardo César Gonçalves Sant’Ana

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Access and use of data as a key factor has been extended to several areas of knowledge of today's society. It’s necessary to develop a new perspective that presents phases and factors involved in these processes, providing an initial analysis structure, allowing the efforts, skills and actions organization related to the data life cycle. Purpose: This article is a proposal for a new look at the data life cycle, that assumes, as a central element, the data itself, supporting itself on the concepts and contributions that Information Science can provide, without giving up the reflections on the role of other key areas such as Computer Science. Methodology: The methodological procedures consisted of bibliographic research and content analysis to describe the phases and factors related to the Data Life Cycle, developing reflections and considerations from context already consolidated in the development of systems that can corroborate the idea of centrality of data. Results: The results describe the phases of: collect, storage, recovery and discard, permeated by transverse factors: privacy, integration, quality, copyright, dissemination and preservation, composing a Data Life Cycle. Conclusions: The current context of the availability of large volumes of data, with great variety and at speeds that provide access in real time, setting the so-called Big Data that requires new concerns about access and use processes of data. The Information Science may offer a new approach, now centered in the data, and contribute to the optimization of Data Life Cycle as a whole, extending bridges between users and the data they need.

An attributional life cycle assessment for an Italian residential multifamily building.

Science.gov (United States)

Vitale, Pierluca; Arena, Umberto

2017-09-06

The study describes an attributional life cycle assessment carried out according to the ISO standards and focused on an Italian multifamily residential building. The aim was developing an exhaustive and reliable inventory of high-quality primary data, comparing the environmental impacts along the three stages of the building life cycle. The pre-use phase takes into account the production of all the construction materials, transportation, and on-site assembling. The use phase quantifies the resource consumptions for 50 years of the building utilization and ordinary maintenance. The end-of-life phase includes the building demolition and the management of generated wastes. The results quantify how the design criteria affect the environmental performances of the residential building along its life cycle. The role of the pre-use phase appears remarkable for global warming potential (GWP), due to the huge impacts of steel and concrete production processes. The use phase gives the largest contributions, which reach 77% and 84% of the total, for the categories of global warming and non-renewable energy. The end-of-life phase provides limited avoided impacts. A comparative analysis quantifies the improvements achievable with an alternative type of partitions and external walls. Acronyms: AC: air conditioning; C&DW: construction and demolition waste; CFL: compact fluorescent lamp; DHW: domestic hot water; EC: European Commission; EU: European Union; GDP: gross domestic product; GHG: greenhouse gases; GWP: global warming potential; LCA: life cycle assessment; LCI: life cycle inventory; LCIA: life cycle impact assessment; MFA: material flow analysis; NREP: non-renewable energy potential; RINP: respiratory inorganics potential; WFD: Waste Framework Directive.

Application of product life cycle concept to private label management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sandra Horvat

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Private labels have recorded significant growth rates worldwide, becoming a serious threat to manufacturer brands. Development of private labels in many different product categories increased the complexity of their management. Therefore, this paper examines the possibility of using the product life cycle concept in private label management. Given that private labels are a specific brand type, it is necessary to adjust certain elements of the product life cycle concept, as it was developed on the basis of manufacturer brands. For instance, in the growth stage of the product life cycle, retailers expand private labels to a number of product categories and use the push strategy while manufacturers tend to expand their distribution network in the expansion of their brands and predominantly use the pull strategy in doing so. Furthermore, there is a focus shift from low-price strategy, predominantly used in the introduction phase, to increasing the quality and private label value in the later stages of the product life cycle.

Life-cycle cost assessment of seismically base-isolated structures in nuclear power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, Hao; Weng, Dagen; Lu, Xilin; Lu, Liang

2013-01-01

Highlights: • The life-cycle cost of seismic base-isolated nuclear power plants is modeled. • The change law of life-cycle cost with seismic fortification intensity is studied. • The initial cost of laminated lead rubber bearings can be expressed as the function of volume. • The initial cost of a damper can be expressed as the function of its maximum displacement and tonnage. • The use of base-isolation can greatly reduce the expected damage cost, which leads to the reduction of the life-cycle cost. -- Abstract: Evaluation of seismically base-isolated structural life-cycle cost is the key problem in performance based seismic design. A method is being introduced to address the life-cycle cost of base-isolated reinforced concrete structures in nuclear power plants. Each composition of life-cycle cost is analyzed including the initial construction cost, the isolators cost and the excepted damage cost over life-cycle of the structure. The concept of seismic intensity is being used to estimate the expected damage cost, greatly simplifying the calculation. Moreover, French Cruas nuclear power plant is employed as an example to assess its life-cycle cost, compared to the cost of non-isolated plant at the same time. The results show that the proposed method is efficient and the expected damage cost is enormously reduced because of the application of isolators, which leads to the reduction of the life-cycle cost of nuclear power plants

Implementing risk-informed life-cycle design

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hill, Ralph S. III

2007-01-01

This paper describes a design process based on risk-informed probabilistic methodologies that cover a facility's life-cycle from start of conceptual design through decontamination and decommissioning. The concept uses probabilistic risk assessments to identify target reliabilities for facility systems and components. Target reliabilities are used in system and subsystem simulation analyses to determine the optimum combination of initial system and component construction reliability, maintenance frequency, and inspection frequency for both active and passive components. The target reliabilities are also used for system based code margin exchange to reduce excessive level of margins to appropriate levels resulting in a more flexible structure of codes and standards that improves facility reliability and cost. The paper includes a description of a risk informed life-cycle design process, a summary of work being done, and a discussion of work needed to implement the process. (author)

Life Cycle Assessment Of Hydrogen Production From Natural Gas Reforming Process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ozturk, M.

2010-01-01

Society has become concerned about the issues of natural resource depletion and environmental degradation. The environmental performance of products or processes has become a key issue, which is why ways to minimize the effects on the environment are investigated. The most effective tool for this purpose is called life cycle assessment (LCA). This concept considers the entire life cycle of product or process. The life cycle of a product begins with the extraction of raw materials from the earth to create the product and ends at the point when all materials are returned to the earth. LCA makes it possible to estimate the cumulative environmental impacts resulting from all stages in the product life cycle, often including impacts not considered in more traditional analyses. Therefore, LCA provides a comprehensive view of the environmental aspects of the product or process and a more accurate picture of the true environmental trade-offs in product selection. In the case of this study, life cycle assessments of hydrogen production via natural gas reforming process are investigated for environmental affect.

The impact of HIV status, HIV disease progression, and post-traumatic stress symptoms on the health-related quality of life of Rwandan women genocide survivors.

Science.gov (United States)

Gard, Tracy L; Hoover, Donald R; Shi, Qiuhu; Cohen, Mardge H; Mutimura, Eugene; Adedimeji, Adebola A; Anastos, Kathryn

2013-10-01

We examined whether established associations between HIV disease and HIV disease progression on worse health-related quality of life (HQOL) were applicable to women with severe trauma histories, in this case Rwandan women genocide survivors, the majority of whom were HIV-infected. Additionally, this study attempted to clarify whether post-traumatic stress symptoms were uniquely associated with HQOL or confounded with depression. The Rwandan Women's Interassociation Study and Assessment was a longitudinal prospective study of HIV-infected and uninfected women. At study entry, 922 women (705 HIV+ and 217 HIV-) completed measures of symptoms of post-traumatic stress and HQOL as well as other demographic, clinical, and behavioral characteristics. Even after controlling for potential confounders and mediators, HIV+ women, in particular those with the lowest CD4 counts, scored significantly worse on HQOL and overall quality of life (QOL) than did HIV- women. Even after controlling for depression and HIV disease progression, women with more post-traumatic stress symptoms scored worse on HQOL and overall QOL than women with fewer post-traumatic stress symptoms. This study demonstrated that post-traumatic stress symptoms were independently associated with HQOL and overall QOL, independent of depression and other confounders or potential mediators. Future research should examine whether the long-term impact of treatment on physical and psychological symptoms of HIV and post-traumatic stress symptoms would generate improvement in HQOL.

Design for life-cycle profit with simultaneous consideration of initial manufacturing and end-of-life remanufacturing

Science.gov (United States)

Kwak, Minjung; Kim, Harrison

2015-01-01

Remanufacturing is emerging as a promising solution for achieving green, profitable businesses. This article considers a manufacturer that produces new products and also remanufactured versions of the new products that become available at the end of their life cycle. For such a manufacturer, design decisions at the initial design stage determine both the current profit from manufacturing and future profit from remanufacturing. To maximize the total profit, design decisions must carefully consider both ends of product life cycle, i.e. manufacturing and end-of-life stages. This article proposes a decision-support model for the life-cycle design using mixed-integer nonlinear programming. With an aim to maximize the total life-cycle profit, the proposed model searches for an (at least locally) optimal product design (i.e. design specifications and the selling price) for the new and remanufactured products. It optimizes both the initial design and design upgrades at the end-of-life stage and also provides corresponding production strategies, including production quantities and take-back rate. The model is extended to a multi-objective model that maximizes both economic profit and environmental-impact saving. To illustrate, the developed model is demonstrated with an example of a desktop computer.

Life cycle costs for Alaska bridges.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-08-01

A study was implemented to assist the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) with life cycle costs for : the Alaska Highway Bridge Inventory. The study consisted of two parts. Part 1 involved working with regional offices...

EASEWASTE-life cycle modeling capabilities for waste management technologies

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bhander, Gurbakhash Singh; Christensen, Thomas Højlund; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

2010-01-01

Background, Aims and Scope The management of municipal solid waste and the associated environmental impacts are subject of growing attention in industrialized countries. EU has recently strongly emphasized the role of LCA in its waste and resource strategies. The development of sustainable solid...... waste management systems applying a life-cycle perspective requires readily understandable tools for modelling the life cycle impacts of waste management systems. The aim of the paper is to demonstrate the structure, functionalities and LCA modelling capabilities of the PC-based life cycle oriented...... waste management model EASEWASTE, developed at the Technical University of Denmark specifically to meet the needs of the waste system developer with the objective to evaluate the environmental performance of the various elements of existing or proposed solid waste management systems. Materials...

Models of the Organizational Life Cycle: Applications to Higher Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Cameron, Kim S.; Whetten, David A.

1983-01-01

A review of models of group and organization life cycle development is provided and the applicability of those models for institutions of higher education are discussed. An understanding of the problems and characteristics present in different life cycle stages can help institutions manage transitions more effectively. (Author/MLW)

Life cycle emissions from renewable energy technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bates, J.; Watkiss, P.; Thorpe, T.

1997-01-01

This paper presents the methodology used in the ETSU review, together with the detailed results for three of the technologies studied: wind turbines, photovoltaic systems and small, stand-alone solar thermal systems. These emissions are then compared with those calculated for both other renewables and fossil fuel technology on a similar life cycle basis. The life cycle emissions associated with renewable energy technology vary considerably. They are lowest for those technologies where the renewable resource has been concentrated in some way (e.g. over distance in the case of wind and hydro, or over time in the case of energy crops). Wind turbines have amongst the lowest emissions of all renewables and are lower than those for fossil fuel generation, often by over an order of magnitude. Photovoltaics and solar thermal systems have the highest life cycle emissions of all the renewable energy technologies under review. However, their emissions of most pollutants are also much lower than those associated with fossil fuel technologies. In addition, the emissions associated with PV are likely to fall further in the future as the conversion efficiency of PV cells increases and manufacturing technology switches to thin film technologies, which are less energy intensive. Combining the assessments of life cycle emissions of renewables with predictions made by the World Energy Council (WEC) of their future deployment has allowed estimates to be made of amount by which renewables could reduce the future global emissions of carbon dioxide, sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. It estimated that under the WEC's 'Ecologically Driven' scenario, renewables might lead to significant reductions of between 3650 and 8375 Mt in annual CO 2 emissions depending on the fossil fuel technology they are assumed to displace. (author)

Life cycle assessment: Existing building retrofit versus replacement

Science.gov (United States)

Darabi, Nura

The embodied energy in building materials constitutes a large part of the total energy required for any building (Thormark 2001, 429). In working to make buildings more energy efficient this needs to be considered. Integrating considerations about life cycle assessment for buildings and materials is one promising way to reduce the amount of energy consumption being used within the building sector and the environmental impacts associated with that energy. A life cycle assessment (LCA) model can be utilized to help evaluate the embodied energy in building materials in comparison to the buildings operational energy. This thesis takes into consideration the potential life cycle reductions in energy and CO2 emissions that can be made through an energy retrofit of an existing building verses demolition and replacement with a new energy efficient building. A 95,000 square foot institutional building built in the 1960`s was used as a case study for a building LCA, along with a calibrated energy model of the existing building created as part of a previous Masters of Building Science thesis. The chosen case study building was compared to 10 possible improvement options of either energy retrofit or replacement of the existing building with a higher energy performing building in order to see the life cycle relationship between embodied energy, operational energy, and C02 emissions. As a result of completing the LCA, it is shown under which scenarios building retrofit saves more energy over the lifespan of the building than replacement with new construction. It was calculated that energy retrofit of the chosen existing institutional building would reduce the amount of energy and C02 emissions associated with that building over its life span.

Quality of life of elderly people living with HIV/AIDS in outpatient follow-up

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Juliano de Souza Caliari

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To analyze factors related to the quality of life of elderly people living with HIV/AIDS. Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out with people aged 50 years or more in a specialized outpatient clinic. The data collection was by means of an interview. For the analysis of data and characterization of the sample, descriptive statistics and comparison tests were used. The project met the ethical requirements. Results: Participants were 81 users aged 50 to 75 years, mean age was 57.8 (± 6.1 years, 71.6% of whom were men. There was a statistically significant relationship with the quality of life, the following variables: gender, children, occupation, religion, diagnosis time, HIV exposure, adverse effects, treatment interruption, viral load counts, hospitalization, dependence for daily activities and use of drugs. Conclusion: The results suggest that the quality of life deficit is related not only to physical changes, but to the anguish and stigma related to HIV/AIDS.

Life-Cycle Evaluation of Domestic Energy Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Bando, Shigeru; Hihara, Eiji

Among the growing number of environmental issues, the global warming due to the increasing emission of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide CO2, is the most serious one. In order to reduce CO2 emissions in energy use, it is necessary to reduce primary energy consumption, and to replace energy sources with alternatives that emit less CO2.One option of such ideas is to replace fossil gas for water heating with electricity generated by nuclear power, hydraulic power, and other methods with low CO2 emission. It is also important to use energy efficiently and to reduce waste heat. Co-generation system is one of the applications to be able to use waste heat from a generator as much as possible. The CO2 heat pump water heaters, the polymer electrolyte fuel cells, and the micro gas turbines have high potential for domestic energy systems. In the present study, the life-cycle cost, the life-cycle consumption of primary energy and the life-cycle emission of CO2 of these domestic energy systems are compare. The result shows that the CO2 heat pump water heaters have an ability to reduce CO2 emission by 10%, and the co-generation systems also have another ability to reduce primary energy consumption by 20%.

