Saline

Steinkohle beschrieb  Thölde  im 17. Jahrhundert  als Brennstoff im  Salinenwesen. Aus ihr gewann Lampadius  Gas und  zündete  1811 die erste Gaslaterne  auf dem eur. Festland an.  Runge  stellte aus dem Teer erstmals die Teerfarbstoffe her.

Il 10 settembre dell‟anno 1999 l‟assessorato regionale alla Agricoltura e Foreste siciliano decretò le ex saline di Augusta oasi naturalistica protetta, “ allo scopo di  favorire e promuovere la conservazione, il rifugio, la sosta, la riproduzione e l‟irradiamento naturale della fauna selvatica” e “al fine di garantire protezione all‟avifauna lungo la rotta di
migrazione”.
Alla buon‟ora! Perché da quella data i fucili dei cacciatori,
sempre alla ricerca di esotici esemplari da impagliare, hanno taciuto.

Background Salinity is known to affect almost half of the world's irrigated lands, especially rice fields. Furthermore, cyanobacteria, one of the critical inhabitants of rice fields have been characterized at molecular level from many different geographical locations. This study, for the first time, has examined the molecular diversity of cyanobacteria inhabiting Indian rice fields which experience various levels of salinity. Results Ten physicochemical parameters were analyzed for samples collected from twenty experimental sites. Electrical conductivity data were used to classify the soils and to investigate relationship between soil salinity and cyanobacterial diversity. The cyanobacterial communities were analyzed using semi-nested 16S rRNA gene PCR and denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. Out of 51 DGGE bands selected for sequencing only 31 which showed difference in sequences were subjected to further analysis. BLAST analysis revealed highest similarity for twenty nine of the sequences with cyanobacteria, and the other two to plant plastids. Clusters obtained based on morphological and molecular attributes of cyanobacteria were correlated to soil salinity. Among six different clades, clades 1, 2, 4 and 6 contained cyanobacteria inhabiting normal or low saline (having EC < 4.0 ds m-1) to (high) saline soils (having EC > 4.0 ds m-1), however, clade 5 represented the cyanobacteria inhabiting only saline soils. Whilst, clade 3 contained cyanobacteria from normal soils. The presence of DGGE band corresponding to Aulosira strains were present in large number of soil indicating its wide distribution over a range of salinities, as were Nostoc, Anabaena, and Hapalosiphon although to a lesser extent in the sites studied. Conclusion Low salinity favored the presence of heterocystous cyanobacteria, while very high salinity mainly supported the growth of non-heterocystous genera. High nitrogen content in the low salt soils is proposed to be a result of reduced ammonia volatilization compared to the high salt soils. Although many environmental factors could potentially determine the microbial community present in these multidimensional ecosystems, changes in the diversity of cyanobacteria in rice fields was correlated to salinity.

Sequenced archaeal genomes contain a variety of bacterial and eukaryotic DNA repair gene homologs, but relatively little is known about how these microorganisms actually perform DNA repair. At least some archaea, including the extreme halophile Halobacterium sp. NRC-1, are able to repair ultraviolet light (UV) induced DNA damage in the absence of light-dependent photoreactivation but this &#39;dark&#39; repair capacity remains largely uncharacterized. Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 possesses homologs of the bacterial uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC nucleotide excision repair genes as well as several eukaryotic repair genes and it has been thought that multiple DNA repair pathways may account for the high UV resistance and dark repair capacity of this model halophilic archaeon. We have carried out a functional analysis, measuring repair capability in uvrA, uvrB and uvrC deletion mutants. Deletion mutants lacking functional uvrA, uvrB or uvrC genes, including a uvrA uvrC double mutant, are hypersensiti...

Saline water intrusion into freshwater aquifers is a major geohydraulic problem relevant to coastal environment. Apart from contaminating the fresh groundwater resources, the saltwater intrusion alters the geotechnical properties of the aquifer materials, affecting the coastal water resource planning and management. The present study focuses on an in-depth laboratory investigation of the influence of saltwater submergence on the geohydraulic properties of sand. The fine sand sample was submerged under saline water of specified concentrations for specific periods, and the alteration in their engineering properties has been studied. It is observed that the specific gravity, dry density, and permeability of fine sand is significantly affected by the period of submergence and saline concentration. The specific gravity of sand particles was observed to increase almost linearly with period of submergence and saline concentration. While the sand dry density decreased fairly linearly with t...

