Neurotoxicity of xylazine in chicks

Despite the widespread use of xylazine in veterinary medicine, studies on its neurotoxicity are limited. So, our current study aims to reveal its neurotoxicity in chicks by determining the (LD50) of xylazine in Dixon's procedure. Moreover, it aims to study the effects of a small and repeated dose of xylazine on neurobehavioral test and the toxic doses of xylazine on the concentration of (glycine and glutamate) in the plasma of chicks and on the brain tissue after 60 and 90 minutes of injection. The LD50 of xylazine by injection into the chest muscle was 26.65 mg/kg. The injection of xylazine at a dose of 3 and 6 mg/kg in the chest muscle for three consecutive days caused an inhibition in motor activity within the open field as well as a significant elevation in the tonic immobility test response, injection of xylazine at doses 48.96 mg/kg ,60 and 90 minutes after the injection led to a significant increase in the glycine concentration as well as a significant decrease in glutamate after 90 minutes in the plasma of chicks, accompanied by histological variation in the brain tissue characterized by necrosis of neurons, vasogenic edema, neurophagia, cavities, infarction, necrosis of Purkinjean cell with decrees in the number of it. Our results revealed that xylazine had neurotoxic effects in chicks, represented by inhibition of neural behavior and motor activity within the open field, accompanied by a change in the concentration of glycine and glutamate in the plasma of chicks and histological variation in the brain tissue of chicks

Bioprospecting desert plant Bacillus endophytic strains for their potential to enhance plant stress tolerance

© 2019, The Author(s). Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) are known to increase plant tolerance to several abiotic stresses, specifically those from dry and salty environments. In this study, we examined the endophyte bacterial community of five plant species growing in the Thar desert of Pakistan. Among a total of 368 culturable isolates, 58 Bacillus strains were identified from which the 16 most divergent strains were characterized for salt and heat stress resilience as well as antimicrobial and plant growth-promoting (PGP) activities. When the 16 Bacillus strains were tested on the non-host plant Arabidopsis thaliana, B. cereus PK6-15, B. subtilis PK5-26 and B. circulans PK3-109 significantly enhanced plant growth under salt stress conditions, doubling fresh weight levels when compared to uninoculated plants. B. circulans PK3-15 and PK3-109 did not promote plant growth under normal conditions, but increased plant fresh weight by more than 50% when compared to uninoculated plants under salt stress conditions, suggesting that these salt tolerant Bacillus strains exhibit PGP traits only in the presence of salt. Our data indicate that the collection of 58 plant endophytic Bacillus strains represents an important genomic resource to decipher plant growth promotion at the molecular level

Attenuated effects of topical vinpocetine in an imiquimod-induced mouse model of psoriasis

