Antibacterial Activity of Syrian Capparis spinosa. (Capparidaceae) Fruits and Roots

The ethanolic extract of Capparis Spinosa. Roots and Fruits were tested for their antibacterial activity against four species of bacteria, Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella sp.and Staphylococcus aureus using disc diffusion technique. The extract concentrations of ethanolic roots and fruits extracts used were 0 (control), 125, 250, 500 and 1000 ppm in triplicates along with standard antibiotic, Ciprofloxacine (5 μg), Gentamycine (10 μg). Comparatively, ethanolic roots extracts showed higher activity than ethanolic fruits extracts. The results showed that In 1000 ppm ethanolic roots extract, a maximum of 3.2 cm ZI was observed against Staphylococcus aureus followed by 2.3 cm against Escherichia coli. The maximum ZI of 2.1 cm was recorded in 1000 ppm ethanolic extract of fruits against Pseudomonas aeruginosa followed by 1.5 cm against Bacillus subtilis. DOI: 10.7176/JBAH/9-18-02 Publication date:September 30th 201

Enabling Intelligent IoTs for Histopathology Image Analysis Using Convolutional Neural Networks

Medical imaging is an essential data source that has been leveraged worldwide in healthcare systems. In pathology, histopathology images are used for cancer diagnosis, whereas these images are very complex and their analyses by pathologists require large amounts of time and effort. On the other hand, although convolutional neural networks (CNNs) have produced near-human results in image processing tasks, their processing time is becoming longer and they need higher computational power. In this paper, we implement a quantized ResNet model on two histopathology image datasets to optimize the inference power consumption. We analyze classification accuracy, energy estimation, and hardware utilization metrics to evaluate our method. First, the original RGBcolored images are utilized for the training phase, and then compression methods such as channel reduction and sparsity are applied. Our results show an accuracy increase of 6% from RGB on 32-bit (baseline) to the optimized representation of sparsity on RGB with a lower bit-width, i.e., \u3c8:8\u3e. For energy estimation on the used CNN model, we found that the energy used in RGB color mode with 32-bit is considerably higher than the other lower bit-width and compressed color modes. Moreover, we show that lower bit-width implementations yield higher resource utilization and a lower memory bottleneck ratio. This work is suitable for inference on energy-limited devices, which are increasingly being used in the Internet of Things (IoT) systems that facilitate healthcare systems

Effet de l'huile de tournesol sur l'émission de méthane entérique chez la vache laitière

The objective of this study is to evaluate the effect of sunflower oil on enteric methane emissions in dairy cows.  Fermentation in the digestive tract of ruminants contributes about 18% of world production of this potent greenhouse gas. The study focused on measuring methane production before and after the addition of sunflower oil to the ration of five Holstein cows. The basal ration was composed of 4 kg of feed concentrate and 3 kg of alfalfa hay. After two weeks of adaptation to diet, methane production was measured. Then, 200 ml of sunflower oil was added to the same basal ration and a second methane measurement was made after two weeks of adaptation. To assess the influence of the circadian cycle on methane production, five measurements of methane emissions were conducted over a period of 24 hours on the same animals. The daily amount of methane produced by cows was estimated to average 185 liters/day. Methane production by cows has decreased from 7.5 l/h to 4.1 l/h during an interval of 24 hours between meals, which represents a decrease of 45.2 %, and then increased again after the second meal to reach 7.1 l/h; it was not affected by the circadian cycle but by feeding time. Methane was predominantly emitted by eructation (89 %) and the remainder is removed with the respiratory gas (11%). The effect of sunflower oil on methane emission was small but significant (p <5%) with a reduction by 8.1 %. The affordable cost of this additive makes it a promising component to reduce emissions of enteric methane in the atmosphere. Keywords: Greenhouse effect, Fermentation, Sunflower oil, Methane, Dairy Cattle.L’objectif de la présente étude est l’évaluation de l’effet de l’huile de tournesol sur l’émission de méthane entérique chez la vache laitière. La fermentation dans le tube digestif des ruminants contribue par environ 18% à la production mondiale de ce puissant gaz à effet de serre. L’étude a porté sur la mesure de la production de méthane avant et après l’ajout de l’huile de tournesol à la ration de cinq vaches Holstein. La ration de base est composée de 4 Kg d’aliment concentré et de 3 Kg de foin de luzerne. Après deux semaines d’adaptation au régime alimentaire, la production de méthane a été mesurée. Ensuite, 200 ml de l’huile de tournesol ont été ajoutés à la même ration de base et une deuxième mesure de méthane a été effectuée après deux semaines d’adaptation. Afin d’évaluer l’influence du cycle nycthéméral sur la méthanogénèse, cinq mesures d’émissions de méthane ont été effectuées durant une période de 24 h sur les mêmes animaux. La quantité journalière du méthane produit par les vaches a été estimée à environ 185 l/j. La production de méthane par les vaches a baissé de 7,5 l/h à 4,1 l/h durant un intervalle de 24 h entre les repas, ce qui représente une diminution de 45,2 %, puis a remonté après le deuxième repas pour atteindre 7,1 l/h, elle n’a pas été affectée par le cycle nycthéméral. Le méthane est en majorité émis en éructation (89 %) et le reste est éliminé avec les gaz respiratoires (11%). L’effet de l’huile de tournesol sur l’émission de méthane a été léger mais significatif (p <5%) avec une réduction de 8,1 %. Le coût abordable de cet additif fait de lui un moyen prometteur pour réduire les émissions du méthane entérique dans l’atmosphère. Mots clés: Effet de serre, Fermentation, Huile de tournesol, Méthane, Vache laitière.   &nbsp