Integrating mental health services into primary HIV care for women: the Whole Life project.

OpenAIRE

Dodds, Sally; Nuehring, Elane M.; Blaney, Nancy T.; Blakley, Theresa; Lizzotte, Jean-Marie; Lopez, Myriam; Potter, JoNell E.; O'Sullivan, Mary J.

2004-01-01

The high rate of mental health problems in HIV-infected women jeopardizes the health of this vulnerable population, and constitutes a mandate for integrating mental health services into HIV primary care. The Whole Life project-a collaboration of the departments of Psychiatry and Obstetrics/Gynecology at the University of Miami School of Medicine-successfully integrated mental health services into primary HIV care for women. This article describes the conceptual framework of the integration, i...

Steam generator life cycle management challenges - on-going and new build

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spekkens, P.

2009-01-01

Ontario Power Generation (OPG) is committed to the safe, reliable, and cost-effective operation of its fleet of CANDU plants. Steam Generators (SGs) are a major component of the heat transport system in these plants and maintaining their health is an essential element to achieving plant safety, reliability and economic performance. OPG has been actively engaged in formal life cycle management of its SGs for about 15 years. Over this time, we have developed stable, mature, detailed life cycle plans for each of our plants on a unit by unit, and in some cases, SG by SG, basis. These plans have been externally reviewed over the years by our regulator and by other third-party experts, and they've been acknowledged as being among the best life cycle plans anywhere. Although we are pleased that our life cycle plans are as detailed and mature as they are, we certainly aren't fully satisfied because they're not perfect. Even if they were perfect at any point in time, they wouldn't be for very long because the environment is constantly changing, both the technical environment and the business environment. This paper presents some of these challenges and offers some possible solutions or suggestions based on OPG's experience. The paper describes the background on SG life cycle management in OPG, i.e. what it is and how we do it. Then it presents challenges in the following areas: despite having some very detailed and technically strong life cycle plans, we still face some technical issues; in addition, we face challenges in integrating these plans into the overall business processes within the company; up until now, our life cycle planning has been aimed at early-and mid-life in our units. But our units are aging and we are now within sight, at least in a life cycle management sense, of a point at which decisions need to be made on refurbishment, life extension or retirement of the units. We need to adjust our life cycle management approach as we approach those major

Life Cycle Assessment of Wall Systems

Science.gov (United States)

Ramachandran, Sriranjani

Natural resource depletion and environmental degradation are the stark realities of the times we live in. As awareness about these issues increases globally, industries and businesses are becoming interested in understanding and minimizing the ecological footprints of their activities. Evaluating the environmental impacts of products and processes has become a key issue, and the first step towards addressing and eventually curbing climate change. Additionally, companies are finding it beneficial and are interested in going beyond compliance using pollution prevention strategies and environmental management systems to improve their environmental performance. Life-cycle Assessment (LCA) is an evaluative method to assess the environmental impacts associated with a products' life-cycle from cradle-to-grave (i.e. from raw material extraction through to material processing, manufacturing, distribution, use, repair and maintenance, and finally, disposal or recycling). This study focuses on evaluating building envelopes on the basis of their life-cycle analysis. In order to facilitate this analysis, a small-scale office building, the University Services Building (USB), with a built-up area of 148,101 ft2 situated on ASU campus in Tempe, Arizona was studied. The building's exterior envelope is the highlight of this study. The current exterior envelope is made of tilt-up concrete construction, a type of construction in which the concrete elements are constructed horizontally and tilted up, after they are cured, using cranes and are braced until other structural elements are secured. This building envelope is compared to five other building envelope systems (i.e. concrete block, insulated concrete form, cast-in-place concrete, steel studs and curtain wall constructions) evaluating them on the basis of least environmental impact. The research methodology involved developing energy models, simulating them and generating changes in energy consumption due to the above mentioned

Cost estimation and management over the life cycle of metallurgical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study investigates whether all expected costs over the life cycle of metallurgical research projects are included in initial, normal and fi nal cost estimates, and whether these costs are managed throughout a project's life cycle since there is not enough emphasis on the accurate estimation of costs and their management ...

FileNet's BPM life-cycle support

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Netjes, M.; Reijers, H.A.; Aalst, van der W.M.P.

2006-01-01

Business Process Management (BPM) systems provide a broad range of facilities to enact and manage operational business processes. Ideally, these systems should provide support for the complete BPM life-cycle: (re)design, configuration, execution, control, and diagnosis of processes. In the research

The LifeCycle model

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Krink, Thiemo; Løvbjerg, Morten

2002-01-01

genetic algorithms (GAs), particle swarm optimisation (PSOs), and stochastic hill climbing to create a generally well-performing search heuristics. In the LifeCycle model, we consider candidate solutions and their fitness as individuals, which, based on their recent search progress, can decide to become...... either a GA individual, a particle of a PSO, or a single stochastic hill climber. First results from a comparison of our new approach with the single search algorithms indicate a generally good performance in numerical optimization....

LIFE CYCLE DESIGN OF A FUEL TANK SYSTEM

Science.gov (United States)

This life cycle design (LCD) project was a collaborative effort between the National Pollution Prevention Center at the University of Michigan, General Motors (GM), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The primary objective of this project was to apply life cyc...

Designer and constructor practices to ensure life cycle performance.

OpenAIRE

Shelton, Joelle L.

1998-01-01

CIVINS (Civilian Institutions) Thesis document Technology advances of the last few decades, in such areas as computing and construction materials, have inspired many attempts to improve the construction process. Many of these attempts focus on reducing costs and improving functionality, such as life cycle cost analysis and value engineering, while others, such as design-build, focus on specific phases of the life cycle. Other factors such as declining productivity, the quantity of construc...

Life Cycle Assessment of fresh dairy packaging at ELOPAK

OpenAIRE

Ruttenborg, Vegard

2017-01-01

Nearly all food and drink products require some packaging, and the impact from production and consumption is causing a strain on the environment. To counteract the bad effects, business is emphasizing the environmental performance of products and therefore utilising Life Cycle Assessment as a tool to quantify the environmental impacts from a products life cycle. Elopak, which is an International supplier of paper-based packaging for liquid food, is a such company. This thesis i...

Life cycle impacts of manufacturing redwood decking in Northern California

Science.gov (United States)

Richard D. Bergman; Elaine Oneil; Ivan L. Eastin; Han-Sup Han

2014-01-01

Awareness of the environmental footprint of building construction and use has led to increasing interest in green building. Defining a green building is an evolving process with life cycle inventory and life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) emerging as key tools in that evolution and definition process. This study used LCIA to determine the environmental footprint...

Determination of HSE program proportional to organizational Corporate life cycles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2013-02-01

Result: Corporate life cycles questionnaire with 10 indicators, available HSE programs score cards with 47 indicators according to OGP model and corporate life cycles proper programs table were results of this article. .Conclusion: The results showedweakness in the HSE programs implementation.Therefore, we offered the management methods like upgrade HSE culture and leadership for modification.

Product Life Cycle - Quality Management Issues

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Alting, Leo; Majstorovic, Vidosav D.

2004-01-01

The strategic goal of our country is European and world integration. Within this context the management of sustainable development considered from the aspect of product’s life cycle and its quality management represents a real challenge for researchers, economy and educational system. The aim...

Life cycle characteristics of SME’s

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Masurel, E.; Montfort, van K.

2006-01-01

Our study of professional services firms clearly revealed that firms change over the course of their life cycles. During the first three stages, diversification in sales, the differentiation in labor force, and the level of labor productivity increase. In the last stage, diversification in sales,

Replacement and inspection policies for products with random life cycle

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yun, Won Young; Nakagawa, Toshio

2010-01-01

In this paper, we consider maintenance policies for products in which the economical life cycle of products is a random variable. First, we study a periodic replacement policy with minimal repair. The system is minimally repaired at failure and is replaced by new one at age T (periodic replacement policy with minimal repair of Barlow and Hunter). The expected present value of total maintenance cost of products with random life cycle is obtained and the optimal replacement interval minimizing the cost is found. Second, we consider an inspection policy for products with random life cycle to detect the system failure. The expected total cost is obtained and the optimal inspection interval is found. Numerical examples are also included.

Security Risks: Management and Mitigation in the Software Life Cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Gilliam, David P.

2004-01-01

A formal approach to managing and mitigating security risks in the software life cycle is requisite to developing software that has a higher degree of assurance that it is free of security defects which pose risk to the computing environment and the organization. Due to its criticality, security should be integrated as a formal approach in the software life cycle. Both a software security checklist and assessment tools should be incorporated into this life cycle process and integrated with a security risk assessment and mitigation tool. The current research at JPL addresses these areas through the development of a Sotfware Security Assessment Instrument (SSAI) and integrating it with a Defect Detection and Prevention (DDP) risk management tool.

Assessing social impacts in a life cycle perspective-Lessons learned

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Jørgensen, Andreas; Dreyer, Louise Camilla

2008-01-01

In our globalised economy, important stakeholder groups nowadays hold companies responsible for the social impacts they cause in their product chain through activities like child labour, corruption or discrimination of employees. Many companies thus see themselves in need of a tool which can help...... LCA methodology supplements the traditional environment-oriented LCA and the life cycle costing tools in support of sustainability management addressing all three pillars of sustainability: people, planet and profit....... them make informed decisions about their social impacts throughout the life cycle of their products. The paper presents lessons learned from four years of work with industry on development of a methodology for social Life Cycle Assessment and implementation in the industrial product chain. The Social...

A life cycle assessment of destruction of ammunition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alverbro, K.; Bjoerklund, A.; Finnveden, G.; Hochschorner, E.; Haegvall, J.

2009-01-01

The Swedish Armed Forces have large stocks of ammunition that were produced at a time when decommissioning was not considered. This ammunition will eventually become obsolete and must be destroyed, preferably with minimal impact on the environment and in a safe way for personnel. The aim of this paper is to make a comparison of the environmental impacts in a life cycle perspective of three different methods of decommissioning/destruction of ammunition, and to identify the environmental advantages and disadvantages of each of these destruction methods: open detonation; static kiln incineration with air pollution control combined with metal recycling, and a combination of incineration with air pollution control, open burning, recovery of some energetic material and metal recycling. Data used are for the specific processes and from established LCA databases. Recycling the materials in the ammunition and minimising the spread of airborne pollutants during incineration were found to be the most important factors affecting the life cycle environmental performance of the compared destruction methods. Open detonation with or without metal recycling proved to be the overall worst alternative from a life cycle perspective. The results for the static kiln and combination treatment indicate that the kind of ammunition and location of the destruction plant might determine the choice of method, since the environmental impacts from these methods are of little difference in the case of this specific grenade. Different methods for destruction of ammunition have previously been discussed from a risk and safety perspective. This is however to our knowledge the first study looking specifically on environmentally aspect in a life cycle perspective.

Testing and testing positive: childhood adversities and later life HIV status among Kenyan women and their partners.

Science.gov (United States)

Goodman, Michael L; Raimer-Goodman, Lauren; Chen, Catherine X; Grouls, Astrid; Gitari, Stanley; Keiser, Philip H

2017-12-01

Adverse childhood experiences are a critical feature of lifelong health. No research assesses whether childhood adversities predict HIV-testing behaviors, and little research analyzes childhood adversities and later life HIV status in sub-Saharan Africa. We use regression models with cross-sectional data from a representative sample (n = 1974) to analyze whether adverse childhood experiences, separately or as cumulative exposures, predict reports of later life HIV testing and testing HIV+ among semi-rural Kenyan women and their partners. No significant correlation was observed between thirteen cumulative childhood adversities and reporting prior HIV testing for respondent or partner. Separately, childhood sexual abuse and emotional neglect predicted lower odds of reporting having previously been tested for HIV. Witnessing household violence during one's childhood predicted significantly higher odds of reporting HIV+. Sexual abuse predicted higher odds of reporting a partner tested HIV+. Preventing sexual abuse and household violence may improve HIV testing and test outcomes among Kenyan women. More research is required to understand pathways between adverse childhood experiences and partner selection within Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa, and data presented here suggest understanding pathways may help improve HIV outcomes. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

An evaluation of quality of life and its determinants among people living with HIV/AIDS from Southern Brazil

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susane Müller Klug Passos

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This cross-sectional study evaluated the quality of life and its associated factors among people living with HIV/AIDS at a regional reference center for the treatment of HIV/AIDS in southern Brazil. WHOQOL-HIV Bref, ASSIST 2.0, HAD Scale, and a questionnaire were used to assess 625 participants on quality of life, clinical and sociodemographic characteristics, drug use, depression and anxiety. Multivariate analysis was performed through linear regression. The lowest results for quality of life were associated with being female, age (< 47 years, low education levels, low socioeconomic class, unemployment, not having a stable relationship, signs of anxiety and depression, abuse or addiction of psychoactive substances, lack of perceived social support, never taking antiretroviral medication, lipodystrophy, comorbidities, HIV related hospitalizations and a CD4+ cell count less than 350. Psychosocial factors should be included in the physical and clinical evaluation given their strong association with quality of life domains.

Life cycles of energetic systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adnot, Jerome; Marchio, Dominique; Riviere, Philippe; Duplessis, B.; Rabl, A.; Glachant, M.; Aggeri, F.; Benoist, A.; Teulon, H.; Daude, J.

2012-01-01

This collective publication aims at being a course for students in engineering of energetic systems, i.e. at learning how to decide to accept or discard a project, to select the most efficient system, to select the optimal system, to select the optimal combination of systems, and to classify independent systems. Thus, it presents methods to analyse system life cycle from an energetic, economic and environmental point of view, describes how to develop an approach to the eco-design of an energy consuming product, how to understand the importance of hypotheses behind abundant and often contradicting publicised results, and to be able to criticise or to put in perspective one's own analysis. The first chapters thus recall some aspects of economic calculation, introduce the assessment of investment and exploitation costs of energetic systems, describe how to assess and internalise environmental costs, present the territorial carbon assessment, discuss the use of the life cycle assessment, and address the issue of environmental management at a product scale. The second part proposes various case studies: an optimal fleet of thermal production of electric power, the eco-design of a refrigerator, the economic and environmental assessment of wind farms

Advancing life cycle economics in the Nordic countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Haugbølle, Kim; Hansen, Ernst Jan de Place

2005-01-01

Advancing construction and facilities management requires the ability to estimate and evaluate the economic consequences of decisions in a lifetime perspective. A survey of state-of-the-art on life cycle economics in the Nordic countries showed that, despite a number of similarities, no strong...... that the configuration of the roles as client, owner and user is indicative of a client's interest in life cycle economics. Second, a proposal for a common Nordic cost classification was put forward. Third, it was argued that there is a strong need to develop tools and methodologies to depict the cost/value ratio...

