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Advancing urban sustainability requires an implementation of various measures such as environmental policy, behavioral change, and technological developments, which have to be taken at various spatial scales. However, choosing the right measures demands considering their potential contribution in reducing the environmental impact and advancing urban sustainability. In recent years, some attempts to assess the contribution of implementing various measures have been advanced by various researchers focusing on different components of urban environmental interactions. While these studies make a significant contribution towards the understanding of the impact of various measures taken for a specific environmental issue, they mostly ignore the diversity and complexity of the urban interface with the environment at different spatial scales, as well as the ecological economics perspective, which approaches the city as a system. This paper uses the UBSI index published recently in this journal, to evaluate the urban biophysical sustainability of the city of Tel Aviv-Jaffa (Israel) in 2014. Based on this data, future scenarios are developed, which examine the potential contribution of various policy measures and different technological processes to the city's sustainability. This examination is conducted while considering population growth and changes of consumption patterns as they are expected to occur until 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal upwelling and mud banks are two oceanographic processes concurrently operating along certain stretches of the southwest (Kerala) coast of India during the Southwest Monsoon period (June–September), facilitating significant enhancement in plankton biomass. Mud banks have scientific and societal attention from time immemorial, predominantly due to the large fisheries associated with them. In this paper, for the first time, the specific biophysical roles of these oceanographic processes have been discriminated, based on a focused 18 weekly/fortnightly time-series study (April to September 2014) in a mud bank-upwelling area (off Alappuzha, southwest coast of India). In conjunction with standard hydrographical and satellite remote sensing data, we utilised a FlowCAM to track the biophysical linkage in terms of plankton composition abundance and size structure at three locations (M1, M2 and M3) in the study area. During the Pre-Southwest Monsoon (April–May), the entire study area was warmer with low nitrate concentration in the surface waters, which caused lower biomass of autotrophs compared to the Southwest Monsoon (June–September). By the onset of the Southwest Monsoon (June), drastic hydrographical transformations took place in the study domain due to the Coastal upwelling, reflected as the surfacing of significantly cool, high nutrient and hypoxic waters. Concurrently, mud bank formed at location M2 due to the presence of relatively high-suspended sediments in the region, creating a localised calm environment conducive for fishing activities. In response to the hydrographical transformations in the entire study area during the Southwest Monsoon, the autotrophic plankton biomass and size structure experienced significant change. The micro-autotrophs biomass that was low during the Pre-Southwest Monsoon (av. 0.33 ± 0.2 mgC L − 1 at surface and av. 0.07 ± 0.04 mgC L − 1 at subsurface) noticeably increased during the Southwest Monsoon (av. 1.6 ± 0.4 mgC L − 1 at surface and av. 1.3 ± 0.2 mgC L − 1 at subsurface). The seasonal mean bio-volume of micro-autotrophs followed the same pattern in all three locations with the dominance of smaller individuals during the Pre-Southwest Monsoon (av. 55 ± 4.4 × 10 3 μm 3 individual − 1 at surface and av. 67.1 ± 38.4 × 10 3 μm 3 individual − 1 at subsurface). Relatively large phytoplankton dominated during the Southwest Monsoon (av. 77.3 ± 5.5 × 10 3 μm 3 individual − 1 at surface and av. 90.3 ± 4.9 × 10 3 μm 3 individual − 1 at subsurface). Similar spatial change in the plankton composition, biomass and size structure in all three locations suggested the dominant role of coastal upwelling, and not the mud bank, in shaping the dominant autotrophic plankton in the study domain. The nutrient enrichment in the region associated with the coastal upwelling facilitated the predominance of a classical short food chain capable of supporting large fish stocks. In addition to relatively calm mud bank, the hypoxic, cool upwelled waters that existed in the subsurface induce the fish stock to concentrate in the surface waters, making the relatively calm mud bank and adjoining areas a rich fishing ground for the native fishers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) play crucial roles in the ability of target organs to respond to hormonal cues. GPCRs’ activation mechanisms have long been considered as a two-state process connecting the agonist-bound receptor to heterotrimeric G proteins. This view is now challenged as mounting evidence point to GPCRs being connected to large arrays of transduction mechanisms involving heterotrimeric G proteins as well as other players. Amongst the G protein-independent transduction mechanisms, those elicited by β-arrestins upon their recruitment to the active receptors are by far the best characterized and apply to most GPCRs. These concepts, in conjunction with remarkable advances made in the field of GPCR structural biology and biophysics, have supported the notion of ligand-selective signalling also known as pharmacological bias. Interestingly, recent reports have opened intriguing prospects to the way β-arrestins control GPCR-mediated signalling in space and time within the cells. In the present paper, we review the existing evidence linking endocrine-related GPCRs to β-arrestin recruitement, signalling, pathophysiological implications and selective activation by biased ligands and/or receptor modifications. Emerging concepts surrounding β-arrestin-mediated transduction are discussed in the light of the peculiarities of endocrine systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a preliminary attempt to estimate the awareness and value that society gives to the maintenance and protection of marine protected areas, linking the ecological and economic value scale assigned to the study. To accomplish this, we took as illustrative example the Biophysical Interest Zone of Avencas (ZIBA), in Portugal. The ZIBA spans over one ha and its coastal ecosystems present a very rich biodiversity, providing several socio-economic opportunities to society. To estimate the value that society attributes to this area we conducted a contingent valuation exercise, considering two different aspects: 1) the direct economic value that people state to conserve the ecosystem and 2) the willingness to contribute through the allocation of hours of voluntary work to its conservation. The values obtained indicate the dependence and importance of this ecosystem to local population (willing to pay to conserve it of 60 € per household per year and willing to give 3 h of voluntary work per year). The proximity of the local population to the protected area increases the willing to pay for its conservation; this could reveal a good local indicator of ecosystem valuation. This valuation exercise highlights the importance of coastal ecosystem services to society and draws attention to the benefits that local populations derive from those systems. These results have also implications in future governance actions regarding protected areas, as well as to justify for sustainable investments in coastal management efforts, to sustain the flow of coastal ecosystem services for current and future generations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is a term used to define a collective set of rapidly evolving cells with immortalized replication, altered epimetabolomes and patterns of longevity. Identifying a common signaling cascade to target all cancers has been a major obstacle in medicine. A quantum dynamic framework has been established to explain mutation theory, biological energy landscapes, cell communication patterns and the cancer interactome under the influence of quantum chaos. Quantum tunneling in mutagenesis, vacuum energy field dynamics, and cytoskeletal networks in tumor morphogenesis have revealed the applicability for description of cancer dynamics, which is discussed with a brief account of endogenous hallucinogens, bioelectromagnetism and water fluctuations. A holistic model of mathematical oncology has been provided to identify key signaling pathways required for the phenotypic reprogramming of cancer through an epigenetic landscape. The paper will also serve as a mathematical guide to understand the cancer interactome by interlinking theoretical and experimental oncology. A multi-dimensional model of quantum evolution by adaptive selection has been established for cancer biology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing urbanisation and the proliferation of slums require a holistic understanding of the urban metabolism of cities. However, existing urban metabolic analyses exclude a detailed understanding of how urban slums function and contribute to biophysical, including energy, flows. This paper aims at filling this gap by critically investigating the notion of the urban slum in general, the extent to which it differs in the African context, specifically in South Africa, and broadening the understanding of urban slum based on the concept of urban metabolism, using the multi-scale integrated analysis of societal and ecosystem metabolism (MuSIASEM) approach, which was applied to the Enkanini informal settlement in Stellenbosch, South Africa. The analysis shows that South Africa has a more nuanced typology of the notion of urban slums categorised as: (i) townships; (ii) housing-turned-slum; (iii) squatter camps; (iv) site and service settlements; (v) transit camps; and (vi) hybrid multi-structured settlements. Beyond these definitions, the case study illustrates that urban slums, however defined, are complex systems with their own internal flows and processes that are connected in a myriad of ways to the larger urban system. The investigation into the use of Time, Money and Energy in the Enkanini case further revealed the productive (hypercyclic) and