Comparative study of the mechanical properties of polyester resin with and without reinforcement with fiber-glass and furcraea cabuya fibers

A commercially available polyester resin was reinforced with cabuya fibers. The experimental variables were the fiber loading and the length of the fiber. Tensile strength, flexural strength, and the Izod impact resistance were measured for the samples and compared to the polyester resin performance without reinforcement. Mechanical properties of the cabuya fiber reinforced material were also compared with the same resin but reinforced with glass fibers. An increase in fiber load decreases the tensile strength for the cabuya reinforced composite, where a value of 52.6 MPa corresponded to the tensile stress of the resin without reinforcement and a value of 34.5 MPa for the best reinforcement achieved with cabuya. An increase in both fiber load and length increases the Young’s modulus of the cabuya reinforced material, and a maximum value of 2885 MPa was obtained. The Young’s modulus and impact resistance values for the cabuya composite (2885 MPa and 100.87 J/m, respectively) reached higher values than those obtained for non-reinforced polyester material (2639 MPa and 5.82 J/m, respectively), and lower than the glass fiber composite (5526 MPa and 207.46 J/m, respectively); while the tensile and flexural strength obtained for the cabuya composite (34.5 MPa and 32.6 MPa, respectively) were lower than the unreinforced (52.6 MPa and 62.9 MPa, respectively) and glass fiber reinforced polyester (87.3 MPa and 155 MPa, respectively).     

Beta-catenin defines head versus tail identity during planarian regeneration and homeostasis

After amputation, freshwater planarians properly regenerate a head or tail from the resulting anterior or posterior wound. The mechanisms that differentiate anterior from posterior and direct the replacement of the appropriate missing body parts are unknown. We found that in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea, RNA interference (RNAi) of beta-catenin or dishevelled causes the inappropriate regeneration of a head instead of a tail at posterior amputations. Conversely, RNAi of the beta-catenin antagonist adenomatous polyposis coli results in the regeneration of a tail at anterior wounds. In addition, the silencing of beta-catenin is sufficient to transform the tail of uncut adult animals into a head. We suggest that beta-catenin functions as a molecular switch to specify and maintain anteroposterior identity during regeneration and homeostasis in planarians.     

Metabolite Profiling of Rosemary Cell Lines with Antiproliferative Potential against Human HT-29 Colon Cancer Cells

Plant Foods for Human Nutrition - Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis) is a culinary and medicinal plant used in food and pharmaceutical industry. The wide range of biological activities is mainly...     

Seeding date influence on camelina seed yield, yield components, and oil content in Chile

Camelina (Camelina sativa L.) was introduced for the first time in Chile in 2008 as a potential feedstock for biodiesel and also as high omega-3-containing seed oil for the salmon feed industry. The objective of this study was to determine the optimum seeding date to maximize camelina seed yield in South Central Chile. The experiment was conducted under dryland conditions in Chillán, El Carmen, Los Angeles, Gorbea, and Osorno in 2008 and in Chillán and Los Angeles in 2009. The experimental design was a RCB with a split-plot arrangement with four replicates, where the main plot was the seeding date (five dates) and the sub-plot the spring type cultivars (Gold of Pleasure, Suneson, and Blaine Creek). Seeding dates at each environment were targeted to 30 April, 15 May, 30 May, 30 June, and 30 July of 2008 and 2009. The combined analysis of variance indicated no cultivar main effect or interactions with cultivar. The date by environment interaction was significant for seed yield. There were no seed yield differences among seeding dates in Chillán and El Carmen. The first three seeding dates were the highest yielding in Los Angeles and Osorno, and only the first seeding date was significantly higher in seed yield in Gorbea. Highest seed yield at Los Angeles, Gorbea, and Osorno were 1995, 1310, and 2314 kg ha⁻¹. Seed oil content was not different among seeding dates in Chillán and El Carmen. Highest seed oil content occurred at Osorno and Gorbea on the first three seeding dates and ranged from 420 to 457 g kg⁻¹. Spring camelina cultivars are well adapted to South Central Chile as a winter annual crop when seeded before 15 May except in Osorno when seeded before 30 May. No disease or insectpests were observed except for Aster Yellow infestation at Chillán and Los Angeles. Camelina has great potential as an oilseed for biodiesel and as a source of omega-3 for the pharmaceutical industry but markets for it need to be developed locally for camelina to become an option for growers.     

Enhanced resistance to bacterial infection byErwinia carotovora subsp.atroseptica in transgenic potato plants expressing the attacin or the cecropin SB-37 genes

Blackleg and soft rot diseases, caused by the bacteriumErwinia carotovora, are among the diseases that cause important losses in culture and storage of potato. In this paper, we introduced bacterial resistance into potato, via genes encoding for proteins with antibacterial activity. For this purpose, potato clones were transformed either with the gene encoding the acidic attacin protein fromHyalophora cecropia, or with the gene encoding the cecropin analog peptide SB37. These clones were evaluated for soft rot and blackleg resistance, after inoculation with the bacterial strainErwinia carotovora subsp.atroseptica T7. Results reported in this paper indicate that a considerable percentage of the potato clones (15–22%) showed increased resistance to bacterial infection, revealed by reduced severity of blackleg or soft rot symptoms. Expression of the transgenes was demonstrated in some of the clones by Northern blot analysis. This is the first report indicating that expression of the gene encoding for an attacin protein and for the cecropin SB-37 peptide in transgenic potato confers increased resistance to bacterial infection.     

