La lithotritie par laser, un regard vers l'avenir? [Lithotripsy with a laser, a look toward the future?]

In the last few years the treatment of urinary calculi has been dramatically transformed by new endoscopic methods and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. Laser lithotripsy is in keeping with this evolution. After a short description of the principle of laser lithotripsy, a prototype pulsed dye laser lithotriptor, developed by the Centre d'applications laser, Ecole polytechnique federale de Lausanne, is presented. This device is compared with other lasers proposed for the same application

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOGISTICS PERFORMANCE AND EDUCATION

Logistics occupations require skills that involve blue- and white-collar activities and different levels of educational skills. With the increase in global trade and competition, the varying skills necessary for different parts of the logistics sector have attracted attention. In this regard, this empirical study examines the relationship between logistics performance indicators and education assessment scores and identifies associations. The presented results, by using canonical correlation analysis, indicate that certain education assessment scores contribute more to improving logistics performance than do other variables. The variables that influence logistics performance are also highlighted

A multi-scale life-cycle energy and greenhouse-gas emissions analysis model for residential buildings

Current assessments of residential building energy demand focus mainly on their operational aspect, notably in terms of space heating and cooling. The embodied energy of buildings and the transport energy consumption of their occupants are typically overlooked. Recent studies have shown that these two energy demands can represent more than half of the life-cycle energy of a building over 50 years. This study presents a holistic model and software tool which take into account energy requirements at the building scale, i.e. the embodied and operational energy of the building and its refurbishment, and at the urban scale, i.e. the embodied energy of nearby infrastructures (roads, power lines, etc.) and the transport energy (direct and indirect) of its occupants. All associated greenhouse-gas emissions are also quantified. A case study, located near Melbourne, Australia, confirms that each of the embodied, operational and transport requirements is nearly equally significant. Embodied and transport energy consumptions represent on average 63% of the life-cycle energy and 60% of the life-cycle greenhouse-gas emissions. The developed holistic model provides building designers, planners and decision-makers with a powerful means to reduce the overall energy consumption and associated greenhouse-gas emissions of residential buildings.SCOPUS: ar.jinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishe

Carbon storage potential of harvested wood: summary and policy implications

Carbon sequestration, Greenhouse gas emissions, Harvested wood products, Offsets, Life-cycle assessment,