In vitro activity of essential oils of Lippia sidoides and Lippia gracilis and their major chemical components against Thielaviopsis paradoxa, causal agent of stem bleeding in coconut palms

Essential oils of Lippia sidoides, Lippia gracilis and their main chemical components were investigated for in vitro control of Thielaviopsis paradoxa. Mycelial growth and a number of pathogen conidia were inhibited by the essential oil of L. sidoides at all concentrations tested (0.2; 0.5; 1.0; 3.0 µL mL-1). L. sidoides oil contained 42.33% thymol and 4.56% carvacrol, while L. gracilis oil contained 10% thymol and 41.7% carvacrol. Mycelial growth and conidial production of T. paradoxa were completely inhibited by thymol at a 0.3 µL m-1 concentration. The results suggest that thymol could potentially be used for controlling coconut stem bleeding.

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectral components of spin-labeled lipids in saturated phospholipid bilayers: effect of cholesterol

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to study the main structural accommodations of spin labels in bilayers of saturated phosphatidylcholines with acyl chain lengths ranging from 16 to 22 carbon atoms. EPR spectra allowed the identification of two distinct spectral components in thermodynamic equilibrium at temperatures below and above the main phase transition. An accurate analysis of EPR spectra, using two fitting programs, enabled determination of the thermodynamic profile for these major probe accommodations. Focusing the analysis on two-component EPR spectra of a spin-labeled lipid, the influence of 40 mol % cholesterol in DPPC was studied.

VOLATILE COMPONENTS FROM GALLS INDUCED BY Baccharopelma dracunculifoliae(Hemiptera: Psyllidae) ON LEAVES OF Baccharis dracunculifolia(Asteraceae)

The volatile components of the galls induced by the insect Baccharopelma dracunculifoliae (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) on leaves of Baccharis dracunculifolia (Asteraceae) were analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and gas chromatographyflame- ionisation detection (GC-FID), and then comparison with volatile oil samples from healthy leaves collected in the vicinity. The galls produced around 3.5% of the total organic volatiles whereas healthy leaves rendered an average yield of 0.6%. The observed higher proportions of germacrene D, bicyclogermacrene, limonene, and β-pinene in the galls suggest that all these compounds are important targets in the search for natural enemies of this Psyllid. Moreover, higher relative percentages of (E)-nerolidol and spathulenol were found in healthy leaves.

Components of customer value in nurse call solutions

This study aimed to identify the value components of nurse call solutions. The value creation of such systems was analyzed by using a framework that was created based on the existing customer value literature. The empirical part of the study was conducted as a multiple-case study by using qualitative research methods. The data for the analysis was gathered through structured interviews in ten Finnish eldercare centers. The results indicate that a nurse call solution creates value for eldercare centers by increasing the safety of the residents, and by improving the efficiency of the staff while also providing cost savings.

Influence of Heat Treatment on Strength Properties of Finger-jointed Components

The purpose for the thesis was to study the thermo treatment of finger-jointed wood. The thesis concentrated on examining the tensile and bending strength of finger-jointed and thermo treated wood. The aim was to find out how different treatment temperature levels and adhesives influence the strength of wood that has been finger-jointed before heat treatment. Secondary objectives were to examine the influence of the treatment time at one temperature, determine differences in the strength between the joints in heartwood and sapwood, examine the visual appearance of the finger joints after the treatment and establish possibilities to reach a characteristic strength level corresponding to C14. Only minor differences in strength properties were measured between the finger-jointed wood treatments II and III. A greater difference was shown between these two treatment temperatures I, which lead to reduced strength. The average strength of joints glued with adhesive 2 was higher after treatments II and III compared to those glued with the adhesive 1. At the treatment temperature I, the adhesive 1 strength properties were at the same level compared to the adhesive 2 or better. There were not any significant differences.

