Honeybee glucose oxidase—its expression in honeybee workers and comparative analyses of its content and H2O2-mediated antibacterial activity in natural honeys

Antibacterial properties of honey largely depend on the accumulation of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂), which is generated by glucose oxidase (GOX)-mediated conversion of glucose in diluted honey. However, honeys exhibit considerable variation in their antibacterial activity. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the mechanism behind the variation in this activity and in the H₂O₂ content in honeys associated with the role of GOX in this process. Immunoblots and in situ hybridization analyses demonstrated that gox is solely expressed in the hypopharyngeal glands of worker bees performing various tasks and not in other glands or tissues. Real-time PCR with reference genes selected for worker heads shows that the gox expression progressively increases with ageing of the youngest bees and nurses and reached the highest values in processor bees. Immunoblot analysis of honey samples revealed that GOX is a regular honey component but its content significantly varied among honeys. Neither botanical source nor geographical origin of honeys affected the level of GOX suggesting that some other factors such as honeybee nutrition and/or genetic/epigenetic factors may take part in the observed variation. A strong correlation was found between the content of GOX and the level of generated H₂O₂ in honeys except honeydew honeys. Total antibacterial activity of most honey samples against Pseudomonas aeruginosa isolate significantly correlated with the H₂O₂ content. These results demonstrate that the level of GOX can significantly affect the total antibacterial activity of honey. They also support an idea that breeding of novel honeybee lines expressing higher amounts of GOX could help to increase the antibacterial efficacy of the hypopharyngeal gland secretion that could have positive influence on a resistance of colonies against bacterial pathogens.     

Quantitative determination of Escherichia coli based on the electrochemical measurement of bacterial catalase activity using H2O2-selective organic/inorganic-hybrid sol-gel film-modified Pt electrode

Quantitative determination of Escherichia coli (E. coli) concentration was achieved by measuring the intrinsic catalase activity of E. coli using novel H₂O₂-selective organic/inorganic-hybrid sol-gel film-modified platinum (Pt) wire electrode. This hybrid sol-gel film is composed of three kinds of organosilanes and two biopolymers (i.e., chitosan and bovine serum albumin), and exhibited an excellent permselectivity toward H₂O₂ based on a size-exclusive mechanism. The steady-state anodic current for 100 [xmol/L H₂O₂ at +0.6 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) in 0.1 mol/L phosphate buffer (pH 6.5) solution was apparently diminished by the addition of E. coli samples, due to the decomposition of H₂O₂ by intrinsic catalase activity of E. coli. The time-dependent decrease in current (–AI/At) was significantly dependent on the E. coli concentration. The –AI/At was enhanced by the permeabilization pretreatment of E. coli samples with the mixed solution of polymyxin B and lysozyme. This H₂O₂-selective organic/inorganic-hybrid sol-gel film-modified platinum (Pt) wire electrode allowed quantitative determination of E. coli concentration ranging from 10⁶ to 10⁹ CFU/mL within 30 min. This method required no label and complicated procedure, and allowed rapid, simple and cost-effective quantitative electrochemical determination of catalase-positive bacteria.     

二维钼基纳米抗菌材料的可控制备及抗菌机制研究进展

细菌感染对人体健康构成了极大威胁,超级细菌的耐药问题也愈发严峻,开发新型抗菌制剂已成为业内普遍共识。钼基纳米材料凭借其独特的理化特性和良好的生物相容性,在抗菌领域应用前景广阔。本文从材料结构、制备方法和抗菌机理3个方面综述了二维钼基纳米抗菌材料的研究进展,介绍了物理接触破坏及微环境改变、氧化应激、外源性自由基诱导和金属离子控释4种代表性抗菌机理的研究现状。最后分析了钼基抗菌制剂目前的挑战和未来的发展前景。     

