Phytochemical study of Mikania pseudohoffmanianna G. M. Barroso ex W. C. Holmes

O fracionamento dos extratos diclorometânico e metanólico das partes aéreas de Mikania pseudohoffmanniana G. M. Barroso ex W. C. Holmes resultou na identificação de 16 substâncias: os esteróides: campesterol, estigmasterol e beta-sitosterol; os diterpenos: ácido ent-15beta-E-cinamoiloxi-caur-16-en-19-óico, ácido ent-15beta-Z-cinamoiloxi-caur-16-en-19-óico e ácido ent-caur-16-en-19-óico; os triterpenos: alfa-amirina, beta-amirina, acetato de alfa-amirina, acetato de beta-amirina, lupeol, acetato de lupeol e friedelina; a cumarina: escopoletina; o flavonóide: quercetina e o derivado do ácido cafeoilquínico: 4,5-di-O-[E] -cafeoilquínico.This work describes the fractionation of methanol and dichloromethane extracts of aerial parts from the Mikania pseudohoffmanniana G. M. Barroso ex W. C. Holmes. The phytochemical study of extracts led to isolation and the identification of 16 known compounds, including: steroids: campesterol, stigmasterol and beta-sitosterol, diterpenes: ent-15beta-E-cinnamoyloxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid, ent-15beta-Z-cinnamoyloxy-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid and ent-kaur-16-en-19-oic acid, triterpenes: alpha-amyrin, beta-amyrin, alpha-amyrin acetate, beta-amyrin acetate, lupeol, lupeol acetate and friedelin, coumarin: scopoletin, flavonoid: quercetin and caffeoyl quinic acid derivative: 4,5-di-O-[E]-caffeoyl quinic acid

Detection of flavonoids in glandular trichomes of Chromolaena species (Eupatorieae, Asteraceae) by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography

Neste trabalho 12 flavonóides foram detectados nos tricomas glandulares de duas espécies de Chromolaena através do emprego da técnica de microamostragem de tricomas glandulares, associada à análise por CLAE. Esta é a primeira vez que se relata o acúmulo de flavonóides em tricomas glandulares no gênero. Com base nos resultados obtidos, podemos sugerir que esta técnica pode ser uma ferramenta útil na busca de substâncias com propriedades medicinais e em estudos quimiotaxonômicos de Eupatorieae.In this work, twelve flavonoids were detected in glandular trichomes of two species of Chromolaena through the glandular microsampling technique and HPLC-UV-DAD analysis. This is the first time that the accumulation of flavonoids in glandular trichomes of the genus Chromolaena is reported. Based on the results, we suggest that this technique can be an useful tool in the search of new compounds with medicinal properties as well as in chemotaxonomic studies of Eupatorieae

Atividade antimicrobiana de flavonóides e esteróides isolados de duas espécies de Chromolaena

Os extratos diclorometânicos e etanólicos de folhas e caule de Chromolaena squalida e de folhas e flores de Chromolaena hirsuta foram avaliados quanto à atividade antimicrobiana. Oito flavonóides e cinco esteróides foram desafiados frente a 22 cepas indicadoras, incluindo bactérias (Gram-positivas e Gram-negativas) e leveduras. Todos os extratos brutos, flavonóides e esteróides ensaiados mostraram atividade antimicrobiana, principalmente frente a bactérias Gram-positivas.The crude extracts (dichloromethanic and ethanolic) and some compounds (8 flavonoids and 5 steroids) isolated from Chromolaena squalida (leaves and stems) and Chromolaena hirsuta (leaves and flowers) have been evaluated against 22 strains of microorganisms including bacteria (Gram-positive and Gram-negative) and yeasts. All crude extracts, flavonoids and steroids evaluated have been shown actives, mainly against Gram-positive bacteria

Preservation of phenolic compounds on dried leaf infusion of Bauhinia forficata Link

