This paper aims at analysing the factors behind the change in aggregate energy consumption in the EU-27, also identifying differences between member states. The logarithmic-mean Divisia index method ...(LMDI) is applied to multiplicatively decompose, at the country level, the variation in aggregate energy consumption in the EU-27 member states for the 2001–2008 period. We also analyse the sensitivity of the results when several aggregation levels are considered, with energy intensity used as the criterion to aggregate countries. This allows us to check robustness of results, also enabling an improved understanding of both inter and intra-unit effects. Results indicate that improvements in energy efficiency in the EU-27 were not enough to overcome the pressure of European economic activity on aggregate energy consumption. Mediterranean countries, and especially former communist states, increased their energy consumptions, most of them favoured by structural change. The analysis also reveals that the impact of intra-group movements on aggregate energy consumption is partially offset when moving from higher to lower aggregation levels.
•Increase in EU-27 aggregate energy consumption is decomposed through LMDI at 3 levels.•We present the subgroup activity effect and we demonstrate its nulls consequences.•Structural and intensity group effects lose influence when moving to a higher level.•R&D, quality energies, efficient technologies, are main tools to lower energy consumption.•Structural effect: “Green” attitudes and changes in consumer choices, also necessary.
Skeletal muscle has remarkable regeneration capabilities, mainly due to its resident muscle stem cells (MuSCs). In this review, we introduce recently developed technologies and the mechanistic ...insights they provide to the understanding of MuSC biology, including the re-definition of quiescence and G
states. Additionally, we present recent studies that link MuSC function with cellular heterogeneity, highlighting the complex regulation of self-renewal in regeneration, muscle disorders and aging. Finally, we discuss MuSC metabolism and its role, as well as the multifaceted regulation of MuSCs by their niche. The presented conceptual advances in the MuSC field impact on our general understanding of stem cells and their therapeutic use in regenerative medicine.
•Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies is associated with significantly higher product and process innovation results.•The strongest link between AI and innovation output is for world-first ...innovation.•Applying AI broadly (using different methods for different applications areas) increases innovation output.•Firms with a longer experience in using AI yield higher innovation results.•In 2019, only 5.8% of all firms in Germany were actively using AI. The contribution of AI-based innovation to total innovation output is significantly higher for world-first innovation (18% of total world-first sales).•AI-using firms more often report innovations that exceeded expectations, but less frequently innovations that did only partially or not at all meet the firm's expectations.
This paper analyses the link between the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and innovation performance in firms. Based on firm-level data from the German part of the Community Innovation Survey (CIS) 2018, we examine the role of different AI methods and application areas in innovation. The results show that 5.8% of firms in Germany were actively using AI in their business operations or products and services in 2019. We find that the use of AI is associated with annual sales with world-first product innovations in these firms of about €16 billion (i.e. 18% of total annual sales of world-first innovations). In addition, AI technologies have been used in process innovation that contributed to about 6% of total annual cost savings of the German business sector. Firms that apply AI broadly (using different methods for different applications areas) and that have already several years of experience in using AI obtain significantly higher innovation results. These positive findings on the role of AI for innovation have to be interpreted with caution as they refer to a specific country (Germany) in a situation where AI started to diffuse rapidly.
The preparation of aqueous graphene dispersions by exfoliation of pristine graphite in the presence of a wide range of surfactants is reported. High graphene concentrations, up to about 1
mg
mL
−1, ...were obtained with the use of some non-ionic surfactants. The dispersions consisted of single- and few-layer graphene platelets with their basal planes virtually free of even atomic-sized (point) defects. The potential utility of such highly concentrated dispersions toward the low-cost, large-scale manipulation and processing of graphene was demonstrated by processing them into electrically conductive, free-standing paper-like films.
We present a high-order Implicit Large-Eddy Simulation (ILES) approach for transitional aerodynamic flows. The approach encompasses a hybridized Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) method for the ...discretization of the Navier–Stokes (NS) equations, and a parallel preconditioned Newton-GMRES solver for the resulting nonlinear system of equations. The combination of hybridized DG methods with an efficient solution procedure leads to a high-order accurate NS solver that is competitive to alternative approaches, such as finite volume and finite difference codes, in terms of computational cost. The proposed approach is applied to transitional flows over the NACA 65-(18)10 compressor cascade and the Eppler 387 wing at Reynolds numbers up to 460,000. Grid convergence studies are presented and the required resolution to capture transition at different Reynolds numbers is investigated. Numerical results show rapid convergence and excellent agreement with experimental data. In short, this work aims to demonstrate the potential of high-order ILES for simulating transitional aerodynamic flows. This is illustrated through numerical results and supported by theoretical considerations.
•We present a high-order Implicit Large-Eddy Simulation approach for transitional turbulent flows.•The approach encompasses a hybridized Discontinuous Galerkin method and a parallel Newton–Krylov–Schwarz iterative solver.•Numerical results show rapid convergence and excellent agreement with experimental data for Reynolds numbers up to 460,000.•The boundary layer structure and transition mechanism for various flow conditions are investigated.