Absorption and recovery of n-hexane in aqueous solutions of fluorocarbon surfactants

n-Hexane is widely used in industrial production as an organic solvent. As an industrial exhaust gas, the contribution of n-hexane to air pollution and damage to human health are attracting increasing attention. In the present study, aqueous solutions of two fluorocarbon surfactants(FSN100 and FSO100) were investigated for their properties of solubilization and dynamic absorption of n-hexane, as well as their capacity for regeneration and n-hexane recovery by thermal distillation. The results show that the two fluorocarbon surfactants enhance dissolution and absorption of n-hexane, and their effectiveness is closely related to their concentrations in solution. For low concentration solutions(0.01%–0.30%), the partition coefficient decreases dramatically and the saturation capacity increases significantly with increasing concentration, but the changes for both are more modest when the concentration is over 0.30%. The FSO100 solution presents a smaller partition coefficient and a greater saturation capacity than the FSN100 solution at the same concentration,indicating a stronger solubilization for n-hexane. Thermal distillation is a feasible method to recover n-hexane from these absorption solutions, and to regenerate them. With 90 sec heating at 80–85°C, the recovery of n-hexane ranges between 81% and 85%, and the regenerated absorption solution maintains its original performance during reuse. This study provides basic information on two fluorocarbon surfactants for application in the treatment of industrial n-hexane waste gases.     

Cow dung-derived biochars engineered as antibacterial agents for bacterial decontamination

Disposal of the pollutants arising from farming cattle and other livestock threatens the environment and public safety in diverse ways. Herein, we report on the synthesis of engineered biochars using cow dung as raw material, and investigating these biochars as antibacterial agents for water decontamination. By coating the biochars with N-halamine polymer and loading them with active chlorine (i.e., Cl⁺), we were able to regulate them on demand by tuning the polymer coating and bleaching conditions. The obtained N-halamine-modified biochars were found to be extremely potent against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. We also investigated the possibility of using these N-halamine-modified biochars for bacterial decontamination in real-world applications. Our findings indicated that a homemade filter column packed with N-halamine-modified biochars removed pathogenic bacteria from mining sewage, dairy sewage, domestic sewage, and artificial seawater. This proposed strategy could indicate a new way for utilizing livestock pollutants to create on-demand decontaminants.     

湿生环境中丛枝菌根(AM)对香蒲耐Cd胁迫的影响

湿生植物在城市景观绿化和美化中应用越来越多,但也经常遭遇环境污染胁迫的问题.大量研究证实丛枝菌根(AM)可提高陆生植物耐受环境污染胁迫的能力,但对湿生植物的影响却鲜有认识.通过水培实验,探索接种AM真菌(Glomus etunicatum)对香蒲(Typha latifolia)耐受Cd2+(0、2.5、5.0 mg·L-1)胁迫的影响,旨在为评估菌根技术能否用于提高湿生植物抗耐环境污染胁迫的能力提供参考.结果表明,在湿生环境中AM真菌可与香蒲建立良好的共生关系,侵染率高于30%,但菌根化香蒲移入水溶液1个月后侵染率均呈下降趋势,最大下降25.5%(P0.05).AM增加了香蒲子叶的色素含量和POD酶活性,提高了根系的泌氧速率,但仅显著促进了5 mg·L-1Cd2+下香蒲的生长.虽然高浓度Cd2+抑制了香蒲的生长且侵染率下降,但AM仍能促进两个Cd2+浓度下香蒲对Cd的吸收,地上、地下部Cd含量最大增加40.24%和56.52%.本研究表明,AM具有增强湿生植物抗耐和修复环境重金属污染的潜力.     

A new ceratopsian dinosaur from the Javelina Formation (Maastrichtian) of West Texas and implications for chasmosaurine phylogeny

Bravoceratops polyphemus gen. et sp. nov. is a large chasmosaurine ceratopsid from the lowermost part of the Javelina Formation (early Maastrichtian) of Big Bend National Park, TX, USA. B. polyphemus has a distinctive narrow snout, a long fenestrate frill, and a fan-shaped median parietal bar with a midline epiparietal on its posterior margin, as well as a symmetrical depression on its dorsal surface at the nexus of the parietal rami. This depression is interpreted to be the attachment point for a second midline epiparietal. This parietal morphology is distinct from that exhibited by Anchiceratops or Pentaceratops. The posterior midline epiparietal in B. polyphemus and its bifurcated quadratojugal–squamosal joint are features shared with the most derived chasmosaurines, Torosaurus and Triceratops. The combination of primitive and derived traits exhibited by B. polyphemus, and its stratigraphic position, is compatible with the gradual transition from basal, to intermediate, to derived chasmosaurines observed throughout the western interior of North America, and with phylogenetic analysis, which suggests that Bravoceratops may be closely related to Coahuilaceratops.     

Comparative assessment of primary and secondary infection risks in a norovirus outbreak using a household model simulation

Diarrheal diseases can be transmitted via both primary infection due to exposures to contaminated materials from the environment and secondary infection due to personto-person contacts. Usually, the importance of secondary infection is empirically assessed by fitting mathematical models to the epidemic curves. However, these empirical models may not be applicable to other epidemic cases because they are developed only for the target epidemics and they don't consider the detail routes of infection. In our previous study, we developed a theoretical model taking into account the various routes of infection that commonly occur in households(e.g., shaking hands, food handling, and changing diapers).This model was made flexible and applicable to any epidemics by means of adjusting model parameters. In this study, we proposed a new index "Vulnerability indicator to secondary infection(VISI)", which expressed a ratio of secondary infection to primary infection risks and calculated this index in a simulated norovirus(No V) epidemic that involved 10,000 households.The results demonstrated that households composed of more than three members including infant(s) had much higher levels of VISI(5–45) than two-member-households with VISI(0.1–4).These results concluded that the infants were likely to be a hub of secondary infections in highly dense families and therefore careful handling of diapers was deemed indispensible in such families to effectively control the secondary infections.     

Characteristics of emissive spectrum and the removal of nitric oxide in N2/O2/NO plasma with argon additive

Although the approach using non-thermal plasma (NTP) for deNOx has been studied for over 15 years, how to achieve higher removal e ciency with lower cost is still a barrier for its industrial application. In order to investigate the impact of the argon additive on electron density, energy and nitric oxide reduction process in plasma, the spectrum of the dielectric barrier discharge at atmospheric pressure in a coaxial reactor was measured using the monochromater with high resolution. The comparative experiments for NO reduction were carried out simultaneously in N2/O2/NO plasma stream with and without argon, respectively. The nitrogen molecular spectrum which is attributed to the energy level transition (C3 u ! B3 g) was compared in the wavelength range 300–480 nm and the electron density and temperature were determined based on the relative intensities and Stark broadening width of spectral lines. The spectrum results indicated that the argon additive could enhance the intensity of emissive spectrum of plasma, thus the electron concentration as well as the energy was increased, and finally prompted the ionization rate to produce active N, O and O3. The results of NO reduction showed that NO conversion e ciency increased in the range of 10%–30% with 5% addition of argon in stream comparing with the condition without argon additive. This study will play a positive role in the industrial application of dielectric barrier discharge deNOx reactor.     

Functional groups assisted-photoinduced electron transfer-mediated highly fluorescent metal-organic framework quantum dot composite for selective detection of mercury (II) in water

The presence of toxic mercury (II) in water is an ever-growing problem on earth that has various harmful effect on human health and aquatic living organisms. Therefore, detection of mercury (II) in water is very much crucial and several researches are going on in this topic. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered as an effective device for sensing of toxic heavy metal ions in water. The tunable functionalities with large surface area of highly semiconducting MOFs enhance its activity towards fluorescence sensing. In this study, we are reporting one highly selective and sensitive luminescent sensor for the detection of mercury (II) in water. A series of binary MOF composites were synthesized using in-situ solvothermal synthetic technique for fluorescence sensing of Hg²⁺ in water. The well-distributed graphitic carbon nitride quantum dots on porous zirconium-based MOF improve Hg²⁺ sensing activity in water owing to their great electronic and optical properties. The binary MOF composite (2) i.e., the sensor exhibited excellent limit of detection (LOD) value of 2.4 nmol/L for Hg²⁺. The sensor also exhibited excellent performance for mercury (II) detection in real water samples. The characterizations of the synthesized materials were done using various spectroscopic techniques and the fluorescence sensing mechanism was studied.     

Adjustment of web-building initiation to high humidity: a constraint by humidity-dependent thread stickiness in the spider Cyrtarachne

