V. I. Vernadsky and development of the theoretical foundations of ecology

2014 ◽  
Vol 25 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 120-123
Author(s):  
V. P. Pishak

150-years have passed since the birth of famous Ukrainian and Russian scientist, academician V. I. Vernadsky (1863–1945) – the founder and the first president of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (UAS), as well as the first scientific library in Ukraine. The genius of scientific predictions of V. I. Vernadsky is undeniable: he is the founder of geochemistry, biochemistry and genetic mineralogy; the doctrine about living substance and its role in the evolution of the biosphere and the noosphere theory; the reasoning of the concept of the biosphere – the sphere of living organisms, their place and role in placental scope; the development of biogeochemistry. "There is no more stable "acting" chemical force on the Earth than all the living organisms" – V. I. Vernadsky pointed (Vernadsky, 1965). The scientist pointed that even in the early stages of life nascence the populations and communities always have been evolved. Thus, there is a set of organisms that are closely interacted with each other and with inanimate nature has arisen. According to Vernadsky, from the very beginning of the emergence of the biosphere, the living components (biomonomers and biopolymers) were differed by a great variety. Without such an initial heterogeneity of living systems on Earth, the conversion of solid, liquid and gaseous substances could not be carried out. Thus, the heterogeneity of the biosphere correlated with a variety of physical and chemical organization of different parts of the earth's surface. The chemical elemental composition of the earth's surface as well as elemental composition of living organisms, which are directly involved in chemical transformations on Earth, have never been significantly changed during whole geological history. "The variety of living substance, and life have always performed various biogeochemical functions at the same time" – V. Vernadsky pointed. The chemical transformations, the circulation of substance are evolving in the same time, they are interconnected with the circulation of chemicals, which in turn depend on rain, seasonal and other cyclic changes of light, temperature, pressure – meaning the chronoperiodic changes – V. I. Vernadsky followed the idea of continuity of living substance in outer space. Both – tasks and methodological bases of geochemistry and biogeochemistry were based in the theoretical ecology – environmental aspects of evolution, the principles of systemic analysis, biocenology problems, mathematical modeling, chronoperiodic reaction etc. Theoretical principles of ecology, developed by V. I. Vernadsky, their practical solution in some sections of biology led to the formation of different ecological areas: animal’s, plant’s and microorganism’s ecology, engineering ecology and others. Scientist drew the great attention to human ecology. With the changing of socio-economic formations, a role of a human in biosphere life has increased, especially in an era of scientific and technological revolution. The human activities as a source of energy, the active economic activity of Homo sapiens, the appearance of chemicals of anthropogenic origin, – these and many other directions of human activity allowed V. I. Vernadsky substantiate the place and role of new environmental factor – the noosphere, and hence a new research area – noospherology. Theoretical bases of ecology, developed by V. I. Vernadsky, find their practical implementation in medicine: the development of molecular genetics, genomic medicine, and detection of genetic predisposition to many diseases, so-called multifactorial diseases, environmental protection, the formation of new medicine areas – predictive, preventive, personalized and participatory one. Nowadays, the biomedical community, motivated by works of V. I. Vernadsky, feces the new horizons of therapy, diagnostics and prevention of diseases, based on the environmental factors.

Crystals ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 591 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayra Cuéllar-Cruz ◽  
Karina Sandra Pérez ◽  
María Eugenia Mendoza ◽  
Abel Moreno

