Factors affecting the future of the Scottish hydrometric network

1987 ◽  
Vol 78 (4) ◽  
pp. 269-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. Poodle
Keyword(s):  
Data Acquisition ◽  
Computer Systems ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Data Standards ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Economic Climate ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Minor Extent

ABSTRACTThe Scottish Hydrometric Network consists of a number of river gauging stations which have been located at sites considered suitable to provide long term flow records. Economic recession has placed some stress on the gauging programme, and has given rise to extensive closures of gauging stations in England and, to a minor extent so far, in Scotland. The way in which the network became established provides a mixture of strengths and weaknesses which could have unpredictable consequences in an adverse economic climate. Changing technology provides some opportunity to reduce the cost of data acquisition and improve the deployment of manpower, while maintaining data standards. In these changing circumstances, particularly with extensive use of computer systems, it is important that standards are established for data returned to the Water Archive and that the network is not allowed to degenerate by default.

scholarly journals Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment of the Spanish Electricity: Past, Present and Future Projections

Energies ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1896 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo San Miguel ◽  
María Cerrato
Keyword(s):  
Power Generation ◽  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Levelized Cost Of Electricity ◽  
Employment Generation ◽  
Reduced Costs ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Installed Capacity

This paper provides an investigation into the sustainability of the electrical system in Spain. The analysis covers historic inventories of power generation, installed capacity and technology mix since 1990 and also contemplates four alternative projections for 2030 and 2050. The sustainability is evaluated using eight indicators that provide objective information about the environmental (climate change, fossil depletion, ozone layer depletion, terrestrial acidification, human toxicity and photochemical smog), economic (levelized cost of electricity) and socio-economic (direct employment) performance of the system. The results show an increase in the magnitude of the environmental impacts between 1990 and 2008, due to a growing power demand triggered by economic expansion. After 2008, the environmental performance improves due to the economic recession and the penetration of renewable energies. Overall, the cost of power generation remains rather stable as rising expenses generated by renewables are compensated by a progressive reduction in the cost of fossil technologies. Direct employment generation has been strongly stimulated by the upsurge in renewables that has taken place in Spain after 2008. Regarding future scenarios, the results evidence that the most ambitious projections in terms of renewable penetration perform best in terms of environmental performance, employment generation and reduced costs (€/MWh). The significance of these benefits was particularly clear in the 2050 scenario. In the long term, the scenario considering higher fossil fuel contributions (ST) performed worst in all sustainability indicators.

scholarly journals Does meiotic drive alter male mate preference?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Ronan Finnegan ◽  
Leslie Nitsche ◽  
Matteo Mondani ◽  
M Florencia Camus ◽  
Kevin Fowler ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Frequency ◽  
Meiotic Drive ◽  
Mate Preferences ◽  
Mate Preference ◽  
Male Preference ◽  
Male Mate ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Organismal Fitness ◽  
Minor Extent

AbstractMale mate preferences have been demonstrated across a range of species, including the Malaysian stalk-eyed fly, Teleopsis dalmanni. This species is subject to sex-ratio (SR), an X-linked male meiotic driver, which causes the dysfunction of Y-sperm and the production of all-female broods. While there has been work considering female avoidance of meiotic drive males, the mating decisions of drive-bearing males have not been considered previously. Drive males may be less able to bear the cost of choice as SR is associated with a low-frequency inversion that causes reduced organismal fitness. Drive males may also experience weaker selection for preference maintenance if they are avoided by females. Using binary choice trials, across two experiments, we confirmed male preference for large (fecund) females but found no evidence that the strength of male preference differs between drive and standard males. We showed that large eyespan males displayed strong preference for large females, whereas small eyespan males showed no preference. Taken together, these results suggest that, even though meiotic drive is associated with lower genetic quality, it does not directly interfere with male mate preference among available females. However, as drive males tend to have smaller eyespan (albeit only ~5% on average), this will to a minor extent weaken their strength of preference.

scholarly journals Never let me go? A case study of deaccessioning and disposal undertaken at Museum of Wellington City and Sea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca Loud
Keyword(s):  
Rational Approach ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Economic Climate ◽  
Systematic Planning ◽  
Strategic Relationships ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Museum Practice

