38796 research outputs found
Sort by
Biodiversity conservation site-based assessment tools: PAME-IMET and PAGE
Get PDFThis report introduces the Protected Area Management Effectiveness (PAME) and the Protected Area Governance and Equity (PAGE) concepts and most frequently used tools and then provides guidelines on the usage of the relative web modules of the BIOPAMA Reference Information System (RIS) developed by JRC.JRC.D.6 - Nature Conservation and Observation
From Nearly Zero-Energy Buildings (NZEBs) to Zero-Emission Buildings (ZEBs): Current status and future perspectives
No full textThe building sector holds a relevant position in decreasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions within the European Union (EU). The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), recently adopted, sets forth ambitious goals to make the EU building stock carbon–neutral by 2050.
Currently, the Nearly Zero-Energy Building (NZEB) standard remains mandatory for all new buildings from 2021 to 2030. This paper assesses the progress of Member States in implementing NZEB standards, based on extensive data collection and harmonization. The findings reveal that the NZEB concept is well-established and average energy performance has improved by about 10 % over the past four years. New NZEB have about 30 % lower energy demand than renovation to NZEB level. However, many countries still lag behind in meeting recommended benchmarks, particularly when looking at the non-renewable energy demand.
Looking ahead, the 2024 revised EPBD sets Zero-Emission Building (ZEB) as the goal for all new buildings starting in 2030. The paper explores how ZEB requirements might evolve from current NZEB definitions. Projections suggest that future ZEBs, which are 10 % more ambitious than current NZEB levels for total primary energy demand, would show better alignment with recommended benchmarks. However, the renewable energy contribution in NZEBs vary from 9 % to 55 %, and integrating enough renewables to meet the ZEB standard of zero on-site carbon emissions remains a challenge. In some countries, the high total primary energy demand can further complicate this goal. The conclusion highlights the need for stricter energy thresholds and further integration of renewables to achieve ZEB requirements.JRC.C.2 - Energy Efficiency and Renewable
In vitro and in vivo study of 221Fr and 213Bi progeny release from the 225Ac-labelled TiO2 nanoparticles
No full textBackground: Targeted alpha therapy (TAT) is an effective option for cancer treatment. To maximize its efficacy and minimize side effects, carriers must deliver radionuclides to target tissues. Most of the nuclides used in TAT decay via the alpha cascade, producing several radioactive daughter nuclei with sufficient energy to escape from the original carrier. Therefore, studying these daughter atoms is crucial in the search for new carriers. Nano- particles have potential as carriers due to their structure, which can prevent the escape of daughter atoms and reduce radiation exposure to non-target tissues. This work focuses on determining the released activity of 221Fr and 213Bi resulting from the decay of 225Ac labelled TiO2 nanoparticles.
Results: Labelling of TiO2 nanoparticles has shown high sorption rates of 225Ac and its progeny, 221Fr and 213Bi, with over 92 % of activities sorbed on the nanoparticle surface for all measured radionuclides. However, in the quasi-dynamic in vitro system, the released activity of 221Fr and 213Bi is strongly dependent on the nanoparticles concentration, ranging from 15 % for a concentration of 1 mg/mL to approximately 50 % for a nanoparticle concentration of 10 μg/mL in saline solution. The released activities of 213Bi were lower, with a maximum value of around 20 % for concentrations of 0.05, 0.025, and 0.01 mg/mL. The leakage of 225Ac and its progeny was tested in various biological matrices. Minimal released activity was measured in saline at around 10 % after 48 h, while the maximum activity was measured in blood serum and plasma at 20 %. The amount of 225Ac released into the media was minimal (<3 %). The in vitro results were confirmed in a healthy mouse model. The difference in %ID/g was clearly visible immediately after dissection and again after 6 h when 213Bi reached equilibrium with 225Ac.
Conclusion: The study verified the potential release of 225Ac progeny from the labelled TiO2 nanoparticles. Ex- periments were performed to determine the dependence of released activity on nanoparticle concentration and the biological environment. The results demonstrated the high stability of the prepared 225Ac@TiO2 NPs and the potential release of progeny over time. In vivo studies confirmed our hypothesis. The data obtained suggest that the daughter atoms can escape from the original carrier and follow their own biological pathways in the organism.JRC.G.I.5 - Nuclear Science and Innovation for Energy and Healt
Cancer Survival
No full textPopulation-based cancer survival statistics indicate the survival of all persons diagnosed with cancer in a given population.
