Environmental Impacts of Solar Thermal Systems with Life Cycle Assessment

Available on: http://www.ep.liu.se/ecp/057/vol14/002/ecp57vol14_002.pdfInternational audienceSolar thermal systems are an ecological way of providing domestic hot water. They are experiencing a rapid growth since the beginning of the last decade. This study characterizes the environmental performances of such installations with a life-cycle approach. The methodology is based on the application of the international standards of Life Cycle Assessment. Two types of systems are presented. Firstly a temperate-climate system, with solar thermal collectors and a backup energy as heat sources. Secondly, a tropical system, with thermosiphonic solar thermal system and no backup energy. For temperate-climate systems, two alternatives are presented: the first one with gas backup energy, and the second one with electric backup energy. These two scenarios are compared to two conventional scenarios providing the same service, but without solar thermal systems. Life cycle inventories are based on manufacturer data combined with additional calculations and assumptions. The fabrication of the components for temperate-climate systems has a minor influence on overall impacts. The environmental impacts are mostly explained by the additional energy consumed and therefore depend on the type of energy backup that is used. The study shows that the energy pay-back time of solar systems is lower than 2 years considering gas or electric energy when compared to 100% gas or electric systems

Female Behaviour Drives Expression and Evolution of Gustatory Receptors in Butterflies

Secondary plant compounds are strong deterrents of insect oviposition and feeding, but may also be attractants for specialist herbivores. These insect-plant interactions are mediated by insect gustatory receptors (Grs) and olfactory receptors (Ors). An analysis of the reference genome of the butterfly Heliconius melpomene, which feeds on passion-flower vines (Passiflora spp.), together with whole-genome sequencing within the species and across the Heliconius phylogeny has permitted an unprecedented opportunity to study the patterns of gene duplication and copy-number variation (CNV) among these key sensory genes. We report in silico gene predictions of 73 Gr genes in the H. melpomene reference genome, including putative CO2, sugar, sugar alcohol, fructose, and bitter receptors. The majority of these Grs are the result of gene duplications since Heliconius shared a common ancestor with the monarch butterfly or the silkmoth. Among Grs but not Ors, CNVs are more common within species in those gene lineages that have also duplicated over this evolutionary time-scale, suggesting ongoing rapid gene family evolution. Deep sequencing (∼1 billion reads) of transcriptomes from proboscis and labial palps, antennae, and legs of adult H. melpomene males and females indicates that 67 of the predicted 73 Gr genes and 67 of the 70 predicted Or genes are expressed in these three tissues. Intriguingly, we find that one-third of all Grs show female-biased gene expression (n = 26) and nearly all of these (n = 21) are Heliconius-specific Grs. In fact, a significant excess of Grs that are expressed in female legs but not male legs are the result of recent gene duplication. This difference in Gr gene expression diversity between the sexes is accompanied by a striking sexual dimorphism in the abundance of gustatory sensilla on the forelegs of H. melpomene, suggesting that female oviposition behaviour drives the evolution of new gustatory receptors in butterfly genomes

Electrophysiological and behavioral responses of Spodoptera littoralis caterpillars to attractive and repellent plant volatiles

International audienceIn Lepidoptera, the behavior of caterpillars to plant odors is poorly known. However, caterpillars are equipped with a reduced number of olfactory sensilla (3 on the antenna and 4–5 on the maxillary palps) which they can use to make fine discrimination between complex plant odors. In this work, we characterized behavioral responses of Spodoptera littoralis larvae to 11 odorants found in plants using binary choices in a Petri dish assay. In this assay, 1-hexanol, hexanal and cis-jasmone elicited a dose-dependent attraction, camphene and eugenol were repellent, while the response to other odorants were less marked. We recorded the electrophysiological responses to 5 of these odors from olfactory neurons of sensillum B2 of the antenna. Several neurons from this sensillum responded to each of the chemicals tested by an increase of their firing activity on top of a high background activity, suggesting that olfactory neurons of caterpillars is broadly tuned to a range of odorants rather than being specialized to a few molecules

Physicians’ experience in decisions of withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments: A multicenter survey into emergency departments

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Difficulty of the ethical decision–making process in withholding and withdrawing life-sustaining treatments in French EDs during COVID pandemic

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Sex pheromone and food search in caterpillars

24th Annual Meeting of the European-Chemoreception-Research-Organization (ECRO), Dijon, FRANCE, SEP 10-13, 2014International audienceno abstrac

Sex pheromone and food search in caterpillars

24th Annual Meeting of the European-Chemoreception-Research-Organization (ECRO), Dijon, FRANCE, SEP 10-13, 2014International audienceno abstrac

Sex pheromone and food search in caterpillars

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Exogenous t-PA Administration Increases Hippocampal! Mature BDNF Levels. Plasmin- or NMDA-Dependent: Mechanism?

International audienceBrain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) through TrkB activation is central for brain functioning. Since the demonstration that plasmin is able to process pro-BDNF to mature BDNF and that these two forms have opposite effects on neuronal survival and plasticity, a particular attention has been paid to the link between tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)/plasmin system and BDNF metabolism. However, t-PA via its action on different N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor subunits is also considered as a neuromodulator of glutamatergic transmission. In this context, the aim of our study was to investigate the effect of recombinant (r)t-PA administration on brain BDNF metabolism in rats. In the hippocampus, we found that rt-PA (10 mg/kg) administration induced a progressive increase in mature BDNF levels associated with TrkB activation. In order to delineate the mechanistic involved, plasmin activity was assessed and its inhibition was attempted using tranexamic acid (30 or 300 mg/kg, i.v.) while NMDA receptors were antagonized with MK801 (0.3 or 3 mg/kg, i.p.) in combination with rt-PA treatment. Our results showed that despite a rise in rt-PA activity, rt-PA administration failed to increase hippocampal plasmin activity suggesting that the plasminogen/plasmin system is not involved whereas MK801 abrogated the augmentation in mature BDNF levels observed after rt-PA administration. All together, our results show that rt-PA administration induces increase in hippocampal mature BDNF expression and suggests that rt-PA contributes to the control of brain BDNF synthesis through a plasmin-independent potentiation of NMDA receptors signaling