OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES TO SUSTAINABILITY IN HIDROPONIC SYSTEMS– REVIEW

Hydroponics is a viable solution to obtain intensive agriculture, in terms of producing vegetables and fruits as tasty and nutritious as those produced in classical crops. In the current changing climatic conditions, it can be a viable solution for obtaining high quality food. In addition, the system allows establishment of crops, which do not require the use of soil or manure, but only water that contains various dissolved nutrients. This agricultural cropping technology involves the use of various fertilizers instead of soil for the growth and development of plants. The light needed to develop the plates can come from the sun, or can be produced by renewable energy sources

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING THE USE OF EQUIPMENT FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF WATER COLLECTION BASINS FROM PRECIPITATION AND FROM THE USE OF SPRAY IRRIGATION SYSTEMS

Global warming has been growing rapidly lately, which implies an increasing need for water for the good development of agricultural crops. To allow the recovery of a significant amount of water from rainfall or irrigation, reducing the amount of energy necessary for irrigation but also for soil losses caused by the phenomenon of erosion or puddling, works are introduced in crop technologies with the help of which this recovery can be achieved. This paper presents equipment used for the execution of rainwater catchment basins and the use of sprinkler irrigation systems

RESEARCH OF THE MAIN PROCESSING WORKS FOR ESTABLISHING A JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE CROP ON DIFFICULT AND CONTAMINATED SOILS

Jerusalem artichoke, is a technical plant that have some special features which make it suitable to be cultivated on degraded and difficult soils. However, processing difficult lands can cause major problems for farmers, in terms of using the right technology and reducing investment costs. The paper aim to address to the main challenges faced in preparing the soil for a Jerusalem artichoke culture, in order to maximize the productivity and efficiency

CONSIDERATIONS ON ENERGETIC CROPS POTENTIAL

In order to breathe fresh and clean air, nature and terrestrial atmosphere should be preserved and protected. Carbon emissions represent one of the main enemies of air quality. Recently, carbon emissions have surpassed all the predictions because the excessive industrialization, becoming the determining factor for global warming. A viable alternative to carbon emissions reduction is the utilization of energy sources that can diminish the noxious substances emissions up to zero. This can be done by using the power of wind, sun, water, energy plants, etc. Among the energetic potential plants, the biomass is obtained- a form of renewable energy which final product is biofuel

CONSTRUCTION TYPES OF TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT FOR DOSING, WEIGHING, PACKAGING AND PROCEDURES USED IN MILLING UNITS

The paper presents several types of technical equipment for dosing, weighing, packaging and the procedures used in the milling units. The weighing systems take into account several important criteria for their design, namely: how the weight or mass of the load is offset and how the result is transferred

ASPECTS REGARDING THE CULTIVATION OF TOPINAMBOUR

Jerusalem artichoke (Helianthus tuberosusL.) is a perennial plant whose tubers containinulin,which can be used as raw material for healthy products, sweeteners, bioethanol and animal feed. The objective of this paper is o present some consideration about this very important plant for agriculture, medicine, food and health

EQUIPMENT FOR EXTRACTING AND PLANTING EARTH BALE ROOT PLANTS

Trees are one of the biggest  organisms living on the planet and their role is extremely important, namely that to maintain the purity of air we breathe, improve water quality, prevent soil erosion, reduce noise level, ensure food, construction materials and eventually people comfort. Plantation and transplantation of trees by means of specialized equipment  in comparison with human force leads to an increased planting speed and higher yield, economically speaking. This paper is designed to present different constructive variants, at world level, of equipment for extracting and planting trees with earth bale at their roots, necessary for afforestation, landscape design, tree nurseries

CONSIDERATIONS ON THE EXTRACTION TECHNOLOGY OF SUGAR SORGHUM JUICE

Lately there has been an increase in drought periods but also an increase in population and therefore in consumption of food and fuel while arable land remains the same which leads to the cultivation of species with high energy potential and high nutritional potential as drought resistant, species of sorghum. The sorghum is used for: food (flours, juices, syrups, vinegar, etc.), for animal feed, but also in the industry for fuel, energy, building materials, paper, proposes to carry out an analysis of the technologies for obtaining juice from sorghum

A search for periodic and quasi-periodic photometric behavior in the cataclysmic variable TT arietis

Observations of TT Ari obtained at 11 observatories (campaign TT Ari-94) during 258 hr were carried out to study optical variability on timescales from minutes to weeks. The best-fit primary photometric period determined from 16 nights of data obtained at the Dushak-Eregdag station of the Odessa State University is P = 0d.133160 ± 0d.000004 with a mean amplitude of 0.0513 ± 0.0008 mag. This new primary photometric period is larger than that obtained during the TT Ari-88 campaign and is well outside the range of estimates published since 1961. Contrary to previous findings, the "5-7 hr" secondary photometric period is not seen. Our observations do show evidence for periods of 2d.916 and 0d.3040 with amplitudes of 43 and 25 mmag, respectively. The beat period between the spectroscopic and photometric periods is not seen. No coherent oscillations in the range f = 10-2500 cycles day-1 are found. The highest peaks in the power spectrum cover the wide range of 24-139 cycles day-1. In the mean periodogram, the highest peak corresponds to 21 and 30 minutes for the largest sets of observations, i.e., those obtained at Odessa and Krakow Universities, respectively. In the instrumental B system, variations with an amplitude exceeding 0.011 mag occur 8 times (from 33 runs) at 24 minutes. We conclude that quasi-periodic variations occur at a few preferred timescales rather than at a relatively stable period with a secular decrease. In the frequency range 90-900 cycles day-1, the power spectrum obeys a power law with a slope ranging from γ = 1.3 to 2.6 for different runs

NADPH Oxidase 2-Derived Reactive Oxygen Species Mediate FFAs-Induced Dysfunction and Apoptosis of β-Cells via JNK, p38 MAPK and p53 Pathways

Dysfunction of β-cell is one of major characteristics in the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. The combination of obesity and type 2 diabetes, characterized as ‘diabesity’, is associated with elevated plasma free fatty acids (FFAs). Oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of FFA-induced β-cell dysfunction. However, molecular mechanisms linking between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and FFA-induced β-cell dysfunction and apoptosis are less clear. In the present study, we test the hypothesis that NOX2-derived ROS may play a critical role in dysfunction and apoptosis of β-cells induced by FFA. Our results show that palmitate and oleate (0.5 mmol/L, 48 h) induced JNK activation and AKT inhibition which resulted in decreased phosphorylation of FOXO1 following nuclear localization and the nucleocytoplasmic translocation of PDX-1, leading to the reducing of insulin and ultimately dysfunction of pancreatic NIT-1 cells. We also found that palmitate and oleate stimulated apoptosis of NIT-1 cells through p38MAPK, p53 and NF-κB pathway. More interestingly, our data suggest that suppression of NOX2 may restore FFA-induced dysfunction and apoptosis of NIT-1 cells. Our findings provide a new insight of the NOX2 as a potential new therapeutic target for preservation of β-cell mass and function