Posed Photographs: Admissibility

Energy supply has for a long time primarily been a question of central management with littlecommunication between producer and consumer. Heating, electricity and other services havebeen produced by public corporations with little room for alternative solutions. However, thishas started to change, through grassroots movements aimed at greater degrees of self-sufficiencyin energy production. The trend is clear in both Sweden and internationally. This study focuses on grassroots movements, to understand the determinants for up-scalingtowards greater self-sufficiency. We are interested in understanding the driving forces behinddifferent types of communities with high ambitions on sustainability and self-sufficiency. Thestudy was conducted in two phases. In phase one, we have studied a total of five communities inDenmark, Germany and the UK that have taken extensive measures to increase energy selfsufficiency,in order to understand how and why they were created and how they work today. Inphase two, we have conducted a web-based questionnaire to residents in the Swedish ecovillages,to understand the reasons for moving there and the experience of living in the villages.The overall aim of the study is to understand citizens' involvement in sustainable communitiesand analyse what this could mean regarding current supply and demand for sustainable energy. The results from phase one, where interviews were conducted with key stakeholders inrenewable communities, shows that these communities took their steps towards moresustainability due to either momentous events, such as the oil crises of the 1970s, or throughnational "energy competitions"; they started because of particular events. Of paramountimportance for successful projects was a close cooperation between municipalities and citizens,particularly through civic ownership. It created interest, transparency and security in the projects.The development also created new jobs, attracting new jobs to the communities because of theexpertise that were there. Although there are great advantages of the high degree civil activity ithas been proved to be more time consuming. In all cases they have managed to becomeessentially self-sufficient in renewable energy, in one case, they produce up to 500 percent oftheir electricity needs, but a further challenge has been to adapt the independent systems toexisting centralized systems, adapted to different conditions. The questionnaire in phase two was sent out to 17 ecovillages. We received a response rate ofapproximately 30 percent and the questions concerned for example motives moving to the ecovillage,environmental interest and perceived satisfaction with the accommodation. The resultsshowed that residents are well educated with a great interest in the environment and that,although in many cases it expressed that sacrifices must be made on the basis of theaccommodation, it is worth it. The replies expressed few social conflicts but that the technicalsystems resulted in work and discussions. In some cases it seems as the technical systems wereoff-gauge from the start and something that had to be handled a long time to come. The technicalsystem performance is something that is very important for whether residents feel comfortable invillage or not. The villages started as movements willing to do something different. The results from the two studies show, among other things, the importance of communicationand inclusion of residents. People are also willing to adapt to new situations as long as it does notaffect the comfort too much or if it is for a good cause. However, there is considerableknowledge among all these communities that should be utilised in other contexts.Energiförsörjning har under lång tid främst varit en fråga om central styrning med litekommunikation mellan producent och konsument. Värme, el och andra tjänster har produceratsav offentligt ägda bolag med litet utrymme för alternativa lösningar. Detta har dock börjatförändras, genom allt mer gräsrotsrörelser som siktar på större grader av självförsörjning avenergiproduktion. Trenden är tydlig i både Sverige och internationellt. Denna studie fokuserar därför på denna typ av rörelser, för att förstå avgörande faktorer för enuppskalning av högre grad av självförsörjning. Vi är intresserade att förstå drivkrafter bakomolika typer av gemenskaper med höga ambitioner gällande hållbarhet och självförsörjning.Studien genomfördes i två faser. I fas ett har vi studerat sammanlagt fem samhällen i Danmark,Tyskland och Storbritannien som vidtagit omfattande åtgärder för ökad självförsörjning avenergi för att förstå hur de skapades, varför och hur de fungerar idag. I fas två har vi genomförten web-baserad enkätundersökning till boende i svenska ekobyar, för att förstå motiven för attflytta dit och erfarenheter av boendet. Det övergripande syftet med studien är att förståmedborgares engagemang i gemenskaper för hållbarhet och analysera vad detta kan betydagällande tillgång och efterfrågan på hållbar energi. Resultatet från fas ett, där intervjuer genomfördes med nyckelaktörer i förnybara samhällen,visar att dessa samhällen tog sina steg mot ytterligare hållbarhet på grund av antingenomvälvande händelser, såsom oljekriserna på 1970-talet, eller genom nationella”energitävlingar”; de startade på grund av särskilda händelser. Av största vikt för lyckade projektvar ett tätt samarbete mellan kommuner och medborgare, särskilt genom medborgarägande. Detskapade intresse, insyn och säkerhet i projekten. Utvecklingen skapade även nya arbeten ochattraherade nya arbetstillfällen till orterna på grund av den kompetens som fanns där. Även omdet är stora fördelar med stort medborgarinflytande har det visat sig vara mer tidskrävande. I allafallen har de lyckats bli i princip självförsörjande på förnybar energi, i ett fall producerar det.o.m. 500 procent av deras elbehov, men en ytterligare utmaning har varit att anpassa desjälvständiga systemen till existerande centraliserade system vilka är anpassade efter andraförutsättningar. Enkäten i fas två skickades ut till 17 ekobyar. Vi fick en svarsfrekvens på cirka 30 procent ochfrågorna berörde exempelvis motiv att flytta till ekobyn, miljöintresse och upplevd belåtenhetmed boendet. Resultatet visade att de boende är välutbildade med ett stort miljöintresse och attäven om det i många fall uttrycktes att uppoffringar får göras på grund av boendet så är det värtdet. I svaren uttrycktes lite sociala konflikter men att de tekniska systemen gav upphov tillmycket arbete och diskussioner. I några fall verkar systemen varit feldimensionerade från startoch något som behövts hanteras lång tid framöver. Just de tekniska systemens prestanda är någotsom är av stor betydelse för huruvida boende trivs i by eller ej. Det går att sammanfatta det somatt byarna startade som en rörelse där det fanns en vilja att göra något annat och vara mersjälvständig. Resultaten från de två studierna visar bland annat vikten av kommunikation med och inkluderingav boende. Människor är också villiga att anpassa sig till nya situationer så länge det intepåverkar komforten allt för mycket eller om det är för en god sak. Det finns dock stor kunskapbland alla dessa gemenskaper som borde tas tillvara på i andra sammanhang

