Hermida, R. C.; Calvo, C.; Ayala, D. E.; Dominguez, M. J.; Covelo, M.; Mojon, A.; Fernandez, J. R.; Fontao, M. J.; Soler, R.; Lopez, J. E. Author Information
Volatile oil was extracted from Marchantia convoluta by steam distillation. 25 peaks were separated and 10 compounds including 5 hydrocarbons and 5 oxygenated compounds were identified by Gas Chromatogra-phy-Mass spectrometry. The main components were norpinane and hedycaryol. The other 8 compounds with contents all over 1 %. It is good to separate non-polar and apolar component in volatile oil from M. convolute on the GC column of moderate polarity.
Abstract The effects of humic acids (HA) on Cu up take by the blue mussel (Mytilus edulis) were studied in chemically defined seawater. Short-term uptake by excised gills was studied and compared with whole-mussel Cu accumulation. Copper uptake in gills is not a saturable process within the time frame and concentration range tested, being a linear function of time (0–120 min) and Cu concentration (0–150 μg/L). For the whole mussel, Cu uptake is not linear with time (0–72 h) and Cu concentration (0–130 μg/L). The presence of HA (0–10 mg/L) clearly reduced Cu uptake by gills, but it did not have such an effect on whole-animal uptake. A simple complexation model obtained from voltammetric measurements was used to determine the noncomplexed (labile) fraction of Cu in the presence of HA to test the effect of speciation on Cu uptake. In most cases, Cu uptake by gills was better explained by labile Cu concentrations than by total Cu exposure concentrations, which is in agreement with the free-ion activity model. In whole-animal experiments, Cu uptake was not related to labile Cu concentrations in the presence of HA, indicating that Cu-HA complexes are at least partially available for uptake by the mussels.
Abstract The evidence for universal common ancestry (UCA) is vast and persuasive, and a phylogenetic test was proposed for quantifying its odds against independently originated sequences based on the comparison between one and several trees [1]. This test was successfully applied to a well-supported homologous sequence alignment, being however criticized once simulations showed that even alignments without any phylogenetic structure could mislead its conclusions [2]. Despite claims to the contrary [3], we believe that the counterexample successfully showed a drawback of the test, of relying on good alignments. Here we present a simplified version of this counterexample, which can be interpreted as a tree with arbitrarily long branches, and where the test again fails. We also present another simulation showing circumstances whereby any sufficiently similar alignment will favor UCA irrespective of the true independent origins for the sequences. We therefore conclude that the test should not be trusted unless convergence has already been ruled out a priori. Finally, we present a class of frequentist tests that perform better than the purportedly formal UCA test.
Abstract Aims The Hygia Chronotherapy Trial, conducted within the clinical primary care setting, was designed to test whether bedtime in comparison to usual upon awakening hypertension therapy exerts better cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction. Methods and results In this multicentre, controlled, prospective endpoint trial, 19 084 hypertensive patients (10 614 men/8470 women, 60.5 ± 13.7 years of age) were assigned (1:1) to ingest the entire daily dose of ≥1 hypertension medications at bedtime (n = 9552) or all of them upon awakening (n = 9532). At inclusion and at every scheduled clinic visit (at least annually) throughout follow-up, ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) monitoring was performed for 48 h. During the 6.3-year median patient follow-up, 1752 participants experienced the primary CVD outcome (CVD death, myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization, heart failure, or stroke). Patients of the bedtime, compared with the upon-waking, treatment-time regimen showed significantly lower hazard ratio—adjusted for significant influential characteristics of age, sex, type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, smoking, HDL cholesterol, asleep systolic blood pressure (BP) mean, sleep-time relative systolic BP decline, and previous CVD event—of the primary CVD outcome [0.55 (95% CI 0.50–0.61), P < 0.001] and each of its single components (P < 0.001 in all cases), i.e. CVD death [0.44 (0.34–0.56)], myocardial infarction [0.66 (0.52–0.84)], coronary revascularization [0.60 (0.47–0.75)], heart failure [0.58 (0.49–0.70)], and stroke [0.51 (0.41–0.63)]. Conclusion Routine ingestion by hypertensive patients of ≥1 prescribed BP-lowering medications at bedtime, as opposed to upon waking, results in improved ABP control (significantly enhanced decrease in asleep BP and increased sleep-time relative BP decline, i.e. BP dipping) and, most importantly, markedly diminished occurrence of major CVD events. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00741585.
