Life cycle assessment in buildings: The ENSLIC simplified method and guidelines

Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is currently used to a very limited extent in the building sector, for several reasons. Firstly, making an LCA evaluation of a building demands a specific tool to handle the large dataset needed and this tool has to be adaptable to the different decisions taken throughout the life cycle of the building. Such tools have been developed in a few countries, but they are exceptions. However, useful experience has been gained in these countries, providing a valuable source of data for developing guidelines for application in other countries. Since the results of a building LCA may contain complex information, the great challenge is to devise efficient ways for communication of the results to users and clients.The simplified methodology presented in this paper adopt a systematic approach guiding the user through the Life Cycle process and clarifying key issues that usually cause difficulty, e.g. choice of assessment tool, definition of system boundaries, options for simplifying the process, etc. The guidelines were developed within the framework of the ENSLIC Building Project, which was co-funded by the European Commission Intelligent Energy for Europe Programme and by nine European organisations that included more than 15 LCA experts and architects.     

Screening of nucleation conditions using levitated drops for protein crystallization

The growth of suitable protein crystals is an essential step in the structure determination of a protein by X-ray crystallography. At present, crystals are mostly grown using trial-and-error procedures, and protocols that rapidly screen for the crystal nucleation step are rare. Presented here is an approach to minimize the consumption of precious protein material while searching for the nucleation conditions. Acoustically levitated drops of known protein concentration (0.25-1.5-microL volumes) are injected with crystallizing agents using piezoelectric flow-through dispensers (ejecting 50-100-pL droplets at 1-9000 droplets/s). A restricted number of crystallizing agents representing three classes are used: poly(ethylene glycol), salts, and the viscous alcohol 2-methyl 2,4-pentanediol. From a digitized picture of the levitated drop volume, calculations are performed giving the concentrations of all components in the drop at any time during a "precipitation experiment". Supersaturation is the prerequisite for crystal nucleation, and protein precipitation indicates high supersaturation. A light source illuminates the levitated drop, and protein precipitation is monitored using right-angle light scattering. On the basis of these intensity measurements and the volume determination, precipitation diagrams for each crystallizing agent are constructed that give the protein/crystallizing agent concentration boundaries between the minimum and the maximum detectable protein precipitation. Guided by the concentration values obtained from such plots, when approaching the supersaturation region, separate crystallization drops are mixed and allowed to equilibrate under paraffin oil. At conditions in which microcrystals can be observed, the nucleation tendency of the macromolecule is confirmed. Optimization of crystallization conditions can then follow. Proteins tested include alcohol dehydrogenase and D-serine dehydratase. Alcohol dehydrogenase, known to crystallize easily, was used to evaluate whether the ultrasonic field inhibits nucleation. Details are given for the screening procedure of D-serine dehydratase, an enzyme earlier found to be difficult to crystallize reproducibly. The time and material-saving qualities of this method are emphasized, since a range of conditions can quickly be screened using small amounts of protein to roughly determine solubility characteristics of a protein before crystallization trials are initiated.     

Modeling of Three-Phase Fibrous Composite Using the Asymptotic Homogenization Method

A three-phase concentric fiber-reinforced periodic composite is considered wherein the constituents exhibit piezoelectric properties. The cross-section of the periodic cell is a regular hexagon with two concentric circles and the periodicity is the same in two directions at an angle ~ /3. Simple closed-form expressions are obtained for the effective properties of this composite by means of the asymptotic homogenization method. Numerical computations have been done. The analytical solution of the required resulting plane- and antiplane-strain local problems, which turns out to be only two, makes use of potential methods of a complex variable and properties of Weierstrass elliptic and related functions of periods (1,0) and (cos ~ /3, sin ~ /3). Benveniste's universal type of relations for this composite are satisfied. Comparison with other models is shown.     

A Novel Mouse Monoclonal Antibody C42 against C-Terminal Peptide of Alpha-1-Antitrypsin

The C-terminal-fragments of alpha1-antitrypsin (AAT) have been identified and their diverse biological roles have been reported in vitro and in vivo. These findings prompted us to develop a monoclonal antibody that specifically recognizes C-36 peptide (corresponding to residues 359–394) resulting from the protease-associated cleavage of AAT. The C-36-targeting mouse monoclonal Immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibody (containing κ light chains, clone C42) was generated and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-tested by Davids Biotechnologie GmbH, Germany. Here, we addressed the effectiveness of the novel C42 antibody in different immunoassay formats, such as dot- and Western blotting, confocal laser microscopy, and flow cytometry. According to the dot-blot results, our novel C42 antibody detects the C-36 peptide at a range of 0.1–0.05 µg and shows no cross-reactivity with native, polymerized, or oxidized forms of full-length AAT, the AAT-elastase complex mixture, as well as with shorter C-terminal fragments of AAT. However, the C42 antibody does not detect denatured peptide in SDS-PAGE/Western blotting assays. On the other hand, our C42 antibody, unconjugated as well as conjugated to DyLight488 fluorophore, when applied for immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry assays, specifically detected the C-36 peptide in human blood cells. Altogether, we demonstrate that our novel C42 antibody successfully recognizes the C-36 peptide of AAT in a number of immunoassays and has potential to become an important tool in AAT-related studies.     

