Legitimation and guidance in scaling up energy innovation systems

This paper examines the role of legitimacy and guidance in accelerating the take-off of emerging low-carbon innovations. We analyze the national roadmaps that have been developed for offshore wind energy in deep waters (more than 50 meters deep) which strives to enlarge the scale of the technology and market. The analysis focus on how actors create and share collective visions to prepare the growth of the system. The results point to different types of guidance depending on the technological and institutional context, particularly a higher external openness as technology matures and governments get involved. A survey of actors’ opinion complements the roadmaps analysis revealing the tendency for over inflating expectations. It suggests roadmaps have had a positive, though limited, impact on the technology development. Policy implications include recommendations for managing the process of formation of visions of new technologies entering into upscaling.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Emergence of floating offshore wind energy: technology and industry

The paper investigates the construction of strategies aiming to up-scale low-carbon innovations from pilot to full commercial scale. This requires a systemic understanding of the evolution of the technology along with the organizations and infrastructures supporting its development. Technological innovation systems concepts operationalize system building processes, including the establishment of constituent elements and the performance of key innovation activities. The study surveys the national roadmaps published between 2009 and 2014 for offshore wind energy in deepwaters (more than 50 m deep) which inform on how actors expect the system to grow, including the innovation activities crucial to achieve it. The roadmaps point to the role of guidance and legitimacy as triggers of changes in other innovation processes (knowledge creation, experimentation and so on) needed for take-off. The analysis reveals that the growth plans conveyed in the roadmaps are overly optimistic when compared with the time taken to develop offshore wind energy in fixed structures for shallow waters. Several countries have adopted supporting policies following the publication of the roadmaps, but weaknesses in crucial innovation processes (e.g. specialized skills) and external factors (e.g. crisis, regulatory approval) resulted in a delay of the first large investments. Policy should be based on realistic expectations and adequate to the phase of innovation, such as the promotion of technology-specific institutions (standards, codes, regulations and so on) in technology up-scaling. New directions for research are also provided.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Direction and legitimation in system upscaling – planification of floating offshore wind

This research investigates the process of construction of visions and plans to accelerate emerging low-carbon innovations. We adopt the technological innovation systems perspective to focus on system building processes, including the establishment of constituent elements and performance of key innovative activities. We analyze national roadmaps that have been developed for a technology that approaches upscaling and market take-off: offshore wind energy in deepwaters, i.e., more than 50 meters deep where there is high potential of resources but whose technology is still immature. The roadmaps analysis informs on how actors prepare the growth of the system and perform critical innovation activities. The analysis shows the importance of influence in the direction of search (guidance) and legitimation in the transition to growth. It points to different types of guidance depending on the technological and institutional context, in particular the tendency for a higher external openness with the approximation of technology deployment and with government involvement. A survey of actors’ opinion reveals that roadmaps tend to overinflate expectations and have a positive but limited impact on the technology development. Policy implications include recommendations for managing the process of formation of visions and legitimacy of emerging innovations. The analysis has implications for the operationalization of the functions guidance and legitimacy, as well as indicates limits to the current functional analysis and discusses future research directions. HIGHLIGHTS: - We operationalize the study of collective strategy building (guidance) and social acceptance (legitimation) through roadmaps analysis; - We apply the framework to floating offshore wind technology which enters the up-scaling phase; - Guidance and legitimation are important conditions for technology upscaling and take-off; - Types of guidance towards external openness change with technological progress and government involvement; - Survey indicates that roadmaps have a positive but limited impact on technological dynamics.FC

Grape berry vacuole: a complex and heterogeneous membrane system specialized in the accumulation of solutes

Vacuoles fulfill highly specialized functions depending on cell type and tissue and plant developmental stage. This complex and dynamic organelle is the main reservoir of grape berry cells, playing a major role during fruit development and ripening. Berry development is accompanied by modifications in size, composition, color, texture, flavor, and pathogen susceptibility, primarily because of changes in vacuolar content. Most aroma and flavor compounds are not evenly distributed in the berry, and the number and type of vacuoles may vary depending on the tissue (skin, flesh, and seeds). Together with the lytic and protein storage vacuoles widely distributed in plant cells, phenolic vacuoles are also implicated in cellular storage in grape cells. After veraison, when grape berry growth exclusively results from cell enlargement, tonoplast transporter proteins mediate a massive sugar import and water intake into the vacuole, leading to a large vacuolar expansion. The V-ATPase and V-PPase pumps create a proton electrochemical gradient across the tonoplast, which, in turn, energizes the uptake of charged and uncharged solutes. Several tonoplast proteins mediating the uptake of sugars, organic acids, water, ions, and anthocyanins have been cloned and some have been functionally characterized. The present review focuses on the storage function of vacuoles and on their structure and diversity in relation to development and ripening of the grape berry.This work was supported in part by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (research project no. PTDC/AGR-ALI/100636/2008; grant no. SFRH/BD/23169/2005 to N.F.

