The pure PV-EV energy system – A conceptual study of a nationwide energy system based solely on photovoltaics and electric vehicles

The objective of this conceptual study is to reveal the substantial potential and synergy of solar energy and electric vehicles (EVs) working together. This potential is demonstrated by studying the feasibility of a nationwide energy system solely reliant on solar energy and EVs. Photovoltaic (PV) solar energy is already an important energy source globally, but due to its intermittency it requires energy storage to balance between times of high and low production. At the same time, a global drive is underway in the transport sector: the change from internal combustion engines to EVs. Cars are in fact stationary 95% of the time, and when the vehicle is connected to the grid, the EV battery can regulate the intermittent PV source using vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology. This paper presents a conceptual study of a pure PV-EV based energy system, with Spain as a case study. Provided that Spain’s entire fleet of 29.4 million road going vehicles is switched to EVs, the study shows that 3.45 billion m2 of PV (73 m2 per capita) could give Spain a completely self-reliant energy system. The theoretical study is based on a combination of measured values, simulations, and assumptions. The conclusion of the analysis is undoubtedly extraordinary, namely that an entire country like Spain can power its complete energy system solely on PV, using EVs as the only energy storage resource

The Notch and TGF-β Signaling Pathways Contribute to the Aggressiveness of Clear Cell Renal Cell Carcinoma

Despite recent progress, therapy for metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma (CCRCC) is still inadequate. Dysregulated Notch signaling in CCRCC contributes to tumor growth, but the full spectrum of downstream processes regulated by Notch in this tumor form is unknown

The biogeography of community assembly: latitude and predation drive variation in community trait distribution in a guild of epifaunal crustaceans

While considerable evidence exists of biogeographic patterns in the intensity of species interactions, the influence of these patterns on variation in community structure is less clear. Studying how the distributions of traits in communities vary along global gradients can inform how variation in interactions and other factors contribute to the process of community assembly. Using a model selection approach on measures of trait dispersion in crustaceans associated with eelgrass (Zostera marina) spanning 30 degrees of latitude in two oceans, we found that dispersion strongly increased with increasing predation and decreasing latitude. Ocean and epiphyte load appeared as secondary predictors; Pacific communities were more overdispersed while Atlantic communities were more clustered, and increasing epiphytes were associated with increased clustering. By examining how species interactions and environmental filters influence community structure across biogeographic regions, we demonstrate how both latitudinal variation in species interactions and historical contingency shape these responses. Community trait distributions have implications for ecosystem stability and functioning, and integrating large-scale observations of environmental filters, species interactions and traits can help us predict how communities may respond to environmental change.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A Pleistocene legacy structures variation in modern seagrass ecosystems

Distribution of Earth's biomes is structured by the match between climate and plant traits, which in turn shape associated communities and ecosystem processes and services. However, that climate-trait match can be disrupted by historical events, with lasting ecosystem impacts. As Earth's environment changes faster than at any time in human history, critical questions are whether and how organismal traits and ecosystems can adjust to altered conditions. We quantified the relative importance of current environmental forcing versus evolutionary history in shaping the growth form (stature and biomass) and associated community of eelgrass (Zostera marina), a widespread foundation plant of marine ecosystems along Northern Hemisphere coastlines, which experienced major shifts in distribution and genetic composition during the Pleistocene. We found that eelgrass stature and biomass retain a legacy of the Pleistocene colonization of the Atlantic from the ancestral Pacific range and of more recent within-basin bottlenecks and genetic differentiation. This evolutionary legacy in turn influences the biomass of associated algae and invertebrates that fuel coastal food webs, with effects comparable to or stronger than effects of current environmental forcing. Such historical lags in phenotypic acclimatization may constrain ecosystem adjustments to rapid anthropogenic climate change, thus altering predictions about the future functioning of ecosystems.This work was supported by the US NSF (OCE-1031061, OCE-1336206, OCE0-1336741, OCE-1336905) and the Smithsonian Institution. F.T. was supported by José Castillejo Award CAS14/00177. A.H.E. was supported by the FCT (Foundation for Science and Technology) through Project UIDB/04326/2020 and Contract CEECINST/00114/2018. This is Contribution 106 from the Smithsonian’s MarineGEO and Tennenbaum Marine Observatories Network and Contribution 4105 of the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William & Mary

