Some New Results for McKean’s Graphs with Applications to Kac’s Equation

The main goal of the present paper is to sharpen some results about the error made when the Wild sums, used to represent the solution of the Kac analog of Boltzmann’s equation, are truncated at the n-th stage. More precisely, in Carlen, Carvalho and Gabetta (J. Funct. Anal. 220: 362–387 (2005)), one finds a bound for the above-mentioned error which depends on (an ^Λ+ε). On the one hand, it is shown that Λ, the least negative eigenvalue of the linearized collision operator, is the best possible exponent. On the other hand, ε is an extra strictly positive number and a a positive coefficient which depends on ε too. Thus, it is interesting to check whether ε can be removed from the above bound. According to the aforesaid reference, this problem is studied here by means of the probability distribution of the depth of a leaf in a McKean random tree. In fact, an accurate study of the probability generating function of such a depth leads to conclude that the above bound can be replaced with (a′ n ^Λ).     

Cytoskeletal involvement in cotton fiber growth and development

The organization of cellulose microfibrils in plant cell walls influences physical properties of the wall and thus cell expansion characteristics. Developing cotton fiber represents an excellent model system for the analysis of the biological regulation of cell wall patterns. Current research indicates that the cytoskeleton has a major role in directing the deposition and organization of cellulose microfibrils in the cell walls of many plant systems, including developing cotton fibers. Both microtubules and microfilaments appear to be involved in regulating changes observed in microfibril patterns during fiber development. The polylamellate architecture of the fiber wall can be attributed to changes in the orientation of cytoplasmic microtubules which appear to direct the orientation of microfibril deposition in each successive layer of the fiber wall. In the drug-induced absence of microtubules, cellulose is deposited in the fiber wall in a swirled pattern of bundled microfibrils. Interaction between adjacent microfibrils may influence cell wall organization on a localized level. In contrast to the direct involvement of microtubules on wall organization, microfilaments appear to be indirectly involved in the deposition of cellulose microfibrils. Current evidence indicates that microfilaments influence wall organization by controlling changes in microtubules patterns. Although a greater understanding of the relationship between the cytoskeleton and the fiber wall is needed, there is sufficient evidence to indicate that genetic manipulation of cytoskeletal components is one path toward future direct manipulation of cell expansion characteristic in many plant systems and may lead to improvements in the textile qualities of cotton fibers.     

水样中铜,铅,镉的巯基棉富集火焰原子吸收测定

在测定水样中铜、铅及镉的时候用巯基棉在采样现场富集简便快速,且灵敏准确,避免了样品运送的不便和萃取富集的繁琐。     

Quantification of abscisic acid in grapevine leaf (Vitis vinifera) by isotope-dilution liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

A specific, sensitive, precise, and accurate method for the determination of abscisic acid (ABA) in grapevine leaf tissues is described. The method employs high-performance liquid chromatography and electrospray ionization–mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) in selected ion monitoring mode (SIM) to analyze ABA using a stable isotope-labeled ABA as an internal standard. Absolute recoveries ranged from 72% to 79% using methanol/water pH 5.5 (50:50 v/v) as an extraction solvent. The best efficiency was obtained when the chromatographic separation was carried out by using a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) column. The statistical evaluation of the method was satisfactory in the work range. A relative standard deviation (RDS) of < 5.5% and < 6.0% was obtained for intra-batch and inter-batch comparisons, respectively. As for accuracy, the relative error (%Er) was between −2.7 and 4.3%, and the relative recovery ranged from 95% to 107%.     

Leaf allocation patterns and 13C and 15N natural abundances of tropical lianas (Passiflora sp.) as dependent on external climbing support

The transformation from self-supporting lianas to host-supported climbing lianas is related to re-allocation of biomass and nutrients among plant organs. Therefore, first, variations in leaf mass per area (LMA), leaf carbon and nitrogen allocation and ¹³C and ¹⁵N natural abundances were analysed among three tropical Passiflora species (P. edulis, P. ligularis, and P. tripartita) in a greenhouse study. Second, the influence of a climbing support was considered for each species and parameter. P. ligularis leaves were most enriched in ¹³C in both treatments when compared with the other two species. This enrichment was caused by a high LMA, which is related to a high internal resistance to CO₂ diffusion. For P. edulis and P. tripartita, δ¹³C was additionally increasing with nitrogen content per area. Generally, there were no differences when considering carbon and nitrogen allocation to leaves of host-supported and self-supporting lianas. The only hints towards increased investment into leaves after the transition from self-supporting to host-supported stages could be seen by a trend to increased leaf areas and masses. δ¹³C values of supported P. edulis or P. tripartita plants were significantly increasing faster than those of non-supported plants once the interactions of leaf mass or nitrogen content per area were accounted for. Hence, the offer of a climbing support had only a minor impact on δ¹³C or δ¹⁵N values in vitro, but this could be different with increasing age of lianas in vivo.     

