Relative Contribution of Blood Pressure and Renal Sympathetic Nerve Activity to Proximal Tubular Sodium Reabsorption via NHE3 Activity

We examined the effects of an acute increase in blood pressure (BP) and renal sympathetic nerve activity (rSNA) induced by bicuculline (Bic) injection in the paraventricular nucleus of hypothalamus (PVN) or the effects of a selective increase in rSNA induced by renal nerve stimulation (RNS) on the renal excretion of sodium and water and its effect on sodium-hydrogen exchanger 3 (NHE3) activity. Uninephrectomized anesthetized male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: (1) Sham; (2) Bic PVN: (3) RNS + Bic injection into the PVN. BP and rSNA were recorded, and urine was collected prior and after the interventions in all groups. RNS decreased sodium (58%) and water excretion (53%) independently of BP changes (p < 0.05). However, after Bic injection in the PVN during RNS stimulation, the BP and rSNA increased by 30% and 60% (p < 0.05), respectively, diuresis (5-fold) and natriuresis (2.3-fold) were increased (p < 0.05), and NHE3 activity was significantly reduced, independently of glomerular filtration rate changes. Thus, an acute increase in the BP overcomes RNS, leading to diuresis, natriuresis, and NHE3 activity inhibition.     

Superior Cerebellar Atrophy: An Imaging Clue to Diagnose ITPR1-Related Disorders

The inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate receptor type 1 (ITPR1) gene encodes an InsP₃-gated calcium channel that modulates intracellular Ca²⁺ release and is particularly expressed in cerebellar Purkinje cells. Pathogenic variants in the ITPR1 gene are associated with different types of autosomal dominant spinocerebellar ataxia: SCA15 (adult onset), SCA29 (early-onset), and Gillespie syndrome. Cerebellar atrophy/hypoplasia is invariably detected, but a recognizable neuroradiological pattern has not been identified yet. With the aim of describing ITPR1-related neuroimaging findings, the brain MRI of 14 patients with ITPR1 variants (11 SCA29, 1 SCA15, and 2 Gillespie) were reviewed by expert neuroradiologists. To further evaluate the role of superior vermian and hemispheric cerebellar atrophy as a clue for the diagnosis of ITPR1-related conditions, the ITPR1 gene was sequenced in 5 patients with similar MRI pattern, detecting pathogenic variants in 4 of them. Considering the whole cohort, a distinctive neuroradiological pattern consisting in superior vermian and hemispheric cerebellar atrophy was identified in 83% patients with causative ITPR1 variants, suggesting this MRI finding could represent a hallmark for ITPR1-related disorders.     

Time Resolved Infrared Spectroscopic Analysis of Aerosol Formed by Photo-Oxidation of 1,3,5-Trimethylbenzene and α-Pinene

Secondary organic aerosol generated from the photo-oxidation of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and α-pinene in a smog chamber was investigated. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) was used to monitor the time dependent change of five different functional groups in the aerosol (carboxylic acids, alcohols, organonitrates, ketones/aldehydes═carbonyls, and aliphatic carbon) sampled with an impactor on zinc-selenide discs. Based on model compounds for oxidation products of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene and α-pinene, calibration factors for the different functional groups were calculated, and relative molar fractions of the functional groups were estimated from the analysis of the FT-IR spectra of the smog chamber samples. We show chemical evolutions of secondary organic aerosol on a time scale of up to 20 h. Time series with up to eight measurements per experiment show a strong increase in the relative amounts of carboxylic acid groups and a moderate increase of alcohol and carbonyl groups, whereas the relative amounts of organonitrates and the aliphatic carbon decrease. These findings support the assumption that the chemical composition of the aerosol continues to change for a long time after the particle formation has considerably slowed down. According to these observed changes with time, average, sum formulas of the molecules in the secondary organic aerosol are suggested.     

Predicting odour emissions from wastewater treatment plants by means of odour emission factors

In this study, the results of odour concentration measurements on different wastewater treatment plants are presented and used in order to estimate the odour emission factors relevant to single odour sources. An odour emission factor is a representative value that relates the quantity of odour released to the atmosphere to a specific activity index, which in this case was the plant treatment capacity, resulting in an odour emission factor expressed in odour units per cubic metre of treated sewage. The results show that the major odour source of a wastewater treatment plant is represented by the primary sedimentation (with an OEF equal to 1.9 × 10⁵ ou_E m⁻³). In general, the highest OEFs are observed in correspondence of the first steps of the wastewater depuration cycle (OEF between 1.1 × 10⁴ ou_E m⁻³ and 1.9 × 10⁵ ou_E m⁻³) and tend to decrease along the depuration process (OEF between 7.4 × 10³ ou_E m⁻³ and 4.3 × 10⁴ ou_E m⁻³). In general, the OEFs calculated according to this approach represent a model for a rough prediction of odour emissions independently from the specific characteristics of the different plants.     