الملخص: أهداف البحث: الصدفية هي مرض جلدي التهابي غير منضبط وطويل الأمد يتميز بآفات جلدية سميكة وحمامية ومتقشرة. يتم إنتاج كميات هائلة من السيتوكينات الالتهابية عندما تكون اختلالات الجهاز المناعي مدفوعة بمحفزات وراثية وبيئية. فينبوسيتين، وهو نظير من صنع الإنسان للفينكامين الموجود في عشبة النكة القزمة، هو دواء قوي مضاد للالتهابات، ومعدل للمناعة، ومضاد للأكسدة يمكن أن يخفف من تغلغل الخلايا المناعية، مثل الحمضات والعدلات في البشرة وإلغاء الجيل من العناصر المؤيدة للالتهابات. طريقة البحث: لاستكشاف التأثير المخفف للفينبوسيتين الموضعي طويل الأمد بمفرده أو مع بروبيونات كلوبيتاسول على نماذج الفئران التي لديها التهاب الجلد الصدفي. يتكون بروتوكول الدراسة من 48 فأرا سويسريا من النوع الأبيض، تم تجميعها عشوائيا في 6 مجموعات تضم كل منها 8 فئران. في المجموعة الأولى، تم إعطاء الفازلين يوميا لمدة ثمانية أيام. في المجموعة الثانية، تم إعطاء إيميكيمود موضعيا بجرعة 62.5 ملغ يوميا لمدة ثمانية أيام. في مجموعات العلاج 3، و 4، و 5، و6 تم إعطاء بروبيونات كلوبيتاسول 0.05٪، فينبوسيتين 1٪، فينبوسيتين 3٪، وفينبوسيتين 3٪ بالإضافة إلى كلوبيتاسول 0.05٪ موضعيا لمدة 8 أيام إضافية بعد التحريض، ليصل إجمالي طول التجربة إلى 16 يوما. النتائج: خفف الفينبوسيتين الموضعي بجرعات مختلفة من شدة آفات الصدفية الناجمة عن الإيميكيمود، مثل الحمامي، والقشور البيضاء الفضية، والسماكة، وعكس التشوهات المرضية. علاوة على ذلك، فإن الحيوانات المعرضة للإيميكيمود والتي عولجت بالفينبوسيتين قللت بشكل كبير من تركيزات المؤشرات الحيوية الالتهابية، بما في ذلك عامل نخر الورم-ألفا، والإنترلوكين-8، والإنترلوكين-17أ، والإنترلوكين-23، والإنترلوكين-37، والعامل النووي-كابا بي، وتحويل عامل النمو-بيتا1. الاستنتاجات: يقدم البحث الحالي دليلا جديدا على أن الفينبوسيتين وحده مع كلوبيتاسول هو مادة مساعدة محتملة للإدارة طويلة الأمد لأمراض المناعة الذاتية والالتهابات الجلدية الذاتية، وخاصة الصدفية، عن طريق تخفيف شدة الآفات الصدفية، وقمع توليد السيتوكينات، والحد من العامل النووي-كابا بي. Abstract: Psoriasis is an uncontrolled, long-lasting inflammatory dermatosis distinguished by thickened, erythematous, and flaky skin lesions. Massive amounts of inflammatory cytokines are produced when immune system imbalances are driven by genetic and environmental triggers. Vinpocetine (VNP), a man-made analogue of the compound vincamine found in the dwarf periwinkle herb, has robust anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anti-oxidative effects; alleviates the epidermal penetration of immune cells, such as eosinophils and neutrophils; and abolishes the generation of pro-inflammatory molecules. Objective: This study was aimed at exploring the effects of long-term topical VNP, both alone and co-administered with clobetasol propionate, in an imiquimod-induced mouse model of psoriasiform dermatitis. Methods: The study protocol consisted of 48 Swiss albino mice, randomly divided into six groups of eight mice each. In group I, petroleum jelly was administered daily for 8 days. In group II, imiquimod was administered topically at 62.5 mg daily for 8 days. In groups III, VI, V, and VI, 0.05% clobetasol propionate, 1% VNP, 3% VNP, and 3% VNP plus 0.05% clobetasol were administered topically for an additional 8 days after the induction, thus resulting in a total trial length of 16 days. Results: Topical VNP at various doses alleviated the severity of imiquimod-induced psoriatic lesions—including erythema, silvery-white scaling, and thickening—and reversed the histopathological abnormalities. Moreover, imiquimod-exposed animals treated with VNP showed markedly diminished concentrations of inflammatory biomarkers, including tumour necrosis factor-α, interleukin (IL)-8, IL-17A, IL-23, IL-37, nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), and transforming growth factor-β1. Conclusion: This research provides new evidence that VNP, alone and in combination with clobetasol, may serve as a potential adjuvant for long-term management of autoimmune and autoinflammatory skin diseases, particularly psoriasis, by attenuating psoriatic lesion severity, suppressing cytokine generation, and limiting NF-κB-mediated inflammation

Technical Evaluation of Ionic Liquid-Extractive Processing of Ultra Low Sulfur Diesel Fuel

© 2015 American Chemical Society. Recent trends in legislation across the world are aimed toward the reduction of the levels of sulfur in fuel oils to less than 10 ppm (ultra low sulfur diesel, ULSD) due to its toxic and environmental effects. Hydrodesulfurization (HDS) is the current method used for desulfurization and faces technical challenges, due to the extreme conditions and energy consumption necessary to reach low sulfur levels. Recently, ionic liquid (IL) technology has been proposed as a possible solution toward achieving ULSD. ILs represent a new class of "green" solvents that are gaining popularity due to their favorable properties and have recently been shown to be effective extractants for desulfurization on a laboratory scale. In this work, the feasibility of industrial scale IL-extractive processing of ULSD has been examined via the simulation and optimization of a conceptual process in ASPEN Plus. The widely used [Cnmim] [NTF2] series of ionic liquids have been employed, due to their favorable properties and the availability of experimental data in literature. User-defined ionic liquid components have been created within ASPEN Plus, incorporating several thermodynamic and physical property parameters derived from literature, to allow the process to be simulated via the UNIFAC thermodynamic method. On the basis of the technical analysis, it is proposed that the most feasible process configuration consists of HDS as a preliminary treatment, followed by IL extraction as intermediate treatment to reduce the sulfur content to 50 ppm, with adsorption as the final treatment to achieve ULSD levels

Author Correction: Bioprospecting desert plant Bacillus endophytic strains for their potential to enhance plant stress tolerance

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper

TWO-EPOCH OPTIMAL DESIGN OF DISPLACEMENT MONITORING NETWORKS

Abstract:In the traditional method of optimal design of displacement monitoring networks a higher precision, times better than the desired accuracy of displacements, is considered for the net points in such a way that the accuracy of the detected displacements meets the desired one. However, in this paper, we develop an alternative method by considering the total number of observations in two epochs without such a simple assumption and we call it two-epoch optimisation. This method is developed based on the Gauss-Helmert adjustment model and the variances of the observations are estimated instead of the weights to optimise the observation plan. This method can deliver the same results as the traditional one, but with less required observations in each epoc