The transition to clean energy:Are people living in island communities ready for smart grids and demand response?

Islands are widely recognised as ideal pilot sites that can spearhead the transition to clean energy and development towards a sustainable and healthy society. One of the assumptions underpinning this notion is that island communities are more ready to engage with smart grids (SGs) than people on the mainland. This is believed to be due to the high costs of energy on islands and the idea that the sense of community and collective action is stronger on islands than on the mainland. This paper presents findings from a survey conducted to assess people’s perception of, and readiness to engage with, SG and demand response (DR) in the communities of three islands taking part in a H2020 project called REACT. The main objective of the survey, conducted in 2020, was to inform the recruitment of participants in the project, which is piloting different technologies required for SGs and DR with communities on the three islands. The results show that many island residents are motivated to take part in SG, to engage with energy saving, and are willing to change some energy-related behaviours in their homes. However, the results also indicate that levels of ownership of, and knowledge and familiarity with, the SG and DR related technologies are extremely low, suggesting that the expected uptake of DR in islands might not be as high as anticipated. This brings into question the readiness of island dwellers for the SG, their role in the deployment of such schemes more widely and the validity of the assumptions often made about island communities. This has significant implications for the design of SGs and DR solutions for islands, including devoting sufficient efforts to build knowledge and awareness of the SG, investing in demonstration projects for that purpose and tailoring interventions based on island communities’ motivations

Renewable energy technologies and their users : the case of solar photovoltaic technology

In recent years, renewable energy technologies (RETs) have been increasingly recognised among a range of solutions for addressing climate change and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. However, their implementation in the UK has been slower than expected, creating a gap between the potential of these technologies and their actual deployment. Acknowledging the importance of users in the diffusion of RETs, this thesis examines how these users are conceptualised during RET implementation and use. Using theoretical perspectives from science and technology studies, it analyses the configuration of users during the design and implementation of photovoltaic systems, taking as an example two case studies that took place as part of the UK government's Photovoltaic Domestic Field Trial. The study investigates the multiplicity of actors involved in the installation projects and demonstrates the negotiated nature of photovoltaic system design. During this process, the actors - the managers of the installation projects - constructed user identities based on the users' perceived expectations, preferences, behaviour and knowledge. These identities were materialised into the design of the system, thus creating a script that shaped the use of the technology. The study explored how the photovoltaics were appropriated within the home, highlighting the different modes of use and types of users in relation to the technology. In doing so, the thesis presents how the project managers 'write' the technology, and how the technology is in turn 'read' by the users. This perspective can be helpful in understanding the deployment of RETs, as it stresses their socially shaped nature. It shows how the design of the photovoltaic system was the result of a negotiated process of managers' knowledge and expectations regarding the users, the users' methods of appropriation, and the sociotechnical systems within which they operate. It also argues for the importance of situating the use of photovoltaics. and other related RETs in the domestic sector, within the wider sociotechnical landscape governing household energy consumption.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceNERC : Scottish PowerGBUnited Kingdo

A Qualitative Based Causal-Loop Diagram for Understanding Policy Design Challenges for a Sustainable Transition Pathway:The Case of Tees Valley Region, UK

The energy transition is a complex problem that requires a comprehensive and structured approach to policymaking. Such an approach is needed to ensure that transition pathways and policies enable greener energy alternatives whilst ensuring prosperity for people living in the region and limiting environmental degradation to the local ecosystem. This paper applies a qualitative approach based on systematic literature research and review analysis to identify and analyse previous work within this interdisciplinary field in order to understand the complexity of energy transitions and identify key variables and sub-sectors that need to be addressed by policymaking. The paper then looks at the problem from a regional level and uses the Tees Valley region in North East England as a reference case for the energy system and potential proposed policies for the energy transition. A system dynamics methodology was employed to help visualise and emphasise the major complexity of the energy transition and the challenges that policymaking needs to tackle for the successfully enable implementation and application of the energy transition policies. The results of this study identified that in relation to the Tees Valley energy system, its development and transition towards decarbonisation, the major challenge for the policymakers is to ensure that proposed policies foster growth in job creation without leading to job losses within the local employment market

Willingness of patients with sarcoma to participate in cancer surveillance research: a cross-sectional patient survey

