Assessment of the distal runoff in patients with long standing diabetes mellitus and lower limb ischemia: MDCTA versus DSA

AbstractObjectiveThe purpose of our study was to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of multidetector computed tomography angiography (MDCTA) in comparison with digital subtraction angiography (DSA) in patients with long standing diabetes mellitus and chronic lower limb ischemia.Subjects and methodsOne hundred patients with long standing DM and chronic limb ischemia underwent both CT angiography and DSA. The distal runoff of each lower limb was divided into 13 arterial segments. The status of each segment was graded as: 1, (normal or less than 10% stenosis); 2, (10–49% stenosis); 3, (50–99% stenosis); 4, occlusion. The effect of calcification on the diagnostic accuracy of CT angiography was evaluated. CTA findings were compared with DSA findings for each arterial segment. The sensitivity and specificity of CT angiography were determined using DSA as the gold standard.ResultsA total of 100 patients were included (mean age, 58years; 70% men). The sensitivity and specificity of CT angiography were significantly affected by the degree of vessel wall calcification, and increase the need for additional imaging.ConclusionVessel wall calcifications decrease the diagnostic accuracy of CT angiography in patients with long standing DM and peripheral arterial disease

Chemical Profiling of Significant Antioxidant and Phytotoxic Microwave-Extracted Essential Oil from Araucaria heterophylla Resin

Due to the various hazards of using synthetic chemical compounds in pharmaceutics, agriculture, and industry, scientists and researchers do their best to explore and assess new green natural compounds from natural resources with potent activity. The essential oil (EO) from the resin collected from Araucaria heterophylla Salisb. was extracted by the microwave technique and chemically characterized via GC-MS analysis. Furthermore, the extract EO was assessed for its antioxidant and phytotoxic activities. The EO has 33 compounds, mainly terpenes (98.23%), and the major compounds were α-pinene (62.57%), β-pinene (6.60%), germacrene D (5.88%), and β-caryophyllene (3.56%). The extracted EO showed substantial antioxidant activity, where it showed IC50 values of 142.42 and 118.03 mg L−1 for DPPH and ABTS, respectively. On the other hand, the EO revealed considerable phytotoxicity against the weed Chenopodium murale, where the EO showed IC50 values of 304.0, 230.1, and 147.1 mg L−1, for seed germination, seedling shoot growth, and seedling root growth, respectively. Moreover, the EO showed the same pattern of allelopathic inhibition against the weed Sonchus oleraceus, where it showed IC50 values of 295.7, 224.5, and 106.1 mg L−1, for seed germination, seedling shoot growth, and seedling root growth, respectively. The present study showed that the extraction technique affects the constituents of the EO, particularly the quantitative composition. The EO of A. heterophylla resin also revealed considerable antioxidant and phytotoxic activity against weeds. Therefore, it can be considered a promising natural resource that could be integrated into the weed management approach. However, further study is recommended for deep characterization of their authentic compounds and evaluation of their mode of action(s) on a wide spectrum of weeds

Enhancing tomato production by using non-conventional water resources within integrated sprinkler irrigation systems in arid regions

This research evaluated the importance of establishing an integrated sprinkler irrigation design connected to fish farm ponds in order to achieve environmental and financial benefits. To achieve the aim of the study, two field experiments were conducted at a private farm in the Nubaria area of Beheira Governorate during the 2022 and 2023 seasons to quantify all the benefits from using fish water effluent (FWE) in irrigation. The obtained results indicated that the effluent could represent a good source of irrigation and bio-fertilization. The yield of tomato was higher when using FWE for irrigation compared with using groundwater for irrigation (IW). This was due to the additional amounts of dissolved bio-nitrogen along with other nutrients present in the FWE. The proportion of dissolved nitrogen added by using FWE was 22.3 kg nitrogen per hectare in 2022 and 24.6 kg nitrogen per hectare in 2023, in addition to some other major elements such as phosphorus and potassium, which are also among the main nutrients needed by crops. It has also been noticed that the fertility of the sandy soil increased with the use of FWE for irrigation. One of the most important results was the possibility of reducing the addition of nitrogen mineral fertilizers by 25%, thus saving on N fertilizers when growing tomato. In addition to the vitality of the FWE and its macro- and microelements, algae, microorganisms, and other organic materials, the use of this type of water as an alternative source for irrigation, along with the reduction in the amount of added mineral fertilizers, will reduce the degree of groundwater contamination with mineral fertilizers and increase the income of farmers. It was also observed that the air temperature decreased during the growing season when compared with the temperature of uncultivated surrounding areas

