Indoor environmental study and post occupancy evaluation in an office environment

1. 1. The objective of this paper is to investigate the indoor environment from the viewpoint of interaction between physical environment and the human responses. The field survey has been conducted over 1 year.

2. 2. A continuous measurement has been carried out for 1 week and distribution of variables have been measured for 1 day.

3. 3. The attitude of workers was investigated by a questionnaire.

4. 4. As the result, average luminance represented more than 1000 lx in the new building, in contrast with less tha 300 lx in the existing building.

5. 5. There was a significant difference of the occupants' response to the light environment between the two buildings.

6. 6. Measured thermal conditions are on the edge of the ASHRAE comfort envelope in summer, and in the neighborhood of the lower dry limit of the envelope in spring.

7. 7. The occupants' evaluations were remarkably changed before and after the moving. The office environment is better than that of the factory.

Protein kinases phosphorylate long disordered regions in intrinsically disordered proteins

Phosphorylation is a major post‐translational modification that plays a central role in signaling pathways. Protein kinases phosphorylate substrates (phosphoproteins) by adding phosphate at Ser/Thr or Tyr residues (phosphosites). A large amount of data identifying and describing phosphosites in phosphoproteins has been reported but the specificity of phosphorylation is not fully resolved. In this report, data of kinase‐substrate pairs identified by the Kinase‐Interacting Substrate Screening (KISS) method were used to analyze phosphosites in intrinsically disordered regions (IDRs) of intrinsically disordered proteins. We compared phosphorylated and nonphosphorylated IDRs and found that the phosphorylated IDRs were significantly longer than nonphosphorylated IDRs. The phosphorylated IDR is often the longest IDR (71%) in a phosphoprotein when only a single phosphosite exists in the IDR, and when the phosphoprotein has multiple phosphosites in an IDR(s), the phosphosites are primarily localized in a single IDR (78%) and this IDR is usually the longest one (81%). We constructed a stochastic model of phosphorylation to estimate the effect of IDR length. The model that accounted for IDR length produced more realistic results when compared with a model that excluded the IDR length. We propose that the IDR length is a significant determinant for locating kinase phosphorylation sites in phosphoproteins.     

Life cycle environmental and economic impact of a food waste recycling-farming system: a case study of organic vegetable farming in Japan

Purpose

Bio-based recycling systems and agricultural production using recycled materials are often evaluated separately. This study performs an environmental and socio-economic life cycle assessment (LCA) of a food waste treatment and spinach farming system in Japan. The environmental and economic tradeoffs of introducing a recycling system and the net environmental benefit of the substitution of market fertilizer considering operation changes are also examined.

Methods

Three scenarios were developed and compared. In the conventional (CV) scenario, food waste is collected, incinerated, and disposed of in landfill, and the farmer uses market organic fertilizer. The on-site composting (OC) scenario processes food waste using an on-site garbage disposer and transports compost to a nearby spinach farmer. Food waste in the centralized composting (CC) scenario is transported to a centralized composting facility and resultant compost is sent to the farm. Primary data were obtained from field experiments and interviews. Non-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the field and nitrogen leaching to water systems were simulated using the denitrification–decomposition (DNDC) model.

The environmental LCA targeted climate change, eutrophication, and waste landfill. An input–output analysis estimated socio-economic indicators, namely gross added value and employment inducement effect.

Results and discussion

The scenario with the lowest impact is the CC scenario. Climate change and eutrophication impacts are highest in the OC scenario and waste landfill impacts are most significant in the CV scenario. The weighted impact by LIME2 can be reduced by 47% in the CC scenario and 17% in the OC scenario due to the recycling of food waste instead of dumping in the landfill. The difference in socio-economic indicators between the scenarios was relatively small, although the CV scenario encouraged more employment. The substitution effect of composting, as well as the environmental impact reduction of replacing market organic fertilizer with compost, will result in 28.7% of the avoided impacts in GHG emissions.

Conclusions

Both composting scenarios are feasible from an environmental and socio-economic perspective when compared with conventional organic production, although there is a tradeoff between waste landfill and GHG emissions for the on-site composting system. However, the OC scenario needs to save electricity to improve its environmental competitiveness with the CV scenario. When considering the substitution effect of composting, it is recommended to take into account that agricultural operation also changes.

