Adapting Stand‐Alone Renewable Energy Technologies for the Circular Economy through Eco‐Design and Recycling

Renewable energy (RE) technologies are looked upon favorably to provide for future energy demands and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. However, the installation of these technologies requires large quantities of finite material resources. We apply life cycle assessment to 100 years of electricity generation from three stand‐alone RE technologies—solar photovoltaics, run‐of‐river hydro, and wind—to evaluate environmental burden profiles against baseline electricity generation from fossil fuels. We then devised scenarios to incorporate circular economy (CE) improvements targeting hotspots in systems’ life cycle, specifically (1) improved recycling rates for raw materials and (ii) the application of eco‐design. Hydro presented the lowest environmental burdens per kilowatt‐hour of electricity generation compared with other RE technologies, owing to its higher efficiency and longer life spans for main components. Distinct results were observed in the environmental performance of each system based on the consideration of improved recycling rates and eco‐design. CE measures produced similar modest savings in already low GHG emissions burdens for each technology, while eco‐design specifically had the potential to provide significant savings in abiotic resource depletion. Further research to explore the full potential of CE measures for RE technologies will curtail the resource intensity of RE technologies required to mitigate climate change.     

The genetic architecture of vitiligo

Vitiligo is an autoimmune disease in which destruction of skin melanocytes results in patches of white skin and hair. Genome‐wide linkage studies and genome‐wide association studies in European ancestry cases identified over 50 vitiligo susceptibility loci, defining a model of melanocyte‐directed autoimmunity. Vitiligo heritability is exceedingly high, ~2/3 coming from common and ~1/3 from rare genomic variants; ~20% of vitiligo risk is environmental. Vitiligo genetic risk is polygenic, with greater additive risk in multiplex vitiligo families than simplex cases. Vitiligo age‐of‐onset is bimodal, also involving a major genetic component; a MHC enhancer haplotype confers extreme risk for vitiligo (OR 8.1) and early disease onset, increasing expression of HLA‐DQB1 mRNA and HLA‐DQ protein and thus perhaps facilitating presentation of triggering antigens. Vitiligo triggering also involves a major environmental component; dramatic delay in vitiligo age‐of‐onset, especially from 1973 to 2004, suggests that exposure or response to a key vitiligo environmental trigger diminished during this period. Together, these findings provide deep understanding of vitiligo pathogenesis and genetic architecture, suggesting that vitiligo represents a tractable model for investigating complex disease genetic architecture and predictive aspects of personalized medicine.     

Genetic and alkaloid analysis of Menispermum dauricum DC. by RAPD and HPLC

The aim of the present work was to determine whether dauricine could be used as a taxonomic marker for Menispermum dauricum DC., and to explore the correlation among RAPD, ecological markers and chemical markers. To this end, the chemical and genetic differences of 173 individual samples of M. dauricum from nine different sources were studied based on the relevant ecological factors including longitude, latitude, annual precipitation, mean temperature, annual accumulated temperature and mean sea level. The contents of dauricine in the sample rhizomes were assayed by HPLC with photodiode array detection. The leaves from the same sample were assayed using randomly amplified polymorphism DNA (RAPD). The genetic distances were then compared. Hierarchical cluster analysis and multiple linear stepwise regression analysis were used in the statistical analysis. The results indicated that the contents of dauricine were respectively correlated with the genetic distance (r = 1.000), longitude (r = 0.849), latitude (r = 0.861), annual precipitation (r = 0.903), mean temperature(r = 0.912), annual accumulated temperature (r = 0.919) and mean sea level (r = 0.925). It is concluded that the content of dauricine in M. dauricum is significantly correlated with genetic distance and ecological factors, and may be used as the taxonomic marker.     

Biochemical and strain properties of CJD prions: complexity versus simplicity

Prions, the agents responsible for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies, are infectious proteins consisting primarily of scrapie prion protein (PrP(Sc)), a misfolded, β-sheet enriched and aggregated form of the host-encoded cellular prion protein (PrP(C)). Their propagation is based on an autocatalytic PrP conversion process. Despite the lack of a nucleic acid genome, different prion strains have been isolated from animal diseases. Increasing evidence supports the view that strain-specific properties may be enciphered within conformational variations of PrP(Sc). In humans, sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (sCJD) is the most frequent form of prion diseases and has demonstrated a wide phenotypic and molecular spectrum. In contrast, variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD), which results from oral exposure to the agent of bovine spongiform encephalopathy, is a highly stereotyped disease, that, until now, has only occurred in patients who are methionine homozygous at codon 129 of the PrP gene. Recent research has provided consistent evidence of strain diversity in sCJD and also, unexpectedly enough, in vCJD. Here, we discuss the puzzling biochemical/pathological diversity of human prion disorders and the relationship of that diversity to the biological properties of the agent as demonstrated by strain typing in experimental models.     

