Number Of Lamellae Research Articles

Effect of Chlormequat Chloride on the Growth and Development of Panax ginseng Seedlings

Ginseng is widely used in traditional herbal formulations in Korea, Japan, China, and Western countries. High-quality seedlings are the key to ginseng with high quality and high yield. Although tray seeding can yield large quantities of ginseng seedlings, issues such as dense planting and inadequate ventilation may result in excessive stem elongation. This elongation can lead to slender stems unable to support the weight of the leaves, resulting in seedling lodging. To inhibit the overgrowth of aboveground parts of ginseng seedlings, chlormequat chloride (CCC) was selected for foliar spraying at 0, 100, 200, and 300 mg·L−1 to study the effects of plant growth regulators on the growth and development of ginseng seedlings. When the leaves of ginseng seedlings are fully expanded, we sprayed once with 200 mg·L−1 of CCC. After 28 days, index measurements indicated that the height of ginseng seedlings decreased by 17.4%, stem thickness increased by 7.4%, leaf area decreased by 4.5%, root length increased by 6.2%, root-to-crown ratio increased by 29.8%, chlorophyll a content increased by 10.3%, chlorophyll b content increased by 12.6%, the actual chlorophyll fluorescence parameters of photosystem II under light quantum yield increased by 50.9%, electron transfer rate increased by 52.8%, photochemical quenching increased by 21.7%, nonphotochemical quenching decreased by 31.4%, antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase activity increased by 12.2%, catalase activity increased by 17.0%, peroxidase activity increased by 38.7%, and malondialdehyde content decreased by 18.1%. The number of intracellular starch grains increased significantly, the number of stromal lamellae in chloroplasts increased, the arrangement was more compact, and the cell wall thickness increased significantly. In conclusion, it is recommended to apply 200 mg·L−1 CCC as a foliar spray during production to inhibit seedling growth and enhance plant resistance to stem collapse and stress.

Cytological, physiological, and transcriptomic analyses reveal potential regulatory mechanisms of curly leaves in Tartary buckwheat

Tartary buckwheat (Fagopyrum tataricum Gaertn.) is a pseudocereal crop grown in sunny areas at high altitudes. To achieve high yield, this species is often densely planted. It is believed that moderately curly and upright leaves are beneficial for increasing the photosynthetic efficiency of a densely planted crop. However, little research on curly leaves has been reported for this species. The study reported here analyzed two EMS mutants Xi5M and P10M with curly and upright leaves using cytological, physiological, and transcriptomic approaches. Results showed that compared with their respective wild types, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance, net photosynthetic rate, and yield of effective quantum of photosystem Ⅱ were all increased in both mutants. The number of chloroplasts increased, and the number of granum lamellas was increased, and more tightly connected. These changes led to increased photosynthetic pigment contents in mutants. The unbalanced arrangement of upper and lower epidermal cells led to leaf curling in the mutants. The transcriptomic analysis detected 510 genes that were differentially expressed between both of the mutants and their respective wild types (i.e., Xi5M vs Xi5, and P10M vs PP10). They were mainly enriched in plant-pathogen interaction, plant hormone signal transduction, MAPK signaling pathway, phenylpropanoid biosynthesis, and ABC transporters. Analyses of leaf characteristics, function annotation of the differentially expressed genes (DEGs), and protein-protein interaction networks revealed 12 candidate genes which, by regulating cell development and plant hormone response, potentially regulated leaf curliness. Our study developed new leaf-shaped materials that could be valuable in enhancing the yield of Tartary buckwheat by improving population photosynthetic efficiency and revealed potential mechanisms of leaf curliness in this species.

Penile and Scrotal Porokeratosis: A Single-Institution Experience.

