Environmental impact of the substitution of imported soybean meal with locally-produced rapeseed meal in dairy cow feed

Growing public concerns about the traceability, safety and environmental-friendliness of food products provide an incentive for shorter supply chains in agricultural production. Here, we assessed the environmental impacts of the substitution of imported soybean meal with locally-produced rapeseed meal in French dairy production systems, using a life-cycle approach. Two feeding rations based on either French-produced rapeseed meal or Brazilian-produced soy meal as concentrates, were compared for nine impact categories, including global warming, ecotoxicity and eutrophication. Crop production was the main contributor to most impacts, while overseas transport of soy meal only had a marginal effect. The “Soybean” ration appeared more environmentally-efficient than the “Rapeseed” ration because it involved less intensive management practices, in particular regarding synthetic fertilizers consumption. However, land use changes brought about by soybean cultivation should also be examined.     

Innovations in the water chain – experiences in The Netherlands

Innovations in water chain are discussed based on experiences in the Netherlands. The available and new technological options, as well as their dissemination in the Netherlands, are presented for the prevailing system with add-on technologies (elongation), and for the emerging separation system with technologies at the source. Numerous new options are available for both systems but these options are rarely used. The low use is explained using economic theories and with practical examples from the Netherlands. In order to foster innovations, the mainstream, evolutionary, and behavioral theories pinpoint respectively the pricing of common goods, broad support of concerted action, and support for innovators’ entry. These actions may all be needed. Experiences with a stakeholder cluster in water management suggest that markets for high value water use invoke innovations and low-cost technology adaptations. The systematic development of services that foster high value water-based activities is recommended.     

Behavior of a hammerhead ribozyme in aqueous solution at medium to high temperatures

The “RNA world” hypothesis proposes that—early in the evolution of life—RNA molecules played important roles both in information storage and in enzymatic functions. However, this hypothesis seems to be inconsistent with the concept that life may have emerged under hydrothermal conditions since RNA molecules are considered to be labile under such extreme conditions. Presently, the possibility that the last common ancestor of the present organisms was a hyperthermophilic organism which is important to support the hypothesis of the hydrothermal origin of life has been subject of strong discussions. Consequently, it is of importance to study the behavior of RNA molecules under hydrothermal conditions from the viewpoints of stability, catalytic functions, and storage of genetic information of RNA molecules and determination of the upper limit of temperature where life could have emerged. In the present work, self-cleavage of a natural hammerhead ribozyme was examined at temperatures 10–200?°C. Self-cleavage was investigated in the presence of Mg²⁺, which facilitates and accelerates this reaction. Self-cleavage of the hammerhead ribozyme was clearly observed at temperatures up to 60?°C, but at higher temperatures self-cleavage occurs together with hydrolysis and with increasing temperature hydrolysis becomes dominant. The influence of the amount of Mg²⁺ on the reaction rate was also investigated. In addition, we discovered that the reaction proceeds in the presence of high concentrations of monovalent cations (Na⁺ or K⁺), although very slowly. Furthermore, at high temperatures (above 60?°C), monovalent cations protect the ribozyme against degradation.     

Climate change,adaptation and Eco-Art in Singapore

Eco-Art has recently emerged as a potential means to place emphasis on environmental issues such as climate change, recycling and the metabolism of the city experienced both materially and conceptually within local, regional and global contexts. Such art presents the possibility of shaping civic practices in arenas beyond those of traditional planning domains. Adopting a pragmatic approach, which recognises the contextual pluralism that exists in debates regarding climate change, this paper is interested in how Eco-Art projects encourage the re-imagining of urban spaces within the context of sustainability, and flows of materials and the recycling of plastic in art specifically.     

Ploidy-, gender-, and dose-dependent alteration of selected biomarkers in Clarias gariepinus treated with benzo[a]pyrene

Naturally-occurring and artificially-induced polyploids have been documented in various fish species but to date no comparison has been reported of the impacts of ploidy on fish biomarker responses to organic pollutants. This study describes effects of ploidy, gender, and dose on biliary fluorescent aromatic compound (FAC) concentrations, hepatic ethoxyresorufin-O-deethylase (EROD) and glutathione S-transferase (GST) activities in one of the most commonly cultured warm-water species, the African catfish Clarias gariepinus. Recently matured male and female diploid and triploid fish were intraperitoneally (i.p.) injected with 0, 5 or 25 mg/kg benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and liver and gallbladder were sampled 48 hr later. No significant differences were found between ploidies in bile concentrations of 7,8 dihydrodiolbenzo[a]pyrene (7,8D BaP), 1-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene (1-OH BaP) or 3-hydroxybenzo[a]pyrene (3-OH BaP). However, concentrations of the biliary FACs did differ between males and females at different dose of injection with generally higher concentrations in females at the low dose of BaP and higher concentrations in males at the higher BaP concentration. Hepatic EROD activity did not exhibit gender-dependent difference, whereas it was significantly higher in triploids than diploids. GST activities were not significantly influenced by any of the tested factors. This work advanced our understanding of the role of ploidy, gender, and dose in biotransformation of pollutants in fish.     

The difference conservation makes to extinction risk of the world's ungulates

Previous studies show that conservation actions have prevented extinctions, recovered populations, and reduced declining trends in global biodiversity. However, all studies to date have substantially underestimated the difference conservation action makes because they failed to account fully for what would have happened in the absence thereof. We undertook a scenario‐based thought experiment to better quantify the effect conservation actions have had on the extinction risk of the world's 235 recognized ungulate species. We did so by comparing species’ observed conservation status in 2008 with their estimated status under counterfactual scenarios in which conservation efforts ceased in 1996. We estimated that without conservation at least 148 species would have deteriorated by one International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List category, including 6 species that now would be listed as extinct or extinct in the wild. The overall decline in the conservation status of ungulates would have been nearly 8 times worse than observed. This trend would have been greater still if not for conservation on private lands. While some species have benefited from highly targeted interventions, such as reintroduction, most benefited collaterally from conservation such as habitat protection. We found that the difference conservation action makes to the conservation status of the world's ungulate species is likely to be higher than previously estimated. Increased, and sustained, investment could help achieve further improvements.