Energy end-use technologies for the 21st century

The World Energy Council’s recent study examined the potential of energy end-use technologies and of research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) into these technologies on a global scale. Surprises are likely, but nevertheless, current research and development offer a picture of what might happen in the future as new technologies face the competition of the marketplace. Given the breadth of energy end-use technologies and the differences between regions and economic conditions, the study focused on technologies that appear most important from today’s vantage point. Globally, robust research and development followed by demonstrations of new end-use technologies can potentially save at least 110 EJ/year by 2020 and over 300 EJ/year by 2050. If achieved, this translates to worldwide energy savings of as much as 25% by 2020 and over 40% by 2050, over what may be required without these technologies. It is almost certain that no single technology, or even a small set of technologies, will dominate in meeting the needs of the globe in any foreseeable timeframe. Absent a significant joint government–industry effort on end-use technology RD&D, the technologies needed will not be ready for the marketplace in the timeframes required with even the most pessimistic scenarios. Based on previous detailed analyses for the United States, an international expenditure of $4 billion per year seems more than justified. The success of new energy end-use technologies depends on new RD&D investments and policy decisions made today. Governments, in close cooperation with industry, must carefully consider RD&D incentives that can help get technologies from the laboratory or test-bed to market. Any short-term impact areas are likely to benefit from focused RD&D. These include electricity transmission and distribution, distributed electricity production, transportation, the production of paper and pulp, iron and steel, aluminum, cement and chemicals, and information and communication technologies. For long-term impact, significant areas include fuel cells, hydrogen fuel, and integrated multi-task energy systems

Product Service System Innovation in the Smart City

Product service systems (PSS) may usefully form part of the mix of innovations necessary to move society toward more sustainable futures. However, despite such potential, PSS implementation is highly uneven and limited. Drawing on an alternate socio-technical perspective of innovation, this paper provides fresh insights, on among other things the role of context in PSS innovation, to address this issue. Case study research is presented focusing on a use orientated PSS in an urban environment: the Copenhagen city bike scheme. The paper shows that PSS innovation is a situated complex process, shaped by actors and knowledge from other locales. It argues that further research is needed to investigate how actors interests shape PSS innovation. It recommends that institutional spaces should be provided in governance landscapes associated with urban environments to enable legitimate PSS concepts to co-evolve in light of locally articulated sustainability principles and priorities

Structuring visual exploratory analysis of skill demand

The analysis of increasingly large and diverse data for meaningful interpretation and question answering is handicapped by human cognitive limitations. Consequently, semi-automatic abstraction of complex data within structured information spaces becomes increasingly important, if its knowledge content is to support intuitive, exploratory discovery. Exploration of skill demand is an area where regularly updated, multi-dimensional data may be exploited to assess capability within the workforce to manage the demands of the modern, technology- and data-driven economy. The knowledge derived may be employed by skilled practitioners in defining career pathways, to identify where, when and how to update their skillsets in line with advancing technology and changing work demands. This same knowledge may also be used to identify the combination of skills essential in recruiting for new roles. To address the challenges inherent in exploring the complex, heterogeneous, dynamic data that feeds into such applications, we investigate the use of an ontology to guide structuring of the information space, to allow individuals and institutions to interactively explore and interpret the dynamic skill demand landscape for their specific needs. As a test case we consider the relatively new and highly dynamic field of Data Science, where insightful, exploratory data analysis and knowledge discovery are critical. We employ context-driven and task-centred scenarios to explore our research questions and guide iterative design, development and formative evaluation of our ontology-driven, visual exploratory discovery and analysis approach, to measure where it adds value to users’ analytical activity. Our findings reinforce the potential in our approach, and point us to future paths to build on

