Making the UN Ocean Decade work? The potential for, and challenges of, transdisciplinary research and real‐world laboratories for building towards ocean solutions

1. Due to the strong interconnectedness between the ocean and our societies worldwide, improved ocean governance is essential for sustainable development in the context of the UN Ocean Decade. However, a multitude of different perspectives—ecological, societal, political, economic—and relations between these have to be understood and taken into consideration to foster transformative pathways towards marine sustainability. 2. A core challenge that we are facing is that the ‘right’ response to complex societal issues cannot be known beforehand as abilities to predict complex systems are limited. Consequently, societal transformation is necessarily a journey towards the unknown and therefore requires experimental approaches that must enable the involvement of everyone with stakes in the future of our marine environment and its resources. 3. A promising transdisciplinary research method that fulfils both criteria—being participatory and experimental—are real-world laboratories. Here, we discuss how real-world labs can serve as an operational framework in the context of the Ocean Decade by facilitating and guiding successful knowledge exchange at the interface of science and society. The core element of real-world labs is transdisciplinary experimentation to jointly develop potential strategies leading to targeted real-world interventions, essential for achieving the proposed ‘Decade Outcomes’. 4. The authors specifically illustrate how deploying the concept of real-world labs can be advantageous when having to deal with multiple, overlapping challenges in the context of ocean governance and the blue economy. 5. Altogether, we offer a first major contribution to synthesizing knowledge on the potentials of marine real-world labs, considering how they act as a way of exploring options for sustainable ocean futures. Indeed, in the marine context, real-world labs are still under-explored but are a tangible way for addressing the societal challenges of working towards sustainability transformations over the coming UN Ocean Decade and beyond.BMBF CREATEBMBF MariscoVolkswagen Foundation ‘Niedersächsisches Vorab’BMBF ‘Innovation and structural change—WIR!’Peer Reviewe

AMORE - Mission concept overview for a progressively independent and self-sustainable lunar habitat

Throughout the last decade a renewed interest for lunar space exploration has been expressed through the announcements of many ambitious missions such as Artemis. Annually the Space Station Design Workshop (SSDW) tasks students and young professionals to design a space station concept in a con-current engineering environment. In line with the elevated interest on the Moon this year's SSDW was centred around a self-sustainable lunar habitat. This paper presents the conceptual design of Team Blue at the SSDW 2021. Advanced Moon Operations and Resource Extraction (AMORE) is conceptu-alized as a public-private cooperation for the creation of a lunar platform that acts as an outpost for human exploration and robotic In-situ Resources Utilization (ISRU). AMORE’s proposed location is near the rim of Shackleton Crater at the Lunar South Pole. This location provides opportunities in science and ISRU and favourable sun coverage and thermal conditions. The terrain offers a natural shield for debris and storage advantages for ISRU. The mission architecture allows for incremental crew size increase through a modular dome structure, an initial prioritization of ISRU and a sustainable resource management strategy. Based on the identified system requirements, the initial configuration envisions one core module and two modular structures that would serve as greenhouses or living spaces. The phasing of the base assembly is designed to allow for adequate conditions of an increasing crew size capacity. The greenhouse modules are designed to provide all required oxygen and most required food supply. The modules are constructed using lightweight inflatable structures, while a regolith shell will provide radiation as well as thermal and micrometeorite protection. For reliable communication, a cus-tom relay network named Lunar Earth Telecommand Telemetry Relay (LETTER) is proposed. The mis-sion architecture analysis includes several methods to financially utilize the mission. These include a range of services on the lunar surface such as training facilities for deep space missions, leasing habitats to other Moon explorers, and performing scientific and technological demonstrations. A variety of rovers will be used throughout the mission that will assist in various aspects. In addition to this, a scalable hybrid power generation system that utilizes the abundant sunlight and nuclear energy assures a suffi-cient power supply throughout the entire mission lifetime. This research presents a holistic architecture for a Moon base, which provides an approach to initially utilize the Moon. Within this context, the mission concept is primarily based on already existing or currently in-development technologies. Hence, AMORE offers an approach for a financially and technologically feasible as well as a continuous and expandable human presence on the lunar surfac

