Modelling the subglacial hydrology of the former Barents Sea Ice Sheet

Ice dynamics are strongly controlled by processes taking place at the interface between the ice and the underlying bed. In modern day ice sheets, up to 90% of mass is lost through fast-flowing corridors of ice, called ice streams. These are typically underlain by a thin layer of water and wet sediment, both of which promote fast flow. In recent years it has emerged that subglacial hydrology played an important role in the relatively fast disintegration of the Fennoscandian and the Barents Sea Ice Sheets (BSIS). The BSIS is a close historical analogue to the West Antarctic Ice sheet (WAIS) and understanding its demise could give important insight into the future evolution of the WAIS. In this study, we investigate the effect of subglacial water on the evolution of the Fennoscandian and the Barents Sea Ice Sheets. We do this by implementing a thin film model of water flow into an existing numerical ice sheet model and simulate the ice sheets growth and decay during the last glacial cycle. Additionally, we examine the influence of a subglacial lake on ice dynamics and isochrone layers within the ice. Basal water separates the ice and bed, softens the underlying sediments and greatly increases ice velocity. Including subglacial hydrology in numerical ice sheet models leads to less ice building up with time during glacial periods. Temperate areas of ice sheets are typically overestimated without it and deglaciation occurs more slowly. Subglacial water can form lakes underneath the ice that greatly affect its speed and thermal regime. Lake drainage can result in travelling waves at depth within isochrone layers, indicating the possibility of detecting past drainage events with ice penetrating radar. The effects of subglacial hydrology are important and accounting for them will be necessary in order to accurately estimate polar contributions to sea level change in the future

Defining green electricity from a consumer’s perspective: A cross-market explorative input for policy makers and marketers

The marketing of electricity is an increasingly significant issue following the liberalization of electricity markets. Substantial emphasis has been placed on green electricity, but the concept is vague to many consumers. In this paper, the focus is on defining green electricity from a consumer perspective and using the understanding gained to provide input for public energy policy and to improve the marketing activities of energy companies. The paper draws on findings from a qualitative study of focus groups that gathered consumer insights from five European countries. The authors argue that although defining green electricity from a consumer perspective is a complex process, several constructs, including sustainability/corporate social responsibility, local production, visual impact and saving energy, are key. The definition is strongly affected by other constructs, including scepticism, marketing, price, and the fact it does not matter who provides it as electricity looks the same to the consumer.Markaðssetning rafmagns skiptir nú meira meira máli eftir að rafmagnsmörkuðum hefur verið skipt upp. Sér í lagi hefur áhersla á grænt rafmagn aukist en það er þó svo að hugtakið er fremur óljóst í huga neytenda. Í greininni er sjónum beint að því hvaða þættir skipta þá þátttakendur máli, sem tóku þátt í rannsókninni, við skilgreiningu á grænu rafmagni. Ennfremur er skoðað hvernig nota má skilgreininguna til að bæta árangur markaðsstarfs orkufyrirtækja og auka skilning þeirra opinberu aðila sem koma að reglugerðum á orkumarkaði. Niðurstöður eru byggðar á rýnihópum sem voru framkvæmdir í fimm Evrópulöndum. Í greininni er komist að þeirri niðurstöðu að þótt það sé fremur flókið að skilgreina grænt rafmagn út frá skynjun viðskiptavina þá eru nokkrir þættir sem skipta lykil máli í því samhengi. Þeir eru meðal annars sjálfbærni/ábyrgð fyrirtækja, framleiðsla í heimabyggð, sjónræn áhrif og orkusparnaður. Skilgreiningin eru undir sterkum áhrifum frá nokkrum öðrum þáttum svo sem tortryggni, markaðssetningu, verði og þeirri staðreynd að burt séð frá því hver framleiðir rafmagnið þá er það alltaf eins þegar það berst til viðskiptavina.Peer ReviewedRitrýnt tímari

Carbon accounting in the context of multi-criteria assessment for SLES: challenges and opportunities

