Search

Carbon dioxide hydrates were formed in fresh water and in aqueous mixtures containing ammonium sulfate, at concentrations equal to 1.9, 6.3, and 9.5 wt%. The moles of hydrates formed were compared, to define the inhibiting strength of the electrolyte solution and the dependence of inhibition from concentration. The addition of salt strongly inhibited the process and the number of hydrates produced passed from 0.204–0.256 moles, obtained in fresh water, to 0.108–0.198 moles, obtained at the lowest concentration tested. The further addition of salt still lowered the production of the hydrates; at the highest concentration tested, only 0.092–0.177 moles were obtained. The pressure-temperature evolutions of the hydrates were then discussed and compared with the ideal process and with the experimental results obtained in demineralised water. Finally, further samples of CO2 hydrates, produced in the presence of 9.5 wt% salt in the aqueous phase (corresponding to 1.5 wt% NH4+), were recovered and dissociated in a separated environment. The liquid phase, resulting from their dissociation, was subjected to spectrophotometric analyses. Its NH4+ content was measured and compared with the initial concentration in water. Therefore, it was possible to quantify the capability of the system to remove the (NH4)2SO4 from the water (involved in hydrate formation) and to concentrate it in the remaining liquid phase. Considering the portion of water involved in hydrates formation, the concentration of ammonium passed from 1.5 wt% to 0.38–0.449 wt%.

Microplastics are emerging pollutant found in many ecosystems including soil. Within them, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is one of the most toxic polymers and is known for its remarkable resistance to degradation. The recalcitrant nature of PVC and the improper waste disposal could cause serious environmental concerns. In addition, the possible fragmentation and accumulation of small plastic particles in agricultural soils might have impacts on soil chemical and microbiological properties. Based on these considerations, a microcosm experiment was set up to investigate the effects of PVC microplastics (0.021% w/w) on soil chemical properties and soil bacterial and fungal communities at different incubation times (from 3 to 360 days).Among chemical parameters, soil CO2 emissions, fluorescein diacetate hydrolysis (FDA), total organic C (TOC), total N, water extractable organic C (WEOC), water extractable N (WEN) and SUVA254 were investigated, while the structure of soil microbial communities was studied at different taxonomic levels (phylum and genus) by sequencing bacterial 16S and fungal ITS2 rDNA (Illumina MiSeq). The number and the dimensions of PVC particles were also evaluated after one year of experiment.The results showed that the presence of PVC particles in soil caused significant (p < 0.05) variations in chemical parameters in short- and medium-term, thus suggesting that the presence of this polymer in soil can affect the turnover of organic matter. In the long period, instead, an increase of the soil enzymatic activity (FDA) was observed.The analysis of microbiological parameters showed that PVC microplastics significantly affected (p < 0.05) the structure of soil microbial communities changing the abundances of specific bacterial and fungal taxa: Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Bacteroides, Candidatus_Saccharibacteria, and Proteobacteria, , among bacteria, and Ascomycota, Basidiomycota, and Mortierellomycota among fungi, suggesting that the impact of this polymer could be taxa-dependent.A significant (p < 0.05) decrease of the number and dimensions of PVC particles was also detected after one year of incubation, supposing a possible role of microbial community on polymer degradation.

In humans, new-born infants have the ability to regenerate their heart during early life. This is modelled in the mouse, where regenerative capacity is maintained for the first week after birth but lost thereafter. Reactivation of this process holds significant therapeutic potential, however, the molecular pathways that might be targeted to extend neonatal regeneration remain elusive. Here, we explore a role for hypoxia and HIF signalling on the regulation of epicardial activity which is essential for heart development and the response to injury. Hypoxic regions were found in the epicardium from mid-gestation, associating with HIF1α and HIF2α and expression of the epicardial master regulator Wilms’ tumour 1 (WT1). Epicardial deletion of Hif1a reduced WT1 levels in mutant embryos, leading to impaired coronary vasculature. Moreover, targeting of the HIF degradation enzyme PHD, through pharmacological inhibition with clinically approved drugs or epicardial-specific deletion, stabilised HIF and promoted WT1 activity ex vivo. A combination of genetic and pharmacological stabilisation of HIF during neonatal heart injury led to prolonged epicardial activation, increased vascularisation, augmented infarct resolution and preserved function beyond the 7-day regenerative window. Together, these findings suggest pharmacological modulation of HIF signalling may represent a viable therapeutic strategy for treating ischaemic heart disease.

Biogas-based energy production has become a successful strategy for many livestock farms around the world. However, raw materials production is threatened by a growing uncertainty due to effects of climate change on crops cultivation. The aim of this paper is to propose a tool for the optimal design of the biogas mixture, considering respectively the nutritional needs of livestock and the parameters of the biogas process. Within a context of climate variability, a three-stage Discrete Stochastic Programming (DSP) model is applied in a dairy cattle farm with anaerobic digestion plant. This state-contingent approach (DSP model) considers, as uncertain parameters, the watering needs and the yields of forage and energetic crops. The DSP model is compared with equivalent models of expected values to verify the benefits derived from the explicit inclusion of climatic states. The results showed a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of feedstock management, reflecting in a significant reduction in farm costs (11.75 %) compared to the baseline scenario. Whereas, the comparison between the state-contingent approach and the expected value model, showed only slight benefits (0.02 %). This confirms that the DSP model’s ability to offer a better hedged solution increases when high climate variability affects crop yields and irrigation needs.

This study deals jointly with three aspects of environmental, agricultural and energy sustainability: (a) Biogas is a booming energy source worldwide, resulting in an increasing production of digestate, its main by-product; (b) The extraction of peat, mainly used for nursery substrates, is being banned due to the destruction of natural habitats and release of GHGs; (c) Compost can represent a replacement of peat and contributes to the containment of GHGs. This study has verified how a compost obtained from digestate can be used as a substitute for peat in the nursery sector. While previous studies have evaluated compost use on just one species at a time, this study compared the same compost on two very different species: olive tree and hazelnut tree, both with growing interest for new tree plantings. Two concentrations of compost in the potting substrate of nursery seedlings were evaluated: 30% and 45% by weight, measuring the effect on some growth parameters during the growing season. The trials showed responses positive for olive and substantially negative for hazelnut: olive trees manifested better growth parameters with 45% compost, as opposed to hazelnut, where the addition of 45% compost worsened all growth parameters. A general conclusion can be drawn: in the nursery sector, compost can be used to replace peat, but this replacement can almost never be 100 percent, having instead to calibrate the percentage of replacement according to the characteristics of the compost and the individual edaphic needs of the plant species.

