Luminescence and fluorescence of essential oils. Fluorescence imaging in vivo of wild chamomile oil

Essential oils are currently of great importance to pharmaceutical companies, cosmetics producers and manufacturers of veterinary products. They are found in perfumes, creams, bath products, and household cleaning substances, and are used for flavouring food and drinks. It is well known that some of them act on the respiratory apparatus. The increasing interest in optical imaging techniques and the development of related technologies have made possible the investigation of the optical properties of several compounds. Luminescent properties of essential oils have not been extensively investigated. We evaluated the luminescent and fluorescent emissions of several essential oils, in order to detect them in living organisms by exploiting their optical properties. Some fluorescent emission data were high enough to be detected in dermal treatments. Consequently, we demonstrated how the fluorescent signal can be monitored for at least three hours on the skin of living mice treated with wild chamomile oil. The results encourage development of this technique to investigate the properties of drugs and cosmetics containing essential oils

Assessing the impact of waves and platform dynamics on floating wind-turbine energy production

Waves have the potential to increase the power output of a floating wind turbine by forcing its rotor to move against the wind. Starting from this observation, we use four multi-physics models of increasing complexity to investigate the role of waves and platform movements in the energy conversion process of four floating wind turbines of 5–15 MW in the Mediterranean Sea. Progressively adding realism to our simulations, we show that large along-wind rotor movements are needed to increase the power output of a floating wind turbine; however, these are prevented by the current technology of spar and semi-submersible platforms. Wind turbulence is the main cause of power fluctuations for the four floating wind turbines we examined and is preponderant over the effect of platform motions due to waves. In a realistic met-ocean environment, the power curve of the floating wind turbines we studied is lower than that obtained with a fixed foundation, with reductions in the annual energy production of 1.5 %–2.5 %. The lower energy production is mainly ascribed to the platform mean tilt, which reduces the rotor's effective area.</p

Evidence That Ultraviolet Radiation May Depress Short-Term Photosynthetic Rates of Intertidal Ulva lactuca and Consumption by a Generalist Feeder (Clibanarius vittatus)

This article considers the impact of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the photosynthesis and consumption of intertidal Ulva lactuca, an important producer and food resource in many coastal ecosystems. Algal fragments were exposed in the laboratory to either UVR and PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) simultaneously or PAR alone. The rates of photosynthesis and consumption by a generalist feeder, the stripped hermit crab (Clibanarius vittatus), were then compared between the two treatments. In both experiments, the biological weighted values for UVR in the laboratory indicate that the experimental set-up provided a level of UVR exposure that would occur in the field. The results show that UVR exposure depresses the photosynthetic rates of U. lactuca at light intensities between 1118 and 2206 μmol m-2 s-1. UVR also reduced the grazing intensity of C. vittatus on U. lactuca with non-UVR-exposed algal pieces supporting about five times more consumption than exposed pieces. The relevance and implications of this study, however, are limited because the results have been obtained with short-term, simple experiments. Studies encompassing a longer time scale and the community of consumers (e.g. exposing both the algae and main consumers simultaneously to experimental UVR levels) are needed to elucidate whether the algae can offset UVR-deleterious effects through the induction of protective compounds and how these compounds and UVR exposure affects the activity of consumers

Biomimetic engineered muscle with capacity for vascular integration and functional maturation in vivo.

Tissue-engineered skeletal muscle can serve as a physiological model of natural muscle and a potential therapeutic vehicle for rapid repair of severe muscle loss and injury. Here, we describe a platform for engineering and testing highly functional biomimetic muscle tissues with a resident satellite cell niche and capacity for robust myogenesis and self-regeneration in vitro. Using a mouse dorsal window implantation model and transduction with fluorescent intracellular calcium indicator, GCaMP3, we nondestructively monitored, in real time, vascular integration and the functional state of engineered muscle in vivo. During a 2-wk period, implanted engineered muscle exhibited a steady ingrowth of blood-perfused microvasculature along with an increase in amplitude of calcium transients and force of contraction. We also demonstrated superior structural organization, vascularization, and contractile function of fully differentiated vs. undifferentiated engineered muscle implants. The described in vitro and in vivo models of biomimetic engineered muscle represent enabling technology for novel studies of skeletal muscle function and regeneration

Z-scores of fetal bladder distention for the antenatal differential diagnosis of posterior urethral valves and urethral atresia

Objective: To construct reference values for fetal urinary bladder distension in pregnancy and use Z-scores as a diagnostic tool to differentiate posterior urethral valves (PUV) from urethral atresia (UA). Methods: This was a prospective cross-sectional study in healthy singleton pregnancies aimed at constructing nomograms of fetal urinary bladder diameter and volume between 15 and 35 weeks' gestation. Z-scores of longitudinal bladder diameter (LBD) were calculated and validated in a cohort of fetuses with megacystis with ascertained postnatal or postmortem diagnosis, collected from a retrospective, multicenter study. Correlations between anatomopathological findings, based on medical examination of the infant or postmortem examination, and fetal megacystis were established. The accuracy of the Z-scores was evaluated by receiver-operating-characteristics (ROC)-curve analysis. Results: Nomograms of fetal urinary bladder diameter and volume were produced from three-dimensional ultrasound volumes in 225 pregnant women between 15 and 35 weeks of gestation. A total of 1238 urinary bladder measurements were obtained. Z-scores, derived from the fetal nomograms, were calculated in 106 cases with suspected lower urinary tract obstruction (LUTO), including 76 (72%) cases with PUV, 22 (21%) cases with UA, four (4%) cases with urethral stenosis and four (4%) cases with megacystis-microcolon-intestinal hypoperistalsis syndrome. Fetuses with PUV showed a significantly lower LBD Z-score compared to those with UA (3.95 vs 8.83, P < 0.01). On ROC-curve analysis, we identified 5.2 as the optimal Z-score cut-off to differentiate fetuses with PUV from the rest of the study population (area under the curve, 0.84 (95% CI, 0.748–0.936); P < 0.01; sensitivity, 74%; specificity, 86%). Conclusions: Z-scores of LBD can distinguish reliably fetuses with LUTO caused by PUV from those with other subtypes of LUTO, with an optimal cut-off of 5.2. This information should be useful for prenatal counseling and management of LUTO

Early stages of divergence: phylogeography, climate modeling, and morphological differentiation in the South American lizard Liolaemus petrophilus (Squamata: Liolaemidae)

This study examines the phylogeographic structure within the Patagonian lizard Liolaemus petrophilus and tests for patterns of between-clade morphological divergence and sexual dimorphism as well as demographic and niche changes associated with Pleistocene climate changes. We inferred intra-specific relationships, tested hypotheses for historical patterns of  population expansion, and incorporated ecological niche modeling (ENM) with standard  morphological and geometric morphometric analyses to examine between-clade divergence as indirect evidence for adaptation to different niches. The two inferred haploclades diverged during the early Pleistocene with the Southern clade depicting the genetic signature of a recent population increase associated with expanding niche envelope, whereas the Northern clade shows stable populations in a shrinking niche envelope. The combination of molecular evidence for post-isolation demographic change and ENM, suggest that the two haploclades have responded differently to Pleistocene climatic events.Fil: Fontanella, Frank M.. Morehead State University; Estados UnidosFil: Feltrin, Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Avila, Luciano Javier. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; ArgentinaFil: Sites, Jack W.. University Brigham Young; Estados UnidosFil: Morando, Mariana. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Nacional Patagónico; Argentin