THE TOWER OF BABEL? THE INNOVATION SYSTEM APPROACH VERSUS MAINSTREAM ECONOMICS.

The Innovation systems (IS) approach and the system failures it identifies, play an important role in the design and legitimization of innovation policy. This paper analyses the usefulness of this concept. We conclude that the IS-approach can be useful to visualize the complexity of the innovation processes. However, for policy design this approach is less suited, because system failures aim at symptoms in stead of underlying incentive structures. In our view, policy design should be based on standard economic framework of market- and government failures. Theoretically, an exception is the system failure path dependency. However, the empirical evidence for the existence of this phenomenon is mixed. Furthermore, policy initiatives to tackle path dependence are likely to be subject to severe government failure.innovation policy, Innovation systems, market failure

An Integrated Assessment of Climate Change, Air Pollution, and Energy Security Policy

This article presents an integrated assessment of climate change, air pollution, and energy security policy. Basis of our analysis is the MERGE model, designed to study the interaction between the global economy, energy use, and the impacts of climate change. For our purposes we expanded MERGE with expressions that quantify damages incurred to regional economies as a result of air pollution and lack of energy security. One of the main findings of our cost-benefit analysis is that energy security policy alone does not decrease the use of oil: global oil consumption is only delayed by several decades and oil reserves are still practically depleted before the end of the 21st century. If, on the other hand, energy security policy is integrated with optimal climate change and air pollution policy, the world’s oil reserves will not be depleted, at least not before our modeling horizon well into the 22nd century: total cumulative demand for oil then decreases by about 20%. More generally, we demonstrate that there are multiple other benefits of combining climate change, air pollution, and energy security policies and exploiting the possible synergies between them. These benefits can be large: for Europe the achievable CO2 emission abatement and oil consumption reduction levels are significantly deeper for integrated policy than when a strategy is adopted in which one of the three policies is omitted. Integrated optimal energy policy can reduce the number of premature deaths from air pollution by about 14,000 annually in Europe and over 3 million per year globally, by lowering the chronic exposure to ambient particulate matter. Only the optimal strategy combining the three types of energy policy can constrain the global average atmospheric temperature increase to a limit of 3ºC with respect to the pre-industrial level.Climate Change, Air Pollution, Energy Security, Cost-Benefit Analysis

Membrane Ballooning in Aggregated Platelets is Synchronised and Mediates a Surge in Microvesiculation:Synchronised ballooning and microvesiculation

AbstractHuman platelet transformation into balloons is part of the haemostatic response and thrombus architecture. Here we reveal that in aggregates of platelets in plasma, ballooning in multiple platelets occurs in a synchronised manner. This suggests a mechanism of coordination between cells, previously unrecognised. We aimed to understand this mechanism, and how it may contribute to thrombus development. Using spinning-disc confocal microscopy we visualised membrane ballooning in human platelet aggregates adherent to collagen-coated surfaces. Within an aggregate, multiple platelets undergo ballooning in a synchronised fashion, dependent upon extracellular calcium, in a manner that followed peak cytosolic calcium levels in the aggregate. Synchrony was observed in platelets within but not between aggregates, suggesting a level of intra-thrombus communication. Blocking phosphatidylserine, inhibiting thrombin or blocking PAR1 receptor, largely prevented synchrony without blocking ballooning itself. In contrast, inhibition of connexins, P2Y12, P2Y1 or thromboxane formation had no effect on synchrony or ballooning. Importantly, synchronised ballooning was closely followed by a surge in microvesicle formation, which was absent when synchrony was blocked. Our data demonstrate that the mechanism underlying synchronised membrane ballooning requires thrombin generation acting effectively in a positive feedback loop, mediating a subsequent surge in procoagulant activity and microvesicle release.</jats:p

Analytical modelling of stable isotope fractionation of volatile organic compounds in the unsaturated zone

Analytical models were developed that simulate stable isotope ratios of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) near a point source contamination in the unsaturated zone. The models describe diffusive transport of VOCs, biodegradation and source ageing. The mass transport is governed by Fick's law for diffusion, and the equation for reactive transport of VOCs in the soil gas phase was solved for different source geometries and for different boundary conditions. Model results were compared to experimental data from a one-dimensional laboratory column and a radial-symmetric field experiment, and the comparison yielded a satisfying agreement. The model results clearly illustrate the significant isotope fractionation by gas-phase diffusion under transient state conditions. This leads to an initial depletion of heavy isotopes with increasing distance from the source. The isotope evolution of the source is governed by the combined effects of isotope fractionation due to vaporization, diffusion and biodegradation. The net effect can lead to an enrichment or depletion of the heavy isotope in the remaining organic phase depending on the compound and element considered. Finally, the isotope evolution of molecules migrating away from the source and undergoing degradation is governed by a combined degradation and diffusion isotope effect. This suggests that in the unsaturated zone, the interpretation of biodegradation based on isotope data must always be based on a model combining gas-phase diffusion and degradation.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Liver transplantation for type I and type IV glycogen storage disease