The correct development of the composting process is essential to obtain a product of high value from organic wastes. Nowadays, some composting mixture parameters (i.e., air-filled porosity, moisture and the C/N ratio) are used to optimize the composting process, but their suitability is still debated because the literature reports contrasting results. This paper aimed to find other parameters that control the correct development of composting. The relationship between these and the compost quality was then verified. Twelve different composting mixtures were prepared using different organic wastes and bulking agents and were aerobically treated in a 300 L composter. The physico-chemical and chemical parameters of initial mixtures were analyzed, with particular regard to the total and water-extractable forms of organic C and N and their ratios and correlated with the temperature measured during composting. A positive correlation between temperature parameters during the active phase and soluble forms of N in the initial mixtures was found. A high total organic C to soluble N ratio in the composting mixtures was correlated with the low quality of the compost produced. Based on the results, a minimum content of WEN (water-extractable N) (0.4% w/w) or a TOC/WEN (total organic C/WEN) ratio in the range of 40–80 was recommended to ensure the correct development of the process and to produce compost of high quality.

In humans, new-born infants have the ability to regenerate their heart during early life. This is modelled in the mouse, where regenerative capacity is maintained for the first week after birth but lost thereafter. Reactivation of this process holds great therapeutic potential, however, the molecular pathways that might be targeted to extend neonatal regeneration remain elusive. Here, we explore a role for hypoxia and HIF signalling on the regulation of epicardial activity which is essential for heart development and the response to injury. Hypoxic regions were found in the epicardium from mid-gestation, associating with HIF1α and HIF2α, and expression of the epicardial master regulator Wilms’ tumour 1 (WT1). Epicardial deletion of Hif1a reduced WT1 levels, leading to impaired coronary vasculature. Moreover, targeting of the HIF degradation enzyme PHD through pharmacological inhibition with clinically approved drugs or epicardial-specific deletion stabilised HIF and promoted WT1 activity ex vivo. A combination of genetic and pharmacological stabilisation of HIF during neonatal heart injury led to prolonged epicardial activation, increased vascularisation, augmented infarct resolution and preserved function beyond the 7-day regenerative window. Together, these findings suggest pharmacological modulation of HIF signalling may represent a viable therapeutic strategy for treating ischaemic heart disease.

Acute myocardial infarction rapidly increases blood neutrophils (2 hours). Release from bone marrow, in response to chemokine elevation, has been considered their source, but chemokine levels peak up to 24 hours after injury, and after neutrophil elevation. This suggests that additional non-chemokine-dependent processes may be involved. Endothelial cell (EC) activation promotes the rapid (30 minutes) release of extracellular vesicles (EVs), which have emerged as an important means of cell-cell signalling and are thus a potential mechanism for communicating with remote tissues.Here, we show that injury to the myocardium rapidly mobilises neutrophils from the spleen to peripheral blood and induces their transcriptional activation prior to arrival at the injured tissue. Time course analysis of plasma EV composition revealed a rapid and selective increase in EVs bearing VCAM-1. These EVs, which were also enriched for miRNA-126, accumulated preferentially in the spleen where they induced local inflammatory gene and chemokine protein expression, and mobilised splenic-neutrophils to peripheral blood. Using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing we generated VCAM-1-deficient EC-EVs and showed that its deletion removed the ability of EC-EVs to provoke the mobilisation of neutrophils. Furthermore, inhibition of miRNA-126 in vivo reduced myocardial infarction size in a mouse model.Our findings show a novel EV-dependent mechanism for the rapid mobilisation of neutrophils to peripheral blood from a splenic reserve and establish a proof of concept for functional manipulation of EV-communications through genetic alteration of parent cells.Peripheral blood neutrophils are rapidly elevated following acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and prior to alterations in systemic cytokines. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane enclosed particles that carry protein and miRNAs and are rapidly liberated from endothelial cells (EC). Here, we show that following AMI EC-derived-EVs (EC-EVs) mediate neutrophil mobilisation from the spleen via EC-EV-VCAM-1 and induce transcriptional activation of neutrophils in the blood to favour miRNA-126-mRNA targets; miRNA-126 antagomir treatment lowers infarct size. EC-EV-VCAM-1 and EC-EV-miRNA-126 are novel mechanisms that mobilise splenic reserve of neutrophils, a previously unidentified source of neutrophils in sterile ischaemic injury.

The aim of this paper was to deepen the knowledge of anaerobic co-digestion of lignocellulosic residues and evaluate the role of soluble organic matter during co-digestion. Buckwheat milling residue (buckwheat hull) was co-digested with different organic wastes to evaluate the effect of co-digestion on biomethane yield, process stability, and their relationship with soluble organic matter. Results showed that co-digestion increased the biomethane yields of buckwheat hull and the best result was achieved from the co-digestion with slaughterhouse wastes (+254% of cumulative biomethane production). Kinetic analysis showed that fruit wastes and brewery trub affected positively anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic residues, enhancing biomethane potential (+84% and +166%, respectively) and reducing lag phase duration. A positive correlation was found between the soluble organic matter and the biomethane yields during co-digestion experiments. Nevertheless, co-digestion with fruit wastes was affected by an excessive acidification in the early stage of AD (pH 5.7) caused by the rapid conversion of sugars into volatile fatty acids (7 g L-1 at day 15). Although all the digestates showed high concentrations of plant nutrients (the average content of total N was 7.8% dry weight), they were also characterized by residual phytotoxicity (germination index was always 0.0%). results. Increasing the amount of easy biodegradable organic matter during lignocellulosic residues treatment should be the main goal when selecting co-digestion substrates. Chemical composition of co-digestion substrates should be carefully considered, with particular regard to soluble organic matter, to ensure the optimal development of anaerobic digestion with lignocellulosic residues.

