Search results for "soil"

Past and Contemporary Changes in Forest Cover and Forest Continuity in Relation to Soils (Southern Latvia)

2014

A set of medium-scale historical maps was used to reconstruct changes in spatial patterns of forest area during the last 220 years in an agricultural matrix of northeastern Europe (Zemgale region, Latvia). Changes in total forest area by soils were determined, as well as the time period of continuous forest cover. Proportion of protected area for each soil trophic group was also calculated. Patterns of recent forest development differed between soil trophic groups. Afforestation occurred mainly on wet and poor soils in the 19th and 20th centuries, while the proportion of woodland area on fertile soils typical for nemoral forests was fairly stable. Only 1% of the fertile soil area has been c…

Effect of commercial mineral-based additives on composting and compost quality.

2009

Abstract The effectiveness of two commercial additives meant to improve the composting process was studied in a laboratory-scale experiment. Improver A (sulphates and oxides of iron, magnesium, manganese, and zinc mixed with clay) and B (mixture of calcium hydroxide, peroxide, and oxide) were added to source-separated biowaste:peat mixture (1:1, v/v) in proportions recommended by the producers. The composting process ( T , emissions of CO 2 , NH 3 , and CH 4 ) and the quality of the compost (pH, conductivity, C/N ratio, water-soluble NH 4 –N and NO 3 –N, water- and NaOH-soluble low-weight carboxylic acids, nutrients, heavy metals and phytotoxicity to Lepidium sarivum ) were monitored during…

Effects of Soil Solarization With Different Plastic Films and Fumigation With Combination of 1,3-Dichloropropene and Chloropicrin on Strawberry Prote…

2012

Bonding prediction in friction stir consolidation of aluminum alloys: A preliminary study

2018

Friction Stir Consolidation (FSC) is a solid-state process that results in consolidation of metal powders or chips producing solid billet through severe plastic deformation and the solid-state bonding phenomena. This process can be used both for primary production and for metal scrap recycling. During the FSC process, a rotating die is plunged into a hollow chamber containing the finely divided, unconsolidated material to be processed. In this paper, a FEM numerical model for the prediction of the quality of the consolidated billet is presented. In particular, a dedicated bonding criterion that takes into account the peculiar process mechanics of this innovative technology is proposed.

Friction stir consolidation of aluminum machining chips

2017

Friction stir consolidation (FSC) is a solid-phase manufacturing process that consolidates metal powder, chips, or scraps into solid blocks via severe plastic deformation and solid state welding. It has the potential to be a more economical and “green” process to recycle metal waste. In this study, solid discs were made from AA6061 aluminum alloy machining chips by FSC. The progression of the process was revealed by analyzing the motion of the tool, consolidating force, power history, and macro/microstructure of discs produced from a series of partial consolidation experiments. A bowl-shaped recrystallized zone in the vertical cross-sections of the disc products was observed and conside…

Deciphering transcriptional regulation mechanisms underlining fruit development and ripening in Vitis vinifera

2019

BACKGROUND: Grapes (Vitis vinifera ) are an important woody crop cultivated in a broad range of environmental conditions. Grapefruit development is a physiological process whose molecular regulatory networks are still not sufficiently investigated. OBJECTIVE: The primary aim of the work was to identify which key genes, molecular mechanisms and networks were involved in fruit ripening and development through a comparison of available transcriptomic data at different stages during grape development and ripening. Secondly, we aimed at identifying among these fruit-related genes, which genes play also a functional role in other developmental and physiological processes in reproductive tissues (…

Early detection of mechanical damage in mango using NIR hyperspectral images and machine learning

2014

Mango fruit are sensitive and can easily develop brown spots after suffering mechanical stress during postharvest handling, transport and marketing. The manual inspection of this fruit used today cannot detect the damage in very early stages of maturity and to date no automatic tool capable of such detection has been developed, since current systems based on machine vision only detect very visible damage. The application of hyperspectral imaging to the postharvest quality inspection of fruit is relatively recent and research is still underway to find a method of estimating internal properties or detecting invisible damage. This work describes a new system to evaluate mechanically induced da…

FUNCTIONAL NONRETENTIVE FECAL SOILING AND STRESSFUL LIFE EVENTS

2019

Introduction: Functional non-retentive fecal soiling (FNRFS), or encopresis without constipation, is a common problem in pediatric age. FNRFS is associated with high levels of distress for both children and parents and with emotional disorders in about 30%-50% of affected children. This study aimed to evaluate stressors on a sample of children with FNRFS comparing to a group of typical devolpment children (TDC). Methods:154 subjects participated in the study: 56 FNRFS children (37 males; mean age 10.87 years ± 1.68); 98 TDC (65 males; mean age 11.3 years ± 1.85). All participants were evaluated for the presence of stressful events (LCU) using the Coddington Life Events Scales (CLES). Result…

Spatial Distribution of Fungal Communities in an Arable Soil.

2015

Fungi are prominent drivers of ecological processes in soils, so that fungal communities across different soil ecosystems have been well investigated. However, for arable soils taxonomically resolved fine-scale studies including vertical itemization of fungal communities are still missing. Here, we combined a cloning/Sanger sequencing approach of the ITS/LSU region as marker for general fungi and of the partial SSU region for arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) to characterize the microbiome in different maize soil habitats. Four compartments were analyzed over two annual cycles 2009 and 2010: a) ploughed soil in 0-10 cm, b) rooted soil in 40-50 cm, c) root-free soil in 60-70 cm soil depth a…

First morphological and molecular investigation of the mycobiota associated with Astragalus nebrodensis in its natural environment (Madonie mountains…

2023

Although Astragalus nebrodensis plays a fundamental ecological role, mycorrhizal fungi associated with this species have never been investigated in natural habitats. Our aim was to check the presence and occurrence of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) in roots of A. nebrodensis in a natural habitat and to screen the fungal diversity in the surrounding soil, considering the positive influence of mycotrophic shrub species on soil microbiota. A morphological analysis was performed on A. nebrodensis roots samples from the Madonie mountains (Sicily, Italy), while high-throughput-sequencing was carried out in A. nebrodensis roots and in the associated soil. Observations of A. nebrodensis roots r…