Life Cycle Assessments for Waste, Part III: The Case of Paint Packaging Separation and General Conclusions

This is the final paper of a series of three on the use of LCA in a strategic EIA made for the second Dutch National Hazardous Waste Management Plan (NHWMP). A comparison of two options for paint packaging waste separation is given: cryogenic versus shredder-flush separation. The high liquid nitrogen use in the cryogenic process, and particularly the energy needed to produce it, tends to make the cryogenic process environmentally less favourable. As for the other technology comparisons in the EIA, no particular problems arose. The EIA passed its peer review successfully and survived a very extensive public review procedure, in spite of the fact that it supported decisions involving very high financial stakes. Several lessons can be learned from this experience. First, LCA is a suitable tool in strategic EIAs on waste. Second, time-consuming, interactive public participation in LCA is no precondition for public acceptance — a process ofstakeholder deliberation that ensures that the practitioner knows the relevant perspective is enough. Third, high decision stakes do not automatically demand very extensive LCA work. Our experience shows that LCAs just above screening level can provide robust support to decisions involving dozens of million Euros. More extensive work would not have lead to more specified preferences. Rather, in our view, being well aware of the key discussion points in advance which are seen as relevant for the comparison by stakeholders, and having good insight in the related inherent limits of LCA, is the key to optimal decision support with LCA.     

Development of sensitive enzyme immunoassay for human nerve growth factor.

We prepared anti-recombinant human nerve growth factor (hNGF) antibody IgG and characterized its property immunologically. This antibody IgG reacted with some animal NGFs, especially with bovine NGF, on immunodiffusion analysis. Using this antibody IgG, we developed a sensitive two-site enzyme immunoassay (EIA) system for human NGF, based on the biotin-streptoavidin system. NGF at a concentration as low as 0.02 pg/well (corresponding to 8 x 10(-19) mol) could be measured with high reproducibility. The sensitivity of this EIA was equal to that of our EIA for mouse NGF. With this EIA, the detection limit of other mammalian NGFs was reduced in parallel with the degree of decrease in amino acid sequence homology between them and hNGF.     

The diagnostic effectiveness of an immunoenzyme test system for determining diphtheria toxin antigens in the blood serum in a clinical laboratory trial

The data on the approbation of the diagnostic value of the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) system for the determination of diphtheria toxin in the blood sera of diphtheria patients and persons suspected for diphtheria are presented. The EIA system was prepared on the basis of F(ab)2 fractions of purified antidiphtheria antibodies. 240 serum samples from diphtheria and tonsillitis patients and from healthy persons were studied. Diphtheria toxin was determined in all patients with the toxic form of diphtheria and in 41.3% of patients with its localized forms. Blood was taken mainly of the first week of the disease. In healthy persons the results of EIA were negative. Thus, the trial of the assay system in a clinical laboratory showed its good diagnostic effectiveness. The use of this EIA system in medical practice is believed to be quite promising.     

Immunoenzyme analysis of the serological activity of the structural modifications of a synthetic antigen simulating the O-determinant 4 of Salmonellae

The comparison of the copolymer of 2-O-(alpha-abequosy)-alpha-alyl-alpha-mannopyranoside and acrylamide (AMA), used as a synthetic antigen, with its natural prototype, Salmonella typhimurium lipopolysaccharide, in the enzyme immunoassay (EIA) has revealed that the serological activity of AMA is related to the specific content of antigenic determinants in its molecule. The analysis of the serological specificity of AMA indicates that this specificity corresponds to factor 4 of Salmonella O-antigen. The high activity and monofactor specificity of the synthetic antigen AMA suggest that the use of this antigen in EIA as a diagnostic preparation holds good promise.     

