Legal Steps Outside the Climate Convention: Litigation as a Tool to Address Climate Change

This article examines the recent academic interest in litigation as a tool to address climate change, as well as the surge of legal actions worldwide to bring the problem to the attention of judiciaries. This new interest reveals the frustration of legal scholars and activists at the slow rate at which policy makers are addressing the climate change problem. This article shows the slow build-up of academic interest in litigation, before moving on to analyse the kinds of legal causes of action that are being used in different parts of the world. Most of these cases have not been fully resolved, and it is more than likely that the judgments may not always be favourable to the plaintiffs, but at least a first step has been made to involve yet another forum for addressing the climate change problem. © 2007 The Author. Journal compilation © 2007 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Transcriptomic and metabolomic profiling of Zymomonas mobilis during aerobic and anaerobic fermentations

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Zymomonas mobilis </it>ZM4 (ZM4) produces near theoretical yields of ethanol with high specific productivity and recombinant strains are able to ferment both C-5 and C-6 sugars. <it>Z. mobilis </it>performs best under anaerobic conditions, but is an aerotolerant organism. However, the genetic and physiological basis of ZM4's response to various stresses is understood poorly.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, transcriptomic and metabolomic profiles for ZM4 aerobic and anaerobic fermentations were elucidated by microarray analysis and by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses. In the absence of oxygen, ZM4 consumed glucose more rapidly, had a higher growth rate, and ethanol was the major end-product. Greater amounts of other end-products such as acetate, lactate, and acetoin were detected under aerobic conditions and at 26 h there was only 1.7% of the amount of ethanol present aerobically as there was anaerobically. In the early exponential growth phase, significant differences in gene expression were not observed between aerobic and anaerobic conditions via microarray analysis. HPLC and GC analyses revealed minor differences in extracellular metabolite profiles at the corresponding early exponential phase time point.</p> <p>Differences in extracellular metabolite profiles between conditions became greater as the fermentations progressed. GC-MS analysis of stationary phase intracellular metabolites indicated that ZM4 contained lower levels of amino acids such as alanine, valine and lysine, and other metabolites like lactate, ribitol, and 4-hydroxybutanoate under anaerobic conditions relative to aerobic conditions. Stationary phase microarray analysis revealed that 166 genes were significantly differentially expressed by more than two-fold. Transcripts for Entner-Doudoroff (ED) pathway genes (<it>glk, zwf, pgl, pgk, and eno</it>) and gene <it>pdc</it>, encoding a key enzyme leading to ethanol production, were at least 30-fold more abundant under anaerobic conditions in the stationary phase based on quantitative-PCR results. We also identified differentially expressed ZM4 genes predicted by The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) that were not predicted in the primary annotation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>High oxygen concentrations present during <it>Z. mobilis </it>fermentations negatively influence fermentation performance. The maximum specific growth rates were not dramatically different between aerobic and anaerobic conditions, yet oxygen did affect the physiology of the cells leading to the buildup of metabolic byproducts that ultimately led to greater differences in transcriptomic profiles in stationary phase.</p

Openness in participation, assessment, and policy making upon issues of environment and environmental health: a review of literature and recent project results

Issues of environment and environmental health involve multiple interests regarding e.g. political, societal, economical, and public concerns represented by different kinds of organizations and individuals. Not surprisingly, stakeholder and public participation has become a major issue in environmental and environmental health policy and assessment. The need for participation has been discussed and reasoned by many, including environmental legislators around the world. In principle, participation is generally considered as desirable and the focus of most scholars and practitioners is on carrying out participation, and making participation more effective. In practice also doubts regarding the effectiveness and importance of participation exist among policy makers, assessors, and public, leading even to undermining participatory practices in policy making and assessment