Chromohalobacter salexigens, a Gammaproteobacterium belonging to the familyHalomonadaceae, shows a broad salinity range for growth. Osmoprotection is achieved by the accumulation of compatible solutes either by transport (betaine, choline) or synthesis (mainly ectoine and hydroxyectoine). Ectoines can play additional roles as nutrients and, in the case of hydroxyectoine, in thermotolerance. A supplementary solute, trehalose, not present in cells grown at 37°C, is accumulated at higher temperatures, suggesting its involvement in the response to heat stress. Trehalose is also accumulated at 37°C in ectoine-deficient mutants, indicating that ectoines suppress trehalose synthesis in the wild-type strain. The genes for ectoine (ectABC) and hydroxyectoine (ectD,ectE) production are arranged in three different clusters within theC. salexigenschromosome. In order to cope with changing environment,C. salexigensregulates its cytoplasmic pool of ectoines by a number of mechanisms that we have ...

The re-use and the domestication of nature in abandoned areas is becoming a theme of increasing relevance in European (and Italian) public debate. This article uses Gilles Clément's concept of 'third landscape' to understand the transformation of an urban salt works into a public park. Salt production in Cagliari (Sardinia, Italy) was suspended in 1984 because of pollution from urban sewage. Some years after abandonment, the state salt works eventually became a public park. People frequented the area before its establishment and eventually the salt works became a place for running, canoeing, walking, biking, birdwatching and other outdoor activities. The article shows how this abandoned area became a park and heritage site, though stakeholder support. It analyzes the local discourse that continues to represent and protect the area as 'green,' where nature can be enjoyed, despite its industrial heritage.

croissante. Cet article, à partir du concept de le "Tiers paysage" de Gilles Clément, aborde le sujet de la transformation d'une zone industrielle dans un parc public. La production de sel à Cagliari (capitale de la Sardaigne) a été suspendue en 1984 en raison de la pollution urbaine. Après l'abandon de la zone a été transformée en un parc public. La population de Cagliari et d'autres villes voisines, fréquentait le lieu avant même de l'établissement du parc. Ainsi, bien qu' abandonnés en tant que lieu de production de sel les marais salants etaient utilisées comme un endroit pour courir, marcher, faire du vélo et du canoë. Cet article analyse le discours locale qui réprésente cette zone comme un espace «vert» dans le milieu de la ville où on peut rejouir de la «nature».

Il riuso e la domesticazione della natura nelle aree abbandonate è diventato un tema di rilevanza crescente. Questo articolo, a partire dal concetto di Terzo paesaggio di Gilles Clément, tratta della trasformazione di un'area industriale in un parco pubblico. La produzione di sale a Cagliari (capoluogo della Sardegna) è stata sospesa nel 1984 a causa dell'inquinamento urbano. In seguito all'abbandono, l'area è stata trasformata in un parco pubblico. La popolazione di Cagliari e delle altre città vicine, frequentava l'area anche prima dell' istituzione del parco. Così le saline sebbene abbandonate erano un luogo per correre, camminare, andare in bicicletta e canoa. Questo articolo analizza il discorso locale che presenta quest'area come uno spazio "verde" nel mezzo della città, dove è possibile godere della "natura".

Halophile proteins can tolerate high salt concentrations. Understanding halophilicity features is the first step toward engineering halostable crops. To this end, we examined protein features contributing to the halo-toleration of halophilic organisms. We compared more than 850 features for halophilic and non-halophilic proteins with various screening, clustering, decision tree, and generalized rule induction models to search for patterns that code

