Trade-offs in multi-purpose land use under land degradation

CITATION: Vlek, P. L. G., et al. 2017. Trade-offs in multi-purpose land use under land degradation. Sustainability, 9(12):2196, doi:10.3390/su9122196.The original publication is available at http://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainabilityAbstract: Land provides a host of ecosystem services, of which the provisioning services are often considered paramount. As the demand for agricultural products multiplies, other ecosystem services are being degraded or lost entirely. Finding a sustainable trade-off between food production and one or more of other ecosystem services, given the variety of stakeholders, is a matter of optimizing land use in a dynamic and complex socio-ecological system. Land degradation reduces our options to meet both food demands and environmental needs. In order to illustrate this trade-off dilemma, four representative services, carbon sinks, water storage, biodiversity, and space for urbanization, are discussed here based on a review of contemporary literature that cuts across the domain of ecosystem services that are provided by land. Agricultural research will have to expand its focus from the field to the landscape level and in the process examine the cost of production that internalizes environmental costs. In some situations, the public cost of agriculture in marginal environments outweighs the private gains, even with the best technologies in place. Land use and city planners will increasingly have to address the cost of occupying productive agricultural land or the conversion of natural habitats. Landscape designs and urban planning should aim for the preservation of agricultural land and the integrated management of land resources by closing water and nutrient cycles, and by restoring biodiversity.https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2196Publisher's versio

Effect of Testosterone on Insulin Stimulated IRS1 Ser Phosphorylation in Primary Rat Myotubes—A Potential Model for PCOS-Related Insulin Resistance

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is characterized by a hyperandrogenic state and frequently develops skeletal muscle insulin resistance. We determined whether testosterone adversely affects insulin action by increasing serine phosphorylation of IRS-1(636/639) in differentiated rat skeletal muscle myotubes. The phosphorylation of Akt, mTOR, and S6K, downstream targets of the PI3-kinase-IRS-1 complex were also studied.Primary differentiated rat skeletal muscle myotubes were subjected to insulin for 30 min after 16-hour pre-exposure to either low (20 ng/ml) or high (200 ng/ml) doses of testosterone. Protein phosphorylation of IRS-1 Ser(636/639), Akt Ser(473), mTOR-Ser(2448), and S6K-Thr(389) were measured by Western blot with signal intensity measured by immunofluorescence.Cells exposed to 100 nM of insulin had increased IRS-1 Ser(636/639) and Akt Ser(473) phosphorylation. Cells pre-exposed to low-dose testosterone had significantly increased insulin-induced mTOR-Ser(2448) and S6K-Thr(389) phosphorylation (p<0.05), and further increased insulin-induced IRS-1 Ser(636/639) phosphorylation (p = 0.042) compared to control cells. High-dose testosterone pre-exposure attenuated the insulin-induced mTOR-Ser(2448) and S6K-Thr(389) phosphorylation.The data demonstrated an interaction between testosterone and insulin on phosphorylation of intracellular signaling proteins, and suggests a link between a hyperandrogenic, hyperinsulinemic environment and the development of insulin resistance involving serine phosphorylation of IRS-1 Ser(636/639). These results may guide further investigations of potential mechanisms of PCOS-related insulin resistance

Oiled chemical water treatment sludge - secondary energy resource on the small-scale power facilities

The method of recycling secondary energy resources - oil-contaminated sludge chemical water treatment. Experimentally determined ash content, calorific value of oil-contaminated sludge. The technology for efficient combustion of polluted sludge on small power plants

Molecular Genetic Approaches in Diagnosis of Duschenne/ Becker Muscular Dystrophy

Introduction: Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy (DMD/BMD) is inherited X-linked disease with a frequency of 1: 3,500 newborn males. Deletions and duplications in the DMD gene are errors of reading frameshift and premature termination of translation. Structural rearrangements of BMD does not lead to reading frame rule, DNA polymerase can “skip” deleted exons , which leads to the synthesis of truncated protein, which can fulfill its functions some extent. Methods: We studied the DNA of 104 patients with suspected DMD / BMD and heterozygous, as well as chorionic villi samples (CVS) obtained by prenatal diagnostics. Multiplex Ligation - dependent Probe Amplification(MLPA) (MRC Holland) was used to study of copy number variations of 79 exons of DMD gene. Validation MLPA results and whole exome sequencing (WES) of patients with MLPA negative results were performed at Centogene (Germany). Detection of nonsense mutations leading to the appearance in mRNA a premature stop codons of DMD gene are relevant to stratify patients for antisense-targeted therapy of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Results: Mutations of (36) 37 % of patients were revealed in the DMD gene. Deletions were detected in (27) 75 %, duplications in (9) 25% of cases. WES of 41patients was conducted for validation and MLPA negative results. Point mutations were identified in 30 (73%), frameshift missense mutations - in 7 (23%), nonsense mutations - in 9 (30 %) cases. Validation of MLPA results (deletions) were performed in 14 patients (46 %). Conclusions: Algorithm of molecular diagnostic of DMD /BMD by MLPA is a method for the detection of large deletions and duplications 79 exons of DMD gene and WES should be to determine the missense and nonsense mutations of DMD gene. Our results formed the basis of clinical protocols of diagnostic and treatment of Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy in Kazakhstan