Search

Developing solar technologies for producing carbon-neutral aviation fuels has become a global energy challenge, but their readiness level has largely been limited to laboratory-scale studies. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of a fully integrated thermochemical production chain from H2O and CO2to kerosene using concentrated solar energy in a solar tower configuration. The co-splitting of H2O and CO2was performed via a ceria-based thermochemical redox cycle to produce a tailored mixture of H2and CO (syngas) with full selectivity, which was further processed to kerosene. The 50-kW solar reactor consisted of a cavity-receiver containing a reticulated porous structure directly exposed to a mean solar flux concentration of 2,500 suns. A solar-to-syngas energy conversion efficiency of 4.1% was achieved without applying heat recovery. This solar tower fuel plant was operated with a setup relevant to industrial implementation, setting a technological milestone toward the production of sustainable aviation fuels.

The European security strategy 'A secure Europe in a better world' should be the guiding principle for all nations, even though it is a tough task based on the complex modern conditions.

Leading defense contractors express need for trans-Atlantic ties as the best way as owing to increasing military demands the industry faces the challenge of providing complex, compact solutions at lower prices while still making profits. They emphasize that cooperation is the best option, as the consolidation, the defense technological revolution and the impact of globalization have transformed the industry to such an extent, making it difficult to operate alone in an antiquated, unrealistic business model.

Supplemental Digital Content is available in the text.

Dasyspora gregaria, the single species of the allegedly monotypic rust genus Dasyspora(Basidiomycota, Pucciniales), was investigated by light microscopy and DNA sequencing (ITS1–5.8S–ITS2 region, partial LSU and SSU of the nuclear rDNA, mt cytochrome oxidase subunit 3). Both methods indicated that D. gregariais not a single species but can be split in 11 distinct taxa, each of which appear confined to a single Xylopiaspecies (Annonaceae) host. Herein nine of these are described as new. Both the phylogenetic analyses and morphology show that the species are grouped into two main clades designated Dasyspora gregariaand D. winteri. The first comprises D. gregaria, the type species of the genus, which is restricted to X. cayennensis,two new species on X. aromatica, D. segregariafrom northern South America and D. echinatafrom Brazil. The second clade is formed by D. winteri, recombined from Puccinia winterion X. sericea,and the new species D. amazonicaon X. amazonica, D. emarginataeon X. emarginata, D. frutescentison X. frutescens, D. ferrugineaeon X. frutescensvar. ferruginea, D. guianensison X. benthamii, D. mesoamericanaon X. frutescens, and D. nitidaeon X. nitida. Dasyspora frutescentisand D. mesoamericanawere not clearly distinguishable by their morphology and host associations but differed from another in their sequences and geographic distributions. They are considered cryptic species. An identification key and the distributions are given for all recognized species. Along with molecular data we discuss the systematic position of Dasysporain the Pucciniales.

Chaetosphaeriais a common saprobic pyrenomycete genus with simple, homogeneous teleomorphs and complex, diverse anamorphs. As currently circumscribed in the literature, the genus encompasses 30 species distributed in four ‘natural groups’, and includes morphological entities in 11 anamorphic genera. Species frequently have been defined primarily based on characters of the anamorphs resulting in species with almost indistinguishable teleomorphs. This study aimed to assess the value and significance of morphological characters in resolving phylogenetic relationships in Chaetosphaeriaand its allied genera. Phylogenetic relationships of 42 taxa, representing 29 species distributed in Chaetosphaeriaand five related genera, were estimated with partial sequences of the nuclear LSU rDNA and β-tubulin genes. Sequences were analyzed with maximum parsimony, maximum likelihood and Bayesian methods. Phylogenetic analyses of these two genes combined revealed two major lineages. The Chaetosphaerialineage includes 21 species possessing both typical and new sexual and asexual morphologies. The lineage contains a strongly supported monophyletic clade of 13 species and eight paraphyletic taxa; the latter includes C. innumera, the type species of the genus. The second major lineage includes groupings concordant with the morphological circumscriptions of the genera Melanochaeta, Melanopsammella, Striatosphaeria, Zignoëllaand the new genus Tainosphaeria.

