or indigenous areas the total amount of CO2 emissions from biodiesel made from palm oil produced in that region may exceed the carbon intensity of petroleum diesel
and spatially explicit carbon maps to assess the amount of CO2 emissions that may occur as a result of each scenario.
or no enforcement the land use change resulted in 84 and 60 grams of CO2 emitted per megajoule (gco2e/MJ) respectively--the European commission has rated the carbon intensity of diesel as 83.8 gco2e/MJ.
either of these two scenarios the total carbon intensity of biodiesel will exceed greatly that of diesel.
We usually think of animals'chemical signals (called pheromones) as communication systems that convey only very simple sorts of information said Christina Grozinger professor of entomology and director of the Center for Pollinator Research Penn State.
and analyzed their chemical compositions using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Finally the researchers presented the gland extracts to worker bees
She then treated them in a variety of chemical baths mounted them between large glass slides
and vitamins A and C. For the study researchers also compared schools that adopted a variety of nutrition programs and policies.
Engineered veggies target intestinal lipids, improve cholesterolucla researchers report that tiny amounts of a specific type of lipid in the small intestine may play a greater role than previously thought in generating the high cholesterol levels and inflammation that lead to clogged arteries.
The team also found they could reduce the negative effects of these lipids in mice by feeding the animals a new genetically engineered tomato being developed at UCLA that is designed to mimic HDL (good) cholesterol.
The study published in the December issue of the Journal of Lipid Research with an accompanying editorial focused on a group of lipids found in the small intestine called unsaturated lysophosphatidic acids (LPAS.
These lipids may be a new culprit that we can target in the small intestine in fighting atherosclerosis said senior author Dr. Alan Fogelman executive chair of the department of medicine
and director of the atherosclerosis research unit at the David Geffen School of medicine at UCLA. Big effect of small amount of LPAPREVIOUSLY it was thought that the role of the small intestine in response to a high-fat high-cholesterol diet was simply to package the fat
and cholesterol for transport to the liver. Once delivered to the liver the large load of fat was thought to cause increased blood levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol decreased levels of good cholesterol and the rise of systemic inflammation.
But that may not be the complete story. The UCLA researchers revealed that LPAS previously considered very minor
because they are found in far smaller amounts in the small intestine than other lipids like cholesterol may play a more direct role in contributing to the factors that cause atherosclerosis.
Scientists found that mice fed a high-fat high-cholesterol diet (21 percent fat) showed a twofold increase in the amount of LPAS in the small intestine over mice fed normal low-fat
and inflammation before the load of packaged fat even reaches the liver the researchers said.
Recognizing the importance of these minor lipids in the small intestine may lead to ways to reduce their levels
Testing the tomatoesthe next step was to test the impact of the genetically engineered tomatoes on reducing the effects of these lipids in the small intestine.
The tomatoes created at UCLA produce a small peptide called 6f that mimics the action of apoa-1 the chief protein in HDL.
Identifying the role of these specific lipids in the small intestine and new ways to target them will hopefully provide new insights
and lead to new treatments said Judith Gasson a professor of medicine and biological chemistry director of UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and senior associate dean for research at the Geffen
Researchers discovered that simple modifications to the drug furamidine have a major impact on its ability to affect specific human proteins involved in the on-off switches of certain genes.
This was unexpected rather given how relatively simple the molecules are modified that we and how difficult it has been to affect these proteins said Gregory Poon pharmaceutical scientist at Washington state University.
The proteins--known as transcription factors--regulate the expression of genes in a highly coordinated and intricate manner making them attractive targets for therapeutic drugs
But it has proven difficult to design drugs to affect them Poon said. For this reason they have been called undruggable he said.
These include mutations that the prevent the growth factor from being formed with the correct size mutations that replace especially important amino acids with useless ones as well as mutations that prevent the proper splicing of MESSENGER RNA prior to the protein biosynthesis
and is an alternative to chemical control says Klingen. The death that awaits ticks exposed to this fungus is inhumane;
A diet rich in animal protein may favour net acid intake while most fruits and vegetables form alkaline precursors that neutralise the acidity.
Contrary to what is believed generally most fruits such as peaches apples pears bananas and even lemons and oranges actually reduce dietary acid load once the body has processed them.
or drinks that provide the acidic or alkaline components. They conclude: We have demonstrated for the first time in a large prospective study that dietary acid load was associated positively with type 2 diabetes risk independently of other known risk factors for diabetes.
