Synthesis on bioeconomy monitoring systems in the EU Member States - indicators for monitoring the progress of bioeconomy

The urgent need to shift our economy towards a more sustainable, resource-efficient economy based on renewable resources that either makes less use of fossil resources or dispenses with them entirely, the so called bioeconomy, has been recognized all over Europe. As a result, many EU Member States (EU MS) have formulated national and regional bioeconomy strategies, related policies or initiatives. An important tool for the successful implementation of a strategy is the monitoring and evaluation of the success of the measures undertaken to reach the strategy´s goals. The EC review report of the EU Bioeconomy strategy concluded the need for better monitoring and assessment frameworks, “new actions are needed to develop relevant indicators and scientific evidence for policy making, and to implement a more holistic monitoring and assessment framework” (EC 2017). However, up to now, there is no commonly agreed set of indicators to measure the bioeconomy at EU level. Because the main drivers for the transition towards a bioeconomy often strongly vary between EU MS on the country-specific economic and ecological settings, legal framework, and social demands, also the national or regional bioeconomy strategies vary in their goals and measures. Consequently, proxies and indicators used to measure the development of a national bioeconomy or the success of a bioeconomy strategy depend on the national goals, and are therefore often not applicable in any other country. Nevertheless, synchronizing the national bioeconomy monitoring-activities is necessary to ensure comparability of the results of the national monitoring systems. As a first step towards a common European bioeconomy monitoring-activity, it is crucial to get an overview over the numerous scattered ongoing monitoring activities at EU MS level. Therefore, there is the need for an overview study presenting information on existing approaches of monitoring bioeconomy strategies in the EU MS. This report presents an overview of existing bioeconomy strategies, policies or related initiatives and indicators to monitor and assess these at EU MS level, and the importance of existing bioeconomy sectors at national level. Furthermore, it presents the existing or needed most suitable bioeconomy key indicators and related indicators, and their respective data availability, for assessing and monitoring the progress of a bioeconomy at national level. The identified most suitable bioeconomy indicators important and feasible at the national context, can contribute to the further discussions when setting the frame for the development of a common EU bioeconomy monitoring system.201

Risk-sensitive events during laparoscopic cholecystectomy: the influence of the integrated operating room and a preoperative checklist tool

Background - Awareness of the relative high rate of adverse events in laparoscopic surgery created a need to safeguard quality and safety of performance better. Technological innovations, such as integrated operating room (OR) systems and checklists, have the potential to improve patient safety, OR efficiency, and surgical outcomes. This study was designed to investigate the influence of the integrated OR system and Pro/cheQ, a digital checklist tool, on the number and type of equipment- and instrument-related risk-sensitive events (RSE) during laparoscopic cholecystectomies. Methods - Forty-five laparoscopic cholecystectomies were analyzed on the number and type of RSE; 15 procedures were observed in the cart-based OR setting, 15 in an integrated OR setting, and 15 in the integrated OR setting while using Pro/cheQ. Results - In the cart-based OR setting and the integrated OR setting, at least one event occurred in 87% of the procedures, which was reduced to 47% in the integrated OR setting when using Pro/cheQ. During 45 procedures a total of 57 RSE was observed—most were caused by equipment that was not switched on or with the wrong settings. In the integrated OR while using Pro/cheQ the number of RSE was reduced by 65%. Conclusions - Using both an integrated OR and Pro/cheQ has a stronger reducing effect on the number of RSE than using an integrated OR alone. The Pro/cheQ tool supported the optimal workflow in a natural way and raised the general safety awareness amongst all members of the surgical team. For tools such as integrated OR systems and checklists to succeed it is pivotal not to underestimate the value of the implementation process. To further improve safety and quality of surgery, a multifaceted approach should be followed, focusing on the performance and competence of the surgical team as a whole.Industrial DesignIndustrial Design Engineerin

Thomas-Fermi-Poisson theory of screening for latterally confined and unconfined two-dimensional electron systems in strong magnetic fields

