Quantitative goals for large-scale fog collection projects as a sustainable freshwater resource in northern Chile

The objective of this study was to determine the quantitative goals for a large-scale fog collection project if it were to be an economically competitive source of freshwater in northern Chile. When the initial costs are factored in, the cost of water from such a project would exceed the market price of the alternatives. However, given current costs, the project could be profitable given an average collection rate of about 10 litres per day per square metre. Investment in site selection and system improvements to reduce costs and improve collection rates are essential for making large-scale fog collection an economically competitive source of freshwater.     

Growth factor responsiveness and alterations in growth factor homeostasis in Syrian hamster embryo cells during in vitro transformation

Syrian hamster embryo (SHE) cells were investigated for their growth factor responsiveness as well as changes in growth factor homeostasis, including alterations in autocrine growth factor production and growth factor responsiveness, during in vitro transformation. For wild-type SHE cells, fetal bovine serum (FBS), epidermal growth factor (EGF) family members, platelet derived growth factor (PDGF) family members, fibroblast growth factor family members, interleukin-4, interleukin-9, oncostatin M, hepatocyte growth factor, erythropoietin and pituitary extract were found to be mitogenic. SHE cell mitogenesis was inhibited in response to transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) family members, interleukin-1 alpha, interleukin-1 beta and nerve growth factor. Additional experiments were conducted to study alterations in growth factor responsiveness to three SHE cell mitogens (FBS, EGF and PDGF) and one inhibitor of mitogenesis (TGF-beta) during SHE cell in vitro transformation. Alterations in either EGF, PDGF or TGF-beta responsiveness were observed in 7/8 SHE transformed lineages during the stepwise transformation process. Finally, 6/8 lineages underwent alterations which resulted in the production of autocrine growth factors during the transformation process. These results indicate that multiple alterations in growth factor homeostasis occur during the in vitro transformation process.