Bauhinia forficata Link aqueous extract is usually recommended as a phytomedicine to reduce blood glucose levels and its biological activity has been linked to the presence of phenolic compounds from B. forficata preparations. Several drying processes are used in the production of dry herbal extracts, which may influence the chemical composition and efficacy of final herbal medicines. Due to significant chemical changes, defining appropriate drying processes is essential for phytopharmaceutical drug development. In view of this, we analyzed dried B. forficata leaf infusion (BFLI) extracts by HPLC-UV-MSn, followed by molecular networking analysis to evaluate the chemical profiles from dried extracts yielded by freeze-and spray-drying processes. The main metabolites detected included 11 ferulic/isoferulic acid derivatives and 13 glycosylated flavonoids. The qualitative chemical profiles were alike for both drying processes, whereas the relative abundance of some flavonoids was higher using spray-drying. Taken together, our results showed that freeze-and spray-drying preserved the phenolic profile of BFLI and suggested that spray-drying may be the most suitable to obtain its dried products. Along with studying the chemical profiles of dried herbal extracts, evaluating the influence of drying processes on the quality and chemical profiles of final products is pivotal and may benefit future research

A PM10 chemically characterised nation-wide dataset for Italy. Geographical influence on urban air pollution and source apportionment

: Urban textures of the Italian cities are peculiarly shaped by the local geography generating similarities among cities placed in different regions but comparable topographical districts. This suggested the following scientific question: can such different topographies generate significant differences on the PM10 chemical composition at Italian urban sites that share similar geography despite being in different regions? To investigate whether such communalities can be found and are applicable at Country-scale, we propose here a novel methodological approach. A dataset comprising season-averages of PM10 mass concentration and chemical composition data was built, covering the decade 2005-2016 and referring to urban sites only (21 cities). Statistical analyses, estimation of missing data, identification of latent clusters and source apportionment modelling by Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) were performed on this unique dataset. The first original result is the demonstration that a dataset with atypical time resolution can be successfully exploited as an input matrix for PMF obtaining Country-scale representative chemical profiles, whose physical consistency has been assessed by different tests of modelling performance. Secondly, this dataset can be considered a reference repository of season averages of chemical species over the Italian territory and the chemical profiles obtained by PMF for urban Italian agglomerations could contribute to emission repositories. These findings indicate that our approach is powerful, and it could be further employed with datasets typically available in the air pollution monitoring networks

A neural tracking and motor control approach to improve rehabilitation of upper limb movements

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Restoration of upper limb movements in subjects recovering from stroke is an essential keystone in rehabilitative practices. Rehabilitation of arm movements, in fact, is usually a far more difficult one as compared to that of lower extremities. For these reasons, researchers are developing new methods and technologies so that the rehabilitative process could be more accurate, rapid and easily accepted by the patient. This paper introduces the proof of concept for a new non-invasive FES-assisted rehabilitation system for the upper limb, called smartFES (sFES), where the electrical stimulation is controlled by a biologically inspired neural inverse dynamics model, fed by the kinematic information associated with the execution of a planar goal-oriented movement. More specifically, this work details two steps of the proposed system: an <it>ad hoc </it>markerless motion analysis algorithm for the estimation of kinematics, and a neural controller that drives a synthetic arm. The vision of the entire system is to acquire kinematics from the analysis of video sequences during planar arm movements and to use it together with a neural inverse dynamics model able to provide the patient with the electrical stimulation patterns needed to perform the movement with the assisted limb.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The markerless motion tracking system aims at localizing and monitoring the arm movement by tracking its silhouette. It uses a specifically designed motion estimation method, that we named Neural Snakes, which predicts the arm contour deformation as a first step for a silhouette extraction algorithm. The starting and ending points of the arm movement feed an Artificial Neural Controller, enclosing the muscular Hill's model, which solves the inverse dynamics to obtain the FES patterns needed to move a simulated arm from the starting point to the desired point. Both position error with respect to the requested arm trajectory and comparison between curvature factors have been calculated in order to determine the accuracy of the system.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The proposed method has been tested on real data acquired during the execution of planar goal-oriented arm movements. Main results concern the capability of the system to accurately recreate the movement task by providing a synthetic arm model with the stimulation patterns estimated by the inverse dynamics model. In the simulation of movements with a length of ± 20 cm, the model has shown an unbiased angular error, and a mean (absolute) position error of about 1.5 cm, thus confirming the ability of the system to reliably drive the model to the desired targets. Moreover, the curvature factors of the factual human movements and of the reconstructed ones are similar, thus encouraging future developments of the system in terms of reproducibility of the desired movements.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A novel FES-assisted rehabilitation system for the upper limb is presented and two parts of it have been designed and tested. The system includes a markerless motion estimation algorithm, and a biologically inspired neural controller that drives a biomechanical arm model and provides the stimulation patterns that, in a future development, could be used to drive a smart Functional Electrical Stimulation system (sFES). The system is envisioned to help in the rehabilitation of post stroke hemiparetic patients, by assisting the movement of the paretic upper limb, once trained with a set of movements performed by the therapist or in virtual reality. Future work will include the application and testing of the stimulation patterns in real conditions.</p

two software tools for facilitating the choice of ground source heat pumps by stakeholders and designers

For promoting the diffusion of GSHP and making the technology more accessible to the general public, in the H2020 research project "CHeap and Efficient APplication of reliable Ground Source Heat exchangers and PumpS" (acronym Cheap-GSHPs) a tool for sizing these systems has been developed, as well as a Decision Support System (DSS) able to assist the user in the preliminary design of the most suitable configuration. For all these tools a common platform has been carried out considering climatic conditions, energy demand of buildings, ground thermal properties, heat pump solutions repository, as well as renewable energy database to use in synergy with the GSHPs. Since the aims of the tools are different, there are different approaches. The design tool is mainly addressed to designers. The calculation may be done in two ways: with a simplified method based on the ASHRAE approach and with a detailed calculation based on the numerical tool CaRM (Capacity-Resistance method). The DSS final aim is to support decision-making, by providing the stakeholders at all the level with a series of scenario. The Cheap-GSHPs project has developed a DSS tool aimed at accelerating the decision-making process of designers and building owners as well as increasing market share of the Cheap-GSHPs technologies. Hence the DSS generates different possible solutions based on a defined general problem, identifying the optimal solution. Both tools are presented in the paper, showing the potentialities provided by both software

Results of the first European Source Apportionment intercomparison for Receptor and Chemical Transport Models

In this study, the performance of the source apportionment model applications were evaluated by comparing the model results provided by 44 participants adopting a methodology based on performance indicators: z-scores and RMSEu, with pre-established acceptability criteria. Involving models based on completely different and independent input data, such as receptor models (RMs) and chemical transport models (CTMs), provided a unique opportunity to cross-validate them. In addition, comparing the modelled source chemical profiles, with those measured directly at the source contributed to corroborate the chemical profile of the tested model results. The most used RM was EPA- PMF5. RMs showed very good performance for the overall dataset (91% of z-scores accepted) and more difficulties are observed with SCE time series (72% of RMSEu accepted). Industry resulted the most problematic source for RMs due to the high variability among participants. Also the results obtained with CTMs were quite comparable to their ensemble reference using all models for the overall average (>92% of successful z-scores) while the comparability of the time series is more problematic (between 58% and 77% of the candidates’ RMSEu are accepted). In the CTM models a gap was observed between the sum of source contributions and the gravimetric PM10 mass likely due to PM underestimation in the base case. Interestingly, when only the tagged species CTM results were used in the reference, the differences between the two CTM approaches (brute force and tagged species) were evident. In this case the percentage of candidates passing the z-score and RMSEu tests were only 50% and 86%, respectively. CTMs showed good comparability with RMs for the overall dataset (83% of the z-scores accepted), more differences were observed when dealing with the time series of the single source categories. In this case the share of successful RMSEu was in the range 25% - 34%.JRC.C.5-Air and Climat