Global environmental performances of anaerobic co-digestion and co-composting of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contaminated corn were investigated by a life cycle assessment approach. Anaerobic co-digestion of pig slurry and corn with 25 μgkg-1 ww AFB1 concentration resulted able to generate 627 NLkgVS-1 of biogas with a reduction of the AFB1 concentration in the digestate of 44%. At AFB1 concentration of 100 μg kg-1 ww, the process resulted strongly inhibited with a biogas generation of 122 NLkgVS-1 and AFB1 concentration reduction in the digestate of 25%. Co-composting of 100 μg kg-1 dw AFB1 contaminated corn with other substrates as organic fraction of municipal waste, pig slurry, and other lignin-cellulosic residues showed a removal efficiency of AFB1 ranging from about 80 up to 95% depending on the different mixtures adopted. Environmental consequences associated to the removal of 1 mg of AFB1 in different scenarios investigated, including also the use on land of the digestate and of the compost, indicated that global warming was affected equally by co-digestion and co-composting, about 95 kgCO2eq. Co-digestion showed also the possibility of achieving avoided emissions of about - 0.007 kgNMVOCeq, - 2.5E-3 kgPeq, and - 30CTUe. Benefits concerning resource depletion resulted higher for co-composting due to the high amount of mineral fertilizer replaced. Contribution of AFB1 in the determination of human health (DALY) resulted lower than about 4% for co-digestion and practically negligible for co-composting.

The long-term effects of the olive mill wastewater (OMWW) spreading on soil chemical properties, microbial community, and olive tree parameters have been far poorly investigated. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate the effect of OMWW application on an olive orchard, and samples were collected at two different depths (0–20 cm and 20–40 cm) and 14 days, one year and two years from the end of the OMWW spreading on soil chemical characteristics and soil microbial structures. Variations of soil chemical parameters (pH, salinity, available P, and water-extractable organic C) were observed particularly at 14 days after spreading at both depths. All these parameters reached similar values to the soil after two years, except for available phosphorus. Firmicutes, Proteobacteria, and Actinobacteria are the most abundant phyla: only Firmicutes were negatively affected by the OMWW spreading after 14 days, suggesting that Gram-positive bacteria were probably negatively influenced by the addition of OMWW. The abundance of bacterial taxa in the soil is restored along time, except for the decrease of Firmicutes. This evidence suggests that the OMWW spreading in the long term does not affect the endemic soil bacterial community of the olive grove, as well as leaf net photosynthesis, the olive tree vegetative activity, yield, and fruits characteristics.

The problems arising from the limited availability of natural resources and the impact of certain anthropogenic activities on the environment must be addressed as soon as possible. To meet this challenge, it is necessary, among other things, to reconsider and redesign agricultural systems to find more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions, paying specific attention to waste from agriculture. Indeed, the transition to a more sustainable and circular economy should also involve the effective valorization of agricultural waste, which should be seen as an excellent opportunity to obtain valuable materials. For the reasons mentioned above, this review reports and discusses updated studies dealing with the valorization of agricultural waste, through its conversion into materials to be applied to crops and soil. In particular, this review highlights the opportunity to obtain plant biostimulants, biofertilizers, and biopolymers from agricultural waste. This approach can decrease the impact of waste on the environment, allow the replacement and reduction in the use of synthetic compounds in agriculture, and facilitate the transition to a sustainable circular economy.

Acute myocardial infarction rapidly increases blood neutrophils (

Canonical roles for macrophages in mediating the fibrotic response after a heart attack include extracellular matrix turnover and activation of cardiac fibroblasts to initiate collagen deposition. Here we reveal that macrophages directly contribute collagen to the forming post-injury scar. Unbiased transcriptomics shows an upregulation of collagens in both zebrafish and mouse macrophages following heart injury. Adoptive transfer of macrophages, from either collagen-tagged zebrafish or adult mouse GFPtpz-collagen donors, enhances scar formation via cell autonomous production of collagen. In zebrafish, the majority of tagged collagen localises proximal to the injury, within the overlying epicardial region, suggesting a possible distinction between macrophage-deposited collagen and that predominantly laid-down by myofibroblasts. Macrophage-specific targeting of col4a3bpa and cognate col4a1 in zebrafish significantly reduces scarring in cryoinjured hosts. Our findings contrast with the current model of scarring, whereby collagen deposition is exclusively attributed to myofibroblasts, and implicate macrophages as direct contributors to fibrosis during heart repair., Macrophages mediate the fibrotic response after a heart attack by extracellular matrix turnover and cardiac fibroblasts activation. Here the authors identify an evolutionarily-conserved function of macrophages that contributes directly to the forming post-injury scar through cell-autonomous deposition of collagen.

10 páginas.-- 5 figuras.-- 3 tablas.-- 39 referencias.-- Supplementary material related to this article can be found, in the online version, at doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2018.05.012, Straw and pig slurry Solid-State Anaerobic Digestion (SS-AD) was carried out in a pilot-scale apparatus using percolate recirculation technology. The digestion experiments were performed using 1, 2 and 4 recirculations per day; an additional experiment without percolate recirculation was used as control. The initial mixture and the digestates were analysed by means of chemical analyses and Pyrolysis–Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (Py–GC/MS), a direct analytical technique that allows investigating the changes in the organic matter (OM) composition of digestates and the effect of percolate recirculation frequency. Chemical analyses suggested a positive effect of percolate recirculation on OM degradation. The highest values of OM loss were found with 2 (26%) and 4 (31%) recirculation cycles per day, that also corresponded with the lowest values of the hydrophilic water extractable organic matter fraction (5.5 and 6.3% respectively). Py-GC/MS showed that the anaerobic digestion proceeded with progressive polysaccharide degradation (from c. 19% in the initial mixture to 10–8% with 2–4 recirculation cycles) and selective enrichment of lignin derived compounds (from c. 58% in the initial mixture to 67–69% with 2–4 recirculation cycles). In addition, a shift in the fatty acids distribution was observed with a decrease in the long/short chain ratio of fatty acid methyl esters. These results indicate that under our experimental conditions, percolate recirculation had a positive effect on the OM degradation. Also OM stabilization is observed with relative increases in recalcitrant lignin at the expense of the more liable polysaccharide fraction. This paper represents the first attempt to apply Py-GC/MS to evaluate the OM quality in digestates obtained by SS-AD of pig slurry and straw optimized by percolate recirculation., The Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (MINEICO) the Agencia estatal de Investigacíon and FEDER programme are thanked for funding the projects CGL2016-76498-R and CGL2016-78937-R (AEI/FEDER, UE). J.M. De la Rosa thanks MINEICO for funding his “Ramon y Cajal” contract (RYC2014-16338). Alba Carmona Navarro and Desire Monis Carrere are recognized for their technical assistance with analytical pyrolysis

