Handling Climate Change – Establishing Waste CO2 Management A View from Biotechnology

The biggest material flows induced by industry are realized in energy production. Coal, oil and gas as raw material streams are moved from their deposits to their further converting. From there product streams are branched out. However, the biggest material flow of this industry is waste CO₂ mobilized by chemical conversion from fossil deposits and released into the atmosphere. A waste management is urgently needed to reduce the amount of this flow, to neutralize its effects on environment and to establish applications yielding a return. Natural backflow of CO₂ from the atmosphere to the biosphere waits for completion by industrial methods in order to shift it to a dimension equalizing the finally unavoidable amount of waste CO₂ flow into the atmosphere.     

Microstructure of the HMX‐Based PBX KS32 after Mechanical Loading

Non‐destructive X‐ray diffraction techniques were applied in order to monitor the influence of mechanical and shock‐loading on the microstructure of the plastic‐bonded high explosive KS32. The investigations uncovered damage to embedded coarse HMX crystals and to the binder system HTPB‐IPDI. Damage to the crystals occurred already during the kneading process in terms of deformation twinning. On higher loading between 400 MPa (static) and 480 MPa (dynamic) also crystal fracture was observed. The change in the binder structure was found after both static and dynamic loading, but not in the cured, differently kneaded samples. Moreover, the change in binder structure after dynamic loading was verified by dynamic mechanical analysis, and interpreted as a partial damage of the binder rubber shell around the explosive particles. The results are compared to literature data from imaging techniques.     

Annual vegetation burns across the northern savanna region of Ghana: period of occurrence, area burns, nutrient losses and emissions

This study has assessed the seasonal occurrence of annual vegetation fires and defined inter-seasonally burned area for the different vegetation cover types across Ghana and the northern region of Ghana using 10-year (2001?C2010) remote sensing data. These values were used with fire induced elemental losses to estimate greenhouse gas emissions and net plant nutrient loss due to gross bush fire nutrient transfers and annual atmospheric nutrient depositions. About 21, 68, 10 and 1?% of annual burns across the northern region of Ghana take place in the months of November, December, January and February respectively. As much as 68?±?4 thousand km² (25?C32?%) and 37?±?2.6 thousand km² (46?C60?%) of dry land are annually burned across Ghana and the northern region of Ghana respectively, with 53?C56?% of the total annual burns across the country taking place in the northern region. About 10,100?C28,400 Gg of C, comprising 215?C4,700 thousand Gg of CO₂ equivalent (CO₂, CH₄) potential global warming green house gases and 48?C324 thousand Gg of local pollutants (CO, NO_x) are estimated to be released annually through bush fire occurrence across Ghana. Net negative balance for P between fire-induced nutrient transfers and, annual wet and dry nutrient deposits is of concern given the high P-sorbing mineral content of the soils. The temporal loss of P suggest an input source than wet and dry atmospheric P depositions for the sustenance of the ecosystem or predict a long term threat to regional food production.     

Probiotic supplementation affects markers of intestinal barrier, oxidation, and inflammation in trained men; a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled trial

Background

Probiotics are an upcoming group of nutraceuticals claiming positive effects on athlete??s gut health, redox biology and immunity but there is lack of evidence to support these statements.

Methods

We conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo controlled trial to observe effects of probiotic supplementation on markers of intestinal barrier, oxidation and inflammation, at rest and after intense exercise. 23 trained men received multi-species probiotics (10¹⁰ CFU/day, Ecologic?Performance or OMNi-BiOTiC?POWER, n?=?11) or placebo (n?=?12) for 14?weeks and performed an intense cycle ergometry over 90 minutes at baseline and after 14?weeks. Zonulin and ??1-antitrypsin were measured from feces to estimate gut leakage at baseline and at the end of treatment. Venous blood was collected at baseline and after 14?weeks, before and immediately post exercise, to determine carbonyl proteins (CP), malondialdehyde (MDA), total oxidation status of lipids (TOS), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-??), and interleukin-6 (IL-6). Statistical analysis used multifactorial analysis of variance (ANOVA). Level of significance was set at p?<?0.05, a trend at p?<?0.1.