<p>In the current economic climate museums are increasingly being asked to do more with less. For museums that hold collections, this poses a unique challenge. With the cost of collections being relentlessly accumulative, questions are being raised about the long term financial sustainability of current collecting practices. Deaccessioning is being suggested as a way in which museums can improve the quality of their collection without increasing its size. Yet the literature on deaccessioning suggests that the process is fraught with ethical and practical difficulties. By highlighting the negatives aspects of the process, writing in museum studies and practice does little to explore how deaccessioning might be used to achieve positive outcomes. This research addresses this gap by asking whether deaccessioning is a positive tool that, if used appropriately, can assist a museum in improving the quality and manageability of their collection through systematic planning. To understand how and why a museum may permanently remove objects from their collection, the study focuses on one New Zealand museum’s response to the challenge of redeveloping a collection through the process of deaccessioning and disposal. The Museum of Wellington City and Sea’s deaccessioning process is analysed through documentary research and interviews with Museum staff. The interviews offer an understanding of the thought processes and motivations involved in selecting objects to be deaccessioned. The data collected reveals both the challenging aspects of the process but also offers insights into how these aspects can be mitigated or resolved. The conclusions presented in this dissertation suggest that deaccessioning is an integral part of current museum practice that can be used positively to actively shape and refine a museum collection. I argue that some of the beneficial outcomes of the process include greater understanding of collections, improved knowledge and context, resolution of historical collecting problems, strategic relationships built with other museums and improvement in how objects are stored and utilised. More importantly deaccessioning allows museums to determine the character and content of their collections. In order for this to be achieved, I recommend that museums adopt a rational approach to reviewing their collections that is multi-disciplinary, transparent and acknowledges how their collection is used in the achievement of their institution’s mission.</p>

Cost-effectiveness of Misoprostol in Sweden

1992 ◽  
Vol 8 (02) ◽  
pp. 234-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bengt Jönsson ◽  
Ulf Haglund
Keyword(s):  
Abdominal Pain ◽  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Indirect Costs ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Care Hospital ◽  
Osteoarthritis Patient ◽  
High Age ◽  
A Minor ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Minor Extent

AbstractBased on an American multicenter study, an economic evaluation of prophylactic misoprostol was undertaken in Sweden. The study included 420 patients with osteoarthritis and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID)-associated abdominal pain, but no gastric ulcer at inclusion. The frequency of ulcer development with and without prophylactic misoprostol was assessed at 21.7% and 5.6%, respectively, for a 3-month period. All costs for drugs, ambulatory care, hospital care, loss of production, as well as other factors such as dosage and compliance, were transferred to Swedish conditions. It was concluded that in patients with osteoarthritis and NSAID-induced abdominal pain, prophylaxis with misoprostol is cost-effective in Sweden, which is similar to what is found for other countries. A prerequisite for this result is a frequency of ulcer development of 15%. A patient compliance to prophylactic treatment of more than 60% is also presupposed (79% was observed in the above study). Due to the high age of the osteoarthritis patient population, the cost-effectiveness is influenced to only a minor extent by whether indirect costs are included in the calculation.

Pallidal stimulation: an alternative to pallidotomy?

1997 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. E12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker M. Tronnier ◽  
Wolfgang Fogel ◽  
Martin Kronenbuerger ◽  
Sarah Steinvorth
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Upper Limbs ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Pallidal Stimulation ◽  
Posteroventral Pallidotomy ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Patients Experience ◽  
Minor Extent

A resurgence of interest in the surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) came with the rediscovery of posteroventral pallidotomy by Laitinen in 1985. Laitinen's procedure improved most symptoms in drug-resistant PD, which engendered wide interest in the neurosurgical community. Another lesioning procedure, ventrolateral thalamotomy, has become a powerful alternative to stimulate the nucleus ventralis intermedius, producing high long-term success rates and low morbidity rates. Pallidal stimulation has not met with the same success. According to the literature pallidotomy improves the “on” symptoms of PD, such as dyskinesias, as well as the “off” symptoms, such as rigidity, bradykinesia, and on-off fluctuations. Pallidal stimulation improves bradykinesia and rigidity to a minor extent; however, its strength seems to be in improving levodopa-induced dyskinesias. Stimulation often produces an improvement in the hyper- or dyskinetic upper limbs, but increases the “freezing” phenomenon in the lower limbs at the same time. Considering the small increase in the patient's independence, the high costs of bilateral implants, and the difficulty most patients experience in handling the devices, the question arises as to whether bilateral pallidal stimulation is a real alternative to pallidotomy.

scholarly journals Never let me go? A case study of deaccessioning and disposal undertaken at Museum of Wellington City and Sea

