Game theory approach to the analysis of inter-plant water integration in an eco-industrial park

Industrial water conservation is an important adaptation to the effects of climate change. In addition to water conservation within individual plants, wastewater can be reused/recycled among different companies through inter-plant water integration (IPWI) schemes. Such schemes are based on the concept of industrial ecology and industrial symbiosis, and can be used to achieve greater water savings than when water conservation is implemented in individual companies separately. However, in IPWI, each participating company seeks to maximise its own benefits. In the absence of centralised authority dictating the terms of water integration schemes, conventional modelling techniques are not appropriate. This paper shows how a game theory-based approach can be used to analyse the interaction of participating companies in an eco-industrial park seeking to develop an IPWI scheme.     

Constrained additive ordination

For several decades now, ecologists have sought to determine the shape of species' response curves and how they are distributed along unknown underlying gradients, environmental latent variables, or ordination axes. Its determination has important implications for both continuum theory and community analysis because many theories and models in community ecology assume that responses are symmetric and unimodal. This article proposes a major new technique called constrained additive ordination (CAO) that solves this problem by computing the optimal gradients and flexible response curves. It allows ecologists to see the response curves as they really are, against the dominant gradients. With one gradient, CAO is a generalization of constrained quadratic ordination (CQO; formerly called canonical Gaussian ordination or CGO). It supplants symmetric bell-shaped response curves in CQO with completely flexible smooth curves. The curves are estimated using smoothers such as the smoothing spline. Loosely speaking, CAO models are generalized additive models (GAMs) fitted to a very small number of latent variables. Being data driven rather than model driven, CAO allows the data to "speak for itself" and does not make any of the assumptions made by canonical correspondence analysis. The new methodology is illustrated with a hunting spider data set and a New Zealand tree species data set.     

Pathogen survival in swine manure environments and transmission of human enteric illness--a review

The influence of zoonotic pathogens in animal manure on human health and well-being as a direct or indirect cause of human enteric illness is examined. Available international data are considered, but the study is focused on the developing situation in western Canada, where it is certain there will be further rapid growth in livestock numbers, particularly hogs. Major pathogens considered are Escherichia coli O157:H7, Salmonella, Campylobacter, Yersinia, Cryptosporidium, and Giardia. Canada is now the leading exporter of pork internationally, but recent increases in production contrast with constant domestic levels of pork consumption and declining levels of foodborne illness caused by pork. Effects of increased levels of manure production are not quantifiable in terms of effects on human health. The presence of major pathogens in manure and movement to human food sources and water are considered on the basis of available data. Survival of the organisms in soil, manure, and water indicate significant variability in resistance to environmental challenge that are characteristic of the organisms themselves. Generally, pathogens survived longer in environmental samples at cool temperatures but differences were seen in liquid and solid manure. Based on actual data plus some data extrapolated from cattle manure environments, holding manure at 25 degrees C for 90 d will render it free from the pathogens considered above.     

Some Rheological Properties of Latex from Parthenium argentatum Gray Compared with Latex from Hevea brasiliensis and Ficus elastica

Latex was purified from Parthenium argentatum Gray (guayule), Hevea brasiliensis Müll. Arg. (the Brazilian or para rubber tree), and Ficus elastica Roxb. (the Indian rubber tree) in ammonium alginate at pH 10. The rheological properties of the different latices (rubber particle suspensions) were determined and compared using flow temperature ramps. Latex from all three species became more viscous with increasing rubber particle concentration and decreasing temperature. At any particular temperature and concentration, latex from F. elastica was by far the most viscous, whereas the H. brasiliensis latex was the least viscous. In addition, the tendency for the latex to coagulate increased with increasing temperature and increasing particle concentration. F. elastica latex was highly sensitive to temperature, H. brasiliensis latex was the least sensitive, and P. argentatum latex demonstrated intermediate properties. The underlying causes of these differences in latex rheology are not clear but may partially relate to the particle size (largest in F. elastica and smallest in H. brasiliensis), the particle size distribution, and/or to the considerable differences in the biochemical components of the monolayer biomembrane that surrounds the various rubber particles. Differences in the molecular weight of the rubber contained within the rubber particles seem less likely to play a role because the particles remain intact in this study.     

