Alien plants as mediators of ecosystem services and disservices in urban systems: a global review

Urban areas have unique assemblages of species which are governed by novel ecological processes. People living in these environments have specific needs and demands in terms of ecosystem services (ES). Urban ecosystems are transformed in many ways by human activities and their floras comprise a high proportion of alien plant species, many of which were intentionally introduced to provide, augment or restore ES. Urban environments also have novel disturbance regimes and provide colonization sites for the establishment, dispersal and proliferation of alien plant species; such conditions often generate biological invasions which may cause marked changes to ES. We review the roles that alien plants play in providing urban ES and ecosystem disservices (EDS) globally. We identify the main ES and EDS associated with alien plants, and highlight the key species involved. A literature search revealed 335 papers, representing studies in 58 cities or urban areas in 27 countries. These studies recorded 337 alien plant species, contributing to 39 different ES and 27 EDS–310 species were recorded as contributing to ES and 53 species to EDS. A small number of alien plant taxa were frequently recorded as providing multiple ES in many urban ecosystems; the 10 most recorded species accounted for 21% of the ES recorded. Some of these species also result in significant EDS; three species accounted for 30% of the EDS recorded. Cultural services (notably aesthetics) are the most reported ES provided by alien plants in urban areas of developed countries, while provisioning services (notably food production) are most reported in developing countries. The most commonly studied EDS provided by alien plants is the impact on human health (notably allergic reactions). Eighty percent of studies on alien plants and ES and EDS have been done in developed countries. To elucidate the full range of effects of alien plants, more work is needed in developing countries. Urban planners and managers need to be mindful of both the positive and negative impacts of alien plant species to maximise the provision of ES.     

Research Ethics: Beyond the Guidelines

There is international recognition of the need for sustainable research ethics committees to provide ethical review of human subjects research in developing countries, but many developing countries do not have such committees (often called 'IRBs'). Theoretical and practical uncertainties encountered by an IRB on the Caribbean island of Grenada offer insight into ethical review of research in developing countries. Theoretical uncertainties include questions about whether means of ensuring confidentiality and obtaining informed consent will be effective in local settings, and whether deviations from Western norms are justifiable. International guidelines are helpful in addressing these concerns, but are subject to interpretation. Guidelines are less helpful in practical areas like selecting members or chairs. They do not address what sort of procedures and paperwork will work in a developing country, or IRBs' relationships to governments that have no mandate for them. Experiences presented here show that IRBs in developing countries can sustainably adhere to international standards. Sustainability requires knowledge, personal commitment, and an official mandate to uphold international standards. Capacity building must therefore focus on educational programs to make developing country leaders knowledgeable about the value of international guidelines to their nations. Such knowledge is needed before people will become motivated to promote, implement, and uphold the guidelines. People in developing countries must help design bridges to help their nations put international standards into practice. The structure of such bridges may, of necessity, vary in different settings.     

Ethics committees. Research ethics: beyond the guidelines

There is international recognition of the need for sustainable research ethics committees to provide ethical review of human subjects research in developing countries, but many developing countries do not have such committees (often called 'IRBs'). Theoretical and practical uncertainties encountered by an IRB on the Caribbean island of Grenada offer insight into ethical review of research in developing countries. Theoretical uncertainties include questions about whether means of ensuring confidentiality and obtaining informed consent will be effective in local settings, and whether deviations from Western norms are justifiable. International guidelines are helpful in addressing these concerns, but are subject to interpretation. Guidelines are less helpful in practical areas like selecting members or chairs. They do not address what sort of procedures and paperwork will work in a developing country, or IRBs' relationships to governments that have no mandate for them. Experiences presented here show that IRBs in developing countries can sustainably adhere to international standards. Sustainability requires knowledge, personal commitment, and an official mandate to uphold international standards. Capacity building must therefore focus on educational programs to make developing country leaders knowledgeable about the value of international guidelines to their nations. Such knowledge is needed before people will become motivated to promote, implement, and uphold their guidelines. People in developing countries must help design bridges to help their nations put international standards into practice. The structure of such bridges may, of necessity, very in different settings.     

