The long-term problems of contaminated land: Sources, impacts and countermeasures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Baes, C.F. III.

1986-11-01

This report examines the various sources of radiological land contamination; its extent; its impacts on man, agriculture, and the environment; countermeasures for mitigating exposures; radiological standards; alternatives for achieving land decontamination and cleanup; and possible alternatives for utilizing the land. The major potential sources of extensive long-term land contamination with radionuclides, in order of decreasing extent, are nuclear war, detonation of a single nuclear weapon (e.g., a terrorist act), serious reactor accidents, and nonfission nuclear weapons accidents that disperse the nuclear fuels (termed ''broken arrows'')

Long-term optimal energy mix planning towards high energy security and low GHG emission

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thangavelu, Sundar Raj; Khambadkone, Ashwin M.; Karimi, Iftekhar A.

2015-01-01

Highlights: • We develop long-term energy planning considering the future uncertain inputs. • We analyze the effect of uncertain inputs on the energy cost and energy security. • Conventional energy mix prone to cause high energy cost and energy security issues. • Stochastic and optimal energy mix show benefits over conventional energy planning. • Nuclear option consideration reduces the energy cost and carbon emissions. - Abstract: Conventional energy planning focused on energy cost, GHG emission and renewable contribution based on future energy demand, fuel price, etc. Uncertainty in the projected variables such as energy demand, volatile fuel price and evolution of renewable technologies will influence the cost of energy when projected over a period of 15–30 years. Inaccurate projected variables could affect energy security and lead to the risk of high energy cost, high emission and low energy security. The energy security is an ability of generation capacity to meet the future energy demand. In order to minimize the risks, a generic methodology is presented to determine an optimal energy mix for a period of around 15 years. The proposed optimal energy mix is a right combination of energy sources that minimize the risk caused due to future uncertainties related to the energy sources. The proposed methodology uses stochastic optimization to address future uncertainties over a planning horizon and minimize the variations in the desired performance criteria such as energy security and costs. The developed methodology is validated using a case study for a South East Asian region with diverse fuel sources consists of wind, solar, geothermal, coal, biomass and natural gas, etc. The derived optimal energy mix decision outperformed the conventional energy planning by remaining stable and feasible against 79% of future energy demand scenarios at the expense of 0–10% increase in the energy cost. Including the nuclear option in the energy mix resulted 26

Nuclear Energy, Long Term Requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knapp, V.

2006-01-01

There are serious warnings about depletion of oil and gas and even more serious warnings about dangers of climate change caused by emission of carbon dioxide. Should developed countries be called to replace CO2 emitting energy sources as soon as possible, and the time available may not be longer then few decades, can nuclear energy answer the call and what are the requirements? Assuming optimistic contribution of renewable energy sources, can nuclear energy expand to several times present level in order to replace large part of fossil fuels use? Paper considers intermediate and long-term requirements. Future of nuclear power depends on satisfactory answers on several questions. First group of questions are those important for near and intermediate future. They deal with economics and safety of nuclear power stations in the first place. On the same time scale a generally accepted concept for radioactive waste disposal is also required. All these issues are in the focus of present research and development. Safer and more economical reactors are targets of international efforts in Generation IV and INPRO projects, but aiming further ahead these innovative projects are also addressing issues such as waste reduction and proliferation resistance. However, even assuming successful technical development of these projects, and there is no reason to doubt it, long term and large-scale nuclear power use is thereby not yet secured. If nuclear power is to play an essential role in the long-term future energy production and in reduction of CO2 emission, than several additional questions must be replied. These questions will deal with long-term nuclear fuel sufficiency, with necessary contribution of nuclear power in sectors of transport and industrial processes and with nuclear proliferation safety. This last issue is more political then technical, thus sometimes neglected by nuclear engineers, yet it will have essential role for the long-term prospects of nuclear power. The

The long-term problems of contaminated land: Sources, impacts and countermeasures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Baes, C.F. III

1986-11-01

This report examines the various sources of radiological land contamination; its extent; its impacts on man, agriculture, and the environment; countermeasures for mitigating exposures; radiological standards; alternatives for achieving land decontamination and cleanup; and possible alternatives for utilizing the land. The major potential sources of extensive long-term land contamination with radionuclides, in order of decreasing extent, are nuclear war, detonation of a single nuclear weapon (e.g., a terrorist act), serious reactor accidents, and nonfission nuclear weapons accidents that disperse the nuclear fuels (termed ''broken arrows'').

A comparative study of long-term energy demand and potential greenhouse gas emission control in Bangladesh

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Khalaquazzaman, Mohammad

2005-02-01

This report presents a comparative study of long-term energy demand and potential greenhouse gas emissions projections from energy demand and supply sectors in Bangladesh covering the period 2000 to 2020. The study was conducted employing the IAEA's tool ENPEP- BALANCE model. This study presents a reliable energy system plan with minimal carbon emission for the country. Primary energy demands distributed by energy carriers and electricity demand have been projected based on macro-economic growth scenarios constructed for national energy policy of 1996. The conservation of indigenous energy resources was emphasized to build a long-term secured energy supply system. The potential energy supply options including nuclear energy and prospective greenhouse gas mitigation options were analyzed

Effect of regional precursor emission controls on long-range ozone transport – Part 1: Short-term changes in ozone air quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. J. West

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Observations and models demonstrate that ozone and its precursors can be transported between continents and across oceans. We model the influences of 10% reductions in anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NO_x emissions from each of nine world regions on surface ozone air quality in that region and all other regions. In doing so, we quantify the relative importance of long-range transport between all source-receptor pairs, for direct short-term ozone changes. We find that for population-weighted concentrations during the three-month "ozone-season", the strongest inter-regional influences are from Europe to the Former Soviet Union, East Asia to Southeast Asia, and Europe to Africa. The largest influences per unit of NO_x reduced, however, are seen for source regions in the tropics and Southern Hemisphere, which we attribute mainly to greater sensitivity to changes in NO_x in the lower troposphere, and secondarily to increased vertical convection to the free troposphere in tropical regions, allowing pollutants to be transported further. Results show, for example, that NO_x reductions in North America are ~20% as effective per unit NO_x in reducing ozone in Europe during summer, as NO_x reductions from Europe itself. Reducing anthropogenic emissions of non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs and carbon monoxide (CO by 10% in selected regions, can have as large an impact on long-range ozone transport as NO_x reductions, depending on the source region. We find that for many source-receptor pairs, the season of greatest long-range influence does not coincide with the season when ozone is highest in the receptor region. Reducing NO_x emissions in most source regions causes a larger decrease in export of ozone from the source region than in ozone production outside of the source region.

Evaluation of Long-term Performance of Enhanced Anaerobic Source Zone Bioremediation using mass flux

Science.gov (United States)

Haluska, A.; Cho, J.; Hatzinger, P.; Annable, M. D.

2017-12-01

Chlorinated ethene DNAPL source zones in groundwater act as potential long term sources of contamination as they dissolve yielding concentrations well above MCLs, posing an on-going public health risk. Enhanced bioremediation has been applied to treat many source zones with significant promise, but long-term sustainability of this technology has not been thoroughly assessed. This study evaluated the long-term effectiveness of enhanced anaerobic source zone bioremediation at chloroethene contaminated sites to determine if the treatment prevented contaminant rebound and removed NAPL from the source zone. Long-term performance was evaluated based on achieving MCL-based contaminant mass fluxes in parent compound concentrations during different monitoring periods. Groundwater concertation versus time data was compiled for 6-sites and post-remedial contaminant mass flux data was then measured using passive flux meters at wells both within and down-gradient of the source zone. Post-remedial mass flux data was then combined with pre-remedial water quality data to estimate pre-remedial mass flux. This information was used to characterize a DNAPL dissolution source strength function, such as the Power Law Model and the Equilibrium Stream tube model. The six-sites characterized for this study were (1) Former Charleston Air Force Base, Charleston, SC; (2) Dover Air Force Base, Dover, DE; (3) Treasure Island Naval Station, San Francisco, CA; (4) Former Raritan Arsenal, Edison, NJ; (5) Naval Air Station, Jacksonville, FL; and, (6) Former Naval Air Station, Alameda, CA. Contaminant mass fluxes decreased for all the sites by the end of the post-treatment monitoring period and rebound was limited within the source zone. Post remedial source strength function estimates suggest that decreases in contaminant mass flux will continue to occur at these sites, but a mass flux based on MCL levels may never be exceeded. Thus, site clean-up goals should be evaluated as order

The long-term relationships among China's energy consumption sources and adjustments to its renewable energy policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zou Gaolu

2012-01-01

To reduce its consumption of coal and oil in its primary energy consumption, China promotes the development of renewable energy resources. I have analysed the long-term relationship among China's primary energy consumption sources. Changes in coal consumption lead those in the consumption of other energy sources in the long term. Coal and oil fuels substitute for each other equally. The long-term elasticities of China's coal consumption relative to its hydroelectricity consumption were greater than one and nearly equal during the two sample periods. Therefore, increased hydroelectricity consumption did not imply a reduction in coal consumption. China holds abundant hydroelectricity, wind and, solar energy potential. China must prevent an excessive escalation of its economy and resultant energy demand to realise a meaningful substitution of coal with hydroelectricity. Moreover, China must develop and use wind and solar energy sources. Natural gas can be a good substitute for coal, given its moderate price growth and affordable price levels. - Highlights: ► Coal consumption changes lead those of other energy sources in the long term. ► Coal and oil fuels substitute for each other equally. ► Increased hydroelectricity consumption has not meant lower coal consumption. ► Wind, solar and natural gas are China's promising energy sources.

Long-term energy savings and greenhouse gas emission reductions in the Swiss residential sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Siller, Thomas; Kost, Michael; Imboden, Dieter

2007-01-01

The aim of this paper is to explore the possibilities to reach two long-term targets regarding energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the Swiss residential building stock: a reduction of the final energy consumption by a factor of 3 and of CO 2 emissions by a factor of 5 until 2050. A model is constructed to describe the dynamics of the energy-relevant properties of the residential building stock. Appropriate scenarios are discussed in terms of decisions made during construction or renovation of residential buildings which affect heat demand and determine the energy carriers used for heating and hot water generation. We show that both targets could be reached, although ambitious efforts are necessary. The central element of a successful strategy is to reduce the specific heat demand of existing buildings during renovation and to substitute the heating and hot water systems by less carbon intensive ones. Our results suggest that there is more flexibility to reach the emission target than the energy reduction target

Development of a novel methodology for indoor emission source identification

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Han, K.H.; Zhang, J.S.; Knudsen, H.N.

2011-01-01

The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a methodology to identify individual sources of emissions based on the measurements of mixed air samples and the emission signatures of individual materials previously determined by Proton Transfer Reaction-Mass Spectrometry (PTR-MS), an on......-line analytical device. The methodology based on signal processing principles was developed by employing the method of multiple regression least squares (MRLS) and a normalization technique. Samples of nine typical building materials were tested individually and in combination, including carpet, ceiling material...... experiments and investigation are needed for cases where the relative emission rates among different compounds may change over a long-term period....

Chernobyl radiocesium in freshwater fish: Long-term dynamics and sources of variation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sundbom, M [Uppsala Univ., Dept. of Limnology, Uppsala (Sweden)

2002-04-01

The aim of this thesis was to investigate both the long-term temporal pattern and sources of individual variation for radiocesium in freshwater fish. The basis for the study is time series of {sup 137}Cs activity concentrations in fish from three lakes in the area North-west of Uppsala, Sweden that received considerable amounts of {sup 137}Cs from Chernobyl in may 1986. The lakes were Lake Ekholmssjoen, Lake Flatsjoen and Lake Siggeforasjoen, all small forest lakes, but with different morphometrical and chemical characteristics. The data were collected regularly, usually several times per year, during 1986-2000, using consistent methods. More than 7600 fish individuals from 7 species covering wide size ranges and feeding habits were analysed for {sup 137}Cs. For each fish was the length, weight, sex, and often the stomach contend recorded. The evaluation on long-term trends were based on data from all three lakes, while the study on sources of variation evaluated data from Lake Flatsjoen only. (au)

Chernobyl radiocesium in freshwater fish: Long-term dynamics and sources of variation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sundbom, M.

2002-01-01

The aim of this thesis was to investigate both the long-term temporal pattern and sources of individual variation for radiocesium in freshwater fish. The basis for the study is time series of 137 Cs activity concentrations in fish from three lakes in the area North-west of Uppsala, Sweden that received considerable amounts of 137 Cs from Chernobyl in may 1986. The lakes were Lake Ekholmssjoen, Lake Flatsjoen and Lake Siggeforasjoen, all small forest lakes, but with different morphometrical and chemical characteristics. The data were collected regularly, usually several times per year, during 1986-2000, using consistent methods. More than 7600 fish individuals from 7 species covering wide size ranges and feeding habits were analysed for 137 Cs. For each fish was the length, weight, sex, and often the stomach contend recorded. The evaluation on long-term trends were based on data from all three lakes, while the study on sources of variation evaluated data from Lake Flatsjoen only. (au)

Long-term manure application increased greenhouse gas emissions but had no effect on ammonia volatilization in a Northern China upland field.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Tao; Liu, Hongbin; Luo, Jiafa; Wang, Hongyuan; Zhai, Limei; Geng, Yucong; Zhang, Yitao; Li, Jungai; Lei, Qiuliang; Bashir, Muhammad Amjad; Wu, Shuxia; Lindsey, Stuart

2018-08-15

The impacts of manure application on soil ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are of interest for both agronomic and environmental reasons. However, how the swine manure addition affects greenhouse gas and N emissions in North China Plain wheat fields is still unknown. A long-term fertilization experiment was carried out on a maize-wheat rotation system in Northern China (Zea mays L-Triticum aestivum L.) from 1990 to 2017. The experiment included four treatments: (1) No fertilizer (CK), (2) single application of chemical fertilizers (NPK), (3) NPK plus 22.5t/ha swine manure (NPKM), (4) NPK plus 33.7t/ha swine manure (NPKM+). A short-term fertilization experiment was conducted from 2016 to 2017 using the same treatments in a field that had been abandoned for decades. The emissions of NH 3 and GHGs were measured during the wheat season from 2016 to 2017. Results showed that after long-term fertilization the wheat yields for NPKM treatment were 7105kg/ha, which were higher than NPK (3880kg/ha) and NPKM+ treatments (5518kg/ha). The wheat yields were similar after short-term fertilization (6098-6887kg/ha). The NH 3 -N emission factors (EF amm ) for NPKM and NPKM+ treatments (1.1 and 1.1-1.4%, respectively) were lower than NPK treatment (2.2%) in both the long and short-term fertilization treatments. In the long- and short-term experiments the nitrous oxide (N 2 O) emission factors (EF nit ) for NPKM+ treatment were 4.2% and 3.7%, respectively, which were higher than for the NPK treatment (3.5% and 2.5%, respectively) and the NPKM treatment (3.6% and 2.2%, respectively). In addition, under long and short-term fertilization, the greenhouse gas intensities for the NPKM+ treatment were 33.7 and 27.0kg CO 2 -eq/kg yield, respectively, which were higher than for the NPKM treatment (22.8 and 21.1kg CO 2 -eq/kg yield, respectively). These results imply that excessive swine manure application does not increase yield but increases GHG emissions

Evaluation of short- and long-term fission product sources at the Fukushima Daiichi NPP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uchida, Shunsuke; Naitoh, Masanori; Suzuki, Hiroaki; Okada, Hidetoshi; Pellegrini, Marco; Achilli, Andrea; Hanamoto, Yukio; Sasaki, Hiroaki

2014-01-01

Research on fission product (FP) behaviors used to be one of the most important subjects in water chemistry but it is not done nowadays as a consequence of the increased integrity of nuclear fuels and the minimization of FP release into the environment. Evaluation of FP release into the environment is still one of the key issues for severe accident analysis, though. Although there have been a long quiet period in nuclear safety research, how to detect initiation of severe accidents, how to prevent them and how to mitigate them are still important subjects for nuclear engineering, and how to control the severe accidents after their occurrence, especially how to control FP release into the environment, has seldom been discussed in the water chemistry group recently. The paper is intended to address the issue of fewer activities for FP studies. FP sources are divided into two categories, short- and long-term FP sources. Short-term FP source can be evaluated based on the measured data obtained from monitoring posts (MPs), which give us clear evidence on the importance of radioactive iodine and cesium releases into the environment. It used to be considered that during primary containment vessel (PCV) venting, release of each element, e.g., iodine and cesium, was determined by the suppression pool scrubbing efficiency and most of the cesium would likely be removed in the pool due to its large scrubbing efficiency. But as a result of analyzing the MP data at early stage of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP) accident, it was confirmed that the releases of both elements were in proportion to their inventories in the reactors and their scrubbing efficiencies were almost the same. The scrubbing efficiency which increased with the pool water temperature became almost the same for iodine and cesium around the pool water boiling temperature. As a result of the mass balance analysis for FPs in the contaminated water accumulated in the Fukushima Daiichi plant site, it

Undertaking high impact strategies: The role of national efficiency measures in long-term energy and emission reduction in steel making

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu, Tengfang; Karali, Nihan; Sathaye, Jayant

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Evaluate long-term effects of national energy efficiency in steel making. • Use bottom-up optimization for projection in China, India and the U.S. • The effects include changes in steel production, energy use, emissions, and costs. • Three emission targets induce different structural changes and investments. • Projected energy and CO 2 intensity declines in each country from 2010 to 2050. - Abstract: In this paper, we applied bottom-up linear optimization modeling to analyze long-term national impacts of implementing energy efficiency measures on energy savings, CO 2 -emission reduction, production, and costs of steel making in China, India, and the U.S. We first established two base scenarios representing business-as-usual steel production for each country from 2010 to 2050; Base scenario (in which no efficiency measure is available) and Base-E scenario (in which efficiency measures are available), and model scenarios representing various emission-reduction targets that affects production, annual energy use and costs with the goal of cost minimization. A higher emission-reduction target generally induces larger structural changes and increased investments in nation-wide efficiency measures, in addition to autonomous improvement expected in the Base scenario. Given the same emission-reduction target compared to the base scenario, intensity of annual energy use and emissions exhibits declining trends in each country from year 2010 to 2050. While a higher emission-reduction target result in more energy reduction from the base scenario, such reduction can become more expensive to achieve. The results advance our understanding of long-term effects of national energy efficiency applications under different sets of emission-reduction targets for steel sectors in the three major economies, and provide useful implications for high impact strategies to manage production structures, production costs, energy use, and emission reduction in steel making

Near-Term Actions to Address Long-Term Climate Risk

Science.gov (United States)

Lempert, R. J.

2014-12-01

Addressing climate change requires effective long-term policy making, which occurs when reflecting on potential events decades or more in the future causes policy makers to choose near-term actions different than those they would otherwise pursue. Contrary to some expectations, policy makers do sometimes make such long-term decisions, but not as commonly and successfully as climate change may require. In recent years however, the new capabilities of analytic decision support tools, combined with improved understanding of cognitive and organizational behaviors, has significantly improved the methods available for organizations to manage longer-term climate risks. In particular, these tools allow decision makers to understand what near-term actions consistently contribute to achieving both short- and long-term societal goals, even in the face of deep uncertainty regarding the long-term future. This talk will describe applications of these approaches for infrastructure, water, and flood risk management planning, as well as studies of how near-term choices about policy architectures can affect long-term greenhouse gas emission reduction pathways.

Long term leaching of chlorinated solvents from source zones in low permeability settings with fractures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bjerg, Poul Løgstrup; Chambon, Julie Claire Claudia; Troldborg, Mads

2008-01-01

spreads to the low permeability matrix by diffusion. This results in a long term source of contamination due to back-diffusion. Leaching from such sources is further complicated by microbial degradation under anaerobic conditions to sequentially form the daughter products trichloroethylene, cis...

Long-term multipactor discharge in multicarrier systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anza, S.; Vicente, C.; Gimeno, B.; Boria, V. E.; Armendariz, J.

2007-01-01

A new mechanism of long-term multipactor in multicarrier systems is studied employing both analytical and numerical methods. In particular, the investigation is focused on the impact that a realistic secondary emission yield at low energies produces on the development of long term multipactor. A novel analytical model for this interperiod charge accumulation is presented using the traditional multipactor theory for parallel plates, and approximating the multicarrier signal as a single-carrier signal modulated by a pulsed signal envelope. The analytical predictions are verified by numerical simulations for a typical rectangular waveguide. The analytical and numerical results demonstrate that the susceptibility of the system to develop a long-term multipactor discharge increases with higher values of low-energy secondary emission yield

Long Term Financing of Infrastructure

OpenAIRE

Sinha, Sidharth

2014-01-01

Infrastructure projects, given their long life, require long term financing. The main sources of long term financings are insurance and pension funds who seek long term investments with low credit risk. However, in India household financial savings are mainly invested in bank deposits. Insurance and pension funds account for only a small percentage of household financial savings. In addition most infrastructure projects do not qualify for investment by insurance and pension funds because of t...

Tropospheric observations of CFC-114 and CFC-114a with a focus on long-term trends and emissions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. C. Laube

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs are ozone-depleting substances as well as strong greenhouse gases, and the control of their production and use under the Montreal Protocol has had demonstrable benefits to both mitigation of increasing surface UV radiation and climate forcing. A global ban on consumption came into force in 2010, but there is evidence of continuing emissions of certain CFCs from a range of sources. One compound has received little attention in the literature, namely CFC-114 (C2Cl2F4. Of particular interest here is the differentiation between CFC-114 (CClF2CClF2 and its asymmetric isomeric form CFC-114a (CF3CCl2F as atmospheric long-term measurements in the peer-reviewed literature to date have been assumed to represent the sum of both isomers with a time-invariant isomeric speciation. Here we report the first long-term measurements of the two isomeric forms separately, and find that they have different origins and trends in the atmosphere. Air samples collected at Cape Grim (41° S, Australia, during atmospheric background conditions since 1978, combined with samples collected from deep polar snow (firn enable us to obtain a near-complete record of both gases since their initial production and release in the 1940s. Both isomers were present in the unpolluted atmosphere in comparably small amounts before 1960. The mixing ratio of CFC-114 doubled from 7.9 to 14.8 parts per trillion (ppt between the start of the Cape Grim record in 1978 and the end of our record in 2014, while over the same time CFC-114a trebled from 0.35 to 1.03 ppt. Mixing ratios of both isomers are slowly decreasing by the end of this period. This is consistent with measurements of recent aircraft-based samples showing no significant interhemispheric mixing ratio gradient. We also find that the fraction of CFC-114a mixing ratio relative to that of CFC-114 increased from 4.2 to 6.9 % over the 37-year period. This contradicts the current tacit assumption used in

Tropospheric observations of CFC-114 and CFC-114a with a focus on long-term trends and emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Laube, Johannes C.; Hanif, Norfazrin Mohd; Martinerie, Patricia; Gallacher, Eileen; Fraser, Paul J.; Langenfelds, Ray; Brenninkmeijer, Carl A. M.; Schwander, Jakob; Witrant, Emmanuel; Wang, Jia-Lin; Ou-Yang, Chang-Feng; Gooch, Lauren J.; Reeves, Claire E.; Sturges, William T.; Oram, David E.

2016-12-01

Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) are ozone-depleting substances as well as strong greenhouse gases, and the control of their production and use under the Montreal Protocol has had demonstrable benefits to both mitigation of increasing surface UV radiation and climate forcing. A global ban on consumption came into force in 2010, but there is evidence of continuing emissions of certain CFCs from a range of sources. One compound has received little attention in the literature, namely CFC-114 (C2Cl2F4). Of particular interest here is the differentiation between CFC-114 (CClF2CClF2) and its asymmetric isomeric form CFC-114a (CF3CCl2F) as atmospheric long-term measurements in the peer-reviewed literature to date have been assumed to represent the sum of both isomers with a time-invariant isomeric speciation. Here we report the first long-term measurements of the two isomeric forms separately, and find that they have different origins and trends in the atmosphere. Air samples collected at Cape Grim (41° S), Australia, during atmospheric background conditions since 1978, combined with samples collected from deep polar snow (firn) enable us to obtain a near-complete record of both gases since their initial production and release in the 1940s. Both isomers were present in the unpolluted atmosphere in comparably small amounts before 1960. The mixing ratio of CFC-114 doubled from 7.9 to 14.8 parts per trillion (ppt) between the start of the Cape Grim record in 1978 and the end of our record in 2014, while over the same time CFC-114a trebled from 0.35 to 1.03 ppt. Mixing ratios of both isomers are slowly decreasing by the end of this period. This is consistent with measurements of recent aircraft-based samples showing no significant interhemispheric mixing ratio gradient. We also find that the fraction of CFC-114a mixing ratio relative to that of CFC-114 increased from 4.2 to 6.9 % over the 37-year period. This contradicts the current tacit assumption used in international climate

Long-term effects of emissions to the sea from the offshore sector. General note; Langtidsvirkninger fra utslipp til sjoe fra offshoresektoren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2001-06-01

This general note reviews the general understanding of the long-term effects of emission to the sea from the offshore sector and the need for competence and research. During the last 20 years, considerable efforts have been made in environmental research and monitoring in the oil sector. Nevertheless, evidently more research is needed in several fields. Priority has been given to the research needed according to (1) the amount of money needed for increased knowledge about the long-term effects of emissions to the sea from the oil sector, (2) the extent of missing knowledge, (3) to what extent new knowledge would be expected to contribute to improved decisions about environmental measures, (4) the extent of potential impacts on the ecosystems in Norwegian seas and the geographical extent of a possible effect. The identified research areas are, according to priority, (1) effects in the water column of produced water, (2) sudden emissions and drilling fluid, (3) joint research and monitoring, (4) special research programmes in arctic regions, (5) emissions in progress from cuttings and long-term effects of sudden emissions in coastal zones and beach zones. Research currently in progress should be co-ordinated through a special research programme, for which there is a clear need. The funds for such a programme should come from both the industry and the authorities.

Long-term carbon loss in fragmented Neotropical forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Pütz, Sandro; Groeneveld, Jürgen; Henle, Klaus; Knogge, Christoph; Martensen, Alexandre Camargo; Metz, Markus; Metzger, Jean Paul; Ribeiro, Milton Cezar; de Paula, Mateus Dantas; Huth, Andreas

2014-10-07

Tropical forests play an important role in the global carbon cycle, as they store a large amount of carbon (C). Tropical forest deforestation has been identified as a major source of CO2 emissions, though biomass loss due to fragmentation--the creation of additional forest edges--has been largely overlooked as an additional CO2 source. Here, through the combination of remote sensing and knowledge on ecological processes, we present long-term carbon loss estimates due to fragmentation of Neotropical forests: within 10 years the Brazilian Atlantic Forest has lost 69 (±14) Tg C, and the Amazon 599 (±120) Tg C due to fragmentation alone. For all tropical forests, we estimate emissions up to 0.2 Pg C y(-1) or 9 to 24% of the annual global C loss due to deforestation. In conclusion, tropical forest fragmentation increases carbon loss and should be accounted for when attempting to understand the role of vegetation in the global carbon balance.

Modeling of long-term energy system of Japan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gotoh, Yoshitaka; Sato, Osamu; Tadokoro, Yoshihiro

1999-07-01

In order to analyze the future potential of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, the long-term energy system of Japan was modeled following the framework of the MARKAL model, and the database of energy technology characteristics was developed. First, a reference energy system was built by incorporating all important energy sources and technologies that will be available until the year 2050. This system consists of 25 primary energy sources, 33 technologies for electric power generation and/or low temperature heat production, 97 technologies for energy transformation, storage, and distribution, and 170 end-use technologies. Second, the database was developed for the characteristics of individual technologies in the system. The characteristic data consists of input and output of energy carriers, efficiency, availability, lifetime, investment cost, operation and maintenance cost, CO 2 emission coefficient, and others. Since a large number of technologies are included in the system, this report focuses modeling of a supply side, and involves the database of energy technologies other than for end-use purposes. (author)

Analysis on long-term perspectives of sustainable nuclear energy towards global warming protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yamazawa, M.; Ichimura, E.; Shibata, Y.; Kobayashi, K.; Wajima, T.

1998-01-01

Study of long-term perspectives of the nuclear power generation was made from the point of views of both CO 2 emission constraints and sustainability of nuclear energy. To this end, STREAM (Semi-empirical TRiple E Analysis Model) program, as a social model, has been developed by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and Hitachi, Ltd. Using this program, long-term world demands of primary and nuclear energy were deduced, in view of the protection against the global warming due to the CO 2 gas accumulation. The inevitable conclusion has been drawn that nuclear energy plays an indispensable role in the reduction of green house effect. Evaluations were then made on conditions that the nuclear power system would be the long-term major sustainable energy source. (author)

Few long-term effects of simulated climate change on volatile organic compound emissions and leaf chemistry of three subarctic dwarf shrubs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rinnan, Riikka; Rinnan, Åsmund; Faubert, Patrick

2011-01-01

Climate change is exposing arctic ecosystems to higher temperature, increased nutrient availability and shading due to the increasing cloud cover and the expanding forests. In this work, we assessed how these factors affect the emissions of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOCs) from three......-selinene from S. phylicifolia. The shading treatment obtained by dome-shaped hessian tents did not cause clear long-term changes in leaf chemistry or BVOC emissions. The only observed change was a marginally significant increase in sesquiterpene emissions from B. nana. When the treatment effects on long...

Effect of regional precursor emission controls on long-range ozone transport – Part 2: Steady-state changes in ozone air quality and impacts on human mortality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. J. West

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Large-scale changes in ozone precursor emissions affect ozone directly in the short term, and also affect methane, which in turn causes long-term changes in ozone that affect surface ozone air quality. Here we assess the effects of changes in ozone precursor emissions on the long-term change in surface ozone via methane, as a function of the emission region, by modeling 10% reductions in anthropogenic nitrogen oxide (NO_x emissions from each of nine world regions. Reductions in NO_x emissions from all world regions increase methane and long-term surface ozone. While this long-term increase is small compared to the intra-regional short-term ozone decrease, it is comparable to or larger than the short-term inter-continental ozone decrease for some source-receptor pairs. The increase in methane and long-term surface ozone per ton of NO_x reduced is greatest in tropical and Southern Hemisphere regions, exceeding that from temperate Northern Hemisphere regions by roughly a factor of ten. We also assess changes in premature ozone-related human mortality associated with regional precursor reductions and long-range transport, showing that for 10% regional NO_x reductions, the strongest inter-regional influence is for emissions from Europe affecting mortalities in Africa. Reductions of NO_x in North America, Europe, the Former Soviet Union, and Australia are shown to reduce more mortalities outside of the source regions than within. Among world regions, NO_x reductions in India cause the greatest number of avoided mortalities per ton, mainly in India itself. Finally, by increasing global methane, NO_x reductions in one hemisphere tend to cause long-term increases in ozone concentration and mortalities in the opposite hemisphere. Reducing emissions of methane, and to a lesser extent carbon monoxide and non-methane volatile organic compounds, alongside NO_x reductions would

Impact of Emissions and Long-Range Transport on Multi-Decadal Aerosol Trends: Implications for Air Quality and Climate

Science.gov (United States)

Chin, Mian

2012-01-01

We present a global model analysis of the impact of long-range transport and anthropogenic emissions on the aerosol trends in the major pollution regions in the northern hemisphere and in the Arctic in the past three decades. We will use the Goddard Chemistry Aerosol Radiation and Transport (GOCART) model to analyze the multi-spatial and temporal scale data, including observations from Terra, Aqua, and CALIPSO satellites and from the long-term surface monitoring stations. We will analyze the source attribution (SA) and source-receptor (SR) relationships in North America, Europe, East Asia, South Asia, and the Arctic at the surface and free troposphere and establish the quantitative linkages between emissions from different source regions. We will discuss the implications for regional air quality and climate change.

Polarization and long-term variability of Sgr A* X-ray echo

Science.gov (United States)

Churazov, E.; Khabibullin, I.; Ponti, G.; Sunyaev, R.

2017-06-01

We use a model of the molecular gas distribution within ˜100 pc from the centre of the Milky Way (Kruijssen, Dale & Longmore) to simulate time evolution and polarization properties of the reflected X-ray emission, associated with the past outbursts from Sgr A*. While this model is too simple to describe the complexity of the true gas distribution, it illustrates the importance and power of long-term observations of the reflected emission. We show that the variable part of X-ray emission observed by Chandra and XMM-Newton from prominent molecular clouds is well described by a pure reflection model, providing strong support of the reflection scenario. While the identification of Sgr A* as a primary source for this reflected emission is already a very appealing hypothesis, a decisive test of this model can be provided by future X-ray polarimetric observations, which will allow placing constraints on the location of the primary source. In addition, X-ray polarimeters (like, e.g. XIPE) have sufficient sensitivity to constrain the line-of-sight positions of molecular complexes, removing major uncertainty in the model.

Analysis of Long-term Energy and Carbon Emission Scenarios for India

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajesh, N.; Kapshe, M.; Shukla, P.R.; Garg, A.; Rana, A.

2003-01-01

In the coming years India faces great challenges in energy and environment. The path of development chosen by India, upon which lies the future growth of energy and emission trajectories, would be greatly influenced by technological developments both within and outside the country, economic cooperation between countries, and global cooperation in limiting greenhouse gas emissions. This paper discusses the integrated modeling system used for developing and analyzing the long-term trajectories and presents results for the scenarios developed. In the context of ongoing market reforms two scenarios - accelerated and decelerated reforms - are developed depicting fast and slow progress in energy sector reforms compared to expectations in the baseline scenario. Accelerated market reforms would spur improvements in technological efficiencies. Reforms would lower investment risks in India, thereby stimulating increased levels of foreign direct investment. On the other hand in decelerated reform scenario economic growth is lower than that in the base case, there is low access to capital, and technological improvements lag behind those in the base case. In another scenario we assume specific policy interventions for penetration of renewable technologies over the baseline scenario, for promotion and accelerated deployment of renewable energy technologies over and above the baseline assumptions. A scenario with carbon (c) constraints has also been developed and the results discussed

Legal and financial methods for reducing low emission sources: Options for incentives

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Samitowski, W. [Office of Economic and Legal Advisors POLINVEST Ltd., Cracow (Poland)

1995-12-31

There are two types of the so-called low emission sources in Cracow: over 1,000 local boiler houses and several thousand solid fuel-fired stoves. The accomplishment of each of 5 sub-projects offered under the American-Polish program entails solving the technical, financial, legal and public relations-related problems. The elimination of the low emission source requires, therefore, a joint effort of the following pairs: (a) local authorities, (b) investors, (c) owners and users of low emission sources, and (d) inhabitants involved in particular projects. The results of the studies developed by POLINVEST indicate that the accomplishment of the projects for the elimination of low emission sources will require financial incentives. Bearing in mind the today`s resources available from the community budget, this process may last as long as a dozen or so years. The task of the authorities of Cracow City is making a long-range operational strategy enabling reduction of low emission sources in Cracow.

Long-term variability in the X-ray emission of RX J0720.4-3125

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vries, C.P.; Vink, J.; Méndez, R.M.; Verbunt, F.

2004-01-01

We detect a gradual, long-term change in the shape of the X-ray spectrum of the isolated neutron star RX J0720.4-3125, such that the spectrum of the source can no longer be described as a blackbody spectrum. The change is accompanied by an energy-dependent change in the pulse profile. If the X-ray

Long-term program up to fiscal 1993 of electric power source development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kawakami, Shin-ichi

1984-01-01

The long-term, ten years, program up to fiscal 1993 of electric power source development, determined by the Government aims at stable power supply and the expansion of utilization of petroleum-substitute energy. The annual growth in the gross national product (GNP) during the ten years was taken as about 4 %. So, the total electric power demand in fiscal 1993 is scheduled to be 731,000 million kwh, about 34 % up from 547,000 million kwh in fiscal 1983. The structure of electric power sources at the end of fiscal 1993 will be hydraulic 19.7 %, thermal 58.3 %, and nuclear 21.9 %. The development of electric power sources to be initiated in fiscal 1984 is hydraulic 500 MW, thermal 2,000 MW, and nuclear 6,000 MW. (Mori, K.)

The uranium industry: long-term planning for short-term competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vottero, X.; Georges Capus, G.

2001-01-01

Long term planning for short term competition Today, uranium producers face new challenges in terms of both production (new regulatory, environmental and social constraints) and market conditions (new sources of uranium supply, very low prices and tough competition). In such a context, long-term planning is not just a prerequisite to survive in the nuclear fuel cycle industry. In fact, it also contributes to sustaining nuclear electricity generation facing fierce competition from other energy sources in increasingly deregulated markets. Firstly, the risk of investing in new mining projects in western countries is growing because, on the one hand, of very erratic market conditions and, on the other hand, of increasingly lengthy, complex and unpredictable regulatory conditions. Secondly, the supply of other sources of uranium (uranium derived from nuclear weapons, uranium produced in CIS countries, ...) involve other risks, mainly related to politics and commercial restrictions. Consequently, competitive uranium supply requires not only technical competence but also financial strength and good marketing capabilities in order to anticipate long-term market trends, in terms of both demand and supply. It also requires taking into account new parameters such as politics, environment, regulations, etc. Today, a supplier dedicated to the sustainable production of nuclear electricity must manage a broad range of long-term risks inherent to the procurement of uranium. Taking into account all these parameters in a context of short-term, fast-changing market is a great challenge for the future generation. World Uranium Civilian Supply and Demand. (authors)

Novel techniques for characterization of hydrocarbon emission sources in the Barnett Shale

Science.gov (United States)

Nathan, Brian Joseph

Changes in ambient atmospheric hydrocarbon concentrations can have both short-term and long-term effects on the atmosphere and on human health. Thus, accurate characterization of emissions sources is critically important. The recent boom in shale gas production has led to an increase in hydrocarbon emissions from associated processes, though the exact extent is uncertain. As an original quantification technique, a model airplane equipped with a specially-designed, open-path methane sensor was flown multiple times over a natural gas compressor station in the Barnett Shale in October 2013. A linear optimization was introduced to a standard Gaussian plume model in an effort to determine the most probable emission rate coming from the station. This is shown to be a suitable approach given an ideal source with a single, central plume. Separately, an analysis was performed to characterize the nonmethane hydrocarbons in the Barnett during the same period. Starting with ambient hourly concentration measurements of forty-six hydrocarbon species, Lagrangian air parcel trajectories were implemented in a meteorological model to extend the resolution of these measurements and achieve domain-fillings of the region for the period of interest. A self-organizing map (a type of unsupervised classification) was then utilized to reduce the dimensionality of the total multivariate set of grids into characteristic one-dimensional signatures. By also introducing a self-organizing map classification of the contemporary wind measurements, the spatial hydrocarbon characterizations are analyzed for periods with similar wind conditions. The accuracy of the classification is verified through assessment of observed spatial mixing ratio enhancements of key species, through site-comparisons with a related long-term study, and through a random forest analysis (an ensemble learning method of supervised classification) to determine the most important species for defining key classes. The hydrocarbon

Short-term decisions under long-term uncertainty

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tol, R.S.J.

1998-01-01

The behaviour of future policy-makers substantially influences future greenhouse gas emissions. Uncertainty about the motives of future policy-makers may thus strongly influence the climate policy strategies of current policy-makers. Analytical and numerical analyses in this paper confirm this hypothesis. If current policy-makers want to constrain emissions accumulated over a prolonged period of time, and if future policy-makers tend, with a certain chance, to a less ambitious climate policy, then current policy-makers should intensify their efforts to reduce emissions and the cost of emission reduction. In this setting, if current policy-makers want to meet a cumulative emission constraint in expectation, then the preferred policy trajectory does not qualitatively deviate from one suggested by a standard cost-effective trajectory. If, however, the constraint is to be met with a certain probability, then the importance of early action is enhanced relative to that of postponed action. Costs substantially increase if current policy-makers want to set long-term goals without the full cooperation of future policy-makers. (Copyright (c) 1998 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam. All rights reserved.)

Long-term Health and Socioeconomic Impacts of Landscape Fire Emissions in Indonesia

Science.gov (United States)

Jina, A.; Marlier, M. E.

2013-12-01

Among natural disasters, wildfires are perhaps the most complex case of a coupled human-natural system, with both direct and indirect costs to society. A major contributor to these indirect costs is the impact upon health in the short- and long-term. Air pollution from fires is associated with more deaths from cardio-pulmonary diseases, yet little or no research has looked beyond the short-term mortality and morbidity associated with wildfire pollution, particularly in developing countries where impacts may be greatest but monitoring presents a constant challenge. We address this by using an interdisciplinary approach combining modeled air pollution with econometric methods to identify the long-term effects of air pollution on health and cognitive ability. These impacts will persist in society, and can lead to decreased education, loss of earnings, and a suppression of economic activity. We take the case of Indonesia, which is prone to large, catastrophic fires during El Niño conditions. Satellite data partially compensate for the lack of monitoring data for air pollution, but there are still significant gaps in data availability and difficulty in retrieving surface concentrations. In this study, surface fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations at 2x2.5° resolution are obtained from GISS-E2-Puccini (the new version of the NASA GISS ModelE General Circulation Model (GCM)), run with monthly fire emissions from the Global Fire Emissions Database version 3 (GFED3). 24-hour ambient PM2.5 concentrations across Indonesia are matched to geographically and socioeconomic surveys. We find that exposure to high levels of PM2.5 at birth (and in utero) has negative impacts upon physical development of infants. This is associated with health problems later in life, as well as lower educational and labor market outcomes. A one standard deviation increase in ambient air pollution exposure leads to effects comparable to those from indoor air pollution. We also find a

Long-term chemical analysis and organic aerosol source apportionment at nine sites in central Europe: source identification and uncertainty assessment

Science.gov (United States)

Daellenbach, Kaspar R.; Stefenelli, Giulia; Bozzetti, Carlo; Vlachou, Athanasia; Fermo, Paola; Gonzalez, Raquel; Piazzalunga, Andrea; Colombi, Cristina; Canonaco, Francesco; Hueglin, Christoph; Kasper-Giebl, Anne; Jaffrezo, Jean-Luc; Bianchi, Federico; Slowik, Jay G.; Baltensperger, Urs; El-Haddad, Imad; Prévôt, André S. H.

2017-11-01

Long-term monitoring of organic aerosol is important for epidemiological studies, validation of atmospheric models, and air quality management. In this study, we apply a recently developed filter-based offline methodology using an aerosol mass spectrometer (AMS) to investigate the regional and seasonal differences of contributing organic aerosol sources. We present offline AMS measurements for particulate matter smaller than 10 µm at nine stations in central Europe with different exposure characteristics for the entire year of 2013 (819 samples). The focus of this study is a detailed source apportionment analysis (using positive matrix factorization, PMF) including in-depth assessment of the related uncertainties. Primary organic aerosol (POA) is separated in three components: hydrocarbon-like OA related to traffic emissions (HOA), cooking OA (COA), and biomass burning OA (BBOA). We observe enhanced production of secondary organic aerosol (SOA) in summer, following the increase in biogenic emissions with temperature (summer oxygenated OA, SOOA). In addition, a SOA component was extracted that correlated with an anthropogenic secondary inorganic species that is dominant in winter (winter oxygenated OA, WOOA). A factor (sulfur-containing organic, SC-OA) explaining sulfur-containing fragments (CH3SO2+), which has an event-driven temporal behaviour, was also identified. The relative yearly average factor contributions range from 4 to 14 % for HOA, from 3 to 11 % for COA, from 11 to 59 % for BBOA, from 5 to 23 % for SC-OA, from 14 to 27 % for WOOA, and from 15 to 38 % for SOOA. The uncertainty of the relative average factor contribution lies between 2 and 12 % of OA. At the sites north of the alpine crest, the sum of HOA, COA, and BBOA (POA) contributes less to OA (POA / OA = 0.3) than at the southern alpine valley sites (0.6). BBOA is the main contributor to POA with 87 % in alpine valleys and 42 % north of the alpine crest. Furthermore, the influence of primary

Emission sources and quantities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heinen, B.

1991-01-01

The paper examines emission sources and quantities for SO 2 and NO x . Natural SO 2 is released from volcanic sources and to a much lower extent from marsh gases. In nature NO x is mainly produced in the course of the chemical and bacterial denitrification processes going on in the soil. Manmade pollutants are produced in combustion processes. The paper concentrates on manmade pollution. Aspects discussed include: mechanism of pollution development; manmade emission sources (e.g. industry, traffic, power plants and domestic sources); and emission quantities and forecasts. 11 refs., 2 figs., 5 tabs

Normal and anomalous diffusion in fluctuations of dust concentration nearby emission source

Science.gov (United States)

Szczurek, Andrzej; Maciejewska, Monika; Wyłomańska, Agnieszka; Sikora, Grzegorz; Balcerek, Michał; Teuerle, Marek

2018-02-01

Particulate matter (PM) is an important component of air. Nowadays, major attention is payed to fine dust. It has considerable environmental impact, including adverse effect on human health. One of important issues regarding PM is the temporal variation of its concentration. The variation contains information about factors influencing this quantity in time. The work focuses on the character of PM concentration dynamics indoors, in the vicinity of emission source. The objective was to recognize between the homogeneous or heterogeneous dynamics. The goal was achieved by detecting normal and anomalous diffusion in fluctuations of PM concentration. For this purpose we used anomalous diffusion exponent, β which was derived from Mean Square Displacement (MSD) analysis. The information about PM concentration dynamics may be used to design sampling strategy, which serves to attain representative information about PM behavior in time. The data analyzed in this work was collected from single-point PM concentration monitoring in the vicinity of seven emission sources in industrial environment. In majority of cases we observed heterogeneous character of PM concentration dynamics. It confirms the complexity of interactions between the emission sources and indoor environment. This result also votes against simplistic approach to PM concentration measurement indoors, namely their occasional character, short measurement periods and long term averaging.

Long term energy and emission implications of a global shift to electricity-based public rail transportation system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chaturvedi, Vaibhav; Kim, Son H.

2015-01-01

With high reliance on light-duty vehicles in the present, the future of global transportation system is also geared towards private modes, which has significant energy and emission implications. Public transportation has been argued as an alternative strategy for meeting the rising transportation demands of the growing world, especially the poor, in a sustainable and energy efficient way. The present study analyzes an important yet under-researched question – what are the long-term energy and emission implications of an electric rail based passenger transportation system for meeting both long and short distance passenter transportation needs? We analyze a suite of electric rail share scenarios with and without climate policy. In the reference scenario, the transportation system will evolve towards dominance of fossil based light-duty vehicles. We find that an electric rail policy is more successful than an economy wide climate policy in reducing transport sector energy demand and emissions. Economy wide emissions however can only be reduced through a broader climate policy, the cost of which can be reduced by hundreds of billions of dollars across the century when implemented in combination with the transport sector focused electric rail policy. Moreover, higher share of electric rail enhances energy security for oil importing nations and reduces vehicular congestion and road infrastructure requirement as well. -- Highlights: •Economy wide carbon price policy will have little impact on transportation emissions. •Focused energy and emission mitigation policies required for transportation sector. •Large global shift towards electric rail based public transport is one possible option. •Transport sector focused policy will have marginal impact on total global emissions. •A combined transport sector and economy wide policy can reduce costs significantly

Activities and sources of income after a period of long-term sick leave - a population-based prospective cohort study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wikman Anders

2012-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There is limited knowledge about what happens to people after long-term sick leave. The aim of this report was to conduct a prospective study of individuals who were on prolonged sick leave during a particular year, considering their activities and sources of income during subsequent years. To enable comparison of different time periods, we used three cohorts of individuals with different starting years. Methods Using data from national registers, three separate cohorts were constructed that included all people living in Sweden who were 20-64 years of age (>5 million in the years 1995, 2000 and 2005, respectively. The individual members of the cohorts were classified into the following groups based on their main source of income and activity in 1995-2008: on long-term sick leave, employed, old-age pensioner, long-term unemployed, disability pensioner, on parental leave, social assistance recipient, student allowance recipient, deceased, or emigrated. Results Most individuals on long-term (> 6 months sick leave in 1995 were not employed 13 years later. Only 11% of the women and 13% of the men were primarily in employment after 13 years. Instead, a wide range of alternatives existed, for example, many had been granted disability pension, and about 10% of the women and 17% of the men had died during the follow-up period. A larger proportion of those with long-term sick leave were back in employment when 2005 was the starting year for the follow-up. Conclusions The low future employment rates for people on long-term sick leave may seem surprising. There are several possible explanations for the finding: The disorders these people may have, might have entailed longstanding difficulties on the labor market. Besides, long-term absence from work, no matter what its causes were, might have worsen the chances of further employment. The economic cycles may also have been of importance. The improving labor market during later years seems

Activities and sources of income after a period of long-term sick leave--a population-based prospective cohort study.

Science.gov (United States)

Wikman, Anders; Wiberg, Michael; Marklund, Staffan; Alexanderson, Kristina

2012-09-06

There is limited knowledge about what happens to people after long-term sick leave. The aim of this report was to conduct a prospective study of individuals who were on prolonged sick leave during a particular year, considering their activities and sources of income during subsequent years. To enable comparison of different time periods, we used three cohorts of individuals with different starting years. Using data from national registers, three separate cohorts were constructed that included all people living in Sweden who were 20-64 years of age (>5 million) in the years 1995, 2000 and 2005, respectively. The individual members of the cohorts were classified into the following groups based on their main source of income and activity in 1995-2008: on long-term sick leave, employed, old-age pensioner, long-term unemployed, disability pensioner, on parental leave, social assistance recipient, student allowance recipient, deceased, or emigrated. Most individuals on long-term (> 6 months) sick leave in 1995 were not employed 13 years later. Only 11% of the women and 13% of the men were primarily in employment after 13 years. Instead, a wide range of alternatives existed, for example, many had been granted disability pension, and about 10% of the women and 17% of the men had died during the follow-up period. A larger proportion of those with long-term sick leave were back in employment when 2005 was the starting year for the follow-up. The low future employment rates for people on long-term sick leave may seem surprising. There are several possible explanations for the finding: The disorders these people may have, might have entailed longstanding difficulties on the labor market. Besides, long-term absence from work, no matter what its causes were, might have worsen the chances of further employment. The economic cycles may also have been of importance. The improving labor market during later years seems to have improved the chances for employment among those earlier

On the long-term impact of emissions from central European cities on regional air quality

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Huszar

2016-02-01

concentration is attributable to other sources from rural areas and minor cities. For the case of Prague (Czech Republic capital, it is further shown that the inter-urban interference between large cities does not play an important role which means that the impact on a chosen city of emissions from all other large cities is very small. At last, it is shown that to achieve significant ozone reduction over cities in central Europe, the emission control strategies have to focus on the reduction of NMVOC, as reducing NOx (due to suppressed titration often leads to increased O3. The influence over rural areas is however always in favor of improved air quality, i.e. both NOx and/or NMVOC reduction ends up in decreased ozone pollution, mainly in terms of exceedances.

Toronto area ozone: Long-term measurements and modeled sources of poor air quality events

Science.gov (United States)

Whaley, C. H.; Strong, K.; Jones, D. B. A.; Walker, T. W.; Jiang, Z.; Henze, D. K.; Cooke, M. A.; McLinden, C. A.; Mittermeier, R. L.; Pommier, M.; Fogal, P. F.

2015-11-01

The University of Toronto Atmospheric Observatory and Environment Canada's Centre for Atmospheric Research Experiments each has over a decade of ground-based Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements in southern Ontario. We present the Toronto area FTIR time series from 2002 to 2013 of two tropospheric trace gases—ozone and carbon monoxide—along with surface in situ measurements taken by government monitoring programs. We interpret their variability with the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model and determine the atmospheric conditions that cause pollution events in the time series. Our analysis includes a regionally tagged O3 model of the 2004-2007 time period, which quantifies the geographical contributions to Toronto area O3. The important emission types for 15 pollution events are then determined with a high-resolution adjoint model. Toronto O3, during pollution events, is most sensitive to southern Ontario and U.S. fossil fuel NOx emissions and natural isoprene emissions. The sources of Toronto pollution events are found to be highly variable, and this is demonstrated in four case studies representing local, short-, middle-, and long-range transport scenarios. This suggests that continental-scale emission reductions could improve air quality in the Toronto region. We also find that abnormally high temperatures and high-pressure systems are common to all pollution events studied, suggesting that climate change may impact Toronto O3. Finally, we quantitatively compare the sensitivity of the surface and column measurements to anthropogenic NOx emissions and show that they are remarkably similar. This work thus demonstrates the usefulness of FTIR measurements in an urban area to assess air quality.

Long- and short-term temporal variations of the diffuse CO2 emission from Timanfaya volcano, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández, P. A.; Padilla, G.; Calvo, D.; Padrón, E.; Melian, G.; Dionis, S.; Nolasco, D.; Barrancos, J.; Rodríguez, F.; Pérez, N.

