BLOEM: A spatially explicit model of bioenergy and carbon capture and storage,applied to Brazil

Bioenergy could play a major role in decarbonizing energy systems in the context of the Paris Agreement. Large-scale bioenergy deployment could be related to sustainability issues and requires major infrastructure investments. It, therefore, needs to be studied carefully. The Bioenergy and Land Optimization Spatially Explicit Model (BLOEM) presented here allows for assessing different bioenergy pathways while encompassing various dimensions that influence their optimal deployment. In this study, BLOEM was applied to the Brazilian context by coupling it with the Brazilian Land Use and Energy Systems (BLUES) model. This allowed investigating the most cost-effective ways of attending future bioenergy supply projections and studying the role of recovered degraded pasture lands in improving land availability in a sustainable and competitive manner. The results show optimizing for limiting deforestation and minimizing logistics costs results in different outcomes. It also indicates that recovering degraded pasture lands is attractive from both logistics and climate perspectives. The systemic approach of BLOEM provides spatial results, highlighting the trade-offs between crop allocation, land use and the logistics dynamics between production, conversion, and demand, providing valuable insights for regional and national climate policy design. This makes it a useful tool for mapping sustainable bioenergy value chain pathways.     

Fruchtbau und Verbreitungsbiologie vonValerianella undFedia (Valerianaceae)

The remarkable diversity of fruits inValerianella andFedia is revealed by a comparative morphological and anatomical analysis. Characters are evaluated in regard to a new systematic grouping. The knowledge on dispersal biology is summarized and supplemented. Finally, salient features of fruit differentiation are discussed.

3. Teil der Publikationsserie Beiträge zur Systematik und Evolution vonValerianella undFedia (Valerianaceae) (vgl.Ernet 1977a, b).     

Dynamics of the human heart rate during changes of posture under various climatic conditions]

The time course of the heart rate (15-sec-periods) during active orthostasis (10 min) was investigated according to types found by Drischel et al. under different climatic conditions in 51 female and 50 male subjects. Constant types were observed in each subject in 3 repeated tests on different days at 20 degrees C and 55% R.H., the types remaining constant even at 25 and 90% R.H. The increase in environmental temperature from 15 to 30 and 45 degrees C showed a significant alteration from type A via different transitional types to type B. At 45 degrees C, an additional type was observed called superhigh type B, functionally being a precollapse type. The variation in typology includes the dynamics of the initial process of the active orthostasis as well as the deviation between the steady-state of the heart rate in erect and in supine position. The physiological mechanisms eliciting the changes in the dynamic behaviour and the correlations with the effective temperature are discussed.     

3D nuclear organization of telomeres in the Hodgkin cell lines U-HO1 and U-HO1-PTPN1: PTPN1 expression prevents the formation of very short telomeres including "t-stumps"

Background  

In cancer cells the three-dimensional (3D) telomere organization of interphase nuclei into a telomeric disk is heavily distorted and aggregates are found. In Hodgkin's lymphoma quantitative FISH (3D Q-FISH) reveals a major impact of nuclear telomere dynamics during the transition form mononuclear Hodgkin (H) to diagnostic multinuclear Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells. In vitro and in vivo formation of RS-cells is associated with the increase of very short telomeres including "t-stumps", telomere loss, telomeric aggregate formation and the generation of "ghost nuclei".     

Direct peptide profiling of lateral cell groups of the antennal lobes of Manduca sexta reveals specific composition and changes in neuropeptide expression during development

The paired antennal lobes are the first integration centers for odor information in the insect brain. In the sphinx moth Manduca sexta, like in other holometabolous insects, they are formed during metamorphosis. To further understand mechanisms involved in the formation of this particularly well investigated brain area, we performed a direct peptide profiling of a well defined cell group (the lateral cell group) of the antennal lobe throughout development by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. Although the majority of the about 100 obtained ion signals represent still unknown substances, this first peptidomic characterization of this cell group indicated the occurrence of 12 structurally known neuropeptides. Among these peptides are helicostatin 1, cydiastatins 2, 3, and 4, M. sexta-allatotropin (Mas-AT), M. sexta-FLRFamide (Mas-FLRFamide) I, II, and III, nonblocked Mas-FLRFamide I, and M. sexta-myoinhibitory peptides (Mas-MIPs) III, V, and VI. The identity of two of the allatostatins (cydiastatins 3 and 4) and Mas-AT were confirmed by tandem mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF/TOF). During development of the antennal lobe, number and frequency of ion signals including those representing known peptides generally increased at the onset of glomeruli formation at pupal Stage P7/8, with cydiastatin 2, helicostatin 1, and Mas-MIP V being the exceptions. Cydiastatin 2 showed transient occurrence mainly during the period of glomerulus formation, helicostatin 1 was restricted to late pupae and adults, while Mas-MIP V occurred exclusively in adult antennal lobes. The power of the applied direct mass spectrometric profiling lies in the possibility of chemically identifying neuropeptides of a given cell population in a fast and reliable manner, at any developmental stage in single specimens. The identification of neuropeptides in the antennal lobes now allows to specifically address the function of these signaling molecules during the formation of the antennal lobe network.     

Signal transduction in isolated fat body from the cockroach Blaptica dubia exposed to hypertrehalosaemic neuropeptide

Hypertrehalosaemic hormones stimulate trehalogenesis while inhibiting glycolysis in cockroach fat body. Signal transduction of the hypertrehalosaemic peptide Bld HrTH was examined in isolated fat body of the Argentine cockroach Blaptica dubia with respect to its effects on the increase in trehalose production and decrease in the content of the glycolytic activator fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in the tissue. Cyclic AMP does not seem to be involved in these processes as the cAMP analogue cpt-cAMP and the phosphodiesterase inhibitor IBMX, which both permeate cell membranes, had no effect on either parameter. Octopamine at physiological concentrations (10⁻⁷ mol · l⁻¹) was also ineffective, but at 10⁻⁵ mol · l⁻¹ or above, octopamine stimulated trehalose production although the content of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate in fat body was not affected. Both calcium entry and the release of Ca²⁺ from intracellular stores seem to be involved in the action of the hormone. If Ca²⁺ was omitted from the incubation medium, the hormone stimulated trehalose production less, though still significantly, whereas the hormone effect on fructose 2,6-bisphosphate was completely abolished in the absence of extracellular Ca²⁺. With Ca²⁺ present in the medium, the effect of the hormone on fructose 2,6-bisphosphate could be fully mimicked by the calcium ionophore A23187, suggesting that calcium entry is a␣decisive step in this signalling pathway. Trehalose production, on the other hand, was increased by thimerosal and thapsigargin which increase cytosolic Ca²⁺ from intracellular stores, whereas thimerosal in the absence of extracellular Ca²⁺ increased rather than decreased the content of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, thus dissociating the two effects, which are normally coordinated by the hormone. Trehalose production and the content of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate were not significantly affected by mepacrine and mellitin, which are known to inhibit, respectively stimulate, phospholipase A₂. Our data suggest that the effects of Bld HrTH on the stimulation of trehalose production and reduction of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate content in fat body are mediated by Ca²⁺, but that different signalling pathways are involved, suggesting that the two processes, although they are functionally linked, could be regulated separately. Accepted: 10 November 1997