Clean Economy Rising: Manufacturing Powers Clean Energy in Ohio

Ohio has built upon its rich manufacturing legacy to become a leader in the production of wind, solar, and industrial energy efficiency technologies. Until recently, state and federal policies also spurred renewable energy projects throughout Ohio. Uncertainty over the future of these measures is dampening investment. This brief explores the drivers of Ohio's clean energy economy and the choices the state faces about its future competitiveness in the industry

Distributed Generation: Cleaner, Cheaper, Stronger - Industrial Efficiency in the Changing Utility Landscape

Electricity is illuminating, but its generation, transmission, and distribution have long been opaque. This report looks at how the once static utility industry is becoming a dynamic and transformative opportunity for the nation's economic, environmental, and energy future.An array of technological, competitive, and market forces are changing how the U.S. generates power and the ways that Americans interact with the electric grid. A century-old centralized system is yielding to advanced, distributed-energy generation capabilities -- in which power is produced at or near the place where it is consumed -- that allow the industry to respond to new market opportunities and evolving consumer desires.The report concludes with an evaluation of the impact of key regulatory and legislative policies on the deployment of industrial energy efficiency technologies in order to help federal policymakers effectively encourage adoption of these systems. The Pew Charitable Trusts commissioned ICF International Inc. to model these policies and found that implementation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Power Plan and an improved federal investment tax credit could result in a 27 percent increase in adoption by 2030

Working landscapes need at least 20% native habitat

International agreements aim to conserve 17% of Earth's land area by 2020 but include no area‐based conservation targets within the working landscapes that support human needs through farming, ranching, and forestry. Through a review of country‐level legislation, we found that just 38% of countries have minimum area requirements for conserving native habitats within working landscapes. We argue for increasing native habitats to at least 20% of working landscape area where it is below this minimum. Such target has benefits for food security, nature's contributions to people, and the connectivity and effectiveness of protected area networks in biomes in which protected areas are underrepresented. We also argue for maintaining native habitat at higher levels where it currently exceeds the 20% minimum, and performed a literature review that shows that even more than 50% native habitat restoration is needed in particular landscapes. The post‐2020 Global Biodiversity Framework is an opportune moment to include a minimum habitat restoration target for working landscapes that contributes to, but does not compete with, initiatives for expanding protected areas, the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration (2021–2030) and the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Rational Mutational Analysis of a Multidrug MFS Transporter CaMdr1p of Candida albicans by Employing a Membrane Environment Based Computational Approach

CaMdr1p is a multidrug MFS transporter of pathogenic Candida albicans. An over-expression of the gene encoding this protein is linked to clinically encountered azole resistance. In-depth knowledge of the structure and function of CaMdr1p is necessary for an effective design of modulators or inhibitors of this efflux transporter. Towards this goal, in this study, we have employed a membrane environment based computational approach to predict the functionally critical residues of CaMdr1p. For this, information theoretic scores which are variants of Relative Entropy (Modified Relative Entropy REM) were calculated from Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) by separately considering distinct physico-chemical properties of transmembrane (TM) and inter-TM regions. The residues of CaMdr1p with high REM which were predicted to be significantly important were subjected to site-directed mutational analysis. Interestingly, heterologous host Saccharomyces cerevisiae, over-expressing these mutant variants of CaMdr1p wherein these high REM residues were replaced by either alanine or leucine, demonstrated increased susceptibility to tested drugs. The hypersensitivity to drugs was supported by abrogated substrate efflux mediated by mutant variant proteins and was not attributed to their poor expression or surface localization. Additionally, by employing a distance plot from a 3D deduced model of CaMdr1p, we could also predict the role of these functionally critical residues in maintaining apparent inter-helical interactions to provide the desired fold for the proper functioning of CaMdr1p. Residues predicted to be critical for function across the family were also found to be vital from other previously published studies, implying its wider application to other membrane protein families

