How innovation systems emerge to solve ecological problems: Biofuels in the United States and Brazil

This paper discusses the re-emergence of biofuel innovation systems in the United States and Brazil. We argue that innovation systems emerge and evolve to solve a problem, and that the way the problem is framed and articulated has a significant impact on the direction and momentum of this evolution. Additionally, innovation sequences occur with a recurrent pattern of changing problems and innovative solutions. We consider the role of the State as a core actor in the mobilisation of innovation systems and discuss how specific institutional arrangements, political contexts and technological competencies influence how problems are framed. We find that role of the State varies across time as well as across different geographical regions. Finally, we suggest that as ecological problems intensify we might expect to see an increase in State intervention in innovation systems

The Peculiar Periodic YSO WL 4 in ρ Ophiuchus

We present the discovery of 130.87 day periodic near-infrared flux variability for the Class II T Tauri star WL 4 (= 2MASS J16271848-2429059, ISO-Oph 128). Our data are from the 2MASS Calibration Point Source Working Database, and constitute 1580 observations in J, H and K_s of a field in ρ Ophiuchus used to calibrate the 2MASS All-Sky Survey. We identify a light curve for WL 4 with eclipse amplitudes of ~0.4 mag lasting more than one-quarter the period, and color variations in J-H and H-K_s, of ~0.1 mag. The long period cannot be explained by stellar rotation. We propose that WL 4 is a triple YSO system, with an inner binary orbital period of 130.87 days. We posulate that we are observing each component of the inner binary alternately being eclipsed by a circum-binary disk with respect to our line of sight. This system will be useful in investigating terrestrial zone YSO disk properties and dynamics at ~1 Myr

Systematic misregistration and the statistical analysis of surface data.

Spatial normalisation is a key element of statistical parametric mapping and related techniques for analysing cohort statistics on voxel arrays and surfaces. The normalisation process involves aligning each individual specimen to a template using some sort of registration algorithm. Any misregistration will result in data being mapped onto the template at the wrong location. At best, this will introduce spatial imprecision into the subsequent statistical analysis. At worst, when the misregistration varies systematically with a covariate of interest, it may lead to false statistical inference. Since misregistration generally depends on the specimen's shape, we investigate here the effect of allowing for shape as a confound in the statistical analysis, with shape represented by the dominant modes of variation observed in the cohort. In a series of experiments on synthetic surface data, we demonstrate how allowing for shape can reveal true effects that were previously masked by systematic misregistration, and also guard against misinterpreting systematic misregistration as a true effect. We introduce some heuristics for disentangling misregistration effects from true effects, and demonstrate the approach's practical utility in a case study of the cortical bone distribution in 268 human femurs.This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Medical Image Analysis. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Medical Image Analysis, [Volume 18, Issue 2, February 2014] DOI http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.media.2013.12.007

Disengagement and engaging citizenship: the everyday reproduction of Jewish democracy by Jewish Israeli youth

