Policy Risk and Private Investment in Ontario’s Wind Power Sector

Even though governments may adopt favourable regulatory policies for renewable power generation, their ability to encourage private sector investment depends also on the presence of regulatory governance institutions that provide credible long-term commitments to potential investors. In the case of Ontario we contend that, despite large market potential and comparatively strong regulatory incentive policies, weak regulatory governance is one factor that has accounted for the challenges in attracting and implementing large scale private investment in power generation at a reasonable cost. We find empirical support for our arguments in a unique survey of 63 wind power firms that assessed private sector opinions about the investment environment for renewable energy in Ontario. Compared to a range of factors, firms rated the stability of regulatory policy among the weakest aspects of Ontario?s business environment. However, policy stability ranked among the most important factors in firms? assessments of the attractiveness of alternative jurisdictions in their location decisions. Subsequent interviews revealed that firms have responded to this risk in Ontario by explicitly pricing it into wind project financial models – implying higher wind power prices for ratepayers – and by directing investment funds to other jurisdictions. We argue that policy stability in Ontario may be improved by devolving greater decision-making authority to regulatory agencies in the energy sector and by strengthening their institutional independence.

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Policy Risk and Private Investment in Ontario's Wind Power Sector

Even though governments may adopt favourable regulatory policies for renewable power generation, their ability to encourage private sector investment depends also on the presence of regulatory governance institutions that provide credible long-term commitments to potential investors. In the case of Ontario we contend that, despite large market potential and comparatively strong regulatory incentive policies, weak regulatory governance is one factor that has accounted for the challenges in attracting and implementing large-scale private investment in power generation at a reasonable cost. A unique survey of 63 wind power firms that assessed private sector opinions about the investment environment for renewable energy provides empirical support for our arguments. Firms rated the stability of regulatory policy, compared to a range of factors, among the weakest aspects of Ontario's business environment. However, policy stability ranked among the most important factors in firms' assessments of the attractiveness of alternative jurisdictions in their location decisions. Subsequent interviews revealed that firms have responded to this risk by explicitly pricing it into wind project financial models in Ontario - implying higher wind power prices for ratepayers - and by directing investment funds to other jurisdictions. We argue that policy stability in Ontario may be improved by devolving greater decision-making authority to regulatory agencies in the energy sector and by strengthening their institutional independence.

Assessment of Radiometer Calibration With GPS Radio Occultation for the MiRaTA CubeSat Mission

© 2016 IEEE. The microwave radiometer technology acceleration (MiRaTA) is a 3U CubeSat mission sponsored by the NASA Earth Science Technology Office. The science payload on MiRaTA consists of a triband microwave radiometer and global positioning system (GPS) radio occultation (GPSRO) sensor. The microwave radiometer takes measurements of all-weather temperature (V-band, 50-57 GHz), water vapor (G-band, 175-191 GHz), and cloud ice (G-band, 205 GHz) to provide observations used to improve weather forecasting. The Aerospace Corporation's GPSRO experiment, called the compact total electron content and atmospheric GPS sensor (CTAGS), measures profiles of temperature and pressure in the upper troposphere/lower stratosphere (∼20 km) and electron density in the ionosphere (over 100 km). The MiRaTA mission will validate new technologies in both passive microwave radiometry and GPSRO: 1) new ultracompact and low-power technology for multichannel and multiband passive microwave radiometers, 2) the application of a commercial off-the-shelf GPS receiver and custom patch antenna array technology to obtain neutral atmospheric GPSRO retrieval from a nanosatellite, and 3) a new approach to space-borne microwave radiometer calibration using adjacent GPSRO measurements. In this paper, we focus on objective 3, developing operational models to meet a mission goal of 100 concurrent radiometer and GPSRO measurements, and estimating the temperature measurement precision for the CTAGS instrument based on thermal noise Based on an analysis of thermal noise of the CTAGS instrument, the expected temperature retrieval precision is between 0.17 and 1.4 K, which supports the improvement of radiometric calibration to 0.25 K

Comparison of Characteristics, Follow-up and Outcomes of Active Surveillance for Prostate Cancer According to Ethnicity in the GAP3 Global Consortium Database