Disease Surveillance Strategies in Swine

Preparations derived from plants were the original therapeutic interventions used by man to control diseases (including parasites), both within humans and livestock. Development of herbal products depended upon local botanical flora with the result that different remedies tended to develop in different parts of the world. Nevertheless, in some instances, the same or related plants were used over wide geographic regions, which also was the result of communication and/or the importation of plant material of high repute. Thus, the Nordic countries have an ancient, rich and diverse history of plant derived anthelmintic medications for human and animal use. Although some of the more commonly used herbal de-wormers were derived from imported plants, or their products, many are from endemic plants or those that thrive in the Scandinavian environment. With the advent of the modern chemotherapeutic era, and the discovery, development and marketing of a seemingly unlimited variety of highly efficacious, safe synthetic chemicals with very wide spectra of activities, herbal remedies virtually disappeared from the consciousness – at least in the Western world. This attitude is now rapidly changing. There is a widespread resurgence in natural product medication, driven by major threats posed by multi-resistant pest, or disease, organisms and the diminishing public perceptions that synthetic chemicals are the panacea to health and disease control. This review attempts to provide a comprehensive account of the depth of historical Nordic information available on herbal de-wormers, with emphasis on livestock and to provide some insights on potentially rewarding areas of "re-discovery" and scientific evaluation in this field.     

Simple compounds with high pharmacologic potential: beta-carbolines. Origins, syntheses, biological properties

We reviewed the origins, the synthetic pathways and the biological properties of beta-carbolines, the condensation products of tryptophan and indole alkylamines with aldehydes. They were found in many plants, some of which have been used as hallucinogens. They also occur as minor constituents in tobacco smoke. In mammalian body, beta-carboline derivatives occur normally in plasma, platelets and urine, moreover it seems that some are formed in human body after alcohol intake. Due to interesting biological effects described in recent years (inhibition of monoamine oxidase, binding to benzodiazepine receptors, comutagenic and carcinogenic properties, 5-hydroxy tryptamine uptake inhibition), many attempts were made to prepare beta-carbolines starting from various indole derivatives. We reviewed the published methods up to 1975 and summarized the main patents related with pharmacological properties of synthetic beta-carbolines.     

在黄土丘陵区土质路面种草

土质道路水土流失是所有人工生态系统中最严重的土地利用类型,土壤侵蚀模数是相同条件下林地的250倍,农村道路修筑破坏了区域生态景观的完整性,为景观生态修复理论与技术研究提供了重要的实验场地。广大山区农村田间地块道路在种植和收获季节以外长期处于闲置状态,这为植物的种植和生长提供了可能。1997～2001年,以中国黄土丘陵区陕西省延安市小砭沟小流域农田道路为背景,以防止和减轻路面汇流引发的水土流失对道路的破坏和修复农村道路景观生态系统为目的,采用小区径流监测、施工统计和定点观测的方法,在路面进行了为期5a的种草实验。研究结果显示,农田作业道路路面不仅可以种草,而且具有一定生态经济价值,在条播下,胡枝子、小冠花、无芒雀麦每km年产值可达1068.88～3150.27元;同时,路面牧草可承受适度的通行压力,禾本科牧草一般可承受300t·次/a以下车辆碾压;道路种植禾本科牧草后,除有机质外,土壤中其它营养成份均有不同程度的亏损,因此有必要补充各种肥料延长路面牧草使用年限和提高牧草防蚀能力;路面种草后径流量减少46.15%～69.30%,土壤侵蚀量减少54.53%～77.80%,建设成本仅为石子路的27.69%～35.99%,维护费用仅为土质道路的30.52%,是一种经济可行的技术途径。道路种草后,路面雨季泥泞、旱季尘土飞扬的劣质景观被蜿蜒的绿色道路景观所取代,形似镶嵌在绵延山谷中的绿飘带,这无论在理论还是技术方面都是生态修复学和景观生态学研究的重要方向之一。     

