Antiyeasts Activities of Garad (Acacia nilotica L.) and Rumman (Punica granatum L.) Plants

Medicinal plants are sources of antimicrobial compounds. Some parts of these plants were reported to contain flavanoids, tannins, saponine, sterole and alkaloid. Compounds.. Garad and Rumman were reported to have some antimicrobial activities. The aim of this study is to investigate and analyze the phytochemical compounds and the antiyeasts activities of these two plants. The cup plate Inhibition zone method was used for the solvents tested. The inhibition zone tests showed that the Garad leaves and pods extracts were highly effective against C. albicans, and bark extract was highly effective against C. valida. The bark and the seeds extracts were effective against C. tropicalis, while, the pods extract was more effective against Pichia sp. Rumman peels extracts were more effective against       C. tropicalis. The solvent tests showed that the methanolic pod extracts of Garad were effective against Pichia sp. and C. tropicalis. The leaves extracts were effective against C. albicans. while, the bark extracts were effective against C. tropicalis and C. valida.  However, the seeds extracts were effective against C. albicans, C. valida, and C. tropicalis. The methanolic Rumman peels extracts were effective against C. valida.          C. valida was the only sensitive yeast against the bark and the peel ethanolic extracts of Rumman. All the petroleum ether and hexane extracts of the two plants parts were not effective against all the tested yeasts. Both Garad and Rumman plants were containing inhibitory compounds against different yeasts. The study suggestes that further stidies on the extracts of both Garad and Rumman should be made before being  for treatin

Electrosprayed nanoparticle delivery system for controlled release

This study utilises an electrohydrodynamic technique to prepare core-shell lipid nanoparticles with a tunable size and high active ingredient loading capacity, encapsulation efficiency and controlled release. Using stearic acid and ethylvanillin as model shell and active ingredients respectively, we identify the processing conditions and ratios of lipid:ethylvanillin required to form nanoparticles. Nanoparticles with a mean size ranging from 60 to 70 nm at the rate of 1.37 × 109 nanoparticles per minute were prepared with different lipid:ethylvanillin ratios. The polydispersity index was ≈ 21% and the encapsulation efficiency ≈ 70%. It was found that the rate of ethylvanillin release was a function of the nanoparticle size, and lipid:ethylvanillin ratio. The internal structure of the lipid nanoparticles was studied by transmission electron microscopy which confirmed that the ethylvanillin was encapsulated within a stearic acid shell. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis indicated that the ethylvanillin had not been affected. Extensive analysis of the release of ethylvanillin was performed using several existing models and a new diffusive release model incorporating a tanh function. The results were consistent with a core-shell structure

Association of health literacy with obesity and overweight among arabic secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya, Malaysia

Background: Overweight and obesity among adolescents is considered an epidemic in both developed and developing countries. There is still limited study on the health literacy as a determinant of overweight and obesity in adolescents.The aims of this study was to determine the association of health literacy with overweight and obesity. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study among Arabic secondary school students in Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya. Health literacy was measured using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) questionnaire. Limited health literacy was defined as the NVS score of 0 to 3. Body weight and height were measured twice by standard methods and the mean of these two measurements was used in the calculation of body mass index. Overweight and obesity classification were based on the World Health Organization criteria. Chi-square test and multivariate binary logistic regression were performed using IBM-SPSS version 21.0. Results: A total of 202 out of 250 students involved in this study giving the response rate as 81.0%. The percentage of overweight and obesity among the respondents was 21.3% and 6.9% respectively. Respondents with limited health literacy was 51.5%. Those with limited health literacy was almost 2 times higher (AOR = 1.963, 95%CI: 1.010, 3.816) to have overweight and obesity as compared to adequate health literacy. Conclusion: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was high among the study population. Limited health literacy is a predictor of overweight and obesity. Improving health literacy should be considered in obesity and overweight intervention

On existence and uniqueness of generalized solutions for a mixed-type differential equation.