The life cycle rebound effect of air-conditioner consumption in China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Jingru; Sun, Xin; Lu, Bin; Zhang, Yunkun; Sun, Rui

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Develop a life cycle rebound effect model. • Assess the life cycle rebound effect of Chinese room air conditioners. • Conduct a questionnaire to assess the consumption behavior of Chinese room air conditioners. • Rebound effect should be considered by energy policy makers. - Abstract: Governments worldwide are attempting to reduce energy consumption and environmental pollution by confronting environmental problems and adopting more energy-efficient products. However, because of the rebound effect, energy-saving targets cannot always be fully achieved, and sometimes greater energy consumption is generated. Research on the rebound effect from the perspective of industrial ecology considers not only direct energy consumption but also its life cycle negative impacts on the environment with China’s rapid economic development and simultaneously improving quality of life, the ownership of room air conditioners (RACs) has increased more than three hundred times, and air conditioners’ energy consumption has increased one thousand times over the last twenty years. The Air Conditioner Energy Efficiency Standard is one of the most important measures in China for reducing the amount of energy consumed by RACs. This paper introduces a life cycle based method to estimate the rebound effect of Chinese RACs consumption. This model provides a product’s life-cycle view to assess the rebound effect, considering the contribution of both producer and consumer. Based on the established life cycle rebound effect model, we compared urban household RAC consumption behaviour before and after the launch of the Air Conditioner Energy Efficiency Standard. A rebound effect in RAC consumption was found that there was a longer daily usage period in the household as air conditioner efficiency levels improved. The life cycle rebound effect of household air-conditioner consumption was calculated to be 67%. The main conclusion obtained from this study is that policies and

The software life cycle

CERN Document Server

Ince, Darrel

1990-01-01

The Software Life Cycle deals with the software lifecycle, that is, what exactly happens when software is developed. Topics covered include aspects of software engineering, structured techniques of software development, and software project management. The use of mathematics to design and develop computer systems is also discussed. This book is comprised of 20 chapters divided into four sections and begins with an overview of software engineering and software development, paying particular attention to the birth of software engineering and the introduction of formal methods of software develop

Life Cycle Management at Brødrene Hartmann A/S - strategy,- organisation and implementation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Claus Stig; Alting, Leo; Mortensen, Anna Lise

1997-01-01

decisionmaking is under development.The implementation of life cycle management in Hartmann is organised with respect to the divisional areas: strategic management, product development, purchase, production, sale and distribution. The implementation of life cycle managment is assisted by tools to support...... decision making. The tools are developed in coorporation with the Department of Manufacturing Engineering at the Technical University of Denmark.This paper presents- The Hartmann environmental strategy, based on the life cycle concept- Experiences and results from developing a life cycle orientated...... organisation- Experiences and results from developing and implementing tools for life cycle management...

Development of high-rise buildings: digitalization of life cycle management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gusakova Elena

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The analysis of the accumulated long-term experience in the construction and operation of high-rise buildings reveals not only the engineering specificity of such projects, but also systemic problems in the field of project management. Most of the project decisions are made by the developer and the investor in the early stages of the life cycle - from the acquisition of the site to the start of operation, so most of the participants in the construction and operation of the high-rise building are far from the strategic life-cycle management of the project. The solution of these tasks due to the informatization of management has largely exhausted its efficiency resource. This is due to the fact that the applied IT-systems automated traditional "inherited" processes and management structures, and, in addition, they were focused on informatization of the activities of the construction company, rather than the construction project. Therefore, in the development of high-rise buildings, the tasks of researching approaches and methods for managing the full life cycle of projects that will improve their competitiveness become topical. For this purpose, the article substantiates the most promising approaches and methods of informational modeling of high-rise construction as a basis for managing the full life cycle of this project. Reengineering of information interaction schemes for project participants is considered; formation of a unified digital environment for the life cycle of the project; the development of systems for integrating data management and project management.

Development of high-rise buildings: digitalization of life cycle management

Science.gov (United States)

Gusakova, Elena

2018-03-01

The analysis of the accumulated long-term experience in the construction and operation of high-rise buildings reveals not only the engineering specificity of such projects, but also systemic problems in the field of project management. Most of the project decisions are made by the developer and the investor in the early stages of the life cycle - from the acquisition of the site to the start of operation, so most of the participants in the construction and operation of the high-rise building are far from the strategic life-cycle management of the project. The solution of these tasks due to the informatization of management has largely exhausted its efficiency resource. This is due to the fact that the applied IT-systems automated traditional "inherited" processes and management structures, and, in addition, they were focused on informatization of the activities of the construction company, rather than the construction project. Therefore, in the development of high-rise buildings, the tasks of researching approaches and methods for managing the full life cycle of projects that will improve their competitiveness become topical. For this purpose, the article substantiates the most promising approaches and methods of informational modeling of high-rise construction as a basis for managing the full life cycle of this project. Reengineering of information interaction schemes for project participants is considered; formation of a unified digital environment for the life cycle of the project; the development of systems for integrating data management and project management.

Research on development model of nuclear component based on life cycle management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bao Shiyi; Zhou Yu; He Shuyan

2005-01-01

At present the development process of nuclear component, even nuclear component itself, is more and more supported by computer technology. This increasing utilization of the computer and software has led to the faster development of nuclear technology on one hand and also brought new problems on the other hand. Especially, the combination of hardware, software and humans has increased nuclear component system complexities to an unprecedented level. To solve this problem, Life Cycle Management technology is adopted in nuclear component system. Hence, an intensive discussion on the development process of a nuclear component is proposed. According to the characteristics of the nuclear component development, such as the complexities and strict safety requirements of the nuclear components, long-term design period, changeable design specifications and requirements, high capital investment, and satisfaction for engineering codes/standards, the development life-cycle model of nuclear component is presented. The development life-cycle model is classified at three levels, namely, component level development life-cycle, sub-component development life-cycle and component level verification/certification life-cycle. The purposes and outcomes of development processes are stated in detailed. A process framework for nuclear component based on system engineering and development environment of nuclear component is discussed for future research work. (authors)

CORE COMPETENCIES AND PHASES OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE CYCLE

OpenAIRE

Ahmed, Selma Zone Fekih; Koubaa, Manel Belguith

2013-01-01

Organizations evolve according to well-defined phases during which it must raise some competencies more than others. This study discusses the importance of core competencies according to the phases of the life cycle of the organization. In this research, we mobilize the core competencies approach to explore the competence required at each stage of the organizational life cycle. The quantitative study of 50 Tunisian companies operating in the food sector shows that the importance of core ...

Sensitivity analysis in life cycle assessment

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groen, E.A.; Heijungs, R.; Bokkers, E.A.M.; Boer, de I.J.M.

2014-01-01

Life cycle assessments require many input parameters and many of these parameters are uncertain; therefore, a sensitivity analysis is an essential part of the final interpretation. The aim of this study is to compare seven sensitivity methods applied to three types of case stud-ies. Two

Virological Mechanisms in the Coinfection between HIV and HCV

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria Carla Liberto

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Due to shared transmission routes, coinfection with Hepatitis C Virus (HCV is common in patients infected by Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV. The immune-pathogenesis of liver disease in HIV/HCV coinfected patients is a multifactorial process. Several studies demonstrated that HIV worsens the course of HCV infection, increasing the risk of cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Also, HCV might increase immunological defects due to HIV and risk of comorbidities. A specific cross-talk among HIV and HCV proteins in coinfected patients modulates the natural history, the immune responses, and the life cycle of both viruses. These effects are mediated by immune mechanisms and by a cross-talk between the two viruses which could interfere with host defense mechanisms. In this review, we focus on some virological/immunological mechanisms of the pathogenetic interactions between HIV and HCV in the human host.

Innate immunity in the vagina (Part II): Anti-HIV activity and antiviral content of human vaginal secretions.

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Mickey V; Ghosh, Mimi; Fahey, John V; Ochsenbauer, Christina; Rossoll, Richard M; Wira, Charles R

2014-07-01

Whether the concentrations of antiviral proteins, and anti-HIV activity, within human vaginal secretions change across the menstrual cycle is unknown. Using a menstrual cup, vaginal secretions from pre-menopausal women were recovered at the proliferative (d6-8), mid-cycle (d13-15), and secretory (d21-23) stages of the menstrual cycle. Antiviral protein concentration was determined by ELISA, and anti-HIV activity assessed using the TZM-bl reporter cell line. CCL20, RANTES, elafin, HBD2, SDF-1α, and IL-8 levels were detectable in the secretions. Vaginal secretions had anti-HIV activity against specific clade B strains of HIV, with significant inhibition of IIIB and increased infectivity of transmitted/founder CH077.t. No significant differences in either antiviral protein concentration or anti-HIV activity with respect to menstrual cycle stage were measured, but marked differences were observed in both parameters over the course of the cycle between different women and in consecutive cycles from the same woman. The vagina contains a complement of antiviral proteins. The variation in anti-HIV activity demonstrates that immune protection in the vagina is not constant. Intra- and interindividual variations suggest that factors in addition to sex hormones influence antiviral protection. Lastly, the menstrual cup is a new model for recovering undiluted vaginal secretions from women throughout their reproductive life. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Quality of Life of People Living with HIV/AIDS in the Ho Municipality, Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Osei-Yeboah, James; Owiredu, William K B A; Norgbe, Gameli Kwame; Lokpo, Sylvester Yao; Obirikorang, Christian; Alote Allotey, Emmanuel; Gameli Deku, John; Akomanin Asiamah, Emmanuel; Manaphraim, Nana Yaw Barimah; Senyo Kwasi Nyamadi, Prince; Yiadom Boakye, Edward; Ntoni, Tibemponi; Avorkliyah, Roseline; Asumbasiya Aduko, Romeo; Tetteh Quarshie, Seyram; Jenkins Gbemu, Maxwell

2017-01-01

Quality of life (QoL) is an important component in the evaluation of the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV). This study was aimed at evaluating the QoL of PLHIV attending the antiretroviral clinics in the Ho municipality. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2017 to April 2017 involving 158 purposively selected HIV-positive patients who were attending the antiretroviral clinics both in the Volta Regional Hospital and Ho Municipal Hospital. An Interviewer administered standard questionnaire (WHOQOL-HIV Bref) was used to collect information on sociodemography, medical history, and the quality of life (QoL) of the respondents. Among these 158 HIV-positive respondents, 126 (79.75) and 14 (8.86) presented with excellent and good overall QoL, respectively, whilst 18 (11.39) had their life negatively affected by HIV/AIDS. Religious/personal beliefs (19.62%) were the most affected QoL component, followed by the physical (15.82%) and level of independence (15.19%) domains. Patients' occupation, perception of health, sexual activity, and state of the disease were associated with poor overall QoL. In general, being an HIV-infected man, symptomatic patient, not being sexually active, or being ART naïve was also associated with poorer QoL in several HIV/AIDS QoL domains.

Conceptual Framework To Extend Life Cycle Assessment ...

Science.gov (United States)

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is a decision-making tool that accounts for multiple impacts across the life cycle of a product or service. This paper presents a conceptual framework to integrate human health impact assessment with risk screening approaches to extend LCA to include near-field chemical sources (e.g., those originating from consumer products and building materials) that have traditionally been excluded from LCA. A new generation of rapid human exposure modeling and high-throughput toxicity testing is transforming chemical risk prioritization and provides an opportunity for integration of screening-level risk assessment (RA) with LCA. The combined LCA and RA approach considers environmental impacts of products alongside risks to human health, which is consistent with regulatory frameworks addressing RA within a sustainability mindset. A case study is presented to juxtapose LCA and risk screening approaches for a chemical used in a consumer product. The case study demonstrates how these new risk screening tools can be used to inform toxicity impact estimates in LCA and highlights needs for future research. The framework provides a basis for developing tools and methods to support decision making on the use of chemicals in products. This paper presents a conceptual framework for including near-field exposures into Life Cycle Assessment using advanced human exposure modeling and high-throughput tools

Application of Remote Condition Monitoring in Different Rolling Stock Life Cycle Phases

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mooren Ceng, F.P.J.H.; van Dongen, Leonardus Adriana Maria

2013-01-01

NedTrain is the Netherlands Railway's subsidiary responsible for rolling stock maintenance. The life cycle is 30-40 years where the asset condition is maintained to meet it's performance requirements and is enhanced to meet the customer expectations through it's life. The life cycle costs are

A comparison of major petroleum life cycle models | Science ...

Science.gov (United States)

Many organizations have attempted to develop an accurate well-to-pump life cycle model of petroleum products in order to inform decision makers of the consequences of its use. Our paper studies five of these models, demonstrating the differences in their predictions and attempting to evaluate their data quality. Carbon dioxide well-to-pump emissions for gasoline showed a variation of 35 %, and other pollutants such as ammonia and particulate matter varied up to 100 %. Differences in allocation do not appear to explain differences in predictions. Effects of these deviations on well-to-wheels passenger vehicle and truck transportation life cycle models may be minimal for effects such as global warming potential (6 % spread), but for respiratory effects of criteria pollutants (41 % spread) and other impact categories, they can be significant. A data quality assessment of the models’ documentation revealed real differences between models in temporal and geographic representativeness, completeness, as well as transparency. Stakeholders may need to consider carefully the tradeoffs inherent when selecting a model to conduct life cycle assessments for systems that make heavy use of petroleum products. This is a qualitative and quantitative comparison of petroleum LCA models intended for an expert audience interested in better understanding the data quality of existing petroleum life cycle models and the quantitative differences between these models.

Disability and Quality of Life among People Living With HIV/AIDS in ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Hence, the focus of management for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) has shifted to issues relating to function and Quality of Life (QoL). Information is scarce on disability issues and quality of life among people living with HIIV/AIDS in Nigeria. This was the premise of this study that assessed the level of disability and ...

Analysis of environmental impact phase in the life cycle of a nuclear power plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez del M, C.

