Spills of Diluted Bitumen from Pipelines

Spills of Diluted Bitumen from Pipelines

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2016-03-22

Total Pages: 167

ISBN-13: 0309380103

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Diluted bitumen has been transported by pipeline in the United States for more than 40 years, with the amount increasing recently as a result of improved extraction technologies and resulting increases in production and exportation of Canadian diluted bitumen. The increased importation of Canadian diluted bitumen to the United States has strained the existing pipeline capacity and contributed to the expansion of pipeline mileage over the past 5 years. Although rising North American crude oil production has resulted in greater transport of crude oil by rail or tanker, oil pipelines continue to deliver the vast majority of crude oil supplies to U.S. refineries. Spills of Diluted Bitumen from Pipelines examines the current state of knowledge and identifies the relevant properties and characteristics of the transport, fate, and effects of diluted bitumen and commonly transported crude oils when spilled in the environment. This report assesses whether the differences between properties of diluted bitumen and those of other commonly transported crude oils warrant modifications to the regulations governing spill response plans and cleanup. Given the nature of pipeline operations, response planning, and the oil industry, the recommendations outlined in this study are broadly applicable to other modes of transportation as well.


Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout

Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout

Author: National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2020-01-02

Total Pages: 335

ISBN-13: 0309495474

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Patient-centered, high-quality health care relies on the well-being, health, and safety of health care clinicians. However, alarmingly high rates of clinician burnout in the United States are detrimental to the quality of care being provided, harmful to individuals in the workforce, and costly. It is important to take a systemic approach to address burnout that focuses on the structure, organization, and culture of health care. Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being builds upon two groundbreaking reports from the past twenty years, To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System and Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the 21st Century, which both called attention to the issues around patient safety and quality of care. This report explores the extent, consequences, and contributing factors of clinician burnout and provides a framework for a systems approach to clinician burnout and professional well-being, a research agenda to advance clinician well-being, and recommendations for the field.


Building a New Future

Building a New Future

Author: United Nations

Publisher: UN

Published: 2021-05-31

Total Pages: 232

ISBN-13: 9789211220537

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This publication argues that Latin America and the Caribbean are in a position to move towards a "big push for sustainability" through a combination of economic, industrial, social and environmental policies capable of driving an equal and sustainable recovery and relaunching development in the region. Comprised of five chapters, the publication studies the three crises (slow growth, growing inequality and the environmental emergency) affecting economies and societies around the world, placing particular focus on those of Latin America and the Caribbean. It goes on to present a framework for analysing these crises in an integrated manner and measuring their magnitude in the specified regions. It then examines the quantitative impacts on growth, emissions, income distribution and the external sector under different policy scenarios, highlighting the potential of various policy combinations to forge a more dynamic growth path, with lower emissions and greater equality. Further identifying seven sectors that can drive sustainable development and proposing policies to foster these sectors, the publication concludes with an analysis that links up macroeconomic, industrial, social and environmental policies and the role of the State in building consensus for their implementation.


Progress in Fine Particle Plasmas

Progress in Fine Particle Plasmas

Author: Tetsu Mieno

Publisher: BoD – Books on Demand

Published: 2020-08-26

Total Pages: 228

ISBN-13: 1838804706

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In the field of plasma physics, plasmas (including charged fine particles) have been actively studied for more than 40 years, and special features of wave phenomena, self-organizations of the particles, potential formations, fluid-like motions of the particles, generations of fine particles in the plasmas, etc. have been investigated. Here, these plasmas are called “fine particle plasmas”, which are also called “dusty plasmas” and “complex plasmas”. This book intends to provide the reader with the recent progress of studies of fine particle plasmas from the viewpoints of wide and interdisciplinary directions, such as self-organized fine particles, Coulomb crystal formation, behaviors of fine particles, their stability, and syntheses of nano-sized particles in reactive plasmas. Further, the phenomena of dense grain particles and the effects of massive neutrinos in galaxy clustering are included.


Cardiovascular Mathematics

Cardiovascular Mathematics

Author: Luca Formaggia

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2010-06-27

Total Pages: 528

ISBN-13: 8847011523

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Mathematical models and numerical simulations can aid the understanding of physiological and pathological processes. This book offers a mathematically sound and up-to-date foundation to the training of researchers and serves as a useful reference for the development of mathematical models and numerical simulation codes.


