Search Results (124)

The environmental impact of milk production, particularly its share of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, is a topic under investigation in various parts of the world. This paper presents an overview of current knowledge on the carbon footprint (CF) of milk production at the farm level, with a particular focus on technological, environmental and organisational factors affecting emission levels. The analysis is based on a review of, inter alia, 46 peer-reviewed publications and 11 environmental reports, legal acts and databases concerning the CF in different regions and under various production systems. This study identifies the main sources of emissions, including enteric fermentation, manure management, and the production and use of feed and fertiliser. It also demonstrates the significant variability of the CF values, which range, on average, from 0.78 to 3.20 kg CO₂ eq kg⁻¹ of milk, determined by the farm scale, nutritional strategies, local environmental and economic determinants, and the methodology applied. Moreover, this study stresses that higher production efficiency and integrated farm management could reduce the CF per milk unit, with further intensification having, however, diminishing effects. The application of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods is essential for a reliable assessment and comparison of the CF between systems. Ultimately, an effective CF reduction requires a comprehensive approach that combines improved nutritional practices, efficient use of resources, and implementation of technological innovations adjusted to regional and farm-specific determinants. The solutions presented in this paper may serve as guidelines for practitioners and decision-makers with regard to reducing GHG emissions. Full article

The contemporary development of e-commerce in recent years has contributed to the rapid growth of the logistics industry and its awareness of environmental threats. Alongside the increase in online orders, significant environmental pollution has emerged in the logistics sector. Logistics operators are striving to build green logistics policies, and the reliability of the supply chain and the analysis of innovation strategies in green logistics have contributed to the improvement of environmental pollution in the logistics industry and reduced vehicle emissions in transportation. The aim of this study is to assess the implementation of the green logistics concept by selected logistics operators in Poland. The research indicates an increase in exhaust emissions of all harmful compounds in the analyzed transport logistics system by 2030 at the following selected logistics operators: CO, 9.167%; HC, 16.265%; and NOX, 17.354%. According to EU documents, the objectives to be achieved in terms of sustainable development in the field of transport, including for the logistics sector, are to change sustainable propulsion systems, and to optimize the operation of multimodal logistics chains, inter alia, by making greater use of more energy-efficient modes of transport. Full article

Enzymes of the cytochrome P450 monooxygenase family 4 (CYP4) in mammals are generally involved either in endobiotic metabolism (e.g., acting on fatty acids or eicosanoids), or the modification of xenobiotics including therapeutic drugs. CYP4B1 is special, as it is an enigmatic enzyme acting at the interface between xenobiotic and endobiotic metabolism. However, a systematic analysis of CYP4B1’s substrate scope has not yet been reported. Herein, a three-step approach to identify novel substrates for three CYP4B1 orthologs (namely from rabbits, green monkeys, and mouse lemurs) is described. First, screening of a library containing 502 natural products revealed potential novel substrate groups for CYP4B1. Second, based on these results, a systematic library was defined consisting of 63 compounds representing 10 compound groups. Third, in vitro conversion of these compounds by CYP4B1 and identification of conversion products were conducted, supported by in silico docking, allowing the prediction of binding probabilities and potential oxidation sites. We report five new substrate groups (acyclic, monocyclic and bicyclic terpenoids, stilbenoids, and vanilloids), twenty-eight new substrates (inter alia capsaicin, gingerol, genistein, stilbene, myristicin, thioanisole), and two new reaction types for CYP4B1 (S-oxidation, O-demethylation). Consequently, CYP4B1 is a far more promiscuous enzyme than previously thought. Full article

Although previous quantitative studies have examined various elements involved in the adoption of residential photovoltaic systems, there has been weaker emphasis on qualitative research despite its ability to understand the complexities behind adoption decisions. This article analyzes data from in-depth interviews with adopters and identifies emerging themes about the factors leading householders to adopt residential photovoltaic systems. Thematic analysis identified five key themes related to the economic, environmental, social and technological motives and barriers to adopting residential photovoltaics. Adopters’ main motive was to acquire an additional regular income, which, inter alia, would enable them to cover anticipated expenses such as costs linked to having children at university. Many adopters also combined the adoption with life events such as house renovations. The adoption of photovoltaics was also seen as providing a safe way to invest savings. Moreover, most adopters identified themselves as technology enthusiasts indicating the positive effect of technophilia on residential photovoltaic adoption. Despite having installed photovoltaics, participants recognized that adoption can be inhibited by high capital cost, investment taxation and limited grid capacity. The similarities and variety in the decision-making patterns identified in this study can be used to develop or improve strategies aiming at increasing residential photovoltaic adoption. Full article

