Response of organically and conventionally produced potatoes to a controlled attack of a pathogen

Organic agricultural products have increasing share of the food market in Europe. The questions related to benefits of organic versus conventionally produced agricultural crops are of increasing meaning. In our paper we have focused on assessment of the reaction of the immunity system of potato tubers from both agricultural systems on an external controlled attack of Phytophthora infestans, a pathogenic microorganism. The reaction of organic and conventional potato tubers was expressed via determination of chlorogenic acid. The content of chlorogenic acid in organic potato tubers increased 1.3 times after an attack, compared to potato tubers without a microbial attack. In conventional potato tubers, the increase was 4 times higher in the same way of comparison. The observed increase in conventional tubers is an evident exaggerated protection reaction to the attack of a natural potato pathogen. It is evident that there is a difference between the reaction of the immunity system of organic versus conventional potato tubers � phytoallergy

Sputtered gold mask for deep chemical etching of silicon

Sputtered mask resists chemical attack from acid and has adherence to withstand prolonged submergence in etch solution without lifting from silicon surface. Even under prolonged etch conditions with significant undercutting, gold mask maintained excellent adhesion to silicon surface and imperviousness to acid

Acid corrosion of plain and reinforced concrete sewage systems

The infrastructure of concrete sewage systems is affected notably by biogenic sulfuric acid attack, which causes rapid deterioration of each of its components. To provide a better understanding of this mechanism of damage, this paper reports on research carried out to study the response of the cementitious concrete matrix and the reinforcement steel under the attack of sulfuric acid. Concrete industrial pipes were cast using ordinary portland cement and pulverized fly ash, and specimens obtained from the mixes were left for several cycles in a solution of sulfuric acid at different pH. Experiments were carried out to assess the loss of weight and the electrical corrosion potential. Results showed that sulfuric acid attack can be considered a surface phenomenon, in which the acid attack destroys the cover of concrete before it reaches the reinforcement

Study of Mortars Made with Natural and Artificial Pozzolans

The objective of this work is to evaluate the thermal activation potential of clay soils, particularly the clay fraction of dam mud, for the production of artificial pozzolan which can be substituted to cement in concrete and mortars applications and also to make a comparative study with the natural pozzolan available in the area of Beni Saf in considerable quantities. The research study is carried out on three mortars 10, 20 and 30% of natural pozzolan of Beni Saf and artificial pozzolan from the mud calcined at 850 ° C / 3 hours of the dredged sediments of the dams of Fergoug and Ouizert, and on a control mortar without additions for the need of comparison. Several physical, mechanical, microstructural and sustainable tests have been carried out to carry out this research study: maneuverability in the fresh state, impeded shrinkage, mechanical performance, absorption, acid attack (5% CH3COOH, 5% HNO3 and 5% H2SO4), mass loss and pH reading follow-up in the hardened state. Compressive strengths indicate that pozzolan-based mortars have the best results in particular over the long term, whereas the results of acid attack tests show that the calcined mud has a significantly greater influence than natural pozzolan

An evolutionary approach to modelling concrete degradation due to sulphuric acid attack

Concrete corrosion due to sulphuric acid attack is known to be one of the main contributory factors for degradation of concrete sewer pipes. This paper proposes to use a novel data mining technique, namely, evolutionary polynomial regression (EPR), to predict degradation of concrete subject to sulphuric acid attack. A comprehensive dataset from literature is collected to train and develop an EPR model for this purpose. The results show that the EPR model can successfully predict mass loss of concrete specimens exposed to sulphuric acid. Parametric studies show that the proposed model is capable of representing the degree to which individual contributing parameters can affect the degradation of concrete. The developed EPR model is compared with a model based on artificial neural network (ANN) and the advantageous of the EPR approach over ANN is highlighted. In addition, based on the developed EPR model and using an optimisation technique, the optimum concrete mixture to provide maximum resistance against sulphuric acid attack has been identified

Asetilasi Kayu Kemiri (Aleurites Moluccana), Durian (Durio Zibethinus), Dan Manggis (Garcinia Mangostana)

The problem solve of unstable dimensions wood fruits and susceptible wood from termites attack was an attempt preservation of wood by acetylation. The research purposes were to knew the effect of wood variety and acetic acid concentration to retention value, to evaluated the Weight Percent Gain (WPG) and dimention stability, and to evaluated durability from attack termite based on laboratory dan grave yard test. Some kind of wood such as kemiri, durian, and manggis woods were treated by soaking during 2 weeks with acetic acid concentration of 10%, 15%, 20%, and 25%. The results showed that high retention on kemiri wood with concentration of 25% was 7.73 gr/cm3. Durian wood in concentration of 15% had WPG value (44.41%) was good dimention stability (67.8%). The increasing of acetic acid concentration caused the increasing of retention and wood resistance from termite attack in laboratory and grave yard test