The biomineralization process is a mechanism inherent to all organisms of the Earth. Throughout the decades, diverse works have reported that the origin of life is tied to crystals, specifically to biominerals of silica that catalyzed RNA, and had some influence in the homochirality. Although the mechanism by which crystals surfaces (minerals) gave origin to life has not yet been proven, the truth is that, up to the present, biominerals are being synthetized by the organisms of different kingdoms in two basic ways: biologically induced and biologically controlled biomineralization. Paradoxically, this fact makes a fundamental difference between inorganic materials and those formed by living organisms, as the latter are associated with macromolecules that are bound to the mineral phase. Conserving growth and formation of these biogenic organic crystals inside cells is a fascinating subject that has been studied mainly in some of the kingdoms, like Monera (bacteria), Fungi (yeasts), and Animalia (Homo sapiens). Notwithstanding in the Plantae kingdom, the formation, conservation, and functions of crystals has not yet been completely elucidated and described, which is of particular relevance because life on Earth, as we know it, would not be possible without plants. The aim of the present work is to revise the different crystals of calcium oxalate synthetized inside the cells of plants, as well as to identify the mechanism of their formation and their possible functions in plants. The last part is related to the existence of certain proteins called phototropins, which not only work as the blue-light sensors, but they also play an important role on the accumulation of calcium in vacuoles. This new trend is shortly reviewed to explain the characteristics and their plausible role in the calcium uptake along with the biomineralization processes.


2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
Richard Strange

Plants are the primary means by which food is produced for living organisms. These include the species Homo sapiens ? all 7 billion plus of us. But we are far from being the only species that depends on plants. There are many herbivores with which we compete, some of the most devastating being insects. Moreover, plants deemed useful as sources of food may be outcompeted by other plants of less practical use: these are often regarded as weeds. More insidiously, there are many infectious agents ranging from viroids, consisting of a few hundred nucleotides, through viruses, bacteria, mycoplasmas, nematodes and fungi to plants themselves that parasitise those crop plants we use as sources of food.


Author(s):  
A.V. GOLUBEV ◽  

The diffusion of innovations is described as a process in a number of scientific papers. At the same time, the causes of this process have not been sufficiently studied. The author’s goal is to consider the main regularities, under which the life cycle of innovations begins, and propose measures to enhance diffusion in modern conditions. As a scientific hypothesis, the author accepts the postulate about the primary role of the obolescence of attracted innovations in this process. The analysis revealed not only the economic proportions that initiate the start of innovation promotion, but also the influence on the diffusion rate of the obsolescence degree of innovations and the market share occupied by the new product. Methodological approaches have been developed to determine economic efficiency depending on the moment of technological change-over, as well as to determine the absolute and relative speed of innovation diffusion. Sociological studies were conducted to determine the state of innovation development and the time lag between obtaining information about an innovation and its practical implementation. The author presents his “Agroopyt” information system developed to disseminate knowledge in the agricultural sphere and ensure technology transfer in agriculture. Digital methods provide for significant accelerateion of the diffusion of innovations and expand its scope.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 1761
Author(s):  
Ilya Lyagin ◽  
Elena Efremenko

Organophosphorus compounds (OPCs) are able to interact with various biological targets in living organisms, including enzymes. The binding of OPCs to enzymes does not always lead to negative consequences for the body itself, since there are a lot of natural biocatalysts that can catalyze the chemical transformations of the OPCs via hydrolysis or oxidation/reduction and thereby provide their detoxification. Some of these enzymes, their structural differences and identity, mechanisms, and specificity of catalytic action are discussed in this work, including results of computational modeling. Phylogenetic analysis of these diverse enzymes was specially realized for this review to emphasize a great area for future development(s) and applications.


Author(s):  
Salma Shickh ◽  
◽  
Sara A. Rafferty ◽  
Marc Clausen ◽  
Rita Kodida ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 163-177
Author(s):  
Mohammad Sadegh Hesamian ◽  
Nahid Eskandari

