In this paper, we use standard scenarios focussing on renewable energy, energy efficiency and grid investments. We take stock of the literature and quantitative data on available sources of financing ...for clean energy to qualitatively match supply and demand of specific sources of finance in the European context. Our analysis shows that under the current investment mandates and lending criteria the required funds for a successful energy transition are available. In fact, the current landscape of financing sources can provide between two and six times what is necessary. However, institutional investors and lenders such as pension funds and banks in particular are reluctant to invest in the renewable energy or grid infrastructure because of expected (policy) discontinuities. In addition, more venture capital and household investment are needed to finance low-risk small-ticket projects in the early stages of innovative clean energy technologies, to complement the abundantly available funds for large-scale investments. Based on our analysis, we develop a matrix indicating the role and availability of different sources of finance and new intermediation channels in the energy transition and how these should be deployed.
•This study contrasts the demand for and (potential) supply of financial resources for the European energy transition.•It identifies a qualitative mismatch between the available sources and the required investments up to 2050.•The involvement of institutional investors and risk-carrying capital is particularly limited.•A matrix indicating role and availability of different sources provides a guide to the involvement of financiers.•Tailor-made policies and practical implications are developed for each source of funding.
Compartmentalized co-localization of enzymes and their substrates represents an attractive approach for multi-enzymatic synthesis in engineered cells and biocatalysis. Sequestration of enzymes and ...substrates would greatly increase reaction efficiency while also protecting engineered host cells from potentially toxic reaction intermediates. Several bacteria form protein-based polyhedral microcompartments which sequester functionally related enzymes and regulate their access to substrates and other small metabolites. Such bacterial microcompartments may be engineered into protein-based nano-bioreactors, provided that they can be assembled in a non-native host cell, and that heterologous enzymes and substrates can be targeted into the engineered compartments. Here, we report that recombinant expression of Salmonella enterica ethanolamine utilization (eut) bacterial microcompartment shell proteins in E. coli results in the formation of polyhedral protein shells. Purified recombinant shells are morphologically similar to the native Eut microcompartments purified from S. enterica. Surprisingly, recombinant expression of only one of the shell proteins (EutS) is sufficient and necessary for creating properly delimited compartments. Co-expression with EutS also facilitates the encapsulation of EGFP fused with a putative Eut shell-targeting signal sequence. We also demonstrate the functional localization of a heterologous enzyme (β-galactosidase) targeted to the recombinant shells. Together our results provide proof-of-concept for the engineering of protein nano-compartments for biosynthesis and biocatalysis.
El artículo de Mark Sanders, "Introducción: ética e interdisciplinariedad en la filosofía y la teoría literaria" fue publicado originalmente en la revista Diacritics en el año 2002. Sanders parte de ...la pregunta de si el creciente interés por las discusiones éticas desde la disciplina de los estudios literarios tiene relación con las discusiones sobre ética que se desarrollan en la actualidad en el campo de la filosofía, e indaga si un diálogo interdisciplinario podría resultar útil a ambas disciplinas. El análisis de Sanders muestra de qué manera la discusión ética en los estudios literarios ha seguido un linaje particular. La preocupación por la alteridad, tema central a los estudios literarios dado el carácter de la literatura como "generadora de alteridades", ha implicado el interés por autores tales como Michel Foucault, Emmanuel Lévinas, Jacques Derrida, Luce Irigaray, Giorgio Agamben y Alain Badiou. Entre tanto, la filosofía contemporánea se ha centrado más en una discusión ligada a la teoría política y la ética aplicada, por lo cual autores tales como Charles Taylor, John Rawls, Will Kymlicka, Iris Young y Seyla Benhabib han ocupado el centro de la discusión. Esta separación está, para Sanders, ligada a la manera como la filosofía continental ha perdido su lugar en las facultades de filosofía, y en cambio ha encontrado un desarrollo propio en la teoría literaria. Sin embargo, a su juicio existe la posibilidad de un diálogo interdisciplinario. Por otro lado, esta reflexión podría llevar a una reflexión de la teoría literaria misma, y a una indagación acerca de cómo la literatura aporta desde sí misma a la reflexión ética. Palabras clave: teoría literaria, filosofía, ética, interdisciplinariedad, Mark Sanders
Economic losses from natural disasters have been increasing in recent decades. This has been attributed mainly to population and economic growth in disaster-prone areas. Future natural disaster ...losses are expected to increase due to a continued increase in economic exposure and climate change. This highlights the importance of designing policies that can mitigate the impacts of these disasters on the economy and society. A rapidly expanding literature has estimated the direct (e.g., property damage) and indirect (e.g., gross domestic product growth, trade) economic impacts of natural disasters. This article reviews this emerging literature. We synthesize the main theoretical, computational, and empirical methods used, summarize key findings on the economic impacts of natural disasters, and discuss factors that have been found to mitigate disaster impacts. We conclude by identifying lessons for policymakers and outlining an agenda for future research in this field.
A variety of microscopy techniques are used by researchers in the life and biomedical sciences. As these techniques become more powerful and more complex, it is vital that scientific articles ...containing images obtained with advanced microscopes include full details about how each image was obtained. To explore the reporting of such details we examined 240 original research articles published in eight journals. We found that the quality of reporting was poor, with some articles containing no information about how images were obtained, and many articles lacking important basic details. Efforts by researchers, funding agencies, journals, equipment manufacturers and staff at shared imaging facilities are required to improve the reporting of experiments that rely on microscopy techniques.
