A Transnational Perspective on Extending NEPA: The Convention on Environmental Impact on Assessment in a Transboundary Context

Introduction In recent years, the potential adverse impacts of transboundary pollution have received heightened attention both domestically and abroad. 1 International pollution may detrimentally affect outer space, the atmosphere, the oceans, the weather, and possibly the climate, freshwater bodies, groundwater aquifers, farmland, cultural heritage, and life forms. 2 Specific pollution threats include acid deposition, nuclear contamination, debris in outer space, stratospheric ozone depletion, and toxic petroleum spills. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, on April 26, 1986, raised the world\u27s consciousness about the potentially devastating effects of transboundary nuclear pollution. 3 Given this backdrop and the emerging interdependence of nations, particularly within the European Economic Community, it is not surprising that the United States, later joined by twenty-five other countries, signed the Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (hereinafter the Convention ) at Espoo, Finland on February 25, 1991. 4 Among its provisions, the Convention establishes legal procedures for bilateral and multilateral protests against future sources of transboundary pollution. 5 The Convention also establishes a transboundary environmental impact assessment process similar to the process implemented under the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), which is the first national environmental impact assessment law passed by the U.S. government. 6 However, three years have passed since the United States signed the Convention, and it still has not been formally adopted. 7 Consequently, questions about its legal basis remain. This Article examines issues relating to the implementation and enforceability of the Convention in the United States ..

Trees, forests and jungles: a botanical garden for cluster expansions

Combinatoric formulas for cluster expansions have been improved many times over the years. Here we develop some new combinatoric proofs and extensions of the tree formulas of Brydges and Kennedy, and test them on a series of pedagogical examples.Comment: 37 pages, Ecole Polytechnique A-325.099

Motivation and Performance, Blog 1

Student blog posts from the Great VCU Bike Race Book

Recent advancement of turbulent flow measurement techniques

Advancements of the fluctuating density gradient cross beam laser Schlieren technique, the fluctuating line-reversal temperature measurement and the development of the two-dimensional drag-sensing probe to a three-dimensional drag-sensing probe are discussed. The three-dimensionality of the instantaneous momentum vector can shed some light on the nature of turbulence especially with swirling flow. All three measured fluctuating quantities (density, temperature, and momentum) can provide valuable information for theoreticians

Modulation of 5-Aminolevulinic acid mediated photodynamic therapy induced cell death in a human lung adenocarcinoma cell line

Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a cancer treatment involving the administration of a photosensitising drug which selectively accumulates in tumor tissue, followed by irradiation with appropriate wavelength light. It triggers photochemical reactions inducing reactive oxygen species (ROS) production with the consequent cellular damage, which ultimately leads to cell death. Porphyrins are the only photosensitizers (PSs) endogenously synthesized by means of administration of the biological precursor, 5- aminolevulinic acid (ALA). Several antioxidants and ROS scavenger agents: reduced glutathione (GSH), mannitol (Man), l-tryptophan (Trp), ascorbate (Asc) and trolox (Trx), were assayed to determine their ability to modulate ALA-based PDT (ALA-PDT); it was performed on A549 human lung adenocarcinoma cells, by incubating with 1mM ALA for 3 hr and followed by irradiation with or without 1 hr pre-incubation with the modulators. They were previously tested for possible cytotoxicity/ photoactivity in concentrations ranging from 0.01 to 20 mM. The ratio between cell survival after ALA-PDT in the presence and in the absence of the scavenger agent (protection grade: PG) was determined, and the concentration showing no cytotoxicity/ photoactivity and providing the highest PG was used in the subsequent experiments. ALA-PDT alone induced a high percentage of apoptotic cell death (98.4 ± 3.5%) as revealed by acridine orange/ethidium bromide staining and AnnexinV-FITC/propidium iodide labelling. Pre-incubation with the modulators at their highest PG concentration significantly reduced apoptotic cells to 48.3 ± 2.7% (Asc), 58.8 ± 4.2 (Trx), 78.5 ± 3.1% (GSH), 64.3 ± 1.6% (Man), 74.6 ± 2.3% (Trp). ROS involvement in early cell death induction after ALA-PDT was tested by flow cytometry using the fluorescent probes dihydro-dichlorofluorescein diacetate (H2-DCFDA) and methoxyvinylpyrene (MVP) for detection of peroxides and singlet oxygen, respectively. ROS production increased after ALA-PDT (H2-DCFDA positive cells, control: 1.1 ± 0.1 %; 10 min-PDT: 69.3 ± 5.6%; MVP positive cells, control: 0.65 ± 0.35%; 10 min-PDT: 83.5 ± 1.9%). Asc prevented peroxide formation (H2-DCFDA positive cells: 50.7 ± 2.8%) and mostly prevented singlet oxygen increase (MVP positive cells: 25.4 ± 5.2%) whereas Trx limited peroxides formation (H2-DCFDA positive cells: 20.8 ± 0.5%), but did not significantly affected singlet oxygen production (MVP positive cells: 73.6 ± 3.4%). Selective scavenger mediated protection against PDT-induced cell death, and direct detection of specific pro-oxidative agents, entail the strong involvement of ROS in ALA-PDT-mediated tumor eradication, suggesting that undesired photodamage to normal tissue might be attenuated by administration of antioxidant agents.Fil: Teijo, Maria Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Diez, Berenice Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Battle, A.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Hospital de Clínicas General San Martín; ArgentinaFil: Fukuda, Haydee. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Centro de Investigaciones sobre Porfirinas y Porfirias; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Química Biológica; Argentin

Feelings of Belonging: An Exploratory Analysis of the Sociopolitical Involvement of Black, Latina, and Asian/Pacific Islander Sexual Minority Women

This article compares and contrasts the sociopolitical involvement of Black, Latina, and Asian/Pacific Islander American sexual minority women within lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities of color. For the analysis, a sample of over 1,200 women from the Social Justice Sexuality project was analyzed. Findings indicate that, for all groups of women, feelings of connectedness to the LGBT community was the most significant predictor of sociopolitical involvement within LGBT communities of color

Connectedness and the Sociopolitical Involvement of Same-Gender-Loving Black Men

Employing a national sample of over 800 same-gender-loving black men, we explore the relative impact of community-level support/comfort and the importance of sexual orientation and racial identity on two dependent variables—sociopolitical involvement within lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) communities and sociopolitical involvement within people of color (POC) communities. Findings indicate that feelings of connectedness to LBGT communities is the most important predictor of sociopolitical involvement within both LGBT and POC communities; while, counterintuitively, being comfortable within the LGBT community had a negative impact on the sociopolitical involvement of these men. Further, the impact of the importance of identity was negligible