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Pyrolysis technology facilitates the heating of organic waste biomass in a very low oxygen environment to temperatures over 400 °C. The high carbon content and surface area of the char produced via slow pyrolysis makes it suitable for a range of purposes that would sequester the carbon it contains. For example, there is a growing interest in its use as a soil amendment, which enhances plant growth and nutrient use efficiency.

The tomato is the edible berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum. Tomato plants are widely grown in temperate climates worldwide and are mostly cultivated as annuals. The objective of this study was to understand the interrelation between fruit quality of tomato, some soil biological parameters, and the addition of increasing biochar (BC) soil amendment doses. BC is an industrial product, made from organic waste by pyrolysis. Its use in the soil is known to improve fertility and several soil functions. Among organic, ecological conditions, a field experiment was performed in a type of slightly humous arenosol soil. Effect of increasing doses of biochar (BC) (0.5-, 1.0-, 2.5-, 5.0, 10 m/m% and control) was studied. Nutrient content and Total Soluble Solid (TSS) of the fruits, the ripeness, and the marketable/non-marketable ratio of yield were assessed. The presence of some cultivable microbial physiological groups (fungi, bacteria) and the soil-dehydrogenase activity (DHA) was estimated. Results represented that the changes of fruit TSS content was not linear with the increasing doses of BC. The increased yield (+53%) had an inverse correlation with the TSS content of the berry's pulps, and the content was lowest at the highest BC dose. Optimum doses of BC were considered, like 1-2.5 m/m%, supported by the nutritive element content (+55% N, +76% P, +83% K) and enhanced microbial activities (+45% DHA). Grouping the parameters by Pearson Correlation Coefficient, the biochar amendment was a driving factor for tomato growth, with certain dose limits in the studied organic agricultural practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biologically active compounds, sugars, acids and antioxidants are key-important ingredients of healthy tomato food. Objective of the study is to investigate if specific industrial bioeffector products are improving the taste and some quality parameters of tomato fruits and how those results are appearing in pots and among organic field conditions? Spore-forming industrial Bacillus amyloliquefaciens FZB42 (RhizoVital) as single inoculums and combinations either with other Bacillus strains (Biorex-1), or with N2-fixing-siderophore-producing strains (Biorex-2) were applied on Solanum lycopersicon Mill. var. Mobil test plant. Soil microbial counts, phosphorus availability and fruit quality, such as total soluble solids (TSS), content of some essential organic acids (citric-, maleic) and sugars (glucose, fructose) were assessed. The results found, that single industrial inoculums of FZB42 product had positive effect on Pavailability and fruit quality in the pots, combinations of other biofertilizers, however, did not give additional results. Fruit quality parameters, TSS content, soluble sugars and organic acids were significantly improved (p<0.05) at both experimental conditions. Such better fruit taste was correlated significantly by the most probable number (MPN) total microbial counts with greater positive values in pot experiment, compared with more variable environmental field condition. The recommendation of using such bioeffector products is supported by the positive interrelation among measured soil characteristics and inside healthy quality parameters of organically grown tomato fruits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on grazing-incidence small-angle x-ray scattering (GISAXS) study of 3D nanoparticle arrays prepared by two different methods from colloidal solutions--layer-by-layer Langmuir-Schaefer deposition and spontaneous self-assembling during the solvent evaporation. GISAXS results are evaluated within the distorted wave Born approximation (DWBA) considering the multiple scattering effects and employing a simplified multilayer model to reduce the computing time. In the model, particular layers are represented by nanoparticle chains where the positions of individual nanoparticles are generated following a model of cumulative disorder. The nanoparticle size dispersion is considered as well. Three model cases are distinguished--no shift between the neighboring chains (AA stacking), a shift equal to half of the mean interparticle distance (AB stacking) and random shift between the chains. The first two cases correspond to vertically correlated nanoparticle positions across different chains. A comparison of the experimental GISAXS patterns with the model cases enabled us to distinguish important differences between the 3D arrays prepared by the two methods. In particular, laterally ordered layers without vertical correlation of the nanoparticle positions were found in the nanoparticle multilayers prepared by the Langmuir-Schaefer method. On the other hand, the solvent evaporation under particular conditions produced highly ordered 3D nanoparticle assemblies where both laterally and vertically correlated nanoparticle positions were found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The TGF-beta member myostatin is an important negative regulator of skeletal muscle mass, influencing systemic (e.g. carbohydrate) metabolism. Beyond the Smad2/3 mediated signaling events it regulates the PI3K/Akt pathway, which plays a central role in integrating of anabolic and catabolic responses. The Compact ( Cmpt ) mice carry a naturally occurring 12-bp deletion in the propeptide region of the myostatin precursor, and additional modifiers are involved in determining the full expression of the hypermuscular phenotype. The metabolic effects of the Cmpt mutation are poorly understood. According to our results, the absolute weight of the investigated hindlimb muscles and liver significantly increased in Cmpt animals compared to wild-type; however, the muscle weight/body weight ratio significantly increased and the liver weight/body weight ratio significantly decreased in Cmpt s. The total glycogen and protein amount increased in Cmpt M. tibialis anterior, M. quadriceps femoris, M. gastrocnemius and liver samples. Western blot analysis revealed that the mutation resulted in increased level of phospho-Akt (Ser473) in both muscle and liver samples despite the presence of Cmpt myostatin, indicating the absence/reduced effect of myostatin. The glucose tolerance test revealed increased glucose uptake in peripheral tissues of Cmpt s, and the hepatic gluconeogenesis decreased determined by pyruvate tolerance test. To further assess liver function the activity of alanine transaminase (ALT) was measured in vitro, the total liver ALT activity to body mass ratio significantly decreased in Cmpt animals. In conclusion, the Cmpt mutation results in systemic consequences; it has opposite effect on the relative weight and glycogen concentration of skeletal muscle and liver, influences liver function and increases the peripheral glucose uptake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]