2015-01-01

The life-cycle analysis covers the environmental aspects of a product throughout its life cycle. The focus of this study was to apply a methodology of life-cycle analysis for the environmental impact assessment of a nuclear power plant by analyzing international standards ISO 14040 and 14044. The methodology of life-cycle analysis established by the ISO 14044 standard was analyzed, as well as the different impact assessment methodologies of life cycle in order to choose the most appropriate for a nuclear power plant; various tools for the life-cycle analysis were also evaluated, as is the use of software and the use of databases to feed the life cycle inventory. The functional unit chosen was 1 KWh of electricity, the scope of analysis ranging from the construction and maintenance, disposal of spent fuel to the decommissioning of the plant, the manufacturing steps of the fuel were excluded because in Mexico is not done this stage. For environmental impact assessment was chosen the Recipe methodology which evaluates up to 18 impact categories depending on the project. In the case of a nuclear power plant were considered only categories of depletion of the ozone layer, climate change, ionizing radiation and formation of particulate matter. The different tools for life-cycle analysis as the methodologies of impact assessment of life cycle, different databases or use of software have been taken according to the modeling of environmental sensitivities of different regions, because in Mexico the methodology for life-cycle analysis has not been studied and still do not have all the tools necessary for the evaluation, so the uncertainty of the data supplied and results could be higher. (Author)

Safe and effective nuclear power plant life cycle management towards decommissioning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-08-01

The objective of this publication is to promote and communicate the need for a longer-term perspective among senior managers and policy or strategy makers for decisions that have the potential to affect the life cycle management of a nuclear power plant including decommissioning. The following sections provide practical guidance in the subject areas that might have the potential to have such an impact. The publication should be used as an aid to help strategic planning take place in an informed way through the proper consideration of any longer-term decisions to enforce recognition of the point that decommissioning is a part of the whole life cycle of a nuclear power plant. The guidance contained in this publication is relevant to all life cycle stages of a nuclear power plant, with particular emphasis on how these decisions have the potential to impact effective decommissioning. The intended users of this publication are: Strategic decision makers within a Utility through all the various life cycle stages; The senior representatives of the owners of a nuclear power plant. This publication is divided into two basic sections. Section 2 provides guidance on the topics considered generic inputs to plant life cycle management and Section 3 provides guidance on the topics that contribute to effective decommissioning

Assessment of quality of life in HAART-treated HIV-positive subjects with body fat redistribution in Rwanda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Crowther Nigel J

2007-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The introduction of HAART has initially improved the quality of life (QoL of HIV-positive (HIV+ patients, however body fat redistribution (BFR and metabolic disorders associated with long-term HAART use may attenuate this improvement. As access to treatment improves in sub-Saharan Africa, the disfiguring nature of BFR (peripheral atrophy and/or central adiposity may deter treatment adherence and initiatives and decrease QoL. We examined the relationship between BFR and domains of QoL in HAART-treated HIV+ African men and women with (HIV+BFR, n = 50 and without (HIV+noBFR, n = 50 BFR in Rwanda. Results HIV+ subjects with BFR were less satisfied with their body image (4.3 ± 0.1 versus 1.5 ± 0.2; p 2 = 0.691; p = 0.009 and marital status was associated with psychological (r2 = 0.593; p = 0.019 and social relationships (r2 = 0.493; p = 0.007. CD4 count (r2 = 0.648; p = 0.003 and treatment duration (r2 = 0.453; p = 0.003 were associated with HIV HAART-specific domain of wellbeing. HIV+ Rwandan women with BFR were significantly more affected by abdominal adiposity (p Conclusion Body fat alterations negatively affect psychological and social domains of quality of life. These symptoms may result in stigmatization and marginalization mainly in HAART-treated African women, adversely affecting HAART adherence and treatment initiatives. Efforts to evaluate self-perceived body fat changes may improve patients' wellbeing, HAART adherence and treatment outcomes and contribute towards stability in quality of life continuum.

LCIA framework and cross-cutting issues guidance within the UNEP/SETAC Life Cycle Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Increasing needs for decision support and advances in scientific knowledge within life cycle assessment (LCA) led to substantial efforts to provide global guidance on environmental life cycle impact assessment (LCIA) indicators under the auspices of the UNEP-SETAC Life Cycle Init...

FUNDAMENTALS OF LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT AND OFF-THE-SHELF SOFTWARE DEMONSTRATION

Science.gov (United States)

As the name implies, Life Cycle Assesssment (LCA) evaluates the entire life cycle of a product, process, activity, or service, not just simple economics at the time of delivery. This course on LCA covers the following issues:Basic principles of LCA for use in producing, des...

An Integrated Framework for Life Cycle Engineering

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hauschild, Michael Zwicky; Herrmann, Christoph; Kara, Sami

2017-01-01

Life Cycle Engineering (LCE) was introduced as a concept more than 24 years ago in order to address emerging concerns about environmental sustainability in engineering. A number of methods and tools have been introduced to operationalise the LCE concept, but since then, the scope of sustainability...... has broadened, and as a result, LCE has evolved in parallel with other disciplines with similar aims. Currently, in addition to LCE, there exist a number of concepts such as Industrial Ecology, Cleaner Production, Life Cycle Management (LCM), Industrial Symbiosis, and Circular Economy. As a result......-down and bottom-up approach, the framework establishes a relationship between LCE and the other concepts and positions them relative to the planetary boundaries and the concept of absolute environmental sustainability. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V....

Life cycle assessment of waste paper management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Merrild, Hanna Kristina; Damgaard, Anders; Christensen, Thomas Højlund

2008-01-01

The significance of technical data, as well as the significance of system boundary choices, when modelling the environmental impact from recycling and incineration of waste paper has been studied by a life cycle assessment focusing oil global warming potentials. The consequence of choosing...... results. The modelling showed that recycling of paper, from a life cycle point of view, is environmentally equal or better than incineration with energy recovery only when the recycling technology is at a high environmental performance level. However, the modelling also showed that expanding the system...... a specific set of data for the reprocessing technology, the virgin paper manufacturing technology and the incineration technology, as well as the importance of the recycling rate Was Studied. Furthermore, the system was expanded to include forestry and to include fossil fuel energy substitution from saved...

How Metamorphosis Is Different in Plethodontids: Larval Life History Perspectives on Life-Cycle Evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Beachy, Christopher K.; Ryan, Travis J.; Bonett, Ronald M.

2017-01-01

Plethodontid salamanders exhibit biphasic, larval form paedomorphic, and direct developing life cycles. This diversity of developmental strategies exceeds that of any other family of terrestrial vertebrate. Here we compare patterns of larval development among the three divergent lineages of biphasic plethodontids and other salamanders. We discuss how patterns of life-cycle evolution and larval ecology might have produced a wide array of larval life histories. Compared with many other salamanders, most larval plethodontids have relatively slow growth rates and sometimes exceptionally long larval periods (up to 60 mo). Recent phylogenetic analyses of life-cycle evolution indicate that ancestral plethodontids were likely direct developers. If true, then biphasic and paedomorphic lineages might have been independently derived through different developmental mechanisms. Furthermore, biphasic plethodontids largely colonized stream habitats, which tend to have lower productivity than seasonally ephemeral ponds. Consistent with this, plethodontid larvae grow very slowly, and metamorphic timing does not appear to be strongly affected by growth history. On the basis of this, we speculate that feeding schedules and stress hormones might play a comparatively reduced role in governing the timing of metamorphosis of stream-dwelling salamanders, particularly plethodontids. PMID:29269959

Industrial open source solutions for product life cycle management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaime Campos

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The authors go through the open source for product life cycle management (PLM and the efforts done from communities such as the open source initiative. The characteristics of the open source solutions are highlighted as well. Next, the authors go through the requirements for PLM. This is an area where more attention has been given as the manufacturers are competing with the quality and life cycle costs of their products. Especially, the need of companies to try to get a strong position in providing services for their products and thus to make themselves less vulnerable to changes in the market has led to high interest in product life cycle simulation. The potential of applying semantic data management to solve these problems discussed in the light of recent developments. In addition, a basic roadmap is presented as to how the above-described problems could be tackled with open software solutions.

Adaptação transcultural do questionário HIV/AIDS-Target Quality of Life para avaliação da qualidade de vida em pacientes com HIV/aids Transcultural adaptation of the HIV/AIDS-Target Quality of Life for HIV/AIDS for the evaluation of patients' quality of life

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Maria Martins Moser

2011-01-01

Full Text Available O objetivo desse estudo foi realizar a adaptação transcultural do questionário HIV/AIDS-Target Quality of Life Instrument para o português e avaliar suas propriedades psicométricas. Foram realizadas traduções, síntese das traduções, retrotradução, análise por comitê de especialistas, teste da versão pré-final, estudos de validade e confiabilidade. As propriedades psicométricas foram avaliadas pela administração da versão brasileira em cinquenta pacientes consecutivos soropositivos atendidos no Ambulatório de DST/HIV/aids de São Miguel do Oeste (SC. Observou-se a consistência interna através do a-Cronbach. A confiabilidade foi estimada pelo coeficiente de correlação intraclasses e diagrama de Bland-Altmann. A validade foi observada comparando os escores do instrumento com o WHOQOL-HIV-Bref por meio do coeficiente de correlação por postos de Spearman. Os resultados apontaram para um a-Cronbach de 0,893. A correlação inter-entrevistador foi de 0,934 e intra-entrevistador de 0,977. A correlação com WHOQOL-HIV-Bref foi de 0,824. Pôde-se concluir que o processo de adaptação transcultural obteve sucesso e o instrumento adaptado demonstrou boas propriedades psicométricas.The objectives of this study were to carry out cross-cultural adaptation of the HIV/AIDS-Target Quality of Life Instrument for Portuguese and to observe its psychometric properties. Translations, translations synthesis, back translation, analysis by a committee of specialists, pre-final version test, studies of validity and reliability of the final version were carried out. Psychometric properties were evaluated by the administration of the Brazilian version in 50 consecutive HIV positive patients, from the DST/HIV/AIDS municipal ambulatory of São Miguel do Oeste, Santa Catarina State. The internal consistency was observed by a-Cronbach. The reliability was estimated using the intraclass correlation coefficient and Bland-Altmann diagram. The validity

The data on health locus of control and its relationship with quality of life in HIV-positive patients

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Mostafavian

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Locus of control is a concept defined based on social learning theory, and focuses on individuals' beliefs regarding factors that influence their health status. Health Locus of Control (HLC and its relationship with Quality of Life (QOL in HIV positive patients in local population were studied. This was a cross-sectional study on 80 HIV-positive patients. Multidimensional Health Locus of Control (MHLC Scale and Medical Outcome Study Short-Form Health Survey (MOS-SF-36 used to measure patients' HLC and QOL, respectively. Internal, external, and chance HLC mean ± SD scores were 30.31±3.87, 24.17±5.03, and 32.01±4.49, respectively. Positive correlation was found between internal HLC scores and both physical (p <0.001, r = 0.53 and mental quality of life (p <0.001, r = 0.48. Multiple regression analysis showed that internal HLC was the only significant predictor of quality of life. HIV-positive patients who believe their health is mostly influenced by individual's actions and behaviors (internal HLC showed a higher quality of life. These findings suggest that modifying health locus of control beliefs, hypothetically could influence patients' quality of life. Keywords: HIV, Health locus of control, Quality of life, Medicine

Life cycle assessment of asphalt pavement maintenance.

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

This study aims at developing a life cycle assessment (LCA) model to quantify the impact of pavement preservation on energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The construction stage contains material, manufacture, transportation and plac...

The life cycle of social media

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ph.H.B.F. Franses (Philip Hans)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ Using weekly data on the interest for 17 social media via Google trends and using quarterly data on actual users for 3 social media, it is reported in this letter that the life cycles of social media mimic those of durable consumer goods. On average, the popularity of

Designing for the ISD Life Cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Wallace, Guy W.; Hybert, Peter R.; Smith, Kelly R.; Blecke, Brian D.

2002-01-01

Outlines the recent criticisms of traditional ISD (Instructional Systems Design) and discusses the implications that impact the life cycle costs of T&D (Training and Development) projects and their ROI (Return On Investment) potential. Describes a modified approach to ISD which mimics the modular approach of systems engineering design.…

Life cycle assessments of energy from solid waste

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Finnveden, Goeran; Johansson, Jessica; Lind, Per; Moberg, Aasa [Stockholm Univ. (Sweden). Dept. of Systems Ecology/Natural Resoruces Management Inst.]|[Defence Research Establishment, Stockholm (Sweden). Div. of Defence Analysis

2000-09-01

The overall aim of the present study is to evaluate different strategies for treatment of solid waste based on a life-cycle perspective. Important goals are to identify advantages and disadvantages of different methods for treatment of solid waste, and to identify critical factors in the systems, including the background systems, which may significantly influence the results. Included in the study are landfilling, incineration, recycling, digestion and composting. The waste fractions considered are the combustible and recyclable or compostable fractions of municipal solid waste. The methodology used is Life Cycle Assessment. The results can be used for policy decisions as well as strategic decisions on waste management systems.

Development of a methodology for life cycle building energy ratings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hernandez, Patxi; Kenny, Paul

2011-01-01

Traditionally the majority of building energy use has been linked to its operation (heating, cooling, lighting, etc.), and much attention has been directed to reduce this energy use through technical innovation, regulatory control and assessed through a wide range of rating methods. However buildings generally employ an increasing amount of materials and systems to reduce the energy use in operation, and energy embodied in these can constitute an important part of the building's life cycle energy use. For buildings with 'zero-energy' use in operation the embodied energy is indeed the only life cycle energy use. This is not addressed by current building energy assessment and rating methods. This paper proposes a methodology to extend building energy assessment and rating methods accounting for embodied energy of building components and systems. The methodology is applied to the EU Building Energy Rating method and, as an illustration, as implemented in Irish domestic buildings. A case study dwelling is used to illustrate the importance of embodied energy on life cycle energy performance, particularly relevant when energy use in operation tends to zero. The use of the Net Energy Ratio as an indicator to select appropriate building improvement measures is also presented and discussed. - Highlights: → The definitions for 'zero energy buildings' and current building energy ratings are examined. → There is a need to integrate a life cycle perspective within building energy ratings. → A life cycle building energy rating method (LC-BER), including embodied energy is presented. → Net Energy Ratio is proposed as an indicator to select building energy improvement options.

Immunity in the Vagina (Part II): Anti-HIV Activity and Antiviral Content of Human Vaginal Secretions

Science.gov (United States)

Patel, Mickey V.; Ghosh, Mimi; Fahey, John V.; Ochsenbauer, Christina; Rossoll, Richard M.; Wira, Charles R.

2015-01-01

Problem Whether the concentrations of antiviral proteins, and anti-HIV activity, within human vaginal secretions changes across the menstrual cycle is unknown. Method of Study Using a menstrual cup, vaginal secretions from premenopausal women were recovered at the proliferative (d6–8), mid-cycle (d13–15) and secretory (d21–23) stages of the menstrual cycle. Antiviral protein concentration was determined by ELISA, and anti-HIV activity assessed using the TZM-bl reporter cell line. Results CCL20, RANTES, elafin, HBD2, SDF-1α and IL-8 levels were detectable in the secretions. Vaginal secretions had anti-HIV activity against specific clade B strains of HIV, with significant inhibition of IIIB and increased infectivity of transmitted/founder CH077.t. No significant differences in either antiviral protein concentration or anti-HIV activity with respect to menstrual cycle stage were measured, but marked differences were observed in both parameters over the course of the cycle between different women, and in consecutive cycles from the same woman. Conclusion The vagina contains a complement of antiviral proteins. The variation in anti-HIV activity demonstrates that immune protection in the vagina is not constant. Intra- and inter-individual variations suggest that factors in addition to sex hormones influence antiviral protection. Lastly, the menstrual cup is a new model for recovering undiluted vaginal secretions from women throughout their reproductive life. PMID:24806967

A life cycle greenhouse gas inventory of a tree production system

Science.gov (United States)

Alissa Kendall; E. Gregory McPherson

2012-01-01

PurposeThis study provides a detailed, process-based life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) inventory of an ornamental tree production system for urban forestry. The success of large-scale tree planting initiatives for climate protection depends on projects being net sinks for CO2 over their entire life cycle....

