134 research outputs found
Phosphate Solubilization Potentials of Acinetobacter Strains and their Relations with Soil Properties
Phosphate solubilizing bacteria can be used as soil or seed inoculum to increase soil phosphorus (P)
availability for agricultural purposes. There is also a possibility of using these microorganisms to
biotechnologically dissolve phosphate ores for the production of phosphorus fertilizers. Twenty-one soil
samples were collected along a highway in Turkey to isolate phosphate solubilizing bacteria. A total of 20
phosphate solubilizers were isolated from the rhizosphere of wheat and maize grown in the pots, which
contained the collected soil samples. The isolates were distributed among the genera, Acinetobacter (7),
Pseudomonas (7), Enterobacter (2), Enterococcus (1), Escherichia (1), Photorhabdus (1), and Bacillus
(1) as determined by the 16S rDNA gene sequence analysis. Since the Acinetobacter species were most
effective in Pikovskaya’s agar, which contained tricalcium phosphate for the sole P-source, they were
further experimented for the phosphate solubilization in batch cultures. The mean phosphorus dissolved
in 5 day incubation ranged between 167 and 1022 ppm P. The initial pH of 7.8 dropped below 4.7 in six
isolates with a gluconic acid production in the concentrations ranging between 27.5 and 37.5 mM.
Acinetobacter isolates have some potential as an inoculum both for soil and biotechnological Psolubilization
Agricultural Academy
Abstract ER, F., M. OGUT and A. SAMI EROL, 2009. Path analysýs and relatýonshýps between some clýmatýc parameters and sugar content of sugar beet. Bulg. J. Agric. Sci., This study has been made to determine the relationships between climatic parameters and sugar beet produced in Konya (Cumra) plain. There were statistically significant relationships between monthly mean sugar content of sugar beet and the climatic factors; rainfall, temperature, cloudiness mean and wind velocity (r=0.630*, r=-0.898**, r=-0.900**, r=-0.700* in 1999; r=0.528, r=-0.980**, r=0.673, r=-0.545 in 2000, respectively). According to path analysis results, temperature, cloudiness mean and rainfall have more direct and indirect effects than other climatic factors on sugar content of sugar beet
Energy poverty in Portugal, Italy, and Norway: awareness, short-term driving forces, and barriers in the built environment
Portugal, Italy, and Norway differ by energy performance of buildings and gross
domestic product (GDP). Portugal has significantly highest thermal discomfort with harsher
winters. In 2021, 80% of Portuguese buildings had a low energy rating, with 75% of buildings
without thermal insulation, highly contributing to the energy poverty (EP) of the country. In
Italy, despite a generally mild climate, the building stock has low thermal performance. The most
affected areas are the suburban and peri-urban ones, with an EP rate in southern regions between
13% and 20% compared to 8.8% at national level. Moreover, 65% of buildings were constructed
before the first law on energy saving criteria and a 25% of it has never undergone any work of
maintenance or improvement. Norway, despite the limited studies performs well respect to other
European Economic Area and European Union countries, in investing and using indicators to
enhance and monitor the green energies’ use. Because of energy price growth, seasonal price
fluctuations, and different energy tariffs, energy inequality is increasing. EP risk is
underestimated, masked by Norway's high GDP and regional price disparity. Energy inequality
is increasing due to energy price growth, seasonal price fluctuations, and energy prices’
geographical inequality. The barriers in reducing EP are the underestimation of risk masked by
the high GDP, and the need of homogenized prices in Norway. This study provides an overview
to discuss EP awareness and it assesses the drivers and barriers that influence building's energy
efficiency renovatio
A dataset of criteria on the use of thermal insulation solutions in building facades located in Norway, Portugal and Italy
The building sector is responsible for a significant percentage of the energy consumption in Europe. The level of thermal insulation of the building envelope leads to decrease energy consumption, thus contributing towards a sustainable and efficient built environment. As a result, the choice of the most suitable thermal insulation solution to be applied both in new construction and in retrofitting of building facades is fundamental for a satisfactory thermal performance of the building. Nevertheless, the thermal insulation solution should not be chosen considering only the thermal performance, but rather based on a set of performance parameters (i.e., water resistance, fire performance, impact on the environment and human health, among others) and climate-related requirements. This data article includes a dataset on criteria adopted in three European countries (namely Norway, Portugal, and Italy) considering a PESTE analysis (i.e., criteria related to Political, Economic, Social, Technological, and Environmental questions). The main objective was to evaluate the knowledge and perception of people living and/or working in these countries about the use and the performance of thermal insulation solutions in building facades. To this aim a questionnaire was developed within the scope of the EEA Granted EFFICACY research project (November 2022 – February 2023), whose overall objective is to create a database that serves as a reference for the choice of thermal insulation solutions to be applied in building facades for thermal and energy performances optimization. This database contributes to systemize criteria and can be extended by other researchers or professionals in the area, as well as in other countries