Carbonized cotton fibers via a facile method for highly sensitive solid‐phase microextraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons

Cotton fiber is an environmentally friendly and natural material with a certain extraction capacity, while its enrichment ability is poor. In order to improve the extraction efficiency of cotton fibers, it was carbonized to form a layer of amorphous carbon as the sorbent by a simple carbonization method. Carbonized cotton fibers were filled into a polyetheretherketone tube for in‐tube solid‐phase microextraction. The carbonization time was investigated to obtain high extraction efficiency. Coupled to high‐performance liquid chromatography, the extraction tube was evaluated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, estrogens and phthalates, and it exhibited best extraction efficiency for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Under the optimum conditions, an online analysis method for several polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons was established with large linear ranges (0.016–0.20 μg/L), low limits of detection (0.005–0.020 μg/L), and high enrichment factors (948–2874). Analysis method was successfully applied to the detection of targets in the real samples and shown satisfactory durability and chemical stability. Moreover, the relative recoveries ranged from 82 to 119.2%, which demonstrated the applicability of carbonized cotton fibers in sample preparation. Compared with other reported methods, the proposed method provided shorter extraction time, higher enrichment factors, comparable limits of detection, and recoveries.     

Evaluation of green and efficient deep eutectic solvents as media for extracting alkaloids from lotus leaf

Deep eutectic solvents (DESs) were applied as eco-friendly solvents in this study for the extraction of alkaloids from lotus leaf, including O-nornuciferine, N-nornuciferine, nuciferine and roemerine. A series of hydrophilic and hydrophobic DESs with different hydrogen bond donors and a acceptors were synthesized and screened for a suitable DESs for extraction of alkaloids from lotus leaf. The study results showed that the hydrophilic DES with choline chloride and propanediol had the highest extraction yield. The main factors affecting the extraction efficiency—choline chloride–propanediol ratio, water content in deep eutectic solvents, solid–liquid ratio and extraction time—were investigated via a single-factor experiment. The optimized extraction conditions were 30% of water in choline chloride–propanediol (1:4) for heated extraction for 30 min and solid–liquid ratio 1:100 g/ml. Under optimum conditions, the extraction yields of O-nornuciferine, N-nornuciferine, nuciferine and roemerine were 0.069, 0.152, 0.334 and 0.041 g/100 g respectively, which were higher than those of methanol in acidified aqueous solution. This study suggests considerable potential for DESs as promising materials for the green and efficient extraction solvents for bioactive alkaloids from natural sources.     

Effect of sunlight on the preparation and properties of cellulose/silver nanoparticle composite films by in situ method using Ocimum sanctum leaf extract as a reducing agent

Cellulose/silver nanoparticle composite films with in situ-generated silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared using Ocimum sanctum leaf extract as a reducing agent in the absence and presence of sunlight and were characterized by SEM, FTIR, XRD, and antibacterial tests. Sunlight hastened up the preparation of these composite films. The average size of the in situ-generated AgNPs was reduced by the sunlight. The antibacterial activity and other properties of the composites were enhanced by the sunlight. The cellulose/AgNP composite films with improved properties by sunlight can be considered for medical purpose as antibacterial dressing materials.     

Acute and sub-acute toxicological evaluation of the alcoholic leaf and root extracts of Clerodendrum infortunatum L.

Leaf and root extracts of Clerodendrum infortunatum L. have been reported to show anthelmintic efficacy on a cestode parasite Raillietina tetragona. Its leaf showed no toxicity at 1000 mg/kg body weight but root toxicity study was not known. Therefore, our study is to test both leaf and root extracts at 2000 and 3000 mg/kg body weight concentration given orally for 15 days in four groups of Swiss albino mice, keeping another set as control (without plant extract). Weight and behaviour of mice were recorded daily. Feeding, movement pattern were normal in all treatments as that of control. Though body weight increase, there was no change in the relative organ weight. Biochemical and haematological studies revealed no significant change from control and no alteration in histopathological study of liver and kidney from that of control. The plant extracts thus shown to be safe for consumption.     

Generic leaves

A remarkable theorem of E. Ghys asserts that, for any harmonic measure on a compact, foliated metric space, -almost every leaf has 0, 1, 2 or a Cantor set of ends. In this paper, analogous results are proven for topologically almost all (i.e., residual families of) leaves. More precisely, if some leaf is totally recurrent, a residual family of leaves is totally recurrent with 1, 2 or a Cantor set of ends. A "local" version of this theorem asserts that, in general, topologically almost all leaves have 0, 1, 2 or a Cantor set of dense ends. Received: October 1, 1997