2012-04-01

Lanzarote Island is an emergent part of the East Canary Ridge and it is situated approximately 100 km from the NW coast of Morocco, covering an area of about 795km2. The largest historical eruption of the Canary Islands, Timanfaya, took place during 1730-36 in this island when long-term eruptions from a NE-SW-trending fissure formed the Montañas del Fuego. The last eruption at Lanzarote Island occurred during 1824, Tinguaton volcano, and produced a much smaller lava flow that reached the SW coast. At present, one of the most prominent phenomena at Timanfaya volcanic field is the high maintained superficial temperatures occurring in the area since the 1730 volcanic eruption. The maximum temperatures recorded in this zone are 605°C, taken in a slightly inclined well 13 m deep. Since fumarolic activity is absent at the surface environment of Lanzarote, to study the diffuse CO2 emission becomes an ideal geochemical tool for monitoring its volcanic activity. Soil CO2 efflux surveys were conducted throughout Timanfaya volcanic field and surrounding areas during the summer periods of 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, fall period of 2010 and winter, spring and summer periods of 2011 to investigate long and short-term temporal variations of the diffuse CO2 emission from Timanfaya volcano. Soil CO2 efflux surveys were undertaken at Timanfaya volcanic field always under stable weather conditions to minimize effects of meteorological conditions on the CO2 at the soil atmosphere. Approximately 370-430 sampling sites were selected at the surface environment of Timanfaya to obtain an even distribution of the sampling points over the study area. The accumulation chamber method (Parkinson et al., 1981) was used to perform soil CO2 efflux measurements in-situ by means of a portable non dispersive infrared (NDIR) CO2 analyzer, which was interfaced to a hand size computer that runs data acquisition software. At each sampling site, soil temperature at 15 and 40cm depth was also measured by

Catalytic heat exchangers - a long-term evaluation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silversand, Fredrik A. [CATATOR AB, Lund (Sweden)

2003-10-01

A long-term evaluation concerning catalytic heat exchangers (CHEs) has been performed. The idea concerning CHEs was originally described in a number of reports issued by Catator almost a decade ago. The general idea with CHEs is to combust a fuel with a catalyst inside a heat exchanger to enable an effective heat transfer. The first design approaches demonstrated the function and the possibilities with CHEs but were defective concerning the heat exchanger design. Consequently, a heat exchanger company (SWEP International AB), which was specialised on brazed plate-type heat exchangers, joined the continued development project. Indeed, the new design approach containing Catator's wire-mesh catalysts and SWEP's plate-type heat exchangers enabled us to improve the concept considerably. The new design complied with a number of relevant technical demands, e.g.: Simplicity; Compactness and integration (few parts); High thermal efficiency; Low pressure drop; Excellent emissions; High turn-down ratio; Reasonable production cost. Spurred by the technical progresses, the importance of a long-term test under realistic conditions was clear. A long-term evaluation was initialised at Sydkraft Gas premises in Aastorp. The CHE was installed on a specially designed rig to enable accelerated testing with respect to the number of transients. The rig was operated continuously for 5000 hours and emission mapping was carried out at certain time intervals. Following some problems during the initial phase of the long-term evaluation, which unfortunately also delayed the project, the results indicated very stable conditions of operation. The emissions have been rather constant during the course of the test and we cannot see any tendencies to decreased performances. Indeed, the test verifies the function, operability and reliability of the CHE-concept. Apart from domestic boilers we foresee a number of interesting and relevant applications in heating and process technology. Since

Dioxin emissions and sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-01-01

The papers presented at the seminar discussed dioxin emissions and sources, dioxin pollution of soils, waste water and sewage sludge, stocktaking of emission sources, and exposure and risk analyses for dioxin and other pollutants. (EF) [de

Long-term studies of Markarian 421 from 2007 to 2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schroeder, Sonja; Overkemping, Ann-Kristin [TU Dortmund, Dortmund (Germany); Manganaro, Marina [IAC La Laguna, Teneriffa (Spain); Tescaro, Diego [INFN, Padova (Italy); Collaboration: MAGIC-Collaboration

2016-07-01

The MAGIC experiment consists of two Imaging Air shower Cherenkov Telescopes to detect and study gamma-rays from galactic and extragalactic sources. Blazars are a special type of extragalactic sources hosting an Active Galactic Nucleus (AGN) with a jet directed towards earth. The AGN Mrk 421 is one of the strongest and brightest known blazars suitable for very high-energy (VHE) observations. This talk gives an overview over long-term variability and correlation studies of the blazar Mrk 421. For this study a VHE dataset collected by MAGIC-I covering the extensive timespan from February 2007 to June 2009 was examined together with data of different wavelengths from other telescopes. These kind of studies could allow for an increase of knowledge about the possible emission processes inside Mrk 421.

MIT/OSO 7 catalog of x-ray sources: intensities, spectra, and long-term variability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Markert, T.H.; Winkler, P.F.; Laird, F.N.; Clark, G.W.; Hearn, D.R.; Sprott, G.F.; Li, F.K.; Bradt, H.V.; Lewin, W.H.G.; Schnopper, H.W.

1979-01-01

This paper is a summary of the observations of the cosmic X-ray sky performed by the MIT 1--40 KeV X-ray detectors on the OSO 7 between 1971 October and 1973 May. Specifically, we have computed the mean intensities or upper limits of all third Uhuru or OSO 7 cataloged sources (185 sources) in the 3--10 KeV range. For those sources for which a statistically significant (>20) intensity was found in the 3--10 KeV band (138 sources), further intensity determinations were made in the 1--15 KeV, 1--6 KeV, and 15--40 KeV energy bands. We have provided graphs and other simple techniques to aid the user in converting the observed counting rates to convenient units and in determining spectral parameters. Finally, we have plotted long-term light curves (counting rates in one or more energy bands as a function of time) for 86 of the brighter sources

The uranium industry: long term planning for short term competition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vottero, X.

2000-01-01

Today, uranium producers face new challenges in terms of both production (new regulatory, environmental and social constraints) and market conditions (new sources of uranium supply, very low prices and tough competition). In such a context, long-term planning is not just a prerequisite to survive in the nuclear fuel cycle industry. In fact, it also contributes to sustaining nuclear electricity generation facing fierce competition from other energy sources in increasingly deregulated markets. (authors)

Implication of Paris Agreement in the context of long-term climate mitigation goals.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujimori, Shinichiro; Su, Xuanming; Liu, Jing-Yu; Hasegawa, Tomoko; Takahashi, Kiyoshi; Masui, Toshihiko; Takimi, Maho

2016-01-01

The Paris Agreement confirmed the global aim to achieve a long-term climate goal, in which the global increase in mean temperature is kept below 2 °C compared to the preindustrial level. We investigated the implications of the near-term emissions targets (for around the year 2030) in the context of the long-term climate mitigation goal using the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model framework. To achieve the 2 °C goal, a large greenhouse gas emissions reduction is required, either in the early or latter half of this century. In the mid-term (from 2030 to 2050), it may be necessary to consider rapid changes to the existing energy or socioeconomic systems, while long-term measures (after 2050) will rely on the substantial use of biomass combined with carbon capture and storage technology or afforestation, which will eventually realize so-called negative CO2 emissions. With respect to the policy context, two suggestions are provided here. The first is the review and revision of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) in 2020, with an additional reduction target to the current NDCs being one workable alternative. The second suggestion is a concrete and numerical mid-term emissions reduction target, for example to be met by 2040 or 2050, which could also help to achieve the long-term climate goal.

Long-term no-till and stover retention each decrease the global warming potential of irrigated continuous corn.

Science.gov (United States)

Jin, Virginia L; Schmer, Marty R; Stewart, Catherine E; Sindelar, Aaron J; Varvel, Gary E; Wienhold, Brian J

2017-07-01

Over the last 50 years, the most increase in cultivated land area globally has been due to a doubling of irrigated land. Long-term agronomic management impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and global warming potential (GWP) in irrigated systems, however, remain relatively unknown. Here, residue and tillage management effects were quantified by measuring soil nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and methane (CH 4 ) fluxes and SOC changes (ΔSOC) at a long-term, irrigated continuous corn (Zea mays L.) system in eastern Nebraska, United States. Management treatments began in 2002, and measured treatments included no or high stover removal (0 or 6.8 Mg DM ha -1  yr -1 , respectively) under no-till (NT) or conventional disk tillage (CT) with full irrigation (n = 4). Soil N 2 O and CH 4 fluxes were measured for five crop-years (2011-2015), and ΔSOC was determined on an equivalent mass basis to ~30 cm soil depth. Both area- and yield-scaled soil N 2 O emissions were greater with stover retention compared to removal and for CT compared to NT, with no interaction between stover and tillage practices. Methane comprised <1% of total emissions, with NT being CH 4 neutral and CT a CH 4 source. Surface SOC decreased with stover removal and with CT after 14 years of management. When ΔSOC, soil GHG emissions, and agronomic energy usage were used to calculate system GWP, all management systems were net GHG sources. Conservation practices (NT, stover retention) each decreased system GWP compared to conventional practices (CT, stover removal), but pairing conservation practices conferred no additional mitigation benefit. Although cropping system, management equipment/timing/history, soil type, location, weather, and the depth to which ΔSOC is measured affect the GWP outcomes of irrigated systems at large, this long-term irrigated study provides valuable empirical evidence of how management decisions can impact soil GHG emissions and surface

Long-term scenarios of energy use and carbon emissions: Summary of results

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sathaye, J.

1991-01-01

Energy use in developing countries has risen more quickly than in the industrialized world, with a consequent increase in the developing world's share in global modern energy use from 16% in 1970 to 24% in 1987. As a result, while the developing countries' share of carbon dioxide emissions is small today, it is growing rapidly. The following is a brief summary of the aggregate results derived from the work on long-term energy and carbon emissions scenarios for China, India, Indonesia, Korea, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and the sic members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). The countries experience varying rates of population growth between 1985 and 2025. The fastest growth rates occur in Africa - particularly in Nigeria and Ghana - and in the GCC. In Korea and China, where the governments have implemented policies to control the expansion of the population, the growth rates remain significantly lower. The economic growth rates correspond with national projections and/or expert judgment. GDP shows a wide variance across the study countries; and in each country distinct factors account for the differences in rates of growth. Argentina, for example, experiences a relatively slow increase in GDP as the foundation of its economy moves away from manufacturing and towards agriculture-based industry. In contrast, Korea's development of its less energy-intensive industries continues to fuel high rates of economic growth between 1985 and 2025

Outer heliospheric radio emissions. II - Foreshock source models

Science.gov (United States)

Cairns, Iver H.; Kurth, William S.; Gurnett, Donald A.

1992-01-01

Observations of LF radio emissions in the range 2-3 kHz by the Voyager spacecraft during the intervals 1983-1987 and 1989 to the present while at heliocentric distances greater than 11 AU are reported. New analyses of the wave data are presented, and the characteristics of the radiation are reviewed and discussed. Two classes of events are distinguished: transient events with varying starting frequencies that drift upward in frequency and a relatively continuous component that remains near 2 kHz. Evidence for multiple transient sources and for extension of the 2-kHz component above the 2.4-kHz interference signal is presented. The transient emissions are interpreted in terms of radiation generated at multiples of the plasma frequency when solar wind density enhancements enter one or more regions of a foreshock sunward of the inner heliospheric shock. Solar wind density enhancements by factors of 4-10 are observed. Propagation effects, the number of radiation sources, and the time variability, frequency drift, and varying starting frequencies of the transient events are discussed in terms of foreshock sources.

Results of a Long-Term Spectral and Photometric Monitoring of the Herbig Ae Star HD 179218

Science.gov (United States)

Kozlova, O. V.; Alekseev, I. Yu.

2017-06-01

We present the results of the long-term spectroscopic and photometric monitoring of the Herbig Ae star HD 179218. The high-resolution spectra (R = 20000) were made on the 2.6-m telescope at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory (CrAO) in the regions of Hα emission line. The photometric observations were obtained on 1.25-m telescope AZT-11 (CrAO) equipped with the UBVRI electrophotometer-polarimeter. Our results showed that Hα emission parameters demonstrate the long- term variability on the time scale about 4000 days. The same variability is observed in the change of the stellar brightness in V-band. The unusual behavior the V-I color index depending on the stellar brightness in the V-band can be concluded that around the star there is an additional source of IR-radiation. We believe that the obtained results can be explained by the presence in the vicinity of HD 179218 a low-mass component.

Source-specific speciation profiles of PM2.5 for heavy metals and their anthropogenic emissions in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yayong; Xing, Jia; Wang, Shuxiao; Fu, Xiao; Zheng, Haotian

2018-08-01

Heavy metals are concerned for its adverse effect on human health and long term burden on biogeochemical cycling in the ecosystem. In this study, a provincial-level emission inventory of 13 kinds of heavy metals including V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Sn, Sb, Ba and Pb from 10 anthropogenic sources was developed for China, based on the 2015 national emission inventory of primary particulate matters and source category-specific speciation profiles collected from 50 previous studies measured in China. Uncertainties associated with the speciation profiles were also evaluated. Our results suggested that total emissions of the 13 types of heavy metals in China are estimated at about 58000 ton for the year 2015. The iron production is the dominant source of heavy metal, contributing 42% of total emissions of heavy metals. The emissions of heavy metals vary significantly at regional scale, with largest amount of emissions concentrated in northern and eastern China. Particular, high emissions of Cr, Co, Ni, As and Sb (contributing 8%-18% of the national emissions) are found in Shandong where has large capacity of industrial production. Uncertainty analysis suggested that the implementation of province-specific source profiles in this study significantly reduced the emission uncertainties from (-89%, 289%) to (-99%, 91%), particularly for coal combustion. However, source profiles for industry sectors such as non-metallic mineral manufacturing are quite limited, resulting in a relative high uncertainty. The high-resolution emission inventories of heavy metals are essential not only for their distribution, deposition and transport studies, but for the design of policies to redress critical atmospheric environmental hazards at local and regional scales. Detailed investigation on source-specific profile in China are still needed to achieve more accurate estimations of heavy metals in the future. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Long term continuous field survey to assess nutrient emission impact from irrigated paddy field into river catchment

Science.gov (United States)

Kogure, Kanami; Aichi, Masaatsu; Zessner, Matthias

2017-04-01

P balance. N and P surplus are calculated by difference between input and output in a paddy field. As to nutrient balance in 2015 surplus shows minus value between input as fertilizer and output as rice product. However, by taking account of input via irrigation water as nutrient source, N and P input and output balance with errors by 9% and 14%. Results of long term continuous survey suggest that irrigation water is one of nutrient sources in rice cultivation.

Size distribution, directional source contributions and pollution status of PM from Chengdu, China during a long-term sampling campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Shi, Guo-Liang; Tian, Ying-Ze; Ma, Tong; Song, Dan-Lin; Zhou, Lai-Dong; Han, Bo; Feng, Yin-Chang; Russell, Armistead G

2017-06-01

Long-term and synchronous monitoring of PM 10 and PM 2.5 was conducted in Chengdu in China from 2007 to 2013. The levels, variations, compositions and size distributions were investigated. The sources were quantified by two-way and three-way receptor models (PMF2, ME2-2way and ME2-3way). Consistent results were found: the primary source categories contributed 63.4% (PMF2), 64.8% (ME2-2way) and 66.8% (ME2-3way) to PM 10 , and contributed 60.9% (PMF2), 65.5% (ME2-2way) and 61.0% (ME2-3way) to PM 2.5 . Secondary sources contributed 31.8% (PMF2), 32.9% (ME2-2way) and 31.7% (ME2-3way) to PM 10 , and 35.0% (PMF2), 33.8% (ME2-2way) and 36.0% (ME2-3way) to PM 2.5 . The size distribution of source categories was estimated better by the ME2-3way method. The three-way model can simultaneously consider chemical species, temporal variability and PM sizes, while a two-way model independently computes datasets of different sizes. A method called source directional apportionment (SDA) was employed to quantify the contributions from various directions for each source category. Crustal dust from east-north-east (ENE) contributed the highest to both PM 10 (12.7%) and PM 2.5 (9.7%) in Chengdu, followed by the crustal dust from south-east (SE) for PM 10 (9.8%) and secondary nitrate & secondary organic carbon from ENE for PM 2.5 (9.6%). Source contributions from different directions are associated with meteorological conditions, source locations and emission patterns during the sampling period. These findings and methods provide useful tools to better understand PM pollution status and to develop effective pollution control strategies. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Biogenic Emission Sources

Science.gov (United States)

Biogenic emissions sources come from natural sources and need to accounted for in photochemical grid models. They are computed using a model which utilizes spatial information on vegetation and land use.

Comparing long term energy scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cumo, M.; Simbolotti, G.

2001-01-01

Major projection studies by international organizations and senior analysts have been compared with reference to individual key parameters (population, energy demand/supply, resources, technology, emissions and global warming) to understand trends and implications of the different scenarios. Then, looking at the long term (i.e., 2050 and beyond), parameters and trends have been compared together to understand and quantify whether and when possible crisis or market turbulence might occur due to shortage of resources or environmental problems [it

Analysis on long-term change of energy system structure in Japan considering CO2 emission and domestic demand

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kurokawa, Shingo; Tabe, Yutaka; Chikahisa, Takemi

2011-01-01

Long-term change of energy system structure in Japan was analyzed to investigate the effect of the CO 2 emission reduction level on the reduction cost using MARKAL model. The MARKAL is composed of energy resources, energy supply technologies, energy ultimate demand technologies and energy service demands with them connected by energy carriers. This paper presents analyses investigating the CO 2 reduction cost and the energy structure change until 2050. Here, we focused on the domestic investment to reduce CO 2 emission. It was shown that the CO 2 reduction until 40% level promotes the energy conversion from coal to natural gas and it causes the increase in total cost of the imported fuel. The higher CO 2 reduction, however, increases the domestic investment for low-emission vehicles, photovoltaic power generation and so on, and decreases the overseas investment, although the total CO 2 reduction cost is increased. This contributes to the revitalization of Japanese economy, together with the reduction of overseas investment. (author)

The MIT/OSO 7 catalog of X-ray sources - Intensities, spectra, and long-term variability

Science.gov (United States)

Markert, T. H.; Laird, F. N.; Clark, G. W.; Hearn, D. R.; Sprott, G. F.; Li, F. K.; Bradt, H. V.; Lewin, W. H. G.; Schnopper, H. W.; Winkler, P. F.

1979-01-01

This paper is a summary of the observations of the cosmic X-ray sky performed by the MIT 1-40-keV X-ray detectors on OSO 7 between October 1971 and May 1973. Specifically, mean intensities or upper limits of all third Uhuru or OSO 7 cataloged sources (185 sources) in the 3-10-keV range are computed. For those sources for which a statistically significant (greater than 20) intensity was found in the 3-10-keV band (138 sources), further intensity determinations were made in the 1-15-keV, 1-6-keV, and 15-40-keV energy bands. Graphs and other simple techniques are provided to aid the user in converting the observed counting rates to convenient units and in determining spectral parameters. Long-term light curves (counting rates in one or more energy bands as a function of time) are plotted for 86 of the brighter sources.

Long term radioactive waste management

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavie, J.M.

1984-01-01

In France, waste management, a sensitive issue in term of public opinion, is developing quickly, and due to twenty years of experience, is now reaching maturity. With the launching of the French nuclear programme, the use of radioactive sources in radiotherapy and industry, waste management has become an industrial activity. Waste management is an integrated system dealing with the wastes from their production to the long term disposal, including their identification, sortage, treatment, packaging, collection and transport. This system aims at guaranteing the protection of present and future populations with an available technology. In regard to their long term management, and the design of disposals, radioactive wastes are divided in three categories. This classification takes into account the different radioisotopes contained, their half life and their total activity. Presently short-lived wastes are stored in the shallowland disposal of the ''Centre de la Manche''. Set up within the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), the National Agency for waste management (ANDRA) is responsible within the framework of legislative and regulatory provisions for long term waste management in France [fr

Field emission from a new type of electron source

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mousa, M.S.

1987-01-01

A new type of field emission electron source has been developed. In this paper, the construction, characteristics and behaviour of tungsten micropoint emitters coated with a sub-micron layer of hydrocarbon using a TEM with poor ( ∼ 1 0 -3 torr) vacuum conditions are described. The hydrocarbon coating has been verified using the X-Ray energy dispersive analysis technique of a SEM. The technical capabilities and potential of the new type of electron source are compared with those of other comparable composite micropoint field emitters and other types of electron sources currently in use. The emission properties presented here include I-V characteristics, emission images and electron energy spectra of this type of composite micropoint emitters. The effect on the behaviour and characteristics of baking the coated emitters at temperatures ranging between 140 0 C and 350 0 C is also studied. The behaviour of the emitter has been interpreted in terms of a field-induced hot-electron emission mechanism associated with metal-insulator-vacuum (M-I-V) regime

Emission Characteristics of Greenhouse Gas from Maize Field of Black Soil Region Under Long-term Fertilization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GAO Hong-jun

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Study on greenhouse gases emission and their global warming potential under different fertilizations would be the theoretical basis for establishing measurements to reduce greenhouses gas emissions. Based on a long-term fertilization experiment, greenhouses gas(GHG emissions from black soil of summer maize were measured by using a static chamber-gas chromatograph technique, and global warming potential(GWP effect was also estimated. The results showed the peaks of CO2 and N2O emissions occurred at maize jointing period. The CO2 and N2O emission flux and CH4 uptake flux in the M2NPK treatment(mixed application of organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer were significantly higher than those of the chemical fertilizer treatments(P2 and N2O emission flux in the chemical fertilizer treatments were higher than that of the no fertilizer treatment. The CO2 emission flux of the fallow treatment was the highest among all the treatments, but its N2O emission flux was significantly lower than that of the chemical fertilizer treatment. Under equal N rates, the N2O emission flux of the NPK treatment was significantly higher than that of the SNPK treatment(straw returning, but CH4 uptake flux was the opposite result. Compared with no fertilizer treatment(CK, GWP of the N and NPK treatments increased by 142% and 32% respectively, GWP of SNPK treatment decreased by 38%, and GWP in the M2NPK treatment was negative value. Greenhouse gas emission intensity(GHGI of the NPK, SNPK and M2NPK treatments were significantly lower than that of the CK and the N treatments, GHGI of the M2NPK treatment was -222 kg CO2-eq·t-1. Therefore, in order to implement the higher maize yield with lower GHGI synchronously, mixed application of organic fertilizer and chemical fertilizer would be the optimal fertilization measurement in black soil region of Northeast China.

Long-term effects of radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, J.; Smith, T.

1981-01-01

It is pointed out that sources of long-term damage from radiation are two-fold. People who have been exposed to doses of radiation from initial early fallout but have recovered from the acute effects may still suffer long-term damage from their exposure. Those who have not been exposed to early fallout may be exposed to delayed fallout, the hazards from which are almost exclusively from ingesting strontium, caesium and carbon isotopes present in food; the damage caused is relatively unimportant compared with that caused by the brief doses from initial radiation and early fallout. A brief discussion is presented of the distribution of delayed long-lived isotope fallout, and an outline is sketched of late biological effects, such as malignant disease, cataracts, retarded development, infertility and genetic effects. (U.K.)

Field-scale operation of methane biofiltration systems to mitigate point source methane emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hettiarachchi, Vijayamala C.; Hettiaratchi, Patrick J.; Mehrotra, Anil K.; Kumar, Sunil

2011-01-01

Methane biofiltration (MBF) is a novel low-cost technique for reducing low volume point source emissions of methane (CH 4 ). MBF uses a granular medium, such as soil or compost, to support the growth of methanotrophic bacteria responsible for converting CH 4 to carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) and water (H 2 O). A field research program was undertaken to evaluate the potential to treat low volume point source engineered CH 4 emissions using an MBF at a natural gas monitoring station. A new comprehensive three-dimensional numerical model was developed incorporating advection-diffusive flow of gas, biological reactions and heat and moisture flow. The one-dimensional version of this model was used as a guiding tool for designing and operating the MBF. The long-term monitoring results of the field MBF are also presented. The field MBF operated with no control of precipitation, evaporation, and temperature, provided more than 80% of CH 4 oxidation throughout spring, summer, and fall seasons. The numerical model was able to predict the CH 4 oxidation behavior of the field MBF with high accuracy. The numerical model simulations are presented for estimating CH 4 oxidation efficiencies under various operating conditions, including different filter bed depths and CH 4 flux rates. The field observations as well as numerical model simulations indicated that the long-term performance of MBFs is strongly dependent on environmental factors, such as ambient temperature and precipitation. - Highlights: → One-dimensional version of the model was used as a guiding tool for designing and operating the MBF. → Mathematical model predicted CH 4 oxidation behaviors of the field MBF with high accuracy i.e. (> 80 %). → Performance of MBF is dependent on ambient temperature and precipitation. - The developed numerical model simulations and field observations for estimating CH 4 oxidation efficiencies under various operating conditions indicate that the long-term performance of MBFs is strongly

Long-term cigarette smoking is associated with increased myocardial perfusion heterogeneity assessed by positron emission tomography

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meeder, J.G. [Department of Cardiology and National Research PET Center, University Hospital, Groningen (Netherlands); Blanksma, P.K. [Department of Cardiology and National Research PET Center, University Hospital, Groningen (Netherlands); Wall, E.E. van der [Department of Cardiology, University Hospital, Leiden (Netherlands); Anthonio, R.L. [Department of Cardiology and National Research PET Center, University Hospital, Groningen (Netherlands); Willemsen, A.T.M. [Department of Cardiology and National Research PET Center, University Hospital, Groningen (Netherlands); Pruim, J. [Department of Cardiology and National Research PET Center, University Hospital, Groningen (Netherlands); Vaalburg, W. [Department of Cardiology and National Research PET Center, University Hospital, Groningen (Netherlands); Lie, K.I. [Department of Cardiology and National Research PET Center, University Hospital, Groningen (Netherlands)

1996-11-01

The pathophysiology of smoking-related coronary events in patients with normal coronary arteries is incompletely understood. This study was conducted to explore, in subjects without symptoms of cardiovascular disease, the long-term effects of smoking on regional coronary artery vasoactivity, especially during sympathetic stimulation. In ten smoking and ten non-smoking sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers, segmental myocardial perfusion was studied using dynamic parametric nitrogen-13 ammonia positron emission tomography at rest and during sympathetic stimulation evoked by the cold pressor stimulation. Smokers demonstrated a higher myocardial perfusion at rest (116{+-}17 ml/min/100 g vs 96{+-}20 ml/min/100 g, P <0.01) and an impaired myocardial perfusion increase during cold pressor stimulation (1.02{+-}0.15 vs 1.18{+-}0.17, P <0.05). The heterogeneity of perfusion, expressed as coefficient of variation, was significantly different between the smoking and the non-smoking group. The coefficient of variation of segmental myocardial perfusion was higher in smokers at rest (17.5%{+-}4.2% vs 13.5%{+-}1.9%, P <0.05) and during cold pressor stimulation (17.0%{+-}3.2% vs 13.9%{+-}1.8%, P <0.05). We conclude that the long-term effects of smoking in healthy volunteers are associated with (1) increased myocardial perfusion at rest, (2) impaired myocardial perfusion response to cold pressor stimulation, and (3) increased myocardial perfusion heterogeneity both at rest and during cold pressor stimulation. These results may suggest that in healthy subjects the long-term effect of smoking is related to abnormal coronary artery vasoactivity, presumably induced by an interplay of regional endothelial dysfunction and autonomic dysregulation. (orig.). With 1 fig., 1 tab.

CO2 emissions and economic activity: Short- and long-run economic determinants of scale, energy intensity and carbon intensity

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Andersson, Fredrik N.G.; Karpestam, Peter

2013-01-01

We analyze the short-term and the long-term determinants of energy intensity, carbon intensity and scale effects for eight developed economies and two emerging economies from 1973 to 2007. Our results show that there is a difference between the short-term and the long-term results and that climate policy are more likely to affect emission over the long-term than over the short-term. Climate policies should therefore be aimed at a time horizon of at least 8 years and year-on-year changes in emissions contains little information about the trend path of emissions. In the long-run capital accumulation is the main driver of emissions. Productivity growth reduces the energy intensity while the real oil price reduces both the energy intensity and the carbon intensity. The real oil price effect suggests that a global carbon tax is an important policy tool to reduce emissions, but our results also suggest that a carbon tax is likely to be insufficient decouple emission from economic growth. Such a decoupling is likely to require a structural transformation of the economy. The key policy challenge is thus to build new economic structures where investments in green technologies are more profitable. - Highlights: • We model determinants of scale, energy intensity and carbon intensity. • Using band spectrum regressions, we separate between short and long run effects. • Different economic variables affect emission in the short and long run. • CO 2 reducing policies should have a long run horizon of (at least 8 years). • A low carbon society requires a structural transformation of the economy

Ambiguity of source location in acoustic emission technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Barat, P.; Mukherjee, P.; Kalyanasundaram, P.; Raj, B.

1996-01-01

Location of acoustic emission (AE) source in a plane is detected from the difference of the arrival times of the AE signal to at least three sensors placed on it. The detected location may not be unique in all cases. In this paper, the condition for the unambiguous solution for the location of the source has been deduced mathematically in terms of arrival times of the AE signal, the coordinate of the three sensors and the acoustic velocity. (author)

Long-term monitoring of molecular markers can distinguish different seasonal patterns of fecal indicating bacteria sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Riedel, Timothy E; Thulsiraj, Vanessa; Zimmer-Faust, Amity G; Dagit, Rosi; Krug, Jenna; Hanley, Kaitlyn T; Adamek, Krista; Ebentier, Darcy L; Torres, Robert; Cobian, Uriel; Peterson, Sophie; Jay, Jennifer A

2015-03-15

Elevated levels of fecal indicator bacteria (FIB) have been observed at Topanga Beach, CA, USA. To identify the FIB sources, a microbial source tracking study using a dog-, a gull- and two human-associated molecular markers was conducted at 10 sites over 21 months. Historical data suggest that episodic discharge from the lagoon at the mouth of Topanga Creek is the main source of bacteria to the beach. A decline in creek FIB/markers downstream from upper watershed development and a sharp increase in FIB/markers at the lagoon sites suggest sources are local to the lagoon. At the lagoon and beach, human markers are detected sporadically, dog marker peaks in abundance mid-winter, and gull marker is chronically elevated. Varied seasonal patterns of FIB and source markers were identified showing the importance of applying a suite of markers over long-term spatial and temporal sampling to identify a complex combination of sources of contamination. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Environmental implications of electricity generation in an integrated long-term planning framework

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Turner, Graham M.; West, James

2012-01-01

Long-term, integrated modelling of electricity generation capacity and its operational requirements is important for coherent energy policy because of the multi-decadal lifespan of such plant, and because related fuel requirements, water consumption, and greenhouse gas emissions impact other sectors. This paper describes a physical model of electricity generation designed for long-term simulations, including the reproduction of decades of historical data, and its application to key policy questions. The simulation uses a dynamic, physical input–output model for the basic material and energy industries, embedded in an economy-wide stocks and flows framework (SFF). The historical reproduction, illustrated for the state of Victoria, is based on integrating bottom-up technical data on physical processes as inputs, and validating output against top-down aggregate data. We show that while greenhouse gas emissions would decrease significantly with the aggressive introduction of cleaner generation technology, long-term reductions are difficult to maintain against ongoing growth in consumption. Additionally, our sensitivity analysis identifies the importance of rapid action due to the age structure of operating power stations. We also identify significant imposts of alternative power generation on land and water resources, though a business-as-usual scenario would impose greater losses of water resources. - Highlights: ► System-wide dynamic analysis is needed to avoid unintended adverse environmental outcomes. ► Dynamics of long-lived plant is important in transitions for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. ► Large gains in GHG emissions efficiency of generation portfolios fail to maintain low emissions.

Estimation of Source Term Behaviors in SBO Sequence in a Typical 1000MWth PWR and Comparison with Other Source Term Results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, Tae Woon; Han, Seok Jung; Ahn, Kwang Il; Fynan, Douglas; Jung, Yong Hoon [KAERI, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

Since the Three Mile Island (TMI) (1979), Chernobyl (1986), Fukushima Daiichi (2011) accidents, the assessment of radiological source term effects on the environment has been a key concern of nuclear safety. In the Fukushima Daiichi accident, the long-term SBO (station blackout) accident occurs. Using the worst case assumptions like in Fukushima accident on the accident sequences and on the availability of safety systems, the thermal hydraulic behaviors, core relocation and environmental source terms behaviors are estimated for long-term SBO accident for OPR-1000 reactor. MELCOR code version 1.8.6 is used in this analysis. Source term results estimated in this study is compared with other previous studies and estimated results in Fukushima accidents in UNSCEAR-2013 report. This study estimated that 11 % of iodine can be released to environment and 2% of cesium can be released to environment. UNSCEAR-2013 report estimated that 2 - 8 % of iodine have been released to environment and 1 - 3 % of cesium have been released to the environment. They have similar results in the aspect of release fractions of iodine and cesium to environment.

Long-term C-CO2 emissions and carbon crop residue mineralization in an oxisol under different tillage and crop rotation systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ben-Hur Costa de Campos

2011-06-01

Full Text Available Soil C-CO2 emissions are sensitive indicators of management system impacts on soil organic matter (SOM. The main soil C-CO2 sources at the soil-plant interface are the decomposition of crop residues, SOM turnover, and respiration of roots and soil biota. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the impacts of tillage and cropping systems on long-term soil C-CO2 emissions and their relationship with carbon (C mineralization of crop residues. A long-term experiment was conducted in a Red Oxisol in Cruz Alta, RS, Brazil, with subtropical climate Cfa (Köppen classification, mean annual precipitation of 1,774 mm and mean annual temperature of 19.2 ºC. Treatments consisted of two tillage systems: (a conventional tillage (CT and (b no tillage (NT in combination with three cropping systems: (a R0- monoculture system (soybean/wheat, (b R1- winter crop rotation (soybean/wheat/soybean/black oat, and (c R2- intensive crop rotation (soybean/ black oat/soybean/black oat + common vetch/maize/oilseed radish/wheat. The soil C-CO2 efflux was measured every 14 days for two years (48 measurements, by trapping the CO2 in an alkaline solution. The soil gravimetric moisture in the 0-0.05 m layer was determined concomitantly with the C-CO2 efflux measurements. The crop residue C mineralization was evaluated with the mesh-bag method, with sampling 14, 28, 56, 84, 112, and 140 days after the beginning of the evaluation period for C measurements. Four C conservation indexes were used to assess the relation between C-CO2 efflux and soil C stock and its compartments. The crop residue C mineralization fit an exponential model in time. For black oat, wheat and maize residues, C mineralization was higher in CT than NT, while for soybean it was similar. Soil moisture was higher in NT than CT, mainly in the second year of evaluation. There was no difference in tillage systems for annual average C-CO2 emissions, but in some individual evaluations, differences between

South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions under business-as-usual: The technical basis of 'Growth without Constraints' in the Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Winkler, Harald; Hughes, Alison; Marquard, Andrew; Haw, Mary; Merven, Bruno

2011-01-01

This article describes the methodology for projecting business-as-usual GHG trajectory developed in technical work for South Africa's Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMSs), in particular the 'Growth without Constraints' (GWCs) scenario. Technically rigorous projections are important as developing countries define their commitment to act on mitigation relative to business-as-usual (BAU). The key drivers for the GWC scenario include GDP (both growth rate and composition), population, discount rate and technological change. GDP emerged as an important driver in the research for LTMS and further analysis. If South Africa's economy grows without constraints over the next few decades, GHG emissions will continue to escalate, multiplying more than four-fold by mid-century. There is little gain in energy efficiency, and emissions continue to be dominated by energy use and supply, the latter remaining coal-based in GWC. We analyse the projections (not predictions) in relation to various measures. The LTMS GWC scenario is compared to other projections, nationally and internationally. A broadly comparable projection is being used at national level, for electricity planning. When compared to projections from international models, we find that the assumptions about GDP growth rates are a key factor, and suggest that comparisons of global data-sets against national analyses is important. - Highlights: → Specifies business-as-usual GHG trajectory for South Africa's Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios. → Provides details on methodology, drivers of emissions and key parameters. → In a scenario of Growth without Constraints, emissions would quadruple by 2050. → Analysis of resulting emission projection, not a prediction. → Compares projections from other national and international models.

Long-term stability of the Clear-PEM detector modules

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amaral, Pedro; Bruyndonckx, Peter; Carrico, Bruno; Ferreira, Miguel; Luyten, Joan; Moura, Rui; Ortigao, Catarina; Rodrigues, Pedro; Silva, Jose C. da; Trindade, Andreia; Varela, Joao

2007-01-01

Experimental evaluation of the imaging system Clear-PEM for positron emission mammography, under development within the framework of the crystal clear collaboration at CERN, is presented in terms of its long-term stability. The detector modules and experimental setup are described. Time evolution results of signal yield, energy resolution, depth-of-interaction and inter-channel crosstalk for a reference detector module are reported

The role of reduced aerosol precursor emissions in driving near-term warming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gillett, Nathan P; Von Salzen, Knut

2013-01-01

The representative concentration pathway (RCP) scenarios all assume stringent emissions controls on aerosols and their precursors, and hence include progressive decreases in aerosol and aerosol precursor emissions through the 21st century. Recent studies have suggested that the resultant decrease in aerosols could drive rapid near-term warming, which could dominate the effects of greenhouse gas (GHG) increases in the coming decades. In CanESM2 simulations, we find that under the RCP 2.6 scenario, which includes the fastest decrease in aerosol and aerosol precursor emissions, the contribution of aerosol reductions to warming between 2000 and 2040 is around 30%. Moreover, the rate of warming in the RCP 2.6 simulations declines gradually from its present-day value as GHG emissions decrease. Thus, while aerosol emission reductions contribute to gradual warming through the 21st century, we find no evidence that aerosol emission reductions drive particularly rapid near-term warming in this scenario. In the near-term, as in the long-term, GHG increases are the dominant driver of warming. (letter)

How effective are energy efficiency and renewable energy in curbing CO2 emissions in the long run? A heterogeneous panel data analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Özbuğday, Fatih Cemil; Erbas, Bahar Celikkol

2015-01-01

Energy efficiency and renewable energy are considered to be two indispensable solutions to control GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions. Moreover, industrialization is at the center of discussions on the roles of countries to reduce CO 2 emissions. However, the literature is underprovided to understand the long run contribution of energy efficiency, renewable energy and industrial composition in reducing GHG emissions at the macro level. In this study, we differentiate the effects of economic activity, energy efficiency, economic structure and use of renewable energy resources on CO 2 emissions. We develop energy efficiency indices for thirty six countries for the period of 1971–2009 and use a CCE (common correlated effects) estimator model that is consistent under heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. We find a positive significant effect of energy efficiency on CO 2 emissions in the long-run. Similarly, substituting renewable energy for non-renewable energy reduces CO 2 emissions in the long-run. Our results ensure widely discussed roles of energy efficiency and renewable energy in curbing CO 2 emissions. Furthermore, the scale of economic activity measured by real income and industrialization have significant positive effect on CO 2 emissions. - Highlights: • We model long-run effects of energy efficiency and renewable energy on CO 2 . • Energy efficiency significantly reduces CO 2 emissions over the long term. • Replacing non-renewable energy sources with renewable ones reduces CO 2 emissions. • CO 2 emissions rise with increases in real income. • Industrial composition affects CO 2 emissions

Long-term cigarette smoking is associated with increased myocardial perfusion heterogeneity assessed by positron emission tomography

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meeder, J.G.; Blanksma, P.K.; Wall, E.E. van der; Anthonio, R.L.; Willemsen, A.T.M.; Pruim, J.; Vaalburg, W.; Lie, K.I.

1996-01-01

The pathophysiology of smoking-related coronary events in patients with normal coronary arteries is incompletely understood. This study was conducted to explore, in subjects without symptoms of cardiovascular disease, the long-term effects of smoking on regional coronary artery vasoactivity, especially during sympathetic stimulation. In ten smoking and ten non-smoking sex- and age-matched healthy volunteers, segmental myocardial perfusion was studied using dynamic parametric nitrogen-13 ammonia positron emission tomography at rest and during sympathetic stimulation evoked by the cold pressor stimulation. Smokers demonstrated a higher myocardial perfusion at rest (116±17 ml/min/100 g vs 96±20 ml/min/100 g, P <0.01) and an impaired myocardial perfusion increase during cold pressor stimulation (1.02±0.15 vs 1.18±0.17, P <0.05). The heterogeneity of perfusion, expressed as coefficient of variation, was significantly different between the smoking and the non-smoking group. The coefficient of variation of segmental myocardial perfusion was higher in smokers at rest (17.5%±4.2% vs 13.5%±1.9%, P <0.05) and during cold pressor stimulation (17.0%±3.2% vs 13.9%±1.8%, P <0.05). We conclude that the long-term effects of smoking in healthy volunteers are associated with (1) increased myocardial perfusion at rest, (2) impaired myocardial perfusion response to cold pressor stimulation, and (3) increased myocardial perfusion heterogeneity both at rest and during cold pressor stimulation. These results may suggest that in healthy subjects the long-term effect of smoking is related to abnormal coronary artery vasoactivity, presumably induced by an interplay of regional endothelial dysfunction and autonomic dysregulation. (orig.). With 1 fig., 1 tab

Electric vehicles and India's low carbon passenger transport: A long-term co-benefits assessment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dhar, Subash; Pathak, Minal; Shukla, Priyadarshi

2017-01-01

Electric vehicles have attracted the attention of India's policy makers as clean technology alternatives due to their multiple advantages like higher efficiency and lower air pollution in short to medium term and reduced CO2 emissions as electricity gets decarbonized in the long-run under low......) are related to sourcing of raw materials for batteries and battery reprocessing and disposal. The findings show that: i) in the reference scenario, the EVs 2-wheelers will achieve a significant share by 2050. Electric 4-wheelers though would have a small share even in 2050; ii) EV push policies though lead...... to significant diffusion of electric 2- wheelers in India by 2030. These policies enhance diffusion of electric 4-wheelers only if financial incentives are sustained in the long-term, iii) the application of global carbon price on the Indian economy in the 2° C stabilization scenario increases competitiveness...

Enhancement of electron emission and long-term stability of tip-type carbon nanotube field emitters via lithium coating

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, Jong-Pil; Chang, Han-Beet; Kim, Bu-Jong; Park, Jin-Seok

2013-01-01

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were deposited on conical tip-type substrates via electrophoresis and coated with lithium (Li) thin films with diverse thicknesses via electroplating. For the as-deposited (i.e., without Li coating) CNT, the turn-on (or triggering) electric field was 0.92 V/μm, and the emission current, which was generated at an applied field of 1.2 V/μm was 56 μA. In the case of the 4.7 nm-thick Li-coated CNT, the turn-on field decreased to 0.65 V/μm and the emission current at the same applied field increased more than ten times to 618 μA. The analysis based on the Kelvin probe measurement and Fowler–Nordheim theory indicated that the coating of Li caused a loss in the structural-aspect-ratio of the CNTs and it reduced their effective work functions from 5.36 eV to 4.90 eV, which led to a great improvement of their electron emission characteristics. The results obtained in this study also showed that the long-term emission stability could be enhanced by the coating of thin Li films on CNTs. - Highlights: ► CNTs are deposited via electrophoretic deposition (EPD). ► Thin films of Li are coated on CNTs via electroplating, without plasma damage. ► Li coating enhanced field emission properties and emission stability of CNTs. ► The effective work functions and field enhancement factors of CNTs are evaluated

Mexico’s Transition to a Net-Zero Emissions Energy System: Near Term Implications of Long Term Stringent Climate Targets

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Solano-Rodríguez, Baltazar; Pizarro Alonso, Amalia Rosa; Vaillancourt, Kathleen

2018-01-01

Mexico has positioned itself as a leader among emerging countries for its efforts to mitigate climate change through ambitious climate policies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the Energy Reform bill approved in 2014 promotes the production of hydrocarbons to develop...... the economy of this sector, as well as the use of natural gas for electricity generation in order to reduce electricity prices in the short term. In 2016, nearly 80% of Mexico’s total electricity was generated by thermal power plants. While natural gas prices stay low, there might be a limited role...... for natural gas to act as a fuel bridge in this sector if the government is to pursue deep decarbonisation targets to 2050. There is a risk that over-investing in gas infrastructure may delay a transition to lower carbon sources, potentially leading to less cost-efficient pathways towards decarbonisation...

2011 NATA - Emissions Sources

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — This dataset includes all emissions sources that were modeled in the 2011 National Air Toxics Assessment (NATA), inlcluding point, nonpoint, and mobile sources, and...

Atmospheric observations and inverse modelling for quantifying emissions of point-source synthetic greenhouse gases in East Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Tim; Manning, Alistair; Li, Shanlan; Kim, Jooil; Park, Sunyoung; Muhle, Jens; Weiss, Ray

2017-04-01

The fluorinated species carbon tetrafluoride (CF4; PFC-14), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and trifluoromethane (CHF3; HFC-23) are potent greenhouse gases with 100-year global warming potentials of 6,630, 16,100 and 12,400, respectively. Unlike the majority of CFC-replacements that are emitted from fugitive and mobile emission sources, these gases are mostly emitted from large single point sources - semiconductor manufacturing facilities (all three), aluminium smelting plants (CF4) and chlorodifluoromethane (HCFC-22) factories (HFC-23). In this work we show that atmospheric measurements can serve as a basis to calculate emissions of these gases and to highlight emission 'hotspots'. We use measurements from one Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) long term monitoring sites at Gosan on Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea. This site measures CF4, NF3 and HFC-23 alongside a suite of greenhouse and stratospheric ozone depleting gases every two hours using automated in situ gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry instrumentation. We couple each measurement to an analysis of air history using the regional atmospheric transport model NAME (Numerical Atmospheric dispersion Modelling Environment) driven by 3D meteorology from the Met Office's Unified Model, and use a Bayesian inverse method (InTEM - Inversion Technique for Emission Modelling) to calculate yearly emission changes over seven years between 2008 and 2015. We show that our 'top-down' emission estimates for NF3 and CF4 are significantly larger than 'bottom-up' estimates in the EDGAR emissions inventory (edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu). For example we calculate South Korean emissions of CF4 in 2010 to be 0.29±0.04 Gg/yr, which is significantly larger than the Edgar prior emissions of 0.07 Gg/yr. Further, inversions for several separate years indicate that emission hotspots can be found without prior spatial information. At present these gases make a small contribution to global radiative forcing, however, given

Designing indicators of long-term energy supply security

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jansen, J.C.; Van Arkel, W.G.; Boots, M.G.

2004-01-01

To our knowledge, so far amazingly little research work has been undertaken to construct meaningful indicators of long-run energy supply security for a particular nation or region. Currently, in addressing energy supply security, policy makers tend to emphasise short-term supply disruptions. In contrast, this pre-study accords with the broader Sustainability Outlook in considering the long-term perspective. This report starts with taking stock, in a concise way, of the official EU energy outlook and issues related to the opportunities to administer changes in the energy mix at the level of major energy use categories. Then a brief survey of relevant literature is made on long-term strategies to ensure survival of systems - be it biological, social, etc. - in an environment largely characterised by high uncertainty and a lot of unchartered territory. We found the work of Andrew Stirling very inspiring in this context. Based on his work and considering the limitations of the present research activity, we retained the Shannon index as the best 'simple' indicator of diversity. In the core of the report, the Shannon index is elaborated into four indicators of long-term energy supply security. Stepwise, additional aspects of long-term energy supply security are introduced. These aspects are: Diversification of energy sources in energy supply; Diversification of imports with respect to imported energy sources; Long-term political stability in regions of origin; The resource base in regions of origin, including the home region/country itself. After small adjustments to allow for data availability, these indicators were applied to the reference year 2030 of four long-term scenarios with data of base year 1995 and projections for underlying variables provided by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (MNP). Preliminary interpretation of the results suggests the usefulness of the indicators presented in this report. A second activity undertaken in this report was

Extremely Bright GRB 160625B with Multiple Emission Episodes: Evidence for Long-term Ejecta Evolution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lü, Hou-Jun; Lü, Jing; Zhong, Shu-Qing; Huang, Xiao-Li; Zhang, Hai-Ming; Lan, Lin; Lu, Rui-Jing; Liang, En-Wei [Guangxi Key Laboratory for Relativistic Astrophysics, Department of Physics, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004 (China); Xie, Wei, E-mail: lhj@gxu.edu.edu, E-mail: lew@gxu.edu.cn [School of Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan 430074 (China)

2017-11-01

GRB 160625B is an extremely bright GRB with three distinct emission episodes. By analyzing its data observed with the Gamma-Ray Burst Monitor (GBM) and Large Area Telescope (LAT) on board the Fermi mission, we find that a multicolor blackbody (mBB) model can be used to fit very well the spectra of the initial short episode (Episode I) within the hypothesis of photosphere emission of a fireball model. The time-resolved spectra of its main episode (Episode II), which was detected with both GBM and LAT after a long quiescent stage (∼180 s) following the initial episode, can be fitted with a model comprising an mBB component plus a cutoff power-law (CPL) component. This GRB was detected again in the GBM and LAT bands with a long extended emission (Episode III) after a quiescent period of ∼300 s. The spectrum of Episode III is adequately fitted with CPL plus single power-law models, and no mBB component is required. These features may imply that the emission of the three episodes are dominated by distinct physics processes, i.e., Episode I is possible from the cocoon emission surrounding the relativistic jet, Episode II may be from photosphere emission and internal shock of the relativistic jet, and Episode III is contributed by internal and external shocks of the relativistic jet. On the other hand, both X-ray and optical afterglows are consistent with the standard external shocks model.

Long-term variability of dust-storms in Iceland

Science.gov (United States)

Dagsson-Waldhauserová, Pavla; Ólafsson, Haraldur; Arnalds, Ólafur

2013-04-01

Iceland is a volcanic island in the North Atlantic Ocean with maritime climate. In spite of moist climate, large areas are with limited vegetation cover where >40% of Iceland is classified with considerable to very severe erosion and 21% of Iceland are volcanic sandy deserts. Natural emissions from these sources influenced by strong winds affect not only regional air quality in Iceland ("Reykjavik haze") but dust particles are transported over the Atlantic ocean and Arctic Ocean > 1000 km at times. The study places Icelandic dust production area into international perspective, present long term frequency of dust storm events in NE Iceland, and estimate dust aerosol concentrations during reported dust events. Meteorological observations with dust presence codes and related visibility were used to identify the frequency and the long-term changes in dust production in NE Iceland. There were annually 16.4 days on average with reported dust observations on weather stations within the NE erosion area, indicating extreme dust plume activity and erosion within the NE deserts, even though the area is covered with snow during the major part of winter. During the 2000s the highest occurrence of dust events in six decades was reported. We have measured saltation and aeolian transport during dust/volcanic ash storms in Iceland which give some of the most intense wind erosion events ever measured. Icelandic dust affects the ecosystems over much of Iceland and causes regional haze. It is likely to affect the ecosystems of the oceans around Iceland, and it brings dust that lowers the albedo of the Icelandic glaciers, increasing melt-off due to global warming. The study indicates that Icelandic dust is not only a substantial source for regional air pollution, but may be considered to contribute to the Arctic haze phenomena and Arctic air pollution.

Record high peaks in PCB concentrations in the Arctic atmosphere due to long-range transport of biomass burning emissions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Eckhardt

2007-08-01

Full Text Available Soils and forests in the boreal region of the Northern Hemisphere are recognised as having a large capacity for storing air-borne Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs, such as the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs. Following reductions of primary emissions of various legacy POPs, there is an increasing interest and debate about the relative importance of secondary re-emissions on the atmospheric levels of POPs. In spring of 2006, biomass burning emissions from agricultural fires in Eastern Europe were transported to the Zeppelin station on Svalbard, where record-high levels of many air pollutants were recorded (Stohl et al., 2007. Here we report on the extremely high concentrations of PCBs that were also measured during this period. 21 out of 32 PCB congeners were enhanced by more than two standard deviations above the long-term mean concentrations. In July 2004, about 5.8 million hectare of boreal forest burned in North America, emitting a pollution plume which reached the Zeppelin station after a travel time of 3–4 weeks (Stohl et al., 2006. Again, 12 PCB congeners were elevated above the long-term mean by more than two standard deviations, with the less chlorinated congeners being most strongly affected. We propose that these abnormally high concentrations were caused by biomass burning emissions. Based on enhancement ratios with carbon monoxide and known emissions factors for this species, we estimate that 130 and 66 μg PCBs were released per kilogram dry matter burned, respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first study relating atmospheric PCB enhancements with biomass burning. The strong effects on observed concentrations far away from the sources, suggest that biomass burning is an important source of PCBs for the atmosphere.

Paris and its long-term temperature goal: First steps on a long road

Science.gov (United States)

Rogelj, J.

2017-12-01

As a means to achieve its long-term temperature goal, the Paris Agreement put in place a system of regularly updated country pledges alternating with global stocktaking exercises that assess progress towards achieving the Paris goals. By now, the vast majority of countries have submitted their intended actions (also known as Nationally Determined Contributions - NDCs). This begs the question what these amount to and whether they are in line with the agreement`s long-term temperature goal. A structured sensitivity analysis of the emissions implications of the Paris pledges has been carried out, showing that the ambiguity and imprecision of the NDCs leaves open a wide range of possible outcomes by 2030. This range has important implications for the feasibility and cost of pathways that attempt to limit warming to the temperature goals of the Agreement. We identify salient steps to reduce the overall uncertainty, and explore the minimum requirements that have to be met for integrated energy-economy-land models to still find options to stay within the temperature limits of the Paris Agreement. These requirements come under the form of near-term emissions reductions, and assumptions about the deployment of carbon-dioxide removal technologies in the second half of the century.

Air pollutant emission rates for sources at the Davis Canyon Repository site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-11-01

This document summarizes the air-quality source terms used for the Davis Canyon, Utah environmental assessment report and explains their derivation. The engineering data supporting these source terms appear as appendixes to the report and include summary equipment lists for the repository (December, 1984) and detailed equipment lists for the exploratory shaft (June and July, 1985). Although substantial work has been performed in establishing the current repository design, a greater effort will be required for the final design. Consequently, the repository emission rates presented here should be considered as preliminary estimates. Another set of air pollutant emission rates will be calculated after design data are more firmly established. 19 refs., 18 tabs

Early Soft X-Ray to UV Emission from Double Neutron Star Mergers: Implications from the Long-term Observations of GW170817

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiang-Yu; Huang, Zhi-Qiu

2018-01-01

Recent long-term radio follow-up observations of GW170817 reveal a simple power-law rising light curve, with a slope of {t}0.78, up to 93 days after the merger. The latest X-ray detection at 109 days is also consistent with such a temporal slope. Such a shallow rise behavior requires a mildly relativistic outflow with a steep velocity gradient profile, so that slower material with larger energy catches up with the decelerating ejecta and re-energizes it. It has been suggested that this mildly relativistic outflow may represent a cocoon of material. We suggest that the velocity gradient profile may form during the stage that the cocoon is breaking out of the merger ejecta, resulting from shock propagation down a density gradient. The cooling of the hot relativistic cocoon material immediately after it breaks out should have produced soft X-ray to UV radiation at tens of seconds to hours after the merger. The soft X-ray emission has a luminosity of {L}{{X}}∼ {10}45 {erg} {{{s}}}-1 over a period of tens of seconds for a merger event like GW170817. The UV emission shows a rise initially and peaks at about a few hours with a luminosity of {L}{UV}∼ {10}42 {erg} {{{s}}}-1. The soft X-ray transients could be detected by future wide-angle X-ray detectors, such as the Chinese mission Einstein Probe. This soft X-ray/UV emission would serve as one of the earliest electromagnetic counterparts of gravitation waves from double neutron star mergers and could provide the earliest localization of the sources.

Source emission and model evaluation of formaldehyde from composite and solid wood furniture in a full-scale chamber

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiaoyu; Mason, Mark A.; Guo, Zhishi; Krebs, Kenneth A.; Roache, Nancy F.

2015-12-01

This paper describes the measurement and model evaluation of formaldehyde source emissions from composite and solid wood furniture in a full-scale chamber at different ventilation rates for up to 4000 h using ASTM D 6670-01 (2007). Tests were performed on four types of furniture constructed of different materials and from different manufacturers. The data were used to evaluate two empirical emission models, i.e., a first-order and power-law decay model. The experimental results showed that some furniture tested in this study, made only of solid wood and with less surface area, had low formaldehyde source emissions. The effect of ventilation rate on formaldehyde emissions was also examined. Model simulation results indicated that the power-law decay model showed better agreement than the first-order decay model for the data collected from the tests, especially for long-term emissions. This research was limited to a laboratory study with only four types of furniture products tested. It was not intended to comprehensively test or compare the large number of furniture products available in the market place. Therefore, care should be taken when applying the test results to real-world scenarios. Also, it was beyond the scope of this study to link the emissions to human exposure and potential health risks.

