Evaluation of profitability and future potential for low emission productive uses of land that is currently used for livestock: SLMACC Project 405422

Agriculture accounts for 48% of New Zealand’s gross greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions with nearly 75% of the emissions coming from methane (CH₄) production from ruminant animals (enteric-CH₄) (Ministry for the Environment 2020). Changes to alternative low biogenic greenhouse gas emission (BGE) land uses is an option for reducing national GHG and meeting national reduction targets for overall GHG and CH₄. However, large land use change will have implications for New Zealand’s economy. To address this, replacing profitable livestock with alternative profitable land uses would potentially overcome this concern. This report describes work conducted in the Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) Sustainable Land Management and Climate Change (SLMACC) Project 405422 - Evaluation of profitability and future potential for low emission productive uses of land that is currently used for livestock. The aim of the project was to evaluate potential agricultural land uses (including crop and forest options) that could provide an alternative to livestock production based on market growth opportunities, GHG footprints and suitability for current climate and soil conditions. Our approach was to produce a framework whereby we could consider the trade-offs between BGE and profitability. Firstly, we identified potential high value crops that could increase their production areas based on an assessment of market opportunities. Secondly, we assessed their growing requirements and identified where they might grow throughout New Zealand. Then, for each crop we estimated potential BGE and ranges in profitability; we also considered the role of forestry in emission reductions and as a profitable land use. Finally, we considered CH₄ emissions reduction scenarios where these alternative land uses might replace livestock. Through the various stages of the work we ground-truthed our findings with stakeholders and industry experts

The 100 most cited articles investigating the radiological staging of oesophageal and junctional cancer: a bibliometric analysis

Objectives Accurate staging of oesophageal cancer (OC) is vital. Bibliometric analysis highlights key topics and publications that have shaped understanding of a subject. The 100 most cited articles investigating radiological staging of OC are identified. Methods The Thomas Reuters Web of Science database with search terms including “CT, PET, EUS, oesophageal and gastro-oesophageal junction cancer” was used to identify all English language, full-script articles. The 100 most cited articles were further analysed by topic, journal, author, year and institution. Results A total of 5,500 eligible papers were returned. The most cited paper was Flamen et al. (n = 306), investigating the utility of positron emission tomography (PET) for the staging of patients with potentially operable OC. The most common research topic was accuracy of staging investigations (n = 63). The article with the highest citation rate (38.00), defined as the number of citations divided by the number of complete years published, was Tixier et al. investigating PET texture analysis to predict treatment response to neo-adjuvant chemo-radiotherapy, cited 114 times since publication in 2011. Conclusion This bibliometric analysis has identified key publications regarded as important in radiological OC staging. Articles with the highest citation rates all investigated PET imaging, suggesting this modality could be the focus of future research

Characterisation of the Trichinella spiralis deubiquitinating enzyme, TsUCH37, an evolutionarily conserved proteasome interaction partner.

Trichinella spiralis is a parasitic nematode that infects mammals indiscriminately. Although the biggest impact of trichinellosis is observed in developing countries, the parasite is found on all continents except Antarctica. In humans, Trichinella infection contributes globally to helminth related morbidity and disability adjusted life years. In animals, infection is implicated as a serious agricultural problem and drug treatment is largely ineffective. During chronic infection, larvae invade skeletal muscle cells, forming a nurse cell complex in which they become encysted. The nurse cell is a product of the severe disruption of the host cell homeostasis. Proteins of the Ub/proteasome pathway are highly conserved throughout evolution, and considering their importance in the regulation of cell homeostasis, provide interesting and novel therapeutic targets for various diseases. In order to target this system in parasites, pathogen proteins that play a role in this pathway must be identified. We report the identification of the first T. spiralis deubiquitinating enzyme, and show evidence that the function of this protein as a proteasome interaction partner has been evolutionarily conserved. We show that members of this enzyme family are important for T. spiralis survival and that the use of inhibitor compounds may help elucidate their role in infection

Policy implications of time-differentiated climate change analysis in life cycle assessment of building elements in Aotearoa New Zealand

Purpose: Climate change policies are increasingly including time-dependent carbon targets for different economic activities. However, current standards and guidelines for climate change assessment of buildings ignore these dynamic aspects and require use of static life cycle assessment (LCA). This research investigates how to better account for the timing of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in LCAs of buildings and construction products, using a static and dynamic LCA case study of roofs, walls and floors in Aotearoa New Zealand residential dwellings. Methods: Static and dynamic LCA methods were used to assess the climate change impact of two assemblies each for external walls, ground floors and roofs used in stand-alone residential dwellings in Aotearoa New Zealand. Each assembly was modelled for a life cycle extending from material production, through to element construction, operational use, and final end-of-life treatment. Results were calculated as total GWP100 results for each life cycle stage, GWP100 results disaggregated into time periods, and as instantaneous and cumulative radiative forcing up to year 190. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken for the building reference service life, exposure zone, location, and end-of-life treatment. Results and discussion: Four time-related aspects were found to be particularly significant as regards their contribution to the final static LCA (sLCA) climate change results: -Inclusion versus exclusion of biogenic carbon storage in landfill -Modelling of end-of-life recycling activities using current versus future low or net zero carbon technologies (in module D) -Building reference service life (50 versus 90 years) -Choice of modelling parameters for landfilled timber and engineered wood products. Use of dynamic LCA (dLCA) enabled priorities to be identified for climate change mitigation actions in the shorter and longer term, and showed that half of the assemblies achieved net zero carbon by year 190 (timber wall, steel wall, timber floor). Conclusions: Timing of GHG emissions and removals should be included in LCAs to support decision-making in the context of achieving targets set in climate change policies. In particular, LCA results should show ongoing biogenic carbon storage in landfilled timber and engineered wood products. Carbon footprint standards, guidelines and calculation tools should be prescriptive about building and construction product reference service lives, the EofL fate for different materials/products, and modelling of forestry and landfill activities, to provide a level playing field for stakeholders.fals