Anaerobic digestion is an environmentally sustainable way to manage organic waste, and it is able to enhance the recovery of organic carbon and nutrients in agricultural soils and to produce renewable energy. Solid-state anaerobic digestion (S-SAD) is a technology that permits the treatment of different type of residues, but is characterized by inhibition phenomena, resulting in a low operational stability. An experimental apparatus, equipped with a recirculation system for the digestate liquid fraction (percolate), was used to optimize the S-SAD system. Different frequencies of recirculation, one, two or four per day, were carried out to investigate how recirculation might affect the quality of the liquid fraction as well as the possible effects on biogas production and on the obtained solid digestate quality. Biogas production was positively affected by percolate spreading, especially when recirculation was performed 4 times per day. As shown by percolate chemical analyses, recirculation avoided the accumulation of volatile fatty acids in the liquid fraction, resulting in a better process stability. In addition, recirculation induced a large consumption of readily available compounds in the percolate, as shown by the depletion of water extractable organic C and total reducing sugars. The quality of the digested solid fraction was also improved by percolate recirculation in terms of the C/N ratio and organic N parameters. These findings showed that daily repeated recirculation of the liquid fraction is suitable to avoid inhibition phenomena during S-SAD and to improve the quality of the digestate solid fraction.

European policy is direct towards increasing the agricultural reuse of sludge on soil for improving the fertility; however, the effects of long-term pharmaceutical sewage sludge (PSS) application on soil properties are still unknown. Thus, the aim of this work was to evaluate the agronomic and environmental effects on soil after 17 years of organic amendment with PSS derived from daptomycin production. Five different doses of PSS were spread on lands located in Anagni, Central Italy. Physico-chemical soil properties were investigated, as well as total and bioavailable heavy metals, changes in the soil organic matter quality and biochemical functioning. PSS application showed a positive agronomic potential, improving SOM quality, increasing soil humified organic matter and raising plant nutrients. SOM dynamic was different at low and high PSS supplies, as confirmed by the chemical and biochemical analysis (e.g. C biomass, FDA hydrolysis activity, basal respiration, dehydrogenase, urease and phosphatase activities). However, in a long-term agricultural reuse, environmental risks of PSS recycling were related to the increase of some heavy metals (Hg, Zn and Cu) and exchangeable Na.

Understanding the mechanisms that promote the specification of pancreas progenitors and regulate their self‐renewal and differentiation will help to maintain and expand pancreas progenitor cells derived from human pluripotent stem (hPS) cells. This will improve the efficiency of current differentiation protocols of hPS cells into β‐cells and bring such cells closer to clinical applications for the therapy of diabetes. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1b1 (Aldh1b1) is a mitochondrial enzyme expressed specifically in progenitor cells during mouse pancreas development, and we have shown that its functional inactivation leads to accelerated differentiation and deficient β‐cells. In this report, we aimed to identify small molecule inducers of Aldh1b1 expression taking advantage of a mouse embryonic stem (mES) cell Aldh1b1 lacZ reporter line and a pancreas differentiation protocol directing mES cells into pancreatic progenitors. We identified AMI‐5, a protein methyltransferase inhibitor, as an Aldh1b1 inducer and showed that it can maintain Aldh1b1 expression in embryonic pancreas explants. This led to a selective reduction in endocrine specification. This effect was due to a downregulation of Ngn3, and it was mediated through Aldh1b1 since the effect was abolished in Aldh1b1 null pancreata. The findings implicated methyltransferase activity in the regulation of endocrine differentiation and showed that methyltransferases can act through specific regulators during pancreas differentiation. Stem Cells 2019;37:640–651, A screen using small molecules and mouse embryonic stem cell derived pancreatic progenitors reveals that protein methyltransferases inhibit aldehyde dehydrogenase 1b1 expression. Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1b1 maintains pancreas progenitors and maintenance of its expression through protein methyltransferase inhibition delays selectively endocrine differentiation.

Drying and rewetting cycles are known to be important for the dynamics of carbon (C), phosphorus (P) and nitrogen (N) in soils. This study reports the short-term responses of these nutrients to consecutive drying and rewetting cycles and how varying soil moisture content affects the presence of different forms of C, P and N, microbial biomass C and P (MBC and MBP), as well as associated carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions. Soils were incubated for 14 days during which two successive drying-rewetting episodes were imposed on the soils. Soils subjected to drying (DRW) were rewetted on the seventh day of each drying period to return them to 60% water holding capacity, whilst continually moist samples (M), with soil maintained at 60% water holding capacity, were used as control samples. During the first 7 days, the DRW samples showed significant increases in extractable ammonium, total oxidised nitrogen, and bicarbonate extractable P concentrations. Rewetting after the first drying event produced significant increases only in CO2 flux. The MBC and MBP concentrations fluctuated throughout the incubation in both treatments and only the second drying-rewetting event resulted in a significantly MBC decrease. The two drying-rewetting events impacted the microbial biomass, but distinguishing the different impacts of microbial versus physical impacts of the perturbation is difficult. Moreover, this study has shown that the interactions between the macronutrient cycles in soils under drying-rewetting events is complex and different for each nutrient. However, it might be important to understand how soils will react to changing patterns of longer period of drying-rewetting to forecast the impacts of future climate change.