There is a paucity of data regarding porokeratosis confined to the penis and scrotum. We evaluated our single-institutional experience regarding this entity. We interrogated our pathology archive for all specimens from the penis or scrotum, signed out as porokeratosis between 2000 and 2022. Clinical and histopathological features were reviewed, including the number of cornoid lamella(e) per tissue profile and squamous dysplasia. Nine patients were included in the study. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 51 years. Multiple lesions were present in 3 patients. Six patients had exclusively penile involvement, whereas 2 patients had exclusively scrotal involvement. One patient had multiple lesions consistent with porokeratosis ptychotropica, extending from the scrotum to the buttocks and perineum. Clinically, a collarette of scale was noted in 3 patients and diagnosis of porokeratosis was considered in 1 patient before biopsy. Histopathologically, 2 patients exhibited multiple cornoid lamellae in the same profile and 1 patient had follicular cornoid lamellae. Focal squamous dysplasia was only present in 1 patient. Follow-up was available for 5 patients (median duration: 35 months). In 4 patients, the lesions were removed completely during the shave biopsy procedure. At the past follow-up, there were no signs of recurrence or malignant transformation to squamous cell carcinoma in any patient. Porokeratosis involving the penis and/or scrotum may be elusive to diagnosis based on clinical features alone, emphasizing the role of histopathological examination. Increased awareness of this entity may help better delineate its clinicopathological presentation and appropriate classification.

Mixing as a correlated aggregation process

Mixing describes the process by which solutes evolve from an initial heterogeneous state to uniformity under the stirring action of a fluid flow. Fluid stretching forms thin scalar lamellae that coalesce due to molecular diffusion. Owing to the linearity of the advection–diffusion equation, coalescence can be envisioned as an aggregation process. Here, we demonstrate that in smooth two-dimensional chaotic flows, mixing obeys a correlated aggregation process, where the spatial distribution of the number of lamellae in aggregates is highly correlated with their elongation, and is set by the fractal properties of the advected material lines. We show that the presence of correlations makes mixing less efficient than a completely random aggregation process because lamellae with similar elongations and scalar levels tend to remain isolated from each other. We show that correlated aggregation is uniquely determined by a single exponent that quantifies the effective number of random aggregation events. These findings expand aggregation theories to a larger class of systems, which have relevance to various fundamental and applied mixing problems.

The olfactory system of sharks and rays in numbers.

Cartilaginous fishes have large and elaborate olfactory organs, but only a small repertoire of olfactory receptor genes. Here, we quantitatively analyze the olfactory system of 21 species of sharks and rays, assessing many features of the olfactory organ (OOR) (number of primary lamellae, branches of the secondary folds, sensory surface area, and density and number of sensory neurons) and the olfactory bulb (OB) (number of neurons and non-neuronal cells), and estimate the ratio between the number of neuronsin the two structures. We show that the number of lamellae in the OOR does not correlate with the sensory surface area, while the complexity of the lamellar shape does. The total number of olfactory receptor neurons ranges from 30.5 million to 4.3 billion and the total number of OB neurons from 1.5 to 90 million. The number of neuronsin the olfactory epithelium is 16 to 158 times higher (median ratio is 46) than the number of neuronsin the OB. These ratios considerably exceed those reported in mammals. High convergence from receptor neurons to neurons processing olfactory information, together with the remarkably small olfactory receptor repertoire, strongly suggests that the olfactory system of sharks and rays is well adapted to detect a limited number of odorants with high sensitivity.

Abstract 2013: Smooth Muscle Cell-specific Deficiency Of Fibrillin-1 Induces Aortic Aneurysms But Does Not Disrupt Elastic Fiber Formation In Mice

