Use of Pyriproxyfen to Induce Oogenesis in Diapausing Megacopta cribraria (Heteroptera: Plataspidae), and Evaluation of Pyriproxyfen-Induced Eggs for Rearing the Parasitoid Paratelenomus saccharalis (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae)

The mass rearing of hymenopteran egg parasitoids requires an abundant supply of host eggs. The onset of reproductive diapause and subsequent decline in egg production poses a challenge for parasitoid rearing when using host colonies augmented by field-collected insects. We investigated the application of pyriproxyfen, a juvenile hormone analog, to induce oviposition in diapausing adult kudzu bugs, Megacopta cribraria (Fabricius) (Heteroptera: Plataspidae), and the use of eggs produced by pyriproxyfen-treated kudzu bugs to rear the egg parasitoid, Paratelenomus saccharalis (Dodd) (Hymenoptera: Scelionidae). The effects of pyriproxyfen and photoperiod treatments on host mortality, egg production, and rates of parasitoid eclosion from the eggs were used to calculate the parasitoid yield for the different treatment regimes. A combination of pyriproxyfen and a long-day photoperiod increased the parasitoid yield by 87% compared to acetone and a long-day photoperiod. The general applicability of JH-analog mediated egg production for parasitoid rearing is discussed.

Umbilical Cord Mesenchymal Stromal Cells for Cartilage Regeneration Applications

Chondropathies are increasing worldwide, but effective treatments are currently lacking. Mesenchymal stromal cell (MSCs) transplantation represents a promising approach to counteract the degenerative and inflammatory environment characterizing those pathologies, such as osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Umbilical cord- (UC-) MSCs gained increasing interest due to their multilineage differentiation potential, immunomodulatory, and anti-inflammatory properties as well as higher proliferation rates, abundant supply along with no risks for the donor compared to adult MSCs. In addition, UC-MSCs are physiologically adapted to survive in an ischemic and nutrient-poor environment as well as to produce an extracellular matrix (ECM) similar to that of the cartilage. All these characteristics make UC-MSCs a pivotal source for a stem cell-based treatment of chondropathies. In this review, the regenerative potential of UC-MSCs for the treatment of cartilage diseases will be discussed focusing on in vitro, in vivo, and clinical studies.

The paradox of the COVID-19 pandemic: the impact on patient demand in Japanese hospitals

Analyzing data from a large, nationally distributed group of Japanese hospitals, we found a dramatic decline in both inpatient and outpatient volumes over the three waves of the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan from February-December 2020. We identified three key reasons for this fall in patient demand. First, COVID-19-related hygiene measures and behavioral changes significantly reduced non-COVID-19 infectious diseases. Second, consultations relating to chronic diseases fell sharply. Third, certain medical investigations and interventions were postponed or cancelled. Despite the drop in hospital attendances and admissions, COVID-19 is said to have brought the Japanese health care system to the brink of collapse. In this context, we explore longstanding systematic issues, finding that Japan's abundant supply of beds and current payment system may have introduced a perverse incentive to overprovide services, creating a mismatch between patient needs and the supply of health care resources. Poor coordination among health care providers and the highly decentralized governance of the health care system have also contributed to the crisis. In order to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Japanese health care system beyond COVID-19, it is essential to promote specialization and differentiation of medical functions among hospitals, to strengthen governance, and to introduce appropriate payment reform.

Understanding the Barriers to Offshore Green-Hydrogen Production

The stage is set to begin making “green” hydrogen from the world’s abundant supply of seawater. But whether this niche-within-a-niche can stand on its own and become a competitive energy source remains uncertain. Today, only about 1% of man-made hydrogen is considered to be green, and not a single atom of it is produced offshore. In the offshore concept, the green label will be earned by splitting the hydrogen out of desalinated seawater with electrolyzers that run on renewable wind energy. This represents an opportunity for oil and gas companies to not just lower their carbon footprints, but to leverage billions of dollars’ worth of existing offshore infrastructure. Their platforms can host the electrolyzers. Their pipelines can transfer the product to shore. They may even be able to power their offshore facilities using the hydrogen produced at sea. Offshore producers should also have no problem finding a market. PriceWaterhouseCoopers said in a report from last year that green-hydrogen exports could be worth $300 billion annually by 2050, supporting some 400,000 jobs globally. However, the first set of offshore pilots are still in planning mode. It will take a few more years to assess the results once they start up. That means we may not know if offshore hydrogen is commercially viable until decade’s end. Some of the biggest barriers that must be overcome were highlighted by a panel of leading hydrogen experts at the recent Offshore Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston. Green Hydrogen in the Red “The major hurdle is still the cost,” explained René Peters. “The cost of hydrogen production with electrolysis is still extremely high compared to gray- and blue-hydrogen production.” Peters is the business director at the Dutch technology group TNO which is one of a dozen partners trying to launch PosHYdon, the pilot for offshore hydrogen production. Startup is expected by early 2023 on a normally unmanned oil and gas platform operated by independent oil and gas company Neptune Energy. Peters’ comments on cost were not relegated to the offshore aspect since all green hydrogen is made onshore today. In terms of tipping point for profitability, these are the relevant benchmarks.

