The REFERTIL project (FP7 contract no.: 289785) is developing safe and economical biochar quality criteria for EU policy support and proposal for possible inclusion of the biochar case into the EU FERTILIZER REGULATION revision (EC 2003/2003). The objective driven goal of this SME farmer targeted applied science and technology project is to reduce mineral fertilisers and chemicals use in agricu...

This study aimed to determine the influence of weather conditions (air temperature, precipitation and insolation) on quantity nitrogen taken up by soybean plants whose cultivation included an application two biostimulants: Asahi Improver, which have been approved for sale. An isotopic dilution method was used involved mineral fertilisers enriched with isotope 15N (5%) detect fixed from atmosphe...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the clinical effect of high and low viscosity bone cement in vertebroplasty for treatment of osteoporotic vertebral compression fractures. METHODS 40 cases of patients with osteoporotic thoracolumbar compression fractures admitted into department of orthopeadics in our hospital were reviewed. All patients were divided into high viscosity bone cement group (20 cases) a...

In this study, the compatibility of the blends of polypropylene (PP) and polybutene-1(PB-1) homopolymer before and after long chain branching process were studied. The blends were prepared and long-chain branched directly via reactive extrusion process in presence of free radical initiator and trimethylolpropane tri methacrylate (TMPTMA) poly functional monomer. The optimum percentage of TMPTMA...

For simple removal of saturated fatty acid methyl esters (FAMEs) from a FAME mixture, our previous research described winterization using sorbitan palmitate without agitation. However, limited information exists on additive real oil biodiesels and their separation performance. We demonstrated the biodiesel fuel derived commercial eatable oils fat (palm, lard, cottonseed, rice, soybean). Five fu...

The possible use of phytase as a breadmaking improver has been tested in whole wheat breads by adding different amounts of fungal phytase. The effect of phytase addition on the fermentation stage and the final bread quality was analyzed. The phytase addition shortened the fermentation period, without affecting the bread dough pH. Regarding the whole wheat bread, a considerable increase of the s...

This paper describes an experimental system which provides heuristic solutions to vehicle routing problems. The system basically contains two components: an initial routes generator and a route improver. The route generator consists of an modified version of the sweep algorithm, and a new TSP algorithm, called the shrink algorithm. It is observed that the shrink algorithm is much more computati...

Blood viscosity is a crucial hemodynamic biomarker because it determines the friction against blood vessels, the quantity of oxygen that is delivered to organs and tissues, and the degree of exertion by the heart. Many factors affect blood viscosity, either directly or inversely. e.g., fibrinogen and hematocrit. The effect of other factors (e.g., cholesterol) on blood viscosity is still under i...

AIMS To assess the relation of plasma viscosity to disease activity in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. METHODS Crohn's disease (n = 60) and ulcerative colitis (n = 71) were diagnosed on the basis of typical histological or radiological features. Active Crohn's disease was defined as a Crohn's disease activity index of 150 or over. Active ulcerative colitis was defined as a liquid st...