Mobilizing Finance for the Just Energy Transition in the European Union

Minimizing the adverse social and economic consequences of the energy transition is an important social aspiration. It is the essence of the “just transition,” the connective tissue that binds together climate goals with social outcomes centered around jobs. This policy note proposes the first iteration of a just transition policy framework built around three interrelated and mutually reinforcing pillars. These include: (i) a system for determining a hierarchy of priorities for activities, sectors, or groups that are to be compensated for the negative impacts they suffer from the transition to a low-carbon economy or supported because they contribute directly to a more equitable sharing of the costs and opportunities from the transition; (ii) a fiscal transfer mechanism to allocate public funds consistent with these priorities; and (iii) financial flows enablers, a set of instruments or policy interventions to facilitate private financial flows to activities or projects that are deemed to contribute to a more just transition. The assessment provides seven key takeaways for consideration by competent authorities to strengthen further the EU just transition policy framework going forward. These are: (i) narrowing the scope of the framework by focusing on social support and/or land restoration, while encouraging private sector funding for economic revitalization projects; (ii) enhancing data collection on social impact assessment to better understand the negative effects of climate transition initiatives and prevent "social washing"; (iii) embedding just transition considerations in sustainability regulations by including relevant indicators and metrics; (iv) providing guidance on assessing just transition-related risks for financial firms in prioritized regions and sectors; (v) clarifying supervisory expectations for financial firms regarding just transition-related litigation and liability risk; (vi) encouraging the development of financial instruments for the just transition; and (vii) maximizing the role of multilateral development banks in de-risking just transition projects, especially in member countries with limited resources and capacity

Analysis of energy performance of school building stock in Rome

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Gastric normal adjacent mucosa versus healthy and cancer tissues: Distinctive transcriptomic profiles and biological features

Gastric cancer (GC) is a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the world. Molecular heterogeneity is a major determinant for the clinical outcomes and an exhaustive tumor classification is currently missing. Histologically normal tissue adjacent to the tumor (NAT) is commonly used as a control in cancer studies, nevertheless a recently published paper described the unique characteristics of the NAT in several tumor types. Little is known about the global gene expression profile of gastric NAT (gNAT) which could be an effective tool for a more realistic definition of GC molecular signature. Here, we integrated data of 512 samples from the Genotype- Tissue Expression project (GETx) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) to analyze the transcriptome of healthy gastric tissues, gNAT, and GC samples. We validated TCGA-GETx data mining through inHouse gNAT and GC expression dataset. Differential gene expression together with pathway enrichment analyses, indeed, led to different results when using the gNAT or the healthy tissue as control. Based on our analyses, gNAT showed a peculiar gene signature and biological features, like the estrogen receptor pathways activation, suggesting a molecular behavior partially different from both healthy and GC tissues. Therefore, using gNAT as healthy control tissue in the characterization of tumor associated biological processes and pathways could lead to suboptimal results

Dihydrophenanthrenes from a sicilian accession of himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge showed antioxidant, antimicrobial, and antiproliferative activities

The peculiar aspect that emerges from the study of Orchidaceae is the presence of various molecules, which are particularly interesting for pharmaceutical chemistry due to their wide range of biological resources. The aim of our study was to investigate the properties of two dihydrophenanthrenes, isolated, for the first time, from Himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge (Orchidaceae) bulbs and roots. Chemical and spectroscopic study of the bulbs and roots of Himantoglossum robertianum (Loisel.) P. Delforge resulted in the isolation of two known dihydrophenanthrenes—loroglossol and hircinol—never isolated from this plant species. The structures were evaluated based on1H-NMR,13C-NMR, and two-dimensional spectra, and by comparison with the literature. These two molecules have been tested for their possible antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiproliferative, and proapoptotic activities. In particular, it has been shown that these molecules cause an increase in the activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione S-transferase (GST) in polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN); show antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus, and have anti-proliferative effects on gastric cancer cell lines, inducing apoptosis effects. Therefore, these two molecules could be considered promising candidates for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical preparations

DNA methylation dynamic of bone marrow hematopoietic stem cells after allogeneic transplantation

Background: Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (AHSCT) is a curative therapeutic approach for different hematological malignancies (HMs), and epigenetic modifications, including DNA methylation, play a role in the reconstitution of the hematopoietic system after AHSCT. This study aimed to explore global DNA methylation dynamic of bone marrow (BM) hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs) from donors and their respective recipients affected by acute myeloid leukemia (AML), acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL) and Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) during the first year after transplant. Methods: We measured DNA methylation profile by Illumina HumanMethylationEPIC in BM HSPC of 10 donors (t0) and their matched recipients at different time points after AHSCT, at day + 30 (t1), + 60 (t2), + 120 (t3), + 180 (t4), and + 365 (t5). Differential methylation analysis was performed by using R software and CRAN/Bioconductor packages. Gene set enrichment analysis was carried out on promoter area of significantly differentially methylated genes by clusterProfiler package and the mSigDB genes sets. Results: Results show significant differences in the global methylation profile between HL and acute leukemias, and between patients with mixed and complete chimerism, with a strong methylation change, with prevailing hypermethylation, occurring 30 days after AHSCT. Functional analysis of promoter methylation changes identified genes involved in hematopoietic cell activation, differentiation, shaping, and movement. This could be a consequence of donor cell “adaptation” in recipient BM niche. Interestingly, this epigenetic remodeling was reversible, since methylation returns similar to that of donor HSPCs after 1 year. Only for a pool of genes, mainly involved in dynamic shaping and trafficking, the DNA methylation changes acquired after 30 days were maintained for up to 1 year post-transplant. Finally, preliminary data suggest that the methylation profile could be used as predictor of relapse in ALL. Conclusions: Overall, these data provide insights into the DNA methylation changes of HSPCs after transplantation and a new framework to investigate epigenetics of AHSCT and its outcomes

