Elm and maple processing rates : comparisons between and within streams

Leaf breakdown rates of two species of elm (Ulmus) and two of maple (Acer) were investigated in two low order streams located in Western Maryland, U.S.A., and in Northern Appenins, Italy. Within each genus of leaf, one species was Italian and one was American. The role of macroinvertebrate shredders in leaf processing was also investigated. In both streams within the same genus of leaf the Italian leaves disappeared faster than the American leaves. Within the same species, the leaves were decomposed more rapidly in the Italian stream. Shredder biomass was always significantly higher on the leaves retrieved from the Italian stream suggesting that shredders had an important role in detritus processing. On the contrary, the comparison between leaf species showed a poor correlation between shredder biomass and leaf breakdown rate. Three hypotheses are proposed. The fact that native leaves were not processed at a faster rate, compared to the exotic leaves, support the notion that shredders do not specialize on litter of a given leaf species, but rather on appropriately conditioned leaf litter regardless of the species. Breakdown rates followed the same rank ordering in each stream : Acer pseudoplatanus > Ulmus minor > Ulmus americana > Acer rubrum indicating the existence of the same hierarchy in the availability of food to macroinvertebrates throughout the year

Integrated microfluidic viscometer for edible oil analysis

Viscosity is a key parameter to discriminate origin, industrial/thermal treatments, and contamination of edible oils. For a number of applications, miniaturized, portable, and single-use tools to monitor oil quality on-field are advisable. Here we propose an easy-to-use, disposable microfluidic device to measure rheology and material properties of oils in extensional capillary flows. The integrated viscometer proposed is able to discriminate between pure oils of different origin and oils mixture. The device consists of a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) linear microchannel with an oleophobic functionalization, interfaced to an optical microscope, and a custom made software able to detect the capillary dynamics of the injected fluids. The microfluidic viscometer has been tested with commercial and home-made extravirgin olive oils, with sunflowers oil, with commercial frying oil and home-made mixture. The oleophobic coating, consisting of a fluoropolymer bonded to the PDMS through a protein adhesion layer, is needed to decrease oil adsorption during the flow and to reconstruct the capillary dynamics along the entire length of the microchannel. Beyond calculating absolute values of dynamic viscosity, the chip allows to separate and identify components in oils mixtures thanks to an accurate method of data analysis in the constant pressure region and a correlation with microfluidic viscosities of known oils

CAPILLARY VISCOMETER AND METHOD FOR ANALYSIS OF FLUIDS, IN PARTICULAR OILS

The present invention relates to a cost-efficient, portable and disposable device for monitoring the quality of the oil "on field" and represents a valuable alternative to expensive and less quick traditional systems. We believe that the herein described viscosimeter can be useful for monitoring the quality of cooking oils used in restaurants and public places wherein frying oils are repeatedly used, or when it is necessary to check and validate the oil excellence following the suspected addition of lower quality oils. In addition to the food sector, the invention can be applied in industrial plants for monitoring viscosity variations following chemical/physical treatments (as for instance for assessing the efficiency of regeneration processes)

Fusion Imaging and Virtual Navigation to Guide Percutaneous Thermal Ablation of Hepatocellular Carcinoma : a Review of the Literature

As medical imaging advancements have improved the detectability of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in early stages, the approach to percutaneous thermal ablation for curative treatment has concomitantly advanced. Although many centers are adopting cross-sectional imaging to guide percutaneous ablation, the majority of procedures are still performed under ultrasound (US) guidance worldwide. Challenges to ultrasound guidance may present due to relatively poor resolution particularly with small or isoechoic lesions, or due to intervening structures such as the bowel or diaphragm that obstruct lesional visualization. Fusion imaging (FI) systems have been employed to address these challenges. By merging or synchronizing the real-time images from US with a previously obtained cross-sectional study, FI mitigates the inherent limitations of each individual imaging modality and expands procedural feasibility and technical outcomes. This manuscript reviews the current literature on the use of FI during percutaneous thermal ablation of HCC