Extraction and Analysis of the Essential Oil of the Needles and Twigs of White Spruce Picea Glauca (Moench) Voss

Abstract

The constituents of the essential oil extracted from the needles and twigs of white spruce - Picea glauca (Moench) Voss -by steam distillation are analyzed by GC-MS and GC with authentic samples. The analysis allows for the Identification of 39 constituents.     

An anodic alumina supported Ni–Pt bimetallic plate-type catalysts for multi-reforming of methane,kerosene and ethanol

An anodic alumina supported Ni–Pt bimetallic plate-type catalyst was prepared by a two-step impregnation method. The trace amount 0.08 wt% of Pt doping efficiently suppressed the nickel particle sintering and improved the nickel oxides reducibility. The prepared Ni–Pt catalyst showed excellent performance during steam reforming of methane, kerosene and ethanol under both 3000 h stationary and 500-time daily start-up and shut-down operation modes. Self-activation ability of this catalyst was evidenced, which was considered to be resulted from the hydrogen spillover effect over Ni–Pt alloy. In addition, an integrated combustion-reforming reactor was proposed in this study. However, the sintering of the alumina support is still a critical issue for the industrialization of Ni–Pt catalyst.     

Modelling of hydrogen production in batch cultures of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter capsulatus

The photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodobacter capsulatus, produces hydrogen under nitrogen-limited, anaerobic, photosynthetic culture conditions, using various carbon substrates. In the present study, the relationship between light intensity and hydrogen production has been modelled in order to predict both the rate of hydrogen production and the amount of hydrogen produced at a given time during batch cultures of R. capsulatus. The experimental data were obtained by investigating the effect of different light intensities (6000–50,000 lux) on hydrogen-producing cultures of R. capsulatus grown in a batch photobioreactor, using lactate as carbon and hydrogen source. The rate of hydrogen production increased with increasing light intensity in a manner that was described by a static Baly model, modified to include the square of the light intensity. In agreement with previous studies, the kinetics of substrate utilization and growth of R. capsulatus was represented by the classical Monod or Michaelis–Menten model. When combined with a dynamic Leudekong–Piret model, the amount of hydrogen produced as a function of time was effectively predicted. These results will be useful for the automatization and control of bioprocesses for the photoproduction of hydrogen.     

Implications of short and long term (30 days) sorption on the desorption kinetic of trace metals (Cd, Zn, Co, Mn, Fe, Ag, Cs) associated with river suspended matter

The desorption kinetic of trace elements (Cd, Zn, Co, Mn, Fe, Ag, and Cs) associated with Loire river natural suspended particulate matter (SPM; 0.4-63 microm) was followed up on times varying from 0.5 h to 30 days, from SPM previously contaminated during 1 h, 24 h and 30 days. Long term sorption kinetics indicated that the difference between sorption occurring during the period 0-30 days (time investigated in this study) and the period 0-48 h (time often used for sorption experiments) ranges from few to 25% according to the element. Desorption kinetics show that, whatever the age of the complex formed during the sorption step, the release tends to equilibrium between complexed and dissolved elements equivalent to the equilibrium obtained for sorption after a given time. However, the time to get this equilibrium depends on the aging of the complex and on the element. All the above features indicate different types of complexes formation and strength of the binding according to the age of the complex and according to the element. Using a multi-compartmental model, simulating the transfer of metals between water and different types of particulate sites, the relationships between the parameters describing slow and rapid processes helped in explaining the "aging" effect observed.     

Remote-sensing reflectance of turbid sediment-dominated waters. Reduction of sediment type variations and changing illumination conditions effects by use of reflectance ratios

Variations of sediment type (grain size and refractive index) and changing illumination conditions affect the reflectance signal of coastal waters and limit the accuracy of sediment-concentration estimations from remote-sensing measurements. These effects are analyzed from numerous in situ remote-sensing measurements carried out in the Gironde and Loire Estuaries and then reduced and partly eliminated when reflectance ratios between the near infrared and the visible are considered. These ratios showed high correlation with the sediment concentration. On the basis of the obtained relationships, performing correspondence functions were established that allow an accurate estimation of suspended sediments in the estuaries from Système Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre, Landsat, and Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor data, independently of the date of acquisition.     