Metabolic engineering of carotenoid biosynthesis in plants

Carotenoids are one of the most diverse classes of natural compounds. Plant carotenoids are composed of a C40 isoprenoid skeleton with or without epoxy, hydroxy and keto groups. They have fundamental roles in human nutrition as antioxidants and vitamin A precursors and their consumption is increasingly associated with protection from a range of diseases. They are also used commercially as safe food, feed and cosmetic colorants and they protect plants from photooxidative stress. In the past six years many metabolic engineering efforts have been undertaken in plants aiming to improve the nutritional value of staple crops, to enable the use of plants as 'cell factories' for producing specialty carotenoids and to improve plant resistance to abiotic stress.     

广西壮族传统利用的食用色素植物

广西壮族自治区位于我国南疆,属亚热带区域,地形地貌复杂多样,植物资源极为丰富,有高等植物约     

Human urine and chicken feces as fruit fly (Diptera: Tephritidae) attractants for resource-poor fruit growers

We evaluated human urine and chicken feces, two naturally occurring, inexpensive, and readily available substances, as baits for the capture of Anostrepha spp. (Diptera: Tephritidae) by using glass McPhail traps. Two studies were performed simultaneously in a commercial mango orchard in Veracruz, México. In the first study, we compared a 50% water dilution of human urine against hydrolyzed protein, both compounds at the fresh and 5-d-old stages, and water alone (control treatment). In the second study, we tested fresh chicken feces mixed with water, a torula yeast/borax solution at three different ages (1-4, 5-9, and 10-15 d), and water (control treatment). Both human urine and chicken feces were attractive to Anastrepha adults compared with water alone, but attracted two and three times fewer adults than hydrolyzed protein and torula yeast/borax, respectively. However, unlike torula yeast/borax, aging of human urine did not decrease its attractiveness. Five-day old human urine attracted numerically more A. serpentina females than males, similar numbers of A. obliqua males and females, and significantly more sexually immature A. obliqua females than mature ones. Chicken feces proved to be as attractive as the aged torula yeast/borax treatments for A. obliqua and A. serpentina. We argue that because both human urine and chicken feces are cost-free and can be easily obtained, they are viable, low-technology alternatives to costly commercial attractants, particularly for low-income growers or backyard farmers in Mexico and other Latin American countries.     

Identification of ractopamine residues in tissue and urine samples at ultra-trace level using liquid chromatography-positive electrospray tandem mass spectrometry

Beta-agonist compounds are widely used in human therapeutics because of bronchodilator or heart tonic properties; they are also used as growth promoters in food-producing animals. Ractopamine is a forbidden molecule in the EU, but is registered as an additive in other countries such as in the USA for pigs. Consequently, efficient analytical methods were developed to survey residues in edible tissue and urine samples. This paper describes a protocol based on a powerful extraction and purification process and a liquid chromatography-positive electrospray mass spectrometry identification method. A validation was performed according to the "DG SANCO 1805/2000" European decision. The obtained decision limit (CCalpha) and detection capability (CCbeta) were as low as 10 and 30 ng/kg (ppt), respectively. This method appeared very efficient on incurred samples, including porcine edible tissues (meat, liver, kidney), tissues enriched in beta-agonist receptors (lung, retina), and finally bovine urine samples.     