Anaphylaxis in Elderly Patients-Data From the European Anaphylaxis Registry

Background: Elicitors and symptoms of anaphylaxis are age dependent. However, little is known about typical features of anaphylaxis in patients aged 65 years or more. Methods: The data from the Network for Online Registration of Anaphylaxis (NORA) considering patients aged ≥65 (elderly) in comparison to data from adults (18–64 years) regarding elicitors, symptoms, comorbidities, and treatment measures were analyzed. Results: We identified 1,123 elderly anaphylactic patients. Insect venoms were the most frequent elicitor in this group (p < 0.001), followed by drugs like analgesics and antibiotics. Food allergens elicited less frequently anaphylaxis (p < 0.001). Skin symptoms occurred less frequently in elderly patients (77%, p < 0.001). The clinical symptoms were more severe in the elderly (51% experiencing grade III/IV reactions), in particular when skin symptoms (p < 0.001) were absent. Most strikingly, a loss of consciousness (33%, p < 0.001) and preexisting cardiovascular comorbidity (59%, p < 0.001) were more prevalent in the elderly. Finally, adrenaline was used in 30% of the elderly (vs. 26% in the comparator group, p < 0.001) and hospitalization was more often required (60 vs. 50%, p < 0.001). Discussion and Conclusion: Anaphylaxis in the elderly is often caused by insect venoms and drugs. These patients suffer more often from cardiovascular symptoms, receive more frequently adrenaline and require more often hospitalization. The data indicate that anaphylaxis in the elderly tends to be more frequently life threatening and patients require intensified medical intervention. The data support the need to recognize anaphylaxis in this patient group, which is prone to be at a higher risk for a fatal outcome

Scale-up of ethanol production from sugarcane using Zymomonas mobilis

The Zymomonas fermentation for industrial ethanol production has been successfully scaled up. Pilot plant experiments at 100 and 1,000 litre fermentation capacity gave 91-95% conversion efficiencies and up to 10% (v/v) ethanol yields within 17-20 hours using sugar cane syrup, A-, B-, and C-molasses with the addition of sucrose or syrup to a final 15% total sugar concentration

Mode of growth of Rhizopus oligosporus on a model substrate in solid-state fermentation

The growth of Rhizopus oligosporus on a model solid substrate consisting of cassava starch and other nutrients embedded in a kappa-carrageenan matrix was followed microscoplcally. There were two distinct growth phases: (1) germination of spores and development of mycellum to form a loose network over the whole substrate surface; (2) increase in the density of the mycellum. Although some penetrative hyphae were produced, the biomass was malnly restricted to the surface. Consequently, starch utilization was greatest near the surface. Based on these observations a descriptive model for the growth of Rhizopus ollgosporus on the model substrate was proposed. The five steps are: (1) release of glucoamylase by the mycelium; (2) diffusion of the glucoamylase to the starch; (3) hydrolysis of the starch by the glucoamylase, releasing glucose; (4) diffusion of glucose; (5) absorption of glucose by the mycellum at the surface to produce new blomass

⁶³CU nuclear magnetic resonance, density and viscosity studies of copper(I) perchlorate in binary mixtures with acetonitrile

693-69963CU nuclear magnetic resonance, density and viscosity studies of copper(I) perchlorate solutions have been made at 298 K in binary mixtures of acetonitrile with D2O, 4-picoline, 3-methoxypropionitrile and ethylbenzene at several compositions of the mixtures. The chemical shift (δ), linewidth (Δ) and relative intensity (I) of the 63CU NMR signal have been measured relative to 0.064 M CuClO4 solution in pure anhydrous acetonitrile. The quadrupole relaxation rate, reorientational correlation time and quadrupole coupling constant have been evaluated in all cases. The variation of quadrupole coupling constant with solvent composition shows that 4-picoline and D2O have a strong effect and 3-methoxypropionitrile and ethyl benzene have a relatively weak effect on the solvation behaviour of Cu+. Cu+ displays preferential solvation by 4-picoline in acetonitrile + 4-picoline mixtures while it shows preferential solvation by acetonitrile in all other cases