Pemberdayaan Usaha Kerajinan Anyaman Bambu Karya Kelompok Usaha Ibu-Ibu “Sari Murni” Desa Landih, Dusun Buayang-Bangli

The geographical condition, which has a cool climate and abundant supply of bamboo, is used by the people of Landih Village as raw material for producing bamboo-based hand-woven handicrafts, such as sokasi. The business groups that are used as partners in the 2021 community service program come from among women called the “Sari Murni” Socation Craftsman Empowerment Group. The problems faced by partners are: 1) Limited capital, which causes partners to experience difficulties in fulfilling the need for bamboo raw materials and supporting materials 2) Limited skills in recording financial transactions 3) Distribution of products is carried out conventionally. The solutions offered are 1) Provision of Production Support Facilities and Infrastructure 2) Training on Recording of Financial Transactions and Provision of a Digitalized Financial Recording System 3) Provision of Websites as a Form of Marketing Strategy and Online Promotion Strategy Training.

Application of Fiber Made from Bark of Salak (Salacca Zalacca) Tree as Reinforcement in Polymer Matrix Composites

<p class="02abstracttext">Although Indonesia is abundant supply of salak (Salacca zalacca) fruit, bark of salak is not yet advanced utilized. This work therefore chracterized its fiber and process it into polymer matrix composites. The study was conducted using varied chemical treatments. Delignification using NaOH solution with concentration of 1%, 5%, 10% with 3 hours immersion time. Bleaching treatment was using H₂O₂ media with varied immersion time at 30, 60 and 90 minutes. Tensile tests, impact tests, microscopic image test using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and chemical composition test using fourier-transform infra-red (FTIR) spectroscopy were carried out in this work. This work showed that optimal delignification treatment can be found when 5% NaOH concentration was used. The corresponding ultimate tensile strength and impact strength were 25.47 MPa and 11.95 kJ/m², respectively. The optimal bleaching treatment was 90 minutes immersion. The results of SEM image analysis showed that the salak midrib fiber composite without treatment has a lousy interface. Meanwhile, fiber with delignification treatment only has reasonable good interface and fiber with delignation treatment followed by bleaching treatment has excellent interface. FTIR test results showed that the salak midrib fiber composite without treatment had a cellulose component although hemicellulose and lignin levels still dominated. The delignification treatment had succesfully broken the lignin-specific C = O bond but still could not eliminated hemicellulose and lignin bond. In comparison, bleaching treatment reduced intensity of OH intensity, CH and CO which are typical hemicellulose and lignin functional groups. Based on the results of the study, salak midrib fiber with delignification chemical treatment using 5% NaOH for 3 hours followed by bleaching treatment using 2% H₂O₂ for 90 minutes was the best treatment.</p>

Renewable Energy Penetration in Warri Metropolis

Energy plays an important role in the economic growth, development and security of any nation. Despite having abundant supply of both renewable and nonrenewable energy resources, Nigeria still experiences acute shortage of energy supply to its populace. Currently, the country depends largely on its fossil fuels derived from the Niger Delta region with attendant negative environmental impacts in the area. It is advocated that a switch to renewable sources will eradicate or at least ameliorate some of the environmental challenges. This study attempts to gauge the feasibility and potential of renewable energy (RE) to become a substitute or at the minimum a significant complement to fossil fuels in Nigeria with focus on Niger Delta. As such, attempt is made to assess the current degree of penetration of RE by measuring the level of awareness and utilization as well as identifying factors affecting utilization in the region using Warri metropolis as a case study. 232 survey questionnaires was deployed in the four local government areas - Okpe, Udu, Uvwie and Ughelli-North - that makes up the metropolis across households, commercial ventures and industries with 180 retrieved. Results show that awareness is highest among households at 66% and lowest for commercial ventures and industry at 30%. Utilization was generally low at 23% across households while none of the commercial ventures and industries sampled utilizes RE with most citing cost of installation and maintenance viz a viz their power requirement as a major factor. ANOVA shows there is no significant difference in behavior across locations while chi square test affirms that RE utilization is a function of awareness. Outcome points to need for greater awareness campaign and cost reduction of RE technologies.