Root architecture

<正>Numerous research publications over the past 20 years have made it quite clear that a better understanding of the molecular and genetic basis for variation in root system architecture(RSA)will greatly aid the development of crop varieties with improved and more ef ficient nutrient and water acquisition under limiting conditions.In many parts of the world,especially in developing     

Anticancer potential of Ferula assa-foetida and its constituents,a powerful plant for cancer therapy

Cancer is one of the main challenges of the health system around the world. This disease is increasing in developing countries and imposes heavy costs on patients and governments. On the other hand, despite various drugs, the death rate among cancer patients is still high and the current treatments have many harmful effects. In the traditional medicine of different countries, there are many medicinal plants that can be effective in the treatment of cancer. Ferula plants are traditionally used as spices and food or for medicinal purposes. Ferula assa-foetida is one of the famous plants of this genus, which has been used for the treatment of various diseases since ancient times. Among the main compounds of this plant, we can mention monoterpenes, sulfide compounds and polyphenols, which can show different therapeutic effects. This article has been compiled with the aim of collecting evidence and articles related to the anti-cancer effects of extracts, derived compounds, essential oils and nanoparticles containing Ferula assa-foetida. This review article was prepared by searching the terms Ferula assa-foetida and cancer, and relevant information was collected through searching electronic databases such as ISI Web of Knowledge, PubMed, and Google Scholar. Fortunately, the results of this review showed that relatively comprehensive studies have been conducted in this field and shown that Ferula assa-foetida can be very promising in the treatment of cancer.     

Mesophilic anaerobic digestion: first option for waste treatment in tropical regions

Rural India derives its energy needs for cooking and heating through the use of fuel wood and for lighting and agricultural operations through kerosene and diesel. Use of fuel wood has aggravated the problem of de-forestation, while availability of kerosene and diesel cannot be guaranteed due to corrupt practices in the public distribution systems. In contrast, urban India derives its energy needs through LPG cylinders, petrol, and electricity. However, their cost and uncertainty rendered them beyond the reach of lower income population. This scenario is more or less true with many developing countries. To meet these objectives, biogas generation from biodegradable waste using anaerobic digestion (AD) appears to be a sustainable avenue as it could be used for (a) water and space heating of farmhouses, animal shelters, (b) generating steam for food processing plants, and (c) electricity generation, in addition to reducing the pollution/hazard potential of these wastes. Many of the underdeveloped and developing countries are in the temperate zone and thus mesophilic AD could provide a desired pathway to achieve a long delayed need of energy for comfortable living, farming, and industrial operations. Efforts made in this direction are reviewed in the present article.     

The genetic manipulation of medicinal and aromatic plants

Medicinal and aromatic plants have always been intimately linked with human health and culture. Plant-derived medicines constitute a substantial component of present day human healthcare systems in industrialized as well as developing countries. They are products of plant secondary metabolism and are involved in many other aspects of a plant's interaction with its immediate environment. The genetic manipulation of plants together with the establishment of in vitro plant regeneration systems facilitates efforts to engineer secondary product metabolic pathways. Advances in the cloning of genes involved in relevant pathways, the development of high throughput screening systems for chemical and biological activity, genomics tools and resources, and the recognition of a higher order of regulation of secondary plant metabolism operating at the whole plant level facilitate strategies for the effective manipulation of secondary products in plants. Here, we discuss advances in engineering metabolic pathways for specific classes of compounds in medicinal and aromatic plants and we identify remaining constraints and future prospects in the field. In particular we focus on indole, tropane, nicotine, isoquinoline alcaloids, monoterpenoids such as menthol and related compounds, diterpenoids such as taxol, sequiterpenoids such as artemisinin and aromatic amino acids.     

Social aspects for sustainability assessment of technologies—challenges for social life cycle assessment (SLCA)

Purpose

Technologies can contribute to sustainable development (e.g., improving living conditions) and at the same time cause sustainability problems (e.g., emissions). Decisions on alternative technologies should thus ideally be based on the principle to minimize the latter. Analyzing environmental, economic, and social aspects related to technologies supports decisions by identifying the “more sustainable” technology. This paper focuses on social issues. First, it discusses the applicability of the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) guidelines for a comparative technology analysis, taking the example of two case studies in developing countries. Indicating technologies as “sustainable” also means that they are indeed operated over the expected lifetime, which, in development projects, is often not guaranteed. Consequently, social aspects related to implementation conditions should be considered in an SLCA study as well. Thus, a second focus is laid on identifying appropriate indicators to address these aspects.

