An innovative agro-forestry supply chain for residual biomass : physicochemical characterisation of biochar from olive and hazelnut pellets

Concerns about climate change and food productivity have spurred interest in biochar, a form of charred organic material typically used in agriculture to improve soil productivity and as a means of carbon sequestration. An innovative approach in agriculture is the use of agro-forestry waste for the production of soil fertilisers for agricultural purposes and as a source of energy. A common agricultural practice is to burn crop residues in the field to produce ashes that can be used as soil fertilisers. This approach is able to supply plants with certain nutrients, such as Ca, K, Mg, Na, B, S, and Mo. However, the low concentration of N and P in the ashes, together with the occasional presence of heavy metals (Ni, Pb, Cd, Se, Al, etc.), has a negative effect on soil and, therefore, crop productivity. This work describes the opportunity to create an innovative supply chain from agricultural waste biomass. Olive (Olea europaea) and hazelnut (Corylus avellana) pruning residues represent a major component of biomass waste in the area of Viterbo (Italy). In this study, we evaluated the production of biochar from these residues. Furthermore, a physicochemical characterisation of the produced biochar was performed to assess the quality of the two biochars according to the standards of the European Biochar Certificate (EBC). The results of this study indicate the cost-effective production of high-quality biochar from olive and hazelnut biomass residues

Characterization of biochars produced from pyrolysis of pelletized agricultural residues

Biochars produced from pelletized grape vine (GV) and sunflower husk (SFH) agricultural residues were studied by pyrolysis in a batch reactor at 400 and 500°C. Chemical and physical evolution of the biomass under pyrolysis conditions was determined and the products were characterized, including the main gaseous organic components. . Results showed a decrease in solid biochar yield with increasing temperature. Biochar is defined as a "porous carbonaceous solid" produced by thermochemical conversion of organic materials in an oxygen depleted atmosphere, which has physiochemical properties suitable for the safe and long-term storage of carbon in the environment and, potentially, soil improvement. The aim of this work is to improve the knowledge and acceptability of alternative use of the biochar gained from agro-forestry biomass residuals, such as grape vine and sunflower husks, by means of modern chemical and physical characterization tools

Concettualizzazione e contestualizzazione dei beni culturali archeologici

This report describes the observations made while developing a new methodology for historic surveys used for the re-contextualisation of archaeological finds. This particular methodology avails itself of both traditional historic surveys as well as the representation of knowledge through ontology. The methodology described here was developed in reference to specific cases of re-contextualisation of archaeological artefacts from Pompeii which are now in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples

Plasma activated water as resistance inducer against bacterial leaf spot of tomato

Plant bacterial diseases are routinely managed with scheduled treatments based on heavy metal compounds or on antibiotics; to reduce the negative environmental impact due to the use of such chemical compounds, as pollution or selection of antibiotic resistant pathogens, the integrated control management is required. In the frame of a sustainable agriculture the use of bacterial antagonists, biological agents, plant defence response elicitors or resistant host plant genotypes are the most effective approaches. In this work, cold atmospheric pressure plasma (CAP) was applied to sterile distilled water, inducing the production of a hydrogen peroxide, nitrite and nitrate, and a pH reduction. In particular, an atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) has been used to produce plasma activated water (PAW), that was firstly assayed in in vitro experiments and then in planta through application at the root apparatus of tomato plants, against Xanthomonas vesicatoria (Xv), the etiological agent of bacterial leaf spot. Moreover, the transcription abundance of five genes related to the plant defense was investigated in response to PAW treatment. PAW did not show direct antimicrobial activity against Xv in in vitro experiments, but it enhanced the tomato plants defenses. It was effective in reducing the disease severity by giving relative protections of ca. 61, 51 and 38% when applied 1 h, 24 h and 6 days before the experimental inoculation, respectively. In addition, the experiments highlighted the pal gene involvement in response to the PAW treatments and against the pathogen; its transcription levels resulted significantly high from 1 to 48 h until their decrease 192 h after PAW application

