Grapevine shoot extract rich in trans-resveratrol and trans-ε-viniferin: evaluation of their potential use for cardiac health

A grapevine shoot extract (GSE) was obtained using ultrasound-assisted extraction and characterized. The main phenolic constituents were identified as stilbenoids. Among them, trans-resveratrol and trans-ε-viniferin stood out. The GSE was administered to an isoproterenol-induced myocardial injury animal model. The extract alleviated the associated symptoms of the administration of the drug, i.e., the plasma lipid profile was improved, while the disturbed plasma ion concentration, the cardiac dysfunction markers, the DNA laddering, and the necrosis of myocardial tissue were diminished. This effect could be related to the anti-oxidative potential of GSE associated with its antioxidant properties, the increased levels of endogenous antioxidants (glutathione and enzymatic antioxidants), and the diminished lipid peroxidative markers in the heart. The results also revealed angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitory activity, which indicated the potential of GSE to deal with cardiovascular disease events. This work suggests that not only trans-resveratrol has a protective role in heart function but also GSE containing this biomolecule and derivatives. Therefore, GSE has the potential to be utilized in the creation of innovative functional ingredients.Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) of Spain for the Ramón y Cajal grant (RYC2020-030546-I/AEI/10.13039/501100011033). European Social Fund. “Programme of Requalification of the Spanish University System” 2021–2023—Margarita Salas. MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033, grant PID2020-112594RB-C31, “ERDF A way of making Europe”. “Researchers Supporting Project (RSP2023R17) at King Saud University

Case study of MHD blood flow in a porous medium with CNTs and thermal analysis

This articles deals with unsteady MHD free convection flow of blood with carbon nanotubes. The flow is over an oscillating vertical plate embedded in a porous medium. Both single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) and multiple-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are used with human blood as base fluid. The problem is modelled and then solved for exact solution using the Laplace transform technique. Expressions for velocity and temperature are determined and expressed in terms of complementary error functions. Results are plotted and discussed for embedded parameters. It is observed that velocity decreases with increasing CNTs volume fraction and an increase in CNTs volume fraction increases the blood temperature, which leads to an increase in the heat transfer rates. A validation of the present work is shown by comparing the current results with existing literature

Simulation of heat transfer in 2D porous tank in appearance of magnetic nanofluid

In current two dimensional nanomaterial convective flow, Lorentz force has been utilized to manage the flow pattern. Nano sized powders with homogeneous behavior were dispersed into H2O within a permeable media. Not only the buoyancy force but also the radiation affects the temperature distribution. In addition, nanoparticles’ shape was involved in correlation of estimating nanomaterial behavior. Result demonstrated that convective flow augments with both Rayleigh and Darcy number and lessen with respect to Hartman number. Augmenting Darcy number wills leads to reduce the effect of Lorentz forces. Nuave augment with thermal radiation Rd and decrease with Hartmann number Ha. Thinner boundary layer is an output of augmenting permeability

A cost effectiveness analysis of salt reduction policies to reduce coronary heart disease in four Eastern Mediterranean countries.

BACKGROUND: Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is rising in middle income countries. Population based strategies to reduce specific CHD risk factors have an important role to play in reducing overall CHD mortality. Reducing dietary salt consumption is a potentially cost-effective way to reduce CHD events. This paper presents an economic evaluation of population based salt reduction policies in Tunisia, Syria, Palestine and Turkey. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Three policies to reduce dietary salt intake were evaluated: a health promotion campaign, labelling of food packaging and mandatory reformulation of salt content in processed food. These were evaluated separately and in combination. Estimates of the effectiveness of salt reduction on blood pressure were based on a literature review. The reduction in mortality was estimated using the IMPACT CHD model specific to that country. Cumulative population health effects were quantified as life years gained (LYG) over a 10 year time frame. The costs of each policy were estimated using evidence from comparable policies and expert opinion including public sector costs and costs to the food industry. Health care costs associated with CHDs were estimated using standardized unit costs. The total cost of implementing each policy was compared against the current baseline (no policy). All costs were calculated using 2010 PPP exchange rates. In all four countries most policies were cost saving compared with the baseline. The combination of all three policies (reducing salt consumption by 30%) resulted in estimated cost savings of $235,000,000 and 6455 LYG in Tunisia;$39,000,000 and 31674 LYG in Syria; $6,000,000 and 2682 LYG in Palestine and$1,3000,000,000 and 378439 LYG in Turkey. CONCLUSION: Decreasing dietary salt intake will reduce coronary heart disease deaths in the four countries. A comprehensive strategy of health education and food industry actions to label and reduce salt content would save both money and lives

Incorporation of Labelled Amino Acid into Ova during Ovarian Development in the Silkworm, Bombyx mori L.

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. Helical turbulator has been adopted in this article, to enhance the convective flow within a pipe. Homogeneousmodel was carried out for nanomaterial modeling. The Reynolds number (Re) and width of turbulator (b) vary from 5000 to 15000 and 5 to 15mm, respectively. Copper oxide nanoparticles were considered as an additive in to pure carrier fluid to gain better thermal behavior. Furthermore, exergy loss distributions for different cases have been reported. Outputs indicate that disturbance of the boundary layer enhances with rise of b. Mixing of core nanofluid flow and boundary layer enhances with augment of width of turbulator

