What Do We Know About Metal Recycling Rates?

The recycling of metals is widely viewed as a fruitful sustainability strategy, but little information is available on the degree to which recycling is actually taking place. This article provides an overview on the current knowledge of recycling rates for 60 metals. We propose various recycling metrics, discuss relevant aspects of recycling processes, and present current estimates on global end‐of‐life recycling rates (EOL‐RR; i.e., the percentage of a metal in discards that is actually recycled), recycled content (RC), and old scrap ratios (OSRs; i.e., the share of old scrap in the total scrap flow). Because of increases in metal use over time and long metal in‐use lifetimes, many RC values are low and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Because of relatively low efficiencies in the collection and processing of most discarded products, inherent limitations in recycling processes, and the fact that primary material is often relatively abundant and low‐cost (which thereby keeps down the price of scrap), many EOL‐RRs are very low: Only for 18 metals (silver, aluminum, gold, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, niobium, nickel, lead, palladium, platinum, rhenium, rhodium, tin, titanium, and zinc) is the EOL‐RR above 50% at present. Only for niobium, lead, and ruthenium is the RC above 50%, although 16 metals are in the 25% to 50% range. Thirteen metals have an OSR greater than 50%. These estimates may be used in considerations of whether recycling efficiencies can be improved; which metric could best encourage improved effectiveness in recycling; and an improved understanding of the dependence of recycling on economics, technology, and other factors.     

Collagen biosynthesis by human skin fibroblasts III. The effects of ascorbic acid on procollagen production and prolyl hydroxylase activity

Human skin fibroblasts were cultured under conditions optimized for collagen synthesis, and the effects of ascorbic acid on procollagen production, proline hydroxylation and the activity of prolyl hydroxylase were examined in cultures. The results indicated that addition of ascorbic acid to confluent monolayer cultures of adult human skin fibroblasts markedly increased tha amount of [³H]hydroxyproline syntehsized. Ascorbic acid, however, did not increase the synthesis of ³H-labeled collagenous polypeptides assayed independently of hydroxylation of proline residues, nor did it affect the amount of prolyl hydroxylase detectable by an in vitro enzyme assay. Also long-term cultures of the cells or initiation of fibroblast cultures in the presence of ascorbic acid did not lead to an apparent selection of a cell population which might be abnormally responsive to ascorbic acid. Thus, ascorbic acid appears to have one primary action on the synthesis of procollagen by cultured human skin fibroblasts: it is necessary for synthesis of hydroxyproline, and consequently for proper triple helix formation and selection of procollagen.     

Membrane targeting of RecA during genetic transformation

Recombination in prokaryotes and eukaryotes is mediated by the RecA family of proteins. Although the interactions between RecA and DNA are well studied, the cellular location of these interactions is not known. Using genetic transformation of Streptococcus pneumoniae as a model system, there was increased expression of a protein, colligrin, and RecA, products of the rec locus during genetic transfer. These proteins formed a complex and were found associated with the membranes of genetically competent cells. With immunoelectron microscopy and subcellular fractionation, we showed that the induction of competence led to the translocation of RecA and colligrin to the membrane and to the formation of clusters of RecA in a colligrin-dependent step. Based on the behaviour of colligrin and RecA during genetic exchange and the numerous proteins in prokaryotes and eukaryotes with domains similar to colligrin, we suggest that there may exist a family of proteins, which gathers macromolecules at specific sites in biological membranes.     

REPRODUCTIVE CAPACITY AND SEED SIZE IN LUPINUS TEXENSIS

The average number of ovules produced per individual of Lupinus texensis is much greater than the average number of seeds per plant. Each plant produces approximately 2,000 ovules but only 2.5% develop into seeds. One fourth of the seeds is lost due to abortion and 0.3% is lost due to predation on the plant. Mature seeds from this population exhibit a five-fold range in weight, from 10 to 56 mg. The distribution of seed weights in the field population is skewed and leptokurtic. Seed wt is positively correlated with both seed germination and seedling survivorship. Heritability of seed wt is 0.09. There is no correlation between average seed wt per plant and total number of seeds per plant, seeds per pod, or legumes per plant.     

