A generic model of Exergy Assessment of the Environmental Impact for the Building Lifecycle

A generic model of Exergy Assessment is proposed for the Environmental Impact of the Building Lifecycle, with a special focus on the natural environment. Three environmental impacts: energy consumption, resource consumption and pollutant discharge have been analyzed with reference to energy-embodied exergy, resource chemical exergy and abatement exergy, respectively. The generic model of Exergy Assessment of the Environmental Impact of the Building Lifecycle thus formulated contains two sub-models, one from the aspect of building energy utilization and the other from building materials use. Combined with theories by ecologists such as Odum, the paper evaluates a building's environmental sustainability through its exergy footprint and environmental impacts. A case study from Chongqing, China illustrates the application of this method. From the case study, it was found that energy consumption constitutes 70–80% of the total environmental impact during a 50-year building lifecycle, in which the operation phase accounts for 80% of the total environmental impact, the building material production phase 15% and 5% for the other phases.

LC-MS & DFT investigations of Cryptolepis sanginolenta root extracts

The roots of Crytolepis sanguinolenta, a medicinally important ethanobotanical source of the antimalarial cryptolepine, were soxhlet extracted in anaerobic conditions, using hexane then ethanol. Samples of each extract were fractioned using flash chromatography and preparative TLC and compound identity was established using gradient HPLC-positive ion electrospray mass spectrometry. The use of argon depressed the formation of quindoline and hydroxycrytolepine. In addition to known compounds such as cryptolepine, several as yet unidentified compounds remain to be characterised in this root extract.

Predicting long-term growth in students' mathematics achievement: the unique contributions of motivation and cognitive strategies

This research examined how motivation (perceived control, intrinsic motivation, and extrinsic motivation), cognitive learning strategies (deep and surface strategies), and intelligence jointly predict long-term growth in students' mathematics achievement over 5 years. Using longitudinal data from six annual waves (Grades 5 through 10; Mage = 11.7 years at baseline; N = 3,530), latent growth curve modeling was employed to analyze growth in achievement. Results showed that the initial level of achievement was strongly related to intelligence, with motivation and cognitive strategies explaining additional variance. In contrast, intelligence had no relation with the growth of achievement over years, whereas motivation and learning strategies were predictors of growth. These findings highlight the importance of motivation and learning strategies in facilitating adolescents' development of mathematical competencies.

The emergence of Agribusiness in Europe and the development of the Western European broiler chicken industry, 1945-73

This article presents new data on the emergence and growth of the leading Western European poultry industries after 1945. It shows that those countries where poultry output grew most quickly – especially the UK, Italy and Spain – were also the countries where the agricultural sectors adopted US technologies and US agribusiness organizational structures most vigorously. Elsewhere in Western Europe, poultry output grew much less quickly and the adoption of agribusiness structures lagged behind. By contrast, the poultry sector in the USSR was based on the Soviet collectivist system. This was the largest poultry sector in Europe, but also much less efficient. The article suggests therefore that the diffusion of agribusiness and the increase in poultry output were deeply entwined across Europe, with potentially important consequences for the different roles and impacts of agribusiness in Europe.

Dispersion and uncertainty in multislit matter wave diffraction

We show that single and multislit experiments involving matter waves may be constructed to assess dispersively generated correlations between the position and momentum of a single free particle. These correlations give rise to position dependent phases which develop dynamically as a result of dispersion and may play an important role in the interference patterns. To the extent that initial transverse coherence is preserved throughout the proposed diffraction setup, such interference patterns are noticeably different from those of a classical dispersion free wave. (c) 2007 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Thermodynamic characterization of the palm tree Roystonea regia peroxidase stability