Background and Aim: Fibrillin-1 has a complex biology that can influence elastic fiber formation and stability. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs), the most abundant cell type of the aortic wall, synthesize and secrete fibrillin-1. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of fibrillin-1 (FBN1) synthesis in SMCs on elastic fiber formation and aortic pathologies. Methods and Results: We generated Fbn1 floxed mice that included the insertion of tdTomato as a reporter for gene deletion. Female Fbn1 floxed mice were bred with male Fbn1 floxed mice expressing Cre transgene driven by a Tagln promotor that led to the deletion of FBN1 in SMCs (SMC-FBN1-/-). Gene recombination was confirmed by the presence of tdTomato in the aorta of SMC-FBN1-/- mice. To determine the impact of SMC-specific FBN1 deletion on aortic integrity, SMC-FBN1 +/+ and -/- littermates were either terminated at 4 weeks of age with capture of in situ and ex vivo aortic images or aortas of live animals at 8 weeks of age were monitored using ultrasound. For mice terminated at 4 weeks of age, SMC-specific FBN1 deletion resulted in increased ascending aortic length (+/+ vs -/-: 2.9 vs 3.9 mm in males, p=0.004; +/+ vs -/-: 2.9 vs 3.5 mm in females, p=0.004) and width (+/+ vs -/-: 1.5 vs 1.9 mm in males, p=0.03; +/+ vs -/-: 1.4 vs 1.7 mm in females, p=0.02) of the ascending aorta and the aortic arch (+/+ vs -/-: 1.4 vs 1.9 mm in males, p<0.001; +/+ vs -/-: 1.4 vs 1.7 mm in females, p=0.01), whereas diameters of the descending thoracic aorta and suprarenal aorta were not different between SMC-FBN1 +/+ and SMC-FBN1-/- mice in either sex. Surprisingly, elastic fibers, as determined by Verhoff staining, were present in the media of each aortic region in SMC-FBN1-/- mice at 4 weeks of age, with comparable numbers of elastic lamellae as SMC-FBN1+/+ littermates in each sex. At 8 weeks of age, ultrasound detected profound luminal dilatations of the ascending aortic region and the suprarenal abdominal region in SMC-FBN1-/- mice, compared to their wild-type littermates. Conclusion: SMC-specific deficiency of FBN1 induced aortic aneurysms progressively, increasing with age, but did not overtly affect elastic fiber formation and the number of elastic lamina layers.

Sexual dimorphism and female ecomorphology in Anolis (Squamata: Anolidae): knowledge of female morphology increases the understanding of Anolis diversification

Abstract The study of sexual dimorphism in Anolis lizards brings the opportunity to understand how this phenomena interacts with adaptive radiation to produce broader diversity. We explored this phenomenon in 43 Anolis species from northwestern South America. Morphometric analysis with body size and shape, and lamellae number, were used to estimate the indexes of size dimorphism, and dimorphism in other ecomorphological traits. Almost half of these species exhibit differences between sexes in all traits, and body size relates to size dimorphism but not to shape dimorphism. When female and male data are analyzed separately, we found four and five morphotypes, respectively. Males and females of 10 species exhibit a huge difference in morphology, and the two sexes in these species were assigned to different morphotypes. In addition, SURFACE analyses reveal that the morphology of sexes evolved towards slightly different adaptive regimes, numbers and patterns, suggesting that the lower female morphological diversity highlights the more conservative nature of the female niches. Finally, our study demonstrates the need for ecological information to explain morphological patterns in dimorphic species, and to further understand the mechanisms that drive the evolution of morphological diversity in this genus.

Central versus peripheral thickness in the human cornea explained

PurposeThe human cornea is thicker in the periphery than the center and it has been suggested that this must be due to greater numbers of lamellae in the peripheral corneal stroma. The purpose of this study was to use high-resolution ultrastructural imaging to determine if the greater thickness of the peripheral cornea is due to the presence of more lamellae or if there is some other anatomical explanation. MethodsIn this study, full thickness corneas from three human donors were processed for light microscopy (LM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Images were taken in three distinct stromal regions (anterior, middle, and posterior) from the central and peripheral cornea. Stromal thickness was evaluated by LM while TEM was used to evaluate numbers and thicknesses of lamellae, mean collagen fibril diameter, and mean collagen fibril density. ResultsMean stromal thickness was significantly thinner in the central (415 ± 34 µm) compared to the peripheral (536 ± 29 µm) cornea (P = 0.009). Numbers of lamellae were not significantly different between central (246 ± 14) and peripheral (251 ± 14) cornea. Average lamellar thickness was not different across all regions of the cornea, except for the peripheral posterior where the lamellae were approximately 50 % thicker (P < 0.05). Collagen fibril diameters were larger in the peripheral cornea by approximately 30 % when compared to the central cornea, in all regions (P < 0.01). ConclusionsThis study shows that it is an increase peripheral posterior lamellar thickness, rather than an increase in the number of lamellae, that accounts for the increase in corneal stromal thickness in the periphery of the human cornea. While collagen fibril diameters are greater throughout the peripheral stroma, the lamellae in the mid and anterior peripheral stroma are not thicker than centrally.