Tumor necrosis factor ɑ (TNFɑ)-induced protein 3 (TNFAIP3)-interacting protein 1 (TNIP1) is genetically and functionally linked to limiting auto-immune and inflammatory responses. We have shown that TNIP1 (alias A20-binding inhibitor of NF-κB 1, ABIN1), functioning as a hub location to coordinate other proteins in repressing inflammatory signaling, aligns with biophysical traits indicative of its being an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP). IDPs move through a repertoire of three-dimensional structures rather than being in one set conformation. Here we employed bioinformatic analysis and biophysical interventions via amino acid mutations to assess and alter, respectively, conformational flexibility along a crucial region of TNIP1, encompassing the ABIN homology domain 1 and ubiquitin-binding domain in ABIN proteins and NEMO (AHD1-UBAN), by purposeful replacement of key residues. In vitro secondary structure measurements were mostly in line with, but not necessarily to the same degree as, expected results from in silico assessments. Notably, changes in single amino acids outside of the ubiquitin-binding region for gain-of-order effects had consequences along the length of the AHD1-UBAN propagating to that region. This is evidenced by differences in recognition of the partner protein polyubiquitin ≥ 28 residues away, depending on the mutation site, from the previously identified key binding site. These findings serve to demonstrate the role of conformational flexibility in protein partner recognition by TNIP1, thus identifying key amino acids likely to impact the molecular dynamics involved in TNIP1 repression of inflammatory signaling at large. Full article

Background: Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a B-cell-derived malignancy and one of the most frequent types of lymphoma. The tumour cells typically exhibit multiple genomic alterations together with aberrantly activated signalling pathways, driven by paracrine and/or autocrine modes. SPP1 (alias osteopontin) is a cytokine acting as a signalling activator and has been connected with relapse in HL patients. To understand its pathogenic role, here, we investigated the mechanisms and function of deregulated SPP1 in HL. Methods: We screened public patient datasets and cell lines for aberrant SPP1 expression. HL cell lines were stimulated with SPP1 and subjected to siRNA-mediated knockdown. Gene and protein activities were analyzed by RQ-PCR, ELISA, Western blot, and immuno-cytology. Results: SPP1 expression was detected in 8.3% of classic HL patients and in HL cell line SUP-HD1, chosen to serve as an experimental model. The gene encoding SPP1 is located at chromosomal position 4q22 and is genomically amplified in SUP-HD1. Transcription factor binding site analysis revealed TALE and HOX factors as potential regulators. Consistent with this finding, we showed that aberrantly expressed PBX1 and HOXB9 mediate the transcriptional activation of SPP1. RNA-seq data and knockdown experiments indicated that SPP1 signals via integrin ITGB1 in SUP-HD1. Accordingly, SPP1 activated NFkB in addition to MAPK/ERK which in turn mediated the nuclear import of ETS2, activating oncogenic JUNB expression. Conclusions: SPP1 is aberrantly activated in HL cell line SUP-HD1 via genomic copy number gain and by homeodomain transcription factors PBX1 and HOXB9. SPP1-activated NFkB and MAPK merit further investigation as potential therapeutic targets in affected HL patients. Full article

The integration of Internet Protocol version 6 over Low-Power Wireless Personal Area Networks (6LoWPANs) provided IP technologies within wireless sensor networks that dramatically increased the Internet of Things (IoT). Therefore, to facilitate efficient mobility management for resource-constrained IP-based sensor nodes, the Proxy Mobile IPv6 (PMIPv6) standard has been introduced to reduce communication overhead. However, the standard has addressed security and mobility authentication challenges in 6LoWPANs, although recent solutions have yet to focus much on facilitating secure group handovers. Considering these issues, a Secure and Lightweight Group Mobility Authentication Scheme (SL_GAS) is proposed for 6LoWPAN’s highly constrained sensor nodes. SL_GAS innovatively utilizes one-time alias identities, temporary IDs, tickets, and an aggregated MAC with tags to ensure mutual authentication while maintaining sensor anonymity, providing a balanced security and privacy approach. SL_GAS’s robustness against a variety of security threats is validated through formal automated verification using the Scyther tool alongside SVO logic, while an informal analysis demonstrates its resilience to known attacks. Comparative analysis with existing schemes highlights SL_GAS’s advantages in reducing signal cost, transmission delay, communication, and computation overhead. SL_GAS stands out for its combination of security, privacy, and efficiency, making it a promising approach for enhancing IoT connectivity in resource-constrained settings. Full article

