SMEs in a low carbon economy: final report for BERR enterprise directorate.

This report reviews the established evidence and thinking around the challenges and opportunities that will affect UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the transition to a low carbon economy. The serious threat of global climate change is primarily caused by the burning of fossil fuels and land-use change and few now dispute that there is a need for urgent collective action to achieve a transition to a low carbon and more resource efficient economy. Although little has been written specifically on SMEs in a low carbon economy, a considerable body of relevant academic and policy literature has been identified

Pathophysiological disorders in iron metabolism in the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome

Obesity and metabolic syndrome are one of the major public health problems in the 21st century due to their prevalence. Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, chronic inflammation and anemia are non-communicable diseases accompanying obesity. With obesity, there is a violation of iron metabolism, iron deficiency, which further contributes to the  development of  metabolic disorders. Iron is the  second most abundant metal on Earth, and its bioavailability is reduced due to the formation of insoluble oxides, while iron deficiency is the most common nutritional disorder. Iron metabolism in the body is associated with the formation of reactive oxygen species involved in lipid peroxidation processes. Iron metabolism in the human body is regulated at all levels; dysregulation of any stage of metabolism can lead to iron deficiency and the development of anemia associated with obesity. This review article summarizes data on molecular and cellular abnormalities in iron metabolism in obesity and metabolic syndrome. The aim of our study was to study, according to the literature, pathophysiological disorders in iron metabolism in the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome. In the future, more research is required to study iron metabolism in obesity with the aim of their preventive and therapeutic effects. The role of oxidative stress in impaired iron metabolism in obesity has not been fully studied, while iron deficiency enhances lipid peroxidation processes in antioxidant deficiency. Under these conditions, oxidative stress can damage cells and destroy red blood cells. The question arises whether the restoration of iron homeostasis in obesity can improve metabolic, inflammatory disorders and reduce the manifestation of oxidative stress, becoming a new innovative approach to the treatment of concomitant metabolic diseases associated with obesity

Antarctic bdelloid rotifers: diversity, endemism and evolution

Antarctica is an isolated continent whose conditions challenge the survival of living organisms. High levels of endemism are now known in many Antarctic organisms, including algae, tardigrades, nematodes and microarthropods. Bdelloid rotifers are a key, widespread and abundant group of Antarctic microscopic invertebrates. However, their diversity, regional distribution and endemism have received little attention until recently. We provide the first authoritative review on Antarctic Bdelloidea, based on published data and new collections. Our analysis reveals the extreme levels of bdelloid endemism in Antarctica. Sixty-six bdelloid morphospecies are now confirmed from the continent, and 83–91 putative species are identified using molecular approaches (depending on the delimitation method used). Twelve previously unknown species are described based on both morphology and molecular analyses. Molecular analyses indicate that only two putative species found in Antarctica proved to be truly cosmopolitan. The level of endemism based on the available data set (95%) is higher than that in any other continent, with many bdelloid species occurring only in maritime or continental Antarctica. These findings are consistent with the long-term presence of Bdelloidea in Antarctica, with their considerable isolation facilitating intraregional radiation, providing further evidence that does not support the microbial global ubiquity hypothesis that “everything is everywhere.

Atomic and Molecular Gas Components in Spiral Galaxies of the Virgo Cluster

Based on two models, we investigate the molecular-to-atomic gas ratio in Virgo cluster galaxies in comparison with field galaxies. We show that the enhanced metallicity for cluster members and the ram pressure stripping of atomic gas from the disk periphery cannot fully explain the observed gas component ratios. The additional environmental factors affecting the interstellar medium and leading to an increase in the molecular gas fraction should be taken into account for cluster galaxies.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure

Galaxies with unusually high abundances of molecular hydrogen

A sample of 66 galaxies from the catalog of Bettoni et al. (CISM) with anomalously high molecular-to-atomic hydrogen mass ratios (M_{mol}/M_{HI}>2) is considered. The sample galaxies do not differ systematically from other galaxies in the catalog with the same morphological types, in terms of their photometric parameters, rotational velocities, dust contents, or the total mass of gas in comparison with galaxies of similar linear sizes and disk angular momentum. This suggests that the overabundance of $H_2$ is due to transition of HI to H_2. Galaxies with bars and active nuclei are found more frequently among galaxies which have M_{mol} estimates in CISM. In a small fraction of galaxies, high M_{mol}/M_{HI} ratios are caused by the overestimation of M_{mol} due to a low conversion factor for the translation of CO-line intensities into the number of H_2 molecules along the line of sight. It is argued that the "molecularization" of the bulk of the gas mass could be due 1) to the concentration of gas in the inner regions of the galactic disks, resulting to a high gas pressure and 2) to relatively low star-formation rate per unit mass of molecular gas which indeed takes place in galaxies with high M_{mol}/M_{HI} ratios.Comment: 11 pages,7 figures, published in Astronomy Report

Gravitational stability and dynamical overheating of stellar disks of galaxies

We use the marginal stability condition for galactic disks and the stellar velocity dispersion data published by different authors to place upper limits on the disk local surface density at two radial scalelengths $R=2h$. Extrapolating these estimates, we constrain the total mass of the disks and compare these estimates to those based on the photometry and color of stellar populations. The comparison reveals that the stellar disks of most of spiral galaxies in our sample cannot be substantially overheated and are therefore unlikely to have experienced a significant merging event in their history. The same conclusion applies to some, but not all of the S0 galaxies we consider. However, a substantial part of the early type galaxies do show the stellar velocity dispersion well in excess of the gravitational stability threshold suggesting a major merger event in the past. We find dynamically overheated disks among both seemingly isolated galaxies and those forming pairs. The ratio of the marginal stability disk mass estimate to the total galaxy mass within four radial scalelengths remains within a range of 0.4---0.8. We see no evidence for a noticeable running of this ratio with either the morphological type or color index.Comment: 25 pages, 5 figures, accepted to Astronomy Letter