Gill morphometrics of freshwater Tilapia zillii as an indicator of fish welfare

Tilapia zillii was used to examine the effect of environment on gill morphometric therefore to discover the probability of using gill morphometrics to measure welfare in wild fish. Thirty mature Tilapia zillii was collected from Lagoon of Ain-Ziyana in eastern of Benghazi city and the sizes of their gills were estimated. The gill respiratory surface area of Tilapia zillii reached from 851.31 mm² to 1929.32 mm² ̸ g of body weight. The connection among gill respiratory surface area and fish body weight was found to be highly significant (P= 0.001). The gill respiratory surface area of Tilapia zillii rise as the fish grows this may be since the gill filaments number, the secondary lamellae number and the surface area of secondary lamellae increases. Great gill surface area might support survival of Tilapia fish in oxygen-stressed. This recommends that the measure developed here could be possibly used as an guide of welfare in wild fish.

Exploring Inhibition Mechanism of Si on Cementite Nucleation in Hypereutectoid Steel: Experiments and First-Principles Calculations.

To clarify the influence of Si on cementite nucleation during the solidification of hypereutectoid steel, the types and microstructure of cementite in hypereutectoid steel with various Si concentrations were investigated by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, the interfacial properties of γ-Fe/Fe3C were studied using the first-principles density functional theory, including work on adhesion, interfacial energy, and electronic structure, with the aim of elucidating the impact mechanism of Si on the cementite nucleation. The results showed that increasing Si concentrations (0-0.42 wt.%) had a negligible effect on the types of cementite in as-cast hypereutectoid steel. However, the average number of cementite lamellae per unit area decreased significantly, indicating that an increase in Si concentrations has an inhibitory effect on cementite nucleation. This can be attributed to the effect of Si on the interfacial properties of γ-Fe (010)/Fe3C (010), where the presence of Si disrupts the charge distribution of the γ-Fe (010)/Fe3C (010) interface and decreases the hybridization of atom orbits on each side of the interface, resulting in a decrease in the interatomic interaction force. This is reflected in the decrease in the work of adhesion (from 6.92 J·m-2 to 6.78 J·m-2) and the increase in the interfacial energy (from -1.42 J·m-2 to -1.31 J·m-2). As a result, the stability of the γ-Fe (010)/Fe3C (010) interface is reduced, making it difficult for the composite structure to form. This indicates that Si doping inhibits cementite nucleation on austenite.

Foam formation during drainage of a surfactant solution in a microfluidic porous medium model

Foam has been shown to have great potential to significantly improve sweep efficiency during gas injection in oil recovery, remediation of contaminated sites, gas storage, and acidification processes. The gas mobility reduction largely depends on the generation and stability of lamellae in the pore space that traps the gas phase. Most available analyses focus on foam formation during the co-injection of gas and liquid phases at different fractional flow (foam quality) or flow of foam formed before being injected in the porous media. During surfactant-alternating-gas (SAG) injection, foam is formed as the aqueous phase is displaced by the gas slug that follows. The dynamics of lamellae formation and their stability are different from that of a co-injection process, since the amount of surfactant available to stabilize the gas-liquid interfaces is fixed as fresh surfactant solution is not injected together with the gas phase. This work studies foam formation during the drainage of a surfactant solution by gas injection at a fixed flow rate. A transparent microfluidic model of a porous medium is used in order to enable the correlation of pore-scale phenomena and macroscopic flow behavior. The results show that the maximum number of lamellae increases with surfactant concentration, even much above the critical micelle concentration (CMC). The availability of surfactant molecules needed to stabilize newly formed gas-liquid interfaces rises with concentration. The higher number of lamellae formed at higher surfactant concentration leads to stronger mobility reduction of the gas phase and longer time needed for the gas to percolate through the porous medium.