Between grassroots and treetops:community power and institutional dependence in the renewable energy sector in Denmark, Sweden and the Netherlands

The speed and progress of transitions towards renewable energy systems varies greatly between European member states. Among others, these differences have been attributed to the emergence of grassroots initiatives (GIs) that develop radical ideas and sustainable practices. The goal of this paper is to understand the differences in the emergence of GIs for renewable energy in relation to the institutional characteristics of Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden. We analyze the possibilities of GIs to emerge and act within three dimensions: the material-economic, the actor-institutional and discursive dimension. We conclude that conditional factors lie within the material-economic dimension in terms of the biophysical conditions, the structure of the economy, energy dependency and the energy market. Within the actor-institutional dimension, we conclude that the presence or absence of fossil fuel incumbents, such as regional utilities, strongly influence the possibilities of GIs. Within the discursive dimension, openness for alternative discourses proved to be enabling for GI-activities, as well as democratized knowledge production. In addition to these conditions of possibility, GIs can also act despite dominant institutions, albeit limited. Finally, GIs need a strong network with knowledge institutes, technology developers and political parties in order to achieve institutional change that enables GIs to flourish. Without institutional space, GIs remain subjected to the dominant power-relations, and cannot exert much influence upon the energy system

Altered DNA methylation of glycolytic and lipogenic genes in liver from obese and type 2 diabetic patients

OBJECTIVE: Epigenetic modifications contribute to the etiology of type 2 diabetes.  METHOD: We performed genome-wide methylome and transcriptome analysis in liver from severely obese men with or without type 2 diabetes and non-obese men to discover aberrant pathways underlying the development of insulin resistance. Results were validated by pyrosequencing.  RESULT: We identified hypomethylation of genes involved in hepatic glycolysis and insulin resistance, concomitant with increased mRNA expression and protein levels. Pyrosequencing revealed the CpG-site within ATF-motifs was hypomethylated in four of these genes in liver of severely obese non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic patients, suggesting epigenetic regulation of transcription by altered ATF-DNA binding.  CONCLUSION: Severely obese non-diabetic and type 2 diabetic patients have distinct alterations in the hepatic methylome and transcriptome, with hypomethylation of several genes controlling glucose metabolism within the ATF-motif regulatory site. Obesity appears to shift the epigenetic program of the liver towards increased glycolysis and lipogenesis, which may exacerbate the development of insulin resistance

