Life cycle assessment of municipal solid waste management in Nottingham, England: Past and future perspectives

Since the enforcement of the EU Landfill Directive, EU waste directives were successively enforced in EU member states to facilitate the establishment of sustainable MSW management. Various changes have been made in England to reduce the global impact of its MSW management, but the effectiveness of these changes on mitigating the global warming potential (GWP) from MSW management has never been investigated in detail. This study assessed the historical GWP of MSW management in Nottingham throughout the period from April 2001 to March 2017 through life cycle assessment (LCA). The LCA results indicate continuous reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from MSW management during the study period due to improvements in waste collection, treatment and material recycling, as well as waste prevention. These improvements resulted in a net reduction of GHG emission from 1076.0 kg CO2–eq./t of MSW (or 498.2 kg CO2–eq./Ca) in 2001/02 to 211.3 kg CO2–eq./t of MSW (or 76.3 kg CO2–eq./Ca) in 2016/17. A further reduction to −142.3 kg CO2–eq./t of MSW (or −40.2 kg CO2–eq./Ca) could be achieved by separating food waste from incinerated waste, treating organic waste via anaerobic digestion and by pretreating incinerated waste in a material recovery facility

Review of diagnostic tests for detection of mycobacterium bovis infection in South African wildlife

CITATION: Bernitz N, Kerr TJ, Goosen WJ, Chileshe J, Higgitt RL, Roos EO, Meiring C, Gumbo R, de Waal C, Clarke C, Smith K, Goldswain S, Sylvester TT, Kleynhans L, Dippenaar A, Buss PE, Cooper DV, Lyashchenko KP, Warren RM, van Helden PD, Parsons SDC and Miller MA (2021) Review of Diagnostic Tests for Detection of Mycobacterium bovis Infection in South African Wildlife. Front. Vet. Sci. 8:588697. doi.10.3389/fvets.2021.588697The original publication is available at: frontiersin.orgWildlife tuberculosis is a major economic and conservation concern globally. Bovine tuberculosis (bTB), caused byMycobacteriumbovis (M. bovis), is themost common form of wildlife tuberculosis. In South Africa, to date, M. bovis infection has been detected in 24 mammalian wildlife species. The identification of M. bovis infection in wildlife species is essential to limit the spread and to control the disease in these populations, sympatric wildlife species and neighboring livestock. The detection of M. bovis-infected individuals is challenging as only severely diseased animals show clinical disease manifestations and diagnostic tools to identify infection are limited. The emergence of novel reagents and technologies to identify M. bovis infection in wildlife species are instrumental in improving the diagnosis and control of bTB. This review provides an update on the diagnostic tools to detect M. bovis infection in South African wildlife but may be a useful guide for other wildlife species.Publisher’s versio

Current benzodiazepine issues

This article deals with some of the recent evidence bearing on the issues of the liability of benzodiazepines to lead to abuse, dependence, and adverse behavioral effects. Reviews of epidemiological, clinical and experimental literature indicated that the previous conclusion about abuse of these drugs still holds: the vast majority of the use of benzodiazepines is appropriate. Problems of nonmedical use arise nearly exclusively among people who abuse other drugs. Nevertheless, there are reasons for concern about patients who take benzodiazepines regularly for long periods of time. These drugs can produce physiological dependence when taken chronicaly, and although this does not appear to result in dose escalation or other evidence of “psychological dependence,” physiological dependence can result in patient discomfort if drug use is abruptly discontiniued. Also, physicians are currently prescribing shorter-acting benzodiazepines in preference to longer-acting benzodiazepines. The shorter-acting drugs can produce a more intense withdrawal syndrome following chronic administration. Furthermore, rates of use of benzodiazepines increase with age, and elderly patients are more likely than younger ones to take the drug chronically. The clearest adverse effect of benzodiazepines is impairment of memory. This, too, may be particular concern in older patients whose recall in the absence of drug is typically impaired relative to younger individuals, and who are more compromised following drug administration.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46347/1/213_2005_Article_BF02245824.pd

Land degradation, conservation and globalization: a Mediterranean perspective LOCAL ENVIRONMENTS, SUSTAINABILITY AND GLOBAL TRADES: THEORETICAL ISSUES LAND DEGRADATION, CONSERVATION AND GLOBALIZATION: A MEDITERRANEAN PERSPECTIVE

To cite th is article / Pou r citer cet article ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT The era of globalization poses new challenges to the sustainable use of soil and water as rapid population growth, expansion of urban areas and creation of new markets, both local and afar, elevate production demand and expectations on the fragile soils. One of the main objectives of the Concerted Action has been to co-ordinate research efforts on the sustainable use of soil and water at the interface between urbanization, agriculture and tourism. But how have existing attempts to manage soil and water resources faired? The paper explores the conflicts between the control of land use for the sustainable use of soil and water and the pressure for land use change exerted by opportunities in the globalizing economy. Promoting sustainable use of soil and water is a difficult task in the Mediterranean environments as it requires a sound basis for the scientific judgement of sustainability, alternatives to market controls on land use decisions and effective dissemination of appropriate measures and technologies