Colloquium: Mechanical formalisms for tissue dynamics

The understanding of morphogenesis in living organisms has been renewed by tremendous progressin experimental techniques that provide access to cell-scale, quantitative information both on theshapes of cells within tissues and on the genes being expressed. This information suggests that ourunderstanding of the respective contributions of gene expression and mechanics, and of their crucialentanglement, will soon leap forward. Biomechanics increasingly benefits from models, which assistthe design and interpretation of experiments, point out the main ingredients and assumptions, andultimately lead to predictions. The newly accessible local information thus calls for a reflectionon how to select suitable classes of mechanical models. We review both mechanical ingredientssuggested by the current knowledge of tissue behaviour, and modelling methods that can helpgenerate a rheological diagram or a constitutive equation. We distinguish cell scale ("intra-cell")and tissue scale ("inter-cell") contributions. We recall the mathematical framework developpedfor continuum materials and explain how to transform a constitutive equation into a set of partialdifferential equations amenable to numerical resolution. We show that when plastic behaviour isrelevant, the dissipation function formalism appears appropriate to generate constitutive equations;its variational nature facilitates numerical implementation, and we discuss adaptations needed in thecase of large deformations. The present article gathers theoretical methods that can readily enhancethe significance of the data to be extracted from recent or future high throughput biomechanicalexperiments.Comment: 33 pages, 20 figures. This version (26 Sept. 2015) contains a few corrections to the published version, all in Appendix D.2 devoted to large deformation

Nature’s contribution to people provided by pastoral systems across European, African, and Middle East Mediterranean countries: trends, approaches and gaps

Mediterranean pastoral systems are providers of a wide array of Nature’s Contribution to People (NCP). They are ‘complex systems’ characterized by limited resources and socio-economic dynamics currently threatened by climate and social changes. Despite a growing number of scientifc articles dealing with NCP, there is a high risk that the existing literature has left out the complexity of such systems. In the light of ongoing social, economic, and climatic changes in the Mediterranean basin, neglecting the complexity of pastoral systems can lead to signifcant research biases, missing the priorities afecting the stability and continuity of such systems. A combination of frameworks of analysis provided by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment and by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was applied to understand if and to what extent the complexity of Mediterranean pastoral systems has been considered in the available literature. Most of the 126 papers report studies conducted in the European Union zone (102 papers), with the majority in Spain (50). Fewer studies have been conducted in the Middle East (15 papers) and Africa zones (9 papers). Despite results confrming the importance of pastoral systems as providers of NCP, most of the eligible papers focused on regulating NCP. A lack of a multisectoral approach and integration of knowledge suggests that the complexity of Mediterranean pastoral systems has been overlooked by researchers. The creation of ‘hybrid knowledge’ bridging the expertise of diferent stakeholders could be the key ingredient to properly address the complexity of Mediterranean pastoral systems.This study was carried out with the support of project PACTORES (PAstoral ACTORs, ES, and Society as key elements of agro-pastoral systems in the Mediterranean), ERANETMED ‘EURO-MEDITERRANEAN Cooperation through ERANET joint activities and beyond’- Joint Transnational Call 2016 - Environmental challenges and solutions for vulnerable communities (ERANETMED2-72-303). We would like to thank the late Marco Toderi for his considerable help and inspiration and without whom this research would never have been possible. Open access funding provided by Università Politecnica delle Marche within the CRUI-CARE Agreement.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Combined cytogenetic and molecular methods for taxonomic verification and description of Brassica populations deriving from different origins

Agriculture faces great challenges to overcome global warming and improve system sustainability, requiring access to novel genetic diversity. So far, wild populations and local landraces remain poorly explored. This is notably the case for the two diploid species, Brassica oleracea L. (CC, 2n=2x=18) and B. rapa L. (AA, 2n=2x=20). In order to explore the genetic diversity in both species, we have collected populations in their centre of origin, the Mediterranean basin, on a large contrasting climatic and soil gradient from northern Europe to southern sub-Saharan regions. In these areas, we also collected 14 populations belonging to five B. oleracea closely related species. Our objective was to ensure the absence of species misidentification at the seedling stage among the populations collected and to describe thereafter their origins. We combined flow cytometry, sequencing of a species-specific chloroplast genomic region, as well as cytogenetic analyses in case of unexpected results for taxonomic verification. Out of the 112 B. oleracea and 154 B. rapa populations collected, 103 and 146, respectively, presented a good germination rate and eighteen populations were misidentified. The most frequent mistake was the confusion of these diploid species with B. napus. Additionally for B. rapa, two autotetraploid populations were observed. Habitats of the collected and confirmed wild populations and landraces are described in this study. The unique plant material described here will serve to investigate the genomic regions involved in adaptation to climate and microbiota within the framework of the H2020 Prima project ‘BrasExplor’

Novel sequence variations in LAMA2 andSGCG genes modulating cis-acting regulatory elements and RNA secondary structure

In this study, we detected new sequence variations in LAMA2 and SGCG genes in 5 ethnic populations, and analysed their effect on enhancer composition and mRNA structure. PCR amplification and DNA sequencing were performed and followed by bioinformatics analyses using ESEfinder as well as MFOLD software. We found 3 novel sequence variations in the LAMA2 (c.3174+22_23insAT and c.6085 +12delA) and SGCG (c. * 102A/C) genes. These variations were present in 210 tested healthy controls from Tunisian, Moroccan, Algerian, Lebanese and French populations suggesting that they represent novel polymorphisms within LAMA2 and SGCG genes sequences. ESEfinder showed that the c. * 102A/C substitution created a new exon splicing enhancer in the 3'UTR of SGCG genes, whereas the c.6085 +12delA deletion was situated in the base pairing region between LAMA2 mRNA and the U1snRNA spliceosomal components. The RNA structure analyses showed that both variations modulated RNA secondary structure. Our results are suggestive of correlations between mRNA folding and the recruitment of spliceosomal components mediating splicing, including SR proteins. The contribution of common sequence variations to mRNA structural and functional diversity will contribute to a better study of gene expression