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an unpredictable disease of the central nervous system. The cause of MS is not known completely, and pathology is specified by involved demyelinated areas in the white and gray matter of the brain and spinal cord. Inflammation and peripheral tolerance breakdown due to Treg cell defects and/or effector cell resistance are present at all stages of the disease. Several invading peripheral immune cells are included in the process of the disease such as macrophages, CD8+ T cells, CD4+ T cells, B cells, and plasma cells. Trace elements are known as elements found in soil, plants, and living organisms in small quantities. Some of them (e.g., Al, Cu, Zn, Mn, and Se) are essential for the body’s functions like catalysts in enzyme systems, energy metabolism, etc. Al toxicity and Cu, Zn, and Se toxicity and deficiency can affect the immune system and following neuron inflammation and degeneration. These processes may result in MS pathology. Of course, factors such as lifestyle, environment, and industrialization can affect levels of trace elements in the human body.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Katerina V. Sazanova (nee Barinova) ◽  
Marina S. Zelenskaya ◽  
Vera V. Manurtdinova ◽  
Alina R. Izatulina ◽  
Aleksei V. Rusakov ◽  
...  

The pattern of elements accumulation in biodeposits formed by living organisms and extracellular products of their metabolism (biofouling, primary soils) on different bedrocks (of the monuments of Historical necropoleis in Saint Petersburg) were studied by a complex of biological and mineralogical methods (optical microscopy, SEM, EDX, XRD, ICP MS, XRFS). The content of 46 elements in biodeposits with various communities of microorganisms is determined. The model recreating the picture of the input and selective accumulation of elements in biodeposits on the stone surface in outdoor conditions is assumed. It is shown that the main contribution to the elemental composition of biodeposits is made by the environment and the composition of the microbial community. The contribution of leaching under the action of microbial metabolites of mineral grains, entering biodeposits from the environment, is significantly greater than that of the underlying rock.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Barwell ◽  
Corrina Powell ◽  
Helen Harrison

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhra Sarkar ◽  
Siddharth Pandey

: Ionic Liquids (ILs) in their neoteric form have emerged to be a potential ‘green’ alternative of traditional Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) as solvents in different fields of industries and academia. Recent investigations on the development of multi-faceted applications of ionic liquids have revealed that they really stand for “environmentally-benign” solvents as far as their impact on the ecology is concerned. This caused them to be an exciting and lucrative subject to explore more and more, and many research groups are involved in the manifestation of their inherent undisclosed legacy. Recently, there has been a huge jump in search of an alternative to conventional metal catalysts in academia as well as in industries due to their pollution-evoking roles. Scientists have explored multiple numbers of homogeneous or heterogeneous mixtures of catalysts incorporating ionic liquids to reduce the extent of contamination in our global environment produced due to catalytic synthesis and chemical transformations. In this review, we have put our concentration on some beneficial and recently explored aspects of the successful implementation of Ionic Liquids in different forms in several fields of catalysis as a ‘green’ alternative catalyst/co-catalyst/solvent for catalysis to replace or minimize the lone and hazardous use of metal and metallic compounds as catalysts as well as chemicals like mineral acids or VOCs as solvents. Here, our study focuses on the inevitable role of ILs in several catalytic reactions like cycloaddition of CO2, electrolytic reduction of CO2, biocatalytic or enzymatic reactions, some of the important organic conversions, and biomass to biofuel conversion as catalysts, cocatalysts, catalyst activator, and solvents.


2022 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 013-018
Author(s):  
Mohini Chandrashekhar Upadhye ◽  
Mohini Chetan Kuchekar ◽  
Rohini Revansiddhappa Pujari ◽  
Nutan Uttam Sable

Biopolymers are compounds prepared by using various living organisms, including plants. These are composed of repeated units of the same or similar structure (monomers) linked together. Rubber, starch, cellulose, proteins and DNA, RNA, chitin, and peptides are some of the examples of natural biopolymers. Biopolymers are a diverse and remarkably versatile class of materials that are either produced by biological systems or synthesize from biological sources. Biopolymers are used in pharmaceutical industry and also in food industry.Naturally derived polymers are also used for conditioning benefits in hair and skin care. Biopolymers have various applications in medicine, food, packaging, and petroleum industries. This review article is focused on various aspects of biopolymers with a special emphasis on role of biopolymers in green nanotechnology and agriculture.


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