Surgery is the primary curative treatment for oesophageal cancer, with considerable recent improvements in long-term survival. However, surgery has a long-lasting impact on patient's health-related ...quality of life (HRQOL). Through a multicentre European study, our research group was able to identify key symptoms that affect patient's HRQOL. These symptoms were combined to produce a tool to identify poor HRQOL following oesophagectomy (LAsting Symptoms after Oesophageal Resection (LASOR) tool). The objective of this multicentre study is to validate a six-symptom clinical tool to identify patients with poor HRQOL for use in everyday clinical practice.
Included patients will: (1) be aged 18 years or older, (2) have undergone an oesophagectomy for cancer between 2015 and 2019, and (3) be at least 12 months after the completion of adjuvant oncological treatments. Patients will be given the previously created LASOR questionnaire. Each symptom from the LASOR questionnaire will be graded according to impact on quality of life and frequency of the symptom, with a composite score from 0 to 5. The previously developed LASOR symptom tool will be validated against HRQOL as measured by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer QLQC30 and OG25.
With a predicted prevalence of poor HRQOL of 45%, based on the previously generated LASOR clinical symptom tool, to validate this tool with a sensitivity and specificity of 80%, respectively, a minimum of 640 patients will need to be recruited to the study.
NHS Health Research Authority (North East-York Research Ethics Committee) approval was gained 8 November 2019 (REC reference 19/NE/0352). Multiple platforms will be used for the dissemination of the research data, including international clinical and patient group presentations and publication of research outputs in a high impact clinical journal.
The cubic-plus-association (CPA) equation of state is applied in this work to mixtures containing acetic acid and water. A previously developed modification of the model, the so-called ...CPA-Huron−Vidal (CPA-HV), is used. New CPA parameters have been estimated based on the vapor pressure, liquid density, enthalpy of vaporization, and vapor-phase compressibility factor data. The CPA-HV parameters have been fitted to, among others, experimental vapor compressibility factor data and experimental relative volatility data at different temperature ranges. The purpose of the work was to investigate whether the CPA-HV model can describe the vapor−liquid equilibrium for acetic acid−water over a temperature range of 200 K and at the same time represent the behavior of pure acetic acid and acetic acid−water mixtures with respect to enthalpies of vaporization and compressibility factors. It is shown that satisfactory results are overall obtained, but if an excellent match is needed over the whole temperature range, then different interaction parameters need to be used at the various temperature ranges.
•A micro-PV-PH system is proposed in rural China.•The technical feasibility of a PV-PH installation in rural areas is evaluated.•Techno-economic indicators are used to investigate the potential of ...the PV-PH system.•This research provides a theoretical foundation for the promotion of the PV-PH system.
Homes in rural China often have access to water wells for domestic and agricultural use. Given the significant difference in height between the well water and the roof of the house, such an arrangement could be used as a solar-powered pumped-hydro energy generation system. These systems could both limit increases in carbon emissions from coal-powered electricity while alleviating energy insecurity, while providing significant savings to households. The potential for these systems in rural regions across Shaanxi province is investigated by assessing eight key environmental and socioeconomic indicators. The find is that positive impacts across almost all indicators with generally rapid investment payback periods of 6.4–8.1 years, annual net income increases of 314.2 CNY −541.6 CNY per year per household. This research laid a theoretical foundation for the promotion of PV-PH system in Shaanxi Province.
Environmentally Extended Input–Output Databases (EEIOs) provide an effective tool for assessing environmental impacts around the world. These databases have yielded many scientific and policy ...relevant insights, especially through the national accounting of impacts embodied in trade. However, most approaches average out the spatial variation in different factors, usually at the level of the nation, but sometimes at the subnational level. It is a natural next step to connect trade with local environmental impacts and local consumption. Due to investments in earth observation many new data sets are now available, offering a huge potential for coupling environmental data sets with economic models such as Multi-Region Input–Output (MRIO) models. A key tool for linking these scales are Spatially Explicit Input–Output (SIO) models, which provide both demand and supply perspectives by linking producers and consumers. Here we define an SIO model as a model having a resolution greater than the underlying input–output transaction matrix. Given the increasing interest in this approach, we present a timely review of the methods used, insights gained, and limitations of various approaches for integrating spatial data in input–output modeling. We highlight the evolution of these approaches, and review the methodological approaches used in SIO models so far. We investigate the temporal and spatial resolution of such approaches and analyze the general advantages and limitations of the modeling framework. Finally, we make suggestions for the future development of SIO models.
•Pursuing social goals is often associated with higher environmental impacts.•Interactions differ greatly among countries and depend on the specific goals.•The rich have a greater leverage to reduce ...humanity’s footprints.
The UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) aim to improve the lives of people, increase prosperity, and protect the planet. Given the large number of goals, interactions are inevitable. We analyse the interaction between two social goals (related to SDG1 Poverty and SDG10 Inequality) and three environmental goals (related to SDG13 Carbon, SDG15 Land, and SDG6 Water). We use a trade-linked, consumption-based approach to assess interactions in 166 nations, each subdivided into four income groups. We find that pursuing social goals is, generally, associated with higher environmental impacts. However, interactions differ greatly among countries and depend on the specific goals. In both interactions, carbon experiences smaller changes than land and water. Although efforts by high- and low-income groups are needed, the rich have a greater leverage to reduce humanity’s footprints. Given the importance of both social and environmental sustainability, it is crucial that quantitative interactions between SDGs be well understood so that, where needed, integrative policies can be developed.