Cyrtarachne is an orb-weaving spider belonging to the subfamily Cyrtarachninae (Araneidae) which includes triangular-web-building Pasilobus and bolas spiders. The Cyrtarachninae is a group of spiders specialized in catching moths, which is thought to have evolved from ordinary orb-weaving araneids. Although the web-building time of nocturnal spiders is in general related to the time of sunset, anecdotal evidence has suggested variability of web-building time in Cyrtarachne and its closely related genera. This study has examined the effects of temperature, humidity, moonlight intensity, and prey (moths) availability on web-building time of Cyrtarachne bufo, Cyrtarachne akirai, and Cyrtarachne nagasakiensis. Generalized linear mixed model (GLMM) have revealed that humidity, and not prey availability, was the essential variable that explained the daily variability of web-building time. Experiments measuring thread stickiness under different humidities showed that, although the thread of Cyrtarachne was found to have strong stickiness under high humidity, low humidity caused a marked decrease of thread stickiness. By contrast, no obvious change in stickiness was seen in an ordinary orb-weaving spider, Larinia argiopiformis. These findings suggest that Cyrtarachne adjusts its web-building time to favorable conditions of high humidity maintaining strong stickiness, which enables the threads to work efficiently for capturing prey.     

Bioaugmentation with a pyridine-degrading bacterium in a membrane bioreactor treating pharmaceutical wastewater

The bacterial strain Paracoccus denitrificans W12, which could utilize pyridine as its sole source of carbon and nitrogen, was added into a membrane bioreactor （MBR） to enhance the treatment of a pharmaceutical wastewater. The treatment efliciencies investigated showed that the removal of chemical oxygen demand, total nitrogen, and total phosphorus were similar between bioaugmented and non-bioaugmented MBRs, however, significant removal of pyridine was obtained in the bioaugmented reactor. When the hydraulic retention time was 60 hr and the influent concentration of pyridine was 250-500 mg/L, the mean effluent concentration of pyridine without adding W12 was 57.2 mg/L, while the pyridine was degraded to an average of 10.2 mg/L with addition of W12. The bacterial community structure of activated sludge during the bioaugmented treatment was analyzed using polymerase chain reaction-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis （PCR-DGGE）. The results showed that the W12 inoculum reversed the decline of microbial community diversity, however, the similarity between bacterial community structure of the original sludge and that of the sludge after bioaugmentation decreased steadily during the wastewater treatment. Sequencing of the DNA recovered from DGGE gel indicated that sp., Sphingobium sp., Comamonas sp., and Hyphomicrobium sp. were the dominant organisms in time sequence in the bacterial community in the bioaugmented MBR. This implied that the bioaugmentation was affected by the adjustment of whole bacterial community structure in the inhospitable environment, rather than being due solely to the degradation performance of the bacterium added.     

杀菌功能载银活性炭的NaBH_4还原法制备及其表征

通过NaBH4还原法制备了银缓释杀菌功能载银活性炭(Ag/AC),研究了其对大肠杆菌(E.coil)的杀灭性能和抗银流失性能.以低温液氮吸附测定活性炭的比表面积,以扫描电子显微镜(SEM)-X射线能谱仪(EDS)分析Ag/AC表面形态以及Ag的含量和分布,以X射线衍射(XRD)观察Ag/AC晶体结构.结果表明,银以单质形式负载在活性炭上.活性炭的载银量、比表面积、银颗粒的粒径及分布取决于AgNO3溶液浓度.在不同AgNO3溶液浓度条件下,银的晶核形成和生长机制发生改变.随着AgNO3溶液浓度的增加,所制备Ag/AC表现出由无活性、抑菌到杀菌活性的变化规律.载银量为2.70%(质量分数)时,Ag/AC能在90 min内杀灭2×106 CFU/mL浓度的大肠杆菌,且在水中振荡600 h的银流失量为21.1%.在保持较高杀菌活性前提下,可以实现银的缓释.     

Enhanced methane production in an anaerobic digestion and microbial electrolysis cell coupled system with co-cultivation of Geobacter and Methanosarcina

The anaerobic digestion(AD)and microbial electrolysis cell(MEC)coupled system has been proved to be a promising process for biomethane production.In this paper,it was found that by co-cultivating Geobacter with Methanosarcina in an AD–MEC coupled system,methane yield was further increased by 24.1%,achieving to 360.2 m L/g-COD,which was comparable to the theoretical methane yield of an anaerobic digester.With the presence of Geobacter,the maximum chemical oxygen demand(COD)removal rate(216.8 mg COD/(L·hr))and current density(304.3 A/m_3)were both increased by 1.3 and 1.8 fold compared to the previous study without Geobacter,resulting in overall energy efficiency reaching up to 74.6%.Community analysis demonstrated that Geobacter and Methanosarcina could coexist together in the biofilm,and the electrochemical activities of both were confirmed by cyclic voltammetry.Our study observed that the carbon dioxide content in total gas generated from the AD reactor with Geobacter was only half of that generated from the same reactor without Geobacter,suggesting that Methanosarcina may obtain the electron transferred from Geobacter for the reduction of carbon dioxide to methane.Taken together,Geobacter not only can improve the performance of the MEC system,but also can enhance methane production.     

