A database for the life-cycle assessment of procter &; gamble laundry detergents

A Life-Cycle Inventory (LCI) and Assessment (LCA) database for laundry detergents of the Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) was constructed using SimaPro software. The input data needed to conduct a product LCI came from several different, supporting databases to cover supplier (extraction and manufacturing of raw materials), manufacturing of the detergent product, transportation, packaging, use and disposal stages. Manufacturing, packaging and transportation stages are usually representative of European conditions while the use and disposal stages are country specific and represent how consumers are using a specific product and how wastes are disposed of. The database has been constructed to allow Procter & Gamble managers to analyse detergent products from a system-wide, functional unit point of view in a consistent, transparent and reproducible manner. For demonstrative purpose, a life cycle inventory and a life cycle impact assessment of a P&G laundry detergent used in Belgium is presented. The analysis showed that more than 80% of the energy consumption occurs during the consumer use stage (mainly for heating of the water). Air and solid waste follow the same pattern, most of these being associated with die energy generation for the use stage. More than 98% of the biological oxygen demand, however, is associated with the disposal stage even after accounting for removal during treatment. Future challenges are the completion and/or updating of all detergent ingredient inventories.     

Mutation rate switch inside Eurasian mitochondrial haplogroups: impact of selection and consequences for dating settlement in Europe

R-lineage mitochondrial DNA represents over 90% of the European population and is significantly present all around the planet (North Africa, Asia, Oceania, and America). This lineage played a major role in migration "out of Africa" and colonization in Europe. In order to determine an accurate dating of the R lineage and its sublineages, we analyzed 1173 individuals and complete mtDNA sequences from Mitomap. This analysis revealed a new coalescence age for R at 54.500 years, as well as several limitations of standard dating methods, likely to lead to false interpretations. These findings highlight the association of a striking under-accumulation of synonymous mutations, an over-accumulation of non-synonymous mutations, and the phenotypic effect on haplogroup J. Consequently, haplogroup J is apparently not a Neolithic group but an older haplogroup (Paleolithic) that was subjected to an underestimated selective force. These findings also indicated an under-accumulation of synonymous and non-synonymous mutations localized on coding and non-coding (HVS1) sequences for haplogroup R0, which contains the major haplogroups H and V. These new dates are likely to impact the present colonization model for Europe and confirm the late glacial resettlement scenario.     

Fine‐scale environmental control of hybridization in oaks

Natural hybridization is attracting much interest in modern speciation and conservation biology studies, but the underlying mechanisms remain poorly understood. In particular, it is unclear why environmental changes often increase hybridization rates. To study this question, we surveyed mating events in a mixed oak stand and developed a spatially explicit individual‐based hybridization model. This model, where hybridization is frequency‐dependent, pollen is nonlimiting and which allows immigrant pollen to compete with local pollen, takes into account species‐specific pollen dispersal and sexual barriers to hybridization. The consequences of pollen limitation on hybridization were studied using another simple model. The results indicate that environmental changes could increase hybridization rates through two distinct mechanisms. First, by disrupting the spatial organization of communities, they should decrease the proportion of conspecific pollen available for mating, thus increasing hybridization rates. Second, by decreasing the density of conspecifics, they should increase pollen limitation and thus hybridization rates, as a consequence of chance pollination predominating over deterministic pollen competition. Altogether, our results point to a need for considering hybridization events at the appropriate level of organization and provide new insights into why hybridization rates generally increase in disturbed environments.     

Demography and adaptation promoting evolutionary transitions in a mammalian genus that diversified during the Pleistocene

Species that evolved in temperate regions during the Pleistocene experienced periods of extreme climatic transitions. Consequent population fragmentation and dynamics had the potential to generate small, isolated populations where the influence of genetic drift would be expected to be strong. We use comparative genomics to assess the evolutionary influence of historical demographics and natural selection through a series of transitions associated with the formation of the genus Capreolus, speciation within this genus during the Quaternary and during divergence among European roe deer (C. capreolus) populations. Our analyses were facilitated by the generation of a new high‐coverage reference genome for the Siberian roe deer (C. pygargus). We find progressive reductions in effective population size (N_e), despite very large census sizes in modern C. capreolus populations and show that low N_e has impacted the C. capreolus genome, reducing diversity and increasing linkage disequilibrium. Even so, we find evidence for natural selection shared among C. capreolus populations, including a historically documented founder population that has been through a severe bottleneck. During each phylogenetic transition there is evidence for selection (from dN/dS and nucleotide diversity tests), including at loci associated with diapause (delayed embryonic development), a phenotype restricted to this genus among the even‐toed ungulates. Together these data allow us to assess expectations for the origin and diversification of a mammalian genus during a period of extreme environmental change.     

