Sustainable intensification of crop residue exploitation for bioenergy: Opportunities and challenges

Crop residue exploitation for bioenergy can play an important role in climate change mitigation without jeopardizing food security, but it may be constrained by impacts on soil organic carbon (SOC) stocks, and market, logistic and conversion challenges. We explore opportunities to increase bioenergy potentials from residues while reducing environmental impacts, in line with sustainable intensification. Using the case study of North Rhine‐Westphalia in Germany, we employ a spatiotemporally explicit approach combined with stakeholder interviews. First, the interviews identify agronomic and environmental impacts due to the potential reduction in SOC as the most critical challenge associated with enhanced crop residue exploitation. Market and technological challenges and competition with other residue uses are also identified as significant barriers. Second, with the use of agroecosystem modelling and estimations of bioenergy potentials and greenhouse gas emissions till mid‐century, we evaluate the ability of agricultural management to tackle the identified agronomic and environmental challenges. Integrated site‐specific management based on (a) humus balancing, (b) optimized fertilization and (c) winter soil cover performs better than our reference scenario with respect to all investigated variables. At the regional level, we estimate (a) a 5% increase in technical residue potentials and displaced emissions from substituting fossil fuels by bioethanol, (b) an 8% decrease in SOC losses and associated emissions, (c) an 18% decrease in nitrous oxide emissions, (d) a 37% decrease in mineral fertilizer requirements and emissions from their production and (e) a 16% decrease in nitrate leaching. Results are spatially variable and, despite improvements induced by management, limited amounts of crop residues are exploitable for bioenergy in areas prone to SOC decline. In order to sustainably intensify crop residue exploitation for bioenergy and reconcile climate change mitigation with other sustainability objectives, such as those on soil and water quality, residue management needs to be designed in an integrated and site‐specific manner.     

Evolutionary dynamics in an SI epidemic model with phenotype-structured susceptible compartment

When modeling infectious diseases, it is common to assume that infection-derived immunity is either (1) non-existent or (2) perfect and lifelong. However there are many diseases in which infection-derived immunity is known to be present but imperfect. There are various ways in which infection-derived immunity can fail, which can ultimately impact the probability that an individual be reinfected by the same pathogen, as well as the long-run population-level prevalence of the pathogen. Here we discuss seven different models of imperfect infection-derived immunity, including waning, leaky and all-or-nothing immunity. For each model we derive the probability that an infected individual becomes reinfected during their lifetime, given that the system is at endemic equilibrium. This can be thought of as the impact that each of these infection-derived immunity failures have on reinfection. This measure is useful because it provides us with a way to compare different modes of failure of infection-derived immunity.

     

Feeding behavior and trophic niche partitioning between co-existing river otter species

Niche partitioning occurs among coexisting populations to reduce the effects of competitive exclusion among species of similar niche. The aim of the present study is to verify the trophic niche partitioning and feeding behavior between two mustelids, the Giant otter and the Neotropical otter, through the dry and rainy season hydrologic of the Lower Xingu River. Our results suggest that the diets of both mustelids are composed primarily of fish of the family Anostomidae (Headstanders). Despite extensive niche overlap, our results indicate partitioning is facilitated by differences in niche breadth, with potential implications for conservation of both species in the case of declines in prey abundance and diversity. Both species inhabit an area recently impacted by completion of the Belo Monte Hydropower Plant, resulting in large changes to the hydrologic regime. Thus, our results provide important information for conservation efforts regarding the feeding behavior and co-occurrence of both species, as well as providing a baseline for monitoring future health of these mustelid populations. The present study is the first to test the hypothesis of niche partitioning between these two mustelids outside a protected area in the Amazon.

     

Oxidative/nitrative stress in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis: are antioxidants beneficial?

Abstract

Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a multisystem autoimmune disease: characterised from the clinical side by progressive vasculopathy and fibrosis of the skin and different organs and from the biochemical side by fibroblast deregulation with excessive production of collagen and increased expression of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate oxidase 4 (NOX4). The latter contributes to an overproduction of reactive oxygen species that through an autocrine loop maintains NOX4 in a state of activation. Reactive oxygen and nitrogen species are implicated in the origin and perpetuation of several clinical manifestations of SSc having vascular damage in common; attempts to dampen oxidative and nitrative stress through different agents with antioxidant properties have not translated into a sustained clinical benefit. Objective of this narrative review is to describe the origin and clinical implications of oxidative and nitrative stress in SSc, with particular focus on the central role of NOX4 and its interactions, to re-evaluate the antioxidant approaches so far used to limit disease progression, to appraise the complexity of antioxidant treatment and to touch on novel pathways elements of which may represent specific treatment targets in the not so distant future.     

