The degree of knowledge flow in low-carbon technology transfer is influenced by its organizational mechanism. While transfer mechanisms involving greater cross-border interaction and recipient effort ...may provide more learning opportunities, there remains a gap about the causal mechanisms and contingent variables involved in technology transfer and technological capability development. This study offers one of the first firm-level causal analyses of transfer mechanisms and technological capabilities, taking into account various firm- and context-specific factors. To this end, India's wind power industry is analyzed using firm-level data and semi-structured interviews conducted in 2013 with 15 wind turbine manufacturers covering 76% of the market share and 12 other organizations working on wind power. The analysis demonstrates that innovation capabilities are accumulated mainly through transfer mechanisms enabling recipients’ engagement in research and development. Mergers and acquisitions as well as international research and development centers are among the most effective examples. Joint ventures could be appropriate if a local partner gains a large majority shareholding. The knowledge transfer through wholly foreign-owned enterprises may be restricted because intellectual properties are tightly controlled by their parent firms. The creation of a predictable, performance-oriented market enhances firms’ financial resources and consequently encourages knowledge acquisition and capability development.
•Analyzes the causality between transfer mechanisms and technological capabilities.•Conducts an interview-based case study on 15 wind turbine manufacturers in India.•Production capabilities can be created through any transfer mechanism.•Innovation capabilities require mechanisms encouraging research and development.•These include mergers and acquisitions and international research and development.
•Technological characteristics influence the impact of policies on innovation.•The wind turbine industry requires support for R&D and domestic market demand.•The PV manufacturing industry benefits ...from export-oriented manufacturing.•China implemented policies meeting these technology-specific requirements.•India’s inadequate technology-push policies led to poor innovation performance.
This study examines how technological characteristics influence the impacts of policy on innovation with respect to wind turbine and solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing industries in China and India. The analysis draws on patent applications and government policies in the aforementioned industries from 2000–2017. Wind power and solar PV patents in China have increased rapidly since the mid-2000s, whereas patent numbers in India have remained low. Between 2000–2017, wind turbine was a design-intensive and cost-competitive technology. Consequently, building innovation capabilities in the wind turbine industry required technology-push policies to support research and development and tacit knowledge transfer, and demand-pull policies to create a sizeable, predictable, and performance-oriented domestic market. Solar PV was considered to be a manufacturing-intensive and more expensive technology. Thus, the PV manufacturing industry benefited from technology-push policies that promoted export-oriented manufacturing. While the domestic market played a supplementary role, demand-pull policies that focused on guaranteed investment returns (feed-in tariffs) helped to improve the innovation performance in solar PV. China balanced the implementation of technology-push and demand-pull policies that met these technology-specific requirements. On the contrary, India’s inadequate technology-push policies led to a lag in innovation in wind power and solar PV. Thus, policymakers need to strike a balance between technology-push and demand-pull policies, particularly by integrating innovation policies into a policy mix, and focus on technological characteristics as they determine the nature of the technological learning required to develop innovation capabilities.
High-strength and ultra-low-permeability concrete (HSULPC) is thought to be useful as a radioactive waste package. Thus, a high confining ability is desirable. For cementitious materials, sealing of ...cracks may occur in water due to the precipitation of calcium compounds. This can affect the confining ability. In this study, the sealing of a crack in HSULPC in water was investigated using micro-focus X-ray computed tomography (CT). The sealing by precipitation occurred only around the end of the specimen. Sealed regions of the crack were identified using three-dimensional image registration and CT image subtraction of images obtained for the specimen before and after it was immersed in water to evaluate temporal changes of the sealing deposits in the crack. The sealing deposits increased as the HSULPC specimen was kept in water longer. It was concluded that cracks in HSULPC in water are sealed by precipitation.
The three-dimensional microstructure of an SOFC anode is quantified using a dual beam focused ion beam scanning electron microscopy (FIB-SEM) system equipped with an energy dispersive X-ray ...spectroscopy (EDX) unit. The microstructure of the Ni–YSZ anode is virtually reconstructed in a computational field using a series of acquired two-dimensional SEM images. The three-phase boundary (TPB) density and tortuosity factors are carefully evaluated by applying two different evaluation methods to each parameter. The TPB density is estimated by a volume expansion method and a centroid method, while the tortuosity factors are evaluated by a random walk calculation and a lattice Boltzmann method (LBM). Estimates of each parameter obtained by the two methods are in good agreement with each other, thereby validating the reliability of the analysis methods proposed in this study.
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•PEFC with channel length of 100 mm was developed for water visualization.•Water thickness in cathode and anode GDLs decreased toward cathode outlet.•Water thickness in cathode and ...anode channels increased toward each outlet.•Water distribution in GDLs is originated from back-diffusion.
Preventing the accumulation of water in the gas diffusion layer (GDL) proves effective in enhancing the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). To understand the water transport phenomena in GDLs and channels of PEFCs, cell hardware for operando synchrotron X-ray radiography was developed with a 100 mm channel length, facilitating the separate quantification of liquid water in the cathode and anode GDLs. The presence of liquid water in the cathode and anode GDLs was confirmed during operation with a supply of dry gas in a counter-flow configuration. Furthermore, the amount of liquid water in the cathode and anode GDLs increased toward the cathode inlet, while the amount of water in the cathode and anode channel regions increased toward each outlet. The liquid water distribution in the GDLs along the channel direction can be attributed to water transport from cathode to anode (back-diffusion), decreasing toward the anode outlet. Therefore, conducting radiography experiments aligned parallel to the GDLs and perpendicular to the channel could provide valuable insights for a more comprehensive understanding of water transport in cells.