Flowrate targeting for threshold problems and plant-wide integration for water network synthesis

Water reuse/recycle has gained much attention in recent years for environmental sustainability reasons, as well as the rising costs of fresh water and effluent treatment. Process integration techniques for the synthesis of water network have been widely accepted as a promising tool to reduce fresh water and wastewater flowrates via in-plant water reuse/recycle. To date, the focus in this area has been on water network synthesis problems, with little attention dedicated to the rare but realistic cases of so-called threshold problems. In this work, targeting for threshold problems in a water network is addressed using the recently developed numerical tool of water cascade analysis (WCA). Targeting for plant-wide integration is then addressed. By sending water sources across different geographical zones in plant-wide integration, the overall fresh water and wastewater flowrates are reduced simultaneously.     

Parental mosaic trisomy 21 detected following maternal cell contamination of an amniotic fluid specimen from a normal male pregnancy

We report a case of maternal mosaic trisomy 21 ascertained at prenatal diagnosis as a result of maternal cell contamination of an amniotic fluid sample. A 34 year old female was referred for karyotyping because of a previous trisomy 21 pregnancy. Chromosome analysis of primary in situ cultures showed a karyotype of 47,XX, + 21[6]/46,XY[32]/46,XX[2]. Molecular testing demonstrated maternal cell contamination of the amniotic fluid sample and G-banded karyotyping of maternal blood showed that 3/200 cells had trisomy 21, consistent with the mother being a Down syndrome mosaic. A normal male baby with a 46,XY chromosome complement was delivered at 30 weeks. This case emphasises the need for close collaboration between cytogenetic and molecular genetics laboratories in resolving unusual cases of mosaicism. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Comparing environmental influences on coral bleaching across and within species using clustered binomial regression

Differential susceptibility among reef-building coral species can lead to community shifts and loss of diversity as a result of temperature-induced mass bleaching events. We evaluate environmental influences on coral colony bleaching over an 8-year period in the Florida Keys, USA. Clustered binomial regression is used to develop models incorporating taxon-specific responses to the environment in order to identify conditions and species for which bleaching is likely to be severe. By building three separate models incorporating environment, community composition, and taxon-specific responses to environment, we show observed prevalence of bleaching reflects an interaction between community composition and local environmental conditions. Environmental variables, including elevated sea temperature, solar radiation, and reef depth, explained 90% and 78% of variability in colony bleaching across space and time, respectively. The effects of environmental variables were only partially explained (33% of variability) by corresponding differences in community composition. Taxon-specific models indicated individual coral species responded differently to local environmental conditions and had different sensitivities to temperature-induced bleaching. For many coral species, but not all, bleaching was exacerbated by high solar radiation. A 25% reduction in the probability of bleaching in shallow locations for one species may reflect an ability to acclimatize to local conditions. Overall, model results indicate predictions of coral bleaching require knowledge of not just the environmental conditions or community composition, but the responses of individual species to the environment. Model development provides a useful tool for coral reef management by quantifying the influence of the local environment on individual species bleaching sensitivities, identifying susceptible species, and predicting the likelihood of mass bleaching events with changing environmental conditions.     

Accounting for enforcement costs in the spatial allocation of marine zones

Marine fish stocks are in many cases extracted above sustainable levels, but they may be protected through restricted‐use zoning systems. The effectiveness of these systems typically depends on support from coastal fishing communities. High management costs including those of enforcement may, however, deter fishers from supporting marine management. We incorporated enforcement costs into a spatial optimization model that identified how conservation targets can be met while maximizing fishers’ revenue. Our model identified the optimal allocation of the study area among different zones: no‐take, territorial user rights for fisheries (TURFs), or open access. The analysis demonstrated that enforcing no‐take and TURF zones incurs a cost, but results in higher species abundance by preventing poaching and overfishing. We analyzed how different enforcement scenarios affected fishers’ revenue. Fisher revenue was approximately 50% higher when territorial user rights were enforced than when they were not. The model preferentially allocated area to the enforced‐TURF zone over other zones, demonstrating that the financial benefits of enforcement (derived from higher species abundance) exceeded the costs. These findings were robust to increases in enforcement costs but sensitive to changes in species’ market price. We also found that revenue under the existing zoning regime in the study area was 13–30% lower than under an optimal solution. Our results highlight the importance of accounting for both the benefits and costs of enforcement in marine conservation, particularly when incurred by fishers. Justificación de los Costos de Aplicación en la Asignación Espacial de Zonas Marinas