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What are ‘disruption’ and ‘disruptive innovation’? And what relevance do they have for energy transformation? Ten critical perspectives offer ten contrasting responses to these questions. The relevance of Christensen’s canonical definition of disruptive innovation is highly contested in its applicability to energy and climate challenges, as is the usefulness of analysing discrete business models or technologies rather than socio-technical systems. Further research on disruptive innovation and energy transformation needs to tackle: (i) the social, systemic and emissions impact of widespread adoption; (ii) how to mitigate the adverse distributional consequences of disruption; (iii) the consumer appeal of ‘good enough’ products for users marginalised or excluded from mainstream markets; (iv) the role of incumbents in system transformation; and (v) the reasons for geographic variation in disruption processes currently underway.

This paper systematically compares modeled rates of change provided by global integrated assessment models aiming for the 2. °C objective to historically observed rates of change. Such a comparison can provide insights into the difficulty of achieving such stringent climate stabilization scenarios. The analysis focuses specifically on the rates of change for technology expansion and diffusion, emissions and energy supply investments. The associated indicators vary in terms of system focus (technology-specific or energy system wide), temporal scale (timescale or lifetime), spatial scale (regional or global) and normalization (accounting for entire system growth or not). Although none of the indicators provide conclusive insights as to the achievability of scenarios, this study finds that indicators that look into absolute change remain within the range of historical growth frontiers for the next decade, but increase to unprecedented levels before mid-century. Indicators that take into account or normalize for overall system growth find future change to be broadly within historical ranges. This is particularly the case for monetary-based normalization metrics like GDP compared to energy-based normalization metrics like primary energy. By applying a diverse set of indicators alternative, complementary insights into how scenarios compare with historical observations are acquired but they do not provide further insights on the possibility of achieving rates of change that are beyond current day practice.

This DoD BCRP HBCU Partnership Training project was designed to enhance Delaware State University (DSU) breast cancer research resources. We have performed a multifaceted training of a cadre of DSU faculty to study breast cancer and establish an independent research program at DSU through a joint DSU-University of Pennsylvania (UPENN) research project focused on breast cancer risk disparity in minority populations. This introduction gives a brief overview of the training and research activities performed on this project, which are detailed in the body of the report., The original document contains color images.

This chapter describes selected technical, social, and policy approaches to reducing energy demand. It focuses in particular on efforts to improve energy efficiency in buildings and concentrates mostly on energy reduction in homes (including domestic technologies and appliances) rather than other building types, industry, or transport. This chapter addresses the ways in which energy use is (and is not) problematized. The framing of the problem affects the types of solutions that researchers and policymakers propose. A broader framing of the “problem” of energy demand could contribute to a wider set of solutions. As explained further below, we argue that the dominant frame for energy research is based on positivist reasoning and that other epistemological approaches, such as constructivism and interpretivism, could contribute to further understanding and additional novel policy approaches.

During this no-cost extension year, we continued to do data analysis of the ACRIN database by improving original solutions with a construction of web-based data center for this project. By merging source data, converted data and computed data together to create a relational database and developing facilitating functions, we implemented various kinds of data selection requirements in terms of SQL statements, and apply further statistics routines to discover more hidden correlations among different quantifies. We updated the design of the software pipeline and a computer demo of real-time simulation of breast anatomy and imaging, and developed proof for computational complexity of the simulation algorithm and demonstrated its asymptotic efficiency., The original document contains color images.

This year we continue our partnership between Delaware State University and University of Pennsylvania. We finalized ACRIN data transfer on MIRC and resolved issues with various batch transfers. We performed a preliminary query of the ACRIN data aimed at identifying the prevalence of women with incomplete visualization of the breast. We developed a code to estimate the breast cancer risks using the demographic metadata information from the ACRIN cases. We estimated breast densities for GE mammograms from the ACRIN database, using the software developed at the University of Pennsylvania. A novel breast image registration method is proposed to obtain a composite mammogram from several images with partial breast coverage, for the purpose of accurate breast density estimation. We designed a method to improve thickness control of the Cooper s ligaments in the simulation algorithm by reducing dents on the ligaments surface., The original document contains color images.

Chapter 17 explores possible transformational pathways of the future global energy system with the overarching aim of assessing the technological feasibility as well as the economic implications of meeting a range of sustainability objectives simultaneously. As such, it aims at the integration across objectives, and thus goes beyond earlier assessments of the future energy system that have mostly focused on either specific topics or single objectives. Specifically, the chapter assesses technical measures, policies, and related costs and benefits for meeting the objectives that were identified in Chapters 2 to 6 , including: • • • • providing almost universal access to affordable clean cooking and electricity for the poor1 ; limiting air pollution and health damages from energy use; improving energy security throughout the world; and limiting climate change.

Since its national debut in 1987, Fresh Air with Terry Gross has been a highly acclaimed and much adored weekday magazine among public radio listeners. Each week, nearly 4.8 million people turn to Peabody Award-winning host Terry Gross for insightful conversations with the leading voices in contemporary arts and issues. The renowned program reaches a global audience, with over 620 public radio stations broadcasting Fresh Air, and 3 million podcast downloads each week. Fresh Air has broken the mold of 'talk show' by weaving together superior journalism and intimate storytelling from modern-day intellectuals, politicians and artists alike. Through probing questions and careful research, Gross's interviews are lauded for revealing a fresh perspective on cultural icons and trends. Her thorough conversations are often complemented by commentary from well-known contributors. Fresh Air is produced at WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and broadcast nationally by NPR., (1.) GEORGE CRILE (CRY-l) was a producer for 60 Minutes and 60 minutes II. He died in 2006. We'll listen back to an interview with Crile about his book 'Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History.' A film based on the back will be released this month. During the 1980s billions of rounds of ammunition and hundreds of thousands of weapons were smuggled into Afghanistan for the Afghan mujahideen in their fight against the invading Soviet Union. Charlie Wilson was the congressman from east Texas who took up the cause of the Afghan fighters, funneling money their way thru his position on the House Appropriations Committee and with the help of a CIA operative. In the second half of the show, we'll hear from CHARLIE WILSON himself. He has since retired from congress and is now a lobbyist.(Original airdate: 5/13/03)(2.) R & B musician IKE TURNER died this week. He was 76. Turner was responsible for shaping early rock n' roll, co-writing and playing piano on the 1951 song 'Rocket 88' with his band Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats. Turner's legacy as a songwriter and bandleader was tarnished when his ex-wife TINA TURNER revealed that their thirteen year marriage was marred with drug abuse and domestic violence. IKE TURNER discovered singer Anna Mae Bullock in 1958 and renamed her TINA TURNER. Soon after, she joined his renamed band, the Ike and Tina Turner Revue. (Original airdate: 8/22/96)