Switching components for medium voltage drives

Nowadays power drives are the essential part almost of all technological processes. Improvement of efficiency and reduction of losses require development of semiconductor switches. It has a particular meaning for the constantly growing market of renewable sources, especially for wind turbines, which demand more powerful semiconductor devices for control with growth of power. Also at present semiconductor switches are the key component in energy transmission, optimization of generation and network connection. The aim of this thesis is to make a survey of contemporary semiconductor components, showing difference in structures, advantages, disadvantages and most suitable applications. There is topical information about voltage, frequency and current limits of different switches. Study tries to compare dimensions and price of different components. Main manufacturers of semiconductor components are presented with the review of devices produced by them, and a conclusion about their availability was made. IGBT is selected as a main component in this study, because nowadays it is the most attractive component for usage in power drives, especially at the low levels of medium voltage. History of development of IGBT structure, static and dynamic characteristics are considered. Thesis tells about assemblies and connection of components and problems which can appear. One of key questions about semiconductor materials and their future development was considered. For the purpose of comparison strong and weak sides of different switches, calculation of losses of IGBT and its basic competitor – IGCT is presented. This master’s thesis makes an effort to answer the question if there are at present possibilities of accurate selection of switches for electrical drives of different rates of power and looks at future possible ways of development of semiconductor market.

System-wide approaches to uncover Th2 cell lineage commitment

T helper (Th) cells are vital regulators of the adaptive immune system. When activated by presentation of cognate antigen, Th cells demonstrate capacity to differentiate into functionally distinct effector cell subsets. The Th2 subset is required for protection against extracellular parasites, such as helminths, but is also closely linked to pathogenesis of asthma and allergies. The intracellular molecular signal transduction pathways regulating T helper cell subset differentiation are still incompletely known. Moreover, great majority of studies regarding Th2 differentiation have been conducted with mice models, while studies with human cells have been fewer in comparison. The goal of this thesis was to characterize molecular mechanisms promoting the development of Th2 phenotype, focusing specifically on human umbilical cord blood T cells as an experimental model. These primary cells, activated and differentiated to Th2 cells in vitro, were investigated by complementary system-wide approaches, targeting levels of mRNA, proteins, and lipid molecules. Specifically, the results indicated IL4-regulated recruitment of nuclear protein, and described novel components of the Th2-promoting STAT6 enhanceosome complex. Furthermore, the development of the activated effector cell phenotype was found to correlate with remodeling of the cellular lipidome. These findings will hopefully advance the understanding of human Th2 cell lineage commitment and development of Th2-associated disease states.

Immunohistochemical evaluation of fibrillar components of the extracellular matrix of transversalis fascia and anterior abdominal rectus sheath in men with inguinal hernia

OBJECTIVE: to evaluate the role of fibrillar extracellular matrix components in the pathogenesis of inguinal hernias. METHODS: samples of the transverse fascia and of the anterior sheath of the rectus abdominis muscle were collected from 40 men aged between 20 and 60 years with type II and IIIA Nyhus inguinal hernia and from 10 fresh male cadavers (controls) without hernia in the same age range. The staining technique was immunohistochemistry for collagen I, collagen III and elastic fibers; quantification of fibrillar components was performed with an image analysis processing software. RESULTS: no statistically significant differences were found in the amount of elastic fibers, collagen I and collagen III, and the ratio of collagen I / III among patients with inguinal hernia when compared with subjects without hernia. CONCLUSION: the amount of fibrillar extracellular matrix components did not change in patients with and without inguinal hernia.

Comparison of nuclear grade and immunohistochemical features in situ and invasive components of ductal carcinoma of breast

