The UK market for energy service contracts in 2014–2015

This paper provides an overview of the UK market for energy service contracts in 2014 and highlights the growing role of intermediaries. Using information from secondary literature and interviews, it identifies the businesses offering energy service contracts, the sectors and organisations that are purchasing those contracts, the types of contract that are available, the areas of market growth and the reasons for that growth. The paper finds that the UK market is relatively large, highly diverse, concentrated in particular sectors and types of site and overwhelmingly focused upon established technologies with high rates of return. A major driver is the emergence of procurement frameworks for energy service contracts in the public sector. These act as intermediaries between clients and contractors, thereby lowering transaction costs and facilitating learning. The market is struggling to become established in commercial offices, largely as a result of split incentives, and is unlikely to develop further in this sector without different business models, tenancy arrangements and policy initiatives. Overall, the paper concludes that energy service contracts can play an important role in the transition to a low-carbon economy, especially when supported by intermediaries, but their potential is still limited by high transaction costs

Evidence for D1 Dopamine Receptor Activation by a Paracrine Signal of Dopamine in Tick Salivary Glands

Ticks that feed on vertebrate hosts use their salivary secretion, which contains various bioactive components, to manipulate the host's responses. The mechanisms controlling the tick salivary gland in this dynamic process are not well understood. We identified the tick D1 receptor activated by dopamine, a potent inducer of the salivary secretion of ticks. Temporal and spatial expression patterns examined by immunohistochemistry and reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction suggest that the dopamine produced in the basal cells of salivary gland acini is secreted into the lumen and activates the D1 receptors on the luminal surface of the cells lining the acini. Therefore, we propose a paracrine function of dopamine that is mediated by the D1 receptor in the salivary gland at an early phase of feeding. The molecular and pharmacological characterization of the D1 receptor in this study provides the foundation for understanding the functions of dopamine in the blood-feeding of ticks

Mechanism of Crosstalk between the LSD1 Demethylase and HDAC1 Deacetylase in the CoREST Complex.

The transcriptional corepressor complex CoREST is one of seven histone deacetylase complexes that regulate the genome through controlling chromatin acetylation. The CoREST complex is unique in containing both histone demethylase and deacetylase enzymes, LSD1 and HDAC1, held together by the RCOR1 scaffold protein. To date, it has been assumed that the enzymes function independently within the complex. Now, we report the assembly of the ternary complex. Using both structural and functional studies, we show that the activity of the two enzymes is closely coupled and that the complex can exist in at least two distinct states with different kinetics. Electron microscopy of the complex reveals a bi-lobed structure with LSD1 and HDAC1 enzymes at opposite ends of the complex. The structure of CoREST in complex with a nucleosome reveals a mode of chromatin engagement that contrasts with previous models

A Case Study of the Effects of CO2-Induced Climatic Warming on Forest Growth and the Forest Sector : A. Productivity Reactions of Northern Boreal Forests.

The purpose of this section is to evaluate the effects of changes in climate under the GISS 2 × CO2 scenario (considered in Section 3) on the productivity of boreal forests. Some of the results reported here will be used as inputs to a further set of experiments concerned with the effect of productivity changes on forestry as an economic activity (see Section 6). Together Sections 5 and 6 provide a case study (at a hemispheric scale) of the advantages and limitations of linking biophysical and economic models in attempts to assess the effects of climatic change

Sea level: measuring the bounding surfaces of the ocean

The practical need to understand sea level along the coasts, such as for safe navigation given the spatially variable tides, has resulted in tide gauge observations having the distinction of being some of the longest instrumental ocean records. Archives of these records, along with geological constraints, have allowed us to identify the century-scale rise in global sea level. Additional data sources, particularly satellite altimetry missions, have helped us to better identify the rates and causes of sea level rise and the mechanisms leading to spatial variability in the observed rates. Analysis of all of the data reveals the need for long-term and stable observation systems to assess accurately the regional changes as well as to improve our ability to estimate future changes in sea level. While information from many scientific disciplines is needed to understand sea level change, this paper focuses on contributions from geodesy and the role of the ocean’s bounding surfaces: the sea surface and the Earth’s crust

Reduced Lung Function in a Chronic Asthma Model Is Associated with Prolonged Inflammation, but Independent of Peribronchial Fibrosis

In asthma, mechanisms contributing to chronicity remain to be determined. Recent models of sensitisation with prolonged airway allergen challenges reproduce typical features of chronic asthma. However, the interplay between inflammation, structural changes and lung function is poorly understood. This study was performed to delineate functional, structural and immunological airway changes after cessation of long term challenges to elucidate factors contributing to the development of prolonged lung function changes.Mice sensitised systemically were consecutively challenged intranasally with ovalbumin for two or eight weeks. After the end of challenges, lung function, airway inflammation, features of airway remodelling, local T-cell cytokines and systemic ovalbumin-specific antibodies were monitored. Long term challenges resulted in airway hyperresponsiveness lasting 2 weeks and reduced baseline lung function for 6 weeks after their cessation. In contrast, these changes resolved within one week after short term challenges. Prolonged transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta)1 production and marked peribronchial fibrosis were only induced by long term challenges. Importantly, fibrosis became apparent only after the onset of lung function changes and outlasted them. Further, long term challenges led to prolonged and intense airway inflammation with marked lymphocytosis, but moderate eosinophilia, sustained IL-5 production and ovalbumin-specific IgG2a antibodies, the latter suggesting a Th1 component to the immune response. In contrast, following short term challenges airway inflammation was dominated by eosinophils and associated with a strong, but transient IL-13 response.Prolonged lung function changes after long term allergen challenges seem to develop and resolve independently of the persistent peribronchial fibrosis. They are more closely associated with intense airway inflammation, marked lymphocytosis, prolonged IL-5 and TGF-beta1 production in the airways and a Th1 immune response

