Geopolitiske virkninger av lavutslippssamfunnet

I denne rapporten presenteres hovedfunn fra ny forskning som belyser geopolitiske virkninger av overgangen til lavutslippssamfunnet og hvilke konsekvenser denne utviklingen har for Norge. Det vektlegges at en ny global klimaavtale, EUs klima- og energipolitikk, og utviklingen til noen nøkkelaktører, og i regionale og globale energimarkeder vil være sentrale påvirkningsfaktorer for Norges politikkutforming fremover. Etterspørselen etter energi globalt vil øke i takt med befolkningsvekst og velstandsutvikling, samtidig som en omfattende omstilling i den globale energisektoren vil være nødvendig for å kutte klimagassutslipp. Vi finner at en viktig drivkraft i energiomstillingsprosesser er selvforsyning av energi. Store land og energimarkeder legger stadig større vekt på selvforsyning, noe som gir Norge som energiaktør både utfordringer og nye muligheter. Nyvinninger i fornybarteknologi og desentraliserte løsninger vil gjøre nye energiløsninger mulig både i industrialiserte land og i framvoksende økonomier. Dette vil ramme Norge som olje- og gasseksportør. Lave olje- og gasspriser skaper også utfordringer for Norge de nærmeste årene. Men endringene i verdens energimarkeder skaper også nye muligheter for Norge. Ved å være en godt forberedt og omstillingsklar energiaktør som kan levere teknologiske og finansielle løsninger til land som vil øke sitt energibehov samtidig som klimagassutslippene skal ned, kan Norge bidra med løsninger til energiomstillingsprosesser i andre land og gjennom internasjonalt samarbei

Geopolitiske virkninger av lavutslippssamfunnet

I denne rapporten presenteres hovedfunn fra ny forskning som belyser geopolitiske virkninger av overgangen til lavutslippssamfunnet og hvilke konsekvenser denne utviklingen har for Norge. Det vektlegges at en ny global klimaavtale, EUs klima- og energipolitikk, og utviklingen til noen nøkkelaktører, og i regionale og globale energimarkeder vil være sentrale påvirkningsfaktorer for Norges politikkutforming fremover. Etterspørselen etter energi globalt vil øke i takt med befolkningsvekst og velstandsutvikling, samtidig som en omfattende omstilling i den globale energisektoren vil være nødvendig for å kutte klimagassutslipp. Vi finner at en viktig drivkraft i energiomstillingsprosesser er selvforsyning av energi. Store land og energimarkeder legger stadig større vekt på selvforsyning, noe som gir Norge som energiaktør både utfordringer og nye muligheter. Nyvinninger i fornybarteknologi og desentraliserte løsninger vil gjøre nye energiløsninger mulig både i industrialiserte land og i framvoksende økonomier. Dette vil ramme Norge som olje- og gasseksportør. Lave olje- og gasspriser skaper også utfordringer for Norge de nærmeste årene. Men endringene i verdens energimarkeder skaper også nye muligheter for Norge. Ved å være en godt forberedt og omstillingsklar energiaktør som kan levere teknologiske og finansielle løsninger til land som vil øke sitt energibehov samtidig som klimagassutslippene skal ned, kan Norge bidra med løsninger til energiomstillingsprosesser i andre land og gjennom internasjonalt samarbei

The Prognostic Impact of Protein Expression of E-Cadherin-Catenin Complexes Differs between Rectal and Colon Carcinoma

The E-cadherin-catenin complex provides cell-cell adhesion. In order for a carcinoma to metastasize, cancer cells must let go of their hold of neighboring cells in the primary tumor. The presence of components of the E-cadherin-catenin complex in 246 rectal adenocarcinomas was examined by immunohistochemistry and compared to their presence in 219 colon carcinomas. The expression data were correlated to clinical information from the patients' records. There were statistically significant differences in protein expression between the rectal and the colon carcinomas regarding membranous β-catenin, γ-catenin, p120-catenin, and E-cadherin, as well as nuclear β-catenin. In the rectal carcinomas, there was a significant inverse association between the expression of p120-catenin in cell membranes of the primary tumors and the occurrence of local recurrence, while membranous protein expression of β-catenin was inversely related to distant metastases

Differences in Protein Expression and Gene Amplification of Cyclins between Colon and Rectal Adenocarcinomas