Long-term storage life of light source modules by temperature cycling accelerated life test

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun Ningning; Tan Manqing; Li Ping; Jiao Jian; Guo Xiaofeng; Guo Wentao

2014-01-01

Light source modules are the most crucial and fragile devices that affect the life and reliability of the interferometric fiber optic gyroscope (IFOG). While the light emitting chips were stable in most cases, the module packaging proved to be less satisfactory. In long-term storage or the working environment, the ambient temperature changes constantly and thus the packaging and coupling performance of light source modules are more likely to degrade slowly due to different materials with different coefficients of thermal expansion in the bonding interface. A constant temperature accelerated life test cannot evaluate the impact of temperature variation on the performance of a module package, so the temperature cycling accelerated life test was studied. The main failure mechanism affecting light source modules is package failure due to solder fatigue failure including a fiber coupling shift, loss of cooling efficiency and thermal resistor degradation, so the Norris-Landzberg model was used to model solder fatigue life and determine the activation energy related to solder fatigue failure mechanism. By analyzing the test data, activation energy was determined and then the mean life of light source modules in different storage environments with a continuously changing temperature was simulated, which has provided direct reference data for the storage life prediction of IFOG. (semiconductor devices)

Group long-term care insurance: decision-making factors and implications for financing long-term care.

Science.gov (United States)

Stum, Marlene S

2008-01-01

This study proposes and tests a systemic family decision-making framework to understand group long-term care insurance (LTCI) enrollment decisions. A random sample of public employees who were offered group LTCI as a workplace benefit were examined. Findings reveal very good predictive efficacy for the overall conceptual framework with a pseudo R2 value of .687, and reinforced the contributions of factors within the family system. Enrollees were more likely to have discussed the decision with others, used information sources, and had prior experience when compared to non-enrollees. Perceived health status, financial knowledge, attitudes regarding the role of private insurance, risk taking, and coverage features were additional factors related to enrollment decisions. The findings help to inform policymakers about the potential of LTCI as one strategy for financing long-term care.

Air pollutant emission rates for sources at the Deaf Smith County repository site

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1985-11-01

This document summarizes the air-quality source terms used for the Deaf Smith County, Texas environmental assessment report and explains their derivation. The engineering data supporting these source terms appear as appendixes to this report and include summary equipment lists for the repository and detailed equipment lists for the exploratory shaft. Although substantial work has been performed in establishing the current repository design, a greater effort will be required for the final design. Consequently, the repository emission rates presented here should be considered as preliminary estimates. Another set of air pollution emission rates will be calculated after design data are more firmly established. 18 refs., 15 tabs

The long-term impact of urbanization on nitrogen patterns and dynamics in Shanghai, China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu Baojing; Dong Xiaoli; Peng Changhui; Luo Weidong; Chang Jie; Ge Ying

2012-01-01

Urbanization is an important process that alters the regional and global nitrogen biogeochemistry. In this study, we test how long-term urbanization (1952–2004) affects the nitrogen flows, emissions and drivers in the Greater Shanghai Area (GSA) based on the coupled human and natural systems (CHANS) approach. Results show that: (1) total nitrogen input to the GSA increased from 57.7 to 587.9 Gg N yr −1 during the period 1952–2004, mainly attributing to fossil fuel combustion (43%), Haber–Bosch nitrogen fixation (31%), and food/feed import (26%); (2) per capita nitrogen input increased from 13.5 to 45.7 kg N yr −1 , while per gross domestic product (GDP) nitrogen input reduced from 22.2 to 0.9 g N per Chinese Yuan, decoupling of nitrogen with GDP; (3) emissions of reactive nitrogen to the environment transformed from agriculture dominated to industry and human living dominated, especially for air pollution. This study provides decision-makers a novel view of nitrogen management. - Highlights: ► Major Nr emission source shifts from agriculture to industry alongside urbanization. ► Decoupling of nitrogen with GDP and urban expansion arises alongside urbanization. ► Nitrogen fluxes increase with population growth and living standard promotion. - Major nitrogen emission source shifts from agriculture to industry and human, and decoupling of nitrogen with GDP and urban expansion arises alongside urbanization.

Development and Deployment of Mobile Emissions Laboratory for Continuous Long-Term Unattended Measurements of Greenhouse Gases, Fluxes, Isotopes and Pollutants

Science.gov (United States)

Gardner, A.; Baer, D. S.; Owano, T. G.; Provencal, R. A.; Gupta, M.; Parsotam, V.; Graves, P.; Goldstein, A.; Guha, A.

2010-12-01

Development and Deployment of Mobile Emissions Laboratory for Continuous Long-Term Unattended Measurements of Greenhouse Gases, Fluxes, Isotopes and Pollutants A. Gardner(1), D. Baer (1), T. Owano (1), R. Provencal (1), V. Parsotam (1), P. Graves (1), M. Gupta (1), Allen Goldstein (2), Abhinav Guha (2) (1) Los Gatos Research, 67 East Evelyn Avenue, Suite 3, Mountain View, CA 94041-1529 (2) Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California at Berkeley Quantifying the Urban Fossil Fuel Plume: Convergence of top-down and bottom-up approaches (Session A54). We report on the design, development and deployment of a novel Mobile Emissions Laboratory, consisting of innovative laser-based gas analyzers, for rapid measurements of multiple greenhouse gases and pollutants. Designed for real-time mobile and stationery emissions monitoring, the Mobile Emissions Laboratory was deployed at several locations during 2010, including CalNEX 2010, Caldecott Tunnel (Oakland, CA), and Altamont Landfill (Livermore, CA), to record real-time continuous measurements of isotopic CO2 (δ13C, CO2), methane (CH4), acetylene (C2H2), nitrous oxide (N2O), carbon monoxide (CO), and isotopic water vapor (H2O; δ18O, δ2H). The commercial gas analyzers are based on novel cavity-enhanced laser absorption spectroscopy. The portable analyzers provide measurements in real time, require about 150 watts (each) of power and do not need liquid nitrogen to operate. These instruments have been applied in the field for applications that require high data rates (for eddy correlation flux), wide dynamic range (e.g., for chamber flux and other applications with concentrations that can be 10-1000 times higher than typical ambient levels) and highest accuracy (atmospheric monitoring stations). The Mobile Emissions Laboratory, which contains onboard batteries for long-term unattended measurements without access to mains power, can provide regulatory agencies, monitoring stations

Economical comparison of imported energy sources in terms of long-term production planning

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gungor, Z.

1999-01-01

In this paper, the Turkish energy production sector is studied and power plants fueled by natural gas, imported coal and nuclear power are compared in terms of long-term (1996-2010) production economy. A net present value is used for comparing nuclear, coal and natural gas power plants. A scenario approach is utilized in establishing the effects of different factors, such as inflation rate, unit of investment costs, load factor change, discount rate and fuel price changes. Six different scenarios of interest are developed and discussed. The study ends with conclusions and recommendations based on a study of a reference scenario and alternative scenarios. (author)

Strategies to meet the need for long-term data.

Science.gov (United States)

Chalmers, John; Woodward, Mark; Borghi, Claudio; Manolis, Athanasios; Mancia, Giuseppe

2016-08-01

Chronic diseases afflict patients for many years, often to the end of life, and there is increasing need for estimating lifelong risk and for evaluating the effects of treatment in the long term. Yet recommendations for lifelong treatment are most frequently based on findings from randomized clinical trials lasting only a few years. There is therefore a clear need for much longer term data, and here we present the advantages and disadvantages of many strategies, including the use of long-term posttrial follow-up, of long-term prospective cohort studies, registry databases, and of administrative databases. We also emphasize the need for long-term cost-effectiveness studies. One of the most promising strategies comes from linkage of data gathered through the ever-expanding pool of administrative databases worldwide with data from other sources, including randomized trials and the many forms of observational study.

Opening remarks for a panel discussion on short-term vs long-term procurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courtenay, R.H.

1990-01-01

Long-term contracting in the late 1970's and early 1980's is blamed for some of the inequities that plague the uranium industry today. Utilities are obliged to pay prices far above prevailing levels and relatively low cost producers are forced to shut down while watching less efficient suppliers stay in business thanks to their long term supply agreements. Furthermore, it is argued that long-term contracts have contributed to supply instability by forcing the buildup of surplus inventories and by supporting excess incremental production by suppliers who have a baseload of long-term contracts. The depressed prices resulting from this oversupply are in turn jeopardizing future resource development and damaging supply reliability. In summary, the author's argument is that supply reliability will be greatly enhanced by the assurance of adequate primary supply from traditional sources such as Canada. This will not happen without long-term contracts. This conclusion may not be expected coming from a representative of Canada's largest uranium producer. But the final comment is less self serving. Many of the critics of long term contracts apparently expect a continuing and plentiful supply of East Bloc uranium to the spot market. A further question is to what extent East Bloc suppliers will eventually require long-term contracts in order to maintain production facilitates in economies that are no longer centrally planned, and where there is open competition for capital. Ultimately, reliability of supply from the non-traditional suppliers may also depend on long-term contracts

Long GRBs sources population non-uniformity

Science.gov (United States)

Arkhangelskaja, Irene

Long GRBs observed in the very wide energy band. It is possible to separate two subsets of GRBs with high energy component (E > 500 MeV) presence. First type events energy spectra in low and high energy intervals are similar (as for GRB 021008) and described by Band, power law or broken power law models look like to usual bursts without emission in tens MeV region. For example, Band spectrum of GRB080916C covering 6 orders of magnitude. Second ones contain new additional high energy spectral component (for example, GRB 050525B and GRB 090902B). Both types of GRBs observed since CGRO mission beginning. The low energy precursors existence are typical for all types bursts. Both types of bursts temporal profiles can be similar in the various energy regions during some events or different in other cases. The absence of hard to soft evolution in low energy band and (or) presence of high energy precursors for some events are the special features of second class of GRBs by the results of preliminary data analysis and this facts gives opportunities to suppose differences between these two GRBs subsets sources. Also the results of long GRB redshifts distribution analysis have shown its shape contradiction to uniform population objects one for our Metagalaxy to both total and various redshifts definition methods GRBs sources samples. These evidences allow making preliminary conclusion about non-uniformity of long GRBs sources population.

Long-term no-tillage application increases soil organic carbon, nitrous oxide emissions and faba bean (Vicia faba L.) yields under rain-fed Mediterranean conditions.

Science.gov (United States)

Badagliacca, Giuseppe; Benítez, Emilio; Amato, Gaetano; Badalucco, Luigi; Giambalvo, Dario; Laudicina, Vito Armando; Ruisi, Paolo

2018-05-20

The introduction of legumes into crop sequences and the reduction of tillage intensity are both proposed as agronomic practices to mitigate the soil degradation and negative impact of agriculture on the environment. However, the joint effects of these practices on nitrous oxide (N 2 O) and ammonia (NH 3 ) emissions from soil remain unclear, particularly concerning semiarid Mediterranean areas. In the frame of a long-term field experiment (23 years), a 2-year study was performed on the faba bean (Vicia faba L.) to evaluate the effects of the long-term use of no tillage (NT) compared to conventional tillage (CT) on yield and N 2 O and NH 3 emissions from a Vertisol in a semiarid Mediterranean environment. Changes induced by the tillage system in soil bulk density, water filled pore space (WFPS), organic carbon (TOC) and total nitrogen (TN), denitrifying enzyme activity (DEA), and bacterial gene (16S, amoA, and nosZ) abundance were measured as parameters potentially affecting N gas emissions. No tillage, compared with CT, significantly increased the faba bean grain yield by 23%. The tillage system had no significant effect on soil NH 3 emissions. Total N 2 O emissions, averaged over two cropping seasons, were higher in NT than those in CT plots (2.58 vs 1.71 kg N 2 O-N ha -1 , respectively; P emissions in NT plots were ascribed to the increase of soil bulk density and WFPS, bacteria (16S abundance was 96% higher in NT than that in CT) and N cycle genes (amoA and nosZ abundances were respectively 154% and 84% higher in NT than that in CT). The total N 2 O emissions in faba bean were similar to those measured in other N-fertilized crops. In conclusion, a full evaluation of NT technique, besides the benefits on soil characteristics (e.g. TOC increase) and crop yield, must take into account some criticisms related to the increase of N 2 O emissions compared to CT. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Possible Role of NPP in Long Term Low Carbon Development Strategy - Case Study Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomsic, Z.; Rajsl, I.; Filipovic, M.

2016-01-01

The term low - carbon development strategies (LEDS) was developed on the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2008. LEDS used to describe a long-term national economic development plans or strategies that include low emissions and economic growth resistant to climate change. The concept of Low Carbon Development Strategies (LCDS) has been introduced by the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC as a common but differentiated approach to meet the overall emissions reduction objectives: 'All countries shall prepare Low Emission Development Strategies - nationally-driven and represent[ing] the aims and objectives of individual Parties in accordance with national circumstances and capacities' (Cancun Agreement). Low Carbon Development Strategies (LCDS) in this way become an overarching framework to design and achieve Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) reflecting the Common but Differentiated Responsibilities (CBDR) of all countries. For Long-Term National Strategy and Action Plan for Low-Carbon Development the main objective of this programme is the development of a long-term national strategy and action plan for low-carbon development to enable country to fulfil its commitment to carbon obligations. Low-carbon development strategy will become the fundamental for the development of the energy with low rate of carbon, but also for the entire economy. European Union is the leader in the effort to reduce emissions especially in the energy sector as the sector with the highest rate of emission. With the goal of reducing emissions, necessary measures are accentuated for energy in the EU Countries, as well as in Croatia. It will be presented the possibilities for realization of Croatian low-carbon development and particularly possible role and barriers for Nuclear power plants for Low carbon emissions development in the electricity sector until 2050. (author).

Source mechanism of Saturn narrowband emission

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. D. Menietti

2010-04-01

Full Text Available Narrowband emission (NB is observed at Saturn centered near 5 kHz and 20 kHz and harmonics. This emission appears similar in many ways to Jovian kilometric narrowband emission observed at higher frequencies, and therefore may have a similar source mechanism. Source regions of NB near 20 kHz are believed to be located near density gradients in the inner magnetosphere and the emission appears to be correlated with the occurrence of large neutral plasma clouds observed in the Saturn magnetotail. In this work we present the results of a growth rate analysis of NB emission (~20 kHz near or within a probable source region. This is made possible by the sampling of in-situ wave and particle data. The results indicate waves are likely to be generated by the mode-conversion of directly generated Z-mode emission to O-mode near a density gradient. When the local hybrid frequency is close n fce (n is an integer and fce is the electron cyclotron frequency with n=4, 5 or 6 in our case, electromagnetic Z-mode and weak ordinary (O-mode emission can be directly generated by the cyclotron maser instability.

Long-term greenhouse gas emission and petroleum reduction goals: Evolutionary pathways for the light-duty vehicle sector

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kromer, Matthew A.; Bandivadekar, Anup; Evans, Christopher

2010-01-01

To meet long-term environmental and energy security goals, the United States must reduce petroleum use in the light-duty vehicle fleet by 70% and greenhouse gas emissions by a factor of ten compared to business-as-usual growth projections for the year 2050. A wedge-based approach was used to quantify the scope of the problem in real terms, and to develop options for meeting mid-century targets. Four mitigation mechanisms were considered: (1) improvements in near-term vehicle technologies; (2) emphasis on low-carbon biofuels; (3) de-carbonization of the electric grid; and (4) demand-side travel-reduction initiatives. Projections from previous studies were used to characterize the potential of individual mitigation mechanisms, which were then integrated into a light-duty vehicle fleet model; particular emphasis was given to systemic constraints on scale and rates of change. Based on these projections, two different greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation implementation plans were considered ('evolutionary' and 'aggressive'). Fleet model projections indicate that both the evolutionary and aggressive approaches can effectively end US dependence on foreign oil, but achieving an 80% GHG reduction requires changes that extend significantly beyond even the aggressive case, which was projected to achieve a 65% reduction.

Atmospheric observations for quantifying emissions of point-source synthetic greenhouse gases (CF4, NF3 and HFC-23)

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Tim; Manning, Alistair J.; Li, Shanlan; Kim, Jooil; Park, Sunyoung; Fraser, Paul J.; Mitrevski, Blagoj; Steele, L. Paul; Krummel, Paul B.; Mühle, Jens; Weiss, Ray F.

2016-04-01

The fluorinated species carbon tetrafluoride (CF4; PFC-14), nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) and trifluoromethane (CHF3; HFC-23) are potent greenhouse gases with 100-year global warming potentials of 6,630, 16,100 and 12,400, respectively. Unlike the majority of CFC-replacement compounds that are emitted from fugitive and mobile emission sources, these gases are largely emitted from large single point sources - semiconductor manufacturing facilities (all three), aluminium smelting plants (CF4) and chlorodifluoromethane factories (HFC-23). In this work we show the potential for atmospheric measurements to understand regional sources of these gases and to highlight emission 'hotspots'. We target our analysis on measurements from two Advanced Global Atmospheric Gases Experiment (AGAGE) long term monitoring sites that are particularly sensitive to regional emissions of these gases: Gosan on Jeju Island in the Republic of Korea and Cape Grim on Tasmania in Australia. These sites measure CF4, NF3 and HFC-23 alongside a suite of greenhouse and stratospheric ozone depleting gases every two hours using automated in situ gas-chromatography mass-spectrometry instrumentation. We couple each measurement to an analysis of air history using the regional atmospheric transport model NAME (Numerical Atmospheric dispersion Modelling Environment) driven by 3D meteorology from the Met Office's Unified Model, and use a Bayesian inverse method (InTEM - Inversion Technique for Emission Modelling) to calculate yearly emission changes over a decade (2005-2015) at high spatial resolution. At present these gases make a small contribution to global radiative forcing, however, given that their impact could rise significantly and that point sources of such gases can be mitigated, atmospheric monitoring could be an important tool for aiding emissions reduction policy.

Emission sources in scanning electron microscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Malkusch, W.

1990-01-01

Since the beginning of the commercial scanning electron microscopy, there are two kinds of emission sources generally used for generation of the electron beam. The first group covers the cathodes heated directly and indirectly (tungsten hair-needle cathodes and lanthanum hexaboride single crystals, LaB 6 cathode). The other group is the field emission cathodes. The advantages of the thermal sources are their low vacuum requirement and their high beam current which is necessary for the application of microanalysis units. Disadvantages are the short life and the low resolution. Advantages of the field emission cathode unambiguously are the possibilities of the very high resolution, especially in the case of low acceleration voltages. Disadvantages are the necessary ultra-high vacuum and the low beam current. An alternative source is the thermally induced ZrO/W field emission cathode which works stably as compared to the cold field emission and does not need periodic flashing for emitter tip cleaning. (orig.) [de

Long-term monitoring on environmental disasters using multi-source remote sensing technique

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Y. C.; Chen, C. F.

2017-12-01

Environmental disasters are extreme events within the earth's system that cause deaths and injuries to humans, as well as causing damages and losses of valuable assets, such as buildings, communication systems, farmlands, forest and etc. In disaster management, a large amount of multi-temporal spatial data is required. Multi-source remote sensing data with different spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions is widely applied on environmental disaster monitoring. With multi-source and multi-temporal high resolution images, we conduct rapid, systematic and seriate observations regarding to economic damages and environmental disasters on earth. It is based on three monitoring platforms: remote sensing, UAS (Unmanned Aircraft Systems) and ground investigation. The advantages of using UAS technology include great mobility and availability in real-time rapid and more flexible weather conditions. The system can produce long-term spatial distribution information from environmental disasters, obtaining high-resolution remote sensing data and field verification data in key monitoring areas. It also supports the prevention and control on ocean pollutions, illegally disposed wastes and pine pests in different scales. Meanwhile, digital photogrammetry can be applied on the camera inside and outside the position parameters to produce Digital Surface Model (DSM) data. The latest terrain environment information is simulated by using DSM data, and can be used as references in disaster recovery in the future.

Shifting Global Climate Governance: Creating Long-Term Goals Through UNFCCC Article 2

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. Brian Fisher

2011-12-01

Full Text Available I argue that the long-term risk of global climate change has been mischaracterized as an environmental issue, and therefore, solutions based solely on national emission targets will be ineffective. Thus, this paper argues for establishing long-term goals emphasizing both adaptation and clean energy to generate equitable and effective global climate policy that addresses this fundamental threat. This requires defining and operationalizing the overall objective contained in Article 2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. A second key aspect to operationalizing Article 2 is to understand those ‘particularly vulnerable’ as declared in the Article and in various climate agreements. Once operationalized, these long-term objectives can be achieved through approaches that emphasize the development of clean energy (and concomitant technology, and adaptation within vulnerable communities in their local context. It necessitates dropping formal mechanisms at the current core of the regime designed to regulate national emissions, and instead build the core of the regime around the ‘stabilization’ of both the climate system through clean energy and vulnerable people through effective adaptation.

Noise source emissions, Richton Dome site, Mississippi

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

Noise source data and use factors for modeling the environmental noise environment expected from salt-site repository activity were provided by Battelle Columbus Division. This report has been prepared for the purpose of documenting the development of the data provided to the Repository Project Management (RPM) organization. The data provided encompasses all phases of activity, from site preparation through construction of the exploratory shaft facility (ESF). Noise environments expected from construction and operation of transportation corridors associated with the activity were also modeled. Data for the construction of transportation corridors were provided. The equipment inventory, including sound-power levels for each item is included as Appendix A. Emission source terms provided by Parsons Brinckerhoff/PB-KBB for the ESF were used as a basis for the noise source emission inventory development. Where available, research results containing complete spectra were used. In cases where complete data were not available, a sound-pressure spectrum was synthesized from a characteristic spectrum shape from a similar piece of equipment. For example, a front-shovel excavator might be approximated by data from a front-end loader of similar horsepower range. Sound-power-level spectra were then calculated from the sound-pressure-level data. 14 refs

Household Solar Photovoltaics: Supplier of Marginal Abatement, or Primary Source of Low-Emission Power?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Graham Palmer

2013-03-01

Full Text Available With declining system costs and assuming a short energy payback period, photovoltaics (PV should, at face value, be able to make a meaningful contribution to reducing the emission intensity of Australia’s electricity system. However, solar is an intermittent power source and households remain completely dependent on a “less than green” electricity grid for reliable electricity. Further, much of the energy impact of PV occurs outside of the conventional boundaries of PV life-cycle analyses (LCA. This paper examines these competing observations and explores the broader impacts of a high penetration of household PV using Melbourne, Victoria as a reference. It concludes that in a grid dominated by unsequestered coal and gas, PV provides a legitimate source of emission abatement at high, but declining costs, with the potential for network and peak demand support. It may be technically possible to integrate a high penetration of PV, but the economic and energy cost of accommodating high-penetration PV erodes much of the benefits. Future developments in PV, storage, and integration technologies may allow PV to take on a greater long term role, but in the time horizon usually discussed in climate policy, a large-scale expansion of household PV may hinder rather than assist deep cuts to the emission intensity of Australia’s electricity system.

Audit of long-term and short-term liabilities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Korinko M.D.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article determines the importance of long-term and short-term liabilities for the management of financial and material resources of an enterprise. It reviews the aim, objects and information generators for realization of audit of short-term and long-term obligations. The organizing and methodical providing of audit of long-term and short-term liabilities of an enterprise are generalized. The authors distinguish the stages of realization of audit of long-term and short-term liabilities, the aim of audit on each of the presented stages, and recommend methodical techniques. It is fixed that it is necessary to conduct the estimation of the systems of internal control and record-keeping of an enterprise by implementation of public accountant procedures for determination of volume and maintenance of selection realization. After estimating the indicated systems, a public accountant determines the methodology for realization of public accountant verification of long-term and short-term liabilities. The analytical procedures that public accountants are expedient to use for realization of audit of short-term and long-term obligations are determined. The authors suggest the classification of the educed defects on the results of the conducted public accountant verification of short-term and long-term obligations.

Russia's black carbon emissions: focus on diesel sources

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Kholod

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Black carbon (BC is a significant climate forcer with a particularly pronounced forcing effect in polar regions such as the Russian Arctic. Diesel combustion is a major global source of BC emissions, accounting for 25–30 % of all BC emissions. While the demand for diesel is growing in Russia, the country's diesel emissions are poorly understood. This paper presents a detailed inventory of Russian BC emissions from diesel sources. Drawing on a complete Russian vehicle registry with detailed information about vehicle types and emission standards, this paper analyzes BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles. We use the COPERT emission model (COmputer Programme to calculate Emissions from Road Transport with Russia-specific emission factors for all types of on-road vehicles. On-road diesel vehicles emitted 21 Gg of BC in 2014: heavy-duty trucks account for 60 % of the on-road BC emissions, while cars represent only 5 % (light commercial vehicles and buses account for the remainder. Using Russian activity data and fuel-based emission factors, the paper also presents BC emissions from diesel locomotives and ships, off-road engines in industry, construction and agriculture, and generators. The study also factors in the role of superemitters in BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles and off-road sources. The total emissions from diesel sources in Russia are estimated to be 49 Gg of BC and 17 Gg of organic carbon (OC in 2014. Off-road diesel sources emitted 58 % of all diesel BC in Russia.

Derivation of radioecological parameters from the long-term emission of iodine-129. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Michel, R.; Klipsch, K.; Ernst, T.; Gorny, M.; Jakob, D.; Vahlbruch, J.; Synal, H.A.; Schnabel, C.

2004-01-01

In this project, the distribution and behaviour of 129 I and 127 I in the environment and its pathways through the environment to man were comprehensively investigated in order to provide a basis for estimating the radiation exposure to man due to releases of 129 I. To this end, the actual situation in Lower Saxony, Germany, was studied for exemplary regions near to and far from the coast of the North Sea. Accelerator mass spectrometry, radiochemical neutron activation analysis, ion chromatography, and ICP-MS were applied to measure the iodine isotopes, 129 I and P 127 I, in sea-water, air, precipitation, surface and ground waters, soils, plants, animals, foodstuffs, total diet, and human and animal thyroid glands. For air-borne iodine, the speciation as well as the particle size distribution of aerosols was determined. Soil depth profiles were investigated down to depths of 2.5 m in order to study the iodine migration as well as individual surface soil samples to allow for the determination of transfer factors of the iodine isotopes into plants. From the analytical results radioecological parameters for the long-term behaviour of 129 I in the pedo- and biosphere were derived. The iodine isotopes are in severe disequilibrium in the different environmental compartments. The pre-nuclear equilibrium 129 I/ 127 I ratio in the biosphere was determined to be 2.0 x 10 -13 with a geometric standard deviation of 1.39. Today, the environmental isotopic ratios in Northern Germany range from 10 -6 to 10 -10 . The highest ratios are found in North Sea water, the lowest in deep soil samples and ground water. The North Sea appears as the dominant source of air-borne iodine in Northern Germany due to the emissions of European reprocessing plants. The results are discussed with respect to their radiological relevance and in view of the general protection of the environment, i.e. air, water, soil and the biosphere. (orig.)

Noise source emissions, Deaf Smith County site, Texas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-01-01

Noise source data and use factors for modeling the noise environment expected from salt site repository activity were provided by Battelle Columbus Division. This report has been prepared for the purpose of documenting the development of the data provided to the Repository Project Management (RPM) organization. The data provided encompass all phases of activity from site preparation through construction of the exploratory shaft facility (ESF). Noise environments expected from construction and operation of transportation corridors associated with the activity were also modeled. The equipment inventory, including sound-power levels for each item, is included. Emission source terms provided by Parsons Brinckerhoff/PB-KBB for the ESF were used as a basis for the noise-source emission inventory development. Where available, research results containing complete spectra were used. In cases where complete data were not available, a sound-pressure spectrum was synthesized from a characteristic spectrum shape from a similar piece of equipment. For example, a front-shovel excavator might be approximated by data from a front-end loader of similar horsepower range. Sound-power-level spectra were then calculated from the sound-pressure-level data. 2 refs

Long-term monitoring of blazars - the DWARF network

Science.gov (United States)

Backes, Michael; Biland, Adrian; Boller, Andrea; Braun, Isabel; Bretz, Thomas; Commichau, Sebastian; Commichau, Volker; Dorner, Daniela; von Gunten, Hanspeter; Gendotti, Adamo; Grimm, Oliver; Hildebrand, Dorothée; Horisberger, Urs; Krähenbühl, Thomas; Kranich, Daniel; Lustermann, Werner; Mannheim, Karl; Neise, Dominik; Pauss, Felicitas; Renker, Dieter; Rhode, Wolfgang; Rissi, Michael; Rollke, Sebastian; Röser, Ulf; Stark, Luisa Sabrina; Stucki, Jean-Pierre; Viertel, Gert; Vogler, Patrick; Weitzel, Quirin

The variability of the very high energy (VHE) emission from blazars seems to be connected with the feeding and propagation of relativistic jets and with their origin in supermassive black hole binaries. The key to understanding their properties is measuring well-sampled gamma-ray lightcurves, revealing the typical source behavior unbiased by prior knowledge from other wavebands. Using ground-based gamma-ray observatories with exposures limited by dark-time, a global network of several telescopes is needed to carry out fulltime measurements. Obviously, such observations are time-consuming and, therefore, cannot be carried out with the present state of the art instruments. The DWARF telescope on the Canary Island of La Palma is dedicated to monitoring observations. It is currently being set up, employing a costefficient and robotic design. Part of this project is the future construction of a distributed network of small telescopes. The physical motivation of VHE long-term monitoring will be outlined in detail and the perspective for a network for 24/7 observations will be presented.

Long term fine aerosol analysis by XRF and PIXE techniques in the city of Rijeka, Croatia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivošević, Tatjana; Orlić, Ivica; Radović, Iva Bogdanović

2015-01-01

Highlights: • For the first time in Croatia, long term of fine aerosol pollution is reported. - Abstract: The results of a long term, multi elemental XRF and PIXE analysis of fine aerosol pollution in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, are reported for the first time. The samples were collected during a seven months period (6th Aug 2013–28th Feb 2014) on thin stretched Teflon filters and analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) at the Laboratory for Elemental Micro-Analysis (LEMA), University of Rijeka and by Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) using 1.6 MeV protons at the Laboratory for Ion Beam Interactions (LIBI), Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb. The newly developed micro-XRF system at LEMA provided results for 19 elements in the range from Si to Pb. The PIXE at the LIBI provided information for the same elements as well for the light elements such as Na, Mg and Al. Black carbon was determined with the Laser Integrated Plate Method (LIPM). The results were statistically evaluated by means of the positive matrix factorization (PMF). The seven major pollution sources were identified together with their relative contributions, these are: secondary sulfates, road traffic, smoke, road dust, sea spray, ship emissions and soil dust.

Long term fine aerosol analysis by XRF and PIXE techniques in the city of Rijeka, Croatia

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ivošević, Tatjana [Faculty of Engineering, University of Rijeka, Vukovarska 58, HR-51000 Rijeka (Croatia); Orlić, Ivica [Department of Physics, University of Rijeka, Radmile Matejčić 2, HR-51000 Rijeka (Croatia); Radović, Iva Bogdanović [Laboratory for Ion Beam Interaction, Ruđer Bošković Institute, Bijenička 54, HR-10000 Zagreb (Croatia)

2015-11-15

Highlights: • For the first time in Croatia, long term of fine aerosol pollution is reported. - Abstract: The results of a long term, multi elemental XRF and PIXE analysis of fine aerosol pollution in the city of Rijeka, Croatia, are reported for the first time. The samples were collected during a seven months period (6th Aug 2013–28th Feb 2014) on thin stretched Teflon filters and analyzed by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) at the Laboratory for Elemental Micro-Analysis (LEMA), University of Rijeka and by Particle Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE) using 1.6 MeV protons at the Laboratory for Ion Beam Interactions (LIBI), Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb. The newly developed micro-XRF system at LEMA provided results for 19 elements in the range from Si to Pb. The PIXE at the LIBI provided information for the same elements as well for the light elements such as Na, Mg and Al. Black carbon was determined with the Laser Integrated Plate Method (LIPM). The results were statistically evaluated by means of the positive matrix factorization (PMF). The seven major pollution sources were identified together with their relative contributions, these are: secondary sulfates, road traffic, smoke, road dust, sea spray, ship emissions and soil dust.

Detection and Estimation of 2-D Distributions of Greenhouse Gas Source Concentrations and Emissions over Complex Urban Environments and Industrial Sites

Science.gov (United States)

Zaccheo, T. S.; Pernini, T.; Dobler, J. T.; Blume, N.; Braun, M.

2017-12-01

This work highlights the use of the greenhouse-gas laser imaging tomography experiment (GreenLITETM) data in conjunction with a sparse tomography approach to identify and quantify both urban and industrial sources of CO2 and CH4. The GreenLITETM system provides a user-defined set of time-sequenced intersecting chords or integrated column measurements at a fixed height through a quasi-horizontal plane of interest. This plane, with unobstructed views along the lines of sight, may range from complex industrial facilities to a small city scale or urban sector. The continuous time phased absorption measurements are converted to column concentrations and combined with a plume based model to estimate the 2-D distribution of gas concentration over extended areas ranging from 0.04-25 km2. Finally, these 2-D maps of concentration are combined with ancillary meteorological and atmospheric data to identify potential emission sources and provide first order estimates of their associated fluxes. In this presentation, we will provide a brief overview of the systems and results from both controlled release experiments and a long-term system deployment in Paris, FR. These results provide a quantitative assessment of the system's ability to detect and estimate CO2 and CH4 sources, and demonstrate its ability to perform long-term autonomous monitoring and quantification of either persistent or sporadic emissions that may have both health and safety as well as environmental impacts.

Development of unauthorized airborne emission source identification procedure

Science.gov (United States)

Shtripling, L. O.; Bazhenov, V. V.; Varakina, N. S.; Kupriyanova, N. P.

2018-01-01

The paper presents the procedure for searching sources of unauthorized airborne emissions. To make reasonable regulation decisions on airborne pollutant emissions and to ensure the environmental safety of population, the procedure provides for the determination of a pollutant mass emission value from the source being the cause of high pollution level and the search of a previously unrecognized contamination source in a specified area. To determine the true value of mass emission from the source, the minimum of the mean-root-square mismatch criterion between the computed and measured pollutant concentration in the given location is used.

Long-term follow-up study and long-term care of childhood cancer survivors

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hyeon Jin Park

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The number of long-term survivors is increasing in the western countries due to remarkable improvements in the treatment of childhood cancer. The long-term complications of childhood cancer survivors in these countries were brought to light by the childhood cancer survivor studies. In Korea, the 5-year survival rate of childhood cancer patients is approaching 70%; therefore, it is extremely important to undertake similar long-term follow-up studies and comprehensive long-term care for our population. On the basis of the experiences of childhood cancer survivorship care of the western countries and the current Korean status of childhood cancer survivors, long-term follow-up study and long-term care systems need to be established in Korea in the near future. This system might contribute to the improvement of the quality of life of childhood cancer survivors through effective intervention strategies.

Waste transmutation with minimal fuel cycle long-term risk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Slessarev, I.; Salvatores, M.; Uematsu, M. [Direction des Reacteurs Nucleaires, Cadarache (France)

1995-10-01

Hybrid systems (source-driven subcritical reactors), are investigated at CEA, mainly from a conceptual point of view, in order to assess their potential to transmute radioactive wastes (mainly long-lived fission products, LLFP) and their potential to insure a minimal long-term radiological risk related both to the fuel inventory inside the system and to the full fuel cycle (mass flows, reprocessing transport, waste disposal). The physics of these systems has been explored and work is in progress both in the field of basic data and INC code validation, in the frame of international collaborations and in the field of conceptual design studies. The most interesting feature of subcritical source-driven system is related to the possibility to obtain an {open_quotes}excess{close_quotes} of neutrons per fission, which can be used to reduce the long-term radiological risk. A specific example will be discussed here.

Long-term sealing of openings in salt formations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Walter, F.; Stockmann, N.; Yaramanci, U.; Laurens, J.F.

1993-01-01

Radioactive wastes can be disposed of in deep salt formations. Rock salt is a suitable geologic medium because of its unique characteristics. Open boreholes, shafts and drifts are created to provide physical access to the repository. Long-term seals must be emplaced in those potential pathways to prevent radioactive release to the biosphere. The sealing materials must be mechanically and, most important, geochemically stable within the host rock. Salt bricks made of compressed salt-powder are understood to be the first choice long-term sealing material. Seals built from salt bricks will be ductile. The permeability of the salt bricks is assumed to be in the order of 2*10 -15 m 2 . Large sealing systems are built by combining the individual bricks with mortar. Raw materials for mortar are fine-grained halite powder and ground saliferous clay. The permeability of the mortar decreases with its salt content to approx. 2*10 -14 m 2 . Moistened saliferous clay may show temporary swelling. Sealing experiments will be carried out in the Asse salt mine. Long-term seals will be built into holes of 1 m diameter. The contact and merging of the brick-wall with the surrounding rock salt will be investigated in long-term tests. Within the in situ sealing program a number of geophysical methods are applied. Acoustic emission measurements are used to study the effects of high pressure gas injection and a geoelectrical observation program is aiming to estimate the permeability in and around the long-term seal. High frequency electromagnetic methods contribute to the knowledge of the petrophysical rock properties. 11 refs., 12 figs

Decadal-scale variability of diffuse CO2 emissions and seismicity revealed from long-term monitoring (1995–2013) at Mammoth Mountain, California, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Werner, Cynthia A.; Bergfeld, Deborah; Farrar, Chris; Doukas, Michael P.; Kelly, Peter; Kern, Christoph

2014-01-01

Mammoth Mountain, California, is a dacitic volcano that has experienced several periods of unrest since 1989. The onset of diffuse soil CO2 emissions at numerous locations on the flanks of the volcano began in 1989–1990 following an 11-month period of heightened seismicity. CO2 emission rates were measured yearly from 1995 to 2013 at Horseshoe Lake (HSL), the largest tree kill area on Mammoth Mountain, and measured intermittently at four smaller degassing areas around Mammoth from 2006 to 2013. The long-term record at HSL shows decadal-scale variations in CO2 emissions with two peaks in 2000–2001 and 2011–2012, both of which follow peaks in seismicity by 2–3 years. Between 2000 and 2004 emissions gradually declined during a seismically quiet period, and from 2004 to 2009 were steady at ~ 100 metric tonnes per day (t d− 1). CO2emissions at the four smaller tree-kill areas also increased by factors of 2–3 between 2006 and 2011–2012, demonstrating a mountain-wide increase in degassing. Delays between the peaks in seismicity and degassing have been observed at other volcanic and hydrothermal areas worldwide, and are thought to result from an injection of deep CO2-rich fluid into shallow subsurface reservoirs causing a pressurization event with a delayed transport to the surface. Such processes are consistent with previous studies at Mammoth, and here we highlight (1) the mountain-wide response, (2) the characteristic delay of 2–3 years, and (3) the roughly decadal reoccurrence interval for such behavior. Our best estimate of total CO2 degassing from Mammoth Mountain was 416 t d− 1 in 2011 during the peak of emissions, over half of which was emitted from HSL. The cumulative release of CO2 between 1995 and 2013 from diffuse emissions is estimated to be ~ 2–3 Mt, and extrapolation back to 1989 gives ~ 4.8 Mt. This amount of CO2 release is similar to that produced by the mid-sized (VEI 3) 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano in Alaska (~ 2.3�

A modification of the Regional Nutrient Management model (ReNuMa) to identify long-term changes in riverine nitrogen sources

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Minpeng; Liu, Yanmei; Wang, Jiahui; Dahlgren, Randy A.; Chen, Dingjiang

2018-06-01

Source apportionment is critical for guiding development of efficient watershed nitrogen (N) pollution control measures. The ReNuMa (Regional Nutrient Management) model, a semi-empirical, semi-process-oriented model with modest data requirements, has been widely used for riverine N source apportionment. However, the ReNuMa model contains limitations for addressing long-term N dynamics by ignoring temporal changes in atmospheric N deposition rates and N-leaching lag effects. This work modified the ReNuMa model by revising the source code to allow yearly changes in atmospheric N deposition and incorporation of N-leaching lag effects into N transport processes. The appropriate N-leaching lag time was determined from cross-correlation analysis between annual watershed individual N source inputs and riverine N export. Accuracy of the modified ReNuMa model was demonstrated through analysis of a 31-year water quality record (1980-2010) from the Yongan watershed in eastern China. The revisions considerably improved the accuracy (Nash-Sutcliff coefficient increased by ∼0.2) of the modified ReNuMa model for predicting riverine N loads. The modified model explicitly identified annual and seasonal changes in contributions of various N sources (i.e., point vs. nonpoint source, surface runoff vs. groundwater) to riverine N loads as well as the fate of watershed anthropogenic N inputs. Model results were consistent with previously modeled or observed lag time length as well as changes in riverine chloride and nitrate concentrations during the low-flow regime and available N levels in agricultural soils of this watershed. The modified ReNuMa model is applicable for addressing long-term changes in riverine N sources, providing decision-makers with critical information for guiding watershed N pollution control strategies.

Evaluation of long-term community recovery from Hurricane Andrew: sources of assistance received by population sub-groups.

Science.gov (United States)

McDonnell, S; Troiano, R P; Barker, N; Noji, E; Hlady, W G; Hopkins, R

1995-12-01

Two three-stage cluster surveys were conducted in South Dade County, Florida, 14 months apart, to assess recovery following Hurricane Andrew. Response rates were 75 per cent and 84 per cent. Sources of assistance used in recovery from Hurricane Andrew differed according to race, per capita income, ethnicity, and education. Reports of improved living situation post-hurricane were not associated with receiving relief assistance, but reports of a worse situation were associated with loss of income, being exploited, or job loss. The number of households reporting problems with crime and community violence doubled between the two surveys. Disaster relief efforts had less impact on subjective long-term recovery than did job or income loss or housing repair difficulties. Existing sources of assistance were used more often than specific post-hurricane relief resources. The demographic make-up of a community may determine which are the most effective means to inform them after a disaster and what sources of assistance may be useful.

Registration for the Hanford Site: Sources of radioactive emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silvia, M.J.

1993-04-01

This Registration Application serves to renew the registration for all Hanford Site sources of radioactive air emissions routinely reported to the State of Washington Department of Health (DOH). The current registration expires on August 15, 1993. The Application is submitted pursuant to the Washington Administrative Code (WAC) Chapter 246--247, and is consistent with guidance provided by DOH for renewal. The Application subdivides the Hanford Site into six major production, processing or research areas. Those six areas are in the 100 Area, 200 East Area, 200 West Area, 300 Area, 400 Area, and 600 Area. Each major group of point sources within the six areas listed above is represented by a Source Registration for Radioactive Air Emissions form. Annual emissions. for the sources are listed in the ''Radionuclide Air Emissions Report for the Hanford Site,'' published annually. It is a requirement that the following Statement of Compliance be provided: ''The radioactive air emissions from the above sources do meet the emissions standards contained in Chapter 173-480-040 WAC, Ambient Air Quality Standards and Emissions Limits for Radionuclides. As the Statement of Compliance pertains to this submittal, the phrase ''above sources'' is to be understood as meaning the combined air emissions from all sources registered by this submittal

Long-term sampling of CO2 from waste-to-energy plants: 14C determination methodology, data variation and uncertainty

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fuglsang, Karsten; Pedersen, Niels Hald; Larsen, Anna Warberg

2014-01-01

A dedicated sampling and measurement method was developed for long-term measurements of biogenic and fossil-derived CO2 from thermal waste-to-energy processes. Based on long-term sampling of CO2 and 14C determination, plant-specific emission factors can be determined more accurately, and the annual...... emission of fossil CO2 from waste-to-energy plants can be monitored according to carbon trading schemes and renewable energy certificates. Weekly and monthly measurements were performed at five Danish waste incinerators. Significant variations between fractions of biogenic CO2 emitted were observed...... was ± 4.0 pmC (95 % confidence interval) at 62 pmC. The long-term sampling method was found to be useful for waste incinerators for determination of annual fossil and biogenic CO2 emissions with relatively low uncertainty....

South Africa's greenhouse gas emissions under business-as-usual: The technical basis of 'Growth without Constraints' in the Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Winkler, Harald, E-mail: Harald.WInkler@uct.ac.za [University of Cape Town, Energy Research Centre, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, W Cape 7701 (South Africa); Hughes, Alison; Marquard, Andrew [University of Cape Town, Energy Research Centre, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, W Cape 7701 (South Africa); Haw, Mary [PJCarew Consulting, 103 Hout Street, Cape Town 8001 (South Africa); Merven, Bruno [University of Cape Town, Energy Research Centre, Upper Campus, Rondebosch, W Cape 7701 (South Africa)

2011-10-15

This article describes the methodology for projecting business-as-usual GHG trajectory developed in technical work for South Africa's Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMSs), in particular the 'Growth without Constraints' (GWCs) scenario. Technically rigorous projections are important as developing countries define their commitment to act on mitigation relative to business-as-usual (BAU). The key drivers for the GWC scenario include GDP (both growth rate and composition), population, discount rate and technological change. GDP emerged as an important driver in the research for LTMS and further analysis. If South Africa's economy grows without constraints over the next few decades, GHG emissions will continue to escalate, multiplying more than four-fold by mid-century. There is little gain in energy efficiency, and emissions continue to be dominated by energy use and supply, the latter remaining coal-based in GWC. We analyse the projections (not predictions) in relation to various measures. The LTMS GWC scenario is compared to other projections, nationally and internationally. A broadly comparable projection is being used at national level, for electricity planning. When compared to projections from international models, we find that the assumptions about GDP growth rates are a key factor, and suggest that comparisons of global data-sets against national analyses is important. - Highlights: > Specifies business-as-usual GHG trajectory for South Africa's Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios. > Provides details on methodology, drivers of emissions and key parameters. > In a scenario of Growth without Constraints, emissions would quadruple by 2050. > Analysis of resulting emission projection, not a prediction. > Compares projections from other national and international models.

California Air Resources board's mobil source emission reduction credit guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dunwoody Lentz, C.; Werner, B.

1993-01-01

The California Air Resources Board has developed guidance for the generation and use of mobil source emission reduction credits. Mobil source credits can be used to improve air quality, or to mitigate increases in emissions associated with industrial and non-industrial sources. They are created by programs which reduce mobile source emission beyond the reductions required by federal, state, and local laws or air quality attainment plans. Significant amounts of credit can be generated by some types of programs which reduce mobile source emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) and reactive organic gases (ROG). Mobile source credit programs must be carefully structured to ensure that emission reductions are real, accurately quantified, enforceable, and have a defined life. Three potentially feasible programs for the creation of mobile source credits include accelerated retirement of older vehicles, purchase of low-emission buses, and purchase of zero-emission vehicles. These programs are evaluated for their ability to generate credit and to assess their cost effectiveness. Based on the examples presented, two methods of generating mobile source credits, the accelerated retirement of older vehicles and the purchase of low-emission buses, appear to be cost-effective when compared to other emission control measures

Fission-product source terms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lorenz, R.A.

1981-01-01

This presentation consists of a review of fission-product source terms for light water reactor (LWR) fuel. A source term is the quantity of fission products released under specified conditions that can be used to calculate the consequences of the release. The source term usually defines release from breached fuel-rod cladding but could also describe release from the primary coolant system, the reactor containment shell, or the site boundary. The source term would be different for each locality, and the chemical and physical forms of the fission products could also differ

Development of emissions inventories for the Auto/Oil Air Quality Improvement Research Program

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pollack, A.K.; Fieber, J.L.; Lauer, G.; Dunker, A.M.; Noda, A.M.; Schleyer, C.H.; Chock, D.P.; Hertz, M.; Metcalfe, J.E.

1992-01-01

The air quality effects of different reformulated gasolines, various other alternative fuels, and developments in automotive technologies are being studied as part of a joint research project conducted by a consortium of three domestic auto companies and fourteen petroleum companies. As part of the air quality modeling effort, emission inventories are being developed in a near-term year (1995), and 21 fuels in a long-term year (2005 or 2010). A distinctive feature of this effort is that these inventories are the first used in an air quality study that treat light duty vehicle emissions by operating mode as well as by class, and base the speciation characteristics of each operating mode on actual vehicle test results. This incorporates an unusual amount of detail on the relative importance of each of the three vehicle exhaust, two evaporative, and running loss operating modes, both in terms of overall mass emission amounts and in terms of the hydrocarbon speciation and ozone reactivity. This study also allows a better estimate of the relative importance of each vehicle class and technology type to an overall emission inventory, and of the differences in the effects of alternative fuels between vehicle technologies and classes. In addition, the role of mobile source emissions relative to other sources of emissions for both short-term and long-term emission projections, and across a wide geographic range is being assessed. This paper first describes the techniques used in developing these emission inventories, and then examines regional, temporal, and fuel/vehicle effects on emissions

[Long-term psychiatric hospitalizations].

Science.gov (United States)

Plancke, L; Amariei, A

2017-02-01

Long-term hospitalizations in psychiatry raise the question of desocialisation of the patients and the inherent costs. Individual indicators were extracted from a medical administrative database containing full-time psychiatric hospitalizations for the period 2011-2013 of people over 16 years old living in the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais. We calculated the proportion of people who had experienced a hospitalization with a duration of 292 days or more during the study period. A bivariate analysis was conducted, then ecological data (level of health-care offer, the deprivation index and the size of the municipalities of residence) were included into a multilevel regression model in order to identify the factors significantly related to variability of long-term hospitalization rates. Among hospitalized individuals in psychiatry, 2.6% had had at least one hospitalization of 292 days or more during the observation period; the number of days in long-term hospitalization represented 22.5% of the total of days of full-time hospitalization in psychiatry. The bivariate analysis revealed that seniority in the psychiatric system was strongly correlated with long hospitalization rates. In the multivariate analysis, the individual indicators the most related to an increased risk of long-term hospitalization were: total lack of autonomy (OR=9.0; 95% CI: 6.7-12.2; P<001); diagnoses of psychological development disorders (OR=9.7; CI95%: 4.5-20.6; P<.001); mental retardation (OR=4.5; CI95%: 2.5-8.2; P<.001): schizophrenia (OR=3.0; CI95%: 1.7-5.2; P<.001); compulsory hospitalization (OR=1.7; CI95%: 1.4-2.1; P<.001); having experienced therapeutic isolation (OR=1.8; CI95%: 1.5-2.1; P<.001). Variations of long-term hospitalization rates depending on the type of establishment were very high, but the density of hospital beds or intensity of ambulatory activity services were not significantly linked to long-term hospitalization. The inhabitants of small urban units had

Are changing emission patterns across the Northern Hemisphere influencing long-range transport contributions to background air pollution?

Science.gov (United States)

Mathur, R.; Kang, D.; Napelenok, S. L.; Xing, J.; Hogrefe, C.

2017-12-01

Air pollution reduction strategies for a region are complicated not only by the interplay of local emissions sources and several complex physical, chemical, dynamical processes in the atmosphere, but also hemispheric background levels of pollutants. Contrasting changes in emission patterns across the globe (e.g. declining emissions in North America and Western Europe in response to implementation of control measures and increasing emissions across Asia due to economic and population growth) are resulting in heterogeneous changes in the tropospheric chemical composition and are likely altering long-range transport impacts and consequently background pollution levels at receptor regions. To quantify these impacts, the WRF-CMAQ model is expanded to hemispheric scales and multi-decadal model simulations are performed for the period spanning 1990-2010 to examine changes in hemispheric air pollution resulting from changes in emissions over this period. Simulated trends in ozone and precursor species concentrations across the U.S. and the Northern Hemisphere over the past two decades are compared with those inferred from available measurements during this period. Additionally, the decoupled direct method (DDM) in CMAQ, a first- and higher-order sensitivity calculation technique, is used to estimate the sensitivity of O3 to emissions from different source regions across the Northern Hemisphere. The seasonal variations in source region contributions to background O3 are then estimated from these sensitivity calculations and will be discussed. These source region sensitivities estimated from DDM are then combined with the multi-decadal simulations of O3 distributions and emissions trends to characterize the changing contributions of different source regions to background O3 levels across North America. This characterization of changing long-range transport contributions is critical for the design and implementation of tighter national air quality standards

Conditioning of disused sealed sources in countries without disposal facility: Short term gain - long term pain

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Benitez-Navarro, J.C.; Salgado-Mojena, M.

2002-01-01

Owing to the considerable development in managing disused sealed radioactive sources (DSRS), the limited availability of disposal practices for them, and the new recommendations for the use of borehole disposal concept, it was felt that a paper reviewing the existing recommendations could be a starting point of discussion on the retrievability of the sources. Even when no international consensus exists as to an acceptable solution for the challenge of disposal of disused sealed sources, the 'Best Available Technology' for managing most of them, recommended for developing countries, included the cementation of the sources. The waste packages prepared in such a way do not allow any flexibility to accommodate possible future disposal requirements. Therefore, the 'Wait and See' approach could be also recommended for managing not only the sources with long-live radionuclides and high activity, but probably for all kind of existing disused sealed sources. The general aim of the current paper is to identify and review the current recommendations for managing disused sealed sources and to meditate on the most convenient management schemes for disused sealed radioactive sources in Member States without disposal capacities (Latin America, Africa). The risk that cemented DSRS could be incompatible with future disposal requirements was taken into account. (author)

Long-term potentiation and long-term depression: a clinical perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timothy V.P. Bliss

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Long-term potentiation and long-term depression are enduring changes in synaptic strength, induced by specific patterns of synaptic activity, that have received much attention as cellular models of information storage in the central nervous system. Work in a number of brain regions, from the spinal cord to the cerebral cortex, and in many animal species, ranging from invertebrates to humans, has demonstrated a reliable capacity for chemical synapses to undergo lasting changes in efficacy in response to a variety of induction protocols. In addition to their physiological relevance, long-term potentiation and depression may have important clinical applications. A growing insight into the molecular mechanisms underlying these processes, and technological advances in non-invasive manipulation of brain activity, now puts us at the threshold of harnessing long-term potentiation and depression and other forms of synaptic, cellular and circuit plasticity to manipulate synaptic strength in the human nervous system. Drugs may be used to erase or treat pathological synaptic states and non-invasive stimulation devices may be used to artificially induce synaptic plasticity to ameliorate conditions arising from disrupted synaptic drive. These approaches hold promise for the treatment of a variety of neurological conditions, including neuropathic pain, epilepsy, depression, amblyopia, tinnitus and stroke.

Long-term scenarios for sustainable energy use in Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fischedick, M.; Nitsch, J.; Lechtenboehmer, S.; Hanke, T.; Barthel, C.; Jungbluth, C.; Assmann, D.; Brueggen, T. vor der; Trieb, F.; Nast, M.; Langniss, O.; Brischke, L.A.

