The role of feedstock for biochar and energy in reducing the carbon footprint of bioenergy projects — A case study in North Europe

The study evaluates the GHG emissions of biochar & bioenergy production in a low temperature gasifier based on various feedstocks. A LCA approach is used to assess the environmental impact of the production and use of biochar for selected applications including the whole feedstock supply chain. Three kinds of feedstock were evaluated, namely (1) agro-residues and municipal forest residues (2) clean wood from sustainable forestry (e.g. pine) and (3) fast growing energy crops (short rotation coppice) Miscanthus and/or willow. The scenarios considered are: (1) Co-production of bioenergy (syngas) and biochar in a low temperature gasification unit, feedstock used agro-residues and park residues. The biochar is used as soil improver due to its high nutrient content. Syngas is used for heat production in a gas boiler, replacing NG boilers, while biochar is considered a CCS option (BECCS = BioEnergy Carbon Capture & Storage). The reasoning is, residual feedstock streams (agro-waste and park residues) are abundant, and need to be treated anyway. The option of gasification as a treatment process offers the possibility to return part of the carbon to the soil and sequester it (negative CO2 flow = CCS) and also replace part of fossil energy demand by producing energy from waste material (neutral CO2 flow). (2) Dedicated production of biochar in a pyrolysis unit ( PyroCCS_1). Feedstocks used agro-residues and park residues, same as in Case 1. The product is used as soil improver, for example in poor degraded soils. In contrast to option (1, BECCS) , no fossil energy is replaced because no surplus energy is co-produced. (3) Dedicated production of biochar in a pyrolysis unit, feedstock used is pine and miscanthus from sustainable forestry. The product, due to its high quality, is entirely used in sustainable growing media replacing peat (PyroCCS_2), and at the end of life it is disposed in the soil. The reason is, high quality biochar should be used for high value end products, such as substrates for high market price products (strawberry, tomato, horticulture). The functional unit is the use of 1 kg feedstock. All results on GHG emission reduction and other impact categories refer to 1 kg input feedstock. The choice of this functional unit allows the comparison of the scenarios that may have a different purpose, namely producing only biochar or co-producing biochar and bioenergy. In the case of co-produced bioenergy (in the form if syngas) and biochar, the bioenergy part replaces fossil energy from natural gas.Tradeoffs are identified, which influence the final GHG emission mitigation potential per case; biochar is always disposed of in the soil and thus is considered a CCS option

Primary and acquired resistance mechanisms to immune checkpoint inhibition in Hodgkin lymphoma

Hodgkin lymphoma is a B cell derived malignancy characterized by a low number of tumor cells within an environment consisting of inflammatory cells. Recently, immune checkpoint blockade targeting the PD-1-PD-L1 axis has shown to be a great success in relapsed and refractory Hodgkin lymphoma patients. However, complete responses are scarce and median progression-free survival is limited to around 11-15 months. Efficiency of PD-1 blockade in HL might be dependent on CD4 + T cells, but also tumor associated macrophages (TAMs) and NK cells are implicated. The aim of this review is to highlight currently known prominent immune evasion strategies and discuss their possible contribution to primary or acquired resistance to immune checkpoint blockade in Hodgkin lymphoma. These include T cell dependent mechanisms such as shaping of the inflammatory infiltrate, lack of presentation of antigens and neoantigens and production of molecules involved in suppression of T cell functionality such as other immune checkpoints, indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase and adenosine. Moreover, the role of NK cells and TAMs in efficient PD-1 blockade will be discussed. Targeting these mechanisms in parallel to PD-1 may potentially increase efficiency of PD-1 blockade therapy

Erratum: Lydia Visser et al. Characterization of the Microenvironment of Nodular Lymphocyte Predominant Hodgkin Lymphoma

The authors regret to have made a mistake in publishing this paper [1] with an incorrect author list [...

The Microenvironment in Epstein-Barr Virus-Associated Malignancies

The Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) can cause a wide variety of cancers upon infection of different cell types and induces a highly variable composition of the tumor microenvironment (TME). This TME consists of both innate and adaptive immune cells and is not merely an aspecific reaction to the tumor cells. In fact, latent EBV-infected tumor cells utilize several specific mechanisms to form and shape the TME to their own benefit. These mechanisms have been studied largely in the context of EBV+ Hodgkin lymphoma, undifferentiated nasopharyngeal carcinoma, and EBV+ gastric cancer. This review describes the composition, immune escape mechanisms, and tumor cell promoting properties of the TME in these three malignancies. Mechanisms of susceptibility which regularly involve genes related to immune system function are also discussed, as only a small proportion of EBV-infected individuals develops an EBV-associated malignancy

Navitoclax Most Promising BH3 Mimetic for Combination Therapy in Hodgkin Lymphoma

The treatment of young patients with Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is often successful but a significant proportion of patients suffers from late toxicity. In the current era there are new opportunities for less toxic and more targeted treatment options. In this respect, the anti-apoptotic pathway is an attractive target since Hodgkin tumor cells abundantly express components of this pathway. We measured the effect of BH3 mimetics that interfere with anti-apoptotic proteins in cell lines, also in combination with the standard of care chemotherapeutic doxorubicin and the recently discovered preclinically active tamoxifen. Several anti-apoptotic BCL-2 family proteins were expressed in each case (n = 84) and in HL cell lines (n = 5). Cell lines were checked for sensitivity to BH3 mimetics by BH3 profiling and metabolic assays and monotherapy was only partially successful. Doxorubicin was synergistic with a BCL-XL inhibitor and BCL2/XL/W inhibitor navitoclax. Tamoxifen that targets the estrogen receptor β present in the mitochondria of the cell lines, could induce cell death, and was synergistic with several BH3 mimetics including/as well as navitoclax. In conclusion, targeting the anti-apoptotic pathway by the triple inhibitor navitoclax in combination with doxorubicin or tamoxifen is a promising treatment strategy in HL

Toll-like receptors in the pathogenesis of human B cell malignancies

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are important players in B-cell activation, maturation and memory and may be involved in the pathogenesis of B-cell lymphomas. Accumulating studies show differential expression in this heterogeneous group of cancers. Stimulation with TLR specific ligands, or agonists of their ligands, leads to aberrant responses in the malignant B-cells. According to current data, TLRs can be implicated in malignant transformation, tumor progression and immune evasion processes. Most of the studies focused on multiple myeloma and chronic lymphocytic leukemia, but in the last decade the putative role of TLRs in other types of B-cell lymphomas has gained much interest. The aim of this review is to discuss recent findings on the role of TLRs in normal B cell functioning and their role in the pathogenesis of B-cell malignancies