Chemical attributes of an Argisoil of the Vale do São Francisco after melon growth with phosphate and potash rocks biofertilizers.

A aplicação de fertilizantes pode promover mudanças na reação do solo e na disponibilidade de nutrientes importantes para as plantas. A produção de biofertilizantes a partir de rochas é um processo prático que reduz o consumo de energia e aumenta a disponibilidade de nutrientes no solo. Em experimento de campo foram avaliados os efeitos de biofertilizantes produzidos com rochas, além do enxofre elementar inoculado com Acidithiobacillus , em atributos químicos de um Argissolo do Vale do São Francisco após cultivo do melão, em comparação com fertilizantes minerais solúveis. Usou-se o fatorial 3 2+2, em blocos casualizados, com biofertilizante fosfatado (PB) e potássico (KB), em quantidades correspondentes à adição de superfosfato simples (SS) e cloreto de potássio (KCl), o dobro e o triplo da recomendação. Foram usados tratamentos adicionais com SS+KCl na quantidade recomendada e o controle sem adição de P e K (P0K0). Os biofertilizantes reduziram o pH do solo, e os teores mais elevados de P e K disponíveis foram obtidos com aplicação de PB e KB nas doses mais elevadas. Os maiores teores de Mg foram obtidos com o biofertilizante KB na dose 240 kg ha -1, em função da liberação de Mg da biotita. Os biofertilizantes de rochas com P e K podem ser usados como alternativa a fertilizantes solúveis, devido ao maior efeito residual para P, Ca e Mg do solo, especialmente em solos alcalinos ou para solos ácidos após a calagem

PESQUISA MICOTOXICOLÓGICA DE PRODUTOS AVÍCOLAS IN NATURA E PROCESSADOS

Analisou-se a ocorrência de aflatoxinas e ocratoxina A em carcaças, vísceras comestíveis e processadas de aves de empresas que representam diferentes regiões de produção avícola do Brasil. Diferentes tipos de produtos foram coletados, trimestralmente, sendo nove in natura e oito processados para extração de micotoxinas e quantificação pelo ensaio imunoenzimático (ELISA). Amostras positivas pelo método ELISA foram analisadas por cromatografia em camada delgada (CCD). Do total de amostras analisadas 12% foram positivas, sendo 10,8% para aflatoxina total e 1,2% para ocratoxina A. Os resultados obtidos pela CCD mostraram contaminação por aflatoxinas (B1, B2, G1 e G2) em concentração inferior a 5 µg/kg. O ensaio imunoenzimático (ELISA) mostrou-se mais eficaz para produtos in natura, sendo isolada maior quantidade de aflatoxinas e ocratoxina A no segundo trimestre (julhosetembro). A ocorrência de aflatoxina total foi mais freqüente em produtos oriundos das empresas avícolas das diferentes regiões do estado de Pernambuco e ocratoxina A das empresas produtoras das Regiões Sul e Sudeste do Brasil. MYCOTOXICOLOGICAL RESEARCH OF POULTRY IN NATURE AND PROCESSED PRODUCTS Abstract The occurrence of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A in carcasses, edible viscera and poultry processed products purchased from different industries of various Brazilian regions was evaluated. Different types of products were collected in a trimester period being nine of them in nature and eight processed, for extraction of mycotoxins and quantified through the immunoenzymatic assay (ELISA). Samples with positive results for ELISA were analyzed using thin layer chromatography (TLC). From the total analyzed samples 12% resulted positive, being 10.8% for total aflatoxins, and 1.2% for ochratoxin A. The results obtained by TLC showed aflatoxins contamination (B1, B2, G1 and G2) inferior to 5µg/kg. The immunoenzymatic assay was more effective for in nature products, and the second trimester (July - September) was the period when it was isolated the highest quantity of aflatoxins and ochratoxin A. The occurrence of total aflatoxins was more evident in the poultry industries from different regions of the state of Pernambuco, and ochratoxin A from industries in the South and Southeast regions of Brazil

Marine plastics threaten giant Atlantic Marine Protected Areas.

There has been a recent shift in global perception of plastics in the environment, resulting in a call for greater action. Science and the popular media have highlighted plastic as an increasing stressor [1,2]. Efforts have been made to confer protected status to some remote locations, forming some of the world's largest Marine Protected Areas, including several UK overseas territories. We assessed plastic at these remote Atlantic Marine Protected Areas, surveying the shore, sea surface, water column and seabed, and found drastic changes from 2013-2018. Working from the RRS James Clark Ross at Ascension, St. Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Gough and the Falkland Islands (Figure 1A), we showed that marine debris on beaches has increased more than 10 fold in the past decade. Sea surface plastics have also increased, with in-water plastics occurring at densities of 0.1 items m-3; plastics on seabeds were observed at ≤ 0.01 items m-2. For the first time, beach densities of plastics at remote South Atlantic sites approached those at industrialised North Atlantic sites. This increase even occurs hundreds of meters down on seamounts. We also investigated plastic incidence in 2,243 animals (comprising 26 species) across remote South Atlantic oceanic food webs, ranging from plankton to seabirds. We found that plastics had been ingested by primary consumers (zooplankton) to top predators (seabirds) at high rates. These findings suggest that MPA status will not mitigate the threat of plastic proliferation to this rich, unique and threatened biodiversity

Estudos sobre a nutrição mineral do milho. II. Efeito de doses crescentes de N, P e K no crescimento, produção e composição mineral da variedade Piranão em condições controladas.

