Alternativa energikällor för att driva Uppsalas bubbelbarriär

Syftet med studien är att undersöka och bedöma olika energikällor för att driva Uppsala bubbelbarriär – en metod för att fånga in skräp i Fyrisån. En multikriterieanalysmetod tillämpas för bedömning och jämförelse av olika energikällor. I de fall då bubbelbarriärens energibehov inte kan fyllas av en individuell energikälla, utvecklas alternativ där de kombineras med varandra eller elnätet. Därefter betygsätts de och rangordnas utefter ett antal kriterier. Ett flertal energikällor utvärderades, både tak– och väggmonterad solenergi, energi genererad från stationära cyklar samt vätgaslagring medan biogas och en vattendriven kompressor uteslöts i tidigt skede. Energikällorna bedöms utifrån kriterierna hög elproduktion, låga koldioxidutsläpp samt hög säkerhet. Kriterier, graden av säkerhet samt subjektiva viktningsvärden av kriterier framtogs i samarbete med handledare på Sveriges Lantbruksuniversitet (SLU) och behovsägare på Uppsala kommun. Generella beräkningar har genomförts för att få en övergripande uppfattning om vilket energisystem som är mest lämpad utefter de givna kriterierna. Resultatet visade hur ingen energikälla kunde fylla bubbelbarriärens energibehov på egen hand. Därför framtogs alternativ där de kombinerades med varandra eller med elnätet. De mest lämpade alternativet blev takmonterade solceller på läge D i kombination med elnätet (A2). Därefter blev de stationära cyklarna i kombination med elnätet (A4) mest lämpade, nära följt av väggmonterad solenergi läge B i kombination med elnätet (A3). Alternativen på andra och tredje placering var de enda energisystemen som alternerade i dess rangordning beroende på val av parametrar i känslighetsanalys. Det var även små marginal emellan A3 och A4, vilket indikerar att de båda är relativt lika i dess lämplighetsbedömning. Resultatet visade hur takmonterade solceller på läge D i kombination med vätgaslagring (A1) blev det minst lämpade alternativet. Slutsatsen är att ingen av de undersökta energikällorna ensamt kan skapa en energisjälvförsörjning utan att kombineras med varandra eller elnätet. Alternativen är inte redo för omedelbar implementation på grund av detaljnivån utifrån studiens tidsram och omfattning, men de ger en värdefull vägledning och ett beslutsunderlag för framtida arbete och implementation.The purpose of this study is to investigate and assess different energy sources for powering Uppsala’s Bubble Barrier – a method for capturing waste in the River called “Fyrisån”. A multi-criteria analysis method is used to evaluate and compare different energy sources. In situations where the bubble barrier’s energy needs cannot be met by an individual energy source, alternatives are developed where they are combined with each other or the power grid. They are later graded and ranked based on a set of criteria. Several energy sources were evaluated, including roof- and wall-mounted solar panels, energy generated from stationary bicycles, and hydrogen storage, while biogas and a water-driven compressor were excluded at an early stage. The energy sources are assessed based on high electricity production, low carbon dioxide emissions, and high safety criteria. The criteria, level of safety, and subjective weighting values of the criteria were developed in collaboration with a supervisor from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) and a stakeholder from Uppsala municipality. General calculations have been conducted to gain an overall understanding of which energy system is most suitable according to the given criteria. The result showed how no energy source could meet the bubble barrier's energy needs on its own. Therefore, alternatives were developed where they were combined with each other or with the electricity grid. The most suitable alternative was roof-mounted solar panels on location D in combination with the electricity grid (A2). Next in line were the stationary bicycles in combination with the power grid (A4), closely followed by wall-mounted solar energy on location B in combination with the power grid (A3). These alternatives in the second and third positions were the only energy systems that alternated in their ranking depending on the choice of parameters in the sensitivity analysis. There were also small margins between them, indicating their similarity in terms of the suitability assessment. The results showed that roof-mounted solar panels on location D in combination with hydrogen storage (A1) was the least suitable alternative. The conclusion is that none of the examined local energy sources alone can achieve energy self-sufficiency without being combined with each other or the power grid. The alternatives are not ready for immediate implementation due to the level of detail within the study's timeframe and scope, but they provide valuable guidance and decision basis for future work and implementation