Biosorption and retention of orthophosphate onto Ca(OH)2-pretreated biomass of Phragmites sp.

The biosorption of phosphorus in the form of orthophosphate(Po) from wastewater using biomass as the sorbent is of potential importance because the Po-loaded biomass could be applied in the agricultural sector as fertilizer and soil conditioner. However, biomass generally displays a very low affinity for Posorption and therefore biomass surface modification is required. In the present study, the biomass(as model grinded leaves of Phragmites sp. were used)was pretreated with Ca(OH)2to enhance Pobiosorption capacity(qe). The results indicate that the alkaline pretreatment resulted in a modification of surface functional groups. It was concluded that the main sorption mechanisms were ligand exchange and electrostatic attraction. A series of experiments were conducted to investigate the performance of the pretreated biomass for Pouptake under various conditions. Isotherm and thermodynamic studies were also applied and analyzed. The biosorption process was best described by the pseudo-second order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm, which gave a qmaxof 12.27 mg P/g at 25°C and p H 7. The Ca(OH)2treated Phragmites biomass applied in this study for Porecovery may present some potential advantages in terms of costs and environmental impact.     

Urban stormwater disinfection, quality variability during storage and influence on the freshwater algae: Implications for reuse safety

Stormwater reuse is one of the most important ways to mitigate water resource shortage. However, urban stormwater contains many bacteria species, which threaten the reuse safety. Therefore, stormwater disinfection is highly needed. Although disinfection has been widely conducted in the drinking water and reclaimed water, it is rarely carried out for stormwater. This study collected the roof stormwater and undertook chlorination disinfection. Two typical bacteria, Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) were selected in this study to investigate the disinfection efficiency. It is found that bacteria species present in the stormwater had an important influence on disinfection efficiency while the original stormwater quality did not show an obvious affect. However, when the disinfected stormwater was stored, the stormwater quality was highly variable during its storage process and the variability was affected by bacteria species. The S.aureus containing stormwater showed a high variability of quality and S.aureus significantly regrew. However, the E.coli containing stormwater quality had a relatively low variability and E.coli did not significantly regrew. Additionally, it is noted that after storage, the dissolved form of stormwater was more positive to the freshwater algae's growth while the particulate form (including bacteria and other particulate matters) was less. This implies that a further treatment such as filtration is needed before the stored stormwater is recharged into receiving waters in order to remove particulate forms. These research outcomes can provide useful insight to effective stormwater disinfection and ensure reuse safety.     

酞酸酯在模拟海河菹草微宇宙中的消减和分布特征

模拟海河干流水体构建了室内菹草微宇宙,同时设置了无菹草微宇宙为对照,对微宇宙中酞酸二丁酯(DBP)和酞酸二异辛酯(DEHP)的消减和分布特征进行了研究.结果表明,实验过程中,有草组水和沉积物中这2种酞酸酯(PAEs)的浓度始终低于对照组;实验结束时,这2种PAEs主要分布在沉积物中,其次是水中,并且在菹草中也有一定程度的富集,尤其是疏水性较强的DEHP;菹草(以湿重计)对水中DBP和DEHP富集系数(BCF)的平均值分别为22.4 L.kg-1和180.7 L.kg-1;计算得出整个实验过程中,有草微宇宙中DBP和DEHP的降解率分别为输入量的94.2%和60.8%,较对照组(DBP和DEHP分别为91.0%和45.5%)分别提高了4.1和15.3个百分点;有草组DBP和DEHP的残留率分别为输入量的-0.6%和30.7%,而对照组为4.7%和37.7%.可见,菹草体系不仅能够有效增强这2种PAEs的降解作用,还能减少系统残留量,降低内源污染.     