Risk of infections transmitted by arthropods and rodents in forestry workers.

One hundred and fifty-one forestry workers and 151 matched office clerks were compared as to the presence of antibodies against Borelia burgdorferi, tick-borne encephalitis virus, Puumalavirus and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus. Their occupational risks of being infected by Borrelia was fourfold and significant, by Puumalavirus and lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus was increased but not significant. No seropositivity has been established against tick-borne encephalitis virus

Assessment of diffuse Lewy body disease by 2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose positron emission tomography (FDG PET)

BACKGROUND: Lewy body disease is, after Alzheimer's disease, the second most common cause of senile degenerative dementia with progressive cognitive deterioration, fluctuation of cognitive and motoric functions and psychotic symptoms. It is characterized histologically by the occurrence of Lewy bodies in allocortical, neocortical and subcortical structures. The aim of this study was to measure the cortical glucose metabolism using FDG PET (2-[18F]fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose position emission tomography) compared to normal subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Five patients (5 m, mean age 75 y) with clinically suspected diffuse Lewy body disease (DLB) were studied with FDG PET. PET studies of the head were performed with a Siemens ECAT-ART PET-scanner with attenuation correction using 137-Cs point sources. RESULTS: We found the same distribution pattern of diffuse glucose hypometabolism in the entire cortical region with relative sparing of the primary sensory-motor cortex in all the patients. The few cases reported in the literature so far describe findings similar to ours. CONCLUSION: The pattern of diffuse glucose hypometabolism in the entire cortex including the occipital region seems to be a typical feature of DLB that is distinctive from dementia of Alzheimer's disease

Combustion in thermonuclear supernova explosions

Type Ia supernovae are associated with thermonuclear explosions of white dwarf stars. Combustion processes convert material in nuclear reactions and release the energy required to explode the stars. At the same time, they produce the radioactive species that power radiation and give rise to the formation of the observables. Therefore, the physical mechanism of the combustion processes, as reviewed here, is the key to understand these astrophysical events. Theory establishes two distinct modes of propagation for combustion fronts: subsonic deflagrations and supersonic detonations. Both are assumed to play an important role in thermonuclear supernovae. The physical nature and theoretical models of deflagrations and detonations are discussed together with numerical implementations. A particular challenge arises due to the wide range of spatial scales involved in these phenomena. Neither the combustion waves nor their interaction with fluid flow and instabilities can be directly resolved in simulations. Substantial modeling effort is required to consistently capture such effects and the corresponding techniques are discussed in detail. They form the basis of modern multidimensional hydrodynamical simulations of thermonuclear supernova explosions. The problem of deflagration-to-detonation transitions in thermonuclear supernova explosions is briefly mentioned.Comment: Author version of chapter for 'Handbook of Supernovae,' edited by A. Alsabti and P. Murdin, Springer. 24 pages, 4 figure

Quantifying vertical mixing in estuaries

© 2008 The Authors. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial License. The definitive version was published in Environmental Fluid Mechanics 8 (2008): 495-509, doi:10.1007/s10652-008-9107-2.Estuarine turbulence is notable in that both the dissipation rate and the buoyancy frequency extend to much higher values than in other natural environments. The high dissipation rates lead to a distinct inertial subrange in the velocity and scalar spectra, which can be exploited for quantifying the turbulence quantities. However, high buoyancy frequencies lead to small Ozmidov scales, which require high sampling rates and small spatial aperture to resolve the turbulent fluxes. A set of observations in a highly stratified estuary demonstrate the effectiveness of a vessel-mounted turbulence array for resolving turbulent processes, and for relating the turbulence to the forcing by the Reynolds-averaged flow. The observations focus on the ebb, when most of the buoyancy flux occurs. Three stages of mixing are observed: (1) intermittent and localized but intense shear instability during the early ebb; (2) continuous and relatively homogeneous shear-induced mixing during the mid-ebb, and weakly stratified, boundary-layer mixing during the late ebb. The mixing efficiency as quantified by the flux Richardson number Rf was frequently observed to be higher than the canonical value of 0.15 from Osborn (J Phys Oceanogr 10:83–89, 1980). The high efficiency may be linked to the temporal–spatial evolution of shear instabilities.The funding for this research was obtained from ONR Grant N00014-06-1-0292 and NSF Grant OCE-0729547