Age at menarche and current substance use among Canadian adolescent girls: results of a cross-sectional study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Substance use is among the key public health threats that find its genesis during adolescence. Timing of puberty has been lately researched as a potential predictor of subsequent substance abuse. The present study, therefore, aims to assess the effect of age at menarche on current practices of smoking, alcohol drinking and drug use among 14-15 year old Canadian girls.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The analysis of the study was based on all female respondents aged 14 to 15 years during Cycle 4 (2000/2001) of the National Longitudinal Survey of Children & Youth (NLSCY). The main independent variable was age at menarche assessed as the month and year of the occurrence of the first menstrual cycle. The dependent variables were current smoking, heavy alcohol drinking in the past 12 months and drug use in the past 12 months. Three logistic regression models were performed to investigate the association between age at menarche and each of the substance use outcomes, adjusting for possible confounders. Bootstrapping was performed to account for the complex sampling design.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The total weighted sample included in the analysis represented 295,042 Canadian girls. The prevalence of current smokers, heavy drinkers (drunk in the past 12 months) and drug users in the past 12 months was approximately 22%, 38% and 26%, respectively. After adjusting of all potential confounders, no association was found between age at menarche and any of the substance use outcomes. School performance and relationship with the father, however, stood out as the main variables to be associated with smoking, heavy drinking and drug use.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Qualitative studies understanding the social and psychological changes experienced by early maturing Canadian adolescents are warranted to identify other correlates or pathways to substance use in this higher risk population.</p

Does intergroup contact predict personality? A longitudinal study on the bidirectional relationship between intergroup contact and personality traits

We conducted a longitudinal study to test whether, in addition to being predicted by personality, intergroup contact is longitudinally associated with personality traits. Participants were 388 majority (Italian) and 109 minority (immigrant) first-year highschool students. Results revealed a bidirectional relationship between contact and personality: quality of contact was longitudinally associated with greater agreeableness and openness to experience, while agreeableness and openness to experience were longitudinal predictors of contact quality. An unexpected negative longitudinal association also emerged between quantity of contact and agreeableness. These effects were not moderated by group of belonging (majority vs. minority). Our findings highlight the importance of integrating research on intergroup contact with research on personality

Whole shaft visibility and mechanical performance for active MR catheters using copper-nitinol braided polymer tubes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Catheter visualization and tracking remains a challenge in interventional MR.</p> <p>Active guidewires can be made conspicuous in "profile" along their whole shaft exploiting metallic core wire and hypotube components that are intrinsic to their mechanical performance. Polymer-based catheters, on the other hand, offer no conductive medium to carry radio frequency waves. We developed a new "active" catheter design for interventional MR with mechanical performance resembling braided X-ray devices. Our 75 cm long hybrid catheter shaft incorporates a wire lattice in a polymer matrix, and contains three distal loop coils in a flexible and torquable 7Fr device. We explored the impact of braid material designs on radiofrequency and mechanical performance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The incorporation of copper wire into in a superelastic nitinol braided loopless antenna allowed good visualization of the whole shaft (70 cm) <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo </it>in swine during real-time MR with 1.5 T scanner. Additional distal tip coils enhanced tip visibility. Increasing the copper:nitinol ratio in braiding configurations improved flexibility at the expense of torquability. We found a 16-wire braid of 1:1 copper:nitinol to have the optimum balance of mechanical (trackability, flexibility, torquability) and antenna (signal attenuation) properties. With this configuration, the temperature increase remained less than 2°C during real-time MR within 10 cm horizontal from the isocenter. The design was conspicuous <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have engineered a new loopless antenna configuration that imparts interventional MR catheters with satisfactory mechanical and imaging characteristics. This compact loopless antenna design can be generalized to visualize the whole shaft of any general-purpose polymer catheter to perform safe interventional procedures.</p

