Reply to the first systematic response by the Global Footprint Network to criticism: A real debate finally?

We respond to a reaction of the Global Footprint Network/GFN on our 8-point criticism of the ecological footprint. We also refer to, and comment on, an associated debate in this journal between Giampietro and Saltelli, 2014a, Giampietro and Saltelli, 2014b, on the one hand, and Goldfinger et al. (2014), on the other. We conclude that criticism on the footprint is accumulating and coherent across the various studies and disciplines and among the different authors. This was the first time that Wackernagel/GFN systematically responded to our criticisms. Hence, our response contains several original elements and the resulting exchange can be seen to add value to the existing literature. It ultimately allows readers to better make up their mind about the different viewpoints on the ecological footprint.     

Carbon emissions performance of commercial logging in East Kalimantan,Indonesia

Adoption of reduced‐impact logging (RIL) methods could reduce CO₂ emissions by 30–50% across at least 20% of remaining tropical forests. We developed two cost effective and robust indices for comparing the climate benefits (reduced CO₂ emissions) due to RIL. The indices correct for variability in the volume of commercial timber among concessions. We determined that a correction for variability in terrain slope was not needed. We found that concessions certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC, N = 3), when compared with noncertified concessions (N = 6), did not have lower overall CO₂ emissions from logging activity (felling, skidding, and hauling). On the other hand, FSC certified concessions did have lower emissions from one type of logging impact (skidding), and we found evidence of a range of improved practices using other field metrics. One explanation of these results may be that FSC criteria and indicators, and associated RIL practices, were not designed to achieve overall emissions reductions. Also, commonly used field metrics are not reliable proxies for overall logging emissions performance. Furthermore, the simple distinction between certified and noncertified concessions does not fully represent the complex history of investments in improved logging practices. To clarify the relationship between RIL and emissions reductions, we propose the more explicit term ‘RIL‐C’ to refer to the subset of RIL practices that can be defined by quantified thresholds and that result in measurable emissions reductions. If tropical forest certification is to be linked with CO₂ emissions reductions, certification standards need to explicitly require RIL‐C practices.     

Systems ecological accounting for wastewater treatment engineering: Method,indicator and application

Wastewater treatment facility is vital for sustainable urban development. In the course of removing contaminants and discharging ready-for-reuse water, wastewater treatment consumes resources and triggers environmental emission during its lifetime. A comprehensive framework to analyze the embodied ecological elements as natural resources and environmental emissions of wastewater treatment is presented in this work. The systems method as a combination of process and input–output analyses is applied and a set of indicators are accordingly devised. Two representative ecological elements, i.e., greenhouse gases emissions and solar emergy of alternative wastewater treatment systems, i.e., a traditional activated sludge wastewater treatment plant and a constructed wetland have been taken into consideration. For each ecological element, five indicators have been calculated and compared to assess the impact on climate change and resources utilizing style of the case systems. The framework raised in this paper is fully supportive for optimal decision-making among different wastewater treatment technologies, and could be transplanted to be applied to systems ecological accounting for other production systems.     

An integrated network analysis reveals that nitric oxide reductase prevents metabolic cycling of nitric oxide by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Nitric oxide (NO) is a chemical weapon within the arsenal of immune cells, but is also generated endogenously by different bacteria. Pseudomonas aeruginosa are pathogens that contain an NO-generating nitrite (NO₂⁻) reductase (NirS), and NO has been shown to influence their virulence. Interestingly, P. aeruginosa also contain NO dioxygenase (Fhp) and nitrate (NO₃⁻) reductases, which together with NirS provide the potential for NO to be metabolically cycled (NO→NO₃⁻→NO₂⁻→NO). Deeper understanding of NO metabolism in P. aeruginosa will increase knowledge of its pathogenesis, and computational models have proven to be useful tools for the quantitative dissection of NO biochemical networks. Here we developed such a model for P. aeruginosa and confirmed its predictive accuracy with measurements of NO, O₂, NO₂⁻, and NO₃⁻ in mutant cultures devoid of Fhp or NorCB (NO reductase) activity. Using the model, we assessed whether NO was metabolically cycled in aerobic P. aeruginosa cultures. Calculated fluxes indicated a bottleneck at NO₃⁻, which was relieved upon O₂ depletion. As cell growth depleted dissolved O₂ levels, NO₃⁻ was converted to NO₂⁻ at near-stoichiometric levels, whereas NO₂⁻ consumption did not coincide with NO or NO₃⁻ accumulation. Assimilatory NO₂⁻ reductase (NirBD) or NorCB activity could have prevented NO cycling, and experiments with ΔnirB, ΔnirS, and ΔnorC showed that NorCB was responsible for loss of flux from the cycle. Collectively, this work provides a computational tool to analyze NO metabolism in P. aeruginosa, and establishes that P. aeruginosa use NorCB to prevent metabolic cycling of NO.     