The apparent tension between Israel as a democracy and Israel as a specifically Jewish state has played a central role in much academic and popular debate about the region. Taking an actor-centred perspective of national subject and citizenship formation, this thesis treats Jewish nationalism and democratic citizenship not simply as abstractions, but as categories lived out in the everyday lives of Jewish Israeli youth. The ethnography focuses on secular and religious Jewish Israeli high school teens as they approach conscription age and begin to make decisions about their rights and responsibilities as Jewish Israeli citizens. This is done in a context of their school, recreational, and family life. Through the engagement of these youth with processes around the Disengagement from Gaza, which saw the radicalisation of existing conflicts between “secular” and “religious” Jews, I show how these teens reproduce Jewish democracy in their everyday lives, taking it from an abstract conundrum to an un-ambiguous way of being Israeli. What might be considered paradoxical in fact resembles what I consider the multiplexity of Jewish Israeli identity that considers the multiple ethnic, religious, and civic resources that constitute Jewish Israeli national subjectivity. The tensions between democratic citizenship and Jewish nationalism are therefore productive of a particular form of identity. The particular focus of the thesis is how and why Jewish Israeli youth reproduce Jewish nationalism, and subsequently how people themselves construct a sense of nationhood through the shared experiences of kin and peers. This ultimately establishes the nation as not only an “imagined community” but a tangible network of shared experiences, rooting it in intimate relationships that inspire feelings of national connectedness. The vagueness of why people would want to contribute to an abstract society is partly understood in an Israeli context through looking at the intimate familial motivations behind doing military service. The fact that the majority of Israeli teens still consider military service a vital constituent of Israeli civic identity and national membership reveals the moral boundaries that continue to be derived from civic republicanism and ethno-nationalism that comprise the experience of being in the army and Jewish democracy as a whole. Through the attitudes of Jewish Israelis and the IDF towards draft avoidance and conscientious objection one is able to appreciate how the ethnic and civic forms of citizenship that constitute the experience of military service establish certain contours of national belonging. This provides a contemporary understanding of Jewish Israelis‟ engagement with civic-republicanism and ethno-nationalism, showing the ways both the state and Jewish Israelis expect other Jewish nationals to show commitment to the Israeli state. My ethnography on state rituals illuminates how official state narratives converge with subjective national experiences. As well as trying to reinforce particular forms of nationalism, individuals take part in state rituals for their own reasons revealing the emotional aspect of nationalism and hence the fresh ways people interpret national discourses

Practicable assessment of cochlear size and shape from clinical CT images

There is considerable interpersonal variation in the size and shape of the human cochlea, with evident consequences for cochlear implantation. The ability to characterize a specific cochlea, from preoperative computed tomography (CT) images, would allow the clinician to personalize the choice of electrode, surgical approach and postoperative programming. In this study, we present a fast, practicable and freely available method for estimating cochlear size and shape from clinical CT. The approach taken is to fit a template surface to the CT data, using either a statistical shape model or a locally affine deformation (LAD). After fitting, we measure cochlear size, duct length and a novel measure of basal turn non-planarity, which we suggest might correlate with the risk of insertion trauma. Gold-standard measurements from a convenience sample of 18 micro-CT scans are compared with the same quantities estimated from low-resolution, noisy, pseudo-clinical data synthesized from the same micro-CT scans. The best results were obtained using the LAD method, with an expected error of 8-17% of the gold-standard sample range for non-planarity, cochlear size and duct length.Evelyn Trust, MRC Confidence in Concept Fund Cambridge Hearing Trust

Delineating ground deformation over the Tengiz oil field, Kazakhstan, using the Intermittent SBAS (ISBAS) DInSAR algorithm

Changes in subsurface pore pressures and stresses due to the extraction of hydrocarbons often cause deformation over oil and gas fields. This can have significant consequences, including ground subsidence, induced seismicity and well failures. Geodynamic monitoring is an important requirement in recognising potential threats in sufficient time for remedial measures to be implemented. Differential interferometric synthetic aperture radar (DInSAR) is increasingly utilised for monitoring ground deformation over oil and gas reservoirs, achieving greater spatial coverage than traditional field-based surveying techniques. However, ground deformation over oil and gas fields can extend regionally into the surrounding rural landscape, where many conventional DInSAR techniques are of limited use due to the dynamic nature of the land cover. The Intermittent Small Baseline Subset (ISBAS) method is an advanced DInSAR technique, which considers the intermittent nature of coherence over dynamic land cover types to obtain markedly more ground motion measurements in non-urban regions. In this study, the ISBAS technique is used to delineate deformation over the super-giant Tengiz oil field in rural Kazakhstan. Analysis of ENVISAT data for 2004–2009 reveals a well-defined bowl subsiding with a maximum rate of −15.7 mm/year, corroborated by independent DInSAR studies and traditional levelling data. Subsequent application of ISBAS to Sentinel-1 data reveals significant evolution of deformation over the field in 2016–2017, with subsidence increasing dramatically to a maximum of -79.3 mm/year. The increased density of measurements obtained using the ISBAS technique enables accurate and comprehensive delineation and characterisation of ground deformation in this rural landscape, without the need for corner reflectors. This enhanced information could ultimately aid reservoir characterisation and management, and improve understanding of the risk posed by ground subsidence and fault reactivation

Mapping Bone Changes at the Proximal Femoral Cortex of Postmenopausal Women in Response to Alendronate and Teriparatide Alone, Combined or Sequentially.