The generalized stacking fault energy (GSFE) surface is investigated based on a new anti-alias model and first-principles calculation. Then, based on the outcomes derived from the GSFE surface analysis and the improved Peierls–Nabarro model, the major core properties including core width, Peierls energy, and stress of edge and screw dislocations in Al, Ni, Cu, and Ag are investigated in detail, and the lowest-energy migration pathways for diverse dislocations are investigated. Finally, a quantitative relationship between the ratio of core width to atomic spacing and the Peierls stress is established. Full article

Rust is a relatively new programming language that aims to provide memory safety at compile time. It introduces a novel ownership system that enforces the automatic deallocation of unused resources without using a garbage collector. In light of Rust’s promise of safety, a natural question arises about the possible benefits of exploiting ownership to ensure the memory safety of C programs. In our previous work, we developed a formal ownership checker to verify whether a C program satisfies exclusive ownership constraints. In this paper, we further propose an ownership-based safe memory deallocation approach, named SafeMD, to fix memory leaks in the C programs that satisfy exclusive ownership defined in the prior formal ownership checker. Benefiting from the C programs satisfying exclusive ownership, SafeMD obviates alias and inter-procedural analysis. Also, the patches generated by SafeMD make the input C programs still satisfy exclusive ownership. Usually, a C program that satisfies the exclusive ownership constraints is safer than its normal version. Our evaluation shows that SafeMD is effective in fixing memory leaks of C programs that satisfy exclusive ownership. Full article

When migrating smart contracts from one blockchain platform to another, there are potential security risks. This is because different blockchain platforms have different environments and characteristics for executing smart contracts. The focus of this paper is to study the security risks associated with the migration of smart contracts from Ethereum to Arbitrum. We collected relevant data and analyzed smart contract migration cases to explore the differences between Ethereum and Arbitrum in areas such as Arbitrum cross-chain messaging, block properties, contract address alias, and gas fees. From the 36 types of smart contract migration cases we identified, we selected four typical types of cases and summarized their security risks. The research shows that smart contracts deployed on Ethereum may face certain potential security risks during migration to Arbitrum, mainly due to issues inherent in public blockchain characteristics, such as outdated off-chain data obtained by the inactive sequencer, logic errors based on time, failed permission checks, and denial of service (DOS) attacks. To mitigate these security risks, we proposed avoidance methods and provided considerations for users and developers to ensure a secure migration process. It is worth noting that this study is the first to conduct an in-depth analysis of the secure migration of smart contracts from Ethereum to Arbitrum. Full article

To address the inherent limitations of Future in asynchronous programming frameworks, JDK 1.8 introduced the CompletableFuture class, which features approximately 50 different methods for composing and executing asynchronous computations and handling exceptions. This paper proposes an automatic refactoring method that integrates multiple static analysis techniques, including visitor pattern analysis, alias analysis, and executor inheritance structure analysis, to conduct precondition checks. Distinct from existing Future refactoring methods, this approach considers custom executor types, thereby extending its applicability. Using this method, the ReFuture automatic refactoring plugin was implemented within the Eclipse JDT framework. The method was evaluated in terms of the number of refactorings, refactoring time, and error introduction, alongside a side-by-side comparison with the existing method. The refactoring outcomes for nine large applications, including ActiveMQ, Hadoop, and Elasticsearch, show that ReFuture successfully refactored 639 out of 813 potential code structures, achieving a refactoring success rate of 64.70% without introducing errors. This tool effectively facilitates the refactoring to CompletableFuture and enhances refactoring efficiency compared to manual methods. Full article

Over the last two decades, scientific studies have increasingly highlighted the vulnerability of cities to global changes, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, where climate phenomena and urbanization are intensifying. These realities necessitate a reassessment of current urban management models in order to reaffirm the central role of cities in promoting sustainability. In this context, establishing a robust scientific foundation for evaluating the transition processes of cities towards sustainability is essential. This article presents a methodology developed to select and validate indicators, taking into account local issues and the needs expressed by stakeholders. The research was conducted using a mixed-methods approach, which included a literature review, consultations with populations from five study districts, analysis of the indicator needs of development stakeholders, adoption of two methods, and validation of the indicators by a group of experts. The outcome of this research is a set of 20 indicators organized into five dimensions: environmental, social, economic, built environment, and cultural. The analysis of the proportional distribution of these indicators across dimensions reveals a notable predominance of the social dimension, which accounts for 35% of the indicators, including key indicators such as access to potable water, electricity, education, and healthcare services, inter alia. The environmental and built environment dimensions each comprise 20% of the indicators, encompassing indicators such as the preservation of natural resources, waste management, land use management, and flood management, among others. The economic and cultural dimensions represent 15% and 10% of the selected indicators, respectively. These data indicate that achieving sustainable urban development within the context of this study requires a focused effort on enhancing the performance of these indicators, with substantial efforts needed in the social domain. It is of paramount importance to incorporate these indicators into the decision-making processes related to urban development planning in Moundou and other cities in the region, as they provide valuable scientific insights crucial to the pursuit of sustainability. Full article

