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This paper offers both theoretical and empirical analyses to explore energy justice from a policy perspective. We first propose a framework that explicitly connects core functions of clean energy policy instruments (i.e., regulation, financial incentive, government provision, information, and education program) to philosophical groundings of energy justice-distributive, procedural, and recognition justice. To empirically explore distributive energy justice, we examine the racial and socioeconomic disparities in three government-driven clean energy programs in the United States, including (1) the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) smart-grid investment grant (SGIG); (2) utility smart-meter roll out programs; and (3) city government adoption of green buildings. Results showed that the amount of ARRA funding awarded to utilities was closely related to racial composition. Inequalities were also found in utility smart-meter programs. Utilities operating in communities with a larger Hispanic population were less likely to initiate smart-meter roll out. The intensity of smart-meter technology implementation was positively correlated with education levels. Our third empirical case showed that government procurement policy can improve distributive equity for energy-efficient buildings. However, its spillover effects on the private sector can result in more adoptions in areas with fewer minorities and more highly-educated residents.

Tao Tang,1,* Hao Jiang,1,* Yuan Yu,2,* Fang He,1 Shi-zhao Ji,1 Ying-ying Liu,1 Zhong-shan Wang,1 Shi-chu Xiao,1 Cui Tang,3 Guang-Yi Wang,1 Zhao-Fan Xia1 1Department of Burn Surgery, The Second Military Medical University Affiliated Changhai Hospital, 2Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, The Second Military Medical University, 3State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China *These authors contributed equally to this work Objective: To accelerate wound healing through promoting vascularization by using reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsive nanoparticles loaded with stromal cell-derived factor-1α (SDF-1α).Methods: The ROS-reactive nanomaterial poly-(1,4-phenyleneacetone dimethylene thioketal) was synthesized, and its physical and chemical properties were characterized. ROS-responsive nanoparticles containing SDF-1α were prepared through a multiple emulsion solvent evaporation method. The loading capacity, stability, activity of the encapsulated protein, toxicity, and in vivo distribution of these nanoparticles were determined. These nanoparticles were administered by intravenous infusion to mice with full-thickness skin defects to study their effects on the directed chemotaxis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, wound vascularization, and wound healing.Results: The synthesized ROS-reactive organic polymer poly-(1,4-phenyleneacetone dimethylene thioketal) possessed a molecular weight of approximately 11.5 kDa with a dispersity of 1.97. ROS-responsive nanoparticles containing SDF-1α were prepared with an average diameter of 110 nm and a drug loading capacity of 1.8%. The encapsulation process showed minimal effects on the activity of SDF-1α, and it could be effectively released from the nanoparticles in the presence of ROS. Encapsulated SDF-1α could exist for a long time in blood. In mice with full-thickness skin defects, SDF-1α was effectively released and targeted to the wounds, thus promoting the chemotaxis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells toward the wound and its periphery, inducing wound vascularization, and accelerating wound healing. Keywords: reactive oxygen species, stromal cell-derived factor-1α, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, wound healing

AbstractThe multitube design in the shell-and-tube type latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) system has received intensive attention due to its promising benefits in enhancing heat storage efficiency. In this paper, single and multi-tube shell LHTES systems were experimentally investigated. First, this study experimentally compared the thermal characteristics between a multiple-tube heat exchanger (MTHX) and a single-tube heat exchanger (STHX). The STHX's geometrical parameters coincided with a virtual cylindrical domain in the MTHX, being similar to the single-tube model formulated by simplifying the numerical solution to investigate the MTHX. The experimental data was then used to validate the simplified numerical model commonly used in the literature that converted the multi-tube problem to a single-tube model by formulating a virtual cylindrical domain for each tube in the MTHX system. The results showed that there was a noticeable difference in the thermal characteristics between the actual STHX and the virtual cylindrical STHX domain in the MTHX system. The comparison indicated that the simplified numerical model could not accurately reflect the thermal performance of the MTHX system. An experimental study or three-dimensional numerical modelling was required for the thermal analysis of the multi-tube problems. Second, the effect of tube number in the MTHX was experimentally investigated. It was found that an increase in tube number boosted both charging and discharging rates without inhibiting the natural convection. The five-tube configuration decreased the total charging and discharging duration by 50% compared to the two-tube one. Finally, the effect of heat transfer fluid (HTF) operating parameters on the system performance was evaluated on the five-tube MTHX system. The results revealed that the adoption of higher HTF temperature considerably improved the charging performance. The charging time decreased by up to 41% with the HTF temperature increasing from 70 to 80 °C. Meanwhile, a variation in the HTF flow rate from 5 to 20 L/min showed a more pronounced influence on charging than on discharging due to the different dominant heat transfer mechanisms.

Peach was domesticated in China more than four millennia ago and from there it spread world-wide. Since the middle of the last century, peach breeding programs have been very dynamic generating hundreds of new commercial varieties, however, in most cases such varieties derive from a limited collection of parental lines (founders). This is one reason for the observed low levels of variability of the commercial gene pool, implying that knowledge of the extent and distribution of genetic variability in peach is critical to allow the choice of adequate parents to confer enhanced productivity, adaptation and quality to improved varieties. With this aim we genotyped 1,580 peach accessions (including a few closely related Prunus species) maintained and phenotyped in five germplasm collections (four European and one Chinese) with the International Peach SNP Consortium 9K SNP peach array. The study of population structure revealed the subdivision of the panel in three main populations, one mainly made up of Occidental varieties from breeding programs (POP1OCB), one of Occidental landraces (POP2OCT) and the third of Oriental accessions (POP3OR). Analysis of linkage disequilibrium (LD) identified differential patterns of genome-wide LD blocks in each of the populations. Phenotypic data for seven monogenic traits were integrated in a genome-wide association study (GWAS). The significantly associated SNPs were always in the regions predicted by linkage analysis, forming haplotypes of markers. These diagnostic haplotypes could be used for marker-assisted selection (MAS) in modern breeding programs. ; This work has been funded by the EU seventh Framework Programme (http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/index_en.cfm) through the project "FruitBreedomics: Integrated Approach for increasing breeding efficiency in fruit tree crops" (Grant #FP7- 265582; http://fruitbreedomics.com/); by the Ministero delle Politiche Agricole Alimentari e Forestali -Italy (MiPAAF, http://www.politicheagricole.it) through the project ''DRUPOMICS: Sequenziamento del genoma del pesco ed utilizzo della sequenza in programmi di miglioramento della qualita` del frutto del pesco e della resistenza alle malattie'' (Grant # DM14999/7303/08) and "ESPLORA: Esplorazione della biodiversità vegetale ed animale alla ricerca di alleli superiori da inserire nei programmi avanzati di miglioramento genetico a sostegno dell'agricoltura nazionale" (Grant #DM 14658/7303/10); by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (http://www.micinn.es/) through the project AGL2012-40228-C02-01 (uso de la secuencia genomica para la caracterizacion de la variabilidad intraclonal e interespecifica en Melocotonero y almendro) and by the INIA (http://www.inia.es/) through the Project RF2012-00024-C04-04 ("conservación y caracterización de germoplasma introducido"). ; Peer reviewed