Eco-transformation: a global sustainability wake-up call

A vital opportunity and responsibility exist for firms to devise new sustainable business models that tackle the pressing social and ecological challenges of our time. The global stakes involved requires scientists and business practitioners to work more closely than ever to innovate, and deliver effective solutions that simultaneously create social, ecological and commercial value. This is very much the mission of the Centre for Eco-Transformation

Sympathetic nerve-derived ATP regulates renal medullary vasa recta diameter via pericyte cells: a role for regulating medullary blood flow?

Pericyte cells are now known to be a novel locus of blood flow control, being able to regulate capillary diameter via their unique morphology and expression of contractile proteins. We have previously shown that exogenous ATP causes constriction of vasa recta via renal pericytes, acting at a variety of membrane bound P2 receptors on descending vasa recta (DVR), and therefore may be able to regulate medullary blood flow (MBF). Regulation of MBF is essential for appropriate urine concentration and providing essential oxygen and nutrients to this region of high, and variable, metabolic demand. Various sources of endogenous ATP have been proposed, including from epithelial, endothelial, and red blood cells in response to stimuli such as mechanical stimulation, local acidosis, hypoxia, and exposure to various hormones. Extensive sympathetic innervation of the nephron has previously been shown, however the innervation reported has focused around the proximal and distal tubules, and ascending loop of Henle. We hypothesize that sympathetic nerves are an additional source of ATP acting at renal pericytes and therefore regulate MBF. Using a rat live kidney slice model in combination with video imaging and confocal microscopy techniques we firstly show sympathetic nerves in close proximity to vasa recta pericytes in both the outer and inner medulla. Secondly, we demonstrate pharmacological stimulation of sympathetic nerves in situ (by tyramine) evokes pericyte-mediated vasoconstriction of vasa recta capillaries; inhibited by the application of the P2 receptor antagonist suramin. Lastly, tyramine-evoked vasoconstriction of vasa recta by pericytes is significantly less than ATP-evoked vasoconstriction. Sympathetic innervation may provide an additional level of functional regulation in the renal medulla that is highly localized. It now needs to be determined under which physiological/pathophysiological circumstances that sympathetic innervation of renal pericytes is important

Laboratory exploration of mineral precipitates from Europa's subsurface ocean

The precipitation of hydrated phases from a chondritic-like Na-Mg-Ca-SO4-Cl solution is studied using in situ synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction, under rapid (360 K hour−1, T = 250-80 K, t = 3 hours) and ultra-slow (0.3 K day−1, T= 273-245K, t = 242 days) freezing conditions. The precipitation sequence under slow cooling initially follows the predictions of equilibrium thermodynamics models, however after ∼ 50 days at 245 K, the formation of the highly hydrated sulphate phase Na2Mg(SO4)2·16H2O, a relatively recent discovery in the Na2Mg(SO4)2-H2O system, was observed. Rapid freezing, on the other hand, produced an assemblage of multiple phases which formed within a very short timescale (≤4 minutes, ∆T = 2 K) and, although remaining present throughout, varied in their relative proportions with decreasing temperature. Mirabilite and meridianiite were the major phases, with pentahydrite, epsomite, hydrohalite, gypsum, bl¨odite, konyaite and loweite also observed. Na2Mg(SO4)2·16H2O was again found to be present and increased in proportion relative to other phases as the temperature decreased. Results are discussed in relation to possible implications for life on Europa and application to other icy ocean worlds

Analysis of parametric oscillatory instability in Fabry-Perot cavity with Gauss and Laguerre-Gauss main mode profile

We calculate the parametric instabilities in Fabry-Perot cavities of Advanced VIRGO and LIGO interferometers with different main mode profiles. All unstable combinations of elastic and Stokes modes both for the case with TEM00 and LG33 as a carriers are deduced.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figure