A Pleistocene legacy structures variation in modern seagrass ecosystems

Distribution of Earth’s biomes is structured by the match between climate and plant traits, which in turn shape associated communities and ecosystem processes and services. However, that climate–trait match can be disrupted by historical events, with lasting ecosystem impacts. As Earth’s environment changes faster than at any time in human history, critical questions are whether and how organismal traits and ecosystems can adjust to altered conditions. We quantified the relative importance of current environmental forcing versus evolutionary history in shaping the growth form (stature and biomass) and associated community of eelgrass ( Zostera marina ), a widespread foundation plant of marine ecosystems along Northern Hemisphere coastlines, which experienced major shifts in distribution and genetic composition during the Pleistocene. We found that eelgrass stature and biomass retain a legacy of the Pleistocene colonization of the Atlantic from the ancestral Pacific range and of more recent within-basin bottlenecks and genetic differentiation. This evolutionary legacy in turn influences the biomass of associated algae and invertebrates that fuel coastal food webs, with effects comparable to or stronger than effects of current environmental forcing. Such historical lags in phenotypic acclimatization may constrain ecosystem adjustments to rapid anthropogenic climate change, thus altering predictions about the future functioning of ecosystems

The genome of the seagrass Zostera marina reveals angiosperm adaptation to the sea

Seagrasses colonized the sea(1) on at least three independent occasions to form the basis of one of the most productive and widespread coastal ecosystems on the planet(2). Here we report the genome of Zostera marina (L.), the first, to our knowledge, marine angiosperm to be fully sequenced. This reveals unique insights into the genomic losses and gains involved in achieving the structural and physiological adaptations required for its marine lifestyle, arguably the most severe habitat shift ever accomplished by flowering plants. Key angiosperm innovations that were lost include the entire repertoire of stomatal genes(3), genes involved in the synthesis of terpenoids and ethylene signalling, and genes for ultraviolet protection and phytochromes for far-red sensing. Seagrasses have also regained functions enabling them to adjust to full salinity. Their cell walls contain all of the polysaccharides typical of land plants, but also contain polyanionic, low-methylated pectins and sulfated galactans, a feature shared with the cell walls of all macroalgae(4) and that is important for ion homoeostasis, nutrient uptake and O-2/CO2 exchange through leaf epidermal cells. The Z. marina genome resource will markedly advance a wide range of functional ecological studies from adaptation of marine ecosystems under climate warming(5,6), to unravelling the mechanisms of osmoregulation under high salinities that may further inform our understanding of the evolution of salt tolerance in crop plants(7)

Supplementary material from "The biogeography of community assembly: latitude and predation drive variation in community trait distribution in a guild of epifaunal crustaceans"

While considerable evidence exists of biogeographic patterns in the intensity of species interactions, the influence of these patterns on variation in community structure is less clear. Studying how the distributions of traits in communities vary along global gradients can inform how variation in interactions and other factors contribute to the process of community assembly. Using a model selection approach on measures of trait dispersion in crustaceans associated with eelgrass (Zostera marina) spanning 30° of latitude in two oceans, we found that dispersion strongly increased with increasing predation and decreasing latitude. Ocean and epiphyte load appeared as secondary predictors; Pacific communities were more overdispersed while Atlantic communities were more clustered, and increasing epiphytes were associated with increased clustering. By examining how species interactions and environmental filters influence community structure across biogeographic regions, we demonstrate how both latitudinal variation in species interactions and historical contingency shape these responses. Community trait distributions have implications for ecosystem stability and functioning, and integrating large-scale observations of environmental filters, species interactions and traits can help us predict how communities may respond to environmental change.This research was funded by National Science Foundation grants to J.E.D., J.J.S. and K.A.H. (NSF-OCE 1336206, OCE 1336905, and OCE 1336741). C.B. was funded by the Åbo Akademi University Foundation.Peer reviewe

Knowledge for Improving Healthcare Service Quality : Combining Three Perspectives

