Bridging silos through governance innovations: the role of the EU cities mission

Cities and local governments are increasingly under pressure to accelerate transformative change in energy and climate transitions. To help cities in their climate actions, the European Commission (EC) has established the EU Cities Mission, which aims for climate neutrality by 2030 for participating cities. The literature argues that one of the main obstacles to accelerating decarbonization lies in organizational divisions and other forms of structural silos. One of the possible ways to address these challenges and accelerate transformation is through governance innovations. The EU Cities Mission is a governance innovation that aims to incentivize and support climate and energy transitions in cities. In this paper, we critically assess the EU Cities Mission’s framework and implementation plan in terms of its potential and possible gaps in addressing different types of silos. To do so, we develop an analytical framework based on academic literature that outlines types of silos and strategies for addressing them. Our results show that key EU Cities Mission documents include several strategies to bridge silos, but that some silos are less frequently addressed. This is particularly the case for silos that rely on political leadership. The paper concludes by drawing out the implications of our findings for the scholarly literature and practice

Local energy autarky:What it means and why it matters

The concept of energy autarky, namely self-sufficient energy production and consumption, gained traction as states and other actors seek alternatives to centralised energy systems and conventional energy sources. This led to discussions about the potential for achieving autarky at various territorial levels, including national, regional, local, and even city district or household. While studies on autarky at the national level exist, the connotations of autarky at the local community level remain underexplored. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by exploring the connotations local communities and stakeholders attach to the state of autarky in local energy systems. Five connotations are identified from the literature, illustrated and reflected upon using a multiple-case study research approach, with six illustrative cases from Denmark, the Netherlands, and India. Results show that energy autarky is a context-dependent concept and that local community members attribute different connotations to it, some of which overlap. Additionally, challenges to autarky in local energy systems follow from local contextual conditions, leading to varying degrees to which communities achieve or even pursue autarky.<br/

Developing a Laser Induced Liquid Beam Ion Desorption Spectral Database as Reference for Spaceborne Mass Spectrometers

Spaceborne impact ionization mass spectrometers, such as the Cosmic Dust Analyzer on board the past Cassini spacecraft or the SUrface Dust Analyzer being built for NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission, are of crucial importance for the exploration of icy moons in the Solar System, such as Saturn's moon Enceladus or Jupiter's moon Europa. For the interpretation of data produced by these instruments, analogue experiments on Earth are essential. To date, thousands of laboratory mass spectra have been recorded with an analogue experiment for impact ionization mass spectrometers. Simulation of mass spectra of ice grains in space is achieved by a Laser Induced Liquid Beam Ion Desorption (LILBID) approach. The desorbed cations or anions are analyzed in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The amount of unstructured raw data is increasingly challenging to sort, process, interpret and compare with data from space. Thus far this has been achieved manually for individual mass spectra because no database containing the recorded reference spectra was available. Here we describe the development of a comprehensive, extendable database containing cation and anion mass spectra from the laboratory LILBID facility. The database is based on a Relational Database Management System with a web server interface and enables filtering of the laboratory data using a wide range of parameters. The mass spectra can be compared not only with data from past and future space missions but also mass spectral data generated by other, terrestrial, techniques. The validated and approved subset of the database is available for general public (https://lilbid-db.planet.fu-berlin.de)

Developing a Laser Induced Liquid Beam Ion Desorption Spectral Database as Reference for Spaceborne Mass Spectrometers

Spaceborne impact ionization mass spectrometers, such as the Cosmic Dust Analyzer on board the past Cassini spacecraft or the SUrface Dust Analyzer being built for NASA's upcoming Europa Clipper mission, are of crucial importance for the exploration of icy moons in the Solar System, such as Saturn's moon Enceladus or Jupiter's moon Europa. For the interpretation of data produced by these instruments, analogue experiments on Earth are essential. To date, thousands of laboratory mass spectra have been recorded with an analogue experiment for impact ionization mass spectrometers. Simulation of mass spectra of ice grains in space is achieved by a Laser Induced Liquid Beam Ion Desorption (LILBID) approach. The desorbed cations or anions are analyzed in a time-of-flight mass spectrometer. The amount of unstructured raw data is increasingly challenging to sort, process, interpret and compare with data from space. Thus far this has been achieved manually for individual mass spectra because no database containing the recorded reference spectra was available. Here we describe the development of a comprehensive, extendable database containing cation and anion mass spectra from the laboratory LILBID facility. The database is based on a Relational Database Management System with a web server interface and enables filtering of the laboratory data using a wide range of parameters. The mass spectra can be compared not only with data from past and future space missions but also mass spectral data generated by other, terrestrial, techniques. The validated and approved subset of the database is available for general public (https://lilbid-db.planet.fu-berlin.de)

Bridging silos through governance innovations: the role of the EU cities mission

Cities and local governments are increasingly under pressure to accelerate transformative change in energy and climate transitions. To help cities in their climate actions, the European Commission (EC) has established the EU Cities Mission, which aims for climate neutrality by 2030 for participating cities. The literature argues that one of the main obstacles to accelerating decarbonization lies in organizational divisions and other forms of structural silos. One of the possible ways to address these challenges and accelerate transformation is through governance innovations. The EU Cities Mission is a governance innovation that aims to incentivize and support climate and energy transitions in cities. In this paper, we critically assess the EU Cities Mission’s framework and implementation plan in terms of its potential and possible gaps in addressing different types of silos. To do so, we develop an analytical framework based on academic literature that outlines types of silos and strategies for addressing them. Our results show that key EU Cities Mission documents include several strategies to bridge silos, but that some silos are less frequently addressed. This is particularly the case for silos that rely on political leadership. The paper concludes by drawing out the implications of our findings for the scholarly literature and practice

Joint AAPM Task Group 282/EFOMP Working Group Report: Breast dosimetry for standard and contrast‐enhanced mammography and breast tomosynthesis

: Currently, there are multiple breast dosimetry estimation methods for mammography and its variants in use throughout the world. This fact alone introduces uncertainty, since it is often impossible to distinguish which model is internally used by a specific imaging system. In addition, all current models are hampered by various limitations, in terms of overly simplified models of the breast and its composition, as well as simplistic models of the imaging system. Many of these simplifications were necessary, for the most part, due to the need to limit the computational cost of obtaining the required dose conversion coefficients decades ago, when these models were first implemented. With the advancements in computational power, and to address most of the known limitations of previous breast dosimetry methods, a new breast dosimetry method, based on new breast models, has been developed, implemented, and tested. This model, developed jointly by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine and the European Federation for Organizations of Medical Physics, is applicable to standard mammography, digital breast tomosynthesis, and their contrast-enhanced variants. In addition, it includes models of the breast in both the cranio-caudal and the medio-lateral oblique views. Special emphasis was placed on the breast and system models used being based on evidence, either by analysis of large sets of patient data or by performing measurements on imaging devices from a range of manufacturers. Due to the vast number of dose conversion coefficients resulting from the developed model, and the relative complexity of the calculations needed to apply it, a software program has been made available for download or online use, free of charge, to apply the developed breast dosimetry method. The program is available for download or it can be used directly online. A separate User's Guide is provided with the software