Soil and forest regeneration after different extraction methods in coppice forests

Coppice is considered the oldest form of sustainable forest management in the Mediterranean area. Generally, it produces rapidly woody biomass and environmental benefits. This research was implemented through an experimental design based on two steps: analyzing the impact of silvicultural treatment (coppice with standards) and logging on forest soil and tree regeneration. It included the soil and regeneration recovery capacity of forests managed as coppice related to different logging systems and treatments applied over a six-year period. The findings demonstrated that tree species regeneration composition was not affected by silvicultural treatment and only slightly by harvesting system. Instead, the physical, chemical and biological soil features were only marginally affected by the silvicultural treatment applied, but strongly impacted by harvesting operations, with clear differences between the systems. The least damaging harvesting system was TLS (Tree Length System) followed by FTS (Full Tree System) and SWS (Short Wood System) that showed a more intense impact. This trend started only six months after harvesting and continued for more than 36 months post-harvesting in a lesser dynamic. The recovery of coppicing was almost complete 36 months after harvesting, without substantial differences between logging systems. Recovery from logging showed a clear positive trend, but 52 months after harvesting only the TLS area had completely recovered. For FTS and SWS, recovery occurred but was very weak

Application of alternative fixatives to formalin in diagnostic pathology

Fixation is a critical step in the preparation of tissues for histopathology. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different fixatives vs formalin on proteins and DNA, and to evaluate alternative fixation for morphological diagnosis and nucleic acid preservation for molecular methods. Forty tissues were fixed for 24 h with six different fixatives: the gold standard fixative formalin, the historical fixatives Bouin and Hollande, and the alternative fixatives Greenfix, UPM and CyMol. Tissues were stained (Haematoxylin-Eosin, Periodic Acid Schiff, Trichromic, Alcian-blue, High Iron Diamine stainings), and their antigenicity was determined by immunohistochemistry (performed with PAN-CK, CD31, Ki-67, S100, CD68, AML antibodies). DNA extraction, KRAS sequencing, FISH for CEP-17, and flow cytometry analysis of nuclear DNA content were applied. For cell morphology the alternative fixatives (Greenfix, UPM, CyMol) were equivalent to formalin. As expected, Hollande proved to be the best fixative for morphology. The morphology obtained with Bouin was comparable to the one with formalin. Hollande was the best fixative for histochemistry. Bouin proved to be equivalent to formalin. The alternative fixatives were equivalent to formalin, although with greater variability in haematoxylin-eosin staining. It proved the possibility to obtain immunohistochemical staining largely equivalent to that following formalin-fixation with the following fixatives: Greenfix, Hollande, UPM and CyMol. The tissues fixed in Bouin did not provide results comparable to those obtained with formalin. The DNA extracted from samples fixed with alternative fixatives was found to be suitable for molecular analysis

Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing of hydroxyapatite scaffolds for bone reconstruction in jawbone atrophy: a systematic review and case report.

BACKGROUND: We reviewed the biological and mechanical properties of porous hydroxyapatite (HA) compared to other synthetic materials. Computer-aided design/computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM) was also evaluated to estimate its efficacy with clinical and radiological assessments. METHOD: A systematic search of the electronic literature database of the National Library of Medicine (PubMed-MEDLINE) was performed for articles published in English between January 1985 and September 2013. The inclusion criteria were (1) histological evaluation of the biocompatibility and osteoconductivity of porous HA in vivo and in vitro, (2) evaluation of the mechanical properties of HA in relation to its porosity, (3) comparison of the biological and mechanical properties between several biomaterials, and (4) clinical and radiological evaluation of the precision of CAD/CAM techniques. RESULTS: HA had excellent osteoconductivity and biocompatibility in vitro and in vivo compared to other biomaterials. HA grafts are suitable for milling and finishing, depending on the design. In computed tomography, porous HA is a more resorbable and more osteoconductive material than dense HA; however, its strength decreases exponentially with an increase in porosity. CONCLUSIONS: Mechanical tests showed that HA scaffolds with pore diameters ranging from 400 to 1200 \u3bcm had compressive moduli and strength within the range of the human craniofacial trabecular bone. In conclusion, using CAD/CAM techniques for preparing HA scaffolds may increase graft stability and reduce surgical operating time

Vineyard pruning residues pellets for use in domestic appliances: A quality assessment according to the EN ISO 17225

Nowadays many types of biomass are studied to satisfy the increased demand of renewable energy based on pellet combustion. However, only a few biomasses fulfil the high quality standard required for pellet used in domestic appliances. European and International standards in force define this quality of non-industrial use of pellets in term of the origin of biomass, physical, mechanical and chemical parameters. Vineyard residues are a worldwide potential source of energy but their compliance to be used in domestic pellet stoves has not been yet proven according to the new standards in force. In order to meet this need, this study makes an exhaustive characterisation of vineyard based pellets manufactured from residues of Prosecco (Glera variety) vineyards, assessing both the quality of biofuel and its behaviour during combustion in a domestic pellet stove. The quality of biofuel has been evaluated according to the in force standards for wood and non-woody pellets. The results show that vineyard pellets do not meet the type B quality standards required for non-industrial use of wood pellet mainly because of the high amount of ash content (&gt;2%) and the high amount of copper (&gt;10 ppm) but they fulfil the specifications of the type B non-woody pellets. Furthermore, during combustion test of vineyard-based pellet the high emission of CO indicates incomplete combustion; and vineyard- based pellet NOx emissions are more than double compared to those obtained during the control tests, confirming that the analysed vineyard-based pellets are unsuitable, as they are, for use in traditional pellet stoves.</jats:p