consumptive (dissipative) nature of the components of the urban informal settlement. This type of analysis reveals new insights into the linkages between urban informal settlements and the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Physiological models provide useful summaries of complex interrelated regulatory functions. These can often be reduced to simple input requirements and simple predictions for pragmatic applications. This paper demonstrates this modeling efficiency by tracing the development of one such simple model, the Heat Strain Decision Aid (HSDA), originally developed to address Army needs. The HSDA, which derives from the Givoni-Goldman equilibrium body core temperature prediction model, uses 16 inputs from four elements: individual characteristics, physical activity, clothing biophysics, and environmental conditions. These inputs are used to mathematically predict core temperature (T c ) rise over time and can estimate water turnover from sweat loss. Based on a history of military applications such as derivation of training and mission planning tools, we conclude that the HSDA model is a robust integration of physiological rules that can guide a variety of useful predictions. The HSDA model is limited to generalized predictions of thermal strain and does not provide individualized predictions that could be obtained from physiological sensor data-driven predictive models. This fully transparent physiological model should be improved and extended with new findings and new challenging scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, molecular representation and property exploration, with the combination of neural network, play a critical role in the field of drug design and discovery for assisting in drug related research. However, previous research in molecular representation relies heavily on artificial extraction of features based on biological experiments which may result in a manually introduced noise of molecular information with high cost in time and money. In this paper, a novel method named Substructural Hierarchical Attention Network (SuHAN) is proposed to discover inherent characteristics of molecules for representation learning. Specifically, SuHAN is composed of the cascaded layer: atom-level layer and substructure-level layer. Molecule in the SMILES format is divided into several substructural fragments by predefined partition rules, and then they are fed into atom-level layer and substructure-level layer successively to obtain feature representation from different perspective: atomic view and substructural view. In this way, the prominent structural features that may be omitted in global extraction are excavated from a fine-grained viewpoint and fused to reconstruct representative pattern in an overall view. Experiments on biophysics and physiology datasets demonstrate that our model is competitive with a significant improvement of both accuracy and stability in performance. We confirmed that the substructural segments and progressive hierarchical networks lead to an effective molecular representation for downstream tasks. These results provide a novel perspective about reconstructing overall pattern through local prominent structure. [Display omitted] • Substructural hierarchical attention network provides a multi-perspective view of molecular. • Predefined partition rules effectively divide SMILES sequence into segmentations for feature extracting. • Atomic view and substructural view are conducive to a precise refine of molecular representation. • GRU-based architecture and attention mechanism contributes to excavating prominent feature and reintegration substructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasive species generate significant global environmental and economic costs and represent a particularly potent threat to freshwater systems. The biogeomorphic impacts of invasive aquatic and riparian species on river processes and landforms remain largely unquantified, but have the potential to generate significant sediment management issues within invaded catchments. Several species of invasive (non-native) crayfish are known to burrow into river banks and visual evidence of river bank damage is generating public concern and media attention. Despite this, there is a paucity of understanding of burrow distribution, biophysical controls and the potential significance of this problem beyond a small number of local studies at heavily impacted sites. This paper presents the first multi-catchment analysis of this phenomenon, combining existing data on biophysical river properties and invasive crayfish observations with purpose-designed field surveys across 103 river reaches to derive key trends. Crayfish burrows were observed on the majority of reaches, but burrowing tended to be patchy in spatial distribution, concentrated in a small proportion (< 10%) of the length of rivers surveyed. Burrow distribution was better explained by local bank biophysical properties than by reach-scale properties, and burrowed banks were more likely to be characterised by cohesive bank material, steeper bank profiles with large areas of bare bank face, often on outer bend locations. Burrow excavation alone has delivered a considerable amount of sediment to invaded river systems in the surveyed sites (3 t km − 1 impacted bank) and this represents a minimum contribution and certainly an underestimate of the absolute yield (submerged burrows were not recorded). Furthermore, burrowing was associated with bank profiles that were either actively eroding or exposed to fluvial action and/or mass failure processes, providing the first quantitative evidence that invasive crayfish may cause or accelerate river bank instability and erosion in invaded catchments beyond the scale of individual burrows. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemico-physical and biological characterization of hyaluronan-based dermal fillers is of key importance to differentiate between numerous available products and to optimize their use. These studies on fillers are nowadays perceived as a reliable approach to predict their performance in vivo . The object of this paper is a recent line of hyaluronic acid (HA)-based dermal fillers, Aliaxin ®, available in different formulations that claim a complete facial restoration. The aim of the study is to provide biophysical and biological data that may support the clinical indications and allow to predict performance possibly with respect to similar available products. Aliaxin ® formulations were tested for their content in soluble HA, water uptake capacity, rheological behavior, stability to enzymatic degradation, and for in vitro capacity to stimulate extracellular matrix components production. The formulations were found to contain a low amount of soluble HA and were equivalent to each other regarding insoluble hydrogel concentration. The different crosslinking degree declared by the producer was consistent with the trend in water uptake capacity, rigidity, viscosity. No significant differences in stability to enzymatic hydrolysis were found. In vitro experiments, using a full thickness skin model, showed an increase in collagen production in the dermoepidermal junction. Results support the claims of different clinical indications, the classification of products regarding hydro- , lift-action and the specifically suggested needle gauge for the delivery. The biological outcomes also support products effectiveness in skin structure restoration. These data predicted a better performance regarding hydro-action, tissue integration, clinical management during delivery, and a high durability of the aesthetic effect when compared to data on marketed similar products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to develop a bio-economic model to estimate the feasibility and net profit (or net costs) of achieving set water quality targets (sediment, nitrogen, phosphorus and herbicide load reductions) in the Burnett-Mary region within the southern portion of the Great Barrier Reef (GBR), southern Queensland, Australia. Two sets of targets were evaluated, namely (1) Reef Plan Targets (RPTs) representing currently agreed targets, and (2) the more ambitious Ecologically Relevant Targets (ERTs) designed to halt the decline and improve the condition of the GBR. This paper describes the construction of a bio-economic optimisation framework linking field and catchment scale biophysical model results and farm economic analysis to solve for RPTs or ERTs assigned either regionally or within discrete basins. Key outcomes from the study were that RPTs could be achieved whereas ERTs required significant additional investment and were infeasible if individual basins must meet the targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Marine social-ecological systems are complex, inter-connected, and highly dynamic, in particular when forced with global changes. However, their human social components are often treated separately from their biophysical components, and by different scientific disciplines. To help bridge these gaps, and to explore conceptual, comparative, and governance issues relating to marine social-ecological systems and global change, an international symposium was held on “Coping with global change in marine social-ecological systems”. This short paper provides an introduction to this topic, and briefly describes nine papers which arose from this symposium and which comprise this special issue of Marine Policy. It is concluded that good progress is being made towards studying marine social and ecological systems as coupled systems, but that many issues remain to challenge natural scientists, social scientists, and humanists to work together. These include incorporating multi-stakeholder participation, the need for a long-term perspective, and development of flexible livelihood and governance strategies. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal motor neuron disease characterized by rapid degeneration of and loss of function in the motor cortex, brain stem, and spinal cord, particularly the anterior horn cells. Since the pioneering work of Brown and colleagues, more than 100 mutations in Cu,Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) have been described (P. Pasinelli, R. H. Brown, Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 7, 710–723, 2006). There are toxic gain-of-function alterations in SOD1, because the enzymatic activity of this protein is not different in ALS from that of controls. The paper by Butterfield and colleagues reporting the use of redox proteomics to identify oxidatively modified proteins in the spinal cord in the G93A–SOD1 mouse model of familial amyotrophic lateral sclerosis was identified by the SCOPUS science literature information system to be one of the top 20 downloaded papers for 2005–2006 in Free Radical Biology and Medicine. Here my thoughts on the importance and impact of this paper are reported. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

While the concept of the Anthropocene reflects the past and present nature, scale and magnitude of human impacts on the Earth System, its true significance lies in how it can be used to guide attitudes, choices, policies and actions that influence the future. Yet, to date much of the research on the Anthropocene has focused on interpreting past and present changes, while saying little about the future. Likewise, many futures studies have been insufficiently rooted in an understanding of past changes, in particular the long-term co-evolution of bio-physical and human systems. The Anthropocene perspective is one that encapsulates a world of intertwined drivers, complex dynamic structures, emergent phenomena and unintended consequences, manifest across different scales and within interlinked biophysical constraints and social conditions. In this paper we discuss the changing role of science and the theoretical, methodological and analytical challenges in considering futures of the Anthropocene. We present three broad groups of research questions on: (1) societal goals for the future; (2) major trends and dynamics that might favor or hinder them; (3) and factors that might propel or impede transformations towards desirable futures. Tackling these questions requires the development of novel approaches integrating natural and social sciences as well as the humanities beyond what is current today. We present three examples, one from each group of questions, illustrating how science might contribute to the identification of desirable and plausible futures and pave the way for transformations towards them. We argue that it is time for debates on the sustainability of the Anthropocene to focus on opportunities for realizing desirable and plausible futures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste has significant detrimental economic, environmental and social impacts. The magnitude and complexity of the global food waste problem has brought it to the forefront of the environmental agenda; however, there has been little research on the patterns and drivers of food waste generation, especially outside the household. This is partially due to weaknesses in the methodological approaches used to understand such a complex problem. This paper proposes a novel conceptual framework to identify and explain the patterns and drivers of food waste generation in the hospitality sector, with the aim of identifying food waste prevention measures. This conceptual framework integrates data collection and analysis methods from ethnography and grounded theory, complemented with concepts and tools from industrial ecology for the analysis of quantitative data. A case study of food waste generation at a hotel restaurant in Malaysia is used as an example to illustrate how this conceptual framework can be applied. The conceptual framework links the biophysical and economic flows of food provisioning and waste generation, with the social and cultural practices associated with food preparation and consumption. The case study demonstrates that food waste is intrinsically linked to the way we provision and consume food, the material and socio-cultural context of food consumption and food waste generation. Food provisioning, food consumption and food waste generation should be studied together in order to fully understand how, where and most importantly why food waste is generated. This understanding will then enable to draw detailed, case specific food waste prevention plans addressing the material and socio-economic aspects of food waste generation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many parts of the humid Tropics, slash and burn shifting cultivation, incorporating a fallow phase, is the most common farming method, encompassing a broad diversity of techniques. The ecological productivity and sustainability of such systems depend upon the crop:fallow time ratio. Farmers often have biophysical criteria by which to match parcels to cropping systems and decide, for example, when to recultivate a fallow. In this paper, we collate reports of indicators used by farmers to aid in fallow choice from across the agronomic, forestry, ecological, and anthropological literature. We found 27 examples of farmers using such biophysical indicators. Examples found were from eight countries across West and Central Africa. The literature review showed that farmers rank fallow age usually first, followed by vegetation composition, the presence of indicator plants, and earthworm casts. 53 indicator plant species were identified across the region of which 37 were said to indicate soil fertility, 13 soil infertility and 3 either fertility or infertility, depending on their growth characteristics. The most exhaustive lists of indicator plants were reported from southern Cameroon, the Ashante region of Ghana and south west Nigeria. Chromolaena odorata was the most frequently mentioned plant indicator species. The trees Triplochiton scleroxylon and Terminalia superba and the grass were each mentioned, generally as soil fertility indicators, in three areas. Other species mentioned multiple times were Aframomum sp., Andropogon gayanus , Ceiba pentandra , Milicia excelsa , Triumfetta cordifolia and Trema guineensis . Farmers in West and Central Africa have identified indicators for selecting which fallow plots to recultivate. Fallow age, vegetation composition, the presence of indicator plants, particularly C. odorata , and earthworm casts all have some logical scientific basis and farmers observations are supported by the results of scientific studies. There is a lack of documentation of farmers’ knowledge and more studies should be conducted. Such knowledge should form the foundation of any suggested interventions in farming systems in the region and provide information to farmers in communities where such knowledge is not currently applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alfred Lotka was one of the founders of modern ecology. This paper explores Lotka's contribution to biophysical economics resulting from the marriage of the three disciplines: biology, physics and economics. Lotka founded the concept of “exosomatic evolution” to characterise the economic activities in their biophysical environment as a continuation of biological processes. Like Vernadsky, he adopted a holistic perspective of planet-system — the biosphere. Georgescu-Roegen was one of the founders of ecological economics. He explained the entropic nature of evolution and adopted Lotka's “exosomatic evolution” concept in his bioeconomic approach. Georgescu-Roegen had several warnings for economists about the irrevocability of the entropic degradation of matter–energy and the pressure on natural resources that goes hand in hand with economic processes in general. This article aims at drawing a parallel between Lotka's contribution and Georgescu-Roegen's bioeconomics, by shedding light not only on their similarities, but also on the divergences that testify the novelty of Georgescu-Roegen's approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An ecological economics perspective on urban sustainability embraces a biophysical view which emphasizes the dependence of cities on vast quantities of natural capital from various sources and spatial scales, and the generation of urban wastes which impact the local, regional and global systems. In recent years, several sets of urban sustainability indicators and indices have been developed. However, only a few consider the complex multi-scale interactions between the urban activities and the environment. Furthermore, most existing indices use a relative evaluation approach instead of an absolute approach that is needed when dealing with ecological thresholds. The paper introduces a new urban biophysical sustainability index whose framework includes: the city environmental quality, use of natural resources, and GHG emissions. Each contains topics for assessment related to local, regional and global scales and associated indicators. Standard and optimum values were determined for each indicator and a formula is provided for grading each indicator measurement. The integration of those grades allows for generation of a compound score of each topic, category, spatial scale and the entire urban biophysical sustainability performance. It then demonstrates the index in three major Israeli cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Understanding the basic concepts of physiology and biophysics of cardiac cells can be improved by virtual experiments that illustrate the complex excitation–contraction coupling process in cardiac cells. The aim of this study is to propose a rat cardiac myocyte simulator, with which calcium dynamics in excitation–contraction coupling of an isolated cell can be observed. This model has been used in the course “Mathematical Modeling and Simulation of Biological Systems”. In this paper we present the didactic utility of the simulator MioLab ® . Methods The simulator enables virtual experiments that can help studying inhibitors and activators in the sarcoplasmic reticulum sodium–calcium exchanger, thus corroborating a better understanding of the effects of medications, which are used to treat arrhythmias, on these compartments. The graphical interfaces were developed not only to facilitate the use of the simulator, but also to promote a constructive learning on the subject, since there are animations and videos for each stage of the simulation. The effectiveness of the simulator was tested by a group of graduate students. Results Some examples of simulations were presented in order to describe the overall structure of the simulator. Part of these virtual experiments became an activity for Biomedical Engineering graduate students, who evaluated the simulator based on its didactic quality. As a result, students answered a questionnaire on the usability and functionality of the simulator as a teaching tool. All students performed the proposed activities and classified the simulator as an optimal or good learning tool. In their written questions, students indicated as negative characteristics some problems with visualizing graphs; as positive characteristics, they indicated the simulator's didactic function, especially tutorials and videos on the topic of this study. Conclusions The results show that the simulator complements the study of the physiology and biophysics of the cardiac cell. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The velocity by which the disturbance travels through the medium is the wave velocity. Pulse wave velocity is one of the main parameters in hemodynamics. The study of wave propagation through the fluid-fill elastic tube is of great importance for the proper biophysical understanding of the nature of blood flow through of cardiovascular system. The effect of viscosity on the pulse wave velocity is generally ignored. In this paper we present the results of experimental measurements of pulse wave velocity (PWV) of compression and expansion waves in elastic tube. The solutions with different density and viscosity were used in the experiment. Biophysical model of the circulatory flow is designed to perform measurements. Experimental results show that the PWV of the expansion waves is higher than the compression waves during the same experimental conditions. It was found that the change in viscosity causes a change of PWV for both waves. We found a relationship between PWV, fluid density and viscosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glycation is known to be related with several pathophysiological complications. Several chemical and natural compounds had been tested on different systems to prevent glycation-related complications. Though they show a promising result initially, but often fail to succeed in preclinical trials. In this paper, we try to demonstrate how syringic and chlorogenic acids, two largely consumed natural products bind with BSA to prevent glycation-associated complications. Biochemical (glucose estimation) and biophysical (CD, MALDI, MS/MS) techniques have been used to demonstrate the antiglycating mechanism. We have calculated binding constant 3.07 ± 0.42 × 10 − 4 and 2.67 ± 0.28 × 10 − 4 M − 1 for syringic and chlorogenic acids respectively. Further we have successfully purified BSA–phenolic acid conjugates by chromatographic methods. Molecular modeling and mass spectrometric studies suggested that Lys 93,261,232, Arg 194 and Lys 93, Arg 194 are the responsible binding residues for syringic and chlorogenic acids respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electricity infrastructure in many developed countries requires significant investment to meet ambitious carbon emissions reduction targets, and to bridge the gap between future supply and demand. Perennial energy crops have the potential to deliver electricity generation capacity while reducing carbon emissions, leading to polices supporting the adoption of these crops. In the UK, for example, support has been in place over the past decade, although uptake and the market development have so far been relatively modest. This paper combines biophysical and socio-economic process representations within an agent-based model (ABM), to offer insights into the dynamics of the development of the perennial energy crop market. Against a changing policy landscape, several potential policy scenarios are developed to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the market in providing a source of low carbon renewable electricity, and to achieve carbon emissions abatement. The results demonstrate the key role of both energy and agricultural policies in stimulating the rate and level of uptake; consequently influencing the cost-effectiveness of these measures. The UK example shows that energy crops have the potential to deliver significant emissions abatement (up to 24 Mt carbon dioxide equivalent year −1 , 4% of 2013 UK total emissions), and renewable electricity (up to 29 TWh year −1 , 8% of UK electricity or 3% of primary energy demand), but a holistic assessment of related policies is needed to ensure that support is cost-effective. However, recent policy developments suggest that domestically grown perennial energy crops will only play a niche role (<0.2%) of the UK energy balance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the growing popularity of the ecosystem services concept, the question of how biodiversity and ecosystem services are related to one another has increasingly been raised. Among other things, this entails asking whether or not biodiversity itself is an ecosystem service. Such questions are important for conservation planning, as they require clarification of whether ecosystem services protection replaces or complements biodiversity conservation. The answers given up to now have been equivocal. In our paper we demonstrate that, in order to analyse the role of biodiversity in the ecosystem services discourse, it is not enough to address only the way they are related to one another in biophysical terms. Instead, their interconnectedness needs to be discussed from additional, albeit rarely addressed, perspectives: a definitional one, a value-based perspective, and a strategic perspective. In seeking to bring into sharper relief the conceptual relations between biodiversity and ecosystem services we distinguish between a didactic motive, an item conservation motive, and a resource protection motive. Within the didactic motive, the aim of linking biodiversity to ecosystem services is generally to show that “life on earth” in its abundant variety is of existential value to human beings. The item conservation motive relates to particular ecological components (e.g. species) which are to be protected in their identity. Finally, the resource protection motive focuses on the role of ecological components as resources for humans. These motives imply fundamentally different ideas about biodiversity, values and place dependence. Adding these perspectives and clarifying motives to the analytic process can help avoid misunderstandings and enable research to be focused on more specific and answerable questions. It can also serve to avoid the potential drawbacks entailed by conservation strategies that are based on overly simplified assumptions regarding the relation between biodiversity and ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world׳s eel fisheries are in a state of crisis. While an increasing number of studies have documented the biophysical dynamics of the decrease in eel populations in Canada and around the world, studies documenting fishing practices, fisheries management, and the impact of eel declines on the livelihoods of fishermen are still rare. This paper aims to contribute to this discussion by examining the American eel ( Anguilla rostrata ) fishery in the St. Lawrence River Estuary, positioning it within larger historical, economic, and socio-environmental contexts. More particularly, it explores the issues these fishermen face as a consequence of the declining eel population, changing management practices, global trends in eel commercialization, and initiatives taken to promote eel fishing and the landscape that surrounds it as an important component of natural and cultural heritage. It is argued that these changes, many of which have been amplified by neoliberal policy shifts, have contributed to the marginalization of eel fishers and are making their future increasingly uncertain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biological systems are able to recognise temporal sequences of stimuli or compute in the temporal domain. In this paper we are exploring whether a biophysical model of a pyramidal neuron can detect and learn systematic time delays between the spikes from different input neurons. In particular, we investigate whether it is possible to reinforce pairs of synapses separated by a dendritic propagation time delay corresponding to the arrival time difference of two spikes from two different input neurons. We examine two subthreshold learning approaches where the first relies on the backpropagation of EPSPs (excitatory postsynaptic potentials) and the second on the backpropagation of a somatic action potential, whose production is supported by a learning-enabling background current. The first approach does not provide a learning signal that sufficiently differentiates between synapses at different locations, while in the second approach, somatic spikes do not provide a reliable signal distinguishing arrival time differences of the order of the dendritic propagation time. It appears that the firing of pyramidal neurons shows little sensitivity to heterosynaptic spike arrival time differences of several milliseconds. This neuron is therefore unlikely to be able to learn to detect such differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent advances in the applications of quantum models into various disciplines such as cognitive science, social sciences, economics, and biology witnessed enormous achievements and possible future progress. In this paper, we propose one of the most promising directions in the applications of quantum models: the combination of quantum and mechanical models in social biophysics. The possible resulting discipline may be called as experimental quantum social biophysics and could foster our understandings of the relationships between the society and individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Frankincense (FRA), Ruxiang, is the resin of Boswellia carterii Birdw and Boswellia bhaw-dajiana Birdw which has been used for centuries as formulas to improve the circulation and to relieve pain against carbuncles. Stir-fried Frankincense (SFF) and vinegar processed Frankincense (VPF) are two major processed Frankincense, and the processing procedures reportedly enhance the curative efficacy or reduce the side effects of FRA. This paper describes the comparisons in plasma pharmacokinetic behaviors of 11-keto-β-boswellic acid (KBA) and 