Evaluation of hydrochars from lignin hydrous pyrolysis to produce biocokes after carbonization

Hydrochars were obtained after hydrous pyrolysis of a pine Kraft lignin using different reaction conditions (temperature, water content and residence time) and the residues were characterized through a wide range of analytical techniques including high-temperature rheometry, solid-state 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The results indicated that an increase in reaction temperature, an increase in residence time or a decrease in water content reduces the amount of fluid material in the residue. The hydrous pyrolysis conditions studied were not able to increase the maturation of lignin, which would result in an increase in the resolidification temperature, but reduced the amount of mineral matter in the hydrochar produced. On the other hand, the hydrochars obtained from pristine lignin, torrefied lignin (300 °C, 1 h) and their 50:50 wt.%/wt.% blend at temperatures of 350 °C after 6 h using 30 ml of water had lower ash contents (45%) is excessively high compared to that of the good coking coal (10%) and the micro-strength of the biocokes (R139%) and high microporous surface areas ( > 400 m2/g) of the biocokes and high alkalinity index of the lignins (>27%) compared to those of the coke (27% and 145 m2/g) and coal (0.6%), respectively. Furthermore, the biocoke derived from the hydrous pyrolysed torrefied lignin did not agglomerate, which could not be explained by changes in the chemical properties of the material and requires further investigation

Estirpes de Bradyrhizobium em simbiose com guandu-anão em casa de vegetação e no campo

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência simbiótica de estirpes de bactérias fixadoras de nitrogênio do gênero Bradyrhizobium com guandu-anão. Os experimentos foram conduzidos em vasos de Leonard, em vasos com solo e em campo. Foram testadas 11 estirpes em vasos de Leonard, e as que apresentaram maior eficiência em promover o crescimento do guandu-anão foram avaliadas em vasos com solo (Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo e Cambissolo) e em campo (Latossolo Vermelho-Amarelo). Em todos os experimentos, os tratamentos foram comparados a dois controles positivos (estirpes aprovadas como inoculantes para as cultivares de guandu-anão BR 2003 e BR 2801) e a duas testemunhas sem inoculação, uma com alta concentração de N mineral, e a outra, a depender do experimento, sem N mineral (solo) ou com baixa concentração de N (vasos de Leonard). Algumas estirpes proporcionaram crescimento vegetal semelhante ou superior às estirpes-referência e às testemunhas em vaso de Leonard. Em vasos com solo, o tipo de solo influenciou os tratamentos. No campo, não houve diferença entre os tratamentos, e as estirpes nativas promoveram bom crescimento. O guandu-anão é capaz de estabelecer associação simbiótica com bactérias fixadoras de N2, e a estirpe UFLA 03-320 apresenta potencial para ser recomendada para a cultura junto com a estirpe BR 2801

Eficiência simbiótica de estirpes de Cupriavidus necator tolerantes a zinco, cádmio, cobre e chumbo

O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a tolerância de estirpes de Cupriavidus necator a zinco, cádmio, cobre e chumbo, além de determinar a eficiência simbiótica das estirpes mais tolerantes em associação a espécies leguminosas com potencial para revegetação. A tolerância foi testada em meio LB, suplementado com 2,5; 5,0; 7,5; 10; 12,5 e 15 mmol L-1 de ZnSO4.7H2O, CdSO4.8H2O, CuSO4.5H2O e PbCl2, respectivamente, em comparação ao controle sem adição de metal. Determinou-se a eficiência simbiótica das quatro estirpes de C. necator mais tolerantes aos metais avaliados (UFLA02-71, UFLA02-73, UFLA01-659 e UFLA01-663), as quais foram inoculadas nas espécies: Leucaena leucocephala, Enterolobium contortisiliquum, Acacia mangium, Mimosa caesalpiniifolia, M. pudica, M. pigra e M. acutistipula. Em vasos com solos, avaliaram-se L. leucocephala, M. pudica e M. caesalpiniifolia e as estirpes UFLA01-659 e UFLA02-71, selecionadas na avaliação de eficiência simbiótica. A estirpe UFLA02-71 proporcionou incrementos de matéria seca da parte aérea de 870% em M. caesalpiniifolia, enquanto que UFLA01-659 proporcionou 885% em M. pudica e 924% em L. leucocephala. As estirpes UFLA01-659 e UFLA02-71, além da alta tolerância a metais pesados, apresentaram eficiência em fixar nitrogênio, em simbiose com essas leguminosas, em solos com rizóbios nativos capazes de nodulá-las, e devem ser avaliadas quanto ao seu potencial de utilização em programas de recuperação de áreas degradadas