Zero-thickness interface model with chemical degradation by acid attack

Carbon dioxide (CO2) storage in abandoned oil/gas reservoirs is considered a viable alternative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. An important element of the risk associated with long-term CO2 storage is the loss of integrity of the cement seals of the abandoned wells in the reservoir. Among others, one possible cause of loss of integrity is the degradation of the oil-well cement due to the acid attack of the carbonated brine in the reservoir. In previous studies, the authors have developed a diffusion-reaction model for simulating this degradation process. In order to study possible coupled Chemo-Mechanical (CM) mechanisms, this model will be coupled with an existing mechanical model. For this purpose, in this paper, an existing constitutive law for zero-thickness interface, based on the theory of elasto-plasticity with concepts of fracture mechanics, is modified to incorporate the effect of chemical degradation on the mechanical strength parameters. Preliminary results obtained with this new constitutive law are presented, in order to illustrate the main aspects of the proposed constitutive law, as well as a possible C-M degradation mechanism that should be considered in the long-term safety assessment of CO2 geological storage projects

One-electron oxidation and reduction of glycosaminoglycan chloramides: a kinetic study.

Hypochlorous acid and its acid-base counterpart, hypochlorite ions, produced under inflammatory conditions, may produce chloramides of glycosaminoglycans, these being significant components of the extracellular matrix (ECM). This may occur through the binding of myeloperoxidase directly to the glycosaminoglycans. The N-Cl group in the chloramides is a potential selective target for both reducing and oxidizing radicals, leading possibly to more efficient and damaging fragmentation of these biopolymers relative to the parent glycosaminoglycans. In this study, the fast reaction techniques of pulse radiolysis and nanosecond laser flash photolysis have been used to generate both oxidizing and reducing radicals to react with the chloramides of hyaluronan (HACl) and heparin (HepCl). The strong reducing formate radicals and hydrated electrons were found to react rapidly with both HACl and HepCl with rate constants of 1-1.7 x 108 and 0.7-1.2 x 108 M-1 s-1 for formate radicals and 2.2 x 109 and 7.2 x 10 8 M-1 s-1 for hydrated electrons, respectively. The spectral characteristics of the products of these reactions were identical and were consistent with initial attack at the N-Cl groups, followed by elimination of chloride ions to produce nitrogen-centered radicals, which rearrange subsequently and rapidly to produce C-2 radicals on the glucosamine moiety, supporting an earlier EPR study by M.D. Rees et al. (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125: 13719-13733; 2003). The oxidizing hydroxyl radicals also reacted rapidly with HACl and HepCl with rate constants of 2.2 x 108 and 1.6 x 108 M-1 s-1, with no evidence from these data for any degree of selective attack on the N-Cl group relative to the N-H groups and other sites of attack. The carbonate anion radicals were much slower with HACl and HepCl than hydroxyl radicals (1.0 x 105 and 8.0 x 10 4 M-1 s-1, respectively) but significantly faster than with the parent molecules (3.5 x 104 and 5.0 x 10 4 M-1 s-1, respectively). These findings suggest that these potential in vivo radicals may react in a site-specific manner with the N-Cl group in the glycosaminoglycan chloramides of the ECM, possibly to produce more efficient fragmentation. This is the first study therefore to conclusively demonstrate that reducing radicals react rapidly with glycosaminoglycan chloramides in a site-specific attack at the N-Cl group, probably to produce a 100% efficient biopolymer fragmentation process. Although less reactive, carbonate radicals, which may be produced in vivo via reactions of peroxynitrite with serum levels of carbon dioxide, also appear to react in a highly site-specific manner at the N-Cl group. It is not yet known if such site-specific attacks by this important in vivo species lead to a more efficient fragmentation of the biopolymers than would be expected for attack by the stronger oxidizing species, the hydroxyl radical. It is clear, however, that the N-Cl group formed under inflammatory conditions in the extracellular matrix does present a more likely target for both reactive oxygen species and reducing species than the N-H groups in the parent glycosaminoglycans. © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

Impact production of NO and reduced species

It has recently been suggested that a reported spike in seawater (87)Sr/(86)Sr at the K-T boundary is the signature of an impact-generated acid deluge. However, the amount of acid required is implausibly large. Some about 3 x 10 to the 15th power moles of Sr must be weathered from silicates to produce the inferred Sr spike. The amount of acid required is at least 100 and probably 1000 times greater. Production of 3 x 10 to the 18th power moles of NO is clearly untenable. The atmosphere presently contains only 1.4 x 10 to the 20th power moles of N-sub 2 and 3.8 x 10 to the 19th power moles of O sub 2 If the entire atmosphere were shocked to 2000 K and cooled within a second, the total NO produced would be about 3 x 10 to the 18th power moles. This is obviously unrealistic. A (still to short) cooling time of 10th to the 3rd power sec reduces NO production by an order of magnitude. In passing, we note that if the entire atmosphere had in fact been shocked to 2000 K, acid rain would have been the least of a dinosaur's problems. Acid rain as a mechanism poses poses other difficulties. Recently deposited carbonates would have been most susceptable to acid attack. The researchers' preferred explanation is simply increased continental erosion following ecological trauma, coupled with enchanced levels of CO-sub 2