The impact of molecular biology on assessment of water quality: advantages and limitations of current techniques

The advent of molecular biology has had a dramatic impact on all aspects of biology, not least applied microbial ecology. Microbiological testing of water has traditionally depended largely on culture techniques. Growing understanding that only a small proportion of microbial species are culturable, and that many microorganisms may attain a viable but non-culturable state, has promoted the development of novel approaches to monitoring pathogens in the environment. This has been paralleled by an increased awareness of the surprising genetic diversity of natural microbial populations. By targeting gene sequences that are specific for particular microorganisms, for example genes that encode diagnostic enzymes, or species-specific domains of conserved genes such as 16S ribosomal RNA coding sequences (rrn genes), the problems of culture can be avoided. Technical developments, notably in the area of in vitro amplification of DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), now permit routine detection and identification of specific microorganisms, even when present in very low numbers. Although the techniques of molecular biology have provided some very powerful tools for environmental microbiology, it should not be forgotten that these have their own drawbacks and biases in sampling. For example, molecular techniques are dependent on efficient lysis and recovery of nucleic acids from both vegetative forms and spores of microbial species that may differ radically when growing in the laboratory compared with the natural environment. Furthermore, PCR amplification can introduce its own bias depending on the nature of the oligonucleotide primers utilised. However, despite these potential caveats, it seems likely that a molecular biological approach, particularly with its potential for automation, will provide the mainstay of diagnostic technology for the foreseeable future.

Estudo dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos de uma prestadora de services do setor naval, com vistas ao gerenciamento ambiental.

Esta pesquisa usou o estudo de caso para analisar os resíduos eletroeletrônicos gerados em uma Empresa prestadora de serviços atuante no setor naval. Após breve reflexão sobre a relação homem-natureza, apresenta-se o conceito de resíduos sólidos e suas classificações, introduzindo-se dados que embasam o impacto dos eletroeletrônicos na geração de resíduos no Brasil. Em seguida, discorre-se sobre a evolução da eletricidade e da eletrônica até os dias atuais, passando-se a comentar os aspectos e impactos da produção e descarte dos dispositivos eletroeletrônicos, que utilizam algumas substâncias tóxicas em sua manufatura. Destacam-se alguns caminhos alternativos para os resíduos eletroeletrônicos como o reuso, o reaproveitamento e a reciclagem que abriram caminhos para novos negócios. O estudo se volta para uma abordagem da legislação ambiental, mencionando aspectos da legislação dos Estados Unidos e da Europa, além de discorrer sobre fatos relevantes do ordenamento jurídico ambiental brasileiro, com ênfase na Política Nacional de Resíduos Sólidos. Esta Seção se encerra com um breve resumo do alinhamento do setor naval à legislação ambiental, através do uso das normas ISO da série 14.000. Prossegue-se com a descrição da Empresa onde se realizou o estudo de caso, apresentando-se um resumo acerca de sua trajetória, estrutura de funcionamento e a situação da gestão ambiental. Em seguida, é descrita a metodologia usada para o desenvolvimento do estudo de caso, detalhando-se os tipos de pesquisa e procedimentos utilizados para a caracterização dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos, bem como as ferramentas de gestão usadas para sua análise. Discorre-se, então, sobre o estudo de caso realizado na Empresa, com a apresentação das ações e pesquisas realizadas acerca de seus processos de geração e descarte de resíduos eletroeletrônicos. Os dados obtidos neste estudo foram analisados à luz do conhecimento ambiental e gestor e, com o auxílio de algumas ferramentas de gestão, foram selecionados os resíduos eletroeletrônicos mais impactantes e os com possibilidade de serem gerenciados pela Empresa. Encerrando o trabalho, as conclusões sobre o estudo e as sugestões para a melhoria do gerenciamento dos resíduos eletroeletrônicos são disponibilizadas para uso da Empresa, propondo-se também a implementação de um sistema de gerenciamento integrado para todos os resíduos nela gerados.

