Thermodynamics and life

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/28638/1/0000452.pd

Single- and multi-photon excited fluorescence from serotonin complexed with B-cyclodextrin

The fluorescence of serotonin on binding with B-cyclodextrin has been studied using both steady-state and time-resolved methods. Steady state fluorescence intensity of serotonin at 340 nm showed ~ 30% increase in intensity on binding with Ka ~ 60 dm3 mol 1 and the fluorescence lifetimes showed a corresponding increase. In contrast, the characteristic green fluorescence (‘hyperluminescence’) of serotonin observed upon multiphoton near-infrared excitation with sub-picosecond pulses was resolved into two lifetime components assigned to free and bound serotonin. The results are of interest in relation to selective imaging and detection of serotonin using the unusual hyperluminescence emission and in respect to recent determinations of serotonin by capillary electrophoresis in the presence of cyclodextrin. The results also suggest that hyperluminescence occurs from multiphoton excitation of a single isolated serotonin molecule

Aesthetic and spiritual ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites

The range and use of ecosystem services provided by urban sacred sites has hardly been considered in studies of urban ecology, sustainability and human wellbeing. This paper examines the perceived ecosystem services supplied by green spaces or gardens associated with places of religious worship and appreciated by worshippers in a mid-sized town in South Africa. A questionnaire with open, closed and Likert scale questions was administered at 30 places of worship (25 with gardens and five without). Respondents identified a wide diversity of ecosystem services provided by gardens, with social ones being more recognized than ecological, and economic services the least. Approximately two-thirds of respondents visited a sacred site garden weekly or more often. The majority of respondents (96%) felt that a garden was necessary because it added to their feelings of connection with God, or helped them relax and so be better able to concentrate, and 54% stated that a garden enhanced their overall spiritual experience. Regression analysis revealed that aesthetic appreciation of a garden was significantly related to woody plant species richness, number and basal area in the garden. On the other hand, spiritual experience was positively related to woody plant basal area, but not species richness nor tree number. Neither size of the garden, nor number of years the respondents had been vising a particular sacred site had any influence on the rated spiritual or aesthetic experiences. These results reveal the widely appreciated ecosystem services provided by urban sacred spaces and their centrality in enhancing spiritual satisfaction for some

A survey of the land snails of the Karaburun peninsula, Turkey

Thirty-three species of land snails were collected during a survey of the calcareous areas of the Karaburun Peninsula in western Turkey. The first record of Pagodulina hauseri for Turkey is given. Also given is the first record outside of Chios of a specimen identified tentatively as Vitrea storchi . Anatomies of Microxeromagna lowei , Monacha ocellata and M. syriaca are discussed. A comparison of the shell dimensions of the Helix species of western Turkey, including those from the Karaburun Peninsula, is presented. An unexpected result of the survey was the failure to find Albinaria on the peninsula