ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITY AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY–MASS SPECTROMETRY STUDIES OF ALGERIAN ATRIPLEX HALIMUS L.

Objective: The objective of the study was to find out the antibacterial efficacy and identify the main constituents of the essential oil of Atriplex halimus from southwest of Algeria. Methods: The essential oil from the aerial parts of the endemic plant A. halimus (saltbush in English, qataf in Arabic) collected from the region of Sahara southwest of Algeria was isolated by hydrodistillation and analyzed by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Antibacterial potency of essential oil from this plant has been tested against Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 29213), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), and Bacillus cereus (ATCC11778) by disk diffusion assay. Results: The essential oil revealed the presence of 14 components, the dominant compounds arecadina-1(10), 4-diene (10.69%), germacrene D (9.79%), octane (9.37%), pelargonaldehyde (9.06%), 3-Furancarboxaldehyde (6.87%), β-pinene (2.6%), camphene (2.59%), and myrcene (2.10%). The essential oil exhibits very effective antimicrobial activity using disk diffusion assay method with minimum inhibitory concentration ranging from 0.82 μl/ml to 2.4525 μl/ml. Conclusions: This result showed that this native plant may be a good candidate for further biological and pharmacological investigations

A modified discontinuous Galerkin method for solving efficiently Helmholtz problems

A new solution methodology is proposed for solving efficiently Helmholtz problems. The proposed method falls in the category of the discontinuous Galerkin methods. However, unlike the existing solution methodologies, this method requires solving (a) well-posed local problems to determine the primal variable, and (b) a global positive semi-definite Hermitian system to evaluate the Lagrange multiplier needed to restore the continuity across the element edges. Illustrative numerical results obtained for two-dimensional interior Helmholtz problems are presented to assess the accuracy and the stability of the proposed solution methodology

CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION BY GC-MS FROM THE AERIAL PARTS OF FAGONIA LONGISPINA (ZYGOPHYLLACEAE)

Objective: The objective was to characterize the phytochemical constituents in ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract from the aerial parts of Fagonia longispina(zygophyllaceae) by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).Methods: The dried powder of the aerial parts of F. lonjispina was extracted exhaustively with ethanol. The extract was concentrated, diluted withwater and partitioned with EtOAc. The residue of the EtOAc extract was performed using a GC-MS.Results: Chemical constituents of the EtOAcextract of F. Longispina Family (Zygophylaceae) were identified by GC-MS and their relative concentrationswere determined. F. Longispina extract contained 12 compounds: Cis-4-(4 -T-butylcyclohexyl)-4-methyl-2-pentanone (33.33%), 4beta-(tert-butyl)1alpha-(1methylvinyl)cyclohexanemethanol (09.52%), cyclohexyl-2-methylenebutanylketone(14.28%),trans-4-(–t-butylcyclohexyl)-4-methyl2-pentanone(9.52%),2,6,10-trimetyl,14-Ethylne-14pentadecene (6.66%), 2-decen-1-ol(cas) (4.76%), 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-2-hexadecen-1-ol(2.85%),2-nonen-1-ol (4.76%), citronellylacetate(2.85%), tetratetracontane(3.38%), hexatriacontane(cas) (3.38%), and phytolacetate(4.76%).'Conclusions: This GC-MS study helps to predict the formula and structure of phytoconstituents which can be used as drugs, and further investigationmay leads to the development of drug formulation. These compounds are probably the major players in the antioxidant responses evoked by the plant.Keywords: Etyl acetate extract, Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis, Fagonia longispina

Physicochemical and microbiological characterisation of Olive Oil Mill Wastewater (OMW) from the region of Sidi Bel Abbes (Western Algeria)

The aim of the present work is to evaluate the physicochemical and microbiological quality of the Olive oil mill wastewater (OMW) from the region of Sidi Bel Abbes (Western Algeria). The results of the physicochemical analysis showed that the Olive oil mill wastewater of this region has an acid pH. The average value was 4.52. OMW is rich in organic matter. This last parameter was obtained by BOD5 and COD. The BOD5 was 29 g/L and the COD was 90.5 g/L. Acidity, polyphenols and fatty acids content were also determined. Fourier Transformed Infrared Spectroscopy and UV-Visible analysis confirm the presence of polyphenols in OMW. Moreover, the microbial load of this Olive oil mill wastewater was evaluated by the determination of the total aerobic mesophilic flora FMAT, which take the value of 7.9 x 103 CFU/mL, yeasts and moulds were 0.95 x 103 CFU/mL and lactic bacteria was       6.8 x 103 CFU/mL. These analyses reveal that OMW effluents is not within the permitted values and require treatment before reuse or any direct discharge into the environment

Air quality in the metropolitan area of Sidi Bel Abbes (Algeria) through the lichens species as bio-indicators

The air quality in towns and cities is increasingly deteriorating as human activities increase but no actions have been taken in Algeria to limit air pollution. There are no regulations for controlling pollutant emissions and no specialist treatment center for treating diseases and allergies caused by  air pollution. To access urban air quality lichens species were used for bio-monitoring   12 stations spread across Sidi Bel Abbés city (Western  Algeria). The use of living organisms, in this case lichens, for evaluating the quality of air is a preferred method.  European lichenologists developed a new environmental quality assessment protocol using mapping lichen diversity and  lichens are very often used as bio- accumulators. The selected species are generally those growing on tree trunks, and having a broad geographic distribution. The lichen species most often used are thallus foliaceus or fruticose forms such as Parmelia caperata, P. sulcata, Hypogymnia physodes, Xanthoria parietina, Evernia prunastri, Pseudevernia furfuracea. These lichens species have large adsorption surfaces for major pollutants.  In this work we evaluate the air quality by applying lichen index based on German environmental engineers to map air pollution  in the city of Sidi Bel Abbes

Improving postpartum care delivery and uptake by implementing context-specific interventions in four countries in Africa: a realist evaluation of the Missed Opportunities in Maternal and Infant Health (MOMI) project.

Postpartum care (PPC) has remained relatively neglected in many interventions designed to improve maternal and neonatal health in sub-Saharan Africa. The Missed Opportunities in Maternal and Infant Health project developed and implemented a context-specific package of health system strengthening and demand generation in four African countries, aiming to improve access and quality of PPC. A realist evaluation was conducted to enable nuanced understanding of the influence of different contextual factors on both the implementation and impacts of the interventions. Mixed methods were used to collect data and test hypothesised context-mechanism-outcome configurations: 16 case studies (including interviews, observations, monitoring data on key healthcare processes and outcomes), monitoring data for all study health facilities and communities, document analysis and participatory evaluation workshops. After evaluation in individual countries, a cross-country analysis was conducted that led to the development of four middle-range theories. Community health workers (CHWs) were key assets in shifting demand for PPC by 'bridging' communities and facilities. Because they were chosen from the community they served, they gained trust from the community and an intrinsic sense of responsibility. Furthermore, if a critical mass of women seek postpartum healthcare as a result of the CHWs bridging function, a 'buzz' for change is created, leading eventually to the acceptability and perceived value of attending for PPC that outweighs the costs of attending the health facility. On the supply side, rigid vertical hierarchies and defined roles for health facility workers (HFWs) impede integration of maternal and infant health services. Additionally, HFWs fear being judged negatively which overrides the self-efficacy that could potentially be gained from PPC training. Instead the main driver of HFWs' motivation to provide comprehensive PPC is dependent on accountability systems for delivering PPC created by other programmes. The realist evaluation offers insights into some of the contextual factors that can be pivotal in enabling the community-level and service-level interventions to be effective