3-acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) in FRA and its processed products, and their effects on coagulation factors and blood clotting tetrachoric, using an acute cold blood-stasis animal model after oral administration of FRA, SFF, and VPF. Materials and methods For pharmacokinetic study, Sprague–Dawley (SD) rats were randomly divided into three groups, including group FRA, group SFF and group VPF. And the plasma samples were analyzed by HPLC. For study of anticoagulatory effect, SD rats were randomly divided into six groups, including control, acute cold blood-stasis model, Fu-fang-dan-shen tablet- (0.75 g/kg), FRA-, SFF-, and VPF-treated (2.7 g/kg) groups, respectively. The serum contents of thrombin–antithrombin complex (TAT), D-dimer (D-D), and prostacyclin (PGI 2 ) of each group were measured by ELISA. The values of prothrombin time (PT), thrombin time (TT), activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and fibrinogen (FIB) were also assessed by hematology analyzer. Results Significantly increased levels of C max , AUC, T 1/2, and MRT were found in rats treated with the processed products. In addition, decreased levels of D-D and TAT and increased contents of PGI 2 were observed in rats given FRA and its processed products, compared with that of the model group. Moreover, VPF improved anticoagulation more than SFF in the animals. Conclusions The observed improvement of anticoagulation by processed FRA may result from the increased absorption and bioavailability of triterpenoids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Schefflera octophylla (Lour.) Harms, a traditional Chinese herb mainly distributed in Southeast Asia, is extensively prescribed to alleviate pain and treat rheumatoid arthritis (RA), influenza, throat swelling, pain, etc. In this paper, the antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities of the ethanol extract and its five different polar fractions of this plant were evaluated. Furthermore, the anti-rheumatoid arthritis activity of the ethanol extract and its active fraction (CHCl 3 fraction) were evaluated. And the chemical constituents of the CHCl 3 active fraction displayed significant antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities were investigated. Materials and methods Antinociceptive and anti-inflammatory activities were investigated by hot plate test, acetic acid-induced abdominal writhing test and formalin test, xylene-induced ear edema test. The anti-rheumatoid arthritis activity was evaluated through the model of adjuvant-induced arthritis (AA) in rats, paw swelling, pain response, arthritis index and histopathological changes of ankle, the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 and rheumatoid factor (RF) of rats were detected. The chemical constituents of the CHCl 3 fraction were isolated using chromatographic techniques. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data analysis. Results The results showed that the ethanol extract of S. octophylla has significant dose-dependent anti-inflammatory and antinociceptive activities. And its five different polar fractions especially the CHCl 3 fraction significantly inhibited the abdominal writhing induced by acetic acid and ear edema induced by xylene, also increased pain threshold in hot plate test in 120 min and reduced ticking times in formalin test. The ethanol extract of S. octophylla and the CHCl 3 fraction demonstrated an anti-RA effect in a dose-dependent manner. The levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 in ethanol extract (600 mg/kg) and CHCl 3 fraction (300 mg/kg) groups were significantly lower than those of the model group. The chemical constituents study of the CHCl 3 fraction from S. octophylla led to six triterpenoids which were identified as taraxerone ( 1 ), 3-epi-taraxerol ( 2 ), aleuritolic acid ( 3 ), 3-oxofriedelan-28-oic acid ( 4 ), 3β,19α -dihydroxy-urs-12-ene- 24,28-dioic acid ( 5 ) and asiatic acid ( 6 ). Compounds 1 – 5 were obtained from this plant for the first time. Conclusion This study proved the antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatoid arthritis activities of S. octophylla. Triterpenoids obtained from its CHCl 3 fraction may be responsible for those activities. These results could support the fact that S. octophylla is used traditionally to cure inflammatory and pain diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Traditional Chinese herbal medicine (CHM) has a long-history for treatment of various human diseases including tumors, infection, autoimmune diseases in Asian countries, especially in China, Japan, Korea and India. CHM was traditionally used as water extracts and many Chinese herbs were considered to be good for health, which can regulate immune system to protect host from diseases. With the progress of technology, the components of CHM were identified and purified, which included polysaccharides, saponins, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and so on. Recently, accumulating evidence indicates that CHM and its components can regulate immune system through targeting dendritic cells (DCs). We hereby reviewed the immunoregulatory effects of CHM on the maturation, cytokine production and function of DCs. This should help to shed light on the potential mechanism of CHM to improve the usage and clinical efficacy of CHM. Materials and methods Literatures about the effects of CHM on DCs were searched in electronic databases such as Pubmed, Google Scholar and Scopus from 2000 to 2014. ‘CHM’, ‘DC’ or ‘immune’ were used as keywords for the searches. We only reviewed literatures published in English. Results Over 600 publications were found about ‘CHM&immune’ and around 120 literatures about ‘CHM&DC’ were selected and reviewed in this paper. All publications are backed by preclinical or clinical evidences both in vitro and in vivo . Some CHM and its components promote the maturation, pro-inflammatory cytokine production and function of DCs and as the adjuvant enhance immune responses against tumor and infection. In contrast, other CHM and its components suppress the activation status of DCs to induce regulatory T cells, inhibit allergic and inflammatory responses, ameliorate autoimmune diseases, and prolong the allograft survival. A large body of evidence shows that CHM and its components regulate the activation status of DCs through TLRs, NF-κB, MAPK signaling pathways. Conclusion This review provides useful information for understanding the mechanism of CHM on the treatment of diseases, which facilitates to improve the efficacy of CHM. Based on the immunoregulatory effects of CHM on DCs, it indicated that some CHM and its components could be use to develop adjuvant to enhance antigen-specific immune responses or tolerogenic adjuvant to generate antigen-specific immune tolerance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is occurring in the Southeastern United States, and one manifestation is changes in frequency and intensity of extreme events. A vulnerability assessment is performed in the state of Georgia (United States) at the county level from 1975 to 2012 in decadal increments. Climate change vulnerability is typically measured as a function of exposure to physical phenomena (e.g., droughts, floods), sensitivity to factors affecting the social milieu, and the capacity of a given unit to adapt to changing physical conditions. The paper builds on previous assessments and offers a unique approach to vulnerability analyses by combining climatic, social, land cover, and hydrological components together into a unified vulnerability assessment, which captures both long-term and hydroclimatic events. Climate change vulnerability indices are derived for the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Climate change exposure is measured as: 1) departure of decadal mean temperature and precipitation from baseline temperature and precipitation (1971–2000) using the United States Historical Climatology Network version 2.5 and 2) extreme hydroclimatic hazards indicated by flood, heat wave and drought events. Sensitivity and adaptive capacity are measured by well-established conceptualizations and methods built derived from socioeconomic variables. Impervious surface and flood susceptibility area are also incorporated to account for place-based vulnerability. Anomalies in temperature and precipitation with an overall trend towards drying and warming have been observed. The anomalous cooling period in Georgia during the 1970–1980 period as well as the post-1980 warm-up have been captured with a clearly established increase in extreme hydroclimatic events in recent decades. Climate vulnerability is highest in some metropolitan Atlanta and coastal counties. However, the southwestern region of Georgia, and part of the rural Black belt region are found to be especially vulnerable to climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Around 9% of global CO 2 emissions originate from land use changes. Often, these emissions are not appropriately addressed in Life Cycle Assessment. The link between demand for crops in one region and impacts in other regions is referred to here as indirect land use change (iLUC) and includes deforestation, intensification and reduced consumption. Existing models for iLUC tend to ignore intensification and reduced consumption, they most often operate with arbitrary amortisation periods to allocate deforestation emissions over time, and the causal link between land occupation and deforestation is generally weakly established. This paper presents the conceptual framework required for a consistent modelling of iLUC in Life Cycle Assessment. It reports on a novel and biophysical iLUC model, in which amortisation is avoided by using discounted Global Warming Potentials (GWPs). The causal link between demand for land and land use changes is established through markets for land's production capacity. The iLUC model presented is generally applicable to all land use types, crops and regions of the world in typical LCA decision-making contexts focusing on the long-term effects of small-scale changes. The model's strengths and weaknesses are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing the issue of agricultural pollution in water protection areas (WPA) requires assessing the impact of agricultural activities at regional scales. However, current