PURPOSE:To compare the prognostic and predictive features between in situ and invasive components of ductal breast carcinomas. METHODS:We selected 146 consecutive breast samples with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) associated with adjacent invasive breast carcinoma (IBC). We evaluated nuclear grade and immunohistochemical expression of estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), cytokeratin 5/6 (CK5/6), and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in both components, in situ and invasive, and the Ki-67 percentage of cells in the invasive part. The DCIS and IBC were classified in molecular surrogate types determined by the immunohistochemical profile as luminal (RE/PR-positive/ HER2-negative), triple-positive (RE/RP/HER2-positive), HER2-enriched (ER/PR-negative/HER2-positive), and triple-negative (RE/RP/HER2-negative). Discrimination between luminal A and luminal B was not performed due to statistical purposes. Correlations between the categories in the two groups were made using the Spearman correlation method. RESULTS:There was a significant correlation between nuclear grade (p<0.0001), expression of RE/RP (p<0.0001), overexpression of HER2 (p<0.0001), expression of EGFR (p<0.0001), and molecular profile (p<0.0001) between components in situ and IBC. CK 5/6 showed different distribution in DCIS and IBC, presenting a significant association with the triple-negative phenotype in IBC, but a negative association among DCIS. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that classical prognostic and predictive features of IBC are already determined in the preinvasive stage of the disease. However the role of CK5/6 in invasive carcinoma may be different from the precursor lesions.

System-level characterization of Th2 cell development and immune cell responses to ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles

Asthma and allergy are common diseases and their prevalence is increasing. One of the hypotheses that explains this trend is exposure to inhalable chemicals such as traffi c-related air pollution. Epidemiological research supports this theory, as a correlation between environmental chemicals and allergic respiratory diseases has been found. In addition to ambient airborne particles, one may be exposed to engineered nanosized materials that are actively produced due to their favorable physico-chemical properties compared to their bulk size counterparts. On the cellular level, improper activity of T helper (Th) cells has been connected to allergic reactions. Th cells can differentiate into functionally different effector subsets, which are identifi ed according to their characteristic cytokine profi les resulting in specifi c ability to communicate with other cells. Th2 cells activate humoral immunity and stimulate eradication of extracellular pathogens. However, persistent predominance of Th2 cells is involved in a development of number of allergic diseases. The cytokine environment at the time of antigen recognition is the major factor determining the polarization of a naïve Th cell. Th2 cell differentiation is initiated by IL4, which signals via transcription factor STAT6. Although the importance of this pathway has been evaluated in the mouse studies, the signaling components involved have been largely unknown. The aim of this thesis was to identify molecules, which are under the control of IL4 and STAT6 in Th cells. This was done by using system-level analysis of STAT6 target genes at genome, mRNA and protein level resulting in identifi cation of various genes previously not connected to Th2 cell phenotype acquisition. In the study, STAT6-mediated primary and secondary target genes were dissection from each other and a detailed transcriptional kinetics of Th2 cell polarization of naïve human CD4+ T cells was collected. Integration of these data revealed the hierarchy of molecular events that mediates the differentiation towards Th2 cell phenotype. In addition, the results highlighted the importance of exploiting proteomics tools to complement the studies on STAT6 target genes identifi ed through transcriptional profi ling. In the last subproject, the effects of the exposure with ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticles was analyzed in Jurkat T cell line and in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages and dendritic cells to evaluate their toxicity and potential to cause infl ammation. Identifi cation of ZnO-derived gene expression showed that the same nanoparticles may elicit markedly distinctive responses in different cell types, thus underscoring the need for unbiased profi ling of target genes and pathways affected. The results gave additional proof that the cellular response to nanosized ZnO is due to leached Zn2+ ions. The approach used in ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticle study demonstrated the value of assessing nanoparticle responses through a toxicogenomics approach. The increased knowledge of Th2 cell signaling will hopefully reveal new therapeutic nodes and eventually improve our possibilities to prevent and tackle allergic infl ammatory diseases.

Do blood components affect the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) by equine synovial cells in vitro?

