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The adenine nucleotide translocation in mitochondria has previously been established as an exchange between exogenous and endogenous adenine nucleotides across the inner membrane. The specificity and the control of the exchange are examined with the following major results: The adenine nucleotide translocation is relatively specific for exogenous ADP and ATP, AMP being nearly inactive. Among other nucleotides tested, only dADP and dATP exchange with a noticeable activity. In the controlled state ADP exchanges 2–4 times faster than ATP. If simultaneously added, ADP and ATP compete for the exchange, with ADP being about tenfold more active than ATP. The specificity of the exit of adenine nucleotides in the exchange is similar to the specificity of the entrance with the difference that ADP and ATP are released with equal activity in proportion to their intramitochondrial content. AMP is released only after a slow conversion to ADP. Therefore the short time exchange is limited by the endogenous content of ADP plus ATP. The exchange is influenced by the metabolic state of the mitochondria. The ATP exchange is more variable than the ADP exchange. Two effects are elucidated: (a) the influence of the metabolic state on the relative content of AMP which inhibits both the ADP and ATP exchange (b) the coupling of the energy transfer system which inhibits only the ATP exchange. An example for case (a) is the inhibition of the ADP and ATP exchange by arsenate and an example for case (b) is the strong increase of the ATP exchange on uncoupling. The following effects are relevant to the mechanism of the control of the exchange by ATP. The stimulation of the ATP exchange by uncoupler has the same concentration dependence as the uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation (Km [CCP] = 0.08 μM, where CCP = carbonyl‐cyanide‐phenylhydrazone). Oligomycin does not abolish the uncoupler effect on the ATP exchange. “Endogenous uncoupling” on aging of mitochondria also stimulates the ATP exchange. Valinomycin plus K+ only slightly stimulate the ATP exchange. Anaerobiosis stimulates the ATP exchange to a smaller extent than uncoupling.In competition with ADP the effects of energy transfer on ATP exchange are more strongly revealed. On uncoupling the more than tenfold preference for ADP is fully abolished. It is concluded that basically the exchange for ADP and ATP has equal specificity in forward and reverse reaction. In the controlled state a superimposed force makes the specificity asymmetric and inhibits the entrance of ATP. This control of the ATP exchange is concluded to be based on the anionic character of the adenine nucleotides. Thus the ATP4‐ex–ADP3‐in exchange is inhibited unless the charge difference is compensated for by an uncoupler stimulated H+ movement across the membrane. Furthermore an electric potential gradient appears to be effective in the controlled state which is abolished on uncoupling.

Abstract Background Malaria remains one of the most devastating diseases globally, and the control of mosquitoes as the vector is mainly dependent on chemical insecticides. Elevated temperatures associated with future warmer climates could affect mosquitoes' metabolic enzyme expression and increase insecticide resistance, making vector control difficult. Understanding how mosquito rearing temperatures influence their susceptibility to insecticide and expression of metabolic enzymes could aid in the development of novel tools and strategies to control mosquitoes in a future warmer climate. This study evaluated the effects of temperature on the susceptibility of Anopheles gambiae sensu lato (s.l.) mosquitoes to pyrethroids and their expression of metabolic enzymes. Methods Anopheles gambiae s.l. eggs obtained from laboratory-established colonies were reared under eight temperature regimes (25, 28, 30, 32, 34, 36, 38, and 40 °C). Upon adult emergence, 3- to 5-day-old female non-blood-fed mosquitoes were used for susceptibility tests following the World Health Organization (WHO) bioassay protocol. Batches of 20–25 mosquitoes from each temperature regime (25–34 °C) were exposed to two pyrethroid insecticides (0.75% permethrin and 0.05% deltamethrin). In addition, the levels of four metabolic enzymes (α-esterase, β-esterase, glutathione S-transferase [GST], and mixed-function oxidase [MFO]) were examined in mosquitoes that were not exposed and those that were exposed to pyrethroids. Results Mortality in An. gambiae s.l. mosquitoes exposed to deltamethrin and permethrin decreased at temperatures above 28 °C. In addition, mosquitoes reared at higher temperatures were more resistant and had more elevated enzyme levels than those raised at low temperatures. Overall, mosquitoes that survived after being exposed to pyrethroids had higher levels of metabolic enzymes than those that were not exposed to pyrethroids. Conclusions This study provides evidence that elevated temperatures decreased An. gambiae s.l. mosquitoes' susceptibility to pyrethroids and increased the expression of metabolic enzymes. This evidence suggests that elevated temperatures projected in a future warmer climate could increase mosquitoes' resistance to insecticides and complicate malaria vector control measures. This study therefore provides vital information, and suggests useful areas of future research, on the effects of temperature variability on mosquitoes that could guide vector control measures in a future warmer climate. Graphical Abstract

In recent years, the rapid development of the rare earth industry has had a serious impact on the environment. Some enterprises have taken measures to improve the production process. In order to explore the sustainability of this industry and these improvements’ environmental benefits, this paper combines emergy analysis and lifecycle assessment to evaluate and compare the production process of rare-earth oxides considering the three aspects of emergy flow, pollutant emissions, and emergy-based indicators. Changes in the emergy of pollutant emissions before and after improvement of the production process are discussed. The results show that the greatest inputs in the mining and beneficiation stage and smelting separation stage are labor force and service and non-renewable resources, respectively. These two production stages are highly dependent on external input and have weak competitiveness. Both stages place great pressure on the environment, so the bastnasite production process would be unsustainable in the long term. After the improvement, the environmental impact of the production process for bastnaesite changed significantly, indicating that the improvement effect of the wastewater treatment facilities and the change of fuel from coal to natural gas is remarkable.

