99 research outputs found

    Water Cycle and Circular Economy: Developing a Circularity Assessment Framework for Complex Water Systems

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    © 2020 The Authors. Water – the most vital resource, negatively affected by the linear pattern of growth – still tries to find its positioning within the emerging concept of circular economy. Fragmented, sectorial circularity approaches hide the risk of underestimating both the preservation of and impacts to water resources and natural capital. In this study, a game changing circularity assessment framework is developed (i.e. MSWCA). The MSWCA follows a multi-sectoral systems approach, symbiotically managing key water-related socio-economic (i.e. urban water, agro-food, energy, industry and waste handling) and non-economic (i.e. natural environment) sectors. The MSWCA modelling framework enables the investigation of the feedback loops between the nature-managed and human-managed systems to assess water and water-related resources circularity. The three CE principles lie at the core of the developed framework, enabling the consideration of physical, technical, environmental and economic aspects. An indicators database is further developed, including all the relevant data requirements, as well as existing and newly developed indicators assessing multi-sectoral systems’ circularity. The MSWCA framework is conceptually applied to a fictional city, facilitating its understanding and practical use.Horizon 2020 research and innovation program HYDROUSA (grant agreement No 776643)

    Implementation of the Product Environmental Footprint Category Rules for dairy products: An approach to assess nitrogen emissions in a mass balanced dairy farm system

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    European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Agency for Business Competitiveness of the Government of Cataloni

    Neuron specific reduction in CuZnSOD is not sufficient to initiate a full sarcopenia phenotype

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    Our previous studies showed that adult (8 month) mice lacking CuZn-superoxide dismutase (CuZnSOD, Sod1KO mice) have neuromuscular changes resulting in dramatic accelerated muscle atrophy and weakness that mimics age-related sarcopenia. We have further shown that loss of CuZnSOD targeted to skeletal muscle alone results in only mild weakness and no muscle atrophy. In this study we targeted deletion of CuZnSOD specifically to neurons (nSod1KO mice) and determined the effect on muscle mass and weakness. The nSod1KO mice show a significant loss of CuZnSOD activity and protein level in brain and spinal cord but not in muscle tissue. The masses of the gastrocnemius, tibialis anterior and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles were not reduced in nSod1KO compared to wild type mice, even at 20 months of age, although the quadriceps and soleus muscles showed small but significant reductions in mass in the nSod1KO mice. Maximum isometric specific force was reduced 8% to 10% in the gastrocnemius and EDL muscle of nSod1KO mice, while soleus was not affected. Muscle mitochondrial ROS generation and oxidative stress measured by levels of reactive oxygen/nitrogen species (RONS) regulatory enzymes, protein nitration and F2-isoprostane levels were not increased in muscle from the nSod1KO mice. Although we did not find evidence of denervation in the nSOD1KO mice, neuromuscular junction morphology was altered and the expression of genes associated with denervation (acetylcholine receptor subunit alpha (AChRα) and the transcription factors Runx1 and GADD45α) was increased, supporting a role for neuronal loss of CuZnSOD initiating alterations at the neuromuscular junction. These results and our previous studies support the concept that deficits in either the motor neuron or muscle alone are not sufficient to initiate a full sarcopenic phenotype and that deficits in both tissues are required to recapitulate the loss of muscle observed in Sod1KO mice
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