A proteomic investigation of Fusobacterium nucleatum alkaline-induced biofilms

Background: The Gram negative anaerobe Fusobacterium nucleatum has been implicated in the aetiology of periodontal diseases. Although frequently isolated from healthy dental plaque, its numbers and proportion increase in plaque associated with disease. One of the significant physico-chemical changes in the diseased gingival sulcus is increased environmental pH. When grown under controlled conditions in our laboratory, F. nucleatum subspecies polymorphum formed mono-culture biofilms when cultured at pH 8.2. Biofilm formation is a survival strategy for bacteria, often associated with altered physiology and increased virulence. A proteomic approach was used to understand the phenotypic changes in F. nucleatum cells associated with alkaline induced biofilms. The proteomic based identification of significantly altered proteins was verified where possible using additional methods including quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), enzyme assay, acidic end-product analysis, intracellular polyglucose assay and Western blotting. Results: Of 421 proteins detected on two-dimensional electrophoresis gels, spot densities of 54 proteins varied significantly (p < 0.05) in F. nucleatum cultured at pH 8.2 compared to growth at pH 7.4. Proteins that were differentially produced in biofilm cells were associated with the functional classes; metabolic enzymes, transport, stress response and hypothetical proteins. Our results suggest that biofilm cells were more metabolically efficient than planktonic cells as changes to amino acid and glucose metabolism generated additional energy needed for survival in a sub-optimal environment. The intracellular concentration of stress response proteins including heat shock protein GroEL and recombinational protein RecA increased markedly in the alkaline environment. A significant finding was the increased abundance of an adhesin, Fusobacterial outer membrane protein A (FomA). This surface protein is known for its capacity to bind to a vast number of bacterial species and human epithelial cells and its increased abundance was associated with biofilm formation. Conclusion: This investigation identified a number of proteins that were significantly altered by F. nucleatum in response to alkaline conditions similar to those reported in diseased periodontal pockets. The results provide insight into the adaptive mechanisms used by F. nucleatum biofilms in response to pH increase in the host environment.Jactty Chew, Peter S Zilm, Janet M Fuss and Neville J Gull

Optimal forest management with stochastic prices & endogenous fire risk

Earth observations are one way to reduce the risk to standing forests from damages caused by wild fires, since they enable early warning systems, preventive actions and faster extinguishing of fires, before they spread out. Another channel through which fire hazard can be reduced is the thinning of the forest, so the risk of a fire occurring becomes partially endogenous. In order to shed more light on optimal forest management under such endogenous fire risk, we develop a real options model, where the price of biomass is stochastic and the harvesting decision needs to be timed optimally in the face of these uncertainties. We find that there is a positive value of information. In other words, there is a positive willingness to pay for Earth observations by forest managers

PERFORMANCE DIAGNOSTICS WITH INSTRUMENTED RACING WHEELCHAIRS: COMPARISON OF ATHLETES OF CLASS T52 AND T53

The purpose of this study was to develop a cheap and flexible instrumentation system for on-track monitoring of velocity and associated parameters. Two wheelchairs of two top athletes (class T52 and 53) were equipped with a ferrite motor connected to the rear wheels and the back EMF (electromotive force) was converted to velocity after filtering and calibrating. Drag and rolling resistance were determined from the decreasing velocity when rolling freely and from a differential equation. In two 100 m races per athlete, the velocity, peak push acceleration, push frequency, inertial, drag and friction forces, peak push power and energy were calculated. Athlete 1 (T53) reached twice the maximum velocity and six times the average peak push power of Athlete 2, and produced 2.7 times as much energy over 100m. The system developed is useful for optimising race training

Human health impacts for renewable energy scenarios from the EnerGEO Platform of Integrated Assessment (PIA)

This article reports impact results from running the EnerGEO Platform of Integrated Assessment (PIA) related to human health for different scenarios in Europe. The scenarios were prepared within the EnerGEO project. The idea of this European project is to determine how low carbon scenarios, and in particular scenarios with a high share of renewable energy, affect concentrations of air pollutants and as a consequence affect human health. PM2.5 concentrations were estimated with the IIASA Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies (GAINS) model on a time horizon up to the year 2050 for different scenarios. We analyse here the estimation of the Loss of Life Expectancy due to PM2.5 concentrations for the Baseline scenario taken as a reference and the Maximum renewable power scenario