2002-01-01

The study was able to show, and explain vividly through scenarios describing change processes, that a sustainable use of energy (aimed, among other things, at reducing CO 2 emissions by 80% by 2050 compared with 1990 levels) is technically feasible, economically viable, compatible with farther-reaching objectives of energy policy (e.g. supply security), and does not, in spite of the substantial need for change, present the players involved with any insurmountable problems but, rather, constitutes both a challenge and an opportunity. Such a development is possible only if the efforts launched to give momentum to the increased use of renewable energy sources are continued consistently, the impending need for replacement and renewal within the generation system is consistently utilised for increasing efficiency and a reorientation mainly towards combined heat and power production, and energy saving is made a new focal point of energy policy. Furthermore, with regard to long-term infrastructure requirements (decentralisation, new fuels), the necessary decisions must be prepared at an early stage and sufficiently robust lines of development must be identified and followed. (orig.) [de

Sources of atmospheric emissions in the Athabasca oil sands region

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

An inventory of emissions for the Athabasca oil sands airshed that can be used as a basis for air quality assessments was presented. This report was prepared for the Suncor Steepbank Mine Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and for the Syncrude Aurora Mine EIA. Both Syncrude and Suncor have plans to develop new oil sands leases and to increase their crude oil and bitumen production. Suncor has proposed modifications to reduce SO 2 emissions to the atmosphere and Syncrude will develop additional ambient air quality, sulphur deposition and biomonitoring programs to ensure that environmental quality is not compromised because of atmospheric emissions associated with their operations. Major emission sources are controlled and monitored by regulatory statutes, regulations and guidelines. In this report, the following four types of emission sources were identified and quantified: (1) major industrial sources associated with Suncor's and Syncrude's current oil sands operations, (2) fugitive and area emission sources such as volatilization of hydrocarbons from tanks and tailings ponds, (3) other industrial emission sources in the area, including oil sands and non-oil sands related facilities, and (4) highway and residential emission sources. Emissions associated with mining operations include: SO 2 , NO x , CO, and CO 2 . The overall conclusion was that although there are other smaller sources of emissions that can influence air quality, there is no reason to doubt that Suncor and Syncrude oil sands operations are the major sources of emissions to the atmosphere. 13 refs., 12 tabs., 8 figs

75 FR 68296 - Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-05

... Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Sewage... ``Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Sewage... performance standards for new units and emission guidelines for existing units for specific categories of...

Evaluation of urban air pollution impact. Agglomeration of Toulon impact at short and long term; Evaluation de l'impact sanitaire de la pollution atmospherique urbaine. Agglomeration de Toulon impact a cour et long terme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

A health impact assessment of air pollution based on the I.n.V.S. guidelines has been conducted in Toulon according to the Regional Plan for the quality of air in the region of Provence-Alpes-Cote d Azur. Short-term effects on morbidity (hospital admissions) and mortality and long-term effects on mortality were estimated. Four cities were included in the study area: Toulon, La Garde, La Seyne-sur-mer and La Valette-du-Var (population: 267.808 inhabitants. Two periods of study have been defined: 1999 for the mortality analysis and 2000 for the morbidity analysis and the long- term effects. For 1999, number of advanced deaths due to air pollution is around 84 for total mortality including 30 deaths due to cardio-vascular diseases and 10 deaths due to respiratory diseases. The different scenarios of air pollution reduction showed that the most effective ones are those which lead to reduce of 25% the mean of the involved pollutant. Regarding long-term effects, the different scenario showed that the respect of the European Community limits value for the year 2010 would allow to avoid 118 deaths over one year. Results showed that air pollution are even resulting in health effects for some levels of pollution lower than current French limits. The most effective actions should therefore associate reduction of the source emissions on a daily basis and decrease of the over-limits levels of pollution. (author)

Long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions in a rice paddy cropping system: A four-year case study in south China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Qin, Xiaobo; Li, Yu'e; Wang, Hong; Liu, Chong; Li, Jianling; Wan, Yunfan; Gao, Qingzhu; Fan, Fenliang; Liao, Yulin

2016-01-01

To evaluate long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions (YSGE) in a paddy rice cropping system, a 4-year field experiment by static chamber - gas chromatograph method was conducted in South China. Principal component analysis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real-time qPCR was used to unravel the microbial mechanisms of biochar addition. Six treatments were included: control (CK), application of 5 t ha"− "1 biochar (BC1), application of 10 t ha"− "1 biochar (BC2), application of 10 t ha"− "1 biochar (BC3), rice straw return at 2400 kg ha"− "1(RS) and inoculated rice straw return at 2400 kg ha"− "1(RI). The results indicated that biochar amendment significantly decreased methane (CH_4) and gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This may primarily be ascribed to the stimulated biodiversity and abundance of methanotrophic microbes, increased soil pH and improved aeration by reducing bulk density after biochar incorporation. Compared with CK, RS and RI, 26.18%, 70.02%, 66.47% of CH_4 flux and 26.14%, 70.16%, 66.46% of gross GHG emissions were reduced by biochar (mean of three biochar treatments), respectively. Furthermore, biochar significantly increased harvest index of double rice production (p < 0.05). In comparison with CK, RS and RI, 29.14%, 68.04%, 62.28% of YSGE was reduced by biochar, respectively, and the highest biochar addition rate (20 t ha"− "1) contributed most to the mitigation of GHG emissions (36.24% decrease compared to CK) and improvement of rice yield (7.65% increase compared to CK). Results of our study suggested that long-term application of biochar should be the potential way to mitigate GHGs emissions and simultaneously improve rice productivity in the paddy rice system. - Graphical abstract: Relative change ratio of different biochar amendments and rice straw residues to CK treatment during the rice growing seasons from 2012 to 2015. * and *** stand for

NMHC emissions from Asia: sources and transport

Science.gov (United States)

Shirai, T.; Blake, D. R.; Barletta, B.; Meinardi, S.; Rowland, F. S.; Chan, J. C.; Takegawa, N.; Kondo, Y.; Koike, M.; Kita, K.; Takigawa, M.; Kawakami, S.; Ogawa, T.

2002-12-01

Recent rapid industrialization and economic growth in Asia changed the industrial structure, land use, and people's lifestyle resulting in a dramatic change in the amount and composition of the gas emissions from Asia. Because emissions can be transported very rapidly once convected to the free troposphere, Asian emissions can affect both local and regional air quality and climate. To access the impact of changing emission from Asia, an airborne observation campaign PEACE (the Pacific Exploration of Asian Continental Emission) phase-A and B were conducted in January and April - May 2002, respectively, sponsored by NASDA (National Space Development Agency of Japan). The concentrations of NMHCs (nonmethanehydrocarbons) and halocarbons were obtained by whole air sampling and subsequent gas chromatography analyses in the laboratory. Quantified onboard the aircraft were CO, CO2, O3, NO, NO2, NOy, H2O, SO2, aerosols, and condensation nuclei. The experiment was conducted in the vicinity of Japan and PEACE-A and B represent the local winter and spring weather conditions. The trace gas distributions in the lower troposphere were often influenced by local pollution (i.e. from Japan, Korea) while those of the long-range transport (i.e. from Europe) were occasionally seen in the upper troposphere. This is confirmed by the airmass age estimation using the ratios of short-lived gases (i.e. C2H4) vs. more stable compounds (i.e. CO). Emissions from China were distinguished using data obtained from ground-based sampling and measurements. Transport from China was seen both in the lower troposphere and upper troposphere. Some case studies on source identification will be discussed.

Continuous wavelet transform analysis and modal location analysis acoustic emission source location for nuclear piping crack growth monitoring

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mohd, Shukri [Nondestructive Testing Group, Industrial Technology Division, Malaysian Nuclear Agency, 43000, Bangi, Selangor (Malaysia); Holford, Karen M.; Pullin, Rhys [Cardiff School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Queen' s Buildings, The Parade, CARDIFF CF24 3AA (United Kingdom)

2014-02-12

Source location is an important feature of acoustic emission (AE) damage monitoring in nuclear piping. The ability to accurately locate sources can assist in source characterisation and early warning of failure. This paper describe the development of a novelAE source location technique termed 'Wavelet Transform analysis and Modal Location (WTML)' based on Lamb wave theory and time-frequency analysis that can be used for global monitoring of plate like steel structures. Source location was performed on a steel pipe of 1500 mm long and 220 mm outer diameter with nominal thickness of 5 mm under a planar location test setup using H-N sources. The accuracy of the new technique was compared with other AE source location methods such as the time of arrival (TOA) techniqueand DeltaTlocation. Theresults of the study show that the WTML method produces more accurate location resultscompared with TOA and triple point filtering location methods. The accuracy of the WTML approach is comparable with the deltaT location method but requires no initial acoustic calibration of the structure.

Continuous wavelet transform analysis and modal location analysis acoustic emission source location for nuclear piping crack growth monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shukri Mohd

2013-01-01

Full-text: Source location is an important feature of acoustic emission (AE) damage monitoring in nuclear piping. The ability to accurately locate sources can assist in source characterisation and early warning of failure. This paper describe the development of a novelAE source location technique termed Wavelet Transform analysis and Modal Location (WTML) based on Lamb wave theory and time-frequency analysis that can be used for global monitoring of plate like steel structures. Source location was performed on a steel pipe of 1500 mm long and 220 mm outer diameter with nominal thickness of 5 mm under a planar location test setup using H-N sources. The accuracy of the new technique was compared with other AE source location methods such as the time of arrival (TOA) technique and DeltaTlocation. The results of the study show that the WTML method produces more accurate location results compared with TOA and triple point filtering location methods. The accuracy of the WTML approach is comparable with the deltaT location method but requires no initial acoustic calibration of the structure. (author)

Continuous wavelet transform analysis and modal location analysis acoustic emission source location for nuclear piping crack growth monitoring

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohd, Shukri; Holford, Karen M.; Pullin, Rhys

2014-01-01

Source location is an important feature of acoustic emission (AE) damage monitoring in nuclear piping. The ability to accurately locate sources can assist in source characterisation and early warning of failure. This paper describe the development of a novelAE source location technique termed 'Wavelet Transform analysis and Modal Location (WTML)' based on Lamb wave theory and time-frequency analysis that can be used for global monitoring of plate like steel structures. Source location was performed on a steel pipe of 1500 mm long and 220 mm outer diameter with nominal thickness of 5 mm under a planar location test setup using H-N sources. The accuracy of the new technique was compared with other AE source location methods such as the time of arrival (TOA) techniqueand DeltaTlocation. Theresults of the study show that the WTML method produces more accurate location resultscompared with TOA and triple point filtering location methods. The accuracy of the WTML approach is comparable with the deltaT location method but requires no initial acoustic calibration of the structure

Chernobyl source term estimation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gudiksen, P.H.; Harvey, T.F.; Lange, R.

1990-09-01

The Chernobyl source term available for long-range transport was estimated by integration of radiological measurements with atmospheric dispersion modeling and by reactor core radionuclide inventory estimation in conjunction with WASH-1400 release fractions associated with specific chemical groups. The model simulations revealed that the radioactive cloud became segmented during the first day, with the lower section heading toward Scandinavia and the upper part heading in a southeasterly direction with subsequent transport across Asia to Japan, the North Pacific, and the west coast of North America. By optimizing the agreement between the observed cloud arrival times and duration of peak concentrations measured over Europe, Japan, Kuwait, and the US with the model predicted concentrations, it was possible to derive source term estimates for those radionuclides measured in airborne radioactivity. This was extended to radionuclides that were largely unmeasured in the environment by performing a reactor core radionuclide inventory analysis to obtain release fractions for the various chemical transport groups. These analyses indicated that essentially all of the noble gases, 60% of the radioiodines, 40% of the radiocesium, 10% of the tellurium and about 1% or less of the more refractory elements were released. These estimates are in excellent agreement with those obtained on the basis of worldwide deposition measurements. The Chernobyl source term was several orders of magnitude greater than those associated with the Windscale and TMI reactor accidents. However, the 137 Cs from the Chernobyl event is about 6% of that released by the US and USSR atmospheric nuclear weapon tests, while the 131 I and 90 Sr released by the Chernobyl accident was only about 0.1% of that released by the weapon tests. 13 refs., 2 figs., 7 tabs

Emissions from laboratory combustion of wildland fuels: Emission factors and source profiles

Science.gov (United States)

L.-W. Anthony Chen; Hans Moosmuller; W. Patrick Arnott; Judith C. Chow; John G. Watson; Ronald A. Susott; Ronald E. Babbitt; Cyle E. Wold; Emily N. Lincoln; Wei Min Hao

2007-01-01

Combustion of wildland fuels represents a major source of particulate matter (PM) and light-absorbing elemental carbon (EC) on a national and global scale, but the emission factors and source profiles have not been well characterized with respect to different fuels and combustion phases. These uncertainties limit the accuracy of current emission inventories, smoke...

Long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions in a rice paddy cropping system: A four-year case study in south China.

Science.gov (United States)

Qin, Xiaobo; Li, Yu'e; Wang, Hong; Liu, Chong; Li, Jianling; Wan, Yunfan; Gao, Qingzhu; Fan, Fenliang; Liao, Yulin

2016-11-01

To evaluate long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions (YSGE) in a paddy rice cropping system, a 4-year field experiment by static chamber - gas chromatograph method was conducted in South China. Principal component analysis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real-time qPCR was used to unravel the microbial mechanisms of biochar addition. Six treatments were included: control (CK), application of 5tha(-1) biochar (BC1), application of 10tha(-1) biochar (BC2), application of 10tha(-1) biochar (BC3), rice straw return at 2400kgha(-1)(RS) and inoculated rice straw return at 2400kgha(-1)(RI). The results indicated that biochar amendment significantly decreased methane (CH4) and gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This may primarily be ascribed to the stimulated biodiversity and abundance of methanotrophic microbes, increased soil pH and improved aeration by reducing bulk density after biochar incorporation. Compared with CK, RS and RI, 26.18%, 70.02%, 66.47% of CH4 flux and 26.14%, 70.16%, 66.46% of gross GHG emissions were reduced by biochar (mean of three biochar treatments), respectively. Furthermore, biochar significantly increased harvest index of double rice production (p<0.05). In comparison with CK, RS and RI, 29.14%, 68.04%, 62.28% of YSGE was reduced by biochar, respectively, and the highest biochar addition rate (20tha(-1)) contributed most to the mitigation of GHG emissions (36.24% decrease compared to CK) and improvement of rice yield (7.65% increase compared to CK). Results of our study suggested that long-term application of biochar should be the potential way to mitigate GHGs emissions and simultaneously improve rice productivity in the paddy rice system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Long-Term Symbolic Learning

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kennedy, William G; Trafton, J. G

2007-01-01

What are the characteristics of long-term learning? We investigated the characteristics of long-term, symbolic learning using the Soar and ACT-R cognitive architectures running cognitive models of two simple tasks...

Pediatric polytrauma : Short-term and long-term outcomes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

vanderSluis, CK; Kingma, J; Eisma, WH; tenDuis, HJ

Objective: To assess the short-term and long-term outcomes of pediatric polytrauma patients and to analyze the extent to which short-term outcomes can predict long-term outcomes. Materials and Methods: Ail pediatric polytrauma patients (Injury Severity Score of greater than or equal to 16, less than

Diesel fuel long term storage and treatment- recommended tests and practices (U)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gross, R. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States). Savannah River National Lab. (SRNL)

2009-06-05

The Clean Air Act (1970) is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. Among other things, this law authorized the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants. In recent years, EPA regulations have forced oil refineries into producing a very low sulfur diesel fuel and incentives for adding up to 5% bio-diesel. These changes to the fuel oil formulation are beneficial to air quality and to energy conservation, but adversely impact heat content, long term storage stability, engine power, and injection system reliability. Diesel engines typically have a high incidence of injector failure resulting from poor diesel fuel quality. Since standby diesel engines do not run continuously it is necessary to implement periodic surveillance's to ensure the quality of diesel fuel is acceptable for reliable operation when a loss of power occurs. The information contained in this document is a compilation of best practices to be used as a guide for maintenance of a reliable diesel fuel system.

Pulsed, atmospheric pressure plasma source for emission spectrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Duan, Yixiang; Jin, Zhe; Su, Yongxuan

2004-05-11

A low-power, plasma source-based, portable molecular light emission generator/detector employing an atmospheric pressure pulsed-plasma for molecular fragmentation and excitation is described. The average power required for the operation of the plasma is between 0.02 W and 5 W. The features of the optical emission spectra obtained with the pulsed plasma source are significantly different from those obtained with direct current (dc) discharge higher power; for example, strong CH emission at 431.2 nm which is only weakly observed with dc plasma sources was observed, and the intense CN emission observed at 383-388 nm using dc plasma sources was weak in most cases. Strong CN emission was only observed using the present apparatus when compounds containing nitrogen, such as aniline were employed as samples. The present apparatus detects dimethylsulfoxide at 200 ppb using helium as the plasma gas by observing the emission band of the CH radical. When coupled with a gas chromatograph for separating components present in a sample to be analyzed, the present invention provides an apparatus for detecting the arrival of a particular component in the sample at the end of the chromatographic column and the identity thereof.

A Fuel-Based Assessment of On-Road and Off-Road Mobile Source Emission Trends

Science.gov (United States)

Dallmann, T. R.; Harley, R. A.

2009-12-01

Mobile sources contribute significantly to emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the United States. These emissions lead to a variety of environmental concerns including adverse human health effects and climate change. In the electric power sector, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and NOx emissions from power plants are measured directly using continuous emission monitoring systems. In contrast for mobile sources, statistical models are used to estimate average emissions from a very large and diverse population of engines. Despite much effort aimed at improving them, mobile source emission inventories continue to have large associated uncertainties. Alternate methods are needed to help evaluate estimates of mobile source emissions and quantify and reduce the associated uncertainties. In this study, a fuel-based approach is used to estimate emissions from mobile sources, including on-road and off-road gasoline and diesel engines. In this approach, engine activity is measured by fuel consumed (in contrast EPA mobile source emission models are based on vehicle km of travel and total amount of engine work output for on-road and off-road engines, respectively). Fuel consumption is defined in this study based on highway fuel tax reports for on-road engines, and from surveys of fuel wholesalers who sell tax-exempt diesel fuel for use in various off-road sectors such as agriculture, construction, and mining. Over the decade-long time period (1996-2006) that is the focus of the present study, national sales of taxable gasoline and diesel fuel intended for on-road use increased by 15 and 43%, respectively. Diesel fuel use by off-road equipment increased by about 20% over the same time period. Growth in fuel consumption offset some of the reductions in pollutant emission factors that occurred during this period. This study relies on in-use measurements of mobile source emission factors, for example from roadside and tunnel studies, remote sensing, and

Long-term survey of lion-roar emissions inside the terrestrial magnetosheath obtained from the STAFF-SA measurements onboard the Cluster spacecraft

Science.gov (United States)

Pisa, D.; Krupar, V.; Kruparova, O.; Santolik, O.

2017-12-01

Intense whistler-mode emissions known as 'lion-roars' are often observed inside the terrestrial magnetosheath, where the solar wind plasma flow slows down, and the local magnetic field increases ahead of a planetary magnetosphere. Plasma conditions in this transient region lead to the electron temperature anisotropy, which can result in the whistler-mode waves. The lion-roars are narrow-band emissions with typical frequencies between 0.1-0.5 Fce, where Fce is the electron cyclotron frequency. We present results of a long-term survey obtained by the Spatio Temporal Analysis Field Fluctuations - Spectral Analyzer (STAFF-SA) instruments on board the four Cluster spacecraft between 2001 and 2010. We have visually identified the time-frequency intervals with the intense lion-roar signature. Using the Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) method, we analyzed the wave propagation properties. We show the spatial, frequency and wave power distributions. Finally, the wave properties as a function of upstream solar wind conditions are discussed.

The hydrogen energy economy: its long-term role in greenhouse gas reduction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geoff Dutton; Abigail Bristow; Matthew Page; Charlotte Kelly; Jim Watson; Alison Tetteh [CCLRC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Didcot (United Kingdom). Energy Research Unit (ERU)

2005-01-15

The potential contribution and viability of the hydrogen energy economy towards reducing UK carbon dioxide emissions in the time horizon to 2050 has been assessed using a quantitative model of the UK energy system in the context of a set of diverse socio-economic scenarios. It is argued that different sets of prevailing circumstances are likely to result in very different opportunities for hydrogen and hence very different transition pathways and ultimate penetration levels. The decision on whether to strategically encourage a transition to the hydrogen economy and the ultimate environmental benefits of such a transformation will depend on the outcome of a number of important political and social decisions. These include the acceptability of large scale carbon dioxide sequestration (hydrogen derived from fossil fuels), decisions about land-use (hydrogen from biomass), a possible doubling (or more) of the current electricity production capacity with a high penetration of renewable electricity (hydrogen from electrolysis of water), and/or the public acceptability of a large scale nuclear renaissance (hydrogen from electrolysis of water or from thermo-chemical cycles). Any rapid transition to a fully developed hydrogen economy would require a contribution from at least some and possibly all of these sources. Such a transition could result in a marked decrease in carbon dioxide emissions over the long term, but might even result in increased emissions within the shorter term (due to the initial use of hydrogen derived from fossil fuels without carbon dioxide sequestration or from the bulk grid electricity supply resulting in increased load factors and lifetimes of old fossil-fired power plant to meet the increased overall demand). 47 refs., 45 figs., 19 tabs., 3 apps.

Toward a comprehensive long term nicotine policy.

Science.gov (United States)

Gray, N; Henningfield, J E; Benowitz, N L; Connolly, G N; Dresler, C; Fagerstrom, K; Jarvis, M J; Boyle, P

2005-06-01

Global tobacco deaths are high and rising. Tobacco use is primarily driven by nicotine addiction. Overall tobacco control policy is relatively well agreed upon but a long term nicotine policy has been less well considered and requires further debate. Reaching consensus is important because a nicotine policy is integral to the target of reducing tobacco caused disease, and the contentious issues need to be resolved before the necessary political changes can be sought. A long term and comprehensive nicotine policy is proposed here. It envisages both reducing the attractiveness and addictiveness of existing tobacco based nicotine delivery systems as well as providing alternative sources of acceptable clean nicotine as competition for tobacco. Clean nicotine is defined as nicotine free enough of tobacco toxicants to pass regulatory approval. A three phase policy is proposed. The initial phase requires regulatory capture of cigarette and smoke constituents liberalising the market for clean nicotine; regulating all nicotine sources from the same agency; and research into nicotine absorption and the role of tobacco additives in this process. The second phase anticipates clean nicotine overtaking tobacco as the primary source of the drug (facilitated by use of regulatory and taxation measures); simplification of tobacco products by limitation of additives which make tobacco attractive and easier to smoke (but tobacco would still be able to provide a satisfying dose of nicotine). The third phase includes a progressive reduction in the nicotine content of cigarettes, with clean nicotine freely available to take the place of tobacco as society's main nicotine source.

76 FR 18407 - Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-04

... Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emissions Guidelines for Existing Sources: Hospital... performance standards and emissions guidelines for hospital/medical/infectious waste incinerators by the U.S... amendments to the new source performance standards and emissions guidelines, correcting inadvertent drafting...

Biomass burning - Combustion emissions, satellite imagery, and biogenic emissions

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Joel S.; Cofer, Wesley R., III; Winstead, Edward L.; Rhinehart, Robert P.; Cahoon, Donald R., Jr.; Sebacher, Daniel I.; Sebacher, Shirley; Stocks, Brian J.

1991-01-01

After detailing a technique for the estimation of the instantaneous emission of trace gases produced by biomass burning, using satellite imagery, attention is given to the recent discovery that burning results in significant enhancement of biogenic emissions of N2O, NO, and CH4. Biomass burning accordingly has an immediate and long-term impact on the production of atmospheric trace gases. It is presently demonstrated that satellite imagery of fires may be used to estimate combustion emissions, and could be used to estimate long-term postburn biogenic emission of trace gases to the atmosphere.

Long-term changes in CO(2) emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia-Identifying the drivers of environmental pressures.

Science.gov (United States)

Gingrich, Simone; Kušková, Petra; Steinberger, Julia K

2011-02-01

This study presents fossil-fuel related CO(2) emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia (current Czech Republic and Slovakia) for 1830-2000. The drivers of CO(2) emissions are discussed by investigating the variables of the standard Kaya identity for 1920-2000 and conducting a comparative Index Decomposition Analysis. Proxy data on industrial production and household consumption are analysed to understand the role of the economic structure. CO(2) emissions increased in both countries in the long run. Czechoslovakia was a stronger emitter of CO(2) throughout the time period, but per-capita emissions significantly differed only after World War I, when Czechoslovakia and Austria became independent. The difference in CO(2) emissions increased until the mid-1980s (the period of communism in Czechoslovakia), explained by the energy intensity and the composition effects, and higher industrial production in Czechoslovakia. Counterbalancing factors were the income effect and household consumption. After the Velvet revolution in 1990, Czechoslovak CO(2) emissions decreased, and the energy composition effect (and industrial production) lost importance. Despite their different political and economic development, Austria and Czechoslovakia reached similar levels of per-capita CO(2) emissions in the late 20th century. Neither Austrian "eco-efficiency" nor Czechoslovak restructuring have been effective in reducing CO(2) emissions to a sustainable level.

Critical mid-term uncertainties in long-term decarbonisation pathways

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Usher, Will; Strachan, Neil

2012-01-01

Over the next decade, large energy investments are required in the UK to meet growing energy service demands and legally binding emission targets under a pioneering policy agenda. These are necessary despite deep mid-term (2025–2030) uncertainties over which national policy makers have little control. We investigate the effect of two critical mid-term uncertainties on optimal near-term investment decisions using a two-stage stochastic energy system model. The results show that where future fossil fuel prices are uncertain: (i) the near term hedging strategy to 2030 differs from any one deterministic fuel price scenario and is structurally dissimilar to a simple ‘average’ of the deterministic scenarios, and (ii) multiple recourse strategies from 2030 are perturbed by path dependencies caused by hedging investments. Evaluating the uncertainty under a decarbonisation agenda shows that fossil fuel price uncertainty is very expensive at around £20 billion. The addition of novel mitigation options reduces the value of fossil fuel price uncertainty to £11 billion. Uncertain biomass import availability shows a much lower value of uncertainty at £300 million. This paper reveals the complex relationship between the flexibility of the energy system and mitigating the costs of uncertainty due to the path-dependencies caused by the long-life times of both infrastructures and generation technologies. - Highlights: ► Critical mid-term uncertainties affect near-term investments in UK energy system. ► Deterministic scenarios give conflicting near-term actions. ► Stochastic scenarios give one near-term hedging strategy. ► Technologies exhibit path dependency or flexibility. ► Fossil fuel price uncertainty is very expensive, biomass availability uncertainty is not.

Evaluation of sanitary impact of urban air pollution. Agglomeration of Orleans and Tours impact at short and long term; Evaluation de l'impact sanitaire de la pollution atmospherique urbaine. Agglomeration d'Orleans et de Tours impact a cour et long terme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

An health impact assessment of air pollution based on the I.n.V.S. guidelines has been conducted in Orleans and Tours according to the regional Plan for the quality of air in the region of Centre. Short-term effects on morbidity (hospital admissions in 2002 and 2003) and mortality. Long-term mortality was also estimated. The estimated numbers of hospitalizations are: Orleans: 11 [2-23]* for respiratory admissions and 26 [16-36]* for cardiovascular admissions; Tours: 11 [3-22]* for respiratory admissions and 34 [20-48]* for cardiovascular admissions. For long-term mortality the estimated impact is 59 [36-84]* in Orleans and 61 [37-86]* in Tours. The different scenarios of air pollution reduction showed that the most effective ones are those which lead to reduce of 25% the mean of the involved pollutant. Results showed that air pollution are even resulting in health effects for some levels of pollution than current limits. The most effective actions should therefore associate reduction of the source emissions on a daily basis and decrease of the over-limits levels of pollution. (author)

Committing to coal and gas: Long-term contracts, regulation, and fuel switching in power generation

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, Michael

Fuel switching in the electricity sector has important economic and environmental consequences. In the United States, the increased supply of gas during the last decade has led to substantial switching in the short term. Fuel switching is constrained, however, by the existing infrastructure. The power generation infrastructure, in turn, represents commitments to specific sources of energy over the long term. This dissertation explores fuel contracts as the link between short-term price response and long-term plant investments. Contracting choices enable power plant investments that are relationship-specific, often regulated, and face uncertainty. Many power plants are subject to both hold-up in investment and cost-of-service regulation. I find that capital bias is robust when considering either irreversibility or hold-up due to the uncertain arrival of an outside option. For sunk capital, the rental rate is inappropriate for determining capital bias. Instead, capital bias depends on the regulated rate of return, discount rate, and depreciation schedule. If policies such as emissions regulations increase fuel-switching flexibility, this can lead to capital bias. Cost-of-service regulation can shorten the duration of a long-term contract. From the firm's perspective, the existing literature provides limited guidance when bargaining and writing contracts for fuel procurement. I develop a stochastic programming framework to optimize long-term contracting decisions under both endogenous and exogenous sources of hold-up risk. These typically include policy changes, price shocks, availability of fuel, and volatility in derived demand. For price risks, the optimal contract duration is the moment when the expected benefits of the contract are just outweighed by the expected opportunity costs of remaining in the contract. I prove that imposing early renegotiation costs decreases contract duration. Finally, I provide an empirical approach to show how coal contracts can limit

Assessing variability and long-term trends in burned area by merging multiple satellite fire products

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L. Giglio

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Long term, high quality estimates of burned area are needed for improving both prognostic and diagnostic fire emissions models and for assessing feedbacks between fire and the climate system. We developed global, monthly burned area estimates aggregated to 0.5° spatial resolution for the time period July 1996 through mid-2009 using four satellite data sets. From 2001–2009, our primary data source was 500-m burned area maps produced using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS surface reflectance imagery; more than 90% of the global area burned during this time period was mapped in this fashion. During times when the 500-m MODIS data were not available, we used a combination of local regression and regional regression trees developed over periods when burned area and Terra MODIS active fire data were available to indirectly estimate burned area. Cross-calibration with fire observations from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS and the Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR allowed the data set to be extended prior to the MODIS era. With our data set we estimated that the global annual area burned for the years 1997–2008 varied between 330 and 431 Mha, with the maximum occurring in 1998. We compared our data set to the recent GFED2, L3JRC, GLOBCARBON, and MODIS MCD45A1 global burned area products and found substantial differences in many regions. Lastly, we assessed the interannual variability and long-term trends in global burned area over the past 13 years. This burned area time series serves as the basis for the third version of the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED3 estimates of trace gas and aerosol emissions.

Long-Term Drainage Reduces CO2 Uptake and CH4 Emissions in a Siberian Permafrost Ecosystem

Science.gov (United States)

Kittler, Fanny; Heimann, Martin; Kolle, Olaf; Zimov, Nikita; Zimov, Sergei; Göckede, Mathias

2017-12-01

Permafrost landscapes in northern high latitudes with their massive organic carbon stocks are an important, poorly known, component of the global carbon cycle. However, in light of future Arctic warming, the sustainability of these carbon pools is uncertain. To a large part, this is due to a limited understanding of the carbon cycle processes because of sparse observations in Arctic permafrost ecosystems. Here we present an eddy covariance data set covering more than 3 years of continuous CO2 and CH4 flux observations within a moist tussock tundra ecosystem near Chersky in north-eastern Siberia. Through parallel observations of a disturbed (drained) area and a control area nearby, we aim to evaluate the long-term effects of a persistently lowered water table on the net vertical carbon exchange budgets and the dominating biogeochemical mechanisms. Persistently drier soils trigger systematic shifts in the tundra ecosystem carbon cycle patterns. Both, uptake rates of CO2 and emissions of CH4 decreased. Year-round measurements emphasize the importance of the non-growing season—in particular the "zero-curtain" period in the fall—to the annual budget. Approximately 60% of the CO2 uptake in the growing season is lost during the cold seasons, while CH4 emissions during the non-growing season account for 30% of the annual budget. Year-to-year variability in temperature conditions during the late growing season was identified as the primary control of the interannual variability observed in the CO2 and CH4 fluxes.

Amygdala activity at encoding correlated with long-term, free recall of emotional information.

OpenAIRE

Cahill, L; Haier, R J; Fallon, J; Alkire, M T; Tang, C; Keator, D; Wu, J; McGaugh, J L

1996-01-01

Positron emission tomography of cerebral glucose metabolism in adult human subjects was used to investigate amygdaloid complex (AC) activity associated with the storage of long-term memory for emotionally arousing events. Subjects viewed two videos (one in each of two separate positron emission tomography sessions, separated by 3-7 days) consisting either of 12 emotionally arousing film clips ("E" film session) or of 12 relatively emotionally neutral film clips ("N" film session), and rated t...

Environmental effects of the long term management of wastes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Henry, L.C.

1980-08-01

Criteria for interim application in uranium mill tailings management, pending the outcome of a thorough investigation of the tailings problem, are outlined. For a closed-out tailings site only passive or natural barriers are to be used to control releases; surface water recharge is to be limited to that from direct natural precipitation, and no permanent water pool will be allowed; all designed systems must be evaluated in terms of their long-term durability; long-term performance and economic guarantees will be required; access must be limited to the maximum extent practical; and pathway analyses should be performed to determine the health, safety and environmental impacts of the expected level of releases. Releases to water should be no greater than those experienced during the operating phase of the facility. Radon emanation should not exceed 2-10 pCi/m 2 .s, and gamma radiation should be reduced to 10-50 μR/hr at 1 metre above the surface. Particulate emissions originating from the tailings material should be virtually non-existent

Drivers for spatial, temporal and long-term trends in atmospheric ammonia and ammonium in the UK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Y. S. Tang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available A unique long-term dataset from the UK National Ammonia Monitoring Network (NAMN is used here to assess spatial, seasonal and long-term variability in atmospheric ammonia (NH3: 1998–2014 and particulate ammonium (NH4+: 1999–2014 across the UK. Extensive spatial heterogeneity in NH3 concentrations is observed, with lowest annual mean concentrations at remote sites (< 0.2 µg m−3 and highest in the areas with intensive agriculture (up to 22 µg m−3, while NH4+ concentrations show less spatial variability (e.g. range of 0.14 to 1.8 µg m−3 annual mean in 2005. Temporally, NH3 concentrations are influenced by environmental conditions and local emission sources. In particular, peak NH3 concentrations are observed in summer at background sites (defined by 5 km grid average NH3 emissions < 1 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and in areas dominated by sheep farming, driven by increased volatilization of NH3 in warmer summer temperatures. In areas where cattle, pig and poultry farming is dominant, the largest NH3 concentrations are in spring and autumn, matching periods of manure application to fields. By contrast, peak concentrations of NH4+ aerosol occur in spring, associated with long-range transboundary sources. An estimated decrease in NH3 emissions by 16 % between 1998 and 2014 was reported by the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory. Annually averaged NH3 data from NAMN sites operational over the same period (n =  59 show an indicative downward trend, although the reduction in NH3 concentrations is smaller and non-significant: Mann–Kendall (MK, −6.3 %; linear regression (LR, −3.1 %. In areas dominated by pig and poultry farming, a significant reduction in NH3 concentrations between 1998 and 2014 (MK: −22 %; LR: −21 %, annually averaged NH3 is consistent with, but not as large as the decrease in estimated NH3 emissions from this sector over the same period (−39 %. By contrast, in cattle

Disturbance from Am-241 Photons of the Cellular Dose by Am-241 Alpha Emissions: Am-241 as an alternative source of alpha particles to radon daughters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Ki-Man; Kim, Eun-Hee

2015-01-01

The Radiation Bioengineering Laboratory (RadBio Lab) at Seoul National University (SNU) has built an Am-241 alpha particle irradiator for study of cellular responses to radiation from radon daughters. The radon daughters of concern that cause internal exposure from inhalation of radon-contaminated air are Po-218, Po-214 and Po-210. In their alpha decay schemes, the yields of photon emissions are negligible. Unfortunately, Am-241, the source of alpha irradiator in RadBio Lab, emits photons at every alpha decay while transforming to Np-237 of long half-life. Employing Am-241 as the source simulating radon daughters, therefore, requires that photon emissions from Am-241 be specified in term of dose contribution. In this study, Monte Carlo calculations have been made to characterize dose contributions of Am-241 photon emissions. This study confirms that disturbance from Am-241 photon emissions of the cellular dose by Am-241 alpha emissions is negligible. Dose contamination fraction from photon emissions was 8.02 .. 10 -6 at 25 mm SSD at maximum. Also, note that LET in tissue-equivalent medium varies within about 20% for alpha particles at energies over 5 MeV

135Cs/137Cs isotopic composition of environmental samples across Europe: Environmental transport and source term emission applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snow, Mathew S.; Snyder, Darin C.

2016-01-01

135 Cs/ 137 Cs isotopic analyses represent an important tool for studying the fate and transport of radiocesium in the environment; in this work the 135 Cs/ 137 Cs isotopic composition in environmental samples taken from across Europe is reported. Surface soil and vegetation samples from western Russia, Ukraine, Austria, and Hungary show consistent aged thermal fission product 135 Cs/ 137 Cs isotope ratios of 0.58 ± 0.01 (age corrected to 1/1/15), with the exception of one sample of soil-moss from Hungary which shows an elevated 135 Cs/ 137 Cs ratio of 1.78 ± 0.12. With the exception of the outlier sample from Hungary, surface soil/vegetation data are in quantitative agreement with values previously reported for soils within the Chernobyl exclusion zone, suggesting that radiocesium at these locations is primarily composed of homogenous airborne deposition from Chernobyl. Seawater samples taken from the Irish Sea show 135 Cs/ 137 Cs isotope ratios of 1.22 ± 0.11 (age corrected to 1/1/15), suggesting aged thermal fission product Cs discharged from Sellafield. The differences in 135 Cs/ 137 Cs isotope ratios between Sellafield, Chernobyl, and global nuclear weapons testing fallout indicate that 135 Cs/ 137 Cs isotope ratios can be utilized to discriminate between and track radiocesium transport from different nuclear production source terms, including major emission sources in Europe. - Highlights: • 135 Cs/ 137 Cs useful for tracking anthropogenic environmental radiocesium releases. • European surface soils/vegetation have uniform ratio consistent with Chernobyl. • 135 Cs/ 137 Cs in Irish sea represents thermal fission ratio distinct from Chernobyl. • Can distinguish between major source terms in Europe based on 135 Cs/ 137 Cs.

The challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution through energy sources: evidence from a panel of developed countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Akhmat, Ghulam; Zaman, Khalid; Shukui, Tan; Sajjad, Faiza; Khan, Muhammad Azhar; Khan, Muhammad Zahir

2014-06-01

The objective of the study is to investigate the long-run relationship between climatic factors (i.e., greenhouse gas emissions, agricultural methane emissions, and industrial nitrous oxide emission), air pollution (i.e., carbon dioxide emissions), and energy sources (i.e., nuclear energy; oil, gas, and coal energy; and fossil fuel energy) in the panel of 35 developed countries (including EU-15, new EU member states, G-7, and other countries) over a period of 1975-2012. In order to achieve this objective, the present study uses sophisticated panel econometric techniques including panel cointegration, panel fully modified OLS (FMOLS), and dynamic OLS (DOLS). The results show that there is a long-run relationship between the variables. Nuclear energy reduces greenhouse gases and carbon emissions; however, the other emissions, i.e., agricultural methane emissions and industrial nitrous oxide, are still to increase during the study period. Electricity production from oil, gas, and coal sources increases the greenhouse gases and carbon emissions; however, the intensity to increase emissions is far less than the intensity to increase emissions through fossil fuel. Policies that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases can simultaneously alter emissions of conventional pollutants that have deleterious effects on human health and the environment.

Long-term experiences in the use of rapeseed oil fuel in tractors of the emissions levels I and II; Langzeiterfahrungen zum Einsatz von Rapsoelkraftstoff in Traktoren der Abgasstufe I und II

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Emberger, Peter; Thuneke, Klaus; Remmele, Edgar

2013-06-01

The operational behavior as well as the emission behavior should be clarified in long-term use by means of tractors which are powered by rapeseed oil fuel. This is based on the following measures: review of the quality of rapeseed oil fuel used; testing of the quality of the engine oil on a random basis; documentation of failures, maintenance and repair work; measurement of performance and fuel economy; measurement of exhaust emissions; diagnosis of engines.

Long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions in a rice paddy cropping system: A four-year case study in south China

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Qin, Xiaobo [Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, The Key Laboratory for Agro-Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, No.12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian district, Beijing 100081 (China); Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 1030, Swift Current, Saskatchewan S9H 3X2 (Canada); Li, Yu' e, E-mail: liyue@caas.cn [Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, The Key Laboratory for Agro-Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, No.12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian district, Beijing 100081 (China); Wang, Hong [Semiarid Prairie Agricultural Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 1030, Swift Current, Saskatchewan S9H 3X2 (Canada); Liu, Chong; Li, Jianling; Wan, Yunfan; Gao, Qingzhu [Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development in Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, The Key Laboratory for Agro-Environment, Ministry of Agriculture, No.12 Zhongguancun South Street, Haidian district, Beijing 100081 (China); Fan, Fenliang [Institute of Agricultural Resources and Regional Planning, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100081 (China); Liao, Yulin [Soils and Fertilizer Institute of Hunan Province, Changsha 410125 (China)

2016-11-01

To evaluate long-term effect of biochar application on yield-scaled greenhouse gas emissions (YSGE) in a paddy rice cropping system, a 4-year field experiment by static chamber - gas chromatograph method was conducted in South China. Principal component analysis and terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) and real-time qPCR was used to unravel the microbial mechanisms of biochar addition. Six treatments were included: control (CK), application of 5 t ha{sup −} {sup 1} biochar (BC1), application of 10 t ha{sup −} {sup 1} biochar (BC2), application of 10 t ha{sup −} {sup 1} biochar (BC3), rice straw return at 2400 kg ha{sup −} {sup 1}(RS) and inoculated rice straw return at 2400 kg ha{sup −} {sup 1}(RI). The results indicated that biochar amendment significantly decreased methane (CH{sub 4}) and gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This may primarily be ascribed to the stimulated biodiversity and abundance of methanotrophic microbes, increased soil pH and improved aeration by reducing bulk density after biochar incorporation. Compared with CK, RS and RI, 26.18%, 70.02%, 66.47% of CH{sub 4} flux and 26.14%, 70.16%, 66.46% of gross GHG emissions were reduced by biochar (mean of three biochar treatments), respectively. Furthermore, biochar significantly increased harvest index of double rice production (p < 0.05). In comparison with CK, RS and RI, 29.14%, 68.04%, 62.28% of YSGE was reduced by biochar, respectively, and the highest biochar addition rate (20 t ha{sup −} {sup 1}) contributed most to the mitigation of GHG emissions (36.24% decrease compared to CK) and improvement of rice yield (7.65% increase compared to CK). Results of our study suggested that long-term application of biochar should be the potential way to mitigate GHGs emissions and simultaneously improve rice productivity in the paddy rice system. - Graphical abstract: Relative change ratio of different biochar amendments and rice straw residues to CK treatment during the

Long term stability of power systems

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kundur, P; Gao, B [Powertech Labs. Inc., Surrey, BC (Canada)

1994-12-31

Power system long term stability is still a developing subject. In this paper we provide our perspectives and experiences related to long term stability. The paper begins with the description of the nature of the long term stability problem, followed by the discussion of issues related to the modeling and solution techniques of tools for long term stability analysis. Cases studies are presented to illustrate the voltage stability aspect and plant dynamics aspect of long term stability. (author) 20 refs., 11 figs.

Atmospheric toxic metals emission inventory and spatial characteristics from anthropogenic sources of Guangdong province, China

Science.gov (United States)

Cher, S.; Menghua, L.; Xiao, X.; Yuqi, W.; Zhuangmin, Z.; Zhijiong, H.; Cheng, L.; Guanglin, J.; Zibing, Y.; Junyu, Z.

2017-12-01

Atmospheric toxic metals (TMs) are part of particulate matters, and may create adverse effects on the environment and human health depending upon their bioavailability and toxicity. Localized emission inventory is fundamental for parsing of toxic metals to identify key sources in order to formulate efficient toxic metals control strategies. With the use of the latest municipal level environment statistical data, this study developed a bottom-up emission inventory of five toxic metals (Hg, As, Pb, Cd, Cr) from anthropogenic activities in Guangdong province for the year of 2014. Major atmospheric toxic metals sources including combustion sources (coal, oil, biomass, municipal solid waste) and industrial process sources (cement production, nonferrous metal smelting, iron and steel industry, battery and fluorescent lamp production) were investigated. Results showed that: (1) The total emissions of Hg, As, Pb, Cd, Cr in Guangdong province were 18.14, 32.59, 411.34, 13.13, 84.16 t, respectively. (2) Different pollutants have obvious characteristics of emission sources. For total Hg emission, 46% comes from combustion sources, of which 32% from coal combustion and 8% from MSW combustion. Other 54% comes from industrial processes, which dominated by the cement (19%), fluorescent lamp (18%) and battery production (13%). Of the total Hg emission, 69% is released as Hg0 , 29% as Hg2+ , and only 2% as Hgp due to strict particulate matters controls policies. For As emissions, coal combustion, nonferrous metal smelting and iron and steel industry contributed approximate 48%, 25% and 24%, respectively. Pb emissions primarily come from battery production (42%), iron and steel industry (21%) and on-road mobile gasoline combustion (17%). Cd and Cr emissions were dominated by nonferrous metal smelting (71%) and iron and steel industry (82%), respectively. (3) In term of the spatial distribution, emissions of atmospheric toxic metals are mainly concentrated in the central region of

Design parameters and source terms: Volume 3, Source terms

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-10-01

The Design Parameters and Source Terms Document was prepared in accordance with DOE request and to provide data for the environmental impact study to be performed in the future for the Deaf Smith County, Texas site for a nuclear waste repository in salt. This document updates a previous unpublished report by Stearns Catalytic Corporation (SCC), entitled ''Design Parameters and Source Terms for a Two-Phase Repository in Salt,'' 1985, to the level of the Site Characterization Plan - Conceptual Design Report. The previous unpublished SCC Study identifies the data needs for the Environmental Assessment effort for seven possible Salt Repository sites. 11 refs., 9 tabs

Long-term changes in CO2 emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia—Identifying the drivers of environmental pressures

Science.gov (United States)

Gingrich, Simone; Kušková, Petra; Steinberger, Julia K.

2011-01-01

This study presents fossil-fuel related CO2 emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia (current Czech Republic and Slovakia) for 1830–2000. The drivers of CO2 emissions are discussed by investigating the variables of the standard Kaya identity for 1920–2000 and conducting a comparative Index Decomposition Analysis. Proxy data on industrial production and household consumption are analysed to understand the role of the economic structure. CO2 emissions increased in both countries in the long run. Czechoslovakia was a stronger emitter of CO2 throughout the time period, but per-capita emissions significantly differed only after World War I, when Czechoslovakia and Austria became independent. The difference in CO2 emissions increased until the mid-1980s (the period of communism in Czechoslovakia), explained by the energy intensity and the composition effects, and higher industrial production in Czechoslovakia. Counterbalancing factors were the income effect and household consumption. After the Velvet revolution in 1990, Czechoslovak CO2 emissions decreased, and the energy composition effect (and industrial production) lost importance. Despite their different political and economic development, Austria and Czechoslovakia reached similar levels of per-capita CO2 emissions in the late 20th century. Neither Austrian “eco-efficiency” nor Czechoslovak restructuring have been effective in reducing CO2 emissions to a sustainable level. PMID:21461052

The weak Fe fluorescence line and long-term X-ray evolution of the Compton-thick active galactic nucleus in NGC 7674

Science.gov (United States)

Gandhi, P.; Annuar, A.; Lansbury, G. B.; Stern, D.; Alexander, D. M.; Bauer, F. E.; Bianchi, S.; Boggs, S. E.; Boorman, P. G.; Brandt, W. N.; Brightman, M.; Christensen, F. E.; Comastri, A.; Craig, W. W.; Del Moro, A.; Elvis, M.; Guainazzi, M.; Hailey, C. J.; Harrison, F. A.; Koss, M.; Lamperti, I.; Malaguti, G.; Masini, A.; Matt, G.; Puccetti, S.; Ricci, C.; Rivers, E.; Walton, D. J.; Zhang, W. W.

2017-06-01

We present NuSTAR X-ray observations of the active galactic nucleus (AGN) in NGC 7674. The source shows a flat X-ray spectrum, suggesting that it is obscured by Compton-thick gas columns. Based upon long-term flux dimming, previous work suggested the alternate possibility that the source is a recently switched-off AGN with the observed X-rays being the lagged echo from the torus. Our high-quality data show the source to be reflection-dominated in hard X-rays, but with a relatively weak neutral Fe Kα emission line (equivalent width [EW] of ≈ 0.4 keV) and a strong Fe xxvi ionized line (EW ≈ 0.2 keV). We construct an updated long-term X-ray light curve of NGC 7674 and find that the observed 2-10 keV flux has remained constant for the past ≈ 20 yr, following a high-flux state probed by Ginga. Light travel time arguments constrain the minimum radius of the reflector to be ˜ 3.2 pc under the switched-off AGN scenario, ≈ 30 times larger than the expected dust sublimation radius, rendering this possibility unlikely. A patchy Compton-thick AGN (CTAGN) solution is plausible, requiring a minimum line-of-sight column density (NH) of 3 × 1024 cm-2 at present, and yields an intrinsic 2-10 keV luminosity of (3-5) × 1043 erg s-1. Realistic uncertainties span the range of ≈ (1-13) × 1043 erg s-1. The source has one of the weakest fluorescence lines amongst bona fide CTAGN, and is potentially a local analogue of bolometrically luminous systems showing complex neutral and ionized Fe emission. It exemplifies the difficulty of identification and proper characterization of distant CTAGN based on the strength of the neutral Fe Kα line.

The Weak Fe Fluorescence Line and Long-Term X-Ray Evolution of the Compton-Thick Active Galactic Nucleus in NGC7674

Science.gov (United States)

Ghandi, P.; Annuar, A.; Lansbury, G. B.; Stern, D.; Alexander, D. M.; Bauer, F. E.; Bianchi, S.; Boggs, S. E.; Boorman, P. G.; Brandt, W. N.;

Long-term impacts of battery electric vehicles on the German electricity system

Science.gov (United States)

Heinrichs, H. U.; Jochem, P.

2016-05-01

The emerging market for electric vehicles gives rise to an additional electricity demand. This new electricity demand will affect the electricity system. For quantifying those impacts a model-based approach, which covers long-term time horizons is necessary in order to consider the long lasting investment paths in electricity systems and the market development of electric mobility. Therefore, we apply a bottom-up electricity system model showing a detailed spatial resolution for different development paths of electric mobility in Germany until 2030. This model is based on a linear optimization which minimizes the discounted costs of the electricity system. We observe an increase of electricity exchange between countries and electricity generated by renewable energy sources. One major result turns out to be that electric vehicles can be integrated in the electricity system without increasing the system costs when a controlled (postponing) charging strategy for electric vehicles is applied. The impact on the power plant portfolio is insignificant. Another important side effect of electric vehicles is their substantial contribution to decreasing CO2 emissions of the German transport sector. Hence, electric mobility might be an integral part of a sustainable energy system of tomorrow.

Characterizing sources of emissions from wildland fires

Science.gov (United States)

Roger D. Ottmar; Ana Isabel Miranda; David V. Sandberg

2009-01-01

Smoke emissions from wildland fire can be harmful to human health and welfare, impair visibility, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The generation of emissions and heat release need to be characterized to estimate the potential impacts of wildland fire smoke. This requires explicit knowledge of the source, including size of the area burned, burn period,...

An emission inventory of sulfur from anthropogenic sources in Antarctica

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. V. Shirsat

2009-05-01

Full Text Available This paper presents first results of a comprehensive emission inventory of chemical species from anthropogenic activities (power generation, vehicles, ships and aircraft in Antarctica, covering the 2004–2005 period.

The inventory is based on estimated emission rates of fuel consumption provided by some of the Antarctic research stations. Since the emission sources have different modes of operation and use a variety of fuel, the emission flux rate of chemical species is calculated by multiplying the fuel consumption value with the density of fuel and appropriate emission factors. A separate inventory is prepared for each anthropogenic emission source in Antarctica.

Depending on the type of operation, emission rates of SO₂, and BC (Black Carbon, from shipping only have been calculated using the above technique. However, only results of SO₂ emissions from each source are presented here. Emission inventory maps of SO₂ depicting the track/path taken by each mobile source are shown. The total annual SO₂ is 158 Mg from power generation and vehicle operations, 3873 Mg from ships and 56 Mg from aircraft for 2004–2005 and these values undergo strong seasonality following the human activity in Antarctica. Though these figures are small when compared to the emissions at most other regions of the world, they are an indication that human presence in Antarctica leads to at least local pollution. The sources are mainly line and point sources and thus the local pollution potentially is relatively strong.

Evaluation of sanitary impact of the urban air pollution. Agglomeration of Angouleme, Niort and Poitiers impact at short and long term; Evaluation de l'impact sanitaire de la pollution atmospherique urbaine. Agglomeration d'Angouleme, Niort et Poitiers impact a cour et long terme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

An health impact assessment of air pollution based on the I.n.V.S. guidelines has been conducted in Angouleme, Niort and Poitiers according to the Regional Plan for the quality of air in the region of Poitou- Charentes. Short-term effects on morbidity (hospital admissions in 2001 and 2002) and mortality were estimated. Long-term effects due to air pollution on mortality were also evaluated. The estimated numbers of hospitalizations for cardiovascular and respiratory admissions due to air pollution are 19 in Angouleme, 11 in Niort and 19 in Poitiers. For long-term mortality the estimated impact is 25 in Angouleme, 19 in Niort and 23 in Poitiers. The different scenarios of air pollution reduction showed that the most effective ones are those which lead to reduce of 25% the mean of the involved pollutant. Results showed that air pollution are even resulting in health effects for some levels of pollution lower than current limits. The most effective actions should therefore associate reduction of the source emissions on a daily basis and decrease of the over-limits levels of pollution. (author)

Long term creep strength of silver alloyed copper

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Auerkari, P.; Sandlin, S.

1988-12-01

The long term creep strength of silver alloyed copper has been estimated using literature creep data for materials with less than 0.1% Ag. The available data was very limited, and it was necessary to test the differences between various data sets and extrapolation methods. Assuming constant stress level and constant or changing temperature, the creep behaviour has been assessed using mainly Larson-Miller and theta-projection approaches. The calculations indicate that the different extrapolation methods and data sources can yield strongly different life estimates. With the available incomplete data the theta projection method may give the conservative life predictions, whereas the Larson-Miller approach grossly overestimates creep life. It is recommended that supplementary data is acquired to better assess the long term creep properties of canisters in repository conditions

Evolution of air pollution source contributions over one decade, derived by PM10 and PM2.5 source apportionment in two metropolitan urban areas in Greece

Science.gov (United States)

Diapouli, E.; Manousakas, M.; Vratolis, S.; Vasilatou, V.; Maggos, Th; Saraga, D.; Grigoratos, Th; Argyropoulos, G.; Voutsa, D.; Samara, C.; Eleftheriadis, K.

