scholarly journals Ideas and perspectives: Synergies from co-deployment of negative emission technologies

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorben Amann ◽  
Jens Hartmann

Abstract. Numerous publications propose the deployment of negative emission technologies, which intend to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere with the goal to reach the 1.5° target as discussed by the IPCC. The increasing amount of scientific studies on the individual potential of different envisaged technologies and methods indicates, that no single method has enough capacities to mitigate the issue by itself. It is thus expected that technology portfolios are deployed. As some of them utilize the same environmental compartment, co-deployment effects are expected. Those effects are particularly important to evaluate with respect to additional CO2 uptake. Considering soils as one of the main affected compartments, we see a plethora of processes which can positively benefit from each other, canceling out negative side effects or increasing overall CO2 sequestration potentials. To derive more reliable estimates of negative emission potentials and to evaluate common effects on global carbon pools, it is now necessary to intensively study interrelated effects of negative emission technology deployment CO2 sequestration potentials while minimizing side effects.

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (15) ◽  
pp. 2949-2960 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thorben Amann ◽  
Jens Hartmann

Abstract. Numerous publications propose the deployment of negative emission technologies, which intend to actively remove CO2 from the atmosphere with the goal to reach the 1.5∘ target as discussed by the IPCC. The increasing number of scientific studies on the individual potential of different envisaged technologies and methods indicates that no single method has enough capacities to mitigate the issue by itself. It is thus expected that technology portfolios are deployed. As some of them utilize the same environmental compartment, co-deployment effects are expected. Those effects are particularly important to evaluate with respect to additional CO2 uptake. Considering soils as one of the main affected compartments, we see a plethora of processes which can positively benefit from each other, canceling out negative side effects or increasing overall CO2 sequestration potentials. To derive more reliable estimates of negative emission potentials and to evaluate common effects on global carbon pools, it is now necessary to intensively study interrelated effects of negative emission technology deployment while minimizing negative side effects.


Author(s):  
Jeanne Gaakeer

In chapter 7 the importance of insight into how metaphor works in law (“seeing resemblance” according to Ricoeur) is elaborated upon in relation to the legal professional’s development of practical wisdom. The chapter discusses how metaphoric insight is both cognitive and perceptual. It argues that the professional needs to develop his or her legal imagination to be able to perceive similarity in what is initially thought of as dissimilarity to bridge the gap between the generality of the legal rule and the particularity of the individual situation in the case at hand. The chapter also connects the topic of metaphor to an understanding the psychological phenomenon of cognitive dissonance and its negative side-effects such as the confirmation bias and belief perseverance as the obverse phenomena of what Coleridge called poetic faith, i.e. the ability to comprehend contraries and to deal with uncertainties before jumping to conclusions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 99 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 25-26
Author(s):  
Sterling H Fahey ◽  
Sarah West ◽  
John M Long ◽  
Carey Satterfield ◽  
Rodolfo C Cardoso

Abstract Gestational nutrient restriction causes epigenetic and phenotypic changes that affect multiple physiological processes in the offspring. Gonadotropes, the cells in the anterior pituitary that secrete luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), are particularly sensitive to nutritional changes during fetal development. Our objective herein was to investigate the effects of gestational nutrient restriction on LH protein content and number of gonadotropes in the fetal bovine pituitary. We hypothesized that moderate nutrient restriction during mid to late gestation decreases pituitary LH production, which is associated with a reduced number of gonadotropes. Embryos were produced in vitro with X-bearing semen from a single sire then split to generate monozygotic twins. Each identical twin was transferred to a virgin dam yielding four sets of female twins. At gestational d 158, the dams were randomly assigned into two groups, one fed 100% NRC requirements (control) and the other fed 70% of NRC requirements (restricted) during the last trimester of gestation, ensuring each pair of twins had one twin in each group. At gestational d 265, the fetuses (n = 4/group) were euthanized by barbiturate overdose, and the pituitaries were collected. Western blots were performed using an ovine LH-specific antibody (Dr. A.F. Parlow, NIDDK). The total LH protein content in the pituitary tended to be decreased in the restricted fetuses compared to controls (P < 0.10). However, immunohistochemistry analysis of the pituitary did not reveal any significant changes in the total number of LH-positive cells (control = 460±23 cells/0.5 mm2; restricted = 496±45 cells/0.5 mm2, P = 0.58). In conclusion, while maternal nutrient restriction during gestation resulted in a trend of reduced LH content in the fetal pituitary, immunohistological findings suggest that these changes are likely related to the individual potential of each gonadotrope to produce LH, rather than alterations in cell differentiation during fetal development.


Author(s):  
Ian Howard ◽  
Peter Cameron ◽  
Maaret Castrén ◽  
Lee Wallis ◽  
Veronica Lindström