Oncologia ortopèdica; Sarcoma; Estadístiques i mètodes d'investigacióOncología ortopédica; Sarcoma; Estadísticas y métodos de investigaciónOrthopaedic oncology; Sarcoma; Statistics & research methodsObjectives To determine the proportion of patients with extremity sarcoma who would be willing to participate in a clinical trial in which they would be randomised to one of four different postoperative sarcoma surveillance regimens. Additionally, we assessed patients’ perspectives on the burden of cancer care, factors that influence comfort with randomisation and the importance of cancer research. Design Prospective, cross-sectional patient survey. Setting Outpatient sarcoma clinics in Canada, the USA and Spain between May 2017 and April 2020. Survey data were entered into a study-specific database. Participants Patients with extremity sarcoma who had completed definitive treatment from seven clinics across Canada, the USA and Spain. Main outcome measures The proportion of patients with extremity sarcoma who would be willing to participate in a randomised controlled trial (RCT) that evaluates varying postoperative cancer surveillance regimens. Results One hundred thirty complete surveys were obtained. Respondents reported a wide range of burdens related to clinical care and surveillance. The majority of patients (85.5%) responded that they would agree to participate in a cancer surveillance RCT if eligible. The most common reason to participate was that they wanted to help future patients. Those that would decline to participate most commonly reported that participating in research would be too much of a burden for them at a time when they are already feeling overwhelmed. However, most patients agreed that cancer research will help doctors better understand and treat cancer. Conclusions These results demonstrate that most participants would be willing to participate in an RCT that evaluates varying postoperative cancer surveillance regimens. Participants’ motivation for trial participation included altruistic reasons to help future patients and deterrents to trial participation included the overwhelming burden of a cancer diagnosis. These results will help inform the development of patient-centred RCT protocols in sarcoma surveillance research.The institution of the authors has received, during the study period, funding from the McMaster Surgical Associates (MSA) Innovation Grant

What is in a Meter?:A Qualitative Exploration into the Implementation of Electricity Metering Across Mumbai Communities Using Normalisation Process Theory

Metering is fundamental in the efficient operation of electricity networks, as meters facilitate controlled usage and improve health and well-being. However, across the Global South, meters have often been found to be lacking or not fit for purpose. Therefore, this study sought to determine residents’ perceptions and access to electricity metering across a community in Mumbai, with the goal of developing recommendations to support the implementation of meters in the future. Fifty semi-structured interviews were conducted by phone, with participants from different areas and socioeconomic classes, within Greater Mumbai. The sample consisted of 20 low-income, 20 middle-income, and 10 high-income participants. The Normalisation Process Theory (NPT) was used to inform the interview schedule and to organise the thematic analysis. Meter accessibility and location was variable across the participant groups, as was the education and awareness of metering technology. Socio-political factors were found to directly affect the use of meters, specifically in the low-income group. The high cost associated with metering was a prominent finding; with a preconception that introducing meters would only increase utility expenditure. Future work should focus around ensuring meters are easy to use, practical and accessible to all residents and supporting education programmes around how to use a meter and how they can reduce utility expenditure. The cost of meters should also be investigated, to establish that the costs, associated with introducing new meters, are not passed disproportionately to consumers. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s43477-022-00059-y

A dynamic alternative splicing program regulates gene expression during terminal erythropoiesis

Alternative pre-messenger RNA splicing remodels the human transcriptome in a spatiotemporal manner during normal development and differentiation. Here we explored the landscape of transcript diversity in the erythroid lineage by RNA-seq analysis of five highly purified populations of morphologically distinct human erythroblasts, representing the last four cell divisions before enucleation. In this unique differentiation system, we found evidence of an extensive and dynamic alternative splicing program encompassing genes with many diverse functions. Alternative splicing was particularly enriched in genes controlling cell cycle, organelle organization, chromatin function and RNA processing. Many alternative exons exhibited differentiation-associated switches in splicing efficiency, mostly in late-stage polychromatophilic and orthochromatophilic erythroblasts, in concert with extensive cellular remodeling that precedes enucleation. A subset of alternative splicing switches introduces premature translation termination codons into selected transcripts in a differentiation stage-specific manner, supporting the hypothesis that alternative splicing-coupled nonsense-mediated decay contributes to regulation of erythroid-expressed genes as a novel part of the overall differentiation program. We conclude that a highly dynamic alternative splicing program in terminally differentiating erythroblasts plays a major role in regulating gene expression to ensure synthesis of appropriate proteome at each stage as the cells remodel in preparation for production of mature red cells

Altered splicing of Tau in DM1 is different from the foetal splicing process

AbstractAmong the different mechanisms underlying the etiopathogenesis of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), a backward reprogramming to a foetal splicing machinery is an interesting hypothesis. To address this possibility, Tau splicing, which is regulated during development and modified in DM1, was analyzed. Indeed, a preferential expression of the foetal Tau isoform, instead of the six normally found, is observed in adult DM1 brains. By using two cell lines, we show here that the cis-regulating elements necessary to generate the unique foetal Tau isoform are dispensable to reproduce the trans-dominant effect induced by DM1 mutation on Tau exon 2 inclusion. Our results suggest that the mis-splicing of Tau in DM1 is resulting from a disease-associated mechanism