2017-09-01

Metropolitan Urban areas in Greece have been known to suffer from poor air quality, due to variety of emission sources, topography and climatic conditions favouring the accumulation of pollution. While a number of control measures have been implemented since the 1990s, resulting in reductions of atmospheric pollution and changes in emission source contributions, the financial crisis which started in 2009 has significantly altered this picture. The present study is the first effort to assess the contribution of emission sources to PM10 and PM2.5 concentration levels and their long-term variability (over 5-10 years), in the two largest metropolitan urban areas in Greece (Athens and Thessaloniki). Intensive measurement campaigns were conducted during 2011-2012 at suburban, urban background and urban traffic sites in these two cities. In addition, available datasets from previous measurements in Athens and Thessaloniki were used in order to assess the long-term variability of concentrations and sources. Chemical composition analysis of the 2011-2012 samples showed that carbonaceous matter was the most abundant component for both PM size fractions. Significant increase of carbonaceous particle concentrations and of OC/EC ratio during the cold period, especially in the residential urban background sites, pointed towards domestic heating and more particularly wood (biomass) burning as a significant source. PMF analysis further supported this finding. Biomass burning was the largest contributing source at the two urban background sites (with mean contributions for the two size fractions in the range of 24-46%). Secondary aerosol formation (sulphate, nitrate & organics) was also a major contributing source for both size fractions at the suburban and urban background sites. At the urban traffic site, vehicular traffic (exhaust and non-exhaust emissions) was the source with the highest contributions, accounting for 44% of PM10 and 37% of PM2.5, respectively. The long-term

The psychological contract: enhancing productivity and its implications for long-term care.

Science.gov (United States)

Flannery, Raymond B

2002-01-01

When hired, a new employee is usually given a job description and an explanation of benefits. In addition, the employee will also have a psychological contract with the organization. This contract, often unstated, reflects the main source of the employee's motivation to work hard. This is true of all groups of employees, including long-term care staff. Common examples of psychological contracts for long-term care administrative staff include autonomy, social acceptance, and being in the forefront of cutting-edge research. An awareness of these psychological contracts can result in better "fits" between employee aspirations and relevant long-term care organization tasks so that productivity is enhanced. This article outlines the steps necessary to create these good fits in ways that benefit both the organization and its employees. These recommendations are of particular relevance to administrators and supervisors in long-term carefacilities.

Comparative assessment of Japan's long-term carbon budget under different effort-sharing principles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kuramochi, Takeshi; Asuka, Jusen; Fekete, Hanna; Tamura, Kentaro; Höhne, Niklas

2016-01-01

This article assesses Japan's carbon budgets up to 2100 in the global efforts to achieve the 2 °C target under different effort-sharing approaches based on long-term GHG mitigation scenarios published in 13 studies. The article also presents exemplary emission trajectories for Japan to stay

Long-term urethral catheterisation.

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Bruce; Dickens, Nicola

This article discusses long-term urethral catheterisation, focusing on the relevant anatomy and physiology, indications for the procedure, catheter selection and catheter care. It is important that nurses have a good working knowledge of long-term catheterisation as the need for this intervention will increase with the rise in chronic health conditions and the ageing population.

The emission abatement policy paradox in Australia: evidence from energy-emission nexus.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahmed, Khalid; Ozturk, Ilhan

2016-09-01

This paper attempts to investigate the emissions embodied in Australia's economic growth and disaggregate primary energy sources used for electricity production. Using time series data over the period of 1990-2012, the ARDL bounds test approach to cointegration technique is applied to test the long-run association among the underlying variables. The regression results validate the long-run equilibrium relationship among all vectors and confirm that CO2 emissions, economic growth, and disaggregate primary energy consumption impact each other in the long-run path. Afterwards, the long- and short-run analyses are conducted using error correction model. The results show that economic growth, coal, oil, gas, and hydro energy sources have positive and statistically significant impact on CO2 emissions both in long and short run, with an exception of renewables which has negative impact only in the long run. The results conclude that Australia faces wide gap between emission abatement policies and targets. The country still relies on emission intensive fossil fuels (i.e., coal and oil) to meet the indigenous electricity demand.

Long-term changes in CO2 emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia-Identifying the drivers of environmental pressures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gingrich, Simone; Kuskova, Petra; Steinberger, Julia K.

2011-01-01

This study presents fossil-fuel related CO 2 emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia (current Czech Republic and Slovakia) for 1830-2000. The drivers of CO 2 emissions are discussed by investigating the variables of the standard Kaya identity for 1920-2000 and conducting a comparative Index Decomposition Analysis. Proxy data on industrial production and household consumption are analysed to understand the role of the economic structure. CO 2 emissions increased in both countries in the long run. Czechoslovakia was a stronger emitter of CO 2 throughout the time period, but per-capita emissions significantly differed only after World War I, when Czechoslovakia and Austria became independent. The difference in CO 2 emissions increased until the mid-1980s (the period of communism in Czechoslovakia), explained by the energy intensity and the composition effects, and higher industrial production in Czechoslovakia. Counterbalancing factors were the income effect and household consumption. After the Velvet revolution in 1990, Czechoslovak CO 2 emissions decreased, and the energy composition effect (and industrial production) lost importance. Despite their different political and economic development, Austria and Czechoslovakia reached similar levels of per-capita CO 2 emissions in the late 20th century. Neither Austrian 'eco-efficiency' nor Czechoslovak restructuring have been effective in reducing CO 2 emissions to a sustainable level. - Research Highlights: →CO 2 emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia increased during industrialisation. →The differences were strongest during periods of different political regimes. →The main drivers for differences were energy composition and energy intensity.

75 FR 63259 - Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-10-14

... Standards of Performance for New Stationary Sources and Emission Guidelines for Existing Sources: Sewage... performance standards for new units and emission guidelines for existing units for specific categories of... standards and emission guidelines for large municipal waste combustion units, small municipal waste...

Megacity and country emissions from combustion sources-Buenos Aires-Argentina

Science.gov (United States)

Dawidowski, L.; Gomez, D.; Matranga, M.; D'Angiola, A.; Oreggioni, G.

2010-12-01

Historic time series (1970-2006) emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants arising from stationary and mobile combustion sources were estimated at national level for Argentina and at regional level for the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires (MABA). All emissions were estimated using a bottom-up approach following the IPCC good practice guidance. For mobile sources, national emissions include all transport categories. Regional emissions account thus far only for on-road. For national emissions, methodologies and guidance by the IPCC were employed, applying the highest possible tier and using: i)country-specific emission factors for carbon and sulphur and technology-based information for other species, ii)activity data from energy balance series (1970-2007), and iii)complementary information concerning the non-energy use of fuels. Regional emissions in 2006 were estimated in-depth using a technology-based approach for the city of Buenos Aires (CBA) and the 24 neighboring districts composing the MABA. A regional emissions factors database was developed to better characterize Latin American fleets and driving conditions employing COPERT III-IV algorithms and emission factors measured in dynamometers and circulating vehicles in Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Colombia. Past emissions were back estimated from 2005 to 1970 using the best available information, which differs greatly among categories, spatial disaggregation and time periods. The time series of stationary and mobile combustion sources at the national and regional level allowed the identification of distinct patterns. National greenhouse gas emissions in 2006 amounted to ~ 150 million ton CO2-equivalent, 70% of which were contributed by stationary sources. On-road transport was the major contributor within mobile sources (28.1 %). The increasing emissions trends are dominated by on-road transport, agriculture and residential categories while the variability is largely associated with energy industries

China's building energy demand: Long-term implications from a detailed assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eom, Jiyong; Clarke, Leon; Kim, Son H.; Kyle, Page; Patel, Pralit

2012-01-01

Buildings are an important contributor to China's energy consumption and attendant CO 2 emissions. Measures to address energy consumption and associated emissions from the buildings sector will be an important part of strategy to reduce the country's CO 2 emissions. This study presents a detailed, service-based model of China's building energy demand, nested in the GCAM (Global Change Assessment Model) integrated assessment framework. Using the model, we explored long-term pathways of China's building energy demand and identified opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A range of different scenarios was also developed to gain insights into how China's building sector might evolve and what the implications might be for improved building energy technology and carbon policies. The analysis suggests that China's building energy growth will not wane anytime soon, although technology improvement will put downward pressure on this growth: In the reference scenarios, the sector's final energy demand will increase by 110–150% by 2050 and 160–220% by 2095 from its 2005 level. Also, regardless of the scenarios represented, the growth will involve the continued, rapid electrification of the buildings sector throughout the century, and this transition will be accelerated by the implementation of carbon policy. -- Highlights: ► We developed a building energy model for China, nested in an integrated-assessment framework. ► We explore long-term pathways of China's building energy use by implementing a range of scenarios. ► China's building energy consumption will continue to grow and be electrified over the century. ► Improved building energy technology will slow down the growth in building energy consumption. ► Electrification will be accelerated by the implementation of carbon policy.

Neural system for updating object working memory from different sources: sensory stimuli or long-term memory.

Science.gov (United States)

Roth, Jennifer K; Courtney, Susan M

2007-11-15

Working memory (WM) is the active maintenance of currently relevant information so that it is available for use. A crucial component of WM is the ability to update the contents when new information becomes more relevant than previously maintained information. New information can come from different sources, including from sensory stimuli (SS) or from long-term memory (LTM). Updating WM may involve a single neural system regardless of source, distinct systems for each source, or a common network with additional regions involved specifically in sensory or LTM processes. The current series of experiments indicates that a single fronto-parietal network (including supplementary motor area, parietal, left inferior frontal junction, middle frontal gyrus) is active in updating WM regardless of the source of information. Bilateral cuneus was more active during updating WM from LTM than updating from SS, but the activity in this region was attributable to recalling information from LTM regardless of whether that information was to be entered into WM for future use or not. No regions were found to be more active during updating from SS than updating from LTM. Functional connectivity analysis revealed that different regions within this common update network were differentially more correlated with visual processing regions when participants updated from SS, and more correlated with LTM processing regions when participants updated from the contents of LTM. These results suggest that a single neural mechanism is responsible for controlling the contents of WM regardless of whether that information originates from a sensory stimulus or from LTM. This network of regions involved in updating WM interacts with the rest of the brain differently depending on the source of newly relevant information.

Development of a dispatch model of the European power system for coupling with a long-term foresight energy model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Despres, Jacques

2015-12-01

Renewable sources of electricity production are strongly increasing in many parts of the world. The production costs are going down quickly, thus accelerating the deployment of new solar and wind electricity generation. In the long-term, these variable sources of electricity could represent a high share of the power system. However, long-term foresight energy models have difficulties describing precisely the integration challenges of Variable Renewable Energy Sources (VRES) such as wind or solar. They just do not represent the short-term technical constraints of the power sector. The objective of this paper is to show a new approach of the representation of the challenges of variability in the long-term foresight energy model POLES (Prospective Outlook on Long-term Energy Systems). We develop a short-term optimization model for the power sector operation, EUCAD (European Unit Commitment and Dispatch) and we couple it to POLES year after year. The direct coupling, with bi-directional exchanges of information, brings technical precision to the long-term coherence of energy scenarios. (author)

Long term contracts in portfolios of core LDC gas supply

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

John, F.E.

1992-01-01

This paper recommends that local distribution companies (LDCs) should use a portfolio approach for their gas supply strategy. The author recommends that LDCs not rely on spot supplies to meet the peak needs of the core residential and commercial markets. He recommends that a secure supply through long-term contracts are better sources than spot or even intermediate term suppliers. The paper provides a brief outline format of the advantages to the use of a portfolio approach which include the rapid restructuring of the market, general changes in the market, and general market performance. By maintaining a portfolio, a list of available natural gas suppliers is always available. This portfolio also acts to compare pricing between short, medium, and long-term pricing for the LDCs

Deciphering acoustic emission signals in drought stressed branches: the missing link between source and sensor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lidewei L Vergeynst

2015-07-01

Full Text Available When drought occurs in plants, acoustic emission signals can be detected, but the actual causes of these signals are still unknown. By analyzing the waveforms of the measured signals, it should however be possible to trace the characteristics of the acoustic emission source and get information about the underlying physiological processes. A problem encountered during this analysis is that the waveform changes significantly from source to sensor and lack of knowledge on wave propagation impedes research progress made in this field. We used finite element modeling and the well-known pencil lead break source to investigate wave propagation in a branch. A cylindrical rod of polyvinyl chloride was first used to identify the theoretical propagation modes. Two wave propagation modes could be distinguished and we used the finite element model to interpret their behavior in terms of source position for both the PVC rod and a wooden rod. Both wave propagation modes were also identified in drying-induced signals from woody branches, and we used the obtained insights to provide recommendations for further acoustic emission research in plant science.

Source Attribution of Methane Emissions in Northeastern Colorado Using Ammonia to Methane Emission Ratios

Science.gov (United States)

Eilerman, S. J.; Neuman, J. A.; Peischl, J.; Aikin, K. C.; Ryerson, T. B.; Perring, A. E.; Robinson, E. S.; Holloway, M.; Trainer, M.

2015-12-01

Due to recent advances in extraction technology, oil and natural gas extraction and processing in the Denver-Julesburg basin has increased substantially in the past decade. Northeastern Colorado is also home to over 250 concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs), capable of hosting over 2 million head of ruminant livestock (cattle and sheep). Because of methane's high Global Warming Potential, quantification and attribution of methane emissions from oil and gas development and agricultural activity are important for guiding greenhouse gas emission policy. However, due to the co-location of these different sources, top-down measurements of methane are often unable to attribute emissions to a specific source or sector. In this work, we evaluate the ammonia:methane emission ratio directly downwind of CAFOs using a mobile laboratory. Several CAFOs were chosen for periodic study over a 12-month period to identify diurnal and seasonal variation in the emission ratio as well as differences due to livestock type. Using this knowledge of the agricultural ammonia:methane emission ratio, aircraft measurements of ammonia and methane over oil and gas basins in the western US during the Shale Oil and Natural Gas Nexus (SONGNEX) field campaign in March and April 2015 can be used for source attribution of methane emissions.

Characterization and long term operation of a novel superconducting undulator with 15 mm period length in a synchrotron light source

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Casalbuoni

2016-11-01

Full Text Available A new cryogen-free full scale (1.5 m long superconducting undulator with a period length of 15 mm (SCU15 has been successfully tested in the ANKA storage ring. This represents a very important milestone in the development of superconducting undulators for third and fourth generation light sources carried on by the collaboration between the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology and the industrial partner Babcock Noell GmbH. SCU15 is the first full length device worldwide that with beam reaches a higher peak field than what expected with the same geometry (vacuum gap and period length with an ideal cryogenic permanent magnet undulator built with the best material available PrFeB. After a summary on the design and main parameters of the device, we present here the characterization in terms of spectral properties and the long term operation of the SCU15 in the ANKA storage ring.

Dissecting the long-term emission behaviour of the BL Lac object Mrk 421

Science.gov (United States)

Carnerero, M. I.; Raiteri, C. M.; Villata, M.; Acosta-Pulido, J. A.; Larionov, V. M.; Smith, P. S.; D'Ammando, F.; Agudo, I.; Arévalo, M. J.; Bachev, R.; Barnes, J.; Boeva, S.; Bozhilov, V.; Carosati, D.; Casadio, C.; Chen, W. P.; Damljanovic, G.; Eswaraiah, E.; Forné, E.; Gantchev, G.; Gómez, J. L.; González-Morales, P. A.; Griñón-Marín, A. B.; Grishina, T. S.; Holden, M.; Ibryamov, S.; Joner, M. D.; Jordan, B.; Jorstad, S. G.; Joshi, M.; Kopatskaya, E. N.; Koptelova, E.; Kurtanidze, O. M.; Kurtanidze, S. O.; Larionova, E. G.; Larionova, L. V.; Latev, G.; Lázaro, C.; Ligustri, R.; Lin, H. C.; Marscher, A. P.; Martínez-Lombilla, C.; McBreen, B.; Mihov, B.; Molina, S. N.; Moody, J. W.; Morozova, D. A.; Nikolashvili, M. G.; Nilsson, K.; Ovcharov, E.; Pace, C.; Panwar, N.; Pastor Yabar, A.; Pearson, R. L.; Pinna, F.; Protasio, C.; Rizzi, N.; Redondo-Lorenzo, F. J.; Rodríguez-Coira, G.; Ros, J. A.; Sadun, A. C.; Savchenko, S. S.; Semkov, E.; Slavcheva-Mihova, L.; Smith, N.; Strigachev, A.; Troitskaya, Yu. V.; Troitsky, I. S.; Vasilyev, A. A.; Vince, O.

2017-12-01

We report on long-term multiwavelength monitoring of blazar Mrk 421 by the GLAST-AGILE Support Program of the Whole Earth Blazar Telescope (GASP-WEBT) collaboration and Steward Observatory, and by the Swift and Fermi satellites. We study the source behaviour in the period 2007-2015, characterized by several extreme flares. The ratio between the optical, X-ray and γ-ray fluxes is very variable. The γ-ray flux variations show a fair correlation with the optical ones starting from 2012. We analyse spectropolarimetric data and find wavelength-dependence of the polarization degree (P), which is compatible with the presence of the host galaxy, and no wavelength dependence of the electric vector polarization angle (EVPA). Optical polarimetry shows a lack of simple correlation between P and flux and wide rotations of the EVPA. We build broad-band spectral energy distributions with simultaneous near-infrared and optical data from the GASP-WEBT and ultraviolet and X-ray data from the Swift satellite. They show strong variability in both flux and X-ray spectral shape and suggest a shift of the synchrotron peak up to a factor of ∼50 in frequency. The interpretation of the flux and spectral variability is compatible with jet models including at least two emitting regions that can change their orientation with respect to the line of sight.

The Electrification of Energy: Long-Term Trends and Opportunities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tsao, Jeffrey Y. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States); Fouquet, Roger [London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom); Schubert, E. Fred [Rensselaer Polytechnic Inst., Troy, NY (United States)

2017-11-01

Here, we present and analyze three powerful long-term historical trends in energy, particularly electrical energy, as well as the opportunities and challenges associated with these trends. The first trend is from a world containing a diversity of energy currencies to one whose predominant currency is electricity, driven by electricity’s transportability, exchangeability, and steadily decreasing cost. The second trend is from electricity generated from a diversity of sources to electricity generated predominantly by free-fuel sources, driven by their steadily decreasing cost and long-term abundance. These trends necessitate a just-emerging third trend: from a grid in which electricity is transported uni-directionally, traded at near-static prices, and consumed under direct human control; to a grid in which electricity is transported bi-directionally, traded at dynamic prices, and consumed under human-tailored agential control. Early acceptance and appreciation of these trends will accelerate their remaking of humanity’s energy landscape into one in which energy is much more affordable, abundant and efficiently deployed than it is today; with major economic, geo-political, and environmental benefits to human society.

EU 2030 targets 'unachievable' without long-term nuclear operation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mitev, Lubomir [NucNet, Brussels (Belgium)

2015-01-15

Nuclear energy will continue to support greenhouse gas emission reduction targets until 2020, but without decisions on long-term operation of ageing reactors, it will be difficult for the EU to meet its 2030 targets, International Energy Agency (IEA) executive director Maria van der Hoeven, tells NucNet in an interview. The IEA has quite a few remarks and questions related to the EU goals of competitiveness, security of supply and sustainability. It is good to have these targets, but up until now the EU is missing the direct connection between the three goals. What is mostly needed to achieve the goals is to finalise the EU's internal energy market. Secondly cost-effective climate and energy policies are needed because it is not only about climate and energy, but also about economic development and competitiveness. The ageing EU reactor fleet requires country-level and owner/operator-level decisions in the short term regarding plant safety regulations, plant upgrades, uprates, lifetime extensions and licence renewals. Upgrading and uprating existing nuclear plants is one of the cheapest ways of producing carbon-free electricity in the EU. Without long-term operation, the IEA expects nuclear capacity in the EU could fall by a factor of six by 2030 and that will make it more difficult to achieve the EU's 2030 climate targets. Public opinion is an important topic for the acceptance of all energy sources and it is different in all IEA member countries. Europe is very sensitive to almost all forms of energy, including wind turbines and solar panels. This is linked to a lack of information, so we need more and better transparency on information for people.

Long-term associative learning predicts verbal short-term memory performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Gary; Macken, Bill

2018-02-01

Studies using tests such as digit span and nonword repetition have implicated short-term memory across a range of developmental domains. Such tests ostensibly assess specialized processes for the short-term manipulation and maintenance of information that are often argued to enable long-term learning. However, there is considerable evidence for an influence of long-term linguistic learning on performance in short-term memory tasks that brings into question the role of a specialized short-term memory system separate from long-term knowledge. Using natural language corpora, we show experimentally and computationally that performance on three widely used measures of short-term memory (digit span, nonword repetition, and sentence recall) can be predicted from simple associative learning operating on the linguistic environment to which a typical child may have been exposed. The findings support the broad view that short-term verbal memory performance reflects the application of long-term language knowledge to the experimental setting.

Identifying and characterizing major emission point sources as a basis for geospatial distribution of mercury emissions inventories

Science.gov (United States)

Steenhuisen, Frits; Wilson, Simon J.

2015-07-01

Mercury is a global pollutant that poses threats to ecosystem and human health. Due to its global transport, mercury contamination is found in regions of the Earth that are remote from major emissions areas, including the Polar regions. Global anthropogenic emission inventories identify important sectors and industries responsible for emissions at a national level; however, to be useful for air transport modelling, more precise information on the locations of emission is required. This paper describes the methodology applied, and the results of work that was conducted to assign anthropogenic mercury emissions to point sources as part of geospatial mapping of the 2010 global anthropogenic mercury emissions inventory prepared by AMAP/UNEP. Major point-source emission sectors addressed in this work account for about 850 tonnes of the emissions included in the 2010 inventory. This work allocated more than 90% of these emissions to some 4600 identified point source locations, including significantly more point source locations in Africa, Asia, Australia and South America than had been identified during previous work to geospatially-distribute the 2005 global inventory. The results demonstrate the utility and the limitations of using existing, mainly public domain resources to accomplish this work. Assumptions necessary to make use of selected online resources are discussed, as are artefacts that can arise when these assumptions are applied to assign (national-sector) emissions estimates to point sources in various countries and regions. Notwithstanding the limitations of the available information, the value of this procedure over alternative methods commonly used to geo-spatially distribute emissions, such as use of 'proxy' datasets to represent emissions patterns, is illustrated. Improvements in information that would facilitate greater use of these methods in future work to assign emissions to point-sources are discussed. These include improvements to both national

Biochemical Mechanisms and Energy Strategies of Geobacter sulfurreducens for Long- Term Survival

Science.gov (United States)

Helmus, R. A.; Liermann, L. J.; Brantley, S. L.; Tien, M.

2008-12-01

Numerous species of bacteria have been observed to exhibit a growth advantage in stationary phase (GASP) phenotype, indicating that microorganisms starved of an energy source may adapt to allow for long-term survival. Understanding how Geobacter sulfurreducens persists using various metal forms as energy sources and whether a GASP phenotype develops during long-term growth are important for efficient application of this bacterium to sites requiring engineered bioremediation of soluble metals. Thus, we investigated the growth kinetics and survival of G. sulfurreducens. The growth rate of G. sulfurreducens was highest when cultured with soluble iron and generally higher on iron oxide than manganese oxide, suggesting that soluble metal forms are more readily utilized as energy sources by G. sulfurreducens. By monitoring the abundance of G. sulfurreducens in batch cultures for >6 months, distinct growth, stationary, and prolonged starvation phases were observed and a cell density of 105- 106 cells/mL persisted under long-term starvation conditions. The outgrowth of an aged G. sulfurreducens strain co-cultured with a young strain was monitored as a measure of the existence of the GASP phenotype. As the strains aged, the rpoS gene was cloned and sequenced at different stages of growth to identify mutations corresponding to a growth advantage. The results of these studies provide insight into the use of various metal forms for growth by G. sulfurreducens and its ability to persist when starved of energy sources.

Identification of sources and long term trends for pollutants in the arctic using isentropic trajectory analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahura, A.; Jaffe, D.; Harris, J.

2003-07-01

The understanding of factors driving climate and ecosystem changes in the Arctic requires careful consideration of the sources, correlation and trends for anthropogenic pollutants. The database from the NOAA-CMDL Barrow Observatory (71deg.17'N, 156deg.47'W) is the longest and most complete record of pollutant measurements in the Arctic. It includes observations of carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}), methane (CH{sub 4}), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O{sub 3}), aerosol scattering coefficient ({sigma}{sub sp}), aerosol number concentration (NC{sub asl}), etc. The objectives of this study are to understand the role of long-range transport to Barrow in explaining: (1) the year-to-year variations, and (2) the trends in the atmospheric chemistry record at the NOAA-CMDL Barrow observatory. The key questions we try to answer are: 1. What is the relationship between various chemical species measured at Barrow Observatory, Alaska and transport pathways at various altitudes? 2. What are the trends of species and their relation to transport patterns from the source regions? 3. What is the impact of the Prudhoe Bay emissions on the Barrow's records? To answer on these questions we apply the following main research tools. First, it is an isentropic trajectory model used to calculate the trajectories arriving at Barrow at three altitudes of 0.5, 1.5 and 3 km above sea level. Second - clustering procedure used to divide the trajectories into groups based on source regions. Third - various statistical analysis tools such as the exploratory data analysis, two component correlation analysis, trend analysis, principal components and factor analysis used to identify the relationship between various chemical species vs. source regions as a function of time. In this study, we used the chemical data from the NOAA-CMDL Barrow observatory in combination with isentropic backward trajectories from gridded ECMWF data to understand the importance of various pollutant source regions on

Identification of sources and long term trends for pollutants in the arctic using isentropic trajectory analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahura, A.; Jaffe, D.; Harris, J.

2003-01-01

The understanding of factors driving climate and ecosystem changes in the Arctic requires careful consideration of the sources, correlation and trends for anthropogenic pollutants. The database from the NOAA-CMDL Barrow Observatory (71deg.17'N, 156deg.47'W) is the longest and most complete record of pollutant measurements in the Arctic. It includes observations of carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), methane (CH 4 ), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O 3 ), aerosol scattering coefficient (σ sp ), aerosol number concentration (NC asl ), etc. The objectives of this study are to understand the role of long-range transport to Barrow in explaining: (1) the year-to-year variations, and (2) the trends in the atmospheric chemistry record at the NOAA-CMDL Barrow observatory. The key questions we try to answer are: 1. What is the relationship between various chemical species measured at Barrow Observatory, Alaska and transport pathways at various altitudes? 2. What are the trends of species and their relation to transport patterns from the source regions? 3. What is the impact of the Prudhoe Bay emissions on the Barrow's records? To answer on these questions we apply the following main research tools. First, it is an isentropic trajectory model used to calculate the trajectories arriving at Barrow at three altitudes of 0.5, 1.5 and 3 km above sea level. Second - clustering procedure used to divide the trajectories into groups based on source regions. Third - various statistical analysis tools such as the exploratory data analysis, two component correlation analysis, trend analysis, principal components and factor analysis used to identify the relationship between various chemical species vs. source regions as a function of time. In this study, we used the chemical data from the NOAA-CMDL Barrow observatory in combination with isentropic backward trajectories from gridded ECMWF data to understand the importance of various pollutant source regions on atmospheric composition in the Arctic. We

Long-term Advertising Effects and Optimal Budgeting

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Flemming; Bech Christensen, Lars

2004-01-01

Using pure single-source data, this paper provides evidence for theexistence and magnitude of long-term advertising effects across FMCG productcategories. Furthermore, we focus on the difficulties that arise for wellestablishedbrands when new products are introduced into the market andproduct...... innovations take place. Our research shows that such occurrencesdrastically alter the relationship between share of voice and share of market inany given FMCG market, hence making it pivotal for marketers to focus on suchrelationships in order to maintain market position....

Wildfire Mitigation and Private Lands: Managing Long-Term Vulnerabilities

Science.gov (United States)

Brian Muller; Stacey Schulte

2006-01-01

Long-term management of wildfire vulnerability requires strategies that address complex interactions between fire ecology and human settlement. In this paper, we examine the integration of wildfire mitigation and land use planning in county governments in the western U.S. This research relies on data from two sources. First, we conducted a survey of land use...

Influence factors and forecast of carbon emission in China: structure adjustment for emission peak

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, B.; Cui, C. Q.; Li, Z. P.

2018-02-01

This paper introduced Principal Component Analysis and Multivariate Linear Regression Model to verify long-term balance relationships between Carbon Emissions and the impact factors. The integrated model of improved PCA and multivariate regression analysis model is attainable to figure out the pattern of carbon emission sources. Main empirical results indicate that among all selected variables, the role of energy consumption scale was largest. GDP and Population follow and also have significant impacts on carbon emission. Industrialization rate and fossil fuel proportion, which is the indicator of reflecting the economic structure and energy structure, have a higher importance than the factor of urbanization rate and the dweller consumption level of urban areas. In this way, some suggestions are put forward for government to achieve the peak of carbon emissions.

Long-term changes in CO{sub 2} emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia Identifying the drivers of environmental pressures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Simone Gingrich; Petra Kuskova; Julia K. Steinberger [University of Klagenfurt, Wien (Austria). Institute of Social Ecology

2011-02-15

This study presents fossil-fuel related CO{sub 2} emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia (current Czech Republic and Slovakia) for 1830-2000. The drivers of CO{sub 2} emissions are discussed by investigating the variables of the standard Kaya identity for 1920-2000 and conducting a comparative Index Decomposition Analysis. Proxy data on industrial production and household consumption are analysed to understand the role of the economic structure. CO{sub 2} emissions increased in both countries in the long run. Czechoslovakia was a stronger emitter of CO{sub 2} throughout the time period, but per-capita emissions significantly differed only after World War I, when Czechoslovakia and Austria became independent. The difference in CO{sub 2} emissions increased until the mid-1980s (the period of communism in Czechoslovakia), explained by the energy intensity and the composition effects, and higher industrial production in Czechoslovakia. Counterbalancing factors were the income effect and household consumption. After the Velvet revolution in 1990, Czechoslovak CO{sub 2} emissions decreased, and the energy composition effect (and industrial production) lost importance. Despite their different political and economic development, Austria and Czechoslovakia reached similar levels of per-capita CO{sub 2} emissions in the late 20th century. Neither Austrian 'eco-efficiency' nor Czechoslovak restructuring have been effective in reducing CO{sub 2} emissions to a sustainable level. 43 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab.

Long-term changes in CO{sub 2} emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia. Identifying the drivers of environmental pressures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gingrich, Simone; Steinberger, Julia K. [Institute of Social Ecology, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies Vienna, University of Klagenfurt, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, 1070 Wien (Austria); Kuskova, Petra [Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic)

2011-02-15

This study presents fossil-fuel related CO{sub 2} emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia (current Czech Republic and Slovakia) for 1830-2000. The drivers of CO{sub 2} emissions are discussed by investigating the variables of the standard Kaya identity for 1920-2000 and conducting a comparative Index Decomposition Analysis. Proxy data on industrial production and household consumption are analysed to understand the role of the economic structure. CO{sub 2} emissions increased in both countries in the long run. Czechoslovakia was a stronger emitter of CO{sub 2} throughout the time period, but per-capita emissions significantly differed only after World War I, when Czechoslovakia and Austria became independent. The difference in CO{sub 2} emissions increased until the mid-1980s (the period of communism in Czechoslovakia), explained by the energy intensity and the composition effects, and higher industrial production in Czechoslovakia. Counterbalancing factors were the income effect and household consumption. After the Velvet revolution in 1990, Czechoslovak CO{sub 2} emissions decreased, and the energy composition effect (and industrial production) lost importance. Despite their different political and economic development, Austria and Czechoslovakia reached similar levels of per-capita CO{sub 2} emissions in the late 20th century. Neither Austrian 'eco-efficiency' nor Czechoslovak restructuring have been effective in reducing CO{sub 2} emissions to a sustainable level. (author)

Choice evaluation of power supply composition using the mapping method of the long-term energy demand-and-supply scenario

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tatematsu, Kenji

2013-03-01

Long-term energy demand-and-supply were analyzed for our country using the MARKAL model, supposing six kinds of energy demand-and-supply scenarios where different installed capacity of nuclear power generation and the emission standard of carbon-dioxide were employed. It was shown that even when nuclear power generation was not used, the carbon-dioxide emissions in the whole country and a power generation sector are reducible by 37% and 47% in 2050 from the 1990 level, respectively. However, when nuclear power generation was phase-out and renewable energy and natural gas were substituted, it was found that an average power generating cost was higher than the case where use of nuclear or coal was continued, 3.7 yen/kWh or more. Moreover, in the case where immediate cessation of the nuclear power generation was carried out, it was also shown that a current average power generating cost rose by 4.4 yen/kWh. In order to evaluate and visualize the influence of power supply composition change on both the average power generating cost and the carbon-dioxide emissions, a new mapping method was proposed where diversity of an energy source, the carbon-dioxide emissions, and the average power generating cost were used as indexes. Based on the result of model analysis, when nuclear power generation was substituted with renewable energy, natural gas, or coal, oligopoly of an energy source was shown to increase sharply by abolition of nuclear power generation. These results showed that by continuing use of the nuclear power generation with a fixed scale, less carbon-dioxide emissions, avoiding oligopolization of an energy source and suppressing the steep rise of an average power generating cost were possible. (author)

Long-term stabilization of uranium mill tailings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voorhees, L.D.; Sale, M.J.; Webb, J.W.; Mulholland, P.J.

1984-01-01

The primary hazard associated with uranium mill tailings is exposure to a radioactive gas, radon-222, the concentration of which has been correlated with the occurrence of lung cancer. Previous studies on radon attenuation conclude that the placement of earthen cover materials over the tailings is the most effective technique for reducing radioactive emissions and dispersal of tailings. The success of such a plan, however, is dependent on ensuring the long-term integrity of these cover materials. Soil erosion from water and wind is the major natural cause of destabilizing earthen cover materials. Field data related to the control of soil loss are limited and only indirectly apply to the problem of isolation of uranium mill tailings over very long time periods (up to 80,000 a). However, sufficient information is available to determine benefits that will result from changes in specific design variables and to evaluate the need for different design strategies among potential disposal sites. The three major options available for stabilization of uranium mill tailings are (1) rock cover, (2) soil and revegetation, or (3) a combination of both on different portions of the tailings cover. The optimal choice among these alternatives depends on site-specific characteristics such as climate and local geomorphology and soils, and on design variables such as embankment heights and slopes, modification of upstream drainage, and revegetation practices. Generally, geomorphic evidence suggests that use of soil and vegetation alone will not be adequate to reduce erosion on slopes greater than about 5 to 9%. For these steeper slopes, the use of rock talus or riprap will be necessary to maximize the probability of long-term stability. The use of vegetation to control erosion on the flatter portions of the site may be practicable in regions of the USA with sufficient rainfall and suitable soil types, but revegetation practices must be carefully evaluated to ensure that long-term

Inverse modeling of the Chernobyl source term using atmospheric concentration and deposition measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Evangeliou, Nikolaos; Hamburger, Thomas; Cozic, Anne; Balkanski, Yves; Stohl, Andreas

2017-07-01

This paper describes the results of an inverse modeling study for the determination of the source term of the radionuclides 134Cs, 137Cs and 131I released after the Chernobyl accident. The accident occurred on 26 April 1986 in the Former Soviet Union and released about 1019 Bq of radioactive materials that were transported as far away as the USA and Japan. Thereafter, several attempts to assess the magnitude of the emissions were made that were based on the knowledge of the core inventory and the levels of the spent fuel. More recently, when modeling tools were further developed, inverse modeling techniques were applied to the Chernobyl case for source term quantification. However, because radioactivity is a sensitive topic for the public and attracts a lot of attention, high-quality measurements, which are essential for inverse modeling, were not made available except for a few sparse activity concentration measurements far from the source and far from the main direction of the radioactive fallout. For the first time, we apply Bayesian inversion of the Chernobyl source term using not only activity concentrations but also deposition measurements from the most recent public data set. These observations refer to a data rescue attempt that started more than 10 years ago, with a final goal to provide available measurements to anyone interested. In regards to our inverse modeling results, emissions of 134Cs were estimated to be 80 PBq or 30-50 % higher than what was previously published. From the released amount of 134Cs, about 70 PBq were deposited all over Europe. Similar to 134Cs, emissions of 137Cs were estimated as 86 PBq, on the same order as previously reported results. Finally, 131I emissions of 1365 PBq were found, which are about 10 % less than the prior total releases. The inversion pushes the injection heights of the three radionuclides to higher altitudes (up to about 3 km) than previously assumed (≈ 2.2 km) in order to better match both concentration

Inverse modeling of the Chernobyl source term using atmospheric concentration and deposition measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. Evangeliou

2017-07-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the results of an inverse modeling study for the determination of the source term of the radionuclides 134Cs, 137Cs and 131I released after the Chernobyl accident. The accident occurred on 26 April 1986 in the Former Soviet Union and released about 1019 Bq of radioactive materials that were transported as far away as the USA and Japan. Thereafter, several attempts to assess the magnitude of the emissions were made that were based on the knowledge of the core inventory and the levels of the spent fuel. More recently, when modeling tools were further developed, inverse modeling techniques were applied to the Chernobyl case for source term quantification. However, because radioactivity is a sensitive topic for the public and attracts a lot of attention, high-quality measurements, which are essential for inverse modeling, were not made available except for a few sparse activity concentration measurements far from the source and far from the main direction of the radioactive fallout. For the first time, we apply Bayesian inversion of the Chernobyl source term using not only activity concentrations but also deposition measurements from the most recent public data set. These observations refer to a data rescue attempt that started more than 10 years ago, with a final goal to provide available measurements to anyone interested. In regards to our inverse modeling results, emissions of 134Cs were estimated to be 80 PBq or 30–50 % higher than what was previously published. From the released amount of 134Cs, about 70 PBq were deposited all over Europe. Similar to 134Cs, emissions of 137Cs were estimated as 86 PBq, on the same order as previously reported results. Finally, 131I emissions of 1365 PBq were found, which are about 10 % less than the prior total releases. The inversion pushes the injection heights of the three radionuclides to higher altitudes (up to about 3 km than previously assumed (≈ 2.2 km in order

Design parameters and source terms: Volume 2, Source terms: Revision 0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-09-01

The Design Parameters and Source Terms Document was prepared in accordance with DOE request and to provide data for the environmental impact study to be performed in the future for the Deaf Smith County, Texas site for a nuclear waste repository in salt. This document updates a previous unpublished report to the level of the Site Characterization Plan---Conceptual Design Report SCP-CDR. The previous study identifies the data needs for the Environmental Assessment effort for seven possible salt repository sites. Volume 2 contains tables of source terms

Classification of nutrient emission sources in the Vistula River system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kowalkowski, Tomasz

2009-01-01

Eutrophication of the Baltic sea still remains one of the biggest problems in the north-eastern area of Europe. Recognizing the sources of nutrient emission, classification of their importance and finding the way towards reduction of pollution are the most important tasks for scientists researching this area. This article presents the chemometric approach to the classification of nutrient emission with respect to the regionalisation of emission sources within the Vistula River basin (Poland). Modelled data for mean yearly emission of nitrogen and phosphorus in 1991-2000 has been used for the classification. Seventeen subcatchements in the Vistula basin have been classified according to cluster and factor analyses. The results of this analysis allowed determination of groups of areas with similar pollution characteristics and indicate the need for spatial differentiation of policies and strategies. Three major factors indicating urban, erosion and agricultural sources have been identified as major discriminants of the groups. - Two classification methods applied to evaluate the results of nutrient emission allow definition of major sources of the emissions and classification of catchments with similar pollution.

Modelling the long-term deployment of electricity storage in the global energy system

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Despres, Jacques

2015-01-01

The current development of wind and solar power sources calls for an improvement of long-term energy models. Indeed, high shares of variable wind and solar productions have short- and long-term impacts on the power system, requiring the development of flexibility options: fast-reacting power plants, demand response, grid enhancement or electricity storage. Our first main contribution is the modelling of electricity storage and grid expansion in the POLES model (Prospective Outlook on Long-term Energy Systems). We set up new investment mechanisms, where storage development is based on several combined economic values. After categorising the long-term energy models and the power sector modelling tools in a common typology, we showed the need for a better integration of both approaches. Therefore, the second major contribution of our work is the yearly coupling of POLES to a short-term optimisation of the power sector operation, with the European Unit Commitment and Dispatch model (EUCAD). The two-way data exchange allows the long-term coherent scenarios of POLES to be directly backed by the short-term technical detail of EUCAD. Our results forecast a strong and rather quick development of the cheapest flexibility options: grid interconnections, pumped hydro storage and demand response programs, including electric vehicle charging optimisation and vehicle-to-grid storage. The more expensive battery storage presumably finds enough system value in the second half of the century. A sensitivity analysis shows that improving the fixed costs of batteries impacts more the investments than improving their efficiency. We also show the explicit dependency between storage and variable renewable energy sources. (author) [fr

Long term population dose due to radon (Rn-222) released from uranium mill tailings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chambers, D.B.; Lower, L.M.; Stager, R.H.

2001-01-01

The results of a study undertaken by the European Commission on the external costs (environmental and social) of various energy production systems is likely to be influential in determining how the European Union will develop its energy supply systems. The estimated costs for nuclear power from the study will be based on the findings of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR), with the costs being dominated by the estimated long term (10,000 y) population doses due to radon (Rn-222) released from mill tailings. UNSCEAR developed a central estimate of 150 person-Sv per GW y and a range of 1 to 1,000 person-Sv per GW y. However, the generic data available to and being used by UNSCEAR are dated and are not appropriate for the current and planned future conditions in the uranium production industry, with the result that the estimated external costs of nuclear power (specifically, the doses due to radon emitted from mill tailings) are overestimated. The Uranium Institute sponsored a study to estimate long term population doses based on the most recent 1993 UNSCEAR methodology, but using data that would be more appropriate to the current major uranium production facilities. Site-specific information obtained from the owners/operators and the Uranium Institute included: present and proposed tailings management plans; tailings volumes and areas; ore grades and reserves; measurements and estimates of radon emission rates; and population densities. Tailings at closed facilities that no longer contribute to uranium production were not evaluated since it was assumed that these radon sources need not be considered in evaluating the external costs of current and future nuclear power production. Based on the same approach as UNSCEAR, but using a more sophisticated air dispersion model, and more site-specific data relative to existing sites and proposed tailings management practices, radon emission rates and population densities (that

Krakow conference on low emissions sources: Proceedings

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pierce, B.L.; Butcher, T.A. [eds.

1995-12-31

The Krakow Conference on Low Emission Sources presented the information produced and analytical tools developed in the first phase of the Krakow Clean Fossil Fuels and Energy Efficiency Program. This phase included: field testing to provide quantitative data on missions and efficiencies as well as on opportunities for building energy conservation; engineering analysis to determine the costs of implementing pollution control; and incentives analysis to identify actions required to create a market for equipment, fuels, and services needed to reduce pollution. Collectively, these Proceedings contain reports that summarize the above phase one information, present the status of energy system management in Krakow, provide information on financing pollution control projects in Krakow and elsewhere, and highlight the capabilities and technologies of Polish and American companies that are working to reduce pollution from low emission sources. It is intended that the US reader will find in these Proceedings useful results and plans for control of pollution from low emission sources that are representative of heating systems in central and Eastern Europe. Selected papers are indexed separately for inclusion in the Energy Science and Technology Database.

Research priorities for grassland science: the need of long term integrated experiments networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

G. Lemaire

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Grasslands have to be considered not only as a mean for providing foods for domestic herbivore but also as an important biome of terrestrial biosphere. This function of grasslands as an active component of our environment requires specific studies on the role and impact of this ecosystem on soil erosion and soil quality, quality and quantity of water resources, atmosphere composition and greenhouse gas emission or sequestration, biodiversity dynamics at different scales from field plot to landscape. All these functions have to be evaluated in conjunction with the function of providing animal products for increasing human population. So multifunctionality of grasslands become a new paradigm for grassland science. Environmental and biodiversity outputs require long term studies, being the long term retro-active processes within soil, vegetation and micro-organism communities in relation to changes in management programme. So grassland science needs to carry on long term integrated experimentation for studying all the environmental outputs and ecological services associated to grassland management systems.

Long-term urban carbon dioxide observations reveal spatial and temporal dynamics related to urban characteristics and growth.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Logan E; Lin, John C; Bowling, David R; Pataki, Diane E; Strong, Courtenay; Schauer, Andrew J; Bares, Ryan; Bush, Susan E; Stephens, Britton B; Mendoza, Daniel; Mallia, Derek; Holland, Lacey; Gurney, Kevin R; Ehleringer, James R

2018-03-20

Cities are concentrated areas of CO 2 emissions and have become the foci of policies for mitigation actions. However, atmospheric measurement networks suitable for evaluating urban emissions over time are scarce. Here we present a unique long-term (decadal) record of CO 2 mole fractions from five sites across Utah's metropolitan Salt Lake Valley. We examine "excess" CO 2 above background conditions resulting from local emissions and meteorological conditions. We ascribe CO 2 trends to changes in emissions, since we did not find long-term trends in atmospheric mixing proxies. Three contrasting CO 2 trends emerged across urban types: negative trends at a residential-industrial site, positive trends at a site surrounded by rapid suburban growth, and relatively constant CO 2 over time at multiple sites in the established, residential, and commercial urban core. Analysis of population within the atmospheric footprints of the different sites reveals approximately equal increases in population influencing the observed CO 2 , implying a nonlinear relationship with CO 2 emissions: Population growth in rural areas that experienced suburban development was associated with increasing emissions while population growth in the developed urban core was associated with stable emissions. Four state-of-the-art global-scale emission inventories also have a nonlinear relationship with population density across the city; however, in contrast to our observations, they all have nearly constant emissions over time. Our results indicate that decadal scale changes in urban CO 2 emissions are detectable through monitoring networks and constitute a valuable approach to evaluate emission inventories and studies of urban carbon cycles.

Long-term urban carbon dioxide observations reveal spatial and temporal dynamics related to urban characteristics and growth

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Logan E.; Lin, John C.; Bowling, David R.; Pataki, Diane E.; Strong, Courtenay; Schauer, Andrew J.; Bares, Ryan; Bush, Susan E.; Stephens, Britton B.; Mendoza, Daniel; Mallia, Derek; Holland, Lacey; Gurney, Kevin R.; Ehleringer, James R.

2018-03-01

Cities are concentrated areas of CO2 emissions and have become the foci of policies for mitigation actions. However, atmospheric measurement networks suitable for evaluating urban emissions over time are scarce. Here we present a unique long-term (decadal) record of CO2 mole fractions from five sites across Utah’s metropolitan Salt Lake Valley. We examine “excess” CO2 above background conditions resulting from local emissions and meteorological conditions. We ascribe CO2 trends to changes in emissions, since we did not find long-term trends in atmospheric mixing proxies. Three contrasting CO2 trends emerged across urban types: negative trends at a residential-industrial site, positive trends at a site surrounded by rapid suburban growth, and relatively constant CO2 over time at multiple sites in the established, residential, and commercial urban core. Analysis of population within the atmospheric footprints of the different sites reveals approximately equal increases in population influencing the observed CO2, implying a nonlinear relationship with CO2 emissions: Population growth in rural areas that experienced suburban development was associated with increasing emissions while population growth in the developed urban core was associated with stable emissions. Four state-of-the-art global-scale emission inventories also have a nonlinear relationship with population density across the city; however, in contrast to our observations, they all have nearly constant emissions over time. Our results indicate that decadal scale changes in urban CO2 emissions are detectable through monitoring networks and constitute a valuable approach to evaluate emission inventories and studies of urban carbon cycles.

Dynamical structure of hadron emission sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhao Xi; Huang Bangrong; Zhao Shusong

2000-01-01

NA22 experimental data of the triplet seagull effects show that the Doppler effects of the hadron emission sources exist exactly in the hadron-hadron collisions. Every source possesses the same average energy (CMS) approximately. The collective seagull effects can be also explained by the (aQ) ν K ν (aQ) distributions (Generalized functions). The dynamical structure of a hadron emission source is described by the (aQ) ν K ν (aQ) distributions. The anomalous dimensions of the pionic quantum fields are γ B (g R ) = - 0.045 +- 0.012, which control the singularities of the production amplitude in quantum field theory. The mathematical parameter ε = 4-D (the dimension D of space time) in the Feynman integrals can be replaced by the anomalous γ B (g R ) of the quantum fields for the regularization. (-2γ B (g R )↔ε/2 1/ln(Λ 2 /m 2 )Λ→∞)

Global prospects for nuclear power development in the long term

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Semenov, Boris A.

1994-01-01

Population growth, economic development and improvement of quality of life will lead to significant increase of electricity consumption worldwide with more rapid growth in developing and newly industrialised countries. At the same time, concerns for environmental protection and security of supply will call for the development of alternatives to fossil fuels for electricity generation. Sustain ability will be a major driving factor for the choice of electricity generation options and strategies. Costs, and macro-economic and social impacts, will also influence future strategies in the electricity sector. Since renewable sources require significant development efforts to reach competitiveness, nuclear power is the most likely non-fossil source to be deployed on a large scale for base load electricity generation. Nuclear power is already a proven technology providing a significant share of electricity supply worldwide. In several countries, including the Republic of Korea, nuclear generated electricity is a major contributor to secure and competitive electricity supply. Technological progress aiming towards enhancing safety as well as technical and economic performance of nuclear power plants will enlarge the potential market share of nuclear generated electricity. The purpose of the paper is to give an overview of the prospects for nuclear power development in the world in the medium and long term. For the short term, up to 2005, projections of nuclear power installed capacities are rather straightforward to establish. The Agency publishes such projections every years, based upon a review of nuclear programmes in Member States. For the medium term, up to 2015, two illustrative cases have been developed by the IAEA reflecting contrasted, but not extreme, assumptions on the different parameters influencing nuclear power deployment worldwide. The paper gives estimations of the installed nuclear capacity, and of the share of nuclear power in total electricity and energy

Long-term natural attenuation of carbon and nitrogen within a groundwater plume after removal of the treated wastewater source.

Science.gov (United States)

Repert, Deborah A; Barber, Larry B; Hess, Kathryn M; Keefe, Steffanie H; Kent, Douglas B; LeBlanc, Denis R; Smith, Richard L

2006-02-15

Disposal of treated wastewater for more than 60 years onto infiltration beds on Cape Cod, Massachusetts produced a groundwater contaminant plume greater than 6 km long in a surficial sand and gravel aquifer. In December 1995 the wastewater disposal ceased. A long-term, continuous study was conducted to characterize the post-cessation attenuation of the plume from the source to 0.6 km downgradient. Concentrations and total pools of mobile constituents, such as boron and nitrate, steadily decreased within 1-4 years along the transect. Dissolved organic carbon loads also decreased, but to a lesser extent, particularly downgradient of the infiltration beds. After 4 years, concentrations and pools of carbon and nitrogen in groundwater were relatively constant with time and distance, but substantially elevated above background. The contaminant plume core remained anoxic for the entire 10-year study period; temporal patterns of integrated oxygen deficit decreased slowly at all sites. In 2004, substantial amounts of total dissolved carbon (7 mol C m(-2)) and fixed (dissolved plus sorbed) inorganic nitrogen (0.5 mol N m(-2)) were still present in a 28-m vertical interval at the disposal site. Sorbed constituents have contributed substantially to the dissolved carbon and nitrogen pools and are responsible for the long-term persistence of the contaminant plume. Natural aquifer restoration at the discharge location will take at least several decades, even though groundwater flow rates and the potential for contaminant flushing are relatively high.

Long-term dynamics of heavy metals in the upper horizons of soils in the region of a copper smelter impacts during the period of reduced emission

Science.gov (United States)

Vorobeichik, E. L.; Kaigorodova, S. Yu.

2017-08-01

The 23-year-long dynamics of actual acidity (pHwater) and acid-soluble heavy metals (Cu, Pb, Cd, Zn) in the forest litter and humus horizon of soils in spruce-fir forests were studied in the area subjected to the long-term (since 1940) pollution with atmospheric emissions from the Middle Ural Copper Smelter (Revda, Sverdlovsk oblast). For this purpose, 25 permanent sample plots were established on lower slopes at different distances from the enterprise (30, 7, 4, 2, and 1 km; 5 plots at each distance) in 1989. The emissions from the smelter have decreased since the early 1990s. In 2012, the emissions of sulfur dioxide and dust decreased by 100 and 40 times, respectively, as compared with the emissions in 1980. Samples of litter and humus horizons were collected on permanent plots in 1989, 1999, and 2012. The results indicate that the pH of the litter and humus horizons restored to the background level 10 and 23 years after the beginning of the reduction in emissions, respectively. However, these characteristics in the impact zone still somewhat differ from those in the background area. In 2012, the content of Cu in the litter decreased compared to 1989 on all the plots; the content of Cu in the humus horizon decreased only in the close vicinity of the smelter. The contents of other metals in the litter and humus horizons remain constant or increased (probably because of the pH-dependent decrease in migration capacity). The absence of pronounced removal of metals from soils results in the retention of high contamination risk and the conservation of the suppressed state of biota within the impact zone.

Short-Term Effects of Drying-Rewetting and Long-Term Effects of Nutrient Loading on Periphyton N:P Stoichiometry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andres D. Sola

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Nitrogen (N and phosphorus (P concentrations and N:P ratios critically influence periphyton productivity and nutrient cycling in aquatic ecosystems. In coastal wetlands, variations in hydrology and water source (fresh or marine influence nutrient availability, but short-term effects of drying and rewetting and long-term effects of nutrient exposure on periphyton nutrient retention are uncertain. An outdoor microcosm experiment simulated short-term exposure to variation in drying-rewetting frequency on periphyton mat nutrient retention. A 13-year dataset from freshwater marshes of the Florida Everglades was examined for the effect of long-term proximity to different N and P sources on mat-forming periphyton nutrient standing stocks and stoichiometry. Field sites were selected from one drainage with shorter hydroperiod and higher connectivity to freshwater anthropogenic nutrient supplies (Taylor Slough/Panhandle, TS/Ph and another drainage with longer hydroperiod and higher connectivity to marine nutrient supplies (Shark River Slough, SRS. Total P, but not total N, increased in periphyton mats exposed to both low and high drying-rewetting frequency with respect to the control mats in our experimental microcosm. In SRS, N:P ratios slightly decreased downstream due to marine nutrient supplies, while TS/Ph increased. Mats exposed to short-term drying-rewetting had higher nutrient retention, similar to nutrient standing stocks from long-term field data. Periphyton mat microbial communities may undergo community shifts upon drying-rewetting and chronic exposure to nutrient loads. Additional work on microbial species composition may further explain how periphyton communities interact with drying-rewetting dynamics to influence nutrient cycling and retention in wetlands.

