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How the structural composition of sectors shapes socio-technical transitions
No full textRecent studies provide compelling evidence that transition dynamics differ between sectors. This paper develops a theoretical framework for analysing the structural composition of a sector and how it shapes transition dynamics. We elaborate a conceptual approach, which emphasizes socio-technical configurations and their degrees of institutionalization and mutual alignment as the key building blocks for analysing sector-specific opportunities, barriers and leverage points for transitions. The framework is illustrated with examples from two sectors that fundamentally differ in their structural composition and resulting transition patterns: 1) Urban Water Management, in which one socio-technical configuration is dominating the field globally, and 2) Urban Mobility, which is characterized by a polycentric combination of configurations that provide mobility services in spatially diversified ways. Juxtaposing these two cases shows that the relevant transition dynamics and scales of intervention fundamentally differ between sectors’ structural compositions, which opens highly constructive avenues for more sector-specific and spatially sensitive theorizing of transition dynamics, and for deriving policy advice
Sustainable urban freight transition governance in small and medium-sized cities
No full textThis study examines how small and medium-sized, logistically prominent cities with climate ambitions govern their urban freight systems toward sustainability. It provides a framework for analyzing cities' governance from a socio-technical transition perspective and explores the interrelations between governance activity design and city administrations' capabilities to manage system development. Comprehensive and coherent governance packages, encompassing strategic, tactical, operational, and monitoring activities, strengthen administrations' capabilities to manage transitions effectively. Despite participating in a government-financed network program aimed at climate neutrality, the cities demonstrate substantial variations in their urban freight governance. The research reveals that city administrations operate with limited and fragmented resources, constraining their ability to pursue comprehensive governance packages and making them more dependent on coordinated efforts across geographic regions and governance levels than larger cities. Their governance activities exhibit unspecific transition visions and goals, inconsistent approaches to leveraging innovation potential, weak monitoring mechanisms, and insufficient inter-city learning. Only one city strategically addresses cooperation and networking with the explicit purpose of governing its urban freight system toward sustainability. This research offers empirical insights into urban freight governance in small and medium-sized cities while advancing theoretical understanding of interlinkages between governance activities, system development, and process complexities. For practitioners, the study offers an analytical framework and visualizations for assessing urban freight governance. For policymakers, the findings provide actionable insights to support urban freight transitions in similar cities, suggesting three critical support mechanisms: incentives and network arenas to address low political prioritization, frameworks for designing comprehensive governance packages, and stable cross-level coordination to reduce complexity and enhance stakeholder engagement
Media Analysis of Racism and Speciesism (MARS) test finds Oscars so AnthropoScenic in contemporary animated films
No full textIntroduction: Animation transfers human races into animals, serving as a prime site for speciesism and racism.Methods: Testing this observation on recent examples, our quantitative/qualitative study delves into a nine-year (2016-2024) span of Oscar-nominated animated feature and short films. We theorize how to make incisive, quantitative/qualitative, balanced trans-species intersectionality the foundation of critical research on racism and speciesism. We offer the Media Analysis of Racism and Speciesism Test (MARS test), a practical tool accessible to scholars, creators, and general viewers for analyzing character portrayals and interactions, helping identify and challenge normalized racist and speciesist storylines.Results: Insufficient number of films yielded transspecies allyship.Discussion: The MARS test is for anyone who is interested in ways film and other media offer questionable implications regarding racism and speciesism that call for accountability
N-Methylquinuclidinium versus N,N-Dimethylpiperidinium Cations on Flexible Side Chains in Anion Exchange Membranes
No full textThe conductivity and stability of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) may be significantly enhanced by attaching the cations to the polymer backbones via flexible side chains. Here, we have tethered polydimethylfluorene with the bicyclic “cage-like” N-methylquinuclidinium (PdF-Qui) and the monocyclic N,N-dimethylpiperidinium (PdF-Pip) cations, respectively, via flexible side chains and studied key AEM properties. Morphological investigations revealed efficient ion clustering in both AEMs, with OH– conductivities exceeding 120 mS cm-¹ at 80 °C. Alkaline stability studies showed no ionic loss or structural changes of PdF-Qui after storage in 5 M aqueous NaOH solution at 90 °C for 360 h. In contrast, the benchmark PdF-Pip suffered a 7% loss under the same conditions, primarily via Hofmann elimination. This work presents an efficient synthetic strategy to tether N-methylquinuclidinium cations to polymers for AEMs combining outstanding alkaline stability, efficient ionic clustering, and high OH– conductivity
Deep learning-driven investigation of nanoplastic impacts on soil protist behavior in soil chips
No full textNanoplastics are emerging environmental contaminants that increasingly threaten soil ecosystems, yet their effects on microbial behavior remain poorly understood. This is mainly due to the lack of experimental tools capable of directly observing microbial dynamics in situ under realistic soil-like conditions. Here, we present a proof-of-concept system that enables real-time, high-throughput monitoring of soil protists within microfluidic soil chips under nanoplastic exposure. Using microscopy video analysis integrated with a deep learning-based detection model and a transformer-based trajectory reconstruction algorithm, we quantitatively measured the movement of three morpho-/locomotion type groups–flagellates, ciliates, and amoebae–across a gradient of nanoplastic concentrations (0, 2, and 10 mg/L). Our results showed reduced movement velocities for flagellates and ciliates under high nanoplastic conditions with a 24%–30% reduction in speed, while no effect on amoebae was detected. The trajectory data also provides novel insights into how protists navigate soil-like structures. Beyond these specific findings, our approach establishes a transformative framework for observing microbial life directly within its microenvironment, comparable to how animal behavior is monitored in ecological studies. By bridging real-time imaging and artificial intelligence, this method offers a new angle to study protist–environment interactions without the need for culture extraction. It opens the door to rethinking how microbial ecology, soil contamination, and biotic responses to environmental stressors are investigated, advancing opportunities from static, population-level measurements to dynamic, behavioral-level understanding within realistic habitats