Results

Zonulin decreased with supplementation from values slightly above normal into normal ranges (<30?ng/ml) and was significantly lower after 14?weeks with probiotics compared to placebo (p?=?0.019). We observed no influence on ??1-antitrypsin (p?>?0.1). CP increased significantly from pre to post exercise in both groups at baseline and in the placebo group after 14?weeks of treatment (p?=?0.006). After 14?weeks, CP concentrations were tendentially lower with probiotics (p?=?0.061). TOS was slightly increased above normal in both groups, at baseline and after 14?weeks of treatment. There was no effect of supplementation or exercise on TOS. At baseline, both groups showed considerably higher TNF-?? concentrations than normal. After 14?weeks TNF-?? was tendentially lower in the supplemented group (p?=?0.054). IL-6 increased significantly from pre to post exercise in both groups (p?=?0.001), but supplementation had no effect. MDA was not influenced, neither by supplementation nor by exercise.

Conclusions

The probiotic treatment decreased Zonulin in feces, a marker indicating enhanced gut permeability. Moreover, probiotic supplementation beneficially affected TNF-?? and exercise induced protein oxidation. These results demonstrate promising benefits for probiotic use in trained men.

Clinical trial registry

http://www.clinicaltrials.gov, identifier: NCT01474629     

Deformation-mediated superstructures and cavitation of poly (l-lactide): In-situ small-angle X-ray scattering study

Cavitation and superstructure evolution of polymers during stretching play crucial roles to influence the mechanical properties of materials. In this study, we investigated deformation-mediated superstructures and cavitation of poly (l-lactide) (PLA) as well as their dependence on stretching temperatures by in-situ small-angle X-ray (SAXS) analysis coupled with mechanical testing. It is found that the cavitation and crystalline deformation are strongly influenced by stretching stress during deformation, which significantly depends on the stretching temperature. At lower stretching temperature (70 °C), the cavitation is initiated before the yielding and then stimulates the crystallite shearing. At higher stretching temperature (90 °C), however, the crystallites shear firstly and then crystalline deformation promotes the formation of cavities orientated along the stretching direction. High stretching temperature benefits the formation of relatively perfect crystals with high orientation. The results provide the basic knowledge of how to adjust the mechanical properties of polymer materials by controlling their superstructure in the deformation process.     

Interaction of 1-allyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride and carbon black and its influence on carbon black filled rubbers

The interactions of the ionic liquid 1-allyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride (AMIMCl) with different grades of carbon black have been investigated using rheological measurements, differential scanning calorimetry and Raman spectroscopy. We could prove strong attractive interactions of AMIMCl with the carbon black surface, which result, for example, in the formation of an AMIMCl–carbon black–bucky gel and in an increased glass transition temperature of the ionic liquid in the presence of carbon black. Raman spectroscopy revealed that the AMIMCl is preferably attached to the edges of graphitic crystals at the carbon black surface, which have the highest adsorption energies. A surface treatment of different grades of carbon black with AMIMCl led to significant changes of the mechanical and electrical properties of different rubber compounds filled with carbon black, which can be attributed to a decreased filler–polymer interaction and a local plasticising effect of the AMIMCl at the carbon black surface.     

Design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of 2-aminobenzanilide derivatives as potent and selective HDAC inhibitors

Epigenetic regulation is an essential process for the normal functioning of genes. Therefore, targeting epigenetic dysregulation in cancer may be a valid therapeutic approach for the treatment of this severe disease. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) are enzymes involved in the regulation of epigenetic post-translational modifications; because they are overexpressed in many types of cancer, HDACs are valuable targets for the development of new anticancer agents. A large series of 2-aminobenzanilides linked at the 4'-position to α-amino acid amides, arenes, and heteroarenes through a methylene bridge were designed, synthesized, and tested as novel HDAC inhibitors. Several compounds showed IC(50) values in the two-digit nanomolar range in hrHDAC1 inhibition assays, lower than that of the reference compound MS-275. They also showed interesting selectivity profiles, as confirmed by western blot assays.