The environmental impact of organic Rankine cycle for waste heat recovery through life-cycle assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Liu, Chao; He, Chao; Gao, Hong; Xie, Hui; Li, Yourong; Wu, Shuangying; Xu, Jinliang

2013-01-01

The LCA (life-cycle assessment) was applied to evaluate EI (the environmental impact) of ORCPW (organic Rankine cycle power-plant for waste-heat-recovery) in this paper. The model of LCA on the ORCPW was established. The life-cycle of ORCPW was divided into construction, operation and decommissioning phases. The inventory of environmental emissions was listed for the ORCPW with 7 different working fluids. The GWP (global warming potential), AP (acidification potential), EP (eutrophication potential), HTP (human toxicity potential), SWP (solid waste potential) and SAP (soot and dust potential) were investigated. Some EIs of ORCPW were compared with the EIs of other power generation modes. The results show that the construction phase of ORCPW contributes mostly to the GWP and EP. GWP is the most serious EI followed by HTP among all the environmental impacts. The average pay back times of greenhouse gas discharged from ORCPW is calculated on the basis of five other power generation modes. For 7 different working fluids, it is 3–5 years for CO 2 , about one year for CH 4 and 3–6 years for NO x . But CO cannot be paid back during the life-cycle of ORCPW according to the average pay back time. - Highlights: • LCA was proposed to evaluate the environmental performance of ORC. • The ORC life cycle environmental emissions inventory was established. • GWP is the most serious environmental impact, followed by HTP. • The ORC with R113 exhibits the lowest environment impact load, followed by Pentane. • The total GWP of ORC could be paid back in 5 years

A Framework for BIM-enabled Life-cycle Information Management of Construction Project

OpenAIRE

Xu, n; Ma, Ling; Ding, Lieyun

2014-01-01

BIM has been widely used in project management, but on the whole the applications have been scattered and the BIM models have not been deployed throughout the whole project life-cycle. Each participant builds their own BIM, so there is a major problem in how to integrate these dynamic and fragmented data together. In order to solve this problem, this paper focuses on BIM- based life-cycle information management and builds a framework for BIM-enabled life-cycle information management. To organ...

MONITORED GEOLOGIC REPOSITORY LIFE CYCLE COST ESTIMATE ASSUMPTIONS DOCUMENT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

R.E. Sweeney

2001-01-01

The purpose of this assumptions document is to provide general scope, strategy, technical basis, schedule and cost assumptions for the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) life cycle cost (LCC) estimate and schedule update incorporating information from the Viability Assessment (VA) , License Application Design Selection (LADS), 1999 Update to the Total System Life Cycle Cost (TSLCC) estimate and from other related and updated information. This document is intended to generally follow the assumptions outlined in the previous MGR cost estimates and as further prescribed by DOE guidance

Life cycle assessment of the Danish electricity distribution network

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Turconi, Roberto; Simonsen, Christian G.; Byriel, Inger P.

2014-01-01

Purpose This article provides life cycle inventory data for electricity distribution networks and a life cycle assessment (LCA) of the Danish transmission and distribution networks. The aim of the study was to evaluate the potential importance of environmental impacts associated with distribution...... complexity and material consumption. Infrastructure provided important contributions to metal depletion and freshwater eutrophication (copper and aluminum for manufacturing of the cables and associated recycling being the most important). Underground 50-kV lines had larger impacts than overhead lines, and 0...

Monitored Geologic Repository Life Cycle Cost Estimate Assumptions Document

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sweeney, R.

2000-01-01

The purpose of this assumptions document is to provide general scope, strategy, technical basis, schedule and cost assumptions for the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) life cycle cost estimate and schedule update incorporating information from the Viability Assessment (VA), License Application Design Selection (LADS), 1999 Update to the Total System Life Cycle Cost (TSLCC) estimate and from other related and updated information. This document is intended to generally follow the assumptions outlined in the previous MGR cost estimates and as further prescribed by DOE guidance

Addressing software security and mitigations in the life cycle

Science.gov (United States)

Gilliam, David; Powell, John; Haugh, Eric; Bishop, Matt

2004-01-01

Traditionally, security is viewed as an organizational and Information Technology (IT) systems function comprising of firewalls, intrusion detection systems (IDS), system security settings and patches to the operating system (OS) and applications running on it. Until recently, little thought has been given to the importance of security as a formal approach in the software life cycle. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory has approached the problem through the development of an integrated formal Software Security Assessment Instrument (SSAI) with six foci for the software life cycle.

Evaluation of pavement life cycle cost analysis: Review and analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peyman Babashamsi

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The cost of road construction consists of design expenses, material extraction, construction equipment, maintenance and rehabilitation strategies, and operations over the entire service life. An economic analysis process known as Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA is used to evaluate the cost-efficiency of alternatives based on the Net Present Value (NPV concept. It is essential to evaluate the above-mentioned cost aspects in order to obtain optimum pavement life-cycle costs. However, pavement managers are often unable to consider each important element that may be required for performing future maintenance tasks. Over the last few decades, several approaches have been developed by agencies and institutions for pavement Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA. While the transportation community has increasingly been utilising LCCA as an essential practice, several organisations have even designed computer programs for their LCCA approaches in order to assist with the analysis. Current LCCA methods are analysed and LCCA software is introduced in this article. Subsequently, a list of economic indicators is provided along with their substantial components. Collecting previous literature will help highlight and study the weakest aspects so as to mitigate the shortcomings of existing LCCA methods and processes. LCCA research will become more robust if improvements are made, facilitating private industries and government agencies to accomplish their economic aims. Keywords: Life-Cycle Cost Analysis (LCCA, Pavement management, LCCA software, Net Present Value (NPV

Quality of life of people living with HIV and AIDS and antiretroviral therapy

OpenAIRE

Oguntibeju, Oluwafemi

2012-01-01

Oluwafemi O OguntibejuOxidative Stress Research Centre, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, South AfricaAbstract: The development of antiretroviral drugs has significantly changed the perception of HIV/AIDS from a very fatal to a chronic and potentially manageable disease, and the availability and administration of antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly reduced mortality and morbidity associated with HIV and AIDS. There is a relationship between ART and quality of life...

Development methodology for the software life cycle process of the safety software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, D. H.; Lee, S. S. [BNF Technology, Taejon (Korea, Republic of); Cha, K. H.; Lee, C. S.; Kwon, K. C.; Han, H. B. [KAERI, Taejon (Korea, Republic of)

2002-05-01

A methodology for developing software life cycle processes (SLCP) is proposed to develop the digital safety-critical Engineered Safety Features - Component Control System (ESF-CCS) successfully. A software life cycle model is selected as the hybrid model mixed with waterfall, prototyping, and spiral models and is composed of two stages , development stages of prototype of ESF-CCS and ESF-CCS. To produce the software life cycle (SLC) for the Development of the Digital Reactor Safety System, the Activities referenced in IEEE Std. 1074-1997 are mapped onto the hybrid model. The SLCP is established after the available OPAs (Organizational Process Asset) are applied to the SLC Activities, and the known constraints are reconciled. The established SLCP describes well the software life cycle activities with which the Regulatory Authority provides.

Development methodology for the software life cycle process of the safety software

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, D. H.; Lee, S. S.; Cha, K. H.; Lee, C. S.; Kwon, K. C.; Han, H. B.

2002-01-01

A methodology for developing software life cycle processes (SLCP) is proposed to develop the digital safety-critical Engineered Safety Features - Component Control System (ESF-CCS) successfully. A software life cycle model is selected as the hybrid model mixed with waterfall, prototyping, and spiral models and is composed of two stages , development stages of prototype of ESF-CCS and ESF-CCS. To produce the software life cycle (SLC) for the Development of the Digital Reactor Safety System, the Activities referenced in IEEE Std. 1074-1997 are mapped onto the hybrid model. The SLCP is established after the available OPAs (Organizational Process Asset) are applied to the SLC Activities, and the known constraints are reconciled. The established SLCP describes well the software life cycle activities with which the Regulatory Authority provides

Environmental Product Development Combining the Life Cycle Perspective with Chemical Hazard Information

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Askham, Cecilia

in the design or redesign process. This thesis concerns marrying the life cycle perspective with chemical hazard information, in order to advance the practice of environmental product development, and hence takes further steps towards sustainable development. The need to consider the full value chain...... for the life cycle of products meant that systems theory and systems engineering principles were important in this work. Life cycle assessment methodology was important for assessing environmental impacts for case products. The new European regulation for chemicals (REACH) provided the main driver......Concerns regarding the short- and long-term detrimental effects of chemicals on human health and ecosystems have made the minimisation of chemical hazards a vitally important issue. If sustainable development is to be achieved, environmental efficient products (and product life cycles...

Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Nuclear Electricity Generation: Systematic Review and Harmonization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Warner, E.S.; Heath, G.A.

2012-01-01

A systematic review and harmonization of life cycle assessment (LCA) literature of nuclear electricity generation technologies was performed to determine causes of and, where possible, reduce variability in estimates of life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to clarify the state of knowledge and inform decision making. LCA literature indicates that life cycle GHG emissions from nuclear power are a fraction of traditional fossil sources, but the conditions and assumptions under which nuclear power are deployed can have a significant impact on the magnitude of life cycle GHG emissions relative to renewable technologies. Screening 274 references yielded 27 that reported 99 independent estimates of life cycle GHG emissions from light water reactors (LWRs). The published median, interquartile range (IQR), and range for the pool of LWR life cycle GHG emission estimates were 13, 23, and 220 grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour (g CO 2 -eq/kWh), respectively. After harmonizing methods to use consistent gross system boundaries and values for several important system parameters, the same statistics were 12, 17, and 110 g CO 2 -eq/kWh, respectively. Harmonization (especially of performance characteristics) clarifies the estimation of central tendency and variability. To explain the remaining variability, several additional, highly influential consequential factors were examined using other methods. These factors included the primary source energy mix, uranium ore grade, and the selected LCA method. For example, a scenario analysis of future global nuclear development examined the effects of a decreasing global uranium market-average ore grade on life cycle GHG emissions. Depending on conditions, median life cycle GHG emissions could be 9 to 110 g CO 2 -eq/kWh by 2050.

Quality of Life of People Living with HIV/AIDS in the Ho Municipality, Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

James Osei-Yeboah

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Quality of life (QoL is an important component in the evaluation of the wellbeing of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV. This study was aimed at evaluating the QoL of PLHIV attending the antiretroviral clinics in the Ho municipality. A cross-sectional study was conducted from January 2017 to April 2017 involving 158 purposively selected HIV-positive patients who were attending the antiretroviral clinics both in the Volta Regional Hospital and Ho Municipal Hospital. An Interviewer administered standard questionnaire (WHOQOL-HIV Bref was used to collect information on sociodemography, medical history, and the quality of life (QoL of the respondents. Among these 158 HIV-positive respondents, 126 (79.75 and 14 (8.86 presented with excellent and good overall QoL, respectively, whilst 18 (11.39 had their life negatively affected by HIV/AIDS. Religious/personal beliefs (19.62% were the most affected QoL component, followed by the physical (15.82% and level of independence (15.19% domains. Patients’ occupation, perception of health, sexual activity, and state of the disease were associated with poor overall QoL. In general, being an HIV-infected man, symptomatic patient, not being sexually active, or being ART naïve was also associated with poorer QoL in several HIV/AIDS QoL domains.

Negative life events and depression in adolescents with HIV: a stress and coping analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, Jennifer V; Abramowitz, Susan; Koenig, Linda J; Chandwani, Sulachni; Orban, Lisa

2015-01-01

The prevalence of negative life events (NLE) and daily hassles, and their direct and moderated associations with depression, were examined among HIV-infected adolescents. Specifically, we examined whether the negative association with depression of NLE, daily hassles, and/or passive coping were moderated by social support or active coping strategies. Demographic characteristics, depression, coping, social support, NLE, and daily hassles were collected at baseline as part of the Adolescent Impact intervention via face-to-face and computer-assisted interviews. Of 166 HIV-infected adolescents, 53% were female, 72.9% black, 59.6% with perinatally acquired HIV (PIY), the most commonly reported NLE were death in family (81%), violence exposure (68%), school relocation (67%), and hospitalization (61%); and for daily hassles "not having enough money (65%)". Behaviorally infected youth (BIY--acquired HIV later in life) were significantly more likely to experience extensive (14-21) lifetime NLE (38.8% vs. 16.3%, p effect of NLE, such that NLE were associated with greater depression when social support was low, although the effect did not remain statistically significant when main effects of other variables were accounted for. Daily hassles, poor coping, and limited social support can adversely affect the psychological well-being of HIV-infected adolescents, particularly sexual minority youth with behaviorally acquired HIV. Multimodal interventions that enhance social support and teach adaptive coping skills may help youth cope with environmental stresses and improve mental health outcomes.

Optimal Life-Cycle Investing with Flexible Labor Supply: A Welfare Analysis of Life-Cycle Funds

OpenAIRE

Francisco J. Gomes; Laurence J. Kotlikoff; Luis M. Viceira

2008-01-01

We investigate optimal consumption, asset accumulation and portfolio decisions in a realistically calibrated life-cycle model with flexible labor supply. Our framework allows for wage rate uncertainly, variable labor supply, social security benefits and portfolio choice over safe bonds and risky equities. Our analysis reinforces prior findings that equities are the preferred asset for young households, with the optimal share of equities generally declining prior to retirement. However, variab...

A study on the environmental impacts analysis with life cycle analysis of NPPs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, H. S.; Moon, K. H.; Youn, S. W.