Maize Tassel Detection From UAV Imagery Using Deep Learning

The timing of flowering plays a critical role in determining the productivity of agricultural crops. If the crops flower too early, the crop would mature before the end of the growing season, losing the opportunity to capture and use large amounts of light energy. If the crops flower too late, the crop may be killed by the change of seasons before it is ready to harvest. Maize flowering is one of the most important periods where even small amounts of stress can significantly alter yield. In this work, we developed and compared two methods for automatic tassel detection based on the imagery collected from an unmanned aerial vehicle, using deep learning models. The first approach was a customized framework for tassel detection based on convolutional neural network (TD-CNN). The other method was a state-of-the-art object detection technique of the faster region-based CNN (Faster R-CNN), serving as baseline detection accuracy. The evaluation criteria for tassel detection were customized to correctly reflect the needs of tassel detection in an agricultural setting. Although detecting thin tassels in the aerial imagery is challenging, our results showed promising accuracy: the TD-CNN had an F1 score of 95.9% and the Faster R-CNN had 97.9% F1 score. More CNN-based model structures can be investigated in the future for improved accuracy, speed, and generalizability on aerial-based tassel detection

7-O-methylpunctatin, a novel homoisoflavonoid, inhibits phenotypic switch of human arteriolar smooth muscle cells

Remodeling of arterioles is a pivotal event in the manifestation of many inflammation-based cardio-vasculopathologies, such as hypertension. During these remodeling events, vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) switch from a contractile to a synthetic phenotype. The latter is characterized by increased proliferation, migration, and invasion. Compounds with anti-inflammatory actions have been successful in attenuating this phenotypic switch. While the vast majority of studies investigating phenotypic modulation were undertaken in VSMCs isolated from large vessels, little is known about the effect of such compounds on phenotypic switch in VSMCs of microvessels (microVSMCs). We have recently characterized a novel homoisoflavonoid that we called 7-O-methylpunctatin (MP). In this study, we show that MP decreased FBS-induced cell proliferation, migration, invasion, and adhesion. MP also attenuated adhesion of THP-1 monocytes to microVSMCs, abolished FBS-induced expression of MMP-2, MMP-9, and NF-?B, as well as reduced activation of ERK1/2 and FAK. Furthermore, MP-treated VSMCs showed an increase in early (myocardin, SM-22?, SM-?) and mid-term (calponin and caldesmon) differentiation markers and a decrease in osteopontin, a protein highly expressed in synthetic VSMCs. MP also reduced transcription of cyclin D1, CDK4 but increased protein levels of p21 and p27. Taken together, these results corroborate an anti-inflammatory action of MP on human microVSMCs. Therefore, by inhibiting the synthetic phenotype of microVSMCs, MP may be a promising modulator for inflammation-induced arteriolar pathophysiology. - 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: This work was supported by the American University of Beirut (Grant # MPP 320133 to A.E.), University of Petra (Grant #: 5/4/2019) to A.B., E.B., and A.E., and the National Council for Scientific Research (CNRS) to M.F.Scopu