Oxidative stress has been shown to play a contributory role in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Recent studies have provided evidence for antioxidant properties of spa therapy. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether spa therapy with saline balneotherapy has any influence on the oxidant/antioxidant status in patients with RA and to assess clinical effects of spa therapy. In this investigator-blind randomized controlled trial, we randomly assigned 50 patients in a 1:1 ratio to spa therapy plus standard drug treatment (spa group) or standard drug treatment alone (control group). Spa group followed a 2-week course of spa therapy regimen consisting of a total of 12 balneotherapy sessions in a thermal mineral water pool at 36-37 °C for 20 min every day except Sunday. All clinical and biochemical parameters were assessed at baseline and after spa therapy (2 weeks). The clinical parameters were pain intensity, patient global assessment, physician global assessment, Health Assessment Questionnaire disability index (HAQ-DI), Disease Activity Score for 28-joints based on erythrocyte sedimentation rate (DAS28-4[ESR]). Oxidative status parameters were malondialdehyde (MDA), nonenzymatic superoxide radical scavenger activity (NSSA), antioxidant potential (AOP), and superoxide dismutase (SOD). The NSSA levels were increased significantly in the spa group (p = 0.003) but not in the control group (p = 0.509); and there was a trend in favor of spa therapy for improvements in NSSA levels compared to control (p = 0.091). Significant clinical improvement was found in the spa group compared to the control in terms of patient global assessment (p = 0.011), physician global assessment (p = 0.043), function (HAQ-DI) (p = 0.037), disease activity (DAS28-4[ESR]) (0.044) and swollen joint count (0.009), and a trend toward improvement in pain scores (0.057). Spa therapy with saline balneotherapy exerts antioxidant effect in patients with RA as reflected by the increase in NSSA levels after spa therapy; whether this antioxidant effect contributes to the clinical improvements observed remains to be verified.

Background and Objective: The prevention of clot formation during hemodialysis improves the effectiveness of treatment by maintaining patency in the dialyzer. This study was done to evaluate the effect of intermittent bolus of normal saline on the quality of clot formation in venous chamber and dialyzer. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 51 eligible patients were divided into intervention (n=26) and control (n=25) groups. Patients in the control group received routine care and the intervention group received 100ml of normal saline, each hour, as an intermittent bolus, during 4 hours of dialysis beside the routine care. After three consecutive hemodialysis sessions (first round), all patients received routine care to clear the intervention effect (washout period). Then, patients crossed over from intervention group to control and vice versa. At the end of each session, the quality of clot formation in intravenous chamber and dialyzer was recorded and analyzed. Results: The venou...

The aquatic bacterial group SAR11 is one of the most abundant organisms on Earth, with an estimated global population size of 2.4 1028 cells in the oceans. Members of SAR11 have also been detected in brackish and fresh waters, but the evolutionary relationships between the species present in the different environments have been ambiguous. In particular, it was not clear how frequently this lineage has crossed the saline–freshwater boundary during its evolutionary diversification. Due to the huge population size of SAR11 and the potential of microbes for long-distance dispersal, we hypothesized that environmental transitions could have occurred repeatedly during the evolutionary diversification of this group. Here, we have constructed extensive 16S rDNA–based molecular phylogenies and undertaken metagenomic data analyses to assess the frequency of saline–freshwater transitions in SAR11 and to investigate the evolutionary implications of this process. Our analyses indicated that very ...

Reclamation of salt affected soils using gypsum (Ca2SO4.2H2O) as a low cost material is one of the means to reverse a degraded land while improving its fertility for agricultural use and generate income to the farmers living in such lands. A study was therefore undertaken outside the glasshouse of the International Centre for Eremology, University of Ghent, at the end of July 1994. The main objective was to evaluate the effect of gypsum and placement methods on the physical chemical properties of a saline soil during reclamation process by leaching under natural rainfall. Soil samples were collected from a provisionally stored dredged material in a big well near the Peakshaving plant of Distrigaz in the southern part of inner harbour of Zeebrugge located at 51 18′18″N and 3 14′47″E. The experiment involved six treatments with four replications in a randomised complete block design. Results showed that incorporating gypsum full depth (20 cm) without weekly mixing was superior compare...

Sequenced archaeal genomes contain a variety of bacterial and eukaryotic DNA repair gene homologs, but relatively little is known about how these microorganisms actually perform DNA repair. At least some archaea, including the extreme halophile Halobacterium sp. NRC-1, are able to repair ultraviolet light (UV) induced DNA damage in the absence of light-dependent photoreactivation but this &#39;dark&#39; repair capacity remains largely uncharacterized. Halobacterium sp. NRC-1 possesses homologs of the bacterial uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC nucleotide excision repair genes as well as several eukaryotic repair genes and it has been thought that multiple DNA repair pathways may account for the high UV resistance and dark repair capacity of this model halophilic archaeon. We have carried out a functional analysis, measuring repair capability in uvrA, uvrB and uvrC deletion mutants. Deletion mutants lacking functional uvrA, uvrB or uvrC genes, including a uvrA uvrC double mutant, are hypersensiti...