Blood-derived products are commonly administered to horses and humans to treat many musculoskeletal diseases, due to their potential antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. Nevertheless, antioxidant effects have never been shown upon horse synovial fluid cells in vitro. If proved, this could give a new perspective to justify the clinical application of blood-derived products. The aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant effects of two blood-derived products - plasma (unconditioned blood product - UBP) and a commercial blood preparation (conditioned blood product - CBP)¹ - upon stimulated equine synovial fluid cells. Healthy tarsocrural joints (60) were tapped to obtain synovial fluid cells; these cells were pooled, processed, stimulated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), and evaluated by flow cytometry for the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). Upon addition of any blood-derived product here used - UBP and CBP - there was a significant decrease in the oxidative burst of synovial fluid cells (P<0.05). There was no difference between UBP and CBP effects. In conclusion, treatment of stimulated equine synovial cells with either UBP or CBP efficiently restored their redox equilibrium.

Identification of Some Additional Loss Components in High-Power Low-Voltage Permanent Magnet Generators

Permanent magnet generators (PMG) represent the cutting edge technology in modern wind mills. The efficiency remains high (over 90%) at partial loads. To improve the machine efficiency even further, every aspect of machine losses has to be analyzed. Additional losses are often given as a certain percentage without providing any detailed information about the actual calculation process; meanwhile, there are many design-dependent losses that have an effect on the total amount of additional losses and that have to be taken into consideration. Additional losses are most often eddy current losses in different parts of the machine. These losses are usually difficult to calculate in the design process. In this doctoral thesis, some additional losses are identified and modeled. Further, suggestions on how to minimize the losses are given. Iron losses can differ significantly between the measured no-load values and the loss values under load. In addition, with embedded magnet rotors, the quadrature-axis armature reaction adds losses to the stator iron by manipulating the harmonic content of the flux. It was, therefore, re-evaluated that in salient pole machines, to minimize the losses and the loss difference between the no-load and load operation, the flux density has to be kept below 1.5 T in the stator yoke, which is the traditional guideline for machine designers. Eddy current losses may occur in the end-winding area and in the support structure of the machine, that is, in the finger plate and the clamping ring. With construction steel, these losses account for 0.08% of the input power of the machine. These losses can be reduced almost to zero by using nonmagnetic stainless steel. In addition, the machine housing may be subjected to eddy current losses if the flux density exceeds 1.5 T in the stator yoke. Winding losses can rise rapidly when high frequencies and 10–15 mm high conductors are used. In general, minimizing the winding losses is simple. For example, it can be done by dividing the conductor into transposed subconductors. However, this comes with the expense of an increase in the DC resistance. In the doctoral thesis, a new method is presented to minimize the winding losses by applying a litz wire with noninsulated strands. The construction is the same as in a normal litz wire but the insulation between the subconductors has been left out. The idea is that the connection is kept weak to prevent harmful eddy currents from flowing. Moreover, the analytical solution for calculating the AC resistance factor of the litz-wire is supplemented by including an end-winding resistance in the analytical solution. A simple measurement device is developed to measure the AC resistance in the windings. In the case of a litz-wire with originally noninsulated strands, vacuum pressure impregnation (VPI) is used to insulate the subconductors. In one of the two cases studied, the VPI affected the AC resistance factor, but in the other case, it did not have any effect. However, more research is needed to determine the effect of the VPI on litz-wire with noninsulated strands. An empirical model is developed to calculate the AC resistance factor of a single-layer formwound winding. The model includes the end-winding length and the number of strands and turns. The end winding includes the circulating current (eddy currents that are traveling through the whole winding between parallel strands) and the main current. The end-winding length also affects the total AC resistance factor.

The pH-dependent phase distribution of wood pitch components in papermaking processes