Circulating Tumor DNA Monitoring Reveals Molecular Progression before Radiologic Progression in a Real-life Cohort of Patients with Advanced Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose: The clinical potential of liquid biopsy in patients with advancedcancer is real-time monitoring for early detection of treatment failure.Our study aimed to investigate the clinical validity of circulating tumorDNA (ctDNA) treatment monitoring in a real-life cohort of patients withadvanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).Experimental Design: Patients with advanced or noncurative locallyadvanced NSCLC were prospectively included in an exploratory study(NCT03512847). Selected cancer-specific mutations were measured inplasma by standard or uniquely designed droplet digital PCR assays beforeevery treatment cycle during first-line treatment until progressive disease(PD). Correlation between an increase in ctDNA (= molecular progres-sion) and radiologic PD was investigated, defined as lead time, and thecorresponding numbers of likely futile treatment cycles were determined.Utility of ctDNA measurements in clarifying the results of nonconclusiveradiologic evaluation scans was evaluated.Results: Cancer-specific mutations and longitudinal plasma sampling werepresent in 132 of 150 patients. ctDNA was detectable in 88 (67%) of132 patients treated by respectively chemotherapy (n = 41), immunotherapy(n = 43), or combination treatment (n = 4). In 66 (90%) of 73 patients ex-periencing PD, a ctDNA increase was observed with a median lead time of1.5 months before radiologic PD. Overall, 119 (33%) of 365 treatment cy-cles were administered after molecular progression. In addition, ctDNAmeasurements could clarify the results in 38 (79%) of 48 nonconclusiveradiologic evaluations.Conclusions: ctDNA monitoring leads to earlier detection of treatmentfailure, and clarifies the majority of nonconclusive radiologic evaluations,giving the potential of sparing patients from likely futile treatments andneedless adverse events.Significance: Treatment monitoring by ctDNA has the clinical potentialto reveal PD before radiologic evaluation and consequently spare patientswith advanced cancer from likely ineffective, costly cancer treatments andadverse events

Energy End-Use Technologies for the 21st Century. A Report of the World Energy Council

This report makes clear the opportunities and places technology development firmly centre stage in meeting and overcoming the challenges confronting the energy industry and policy makers. Energy End-Use Technologies for the 21st Century makes it crystal clear that technologies deployed in 20 to 50 years will be the result of policy and funding decisions taken now and that we cannot afford to duck these decisions if we are to meet the World Energy Council’s goals of energy availability, accessibility and acceptability

Exercise-Mediated Lowering of Glutamine Availability Suppresses Tumor Growth and Attenuates Muscle Wasting

Glutamine is a central nutrient for many cancers, contributing to the generation of building blocks and energy-promoting signaling necessary for neoplastic proliferation. In this study, we hypothesized that lowering systemic glutamine levels by exercise may starve tumors, thereby contributing to the inhibitory effect of exercise on tumor growth. We demonstrate that limiting glutamine availability, either pharmacologically or physiologically by voluntary wheel running, significantly attenuated the growth of two syngeneic murine tumor models of breast cancer and lung cancer, respectively, and decreased markers of atrophic signaling in muscles from tumor-bearing mice. In continuation, wheel running completely abolished tumor-induced loss of weight and lean body mass, independently of the effect of wheel running on tumor growth. Moreover, wheel running abolished tumor-induced upregulation of muscular glutamine transporters and myostatin signaling. In conclusion, our data suggest that voluntary wheel running preserves muscle mass by counteracting muscular glutamine release and tumor-induced atrophic signaling

Geospatial analysis and living urban geometry

This essay outlines how to incorporate morphological rules within the exigencies of our technological age. We propose using the current evolution of GIS (Geographical Information Systems) technologies beyond their original representational domain, towards predictive and dynamic spatial models that help in constructing the new discipline of "urban seeding". We condemn the high-rise tower block as an unsuitable typology for a living city, and propose to re-establish human-scale urban fabric that resembles the traditional city. Pedestrian presence, density, and movement all reveal that open space between modernist buildings is not urban at all, but neither is the open space found in today's sprawling suburbs. True urban space contains and encourages pedestrian interactions, and has to be designed and built according to specific rules. The opposition between traditional self-organized versus modernist planned cities challenges the very core of the urban planning discipline. Planning has to be re-framed from being a tool creating a fixed future to become a visionary adaptive tool of dynamic states in evolution