     

A complex interaction between Wnt signaling and TNF-α in nucleus pulposus cells

Introduction

Increased expression of the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α in intervertebral discs (IVDs) leads to inflammation, which results in progressive IVD degeneration. We have previously reported that activation of Wnt-β-catenin (hereafter called Wnt) signaling suppresses the proliferation of nucleus pulposus cells and induces cell senescence, suggesting that Wnt signaling triggers the process of degeneration of the IVD. However, it is not known whether cross talk between TNF-α and Wnt signaling plays a role in the regulation of nucleus pulposus cells. The goal of the present study was to examine the effect of the interaction between Wnt signaling and the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α in nucleus pulposus cells.

Methods

Cells isolated from rat nucleus pulposus regions of IVDs were cultured in monolayers, and the expression and promoter activity of Wnt signaling and TNF-α were evaluated. We also examined whether the inhibition of Wnt signaling using cotransfection with Dickkopf (DKK) isoforms and Sclerostin (SOST) could block the effects of pathological TNF-α expression in nucleus pulposus cells.

Results

TNF-α stimulated the expression and promoter activity of Wnt signaling in nucleus pulposus cells. In addition, the activation of Wnt signaling by 6-bromoindirubin-3′-oxime (BIO), which is a selective inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) activity that activates Wnt signaling, increased TNF-α expression and promoter activity. Conversely, the suppression of TNF-α promoter activity using a β-catenin small interfering RNA was evident. Moreover, transfection with DKK-3, DKK-4, or SOST, which are inhibitors of Wnt signaling, blocked Wnt signaling-mediated TNF-α activation; these effects were not observed for DKK-1 or DKK-2.

Conclusions

Here, we have demonstrated that Wnt signaling regulates TNF-α and that Wnt signaling and TNF-α form a positive-feedback loop in nucleus pulposus cells. The results of the present study provide in vitro evidence that activation of Wnt signaling upregulates the TNF-α expression and might cause the degeneration of nucleus pulposus cells. We speculate that blocking this pathway might protect nucleus pulposus cells against degeneration.     

Residency and abundance of sperm whales (Physeter macrocephalus) in Nemuro Strait,Hokkaido, Japan

We examined the trend in residence patterns and abundance of male sperm whales in Nemuro Strait, Japan, based on long-term photo-identification (1,513 survey days, total 2,969 photos) between 2006 and 2017. A total of 225 unique individuals were identified during this study, with an average of 36 (SE = 2.55) new individuals identified in each season. The model chosen by maximum likelihood suggests that residence time around Nemuro Strait is 769 (SE = 372.4) days, with individuals staying in the strait about 48 days (SE = 8.36) per year. While the migration patterns of male sperm whales visiting this area are still unclear, these findings along with previous studies suggest that males move from one breeding area to another neighboring area every several weeks, shifting their home ranges gradually over a period of a few years. The abundance of sperm whales in Nemuro Strait varied greatly from year to year; from 28 (95%CI: 24–44) in 2015 and (95%CI: 22–48) in 2016 to 66 (95%CI: 57–84) in 2011. This study provides important knowledge of abundance and residency for Nemuro Strait, information which will contribute to further research on the social structure and movement pattern of male sperm whales.     

Mouriri morleyii sp. nov. (Melastomataceae) from Brazil,with notes on its foliar stomatal crypts

Mouriri morleyii R. Goldenb. & Meirelles sp. nov. can be distinguished from the other species in the genus by its large stomatal crypts (the largest ones in the genus), columnar sclereids, tetramerous flowers and calyx closed in bud. This new species was collected on an inselberg in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil.     

Redox Buffer Capacity in Water-Rock-Microbe Interaction Systems in Subsurface Environments

An incubation experiment was conducted to estimate redox buffer capacity of “water-rock-microbe” interaction systems in sedimentary rocks. The water chemistry, microbial growth and community structure were analyzed during the incubations. The dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations and oxidation-reduction potential (ORP) values decreased notably in the presence of active microorganisms, whereas abiotic reactions did not lead to reducing conditions during incubation. The change in microbial community structure suggests that nitrate-reducing and sulfate-reducing bacteria played an important role in reduction of water by using lignite-derived organic matter. These results show that the microbial role is extremely important for the redox buffering capacity in sedimentary rock environments.