Cereals are primary crops and are the most important raw material for feed and food production. Increasing aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contamination of corn is an emerging issue, and disposal procedures for AFB1-contaminated corn are not currently defined. Recovery of contaminated corn through anaerobic digestion may represent a suitable strategy for its valorisation; however, only a few studies concerning the effect of AFB1 on anaerobic processes can be found. Thus, the purpose of the present work was to evaluate the effect of the mycotoxin AFB1 on a semi-continuous anaerobic digestion (AD) process. Semi-continuous trials were carried out, and the biomethane production from ABF1-contaminated feedstocks (25, 50, and 100 µg kg−1 AFB1 wet weight) was compared to that from non-contaminated feedstock. Moreover, the feasibility of the agronomic re-use of the digestate, and the fate of AFB1 during AD was assessed. No adverse effect of 25 µg kg−1 AFB1 contamination of feedstock on biomethane yield was observed. In contrast, 100 µg kg−1 AFB1 in the feedstock resulted in inhibition of the process due to the accumulation of organic acids, and to the decrease of the pH in the digestate (from 8.1 to 5.4). The continuous addition of AFB1-contaminated feedstock led to accumulation of the mycotoxin in the digestates. Consequently, a composting process should always precede the agricultural re-use of digestates in order to remove AFB1 and the residual phytotoxicity.

Use of agricultural and livestock by-products for anaerobic digestion (AD), in total or partial substitution of the maize silage was evaluated from an environmental and economical point of view. The evaluation process included three methodological interdependent and consequential steps: the chemical stage at laboratory and plant level, the environmental and economic steps developing the Life Cycle Assessment and Life Cycle Costing jointly. The laboratory test showed that the two mixtures prepared with by-products, in partial (MIX A) and total (MIX B) substitution of maize silage, did not show differences in bio-methane production compared to a reference mixture with the 33% of maize silage. All mixtures tested at full-scale plant, showed the same performances, resulting in a similar energy production. Environmentally, MIX B increased greenhouse gas credits derived from the avoided production of mineral fertiliser for the energetic crops, resulting also in better economic performances. The break-even transport distances follow the positive environmental pattern result, in contrast to what was found for the break-even transport distances from the economic point of view.

The effects on bacterial, yeast and fungal communities present within an agricultural soil treated with a pig slurry-derived digestate were studied using a multidisciplinary (biochemical and 454 pyrosequencing platform) approach. Biochemical analyses showed a significant increase of CO2 emissions from soil 5 days after the amendment with digestate, whereas soil microbial biomass (C-biomass) increased significantly only after 12 and 30 days. PLFAs analysis revealed a significant increase in Gram-negative bacteria 90 days after the amendment. Results from 454 pyrosequencing revealed the presence of OTUs attributed to bacteria, yeasts and filamentous fungi. Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes exhibited a significant predominance in the first 5 days, whereas Ascomycota became predominant 90 days after the amendment. Overall, both bacterial and yeast + fungal richness exhibited a decreasing trend from 0 to 90 days after the amendment. Canonical analysis of principal coordinates showed that the cumulative effect of amendment and incubation time explained approximately 45% and 36% of the total variance observed in the bacterial and yeast + fungal communities, respectively. The correlation among some bacterial and fungal OTUs suggested the probable existence of specific biological interactions among different phyla. The results reported represent a picture of the changes of soil microbial diversity in relation with some agronomic practices, such as organic amendments.

Industrial fermentations for the production of pharmaceuticals generate large volumes of wastewater that can be biologically treated to recover plant nutrients through the application of pharmaceutical-derived wastes to the soil. Nevertheless, benefits and risks associated with their recovery are still unexplored. Thus, the aim of the present work was to characterize three potential organic residues (sludge, anaerobic digestate and compost) derived from the wastewater generated by the daptomycin production process. The main parameters evaluated were the physico-chemical properties, potential contaminants (heavy metals, pathogens and daptomycin residues), organic matter stabilization and the potential toxicity towards soil microorganisms and plants. The results showed that all the studied materials were characterized by high concentrations of plant macronutrients (N, P and K), making them suitable for agricultural reuse. Heavy metal contents and pathogens were under the limits established by European and Italian legislations, avoiding the risk of soil contamination. The compost showed the highest organic matter stabilization within the studied materials, whereas the sludge and the anaerobic digestate were characterized by large amounts of labile organic compounds. Although the pharmaceutical-derived fertilizers did not negatively affect the soil microorganisms, as demonstrated by the enzymatic activities, the sludge and the anaerobic digestate caused a moderate and strong phytotoxicity, respectively. The compost showed no toxic effect towards plant development and, moreover, it positively affected the germination and growth in lettuce and barley. The results obtained in the present study demonstrate that the valorization of pharmaceutical-derived materials through composting permits their agricultural reuse and also represents a suitable strategy to move towards a zero-waste production process for daptomycin.

Production and disposal of olive-mill wastes represent a problem of environmental relevance particularly in the Mediterranean countries where they are generated in huge quantities. A field trial was carried out to evaluate the short-term effects of soil amendment with solid olive mill waste (OMW) and its compost in comparison to the olive mill waste derived from the new two-phase treatment (humid OMW) and its resulting compost. The impact of treatments on soil water extractable organic matter and soil microbiota was determined. During a 120 days-long field trial, it was observed an initial increase of water extractable organic carbon (WEOC), total reducing sugars and total phenol compounds for all the amended soils. Even if humid OMW had the highest WEOC and total phenol compounds concentration, it increased to a lesser extent their content in the soil, probably due to the rapid utilisation of this particular organic matter by microorganisms. After three days from spreading, all amendments induced rapid modifications of both fungal and bacterial communities. However, while the bacterial community restored its initial state at the end of the trial, suggesting their high resilience capacity, the fungal populations changes remained until 120 days. The overall results indicated that all types of the organic materials tested as soil amendments had an impact on the soil microbial communities, especially in the early days of the field trial, without negative effects on the soil chemical characteristics.

This study combined different approaches to characterize organic sediments produced by an anaerobic digestion plant feed with pig slurry, and accumulated for many years in a lagoon. The results of all analyses identified a certain homogeneity of the sediments. As a consequence of the pig diet, the sediment contained an high concentration of Zn (about 4gkg-1) and Cu (about 1.2gkg-1), which were mostly associated to the particles with a size ranging from 2 to 53μm. The sediment was made of large amount of organic matter, mostly cellulose and recalcitrant molecules, and 30-40% mineral fraction. XANES and XES spectroscopies indicated the presence of zinc phosphate (38%), zinc sulfide (32%), zinc carbonate (19%), and zinc oxide (11%). The presence in the sediment of forms characterized by a very scarce solubility, as also confirmed by the Zn and Cu chemical speciation, indicated a low bioavailability of these metals. However, although their low mobility, the high concentrations of Zn and Cu allowed to consider the sediment not suitable to use as a fertiliser due to the potential risk of metal interaction with the food chain.

