COVID-19 recovery packages can benefit climate targets and clean energy jobs, but scale of impacts and optimal investment portfolios differ among major economies

To meet the Paris temperature targets and recover from the effects of the pandemic, many countries have launched economic recovery plans, including specific elements to promote clean energy technologies and green jobs. However, how to successfully manage investment portfolios of green recovery packages to optimize both climate mitigation and employment benefits remains unclear. Here, we use three energy-economic models, combined with a portfolio analysis approach, to find optimal low-carbon technology subsidy combinations in six major emitting regions: Canada, China, the European Union (EU), India, Japan, and the United States (US). We find that, although numerical estimates differ given different model structures, results consistently show that a >50% investment in solar photovoltaics is more likely to enable CO2 emissions reduction and green jobs, particularly in the EU and China. Our study illustrates the importance of strategically managing investment portfolios in recovery packages to enable optimal outcomes and foster a post-pandemic green economy. © 2022 The Author(s)All authors received funding from the European Commission Horizon 2020 project Paris Reinforce (grant no. 820846 ). D.V. also received funding from the Spanish ministry of Economics, Industry and Competition (grant no. MDM-2017-0714 )

Sum rule for the backward spin polarizability of the nucleon from a backward dispersion relation

A new sum rule for $\gamma_\pi$, the backward spin polarizability of the nucleon, is derived from a backward-angle dispersion relation. Taking into account single- and multi-pion photoproduction in the s-channel up to the energy 1.5 GeV and resonances in the t-channel with mass below 1.5 GeV, it is found for the proton and neutron that $[\gamma_\pi]_p$ = -39.5 +/- 2.4 and $[\gamma_\pi]_n$ = 52.5 +/- 2.4, respectively, in units of 10^{-4} fm^4.Comment: 10 pages, 1 figure, revtex. Submitted to Phys. Lett.

The Nexus Solutions Tool (NEST): An open platform for optimizing multi-scale energy-water-land system transformations

The energy-water-land nexus represents a critical leverage future policies must draw upon to reduce trade-offs between sustainable development objectives. Yet, existing long-term planning tools do not provide the scope or level of integration across the nexus to unravel important development constraints. Moreover, existing tools and data are not always made openly available or are implemented across disparate modeling platforms that can be difficult to link directly with modern scientific computing tools and databases. In this paper, we present the Nexus Solutions Tool (NEST): a new open modeling platform that integrates multi-scale energy-water-land resource optimization with distributed hydrological modeling. The new approach provides insights into the vulnerability of water, energy and land resources to future socioeconomic and climatic change and how multi-sectoral policies, technological solutions and investments can improve the resilience and sustainability of transformation pathways while avoiding counterproductive interactions among sectors. NEST can be applied at different spatial and temporal resolutions, and is designed specifically to tap into the growing body of open access geospatial data available through national inventories and the earth system modeling community. A case study analysis of the Indus River Basin in South Asia demonstrates the capability of the model to capture important interlinkages across system transformation pathways towards the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, including the intersections between local and regional transboundary policies and incremental investment costs from rapidly increasing regional consumption projected over the coming decades

Increasing incidence of <em>Trichophyton tonsurans</em> in Munich - a single center observation.

BACKGROUND: Tinea capitis and tinea corporis are highly prevalent fungal skin infections, which globally are mainly caused by Microsporum canis and Trichophyton rubrum, respectively. While in the USA and Great Britain Trichophyton tonsurans is widely prevalent as a causative pathogen, it so far only plays a minor role in Germany. OBJECTIVES: Since the frequency of pathogenic species varies regionally and temporally, this study assesses the proportion of Trichophyton tonsurans infections in the dermatology department of a large university hospital in Germany from 2019 to 2022 and thoroughly characterizes the affected patient population. PATIENTS/METHODS: This retrospective study at the Technical University of Munich analyzes mycological culture results regarding the identified dermatophyte and infection site. Detailed patient and disease-related information on Trichophyton tonsurans positive patients was obtained. RESULTS: In 2022, 23 patients of 111 dermatophyte culture-positive patients tested positive for Trichophyton tonsurans. This accounted for 20.7% and represented a tenfold increase from 2.1% in 2019. Contact sports were only practiced by 21.7% of patients and no common hotspot or other linkage could be identified between the cases. Additionally, 47.8% of the patients received a systemic treatment, with 30.4% visiting the clinic more than three times. In 2022, 21.7% were diagnosed with a simultaneous infection of the capillitium and body, whereas this was only observed in 7.1% of cases in 2019 to 2021. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests an increase of Trichophyton tonsurans infections via several routes of transmission