Coping with Pleistocene climatic fluctuations: Demographic responses in remote endemic reef fishes

Elucidating demographic history during the settlement of ecological communities is crucial for properly inferring the mechanisms that shape patterns of species diversity and their persistence through time. Here, we used genomic data and coalescent‐based approaches to elucidate for the first time the demographic dynamics associated with the settlement by endemic reef fish fauna of one of the most remote peripheral islands of the Pacific Ocean, Rapa Nui (Easter Island). We compared the demographic history of nine endemic species in order to explore their demographic responses to Pleistocene climatic fluctuations. We found that species endemic to Rapa Nui share a common demographic history, as signatures of population expansions were retrieved for almost all of the species studied here, and synchronous demographic expansions initiated during the last glacial period were recovered for more than half of the studied species. These results suggest that eustatic fluctuations associated with Milankovitch cycles have played a central role in species demographic histories and in the final stage of the community assembly of many Rapa Nui reef fishes. Specifically, sea level lowstands resulted in the maximum reef habitat extension for Rapa Nui endemic species; we discuss the potential role of seamounts in allowing endemic species to cope with Pleistocene climatic fluctuations, and we highlight the importance of local historical processes over regional ones. Overall, our results shed light on the mechanisms by which endemism arises and is maintained in peripheral reef fish fauna.     

Electrostimulation during hindlimb unloading modulates PI3K-AKT downstream targets without preventing soleus atrophy and restores slow phenotype through ERK

Our aim was to analyze the role of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-AKT and MAPK signaling pathways in the regulation of muscle mass and slow-to-fast phenotype transition during hindlimb unloading (HU). For that purpose, we studied, in rat slow soleus and fast extensor digitorum longus muscles, the time course of anabolic PI3K-AKT-mammalian target of rapamycin, catabolic PI3K-AKT-forkhead box O (FOXO), and MAPK signaling pathway activation after 7, 14, and 28 days of HU. Moreover, we performed chronic low-frequency soleus electrostimulation during HU to maintain exclusively contractile phenotype and so to determine more precisely the role of these signaling pathways in the modulation of muscle mass. HU induced a downregulation of the anabolic AKT, mammalian target of rapamycin, 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase, 4E-binding protein 1, and glycogen synthase kinase-3β targets, and an upregulation of the catabolic FOXO1 and muscle-specific RING finger protein-1 targets correlated with soleus muscle atrophy. Unexpectedly, soleus electrostimulation maintained 70-kDa ribosomal protein S6 kinase, 4E-binding protein 1, FOXO1, and muscle-specific RING finger protein-1 to control levels, but failed to reduce muscle atrophy. HU decreased ERK phosphorylation, while electrostimulation enabled the maintenance of ERK phosphorylation similar to control level. Moreover, slow-to-fast myosin heavy chain phenotype transition and upregulated glycolytic metabolism were prevented by soleus electrostimulation during HU. Taken together, our data demonstrated that the processes responsible for gradual disuse muscle plasticity in HU conditions involved both PI3-AKT and MAPK pathways. Moreover, electrostimulation during HU restored PI3K-AKT activation without counteracting soleus atrophy, suggesting the involvement of other signaling pathways. Finally, electrostimulation maintained initial contractile and metabolism properties in parallel to ERK activation, reinforcing the idea of a predominant role of ERK in the regulation of muscle slow phenotype.     

Synthesis and cytotoxic evaluation of novel paraconic acid analogs

A novel class of 2,3-tri- and tetrasubstituted γ-butyrolactones analogous to paraconic acids has been synthesized in one step using a straightforward three-component reaction among aryl bromides, dimethyl itaconate and carbonyl compounds. The in vitro cytotoxic activity of representative compounds has been evaluated against a panel of human cancer cell lines (KB, HCT116, MCF7, HL60). While most molecules exhibit a low to moderate background activity on both KB and HL60 cancer cell lines, one compound shows increased antiproliferative activities against both cell lines with IC(50) values in the 10(-7)-10(-6)mol/L range. An extended evaluation indicated that this compound also inhibits PC3, SK-OV3, MCF7R and HL60R cell growth in the same fashion.     

