POSSIBILITIES OF SOIL REGENERATION USING THE CAUSTOBIOLITES IN EARLY STAGES OF CARBONISATION

In this paper is presented a comparative study on the properties of the Rosia soft brown coal and a poor soil, in order to find out the possibilities of soil quality improvement for better plant growing conditions.There were determined the specific values of extractible humic acids content, technical and elemental characteristics and also for the poor soil, petrographic composition of soft brown coal with low sulphur and nitrogen was analyzed.It is revealed a big difference between the organic mass values of coal and soil but a similarity between organic components types of the two samples, as determined by petrographic analysis.These findings offered one reason for mixing a sandy soil with the studied coal. Behavior of the two types of materials was analyzed, coal and soil, during the drying process as well as the possibility to grow up plants in coal dust and improved soil.The results recommend the introduction of soft brown coal dust into the poor soils, in order to increase the content of organic mass, humic acids and microelements in soil.

USE OF ISOTOPIC TECHNIQUES TO EVALUATE FOLIAR FERTILIZATION EFFICIENCY

In this study, the foliar fertilization efficiency was assesed by using nuclear techniques and the stable isotope  15N. The objective was to increase nitrogen use efficiency in plants. In addition, the mobility of nitrogen in plants was evaluated. The environmentlly friendly impact of this type of fertilizer is supported by means of an increase in nutrients uptake from the natural soil supplies, and as a result of foliar fertilization. The trials were conducted in INCDPAPM-ICPA Bucharest greenhouse, using sunflower as test plant. To evaluate the mobility of nitrogen in plants, a PK with mezo and microelements (Mg, S, Fe, Cu, Zn, Mn, Co, Mo) foliar fertilizer was enriched with labeled 15N  and unlabeled N, using  urea and ammonium nitrate as nitrogen sources.  Therefore, 6% of the total nitrogen content was represented by the 15N labeled isotope (in all three forms: ammoniacal,15N-NH4, nitric , 15N-NO3 and amide, 15N-NH2). The obtained results suggest that nuclear techniques can be successfully used in agrochemical research to deepen plant nutrition and nutrients translocation studies

DEVELOPMENT OF A NOVEL FOLIAR FERTILIZER WITH ZINC

Zinc deficiency, resulted from various stress factors, limits agricultural production worldwide. Therefore, research into developing sustainable methods to alleviate this type of deficiency should be a priority. This study presents the development of a new foliar fertlizer, focusing on its formulation, characterization, and testing. The fertilizer formula associates a classic NPK and micronutrients (Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn) matrix with organic substances having bio-stimulating effect: humic acids and algae extracts. The composition of the experimental fertilizer (8.2% N, 3.9% P, 3.6% K, 0.8% Zn) is formulated to prevent and correct imbalances in plant mineral nutrition, especially those caused by zinc deficiency. A set of field trials were conducted in order to assess the effect of the fertilizer on grapevine (cv Chasslas dore) and maize (DKC 4590). Experimental data indicated that application of the foliar fertilizer had signifficant contribution to the improvment of yield, leaf nutrient and chlorophyll content, and crop quality parameters

Interactions of Ca(2+) with sphingomyelin and dihydrosphingomyelin.

The changes induced by Ca(2+) on human lens sphingolipids, sphingomyelin (SM), and dihydrosphingomyelin were investigated by infrared spectroscopy. Ca(2+)-concentration-dependent studies of the head group region revealed that, for both sphingolipids, Ca(2+) partially dehydrates some of the phosphate groups and binds to others. Ca(2+) affects the interface of each sphingolipid differently. In SM, Ca(2+) shifts the amide I' band to frequencies lower than those in dehydrated samples of SM alone. This could be attributed to the direct binding of Ca(2+) to carbonyl groups and/or strong tightening of interlipid H-bonds to levels beyond those in dehydrated samples of SM only. In contrast, Ca(2+) induces relatively minor dehydration around the amide groups of dihydrosphingomyelin and a slight enhancement of direct lipid-lipid interactions. Temperature-dependent studies reveal that 0.2 M Ca(2+) increases the transition temperature T(m) from 31.6 +/- 1.0 degrees C to 35.7 +/- 1.1 degrees C for SM and from 45.5 +/- 1.1 degrees C to 48.2 +/- 1.0 degrees C for dihydrosphingomyelin. Binding of Ca(2+) to some phosphate groups remains above T(m). The strength of the interaction is, however, weaker. This allows for the partial rehydration of these moieties. Similarly, above T(m), Ca(2+)-lipid and/or direct inter-lipid interactions are weakened and lead to the rehydration of amide groups