Stratigraphic Variations of Fe–Mn Micronodules and Implications for the Formation of Extremely REY-Rich Mud in the Western North Pacific Ocean

The origin of deep-sea sediments in the western North Pacific Ocean, which are significantly enriched in rare-earth elements and yttrium (REY), and its paleoceanographic implications have been poorly constrained. Here, we investigated stratigraphic variations in the chemical compositions and textures of ferromanganese (Fe–Mn) micronodules separated from western North Pacific sediments. The characteristics of the micronodules of an extremely REY-rich mud layer vary from almost purely diagenetic to relatively hydrogenetic. This indicates the abundant supply of organic matter to the sediment together with fish debris that accumulates REY at the onset of the REY-enrichment of the mud, followed by the exposure of the seafloor to oxic water masses during the latter half of the formation of the REY-rich mud. These results support a previously proposed formation mechanism based on which enhanced bottom water currents caused pelagic fish proliferation via the upwelling of nutrients and fish debris was physically sorted and selectively accumulated on the seafloor. After the main REY-enrichment, the micronodules exhibit varying diagenetic signatures, suggesting changes in the bottom current intensities after the main REY-enrichment. However, the bulk REY contents do not increase. This implies that a sufficient increase in the fish productivity is an essential factor affecting the formation of REY-rich mud.

Indole-3-lactic acid associated with Bifidobacterium-dominated microbiota significantly decreases inflammation in intestinal epithelial cells

Background Bifidobacterium longum subsp. infantis (B. infantis) is a commensal bacterium that colonizes the gastrointestinal tract of breast-fed infants. B. infantis can efficiently utilize the abundant supply of oligosaccharides found in human milk (HMO) to help establish residence. We hypothesized that metabolites from B. infantis grown on HMO produce a beneficial effect on the host. Results In a previous study, we demonstrated that B. infantis routinely dominated the fecal microbiota of a breast fed Bangladeshi infant cohort (1). Characterization of the fecal metabolome of binned samples representing high and low B. infantis populations from this cohort revealed higher amounts of the tryptophan metabolite indole-3-lactic acid (ILA) in feces with high levels of B. infantis. Further in vitro analysis confirmed that B. infantis produced significantly greater quantities of the ILA when grown on HMO versus lactose, suggesting a growth substrate relationship to ILA production. The direct effects of ILA were assessed in a macrophage cell line and intestinal epithelial cell lines. ILA (1-10 mM) significantly attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced activation of NF-kB in macrophages. ILA significantly attenuated TNF-α- and LPS-induced increase in the pro-inflammatory cytokine IL-8 in intestinal epithelial cells. ILA increased mRNA expression of the aryl hydrogen receptor (AhR)-target gene CYP1A1 and nuclear factor erythroid 2–related factor 2 (Nrf2)-targeted genes glutathione reductase 2 (GPX2), superoxide dismutase 2 (SOD2), and NAD(P) H dehydrogenase (NQO1). Pretreatment with either the AhR antagonist or Nrf-2 antagonist inhibited the response of ILA on downstream effectors. Conclusions These findings suggest that ILA, a predominant metabolite from B. infantis grown on HMO and elevated in infant stool high in B. infantis, and protects gut epithelial cells in culture via activation of the AhR and Nrf2 pathway.

Chasing Martians

This chapter reviews the question of whether life could exist on Mars today as certain conditions must hold true in order for chemically based life to develop and take root. It points out that Mars has ancient, dried-up river valleys, deltas, and lake-like formations, and the Sun shines brightly on Mars. It also describes Mars' abundant supply of atmosphere and soil that supply a handful of bio-essential elements: carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen, phosphorous, and sulfur. The chapter looks at evidence that was summarized in 2016 by Ray Arvidson and James S. McDonnell, which reveals multiple time periods when Mars was warm enough and wet enough for long enough to support life. It mentions the Opportunity rover that explored the ancient wide Endeavor Crater and found that the crater generated a hydrothermal system that would have produced a relatively habitable subsurface environment.