Genome-wide association study identifies 48 common genetic variants associated with handedness

Handedness has been extensively studied because of its relationship with language and the over-representation of left-handers in some neurodevelopmental disorders. Using data from the UK Biobank, 23andMe and the International Handedness Consortium, we conducted a genome-wide association meta-analysis of handedness (N = 1,766,671). We found 41 loci associated (P < 5 × 10-8) with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. Tissue-enrichment analysis implicated the CNS in the aetiology of handedness. Pathways including regulation of microtubules and brain morphology were also highlighted. We found suggestive positive genetic correlations between left-handedness and neuropsychiatric traits, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Furthermore, the genetic correlation between left-handedness and ambidexterity is low (rG = 0.26), which implies that these traits are largely influenced by different genetic mechanisms. Our findings suggest that handedness is highly polygenic and that the genetic variants that predispose to left-handedness may underlie part of the association with some psychiatric disorders

A large-scale genome-wide association study meta-analysis of cannabis use disorder

Summary Background Variation in liability to cannabis use disorder has a strong genetic component (estimated twin and family heritability about 50–70%) and is associated with negative outcomes, including increased risk of psychopathology. The aim of the study was to conduct a large genome-wide association study (GWAS) to identify novel genetic variants associated with cannabis use disorder. Methods To conduct this GWAS meta-analysis of cannabis use disorder and identify associations with genetic loci, we used samples from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium Substance Use Disorders working group, iPSYCH, and deCODE (20 916 case samples, 363 116 control samples in total), contrasting cannabis use disorder cases with controls. To examine the genetic overlap between cannabis use disorder and 22 traits of interest (chosen because of previously published phenotypic correlations [eg, psychiatric disorders] or hypothesised associations [eg, chronotype] with cannabis use disorder), we used linkage disequilibrium score regression to calculate genetic correlations. Findings We identified two genome-wide significant loci: a novel chromosome 7 locus (FOXP2, lead single-nucleotide polymorphism [SNP] rs7783012; odds ratio [OR] 1·11, 95% CI 1·07–1·15, p=1·84 × 10−9) and the previously identified chromosome 8 locus (near CHRNA2 and EPHX2, lead SNP rs4732724; OR 0·89, 95% CI 0·86–0·93, p=6·46 × 10−9). Cannabis use disorder and cannabis use were genetically correlated (rg 0·50, p=1·50 × 10−21), but they showed significantly different genetic correlations with 12 of the 22 traits we tested, suggesting at least partially different genetic underpinnings of cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. Cannabis use disorder was positively genetically correlated with other psychopathology, including ADHD, major depression, and schizophrenia. Interpretation These findings support the theory that cannabis use disorder has shared genetic liability with other psychopathology, and there is a distinction between genetic liability to cannabis use and cannabis use disorder. Funding National Institute of Mental Health; National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; National Institute on Drug Abuse; Center for Genomics and Personalized Medicine and the Centre for Integrative Sequencing; The European Commission, Horizon 2020; National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; Health Research Council of New Zealand; National Institute on Aging; Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium; UK Research and Innovation Medical Research Council (UKRI MRC); The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation; National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders; Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering; National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Australia; Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of the University of California; Families for Borderline Personality Disorder Research (Beth and Rob Elliott) 2018 NARSAD Young Investigator Grant; The National Child Health Research Foundation (Cure Kids); The Canterbury Medical Research Foundation; The New Zealand Lottery Grants Board; The University of Otago; The Carney Centre for Pharmacogenomics; The James Hume Bequest Fund; National Institutes of Health: Genes, Environment and Health Initiative; National Institutes of Health; National Cancer Institute; The William T Grant Foundation; Australian Research Council; The Virginia Tobacco Settlement Foundation; The VISN 1 and VISN 4 Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Centers of the US Department of Veterans Affairs; The 5th Framework Programme (FP-5) GenomEUtwin Project; The Lundbeck Foundation; NIH-funded Shared Instrumentation Grant S10RR025141; Clinical Translational Sciences Award grants; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; National Institute of General Medical Sciences.Peer reviewe