Biogasens situation i Sverige

Uppsatsen utgår från problematiken i anslutning till klimatförändringarna och hur Sveriges uppsatta klimatmål ska uppnås. Biogas ges som exempel på en av lösningarna där Sveriges produktionspotential redogörs för samt biogasens många positiva sidoeffekter som bidrar både direkt och indirekt till samhället i stort. Potentialen och sidoeffekterna tas i nuläget inte tillvara fullt ut, därför undersöks barriärer i form av politik och byråkrati vilka har en stor påverkan på utvecklingen. Uppsatsen bygger på omfattande litteraturstudier, observationer av föredrag och debatter, en intervju, budgetmaterial, dialog med relevanta aktörer samt statistik. Uppsatsen är tänkt att vara en översikt, vilket har medfört en omfattande sållning av material och därifrån sammanfoga specialiserade ingångar till ett större material. Detta har varit en förutsättning för att se helheten i biogasfrågan och inte riskera att fastna i exempelvis tekniska detaljer som inte visar hela berättelsen. För att diskutera och analysera den insamlade informationen har framförallt begreppen byråkrati och ontologisk trygghet samt tjänstemannavälde kommit till användning. I nuläget produceras årligen ca 1,8 TWh biogas i Sverige, men en rimlig estimerad potential till år 2030 är 15 TWh. Siffrorna blir ännu högre om mer skogsprodukter, marinbaserade substrat, mellangrödor och energigrödor etc. tas tillvara. Potential finns alltså i olika sektorer från marin biogas och jordbruk till skogsprodukter. Sidoeffekterna nämnda innan handlar bland annat om inhemsk produktion vilket medför energisäkerhet och arbetstillfällen. Biogasen bidrar också till stora kretslopp med återföring av näring till jordbruksmarker, sänker partikelhalter i luften om den används istället för fossila bränslen, sänker koldioxidutsläpp markant etc. Potentialen bedöms således som stor men det finns byråkratiska hinder i vägen på både nationell och internationell nivå, samt att de positiva sidoeffekterna inte uppmärksammas tillräckligt i samband med prissättning och stöd. Fossila alternativ subventioneras dessutom kraftigt globalt vilket diskuteras i slutet av uppsatsen då det blir tydligt att förnybara alternativ inte spelar efter samma regler som fossila

Conceptualising ecosystem services and implications for human nature relations

This thesis provides a trajectory over the concept of ecosystem services and discusses possible implications the concept of ecosystem services might entail for human-nature relations. Through a literature review, the thesis traces the concept’s historical origins and how it has developed since second half of the 1900´s and become mainstreamed into present day society. The thesis discerns two discursive themes; i) ecosystem services as an instrumental link between nature and society, and ii) commodification of nature within the concept of ecosystem services. Through the discursive themes, the thesis discusses how the concept provides a simplified view of the complexity inherent in nature, and argues that the current application of the concept poses a risk of excluding values that do not fit the economic setting. There are also indications of nature being viewed as a machine with substitutable parts, especially regarding commodification and substitutability within nature. Although still debated, the language of economics makes possible a translation of nature’s values to a wider audience than traditional conservation. The thesis also argues that the urban lifestyle of humans with a changing relation to nature creates a need to invent concepts like ecosystem services that better capture our “modern” instrumental relation towards nature. Ecosystem services can thus be seen as an instrumental link between humans and nature that is compatible with the economic language of society at large

A 2-pyridone-amide inhibitor targets the glucose metabolism pathway of Chlamydia trachomatis.