The EnerGEO Platform of Integrated Assessment (PIA): Environmental assessment of scenarios as a web service

With the International Energy Agency estimating that global energy demand will increase between 40 and 50 percent by 2030 (compared to 2003), scientists and policymakers are concerned about the sustainability of the current energy system and what environmental pressures might result from the development of future energy systems. EnerGEO is an ongoing FP7 Project (2009-2013) which assesses the current and future impact of energy use on the environment by linking environmental observation systems with the processes involved in exploiting energy resources. The idea of this European project is to determine how low carbon scenarios, and in particular scenarios with a high share of renewable electricity, affect emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHG) and contribute to mitigation of negative energy system impacts on human health and ecosystems. A Platform of Integrated Assessment (PIA) has been elaborated to provide impact results for a selection of scenarios via a set of models (large-scale energy models, Life Cycle Assessment models, ...). This PIA is currently available through a web service. The concept of the PIA is detailed and to illustrate its interest, a set of results is given with the use of the simulation mode of the European version of GAINS for a selection of scenarios

Integrated assessment of crop management portfolios in adapting to climate change in the Marchfeld region

Portfolio optimization is an adequate tool to find optimal crop management options in adapting to climate change. The risk farmers have to face can be caused by different sources. In our study, we focus on the risk arising from unknown weather conditions. Therefore, we developed stochastic climate change scenarios for the Marchfeld region. Two portfolio models have been applied in the time periods 2008-2020, 2021-2030 and 2031-2040: a traditional non-linear mean-variance (E-V) model and a model using the Conditional Value at Risk (CVaR) as risk metric. Investigated crops are corn, winter wheat, sunflower and spring barley with different crop management alternatives. Minimum tillage appears in all portfolios. We found a decreasing share of winter wheat that gets partially substituted by sunflower over the time periods. When including environmental constraints (soil organic carbon content, nitrate leaching) the reverse effect on the resulting portfolio shares is observed with corn being included. The E-V model reveals more diversification with respect to the crops, whereas the CVaR model shows more diversification with respect to crop management options

Thorium nanochemistry: The solution structure of the Th(iv)-hydroxo pentamer

Tetravalent thorium exhibits a strong tendency towards hydrolysis and subsequent polymerization. Polymeric species play a crucial role in understanding thorium solution chemistry, since their presence causes apparent solubility several orders of magnitude higher than predicted by thermodynamic data bases. Although electrospray mass spectrometry (ESI MS) identifies Th(iv) dimers and pentamers unequivocally as dominant species close to the solubility limit, the molecular structure of Th 5(OH) y polymers was hitherto unknown. In the present study, X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy, high energy X-ray scattering (HEXS) measurements, and quantum chemical calculations are combined to solve the pentamer structure. The most favourable structure is represented by two Th(iv) dimers linked by a central Th(iv) cation through hydroxide bridges. © 2012 The Royal Society of Chemistry

Valuing climate change uncertainty reductions for robust energy portfolios

Climate policy uncertainty has decisive influence on energy sector strategies. Potential stranded climate-energy investments may be enormous. Remote sensing can improve our understanding of the climate system and thus better inform climate policy and reduce associated uncertainties. We develop an integrated energy-portfolio model to value these uncertainties. The operations of individual power plants are optimized using real options given scenarios of stochastically evolving CO2 prices mimicking observation-induced climate policy uncertainty. The resulting profit distributions are used in a portfolio optimization. The optimization under imperfect information about future CO2 prices leads to substantially lower profits for a given risk level when portfolios are to be robust across all plausible scenarios. A potential uncertainty reduction associated with an improved climate modeling supported by remote sensing will thus not only lead to substantial financial efficiency gains, but will also be conducive to steering investments into the direction of higher shares of renewable energy