Two New Shellear Species (Gonorhynchiformes: Kneriidae), from the Luansa River (Upper Congo Basin): Hidden Diversity Revealed by Integrative Taxonomy

Two new Kneria species, K. luansaensis sp. nov. and K. maxi sp. nov., are described from the Luansa River, a left bank tributary of the lower Luapula in the Bangweulu–Mweru ecoregion, based on an integrative approach using morphological and COI barcoding evidence. While K. luansaensis sp. nov. occurs from the source of the Luansa further downstream to above the last of the three Sanshifolo Falls, K. maxi sp. nov. only occurs downstream of all these three major falls. In Kneria, males of about ≥ 33 mm LS have an opercular and a postopercular organ. The number of lamellae on the latter seems to contain some alpha-taxonomic information, although this requires further study as allometric changes occur at about ≤ 45 mm LS. Additional external morphological characters differ between sexes, i.e., the (i) pectoral fin width (wider in males than females), (ii) dorsal fin height (longer in males than females), and (iii) length of the longest ray of the lower caudal fin lobe (longer in males than females). Agriculture, fishing with ichthyotoxines, and logging are the most pressing threats on the Luansa and thus to both the new species. Their discovery in one of the rivers of the Kundelungu Plateau and its surroundings located outside the present-day boundaries of the Kundelungu National Park highlights the need for a refined and improved protection strategy for this freshwater key biodiversity area.

Fruit waste-derived cellulose-templated hierarchical spheres of ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets for oxygen evolution reactions

Rising interest in cleaner and sustainable energy propelled interest in 2D nanostructured materials for energy conversion and storage technologies, including electrocatalytic materials for metal-air batteries and water-splitting devices. Oxygen evolution reactions are key constraints in many energy conversion applications because of their slow kinetics. The present work addressed fruit waste-derived cellulose-templated hierarchical spheres of ultrathin MoS2 (MoCe) nanosheets, synthesized via hydrothermal and lyophilization techniques, for oxygen evolution reactions. The pristine MoS2 and MoCe are thoroughly characterized by Raman, SEM, HRTEM, BET, FTIR, XRD, and XPS analyses to reveal their chemical, structural, morphological, and crystalline features. The quantity of cellulose used for the synthesis of MoCe governs the crystallite size and number of molecular lamellae in each MoS2 nanosheet, which in turn influences the electrocatalytic activity. The MoCe possesses ‘Craspedia’, a billy flower-like hierarchical microsphere comprising well-organized ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets and furnishes excellent mesoporosity with ample surface-active sites for electrocatalytic activity. A smaller Tafel slope (97 mV.dec-1) make cellulose-templated microspheres of ultrathin MoS2 nanosheets promising electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reactions.

Interspecific variability in internal anatomy in Terebellides Sars, 1835 (Annelida, Trichobranchidae) revealed with micro-CT

The number of new species described of the genus Terebellides Sars, 1835 (Annelida, Trichobranchidae) in the eastern Atlantic Ocean has greatly increased in the last years. Eleven of these species, all originally described in NE Atlantic Ocean, from the Barents Sea to the Gulf of Guinea, have been studied using micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) thus revealing interspecific differences in several elements of the internal anatomy such as the proportion between stomach regions and size of nephridia, and in the number of lamellae in the digestive gland. Two stomach morphotypes have been distinguished regarding differences in relative length between regions, as well as two morphotypes of nephridia according to their size and wall thickness, and four types of the digestive gland regarding their number of lamellae. Differences in nephridia sizes is the only character apparently related to the geographic distribution of species (i.e. NE Atlantic vs. Gulf of Guinea) but examination of more taxa is needed. A third distinct region was distinguished in the stomach, named here as mid stomach, that differs from the fore and hind stomach in epithelia thickness and by lacking connective muscular sheath. The potential of the micro-CT technique in the search for internal anatomical characters with taxonomic value is discussed.

