Final report: Wind Energy and the just transition. Political and socio-economic pinch points in wind turbine manufacturing and windfarm communities in Europe and South Africa’

This report has been funded by the British Academy under the call the ‘Just Transition within Sectors and Industries Globally’ (grant COVJT210011, October 27th, 2021 – March 22nd, 2022). It presents our finding from the research project ‘Wind energy and the Just Transition: Political and socio-economic pinch points in wind turbine manufacturing and windfarm communities in Europe and South Africa’. In this project, we explored four key pinch-points of the Just Transition: community outcomes leading to either acceptance or resistance to windfarms and skill formation, job quality and social dialogue in the wind turbine manufacturing industry. This report presents our findings regarding these four pinch points and four key questions that were informed by the British Academy’s call: 1. How is the Just Transition defined by workers, managers, social partners, and community stakeholders in the industry? 2. What are the political and socio-economic pinch points at windfarm manufacturing sites and in communities where windfarms are located? 3. How are work intensification and intensified use of the natural environment resulting from the political imperative to deploy wind turbines quickly and at large scale dealt with? 4. How can the process of structural change, meaning here the expansion of the wind turbine industry, be managed equitably so that communities and workers benefit more broadly? Our findings are based on data from windfarm communities and the wind turbine industry in Germany, Denmark, South Africa and the UK, which we collected between the years 2012 and 2022. The bulk of our data consists of semi structured interviews and focus groups with in total156 participants including industry experts, local citizens, activists, trade union and industry representatives, managers in the industry and workers, managers and instructors from skill formation providers, and municipal policy makers. We complemented this data with secondary sources, news clippings and policy documents to develop community and industry case studies for each country

Wind Energy and the just transition. Political and socio-economic pinch points in wind turbine manufacturing and windfarm communities in Europe and South Africa

This report has been funded by the British Academy under the call the ‘Just Transition within Sectors and Industries Globally’(grant COVJT210011, October 27th, 2021 – March 22nd, 2022). It presents our finding from the research project ‘Wind energy and the Just Transition: Political and socio-economic pinch points in wind turbine manufacturing and windfarm communities in Europe and South Africa’. In this project, we explored four key pinch-points of the Just Transition: community outcomes leading to either acceptance or resistance to windfarms and skill formation, job quality and social dialogue in the wind turbine manufacturing industry. This report presents our findings regarding four research questions: 1. How is the Just Transition defined by workers, managers, social partners, and community stakeholders in the industry? 2. What are the political and socio-economic pinch points at windfarm manufacturing sites and in communities where windfarms are located? 3. How are work intensification and intensified use of the natural environment resulting from the political imperative to deploy wind turbines quickly and at large scale dealt with? 4. How can the process of structural change, meaning here the expansion of the wind turbine industry, be managed equitably so that communities and workers benefit more broadly? Our findings are based on data from windfarm communities and the wind turbine industry in Germany, Denmark, South Africa and the UK, which we collected between the years 2012 and 2022. The bulk of our data consists of semi structured interviews and focus groups with in total 156 participants including industry experts, local citizens, activists, trade union and industry representatives, managers in the industry and workers, managers and instructors from skill formation providers, and municipal policy makers. We complemented this data with secondary sources, news clippings and policy documents to develop community and industry case studies for each country

Quantitative Measurement of PIT1, GH, and PRL mRNA and Circulating Hormone Levels in Pig Families Segregating PIT1 Genotypes

PIT1 is a member of the POU-domain family gene and is a positive regulator for growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and thyrotroph-stimulating hormone β(TSHB) in several mammalian species. Previous studies in pigs have shown an association of PIT1 polymorphisms with growth and carcass traits in which the primarily Chinese alleles were associated with heavier birth weight and greater backfat. To further investigate the role of PIT1 in controlling pig growth traits, Chinese Meishan (MS) pigs segregating PIT1 polymorphisms were used to study the differences of GH and PRL at both mRNA and circulating hormone levels. A total of 60 animals from nine litters was used to collect both pituitary and blood samples at day 1, 15, and 30 after birth. A novel procedure that involves standard curve quantification was used to quantify mRNA amount for GH, PRL, PIT1-α, and PIT1-β. Conventional hormone assays were done to measure the circulating amount of GH and PRL from the blood. Statistical analyses of PIT1 genotypes, sex, and days on either mRNA (PIT1 alternative transcripts, GH, and PRL) or circulating hormone (GH and PRL) were done by using the leastsquares procedure. This study investigates GH and PRL at both mRNA and circulating hormone levels in MS pigs segregating PIT1 polymorphisms. Results from this study will provide useful information on the role of PIT1 in controlling pig growth traits

Comparative Ovarian and Pituitary Hormone Secretion in Pregnant Meishan and Yorkshire Gilts