Hertz potentials and asymptotic properties of massless fields

In this paper we analyze Hertz potentials for free massless spin-s fields on the Minkowski spacetime, with data in weighted Sobolev spaces. We prove existence and pointwise estimates for the Hertz potentials using a weighted estimate for the wave equation. This is then applied to give weighted estimates for the solutions of the spin-s field equations, for arbitrary half-integer s. In particular, the peeling properties of the free massless spin-s fields are analyzed for initial data in weighted Sobolev spaces with arbitrary, non-integer weights.Comment: Regularity assumptions corrected. Orthogonality condition eliminate

Spin geometry and conservation laws in the Kerr spacetime

In this paper we will review some facts, both classical and recent, concerning the geometry and analysis of the Kerr and related black hole spacetimes. This includes the analysis of test fields on these spacetimes. Central to our analysis is the existence of a valence $(2,0)$ Killing spinor, which we use to construct symmetry operators and conserved currents as well as a new energy momentum tensor for the Maxwell test fields on a class of spacetimes containing the Kerr spacetime. We then outline how this new energy momentum tensor can be used to obtain decay estimated for Maxwell test fields. An important motivation for this work is the black hole stability problem, where fields with non-zero spin present interesting new challenges. The main tool in the analysis is the 2-spinor calculus, and for completeness we introduce its main features.Comment: 30 pages. To appear in the volume "The Centenary of General Relativity" in "Surveys in Differential Geometry", edited by Lydia Bieri and Shing-Tung Yau, in the series "Surveys in Differential Geometry

Accounting for the financialized UK and US national business model

The term ‘business model’ (BM) is generally used to describe the possibilities of transforming corporate activities and business functions (Osterwalder et al,2005 and Magretta,2002) In this paper we argue that our understanding of what constitutes a BM can be reworked to generate a useful organizing framework to investigate the nature of national economic development and transformation. Our argument is that national business models are subtended within a broad econo‐sphere where they evolve and adapt to information arising out of stakeholder interactions. These interactions congeal into reported financial numbers that are represented as GDP flow (income and surplus) and Balance Sheet accumulations (assets and liabilities outstanding). In this paper we employ financial data from national accounts to specifically describe how the US and UK national business models have financialized. We observe that balance sheet capitalization has inflated ahead of earnings and surplus. Our argument is that the capitalization of a national business model is not simply the mathematical product of discounting corporate cash earnings. The process of on‐going capitalization is also conditioned by variable institutional sector characteristics where financial innovation is possible and, within credit based economies, goodwill and holding gains arising out of asset inflation also provide collateral for further ongoing recapitalizations. In financialized national business models the system of accounting takes on added analytical significance because it ‘transmits rather than contains’ and ‘amplifies rather than dampens’ adverse financial disturbance as capitalizations are recalibrated up or down.Peer reviewe

Gα16, a G Protein α Subunit Specifically Expressed in Hematopoietic Cells

Signal-transduction pathways mediated by guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins (G proteins) determine many of the responses of hematopoietic cells. A recently identified gene encoding a G protein α subunit, Gα16, is specifically expressed in human cells of the hematopoietic lineage. The Gα16 cDNA encodes a protein with predicted Mr of 43,500, which resembles the Gq class of α subunits and does not include a pertussis toxin ADP-ribosylation site. In comparison with other G protein α subunits, the Gα16 predicted protein has distinctive amino acid sequences in the amino terminus, the region A guanine nucleotide-binding domain, and in the carboxyl-terminal third of the protein. Cell lines of myelomonocytic and T-cell phenotype express the Gα16 gene, but no expression is detectable in two B-cell lines or in nonhematopoietic cell lines. Gα16 gene expression is down-regulated in HL-60 cells induced to differentiate to neutrophils with dimethyl sulfoxide. Antisera generated from synthetic peptides that correspond to two regions of Gα16 specifically react with a protein of 42- to 43-kDa in bacterial strains that overexpress Gα16 and in HL-60 membranes. This protein is decreased in membranes from dimethyl sulfoxide-differentiated HL-60 cells and is not detectable in COS cell membranes. The restricted expression of this gene suggests that Gα16 regulates cell-type-specific signal-transduction pathways, which are not inhibited by pertussis toxin

Microgastrinae (Hymenoptera: Braconidae) parasitizing Epirrita autumnata (Lepidoptera: Geometridae) larvae in Fennoscandia with description of Cotesia autumnatae Shaw, sp. n.