ABSTRACT Background Quality Indicator (QI) appraisal protocols are a novel methodology that combines multiple appraisal methods to comprehensively assess the "appropriateness" of QIs for a particular healthcare setting. However, they remain inadequately explored compared to the single appraisal method approach. This paper aimed to describe and test a QI appraisal protocol versus the single method approach, against a series of QIs potentially relevant to the South African Prehospital Emergency Care setting. Methods An appraisal protocol was developed consisting of two categorical-based appraisal methods, combined with the qualitative analysis of the discussion generated during the consensus application of each method. The output of the protocol was assessed and compared with the application and output of each method. Inter-rater reliability of each particular method was evaluated prior to group consensus rating. Variation in the number of non-valid QIs and the proportion of non-valid QIs identified between each method and the protocol were compared and assessed. Results There was mixed IRR of the individual methods. There was similarly low to moderate correlation of the results obtained between the particular methods (Spearman’s rank correlation=0.42,p<0.001). From a series of 104 QIs, 11 non-valid QIs were identified that were shared between the individual methods. A further 19 non-valid QIs were identified and not shared by each method, highlighting the benefits of a multi-method approach. The outcomes were additionally evident in the group discussion analysis, which in and of itself added further input that would not have otherwise been captured by the individual methods alone. Conclusion The utilization of a multi-method appraisal protocol offers multiple benefits, when compared to the single appraisal approach, and can provide the confidence that the outcomes of the appraisal will ensure a strong foundation on which the QI framework can be successfully implemented.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1710
Author(s):  
Sylwia Cyboran-Mikołajczyk ◽  
Przemysław Sareło ◽  
Robert Pasławski ◽  
Urszula Pasławska ◽  
Magdalena Przybyło ◽  
...  

Liposomal technologies are used in order to improve the effectiveness of current therapies or to reduce their negative side effects. However, the liposome–erythrocyte interaction during the intravenous administration of liposomal drug formulations may result in changes within the red blood cells (RBCs). In this study, it was shown that phosphatidylcholine-composed liposomal formulations of Photolon, used as a drug model, significantly influences the transmembrane potential, stiffness, as well as the shape of RBCs. These changes caused decreasing the number of stomatocytes and irregular shapes proportion within the cells exposed to liposomes. Thus, the reduction of anisocytosis was observed. Therefore, some nanodrugs in phosphatidylcholine liposomal formulation may have a beneficial effect on the survival time of erythrocytes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1388
Author(s):  
Marta Malesza ◽  
Erich Wittmann

The main aim of this study was to investigate the various factors influencing COVID-19 vaccination acceptance and actual intake among older Germans aged over 75 years old (n = 1037). We found that the intention to get vaccinated or intake of the COVID-19 vaccine were positively related to the perceptions of becoming infected, perceptions of the severity of the potential long-term effects, the vaccine’s efficacy, and the benefits of vaccination. Meanwhile, the intention to get the vaccine or vaccine intake were decreased by perceptions of the negative side-effects and the general impediments to vaccination.


2021 ◽  
pp. 2046147X2110140
Author(s):  
Roumen Dimitrov

In this paper I analyse a series of Australian MMR (measles-mumpsrubella) vaccination campaigns and policies from the last decade. Using the Bruno Latour’s Actor Network Theory (ATN), I locate human and non-human mediators – including the virus and vaccine – in the complex pro-vaccination alliance led by government campaigners. I identify the vaccine hesitant parents – a large group that ‘sits on the fence’ between the ‘vaccine confident’ and ‘vaccine refusing’ parents – as the main target of pro-vaccination campaigns. PR literature on pro-vaccination campaigns has applied ATN to the independence of the media as network agents. This paper contributes with the problematisation of several more actors such as the health workers, medical experts and the vaccine hesitant parents themselves. Even when they are keen members of a pro-vaccination network, they cannot be taken for granted. This is where understanding of stigma, silence and voice helps. To align their group interests and discourses, government should know how to communicate strategically – including how to communicate indirectly, avoiding stigma and keeping certain internal affinities and communicative distances intact. In conclusion, I make suggestions about strategic communication in pro-vaccination campaigns. Communication of statistical risks and side effects should be central. It is a winning strategy because it establishes a more credible balance between individual rights and collective obligations in achieving herd immunity. And mandating vaccination cannot replace communication. Research shows that legislating compulsory vaccination may have short-term and relatively small effects. They are almost negligible in the long run. Mandate may trigger compliance, but it also causes anger and mistrust. Mandating vaccine has negative side effects. It punishes with economic and cultural sanctions the socially disadvantaged, who are not active refusers. It also has the opposite effect on vaccine hesitant parents. It does not weaken but rather strengthens their resistance to the vaccine and pushes them to the lager of antivaxxers.


2021 ◽  
Vol 167 (3-4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariane Wenger ◽  
Michael Stauffacher ◽  
Irina Dallo

AbstractLimiting global warming to 1.5 °C requires negative emission technologies (NETs), which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and permanently store it to offset unavoidable emissions. Successful large-scale deployment of NETs depends not only on technical, biophysical, ecological, and economic factors, but also on public perception and acceptance. However, previous studies on this topic have been scarce. In 2019, Switzerland adopted a net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 target, which will require the use of NETs. To examine the current Swiss public perception and acceptance of five different NETs, we conducted an online survey with Swiss citizens (N = 693). By using a between-subjects design, we investigated differences in public opinion, perception, and acceptance across three of the most used frames in the scientific literature — technological fix, moral hazard, and climate emergency. Results showed that the public perception and acceptance of NETs does not differ between the frames. The technological fix frame best reflected participants’ opinion, whereas participants perceived the moral hazard frame the least credible and the climate emergency frame the most unclear. Moreover, our findings confirm the public’s unfamiliarity with NETs. We found no strong opposition, as participants indicated a moderate acceptance and a neutral evaluation of all five NETs, with afforestation standing out as the most accepted and positively evaluated NET. We conclude that, in the future, the public debate on NETs should be intensified, and the public perception should be monitored regularly to inform the development of NETs.


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