No abstract

We provide a quantitative assessment of the prospects for current and future biomass feedstocks for bioenergy in Australia, and associated estimates of the greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation resulting from their use for production of biofuels or bioelectricity. National statistics were used to estimate current annual production from agricultural and forest production systems. Crop residues were estimated from grain production and harvest index. Wood production statistics and spatial modelling of forest growth were used to estimate quantities of pulpwood, in-forest residues, and wood processing residues. Possible new production systems for oil from algae and the oilseed tree Pongamia pinnata, and of lignocellulosic biomass production from short-rotation coppiced eucalypt crops were also examined. The following constraints were applied to biomass production and use: avoiding clearing of native vegetation; minimizing impacts on domestic food security; retaining a portion of agricultural and forest residues to protect soil; and minimizing the impact on local processing industries by diverting only the export fraction of grains or pulpwood to bioenergy. We estimated that it would be physically possible to produce 9.6 GL yr À1 of first generation ethanol from current production systems, replacing 6.5 GL yr À1 of gasoline or 34% of current gasoline usage. Current production systems for waste oil, tallow and canola seed could produce 0.9 GL yr À1 of biodiesel, or 4% of current diesel usage. Cellulosic biomass from current agricultural and forestry production systems (including biomass from hardwood plantations maturing by 2030) could produce 9.5 GL yr , or ca. 15% of current electricity production. New production systems using algae and P. pinnata could produce ca. 3.96 and 0.9 GL biodiesel yr À1 , respectively. In combination, they could replace 4.2 GL yr À1 of fossil diesel, or 23% of current usage. Short-rotation coppiced eucalypt crops could provide 4.3 GL yr À1 of ethanol (2.9 GL yr À1 replacement, or 15% of current gasoline use) or 20.2 TWh yr À1 of electricity (9% of current generation). In total, first and second generation fuels from current and new production systems could mitigate 26 Mt CO 2 -e, which is 38% of road transport emissions and 5% of the national emissions. Second generation fuels from current and new production systems could mitigate 13 Mt CO 2 -e, which is 19% of road transport emissions and 2.4% of the national emissions lignocellulose from current and new production systems could mitigate 48 Mt CO 2 -e, which is 28% of electricity emissions and 9% of the national emissions. There are challenging sustainability issues to consider in the production of large amounts of feedstock for bioenergy in Australia. Bioenergy production can have either positive or negative impacts. Although only the export fraction of grains and sugar was used to estimate first generation biofuels so that domestic food security was not affected, it would have an impact on food supply elsewhere. Environmental impacts o...

Our understanding of metastatic spread is limited and molecular mechanisms causing particular characteristics of metastasis are largely unknown. Herein, transcriptome-wide expression profiles of a unique cohort of 20 laser-resected pulmonary metastases (Mets) of 18 patients with clear-cell renal cell carcinoma (RCC) were analyzed to identify expression patterns associated with two important prognostic factors in RCC: the disease-free interval (DFI) after nephrectomy and the number of Mets per patient. Differentially expressed genes were identified by comparing early (DFI 9 months) and late (DFI 5 years) Mets, and Mets derived from patients with few ( 8) and multiple ( 16) Mets. Early and late Mets could be separated by the expression of genes involved in metastasis-associated processes, such as angiogenesis, cell migration and adhesion (e.g., PECAM1, KDR). Samples from patients with multiple Mets showed an elevated expression of genes associated with cell division and cell cycle (e.g., PBK, BIRC5, PTTG1) which indicates that a high number of Mets might result from an increased growth potential. Minimal sets of genes for the prediction of the DFI and the number of Mets per patient were identified. Microarray results were confirmed by quantitative PCR by including nine further pulmonary Mets of RCC. In summary, we showed that subgroups of Mets are distinguishable based on their expression profiles, which reflect the DFI and the number of Mets of a patient. To what extent the identified molecular factors contribute to the development of these characteristics of metastatic spread needs to be analyzed in further studies. ' UICC Key words: kidney cancer; lung metastases; oligonucleotide microarraysIn numerous tumour types, the development of metastases (Mets) causes the patients' death. The median survival of renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients amounts to merely 6 to 12 months after Mets have been diagnosed. 1 RCC is the urological cancer with the highest percentage of tumour-related deaths 2 because metastasis occurs in about 60% of the patients. 3 The preferential localization of RCC Mets is the lung. 1 In contrast to the emerging development of molecular-based therapies for RCC in the last few years, 3 molecular prognostic markers are still missing. Despite the knowledge of several molecular factors involved in metastatic spread like angiogenesis, cell adhesion, invasion or migration, 4,5 little is known about specific characteristics of this complex process. These are, for example, primary-dependent site-specific metastasis, 6 varying dormancy periods of Mets originating from the same primary tumour entity causing disease-free intervals (DFI) ranging from several months to many years, or the differing number of Mets in patients with the same primary tumour. Knowing the molecular fundamentals of these phenomena would support the prognosis of patients' outcome and facilitate the decision for an appropriate therapy regime, particularly in RCC where the DFI and the number of Mets are important predictors of clinical...

Purpose:The aim of the present study was to define gene expression profiles of noninvasive and invasive bladder cancer, to identify potential therapeutic or screening targets in bladder cancer, and to define genetic changes relevant for tumor progression of recurrent papillary bladder cancer (pTa). Experimental Design: Overall, 67 bladder neoplasms (46 pTa, 3 pTis, 10 pT1, and 8 pT2) and eight normal bladder specimens were investigated by a combination of laser microdissection and gene expression profiling. Eight of 16 patients with recurrent noninvasive papillary bladder tumors developed carcinoma in situ (pTis) or invasive bladder cancer (zpT1G2) in the course of time. RNA expression results of the putative progression marker cathepsin E (CTSE) were confirmed by immunohistochemistry using high-throughput tissue microarray analysis (n = 776). Univariate analysis of factors regarding overall survival, progression-free survival, and recurrence-free survival in patients with urothelial bladder cancer was done. Results: Hierarchical cluster analyses revealed no differences between pTaG1 and pTaG2 tumors. However, distinct groups of invasive cancers with different gene expression profiles in papillary and solid tumors were found. Progression-associated gene profiles could be defined (e.g., FABP4 and CTSE) and were already present in the preceding noninvasive papillary tumors. CTSE expression (P = 0.003) and a high Ki-67 labeling index of at least 5% (P = 0.01) were the only factors that correlated significantly with progression-free survival of pTa tumors in our gene expression approach. Conclusions: Gene expression profiling revealed novel genes with potential clinical utility to select patients that are more likely to develop aggressive disease.At the time of first diagnosis, f70% of bladder tumors are noninvasive papillary low-grade tumors (pTa). However, >60% of these tumors will recur at least once and progress to infiltrating or less differentiated neoplasms in 5% to 10% of cases (1). Despite the fact that the majority of superficial bladder tumors are clinically benign, regular cystoscopic follow-up at intervals is done in all patients with noninvasive bladder cancer after complete transurethral resection to detect recurrence and progression. A plethora of potential clinical and histopathologic factors indicative of tumor progression are currently discussed in the context of papillary bladder cancer: high tumor grade (2), tumor size of >5 cm (3), multifocality (4), adjacent carcinoma in situ (5), and high rate of recurrence. However, none of these markers reliably predicts a higher progression rate in papillary carcinoma of the bladder (pTa). It is important to identify the small subgroup of patients that will most likely benefit from close clinical follow-up and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin instillation therapy. New molecular prognostic markers for the prediction of tumor recurrence and progression are urgently needed.Mutations of the tumor suppressor genes TP53 and RB1 are common and have predictive va...