Meten van broeikasgassen in het landschap

Verschillende meetinstrumenten en technieken worden ingezet om de dynamiek van deze uitwisseling in ruimte en tijd in beeld te krijgen. De metingen moeten vertellen wat de netto broeikasgasbalans van het landschap is en hoe deze zal reageren op een veranderend klimaa

Cell-to-cell heterogeneity of phosphate gene expression in yeast is controlled by alternative transcription, 14-3-3 and Spl2

Dependent on phosphate availability the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae expresses either low or high affinity phosphate transporters. In the presence of phosphate yeast cells still express low levels of the high affinity phosphate transporter Pho84. The regulator Spl2 is expressed in approximately 90% of the cells, and is not expressed in the remaining cells. Here we report that deletion of RRP6, encoding an exonuclease degrading non-coding RNA, or BMH1, encoding the major 14-3-3 isoform, resulted in less cells expressing SPL2 and in increased levels of RNA transcribed from sequences upstream of the SPL2 coding region. SPL2 stimulates its own expression and that of PHO84 ensuing a positive feedback. Upon deletion of the region responsible for upstream SPL2 transcription almost all cells express SPL2. These results indicate that the cell-to-cell variation in PHO84 and SPL2 expression is dependent on a specific part of the SPL2 promoter and is controlled by Bmh1 and Spl2.Microbial Biotechnolog

Improved electrocatalytic activity of Pt on carbon nanofibers for glucose oxidation mediated by support oxygen groups in Pt perimeter

Support effects in supported metal catalysts are well studied for thermocatalytic reactions, but less studied for electrocatalytic reactions. Here, we prepared a series of Pt supported on carbon nanofiber catalysts which vary in their Pt particle size and the content of oxygen groups on the surface of the CNF. We show that the activity of these catalysts for electrocatalytic glucose oxidation relates linearly with the content of support oxygen groups. Since the electronic state of Pt (XAS) and Pt surface structure (CO-stripping) were indistinguishable for all materials, we conclude that sorption effects of glucose play a crucial role in catalytic activity. This was further confirmed by establishing a relation between the annulus of the Pt particles and the activity.</p

Optical symmetries and anisotropic transport in high-Tc superconductors

A simple symmetry analysis of in-plane and out-of-plane transport in a family of high temperature superconductors is presented. It is shown that generalized scaling relations exist between the low frequency electronic Raman response and the low frequency in-plane and out-of-plane conductivities in both the normal and superconducting states of the cuprates. Specifically, for both the normal and superconducting state, the temperature dependence of the low frequency $B_{1g}$ Raman slope scales with the $c-$axis conductivity, while the $B_{2g}$ Raman slope scales with the in-plane conductivity. Comparison with experiments in the normal state of Bi-2212 and Y-123 imply that the nodal transport is largely doping independent and metallic, while transport near the BZ axes is governed by a quantum critical point near doping $p\sim 0.22$ holes per CuO$_{2}$ plaquette. Important differences for La-214 are discussed. It is also shown that the $c-$ axis conductivity rise for $T\ll T_{c}$ is a consequence of partial conservation of in-plane momentum for out-of-plane transport.Comment: 16 pages, 8 Figures (3 pages added, new discussion on pseudogap and charge ordering in La214

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Air and heat flow through large vertical openings

After a short description of the physical phenomena involved, unified expressions are worked out describing net airflow and net heat flow through large vertical openings between stratified zones. These formulae are based on those of Cockroft for bidirectional flow, but are more general in the sense that they apply to situations of unidirectional flow as well. The expressions are compatible with a pressure network description for multizone modelling of airflow in buildings. The technique has been incorporated in the flows solver of the ESP-r building and plant energy simulation environment. The relative importance of the governing variables (pressure difference, temperature difference and vertical air temperature gradients) is demonstrated by parametric analysis of energy performance in a typical building context. It is concluded that vertical air temperature gradients have a major influence on the heat transferred through large openings in buildings and should be included in building energy simulation models

Air and heat flow through large vertical openings

After a short description of the physical phenomena involved, unified expressions are worked out describing net airflow and net heat flow through large vertical openings between stratified zones. These formulae are based on those of Cockroft for bidirectional flow, but are more general in the sense that they apply to situations of unidirectional flow as well. The expressions are compatible with a pressure network description for multizone modelling of airflow in buildings. The technique has been incorporated in the flows solver of the ESP-r building and plant energy simulation environment. The relative importance of the governing variables (pressure difference, temperature difference and vertical air temperature gradients) is demonstrated by parametric analysis of energy performance in a typical building context. It is concluded that vertical air temperature gradients have a major influence on the heat transferred through large openings in buildings and should be included in building energy simulation models

Exposed surfaces on shape-controlled ceria nanoparticles revealed through AC-TEM and water-gas shift reactivity

Aberration-corrected transmission electron microscopy and high-angle annular dark field imaging was used to investigate the surface structures and internal defects of CeO2 nanoparticles (octahedra, rods, and cubes). Further, their catalytic reactivity in the water–gas shift (WGS) reaction and the exposed surface sites by using FTIR spectroscopy were tested. Rods and octahedra expose stable (111) surfaces whereas cubes have primarily (100) facets. Rods also had internal voids and surface steps. The exposed planes are consistent with observed reactivity patterns, and the normalized WGS reactivity of octahedra and rods were similar, but the cubes were more reactive. In situ FTIR spectroscopy showed that rods and octahedra exhibit similar spectra for [BOND]OH groups and that carbonates and formates formed upon exposure to CO whereas for cubes clear differences were observed. These results provide definitive information on the nature of the exposed surfaces in these CeO2 nanostructures and their influence on the WGS reactivity

Synthesis report ME01: Integrated observations and modelling of greenhouse gas budgets at the ecosystem level in The Netherlands

In Nederland komt ongeveer 10% van alle emissies van de broeikasgassen uit land-gebonden bronnen en nog eens 5% uit aan het landgebruik verbonden activiteiten. Nederlandse onderzoekers hebben binnen het Bsik-onderzoeksprogramma Klimaat voor Ruimte (KvR) gewerkt aan het verbeteren en verfijnen van de emissieschattingen in tijd en ruimte, aan het terugdringen van de onzekerheid in de emissiedata, het ontwerpen van maatregelen om de emissies van het landgebruik te reduceren en innovatieve methoden om N2O en CH4 emissies te bepalen toegepast en verder ontwikkeld