UnlabelledIn a screen for compounds that inhibit infectivity of the obligate intracellular pathogen Chlamydia trachomatis, we identified the 2-pyridone amide KSK120. A fluorescent KSK120 analogue was synthesized and observed to be associated with the C. trachomatis surface, suggesting that its target is bacterial. We isolated KSK120-resistant strains and determined that several resistance mutations are in genes that affect the uptake and use of glucose-6-phosphate (G-6P). Consistent with an effect on G-6P metabolism, treatment with KSK120 blocked glycogen accumulation. Interestingly, KSK120 did not affect Escherichia coli or the host cell. Thus, 2-pyridone amides may represent a class of drugs that can specifically inhibit C. trachomatis infection.ImportanceChlamydia trachomatis is a bacterial pathogen of humans that causes a common sexually transmitted disease as well as eye infections. It grows only inside cells of its host organism, within a parasitophorous vacuole termed the inclusion. Little is known, however, about what bacterial components and processes are important for C. trachomatis cellular infectivity. Here, by using a visual screen for compounds that affect bacterial distribution within the chlamydial inclusion, we identified the inhibitor KSK120. As hypothesized, the altered bacterial distribution induced by KSK120 correlated with a block in C. trachomatis infectivity. Our data suggest that the compound targets the glucose-6-phosphate (G-6P) metabolism pathway of C. trachomatis, supporting previous indications that G-6P metabolism is critical for C. trachomatis infectivity. Thus, KSK120 may be a useful tool to study chlamydial glucose metabolism and has the potential to be used in the treatment of C. trachomatis infections

Pregnancy to postpartum transition of serum metabolites in women with gestational diabetes

Context Gestational diabetes is commonly linked to development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). There is a need to characterize metabolic changes associated with gestational diabetes in order to find novel biomarkers for T2DM. Objective To find potential pathophysiological mechanisms and markers for progression from gestational diabetes mellitus to T2DM by studying the metabolic transition from pregnancy to postpartum. Design The metabolic transition profile from pregnancy to postpartum was characterized in 56 women by mass spectrometry-based metabolomics; 11 women had gestational diabetes mellitus, 24 had normal glucose tolerance, and 21 were normoglycaemic but at increased risk for gestational diabetes mellitus. Fasting serum samples collected during trimester 3 (gestational week 32 ± 0.6) and postpartum (10.5 ± 0.4 months) were compared in diagnosis-specific multivariate models (orthogonal partial least squares analysis). Clinical measurements (e.g., insulin, glucose, lipid levels) were compared and models of insulin sensitivity and resistance were calculated for the same time period. Results Women with gestational diabetes had significantly increased postpartum levels of the branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) leucine, isoleucine, and valine, and their circulating lipids did not return to normal levels after pregnancy. The increase in BCAAs occurred postpartum since the BCAAs did not differ during pregnancy, as compared to normoglycemic women. Conclusions Postpartum levels of specific BCAAs, notably valine, are related to gestational diabetes during pregnancy

Ordered and ushered; the assembly and translocation of the adhesive Type I and P Pili

Type I and P pili are chaperone-usher pili of uropathogenic Escherichia coli, which allow bacteria to adhere to host cell receptors. Pilus formation and secretion are orchestrated by two accessory proteins, a chaperone, which catalyses pilus subunit folding and maintains them in a polymerization-competent state, and an outer membrane-spanning nanomachine, the usher, which choreographs their assembly into a pilus and drives their secretion through the membrane. In this review, recent structures and kinetic studies are combined to examine the mechanism of type I and P pili assembly, as it is currently known. We also investigate how the knowledge of pilus biogenesis mechanisms has been exploited to design selective inhibitors of the process

