Marginalization of end-use technologies in energy innovation for climate protection

Mitigating climate change requires directed innovation efforts to develop and deploy energy technologies. Innovation activities are directed towards the outcome of climate protection by public institutions, policies and resources that in turn shape market behaviour. We analyse diverse indicators of activity throughout the innovation system to assess these efforts. We find efficient end-use technologies contribute large potential emission reductions and provide higher social returns on investment than energy-supply technologies. Yet public institutions, policies and financial resources pervasively privilege energy-supply technologies. Directed innovation efforts are strikingly misaligned with the needs of an emissions-constrained world. Significantly greater effort is needed to develop the full potential of efficient end-use technologies

Renormalization of Bulk Magnetic Electron States at High Binding Energies

The quasiparticle dynamics of electrons in a magnetically ordered state is investigated by high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission of Ni(110) at 10 K. The self-energy is extracted for high binding energies reaching up to 500 meV, using a Gutzwiller calculation as a reference frame for correlated quasiparticles. Significant deviations exist in the 300 meV range, as identified on magnetic bulk bands for the first time. The discrepancy is strikingly well described by a self-energy model assuming interactions with spin excitations. Implications relating to different electron-electron correlation regimes are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, accepted at Phys. Rev. Lett

Predisposition to Obesity: Should We Target Those Most Susceptible?

Obesity prevention should remain a priority, even if there is some suggestion that the epidemic may presently have reached a stable level. However, previous interventions have not been effective in preventing overweight and obesity, and at the same time studies suggest that some subgroups are more predisposed to future obesity. The purpose of this paper is to review interventions on obesity prevention published during the past year, and to examine if interventions targeting predisposed groups or individuals seem more efficient in preventing obesity than studies targeting general populations. Among 15 identified studies, 7 targeted predisposed children or adolescents. More of the studies targeting predisposed individuals were able to show significant effects than the studies targeting general populations. Most studies targeting predisposed defined the predisposition based on ethnicity or socioeconomic status. Thus, we may be more successful in preventing obesity when targeting predisposed individuals, but more studies are needed before a firm conclusion can be drawn

The muscle – fat duel or why obese children are taller?

BACKGROUND: Obesity the epidemic of our times appears to be a problem that is easy to resolve: just eat less and move more. However, this very common condition has turned out to be extremely troublesome, and in some cases even irreversible. METHODS: The interplay between less muscle and more fat tissue is discussed from physiological perspectives with an emphasis on the early years of childhood. RESULTS: It is suggested that the coordinated muscle-fat interactions lead to a fluctuating exchange economy rate. This bodily economic decision, slides between thrift (more fat) and prodigal (more muscle) strategies. The thrift strategy results not only in obesity and less physical activity but also in other maladies which the body is unable to manage. What leads to obesity (less muscle, more fat) might be very difficult to reverse at adulthood, prevention at childhood is thus recommended. CONCLUSION: Early recognition of the ailment (low muscle mass) is crucial. Based on studies demonstrating a 'rivalry' between muscle build-up and height growth at childhood, it is postulated that among the both taller and more obese children the percentage of children with lower muscle mass will be higher. A special, body/muscle-building gymnastics program for children is suggested as a potential early intervention to prevent the ill progress of obesity

Interaction of consumer preferences and climate policies in the global transition to low-carbon vehicles

Burgeoning demands for mobility and private vehicle ownership undermine global efforts to reduce energy-related greenhouse gas emissions. Advanced vehicles powered by low-carbon sources of electricity or hydrogen offer an alternative to conventional fossil-fuelled technologies. Yet, despite ambitious pledges and investments by governments and automakers, it is by no means clear that these vehicles will ultimately reach mass-market consumers. Here, we develop state-of-the-art representations of consumer preferences in multiple, global energy- economy models, specifically focusing on the non-financial preferences of individuals. We employ these enhanced model formulations to analyse the potential for a low-carbon vehicle revolution up to mid-century. Our analysis shows that a diverse set of measures targeting vehicle buyers is necessary for driving widespread adoption of clean technologies. Carbon pricing alone is insufficient for bringing low-carbon vehicles to mass market, though it can certainly play a supporting role in ensuring a decarbonised energy supply

Myeloablative conditioning for allo-HSCT in pediatric ALL: FTBI or chemotherapy?—A multicenter EBMT-PDWP study

