Life cycle assessment of electricity transmission and distribution—part 1: power lines and cables

Purpose  

The purpose of this study is to provide life cycle inventory data and results for components of electrical grids to the larger community of life cycle assessment practitioners. This article is the first in a series of two, each focusing on different components of power grids. In part 1, the objects under scope are power lines and cables. Systems for overhead, underground, and subsea transmission are modeled here, including HVDC systems used in long-distance transmission.     

Genetic variation in mitochondrial DNA from some aboriginal Australians

Mitochondrial (mt) DNAs from 17 aboriginal Australians, predominantly from the coastal region of the Northern Territory were isolated and digested with four four-base restriction endonucleases, two of which revealed variation between samples. The observed fragment patterns were used directly in parsimony analyses of phylogenetic relationships between the samples, and were also converted to estimates of the number of substitutions per nucleotide position between samples (delta), which estimates were then used in distance analyses of phylogeny. The inferred fragment patterns of the completely sequenced 'Cambridge' human mtDNA were also included in these analyses. No strong evidence of geographic variation was found, consistent with previous findings of Australian aborigines and other humans generally, although the most divergent sample was one of two from Sydney, indicating that further work is desirable. The estimate of mean difference between samples (diversity), 0.0017 +/- 0.0003 (mean +/- 95% confidence interval), is significantly lower than that reported previously for humans generally.     

Uptake and metabolism of prostaglandins by isolated perfused lung: Species comparison and the role of plasma protein binding

We have investigated the uptake and subsequent metabolism of the prostaglandins (PGs) PGE₁, PGA₁, and PGB₁ by rat, guinea pig and rabbit isolated perfused lungs (IPL). Significant species differences were not observed in the uptake or metabolism of any PG on passage through the IPL. However, differences in the uptake of PGA₁ and PGB₁ and in the metabolism of PGA₁ were observed with a given species when the composition of the perfusion medium was varied. The IPL removed minimal amounts (<20% of the supply rate) of PGA₁ and PGB₁ from the circulation when the perfusate contained 4.5% bovine serum albumin (BSA). In the absence of BSA, however, both PGA₁ and PGB₁ were substantially removed from circulation (～53% of the supply rate) and PGA₁ was also metabolized. The composition of the perfusate had no effect on the uptake and metabolism of PGE₁ which was always taken up and metabolized to a greater extent than was PGA₁ and PGB₁. Thus, the apparent species differences previously reported for the pulmonary biotransformation of PGA can result from differences in the perfusion medium used. Our data suggest that both plasma protein binding and a transport system play important roles in determining the selectivity of the uptake of PGs by the lung.     

Use of sound to guide the movement of eels and other fishes within rivers: a critical review

Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries - Downstream movements of some freshwater fishes, including eels, are adversely affected by the presence of hydroelectric structures and other anthropic...     

A molecular phylogeny of the lizard genus Phymaturus (Squamata,Liolaemini): Implications for species diversity and historical biogeography of southern South America

The lizard genus Phymaturus is widely distributed in Argentina and along the eastern edge of Chile between 25° and 45° south. We sampled 27 of the 38 currently recognized species plus 22 candidate species using two mitochondrial genes (cytb and 12S), four protein coding nuclear genes and seven anonymous nuclear loci, and present the first comprehensive molecular phylogenetic hypothesis for the clade. We recovered two large clades (the palluma or northern group and patagonicus or southern group) previously recognized on the basis of morphological and mitochondrial sequence evidence, and compared results obtained from concatenated-gene analyses with results of a coalescent-based species-tree approach (BEST). With both methods we identified four main clades within the palluma group (mallimaccii, roigorum, verdugo, and vociferator) and five main clades within the patagonicus group (calcogaster, indistinctus, payuniae, somuncurensis, and spurcus). We found several instances of non-monophyly with cytb and cases of incongruence between mitochondrial vs nuclear data for which we discuss alternative hypotheses. Although with lower support values, combined BEST results are more congruent with concatenated nuclear data than with combined concatenated analyses, suggesting that BEST is less influenced by demographic processes than combined concatenated analyses. We discuss the taxonomic, biogeographic and conservation implications of these results and how the future integration of phylogeographic and morphological approaches will allow the further testing of demographic and biogeographic hypotheses.