Soil moisture effects on cellulose decomposition in a Mediterranean ecosystem of Attica, Greece

2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Effimia Sotiriou ◽  
Margarita Arianoutsou
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Mass Loss ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Irrigation Treatment ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Mediterranean Ecosystem ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Monthly Basis ◽  
Cellulose Decomposition ◽  
Significant Difference

Water is the most critical limiting factor for decomposition processes in Mediterranean climate ecosystems. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of increased soil moisture levels upon cellulose mass loss in an eastern Mediterranean ecosystem. We used a split plot experimental design to evaluate the effect of seasonality on the decomposition process by manipulating water availability in situ during different seasons. Nylon litterbags of mesh size 20 μm and 1 mm were filled with cellulose filter paper and placed on the plots during each season. The treatment consisted of a systematic uniform watering of the plots with 7 L/m2/week. Litterbags were randomly removed from each plot on a monthly basis. Cellulose mass loss showed differences between treatment and control plots and between seasons but was significant only in the spring. Cellulose mass loss was significantly affected by irrigation treatment, season, and their interaction, while moisture seemed to be affected only by season. There was no significant difference in cellulose mass loss due to different mesh sizes.

scholarly journals Effects of Surface Protein Adsorption on the Distribution and Retention of Intratumorally Administered Gold Nanoparticles

Pharmaceutics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 216
Author(s):  
Rossana Terracciano ◽  
Aobo Zhang ◽  
E. Brian Butler ◽  
Danilo Demarchi ◽  
Jason H. Hafner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Treatment Modalities ◽  
Emission Spectrometry ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
High Resolution Computed Tomography ◽  
Quantitative Ct ◽  
Heterogeneous Distribution ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Intratumoral Distribution

The heterogeneous distribution of delivery or treatment modalities within the tumor mass is a crucial limiting factor for a vast range of theranostic applications. Understanding the interactions between a nanomaterial and the tumor microenvironment will help to overcome challenges associated with tumor heterogeneity, as well as the clinical translation of nanotheranostic materials. This study aims to evaluate the influence of protein surface adsorption on gold nanoparticle (GNP) biodistribution using high-resolution computed tomography (CT) preclinical imaging in C57BL/6 mice harboring Lewis lung carcinoma (LLC) tumors. LLC provides a valuable model for study due to its highly heterogenous nature, which makes drug delivery to the tumor challenging. By controlling the adsorption of proteins on the GNP surface, we hypothesize that we can influence the intratumoral distribution pattern and particle retention. We performed an in vitro study to evaluate the uptake of GNPs by LLC cells and an in vivo study to assess and quantify the GNP biodistribution by injecting concentrated GNPs citrate-stabilized or passivated with bovine serum albumin (BSA) intratumorally into LLC solid tumors. Quantitative CT and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) results both confirm the presence of particles in the tumor 9 days post-injection (n = 8 mice/group). A significant difference is highlighted between citrate-GNP and BSA-GNP groups (** p < 0.005, Tukey’s multiple comparisons test), confirming that the protein corona of GNPs modifies intratumoral distribution and retention of the particles. In conclusion, our investigations show that the surface passivation of GNPs influences the mechanism of cellular uptake and intratumoral distribution in vivo, highlighting the spatial heterogeneity of the solid tumor.

Developmental and physiological traits associated with high yield and stay-green phenotype in wheat

2008 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 354 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. T. Christopher ◽  
A. M. Manschadi ◽  
G. L. Hammer ◽  
A. K. Borrell
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Grain Filling ◽  
High Yield ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Deep Soil ◽  
Stay Green ◽  
Physiological Basis ◽  
Winter Crops ◽  
Significant Yield ◽  
Grain Filling Period

Water availability is a key limiting factor in wheat production in the northern grain belt of Australia. Varieties with improved adaptation to such conditions are actively sought. The CIMMYT wheat line SeriM82 has shown a significant yield advantage in multi-environment screening trials in this region. The objective of this study was to identify the physiological basis of the adaptive traits underpinning this advantage. Six detailed experiments were conducted to compare the growth, development, and yield of SeriM82 with that of the adapted cultivar, Hartog. The experiments were undertaken in field environments that represented the range of moisture availability conditions commonly encountered by winter crops grown on the deep Vertosol soils of this region. The yield of SeriM82 was 6–28% greater than that of Hartog, and SeriM82 exhibited a stay-green phenotype by maintaining green leaf area longer during the grain-filling period in all environments where yield was significantly greater than Hartog. However, where the availability of deep soil moisture was limited, SeriM82 failed to exhibit significantly greater yield or to express the stay-green phenotype. Thus, the stay-green phenotype was closely associated with the yield advantage of SeriM82. SeriM82 also exhibited higher mean grain mass than Hartog in all environments. It is suggested that small differences in water use before anthesis, or greater water extraction from depth after anthesis, could underlie the stay-green phenotype. The inability of SeriM82 to exhibit stay-green and higher yield where deep soil moisture was depleted indicates that extraction of deep soil moisture is important.

