First report of Cystoseira aurantia Kützing from the Mediterranean coast of Morocco

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-47
Author(s):  
Mohamed Ramdani ◽  
Moulay Brahim Oufekkir ◽  
Ouahid El Asri ◽  
Najat El Khiati ◽  
Mohammed Ramdani ◽  
...  

Abstract Algal diversity in aquatic environments can help assess the health status of ecosystems, provide information about invasions of new species and inform species diversity changes according to environmental conditions. An algal diversity survey (2016–19) of Nador Lagoon (northern Morocco) revealed the presence for the first time of the brown alga Cystoseira aurantia. Since 2015 this alga has been found in high abundance in the northwestern part of the lagoon, mainly around Attalayoun and Nador City. The thalli of larger specimens reached 60 cm in length, and all plants present were free-floating. The species was collected from the water surface to depths not exceeding 2 cm. Floating patches were usually found suspended above sandy and muddy substrates. Increased abundance of this species in the lagoon corresponds with new physico-chemical conditions and ecological parameters, principally resulting from increased water ventilation and improved water quality since 2012. The new communities of C. aurantia may offer a novel resource for the lagoon but high abundance could pose future threats to attached vegetation such as seagrasses and benthic algae by shading and the accumulation of organic detritus. Attention is drawn to taxonomic issues involving C. aurantia.

Author(s):  
M.A. Tugarova

The article considers the secondary transformations of carbonate rocks of oil and gas complexes, which are of fundamental importance in the formation of reservoir properties. For the first time, a schematic diagram, illustrating the regularities of secondary processes in carbonate reservoirs and their relationship with the physico-chemical conditions of the stratosphere is proposed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson K Chepkwony ◽  
Yves V Brun

The adhesion of organisms to surfaces in aquatic environments provides a diversity of benefits such as better access to nutrients or protection from the elements or from predation. Differences in ionic strength, pH, temperature, shear forces, and other environmental factors impact adhesion and organisms have evolved various strategies to optimize their adhesins for their specific environmental conditions. We know essentially nothing about how bacteria evolved their adhesive mechanisms to attach efficiently in environments with different physico-chemical conditions. Many species of Alphaproteobacteria, including members of the order Caulobacterales, use a polar adhesin, called holdfast, for surface attachment and subsequent biofilm formation in both freshwater and marine environments. Hirschia baltica, a marine member of Caulobacterales, produces a holdfast adhesin that tolerates a drastically higher ionic strength than the holdfast produced by its freshwater relative, Caulobacter crescentus. In this work, we show that the holdfast polysaccharide deacetylase HfsH plays an important role in adherence in high ionic strength environments. We show that deletion of hfsH in H. baltica disrupts holdfast binding properties and structure. Increasing expression of HfsH in C. crescentus improved holdfast binding in high salinity, whereas lowering HfsH expression in H. baltica reduced holdfast binding at high ionic strength. We conclude that HfsH plays a role in modulating holdfast binding at high ionic strength and hypothesize that this modulation occurs through varied deacetylation of holdfast polysaccharides.


2000 ◽  
Vol 42 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 371-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Araki ◽  
J. M. González ◽  
E. de Luis ◽  
E. Bécares

The viability of Parascaris equorum eggs was studied in two experimental pilot-scale high-rate algal ponds (HRAPs) working in parallel with 4 and 10 days hydraulic retention time respectively. Semi-permeable bags of cellulose (15000 daltons pore size) were used to study the effect of physico-chemical conditions on the survival of these helminth eggs. Three thousand eggs were used in each bag. Replicates of these bags were submerged for 4 and 10 days in the HRAPs and egg viability was compared with that in control bags submerged in sterile water. After 4 days exposure, 60% reduction in viability was achieved, reaching 90% after 10 days, much higher than the 16% and 25% found in the control bags for 4 and 10 days respectively. Ionic conditions of the HRAP may have been responsible for up to 50–60% of the egg mortality, suggesting that mortality due to the ionic environment could be more important than physical retention and other potential removal factors.


Molecules ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (9) ◽  
pp. 2500
Author(s):  
Marta Gallo ◽  
Luca Serpella ◽  
Federica Leone ◽  
Luigi Manna ◽  
Mauro Banchero ◽  
...  