Adenocarcinomas of rectum and colon may be different with regard to the cellular biological basis for cancer development. A material of 246 rectal cancers removed surgically at Akershus University Hospital in the years 1992–2000 was investigated and was compared to a material of 219 colon cancers operated on at Akershus University Hospital during the years 1988, 1990 and 1997–2000. There were highly significant differences between the rectal and the colon cancers in the protein expression of cyclin D1, cyclin D3, cyclin E, nuclear β-catenin, and c-Myc and in gene amplification of cyclin A2, cyclin B1, cyclin D1, and cyclin E. Gene amplification and protein expression in the rectal cancers correlated significantly for the cyclins B1, D3, and E. A statistically significant relation was observed between overexpression of cyclin A2 and local relapse of rectal carcinomas, as higher expression of cyclin A2 was associated with lower local recurrence rate

Stroke genetics informs drug discovery and risk prediction across ancestries

Previous genome-wide association studies (GWASs) of stroke — the second leading cause of death worldwide — were conducted predominantly in populations of European ancestry1,2. Here, in cross-ancestry GWAS meta-analyses of 110,182 patients who have had a stroke (five ancestries, 33% non-European) and 1,503,898 control individuals, we identify association signals for stroke and its subtypes at 89 (61 new) independent loci: 60 in primary inverse-variance-weighted analyses and 29 in secondary meta-regression and multitrait analyses. On the basis of internal cross-ancestry validation and an independent follow-up in 89,084 additional cases of stroke (30% non-European) and 1,013,843 control individuals, 87% of the primary stroke risk loci and 60% of the secondary stroke risk loci were replicated (P < 0.05). Effect sizes were highly correlated across ancestries. Cross-ancestry fine-mapping, in silico mutagenesis analysis3, and transcriptome-wide and proteome-wide association analyses revealed putative causal genes (such as SH3PXD2A and FURIN) and variants (such as at GRK5 and NOS3). Using a three-pronged approach4, we provide genetic evidence for putative drug effects, highlighting F11, KLKB1, PROC, GP1BA, LAMC2 and VCAM1 as possible targets, with drugs already under investigation for stroke for F11 and PROC. A polygenic score integrating cross-ancestry and ancestry-specific stroke GWASs with vascular-risk factor GWASs (integrative polygenic scores) strongly predicted ischaemic stroke in populations of European, East Asian and African ancestry5. Stroke genetic risk scores were predictive of ischaemic stroke independent of clinical risk factors in 52,600 clinical-trial participants with cardiometabolic disease. Our results provide insights to inform biology, reveal potential drug targets and derive genetic risk prediction tools across ancestries

Seizing policy windows: Policy Influence of climate advocacy coalitions in Brazil, China, and India, 2000?2015

What drives the development of climate policy? Brazil, China, and India have all changed their climate policies since 2000, and single-case analyses of climate policymaking have found that all three countries have had climate coalitions working to promote climate policies. To what extent have such advocacy coalitions been able to influence national policies for climate-change mitigation, and what can explain this? Employing a new approach that combines the advocacy coalition framework (ACF) with insights from comparative environmental politics and the literature on policy windows, this paper identifies why external parameters like political economy and institutional structures are crucial for explaining the climate advocacy coalitions’ ability to seize policy windows and influence policy development. We find that the coalitions adjust their policy strategies to the influence-opportunity structures in each political context—resulting in confrontation in Brazil, cooperation in China, and a complementary role in IndiaSeizing policy windows: Policy Influence of climate advocacy coalitions in Brazil, China, and India, 2000?2015publishedVersio

Natural Gas Politics in the Southern Cone : A comparative study of goal attainment in the gas sector in Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil

The Southern Cone region consists of the six southernmost countries in South America. Three of these countries, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil have great natural gas resources. All these three countries have goals connected to the gas sector. However, the attainment of these goals varies between the countries. This thesis studies why some countries are more successful than their neighbouring countries in attaining goals in the natural gas sector. A comparative case study of the abovementioned countries is conducted, finding that Brazil has succeeded to a greater extent than the other two countries. The comparative analysis finds that a stable governance model in the gas sector and a skilled and committed national oil and gas company have been crucial for Brazil’s goal attainment in the sector. The analysis also finds that even though the countries perceive integration in the gas sector as an advantage and have signed several cooperation agreements, few of the integration projects have been implemented. Theories of policy implementation, natural gas governance and regional integration are combined in this study in order to analyse both national and international aspects of goal attainment in the gas sector, and its influence on regional energy integration

Effects of chlorpyrifos and lead (Pb) on the earthworm Eisenia fetida : a biomarker comparison and a characterisation of recovery