We examine within the self-consistent Thomas-Fermi-Poisson approach the low-temperature screening properties of a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) subjected to strong perpendicular magnetic fields. Numerical results for the unconfined 2DEG are compared with those for a simplified Hall bar geometry realized by two different confinement models. It is shown that in the strongly non-linear screening limit of zero temperature the total variation of the screened potential is related by simple analytical expressions to the amplitude of an applied harmonic modulation potential and to the strength of the magnetic field.Comment: 12 pages, 12 figure

Finland’s forests 2018

Luken kirjat, raportit, oppaat ja esitteet201

Патогенетические механизмы повреждений бета-клеток панкреатических островков при диабете и влияние прерывистой гипоксии

У щурів з експериментальним цукровим діабетом та впливом на них переривчастої гіпоксії вивчені особливості синтезу інсуліну, цитоархітектоніки бета-клітин та експресія маркерів апоптозу та проліферації. Кількість бета-клітин підвищується, концентрація інсуліну залишається в межах інтактного показника. Значною мірою підвищується вироблення антиапоптотичного білку Bcl2. Гіпокситерапія призводить до суттєвого підвищення проліферативної активності ендокриноцитів панкреатичних острівців.At rats with an experimental diabetes and influence on intermittent hypoxia, features of synthesis of insulin, cells-architectonics beta-cells and an expression of markers apoptotic and proliferative are studied. Amount beta-cells increase, and concentration of insulin remains border of a control indicator. The production of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl2 increase to a considerable extent. Intermittent hypoxia significantly increase the proliferative activity endokrinotsitis pancreatic islets

The relation between the degree of synaesthesia, autistic traits, and local/global visual perception

In individuals with synaesthesia specific sensory stimulation leads to unusual concurrent perceptions in the same or a different modality. Recent studies have demonstrated a high co-occurrence between synaesthesia and autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a condition also characterized by altered perception. A potentially shared characteristic of synaesthesia and ASD is a bias towards local (detail-focussed) perception. We investigated whether a bias towards local perception is indeed shared between synaesthesia and ASD. In a neurotypical population, we studied the relation between the degree of autistic traits (measured by the AQ) and the degree of grapheme-colour synaesthesia (measured by a consistency task), as well as whether both are related to a local bias in tasks assessing local/global visual perception. A positive correlation between total AQ scores and the degree of synaesthesia was found. Our study extends previous studies that found a high ASD-synaesthesia co-occurrence in clinical populations. Consistent with the hypothesized local perceptual bias in ASD, scores on the AQ-attention to detail subscale were related to increased performance on an Embedded Figures Task (EFT), and we found evidence for a relation to reduced susceptibility to visual illusions. We found no relation between autistic traits and local visual perception in a motion coherence task (MCT). Also, no relation between synaesthesia and local visual perception was found, although a reduced susceptibility to visual illusions resembled the results obtained for AQ-atttention to detail subscale. A suggested explanation for the absence of a relationship between the degree of synaesthesia and a local bias is that a possible local bias might be more pronounced in supra-threshold synaesthetes (compared to neurotypicals)

Structural stability and energetics of single-walled carbon nanotubes under uniaxial strain

A (10x10) single-walled carbon nanotube consisting of 400 atoms with 20 layers is simulated under tensile loading using our developed O(N) parallel tight-binding molecular-dynamics algorithms. It is observed that the simulated carbon nanotube is able to carry the strain up to 122% of the relaxed tube length in elongation and up to 93% for compression. Young s modulus, tensile strength, and the Poisson ratio are calculated and the values found are 0.311 TPa, 4.92 GPa, and 0.287, respectively. The stress-strain curve is obtained. The elastic limit is observed at a strain rate of 0.09 while the breaking point is at 0.23. The frequency of vibration for the pristine (10x10) carbon nanotube in the radial direction is 4.71x10^3 GHz and it is sensitive to the strain rate.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure