Within the next five years the manufacture of large quantities of nanomaterials may lead to unintended contamination of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The unique physical, chemical and electronic properties of nanomaterials allow new modes of interaction with environmental systems that can have unexpected impacts. Here, we show that gold nanorods can readily pass from the water column to t...

The seas provided a suitable site for the early evolution of all life. Ever since plants and animals developed structures and mechanisms that enabled them to survive on land, terrestrial and aquatic plants have been exposed to different abiotic and biotic selective pressures. Marine plants, which, unlike terrestrial plants, have evolved and adapted to life in a largely stable but saline environ...

While lunar rhythms are commonly documented in plants and animals living in terrestrial and shallow-water environments, deep-sea organisms have essentially been overlooked in that respect. This report describes evidence of lunar periodicity in the reproduction of 6 deep-sea species belonging to 2 phyla. Occurrences of gamete release in free spawners and larval release in brooders exhibited sign...

A population of Parthenium hysterophorus collected in Salta Argentina afforded two ambrosanolides, 2beta-hydroxycoronopilin and 1alpha,2beta,4beta-trihydroxypseudoguaian-6beta,12-olide, as well as five known others. Plants of the fructification from those transplanted from the Puna Argentina at 1200 m over the sea level produced hymenin.

This study analyzed the distribution of endophytic fungi in 3 coastal environments with different climatic, geographical, and geological characteristics: the volcanic islands of Dokdo, the East Sea, and the West Sea of Korea. The isolated fungal endophytes were characterized and analyzed with respect to the characteristics of their host environments. For this purpose, we selected common native ...

The ENERCON Desalination Department has developed a new energy recovery system for RO desalination plants, optimized for the combination with wind energy converters. The main problem for the combination of desalination processes and wind energy is the fluctuation of power supply generated through renewable energies. Conventional desalination plants (and the belonging energy recovery systems) wo...

Beta vulgaris genus comprises wild and cultivated subspecies. The “maritima” subspecies is formed by wild or weedy accessions, well adapted to low-water potential environments; it was previously shown that B. vulgaris ssp. maritima has mechanisms of osmotic adjustment more effective than the cultivated B. vulgaris ssp. vulgaris. The response to a progressive lowering of soil potential was compa...

Mangrove plants comprise plants with similar ecological features that have enabled them to adapt to life between the sea and the land. Within a geographic region, different mangrove species share not only similar adaptations but also similar genetic structure patterns. Along the eastern coast of South America, there is a subdivision between the populations north and south of the continent's nor...

Treated sea water is the most significant source of water and surfactant floods. The various chemicals employed in treatment plants should be compatible with surfactant systems. Based on surface tension experiments, the activity of these chemicals is examined over a wide range of concentrations in different solutions, including distillated water, sea water by using three types of surfactant mix...

Iran has a long history in the use of medicinal plants and traditional medicine. Local people in the villages, especially the elderly, have useful information about health benefits and how to use these plants. Therefore, it seems that collecting and recording this information leads to the revival of this traditional knowledge. The current research is an ethnobotanical study on the medicinal pla...