Large Plants Research Articles

Heavy metals in urban soil: Contamination levels, spatial distribution and human health risk assessment (the case of Ufa city, Russia)

The article examines the concentration of 9 heavy metals (Hg, Pb, Zn, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Ba and V) and As in the soil cover of the urban area in one of the largest cities in Russia, Ufa (the Republic of Bashkortostan). It is compared with aggregated data of concentrations on urbanized areas in surface soils throughout the world. For elements exceeding the average background values in soils of the urban area (Cr, Ni, Cu and Co), the average concentrations in the city soils were 346, 101, 51 and 18 ppm, respectively. Using enrichment factor (EF), geoaccumulation index (Igeo), and concentration coefficients (CC), Cr and Ni were identified as elements entering the soil cover as a result of anthropogenic pollution. Although the level of their enrichment and contamination of soils in the most territory of the city corresponds to the moderate class, there are sites with critical threshold values.Spatial analysis of heavy metals distribution was carried out based on the results of pollution load index (PLI) and ecological risk factor (Er) calculations with the use of graphical presentation of results, which allowed specific and detailed description of sites calling for special attention. The use of cluster analysis allowed dividing the sample of chemical elements into groups with probably similar sources of entry into the environment.Monte Carlo modeling of risk calculation showed negligible non-cancer risks for both adult and child populations in most of the city. While children's exposure to Cr was of concern in the more residential part of the city, free of large industrial plants, As posed a threat with respect to cancer risks in the southern part of the city, with elevated concentrations and other HMs in vicinity of the oil refineries.

Comparative Analysis of Leadership and Economic Impact of the Palm Oil Industry in Indonesia

Palm oil is one of the biggest industries that contributed to Indonesia’s economy. In this context, this article aims to investigate a comparison of the government policies in Indonesia’s palm oil under the Jokowi leadership and the previous presidents and how this industry contributed to national economic growth. We reveal that every president has different programs to develop the palm oil industry. Soeharto Perusahaan Inti Rakyat (PIR) or Nucleus Estate and Smallholders (NES) program has greatly affected the extent of Indonesia’s large plantations today. Meanwhile, during Megawati’s presidency, there were not many changes in terms of policies or regulations. On the other side, under Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono’s presidency, Indonesia’s palm oil industry experienced new innovations in terms of palm oil policy. The biodiesel program that was introduced in 2006 made Indonesia’s palm oil industry move to the next stage. This policy aims to reduce Indonesia's dependence on fossil fuels. Furthermore, this program became the forerunner of the biodiesel program which is currently being accelerated by President Jokowi. We argue that Jokowi’s programs such as the Biodiesel Mandatory Program (B30, etc.) through Pertamina, Peremajaan Sawit Rakyat, Moratorium on land clearing permits, and cooperation through Council of Palm Oil Producing Countries (CPOPC) been the right step to stimulating the national economy.

Evaluation of the Ecological Environment of the Fuhe River Based on the Diversity of Fish

This article takes the Fuhe River, which has water flowing into Baiyangdian all year round, as the research object. Through actual investigation and measurement of planktonic flora and fauna, benthic organisms, fish, and large vascular plants in the river, and based on fish diversity, the comprehensive evaluation index method is used to scientifically evaluate the ecological environment quality of the Fuhe River. The results showed that a total of 28 species of phytoplankton, 30 species of zooplankton, 11 species of benthic animals, 8 species of submerged plants, and 11 species of fish were detected in the survey area; From a diversity perspective, the diversity of the upstream and downstream river sections is higher than that of the downstream. Overall, the ecological environment quality of the Fuhe River in Baoding City ranges from medium to good, with good water quality in the upstream section and moderate water quality in the middle and downstream sections. This study provides a case study for the scientific evaluation of the ecological environment quality of the upper reaches of Baiyangdian.