Piroxicam (PRX) is a commonly prescribed nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug. Its efficacy, however, is partially limited by its low water solubility. In recent years, different studies have tackled this problem and have suggested delivering PRX through solid dispersions. All these strategies, however, involve the use of potentially harmful solvents for the loading procedure. Since piroxicam is soluble in supercritical CO2 (scCO2), the present study aims, for the first time, to adsorb PRX onto mesoporous silica using scCO2, which is known to be a safer and greener technique compared to the organic solvent-based ones. For comparison, PRX is also loaded by adsorption from solution and incipient wetness impregnation using ethanol as solvent. Two different commercial mesoporous silicas are used (SBA-15 and Grace Syloid® XDP), which differ in porosity order and surface silanol population. Physico-chemical analyses show that the most promising results are obtained through scCO2, which yields the amorphization of PRX, whereas some crystallization occurs in the case of adsorption from solution and IWI. The highest loading of PRX by scCO2 is obtained in SBA-15 (15 wt.%), where molecule distribution appears homogeneous, with very limited pore blocking.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matteo Callegari ◽  
Elena Crotti ◽  
Marco Fusi ◽  
Ramona Marasco ◽  
Elena Gonella ◽  
...  

AbstractThe core gut microbiome of adult honeybee comprises a set of recurring bacterial phylotypes, accompanied by lineage-specific, variable, and less abundant environmental bacterial phylotypes. Several mutual interactions and functional services to the host, including the support provided for growth, hormonal signaling, and behavior, are attributed to the core and lineage-specific taxa. By contrast, the diversity and distribution of the minor environmental phylotypes and fungal members in the gut remain overlooked. In the present study, we hypothesized that the microbial components of forager honeybees (i.e., core bacteria, minor environmental phylotypes, and fungal members) are compartmentalized along the gut portions. The diversity and distribution of such three microbial components were investigated in the context of the physico-chemical conditions of different gut compartments. We observed that changes in the distribution and abundance of microbial components in the gut are consistently compartment-specific for all the three microbial components, indicating that the ecological and physiological interactions among the host and microbiome vary with changing physico-chemical and metabolic conditions of the gut.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia M. Glibert ◽  
Cynthia A. Heil ◽  
Christopher J. Madden ◽  
Stephen P. Kelly

AbstractThe availability of dissolved inorganic and organic nutrients and their transformations along the fresh to marine continuum are being modified by various natural and anthropogenic activities and climate-related changes. Subtropical central and eastern Florida Bay, located at the southern end of the Florida peninsula, is classically considered to have inorganic nutrient conditions that are in higher-than-Redfield ratio proportions, and high levels of organic and chemically-reduced forms of nitrogen. However, salinity, pH and nutrients, both organic and inorganic, change with changes in freshwater flows to the bay. Here, using a time series of water quality and physico-chemical conditions from 2009 to 2019, the impacts of distinct changes in managed flow, drought, El Niño-related increases in precipitation, and intensive storms and hurricanes are explored with respect to changes in water quality and resulting ecosystem effects, with a focus on understanding why picocyanobacterial blooms formed when they did. Drought produced hyper-salinity conditions that were associated with a seagrass die-off. Years later, increases in precipitation resulting from intensive storms and a hurricane were associated with high loads of organic nutrients, and declines in pH, likely due to high organic acid input and decaying organic matter, collectively leading to physiologically favorable conditions for growth of the picocyanobacterium, Synechococcus spp. These conditions, including very high concentrations of NH4+, were likely inhibiting for seagrass recovery and for growth of competing phytoplankton or their grazers. Given projected future climate conditions, and anticipated cycles of drought and intensive storms, the likelihood of future seagrass die-offs and picocyanobacterial blooms is high.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1230
Author(s):  
Jessica Manzi ◽  
Annalisa Paolone ◽  
Oriele Palumbo ◽  
Domenico Corona ◽  
Arianna Massaro ◽  
...  

In this manuscript, we report a detailed physico-chemical comparison between the α- and β-polymorphs of the NaMnO2 compound, a promising material for application in positive electrodes for secondary aprotic sodium batteries. In particular, the structure and vibrational properties, as well as electrochemical performance in sodium batteries, are compared to highlight differences and similarities. We exploit both laboratory techniques (Raman spectroscopy, electrochemical methods) and synchrotron radiation experiments (Fast-Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction). Notably the vibrational spectra of these phases are here reported for the first time in the literature as well as the detailed structural analysis from diffraction data. DFT+U calculations predict both phases to have similar electronic features, with structural parameters consistent with the experimental counterparts. The experimental evidence of antisite defects in the beta-phase between sodium and manganese ions is noticeable. Both polymorphs have been also tested in aprotic batteries by comparing the impact of different liquid electrolytes on the ability to de-intercalated/intercalate sodium ions. Overall, the monoclinic α-NaMnO2 shows larger reversible capacity exceeding 175 mAhg−1 at 10 mAg−1.


1896 ◽  
Vol 59 (353-358) ◽  
pp. 308-312

The present investigation arises from experiments undertaken to determine autographically the varying relations between the magnitude of electrical change and the magnitude of stimulation in nerve under various chemical conditions.


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