The latest information from Hiroshima and Nagasaki on radiation-induced cancer in man includes new DS86 dose assignments and extension of the Life-Span Study Sample cohort through 1985. The implications of these new doses and updated data for the assessment of cancer risk at low to moderate doses have been evaluated. Results from the fitting of three dose-response models (linear, quadratic, linear-quadratic) to the data at doses less than 1.5 Gy are reported. Based on statistical analyses of the authors' results, comments are made concerning the possible shapes of dose-response curves for human cancer.

Decarbonizing the building sector is extremely important to mitigating climate change as the sector contributes 40% of the overall energy consumption and 36% of the total greenhouse gas emissions in the world. Net-zero energy buildings are one of the promising decarbonization attempts due to their potential of decreasing the use of energy and increasing the total share of renewable energy. To achieve a net-zero energy building, it is necessary to decrease the energy demand by applying efficiency enhancement measures and using renewable energy sources. Net-zero energy buildings can be classified into four models (Net-Zero Site Energy buildings, Net-Zero Emissions buildings, Net-Zero Source Energy buildings, and Net-Zero Cost Energy buildings). A variety of technical, financial, and environmental factors should be considered during the decision-making process of net-zero energy building development, justifying the use of multi-criteria decision analysis methods for the design of net-zero energy buildings. This paper also discussed the contributions of renewable energy generation (hydropower, wind energy, solar, heat pumps, and bioenergy) to the development of net-zero energy buildings and reviewed its role in tackling the decarbonization challenge. Cost-benefit analysis and life cycle assessment of building designs were reviewed to shape the priorities of future development. It is important to develop a universal decision instrument for optimum design and operation of net-zero energy buildings.

Environment-friendly treatment of sewage sludge has become tremendously important. Conversion of sewage sludge into energy products by environment-friendly conversion process, with its energy recovery and environmental benefits, is being paid significant attention. Direct liquefaction of sewage sludge into bio-oils with supercritical water (SCW) was therefore put forward in this study, as de-water usually requiring intensive energy input is not necessary in this direct liquefaction. Supercritical water may act as a strong solvent and also a reactant, as well as catalyst promoting reaction process. Experiments were carried out in a self designed high-pressure reaction system with varying operating conditions. Through orthogonal experiments, it was found that temperature and residence time dominated on bio-oil yield compared with other operating parameters. Temperature from 350 to 500°C and reaction residence time of 0, 30, 60min were accordingly investigated in details, respectively. Under supercritical conversion, the maximum bio-oil yield could achieve 39.73%, which was performed at 375°C and 0min reaction residence time. Meanwhile, function of supercritical water was concluded. Fuel property analysis showed the potential of bio-oil application as crude fuel.

Abstract This study investigates the non-linear relationship between urbanization paths and CO2 emissions in selected South, South-East, and East Asian countries over the period 1971–2014. Based on the STIRPAT (Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, and Technology) framework, we applied the advanced and robust methods of dynamic seemingly unrelated regression (DSUR), dynamic OLS (DOLS), and fully modified OLS (FMOLS) to estimate the long-term effects. The empirical findings revealed the inverted U-shaped effects of urbanization and urban agglomeration and the U-shaped impact of the largest city ratio on CO2 emissions. Urbanization and urban agglomerations improve environmental quality in the long-run and support ecological modernization theory. However, excessive concentration in the largest cities have severely affected the environmental quality and violates the notion of compact-city efficiencies. Moreover, energy intensity and economic growth positively affect CO2 emissions, while trade openness negatively influences CO2 emissions. Our robustness analysis at the country-level applies the augmented mean group (AMG) panel ARDL technique, which further supports the non-linear effect of urbanization paths on CO2 emissions except for a few countries. The results of the panel Granger non-causality approach unveil bidirectional causality of energy efficiency, economic growth, urbanization, and largest city ratio with CO2 emissions. In contrast, unidirectional causality runs from urban agglomeration to CO2 emissions. Our findings have important policy implications as we suggest green urban infrastructures, eco-friendly dwellings, smart cities, country-specific trade policies, and renewable energy options to improve the environmental quality.

White sweet clover found voluntarily growing on a deep bed of soft coal fly ash was found to contain high concentrations of a number of elements including selenium, bromine, and molybdenum, rubidium, strontium, and others. The clover was harvested and fed as 23.5% of a dry pelleted ration to lambs and pregnant goats for up to 173 days. High concentrations of selenium were found in 11 tissues, blood, goats' milk, and excreta of lambs, goats, and newborn kids. Molybdenum in liver, strontium in bone, and bromine and rubidium in animal tissues were also elevated over those in the corresponding tissues of animals fed an identical ration containing control clover grown on soil. No gross or histologic lesions were present in any of the animals.