Energy policy in transition: evidence from energy supply and demand in the UK

Whilst much of Europe is turning to supplier obligations in order to compel energy companies to deliver energy efficiency improvements, the UK, after 18 years of using such schemes, will from 2013 have a financing scheme as the central delivery mechanism, relying fully on the market rather than government intervention. The remaining supplier obligation will focus on the areas that financing is not expected to fully support: more expensive insulation and help for those with no access to finance. In addition, the publicly funded fuel poverty policy is to be terminated: for the first time since 1978, there will be no taxpayer funded energy efficiency programme for the most vulnerable. These changes represent the biggest shift in the history of energy efficiency policy in the UK since the first and second oil crisis. Yet, despite appeals from many stakeholders, no period of transition will exist between the end of the current and the start of the new policies. The impact is likely to be stark: the expectation is for a dramatic reduction in the delivery of cost-effective energy efficiency measures leading to a big fall in employment and carbon reduction.Plans for the supply-side are equally profound. In order to create a market with greater capacity and to encourage nuclear investment, the Government has unveiled plans for electricity market reform (EMR). For renewable generators, EMR will mark a change in policy support, from a quantity-based green certificate mechanism (the Renewables Obligation) to a price-based feed-in-tariff approach. In contrast to the approach on the demand-side, Government is allowing a three year transition between these schemes. The paper outlines the reasons for the different approaches to policy continuity across the demand and supply side. It highlights what we see as key considerations for policy makers when planning a transition from a supplier obligation to a finance mechanism. We assess the implications of this shift in terms of carbon reduction effort, the industry and fuel poverty

The development of implicit situation awareness measures : the effects of manipulating the locus of attention on implicit memory tests

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Evaluation of cytochrome P450-derived eicosanoids in humans with stable atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease

OBJECTIVE: Preclinical and genetic epidemiologic studies suggest that modulating cytochrome P450 (CYP)-mediated arachidonic acid metabolism may have therapeutic utility in the management of coronary artery disease (CAD). However, predictors of inter-individual variation in CYP-derived eicosanoid metabolites in CAD patients have not been evaluated to date. Therefore, the primary objective was to identify clinical factors that influence CYP epoxygenase, soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH), and CYP ω-hydroxylase metabolism in patients with established CAD. METHODS: Plasma levels of epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs), dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (DHETs), and 20-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (20-HETE) were quantified by HPLC-MS/MS in a population of patients with stable, angiographically-confirmed CAD (N=82) and healthy volunteers from the local community (N=36). Predictors of CYP epoxygenase, sEH, and CYP ω-hydroxylase metabolic function were evaluated by regression. RESULTS: Obesity was significantly associated with low plasma EET levels and 14,15-EET:14,15-DHET ratios. Age, diabetes, and cigarette smoking also were significantly associated with CYP epoxygenase and sEH metabolic activity, while only renin-angiotensin system inhibitor use was associated with CYP ω-hydroxylase metabolic activity. Compared to healthy volunteers, both obese and non-obese CAD patients had significantly higher plasma EETs (P<0.01) and epoxide:diol ratios (P<0.01), whereas no difference in 20-HETE levels was observed (P=NS). CONCLUSIONS: Collectively, these findings suggest that CYP-mediated eicosanoid metabolism is dysregulated in certain subsets of CAD patients, and demonstrate that biomarkers of CYP epoxygenase and sEH, but not CYP ω-hydroxylase, metabolism are altered in stable CAD patients relative to healthy individuals. Future studies are necessary to determine the therapeutic utility of modulating these pathways in patients with CAD

Integrative analysis of human protein, function and disease networks

Protein-protein interaction (PPI) networks serve as a powerful tool for unraveling protein functions, disease-gene and disease-disease associations. However, a direct strategy for integrating protein interaction, protein function and diseases is still absent. Moreover, the interrelated relationships among these three levels are poorly understood. Here we present a novel systematic method to integrate protein interaction, function, and disease networks. We first identified topological modules in human protein interaction data using the network topological algorithm (NeTA) we previously developed. The resulting modules were then associated with functional terms using Gene Ontology to obtain functional modules. Finally, disease modules were constructed by associating the modules with OMIM and GWAS. We found that most topological modules have cohesive structure, significant pathway annotations and good modularity. Most functional modules (70.6%) fully cover corresponding topological modules, and most disease modules (88.5%) are fully covered by the corresponding functional modules. Furthermore, we identified several protein modules of interest that we describe in detail, which demonstrate the power of our integrative approach. This approach allows us to link genes, and pathways with their corresponding disorders, which may ultimately help us to improve the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease