Search results for "Biomas"
showing 10 items of 980 documents
Microbes and Persistent Organic Pollutants in the Marine Environment
2020
Marine pollution has increased reaching the entire marine environment, from the surface to the deepest sediment, and has become more concerning in the last 70 years. Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) are a fraction of ocean waste that includes, among the others, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and plastic polymers. These chemicals have an extremely long half-life, and (bio)accumulate and damage the marine flora and fauna, and, ultimately, human health. Some organisms have evolved enzymes to attack POPs in the environment and transform them into biomass and CO2. Several microorganisms degrade many POPs in relatively short time. A wide variety of bacteria has been isolated with dif…
Economic analysis and energy valorisation of by-products of the wine supply chain: the case of the 'Mamertino wine PDO'
2018
The paper reports the analysis of biomass derived from maintenance of a vineyard, to assess its potential as an alternative energy source, instead of the usual disposal of the wine supply chainâs residuals. The site studied is within the province of Messina, Sicily, in the area of Mamertino wine PDO, a wine of superior quality. The analysis suggests that use of this kind of biomass may allow a fossil fuel such as liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) to be replaced by a wine wood chip biomass boiler, thus meeting economic and environmental criteria by reason of recycling for sustainability.
Native and planted forest species determine different carbon and nitrogen pools in Arenosol developed on Holocene deposits from a costal Mediterranea…
2016
In a coastal Mediterranean area, the effects of two native [Quercus ilex (Holm), Alnus glutinosa and Fraxinus oxycarpa (Hygro)] and one planted [Pinus pinaster (Pine)] forest species on both content and quality of organic C and total N pools in Arenosols was assessed. Three soil profiles per each forest cover were opened and sampled. Total N in the organic layers was not affected by forest covers, whereas total organic C ranged from 36.1 to 63.2 Mg ha−1, being organic layers under Hygro those with the highest contents. Total organic C in the first 50 cm of mineral soil was 64 Mg ha−1 under Holm and 36.7 and 37.6 Mg ha−1 under Pine and Hygro, respectively. Soil covered by Holm and Hygro stor…
First measurements of reactive α-dicarbonyl concentrations on PM2.5 aerosol over the Boreal forest in Finland during HUMPPA-COPEC 2010 – source…
2012
The first dataset for summertime boreal forest concentrations of two atmospherically relevant α-dicarbonyl compounds, glyoxal (Gly) and methylglyoxal (Mgly) on PM2.5 aerosol was obtained during the HUMPPA-COPEC-2010 field measurement intensive in Hyytiälä, Finland. Anthropogenic influences over the course of the campaign were identified using trace gas signatures and aerosol particle chemical composition analysis. The data evaluation allowed the identification of different events such as urban pollution plumes, biomass burning and sawmill emissions as sources of high Gly and Mgly concentrations. Mean aerosol concentrations during periods of biogenic influence were 0.81 ng m−3 for Gly and 0.…
Pollution patterns in the upper troposphere over Europe and Asia observed by CARIBIC
2014
Abstract Between May 2005 and March 2008 the CARIBIC (Civil Aircraft for the Regular Investigation of the atmosphere Based on an Instrument Container) observatory was deployed to make atmospheric observations on 42 flights between Frankfurt, Germany and Manila, the Philippines. This nearly 3 year flight series provides information about atmospheric composition in the upper troposphere over Europe and Asia during all seasons and was used to investigate seasonal and regional differences in trace gas distributions and the influence of long range transport and local convection on composition. The flight route was separated into three different regions having characteristic differences in transp…
Zero Emissions and Bio-refineries for Natural Fibres, Biomaterials and Energy: Genesis of Concepts. Review
2015
Depletion of world recourses, increasing pollution, and climate change make us to shift from linear economy to system economy—an economy of technologies integrated to reach a system of non-polluting zero emissions production. Transition to renewable resources requires replacing the present crude oil refinery by biomass refinery. Along with conventional biomass refinery technologies bioengineering and nano-technologies become significant players in systems designed as clusters of integrated bio-refinery technologies. The authors consider a number of case studies of biomass conversion into value-added chemicals and sources of energy, the steam explosion auto-hydrolysis (SEA) in particular. Re…
Comparison between two MBR pilot plants treating synthetic shipboard slops: effect of salinity increase on biological performance, biomass activity a…
2017
The paper reports the main results of an experimental campaign carried out on two bench scale pilot plants for the treatment of synthetic shipboard slops. In particular, two membrane bioreactors (MBRs) with submerged configuration were analyzed. One MBR pilot plant (namely, Line A) was fed with synthetic shipboard slop and was subjected to a gradual increase of salinity. Conversely, the second MBR pilot plant (namely, Line B) was fed with the same synthetic shipboard slop but without salt addition, therefore operating as a âcontrolâ unit. Organic carbon, hydrocarbons and ammonium removal, kinetic constants, extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) production and membranes fouling rates…
Performance of membrane bioreactor (MBR) systems for the treatment of shipboard slops: Assessment of hydrocarbon biodegradation and biomass activity …
2015
In order to prevent hydrocarbon discharge at sea from ships, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) enacted the MARPOL 73/78 convention in which any oil and oil residue discharged in wastewater streams must contain less than 5. ppm hydrocarbons. Effective treatment of this petroleum-contaminated water is essential prior to its release into the environment, in order to prevent pollution problem for marine ecosystems as well as for human health. Therefore, two bench scale membrane bioreactors (MBRs) were investigated for hydrocarbon biodegradation. The two plants were initially fed with synthetic wastewater characterised by an increasing salinity, in order to enhance biomass acclimatio…
Effects of indole-3-acetic acid on Sinorhizobium meliloti survival and on symbiotic nitrogen fixation and stem dry weight production
2009
We evaluated the effects of the main auxin phytohormone, indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), on the central metabolism of Sinorhizobium meliloti strain 1021. We either treated the Sinorhizobium meliloti 1021 strain with 0.5 mM IAA (1021+) or use a derivative, RD64, of the same strain harbouring a pathway for IAA biosynthesis converting tryptophan into IAA via indoleacetamide. We assayed the activity of key enzymes in the major energy-yielding pathways (Entner-Doudoroff, Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas, pentose phosphate, glyoxylate bypass and tricarboxylic acid cycle). We found that activity of two main regulative tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle enzymes was increased. Citrate synthase (CS) activity, as compa…
Biomolecular characterization of wild sicilian oregano: phytochemical screening of essential oils and extracts, and evaluation of their antioxidant a…
2013
An extensive survey of wild Sicilian oregano was made. A total of 57 samples were collected from various sites, followed by taxonomic characterization from an agronomic perspective. Based on morphological and production characteristics obtained from the 57 samples, cluster analysis was used to divide the samples into homogeneous groups, to identify the best biotypes. All samples were analyzed for their phytochemical content, applying a cascade-extraction protocol and hydrodistillation, to obtain the non volatile components and the essential oils, respectively. The extracts contained thirteen polyphenol derivatives, i.e., four flavanones, seven flavones, and two organic acids. Their qualitat…