Catalytic bleaching of cotton: molecular and macroscopic aspects

The scope of this thesis was to investigate the possibility of low-temperature cotton bleaching employing dinuclear tri- -oxo bridged manganese(IV) complex of the ligand 1,4,7-trimethyl-1,4,7-triazacyclononane (MnTACN) as the catalyst in the system with hydrogen peroxide. With this objective in mind, the fundamental aspects of catalytic bleaching were studied both at molecular and\ud macroscopic level

Patterns of fungal diversity in needles, rootlets and soil of endemic Pinus peuce

Pinus peuce is a five-needle pine native to high-elevation montane habitats of the Balkans. This study aimed to assess the diversity and composition of fungal communities associated with soil, rootlets and living needles of P. peuce at three high-altitude forest sites with different edaphic conditions and stand characteristics in south-eastern Montenegro. In total, 90 samples of each substrate (needles, rootlets and soil) were sampled. DNA amplification using ITS2 rDNA as a marker and high-throughput sequencing resulted in 23,394 high-quality reads, representing 825 fungal taxa. There were 52.5% Basidiomycota, 43.9% Ascomycota and 3.6% Mucoromycotina. There were 118 unique fungal taxa in the rootlets, 230 in soil and 113 in the needles, and only 8 taxa were shared. The most common fungi in rootlets were Rhizopogon mohelensis (11.0%), Suillus americanus (8.4%), and R. fallax (6.9%), in soil - Phlebiopsis gigantea (5.1%), Tylospora asterophora (2.9%), and Sollicocossima terricola (2.7%), and in the needles - Dothideomycetes sp. (17.6%), Dothideomycetes sp. (10.7%), and Leotiomycetes sp. (6.5%). The results showed that functional tissues and the rhizosphere soil of P. peuce were inhabited by a high diversity of fungi. Fungal communities in the rootlets and soil were largely determined by the site conditions such as soil properties and forest stand composition

Comparative study of the phenolic composition of seeds from grapes cv cardinal and alphonse lavallee during last month of ripening

During the last month of ripening, the phenolic composition of seeds from two widely distributed table grapes, cv Cardinal and Alphonse Lavallee, was determined by HPLC/DAD/ESI/MS. Besides, the concentrations of nutrients in leaf blades of grapevine were measured. Generally, the most abundant phenolic in grape seed was gallic acid, followed by methyl gallate and monomeric flavan-3-ols. In comparison to Alphonse Lavallee, the amounts of phenolics were higher in grape seed of Cardinal, in which gallic acid glucoside was not detected. Among analyzed phenolics, the increase of gallic acid was evidenced in grape seed of Cardinal. The most of phenolics decreased during the last month of grape ripening, and some of them had no significantly different content. Results of bivariate correlations showed that the amounts of some phenolics in grape seed of Cardinal increased with increasing of the content of potassium and phosphorus in leaves

Strength Analysis of Eight-Wheel Bogie of Bucket Wheel Excavator

Crawler travel gear is a type of heavy vehicle propulsion that is commonly found in tanks, excavators, and specialized off-road vehicles. They have an advantage over wheels when it comes to robust vehicle weight distribution over soft terrain, and some disadvantages as well. They can damage paved roads and have complex design so, considering the enormous weight they must carry, their reliability must be determined and verified. The main parts of the assembly are the drive wheels, which move the crawler, and the supporting structure that holds four-wheel bogies and two-wheel bogies. In this paper, we present a methodology for FEM analysis of parts of an eight-wheel bogie according to DIN 22261-2 standard

Integrative taxonomy of root-knot nematodes reveals multiple independent origins of mitotic parthenogenesis

