Size-Segregated Particulate Mass and Carbonaceous Components in Roadside and Riverside Environments

Air sampling for 12 h diurnal and nocturnal periods was conducted at two monitoring sites with different characteristics in Jambi City, Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The sampling was done at a roadside site and a riverside site from August 2–9, and from August 7–13 in 2019, respectively. A cascade air sampler was used to obtain information on the status, characteristics and behavior of airborne particles with a particular focus on the ultrafine fraction (PM0.1). The number of light vehicles was best correlated with most PM size categories, while those of heavy vehicles and motorcycles with the 0.5–1 μm and with >10 μm for the nocturnal period, respectively. These findings suggest that there is a positive influence of traffic amount on the PM concentration. Using carbonaceous parameters related to heavy-vehicle emissions such as EC and soot-EC, HV emission was confirmed to account for the PM0.1 fraction more clearly in the roadside environment. The correlation between OC/EC and EC for 0.5–1 μm particles indicated that biomass burning has an influence on both in the diurnal period. A possible transboundary influence was shown as a shift in the PM0.1 fraction characteristic from “urban” to “biomass burning”.

Diel variation of aquatic insect drift in streams of Southern Brazil

Some organisms, such as aquatic insects, are transported from the upstream to downstream region of streams through a process called drift. This process occurs in passive and active ways and can be variable throughout the day, mainly between the nocturnal and diurnal periods. Here, we evaluate the periodicity of the drift of aquatic insects in two streams of the Middle Iguaçu basin, southern region of Brazil. We predicted that the drift of aquatic insects brings the highest richness, diversity and abundance during the nocturnal period, compared to the diurnal period. In addition, we expected that the composition of species is different between these periods. In each stream, aquatic insect sampling was carried out 10 times, for 24 hours, using drift nets. A total of 2,114 aquatic insect specimens were recorded, distributed in 26 families. Of these families, 20 were recorded during the diurnal period and 24 during the nocturnal period. Our results showed an increase in the diversity and abundance of aquatic insect drift in the nocturnal period. However, only abundance was significantly different between the periods. We attribute the higher abundance in nocturnal drift possibly to biological interactions. Thus, nocturnal drift can be a strategy of some aquatic insects to avoid visual predation by other invertebrates and/or vertebrates, in Neotropical streams. We highlight the importance of our study, because it can be used for comparison in surveys of lotic environments that have been impacted by human activity (e.g. by dam construction), which can alter the water flow, and consequently the pattern of insect drift.

New solar still with energy storage: application to the desalination of groundwater in the Bou-Ismail region

This study aims to develop efficient desalination equipment that increases the distilled water production rate and enhances heat transfer in the evaporator. It focuses on the impact of equipment geometry and energy storage during the daytime and nocturnal period. Besides, the effects of the energy storage system which is placed in two specific areas on the yield of the distillation process with and without energy storage have been studied. The heat exchanger system provides the energy to the water to be treated in the daytime while the concrete part provides the energy storage in the desalination evaporator at night time. The experimental test results showed that the increase of distilled water through the heating system is very important in comparison to the productivity of the conventional solar still. The obtained results indicate that the use of energy storage increases productivity by 50% in the nocturnal period. Indeed, the daily productivity of the concrete solar still is strongly affected by the heat transfer produced via concrete to the water evaporator is presented in this study. It was found that the average daily distillate output of concrete solar still with energy storage is more significant than the one of a solar still without energy storage.

Effects of the Rock-Bed Heat Storage System on the Solar Greenhouse Microclimate

The Mediterranean area is characterized by intense radiation generating high temperatures during the day in the greenhouse and low temperatures during the night. The temperature gap problem between the daytime and the nocturnal period which characterizes the region requires the use of greenhouses with a thermal storage system. A greenhouse equipped with a sensible heat storage system using a rock-bed, was compared to a witness one, under the same climatic conditions. Measurements were performed on the microclimate parameters of both greenhouses, such as temperature and relative humidity. Our work is based on an experimental analysis of greenhouse microclimate and evaluating the evolution of temperature and relative humidity prevailing inside the greenhouse. It has been found that the system efficiency is improved due to the storing of heat in excess during the daytime. This stored energy is used during night. The main obtained results showed that the heat storage system allowed an increase in the air temperature up to 0.9℃ and a decrease of the relative humidity about 3.4% during the night compared to the witness greenhouse. The improvement in the heated greenhouse microclimate during night has a very positive impact on the quality of fruit and yield.

