Development of LCA benchmarks for Austrian torrent control structures

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment - This study emerged from a research project that aimed to develop a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) model for torrent control structures. This...     

Dynamic reduction with applications to mathematical biology and other areas

In a difference or differential equation one is usually interested in finding solutions having certain properties, either intrinsic properties (e.g. bounded, periodic, almost periodic) or extrinsic properties (e.g. stable, asymptotically stable, globally asymptotically stable). In certain instances it may happen that the dependence of these equations on the state variable is such that one may (1) alter that dependency by replacing part of the state variable by a function from a class having some of the above properties and (2) solve the 'reduced' equation for a solution having the remaining properties and lying in the same class. This then sets up a mapping Τ of the class into itself, thus reducing the original problem to one of finding a fixed point of the mapping. The procedure is applied to obtain a globally asymptotically stable periodic solution for a system of difference equations modeling the interaction of wild and genetically altered mosquitoes in an environment yielding periodic parameters. It is also shown that certain coupled periodic systems of difference equations may be completely decoupled so that the mapping Τ is established by solving a set of scalar equations. Periodic difference equations of extended Ricker type and also rational difference equations with a finite number of delays are also considered by reducing them to equations without delays but with a larger period. Conditions are given guaranteeing the existence and global asymptotic stability of periodic solutions.     

Echiniscus testudo (Doyère, 1840) in New Zealand: anthropogenic dispersal or evidence for the ‘Everything is Everywhere’ hypothesis?

Many species of microscopic invertebrates, such as tardigrades or rotifers, have been traditionally regarded as cosmopolitan. This conviction was based on classical taxonomic observations of very similar phenotypes across the globe and hypothetical abilities of micrometazoans for large-scale dispersal with air and water currents. However, several recent studies showed that micrometazoan species may have restricted geographic ranges, suggesting that microscopic size is not the only determinant of dispersal. Here, we describe the first Australasian record of Echiniscus testudo, a heterotardigrade originally described from the Holarctic. Morphological and genetic analyses gave congruent conclusions and confirmed that European and New Zealand populations represent a single species. Importantly, however, without broader sampling in primeval localities, it is not possible to test whether the New Zealand record of E. testudo is a result of natural dispersal or whether the species was brought to Australasia by humans.     

Patient-level interventions to reduce alcohol-related harms in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review and meta-summary

BackgroundDisease and disability from alcohol use disproportionately impact people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). While varied interventions have been shown to reduce alcohol use in high-income countries, their efficacy in LMICs has not been assessed. This systematic review describes current published literature on patient-level alcohol interventions in LMICs and specifically describes clinical trials evaluating interventions to reduce alcohol use in LMICs.Methods and findingsIn accordance with PRISMA, we performed a systematic review using an electronic search strategy from January 1, 1995 to December 1, 2020. Title, abstract, as well as full-text screening and extraction were performed in duplicate. A meta-summary was performed on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that evaluated alcohol-related outcomes. We searched the following electronic databases: PubMed, EMBASE, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane, WHO Global Health Library, and PsycINFO. Articles that evaluated patient-level interventions targeting alcohol use and alcohol-related harm in LMICs were eligible for inclusion. No studies were excluded based on language.After screening 5,036 articles, 117 articles fit our inclusion criteria, 75 of which were RCTs. Of these RCTs, 93% were performed in 13 middle-income countries, while 7% were from 2 low-income countries. These RCTs evaluated brief interventions (24, defined as any intervention ranging from advice to counseling, lasting less than 1 hour per session up to 4 sessions), psychotherapy or counseling (15, defined as an interaction with a counselor longer than a brief intervention or that included a psychotherapeutic component), health promotion and education (20, defined as an intervention encouraged individuals’ agency of taking care of their health), or biologic treatments (19, defined as interventions where the biological function of alcohol use disorder (AUD) as the main nexus of intervention) with 3 mixing categories of intervention types. Due to high heterogeneity of intervention types, outcome measures, and follow-up times, we did not conduct meta-analysis to compare and contrast studies, but created a meta-summary of all 75 RCT studies. The most commonly evaluated intervention with the most consistent positive effect was a brief intervention; similarly, motivational interviewing (MI) techniques were most commonly utilized among the diverse array of interventions evaluated.ConclusionsOur review demonstrated numerous patient-level interventions that have the potential to be effective in LMICs, but further research to standardize interventions, populations, and outcome measures is necessary to accurately assess their effectiveness. Brief interventions and MI techniques were the most commonly evaluated and had the most consistent positive effect on alcohol-related outcomes.Trial registrationProtocol Registry: PROSPERO CRD42017055549

Catherine Staton and co-workers report on evidence about interventions against harmful alcohol use in low- and middle-income countries.     

