Typically, coniferous sawdust from debarked stems is used to make pellets. Given the high lignin content, which ensures strong binding and high calorific values, this feedstock provides the best quality available. However, finding alternative feedstocks for pellet production is crucial if small-scale pellet production is to be developed and used to support the economy and energy independence of rural communities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFspp. are crops well adapted to adverse environments and have great economic potential. Their constituents, including fruits, cladodes, and flowers, have a high nutritional value and are rich in value-added compounds.
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May 2022
Hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and atherosclerotic lesions may cause inflammation, which leads to chemokine production and changes in vascular responses. Hyperglycemia can impair normal protein folding by producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) and interacting with various signaling molecules, resulting in the activation of ER stress responses, that stimulates NF-kB, which regulates the expression of numerous genes involved in inflammation and vascular remodeling. Our previous studies have shown that diosgenin has a protective effect against streptozotocin (STZ) - induced oxidative damage in rat aorta.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis paper focused on eggs enriched with omega-3-fatty acids with the aim of understanding if functional eggs were of interest to Italian consumers, and analyzing which characteristics of table egg quality, consumers' attitudes and socio-demographic characteristics affect the consumers' willingness to pay (WTP) a premium price for eggs enriched with omega-3-fatty acids. We performed an online survey on 312 Italian consumers. The analysis was based on the Tobit regression model.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPruning residues can have a high quality as feedstock for energy purposes and are largely available in Europe. However, it is still an untapped resource. Such scarce use is due to the need to optimize their supply chain in term of collection machines and the associate cost of collection.
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