NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Introduction to Renewable Energy: An Interdisciplinary Approach Abstract Energy security and climate change issues have precipitated growing awareness of and interest in renewable energy. This paper assesses the impact of renewable energy education in a first-year offering of an introductory interdisciplinary renewable energy course employing a quasi- experimental evaluation design. Findings from the study indicate that the course has a significant impact on student knowledge. Literature Review Public policy and engineering are a critical part of any cogent response to growing pressure felt efficiency choices,4, 12 Students are proactive in demanding energy-efficient, small carbon footprint campuses.16, 18 Some survey evidence suggests that students may even be willing to pay increased fees for green buildings. College and university administrators facing the prospect of high and constantly rising energy costs2 are cognizant of the need to tie green building initiatives to increases in student fees for energy consumption. Community colleges, in particular, are responding to ues by developing green campuses and incorporating energy education into campus design and operations, and into student orientation efforts.7, 9 The rapid movement towards green energy campuses, however, must be accomplished with a sense of the real costs and benefits of the specific green energy initiatives developed.18, 19 Disciplinary change, student value shifts, and rising energy prices create a renewed opportunity to move U.S. public policy and engineering education in a mutually beneficial direction. Calls for change in the way energy education occurs are certainly not new, and earlier expressions of concern are a good source for our current reflection. Writing in 1973, the highly respected Republican legislator Howard Baker pondered the then-current oil supply shortage.4 He concluded that well-developed education programs linking environmental attitudes with energy use could have a strong and lasting impact on energy consumption behaviors in the country. In advocated the development of energy education programs to .3 price spike initiatives.18 Energy education initiatives tend to parallel the ebb and flow of energy prices; but as Dias et al. concluded5 in much the same way as the Club of Rome report17 --human progression towards increased economic development aimed at raising the standard of living of people in all parts of the world almost surely means that energy crises will not solve themselves. Broadly-inclusive energy education is central to the accomplishment of sustainable development.14 Traditionally, engineering economics and political economy would focus in energy education might diminish its appeal and limit impacts on student behavioral change. A

In chronic hepatitis B, it is difficult to predict an early therapeutic response. We investigated the viral decline during therapy with pegylated interferon alpha-2b (PEG-IFN) with or without lamivudine in 266 HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B patients. In patients treated with PEG-IFN and lamivudine, a uniform biphasic viral decline pattern was found during therapy and there were no marked differences in viral load between those who lost HBeAg at the end of follow-up (response) or not. In contrast, those treated with PEG-IFN monotherapy exhibited different viral decline patterns. A delayed decline of at least two log from baseline HBV DNA after week 4 but before week 32 was associated with the highest response rate (63%). In comparison, response was 52% for patients with an early decline (week 0-4), 38% for a late decline (week 32-52), 27% for a posttreatment decline (week 52-78) and 11% for patients with no substantial decline. The HBsAg loss was 22% in the delayed decline pattern compared to 4% for those with early decline and none for other decline patterns. In conclusion, different patterns of decline in viral load during treatment with PEG-IFN monotherapy were associated with different rates of HBeAg and HBsAg loss at the end of follow-up. Since there was a considerable response, even in patients with a late or posttreatment decline pattern, prediction of response based on viral decline during the first months of therapy was difficult.

Abstract: Background: The effect of pegylated interferon or its combination with lamivudine on liver histology of patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is unknown. In a double‐blinded, randomized, multi‐center study we assessed histological changes in 110 hepatitis B e‐antigen (HBeAg)‐positive CHB patients treated for 52 weeks with Pegylated interferon α‐2b (PEG‐IFN) in combination with either lamivudine or placebo. Liver biopsies were taken before and at the end of treatment. All biopsies were blinded and scored according to the Ishak system.

Background Treatment of HBeAg-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B is not effective in most. A combination of immunomodulatory pegylated interferon alfa-2b and antiviral lamivudine might improve the rate of sustained response.Methods 307 HBeAg-positive patients with chronic hepatitis B were assigned combination therapy (100 mug/week pegylated interferon alfa-2b and 100 mg/day lamivudine) or monotherapy (100 mug/week pegylated interferon alfa-2b and placebo) for 52 weeks. During weeks 32-52 the pegylated interferon dose was 50 mug/week in both treatment groups. The analyses were based on the modified intention-to-treat population after exclusion of 24 patients from one centre withdrawn for misconduct, ten who lost HBeAg before the study start, and seven who received no study medication. All included patients were followed up for 26 weeks after treatment.Findings 49 (36%) of 136 patients assigned monotherapy and 46 (35%) of 130 assigned combination therapy had lost HBeAg at the end of follow-up (p=0.91). More of the combination-therapy than of the monotherapy group had cleared HBeAg at the end of treatment (57 [44%] vs 40 [29%]; p=0.01) but relapsed during follow-up. Patterns were similar when response was assessed by suppression of serum hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA or change in concentrations of alanine aminotransferase. Response rates (HBeAg loss) varied by HBV genotype (p=0.01): A, 42 (47%) patients; B, ten (44%); C, 11 (28%); and D, 26 (25%).Interpretation Treatment with pegylated interferon alfa-2b is effective for HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B. Combination with lamivudine in the regimen used is not superior to monotherapy. HBV genotype is an important predictor of response to treatment.

SummaryBackground: Treatment with interferon‐alpha has been shown to be effective in one‐third of hepatitis B e antigen‐positive chronic hepatitis B patients, but is clinically associated with relevant adverse events.Aim: To investigate the safety of pegylated interferon alpha‐2b in 300 hepatitis B e antigen‐positive patients with compensated liver disease.Methods: Patients were treated with pegylated interferon alpha‐2b for 52 weeks combined with either lamivudine 100 mg/day or placebo. Pegylated interferon alpha‐2b was administered for 100 μg once a week for 32 weeks; thereafter, the dose was reduced to 50 μg once a week. Adverse events and their effect on study medication were reported at monthly visits in a standardized way.Results: The most frequently reported side‐effects were flu‐like syndrome (68%), headache (40%), fatigue (39%), myalgia (29%) and local reaction at the injection site (29%). These symptoms typically occurred within the first month of therapy and subsided during the course of therapy. Neutropenia and thrombocytopenia induced by pegylated interferon alpha‐2b increased the risk of infections and bleeding complications, but these complications were rare and mild. The frequency of all side‐effects was not different between patients treated with pegylated interferon alpha‐2b combined with lamivudine or placebo. In 69 (22%) patients the dose of pegylated interferon alpha‐2b was reduced prematurely. Of these dose reductions, 36 (52%) were because of neutropenia. Therapy was discontinued in 28 (8%) patients. The most frequent reasons for early discontinuation were psychiatric side‐effects (depression, psychosis) and flu‐like symptoms. Multivariate Cox regression analysis showed that low neutrophil count at baseline and cirrhosis were independent predictors of dose reduction or therapy discontinuation.Conclusion: We conclude that in patients with chronic hepatitis B and compensated liver disease prolonged pegylated interferon alpha‐2b therapy is safe, and that pre‐existent cirrhosis and neutropenia are the most important predictors of dose reduction or early treatment discontinuation.