The Yersinia enterocolitica phage shock proteins B and C can form homodimers and heterodimers in vivo with the possibility of close association between multiple domains

The Yersinia enterocolitica phage shock protein (Psp) stress response is essential for virulence and for survival during the mislocalization of outer membrane secretin proteins. The cytoplasmic membrane proteins PspB and PspC are critical components involved in regulating psp gene expression and in facilitating tolerance to secretin-induced stress. Interactions between PspB and PspC monomers might be important for their functions and for PspC stability. However, little is known about these interactions and there are conflicting reports about the ability of PspC to dimerize. To address this, we have used a combination of independent approaches to systematically analyze the ability of PspB and PspC to form dimers in vivo. Formaldehyde cross-linking of the endogenous chromosomally encoded proteins in Y. enterocolitica revealed discrete complexes corresponding in size to PspB-PspB, PspC-PspC, and PspB-PspC. Bacterial two-hybrid analysis corroborated these protein associations, but an important limitation of the two-hybrid approach was uncovered for PspB. A series of PspB and PspC proteins with unique cysteine substitutions at various positions was constructed. In vivo disulfide cross-linking experiments with these proteins further supported close association between PspB and PspC monomers. Detailed cysteine substitution analysis of predicted leucine zipper-like amphipathic helices in both PspB and PspC suggested that their hydrophobic faces could form homodimerization interfaces.     

Distribution and radical scavenging activity of phenols in Ascophyllum nodosum (Phaeophyceae)

Phlorotannins have been purified and fractionated in the brown alga Ascophyllum nodosum using successively differential extraction, liquid-liquid separation and dialysis. Both the phenol content and the radical scavenging capacity of the resulting fractions were assayed by the Folin-Ciocalteu test and the DPPH method, respectively, whilst purity of the fractions was assessed by ¹H NMR analysis. The purification process resulted in the isolation of six fractions from each crude extract with only minor losses. High levels of phenols, up to 97-99%, were measured in semi-purified fractions containing phlorotannins more than 50 kDa in average molecular size, accounting for more than 95% of the ethyl acetate phenol pool. As a consequence, purity decreased in ethyl acetate fractions together with the molecular size of compounds. The importance of differential extraction based on the polarity of phenols is highlighted by the fact that most of these compounds were found in the ethyl acetate fraction after the first extraction step in 100% methanol, whilst two thirds of phenols extracted by 50% methanol remained in the aqueous phase. The radical scavenging activity of the fractions was correlated with the phenol content and was maximal in complete ethyl acetate fractions and in dialysis concentrates containing molecules more than 50 kDa in size. The specific activity of phenols was found to be maximal for molecules smaller than 2 kDa when isolated from the 100% methanol extract and 1-4 times smaller in the water phase separated from the same extract. The distribution of radical-scavenging potentials in the phenol pool of A. nodosum supports the idea that physiological roles and putative uses of phlorotannins are under the control of a polarity-molecular size complex.     

The tachykinins substance P and hemokinin-1 favor the generation of human memory Th17 cells by inducing IL-1β, IL-23, and TNF-like 1A expression by monocytes

The nervous system influences immune responses through the release of neural factors such as neuropeptides. Among them, the tachykinin substance P (SP) signals via the neurokinin 1 receptor (NK-1R), which is expressed by various immune cells. We thereby analyzed in this paper whether tachykinins may participate in human CD4(+) Th cell polarization. We report that SP and hemokinin-1 (HK-1) upregulate IL-17A and IFN-γ production by human memory CD4(+) T cells without affecting IL-4 and IL-10 production. SP and HK-1 switch non-Th17-committed CD4(+) memory T cells into bona fide Th17 cells and Th1/Th17 cells. In contrast, SP and HK-1 do not modulate the polarization of naive CD4(+) T cells. SP- and HK-1-induced Th17 cell generation is mediated through NK-1R and requires the presence of monocytes. SP and HK-1 trigger IL-1β, IL-6, and TNF-α production, upregulate IL-23 production, and enhance TNF-like 1A expression on monocyte surface. Neutralization experiments demonstrated that IL-1β, IL-23, and TNF-like 1A are involved in the SP- and HK-1-induced Th17 cell. The other members of the tachykinin family, neurokinins A and B, have no effect on the differentiation of naive and memory T cells. These results thereby show that SP and HK-1 are novel Th17 cell-inducing factors that may act locally on memory T cells to amplify inflammatory responses.