Assessing the “Short Mental Distance” in Eco‐Industrial Networks

Like many economic exchanges, industrial symbiosis (IS) is thought to be influenced by social relationships and shared norms among actors in a network. While many implicit references to social characteristics exist throughout the literature, there have been few explicit attempts to operationalize and measure the concepts. The “short mental distance,”“trust,”“openness,” and “communication” recorded among managers in Kalundborg, Denmark, set a precedent for examining and encouraging social interactions among key personnel in the dozens of eco‐industrial networks around the world. In this article we explore the relationships among various aspects of social embeddedness, social capital, and IS. We develop a conceptual framework and an approach using quantitative and qualitative methods to identify and measure these social characteristics, including social network structure, communication, and similarities in norms and conceptions of waste, and apply them in an industrial network in Nanjangud, South India. The findings suggest that there is a fairly high level of shared norms about dealing with waste—the “short mental distance”—in this network, but by‐product transactions are only weakly correlated with the structure and content of communication among managers. Replication of this approach can increase the understanding and comparability of the role of social characteristics in eco‐industrial activities around the world.     

Towards a sounder interpretation of entropy-based indicators in ecological network analysis

Various indicators rooted in the concepts of information and entropy have been proposed to be used for ecological network analysis. They are theoretically well grounded and widely used in the literature, but have always been difficult to interpret due to an apparent lack of strict relations with node and link weight. We generated several sets of 10,000 networks in order to explore such relations and work towards a sounder interpretation. The indices we explored are based on network composition (i.e., type and importance of network compartments), or network flows (i.e., type and importance of flows among compartments), including Structural Information (SI), Total System Throughput (TST), Average Mutual Information (AMI), Flow Diversity (H), and Ascendency (ASC). A correlation analysis revealed a lack of strict relationships among the responses of the investigated indicators within the simulated space of variability of the networks. However, fairly coherent patterns of response were revealed when networks were sorted by following a “bottom-up” criterion, i.e. by increasing the dominance of the large-sized top predator in the network. This ranking is reminiscent of ecosystem succession, along which the prominence of higher trophic level organisms progressively increases. In particular, the results show that a simple increase in organisms having large size and low consumption rates is potentially able to simultaneously lead to an increase of different types of information (as SI, H and AMI), thus also emphasizing the importance of bionomic traits related to body size in affecting information-related properties in a trophically connected community. The observed trends suffer from a certain dispersion of data, which was diminished by imposing specific and ecologically meaningful constraints, such as mass balancing and restriction to certain range of the ratio A/C, an index related to the viability of ecological networks. These results suggest that the identification of a set of effective constraints may help to identify improved conditions for applicability of the investigated flow-based indicators, and also provide indication on how to normalise them with respect to meaningful network properties or reference states. Thus, in order to increase confidence in the derived network metrics describing a particular ecosystem state, and thus increase their applicability, it is advisable to construct replicate networks by taking the variability of input data into account, and by applying uncertainty and sensitivity analyses.     

Analyzing network topological characteristics of eco-industrial parks from the perspective of resilience: A case study

Realizing the stable operation of an eco-industrial park (EIP) as a complex system consisting of a variety of the enterprises and embedded relations is challenging. The topological structure plays an important role to understand the balance of network resilience and eco-efficiency in the operation process of a given EIP. In this paper, Ningdong Coal Chemical Eco-industrial Park (Ningdong CCEIP) is used as a case study in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China. Based on complex network theory, we focus on topological characteristics analysis of symbiotic network from the perspective of resilience. Results reveal that Ningdong CCEIP has scale-free characteristics as well as the small world ones. Compared with the node-level metrics, the important degree of node considering ecological factor is a more crucial index measuring the importance of a particular node in the network. The removal of top 10% node contributes to 60% decrease of network efficiency, which indicates the decline of resilience in the studied case. Protecting the most important nodes is critical to safeguard the potential “vulnerability” in the development of EIPs. This study can help us better understand the strategies for avoiding disruptions, improving the resilience of EIP and safeguarding the stable operation.     

Ca-polygalacturonate as a model for a soil-root interface

The transfer of nutrients from the soil to root cells is mediated by a mucilaginous interface composed predominantly of polysaccharides which are characterized by a fibrillar structure. A network of Ca-polygalacturonate was formed on garlic roots. This artificial network was compared with naturally formed mucilage structures using transmission (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The synthetic Ca-polygalacturonate could serve as a model for the study of the ionic transfer in the soil-root interface.     