Mechanisms that accelerate the diffusion of renewable technologies in new markets: Insights from the wind industry in Portugal

The spatial diffusion of sustainable innovations and the importance of local absorptive capacity in early adoption are studied through the comparison of the diffusion of wind energy in Denmark and Portugal. The novelty of this research consists in revealing patterns of spatial growth and explaining them with the help of concepts issued from the sustainability transitions literature. In particular, the technological innovation systems approach and the actor-oriented analysis focusing on the role of organizations and networks in the emerging innovation systems. An acceleration of diffusion was found in the case of wind technologies in Portugal in comparison with the “core”. The analysis permitted to identify some key drivers of this process. In a first exploratory stage, science and technology policies emerged as initial “motor” of change supporting the fulfillment of critical functions of the innovation system (e.g. knowledge development, experimentation). In the implementation stage, the market took off induced by an attractive feed-in-tariff that enabled the formation of expectations. This attracted key actors whose advocacy coalitions have gradually got the capacity to influence policy making, which contributed to further speed up market formation. Diffusion acceleration was possible thanks to a series of partnerships with international manufacturers for the transfer of state-of-the-art technology from “core” countries, and to the enhancement of absorptive capacity that permitted to better assimilate transferred knowledge and integrate it with local competences.FC

New observations on the integrity, structure and physiology of flesh cells from fully ripened grape berry

The physiological/structural status of the soft ripened berry is still a matter of debate. In this paper isolated mesocarp cells from ripened berries of both wine and table varieties were studied by bright-field, fluorescence and confocal microscopy and flow cytometry to highlight the organization of berry flesh cell, function and viability. Flow cytometry analysis confirmed that protoplasting from grape berry mesocarp tissue yields a single heterogenous population of intact and viable cells. Also, the integrity of the plasma membrane and the architecture and complexity of the intracellular membranous system were shown by FM1-43 staining coupled to confocal microscopy imaging. The observed incorporation of the fluorescent glucose analogue 2-NBDG suggests that endocytosis is involved in the transport and intracellular compartmentation of apoplastic sugars. Neutral Red staining confirmed the intricate organization, size, diversity and integrity of the vacuolar apparatus that is probably related to the multifaceted roles of the vacuoles in the developing fruit.This work was supported in part by the Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (research projects PTDC/AGR-ALI/100636/2008 and PTDC/BIA-BCM/69448/2006 and grant no. SFRH/BD/23169/2005 to N.F)

Trends in U.S. Public Awareness of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (1999-2010): Study Brief

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Trends in U.S. Public Awareness of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities (1999-2010): 2009 General Population Toplines

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Neuropathic pain after breast cancer treatment and its impact on sleep quality one year after cancer diagnosis

OBJECTIVES: Data regarding the impact of breast cancer treatment-related neuropathic pain (NP) on sleep quality are scarce. Therefore, we aimed to assess the impact of breast cancer treatment-related NP on patients' sleep quality, during the first year after cancer diagnosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 501 breast cancer patients were followed prospectively. Incident NP was identified through systematic evaluations after treatments and one year after enrolment. NP severity was quantified using the Brief Pain Inventory severity subscale and sleep quality was evaluated through the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), at baseline and after one year. Adjusted regression coefficients (β) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were used to quantify the relation between NP and the variation in the PSQI z-scores. RESULTS: The occurrence of NP was associated with a deterioration in sleep quality during the first year of follow-up, more pronounced among those with good sleep quality (PSQI≤5) than those with poor sleep quality at baseline (PSQI>5) (β = 0.44, 95%CI: 0.11 to 0.77 versus β = 0.33, 95%CI: 0.08 to 0.59). These differences were accentuated when only the cases of NP with greater severity were considered (β = 0.86, 95%CI: 0.37 to 1.35 versus β = 0.31, 95%CI: -0.08 to 0.64). Within the PSQI components, daytime dysfunction and sleep duration were the most impaired by NP. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight the importance of the promotion of sleep hygiene among breast cancer patients diagnosed with NP, especially among those with good sleep quality before treatments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio