Herbicidal activity of volatiles from coriander, winter savory, cotton lavender, and thyme isolated by hydrodistillation and supercritical fluid extraction

The volatiles from Coriandrum sativum L., Satureja montana L., Santolina chamaecyparissus L., and Thymus vulgaris L. were isolated by hydrodistillation (essential oil) and supercritical fluid extraction (volatile oil). Their effect on seed germination and root and shoot growth of the surviving seedlings of four crops (Zea mays L., Triticum durum L., Pisum sativum L., and Lactuca sativa L.) and two weeds (Portulaca oleracea L. and Vicia sativa L.) was investigated and compared with those of two synthetic herbicides, Agrocide and Prowl. The volatile oils of thyme and cotton lavender seemed to be promising alternatives to the synthetic herbicides because they were the least injurious to the crop species. The essential oil of winter savory, on the other hand, affected both crop and weeds and can be appropriate for uncultivated fields.

Digital radiology and Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS)

Plain radiography still accounts for the vast majority of imaging studies that are performed at multiple clinical instances. Digital detectors are now prominent in many imaging facilities and they are the main driving force towards filmless environments. There has been a working paradigm shift due to the functional separation of acquisition, visualization, and storage with deep impact in the imaging workflows. Moreover with direct digital detectors images are made available almost immediately. Digital radiology is now completely integrated in Picture Archiving and Communication System (PACS) environments governed by the Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) standard. In this chapter a brief overview of PACS architectures and components is presented together with a necessarily brief account of the DICOM standard. Special focus is given to the DICOM digital radiology objects and how specific attributes may now be used to improve and increase the metadata repository associated with image data. Regular scrutiny of the metadata repository may serve as a valuable tool for improved, cost-effective, and multidimensional quality control procedures.

Investigation of structural effects and behaviour of pseudomonas aeruginosa amidase encapsulated in reserved micelles

The acetohydroxamic acid synthesis reaction was studied using whole cells, cell-free extract and purified amidase from the strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa L10 and A13 entrapped in a reverse micelles system composed of cationic surfactant tetradecyltrimethyl ammonium bromide. The specific activity of amidase, yield of synthesis and storage stability were determined for the reversed micellar system as well as for free amidase in conventional buffer medium. The results have revealed that amidase solutions in the reverse micelles system exhibited a substantial increase in specific activity, yield of synthesis and storage stability. In fact, whole cells from P. aeruginosa L10 and AI3 in reverse micellar medium revealed an increase in specific activity of 9.3- and 13.9-fold, respectively, relatively to the buffer medium. Yields of approximately 92% and 66% of acetohydroxamic acid synthesis were obtained for encapsulated cell free extract from P. aeruginosa L10 and A13, respectively. On the other hand, the half-life values obtained for the amidase solutions encapsulated in reverse micelles were overall higher than that obtained for the free amidase solution in buffer medium. Half-life values obtained for encapsulated purified amidase from P. aeruginosa strain L10 and encapsulated cell-free extract from P. aeruginosa strain AI3 were of 17.0 and 26.0 days, respectively. As far as the different sources biocatalyst are concerned, the data presented in this work has revealed that the best results, in both storage stability and biocatalytic efficiency, were obtained when encapsulated cell-free extract from P. aeruginosa strain AI3 at 14/0 of 10 were used. Conformational changes occurring upon encapsulation of both strains enzymes in reverse micelles of TAB in heptane/octanol were additionally identified by FTIR spectroscopy which clarified the biocatalysts performances.