scholarly journals Use of coccidiostat in mineral salt and study on ovine eimeriosis

2012 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alberto Luiz Freire de Andrade Júnior ◽  
Patrícia Costa da Silva ◽  
Emerson Moreira de Aguiar ◽  
Francisco Glauco de Araújo Santos
Keyword(s):  
Weight Gain ◽  
Eimeria Species ◽  
The State ◽  
Mineral Salt ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Eastern Region ◽  
Treatment Groups ◽  
Parasitological Diagnosis ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Sheep Production

Coccidiosis is a serious obstacle to sheep production, which is becoming a limiting factor, especially with regard to lamb production. However, there are few studies on this parasite in the State of Rio Grande do Norte. The aim of this study was to evaluate the action of decoquinate, added to mineral salt, for controlling Eimeria infection in lambs, and to identify which species are infecting sheep in the eastern region of the state. This study was carried out from August 2009 to January 2010, and used 76 animals. These were divided into two treatment groups: one with common mineral salt, and the other with mineral salt enriched with 6% micronized decoquinate. Fecal samples and body weight measurements were taken every 14 days for parasitological diagnosis, weight gain follow-up and quantitative analysis. The study showed that there was a significant difference in OPG only at the 7th collection, but no significant difference in weight gain. The Eimeria species found were E. ahsata. E. crandallis. E. granulosa. E. intrincata. E. ovina. E. faurei. E. ovinoidalis. E. pallida and E. parva. It was concluded that addition of decoquinate to mineral salt gave rise to lower oocyst elimination, thus favoring eimeriosis control in sheep.

scholarly journals Bycatch composition of cutlassfish trawlers during fishing season in Bushehr and Hormozgan, Persian Gulf, Iran

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 2275-2282
Author(s):  
AHMAD FOULADI SABET ◽  
SEYED YOUSEF PAIGHAMBARI ◽  
MOJTABA POULADI ◽  
HADI RAEISI ◽  
REZA ABBASPOUR NADERI
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Persian Gulf ◽  
Mesh Size ◽  
Similarity Analysis ◽  
Fishing Season ◽  
Trichiurus Lepturus ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Catch Composition

Fouladi Sabet A, Paighambari SY, Pouladi M, Raeisi H, Abbaspour Naderi R. 2018. Bycatch composition of cutlassfish trawlers during fishing season in Bushehr and Hormozgan, Persian Gulf, Iran. Biodiversitas 19: 2275-2282. This investigation was conducted to determine the bycatch composition of cutlassfish (Trichiurus lepturus) trawlers in Bushehr and Hormozgan waters during fishing season 2013. Data collection was carried out in the summer for Bushehr and in the autumn for Hormozgan province for one month. All trawler vessels were equipped with a 36 m head rope and 75 mm stretched mesh size in the codend and 90 to 200 mm stretched mesh size in the panel. 47 species included 35 species of teleosts, 9 species of elasmobranches and 3 species of invertebrates were identified in Bushehr. Also, 48 species included 38 species of teleosts, 7 species of elasmobranches and 3 species of invertebrates were identified in Hormozgan. The weight and numerical averages of bycatch species were 25.41 (kg h-1) and 205.9 (n h-1) in Bushehr, and 92.58 (kg h-1) and 440.4 (n h-1) in Hormozagan. I. megaloptera, S. tumbil, N. japonicus, D. acuta, C. sexfasciatus, L. equulus in Bushehr and P. sextarius, I. megalopteran, M. cinereus, P. macrophthalmus, N. japonicus and S. tumbil in Hormozgan had highest catch weight. Based on the weight and number, PCA and nMDS methods were indicative of two different assemblages in hunting places. Furthermore, ANOSIM similarity analysis confirmed the results of PCA and nMDS and showed a significant difference in the catch composition of two fishing zones.

scholarly journals Examination of soils and crops after the inundations of 1st February, 1953. III. Sensitivity to salt of inundated fruit crops.

