102 research outputs found
Potential for carbon dioxide reduction from cement industry through increased use of industrial pozzolans
Environmental benefits of leaving offshore infrastructure in the ocean
© The Ecological Society of America The removal of thousands of structures associated with oil and gas development from the world's oceans is well underway, yet the environmental impacts of this decommissioning practice remain unknown. Similar impacts will be associated with the eventual removal of offshore wind turbines. We conducted a global survey of environmental experts to guide best decommissioning practices in the North Sea, a region with a substantial removal burden. In contrast to current regulations, 94.7% of experts (36 out of 38) agreed that a more flexible case-by-case approach to decommissioning could benefit the North Sea environment. Partial removal options were considered to deliver better environmental outcomes than complete removal for platforms, but both approaches were equally supported for wind turbines. Key considerations identified for decommissioning were biodiversity enhancement, provision of reef habitat, and protection from bottom trawling, all of which are negatively affected by complete removal. We provide recommendations to guide the revision of offshore decommissioning policy, including a temporary suspension of obligatory removal
Environmental Controls and Anthropogenic Impacts on Deep-Sea Sponge Grounds in the Faroe-Shetland Channel, NE Atlantic: the Importance of Considering Spatial Scale to Distinguish Drivers of Change
Determining the scale of anthropogenic impacts is critical in order to understand ecosystem effects of human activities, within the context of changes caused by natural environmental variability. We applied spatial eigenfunction analysis to disentangle effects of anthropogenic drivers from environmental factors on species assembly in the Faroe-Shetland Channel (FSC), in the northeast Atlantic. We found that the species assembly considered here was structured at both small and large spatial scales. Specifically, substrate types, distance to oil wells and pipelines, the presence of objects and demersal fishing (both static and mobile) appeared significant in explaining large spatial scale species assembly structures. Conversely, temperature and variance in temperature shaped the species community across smaller spatial scales. Mobile scavenger species were found in areas impacted by demersal fishing. Oil and gas structures seemed to provide a habitat for a range of species including the commercially important fishes Molva sp. and Sebastes sp. These results demonstrate how the benthic ecosystem in the FSC has been shaped by multiple human activities, at both small and large spatial scales. Only by sampling datasets covering several sites, like in this study, can the effects of anthropogenic activities be separated from natural environmental controls
In vivo PCR-DGGE analysis of Lactobacillus plantarum and Oenococcus oeni populations in red wine
Abstract. In order to monitor Lactobacillus plantarum and Oenococcus oeni in red wine produced with
Italian grape (variety ‘‘Primitivo di Puglia’’), a polymerase chain reaction– denaturing gradient gel
electrophoresis (PCR-DGGE) approach using the rpoB as gene target was established. Wine was treated
or not with potassium metabisulphite and supplemented with a commercial bacterial starter of O. oeni to
encourage malolactic fermentation. Samples were taken from the vinification tanks at 4, 10, 16, 22, and
28 days after the start of alcoholic fermentation. Genomic DNA was directly isolated from wine and
identification of lactic acid bacteria was performed using primers rpoB1, rpoB1O, and rpoB2 able
to amplify a region of 336 bp corresponding to the rpoB gene. Amplified fragments were separated in a
30–60% DGGE gradient, and the ability of the PCR-DGGE analysis to distinguish L. plantarum and
O. oeni was assessed. The results reported suggest that the PCR-DGGE method, based on the rpoB gene
as molecular marker, is a reproducible and suitable tool and may be of great value for wine makers in
order to monitor spoilage microorganisms during wine fermentation
How to escape the immune response: what tumours have to teach to transplant immunologists?
Recent progress in deciphering the mechanisms underlying the concepts of tumor immunosurveillance and immunoevasion has opened new opportunities for the development of effective anti-tumor therapies. Transplant physicians and immunologists have much to learn from those direct clinical translations of basic science. The 2016 Beaune Seminar in Transplant research brought together researchers from both fields to explore and discuss significant advances in cancer biology, immunotherapies and their potential impacts for the management of cancer in transplant recipients
How to escape the immune response: what tumours have to teach to transplant immunologists?
Recent progress in deciphering the mechanisms underlying the concepts of tumor immunosurveillance and immunoevasion has opened new opportunities for the development of effective anti-tumor therapies. Transplant physicians and immunologists have much to learn from those direct clinical translations of basic science. The 2016 Beaune Seminar in Transplant research brought together researchers from both fields to explore and discuss significant advances in cancer biology, immunotherapies and their potential impacts for the management of cancer in transplant recipients
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