Animal displacement from marine energy development: Mechanisms and consequences.

For marine wave and tidal energy to successfully contribute to global renewable energy goals and climate change mitigation, marine energy projects need to expand beyond small deployments to large-scale arrays. However, with large-scale projects come potential environmental effects not observed at the scales of single devices and small arrays. One of these effects is the risk of displacing marine animals from their preferred habitats or their migration routes, which may increase with the size of arrays and location.

Developing expert scientific consensus on the environmental and societal effects of marine artificial structures prior to decommissioning.

Thousands of artificial ('human-made') structures are present in the marine environment, many at or approaching end-of-life and requiring urgent decisions regarding their decommissioning. No consensus has been reached on which decommissioning option(s) result in optimal environmental and societal outcomes, in part, owing to a paucity of evidence from real-world decommissioning case studies. To address this significant challenge, we asked a worldwide panel of scientists to provide their expert opinion.

To what extent can decommissioning options for marine artificial structures move us toward environmental targets?

Switching from fossil fuels to renewable energy is key to international energy transition efforts and the move toward net zero. For many nations, this requires decommissioning of hundreds of oil and gas infrastructure in the marine environment. Current international, regional and national legislation largely dictates that structures must be completely removed at end-of-life although, increasingly, alternative decommissioning options are being promoted and implemented.

'Scaling up' our understanding of environmental effects of marine renewable energy development from single devices to large-scale commercial arrays.

Global expansion of marine renewable energy (MRE) technologies is needed to help address the impacts of climate change, to ensure a sustainable transition from carbon-based energy sources, and to meet national energy security needs using locally-generated electricity. However, the MRE sector has yet to realize its full potential due to the limited scale of device deployments (i.e.

A review of the impact of shelter design on the health of displaced populations.

There are currently millions of displaced people encamped in low-quality shelters that jeopardise the health of these displaced populations. These shelters, which exhibit poor thermal regulation and air quality, are often inhabited by households for several years. Recently, the internal environment of shelters has been recognised as a determinant of the health of the occupants and the indoor air quality (IAQ) and internal temperatures have been identified as critical factors affecting occupants' health.

Empirical measures of harbor seal behavior and avoidance of an operational tidal turbine.

There is global interest in marine renewable energy from underwater tidal turbines. Due to overlap in animal habitat with locations for tidal turbines, the potential for collisions has led to concern around strike risk. Using data from tagged harbor seals collected before construction and after operation of the SeaGen tidal turbine in Northern Ireland, this study quantifies risks of an operational turbine to harbor seals by taking into account turbine characteristics, tidal state, and seal behavior.

Symptom classification in irritable bowel syndrome as a guide to treatment.

Objective: The treatment of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) remains unsatisfactory. There are no objective markers for diagnosis, and classification (currently based on symptoms) provides little insight into potential causes or optimal therapy. The aim of this study was to determine whether a Swedish classification of IBS based on cluster analysis of patients' symptoms might provide a guide to successful treatment.

A comparative trial of two walking systems for paralysed people.

A trial has been performed to compare two designs of reciprocal walking orthosis for paralysed people--the hip guidance orthosis (HGO) from Oswestry, England, and the reciprocating gait orthosis (RGO) from New Orleans, USA. Eighteen male and 4 female paraplegic subjects used each orthosis for 4 months, in a crossover study. All aspects of the provision and use of the devices were monitored, and a variety of assessments were made.