Design parameters and source terms: Volume 2, Source terms: Revision 0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-10-01

The Design Parameters and Source Terms Document was prepared in accordance with DOE request and to provide data for the environmental impact study to be performed in the future for the Deaf Smith County, Texas site for a nuclear waste repository in salt. This document updates a previous unpublished report by Stearns Catalytic Corporation (SCC), entitled ''Design Parameters and Source Terms for a Two-Phase Repository Salt,'' 1985, to the level of the Site Characterization Plan - Conceptual Design Report. The previous unpublished SCC Study identifies the data needs for the Environmental Assessment effort for seven possible Salt Repository sites. 2 tabs

Recurrent somatic embryogenesis in long-term cultures of Gentiana lutea L. as a source for synthetic seed production for medium-term preservation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Holobiuc Irina

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Our aim was to establish an efficient and reproducible system for producing synthetic seeds from recurrent somatic embryogenesis in long-term cultures of Gentiana lutea L. This species is a vulnerable medicinal plant, protected both at the national and international levels, and is included in different Red Lists and Books. In vitro culture, as an alternative to classical methods of preservation, allows for the cyclic multiplication of plant material and short-, medium- and long-term preservation of tissue collections. Biotechnological approaches allow for maintenance of the plant material in a confined space and protection against biotic and abiotic factors. Somatic embryogenesis (SE is the most efficient way to regenerate plants, ensuring material for preservation and fundamental research. In our experiment, recurrent somatic embryogenesis was developed in long-term cultures in the presence of sugar alcohols (mannitol, sorbitol and in the absence of growth factors. This process proceeded at a high rate, with adventive somatic embryos being generated in a continuous process, followed by maturation, germination and development into plants. To follow the somatic embryogenesis process, histological samples were made. We used these embryogenic cultures for synthetic seed production and medium-term conservation. The viability of somatic embryos after moderate osmotic stress treatment was tested using TTC. Our methodology relied on the induction of somatic embryogenesis in the presence of auxins in the first cycle of in vitro cultures, long-term high embryogenic culture maintenance in the presence of sugar alcohols and synthetic seed production.

Effect of low emission sources on air quality in Cracow

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Nedoma, J. [EKOPOL Environmental Engineering Studies and Design Office, Co. Ltd., Cracow (Poland)

1995-12-31

The paper presents calculation of power engineering low emission and results of stimulation of the effect of this emission on air quality in Cracow, Poland. It has been stated that the segment of low emission in central areas of the town makes up ca. 40% of the observed concentration of sulfur dioxide. Furthermore it has been stated that the capital investment must be concentrated in the central part of the town in order to reach noticeable improvement of air quality in Cracow. Neither the output of a separate power source nor the emission level and its individual harmful effect, but the location of the source and especially packing density of the sources must decide the priority of upgrading actions.

Long-term changes in CO{sub 2} emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia-Identifying the drivers of environmental pressures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gingrich, Simone, E-mail: simone.gingrich@uni-klu.ac.a [Institute of Social Ecology, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies Vienna, University of Klagenfurt, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, 1070 Wien (Austria); Kuskova, Petra [Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, Charles University in Prague (Czech Republic); Steinberger, Julia K. [Institute of Social Ecology, Faculty for Interdisciplinary Studies Vienna, University of Klagenfurt, Schottenfeldgasse 29/5, 1070 Wien (Austria)

2011-02-15

This study presents fossil-fuel related CO{sub 2} emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia (current Czech Republic and Slovakia) for 1830-2000. The drivers of CO{sub 2} emissions are discussed by investigating the variables of the standard Kaya identity for 1920-2000 and conducting a comparative Index Decomposition Analysis. Proxy data on industrial production and household consumption are analysed to understand the role of the economic structure. CO{sub 2} emissions increased in both countries in the long run. Czechoslovakia was a stronger emitter of CO{sub 2} throughout the time period, but per-capita emissions significantly differed only after World War I, when Czechoslovakia and Austria became independent. The difference in CO{sub 2} emissions increased until the mid-1980s (the period of communism in Czechoslovakia), explained by the energy intensity and the composition effects, and higher industrial production in Czechoslovakia. Counterbalancing factors were the income effect and household consumption. After the Velvet revolution in 1990, Czechoslovak CO{sub 2} emissions decreased, and the energy composition effect (and industrial production) lost importance. Despite their different political and economic development, Austria and Czechoslovakia reached similar levels of per-capita CO{sub 2} emissions in the late 20th century. Neither Austrian 'eco-efficiency' nor Czechoslovak restructuring have been effective in reducing CO{sub 2} emissions to a sustainable level. - Research Highlights: {yields}CO{sub 2} emissions in Austria and Czechoslovakia increased during industrialisation. {yields}The differences were strongest during periods of different political regimes. {yields}The main drivers for differences were energy composition and energy intensity.

Reforming Long-Term Care Funding in Alberta.

Science.gov (United States)

Crump, R Trafford; Repin, Nadya; Sutherland, Jason M

2015-01-01

Like many provinces across Canada, Alberta is facing growing demand for long-term care. Issues with the mixed funding model used to pay long-term care providers had Alberta Health Services concerned that it was not efficiently meeting the demand for long-term care. Consequently, in 2010, Alberta Health Services introduced the patient/care-based funding (PCBF) model. PCBF is similar to activity-based funding in that it directly ties the complexity and care needs of long-term care residents to the payment received by long-term care providers. This review describes PCBF and discusses some of its strengths and weaknesses. In doing so, this review is intended to inform other provinces faced with similar long-term care challenges and contemplating their own funding reforms.

Long-Term Stability of Oxide Nanowire Sensors via Heavily Doped Oxide Contact.

Science.gov (United States)

Zeng, Hao; Takahashi, Tsunaki; Kanai, Masaki; Zhang, Guozhu; He, Yong; Nagashima, Kazuki; Yanagida, Takeshi

2017-12-22

Long-term stability of a chemical sensor is an essential quality for long-term collection of data related to exhaled breath, environmental air, and other sources in the Internet of things (IoT) era. Although an oxide nanowire sensor has shown great potential as a chemical sensor, the long-term stability of sensitivity has not been realized yet due to electrical degradation under harsh sensing conditions. Here, we report a rational concept to accomplish long-term electrical stability of metal oxide nanowire sensors via introduction of a heavily doped metal oxide contact layer. Antimony-doped SnO 2 (ATO) contacts on SnO 2 nanowires show much more stable and lower electrical contact resistance than conventional Ti contacts for high temperature (200 °C) conditions, which are required to operate chemical sensors. The stable and low contact resistance of ATO was confirmed for at least 1960 h under 200 °C in open air. This heavily doped oxide contact enables us to realize the long-term stability of SnO 2 nanowire sensors while maintaining the sensitivity for both NO 2 gas and light (photo) detections. The applicability of our method is confirmed for sensors on a flexible polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) substrate. Since the proposed fundamental concept can be applied to various oxide nanostructures, it will give a foundation for designing long-term stable oxide nanomaterial-based IoT sensors.

Fuel-cycle greenhouse gas emissions impacts of alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang, M. Q.

1998-01-01

At an international conference on global warming, held in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, the United States committed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 7% over its 1990 level by the year 2012. To help achieve that goal, transportation GHG emissions need to be reduced. Using Argonne's fuel-cycle model, I estimated GHG emissions reduction potentials of various near- and long-term transportation technologies. The estimated per-mile GHG emissions results show that alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies can help significantly reduce transportation GHG emissions. Of the near-term technologies evaluated in this study, electric vehicles; hybrid electric vehicles; compression-ignition, direct-injection vehicles; and E85 flexible fuel vehicles can reduce fuel-cycle GHG emissions by more than 25%, on the fuel-cycle basis. Electric vehicles powered by electricity generated primarily from nuclear and renewable sources can reduce GHG emissions by 80%. Other alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, offer limited, but positive, GHG emission reduction benefits. Among the long-term technologies evaluated in this study, conventional spark ignition and compression ignition engines powered by alternative fuels and gasoline- and diesel-powered advanced vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by 10% to 30%. Ethanol dedicated vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel-cell vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by over 40%. Spark ignition engines and fuel-cell vehicles powered by cellulosic ethanol and solar hydrogen (for fuel-cell vehicles only) can reduce GHG emissions by over 80%. In conclusion, both near- and long-term alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies can play a role in reducing the United States GHG emissions

Fuel-cycle greenhouse gas emissions impacts of alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wang, M. Q.

1998-12-16

At an international conference on global warming, held in Kyoto, Japan, in December 1997, the United States committed to reduce its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 7% over its 1990 level by the year 2012. To help achieve that goal, transportation GHG emissions need to be reduced. Using Argonne's fuel-cycle model, I estimated GHG emissions reduction potentials of various near- and long-term transportation technologies. The estimated per-mile GHG emissions results show that alternative transportation fuels and advanced vehicle technologies can help significantly reduce transportation GHG emissions. Of the near-term technologies evaluated in this study, electric vehicles; hybrid electric vehicles; compression-ignition, direct-injection vehicles; and E85 flexible fuel vehicles can reduce fuel-cycle GHG emissions by more than 25%, on the fuel-cycle basis. Electric vehicles powered by electricity generated primarily from nuclear and renewable sources can reduce GHG emissions by 80%. Other alternative fuels, such as compressed natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, offer limited, but positive, GHG emission reduction benefits. Among the long-term technologies evaluated in this study, conventional spark ignition and compression ignition engines powered by alternative fuels and gasoline- and diesel-powered advanced vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by 10% to 30%. Ethanol dedicated vehicles, electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles, and fuel-cell vehicles can reduce GHG emissions by over 40%. Spark ignition engines and fuel-cell vehicles powered by cellulosic ethanol and solar hydrogen (for fuel-cell vehicles only) can reduce GHG emissions by over 80%. In conclusion, both near- and long-term alternative fuels and advanced transportation technologies can play a role in reducing the United States GHG emissions.

Measuring temporal stability of positron emission tomography standardized uptake value bias using long-lived sources in a multicenter network.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrd, Darrin; Christopfel, Rebecca; Arabasz, Grae; Catana, Ciprian; Karp, Joel; Lodge, Martin A; Laymon, Charles; Moros, Eduardo G; Budzevich, Mikalai; Nehmeh, Sadek; Scheuermann, Joshua; Sunderland, John; Zhang, Jun; Kinahan, Paul

2018-01-01

Positron emission tomography (PET) is a quantitative imaging modality, but the computation of standardized uptake values (SUVs) requires several instruments to be correctly calibrated. Variability in the calibration process may lead to unreliable quantitation. Sealed source kits containing traceable amounts of [Formula: see text] were used to measure signal stability for 19 PET scanners at nine hospitals in the National Cancer Institute's Quantitative Imaging Network. Repeated measurements of the sources were performed on PET scanners and in dose calibrators. The measured scanner and dose calibrator signal biases were used to compute the bias in SUVs at multiple time points for each site over a 14-month period. Estimation of absolute SUV accuracy was confounded by bias from the solid phantoms' physical properties. On average, the intrascanner coefficient of variation for SUV measurements was 3.5%. Over the entire length of the study, single-scanner SUV values varied over a range of 11%. Dose calibrator bias was not correlated with scanner bias. Calibration factors from the image metadata were nearly as variable as scanner signal, and were correlated with signal for many scanners. SUVs often showed low intrascanner variability between successive measurements but were also prone to shifts in apparent bias, possibly in part due to scanner recalibrations that are part of regular scanner quality control. Biases of key factors in the computation of SUVs were not correlated and their temporal variations did not cancel out of the computation. Long-lived sources and image metadata may provide a check on the recalibration process.

Black carbon emissions from diesel sources in Russia. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kholod, Nazar [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Evans, Meredydd [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2016-08-31

This report presents a detailed inventory of Russian BC emissions from diesel sources. Drawing on a complete Russian vehicle registry with detailed information about vehicle types and emission standards, this report analyzes BC emissions from diesel on-road vehicles. On-road diesel vehicles emitted 21 Gg of BC in 2014: heavy-duty trucks account for 60% of the on-road BC emissions, while cars represent only 5% (light commercial vehicles and buses account for the remainder). Using Russian activity data and fuel-based emission factors, the report also presents BC emissions from diesel locomotives and ships, off-road engines in industry, construction and agriculture, and generators. The total emissions from diesel sources in Russia are estimated to be 49 Gg of BC in 2014.

Framework for Assessing Biogenic CO2 Emissions from Stationary Sources

Science.gov (United States)

This revision of the 2011 report, Accounting Framework for Biogenic CO2 Emissions from Stationary Sources, evaluates biogenic CO2 emissions from stationary sources, including a detailed study of the scientific and technical issues associated with assessing biogenic carbon dioxide...

The energy-climate challenge: Recent trends in CO2 emissions from fuel combustion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Quadrelli, Roberta; Peterson, Sierra

2007-01-01

Fossil fuel combustion is the single largest human influence on climate, accounting for 80% of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. This paper presents trends in world carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions from fossil fuel combustion worldwide, based on the estimates of the International Energy Agency (IEA) [IEA, 2006a. CO 2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion 1971-2004. International Energy Agency, Paris, France]. Analyzing the drivers of CO 2 emissions, the paper considers regions, types of fuel, sectors, and socio-economic indicators. The paper then examines the growing body of climate change mitigation policies and measures, both multinational and federal. Policies discussed include the Kyoto Protocol, the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme, and the potential measures to be implemented in 2012 and beyond. CO 2 emissions of recent years have grown at the highest rates ever recorded, an observed trend incompatible with stabilizing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases and avoiding long-term climate change. Within this aggregate upward trend, a comparison of emissions sources proves dynamic: while industrialized countries have so far dominated historical emissions, rapid growth in energy demand of developing economies, led by China, may soon spur their absolute emissions beyond those of industrialized countries. To provide context for the drivers of CO 2 emissions, the paper examines fuel sources, from coal to biofuels, and fuel use in the production of heat and electricity, in transport, in industrial production and in households. The sectoral analysis illustrates the primacy, in terms of emissions growth and absolute emissions, of two sectors: electricity and heat generation, and transport. A discussion of several socio-economic emissions drivers complements the paper's analysis of mitigation mechanisms. As illustrated, emissions per capita and emissions per unit of economic production, as measured in gross domestic product (GDP), vary widely between

Short-term variability of mineral dust, metals and carbon emission from road dust resuspension

Science.gov (United States)

Amato, Fulvio; Schaap, Martijn; Denier van der Gon, Hugo A. C.; Pandolfi, Marco; Alastuey, Andrés; Keuken, Menno; Querol, Xavier

2013-08-01

Particulate matter (PM) pollution in cities has severe impact on morbidity and mortality of their population. In these cities, road dust resuspension contributes largely to PM and airborne heavy metals concentrations. However, the short-term variation of emission through resuspension is not well described in the air quality models, hampering a reliable description of air pollution and related health effects. In this study we experimentally show that the emission strength of resuspension varies widely among road dust components/sources. Our results offer the first experimental evidence of different emission rates for mineral dust, heavy metals and carbon fractions due to traffic-induced resuspension. Also, the same component (or source) recovers differently in a road in Barcelona (Spain) and a road in Utrecht (The Netherlands). This finding has important implications on atmospheric pollution modelling, mostly for mineral dust, heavy metals and carbon species. After rain events, recoveries were generally faster in Barcelona rather than in Utrecht. The largest difference was found for the mineral dust (Al, Si, Ca). Tyre wear particles (organic carbon and zinc) recovered faster than other road dust particles in both cities. The source apportionment of road dust mass provides useful information for air quality management.

Industrial Foundations as Long-Term Owners

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Thomsen, Steen; Poulsen, Thomas; Børsting, Christa Winther

Short-termism has become a serious concern for corporate governance, and this has inspired a search for institutional arrangements to promote long-term decision-making. In this paper, we call attention to long-term ownership by industrial foundations, which is common in Northern Europe but little...... known in the rest of the world. We use a unique Danish data set to document that industrial foundations are long-term owners that practice long-term governance. We show that foundation ownership is highly stable compared to other ownership structures. Foundation-owned companies replace managers less...... frequently. They have conservative capital structures with low financial leverage. They score higher on an index of long-termism in finance, investment, and employment. They survive longer. Overall, our paper supports the hypothesis that corporate time horizons are influenced by ownership structures...

From reactors to long pulse sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mezei, F.

1995-01-01

We will show, that by using an adapted instrumentation concept, the performance of a continuous source can be emulated by one switch on in long pulses for only about 10% of the total time. This 10 fold gain in neutron economy opens up the way for building reactor like sources with an order of magnitude higher flux than the present technological limits. Linac accelerator driven spallation lends itself favorably for the realization of this kind of long pulse sources, which will be complementary to short pulse spallation sources, the same way continuous reactor sources are

Long-term associative learning predicts verbal short-term memory performance

OpenAIRE

Jones, Gary; Macken, Bill

2017-01-01

Studies using tests such as digit span and nonword repetition have implicated short-term memory across a range of developmental domains. Such tests ostensibly assess specialized processes for the short-term manipulation and maintenance of information that are often argued to enable long-term learning. However, there is considerable evidence for an influence of long-term linguistic learning on performance in short-term memory tasks that brings into question the role of a specialized short-term...

Reciprocity relations and the mode conversion-absorption equation with an inhomogeneous source term

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cho, S.; Swanson, D.G.

1990-01-01

The fourth-order mode conversion equation is solved completely via the Green's function to include an inhomogeneous source term. This Green's function itself contains all the plasma responsive effects such as mode conversion and absorption, and can be used to describe the spontaneous emission. In the course of the analysis, the reciprocity relations between coupling parameters are proved

Characterization of the effects of borehole configuration and interference with long term ground temperature modelling of ground source heat pumps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Law, Ying Lam E.; Dworkin, Seth B.

2016-01-01

Highlights: • Long term ground temperature response is explored using finite element methods. • Simulation method is validated against experimental and analytical data. • Temperature changes at a fast rate in the first few years and slows down gradually. • ASHRAE recommended separation distances are not always sufficient. • Thermal accumulation occurs at the centre of borehole field. - Abstract: Ground source heat pumps (GSHPs) are an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional heating and cooling systems because of their high efficiency and low greenhouse gas emissions. The ground acts as a heat sink/source for the excess/required heat inside a building for cooling and heating modes, respectively. However, imbalance in heating and cooling needs can change ground temperature over the operating duration. This increase/decrease in ground temperature lowers system efficiency and causes the ground to foul—failing to accept or provide more heat. In order to ensure that GSHPs can operate to their designed conditions, thermal modelling is required to simulate the ground temperature during system operation. In addition, the borehole field layout can have a major impact on ground temperature. In this study, four buildings were studied—a hospital, fast-food restaurant, residence, and school, each with varying borehole configurations. Boreholes were modelled in a soil volume using finite-element methods and heating and cooling fluxes were applied to the borehole walls to simulate the GSHP operation. 20 years of operation were modelled for each building for 2 × 2, 4 × 4, and 2 × 8 borehole configurations. Results indicate that the borehole separation distance of 6 m, recommended by ASHRAE, is not always sufficient to prevent borehole thermal interactions. Benefits of using a 2 × 8 configuration as opposed to a 4 × 4 configuration, which can be observed because of the larger perimeter it provides for heat to dissipate to surrounding soil were

VUV emission spectroscopy diagnostics of a 14 GHz ECR negative hydrogen ion source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tamura, R., E-mail: duo0364@mail4.doshisha.ac.jp; Ichikawa, T.; Kasuya, T.; Wada, M. [Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Doshisha University, Kyotanabe, Kyoto 610-0394 (Japan); Nishiura, M. [Graduate School of Frontier Sciences The University of Tokyo, Kashiwara, Chiba 277-8561 (Japan); Shimozuma, T. [National lnstitute for Fusion Science, Toki, Gifu 509-5292 (Japan)

2015-04-08

Vacuum Ultra Violet(VUV) emission from a 4 cm diameter 2 cm long compact ion source excited by 14 GHz microwave has been investigated. Intensity ratio of band spectrum emission near Ly-α to Ly-α line spectrum is determined from the measured spectrum. which shows preferential excitation of molecules near the entrance of microwave input power. The ratio does not depend strongly upon pressure nor the input microwave power when the intensity is integrated over the volume of the plasma. The spatial distribution of the spectrum intensity ratio exhibits concentrations near microwave inlet and the opposite side where the microwave matching structure is located. The ratio at these peripheral regions is about two times as high as that of the central region. The ratio increased in proportion to the ion source pressure up to about 3.0 Pa, indicating efficient production of high energy electrons by ECR up to this pressure.

Long-term ozone decline and its effect on night airglow intensity of Li ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A critical analysis has been made on the long-term yearly and seasonal variations of ozone concentration at Varanasi (25°N, 83°E), India and Halley Bay (76°S, 27°W), a British Antarctic Service Station. The effect of O3 depletion on night airglow emission of Li 6708 Å line at Varanasi and Halley Bay has been studied.

Dynamical structure of hadron emission sources

CERN Document Server

Zhao Xi; Zhao Shu Song

2000-01-01

NA22 experimental data of the triplet seagull effects show that the Doppler effects of hadron emission sources exist exactly in hadron- hadron collisions. Every source possesses the same average energy (CMS) approximately. The collective seagull effects can be also explained by the (aQ)/sup nu /K/sub nu / (aQ) distributions (generalized functions). The dynamical structure of a hadron emission source is described by the (aQ)/sup nu /K/sub nu / (aQ) distributions. The anomalous dimensions of the pionic quantum fields are gamma /sub B/(g/sub R/)=-0.045+or-0.012, which control the singularities of the production amplitude in quantum field theory. The mathematical parameter epsilon =4-D (the dimension D of space time) in the Feynman integrals can be replaced by the anomalous gamma /sub B/(g/sub R/) of the quantum fields for the regularization. (-2 gamma /sub B/(g/sub R/) to or from epsilon /2=1/ln( Lambda /sup 2//m /sup 2/) Lambda to infinity ). (26 refs).

A review of 'long-term energy supply and demand outlook'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hoshino, Yuko; Hamagata, Sumio; Nagata, Yutaka

2016-01-01

In this paper, we reviewed the 'Long-term Energy Supply and Demand Outlook' based on our original Japan's Economy and Energy Outlook toward 2030. 'The Long-term Energy Supply and Demand Outlook' was based on the following three basic policies: (1) Energy self-sufficiency rate in 2030 should be around 25 percent. (2) Electricity Costs in 2030 should be lower than the current level in 2013. (3) Emissions target of GHGs in 2030 should not be lower than that of EU and the US. Moreover, there were many assumptions or constraints, such as assumed economic growth rate consistent to the government's macro-economic policy and the share of renewable energy more than 20 percent. In order to satisfy the above mentioned conditions, an extraordinary energy saving should be implemented in the scenario. The assumed intensity of energy saving is as much as that after the two oil crises. We estimated the cost of that magnitude of energy saving based on our model simulation, which revealed that in order to achieve the energy saving target, the electricity price should be 80% higher than the business as usual case. In addition, we reviewed the long-term energy supply and demand scenarios of major developed countries such as the UK, the US, Italy, Germany and Australia. We found that most of the scenarios depend on a large scale of energy saving in order to achieve the GHG emissions reductions targets. The reality of those energy saving targets should be carefully re-examined under the low oil price environment. (author)

Parents' Faith and Hope during the Pediatric Palliative Phase and the Association with Long-Term Parental Adjustment.

Science.gov (United States)

van der Geest, Ivana M M; van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M; Falkenburg, Nette; Michiels, Erna M C; van Vliet, Liesbeth; Pieters, Rob; Darlington, Anne-Sophie E

2015-05-01

The loss of a child is associated with an increased risk for developing psychological problems. However, studies investigating the impact of parents' faith and hope for a cure during the palliative phase on long-term parental psychological functioning are limited. The study's objective was to explore the role of faith and hope as a source of coping and indicator of long-term parental adjustment. Eighty-nine parents of 57 children who died of cancer completed questionnaires retrospectively, exploring faith, hope, and sources of coping, and measuring parents' current level of grief and depression. For 19 parents (21%) faith was very important during the palliative phase. The majority of parents remained hopeful for a meaningful time with their child (n=68, 76%); a pain-free death (n=58, 65%); and a cure (n=30, 34%). Their child (n=70, 79%) was parents' main source of coping. Twelve parents (14%) suffered from traumatic grief, and 22 parents (25%) showed symptoms of depression. Parents' faith was not associated with less long-term traumatic grief (OR=0.86, p=0.51) or symptoms of depression (OR=0.95, p=0.74), and parents' hope for a cure was not related to more long-term traumatic grief (OR=1.07, p=0.71) or symptoms of depression (OR=1.12, p=0.47). Faith was important for a minority of parents and was not associated with less long-term traumatic grief or symptoms of depression. The majority of parents remained hopeful. Hope for a cure was not associated with more long-term traumatic grief or symptoms of depression.

Changes in the long-term delayed response of platinum self-powered detector with irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parent, G.; Serdula, K.J.; Eng, P.

1989-01-01

Two long-term delayed response characteristics have been observed for platinum, Pt, detectors in the Gentilly-2 600 MW(e) CANDU PHWR reactor. The first effect is a dip in the signal two to three hours after a shutdown, due to the (n,beta) interactions of Mn-55 and Ni-64 which exist as impurities in the detector assembly. The second effect is an increase of the delayed fraction of the signal. The low neutron absorption cross-section of Pt-196 combined with the conversion of the Pt-194 and Pt-195 results in build-up of the Pt-196. The long half-lives associated with the beta-emission in the transmutation of Pt-196 to Hg-198 or Hg-199 give rise to the observed long-term delayed response

Numerical simulation of long-term radiation effects for MOSFETs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wei Yuan; Xie Honggang; Gong Ding; Zhu Jinhui; Niu Shengli; Huang Liuxing

2013-01-01

A coupled algorithm is introduced to simulate the long-term radiation effects of MOSFETs, which combines particle transport with semiconductor governing equations. The former is dealt with Monte-Carlo method, and the latter is solved by finite-volume method. The trapped charge in SiO 2 and the free charge in Si are both described by the drift-diffusion model, and the deposited energy by incident particles can be coupled with the continuous equations of charge, acting as a source item. The discrete form of governing equations is obtained using the finite-volume method, and the numerical solutions of these equations are the long-term radiation response result of MOSFETs. The threshold voltage shift and off-state leakage current of an irradiated MOSFET are simulated with the coupled algorithm respectively, showing a good accordance with results by other calculations. (authors)

Variability of OH(3-1) and OH(6-2) emission altitude and volume emission rate from 2003 to 2011

Science.gov (United States)

Teiser, Georg; von Savigny, Christian

2017-08-01

In this study we report on variability in emission rate and centroid emission altitude of the OH(3-1) and OH(6-2) Meinel bands in the terrestrial nightglow based on spaceborne nightglow measurements with the SCIAMACHY (SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY) instrument on the Envisat satellite. The SCIAMACHY observations cover the time period from August 2002 to April 2012 and the nighttime observations used in this study are performed at 10:00 p.m. local solar time. Characterizing variability in OH emission altitude - particularly potential long-term variations - is important for an appropriate interpretation of ground-based OH rotational temperature measurements, because simultaneous observations of the vertical OH volume emission rate profile are usually not available for these measurements. OH emission altitude and vertically integrated emission rate time series with daily resolution for the OH(3-1) band and monthly resolution for the OH(6-2) band were analyzed using a standard multilinear regression approach allowing for seasonal variations, QBO-effects (Quasi-Biennial Oscillation), solar cycle (SC) variability and a linear long-term trend. The analysis focuses on low latitudes, where SCIAMACHY nighttime observations are available all year. The dominant sources of variability for both OH emission rate and altitude are the semi-annual and annual variations, with emission rate and altitude being highly anti-correlated. There is some evidence for a 11-year solar cycle signature in the vertically integrated emission rate and in the centroid emission altitude of both the OH(3-1) and OH(6-2) bands.

The emission factor of volatile isoprenoids: stress, acclimation, and developmental responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ü. Niinemets

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The rate of constitutive isoprenoid emissions from plants is driven by plant emission capacity under specified environmental conditions (E_S, the emission factor and by responsiveness of the emissions to instantaneous variations in environment. In models of isoprenoid emission, E_S has been often considered as intrinsic species-specific constant invariable in time and space. Here we analyze the variations in species-specific values of E_S under field conditions focusing on abiotic stresses, past environmental conditions and developmental processes. The reviewed studies highlight strong stress-driven, adaptive (previous temperature and light environment and growth CO₂ concentration and developmental (leaf age variations in E_S values operating at medium to long time scales. These biological factors can alter species-specific E_S values by more than an order of magnitude. While the majority of models based on early concepts still ignore these important sources of variation, recent models are including some of the medium- to long-term controls. However, conceptually different strategies are being used for incorporation of these longer-term controls with important practical implications for parameterization and application of these models. This analysis emphasizes the need to include more biological realism in the isoprenoid emission models and also highlights the gaps in knowledge that require further experimental work to reduce the model uncertainties associated with biological sources of variation.

Evaluating measurements of carbon dioxide emissions using a precision source--A natural gas burner.

Science.gov (United States)

Bryant, Rodney; Bundy, Matthew; Zong, Ruowen

2015-07-01

A natural gas burner has been used as a precise and accurate source for generating large quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2) to evaluate emissions measurements at near-industrial scale. Two methods for determining carbon dioxide emissions from stationary sources are considered here: predicting emissions based on fuel consumption measurements-predicted emissions measurements, and direct measurement of emissions quantities in the flue gas-direct emissions measurements. Uncertainty for the predicted emissions measurement was estimated at less than 1%. Uncertainty estimates for the direct emissions measurement of carbon dioxide were on the order of ±4%. The relative difference between the direct emissions measurements and the predicted emissions measurements was within the range of the measurement uncertainty, therefore demonstrating good agreement. The study demonstrates how independent methods are used to validate source emissions measurements, while also demonstrating how a fire research facility can be used as a precision test-bed to evaluate and improve carbon dioxide emissions measurements from stationary sources. Fossil-fuel-consuming stationary sources such as electric power plants and industrial facilities account for more than half of the CO2 emissions in the United States. Therefore, accurate emissions measurements from these sources are critical for evaluating efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This study demonstrates how a surrogate for a stationary source, a fire research facility, can be used to evaluate the accuracy of measurements of CO2 emissions.

Identifying the limitations of conventional biofiltration of diffuse methane emissions at long-term operation.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez-Cuervo, S; Hernández, J; Omil, F

2016-08-01

There is growing international concern about the increasing levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, particularly CO2 and methane. The emissions of methane derived from human activities are associated with large flows and very low concentrations, such as those emitted from landfills and wastewater treatment plants, among others. The present work was focused on the biological methane degradation at diffuse concentrations (0.2% vv(-1)) in a conventional biofilter using a mixture of compost, perlite and bark chips as carrier. An extensive characterization of the process was carried out at long-term operation (250 days) in a fully monitored pilot plant, achieving stable conditions during the entire period. Operational parameters such as waterings, nitrogen addition and inlet loads and contact time influences were evaluated. Obtained results indicate that empty bed residence times within 4-8 min are crucial to maximize elimination rates. Waterings and the type of nitrogen supplied in the nutrient solution (ammonia or nitrate) have a strong impact on the biofilter performance. The better results compatible with a stable operation were achieved using nitrate, with elimination capacities up to 7.6 ± 1.1 g CH4 m(-3 )h(-1). The operation at low inlet concentrations (IC) implied that removal rates obtained were quite limited (ranging 3-8 g CH4 m(-3 )h(-1)); however, these results could be significantly increased (up to 20.6 g CH4 m(-3) h(-1)) at higher IC, which indicates that the mass transfer from the gas to the liquid layer surrounding the biofilm is a key limitation of the process.

Long-term collections

CERN Multimedia

Collectes à long terme

2007-01-01

The Committee of the Long Term Collections (CLT) asks for your attention for the following message from a young Peruvian scientist, following the earthquake which devastated part of her country a month ago.

MONTE CARLO RADIATION TRANSFER SIMULATIONS OF PHOTOSPHERIC EMISSION IN LONG-DURATION GAMMA-RAY BURSTS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lazzati, Davide [Department of Physics, Oregon State University, 301 Weniger Hall, Corvallis, OR 97331 (United States)

2016-10-01

We present MCRaT, a Monte Carlo Radiation Transfer code for self-consistently computing the light curves and spectra of the photospheric emission from relativistic, unmagnetized jets. We apply MCRaT to a relativistic hydrodynamic simulation of a long-duration gamma-ray burst jet, and present the resulting light curves and time-dependent spectra for observers at various angles from the jet axis. We compare our results to observational results and find that photospheric emission is a viable model to explain the prompt phase of long-duration gamma-ray bursts at the peak frequency and above, but faces challenges when reproducing the flat spectrum below the peak frequency. We finally discuss possible limitations of these results both in terms of the hydrodynamics and the radiation transfer and how these limitations could affect the conclusions that we present.

Stress, Social Support, and Burnout Among Long-Term Care Nursing Staff.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodhead, Erin L; Northrop, Lynn; Edelstein, Barry

2016-01-01

Long-term care nursing staff are subject to considerable occupational stress and report high levels of burnout, yet little is known about how stress and social support are associated with burnout in this population. The present study utilized the job demands-resources model of burnout to examine relations between job demands (occupational and personal stress), job resources (sources and functions of social support), and burnout in a sample of nursing staff at a long-term care facility (N = 250). Hierarchical linear regression analyses revealed that job demands (greater occupational stress) were associated with more emotional exhaustion, more depersonalization, and less personal accomplishment. Job resources (support from supervisors and friends or family members, reassurance of worth, opportunity for nurturing) were associated with less emotional exhaustion and higher levels of personal accomplishment. Interventions to reduce burnout that include a focus on stress and social support outside of work may be particularly beneficial for long-term care staff. © The Author(s) 2014.

Accumulation of Cd in agricultural soil under long-term reclaimed water irrigation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chen, Weiping; Lu, Sidan; Peng, Chi; Jiao, Wentao; Wang, Meie

2013-01-01

Safety of agricultural irrigation with reclaimed water is of great concern as some potential hazardous compounds like heavy metals may be accumulated in soils over time. Impacts of long-term reclaimed water on soil Cd pollution were evaluated based on the field investigation in two main crop areas in Beijing with long irrigation history and on simulation results of STEM-profile model. Under long-term reclaimed water, Cd content in the top 20 cm soil layer was greatly elevated and was more than 2 times higher than that in the deep soil layer. There was very small differences between the field measured and model simulated Cd content in the plow layer (top 20 cm) and entire soil layer. Long-term model prediction showed that reclaimed water irrigation had a low environmental risk of soil Cd pollution, but the risk would be aggravated when there were high metal loading from other sources. The risk is also depending on the soil and plant properties. -- Highlights: •Root zone soil Cd content was elevated by one time under long-term reclaimed water irrigation. •The STEM-profile model can well track the Cd balance in the soil profile. •Reclaimed water irrigation plays a limited role on soil Cd accumulation in Beijing croplands. -- There was a low risk of soil Cd pollution under long-term reclaimed water irrigation

Investigation of short and long term trends in chemical composition of Eastern Mediterranean aerosols

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2011-01-01

A collaborative study was started with the Middle East Technical University, Environmental Engineering Department in 2004 in order to determine the transport of air pollutants and their deposition rates to Eastern Mediterranean with the ultimate aim of filling the gaps in knowledge on the current status of Eastern Mediterranean air quality profile. Collection sufficient amount of representative samples, analyzes of the collected samples with high accuracy and precision and interpretation of generated data are crucial efforts. To attain this goal, EDXRF spectrometer, which is a rapid, reliable and sensitive analytical instrument, located at our center was employed in analysis of the collected samples after calibration with 'NIST 2783 Air Particles on Filter'. The effectiveness of the control strategies taken on the emissions was discussed by investigating the short and long term variations in the chemical composition of samples collected between 1993 and 2001 at Antalya station. In this context, generated data set was studied for short (daily) term, seasonal and long term variations. It has been found that short term variations in the concentrations of pollutants in short time scale are highly episodic. The concentration of measured pollutants was changed 10-20 folds in the subsequent two days. The most important factors affecting the chemical composition of pollutants in short time interval are meteorological factors such as precipitation and variations observed at the emission strength of pollutants. The declined in Pb concentrations at the Antalya station was attributed to observed decrease in Pb emissions in Europe after the introduction of leaded gasoline. Highest summer averages were reported for anthropogenic pollutants in summer months. Aegean Sea (Izmir-Aliaga) studies of the project will be completed this year

Comparison between lab- and full-scale applications of in situ aeration of an old landfill and assessment of long-term emission development after completion

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hrad, Marlies; Gamperling, Oliver [Institute of Waste Management, Department of Water–Atmosphere–Environment, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna (Austria); Huber-Humer, Marion, E-mail: marion.huber-humer@boku.ac.at [Institute of Waste Management, Department of Water–Atmosphere–Environment, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Muthgasse 107, 1190 Vienna (Austria)

2013-10-15

Highlights: ► Current data on in situ aeration effects from the first Austrian full-scale case study. ► Data on lasting waste stabilisation after aeration completion. ► Information on the transferability of results from lab- to full-scale aeration. - Abstract: Sustainable landfilling has become a fundamental objective in many modern waste management concepts. In this context, the in situ aeration of landfills has been recognised for its potential to convert conventional anaerobic landfills into biological stabilised state, whereby both current and potential (long-term) emissions of the landfilled waste are mitigated. In recent years, different in situ aeration concepts have been successfully applied in Europe, North America and Asia, all pursuing different objectives and strategies. In Austria, the first full-scale application of in situ landfill aeration by means of low pressure air injection and simultaneous off-gas collection and treatment was implemented on an old, small municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill (2.6 ha) in autumn 2007. Complementary laboratory investigations were conducted with waste samples taken from the landfill site in order to provide more information on the transferability of the results from lab- to full-scale aeration measures. In addition, long-term emission development of the stabilised waste after aeration completion was assessed in an ongoing laboratory experiment. Although the initial waste material was described as mostly stable in terms of the biological parameters gas generation potential over 21 days (GP{sub 21}) and respiration activity over 4 days (RA{sub 4}), the lab-scale experiments indicated that aeration, which led to a significant improvement of leachate quality, was accompanied by further measurable changes in the solid waste material under optimised conditions. Even 75 weeks after aeration completion the leachate, as well as gaseous emissions from the stabilised waste material, remained low and stayed below the

Comparison between lab- and full-scale applications of in situ aeration of an old landfill and assessment of long-term emission development after completion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hrad, Marlies; Gamperling, Oliver; Huber-Humer, Marion

2013-01-01

Highlights: ► Current data on in situ aeration effects from the first Austrian full-scale case study. ► Data on lasting waste stabilisation after aeration completion. ► Information on the transferability of results from lab- to full-scale aeration. - Abstract: Sustainable landfilling has become a fundamental objective in many modern waste management concepts. In this context, the in situ aeration of landfills has been recognised for its potential to convert conventional anaerobic landfills into biological stabilised state, whereby both current and potential (long-term) emissions of the landfilled waste are mitigated. In recent years, different in situ aeration concepts have been successfully applied in Europe, North America and Asia, all pursuing different objectives and strategies. In Austria, the first full-scale application of in situ landfill aeration by means of low pressure air injection and simultaneous off-gas collection and treatment was implemented on an old, small municipal solid waste (MSW) landfill (2.6 ha) in autumn 2007. Complementary laboratory investigations were conducted with waste samples taken from the landfill site in order to provide more information on the transferability of the results from lab- to full-scale aeration measures. In addition, long-term emission development of the stabilised waste after aeration completion was assessed in an ongoing laboratory experiment. Although the initial waste material was described as mostly stable in terms of the biological parameters gas generation potential over 21 days (GP 21 ) and respiration activity over 4 days (RA 4 ), the lab-scale experiments indicated that aeration, which led to a significant improvement of leachate quality, was accompanied by further measurable changes in the solid waste material under optimised conditions. Even 75 weeks after aeration completion the leachate, as well as gaseous emissions from the stabilised waste material, remained low and stayed below the authorised

Corrosion of Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Long-Term Assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ewing, Rodney C.

2004-01-01

Spent nuclear fuel, essentially U 2 , accounts for over 95% of the total radioactivity of all of the radioactive wastes in the United States that require disposal, disposition or remediation. The UO 2 in SNF is not stable under oxiding conditions and may also be altered under reducing conditions. The alteration of SNF results in the formation of new uranium phases that can cause the release or retardation of actinide and fission product radionuclides. Over the long term, and depending on the extent to which the secondary uranium phases incorporate fission products and actinides, these alteration phases become the near-field source term

Long-term exposure to indoor air pollution and wheezing symptoms in infants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Raaschou-Nielsen, O.; Hermansen, M.N.; Loland, L.

2010-01-01

Long-term exposure to air pollution is suspected to cause recurrent wheeze in infants. The few previous studies have had ambiguous results. The objective of this study was to estimate the impact of measured long-term exposure to indoor air pollution on wheezing symptoms in infants. We monitored......-point 'any symptom-day' (yes/no) and by standard linear regression with the end-point 'number of symptom-days'. The results showed no systematic association between risk for wheezing symptoms and the levels of these air pollutants with various indoor and outdoor sources. In conclusion, we found no evidence...... of an association between long-term exposure to indoor air pollution and wheezing symptoms in infants, suggesting that indoor air pollution is not causally related to the underlying disease. Practical Implications Nitrogen oxides, formaldehyde and fine particles were measured in the air in infants' bedrooms...

Using mobile source emission reductions to offset stationary surce rule requirements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nazemi, M.A.; Beruldsen, K.J.

1993-01-01

A number of mobile source strategies have been evaluated that could potentially be used as an alternative means of compliance with existing stationary source regulations, at a lower cost. The evaluation was spurred by both public and private sector interest in identifying the lowest cost air pollution reduction strategies, and the realization that mobile sources are the predominate contributor to the air pollution problem in the South Coast Air Quality Basin. Strategies evaluated included removing older vehicles from the in-use population, use of alternative fuels, inspection and maintenance measures, application of remote sensing technology, exceeding AVR requirements, as well as a number of other strategies. Key implementation issues have been identified, so that the viability of each mobile source strategies could be assessed. These issues include: (1) quantification of emissions benefits, (2) determining whether the mobile source strategy would generate emission reductions surplus to existing and planned mobile source regulations, and (3) assessing the potential for enforceability. The results of evaluation indicate that there are a number of promising mobile source emission strategies that could provide quantifiable, surplus, and enforceable emission reductions

Source apportionment of traffic emissions of particulate matter using tunnel measurements

Science.gov (United States)

Lawrence, Samantha; Sokhi, Ranjeet; Ravindra, Khaiwal; Mao, Hongjun; Prain, Hunter Douglas; Bull, Ian D.

2013-10-01

This study aims to quantify exhaust/non-exhaust emissions and the uncertainties associated with them by combining innovative motorway tunnel sampling and source apportionment modelling. Analytical techniques ICP-AES and GC-MS were used to identify the metallic and organic composition of PM10, respectively. Good correlation was observed between Fe, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb and Sb and change in traffic volume. The concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other organics varies significantly at the entrance and exit site of the tunnel, with fluoranthene, pyrene, benzo[a]pyrene, chrysene and benzothiazole having the highest incremented concentrations. The application of Principal Component Analysis and Multiple Linear Regression Analysis helped to identify the emission sources for 82% of the total PM10 mass inside the tunnel. Identified sources include resuspension (27%), diesel exhaust emissions (21%), petrol exhaust emissions (12%), brake wear emissions (11%) and road surface wear (11%). This study shows that major health related chemical species of PM10 originate from non-exhaust sources, further signifying the need for legislation to reduce these emissions.

Compensation for PKMζ in long-term potentiation and spatial long-term memory in mutant mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Tsokas, Panayiotis; Hsieh, Changchi; Yao, Yudong; Lesburguères, Edith; Wallace, Emma Jane Claire; Tcherepanov, Andrew; Jothianandan, Desingarao; Hartley, Benjamin Rush; Pan, Ling; Rivard, Bruno; Farese, Robert V; Sajan, Mini P; Bergold, Peter John; Hernández, Alejandro Iván; Cottrell, James E; Shouval, Harel Z; Fenton, André Antonio; Sacktor, Todd Charlton

2016-05-17

PKMζ is a persistently active PKC isoform proposed to maintain late-LTP and long-term memory. But late-LTP and memory are maintained without PKMζ in PKMζ-null mice. Two hypotheses can account for these findings. First, PKMζ is unimportant for LTP or memory. Second, PKMζ is essential for late-LTP and long-term memory in wild-type mice, and PKMζ-null mice recruit compensatory mechanisms. We find that whereas PKMζ persistently increases in LTP maintenance in wild-type mice, PKCι/λ, a gene-product closely related to PKMζ, persistently increases in LTP maintenance in PKMζ-null mice. Using a pharmacogenetic approach, we find PKMζ-antisense in hippocampus blocks late-LTP and spatial long-term memory in wild-type mice, but not in PKMζ-null mice without the target mRNA. Conversely, a PKCι/λ-antagonist disrupts late-LTP and spatial memory in PKMζ-null mice but not in wild-type mice. Thus, whereas PKMζ is essential for wild-type LTP and long-term memory, persistent PKCι/λ activation compensates for PKMζ loss in PKMζ-null mice.

Long-term energy planning with uncertain environmental performance metrics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Parkinson, Simon C.; Djilali, Ned

2015-01-01

Highlights: • Environmental performance uncertainty considered in a long-term energy planning model. • Application to electricity generation planning in British Columbia. • Interactions with climate change mitigation and adaptation strategy are assessed. • Performance risk-hedging impacts the technology investment strategy. • Sensitivity of results to model formulation is discussed. - Abstract: Environmental performance (EP) uncertainties span a number of energy technology options, and pose planning risk when the energy system is subject to environmental constraints. This paper presents two approaches to integrating EP uncertainty into the long-term energy planning framework. The methodologies consider stochastic EP metrics across multiple energy technology options, and produce a development strategy that hedges against the risk of exceeding environmental targets. Both methods are compared within a case study of emission-constrained electricity generation planning in British Columbia, Canada. The analysis provides important insight into model formulation and the interactions with concurrent environmental policy uncertainties. EP risk is found to be particularly important in situations where environmental constraints become increasingly stringent. Model results indicate allocation of a modest risk premium in these situations can provide valuable hedging against EP risk

Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions: control targets and long term policy strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haites, E.

1993-01-01

A number of countries have unilaterally committed themselves to limit emissions of greenhouse gases. Other countries have resisted such commitments; they prefer to engage in further climate research to determine the extent of any emissions reduction that may be necessary before committing themselves to significant costs to implement controls. This paper examines the costs of alternative policies including immediate action to limit emissions and climate research followed by controls if necessary. (Author)

Sexuality and Physical Intimacy in Long Term Care: Sexuality, long term care, capacity assessment

OpenAIRE

Lichtenberg, Peter A.

2014-01-01

Sexuality and sexual needs in older adults remains a neglected area of clinical intervention, particularly so in long term care settings. Because older adults in medical rehabilitation and long term care beds present with significant frailties, and often significant neurocognitive disorders it makes it difficult for occupational therapists and other staff to evaluate the capacity of an older adult resident to participate in sexual relationships. The current paper reviews the current literatur...

Differences in health status between long-term and short-term benzodiazepine users.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zandstra, S.M.; Furer, J.W.; Lisdonk, E.H. van de; Bor, J.H.J.; Zitman, F.G.; Weel, C. van

2002-01-01

BACKGROUND: Despite generally accepted advice to keep treatment short, benzodiazepines are often prescibed for more than six months. Prevention of long-term benzodiazepine use could be facilitated by the utilisation of risk indicators for long-term use. However, the characteristics of long-term

Anthropogenic Methane Emissions in California's San Joaquin Valley: Characterizing Large Point Source Emitters

Science.gov (United States)

Hopkins, F. M.; Duren, R. M.; Miller, C. E.; Aubrey, A. D.; Falk, M.; Holland, L.; Hook, S. J.; Hulley, G. C.; Johnson, W. R.; Kuai, L.; Kuwayama, T.; Lin, J. C.; Thorpe, A. K.; Worden, J. R.; Lauvaux, T.; Jeong, S.; Fischer, M. L.

2015-12-01

Methane is an important atmospheric pollutant that contributes to global warming and tropospheric ozone production. Methane mitigation could reduce near term climate change and improve air quality, but is hindered by a lack of knowledge of anthropogenic methane sources. Recent work has shown that methane emissions are not evenly distributed in space, or across emission sources, suggesting that a large fraction of anthropogenic methane comes from a few "super-emitters." We studied the distribution of super-emitters in California's southern San Joaquin Valley, where elevated levels of atmospheric CH4 have also been observed from space. Here, we define super-emitters as methane plumes that could be reliably detected (i.e., plume observed more than once in the same location) under varying wind conditions by airborne thermal infrared remote sensing. The detection limit for this technique was determined to be 4.5 kg CH4 h-1 by a controlled release experiment, corresponding to column methane enhancement at the point of emissions greater than 20% above local background levels. We surveyed a major oil production field, and an area with a high concentration of large dairies using a variety of airborne and ground-based measurements. Repeated airborne surveys (n=4) with the Hyperspectral Thermal Emission Spectrometer revealed 28 persistent methane plumes emanating from oil field infrastructure, including tanks, wells, and processing facilities. The likelihood that a given source type was a super-emitter varied from roughly 1/3 for processing facilities to 1/3000 for oil wells. 11 persistent plumes were detected in the dairy area, and all were associated with wet manure management. The majority (11/14) of manure lagoons in the study area were super-emitters. Comparing to a California methane emissions inventory for the surveyed areas, we estimate that super-emitters comprise a minimum of 9% of inventoried dairy emissions, and 13% of inventoried oil emissions in this region.

Scientific Understanding from Long Term Observations: Insights from the Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) Program

Science.gov (United States)

Gosz, J.

2001-12-01

The network dedicated to Long Term Ecological Research (LTER) in the United States has grown to 24 sites since it was formed in 1980. Long-term research and monitoring are performed on parameters thatare basic to all ecosystems and are required to understand patterns, processes, and relationship to change. Collectively, the sites in the LTER Network provide opportunities to contrast marine, coastal, and continental regions, the full range of climatic gradients existing in North America, and aquatic and terrestrial habitats in a range of ecosystem types. The combination of common core areas and long-term research and monitoring in many habitats have allowed unprecedented abilities to understand and compare complex temporal and spatial dynamics associated with issues like climate change, effects of pollution, biodiversity and landuse. For example, McMurdo Dry Valley in the Antarctic has demonstrated an increase in glacier mass since 1993 which coincides with a period of cooler than normal summers and more than average snowfall. In contrast, the Bonanza Creek and Toolik Lake sites in Alaska have recorded a warming period unprecedented in the past 200 years. Nitrogen deposition effects have been identified through long-term watershed studies on biogeochemical cycles, especially at Coweeta Hydrological Lab, Harvard Forest, and the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest. In aquatic systems, such as the Northern Temperate Lakes site, long-term data revealed time lags in effects of invaders and disturbance on lake communities. Biological recovery from an effect such as lake acidification was shown to lag behind chemical recovery. The long-term changes documented over 2 decades have been instrumental in influencing management practices in many of the LTER areas. In Puerto Rico, the Luquillo LTER demonstrated that dams obstruct migrations of fish and freshwater shrimp and water abstraction at low flows can completely obliterate downstream migration of juveniles and damage

A mechanism of midlatitude noontime foE long-term variations inferred from European observations

Science.gov (United States)

Mikhailov, A. V.; Perrone, L.; Nusinov, A. A.

2017-04-01

Manually scaled June noontime monthly median foE values at three European stations Rome, Juliusruh, and Slough/Chilton were used to understand the mechanism of foE long-term variations. The 11 year running mean smoothed foE manifests long-term (for some solar cycles) variations with the rising phase at the end of 1960-1985 and the falling phase after 1985. A close relationship (even in details) between (foEave)11y and (R12)11y variations with the correlation coefficient of 0.996 (absolutely significant according to Fisher F criterion) suggests that the Sun is the source of these (foEave)11y long-term variations. After removing solar activity long-term variations the residual (foEave)11y trend is very small ( 0.029% per decade) being absolutely insignificant. This means that all (foEave)11y variations are removed with one solar activity index, (R12)11y, i.e., this means that long-term variations are fully controlled by solar activity. Theory of midlatitude daytime E region tells us that long-term variations of solar EUV in two lines λ = 977 Å (CIII) and λ = 1025.7 Å (HLyβ) and X-ray radiation with λ foE long-term variations have a natural (not anthropogenic) origin related to long-term variations of solar activity. No peculiarities in relation with the last deep solar minimum in 2008-2009 have been revealed.

Very long-term sequelae of craniopharyngioma.

