Talbina as a functional food and a source of health-beneficial ingredients: a narrative review

During the past two decades, several researchers have claimed that traditional foods are healthier products and better sources of micronutrients. Talbina is a well-known traditional food in North Africa, Middle East and South East Asia. Talbina is made by adding 1-2 tablespoons of barley (100% wholegrain barley) to cup of water. Cook on low heat for15 minutes in a water bath. After that a cup of Laban (fermented milk) or milk is added. It can be sweetened with honey. This broth can be used as a stock for soups or stews or as a thickener. Talbina is a healthy food helps in depression and stress relief. It has high antioxidant activity as well as anti-inflammatory. Its consumption regularly proves to be an effective and safe strategy for treating different chronic diseases. It is a rich source of different essential nutrients and antimicrobials, both of which have been linked to a reduction in chronic disease. However, Talbina has not been well studied or defined by the scientific community. This review defines Talbina and discusses the various bioactive compounds in this food and their health benefits

Synthesis of new optically pure isoxazolines via 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of nitrile oxides with allyl esters derived from eugenol

1,3-dipolar cycloaddition of arylnitrile oxides with allyl ester prepared from eugenol afforded new chiral isoxazolines in good yields. The chemical structure of this compounds was characterized by 1H NMR,13C NMR, 2D NMR and TOF-MS analysis. All the cycloadducts were obtained through a regiospecific and stereospecific pathway and all cases, only one isomer was isolated, as established by unambiguous NMR analysi

A nonlinear shear-lag model applied to chemical anchors subjected to a temperature distribution

International audienceAdhesive joints are increasingly used in bridges and buildings construction thanks to their high mechanical properties and their ease of implementation. However, the load transfer mechanism within adhesive joints is complex and has been the subject of several studies since 1938. Several models have been developed to quantify the stress distribution along bond joints. Nevertheless, very few models exist today to study the stress distribution in chemical anchors by taking into account the temperature effect. This paper presents a non-linear shear-lag model adapted to chemical anchors allowing predicting their stress distribution profiles and fire resistance duration for any temperature distribution. The model highlights the importance of the temperature distribution on the stress profile. The paper shows that when the anchor reaches its maximum axial force, all the elements composing the anchor provide their maximum performance at the same time

On the counting function of the sets of parts A such that the partition function p(A,n) takes even values for n large enough

AbstractIf A is a set of positive integers, we denote by p(A,n) the number of partitions of n with parts in A. First, we recall the following simple property: let f(z)=1+∑n=1∞εnzn be any power series with εn=0 or 1; then there is one and only one set of positive integers A(f) such that p(A(f),n)≡εn(mod2) for all n≥1. Some properties of A(f) have already been given when f is a polynomial or a rational fraction. Here, we give some estimations for the counting function A(P,x)=Card{a∈A(P);a⩽x} when P is a polynomial with coefficients 0 or 1, and P(0)=1

Effects of temperature, water activity and incubation time on fungal growth and aflatoxin B1 production by toxinogenic Aspergillus flavus isolates on sorghum seeds

Sorghum, which is consumed in Tunisia as human food, suffers from severe colonization by several toxigenic fungi and contamination by mycotoxins. The Tunisian climate is characterized by high temperature and humidity that stimulates mold proliferation and mycotoxin accumulation in foodstuffs. This study investigated the effects of temperature (15, 25 and 37 ◦C), water activity (aw, between 0.85 and 0.99) and incubation time (7, 14, 21 and 28 d) on fungal growth and aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) production by three Aspergillus flavus isolates (8, 10 and 14) inoculated on sorghum grains. The Baranyi model was applied to identify the limits of growth and mycotoxin production. Maximum diameter growth rates were observed at 0.99 aw at 37 ◦C for two of the isolates. The minimum aw needed for mycelial growth was 0.91 at 25 and 37 ◦C. At 15 ◦C, only isolate 8 grew at 0.99 aw. Aflatoxin B1 accumulation could be avoided by storing sorghum at low water activity levels (≤0.91 aw). Aflatoxin production was not observed at 15 ◦C. This is the first work on the effects of water activity and temperature on A. flavus growth and AFB1 production by A. flavus isolates on sorghum grains.We thank M. Prim for her encouragement and technicalassistance. The authors are grateful to the European Union(MYCORED KBBE-2007-2-5-05 project) and Tunisian Govern-ment for financial support

Analyse systématique des manipulateurs parallèles

Dans ce papier nous étudions la cinématique des manipulateurs parallèles en se basant sur la notion de contraintes géométriques. Cette méthode permet d'obtenir systématiquement le modèle cinématique de n'importe quelle architecture de robot parallèle. En effet, les manipulateurs parallèles sont des manipulateurs en chaîne cinématiques fermées, constitués d'un organe terminal et d'une base fixe reliés par des chaînes cinématiques indépendantes. Afin de décrire les fermetures des chaînes cinématiques nous utilisons des contraintes géométriques. Ces contraintes permettent de générer des équations de fermeture de chaînes. Ces équations font intervenir à la fois des variables actives, des variables passives et des variables opérationnelles. En se basant sur ces équations nous montrons comment détecter les singularités et comment éliminer d'une manière systématique les variables passives pour obtenir les modèles cinématiques direct et inverse

Mycoflora isolation and molecular characterization of Aspergillus and Fusarium species in Tunisian cereals

Wheat, barley and maize are the mainly consumed cereals in Tunisia. This study aimed to determine the mycoflora of these cereals with special focus on the mycotoxigenic Aspergillus and Fusarium species. Freshly harvested samples and other stored samples of each type of cereal (31 and 34 samples, respectively) were collected in Tunisia and cultured for fungal isolation and identification. Identification of fungal genera was based on morphological features. Aspergillus and Fusarium species were identified by species specific PCR assays complemented with DNA sequencing. Alternaria (70.83%), Eurotium (62.50%), Aspergillus (54.17%) and Penicillium (41.67%) were the most frequent fungi isolated from wheat. Penicillium (75%), Aspergillus (70%), Eurotium (65%) and Alternaria (65%) were the most frequently recovered genera from barley. The predominant genera in maize were Aspergillus(76.19%), Eurotium (42.86%), and Penicillium (38.09%). Aspergilllus, Penicillium, Fusarium and Alternaria were detected in both stored and freshly harvested grain samples. The frequencies of contamination with Aspergillus, Fusarium and Alternaria were higher in freshly harvested samples, whereas Penicillium species were more frequent in stored samples. The predominant Aspergillus species detected were A. flavus and A. niger. The Fusarium species detected were F. equiseti, F. verticillioides, F. nygamai, and F. oxysporum. This study suggested the potential risk for Aflatoxins and, to a lesser extent, for Ochratoxin A in Tunisian cereals. This is the first survey about mycoflora associated with wheat, barley and maize in Tunisia