A short history,principles, and types of ELISA,and our laboratory experience with peptide/protein analyses using ELISA

Playing a critical role in the metabolic homeostasis of living systems, the circulating concentrations of peptides/proteins are influenced by a variety of patho-physiological events. These peptide/protein concentrations in biological fluids are measured using various methods, the most common of which is enzymatic immunoassay EIA/ELISA and which guide the clinicians in diagnosing and monitoring diseases that inflict biological systems. All the techniques where enzymes are employed to show antigen–antibody reactions are generally referred to as enzymatic immunoassay EIA/ELISA method. Since the basic principles of EIA and ELISA are the same. The main objective of this review is to present an overview of the historical journey that had led to the invention of EIA/ELISA, an indispensible method for medical and research laboratories, types of ELISA developed after its invention [direct (the first ELISA method invented), indirect, sandwich and competitive methods], problems encountered during peptide/protein analyses (pre-analytical, analytical and post-analytical), rules to be followed to prevent these problems, and our laboratory experience of more than 15 years.     

马传染性贫血病病毒结构模型的建立

通过电子显微镜多种技术的观察和研究,明确了马传染性贫血病病毒的典型形态结构,即呈球形,表面附有顶端带钮状物的纤突,病毒膜为三层(单位膜),病毒基质充填于病毒膜和核芯亮之间,核芯壳呈园锥形,核芯为螺旋结构。在此基础上建立了马传染性贫血病病毒的结构模型。这是国内外首次报道,为深入研究该病毒和其有关病毒的特性奠定了基础,并为该病毒的分类提供了形态学依据。     

Mutagenesis as viewed from another perspective

Mutation has generally been considered a random process, not directed. Thus, a mechanism allowing for adaptively responsive mutagenesis has conceptually been precluded. However, an adaptively directed mutagenesis in response to environmental stress can be based upon genetic mutator systems. Such systems, known for years, have been seen as exceptional and not considered in terms of an adaptively responsive mutagenesis. Environmental stress which invokes this type of mutagenesis can thus be regarded as mutagenic itself, and our concept of what is mutagenic must therefore be broadened. Relevant matters are also discussed.     

环境影响评价的尺度约束性及技术框架

尺度约束是地表复杂系统的基本规律,环评尺度约束常隐存于主观经验或零存于环评导则中,环评尺度约束较少被明确关注。讨论了环境影响尺度约束、环评尺度约束和环评技术框架尺度约束。研究发现,环境影响的尺度约束性内在原因在于环境影响主体、客体和影响内容存在等级结构;环评受空间、时间和分析三类尺度约束,空间尺度约束体现于空间范围和空间信息分辨率对环评影响,时间尺度约束体现于环评的时长和时频,分析尺度约束表现为环评技术方法和环境影响主观认知水平对评价的影响,三类尺度约束同时贯穿于环评过程,任何环评都可以在三类尺度空间中定位;环评技术框架的关键环节都受空间、时间和分析尺度约束,且以环境影响主体的空间、时间尺度为核心,具有一定弹性,一般空间或时间范围先放大再缩小、分辨率由粗到细。     

Comparative evaluation of two commercially available antigen enzyme immunoassays (EIA) for the detection of Legionella pneumophila urinary antigen in frozen non-concentrated urine samples

We evaluated two commercial enzyme immunoassay kits, Binax EIA (for detection of soluble antigen of Legionella pneumophila serogroup 1) and Biotest EIA (for detection of antigens of Legionella pneumophila serogroups and other Legionella spp.) in order to introduce this test routinely for the diagnosis of Legionnaires' disease (LD) in our Laboratory. Frozen non-concentrated urine samples belonging to 45 patients with and without LD were tested. The sensitivity of Binax EIA and Biotest EIA was 47.4% and 42.1% respectively, the specificity was 95% by both tests. Biotest did not detect antigen from a patient with culture-proven infection of L. pneumophila serogroup 6. The detection of urinary antigen by both EIA tests is a useful tool for rapid diagnosis of LD, especially when samples are unavailable for culture; the sensitivity may be increased if the assay is performed on unfrozen and concentrated samples.     