This paper examines how banks adjust their asset structure in response to changes in loan demand following natural disasters. We demonstrate how banks’ asset diversification strategy helps clients ...smooth consumption and supports local recovery. In the empirical section, we apply the difference-in-differences method and determine that U.S. commercial banks increase real estate lending after disasters and sell government bonds to finance this disaster-driven credit surge. The theoretical section presents a novel multiple-asset dynamic credit allocation model that explains our empirical findings. We use model simulations to predict and quantify the potential impact of climate change on the asset structure and profitability of banks given different scenarios.
•We document banks increasing real estate lending and selling bonds to finance credit surge.•We depict banks' credit allocation behavior in a dynamic model with multiple assets.•We quantify the potential impact of climate change on banks via the natural hazard channel.
This cross-sectional study assessed how traditional eating relates to cultural and community factors. Alaska Native adults from the Norton Sound region were recruited and surveyed between 2015-2018 ...for a randomized clinical trial of multiple risk behavior change interventions for cardiovascular disease prevention. Participants (n = 291) were 49% female with a mean age of 47 years (SD = 14). A 34-item food frequency questionnaire assessed consumption of foods traditional and nontraditional to the regional Alaska Native diet. A novel measure, termed the "traditional foods index", was computed as weekly servings of culturally traditional food consumption divided by total foods reported. Overall, the sample's traditional foods index averaged 21%±16%, with higher values reported by participants assessed in summer (23%±17%) than winter (19%±15%, p<0.05); by women (22%±16%) than men (19%±16%, p < .05); and by residents of smaller communities (22%±17%) than the comparatively larger community of Nome (17%±14%, p<0.05). The traditional foods index was correlated with age (r = .26, p < .01), as well as the cultural variables of community connectedness (r = .19, p < .01), community standing (r = .15, p < .01), and traditional language comprehension (r = .19, p < .01). In a multivariate regression model, age, community connectedness, and community standing remained significantly associated with traditional diet. These findings may inform the design and evaluation of community-based, culturally-relevant dietary initiatives for heart health.
Cities are challenged with increasing population growth and need to implement smart solutions to become more resilient to economic, environmental, and social challenges posed by ongoing urbanization. ...This study reviewed business model development frameworks and developed a practical tool to help cities assess business models by adapting components of the Business Model Canvas (BMC) and adding new ones that operationalize the smart city dimensions. The Smart City BMC (SC-BMC) proposed provides a practical framework that supports developing and communicating a more holistic and integrated view of a smart city business model. It also supports creatively innovating toward more sustainable value creation. As a framework, the SC-BMC bridges sustainable value creation for business model development and smart city innovation.
For several decades, the formation of microbial self-aggregates, known as granules, has been extensively documented in the context of anaerobic digestion. However, current understanding of the ...underlying microbial-associated mechanisms responsible for this phenomenon remains limited. This study examined morphological and biochemical changes associated with cell aggregation in model co-cultures of the syntrophic propionate oxidizing bacterium
Syntrophobacterium fumaroxidans
and hydrogenotrophic methanogens,
Methanospirillum hungatei
or
Methanobacterium formicicum
. Formerly, we observed that when syntrophs grow for long periods with methanogens, cultures tend to form aggregates visible to the eye. In this study, we maintained syntrophic co-cultures of
S. fumaroxidans
with either
M. hungatei
or
M. formicicum
for a year in a fed-batch growth mode to stimulate aggregation. Millimeter-scale aggregates were observed in both co-cultures within the first 5 months of cultivation. In addition, we detected quorum sensing molecules, specifically N-acyl homoserine lactones, in co-culture supernatants preceding the formation of macro-aggregates (with diameter of more than 20 μm). Comparative transcriptomics revealed higher expression of genes related to signal transduction, polysaccharide secretion and metal transporters in the late-aggregation state co-cultures, compared to the initial ones. This is the first study to report in detail both biochemical and physiological changes associated with the aggregate formation in syntrophic methanogenic co-cultures.
Keypoints
• Syntrophic co-cultures formed mm-scale aggregates within 5 months of fed-batch cultivation.
• N-acyl homoserine lactones were detected during the formation of aggregates.
• Aggregated co-cultures exhibited upregulated expression of adhesins- and polysaccharide-associated genes.
Graphical abstract
"Why are you learning Zulu?" When Mark Sanders began studying the language, he was often asked this question. InLearning Zulu, Sanders places his own endeavors within a wider context to uncover how, ...in the past 150 years of South African history, Zulu became a battleground for issues of property, possession, and deprivation. Sanders combines elements of analysis and memoir to explore a complex cultural history.
Perceiving that colonial learners of Zulu saw themselves as repairing harm done to Africans by Europeans, Sanders reveals deeper motives at work in the development of Zulu-language learning-from the emergence of the pidgin Fanagalo among missionaries and traders in the nineteenth century to widespread efforts, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, to teach a correct form of Zulu. Sanders looks at the white appropriation of Zulu language, music, and dance in South African culture, and at the association of Zulu with a martial masculinity. In exploring how Zulu has come to represent what is most properly and powerfully African, Sanders examines differences in English- and Zulu-language press coverage of an important trial, as well as the role of linguistic purism in xenophobic violence in South Africa.
Through one person's efforts to learn the Zulu language,Learning Zuluexplores how a language's history and politics influence all individuals in a multilingual society.
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