American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research

McDonald D, Hyde E, Debelius JW, et al. American Gut: an Open Platform for Citizen Science Microbiome Research. mSystems. 2018;3(3):e00031-18

The effects of mineral association and aggregation on particulate organic matter composition in the water column

This thesis examines two important factors influencing POC export in the water column: mineral association and aggregation. Specifically, it focuses on (1) the occlusion of organic matter within biominerals, which may be the most permanent form of organic matter protection by minerals, and (2) the occlusion and transport of organic matter within aggregates, which may be the most quantitatively important form of organic-mineral association. To assess the effects of organic matter occlusion within biominerals, scanning transmission X-ray microscopy (STXM) and carbon X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy were used in combination to characterize the distribution and composition of organic matter in frustules of the diatom Cylindrotheca closterium and a biomimetic silica gel. Organic carbon, most likely protein, was distributed throughout the frustules and was not completely removed by extensive chemical treatment, suggesting that frustule-bound organic carbon is protected from decomposition until the frustule dissolves. The physical structure of the frustules appeared to be related to the chemical composition of this organic matter, with aromatic or unsaturated carbon concentrated in areas resembling the thin, perforated silica roofs that often cover pores in the frustule. A similar physical and chemical structure was observed in a biomimetic silica gel precipitated with poly-lysine. These results are consistent with the theory that organic constituents of diatom frustules direct silica precipitation and become incorporated within the silica matrix as it forms. The fate of organic matter within water column aggregates was assessed by comparing the organic compositions of sinking (sediment trap) and suspended (in situ pump) particles collected in 2003 and 2005 in the northwest Mediterranean Sea. Sinking particles were enriched in fecal pellet and silicifying algae indicators, whereas suspended particles were enriched in fresh phytoplankton and calcifying algae indicators. Mass balance calculations indicate that the observed composition of suspended particles is best explained by extensive disaggregation of phytoplankton aggregates. Fecal pellets do not appear to undergo extensive disaggregation and exchange with suspended material, suggesting they are a more efficient mode of POC export to the deep sea than phytoplankton aggregates. In the summer of 2003, suspended and sinking particles were both enriched in microbial alteration products rather than algal or fecal pellet material, indicating greater exchange during periods of low flux when fecal pellets are not abundant. To experimentally verify the field results, suspended and sinking particles were collected at two depths (20 m and 200 m) in the Mediterranean Sea in 2006. These particles were incubated independently in rotating tanks to assess exchange between sinking and suspended particles. Particles collected at 20 m were primarily composed of phytoplankton, and particles collected at 200 m were composed of both phytoplankton and fecal pellets. During the course of incubation, sinking phytoplankton aggregates underwent extensive exchange with suspended particles, as evidenced by repeated mass transfers and relative homogeneity in composition. Fecal pellets collected at 200 m by Net Trap underwent less exchange, with some transfer of suspended phytoplankton material into the sinking phase, but no apparent disaggregation. Unlike phytoplankton aggregates, fecal pellets appear to undergo little exchange with surrounding material and are more likely to remain intact during transit from the surface to deep ocean. The results of this thesis highlight the importance of biogenic minerals and fecal pellets in contributing to the vertical flux of particulate organic carbon from surface waters to the deep sea. Better understanding of the factors controlling the formation and robustness of different particle types is critical for quantitative prediction of particle fluxes and the drawdown of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

The gamma-radiolysis of aerated methanol

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston UniversityPLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis or dissertation. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at [email protected]. Thank you.An attempt to obtain reproducible product yields from gamma-irradiated deaerated methanol was unsuccessful. Reproducible product yields were obtained from gamma-irradiated aerated methanol. In agreement with Hayon and Weiss no ethylene glycol was detected, either in wet or dry methanol. Choi and Lichtin later reported G(CH2OH)2 to be 0.1. It seems probable that ethylene glycol is formed almost entirely from the coupling of CH2OH radicals in bulk soution. [TRUNCATED]2031-01-0