2003-01-01

This Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) work was accomplished based on the ISO-14040 framework goal and scope definition, including life cycle inventory analysis, and life cycle impact assessment. For the selection of impact categories, resource use, global affairs, local affairs, and nuclear specific affair were considered. It was unexpected that environmental burdens are generally heavier in an electricity generation process than in upper stream and fabrication processes, except ODP and ETPs. It has been normally thought that environmental burden in upper steam would be heavier than those in other processes. This misconception could have originated from the ambiguous thought for end-of-pipe emissions and life cycle inventories

Using the Boston Matrix at Identification of the Corporate Life Cycle Stage

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdeněk Konečný

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The main aim of this article is to develop a new model supporting the identification of the particular corporate life stage within the corporate life cycle. This model will be derived from the Boston matrix. The main reason for using this approach as the base for making new model of the corporate life cycle is the fact, that every quadrant of the Boston matrix can be assigned to one phase of the product life cycle and there is supposed, that the phase, in which are most products, determines the phase of the corporate life cycle. For application the Boston matrix by identification phases of the corporate life cycle is necessary to define low and high values of both its variables using some quantities from the model of corporate- and market life cycle by Reiners (2004. So the interval of low and high sales growth is determined by comparing sales of the company and sales of the market and furthermore, there is considered the rate of inflation to eliminate the impact of price changes. And for determination low and high market shares, there are compared the shares of sales and shares of total assets. After that, there will be possible to identify all the quadrants and thus all the individual phases unequivocally, which is the basic advantage compared to most existing models of the corporate life cycle. The following aim of this article is to compare the occurrence of individual phases, identified by this modified model, depending on the sector sensitivity to the economic cycle, measured by the coefficient of correlation between sales on the market and GDP. There are selected two sectors of the Czech economy, namely one cyclical and one neutral sector. Subsequently there is selected a sample of companies from both these sectors. The data are collected from financial statements of companies and from analytical materials by the Czech Ministry of Industry and Trade and by the Czech Statistical Office. On the basis of this research, there were recorded

FY 1997 survey report on information sharing product life-cycle systems. 2; 1997 nendo joho kyoyugata product life cycle system ni kansuru chosa hokokusho. 2

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-03-01

Highly value-added products considering a total life-cycle of products by integrating both production and consumption activities are much in demand, and each information corresponding to each product should be realized by concept integrating both information and product as common element. Survey was made on what a social system integrating production and consumption should be, a product information model, and technology integrating both information and product for raw material, industrial machine and household appliance as examples. An information model shared by the whole production and consumption activities was first prepared. Based on this model, data storage, update, retrieval and dispatch technologies were surveyed and developed for life-cycle systems. Degradation and life sensing technology was surveyed for maintenance, repair and disposal activities using proper unstable information of each product. A support system for use of shared information was developed to promote a new highly value-added function. Total evaluation was made on information sharing product life-cycle systems. 10 refs., 23 figs., 7 tabs.

ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT OF ROAD TRANSPORT IN A PASSENGER CAR USING THE LIFE CYCLE APPROACH

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Piotr FOLĘGA

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Environmental issues are an increasingly important aspect of management in the transport sector; new methods have been developed for assessment of the environment in the transport sector using the life cycle approach. The paper presents the application of Well to Wheel (WTW and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA in the transport sector. The WTW method focuses on energy analysis and greenhouse gas emissions during the life cycle of fuels. WTW is used to support decision-making on the environmental aspects of transport, particularly with regard to fuel life cycle management, but this method omits important stages in the life cycle, particularly the ones regarding important circular economy guidelines such as reduction of natural resource consumption, impact on human health, etc. The LCA method provides a much broader approach to environmental assessment than WTW. LCA takes into consideration environmental impact in the whole life cycle of the vehicle, from the stage of production, through the period of exploitation, and finally its disposal.

Research Needs and Challenges from Science to Decision Support. Lesson Learnt from the Development of the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Recommendations for Life Cycle Impact Assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sala, Serenella; Pant, Rana; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

2012-01-01

Environmental implications of the whole supply-chain of products, both goods and services, their use, and waste management, i.e., their entire life cycle from "cradle to grave" have to be considered to achieve more sustainable production and consumption patterns. Progress toward environmental...... sustainability requires enhancing the methodologies for quantitative, integrated environmental assessment and promoting the use of these methodologies in different domains. In the context of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of products, in recent years, several methodologies have been developed for Life Cycle Impact...... Assessment (LCIA). The Joint Research Center of the European Commission (EC-JRC) led a "science to decision support" process which resulted in the International Reference Life Cycle Data System (ILCD) Handbook, providing guidelines to the decision and application of methods for LCIA. The Handbook...

Life cycle theory and dividend payout policy: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange

OpenAIRE

Mohammad Hassani; Fatemeh Kazem Pour Dizaji

2013-01-01

This paper investigates the role and the effect of the life cycle theory on explanation of dividend payout policy in Tehran Stock exchange listed companies over the period 2006-2011. For measuring the firm’s life cycle, two criteria namely retained earnings to equity ratio and retained earnings to assets ratio have been used as proxies of firm’s life cycle. The findings of this research show that only retained earnings to assets ratio has a meaningful and positive effect on dividend payout po...

The design of drugs for HIV and HCV.

Science.gov (United States)

De Clercq, Erik

2007-12-01

Since the discovery of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in 1983, dramatic progress has been made in the development of novel antiviral drugs. The HIV epidemic fuelled the development of new antiviral drug classes, which are now combined to provide highly active antiretroviral therapies. The need for the treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV), which was discovered in 1989, has also provided considerable impetus for the development of new classes of antiviral drugs, and future treatment strategies for chronic HCV might involve combination regimens that are analogous to those currently used for HIV. By considering the drug targets in the different stages of the life cycle of these two viruses, this article presents aspects of the history, medicinal chemistry and mechanisms of action of approved and investigational drugs for HIV and HCV, and highlights general lessons learned from anti-HIV-drug design that could be applied to HCV.

Aviation Technology Life Cycle Management: Importance for Aviation Companies, Aerospace Industry Organizations and Relevant Stakeholders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanislav Szabo

2017-04-01

Full Text Available The paper in the introductory part underlines some aspects concerning the importance of Aviation Technology Life Cycle Management and informs on basic international standards for the processes and stages of life cycle. The second part is focused on definition and main objectives of system life cycle management. The authors subsequently inform on system life cycle stages (in general and system life cycle processes according to ISO/IEC/IEEE 15288:2015 standard. Following the fact, that life cycle cost (LCC is inseparable part and has direct connection to the life cycle management, the paper contains brief information regarding to LCC (cost categories, cost breakdown structure, cost estimation a.o.. Recently was issued the first part of Aviation Technology Life Cycle Management monograph (in Slovak: ”Manažment životného cyklu leteckej techniky I”, written by I.Koblen and S.Szabo. Following this fact and direct relation to the topic of article it is a part of article briefly introduced the content of two parts of this monograph (the 2nd part of monograph it has been prepared for the print. The last part of article is focused on issue concerning main assumptions and conditions for successful application of aviation technology life cycle management in aviation companies, aerospace industry organizations as well as from the relevant stakeholders side.

The importance of life cycle concepts for the development of safe nanoproducts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Som, Claudia; Berges, Markus; Chaudhry, Qasim; Dusinska, Maria; Fernandes, Teresa F.; Olsen, Stig I.; Nowack, Bernd

2010-01-01

Whilst the global players in industry are rapidly moving forward to take advantage of the new opportunities and prospects offered by nanotechnologies, it is imperative that such developments take place in a safe and sustainable manner. The increasing use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in consumer products has raised certain concerns over their safety to human health and the environment. There are currently a number of major uncertainties and knowledge gaps in regard to behavior, chemical and biological interactions and toxicological properties of ENMs. As dealing with these uncertainties will require the generation of new basic knowledge, it is unlikely that they will be resolved in the immediate future. One has to consider the whole life cycle of nanoproducts to ensure that possible impacts can be systematically discovered. For example, life cycle assessment (LCA) - a formalized life cycle concept - may be used to assess the relative environmental sustainability performance of nanoproducts in comparison with their conventional equivalents. Other less formalized life cycle concepts in the framework of prospective technology assessment may uncover further detailed and prospective knowledge for human and environmental exposure to ENMs during the life cycle of nanoproducts. They systematically reveal impacts such as cross product contamination or dissipation of scarce materials among others. The combination of different life cycle concepts with the evolving knowledge from toxicology and risk assessment can mitigate uncertainties and can provide an early basis for informed decision making by the industry and regulators.

The genetic covariance between life cycle stages separated by metamorphosis.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguirre, J David; Blows, Mark W; Marshall, Dustin J

2014-08-07

Metamorphosis is common in animals, yet the genetic associations between life cycle stages are poorly understood. Given the radical changes that occur at metamorphosis, selection may differ before and after metamorphosis, and the extent that genetic associations between pre- and post-metamorphic traits constrain evolutionary change is a subject of considerable interest. In some instances, metamorphosis may allow the genetic decoupling of life cycle stages, whereas in others, metamorphosis could allow complementary responses to selection across the life cycle. Using a diallel breeding design, we measured viability at four ontogenetic stages (embryo, larval, juvenile and adult viability), in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis and examined the orientation of additive genetic variation with respect to the metamorphic boundary. We found support for one eigenvector of G: (gobsmax ), which contrasted larval viability against embryo viability and juvenile viability. Target matrix rotation confirmed that while gobsmax shows genetic associations can extend beyond metamorphosis, there is still considerable scope for decoupled phenotypic evolution. Therefore, although genetic associations across metamorphosis could limit that range of phenotypes that are attainable, traits on either side of the metamorphic boundary are capable of some independent evolutionary change in response to the divergent conditions encountered during each life cycle stage. © 2014 The Author(s) Published by the Royal Society. All rights reserved.

Neonatal erythropoiesis and subsequent anemia in HIV-positive and HIV-negative Zimbabwean babies during the first year of life: a longitudinal study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malaba Lucie C

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Anemia is common in HIV infection and independently associated with disease progression and mortality. The pathophysiology of HIV-related anemia is not well understood especially in infancy. Methods We conducted a longitudinal cohort study nested within the Zimbabwe Vitamin A for Mothers and Babies Project. We measured hemoglobin, erythropoietin (EPO, serum transferrin receptor (TfR and serum ferritin at 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months of age and hemoglobin at 9 and 12 months in 3 groups of randomly selected infants: 136 born to HIV-negative mothers, and 99 born to HIV-positive mothers and who were infected themselves by 6 weeks of age, and 324 born to HIV-positive mothers but who did not become infected in the 6 months following birth. Results At one year of age, HIV-positive infants were 5.26 (adjusted odds ratio, P Conclusion HIV strongly increases anemia risk and confounds interpretation of hematologic indicators in infants. Among HIV-infected infants, the EPO response to anemia is attenuated near the time of infection in the first weeks of life, but normalizes by 6 months.

Life cycle thinking in impact assessment—Current practice and LCA gains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bidstrup, Morten, E-mail: Bidstrup@plan.aau.dk

2015-09-15

It has been advocated that life cycle thinking (LCT) should be applied in impact assessment (IA) to a greater extent, since some development proposals pose a risk of significant impacts throughout the interconnected activities of product systems. Multiple authors have proposed the usage of life cycle assessment (LCA) for such analytical advancement, but little to no research on this tool application has been founded in IA practice so far. The aim of this article is to elaborate further on the gains assigned to application of LCA. The research builds on a review of 85 Danish IA reports, which were analysed for analytical appropriateness and application of LCT. Through a focus on the non-technical summary, the conclusion and the use of specific search words, passages containing LCT were searched for in each IA report. These passages were then analysed with a generic framework. The results reveal that LCT is appropriate for most of the IAs, but that LCA is rarely applied to provide such a perspective. Without LCA, the IAs show mixed performance in regard to LCT. Most IAs do consider the product provision of development proposals, but they rarely relate impacts to this function explicitly. Many IAs do consider downstream impacts, but assessments of upstream, distant impacts are generally absent. It is concluded that multiple analytical gains can be attributed to greater application of LCA in IA practice, though some level of LCT already exists. - Highlights: • Life cycle thinking is appropriate across the types and topics of impact assessment. • Yet, life cycle assessment is rarely used for adding such perspective. • Impact assessment practice does apply some degree of life cycle thinking. • However, application of life cycle assessment could bring analytical gains.

An approach to incorporate risks into a product's life-cycle assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pirhonen, P.

1995-01-01

Life-cycle assessment is usually based on regular discharges that occur at a more or less constant rate. Nevertheless, the more factors that are taken into account in the LCA the better picture it gives on the environmental aspects of a product. In this study an approach to incorporate accidental releases into a products' life-cycle assessment was developed. In this approach accidental releases are divided into two categories. The first category consists of those unplanned releases which occur with a predicted level and frequency. Due to the high frequency and small release size at a time, these accidental releases can be compared to continuous emissions. Their global impacts are studied in this approach. Accidental releases of the second category are sudden, unplanned releases caused by exceptional situations, e.g. technical failure, action error or disturbances in process conditions. These releases have a singular character and local impacts are typical of them. As far as the accidental releases of the second category are concerned, the approach introduced in this study results in a risk value for every stage of a life-cycle, the sum of which is a risk value for the whole life-cycle. Risk value is based on occurrence frequencies of incidents and potential environmental damage caused by releases. Risk value illustrates the level of potential damage caused by accidental releases related to the system under study and is meant to be used for comparison of these levels of two different products. It can also be used to compare the risk levels of different stages of the life-cycle. An approach was illustrated using petrol as an example product. The whole life-cycle of petrol from crude oil production to the consumption of petrol was studied

Life cycle thinking in impact assessment—Current practice and LCA gains

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bidstrup, Morten

2015-01-01

It has been advocated that life cycle thinking (LCT) should be applied in impact assessment (IA) to a greater extent, since some development proposals pose a risk of significant impacts throughout the interconnected activities of product systems. Multiple authors have proposed the usage of life cycle assessment (LCA) for such analytical advancement, but little to no research on this tool application has been founded in IA practice so far. The aim of this article is to elaborate further on the gains assigned to application of LCA. The research builds on a review of 85 Danish IA reports, which were analysed for analytical appropriateness and application of LCT. Through a focus on the non-technical summary, the conclusion and the use of specific search words, passages containing LCT were searched for in each IA report. These passages were then analysed with a generic framework. The results reveal that LCT is appropriate for most of the IAs, but that LCA is rarely applied to provide such a perspective. Without LCA, the IAs show mixed performance in regard to LCT. Most IAs do consider the product provision of development proposals, but they rarely relate impacts to this function explicitly. Many IAs do consider downstream impacts, but assessments of upstream, distant impacts are generally absent. It is concluded that multiple analytical gains can be attributed to greater application of LCA in IA practice, though some level of LCT already exists. - Highlights: • Life cycle thinking is appropriate across the types and topics of impact assessment. • Yet, life cycle assessment is rarely used for adding such perspective. • Impact assessment practice does apply some degree of life cycle thinking. • However, application of life cycle assessment could bring analytical gains

Life Cycle Assessment in the Cereal and Derived Products Sector

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Renzulli, Pietro A.; Bacenetti, Jacopo; Benedetto, Graziella

2015-01-01

environmental improvement in such systems. Following a brief introduction to the cereal sector and supply chain, this chapter reviews some of the current cereal-based life cycle thinking literature, with a particular emphasis on LCA. Next, an analysis of the LCA methodological issues emerging from......This chapter discusses the application of life cycle assessment methodologies to rice, wheat, corn and some of their derived products. Cereal product systems are vital for the production of commodities of worldwide importance that entail particular environmental hot spots originating from...... their widespread use and from their particular nature. It is thus important for tools such as life cycle assessment (LCA) to be tailored to such cereal systems in order to be used as a means of identifying the negative environmental effects of cereal products and highlighting possible pathways to overall...

Methodology for the Life Cycle Assessment of a Car-sharing Service

OpenAIRE

Guyon, Olivier

2017-01-01

Nowadays, circular economy is becoming more relevant in society. In the context of the automotive industry, we no longer simply work on emissions emitted during the vehicle use phase but rather on the environmental impacts induced during all phases of the vehicle's life cycle (manufacturing, logistics, use, maintenance and end of life). For this purpose, many automakers, including the Group PSA, use life cycle assessment (LCA) to determine these environmental impacts. Also, the economy of sha...

