Search results for " biotechnology"
showing 10 items of 3723 documents
Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) – a community perspective
2019
Publisher's version (útgefin grein)
Salt release monitoring with specific sensors in "in vitro" oral and digestive environments from soft cheeses
2012
International audience; The objective of the present work is to demonstrate the interest and the feasibility of the measurement of NaCl concentrations in soft cheeses and in particular an in vitro digestion process by the use of chemical sensors. The analyzed matrices were the commercial Italian mozzarella cheeses and domestic cheese base models. The classification of mozzarellas was performed according to their salinity, while the breakdown of cheese base models has been followed both at initial steps of digestion in artificial mouth dispositive mimicking the oral sphere and in a gut-imitating digester (TIM-1). During the breakdown of soft cheese in the digester, the estimated values for N…
Improving soil and water conservation and ecosystem services by sustainable soil management practices: From a global to an Italian soil partnership
2020
The UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) identify the need to restore degraded soils in order to improve productivity and the provision of ecosystem services. The aim is to support food production, store and supply clean water, conserve biodiversity, sequester carbon, and improve soil resilience in a context of climate change. Within this framework, in order to achieve the SDGs and to correct land management in the long-term, soil management is considered mandatory. The reduction of land degradation should be based on various sustainable soil management practices that improve and maintain soil organic matter levels, increase water infiltration, and improve soil water management. This tec…
Complexation of Uranium by Cells and S-Layer Sheets of Bacillus sphaericus JG-A12
2005
ABSTRACT Bacillus sphaericus JG-A12 is a natural isolate recovered from a uranium mining waste pile near the town of Johanngeorgenstadt in Saxony, Germany. The cells of this strain are enveloped by a highly ordered crystalline proteinaceous surface layer (S-layer) possessing an ability to bind uranium and other heavy metals. Purified and recrystallized S-layer proteins were shown to be phosphorylated by phosphoprotein-specific staining, inductive coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis, and a colorimetric method. We used extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy to determine the structural parameters of the uranium complexes formed by purified and recrystallized S-laye…
The genus thiobacillus: Physiology and industrial applications
1983
This review deals with different aspects concerning the genus Thiobacillus as an obligat chemoautotroph able to oxidize reduced anorganic sulphur compounds. There are given the following topics: physiology of the genus (nutritional requirements, enzymatic complexes for sulphur oxidation, energy generation, reductive CO2 assimilation and growing in presence of organic compounds). The ecological significance of Thiobacilli in the sulphur cycle in Nature is presented. The industrial applications of Thiobacilli in respect to the leaching processes that allow the recovery of metals through oxidation and solubilization from low-grade ores are discussed, with special reference to copper and uraniu…
One pot light assisted green synthesis, storage and antimicrobial activity of dextran stabilized silver nanoparticles.
2014
Background Green synthesis of nanomaterials finds the edge over chemical methods due to its environmental compatibility. Herein, we report green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) mediated with dextran. Dextran was used as a stabilizer and capping agent to synthesize Ag NPs using silver nitrate (AgNO3) under diffused sunlight conditions. Results UV–vis spectra of as synthesized Ag nanoparticles showed characteristic surface plasmon band in the range from ~405-452 nm. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) studies showed spherical Ag NPs in the size regime of ~50-70 nm. Face centered cubic lattice of Ag NPs was confirmed by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD…
Nitrous oxide emissions in a membrane bioreactor treating saline wastewater contaminated by hydrocarbons
2016
The joint effect of wastewater salinity and hydrocarbons on nitrous oxide emission was investigated. The membrane bioreactor pilot plant was operated with two phases: i. biomass acclimation by increasing salinity from 10 gNaCl L−1 to 20 gNaCl L−1 (Phase I); ii. hydrocarbons dosing at 20 mg L−1 with a constant salt concentration of 20 gNaCl L−1 (Phase II). The Phase I revealed a relationship between nitrous oxide emissions and salinity. During the end of the Phase I, the activity of nitrifiers started to recover, indicating a partial acclimatization. During the Phase II, the hydrocarbon shock induced a temporary inhibition of the biomass with the suppression of nitrous oxide emissions. The r…
Hume’s Guillotine in Designing Ethically Intelligent Technologies
2020
Intelligent machines can follow ethical rules in their behaviour. However, it is less clear whether intelligent systems can also create new ethical principles. The former position can be called weak ethical AI and the latter strong ethical AI. Hume’s guillotine which claims that one cannot derive values from facts appears to be a fundamental obstacle to strong ethical AI. The analysis of human ethical information processes provides clarity to the possibility of strong ethical AI. Human ethical information processing begins with positive of negative emotions associated to situations. Situations can be seen as consequences of actions and for this reason people can define rules about acceptabi…
Elements of Sustainability for Public Sector Software : Mosaic Enterprise Architecture, Macroservices, and Low-Code
2021
Public sector is a large consumer for software. In countries such as Finland, many of the systems are made to order by consultancy companies that participate in public tenders. These tenders initiated by the state, cities, and other public sector organizations. Furthermore, as public sector tasks are often decomposed to various actors, each and every one of them makes their purchase based on their own needs. In this paper, we argue that to maintain software sustainability in this context, there is a need for three key elements. Firstly, there is a need for an enterprise architecture where independent services from various vendors are can be easily deployed and integrated. Secondly, these se…
Applying the Capabilities Approach to Ecosystems
2017
The capabilities approach has attracted broad interest in environmental ethics. One very interesting application is the environmental or extended capabilities approach which promotes the notion of environmental capabilities that contribute to the flourishing of non-human beings and ecological systems. The approach however lacks any account of the capabilities of ecological systems. This essay applies the environmental capabilities approach at the ecosystem level and examines how the flourishing of an ecosystem can be understood in terms of capabilities. Ecosystem flourishing presumes the ability of a given system to maintain its characteristic functions, diversity and quality, and do so eve…