Short-term experiments in using digestate products as substitutes for mineral (N) fertilizer: Agronomic performance, odours, and ammonia emission impacts.

Anaerobic digestion produces a biologically stable and high-value fertilizer product, the digestate, which can be used as an alternative to mineral fertilizers on crops. However, misuse of digestate can lead to annoyance for the public (odours) and to environmental problems such as nitrate leaching and ammonia emissions into the air. Full field experimental data are needed to support the use of digestate in agriculture, promoting its correct management. In this work, short-term experiments were performed to substitute mineral N fertilizers (urea) with digestate and products derived from it to the crop silage maize. Digestate and the liquid fraction of digestate were applied to soil at pre-sowing and as topdressing fertilizers in comparison with urea, both by surface application and subsurface injection during the cropping seasons 2012 and 2013. After each fertilizer application, both odours and ammonia emissions were measured, giving data about digestate and derived products' impacts. The AD products could substitute for urea without reducing crop yields, apart from the surface application of AD-derived fertilizers. Digestate and derived products, because of high biological stability acquired during the AD, had greatly reduced olfactometry impact, above all when they were injected into soils (82-88% less odours than the untreated biomass, i.e. cattle slurry). Ammonia emission data indicated, as expected, that the correct use of digestate and derived products required their injection into the soil avoiding, ammonia volatilization into the air and preserving fertilizer value. Sub-surface injection allowed ammonia emissions to be reduced by 69% and 77% compared with surface application during the 2012 and 2013 campaigns.

Looking for practical tools to achieve next-future applicability of dark fermentation to produce bio-hydrogen from organic materials in Continuously Stirred Tank Reactors.

This study aimed at finding applicable tools for favouring dark fermentation application in full-scale biogas plants in the next future. Firstly, the focus was obtaining mixed microbial cultures from natural sources (soil-inocula and anaerobically digested materials), able to efficiently produce bio-hydrogen by dark fermentation. Batch reactors with proper substrate (1 gL(glucose)(-1)) and metabolites concentrations, allowed high H(2) yields (2.8 ± 0.66 mol H(2)mol(glucose)(-1)), comparable to pure microbial cultures achievements. The application of this methodology to four organic substrates, of possible interest for full-scale plants, showed promising and repeatable bio-H(2) potential (BHP=202 ± 3 NL(H2)kg(VS)(-1)) from organic fraction of municipal source-separated waste (OFMSW). Nevertheless, the fermentation in a lab-scale CSTR (nowadays the most diffused typology of biogas-plant) of a concentrated organic mixture of OFMSW (126 g(TS)L(-1)) resulted in only 30% of its BHP, showing that further improvements are still needed for future full-scale applications of dark fermentation.

[Iodine status in historically iodine deficiency area]. / Apporto iodico in un'area storicamente iodocarente.

AIM: The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) for schoolchildren was 90 microg/L in Biella and 136 microg/L in Novara in survey carried out in 1995-1996. Biella resulted as iodine deficiency area and Novara as iodine sufficient area. Aim of our study was to assess goiter prevalence by ultrasonography in Biella and Novara schoolchildren and to evaluate median UIC in Biella schoolchildren. METHODS: A total of 829 Biella schoolchildren and 310 Novara schoolchildren, aged 7-15 years, were submitted to thyroideal ultrasonography. Biella schoolchildren were submitted to morning-spot urine sample's collection for UIC's determination. RESULTS: The ultrasound goiter prevalence as function of age resulted 15.7% in Biella and 14.8% in Novara (P = 0.7, chi 2 test). The ultrasound goiter prevalence as function of body surface area resulted 17.1% in Biella and 7.1% in Novara (P < 0.0001, chi 2 test). UIC (25-75 degrees ) for Biella schoolchildren who attended third and fifth year of primary school was 159 microg/L (107-228 microg/L) while for Biella schoolchildren who attended second year of secondary school was 150 microg/L (92-218 microg/L). CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results of UIC, Biella is considered as iodine sufficient area. Based on the results of goiter prevalence by ultrasonography, both Biella and Novara resulted as iodine deficiency area. UIC and goiter prevalence, however, provide different informations about iodine status: UIC supplies informations about present iodine status while goiter prevalence assesses past iodine status.

Effects of combined dietary supplementation on oxidative and inflammatory status in dyslipidemic subjects.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Dyslipidemia is one of the main risk factors for atherosclerosis, usually the underlying cause of cardiovascular diseases which are the major cause of morbidity and mortality in developed countries. The aim of this study was to assess the effects and the advantages of a combined dietary supplementation with PUFA n-3, vitamin E, niacin and gamma-oryzanol on lipid profile, inflammatory status and oxidative balance. METHODS AND RESULTS: Fifty-seven dyslipidemic volunteers were randomly assigned to receive: placebo (group A, 19 subjects); PUFA n-3 and vitamin E (group B, 18 subjects); the same as B plus gamma-oryzanol and niacin (group C, 20 subjects). Lipid profile, reactive oxygen species (ROS), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), vitamin E, interleukin 1-beta (IL1-beta), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) and thromboxane B2 (TXB2) were determined at baseline (T0) and after four months (T1). All dyslipidemic subjects showed, at baseline, oxidative stress and, after four months, all biochemical markers improved significantly in groups treated with dietary supplementation. Particularly in group C all lipid patterns improved significantly. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings demonstrate that the strategy of combining different compounds, which protect each other and act together at different levels of the lipid chain production, improves lipid profile, inflammatory and oxidative status, allowing us to reduce the dose of each compound under the threshold of its side effects.

Inhibitory activity of a synthetic pentapeptide on leukaemic myelopoiesis both in vitro and in vivo in rats.

The synthetic pentapeptide pGlu-Glu-Asp-Cys-Lys has recently been proposed as the active component of a granulocyte-derived inhibitor of normal haematopoiesis. We investigated its biological activity on leukaemic myelopoiesis both in vitro and in vivo in rats. Three different human permanent myeloid leukaemic cell lines (HL60, KG1, ML3) and a rat transplantable acute myeloid leukaemia (Shay leukaemia) were studied. Neither HL60 nor KG1 were sensitive to the peptide whereas a consistently reproducible inhibition of 3H-TdR uptake was observed in ML3 cells. This effect was not due to a unspecific toxic action on target cells and was spontaneously reversible. When injected i.p. twice daily at an appropriate concentration in rats bearing Shay leukaemia, the peptide caused a significant increase in survival. Our results therefore indicate that the synthetic pentapeptide studied inhibits not only normal but also leukaemic myelopoiesis.