Neuroimmunomodulative properties of dipeptidyl peptidase IV/CD26 in a TNBS-induced model of colitis in mice

Causal connections between dipeptidyl peptidase IV, also known as CD26 molecule (DPP IV/CD26) and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) have been shown, but mechanisms of these interactions are unclear. Our hypothesis was that DPP IV/CD26 could affect the neuroimmune response during inflammatory events. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate its possible role and the relevance of the gut-brain axis in a model of IBD in mice. Trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid-induced (TNBS) colitis was induced in CD26-deficient (CD26(-/-) ) and wild-type (C57BL/6) mice. Pathohistological and histomorphometrical measurements were done. Concentrations and protein expressions of DPP IV/CD26 substrates neuropeptide Y (NPY) and vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) were determined. Concentrations of IL-6 and IL-10 were evaluated. Investigations were conducted at systemic and local levels. Acute inflammation induced increased serum NPY concentrations in both mice strains, more enhanced in CD26(-/-) mice. Increased NPY concentrations were found in colon and brain of C57BL/6 mice, while in CD26(-/-) animals only in colon. VIP and IL-6 serum and tissue concentrations were increased in both mice strains in acute inflammation, more pronouncedly in CD26(-/-) mice. IL-10 concentrations, after a decrease in serum of both mice strains, increased promptly in CD26(-/-) mice. Decreased IL-10 concentration was found in brain of C57BL/6 mice, while it was increased in colon of CD26(-/-) mice in acute inflammation. DPP IV/CD26 deficiency affects the neuroimmune response at systemic and local levels during colitis development and resolution in mice. Inflammatory changes in the colon reflected on investigated parameters in the brain, suggesting an important role of the gut-brain axis in IBD pathogenesis.     

Flexible Solar Thermal Fuel Devices: Composites of Fabric and a Photoliquefiable Azobenzene Derivative

Controllable storage and release of solar energy has always been a highlighted scientific issue for its benefit of mankind. Solar thermal fuels (STFs) supply a closed cycle and renewable energy‐storage strategy by transforming solar energy into chemical energy stored in the conformation of molecular isomers, such as cis/trans‐azobenzene, and releasing it as heat under various stimuli. Although the potential high energy density of the STFs which are based on the hybrids of azobenzene derivatives and carbon nanomaterials has been reported the solvent‐assistant charging hinders their practicability. In this study, a solid‐state STF device is designed and fabricated by compositing one photoliquefiable azobenzene (PLAZ) derivative with a flexible fabric template. The photoinduced phase transition of the PLAZ derivative enables the charging of the flexible STFs to be totally solvent‐free. Interestingly, the energy‐storage capacity (energy density ≈201 J g^?1) of flexible PLAZ STFs has been improved by the soft fabric template. The exothermic situation is monitored with one infrared camera, which shows 4 °C temperature difference between charged and discharged samples under blue light stimulus. The flexible STFs are may be used in practice as heating equipment.     

Cell-penetrating peptides: from molecular mechanisms to therapeutics

The recent discovery of new potent therapeutic molecules which do not reach the clinic due to poor delivery and low bioavailability have made the delivery of molecules a keystone in therapeutic development. Several technologies have been designed to improve cellular uptake of therapeutic molecules, including CPPs (cell-penetrating peptides), which represent a new and innovative concept to bypass the problem of bioavailability of drugs. CPPs constitute very promising tools and have been successfully applied for in vivo. Two CPP strategies have been described to date; the first one requires chemical linkage between the drug and the carrier for cellular drug internalization, and the second is based on the formation of stable complexes with drugs, depending on their chemical nature. The Pep and MPG families are short amphipathic peptides, which form stable nanoparticles with proteins and nucleic acids respectively. MPG- and Pep-based nanoparticles enter cells independently of the endosomal pathway and efficiently deliver cargoes, in a fully biologically active form, into a large variety of cell lines, as well as in animal models. This review focuses on the structure-function relationship of non-covalent MPG and Pep-1 strategies, and their requirement for cellular uptake of biomolecules and applications in cultured cells and animal models.     

In vitro reconstitution of Cascade‐mediated CRISPR immunity in Streptococcus thermophilus

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)‐encoded immunity in Type I systems relies on the Cascade (CRISPR‐associated complex for antiviral defence) ribonucleoprotein complex, which triggers foreign DNA degradation by an accessory Cas3 protein. To establish the mechanism for adaptive immunity provided by the Streptococcus thermophilus CRISPR4‐Cas (CRISPR‐associated) system (St‐CRISPR4‐Cas), we isolated an effector complex (St‐Cascade) containing 61‐nucleotide CRISPR RNA (crRNA). We show that St‐Cascade, guided by crRNA, binds in vitro to a matching proto‐spacer if a proto‐spacer adjacent motif (PAM) is present. Surprisingly, the PAM sequence determined from binding analysis is promiscuous and limited to a single nucleotide (A or T) immediately upstream (?1 position) of the proto‐spacer. In the presence of a correct PAM, St‐Cascade binding to the target DNA generates an R‐loop that serves as a landing site for the Cas3 ATPase/nuclease. We show that Cas3 binding to the displaced strand in the R‐loop triggers DNA cleavage, and if ATP is present, Cas3 further degrades DNA in a unidirectional manner. These findings establish a molecular basis for CRISPR immunity in St‐CRISPR4‐Cas and other Type I systems.