Elimination of extrachromosomal c-myc genes by hydroxyurea induces apoptosis

Hydroxyurea (HU) increases extrachromosomal DNA elimination in tumor cell lines. The c-myc oncogene is one of the many relevant amplified genes contained within the extrachromosomal DNA compartment. Spontaneous loss of amplified copies of c-myc induces terminal differentiation and apoptosis in the human HL-60 leukemia cell lines. In the present study, we evaluate HU's ability to induce apoptosis by eliminating extrachromosomally located c-myc oncogene in human tumor cell lines. The consequences of eliminating extrachromosomal DNA by HU were explored in two different cell lines using the TdT assay and acridine orange/ethidium bromide labeling. COLO 320 clone 3 and COLO 320 clone 21 cell lines contain the same number of amplified copies of c-myc oncogene, but located respectively on extrachromosomal DNA, and intrachromosomally in homogeneously staining regions. HU induced apoptosis in the COLO 320 clone 3 cell line by a time and concentration dependent mechanism but could not induce apoptosis in the COLO 320 clone 21 cell line. These results suggested that HU-induced apoptosis in COLO 320 cell lines depends on elimination of extrachromosomal amplified copies of the c-myc oncogene. The ability of HU to eliminate extrachromosomally amplified copies of the c-myc oncogene and to induce apoptosis should be considered when targeting malignancies with amplification of the c-myc oncogene in an extrachromosomal site.     

Expression of the Gm1-Species, [NeuN]-GM1, in a Case of Human Glioma

Altered glycosylation is a common feature in tumors of various kind and particular interest has been focused on the expression of tumor-associated gangliosides. We have previously identified some human glioma-associated gangliosides and in this study yet another, not previously described, ganglioside has been isolated. The ganglioside was prepared from human glioma tissue taken at autopsy. The new ganglioside bound cholera-toxin B-subunit and its structure was confirmed by fast atom bombardment—mass spectrometry to be NeuN-GM1 (II³NeuNH₂-GgOse₄Cer). In the dissected tumor specimen, the concentration of NeuN-GM1 was 0.1 mol/g wet weight and accounted for approximately 20% of the monosialoganglioside fraction. Normal human brain tissue specimens (n = 10) did not contain detectable (>0.5 nmol/g wet weight of tissue) amounts of NeuN-GM1, indicating that this ganglioside might be associated with human glioma. However, none of the 17 other tumour specimens reveal any detectable amounts of this ganglioside. In conclusion, NeuN GM1 is a glioma-associated ganglioside but its exceptional expression limits its relevance as a molecule involved in general tumor biology.     

New molecular screening tools for analysis of free-living diazotrophs in soil

Free-living nitrogen-fixing prokaryotes (diazotrophs) are ubiquitous in soil and are phylogenetically and physiologically highly diverse. Molecular methods based on universal PCR detection of the nifH marker gene have been successfully applied to describe diazotroph populations in the environment. However, the use of highly degenerate primers and low-stringency amplification conditions render these methods prone to amplification bias, while less degenerate primer sets will not amplify all nifH genes. We have developed a fixed-primer-site approach with six PCR protocols using less degenerate to nondegenerate primer sets that all amplify the same nifH fragment as a previously published PCR protocol for universal amplification. These protocols target different groups of diazotrophs and allowed for direct comparison of the PCR products by use of restriction fragment length polymorphism fingerprinting. The new protocols were optimized on DNA from 14 reference strains and were subsequently tested with bulk DNA extracts from six soils. These analyses revealed that the new PCR primer sets amplified nifH sequences that were not detected by the universal primer set. Furthermore, they were better suited to distinguish between diazotroph populations in the different soils. Because the novel primer sets were not specific for monophyletic groups of diazotrophs, they do not serve as an identification tool; however, they proved powerful as fingerprinting tools for subsets of soil diazotroph communities.