Search results for "Protection"
showing 10 items of 1623 documents
Soil degradation and its impact on desertification: A research design for Mediterranean environments
1988
Summary Much is said but little is known of the processes and linkages of soil degradation with desertification. With particular emphasis on South-East Spain, a research design is proposed to characterize the processes, their dynamics and effect on productivity. Through detailed monitoring of plot experiments at three slope positions, changes in soil physical and chemical parameters and analyses of runoff and eroded sediments will be related to induced destruction of the vegetation. Knowing the cause and process will lead to the identification of management techniques that may protect vulnerable Mediterranean environments.
Saving the pharmacy of the sea: How does global change affect species with bioactive potential in the Mediterranean?
2020
Several marine species in the Mediterranean produce molecules with bioactive potential that could be used to develop new drugs (antibiotics, antifungals, antivirals, and antitumourals). Different human activities such as pollution, marine recreation, and fishing, as well as climate change, threaten and even endanger some of these species. These vulnerable species with bioactive potential must be protected, especially in marine reserves, not only because they are valuable components of marine ecosystems, but also because they are a potential source of molecules with pharmacological properties that are currently being researched for the creation of new drugs.
LAND USE CHANGE DETECTION AS A BASIS FOR ANALYSING DESERTIFICATION PROCESSES: A CASE STUDY IN TABERNAS (ALMERIA, SPAIN)
2006
12 paginas, 5 figuras, 1 tabla. Proceedings of the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue Workshop on Desertification in the Mediterranean Region. A Security Issue -- Part III. Assessing land use change relative to anthropogenic and natural cause. Valencia, Spain 2-5 December 2003
Discrimination of Lithogenic and Anthropogenic Metals in Calcareous Agricultural Soils: A Case Study of the Lower Vinalopó Region (SE Spain)
2008
Analysis of heavy metal concentrations in soils and their sources is required to identify agricultural areas affected by contamination on a regional level, according to the European Thematic Strategy for Soil Protection. Pseudo-total and EDTA-extractable concentrations of nine elements (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn) in eighteen agricultural soils with vegetable crops in the Lower Vinalopo region (southeast Spain) were determined. The main aim was to assess the present state of the agricultural soils in relation to contamination processes by heavy metals for a representative area of the Mediterranean region under semiarid conditions. The pseudo-total concentrations for heavy metals …
Distinct effects of atypical 1,4-dihydropyridines on 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium-induced toxicity.
2006
Our previous data obtained from in vivo experiments demonstrated high neuroprotective effects of three novel atypical neuronal non-calcium antagonistic 1,4-dihydropyridine (DHP) derivatives cerebrocrast, glutapyrone and tauropyrone. The present studies were carried out in vitro to clarify, at least in part, their mechanism of action in primary culture of cerebellar granule cells by use of 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) as a neurotoxic agent which causes dramatic oxidative stress. Cerebrocrast (highly lipophilic, with a classical two-ring structure) dose-dependently (0.01-10.0 microM, EC50 = 13 nM) reduced MPP+-induced cell death. At the same time, the calcium antagonist nimodipine (refe…
Upregulation of the α-secretase ADAM10 - risk or reason for hope?
2010
A decade ago, a disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) was identified as an alpha-secretase and as a key proteinase in the processing of the amyloid precursor protein. Accordingly, the important role that it plays in Alzheimer's disease was manifested. Animal models with an overexpression of ADAM10 revealed a beneficial profile of the metalloproteinase with respect to learning and memory, plaque load and synaptogenesis. Therefore, ADAM10 presents a worthwhile target with respect to the treatment of a neurodegenerative disease such as Morbus Alzheimer. Initially, ADAM10 was suggested to be an enzyme, shaping the extracellular matrix by cleavage of collagen type IV, or to be a tumour n…
Changing fate
2020
Abstract The alpha-secretase A disintegrin and metalloproteinase 10 (ADAM10) and the beta-secretase beta-APP cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE-1) compete in neurons to cleave the amyloid precursor protein (APP). The reaction started by BACE-1, designated the amyloidogenic pathway, leads to formation of neurotoxic amyloid beta peptides (A-betas), while alpha-secretase prevents this and gives rise to an alternative cleavage product (APPs-alpha, nonamyloidogenic pathway). The latter is also known to have neurotrophic and neuroprotective properties. Therefore, identification of mechanisms that lead to a switch in APP processing from the amyloidogenic to the nonamyloidogenic pathway is an attractive avenu…
Adaptogens in chemobrain (Part I): Plant extracts attenuate cancer chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment – Transcriptome-wide microarray profiles…
2019
Abstract Background Cancer chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments are presumably associated with undesirable effects of chemotherapy on physiological functions of brain cells. Adaptogens are natural compounds or plant extracts increasing an organism's adaptability and survival in stress. They exhibited neuroprotective effects and increased cognitive functions in clinical studies in human beings. Hypothesis We hypothesized that selected adaptogenic plant extracts attenuate or prevent cancer chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments. Aim We assessed the effects of selected adaptogenic herbal extracts on FEC (fixed combination 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide) induced chang…
Abatement of AO7 in a divided microbial fuel cells by sequential cathodic and anodic treatment powered by different microorganisms
2017
Abstract Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) can allow the treatment of organic pollutants resistant to conventional biological processes by electro-Fenton (EF) process performed in the cathodic compartment. However, EF usually results in a partial mineralization of pollutants. Here, we have studied the possible treatment of such organics in a MFC by a sequential cathodic and anodic treatment. In particular, the treatment of an aqueous solution of Acid Orange (AO7), a largely used azoic dye resistant to conventional biological processes, was performed in the cathodic compartment of a divided MFC by EF. The process allowed the total removal of the color and the partial removal of the TOC, due mainly…
Heterogeneous electro-Fenton and photoelectro-Fenton processes: A critical review of fundamental principles and application for water/wastewater trea…
2018
Abstract This exhaustive review focuses on the fundamental principles and applications of heterogeneous electrochemical wastewater treatment based on Fenton’s chemistry reaction. The elementary equations involved in formation of hydroxyl radical in homogeneous electro-Fenton (EF) and photo electro-Fenton (PEF) processes was presented and the advantages of using insoluble solids as heterogeneous catalyst rather than soluble iron salts (heterogeneous electro-Fenton process) (Hetero-EF) was enumerated. Some of the required features of good heterogeneous catalysts were discussed, followed by the mechanisms of catalytic activation of H2O2 to reactive oxygen species (ROS) especially hydroxyl radi…