Leveraging wastewater: Validating the national-scale SARS-CoV-2 surveillance system in Cyprus for elevated public health surveillance and enhanced epidemiological insight

The validation of a cross-country, national-scale SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance system for the monitoring of public health in the Republic of Cyprus, took place during October 2021-September 2022. The chronicle of SARS-CoV-2 genetic marker concentrations and prevailing Variants of Concern (VoCs) in all large Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTPs) of Cyprus for a continuous period of 1 year, was recorded through an integrated, multi-disciplinary sewage-based surveillance system set up to track, visualize and make the collected information and statistical analysis outcomes, publicly available. Composite sampling and physicochemical parameter normalization of Population Equivalents (PE) and SARS-CoV-2 genetic marker concentration loads were utilized.Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) was selected for normalization of genetic fragment loads. The selection of a normalization method should be tailored according to the characteristics of each individual city/WWTP population structure, flows and wastewater origin. Metagenomic sequencing showed the transition of the SARS-CoV-2 genome from the Delta to the Omicron variant prevalence, in agreement with changes in wastewater gene concentrations. Differences in the early detection of SARS-CoV-2 genetic markers were found among cities. The established system was able to track and monitor the trend of SARS-CoV-2, even in times of absence of other public health measures such as tracing of confirmed COVID-19 cases, showing the capacity of the wastewater system to quickly capture shifts in infections.The work done herein, confirmed the ability of the national-scale system to timely observe pandemic trends, evaluate effects of control measures implemented and monitor the burden of infected patients that shed SARS-CoV-2 fragments.

Application of the fast 3D simplified simulation method for the large CAP1400 nuclear island evaporator based on the coupled source term method

As for the evaporator of the large CAP1400 nuclear power plant, it has a large volume with numerous tubes along with the complex flow heat transfer phenomenon. The traditional direct simulation method usually takes a lot of time and computing resources to obtain the flow heat transfer data. To solve the problem, a fast simulation method established on the porous medium source term was herein proposed. In this simplified simulation method, the complex evaporator model is replaced with the porous medium model, where the derived heat and momentum source terms are added into the governing equation to control the heat flows. Five kinds of simplified evaporator models with different numbers of pipes were set to be the research objects, the internal flows inside the evaporator were studied with the traditional direct simulation method and the newly proposed simplified simulation method. Via comparative analysis, it can be found that: 1) The newly proposed simplified simulation method accurately captures the distribution characteristics of pressure, temperature, and entropy production in the evaporator, serving as a viable alternative to traditional direct simulation methods. Specifically, the average simulation errors for inlet-outlet pressure difference and temperature difference are both less than 5 % and 7 %, respectively. 2) The newly proposed simplified simulation method can capture the mutual interference effects between the evaporator and the nuclear main pump. When the evaporator is connected in series with the main nuclear pump, the average head of the main pump increases by 0.34 m, while the efficiency decreases by an average of 0.34 %. The average simulation errors of the simplified simulation method are 0.06 m and 0.13 %, respectively. 3) The application of the simplified simulation method leads to a significant 85 % decrease in the average computational cost for evaporator calculations and a notable 36 % decrease for combined calculations of the evaporator and main pump. The study here is expected to provide technique support for the simulation and evaluation of the large nuclear island.

Assessment of microbial flora and pesticidal effect of vermicast generated from Azadirachta indica (neem) for developing a biofertilizer-cum-pesticide as a single package

The soil comprising organic matter, nutrients, serve as substrate for plant growth and various organisms. In areas where there are large plantations, there is a huge leaf litter fall. The leaf litter upon decomposition releases nutrients and helps in nutrient recycling, for which the soil engineers such as earthworms, ants and termites are important key players. In this context, the present study was conducted to assess the characteristics of the vermicast obtained by vermicomposting neem leaf litter in terms of microbial flora, plant growth promoting properties and antagonistic activities of the vermicast against phytopathogens. Vermicomposting of neem leaf litter was done using two epigeic earthworm species Eisenia fetida and Eudrilus eugeniae. The vermicast exhibited antagonistic potential against plant pathogens. Out of the four vermiwash infusions studied, the 75 % formulation reduced the disease incidence against mealybug by 82 % in the tree Neolamarkia cadamba. The result of the study suggests that vermicast made from neem leaf litter may be a potent combination of a biofertilizer and a pesticide.

GeneMark-ETP significantly improves the accuracy of automatic annotation of large eukaryotic genomes.

Large-scale genomic initiatives, such as the Earth BioGenome Project, require efficient methods for eukaryotic genome annotation. Here we present an automatic gene finder, GeneMark-ETP, integrating genomic-, transcriptomic-, and protein-derived evidence that has been developed with a focus on large plant and animal genomes. GeneMark-ETP first identifies genomic loci where extrinsic data are sufficient for making gene predictions with "high confidence." The genes situated in the genomic space between the high-confidence genes are predicted in the next stage. The set of high-confidence genes serves as an initial training set for the statistical model. Further on, the model parameters are iteratively updated in the rounds of gene prediction and parameter re-estimation. Upon reaching convergence, GeneMark-ETP makes the final predictions and delivers the whole complement of predicted genes. GeneMark-ETP outperforms gene finders using a single type of extrinsic evidence. Comparisons with gene finders MAKER2 and TSEBRA, those that use both transcript- and protein-derived extrinsic evidence, show that GeneMark-ETP delivers state-of-the-art gene-prediction accuracy, with the margin of outperforming existing approaches increasing in its application to larger and more complex eukaryotic genomes.

Investigating the cost of mechanized unpaved road maintenance operations in Uganda

Force Account Mechanism (FAM) is the predominant road maintenance system in Uganda’s local government setup and a similar, though slightly different approach, is used in some large private sector agriculture plantations. With the Uganda Road Fund (URF) 2021/2022 annual report and previous research citing challenges in cost management and efficiency of the FAM method of road maintenance, it becomes paramount to analyse how FAM is implemented in government-led operations, in comparison to similar private sector approaches, while proposing possible solutions to these challenges. This research offered to analyse unpaved road maintenance cost drivers alongside providing a cost model solution to improve on cost prediction of the FAM system. Gulu District Local Government (DLG) and Kakira Sugar Limited (KSL) were selected as case study areas. Two descriptive research methods were used: observations and case study approach. The selected case study areas were accessible and reachable in terms of data. Control parameters affecting unpaved mechanized road maintenance were identified as machine repair costs, tool costs, labour costs, material costs, fuel costs and machine fuel costs. Unpaved mechanized road maintenance costs at KSL and Gulu DLG were computed as a cost/km ratio of 26,442,032Ugx/km (6,958.4USD/km) and 32,674,895Ugx/km (8,598.65USD/km) respectively. The Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) unpaved road maintenance costs were calculated as an average of 34,987,122.9Ugx/km (9,165USD/km) while the World Bank ROCKS database provided a comparable figure of 7,971USD/km (30,553,440.83Ugx/km). A USD to Ugx conversion rate of 3,800 was used. Two linear regression cost models with a 0.679 and 0.687 R2 value were computed, and these can be used in preliminary road maintenance cost prediction. The study recommends the need for an effective, digital road maintenance cost database system for mechanized unpaved road maintenance works, cost driver analytics and management, alongside improvement in aspects of maintenance processes at both the DLG and KSL. Further research can be conducted on equipment condition level prediction and analytics in the private sector and at the DLG.

Analysis of the causes of waste heat boiler leakage in large-scale chemical plants

A waste heat boiler is a kind of high-temperature and high-pressure heat exchanger in a large chemical plant, and its safe operation is directly related to the production efficiency and safety risk of a chemical plant. In this paper, the leakage failure analysis of a waste heat boiler in an ethylene plant is carried out, and the analysis methods such as field observation, macro observation of fracture, metallographic analysis, micro observation of fracture, phase analysis, and energy spectrum analysis are adopted respectively. The results show that the direct cause of the leakage of the waste heat boiler is the thinning of the wall thickness of the heat exchange tube caused by alkali corrosion, which leads to the overload and fracture of the heat exchange tube. The pits on the outer surface of some heat exchange tubes are caused by mechanical reasons, which are related to this leakage and closure. The corrosion failure of heat exchange tubes is widespread, which has a great influence on safety production and serious consequences. Through this comprehensive analysis, the failure mechanism is clarified, which can provide a reference for the maintenance of similar equipment. At the same time, preventive measures are put forward from the aspects of technology, structure, and detection to reduce the occurrence of similar accidents.

Novel risk index integrating practical operation limits enhances probabilistic contingency ranking for large-scale photovoltaic plant planning

This research addresses the pressing need for heightened grid security amid increasing uncertainties in photovoltaic PV generation. The research problem lies in the limitations of conventional contingency analysis metrics, failing to adequately consider both contingency occurrences and uncertainties inherent in PV generation. In response, a comprehensive algorithm is proposed that introduces a novel severity function framework, enhancing traditional contingency ranking metrics. This approach incorporates grid remedial actions and refines line and bus voltage classification by considering available correction time, aiming to offer a more robust security assessment. Motivated by the imperative to address uncertainty in PV generation, the proposed work builds on established analysis tools. A probabilistic load flow algorithm manages PV generation uncertainties, utilizing historical data for contingency incidence uncertainty. Additionally, a probabilistic model for PV plants integrates historical solar data, deriving hourly probability density functions to meet grid code requirements, including reactive power considerations. The justification for this work lies in the algorithm's demonstrated efficacy, validated on the IEEE 14-bus network. Results highlight its ability to identify risks associated with line overloading and bus voltage breaches. Comparative evaluations underscore proper coupling buses for security, favoring distributed capacity to mitigate line overloading risks. The study's key results emphasize voltage risk amplification with reactive power omission, stressing the significance of compensation strategies. This research addresses a critical problem, presenting a comprehensive algorithmic solution to enhance grid security amidst uncertainties in PV integration. Findings offer valuable insights for strategically interaction between large scale PV plants and electrical grid, contributing to an improved grid security paradigm in a dynamic and uncertain energy model.

The commoditization of civil nuclear power.

The commoditization of nuclear power through the factory production of sealed micro-power units within a digitally enabled holistic assurance framework is described. This would revolutionize nuclear power-plant design, construction, operation and decommissioning through a paradigm shift to manufacture-operate-remove-recycle (MORR). The potential impact of recent research on an integrated nuclear digital environment for large bespoke nuclear power plants and the design, build and operation of fusion power plants using such a digital environment is explored. These strands are interwoven to discuss the technical, economic and socio-political implications of MORR in the context of micro-reactors and to consider the potential evolution of safeguarding issues based on a digital assurance framework that leads to type approvals. Commoditization of nuclear power would lower costs in line with offshore wind and the output from a single production line in a factory could replace a third of current fossil fuel-based electricity generation in the UK over a 15-year period, making a significant contribution to achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions. The challenges associated with the changes in culture, both in the nuclear industry and in society, as well as the technology gaps, that need to be addressed in realizing this paradigm shift are identified and discussed.

WITHDRAWN: Industry perspective on biooil production via fast pyrolysis

After 40 years of research and limited commercialization, the time has come to accept that biooil from biomass is simply not going to make a significant dent in the renewable fuel spectrum. In 2022, there were 2700 publications on pyrolysis, but only one new plant has been constructed, and while several are on the books, many of those plants have not yet been started. There is lots of hype, but not much action. The pathways to biooil production have been well researched and documented. Apart from some possible optimization, there is little room for wholesale improvements in the technology. In the past, studies promoted economies of scale with large plants processing hundreds of tonnes per day into biooil. These plants are large fixed installations requiring years to construct and commission. The return on investment is simply not there for large systems.Gasification of biooil offers a pathway to produce syngas that can be separated into its components. Smaller and modular fast pyrolysis facilities are recommended. These plants would be located close to the biomass source. Pyrolysis plants are actually low temperature gasification systems where the volatile matter in the biomass is effectively distilled out of the biomass, leaving a carbon-rich biochar as a valuable by-product. Rather than cooling and condensing the vapors into biooil only to reheat, atomize, and gasify at some central facility, the option is to gasify on site at the time of pyrolysis, compress, and ship a compressed product to a central facility where the gas can be separated into components. The downside of this option is there is only 5% by weight of hydrogen in the syngas and that may not be enough to drive the economis.This is an industry perspective paper, and the details of a shift away from biooil to gasification have not been fully developed. The objective of this paper is to stimulate conversation on this topic and start thinking outside the box to come up with novel solutions that are technically and economically sound.

Design of an improved process optimization model for enhancing the efficiency of the wastewater treatment process

ABSTRACT Efficient wastewater treatment is crucial for environmental protection and ensuring the availability of potable water. However, existing optimization models often fall short in effectively analyzing historical data, optimizing dosages, or predicting optimal process parameters. This paper aims to address these challenges by proposing an advanced process optimization model that enhances the efficacy of wastewater treatment processes. Our objectives include the development of a novel method for optimizing various aspects of the treatment procedure using Auto Encoders (AE), Genetic Algorithm (GA), and Vector Autoregressive Moving Average (VARMA) models. Extensive experimentation with multiple datasets and samples, including the Melbourne Wastewater Treatment Dataset, Urban Wastewater Treatment, and Global Wastewater Treatment, was conducted to validate our model. The results demonstrate significant improvements in our proposed model, with an average improvement of 8.5% in treatment quality, a 4.9% reduction in delay, and a 9.5% increase in water purity compared to recently proposed models. We conclude that our model provides a valuable framework for optimizing wastewater treatment in a variety of settings due to its adaptability and effectiveness. Future research could explore the integration of additional advanced techniques and real-time monitoring systems to further enhance the model's precision, efficiency, and robustness.

Perancangan Monitoring Coal Handling System PLTU Kaltim Teluk Berbasis Internet of Things

Abstract— Balikpapan Bay PLTU is a large capacity power plant located in the city of Balikpapan, which is located in East Kalimantan. This PLTU with a capacity of 2X110 MW meets the electricity needs of the Barito Mahakam network, which consists of the East Kalimantan, North Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan regions. The main fuel for electricity generation is low grade coal (LRC) or low calorie coal. High Speed Diesel (HSD) oil is used as initial fuel. DCS (Distributed Control System) is used for wood management at PLTU Kaltim Teluk. DCS helps operations by monitoring and controlling the main and supporting components, however, management, supervisors and other staff have difficulty knowing the operating conditions of the generating unit remotely because the monitoring system can only be accessed by the control room operator at the CCR. The aim of this research is to design an Internet of Things-based coal handling system control system for PLTU Kaltim Teluk. This real time based digital monitoring system can collect and display data from every sensor in the field. The research method is a literature study method and a field method to apply the design results and collect monitoring data at the two Balikpapan Bay PLTUs. The results show that testing, which includes integration testing with MySQL, functional testing, and URL and Endpoint testing, was carried out successfully. As expected, all the main features and functions of the PLTU monitoring system are running well. This system has averagepercentage error 0.1%. So this study has an accuracy rate of 99.9%. This system has the ability to make it easier for managers to monitor the system.

Hijacking a rapid and scalable metagenomic method reveals subgenome dynamics and evolution in polyploid plants.

The genomes of polyploid plants archive the evolutionary events leading to their present forms. However, plant polyploid genomes present numerous hurdles to the genome comparison algorithms for classification of polyploid types and exploring genome dynamics. Here, the problem of intra- and inter-genome comparison for examining polyploid genomes is reframed as a metagenomic problem, enabling the use of the rapid and scalable MinHashing approach. To determine how types of polyploidy are described by this metagenomic approach, plant genomes were examined from across the polyploid spectrum for both k-mer composition and frequency with a range of k-mer sizes. In this approach, no subgenome-specific k-mers are identified; rather, whole-chromosome k-mer subspaces were utilized. Given chromosome-scale genome assemblies with sufficient subgenome-specific repetitive element content, literature-verified subgenomic and genomic evolutionary relationships were revealed, including distinguishing auto- from allopolyploidy and putative progenitor genome assignment. The sequences responsible were the rapidly evolving landscape of transposable elements. An investigation into the MinHashing parameters revealed that the downsampled k-mer space (genomic signatures) produced excellent approximations of sequence similarity. Furthermore, the clustering approach used for comparison of the genomic signatures is scrutinized to ensure applicability of the metagenomics-based method. The easily implementable and highly computationally efficient MinHashing-based sequence comparison strategy enables comparative subgenomics and genomics for large and complex polyploid plant genomes. Such comparisons provide evidence for polyploidy-type subgenomic assignments. In cases where subgenome-specific repeat signal may not be adequate given a chromosomes' global k-mer profile, alternative methods that are more specific but more computationally complex outperform this approach.