Peripheral Determinants of Oxygen Utilization in Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction

The aim of this study was to determine the arteriovenous oxygen content difference (ΔAVO2) in adult subjects with and without heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) during systemic and forearm exercise. Subjects with HFpEF had reduced ΔAVO2. Forearm diffusional conductance for oxygen, a lumped conductance parameter that incorporates all impediments to the movement of oxygen from red blood cells in skeletal muscle capillaries into the mitochondria within myocytes, was estimated. Forearm diffusional conductance for oxygen was not different among adults with HFpEF, those with hypertension, and healthy control subjects; therefore, diffusional conductance cannot explain the reduced forearm ΔAVO2. Instead, adiposity was strongly associated with ΔAVO2, suggesting an active role for adipose tissue in reducing exercise capacity in patients with HFpEF

Efficacy and safety of immunotherapy in elderly patients with non-small cell lung cancer

OBJECTIVES: Most trials with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs) for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) included only small subgroups of patients aged 6565. As NSCLC is often diagnosed in patients aged 6570, real-world data about efficacy and safety of immunotherapy (IO) in elderly patients are essential. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively collected data about all patients with advanced NSCLC treated with IO at our Institution between April 2013 and March 2019. The patients were stratified for age as follows: <70 year-old, 70-79 year-old, 6580 year-old. Chi-square test was used to compare qualitative variables. Survival was estimated with Kaplan-Meier method. Log-rank test was used to compare curves. Multivariate analyses were performed with Cox model. RESULTS: We reviewed 290 cases, with a median age of 67 (range: 29-89). Patients aged<70, 70-79 and 6580 year-old were 180, 94 and 16, respectively. Clinical/pathological variables were uniformly distributed across age classes, except for a higher rate of males (p 0.0228) and squamous histology (p 0.0071) in the intermediate class. Response Rate (RR) was similar across age groups (p 0.9470). Median Progression Free Survival (PFS) and Overall Survival (OS) did not differ according to age (p 0.2020 and 0.9144, respectively). Toxicity was comparable across subgroups (p 0.6493). The only variables influencing outcome were performance status (PS) (p\u2009<\u20090.0001 for PFS, p 0.0192 for OS), number of metastatic sites (p 0.0842 for PFS, p 0.0235 for OS) and IO line (p\u2009<\u20090.0001 for both PFS and OS). CONCLUSION: Advanced age was not associated to a reduced efficacy of IO in our case series. Furthermore, no toxicity concern emerged even among the eldest pts. To our opinion, ICIs should be considered irrespective of age, provided an optimal PS at baseline. Of note, IO is often the only therapeutic option applicable to these cases considering the toxicity of chemotherapy

Исследование кристаллизации NaCl из водного раствора, находящегося в магнитном поле

In the context of developing single-site stereoselective post-metallocene catalysts, the case for isospecific styrene polymerization catalysts based on methylaluminoxane-activated group 4 metal bis(phenolato) complexes is summarized. In the context of developing single-site stereoselective post-metallocene catalysts, the case for isospecific styrene polymerization catalysts based on methylaluminoxane-activated group 4 metal bis(phenolato) complexes is summarized. Ligands derived from the 1,4-dithiabutanediyl-linked bis(phenol)s have been found to induce stereochemical rigidity by the presence of the hemi-labile sulfide donor functions. Isospecific styrene polymerization was achieved using easily accessible catalyst precursors of the type [MX 2(OC6H2-tBu2-4,6) 2S(CH2)2S] (M = Ti, Zr, Hf; X = Cl, O iPr, CH2Ph). Activating the dibenzyl titanium complex [Ti(CH2Ph)2(OC6H2- tBu2-4,6)2S(CH2)2S] with B(C6F5)3 and AliBu3, controlled isotactic polymerization became possible at lower temperatures. A remarkable dependence of both the activity and stereoselectivity on the ligand substitution pattern was observed. Analogous precursors with the 1,5-dithiapentanediyl-linked bis(phenolato) ligand gave syndiotactic polystyrene with lower activity. © 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved