Liquid and vapour phase of lavandin (Lavandula × intermedia) essential oil: chemical composition and antimicrobial activity

Essential oils from Lavandula genus and the obtained hybrids are widely used for different purposes such as perfume production in the cosmetic field and for its biological properties. This is the first study on the liquid and vapour phase of Lavandula × intermedia “Grosso” essential oil grown in the Lazio Region, Italy, investigated using headspace coupled to gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HS-GC/MS). The results showed the most abundant components were linalool and linalyl acetate, followed by 1,8-cineole and terpinen-4-ol, while lavandulyl acetate and borneol were identified as minor compounds, maintaining the same proportion in both the liquid and vapour phase. Furthermore, we tested lavandin liquid and vapour phase essential oil on gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli, Acinetobacter bohemicus, and Pseudomonas fluorescens) and gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus cereus and Kocuria marina)

Chemical investigation of a biologically active schinus molle L. leaf extract

The pepper tree Schinus molle L. is an evergreen ornamental plant belonging to the Anacardiaceae family, native to South America and widespread throughout the world. It has biological activities and is used in folk medicine. This paper aims to contribute to a deeper knowledge of its chemical composition and biological properties. S. molle leaf extracts were obtained by sequential extraction with solvents of different polarities and subsequently tested on the HL-60 human leukaemia cell line to define a possible cytotoxic activity. Among the investigated extracts, the petroleum ether extract revealed a high cytotoxic activity, and its chemical composition was further investigated. By a silica column chromatography, eight fractions were obtained, and their compositions were determined by GC-MS analysis. Compounds and relative abundance differed widely among the fractions; sesquiterpenes resulted the main component and alcoholic sesquiterpenes the most abundant

The Internationalization of Mexican Fisheries Companies and the Rise of Theire Exports to the Italian Market

Opening up trade under the guidelines of trade agreements is presented as an area of opportunity for Mexico to diversify markets.Reality demonstrates that U.S. and Mexico hold a large concentration of commercial transactions. In the case of fishery products, the European Union, particularly the Italian market is presented as a great potential to achieve this market diversification. Therefore, in this research the characteristics of the European market are analyzed. Their purchasing power and the advantages and disadvantages for Mexican exports, particularly those derived from fishery products.Keywords. Trade Agreements, International Business, EU, Markets.JEL. F13, F23, F15, D47

A hazard analysis method for systematic identification of safety requirements for user interface software in medical devices

© Springer International Publishing AG (outside the US) 2017. Formal methods technologies have the potential to verify the usability and safety of user interface (UI) software design in medical devices, enabling significant reductions in use errors and consequential safety incidents with such devices. This however depends on comprehensive and verifiable safety requirements to leverage these techniques for detecting and preventing flaws in UI software that can induce use errors. This paper presents a hazard analysis method that extends Leveson’s System Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) with a comprehensive set of causal factor categories, so as to provide developers with clear guidelines for systematic identification of use-related hazards associated with medical devices, their causes embedded in UI software design, and safety requirements for mitigating such hazards. The method is evaluated with a case study on the Gantry-2 radiation therapy system, which demonstrates that (1) as compared to standard STPA, our method allowed us to identify more UI software design issues likely to cause use-related hazards; and (2) the identified UI software design issues facilitated the definition of precise, verifiable safety requirements for UI software, which could be readily formalized in verification tools such as Prototype Verification System (PVS).- U.S. Food and Drug Administration(NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000016)Sandy Weininger (FDA), Scott Thiel (Navigant Consulting, Inc.), Michelle Jump (Stryker), Stefania Gnesi (ISTI/CNR) and the CHI+MED team (www.chi-med.ac.uk) provided useful feedback and inputs. Paolo Masci’s work is supported by the North Portugal Regional Operational Programme (NORTE 2020) under the PORTUGAL 2020 Partnership Agreement, and by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) within Project “NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000016”.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Broad Absorption Line Tidal Disruption Event iPTF15af: Optical and Ultraviolet Evolution

We present multi-wavelength observations of the tidal disruption event (TDE) iPTF15af, discovered by the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) survey at redshift $z=0.07897$. The optical and ultraviolet (UV) light curves of the transient show a slow decay over five months, in agreement with previous optically discovered TDEs. It also has a comparable black-body peak luminosity of $L_{\rm{peak}} \approx 1.5 \times 10^{44}$ erg/s. The inferred temperature from the optical and UV data shows a value of (3$-$5) $\times 10^4$ K. The transient is not detected in X-rays up to $L_X < 3 \times 10^{42}$erg/s within the first five months after discovery. The optical spectra exhibit two distinct broad emission lines in the He II region, and at later times also H$\alpha$ emission. Additionally, emission from [N III] and [O III] is detected, likely produced by the Bowen fluorescence effect. UV spectra reveal broad emission and absorption lines associated with high-ionization states of N V, C IV, Si IV, and possibly P V. These features, analogous to those of broad absorption line quasars (BAL QSOs), require an absorber with column densities $N_{\rm{H}} > 10^{23}$ cm$^{-2}$. This optically thick gas would also explain the non-detection in soft X-rays. The profile of the absorption lines with the highest column density material at the largest velocity is opposite that of BAL QSOs. We suggest that radiation pressure generated by the TDE flare at early times could have provided the initial acceleration mechanism for this gas. Spectral UV line monitoring of future TDEs could test this proposal.Comment: 20 pages, 12 figures, published in Ap

Preliminary Results from NEOWISE: An Enhancement to the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer for Solar System Science

The Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) has surveyed the entire sky at four infrared wavelengths with greatly improved sensitivity and spatial resolution compared to its predecessors, the Infrared Astronomical Satellite and the Cosmic Background Explorer. NASA's Planetary Science Division has funded an enhancement to the WISE data processing system called "NEOWISE" that allows detection and archiving of moving objects found in the WISE data. NEOWISE has mined the WISE images for a wide array of small bodies in our solar system, including near-Earth objects (NEOs), Main Belt asteroids, comets, Trojans, and Centaurs. By the end of survey operations in 2011 February, NEOWISE identified over 157,000 asteroids, including more than 500 NEOs and ~120 comets. The NEOWISE data set will enable a panoply of new scientific investigations

Inhibition of dengue virus replication by novel inhibitors of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and protease activities

Dengue virus (DENV) is the leading mosquito-transmitted viral infection in the world. With more than 390 million new infections annually, and up to 1 million clinical cases with severe disease manifestations, there continues to be a need to develop new antiviral agents against dengue infection. In addition, there is no approved anti-DENV agents for treating DENV-infected patients. In the present study, we identified new compounds with anti-DENV replication activity by targeting viral replication enzymes – NS5, RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) and NS3 protease, using cell-based reporter assay. Subsequently, we performed an enzyme-based assay to clarify the action of these compounds against DENV RdRp or NS3 protease activity. Moreover, these compounds exhibited anti-DENV activity in vivo in the ICR-suckling DENV-infected mouse model. Combination drug treatment exhibited a synergistic inhibition of DENV replication. These results describe novel prototypical small anti-DENV molecules for further development through compound modification and provide potential antivirals for treating DENV infection and DENV-related diseases