Coexistence of Probe Conformations in Lipid Phases—A Polarized Fluorescence Microspectroscopy Study

Several well-established fluorescence methods depend on environment-sensitive probes that report about molecular properties of their local environment. For reliable interpretation of experiments, careful characterization of probes’ behavior is required. In this study, bleaching-corrected polarized fluorescence microspectroscopy with nanometer spectral peak position resolution was applied to characterize conformations of two alkyl chain-labeled 7-nitro-2-1,3-benzoxadiazol-4-yl phospholipids in three model membranes, representing the three main lipid phases. The combination of polarized and spectral detection revealed two main probe conformations with their preferential fluorophore dipole orientations roughly parallel and perpendicular to membrane normal. Their peak positions were separated by 2–6 nm because of different local polarities and depended on lipid environment. The relative populations of conformations, estimated by a numerical model, indicated a specific sensitivity of the two probes to molecular packing with cholesterol. The coexistence of probe conformations could be further exploited to investigate membrane organization below microscopy spatial resolution, such as lipid rafts. With the addition of polarized excitation or detection to any environment-sensitive fluorescence imaging technique, the conformational analysis can be directly applied to explore local membrane complexity.     

Electroencephalographic changes in the lateral septum complex following systemic administration of DES-TYR1 -α-endorphin,Des-Tyr1-γ-endorphin and haloperidol in rats

The influence of systemically administered Des-Tyr¹-α-endorphin (DTαE), Des-Tyr¹-γ-endorphin (DTγE) and haloperidol on electroencephalographic (EEG) activity of the lateral septum complex (LSC) and the frontal cortex was studied in male rats. DTαE (2 μg) significantly increased whereas DTγE (10 μg) significantly decreased the amounts of activity in the 5 Hz band. In addition, DTαE promoted production of 15 - 20 Hz activity, while DTγE decreased the amount of 20 - 30 Hz activity. EEG activity exhibited a marked variability which persisted throughout the recording session following administration of the peptides. Haloperidol markedly decreased the proportion of 10 - 15 Hz activity. The alterations in EEG of the frontal cortex were similar to those in LSC but less pronounced. The differences in the time course and frequency bands affected suggest that the effects of peptides and haloperidol on EEG activity of LSC are not mediated by the same mechanisms.     

The synergistic effect of carbon concentration and high temperature on lipid peroxidation in Peridinium gatunense

Lipid peroxidation in Peridinium samples taken from two differentdepths in Lake Kinneret fluctuated throughout the spring withan overall increasing trend. Samples from 0.5 and 5 m showeda similar peroxidation pattern, which was maximal after thefall off in algal biomass. The rapid decline in Peridinium biomasscoincided with ambient lake temperatures of 21–23C. Fattyacid composition profiles were similar at both depths, althoughafter the peak of the bloom, a significant increase in polyunsaturatedfatty acids and oleic acid was only found at 0.5 m, togetherwith a decrease in the percentage of polyunsaturated fatty acids.These effects were related to ambient light stress rather thana result of lipid peroxidation. Lake samples taken at differentperiods of the bloom and incubated at various temperatures showeddifferential peroxidation. Higher temperatures caused increasedlipid peroxidation, but this appeared to be dependent on thesampling period. Samples withdrawn from the lake at the beginningof the bloom showed little peroxidation after a 5 day incubationat 14C, room temperature (25C) or ambient lake temperature(16C) compared to mid-bloom samples in which there was a significantincrease in peroxidation when they were incubated at room temperature(25C) or ambient lake temperature (22C). Incubation at 14Cinhibited peroxidation; however, samples from mid-bloom againshowed enhanced peroxidation compared with those from the beginningof the bloom. These in situ results suggested a relationshipbetween temperature, another environmental variable during thebloom and lipid peroxidation in Peridinium. As total dissolvedinorganic carbon (DIC) concentrations fall significantly duringthe progress of the bloom and represent an important sourceof environmental stress, laboratory experiments were establishedto investigate the synergistic effect of temperature and carbonnutrition on lipid peroxidation in Peridinium cultures. Increasedtemperature alone caused a slight increase in lipid peroxidation,but this was greatly augmented by carbon limitation. Althoughcarbon limitation induced increased catalase activity, at highertemperatures activity declined after 48 h, allowing for thesubstantial increase in lipid peroxidation.