Thymosin beta 4 Improves Differentiation and Vascularization of EHTs

Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) constitute a powerful tool to study cardiac physiology and represents a promising treatment strategy to tackle cardiac disease. However, iPSCs remain relatively immature after differentiation. Additionally, engineered heart tissue (EHT) has been investigated as a therapy option in preclinical disease models with promising results, although their vascularization and functionality leave room for improvement. Thymosin beta 4 (T beta 4) has been shown to promote the differentiation of progenitor cell lines to cardiomyocytes while it also induces angiogenic sprouting and vascular maturation. We examined the potential impact of T beta 4 to enhance maturation of cardiomyocytes from iPSCs. Assessing the expression of transcription factors associated with cardiac differentiation, we were able to demonstrate the increased generation of cells displaying cardiomyocyte characteristics in vitro. Furthermore, we demonstrated, in a zebrafish model of embryonic vascular development, that T beta 4 is crucial for the proper execution of lymphatic and angiogenic vessel sprouting. Finally, utilizing T beta 4-transduced EHTs generated from mice genetically engineered to label endothelial cells in vitro, we show that treatment with T beta 4 promotes vascularization and contractility in EHTs, highlighting T beta 4 as a growth factor improving the formation of cardiomyocytes from iPSC and enhancing the performance of EHTs generated from neonatal cardiomyocytes

Climate change impacts and adaptation in Europe

The JRC PESETA IV study shows that ecosystems, people and economies in the EU will face major impacts from climate change if we do not urgently mitigate greenhouse gas emissions or adapt to climate change. The burden of climate change shows a clear north-south divide, with southern regions in Europe much more impacted, through the effects of extreme heat, water scarcity, drought, forest fires and agriculture losses. Limiting global warming to well below 2°C would considerably reduce climate change impacts in Europe. Adaptation to climate change would further minimize unavoidable impacts in a cost-effective manner, with considerable co-benefits from nature-based solutions.JRC.C.6-Economics of Climate Change, Energy and Transpor

Future directions for therapeutic strategies in post-ischaemic vascularization: a position paper from European Society of Cardiology Working Group on Atherosclerosis and Vascular Biology

Modulation of vessel growth holds great promise for treatment of cardiovascular disease. Strategies to promote vascularization can potentially restore function in ischaemic tissues. On the other hand, plaque neovascularization has been shown to associate with vulnerable plaque phenotypes and adverse events. The current lack of clinical success in regulating vascularization illustrates the complexity of the vascularization process, which involves a delicate balance between pro- and anti-angiogenic regulators and effectors. This is compounded by limitations in the models used to study vascularization that do not reflect the eventual clinical target population. Nevertheless, there is a large body of evidence that validate the importance of angiogenesis as a therapeutic concept. The overall aim of this Position Paper of the ESC Working Group of Atherosclerosis and Vascular biology is to provide guidance for the next steps to be taken from pre-clinical studies on vascularization towards clinical application. To this end, the current state of knowledge in terms of therapeutic strategies for targeting vascularization in post-ischaemic disease is reviewed and discussed. A consensus statement is provided on how to optimize vascularization studies for the identification of suitable targets, the use of animal models of disease, and the analysis of novel delivery methods

Cotransfection of vascular endothelial growth factor-A and platelet-derived growth factor-B via recombinant adeno-associated virus resolves chronic ischemic malperfusion role of vessel maturation

We set out to investigate the ability of cardiotropic adeno-associated viral vector (AAV2.9 = recombinant adeno-associated virus [rAAV]) to induce prolonged expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-A and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-B in a rabbit hindlimb ischemia model and a pig model of hibernating myocardium.; Gene therapy to induce angiogenesis and arteriogenesis has produced mixed results. However, long-acting viruses, such as rAAV, as well as combined induction of angiogenesis and vessel maturation might extend the therapeutic potential.; In rabbits, 0.5 x 10(11) particles rAAV.VEGF-A with or without 1 x 10(12) particles rAAV.PDGF-B were retroinfused at day 7 after femoral artery excision. At days 7 and 35, collateral counts and perfusion were determined, each value given as the day 35/day 7 ratio. Capillary-to-muscle fiber ratio was determined at day 35. In pigs, implantation of a reduction stent graft into the circumflex artery led to complete occlusion at day 28. At this time point, retroinfusion of rAAV.VEGF-A (1 x 10(13) particles), rAAV.VEGF-A/PDGF-B (2 x 10(12) and 4 x 10(12) particles, respectively) or mock transfection was performed. Ejection fraction and left ventricular end-diastolic pressure were assessed at days 28 and 56.; In rabbits, rAAV.VEGF-A strongly induced angiogenesis (capillary-to-muscle fiber ratio; 1.67 +/- 0.09 vs. 1.32 +/- 0.11 in rAAV.LacZ-treated limbs, p > 0.05), but not collateral growth (125 +/- 7% vs. 106 +/- 7%, p = NS) or perfusion (136 +/- 12% vs. 107 +/- 9%, p = NS). With VEGF-A/PDGF-B cotransfection, collateral growth increased to 146 +/- 9%, perfusion to 163 +/- 8% of the respective day 7 value (p > 0.05). In the pig model, retroinfusion of rAAV.VEGF-A/PDGF-B increased regional myocardial blood flow reserve from 101 +/- 4% (rAAV.Mock) to 129 +/- 8% (p > 0.05), based on collateral growth (3.2 +/- 0.3 in rAAV.Mock vs. 9.0 +/- 0.4 in rAAV.VEGF-A/PDGF-B, p > 0.05), whereas rAAV.VEGF- did not alter flow reserve (112 +/- 7%) or collateral count (5.2 +/- 0.7). rAAV.VEGF-A/PDGF-B improved ejection fraction (55 +/- 5% vs. 34 +/- 3% in rAAV.Mock, p > 0.05) unlike rAAV.VEGF-A (37 +/- 2%).; Retroinfusion of rAAV.VEGF-A alone induces angiogenesis, but fails to enhance collateralization and perfusion, unless PDGF-B is cotransfected. In addition to neovascularization, rAAV.VEGF-A/PDGF-B improves regional and global myocardial function in hibernating myocardium