In the UK, national carbon emission reduction targets aim to reach Net Zero by 2050, with a fully decarbonised electricity system by 2035. Smart Local Energy Systems (SLES) are being deployed to combine and intelligently control complementary low and zero carbon technologies within micro-gridsto amplify their impacts and accelerate this ambitious transition towards a decarbonized energy system and low-carbon society. Today, national and local governments monitor the potential carbon reduction of energy system retrofitting and policy implementation through simplified carbon accounting methods, which allow for calculation of the accumulated carbon emissions. This focus on carbon may, however, neglect broader socioeconomic impacts and benefits of these actions. This paper describes the how the application of a multi-criteria assessment tool focusing on SLES can be used to evaluate (i) the carbon emissions from an energy system and (ii) the carbon reduction potential of renewable and smart energy technology implementation. Alongside the carbon accounting this MCA-SLES tool provides assessment and insights into the local socioeconomic and environmental benefits and impacts of the SLES development. The application of such a complex assessment tool has challenges in application, such as data collection, the intensity of the stakeholder approach, and the large volume of information for user dissemination. This paper illustrates how the developed assessment tool mitigates for these challenges and highlights the opportunity for small-scale energy development projects to employ it to assess project feasibility and progress towards economic, social, and environmental co-benefits

Application of Cost Benefits Analysis for the Implementation of Renewable Energy and Smart Solution Technologies: A Case Study of InteGRIDy Project †

Cost−benefit analysis is a common evaluation method applied to assess whether an energy system is economically feasible as well as the economic viability of energy investment for the energy transition of a pre-existing energy system. This paper focuses on examining the economic costs and benefits obtained through the implementation of renewable energy and smart technology to a pre-existing energy system of two pilot sites—St. Jean and Barcelona. The evaluation process includes all relevant parameters such as investment, operating and maintenance costs, and energy prices needed to assess the economic feasibility of the investment. The results show that investing in energy system development towards a decarbonized future, can provide various benefits such as increased flexibility, and reduced emissions while being economically feasible

A Qualitative Based Causal-Loop Diagram for Understanding Policy Design Challenges for a Sustainable Transition Pathway:The Case of Tees Valley Region, UK

The energy transition is a complex problem that requires a comprehensive and structured approach to policymaking. Such an approach is needed to ensure that transition pathways and policies enable greener energy alternatives whilst ensuring prosperity for people living in the region and limiting environmental degradation to the local ecosystem. This paper applies a qualitative approach based on systematic literature research and review analysis to identify and analyse previous work within this interdisciplinary field in order to understand the complexity of energy transitions and identify key variables and sub-sectors that need to be addressed by policymaking. The paper then looks at the problem from a regional level and uses the Tees Valley region in North East England as a reference case for the energy system and potential proposed policies for the energy transition. A system dynamics methodology was employed to help visualise and emphasise the major complexity of the energy transition and the challenges that policymaking needs to tackle for the successfully enable implementation and application of the energy transition policies. The results of this study identified that in relation to the Tees Valley energy system, its development and transition towards decarbonisation, the major challenge for the policymakers is to ensure that proposed policies foster growth in job creation without leading to job losses within the local employment market

Digital Image Analysis of the Proliferation Markers Ki67 and Phosphohistone H3 in Gastroenteropancreatic Neuroendocrine Neoplasms: Accuracy of Grading Compared with Routine Manual Hot Spot Evaluation of the Ki67 Index

Gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine neoplasms (GEP-NENs) are rare epithelial neoplasms. Grading is based on mitotic activity or the percentage of Ki67-positive cells in a hot spot. Routine methods have poor intraobserver and interobserver consistency, and objective measurements are lacking. This study aimed to evaluate digital image analysis (DIA) as an objective assessment of proliferation markers in GEP-NENs. A consecutive cohort of patients with automated DIA measurement of Ki67 (DIA Ki67) and phosphohistone H3 (DIA PHH3) on immunohistochemical slides was analyzed using Visiopharm image analysis software (Hoersholm, Denmark). The results were compared with the Ki67 index from routine pathology reports (pathology Ki67). The study included 159 patients (57% males). The median pathology Ki67 was 2.0% and DIA Ki67 was 4.1%. The interclass correlation coefficient of the DIA Ki67 compared with the pathology Ki67 showed an excellent agreement of 0.96 [95% confidence interval (CI): 0.94-0.96]. The observed kappa value was 0.86 (95% CI: 0.81-0.91) when comparing grades based on the same methods. PHH3 was measured in 145 (91.2%) cases. The observed kappa value was 0.74. (95% CI: 0.65-0.83) when comparing grade based on the DIA PHH3 and the pathology Ki67. The DIA Ki67 shows excellent agreement with the pathology Ki67. The DIA PHH3 measurements were more varied and cannot replace other methods for grading GEP-NENs.publishedVersio

Prevalence of PD‑L1 expression is associated with EMAST, density of peritumoral T‑cells and recurrence‑free survival in operable non‑metastatic colorectal cancer

