Ileal Mucosal and Fecal Pancreatitis Associated Protein Levels Reflect Severity of Salmonella Inflection in Rats

Background Microbial infections induce ileal pancreatitis-associated protein/regenerating gene III (PAP/RegIII) mRNA expression. Despite increasing interest, little is known about the PAP/RegIII protein. Therefore, ileal mucosal PAP/RegIII protein expression, localization, and fecal excretion were studied in rats upon Salmonella infection. Results Salmonella infection increased ileal mucosal PAP/RegIII protein levels in enterocytes located at the crypt-villus junction. Increased colonization and translocation of Salmonella was associated with higher ileal mucosal PAP/RegIII levels and secretion of this protein in feces. Conclusions PAP/RegIII protein is increased in enterocytes of the ileal mucosa during Salmonella infection and is associated with infection severity. PAP/RegIII is excreted in feces and might be used as a new and non-invasive infection marke

Economic comparison of reactive distillation (RD) to a benchmark conventional flowsheet:Regions of RD applicability and trends in column design

A novel methodology for the techno-economic assessment of Reactive Distillation (RD) is presented. The developed methodology benchmarks reactive distillation (RD) to a conventional reactor + distillation train flowsheet (R+D) on a cost-optimized basis, with the optimization being performed on the process unit level (reactor sizing, number of stages, feed point(s)) and the internals level (reactive tray design). This methodology is applied to the ideal quaternary system A+B↔C+D with the conventional boiling point order of TC &lt; TA &lt; TB &lt; TD (αAD = 4, αBD = 2, αCD = 8). From this pool of data, a regime map of RD vs. R+D is established in which the attractive regions of either flowsheet option are identified in terms of the chemical reaction rate and chemical equilibrium. It is found that RD can arise as the cost optimal option for a large range of residence time requirements by virtue of overcoming the external recycle requirements of R+D. This is achieved through optimized reactive tray design. Contrary to conventional distillation design practices, it was found that the preferred use of bubble-cap trays over sieve trays to allow elevated weir heights and designing the column diameter below 80% of flooding become relevant design choices when accommodating high liquid holdup.</p

Intestinal barrier function in response to abundant or depleted mucosal glutathione in Salmonella-infected rats

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Glutathione, the main antioxidant of intestinal epithelial cells, is suggested to play an important role in gut barrier function and prevention of inflammation-related oxidative damage as induced by acute bacterial infection. Most studies on intestinal glutathione focus on oxidative stress reduction without considering functional disease outcome. Our aim was to determine whether depletion or maintenance of intestinal glutathione changes susceptibility of rats to Salmonella infection and associated inflammation. Rats were fed a control diet or the same diet supplemented with buthionine sulfoximine (BSO; glutathione depletion) or cystine (glutathione maintenance). Inert chromium ethylenediamine-tetraacetic acid (CrEDTA) was added to the diets to quantify intestinal permeability. At day 4 after oral gavage with Salmonella enteritidis (or saline for non-infected controls), Salmonella translocation was determined by culturing extra-intestinal organs. Liver and ileal mucosa were collected for analyses of glutathione, inflammation markers and oxidative damage. Faeces was collected to quantify diarrhoea. RESULTS: Glutathione depletion aggravated ileal inflammation after infection as indicated by increased levels of mucosal myeloperoxidase and interleukin-1beta. Remarkably, intestinal permeability and Salmonella translocation were not increased. Cystine supplementation maintained glutathione in the intestinal mucosa but inflammation and oxidative damage were not diminished. Nevertheless, cystine reduced intestinal permeability and Salmonella translocation. CONCLUSIONS: Despite increased infection-induced mucosal inflammation upon glutathione depletion, this tripeptide does not play a role in intestinal permeability, bacterial translocation and diarrhoea. On the other hand, cystine enhances gut barrier function by a mechanism unlikely to be related to glutathione

Assessing urban ecosystem services in support of spatial planning in the Hague, the Netherlands

Green infrastructure (GI) is increasingly addressed in urban planning and research to enhance urban sustainability and resilience through the provisioning of ecosystem services (ES). Yet, few applications exist of planning models for multifunctional GI in high spatial and thematic detail that simultaneously align with stakeholder interests. We address these gaps by developing and presenting a spatially explicit model to inform urban planners on priority areas for multifunctional GI development. This model was made possible by spatial analyses on multiple scales, enabling us to assess ES in sufficient detail, while simultaneously matching the preferences for scale and ES-indicators of decision makers and urban planners. The model involves a novel weighting scheme based upon the local capacity of GI to mitigate problems. We applied our model to the city of The Hague using a set of three policy-relevant problems: air pollution, the urban heat island effect and storm water flooding. Our results show that the capacity of GI to mitigate these problems varies spatially, both within and between ES, and depends on local characteristics of GI and the environmental context. We illustrate the relevance of using a multiscale approach in spatial ES analysis, and underline that GI planning measures should be assessed in high spatial detail due to their often locally distinct ES capacity. Our approach makes important strides towards the deployment of nature-based solutions for urban challenges in the light of demands for increasing resilience and sustainability.Environmental BiologyIndustrial Ecolog