Wood contains only a very small amount of lipophilic extractives, commonly known as wood pitch. The pitch is known to cause severe problems in papermaking processes. The amount of pitch in process waters can be decreased by seasoning of the raw material prior to pulping, pulp washing, removal of pitch by flotation, adsorption of pitch onto various mineral surfaces, and retention of pitch to the fibre material by cationic polymers. The aim of this study was to determine the influence of pH on some of the methods used for pitch control. Experiments were performed using laboratory-made wood pitch emulsions with varying pH, salt concentration, hemicellulose concentration and pitch composition. These emulsions were used to study the phase distribution of resin and fatty acids, the colloidal stability of pitch with and without steric stabilisation by galactoglucomannans, and the interactions between wood pitch and mineral particles. Purification of unbleached and peroxidebleached mill process water was performed by froth flotation in combination with a foaming agent. The distribution of resin and fatty acids (RFAs) between colloidal pitch droplets and the water phase was very dependent on pH. At pH 3, almost all of the RFAs were attached to the pitch droplets, while increasing the pH led to increasing concentration of dissolved RFAs in the water phase. The presence of salt shifted the release of RFAs towards higher pH, while lower ratio of neutral pitch in the emulsion resulted in release of RFAs at lower pH. It was also seen that the dissolution and adsorption of RFAs at sudden pHchanges takes place very quickly. Colloidal pitch was more stable against electrolyte-induced aggregation at higher pH, due to its higher anionic charge. The concentration of cationic polymers needed to aggregate colloidal pitch also increased with increasing pH. The surface characteristics of solid particles, such as amount of charged groups, were very important for understanding their interactions with colloidal wood pitch. Water-soluble galactoglucomannans stabilised the colloidal pitch sterically against aggregation, but could not completely prevent interactions between wood pitch and hydrophilic particles. Froth flotation of unbleached and peroxidebleached process water showed that the pitch could be removed more effectively and selectively at low pH, compared to at neutral pH. The pitch was removed more effectively, using lower concentrations of foaming agent, from peroxide-bleached water than from unbleached water. The results show that pH has a major impact on various pulping and papermaking processes. It determines the anionic charge of the colloidal pitch and the solubility of certain pitch components. Because of this, the pH influences the effectiveness of pitch retention and removal of pitch. The results indicate that pitch problems could be diminished by acknowledging the importance of pH in various papermaking processes.

Chromatoid body mediated RNA regulation in mouse male germline

Male germ cell differentiation, spermatogenesis is an exceptional developmental process that produces a massive amount of genetically unique spermatozoa. The complexity of this process along with the technical limitations in the germline research has left many aspects of spermatogenesis poorly understood. Post-meiotic haploid round spermatids possess the most complex transcriptomes of the whole body. Correspondingly, efficient and accurate control mechanisms are necessary to deal with the huge diversity of transcribed RNAs in these cells. The high transcriptional activity in round spermatids is accompanied by the presence of an uncommonly large cytoplasmic ribonucleoprotein granule, called the chromatoid body (CB) that is conjectured to participate in the RNA post-transcriptional regulation. However, very little is known about the possible mechanisms of the CB function. The development of a procedure to isolate CBs from mouse testes was this study’s objective. Anti-MVH immunoprecipitation of cross-linked CBs from a fractionated testicular cell lysate was optimized to yield considerable quantities of pure and intact CBs from mice testes. This protocol produced reliable and reproducible data from the subsequent analysis of CB’s protein and RNA components. We found that the majority of the CB’s proteome consists of RNA-binding proteins that associate functionally with different pathways. We also demonstrated notable localization patterns of one of the CB transient components, SAM68 and showed that its ablation does not change the general composition or structure of the CB. CB-associated RNA analysis revealed a strong accumulation of PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), mRNAs and long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the CB. When the CB transcriptome and proteome analysis results were combined, the most pronounced molecular functions in the CB were related to piRNA pathway, RNA post-transcriptional processing and CB structural scaffolding. In addition, we demonstrated that the CB is a target for the main RNA flux from the nucleus throughout all steps of round spermatid development. Moreover, we provided preliminary evidence that those isolated CBs slice target RNAs in vitro in an ATPdependent manner. Altogether, these results make a strong suggestion that the CB functions involve RNA-related and RNA-mediated mechanisms. All the existing data supports the hypothesis that the CB coordinates the highly complex haploid transcriptome during the preparation of the male gametes for fertilization. Thereby, this study provides a fundamental basis for the future functional analyses of ribonucleoprotein granules and offers also important insights into the mechanisms governing male fertility.