Investigation of the estrogenic activity of Pueraria candollei variety mirifica extract on rats

Background: Pueraria candollei variety mirifica (PM) has been widely used as ingredient in many rejuvenating products. In this study, we aimed to assess the estrogenic activity of PM extract grown in Vietnam.Methods: Estrogenic activity of PM extract was estimated on immature female rats by using uterotrophic method to measure the weight of the reproductive organs. Estrogenic activity of PM extract also was investigated in mature female ovariectomized rats by evaluating the vaginal cells growth, reproductive organs weight, serum estradiol concentration.Results: Our results showed that PM extract at doses of 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg had increased the reproductive organs weight in immature rats and female ovariectomized rats. In addition, PM extract had increased the serum estradiol concentration and the vaginal cells growth by increasing the percentage of keratinocytes in female ovariectomized rats.Conclusions: Our results showed that PM extract has strong estrogenic activity in rats

Les apports des sciences humaines et sociales au développement socio-économique: Actes du colloque international Hanoï - 2011

International audienc

Dinophysis spp. recorded in the coastal waters of northern Vietnam during 2002-2003

A monitoring on toxins responsible for Diarrhetic Shellfish Poisoning (DSP) was carried out at several culture areas of hard clam (Meretrix meretrix) in the northern coast of Vietnam during May 2002 and December 2003. Quantitative observation of Dinophysis spp. was made one to four times every month and DSP toxins in the hard clam grown in the area was analyzed monthly using the HPLC method. Six species of Dinophysis were recorded, including D. caudata, D. fortii, D. miles, D. rotundata, D. mitra and D. hastata. Among them, D. caudata was the most common species. Others were not common and their densities were ignorable. D. caudata appeared almost all around the year at all sampling sites with density ranged from 0 to more than 3000 cells/l. However, it was more abundant during the warm period, i.e. from late February to late November. For the rest of a year, cells were rarely found. D. caudata was recorded in a wide range of temperature (15-34.3℃), but its significant density (over 100 cells/l) was only observed when water temperature exceeded 20℃. D. caudata appeared and could reach high density at all salinity in the range of 8-34 PSU. The highest recorded density was 3128 cells/l at 22℃ and 8.2 PSU in Thanh Hoa area in February 2003. ""Blooms"" of D. caudata, together with other dominant dinoflagellates, usually coincided with the vanishing period of diatoms. Okadaic acid (OA) was detected in edible part of clams but at low concentration in all samples. Maximal level was 80ng OA/100g, encountered in Thanh Hoa transect during August 2002 and April 2003. DTX 1-4 were not detected in all samples. No significant correlation between OA concentration in clam and the density of D. caudata in the water sample was observed, although toxins sometimes peaked the same time with D. caudata density. Low concentration of toxins implicates low risk of DSP and explains the absence of poisoning cases in the area so far. However, other shellfishes in the area should also be subjected to toxin monitoring

Damage detection for a cable-stayed Bridge under the effect of moving loads using Transmissibility and Artificial Neural Network

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been widely used for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) in the last decades. To detect damage in the structure, ANN often uses input data consisting of natural frequencies or mode shapes. However, this data is not sensitive enough to accurately identify minor structural defects. Therefore, in this study, we propose to use transmissibility to generate input data for the input layer of ANN. Transmissibility uses output signals exclusively to preserve structural dynamic properties and is sensitive to damage characteristics. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed approach, a cable-stayed bridge with a wide variety of damage scenarios is employed. The results show that the combination of transmissibility and ANN not only accurately detect damages but also outperforms natural frequencies-based ANN in terms of accuracy and computational cost

Damage detection for a cable-stayed Bridge under the effect of moving loads using Transmissibility and Artificial Neural Network

Artificial Neural Network (ANN) has been widely used for Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) in the last decades. To detect damage in the structure, ANN often uses input data consisting of natural frequencies or mode shapes. However, this data is not sensitive enough to accurately identify minor structural defects. Therefore, in this study, we propose to use transmissibility to generate input data for the input layer of ANN. Transmissibility uses output signals exclusively to preserve structural dynamic properties and is sensitive to damage characteristics. To evaluate the efficiency of the proposed approach, a cable-stayed bridge with a wide variety of damage scenarios is employed. The results show that the combination of transmissibility and ANN not only accurately detect damages but also outperforms natural frequencies-based ANN in terms of accuracy and computational cost

Extract and fraction of cashew nut testa ameliorate the hyperglycemic mice induced by Streptozotocin and high-fat diet

Drug strategy is a standard method for treating type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), a non-communicable disease with increasing prevalence, which may cause side effects. Therefore, natural compounds with limited adverse effects have come back into vogue for treating T2D. This study aims to evaluate the effects on rehabilitating hyperglycemic mice of cashew nut testa (husk) extract and fraction known as potential bio-substances for improvement in T2D. First, the hyperglycemic mice were induced with a high-fat diet (HFD) for 4 weeks and then were injected with streptozotocin (STZ, dozen for injection was 40 mg/kg/week) for 2 weeks. Next, the confirmed hyperglycemic mice were treated with pioglitazone (HG+PG group), total extract (HG+TE group), and saponin-rich fraction (HG+SRF group) for 3 weeks. Then, the evaluation was based on body mass; blood glucose (BG) level; BG tolerance, lipid profile, pancreatic histology and the expression IRS-1 in the pancreas. The results showed that body mass and BG level significantly increased in hyperglycemic mice. After substance treatment, there was no change in body mass in TE and SRF groups. However, BG level of HG+TE group mice significantly decreased compared to hyperglycemic mice and only BG tolerance of HG+SRF group was improved. Besides, HG+TE and HG+SRF groups modulated the triglyceride, HDL and LDL close to those expressed in normal mice. In addition, histological images of the pancreas revealed the restoration in both HG+TE and HG+SRF groups. Simultaneously, the IRS-1 expression in HG+TE group pancreas was restored to its expression in normal mice. These results demonstrate that the TE and SRF of cashew nut testa could ameliorate BG, lipid profile and pancreatic IRS-1 expression and restore the damaged pancreas and islets in hyperglycemic mice

g-INFO portal: a solution to monitor Influenza A on the Grid for non-grid users

International audienceIn this paper, we introduce a portal for monitoring Influenza A on a grid-based system. Influenza A keeps on being a major threat to public health worldwide; especially if one virus can mutate itself so that it acquires the capacity for human to human transmission of H1N1 as well as the high death rate of H5N1. The existing g-INFO (Grid-based Information Network for Flu Observation) project provides a complete system for monitoring flu virus on the Grid. We present here a portal that operates on top of the g-INFO system as a solution for non-grid users to utilize grid services for analyzing molecular biology data of Influenza A