Search results for " DEGRADATION"

Soil structural stability and erosion rates influenced by agricultural management practices in a semi-arid Mediterranean agro-ecosystem

2012

Unsuitable agricultural practices can cause loss in soil quality and erodibility to thus increase or trigger desertification under Mediterranean conditions. A field experiment was performed at the El Teularet-Sierra de Enguera Experimental Station (eastern Spain) to assess the influence during a 5-yr period of different agricultural practices on physical and chemical indicators of soil quality (total and water-soluble carbohydrates, glomalin-related soil proteins (GRSP), total organic carbon, aggregate stability (AS), vegetation cover and soil erosion). The management practices included residual herbicide use, ploughing, ploughing + oats, addition of oat straw mulch and a control (land aban…

Cover crop management and water conservation in vineyard and olive orchards

2021

Abstract Sustainability in orchard crops is an important goal for farmers, decision-makers and consumers. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals emphasize the importance of the soils in the Earth System to achieve sustainability and accomplish the Land Degradation Neutrality Challenge. Within the world agriculture land, olive and vineyards are within the eldest crops in the world, and they are also the ones with the highest degree of soil degradation. Cover crops (CC) are widely accepted as sustainable crop management that reduces soil and water losses, restores organic matter, increases biodiversity and fertility in degraded agriculture soils. The agriculture land must shift into…

Isolation and characterization of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria from Algerian coast

2017

Backgrounds The contamination of marine environments by hydrocarbons represents a global concern with consequences on ecosystems and human health. The removal of HC by physical and/or chemical methods is expensive and disrespectful of the environment. The use of HC degrading bacteria is a good alternative for environmental remediation (bioremediation). Objectives The Algerian coastline is exposed to several types of pollutions, including hydrocarbons. The aim was to explore the bioremediation potential of its contaminated harbors for the first time. Methods To identify the hydrocarbon degrading bacteria seawater samples were collected in Sidi fredj harbor (Algeria) and used to enrichment cu…

Photon absorption by aqueous TiO2 dispersion contained in a stirred photoreactor

1991

We present a simple experimental method which allows the evaluation of the absorbed photon flow. The method is based on measurements of transmitted photon rates (by means of standard actinometer solutions) for different reactor thicknesses and/or catalyst concentrations. The method was applied to phenol degradation reaction carried out in a stirred batch phtotoreactor containing aqueous TiO 2 (anatase) dispersion, directly irradied by a 1,500 W Xe lamp

The effect of the surface disordered layer on the photoreactivity of titania nanoparticles

2017

It is well known that the surface of metal oxide catalysts presents, usually, non-crystalline species containing impurities and low coordinated cations, which are observed in HRTEM images as a disordered layer of amorphous phase. Despite of being these species more accessible and less stable than the crystalline catalysts components, they have been rarely considered when analysing the catalyst activity. In this work, we have studied the effect of a treatment with HCl solution at pH = 0 on the characteristics of the disordered layer in two commercial anatase TiO2 samples, using techniques such as TGA, 1H MAS-NMR and HRTEM, and by determining these sample photocatalytic activity for the 4-nit…

Surface and Electronic Features of Fluorinated TiO 2 and Their Influence on the Photocatalytic Degradation of 1-Methylnaphthalene

2020

International audience; Surface fluorination improves the photocatalytic activity of TiO2, and the influences of various features of fluorinated TiO2 (TiO2–F) have often been discussed in the literature. The present paper addresses the changes induced by surface fluorination on the morphological, structural, surface, and electronic features of TiO2. In particular, X-ray diffraction, specific surface area analysis, and transmission and scanning electron microscopy give evidence that surface fluorination does not affect the structural properties and the morphology of TiO2 nanoparticles. In contrast, fluorination induces changes of surface and electronic properties. Chemical and thermogravimet…

Antioxidant activity and cardioprotective effect of a nonalcoholic extract of Vaccinium meridionale Swartz during ischemia-reperfusion in rats

2013

Our objective was to assess the antioxidant properties and the effects against the reperfusion injury of a nonalcoholic extract obtained by fermentation from the Colombian blueberry, mortiño (Vaccinium meridionale Swartz, Ericaceae). Antioxidant properties were assessed by in vitro systems. To examine the postischemic myocardial function, isolated rat hearts were treated 10 min before ischemia and during the first 10 min of reperfusion with the extract. To analyze the participation of nitric oxide (NO), other experiments were performed in the presence of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition with NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME). In cardiac tissue thiobarbituric acid reactive subs…

2020

BAG3, a multifunctional HSP70 co-chaperone and anti-apoptotic protein that interacts with the ATPase domain of HSP70 through its C-terminal BAG domain plays a key physiological role in cellular proteostasis. The HSP70/BAG3 complex determines the levels of a large number of selective client proteins by regulating their turnover via the two major protein degradation pathways, i.e. proteasomal degradation and macroautophagy. On the one hand, BAG3 competes with BAG1 for binding to HSP70, thereby preventing the proteasomal degradation of its client proteins. By functionally interacting with HSP70 and LC3, BAG3 also delivers polyubiquitinated proteins to the autophagy pathway. BAG3 exerts a numbe…

Protein quality control during aging involves recruitment of the macroautophagy pathway by BAG3.

2009

The Hsc/Hsp70 co-chaperones of the BAG (Bcl-2-associated athanogene) protein family are modulators of protein quality control. We examined the specific roles of BAG1 and BAG3 in protein degradation during the aging process. We show that BAG1 and BAG3 regulate proteasomal and macroautophagic pathways, respectively, for the degradation of polyubiquitinated proteins. Moreover, using models of cellular aging, we find that a switch from BAG1 to BAG3 determines that aged cells use more intensively the macroautophagic system for turnover of polyubiquitinated proteins. This increased macroautophagic flux is regulated by BAG3 in concert with the ubiquitin-binding protein p62/SQSTM1. The BAG3/BAG1 ra…

Novel performance-based technique for predicting maintenance strategy of bitumen stabilised ballast

2018

Abstract Despite being the most used worldwide, railway ballasted tracks presents high maintenance cost related to ballast settlement and particle degradation. With the aim of reducing life cycle costs, bitumen stabilised ballast (BSB) has been recently proposed as a relatively cheap alternative maintenance solution to be applied to existing tracks. This study aims at assessing the potential advantages of this technology, defining a novel maintenance strategy of traditional ballasted track-beds. A protocol for the application of the BSB technology and its associated maintenance strategy is defined. To estimate minor and major maintenance operations of BSB scenario in comparison to tradition…