Coal is the dominant emitter of Sulfur Dioxide (SO2) in some countries, comprising ~92% of total emissions in China. Mitigation of these emissions can be driven by a number of factors, such as ...energy-efficiency improvements, installation of scrubbers, and use of renewable energy. This study evaluates the historical reduction of overall SO2 emission intensity from coal consumption for 30 Chinese provinces between 2000 and 2016. These trends are further combined with expected coal use from 2020 to 2050 along with scenarios of future power generation to explore China's future SO2 emissions. The results show that provinces starting with a high emission intensity in general have higher reduction rates. By 2050, China's potential SO2 emissions are between 3.9 Mt and 4.1 Mt, and industry mitigation efforts, such as the installation of scrubbers, appear to contribute most to abatement. Additionally, this study estimates the impact on global average temperatures from SO2 mitigation due to the adoption of renewables in the electric sector using the MAGICC model and find an increase of ~0.01 °C by 2050. Considering the reduced abatement opportunities of desulfurization technologies and climate change effects of coal combustion, renewable energy provides the most promising option for SO2 mitigation.
•Provinces with a higher SO2 intensity in 2000 reduced them fastest by 2016.•All but one province saw a positive adoption effect.•Future SO2 reductions rely more on industry-wide desulfurization technologies.•A shift to renewables in the power sector is less effective.•We find a detectible increase in global temperatures due to SO2 mitigation.
Carbon emissions from electricity generation in the EU have dropped from 1198 MtCO2 in 2000 to 970 MtCO2 in 2015, after an initial increase to 1304 MtCO2 in 2007. This pattern reversal is not only ...explained by socioeconomic drivers (an initial period of robust economic growth followed by weaker growth) but by profound shifts in the energy system. This study quantitatively evaluates the drivers of carbon emissions from EU electricity generation during two subperiods, 2000–2007 and 2007–2015. In 2000–2007 the main drivers of the decrease in carbon emissions were changes in the fossil fuel mix (replacement of coal by gas) and improvements in the efficiency of electricity use. In 2007–2015 the main drivers of the decrease in carbon emissions were the expansion of renewable electricity, improvements in the efficiency of fossil electricity production and improvements in the efficiency of electricity use. There is significant variation in the drivers of change among countries. The authors expect the continued expansion of renewables to balance economic growth in the future.
•In 2000–2007 EU carbon emissions from electricity rose from 1198 to 1304 MtCO2.•In 2007–2015 EU carbon emissions from electricity dropped from 1304 to 970 MtCO2.•In 2000–2007 replacing coal by gas and use efficiency gains drove down emissions.•In 2007–2015 renewable expansion and efficiency gains drove down emissions.•The emission drivers differ between different countries.
Human land use is the main driver of terrestrial biodiversity loss. It has been argued that producers and consumers have a shared responsibility for biodiversity loss because this land use is ...directly and indirectly driven by the local and global demand for products. Such responsibility sharing would be an important step for global biodiversity cooperation and conservation. Here, we use a global multiregional input-output framework to estimate consumption-based biodiversity loss, integrating with both the physical Food and Agriculture Biomass Input-Output (FABIO) dataset and a global monetary input-output table (EXIOBASE). We use an environmental justice framework for assigning biodiversity loss responsibility between producers and consumers. In this framework, we employ the Human Development Index (HDI) as a proxy of the weighting parameter for both producers and consumers. An environmental justice perspective may provide a fairer distribution of responsibility in a world where different nations have very different capabilities and see varying benefits from international trade. Environmentally just accounting increases the footprint of the Global North compared to other common approaches for sharing responsibility across all producers and consumers along international supply chains. We describe how environmental justice may inform cooperation in biodiversity protection between stakeholders along global supply chains.
•Trade-driven land use causes severe global biodiversity loss.•Environmental justice (EJ) can provide policy-relevant trade perspectives.•We compare responsibility sharing with consumption and production approaches.•EJ reconciles some issues regarding responsibility sharing along supply chains.•An EJ perspective increases the biodiversity loss footprint of the Global North.
Key biodiversity areas (KBAs) are critical regions for preserving global biodiversity. KBAs are identified by their importance to biodiversity rather than their legal status. As such, KBAs are often ...under pressure from human activities. KBAs can encompass many different land-use types (e.g., cropland, pastures) and land-use intensities. Here, we combine a global economic model with spatial mapping to estimate the biodiversity impacts of human land use in KBAs. We find that global human land use within KBAs causes disproportionate biodiversity losses. While land use within KBAs accounts for only 7% of total land use, it causes 16% of the potential global plant loss and 12% of the potential global vertebrate loss. The consumption of animal products accounts for more than half of biodiversity loss within KBAs, with housing the second largest at around 10%. Bovine meat is the largest single contributor to this loss, at around 31% of total biodiversity loss. In terms of land use, lightly grazed pasture contributes the most, accounting for around half of all potential species loss. This loss is concentrated mainly in middle- and low-income regions with rich biodiversity. International trade is an important driver of loss, accounting for 22–29% of total potential plant and vertebrate loss. Our comprehensive global, trade-linked analysis provides insights into maintaining the integrity of KBAs and global biodiversity.
PDF
