Emergy evaluation of the impact of waste exchanges on the sustainability of industrial systems

Emergy evaluation provided global performance indicators that were used to assess the impact of waste exchanges on the sustainability of a sulfuric acid production system (SAPS) and a titanium dioxide production system (TDPS) in Pan-zhi-hua City, China. Impact of emissions was quantified in terms of emergy and integrated into the classic emergy-based indicators. Results show that waste exchanges improve the sustainability of the two systems, although the SAPS benefits more from the waste exchanges than the TDPS from an economic perspective however, the impact of emissions reduces their sustainability to some degree. This study creates awareness and brings new insight to the gains achieved with resource recovery from waste in the interrelated industrial systems, which is derived from the mutualism relationship existing in natural ecosystems. Finally, this paper puts forward some corresponding suggestions.     

Nitrous oxide emissions from surface flow and subsurface flow constructed wetland microcosms: Effect of feeding strategies

The effects of continuous and intermittent feeding strategies on nitrogen removal and N₂O emission from surface flow and subsurface flow constructed wetlands were evaluated in this study. Microcosm wetlands planted with Phragmites australis were constructed and operated with different feeding strategies for the 4-month experiment. Results showed the intermittent feeding strategy could enhance the removal of ammonium effectively in the subsurface flow constructed wetlands, although it had no significant effect for the surface flow wetlands. And the intermittent feeding mode could promote the emission of N₂O. The amount of N₂O-N emission from the subsurface flow constructed wetlands with intermittent feeding mode was about 5 times higher than that with continuous feeding strategy and the emission rate ranged from 0.09 ± 0.03 to 7.33 ± 1.49 mg/m²/h. Compared with the surface flow constructed wetlands, the N₂O emission in the subsurface flow constructed wetlands was affected significantly by the intermittent feeding mode.     

Soybean homologs of MPK4 negatively regulate defense responses and positively regulate growth and development

Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades play important roles in disease resistance in model plant species such as Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) and tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum). However, the importance of MAPK signaling pathways in the disease resistance of crops is still largely uninvestigated. To better understand the role of MAPK signaling pathways in disease resistance in soybean (Glycine max), 13, nine, and 10 genes encoding distinct MAPKs, MAPKKs, and MAPKKKs, respectively, were silenced using virus-induced gene silencing mediated by Bean pod mottle virus. Among the plants silenced for various MAPKs, MAPKKs, and MAPKKKs, those in which GmMAPK4 homologs (GmMPK4s) were silenced displayed strong phenotypes including stunted stature and spontaneous cell death on the leaves and stems, the characteristic hallmarks of activated defense responses. Microarray analysis showed that genes involved in defense responses, such as those in salicylic acid (SA) signaling pathways, were significantly up-regulated in GmMPK4-silenced plants, whereas genes involved in growth and development, such as those in auxin signaling pathways and in cell cycle and proliferation, were significantly down-regulated. As expected, SA and hydrogen peroxide accumulation was significantly increased in GmMPK4-silenced plants. Accordingly, GmMPK4-silenced plants were more resistant to downy mildew and Soybean mosaic virus compared with vector control plants. Using bimolecular fluorescence complementation analysis and in vitro kinase assays, we determined that GmMKK1 and GmMKK2 might function upstream of GmMPK4. Taken together, our results indicate that GmMPK4s negatively regulate SA accumulation and defense response but positively regulate plant growth and development, and their functions are conserved across plant species.     

Enhanced antibiotic activity of Xenorhabdus nematophila by medium optimization

Nutrition had highly influence on the antibiotic production by Xenorhabdus nematophila YL001. Glucose and peptone were identified as the best carbon and nitrogen sources that significantly affected antibiotic production using one-factor-at-a-time approach. Response surface methodology was applied to optimize the medium constituents (Glucose, peptone and minerals) for antibiotic production by X. nematophila YL001. Higher antibiotic activity (328.9 U/ml) was obtained after optimizing medium components. The optimal levels of medium components were (g/l): glucose 6.13, peptone 21.29, MgSO(4).7H(2)O 1.50, (NH(4))(2)SO(4) 2.46, KH(2)PO(4) 0.86, K(2)HPO(4) 1.11 and Na(2)SO(4) 1.72. An overall 16% and 35% increase in antibiotic activity were obtained as compared with mean observed response (283.7U/ml) at zero level of all variables and YSG medium.     

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence of ruthenium complex immobilized in a highly cross‐linked polymer and its analytical applications

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of a ruthenium complex polymer modified carbon paste electrode and its analytical applications were investigated. The ruthenium complex polymer was prepared using bis(2,2‐bipyridine) (4,4‐dicarboxy‐2,2‐bipyridine) ruthenium(II). The ECL behaviours of ruthenium complex polymer modified carbon paste electrode were investigated in the absence and presence of tripropylamine (TPA). The modified carbon paste electrode exhibited long‐term stability and fine reproducibility. The ECL intensity of the modified carbon paste electrode was linear with the concentration of TPA in the range 2.0 × 10^–6–3.8 × 10^–3 mol/L, with a detection limit (S:N = 3) of 6 × 10^–7 mol/L. It was also found that raceanisodamine could enhance the ECL intensity of the modified electrode. The ECL intensity of the modified carbon paste electrode was linear with the concentration of raceanisodamine in the range 1.1 × 10^–5–6.0 × 10^–4 mol/L, with a detection limit (S:N = 3) of 6 × 10^–6 mol/L. This work demonstrates that the entrapment of ruthenium complex in a highly cross‐linked polymer is a promising approach to construct an ECL modified electrode with long‐term stability and fine reproducibility. The modified electrode designed has a potential application in the ECL detector. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Autonomous selfing provides reproductive assurance in an alpine ginger Roscoea schneideriana (Zingiberaceae)

