稀释剂和载体

为了使农药的浓度降低到仅对靶标具有一定的毒性水平,需将其用惰性物质进行稀释,根据用途与需要加工成粉剂、可湿性粉剂、颗粒剂、乳油和悬浮剂等各种“农药制剂”。其中,在世界所有农药制剂产品中,粉剂和水分散性粉剂占有主要地位。为了制取这些制剂,往往用粘土及相关的水合硅铝酸盐矿物质为载体和稀释剂。这些矿物除了能降低农药浓度外,还可赋予农药一定的悬浮性和密度等。由于它们具有吸附能力,由此可使农药包含于它     

农药研究开发的前景和机遇

在世界范围内,农民和栽培者基本上依赖于作物保护化学品以帮助他们满足人们对粮食和物质(例如天然纤维)日益增长的需要.消费者继续寻找优质多种产品.在大战后年代里,农药界通过不断地将新的作物保护化学品引入国际市场,在满足上述需要方面起了重大作用.今天,有效的除草剂、杀虫剂或杀菌剂可与当代农民所遇到的几乎所有重要的问题作斗争.     

高温密封用新型耐油氟橡胶

汽车工业使用较小发动机的趋势,导致润滑油处于较高的操作温度环境中,特别在乡村,高速公路上的车速不受限制,在这样的状况下,油中存在的胺类添加剂(例如分散剂和腐蚀抑制剂)会缓慢地侵蚀传统的氟碳弹性体密封件,这种侵蚀结果使密封件变脆,最后损坏。在高温下多种腐蚀性发动机油中进行的实验室老化试验中,由偏氟乙烯、四氟乙烯和丙烯组成的新型氟碳弹性体显示出优异的老化性能。与传统的氟碳弹性体比较,其耐老化性能的提高归之于用丙烯取代了六氟丙烯。     

溶液老化对化学镀镍层耐蚀性的影响

化学镀镍液的老化能对其镀层性能产生重大影响。随着镀液的使用,硫酸盐、亚磷酸盐及其他盐都积累起来而开始影响镍、磷的沉积,从而使镀层的内应力、孔隙率增大而耐化学性下降。本文叙述了为使化学镀镍液老化对镀层性能的影响定量化而进行的一系列试验与结果,叙述了为确定亚磷酸盐、硫酸盐的影响而作的试验并对所观察到的变化提出可能原因。     

降低轮胎生热——轮胎工业正在应对的一项挑战

随着世界上第一辆轿车的发明 ,汽车制造商就面临着提供较以前四轮马车乘坐更加舒适的问题。第一辆轿车配备的是乘坐非常不舒适的实心轮胎。随着汽车工业的发展 ,对汽车的研究不再只集中于汽车和发动机的设计上 ,同时还重视对轮胎的开发。轮胎是汽车最重要的部件之一。轮胎的功能可以用以下特性来描述 :滚动、传动、转向、承载、吸收和耐久性。早期的汽车车轮只满足了滚动、转向和承载的要求 ,充气轮胎的发明是轮胎技术满足汽车化初期要求的一个重大突破。除了这些特性外 ,轮胎在滚动时的周期动态变形引起阻碍轮胎运动的阻力———滚动阻力 ,…     

Drought Stress Alters the Concentration of Wood Terpenoids in Scots Pine and Norway Spruce Seedlings

Drought is known to have an impact on the resistance of conifers to various pests, for example, by affecting resin flow in trees. Little is known, however, about the quantitative and qualitative changes in resin when trees are growing in low moisture conditions. We exposed Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Norway spruce (Picea abies (L.) Karst.) seedlings to medium and severe drought stress for two growing seasons and analyzed the monoterpenes and resin acids in the main stem wood after two years of treatment. In addition to secondary chemistry, we measured the level of nutrients in the needles and the growth response of seedlings. After the first year of treatment, drought stress did not affect the growth of seedlings, but in the second year, shoot growth was retarded, especially in Scots pine. In both conifer species, severe drought increased the concentrations of several individual monoterpenes and resin acids. Total monoterpenes and resin acids were 39 and 32% higher in severe drought-treated Scots pine seedlings than in the controls, and 35 and 45% higher in Norway spruce seedlings. In Scots pine needles, the concentrations of nitrogen and phosphorus increased, while magnesium and calcium decreased compared to controls. In Norway spruce needles, nutrient concentrations were not affected. The results suggest that drought stress substantially affects both the growth of conifers and the chemical quality of the wood. We discuss the potential trade-off in growth and defense of small conifer seedlings.     

