Search results for "algae"

Extracellular vesicles from a renewable natural source: development of new biomaterials

2023

Le vescicole extracellulari (EV) sono nanoparticelle membranose derivate dalle cellule che mediano la comunicazione intercellulare trasferendo composti bioattivi come proteine e RNA. La scoperta delle EV come nanotecnologie naturali e mezzi di comunicazione tra cellule e persino tra specie ha suscitato grande interesse nel campo della somministrazione di farmaci. Le EV possiedono intrinsecamente diversi attributi che le rendono un buon veicolo per il rilascio di farmaci in organi e tessuti bersaglio specifici. Infatti, queste particelle: i) sono ben tollerate nel corpo, ii) hanno una lunga emivita circolante, iii) vengono internalizzate dalle cellule riceventi e iv) sono capaci di attravers…

Anaerobic co-digestion of microalgae and primary sludge in an anaerobic membrane bioreactor for resource recovery (biogas and bionutrients) from urba…

2020

El consumo continuo de energía primaria ha motivado a la comunidad científica a buscar tecnologías que requieran un menor consumo de recursos y fuentes alternativas de energía renovable, que puedan sustituir a los combustibles fósiles. El cultivo de microalgas en combinación con tecnologías anaerobias surgió como una tecnología prometedora y sostenible en el ámbito del tratamiento de aguas residuales. La valorización de la biomasa de microalgas mediante la digestión anaerobia (AD) permite la producción de energía a partir de corrientes de residuos. Dado que la AD de microalgas presenta algunos inconvenientes que obstaculizan la eficiencia del proceso, se ha estudiado la co-digestión anaerob…

DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT OF A PILOT PLANT FOR MICROALGAE CULTIVATION AND POST- TREATMENT IN SUPERCRITICAL WATER

Pollutants removal from municipal sewage by means of microalgae

2019

Microalgae are microorganisms able to photosynthesize, namely transforming inorganic substrates and sun light into organic compounds and chemical energy. The industry of microalgae has expanded in the last decades and several applications are now developed, making their biomass interesting under an economic perspective. Nannochlopsis gaditana is one of the most interesting species already employed in industry because of its high content in lipids that could be employed as source for biodiesel synthesis but also in other fields such as cosmetic and pharmaceutic. One of the most promising application is the exploitation of microalgal grow for bioremediating wastewaters polluted with inorganic…

Protein recovery as a resource from waste specifically via membrane technology : from waste to wonder

2021

Economic growth and the rapid increase in the world population has led to a greater need for natural resources, which in turn, has put pressure on said resources along with the environment. Water, food, and energy, among other resources, pose a huge challenge. Numerous essential resources, including organic substances and valuable nutrients, can be found in wastewater, and these could be recovered with efficient technologies. Protein recovery from waste streams can provide an alternative resource that could be utilized as animal feed. Membrane separation, adsorption, and microbe-assisted protein recovery have been proposed as technologies that could be used for the aforementioned protein re…

Fatty acid composition as biomarkers of freshwater microalgae: analysis of 37 strains of microalgae in 22 genera and in seven classes

2013

The fatty acid (FA) composition of algae is an important determinant of their food quality for consumers, and FAs can also be used as biomarkers for biochemical and energetic pathways in food webs. FA analyses of 7 freshwater algal classes and 37 strains showed clear similarity within classes and strong differences amongst classes. Class was a dominant factor (66.4%) explaining variation in FA signatures of microalgae. The 7 algal classes comprised 4 separate groups according to their FA profiles: (1) Chlorophyceae and Trebouxiophyceae, (2) Bacillariophyceae, (3) Cryptophyceae, Chrysophyceae, and Raphidophyceae, and (4) Euglenophyceae. Each group had a characteristic FA composition, althoug…

Phytoplankton dynamics in a shallow, hypertrophic reservoir (Lake Arancio, Sicily)

1994

Phytoplankton abundance and composition in the hypertrophic man-made Lake Arancio was analyzed, based on a programme of weekly sampling from May 1990 to November 1991 and supported by measurements of limnological parameters. The highest value of phytoplankton biomass (78 mg l-1) was observed in October 1990, during a bloom of the desmid Closterium limneticum var. fallax, while the lowest (0.15 mg l-1) was measured in April 1991. During spring, autumn and winter 1990, species of the genus Closterium dominated the community, in the sequence: C. aciculare, C. limneticum var. fallax, C. limneticum. The summer community was more diverse with the predominance of organisms belonging to Chlorophyce…

Application of algae in active biomonitoring of the selected holding reservoirs in swietokrzyskie province

2016

During the years 2014-2015, biomonitoring studies were carried out at three holding reservoirs located in Swietokrzyskie Province (central Poland): Kielce artificial lake, Chancza reservoir and Sielpia reservoir. In sea water algae Palmaria palmata (Linnaeus) Weber & Mohr, exposed in the analysed waters, the increases of concentrations were determined by the atomic absorption spectrometry method (AAS), of the following: Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Cd and Pb. Conductivity and pH were also determined in the reservoirs waters. The differences between the increases of heavy metal concentrations in the samples of algae found along the coastline were indicated; they result from different distances from the p…

Equilibrium and studies on sorption of heavy metals from solutions by algae

2013

Inferring Phytoplankton, Terrestrial Plant and Bacteria Bulk δ¹³C Values from Compound Specific Analyses of Lipids and Fatty Acids.

2015

Stable isotope mixing models in aquatic ecology require δ13C values for food web end members such as phytoplankton and bacteria, however it is rarely possible to measure these directly. Hence there is a critical need for improved methods for estimating the δ13C ratios of phytoplankton, bacteria and terrestrial detritus from within mixed seston. We determined the δ13C values of lipids, phospholipids and biomarker fatty acids and used these to calculate isotopic differences compared to the whole-cell δ13C values for eight phytoplankton classes, five bacterial taxa, and three types of terrestrial organic matter (two trees and one grass). The lipid content was higher amongst the phytoplankton (…