Substantial metabolic activity of human brown adipose tissue during warm conditions and cold-induced lipolysis of local triglycerides

Current understanding of in vivo human brown adipose tissue (BAT) physiology is limited by a reliance on positron emission tomography (PET)/computed tomography (CT) scanning, which has measured exogenous glucose and fatty acid uptake but not quantified endogenous substrate utilization by BAT. Six lean, healthy men underwent 18fluorodeoxyglucose-PET/CT scanning to localize BAT so microdialysis catheters could be inserted in supraclavicular BAT under CT guidance and in abdominal subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT). Arterial and dialysate samples were collected during warm (∼25°C) and cold exposure (∼17°C), and blood flow was measured by 133xenon washout. During warm conditions, there was increased glucose uptake and lactate release and decreased glycerol release by BAT compared with WAT. Cold exposure increased blood flow, glycerol release, and glucose and glutamate uptake only by BAT. This novel use of microdialysis reveals that human BAT is metabolically active during warm conditions. BAT activation substantially increases local lipolysis but also utilization of other substrates such as glutamate

The serotonin transporter sustains human brown adipose tissue thermogenesis

Activation of brown adipose tissue (BAT) in humans is a strategy to treat obesity and metabolic disease. Here we show that the serotonin transporter (SERT), encoded by SLC6A4, prevents serotonin-mediated suppression of human BAT function. RNA sequencing of human primary brown and white adipocytes shows that SLC6A4 is highly expressed in human, but not murine, brown adipocytes and BAT. Serotonin decreases uncoupled respiration and reduces uncoupling protein 1 via the 5-HT2B receptor. SERT inhibition by the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) sertraline prevents uptake of extracellular serotonin, thereby potentiating serotonin’s suppressive effect on brown adipocytes. Furthermore, we see that sertraline reduces BAT activation in healthy volunteers, and SSRI-treated patients demonstrate no 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose uptake by BAT at room temperature, unlike matched controls. Inhibition of BAT thermogenesis may contribute to SSRI-induced weight gain and metabolic dysfunction, and reducing peripheral serotonin action may be an approach to treat obesity and metabolic disease

Horizontal Transfer of a Nitrate Assimilation Gene Cluster and Ecological Transitions in Fungi: A Phylogenetic Study

High affinity nitrate assimilation genes in fungi occur in a cluster (fHANT-AC) that can be coordinately regulated. The clustered genes include nrt2, which codes for a high affinity nitrate transporter; euknr, which codes for nitrate reductase; and NAD(P)H-nir, which codes for nitrite reductase. Homologs of genes in the fHANT-AC occur in other eukaryotes and prokaryotes, but they have only been found clustered in the oomycete Phytophthora (heterokonts). We performed independent and concatenated phylogenetic analyses of homologs of all three genes in the fHANT-AC. Phylogenetic analyses limited to fungal sequences suggest that the fHANT-AC has been transferred horizontally from a basidiomycete (mushrooms and smuts) to an ancestor of the ascomycetous mold Trichoderma reesei. Phylogenetic analyses of sequences from diverse eukaryotes and eubacteria, and cluster structure, are consistent with a hypothesis that the fHANT-AC was assembled in a lineage leading to the oomycetes and was subsequently transferred to the Dikarya (Ascomycota+Basidiomycota), which is a derived fungal clade that includes the vast majority of terrestrial fungi. We propose that the acquisition of high affinity nitrate assimilation contributed to the success of Dikarya on land by allowing exploitation of nitrate in aerobic soils, and the subsequent transfer of a complete assimilation cluster improved the fitness of T. reesei in a new niche. Horizontal transmission of this cluster of functionally integrated genes supports the “selfish operon” hypothesis for maintenance of gene clusters

The Transcriptome of Trichuris suis – First Molecular Insights into a Parasite with Curative Properties for Key Immune Diseases of Humans

Iatrogenic infection of humans with Trichuris suis (a parasitic nematode of swine) is being evaluated or promoted as a biological, curative treatment of immune diseases, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and ulcerative colitis, in humans. Although it is understood that short-term T. suis infection in people with such diseases usually induces a modified Th2-immune response, nothing is known about the molecules in the parasite that induce this response.As a first step toward filling the gaps in our knowledge of the molecular biology of T. suis, we characterised the transcriptome of the adult stage of this nematode employing next-generation sequencing and bioinformatic techniques. A total of ∼65,000,000 reads were generated and assembled into ∼20,000 contiguous sequences ( = contigs); ∼17,000 peptides were predicted and classified based on homology searches, protein motifs and gene ontology and biological pathway mapping.These analyses provided interesting insights into a number of molecular groups, particularly predicted excreted/secreted molecules (n = 1,288), likely to be involved in the parasite-host interactions, and also various molecules (n = 120) linked to chemokine, T-cell receptor and TGF-β signalling as well as leukocyte transendothelial migration and natural killer cell-mediated cytotoxicity, which are likely to be immuno-regulatory or -modulatory in the infected host. This information provides a conceptual framework within which to test the immunobiological basis for the curative effect of T. suis infection in humans against some immune diseases. Importantly, the T. suis transcriptome characterised herein provides a curated resource for detailed studies of the immuno-molecular biology of this parasite, and will underpin future genomic and proteomic explorations