#New method gives accurate picture of gas storage by microscopic cagesa computational method to quantify the adsorption of gas by porous zeolites should help labs know what to expect before they embark upon slow costly experiments according to researchers at Rice university.
The new method created by engineers in Rice's Multiscale Materials Modeling Lab accurately calculated the ability of two zeolites small cage-like molecules with enormous surface area to trap and store gas molecules.
The study by Shahsavari graduate student Navid Sakhavand and former Rice postdoctoral researcher Prakash Muthuramalingam now a postdoctoral researcher at Universit Paris-Est appears online in the American Chemical Society
's Journal of Physical chemistry. The lab analyzed a dizzying array of potential interactions for two synthetic microporous materials known as zeolitic imidazolate frameworks ZIF-95 and ZIF-100.
but the molecules they can store that the lab looked at--hydrogen methane and nitrogen--are much smaller.
The zeolites'enormous surface area inside and out gives gas molecules plenty of room to bind.
Aside from storing hydrogen for fuel ZIFS show potential for size-selective catalysis environmental remediation and for use as molecular sieves.
and synthesizing them we can help them rapidly screen the gas uptake for each particular ZIF at various temperatures and pressures.
Shahsavari said the researchers modeled the interactions between molecules of the three gases with each other and with the binding ligands in the zeolites at 77 and 300 kelvins(-321 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit respectively) and at various pressures.
For hydrogen they determined that both zeolites stored about three times as much gas at 77 K
but if we can functionalize the ZIFS by adding ligand-binding moieties (the functional groups in a molecule) into the pore space then we might be able to.
They were also able to calculate both subtle and significant differences between the adsorptive qualities based on various input parameters of gas pressure temperature and type of zeolite.
For example they came to the counterintuitive conclusion that ZIF-100 the larger of the two zeolites could adsorb more small-molecule hydrogen but fewer of the larger methane molecules than ZIF-95 under similar conditions.
First the team performed first-principle calculations to describe the very weak atomic interactions--the Van der waals-related London dispersion forces--among each of the three types of gas molecules and the two ZIFS.
Those were plugged into large-scale Monte carlo simulations to predict how much of each gas each porous zeolite could adsorb.
but calculating integrative forces between thousands of gas molecules and each ZIF was not. It took the combined power of Rice's DAVINCI
Even so calculations for a single data point--one molecule one zeolite one temperature--often took 96 processing cores three days to complete.
Shahsavari said the method should also be good for analyzing the potential for zeolites as membranes to separate gases.
It can work not only for single molecules but also gas mixtures he said. This provides a good computational framework so one can do rapid screening for the desired properties.
Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by Rice university. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and occurs in many cows after giving birth is related to higher levels of fat in the liver.
John Middleton a professor in the MU College of Veterinary medicine says these higher levels of fat are often precursors to future health problems in cows.
and subsequent higher levels of fat in the liver after giving birth to their calves Middleton said.
These higher levels of fat in the liver are tied often to health problems in dairy cows including increased risk for uterus and mammary infections as well as ketosis
While the researchers did not find any direct links to health problems they say correlations with higher levels of fat in the liver call for further research into the health implications of low blood calcium levels.
and was dated carbon to be 10660 years old. The jaw displayed a unique pattern of wear on the molars
nitrification inhibiters; water table management; tile bioreactors; constructed wetlands; buffer strips; and conversion of row crops to CRP or perennial crops.
%That's because the amount of cancer-causing chemicals is higher in secondhand smoke than in the smoke inhaled by smokers.
#Clotting protein hardens aging heartsheart valves calcify over time and Rice university scientists are beginning to understand why.
and the problem may be due to the infiltration of a protein known as von Willebrand factor (VWF).
and humans but as the Rice team discovered it finds its way over time into the collagen-rich interior of the valve tissues.
Because clotting is not an issue in collagen there is no apparent need for VWF to be present.
Through staining Balaoing traced the migration of a number of clotting-related proteins common to pigs and humans from the surface endothelial cells to the inner interstitial cells.
and other proteins gather in the valve tissue's interior. They then tested how valve interstitial cells that produce calcium nodules in diseased valves respond to VWF.
Endothelial cells on the outside of the valve are making most of these (clotting-related) proteins Grande-Allen said.
The researchers suspect the breakdown of collagen over time as well as the constant stretching of the valve opens gaps through
which the proteins can travel. As you get older collagen becomes less organized Balaoing said.