water quality modeling studies often neglect the agronomic concept of a cropping system and interactions with soils. This paper presents a participatory assessment framework involving local experts in building a shared diagnosis of nitrate losses from cropping systems in a WPA. It includes a co-designed typology of landscape units and participatory assessment of nitrate losses with the modeling software Syst'N. Results show that characteristics of cropping systems depended on soils and that nitrate losses were highest in shallow soils. Intercrop periods were identified as critical periods for nitrate leaching, which demonstrates the importance of considering pluri-annual crop rotations rather than individual crops. The framework is generic for a modeling approach based on the involvement of local experts, who define their functional system in an agronomically sound way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary The market for temporary water allocations in the Northern Victoria Regulated river system has matured to the point where new instruments to manage risk can be of benefit to water users. One of these instruments could be a series of option contracts issued by the Water Authority. However a serious impediment to the introduction of options is the variation in prices across seasons. Prices jump between the end of one season and the beginning of the next mean that appropriate option strike prices cannot be determined until a period of trading in the new season allows price discovery to take place. This prevents an options market being available at the beginning of the season when it is most useful to irrigators. In this paper we look at winter rainfall for the town of Jamieson, upstream of Lake Eildon and the volume of water in Lake Eildon as predictors of the price of temporary water allocations at the beginning of the irrigation season. We develop a climate driven regression model which allows us to link the inter-seasonal jumps with the biophysical parameters of the system. By better understanding the factors dictating the size of the price jumps between seasons options can be developed that are not restricted to the current season. We also consider the implications of the infrastructure upgrades currently underway and recent policy changes on the market for temporary water allocations. The carryover policy which allows water to be kept for use in subsequent seasons, and the reserve policy, which is designed to allow the delivery of initial allocations and water carried over at the start of the irrigation season each year, are two recent policy innovations. These policies should smooth prices and reduce the jump in prices that have been seen between irrigation seasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The three-dimensional structure of salt marsh plant canopies, amongst other marsh surface characteristics, is of critical importance to the functioning and persistence of coastal salt marshes. Together with plant flexibility it controls the contribution of vegetation to the tidal flow and wave energy dissipation potential of marshes. However detailed information on these two key biophysical properties of salt marsh canopies is scarce. In this paper we present biophysical properties of four plants commonly occurring in NW European salt marshes. We measured stem flexibility, diameter and height of the grasses Spartina anglica , Puccinellia maritima and Elymus athericus and above ground biomass and canopy height in stands of Elymus athericus and the dwarf shrub Atriplex portulacoides . Further we compared the performance of two methods for the non-destructive assessment of above ground biomass, such that they may be used during field assessments of marsh surface vegetation structure (i) measurement of light availability within the canopy and (ii) side-on photography of vegetation. All data were collected on a salt marsh on the Dengie Peninsula, eastern England, UK, in summer (July). We found significant differences in stem flexibility both between species and between the different parts of their stems. P. maritima was found to be the species with the most flexible stems, and, as a result of their relatively large stem diameter, S. anglica the species with the stiffest stems. Above ground biomass and hence potential canopy resistance to water flow could be estimated more accurately by side-on photography of vegetation than from measurement of light availability within the canopy. Our results extend the existing knowledge base on plant properties with relevance to studies of habitat structure and ecosystem functioning as well as wave energy dissipation in salt marsh environments and can be used for the development of a more realistic representation of vegetation in numerical models and laboratory flume studies of plant–flow interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we demonstrate how Morven , a computational framework which can perform qualitative, semi-quantitative, and quantitative simulation of dynamical systems using the same model formalism, is applied to study the osmotic stress response pathway in yeast. First the Morven framework itself is briefly introduced in terms of the model formalism employed and output format. We then built a qualitative model for the biophysical process of the osmoregulation in yeast, and a global qualitative-level picture was obtained through qualitative simulation of this model. Furthermore, we constructed a Morven model based on existing quantitative model of the osmoregulation system. This model was then simulated qualitatively, semi-quantitatively, and quantitatively. The obtained simulation results are presented with an analysis. Finally the future development of the Morven framework for modelling the dynamic biological systems is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Molecular Mechanics (MM) is the method of choice for computational studies of biomolecular systems owing to its modest computational cost, which makes it possible to routinely perform molecular dynamics (MD) simulations on chemical systems of biophysical and biomedical relevance. Scope of review As one of the main factors limiting the accuracy of MD results is the empirical force field used, the present paper offers a review of recent developments in the CHARMM additive force field, one of the most popular biomolecular force fields. Additionally, we present a detailed discussion of the CHARMM Drude polarizable force field, anticipating a growth in the importance and utilization of polarizable force fields in the near future. Throughout the discussion emphasis is placed on the force fields' parametrization philosophy and methodology. Major conclusions Recent improvements in the CHARMM additive force field are mostly related to newly found weaknesses in the previous generation of additive force fields. Beyond the additive approximation is the newly available CHARMM Drude polarizable force field, which allows for MD simulations of up to 1 μs on proteins, DNA, lipids and carbohydrates. General significance Addressing the limitations ensures the reliability of the new CHARMM36 additive force field for the types of calculations that are presently coming into routine computational reach while the availability of the Drude polarizable force fields offers an inherently more accurate model of the underlying physical forces driving macromolecular structures and dynamics. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled “Recent developments of molecular dynamics”. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Free energy simulations are an important tool in the arsenal of computational biophysics, allowing the calculation of thermodynamic properties of binding or enzymatic reactions. This paper introduces methods to increase the accuracy and precision of free energy calculations by calculating the free energy costs of constraints during post-processing. The primary purpose of employing constraints for these free energy methods is to increase the phase space overlap between ensembles, which is required for accuracy and convergence. Methods The free energy costs of applying or removing constraints are calculated as additional explicit steps in the free energy cycle. The new techniques focus on hard degrees of freedom and use both gradients and Hessian estimation. Enthalpy, vibrational entropy, and Jacobian free energy terms are considered. Results We demonstrate the utility of this method with simple classical systems involving harmonic and anharmonic oscillators, four-atomic benchmark systems, an alchemical mutation of ethane to methanol, and free energy simulations between alanine and serine. The errors for the analytical test cases are all below 0.0007 kcal/mol, and the accuracy of the free energy results of ethane to methanol is improved from 0.15 to 0.04 kcal/mol. For the alanine to serine case, the phase space overlaps of the unconstrained simulations range between 0.15 and 0.9%. The introduction of constraints increases the overlap up to 2.05%. On average, the overlap increases by 94% relative to the unconstrained value and precision is doubled. Conclusions The approach reduces errors arising from constraints by about an order of magnitude. Free energy simulations benefit from the use of constraints through enhanced convergence and higher precision. General significance The primary utility of this approach is to calculate free energies for systems with disparate energy surfaces and bonded terms, especially in multi-scale molecular mechanics/quantum mechanics simulations. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled Recent developments of molecular dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Triticum vulgare has been extensively used in traditional medicine thanks to its properties of accelerating tissue repair. The aqueous extract of Triticum vulgare (TVE) is currently an active component used by Farmaceutici Damor in the manufacture of certain pharmaceutical products already marketed in Italy and abroad under the brand name Fitostimoline ® , in the formulation of cream and medicated gauze and is commonly used for the treatment of decubitus ulcers, sores, burns, scarring delays, dystrophic diseases, and, more broadly, in the presence of problems relating to re-epithelialization or tissue regeneration. The active components of Fitostimoline ® -based products determine a marked acceleration of tissutal repairing processes, stimulate chemotaxis and the fibroblastic maturation, and significantly increase the fibroblastic index, which are crucial points in the repairing processes. The aim of the present paper was to identify and characterize the active fractions of TVE responsible for the pharmacological effect in tissutal repairing processes. Materials and methods Several fractions obtained from TVE by ultrafiltration procedures and HPAE chromatography were tested to measure their growth-enhancing activity on NIH-3T3 fibroblasts. The healing action of the same fractions, prepared as cream formulation, was assessed in rat subjected to two different models of skin lesion, skin scarification and excision. Results Our results showed a pro-proliferative effect of the fractions ST-98 and K>1000 in NIH-3T3 fibroblasts. Moreover these fractions formulated as cream preparations were effective also in in vivo models of skin lesion. Conclusions The results of the present study showed that these active fractions of TVE are responsible for its pro-proliferative effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines vulnerability to climate change in the context of multiple stressors through a case study of Funafuti, Tuvalu. Climate change research in Pacific Islands has largely focused on biophysical changes such as sea-level rise. Less is known about how livelihoods are affected and what adaptation options are realistic. The research employs a vulnerability framework to identify where climate fits in the suite of forces (socioeconomic, cultural, environmental) already affecting livelihoods. The participatory approach includes semi-structured interviews with community members, initially without reference to climate. Key areas of concern to people in Funafuti are economic, food, water and overcrowding, rather than climate change. Vulnerability to changing climatic conditions is evident in water, land, and food through the interaction of non-climatic forces (e.g. overcrowding, urbanization, few economic opportunities, changing land use, and shifting cultural norms), and climatic forces (e.g. dry spells, extreme sea-levels, strong winds and changing marine conditions). Adaptations, beyond bearing the effects and sharing the burden, are mainly reactive and short-term. Future changes in climate will be experienced in the context of these multiple, interacting forces, and adaptation initiatives will need to be designed in light of these. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adaptive governance focuses our attention on the relationships between science and management, whereby the so-called ‘gaps’ between these groups are seen to hinder effective adaptive responses to biophysical change. Yet the relationships between science and governance, knowledge and action, remain under theorized in discussions of adaptive governance, which largely focuses on abstract design principles or preferred institutional arrangements. In contrast, the metaphor of co-production highlights the social and political processes through which science, policy, and practice co-evolve. Co-production is invoked as a normative goal ( Mitchell et al., 2004 ) and analytical lens ( Jasanoff, 2004a,b ), both of which provide useful insight into the processes underpinning adaptive governance. This paper builds on and integrates these disparate views to reconceptualize adaptive governance as a process of co-production. I outline an alternative conceptual framing, ‘co-productive governance’, that articulates the context, knowledge, process, and vision of governance. I explore these ideas through two cases of connectivity conservation, which draws on conservation science to promote collaborative cross-scale governance. This analysis highlights the ways in which the different contexts of these cases produced very different framings and responses to the same propositions of science and governance. Drawing on theoretical and empirical material, co-productive governance moves beyond long standing debates that institutions can be rationally crafted or must emerge from context resituate adaptive governance in a more critical and contextualized space. This reframing focuses on the process of governance through an explicit consideration of how normative considerations shape the interactions between knowledge and power, science and governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Alismatis rhizoma or Alisma orientale (Zexie in Chinese), the dried rhizome of Alisma orientale Juzepzuk (Alismataceae), is a well-known traditional Chinese medicine and is used as an agent for diuresis and for excreting dampness in China and Japan. In this paper, we report the diuretic activities of the petroleum ether fraction, the ethyl acetate fraction, the n-buthanol fraction, and the remaining fraction, of the ethanol extract of Alismatis rhizoma (AR). Materials and methods The single dose of the petroleum ether fraction, the ethyl acetate fraction, the n-buthanol fraction, and the remaining fraction, of the ethanol extract of AR were orally administered to rats. Urinary excretion rate, pH and electrolyte excretion were measured in the urine of saline-loaded rats. Results In this study, the 100 and 400 mg/kg doses of the ethyl acetate fraction and the 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg doses of the n-butanol fraction all produced an increase in urine volume excretion, and all produced a remarkable increase in urine electrolyte excretion. Although the 800 mg/kg doses of the ethyl acetate fraction, the 75 and 100 mg/kg doses of the n-butanol fraction and the 12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg doses of the remaining fraction significantly decreased the urine output in 6 h, the urine Na + and Cl − excretion were markedly decreased with the n-butanol fraction (75 and 100 mg/kg doses) and the remaining fraction (12.5, 25 and 50 mg/kg doses) while the ethyl acetate fraction at 800 mg/kg doses had slight effect on urine electrolyte excretion. The petroleum ether fraction did not show remarkable diuretic activity in comparison with control group. Conclusions Our present study determined that the ethyl acetate fraction and the n-butanol fraction present notable diuretic effects, and we found a dual effect on renal function showed by AR, including promoting diuretic activity and inhibiting diuretic activity. The components with strong polarities in AR may have anti-diuretic activities, which might be an effect of promoting the sodium-chloride co-transporter in the distal tubule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Sandpaper [ Ficus exasperata Vahl (Moraceae)] leaf has been reportedly used in folklore for the management/treatment of cardiovascular diseases with little/or no scientific basis for their action. This study sought to investigate the effect of dietary supplementation of sandpaper leaf on angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) activity in hypercholesterolemia as well as the effect of their phenolic extract on this enzyme in vitro . Materials and methods The phenolic extract was prepared, then, the inhibitory effect of the leaf extract on ACE was determined in vitro . Thereafter, the effect of dietary supplementation of sandpaper leaf on angiotensin-I converting enzyme (ACE) activity in high cholesterol diet fed rats for 14 days was evaluated as well as some biochemical parameters. Results The result revealed that under in vitro condition, the phenolic extract inhibited ACE (IC 50 =14.7 µg/mL) in a dose-dependent manner (0–10 µg/mL). Feeding high cholesterol diets to rats caused a significant ( P <0.05) increase in the ACE activity. However, there was a significant ( P <0.05) decrease in the ACE activity as a result of supplementation with the sand paper leaves. Furthermore, there was a significant ( P <0.05) increase in the plasma lipid profile with a concomitant increase in malondialdehyde (MDA) content in rat liver and heart tissues. However, supplementing the diet with sandpaper leaf (either 10% or 20%) caused a significant ( P <0.05) decrease in the plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), very low density lipoprotein-cholesterol (VLDL-C), and low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol levels (LDL-C), and in MDA content in the tissues. Conversely, supplementation caused a significant ( P <0.05) increase in plasma high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol level when compared with the control diet. Reversed phase HPLC analysis of the extract revealed Quercitrin (43.7 mg/g), chlorogenic acid (42.8 mg/g) and caffeic acid (33.9 mg/g) as the major phenolics in the leaf. Conclusion The inhibition of ACE activity and prevention of hypercholesterolemia by sandpaper leaf could be part of the possible mechanism underlying its anti-hypertensive property which could lay credence to its use in folk medicine. However, these activities may be directly/indirectly attributed to the polyphenolics present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Time-dependent photo-thermal biophyics-based model of laser-skin interactions to simulate laser-based skin photorejuvenation procedures. • The model accounts for the thermal and optical properties of individual skin layers (epidermis, dermis, hypodermis). • Direct sensitivity analysis of the photo-thermal model with respect to its biophysical parameters demonstrating the high-sensitivity of thermal effects to skin melanin content. Important implications for treatment procedures in ethnically-diverse populations. • Depth-controlled thermal stimulation of skin across its layers. • The model offers a promising simulation platform to optimise laser-based photorejuvenation procedures. Background and Objective: This paper presents the development of a 3D physics-based numerical model of skin capable of representing the laser-skin photo-thermal interactions occurring in skin photorejuvenation treatment procedures. The aim of this model was to provide a rational and quantitative basis to control and predict temperature distribution within the layered structure of skin. Ultimately, this mathematical and numerical modelling platform will guide the design of an automatic robotic controller to precisely regulate skin temperature at desired depths and for