Graphene nanosheets produced in the form of stable aqueous dispersions by chemical reduction of graphene oxide and deposited onto graphite substrates have been investigated by atomic force and ...scanning tunneling microscopy (AFM/STM). The chemically reduced graphene oxide nanosheets were hardly distinguishable from their unreduced counterparts in the topographic AFM images. However, they could be readily discriminated through phase imaging in the attractive regime of tapping-mode AFM, probably because of differences in hydrophilicity arising from their distinct oxygen contents. The chemically reduced nanosheets displayed a smoothly undulated, globular morphology on the nanometer scale, with typical vertical variations in the subnanometer range and lateral feature sizes of ∼5−10 nm. Such morphology was attributed to be the result of significant structural disorder in the carbon skeleton, which originates during the strong oxidation that leads to graphene oxide and remains after chemical reduction. Direct evidence of structural disorder was provided by atomic-scale STM imaging, which revealed an absence of long-range periodicity in the graphene nanosheets. Only structured domains a few nanometers large were observed instead. Likewise, the nanosheet edges appeared atomically rough and ill-defined, though smooth on the nanometer scale. The unreduced graphene oxide nanosheets could only be imaged by STM at very low tunneling currents (∼1 pA), being visualized in some cases with inverted contrast relative to the graphite substrate, a result that was attributed to their extremely low conductivity. Complementary characterization of the unreduced and chemically reduced nanosheets was carried out by thermogravimetric analysis as well as UV−visible absorption and X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopies. In particular, the somewhat puzzling Raman results were interpreted to be the result of an amorphous character of the graphene oxide material.
CRISPR-Cas9 technology provides a powerful system for genome engineering. However, variable activity across different single guide RNAs (sgRNAs) remains a significant limitation. We analyzed the ...molecular features that influence sgRNA stability, activity and loading into Cas9 in vivo. We observed that guanine enrichment and adenine depletion increased sgRNA stability and activity, whereas differential sgRNA loading, nucleosome positioning and Cas9 off-target binding were not major determinants. We also identified sgRNAs truncated by one or two nucleotides and containing 5' mismatches as efficient alternatives to canonical sgRNAs. On the basis of these results, we created a predictive sgRNA-scoring algorithm, CRISPRscan, that effectively captures the sequence features affecting the activity of CRISPR-Cas9 in vivo. Finally, we show that targeting Cas9 to the germ line using a Cas9-nanos 3' UTR led to the generation of maternal-zygotic mutants, as well as increased viability and decreased somatic mutations. These results identify determinants that influence Cas9 activity and provide a framework for the design of highly efficient sgRNAs for genome targeting in vivo.
Cancer remains the second leading cause of mortality worldwide. In the course of this multistage and multifactorial disease, a set of alterations takes place, with genetic and environmental factors ...modulating tumorigenesis and disease progression. Metabolic alterations of tumors are well-recognized and are considered as one of the hallmarks of cancer. Cancer cells adapt their metabolic competences in order to efficiently supply their novel demands of energy to sustain cell proliferation and metastasis. At present, there is a growing interest in understanding the metabolic switch that occurs during tumorigenesis. Together with the Warburg effect and the increased glutaminolysis, lipid metabolism has emerged as essential for tumor development and progression. Indeed, several investigations have demonstrated the consequences of lipid metabolism alterations in cell migration, invasion, and angiogenesis, three basic steps occurring during metastasis. In addition, obesity and associated metabolic alterations have been shown to augment the risk of cancer and to worsen its prognosis. Consequently, an extensive collection of tumorigenic steps has been shown to be modulated by lipid metabolism, not only affecting the growth of primary tumors, but also mediating progression and metastasis. Besides, key enzymes involved in lipid-metabolic pathways have been associated with cancer survival and have been proposed as prognosis biomarkers of cancer. In this review, we will analyze the impact of obesity and related tumor microenviroment alterations as modifiable risk factors in cancer, focusing on the lipid alterations co-occurring during tumorigenesis. The value of precision technologies and its application to target lipid metabolism in cancer will also be discussed. The degree to which lipid alterations, together with current therapies and intake of specific dietary components, affect risk of cancer is now under investigation, and innovative therapeutic or preventive applications must be explored.
Summary
Vitiligo‐like depigmentation (VLD) is a characteristic cutaneous event described in patients with metastatic malignant melanoma receiving treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. We ...report the onset of VLD in three patients with other cancer types (cholangiocarcinoma, renal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma) following treatment with immunotherapy (combination pembrolizumab and nivolumab for the first, and pembrolizumab for the other two cancer types). Cases of VLD have not been reported previously in patients treated for any of these cancers, to our knowledge. Pembrolizumab and nivolumab are monoclonal antibodies targeting programmed cell death (PD)‐1 receptors, while ipilimumab targets cytotoxic T‐lymphocyte antigen‐4. Our clinical finding challenges the current understanding of VLD as a malignant melanoma‐specific immunotherapy‐related adverse event.
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