Regulation and Control of Multiple Pathways of Respiratory Metabolism in Relation to Other Physiological Functions in Higher Plants

This account presents the views of the author on the functional and regulatory aspects of respiratory metabolism in higher plants: Control of metabolism (by enzymes) and the interaction of respiration with the other physiological functions in the living plant (metabolic control). This concept, formulated in the early fifties (ref. 47), was presented in part in 1965 (ref. 2) based on experiments performed mostly by the author and his colleagues and by his co-workers in this country. After an interruption of a decade, during which his work was discontinued, a more complete formulation of his views are given here based on results reported by workers in this field in other countries during that period. The more complete view can now be 'summarized as follows: Respiratory metabolism is the process whereby a part of the material stored in the plant (organism) is converted into biological work (function) for maintaining its state of being alive, while the other part of the same material is converted into substances of higher degrees of orderliness (negative entropy) in the form of structure and organization. Within limits imposed by the genetic potential, these processes are controlled by enzymes which in turn are regulated by internal and external factors. The above statement is essentially a special expression of a general view on the functional aspects of living organisms given in the author’s earlier book, Green Thral- dom (Alien & Unwin, London, 1949). If the above theme finds acceptance, it follows, as stated earlier (ref. 14), that: 1. Respiratory metabolic pathways must be multiple ("multilineal") and multi- directional; 2. They must be interacting, not only with themselves, but also with other functions in the plant, alternatingly in time and separately in space (compartmentation); 3. There must be mutual interactions among the pathways and func- tions regulated by enzymes which in turn are regulated through external and internal factors. This functional and regulatory concept of respiratory metabolism in higher plants are now summarized by the following expressions: 1. CH2O + O2→>Xl→X2→H2O + CO2 + E ↓↓ Y1 Y2 in which E = Energy, X1, X2 etc. represent intermediate products, and Y1, Y2 etc. represent anabolic products of different composition and different degrees of complexity. 2. Borrowing from the second law of thermodynamics, the free energy △G deri- ved from process 1 is used for performance of physiological work (function) during which part of the energy is given off in the form of heat (△H), and the other part is concerned with the change of materials of lower orderliness into form and structure with a decrease in entropy (△S): △G = △H - T△S in which T is temperature (in K). This equation may or may not be directly applicable without qualifications in our case. But the decrease in entropy with the change of degree of orderliness in the process of tissue and organ formation from formless materials holds true. 3. The third expression presents the fundamental aspects of our concept of control of metabolism by enzymes and metabolic control of physiological functions. This may be given as: Fuction Gene→ Enzymes→Metabolism→ Structurc State→ Time cource (Solid arrows denote Control) .Experimental evidences selected from the numerous published experimental results, mostly from those of our own, in support of the above scheme at the substrate level oxidation in addition to those given in an earlier account (ref. 2) are presented here. Evidences based on experiments during the past decade on multiple pathways in NADH oxidation through the electron transport chain gathered in the literature (ref. 37) during the period when our work was interrupted completes the formula- tion of our concept on respiratory metabolism at both the substrate and terminal oxidation levels. The use of this generalized concept on the functional and regulatory aspects of respiratory metabolism in higher plants for guiding further research on plant respiration and on other physiological processes, as well as the application of this concept to practical physiological and biological problems are discussed.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Comparative study on the environmental impact assessment of golf course development between Korea and China

There are currently a number of planned development projects that threaten environmental assets in the Northeast Asian region, especially between Korea and China. To solve those problems, both countries initiated environmental impact assessment (EIA) systems in the 1980s. However, the actual supporting policies and legislative actions were finally developed in recent years. Koreas EIA Act was enacted in 1993 and then replaced by the Integrated Impact Assessment Act in 1999, and China adopted its independent law of EIAs in 2002 and enacted it in 2003. This study deals with the EIA systems in the two countries, focusing on golf course development, by comparing the differences and similarities between them in the following aspects: preparation of environmental impact statements (EISs), review process, approval procedure, and EIS contents. The aim of the study is to obtain a better understanding of the EIA systems in Korea and China, and to promote cooperation between the two countries related to any future potential environmental problems. The results show that EIA procedures and EIS contents in the two countries are relatively different. Specifically, although there are some limitations on technical analysis and survey experience in China, its EIA system is somewhat more advanced in legislative terms, requiring more advanced measures, such as screening and scoping. On the other hand, Koreas legislation contains more specific and concrete requirements, a compulsory supplement system, and technical methods of surveying. However, Korea needs to reform its system to make the application of the law more flexible and reasonable. This paper not only proposes that the two EIA systems can be improved by adopting each others good points, but also provides some policy suggestions to improve each countrys EIA system.     