Impact of prescribed burning, mowing and abandonment on a Mediterranean grassland: A 5-year multi-kingdom comparison

Mediterranean grasslands are semi-natural, fire-prone, species-rich ecosystems that have been maintained for centuries through a combination of fire, grazing, and mowing. Over the past half century, however, grasslands have faced numerous threats, including the abandonment of traditional agro-pastoral practices. Our hypothesis was that mowing and prescribed burning are management practices potentially effective in counteracting the reduction of plant diversity triggered by land abandonment. However, the long-term effects of such management practices on plant communities and soil microbiota in Mediterranean grassland remain poorly studied. Here, we conducted a 5-year field experiment comparing prescribed fire, vegetation mowing, and abandonment in a fire-prone Mediterranean grassland in southern Italy in order to evaluate the capability of such management strategies to counteract the detrimental impacts of land abandonment on plant diversity and the associated increase of wildfire. We combined vegetation analysis and soil chemical characterization and several microbiota analyses, including microbial biomass and respiration, arthropod community, and high-throughput sequencing of bacterial and eukaryotic rRNA gene markers. Burning and mowing significantly increased plant species richness and diversity compared to abandonment plots, reducing the abundance of perennial tall grasses in favour of short-lived species. Standing litter followed the same trend, being 3.8-fold greater and largely composed of grass remains in the abandoned compared to burnt and mowed plots. In the soil, prescribed burning caused significant increase in pH, a reduction in organic carbon, total N, and cation exchange capacity. Diversity and taxonomic composition of bacterial and fungal microbiota was affected by burning and mowing treatments. Abandonment caused shifts of microbiota towards a fungal-dominated system, composed of late successional fungi of the Basidiomycota. Fast-growing and putative fungal pathogens were more abundant under burnt and mowed treatments. Soil arthropods were influenced by vegetation and microbiota changes, being strongly reduced in mowed plots. Our study demonstrated that grassland abandonment promotes the spread of tall grasses, reducing plant diversity and increasing the risk of wildfire, while prescribed burning and mowing are effective in counteracting such negative effects

Assessment of green and chemically synthesized copper oxide nanoparticles against hepatocellular carcinoma

Copper oxide nanoparticle (CuO-NPs) attracts the attentions of human beings due to unique physicochemical and biological properties. The chemical and green synthesis approaches were used to synthesis of CuO-NPs and plant leaves extract Azadirachta indica (A. indica) was preferred in green synthesis approach. The XRD analysis was used to analyze the monoclinic crystal structure and calculate the average crystallite size in the range of 15 ti 16 nm. While, the information about different rotational and vibrational modes attached on the spectrum of CuO-NPs was identified by FTIR. After that the UV-VIS analysis provided the information about the absorbance spectrums in the range of 235 and 220 nm. The MTT assay was perfomed to investigate liver carcinoma (HepG2 cells) interaction and absorbance of CuO-NPs towards mentioned cell lines were recorded and loss in HepG2 cells viability. In an overall assessment, anticancer response of comparative study of CuO-NPs towards liver carcinoma treatment contributes significantly after successful demonstration of essential steps of suggested experimental study. Finally, comparative study of experimental and mathematical modeling of anticancer activity towards normal and liver cancer cell lines were conducted and investigated. (c) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Chemical Composition of Kickxia aegyptiaca Essential Oil and Its Potential Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activities