The Swedish public sector in general, and healthcare specifically, is struggling with large deficits: 19 of 21 regions have large negative results in 2019. The demands made by the citizens and their elected politicians that healthcare should offer effective, accessible, good and equal care are difficult to meet. However, when it comes to emergency care, Swedish healthcare scores high on international rankings. The difficulties and challenges today lie in ensuring good and equal care for the large groups of people with multiple illnesses, and patients who need long-term care from different healthcare providers. A complicated system has become even more complex. Organizational research has shown conflicts between different ways of working to improve and change the organization and the methods that support the daily work of providing healthcare services. Furthermore, quality research shows that there are knowledge gaps to be filled when it comes to understanding how complex problems should be handled and what kind of knowledge could contribute. This also applies to the tensions and conflicts that can arise when knowledge from patients, other professions and fields of knowledge must be integrated with the knowledge that the professions (physicians, nursing) possess. Several public organizations have in recent years also adopted methods, tools and approaches from the design field. Especially user involvement (human-centric), collaboration and visualization. Design research often highlights the methods which are favorable for handling complexity. The overall purpose of this thesis was therefore to gain a deeper understanding of how the quality development work in healthcare is expressed and how it is affected when different perspectives of knowledge are integrated - with a focus on improvement knowledge, professional knowledge and design thinking. Since the purpose of the licentiate thesis was to gain a deeper understanding of what happens when new knowledge to develop quality in healthcare emerges, the method is based on a qualitative approach. Three research questions were formulated and led to three studies. The first study, a literature review, showed that there is limited research in the area but that there are indications that user involvement in development work affects employees' attitudes and values. In study number two, a case study was set up using design methods and involving users. The results showed tensions between the improvement work and the daily clinical operations. This tension could primarily be attributed to the conflict between faster and slowerxviprocesses (doing and thinking), when moving between different practicing skills (design, improvement and professional). The last study aimed to understand more about the management's view of this, relatively new knowledge (design) in healthcare, in relation to the traditional way to work with improvement and change. The result stresses that there are potential conflicts between the different fields of knowledge. But the interviews were also interpreted as showing the synergy effects that can arise when different practitioners meet, and the results also show that different ways of thinking can challenge the traditional ways of handling improvement and change in the development of healthcare. The thesis result overall strengthens the research that shows that design can add another dimension to traditional improvement work in healthcare. However, there is also frustration about something which is perceived as more abstract and reflective and which can sometimes be slower than what the solutions-oriented professions, who work under great time pressure and with scarce resources, are used to. Furthermore, the thesis highlights the problem that also has been described in previous research and which signals the (in)ability to both share new knowledge and to absorb it

Knowledge for Improving Healthcare Service Quality : Combining Three Perspectives

The Swedish public sector in general, and healthcare specifically, is struggling with large deficits: 19 of 21 regions have large negative results in 2019. The demands made by the citizens and their elected politicians that healthcare should offer effective, accessible, good and equal care are difficult to meet. However, when it comes to emergency care, Swedish healthcare scores high on international rankings. The difficulties and challenges today lie in ensuring good and equal care for the large groups of people with multiple illnesses, and patients who need long-term care from different healthcare providers. A complicated system has become even more complex. Organizational research has shown conflicts between different ways of working to improve and change the organization and the methods that support the daily work of providing healthcare services. Furthermore, quality research shows that there are knowledge gaps to be filled when it comes to understanding how complex problems should be handled and what kind of knowledge could contribute. This also applies to the tensions and conflicts that can arise when knowledge from patients, other professions and fields of knowledge must be integrated with the knowledge that the professions (physicians, nursing) possess. Several public organizations have in recent years also adopted methods, tools and approaches from the design field. Especially user involvement (human-centric), collaboration and visualization. Design research often highlights the methods which are favorable for handling complexity. The overall purpose of this thesis was therefore to gain a deeper understanding of how the quality development work in healthcare is expressed and how it is affected when different perspectives of knowledge are integrated - with a focus on improvement knowledge, professional knowledge and design thinking. Since the purpose of the licentiate thesis was to gain a deeper understanding of what happens when new knowledge to develop quality in healthcare emerges, the method is based on a qualitative approach. Three research questions were formulated and led to three studies. The first study, a literature review, showed that there is limited research in the area but that there are indications that user involvement in development work affects employees' attitudes and values. In study number two, a case study was set up using design methods and involving users. The results showed tensions between the improvement work and the daily clinical operations. This tension could primarily be attributed to the conflict between faster and slowerxviprocesses (doing and thinking), when moving between different practicing skills (design, improvement and professional). The last study aimed to understand more about the management's view of this, relatively new knowledge (design) in healthcare, in relation to the traditional way to work with improvement and change. The result stresses that there are potential conflicts between the different fields of knowledge. But the interviews were also interpreted as showing the synergy effects that can arise when different practitioners meet, and the results also show that different ways of thinking can challenge the traditional ways of handling improvement and change in the development of healthcare. The thesis result overall strengthens the research that shows that design can add another dimension to traditional improvement work in healthcare. However, there is also frustration about something which is perceived as more abstract and reflective and which can sometimes be slower than what the solutions-oriented professions, who work under great time pressure and with scarce resources, are used to. Furthermore, the thesis highlights the problem that also has been described in previous research and which signals the (in)ability to both share new knowledge and to absorb it