Search results for "AGRICULTURE"
showing 10 items of 3315 documents
Characterization of Erwinia gerundensis A4, an Almond-Derived Plant Growth-Promoting Endophyte
2021
The rapidly increasing global population and anthropogenic climate change have created intense pressure on agricultural systems to produce increasingly more food under steadily challenging environmental conditions. Simultaneously, industrial agriculture is negatively affecting natural and agricultural ecosystems because of intensive irrigation and fertilization to fully utilize the potential of high-yielding cultivars. Growth-promoting microbes that increase stress tolerance and crop yield could be a useful tool for helping mitigate these problems. We investigated if commercially grown almonds might be a resource for plant colonizing bacteria with growth promotional traits that could be use…
Targeted Drug Delivery in Plants: Enzyme‐Responsive Lignin Nanocarriers for the Curative Treatment of the Worldwide Grapevine Trunk Disease Esca
2019
Abstract Nanocarrier (NC)‐mediated drug delivery is widely researched in medicine but to date has not been used in agriculture. The first curative NC‐based treatment of the worldwide occurring grapevine trunk disease Esca, with more than 2 billion infected plants causing a loss yearly of $1.5 billion, is presented. To date, only repetitive spraying of fungicides is used to reduce chances of infection. This long‐term treatment against Esca uses minimal amounts of fungicide encapsulated in biobased and biodegradable lignin NCs. A single trunk injection of <10 mg fungicide results in curing of an infected plant. Only upon Esca infection, ligninolytic enzymes, secreted by the Esca‐associated fu…
Drug Delivery in Plants: Targeted Drug Delivery in Plants: Enzyme-Responsive Lignin Nanocarriers for the Curative Treatment of the Worldwide Grapevin…
2019
In article number 1802315, Jochen Fischer, Frederik R. Wurm, and co‐workers report the first nanocarrier‐mediated drug delivery in plants. Enzyme‐degradable lignin nanocarriers are injected into the trunks of grapevine plants. They release a fungicide selectively inside of the plants and are able to cure the worldwide fungal plant disease Esca for the first time. This strategy will reduce the extensive spraying of pesticides in agriculture. Image credit: Katharina Maisenbacher.
Biocompatibility and Antibacterial Properties of ZnO-Incorporated Anodic Oxide Coatings on TiZrNb Alloy
2020
In a present paper, we demonstrate novel approach to form ceramic coatings with incorporated ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on low modulus TiZrNb alloy with enhanced biocompatibility and antibacterial parameters. Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation (PEO) was used to integrate ZnO nanoparticles (average size 12&ndash
Fracture and fatigue of titanium narrow dental implants: New trends in order to improve the mechanical response
2019
Sixty-four fractured commercially pure titanium (cp-Ti) narrow dental implants (NDIs) with similar macrogeometry and connection designs were studied after different implantation times in humans in order to determine their reliability and to evaluate the causes of the fracture. These NDIs were compared with other similar implants, made with alloyed titanium with 15% Zr and with 12% strained titanium. Original implants were tested under static and fatigue conditions, simulating the tri-axial loads in the mouth by means of a Bionix hydraulic test machine. Fractography was studied using field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FSEM). The results showed that cp-Ti NDI exhibits low strength f…
Possible future scenarios for Sicilian cereal cropping in the light of current trends in agricultural policy of the European Union
2008
This paper sets out the results of a research project carried out by the University of Palermo and financed by the Sicilian Region, which aims to establish the impact of the Fischler Reform on Sicilian agriculture, and to project future scenarios that take into account some of the changes that the production process may undergo in the Region, following both the application of the Reform itself (now in force) and the eventual application of indications contained in the Health check. The impacts of the Fischler Reform, and especially the application of the Single Payment scheme to companies, were examined in cereal cropping companies, especially considering the significant amount of durum whe…
A supported titanium postmetallocene catalyst: Effect of selected conditions on ethylene polymerization
2011
Ethylene polymerization with a titanium complex [N,N-ethylenebis(3-methoxysalicylideneiminato)titanium dichloride] immobilized on the magnesium support with the formula MgCl2(THF)0.32(Et2AlCl)0.36 was studied. In particular, the effects of polymerization temperature, monomer pressure, and polymerization time on the activity of the catalyst and on the polyethylene properties (molecular weight and its distribution, melting point, crystallinity, and bulk density) were evaluated. The findings of investigations prove that the studied supported titanium catalyst is highly active in ethylene polymerization, and its activity increases with increasing temperature and monomer pressure. Moreover, stab…
Realization of polyaspartamide-based nanoparticles and in vivo lung biodistribution evaluation of a loaded gucocorticoid after aerosolization in mice
2016
Abstract In this study, novel polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) were developed and their potential as carriers for beclomethasone dipropionate (BDP) into the lung after aerosolization was demonstrated by in vivo studies in mice. In particular, these NPs were obtained starting from two polyaspartamide-based copolymers which were synthesized by chemical reaction of α,β-poly(N-2-hydroxyethyl)- dl -aspartamide (PHEA) and its pegylated derivative (PHEA-PEG2000) with poly(lactic acid) (PLA). To obtain nanosized particles, the high pressure homogenization (HPH)—solvent evaporation method was followed by using an organic phase containing both PHEA-PLA and PHEA-PEG2000-PLA (at a weight ratio equal to 1:…
Effects of pyrolysis temperature on the hydrologically relevant porosity of willow biochar
2018
Biochar pore space consists of porosity of multiple length scales. In direct water holding applications like water storage for plant water uptake, the main interest is in micrometre-range porosity since these pores are able to store water that is easily available for plants. Gas adsorption measurements which are commonly used to characterize the physical pore structure of biochars are not able to quantify this pore-size range. While pyrogenetic porosity (i.e. pores formed during pyrolysis process) tends to increase with elevated process temperature, it is uncertain whether this change affects the pore space capable to store plant available water. In this study, we characterized biochar poro…
Combining hyperspectral UAV and multispectral Formosat-2 imagery for precision agriculture applications
2014
Remote sensing is a key tool for precision agriculture applications as it is capable of capturing spatial and temporal variations in crop status. However, satellites often have an inadequate spatial resolution for precision agriculture applications. High-resolution Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) imagery can be obtained at flexible dates, but operational costs may limit the collection frequency. The current study utilizes data fusion to create a dataset which benefits from the temporal resolution of Formosat-2 imagery and the spatial resolution of UAV imagery with the purpose of monitoring crop growth in a potato field. The correlation of the Weighted Difference Vegetation Index (WDVI) from …