Modes of Foreign Entry under Asymmetric Information about Potential Technology Spillovers
This paper studies the effect of technology spillovers on the entry decision of a multinational enterprise into a foreign market. Two alternative entry modes for a foreign direct investment are considered: Greenfield investment versus acquisition. We find that with quantity competition a spillover makes acquisitions less attractive, while with price competition acquisitions become more attractive. Asymmetric information about potential spillovers always reduces the number of
acquisitions independently of whether the host country or the entrant has private information. Interestingly, we find that asymmetric information always hurts the entrant, while it sometimes is in favor of the host country
Fine Splitting of Electron States in Silicon Nanocrystal with a Hydrogen-like Shallow Donor
Electron structure of a silicon quantum dot doped with a shallow hydrogen-like donor has been calculated for the electron states above the optical gap. Within the framework of the envelope-function approach we have calculated the fine splitting of the ground sixfold degenerate electron state as a function of the donor position inside the quantum dot. Also, dependence of the wave functions and energies on the dot size was obtained
Losartan Decreases p42/44 MAPK Signaling and Preserves LZ+ MYPT1 Expression
Heart failure is associated with impairment in nitric oxide (NO) mediated vasodilatation, which has been demonstrated to result from a reduction in the relative expression of the leucine zipper positive (LZ+) isoform of the myosin targeting subunit (MYPT1) of myosin light chain phosphatase. Further, captopril preserves normal LZ+ MYPT1 expression, the sensitivity to cGMP-mediated vasodilatation and modulates the expression of genes in the p42/44 MAPK and p38 MAPK signaling cascades. This study tests whether angiotensin receptor blockade (ARB) with losartan decreases p42/44 MAPK or p38 MAPK signaling and preserves LZ+ MYPT1 expression in a rat infarct model of heart failure. In aortic smooth muscle, p42/44 MAPK activation increases and LZ+ MYPT1 expression falls after LAD ligation. Losartan treatment decreases the activation of p42/44 MAPK to the uninfarcted control level and preserves normal LZ+ MYPT1 expression. The expression and activation of p38 MAPK, however, is low and does not change following LAD ligation or with losartan therapy. These data suggest that either reducing or blocking the effects of circulating angiotensin II, both decreases the activation of the p42/44 MAPK signaling cascade and preserves LZ+ MYPT1 expression. Thus, the ability of ACE-inhibitors and ARBs to modulate the vascular phenotype, to preserve normal flow mediated vasodilatation may explain the beneficial effects of these drugs compared to other forms of afterload reduction in the treatment of heart failure
The impact of co-infections on fish: a review
International audienceAbstractCo-infections are very common in nature and occur when hosts are infected by two or more different pathogens either by simultaneous or secondary infections so that two or more infectious agents are active together in the same host. Co-infections have a fundamental effect and can alter the course and the severity of different fish diseases. However, co-infection effect has still received limited scrutiny in aquatic animals like fish and available data on this subject is still scarce. The susceptibility of fish to different pathogens could be changed during mixed infections causing the appearance of sudden fish outbreaks. In this review, we focus on the synergistic and antagonistic interactions occurring during co-infections by homologous or heterologous pathogens. We present a concise summary about the present knowledge regarding co-infections in fish. More research is needed to better understand the immune response of fish during mixed infections as these could have an important impact on the development of new strategies for disease control programs and vaccination in fish
Heavy and light roles: myosin in the morphogenesis of the heart
Myosin is an essential component of cardiac muscle, from the onset of cardiogenesis through to the adult heart. Although traditionally known for its role in energy transduction and force development, recent studies
suggest that both myosin heavy-chain and myosin lightchain
proteins are required for a correctly formed heart.
Myosins are structural proteins that are not only expressed
from early stages of heart development, but when mutated
in humans they may give rise to congenital heart defects.
This review will discuss the roles of myosin, specifically
with regards to the developing heart. The expression of
each myosin protein will be described, and the effects that
altering expression has on the heart in embryogenesis in
different animal models will be discussed. The human
molecular genetics of the myosins will also be reviewed
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