Background: Studies of active surveillance (AS) for prostate cancer (PCa) have focussed predominantly on Caucasian populations. Little is known about the experience of Asian men, while suitability for men of African descent has been questioned. Objective: To compare baseline characteristics, follow-up, and outcomes for men on AS for PCa, according to ethnicity. Design, setting, and participants: The study cohort included 13 centres from the GAP3 consortium that record ethnicity (categorised broadly as Caucasian/white, African/Afro-Caribbean/black, Asian, mixed/other, and unknown). Men with biopsy grade group >2, prostate-specific antigen (PSA) >20 ng/ml, T stage ≥cT3, or age >80 yr were excluded. Outcome measurements and statistical analysis: Clinical characteristics, follow-up schedules, outcome status, and reasons for discontinuation were compared across ethnic groups. Risk of upgrading, potential disease progression (grade group ≥3 or T stage ≥3), suspicious indications (any upgrading, number of positive cores >3, T stage ≥cT3, PSA >20 ng/ml, or PSA density >0.2 ng/ml/cc2), and conversion to treatment were assessed using mixed-effect regression models. Results and limitations: The eligible cohort (n = 9158) comprised 83% Caucasian men, 6% men of African descent, 5% Asian men, 2% men of mixed/other ethnicity, and 4% men of unknown ethnicity. Risks of suspicious indicators (hazard ratio = 1.27; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.12–1.45), upgrading (odds ratio [OR] = 1.40; 95% CI 1.14–1.71), and potential progression (OR = 1.46; 95% CI 1.06–2.01) were higher among African/black than among Caucasian/white men. Risk of transitioning to treatment did not differ by ethnicity. More Asian than Caucasian men converted without progression (42% vs 26%, p < 0.001). Heterogeneity in surveillance protocols and racial makeup limit interpretation. Conclusions: This multinational study found differences in the risk of disease progression and transitioning to treatment without signs of progression between ethnic groups. Further research is required to determine whether differences are due to biology, sociocultural factors, and/or clinical practice. Patient summary: This international study compared prostate cancer active surveillance outcomes by ethnicity. Risks of upgrading and disease progression were higher among African than among Caucasian men. Transitioning to treatment without progression was highest among Asian men. Understanding of these differences requires further investigation

Reasons for Discontinuing Active Surveillance: Assessment of 21 Centres in 12 Countries in the Movember GAP3 Consortium

BackgroundCareful assessment of the reasons for discontinuation of active surveillance (AS) is required for men with prostate cancer (PCa).ObjectiveUsing Movember's Global Action Plan Prostate Cancer Active Surveillance initiative (GAP3) database, we report on reasons for AS discontinuation.Design, setting, and participantsWe compared data from 10296 men on AS from 21 centres across 12 countries.Outcome measurements and statistical analysisCumulative incidence methods were used to estimate the cumulative incidence rates of AS discontinuation.Results and limitationsDuring 5-yr follow-up, 27.5% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 26.4-28.6%) men showed signs of disease progression, 12.8% (95% CI: 12.0-13.6%) converted to active treatment without evidence of progression, 1.7% (95% CI: 1.5-2.0%) continued to watchful waiting, and 1.7% (95% CI: 1.4-2.1%) died from other causes. Of the 7049 men who remained on AS, 2339 had follow-up for &gt;5yr, 4561 had follow-up for &lt;5yr, and 149 were lost to follow-up. Cumulative incidence of progression was 27.5% (95% CI: 26.4-28.6%) at 5yr and 38.2% (95% CI: 36.7-39.9%) at 10yr. A limitation is that not all centres were included due to limited information on the reason for discontinuation and limited follow-up.ConclusionsOur descriptive analyses of current AS practices worldwide showed that 43.6% of men drop out of AS during 5-yr follow-up, mainly due to signs of disease progression. Improvements in selection tools for AS are thus needed to correctly allocate men with PCa to AS, which will also reduce discontinuation due to conversion to active treatment without evidence of disease progression.Patient summaryOur assessment of a worldwide database of men with prostate cancer (PCa) on active surveillance (AS) shows that 43.6% drop out of AS within 5yr, mainly due to signs of disease progression. Better tools are needed to select and monitor men with PCa as part of AS

Personalised biopsy schedules based on risk of Gleason upgrading for patients with low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance

Objective: To develop a model and methodology for predicting the risk of Gleason upgrading in patients with prostate cancer on active surveillance (AS) and using the predicted risks to create risk-based personalised biopsy schedules as an alternative to one-size-fits-all schedules (e.g. annually)

Evolution of genes and genomes on the Drosophila phylogeny

Affiliations des auteurs : cf page 216 de l'articleInternational audienceComparative analysis of multiple genomes in a phylogenetic framework dramatically improves the precision and sensitivity of evolutionary inference, producing more robust results than single-genome analyses can provide. The genomes of 12 Drosophila species, ten of which are presented here for the first time (sechellia, simulans, yakuba, erecta, ananassae, persimilis, willistoni, mojavensis, virilis and grimshawi), illustrate how rates and patterns of sequence divergence across taxa can illuminate evolutionary processes on a genomic scale. These genome sequences augment the formidable genetic tools that have made Drosophila melanogaster a pre-eminent model for animal genetics, and will further catalyse fundamental research on mechanisms of development, cell biology, genetics, disease, neurobiology, behaviour, physiology and evolution. Despite remarkable similarities among these Drosophila species, we identified many putatively non-neutral changes in protein-coding genes, non-coding RNA genes, and cis-regulatory regions. These may prove to underlie differences in the ecology and behaviour of these diverse species