Combining antiresorptive and anabolic drugs for osteoporosis may be a useful strategy to prevent hip fractures. Previous studies comparing the effects of alendronate (ALN) and teriparatide (TPTD) alone, combined or sequentially using quantitative computed tomography (QCT) in postmenopausal women have not distinguished cortical bone mineral density (CBMD) from cortical thickness (CTh) effects, nor assessed the distribution and extent of more localized changes. In this study a validated bone mapping technique was used to examine the cortical and endocortical trabecular changes in the proximal femur resulting from an 18-month course of ALN or TPTD. Using QCT data from a different clinical trial, the global and localized changes seen following a switch to TPTD after an 18-month ALN treatment or adding TPTD to the ALN treatment were compared. Ct.Th increased (4.8%, p < 0.01) and CBMD decreased (-4.5%, p < 0.01) in the TPTD group compared to no significant change in the ALN group. A large Ct.Th increase could be seen for the switch group (2.8%, p < 0.01) compared to a significantly smaller increase for the add group (1.5%, p < 0.01). CBMD decreased significantly for the switch group (-3.9%, p < 0.01) and was significantly different from no significant change in the add group. Ct.Th increases were shown to be significantly greater for the switch group compared to the add group at the load bearing regions. This study provides new insights into the effects of ALN and TPTD combination therapies on the cortex of the proximal femur and supports the hypothesis of an increased bone remodeling by TPTD being mitigated by ALN.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbmr.2454/abstract

The Effects on the Femoral Cortex of a 24 Month Treatment Compared to an 18 Month Treatment with Teriparatide: A Multi-Trial Retrospective Analysis.

BACKGROUND: Teriparatide (TPTD) is an anabolic agent indicated for the treatment of severely osteoporotic patients who are at high risk of fragility fractures. The originally approved duration of TPTD treatment in several regions, including Europe, was 18 months. However, studies of areal bone mineral density (aBMD) showed additional benefit when treatment is continued beyond 18 months, and the drug is currently licenced for 24 months. Improvements in cortical structure at the proximal femur have already been shown in patients given TPTD for 24 months using quantitative computed tomography (QCT). Here, we investigate whether cortical and endocortical trabecular changes differ between an 18- and 24-month treatment. METHODS: Since an 18- versus 24-month TPTD study using QCT has not been conducted, we studied combined QCT data from four previous clinical trials. Combined femoral QCT data from three 18-month TPTD studies ('18-month group') were compared with data from a fourth 24-month trial ('24-month group'). Cortical parameters were measured over the entire proximal femur which allowed for a comparison of the mean changes as well as a visual comparison of the colour maps of changes after 18 and 24 months TPTD. RESULTS: For both the combined 18-month group and the 24-month group, overall cortical thickness and endocortical trabecular density increased, while overall cortical bone mineral density decreased. While the changes in the 24-month group were of greater magnitude compared to the 18-month group, the differences were only significant for the endocortical trabecular density (ECTD), corrected for age, weight, femoral neck T-score, total hip T-score and the baseline mean ECTD. CONCLUSION: Although the combination of data from different clinical trials is not optimal, these data support the concept that the duration of TPTD in the 18-24 month phase is of clinical relevance when considering improvement in hip structure.This study was funded by Eli Lilly. TW, GMT, AHG and KESP received research grants from Eli Lilly. KESP is also funded by the Cambridge NIHR Biomedical research Centre. The Evelyn Trust funded GMT. The funders had no role in study design, data analysis or decision to publish, but were involved in collection of data and had the chance to review the manuscript once written.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from PLOS via http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.014772