Anti-Neoplastic Effects of Annonacin against Renal Cell Carcinoma

Background and Objectives: Renal cell carcinoma is the most common and lethal form of all renal cancers, and accounts for 4.1% of all cancer cases in Qatar. Mutations to Von-Hippel Lindeau (VHL) gene in renal cells activates hypoxia inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1?) response pathway, and contributes to increased proliferation and progression to renal cell carcinoma. Hence, chemotherapeutic modalities available to treat renal cell carcinoma are targeted toward modulation of the VHL-HIF response pathway. Annonacin, a potent cytotoxic mono-tetrahydrofuran acetogenin found in Annonaceae plants, has been demonstrated to exert anticancer activity against breast cancer; however, its therapeutic potential against renal cell carcinoma is yet to be determined. Hence the objective of this study is to investigate anti-neoplastic potential of annonacin in renal carcinoma cells. Methods: We investigated the effect of annonacin - at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 2 ?M - on cell viability (using MTT assay and Alamar blue assay), and the protein expression of markers of HIF signaling pathway (HIF-1?), mTOR pathway (Thr-389 phosphorylation of p70S6 kinase), cell cycle progression (p21 levels), and apoptosis (caspase-3 expression) in CaKi-2 cells, a human renal carcinoma cell line. The cells were treated with annonacin for 24 or 48 hours and assessed for the aforementioned parameters. Results: hour annonacin treatment caused a significant and dose-dependent decrease in the viability of CaKi-2 cells, i.e., 42% in 0.5 ?M, 36% in 1 ?M and 29% in 2 ?M annonacin treatment groups as compared to control set at 100%. This was further confirmed by Alamar blue assay, which revealed a significant decrease in the viability of CaKi-2 cells upon treatment with annonacin for 48 h. The expression of HIF-1? was reduced by 68% at 24 h in CaKi-2 cells treated with 2 ?M annonacin. In addition, the expression of p21 (a key molecule that inhibits transition of cells from G1 to S phase in cell cycle) was induced by 1.34-fold in 0.5 ?M annonacin-treated cells indicating an arrest in G1 phase of cell cycle. This was further confirmed through cell cycle analysis using Tali cytometer, in which annonacin treated groups (0.5 ?M and 1 ?M) showed cell cycle arrest at G1 phase, i.e., 57% of cells in G1 phase with 0.5 ?M annonacin treated vs. 7% of cells in G1 phase in control group. In addition, a dose-dependent decrease in the phosphorylation of p70S6 kinase (a downstream target of mTOR) was observed with annonacin treatment at both 24 and 48 h end-points. This suggests that treatment of annonacin has possibly led to the inhibition of mTOR, in addition to suppression of HIF-1? activation, and underscores the cross-talk between HIF pathway and mTOR signaling pathway in renal cell carcinoma. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that annonacin treatment (at concentrations ranging from 0.5 to 2 ?M) inhibits HIF-1? and mTOR activation and causes cell cycle arrest at G1 phase and induces apoptosis in renal cell carcinoma. These findings indicate that annonacin exerts anti-cancer effects via modulation of HIF and mTOR signaling pathways, resulting in alterations in the cell cycle and activation of apoptosis in renal cell carcinoma. In conclusion, our study for the first time unveils the therapeutic potential of annonacin to inhibit the progression of renal cell carcinoma. Further studies in vivo are required to establish its efficacy to treat patients with renal cell carcinoma.qscienc

