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The energy transition and associated objectives like climate change mitigation, economic efficiency, social acceptance and security of supply require technologies that are sustainable. With the help of a Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA), such a holistic evaluation of energy technologies can be carried out. This in itself is very complex, since criteria of the different sustainability dimensions have to be compiled and integrated to give an overall result. However, LCSA often only considers the current development status of technologies and not their potential future developments. Particularly in the case of emerging technologies, possible future improvements or even negative impacts may occur in the course of technology development, which could significantly change the initial LCSA results. An early consideration of future developments of technologies in the context of so-called prospective LCSA is therefore highly relevant, but also of high complexity and associated with uncertainties. We evaluated how this complex topic of prospectivity has been dealt with in the LCSA community so far by conducting a literature review. Focusing on LCSA of energy technologies, we present our findings related to commonly used prospective methods and data, the underling motivation of their application as well as research gaps and potentials for further development.

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The Iberian Pyrite Belt (SW Spain) is a highly relevant source of Acid Mine Drainage contamination on a global scale. Although the Tinto and Odiel Rivers, which cross the Iberian Pyrite Belt, have been widely studied by various authors, an issue is still pending: the study of the metal load distribution undergone by each of these rivers and, hence, the establishment of cause-effect relationships between the transported load in the final sections of both rivers, upstream of the tidal influence limits, and the characteristics of the input in each of the basins. To solve this, a water sampling campaign was conducted on both rivers on a daily basis from mid September 2007 to the end of May 2008, where pH, conductivity, redox potential, As, Cd, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn and sulfate were analyzed. The results were treated with the PreFurGe tool, which is based on Fuzzy Logic. This showed that the order of abundance for the parameters analyzed for the Odiel River is SO>Zn>Mn>Fe>Cu>Cd>As, whereas for the Tinto River it is SO>Fe>Cu>Zn>Mn>Cd>As. This last pattern coincides with the order of abundance of elements in Pyrite. In the Tinto River, the metal with the highest rate is Fe, which presents mean values of 361.1 mg/L, whereas in the Odiel River iron mean concentration is 5.34 mg/L. This difference is due to higher precipitation of oxyhydroxysulfates of iron in the Odiel River as a result of the higher intensity of neutralization processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents a nonlinear goal programming model with binary variables used to plan the management of a tree plantation, taking economic and environmental objectives into account. The aims are to stay within the limits of a given harvesting volume, limit the age of basic units targeted for clearcutting, obtain a forest with a balanced age distribution, and surpass the minimum net present value set at each planning period. This has to be achieved bearing in mind technical restrictions regarding treatments, and spatial adjacency constraints that limit the maximum adjacent surface area to which clearcutting can be applied. The outcome is a highly complex problem that is solved by applying a metaheuristic method based on Scatter Search. The proposed model has been validated by applying it to a Cuban plantation located in the region of Pinar del Río. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to determine the litterfall production and macronutrient (Ca, K, Mg, N, and P) deposition through leaf litter in four sites with different types of vegetation. Site one (Bosque Escuela) was located at 1600 m a.s.l. in a pine forest mixed with deciduous trees, second site (Crucitas at 550 m a.s.l.) in the ecotone of a Quercus spp. forest and the Tamaulipan thornscrub and third and fourth sites (Campus at 350 m a.s.l. and Cascajoso at 300 m a.s.l., respectively) were in the Tamaulipan thornscrub. Litter constituents (leaves, reproductive structures, twigs, and miscellaneous residues) were collected at 15-day intervals from December 21, 2006, throughout December 20, 2007. Collections were carried out in ten litter traps (1.0 × 1.0 m) randomly situated at each site of approximately 2,500 m. Total annual litterfall deposition was 4407, 7397, 6304, and 6527 kg ha y for Bosque Escuela, Crucitas, Campus and Cascajoso, respectively. Of total annual litter production, leaves were higher varying from 74 (Bosque Escuela) to 86% (Cascajoso) followed by twigs from 4 (Cascajoso) to 14% (Crucitas), reproductive structures from 6 (Bosque Escuela) to 10% (Crucitas), and miscellaneous litterfall from <1 (Campus) to 12% (Bosque Escuela). The Ca annual deposition was significantly higher in Cascajoso (232.7 kg ha y), followed by Campus (182.3), Crucitas (130.5) and Bosque Escuela (30.3). The K (37.5, 32.5, 24.8, 7.2, respectively), Mg (22.6, 17.7, 13.7, 4.5, respectively) followed the same pattern as Ca. However, N was higher in Campus (85.8) followed by Crucitas (85.1), Cascajoso (68.3), and Bosque Escuela (18.3). The P was higher in Campus and Crucitas (4.0) followed by Cascajoso (3.4) and Bosque Escuela (1.4). On an annual basis for all sites, the order of nutrient deposition through leaf litter was Ca > N> K > Mg > P, whereas on site basis of total nutrient deposition (Ca + N + K + Mg + P), the order was Cascajoso > Campus > Crucitas > Bosque Escuela. Ca, K, Mg, N, and P nutrient use efficiency values in leaf litter were higher in Bosque Escuela, while lower figures were acquired in Cascajoso and Crucitas sites. It seems that the highest litterfall deposition was found in the ecotone of a Quercus spp. forest and the Tamaulipan thornscrub; however, the Tamaulipan thornscrub vegetation alone had better leaf litter nutrient return. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The oxidation of sulfide minerals generates acid waters containing high concentrations of sulfates, metals and metalloids. The overriding chemical mechanism of AMD has now been reasonably well understood, although accurate assessment or prediction of its ecological impact are still difficult due to the complexity of the processes involved. The main objective of this work is to characterize the behavior of As conditioned by the presence of other elements which are characteristic of AMD pollution, both in the generating milieu, and in the receiving milieu of the Tinto river, and thus to be able to establish the differences in behavior at both sites by using a fuzzy computer tool. The extremely low As values are due to different circumstances at each sampling site: the pH in generating milieu may reach extremely high values while in receiving milieu it does not rise above medium–high values. The differences remain for extremely high As values, proving very much conditioned by the temperature in the generating milieu and only compatible with extremely high values for this, while in the receiving milieu it has barely any influence. It is the redox potential especially that presents a more pronounced difference, while in generating milieu it can have any value except extremely high and low, in receiving milieu we only find extremely low and very concentrated values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: The transcriptome of the endometrium throughout the menstrual cycle has been described in recent years. However, the proteomic of the window of implantation remains unknown. The aim of this study was to compare the proteome of the human endometrium in the pre-receptive phase versus the receptive phase by identifying and quantifying the proteins differentially expressed using differential in-gel electrophoresis (DIGE) and mass spectometry (MS). [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: This paper analyzes how traditional regulation of distribution system operators (DSO) has to be improved to accommodate higher levels of distributed generation (DG). In addition, new economic signals to be given to DG operators for system efficient integration are proposed. Regulatory improvements at the European level are recommended. Recommendations are centered on schemes for DSO revenue compensation to consider incremental network costs due to DG, distribution network planning integrating DG, and DSO incentives for improving network performance with active integration of DG. Regarding DG economic signals, recommendations are focused on the design of DG connection and use-of-system charges, the revision of current DG support mechanisms based on flat feed-in tariffs, and the provision of ancillary services by DG for network voltage management, power flow controls and islanding. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

A virtual reality tool, called VirSSPA, was developed to optimize the planning of surgical processes. Segmentation algorithms for Computed Tomography (CT) images: a region growing procedure was used for soft tissues and a thresholding algorithm was implemented to segment bones. The algorithms operate semiautomati- cally since they only need seed selection with the mouse on each tissue segmented by the user. The novelty of the paper is the adaptation of an enhancement method based on histogram thresholding applied to CT images for surgical planning, which simplifies subsequent segmentation. A substantial improvement of the virtual reality tool VirSSPA was obtained with these algorithms. VirSSPA was used to optimize surgical planning, to decrease the time spent on surgical planning and to improve operative results. The success rate increases due to surgeons being able to see the exact extent of the patient’s ailment. This tool can decrease operating room time, thus resulting in reduced costs. Virtual simulation was effective for optimizing surgical planning, which could, consequently, result in improved outcomes with reduced costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The thermal-hydraulic stability of a uniformly heated channel at supercritical water pressure has been investigated to help understand the system instability phenomena which may occur in supercritical water nuclear reactors (SCWRs). We have extended the modeling approach often used for the stability analysis of phase change systems to supercritical pressure operation conditions and have developed rigorous new non-dimensional groups for the stability maps. We have also shown that while density-wave oscillations (DWO) can occur, Ledinegg excursive instabilities and pressure drop oscillations (PDO) will not occur in supercritical water systems. The linear stability characteristics of a typical uniformly heated channel were computed by evaluating the eigenvalues of a one-dimensional model. An analysis of non-linear instability phenomena was also performed in the time domain and the dynamic bifurcations were evaluated. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Deals with a study which dealt with the development of a goal programming model to examine the possibility of decreasing the length of stay on the waiting list of a hospital that belongs to the Spanish Health Service. Description and formulation of the model; Groups of model constraints; Description of the Trauma service.