Preface: Volume 68, Number 3

Modern information systems rely more and more on combining concurrent, distributed, mobile and heterogenous components. This move from old systems, typically conceived in isolation, induces the need for new languages and software architectures. In particular, coordination languages have been proposed to cleanly separate computational aspects and communication. On the other hand, software architects face the problem of specifying and reasoning about non-functional requirements. All these issues are widely perceived as fundamental to improve software productivity, to enhance maintainability, to advocate modularity, to promote reusability, and to lead to systems more tractable and more amenable to verification and global analysis.The FOCLASA workshop was organized on August 24th 2002 as a satellite event of Concur'02 with the aim of bringing together researchers working on the foundations of component-based computing, coordination, and software architectures.This volume contains selected 12 papers presented at the workshop. They were reviewed by the program committee, consisting, besides the editors, of

• Rocco De Nicola (University of Firenze, Italy)

• Jos Luiz Fiadeiro (ATX Software and University of Lisbon, Portugal)

• Roberto Gorrieri (University of Bologna, Italy)

• Paola Inverardi (University L'Aquila, Italy)

• Joost Kok (University of Leiden, The Netherlands)

• Antonio Porto (New University of Lisbon, Portugal)

We would like to thank them together with the authors of the papers for their contribution to the meeting. We would also like to thank Michael Mislove for his help in editing this volume. Finally, we are grateful to L. Brim, M. Kretinsky, and A. Kucera for their help in organizing the workshop in Brno.     

Serine Racemase Deletion Affects the Excitatory/Inhibitory Balance of the Hippocampal CA1 Network

d-serine is the major co-agonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDAR) at CA3/CA1 hippocampal synapses, the activation of which drives long-term potentiation (LTP). The use of mice with targeted deletion of the serine racemase (SR) enzyme has been an important tool to uncover the physiological and pathological roles of D-serine. To date, some uncertainties remain regarding the direction of LTP changes in SR-knockout (SR-KO) mice, possibly reflecting differences in inhibitory GABAergic tone in the experimental paradigms used in the different studies. On the one hand, our extracellular recordings in hippocampal slices show that neither isolated NMDAR synaptic potentials nor LTP were altered in SR-KO mice. This was associated with a compensatory increase in hippocampal levels of glycine, another physiologic NMDAR co-agonist. SR-KO mice displayed no deficits in spatial learning, reference memory and cognitive flexibility. On the other hand, SR-KO mice showed a weaker LTP and a lower increase in NMDAR potentials compared to controls when GABA_A receptors were pharmacologically blocked. Our results indicate that depletion of endogenous D-serine caused a reduced inhibitory activity in CA1 hippocampal networks, altering the excitatory/inhibitory balance, which contributes to preserve functional plasticity at synapses and to maintain related cognitive abilities.     

Multiple transitions in poly(allylbenzene): 1. Thermophysical properties

Polyallylbenzene is a semicrystalline material the thermal behaviour and physical properties of which reveal several transitions. Thermal and differential calorimetric analysis have shown the influence of the history of the material about the glass transition and melting. Several techniques such as thermomechanical analysis, dilatometry and inverse gas chromatography give additional information for the unidimensional and volume behaviour of the polymer versus temperature.     

L'impact des relations interpersonnelles et familiales sur les personnes souffrant d'agoraphobie: L'état de la question.

Reviews the literature on the impact of interpersonal relationships, especially family relationships, on the development, maintenance, and behavioral treatment of agoraphobia. Interpersonal relationships seem to play some role in the agoraphobic pathology, mainly for the onset of agoraphobia and the presence of social anxiety. However, it seems that its importance is less than what has been suggested in the literature. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)