The structural stability of a peroxidase, a dimeric protein from royal palm tree (Roystonea regia) leaves, has been characterized by high-sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry, circular dichroism, steady-state tryptophan fluorescence and analytical ultracentifugation under different solvent conditions. It is shown that the thermal and chemical (using guanidine hydrochloride (Gdn-HCl)) folding/unfolding of royal palm tree peroxidase (RPTP) at pH 7 is a reversible process involving a highly cooperative transition between the folded dimer and unfolded monomers, with a free stabilization energy of about 23 kcal per mol of monomer at 25 degrees C. The structural stability of RPTP is pH-dependent. At pH 3, where ion pairs have disappeared due to protonation, the thermally induced denaturation of RPTP is irreversible and strongly dependent upon the scan rate, suggesting that this process is under kinetic control. Moreover, thermally induced transitions at this pH value are dependent on the protein concentration, allowing it to be concluded that in solution RPTP behaves as dimer, which undergoes thermal denaturation coupled with dissociation. Analysis of the kinetic parameters of RPTP denaturation at pH 3 was accomplished on the basis of the simple kinetic scheme N ->(k) D, where k is a first-order kinetic constant that changes with temperature, as given by the Arrhenius equation; N is the native state, and D is the denatured state, and thermodynamic information was obtained by extrapolation of the kinetic transition parameters to an infinite heating rate. Obtained in this way, the value of RPTP stability at 25 degrees C is ca. 8 kcal per mole of monomer lower than at pH 7. In all probability, this quantity reflects the contribution of ion pair interactions to the structural stability of RPTP. From a comparison of the stability of RPTP with other plant peroxidases it is proposed that one of the main factors responsible for the unusually high stability of RPTP which enhances its potential use for biotechnological purposes, is its dimerization. (c) 2008 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Crystal structure and statistical coupling analysis of highly glycosylated peroxidase from royal palm tree (Roystonea regia)

Royal palm tree peroxidase (RPTP) is a very stable enzyme in regards to acidity, temperature, H(2)O(2), and organic solvents. Thus, RPTP is a promising candidate for developing H(2)O(2)-sensitive biosensors for diverse applications in industry and analytical chemistry. RPTP belongs to the family of class III secretory plant peroxidases, which include horseradish peroxidase isozyme C, soybean and peanut peroxidases. Here we report the X-ray structure of native RPTP isolated from royal palm tree (Roystonea regia) refined to a resolution of 1.85 angstrom. RPTP has the same overall folding pattern of the plant peroxidase superfamily, and it contains one heme group and two calcium-binding sites in similar locations. The three-dimensional structure of RPTP was solved for a hydroperoxide complex state, and it revealed a bound 2-(N-morpholino) ethanesulfonic acid molecule (MES) positioned at a putative substrate-binding secondary site. Nine N-glycosylation sites are clearly defined in the RPTP electron-density maps, revealing for the first time conformations of the glycan chains of this highly glycosylated enzyme. Furthermore, statistical coupling analysis (SCA) of the plant peroxidase superfamily was performed. This sequence-based method identified a set of evolutionarily conserved sites that mapped to regions surrounding the heme prosthetic group. The SCA matrix also predicted a set of energetically coupled residues that are involved in the maintenance of the structural folding of plant peroxidases. The combination of crystallographic data and SCA analysis provides information about the key structural elements that could contribute to explaining the unique stability of RPTP. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Alterações nos atributos de fertilidade em solo adubado com composto de lixo urbano

O composto de lixo urbano é um adubo orgânico que vem sendo, com bastante freqüência, utilizado em áreas de produção de hortaliças. Assim, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar o efeito da aplicação do composto de lixo urbano na fertilidade do solo, na produção de alface e no acúmulo de nutrientes nas plantas. O experimento foi realizado em casa de vegetação, em colunas de PVC, em delineamento em blocos ao acaso, com cinco tratamentos, doses de 0; 30; 60; 90 e 120 t ha-1 de composto de lixo urbano e oito repetições. As colunas receberam solo das profundidades de 0-20 (tratado com composto de lixo), 20-40 e 40-60 cm de um Argissolo, textura média, e uma muda de alface. Ao final do cultivo, colunas de quatro repetições de cada tratamento foram desmontadas e, nas demais colunas, fez-se um segundo cultivo de alface. A incorporação de composto de lixo urbano na profundidade de 0-20 cm melhorou a fertilidade do solo da própria camada em que foi aplicado e da camada de 20-40 cm, mas não alterou as características da camada de 40-60 cm. A adubação com composto de lixo urbano propiciou aumento do pH e dos teores de MO, P, K, Ca e Mg do solo, na camada de 0-20 cm, e de pH e Ca, na profundidade de 20-40 cm. A melhora da fertilidade do solo com a aplicação de composto de lixo urbano acarretou aumento de produção de alface e provocou maior acúmulo de P, K e Ca nas plantas.

Intake and performance of confined crossbred heifers fed different lipid sources

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)