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

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)

Clinical and biochemical response to neridronate treatment in a patient with osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome (OPPG)

Osteoporosis-pseudoglioma syndrome (OPPG) is a rare autosomal recessive syndrome characterized by juvenile-onset osteoporosis and ocular abnormalities due to a low-density lipoprotein receptor-related protein 5 (LRP5) gene mutation. Treatment with bisphosphonates, particularly with pamidronate and risedronate, has been reported to be of some efficacy in this condition. We report on a patient with OPPG due to an LRP5 gene mutation, who showed an encouraging response after a 36-month period of neridronate therapy. We report a case of a patient treated with bisphosphonates. Bisphosphonates should be administered in OPPG patients as a first-line therapy during early childhood

Serum creatine kinase isoenzymes in children with osteogenesis imperfecta

This study evaluates serum creatine kinase isoenzyme activity in children with osteogenesis imperfecta to determine its usefulness as a biochemical marker during treatment with bisphosphonate. The changes of creatine kinase (CK) isoenzyme activity during and after discontinuation therapy were observed. These results could be useful in addressing over-treatment risk prevention. Introduction The brain isoenzyme of creatine kinase (CKbb) is highly expressed in mature osteoclasts during osteoclastogenesis, thus plays an important role in bone resorption. We previously identified high serum CKbb levels in 18 children with osteogenesis imperfect (OI) type 1 treated for 1 year with bisphosphonate (neridronate). In the present study, serum CK isoenzymes were evaluated in the same children with continuous versus discontinued neridronate treatment over a further 2-year follow-up period. Methods This study included 18 children with OI type 1, 12 with continued (group A) and 6 with ceased (group B) neridronate treatment. Auxological data, serum biochemical markers of bone metabolism, bone mineral density z-score, and serum total CK and isoenzyme activities were determined in both groups. Results Serum CKbb was progressively and significantly increased in group A (p < 0.004) but rapidly decreased to undetectable levels in group B. In both groups, the cardiac muscle creatine kinase isoenzyme (CKmb) showed a marked decrease, while serum C-terminal telopeptide (CTx) levels were almost unchanged. Conclusions This study provides evidence of the cumulative effect of neridronate administration in increasing serum CKbb levels and the reversible effect after its discontinuation. This approach could be employed for verifying the usefulness of serum CKbb as a biochemical marker in patients receiving prolonged bisphosphonate treatment. Moreover, the decreased serum CKmb levels suggest a systemic effect of these drugs

Frequency map analysis of resonances in a nonlinear lattice with space charge

Abstract In storage rings for heavy ion fusion beam losses must be minimized. During bunch compression high space charge is reached and the reciprocal effects between the collective modes of the beam and the single particle lattice nonlinearities must be considered to understand the problem of resonance crossing and halo formation. We show that the frequency map analysis of particle in core models gives an adequate description of the resonance network and of the chaotic regions where the halo particles can diffuse

Perturbation Theory and Control in Classical or Quantum Mechanics by an Inversion Formula

We consider a perturbation of an ``integrable'' Hamiltonian and give an expression for the canonical or unitary transformation which ``simplifies'' this perturbed system. The problem is to invert a functional defined on the Lie- algebra of observables. We give a bound for the perturbation in order to solve this inversion. And apply this result to a particular case of the control theory, as a first example, and to the ``quantum adiabatic transformation'', as another example.Comment: Version 8.0. 26 pages, Latex2e, final version published in J. Phys.

Nonlinear Dynamic System Identification in the Spectral Domain Using Particle-Bernstein Polynomials

System identification (SI) is the discipline of inferring mathematical models from unknown dynamic systems using the input/output observations of such systems with or without prior knowledge of some of the system parameters. Many valid algorithms are available in the literature, including Volterra series expansion, Hammerstein–Wiener models, nonlinear auto-regressive moving average model with exogenous inputs (NARMAX) and its derivatives (NARX, NARMA). Different nonlinear estimators can be used for those algorithms, such as polynomials, neural networks or wavelet networks. This paper uses a different approach, named particle-Bernstein polynomials, as an estimator for SI. Moreover, unlike the mentioned algorithms, this approach does not operate in the time domain but rather in the spectral components of the signals through the use of the discrete Karhunen–Loève transform (DKLT). Some experiments are performed to validate this approach using a publicly available dataset based on ground vibration tests recorded from a real F-16 aircraft. The experiments show better results when compared with some of the traditional algorithms, especially for large, heterogeneous datasets such as the one used. In particular, the absolute error obtained with the prosed method is 63% smaller with respect to NARX and from 42% to 62% smaller with respect to various artificial neural network-based approaches

A systematic review of interventions to provide genetics education for primary care

Main themes and categories derived from the analysis. Table showing the main themes and all categories of data included in those themes. (PDF 26 kb