Science.gov (United States)

Wijnen, Mark; van den Heuvel-Eibrink, Marry M; Janssen, Joseph A M J L; Catsman-Berrevoets, Coriene E; Michiels, Erna M C; van Veelen-Vincent, Marie-Lise C; Dallenga, Alof H G; van den Berge, J Herbert; van Rij, Carolien M; van der Lely, Aart-Jan; Neggers, Sebastian J C M M

2017-06-01

Studies investigating long-term health conditions in patients with craniopharyngioma are limited by short follow-up durations and generally do not compare long-term health effects according to initial craniopharyngioma treatment approach. In addition, studies comparing long-term health conditions between patients with childhood- and adult-onset craniopharyngioma report conflicting results. The objective of this study was to analyse a full spectrum of long-term health effects in patients with craniopharyngioma according to initial treatment approach and age group at craniopharyngioma presentation. Cross-sectional study based on retrospective data. We studied a single-centre cohort of 128 patients with craniopharyngioma treated from 1980 onwards (63 patients with childhood-onset disease). Median follow-up since craniopharyngioma presentation was 13 years (interquartile range: 5-23 years). Initial craniopharyngioma treatment approaches included gross total resection ( n  = 25), subtotal resection without radiotherapy ( n  = 44), subtotal resection with radiotherapy ( n  = 25), cyst aspiration without radiotherapy ( n  = 8), and 90 Yttrium brachytherapy ( n  = 21). Pituitary hormone deficiencies (98%), visual disturbances (75%) and obesity (56%) were the most common long-term health conditions observed. Different initial craniopharyngioma treatment approaches resulted in similar long-term health effects. Patients with childhood-onset craniopharyngioma experienced significantly more growth hormone deficiency, diabetes insipidus, panhypopituitarism, morbid obesity, epilepsy and psychiatric conditions compared with patients with adult-onset disease. Recurrence-/progression-free survival was significantly lower after initial craniopharyngioma treatment with cyst aspiration compared with other therapeutic approaches. Survival was similar between patients with childhood- and adult-onset craniopharyngioma. Long-term health conditions were comparable after

Phenotype and envelope gene diversity of nef-deleted HIV-1 isolated from long-term survivors infected from a single source

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sullivan John S

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The Sydney blood bank cohort (SBBC of long-term survivors consists of multiple individuals infected with attenuated, nef-deleted variants of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1 acquired from a single source. Long-term prospective studies have demonstrated that the SBBC now comprises slow progressors (SP as well as long-term nonprogressors (LTNP. Convergent evolution of nef sequences in SBBC SP and LTNP indicates the in vivo pathogenicity of HIV-1 in SBBC members is dictated by factors other than nef. To better understand mechanisms underlying the pathogenicity of nef-deleted HIV-1, we examined the phenotype and env sequence diversity of sequentially isolated viruses (n = 2 from 3 SBBC members. Results The viruses characterized here were isolated from two SP spanning a three or six year period during progressive HIV-1 infection (subjects D36 and C98, respectively and from a LTNP spanning a two year period during asymptomatic, nonprogressive infection (subject C18. Both isolates from D36 were R5X4 phenotype and, compared to control HIV-1 strains, replicated to low levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC. In contrast, both isolates from C98 and C18 were CCR5-restricted. Both viruses isolated from C98 replicated to barely detectable levels in PBMC, whereas both viruses isolated from C18 replicated to low levels, similar to those isolated from D36. Analysis of env by V1V2 and V3 heteroduplex tracking assay, V1V2 length polymorphisms, sequencing and phylogenetic analysis showed distinct intra- and inter-patient env evolution. Conclusion Independent evolution of env despite convergent evolution of nef may contribute to the in vivo pathogenicity of nef-deleted HIV-1 in SBBC members, which may not necessarily be associated with changes in replication capacity or viral coreceptor specificity.

Primary sources of selected POPs: regional and global scale emission inventories

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Breivik, Knut; Alcock, Ruth; Li Yifan; Bailey, Robert E.; Fiedler, Heidelore; Pacyna, Jozef M

2004-03-01

During the last decade, a number of studies have been devoted to the sources and emissions of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) at regional and global scales. While significant improvements in knowledge have been achieved for some pesticides, the quantitative understanding of the emission processes and emission patterns for 'non-pesticide' POPs are still considered limited. The key issues remaining for the non-pesticide POPs are in part determined by their general source classification. For industrial chemicals, such as the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), there is considerable uncertainty with respect to the relative importance of atmospheric emissions from various source categories. For PCBs, temperature is discussed as a potential key factor influencing atmospheric emission levels and patterns. When it comes to the unintentional by-products of combustion and industrial processes (PCDD/Fs), there is still a large uncertainty with respect to the relative contribution of emissions from unregulated sources such as backyard barrel burning that requires further consideration and characterisation. For hexachlorobenzene (HCB), the relative importance of primary and secondary atmospheric emissions in controlling current atmospheric concentrations remains one of the key uncertainties. While these and other issues may remain unresolved, knowledge concerning the emissions of POPs is a prerequisite for any attempt to understand and predict the distribution and fate of these chemicals on a regional and global scale as well as to efficiently minimise future environmental burdens. - Knowledge of primary emissions is a prerequisite for understanding and predicting POPs on a regional/global scale.

Primary sources of selected POPs: regional and global scale emission inventories

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breivik, Knut; Alcock, Ruth; Li Yifan; Bailey, Robert E.; Fiedler, Heidelore; Pacyna, Jozef M.

2004-01-01

During the last decade, a number of studies have been devoted to the sources and emissions of Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) at regional and global scales. While significant improvements in knowledge have been achieved for some pesticides, the quantitative understanding of the emission processes and emission patterns for 'non-pesticide' POPs are still considered limited. The key issues remaining for the non-pesticide POPs are in part determined by their general source classification. For industrial chemicals, such as the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), there is considerable uncertainty with respect to the relative importance of atmospheric emissions from various source categories. For PCBs, temperature is discussed as a potential key factor influencing atmospheric emission levels and patterns. When it comes to the unintentional by-products of combustion and industrial processes (PCDD/Fs), there is still a large uncertainty with respect to the relative contribution of emissions from unregulated sources such as backyard barrel burning that requires further consideration and characterisation. For hexachlorobenzene (HCB), the relative importance of primary and secondary atmospheric emissions in controlling current atmospheric concentrations remains one of the key uncertainties. While these and other issues may remain unresolved, knowledge concerning the emissions of POPs is a prerequisite for any attempt to understand and predict the distribution and fate of these chemicals on a regional and global scale as well as to efficiently minimise future environmental burdens. - Knowledge of primary emissions is a prerequisite for understanding and predicting POPs on a regional/global scale

Long-term particulate matter modeling for health effect studies in California - Part 2: Concentrations and sources of ultrafine organic aerosols

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jianlin; Jathar, Shantanu; Zhang, Hongliang; Ying, Qi; Chen, Shu-Hua; Cappa, Christopher D.; Kleeman, Michael J.

2017-04-01

Organic aerosol (OA) is a major constituent of ultrafine particulate matter (PM0. 1). Recent epidemiological studies have identified associations between PM0. 1 OA and premature mortality and low birth weight. In this study, the source-oriented UCD/CIT model was used to simulate the concentrations and sources of primary organic aerosols (POA) and secondary organic aerosols (SOA) in PM0. 1 in California for a 9-year (2000-2008) modeling period with 4 km horizontal resolution to provide more insights about PM0. 1 OA for health effect studies. As a related quality control, predicted monthly average concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2. 5) total organic carbon at six major urban sites had mean fractional bias of -0.31 to 0.19 and mean fractional errors of 0.4 to 0.59. The predicted ratio of PM2. 5 SOA / OA was lower than estimates derived from chemical mass balance (CMB) calculations by a factor of 2-3, which suggests the potential effects of processes such as POA volatility, additional SOA formation mechanism, and missing sources. OA in PM0. 1, the focus size fraction of this study, is dominated by POA. Wood smoke is found to be the single biggest source of PM0. 1 OA in winter in California, while meat cooking, mobile emissions (gasoline and diesel engines), and other anthropogenic sources (mainly solvent usage and waste disposal) are the most important sources in summer. Biogenic emissions are predicted to be the largest PM0. 1 SOA source, followed by mobile sources and other anthropogenic sources, but these rankings are sensitive to the SOA model used in the calculation. Air pollution control programs aiming to reduce the PM0. 1 OA concentrations should consider controlling solvent usage, waste disposal, and mobile emissions in California, but these findings should be revisited after the latest science is incorporated into the SOA exposure calculations. The spatial distributions of SOA associated with different sources are not sensitive to the choice of

Mobile Source Emissions Regulatory Compliance Data Inventory

Data.gov (United States)

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — The Mobile Source Emissions Regulatory Compliance Data Inventory data asset contains measured summary compliance information on light-duty, heavy-duty, and non-road...

A new oxidation flow reactor for measuring secondary aerosol formation of rapidly changing emission sources

Science.gov (United States)

Simonen, Pauli; Saukko, Erkka; Karjalainen, Panu; Timonen, Hilkka; Bloss, Matthew; Aakko-Saksa, Päivi; Rönkkö, Topi; Keskinen, Jorma; Dal Maso, Miikka

2017-04-01

Oxidation flow reactors (OFRs) or environmental chambers can be used to estimate secondary aerosol formation potential of different emission sources. Emissions from anthropogenic sources, such as vehicles, often vary on short timescales. For example, to identify the vehicle driving conditions that lead to high potential secondary aerosol emissions, rapid oxidation of exhaust is needed. However, the residence times in environmental chambers and in most oxidation flow reactors are too long to study these transient effects ( ˜ 100 s in flow reactors and several hours in environmental chambers). Here, we present a new oxidation flow reactor, TSAR (TUT Secondary Aerosol Reactor), which has a short residence time ( ˜ 40 s) and near-laminar flow conditions. These improvements are achieved by reducing the reactor radius and volume. This allows studying, for example, the effect of vehicle driving conditions on the secondary aerosol formation potential of the exhaust. We show that the flow pattern in TSAR is nearly laminar and particle losses are negligible. The secondary organic aerosol (SOA) produced in TSAR has a similar mass spectrum to the SOA produced in the state-of-the-art reactor, PAM (potential aerosol mass). Both reactors produce the same amount of mass, but TSAR has a higher time resolution. We also show that TSAR is capable of measuring the secondary aerosol formation potential of a vehicle during a transient driving cycle and that the fast response of TSAR reveals how different driving conditions affect the amount of formed secondary aerosol. Thus, TSAR can be used to study rapidly changing emission sources, especially the vehicular emissions during transient driving.

Long-term prisoner in prison isolation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karolina Grudzińska

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Long-term prisoner belongs to a particular category of people who are imprisoned in prisons. On the one hand in this group are often heavily demoralized people who committed the most serious crimes, on the other hand it is a group of prisoners, who should be well thought out and programmed the impact of rehabilitation. The situation of man trapped for years poses in a complicated situation not only the prisoners, but also the entire prison staff. They have to take care of the fact that the prison isolation did not cause the state in which convicts form itself in learned helplessness and lack of skills for self-planning and decision-making. In addition, planning the rehabilitation impact of long-term prisoners should not be forgotten that these prisoners in the short or the long term will return to the libertarian environment therefore, should prevent any negative effects of long-term imprisonment. This article presents the main issues related to the execution of imprisonment against long-term prisoners. It is an attempt to systematize the knowledge of this category of people living in prison isolation.

Evaluation of sanitary impact of urban air pollution. Agglomeration of Pau impact at short and long term; Evaluation de l'impact sanitaire de la pollution atmospherique urbaine. Agglomeration de Pau impact a cour et long terme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-01

A health impact assessment of air pollution based on the I.n.V.S. guidelines has been conducted in Pau according to the regional Plan for the quality of air in the region of Aquitaine. Short-term effects of pollutants on morbidity (hospital admissions in 2002) and mortality (deaths in 2001) have been estimated. Long-term effect on mortality was also assessed. This study is based on the four standardised steps of health risk assessment. It has been carried out in twenty-nine cities homogeneously exposed, belonging to Pau agglomeration, i.e. a study population of about 150,000 inhabitants. Atmospheric pollution indicators analysed are ozone, nitrogen dioxide, and particles having diameter below 10 {mu}m. Short-term impact of atmospheric pollution has been estimated in term of mortality (total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality) and on hospital intakes (for respiratory, cardiovascular and cardiac reasons) attributable to air pollution. Long term impact was also assessed by the number of deaths due to atmospheric pollution. In 2001, the atmospheric pollution has directly been responsible in the studied area for 17 anticipated deaths, including 7 for cardiovascular reason and 2 for respiratory reason. Concerning morbidity, it generated 20 hospital admissions for cardiovascular reason in 2002, 11 for cardiac reason, and 7 for respiratory reason among elderly people. Regarding long-term health gains, an annually decrease according to the European standards levels of 2010 could allow avoiding 12 deaths per year, and a decrease by 30% of the pollutants could allow avoiding 33 premature deaths per year. This study shows that, even if the relative risks associated to air pollution are quite low, the number of attributable cases is non negligible since everyone is exposed to air pollution. It also shows that a policy of atmospheric pollution reduction only based on not exceeding the standard levels would not have the expected benefits on the public health point of view

Field-emission liquid-metal ion source and triode ion gun

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Komuro, M.; Kawakatsu, H.

1981-01-01

A pointed-filament-type field-emission liquid-metal ion source is designed and employed as a gold ion source. By adding a crossbar across a hairpin bend, the amount of the gold adhering on the filament is increased. The lifetime is estimated to be over 200 h at 10-mA emission current. The emission current increases with increasing extraction voltage up to a saturation value which is ascribed to a limitation of the supply of liquid gold to the needle apex. The value of current density per unit solid angle is 30 mA/sr at a total current of 30 mA, which is of the same order as that obtained from a gallium ion source previously reported. Emission current fluctuations of a few tens of percent of the dc component are observed. In order to regulate the emission current and suppress current fluctuations, a bias electrode in addition to a counterelectrode is placed close to the needle apex. With such a triode structure, the emission current is regulated by a bias voltage of several hundred volts and stabilized to within 1% by means of feedback to the bias voltage of a current monitor output

ALMA BAND 8 CONTINUUM EMISSION FROM ORION SOURCE I

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hirota, Tomoya; Matsumoto, Naoko [Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Osawa 2-21-1, Mitaka-shi, Tokyo 181-8588 (Japan); Machida, Masahiro N.; Matsushita, Yuko [Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, Kyushu University, Motooka 744, Nishi-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka 819-0395 (Japan); Motogi, Kazuhito; Honma, Mareki [Mizusawa VLBI Observatory, National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Hoshigaoka2-12, Mizusawa-ku, Oshu-shi, Iwate 023-0861 (Japan); Kim, Mi Kyoung [Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute, Hwaam-dong 61-1, Yuseong-gu, Daejeon, 305-348 (Korea, Republic of); Burns, Ross A., E-mail: tomoya.hirota@nao.ac.jp [Joint Institute for VLBI in Europe, Postbus 2, 7990 AA, Dwingeloo (Netherlands)

2016-12-20

We have measured continuum flux densities of a high-mass protostar candidate, a radio source I in the Orion KL region (Orion Source I) using the Atacama Large Millimeter/Submillimeter Array (ALMA) at band 8 with an angular resolution of 0.″1. The continuum emission at 430, 460, and 490 GHz associated with Source I shows an elongated structure along the northwest–southeast direction perpendicular to the so-called low-velocity bipolar outflow. The deconvolved size of the continuum source, 90 au × 20 au, is consistent with those reported previously at other millimeter/submillimeter wavelengths. The flux density can be well fitted to the optically thick blackbody spectral energy distribution, and the brightness temperature is evaluated to be 700–800 K. It is much lower than that in the case of proton–electron or H{sup −} free–free radiations. Our data are consistent with the latest ALMA results by Plambeck and Wright, in which the continuum emission was proposed to arise from the edge-on circumstellar disk via thermal dust emission, unless the continuum source consists of an unresolved structure with a smaller beam filling factor.

C. elegans positive butanone learning, short-term, and long-term associative memory assays.

Science.gov (United States)

Kauffman, Amanda; Parsons, Lance; Stein, Geneva; Wills, Airon; Kaletsky, Rachel; Murphy, Coleen

2011-03-11

The memory of experiences and learned information is critical for organisms to make choices that aid their survival. C. elegans navigates its environment through neuron-specific detection of food and chemical odors, and can associate nutritive states with chemical odors, temperature, and the pathogenicity of a food source. Here, we describe assays of C. elegans associative learning and short- and long-term associative memory. We modified an aversive olfactory learning paradigm to instead produce a positive response; the assay involves starving ~400 worms, then feeding the worms in the presence of the AWC neuron-sensed volatile chemoattractant butanone at a concentration that elicits a low chemotactic index (similar to Toroyama et al.). A standard population chemotaxis assay1 tests the worms' attraction to the odorant immediately or minutes to hours after conditioning. After conditioning, wild-type animals' chemotaxis to butanone increases ~0.6 Chemotaxis Index units, its "Learning Index". Associative learning is dependent on the presence of both food and butanone during training. Pairing food and butanone for a single conditioning period ("massed training") produces short-term associative memory that lasts ~2 hours. Multiple conditioning periods with rest periods between ("spaced training") yields long-term associative memory (long-term memory across species. Our protocol also includes image analysis methods for quick and accurate determination of chemotaxis indices. High-contrast images of animals on chemotaxis assay plates are captured and analyzed by worm counting software in MatLab. The software corrects for uneven background using a morphological tophat transformation. Otsu's method is then used to determine a threshold to separate worms from the background. Very small particles are removed automatically and larger non-worm regions (plate edges or agar punches) are removed by manual selection. The software then estimates the size of single worm by ignoring

The range and effectiveness of short-term measures to reduce traffic emissions during high air pollution episodes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elsom, Derek M.

1999-01-01

Concern for continuing poor urban air quality, caused primarily by motor vehicles emissions, and the slow progress being made towards reducing total vehicle emissions by long-term measures, such as improving fuel and vehicle technologies, has prompted some authorities to try to reduce the severity and duration of high air pollution episodes by implementing short-term traffic restraint measures. This paper reviews the range of episodic air quality management schemes applied in cities around the world and comments on the effectiveness of such schemes. The difficulty of targeting vehicles according to the contribution they make to the air quality problem is highlighted. The problem of some schemes simply causing a displacement of the area of excessive vehicle emissions rather than reducing total emissions is reviewed. Rapid developments in telematics and improved urban air quality and traffic monitoring networks (e.g. Urban Traffic Management and Control systems) may offer significant improvements in the effectiveness of episodic management schemes in the future. (Author)

Competitive short-term and long-term memory processes in spatial habituation.

Science.gov (United States)

Sanderson, David J; Bannerman, David M

2011-04-01

Exposure to a spatial location leads to habituation of exploration such that, in a novelty preference test, rodents subsequently prefer exploring a novel location to the familiar location. According to Wagner's (1981) theory of memory, short-term and long-term habituation are caused by separate and sometimes opponent processes. In the present study, this dual-process account of memory was tested. Mice received a series of exposure training trials to a location before receiving a novelty preference test. The novelty preference was greater when tested after a short, rather than a long, interval. In contrast, the novelty preference was weaker when exposure training trials were separated by a short, rather than a long interval. Furthermore, it was found that long-term habituation was determined by the independent effects of the amount of exposure training and the number of exposure training trials when factors such as the intertrial interval and the cumulative intertrial interval were controlled. A final experiment demonstrated that a long-term reduction of exploration could be caused by a negative priming effect due to associations formed during exploration. These results provide evidence against a single-process account of habituation and suggest that spatial habituation is determined by both short-term, recency-based memory and long-term, incrementally strengthened memory.

Vehicle emissions of short-lived and long-lived climate forcers: trends and tradeoffs.

Science.gov (United States)

Edwards, Morgan R; Klemun, Magdalena M; Kim, Hyung Chul; Wallington, Timothy J; Winkler, Sandra L; Tamor, Michael A; Trancik, Jessika E

2017-08-24

Evaluating technology options to mitigate the climate impacts of road transportation can be challenging, particularly when they involve a tradeoff between long-lived emissions (e.g., carbon dioxide) and short-lived emissions (e.g., methane or black carbon). Here we present trends in short- and long-lived emissions for light- and heavy-duty transport globally and in the U.S., EU, and China over the period 2000-2030, and we discuss past and future changes to vehicle technologies to reduce these emissions. We model the tradeoffs between short- and long-lived emission reductions across a range of technology options, life cycle emission intensities, and equivalency metrics. While short-lived vehicle emissions have decreased globally over the past two decades, significant reductions in CO 2 will be required by mid-century to meet climate change mitigation targets. This is true regardless of the time horizon used to compare long- and short-lived emissions. The short-lived emission intensities of some low-CO 2 technologies are higher than others, and thus their suitability for meeting climate targets depends sensitively on the evaluation time horizon. Other technologies offer low intensities of both short-lived emissions and CO 2 .

HVAC SYSTEMS AS EMISSION SOURCES AFFECTING INDOOR AIR QUALITY: A CRITICAL REVIEW

Science.gov (United States)

The paper discusses results of an evaluation of literature on heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems as contaminant emission sources that affect indoor air quality (IAQ). The various literature sources and methods for characterizing HVAC emission sources are re...

MELCOR simulation of long-term station blackout at Peach Bottom

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Madni, I.K.

1990-01-01

This paper presents the results from MELCOR (Version 1.8BC) calculations of the Long-Term Station Blackout Accident Sequence, with failure to depressurize the reactor vessel, at the Peach Bottom (BWR Mark I) plant, and presents comparisons with Source Term Code Package (STCP) calculations of the same sequence. This sequence assumes that batteries are available for six hours following loss of all power to the plant. Following battery failure, the reactor coolant system (RCS) inventory is boiled off through the relief valves by continued decay heat generation. This leads to core uncovery, heatup, clad oxidation, core degradation, relocation, and, eventually, vessel failure at high pressure. STCP has calculated the transient out to 13.5 hours after core uncovery. The results include the timing of key events, pressure and temperature response in the reactor vessel and containment, hydrogen production, and the release of source terms to the environment. 12 refs., 23 figs., 3 tabs

Individual decision making in the non-purchase of long-term care insurance.

Science.gov (United States)

Curry, Leslie A; Robison, Julie; Shugrue, Noreen; Keenan, Patricia; Kapp, Marshall B

2009-08-01

Although prior research suggests that economic, behavioral, and psychosocial factors influence decisions not to purchase long-term care insurance, few studies have examined the interplay among these factors in depth and from the consumer's point of view. This study was intended to further illuminate these considerations, generate hypotheses about non-purchasing decisions, and inform the design of policies that are responsive to concerns and preferences of potential purchasers. Qualitative study using 32 in-depth interviews and 6 focus groups, following a grounded theory approach. Five themes characterize decisions not to purchase long-term care insurance: (a) the determination that a policy is "too costly" reflects highly individualized and complex trade-offs not solely economic in nature, (b) non-purchasers are skeptical about the viability and integrity of private insurance companies and seek an unbiased source of information, (c) family dynamics play an important role in insurance decisions, (d) contemplating personal risk for long-term care triggers psychological responses that have implications for decision making, and (e) non-purchasers feel inadequately informed and overwhelmed by the process of deciding whether to purchase long-term care insurance. States are seeking to offset escalating Medicaid long-term care expenditures through a variety of policy mechanisms, including stimulating individual purchase of long-term care insurance. Findings suggest that economic incentives such as lowering premiums will be necessary but not sufficient to attract appropriate candidates. Attention to behavioral and psychosocial factors is essential to designing incentives that are responsive to concerns and preferences of potential purchasers.

Long term liquidity analysis of the firm

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jaroslav Gonos

2009-09-01

Full Text Available Liquidity control is a very difficult and important function. If the business is not liquid in the long term, it is under threatof bankruptcy, and on the other hand surplus of the cash in hand threaten its future efficiency, because the cash in hand is a sourceof only limited profitability. Long term liquidity is related to the ability of the short term and long term liabilities payment. Articleis trying to point out to the monitoring and analyzing of the long term liquidity in the concrete business, in this case the printing industrycompany. Hereby at the end of the article mentioned monitored and analyzed liquidity is evaluated in the five years time period.

A 2009 Mobile Source Carbon Dioxide Emissions Inventory for the University of Central Florida.

Science.gov (United States)

Clifford, Johanna M; Cooper, C David

2012-09-01

A mobile source carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions inventory for the University of Central Florida (UCF) has been completed. Fora large urban university, more than 50% of the CO2 emissions can come from mobile sources, and the vast majority of mobile source emissions come from on-road sources: personal vehicles and campus shuttles carrying students, faculty, staff and administrators to and from the university as well as on university business trips. In addition to emissions from on-road vehicles, emissions from airplane-based business travel are significant, along with emissions from nonroad equipment such as lawnmowers, leaf blowers, and small maintenance vehicles utilized on campus. UCF has recently become one of the largest universities in the nation (with over 58,000 students enrolled in the fall 2011 semester) and emits a substantial amount of CO2 in the Central Florida area. For this inventory, students, faculty, staff and administrators were first surveyed to determine their commuting distances and frequencies. Information was also gathered on vehicle type and age distribution of the personal vehicles of students, faculty, administrators, and staff as well as their bus, car-pool, and alternate transportation usage. The latest US. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-approved mobile source emissions model, Motor Vehicle Emissions Simulator (MOVES2010a), was used to calculate the emissions from on-road vehicles, and UCF fleet gasoline consumption records were used to calculate the emissions from nonroad equipment and from on-campus UCF fleet vehicles. The results of this UCF mobile source emissions inventory were compared with those for another large U.S. university. With the growing awareness of global climate change, a number of colleges/universities and other organizations are completing greenhouse gas emission inventories. Assumptions often are made in order to calculate mobile source emissions, but without field data or valid reasoning, the accuracy of those

The combined effects of a long-term experimental drought and an extreme drought on the use of plant-water sources in a Mediterranean forest.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbeta, Adrià; Mejía-Chang, Monica; Ogaya, Romà; Voltas, Jordi; Dawson, Todd E; Peñuelas, Josep

2015-03-01

Vegetation in water-limited ecosystems relies strongly on access to deep water reserves to withstand dry periods. Most of these ecosystems have shallow soils over deep groundwater reserves. Understanding the functioning and functional plasticity of species-specific root systems and the patterns of or differences in the use of water sources under more frequent or intense droughts is therefore necessary to properly predict the responses of seasonally dry ecosystems to future climate. We used stable isotopes to investigate the seasonal patterns of water uptake by a sclerophyll forest on sloped terrain with shallow soils. We assessed the effect of a long-term experimental drought (12 years) and the added impact of an extreme natural drought that produced widespread tree mortality and crown defoliation. The dominant species, Quercus ilex, Arbutus unedo and Phillyrea latifolia, all have dimorphic root systems enabling them to access different water sources in space and time. The plants extracted water mainly from the soil in the cold and wet seasons but increased their use of groundwater during the summer drought. Interestingly, the plants subjected to the long-term experimental drought shifted water uptake toward deeper (10-35 cm) soil layers during the wet season and reduced groundwater uptake in summer, indicating plasticity in the functional distribution of fine roots that dampened the effect of our experimental drought over the long term. An extreme drought in 2011, however, further reduced the contribution of deep soil layers and groundwater to transpiration, which resulted in greater crown defoliation in the drought-affected plants. This study suggests that extreme droughts aggravate moderate but persistent drier conditions (simulated by our manipulation) and may lead to the depletion of water from groundwater reservoirs and weathered bedrock, threatening the preservation of these Mediterranean ecosystems in their current structures and compositions. © 2014

Corrosion of Spent Nuclear Fuel: The Long-Term Assessment

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rodney C. Ewing

2004-10-07

Spent nuclear fuel, essentially U{sub 2}, accounts for over 95% of the total radioactivity of all of the radioactive wastes in the United States that require disposal, disposition or remediation. The UO{sub 2} in SNF is not stable under oxiding conditions and may also be altered under reducing conditions. The alteration of SNF results in the formation of new uranium phases that can cause the release or retardation of actinide and fission product radionuclides. Over the long term, and depending on the extent to which the secondary uranium phases incorporate fission products and actinides, these alteration phases become the near-field source term.

An evaluation of the use of mobile source emissions trading: Locomotive case study

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

West, W.R.; Brazell, M.M.

1993-01-01

There are many proposals for generating mobil source credits for use by stationary and other sources. This paper examines the benefits and practicality of including locomotive rail emissions in proposed emissions trading programs in california. In particular, this paper examines (1) if trading of locomotive rail emissions will result in lower compliance costs for railroads than traditional open-quotes command and controlclose quotes approaches, and (2) if emissions trading programs provide large enough incentives to entice railroads to seek to meet or exceed expected emissions reduction open-quotes command and controlclose quotes targets. The paper also examines under what circumstances stationary sources would be willing to purchase mobile source credits from railroads, in order to offset some of the stationary source's emissions reductions requirements. Stated simply, this analysis examines whether proposed trading programs offer enough benefits to both trading partners to warrant their use

Long time series

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hisdal, H.; Holmqvist, E.; Hyvärinen, V.

Awareness that emission of greenhouse gases will raise the global temperature and change the climate has led to studies trying to identify such changes in long-term climate and hydrologic time series. This report, written by the......Awareness that emission of greenhouse gases will raise the global temperature and change the climate has led to studies trying to identify such changes in long-term climate and hydrologic time series. This report, written by the...

Examining carbon emissions economic growth nexus for India: A multivariate cointegration approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghosh, Sajal

2010-01-01

The study probes cointegration and causality between carbon emissions and economic growth for India using ARDL bounds testing approach complemented by Johansen-Juselius maximum likelihood procedure in a multivariate framework by incorporating energy supply, investment and employment for time span 1971-2006. The study fails to establish long-run equilibrium relationship and long term causality between carbon emissions and economic growth; however, there exists a bi-directional short-run causality between the two. Hence, in the short-run, any effort to reduce carbon emissions could lead to a fall in the national income. This study also establishes unidirectional short-run causality running from economic growth to energy supply and energy supply to carbon emissions. The absence of causality running from energy supply to economic growth implies that in India, energy conservation and energy efficiency measures can be implemented to minimize the wastage of energy across value chain. Such measures would narrow energy demand-supply gap. Absence of long-run causality between carbon emissions and economic growth implies that in the long-run, focus should be given on harnessing energy from clean sources to curb carbon emissions, which would not affect the country's economic growth.

The Sources of Life Chances: Does Education, Class Category, Occupation, or Short-Term Earnings Predict 20-Year Long-Term Earnings?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ChangHwan Kim

2018-03-01

Full Text Available In sociological studies of economic stratification and intergenerational mobility, occupation has long been presumed to reflect lifetime earnings better than do short-term earnings. However, few studies have actually tested this critical assumption. In this study, we investigate the cross-sectional determinants of 20-year accumulated earnings using data that match respondents in the Survey of Income and Program Participation to their longitudinal earnings records based on administrative tax information from 1990 to 2009. Fit statistics of regression models are estimated to assess the predictive power of various proxy variables, including occupation, education, and short-term earnings, on cumulative earnings over the 20-year time period. Contrary to the popular assumption in sociology, our results find that cross-sectional earnings have greater predictive power on long-term earnings than occupation-based class classifications, including three-digit detailed occupations for both men and women. The model based on educational attainment, including field of study, has slightly better fit than models based on one-digit occupation or the Erikson, Goldthorpe, and Portocarero class scheme. We discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for the sociology of stratification and intergenerational mobility.

SOURCE TERMS FOR HLW GLASS CANISTERS

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

J.S. Tang

2000-01-01

This calculation is prepared by the Monitored Geologic Repository (MGR) Waste Package Design Section. The objective of this calculation is to determine the source terms that include radionuclide inventory, decay heat, and radiation sources due to gamma rays and neutrons for the high-level radioactive waste (HLW) from the, West Valley Demonstration Project (WVDP), Savannah River Site (SRS), Hanford Site (HS), and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL). This calculation also determines the source terms of the canister containing the SRS HLW glass and immobilized plutonium. The scope of this calculation is limited to source terms for a time period out to one million years. The results of this calculation may be used to carry out performance assessment of the potential repository and to evaluate radiation environments surrounding the waste packages (WPs). This calculation was performed in accordance with the Development Plan ''Source Terms for HLW Glass Canisters'' (Ref. 7.24)

Agricultural sources of greenhouse gas emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rochette, P.

2003-01-01

The author described different sources of greenhouse gas emissions resulting from agricultural activities and the process by which carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane are generated on Canadian farms. The author also proposed some practices that would contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. A brief description of the greenhouse effect was also provided with special emphasis on the agricultural sector. In 1996, the Canadian agricultural sector was responsible for approximately 10 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in the country. Given the increase in farm animals and more intensive agricultural activities, it is estimated that greenhouse gas emissions generated by the agricultural sector will increase by 20 per cent by 2010 if current practices remain in effect. The most optimistic scenarios indicate that the agricultural sector could achieve or even exceed Canada's Kyoto Protocol commitments mainly through organic material sequestration in soils. The possibility for farmers to sell greenhouse gas credits could motivate farmers into adopting various practices that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. However, the author indicated that the best motivation for farmers is the fact that adopting such practices would also lead to more efficient agricultural production. 5 refs., 4 figs

Long-term contracts vs. short-term trade of natural gas - a European perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Neuhoff, Karsten; Hirschhausen, Christian von

2005-01-01

This paper analyses the economics of long-term gas contracts under changing institutional conditions, mainly gas sector liberalisation. The paper is motivated by the increasingly tense debate in continental Europe, UK and the US on the security of long-term gas supply. We discuss the main issues regarding long-term contracts, i.e. the changing role of the flexibility clause, the effect of abandoning the destination clause, and the strategic behaviour of producers between long-term sales and spot-sales. The literature suggests consumers and producers benefit from risk hedging through long-term contracts. Furthermore long-term contracts may reduce exercise of market power. Our analysis adds an additional benefit if the long-run demand elasticity is significantly lower than the short-run elasticity, both strategic producers and consumers benefit from lower prices and larger market volume. Some policy implications of the findings are also discussed. (Author)

Source apportionment and health effect of NO_x over the Pearl River Delta region in southern China

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lu, Xingcheng; Yao, Teng; Li, Ying; Fung, Jimmy C.H.; Lau, Alexis K.H.

2016-01-01

As one of the most notorious atmospheric pollutants, NO_x not only promotes the formation of ozone but also has adverse health effects on humans. It is therefore of great importance to study the sources of NO_x and its effects on human health. The Comprehensive Air Quality Model (CAMx) modeling system and ozone source apportionment technology (OSAT) were used to study the contribution of NO_x from different emission sources over southern China. The results indicate that heavy duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs) and industrial point sources are the two major local NO_x sources, accounting for 30.8% and 18.5% of local NO_x sources, respectively. In Hong Kong, marine emissions contributed around 43.4% of local NO_x in 2011. Regional transport is another important source of this pollutant, especially in February and November, and it can contribute over 30% of ambient NO_x on average. Power plant point emission is an significant regional source in Zhuhai, Zhongshan and Foshan. The total emission sources are estimated to cause 2119 (0–4405) respiratory deaths and 991 (0–2281) lung cancer deaths due to long-term exposure to NO_x in the Pearl River Delta region. Our results suggest that local governments should combine their efforts and vigorously promote further reduction of NO_x emissions, especially for those sources that make a substantial contribution to NO_x emissions and affect human health: HDDV, LDGV, industrial point sources and marine sources. - Highlights: • WRF-CAMx modeling system with OSAT was used to study the source of NO_x over Pearl River Delta region in China. • The results indicated that local emission and regional transportation are important contributors for NO_x in this region. • Heavy duty diesel vehicle, marine emission and industrial point source are three important contribution sectors. • Long-term exposure to NO_x is estimated to cause 2119 respiratory deaths and 991 lung cancer deaths in PRD during 2011. - Result indicated that heavy duty

Foresight of nuclear generation at long term in Mexico

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guadarrama L, R.; Sanchez R, O. E.; Martin del Campo M, C.

2009-10-01

This paper presents an analysis of the nuclear generation expansion for the period 2008-2030. The main objective is to plan the expansion of electrical generation system at long term taking into account four decision criteria. These are, the total cost of generation, the risk associated whit changes in fuel prices, the diversity of the generation park and polluting emissions of global impact (greenhouse effect gases) and local effects (acid rain and suspended particles). The analyzed expansion plans were developed using a model of uni nodal planning called WASP-IV. The analysis methodology was based on four steps. The first consisted in developing, with model WASP-IV, different expansion plans of the electrical generation system that fulfill the energy demand and certain conditions of the study in which was optimized the additions program of generator units searching the minimal cost of electrical generation. The second step was to calculate the generation costs of each plan for two scenarios of fuel prices, also with model WASP-IV. Later was calculated the diversity index and the accumulated emissions during the expansion and the avoided emission of CO 2 when units of combined cycle that burn natural gas are replaced by nuclear power units. (Author)

Particulate monitoring, modeling, and management: natural sources, long-range transport, and emission control options: a case study of Cyprus

Science.gov (United States)

Kleanthous, Savvas; Savvides, Chrysanthos; Christofides, Ioannis; Hadjimitsis, Diofantos G.; Themistocleous, Kyriacos; Achilleos, Constantia; Akylas, Evangelos; Demetriadou, Chrystalla; Christodoulides, Pavlos; Douros, Ioannis; Moussiopoulos, Nicolas; Panayiotou, Charalambos; Gregoris, Charalambous; Fedra, Kurt; Kubat, Milan; Mihalopoulos, Nicolaos

2013-08-01

The LIFE+ Project PM3: Particulate Monitoring, Modeling, Management is coordinated by the Department of Labour Inspection in Cyprus and funded in part by LIFE+ Environment Policy & Governance. The project aims at the analysis of dust emissions, transport, and control options for Cyprus, as well as at the identification of "natural" contributions (Directive 2008/50/EC). The ultimate objective is to provide inputs for the design of a dust management plan to improve compliance to EC Directives and minimise impacts to human health and environment. This paper presents a short analysis of historical monitoring data and their patterns as well as a description of a dynamic dust entrainment model. The pyrogenic PM10 emissions combined with the wind driven emissions, are subject to a two phase non-linear multi-criteria emission control optimization procedure. The resulting emission scenarios with an hourly resolution provide input to the Comprehensive Air quality Model with extensions (CAMx) 3D fate and transport model, implemented for the 4,800 km master domain and embedded subdomains (270 km around the island of Cyprus and embedded smaller city domains of up to 30 km down to street canyon modeling). The models test the feasibility of candidate emission control solutions over a range of weather conditions. Model generated patterns of local emissions and long-range transport are discussed compared with the monitoring data, remote sensing (MODIS derived AOT), and the chemical analysis of dust samples.

Long-term biodosimetry Redux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Simon, Steven L.; Bouville, Andre

2016-01-01

This paper revisits and reiterates the needs, purposes and requirements of bio-dosimetric assays for long-term dose and health risk assessments. While the most crucial need for bio-dosimetric assays is to guide medical response for radiation accidents, the value of such techniques for improving our understanding of radiation health risk by supporting epidemiological (long-term health risk) studies is significant. As new cohorts of exposed persons are identified and new health risk studies are undertaken with the hopes that studying the exposed will result in a deeper understanding of radiation risk, the value of reliable dose reconstruction is underscored. The ultimate application of biodosimetry in long-term health risk studies would be to completely replace model-based dose reconstruction-a complex suite of methods for retrospectively estimating dose that is commonly fraught with large uncertainties due to the absence of important exposure-related information, as well as imperfect models. While biodosimetry could potentially supplant model-based doses, there are numerous limitations of presently available techniques that constrain their widespread application in health risk research, including limited ability to assess doses received far in the past, high cost, great inter-individual variability, invasiveness, higher than preferred detection limits and the inability to assess internal dose (for the most part). These limitations prevent the extensive application of biodosimetry to large cohorts and should be considered a challenge to researchers to develop new and more flexible techniques that meet the demands of long-term health risk research. Events in recent years, e.g. the Fukushima reactor accident and the increased threat of nuclear terrorism, underscore that any event that results in significant radiation exposures of a group of people will also produce a much larger population, exposed at lower levels, but that likewise needs (or demands) an exposure

Challenges in long-term operation of nuclear power plants - Implications for regulatory bodies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Soda, Kunihisa; Van Wonterghem, Frederik; Khouaja, Hatem; Vilpas, Martti; Osouf, Nicolas; Harikumar, S.; Ishigaki, Hiroki; Osaki, Toru; Yamada, Tomoho; Carlsson, Lennart; Shepherd, David; Galloway, Melanie; Liszka, Ervin; Svab, Miroslav; Pereira, Ken; Huerta, Alejandro

2012-01-01

Nuclear power reactors have become a major source of electricity supply in many countries in the past half a century. Based on this experience, many operators have sought and have received authorisation for long-term operation, whereby plant operation continues beyond the period considered in the design of the plant. Acceptance of a nuclear power plant for extended service should be based on assurance of the fitness of the plant and the operator for safe and reliable operation over the entire period considered for long-term operation. This assurance may be obtained by establishment of appropriate regulatory requirements, specification of goals and safety levels and regulatory assessment and oversight of the operator's programme for long-term operation. The operators and regulators should ensure that operating experience continues to be evaluated during long-term operation to ensure that any relevant lessons are effectively applied. Other considerations for assurance of safe operation are effective management of ageing, possible need for safety improvements, application of lessons learnt from operating experience, evaluation of environmental impacts, adequate staff resources and performance, review of security at the plant, action in response to emerging issues, and openness and transparency in the transition to long-term operation. Even though most of these considerations are addressed under the regulatory framework that applies to the initial operating period, additional regulatory activities in these areas may be necessary for long-term operation. Although there can be significant differences in regulatory approaches used by different countries for evaluating acceptability of long-term operation, there is general agreement on the purposes and goals of the regulatory reviews. An authorisation of long-term operation could involve a licence renewal or a periodic safety review or an approach that melds elements of both. This report presents guidance that is intended

Assessing long-term effects of demand response policies in wholesale electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cepeda, Mauricio; Saguan, Marcelo

2014-05-01

This paper deals with the practical problems related to long-term issues in electricity markets in the presence of demand response development. Different policies have been implemented around the world aiming to develop demand response potential. Externalities, in particular the CO_2 externality, have been one of the key elements in the debate on the effectiveness of different policies regarding demand response development. Policy makers have several options to deal with this externality. The most direct one is to correct the externality by setting a CO_2 price at a level that corresponds to the cost to society of the corresponding CO_2 emissions. One alternative solution could be to subsidize carbon-free technologies as demand response. In this paper we examine potential long-term impacts of these two policies. We rely on a long-term market simulation model that characterizes expansion decisions in a competitive regime. We test for each policy two different scenarios regarding the possibility of internalization of the CO_2 externality. The results show that differences in development policies affect both investments and social costs in the wholesale electricity market and confirm previous findings that a market-driven development of demand response with the internalization of the CO_2 externality is the most efficient approach. (authors)

Modeling long-term dynamics of electricity markets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsina, Fernando; Garces, Francisco; Haubrich, H.-J.

2006-01-01

In the last decade, many countries have restructured their electricity industries by introducing competition in their power generation sectors. Although some restructuring has been regarded as successful, the short experience accumulated with liberalized power markets does not allow making any founded assertion about their long-term behavior. Long-term prices and long-term supply reliability are now center of interest. This concerns firms considering investments in generation capacity and regulatory authorities interested in assuring the long-term supply adequacy and the stability of power markets. In order to gain significant insight into the long-term behavior of liberalized power markets, in this paper, a simulation model based on system dynamics is proposed and the underlying mathematical formulations extensively discussed. Unlike classical market models based on the assumption that market outcomes replicate the results of a centrally made optimization, the approach presented here focuses on replicating the system structure of power markets and the logic of relationships among system components in order to derive its dynamical response. The simulations suggest that there might be serious problems to adjust early enough the generation capacity necessary to maintain stable reserve margins, and consequently, stable long-term price levels. Because of feedback loops embedded in the structure of power markets and the existence of some time lags, the long-term market development might exhibit a quite volatile behavior. By varying some exogenous inputs, a sensitivity analysis is carried out to assess the influence of these factors on the long-run market dynamics

Short-term memory and long-term memory are still different.

Science.gov (United States)

Norris, Dennis

2017-09-01

A commonly expressed view is that short-term memory (STM) is nothing more than activated long-term memory. If true, this would overturn a central tenet of cognitive psychology-the idea that there are functionally and neurobiologically distinct short- and long-term stores. Here I present an updated case for a separation between short- and long-term stores, focusing on the computational demands placed on any STM system. STM must support memory for previously unencountered information, the storage of multiple tokens of the same type, and variable binding. None of these can be achieved simply by activating long-term memory. For example, even a simple sequence of digits such as "1, 3, 1" where there are 2 tokens of the digit "1" cannot be stored in the correct order simply by activating the representations of the digits "1" and "3" in LTM. I also review recent neuroimaging data that has been presented as evidence that STM is activated LTM and show that these data are exactly what one would expect to see based on a conventional 2-store view. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Long-term groundwater contamination after source removal—The role of sorbed carbon and nitrogen on the rate of reoxygenation of a treated-wastewater plume on Cape Cod, MA, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, Richard L.; Repert, Deborah A.; Barber, Larry B.; LeBlanc, Denis R.

2013-01-01

The consequences of groundwater contamination can remain long after a contaminant source has been removed. Documentation of natural aquifer recoveries and empirical tools to predict recovery time frames and associated geochemical changes are generally lacking. This study characterized the long-term natural attenuation of a groundwater contaminant plume in a sand and gravel aquifer on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, after the removal of the treated-wastewater source. Although concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and other soluble constituents have decreased substantially in the 15 years since the source was removed, the core of the plume remains anoxic and has sharp redox gradients and elevated concentrations of nitrate and ammonium. Aquifer sediment was collected from near the former disposal site at several points in time and space along a 0.5-km-long transect extending downgradient from the disposal site and analyses of the sediment was correlated with changes in plume composition. Total sediment carbon content was generally low (rates in laboratory incubations, which ranged from 11.6 to 44.7 nmol (g dry wt)− 1 day− 1. Total water extractable organic carbon was groundwater velocity. This suggests that the total sorbed carbon pool is large relative to the rate of oxygen entrainment and will be impacting groundwater geochemistry for many decades. This has implications for long-term oxidation of reduced constituents, such as ammonium, that are being transported downgradient away from the infiltration beds toward surface and coastal discharge zones.

Long-term transition to power/hydrogen energy system based on regenerative energy sources. Langfristiger Uebergang zum Strom/Wasserstoff-Energiesystem auf der Basis erneuerbarer Energiequellen

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wurster, R

1989-01-01

If we mean to secure the future of this planet in its present state we shall have to reduce drastically the emissions of trace gases influencing our climate like CO/sub 2/, CH/sub 4/, FCHC, ozone, N/sub 2/O and stratospheric H/sub 2/O. CO/sub -/neutral energy sources in clude nuclear energy and regenerative energies (solar, wind, water, biomass, tidal energy). These energy sources provide energy carriers in terms of electricity, heat, biofuels, synthesis gas and hydrogen. The author discusses the power/hydrogen energy system, electrolytic generation of hydrogen and its capacity for storage and transport from sunny solar-energy utilization areas (Central Africa). Hydrogen can then be used in drive systems, power generation (power stations) and for space heating and process heat. The author discusses its profitability and underlines the fact that hydrogen will figure in the energy economy of the future. (HWJ).

10 CFR 50.67 - Accident source term.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

... Conditions of Licenses and Construction Permits § 50.67 Accident source term. (a) Applicability. The... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Accident source term. 50.67 Section 50.67 Energy NUCLEAR... to January 10, 1997, who seek to revise the current accident source term used in their design basis...

Terrestrial bryophytes as indicators of fluoride emission from a phosphorus plant, Long Harbour, Newfoundland, Canada

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roberts, B.A.; Thompson, L.K.; Sidhu, S.S.

1979-01-01

A study of the effects of fluoride emissions (HF, SiF/sub 4/) on certain species of bryophytes was carried out in the vicinity of an industrial palnt producing elemental phosphorus at Long Harbour, Nfld. Damage symptoms varied from mild phyllid chlorosis (yellowing) to severe browning of up to 95% of the phyllids. Polytrichum commune Hedw. was the main bryophyte species used in the survey. Random collections from 45 sample sites were analysed for total fluoride. The fluoride concentrations in phyllid tissue ranged from a high of 6066 ppm (dry weight) at a distance of 1 km northeast of the emission source to 44 ppm (dry weight) 11.7 km northeast of the emission source in the direction of the prevailing wind. Control samples were obtained from similar sites in areas far removed from the industrial plant and contained, on average, 11.3 ppm (dry weight). The concentration of fluoride in the bryophyte phyllid tissue was inversely correlated with distance from the emission source, in the direction of the prevailing wind. The severity of acropetal scorching was found to be correlated with the concentration of fluoride in the bryophyte phyllid tissue, and in addition, samples high in fluoride had fewer sporophytes. Fluoride concentrations in bryophyte tissue are compared with concentrations of fluoride in the needles of balsam fir, Abies Balsamea I., in four damage zones, and also with available and total fluoride in soil humus and concentrations of fluoride in air. The total area affected by fluoride emissions was increased using bryophytes as the pollution indicator species, especially in areas far from the industrial plant.

Conditioning radium needles for long term storage : Sri Lankan experience

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ranjith, H.L.A.; Shantha, T.H.S.; Gunaratne, M.G.J.; De Silva, U.W.K.H.; Perera, H.P.H.

2000-01-01

Radium the first radioisotope invented by Madame Curie was used for cancer therapy for the intracavitory treatment of cervical cancers and as oral implants etc. Radium needles and other geometries were made in standard strengths and Radium therapy enjoyed a heyday during the 1st half of the 20th century. Radium-226 is a long-lived radioactive material with a half-life of 1600 years. The use of radium was abandoned in the world in 1980s with the invention of short lived radioactive materials offering remote after loading systems which minimise radiation protection and waste disposal problems associated with long lived radioactive materials. This paper reports the conditioning procedure of the spent radium sources for long term storage (less than 20 years) and transport to national/ international stores if needed. The dose received by those involved in this exercise is also discussed in terms of radiation protection. The Ra was contained for long term storage according to international radiation safety regulations with a surface dose of less than 2 mSv per hour in a conditioned package having 17.5 GBq activity and can be transported to national/international stores if needed. The highest dose received during the exercise is well within the recommended dose limits for occupational exposures (20 and 500 mSv per year) for whole body and extremities respectively

Surgical Treatment of Nonlesional Neocortical Epilepsy: Long-term Longitudinal Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Dong Wook; Lee, Sang Kun; Moon, Hye-Jin; Jung, Ki-Young; Chu, Kon; Chung, Chun-Ki

2017-03-01

The proportion of surgery for nonlesional neocortical epilepsy has recently increased, with a decrease in surgery for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. However, there are only a few studies regarding the long-term surgical outcome and the potential prognostic factors for patients with nonlesional neocortical epilepsy. To evaluate the long-term surgical outcome and to identify possible prognostic factors in patients with nonlesional neocortical epilepsy. In a surgical cohort from September 1995 to December 2005 at the Seoul National University Hospital, we included 109 consecutive patients without lesions identifiable by magnetic resonance imaging who underwent focal surgical resection for drug-resistant neocortical epilepsy. Follow-up information for at least 10 years was available for all but 1 patient. Univariate and standard multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to identify the predictors of surgical outcomes, and a generalized estimation equation model was used for the longitudinal multiple logistic regression analysis of up to 21 years of follow-up. The patients consisted of 64 men and 45 women with ages at surgery ranging from 7 to 56 years (mean [SD], 27.1 [7.8] years). At 1 year after surgery, 59 of 109 patients (54.1%) achieved seizure freedom, and 64 of 108 patients (59.3%) achieved seizure freedom at the last follow-up. Only 11 of 108 patients (10.2%) experienced definite changes in postoperative seizure status. Localizing patterns in functional neuroimaging (strongest odds ratio [OR], 0.30 [95% CI, 0.14-0.66] for fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography; 0.37 [95% CI, 0.15-0.87] for ictal single-photon emission computed tomography), concordant results in presurgical diagnostic evaluations (OR, 3.15 [95% CI, 1.42-7.02]), the presence of aura (OR, 3.49 [95% CI, 1.54-7.92]), and complete resection of areas of ictal onset with frequent interictal spikes during the intracranial electroencephalographic study (OR, 0.37 [95% CI, 0

Long-Term Collections

CERN Multimedia

Comité des collectes à long terme

2011-01-01

It is the time of the year when our fireman colleagues go around the laboratory for their traditional calendars sale. A part of the money of the sales will be donated in favour of the long-term collections. We hope that you will welcome them warmly.

Long-Term Memory Performance in Adult ADHD.

Science.gov (United States)

Skodzik, Timo; Holling, Heinz; Pedersen, Anya

2017-02-01

Memory problems are a frequently reported symptom in adult ADHD, and it is well-documented that adults with ADHD perform poorly on long-term memory tests. However, the cause of this effect is still controversial. The present meta-analysis examined underlying mechanisms that may lead to long-term memory impairments in adult ADHD. We performed separate meta-analyses of measures of memory acquisition and long-term memory using both verbal and visual memory tests. In addition, the influence of potential moderator variables was examined. Adults with ADHD performed significantly worse than controls on verbal but not on visual long-term memory and memory acquisition subtests. The long-term memory deficit was strongly statistically related to the memory acquisition deficit. In contrast, no retrieval problems were observable. Our results suggest that memory deficits in adult ADHD reflect a learning deficit induced at the stage of encoding. Implications for clinical and research settings are presented.

Landfill is an important atmospheric mercury emission source

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

FENG Xinbin; TANG Shunlin; LI Zhonggen; WANG Shaofeng; LIANG Lian

2004-01-01

Since municipal wastes contain refuses with high mercury contents, incineration of municipal wastes becomes the major anthropogenic atmospheric mercury emission source. In China, landfills are however the main way to dispose of municipal wastes. Total gaseous mercury (TGM) concentrations in landfill gas of Gaoyan sanitary landfill located in suburb of Guiyang City were monitored using a high temporal resolved automated mercury analyzer, and mono-methylmercury (MMHg) and dimethylmercury (DMHg) concentrations in landfill gas were also measured using GC coupled with the cold vapor atomic fluorescence (CVAFS) method. Meanwhile, the TGM exchange fluxes between exposed waste and air and the soil surface of the landfill and air, were measured using low Hg blank quartz flux chamber coupled with high temporal resolved automated mercury analyzer technique. TGM concentrations in landfill gas from half year filling area averaged out at 665.52±291.25 ng/m3, which is comparable with TGM concentrations from flue gas of a small coal combustion boiler in Guiyang. The average MMHg and DMHg concentrations averaged out at 2.06±1.82 ng/m3 and 9.50±5.18 ng/m3, respectively. It is proven that mercury emission is the predominant process at the surfaces of both exposed wastes and soil of landfill. Landfills are not only TGM emission source, but also methylmercury emission source to the ambient air. There are two ways to emit mercury to the air from landfills, one is with the landfill gas through landfill gas duct, and the other through soil/air exchange. The Hg emission processes from landfills are controlled by meteorological parameters.

Source apportionment of the particulate PAHs at Seoul, Korea: impact of long range transport to a megacity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J. Y. Lee

2007-07-01

Full Text Available Northeast Asia including China, Korea, and Japan is one of the world's largest fossil fuel consumption regions. Seoul, Korea, is a megacity in Northeast Asia. Its emissions of air pollutants can affect the region, and in turn it is also affected by regional emissions. To understand the extent of these influences, major sources of ambient particulate PAHs in Seoul were identified and quantified based on measurements made between August 2002 and December 2003. The chemical mass balance (CMB model was applied. Seven major emission sources were identified based on the emission data in Seoul and Northeast Asia: Gasoline and diesel vehicles, residential coal use, coke ovens, coal power plants, biomass burning, and natural gas (NG combustion. The major sources of particulate PAHs in Seoul during the whole measurement period were gasoline and diesel vehicles, together accounted for 31% of the measured particulate PAHs levels. However, the source contributions showed distinct daily and seasonal variations. High contributions of biomass burning and coal (residential and coke oven were observed in fall and winter, accounting for 63% and 82% of the total concentration of PAHs, respectively. Since these sources were not strong in and around Seoul, they are likely to be related to transport from outside of Seoul, from China and/or North Korea. This implies that the air quality in a mega-city such as Seoul can be influenced by the long range transport of air pollutants such as PAHs.