O milho, var. Piranao, foi cultivado em solucao nutritiva com niveis crescentes de N, P e K. Houve resposta linear a adicao de N e assintotica as doses de P e de K. A determinacao a atividade da reductase de nitrato se correlacionou melhor com a producao total nas folhas, por sua vez refletiu melhor o estado nutricional que a determinacao de putrescina nas folhas

Liquefied natural gas for the UK: a life cycle assessment

PURPOSE: Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to become an important component of the UK’s energy supply because the national hydrocarbon reserves on the continental shelf have started diminishing. However, use of any carbon-based fuel runs counter to mitigation of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs). Hence, a broad environmental assessment to analyse the import of LNG to the UK is required. METHODS: A cradle to gate life cycle assessment has been carried out of a specific but representative case: LNG imported to the UK from Qatar. The analysis covers the supply chain, from gas extraction through to distribution to the end-user, assuming state-of-the-art facilities and ships. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted on key parameters including the energy requirements of the liquefaction and vaporisation processes, fuel for propulsion, shipping distance, tanker volume and composition of raw gas. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: All environmental indicators of the CML methodology were analysed. The processes of liquefaction, LNG transport and evaporation determine more than 50% of the cradle to gate global warming potential (GWP). When 1% of the total gas delivered is vented as methane emissions leakage throughout the supply chain, the GWP increases by 15% compared to the GWP of the base scenario. The variation of the GWP increases to 78% compared to the base scenario when 5% of the delivered gas is considered to be lost as vented emissions. For all the scenarios analysed, more than 75% of the total acidification potential (AP) is due to the sweetening of the natural gas before liquefaction. Direct emissions from transport always determine between 25 and 49% of the total eutrophication potential (EP) whereas the operation and maintenance of the sending ports strongly influences the fresh water aquatic ecotoxicity potential (FAETP). CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights long-distance transport of LNG and natural gas processing, including sweetening, liquefaction and vaporisation, as the key operations that strongly affect the life cycle impacts. Those cannot be considered negligible when the environmental burdens of the LNG supply chain are considered. Furthermore, the effect of possible fugitive methane emissions along the supply chain are critical for the impact of operations such as extraction, liquefaction, storage before transport, transport itself and evaporation

Interaction Between Convection and Pulsation

This article reviews our current understanding of modelling convection dynamics in stars. Several semi-analytical time-dependent convection models have been proposed for pulsating one-dimensional stellar structures with different formulations for how the convective turbulent velocity field couples with the global stellar oscillations. In this review we put emphasis on two, widely used, time-dependent convection formulations for estimating pulsation properties in one-dimensional stellar models. Applications to pulsating stars are presented with results for oscillation properties, such as the effects of convection dynamics on the oscillation frequencies, or the stability of pulsation modes, in classical pulsators and in stars supporting solar-type oscillations.Comment: Invited review article for Living Reviews in Solar Physics. 88 pages, 14 figure

An environmental evaluation of food waste downstream management options: a hybrid LCA approach

Food waste treatment methods have been typically analysed using current energy generation conditions. To correctly evaluate treatment methods, they must be compared under existing and potential decarbonisation scenarios. This paper holistically quantifies the environmental impacts of three food waste downstream management options—incineration, composting, and anaerobic digestion (AD). Methods The assessment was carried out using a novel hybrid input–output-based life cycle assessment method (LCA), for 2014, and in a future decarbonised economy. The method introduces expanded system boundaries which reduced the level of incompleteness, a previous limitation of process-based LCA. Results Using the 2014 UK energy mix, composting achieved the best score for seven of 14 environmental impacts, while AD scored second best for ten. Incineration had the highest environmental burdens in six impacts. Uncertainties in the LCA data made it difficult determine best treatment option. There was significant environmental impact from capital goods, meaning current treatment facilities should be used for their full lifespan. Hybrid IO LCA’s included additional processes and reduced truncation error increasing overall captured environmental impacts of composting, AD, and incineration by 26, 10 and 26%, respectively. Sensitivity and Monte Carlo analysis evaluate the methods robustness and illustrate the uncertainty of current LCA methods. Major implication: hybrid IO-LCA approaches must become the new norm for LCA. Conclusion This study provided a deeper insight of the overall environmental performance of downstream food waste treatment options including ecological burdens associated with capital goods. Keywords Anaerobic digestion Incineration Composting Food waste Hybrid life cycle assessment Capital good

Asteroseismology and Interferometry

Asteroseismology provides us with a unique opportunity to improve our understanding of stellar structure and evolution. Recent developments, including the first systematic studies of solar-like pulsators, have boosted the impact of this field of research within Astrophysics and have led to a significant increase in the size of the research community. In the present paper we start by reviewing the basic observational and theoretical properties of classical and solar-like pulsators and present results from some of the most recent and outstanding studies of these stars. We centre our review on those classes of pulsators for which interferometric studies are expected to provide a significant input. We discuss current limitations to asteroseismic studies, including difficulties in mode identification and in the accurate determination of global parameters of pulsating stars, and, after a brief review of those aspects of interferometry that are most relevant in this context, anticipate how interferometric observations may contribute to overcome these limitations. Moreover, we present results of recent pilot studies of pulsating stars involving both asteroseismic and interferometric constraints and look into the future, summarizing ongoing efforts concerning the development of future instruments and satellite missions which are expected to have an impact in this field of research.Comment: Version as published in The Astronomy and Astrophysics Review, Volume 14, Issue 3-4, pp. 217-36