Chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil from Satureja horvatii Šilić (Lamiaceae)

The present paper describes the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of the endemic species Satureja horvatii Šilić, collected in Montenegro. The essential oil was obtained from the aerial parts of the plant by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC–MS. From the 34 compounds representing 100 % of the oil, the major compound was the phenolic monoterpene thymol (63.37 %). The oil contained smaller amounts of g-terpinene (7.49 %), carvacrol methyl ether (4.92 %), carvacrol (4.67 %), p-cymene (4.52%), a-terpinene (1.81 %), borneol (1.58 %), a-thujene (1.56 %), b-caryophyllene (1.55 %) and b-myrcene (1.44 %). The antimicrobial activity of the essential oil of S. horvatii was evaluated using the agar diffusion and broth microdilution methods. The essential oil exhibited antimicrobial activity to varying degrees against all the tested strains. The maximum activity of S. horvatii oil was observed against Gram-positive bacteria (Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis) and against the yeast (Candida albicans). The oil exhibited moderate activity against the Gram-negative bacteria Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae and weak activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. This study confirms that the essential oil of S. horvatii possesses antimicrobial activities in vitro against medically important pathogens

VISUAL CAD-BASED MEASUREMENT AND PATH PLANNING FOR FREE-FORM SHAPES

Dimensional inspection of engineering components comprising free-form surfaces demands accurate measurement of a large number of discrete points, such that the actual shape may be fully characterised. This paper presents a methodology for measurement planning and collision-free probe path generation to perform measurement using a co-ordinate measuring machine. The measurement process involves the following main steps: registration, definition of measurement points, probe path generation, path optimisation and verification, and measurement. By employing the CAD model at every step, the implemented methodology maximises the measurement accuracy and achieves accurate control of the overall measurement process. In addition, the implemented tools for probe path simulation and verification provide a high level of confidence when dealing with complex engineering component geometry

Chemical properties of the cultivated Sideritis raeseri Boiss. & Heldr. subsp raeseri

Phytochemical analyses of the cultivated Sideritis raeseri subsp. raeseri in four different stages of flower development were performed. Traditionally used infusion and decoction were also prepared from aerial parts in full flowering stage, and analyses of active compounds and radical scavenging capacity were performed. The highest yield of the essential oil, obtained by hydrodistillation, was noticed in the full flowering phase (0.11%), with sesquiterpene bicyclogermacrene as the main constituent (42.5%). All examined extracts contained phenolic compounds and their amounts varied from 15.3 to 34.1 mg GAE/g DW. The amounts of total phenolics in infusion and decoction were similar (46.5 and 43.9 mg GAE/100 ml, respectively). LC-ESI-MS analyses of all samples allowed the characterisation of 22 phenolic compounds. Two dominant flavone glycosides, 4'-O-methylhypolaetin-7-O-[6"'-O-acetyl-beta-D-allopyranosyl (1 -> 2)-beta-D-glucopyranoside (17) and 4'-O-methylisoscutellarein-7-O-[6"'-O-acetyl-beta-D-allopyranosyl-(1 -> 2)]-beta-D-glucopyranoside (19) were quantified using HPLC. Moreover, the mineral content and the percent of transportation were investigated

Leder icke användarcentrerad systemutveckling till låg användbarhet?

Within system development users have rarely been involved or received much attention during the development. Most of the times, the primary focus within system development lies on insuring functionality, rather than making the system usable. The literature specifies that a non user-centered approach can contribute to a product with low usability, which can lead to an ineffective and unsatisfactory experience for the end users. The purpose of this thesis is to begin an investigation to see if the use of non user-oriented system development methods is a possible cause of low usability in the final system. To achieve the purpose of this thesis, we have conducted a case study. Within the case study we examined the usability of a time reporting system. The case study included seven minor studies; an investigation concerning the development of the system, an expert evaluation of the system, interviews and observations of users, developed paper prototypes and executable prototypes, both which user testing was performed on. The result of this study shows that by working with user-entered methods, the usability in the time reporting system increased after the design had been revised. This study is therefore another example of that systems developed with user-centered system development methods have higher usability than systems developed not user-centered.Inom systemutveckling har användare sällan varit involverade eller fått större uppmärksamhet under utvecklingsarbetet. Fokus ligger ofta på att systemet ska ha en viss funktionalitet snarare än att det ska vara användbart. I litteraturen anges att brist på användarcentrering kan bidra till en produkt med låg användbarhet, vilket kan innebära en ineffektiv och otillfredsställande upplevelse för slutanvändarna. Syftet med denna uppsats är att påbörja en undersökning för att se om användandet av icke användarcentrerade systemutvecklingsmetoder är en möjlig orsak till låg användbarhet hos det färdiga systemet. För att uppnå syftet med denna uppsats har vi utfört en fallstudie. Denna fallstudie innebar att undersöka användbarheten i ett tidrapporteringssystem. Fallstudien innehöll sju delstudier; en undersökning av hur utvecklingen av systemet gick till, en expertutvärdering av systemet, intervjuer och observationer av användare, framarbetade pappersprototyper och en framarbetad klickbar prototyp vilka bägge det utfördes användartester på. Resultatet av denna studie visar att användbarheten i tidrapporteringssystemet ökade efter att designen blivit omarbetad med hjälp av användarcentrerade metoder. Denna studie är därför ännu ett exempel på att system utvecklade med användarcentrerade systemutveckling-smetoder har högre användbarhet än system utvecklade icke användarcentrerat