Circulating functional T cells specific to human herpes virus 6 (HHV6) antigens in individuals with chromosomally integrated HHV6

Circulating functional T cells specific to human herpes virus 6 (HHV6) antigens in individuals with chromosomally integrated HHV

Greenhouse gas emissions from food systems: building the evidence base

New estimates of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the food system were developed at the country level, for the period 1990–2018, integrating data from crop and livestock production, on-farm energy use, land use and land use change, domestic food transport and food waste disposal. With these new country-level components in place, and by adding global and regional estimates of energy use in food supply chains, we estimate that total GHG emissions from the food system were about 16 CO2eq yr−1 in 2018, or one-third of the global anthropogenic total. Three quarters of these emissions, 13 Gt CO2eq yr−1, were generated either within the farm gate or in pre- and post-production activities, such as manufacturing, transport, processing, and waste disposal. The remainder was generated through land use change at the conversion boundaries of natural ecosystems to agricultural land. Results further indicate that pre- and post-production emissions were proportionally more important in developed than in developing countries, and that during 1990–2018, land use change emissions decreased while pre- and post-production emissions increased. We also report results on a per capita basis, showing world total food systems per capita emissions decreasing during 1990–2018 from 2.9 to 2.2 t CO2eq cap−1, with per capita emissions in developed countries about twice those in developing countries in 2018. Our findings also highlight that conventional IPCC categories, used by countries to report emissions in the National GHG inventory, systematically underestimate the contribution of the food system to total anthropogenic emissions. We provide a comparative mapping of food system categories and activities in order to better quantify food-related emissions in national reporting and identify mitigation opportunities across the entire food system

Patterns of climate variability of the Northern Hemisphere wintertime circulation

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2004The principal patterns of variability of the extratropical Northern Hemisphere (NH) wintertime circulation are examined. The two-dimensional phase space defined by the two leading PCs of the monthly-mean sea-level pressure (SLP) field poleward of 20°N is used as a basis for surveying the structure of the geopotential height and other fields. The leading EOF corresponds to the NH annular mode (NAM) and the second EOF resembles the Pacific-North American (PNA) pattern. Together these two patterns account for roughly half the variance of SLP on interannual time scales and longer, and virtually all the planetary-scale SLP trends over the 42 year period of record. Also, all the most important NH patterns of variability can be described in terms of our two basis functions; therefore, several of the pattern definitions found in the climate literature are shown to be redundant.The relationship between the low frequency variability and time scales closer to the synoptic time scale are investigated by studying the variability observed within four different subsets of the climatology as defined by the high-index and low-index polarities of the 10-day mean projections of the two SLP PCs. The variability of the flow is substantially different within those different mean states. Within the individual subsets of the climatology there are suggestions of multiple circulation regimes; teleconnection patterns for the subsets of the climatology are also discernibly different; cold temperature anomalies associated with low polarities of both PCs are observed more frequently than expected on the basis of linear correlation analysis. These results constitute evidence of non-normal or non-linear behavior of 10-day mean fields, and provide indications that the intraseasonal variability depends on the mean state of the flow in which it is embedded.The latter idea is extended to investigate the effects of changes in the winter mean background flow observed in association with the ENSO cycle upon the extratropical month-to-month variability. The structure of the NAM is shown to be significantly different during warm and cold winters of the ENSO cycle. Furthermore, the observed NH surface trends of the period 1958--99 were much stronger during the years characterized by warm ENSO events

Leveraging Smart System Technologies in National Energy Data Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

Effective energy policies rely on credible and comprehensive national energy data systems, in developed and developing economies alike. Smart system technologies will play a central role in the clean energy transition—including applications in smart homes, factories, transport systems, and renewable electricity grids—and their ability to compile and communicate point-of-use energy data presents new opportunities for improving national energy data systems. This paper reviews the growing importance of energy data systems for energy policy in the developing country context, identifies key characteristics a national data system needs to have in order to be robust and viable, discusses the potential role of smart system technologies in national energy data systems moving forward, and recommends several future research areas to better understand their potential, and in developing countries in particular

Leveraging Smart System Technologies in National Energy Data Systems: Challenges and Opportunities

Effective energy policies rely on credible and comprehensive national energy data systems, in developed and developing economies alike. Smart system technologies will play a central role in the clean energy transition—including applications in smart homes, factories, transport systems, and renewable electricity grids—and their ability to compile and communicate point-of-use energy data presents new opportunities for improving national energy data systems. This paper reviews the growing importance of energy data systems for energy policy in the developing country context, identifies key characteristics a national data system needs to have in order to be robust and viable, discusses the potential role of smart system technologies in national energy data systems moving forward, and recommends several future research areas to better understand their potential, and in developing countries in particular

Design and development of an eco-innovative sorghum snack

A new and sustainable cereal bar (named SOcrock) was created in the context of EcoTrophelia, an European competition originated from the EcoTroFood project (from the European Commission's Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme) and dedicated to student teams for creating prototype of food products with quality and environmentally friendly aspects. The designed product recipe consisted only of white sorghum, powdered grape seeds, honey, and dark chocolate. This essential composition was formulated in order to boost nutritional added value such as presence of polyphenols, high fiber content, low level of sodium, and a low caloric intake, all within an organic product, free of gluten and preservatives. A selected variety of white sorghum was the basic ingredient of the product: versatile, with nutritional properties similar to corn, sorghum has lower water requirements and withstands high temperatures brilliantly. In this product sorghum was transformed and used in three forms: as blown grain, as syrup (obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis of the grains) and as fiber (by-product of syrup production). Further innovation was the direct inclusion of grape seeds (by-products from distillery) that represents a simple solution for the recovery of low cost bio-active compounds. The preparation of the finished product was obtained by a semi-industrial processing line consisting in a cooker equipment (with hollow space in a diathermic oil bath) complete of planetary system and overturning head, cooling tunnel, and heat sealing packaging machine. The product impact on the ecosystem in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, water use, and exploitation of natural resources was evaluated. It resulted in a Type II environmental label which highlighted the product always falls in the best categories for sustainability. The developed product was awarded the bronze prize at the 2013 EcoTrophelia European final