Analysis of 6-keto PGF1 alpha, 5-HETE, and LTC4 in rat lung: comparison of GM/MS, RIA, and EIA

The recent availability of fast and sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) procedures to measure icosanoids has led to utilization of these techniques by many investigators. A major concern has been that techniques based on immunoreactivity may lack specificity, in particular if complex biologic fluids or tissue extracts are evaluated. The purpose of this investigation was the comparison of icosanoid measurements obtained either with EIA or RIA with those obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Rats were injected with Salmonella enteritidis endotoxin, killed at various times after the injection and the lung extract assayed for 6-keto-PGF1 alpha, 5-HETE and LTC4. By EIA lung tissue was found to contain large quantities of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha after endotoxin stimulation. Comparisons made between EIA and GC/MS analysis showed good correlation between 6-keto-PGF1 alpha amounts in lung as determined by each technique. It was also determined that little purification of lung extract was needed to obtain reliable quantitation of 6-keto-PGF1 alpha, probably due to the specificity of the antibody and the large quantity of this prostaglandin produced. Crudely purified (Sep-Pak) lung extracts gave 5-HETE levels by RIA which were highly correlated with GC/MS values, but RIA values were 70% higher than those obtained by GC/MS. The presence of other components in lung extract which cross react with this 5-HETE antibody was probably responsible for the higher values obtained by RIA. LTC4 was measured by immunoassay in crude lung extracts, as well as after Sep-Pak purification and HPLC purification. LTC4 levels were identical in unpurified lung extract and after Sep-Pak purification, but decreased substantially after HPLC purification. Thus, by validating the icosanoid immunoassays, we have found that they can give accurate and reproducible results in lung tissue, although LTC4 and 5-HETE must be purified prior to analysis.     

Establishment and clinical application of a highly sensitive enzyme immunoassay for determination of N‐acetyl‐seryl‐aspartyl‐lysyl‐proline

N‐acetyl‐seryl‐aspartyl‐lysyl‐proline (AcSDKP) is a natural inhibitor of pluripotent hematopoietic stem cell proliferation and is normally found in human plasma. Because AcSDKP is hydrolyzed by the N‐terminal active site of angiotensin converting enzyme and partially eliminated in urine, its plasma level is a result of a complex balance between its production, hydrolysis by ACE, and renal elimination. In this study, we attempted to establish an enzyme immunoassay (EIA) for quantifying AcSDKP‐like immunoreactive substance (IS), which is applicable for monitoring plasma AcSDKP levels in healthy subjects and patients with chronic renal failure. Using β‐ d ‐galactosidase‐labeled Gly‐γAbu‐SDKP as a marker antigen, an anti‐rabbit IgG‐coated immunoplate as a bound/free separator and 4‐methylumbelliferyl‐β‐ d ‐galactopyranoside as a fluorogenic substrate, a highly sensitive and specific EIA was developed for the quantification of AcSDKP‐IS in human plasma. The lower limit of quantification was 0.32 fmol/well, and the sharp inhibition competitive EIA calibration curve obtained was linear between 8.0 and 513 fmol/ml. This EIA was so sensitive that only 10 µl plasma sample was required for a single assay. The coefficients of variation (reproducibility) for human plasma concentrations of 0.2 and 2.1 pmol/ml were 7.2 and 7.7%, respectively, for inter‐assay and 13.3 and 7.8% for intra‐assay comparisons. Plasma AcSDKP‐IS level was significantly higher in patients with chronic renal failure (0.92 ± 0.39 pmol/ml) compared with healthy subjects (0.29 ± 0.07 pmol/ml). These results suggest that our EIA may be useful to evaluate plasma AcSDKP level as a biomarker in various patients. Copyright © 2012 European Peptide Society and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Production of monoclonal antibodies to estriol and their application in the development of a sensitive nonisotopic immunoassay