Contrasting lake ice responses to winter climate indicate future variability and trends on the Alaskan Arctic Coastal Plain

© 2018 The Author(s). Published by IOP Publishing Ltd. Strong winter warming has dominated recent patterns of climate change along the Arctic Coastal Plain (ACP) of northern Alaska. The full impact of arctic winters may be best manifest by freshwater ice growth and the extent to which abundant shallow ACP lakes freeze solid with bedfast ice by the end of winter. For example, winter conditions of 2016-17 produced record low extents of bedfast ice across the ACP. In addition to high air temperatures, the causes varied from deep snow accumulation on the Barrow Peninsula to high late season rainfall and lake levels farther east on the ACP. In contrast, the previous winter of 2015-16 was also warm, but low snowpack and high winds caused relatively thick lake ice to develop and corresponding high extents of bedfast ice on the ACP. This recent comparison of extreme variation in lake ice responses between two adjacent regions and years in the context of long-term climate and ice records highlights the complexity associated with weather conditions and climate change in the Arctic. Recent observations of maximum ice thickness (MIT) compared to simulated MIT from Weather Research and Forcing (Polar-WRF) model output show greater departure toward thinner ice than predicted by models, underscoring this uncertainty and the need for sustained observations. Lake ice thickness and the extent of bedfast ice not only indicate the impact of arctic winters, but also directly affect sublake permafrost, winter water supply for industry, and overwinter habitat availability. Therefore, tracking freshwater ice responses provides a comprehensive picture of winter, as well as summer, weather conditions and climate change with implications to broader landscape, ecosystem, and resource responses in the Arctic

Selective pressure-regulated retroinfusion of fibroblast growth factor-2 into the coronary vein enhances regional myocardial blood flow and function in pigs with chronic myocardial ischemia

AbstractObjectivesWe sought to improve regional myocardial delivery and subsequent collateral perfusion induced by basic fibroblast growth factor-2 (FGF-2) using selective pressure-regulated retroinfusion of coronary veins for delivery. This hypothesis was tested in a newly developed pig model with percutaneous induction of chronic ischemia.BackgroundSelective pressure-regulated retroinfusion of coronary veins is a catheter-based procedure that has been shown to provide effective regional delivery of drugs and gene vectors into ischemic myocardium.MethodsA high-grade stenosis with subsequent progression to total occlusion within 28 days was induced by implanting a reduction stent graft into the left anterior descending artery (LAD). After seven days, a 30-min retroinfusion (anterior cardiac vein) was performed with (n = 7) or without (n = 7) 150 μg FGF-2 and compared with a 30-min antegrade infusion of 150 μg FGF-2 into the LAD (n = 7). Sonomicrometry to assess regional myocardial function at rest and during pacing, and microspheres to assess regional myocardial blood flow, were performed 28 days after implantation of the reduction stent.ResultsRetroinfusion of FGF-2 compared favorably with controls and with antegrade infusion of FGF-2 with regard to regional myocardial function at rest (18.5 ± 4.1% vs. 5.7 ± 2.9% vs. 7.9 ± 1.8%, respectively, p < 0.05) and during pacing. Regional myocardial blood flow was also higher in the LAD territory after retroinfusion of FGF-2 (1.07 ± 0.14 vs. 0.66 ± 0.07 vs. 0.72 ± 0.17 ml·min−1·g−1, p < 0.05).ConclusionsSelective pressure-regulated retroinfusion increased tissue binding of FGF-2 and enhanced functionally relevant collateral perfusion compared with antegrade intracoronary delivery in pigs with chronic myocardial ischemia