Nanodoses of melatonin induces apoptosis on human breast cancer cells co-cultured with colostrum cells

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of melatonin nanodoses adsorbed to PEG microspheres during different phases of the day on oxidative stress and apoptosis in human colostrum mononuclear (MN) cells co-cultured with breast cancer tumor cells (MCF-7). The MCF-7 cells were obtained from the American Type Culture Collection, and the MN cells were obtained from volunteer donors. The cells were preincubated for 24 h with or without 100 ng.mL-1 melatonin (MLT), PEG microspheres (PEG) or 100 ng.mL-1 MLT adsorbed to PEG microspheres (PEG-MLT). Superoxide, superoxide dismutase (SOD), intracellular calcium and apoptosis in the MN cells, MCF-7 cells and co-cultures were determined. The MN cells and co-cultured cells during the nocturnal period and the MCF-7 cells during the diurnal period exhibited increased superoxide release in the presence of PEG-MLT. MN cells treated with MLT during both periods of the day exhibited the highest SOD concentrations, whereas the MCF-7 cells had high SOD levels when incubated with PEG-MLT during the nocturnal period. The nocturnal period co-culture, independent of treatment, showed the highest levels of the enzyme. The highest amount of intracellular Ca2+ release was observed in MN cells and MCF-7 cells co-cultured with PEG-MLT during the nocturnal period. Irrespective of the phase of the day, the highest apoptosis index was observed in co-cultures of cells incubated with MLT-PEG. These data suggest that nanodoses of melatonin-modified release plus physiological melatonin produced in higher concentrations during the night can increase the effective activity of this hormone against tumors.

Análise do perfil vertical do vento no Centro de Lançamento de Alcântara com uso de Análise de Componentes Principais

The objective of this study is to perform a vertical wind profile analysis using radiosonde data at the Alcântara Launch Center (ALC), using the multivariate statistical technique of the Principal Components Analysis (PCA), to verify if there is a presence of flows in the vertical wind profile. These flows may characterize local circulations and be associated with sea breeze-type circulations, and may also be associated with synoptic mesoscale level circulations, such as Low-Level Jets (LLJ). The results showed that in the first three components in the nocturnal period there is a presence of LLJ, with 85% of the variance explained. The occurrence of LLJ presented typical heights in the components, the first one with a height of 800 meters (average direction 60 to 70 degrees), the second with a height of 400 meters (mean direction 40 to 50 degrees) and the third with 200 meters average 50 to 60 degrees). These LLJs may be associated with processes related to the Planetary Boundary Layer (PBL) at night, such as maximum wind inversion and breezes.

Rat Running Wheel Behavior Reflects Inflammatory, Orofacial Pain

Background: Our objective was to establish a novel, unbiased metric of inflammatory, orofacial pain. Method: Rats were placed individually into cages equipped with running wheels, and allowed an acclimation period of 17 days. Diurnal and nocturnal voluntary running behaviors were recorded. After day 17, rats were deeply anesthetized and divided into mustard oil, vehicle (mineral oil) and drug (ibuprofen) groups. Injections of mustard oil or mineral oil were made into the vestibule superior to the maxillary molar. Running wheel behavior was recorded for three days following the procedure. Results: After acclimation, the average percentage of running behavior that occurred at night was 94% +/-1% SE. Mustard oil injections caused externally observable, unilateral inflammation. On average, mustard oil injections significantly reduced nocturnal running on the first and second nocturnal periods post-injection. The non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, ibuprofen, significantly improved running behavior during the second nocturnal period, which was abolished when removed during the third nocturnal period. Conclusions: We conclude that unilateral injections of algogens in the vestibule coupled with analysis of nocturnal running behavior is an effective method to measure acute inflammatory pain for three days that mirrors many painful clinical situations. The model could be used as inexpensive, quantitative method to evaluate putative pain relieving therapeutics.