On‐Bill Financing Programs to Support Low‐Carbon Energy Technologies: An Agent‐Oriented Assessment

On‐bill financing (OBF) schemes have been welcomed as innovative mechanisms for encouraging the adoption of low‐carbon energy technologies. Yet while the potential effects of these schemes have received growing attention, less is known about their actual performance. Departing from New Institutional Economics and insights from Behavioral Economics, this theory‐driven assessment examines the How$mart^® program in Kansas (United States) and the Green Deal in the United Kingdom. The study identifies the mechanisms designed to trigger behavioral change and technology adoption. We focus on market agents, and related market failures and behavioral anomalies that often prevent energy efficiency improvements. The paper adds to our theoretical and empirical understanding of public and utility‐driven OBF programs applied to the residential sector. Our findings suggest that simple, carefully designed on‐bill programs, where the financing of efficient technologies takes the form of a service rather than a loan, are more effective for the diffusion of low‐carbon energy technology and the reduction of transaction costs. At the same time, on bill‐financing schemes challenge the core business of utilities, and given the complexities and dynamics of energy efficiency markets and energy use, other policy interventions are needed.     

Responses to the Clean Power Plan: Factors Influencing State Decision‐Making

In 2015, President Obama introduced the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a federal plan aimed at reducing the production of carbon pollution from power plants. In response, some used legal action to try and stop the plan, while others supported the plan and proceeded with plans for its implementation. This research investigates responses taken by state government in terms of legal remedies and planning for implementation, and what explains those responses. Findings suggest that partisanship plays a key role. Specifically, the partisanship of the attorney general is correlated with the legal response, and the governor with implementation planning. Coals, and perhaps renewables, also seem to play a role, even controlling for partisanship. There is only weak evidence for the effect of policy experience and none for the estimated cost of the policy. The article concludes by discussing the implications of these results for the future of climate policy in the United States.     

Analysis of the testimonial evidence of Portugal’s first major forensic case: part II

The crime possibly perpetrated by a doctor named Vicente Urbino de Freitas in 1890 is one of the most famous cases of poisoning, and it had echoes in the Portuguese and foreign press for several decades. This prestigious doctor was convicted of the fatal poisoning of his nephew. He also attempted the homicide of two nieces and their mother-in-law, who only escaped because they obstinately refused to comply with the “therapeutics” prescribed by the family doctor. The motive of the crime should have been Vicente Urbino de Freitas’ ambition to receive the family inheritance of his wife, the daughter of the well-known merchant José António Sampaio of Flores Street in Porto. Vicente Urbino de Freitas was convicted but doubt about his guilt persists for more than a century. This second work aimed to collect and analyse all the relevant and contradictory testimonial evidence of the prosecution and defence witnesses. This case represents an odd historical record obtained through more than 12 years of research on the first major significant Portuguese forensic case. Rare and unprecedented testimonial evidence and photographs were obtained from different countries and then repaired, since these also provide an important historical record of the medical photography.     

Inside Lobbying on the Regulation of New Plant Breeding Techniques in the European Union: Determinants of Venue Choices

In July 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union decided that new plant breeding techniques (NPBTs) fall within the scope of the restrictive provisions on genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Previously, various actors had lobbied in order to influence the European Union’s (EU’s) regulatory decision on NPBTs. This study examines the venue choices taken by Cibus, a biotech company that promoted NPBT deregulation. It shows that the firm bypassed the EU level and that it lobbied competent authorities (CAs) in certain member states to gain support for the deregulation of NPBTs. Cibus chose the CAs because their institutional “closedness” reduced the risk of the debate over the deregulation of NPBTs becoming public. However, the CA’s specific competences and their influence on EU decision making were of likewise importance. The firm lobbied CAs based in Finland, Germany, Ireland, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Two factors appear to have influenced Cibus’ choices for these countries: high‐level political support for agribiotech and the high relevance of biotech sectors. In contrast, public support for GMOs turned out to have hardly any influence, and virtually no association could be observed for the agricultural application of biotechnology in the past nor for the weakness of domestic anti‐GMO lobby groups. Finally, the in‐depth study on Germany affirms that “closedness” was important for Cibus’ choices and reveals that technical information served as a venue‐internal factor that influenced the firm’s choices.     

