STUDY REGARDING BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION AND SOME PREPARATIONS FROM NETTLE AND WORMWOOD IN ORDER TO CAPITALIZE THEM AS BIOINSECTICIDE / BIOFERTILIZERS IN ORGANIC AGRICULTURE

Plant extracts contain substances that may induce, in treated plant, stimulation of defense mechanism, which will result in increased crop resistance especially against pathogenic microorganisms and pests that are causing the biggest economic losses and propagate the infection risk in time. Plant extracts are topics approached for a long time in support of organic agriculture, but still represents a generous particularly concerning on this essential aspect of a real organic agriculture. This paper is aimed at biochemical characterization of plant extracts of nettle and wormwood in order to capitalize them further as organic bioinsecticide / biofertilizers in organic agriculture. Extracts of nettle and wormwood are repellents and usually used preventative against pests, but also with economic advantages

A comparison of different Fourier transform procedures for analysis of diffraction data from noble gas fluids

A comparison is made between the three principal methods for the analysis of neutron and x-ray diffraction data from noble gas fluids by direct Fourier transform. All three methods (standard Fourier transform, Lorch modification, and Soper–Barney modification) are used to analyze four different sets of diffraction data from noble gas fluids. The results are compared to the findings of a full-scale real-space structure determination, namely, Empirical Potential Structure Refinement. Conclusions are drawn on the relative merits of the three Fourier transform methods, what information can be reliably obtained using each method, and which method is most suitable for the analysis of different kinds of diffraction data. The mathematical validity of the Lorch method is critically analyzed

POSSIBILITIES TO VALORIZE ARTICHOKE UNDER THE CULTIVATION CONDITIONS IN ROMANIA

Generally, in Romania, farmers focused on an agriculture based on large field crops, cereal crops, being less inclined to grow aromatic and medicinal crops that have a newer history in our country. But there are plants that have made history in other countries and that for a while are starting to be valorized in our country in a therapeutic or prophylactic purpose. One of these plants is artichoke (Cynara scolymus), which due to its many uses has become increasingly valuable. In our country is known and used especially in the pharmaceutical and food supplements industry, but food industry and that of cosmetics are making progress in using this wonder plant, with many therapeutic, digestive, hepatic-protective properties. Newly, the problem was posed for its use as an energy plant, by obtaining oil from the seeds. This paper proposes to highlight the possibilities to valorize the artichoke crop in Romania`s conditions, as a source of bioactive raw material for drug products, food supplements, cosmetics and ornaments. The results of experiments can be used by Romanian farmers to draw up plans to valorize all their land, even smaller surfaces

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING PLANTS PROTECTION BY MEANS OF BIOFERTILIZERS / BIOINSECTICIDES

The paper presents some aspects regarding the utilization of certain ecological substances as an alternative to environmental-friendly insecticides, in order to obtain some ecological products within the context of the increasesd concern for ecological products

Impact of inhaled corticosteroids on growth in children with asthma: systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Long-term inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) may reduce growth velocity and final height of children with asthma. We aimed to evaluate the association between ICS use of >12 months and growth. Methods: We initially searched MEDLINE and EMBASE in July 2013, followed by a PubMed search updated to December 2014. We selected RCTs and controlled observational studies of ICS use in patients with asthma. We conducted random effects meta-analysis of mean differences in growth velocity (cm/year) or final height (cm) between groups. Heterogeneity was assessed using the I2 statistic. Results: We found 23 relevant studies (twenty RCTs and three observational studies) after screening 1882 hits. Meta-analysis of 16 RCTs showed that ICS use significantly reduced growth velocity at one year follow-up (mean difference -0.48 cm/year (95% CI -0.66 to -0.29)). There was evidence of a dose-response effect in three RCTs. Final adult height showed a mean reduction of -1.20 cm (95% CI -1.90 cm to -0.50 cm) with budesonide versus placebo in a high quality RCT. Meta-analysis of two lower quality observational studies revealed uncertainty in the association between ICS use and final adult height, pooled mean difference -0.85 cm (95% CI -3.35 to 1.65). Conclusion: Use of ICS for >12 months in children with asthma has a limited impact on annual growth velocity. In ICS users, there is a slight reduction of about a centimeter in final adult height, which when interpreted in the context of average adult height in England (175 cm for men and 161 cm for women), represents a 0.7% reduction compared to non-ICS users

X-ray free electron laser heating of water and gold at high static pressure

The study of water at high pressure and temperature is essential for understanding planetary interiors but is hampered by the high reactivity of water at extreme conditions. Here, indirect X-ray laser heating of water in a diamond anvil cell is realized via a gold absorber, showing no evidence of reactivity

Regulation of the Escherichia coli HipBA Toxin-Antitoxin System by Proteolysis

Bacterial populations produce antibiotic-tolerant persister cells. A number of recent studies point to the involvement of toxin/antitoxin (TA) modules in persister formation. hipBA is a type II TA module that codes for the HipB antitoxin and the HipA toxin. HipA is an EF-Tu kinase, which causes protein synthesis inhibition and dormancy upon phosphorylation of its substrate. Antitoxins are labile proteins that are degraded by one of the cytosolic ATP-dependent proteases. We followed the rate of HipB degradation in different protease deficient strains and found that HipB was stabilized in a lon- background. These findings were confirmed in an in vitro degradation assay, showing that Lon is the main protease responsible for HipB proteolysis. Moreover, we demonstrated that degradation of HipB is dependent on the presence of an unstructured carboxy-terminal stretch of HipB that encompasses the last 16 amino acid residues. Further, substitution of the conserved carboxy-terminal tryptophan of HipB to alanine or even the complete removal of this 16 residue fragment did not alter the affinity of HipB for hipBA operator DNA or for HipA indicating that the major role of this region of HipB is to control HipB degradation and hence HipA-mediated persistence

Empirical investigation to explore potential gains from the amalgamation of Phase Changing Materials (PCMs) and wood shavings

The reduction of gained heat, heat peak shifting and the mitigation of air temperature fluctuations are some desirable properties that are sought after in any thermal insulation system. It cannot be overstated that these factors, in addition to others, govern the performance of such systems thus their effect on indoor ambient conditions. The effect of such systems extends also to Heating, Ventilation and Air-conditioning (HVAC) systems that are set up to operate optimally in certain conditions. Where literature shows that PCMs and natural materials such as wood-shavings can provide efficient passive insulation for buildings, it is evident that such approaches utilise methods that are of a degree of intricacy which requires specialist knowledge and complex techniques, such as micro-encapsulation for instance. With technical and economic aspects in mind, an amalgam of PCM and wood-shavings has been created for the purpose of being utilised as a feasible thermal insulation. The amalgamation was performed in the simplest of methods, through submerging the wood shavings in PCM. An experimental procedure was devised to test the thermal performance of the amalgam and compare this to the performance of the same un-amalgamated materials. Comparative analysis revealed that no significant thermal gains would be expected from such amalgamation. However, significant reduction in the total weight of the insulation system would be achieved that, in this case, shown to be up to 20.94%. Thus, further reducing possible strains on structural elements due to the application of insulation on buildings. This can be especially beneficial in vernacular architectural approaches where considerably large amounts and thicknesses of insulations are used. In addition, cost reduction could be attained as wood shavings are significantly cheaper compared to the cost of PCMs