The Peltigera caninaspecies complex consists of foliose lichenized bitunicate ascohymenial discomycetes forming section Peltigerawithin the genus Peltigera(Lecanoromycetes, lichen-forming Ascomycetes). To test the circumscription of highly polymorphic species and to resolve relationships among putative members of the P. caninacomplex, part of the nuclear ribosomal DNA large subunit (LSU rDNA) and the entire internal-transcribed spacer (ITS rDNA) were sequenced for 84 individuals representing 33 putative Peltigerataxa. Seventeen of the 25 taxa from the P. caninacomplex are well established and widely accepted. The remaining eight taxa have been proposed recently but are undescribed. A hypervariable region in ITS1 (ITS1-HR, sites 111–237 in our alignment) showed remarkable variation in length, especially in the P. caninacomplex, ranging from 8 to 126 bp, and contained several microsatellites. We describe here an alignment-free method to code such large gap-rich hypervariable regions for phylogenetic analyses. Variation among ITS1-HR sequences greatly contributed to species delimitation and species identification and can be a major asset to future population studies for specific species within section Peltigera. Sequences of ITS1-HR alone were sufficient to identify all existing species of Peltigerafrom the P. caninaspecies complex and related sections Retifoveataeand Horizontalesincluded in this study. However, only when INAASE (for short ambiguously aligned regions) and ITS1-HR coded characters were added to the combined analysis of nonambiguous LSU and ITS sites was it possible to reach the level of phylogenetic resolution and support necessary to disentangle the P. caninacomplex. We report here complete concordance between phylogenetically based and morphologically based species delimitation for 15 of the 17 species from the P. caninacomplex (P. canina, P. cinnamomea, P. degenii, P. evansiana, P. frigida, P. kristinssonii, P. laciniata, P. lambinonii, P. lepidophora, P. membranacea, P. monticola, P. ponojensis, P. praetextata, P. rufescensand P. ulcerata). Four of the eight newly proposed but undescribed taxa most likely represent new species (P. “fuscopraetextata”, P. “neocanina”, P. “neorufescens” and P. “scotteri”) within the P. caninacomplex. We found that morphologically and chemically distinct P. didactylas. str. and P. didactylavar. extenuataform two non-sister monophyletic entities, therefore the latter taxon should be recognized at the species level (P. extenuata). The North American and European populations of the morphologically uniform P. degeniimight represent two sibling species because they were found to be genetically distinct and monophyletic. Two major monophyletic groups within the P. caninacomplex (CICADE = CInnamomea + CAnina + DEgenii group and PORUDI = POnojensis + RUfescens + DIdactyla group) seem to be correlated with different humidity preferences. Although some authors previously have suggested interspecies recombination within the P. caninacomplex, we did not find statistically significant evidence for this phenomenon based on LSU and ITS sequences.

The aim of the study was to identify pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) as a potential target of angiotensin II (ATII) action because recently a local renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has been described in the pancreas. PSCs were isolated from male Wistar rats and investigated for ATII receptor expression and ATII-induced calcium transients, contractions, proliferation, and -smooth muscle actin expression. Quiescent and activated PSCs expressed the ATII receptor subtype AT1but not AT2. Addition of ATII led to a rapid elevation of intracellular calcium (Ca2i). The sensitivity toward ATII with respect to calcium transients did not change during the transdifferentiation process. In activated PSCs, ATII dose dependently induced PSC cell contraction. Furthermore, ATII induced an activation of the c-Jun-N-terminal kinase (JNK) and extracellular regulated kinase (Erk), which was inhibited after intracellular calcium chelation by BAPTA-AM. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (p38MAPK) was also activated by ATII. BAPTA-AM itself induced p38MAPKactivation, which was not further enhanced by ATII. ATII stimulated PSC proliferation, while PSC transdifferentiation, as indicated by -smooth muscle actin expression and collagen type I secretion, was not enhanced. The data suggest that PSCs are targets of ATII action with potential pathophysiological relevance.

Abstract:Four primers for the amplification of mitochondrial DNA of lichen-forming ascomycetes are presented. The primers match the conserved regions U2, U4, and U6, respectively, of mitochondrial small subunit (SSU) ribosomal DNA (rDNA). Polymerase chain reaction using different combinations of the primers produced single amplification products from DNA of eight lichen-forming fungal species but did not amplify DNA of two axenic cultured algal species. The amplification product obtained from Lobaria pulmonariawas sequenced and the 894-bp sequence was compared with the mitochondrial SSU rDNA sequence of Podospora anserina. The two sequences revealed more than 76% identity in the conserved regions U3 to U5 demonstrating that we amplified mitochondrial DNA. The primers matching U2 and U6 yielded amplification products of 800–1000 bp depending on the species examined. The variation observed suggests that mitochondrial SSU rDNA may be useful for phylogenetic analyses of lichen-forming ascomycetes.