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rebecca Loud
Keyword(s):  
Rational Approach ◽  
Unique Challenge ◽  
Economic Climate ◽  
Systematic Planning ◽  
Strategic Relationships ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Museum Practice

<p>In the current economic climate museums are increasingly being asked to do more with less. For museums that hold collections, this poses a unique challenge. With the cost of collections being relentlessly accumulative, questions are being raised about the long term financial sustainability of current collecting practices. Deaccessioning is being suggested as a way in which museums can improve the quality of their collection without increasing its size. Yet the literature on deaccessioning suggests that the process is fraught with ethical and practical difficulties. By highlighting the negatives aspects of the process, writing in museum studies and practice does little to explore how deaccessioning might be used to achieve positive outcomes. This research addresses this gap by asking whether deaccessioning is a positive tool that, if used appropriately, can assist a museum in improving the quality and manageability of their collection through systematic planning. To understand how and why a museum may permanently remove objects from their collection, the study focuses on one New Zealand museum’s response to the challenge of redeveloping a collection through the process of deaccessioning and disposal. The Museum of Wellington City and Sea’s deaccessioning process is analysed through documentary research and interviews with Museum staff. The interviews offer an understanding of the thought processes and motivations involved in selecting objects to be deaccessioned. The data collected reveals both the challenging aspects of the process but also offers insights into how these aspects can be mitigated or resolved. The conclusions presented in this dissertation suggest that deaccessioning is an integral part of current museum practice that can be used positively to actively shape and refine a museum collection. I argue that some of the beneficial outcomes of the process include greater understanding of collections, improved knowledge and context, resolution of historical collecting problems, strategic relationships built with other museums and improvement in how objects are stored and utilised. More importantly deaccessioning allows museums to determine the character and content of their collections. In order for this to be achieved, I recommend that museums adopt a rational approach to reviewing their collections that is multi-disciplinary, transparent and acknowledges how their collection is used in the achievement of their institution’s mission.</p>

FACTORS AFFECTING BRANCH INFECTION IN ASPEN

1961 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 799-816 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. E. Etheridge
Keyword(s):  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Moisture Content ◽  
Air Temperature ◽  
Populus Tremuloides ◽  
Comparative Studies ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Minor Extent

Comparative studies have shown that branch infections are almost twice as frequent in aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) in mesic sites as in trees of similar ages in dry sites. This has been attributed to: (1) the proneness to infection of young dead branches, and (2) the greater mortality of young branches in mesic sites. No difference was found between the two sites with respect to the pattern of air temperature and relative humidity. The moisture content of dead branches was influenced to a minor extent by site, but only after considerable rain had fallen did branch moisture reach a level favorable for infection by fungi. Although several species of imperfect fungi and bacteria infected aspen branches from 4 years following mortality, wood-destroying fungi, namely Corticium polygonium Pers. and Polyporus adustus (Willd.) Fr., did not appear until 7 and 8 years after the death of branches. After 19 years, decay of Fomes igniarius (L. ex Fr.) Kickx. occurred in branches only as lateral extensions of heartwood infection. The feasibility of artificial pruning to reduce the risk of heart rot infection in young aspen stands is discussed.

scholarly journals How Farmers Make Investment Decisions: Evidence from a Farmer Survey in China

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuangjin Wang ◽  
Yuan Tian ◽  
Xiaowei Liu ◽  
Maggie Foley
Keyword(s):  
Investment Decisions ◽  
Physical Capital ◽  
Multinomial Logit Model ◽  
Grain Production ◽  
Key Factors ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Output Elasticity ◽  
The Cost

Based on the grain production data hand collected in Mid-East China, a multinomial Logit model was employed to analyze factors that are critical to farmers’ investment decisions in food production. Reasonable explanations are provided to help understand differences between expected farmers’ investments in grain production and the actual results. It was found that the cost of machinery and the number of farmers is key factors affecting farmers’ willingness to adjust investment. Further research shows that most of the farmers who had the willingness to adjust investment did not implement the adjustments in the short-term. From the micro-adaptability expectation perspective, the time that it takes to adjust the planting area could explain farmers’ investment adjustment intention and the behavior. From the macro-investment perspective, short-term output elasticity of physical capital is less than long-term output elasticity. The differences between farmers’ willingness to invest and the actual results are therefore generated. These findings suggest that it is necessary to strengthen the application of big data technology in agriculture in order to improve the platforms’ efficiency in data releasing and reaching out to farmers to provide more accurate advice regarding investment adjustment.