Estimating reflectivity values from wind turbines for analyzing the potential impact on weather radar services

Locate full-text(opens in a new window)|View at Publisher| Export | Download | More... Atmospheric Measurement Techniques Volume 8, Issue 5, 27 May 2015, Pages 2183-2193 Estimating reflectivity values from wind turbines for analyzing the potential impact on weather radar services (Article) Angulo, I.a, Grande, O.a, Jenn, D.b, Guerra, D.a, De La Vega, D.a a University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), Bilbao, Spain b Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, United States View references (28) Abstract The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has repeatedly expressed concern over the increasing number of impact cases of wind turbine farms on weather radars. Current signal processing techniques to mitigate wind turbine clutter (WTC) are scarce, so the most practical approach to this issue is the assessment of the potential interference from a wind farm before it is installed. To do so, and in order to obtain a WTC reflectivity model, it is crucial to estimate the radar cross section (RCS) of the wind turbines to be built, which represents the power percentage of the radar signal that is backscattered to the radar receiver.

For the proposed model, a representative scenario has been chosen in which both the weather radar and the wind farm are placed on clear areas; i.e., wind turbines are supposed to be illuminated only by the lowest elevation angles of the radar beam.

This paper first characterizes the RCS of wind turbines in the weather radar frequency bands by means of computer simulations based on the physical optics theory and then proposes a simplified model to estimate wind turbine RCS values. This model is of great help in the evaluation of the potential impact of a certain wind farm on the weather radar operation.

De lugar segregado ao lugar espiritual da Teologia da Libertação: Diocese de Nova Iguaçu de 1970 a 1990

Esta pesquisa tem como objetivo entendermos os processos históricos e geográficos pelo qual a dimensão espacial da Igreja Católica no atual município de Nova Iguaçu, na Baixada Fluminense, foi estruturada, assim como interpretar as ações desenvolvidas pela Igreja Católica mostrando o seu papel de gestor no desenvolvimento de várias ações sociais e religiosas. Nesta localidade, carente de políticas públicas favoreceu inicialmente nas comunidades eclesiais de base a construção de importantes espaços religiosos, assim como, posteriormente foram desenvolvidos movimentos populares que auxiliaram na sociabilidade e trocas de saberes e fazeres. As ações conduzidas pela Teologia da Libertação e dirigidas pela Diocese de Nova Iguaçu e pelo líder religioso Dom Adriano Hypólito possibilitou a expansão da conscientização da população em relação a seus direitos e deveres expressos principalmente nas inúmeras reivindicações por serviços públicos e sociais. Busca-se então, o entendimento na estruturação social de algumas áreas da Baixada Fluminense assim como desvendar as estratégias utilizadas pela Diocese de Nova Iguaçu durante a fim de promover a organização de seu território religioso, através da disseminação de suas estratégias religiosas. Tais ações auxiliaram no fortalecimento das ações coletivas da localidade, marcando a história do município de Nova Iguaçu e da instituição religiosa católica brasileira.

Climate impacts on U. S. living marine resources: National Marine Fisheries Services concerns, activities and needs

With the increasing recognition that climate change is occurring and having large impacts on living marine resources, a sound ecosystem approach to management of those resources requires both understanding how climate affects ecosystems and integration of that understanding into management processes. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) must identify how changing climatic conditions will impact its mission and must be prepared to adapt to these changes. This document identifies the climate related ecosystem concerns in the regional marine ecosystems for which NMFS has living marine resource management responsibilities, what NMFS is currently doing to address these concerns, what NMFS must do going forward to address these concerns, and what climate information is needed to integrate climate into resource management. The regional ecosystems included in this analysis are: the Northeast U.S. Continental Shelf; the Southeast U.S. Continental Shelf, Gulf of Mexico, and U.S. Caribbean; the California Current Ecosystem; the Alaskan Ecosystem Complex; the Pacific Island Ecosystem Complex; the Eastern Tropical Pacific; North Pacific Highly Migratory Species; and the Antarctic.

Strategies for designing and developing services for manufacturing firms

Product/service-systems (PSS) are in effect an approach to designing integrated products and services with a focus on both customer and product life cycle activities. A range of service-oriented design strategies can be found in current literature, from product-oriented DfX approaches to more customer-oriented approaches, such as integrated solutions. In this article, design strategies related to different types of services are mapped. Case studies from two industrial companies are used to confront the existing literature in order to improve the understanding of how manufacturing companies may align their product and service development activities with their business strategies. © 2010.

