Cardiovascular effects of the essential oil from leaves of Eugenia sulcata in spontaneously hypertensive rats

ABSTRACT Eugenia sulcata, Spring ex Mart, Myrtaceae, was collected in Restinga de Jurubatiba National Park (RJ, Brazil). Leaves from this species were submitted to hydrodistillation in order to obtain the essential oil. Sesquiterpenes were the main group found (58.2%), and β-caryophyllene was the major constituent (24.6%). Effects of this essential oil on hemodynamic and cardiovascular parameters were evaluated in spontaneously hypertensive rats and Wistar Kyoto rats. The essential oil significantly decreased the systolic (P<0.05) and diastolic (P<0.01) blood pressure in spontaneously hypertensive rats. It was also observed that the essential oil did not interfere with heart rate of rats. The present study reports for the first time the antihypertensive activity of the essential oil extracted from Eugenia sulcata leaves

Development of diagnostics for high-energy petawatt pulses

Applications accessed by high energy petawatt (HEPW) lasers require complete, single-shot characterization of pulse spatial, temporal, and energy characteristics. We describe techniques that enable single-shot characterization of the temporal shape and pulse contrast of HEPW pulses with >10{sup 8} dynamic range over a ns-temporal window. Approaches to measure pulse durations that span two orders of magnitude will be discussed. Finally, we describe a novel implementation of spectrally dispersed two-beam interferometry for measurement of the phase difference between two HEPW pulses. This technique can be applied to dispersion and B-integral measurements in a HEPW system, as well as to achieve precise timing of nanosecond pulses. Lastly, spectrally dispersed interferometry represents an ideal technique to enable coherent addition of HEPW pulses for production of ultrahigh intensities

Comparative study and anticholinesterasic evaluation of essential oils from leaves, stems and flowers of myrciaria floribunda (H.West ex Willd.) O. Berg

Myrciaria floribunda (H.West ex Willd.) O.Berg, Myrtaceae, popularly known as “camboim amarelo”, was collected in Restinga de Jurubatiba (RJ, Brazil). Leaves, stems and flowers were individually submitted to hydrodistillation, affording the respective essential oils. Monoterpenes were the main group of essential oils from leaves (53.9 %) and flowers (55.4 %). Sesquiterpenes were more representative in stems (72.2 %). 1,8-cineole was the major constituent in the essential oil from leaves (38.4 %) and flowers (22.8 %). The major constituent from stems was (2E,6E)-farnesyl acetate (19.9 %). To our knowledge, these are the first contributions for essential oils from stems and flowers of M. floribunda. It was also performed the acetylcholinesterase inhibitory bioassay of the essential oil from stems, flowers and leaves of M. floribunda. Flowers and leaves oils had an IC50 of 1583 and 681 μg/mL, respectively, being both low to mild values.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Laser coupling to reduced-scale targets at NIF Early Light

Deposition of maximum laser energy into a small, high-Z enclosure in a short laser pulse creates a hot environment. Such targets were recently included in an experimental campaign using the first four of the 192 beams of the National Ignition Facility [J. A. Paisner, E. M. Campbell, and W. J. Hogan, Fusion Technology 26, 755 (1994)], under construction at the University of California Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. These targets demonstrate good laser coupling, reaching a radiation temperature of 340 eV. In addition, the Raman backscatter spectrum contains features consistent with Brillouin backscatter of Raman forward scatter [A. B. Langdon and D. E. Hinkel, Physical Review Letters 89, 015003 (2002)]. Also, NIF Early Light diagnostics indicate that 20% of the direct backscatter from these reduced-scale targets is in the polarization orthogonal to that of the incident light

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Phenolic substances and cyanogenesis in galled and non-galled tissue of the fern species Microgramma vacciniifolia

Galls, neo-formed plant structures that can occur in different organs, are generated by species-specific interaction with an inducing organism. Inducers manipulate the metabolism of its host. Microgramma vacciniifolia (Langsd. & Fisch.) Copel. is a Neotropical epiphytic fern that hosted two stem galls, one induced by a midge species (Diptera) and other by a micromoth species (Lepidoptera). The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of these two gall-inducing insects on the biochemistry of phenolic acids and the cyanogenesis in galls, stems and leaves of M. vacciniifolia. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) indicated a total of 14 phenol derivatives, including caffeic and coumaric acid. Principal Coordinates Analysis (PCoA) of the phenolic substances indicated three groups consisting (1) non-galled stems and micromoth-induced galls; (2) midge-induced galls; (3) midge-induced galls with parasitoids. Regarding the frequency of cyanogenesis assessed by the picrate paper test, the chi-squared test showed significant difference between fertile leaves (8.3%), sterile leaves (27.7%), non-galled stems (0%) and galls. Among galls, only the midge-induced galls analyzed were cyanogenic (15%). Our results indicated that the different gall-inducers (midge and micromoth) promote species-specific alterations to the phenolic substance composition of the host fern

Petawatt laser and target irradiation system at LLNL

In May, 1996, we demonstrated the production over a petawatt of peak power in the Nova/Petawatt Laser Facility, generating 620 J in {approximately} 430 fs. Results of the first focused irradiance tests, and recent deployment of a novel targeting system will be presented