Pallidal stimulation: an alternative to pallidotomy?

1997 ◽  
Vol 87 (5) ◽  
pp. 700-705 ◽  
Author(s):  
Volker M. Tronnier ◽  
Wolfgang Fogel ◽  
Martin Kronenbuerger ◽  
Sarah Steinvorth
Keyword(s):  
Lower Limbs ◽  
Drug Resistant ◽  
Success Rates ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pallidal Stimulation ◽  
Posteroventral Pallidotomy ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Patients Experience ◽  
Minor Extent

A resurgence of interest in the surgical treatment of Parkinson's disease (PD) came with the rediscovery of posteroventral pallidotomy by Laitinen in 1985. Laitinen's procedure improved most symptoms in drug-resistant PD, which engendered wide interest in the neurosurgical community. Another lesioning procedure, ventrolateral thalamotomy, has become a powerful alternative to stimulate the nucleus ventralis intermedius, producing high long-term success rates and low morbidity rates. Pallidal stimulation has not met with the same success. According to the literature pallidotomy improves the “on” symptoms of PD, such as dyskinesias, as well as the “off” symptoms, such as rigidity, bradykinesia, and on-off fluctuations. Pallidal stimulation improves bradykinesia and rigidity to a minor extent; however, its strength seems to be in improving levodopa-induced dyskinesias. Stimulation often produces an improvement in the hyper- or dyskinetic upper limbs, but increases the “freezing” phenomenon in the lower limbs at the same time. Considering the small increase in the patient's independence, the high costs of bilateral implants, and the difficulty most patients experience in handling the devices, the question arises as to whether bilateral pallidal stimulation is a real alternative to pallidotomy.

scholarly journals Structure and species as factors affecting the metabolism of some methoxy-6-sulphanilamidopyrimidines

1969 ◽  
Vol 111 (2) ◽  
pp. 167-172 ◽  
Author(s):  
J W Bridges ◽  
M. R. Kibby ◽  
S R Walker ◽  
R T Williams
Keyword(s):  
Rhesus Monkey ◽  
Main Metabolite ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Monkey Liver ◽  
Liver Homogenates ◽  
A Minor ◽  
Minor Extent ◽  
Made In

1. A comparative study was made in man, rhesus monkey, rat and rabbit of the urinary excretion of 2-, 4- and 5-methoxy- and 2,4-, 2,5- and 4,5-dimethoxy-6-sulphanilamidopyrimidines given orally. 2. In the rabbit, 70–80% of the dose of each drug was excreted in 2 days, mainly as N4-acetyl derivatives, except 2,5-dimethoxy-6-sulphanilamidopyrimidine, which was mainly excreted unchanged. 3. In the rat, 50–70% of the dose of each drug was excreted in 2 days, except the 2-methoxy and 2,4-dimethoxy compounds, whose excretion was about 30%. The N4-acetyl derivatives accounted for 20–70% of the drugs excreted, except the 2,5-dimethoxy derivative, which was excreted unchanged. 4. In the rhesus monkey, some 40–60% of the dose of the 2-methoxy, 2,4-dimethoxy and 2,5-dimethoxy compounds was excreted in 2 days, but the 4-methoxy, 5-methoxy and 4,5-dimethoxy compounds were excreted at less than half this rate. The 4-methoxy, 5-methoxy and 4,5-dimethoxy compounds were highly acetylated (80–90%) whereas the 2-methoxy compound was poorly acetylated (17%) and the 2,5-dimethoxy compound hardly at all. The major metabolite of the 2,4-dimethoxy compound in the monkey was the N1-glucuronide. 5. In man, 30% of the dose of the 4-methoxy and 2,4-dimethoxy compounds was excreted in 24 hr., whereas the 4,5-dimethoxy compound (Fanasil) was very slowly excreted (12% in 2 days). The 4-methoxy compound was well acetylated (65%), but the 2,4- and 4,5-dimethoxy compounds were not (20–30%). The main metabolite of the 2,4-dimethoxy compound in man was the N1-glucuronide. 6. N1-Glucuronide formation occurred extensively only with the 2,4-dimethoxy compound and only in man and the rhesus monkey. It did not occur in the rabbit and only to a minor extent in the rat. 7. The 2,5-dimethoxy compound was not significantly acetylated in vivo in the rabbit, rat or monkey, but acetylation occurred in vitro in rabbit or monkey liver homogenates. 8. These findings are discussed.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document