1955 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-34
Author(s):  
W.G. Beeftink
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Growth Condition ◽  
Salt Water ◽  
Salt Content ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
Tree Age ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Fruit Crops ◽  
Apple Trees ◽  
Tree Resistance

Characteristic symptoms of salt water flood damage are described for apples, pears, plums, cherries, currants, gooseberry, walnuts, grapes and mulberries. In general the crops showed symptoms of drying out, indicating their inability to absorb enough water. A table of the approximate sensitivity of the fruit crops, and also of apple and pear varieties was compiled; there was a wider range of sensitivity in apples than in pears. The sensitivity of the chief Malling rootstocks did not appear to run parallel to their vigour. The salt content of the soil moisture was the limiting factor for apple and pear recovery; 7-8 g. per litre for apples, and 11-12 g. for pears were the limits beyond which trees could not be saved. Flooding had no influence on the growth condition of apples and pears until after it had lasted 8 or 9 weeks. Tree age had no clear effect on sensitivity, though apple trees of 25 years and over had less resistance. Deep cultivation before flooding, soil exhaustion, and general neglect had detrimental effects on tree resistance. (Abstract retrieved from CAB Abstracts by CABI’s permission)

Seismic Location of the 4 August 2020 Beirut Port Chemical Explosion

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hafidh A. A. Ghalib ◽  
Gordon Kraft ◽  
Abdulmutaleb Alchalbi ◽  
Robert Wagner
Keyword(s):  
Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Seismic Survey ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean Sea ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Seismic Location ◽  
Chemical Explosions ◽  
Ground Truth Location ◽  
Chemical Explosion

Abstract On 4 August 2020 Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, was rocked by a sequence of colocated fires and chemical explosions that left hundreds of people dead, thousands injured and homeless, demolished the city’s seaport, and heavily damaged the surrounding neighborhoods and businesses. The event was well recorded by many regional seismic stations in and around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Using a network of 58 stations, 105 regional seismic phases, and a Bayesian methodology places the event at 1.8 km south of the ground-truth location, the seaport warehouse. Achieving this accuracy is significant, considering very limited local seismic data were available to use in this study. The location bias is attributed, in large part, to a small but statistically significant difference in the Moho velocity for sea paths compared with continental paths. The depth to the Moho is generally consistent with the iasp91 model. Concurrent to the port explosion is a series of unrelated small explosions, 11 s apart, attributed to a seismic survey that was being carried out at the time in the eastern Mediterranean Sea using air guns.

Episodic basin-scale soil moisture anomalies associated with high relative humidity events in the McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Joseph Levy
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Relative Humidity ◽  
Mcmurdo Dry Valleys ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
High Humidity ◽  
Dry Valleys ◽  
Surface Soils ◽  
Basin Scale ◽  
Soil Reflectance

Abstract Outside of hydrologically wetted active layer soils and humidity-sensitive soil brines, low soil moisture is a limiting factor controlling biogeochemical processes in the McMurdo Dry Valleys. But anecdotal field observations suggest that episodic wetting and darkening of surface soils in the absence of snowmelt occurs during high humidity conditions. Here, I analyse long-term meteorological station data to determine whether soil-darkening episodes are present in the instrumental record and whether they are, in fact, correlated with relative humidity. A strong linear correlation is found between relative humidity and soil reflectance at the Lake Bonney long-term autonomous weather station. Soil reflectance is found to decrease annually by a median of 27.7% in response to high humidity conditions. This magnitude of darkening is consistent with soil moisture rising from typical background values of < 0.5 wt.% to 2–3 wt.%, suggesting that regional atmospheric processes may result in widespread soil moisture generation in otherwise dry surface soils. Temperature and relative humidity conditions under which darkening is observed occur for hundreds of hours per year, but are dominated by episodes occurring between midnight and 07h00 local time, suggesting that wetting events may be common, but are not widely observed during typical diel science operations.

Seasonal ecosystem vulnerability to climatic anomalies in the Mediterranean

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Vogel
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Mediterranean Basin ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Western Mediterranean ◽  
Ecosystem Productivity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Ecosystem Vulnerability ◽  
Dry Conditions ◽  
The Mediterranean ◽  
The Mediterranean Basin

