It has been accepted that xylem ray parenchyma cells (XRPCs) in hardwood species respond to subfreezing temperatures either by deep supercooling or by extracellular freezing. Present study by cryo-scanning electron microscopy examined the freezing responses of XRPCs in five boreal hardwoods: Salix sachalinensis Fr. Schmit, Populus sieboldii Miq., Betula platyphylla Sukat. var japonica Hara, Bet...

The essential oils of Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. Pubescens, Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. Gracilis, Phyllostachys heterocycla cv. Heterocycla and Phyllostachys kwangsiensis leaves were obtained by steam distillation. Their chemical components were separated and identified by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Meanwhile, the effect of scavenging free radicals of essential oil was a...

Electrochemical properties of two multiforms of laccase from Trametes pubescens basidiomycete (LAC1 and LAC2) have been studied. The standard redox potentials of the T1 sites of the enzymes were found to be 746 and 738 mV vs. NHE for LAC1 and LAC2, respectively. Bioelectroreduction of oxygen based on direct electron transfer between each of the two forms of Trametes pubescens laccase and spectr...

Inducible nitrogen oxide synthase (iNOS) is the primary contributor of the overproduction of nitric oxide and its inhibitors have been actively sought as effective anti-inflammatory agents. In this study, we prepared 70% ethanol extracts from 81 Chinese herbs. These extracts were subsequently evaluated for their effect on nitrogen oxide (NO) production and cell growth in LPS/IFNγ-costimulated a...

We examined densities of endophytic fungi and their associations with performance of Eriocrania leaf-mining moth larvae on white birch (Betula pubescens) and silver birch (B. pendula) around a large copper±nickel smelter in SW Finland. The analysis is based on 2-year data collected from sites distributed along the pollution gradient from 0 to 10.8 km from the smelter. Endophyte densities were l...

On the basis of qualitative and quantitative analysis with liquid chromatography--electrospray ionisation mass spectrometry, the foliage of dwarf birch (Betula nana L.), silver birch (B. pendula Roth) and mountain birch (B. pubescens ssp. czerepanovii (Orlova) Hämet-Ahti) were found, for the first time, to contain the same individual HTs that were described earlier for white birch (B. pubescens...

This study aimed to isolate bacterial neuraminidase (BNA) inhibitory O-methylated quercetin derivatives from the aerial parts of S. pubescens. All isolated compounds were identified as (1–4), which exhibited be noncompetitive inhibitors against BNA, with IC50 ranging 14.0 84.1 μM. The responsible (1–4) showed a significant correlation between BNA effects and number O-methyl groups on quercetin;...

Depletion of natural resources has become a major concern in today’s modern industrialized world centering much attention on sustainability of the built environment and sustainable alternatives to current development and construction practices. In the green building community, strong interest lies in natural and renewable building materials that can be used in structural applications. Just such...

Preface, p. vii Any reasonable logical system can be naturally translated into many-sorted first-order logic; thus many-sorted first-order logic is a universal logic. Since many-sorted logic can be translated into single-sorted first-order logic the latter is also universal. However, as will be seen in the course of this book, many-sorted logic faithfully interprets the semantics of the object ...