Progressive liver failure or hepatic complications of the primary disease led to orthotopic liver transplantation in eight children with glycogen storage disease over a 9-year period. One patient had glycogen storage disease (GSD) type I (von Gierke disease) and seven patients had type IV GSD (Andersen disease). As previously reported [19], a 16.5-year-old-girl with GSD type I was successfully treated in 1982 by orthotopic liver transplantation under cyclosporine and steroid immunosuppression. The metabolic consequences of the disease have been eliminated, the renal function and size have remained normal, and the patient has lived a normal young adult life. A late portal venous thrombosis was treated successfully with a distal splenorenal shunt. Orthotopic liver transplantation was performed in seven children with type N GSD who had progressive hepatic failure. Two patients died early from technical complications. The other five have no evidence of recurrent hepatic amylopectinosis after 1.1–5.8 postoperative years. They have had good physical and intellectual maturation. Amylopectin was found in many extrahepatic tissues prior to surgery, but cardiopathy and skeletal myopathy have not developed after transplantation. Postoperative heart biopsies from patients showed either minimal amylopectin deposits as long as 4.5 years following transplantation or a dramatic reduction in sequential biopsies from one patient who initially had dense myocardial deposits. Serious hepatic derangement is seen most commonly in types T and IV GSD. Liver transplantation cures the hepatic manifestations of both types. The extrahepatic deposition of abnormal glycogen appears not to be problematic in type I disease, and while potentially more threatening in type IV disease, may actually exhibit signs of regression after hepatic allografting

Queering Faith: The Bible

Queering Faith: The Bible is a training that takes an in-depth look at common verses in the Bible that are typically used to combat homosexuality. The historical context the verses were written in will be evaluated, and the translation of the verse will also be analyzed. This training addresses the complicated relationship between religion and sexual minoritized individuals. Target Audience: Open to any student, staff, or faculty member who is interested in becoming an ally for the LGBTQA+ community and learning more about gender and sexuality-related issue

Expression of Regulatory Platelet MicroRNAs in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease

Background: Increased platelet activation in sickle cell disease (SCD) contributes to a state of hypercoagulability and confers a risk of thromboembolic complications. The role for post-transcriptional regulation of the platelet transcriptome by microRNAs (miRNAs) in SCD has not been previously explored. This is the first study to determine whether platelets from SCD exhibit an altered miRNA expression profile. Methods and Findings: We analyzed the expression of miRNAs isolated from platelets from a primary cohort (SCD = 19, controls = 10) and a validation cohort (SCD = 7, controls = 7) by hybridizing to the Agilent miRNA microarrays. A dramatic difference in miRNA expression profiles between patients and controls was noted in both cohorts separately. A total of 40 differentially expressed platelet miRNAs were identified as common in both cohorts (p-value 0.05, fold change>2) with 24 miRNAs downregulated. Interestingly, 14 of the 24 downregulated miRNAs were members of three families - miR-329, miR-376 and miR-154 - which localized to the epigenetically regulated, maternally imprinted chromosome 14q32 region. We validated the downregulated miRNAs, miR-376a and miR-409-3p, and an upregulated miR-1225-3p using qRT-PCR. Over-expression of the miR-1225-3p in the Meg01 cells was followed by mRNA expression profiling to identify mRNA targets. This resulted in significant transcriptional repression of 1605 transcripts. A combinatorial approach using Meg01 mRNA expression profiles following miR-1225-3p overexpression, a computational prediction analysis of miRNA target sequences and a previously published set of differentially expressed platelet transcripts from SCD patients, identified three novel platelet mRNA targets: PBXIP1, PLAGL2 and PHF20L1. Conclusions: We have identified significant differences in functionally active platelet miRNAs in patients with SCD as compared to controls. These data provide an important inventory of differentially expressed miRNAs in SCD patients and an experimental framework for future studies of miRNAs as regulators of biological pathways in platelets. © 2013 Jain et al