Background and Aims

Reproductive assurance, the ability to produce seeds when pollinators or mates are scarce, is thought to be the major advantage of selfing in flowering plants. However, few studies have performed a direct cost–benefit analysis of the selective advantage of selfing, particularly given a long-term perspective among populations or across several flowering seasons within population. This study examined the fertility consequences of autonomous selfing in Roscoea schneideriana (Zingiberaceae), a small perennial Himalayan ginger typically found in habitats at around 3000 m a.s.l.

Methods

The floral biology of R. schneideriana was studied in natural populations; the capacity for autonomous selfing was estimated using pollinator exclusion experiments; the timing of selfing was quantified by anther removal at different times during flowering; whether autonomous selfing increases seed production was tested by emasculating flowers; and the magnitude of inbreeding depression was estimated by comparing relative performance of progeny from self- and cross-pollinations. Pollinator observations were also conducted in the natural populations.

Key Results

The hooked stigmas of most flowers curl towards the anther and can contact pollen grains at an early stage of anthesis. Flowers with potential pollinators excluded set of as many seeds per fruit as hand-selfed and opened flowers. Autonomous selfing mostly occurs within 2 d of anthesis and can increase seed production by an average of 84 % in four populations during the flowering seasons of 2005–2007. Visits by effective pollinators were extremely rare. The cumulative inbreeding depression of R. schneideriana was 0·226.

Conclusions

Autonomous selfing in R. schneideriana is achieved by stigmas curling towards the anthers early in flowering. It is suggested that under the poor pollination conditions, autonomous selfing has been selected for in this alpine ginger because it provides substantial reproductive assurance with very low costs.Key words: Zingiberaceae, Roscoea, autonomous self-pollination, reproductive assurance, inbreeding depression, pollinator failure, Himalayan species     

RAGE upregulation and nuclear factor-kappaB activation associated with ageing rat cardiomyocyte dysfunction

Evidence suggests that ageing is a major risk factor for cardiac dysfunction. Interactions between advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) are known to cause chronic cellular activation, including activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-kappaB), which has been implicated as a causal factor in the ageing process. To assess whether cardiomyocyte contractile function and the interaction of AGEs with RAGE in the heart are altered in ageing, 25- and 2-month-old male rats were compared. Mechanical properties were assessed in ventricular myocytes using an edge-detection system, including peak twitch amplitude (PTA), time-to-PTA (TPS), time-to-75% relengthening (TR75) and maximal velocity of shortening/relengthening (+/-dL/dt) in ventricular myocytes. AGEs were detected by using a fluorescence assay. The expression of RAGE and NF-kappaB was assessed through a Western blot analysis. Compared with young myocytes, aged myocytes displayed a prolonged TR75 at 1 Hz. With increasing stimulus frequency (from 2 to 4 Hz), aged myocytes' PTA was significantly reduced relative to young myocytes. Aged rat hearts displayed high level of AGEs, RAGE upregulation and NF-kappaB activation. These findings demonstrate impaired cardiomyocyte relaxation and reduced tolerance to increased stimulus frequency in aged rats, which might be associated with enhanced AGEs, RAGE expression, and NF-kappaB activation.     

An integrated approach for the analysis of biological pathways using mixed models

Gene class, ontology, or pathway testing analysis has become increasingly popular in microarray data analysis. Such approaches allow the integration of gene annotation databases, such as Gene Ontology and KEGG Pathway, to formally test for subtle but coordinated changes at a system level. Higher power in gene class testing is gained by combining weak signals from a number of individual genes in each pathway. We propose an alternative approach for gene-class testing based on mixed models, a class of statistical models that: a) provides the ability to model and borrow strength across genes that are both up and down in a pathway, b) operates within a well-established statistical framework amenable to direct control of false positive or false discovery rates, c) exhibits improved power over widely used methods under normal location-based alternative hypotheses, and d) handles complex experimental designs for which permutation resampling is difficult. We compare the properties of this mixed models approach with nonparametric method GSEA and parametric method PAGE using a simulation study, and illustrate its application with a diabetes data set and a dose-response data set.     

Effect of a traditional Chinese medicine preparation Xindi soft capsule on rat model of acute blood stasis: a urinary metabonomics study based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry

Xindi soft capsule is a traditional Chinese medicine preparation which consists of sea buckthorn flavonoids and sea buckthorn berry oil. In this study, a urinary metabonomics method based on the ultra-performance liquid chromatography combined with quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC Q-TOF MS) was used to evaluate the efficacy and study the mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine preparation to blood stasis. With pattern recognition analysis (principal component analysis and partial least squares-discriminate analysis) of urinary metabolites, a clear separation of acute blood stasis model group and healthy control group was achieved, the dose groups were located between acute blood stasis model group and healthy control group showing a tendency of recovering to healthy control group, high dose and middle dose were more effective than low dose. Some significantly changed metabolites like cholic acid, phenylalanine and kynurenic acid have been found and identified and used to explain the mechanism. The work shows that the metabonomics method is a valuable tool in the research mechanism of traditional Chinese medicine.