Pion and proton showers in the CALICE scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter

Showers produced by positive hadrons in the highly granular CALICE scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter were studied. The experimental data were collected at CERN and FNAL for single particles with initial momenta from 10 to 80 GeV/c. The calorimeter response and resolution and spatial characteristics of shower development for proton- and pion-induced showers for test beam data and simulations using Geant4 version 9.6 are compared.Comment: 26 pages, 16 figures, JINST style, changes in the author list, typos corrected, new section added, figures regrouped. Accepted for publication in JINS

Performance of the first prototype of the CALICE scintillator strip electromagnetic calorimeter

A first prototype of a scintillator strip-based electromagnetic calorimeter was built, consisting of 26 layers of tungsten absorber plates interleaved with planes of 45x10x3 mm3 plastic scintillator strips. Data were collected using a positron test beam at DESY with momenta between 1 and 6 GeV/c. The prototype's performance is presented in terms of the linearity and resolution of the energy measurement. These results represent an important milestone in the development of highly granular calorimeters using scintillator strip technology. This technology is being developed for a future linear collider experiment, aiming at the precise measurement of jet energies using particle flow techniques

A Salivary Urea Nitrogen Dipstick to Detect Obstetric-Related Acute Kidney Disease in Malawi

Introduction: Obstetric-related acute kidney injury (AKI) is associated with adverse outcomes for mother and fetus, particularly in low-income countries. However, laboratory-independent tools to facilitate diagnosis are lacking. We assessed the diagnostic performance of a salivary urea nitrogen (SUN) dipstick to detect obstetric-related acute kidney disease in Malawi. / Methods: Women at high risk for AKI admitted to an obstetric unit in Blantyre, Malawi, were recruited between 21 September and 11 December 2015. Patients underwent serum creatinine (SCr) testing alongside measurement of SUN using a dipstick on admission, and every 48 hours thereafter if evidence of kidney disease was found. / Results: A total of 301 patients were included (mean age 25.9 years, 11% HIV positive). Of the patients, 23 (7.6%) had AKI, stage 1 in 47.8%, most commonly due to preeclampsia/eclampsia. Mean presenting SCr values were 108.8 ± 21.8 μmol/l (1.23 ± 0.25 mg/dl), 118 ± 34.45 μmol/l (1.33 ± 0.39 mg/dl), and 136.1 ± 30.4 μmol/l (1.54 ± 0.34 mg/dl) in AKI stages 1 to 3 respectively. SUN > 14 mg/dl had a sensitivity of 12.82% and a specificity of 97.33% to detect acute kidney disease; the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.551. In patients with normal SUN on admission, perinatal mortality was 11.8%, and was 25.0% if SUN was?> 14 mg/dl (P = 0.18). / Conclusion: The SUN dipstick was specific but insensitive when used to diagnose obstetric-related AKI. Limited biochemical derangement and low salivary urea concentrations due to physiological changes in pregnancy, as opposed to a technical limitation of the dipstick itself, are the likely reason for the lack of sensitivity in this study

Diagnostic Performance of a Saliva Urea Nitrogen Dipstick to Detect Kidney Disease in Malawi

Introduction: Kidney disease (KD), including acute kidney injury, is common, severe and leads to significant mortality in the developing world. However, simple tools to facilitate diagnosis and guide treatment are lacking. We studied the diagnostic performance of saliva urea nitrogen (SUN) measured by dipstick to diagnose KD in a low-resource setting. Methods: Medical admissions to a tertiary hospital in Malawi had serum creatinine tested at presentation; SUN was measured using a dipstick. Patients with serum creatinine above normal range underwent serial measurements of SUN and blood urea nitrogen for up to 7 days. Hospital outcome was recorded in all patients. Results: A total of 742 patients were included (age 41 ± 17·3 years, 56.1% male); 146 (19.7%) had KD, including 114 (15.4%) with acute kidney injury. SUN >14 mg/dl had a sensitivity of 0.72 and a specificity of 0.87 to diagnose KD; specificity increased to 0.97 when SUN levels were combined with self-reported urine output. The diagnostic performance of SUN was comparable with the one of blood urea nitrogen (SUN area under curve, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.78–0.87; blood urea nitrogen area under curve, 0.82; 95% confidence interval, 0.59–1.0). SUN >14 mg/dl on admission was an independent predictor of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio = 2.43 [95% confidence interval, 1.63–3.62]). Discussion: SUN measured by dipstick can be used to identify patients with KD in a low-resource setting. SUN is an independent predictor of mortality in this population

Hadron shower decomposition in the highly granular CALICE analogue hadron calorimeter

The spatial development of hadronic showers in the CALICE scintillator-steel analogue hadron calorimeter is studied using test beam data collected at CERN and FNAL for single positive pions and protons with initial momenta in the range from 10 to 80 GeV/c. Both longitudinal and radial development of hadron showers are parametrised with two-component functions. The parametrisation is fit to test beam data and simulations using the QGSP_BERT and FTFP_BERT physics lists from Geant4 version 9.6. The parameters extracted from data and simulated samples are compared for the two types of hadrons. The response to pions and the ratio of the non-electromagnetic to the electromagnetic calorimeter response, h/e, are estimated using the extrapolation and decomposition of the longitudinal profiles.Comment: 38 pages, 19 figures, 5 tables; author list changed; submitted to JINS