Methods

First, the SLCA guidelines were examined with regard to applying this product-related approach to two real case studies (analysis of technologies/plants for water supply and for decentralized fuel production) for a comparative technology analysis. Suitable indicators are proposed. To address the second focus, a literature research on technology assessment and implementation in developing countries was conducted. Moreover, socioeconomic studies in the investigation areas of the case studies were consulted. Based on this, indicators addressing implementation conditions were identified from the SLCA guidelines and additional literature.

Results and discussion

The study shows social issues and indicators found in the SLCA guidelines and considered suitable for a comparative technology analysis in the case studies. However, for a sustainability assessment of technologies, especially in developing countries, further indicators are required to address technology implementation conditions. A set of additional social indicators like reported trust in institutions or fluctuation of personnel is proposed. Though these indicators were derived based on specific case studies, they can also be suggested to other technologies and are not necessarily limited to developing countries.

Conclusions

The study pointed out that an application of the SLCA guidelines considering the whole life cycle was not (yet) feasible for the case studies considered. This is mainly due to the lack of data. Regarding technology implementation, it was examined which indicators are available in this SLCA approach and which could additionally be integrated and applied. This is relevant as a potential contribution of technologies to sustainable development can only be achieved when the technologies are successfully implemented.     

云南迪庆州传统藏药雪莲资源的保护和可持续利用

对云南省迪庆藏族自治州传统藏药雪莲资源及其利用的状况进行了调查。通过调查发现该地区雪莲植物共有22种及1变种,市场上常当作商品出售的有5种。雪莲每年的贸易量达到55000kg,而且资源利用方式落后,已经造成雪莲特别是二年生的雪莲个体数明显减少,严重威胁了这些物种的生存。依据调查结果,建议提高人们的保护意识,控制雪莲的采集量、限制一年生雪莲采集的时间以及禁止多年生雪莲的采集。     

植物中吡咯里西啶生物碱的检测与分析

吡咯里西啶生物碱广泛分布于植物界。很多吡咯里西啶生物碱对动物和人类有严重的毒性作用,包括肝脏毒性,肺脏毒性,致癌作用,致突变作用和神经毒性等。本文综述了植物中吡咯里西啶生物碱的分离,纯化,检测与分析。     

Cyclospora cayetanensis: biology, environmental distribution and transfer

Cyclospora cayetanensis is an apicomplexan protozoan that has emerged as an important pathogen causing endemic or epidemic diarrheal disease worldwide. In industrialized countries, the parasite has been recognized as the causative agent of several outbreaks of diarrheal illness mostly associated with produce imported from endemic areas. In developing countries, human cyclosporosis is widely distributed. Infection rates from 0% to 41.6% have been described in the general population. However, the epidemiology, biology, and ecology of C. cayetanensis are not fully understood. The life cycle is not completely characterized, although it appears to require a single human host to be accomplished. The role of animals as natural reservoirs of the parasite remains to be determined. Little information is available concerning the environmental distribution and vehicles of transmission of C. cayetanensis. Contaminated water, foods or soil can be vehicles of spread of the parasite. The significant uncertainties that remain in the knowledge of C. cayetanensis highlight the need for continuing research in several areas, including its basic biology and environmental distribution.     

Plants as models for the study of human pathogenesis

There are many common disease mechanisms used by bacterial pathogens of plants and humans. They use common means of attachment, secretion and genetic regulation. They share many virulence factors, such as extracellular polysaccharides and some type III secreted effectors. Plant and human innate immune systems also share many similarities. Many of these shared bacterial virulence mechanisms are homologous, but even more appear to have independently converged on a common function. This combination of homologous and analogous systems reveals conserved and critical steps in the disease process. Given these similarities, and the many experimental advantages of plant biology, including ease of replication, stringent genetic and reproductive control, and high throughput with low cost, it is proposed that plants would make excellent models for the study of human pathogenesis.