HiPerCap aims to develop high-potential novel and environmentally benign technologies and processes for post-combustion CO₂ capture leading to real breakthroughs. The project includes all the main separation categories for post-combustion CO₂ capture, absorption, adsorption and membranes. Each technology category is focused on several promising concepts and a key focus in the project is to demonstrate the potential of these various capture technologies. A methodology has been developed for assessment and fair comparison of the various technologies and benchmarking against a state-of-the art capture technology demonstrated in the CESAR project. In the present paper, this methodology is demonstrated for two of the absorption-based concepts involving precipitating solvent systems. Here, the assessment is based on energy efficiency penalty for the total integrated power plant and capture plant process. Though there is a slight improvement compared to the reference plant (0.5 and 7%, respectively) neither of the two precipitating solvent systems assessed here meet the project target of 25% improvement. However, the uncertainty level in the numbers is higher for these two systems compared to the reference case and the models used for the capture process should be improved before a conclusion can be made. The HiPerCap project is just starting the assessment phase and it must be emphasized that additional assessment criteria will be used and other types of technologies will be assessed before completion at the end of 2017.

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Most harmful algal blooms (HAB) originate away from the shore and, for them to endanger human health, they must be first transported to shore after which they must enter the surf zone where they can be feed upon by filter feeders. The last step in this sequence, entrance into the surf zone, depends on surf zone hydrodynamics. During two 30-day periods, we sampled Pseudo-nitzschia and particulate domoic acid (pDA) in and offshore of a more dissipative surf zone at Sand City, California (2010) and sampled Pseudo-nitzschia in and out of reflective surf zones at a beach and rocky shores at Carmel River State Beach, California (2011). At Sand City, we measured domoic acid in sand crabs, Emerita analoga. In the more dissipative surf zone, concentrations of Pseudo-nitzschia and pDA were an order of magnitude higher in samples from a rip current than in samples collected just seaward of the surf zone and were 1000 times more abundant than in samples from the shoals separating rip currents. Domoic acid was present in all the Emerita samples and varied directly with the concentration of pDA and Pseudo-nitzschia in the rip current. In the more reflective surf zones, Pseudo-nitzschia concentrations were 1-2 orders of magnitude lower than in samples from 125 and 20 m from shore. Surf zone hydrodynamics affects the ingress of Pseudo-nitzschia into surf zones and the exposure of intertidal organisms to HABs on the inner shelf. @en

Systems mapping workshops have been applied to the problem of medication errors in healthcare. The workshops were designed using experiential group work principles. They involved a range of stakeholders from within the health service as well as those who supply the health sector, including designers who may be able to enhance the safety of products and systems used in healthcare. Research has shown that the method encourages stakeholder participation, provides robust results within a limited time and enhances understanding across specialist interest groups. Additional, creative design workshops that considered the same topic showed significant promise in developing concepts from which potential solutions could be developed further.@en