THE INFLUENCE OF SOIL RESOURCES ON AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION IN PRAHOVA COUNTY

The research aimed to identify the soil resources of Prahova County and the limiting factorsof the soil, such as: soil acidity and alkalinity, phosphorus supply, humus reserve, surface erosion and deep erosion, landslides and soil pollution withoil residues or dumpsand quarries.The main agricultural crops, the cultivated areas and the obtained productions were analyzed for the 2016-2020 period.The quality of the soils and the lands affected by various limiting factors in Prahova County directly influences the annual productions and their continuous monitoring helps to propose measures regarding their control and soil improvement

Nanostructured Biomaterials with Controlled Properties Synthesis and Characterization

Magnetic nanoparticles were obtained using an adjusted Massart method and were covered in a layer-by-layer technique with hydrogel-type biocompatible shells, from chitosan and hyaluronic acid. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized using dynamic light scattering, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy. Biocompatibility of magnetic nanostructures was determined by MTT (3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) cell proliferation assay, swelling tests, and degradation tests. In addition, interaction of hydrogel-magnetic nanoparticles with microorganisms was studied. The possibility of precise nanoparticles size control, as long as the availability of bio-compatible covering, makes them suitable for biomedical applications

Tomato responses to salinity stress: From morphological traits to genetic changes

Tomato is an essential annual crop providing human food worldwide. It is estimated that by the year 2050 more than 50% of the arable land will become saline and, in this respect, in recent years, researchers have focused their attention on studying how tomato plants behave under various saline conditions. Plenty of research papers are available regarding the effects of salinity on tomato plant growth and development, that provide information on the behavior of different cultivars under various salt concentrations, or experimental protocols analyzing various parameters. This review gives a synthetic insight of the recent scientific advances relevant into the effects of salinity on the morphological, physiological, biochemical, yield, fruit quality parameters, and on gene expression of tomato plants. Notably, the works that assessed the salinity effects on tomatoes were firstly identified in Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science databases, followed by their sifter according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guideline and with an emphasis on their results. The assessment of the selected studies pointed out that salinity is one of the factors significantly affecting tomato growth in all stages of plant development. Therefore, more research to find solutions to increase the tolerance of tomato plants to salinity stress is needed. Furthermore, the findings reported in this review are helpful to select, and apply appropriate cropping practices to sustain tomato market demand in a scenario of increasing salinity in arable lands due to soil water deficit, use of low-quality water in farming and intensive agronomic practices

Computational Intelligence-based PM2.5 Air Pollution Forecasting

Computational intelligence based forecasting approaches proved to be more efficient in real time air pollution forecasting systems than the deterministic ones that are currently applied. Our research main goal is to identify the computational intelligence model that is more proper to real time PM2.5 air pollutant forecasting in urban areas. Starting from the study presented in [27]a, in this paper we first perform a comparative study between the most accurate computational intelligence models that were used for particulate matter (fraction PM2.5) air pollution forecasting: artificial neural networks (ANNs) and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). Based on the obtained experimental results, we make a comprehensive analysis of best ANN architecture identification. The experiments were realized on datasets from the AirBase databases with PM2.5 concentration hourly measurements. The statistical parameters that were computed are mean absolute error, root mean square error, index of agreement and correlation coefficient

Detection of addition of fats non-dairy origin into milk products

Abstract.This work deals with the detection of adulteration of dairy products, which in some countries (especially the developing countries) is seen as a serious issue. Possible adulterants for milk fat (MF) are waste oils from both vegetal (sunflower, soybean, rapeseed) and animal (lard, beef/sheep tallow, chicken fat) origin. MF contrasts with other fats and oils by its short (C4-C6) and medium (C8-C12) chain fatty acids composition. The standard method to accurately determine of the fatty acids profile (FAP) of milk and dairy products is gas-chromatography (GC), which requires the methylation of the fatty acids to the corresponding methyl esters, prior to their chromatographic separation. As a result, the GC method is laborious and time-consuming, given the chromatographic separation step is also long (approximately 1 hour). Consequently, faster alternative methods are welcome. Materials and methods: Three descriptors of conformity/adulteration were determined for each sample, based on the 1H-NMR data (in particular, based on the integral values of resonances associated with chain length, unsaturation, and butyric moiety). Each fat sample was consequently characterized by three numerical values, corresponding to the descriptors. Results: Cartesian 3D representation of samples revealed their clustering according to fat type, leading to good classification. Adulterated samples placed outside the groups, as outliers. Conclusions: The classification model according to the H-NMR based descriptors allows visualization of adulterated samples

Contaminarea fructelor și legumelor cu metale grele în Europa

Heavy metals are natural compounds of the soil and due the human activities and some natural causes, their levels exceed the legislative threshold values in some agricultural soils, becoming harmful for human health and environment. At the level of the European Union there are laws which regulate the threshold values of heavy metals in agriculture soils and in fruits and vegetables. Unfortunately, in markets there are still plant products of whose heavy metals (or other contaminants) content exceeds the maximum allowable levels. Contamination of food crops with heavy metals is mainly due to the crops growth in polluted soils and the excessive use of plants protection products with heavy metals. Thus, their short- or long-term consumption can pose risk to human health. In this context, the purpose of this paper is to identify, based on published studies, the content of cadmium, lead, copper and zinc in fruits and vegetables grown in different parts of Europe or sold on the markets of European Community countries. According to the results of published studies, the fruits and vegetables grown in certain areas of Europe, including in some areas of Romania, may be harmful to human health, the cadmium, lead, copper and zinc levels exceeding the maximum permitted limits

RESEARCH REAGRDING ACID SOILS IMPROVEMENT USING A WASTE FROM METALLURGY

The soil reaction value depend on the soil percentage base saturation degree and of the saturation type (predominantly with calcium or sodium). At the same time, the soil moisture regime, percolative or periodically percolative, the long application of nitrogen fertilizers, acid pollution, determine the deep leaching of bases. So, the upper part of soil suffers an acidification process especially under the conditions without liming. Generally, soil pH values less than 5,5 ensure conditions for strong solubilization of pollutants and their translocation into plants. Particular problems are raised by the very strongly and strongly acid soils (0,60% and 6,57%, respectively), some of the being specific for the mountainous pastures. In Romania are 1 867 000 ha acid agricultural land, representing over 12% from the total agricultural surface of the country. On the other hand, in Romania are produced annually from 0.18 to 0.2 million tones ladle slag (LF slag) from steel refinery, classified as a dangerous waste due to its alkalinity (alkalinity index 3.5-4.5)

RESEARCH CONCERNING THE ORGANIC CARBON QUANTITY OF NATIONAL PARK PIATRA CRAIULUI AND THE C/N RATIO

Abstract In our country we have 25 National and Natural Parks of 552,174.8

MORPHO-ANATOMICAL CONSIDERATIONS UPON THE SHOOT OF SOME ROSA L. CULTIVARS FROM THE BOTANIC GARDEN OF IASI (1ST NOTE)

The paper presents the results of a comparative study regarding shoot morphology and anatomy of two climbing rose cultivars from the Botanic Garden of Iasi: ‘Paul’s Scarlet Climber’ and ‘Veichenblau’