ADAM17 and related epithelial injury markers in bronchoalveolar lavage and blood distinguish COPD from controls
No full textBACKGROUND: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has many known dysregulated inflammatory proteins. A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 17 (ADAM17) is a protease that sheds several proteins involved in COPD pathogenesis. The aim was to investigate ADAM17, its phosphorylated form (pADAM17) and its substrates in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and blood from COPD and control subjects. METHODS: Groups were matched by sex, age, BMI and smoking status to compare between COPD, smoking and never smoking control subjects. The expression of ADAM17 and pADAM17 was assessed using immunofluorescence in BAL cells (n = 6-13). Concentrations of soluble ADAM17 and its substrates were quantified using ELISA or Luminex in BAL fluid (BALF, n = 11-14) and blood (n = 10-30). RESULTS: COPD BAL samples had more ADAM17+ and pADAM17+ cells than controls and intracellular localisations were observed in epithelial cells of subjects with a smoking history. These elevations coincided with higher concentrations of several of the ADAM17 substrates in BALF from Smokers and COPD subjects, most prominently was the increased BALF HB-EGF found in COPD but not Smokers. Other changes in blood were also mostly related to epithelial injury and repair. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight an overabundance of ADAM17 and pADAM17 in COPD airways that is accentuated beyond smoking-induced changes. This broad catalytic-complex analysis has both combined individual biomarkers and discovered more novel disease-specific biomarkers that may all relate to the overarching functionality of ADAM17 in COPD, warranting further investigation into the role this enzyme plays in COPD pathogenesis
Barriers and opportunities for dynamic adaptation of coastal railways
No full textRailways are vital for climate mitigation as a low-carbon mode of transport but must also be resilient to climate change impacts. This study explores dynamic adaptation strategies for coastal railway infrastructure in Sweden, focusing on Trelleborg. Stakeholder workshops informed adaptation pathways using a Dynamic Adaptive Pathways Planning Light (DAPP)-light approach, which enhances stakeholder engagement and supports long-term decision-making under uncertainty. A Windows of Opportunity framework was applied to assess governance conditions for implementation. Findings show that railway adaptation must be integrated with broader urban planning. Key barriers include fragmented responsibilities, rigid land use policies, limited funding, and reluctance to engage in long-term planning. Opportunities lie in reframing existing policies, fostering intersectoral collaboration, and adopting incremental planning
Systemic and local decorin levels mirror the clinical course of pancreatic cancer
No full textDespite significant progress in oncology research, pancreatic cancer remains inherently difficult to treat, and the mechanisms underlying therapeutic resistance remain unresolved. Decorin (DCN), a member of the family of small leucine-rich proteoglycans, has emerged as a versatile actor in various malignant diseases. The aim of this study was to further explore the potential clinical significance of DCN in pancreatic cancer, both regarding its dynamics in serum during chemotherapy and its compartmental and cellular distribution in tumour tissue. To this end, repeated on-treatment levels of soluble DCN were measured using proximity extension assay in 124 patients enrolled in a prospective, observational clinical study, inviting patients diagnosed with pancreatic or other pancreatobiliary-type periampullary adenocarcinoma eligible for adjuvant (n = 30) or first-line palliative (n = 94) chemotherapy. Multiplexed immunofluorescence was applied to map DCN and the associated immune landscape in resected tumours. The results showed increasing levels of DCN in serum after initiation of chemotherapy in palliative, but not in adjuvant, patients. A higher rate of change of serum DCN was an independent adverse prognostic factor in both treatment settings. There was no significant association between systemic levels and local DCN expression. Varying expression of DCN was denoted in both tumour cells, immune cells and stroma, but the prognostic significance was mainly assigned to its expression in B cells. In particular, a higher percentage of DCN positive B cells, overall and in interaction with tumour cells, were independent predictors of shorter survival. In summary, this study is the first to demonstrate the potential clinical utility of on-treatment monitoring of systemic DCN in patients with pancreatic cancer. The findings also provide interesting leads for further research into how DCN may interact with the immune microenvironment to promote tumour development and the emergence of chemoresistance
How overdischarge destabilizes NCM cathodes : A combined study on structural evolution and chemical states
No full textOverdischarge poses severe challenges to the structural integrity and electrochemical performance of layered LiNixCoyMn1-x-yO2 (NCM) cathodes in lithium-ion batteries, yet the underlying degradation mechanisms remain insufficiently understood. Through a combined experimental and theoretical approach, this study systematically investigates how overdischarge destabilizes NCM cathodes with varying transition metal (TM) ratios (NCM442, NCM523, NCM811). Electrochemical analysis reveals that deep discharge to 0.8 V forces excessive lithiation, generating anomalously high initial capacities (>700 mAh g−1) but causing severe capacity fade in cycling. Characterizations including hard X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) demonstrates irreversible structural changes which follow a Ni-content-dependent trend (NCM811 > NCM523 > NCM442). Density functional theory (DFT) calculations unveil that the progressive lithiation causes over-reduction of TM oxides and formation of unique Li-O-Li configurations with reactive orphaned oxygen (85 % in Li3TMO3 for NCM811), which impedes structural recovery. The overdischarge voltage plateaus were theoretically predicted and aligns well with experimental findings. These findings provide fundamental insights into overdischarge induced degradation and practical guidelines for optimizing voltage windows of NCM cathodes