Techno-economic analysis of small-scale ammonia production via sorption-enhanced gasification of biomass

Biomass gasification is a green and efficient pathway for lowering the carbon footprint of ammonia production. Decentralized, small-scale biomass gasification plants (<150 t NH3/day output) are more practical than large plants due to sustainable large-scale biomass supply constraints. Small-scale biomass gasification for ammonia production faces the challenges of high energy consumption and production costs. Process intensification through sorption-enhanced gasification (SEG) integrates steam gasification and in-situ CO2 separation using regenerable CaO sorbents, directly producing hydrogen-rich syngas (∼70 vol%), which streamlines syngas conditioning and increases cost-effectiveness. Two SEG process configurations for small-scale biomass-to-ammonia (∼45000 t of agricultural residues/year) were proposed: SEG process A, which produced low-carbon ammonia without air separation, and SEG process B, which employed an air separation unit to deliver carbon-negative ammonia by capturing CO2. The two processes were compared against a dual fluidized bed gasification (DFBG) process, which generated green ammonia without an air separation, like SEG process A. Of the three cases, SEG process B showed the lowest biomass (2.14 t biomass/t NH3) and water consumption (0.47 t H2O/t NH3) and avoided 2.8 t CO2/t NH3, making it carbon-negative. While the DFBG process and SEG process A had higher energy efficiencies, SEG process B posted the lowest net energy consumption (36.6 GJ/t NH3). Furthermore, SEG process B had the lowest ammonia production cost ($692/t NH3) and payback time (9.4 years), making it the most economically viable. Sensitivity analysis showed that favorable carbon credit policies could boost the economics of SEG process B to match large-scale plants.

Assessing the carbon mitigation impact of energy choices in China: a focus on renewable energy and thermal efficiency improvement

ABSTRACT This study estimates the carbon mitigation effects of various energy choices, focusing on renewable energy (RE) adoption and thermal efficiency improvement. We compiled a comprehensive panel data covering 2,641 counties from 2003 to 2017 and employed a dynamic panel model for the analysis. Our results suggest that the adoption of wind power and thermal efficiency improvement, with the latter indicated by the adoption of large thermal power plants, significantly reduces carbon emissions. Notably, increasing wind power capacity exhibits a more substantial marginal reduction effect than increasing large thermal capacity. Moreover, the mitigation impact of RE is more substantial in regions with diverse renewable power types and higher renewable capacity. These results provide robust evidence regarding thermal efficiency improvement’s role in carbon mitigation and underscore the growing environmental benefits of RE as its share in installed capacity increases. Our findings emphasize the necessity of policies that incentivize the utilization of various RE types and target regional environmental efficiency gaps, which are crucial for achieving enhanced carbon mitigation during the energy transition.

Transplanted sagebrush “wildlings” exhibit higher survival than greenhouse-grown tubelings yet both recruit new plants

BackgroundLand uses such as crop production, livestock grazing, mining, and urban development have contributed to degradation of drylands worldwide. Loss of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) on disturbed drylands across the western U.S. has prompted massive efforts to re-establish this foundational species. There has been growing interest in avoiding the severe limitations experienced by plants at the seed and seedling stages by instead establishing plants from containerized greenhouse seedlings (“tubelings”). In some settings, a potential alternative approach is to transplant larger locally-collected plants (“wildlings”). We compared the establishment of mountain big sagebrush (A. tridentata ssp. vaseyana) from tubelings vs. wildlings in southeastern Idaho. A mix of native and non-native grass and forb species was drill-seeded in a pasture previously dominated by the introduced forage grass, smooth brome (Bromus inermis). We then established 80 m x 80 m treatment plots and planted sagebrush tubelings (n = 12 plots, 1200 plants) and wildlings (n = 12 plots, 1200 plants). We also established seeded plots (n = 12) and untreated control plots (n = 6) for long-term comparison. We tracked project expenses in order to calculate costs of using tubelings vs. wildlings as modified by probability of success.ResultsThere was high (79%) tubeling and low (10%) wildling mortality within the first year. Three years post-planting, chance of survival for wildlings was significantly higher than that of tubelings (85% and 14% respectively). Despite high up-front costs of planting wildlings, high survival rates resulted in their being < 50% of the cost of tubelings on a per-surviving plant basis. Additionally, by the third year post-planting 34% of surviving tubelings and 95% of surviving wildlings showed evidence of reproduction (presence / absence of flowering stems), and the two types of plantings recruited new plants via seed (3.7 and 2.4 plants, respectively, per surviving tubeling/wildling).ConclusionsOur results indicate that larger plants with more developed root systems (wildlings) may be a promising avenue for increasing early establishment rates of sagebrush plants in restoration settings. Our results also illustrate the potential for tubelings and wildlings to improve restoration outcomes by “nucleating” the landscape via recruitment of new plants during ideal climate conditions.