Interactions between climate change mitigation and adaptation: The case of hydropower in Brazil

This paper performs a multi-model comparison to assess strategies for adaptation to climate change impacts in hydropower generation in Brazil under two Representative Concentration Pathways. The approach used allows for evaluating the interactions between climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies under low and high impact scenarios through 2050. Climate change impact projections of sixteen General Circulation Models indicate that a global high emissions trajectory scenario would likely yield more severe impacts on hydropower generation than a mitigation scenario. Adaptation modeling suggests that climate change impacts can be compensated by a wide range of alternatives, whose optimality will depend on the level of mitigation effort pursued. Our results show that climate change impacts would lead to even higher emissions in the absence of climate change mitigation policies. On the other hand, mitigation strategies to pursue lower emissions are maintained under climate change impacts, meaning that mitigation strategies are robust when faced with adaptation challenges. Mitigation efforts could yield a more diverse and less carbon intensive mix of technological options for adaptation. When analyzing investment costs to adapt to climate change impacts, in some cases mitigation can lead to a lower total investment level

Mast cells as protectors of health.

Mast cells (MCs), which are well known for their effector functions in T(H)2-skewed allergic and also autoimmune inflammation, have become increasingly acknowledged for their role in protection of health. It is now clear that they are also key modulators of immune responses at interface organs, such as the skin or gut. MCs can prime tissues for adequate inflammatory responses and cooperate with dendritic cells in T-cell activation. They also regulate harmful immune responses in trauma and help to successfully orchestrate pregnancy. This review focuses on the beneficial effects of MCs on tissue homeostasis and elimination of toxins or venoms. MCs can enhance pathogen clearance in many bacterial, viral, and parasitic infections, such as through Toll-like receptor 2-triggered degranulation, secretion of antimicrobial cathelicidins, neutrophil recruitment, or provision of extracellular DNA traps. The role of MCs in tumors is more ambiguous; however, encouraging new findings show they can change the tumor microenvironment toward antitumor immunity when adequately triggered. Uterine tissue remodeling by alpha-chymase (mast cell protease [MCP] 5) is crucial for successful embryo implantation. MCP-4 and the tryptase MCP-6 emerge to be protective in central nervous system trauma by reducing inflammatory damage and excessive scar formation, thereby protecting axon growth. Last but not least, proteases, such as carboxypeptidase A, released by Fc epsilon RI-activated MCs detoxify an increasing number of venoms and endogenous toxins. A better understanding of the plasticity of MCs will help improve these advantageous effects and hint at ways to cut down detrimental MC actions

A multimodel analysis of post-Glasgow climate targets and feasibility challenges

The COP26 Glasgow process resulted in many countries strengthening their 2030 emissions reduction targets and announcing net-zero pledges for 2050–2070 but it is not clear how this would impact future warming. Here, we use four diverse integrated assessment models (IAMs) to assess CO2 emission trajectories in the near- and long-term on the basis of national policies and pledges, combined with a non-CO2 infilling model and a simple climate model to assess the temperature implications. We also consider the feasibility of national long-term pledges towards net-zero. While near-term pledges alone lead to warming above 2 °C, the addition of long-term pledges leads to emissions trajectories compatible with a future well below 2 °C, across all four IAMs. However, while IAM heterogeneity translates to diverse decarbonization pathways towards long-term targets, all modelled pathways indicate several feasibility concerns, relating to the cost of mitigation and the rates and scales of deployed technologies and measures