Drones for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Monitoring

Drones for Biodiversity Conservation and Ecological Monitoring

Author: Ricardo Díaz-Delgado

Publisher: MDPI

Published: 2019-12-18

Total Pages: 176

ISBN-13: 3039219804

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) have already become an affordable and cost-efficient tool to quickly map a targeted area for many emerging applications in the arena of ecological monitoring and biodiversity conservation. Managers, owners, companies, and scientists are using professional drones equipped with high-resolution visible, multispectral, or thermal cameras to assess the state of ecosystems, the effect of disturbances, or the dynamics and changes within biological communities inter alia. We are now at a tipping point on the use of drones for these type of applications over natural areas. UAV missions are increasing but most of them are testing applicability. It is time now to move to frequent revisiting missions, aiding in the retrieval of important biophysical parameters in ecosystems or mapping species distributions. This Special Issue shows UAV applications contributing to a better understanding of biodiversity and ecosystem status, threats, changes, and trends. It documents the enhancement of knowledge in ecological integrity parameters mapping, long-term ecological monitoring based on drones, mapping of alien species spread and distribution, upscaling ecological variables from drone to satellite images: methods and approaches, rapid risk and disturbance assessment using drones, mapping albedo with UAVs, wildlife tracking, bird colony and chimpanzee nest mapping, habitat mapping and monitoring, and a review on drones for conservation in protected areas.


Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging

Artificial Intelligence in Medical Imaging

Author: Erik R. Ranschaert

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-01-29

Total Pages: 369

ISBN-13: 3319948784

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book provides a thorough overview of the ongoing evolution in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) within healthcare and radiology, enabling readers to gain a deeper insight into the technological background of AI and the impacts of new and emerging technologies on medical imaging. After an introduction on game changers in radiology, such as deep learning technology, the technological evolution of AI in computing science and medical image computing is described, with explanation of basic principles and the types and subtypes of AI. Subsequent sections address the use of imaging biomarkers, the development and validation of AI applications, and various aspects and issues relating to the growing role of big data in radiology. Diverse real-life clinical applications of AI are then outlined for different body parts, demonstrating their ability to add value to daily radiology practices. The concluding section focuses on the impact of AI on radiology and the implications for radiologists, for example with respect to training. Written by radiologists and IT professionals, the book will be of high value for radiologists, medical/clinical physicists, IT specialists, and imaging informatics professionals.


Satellite Remote Sensing for Conservation Action

Satellite Remote Sensing for Conservation Action

Author: Allison K. Leidner

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2018-08-16

Total Pages: 355

ISBN-13: 1316513866

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Explains how satellite remote sensing informs and helps deliver successful conservation management through case studies, which highlight practitioner experience.


Sepsis Management in Resource-limited Settings

Sepsis Management in Resource-limited Settings

Author: Arjen M. Dondorp

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2019-02-08

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 3030031438

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. It constitutes a unique source of knowledge and guidance for all healthcare workers who care for patients with sepsis and septic shock in resource-limited settings. More than eighty percent of the worldwide deaths related to sepsis occur in resource-limited settings in low and middle-income countries. Current international sepsis guidelines cannot be implemented without adaptations towards these settings, mainly because of the difference in local resources and a different spectrum of infectious diseases causing sepsis. This prompted members of the Global Intensive Care working group of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) and the Mahidol-Oxford Tropical Medicine Research Unit (MORU, Bangkok, Thailand) - among which the Editors – to develop with an international group of experts a comprehensive set of recommendations for the management of sepsis in resource-limited settings. Recommendations are based on both current scientific evidence and clinical experience of clinicians working in resource-limited settings. The book includes an overview chapter outlining the current challenges and future directions of sepsis management as well as general recommendations on the structure and organization of intensive care services in resource-limited settings. Specific recommendations on the recognition and management of patients with sepsis and septic shock in these settings are grouped into seven chapters. The book provides evidence-based practical guidance for doctors in low and middle income countries treating patients with sepsis, and highlights areas for further research and discussion.