Cholinesterase (ChE) activity is a recognised biomarker of organophosphorus (OP) insecticide exposure. It is frequently applied to earthworms in the field of agriculturally linked ecotoxicology, because of the use of OP insecticides on crops, and the exposure of earthworms due to their inhabiting the soil. The ubiquitously occurring metal lead (Pb) has previously been shown to both influence and not influence ChE activity in earthworms, therefore it was of interest to investigate the influence of lead on chlorpyrifos-induced ChE inhibition in the earthworm Eisenia fetida. Four treatment groups were exposed to chlorpyrifos (10 mg/kg), and three of the groups were also exposed to lead (20, 500 and 1000 mg/kg). Worms were sampled for analyses after 6 hours and after 1 week of exposure. In addition to the ChE activity, the amount of DNA strand breaks in coelomocytes was measured, thereby allowing a comparison of these two biomarkers. After 6 hours, there were no significant differences between the ChE activity between any of the treatment groups and the control. The DNA strand breaks could not be assessed at this point due to lack of enough cell samples of good quality. After 1 week, the ChE activity in the worms exposed to chlorpyrifos alone and combined with 20 and 1000 mg/kg lead was significantly lower than the control (P < 0.05), corresponding to a 35-38 % inhibition. No effect of lead on the chlorpyrifos-induced ChE activity could be stated. DNA strand breaks as expressed by tail extent moments (TEMs) increased significantly compared to the negative control in the worms exposed to chlorpyrifos and the two highest concentrations of lead (P < 0.01), whereas no significant differences in Olive tail moments (OTMs) were detected. The syringe extraction method was used when sampling coelomocytes from the worms, and based on the results, it is not considered a preferable method when used as described here. OP insecticides are known to cause an irreversible inhibition of ChE activity, which means that new enzyme must be synthesised for the activity to recover. Recovery of ChE activity after exposure to several OP insecticides has in many animals, including earthworms, been proved a lengthy process, however little is known of the recovery of earthworms following chlorpyrifos exposure. To see whether the slow ChE recovery applies to chlorpyrifos as well, E. fetida specimens were exposed to chlorpyrifos (240 mg/kg) for 48 hours, and subsequently transferred to clean soil. The activity of both types of ChE in E. fetida, E1 and E2, was measured at intervals over a 12 week period, and the appearance and behaviour of the worms were observed. Directly after exposure, the total ChE and E2 activity was inhibited by 63 % and 52 %, respectively, and there was no rise in the activity of the exposed worms compared to the controls during the recovery period. However, after 2-3 weeks, the exposed earthworms could not be distinguished from the control worms by appearance or behaviour. Aspects of applying ChE activity as a biomarker are discussed

En kunnskapsoversikt over klima og kjønn: Byrder, medvirkning og muligheter

Påvirkning av klimaendringer og klimatiltak, samt mulighet til å kunne delta og påvirke politikk og virkemidler i omstillingen til lavutslippssamfunnet, er betinget av grupper og enkeltindividers tilgang til ulike ressurser og status i samfunnet. Kjønn og likestilling er viktig i denne sammenhengen fordi kvinner globalt har dårligere tilgang på ressurser som land, inntekt, utdannelse og tjenester som kreditt og informasjon. Kjønnsforskjeller knyttet til klimaendringer bør også forstås i sammenheng med faktorer som alder, klasse, kaste, religion og etnisitet m.m. I lys av dette har Utenriksdepartementets Seksjon for menneskerettigheter, demokrati og likestilling gitt CICERO Senter for klimaforskning i oppdrag å skrive en litteraturgjennomgang på tema Kjønn og klima

Identification and assessment of exposure scenario minimum requirements

The report is from a project on the identification and assessment of minimum requirements for exposure scenarios (ESs) as required in Article 14-3 of Regulation (EC) 1907/2006 on REACH. A list of minimum requirements is proposed in the report. The list of minimum requirements together with two practical ES examples was used as a basis for a survey sent to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and others. Responses from 70 companies were received, approximately half of which were identified as SMEs. The survey responses show that ESs vary to a great extent, and that harmonisation/standardisation of ESs is desired. The responses also show that there is a significant need for increased understanding and knowledge on ESs, particularly among SMEs. Recommendations are made on harmonisation of legal requirements for ES content, with some concrete recommendations for compilers of ESs, downstream users, industry/industry organisations and national enforcement authorities