Circulating and Adipose Tissue Fatty Acid Composition in Black South African Women with Obesity: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background and Aims: During positive energy balance, excess lipid storage in subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) is associated with increased lipolysis. Elevated circulating fatty acid (FA) concentrations from both SAT lipolysis and dietary fat intake may result in visceral adipose tissue (VAT) accumulation, impairment of glucose metabolism, altogether increasing obesity-associated metabolic risks. We aimed to test the hypothesis that FA composition of red blood cell total phospholipids (RBC-TPL) and SAT is associated with body fat centralisation (VAT/SAT ratio) and insulin sensitivity (SI) in black South African women with obesity. Methods: Participants’ (n = 41) body fat composition and distribution, SI, and RBC-TPL, abdominal and gluteal SAT (gSAT) FA composition (gas-liquid chromatography) were measured. Results: RBC-TPL contained higher proportions of saturated fatty acids (SFAs) than SAT (p < 0.001), which were associated with lower SI (p < 0.05). Mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) and stearoyl-CoA desaturase-1 (SCD1)-16 were lower, while poly-unsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), and delta-5 and delta-6 desaturase indices were higher in RBC-TPL than SAT (p < 0.001). Interestingly, FA profiles differed between SAT depots with higher SFAs and lower MUFAs, SCD1-16 and SCD1-18 indices in abdominal compared to gluteal SAT (p < 0.01). In both SAT depots, higher SFAs and lower PUFAs (n-3 and n-6) correlated with lower VAT/SAT ratio; and lower PUFAs (n-3 and n-6) and higher total MUFA correlated with higher SI. Conclusion: Our findings confirm the relationships between the FA composition of RBC-TPL and SAT and metabolic risk in black women with obesity, which are dependent on both the FA class, and the tissue type/blood compartment in which they are distributed

Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the Escherichia coli common pilus chaperone EcpB

This work was supported by a Wellcome Trust Investigator Award to SM (WT100280MA) and a project grant from the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2012-559)

Structural and functional characterization of Pseudomonas aeruginosa CupB chaperones

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an important human pathogen, is estimated to be responsible for,10% of nosocomial infections worldwide. The pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa starts from its colonization in the damaged tissue or medical devices (e. g. catheters, prothesis and implanted heart valve etc.) facilitated by several extracellular adhesive factors including fimbrial pili. Several clusters containing fimbrial genes have been previously identified on the P. aeruginosa chromosome and named cup [1]. The assembly of the CupB pili is thought to be coordinated by two chaperones, CupB2 and CupB4. However, due to the lack of structural and biochemical data, their chaperone activities remain speculative. In this study, we report the 2.5 A crystal structure of P. aeruginosa CupB2. Based on the structure, we further tested the binding specificity of CupB2 and CupB4 towards CupB1 (the presumed major pilus subunit) and CupB6 (the putative adhesin) using limited trypsin digestion and strep-tactin pull-down assay. The structural and biochemical data suggest that CupB2 and CupB4 might play different, but not redundant, roles in CupB secretion. CupB2 is likely to be the chaperone of CupB1, and CupB4 could be the chaperone of CupB4:CupB5:CupB6, in which the interaction of CupB4 and CupB6 might be mediated via CupB5

Оценка буровых растворов применяемых для бурения продуктивных отложений в скважинах Беларуси

The assembly process of a-synuclein toward amyloid fibers is linked to neurodegeneration in Parkinson´s disease. In the present study, we capitalized on the in vitro discovery of a small-molecule accelerator of a-synuclein amyloid formation and assessed its effects when injected in brains of normal mice. An accelerator and an inhibitor of a-synuclein amyloid formation, as well as vehicle only, were injected into the striatum of normal mice and follwed by behavioral evaluation, immunohistochemistry, and metabolomics up to six months later. The effects of molecules injected into the substansia nigra of normal and a-synuclein knockout mice were also analyzed. When accelerator or inhibitor was injected into the brain of normal mice no acute compound toxicity was found. However, 6 months after single striatal injection of accelerator, mice sensorimotor functions were impaired, whereas mice injected with inhibitor had no dysfunctions. Injection of accelerator (but not inhibitor or vehicle) into the substantia nigra revealed singificant loss of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH)-positive neurons after 3 months. No loss of TH-positive neurons was found in a-synuclein knock-out mice injected with accelerator intor the substantia nigra. Metabolic serum profiles from accelerator-injected normal mice matched those of newly diagnosed Parkinson´s disease patients, whereas the profiles from inhibitor-injected normal mice matched controls. Single inoculation of a small-molecule amyloid accelerator may be a new approach for studies of early events during dopamine neurodegeneration in mice