Hydrothermal carbonization of sewage digestate at wastewater treatment works: Influence of solid loading on characteristics of hydrochar, process water and plant energetics

Nowadays the sludge treatment is recognized as a priority challenge to the wastewater industry due to the increasing volumes produced and tighter environmental controls for its safe disposal. The most cost-effective process for sewage sludge is the anaerobic digestion but raw digestate still contains high levels of organic matter that can be transformed into an energy carrier by using processes like Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC). In this work, the influence of solid loading (2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 17.5, 20.0, 25.0 and 30.0% solids w/w) on the composition of hydrochar and process water was studied, together with an evaluation of product yields, solubilisation of organic carbon and biomethane potential of process waters from HTC processing (250 °C, 30- minute reaction time). Hydrochar yields ranged from 64 to 88%wt, whereas the concentration of soluble organic carbon increased from 2.6 g/L in the raw digestate to a maximum of 72.3 g/L in the process water following HTC at the highest solid loading. Furthermore, process modelling with Aspen Plus shows that the integration of AD with HTC to wastewater treatment works provides a significant positive energy balance when process water and hydrochar are considered as fuel sources for cogeneration

Mapping susceptibility loci for alcohol consumption using number of grams of alcohol consumed per day as a phenotype measure

BACKGROUND: There is substantial evidence for a significant genetic component to the risk for alcoholism. However, susceptibility loci or genes for alcohol dependence remain largely unknown. To identify susceptibility loci for alcohol dependence, we selected 329 extended families from the Framingham Heart Study population in which at least one family member reported alcohol consumption during the interview in 1970–1971, and performed genome-wide linkage analyses using various analytical methods. RESULTS: Multi-point sib-pair regression analysis using the SIBPAL program of S.A.G.E. provided strong evidence for linkage of alcohol dependence to chromosomes 9 (p-value < 0.0001) and weak evidence to chromosomes 15 and 16 (p-value < 0.005). To confirm these findings, we re-analyzed the same data set by various methods implemented in GENEHUNTER and found that only one region was significant with a LOD score > 2.0 by the variance-component method. This region is located on chromosome 9 between markers GATA21F05 and GATA81C04. CONCLUSION: Analyses of the Framingham Heart Study population provided evidence of genetic susceptibility loci for alcohol dependence on chromosomes 9, 15, and 16. The genomic region identified on chromosome 9 was particularly interesting because the region has also been previously reported to be linked to alcohol dependence in the American Indian population by another group

Bird pollination of Canary Island endemic plants

The Canary Islands are home to a guild of endemic, threatened bird pollinated plants. Previous work has suggested that these plants evolved floral traits as adaptations to pollination by flower specialist sunbirds, but subsequently they appear to be have co-opted passerine birds as sub-optimal pollinators. To test this idea we carried out a quantitative study of the pollination biology of three of the bird pollinated plants, Canarina canariensis (Campanulaceae), Isoplexis canariensis (Veronicaceae) and Lotus berthelotii (Fabaceae), on the island of Tenerife. Using colour vision models, we predicted the detectability of flowers to bird and bee pollinators. We measured pollinator visitation rates, nectar standing crops, as well as seed set and pollen removal and deposition. These data showed that the plants are effectively pollinated by non-flower specialist passerine birds that only occasionally visit flowers. The large nectar standing crops and extended flower longevities (&#x3e;10days) of Canarina and Isoplexis suggests that they have evolved bird pollination system that effectively exploits these low frequency non-specialist pollen vectors and is in no way suboptimal. Seed set in two of the three species was high, and was significantly reduced or zero in flowers where pollinator access was restricted. In L. berthelotii, however, no fruit set was observed, probably because the plants were self incompatible horticultural clones of a single genet. We also show that, while all three species are easily detectable for birds, the orange Canarina and the red Lotus (but less so the yellow-orange Isoplexis) should be difficult to detect for insect pollinators without specialised red receptors, such as bumblebees. Contrary to expectations if we accept that the flowers are primarily adapted to sunbird pollination, the chiffchaff (Phylloscopus canariensis) was an effective pollinator of these species

Species-specific responses to ocean acidification should account for local adaptation and adaptive plasticity

