De novo assembly and annotation of transcriptomes from two cultivars of Cannabis sativa with different cannabinoid profiles.

Cannabis has been cultivated for millennia for medicinal, industrial and recreational uses. Our long-term goal is to compare the transcriptomes of cultivars with different cannabinoid profiles for therapeutic purposes. Here we describe the de novo assembly, annotation and initial analysis of two cultivars of Cannabis, a high THC variety and a CBD plus THC variety.

Recent advances in liquid mixtures in electric fields.

When immiscible liquids are subject to electric fields interfacial forces arise due to a difference in the permittivity or the conductance of the liquids, and these forces lead to shape change in droplets or to interfacial instabilities. In this topical review we discuss recent advances in the theory and experiments of liquids in electric fields with an emphasis on liquids which are initially miscible and demix under the influence of an external field. In purely dielectric liquids demixing occurs if the electrode geometry leads to sufficiently large field gradients.

Rate of bubble coalescence following dynamic approach: collectivity-induced specificity of ionic effect.

A simple, quantitative model is suggested to explain the specificity of ions with respect to inhibition of bubble coalescence following a dynamic approach. For the first time, the mode of thinning of the film in between the bubbles, as determined by the density of the bubble dispersion, is recognized as a determining factor. The specificity of the ionic effect is explained by a major difference in adsorption properties of ions, which is enhanced by the film thinning.

Rate of bubble coalescence following quasi-static approach: screening and neutralization of the electric double layer.

Air-bubble coalescence in aqueous electrolytic solutions, following quasi-static approach, was studied in order to understand its slow rate in purified water and high rate in electrolytic solutions. The former is found to be due to surface charges, originating from the speciation of dissolved CO2, which sustain the electric double layer repulsion. Rapid coalescence in electrolytic solutions is shown to occur via two different mechanisms: (1) neutralization of the carbonaceous, charged species by acids; or (2) screening of the repulsive charge effects by salts and bases.

Entropic effects and slow kinetics revealed in titrations of D2O-H2O solutions with different D/H ratios.

There is much renewed interest in the arrangement and kinetic of hydrogen bonds in water and heavy water. D(2)O forms a higher average number of hydrogen bonds per molecule (10% more) compared to the case for H(2)O, which cause a larger entropic cost for solvating molecules in D(2)O. Here we used isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to investigate the enthalpy of titration of D(2)O-H(2)O solutions with different D/H isotope ratios.