Windkracht 13 : het potentieel van kleine en middelgrote windturbines in kaart gebracht

In tegenstelling tot fotovoltaïsche systemen van gelijkaardige grootte, maken kleine en middelgrote windturbines in Vlaanderen nog geen deel uit van het vertrouwde energielandschap. Aan de hand van het demo-disseminatieproject Windkracht 13 wil de Universiteit Gent, in samenwerking met Tecnolec en met de steun van het Agentschap Ondernemen, de barrières voor kleine en middelgrote windturbines wegwerken en goede locaties in Vlaanderen in kaart brengen. De knelpunten die kleine en middelgrote windturbines ondervinden, kunnen onderverdeeld worden in vijf afzonderlijke maar toch vaak samenhangende thema’s: juridisch, economisch, ruimtelijk, technisch en sociaal, de zogenaamde JERTS-invalshoeken. Het doel van het Windkracht 13-project is het openbreken van de markt voor kleine en middelgrote windturbines in Vlaanderen, door demo-installaties te plaatsen, te monitoren en de opgedane kennis te verspreiden

Hepatic PPARα function and lipid metabolic pathways are dysregulated in polymicrobial sepsis

Abstract Despite intensive research and constant medical progress, sepsis remains one of the most urgent unmet medical needs of today. Most studies have been focused on the inflammatory component of the disease; however, recent advances support the notion that sepsis is accompanied by extensive metabolic perturbations. During times of limited caloric intake and high energy needs, the liver acts as the central metabolic hub in which PPARα is crucial to coordinate the breakdown of fatty acids. The role of hepatic PPARα in liver dysfunction during sepsis has hardly been explored. We demonstrate that sepsis leads to a starvation response that is hindered by the rapid decline of hepatic PPARα levels, causing excess free fatty acids, leading to lipotoxicity, and glycerol. In addition, treatment of mice with the PPARα agonist pemafibrate protects against bacterial sepsis by improving hepatic PPARα function, reducing lipotoxicity and tissue damage. Since lipolysis is also increased in sepsis patients and pemafibrate protects after the onset of sepsis, these findings may point toward new therapeutic leads in sepsis

Hepatic PPAR alpha function and lipid metabolic pathways are dysregulated in polymicrobial sepsis

Despite intensive research and constant medical progress, sepsis remains one of the most urgent unmet medical needs of today. Most studies have been focused on the inflammatory component of the disease; however, recent advances support the notion that sepsis is accompanied by extensive metabolic perturbations. During times of limited caloric intake and high energy needs, the liver acts as the central metabolic hub in which PPARα is crucial to coordinate the breakdown of fatty acids. The role of hepatic PPARα in liver dysfunction during sepsis has hardly been explored. We demonstrate that sepsis leads to a starvation response that is hindered by the rapid decline of hepatic PPARα levels, causing excess free fatty acids, leading to lipotoxicity, and glycerol. In addition, treatment of mice with the PPARα agonist pemafibrate protects against bacterial sepsis by improving hepatic PPARα function, reducing lipotoxicity and tissue damage. Since lipolysis is also increased in sepsis patients and pemafibrate protects after the onset of sepsis, these findings may point toward new therapeutic leads in sepsis.status: publishe