Intrinsic histological and morphological abnormalities of the pediatric thoracic aorta in bicuspid aortic valve patients are predictive for future aortopathy

BackgroundPatients with a bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) have an increased risk to develop aortic complications. Many studies are pointing towards a possible embryonic explanation for the development of both a bicuspid aortic valve as well as a defective ascending aortic wall in these patients. The fetal and newborn ascending aortic wall has however scarcely been studied in bicuspid aortic valve patients. We hypothesize that early histopathological defects might already be visible in the fetal and pediatric ascending aortic wall of bicuspid aortic valve patients, indicating at an early embryonic defect. MethodsNon-dilated BAV ascending aortic wall samples were collected (n = 40), categorized in five age groups: premature (age range 17.5 weeks + days GA till 37.6 weeks + days GA) 2. neonate (age range 1 – 21 days) 3. infant (age range 1 month – 4 years) 4. adolescent (age range 12 years – 15 years) and 5. adult (age range 41 – 72 years). Specimen were studied for intimal and medial histopathological features. ResultsThe premature ascending aortic wall has a significantly thicker intimal and significantly thinner medial layer as compared to all other age categories (p < 0.05). After birth the intimal thickness decreases significantly. The medial layer increases in thickness before adulthood (p < 0.05) with an increasing number of elastic lamellae (p < 0.01) and interlamellar mucoid extracellular matrix accumulation (p < 0.0001). Intimal atherosclerosis was scarce and medial histopathological features such as overall medial degeneration, smooth muscle cell nuclei loss and elastic fiber fragmentation were not appreciated in the BAV ascending aortic wall of any age. ConclusionsThe main characteristics of a bicuspid ascending aortic wall are already present before adulthood, albeit not before birth. Considering the early manifestations of ascending aortic wall pathology in bicuspid aortic valve patients, the pediatric population should be considered while searching for markers predictive for future aortopathy.

A remarkable new species of gecko (Squamata: Gekkonidae: Hemidactylus) from scrublands at the southern tip of India

We describe a new species of Hemidactylus based on an integrative taxonomic framework from scrub habitats at the southern tip of India, in Thoothukudi District, Tamil Nadu. The new species has the most densely packed tubercles among Indian Hemidactylus, almost resembling the most tuberculate Indian Cyrtopodion. Hemidactylus quartziticolussp. nov. is phylogenetically placed within the brookii group of Indian Hemidactylus, where it is sister to the H. gleadowi complex from western-central India. The new species is 14.5–23.7% divergent in ND2 mitochondrial sequence data from other brookii group members, and can be easily diagnosed from regional congeners by its unique dorsal scalation, the number and arrangement of precloacal-femoral pores, the number of dorsal tubercle rows at midbody, number of lamellae under digit I and IV of manus and pes. The new species is currently known only from two isolated, low quartzite hillocks 45 km apart with scrubby, thorn forests and loose, stony soil.

STUDY OF COAL TAR PITCH MORPHOLOGY AND STRUCTURE

The morphology and structure of the mesophase in the series: coal tar pitch (CTP) - α-fraction of CTP - carbonised α-fraction after heating to 1200 °C, were studied by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray phase and X-ray structural analysis. The X-ray structural parameters were determined: longitudinal and transverse dimensions of the lamellae and the thickness of packages, the distance between the lamellae and the number of lamellae in the formed packages. It is shown that the two-dimensional structures of carbon mesophase are ordered into three-dimensional packages during the formation of semi-coke under CTP heating. It is established that the carbon structure of CTP and its α-fraction is represented by the turbostratic and graphite-like phases. The sizes of the packages formed by the lamellae during structuring in the transverse direction in the studied samples are of the order of 18-25 Å, in the longitudinal direction 46-63 Å, the average distance between the lamellae in the studied samples is 3.46-3.52 Å.

