Towards a Low-Carbon Society via Hydrogen and Carbon Capture and Storage: Social Acceptance from a Stakeholder Perspective

Transformation concepts towards a low-carbon society often require new technology and infrastructure that evoke protests in the population. Therefore, it is crucial to understand positions and conflicts in society to achieve social acceptance. This paper analyses these positions using the example of implementing hydrogen and carbon capture and storage infrastructure to decarbonise the German energy system. The empirical basis of the study are explorative stakeholder interviews which were conducted with experts from politics, economics, civil society and science and analysed within a discursive and attitudinal framework using qualitative content analysis. These stakeholder positions are assumed to represent dominant social perceptions and reflect chances and risks for acceptance. The results indicate different positions while pursuing the common goal of addressing climate change. The general conflict concerns strategies towards a low-carbon society, especially the speed of phasing-out fossil energies. Regarding the combination of hydrogen and carbon capture and storage as instrument in the context of the energy transition, the stakeholder interviews indicate controversial as well as consensual perceptions. The assessments range from rejection to deeming it absolutely necessary. Controversial argumentations refer to security of supply, competitiveness and environmental protection. In contrast, consensus can be reached by balancing ecological and economic arguments, e.g. by linking hydrogen technologies with renewable and fossil energy sources or by limiting the use of carbon capture and storage only to certain applications (industry, bioenergy). In further decisions, this balancing of arguments combined with openness of technology, transparency of information and citizen participation need to be considered to achieve broad acceptance

Spaltet Corona die Gesellschaft?

Soziologische Deutungen der Corona-Krise beschwören das populär gewordene „Brennglas“, wonach die Pandemie soziale Probleme und Strukturprinzipien (post-)moderner Gesellschaften verdichtet hervortreten lässt. Dabei wird der Pandemie auch das Potenzial zugeschrieben, die Spaltung demokratisch-liberaler Gesellschaften zu verstärken. Vor allem die Querdenken-Bewegung fungiert im Diskurs als (weiterer) Indikator einer grundlegenden Legitimationskrise spätmoderner Gesellschaften. Der Beitrag greift diese Lesart auf und untersucht auf Basis einer quantitativen Erhebung die Einstellungen der deutschen Bevölkerung zur Pandemiebekämpfung. Die Befunde widerlegen eine grundlegende Spaltung der Gesellschaft sowohl mit Blick auf Globaleinstellungen als auch die Mittel zur Pandemiebekämpfung und zeigen, dass die Einstellungsmuster hinsichtlich der Pandemiebekämpfung einem eigenen sozialstrukturellen Muster folgen. Sich radikalisierende Protestbewegungen stellen durchaus eine Gefahr für das Gemeinwohl dar, sind aber nicht zwangsläufig ein geeigneter Seismograph für ein grundlegendes Unbehagen in der Gesellschaft

Von Robotern und Smartphones. Stand und Akzeptanz der Digitalisierung im Sozialsektor

Die Digitalisierung der Arbeit schreitet in den letzten Jahren stark voran und hat mittlerweile auch das Feld sozialer Dienstleistungen erreicht. Neben den zahlreichen Potenzialen, welche mit dem Digitalisierungsprozess verbunden werden, gibt es auf Seiten der Beschäftigten nicht selten Vorbehalte und Ängste gegenüber den neuen Technologien in Hinblick auf eine zunehmende Rationalisierung von Arbeitsinhalten und Arbeitsplätzen. Gerade vor dem Hintergrund der für die sozialen Dienste charakteristischen Interaktionsarbeit wird die Digitalisierung häufig kritisch betrachtet. Der Beitrag gibt auf Basis empirischer Befunde einen Überblick über den Einsatz und die Akzeptanz digitaler Technologien in verschiedenen sozialen Berufen. Die explorativen Ergebnisse belegen eine starke Verbreitung digitaler Technologien in den sozialen Berufen vom Feld der Sozialen Arbeit bis zur Altenpflege, wobei die Technologien insbesondere bei administrativen und weniger bei der Arbeit mit den Klient*innen zum Einsatz kommen. Ferner zeigt sich – entgegen der häufig vermuteten Skepsis – eine weit verbreitete Akzeptanz der Digitalisierung durch die Beschäftigten im Feld der sozialen Dienste. (DIPF/Orig.

