The Energy and Environmental Benefits of Superconducting Power Products

Superconductivity has the potential to bring a more fundamental change to electric power technologies than has occurred since electricity use became widespread nearly a century ago. The potential is for an energy revolution as profound as the impact fiber optics has had on communications. The fiber optic ‘information superhighway’ was constructed by replacing copper wires with a higher capacity alternative. Superconductivity provides an ‘energy superhighway’ that greatly improves efficiency and capacity. The economic and energy impacts of superconductors are predicted to be huge. Many challenges are being addressed in order for superconductivity to play this important role in the electric power system. The difficult challenge is underway in many countries to manufacture electrical wire from the ceramic high-temperature superconducting (HTS) materials, while in parallel, super-efficient power devices that use these wires are being designed and demonstrated in field trials. The benefits can be substantial: HTS wires that are a resistance-free alternative to conventional wires while carrying 100 times the amount of electricity; oil-free electrical equipment that is environmentally benign, with half the energy losses and half the size of conventional alternatives; and addressable markets estimated to exceed US$10 billion per annum within the next two decades. The savings due to increased efficiency of HTS electric power products may exceed 36 million metric tons of CO₂ in Japan, and much higher numbers in the U.S. and Europe, if generation continues to rely upon fossil fuels.     

Mid-trimester fetal sex determination from maternal peripheral blood by fluorescence in situ hybridization without enrichment of fetal cells

To determine the fetal sex on 30 women who were 16–20 weeks pregnant, about 100 000 maternal blood nucleated cells were analysed by means of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) with a Y-chromosome-specific DNA probe. Cells with the hybridization signal were detected in 12 of the 30 women. All the 12 mothers gave birth to a male child. Of the other 18 women who had no Y-positive cells in the peripheral blood, 14 gave birth to a female child and four gave birth to a male child. These false-negative results probably occurred because the number of cells examined was inadequate. The data obtained in this study suggest that fetal sex determination using maternal peripheral blood with FISH is possible and that this diagnostic method will be clinically useful when more cells are analysed.     

Reproduction and recruitment of scleractinian corals in a high-latitude coral community, Amakusa, southwestern Japan

Reproduction and recruitment in high-latitude coral populations in Japan have been little studied. A comprehensive study of the reproduction and early life history was conducted on nine common scleractinian coral species in Amakusa, southwestern Japan (32°N) from 2001 to 2003 including; (1) fecundity (the proportion of colonies with mature eggs), (2) timing and synchrony of spawning, (3) initial larval settlement pattern, (4) recruitment, (5) post-settlement mortality. The fecundity was high (76.7–100%) in six of seven species examined in 2002 and 2003. Annual spawning of the seven species occurred from mid July to August in 2001–2003, when seawater temperature was at the annual maximum. Spawning was highly synchronised among conspecific colonies and species in 2002 and 2003, with five species spawning five to nine nights after the full moon and another two spawning around the new moon. Temporal patterns of larval settlement of three spawning species during the first 10 days after spawning were similar to those of other spawning species from low latitudes. The number of scleractinian recruits on settlement plates, deployed from July to October (the major recruitment period at the study site), was low (2 recruits/m²) for the three consecutive years. Post-settlement mortality of 1–1.5 month old spat of five species ranged between 88 and 100% over 3–10 months in the field, similar to the values reported for both high and low latitude species (>94–99%). Among the key stages examined, the low recruitment rate may be the most important step in limiting successful reproduction and recruitment of these high-latitude scleractinian populations. The low recruitment rate may be attributable to (1) the reduced influx of larval supply from other coral populations, which are smaller and more isolated at high-latitudes and (2) the longer precompetent larval phase of broadcast-spawning corals which results in an increased chance of larvae being dispersed away from parent populations.     

Social system and reproduction of helpers in a cooperatively breeding cichlid fish (Julidochromis ornatus) in Lake Tanganyika: field observations and parentage analyses

It is suggested that some fish of the genus Julidochromis, substrate-brooding Tanganyikan cichlids with biparental care, breed cooperatively with helpers. We studied the social system of J. ornatus in the wild and analysed genetic parentage using microsatellites. Within the studied population three patterns of social system were identified: monogamous pairs (61%, 44 of 72 groups), pairs with helpers (29%, 21), and polygamous harems with helpers (controlled by either a large female or large male owner; 10%, 7). In cooperatively breeding groups, the number of helpers at each nest ranged from 1 to 6 (median 1), and male helpers were more numerous than female helpers. In both sexes, the body size was different among individuals of different social status (harem owner > breeder > helper). Helpers and harem owners of both sexes exhibited brood defence although its frequency was low. The molecular analysis revealed that (1) the helpers were mostly unrelated to dominant breeders, (2) many helpers of both sexes contributed genetically to the next generations, (3) male helpers had high siring success (41% of young in total), and (4) large young unrelated to group members were detected at 30% of observed nests, which may be due to breeder (or helper) replacements and immigration of young. We discuss the implications of these results for understanding the complex social system of this species, especially the low reproductive skew in comparison with other cooperatively breeding cichlids.     