Radical Innovation for Sustainability: The Power of Strategy and Open Innovation

Sustainability oriented innovation continues to garner increasing attention as the answer to how firms may improve environmental and/or social performance while simultaneously finding competitive advantage. Radically innovating new products and services to replace harmful market incumbents is central to this thesis, yet studies to date have found it to be a highly expensive process with high degrees of uncertainty and risk. Extant research however has largely neglected to examine the details of the actual product innovation process itself and has under appreciated the influence of corporate strategic context. Our paper addresses this gap in the literature through an in-depth case study of a sustainability oriented innovation process for a radical new product within a multinational life sciences company, DSM. Our findings identify five critical organizational practices through which strategic direction has enabled the innovation process: technology super-scouting throughout the value chain, search heuristics that favor radical sustainability solutions, integration of sustainability performance metrics in product development, championing the value chain to build demand for radical sustainability oriented product innovation, and harnessing the benefits of open innovation

Atrial fibrillation fingerprinting; spotting bio-electrical markers to early recognize atrial fibrillation by the use of a bottom-up approach (AFFIP): Rationale and design

Background: The exact pathophysiology of atrial fibrillation (AF) remains incompletely understood and treatment of AF is associated with high recurrence rates. Persistence of AF is rooted in the presence of electropathology, defined as complex electrical conduction disorders caused by structural damage of atrial tissue. The atrial fibrillation fingerprinting (AFFIP) study aims to characterize electropathology, enabling development of a novel diagnostic instrument to predict AF onset and early progression. Hypotheses: History of AF, development of post-operative AF, age, gender, underlying heart disease, and other clinical characteristics impact the degree of electropathology. Methods: This study is a prospective observational study with a planned duration of 48 months. Three study groups are defined: (1) patients with (longstanding) persistent AF, (2) patients with paroxysmal AF, and (3) patients without a history of AF, all undergoing open-chest cardiac surgery. Intra-operative high-resolution epicardial mapping is performed to identify the patient-specific electrical profile, whereas the patient-specific biological profile is assessed by evaluating proteostasis markers in blood samples and atrial appendage tissue samples. Post-operative continuous rhythm monitoring is perfo

Oblique Parameters and Extra Generations via OPUCEM

Recent improvements to OPUCEM, the tool for calculation of the contributions of various models to oblique parameters, are presented. OPUCEM is used to calculate the available parameter space for the four family Standard Model given the current electroweak precision data. It is shown that even with the restrictions on Higgs boson and new quark masses presented in the 2011 autumn conferences, there is still enough space to allow a fourth generation with Dirac type neutrinos. For Majorana type neutrinos, the allowed region is even larger. The electroweak precision data also favors non-zero mixing between light and fourth generations, thus effectively reducing current experimental limits. Additionally, calculations with OPUCEM show that even 5th and 6th generations are compatible with the existing electroweak precision data, with a probability comparable to or higher than the Standard Model with 3 generations.Comment: 11 pages, 21 figures, 5 tables - Version accepted by EPJ-

High-contrast imaging constraints on gas giant planet formation - The Herbig Ae/Be star opportunity

Planet formation studies are often focused on solar-type stars, implicitly considering our Sun as reference point. This approach overlooks, however, that Herbig Ae/Be stars are in some sense much better targets to study planet formation processes empirically, with their disks generally being larger, brighter and simply easier to observe across a large wavelength range. In addition, massive gas giant planets have been found on wide orbits around early type stars, triggering the question if these objects did indeed form there and, if so, by what process. In the following I briefly review what we currently know about the occurrence rate of planets around intermediate mass stars, before discussing recent results from Herbig Ae/Be stars in the context of planet formation. The main emphasis is put on spatially resolved polarized light images of potentially planet forming disks and how these images - in combination with other data - can be used to empirically constrain (parts of) the planet formation process. Of particular interest are two objects, HD100546 and HD169142, where, in addition to intriguing morphological structures in the disks, direct observational evidence for (very) young planets has been reported. I conclude with an outlook, what further progress we can expect in the very near future with the next generation of high-contrast imagers at 8-m class telescopes and their synergies with ALMA.Comment: Accepted by Astrophysics and Space Science as invited short review in special issue about Herbig Ae/Be stars; 12 pages incl. 5 figures, 2 tables and reference