DISCRETE WAVELET TRANSFORM FOR DENOISING RAMAN SPECTRA OF HUMAN SKIN TISSUES USED IN A DISCRIMINANT DIAGNOSTIC ALGORITHM

In this work, we applied the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) method as a denoising tool for dispersive Raman spectra of skin samples, and we compared the results obtained with the low-order polynomial fitting in a discriminating model based on principal components analysis (PCA). We used a set of 50 Raman spectra of skin tissue fragments diagnosed as normal (N) (25 spectra) and basocellular cell carcinoma (BCC) (25 spectra). A denoising procedure using DWT and its inverse was employed, and the resulting spectra were compared to denoising using low-order polynomial fitting and adjacent averaging smoothing. The tissue spectral profile showed changes in the intensity of bands below 1400 cm^?1 for DWT compared to the denoising by polynomial and smoothing. By applying PCA and Mahalanobis distance in both groups processed, we verified that the filtering method does not alter significantly the discrimination of N and BCC tissues. However, the DWT denoising presented an interesting result, which showed the main components after decomposition of the Raman signal used in the reconstruction.     

Morphological description of the immature stages of Hermetia illucens (Linnaeus, 1758) (Diptera: Stratiomyidae)

In the dipteran genus Hermetia, only 6 of the 78 valid species have documented immature stages: H. albitarsis Fabricius, 1805, H. aurata Bellardi, 1859, H. concinna Williston, 1900, H. illucens (Linnaeus, 1758), H. panamensis Greene, 1940 and H. pulchra Weidemann, 1830. In particular, H. illucens stands out due to its reported applicability for forensic, medical and economic purposes. Here, we described the morphology of eggs and immature stages of this species, with a view to detecting differences between instars and in the pupal stage, which should eventually help properly identifying larval age. We utilized both optical and scanning electron microscopy tools. The eggs are elliptical and elongated, and color varies from cream white to yellowish. The larvae are apodal, hemichephalic and holopneustic, flattened dorso‐ventrally and may be recognized by the head elongated, dorsal and ventral chaetotaxy of the cephalic capsule, thoracic and abdominal segments, and the morphology of the anterior and posterior spiracles. The pupae are adecticous and coarctate, tegument dark brown and pruinescence varying from brown to golden. The overall morphology across instars is similar, but marked variations were observed in the shape of the antennal articuli and the shape of the setae (first instar compared to the others). Our results supplement the biological information on Hermetia illucens and should aid the proper identification and aging of juveniles in the field, as a way to minimize errors in the calculation of the post‐mortem interval.     

Development of a Four-Channel Potentiostat for Amperometric Detection in Flow Injection Analysis

Abstract

A four-channel multipotentiostat has been developed for simultaneous voltammetric measurements with microelectrode arrays. To reduce the complexity of electrochemical cell, only one reference and one auxiliary electrode are used. The potential ranges of the four working electrodes may be independently controlled, but they are synchronously scanned by only one DAC. This is accomplished through a microcomputer interfaced with a PCL-711B data acquisition board, which allows the continuous monitoring of the currents and actual potentials of the working electrodes.

The system has been applied to the simultaneous determination of ascorbic and uric acids in synthetic samples. The measurements were carried out with gold microelectrodes modified by deposition of noble metals, which enhance the electrocatalysis and provide an anticipation and a better definition of the oxidation potentials. Recuperation of 98.2% and 97.8% for ascorbic and uric acids, respectively, was obtained by using amperometry.     

Quantitative GC-ECD Analysis of Halogenated Metabolites: Determination of Surface and Within-Thallus Elatol of Laurencia obtusa

Information on natural concentrations or variability of secondary metabolites in marine organisms may be important both to ecological/evolutionary and applied approaches. A gas chromatographic procedure with an electron capture detector (GC-ECD) was developed to quantify the sesquiterpenoid elatol at the surface and within-thalli of 70 specimens of the red seaweed Laurencia obtusa. The concentration of elatol was highest within-thalli [9.89 mg g⁻¹ of L. obtusa, dry weight (d.w.)], compared to lower values found at the surface [0.006 mg g⁻¹ of L.obtusa (d.w.), or 0.5–10.0 ng cm⁻²]. This method provides a rapid and inexpensive quantification of small quantities of elatol, and probably may also be used to quantify other halogenated compounds usually found in red seaweeds.     

Influence of Testing Temperature on the Corrosion Behavior of API 5L X70 Pipeline Steel

It is known that localized corrosion attack takes a preponderant role in the onset of stress corrosion cracking of pipeline steels in high pH conditions. Carbonate/bicarbonate solutions can be employed to study the localized corrosion behavior of these materials. In addition to the presence of chloride ions in the electrolyte, the solution temperature is also of prime importance to the onset of pitting corrosion. The aim of this work is to evaluate the influence of the testing temperature on the corrosion behavior of the API 5L X70 pipeline steel which is a standard material for gas pipelines in Brazil. Samples were exposed to a solution consisting of Na2CO3, NaHCO3 and NaCl at three different temperatures： RT （room temperature）, 40 ℃ and 60 ℃. The corrosion morphology was observed using SEM （scanning electron microscopy）. The results showed that pitting corrosion became facilitated when the steel was immersed at higher temperatures.