Why climate change adaptation in cities needs customised and flexible climate services

AbstractCities are key players in climate change adaptation and mitigation due to a spatial concentration of assets, people and economic activities. They are thus contributing to and especially vulnerable to climate change. Identifying, planning, implementing and monitoring respective measures in cities is challenging and resource consuming. The paper outlines challenges for adaptation, discusses most common approaches and argues why implementation of theoretical methods has its shortcomings. Based on case studies, an innovative, practice-oriented approach has been tested to develop a climate service prototype product. It provides a general framework that allows a flexible and customised support for cities to adapt to expected impacts of a changing climate

The Current Use and Limitations of Water Related Digital Twins – a Practical View on Urban Climate Change Adaptation

Currently urban areas have to face many challenges. Overall, urbanization, demographic change, digitalization and climate change are main drivers that may directly or indirectly have an impact on the lifestyle and well-being of city dwellers. All drivers are interconnected and together with other sector-relevant drivers they form a complex network, that is often difficult to understand at first glance, and has many points of friction between different interests. For example, a growing urban population needs more space for housing areas which increases sealed surfaces and reduces natural groundwater recharge. Due to climate change, temperatures are rising (especially over sealed surfaces), also leading to an increasing water demand and rising evaporation rates. Both factors, besides others, influence the natural water cycle. In addition, in many places summer becomes drier, while more precipitation falls in winter times. The number and intensity of heavy rainfall events increases and dry periods are becoming longer. On the supply side, higher demand peaks in summer already pose greater challenges to water suppliers. Heavy rainfall can for example flood facility sites, parts of the critical infrastructure or cause power outages, which can lead to systemic interuptions. In recent years, also a trend towards “smart cities” can be seen to improve the the quality of life for residents. The idea of the progressing digitalization is to transfer parts of the real word into virtual representatives. Some are referred to as digital twins. However, these digital twins differ in their technical structure, complexity, and target for which they were developed. For years, many city administrations partly already use hydrological or urban climatological models as one form of simplified digital twins. Against this background, the paper presents and discusses the practical use, main results and lessons learned from case studies using two different hydrological models as digital twins in two German cities. Overall, the experiences from these case studies show that also the use of simplified digital models of a city – or parts of a city – without the need for big-data and monitoring information can be good planning tools to assess plausible results regarding possible future impacts based on climate change on a small scale. However, hydrological models currently are focussing on one or two challenges, only. But, due to the complexity of natural systems with a high number of connected processes, the whole story with interacting multiple drivers is not included totally. Depending on the modelling approach used, it is therefore possible to obtain different results with different models. Therefore, a better combination of several of such digital twins or the development of more powerful tools will be necessary, for example to transform an urban area towards being climate resilient and sustainable

Awareness about the Relevance of Cascading Effects in Urban Critical Infrastructure Networks under Climate Change – a Participatory Impact Matrix Approach

Addressing climate change adaptation in urban areas is increasingly urgent. To achieve sustainable and climate-adapted fields of action requires fundamental transformations of supply chains and infrastructures such as transport and mobility, electricity and water supply, or telecommunication as well as an improved understanding of their interactions. Practical experiences show, that in general there is an increasing awareness about this, but for example emergency plans or crisis communication often falls short regarding the indirect impacts of climate change on potential infrastructural failures. Hence, there is also a growing need for applied research and systemic approaches to overcome the current prevailing isolated sectoral view of climate change impacts to gain a holistic understanding of the critical infrastructure networks. Against this background, the paper highlights the relevance of climate change impacts on critical infrastructures, infrastructure interdependencies and potential systemic cascading effects. The analysis uses a participatory approach that has been applied within a case-study for the metropolitan area of Hamburg, Germany. It is based on transdisciplinary research methods, connecting the realms of scientific knowledge about regional climate change with real-world experiences. A strong focus lies on the use of a specific impact matrix approach carried out with key stakeholders from different sectors to identify climate-related drivers causing the most severe failures and losses in the system – either directly in the same sector or indirectly due to breakdowns in other sectors. In sum, the case-study enables a first categorization of the role single key variables play in the infrastructure system. Furthermore, it introduces the topic of adaptation to climate change as a starting point for a better understanding and management of systemic risks in order to build and maintain resilient critical infrastructures and to make urban areas safe, resilient and sustainable

Generation, Annotation, Evolutionary Analysis, and Database Integration of 20,000 Unique Sea Urchin EST Clusters