The development of highly specific monoclonal antibodies to estriol and a nonisotopic immunoassay (EIA) for unconjugated estriol based on the use of these monoclonal antibodies have been described. The monoclonal antibodies show little cross reactivity with other steroids and steroid conjugates and can be used directly in immunoassays without any purification. The EIA described here can be performed in 96-well microtiter plates or polystyrene tubes that have been coated with estriol-bovine serum albumin conjugate. In this assay, estriol in the standard or clinical samples (serum or saliva) competes with the immobilized steroid on the plate or the tube for binding with the antibody. The assay shows good agreement with radioimmunoassay (RIA) and is highly sensitive and reliable. Since no prior processing or extraction of the clinical samples is necessary, the method is potentially applicable for routine use in fetal monitoring as well as in a steroid laboratory.     

Analysis of 6-Keto PGF1a, 5-hete and LTC4 in rat lung: Comparison of GC/MS,RIA, nad EIA

The recent avaibility of fast and sensitive radioimmunoassay (RIA) and enzyme immunoassay (EIA) procedures to measure icosanoids has led to utilization of these techniques by many investigators. A major concern has been that techniques based on immunoreactivity may lack specificity, in particular if complex biologic fluids or tissue extracts are evaluated. The purpose of this investigation was the comparison of icosanoid measurements obtained either with EIA or RIA with those obtained by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Rats were injected with Salmonella enteritidis endotoxin, killed at various times after the injection and the ling extract assayed for 6-keto-PGF_1a, 5-HETE and LTC₄.By EIA lung tissue was found to contain large quantities of 6-keto-PGF_1a after endotoxin stimulation. Comparisons made between EIA and GC/MS analysis showed good correlation between 6-keto-PGF_1a amounts in lung as determined by each technique. It was also determined that little purification of lung extract was needed to obtain reliable quantitation of 6-keto-PGF_1a, probably due to the specificity of the antibody and the large quantity of this prostaglandin produced. Crudely purified (Sep-Park) lung extracts gave 5-HETE levels by RIA which were highly correlated with GC/MS values, but RIA values were 70% higher than those obtained by GC/MS. The presence of other components in lung extract which cross react with this 5-HETE antibody was probably responsible for the higher obtained by RIA. LTC₄ was measured by immunoassay in crude lung extracts, as well as after Sep-Pak purification and HPLC purification. LTC₄ levels were identical in unpurified lung extract and after Sep-Pak purifucation, but decreased substantially after HPLC purification. Thus, by validating the icosanoid immunoassays, we have found that they can give accurate and reproductive results in lung tissue, although LTC₄ and 5-HETE must be purified prior to analysis.     

Organizational invariance in (M,R)-systems

Robert Rosen's concept of (M,R)-systems was a fundamental advance in our understanding of the essential nature of a living organism as a self-organizing system, one that is closed to efficient causation, synthesizing, and maintaining all of the catalysts necessary for sustained operation during the whole period of its lifetime. Although it is not difficult to construct a model metabolic system to represent an (M,R)-system, such a model system will typically appear to lack organizational invariance, an essential property of a living (M,R)-system. To have this property, an (M,R)-system must not only be closed to external causation, it must also have its organization coded within itself, i.e., the knowledge of which components are needed for which functions must not be defined externally. In this paper, we discuss how organizational invariance may be achieved, and we argue that the apparent failure of previous models to be organizationally invariant is an artifact of the usual practice of treating catalytic cycles as 'black boxes'. If all of the steps in such a cycle are written as uncatalyzed chemical reactions, then it becomes clear that the organization of the system is fully defined by the chemical properties of the molecules that compose it.     

