3,435 research outputs found

    JRC Wind Energy Status Report - 2016 Edition

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    This report presents the status and development of main market, technology and regulatory issues of onshore and offshore wind energy. Global installed capacity reaches a new record year after year. This intense growth is enabled by the strong and fast technological development of wind energy and new solutions and innovations that continuously emerge aiming to reduce the energy cost. As technology is becoming more competitive, policy support in EU Member States keeps adapting.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

    Wind Energy: Technology Market Report

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    This Wind Energy: Technology Market Report 2018 presents an assessment of the state of the art, development trends, targets and needs, technological barriers, as well as techno-economic projections until 2050. Particular attention is paid to how EC funded projects contributed to technology advancements. It includes an overview of Member States' activities based on information from the relevant SET Plan Temporary Working Groups as well as the objectives and main outcomes of the most relevant international programmes.JRC.C.2-Energy Efficiency and Renewable

    Supply chain of renewable energy technologies in Europe: An analysis for wind, geothermal and ocean energy

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    This report aims at providing an overview of the supply chain of a number of renewable energy technologies. The report currently addresses the following technologies in detail: wind energy, geothermal energy and ocean energy but might be expanded at a later stage. In particular, the report focuses on the current market for renewable energy technologies and components and the position of EU companies and organisations as well as the EU's strengths and weaknesses. The main EU companies and competitors from outside the EU for each part of the supply chain or market segment are also presented.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

    Monitoring scientific collaboration trends in wind energy components

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    This report presents a bibliometric analysis of scientific articles issued on blades and on offshore wind support structures. It uses the JRC-developed TIM software for data analysis and visualisation, drawing on text mining and network analysis to count publication activity levels and identify collaboration patterns between entities. Our bibliometric searches detected increasing densification in the co-publication networks mapped by TIM for blades and on offshore support structures. This indicated that scientific publication activity could be intensifying, and this was confirmed by experts and by literature on wind energy. Both provided evidence of growth in these two research fields, and of intensified collaboration among partners – following the wind-energy industry orientation towards larger blade designs and innovative offshore support structures. The recent EC Communication on a renewed European Agenda for Research and Innovation points out that Europe is relatively strong in adding or sustaining value for existing products, services and processes, known as incremental innovation. But Europe needs to do better at generating disruptive and breakthrough innovations. Thus, the agenda encourages cooperation between research teams across countries and disciplines, supporting them to make breakthrough discoveries. Also countries outside the EU have put policies in place (e.g. China's 12th Five Year Plan) explicitly focussing on technology innovation in the sector of onshore and offshore wind. Within this context, this analysis uses the JRC's Tools for Innovation Monitoring (TIM) software developed by the JRC to retrieve bibliometric data on blades (a component more benefitting from incremental innovations) and offshore wind support structures (a relatively new research field in which disruptive innovations like floating power plants might become breakthrough innovations) to - measure the publication and collaboration activity, - identify leading organisations and new entrants, - identify the main areas of publications of the leading players and - identify the leading countries and country collaboration patterns. The bibliometric results obtained are then contrasted with data for research funding on wind energy from the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme, to analyse the thematic focus of publication and funding activity. Results are also complemented with recent information from the wind industry and research news on the latest developments in the investigated areas. Thus, this study can support policies aiming for prioritisation and alignment of European research efforts within the wind energy topic.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

    Prevalence and molecular identification of Chlamydia abortus in commercial dairy goat farms in a hot region in Mexico

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    The aim of this study was to determine the seroprevalence and presence of Chlamydia abortus in Saanen breed female goats from commercial dairy goat farms under intensive production in the municipality of Guanajuato, Mexico. Sera were collected to determine the prevalence of anti-C. abortus IgG antibodies using recombinant enzymelinked immunosorbent assay (rELISA) and cell culture. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to prove the presence of the pathogen in swab samples collected from the vagina and rectum of selected animals. Additionally, foetal tissue samples from a sudden abortion were collected. C. abortus prevalence in female goats of commercial milking farms sampled in Guanajuato, Mexico, was 4.87 % (n=246). Seropositive animals were found in six out of nine (66.6 %) dairy goat farms sampled, and prevalence among animals in individual farms ranged between 3.44 and 13.51 %. C. abortus was detected using PCR in spleen tissue from the aborted foetus. PCR-based detection, as well as isolation from vaginal and rectal swabs, was not possible in the present study. Isolation through cell culture was also unsuccessful from aborted foetal tissue samples. In conclusion, the results from rELISA and PCR show that C. abortus is present in dairy goat farms in the state of Guanajuato, Mexico

    Sox-2 Positive Neural Progenitors in the Primate Striatum Undergo Dynamic Changes after Dopamine Denervation.