Development of modelling method selection tool for health services management: From problem structuring methods to modelling and simulation methods

Background: There is an increasing recognition that modelling and simulation can assist in the process of designing health care policies, strategies and operations. However, the current use is limited and answers to questions such as what methods to use and when remain somewhat underdeveloped. Aim. The aim of this study is to provide a mechanism for decision makers in health services planning and management to compare a broad range of modelling and simulation methods so that they can better select and use them or better commission relevant modelling and simulation work. Methods. This paper proposes a modelling and simulation method comparison and selection tool developed from a comprehensive literature review, the research team's extensive expertise and inputs from potential users. Twenty-eight different methods were identified, characterised by their relevance to different application areas, project life cycle stages, types of output and levels of insight, and four input resources required (time, money, knowledge and data). Results: The characterisation is presented in matrix forms to allow quick comparison and selection. This paper also highlights significant knowledge gaps in the existing literature when assessing the applicability of particular approaches to health services management, where modelling and simulation skills are scarce let alone money and time. Conclusions: A modelling and simulation method comparison and selection tool is developed to assist with the selection of methods appropriate to supporting specific decision making processes. In particular it addresses the issue of which method is most appropriate to which specific health services management problem, what the user might expect to be obtained from the method, and what is required to use the method. In summary, we believe the tool adds value to the scarce existing literature on methods comparison and selection. © 2011 Jun et al.

Managing water resources and their connection to land and energy

Effective management is a key to ensuring the current and future sustainability of land, water and energy resources. Identifying the complexities of such management is not an easy task, especially since past studies have focussed on studying these resources in isolation from one another. However, with rapid population growth and an increase in the awareness of a potential change in climatic conditions that may affect the demand for and supply of food, water and energy, there has been a growing need to integrate the planning decisions relating to these three resources. The paper shows the visualisation of linked resources by drawing a set of interconnected Sankey diagrams for energy, water and land. These track the changes from basic resource (e.g. coal, surface water, groundwater and cropland) through transformations (e.g. fuel refining and desalination) to final services (e.g. sustenance, hygiene and transportation). The focus here is on the water analysis aspects of the tool, which uses California as a detailed case study. The movement of water in California is traced from its source to its services by mapping the different transformations of water from when it becomes available, through its use, to further treatment, to final sinks (including recycling and reuse of that resource). The connections that water has with energy and land resources for the state of California are highlighted. This includes the amount of energy used to pump and treat water, and the amount of water used for energy production and the land resources which create a water demand to produce crops for food. By mapping water in this way, policy-makers and resource managers can more easily understand the competing uses of water (environment, agriculture and urban use) through the identification of the services it delivers (e.g. sanitation, agriculture, landscaping), the potential opportunities for improving the management of the resource (e.g. building new desalination plants, reducing the demand for services), and the connections with other resources which are often overlooked in a traditional sector-based management strategy.

Material efficiency: providing material services with less material production.

Material efficiency, as discussed in this Meeting Issue, entails the pursuit of the technical strategies, business models, consumer preferences and policy instruments that would lead to a substantial reduction in the production of high-volume energy-intensive materials required to deliver human well-being. This paper, which introduces a Discussion Meeting Issue on the topic of material efficiency, aims to give an overview of current thinking on the topic, spanning environmental, engineering, economics, sociology and policy issues. The motivations for material efficiency include reducing energy demand, reducing the emissions and other environmental impacts of industry, and increasing national resource security. There are many technical strategies that might bring it about, and these could mainly be implemented today if preferred by customers or producers. However, current economic structures favour the substitution of material for labour, and consumer preferences for material consumption appear to continue even beyond the point at which increased consumption provides any increase in well-being. Therefore, policy will be required to stimulate material efficiency. A theoretically ideal policy measure, such as a carbon price, would internalize the externality of emissions associated with material production, and thus motivate change directly. However, implementation of such a measure has proved elusive, and instead the adjustment of existing government purchasing policies or existing regulations-- for instance to do with building design, planning or vehicle standards--is likely to have a more immediate effect.

An integrated representation of the services provided by global water resources

Water is essential not only to maintain the livelihoods of human beings but also to sustain ecosystems. Over the last few decades several global assessments have reviewed current and future uses of water, and have offered potential solutions to a possible water crisis. However, these have tended to focus on water supply rather than on the range of demands for all water services (including those of ecosystems). In this paper, a holistic global view of water resources and the services they provide is presented, using Sankey diagrams as a visualisation tool. These diagrams provide a valuable addition to the spatial maps of other global assessments, as they track the sources, uses, services and sinks of water resources. They facilitate comparison of different water services, and highlight trade-offs amongst them. For example, they reveal how increasing the supply of water resources to one service (crop production) can generate a reduction in provision of other water services (e.g., to ecosystem maintenance). The potential impacts of efficiency improvements in the use of water are also highlighted; for example, reduction in soil evaporation from crop production through better farming practices, or the results of improved treatment and re-use of return flows leading to reduction of delivery to final sinks. This paper also outlines the measures needed to ensure sustainable water resource use and supply for multiple competing services in the future, and emphasises that integrated management of land and water resources is essential to achieve this goal. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd.