The Political Viability of Carbon Pricing: Policy Design and Framing in British Columbia and California

The adoption of climate policies with visible, substantial costs for households is uncommon because of expected political backlash, but British Columbia's carbon tax and California's cap‐and‐trade program imposed such costs and still survived vigorous opposition. To explain these outcomes, this article tests hypotheses concerning policy design, framing, energy prices, and elections. It conducts universalizing and variation‐finding comparisons across three subcases in the two jurisdictions and uses primary sources to carry out process tracing involving mechanisms of public opinion and elite position‐taking. The article finds strong support for the timing of independent energy price changes, exogenous causes of election results, reducing the visibility of carbon pricing, and using public‐benefit justifications, as well as some support for making concessions to voters. By contrast, the effects of the use of revenue, industry exemptions/compensations, and making polluters pay are not uniform, because the effects of revenue use depend on how it is embedded in coalition building efforts and a middle path between exempting or compensating industry and burdening it appears to be more effective than pursuing just one or the other approach.     

单核细胞趋化蛋白1及其受体在冠心病猝死中的表达

目的：探讨单核细胞趋化蛋白1（monocyte chemotactic protein-1,MCP-1）及其受体CC类趋化蛋白受体2（CC chemokine receptor-2,CCR-2）在冠心病猝死（sudden coronary death,SCD）和非SCD冠状动脉粥样硬化斑块中的差异表达。方法应用免疫组织化学方法检测MCP-1和CCR-2在SCD组、动脉粥样硬化组（冠状动脉粥样硬化但非SCD）、对照组（冠状动脉正常）的差异表达。结果 MCP-1在三组间的阳性细胞表达率分别是78%、47%、0%,两两比较差异均有统计学意义（P＜0.05）;CCR-2在三组间的阳性细胞表达率分别是72%、47%、0%,在SCD组和动脉粥样硬化组、SCD组与对照组表达差异均有统计学意义（P〉0.05）,而在对照组和动脉粥样硬化组差异无统计学意义（P〉0.05）。结论冠状动脉粥样硬化斑块中的MCP-1及其受体CCR-2的表达增加与SCD密切相关。     

鸡毒霉形体TM-1基因原核表达载体的构建及表达

对从含有鸡毒霉形体H3株TM 1基因的大肠埃希氏菌DH5α中提取的质粒,进行EcoRⅠ和SalⅠ双酶切,获得了大约为786bp的目的片段。将此片段与经EcoRⅠ和SalⅠ双酶切的线性原核表达载体pET 30a 1连接,转化宿主菌BL21(DE3),筛选阳性克隆。提取质粒,经酶切、PCR扩增和测序分析确证其插入正确,从而构建成了重组表达载体。阳性克隆用IPTG诱导表达,表达产物经SDS PAGE电泳分析,证明其分子质量约为29ku;Western blotting分析表明,该蛋白可被鸡毒霉形体阳性血清识别,具有生物学活性。     

口蹄疫病毒结构蛋白VP1基因的克隆及其在大肠埃希氏菌中的表达

利用RT PCR技术 ,用包容口蹄疫病毒完整VP1基因的引物从口蹄疫分离株 (China/99 2 )中扩增得到一约 75 0bp的DNA片段 ,克隆后 ,经对该片段的核苷酸序列进行测序和同源性比较 ,显示其与国外同源参考序列 (O1K/66)的同源性为 80 .44% ,与国内同型参考株 (HB/WH/99)的核苷酸序列的同源性达 99.0 6%。随后以重组质粒pGEM VP1为模板 ,用特异性表达引物扩增得到目的基因VP1 (65 0bp) ,对目的基因和表达载体 pGEX 4T 1分别以相同的限制性内切酶酶切后构建成重组表达载体 ,转化宿主菌BL2 1 (DE3 )后得到重组质粒pGEX VP1 ,经酶切及PCR鉴定筛选出阳性克隆 ,测序证明目的基因正确插入到表达载体。用IPTG诱导VP1基因的表达 ,收集不同时间的菌液进行SDS PAGE电泳、Western blotting分析检测。结果表明 ,结构蛋白VP1基因可在大肠埃希氏菌中表达 ,表达产物的分子量约为 5 3ku ,并能被口蹄疫阳性血清所识别。经薄层扫描分析 ,表达蛋白约占菌体蛋白总量的 2 0 .0 0 %。证明口蹄疫病毒结构蛋白VP1基因可在大肠埃希氏菌中高效表达 ,且表达产物有一定的生物学活性