Together with the hemichordates, sea urchins represent basal groups of nonchordate invertebrate deuterostomes that occupy a key position in bilaterian evolution. Because sea urchin embryos are also amenable to functional studies, the sea urchin system has emerged as one of the leading models for the analysis of the function of genomic regulatory networks that control development. We have analyzed a total of 107,283 cDNA clones of libraries that span the development of the sea urchin Strongylocentrotus purpuratus. Normalization by oligonucleotide fingerprinting, EST sequencing and sequence clustering resulted in an EST catalog comprised of 20,000 unique genes or gene fragments. Around 7000 of the unique EST consensus sequences were associated with molecular and developmental functions. Phylogenetic comparison of the identified genes to the genome of the urochordate Ciona intestinalis indicate that at least one quarter of the genes thought to be chordate specific were already present at the base of deuterostome evolution. Comparison of the number of gene copies in sea urchins to those in chordates and vertebrates indicates that the sea urchin genome has not undergone extensive gene or complete genome duplications. The established unique gene set represents an essential tool for the annotation and assembly of the forthcoming sea urchin genome sequence. All cDNA clones and filters of all analyzed libraries are available from the resource center of the German genome project at http://www.rzpd.de

Impaired Insulin/IGF1 Signaling Extends Life Span by Promoting Mitochondrial L-Proline Catabolism to Induce a Transient ROS Signal

SummaryImpaired insulin and IGF-1 signaling (iIIS) in C. elegans daf-2 mutants extends life span more than 2-fold. Constitutively, iIIS increases mitochondrial activity and reduces reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels. By contrast, acute impairment of daf-2 in adult C. elegans reduces glucose uptake and transiently increases ROS. Consistent with the concept of mitohormesis, this ROS signal causes an adaptive response by inducing ROS defense enzymes (SOD, catalase), culminating in ultimately reduced ROS levels despite increased mitochondrial activity. Inhibition of this ROS signal by antioxidants reduces iIIS-mediated longevity by up to 60%. Induction of the ROS signal requires AAK-2 (AMPK), while PMK-1 (p38) and SKN-1 (NRF-2) are needed for the retrograde response. IIIS upregulates mitochondrial L-proline catabolism, and impairment of the latter impairs the life span-extending capacity of iIIS while L-proline supplementation extends C. elegans life span. Taken together, iIIS promotes L-proline metabolism to generate a ROS signal for the adaptive induction of endogenous stress defense to extend life span

Longitudinal RNA-Seq Analysis of Vertebrate Aging Identifies Mitochondrial Complex I as a Small-Molecule-Sensitive Modifier of Lifespan.

Mutations and genetic variability affect gene expression and lifespan, but the impact of variations in gene expression within individuals on their aging-related mortality is poorly understood. We performed a longitudinal study in the short-lived killifish, Nothobranchius furzeri, and correlated quantitative variations in gene expression during early adult life with lifespan. Shorter- and longer-lived individuals differ in their gene expression before the onset of aging-related mortality; differences in gene expression are more pronounced early in life. We identified mitochondrial respiratory chain complex I as a hub in a module of genes whose expression is negatively correlated with lifespan. Accordingly, partial pharmacological inhibition of complex I by the small molecule rotenone reversed aging-related regulation of gene expression and extended lifespan in N. furzeri by 15%. These results support the use of N. furzeri as a vertebrate model for identifying the protein targets, pharmacological modulators, and individual-to-individual variability associated with aging.We thank Sabine Matz, Christin Hahn, Ivonne Heinze, and Ivonne Goerlich for technical assistance and Giorgio Bianchini for drawing. This work was partially supported by the German Ministry for Education and Research (JenAge; BMBF, support codes: 0315581A and 0315581C) and by intramural grant of Scuola Normale Superiore.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2016.01.01

Characterization of AGN and their hosts in the Extended Groth Strip: a multiwavelength analysis

