Kepley BioSystems (United States)

Advanced fire safety standards and laws are being applied to new high-rise buildings, but existing high-rise buildings are maintained and managed based on previous fire safety standards, which makes them weak to fire hazard response. This study was conducted to evaluate the survey results for the maintenance status of fire compartments and principal firefighting facilities of 157 buildings using the performance evaluation table for fire safety of existing high-rise buildings. This paper presents actual problems in the maintenance of fire compartments and firefighting facilities of existing high-rise buildings. In addition, it provides reference materials that can be used to establish policies for supplementing the fire safety performance the buildings in the future.

This study evaluated two approaches to the aquaculture of L. polyphemus with the ultimate goal of harvesting LAL at an industrial scale. To monitor HSCs, a combination of physical, biochemical and cellular components were examined for HSC cohorts in an indoor recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) and an outdoor on-bottom pen culture system (PCS) over a 6-month period. The metrics included body weight, hemocyanin (Hc) concentration, amebocyte density, and LAL reactivity. In addition, a simulated biomedical bleeding event (extracting 30% of the total hemolymph volume) was performed to assess physiochemical properties of the hemolymph and amebocytes after a one-week recovery period. Overall, the HSCs fared better in the RAS compared to the PCS, with higher rebound kinetics with respect to Hc concentrations, amebocyte density, LAL reactivity, and with 100% survival in the RAS cohort. Further, hemolymph reinfusion (after amebocyte removal) was shown to improve HSC recovery time. In summary, outcomes of this research show that a RAS, coupled with adequate nutrition and care can provide HSCs with a suitable environment for sustainable hemolymph extraction and year-round LAL production.

ABSTRACTEnvironmental challenges persist across the world, including the Australasian region of Oceania, where biodiversity hotspots and unique ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef are common. These systems are routinely affected by multiple stressors from anthropogenic activities, and increasingly influenced by global megatrends (e.g., the food–energy–water nexus, demographic transitions to cities) and climate change. Here we report priority research questions from the Global Horizon Scanning Project, which aimed to identify, prioritize, and advance environmental quality research needs from an Australasian perspective, within a global context. We employed a transparent and inclusive process of soliciting key questions from Australasian members of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry. Following submission of 78 questions, 20 priority research questions were identified during an expert workshop in Nelson, New Zealand. These research questions covered a range of issues of global relevance, including research needed to more closely integrate ecotoxicology and ecology for the protection of ecosystems, increase flexibility for prioritizing chemical substances currently in commerce, understand the impacts of complex mixtures and multiple stressors, and define environmental quality and ecosystem integrity of temporary waters. Some questions have specific relevance to Australasia, particularly the uncertainties associated with using toxicity data from exotic species to protect unique indigenous species. Several related priority questions deal with the theme of how widely international ecotoxicological data and databases can be applied to regional ecosystems. Other timely questions, which focus on improving predictive chemistry and toxicology tools and techniques, will be important to answer several of the priority questions identified here. Another important question raised was how to protect local cultural and social values and maintain indigenous engagement during problem formulation and identification of ecosystem protection goals. Addressing these questions will be challenging, but doing so promises to advance environmental sustainability in Oceania and globally.