Life cycle assessment perspectives on delivering an infant in the US

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Campion, Nicole; Thiel, Cassandra L.; DeBlois, Justin; Woods, Noe C.; Landis, Amy E.; Bilec, Melissa M.

2012-01-01

This study introduces life cycle assessment as a tool to analyze one aspect of sustainability in healthcare: the birth of a baby. The process life cycle assessment case study presented evaluates two common procedures in a hospital, a cesarean section and a vaginal birth. This case study was conducted at Magee-Womens Hospital of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, which delivers over 10,000 infants per year. The results show that heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC), waste disposal, and the production of the disposable custom packs comprise a large percentage of the environmental impacts. Applying the life cycle assessment tool to medical procedures allows hospital decision makers to target and guide efforts to reduce the environmental impacts of healthcare procedures. - Highlights: ► Life cycle assessment helps identify the environmental impacts of medical procedures. ► Disposable custom packs represent a large portion of environmental impacts of births. ► Electricity loading contributes to global warming potential and respiratory effects. ► Impact improvements should focus on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning and disposable custom packs.

Sampling and monitoring for the mine life cycle

Science.gov (United States)

McLemore, Virginia T.; Smith, Kathleen S.; Russell, Carol C.

2014-01-01

Sampling and Monitoring for the Mine Life Cycle provides an overview of sampling for environmental purposes and monitoring of environmentally relevant variables at mining sites. It focuses on environmental sampling and monitoring of surface water, and also considers groundwater, process water streams, rock, soil, and other media including air and biological organisms. The handbook includes an appendix of technical summaries written by subject-matter experts that describe field measurements, collection methods, and analytical techniques and procedures relevant to environmental sampling and monitoring.The sixth of a series of handbooks on technologies for management of metal mine and metallurgical process drainage, this handbook supplements and enhances current literature and provides an awareness of the critical components and complexities involved in environmental sampling and monitoring at the mine site. It differs from most information sources by providing an approach to address all types of mining influenced water and other sampling media throughout the mine life cycle.Sampling and Monitoring for the Mine Life Cycle is organized into a main text and six appendices that are an integral part of the handbook. Sidebars and illustrations are included to provide additional detail about important concepts, to present examples and brief case studies, and to suggest resources for further information. Extensive references are included.

Farinon microwave end of life cycle

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Poe, R.C.

1996-06-24

This engineering report evaluates alternatives for the replacement of the Farinon microwave radio system. The system is beyond its expected life cycle and has decreasing maintainability. Principal applications supported by the Farinon system are two electrical utility monitor and control systems, the Integrated Transfer Trip System (ITTS), and the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system.

Assessment of Quality of Life of HIV-Positive People Receiving ART: An Indian Perspective.

Science.gov (United States)

Anand, Deepika; Puri, Seema; Mathew, Minnie

2012-07-01

HIV/AIDS is known to affect an individual not only physically but also mentally, socially, and financially. It is a syndrome that builds a vacuum in a person affecting his/her life as a whole. The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) receiving ART and its association with Body mass index (BMI) and CD4 count. An observational study was performed on PLHIV receiving ART in Orissa, India. Data on sociodemographic profile, BMI, and CD4 were gathered from 153 HIV-positive subjects. QOL was assessed using WHOQOL-HIV BREF scale. The overall QOL score of the subjects was moderate; PLHIV with lower BMI also had poorer QOL (P<0.05). Employment affected only the social health domain of the subjects. Men reported poorer level of independence and physical health while women reported poorer social relationships and environment. All the six domains correlated significantly with the overall QOL indicated by the G-facet. Attention toward improving the nutritional status of PLHIV should be accorded high priority to ensure improvement in the overall QOL of PLHIV.

Overview of life cycle management - LCM (plant life management - PLiM)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nickerson, J.

2006-01-01

This paper discusses life cycle management which involves a structured and comprehensive aging management program to ensure that significant aging effects are detected as early as possible and engineering, operations and maintenance actions are undertaken to control aging degradation and wear out of components

Life cycle management at Ontario Power Generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spekkens, P.

2006-01-01

This paper outlines the Life Cycle Management (LCM) program at Ontario Power Generation. LCM is carried out at different levels that includes components, systems, unit and fleet. A system involves cumulative effect of individual component aging. These components include steam generators, pressure tubes and feeders. A unit involves an overall unit aging strategy integrating all systems. At the fleet level, there is an optimal strategy for plant-level investments including end-of-life of a unit

The impact of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection on quality of life in a multiracial South African population.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Keefe, E A; Wood, R

1996-04-01

We set out to document quality of life in South African HIV subjects, using the Medical Outcomes Survey (MOS) SF-36 instrument, and to determine whether this was affected by race, gender or clinical stage of disease. A cross-sectional survey of 134 HIV outpatients (42 White, 49 Mixed race, 43 Black) and 114 healthy non-medical hospital personnel (36 White, 37 Mixed race, 42 Black) was carried out at a referral centre for HIV patients in the Western Cape region of South Africa. Scores on eight scales measuring different aspects of quality of life were calculated. Black female controls scored significantly lower on all scales (p impacts early on all aspects of quality of life and that this impact is largely independent of racial origin.

Cycle life performance of rechargeable lithium ion batteries and mathematical modeling

Science.gov (United States)

Ning, Gang

Capacity fade of commercial Sony US 18650 Li-ion batteries cycled at high discharge rates was studied at ambient temperature. Battery cycled at the highest discharge rate (3 C) shows the largest internal resistance increase of 27.7% relative to the resistance of fresh battery. It's been observed anode carbon loses 10.6% of its capability to intercalate or deintercalate Li+ after it was subjected to 300 cycles at discharge rate of 3 C. This loss dominates capacity fade of full battery. A mechanism considering continuous parasitic reaction at anode/electrolyte interface and film thickening has been proposed. First principles based charge-discharge models to simulate cycle life behavior of rechargeable Li-ion batteries have been developed. In the generalized model, transport in both electrolyte phase and solid phase were simultaneously taken into account. Under mild charge-discharge condition, transport of lithium in the electrolyte phase has been neglected in the simplified model. Both models are based on loss of the active lithium ions due to the electrochemical parasitic reaction at anode/electrolyte interface and on rise of the anode film resistance. The effect of parameters such as depth of discharge (DOD), end of charge voltage (EOCV) and overvoltage of the parasitic reaction on the cycle life behavior of a battery has been analyzed. The experimental results obtained at a charge rate of 1 C, discharge rate of 0.5 C, EOCV of 4.0 V and DOD of 0.4 have been used to validate cycle life models. Good agreement between the simulations and the experiments has been achieved up to 1968 cycles with both models. Simulation of cycle life of battery under multiple cycling regimes has also been demonstrated.

Life-cycle analysis of shale gas and natural gas.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Clark, C.E.; Han, J.; Burnham, A.; Dunn, J.B.; Wang, M. (Energy Systems); ( EVS)

2012-01-27

The technologies and practices that have enabled the recent boom in shale gas production have also brought attention to the environmental impacts of its use. Using the current state of knowledge of the recovery, processing, and distribution of shale gas and conventional natural gas, we have estimated up-to-date, life-cycle greenhouse gas emissions. In addition, we have developed distribution functions for key parameters in each pathway to examine uncertainty and identify data gaps - such as methane emissions from shale gas well completions and conventional natural gas liquid unloadings - that need to be addressed further. Our base case results show that shale gas life-cycle emissions are 6% lower than those of conventional natural gas. However, the range in values for shale and conventional gas overlap, so there is a statistical uncertainty regarding whether shale gas emissions are indeed lower than conventional gas emissions. This life-cycle analysis provides insight into the critical stages in the natural gas industry where emissions occur and where opportunities exist to reduce the greenhouse gas footprint of natural gas.

Life-cycle assessments in the South African water sector: A review ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Therefore, in South Africa it is important to promote the use of LCAs for the water sector in order to improve efficiency of processes and systems, but also to promote life-cycle based water footprinting and to include differentiated water consumption data into life-cycle inventories to make more efficient use of water as a ...

[Quality of life of pregnant women infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) in the city of São Paulo].

Science.gov (United States)

Tirado, Maria do Carmo Braga do Amaral; Bortoletti, Fátima Ferrreira; Nakamura, Mary Uchiyama; Souza, Eduardo de; Soárez, Patrícia Coelho de; Castelo Filho, Adauto; Amed, Abês Mahmed

2014-05-01

It was to assess the quality of life (QOL) of HIV-infected pregnant women using the HIV/AIDS - Targeted Quality of Life (HAT-QoL) questionnaire. A descriptive study of 60 pregnant women attended at the Multidisciplinary Nucleus of Infectious Diseases During Pregnancy (NUPAIG) - UNIFESP/EPM and in the referral network of the Municipal Office of São Paulo, conducted from February 2011 to October 2012. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were collected from 60 HIV-infected pregnant women who answered the HAT-QoL questionnaire, which included 34 questions about quality of life. The average age was 30 years and the average period of HIV infection was 5.7 years. Only 8.3% of patients had a CD4 cell score of ≤200 cells/mm³ and 45% showed undetectable viral load. The average domain scores ranged from 47.5 to 83.7. The domains with the lowest scores were financial concerns and concerns about secrecy. The domains with the highest scores and lower impact on quality of life were concerns about medication and confidence in the professional. In this initial study with 60 pregnant women, we concluded that the HAT-QOL can contribute to the assessment of quality of life in the population of HIV-infected pregnant women in Brazil.

Systematic Review of Life Cycle Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Geothermal Electricity

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Eberle, Annika [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Heath, Garvin A. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Carpenter Petri, Alberta C. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Nicholson, Scott R. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2017-09-29

The primary goal of this work was to assess the magnitude and variability of published life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emission estimates for three types of geothermal electricity generation technologies: enhanced geothermal systems (EGS) binary, hydrothermal (HT) flash, and HT binary. These technologies were chosen to align the results of this report with technologies modeled in National Renewable Energy Laboratory's (NREL's) Regional Energy Deployment Systems (ReEDs) model. Although we did gather and screen life cycle assessment (LCA) literature on hybrid systems, dry steam, and two geothermal heating technologies, we did not analyze published GHG emission estimates for these technologies. In our systematic literature review of the LCA literature, we screened studies in two stages based on a variety of criteria adapted from NREL's Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) Harmonization study (Heath and Mann 2012). Of the more than 180 geothermal studies identified, only 29 successfully passed both screening stages and only 26 of these included estimates of life cycle GHG emissions. We found that the median estimate of life cycle GHG emissions (in grams of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour generated [g CO2eq/kWh]) reported by these studies are 32.0, 47.0, and 11.3 for EGS binary, HT flash, and HT binary, respectively (Figure ES-1). We also found that the total life cycle GHG emissions are dominated by different stages of the life cycle for different technologies. For example, the GHG emissions from HT flash plants are dominated by the operations phase owing to the flash cycle being open loop whereby carbon dioxide entrained in the geothermal fluids is released to the atmosphere. This is in contrast to binary plants (using either EGS or HT resources), whose GHG emissions predominantly originate in the construction phase, owing to its closed-loop process design. Finally, by comparing this review's literature-derived range of HT flash GHG emissions to

Can "Any" Teacher Teach Sexuality and HIV/AIDS? Perspectives of South African Life Orientation Teachers

Science.gov (United States)

Helleve, Arnfinn; Flisher, Alan J.; Onya, Hans; Mukoma, Wanjiru; Klepp, Knut-Inge

2011-01-01

In this paper we explore the perceived desirable characteristics of South African Life Orientation teachers for teaching sexuality and HIV/AIDS. We also investigate the extent to which these characteristics can be understood as parts of a role script for teaching HIV/AIDS and sexuality. Data were collected from teachers who taught Grade Eight and…

EVALUATING THE LIFE CYCLE COSTS OF PLANT ASSETS – A MULTIDIMENSIONAL VIEW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus Gram

2012-11-01

Full Text Available This paper shows the results of the task group "Asset life cycle management" of the AustrianScientific Maintenance and Asset Management Association (ÖVIA. One purpose of the researchactivities is to create a generic life cycle model for physical assets which includes all costs in everyphase of the asset life cycle. The first step is a literature review determining the most established lifecycle cost models. This is the input for discussing the completeness of such frameworks with theparticipating industrial companies. A general model is deducted from existing approaches and thedetermined costs are evaluated with respect to priority and practical relevance. The result of theevaluation shows which costs are taken into account for investment decisions. Another outcome ofthe study is the verification of importance of the proposed costs for industrial companies, especiallyfor the process industry. The derived life cycle cost framework is the basis for developing a calculationtool and subsequently, for further research in the flied of uncertainty-based methodologies forlife cycle cost analyzing of physical plant assets.

Human vaginal fluid contains exosomes that have an inhibitory effect on an early step of the HIV-1 life cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Johanna A; Daniel, Rene

2016-11-13

Vaginal transmission is crucial to the spread of HIV-1 around the world. It is not yet clear what type (s) of innate defenses against HIV-1 infection are present in the vagina. Here, we aimed to determine whether human vaginal fluid contains exosomes that may possess anti-HIV-1 activity. The exosomal fraction was isolated from samples of vaginal fluids. The presence of exosomes was confirmed by flow cytometry and western blotting. The newly discovered exosomes were tested for their ability to block early steps of HIV-1 infection in vitro using established cell culture systems and real time PCR-based methods. Vaginal fluid contains exosomes expressing CD9, CD63, and CD81 exosomal markers. The exosomal fraction of the fluid-reduced transmission of HIV-1 vectors by 60%, the efficiency of reverse transcription step by 58.4%, and the efficiency of integration by 47%. Exosomes had no effect on the entry of HIV-1 vectors. Human vaginal fluid exosomes are newly discovered female innate defenses that may protect women against HIV-1 infection.

Semantic catalogs for life cycle assessment data

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuczenski, Brandon; Davis, Christopher B.; Rivela, Beatriz; Janowicz, Krzysztof

2016-01-01

Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a highly interdisciplinary field that requires knowledge from different domains to be gathered and interpreted together. Although there are relatively few major data sources for LCA, the data themselves are presented with highly heterogeneous formats, interfaces, and

Predictors and Portfolios Over the Life Cycle

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kraft, Holger; Munk, Claus; Weiss, Farina

In a calibrated consumption-portfolio model with stock, housing, and labor income predictability, we evaluate the welfare effects of predictability on life-cycle consumption-portfolio choice. We compare skilled investors who are able to take advantage of all sources of predictability with unskilled...

Performance improvement: an active life cycle product management

Science.gov (United States)

Cucchiella, Federica; Gastaldi, Massimo; Lenny Koh, S. C.

