Economic advantages of using bacterial biopreparations in agricultural crops

The ecological, genetic, biological approach proposed by agricultural specialists in order to protect plants and crops has a role in reducing the impact of pests through the process of selection and improvement of genetic resources in the processes of planting, development and introduction of biological means to combat pests in agricultural ecosystems. The strategies proposed by the specialists in the agricultural field aim not at the total extermination of the pests from the agricultural crops but at keeping the pest populations at the optimal damage threshold. The most important advantages of these biological processes are those of the evolutionary stability of the crop systems, the ecological stabilization of the pest and crop populations as well as the assurance of a superior quality of the resulting agricultural products.The present paper aims to present the main advantages of using bacterial biopreparations in agricultural ecosystems (research conducted in agricultural research stations in Romania), reducing soil pollution, environmental crops, use of alternative fertilization and cultivation technologies as well as obtaining additional, ecological productions.The aim of this paper is to present the economic advantages of using bacterial biopreparations in agricultural research and development stations, reducing costs in agriculture and the processes that these bacterial biopreparations have on the agricultural ecosystem, the environment and humans and animals

Remote activation by green-light irradiation of shape memory epoxies containing gold nanoparticles

Shape memory epoxies (SMEs) that can be remotely activated by the use of green light, are described. An epoxy matrix based on on diglycidylether of bisphenol A (DGEBA cured with a mixture of n-dodecylamine (DA) and m-xylylenediamine (MXDA), exhibits excellent shape memory properties as described in a previous paper (Leonardi et al., 2011). Au NPs with an average diameter close to 5 nm could be uniformly dispersed in this matrix using poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) chains as stabilizer. These NPs showed a significant photothermal effect even at very low concentrations (0.01 wt% as metallic gold), when irradiated with a 532 nm laser at a power close to 2 W/cm2. Under these conditions, a bended bar (1.4-mm thickness) recovered its initial shape in a few seconds. This formulation may be used to build up devices with the necessary mechanical strength and with the possibility to produce shape recovery by remote activation using green light. A second example was analyzed employing an amphiphilic epoxy matrix to produce a uniform dispersion of Au NPs stabilized with dodecyl chains (average diameter close to 3 nm). A bar (1.4-mm thickness) of the SME with 0.04 wt% Au NPs (as metallic gold) showed a fast recovery of its initial shape by irradiation with a 532 nm laser at a power close to 2 W/cm2. This example shows the feasibility of adapting the epoxy chemistry to disperse Au NPs stabilized with different ligands and obtained through robust synthetic methods.Fil: Leonardi, Agustina Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Puig, Julieta. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Antonacci, Julian. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Arenas, Gustavo Francisco. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Departamento de Física; ArgentinaFil: Zucchi, Ileana Alicia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Hoppe, Cristina Elena. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; ArgentinaFil: Reven, Linda. McGill University; CanadáFil: Zhu, Liu. Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School; ChinaFil: Toader, Violeta. McGill University; CanadáFil: Williams, Roberto Juan Jose. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Mar del Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ingeniería. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ciencia y Tecnología de Materiales; Argentin