Composition, antioxidant and chemotherapeutic properties of the essential oils from two Origanum species growing in Pakistan

The GC-MS analyses of Origanum majorana L. (OME) and Origanum vulgare L. (OVE), Lamiaceae, essential oils helped identification of 39 (96.4% of the total oils) and 43 (92.9% of the total oils) components, respectively. The major constituents of OME were terpinene-4-ol (20.9%), linalool (15.7%), linalyl-acetate (13.9%), limonene (13.4%) and α-terpineol (8.57%), whereas, thymol (21.6%), carvacrol (18.8%), o-cymene (13.5%) and α-terpineol (8.57%) were the main components of OVE. In the disc diffusion and the resazurin microtitre assays, OME showed better antibacterial activity than OVE with larger zones of inhibition (16.5-27.0 mm) and smaller MIC (40.9-1250.3 μg/mL) against the tested bacterial strains. Only OVE displayed anti-heme biocrystallization activity with an IC50 at 0.04 mg/mL. In the DPPH assay, OVE showed better radical-scavenging activity than OME (IC50=65.5 versus 89.2 μg/mL) and both OME and OVE inhibited lionleic acid oxidation. However, in the bleaching β-carotene assay, OVE exhibited better antioxidant activity than OME. In the MTT assay, OME was more cytotoxic than OVE against different cancer cell types, such as MCF-7, LNCaP and NIH-3T3, with IC50s of 70.0, 85.3 and 300.5 μg/mL, respectively. Overall, some components of OME and OVE may have antiparasitic and chemotherapeutic activity

Direct characterization of photo-induced lattice dynamics in BaFe₂As₂

Ultrafast light pulses can modify electronic properties of quantum materials by perturbing the underlying, intertwined degrees of freedom. In particular, iron-based superconductors exhibit a strong coupling among electronic nematic fluctuations, spins and the lattice, serving as a playground for ultrafast manipulation. Here we use time-resolved X-ray scattering to measure the lattice dynamics of photoexcited BaFe$_{2}$As$_{2}$. On optical excitation, no signature of an ultrafast change of the crystal symmetry is observed, but the lattice oscillates rapidly in time due to the coherent excitation of an A$_{1g}$ mode that modulates the Fe–As–Fe bond angle. We directly quantify the coherent lattice dynamics and show that even a small photoinduced lattice distortion can induce notable changes in the electronic and magnetic properties. Our analysis implies that transient structural modification can be an effective tool for manipulating the electronic properties of multi-orbital systems, where electronic instabilities are sensitive to the orbital character of bands

Modelling, Simulation and Fuzzy Self-Tuning Control of D-STATCOM in a Single Machine Infinite Bus Power System

© 2019 Bentham Science Publishers. This is the accepted manuscript version of an article which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.2174/2352096511666180314141205In recent years, demand for electricity has increased considerably, while the expansion of generation and transmission has been very slow due to limited investment in resources and environmental restrictions. Methods: As a result, the power system becomes vulnerable to disturbances and instability. FACTS (Flexible AC Transmission Systems) technology has now been accepted as a potential solution to this problem. This paper deals with the modelling, simulation and fuzzy self-tuning control of a D-STATCOM to enhance the stability and improve the critical fault clearing time(CCT) in a single machine infinite bus (SMIB).A detailed modelling of the D-STATCOM and comprehensive derivation of the fuzzy logic self-tuning control is presented. Results: The dynamic performance of the power system with the proposed control scheme is validated through in a simulation study carried out under Matlab/Simulink and SimPowerSystems toolbox. Conclusion: The results demonstrate a significant enhancement of the power system stability under the simulated fault conditions considered.Peer reviewe

Mapping geographical inequalities in childhood diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality in low-income and middle-income countries, 2000–17 : analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background Across low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs), one in ten deaths in children younger than 5 years is attributable to diarrhoea. The substantial between-country variation in both diarrhoea incidence and mortality is attributable to interventions that protect children, prevent infection, and treat disease. Identifying subnational regions with the highest burden and mapping associated risk factors can aid in reducing preventable childhood diarrhoea. Methods We used Bayesian model-based geostatistics and a geolocated dataset comprising 15 072 746 children younger than 5 years from 466 surveys in 94 LMICs, in combination with findings of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017, to estimate posterior distributions of diarrhoea prevalence, incidence, and mortality from 2000 to 2017. From these data, we estimated the burden of diarrhoea at varying subnational levels (termed units) by spatially aggregating draws, and we investigated the drivers of subnational patterns by creating aggregated risk factor estimates. Findings The greatest declines in diarrhoeal mortality were seen in south and southeast Asia and South America, where 54·0% (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 38·1–65·8), 17·4% (7·7–28·4), and 59·5% (34·2–86·9) of units, respectively, recorded decreases in deaths from diarrhoea greater than 10%. Although children in much of Africa remain at high risk of death due to diarrhoea, regions with the most deaths were outside Africa, with the highest mortality units located in Pakistan. Indonesia showed the greatest within-country geographical inequality; some regions had mortality rates nearly four times the average country rate. Reductions in mortality were correlated to improvements in water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) or reductions in child growth failure (CGF). Similarly, most high-risk areas had poor WASH, high CGF, or low oral rehydration therapy coverage. Interpretation By co-analysing geospatial trends in diarrhoeal burden and its key risk factors, we could assess candidate drivers of subnational death reduction. Further, by doing a counterfactual analysis of the remaining disease burden using key risk factors, we identified potential intervention strategies for vulnerable populations. In view of the demands for limited resources in LMICs, accurately quantifying the burden of diarrhoea and its drivers is important for precision public health

ϒ production in p–Pb collisions at √sNN=8.16 TeV

ϒ production in p–Pb interactions is studied at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleon–nucleon collision √sNN = 8.16 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The measurement is performed reconstructing bottomonium resonances via their dimuon decay channel, in the centre-of-mass rapidity intervals 2.03 < ycms < 3.53 and −4.46 < ycms < −2.96, down to zero transverse momentum. In this work, results on the ϒ(1S) production cross section as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum are presented. The corresponding nuclear modification factor shows a suppression of the ϒ(1S) yields with respect to pp collisions, both at forward and backward rapidity. This suppression is stronger in the low transverse momentum region and shows no significant dependence on the centrality of the interactions. Furthermore, the ϒ(2S) nuclear modification factor is evaluated, suggesting a suppression similar to that of the ϒ(1S). A first measurement of the ϒ(3S) has also been performed. Finally, results are compared with previous ALICE measurements in p–Pb collisions at √sNN = 5.02 TeV and with theoretical calculations.publishedVersio

Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.Peer reviewe

(Anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions at 1as=13TeV

The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at s=13 TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity (d Nch/ d \u3b7 3c 26) as measured in p\u2013Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p\u2013Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and statistical hadronisation models (SHM)

Multiplicity dependence of inclusive J/psi production at midrapidity in pp collisions at root s=13 TeV

Measurements of the inclusive J/psi yield as a function of charged-particle pseudorapidity density dN(ch)/d eta in pp collisions at root s = 13 TeV with ALICE at the LHC are reported. The J/psi meson yield is measured at midrapidity (vertical bar y vertical bar <0.9) in the dielectron channel, for events selected based on the charged-particle multiplicity at midrapidity (vertical bar eta vertical bar <1) and at forward rapidity (-3.7 <eta <-1.7 and 2.8 <eta <5.1); both observables are normalized to their corresponding averages in minimum bias events. The increase of the normalized J/psi yield with normalized dN(ch)/d eta is significantly stronger than linear and dependent on the transverse momentum. The data are compared to theoretical predictions, which describe the observed trends well, albeit not always quantitatively. (C) 2020 European Organization for Nuclear Research. Published by Elsevier B.V.Peer reviewe