Because the distinct arrangement of extracellular matrix disappears I think proteins like VWF permeate inside the valve more than
what you would see in young healthy adults. We clearly know that our bodies and our whole physiology change with age Grande-Allen said.
Now they hope to find the binding mechanism that keeps the proteins in place as that discovery could lead to treatment.
if VWF and other clotting-related proteins are doing things to the valve interstitial cells
and extracellular matrix that may contribute to calcification and other valve diseases Grande-Allen said.
which suggests a similar heart-friendly role for the tearless onions as well as a possible role in managing weight gain in ACS'Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Colin C. Eady and colleagues note that the onion has a unique chemistry that leads to its tear-inducing effects when cut.
An answer could arrive in the form of a new type of onion that makes less of the protein blamed for making eyes burn
The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Chitosan and the antifungal additives some based on the identification of molecular targets of chitosan contribute to produce a novel alternative to control fungal diseases
and improve the abnormal lipid profile and gene expression associated with the Mets . Thus this new study shows even greater potential such that by normalizing oxidative inflammatory response
#Carbon storage recovers faster than plant biodiversity in regrowing tropical forestsa new study of regrowing tropical forests has concluded that plant biodiversity takes longer to recover than carbon storage following major disturbances such as clearance for farming.
and carbon pools in regrowing forests. Over half of all tropical forests have already been converted for agriculture logged
Regrowing forests could help both to soak up carbon emissions produced by human activities and to reduce species extinctions.
although carbon recovered most quickly even after 80 years regrowing forests tended to have less carbon than old-growth forests.
which hold more carbon to become established. In contrast although the number of tree species recovered relatively rapidly many species characteristic of old-growth forests were rare in regrowing forests.
The research team conducted a synthesis of data collected from more than 600 secondary forest sites from 74 previous studies describing carbon pools
#In the study the researchers point out that these results show that forests that are regrowing following agricultural use may be more valuable for the carbon they store than for their biodiversity for the first 100 years.
Policies such as Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) often assume that carbon and biodiversity are interchangeable.
While the re-growth of forests following clearance is valuable in soaking up carbon the biodiversity benefits will take a very long time to emerge.#
and suggest a possible mechanism underlying it one based on interspecies carbon exchange. Their results suggest that trees at drier sites buy insurance for their leaves in the form of beefed-up ant protection
and pay for it with carbon the coin of the realm. All plant-animal mutualisms may employ a similar insurance model according to Pringle a postdoctoral fellow in the Michigan Society of Fellows and an assistant professor in the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and at the School of Natural resources and Environment.
and then we realized that carbon exchange can explain it. To test whether water limitation strengthens the defensive mutualism between Ecuador laurel trees (Cordia alliodora)
through the scale insects the trees indirectly pay a carbon fee in the form of sugar-rich sap that is distilled into honeydew to the ants in exchange for guard duty.
and use it to convert carbon dioxide and water into carbon-based carbohydrates which are used for food by the trees the scale insects and the ants.
because laurels there have smaller carbon reserves and a shorter rainy season means they have less time to replace lost leaves.
Pringle and her colleagues used a mathematical model to test this idea looking at the relative costs and benefits of carbon trading between trees and ants under rainy seasons of varying durations.
Water limitation together with the risk of herbivory increases the strength of a carbon-based mutualism the researchers say.
'Birds have to store body-fat to avoid starving during the cold winter nights but this can make them slower
or at least the next slowest bird during the day but also store enough fat to survive each night.'
when the predation risk appears high birds delay putting on fat until late in the day.
but their predators such as the sparrowhawk are keen to stock up their own fat reserves
This later star-forming phase could have been caused by minor mergers with gas-rich neighbors which provide the fuel for new stars.
animal and plant communities change ecosystem functions disappear carbon emissions contribute to climate change. Whatever happens regionally has global consequences.
and greenhouse gases extending as far back as 1. 5 million years almost twice as old as the oldest ice core drilled to date.
By studying the past climate scientists can understand better how temperature responds to changes in greenhouse-gas concentrations in the atmosphere.
A 3. 2-km-long ice core drilled almost a decade ago at Dome Concordia (Dome C) in Antarctica revealed 800000 years of climate history showing that greenhouse gases
Climate scientists suspect greenhouse gases played a role in forcing this transition but they need to drill into the ice to confirm their suspicions.