Survival for the different types of cancer differs widely, and survival is usually estimated separately for each type of cancer.
This article illustrates how to estimate and interpret the observed, cause-specific and relative survival proportions, the
proportion of cured patients, the mean survival time and the proportion of persons who die from cancer, and how to obtain
age-standardized estimates and the effects of prognostic factors using regression modeling. Finally, some issues and limits for
the interpretation of the estimates are elucidated.JRC.F.1 - Disease Preventio
JRC Highlights Report 2024
Get PDFThe JRC Highlights Report 2024 focuses on the impact of key JRC contributions in 2024 and celebrates these achievements with external actors directly involved. It shines the spotlight on 11 highlights, as well as providing key facts and figures for the organisation. This Highlights Report stands as an invitation to encourage the reader to learn more about the rest of the JRC’s work.JRC.01 - Communicatio
Putting the Synthetic Global Navigation Satellite System Meta-Signal Paradigm into Practice: Application to Automotive Market Devices
No full textThe synthetic meta-signal reconstruction approach enables the generation of wideband Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) measurements from side-band observations. This approach is of particular interest for automotive market devices where, for instance, hardware constraints do not allow full-band Galileo Alternative Binary Offset Carrier (Alt-BOC) processing. In this paper, the applicability of the synthetic GNSS meta-signal paradigm is extended by introducing a half-cycle ambiguity detector for the reconstructed carrier phases and a jump detector for the pseudoranges. These accessories make the reconstruction approach more robust and suitable for mass market devices. Tests conducted using the STMicroelectronics TeseoV receiver demonstrate the validity and potential of this approach.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit
SKIG Report 2023-2024
Get PDFThe Society for the Advancement of AOPs Knowledgebase Interest Group (SKIG) is a vibrant assembly of more than 40 international experts focused on advancing the Adverse Outcome Pathways (AOP) framework. SKIG operates through regular online meetings, where two or three presentations per session—followed by lively Q&A interactions—delve into both technical and scientific topics critical to the AOP domain, with a particular focus on AOP-Wiki related issues. Presentations cover a broad spectrum of subjects, such as ontology-based harmonization, AI tools for AOP development, the integration of omics data, incorporating temporal aspects into AOPs, automated access to AOP-Wiki contents, the role of physiological maps and other approaches in establishing biological relevance, and many more. This caters to a diverse audience of scientists, regulators, and policymakers, and this dynamic approach allows readers to engage with specific subjects of interest rather than following a chronological sequence when perusing this report. The document also offers a concise summary of practical adaptations implemented in the AOP-Wiki following meeting discussions. Covering the meetings held in 2023 and 2024, the report reflects SKIG's ongoing contributions and indicates that the group will continue to operate in 2025 and beyond. SKIG's work to foster the development and application of AOPs is pivotal in supporting the European Union's policy on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes (Directive 2010/63/EU) and the European Commission’s Roadmap towards phasing out animal testing for chemical safety assessments.JRC.F.3 - Systems Toxicolog
Revised and updated geospatial monitoring of 21st century forest carbon fluxes
No full textEarth observation data are increasingly used to estimate the magnitude and geographic distribution of greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes and reduce overall uncertainty in the global carbon budget, including for forests. Here, we report on a revised and updated geospatial, Earth-observation-based modeling framework that maps GHG emissions, carbon removals, and the net balance between them globally for forests from 2001 to 2023 at roughly 30 m resolution, hereafter referred to as the Global Forest Watch (GFW) model (see the “Code and data availability” section). Revisions address some of the original model's limitations, improve model inputs, and refine the uncertainty analysis. We found that, between 2001 and 2023, global forest ecosystems were, on average, a net sink of −5.5 ± 8.1 Gt CO2e yr−1 (gigatonnes of CO2 equivalent per year ± 1 standard deviation), which reflects the balance of 9.0 ± 2.7 Gt CO2e yr−1 of GHG emissions and −14.5 ± 7.7 Gt CO2 yr−1 of removals, with an additional −0.20 Gt CO2 yr−1 transferred into harvested wood products. Uncertainty in gross removals was greatly reduced compared with the original model due to the refinement of uncertainty for carbon removal factors