Open Access JournalDuring sampling of several Coffea arabica plantations in Tanzania severe root galling, caused by a root-knot nematode was observed. From pure cultures, morphology and morphometrics of juveniles and females matched perfectly with Meloidogyne africana, whereas morphology of the males matched identically with those of Meloidogyne decalineata. Based on their Cox1 sequence, however, the recovered juveniles, females and males were confirmed to belong to the same species, creating a taxonomic conundrum. Adding further to this puzzle, re-examination of M. oteifae type material showed insufficient morphological evidence to maintain its status as a separate species. Consequently, M. decalineata and M. oteifae are synonymized with M. africana, which is herewith redescribed based on results of light and scanning electron microscopy, ribosomal and mitochondrial DNA sequences, isozyme electrophoresis, along with bionomic and cytogenetic features. Multi-gene phylogenetic analysis placed M. africana outside of the three major clades, together with M. coffeicola, M. ichinohei and M. camelliae. This phylogenetic position was confirmed by several morphological features, including cellular structure of the spermatheca, egg mass position, perineal pattern and head shape. Moreover, M. africana was found to be a polyphagous species, demonstrating that "early-branching" Meloidogyne spp. are not as oligophagous as had previously been assumed. Cytogenetic information indicates M. africana (2n = 21) and M. ardenensis (2n = 51-54) to be a triploid mitotic parthenogenetic species, revealing at least four independent origins of mitotic parthenogenesis within the genus Meloidogyne. Furthermore, M. mali (n = 12) was found to reproduce by amphimixis, indicating that amphimictic species with a limited number of chromosomes are widespread in the genus, potentially reflecting the ancestral state of the genus. The wide variation in chromosome numbers and associated changes in reproduction modes indicate that cytogenetic evolution played a crucial role in the speciation of root-knot nematodes and plant-parasitic nematodes in general

Nursing Home Social Worker Preparedness for Serving BGL&T Residents

Current census data indicates that there are over 38 million Americans over the age of 65 at this time. (U.S. Census, 2010). It is estimated that as many as 3.8 million older adults in the United States identify as bisexual, gay, lesbian, or transgender. Though there is a growing body of literature on the needs and concerns of BGL&T older adults with regards to accessing health care services as they age, there is very little literature on how prepared providers feel to provide culturally competent care to BGL&T people. In an attempt to address this gap, this researcher conducted a survey with nursing home social workers in the state of Minnesota. Items on the survey addressed issues including: comfort working with bisexual, gay, lesbian and transgender residents, feelings about the importance of targeted outreach, and any outreach that was being done by the facility. The data collected indicated that though nursing home social workers feel comfortable working with BGL&T residents and feel that awareness of the unique needs and concerns of BGL&T older adults is important, there is a lack of consensus on the importance of targeted services and outreach. Key findings and recommendations for future research are also discussed

Inspiratory muscle training improves breathing pattern during exercise in COPD patients (letter).

The addition of IMT to a PR programme for selected COPD patients changes breathing pattern during exercise

System identification of R/C girder bridges based on field measurements and numerical simulations

U radu je dan pregled istraživanja provedenih u okviru NATO projekta SfP 983828. Predmet istraživanja je identifikacija parametara koji utječu na dinamički odziv postojećih armiranobetonskih grednih mostova, utemeljena na mjerenjima ambijentalnih vibracija i numeričkim simulacijama uporabom modela na bazi konačnih elemenata (MKE). U tu je svrhu instrumentaliziran most preko rijeke Bosne u blizini Sarajeva. Urađena su ispitivanja ambijentalnih vibracija i geofizička istraživanja. Rezultati su analizirani i urađen je poboljšani trodimenzijski numerički model koji uzima u obzir interakciju tla i konstrukcije, kao i interakciju gornjeg i donjeg stroja mosta. Razvijeni su modeli s projektnim parametrima i parametrima dobivenim mjerenjem. Urađena je komparativna ocjena razvijenih modela i verificiran model koji je imao vrijednosti dinamičkih karakteristika konstrukcije podudarne mjerenim vrijednostima. Rezultati analize pokazuju da je odgovarajuće određivanje krutosti stupova, kolovozne ploče i ležajeva ključni parametar za pouzdanu identifikaciju sustava.An overview of research performed in the framework of the NATO Project SfP 983828 is given in the paper. The scope of the research was to identify the parameters affecting the dynamic response of an existing R/C girder bridge, based on ambient vibration measurements and numerical simulations using finite element models (FEM). For this purpose, the bridge across the river Bosnia near Sarajevo and the soil surrounding the bridge were instrumented. Ambient vibration tests and geophysical investigations were performed. The results are studied and a refined three-dimensional (3D) FEM is developed that takes into consideration the soil-structure interaction and superstructure-substructure interaction. The FEM’s with designed parameters and parameters obtained by measurements were developed. The developed FEM models are comparatively assessed and FEM model with congruence between the measured and computationally predicted dynamic characteristics of the structure was defined. The results of the analysis show that the adequate determination of the pier, deck and bearings stiffness is the key parameter for reliable system identification