Produzione e caratterizzazione di acqua attivata mediante plasmi freddi atmosferici per applicazioni in agricoltura

This thesis is concerned with the production and characterization of PAW and its application to promote seeds germination. Two low temperature plasma devices operating at atmospheric pressure will be compared: an RF capacitively coupled source, COST Reference Microplasma Jet and another jet based on a DBD configuration, thus named DBD jet. After plasma treatments, variations of physicochemical properties induced in PAW, such as dissolved oxygen content, electrical conductivity, pH and concentrations of the main reactive species, were measured. Finally, the effects of the resulting solutions in enhancing germination were investigated, through the use of these liquids for the imbibition of two varieties of radish seeds (Raphanus sativus var. Sativus), chosen as model seeds

Site-specific seeding using multi-sensor and data fusion techniques : a review

Site-specific seeding (SSS) is a precision agricultural (PA) practice aiming at optimizing seeding rate and depth, depending on the within field variability in soil fertility and yield potential. Unlike other site-specific applications, SSS was not adopted sufficiently by farmers due to some technological and practical challenges that need to be overcome. Success of site-specific application strongly depends on the accuracy of measurement of key parameters in the system, modeling and delineation of management zone maps, accurate recommendations and finally the right choice of variable rate (VR) technologies and their integrations. The current study reviews available principles and technologies for both map-based and senor-based SSS. It covers the background of crop and soil quality indicators (SQI), various soil and crop sensor technologies and recommendation approaches of map-based and sensor-based SSS applications. It also discusses the potential of socio-economic benefits of SSS against uniform seeding. The current review proposes prospective future technology synthesis for implementation of SSS in practice. A multi-sensor data fusion system, integrating proper sensor combinations, is suggested as an essential approach for putting SSS into practice

Development of novel strategies to fill the empty drug pipeline for schistosomiasis: from drug sensitivity assay development to preclinical studies

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by Schistosoma spp. parasites. It affects more than 200 million people and 700 million more are at risk. Over 10’000 people die every year because of the disease, but this number might be a big underestimation. While the disease is endemic in 78 countries and affects mostly poor communities without access to clean water, the highest prevalence for the disease is found in sub-Saharan Africa with over 85% of the overall occurrences. Children are at especially high risk of exposure through activities such as playing or bathing in infested water bodies. Schistosomiasis is a debilitating disease; the loss of productivity and mortality associated with the disease have a negative effect on the emerging countries' economies, which causes people to be stuck in a negative feedback loop of poverty and public health problems. Poor sanitation and unawareness of the general population are the main reasons for the transmission of schistosomiasis. The first symptoms of the disease are red bumps on the skin, usually appearing a few hours after infection and sometimes followed by mild fever and nausea. However, the chronic effects are more serious. In fact, children affected by the disease often show developmental delays and adults may develop chronic hepatic damage and eventually liver failure. There is only one drug available for mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns: praziquantel. There is growing evidence of a decreasing efficacy of praziquantel against Schistosoma spp. There is no vaccine available and the drug pipeline to treat schistosomiasis is empty. The overwhelming prevalence of schistosomiasis in the developing world and the absence of novel drug candidates against the disease are provoking fear of resistance emergence among the handful of laboratories involved in the fight against this neglected tropical disease (NTD). The research of novel compounds moves slowly and one of the main reasons for this is the difficulty in finding a reliable and faster drug screening method that would increase the drug screening output and the concordance between laboratories involved in the drug screening process. During my PhD, I worked on different projects tackling schistosomiasis, searching for ways to speed up drug screening processes and to contribute to the currently empty drug pipeline. I worked on a protocol, in which we detail all the aspects of the drug screening procedure, with the aim to familiarize new laboratories with the procedures as we do them here at Swiss TPH, in order to decrease the methodological fragmentation in the field. I worked on the development of novel drug screening platforms and new methods to identify potential drug candidates. In collaboration with the Department of Biosystems Science and Engineering (D-BSSE) of ETH located in Basel, we developed a novel platform for antischistosomal drug screening based on microfluidic electrical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Also, I worked on a human liver microtissue-based system to assess the liver metabolism for extending the standard drug screening assays in vitro on NTS to prodrugs, and to evaluate the liver metabolism's effect on the compounds’ activity on NTS in vitro. I first validated the system with praziquantel and then quantified the amount of compound metabolised and tested the effect of the liver metabolites on NTS in vitro with other compounds that are approved for human medicine. Finally, in an attempt to resolve the issue of praziquantel's low solubility, I collaborated with the University of Trieste in the development and testing of a novel formulation of praziquantel. This novel praziquantel formulation was based on a polymorph co-crystal provided by the University of Trieste. I tested this formulation derivative in vivo and in vitro to compare it to the standard praziquantel to evaluate its activity. I quantified praziquantel enantiomers by LC-MS/MS in mice plasma and compared the pharmacokinetics of the standard praziquantel with the polymorph praziquantel derivative. In this thesis, all of the above-mentioned projects are contextualised and discussed

Advances in Plasma Diagnostics and Applications

Plasma can be generated via the combination of energy-inducing fragmentation, ionization, and excitation of molecular. Such processes occur throughout the life of the plasma, resulting in a wide variety of atomic and molecular species, which can be electrically charged, energetically excited, highly reactive, or any combination of these states. Plasma diagnostics can demonstrate important discharge characteristics and the mechanisms of plasma-induced processes. Parameter’s dynamic range spans many orders of magnitude, and spatial/temporal scales significantly vary during plasma source configurations. Many diagnostic techniques have been developed to characterize plasma, including scattering techniques, intensified charge-coupled device cameras, laser-based methods, optical emission spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, gas chromatography, etc. Although various mature diagnostic technologies for plasma discharges have been developed, there are still many challenges. The measurement precision is not only affected by the diagnostic equipment/ techniques, but also by the plasma discharge itself. In many applications, direct measurements of the parameters of interest are still not possible. In addition, the plasma environments in application processes are unusually complex, and their reactions are still not fully understood. Plasma can exist in a variety of forms due to discharge modes resulting from different means of creation, resulting in a wide range of applications. This brings together many research fields, including physics, engineering, chemistry, biology, and medicine

Plant impedance spectroscopy: a review of modeling approaches and applications

Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy has emerged over the past decade as an efficient, non-destructive method to investigate various (eco-)physiological and morphological properties of plants. This work reviews the state-of-the-art of impedance spectra modeling for plant applications. In addition to covering the traditional, widely-used representations of electrochemical impedance spectra, we also consider the more recent machine-learning-based approaches

2011 Abstract Booklet

Complete Schedule of Events for the 13th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Advanced space design program to the Universities Space Research Association and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration

The goal of the Fall 1987 class of EGM 4000 was the investigation of engineering aspects contributing to the development of NASA's Controlled Ecological Life Support System (CELSS). The areas investigated were the geometry of plant growth chambers, automated seeding of plants, remote sensing of plant health, and processing of grain into edible forms. The group investigating variable spacing of individual soybean plants designed growth trays consisting of three dimensional trapezoids arranged in a compact circular configuration. The automated seed manipulation and planting group investigated the electrical and mechanical properties of wheat seeds and developed three seeding concepts based upon these properties. The plant health and disease sensing group developed a list of reliable plant health indicators and investigated potential detection technologies