We have employed a reliable technique of classification of Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) based on the fit of well-sampled spectral energy distributions (SEDs) with a complete set of AGN and starburst galaxy templates. We have compiled ultraviolet, optical, and infrared data for a sample of 116 AGN originally selected for their X-ray and mid-infrared emissions (96 with single detections and 20 with double optical counterparts). This is the most complete compilation of multiwavelength data for such a big sample of AGN in the Extended Groth Strip (EGS). Through these SEDs, we are able to obtain highly reliable photometric redshifts and to distinguish between pure and host-dominated AGN. For the objects with unique detection we find that they can be separated into five main groups, namely: Starburst-dominated AGN (24 % of the sample), Starburst-contaminated AGN (7 %), Type-1 AGN (21 %), Type-2 AGN (24 %), and Normal galaxy hosting AGN (24 %). We find these groups concentrated at different redshifts: Type-2 AGN and Normal galaxy hosting AGN are concentrated at low redshifts, whereas Starburst-dominated AGN and Type-1 AGN show a larger span. Correlations between hard/soft X-ray and ultraviolet, optical and infrared luminosities, respectively, are reported for the first time for such a sample of AGN spanning a wide range of redshifts. For the 20 objects with double detection the percentage of Starburst-dominated AGN increases up to 48%.Comment: 38 pages, 8 figures, 5 tables. Accepted by A

Comparative and functional genomics provide insights into the pathogenicity of dermatophytic fungi

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Millions of humans and animals suffer from superficial infections caused by a group of highly specialized filamentous fungi, the dermatophytes, which exclusively infect keratinized host structures. To provide broad insights into the molecular basis of the pathogenicity-associated traits, we report the first genome sequences of two closely phylogenetically related dermatophytes, Arthroderma benhamiae and Trichophyton verrucosum, both of which induce highly inflammatory infections in humans. RESULTS: 97% of the 22.5 megabase genome sequences of A. benhamiae and T. verrucosum are unambiguously alignable and collinear. To unravel dermatophyte-specific virulence-associated traits, we compared sets of potentially pathogenicity-associated proteins, such as secreted proteases and enzymes involved in secondary metabolite production, with those of closely related onygenales (Coccidioides species) and the mould Aspergillus fumigatus. The comparisons revealed expansion of several gene families in dermatophytes and disclosed the peculiarities of the dermatophyte secondary metabolite gene sets. Secretion of proteases and other hydrolytic enzymes by A. benhamiae was proven experimentally by a global secretome analysis during keratin degradation. Molecular insights into the interaction of A. benhamiae with human keratinocytes were obtained for the first time by global transcriptome profiling. Given that A. benhamiae is able to undergo mating, a detailed comparison of the genomes further unraveled the genetic basis of sexual reproduction in this species. CONCLUSIONS: Our results enlighten the genetic basis of fundamental and putatively virulence-related traits of dermatophytes, advancing future research on these medically important pathogens

Inhibition, Reinforcement Sensitivity and Temporal Information Processing in ADHD and ADHD+ODD: Evidence of a Separate Entity?

This study compared children with ADHD-only, ADHD+ODD and normal controls (age 8–12) on three key neurocognitive functions: response inhibition, reinforcement sensitivity, and temporal information processing. The goal was twofold: (a) to investigate neurocognitive impairments in children with ADHD-only and children with ADHD+ODD, and (b) to test whether ADHD+ODD is a more severe from of ADHD in terms of neurocognitive performance. In Experiment 1, inhibition abilities were measured using the Stop Task. In Experiment 2, reinforcement sensitivity and temporal information processing abilities were measured using a Timing Task with both a reward and penalty condition. Compared to controls, children with ADHD-only demonstrated impaired inhibitory control, showed more time underestimations, and showed performance deterioration in the face of reward and penalty. Children with ADHD+ODD performed in-between children with ADHD-only and controls in terms of inhibitory controls and the tendency to underestimate time, but were more impaired than controls and children with ADHD-only in terms of timing variability. In the face of reward and penalty children with ADHD+ODD improved their performance compared to a neutral condition, in contrast to children with ADHD-only. In the face of reward, the performance improvement in the ADHD+ODD group was disproportionally larger than that of controls. Taken together the findings suggest that, in terms of neurocognitive functioning, comorbid ADHD+ODD is a substantial different entity than ADHD-only

Conserved genes and pathways in primary human fibroblast strains undergoing replicative and radiation induced senescence

Additional file 3: Figure S3. Regulation of genes of Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy pathway during senescence induction in HFF strains Genes of the “Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy” pathway which are significantly up- (green) and down- (red) regulated (log2 fold change >1) during irradiation induced senescence (120 h after 20 Gy irradiation) in HFF strains. Orange color signifies genes which are commonly up-regulated during both, irradiation induced and replicative senescence