Preliminary histopathological study of intra-articular injection of a novel highly cross-linked hyaluronic acid in a rabbit model of knee osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease mostly occurring in the knee and commonly seen in middle-aged and elderly adults. Intra-articular injection of hyaluronic acid has been widely used for treatment of knee osteoarthritis. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of intra-articular injection of a novel highly cross-linked hyaluronic acid, alone or in combination with ropivacaine hydrochloride and triamcinolone acetonide, on knee articular cartilage in a rabbit model of collagenase-induced knee osteoarthritis. After induction of experimental osteoarthritis by intra-articular injection of collagenase, adult New Zealand white rabbits (n = 12) were divided into 3 groups. Group 1 (control group) received 0.3 ml phosphate buffered saline into the right knee joint. Group 2 received 0.3 ml cross-linked hyaluronic acid (33 mg/ml) into the right knee joint. Group 3 received a mixture of 0.15 ml cross-linked hyaluronic acid (33 mg/ml), 0.05 ml ropivacaine hydrochloride 1 % and 0.1 ml triamcinolone acetonide (10 mg/ml) into the right knee joint. Intra-articular injections were given 4 weeks after first collagenase injection and were administered once a week for 3 weeks. Gross pathology and histological evaluation of rabbits’ knee joints were performed after 16 weeks following initial collagenase injection. Histological analysis of sections of right knee joints at lesion sites showed a significant decrease in Mankin’s score in groups treated with hyaluronic acid alone or in combination with ropivacaine hydrochloride and triamcinolone acetonide versus control group (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01 respectively). This evidence was consistent with strong articular degenerative changes in control right knee joints (grade III osteoarthritis), while the treated groups revealed less severe articular degenerative changes (grade II osteoarthritis). The present results show that cross-linked hyaluronic acid, alone or in combination with ropivacaine hydrochloride and triamcinolone acetonide, produces a significant improvement in knee articular cartilage degeneration in a rabbit model of collagenase-induced osteoarthritis.     

Dynamics of a biofouling community in finfish aquaculture: a case study from the South Adriatic Sea

Biofouling is one of the challenges that can strongly affect the finfish farm economy. Although several studies on biofouling in aquaculture have been conducted in the Mediterranean Sea, they focused on specific taxa or were limited to a particular period of sampling. The present study investigated for the first time the development, composition and variation in a biofouling community in a finfish farm with immersion time, season and depth. The results indicate that all these factors influence biofouling succession and recruitment. Moreover, the species that had a crucial role in structuring the community and in the farm cleaning activities were the ascidian Styela plicata and the bivalve Mytilus galloprovincialis. Compared with the literature data, the results highlight the heterogeneity in the composition of the biofouling present in the Mediterranean Sea. Moreover, such knowledge of the biofouling community could provide important information about management efforts and the costs that farmers will face when siting new fish farms.     

Influence of Food Resources on the Ranging Pattern of Northern Pig-tailed Macaques (Macaca leonina)

Food availability may influence primates’ home range size and use. Understanding this relationship may facilitate the design of conservation strategies. We aimed to determine how fruit availability influences the ranging patterns of a group of northern pig-tailed macaques (Macaca leonina) living around the visitor center of Khao Yai National Park, Thailand. We predicted that macaques would increase their range during low fruit abundance periods to gather high-quality food and that they would go where there are more fruits or more fruits of particular species. We also predicted that human food, linked to human presence, would attract the macaques. We followed the macaques and recorded their diet and movements within their home range. We superimposed a grid on kernels defining the monthly home range surface to compare spatially macaques’ travel and the availability of fruits measured on botanical transects. Our results showed that the macaques increased their monthly home range in March, probably to obtain newly available fruits. During high fruit abundance seasons, they spent more time near particular fruit species. In August and September, although fruits became rare again, macaques kept their home range large, perhaps to find enough fruits as supplies dwindled. Finally, from October to February, they decreased their monthly home range size while consuming human food, a high-quality item. In conclusion, the macaques used several ranging strategies according to fruit availability. However, we think that, without human food, macaques would tend to increase their range during low fruit abundance periods, as predicted.     

Type-1 (CB1) Cannabinoid Receptor Promotes Neuronal Differentiation and Maturation of Neural Stem Cells

Neural stem cells (NSCs) are self-renewing cells that can differentiate into multiple neural lineages and repopulate regions of the brain after injury. We have investigated the role of endocannabinoids (eCBs), endogenous cues that modulate neuronal functions including neurogenesis, and their receptors CB₁ and CB₂ in mouse NSCs. Real-time PCR and Western blot analyses indicated that CB₁ is present at higher levels than CB₂ in NSCs. The eCB anandamide (AEA) or the CB₁-specific agonist ACEA enhanced NSC differentiation into neurons, but not astrocytes and oligodendrocytes, whereas the CB₂-specific agonist JWH133 was ineffective. Conversely, the effect of AEA was inhibited by CB₁, but not CB₂, antagonist, corroborating the specificity of the response. CB₁ activation also enhanced maturation of neurons, as indicated by morphometric analysis of neurites. CB₁ stimulation caused long-term inhibition of the ERK1/2 pathway. Consistently, pharmacological inhibition of the ERK1/2 pathway recapitulated the effects exerted by CB₁ activation on neuronal differentiation and maturation. Lastly, gene array profiling showed that CB₁ activation augmented the expression of genes involved in neuronal differentiation while decreasing that of stemness genes. These results highlight the role of CB₁ in the regulation of NSC fate and suggest that its activation may represent a pro-neuronal differentiation signal.