Reinforcing the EU Dialogue with Developing Countries on Climate Change Mitigation

The FP6 TOCSIN project has evaluated climate change mitigation options in China and India and the conditions for strategic cooperation on research, development and demonstration (RD&D) and technology transfer with the European Union. In particular, the project investigated the strategic dimensions of RD&D cooperation and the challenge of creating incentives to encourage the participation of developing countries in post-2012 GHG emissions reduction strategies and technological cooperation. This paper summarizes the main policy-relevant results of the project, including the requests for: (I) almost immediate decisions on ambitious mitigation; (II) a strong increase in Annex I support regarding R&D spending and technology transfer; (III) a well-designed mix of instruments and targets in an effective climate deal that addresses manifold national interests and concerns.Climate Policy, Technology Transfers

Identities for Rankin-Cohen brackets, Racah coefficients and associativity

We prove an infinite family of identities satisfied by the Rankin-Cohen brackets involving the Racah polynomials. A natural interpretation in the representation theory of sl(2) is provided. From these identities and known properties of the Racah polynomials follows a short new proof of the associativity of the Eholzer product. Finally, we discuss, in the context of Rankin-Cohen algebras introduced by D.Zagier, how any algebraic identity satisfied by the Rankin-Cohen brackets can be seen as a consequence of the set of identities presented in this paper.Comment: 14 page

Producing policy-relevant science by enhancing robustness and model integration for the assessment of global environmental change

We use the flexible model coupling technology known as the bespoke framework generator to link established existing modules representing dynamics in the global economy (GEMINI_E3), the energy system (TIAM-WORLD), the global and regional climate system (MAGICC6, PLASIM-ENTS and ClimGEN), the agricultural system, the hydrological system and ecosystems (LPJmL), together in a single integrated assessment modelling (IAM) framework, building on the pre-existing framework of the Community Integrated Assessment System. Next, we demonstrate the application of the framework to produce policy-relevant scientific information. We use it to show that when using carbon price mechanisms to induce a transition from a high-carbon to a low-carbon economy, prices can be minimised if policy action is taken early, if burden sharing regimes are used, and if agriculture is intensified. Some of the coupled models have been made available for use at a secure and user-friendly web portal

Posttranscriptional regulation of UGT2B10 hepatic expression and activity by alternative splicing

The detoxification enzyme UDP-glucuronosyltransferase UGT2B10 is specialized in the N-linked glucuronidation of many drugs and xenobiotics. Preferred substrates possess tertiary aliphatic amines and heterocyclic amines such as tobacco carcinogens and several anti-depressants and anti-psychotics. We hypothesized that alternative splicing (AS) constitutes a mean to regulate steady state levels of UGT2B10 and enzyme activity. We established the transcriptome of UGT2B10 in normal and tumoral tissues of multiple individuals. Highest expression was in the liver, where ten AS transcripts represented 50% of the UGT2B10 transcriptome in 50 normal livers and 44 hepatocellular carcinomas. One abundant class of transcripts involves a novel exonic sequence and leads to two alternative (alt.) variants with novel in-frame C-termini of 10 or 65 amino acids. Their hepatic expression was highly variable among individuals, correlated with canonical transcript levels, and was 3.5 fold higher in tumors. Evidence for their translation in liver tissues was acquired by mass spectrometry. In cell models, they co-localized with the enzyme and influenced the conjugation of amitriptyline and levomedetomidine by repressing or activating the enzyme (40-70%; P<0.01), in a cell context-specific manner. A high turnover rate for the alt. proteins, regulated by the proteasome, was observed in contrast to the more stable UGT2B10 enzyme. Moreover, a drug-induced remodelling of UGT2B10 splicing was demonstrated in the HepaRG hepatic cell model, which favored alt. variants expression over the canonical transcript. Our findings support a significant contribution of AS in the regulation of UGT2B10 expression in the liver with an impact on enzyme activity

Assessing climate impacts on the energy sector with TIAM-WORLD: focus on heating and cooling and hydropower potential

Much research is still needed to understand the climate vulnerability of the energy sector and to identify cost-effective adaptation options. This chapter explores the coupling of the World TIMES Integrated Assessment Model (TIAM-WORLD) with an emulated version of the climate model PLASIM-ENTS to as- sess the impacts of future temperature and precipitation changes on the heating and cooling subsector and available hydropower. An absence of climate feedback induced by the adaptation of the energy system to future heating and cooling needs was found for a 1.6-5.7 K range of long-term global mean temperature increase: when aggregated at the global level, some changes compensate others, and heating and cooling represent a relatively small contributor to total energy consumption. However, significant changes are observed at the regional level in terms of additional power capacity, mostly coal power plants, to satisfy the additional cooling needs. Reduced needs for heating affect gas and coal heating systems more than biomass and electric heaters, reflecting higher costs of these heating options in the longer term. Available hydropower is estimated to increase on a seasonal basis in most regions under future climate change. It could therefore con- tribute to supply the additional electricity needed for cooling in regions where both future cooling needs and hydropower potential are expected to increase. Hydropower results are however characterized by high uncertainty due to uncertain- ties in projected precipitation changes as well as the relatively coarse resolution of PLASIM-ENTS

Identification of Yeast and Human 5-Aminoimidazole-4-carboxamide-1-β-d-ribofuranoside (AICAr) Transporters

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