Ohjauskeinoja kotitalouksien kulutuksen hiilijalanjäljen pienentämiseen

Suomen keskipitkän aikavälin ilmastosuunnitelmassa kannustetaan kuluttajia puolittamaan hiilijalanjälki. Tässä tutkimuksessa muodostettiin ohjauskeinoyhdistelmiä vahvistamaan kotitalouksien kulutuksen (asuminen, liikenne, ruoka, muut tavarat ja palvelut) ilmasto-ohjausta. Päästövähennysten lisäksi on arvioitu hyväksyttävyyttä, toteutettavuutta, oikeudellisia näkökohtia ja kustannuksia. Arviointiin osallistettiin tutkijayhteisöä Delfoi-menetelmällä. Kotitalouksien kulutuksen hiilijalanjälki perustuu tarkasteluun ympäristölaajennetulla panos-tuotosmallilla (ENVIMAT). Tutkimuksessa kehitettiin mallia ja päivitettiin tilannekuva Suomen kansantalouden kasvihuonekaasupäästöistä (julkinen kulutus, kotitaloudet, investoinnit) vuonna 2019 ja kotitalouksien kulutuksen aikasarja vuosille 2000–2021. Myös kotitalouksien kulutuksen hiilijalanjälki perusura ilmasto- ja energiapolitiikan valossa vuonna 2035 tuotettiin ENVIMAT-mallilla. Perusuran ja päästövähennyksiä vahvistavien keinojen yhdistelmällä voitaisiin pienentää kotitalouksien kulutuksen hiilijalanjälkeä lähes puoleen vuosien 2016 ja 2035 välillä. Ohjausta tulisi vahvistaa liikkumistarpeeseen, kulkutapoihin ja sähköistymisen kohdentumiseen vaikuttamalla; ruokavaliomuutosta tukemalla; tavaroiden käyttöiän pidentämisellä; ja tavaroiden ja palveluiden vähähiilisyyteen vaikuttamalla.Tämä julkaisu on toteutettu osana valtioneuvoston selvitys- ja tutkimussuunnitelman toimeenpanoa (tietokayttoon.fi). Julkaisun sisällöstä vastaavat tiedon tuottajat, eikä tekstisisältö välttämättä edusta valtioneuvoston näkemystä

Revised Strategic Research Agenda for Social Sciences and Humanities in Radiation Protection

This document describes the research priorities and the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in radiation protection for the next 20 years. It also reports on the results of a first gap analysis. The SSH SRA is a living document, under constant development through the engagement of the SSH community in radiation protection field and other stakeholders, especially technical and research platforms. To this end, the SSH community in radiation protection field will structure and enhance dialogue at the European level among the different stakeholders, fostering the sharing of knowledge and information among various disciplines working on aspects of radiation protection and identify the SSH research needs in the field of radiation protection. The objective of Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) for Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in radiation protection is to contribute towards improvement of the Radiation Protection (RP) system by coordinating European SSH research in the field of radiation protection; supporting education and training; knowledge management and sharing; and identifying SSH state of the art across domains. It is only by enabling SSH research to play a fuller and stronger role through a coordinated SRA mechanism that societal perspectives on research relating to radiation protection will be realised. The SSH SRA has been developed through a broad stakeholder engagement process. The research topics to be included in the SSH SRA have been collected through various activities carried out in the H2020 projects CONCERT and the FP7 projects OPERRA, PREPARE and EAGLE, notably the RICOMET 2015, 2016 an RICOMET 2017 conferences and Symposium on Ethics of Environmental Health, as well as in dialogues with members of the radiation protection platforms, carried out in a context of the CONCERT 2.6 task group. These research topics have been prioritised for the first time at the Radiation Protection Week in Oxford (19-23 September 2016) with task 2.6 members, SSH community and platforms, and further debated upon at the RICOMET Conference 2017 (June 27th to 29th, Vienna) with a large audience. The version summarised in this report is the most recent revision on of the SSH SRA (D2.8 and D2.10)

Pharmacokinetic aspects of retinal drug delivery

Drug delivery to the posterior eye segment is an important challenge in ophthalmology, because many diseases affect the retina and choroid leading to impaired vision or blindness. Currently, intravitreal injections are the method of choice to administer drugs to the retina, but this approach is applicable only in selected cases (e.g. anti-VEGF antibodies and soluble receptors). There are two basic approaches that can be adopted to improve retinal drug delivery: prolonged and/or retina targeted delivery of intravitreal drugs and use of other routes of drug administration, such as periocular, suprachoroidal, sub-retinal, systemic, or topical. Properties of the administration route, drug and delivery system determine the efficacy and safety of these approaches. Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic factors determine the required dosing rates and doses that are needed for drug action. In addition, tolerability factors limit the use of many materials in ocular drug delivery. This review article provides a critical discussion of retinal drug delivery, particularly from the pharmacokinetic point of view. This article does not include an extensive review of drug delivery technologies, because they have already been reviewed several times recently. Instead, we aim to provide a systematic and quantitative view on the pharmacokinetic factors in drug delivery to the posterior eye segment. This review is based on the literature and unpublished data from the authors' laboratory.Peer reviewe