Chinese Meishan and Yorkshire were used to investigate mechanisms regulating the production and secretion of relaxin, progesterone, prolactin (PRL), and growth hormone (GH) during late pregnancy and lactation. Uterine surgical removal (hysterectomy) of nongravid gilts during the estrous cycle (day 8) extends luteal function to 150 days which is beyond the duration of normal pregnancy. Hysterectomy provides a useful model to examine shifts in hormone secretion at the time of expected parturition in gravid pigs. Blood samples were collected via an indwelling jugular cannula twice daily (0800 and 2000 hours) from days 90 to 120 and every 20 minutes within a 3-hour period on days 112 to 116. Relaxin and progesterone are hormones of ovarian origin, and PRL and GH are hormones secreted by the pituitary gland. Parturition occurred earlier (day 114) in Yorkshire than Meishan (day 115) gilts. The prepartum peak relaxin release occurred about 16 hours earlier in both breeds, thereafter relaxin dropped to basal levels during lactation. After hysterectomy, relaxin plasma levels were consistently greater in Meishan compared with Yorkshire gilts from days 110-118. A programmed peak relaxin release occurred one day earlier in Yorkshire compared with Meishan gilts. Following the relaxin peak, corpora lutea persisted in both breeds, but Meishan gilts continued to secrete consistently greater amounts of relaxin than Yorkshire gilts. Progesterone plasma levels remained higher longer in late pregnant Meishan compared with Yorkshire gilts. After hysterectomy, progesterone plasma levels were consistently higher in Meishan compared with Yorkshire gilts from days 101 to 118. Prolactin circulating concentration increased during late pregnancy and early lactation, but at a higher level in Yorkshire compared with Meishan gilts. Growth hormone blood levels increased only during late pregnancy and early lactation in both Meishan and Yorkshire gilts. These results indicate significant differences in the timing, and in some cases, magnitude of hormone secretion profiles in pregnant and hysterectomized Yorkshire and Meishan gilts

TRH: Pathophysiologic and clinical implications

Thyrotropin releasing hormone is thought to be a tonic stimulator of the pituitary TSH secretion regulating the setpoint of the thyrotrophs to the suppressive effect of thyroid hormones. The peptide stimulates the release of normal and elevated prolactin. ACTH and GH may increase in response to exogenous TRH in pituitary ACTH and GH hypersecretion syndromes and in some extrapituitary diseases. The pathophysiological implications of extrahypothalamic TRH in humans are essentially unknown. The TSH response to TRH is nowadays widely used as a diganostic amplifier in thyroid diseases being suppressed in borderline and overt hyperthyroid states and increased in primary thyroid failure. In hypothyroid states of hypothalamic origin, TSH increases in response to exogenous TRH often with a delayed and/or exaggerated time course. But in patients with pituitary tumors and suprasellar extension TSH may also respond to TRH despite secondary hypothyroidism. This TSH increase may indicate a suprasellar cause for the secondary hypothyroidism, probably due to portal vessel occlusion. The TSH released in these cases is shown to be biologically inactive

The multiwavelength properties of red QSOs: Evidence for dusty winds as the origin of QSO reddening

Fundamental differences in the radio properties of red quasars (QSOs), as compared to blue QSOs, have been recently discovered, positioning them as a potential key population in the evolution of galaxies and black holes across cosmic time. To elucidate the nature of these objects, we exploited a rich compilation of broad-band photometry and spectroscopic data to model their spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from the ultraviolet to the far-infrared and characterise their emission-line properties. Following a systematic comparison approach, we characterise the properties of the QSO accretion, obscuration, and host galaxies in a sample of ∼1800 QSOs at 0.2 z 1000 km s−1) in red QSOs as compared to the control sample. We find that red QSOs that exhibit evidence for high-velocity wind components present a stronger signature of the infrared excess, suggesting a causal connection between QSO reddening and the presence of hot dust distributions in QSO winds. We propose that dusty winds at nuclear scales are potentially the physical ingredient responsible for the optical colours in red QSOs, as well as a key parameter for the regulation of accretion material in the nucleus.</p

Relationship of Growth Hormone, Prolactin, and Thyrotropin Secretion to Individual and Progeny Performance of Hereford Bulls

Evidence from several studies has supported a predictive relationship between measures of somatotropic hormones and genetically determined growth potential in domestic ruminants. In these studies, blood concentrations of hormones associated with growth were generally higher in lines or breeds with greater growth potential. However, no significant positive correlations between measures of hormone secretion and measures of growth in individual animals were observed. The present study further assesses the association between growth potential, growth rate, and secretion of growth hormone (GH), prolactin (PRL), and thyrotropin (TSH) using bulls of two Hereford lines that differ in growth rate as a result of genetic selection. The objectives of this study were (1)to compare blood levels of GH, PRL, and TSH between the two lines of bulls, and (2) to evaluate the predictive value of sire hormone data for growth rate of their progeny

Fundamental differences in the radio properties of red and blue quasars: evolution strongly favoured over orientation

A minority of the optically selected quasar population are red at optical wavelengths due to the presence of dust along the line of sight. A key focus of many red quasar studies is to understand their relationship with the overall quasar population: are they blue quasars observed at a (slight) inclination angle or do they represent a transitional phase in the evolution of quasars? Identifying fundamental differences between red and blue quasars is key to discriminate between these two paradigms. To robustly explore this, we have uniformly selected quasars from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey with mid-infrared counterparts, carefully controlling for luminosity and redshift effects. We take a novel approach to distinguish between colour-selected quasars in the redshift range of 0.2 < z < 2.4 by constructing redshift-sensitive g* − i* colour cuts. From cross-matching this sample to the Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-centimeters (FIRST) survey, we have found a factor ≈ 3 larger fraction of radio-detected red quasars with respect to that of blue quasars. Through a visual inspection of the FIRST images and an assessment of the radio luminosities (rest-frame L 1.4GHz L1.4GHz and L 1.4GHz / L 6μm L1.4GHz/L6μm ⁠), we find that the radio-detection excess for red quasars is primarily due to compact and radio-faint systems (around the radio-quiet – radio-loud threshold). We show that our results rule out orientation as the origin for the differences between red and blue quasars and argue that they provide broad agreement with an evolutionary model