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In bioreactors used for the purification of wastewater, microorganisms are active in biofilms or aggregates. Insight into the factors that determine the structure and function of aggregated biomass is increasing steadily. Besides conventional techniques, modem molecular techniques are used increasingly to get a better understanding of the complex microbial communities in wastewater treatment systems. In recent years, the combined use of these techniques has led to a good insight into the population dynamics of different types of microbes in bioreactors.

Adsorption of randomly branched polyelectrolytes, "hairy" particles and internally structured macromolecules, collectively denoted as heterogeneously charged nanoparticles, on charged surfaces is important in many technological and natural processes. In this paper, we will focus on (1) the charge regulation of both the nanoparticle and the surface and (2) the surface complexation between the particle functional groups and the surface sites and will theoretically study the adsorption using the extended surface complexation approach. The model explicitly considers the electrochemical potential of a nanoparticle with an average (smeared-out) structure and charge both in bulk solution and on the surface to obtain the equilibrium adsorption. The chemical heterogeneity of the particle is described by a distribution of the protonation constant. Detailed analysis of the chemical potential of the adsorbed nanoparticle reveals that the pH and salt dependence of the adsorption can be largely explained by the balance between an energy gain resulting from the particle and surface charge regulation and the surface complexation and an energy loss from the unfavorable interparticle electrostatic repulsion close to the surface. This conclusion is also supported by the strong impacts that the chemical heterogeneity of the particle functional groups, the magnitude of the surface complexation, the number of the functional groups, and the size of the particle have on the adsorption.

This paper addresses the current knowledge on climate change impacts on mass movement activity in mountain environments by illustrating characteristic cases of debris flows, rock slope failures and landslides from the French, Italian, and Swiss Alps. It is expected that events are likely to occur less frequently during summer, whereas the anticipated increase of rainfall in spring and fall could likely alter debris-flow activity during the shoulder seasons (March, April, November, and December). The magnitude of debris flows could become larger due to larger amounts of sediment delivered to the channels and as a result of the predicted increase in heavy precipitation events. At the same time, however, debris-flow volumes in high-mountain areas will depend chiefly on the stability and/or movement rates of permafrost bodies, and destabilized rock glaciers could lead to debris flows without historic precedents in the future. The frequency of rock slope failures is likely to increase, as excessively warm air temperatures, glacier shrinkage, as well as permafrost warming and thawing will affect and reduce rock slope stability in the direction that adversely affects rock slope stability. Changes in landslide activity in the French and Western Italian Alps will likely depend on differences in elevation. Above 1500 m asl, the projected decrease in snow season duration in future winters and springs will likely affect the frequency, number and seasonality of landslide reactivations. In Piemonte, for instance, 21st century landslides have been demonstrated to occur more frequently in early spring and to be triggered by moderate rainfalls, but also to occur in smaller numbers. On the contrary, and in line with recent observations, events in autumn, characterized by a large spatial density of landslide occurrences might become more scarce in the Piemonte region.

Forest trees dominate many Alpine landscapes that are currently exposed to changing climate. Norway spruce is one of the most important conifer species of the Italian Alps, and natural populations are found across steep environmental gradients with large differences in temperature and moisture availability. This study seeks to determine and quantify patterns of genetic diversity in natural populations toward understanding adaptive responses to changing climate. Across the Italian species range, 24 natural stands were sampled with a major focus on the Eastern Italian Alps. Sampled trees were genotyped for 384 selected single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 285 genes. A wide array of potential candidate genes was tested for correlation with climatic parameters. To minimize false-positive association between genotype and climate, population structure was investigated. Pairwise F ST estimates between sampled populations ranged between 0.000 and 0.075, with the highest values involving the two disjoint populations, Valdieri, on the western Italian Alps, and Campolino, the most southern population on the Apennines. Despite considerable genetic admixture among populations, both Bayesian and multivariate approach identified four genetic clusters. Selection scans revealed five F ST outliers, and the environmental association analysis detected ten SNPs associated to one or more climatic variables. Overall, 13 potentially adaptive loci were identified, three of which have been reported in a previous study on the same species conducted on a broader geographical scale. In our study, precipitation, more than temperature, was often associated with genotype; therefore, it appears as the most important environmental variable associated with the high sensitivity of Norway spruce to soil water supply. These findings provide relevant information for understanding and quantifying climate change effects on this species and its ability to genetically adapt.