Analysis of single nucleotide polymorphism in the promoter and protein expression of the chemokine Eotaxin-1 in colorectal cancer patients

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Previous studies suggest that chemokines (chemotactic cytokines) promote and regulate neoplastic progression including metastasis and angiogenesis. The chemokine eotaxin-1 is a powerful eosinophil attractant but also exerts chemotaxis of other leukocytes. Eotaxin-1 has been implicated in gastrointestinal disorders and may play an important role in colorectal mucosal immunity.</p> <p>Patients and methods</p> <p>The objective of this study was to assess the role of eotaxin-1 in colorectal cancer (CRC). Levels of eotaxin-1 protein in CRC tissues (n = 86) and paired normal mucosa were compared after determination by ELISA. Plasma eotaxin-1 levels from CRC patients (n = 67) were also compared with controls (n = 103) using the same method. Moreover, a TaqMan system was used to evaluate the -384A>G eotaxin-1 gene variant in CRC patients (n = 241) and in a control group (n = 253).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Eotaxin-1 protein levels in colorectal tumours were significantly (P < 0.0001) higher than in normal tissue. Immunohistochemistry revealed eotaxin-1 expression in stromal cells such as fibroblasts and leukocytes of the CRC tissue. The plasma eotaxin-1 level in CRC patients was lower compared with controls (P < 0.0001). Patients with tumours classified as Dukes' stage B and C had lower levels than patients with tumours in Dukes' stage A. We found no difference in genotype distribution but noted a difference regarding allele distribution (P = 0.036) and a dominance of allele G in rectal cancer patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The up-regulated eotaxin-1 protein expression in cancer tissue may reflect an eotaxin-1 mediated angiogenesis and/or a recruitment of leukocytes with potential antitumourigenic role. We noticed a dominance of the G allele in rectal cancer patients compared with colon cancer patients that was independent of eotaxin-1 expression.</p

Soil Disturbance and Recovery after Coppicing a Mediterranean Oak Stand: The Effects of Silviculture and Technology

Traditional coppice management system is one of the most debated topics in the Mediterranean area, as it is a forest management system that accounts for over 23 million hectares. Coppicing is considered the oldest form of sustainable forest management. Its past and current widespread popularity is mainly due to its capacity to positively contribute to the rural economy and ecosystem services. This research aimed at assessing the effect of coppicing on soil characteristics, understanding a possible treatment return time, and evaluating the implementation of proper sustainable forest operations (SFOs) in order to have a better understanding of the disturbance caused by silvicultural treatment and forest operations with two different harvesting techniques. The results demonstrated that physical, chemical, and biological soil features were partially disturbed by the coppicing. Both silvicultural treatment and forest operations influenced soil disturbance. The least impactful technique was extraction by winch, while forwarding resulted in heavier alterations of soil characteristics. It took about five years for the soil to recover its original pre-harvest conditions when the disturbance was caused by the silvicultural treatment alone (non-trafficked areas) and about eight to nine years when the disturbance was the cumulated effect of silvicultural treatment and logging activity (trafficked areas)

GNSS-based operational monitoring devices for forest logging operation chains

The first results of a new approach for implementing operational monitoring tool to control the performance of forest mechanisation chains are proposed and discussed. The solution is based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) tools that are the core of a datalogging system that, in combination with a specific inference-engine, is able to analyse process times, work distances, forward speeds, vehicle tracking and number of working cycles in forest operations. As a consequence the operational monitoring control methods could provide an evaluation of the efficiency of the investigated forest operations. The study has monitored the performance of a tower yarder with crane and processor-head, during logging operations. The field surveys consisted on the installation of the GNSS device directly on the forest equipment for monitoring its movements. Simultaneously the field survey considered the integration of the GNSS information with a time study of work elements based on the continuous time methods supported by a time study board. Additionally, where possible, the onboard computer of the forest machine was also used in order to obtain additional information to be integrated to the GNSS data and the time study. All the recorded GNSS data integrated with the work elements study were thus post-processed through GIS analysis. The preliminary overview about the application of this approach on harvesting operations has permitted to assess a good feasibility of the use of GNSS in the relief of operative times in high mechanised forest chains. Results showed an easy and complete identification of the different operative cycles and elementary operations phases, with a maximum difference between the two methodologies of 10.32%. The use of GNSS installed on forest equipment, integrated with the inferenceengineband also with an interface for data communication or data storage,bwill permit an automatic or semi-automatic operational monitoring,bimproving the quantity of data and reducing the engagement ofbthe surveyor