Land use inventories are sound measures to provide information on the area occupied by different land use or land cover types and their changes, although less widespread than traditional mapping; as ...such, they are distinctively well-established tools for generating statistics on the state and the dynamics of land use in the European Union. Italy has recently set up a land use inventory system (IUTI) as a key instrument for accounting removals and emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) associated to land use, land use change and forestry (LULUCF) activities elected by Italy under the Kyoto Protocol. IUTI adopts a statistical sampling procedure to estimate the area covered by LULUCF land use categories in Italy, and associated uncertainty estimates. Estimates of land use have been so far processed for the period 1990-2008 and highlight three interlinked land use change patterns in Italy: (i) increase in forest land for a total uptake of 1.7% of the Italian territory; forest cover estimates, with a standard error of 0.1%, indicate an annual increase of forestland higher over the period 1990-2000 (32 901 ha year-1) than in 2000-2008 (22 857 ha year-1); surprisingly, also a significant deforestation rate is observed (-7000 ha year-1), due to forest land conversion mainly into artificial areas; (ii) consumption of arable land (-4.2% of the Italian territory) primarily due to land uptake by urban areas and to conversions to permanent crops (mainly orchards and vineyards); (iii) urban sprawl uptakes 1.6% of the Italian territory in this period, with a total coverage of settlements reaching 7.1% of total land surface in Italy in 2008. Overall, land use dynamic results in land uptake by forest land is of the same magnitude of land uptake by urban areas, but the effects of these processes on GHG removals (by forest sinks) and emissions (by urban areas) is expected to be significantly different. In a broader perspective, IUTI methodology, by providing reliable estimates and well-defined levels of statistical uncertainty for assessing stocks and flows of land use at national level, can be further implemented to frame other key questions for sustainable development policies, like the set up of environmental-economic accounting systems.
A simple supramolecular method for the direct self‐assembly of comb‐like complexes composed of hydrocarbon polymers and perfluorocarbon mesogens is described. Halogen bonding is highly directional, ...so that perfluoroalkyl residues with their rigid rod‐like architecture result in materials with a beautiful comb‐like structure. The Figure shows an ORTEP view of such co‐crystals.
In early phases of atherogenesis, droplets and vesicles accumulate in the subendothelial extracellular space of arterial intima. There is much evidence to suggest that these droplets, ranging between ...100 and 400
nm, derive from modified low-density lipoprotein (LDL). In investigations of the formation mechanism of these droplets, LDL fusion was previously induced in vitro by proteolysis, lipolysis, oxidation, and vigorous shaking, but all treatments failed to reproduce the size distribution range of in vivo droplets, mostly resulting, instead, in particles with a diameter intermediate between that of one and two LDL. Our approach was meant to mimic LDL aging in plasma. LDL isolated from plasma that was incubated overnight at 37°C is slightly modified in the secondary structure of its protein component and is primed to form very large aggregates according to a reaction-limited mechanism. This mechanism requires interactions between selected surface sites, whereas massive fusion is ruled out. In the frame of the general theory for colloids, the aggregation of LDL aged in plasma fulfills all the requirements of the reaction-limited mechanism, encompassing 1), exponential growth; 2), fractal structure, with the dimension of elementary constituent still consistent with a single LDL; and 3), extreme polydispersity of aggregates, with shape and dimension very close to that of droplets observed in vivo.
Two cyclotriphosphazenes, containing OH groups, have been synthesized: hexakis
p-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxycyclotriphosphazene (PN6), with six hydroxyl groups, and 2,2-di-
...p-(hydroxymethyl)phenoxy-4,4,6,6,-bisspiro(2′,2″-dioxy-1′,1″-biphenyl)cyclotriphosphazene (PN2) with two hydroxyl groups. They were used in the preparation of modified rigid polyurethane foams as OH containing compounds, alone or in mixtures with polyol components. The thermal stabilities of the resultant hybrid foams were analysed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), in inert (nitrogen) and oxidizing (air) atmosphere. The fire behaviour has been investigated by means of oxygen index (LOI) tests. The results showed that the introduction of increasing amount of cyclotriphosphazene in foams leads to a significant improvement of the thermal stability, both in nitrogen and in air. Improvement has also been observed in the fire behaviour of modified foams, particularly for the foams containing cyclotriphosphazene PN2.
A series of biodegradation tests were carried out according to the standard test method ISO 14851 in order to compare the performance of different activated sludge inocula on different plastic ...materials (polycaprolactone and starch-based material). Cellulose was used as positive control. Inocula were derived from two municipal wastewater treatment plants (Novara and Pero-Milan) and from the treatment plant of a pharmaceutical company. Both municipal sludges were used as such and after a period of acclimation to both compounds. The results were in some cases significantly different. The starch-based material was degraded to similar or higher extents than PCL with municipal sludge. Industrial sludge gave good results with both materials (PCL
=
100%; starch-based material
=
89%), but was less active towards cellulose. Such results raise some questions about the opportunity of also using other reference materials besides cellulose for biodegradation tests. Acclimation did not provide the expected results.
Brown rust (
Puccinia melanocephala
) and orange rust (
P. kuehnii
) cause important yield loss in global sugarcane production. Due to the difficulties of distinguishing between the two diseases to ...the naked eye, it is essential to use molecular techniques for an accurate rust diagnosis. A major gene,
Bru
1, which confers resistance to a broad spectrum of
P.
melanocephala
strains in different parts of the world, has been described, and molecular markers closely associated with this allele have been developed. The aims of the present study were: (1) to optimise a PCR-based method to diagnose and characterise the causal agent of both rusts in Tucumán; (2) to determine the usefulness of the
Bru
1 gene in the Sugarcane Breeding Program of “Estación Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres” (EEAOC) by studying its association with resistant and susceptible phenotypes; and (3) to assess the frequency of the
Bru
1 allele in the sugarcane germplasm of the EEAOC. Conditions for both rust diagnoses were optimised. Out of 129 genotypes evaluated to study the usefulness of the
Bru
1 allele, 49 were found to be resistant to brown rust, but only eight of these resistant genotypes were positive for the
Bru
1 allele. Also frequency of appearance of the
Bru
1 allele was analysed in 191 sugarcane accessions of the EEAOC germplasm, and its presence was detected in only 7 % of the genotypes evaluated. In conclusion, although results showed that
Bru
1 markers enable positive selection of this character, additional source(s) of resistance are available in the EEAOC Sugarcane Breeding Program.
RNA replicon derived from Flavivirus genome is a valuable tool for studying viral replication independent of virion assembly and maturation, besides being a great potential for heterologous gene ...expression. In this study we described the construction of subgenomic replicons of yellow fever virus by yeast-based homologous recombination technique. The plasmid containing the yellow fever 17D strain replicon (pBSC-repYFV-17D), previously characterized, was handled to heterologous expression of the green fluorescent protein (repYFV-17D-GFP) and firefly luciferase (repYFV-17D-Luc) reporter genes. Both replicons were constructed by homologous recombination between the linearized vector pBSC-repYFV-17D and the PCR product containing homologous 25 nucleotides ends incorporated into PCR primers. The genomic organization of these constructs is similar to repYFV-17D, but with insertion of the reporter gene between the remaining 63 N-terminal nucleotides of the capsid protein and 72 C-terminal nucleotides of the E protein. The replicons repYFV-17D-GFP and repYFV-17D-Luc showed efficient replication and expression of the reporter genes. The yeast-based homologous recombination technique used in this study proved to be applicable for manipulation of the yellow fever virus genome in order to construct subgenomic replicons.
Differential display PCR (ddPCR) and complementary DNA microarray analyses were used to evaluate gene expression differences in porcine ovarian follicles between a line of pigs selected for an index ...of ovulation rate and embryo survival (Line I) and its randomly selected control line (Line C). Follicles (4.0 to 7.0 mm) were dissected from ovaries of multiparous sows (n = 27) at either 2 or 4 d following PGF2alpha analog injection on d 12 to 14 of the estrous cycle. Using ddPCR, differentially expressed bands (n = 282) were excised from gels and 107 were sequenced, yielding 84 unique porcine follicle expressed sequence tags. Northern hybridization confirmed differential expression (between lines, days, or follicle sizes) for messenger RNA representing the calpain I light subunit, cytochrome C oxidase subunit III, cytochrome P450 aromatase, and cytochrome P450 side chain cleavage genes. For microarray analysis, two mRNA pools representing follicles (d 2; 4.50 to 4.75 mm) from Line I and Line C sows were hybridized to the Incyte UniGEM V1.0 human chip (approximately 7,000 gene probes). A second analysis was performed using mRNA from follicles (d 2; 4.50 to 5.00 mm) hybridized to the Incyte UniGEM V2.0 human chip (approximately 9,100 gene probes). A total of 33 and 21 genes were identified with significant expression differences using UniGEM V1.0 and V2.0, respectively (twofold or greater relative expression following adjustment for expression of control probes). However, there was little overlap between results of the two hybridizations. Expression differences between lines for two genes, follistatin and nuclear receptor subfamily 4, group A, member 1, were confirmed using Northern hybridization. These results demonstrate changes in follicular gene expression as the result of long-term selection for enhanced reproduction. These correlated responses may directly represent allelic variation utilized by selection (e.g., quantitative trait loci), or more likely, transcriptional changes in other genes that interact with reproductive QTL. This work represents one of the first applications of gene expression analysis to evaluate long-term selection response in livestock populations.
A series of platinum(II) amidine complexes were previously prepared with the aim of obtaining a new class of platinum-based antitumour drugs. This series includes compounds of the type ...cis--PtCl2{Z-HN=C(NHMe)Me}2 and trans-PtCl2{Z-HN=C(NHMe)Me}2 (1, 2), cis-PtCl2{E-HN=C(NMe2)Me}2 and trans-PtCl2{E-HN=C(NMe2)Me}2 (3, 4), cis-PtCl2{Z-HN=C(NHMe)Ph}2 and trans-PtCl2{Z-HN=C(NHMe)Ph}2 (5, 6), and cis-PtCl2{HN=C(NMe2)Ph}2 and trans-PtCl2{HN=C(NMe2)Ph}2 (7, 8). The reactions with dimethyl sulfoxide were studied for complexes 5-8; the formation of cationic species containing coordinated dimethyl sulfoxide was demonstrated by NMR experiments and electrospray ionization mass spectrometry. In this work, the amidine platinum(II) complexes were tested for their in vitro cytotoxicity on a panel of various human cancer cell lines. The results indicate that the benzamidine complex 8 was the most effective derivative also circumventing acquired cisplatin resistance as demonstrated by chemosensitivity tests performed on cisplatin-sensitive and cisplatin-resistant cell lines. The studies concerning the cellular DNA damage on both parental chemosensitive and resistant sublines suggest for the new trans-amidine complex a different mechanism of action compared with that exhibited by cisplatin.
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