specific durations. Methods: The Pennes bioheat equation was used to account for heat transfer in a 3D multi-layer model of skin. The effects of blood perfusion, skin pigmentation and various convection conditions are also incorporated in the proposed model. The photo-thermal effect due to pulsed laser light on skin is computed using light diffusion theory. The physics-based constitutive model was numerically implemented using a combination of finite volume and finite difference techniques. Direct sensitivity routines were also implemented to assess the influence of constitutive parameters on temperature. A stability analysis of the numerical model was conducted. Results: Finally, the numerical model was exploited to assess its ability to predict temperature distribution and thermal damage via a multi-parametric study which accounted for a wide array of biophysical parameters such as light coefficients of absorption for individual skin layers and melanin levels (correlated with ethnicity). It was shown how critical is the link between melanin content, laser light characteristics and potential thermal damage to skin. Conclusions: The developed photo-thermal model of skin-laser interactions paves the way for the design of an automated simulation-driven photorejuvenation robot, thus alleviating the need for inconsistent and error-prone human operators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Red sage ( Salvia miltiorrhiza Bunge), also known as Danshen in Chinese, has been used historically and is currently exploited in combination with other herbs to treat skeletal diseases in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). With the advance of modern analytical technology, a multitude of bone-targeting, pharmaceutically active, compounds has been isolated and characterized from various sources of TCM including those produced in Salvia miltiorrhiza root. The aim of the review is to provide a comprehensive overview about the historical TCM interpretation of the action of Salvia miltiorrhiza in osteoporosis, its use clinical trials, its main phytochemical constituents, and its action on bone-resorptive and bone formation-stimulating mechanisms in in vitro and in vivo studies. Materials and methods Literature sources used were Pubmed, CNKI.net, Cqvip.com, PubChem, and the Web of Science. For the inquiry, keywords such as Salvia, danshen, osteoporosis, bone, osteoclast and osteoblast were used in various combinations. About 130 research papers and reviews were consulted. Results In TCM, the anti-osteopororotic effect of Salvia miltiorrhiza is ascribed to its action on liver and blood stasis as main therapeutic targets defining osteoporosis. 36 clinical trials were identified which used Salvia miltiorrhiza in combination with other herbs and components to treat post-menopausal, senile, and secondary osteoporosis. On average the trials were characterized by high efficacy (>80%) and low toxicity problems. However, various limitations such as small patient samples, short treatment duration, frequent lack of detailed numerical data, and no clear endpoints must be taken into consideration. To date, more than 100 individual compounds have been isolated from this plant and tested in various animal models and biochemical assays. Compounds display anti-resorptive and bone formation-stimulating features targeting different pathways in the bone remodeling cycle. Pathways affected include the activation of osteoblasts, the modulation of osteoclastogenesis, and the inhibition of collagen degradation by cathepsin K. Conclusions The inclusion of Salvia miltiorrhiza in more than 30% of all herbal clinical trials successfully targeting osteoporosis has stimulated significant interest in the identification and characterization of individual constituents of this herb. The review highlights the anti-osteoporotic potential of Salvia miltiorrhiza in clinical applications and the potential of the herb to provide potent compounds targeting specific pathways in bone resorption and bone formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethnopharmacological relevance Acorus tatarinowii Schott (AT), belong to the family Araceae, is perennial herbaceous plant mainly present in China, Japan and India. The rhizomes of AT have been used as a famous traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of central nervous system related diseases. Aim of the study A selective, accurate and sensitive method using gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC–MS) for the simultaneous determination and pharmacokinetic study of β -asarone, α -asarone, elemicin and cis -methyl isoeugenol in rat plasma was developed and validated. Materials and methods The GC–MS system was operated under selected ion monitoring (SIM) mode. The samples were prepared by protein precipitation with acetonitrile after being spiked with an internal standard (1-naphthol). The GC separation was achieved on a DB-1701 column (60 m × 0.25 mm ID, and 0.25 µm film thickness). Results The current GC/MS assay was validated for linearity, intra-day and inter-day precisions, accuracy, extraction recovery and stability. The analyte calibration curves were linear over a wide concentration range and the lowest limit of quantifications (LLOQ) were 5.53 ng/mL ( β -asarone), 6.50 ng/mL ( α -asarone), 3.10 ng/mL (elemicin) and 7.60 ng/mL ( cis -methyl isoeugenol). After oral administration 0.9 g /Kg of AT rhizomes, the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax) was 2508.6±498.7 ng/mL for β-asarone, 257.5±37.1 ng/mL for α -asarone, 345.5±33.4 ng/mL for elemicin and 452.7±59.1 ng/mL for cis-methyl isoeugenol, respectively. The time to reach the maximum plasma concentration ( T max ) was 1.42±0.18 h for β -asarone, 1.58±0.19 h for α -asarone, 1.67±0.24 h for elemicin and 1.75±0.38 h for cis -methyl isoeugenol, respectively. Conclusion This paper described a simple, sensitive and validated GC–MS method for simultaneous determination of four phenylpropanoids in rat plasma after oral administration of the essential oil of AT rhizomes and investigated on their pharmacokinetics studies as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Isorhynchophylline is one of the major alkaloids from the Uncaria hook possessing the effects of lowered blood pressure, vasodilatation and protection against ischemia-induced neuronal damage. However, the metabolic pathway of isorhynchophylline has not been fully reported yet. In this paper, the metabolism of isorhynchophylline was investigated in rats. Five metabolites were isolated by using solvent extraction and repeated chromatographic methods, and identified by spectroscopic methods including UV, MS, NMR and CD experiments. Three new compounds were identified as 5-oxoisorhynchophyllic acid-22-O-β-D-glucuronide (M1), 17-O-demethyl-16,17-dihydro isorhynchophylline (M2) and 5-oxoisorhynchophyllic acid (M4) together with two known compounds isorhynchophylline (M0) and rhynchophylline (M3). Possible metabolic pathways of isorhynchophylline are proposed. Furthermore, the activity assay for all the metabolites showed that isorhynchophylline (M0) exhibited potent neuroprotective effects against glutamate-induced HT22 cell death. However, little or weak neuroprotective activities were observed forM1-M4. Our present study is important to further understand its metabolic fate and disposition in humans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, barbigerone (1a) and its twenty-seven related structural analogues were synthesized via complementary synthetic routes and their anti-inflammatory effects on the expression of TNF-α in LPS-stimulated splenocytes were evaluated. Among these compounds, 1a, 1d, 1f and 1g were found to remarkably inhibit TNF-α production. Furthermore, 1g showed the most potent and dose-dependent manner inhibitory effect on TNF-α release, with better IC50 value (3.58 μM) than barbigerone (8.46 μM). Oral administration of 1g at 20 mg/kg/day for two weeks obviously demonstrated protective effect in adjuvant-induced arthritis models as evaluated by clinical score of paws, and histological examination of joint tissues from rats. Mechanism studies on mRNA and protein level suggested that 1g inhibited the TNF-α production via depressing TNF-α converting enzyme (TACE) mRNA expression. In conclusion, these data show 1g with potential therapeutic effects as an anti-inflammatory agent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the development and application of paired muscle preparations, called duplex, for the investigation of mechanisms and consequences of intra-myocardial electro-mechanical heterogeneity. We illustrate the utility of the underlying combined experimental and computational approach for conceptual development and integration of basic science insight with clinically relevant settings, using previously published and new data. Directions for further study are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The fruits of Schisandra chinensis have been used for the treatment of insomnia in oriental countries for more than thousands of years. However, the pharmacological properties and the mechanism of sedative and hypnotic effects have not yet been studied. Gomisin N is one of the major bioactive constituents from the fruits of Schisandra chinensis, and in this paper we reported a detailed study on the effects and mechanisms of Gomisin N on its sedative and hypnotic activity for the first time. These results implied that Gomisin N possessed weak sedative effects on locomotion activity in normal mice, and produced a dose-dependent(5–45mg/kg, i.p.) increase in sleep duration in pentobarbital-treated mice, thus, itself did not induce sleep at higher dose which was used in this experiment (45mg/kg, i.p.). It also can reverse the rodent models of insomnia induced by p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) and caffeine, which could exhibit a synergistic effect with 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) as well; furthermore, the hypnotic effects of Gomisin N were inhibited by flumazenil (a specific GABAA-BZD receptor antagonist). Altogether, these results indicated that Gomisin N produced beneficial sedative and hypnotic bioactivity, which might be mediated by the modification of the serotonergic and GABAergic system. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]