Global stressors, such as ocean acidification, constitute a rapidly emerging and significant problem for marine organisms, ecosystem functioning and services. The coastal ecosystems of the Humboldt Current System (HCS) off Chile harbour a broad physical–chemical latitudinal and temporal gradient with considerable patchiness in local oceanographic conditions. This heterogeneity may, in turn, modulate the specific tolerances of organisms to climate stress in species with populations distributed along this environmental gradient. Negative response ratios are observed in species models (mussels, gastropods and planktonic copepods) exposed to changes in the partial pressure of CO2 (pCO2) far from the average and extreme pCO2 levels experienced in their native habitats. This variability in response between populations reveals the potential role of local adaptation and/or adaptive phenotypic plasticity in increasing resilience of species to environmental change. The growing use of standard ocean acidification scenarios and treatment levels in experimental protocols brings with it a danger that inter-population differences are confounded by the varying environmental conditions naturally experienced by different populations. Here, we propose the use of a simple index taking into account the natural pCO2 variability, for a better interpretation of the potential consequences of ocean acidification on species inhabiting variable coastal ecosystems. Using scenarios that take into account the natural variability will allow understanding of the limits to plasticity across organismal traits, populations and species

Estimation of transient increases in bleeding risk associated with physical activity in children with haemophilia

BACKGROUND: Although it is widely appreciated that vigorous physical activity can increase the risk of bleeding episodes in children with haemophilia, the magnitude of the increase in risk is not known. Accurate risk estimates could inform decisions made by children with haemophilia and their parents about participation in physical activity and aid the development of optimal prophylactic schedules. The aim of this study is to provide an accurate estimate of the risks of bleeding associated with vigorous physical activity in children with haemophilia. METHODS/DESIGN: The study will be a case-crossover study nested within a prospective cohort study. Children with moderate or severe haemophilia A or B, recruited from two paediatric haematology departments in Australia, will participate in the study. The child, or the child's parent or guardian, will report bleeding episodes experienced over a 12-month period. Following a bleeding episode, the participant will be interviewed by telephone about exposures to physical activity in the case period (8 hours before the bleed) and 2 control periods (an 8 hour period at the same time on the day preceding the bleed and an 8 hour period two days preceding the bleed). Conditional logistic regression will be used to estimate the risk of participating in vigorous physical activity from measures of exposure to physical activity in the case and control periods. DISCUSSION: This case-control study will provide estimates of the risk of participation in vigorous physical activity in children with haemophilia

Characterisation of Connexin Expression and Electrophysiological Properties in Stable Clones of the HL-1 Myocyte Cell Line

The HL-1 atrial line contains cells blocked at various developmental stages. To obtain homogeneous sub-clones and correlate changes in gene expression with functional alterations, individual clones were obtained and characterised for parameters involved in conduction and excitation-contraction coupling. Northern blots for mRNAs coding for connexins 40, 43 and 45 and calcium handling proteins (sodium/calcium exchanger, L- and T-type calcium channels, ryanodine receptor 2 and sarco-endoplasmic reticulum calcium ATPase 2) were performed. Connexin expression was further characterised by western blots and immunofluorescence. Inward currents were characterised by voltage clamp and conduction velocities measured using microelectrode arrays. The HL-1 clones had similar sodium and calcium inward currents with the exception of clone 2 which had a significantly smaller calcium current density. All the clones displayed homogenous propagation of electrical activity across the monolayer correlating with the levels of connexin expression. Conduction velocities were also more sensitive to inhibition of junctional coupling by carbenoxolone (∼80%) compared to inhibition of the sodium current by lidocaine (∼20%). Electrical coupling by gap junctions was the major determinant of conduction velocities in HL-1 cell lines. In summary we have isolated homogenous and stable HL-1 clones that display characteristics distinct from the heterogeneous properties of the original cell line

Bromido{dicyclo­hexyl[2′-(dimethyl­amino)biphenyl-2-yl]phosphine-κP}[2-(4,6-dimethyl­pyrimidin-2-yl)ferrocenyl-κ2 C 1,N]palladium(II) dichloro­methane solvate

In the title compound, [FePdBr(C5H5)(C11H10N2)(C26H36NP)]·CH2Cl2, the Pd atom displays a distorted square-planar coordination environment. The five-membered metallacycle adopts an envelope conformation with the coordinated cyclo­penta­dienyl C atom 0.4222 (4) Å out of plane. The dihedral angle between the pyrimidinyl ring and substituted cyclo­penta­dienyl ring is 21.47 (2)°. In the crystal structure, the dimeric unit is generated through the C—H⋯π contact via a crystallographic inversion centre, while the C—H⋯Cl contacts in the dimeric centre link the dichlormethane mol­ecules with the Pd complex mol­ecules

