Latest news with #July2022
The Independent
3 hours ago
- Business
- The Independent
Will a heatwave help your solar panels perform better?
High temperatures can slightly reduce the efficiency of solar panels, despite longer daylight hours increasing overall generation. solar panels perform optimally at 25 degrees Celsius or below, with efficiency decreasing by approximately 0.34-0.5 percentage points for each degree above this temperature. During the UK's record 40.3°C heatwave in July 2022, good solar panels operated at about 5 per cent below their peak efficiency. Despite the heat, the commercial solar sector performed well during the record heatwave, contributing 8.6 per cent of the UK's electricity needs that day. Investing in solar panels can be beneficial for homeowners, with payback periods ranging from 5 to 13 years depending on factors like system size, roof orientation, and electricity usage patterns. solar panels have a long lifespan of up to 30 years, making them a viable long-term investment, especially with future heatwaves expected to be longer and hotter in the UK.
BBC News
3 days ago
- Climate
- BBC News
Will heatwaves become our new normal?
The world is getting hotter, and the rate of temperature rise is faster than at any point in recorded history. According to climate scientists at NASA, external, the speed of change since the mid-20th century is a weather forecaster I'm all too aware how we are already feeling the impact of higher temperatures. What would have been a 'hot' day 30 years ago, would now be considered pretty normal - during our cooler spells people often tell me they feel 'hard-done by'. Whilst it is nice to be the bearer of 'good' weather news, it is becoming harder to report on heatwaves as a good news story without talking about the bigger picture of our changing climate and addressing the impact it is having on our lives In the filming of 'Heatwaves: The New Normal' I had the chance to delve deeper into the issues facing us as a society about coping with spells of extreme heat. From the physical impacts on our bodies, to rethinking the way we build our homes, to exacerbating the spread of wildfires - this issue affects so many aspects of our lives. How often do we see extreme heat in the UK? The average global temperature has risen by just over 1.1C since the pre-industrial era. This might not sound like a lot but it is enough to drive a large increase in the frequency, intensity and duration of heatwaves. In the UK, a number of major heatwaves have occurred in recent years, including during the record-breaking summer of July 2022 in which we saw the first official recording of temperatures exceeding 40°C.I was working at the BBC Weather Centre when we hit that record temperature. A national emergency was declared and The Met Office issued the first Red Extreme Heat Warning. It was something I never thought I would experience during my heatwave of summer 2022 was described by the Met Office as "a milestone in UK climate history" and deemed "virtually impossible" without human-induced climate fact the Met Office says that heatwaves are now 30 times more likely than before the industrial revolution and are projected to potentially occur every other year by the 2050s. How do our bodies handle this heat? Like many people, I love getting outside to walk or run, and I was interested to know what effect higher temperatures would have on me doing these things I love.I visited Loughborough University and had the chance to try out their heat chambers which can simulate a range of weather conditions.I got a taste of how it felt to exercise in temperatures of up to 40C - simulating the UK's hottest ever day - whilst running on a treadmill. It was an eye opening heart rate increased rapidly and I started to feel really thirsty and exhausted as my body tried to process the extra heat. I experienced a very mild taste of how 'heat stress' can affect the body - and see just how anyone and everyone can become vulnerable very quickly. The impact of extreme heat on drought and the spread of wildfires Of course it is not just the body that extreme heat affects. Droughts and wildfires can also be associated with factors affect droughts. Scientists are still studying the links between human-induced climate change and the risk of drought events. What we do know is that extreme heat increases evaporation of moisture from the ground leading to drier ground. Drier ground heats up more quickly, which in turn pushes the temperature of the air above it even the UK's warmest and sunniest spring on record, and the driest in more than 130 years, drought has been officially declared by the Environment Agency in north-west England and Yorkshire. Much of Scotland is experiencing moderate or significant water scarcity, and Welsh Water have also declared a drought developing zone for parts of the end of April this year the area of the UK burnt by wildfires was already higher than any year for more than a decade. During filming, I saw first hand the devastation caused, fuelled by dried out vegetation. Scientists expect the UK to see an increase in weather conditions conducive to extreme wildfires as the temperature increases, even though there's variation from year to year.A study led by the Met Office, external, found that the extreme "fire weather" that helped spread the destructive blazes of July 2022 when we experienced those record breaking temperatures were made at least six times more likely by human-caused climate change.
Medscape
03-06-2025
- Business
- Medscape
Tocilizumab, Alone or With Methotrexate, Potent in Active RA
Subcutaneous tocilizumab, either as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate, demonstrated greater efficacy than methotrexate alone and was well tolerated in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) who had an inadequate response to conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs). METHODOLOGY: Researchers conducted a phase 3 trial at 19 sites in China between July 2017 and August 2022 to evaluate the efficacy of subcutaneous tocilizumab, administered either as monotherapy or in combination with methotrexate, in 340 patients with moderate to severe active RA (mean age, 47.5 years; 86.5% women). The patients had a diagnosis of RA for ≥ 6 months, had received methotrexate for ≥ 12 weeks, experienced treatment failure with at least one csDMARD (including methotrexate), had at least six swollen joints and at least eight tender joints, and had either a high-sensitivity C-reactive protein level ≥ 4 mg/L or an erythrocyte sedimentation rate ≥ 28 mm/h. Patients were randomly assigned to receive tocilizumab-methotrexate combination therapy (n = 136), tocilizumab monotherapy with placebo (n = 136), or methotrexate monotherapy with placebo (n = 68) for 24 weeks. Tocilizumab (162 mg) was administered subcutaneously once every 2 weeks, and methotrexate (10-25 mg) was administered orally once every week. Patients achieving a Disease Activity Score in 28 joints of ≤ 3.2 after 24 weeks continued their randomly assigned treatment, whereas those with a score > 3.2 switched to unblinded tocilizumab-methotrexate treatment. The primary efficacy endpoint was the proportion of patients who achieved a ≥ 20% improvement in the American College of Rheumatology (ACR20) response criteria at 24 weeks, with long-term efficacy analyzed at 48 weeks and safety monitored for 56 weeks. TAKEAWAY: The ACR20 response rate at 24 weeks was higher in the tocilizumab-methotrexate combination therapy (52.9%) and tocilizumab monotherapy (50.0%) groups than in the methotrexate monotherapy group (25.0%), with significant differences of 27.9 and 25.0 percentage points, respectively ( P < .001 for both). < .001 for both). Long-term efficacy analysis at 48 weeks showed maintained or improved efficacy in patients continuing tocilizumab monotherapy or tocilizumab-methotrexate combination therapy, with an improved disease status in those who switched to unblinded tocilizumab-methotrexate treatment at 24 weeks. Tocilizumab was well tolerated as both monotherapy and in combination with methotrexate, with no new safety signals. IN PRACTICE: 'Subcutaneous tocilizumab, both as monotherapy and in combination with methotrexate, had clinically significant efficacy compared with methotrexate monotherapy in Chinese patients with moderate to severe active RA,' the authors wrote. SOURCE: This study was led by Tian Liu, MD, Peking University People's Hospital in Beijing, China. It was published online on May 19, 2025, in JAMA Network Open . LIMITATIONS: Only Chinese patients were included, thus limiting the generalizability of the findings. Researchers did not include imaging analysis. The recruitment was extended over a period of 4 years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, which resulted in missing the efficacy assessments and tocilizumab administration in some patients. DISCLOSURES: This study received funding from and was conducted in collaboration with F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. Three authors reported receiving grants from various pharmaceutical companies, including Roche. Two authors reported being employed by Roche (China) Holding.