Einstellungen zum sozialen Engagement in der Flüchtlingshilfe. Empirische Befunde aus einem urbanen Ballungsraum

In aktuellen öffentlichen Diskursen ist die 'Flüchtlingskrise' das bestimmende Thema. Trotz breiter zivilgesellschaftlicher Unterstützungs- und Hilfeleistungen für Geflüchtete ist über die generellen Einstellungen in der Bevölkerung zum sozialen Engagement in diesem Feld nur wenig bekannt. Der vorliegende Beitrag greift diese Forschungslücke auf und untersucht dies empirisch auf Basis einer quantitativen Studie. Mit Hilfe eines mehrdimensionalen Untersuchungskonzeptes werden die Einstellungen zum Engagement in der Flüchtlingshilfe im Vergleich zu anderen Engagementfeldern differenziert beleuchtet. Die Ergebnisse zeigen eine deutlich kritischere Einstellung gegenüber dem Engagement für Flüchtlinge. Regressionsanalytische Befunde deuten darauf hin, dass unterschiedliche Soziallagen als Erklärungsfaktoren für negative Einstellungen gegenüber dem Flüchtlingsengagement nicht ausreichend sind. Insgesamt scheint sich die Ablehnung von Flüchtlingen und der Flüchtlingspolitik auf die Sphäre des Engagements in diesem Feld auszuweiten und zu einer weiteren gesellschaftlichen Polarisierung beizutragen

Evolutionary conservation of the eumetazoan gene regulatory landscape

Despite considerable differences in morphology and complexity of body plans among animals, a great part of the gene set is shared among Bilateria and their basally branching sister group, the Cnidaria. This suggests that the common ancestor of eumetazoans already had a highly complex gene repertoire. At present it is therefore unclear how morphological diversification is encoded in the genome. Here we address the possibility that differences in gene regulation could contribute to the large morphological divergence between cnidarians and bilaterians. To this end, we generated the first genome-wide map of gene regulatory elements in a nonbilaterian animal, the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by deep sequencing of five chromatin modifications and a transcriptional cofactor, we identified over 5000 enhancers in the Nematostella genome and could validate 75% of the tested enhancers in vivo. We found that in Nematostella, but not in yeast, enhancers are characterized by the same combination of histone modifications as in bilaterians, and these enhancers preferentially target developmental regulatory genes. Surprisingly, the distribution and abundance of gene regulatory elements relative to these genes are shared between Nematostella and bilaterian model organisms. Our results suggest that complex gene regulation originated at least 600 million yr ago, predating the common ancestor of eumetazoans

Five-Dimensional Charged Rotating Black Holes

We consider charged rotating black holes in 5-dimensional Einstein-Maxwell theory. These black holes are asymptotically flat, they possess a regular horizon of spherical topology and two independent angular momenta associated with two distinct planes of rotation. We discuss their global and horizon properties, and derive a generalized Smarr formula. We construct these black holes numerically, focussing on black holes with a single angular momentum, and with two equal-magnitude angular momenta.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figure

Phosphonate as a Stable Zinc-Binding Group for "Pathoblocker" Inhibitors of Clostridial Collagenase H (ColH)

Microbial infections are a significant threat to public health, and resistance is on the rise, so new antibiotics with novel modes of action are urgently needed. The extracellular zinc metalloprotease collagenase H (ColH) from Clostridium histolyticum is a virulence factor that catalyses tissue damage, leading to improved host invasion and colonisation. Besides the major role of ColH in pathogenicity, its extracellular localisation makes it a highly attractive target for the development of new antivirulence agents. Previously, we had found that a highly selective and potent thiol prodrug (with a hydrolytically cleavable thiocarbamate unit) provided efficient ColH inhibition. We now report the synthesis and biological evaluation of a range of zinc‐binding group (ZBG) variants of this thiol‐derived inhibitor, with the mercapto unit being replaced by other zinc ligands. Among these, an analogue with a phosphonate motif as ZBG showed promising activity against ColH, an improved selectivity profile, and significantly higher stability than the thiol reference compound, thus making it an attractive candidate for future drug development

Deleterious Impact of a Novel CFH Splice Site Variant in Atypical Hemolytic Uremic Syndrome

Atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome (aHUS) is a heterogeneous disorder characterized by microangiopathic hemolytic anemia (MAHA), thrombocytopenia, and acute kidney injury (AKI). In about 50% of cases, pathogenic variants in genes involved in the innate immune response including complement factors complement factor H (CFH), CFI, CFB, C3, and membrane co-factor protein (MCP/CD46) put patients at risk for uncontrolled activation of the alternative complement pathway. As aHUS is characterized by incomplete penetrance and presence of additional triggers for disease manifestation, genetic variant interpretation is challenging and streamlined functional variant evaluation is urgently needed. Here, we report the case of a 27-year-old female without previous medical and family history who presented with confusion, petechial bleeding, and anuric AKI. Kidney biopsy revealed glomerular thrombotic microangiopathy (TMA). Targeted next generation sequencing identified a paternally transmitted novel heterozygous splice site variant in the CFH gene [c.3134-2A>G; p.Asp1045_Thr1053del] which resulted in a partial in-frame deletion of exon 20 transcript as determined by cDNA analysis. On the protein level, the concomitant loss of 9 amino acids in the short consensus repeat (SCR) domains 17 and 18 of CFH includes a highly conserved cysteine residue, which is assumed to be essential for proper structural folding and protein function. Treatment with steroids, plasmapheresis, and the complement inhibitor eculizumab led to complete hematological and clinical remission after several months and stable renal function up to 6 years later. In conclusion, genetic investigation for pathogenic variants and evaluation of their functional impact, in particular in the case of splice site variants, is clinically relevant and enables not only better molecular understanding but helps to guide therapy with complement inhibitors

An atlas of spider development at single-cell resolution provides new insights into arthropod embryogenesis

Spiders are a diverse order of chelicerates that diverged from other arthropods over 500 million years ago. Research on spider embryogenesis, particularly studies using the common house spider Parasteatoda tepidariorum, has made important contributions to understanding the evolution of animal development, including axis formation, segmentation, and patterning. However, we lack knowledge about the cells that build spider embryos, their gene expression profiles and fate. Single-cell transcriptomic analyses have been revolutionary in describing these complex landscapes of cellular genetics in a range of animals. Therefore, we carried out single-cell RNA sequencing of P. tepidariorum embryos at stages 7, 8 and 9, which encompass the establishment and patterning of the body plan, and initial differentiation of many tissues and organs. We identified 20 cell clusters, from 18.5 k cells, which were marked by many developmental toolkit genes, as well as a plethora of genes not previously investigated. We found differences in the cell cycle transcriptional signatures, suggestive of different proliferation dynamics, which related to distinctions between endodermal and some mesodermal clusters, compared with ectodermal clusters. We identified many Hox genes as markers of cell clusters, and Hox gene ohnologs were often present in different clusters. This provided additional evidence of sub- and/or neo-functionalisation of these important developmental genes after the whole genome duplication in an arachnopulmonate ancestor (spiders, scorpions, and related orders). We also examined the spatial expression of marker genes for each cluster to generate a comprehensive cell atlas of these embryonic stages. This revealed new insights into the cellular basis and genetic regulation of head patterning, hematopoiesis, limb development, gut development, and posterior segmentation. This atlas will serve as a platform for future analysis of spider cell specification and fate, and studying the evolution of these processes among animals at cellular resolution

Widespread retention of ohnologs in key developmental gene families following whole-genome duplication in arachnopulmonates

Whole-genome duplications (WGDs) have occurred multiple times during animal evolution, including in lineages leading to vertebrates, teleosts, horseshoe crabs, and arachnopulmonates. These dramatic events initially produce a wealth of new genetic material, generally followed by extensive gene loss. It appears, however, that developmental genes such as homeobox genes, signaling pathway components and microRNAs are frequently retained as duplicates (so-called ohnologs) following WGD. These not only provide the best evidence for WGD, but an opportunity to study its evolutionary consequences. Although these genes are well studied in the context of vertebrate WGD, similar comparisons across the extant arachnopulmonate orders are patchy. We sequenced embryonic transcriptomes from two spider species and two amblypygid species and surveyed three important gene families, Hox, Wnt, and frizzled, across these and 12 existing transcriptomic and genomic resources for chelicerates. We report extensive retention of putative ohnologs, further supporting the ancestral arachnopulmonate WGD. We also found evidence of consistent evolutionary trajectories in Hox and Wnt gene repertoires across three of the six arachnopulmonate orders, with interorder variation in the retention of specific paralogs. We identified variation between major clades in spiders and are better able to reconstruct the chronology of gene duplications and losses in spiders, amblypygids, and scorpions. These insights shed light on the evolution of the developmental toolkit in arachnopulmonates, highlight the importance of the comparative approach within lineages, and provide substantial new transcriptomic data for future study