Search results for "FINE"

The Lewinskya affinis complex (Orthotrichaceae) revisited: species description and differentiation

2020

In a recent integrative taxonomy study, we verified that the previously accepted concept of Lewinskya affinis (≡ Orthotrichum affine) actually comprises a complex of sibling lineages encompassing both known, accepted species (L. affinis s.str., L. praemorsa and L. tortidontia), recovered synonyms (L. fastigiata and L. leptocarpa), and four species yet unpublished. In the present work, we present detailed descriptions of the previously identified species and the new species, L. scissa from the Canary Islands, and the North American L. arida, L. pacifica and L. pseudoaffinis. In addition, we provide a key to the species in the complex, and discuss the morphological distinction of the species …

Resource use of wood-inhabiting fungi in different boreal forest types

2017

Generalist species are usually widespread and abundant, and thrive in heterogeneous environments. Specialists, in turn, are generally more restricted in their range, and benefit from more stable conditions. Therefore, increasing human-induced disturbance can have more negative effects on specialist than generalist species. We assessed the specialization of 77 wood-inhabiting fungal species across seven boreal forest types and different substratum qualities. A significantly higher number of specialist species was associated with herb-rich forests and afforested fields than with managed coniferous forests and wood pastures, the number of specialists associated with natural coniferous forests …

Biorefinery process for hydrothermal liquefaction of microalgae powered by a concentrating solar plant: A conceptual study

2017

Abstract A conceptual analysis of coupling a concentrating solar power plant with a biorefinery process consisting in the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae to biocrude was performed. The configuration of the CSP-HTL plant was designed to allow continuous operation considering 10 kT of microalgae processed each year using, for the first time, a ternary nitrate mixture as heat transfer fluid and storage medium in the temperature range of 340–410 °C. With adopted models, the capital and operating costs of the solar plant marginally affect the minimum fuel selling prize (MFSP) of biocrude that decreases with the size of the solar field and of the thermal storage system provided that…

Fast pyrolysis of hot-water-extracted and delignified silver birch (Betula pendula) sawdust by Py-GC/MS

2017

The thermochemical behavior of birch (Betula pendula) sawdust both untreated and after various chemical treatments (hot-water extraction, delignification, and hot-water extraction followed by delignification) was investigated by pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS). In each case, major GC-amenable condensable products were classified into several compound groups, and the formation of these monomer-related fragments from feedstock samples with varying mass portions of the structural constituents (cellulose, hemicelluloses, and lignin) were determined at 500 °C and 700 °C at hold times of 5 s and 20 s. The formation of pyrolysis products was shown to be characteristically…

Application of linear friction welding for joining ultrafine grained aluminium

2020

Abstract Ultrafine grained (UFG) materials are of great potential in industry due to their enhanced mechanical strength and other promising features, such as ability to superplastic deformation or excellent corrosion resistance. Nevertheless, one of the main limitations lies in their low thermal stability, which leads to excessive grain growth at elevated temperature. It influences mainly further processes performed at high temperature, such as joining. It causes detrimental problems during conventional fusion welding, as significant grain growth is observed and therefore the advantages as a result of small average grain size disappear. Therefore, the idea of applying solid state joining pr…

A Mechanical Approach for Evaluating the Distribution of Confinement Pressure in FRP-Wrapped Rectangular Columns

2019

In recent decades, fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapping has become a common technique to retrofit reinforced concrete (RC) columns. Numerous research works have sought to verify analytically and experimentally its effectiveness in terms of enhancement of axial load bearing capacity and ductility. These studies highlighted that in the case of sharp-cornered sections, the maximum allowable confinement pressure is limited by premature failure at corners and, consequently, stress in the FRP, as well as the distribution of the confinement pressure, is not uniform. The prediction of this phenomenon is not straightforward, and existing theoretical studies propose complex numerical simulations, …

Antiepileptic drug reduction and increased risk of stimulation-evoked focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure during cortical stimulation in patients…

2017

Introduction: Stimulation-evoked focal to bilateral tonic-clonic seizure (FBTCS) can be a stressful and possibly harmful adverse event for patients during cortical stimulation (CS). We evaluated if drug load reduction of anti epileptic drugs (AEDs) during CS increases the risk of stimulation-evoked FBTCS. Material and methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we searched our local database for patients with drug resistant epilepsy who underwent invasive video-EEG monitoring and CS in the University Hospital la Fe Valencia from January 2006 to November 2016. The AED drug load was calculated with the defined daily dose. We applied a uni- and multivariate logistic regression model to estima…

Effects of gaseous and solid constituents of air pollution on endothelial function

2018

Abstract Ambient air pollution is a leading cause of non-communicable disease globally. The largest proportion of deaths and morbidity due to air pollution is now known to be due to cardiovascular disorders. Several particulate and gaseous air pollutants can trigger acute events (e.g. myocardial infarction, stroke, heart failure). While the mechanisms by which air pollutants cause cardiovascular events is undergoing continual refinement, the preponderant evidence support rapid effects of a diversity of pollutants including all particulate pollutants (e.g. course, fine, ultrafine particles) and gaseous pollutants such as ozone, on vascular function. Indeed alterations in endothelial function…

2019

Recent studies on extracellular RNA raised awareness that extracellular vesicles (EVs) isolated from cultured cells may co-purify RNAs derived from media supplements such as fetal bovine serum (FBS) confounding EV-associated RNA. Defined culture media supplemented with a range of nutrient components provide an alternative to FBS addition and allow EV-collection under full medium conditions avoiding starvation and cell stress during the collection period. However, the potential contribution of serum-free media supplements to EV-RNA contamination has remained elusive and has never been assessed. Here, we report that RNA isolated from EVs harvested from cells under serum-replacement conditions…

The more the merrier? Scoring, statistics and animal welfare in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

2016

Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) is a frequently used animal model for the investigation of autoimmune processes in the central nervous system. As such, EAE is useful for modelling certain aspects of multiple sclerosis, a human autoimmune disease that leads to demyelination and axonal destruction. It is an important tool for investigating pathobiology, identifying drug targets and testing drug candidates. Even though EAE is routinely used in many laboratories and is often part of the routine assessment of knockouts and transgenes, scoring of the disease course has not become standardized in the community, with at least 83 published scoring variants. Varying scales with diffe…