Chemical analysis of volatiles emitted by Pinus svlvestris after induction by insect oviposition

Gas chromatography – mass spectrometry analyses of the headspace volatiles of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) induced by egg deposition of the sawfly Diprion pini were conducted. The odor blend of systemically oviposition-induced pine twigs, attractive for the eulophid egg parasitoid Chrysonotomyia ruforum, was compared to volatiles released by damaged pine twigs (control) that are not attractive for the parasitoid. The mechanical damage inflicted to the control twigs mimicked the damage by a sawfly female prior to egg deposition. The odor blend released by oviposition-induced pine twigs consisted of numerous mono- and sesquiterpenes, which all were also present in the headspace of the artificially damaged control twigs. A quantitative comparison of the volatiles from oviposition-induced twigs and controls revealed that only the amounts of (E)--farnesene were significantly higher in the volatile blend of the oviposition-induced twigs. Volatiles from pine twigs treated with jasmonic acid (JA) also attract the egg parasitoid. No qualitative differences were detected when comparing the composition of the headspace of JA-treated pine twigs with the volatile blend of untreated control twigs. JA-treated pine twigs released significantly higher amounts of (E)--farnesene. However, the JA treatment induced a significant increase of the amount of further terpenoid components. The release of terpenoids by pine after wounding, egg deposition, and JA treatment is discussed with special respect to (E)--farnesene.     

Pharmacological modulation of fatty acid desaturation and of cholesterol biosynthesis in THP-1 cells

In THP-1 cells, simvastatin decreases, in a concentration-dependent manner, cholesterol synthesis and increases linoleic acid (LA) conversion to its long-chain derivatives, in particular to arachidonic acid, activating Δ6 and Δ5 fatty acid (FA) desaturases. The intermediates in cholesterol synthesis, mevalonate and geranylgeraniol, partially reverse the effects of simvastatin on the LA conversion. The aims of this work were to evaluate: (i) the correlation between cholesterol synthesis and desaturase activity and (ii) the possible involvement of protein isoprenylation in desaturase activity, assessed through pharmacological treatments. THP-1 cells were incubated with [1-¹⁴C]LA or with [1-¹⁴C]di-homo-γ-linolenic acid (DHGLA) and treated with simvastatin or with curcumin and nicardipine, inhibitors of desaturases. Curcumin was more active than nicardipine in inhibiting LA and DHGLA conversion: 20 μM curcumin, alone or with simvastatin, totally inhibited Δ6 and Δ5 desaturation steps; 10 μM nicardipine only partially inhibited the enzymes, being more active on Δ5 desaturase. Simvastatin treatment decreased the incorporation of acetate in cholesterol (−93.8%) and cholesterol esters (−70.2%), as expected. Curcumin and nicardipine also decreased cholesterol synthesis and potentiated simvastatin. Finally, the isoprenylation inhibitors (perillic acid and GGTI-286) neither affected the conversion of LA nor inhibited the Δ5 desaturase activity. In conclusion, our results indicate that there is no direct relationship between cholesterol synthesis and desaturase activity. In fact, simvastatin decreased cholesterol synthesis and enhanced LA conversion (mainly Δ5 desaturation), whereas curcumin and nicardipin decreased Δ5 desaturation, with a limited effect on cholesterol synthesis.     

Antagonism of croton oil inflammation by topical emu oil in CD-1 mice

Emu oil is derived from the emu (Dromaius novaehollandiae), which originated in Australia, and has been reported to have anti-inflammatory properties. Inflammation was induced in anesthetized CD-1 mice by applying 50 μL of 2% croton oil to the inner surface of the left ear. After 2 h, the area was treated with 5μL of emu, fish, flaxseed, olive, or liquified chicken fat, or left untreated. Animals were euthanized at 6 h postapplication of different oils, and earplugs (FP) and plasma samples were collected. Inflammation was evaluated by change in earlobe thickness, increase in weight of EP tissue (compared to the untreated ear), and induction in cytokines interleukin (IL)-1α and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) in EP homogenates. Al-though reductions relative to control (croton oil) were noted for all treatments, auricular thickness and EP weights were, significantly reduced (−72 and −71%, respectively) only in the emu oil-treated group. IL-1α levels in homogenates of auricular tissue were significantly reduced in the fish oil (−57%) and emu oil (−70%) groups relative to the control group. The cytokine TNF-α from auricular homogenates was significantly reduced in the olive oil (−52%) and emu oil (−60%) treatment groups relative to the control group. Plasma cytokine levels were not changed by croton oil treatment. Although auricular thickness and weight were significantly correlated with each other (r=0.750, P<0.003), auricular thickness but not weight was significantly correlated with cytokine IL-1α (r=0.750, P<0.006) and TNF-α (r=0.690, P<0.02). These studies indicate that topical emu oil has anti-inflammatory properties in the CD-1 mouse that are associated with decreased auricular thickness and weight, and with the cytokines IL-1α and TNF-α.