Electric vehicle (EV) sales have been rapidly growing around the world, spurred by technology advances and policy actions. This study leverages rich data on all individual new light-duty vehicles sold in the United States from 2014 to 2020. We examine how EV attributes, prices, and sales have evolved, exploring substantial heterogeneity across geography, vehicle class, price range, and demographics. We use a matching analysis to compare EVs to similar conventional vehicles to find that EVs have been surprisingly competitive in very recent years. This suggests that constrained supply is an important determinant of the low overall EV market share.
Fighting climate change has become a major task worldwide. One of the key energy sectors to emit greenhouse gases is transportation. Therefore, long term strategies all over the world have been set up to reduce on-road combustion emissions. In this context, the road freight sector faces significant challenges in decarbonization, driven by its limited availability of low-emission fuels and commercialized zero-emission vehicles compared with its high energy demand. In this work, we develop the Mobility and Energy Transportation Analysis (META) Model, a python-based optimization model to quantify the impact of transportation projected policies on freight transport by projecting conventional and alternative fuel technologies market acceptance as well as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Along with introducing e-fuels as an alternative refueling option for conventional vehicles, META investigates the market opportunities of Mobile Carbon Capture (MCC) until 2050. To accurately assess this technology, a techno-economic analysis is essential to compare MCC abatement cost to alternative decarbonization technologies such as electric trucks. The novelty of this work comes from the detailed cost categories taken into consideration in the analysis, including intangible costs associated with heavy-duty technologies, such as recharging/refueling time, cargo capacity limitations, and consumer acceptance towards emerging technologies across different regions. Based on the study results, the competitive total cost of ownership (TCO) and marginal abatement cost (MAC) values of MCC make it an economically promising alternative option to decarbonize the freight transport sector. Both in the KSA and EU, MCC options could reach greater than 50% market shares of all ICE vehicle sales, equivalent to a combined 35% of all new sales shares by 2035.
To distinguish the respective potential of endurance and resistance training to increase the satellite cell pool, we investigated the effects of 14 weeks of concurrent lower body endurance and upper body resistance training (3 sessions/week) on vastus lateralis (VLat) and deltoid (Del) muscles of 10 active elderly men. NCAM+ satellite cells and myonuclear number were assessed in VLat and Del. After 14 weeks of training the NCAM+ satellite cell pool increased similarly (+38%) in both muscles, mainly in type II muscle fibers (P < 0.05). There was no significant change in myonuclear number or myonuclear domain in either muscle. Combining resistance training in the upper limbs with endurance training in the lower limbs is an efficient strategy to enhance the satellite cell pool in upper and lower body muscles in elderly subjects. Our results provide a practical reference for the determination of optimal exercise protocols to improve muscle function and regeneration in the elderly.
Localization of cerebral electrical activity of emotional states on the basis of electrophysiological recordings is an important area of investigation in recent years. This field was explored to locate the sources of the emotions in the cortex. The theory that every emotion can have a unique trigger center in the cortex was followed. A precise and accurate method was used, the Trilateration, recognized in the GPS networks, which deduces the points of interest from the distances. This method gave the exact coordinates of the generating points of emotions in the surface area of cortex under the influence of modulating thalamic nuclei. It was found that the energies are stronger in the occipital and parietal part of the brain. Moreover the frontal part plays the role of inhibitor and stimulator of emotions.
Endurance and resistance training (ET and RT, respectively) in older subjects have been proven beneficial against metabolic or cardiovascular disorders and against sarcopaenia respectively. Like ET, RT may also increase muscle oxidative capacities. In addition, it could be questioned whether RT, similarly to ET, is able to increase muscle energetic stores such as intra-myocellular lipids (IMCL) and glycogen contents. To evaluate a possible ET- and RT-induced parallel increase in oxidative capacity and energetic stores, active elderly men (72 ± 2 years) were submitted to a 14-week training programme (three times week(-1) ) combining lower body endurance and upper body resistance.Muscle samples were collected in ET vastus lateralis (VLat) and RT deltoid (Del) muscles before and after training. IMCL and glycogen contents were assessed by histochemistry (Oil Red O and periodic acid-Schiff staining, respectively) and by biochemical assay for glycogen. Citrate synthase (CS, marker of mitochondrial citric acid cycle), β-hydroxyacyl coenzyme A dehydrogenase (β-HAD, beta-oxidation) and phosphofructokinase (PFK, glycolytic pathway) activities were determined and so was the capillary interface index (LC/PF).Both training regimens significantly increased CS and LC/PF in ET-VLat and RT-Del. IMCL content and β-HAD activity increased (P < 0.05) only in ET-VLat, whereas PFK activity increased (P < 0.05) only in RT-Del. Glycogen content was not significantly altered in response to training in both muscles.Unlike RT, which induced an increase in PFK, ET is able to increase IMCL content and β-oxidation capacity in active elderly men, even though both training may improve CS activity and LC/PF.
The Electroencephalogram recording system plays a very important role to identify seizure occurrence and its severity range. Thus, it requires long-term video monitoring and visual interpretation from expert. In this paper, an intelligent seizure prediction algorithm is proposed allowing the prediction and localization of ictal excessive discharges and the control of consciousness impairment. The Extended Kalman Filter is employed to predict seizure occurrence. Secondly, a Spherical Spline interpolation algorithm is used to enhance the EEG spatial resolution. The algorithm was tested on 24 epileptic patients from two different databases. The proposed Method predict occurrence of all seizures before an average of 8 minutes, correctly localize ictal epileptic discharges and control their propagation on the scalp. These findings highlight the capacity to automatically extract useful spatio-temporal features from Cranial EEG.
<i>Aim: </i>To compare the maximal power output (MPO) of subjects presenting a central adiposity to those of controls and to study the links between plasma leptin or indices of insulin sensitivity (QUICKI) and physical fitness (PF). <i>Methods:</i> MPO was determined for 169 middle-aged men divided into two groups according to waist circumference (WC– < 94 cm, WC+ ≧ 94 cm) each subdivided in two subgroups with low and high PF (WC-L, WC-H, WC+L, WC+H) determined from the median MPO relative to fat free mass (3.06 W/kg<sub>FFM</sub>). <i>Results: </i>MPO (W/kg<sub>FFM</sub>) was lower in WC+ than in WC–. Expressed relative to fat mass, leptin was lower and QUICKI higher in WC– than in WC+. In WC+H, leptin and QUICKI were significantly less disturbed than in WC+L and were independently correlated to MPO (r = –0.36 and r = 0.32 respectively; p < 0.001). In WC+, when visceral perimeter was added to the analysis, the relationships MPO/leptin remained significant but not MPO/QUICKI. <i>Conclusion: </i>The low PF in subjects with abdominal obesity is independently linked to plasma leptin and insulin sensitivity even if leptin and insulin may share common pathways in their peripheral effects. Visceral adiposity participates to the link between MPO and QUICKI, but not between MPO and leptin.