The microgastrine subset of hymenopteran parasitoids of the geometrid Epirrita autumnata is investigated in Fennoscandia. Ecology, including population dynamics, of the moth has been intensively studied in northern and mountainous Finland, Norway and Sweden. Recently supported hypotheses about the causes of its cyclic population dynamics stress the role of parasitoids, while the parasitoid complex with some 15 species is insufficiently known. The complex includes four solitarymicrogastrine species, Protapanteles anchisiades (Nixon), P. immunis (Wesmael), Cotesia salebrosa (Marshall) and C. autumnatae Shaw, sp. n. Here, we provide detailed figures for the latter, which is morphologically close to C. jucunda (Marshall), and describe the species as new to science. We also providemore general habitus figures of the other three species, as well as an identification key for the four species, aiming to aid recognition of these species by ecologists dealingwithmicrogastrine parasitoids of E. autumnata and their alternative geometrid hosts

Molecular biomarkers and toxic consequences of impact by organic pollution in aquatic organisms

Organic contaminants are readily bioaccumulated by aquatic organisms. Exposure to and toxic effects of contaminants can be measured in terms of the biochemical responses of the organisms (i.e. molecular biomarkers). The hepatic biotransformation enzyme cytochrome P4501A (CYP1A) in vertebrates is specifically induced by organic contaminants such as aromatic hydrocarbons, PCBs and dioxins, and is involved in chemical carcinogenesis via catalysis of the covalent binding of organic contaminants to DNA (DNA-adducts). Hepatic CYP1A induction has been used extensively and successfully as a biomarker of organic contaminant exposure in fish. Fewer but equally encouraging studies in fish have used hepatic bulky, hydrophobic DNA-adducts as biomarkers of organic contaminant damage. Much less is known of the situation in marine invertebrates, but a CYPlA-like enzyme with limited inducibility and some potential for biomarker application is indicated. Stimulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) production is another potential mechanism of organic contaminant-mediated DNA and other damage in aquatic organisms. A combination of antioxidant (enzymes, scavengers) and pro-oxidant (oxidised DNA bases, lipid peroxidation) measurements may have potential as a biomarker of organic contaminant exposure (particularly those chemicals which do not induce CYP1A) and/or oxidative stress, but more studies are required. Both CYP1A- and ROS-mediated toxicity are indicated to result in higher order deleterious effects, including cancer and other aspects of animal fitness

Larval parasitism of the autumnal moth reduces feeding intensity on the mountain birch

Plants respond to grazing by herbivorous insects by emitting a range of volatile organic compounds, which attract parasitoids to their insect hosts. However, a positive outcome for the host plant is a necessary precondition for making the attraction beneficial or even adaptive. Parasitoids benefit plants by killing herbivorous insects, thus reducing future herbivore pressure, but also by curtailing the feeding intensity of the still living, parasitised host. In this study, the effect of parasitism on food consumption of the 5th instar larvae of the autumnal moth (Epirrita autumnata) was examined under laboratory conditions. Daily food consumption, as well as the duration of the 5th instar, was measured for both parasitised and non-parasitised larvae. The results showed that parasitism by the solitary endoparasitoid Zele deceptor not only reduced leaf consumption significantly but also hastened the onset of pupation in autumnal moth larvae. On the basis of the results, an empirical model was derived to assess the affects on the scale of the whole tree. The model suggests that parasitoids might protect the tree from total defoliation at least at intermediate larval densities. Consequently, a potential for plant–parasitoid chemical signalling appears to exist, which seems to benefit the mountain birch (Betula pubescens ssp. czerepanovii) by reducing the overall intensity of herbivore defoliation due to parasitism by this hymenopteran parasitoid