Articulating current service development practices: a qualitative analysis of eleven mental health projects.

BACKGROUND: The utilisation of good design practices in the development of complex health services is essential to improving quality. Healthcare organisations, however, are often seriously out of step with modern design thinking and practice. As a starting point to encourage the uptake of good design practices, it is important to understand the context of their intended use. This study aims to do that by articulating current health service development practices. METHODS: Eleven service development projects carried out in a large mental health service were investigated through in-depth interviews with six operation managers. The critical decision method in conjunction with diagrammatic elicitation was used to capture descriptions of these projects. Stage-gate design models were then formed to visually articulate, classify and characterise different service development practices. RESULTS: Projects were grouped into three categories according to design process patterns: new service introduction and service integration; service improvement; service closure. Three common design stages: problem exploration, idea generation and solution evaluation - were then compared across the design process patterns. Consistent across projects were a top-down, policy-driven approach to exploration, underexploited idea generation and implementation-based evaluation. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insight into where and how good design practices can contribute to the improvement of current service development practices. Specifically, the following suggestions for future service development practices are made: genuine user needs analysis for exploration; divergent thinking and innovative culture for idea generation; and fail-safe evaluation prior to implementation. Better training for managers through partnership working with design experts and researchers could be beneficial.

Web Services Workflows—Composition, Co-Ordination, and Transactions in Service-Oriented Computing

Web services can be seen as a newly emerging research area for Service-oriented Computing and their implementation in Service-oriented Architectures. Web services are self-contained, self-describing modular applications or components providing services. Web services may be dynamically aggregated, composed, and enacted as Web services Workflows. This requires frameworks and interaction protocols for their co-ordination and transaction support. In a Service-oriented Computing setting, transactions are more complex, involve multiple parties (roles), span many organizations, and may be long-running, consisting of a highly decentralized service partner and performed by autonomous entities. A Service-oriented Transaction Model has to provide comprehensive support for long-running propositions including negotiations, conversations, commitments, contracts, tracking, payments, and exception handling. Current transaction models and mechanisms including their protocols and primitives do not sufficiently cater for quality-aware and long running transactions comprising loosely-coupled (federated) service partners and resources. Web services transactions require co-ordination behavior provided by a traditional transaction mechanism to control the operations and outcome of an application. Furthermore, Web services transactions require the capability to handle the co-ordination of processing outcomes or results from multiple services in a more flexible manner. This requires more relaxed forms of transactions—those that do not strictly have to abide by the ACID properties—such as loosely-coupled collaboration and workflows. Furthermore, there is a need to group Web services into applications that require some form of correlation, but do not necessarily require transactional behavior. The purpose of this paper is to provide a state-of-the-art review and overview of some proposed standards surrounding Web services composition, co-ordination, and transaction. In particular the Business Process Execution Language for Web services (BPEL4WS), its co-ordination, and transaction frameworks (WS-Co-ordination and WS-Transaction) are discussed.

NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme.

Thomas, R., Spink, S., Durbin, J. & Urquhart, C. (2005). NHS Wales user needs study including knowledgebase tools report. Report for Informing Healthcare Strategy implementation programme. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: Informing Healthcare, NHS Wales

Assessing training and professional development needs of library staff. Report for National Library of Health

Urquhart, C., Spink, S. & Thomas, R., Assessing training and professional development needs of library staff. Report for National Library of Health. (2005). Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth Sponsorship: National Library for Health (NHS Information Authority)

JUSTEIS: JISC Usage Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services Final report 2003/2004 Cycle Five

Urquhart, C., Spink, S., Thomas, R., Yeoman, A., Durbin, J., Turner, J., Fenton, R. & Armstrong, C. (2004). JUSTEIS: JISC Usage Surveys: Trends in Electronic Information Services Final report 2003/2004 Cycle Five. Aberystwyth: Department of Information Studies, University of Wales Aberystwyth. Sponsorship: JISC