Introduction Microsatellite instability (MSI) predict response to anti-PD1 immunotherapy in colorectal cancer (CRC). CRCs with MSI have higher infiltration of immune cells related to a better survival. Elevated Microsatellite Alterations at Tetranucleotides (EMAST) is a form of MSI but its association with PD-L1 expression and immune-cell infiltration is not known. Methods A consecutive, observational cohort of patients undergoing surgery for CRC. EMAST and clinicopathological characteristics were investigated against PD-L1, as well as CD3 and CD8 expression in the invasive margin or tumour centre (Immunoscore). Difference in survival between groups was assessed by log rank test. Results A total of 149 stage I–III CRCs patients, with a median follow up of 60.1 months. Patients with PD-L1+ tumours (7%) were older (median 79 vs 71 years, p = 0.045) and had EMAST+ cancers (OR 10.7, 95% CI 2.2–51.4, p = 0.001). Recurrence-free survival was longer in cancers with PD-L1+ immune cells (HR 0.35, 95% CI 0.16–0.76, p = 0.008, independent of EMAST) and high Immunoscore (HR 0.10, 95% CI 0.01–0.72, p = 0.022). Patients expressing PD-L1 in immune cells had longer disease-specific survival (HR 0.28, 95% CI 0.10–0.77, p = 0.014). Conclusions Higher Immunoscore (CD3/CD8 cells) and expression of tumour PD-L1 is found in CRCs with EMAST. Lymphocytic infiltrate and peritumoral PD-L1 expression have prognostic value in CRC.publishedVersio

A template to quantify the location and density of CD3 + and CD8 + tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in colon cancer by digital pathology on whole slides for an objective, standardized immune score assessment

Background In colon cancer, the location and density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can classify patients into low and high-risk groups for prognostication. While a commercially available ‘Immunoscore®’ exists, the incurred expenses and copyrights may prevent universal use. The aim of this study was to develop a robust and objective quantification method of TILs in colon cancer. Methods A consecutive, unselected series of specimens from patients with colon cancer were available for immunohistochemistry and assessment of TILs by automated digital pathology. CD3 + and CD8 + cells at the invasive margin and in tumor center were assessed on consecutive sections using automated digital pathology and image analysis software (Visiopharm®). An algorithm template for whole slide assessment, generated cell counts per square millimeters (cells/mm2), from which the immune score was calculated using distribution volumes. Furthermore, immune score was compared with clinical and histopathological characteristics to confirm its relevance. Results Based on the quantified TILs numbers by digital image analyses, patients were classified into low (n = 83, 69.7%), intermediate (n = 14, 11.8%) and high (n = 22, 18.5%) immune score groups. High immune score was associated with stage I–II tumors (p = 0.017) and a higher prevalence of microsatellite instable (MSI) tumors (p = 0.030). MSI tumors had a significantly higher numbers of CD3 + TILs in the invasive margin and CD8 + TILs in both tumor center and invasive margin, compared to microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors. Conclusion A digital template to quantify an easy-to-use immune score corresponds with clinicopathological features and MSI in colon cancer.publishedVersio

A template to quantify the location and density of CD3 + and CD8 + tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in colon cancer by digital pathology on whole slides for an objective, standardized immune score assessment

Background: In colon cancer, the location and density of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) can classify patients into low and high-risk groups for prognostication. While a commercially available ‘Immunoscore®’ exists, the incurred expenses and copyrights may prevent universal use. The aim of this study was to develop a robust and objective quantification method of TILs in colon cancer. Methods: A consecutive, unselected series of specimens from patients with colon cancer were available for immunohistochemistry and assessment of TILs by automated digital pathology. CD3 + and CD8 + cells at the invasive margin and in tumor center were assessed on consecutive sections using automated digital pathology and image analysis software (Visiopharm®). An algorithm template for whole slide assessment, generated cell counts per square millimeters (cells/mm2), from which the immune score was calculated using distribution volumes. Furthermore, immune score was compared with clinical and histopathological characteristics to confirm its relevance. Results: Based on the quantified TILs numbers by digital image analyses, patients were classified into low (n = 83, 69.7%), intermediate (n = 14, 11.8%) and high (n = 22, 18.5%) immune score groups. High immune score was associated with stage I–II tumors (p = 0.017) and a higher prevalence of microsatellite instable (MSI) tumors (p = 0.030). MSI tumors had a significantly higher numbers of CD3 + TILs in the invasive margin and CD8 + TILs in both tumor center and invasive margin, compared to microsatellite stable (MSS) tumors. Conclusion: A digital template to quantify an easy-to-use immune score corresponds with clinicopathological features and MSI in colon cancer.publishedVersio