The exploration of new bioactive compounds from natural resources as alternatives to synthetic chemicals has recently attracted the attention of scientists and researchers. To our knowledge, the essential oil (EO) of Kickxia aegyptiaca has not yet been explored. Thus, the present study was designed to explore the EO chemical profile of K. aegyptiaca for the first time, as well as evaluate its antioxidant and antibacterial activities, particularly the extracts of this plant that have been reported to possess various biological activities. The EO was extracted from the aerial parts via hydrodistillation and then characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The extracted EO was tested for its antioxidant activity via the reduction in the free radicals, 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′-azinobis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS). In addition, the EO was tested as an antibacterial mediator against eight Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacterial isolates. Forty-three compounds were identified in the EO of K. aegyptiaca, with a predominance of terpenoids (75.46%). Oxygenated compounds were the main class, with oxygenated sesquiterpenes attaining 40.42% of the EO total mass, while the oxygenated monoterpenes comprised 29.82%. The major compounds were cuminic aldehyde (21.99%), caryophyllene oxide (17.34%), hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (11.74%), ar-turmerone (8.51%), aromadendrene oxide (3.74%), and humulene epoxide (2.70%). According to the IC50 data, the K. aegyptiaca EO revealed considerable antioxidant activity, with IC50 values of 30.48 mg L−1 and 35.01 mg L−1 for DPPH and ABTS, respectively. In addition, the EO of K. aegyptiaca showed more substantial antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacterial isolates compared to Gram-negative. Based on the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), the EO showed the highest activity against Escherichia coli and Bacillus cereus, with an MIC value of 0.031 mg mL−1. The present study showed, for the first time, that the EO of K. aegyptiaca has more oxygenated compounds with substantial antioxidant and antibacterial activities. This activity could be attributed to the effect of the main compounds, either singular or synergistic. Thus, further studies are recommended to characterize the major compounds, either alone or in combination as antioxidants or antimicrobial agents, and evaluate their biosafety

Phytotoxic Effects of Plant Essential Oils: A Systematic Review and Structure-Activity Relationship Based on Chemometric Analyses

Herbicides are natural or synthetic chemicals used to control unwanted plants (weeds). To avoid the harmful effects of synthetic herbicides, considerable effort has been devoted to finding alternative products derived from natural sources. Essential oils (EOs) from aromatic plants are auspicious source of bioherbicides. This review discusses phytotoxic EOs and their chemical compositions as reported from 1972 to 2020. Using chemometric analysis, we attempt to build a structure-activity relationship between phytotoxicity and EO chemical composition. Data analysis reveals that oxygenated terpenes, and mono- and sesquiterpenes, in particular, play principal roles in the phytotoxicity of EOs. Pinene, 1,8 cineole, linalool, and carvacrol are the most effective monoterpenes, with significant phytotoxicity evident in the EOs of many plants. Caryophyllene and its derivatives, including germacrene, spathulenol, and hexahydrofarnesyl acetone, are the most effective sesquiterpenes. EOs rich in iridoids (non-terpene compounds) also exhibit allelopathic activity. Further studies are recommended to evaluate the phytotoxic activity of these compounds in pure forms, determine their activity in the field, evaluate their safety, and assess their modes of action

Impacts of Nicotiana glauca Graham Invasion on the Vegetation Composition and Soil: A Case Study of Taif, Western Saudi Arabia

Invasive species are considered a serious problem in different ecosystems worldwide. They can compete and interfere with native plants, leading to a shift in community assembly and ecosystem function. The present study aimed to evaluate the effects of Nicotiana glauca Graham invasion on native vegetation composition and soil of the most invaded locations in the Taif region, Western Saudi Arabia, including Alwaht (WHT), Ar-Ruddaf (RDF), and Ash-shafa (SHFA). Plant species list, life span, life form, and chorotypes were assessed. Six locations highly infested with N. glauca shrubs were selected, and the morphological parameters of the shrubs were measured. Within each location, richness, evenness, relative density of species, and soil were measured either under the canopy of N. glauca shrubs or outside the canopy. Floristic analysis revealed the existence of 144 plant species, mainly perennial. The shrubs at the SHFA1 location showed the highest values of all measured morphological parameters. The WHT 1 location showed high richness and evenness, while the WHAT 2 location showed less richness and evenness. The invaded locations showed substantial variation in the community composition. Additionally, the effect of N. glauca on the understory species varied from competition to facilitation, where most of the understory species were inhibited. As an average of all locations, 65.86% of the plant species were recorded only outside the canopy of N. glauca. The vegetation analysis revealed that the SHFA location is more vulnerable to invasion that could be ascribed to its wide range of habitats and high disturbance. The soil–vegetation relationships showed significant variations among the studied locations regarding soil composition, and thereby showed a wide ecological range of the invasive shrubs N. glauca. Therefore, the invasion of N. glauca in the Taif region altered the species interactions, nutrients, and soil properties