Search results for "Tent"
showing 10 items of 9627 documents
Pedotransfer functions for estimating soil water retention curve of Sicilian soils
2019
Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) make use of routinely surveyed soil data to estimate soil properties but their application to soils different from those used for their development can yield inaccurate estimates. This investigation aimed at evaluating the water retention prediction accuracy of eight existing PTFs using a database of 217 Sicilian soils exploring 11 USDA textural classes. PTFs performance was assessed by root mean square differences (RMSD) and average differences (AD) between estimated and measured data. Extended Nonlinear Regression (ENR) technique was adopted to recalibrate or develop four new PTFs and Wind’s evaporation method was applied to validate the effectiveness of the …
Effects of mowing on fungal endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi in subalpine grasslands
2013
International audience; In French subalpine grasslands, cessation of mowing promotes dominance of Festuca paniculata, which alters plant diversity and ecosystem functioning. One of the mechanisms underpinning such effects may be linked to simultaneous changes in the abundance of fungal symbionts such as endophytes and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi. In field conditions, mowing reduced the abundance of the endophyte Neotyphodium sp. in leaves of F. paniculata by a factor of 6, and increased mycorrhizal densities by a factor of 15 in the soil. In greenhouse experiments, the mycorrhizal colonization of Trifolium pratense and Allium porrum increased 3- fold and 3.8- fold respectively in mown vs u…
Raspberry breeding and biotisation for increasing plant stress tolerance and antioxidant activity
2008
International audience; Chemical inputs used in red fruit production can be detrimental to the environment and pesticides are not always efficient in controlling plant diseases. In addition, it is suspected that conventional agricultural practices have a negative impact on antioxidant activities in red fruits. Therefore new cultural approaches are required in order to produce red fruits of high quality. This involves an integrated programme of plant breeding and development of sustainable agricultural practices. Antioxidant activity was compared in leaves and berries of six raspberry cultivars for the selection of varieties for a breeding programme. This showed that cultivars that had the h…
The mycorrhizal soil infectivity and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal spore communities in soils of different aged fallows in Senegal
2001
This work was carried out to determine the influence of the duration of fallow and of physico-chemical components of soils on the distribution of endomycorrhizal fungal spores and the mycorrhizal soil infectivity. The mycorrhization of indigenous plants from the fallows was examined and it was concluded that, except for Cassia obtusifolia, fungal colonization was poorly developed. No correlation was established between spore populations and duration of fallow or between grazed and fenced areas. The relationships between abundance of mycorrhizal spores and the physico-chemical characteristics of the soils were markedly variable among species of mycorrhizal fungi. The results did not provide …
Fruit and juice characteristics of 30 accessions of two cactus pear species (Opuntia ficus indica and Opuntia megacantha) from different regions of M…
2016
Abstract The fruit and fruit juice of 30 accessions of cactus pear (23 accessions of Opuntia ficus indica and 7 accessions of Opuntia megacantha ) grown in different regions of Morocco were analyzed. The morphological characteristics of the fruit and the pH, titratable acidity, contents of soluble solids, total carotenoids, reducing sugars, and vitamin C in the fruit juice were analyzed. Fruit length, fresh fruit weight, fresh skin weight, fresh skin to fruit ratio, dry skin weight, and water content in the skin varied significantly within and between the two species. There were significant differences among accessions in most of the fruit juice characteristics. The ranges of measured value…
Design and Implementation of a Smart System to Control Aromatic Herb Dehydration Process
2020
Drying is a process aimed at reducing the water content in plant materials below a limit where the activity of microbes and decomposing enzymes deteriorate the quality of medicinal and aromatic plants. Today, the interest of consumers towards medicinal and aromatic herbs has registered a growing trend. This study aims at designing a low-cost real-time monitoring and control system for the drying process of aromatic herbs and evaluating drying efficacy on the microbial community associated with the studied herbs. Hot-air drying tests of sage and laurel leaves were carried out in a dryer desiccator cabinet at 40 °
Can phthalates move into the eggs of the loggerhead sea turtle Caretta caretta? The case of the nests on the Linosa Island in the Mediterranean Sea
2021
During the monitoring of Caretta caretta nests on the island of Linosa, 30 unhatched eggs from four nests were collected to study the presence of phthalates in their three components (shell, yolk, and albumen). Four phthalates, namely diethyl (DEP), dibutyl (DBP), di-(2-ethylhexyl) (DEHP), and dioctyl (DOTP) phthalic acid esters (PAE), which are widely used as additives in plastics, were detected in all egg components. The most frequently found phthalate was DBP, followed by DEHP in eggshell and yolk. Dimethyl- (DMP) and butylbenzyl-phthalate (BBP) were below the limits of detection for all samples. The high total phthalate recorded in the yolk suggests that contamination could arise by vit…
Lake restoration influences nutritional quality of algae and consequently Daphnia biomass
2020
AbstractFood quality is one of the key factors influencing zooplankton population dynamics. Eutrophication drives phytoplankton communities toward the dominance of cyanobacteria, which means a decrease in the availability of sterols and long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (EPA and DHA). The effects of different restoration measures on the nutritional quality of the phytoplankton community and subsequent impacts on zooplankton biomass have rarely been considered. We analyzed the nutritional quality of phytoplankton in the eutrophic Lake Vesijärvi in southern Finland over a 37-year period, and studied the impacts of two restoration measures, biomanipulation and hypolimnetic aeration, on th…
Utilization of lignin powder for manufacturing self-binding HDF
2017
Abstract The preparation of self-binding lignocellulosic fibreboards has been investigated. Different high-density fibreboards (HDF) were hot-pressed based on a mixture of grey alder (Alnus incana L. Moench) wood chips processed by steam explosion auto-hydrolysis (SE) and 15% or 25% lignin content from three different industrial sources: softwood kraft lignin (SWKL), soda wheat straw lignin (SoWhStL) and hydrolysis wheat straw lignin (HWhStL). Density, thickness swelling (TS) after immersion in water for 24 h, modulus of rupture (MOR), modulus of elasticity (MOE) and strength of internal bond (IB) of the board samples were determined. The amount (15% or 25%) and moisture content (MC) (18±1%…
Intermittent Aeration in a Hybrid Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor for Carbon and Nutrient Biological Removal
2020
The paper presents an experimental study on a lab scale hybrid moving bed biofilm reactor with intermittent aeration. Specifically, a comparison between two different operating conditions was analyzed: continuous and intermittent aeration. Both continuous and intermittent aeration were monitored and compared in order to get the best operational conditions. The intermittent aeration campaign was sub-divided in three phases with different duration of alternation of aerobic and anoxic times and organic and nitrogen loading rates. The efficiency of N-removal improved by 70% during the intermittent aeration. The best condition was observed with 40 min of aeration and 20 min of no-aeration, an or…