Synthesis and anti-inflammatory activity of celecoxib like compounds

Nine novel 4-[3-(4-Dimethylamino-phenyl)-5-aryl-4,5-dihydro-pyrazol-1-yl]-benzenesulfonamides (2a-i) were synthesized and evaluated for their anti-inflammatory and antiproliferative activities. These compounds (2a-i) showed moderate to strong anti-inflammatory activity in carrageenan rat paw oedema test. Compounds 2b, 2d and 2g showing comparable anti-inflammatory activity to that of reference drug celecoxib were evaluated for their ulcerogenic and analgesic activities. The effect of 2b, 2d and 2g on the content of NO, TNF-α and PGE₂ in exudates from rat paw stimulated by carrageenan was also evaluated. The compound 2c showed considerable antitumor activities against all 60 human tumor cell lines with effective GI₅₀ (MG-MID) value of 3.63 µM. It exhibited maximum activity against melanoma (LOX IMVI and SK-MEL-5) cancer cell lines with GI₅₀ value less than 2 μM.     

Nitrogen and Phosphorus in the Finnish Energy System, 1900–2003

In producing power, humans move the nutrients nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) from their long‐term geological and biological stocks and release or emit them in soil, water, and the atmosphere. In Finland, peat combustion is an important driver of N and P fluxes from the environment to human economy. The flows of N and P in the Finnish energy system were quantified with partial substance flow analysis, and the driving forces of emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) were analyzed using the ImPACT model. In the year 2000 in Finland, 140,000 tonnes of nitrogen entered the energy system, mainly in peat and hard coal. Combustion released an estimated 66,000 tonnes of N as nitrogen oxides (NOx) and nitrous oxides (N2O) and another 74,000 tonnes as elemental N2. Most of the emissions were borne in traffic. At the same time, 6,000 tonnes of P was estimated to enter the Finnish energy system, mostly in peat and wood. Ash was mainly used in earth construction and disposed in landfills; thus negligible levels of P were recycled back to nature. During the twentieth century, fuel‐borne input of N increased 20‐fold, and of P 8‐fold. In 1900–1950, the increasing use of hard coal slowly boosted N input, whereas wood fuels were the main carrier of P. Since 1970, the fluxes have been on the rise. NOx emissions leveled off in the 1980s, though, and then declined in conjunction with improvements in combustion technologies such as NOx removal (de‐NOx) technologies in energy production and catalytic converters in cars.     

THE COMBINED EFFECTS OF LOW TEMPERATURE AND SO2+NO2 POLLUTION ON THE NEW SEASON'S GROWTH AND WATER RELATIONS OF PICEA SITCHENSIS

Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carr. seedlings were exposed to SO₂, NO₂ and SO₂+ NO₂ during dormancy in controlled environments, and were taken to night temperatures of 4, 0, −5, −10 and −15 °C in a freezer. Conditions in the freezer were carefully monitored during the low–temperature treatments. In two experiments, different photoenvironments and temperature regimes were imposed prior to the cold treatments, and different effects were observed. In the first, only limited frost hardiness was achieved and night temperatures of −15 °C were lethal. Temperatures of −5 and − 10 °C led to poor survival of lateral buds, particularly in plants exposed to 45 ppb SO₂. The poor bud break in plants exposed to SO₂ and to − 5 °C resulted in a loss of the effectiveness of this temperature as a chill requirement. Pressure-volume analysis showed that the shoots of plants exposed to NO₂ had greater elasticity (lower elastic moduli, e), so that loss of turgor occurred at lower relative water contents. In contrast, a hardening period (2 weeks in night/day temperatures of 3/10 °C and 8 h days at 50 μmol m⁻² s⁻¹ PAR) gave decreased elasticity and lower solute potentials of spruce shoots. In the second experiment, exposure to 30 ppb SO₂ and SO₂+ NO₂ led to slight, but consistent, increases in frost injury to the needles of plants frozen to − 5 and − 10 °C. The results suggest that the main interaction of low temperatures and winter pollutants may be on bud survival rather than on needle damage, but that effects are subtle, only occurring with certain combinations of pollutant dose and cold treatment.     

Influence of partial defoliation of green pepper on the senescence,growth, and nitrate reductase of the remaining leaf

Summary Removal of all but one leaf from pepper plants prevented the senescence of the remaining leaf and caused increases of approximately 140, 200, and 200%, respectively in leaf area, weight, and nitrate reductase activity. Development of the fruit (fresh and dry weight increases) was only approximately 65% of that of fruit on control plants.     

Evidence for coexistence of ATP and nitric oxide in non-adrenergic,non-cholinergic (NANC) inhibitory neurones in the rat ileum,colon and anococcygeus muscle

The possible coexistence of the two non-adrenergic, non-cholinergic (NANC) inhibitory neurotransmitters, adenosine 5-triphosphate and nitric oxide in the myenteric plexus was investigated using whole-mount preparations of rat ileum, proximal colon and anococcygeus muscle. The presence of adenosine 5-triphosphate in neurones was examined using the quinacrine fluorescence technique. After localizing and taking photographs of quinacrine-fluorescent neurones and nerve fibres, the same tissues were then fixed and processed for NADPH-diaphorase activity, a marker for nitric oxide-containing neurones. We have demonstrated for the first time that almost all quinacrine-fluorescent myenteric neurones in the proximal colon are also NADPH-diaphorase reactive, while only a subpopulation of quinacrine-fluorescent neurones in ileum and anococcygeus muscle were also NADPH-diaphorase reactive.