Groundwater-dependent irrigation costs and benefits for adaptation to global change

The effects of a 1.5 °C global change on irrigation costs and carbon emissions in a groundwater-dependent irrigation system were assessed in the northwestern region of Bangladesh and examined at the global scale to determine possible global impacts and propose necessary adaptation measures. Downscaled climate projections were obtained from an ensemble of eight general circulation models (GCMs) for three representative concentration pathways (RCPs), RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5 and were used to generate the 1.5 °C warming scenarios. A water balance model was used to estimate irrigation demand, a support vector machine (SVM) model was used to simulate groundwater levels, an energy-use model was used to estimate carbon emissions from the irrigation pump, and a multiple linear regression (MLR) model was used to simulate the irrigation costs. The results showed that groundwater levels would likely drop by only 0.03 to 0.4 m under a 1.5 °C temperature increase, which would result in an increase in irrigation costs and carbon emissions ranging from 11.14 to 148.4 Bangladesh taka (BDT) and 0.3 to 4% CO₂ emissions/ha, respectively, in northwestern Bangladesh. The results indicate that the impacts of climate change on irrigation costs for groundwater-dependent irrigation would be negligible if warming is limited to 1.5 °C; however, increased emissions, up to 4%, from irrigation pumps can have a significant impact on the total emissions from agriculture. This study revealed that similar impacts from irrigation pumps worldwide would result in an increase in carbon emissions by 4.65 to 65.06 thousand tons, based only on emissions from groundwater-dependent rice fields. Restricting groundwater-based irrigation in regions where the groundwater is already vulnerable, improving irrigation efficiency by educating farmers and enhancing pump efficiency by following optimum pumping guidelines can mitigate the impacts of climate change on groundwater resources, increase farmers’ profits, and reduce carbon emissions in regions with groundwater-dependent irrigation.     

Genome size of termites (Insecta, Dictyoptera, Isoptera) and wood roaches (Insecta, Dictyoptera, Cryptocercidae)

The evolution of genome size has been discussed in relation to the evolution of various biological traits. In the present study, the genome sizes of 22 dictyopteran species were estimated by Feulgen image analysis densitometry and 6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI)-based flow cytometry. The haploid genome sizes (C-values) of termites (Isoptera) ranged from 0.58 to 1.90 pg, and those of Cryptocercus wood roaches (Cryptocercidae) were 1.16 to 1.32 pg. Compared to known values of other cockroaches (Blattaria) and mantids (Mantodea), these values are low. A relatively small genome size appears to be a (syn)apomorphy of Isoptera + Cryptocercus, together with their sociality. In some phylogenetic groups, genome size evolution is thought to be influenced by selective pressure on a particular trait, such as cell size or rate of development. The present results raise the possibility that genome size is influenced by selective pressures on traits associated with the evolution of sociality.     

Degradation of Reactive Yellow 86 with photo-Fenton process driven by solar light

The decolorization of Reactive Yellow 86(RY 86),one of reactive azo dyes,was investigated in the presence of Fenton reagent under solar light irradiation.The decolorization rate was strongly influenced by pH,initial concentrations of H 2 O 2 and Fe(II),and so on.An initial concentration of 40 mg/L was decolored more than 90% after 20 min under optimum conditions.The activation energy of the solar photo-Fenton reaction was 1.50 kJ/mol for RY 86 in the temperature range of 10-60°C.In the kinetic study,the rate constant of RY 86 with OH· radicals could be estimated to be 1.7 × 10 10 L/(mol·sec).The decolorization efficiency of RY 86 under solar light irradiation was comparable to the artificial light irradiation.The decrease of TOC as a result of mineralization of RY 86 was observed during photo-Fenton process.The rate of RY 86 mineralization was about 83% under UV irradiation after 24 hr.The formation of chloride,sulfate,nitrate and ammonium ions as end-products was observed during the photocatalytic process.The decomposition of RY 86 gave two kinds of intermediate products.The degradation mechanism of RY 86 was proposed on the base of the identified intermediates.     

Evaluation of renewable energy policies in Turkey with sectoral electricity demand forecasting

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - Energy is an essential requirement for sustainable development, society, and the world. Turkey has been trying to increase the use of renewable...