Biochar from gasification in cultivated soils and riparian buffer zones: Chemical characterization

During rain events, pollutants in agricultural soils can be transported from fields to surface and/or groundwater resulting in contamination of streams and rivers. Researchers and farmers must work together to find solutions to ensure the preservation of crop production without jeopardizing water quality or the health of the ecosystem. Establishment of riparian zones may reduce the effects of diffuse discharges of pollutants into waterways. The addition of biochar to soils, particularly in a riparian zones, can reduce the mobility of contaminants and improve removal efficiency due its sorptive capacity. Please click on the file below for full content of the abstract

Applicazione di un veloce metodo di estrazione del DNA per l’identificazione di prodotti ittici marini.

L'identificazione dei prodotti ittici è uno dei temi chiave in materia di sicurezza alimentare. L’errata etichettatura dei prodotti alimentari e la sostituzione di alcuni ingredienti rappresentano questioni emergenti in termini di qualità e sicurezza alimentare e nutrizionale. L'autenticazione e la tracciabilità dei prodotti alimentari, gli studi di tassonomia e di genetica di popolazione, così come l'analisi delle abitudini alimentari degli animali e la selezione delle prede, si basano su analisi genetiche tra cui la metodica molecolare del DNA barcoding, che consiste nell’amplificazione e nel sequenziamento di una specifica regione del gene mitocondriale chiamata COI. Questa tecnica biomolecolare è utilizzata per fronteggiare la richiesta di determinazione specifica e/o la reale provenienza dei prodotti commercializzati, nonché per smascherare errori di etichettatura e sostituzioni fraudolente, difficile da rilevare soprattutto nei prodotti ittici trasformati. Sul mercato sono disponibili differenti kit per l'estrazione del DNA da campioni freschi e conservati; l’impiego dei kit, aumenta drasticamente il costo dei progetti di caratterizzazione e di genotipizzazione dei campioni da analizzare. In questo scenario è stato messo a punto un metodo veloce di estrazione del DNA. Esso non prevede nessuna fase di purificazione per i prodotti ittici freschi e trasformati e si presta a qualsiasi analisi che preveda l’utilizzo della tecnica PCR. Il protocollo consente l'amplificazione efficiente del DNA da qualsiasi scarto industriale proveniente dalla lavorazione del pesce, indipendentemente dal metodo di conservazione del campione. L’applicazione di questo metodo di estrazione del DNA, combinato al successo e alla robustezza della amplificazione PCR (secondo protocollo barcode) ha permesso di ottenere, in tempi brevissimi e con costi minimi, il sequenziamento del DNA

Conversion of Pyrolysis Products into Volatile Fatty Acids with a Biochar-Packed Anaerobic Bioreactor

The coupling of pyrolysis and acidogenic fermentation was here proposed as a new hybrid thermochemical-biological method to circumvent the hydrolysis bottleneck within lignocellulose valorization schemes. Pyrolysis products of fir sawdust, that is, the water-soluble (WS) fraction together with CO-rich syngas, were tested as feedstock for volatile fatty acid (VFA) production. WS/syngas conversion to VFA was particularly challenging due to the combined effect of the substrate (WS/syngas) and product (VFA) inhibition. To solve such an issue, a new type of bioreactor, based on packed biochar and a new acclimatization/bioaugmentation procedure consisting of co-feeding WS/syngas and glucose were developed and tested. The gradual switch from glucose to WS was monitored through various analytical techniques, observing the transition toward a “pyrotrophic” microbial mixed culture able to convert WS/syngas into VFA. Even without selective inhibition of methanogens, the main fermentation products were VFA (mainly acetic, butyric, and caproic acid), whose profile was a function of the WS/glucose ratio. Although the achieved volumetric productivity was lower (<0.6 gCOD L–1 d–1) than that observed in sugar fermentation, bioaugmented pyrotrophs could convert headspace CO, most of GC–MS detectable compounds (e.g., anhydrosugars), and a significant portion of non-GC–MS detectable compounds of WS (e.g., oligomers with MW < 1.45 kDa)

Environmental Conditions along Tuna Larval Dispersion: Insights on the Spawning Habitat and Impact on Their Development Stages

Estimated larval backward trajectories of three Tuna species, namely, Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus thynnus, Linnaeus, 1758), Bullet Tuna (Auxis Rochei, Risso, 1801) and Albacore Tuna (Thunnus alalunga, Bonnaterre, 1788) in the central Mediterranean Sea, were used to characterize their spawning habitats, and to assess the impact of changes due to the major environmental parameters (i.e., sea surface temperature and chlorophyll-a concentration) on larval development during their advection by surface currents. We assumed that the environmental variability experienced by larvae along their paths may have influenced their development, also affecting their survival. Our results showed that the Tuna larvae underwent an accelerated growth in favorable environmental conditions, impacting on the notochord development. In addition, further updated information on spawning and larval retention habitats of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna, Bullet and Albacore Tunas in the central Mediterranean Sea were delivered

Simultaneous quantification of natural and inducible regulatory T-cell subsets during interferon-\u3b2 therapy of multiple sclerosis patients

The mechanisms underlying the therapeutic activity of interferon-\u3b2 in multiple sclerosis are still not completely understood. In the present study, we evaluated the short and long-term effects of interferon-\u3b2 treatment on different subsets of regulatory T cells in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis patients biologically responsive to treatment because of mixovirus resistance protein A inducibility