Good student questions in inquiry learning

Acquisition of scientific reasoning is one of the big challenges in education. A popular educational strategy advocated for acquiring deep knowledge is inquiry-based learning, which is driven by emerging ‘good questions’. This study will address the question: ‘Which design features allow learners to refine questions while preserving student ownership of the inquiry process?’ This design-based research has been conducted over several years with advanced high-school biology classes. The results confirm the central role of question elaboration as an interactive process that leads from vague to complex and adequate. To make this happen, the inquiry process must extend over a long time, learners and teachers should share a knowledge improvement goal, and text produced by students should be structured by question–answer pairs addressing a single concept using authentic resources. Further features are discussion with peers, teacher feedback with respect to answer elaboration and conceptual differentiation, and finally, teacher guidance that should fade out in successive inquiry cycles to ensure student responsibility.     

A Personalist Ontological Approach to Synthetic Biology

Although synthetic biology is a promising discipline, it also raises serious ethical questions that must be addressed in order to prevent unwanted consequences and to ensure that its progress leads toward the good of all. Questions arise about the role of this discipline in a possible redefinition of the concept of life and its creation. With regard to the products of synthetic biology, the moral status that they should be given as well as the ethically correct way to behave towards them are not clear. Moreover, risks that could result from a misuse of this technology or from an accidental release of synthetic organisms into the environment cannot be ignored; concerns about biosecurity and biosafety appear. Here we discuss these and other questions from a personalist ontological framework, which defends human life as an essential value and proposes a set of principles to ensure the safeguarding of this and other values that are based on it.     

Studies on Complement-Fixation Reaction in Equine Infectious Anemia

The substances responsible for inhibiting complement-fixation (CF) reaction of the late-stage serum of an equine infectious anemia (EIA)-infected horse were investigated. It was found that the IgG and IgG(T) classes in the late-stage serum were responsible for the CF inhibition. IgA could not be detected in partially purified IgG(T) by an immunodiffusion test using rabbit anti-human IgA serum. Other serum components could not be demonstrated in purified IgG by immunoelectrophoresis using rabbit anti-horse serum. The IgG class simultaneously showed CF and CF-inhibiting (CFI) activities, whereas the IgG(T) class showed only CFI activity. The IgG(T) class could exert CFI activity only when it had been reacted with the EIA antigen before addition of the reference CF serum and complement. In contrast, the IgG class converted the CF-active reference serum into a non-CF-reactive one irrespective of whether it was simultaneously reacted with the EIA antigen and the reference CF serum, whether it was added to the reaction mixture of the EIA antigen and the reference CF serum, or whether it was sensitized with the EIA antigen before addition of the reference CF serum. Inhibitory activities of the IgG and IgG(T) classes seemed to be different from each other in their reaction pattern as far as tested under our experimental conditions. Their CFI activities seemed to be specific for EIA, being negative in CFI activity in reaction with other antigens.     

Studies on complement-fixation reaction in equine infectious anemia. II. Identification of complement-fixing inhibitors.

The substances responsible for inhibiting complement-fixation (CF) reaction of the late-stage serum of an equine infectious anemia (EIA)-infected horse were investigated. It was found that the IgG and IgG(T) classes in the late-stage serum were responsible for the CF inhibition. IgA could not be detected in partially purified IgG(T) by an immunodiffusion test using rabbit anti-human IgA serum. Other serum components could not be demonstrated in purified IgG by immunoelectrophoresis using rabbit anti-horse serum. The IgG class simultaneously showed CF and CF-inhibiting (CFI) activities, whereas the IgG(T) class showed only CFI activity. The IgG(T) class could exert CFI activity only when it had been reacted with the EIA antigen before addition of the reference CF serum and complement. In contrast, the IgG class converted the CF-active reference serum into a non-CF-reactive one irrespective of whether it was simultaneously reacted with the EIA antigen and the reference CF serum, whether it was added to the reaction mixture of the EIA antigen and the reference CF serum, or whether it was sensitized with the EIA antigen before addition of the reference CF serum. Inhibitory activities of the IgG and IgG(T) classes seemed to be different from each other in their reaction pattern as far as tested under our experimental conditions. Their CFI activities seemed to be specific for EIA, being negative in CFI activity in reaction with other antigens.