in temperate secondary forests. After reallocating GFW's gross CO2 fluxes into anthropogenic fluxes from forest land and deforestation categories to increase the conceptual similarity with national greenhouse gas inventories (NGHGIs), we estimated a global net anthropogenic forest sink of −3.6 Gt CO2 yr−1, excluding harvested wood products, with the remaining net CO2 flux of −2.2 Gt CO2 yr−1 reported by the GFW model as non-anthropogenic. Although the magnitude of GFW's translated estimates aligns relatively well with aggregated NGHGIs, the temporal trends differ. Translating Earth-observation-based flux estimates into the same reporting framework that countries use for NGHGIs helps build confidence around land use carbon fluxes and supports independent evaluation of progress towards Paris Agreement goals. The data availability is as follows: carbon removals (Gibbs et al., 2024a, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/V2ISRH), GHG emissions (Gibbs et al., 2024b, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/LNPSGP), and net flux (Gibbs et al., 2024c, https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/TVZVBI).JRC.D.1 - Forests and Bio-Econom
ELSA - Structure of the experimental datasets
Get PDFThe European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA) is the research facility of the European Commission DG JRC investigating the behaviour of structures, materials and components. Its research supports disaster risk management and territorial policies, with a focus on seismic risk reduction, structural safety and security.
This document describes the structure and content of ELSA datasets, which are used to store information on projects, specimens, experiments, and data acquisitions, as well as raw and processed data. Besides being a requisite of the high quality standards of ELSA, this document also provides a guide for internal and external users to access, navigate and understand the shared datasets. This enables the efficient reuse and exploitation of the experimental results of past experimental campaigns.
In line with the vision for open science of the European Commission, ELSA shares the datasets created through its work. The standardised structure of the datasets helps at making information findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR), fostering transparency and collaboration among researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders.
This work is supporting the European Commission's goals for open science and data-driven decision-making, and contributing to the implementation of the European Union's policies on disaster risk reduction and sustainable development of the built environment.JRC.E.3 - Built Environmen
Comparison of Advanced-Technology-Fuel options in soluble boron-free Small Modular Reactors
No full textWater-cooled Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) have gained significant attention as they could be modularised, standardised, and factory-fabricated to reduce capital cost and improve passive safety. However, SMRs often come with lower power density, which makes them less competitive with commercial LWRs. To enhance SMRs’ operation margin, deployment of the Advanced Technology Fuels (ATFs) can be beneficial. Therefore, this study examines the application of short-term ATF solutions in a soluble boron-free (SBF) SMR design inspired by Rolls Royce’s SMR. The analysis integrates neutronic and thermo-mechanical performance evaluations by means of advanced nuclear modelling tools: WIMS, PANTHER, and TRANSURANUS. The study focuses on core design parameters, including reactivity control, power distribution, shutdown margin and other design limits. In addition, fuel performance was investigated in terms of fission gas release (FGR), fuel temperature and cladding strain. The neutronic analyses suggest that the maximum peaking factors of SBF cores are about 15% higher than those of soluble boron-controlled cores. The deployment of FeCrAl cladding, Cr coating of conventional Zricaloy cladding and Cr doping of UO2 fuel have a minor impact on both total power peaking and axial offset. On the other hand, the thermo-mechanical results show that Cr-doped fuel and Cr-coated cladding significantly improve fuel performance, reducing FGR and fuel temperature, while FeCrAl cladding offers limited benefits under the evaluated conditions. Comparative analyses indicate that SBF cores, while operationally viable, present unique design challenges due to a higher power peaking and associated thermal fluctuations, necessitating optimisation of control rod strategies and fuel assembly design. The findings demonstrate the feasibility of incorporating ATFs in SBF SMRs, aligning with European green taxonomy criteria for sustainable nuclear development. This study highlights the potential of combined Cr-doped fuel and Cr-coated cladding as a promising strategy to enhance performance in advanced nuclear reactor designs.JRC.G.I.5 - Nuclear Science and Innovation for Energy and Healt