Methane (CH4) concentration distribution in a semiconductor process chamber was controlled using the measurement of computed tomography-tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (CT-TDLAS) and the ...feedback control toward the feeding CH4 concentrations and flow rates. CH4 diluted with nitrogen was fed into the chamber through a shower head having three separate and concentric areas. Thirty-two laser paths were configured in the chamber to collect the infrared absorption spectra for the CT-TDLAS measurement. The computed tomography calculation using the 32 spectra reconstructed the two-dimensional CH4 concentration distribution in the chamber. The measured concentration distribution was updated once per second. Based on the measured concentration distribution, the feedback control algorithm determined the feeding CH4 concentration and flow rate of each shower head area. In this work, we set the target distribution as a ring shape. In the control algorithm, first the feeding CH4 flow rate of each shower head area was adjusted to match the concentration peak radius in the measured distribution to the radius in the target distribution. Then, the feeding CH4 concentration of each area was adjusted in sequence to match the measured average concentration of each area to the corresponding concentration in the target distribution. The algorithm worked successfully, and the concentration distribution reached the target distribution. The extension of the application and its limitations were also discussed.
Phototherapy and apremilast (oral phosphodiesterase‐4 inhibitor) are well‐known in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris. However, current evidence on the efficacy and safety of ...their combination is not sufficient. This multicenter, randomized controlled study compared the efficacy and safety between phototherapy as monotherapy and phototherapy and apremilast as combination therapy in patients with psoriasis vulgaris. Patients with moderate to severe psoriasis vulgaris were assigned to combination (n = 29) and monotherapy (n = 13) groups. All patients underwent an 8‐week phototherapy regimen comprising irradiation with narrowband UV‐B. The patients in the combination group were also administered 10 mg to 60 mg of oral apremilast. We evaluated the improvement percentage based on the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score from baseline to week 8. Additionally, we evaluated the percentage of patients who achieved ≥75% improvement; changes in body surface area (BSA) and scores of EuroQol 5‐dimensions 5‐level, Dermatology Life Quality Index, and visual analog scale for pruritis from baseline to 4 and 8 weeks; and adverse events. Compared with the monotherapy group, the combination group had significantly lower PASI scores at 4 and 8 weeks and more patients who achieved a PASI score improvement of ≥75% at 8 weeks. Both groups exhibited a significant decrease in BSA; at 8 weeks, no significant difference was observed between the two groups, although the combination group tended toward a greater reduction in BSA. The intergroup differences in the changes at the three time points were not significant. Adverse events were more frequent in the combination group than in the monotherapy group. Our findings suggest that an 8‐week combined apremilast and phototherapy regimen may not be adequate in patients for improvements in their subjective assessment of psoriasis, and longer treatment periods may be necessary.
Cement-based materials used at radioactive waste disposal sites are required to possess long-term stability. However, when these materials come in contact with groundwater, calcium leaching from the ...solid occurs, and the material becomes porous. The use of mineral admixtures is recommended to minimize porosity. However, few studies have focused on the diffusion performance of cement-based materials blended with mineral admixtures after leaching. Therefore, in this study, the diffusion performance of such materials using blended cement after leaching was evaluated. It was found that the diffusion coefficient of the blended cement increased with leaching, and when leaching progressed considerably, the diffusion coefficient of the blended cement was close to that of ordinary Portland cement. Furthermore, the diffusion coefficient after leaching demonstrated good correlation with the pore volume when the pore diameter was 50 nm or larger.
Bexarotene-induced central hypothyroidism (CH), for which levothyroxine (LT4) replacement is recommended, has been shown to be caused by pituitary but not hypothalamic disorder experimentally, though ...the underlying mechanism in humans remains unclear. Here, the pathophysiology of bexarotene-induced CH was examined using a TRH stimulation test in cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) patients. In this retrospective longitudinal observational study, serum TSH and free T4 (F-T4) levels were measured in 10 euthyroid patients with CTCL during 24 weeks of bexarotene treatment. TRH stimulation testing was performed following CH diagnosis, with LT4 replacement dosage adjusted to maintain F-T4 at the pre-treatment level. After one week of bexarotene administration, all 10 patients developed CH, based on combined findings of low or low-normal F-T4 with low or normal TSH levels. TSH peak response after a stimulation test at one week was reached at 30 minutes. However, that was <4 μIU/mL in all patients, indicating a blunted though not exaggerated and delayed TSH response. In eight who continued bexarotene for 24 weeks, median LT4 replacement dosage was 125 (range, 75–150) μg/day. TSH level at 30 as well as 15, 60, 90, and 120 minutes after TRH stimulation was significantly correlated with LT4 replacement dosage (ρ = –0.913, p = 0.002), whereas TSH and F-T4 basal levels at one week were not. These results suggest that pituitary hypothyroidism is responsible for bexarotene-induced CH, while TSH levels after TRH stimulation precisely reflect residual pituitary-thyroid function in patients receiving bexarotene.
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