Cowpea symbiotic efficiency, pH and aluminum tolerance in nitrogen-fixing bacteria

Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) cultivation in northern and northeastern Brazil provides an excellent source of nutrients and carbohydrates for the poor and underprivileged. Production surplus leads to its consumption in other regions of Brazil and also as an export commodity. Its capacity to establish relationships with atmospheric nitrogen-fixing bacteria is crucial to the reduction of production costs and the environmental impact of nitrogen fertilizers. This study assessed the symbiotic efficiency of new strains of symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria with cowpea and their tolerance to pH and aluminum. Twenty-seven strains of bacteria from different soils were evaluated under axenic conditions. These strains were compared to the following inoculant strains: INPA03-11B, UFLA03-84 and BR3267 and two controls that were not inoculated (with and without mineral nitrogen). Six strains and the three strains approved as inoculants were selected to increase the dry weight production of the aerial part (DWAP) and were tested in pots with soil that had a high-density of nitrogen-fixing native rhizobia. In this experiment, three strains (UFLA03-164, UFLA03-153, and UFLA03-154) yielded higher DWAP values. These strains grow at pH levels of 5.0, 6.0, 6.8 and at high aluminum concentration levels, reaching 10(9) CFU mL-1. In particular UFLA03-84, UFLA03-153, and UFLA03-164 tolerate up to 20 mmol c dm-3 of Al+3. Inoculation with rhizobial strains, that had been carefully selected according to their ability to nodulate and fix N2, combined with their ability to compete in soils that are acidic and contain high levels of Al, is a cheaper and more sustainable alternative that can be made available to farmers than mineral fertilizers

Global estimates on the number of people blind or visually impaired by cataract : a meta-analysis from 2000 to 2020

DATA AVAILABILITY : Data sources for the Global Vision Database are listed at the following weblink http://www.anglia.ac.uk/verigbd. Fully disaggregated data is not available publicly due to data sharing agreements with some principal investigators yet requests for summary data can be made to the corresponding author.CHANGE HISTORY 16 July 2024 : A Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03161-7.BACKGROUND : To estimate global and regional trends from 2000 to 2020 of the number of persons visually impaired by cataract and their proportion of the total number of vision-impaired individuals. METHODS : A systematic review and meta-analysis of published population studies and gray literature from 2000 to 2020 was carried out to estimate global and regional trends. We developed prevalence estimates based on modeled distance visual impairment and blindness due to cataract, producing location-, year-, age-, and sex-specific estimates of moderate to severe vision impairment (MSVI presenting visual acuity <6/18, ≥3/60) and blindness (presenting visual acuity <3/60). Estimates are age-standardized using the GBD standard population. RESULTS : In 2020, among overall (all ages) 43.3 million blind and 295 million with MSVI, 17.0 million (39.6%) people were blind and 83.5 million (28.3%) had MSVI due to cataract blind 60% female, MSVI 59% female. From 1990 to 2020, the count of persons blind (MSVI) due to cataract increased by 29.7%(93.1%) whereas the age-standardized global prevalence of cataract-related blindness improved by −27.5% and MSVI increased by 7.2%. The contribution of cataract to the age-standardized prevalence of blindness exceeded the global figure only in South Asia (62.9%) and Southeast Asia and Oceania (47.9%). CONCLUSIONS : The number of people blind and with MSVI due to cataract has risen over the past 30 years, despite a decrease in the age-standardized prevalence of cataract. This indicates that cataract treatment programs have been beneficial, but population growth and aging have outpaced their impact. Growing numbers of cataract blind indicate that more, better-directed, resources are needed to increase global capacity for cataract surgery.Brien Holden Vision Institute, Fondation Thea, Fred Hollows Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Lions Clubs International Foundation (LCIF), Sightsavers International, and University of Heidelberg. Open Access funding enabled and organized by CAUL and its Member Institutions.https://www.nature.com/eyehj2024School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH)SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-bein

BbrizAGL6 Is Differentially Expressed During Embryo Sac Formation of Apomictic and Sexual Brachiaria brizantha Plants