Background/Objectives: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is identified as a risk factor for the occurrence of ischemic stroke. There is substantial evidence that CKD is linked to a worse prognosis and higher mortality rates in stroke patients. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and factors affecting favorable outcomes and mortality in patients treated using mechanical thrombectomy (MT) for ischemic stroke, with particular emphasis on patients suffering from CKD. Methods: The retrospective study included an analysis of data from 723 patients (139; 19.4% had CKD) with ischemic stroke treated with MT between March 2019 and July 2022. Results: Patients with CKD were significantly older (median age 76.5 vs. 65.65, p < 0.001) and more often female (59.7% vs. 42.6%, p < 0.001). CKD decreased the likelihood of achieving a favorable outcome (0–2 points in modified Rankin scale; OR: 0.56, CI95%: 0.38–0.81) and increased mortality (OR: 2.59, CI95%: 1.74–3.84) on the 90th day after stroke. In addition, CKD was associated with intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) in patients who underwent posterior circulation MT (13.85% vs. 50%, p = 0.022). In patients with CKD, inter alia, higher levels of C-reactive protein (OR: 0.94, CI95%: 0.92–0.99) reduced the chance of a favorable outcome. In addition, the occurrence of ICH in patients with CKD increased mortality on the 90th day after stroke (OR: 4.18, CI95%: 1.56–11.21), which was almost twice as high as in patients without CKD (OR: 2.29, CI95%: 1.54–3.40). Conclusions: Patients suffering from CKD had a lower probability of achieving a favorable outcome and had increased mortality following MT for ischemic stroke. It is crucial to understand the variations between patients with unimpaired and impaired renal function, as this could aid in predicting the outcomes of this method. Full article

Previous omics research in patients with complex congenital heart disease and single-ventricle circulation (irrespective of the stage of palliative repair) revealed alterations in cardiac and systemic metabolism, inter alia abnormalities in energy metabolism, and inflammation, oxidative stress or endothelial dysfunction. We employed an affinity-proteomics approach focused on cell surface markers, cytokines, and chemokines in the serum of 20 adult Fontan patients with a good functioning systemic left ventricle, and we 20 matched controls to reveal any specific processes on a cellular level. Analysis of 349 proteins revealed 4 altered protein levels related to chronic inflammation, with elevated levels of syndecan-1 and glycophorin-A, as well as decreased levels of leukemia inhibitory factor and nerve growth factor-ß in Fontan patients compared to controls. All in all, this means that Fontan circulation carries specific physiological and metabolic instabilities, including chronic inflammation, oxidative stress imbalance, and consequently, possible damage to cell structure and alterations in translational pathways. A combination of proteomics-based biomarkers and the traditional biomarkers (uric acid, γGT, and cholesterol) performed best in classification (patient vs. control). A metabolism- and signaling-based approach may be helpful for a better understanding of Fontan (patho-)physiology. Syndecan-1, glycophorin-A, leukemia inhibitory factor, and nerve growth factor-ß, especially in combination with uric acid, γGT, and cholesterol, might be interesting candidate parameters to complement traditional diagnostic imaging tools and the determination of traditional biomarkers, yielding a better understanding of the development of comorbidities in Fontan patients, and they may play a future role in the identification of targets to mitigate inflammation and comorbidities in Fontan patients. Full article

We apply a static oligopolistic general equilibrium model to investigate the effects of an environmental tax on labor incomes, capital incomes, profits, and the distribution of income. The study is motivated by the fact that environmental taxation is one main political tool to realize environmental sustainability and support sustainable development. However, to ensure social and economic sustainability, the taxes applied must be perceived as fair by the majority of the civil society. Moreover, efforts to determine a fair taxation policy would ensure, inter alia, responsible consumption and production, and lower inequality in the economy, which are one of the two priorities of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 10 and 12). Therefore, it is necessary to determine the tax incidence to inform policymakers regarding the distribution of the tax burden. To examine environmental policy, we assume the government applies a policy objective to realize strong environmental sustainability, as proposed by the Dutch economist Rofie Hueting. The main result is that oligopolistic firms can shift the whole tax burden resulting from environmental taxes to workers and capital owners. Consequently, we show that environmental taxes can lead to more income inequality, and the more concentrated the markets, the bigger the social and economic inequality. Noting that addressing environmental problems is a priority of the UN SDGs, our analysis shows that approaching the issue using just environmental tax propositions is not advisable. These results of the analysis also provide a justification of why many members of the society tend to oppose environmental taxes. Full article