Extreme resistance to infection by potato virus X in genotypes of wild tuber-bearingSolanum species

Summary Clones derived from thirty-one different accessions (nineteen of Argentine origin) belonging to eightSolanum species were screened for resistance to infection by potato virus X strain cp (PVX cp) by mechanical inoculation of plantlets that had been micropropagated in vitro. Estimates of PVX multiplication obtained by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and slot blot nucleic acid hybridization allowed the identification of resistant clones derived from five accessions belonging toS. commersonii S. oplocense, S. sparsipilum andS. tuberosum andigena. Resistant genotypes supported PVX concentrations 5 to 15 times smaller than did the susceptible control cultivar Spunta. Graft inoculation test confirmed the presence of extreme resistance similar to that conferred by the ‘immunity’ gene X¹ (also called RX_act).     

Unusual Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Egg Case of the Bolas Spider <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mastophora corpulenta</Emphasis> Banks (Araneae,Araneidae)

Bolas spiders of the genus Mastophora are very uncommon orb-weaver spiders, famous for their unusual predatory behavior. Being strictly nocturnal and very cryptic, they are extremely difficult to reveal, which explains their rarity in world arachnological collections. After a recent finding of an adult female of Mastophora corpulenta Banks (one of especially rare representatives of the genus), a few egg cases of this species became available, which seem to be very different from those of more common spiders due to their unusual hardness and coloration. We characterized some spectral, structural, and mechanical properties of this unusual silk material, by using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), 3D profilometer imaging, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). For comparison, similar studies were performed for egg cases of the Southern black widow Latrodectus mactans Fabricius, since spiders of the genus Latrodectus are known to produce silk fibers of comparable toughness. Some similarities were observed between the silks produced by Mastophora corpulenta and Latrodectus mactans in terms of the size and chemical composition of egg cases. At the same time, SEM imaging and AFM force characterization revealed striking differences between them, due to the fact that Mastophora egg cases, unlike those produced by more common Araneae species, includes a solid (fused) wall, lacking evident porous structure, which results in their outstanding stiffness and strength.     

Marine Pharmacology in 2009–2011: Marine Compounds with Antibacterial,Antidiabetic, Antifungal,Anti-Inflammatory,Antiprotozoal, Antituberculosis,and Antiviral Activities; Affecting the Immune and Nervous Systems,and other Miscellaneous Mechanisms of Action ?

The peer-reviewed marine pharmacology literature from 2009 to 2011 is presented in this review, following the format used in the 1998–2008 reviews of this series. The pharmacology of structurally-characterized compounds isolated from marine animals, algae, fungi and bacteria is discussed in a comprehensive manner. Antibacterial, antifungal, antiprotozoal, antituberculosis, and antiviral pharmacological activities were reported for 102 marine natural products. Additionally, 60 marine compounds were observed to affect the immune and nervous system as well as possess antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory effects. Finally, 68 marine metabolites were shown to interact with a variety of receptors and molecular targets, and thus will probably contribute to multiple pharmacological classes upon further mechanism of action studies. Marine pharmacology during 2009–2011 remained a global enterprise, with researchers from 35 countries, and the United States, contributing to the preclinical pharmacology of 262 marine compounds which are part of the preclinical pharmaceutical pipeline. Continued pharmacological research with marine natural products will contribute to enhance the marine pharmaceutical clinical pipeline, which in 2013 consisted of 17 marine natural products, analogs or derivatives targeting a limited number of disease categories.     

Anti HSV-1 Activity of Halistanol Sulfate and Halistanol Sulfate C Isolated from Brazilian Marine Sponge Petromica citrina (Demospongiae)

The n-butanol fraction (BF) obtained from the crude extract of the marine sponge Petromica citrina, the halistanol-enriched fraction (TSH fraction), and the isolated compounds halistanol sulfate (1) and halistanol sulfate C (2), were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on the replication of the Herpes Simplex Virus type 1 (HSV-1, KOS strain) by the viral plaque number reduction assay. The TSH fraction was the most effective against HSV-1 replication (SI = 15.33), whereas compounds 1 (SI = 2.46) and 2 (SI = 1.95) were less active. The most active fraction and these compounds were also assayed to determine the viral multiplication step(s) upon which they act as well as their potential synergistic effects. The anti-HSV-1 activity detected was mediated by the inhibition of virus attachment and by the penetration into Vero cells, the virucidal effect on virus particles, and by the impairment in levels of ICP27 and gD proteins of HSV-1. In summary, these results suggest that the anti-HSV-1 activity of TSH fraction detected is possibly related to the synergic effects of compounds 1 and 2.