1,720,956 research outputs found
Solid fraction of digestate from olive pomace modulates abiotic and biotic processes in soil: Retention of agrochemicals and inhibition of fungal pathogens
Full text linkA new type of solid digestate (DG) obtained exclusively from two-phase olive pomace was characterised and evaluated for physicochemical and biological properties. In slurry-type experiments, the adsorption of the fungicide boscalid and the herbicide oxyfluorfen on non-amended loam soil (SOIL) and on soil amended with DG at doses of 1 % (SOIL-DG1), 3 % (SOIL-DG3) and 6 % (SOIL-DG6) (w/w) was quantified and modelled. The DG showed a remarkable and stable capacity to adsorb the compounds over a temperature range of 5–40 °C. Based on the data of the adsorption isotherms conducted at 20 °C, the distribution coefficients of SOIL, SOIL-DG1, SOIL-DG3 and SOIL-DG6 were, respectively, 1.3, 2.2, 2.2 and 3.4 mg kg-1 for boscalid and 2.0, 2.1, 2.2 and 5.9 mg kg-1 for oxyfluorfen, which suggested a significant increase in soil retention capacity after the addition of DG, especially at the highest dose. The desorption of both compounds from all treatments, especially from SOIL-DG6, was slower than adsorption and incomplete (hysteresis coefficient < 1), thus indicating a prolonged permanence of the molecules on the soil. In lab-scale experiments, the phytopathogenic fungi Armillaria mellea, Fusarium culmorum and Verticillium dahliae were exposed to 0.02, 0.1, 0.5 and 1 % (w/w) DG alone, and 0.02 and 0.1 % DG preliminary interacted with 100 mg L-1 of soil humic acid (HA-DG). Fungal response was clearly influenced by the species, the treatment and the dosage adopted. In general, all treatments did not significantly modify the growth rate of A. mellea and V. dahliae, whereas all DG treatments, especially HA-DG, caused evident suppressive effects on F. culmorum. Based on the results of this study, it can be concluded that the addition of DG to the soil can regulate the bioavailability of agrochemicals in pore water and exert an inhibitory or irrelevant action depending on the phytopathogenic fungus
Comparative evaluation of the properties of soil organic amendments produced from biowaste recycling
No full textIntensive agriculture and invasive cultivation practices contribute to the progressive decline of the organic reserve of the soil. To address this issue and the related widespread soil pollution, the use as soil amendments of C-rich products and byproducts of technological treatments of biowaste can represent a sustainable solution. In addition to improving overall soil fertility, these materials significantly enhance the efficiency of the soil in retaining pollutants, thus limiting their leaching and the contamination of the food chain
Potential of Biochar from Wood Gasification to Retain Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Full text linkIn this study, a biochar obtained from poplar wood gasification at a temperature of 850 °C was used to adsorb the xenoestrogens 4-tert-octylphenol (OP) and bisphenol A (BPA) and the herbicide metribuzin from water. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX) and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy were employed to investigate the surface micromorphology and functional groups composition of biochar, respectively. The study of sorption kinetics showed that all compounds achieved the steady state in less than 2 h, according to a pseudo-second order model, which denoted the formation of strong bonds (chemisorption) between biochar and the compounds. Adsorption isotherms data were described by the Henry, Freundlich, Langmuir and Temkin equations. At temperatures of 10 and 30 °C, the equilibrium data of the compounds were generally better described by the Freundlich model, although, in some cases, high correlation coefficients (r ≥ 0.98) were obtained for more than one model. Freundlich constants, KF, for OP, BPA and metribuzin were, respectively, 218, 138 and 4 L g-1 at 10 °C and 295, 243 and 225 L g-1 at 30 °C, indicating a general increase of adsorption at higher temperature. Desorption of all compounds, especially OP and BPA, from biochar was slow and very scarce, denoting an irreversible and hysteretic process. Comparing the results of this study with those reported in the literature, we can conclude that the present biochar has a surprising ability to retain organic compounds almost permanently, thus behaving as an excellent low-cost biosorbent
The application of olive pomace digestate to the soil promotes the sorption of pesticides and the growth of the ligninolytic fungus Pleurotus eryngii
No full textNew products and byproducts are released from the technological conversion of waste biomass for bioenergy production. Due to their high organic carbon content, these materials, when used as soil amendments, can improve the overall quality and fertility of the soil
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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