Closing the gap between short- and long-term scenarios for nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Toth, F. L.; Rogner, H.-H.

2005-01-01

Many scenarios published in recent years explore the driving forces and assess plausible ranges of global energy use and the resources they draw on. Some scenarios (e.g., OECD IEA, Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development International Energy Agency, 2004) focus on the next decade or two and project the evolution of world energy demand, supply as well as the resources, technologies, and prices to match them. Other scenarios (e.g., the Special Report on Emissions Scenarios, SRES, prepared by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, 2000) explore the long term with a view to resource availability and depletion, technological transformations, and environmental concerns, predominantly climate change. A persistent gap (see Figure 1) can be observed in the projections for nuclear energy: near-term scenarios typically project a flat or slightly declining contribution of nuclear energy to the world energy supply whereas medium- and long-term scenarios anticipate significant increases. The magnitude of the gap between the OECD IEA (2002) projections and the median of the 40 IPCC SRES scenarios for the year 2020 amounts to almost 300 GWe installed capacity. Reasons for the gap originate in the differences between the analytical frameworks (including projection techniques) adopted by the short- and long-term studies. Another, closely related reason is the difference in the underlying assumptions, particularly their relations to recent trends and the current situation. In addition, near-term projections are heavily influenced by the social context (perceived unpopularity or outright rejection of nuclear power after Chernobyl), political factors (government pronouncements and policies at the national level, diplomacy and balancing of national positions at international organizations), economic aspects (energy market deregulation and liberalization unveiling excess capacities; financial risks), technology matters (the role of learning, definition of

A Long-term Plan for Kalk

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2017-01-01

In this case, the author demonstrates together with the owner-manager of KALK A/S, Mr Rasmus Jorgensen, how to use the Family Business Map to frame a constructive discussion about long-term planning. The Family Business Map is a tool for long-term planning in family firms developed by Professor...

Virtual Models of Long-Term Care

Science.gov (United States)

Phenice, Lillian A.; Griffore, Robert J.

2012-01-01

Nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home-care organizations, use web sites to describe their services to potential consumers. This virtual ethnographic study developed models representing how potential consumers may understand this information using data from web sites of 69 long-term-care providers. The content of long-term-care web…

CO2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in BRIC countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pao, H.-T.; Tsai, C.-M.

2010-01-01

This paper examines dynamic causal relationships between pollutant emissions, energy consumption and output for a panel of BRIC countries over the period 1971-2005, except for Russia (1990-2005). In long-run equilibrium energy consumption has a positive and statistically significant impact on emissions, while real output exhibits the inverted U-shape pattern associated with the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis with the threshold income of 5.393 (in logarithms). In the short term, changes in emissions are driven mostly by the error correction term and short term energy consumption shocks, as opposed to short term output shocks for each country. Short-term deviations from the long term equilibrium take from 0.770 years (Russia) to 5.848 years (Brazil) to correct. The panel causality results indicate there are energy consumption-emissions bidirectional strong causality and energy consumption-output bidirectional long-run causality, along with unidirectional both strong and short-run causalities from emissions and energy consumption, respectively, to output. Overall, in order to reduce emissions and not to adversely affect economic growth, increasing both energy supply investment and energy efficiency, and stepping up energy conservation policies to reduce unnecessary wastage of energy can be initiated for energy-dependent BRIC countries. - Research highlights: →Energy has a positive impact on emissions, while output supports EKC hypothesis. →Changes in emissions are driven mostly by the ECT and short term energy shocks. →Short-term deviations from the long-term equilibrium take 0.77-5.85 years to correct. →There are energy-emissions and energy-output bidirectional long-run causalities. →There are unidirectional strong causalities from emissions and energy to output.

Sleep facilitates long-term face adaptation

OpenAIRE

Ditye, Thomas; Javadi, Amir Homayoun; Carbon, Claus-Christian; Walsh, Vincent

2013-01-01

Adaptation is an automatic neural mechanism supporting the optimization of visual processing on the basis of previous experiences. While the short-term effects of adaptation on behaviour and physiology have been studied extensively, perceptual long-term changes associated with adaptation are still poorly understood. Here, we show that the integration of adaptation-dependent long-term shifts in neural function is facilitated by sleep. Perceptual shifts induced by adaptation to a distorted imag...

Mineralogical issues in long-term corrosion of iron and iron-nickel alloys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

VanOrden, A.C.; McNeil, M.B.

1988-01-01

Prediction of very long term corrosion behavior of buried objects in general requires taking into account that the corrosion processes themselves after the local conditions. Recent work has analyzed corrosion processes in terms of trajectories on Pourbaix diagrams and appears to offer the prospect for using short-term corrosion tests to project corrosion behavior over very long periods. Two different classes of materials are considered here: essentially pure iron, which is an analogue to the carbon steel design overpacks for the salt and basalt sites (on which work has been suspended at present, and iron-nickel alloys, which are the best analogues available for some of the alloys being considered on the tuff site. There are a number of sources of data on corrosion of iron over archaeological times; the data used in this paper are from the recent National Bureau of Standards work on Roman iron nails for Inchtuthill in Scotland, which can be dated fairly precisely to about 70 A.D. and whose method of production is understood. The only available source of natural-analogue data on Fe-Ni alloys is the corrosion of meteorites

Prevalence of Long-Term Opioid Use in Long-Stay Nursing Home Residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Hunnicutt, Jacob N; Chrysanthopoulou, Stavroula A; Ulbricht, Christine M; Hume, Anne L; Tjia, Jennifer; Lapane, Kate L

2018-01-01

Overall and long-term opioid use among older adults have increased since 1999. Less is known about opioid use in older adults in nursing homes (NHs). Cross-sectional. U.S. NHs (N = 13,522). Long-stay NH resident Medicare beneficiaries with a Minimum Data Set 3.0 (MDS) assessment between April 1, 2012, and June 30, 2012, and 120 days of follow-up (N = 315,949). We used Medicare Part D claims to measure length of opioid use in the 120 days from the index assessment (short-term: ≤30 days, medium-term: >30-89 days, long-term: ≥90 days), adjuvants (e.g., anticonvulsants), and other pain medications (e.g., corticosteroids). MDS assessments in the follow-up period were used to measure nonpharmacological pain management use. Modified Poisson models were used to estimate adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for age, gender, race and ethnicity, cognitive and physical impairment, and long-term opioid use. Of all long-stay residents, 32.4% were prescribed any opioid, and 15.5% were prescribed opioids long-term. Opioid users (versus nonusers) were more commonly prescribed pain adjuvants (32.9% vs 14.9%), other pain medications (25.5% vs 11.0%), and nonpharmacological pain management (24.5% vs 9.3%). Long-term opioid use was higher in women (aPR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.18-1.23) and lower in racial and ethnic minorities (non-Hispanic blacks vs whites: APR = 0.93, 95% CI = 0.90-0.94) and those with severe cognitive impairment (vs no or mild impairment, aPR = 0.82, 95% CI = 0.79-0.83). One in seven NH residents was prescribed opioids long-term. Recent guidelines on opioid prescribing for pain recommend reducing long-term opioid use, but this is challenging in NHs because residents may not benefit from nonpharmacological and nonopioid interventions. Studies to address concerns about opioid safety and effectiveness (e.g., on pain and functional status) in NHs are needed. © 2017, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2017, The American Geriatrics

Nitrous oxide emission from highland winter wheat field after long-term fertilization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

X. R. Wei

2010-10-01

Full Text Available Nitrous oxide (N₂O is an important greenhouse gas. N₂O emissions from soils vary with fertilization and cropping practices. The response of N₂O emission to fertilization of agricultural soils plays an important role in global N₂O emission. The objective of this study was to assess the seasonal pattern of N₂O fluxes and the annual N₂O emissions from a rain-fed winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. field in the Loess Plateau of China. A static flux chamber method was used to measure soil N₂O fluxes from 2006 to 2008. The study included 5 treatments with 3 replications in a randomized complete block design. Prior to initiating N₂O measurements the treatments had received the same fertilization for 22 years. The fertilizer treatments were unfertilized control (CK, manure (M, nitrogen (N, nitrogen + phosphorus (NP, and nitrogen + phosphorus + manure (NPM. Soil N₂O fluxes in the highland winter wheat field were highly variable temporally and thus were fertilization dependent. The highest fluxes occurred in the warmer and wetter seasons. Relative to CK, m slightly increased N₂O flux while N, NP and NPM treatments significantly increased N₂O fluxes. The fertilizer induced increase in N₂O flux occurred mainly in the first 30 days after fertilization. The increases were smaller in the relatively warm and dry year than in the cold and wet year. Combining phosphorous and/or manure with mineral N fertilizer partly offset the nitrogen fertilizer induced increase in N₂O flux. N₂O fluxes at the seedling stage were mainly controlled by nitrogen fertilization, while fluxes at other plant growth stages were influenced by plant and environmental conditions. The cumulative N₂O emissions were always higher in the fertilized treatments than in the non-fertilized treatment (CK. Mineral and manure

Waveguide source of amplified spontaneous emission ASE 1550 nm

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Razik, M.; Budnicki, A.; Abramski, M.

2003-01-01

Light source of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) type has been built on the base of double-clad waveguide doped with ytterbium and erbium. The characteristics and applications of the ASE source have been also presented

Multi-Sensor Constrained Time Varying Emissions Estimation of Black Carbon: Attributing Urban and Fire Sources Globally

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, J. B.

2015-12-01

The short lifetime and heterogeneous distribution of Black Carbon (BC) in the atmosphere leads to complex impacts on radiative forcing, climate, and health, and complicates analysis of its atmospheric processing and emissions. Two recent papers have estimated the global and regional emissions of BC using advanced statistical and computational methods. One used a Kalman Filter, including data from AERONET, NOAA, and other ground-based sources, to estimate global emissions of 17.8+/-5.6 Tg BC/year (with the increase attributable to East Asia, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Eastern Europe - all regions which have had rapid urban, industrial, and economic expansion). The second additionally used remotely sensed measurements from MISR and a variance maximizing technique, uniquely quantifying fire and urban sources in Southeast Asia, as well as their large year-to-year variability over the past 12 years, leading to increases from 10% to 150%. These new emissions products, when run through our state-of-the art modelling system of chemistry, physics, transport, removal, radiation, and climate, match 140 ground stations and satellites better in both an absolute and a temporal sense. New work now further includes trace species measurements from OMI, which are used with the variance maximizing technique to constrain the types of emissions sources. Furthermore, land-use change and fire estimation products from MODIS are also included, which provide other constraints on the temporal and spatial nature of the variations of intermittent sources like fires or new permanent sources like expanded urbanization. This talk will introduce a new, top-down constrained, weekly varying BC emissions dataset, show that it produces a better fit with observations, and draw conclusions about the sources and impacts from urbanization one hand, and fires on another hand. Results specific to the Southeast and East Asia will demonstrate inter- and intra-annual variations, such as the function of

Evaluation of sanitary impact of urban air pollution. Agglomeration of Perigueux impact at short and long term; Evaluation de l'impact sanitaire de la pollution atmospherique urbaine. Agglomeration de Perigueux impact a court et long terme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-07-15

A health impact assessment of air pollution based on the I.n.V.S. guidelines has been conducted in Perigueux according to the regional Plan for the quality of air in the region of Aquitaine. It has been carried out in 5 cities homogeneously exposed, belonging to Perigueux agglomeration, representing a study population of 52,948 inhabitants. Atmospheric pollution indicators analysed are ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particles having diameter below 10 {mu}m. Short-term impact of atmospheric pollution has been estimated in term of mortality (total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality) and on hospital intakes (for respiratory, cardiovascular and cardiac reasons) attributable to air pollution. Long term impact was also assessed by the number of deaths due to atmospheric pollution. In 2001, the atmospheric pollution has directly been responsible in the studied area for 5 anticipated deaths. A decrease by 25% of the pollutants could allow avoiding half of the premature deaths and hospital intakes attributable to air pollution. Concerning long term effects, a decrease by 5 {mu}g/m{sup 3} of the annual mean of P.M.10 could allow avoiding 10 deaths per year. These results should be interpreted with care because of the limits of the method. However, they show that air pollution can have an impact even in a small agglomeration like Perigueux, since everyone is exposed to air pollution. They also suggest that a policy of atmospheric pollution reduction only based on not exceeding the standard levels would not have the expected benefits on the public health point of view. To decrease at the source the every day and total pollutants emissions would be more efficient. (author)

Evaluation of sanitary impact of urban air pollution. Agglomeration of Bayonne impact at short and long term; Evaluation de l'impact sanitaire de la pollution atmospherique urbaine. Agglomeration de Bayonne impact a cour et long terme

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2006-06-15

A health impact assessment of air pollution based on the I.n.V.S. guidelines has been conducted in Bayonne according to the regional Plan for the quality of air in the region of Aquitaine. It has been carried out in 16 cities homogeneously exposed, belonging to Bayonne agglomeration, representing a study population of 148,742 inhabitants. Atmospheric pollution indicators analyzed are ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particles having diameter below 10 {mu}m. Short-term impact of atmospheric pollution has been estimated in term of mortality (total, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality) and on hospital intakes (for respiratory, cardiovascular and cardiac reasons) attributable to air pollution. Long term impact was also assessed by the number of deaths due to atmospheric pollution. In 2001, the atmospheric pollution has directly been responsible in the studied area for 20 anticipated deaths. A decrease by 25% of the pollutants could allow avoiding half of the premature deaths and hospital intakes attributable to air pollution. Concerning long term effects, a decrease by 5 {mu}g/m{sup 3} of the annual mean of PM{sub 10} could allow avoiding 32 deaths per year. These results should be interpreted with care because of the limits of the method. However, they show that air pollution impact is non negligible even in a small agglomeration like Bayonne, since everyone is exposed to air pollution. They also suggest that a policy of atmospheric pollution reduction only based on not exceeding the standard levels would not have the expected benefits on the public health point of view. To decrease at the source the everyday and total pollutants emissions would be more efficient. (author)

Airborne reduced nitrogen: ammonia emissions from agriculture and other sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Natalie; Strader, Ross; Davidson, Cliff

2003-06-01

Ammonia is a basic gas and one of the most abundant nitrogen-containing compounds in the atmosphere. When emitted, ammonia reacts with oxides of nitrogen and sulfur to form particles, typically in the fine particle size range. Roughly half of the PM(2.5) mass in eastern United States is ammonium sulfate, according to the US EPA. Results from recent studies of PM(2.5) show that these fine particles are typically deposited deep in the lungs and may lead to increased morbidity and/or mortality. Also, these particles are in the size range that will degrade visibility. Ammonia emission inventories are usually constructed by multiplying an activity level by an experimentally determined emission factor for each source category. Typical sources of ammonia include livestock, fertilizer, soils, forest fires and slash burning, industry, vehicles, the oceans, humans, pets, wild animals, and waste disposal and recycling activities. Livestock is the largest source category in the United States, with waste from livestock responsible for about 3x10(9) kg of ammonia in 1995. Volatilization of ammonia from livestock waste is dependent on many parameters, and thus emission factors are difficult to predict. Despite a seasonal variation in these values, the emission factors for general livestock categories are usually annually averaged in current inventories. Activity levels for livestock are from the USDA Census of Agriculture, which does not give information about animal raising practices such as housing types and grazing times, waste handling systems, and approximate animal slurry spreading times or methods. Ammonia emissions in the United States in 1995 from sources other than livestock are much lower; for example, annual emissions are roughly 8x10(8) kg from fertilizer, 7x10(7) kg from industry, 5x10(7) kg from vehicles and 1x10(8) kg from humans. There is considerable uncertainty in the emissions from soil and vegetation, although this category may also be significant

Short-term changes in arterial inflammation predict long-term changes in atherosclerosis progression

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joseph, Philip [Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Cardiology Division and Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Boston, MA (United States); McMaster University, Population Health Research Institute, Department of Medicine, and Department of Radiology, Hamilton, ON (Canada); Ishai, Amorina; Tawakol, Ahmed [Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Cardiology Division and Cardiac MR PET CT Program, Boston, MA (United States); Mani, Venkatesh [Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute and Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States); Kallend, David [The Medicines Company, Parsippany, NJ (United States); Rudd, James H.F. [University of Cambridge, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Cambridge (United Kingdom); Fayad, Zahi A. [Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute and Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States); Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Hess CSM Building Floor TMII, Rm S1-104, Translational and Molecular Imaging Institute and Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States)

2017-01-15

It remains unclear whether changes in arterial wall inflammation are associated with subsequent changes in the rate of structural progression of atherosclerosis. In this sub-study of the dal-PLAQUE clinical trial, multi-modal imaging was performed using 18-fludeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET, at 0 and 6 months) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, at 0 and 24 months). The primary objective was to determine whether increasing FDG uptake at 6 months predicted atherosclerosis progression on MRI at 2 years. Arterial inflammation was measured by the carotid FDG target-to-background ratio (TBR), and atherosclerotic plaque progression was defined as the percentage change in carotid mean wall area (MWA) and mean wall thickness (MWT) on MRI between baseline and 24 months. A total of 42 participants were included in this sub-study. The mean age of the population was 62.5 years, and 12 (28.6 %) were women. In participants with (vs. without) any increase in arterial inflammation over 6 months, the long-term changes in both MWT (% change MWT: 17.49 % vs. 1.74 %, p = 0.038) and MWA (% change MWA: 25.50 % vs. 3.59 %, p = 0.027) were significantly greater. Results remained significant after adjusting for clinical and biochemical covariates. Individuals with no increase in arterial inflammation over 6 months had no significant structural progression of atherosclerosis over 24 months as measured by MWT (p = 0.616) or MWA (p = 0.373). Short-term changes in arterial inflammation are associated with long-term structural atherosclerosis progression. These data support the concept that therapies that reduce arterial inflammation may attenuate or halt progression of atherosclerosis. (orig.)

Short-term changes in arterial inflammation predict long-term changes in atherosclerosis progression

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Joseph, Philip; Ishai, Amorina; Tawakol, Ahmed; Mani, Venkatesh; Kallend, David; Rudd, James H.F.; Fayad, Zahi A.

2017-01-01

It remains unclear whether changes in arterial wall inflammation are associated with subsequent changes in the rate of structural progression of atherosclerosis. In this sub-study of the dal-PLAQUE clinical trial, multi-modal imaging was performed using 18-fludeoxyglucose (FDG) positron emission tomography (PET, at 0 and 6 months) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI, at 0 and 24 months). The primary objective was to determine whether increasing FDG uptake at 6 months predicted atherosclerosis progression on MRI at 2 years. Arterial inflammation was measured by the carotid FDG target-to-background ratio (TBR), and atherosclerotic plaque progression was defined as the percentage change in carotid mean wall area (MWA) and mean wall thickness (MWT) on MRI between baseline and 24 months. A total of 42 participants were included in this sub-study. The mean age of the population was 62.5 years, and 12 (28.6 %) were women. In participants with (vs. without) any increase in arterial inflammation over 6 months, the long-term changes in both MWT (% change MWT: 17.49 % vs. 1.74 %, p = 0.038) and MWA (% change MWA: 25.50 % vs. 3.59 %, p = 0.027) were significantly greater. Results remained significant after adjusting for clinical and biochemical covariates. Individuals with no increase in arterial inflammation over 6 months had no significant structural progression of atherosclerosis over 24 months as measured by MWT (p = 0.616) or MWA (p = 0.373). Short-term changes in arterial inflammation are associated with long-term structural atherosclerosis progression. These data support the concept that therapies that reduce arterial inflammation may attenuate or halt progression of atherosclerosis. (orig.)

EDF source term reduction project main outcomes and further developments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ranchoux, Gilles; Bonnefon, Julien; Benfarah, Moez; Wintergerst Matthieu; Gressier, Frederic; Leclercq, Stephanie

2012-09-01

The dose reduction is a strategic purpose for EDF in link with the stakes of, nuclear acceptability, respect of regulation and productivity gains. This consists not only in improving the reactor shutdown organization (time spent in control area, biological shielding,...) but also in improving the radiological state of the unit and the efficiency of the source term reduction operations. Since 2003, EDF has been running an innovative project called 'Source Term Reduction' federating the different EDF research and engineering centers in order to: - participate to the long term view about Radiological Protection issues (international feedback analyses), - develop contamination prediction tools (OSCAR software) suitable for the industrial needs (operating units and EPR design), - develop scientific models useful for the understanding of contamination mechanisms to support the strategic decision processes, - carry on with updating and analyzing of contamination measurements feedback in corrosion products (EMECC and CZT campaigns), - carry on with the operational support at short or middle term by optimizing startup and shutdown processes, pre-oxidation or and by improving purification efficiency or material characteristics. This paper will show in a first part the main 2011 results in occupational exposure (collective and individual dose, RCS index...). In a second part, an overview of the main EDF outcomes of the last 3 years in the field of source term reduction will be presented. Future developments extended to contamination issues in EDF NPPs will be also pointed out in this paper. (authors)

Long-Term Stewardship Baseline Report and Transition Guidance

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kristofferson, Keith

2001-11-01

Long-term stewardship consists of those actions necessary to maintain and demonstrate continued protection of human health and the environment after facility cleanup is complete. As the Department of Energy’s (DOE) lead laboratory for environmental management programs, the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) administers DOE’s long-term stewardship science and technology efforts. The INEEL provides DOE with technical, and scientific expertise needed to oversee its long-term environmental management obligations complexwide. Long-term stewardship is administered and overseen by the Environmental Management Office of Science and Technology. The INEEL Long-Term Stewardship Program is currently developing the management structures and plans to complete INEEL-specific, long-term stewardship obligations. This guidance document (1) assists in ensuring that the program leads transition planning for the INEEL with respect to facility and site areas and (2) describes the classes and types of criteria and data required to initiate transition for areas and sites where the facility mission has ended and cleanup is complete. Additionally, this document summarizes current information on INEEL facilities, structures, and release sites likely to enter long-term stewardship at the completion of DOE’s cleanup mission. This document is not intended to function as a discrete checklist or local procedure to determine readiness to transition. It is an overarching document meant as guidance in implementing specific transition procedures. Several documents formed the foundation upon which this guidance was developed. Principal among these documents was the Long-Term Stewardship Draft Technical Baseline; A Report to Congress on Long-Term Stewardship, Volumes I and II; Infrastructure Long-Range Plan; Comprehensive Facility Land Use Plan; INEEL End-State Plan; and INEEL Institutional Plan.

Sustainable development relevant comparison of the greenhouse gas emissions from the full energy chains of different energy sources

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van De Vate, J.F.

1997-01-01

It is emphasized that sustainable energy planning should account for the emissions of all greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the whole energy chain, hence accounting not only carbon dioxide as the greenhouse gas and not only for the emissions from the combustion of fossil fuels. Lowering greenhouse gas emissions from the worldwide energy use can be done most effectively by accounting in energy planning for the full-energy-chain (FENCH) emissions of all GHGs. Only energy sources with similar output can be compared. This study investigates electricity generating technologies, which are compared in terms their GHG emission factors to be expressed in CO 2 -equivalents per kW.h(e). Earlier IAEA expert meetings are reviewed. A general meeting made general recommendations about methods and input data bases for FENCH-GHG analysis. Two more recent meetings dealt with the energy chains of nuclear and hydropower. The site-specific character of the emission factors of these energy sources is discussed. Both electricity generators have emission factors in the range of 5-30 g CO 2 -equiv./kW.h(e), which is very low compared to the FENCH-GHG emission factors of fossil-fueled power generation and of most of the renewable power generators. (author)

Long-term nutrient fertilization and the carbon balance of permanent grassland: any evidence for sustainable intensification?

Science.gov (United States)

Fornara, Dario A.; Wasson, Elizabeth-Anne; Christie, Peter; Watson, Catherine J.

2016-09-01

Sustainable grassland intensification aims to increase plant yields while maintaining the ability of soil to act as a sink rather than sources of atmospheric CO2. High biomass yields from managed grasslands, however, can be only maintained through long-term nutrient fertilization, which can significantly affect soil carbon (C) storage and cycling. Key questions remain about (1) how long-term inorganic vs. organic fertilization influences soil C stocks, and (2) how soil C gains (or losses) contribute to the long-term C balance of managed grasslands. Using 43 years of data from a permanent grassland experiment, we show that soils not only act as significant C sinks but have not yet reached C saturation. Even unfertilized control soils showed C sequestration rates of 0.35 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 (i.e. 35 g C m-2 yr-1; 0-15 cm depth) between 1970 and 2013. High application rates of liquid manure (i.e. cattle slurry) further increased soil C sequestration to 0.86 Mg C ha-1 yr-1 (i.e. 86 g C m-2 yr-1) and a key cause of this C accrual was greater C inputs from cattle slurry. However, average coefficients of slurry-C retention in soils suggest that 85 % of C added yearly through liquid manure is lost possibly via CO2 fluxes and organic C leaching. Inorganically fertilized soils (i.e. NPK) had the lowest C-gain efficiency (i.e. unit of C gained per unit of N added) and lowest C sequestration (similar to control soils). Soils receiving cattle slurry showed higher C-gain and N-retention efficiencies compared to soils receiving NPK or pig slurry. We estimate that net rates of CO2-sequestration in the top 15 cm of the soil can offset 9-25 % of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions from intensive management. However, because of multiple GHG sources associated with livestock farming, the net C balance of these grasslands remains positive (9-12 Mg CO2-equivalent ha-1 yr-1), thus contributing to climate change. Further C-gain efficiencies (e.g. reduced enteric fermentation and use of feed

Characterization of continuous and pulsed emission modes of a hybrid micro focus x-ray source for medical imaging applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ghani, Muhammad U.; Wong, Molly D.; Ren, Liqiang; Wu, Di; Zheng, Bin; Rong, John X.; Wu, Xizeng; Liu, Hong

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to quantitatively characterize a micro focus x-ray tube that can operate in both continuous and pulsed emission modes. The micro focus x-ray source (Model L9181-06, Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan) has a varying focal spot size ranging from 16 µm to 50 µm as the source output power changes from 10 to 39 W. We measured the source output, beam quality, focal spot sizes, kV accuracy, spectra shapes and spatial resolution. Source output was measured using an ionization chamber for various tube voltages (kVs) with varying current (µA) and distances. The beam quality was measured in terms of half value layer (HVL), kV accuracy was measured with a non-invasive kV meter, and the spectra was measured using a compact integrated spectrometer system. The focal spot sizes were measured using a slit method with a CCD detector with a pixel pitch of 22 µm. The spatial resolution was quantitatively measured using the slit method with a CMOS flat panel detector with a 50 µm pixel pitch, and compared to the qualitative results obtained by imaging a contrast bar pattern. The focal spot sizes in the vertical direction were smaller than that of the horizontal direction, the impact of which was visible when comparing the spatial resolution values. Our analyses revealed that both emission modes yield comparable imaging performances in terms of beam quality, spectra shape and spatial resolution effects. There were no significantly large differences, thus providing the motivation for future studies to design and develop stable and robust cone beam imaging systems for various diagnostic applications. - Highlights: • A micro focus x-ray source that operates in both continuous and pulse emission modes was quantitatively characterized. • The source output, beam quality, focal spot measurements, kV accuracy, spectra analyses and spatial resolution were measured. • Our analyses revealed that both emission modes yield comparable imaging performances in terms of beam

Characterization of continuous and pulsed emission modes of a hybrid micro focus x-ray source for medical imaging applications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ghani, Muhammad U.; Wong, Molly D.; Ren, Liqiang; Wu, Di; Zheng, Bin [Center for Biomedical Engineering and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 (United States); Rong, John X. [Department of Imaging Physics, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX 77030 (United States); Wu, Xizeng [Department of Radiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35249 (United States); Liu, Hong, E-mail: liu@ou.edu [Center for Biomedical Engineering and School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK 73019 (United States)

2017-05-01

The aim of this study was to quantitatively characterize a micro focus x-ray tube that can operate in both continuous and pulsed emission modes. The micro focus x-ray source (Model L9181-06, Hamamatsu Photonics, Japan) has a varying focal spot size ranging from 16 µm to 50 µm as the source output power changes from 10 to 39 W. We measured the source output, beam quality, focal spot sizes, kV accuracy, spectra shapes and spatial resolution. Source output was measured using an ionization chamber for various tube voltages (kVs) with varying current (µA) and distances. The beam quality was measured in terms of half value layer (HVL), kV accuracy was measured with a non-invasive kV meter, and the spectra was measured using a compact integrated spectrometer system. The focal spot sizes were measured using a slit method with a CCD detector with a pixel pitch of 22 µm. The spatial resolution was quantitatively measured using the slit method with a CMOS flat panel detector with a 50 µm pixel pitch, and compared to the qualitative results obtained by imaging a contrast bar pattern. The focal spot sizes in the vertical direction were smaller than that of the horizontal direction, the impact of which was visible when comparing the spatial resolution values. Our analyses revealed that both emission modes yield comparable imaging performances in terms of beam quality, spectra shape and spatial resolution effects. There were no significantly large differences, thus providing the motivation for future studies to design and develop stable and robust cone beam imaging systems for various diagnostic applications. - Highlights: • A micro focus x-ray source that operates in both continuous and pulse emission modes was quantitatively characterized. • The source output, beam quality, focal spot measurements, kV accuracy, spectra analyses and spatial resolution were measured. • Our analyses revealed that both emission modes yield comparable imaging performances in terms of beam

Continued increase of CFC-113a (CCl3CF3) mixing ratios in the global atmosphere: emissions, occurrence and potential sources

Science.gov (United States)

Adcock, Karina E.; Reeves, Claire E.; Gooch, Lauren J.; Leedham Elvidge, Emma C.; Ashfold, Matthew J.; Brenninkmeijer, Carl A. M.; Chou, Charles; Fraser, Paul J.; Langenfelds, Ray L.; Hanif, Norfazrin Mohd; O'Doherty, Simon; Oram, David E.; Ou-Yang, Chang-Feng; Moi Phang, Siew; Abu Samah, Azizan; Röckmann, Thomas; Sturges, William T.; Laube, Johannes C.

2018-04-01

Atmospheric measurements of the ozone-depleting substance CFC-113a (CCl3CF3) are reported from ground-based stations in Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia and the United Kingdom, together with aircraft-based data for the upper troposphere and lower stratosphere. Building on previous work, we find that, since the gas first appeared in the atmosphere in the 1960s, global CFC-113a mixing ratios have been increasing monotonically to the present day. Mixing ratios of CFC-113a have increased by 40 % from 0.50 to 0.70 ppt in the Southern Hemisphere between the end of the previously published record in December 2012 and February 2017. We derive updated global emissions of 1.7 Gg yr-1 on average between 2012 and 2016 using a two-dimensional model. We compare the long-term trends and emissions of CFC-113a to those of its structural isomer, CFC-113 (CClF2CCl2F), which still has much higher mixing ratios than CFC-113a, despite its mixing ratios and emissions decreasing since the 1990s. The continued presence of northern hemispheric emissions of CFC-113a is confirmed by our measurements of a persistent interhemispheric gradient in its mixing ratios, with higher mixing ratios in the Northern Hemisphere. The sources of CFC-113a are still unclear, but we present evidence that indicates large emissions in East Asia, most likely due to its use as a chemical involved in the production of hydrofluorocarbons. Our aircraft data confirm the interhemispheric gradient as well as showing mixing ratios consistent with ground-based observations and the relatively long atmospheric lifetime of CFC-113a. CFC-113a is the only known CFC for which abundances are still increasing substantially in the atmosphere.

Calculation of source terms for NUREG-1150

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Breeding, R.J.; Williams, D.C.; Murfin, W.B.; Amos, C.N.; Helton, J.C.

1987-10-01

The source terms estimated for NUREG-1150 are generally based on the Source Term Code Package (STCP), but the actual source term calculations used in computing risk are performed by much smaller codes which are specific to each plant. This was done because the method of estimating the uncertainty in risk for NUREG-1150 requires hundreds of source term calculations for each accident sequence. This is clearly impossible with a large, detailed code like the STCP. The small plant-specific codes are based on simple algorithms and utilize adjustable parameters. The values of the parameters appearing in these codes are derived from the available STCP results. To determine the uncertainty in the estimation of the source terms, these parameters were varied as specified by an expert review group. This method was used to account for the uncertainties in the STCP results and the uncertainties in phenomena not considered by the STCP

Operational source receptor calculations for large agglomerations

Science.gov (United States)

Gauss, Michael; Shamsudheen, Semeena V.; Valdebenito, Alvaro; Pommier, Matthieu; Schulz, Michael

2016-04-01

For Air quality policy an important question is how much of the air pollution within an urbanized region can be attributed to local sources and how much of it is imported through long-range transport. This is critical information for a correct assessment of the effectiveness of potential emission measures. The ratio between indigenous and long-range transported air pollution for a given region depends on its geographic location, the size of its area, the strength and spatial distribution of emission sources, the time of the year, but also - very strongly - on the current meteorological conditions, which change from day to day and thus make it important to provide such calculations in near-real-time to support short-term legislation. Similarly, long-term analysis over longer periods (e.g. one year), or of specific air quality episodes in the past, can help to scientifically underpin multi-regional agreements and long-term legislation. Within the European MACC projects (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate) and the transition to the operational CAMS service (Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service) the computationally efficient EMEP MSC-W air quality model has been applied with detailed emission data, comprehensive calculations of chemistry and microphysics, driven by high quality meteorological forecast data (up to 96-hour forecasts), to provide source-receptor calculations on a regular basis in forecast mode. In its current state, the product allows the user to choose among different regions and regulatory pollutants (e.g. ozone and PM) to assess the effectiveness of fictive emission reductions in air pollutant emissions that are implemented immediately, either within the agglomeration or outside. The effects are visualized as bar charts, showing resulting changes in air pollution levels within the agglomeration as a function of time (hourly resolution, 0 to 4 days into the future). The bar charts not only allow assessing the effects of emission

Emissions of carbon tetrachloride from Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Graziosi, Francesco; Arduini, Jgor; Bonasoni, Paolo; Furlani, Francesco; Giostra, Umberto; Manning, Alistair J.; McCulloch, Archie; O'Doherty, Simon; Simmonds, Peter G.; Reimann, Stefan; Vollmer, Martin K.; Maione, Michela

2016-10-01

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) is a long-lived radiatively active compound with the ability to destroy stratospheric ozone. Due to its inclusion in the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer (MP), the last two decades have seen a sharp decrease in its large-scale emissive use with a consequent decline in its atmospheric mole fractions. However, the MP restrictions do not apply to the use of carbon tetrachloride as feedstock for the production of other chemicals, implying the risk of fugitive emissions from the industry sector. The occurrence of such unintended emissions is suggested by a significant discrepancy between global emissions as derived from reported production and feedstock usage (bottom-up emissions), and those based on atmospheric observations (top-down emissions). In order to better constrain the atmospheric budget of carbon tetrachloride, several studies based on a combination of atmospheric observations and inverse modelling have been conducted in recent years in various regions of the world. This study is focused on the European scale and based on long-term high-frequency observations at three European sites, combined with a Bayesian inversion methodology. We estimated that average European emissions for 2006-2014 were 2.2 (± 0.8) Gg yr-1, with an average decreasing trend of 6.9 % per year. Our analysis identified France as the main source of emissions over the whole study period, with an average contribution to total European emissions of approximately 26 %. The inversion was also able to allow the localisation of emission "hot spots" in the domain, with major source areas in southern France, central England (UK) and Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg), where most industrial-scale production of basic organic chemicals is located. According to our results, European emissions correspond, on average, to 4.0 % of global emissions for 2006-2012. Together with other regional studies, our results allow a better constraint

Long-Term Prognosis of Plantar Fasciitis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Liselotte; Krogh, Thøger Persson; Ellingsen, Torkell

2018-01-01

, exercise-induced symptoms, bilateral heel pain, fascia thickness, and presence of a heel spur) could predict long-term outcomes, (3) to assess the long-term ultrasound (US) development in the fascia, and (4) to assess whether US-guided corticosteroid injections induce atrophy of the heel fat pad. Study....... The risk was significantly greater for women (P heel...... regardless of symptoms and had no impact on prognosis, and neither did the presence of a heel spur. Only 24% of asymptomatic patients had a normal fascia on US at long-term follow-up. A US-guided corticosteroid injection did not cause atrophy of the heel fat pad. Our observational study did not allow us...

Long-term dependence in exchange rates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Karytinos

2000-01-01

Full Text Available The extent to which exchange rates of four major currencies against the Greek Drachma exhibit long-term dependence is investigated using a R/S analysis testing framework. We show that both classic R/S analysis and the modified R/S statistic if enhanced by bootstrapping techniques can be proven very reliable tools to this end. Our findings support persistence and long-term dependence with non-periodic cycles for the Deutsche Mark and the French Franc series. In addition a noisy chaos explanation is favored over fractional Brownian motion. On the contrary, the US Dollar and British Pound were found to exhibit a much more random behavior and lack of any long-term structure.

Long term impacts of international outsourcing of manufacturing on sustainability

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Moosavirad, Seyed Hamed; Kara, Sami; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

2014-01-01

International outsourcing seems to be a cost efficient way of production. However, there are serious concerns about its long term impacts on the environmental, social and economic sustainability. This paper aims to quantify these impacts by using input output analysis, linear programming and system......% international outsourcing scenario and the baseline scenario due to their differences in production technologies. © 2014 CIRP....... dynamics in a case study including European electrical industry (outsourcer), Chinese electrical industry (outsourcee) and their main suppliers. Results depict the differences related to the total CO2 emissions, the number of employees and the gross value added of these two regions between a 10...

Long term precipitation chemistry and wet deposition in a remote dry savanna site in Africa (Niger

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

C. Galy-Lacaux

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Long-term precipitation chemistry have been recorded in the rural area of Banizoumbou (Niger, representative of a semi-arid savanna ecosystem. A total of 305 rainfall samples ~90% of the total annual rainfall were collected from June 1994 to September 2005. From ionic chromatography, pH major inorganic and organic ions were detected. Rainwater chemistry is controlled by soil/dust emissions associated with terrigeneous elements represented by SO₄²⁻, Ca²⁺, Carbonates, K⁺ and Mg²⁺. It is found that calcium and carbonates represent ~40% of the total ionic charge. The second highest contribution is nitrogenous, with annual Volume Weighed Mean (VWM for NO₃⁻ and NH₄⁺ concentrations of 11.6 and 18.1 μeq.l⁻¹, respectively. This is the signature of ammonia sources from animals and NO_x emissions from savannas soil-particles rain-induced. The mean annual NH₃ and NO₂ air concentration are of 6 ppbv and 2.6 ppbv, respectively. The annual VWM precipitation concentration of sodium and chloride are both of 8.7 μeq.l⁻¹ which reflects the marine signature of monsoonal and humid air masses. The median pH value is of 6.05. Acidity is neutralized by mineral dust, mainly carbonates, and/or dissolved gases such NH₃. High level of organic acidity with 8μeq.l⁻¹ and 5.2 μeq.l⁻¹ of formate and acetate were also found. The analysis of monthly Black Carbon emissions and Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR values show that both biogenic emission from vegetation and biomass burning could explain the rainfall organic acidity content. The interannual variability of the VWM concentrations around the mean (1994–2005 is between ±5% and ±30% and mainly due to variations of sources strength and rainfall spatio-temporal distribution. From 1994 to 2005

Long-term energy and climate implications of carbon capture and storage deployment strategies in the US coal-fired electricity fleet.

Science.gov (United States)

Sathre, Roger; Masanet, Eric

2012-09-04

To understand the long-term energy and climate implications of different implementation strategies for carbon capture and storage (CCS) in the US coal-fired electricity fleet, we integrate three analytical elements: scenario projection of energy supply systems, temporally explicit life cycle modeling, and time-dependent calculation of radiative forcing. Assuming continued large-scale use of coal for electricity generation, we find that aggressive implementation of CCS could reduce cumulative greenhouse gas emissions (CO(2), CH(4), and N(2)O) from the US coal-fired power fleet through 2100 by 37-58%. Cumulative radiative forcing through 2100 would be reduced by only 24-46%, due to the front-loaded time profile of the emissions and the long atmospheric residence time of CO(2). The efficiency of energy conversion and carbon capture technologies strongly affects the amount of primary energy used but has little effect on greenhouse gas emissions or radiative forcing. Delaying implementation of CCS deployment significantly increases long-term radiative forcing. This study highlights the time-dynamic nature of potential climate benefits and energy costs of different CCS deployment pathways and identifies opportunities and constraints of successful CCS implementation.

Short-term versus long-term contracting for uranium enrichment services

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rudy, G.P.

1990-01-01

The US Department of Energy (US DOE) is the world's largest and most experienced supplier of uranium enrichment services. Through the late 1970s and early 1980s, emerging market forces transformed what was once a monopoly into a highly competitive industry. In the early 1980's the DOE lost market share. But as we enter the 1990s, new market forces have emerged. The US DOE believes a responsible balance between long-term and short-term contracting will be the key to success and the key to assuring the long-term health and reliability of the nuclear fuel industry. The US DOE intends to be in this nuclear business for a long time and will continue to offer reliable and responsive services second to none

Biomass burning: Combustion emissions, satellite imagery, and biogenic emissions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Levine, J.S.; Cofer, W.R III; Rhinehart, R.P.; Cahoon, D.R. J.; Winstead, E.L.; Sebacher, S.; Sebacher, D.I.; Stocks, B.J.

1991-01-01

This chapter deals with two different, but related, aspects of biomass burning. The first part of the chapter deals with a technique to estimate the instantaneous emissions of trace gases produced by biomass burning using satellite imagery. The second part of the chapter concerns the recent discovery that burning results in significantly enhanced biogenic emissions of N 2 O, NO, and CH 4 . Hence, biomass burning has both an immediate and long-term impact on the production of trace gases to the atmosphere. The objective of this research is to better assess and quantify the role of this research is to better assess and quantify the role and impact of biomass as a driver for global change. It will be demonstrated that satellite imagery of fires may be used to estimate combustion emissions and may in the future be used to estimate the long-term postburn biogenic emissions of trace gases to the atmosphere

Rural-urban differences in the long-term care of the disabled elderly in China.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Mei; Zhang, Yang; Zhang, Zhenyu; Zhang, Ying; Zhou, Litao; Chen, Kun

2013-01-01

In China, the rapid rate of population aging and changes in the prevalence of disability among elderly people could have significant effects on the demand for long-term care. This study aims to describe the urban-rural differences in use and cost of long-term care of the disabled elderly and to explore potential influencing factors. This study uses data from a cross-sectional survey and a qualitative investigation conducted in Zhejiang province in 2012. The participants were 826 individuals over 60 years of age, who had been bedridden or suffered from dementia for more than 6 months. A generalized linear model and two-part regression model were applied to estimate costs, with adjustment of covariates. Pensions provide the main source of income for urban elderly, while the principal income source for rural elderly is their family. Urban residents spend more on all services than do rural residents. Those who are married spend less on daily supplies and formal care than the unmarried do. Age, incapacitation time, comorbidity number, level of income, and bedridden status influence spending on medical care (β=-0.0316, -0.0206, 0.1882, 0.3444, and -0.4281, respectively), but the cost does not increase as the elderly grow older. Urban residents, the married, and those with a higher income level tend to spend more on medical equipment. Urban residence and living status are the two significant factors that affect spending on personal hygiene products. The use of long-term care services varies by living area. Long-term care of the disabled elderly imposes a substantial burden on families. Our study revealed that informal care involves huge opportunity costs to the caregivers. Chinese policy makers need to promote community care and long-term care insurance to relieve the burden of families of disabled elderly, and particular attention should be given to the rural elderly.

The infrared emission bands. III. Southern IRAS sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Cohen, M; Tielens, A G; Bregman, J; Witteborn, F C; Rank, D M; Allamandola, L J; Wooden, D H; de Muizon, M

1989-06-01

We present airborne 5-8 micrometers spectra of southern IRAS sources which reveal strong polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) emission features. The good correlation between the bands, in particular the dominant 6.2 and "7.7" micrometers features, strongly imply a common carrier, reinforcing the PAH hypothesis. However, small but detectable spectral variations exist. Planetaries have a distinctly different ratio of I(6.2)/I(7.7) than other nebulae, accompanied by a redward shift in the actual wavelength of the "7.7" micrometers peak. Further, we have detected a new feature, previously predicted from laboratory spectra of PAH molecules, at 5.2 micrometers in many of these sources. Spectra of two rare [WC 10] planetary nebular nuclei indicate a very prominent plateau of emission, linking the 6.2 and 7.7 micrometers bands. Several of our sources show definite evidence for emission structure between 14 and 23 micrometers in their IRAS Low-Resolution Spectral Atlas spectra: we attribute this structure to PAH bands. too. We have defined the "generic" spectrum of emission bands relating the mean intensities of each band to that of the strongest, near 7.7 micrometers. We have added three more planetary or protoplanetary nebulae to our correlation between 7.7 micrometers band intensity and nebular gas phase C/O ratio, namely NGC 6302, HR 4049, and the highly carbon-rich [WC 10] nucleus, CPD--56 degrees 8032. For the latter we have determined a ratio for C/O of approximately 4.8 from IUE observations. The good correlation between the intensity ratio of the "7.7" micrometers feature relative to the far-infrared dust continuum and nebular C/O also supports a carbonaceous carrier for these emission features.

Method to Locate Contaminant Source and Estimate Emission Strength

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qu Hongquan

2013-01-01

Full Text Available People greatly concern the issue of air quality in some confined spaces, such as spacecraft, aircraft, and submarine. With the increase of residence time in such confined space, contaminant pollution has become a main factor which endangers life. It is urgent to identify a contaminant source rapidly so that a prompt remedial action can be taken. A procedure of source identification should be able to locate the position and to estimate the emission strength of the contaminant source. In this paper, an identification method was developed to realize these two aims. This method was developed based on a discrete concentration stochastic model. With this model, a sensitivity analysis algorithm was induced to locate the source position, and a Kalman filter was used to further estimate the contaminant emission strength. This method could track and predict the source strength dynamically. Meanwhile, it can predict the distribution of contaminant concentration. Simulation results have shown the virtues of the method.

Long-Term Dynamics of Autonomous Fractional Differential Equations

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tao; Xu, Wei; Xu, Yong; Han, Qun

This paper aims to investigate long-term dynamic behaviors of autonomous fractional differential equations with effective numerical method. The long-term dynamic behaviors predict where systems are heading after long-term evolution. We make some modification and transplant cell mapping methods to autonomous fractional differential equations. The mapping time duration of cell mapping is enlarged to deal with the long memory effect. Three illustrative examples, i.e. fractional Lotka-Volterra equation, fractional van der Pol oscillator and fractional Duffing equation, are studied with our revised generalized cell mapping method. We obtain long-term dynamics, such as attractors, basins of attraction, and saddles. Compared with some existing stability and numerical results, the validity of our method is verified. Furthermore, we find that the fractional order has its effect on the long-term dynamics of autonomous fractional differential equations.

Polychlorinated Biphenyl Sources, Emissions, and Environmental Levels in school Buildings (PCB Workshop presentation)

Science.gov (United States)

Measure PCB emission rates from primary sources in laboratory chambersMeasure transport and sorption by materials and dust in laboratory chambersCharacterize PCBs in school building materialsEstimate PCB emission rates from sources in schoolsExamine congener patterns in sources a...

Long-term no-till and stover retention each decrease the global warming potential of irrigated continuous corn

Science.gov (United States)

Over the last 50 years, the most increase in cultivated land area globally has been due to a doubling of irrigated land. Long-term agronomic management impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, soil greenhouse gas (GHG) emis-sions, and global warming potential (GWP) in irrigated systems, however,...

The Womanly World of Long Term Care: The Plight of the Long Term Care Worker. Gray Paper.

Science.gov (United States)

Older Women's League, Washington, DC.

Long-term care workers (those who are paid to provide custodial care for long-term patients in nursing homes or at home) must care for a growing number of increasingly disabled or dependent persons. They are working for agencies and institutions under growing pressure to increase productivity. They face new training and competency requirements,…

Cooperative spontaneous emission from volume sources in layered media

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nichelatti, E.

2009-01-01

The classical theory of radiation from a dipole located inside a microcavity is extended to the case of a volume source placed inside a layered medium. Cooperation phenomena that can take place in the spontaneous emission process are taken into account with an approach based on the theory of spatial coherence. Three cases are considered: noncooperation, long-range cooperation, and short-range cooperation. In all these cases, the expressions found for the out coupled power are analytical. As an application of the theory, an Alq 3 -based organic light emitting diode is analyzed. The optical properties of the device are evaluated and compared for two different types of cathode, one consisting of an Al layer, the other one consisting of an Al/LiF bi-layer. The results found show that the ultra-thin LiF layer significantly improves extraction efficiency [it

Satellite constraint for emissions of nitrogen oxides from anthropogenic, lightning and soil sources over East China on a high-resolution grid

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

J.-T. Lin

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Vertical column densities (VCDs of tropospheric nitrogen dioxide (NO₂ retrieved from space provide valuable information to estimate emissions of nitrogen oxides (NO_x inversely. Accurate emission attribution to individual sources, important both for understanding the global biogeochemical cycling of nitrogen and for emission control, remains difficult. This study presents a regression-based multi-step inversion approach to estimate emissions of NO_x from anthropogenic, lightning and soil sources individually for 2006 over East China on a 0.25° long × 0.25° lat grid, employing the DOMINO product version 2 retrieved from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument. The inversion is done gridbox by gridbox to derive the respective emissions, taking advantage of differences in seasonality between anthropogenic and natural sources. Lightning and soil emissions are combined together for any given gridbox due to their similar seasonality; and their different spatial distributions are used implicitly for source separation to some extent. The nested GEOS-Chem model for East Asia is used to simulate the seasonal variations of different emission sources and impacts on VCDs of NO₂ for the inversion purpose. Sensitivity tests are conducted to evaluate key assumptions embedded in the inversion process. The inverse estimate suggests annual budgets of about 7.1 TgN (±39%, 0.21 TgN (±61%, and 0.38 TgN (±65% for the a posteriori anthropogenic, lightning and soil emissions, respectively, about 18–23% higher than the respective a priori values. The enhancements in anthropogenic emissions are largest in cities and areas with extensive use of coal, particularly in the north in winter, as evident on the high-resolution grid. Derived soil emissions are consistent with recent bottom-up estimates. They are less than 6% of anthropogenic emissions annually, increasing to about 13% for July. Derived lightning emissions are about 3% of

Experimental Development of Low-emittance Field-emission Electron Sources

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lueangaranwong, A. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States). Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator & Detector Development; Buzzard, C. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Divan, R. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Center for Nanoscale Materials; Korampally, V. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States); Piot, P. [Northern Illinois Univ., DeKalb, IL (United States). Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator & Detector Development; Fermi National Accelerator Lab. (FNAL), Batavia, IL (United States)

2016-10-10

Field emission electron sources are capable of extreme brightness when excited by static or time-dependent electro- magnetic fields. We are currently developing a cathode test stand operating in DC mode with possibility to trigger the emission using ultra-short (~ 100-fs) laser pulses. This contribution describes the status of an experiment to investigate field-emission using cathodes under development at NIU in collaboration with the Argonne’s Center for Nanoscale Materials.

Impacts of Interannual Variability in Biogenic VOC Emissions near Transitional Ozone Production Regimes

Science.gov (United States)

Geddes, J.

2017-12-01

Due to successful NOx emission controls, summertime ozone production chemistry in urban areas across North America is transitioning from VOC-limited to increasingly NOx-limited. In some regions where ozone production sensitivity is in transition, interannual variability in surrounding biogenic VOC emissions could drive fluctuations in the prevailing chemical regime and modify the impact of anthropogenic emission changes. I use satellite observations of HCHO and NO2 column density, along with a long-term simulation of atmospheric chemistry, to investigate the impact of interannual variability in biogenic isoprene sources near large metro areas. Peak emissions of isoprene in the model can vary by up to 20-60% in any given year compared to the long term mean, and this variability drives the majority of the variability in simulated local HCHO:NO2 ratios (a common proxy for ozone production sensitivity). The satellite observations confirm increasingly NOx-limited chemical regimes with large interannual variability. In several instances, the model and satellite observations suggest that variability in biogenic isoprene emissions could shift summertime ozone production from generally VOC- to generally NOx- sensitive (or vice versa). This would have implications for predicting the air quality impacts of anthropogenic emission changes in any given year, and suggests that drivers of biogenic emissions need to be well understood.

Wind power planning: assessing long-term costs and benefits

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kennedy, Scott

2005-01-01

In the following paper, a new and straightforward technique for estimating the social benefit of large-scale wind power production is presented. The social benefit is based upon wind power's energy and capacity services and the avoidance of environmental damages. The approach uses probabilistic load duration curves to account for the stochastic interaction between wind power availability, electricity demand, and conventional generator dispatch. The model is applied to potential offshore wind power development to the south of Long Island, NY. If natural gas combined cycle and integrated gasifier combined cycle (IGCC) are the alternative generation sources, wind power exhibits a negative social benefit due to its high capacity cost and the relatively low emissions of these advanced fossil-fuel technologies. Environmental benefits increase significantly if charges for CO 2 emissions are included. Results also reveal a diminishing social benefit as wind power penetration increases. The dependence of wind power benefits on CO 2 charges, and capital costs for wind turbines and IGCC plant is also discussed. The methodology is intended for use by energy planners in assessing the social benefit of future investments in wind power

Near-term technology policies for long-term climate targets--economy wide versus technology specific approaches

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sanden, B.A.; Azar, Christian

2005-01-01

The aim of this paper is to offer suggestions when it comes to near-term technology policies for long-term climate targets based on some insights into the nature of technical change. We make a distinction between economy wide and technology specific policy instruments and put forward two key hypotheses: (i) Near-term carbon targets such as the Kyoto protocol can be met by economy wide price instruments (carbon taxes, or a cap-and-trade system) changing the technologies we pick from the shelf (higher energy efficiency in cars, buildings and industry, wind, biomass for heat and electricity, natural gas instead of coal, solar thermal, etc.). (ii) Technology specific policies are needed to bring new technologies to the shelf. Without these new technologies, stricter emission reduction targets may be considered impossible to meet by the government, industry and the general public, and therefore not adopted. The policies required to bring these more advanced technologies to the shelf are more complex and include increased public research and development, demonstration, niche market creation, support for networks within the new industries, standard settings and infrastructure policies (e.g., when it comes to hydrogen distribution). There is a risk that the society in its quest for cost-efficiency in meeting near-term emissions targets, becomes blindfolded when it comes to the more difficult, but equally important issue of bringing more advanced technologies to the shelf. The paper presents mechanisms that cause technology look in, how these very mechanisms can be used to get out of the current 'carbon lock-in' and the risk with premature lock-ins into new technologies that do not deliver what they currently promise. We then review certain climate policy proposals with regards to their expected technology impact, and finally we present a let-a-hundred-flowers-bloom strategy for the next couple of decades

Subsurface Shielding Source Term Specification Calculation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

S.Su