In this paper, we study a boundary value problem for a mixed–type differential equation. The existence and uniqueness of generalized solution is proved. The proof is based on an energy inequality and the density of the range of the operator generated by this problem

Electrohydrodynamic spraying techniques for food ingredient component nanocapsulation

Nanoparticles are being widely investigated for food purposes and are beginning to see application in food production. There are numerous techniques to produce such nanoparticles, including emulsion-based techniques and spray drying, each with their advantages. Electrohydrodynamic spraying provides an alternative technique for preparing food component loaded particles in the nano-scale with a good control of important particle characteristics, such as size. In this work, Electrohydrodynamic spraying was used to investigate its potential for producing nanoparticles intended for nanoencapsulation of low solubility food components. Different processing parameters including flow rate, solute concentration, food component loading and their influence on nanoparticle characteristics and food component release were studied using food flavour as a model food component and ethylcellulose and stearic acid as a carrier materials. This work, EHD spraying was used to investigate its potential for producing nanoparticles intended for food delivery. Different processing parameters including flow rate, solution concentration, food component loading and their effect on nanoparticle characteristics and food flavour release rate were investigated. Polymeric and lipid nanoparticles were studied in detail with respect to nanoparticle characteristics and food component release kinetics and additional studies were performed for nanoparticles prepared with ethylcellulose as a model hydrophilic polymer to form the polymeric core; and stearic acid as a model lipid to form the lipid monolayer. EHD sprayed nanooparticles were prepared with diameters between 10-100 nm and a near-monodisperse size distribution was obtained in most cases. The flavour release rates were found that the release rate was a function of both the nanoparticle size and structure, and hence of the processing conditions. EHD sprayed nanoparticles generally had a slower flavour release rate compared with conventional techniques. The results indicated that EHD spraying is an attractive nanotechnology for generating food component loaded nanoparticles that can be tailored towards an intended food delivery application. Compared with the conventional techniques it provides better control of nanoparticle and demonstrated its suitability for producing nanoparticle formulations in which the food component and is released rate in a sustained manner to potentially improve bioavailability of low solubility food component such as flavour

Effect of Chicken Manure, N and P on Yield and Quality of Muskmelon (Cucumis melo var. Reticulatus Naud)

Two experiments were conducted at the National Institute for the Promotion of Horticultural Exports (NPÆ) Research Farm, Wad Medani, Sudan, during the summer of 20m and winter of 2000/2001, to study the effects of chicken manure, nitrogen and phosphorus on muskmelon yield and quality. The treatments were four levels of chicken manure (0, 4.5, 9 and 18t/ha), two levels of nitrogen (0 and 55kg N/ha) and two levels of phosphorus (0 and 55 kg P205/ha) arranged in a randomized complete block design with 3 replications. The results showed that muskmelon growth, yield and quality were significantly affected by chicken manure, N and P application. The most vigorous plant growth, the highest fruit yield and the largest fruits with best netting and highest total soluble solids were obtained by the application of 18 tons of chicken manure with 55kg N and 55kg P205/ha

Effect of compost and urea nitrogen on growth and yield of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) and on some properties of the Gezira soil

       Compost is stable humus like product resulting from biological decomposition of organic matter under controlled conditions. The objective of this study was to investigate the combined effect of compost with urea nitrogen on some soil properties, growth and yield of sweet pepper. This study comprised a number of experimentations conducted over two consecutive seasons (2009/10-2010/11) at the Experimental Farm of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of Gezira and laboratories of CIRAD in France. Compost was applied at 0, 10 and 20 t ha-1 combined with N at 0, 43 and 86 kg ha-1 in the form of urea. The results showed that application of compost alone or in combination with urea nitrogen improved soil properties and hence growth and yield of sweet pepper. Improvement of those parameters was more pronounced when the urea and compost were combined, especially at the higher rates. Combination of urea and compost presumably improved availability of nitrogen from the organic source to sweet pepper and, therefore, positively affected growth and yield of the crop. The extent of improvement was less when urea nitrogen and organic manures were applied in the same season. Hence, it could be recommended to fertilize sweet pepper with compost and urea at the rate of 86 kg N/ ha

Effects of Irrigation Interval, Nitrogen and Phosphorus on Grain Yield and biomass of Wheat

This study was conducted for two successive seasons of 1998/1999 and 1999/2000, at the Gezira Research Station Farm, Agricultural Research Corporation, Sudan, to investigate the effects of irrigation interval, nitrogen and phosphorus levels on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.( yield and yield components. The study consisted of three irrigation intervals (7,14,21 days), three N levels (0, 43 and 86 kg N/ha) and two P levels (0 and 43 kg P205/ha). Treatments were arranged in a split-split plot design with three replications. Results showed that the irrigation intervals of 7 and 14 days had positive effects on wheat grain and total dry matter yield as compared to the 21 days irrigation interval which negatively affected these parameters. Plants of the latter treatment were dwarf with thin stems and matured earlier resulting in low grain and biomass yields. The study, also, showed that the highest wheat yield was obtained with the application of N and P at the rates of 86 kg N and 43 kg P2O5/ha, respectively, with the irrigation interval of 7 days. &nbsp