Although most children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) receive fractionated total body irradiation (FTBI) as myeloablative conditioning (MAC) for allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (allo-HSCT), it is an important matter of debate if chemotherapy can effectively replace FTBI. To compare outcomes after FTBI versus chemotherapy-based conditioning (CC), we performed a retrospective EBMT registry study. Children aged 2-18 years after MAC for first allo-HSCT of bone marrow (BM) or peripheral blood stem cells (PBSC) from matched-related (MRD) or unrelated donors (UD) in first (CR1) or second remission (CR2) between 2000 and 2012 were included. Propensity score weighting was used to control pretreatment imbalances of the observed variables. 3.054 patients were analyzed. CR1 (1.498): median follow-up (FU) after FTBI (1.285) and CC (213) was 6.8 and 6.1 years. Survivals were not significantly different. CR2 (1.556): median FU after FTBI (1.345) and CC (211) was 6.2 years. Outcomes after FTBI were superior as compared with CC with regard to overall survival (OS), leukemia-free survival (LFS), relapse incidence (RI), and nonrelapse mortality (NRM). However, we must emphasize the preliminary character of the results of this retrospective "real-world-practice" study. These findings will be prospectively assessed in the ALL SCTped 2012 FORUM trial.Transplantation and immunomodulatio

Time-Course of Changes in Inflammatory Response after Whole-Body Cryotherapy Multi Exposures following Severe Exercise

The objectives of the present investigation was to analyze the effect of two different recovery modalities on classical markers of exercise-induced muscle damage (EIMD) and inflammation obtained after a simulated trail running race. Endurance trained males (n = 11) completed two experimental trials separated by 1 month in a randomized crossover design; one trial involved passive recovery (PAS), the other a specific whole body cryotherapy (WBC) for 96 h post-exercise (repeated each day). For each trial, subjects performed a 48 min running treadmill exercise followed by PAS or WBC. The Interleukin (IL) -1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-10, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), protein C-reactive (CRP) and white blood cells count were measured at rest, immediately post-exercise, and at 24, 48, 72, 96 h in post-exercise recovery. A significant time effect was observed to characterize an inflammatory state (Pre vs. Post) following the exercise bout in all conditions (p<0.05). Indeed, IL-1β (Post 1 h) and CRP (Post 24 h) levels decreased and IL-1ra (Post 1 h) increased following WBC when compared to PAS. In WBC condition (p<0.05), TNF-α, IL-10 and IL-6 remain unchanged compared to PAS condition. Overall, the results indicated that the WBC was effective in reducing the inflammatory process. These results may be explained by vasoconstriction at muscular level, and both the decrease in cytokines activity pro-inflammatory, and increase in cytokines anti-inflammatory

Feasible mitigation actions in developing countries

Energy use is not only crucial for economic development, but is also the main driver of greenhouse-gas emissions. Developing countries can reduce emissions and thrive only if economic growth is disentangled from energy-related emissions. Although possible in theory, the required energy-system transformation would impose considerable costs on developing nations. Developed countries could bear those costs fully, but policy design should avoid a possible 'climate rent curse', that is, a negative impact of financial inflows on recipients' economies. Mitigation measures could meet further resistance because of adverse distributional impacts as well as political economy reasons. Hence, drastically re-orienting development paths towards low-carbon growth in developing countries is not very realistic. Efforts should rather focus on 'feasible mitigation actions' such as fossil-fuel subsidy reform, decentralized modern energy and fuel switching in the power sector

Differences in carbon emissions reduction between countries pursuing renewable electricity versus nuclear power

Two of the most widely emphasized contenders for carbon emissions reduction in the electricity sector are nuclear power and renewable energy. While scenarios regularly question the potential impacts of adoption of various technology mixes in the future, it is less clear which technology has been associated with greater historical emission reductions. Here, we use multiple regression analyses on global datasets of national carbon emissions and renewable and nuclear electricity production across 123 countries over 25 years to examine systematically patterns in how countries variously using nuclear power and renewables contrastingly show higher or lower carbon emissions. We find that larger-scale national nuclear attachments do not tend to associate with significantly lower carbon emissions while renewables do. We also find a negative association between the scales of national nuclear and renewables attachments. This suggests nuclear and renewables attachments tend to crowd each other out

Acute post-exercise energy and macronutrient intake in lean and obese youth: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: This review aims to determine if acute exercise affects subsequent energy and macronutrients intake in obese and non-obese children and adolescents. Methods: Databases were searched between January 2015 and December 2015 for studies reporting energy and/or macronutrients intake immediately after an acute exercise and control condition, in children and adolescents. From the initial 118 references found, 14 were included for subsequent analysis after screening representing 31 acute exercise conditions that varied in intensity, duration and modality. Results: One study found increased energy intake after exercise, seven decreased and 23 revealed no change. The meta-analysis revealed a significant effect of acute exercise on intake in obese but not in lean youth by a mean difference of −0.430 (95% confidence interval=−0.703 to −0.157, P=0.002) displaying low heterogeneity (I2=0.000; Q=5.875; df=9, P=0.752). The analysis showed that intense exercise only reduces intake in obese children (no intensity effect in lean). Unchanged macronutrients intake was reported in nine studies as opposed to three which found modified lipids, protein and/or carbohydrate intake. Conclusion: Although acute exercise does not affect energy intake in lean, it appears to reduced food intake in obese youth when intense, without altering the macronutrients composition of the meal