THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ELECTRIC POWER SYSTEM REGULATORY STRUCTURE AND RENEWABLE ENERGY GROWTH IN THE UNITED STATES FROM 2010 TO 2020

The regulatory structure of the electric power system in the U.S. follows two basic models. Historically, vertically integrated public utilities, operating as monopolies, have controlled electricity generation, transmission, and distribution. This regulated structure has been retained by 23 states. The other 27 states have restructured, or deregulated, their electricity market such that Regional Transmission Organizations balance system load and operate bid-based wholesale electricity markets. This restructuring, intended to make price competition central to transmission system access, has opened the market to non-utility generators. The aim of the present study was to determine which of these two systems has been more conducive to renewable energy growth within the last decade. Recent cost declines have made wind and solar power costcompetitive, suggesting that a deregulated market structure may facilitate their growth. Annual wind and solar photovoltaic capacity additions, expressed as a percentage of total capacity addition, were analyzed. Deregulated states displayed greater wind capacity growth between 2010 and 2020 than regulated states. Much of this dominance was explained by a more favorable wind resource quality; however, deregulation had significant additional predictive power. Regulated states, in contrast, displayed significantly greater solar capacity growth, with steep acceleration even prior to solar power becoming broadly cost-competitive. A more favorable solar resource quality explained much of this difference, especially in later years when CapEx had declined. State Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) predicted solar capacity growth only among deregulated states, which average more ambitious RPS targets than regulated states. Regulatory status per se accounted for a small additional fraction of between-state variance in solar capacity growth. In summary, deregulation appears to have facilitated wind capacity deployment but may have slowed solar capacity growth. A regulated system may have been more conducive to solar capacity growth early on, when this technology was only marginally cost-competitive

Respiratory chain complexes in dynamic mitochondria display a patchy distribution in life cells

Background: Mitochondria, the main suppliers of cellular energy, are dynamic organelles that fuse and divide frequently. Constraining these processes impairs mitochondrial is closely linked to certain neurodegenerative diseases. It is proposed that functional mitochondrial dynamics allows the exchange of compounds thereby providing a rescue mechanism. Methodology/Principal Findings: The question discussed in this paper is whether fusion and fission of mitochondria in different cell lines result in re-localization of respiratory chain (RC) complexes and of the ATP synthase. This was addressed by fusing cells containing mitochondria with respiratory complexes labelled with different fluorescent proteins and resolving their time dependent re-localization in living cells. We found a complete reshuffling of RC complexes throughout the entire chondriome in single HeLa cells within 2–3 h by organelle fusion and fission. Polykaryons of fused cells completely re-mixed their RC complexes in 10–24 h in a progressive way. In contrast to the recently described homogeneous mixing of matrix-targeted proteins or outer membrane proteins, the distribution of RC complexes and ATP synthase in fused hybrid mitochondria, however, was not homogeneous but patterned. Thus, complete equilibration of respiratory chain complexes as integral inner mitochondrial membrane complexes is a slow process compared with matrix proteins probably limited by complete fusion. In co-expressing cells, complex II is more homogenously distributed than complex I and V, resp. Indeed, this result argues for higher mobility and less integration in supercomplexes. Conclusion/Significance: Our results clearly demonstrate that mitochondrial fusion and fission dynamics favours the re-mixing of all RC complexes within the chondriome. This permanent mixing avoids a static situation with a fixed composition of RC complexes per mitochondrion

Abdominal obesity‐related disturbance of insulin sensitivity is associated with cd8+ emra cells in the elderly

Aging and overweight increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes mellitus. In this cross‐sectional study, we aimed to investigate the potential mediating role of T‐EMRA cells and inflammatory markers in the development of a decreased insulin sensitivity. A total of 134 healthy older volunteers were recruited (age 59.2 (SD 5.6) years). T cell subpopulations were analyzed by flow cytometry. Furthermore, body composition, HOMA‐IR, plasma tryptophan (Trp) metabolites, as well as cytokines and adipokines were determined. Using subgroup and covariance analyses, the influence of BMI on the parameters was evaluated. Moreover, correlation, multiple regression, and mediation analyses were performed. In the subgroup of participants with obesity, an increased proportion of CD8+EMRA cells and elevated concentrations of plasma kynurenine (KYN) were found compared to the lower‐weight subgroups. Linear regression analysis revealed that an elevated HOMA‐IR could be predicted by a higher proportion of CD8+EMRA cells and KYN levels. A mediation analysis showed a robust indirect effect of the Waist‐to‐hip ratio on HOMA‐IR mediated by CD8+EMRA cells. Thus, the deleterious effects of abdominal obesity on glucose metabolism might be mediated by CD8+EMRA cells in the elderly. Longitudinal studies should validate this assumption and analyze the suitability of CD8+EMRA cells as early predictors of incipient prediabetes. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland

Abstracts from the 20th International Symposium on Signal Transduction at the Blood-Brain Barriers

https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/138963/1/12987_2017_Article_71.pd

Risk stereotype and unrealistic optimism

People tend to estimate their own risk of becoming a victim as being below average. There are a number of explanations for this positive view of one's future, which is referred to as unrealistic optimism or optimistic bias. Most attempts to explain this phenomenon share the assumption that people have riskrelevant knowledge at their disposal. We assurne that this knowledge is organized in the manner of an implicit risk-factor theory, and we suggest a model describing content and structure of such a theory. Part of the individual risk-factor theory includes stereotype images of people at high risk, so-called risk stereotypes that consist of ideas regarding qualitative risk faetors (e. g., smoking) as well quantitative aspects of each risk factor (duration, frequency, and intensity). These risk stereotypes are used as a reference point for the evaluation of one's own relative risk. It is assumed that the appraisal of one's own relative risk increases, the more similarities there are to the image of a high-risk person. Within an exploratory study, 72 smokers, 39 exsmokers, and 40 non-smokers estimated their relative risk regarding lung cancer and smoker's cough. On the average, participants judged their relative risk as below the mean probability. Smokers took into consideration their risky behavior; however, they judged their probability only as at the average level. Furthermore, smokers came up with higher risk estimates if their own behavior approached that of a high-risk person. Smokers viewed themselves to be at average risk if their own smoking behavior equaled the behavior of the risk stereotype