Haemodialysis water production by double reverse osmosis

International audienceA filtration unit composed of two reverse osmosis membranes in series was evaluated for haemodialysis water production. For this purpose, hard and soft water were formulated based on European drinking water directives. The study showed that the double reverse osmosis process is efficient to produce haemodialysis water with the quality defined by the pharmacopeia requirements from synthetic soft water and hard water. In both cases, nitrate and sodium ions diffuse through the membrane limiting the water treatment. This phenomenon is correlated to the electrostatic interactions, the Donnan effect and the ion diffusivity, which govern the membrane selectivity

Modulation of plant HMG-CoA reductase by protein phosphatase 2A: Positive and negative control at a key node of metabolism

The enzyme HMG-CoA reductase (HMGR) has a key regulatory role in the mevalonate pathway for isoprenoid biosynthesis, critical not only for normal plant development, but also for the adaptation to demanding environmental conditions. Consistent with this notion, plant HMGR is modulated by many diverse endogenous signals and external stimuli. Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is involved in auxin, abscisic acid, ethylene and brassinosteroid signaling and now emerges as a positive and negative multilevel regulator of plant HMGR, both during normal growth and in response to a variety of stress conditions. The interaction with HMGR is mediated by B" regulatory subunits of PP2A, which are also calcium binding proteins. The new discoveries uncover the potential of PP2A to integrate developmental and calcium-mediated environmental signals in the control of plant HMGR

Pure short-chain glycerol fatty acid esters and glycerylic cyclocarbonic fatty acid esters as surface active and antimicrobial coagels protecting surfaces by promoting superhydrophilicity

cited By 6International audiencePure glycerol fatty acid esters and glycerylic cyclocarbonic fatty acid esters have an amphiphilic structure, giving these biomolecules a broad range of physico-chemical and biological properties. Physico-chemical properties depend on chain lengths, odd or even carbon numbers on the chain, and glyceryl or cyclocarbonic polar heads. The spectrum of melting-point values for these molecules is large. Surface-activity is very important and through determination of the critical aggregation concentration (CAC), some fatty-acid esters are considered as solvo-surfactant biomolecules. Coupling these self-aggregation and crystallization properties, superhydrophilic surfaces were obtained. An efficient durable water repellent coating of various metallic and polymeric surfaces was allowed. Moreover, these fatty acid esters promoting superhydrophilicity showed biological activity against Gram positive, Gram negative, and yeast-like micro-organisms. Such surfaces coated by self-assembled fatty acid esters in a stable coagel state present a novel solution to surface-contamination risks from pathogen proliferation. © 2011 Elsevier Inc

Biomass and Biocompound Production for Valorizing Italian Spring Globe Artichoke Genotypes

International audienceGlobe artichoke, widespread in the Mediterranean area, is traditionally grown for its immature inflorescences (heads). In the last years, alternative uses of the crop related to biomass for energy, seeds for oil and roots for inulin have been considered. In the present work, the potential of nine Italian spring globe artichoke genotypes to develop biomass for biocompound production has been analyzed for two years. Apart from 47 UPOV descriptors previously applied to characterize agro-morphologically the nine genotypes, other specific traits referred to plant vigor (i.e., plant diameter, leaf number, biomass index, plant fresh and dry weight) have been considered to describe the same genotypes also under biomass production profile. After the primary head harvest, biomass (floral stem and leaves) has been collected and biochemically characterized using HPLC analysis. The descriptors used allowed a clear identification of the genotypes analyzed with significant differences among them for many of the morphological and biochemical traits considered. Biomass of globe artichoke genotypes was very high and capable of producing high values of biocompound contents; some genotypes such as 'Ascolano' provided a total phenolic compound yield of interest to pharmaceutical extraction industry. Considering that the genotypes here analyzed have never been selected under the biomass and/or the biochemical profile, the results so far obtained indicate that globe artichoke crop could be successfully used even for this non-food productive purpose

Mise en place et évaluation d'un projet de restauration à grande échelle: exemple de la réhabilitation d'une steppe dans le Sud Est de la France

International audienceRestoring ecosystems at large scale is challenging: the technics are mainly developed at small scales and the projects usually involve many stakeholders with different expectations. Our objective is to show how these constraints may be transformed into opportunities and how to assess the success of a whole large scale project. We used as an example the rehabilitation of a former intensive orchard to a Mediterranean steppe in the La Crau area (south-eastern France). Because the 357ha project involved several stakeholders, multiple objectives co-existed: creating biodiversity units for a mitigation bank, restoring traditional sheep grazing management, rehabilitating a suitable habitat for endangered steppe birds, and restoring the steppe plant community and the Coleoptera and Orthoptera community diversity, composition and structure. Several restoration methods were experimented at different scales and the overall project design was a trade-of between objectives, costs and opportunities. In order to have a global overview after 7 years, we will present the results within a new framework for ecological restoration project assessment. It has three hierarchical levels: 1-the project: it is composed with weighted objectives, the weight are given by stakeholders and a project score can be calculated for each stakeholder; 2-the objectives: they are composed with weighted variables; and 3-the variables which are standardized in order to be comparable to each other’s