Problems and perspectives of sludge utilization in agriculture

Sewage sludge utilization in agriculture leads to several advantages through the recycling of nutrient and organic matter to the land.Inorganic nitrogen as NO₃⁻¹and NH₄⁺ becomes immediately available; organic nitrogen becomes available after mineralization, which depends on soil type and tends largely to diminish with time.The soluble forms of phosphorus are H₂P0₄⁻ and HPO₄²⁻ and the percentage P-utilization can easily be predicted from the amount extracted by ammonium chloride.Potassium concentration in sewage sludge is negligible, but crop requirements for it are high and often comparable to those for nitrogen.Organic matter mainly affects soil structure by increasing soil porosity, stability of aggregates and water retention; other properties affected by organic matter addition are pH and cation exchange capacity, which tend to increase.Negative effects due to heavy metals (toxic and phytotoxic) and pathogens can arise following sludge addition to soil. Epidemiological studies in the U.K. indicate that infections can arise, in particular from the presence of Taenia saginata and Salmonella.A recent survey in the European Economic Community (E.E.C.) revealed that nowadays 75% of sewage is treated and 40% of the residual sludges are used in agriculture (about 2 million t (2 M t) of dry solids year⁻¹), affording a saving in mineral fertilizers of about 206 000 M L It. year⁻¹ (£82AM; DM 295M; 100M FF). This economic advantage covers the cost of transport over a distance of 8 km and that of spreading the liquid sludge.This paper also compares the legislations of some countries concerning sewage sludge utilization in agriculture and shows that generally the countries with more experience in sludge utilization (France, Germany and the U.K.) permit disposal of higher concentrations of heavy metals.     

Thermal behaviors, combustion mechanisms, evolved gasses, and ash analysis of spent potlining for a hazardous waste management

An unavoidable but reusable waste so as to enhance a more circular waste utilization has been spent potlining (SPL) generated by the aluminum industry. The combustion mechanisms, evolved gasses, and ash properties of SPL were characterized dynamically in response to the elevated temperature and heating rates. Differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) results indicated an exothermic reaction behavior probably able to meet the energy needs of various industrial applications. The reaction mechanisms for the SPL combustion were best described using the 1.5-, 3- and 2.5-order reaction models. Fluoride volatilization rate of the flue gas was estimated at 2.24%. The SPL combustion emitted CO₂, HNCO, NO, and NO₂ but SO_x. The joint optimization of remaining mass, derivative thermogravimetry, and derivative DSC was achieved with the optimal temperature and heating rate combination of 783.5°C, and 5 °C/min, respectively. Interaction between temperature and heating rate exerted the strongest and weakest impact on DSC and remaining mass, respectively. The fluorine mainly as the formation of substantial NaF and CaF₂ in the residual ash. Besides, the composition and effect of environment of residual solid were evaluated. The ash slagging tendency and its mineral deposition mechanisms were elucidated in terms of turning SPL waste into a benign input to a circular waste utilization.     

The roles of cleaner production in the sustainable development of modern societies: an introduction to this special issue

This issue of the Journal of Cleaner Production is based upon papers presented at the 1st International Workshop Advances in Cleaner Production (CP) held in São Paulo, Brazil, in 2007. The conference had the short-term purpose of deepening the Brazilian discussion on “The Roles of Cleaner Production in the Sustainable Development of Modern Societies”, and it had the long-term objective of providing an on-going interdisciplinary forum for knowledge development and exchange on Cleaner Production (CP) and Sustainable Development. This issue is devoted to papers covering a broad range of perspectives of CP practices and strategies. A special focus is placed upon methodological tools designed to support effective decision-making pertaining to quantitative benefits from CP.The ten papers provide insights from research designed to holistically integrate CP to help society make effective progress to sustainability. Papers cover the importance of informal knowledge, as complementary to formal knowledge, in performing effective ‘Environmental Impact Assessments.’ One paper explores the roles of radical and incremental innovation in the context of alternative automotive technologies. Benefits of Ecodesign are explored in two papers; one concerning its integration with remanufacturing to extend the life of used products and one focusing the adoption of ‘Emergy Environmental Accounting,’ as a complementary decision-making tool. The development of the Brazilian LCI database for ‘hydroelectric power generation’ and its contribution to support regionally relevant LCA studies is highlighted in one paper. The complete production chains of biodiesel and bioethanol are evaluated by using global methodologies, which help in the development of more objective and effective solutions. A “compensatory area”, calculated in terms of emergy, is proposed in order to work in a sustainable way for bamboo production. Finally, a paper about a novel approach for recycling used PET is also included.