The information on greenhouse-gas concentrations at that time can only be gained from an Antarctic ice core covering the last 1. 5 million years.
#Endometriosis risk linked to two pesticidesa Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research center-led study has found that two organochlorine pesticides are associated with an increased risk of endometriosis a condition that affects up to 10 percent of reproductive
Since endometriosis is driven an estrogen condition we were interested in investigating the role of environmental chemicals that have estrogenic properties such as organochlorine pesticides on the risk of the disease she said.
or banned in the U s. for the past several decades these chemicals were detectable in the blood samples of women in our study
The take-home message from our study is that persistent environmental chemicals even those used in the past may affect the health of the current generation of reproductive-age women with regard to a hormonally driven disease.
The above story is provided based on materials by Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research center. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
Recently Sabatini and his lab determined that a family of proteins known as Rag GTPASES act as a switch for the pathway
--when nutrients are present the Rag proteins turn on the mtorc1 pathway. Now several members of the Sabatini lab including graduate student Zhi-Yang Tsun have determined that the FLCN protein acts as a trigger to activate the Rag protein switch.
Their work is described in the November 7 issue of the journal Molecular Cell. Zhi has ascribed a molecular function to this protein
and that's a major contribution says Sabatini who is also a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator and a professor of biology at MIT.
For the first time we have a biochemical function that's associated with it. And in my view that's an important first step to understanding how it might be involved in cancer.
but the syndrome's symptoms offered little insight into FLCN's molecular function. Birt-Hogg-Dub syndrome causes unsightly but benign hair follicle tumors on the face benign tumors in the lungs that can lead to collapsed lungs and kidney cancer.
and then that gene's molecular function is figured out says Tsun. And you need to know the gene's function before you can start working on drugs or therapy.
The new research published in October in the journal Molecular Biosystems is part of a worldwide effort to create fuels from plants that are plentiful
Seventy years later T. reesei is a star in the world of biofuels because of its ability to churn out enzymes that chew through molecules like complex sugars.
The breakdown of large sugar polymers into smaller compounds that can then be converted further to fuel compounds is the final crucial step in the effort to make fuels from materials like switchgrass and corn stalks.
These plants and many others are stored full of energy in carbon bonds which can be converted into fuel
if scientists can find ways to free the compounds that store the energy from the tough structural material known as lignocellulose
T. reesei chews through materials naturally cutting through the chemical wrapping much like a person with scissors cuts through a tightly wrapped ribbon around a gift freeing the inner contents for enjoyment.
and improve upon the best ones to create a potent chemical cocktail a mix of enzymes that accomplishes the task super efficiently.
The key to the work is a chemical probe the team created to monitor the activity of many enzymes at once.
The heart of the system known as activity-based protein profiling is a chemical probe that binds to glycoside hydrolases
Many of the measurements for the study such as the measures of protein activity using mass spectrometry were done at EMSL the DOE's Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory on the PNNL campus. Wright's team included Lindsey
Activities associated with agriculture are currently responsible for just under one third of greenhouse gas emissions;
#Chickens to benefit from biofuels bonanzachickens could be unexpected the beneficiaries of the growing biofuels industry feeding on proteins retrieved from the fermenters used to brew bioethanol thanks to research supported by the Engineering and Physical sciences Research Council (EPSRC.
and AB Agri the agricultural division of Associated British Foods to prove that Yeast Protein Concentrate (YPC) can be separated from the fibrous cereal matter.
The researchers have shown also that YPC may be a cost-competitive substitute for imported soya-based and similar high-value protein feeds currently used in the diets of chickens bred for meat production.
As well as the proteins the yeast content provides important vitamins and other micronutrients. Produced by distilling
and YPC allowing global production of almost 3 million tonnes of supplementary high-quality protein per annum alongside current levels of bioethanol produced.
while others fell--in ACS'Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. Ana Rodriguez-Mateos and colleagues note that eating blueberries is associated with several health perks including improved thinking reduced risk for heart disease and reduced inflammation.
Rodriguez-Mateos'team sought to test the stability of these health-promoting compounds during cooking proofing
Other compounds such as quercetin remained constant. They say that the good retention of polyphenols observed in their study might be due to the use of yeast
The above story is provided based on materials by American Chemical Society. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
and carbon atoms in the wood to detect fog and rainfall in previous seasons. This is really the first time that climate reconstruction has ever been said done with redwoods Jim Johnstone who recently completed a postdoctoral position at the UW-based Joint Institute for the Study of the Atmosphere and the Ocean.