Experimental field test of the influence of generalist stingless bees (Meliponini) on the topology of a bee–flower mutualistic network in the tropics

1. Generalists are assumed to play a key role in structuring and stabilising animal–plant mutualistic networks. Until now, analyses on the effects of generalists have been based on empirical field data or simulations. The present natural field experiment manipulated the abundance of a generalist and abundant stingless bee [Melipona (Eomelipona) marginata] to determine the effects on the mutualistic network. 2. Networks were generated, and associated metrics were used for comparing replicate plots with and without the insertion of stingless bee nests. 3. Unweighted metrics and the basic qualitative structural pattern of networks (high nestedness, very low modularity and specialisation) was not affected by experimental variation in stingless bee abundance because they exert strong basal effects on the plant–pollinator community under natural conditions of abundance. Still, increased abundance caused significant variation in weighted nestedness and modularity and community-level specialisation. 4. Supporting predictions of neutral models, increased abundance of the stingless bee led to an increase in most of its specific metrics, expressing the expansion of its realised trophic niche. 5. During this process, specialist and other generalist bees were affected in different ways. More plant species became even more dependent on this stingless bee (increased asymmetry). 6. Long-term effects could not be inferred directly from instantaneous values of network metrics. Nonetheless, the increased abundance of the generalist stingless bee may both reduce the local level of ecological specialisation in the short term and affect the spatial distribution of less abundant and/or specialist bee species and plants in the long term.     

in silico analyses of metabolic pathway and protein interaction network for identification of next gen therapeutic targets in Chlamydophila pneumoniae

Chlamydophila pneumoniae, the causative agent of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), is presently the fifth mortality causing chronic disease in the world. The understanding of disease and treatment options are limited represents a severe concern and a need for better therapeutics. With the advancements in the field of complete genome sequencing and computational approaches development have lead to metabolic pathway analysis and protein-protein interaction network which provides vital evidence to the protein function and has been appropriate to the fields such as systems biology and drug discovery. Protein interaction network analysis allows us to predict the most potential drug targets among large number of the non-homologous proteins involved in the unique metabolic pathway. A computational comparative metabolic pathway analysis of the host H. sapiens and the pathogen C pneumoniae AR39 has been carried out at three level analyses. Firstly, metabolic pathway analysis was performed to identify unique metabolic pathways and non-homologous proteins were identified. Secondly, essentiality of the proteins was checked, where these proteins contribute to the growth and survival of the organism. Finally these proteins were further subjected to predict protein interaction networks. Among the total 65 pathways in the C pneumoniae AR39 genome 10 were identified as the unique metabolic pathways which were not found in the human host, 32 enzymes were predicted as essential and these proteins were considered for protein interaction analysis, later using various criteria''s we have narrowed down to prioritize ribonucleotide-diphosphate reductase subunit beta as a potential drug target which facilitate for the successful entry into drug designing.     

Insights into the molecular regulatory network of pathomechanisms in osteochondroma

Osteochondroma is a benign autosomal dominant hereditary disease characterized by abnormal proliferation of cartilage in the long bone. It is divided into solitary osteochondroma and hereditary multiple exostoses (HMEs). The exostosin-1 (EXT-1) and exostosin-2 (EXT-2) gene mutations are well-defined molecular mechanisms in the pathogenesis of HME. EXT-1 and EXT-2 encode glycosyltransferases that are necessary for the synthesis of heparin sulfate. Accumulating evidence suggests that mutations in the EXT family induce changes in isolated hypogonadotropic hypogonadism-parathyroid hormone-related protein, bone morphogenetic protein, and fibroblast growth factor signaling pathways. Studies have also found that a large number of microRNAs (miRNAs) are abnormally expressed in osteochondroma tissues, and some of them also participate in several major signaling pathways. The regulation of miRNA expression could be another breakthrough in the treatment of osteochondroma. Although the pathogenesis of osteochondroma is very complicated, significant progress has been made in recent years. It is hoped that the pathogenesis of osteochondroma will be clearly understood and the most effective methods for the prevention and treatment of osteochondroma will be determined. This review provides an update on the recent progress in the interpretation of the underlying molecular mechanisms of osteochondroma.     

Developmental sequence of bone-resorbing cells induced by intramuscular implantation of mineral-containing bone particles into rainbow trout,Oncorhynchus mykiss

Mineral-containing bone particles (BPs) were implanted intramuscularly into rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) to investigate the sequence of appearance of bone-resorbing cells. A fibrous substance first surrounded the implanted BPs and was gradually replaced by connective tissue containing capillaries. Two weeks after BP implantation, relatively small multinucleated cells (type-1 cells), whose cytoplasm stained deeply with hematoxylin, appeared along the surfaces of the BPs. At later stages (after 4–8 weeks), the majority of cells which appeared to be resorbing the BPs were multinucleated cells whose cytoplasm stained deeply with eosin (type-2 cells). Type-2 cells contained more nuclei than type-1 cells. Electron-microscopical observations revealed that type-2 cells had the characteristic features of osteoclasts: the presence of numerous mitochondria, vacuoles and granules, and a differentiation of the cell membrane and cytoplasm into a ruffled border and clear zone, respectively. A tartrate-resistant acid phosphatase activity, which is an established characteristic of osteoclasts in terrestrial vertebrates, but which had not previously been examined in teleosts, was demonstrated histochemically in the type-2 cells. Development of type-2 cells was closely correlated with the development of connective tissue. These findings suggest that the development of a capillary network around the implanted BPs enables circulating osteoclast-progenitors to reach the surface of the BPs.