Antimicrobials in animal agriculture: Parables and policy

In addition to the scientific, economic, regulatory and other policy factors that impact on antimicrobial decision-making in different jurisdictions around the world, there exist ethical, social and cultural bases for the contemporary use of these products in animal agriculture. Thus, the use of the word ‘parable’ to describe the contemporary moral stories that help to guide ethical antimicrobial use practices and broader policy decisions in animal agriculture is appropriate. Several of these stories reflect difficult decisions that arise from conflicting moral imperatives (i.e. both towards animal welfare and towards human health). Understanding the factors that combine to define the past and present paradigms of antimicrobial usage is crucial to mapping a path forward. There exist barriers, as well as opportunities, for advancing scenarios for reducing antimicrobial usage under a variety of voluntary, regulatory and legal policy frameworks. Any new approaches will ideally be structured to extend the use of present-day antimicrobials into the future, to provide novel alternatives for regulating any newly introduced antimicrobial products so as to maximize their useful life span and to ensure the optimal use of these products in animal agriculture to protect not only the health of animals and the interests of animal health/agriculture stakeholders, but also the human health and the interests of the public at large. A full range of policy approaches, which span the realm from strictly enforced regulations and laws to voluntary guidelines and compliance, should be explored with respect to their risks and benefits in a variety of worldwide settings and in full consideration of a range of stakeholder values

Impact of acute dynamic exercise and arterial shear rate modification on radial artery low-flow mediated constriction in young men

Purpose Leg cycling exercise acutely augments radial artery low-flow mediated constriction (L-FMC). Herein, we sought to determine whether this is associated with exercise-induced changes in arterial shear rate (SR). Methods Ten healthy and recreationally active young men (23 ± 2 years) participated in 30 min of incremental leg cycling exercise (50, 100, 150 Watts). Trials were repeated with (Exercise + WC) and without (Exercise) the use of a wrist cuff (75 mmHg) placed distal to the radial artery to increase local retrograde SR while reducing mean and anterograde SR. Radial artery characteristics were measured throughout the trial, and L-FMC and flow mediated dilatation (FMD) were assessed before and acutely (~ 10 min) after leg cycling. Results Exercise increased radial artery mean and anterograde SR, along with radial artery diameter, velocity, blood flow and conductance (P  0.05) but also increased retrograde SR (P  0.05). In contrast, no change in FMD was observed in either Exercise or Exercise + WC trials (P > 0.05). Conclusions These findings indicate that increases in L-FMC following exercise are abolished by the prevention of increases radial artery diameter, mean and anterograde SR, and by elevation of retrograde SR, during exercise in young men

The relationship between periodontitis and diabetic retinopathy: A cross-sectional longitudinal study

BackgroundPeriodontal disease is regarded as the sixth complication of diabetes mellitus. The association of periodontitis with diabetic retinopathy is controversial.AimsThe study aimed to assess the association of periodontitis with diabetic retinopathy.Methods This is a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted at a diabetes centre in Omdurman, Sudan during the period from July to September 2018. One hundred and fifty-nine patients with type 2 diabetes were interviewed using a structured checklist. The demographic data and diabetes complications including retinopathy were recorded. An experienced dentist assessed the participants for periodontitis. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS, version 20, New York) was used for data analysis. A P-value of > 0.05 was considered significant.Results Out of 159 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (65.4 per cent females), their age mean±SD was 58.13±9.96, periodontal diseases were found in 22.0 per cent of patients, and retinopathy was present in 34.6 per cent, while the number of lost teeth was 3.86±3.05. Between patients, periodontal disease (+) vs. (-), the incidence rate of the followings did not differ retinopathy, neuropathy, nephropathy, and coronary history. However, those with periodontal disease, compared with those without, had significantly more lost teeth P-value < 0.05.ConclusionThe number of lost teeth was higher among patients with diabetic retinopathy. However, a cause and effect cannot be withdrawn. Further larger multi-centre studies assessing the association of retinopathy with the severity of periodontal disease and controlling for other causes of teeth loss are needed

Genotypic and phenotypic characterization of enteric bacteria in an integrated population of swine and humans

In two longitudinal studies, we examined the transmission dynamics of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) in an integrated, semi-closed population of humans and swine