Search results for " Plants"
showing 10 items of 860 documents
The Sustainability of Reclaimed Asphalt as a Resource for Road Pavement Management through a Circular Economic Model
2019
The transition of the road engineering industry to a circular way of doing business requires more efficient and sustainable resources, energy, and waste management. The rates in which reclaimed asphalt is being recycled or reused in the asphalt mixture production process constitutes a crucial parameter in this transition. This paper aims at establishing a further step towards the combined circularity and sustainability of asphalt pavements, by introducing a framework for quantifying their Material Circularity Index. The framework is based on the methodology proposed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and accordingly tailored for the context of asphalt pavements. This study, thus, attempts to…
European National Road Authorities and Circular Economy: An Insight into Their Approaches
2020
The pavement engineering industry, having realized the significance of the impacts that it imposes on the environment through the production, construction and management of its products and assets, has been driven towards a more sustainable and circular way of operating. This has partly been through asphalt recycling, which is an area that many road authorities have prioritized. However, not all the National Road Authorities (NRAs) and/or sector stakeholders seem to be adequately familiar with the Circular Economy (CE) concept. This paper attempts to assist the transition of NRAs to a more circular way of doing business, by analyzing the current situation of CE within national/regional auth…
Antiproliferative activity of hexane extract from Tunisian Cistus libanotis, Cistus monspeliensis and Cistus villosus
2013
Abstract Background As a part of our investigation on Tunisian medicinal plants, we have carried out a phytochemical investigation of the hexane extracts from leaves of Cistus libanotis, C. villosus and C. monspeliensis, evualuating also their possible antiproliferative activity in vitro. Results The major compounds of hexane extracts were identified and quantified by GC-MS. The composition of the three species, although belonging to the same genus, is completely different. The antiproliferative activity was evaluated against murine monocyte/macrophages (J774.A1), human melanoma cells (A-375), and human breast cancer cells (MCF-7), showing major activity against the human melanoma cell line…
CITES, wild plants, and opportunities for crime
2017
The illegal trade in endangered plants damages both the environment and localcommunities by threatening and destroying numerous species and important natural resources. There is very little research which systematically addresses this issue by identifying specific opportunities for crime. This article presents the results of an interdisciplinary study which brings together criminological and conservation science expertise to identify criminal opportunities in the illegal wild plant trade and suggest strategies in order to prevent and mitigate the problem. Methodologically, the study adapts a crime proofing of legislation approach to the UN Convention on the International Trade in Endangered…
Activity of Artemisinin-Type Compounds Against Cancer Cells
2012
Clinical Oncology strives for complete remission of patients with cancer, but still crusades against multidrug resistance of various cancers. Scientists and clinicians have been challenged to identify new potent anticancer compounds with new targeting strategies. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) provides a large spectrum of medicinal plants containing many biocompounds that possess anticancer activities. These represent a source of molecules that may have antiproliferative effects on a variety of cancers.
A reappraisal of the Pleurotus eryngii complex – New species and taxonomic combinations based on the application of a polyphasic approach, and an ide…
2014
The Pleurotus eryngii species-complex comprises choice edible mushrooms growing on roots and lower stem residues of Apiaceae (umbellifers) plants. Material deriving from extensive sampling was studied by mating compatibility, morphological and ecological criteria, and through analysis of ITS1-5.8S-ITS2 and IGS1 rRNA sequences. Results revealed that P. eryngii sensu stricto forms a diverse and widely distributed aggregate composed of varieties elaeoselini, eryngii, ferulae, thapsiae, and tingitanus. Pleurotus eryngii subsp. tuoliensis comb. nov. is a phylogenetically sister group to the former growing only on various Ferula species in Asia. The existence of Pleurotus nebrodensis outside of S…
High Frequency Model of PV Systems for the Evaluation of Ground Currents
2012
A high frequency model of a photovoltaic (PV) plant is developed and analysed to investigate the common mode (CM) currents circulating through the ground connections of the plant. The modelling method is based on the measurement of the impedance frequency response of photovoltaic module and on a high frequency representation of the power conversion unit. An overall lumped parameters circuit model is obtained and then implemented in PSpice. The CM leakage currents are evaluated by simulation.
Evaluation of ground currents in a PV system with high frequency modeling
2018
In this work a high frequency model of a photovoltaic (PV) plant is identified and implemented aiming to investigate the common mode (CM) currents circulating through the ground connections of the plant. From the identification of the impedance obtained by frequency response of photovoltaic module and by a suitable of the power conversion unit, an equivalent high frequency circuit representation has been developed. The lumped parameters circuit model is implemented in PSpice environment to obtain the CM leakage currents. Harmonics at frequencies multiple of the switching frequency and a strong resonance at about 12 MHz are detected.
Contrasting behavioural responses of two egg parasitoids to buckwheat floral scent is reflected in field parasitism rates
2017
The use of food supplements in conservation biological control (CBC) programmes is considered an essential element for increasing parasitoid fitness and their population density leading to an increase in overall parasitism levels. However, non-crop habitats that substitute the necessary resources for natural enemies have not always achieved the desired effects. It is suggested that the composition of flower strips in agricultural systems around/in agricultural fields plays an important role because not all plant species are equally suitable and the consumption of food resources by parasitoids can shape direct and indirect interactions with other arthropods and the community complex. We deve…
Stakeholders’ Attitudes about the Transplantations of the Mediterranean Seagrass Posidonia oceanica as a Habitat Restoration Measure after Anthropoge…
2021
Anthropogenic impacts on Posidonia oceanica meadows have led to a decline of this ecosystem throughout the Mediterranean. Transplantations have often been prescribed as a compensation measure to mitigate the impacts caused by coastal maritime works. Here a Q methodology approach was used to investigate the stakeholders’ attitudes in four case studies of P. oceanica transplants realized in Italian waters. Twenty-two respondents were asked to score 37 statements, and the resultant Q-sorting was analyzed via an inverse PCA using the KADE software. Four discourses, corresponding to the significant axes in the factorial analysis were identified: science and conservation (F1), oriented at a rigor…