Facile determination of foamability index of non-ionic and cationic frothers and its effect on flotation of quartz

ABSTRACT

In this work, a facile method for determination of foaming properties of frothers was used. It was based on measuring the foam height in a flotation machine at different concentrations of frothers. Based on the foam height-concentration curve, a new foaming parameter, so-called concentration at half of the maximum foam height CMH, was proposed. Assessment and usefulness of CMH were shown in flotation of quartz. The concentration of amine at the critical contact angle CCA, at which amine starts to be a collector, was also determined. The determined values of CCA were similar to CMH and were equal to 1.3, 0.14 and 0.03 mM for ButNH₂, HexNH₂ and OctNH₂, respectively. The values of CMH and CCA depended on the alkyl chain of frothers.     

Composites of polymeric gels and magnetic nanoparticles: Preparation and drug release behavior

The article is concerned with the preparation of polymer–iron oxide nanocomposites and the study as drug‐delivery matrices under the influence of applied magnetic field. Biocompatible materials were prepared by incorporating an aqueous ferrofluid in poly(vinyl alcohol) and scleroglucan (SCL) hydrogels, loaded with theophylline as model drug for release studies. The in vitro release profile was obtained using a flat Franz cell and the kinetic parameters were derived applying a semiempirical power law. A magnetic characterization of nanoparticles contained in the ferrofluid was performed by obtaining the magnetization curve. For both systems, the observed drug release profiles decreased when a uniform external magnetic field is applied suggesting they can be used as environmental responsive matrices for biomedical applications. Dynamic rheological measurements show that a higher storage modulus and a more compact structure are obtained by incorporating the ferrofluid into the hydrogels. These rheological results and environmental electron scanning microscopy micrographs point to an understanding of release behavior once the magnetic field is applied. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2007     

The Role of Extracellular Vesicles in Demyelination of the Central Nervous System

It is being increasingly demonstrated that extracellular vesicles (EVs) are deeply involved in the physiology of the central nervous system (CNS). Processes such as synaptic activity, neuron-glia communication, myelination and immune response are modulated by EVs. Likewise, these vesicles may participate in many pathological processes, both as triggers of disease or, on the contrary, as mechanisms of repair. EVs play relevant roles in neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s diseases, in viral infections of the CNS and in demyelinating pathologies such as multiple sclerosis (MS). This review describes the involvement of these membrane vesicles in major demyelinating diseases, including MS, neuromyelitis optica, progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy and demyelination associated to herpesviruses.     

Rapid Estimation of Membrane Protein Orientation in Liposomes

The topological organization of proteins embedded in biological membranes is crucial for the tight interplay between these enzymes and their accessibility to substrates in order to fulfil enzymatic activity. The orientation of a membrane protein reconstituted in artificial membranes depends on many parameters and is hardly predictable. Here, we present a convenient approach to assess this important property independent of the enzymatic activity of the reconstituted protein. Based on cysteine-specific chemical modification of a target membrane protein with a cyanine fluorophore and a corresponding membrane-impermeable fluorescence quencher, the novel strategy allows rapid evaluation of the distribution of the two orientations after reconstitution. The assay has been tested for the respiratory complexes bo₃ oxidase and ATP synthase of Escherichia coli and the results agree well with other orientation determination approaches. Given the simple procedure, the proposed method is a powerful tool for optimization of reconstitution conditions or quantitative orientation information prior to functional measurements.     

Telomerase Interaction Partners–Insight from Plants

Telomerase, an essential enzyme that maintains chromosome ends, is important for genome integrity and organism development. Various hypotheses have been proposed in human, ciliate and yeast systems to explain the coordination of telomerase holoenzyme assembly and the timing of telomerase performance at telomeres during DNA replication or repair. However, a general model is still unclear, especially pathways connecting telomerase with proposed non-telomeric functions. To strengthen our understanding of telomerase function during its intracellular life, we report on interactions of several groups of proteins with the Arabidopsis telomerase protein subunit (AtTERT) and/or a component of telomerase holoenzyme, POT1a protein. Among these are the nucleosome assembly proteins (NAP) and the minichromosome maintenance (MCM) system, which reveal new insights into the telomerase interaction network with links to telomere chromatin assembly and replication. A targeted investigation of 176 candidate proteins demonstrated numerous interactions with nucleolar, transport and ribosomal proteins, as well as molecular chaperones, shedding light on interactions during telomerase biogenesis. We further identified protein domains responsible for binding and analyzed the subcellular localization of these interactions. Moreover, additional interaction networks of NAP proteins and the DOMINO1 protein were identified. Our data support an image of functional telomerase contacts with multiprotein complexes including chromatin remodeling and cell differentiation pathways.     

Family Functioning and Children's Adjustment: Associations Among Parents' Depressed Mood, Marital Hostility, Parent-Child Hostility, and Children's Adjustment.

Relations between parents' depressed mood, marital conflict, parent-child hostility, and children's adjustment were examined in a community sample of 136 ten-year-olds and their parents. Videotaped observational and self-report data were used to examine these relations in path analyses. A proposed model was tested in which mothers' and fathers' depressed mood and marital hostility were associated with children's adjustment problems through disruptions in parent-child relationships. Results showed that both mothers' and fathers' marital hostility were linked to parent-child hostility, which in turn was linked to children's internalizing problems. Fathers' depressed mood was linked to children's internalizing problems indirectly through father-child hostility. Fathers' depressed mood was directly linked to children's externalizing problems and indirectly linked through father-child hostility. For mothers, marital hostility was directly linked to children's externalizing problems, and marital hostility in fathers was indirectly linked to children's externalizing problems through father-child hostility. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)