Obeticholic acid for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis: interim analysis from a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial

Background Non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a common type of chronic liver disease that can lead to cirrhosis. Obeticholic acid, a farnesoid X receptor agonist, has been shown to improve the histological features of NASH. Here we report results from a planned interim analysis of an ongoing, phase 3 study of obeticholic acid for NASH. Methods In this multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, adult patients with definite NASH,non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) activity score of at least 4, and fibrosis stages F2–F3, or F1 with at least oneaccompanying comorbidity, were randomly assigned using an interactive web response system in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive oral placebo, obeticholic acid 10 mg, or obeticholic acid 25 mg daily. Patients were excluded if cirrhosis, other chronic liver disease, elevated alcohol consumption, or confounding conditions were present. The primary endpointsfor the month-18 interim analysis were fibrosis improvement (≥1 stage) with no worsening of NASH, or NASH resolution with no worsening of fibrosis, with the study considered successful if either primary endpoint was met. Primary analyses were done by intention to treat, in patients with fibrosis stage F2–F3 who received at least one dose of treatment and reached, or would have reached, the month 18 visit by the prespecified interim analysis cutoff date. The study also evaluated other histological and biochemical markers of NASH and fibrosis, and safety. This study is ongoing, and registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT02548351, and EudraCT, 20150-025601-6. Findings Between Dec 9, 2015, and Oct 26, 2018, 1968 patients with stage F1–F3 fibrosis were enrolled and received at least one dose of study treatment; 931 patients with stage F2–F3 fibrosis were included in the primary analysis (311 in the placebo group, 312 in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group, and 308 in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group). The fibrosis improvement endpoint was achieved by 37 (12%) patients in the placebo group, 55 (18%) in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group (p=0·045), and 71 (23%) in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group (p=0·0002). The NASH resolution endpoint was not met (25 [8%] patients in the placebo group, 35 [11%] in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group [p=0·18], and 36 [12%] in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group [p=0·13]). In the safety population (1968 patients with fibrosis stages F1–F3), the most common adverse event was pruritus (123 [19%] in the placebo group, 183 [28%] in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group, and 336 [51%] in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group); incidence was generally mild to moderate in severity. The overall safety profile was similar to that in previous studies, and incidence of serious adverse events was similar across treatment groups (75 [11%] patients in the placebo group, 72 [11%] in the obeticholic acid 10 mg group, and 93 [14%] in the obeticholic acid 25 mg group). Interpretation Obeticholic acid 25 mg significantly improved fibrosis and key components of NASH disease activity among patients with NASH. The results from this planned interim analysis show clinically significant histological improvement that is reasonably likely to predict clinical benefit. This study is ongoing to assess clinical outcomes

Prebiotics and Dietary Fibers from Food Processing By-Products

The abundance of agricultural wastes or by-products from industrial and domesti- Q1 cated food processing is the main cause of environment problems. These by-products are generally managed by disposal or even sold at a cheaper price. Disposal of these underutilized by-products are commonly done in inappropriate ways, i.e. discharge effluent into rivers or by burning in the open, which may cause air and water pollutions. Presently, scientific investigation on the benefits or functional properties of waste and by-products from industrial food processing, which produces a large amount of by-products, is necessary in the search for possible ways for their utilization (Vanesa et al., 2011). Three main groups of by-product from food processing, classified according to their main chemical compositions, are carbohydrate and dietary fibers, protein and lipids. The most common by-products are generated by the food industry, in particular the beverage, starch and flour industries. These items are classified under carbohydrate and dietary fiber groups. They are further divided into four sub-groups: monosaccharides, disaccharides, oligosaccharides and polysaccharides. Dietary fibers are a class of non-starch polysaccharides (i.e. cellulose, dextrins, chitins, pectins, β-glucans and waxes) and lignin, which are able to modulate the transit time through the gut. Thus, it provides similar beneficial effects to those of inulin-type fructans. These compounds are commonly found in many foods such as cereal, nuts etc. They are also partially susceptible to bacterial fermentation and may induce changes in bacterial populations, particularly in the numerous bifidobacteria and lactobacilli. These soluble dietary fibers have been shown to exert additional beneficial effects, for instance by improving gut barrier function in vitro and in vivo, which could be partially a consequence of their effect on the microflora composition (Laparra and Sanz, 2010)