Climate change and incorrect agronomic practices in crop management, before and after harvesting, can cause an increase in the annual quantity of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) contaminated corn production. The aim of this study was to evaluate the suitability of AFB1 contaminated corn for composting, in order to recover plant nutrients and degrade AFB1. Two different mixtures were prepared (mixture PS comprising 12% contaminated corn + 40% pig slurry + 40% wood chips + 8% cereal straw w/w and mixture OFMSW comprising 14% contaminated corn + 43% municipal organic solid waste + 43% wood chips w/w) and treated through static composting using passive aeration. During composting, several parameters were analysed to assess the possible influence of AFB1 on the process. The quality of the final compost was also evaluated and the AFB1 residues were determined through HPLC. The evolution of the composting was not affected by AFB1 and the mycotoxin concentration was strongly reduced at the end of the process (the AFB1 removal was 85.7% and 97.3% in mixture PS and OFMSW, respectively). The final composted material was characterised by high agronomic quality and, thus, composting may represent a suitable strategy to recover plant nutrients from aflatoxin B1 contaminated corn.

The effect of solid anaerobic digestion batch (SADB) on bio-waste performed with and without inoculum on the quality of the final amendment was investigated by means of determining the content of organic carbon, humic and fulvic acids and the degree of humification. Two different processes were compared: composting and SADB with post-composting. Six parallel tests were performed. In three of these tests the SADB was inoculated mixing the bio-waste with the digestate from the previous run in a 1:1 ratio by weight. The amendment obtained by the SADB with post-composting treatment, in which the SADB was not inoculated, had an organic carbon content ranging from 15.5% TS to 30.3% TS resulting from 1% up to 14% higher than that of the corresponding composting processes. Similar results were achieved for the degree of humification. On the other hand SADB in which the inoculum was used generated about 300 NL/kgVS of biogas instead of about 267 NL/kgVS for non-inoculated runs.

[EN] Poly(lactic acid) (PIA) and poly(butylene succinate) (PBS) were blended and bionanocomposite films were prepared by solvent casting method adding 1 or 3 wt% of cellulose nanocrystals extracted from Carmagnola carded hemp fibres. Both unmodified (CNC) and surfactant modified (s-CNC) cellulose nanocrystals were loaded to PIA matrix or to PLA_PBS blend in order to produce binary or ternary formulations while the thermal, morphological, mechanical, optical and barrier properties of all the produced systems were deeply investigated. Mechanical analysis showed increased values of Young's modulus in binary and ternary formulations, more evident in the CNC based formulations. The presence of both CNC and s-CNC and the addition of PBS to PIA matrix provoked an improvement of barrier, properties. This behaviour could be related to the synergic ability of cellulose nanocrystals to increase the tortuous path of gas molecules with the increase in the crystallinity degree induced by the presence of PBS. The disintegration in composting conditions of different PLA and PLA_PBS based bionanocomposites was also investigated. The results showed that all the formulations disintegrated in less than 17 days while s-CNC were able to promote the disintegration behaviour although the PBS presence hinders the disintegrability. During the composting, the main chemical parameters were investigated in order to assess changes in the composition of the tested mixtures. The organic matter (OM) loss occurred in both control and in the PBS_PLA based bionanocomposites composts in the 90 days of treatment. Neverthless the total organic C content showed values >20; moreover a low concentration in heavy metals in both composts as recommended by the Italian and European law was observed. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved., Authors acknowledge Gesenu S.p.a. for compost supply. The research activities of Prof. Josè M. Kenny, in this study, have been supported by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science (State Agreement 14.613.21.0024, RFMEFI61314X0024).

RATIONALE The application of organic materials to agricultural lands is considered good practice to improve soil organic matter content and recycle nutrients for crop growth. The anaerobic treatment of food waste may have environmental benefits, particularly with regard to greenhouse gases (GHGs) mitigation and enhancement of carbon sequestration. METHODS This work presents the results from a field experiment to evaluate CO(2) , CH(4) and N(2) O emissions from grassland amended with digestate produced by anaerobic fermentation of food waste. Experimental plots, located close to Rothamsted Research-North Wyke, were established using a randomized block design with three replicates and two treatments, added digestate (DG) and the unamended control (CNT). The digestate was applied on three occasions at an equivalent rate of 80 kg N ha(-1) . RESULTS The application of digestate led to an increase in CO(2) emissions, especially after the 2(nd) application (74.1 kg CO(2) -C ha(-1) day(-1) ) compared with the CNT soil (36.4 kg CO(2) -C ha(-1) day(-1) ), whereas DG treatment did not affect the overall CH(4) and N(2) O emissions. The total grass yield harvested on a dry matter basis was greater in the DG treated plots (0.565 kg m(-2) ) than in the CNT plots (0.282 kg m(-2) ), as was the (15) N content in the harvest collected from the DG plots. CONCLUSIONS The results suggest that the digestate can be applied to agricultural land as a fertilizer to grow crops. Our study was conducted in an exceptionally dry growing season, so conclusions about the effect of digestate on GHG emissions should take this into account, and further field trials conducted under more typical growing seasons are needed.

Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) retain the extraordinary capacity to differentiate into different cell types of an adult organism, including pancreatic β-cells. For this particular lineage, although a lot of effort has been made in the last ten years to achieve an efficient and reproducible differentiation protocol, it was not until recently that this aim was roughly accomplished. Besides, several studies evidenced the impact of resveratrol (RSV) on insulin secretion, even though the mechanism by which this polyphenol potentiates glucosestimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) is still not clear. The aim of this study was to optimize an efficient differentiation protocol that mimics in vivo pancreatic organogenesis and to investigate whether RSV may improve the final maturation step to obtain functional insulinsecreting cells. Our results indicate that treatment of hESCs (HS-181) with activin-A induced definitive endoderm differentiation as detected by the expression of SOX17 and FOXA2. Addition of retinoic acid (RA), Noggin and Cyclopamine promoted pancreatic differentiation as indicated by the expression of the early pancreatic progenitor markers ISL1, NGN3 and PDX1. Moreover, during maturation in suspension culture, differentiating cells assembled in islet-like clusters, which expressed specific endocrine markers such as PDX1, SST, GCG and INS. Similar results were confirmed with the human induced Pluripotent Stem Cell (hiPSC) line MSUH-001. Finally, differentiation protocols incorporating RSV treatment yielded numerous insulin-positive cells, induced significantly higher PDX1 expression and were able to transiently normalize glycaemia when transplanted in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic mice thus promoting its survival. In conclusion, our strategy allows the efficient differentiation of hESCs into pancreatic endoderm capable of generating β-cell-like cells and demonstrates that RSV improves the maturation process., Authors are supported by the nonprofit Foundation (Fundación Progreso y Salud) Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía (Grant PI-0022/2008); FEDER co-funded grants from Consejería de Innovación Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía (Grant CTS-6505; INP-2011-1615-900000 and P10- CVI-6095); FEDER co-funded grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red TerCel-Grant RD06/0010/0025, RD12/0019/0028 and RD12/0042/0041; PI10/00964, PI14/01015 and PI10/00871) and the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs (Advanced Therapies Program Grant TRA-120)

Diabetes mellitus caused by the destruction of β-cell through autoimmune-mediate attack has become the most serious, chronic, and expensive disease. The related glucose homeostasis disruption leads to acute complications or death if left untreated. As the only available treatment for diabetes consist of exogenous insulin supply and while islet transplantation temporarily confers normoglycemia to patients, the lack of a renewable source of insulin-producing β-cells hampers the use of this treatment option. Although significant hurdles remain, in the last decade, tremendous progress has been made in generating insulin-producing cells from both mouse and human pluripotent stem cells. Following the principles that guide pancreas embryonic development is a common aspect in all differentiation protocols with considerable success in generating β-like cells in vitro. Greatest outcome of the refined protocols became apparent in the first clinical trial announced by the ViaCyte, Inc. in October 2014 and recently in Europe by the Center for Beta Cell Therapy in Diabetes (Brussels) in January 2019, based on the implantation of pancreatic progenitors that would further mature into functional insulin-producing cells inside the patient’s body. In this chapter, we will update and discuss the state-of-the-art in β-cell–replacement therapies based on the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into glucose-response and insulin-producing cells of potential use in the treatment of type I diabetes.

In this work, anaerobic digestion of pig slurry and successive composting of the digestate after centrifugation were studied by means of chemical analysis, FTIR and fluorescence spectroscopy as excitation-emission matrix (EEM). Chemical analysis highlighted the organic matter transformation occurring during the processes. A decrease of volatile solids and total organic carbon were observed in the digestate with respect to the fresh pig slurry as a consequence of the consumption of sugars, proteins, amino acids and fatty acids used by microorganisms as a C source. Water Extractable Organic Matter (WEOM) was obtained for all samples and fractionated into a hydrophilic and a hydrophobic fraction. The highest WEOM value was found in the pig slurry indicating a high content of labile organic C. The digestate centrifuged and the digestate composted showed lower hydrophilic and higher hydrophobic contents because of the decrease of labile C. Total phenolic content was lower in the digestate with respect to fresh pig slurry sample (36.7%) as a consequence of phenolic compounds degradation. The strong decrease of total reducing sugars in the digestate (76.6%) as compared to pig slurry confirmed that anaerobic process proceed mainly through consumption of sugars which represent a readily available energy source for microbial activity. FTIR spectra of pig slurry showed bands indicative of proteins and carbohydrates. A drop of aliphatic structures and a decrease of polysaccharides was observed after the anaerobic process along with the increase of the peak in the aromatic region. The composted substrate showed an increase of aromatic and a relative decrease of polysaccharides. EEM spectra provided tryptophan:fulvic-like fluorescence ratios which increased from fresh substrate to digestate because of the OM decompostion. Composted substrate presented the lowest ratio due to the humification process.

Lineage commitment during embryonic stem cell (ESC) differentiation is controlled not only by a gamut of transcription factors but also by epigenetic events, mainly histone deacetylation and promoter DNA methylation. The DNA demethylation agent 50-aza-20-deoxycytidine (AzadC) has been widely described as an effective promoter of cardiomyogenic differentiation in various stem cell types. However, its toxicity and instability complicate its use. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of zebularine (1-(β-D-ribofuranosyl)-1,2-dihydropyrimidin-2-1), a stable and non-toxic DNA cytosine methylation inhibitor, on mouse ESC (mESC) differentiation. Herein, we report that treating embryoid bodies, generated from mESCs, with 30 lM zebularine for 7 days led to greater cell differentiation and induced the expression of several cardiac-specific markers that were detected using reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), real-time PCR, immunostaining and flow cytometry. Zebularine enhanced the expression of cardiac markers and the appearance of beating cells that responded to cardiac drugs, including ion channel blockers (diltiazem) and β-adrenergic stimulators (isoproterenol). Gene promoter methylation status was assessed using methylation-specific PCR (MSP) and validated by bisulfite sequencing analysis. Global gene expression profiling using microarrays showed that zebularine-differentiated cells are distinct from control ESCs. Pathway analysis revealed an enhancement of cellular processes such as embryonic development, cardiovascular system development and function. In addition, the whole-cell proteins exhibited different profiles as analyzed by two-dimensional differential-in-gel-electrophoresis. Our results indicate that zebularine regulates mesodermal differentiation of mESCs, controls promoter methylation of crucial cardiac genes and may help to improve cardiomyogenic differentiation. © 2013 Macmillan Publishers Limited All rights reserved., We were supported by Fundación Progreso y Salud, Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía (Grant PI-0022/2008); Consejería de Innovación Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía (Grant CTS-6505; INP-2011-1615-900000); FEDER co-funded grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RD06/0010/0025; PI10/ 00964) and the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs (Advanced Therapies Program Grant TRA-120). CIBERDEM is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. AH was awarded a ‘Ramo´n Areces’ postgraduate scholarship., We were supported by Fundación Progreso y Salud, Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía (Grant PI-0022/2008); Consejería de Innovación Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía (Grant CTS-6505; INP-2011-1615-900000); FEDER co-funded grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (RD06/0010/0025; PI10/ 00964) and the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs (Advanced Therapies Program Grant TRA-120). CIBERDEM is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III. AH was awarded a ‘Ramón Areces’ postgraduate scholarship.