&lt;p&gt;The ecosystems of the Mediterranean Basin are particularly prone to climate change and related alterations in climatic anomalies. The seasonal timing of climatic anomalies is crucial for the assessment of the corresponding ecosystem impacts; however, the incorporation of seasonality is neglected in many studies. We quantify ecosystem vulnerability by investigating deviations of the climatic drivers temperature and soil moisture during phases of low ecosystem productivity for each month of the year over the period 1999 &amp;#8211; 2019. The fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) is used as a proxy for ecosystem productivity. Air temperature is obtained from the reanalysis data set ERA5 Land and soil moisture and FAPAR satellite products are retrieved from ESA CCI and Copernicus Global Land Service, respectively. Our results show that Mediterranean ecosystems are vulnerable to three soil moisture regimes during the course of the year. A phase of vulnerability to hot and dry conditions during late spring to midsummer is followed by a period of vulnerability to cold and dry conditions in autumn. The third phase is characterized by cold and wet conditions coinciding with low ecosystem productivity in winter and early spring. These phases illustrate well the shift between a soil moisture-limited regime in summer and an energy-limited regime in winter in the Mediterranean Basin. Notably, the vulnerability to hot and dry conditions during the course of the year is prolonged by several months in the Eastern Mediterranean compared to the Western Mediterranean. Our approach facilitates a better understanding of ecosystem vulnerability at certain stages during the year and is easily transferable to other study areas and ecoclimatological variables.&lt;/p&gt;

scholarly journals Evaluation of Maximum Bite Force in Patients with Complete Dentures

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kujtim Shala ◽  
Arlinda Tmava-Dragusha ◽  
Linda Dula ◽  
Teuta Pustina-Krasniqi ◽  
Teuta Bicaj ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Prior Experience ◽  
Bite Force ◽  
Complete Denture ◽  
Functional Adaptation ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Subjective Feeling ◽  
Complete Dentures ◽  
Parametric Data ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Pain Testing

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate maximum bite forces (mBF) in dominant (DS) and non-dominant sides (NDS) at certain time periods after the insertion of new complete dentures based on prior experience and gender.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A total of 88 patients, complete denture wearers (CDWs), were examined. The maximum bite force at the intercuspal position between the first molars in 3 seconds was registered and recorded with piezoelectric gnathodynamometer. The procedure was repeated 3 times in identical conditions, with relaxation intervals of 1 minute between repeats and the limiting factor was the subjective feeling of pain. Testing of parametric data was performed with One Way Repeated Measurement of ANOVA test.RESULTS: The average mBF values increased during the observational period, both on the DS and NDS, with significant difference in DS, which was greater. The analysis of one-factor variance showed that there were differences of average mBF values in DS and NDS during six consecutive measurements (mBF–DS = 11.3, p = 0.0001, and mBF-NDS = 2.26, p = 0.047). Significant changes in the masticatory force (mBF) on the DS and NDS is explained by different measurement times and with the prior experience with complete dentures, BF–DS = 11.76, p = 0.0000; mBF–NDS = 2.42, p = 0.0351; mBFe–DS = 40.48; P = 0.0000 mBFe–NDS = 39.93, p = 0.0000.CONCLUSION: mBF represents a significant discriminating variable of the level of functional adaptation of new complete denture wearers (nCDWs) about the initial measurements.

scholarly journals Gravitational and capillary soil moisture dynamics for distributed hydrologic models

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 1857-1869 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Castillo ◽  
F. Castelli ◽  
D. Entekhabi
Keyword(s):  
Soil Moisture ◽  
Unsaturated Soils ◽  
Soil Layer ◽  
Hydrologic Model ◽  
Local Scale ◽  
Distributed Model ◽  
Limiting Factor ◽  
Soil Physics ◽  
Soil Moisture Dynamics ◽  
Moisture Dynamics

Abstract. Distributed and continuous catchment models are used to simulate water and energy balance and fluxes across varied topography and landscape. The landscape is discretized into computational plan elements at resolutions of 101–103 m, and soil moisture is the hydrologic state variable. At the local scale, the vertical soil moisture dynamics link hydrologic fluxes and provide continuity in time. In catchment models these local-scale processes are modeled using 1-D soil columns that are discretized into layers that are usually 10−3–10−1 m in thickness. This creates a mismatch between the horizontal and vertical scales. For applications across large domains and in ensemble mode, this treatment can be a limiting factor due to its high computational demand. This study compares continuous multi-year simulations of soil moisture at the local scale using (i) a 1-pixel version of a distributed catchment hydrologic model and (ii) a benchmark detailed soil water physics solver. The distributed model uses a single soil layer with a novel dual-pore structure and employs linear parameterization of infiltration and some other fluxes. The detailed solver uses multiple soil layers and employs nonlinear soil physics relations to model flow in unsaturated soils. Using two sites with different climates (semiarid and sub-humid), it is shown that the efficient parameterization in the distributed model captures the essential dynamics of the detailed solver.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document