Total costs and benefits of biomass in selected regions of the European Union

The paper describes results of the BioCosts project in which a comprehensive analysis of the economic and environmental performance of the energy use of biomass was carried out for selected existing facilities throughout the European Union. It is demonstrated that the appropriately organized use of biofuels has significant environmental advantages compared to the use of fossil fuels. Mitigation of global warming is the largest single incentive to use biofuels. However, only a few technologies are economically competitive under prevailing conditions, while others lead to up to 100% higher energy production costs than fossil fuels. Employment effects of using biofuels are small but positive.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/B6V2S-41JM99D-4/1/514a3253589af4590f84544e2966bcb

MORC1 exhibits cross-species differential methylation in association with early life stress as well as genome-wide association with MDD

Early life stress (ELS) is associated with increased vulnerability for diseases in later life, including psychiatric disorders. Animal models and human studies suggest that this effect is mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. In humans, epigenetic studies to investigate the influence of ELS on psychiatric phenotypes are limited by the inaccessibility of living brain tissue. Due to the tissue-specific nature of epigenetic signatures, it is impossible to determine whether ELS induced epigenetic changes in accessible peripheral cells, for example, blood lymphocytes, reflect epigenetic changes in the brain. To overcome these limitations, we applied a cross-species approach involving: (i) the analysis of CD34+ cells from human cord blood; (ii) the examination of blood-derived CD3+ T cells of newborn and adolescent nonhuman primates (Macaca mulatta); and (iii) the investigation of the prefrontal cortex of adult rats. Several regions in MORC1 (MORC family CW-type zinc finger 1; previously known as: microrchidia (mouse) homolog) were differentially methylated in response to ELS in CD34+ cells and CD3+ T cells derived from the blood of human and monkey neonates, as well as in CD3+ T cells derived from the blood of adolescent monkeys and in the prefrontal cortex of adult rats. MORC1 is thus the first identified epigenetic marker of ELS to be present in blood cell progenitors at birth and in the brain in adulthood. Interestingly, a gene-set-based analysis of data from a genome-wide association study of major depressive disorder (MDD) revealed an association of MORC1 with MDD

Site-specific mutagenesis of the Ti plasmid by transformation of Agrobacterium tumefaciens with mutagenized T-DNA fragments cloned in E. coli plasmids

A DNA fragment covering the complete T-region of the Ti plasmid from Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58 was cloned in the Escherichia coli cosmid pHC79. This fragment was mutagenized by insertion of transposon Tn5. The isolated DNA from hybrid plasmids was used to transform cells of A. tumefaciens strain C58 applying the freeze-thaw method. Although the E. coli plasmids with the mutagenized Ti plasmid fragment cannot replicate in these cells, they can be rescued by recombination with the homologous region of the Ti plasmid. The cointegrates formed were resolved in a second recobination event, which was detected by loss of the drug resistance marker of the E. coli plasmid. Subcloning of the Ti plasmid fragments labeled with Tn5 showed that the frequency of rescue of the hybrid plasmid as a cointegrate and its segregation in agrobacteria depend on the degree of homology with the Ti plasmid. We also applied the strategy for site-directed Tn5 mutagenesis to insert specifically the replication origin of bacteriophage fd and the thymidine kinase gene from Herpes virus into the T-DNA of Ti plasmid-C58

A plasmid cloning system utilizing replication and packaging functions of the filamentous bacteriophage fd

DNA cloning vectors were developed which utilize the replication origin (ori) of bacteriophage fd for their propagation. These vectors depend on the expression of viral gene 2 that was inserted into phage λ, which in turn was integrated into the host genome. The constitutive expression of gene 2 in the host cells is sufficient for the propagation of at least 100 pfd plasmids per cell. In addition to the fd ori, the pfd vectors carry various antibiotic-resistance genes and unique restriction sites. Some of these vectors have no homologies to commonly used pBR plasmids or to A DNA. The nucleotide sequence of the vectors can be deduced from published sequences. Large DNA inserts can be stably propagated in pfd vectors; these are more stable than similar DNA fragments cloned in intact genomes of filamentous bacteriophage. Inclusion of phage sequences required for efficient phage packaging and infection with a helper phage resulted in formation of phage particles containing single-stranded plasmid genomes. Growth at 42°C without selective pressure results in loss of pfd plasmids

Activation of dihydrogen on supported and unsupported silver catalysts

The activation of dihydrogen on silica, silver, and silica-supported silver (9 wt% Ag) was investigated. Both silica and silver are individually able to dissociate dihydrogen. Silanol groups on silica undergo H → D exchange at 393 K in D₂ as detected by IR spectroscopy. HD is observed in temporal analysis of products (TAP) experiments when H₂ and D₂ are sequentially pulsed on silver at 673 K; even when the time delay between the isotopes is 4 s, HD is formed, indicating that long-lived surface hydrogen species are present. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) shows that the activation of dihydrogen is an activated process: heat signals evoked through H2 pulses on Ag/SiO₂ grow with increasing temperature (373–523 K). Nonetheless, the presence of silver on the silica surface accelerates the Si–OH → Si–OD exchange. Investigation of the exchange kinetics on Ag/SiO₂ shows that diffusion processes of the activated hydrogen species are rate determining at higher temperatures (greater-or-equal, ≥ 373 K), when the activation of D₂ on silver becomes facile. Indications of diffusion limitation are observed already at 313 K on Pt/SiO₂. TAP and DSC measurements show that H₂ is more readily activated on silver that has been treated in O2 at 673 K followed by reduction in H2 at 673 K. Morphological changes induced to the silver surfaces or (sub)surface oxygen species are presumed responsible for this effect