Abstract Environmental-impact reduction potential is great early in new product development. To exploit this potential, this study evaluates novel combinations of existent processing technologies. Process engineering is combined with an environmental product assessment along the supply chain. In the dairy sector, drying milk into milk powders is a highly energy-intensive process. This study investigates whether switching from milk powders to new products known as milk concentrates diminishes the overall environmental impact along the supply chains of dairy-containing products. A comparative life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted, which considers individual processing steps that can be combined and operated in various ways to generate a multitude of different skim milk concentrates. For relevant environmental indicators such as cumulative energy demand, global warming potential, eutrophication potential, and acidification potential, concentrates were found to have a lower environmental impact than powders, even if the former are trucked up to 1000 km. This break-even distance is a conservative estimate. It depends upon the environmental impact of raw-milk production. The concentrate with the lowest environmental impact is produced by a combined concentration with reverse osmosis and evaporation to a dry-matter content of 35% and preservation via subsequent pasteurization. This holds for all indicators except eutrophication potential, for which this concentrate is the second-best option. This study identifies the frame within which milk concentrates are an advantageous substitution for milk powder and demonstrates the value of applying environmental assessment to product development and processing-technology selection.

The transcription factor cAMP responsive element-binding protein 1 (CREB1) has a complex influence on behavioural responses to drugs of abuse which varies depending on the brain region in which it is expressed. In response to drug exposure, CREB1 is phosphorylated in the striatum, a structure that is critically involved in reward-related learning.The present study assessed the role of striatal CREB1 and its coactivator CREB-binding protein (CBP) in behavioural responses to psychostimulants.Using the 'cre/lox' recombination system, we generated mice with a postnatal deletion of CREB1 or CBP directed to medium spiny neurons of the striatum. qRT-PCR and immunohistochemistry were used to confirm the deletion, and mice were assessed with respect to their locomotor response to acute cocaine (20 mg/kg), cocaine sensitization (10 mg/kg), amphetamine-induced stereotypies (10 mg/kg) and ethanol-induced hypnosis (3.5 g/kg).Here we show that CREB1 mutant mice have increased sensitivity to psychostimulants, an effect that does not generalise to ethanol-induced hypnosis. Furthermore, in the absence of CREB1, there is rapid postnatal upregulation of the related transcription factor CREM, indicating possible redundancy amongst this family of transcription factors. Finally striatal deletion of CBP, a coactivator for the CREB1/CREM signalling pathway, results in an even more increased sensitivity to psychostimulants.These data suggest that striatal CREB1 regulates sensitivity to psychostimulants and that CREM acting via CBP is able to partially compensate in the absence of CREB1 signalling.

The Alpine Forest Genomics Network was formed in 2011 and held its first annual meeting on June 24–26, 2012, in the Natural Park Adamello Brenta in Trentino Region, Italy. The meeting was attended by 30 researchers from the alpine region of Europe and had two primary goals: (1) for researchers to introduce each other to current and planned research activities in forest landscape genomics and (2) to develop a strategic vision for the network. A steering committee was elected and will develop a white paper over the next year. The next annual meeting will be held in Austria in June 2013.

False codling moth Thaumatotibia leucotreta (Meyrick) is a pest native to sub-Saharan Africa infesting over 100 plant species including tomato. Its survival and performance are influenced by changes in precipitation and stress-related biochemical changes in the host plant. Water availability for agricultural production continues to decline due to climate change affecting drought-sensitive crops like tomatoes. Little is known on host plant-insect interactions of T. leucotreta and tomato as influenced by moisture stress. Hence, our study tested the impact of different water holding capacities (WHC) (40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, and 90%) of plant growing media on the growth of Anna F1 and Yaye tomato varieties and the infestation rate and development of T. leucotreta on the two varieties. WHC significantly influenced the growth of Anna F1 and Yaye tomato varieties. WHC significantly affected stem girth of Anna F1 variety and leaf length, leaf width, stem girth, and plant height of the Yaye variety. For Yaye variety, T. leucotreta laid a significantly high number of eggs when grown at 70% WHC and had the highest pupation when grown at 60% WHC. The development of T. leucotreta as observed on wing growth was highest at 40% and 50% WHC for both Anna F1 variety and Yaye variety. Our study shows that the infestation of tomato by T. leucotreta is likely to be high when grown in water-scarce media. The results are useful for predicting possible future T. leucotreta trends with increasing water scarcity due to climate change and in designing pest management programmes.