It uses the molecules captured in the wood to sample the atmosphere of the past.
but a small percentage of oxygen is the heavier O-18 isotope. When seawater evaporates off the ocean to form clouds some drops fall as rain over the ocean
and more of the heavier O-18 molecules rain out. The remaining drops that fall on land thus have a higher proportion of the lighter O-16 molecules.
Fog on the other hand forms near shore and blows on land where it drips down through the branches until the trees use it like rainwater.
Researchers also analyzed carbon atoms to measure the total amount of moisture in the air. We actually have two indicators that we can use in combination to determine
#Male birth defect weakly linked to pesticide exposurea study of several hundred chemicals used in commercial pesticides has found only weak evidence that any of them are associated with a common birth defect in male infants.
which the urethral opening is on the underside of the penis rather than on the Tip in the most detailed study of the largest data sets done to date 292 individual chemicals
and 57 groups of structurally similar chemicals were analyzed. Of those the study identified 15 that had possible associations with hypospadias.
We didn't see many chemicals that suggested an increased risk and of those that did most of them were used infrequently said Suzan Carmichael Phd associate professor of pediatrics
In addition to exposures to individual chemicals and compounds the researchers looked at exposure to multiple chemicals
whether there is or is not a real risk associated with these chemicals said Gary Shaw Drph professor of pediatrics at Stanford
In other words a forest stores carbon from the atmosphere that would otherwise contribute to the greenhouse effect--and global warming.
But for all the carbon being stored in these trees aboveground a roughly equal amount of carbon is stored belowground.
Carbon on balancethis efficient decomposition is why home gardeners love earthworms: they break down organic matter releasing nutrients.
since in breaking down that organic matter they redistribute carbon throughout the soil changing the basic layering of forest floors
The worms also release carbon dioxide as they eat adding to the forest's carbon emissions.
and there is a big carbon loss and change in the forest floor says Don Ross holding up three different species on his hand.
As these earthworms move through the soil they're ingesting mineral particles along with organic particles glomming them together inside their digestive track.
And when they poop says Knowles they produce what we call an aggregate. Over time it seems these soil aggregates might physically protect the organic carbon inside them forming a barrier to the microorganisms that could
otherwise break it down. So the question is Gorres asks over the long run do earthworms create a negative balance or positive balance on carbon?
Part of this research project--sponsored by the Northeastern States Research Cooperative and exploring eighteen forest plots across Vermont--aims to answer that question.
if earthworms are increasing that physical protection of carbon. Land use historyrecent studies in the Northern Forest have shown that land use changes--like agricultural abandonment
or intensive tree harvesting--can dramatically change the amount of carbon stored in that land's soils.
Much of the Northern Forest that was tilled previously farmland is currently gaining stored carbon. But what was the soil carbon like before European settlement?
And how much does the current earthworm invasion threaten these gains? It's hard to say.
The eighteen plots the team is studying intensively have widely varying amounts of belowground carbon
and land use history influences the amount of carbon in the soil. Carbon creditsthis is a matter of more than scientific interest.
When we're trying to set up policies about how to increase sequestration of carbon from the air says Sandy Wilmot a forest scientist with the State of Vermont
and a partner on this project it would be very helpful to know how to manage the soil as well as the aboveground.
For example differing forestry techniques clearly affect aboveground carbon storage and are likely to also influence belowground carbon too.
They may also have an effect on the likelihood of earthworm invasion. Human-generated carbon
--and its capture--is starting to develop into big business. Around the world various types of carbon markets are emerging in the effort to slow
and regulate climate change. Credits in these markets generally depend on being able to show that carbon is being sequestered out of the atmosphere--and held long-term.
But belowground carbon is nearly impossible to include in these markets or other mitigation efforts because it's hard to measure.
Forest soil carbon is understood poorly and so it's often not counted or even removed from some forest carbon protocols says Cecilia Danks a social scientist at UVM.
I've been brought in to this earthworm project to try to figure out: is there a carbon market connection?
You don't get credit in the market right now--for the most part--for forest soil carbon. This research effort aims to move toward a better accounting of carbon in the Northern Forest and perhaps Danks hopes the chance for New england forestland owners to get a return on the carbon stored below their feet even carbon passing through the bowel
of an invasive earthworm. Story Source: The above story is provided based on materials by University of Vermont.
The original article was written by Joshua E. Brown. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length h
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