Refocusing ecosystem services towards sustainability

Ecosystem services and sustainability have become prominent concepts in international policy and research agendas. However, a common conceptual ground between these concepts is currently underdeveloped. In particular, a vision is missing on how to align ecosystem services with overarching sustainability goals. Originally, the ecosystem service concept focused on sustaining human well-being through biodiversity conservation. Nevertheless, studies within the field also consider appropriation beyond carrying capacities, and natural resource management that involves environmentally damaging inputs as ecosystem service provision. This brings the ecosystem service concept into conflict with the core goal of sustainability, i.e. achieving justice within ecological limits over the long term. Here, we link the ecosystem service concept to sustainability outcomes operationalized in terms of justice. Our framing positions sustainability as an overarching goal which can be achieved through seven key strategies: equitable (1) intergenerational and (2) intragenerational distribution, (3) interspecies distribution, (4) fair procedures, recognition and participation, (5) sufficiency, (6) efficiency, and (7) persistence. Applying these strategies has the potential to re-focus the ecosystem service concept towards the normative goal of sustainability. We identify research needs for each strategy and further discuss questions regarding operationalization of the strategies.Conservation Biolog

Are virtues national, supranational, or universal?

Many studies investigated cultural differences in values, most notably by Hofstede and Schwarz. Relatively few have focused on virtues, a related and important concept in contemporary social science. The present paper examines the similarities and differences between nations, or blocks of - culturally related - nations on the perceived importance of virtues. Adults (N = 2.809 students) from 14 countries were asked to freely mention which virtues they found important to practice in daily life, and next to rate a list of 15 virtues, which reflect the most frequently mentioned categories in The Netherlands, as found in a previous study. The 14 nations included the United States, Mexico, nine European and three Asian nations. For the free-listed virtues, we compared the top-ten lists of most frequently mentioned virtues across the nations. We used a correspondence analysis on the frequency table to assess the relationships between the virtues and nations. For the 15 virtues ratings, a MANOVA, and follow-up ANOVA’s were used to examine effects of nation, age, gender and religion. We found strong evidence for relationships between nations and blocks of culturally related nations and the importance attached to various virtues. There appear to be some country specific virtues, such as generosity in France, but also some relatively universal virtues, most notably honesty, respect, and kindness

Intestinally secreted C-type lectin Reg3b attenuates salmonellosis but not listeriosis in mice

The Reg3 protein family, including the human member designated pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP), consists of secreted proteins that contain a C-type lectin domain involved in carbohydrate binding. They are expressed by intestinal epithelial cells. Colonization of germ-free mice and intestinal infection with pathogens increase the expression of Reg3g and Reg3b in the murine ileum. Reg3g is directly bactericidal for Gram-positive bacteria, but the exact role of Reg3b in bacterial infections is unknown. To investigate the possible protective role of Reg3b in intestinal infection, Reg3b knockout (Reg3b-/-) mice and wild-type (WT) mice were orally infected with Gram-negative Salmonella enteritidis or Gram-positive Listeria monocytogenes. At day 2 after oral Listeria infection and at day 4 after oral Salmonella infection, mice were sacrificed to collect intestinal and other tissues for pathogen quantification. Protein expression of Reg3b and Reg3g was determined in intestinal mucosal scrapings of infected and noninfected mice. In addition, ex vivo binding of ileal mucosal Reg3b to Listeria and Salmonella was investigated. Whereas recovery of Salmonella or Listeria from feces of Reg3b-/- mice did not differ from that from feces of WT mice, significantly higher numbers of viable Salmonella, but not Listeria, bacteria were recovered from the colon, mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, and liver of the Reg3b-/- mice than from those of WT mice. Mucosal Reg3b binds to both bacterial pathogens and may interfere with their mode of action. Reg3b plays a protective role against intestinal translocation of the Gram-negative bacterium S. enteritidis in mice but not against the Gram-positive bacterium L. monocytogenes

Ecosystems and People – an inclusive, interdisciplinary journal

Environmental Biolog

Direct observation of active material concentration gradients and crystallinity breakdown in LiFePO4 electrodes during charge/discharge cycling of lithium batteries

The phase changes that occur during discharge of an electrode comprised of LiFePO4, carbon, and PTFE binder have been studied in lithium half cells by using X-ray diffraction measurements in reflection geometry. Differences in the state of charge between the front and the back of LiFePO4 electrodes have been visualized. By modifying the X-ray incident angle the depth of penetration of the X-ray beam into the electrode was altered, allowing for the examination of any concentration gradients that were present within the electrode. At high rates of discharge the electrode side facing the current collector underwent limited lithium insertion while the electrode as a whole underwent greater than 50% of discharge. This behavior is consistent with depletion at high rate of the lithium content of the electrolyte contained in the electrode pores. Increases in the diffraction peak widths indicated a breakdown of crystallinity within the active material during cycling even during the relatively short duration of these experiments, which can also be linked to cycling at high rate

Identifying future research directions for biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainability: perspectives from early-career researchers

We aimed to identify priority research questions in the field of biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainability (BESS), based on a workshop held during the NRG BESS Conference for Early Career Researchers on BESS, and to compare these to existing horizon scanning exercises. This work highlights the need for improved data availability through collaboration and knowledge exchange, which, in turn, can support the integrated valuation and sustainable management of ecosystems in response to global change. In addition, clear connectivity among different research themes in this field further emphasizes the need to consider a wider range of topics simultaneously to ensure the sustainable management of ecosystems for human wellbeing. In contrast to other horizon scanning exercises, our focus was more interdisciplinary and more concerned with the limits of sustainability and dynamic relationships between social and ecological systems. The identified questions could provide a framework for researchers, policy makers, funding agencies and the private sector to advance knowledge in biodiversity and ES research and to develop and implement policies to enable sustainable future development