Late stage C―H activation of a privileged scaffold; synthesis of a library of benzodiazepines

A library of over twenty 5-(2-arylphenyl)-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-ones has been formed by a microwave-mediated late-stage palladium-catalysed arylation of 1,4-benzodiazepines using diaryliodonium salts. This can also be applied to nordazepam (7-chloro-5-phenyl-1,3-dihydro-2H-1,4-benzodiazepin-2-one), the active metabolite of diazepam, and subsequent N-alkylation and/or H/D exchange allows further diversification towards elaborated pharmaceuticals and their 3,3'-deuterated analogues

A genome-wide scan to identify loci for smoking rate in the Framingham Heart Study population

BACKGROUND: Although many years of genetic epidemiological studies have demonstrated that genetics plays a significant role in determining smoking behavior, little information is available on genomic loci or genes affecting nicotine dependence. Several susceptibility chromosomal regions for nicotine dependence have been reported, but few have received independent confirmation. To identify susceptibility loci for nicotine dependence, 313 extended pedigrees selected from the Framingham Heart Study population were analyzed by both the GENEHUNTER and S.A.G.E. programs. RESULTS: After performing linkage analyses on the 313 extended Framingham Heart Study families, the EM Haseman-Elston method implemented in GENEHUNTER provided evidence for significant linkage of smoking rate to chromosome 11 and suggestive linkage to chromosomes 9, 14, and 17. Multipoint sib-pair regression analysis using the SIBPAL program of S.A.G.E. on 1389 sib pairs that were split from the 313 extended families identified suggestive linkage of smoking rate to chromosomes 4, 7, and 17. Of these identified positive regions for nicotine dependence, loci on chromosomes 7, 11, and 17 were identified by both GENEHUNTER and S.A.G.E. programs. CONCLUSION: Our genome-wide scan results on the Framingham Heart Study data provide evidence for significant linkage of smoking rate to chromosome 11 and suggestive linkage to chromosomes 4, 7, 9, 14, and 17. These findings suggest that some of these regions may harbor susceptibility loci for nicotine dependence, and warrant further investigation in this and other populations

Insulin-like growth factor binding proteins initiate cell death and extracellular matrix remodeling in the mammary gland

We have demonstrated that insulin-like growth factor binding protein-5 (IGFBP-5) production by mammary epithelial cells increases dramatically during forced involution of the mammary gland in rats, mice and pigs. We proposed that growth hormone (GH) increases the survival factor IGF-I, whilst prolactin (PRL) enhances the effects of GH by decreasing the concentration of IGFBP-5, which would otherwise inhibit the actions of IGFs. To demonstrate a causal relationship between IGFBP-5 and cell death, we created transgenic mice expressing IGFBP-5, specifically, in the mammary gland. DNA content in the mammary glands of transgenic mice was decreased as early as day 10 of pregnancy. Mammary cell number and milk synthesis were both decreased by approximately 50% during the first 10 days of lactation. The concentrations of the pro-apoptotic molecule caspase-3 was increased in transgenic animals whilst the concentrations of two pro-survival molecules Bcl-2 and Bcl-x were both decreased. In order to examine whether IGFBP-5 acts by inhibiting the survival effect of IGF-I, we examined IGF receptor- and Akt-phoshorylation and showed that both were inhibited. These studies also indicated that the effects of IGFBP-5 could be mediated in part by IGF-independent effects involving potential interactions with components of the extracellular matrix involved in tissue remodeling, such as components of the plasminogen system, and the matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs). Mammary development was normalised in transgenic mice by R3-IGF-I, an analogue of IGF-I which binds weakly to IGFBPs, although milk production was only partially restored. In contrast, treatment with prolactin was able to inhibit early involutionary processes in normal mice but was unable to prevent this in mice over-expressing IGFBP-5, although it was able to inhibit activation of MMPs. Thus, IGFBP-5 can simultaneously inhibit IGF action and activate the plasminogen system thereby coordinating cell death and tissue remodeling processes. The ability to separate these properties, using mutant IGFBPs, is currently under investigatio