A new mouse model of elastin haploinsufficiency highlights the importance of elastin to vascular development and blood pressure regulation

Supravalvular aortic stenosis (SVAS) is an autosomal dominant disease resulting from elastin (ELN) haploinsufficiency. Individuals with SVAS typically develop a thickened arterial media with an increased number of elastic lamellae and smooth muscle cell (SMC) layers and stenosis superior to the aortic valve. A mouse model of SVAS (Eln+/−) was generated that recapitulates many aspects of the human disease, including increased medial SMC layers and elastic lamellae, large artery stiffness, and hypertension. The vascular changes in these mice were thought to be responsible for the hypertension phenotype. However, a renin gene (Ren) duplication in the original 129/Sv genetic background and carried through numerous strain backcrosses raised the possibility of renin-mediated effects on blood pressure. To exclude excess renin activity as a disease modifier, we utilized the Cre-LoxP system to rederive Eln hemizygous mice on a pure C57BL/6 background (Sox2-Cre;Elnf/f). Here we show that Sox2-Cre;Eln+/f mice, with a single Ren1 gene and normal renin levels, phenocopy the original global knockout line. Characteristic traits include an increased number of elastic lamellae and SMC layers, stiff elastic arteries, and systolic hypertension with widened pulse pressure. Importantly, small resistance arteries of Sox2-Cre;Eln+/f mice exhibit a significant change in endothelial cell function and hypercontractility to angiotensin II, findings that point to pathway-specific alterations in resistance arteries that contribute to the hypertensive phenotype. These data confirm that the cardiovascular changes, particularly systolic hypertension, seen in Eln+/− mice are due to Eln hemizygosity rather than Ren duplication.

Effect of Bearing Direction and Mounting Techniques on Cross-Laminated Timber Elements in the Field

Vibration reduction index (Kij) measurements in the field have some challenges compared to laboratory measurements. Firstly, the measurement requires access to a construction site during the short time span when the cross-laminated timber (CLT) elements are apparent. Secondly, building contractors are often on a tight time schedule. Therefore, it is important to find a solution that minimizes the measurement time on site. Moreover, Kij measurements in the field include several types of junctions with different bearing directions which may be of importance. This paper aims to evaluate two different mounting techniques with accelerometers on CLT elements and to discuss how the bearing direction could affect the vibration level difference of junctions. Measurement data indicates few deviations between mounting techniques with bee wax or double-sided adhesive tape when accelerometers are attached on CLT elements. Furthermore, field measurements indicate that the vibration level will decrease with an increased number of lamellas over the same CLT element. Double-sided adhesive tape is an adequate substitute for bee wax in the field for mounting accelerometers on CLT elements, with some limitations for high frequencies. Measurement data concludes that the bearing direction of CLT elements can influence the vibration reduction index of a junction.

The first modern morphological description of Cercaria pennata and molecular evidence of its synonymy with Pronoprymna ventricosa in the Black Sea.

During the parasitological examination of molluscs Abra segmentum obtained from the Black Sea basin, parthenitae belonging to the family Faustulidae were found. The cercariae were obtained by natural emergence and were studied using differential interference contrast microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. Specimens resemble Cercaria pennata ex Tapes rugatus which was described from the Sevastopol area, in the shape and length of the body, tail length, location and shape of internal organs, suckers, pharynx, testicular rudiments, and the number and position of longitudinal lamellae on the tail finlets. To date, there are only limited descriptions of the parthenitae of C. pennata without detailed measurements, thus the taxonomic position of the individuals studied needs thorough revision and molecular verification. According to the molecular analyses, C. pennata was identical to that of published sequences of Pronoprymna ventricosa.