2010-03-01

The management of the supply chain has gained importance in many manufacturing firms. Operational flexibility can be considered a crucial weapon to increase competitiveness in a turbulent marketplace. It reflects the ability of a firm to properly and rapidly respond to a variable and dynamic environment. For the firm operating in a fashion sector, the management of the supply chain is even more complex because the product life cycle is shorter than that of the firm operating in a non-fashion sector. The increase of firm flexibility level can be reached through the application of the real option theory inside the firm network. In fact, real option may increase the project value by allowing managers to more efficiently direct the production. The real option application usually analysed in literature does not take into account that the demands of products are well-defined by the product life cycle. Working on a fashion sector, the life cycle pattern is even more relevant because of an expected demand that grows according to a constant rate that does not capture the demand dynamics of the underlying fashion goods. Thus, the primary research objective of this article is to develop a model useful for the management of investments in a supply chain operating in a fashion sector where the system complexity is increased by the low level of unpredictability and stability that is proper of the mood phenomenon. Moreover, unlike the traditional model, a real option framework is presented here that considers fashion product characterised by uncertain stages of the production cycle.

Life cycle theory and dividend payout policy: Evidence from Tehran Stock Exchange

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Hassani

2013-10-01

Full Text Available This paper investigates the role and the effect of the life cycle theory on explanation of dividend payout policy in Tehran Stock exchange listed companies over the period 2006-2011. For measuring the firm’s life cycle, two criteria namely retained earnings to equity ratio and retained earnings to assets ratio have been used as proxies of firm’s life cycle. The findings of this research show that only retained earnings to assets ratio has a meaningful and positive effect on dividend payout policy; In the companies that are growing, retained earnings to assets ratio is low; Whereas this ratio is high in the more mature companies and these firms have abundant retained earnings, hence they are good candidates to pay dividends. However, there was no meaningful relationship between another life cycle criteria namely retained earnings to equity ratio and dividend payout policy.

Life cycle assessment of mobile phone housing.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jian-xin; Wang, Ru-song; Fu, Hao; Liu, Jing-ru

2004-01-01

The life cycle assessment of the mobile phone housing in Motorola(China) Electronics Ltd. was carried out, in which materials flows and environmental emissions based on a basic production scheme were analyzed and assessed. In the manufacturing stage, such primary processes as polycarbonate molding and surface painting are included, whereas different surface finishing technologies like normal painting, electroplate, IMD and VDM etc. were assessed. The results showed that housing decoration plays a significant role within the housing life cycle. The most significant environmental impact from housing production is the photochemical ozone formation potential. Environmental impacts of different decoration techniques varied widely, for example, the electroplating technique is more environmentally friendly than VDM. VDM consumes much more energy and raw material. In addition, the results of two alternative scenarios of dematerialization showed that material flow analysis and assessment is very important and valuable in selecting an environmentally friendly process.

Identifying potential survival strategies of HIV-1 through virus-host protein interaction networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Boucher Charles AB

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has launched the HIV-1 Human Protein Interaction Database in an effort to catalogue all published interactions between HIV-1 and human proteins. In order to systematically investigate these interactions functionally and dynamically, we have constructed an HIV-1 human protein interaction network. This network was analyzed for important proteins and processes that are specific for the HIV life-cycle. In order to expose viral strategies, network motif analysis was carried out showing reoccurring patterns in virus-host dynamics. Results Our analyses show that human proteins interacting with HIV form a densely connected and central sub-network within the total human protein interaction network. The evaluation of this sub-network for connectivity and centrality resulted in a set of proteins essential for the HIV life-cycle. Remarkably, we were able to associate proteins involved in RNA polymerase II transcription with hubs and proteasome formation with bottlenecks. Inferred network motifs show significant over-representation of positive and negative feedback patterns between virus and host. Strikingly, such patterns have never been reported in combined virus-host systems. Conclusions HIV infection results in a reprioritization of cellular processes reflected by an increase in the relative importance of transcriptional machinery and proteasome formation. We conclude that during the evolution of HIV, some patterns of interaction have been selected for resulting in a system where virus proteins preferably interact with central human proteins for direct control and with proteasomal proteins for indirect control over the cellular processes. Finally, the patterns described by network motifs illustrate how virus and host interact with one another.

Life Cycle Costing in Sustainability Assessment—A Case Study of Remanufactured Alternators

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annekatrin Lehmann

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Sustainability is on the international agenda, and is a driver for industry in international competition. Sustainability encompasses the three pillars: environment, society and economy. To prevent shifting of burden, the whole life cycle needs to be taken into account. For the environmental dimension of sustainability, life cycle assessment (LCA has been practiced for a while and is a standardized method. A life cycle approach for the social and economic pillars of sustainability needs to be further developed. This paper investigates the application of life cycle costing (LCC as part of a wider sustainability assessment where also social life cycle assessment (SLCA and LCA are combined. LCA-type LCC is applied on a case study of remanufactured alternators. Remanufacturing of automobile parts is a fast growing important business with large potential for cost and resource savings. Three design alternatives for the alternator and three locations for the remanufacturing plant are evaluated. The remanufacturer perspective and the user perspective are investigated. The results for the LCA-type LCC show that the largest cost for the remanufacturer is the new parts replacing old warn parts. However, the user cost, and therein especially, cost for fuel used for the alternator’s power production dominates and should be the focus for further improvement. In conducting the case study, it was revealed that the connection between the LCA-type LCC results and the economic dimension of sustainability needs to be further investigated and defined. For this purpose, areas of protection for life cycle sustainability assessment and LCA-type LCC in particular need further development.

Smoking and life expectancy among HIV-infected individuals on antiretroviral therapy in Europe and North America

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Helleberg, Marie; May, Margaret T; Ingle, Suzanne M

2015-01-01

smokers with never smokers were 1.70 (95% CI 1.23-2.34) and 0.92 (95% CI 0.64-1.34), respectively. Smokers had substantially higher mortality from cardiovascular disease, non-AIDS malignancies than nonsmokers [MRR 6.28 (95% CI 2.19-18.0) and 3.31 (95% CI 1.80-5.45), respectively]. [corrected]. Among 35......-year-old HIV-infected men, the loss of life-years associated with smoking and HIV was 7.9 (95% CI 7.1-8.7) and 5.9 (95% CI 4.9-6.9), respectively. The life expectancy of virally suppressed, never-smokers was 43.5 years (95% CI 41.7-45.3), compared with 44.4 years among 35-year-old men in the background......BACKGROUND: Cardiovascular disease and non-AIDS malignancies have become major causes of death among HIV-infected individuals. The relative impact of lifestyle and HIV-related factors are debated. METHODS: We estimated associations of smoking with mortality more than 1 year after antiretroviral...

A Literature review of life cycle assessment for bridge infrastructure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Du, Guangli

2010-01-01

Currently, the whole world is confronted with great challenges related to environmental issues. As a fundamentalinfrastructure in transport networks, railway bridges are responsible for numerous material and energy consumption throughtheir life cycle, which in turn leads to significant environmen......Currently, the whole world is confronted with great challenges related to environmental issues. As a fundamentalinfrastructure in transport networks, railway bridges are responsible for numerous material and energy consumption throughtheir life cycle, which in turn leads to significant...

Micronutrients in the life cycle: Requirements and sufficient supply

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

K. Biesalski Hans

2018-06-01

Full Text Available Macronutrients (fat, protein, carbohydrates deliver energy and important material to ensure the entire body composition. Micronutrients are needed to keep this process of continuous construction and re-construction running. Consequently, the requirement for micronutrients will differ depending on the individual need which is related to the different metabolic conditions within the life cycle. Within the first 1000 days of life, from conception to the end of the second year of life the requirement for micronutrients is high and if the supply is inadequate that might have consequences for physical and at least cognitive development. In particular, iron, iodine, vitamin D and folate are micronutrients which might become critical during that period. Due to the fact that clinical symptoms of deficiencies develop late, but inadequate supply of one or more micronutrients may have consequences for health the term hidden hunger has been introduced to describe that situation. In particular the time period of pregnancy and early childhood is critical and hidden hunger is a worldwide problem, affecting >2 billion people, primarily females and children. The importance of different requirements during the life cycle is usually not considered. In addition, we do not really know what the individual requirement is. The estimation of the requirement is based on studies calculating the supply of a micronutrient to avoid a deficiency disease within a healthy population and is not based on sound scientific methodology or data. We need to consider that at different moments in the life cycle the supply might become critical in particular in case of a disease or sudden increase of metabolic turnover. In this narrative review we summarize data from studies dealing with different micronutrient requirements in pregnancy, exercise, vegan diet, adolescents and elderly. Knowledge of critical periods and related critical micronutrients might help to avoid hidden hunger and

Life Cycle Assessment of the wind farm alpha ventus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wagner H.-J.

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Life Cycle Assessments (LCA is an important tool for industry and policy makers, used to determine the actual emissions of a product or technology throughout its whole life cycle. In case of energy production systems or power plants, analysis of energy required to produce the materials and processes; emissions resulting from various processes for materials production and processes resulting into their Cumulated Energy Demand (CED and Global Warming Potential (GWP become important parameters when making decisions on further research, development and deployment of any technology. The method of carrying out such analysis is explained through a case study.

Life cycle, individual thrift, and the wealth of nations.

Science.gov (United States)

Modigliani, F

1986-11-07

One theory of the determinants of individual and national thrift has come to be known as the life cycle hypothesis of saving. The state of the art on the eve of the formulation of the hypothesis some 30 years ago is reviewed. Then the theoretical foundations of the model in its original formulation and later amendment are set forth, calling attention to various implications, some distinctive to it and some counterintuitive. A number of crucial empirical tests, both at the individual and the aggregate level, are presented as well as some applications of the life cycle hypothesis of saving to current policy issues.

Development of life cycle water-demand coefficients for coal-based power generation technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ali, Babkir; Kumar, Amit

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We develop water consumption and withdrawals coefficients for coal power generation. • We develop life cycle water footprints for 36 coal-based electricity generation pathways. • Different coal power generation technologies were assessed. • Sensitivity analysis of plant performance and coal transportation on water demand. - Abstract: This paper aims to develop benchmark coefficients for water consumption and water withdrawals over the full life cycle of coal-based power generation. This study considered not only all of the unit operations involved in the full electricity generation life cycle but also compared different coal-based power generating technologies. Overall this study develops the life cycle water footprint for 36 different coal-based electricity generation pathways. Power generation pathways involving new technologies of integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) or ultra supercritical technology with coal transportation by conventional means and using dry cooling systems have the least complete life cycle water-demand coefficients of about 1 L/kW h. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to study the impact of power plant performance and coal transportation on the water demand coefficients. The consumption coefficient over life cycle of ultra supercritical or IGCC power plants are 0.12 L/kW h higher when conventional transportation of coal is replaced by coal-log pipeline. Similarly, if the conventional transportation of coal is replaced by its transportation in the form of a slurry through a pipeline, the consumption coefficient of a subcritical power plant increases by 0.52 L/kW h

Life-Cycle Costing of Food Waste Management in Denmark: Importance of Indirect Effects

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Martinez Sanchez, Veronica; Tonini, Davide; Møller, Flemming

2016-01-01

assessment combined with life-cycle assessment, to evaluate food waste management. Both life-cycle costing assessments included direct and indirect effects. The latter are related to income effects, accounting for the marginal consumption induced when alternative scenarios lead to different household......Prevention has been suggested as the preferred food waste management solution compared to alternatives such as conversion to animal fodder or to energy. In this study we used societal life-cycle costing, as a welfare economic assessment, and environmental life-cycle costing, as a financial...... be included whenever alternative scenarios incur different financial costs. Furthermore, it highlights that food prevention measures should not only demote the purchase of unconsumed food but also promote a low-impact use of the savings generated....

Product-related research: how research can contribute to successful life-cycle management.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandner, Peter; Ziegelbauer, Karl

2008-05-01

Declining productivity with decreasing new molecular entity output combined with increased R&D spending is one of the key challenges for the entire pharmaceutical industry. In order to offset decreasing new molecular entity output, life-cycle management activities for established drugs become more and more important to maintain or even expand clinical indication and market opportunities. Life-cycle management covers a whole range of activities from strategic pricing to a next generation product launch. In this communication, we review how research organizations can contribute to successful life-cycle management strategies using phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors as an example.

Life-cycle cost analysis for Foreign Research Reactor, Spent Nuclear Fuel disposal

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parks, P.B.; Geddes, R.L.; Jackson, W.N.; McDonell, W.R.; Dupont, M.E.; McWhorter, D.L.; Liutkus, A.S.

1994-01-01

DOE-EM-37 requested a life-cycle cost analysis for disposal of the Foreign Research Reactor-Spent Nuclear Fuel (FRR-SNF). The analysis was to address life-cycle and unit costs for a range of FRR-SNF elements from those currently available (6,000 elements) to the (then) bounding case (15,000 elements). Five alternative disposition strategies were devised for the FRR-SNF elements. Life-cycle costs were computed for each strategy. In addition, the five strategies were evaluated in terms of six societal and technical goals. This report summarizes the study that was originally documented to DOE-EM

Life cycle and sustainability of abrasive tools

CERN Document Server

Linke, Barbara

2016-01-01

This monograph focuses on abrasive tools for grinding, polishing, honing, and lapping operations. The book describes the life cycle of abrasive tools from raw material processing of abrasive grits and bonding, manufacturing of monolithic or multi-layered tools, tool use to tool end-of-life. Moreover, this work highlights sustainability challenges including economic, environmental, social and technological aspects. The target audience primarily comprises research and industry experts in the field of manufacturing, but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

Temporal discounting in life cycle assessment: A critical review and theoretical framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yuan, Chris; Wang, Endong; Zhai, Qiang; Yang, Fan

2015-01-01

Temporal homogeneity of inventory data is one of the major problems in life cycle assessment (LCA). Addressing temporal homogeneity of life cycle inventory data is important in reducing the uncertainties and improving the reliability of LCA results. This paper attempts to present a critical review and discussion on the fundamental issues of temporal homogeneity in conventional LCA and propose a theoretical framework for temporal discounting in LCA. Theoretical perspectives for temporal discounting in life cycle inventory analysis are discussed first based on the key elements of a scientific mechanism for temporal discounting. Then generic procedures for performing temporal discounting in LCA is derived and proposed based on the nature of the LCA method and the identified key elements of a scientific temporal discounting method. A five-step framework is proposed and reported in details based on the technical methods and procedures needed to perform a temporal discounting in life cycle inventory analysis. Challenges and possible solutions are also identified and discussed for the technical procedure and scientific accomplishment of each step within the framework. - Highlights: • A critical review for temporal homogeneity problem of life cycle inventory data • A theoretical framework for performing temporal discounting on inventory data • Methods provided to accomplish each step of the temporal discounting framework

Impact of Life-Cycle Stage and Gender on the Ability to Balance Work and Family Responsibilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Higgins, Christopher; And Others

1994-01-01

Examined impact of gender and life-cycle stage on three components of work-family conflict using sample of 3,616 respondents. For men, levels of work-family conflict were moderately lower in each successive life-cycle stage. For women, levels were similar in two early life-cycle stages but were significantly lower in later life-cycle stage.…