Editorial

In terms of energy production and consumption, the modern world's needs have become more and more challenging. Electrical energy is required to power most of all current “gadgets”, as well as, large industrial equipment, and more recently, our cars, which are expected to become all-electric in the not so far future. Once electrical energy (actually any kind of energy) can not be created or destroyed, it must be converted from other forms of energy.Our economy is still dependent on fossil energy sources like coal, petroleum and gas, which may be directly used to heat our homes and keep our cars running, but also to be converted into electrical energy. The drop-back of these resources is that they are highly pollutant and a worldwide movement is trying to reduce its use. Many bio alternatives have been proposed to replace these energy sources with a certain level of success. They are renewable and may help to reduce the greenhouse gas emission problem, however, alone, they will not solve the problem. In Brazil, most of the electrical energy comes from hydroelectric plants which are clean, renewable and reliable sources, however produces some undesired environmental impacts, most of them during the power plant construction. There is also a limited amount of this kind of energy that can be exploited. In parallel, we have the clean and renewable wind and solar sources. Both extraction technologies have already reached a higher maturity level and their use has been increasing in recent years. There is a great potential for large generation plants and also for small units to be installed in domestic homes or small consumption centers. For sure, there are other energy sources that could be included in the discussion.Any emerging country, like Brazil, needs to increase its infrastructure and reach a higher level of technological development. Among many factors, energy is one of the most important ones. A key issue with the energy production is its cost, and to reduce production costs, technological advances are needed. A promising emerging country can not rely only on foreign knowledge (technology) to build its infrastructure. Moreover, sustainable development can only be achieved when technological advances are promoted by its universities and research groups in a close collaboration with the industrial sector. For every energy type above discussed, even those with a higher level of development, there is still room for new discoveries, new applications and improvements, which must be relentlessly pursued by the Brazilian scientific community. We must have a commitment to the country's future.

Comparative evaluation of antimicrobial efficacy of triphala, assa-foetida and 0.2% chlorhexidine mouth rinses on salivary streptococcus mutans

Oral diseases, such as dental caries and periodontal diseases are major worldwide oral health problems. Poor oral health has a profound effect on general health and quality of life. Dental caries is still a major health problem in most industrialized countries, school-aged children and the vast majority of adults. Streptococcus mutans is considered as one of the most important cariogenic species of the human oral microbial flora. Studies have proved the association between S. mutans and dental caries. Traditional Indian system of medicine “Ayurveda” includes several important medicinal herbs, which are used since ancient days. Triphala, which has a wide range of systemic benefits, is one among them. Studies have shown that Triphala has good antimicrobial effects against S. mutans. Ferula assa-foetida (F.assa-foetida), is a large herbaceous perennial plant from the Apiaceae family. The properties of Assa-foetida according to Traditional Persian Medicine resources suggest it is very effective for relieving toothache. Different parts of F. assa-foetida have a wide variety of medicinal applications including antifungal, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, anti-mutagenic and anti-microbial effects. To compare and evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of Triphala, Assa-foetida and 0.2% Chlorhexidine mouth rinses on the salivary Streptococcus mutans level. Saliva samples were collected from children of age group of 5-11 years with a DMFT/def score ≥4 and with minimum of four active caries. Triphala and Asafoetida mouth rinses were prepared indigenously. Samples were plated on the culture media and then smeared on MHA media for assessing the antimicrobial efficacy against Chlorhexidine. The zone of inhibition was measured which showed the resistance against S.mutans. Results were statistically analyzed using one way ANOVA. Significant resistance was noted with asafoetida mouth rinse by measuring the zone of inhibition. Considering the results, Triphala and asafoetida mouth rinses serve as effective herbal mouth rinses for reducing the salivary Streptococcus mutans load and can be considered as an alternative to chemical mouthwash, like Chlorhexidine.