Species of the genus Brachiaria comprise plants with different modes of reproduction, sexual and apomictic. In apomixis, the embryo sac differentiates from an unreduced cell, and the embryo develops in the absence of egg cell fertilisation. In this work, the characterisation and expression analyses of a MADS-box gene from Brachiaria brizantha, named BbrizAGL6, was described in sexual and apomictic plants. Phylogenetic analyses indicated that BbrizAGL6 belongs to the AGL6-like subfamily of proteins and clusters together with the AGL6-like protein of other monocots. BbrizAGL6 and AGL6 show conservation of the protein complex. Furthermore, BbrizAGL6 expressed preferentially in reproductive tissues and corresponding transcripts were detected in anthers and ovules. In ovules of B. brizantha, where the main differences among sexual and apomictic reproduction occur, BbrizAGL6 was differentially modulated. Transcripts of BbrizAGL6 were localised in the megaspore mother cell of ovaries from apomictic and sexual plants and, additionally, in the region where aposporic initial cells differentiate, in the nucellus of apomictic plants. For the first time, a role of an AGL6-like gene in megasporogenesis of apomictic and sexual plants is suggested

Sesbania virgata stimulates the occurrence of its microsymbiont in soils but does not inhibit microsymbionts of other species Sesbania virgata estimula a ocorrência de seu microssimbionte nos solos, mas não inibe os microssimbiontes de outras espécies

The legume species Sesbania virgata establishes a specific and efficient symbiosis with Azorhizobium doebereinerae. Previous studies have shown that A. doebereinerae occurrence correlates to the presence of S. virgata. This work aimed to evaluate the occurrence of A. doebereinerae and of other nitrogen-fixing Leguminosae-nodulating bacteria (NFLNB) in soil samples collected adjacent to and 10 m away from the stems of five S. virgata plants in pasture areas. Symbiotic characteristics of isolates from these NFLNB populations were also studied. S. virgata and the four promiscuous legume species Leucaena leucocephala, Macroptilium atropurpureum, Phaseolus vulgaris and Vigna unguiculata were inoculated with soil samples to trap A. doebereinerae and other NFLNB. NFLNB capable of inducing nodulation in at least one of these legumes were found in all samples. M. atropurpureum was the most promiscuous species, as it trapped the highest number of NFLNB cultural types from soil suspensions. The other species were less promiscuous in the following order: V. unguiculata, P. vulgaris, and L. leucocephala. Isolates of the promiscuous legumes were classified into seven cultural groups. One of these groups, isolated from all promiscuous species, showed fast-growth alkali-reaction in culture medium (like Azorhizobium); it was identified as Cupriavidus. This is the first report of symbiosis of Cupriavidus with Papilionoideae species. The symbiotic efficiency of promiscuous hosts with NFLNB varied, but it was always less than that of controls with mineral nitrogen or an inoculant strain. S. virgata was efficiently nodulated only by A. doebereinerae, which occurred mainly in samples collected close to the plant stem, corroborating a high stimulus by its host species. A high diversity of NFLNB occurs as saprophytes close to the S. virgata root system.<br>A espécie de leguminosa Sesbania virgata estabelece uma simbiose especifica e eficiente com Azorhizobium doebereinerae. Estudos prévios indicam que a ocorrência de A. doebereinerae esta relacionada à presença de S. virgata. Avaliou-se a ocorrência de A. doebereinerae e de outras Bactérias Fixadoras de Nitrogênio Nodulíferas em Leguminosas (BFNNL) em amostras de solos coletadas próximo e a 10 metros do caule de cinco plantas de S. virgata em áreas de pastagem. As características simbióticas de isolados das populações dessas BFNNL foram também estudadas. Para captura de A. doebereinerae e de outras BFNNL, essas amostras de solos foram inoculadas em S. virgata e nas leguminosas promíscuas Leucaena leucocephala, Macroptilium atropurpureum, Phaseolus vulgaris e Vigna unguiculata. Todas as amostras de solos apresentaram BFNNL capazes de nodular, pelo menos, uma espécie. M. atropurpureum foi a espécie mais promíscua capturando um grande número de tipos culturais de BFNNL das suspensões de solo. As outras espécies foram menos promíscuas na seguinte ordem: V. unguiculata, P. vulgaris, e L. leucocephala. Os isolados das espécies hospedeiras consideradas promíscuas foram agrupados em sete tipos culturais. Um desses grupos, isolado de todas as espécies promiscuas, apresentou crescimento rápido e reação alcalina em meio de cultura (como Azorhizobium) e foi identificado como Cupriavidus. Este é o primeiro relato da simbiose de Cupriavidus com espécies de Papilionoideae. A simbiose de BFNNL com as demais espécies teve eficiência variável, mas foi sempre menor que a da adubação nitrogenada e da estirpe recomendada como inoculante. S. virgata formou simbiose somente com A. doebereinerae, a qual foi mais freqüente nas amostras de solos coletadas próximo ao caule da planta, corroborando alto estímulo deste microsimbionte por sua espécie hospedeira. Uma alta diversidade de BFNNL ocorre saprofiticamente próximo ao sistema radicular de S. virgata