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    The existence of endogenous neural progenitors in the nigrostriatal system could represent a powerful tool for restorative therapies in Parkinson's disease. Sox-2 is a transcription factor expressed in pluripotent and adult stem cells, including neural progenitors. In the adult brain Sox-2 is expressed in the neurogenic niches. There is also widespread expression of Sox-2 in other brain regions, although the neurogenic potential outside the niches is uncertain. Here, we analyzed the presence of Sox-2+ cells in the adult primate (Macaca fascicularis) brain in naïve animals (N = 3) and in animals exposed to systemic administration of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6 tetrahydropyridine to render them parkinsonian (N = 8). Animals received bromodeoxyuridine (100 mg/kg once a day during five consecutive days) to label proliferating cells and their progeny. Using confocal and electron microscopy we analyzed the Sox-2+ cell population in the nigrostriatal system and investigated changes in the number, proliferation and neurogenic potential of Sox-2+ cells, in control conditions and at two time points after MPTP administration. We found Sox-2+ cells with self-renewal capacity in both the striatum and the substantia nigra. Importantly, only in the striatum Sox-2+ was expressed in some calretinin+ neurons. MPTP administration led to an increase in the proliferation of striatal Sox-2+ cells and to an acute, concomitant decrease in the percentage of Sox-2+/calretinin+ neurons, which recovered by 18 months. Given their potential capacity to differentiate into neurons and their responsiveness to dopamine neurotoxic insults, striatal Sox-2+ cells represent good candidates to harness endogenous repair mechanisms for regenerative approaches in Parkinson's disease

    Clean energy technologies in coal regions

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    This report presents a concise overview of the role that clean energy technologies can play for the identified regions in the path to their transition from coal mining activity under a low carbon energy consumption and production lence. The focus is on power generation technologies from wind, solar photovoltaics (free standing and roof-top), bioenergy, geothermal sources, as well as on coal-fired power plants with carbon capture. We also address energy demand technologies and specifically assess the potential for energy efficiency refurbishments in buildings. Energy storage is dealt with presenting activities relevant to batteries, to give an insight on planned or ongoing activities within coal regions. The report summarises the main findings across regions, complemented by one detailed fact sheet per region. Estimates on the renewable energy and clean energy technology potential in each region are presented. We also assess the potential of technologies in terms of investments needs and the impact this could have on job creation and regional economic development. Renewable and clean energy technology options can be an alternative to the continuation of the current model for economic development, power generation and job creation in each region, in line with EU’s climate and energy targets.JRC.C.7-Knowledge for the Energy Unio

    Infection and coinfection by human papillomavirus, Epstein–Barr virus and Merkel cell polyomavirus in patients with squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx: a retrospective study

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    Background Human papillomavirus (HPV) is recognized as an important risk factor for laryngeal carcinogenesis. Although HPV-16 and 18 have been strongly implicated, the presence of other high-risk HPV (HR-HPV) genotypes or the coinfection with Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) or Merkel cell polyomavirus (MCPV) may increase the risk, but their etiological association has not been definitively established. Methods We characterized the genotype-specific HPV and the frequency of EBV and MCPV infections through the detection of their DNA in 195 laryngeal specimens of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) histologically confirmed. Results HPV DNA was detected in 93 (47.7%) specimens. HPV-11 was the most frequent with 68 cases (73.1%), and HPV-52 was the most frequently HR-HPV found with 51 cases, which corresponds to 54.8% of all HPV-positive specimens. EBV DNA was detected in 54 (27.7%) tumor tissue specimens of which 25 (46.3%) were in coinfection with HPV. MCPV DNA was detected only in 11 (5.6%) cases of which 5 (45.4%) were in coinfection with an HR-HPV. No association between the presence of DNA of the three examined viruses and the patient smoking habits, alcohol consumption, age, the keratinization status, differentiation grade, or localization of the tumor in the larynx were found. Discussion HPV-52 was the most prevalent HR-HPV, which may suggest that this and other genotypes in addition to HPV-16 and 18 could be considered for prophylaxis. However, further studies including non-cancer larynx cases and the evaluation of other molecular markers and viral co-infection mechanisms are needed to determine the role of the different HR-HPV genotypes, EBV, and MCPV in the etiology of SCC of the larynx

    The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

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    The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected
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