Expectations about technological change are central to the way policy details are set in a variety of complex public problem areas, including health, welfare, safety, and environmental protection. These details are established through a regulatory process designed to incorporate scientific, technical, economic, and other expertise while following principles of good governance such as transparency, analytical rigor, and the appropriate treatment of uncertainty. An important element of most U.S. federal regulatory processes is cost-benefit analysis, which is expected to employ “best-available” techniques that identify “changing future compliance costs that might result from technological innovation or anticipated behavioral changes (OMB 2011). Influential calls for the reform of regulatory analysis, however, locate the appropriate modeling of technological change “at the frontier of economic research.” (Harrington, Heinzerling et al. 2009).

Orbital to millennial-scale variations in Asian monsoon speleothem δ18O have been widely interpreted as records of monsoon intensity and/or rainfall amount. To assess the influence of these and other mechanisms on higher-frequency δ18O variability, we utilize simulations from a spectrally nudged isotope-enabled general circulation model coupled with instrumental climate data to investigate the climatic controls on interannual precipitation δ18O (δ18Op) variability at four key cave locations affected by the Asian monsoon: Qunf Cave, Oman; Mawmluh Cave, India; Tham Mai Cave, Laos; and Dongge Cave, China. Comparison with instrumental climate data shows that interannual δ18Op variations are only weakly related to local precipitation amount at the four sites and are instead controlled primarily by large-scale monsoon intensity and upstream precipitation over the tropical Indo-Pacific region, which influence the δ18O of incoming moisture. Spatial correlations with sea surface temperature and precipitation, composite analyses, and time series analyses show that the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) also plays a key role in modulating interannual precipitation δ18Op variability in the region, especially in northern India and Southeast Asia, with positive δ18Op anomalies during El Niño years reflecting increased contribution of high δ18O moisture from the nearby Bay of Bengal. Coherent interannual to decadal δ18O variations seen in high-resolution proxy records from across the Asian monsoon region, likely record monsoon intensity and upstream rainout, whereas ENSO related variability is likely to be strongest in records from northern India and Southeast Asia, with the largest anomalies expected when weak monsoons and El Niño occur together.

There are over 7 million gas-fired fireplaces currently installed in US households. On an annual basis, these use substantial energy. However, the details of the fireplace energy use and the factors that influence it are currently not well understood. Fireplaces are a type of hearth product, which is a product category that primarily consists of fireplaces, stoves, and gas log sets. For the purpose of this study, the fuels used in hearth products are primarily natural gas, propane, or electricity. They may be vented or unvented. This study reports the results of a web survey of 2,100 respondents in the United States performed in February 2016. The responses were cleaned and weighted using the raking method to form a nationally representative population. The reported data include hearth product characteristics, usage information, and repair and maintenance practices. The hearth product characteristics include the hearth product type, fuel type, ignition system type, features, venting, and installation details. The usage information includes seasonal usage of the main burner and standing pilot (if present), daily usage, and the primary utility (whether decorative or for heating). These raw data are further processed and combined with values from the literature to estimate the annual operating hours and energy use and to assess how these are impacted by the hearth product type, features, age, and the main heating appliance, if present. Based on the survey responses, the estimated average annual hours of usage was 234 for the main burner, and 4,593 for the standing pilot. The results presented provide the most comprehensive data regarding hearth products in the United States published to date. These new data allow for an improved understanding of hearth products’ energy use, which in turn may facilitate the development of more informed analyses, and ultimately more efficient hearth products and reduced energy use. These new data also provide insight into topics not previously studied, such as the effect of hearth product features on energy use.

The X-ray crystallographic structure of a truncated teixobactin analogue reveals hydrogen-bonding and hydrophobic interactions and a cavity that binds a chloride anion. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assays against Gram-positive bacteria correlate the observed structure with antibiotic activity.