Chronic and recurrent benign lymphadenopathy without constitutional symptoms associated with human herpesvirus-6B reactivation

Chronic/recurrent behaviour may be encountered in some distinct atypical or malignant lymphoproliferations, while recurrences are not generally observed in reactive/benign lymphadenopathies. We retrospectively anal- ysed a consecutive series of 486 human immunodeficiency virus-negative adults, who underwent lymphadenectomy. Neoplastic and benign/reactive histopathological pictures were documented in 299 (61 5%) and 187 (38 5%) cases, respectively. Of note, seven of the 111 (6 3%) patients with benign lymphadenopathy without well-defined aetiology, showed chronic/ recurrent behaviour, without constitutional symptoms. Enlarged lymph nodes were round in shape and hypoechoic, mimicking lymphoma. Reac- tive follicular hyperplasia and paracortical expansion were observed. Human herpesvirus (HHV)-6B positive staining in follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) was documented in all seven patients. Serological, molecular and immunological examinations suggested HHV-6B reactivation. Among the remaining 104 cases with reactive lymphoid hyperplasia in the absence of well-known aetiology and without recurrences, positivity for HHV-6B on FDCs was found in three cases, whereas in seven further patients, a scanty positivity was documented in rare, scattered cells in inter-follicular regions. Immunohistochemistry for HHV-6A and HHV-6B was invariably negative on 134 lymph nodes, with either benign pictures with known aetiology or malignant lymphoproliferative disorders, tested as further controls. Future studies are warranted to investigate a potential association between HHV- 6B reactivation and chronic/recurrent benign lymphadenopathy

Chronic/relapsing lymphadenopathy associated with HHV-6B infection: a new benign clinico-pathologic entity occurring in immunocompetent individuals

Background. HHV-6 DNA sequences were disclosed in lymph node (LN) tis- sues of several patients with lymphoid malignancies, but a direct major role of HHV-6 in lymphoid malignant transformation has so far not been confirmed. In contrast, active HHV-6 infection has been associated to either infectious mononucleosis-like syndrome or acute lymphadenitis occurring in febrilepatients with systemic symptoms, or to Rosai-Dorfman disease in which viral antigens have been detected by immunohistochimical (IHC) analyses in both histiocytes and follicular dendritic cells (FDCs). Methods. We have retrospec- tively analyzed clinical and pathological data of 365 adult patients, consecutive- ly observed at our Institution over a period of 5 years (2006-2010), because of enlarged superficial lymph nodes and subsequently undergoing lymphadenec- tomy. In the benign/reactive cases in which well-recognized etiologies have been excluded, an involvement of HHV-6 active infection or reactivation was investigated by molecular and immunohistochemical examinations. Results. Malignant disorders, namely malignant lymphoproliferative disorders or solid cancer metastases, were found in 227 cases (62%), whereas in 138 cases (38%) benign/reactive pictures were documented on lymph node examination. Among these latter cases, a well-recognized etiology was demonstrated in 84 patients (61%), while in 54 cases (39%), a well-defined non-malignant reactive/infectious cause could not be documented. Immunohistochemical analyses resulted negative for both HHV-6A and HHV-6B in 38 of these latter lymph nodes (70%). In 7 patients (13%), a scattered, scanty and aspecific pos- itivity for HHV-6B late protein was documented in rare interfollicular plasma cells and histiocytes. Surprisingly, in 9 patients (17%), immunohistochemical analyses showed HHV-6B positive staining of FDCs, together with scattered positivity of interfollicular cells. These 9 HIV-negative adult patients (median age 42 years, range 18-76 years), with either localized or generalized LAP, were observed for a median follow-up of 38 months (range 28-166). Of note, six of them presented with recurrent LAP (one to 3 recurrences), without evolving into lymphoma. A common LN histological pattern at presentation showed florid fol- licular hyperplasia with concurrent mild paracortical expansion. Three cases also showed features consistent with PTGC. Constitutional symptoms were absent in all patients. The IHC reactions for both HHV-6A and HHV-6B, per- formed on further control cases, represented by 131 LN tissues from patients with either benign LAP induced by other known etiologies or lymphoma, were invariably negative. Serology was positive for both IgM and IgG with high avid- ity suggesting viral reactivation/reinfection. However, the molecular analyses failed to detect HHV-6 viremias in cell-free-serum samples of all the 9 patients with positive HHV-6B IHC staining, while positivity for HHV-6B DNA was dis- closed by PCR analyses in 7 out of the 7 LN tissues studied. Conclusions. We show for the first time that local reactivation/infection of HHV-6B should be con- sidered among the possible causes of chronic/relapsing benign LAP in immuno- competent individuals. IHC is the method of choice for investigating the pres- ence of HHV-6 infection in such cases. HHV-6B may indirectly modulate and trigger the proliferation of lymphocytes, by locally affecting FDCs and LN microenvironment. FDCs may indeed be involved in presenting HHV-6B anti- gens to other immune cells, mainly cortical B lymphocytes