The aim of this study is to investigate if and how the fertilisation with poultry manure can affect the composition of dissolved organic matter (DOM) in soil solution. Moreover, these effects were studied in relation with different soil depths and time. In this study, the profiles and vertical distribution of selected biomarker compounds were also investigated to provide a fingerprint of manure contribution DOM. The results showed that the application of poultry manure affected the DOM content of soil immediately after the poultry manure application at different soil depths. Moreover, it was demonstrated, by studying the organic compounds in the soil solution, that sterol compounds as cholesterol and coprostanol might be used as biomarkers of animal manure amendment.

In mammalian visceral organs, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) originate from an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) of embryonic mesothelial cells (MCs). The ability of adult MCs to recapitulate EMT and to acquire smooth muscle (SM) markers upon provasculogenic culture suggested they might retain embryonic vasculogenic differentiation potential. However, it remains unknown whether adult MCs-derived SM-like cells may acquire specific vascular SM lineage markers and the functionality of differentiated contractile VSMCs. Here, we describe how a gentle trypsinization of adult mouse uterine cords could selectively detach their outermost uterine mesothelial layer cells. As other MCs; uterine MCs (UtMCs) uniformly expressed the epithelial markers β-catenin, ZO-1, E-cadherin, CD54, CD29, and CK18. When cultured in a modified SM differentiation media (SMDM) UtMCs initiated a loss of epithelial characteristics and gained markers expression of EMT (Twist, Snail, and Slug), stem and progenitor (Nanog, Sox2, C-kit, Gata-4, Isl-1, and nestin), SM (α-SMA, calponin, caldesmon, SM22α, desmin, SM-MHC, and smoothelin-B) and cardiac (BMP2, BMP4, ACTC1, sACTN, cTnI, cTnT, ANF, Cx43, and MLC2a). UtMCs repeatedly subcultured in SMDM acquired differentiated VSM-like characteristics and expressed smoothelin-B in the typical stress-fiber pattern expression of contractile VSMCs. Relevantly, UtMCs-derived VSM-like cells could generate >mechanical force> to compact collagen lattices and displayed in diverse degree voltage (K+) and receptor (endothelin-1, oxytocin, norepinephrine, carbachol and vasopressin)-induced [Ca2+]i rises and contraction. Thus, we show for the first time that UtMCs could recapitulate in vitro differentiative events of early cardiovascular differentiation and transdifferentiate in cells exhibiting molecular and functional characteristics of VSMCs. © 2013 Lachaud et al., Authors are supported by the Fundación Progreso y Salud, Consejería de Salud, Junta de Andalucía (Grant PI-0022/2008); Consejería de Innovación Ciencia y Empresa, Junta de Andalucía (Grant CTS-6505; INP-2011-1615-900000); FEDER co-funded grants from Instituto de Salud Carlos III (Red TerCel-Grant RD06/0010/0025; PI10/00964) and the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs (Advanced Therapies Program Grant TRA-120). CIBERDEM is an initiative of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III.

As the adoption of new generation, two-phase olive oil extraction systems becomes more widespread, there is an increasing need to evaluate the feasibility of co-composting processes to treat the resulting olive husk by-products that often present particularly elevated moisture contents with respect to traditional two-phase systems. The present work compares process parameters, organic matter dynamics and compost quality during the co-composting of two olive husks having different initial moisture contents, with the adoption of agricultural organic residues as bulking/absorbent agents and forced aeration. Despite the elevated moisture content, the co-composting conditions adopted were effective in reducing the elevated contents of water soluble organic matter, phenolic and lipidic compounds as well as reducing the extreme phytotoxicity of the experimental husk. Organic matter evolution during composting showed that the stabilization process in the two husks was comparable, and final compost quality was adequate in both cases.

In this study we evaluated how typical split applications of cattle slurry (SL) or mineral fertilizer (AN) (in spring, summer and autumn) affected greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from a grassland soil. Field measurements were carried out between May and November 2011 using the closed chamber technique. The experiment was located in the South West of England, an area which is typically characterized by high annual precipitation (>1000 mm year−1) and cool temperatures (average annual air temperature of 9.6 °C). The unusual dry climatic conditions observed during the late spring and summer, and the rainfall events identified in autumn affected soil water filled pore space (WFPS) resulting in low nitrous oxide (N2O) fluxes during the experiment. After the first two applications, climatic conditions dried the soil to values below 60%WFPS, the threshold level for losses of N2O by nitrification. In contrast, the frequent rainfall events observed after the third application (in autumn) increased the WFPS and promoted losses of N2O by denitrification. In terms of fertilizer type, AN resulted in higher cumulative N2O emissions compared with SL after the third application, probably because the SL treatment resulted in more anaerobic soil conditions and ammonia (NH3) volatilization resulted in a smaller mineral N pool in the soil available for N2O production and emission. Ammonia (NH3) emission modelling estimated losses of N by volatilization of NH3 between 25% and 38% of N applied after slurry surface broadcast application. Plant N offtake represented nearly all of the total N applied in AN plots following the first two applications and 59% of that applied in the third, whereas in SL plots an average of 64% of the total N applied in the three applications was harvested in the grass. Nitrogen gas (N2) fluxes were not measured but the large rainfall events observed after the third application gradually increased the soil WFPS to saturation and could also have resulted in losses of N by complete denitrification, especially from the AN treatment. Thus, applications of AN and SL resulted in total N2O-N losses during the 6-month measurement period of 0.21 and 0.17 kg N ha−1, respectively (representing only 0.02% and 0.003% of the N applied). Methane (CH4) production was observed in the first two or three days after SL spreading. For the remaining days, and also in plots treated with AN, the soil acted as a sink of CH4 (consumption). Total net CH4 cumulative values of −0.09 and 0.92 kg CH4 ha−1 were observed in AN and SL, respectively. CH4 consumption and production rates were related to changes in the %WFPS. Thus, dry soil conditions (below 60%WFPS) enhanced the CH4 consumption in AN plots and reduced the rate of CH4 production in SL plots during May and June. Total net cumulative carbon dioxide (CO2) fluxes of 1.24 and 0.35 Mg CO2-C ha−1 were observed in AN and SL plots during the 6-months measurements.