Podcasting as an Effective Pedagogy for Teaching Chemistry During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced all educational institutions worldwide to switch their active routine to ONLINE. With students attending classes virtually, a number of problems arose including the absence of social interaction and the imposed difficulty of digesting the materials of different courses, especially for those with a scientific background. General chemistry (GC), as an introductory course, is usually registered by students from different backgrounds, including Science, Engineering, and Agriculture. At the United Arab Emirates University, the second level of GC (GCII) is more focused on problem-solving as related to various topics. With the absence of face-to-face experience because of the COVID-19 circumstances, students’ understanding of the chemical concepts and implementing that in problem-solving has become a challenge. The current work investigates the effect of using professionally-made podcasts of GCII on the extent of understanding of students registered for this course during the period of 2020-2020 over a course of four semesters. The results of surveying the usage and feedback of students engaged in this experiment are outlined. Conclusively, this pedagogy is fully supported by most of the students who regard it as a suitable alternative to face-to-face settings

EFFECT OF RENNIN INHIBITORS AND ANGIOTENSIN II RECEPTOR ANTAGONISTS ON LEFT VENTRICULAR HYPERTROPHY IN RENOVASCULAR HYPERTENSIVE RATS

Objective: Left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy involves numerous structural adaptations that may lead to ventricular dysfunction and eventually, heart failure. Particular emphasis is placed on the molecular mechanisms that govern the development of hypertrophy and may lead to maladaptive structural changes resulting in adverse cardiac events. This study investigates the effectiveness of Valsartan (Val) which is an angiotensinII receptor antagonist and Aliskiren (Ali) which is a direct rennin inhibitor in the treatment of cardiac remodeling resulted from renovascular hypertension, particularly left ventricular hypertrophy, and to address the molecular mechanisms underlying them.Methods: 24 male albino rats were randomly divided into 4 main groups (n=6 each), normal control rats (N), hypertensive control rats (HC), Val treated hypertensive rats (Val, 8 mg/kg/day orally) and Ali treated hypertensive rats (Ali, 25 mg/kg/day orally).Results: At the end of 4 weeks HC rats showed enhanced hypertrophic response (higher heart weight/body weight ratio) and dyslipidemia (lower high density lipoprotein "HDL-c" and higher triacyl glycerol "TAG") and a significant deletion of antioxidant enzymes in comparison with N group. The β myosin heavy chain "βMHC", regulator of calcineurin-1 "RCAN1", nuclear factor kappa B "NFκB" and inducible nitric oxide synthase "iNOS" was markedly elevated. While, α myosin heavy chain "αMHC" was markedly decreased as compared with N group. On the other hand Val treated hypertensive rats and Ali treated hypertensive rats showed a significant decrease in heart weight/body weight ratio, improved lipogram pattern and higher levels of antioxidant enzymes. While, cardiac β-MHC, RCAN-1, NFκB and iNOS were significantly decreased as compared with HC group. Both Val treated hypertensive rats and Ali treated hypertensive rats showed a significant increase in α-MHC, compared with HC groupConclusion: The results reported in this study suggested that chronic untreated hypertension induced a pathological hypertrophy. Administration of the Val or Ali individually exerted beneficial effects regarding the improved lipogram pattern and anti-oxidant enzymes levels, as well as cardiac hypertrophy and highlights the role of Val and Ali as a promising therapeutic strategy for hypertension and LV hypertrophy.Â

Genetic polymorphism in melatonin receptor 1A and arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase and its impact on seasonal reproduction in Egyptian sheep breeds

This study was carried out to detect polymorphisms in the melatonin receptor 1A (MTNR1A) and arylalkylamine N-acetyltransferase (AA-NAT) genes and their association with reproductive traits. Blood samples of 126 animals from three Egyptian sheep breeds were collected. DNA was extracted and subjected to PCR restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis using the RsaI and SmaI enzymes. Two alleles (C and T) and three genotypes (CC, CT and TT) for MTNR1A and for AA-NAT (A and G; GG, GA and AA) were detected. The alleles C and A and the genotypes CT and GA showed the highest frequencies for the MTNR1A and AA-NAT genes, respectively. Association analysis of the MTNR1A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with ewe reproductive traits revealed significant associations in the Ossimi and Rahmani breeds with age at first lambing, and the C allele seemed to be the favorable allele. The results for the AA-NAT SNP demonstrated significant correlations in Ossimi with age at first lambing and litter size and in Rahmani with lambing interval; the G allele seemed to be the desirable allele. In the first conception season, ewes carrying CT exhibited a significantly lower age of first lambing in the unfavorable season. Additionally, GG ewes exhibited a significantly lower age of first lambing in the early favorable season, followed by the unfavorable season. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study of these associations in Egyptian sheep breeds. In conclusion, the polymorphisms revealed in this study could be used as genetic markers to improve reproductive efficiency during the unfavorable season, and the obtained desirable genotypes could be considered in new genetic selection schemes.</p

Eficacia antioxidante y anticancerígena de compuestos bioactivos terapéuticos de residuos de la fermentación de aceitunas

Olive pomace, which is considered as one of the worst agro-industrial wastes in Mediterranean countries was tested for bioactive compounds production through the solid state fermentation of Kluyveromyces marxianus. Because they present potent biological activities, phenolic compounds from both unfermented and fermented pomace were extracted with simultaneous evaluation of their antioxidant and anticancer activities. Conditions for optimum total phenolic recovery with maximum antioxidant activity were optimized using methanol as the extracting solvent with a sample to solvent ratio of 1:10 at 50 °C for 2 hours. The in-vitro anticancer activity of both extracts was assessed against different human cancer cell lines. The results revealed that both extracts exerted anticancer effects close to the value of doxorubicin drug against liver HepG2 and breast MCF-7 cell lines, and moderate activity against prostate PC3 and colon HCT116 cell lines. Nevertheless, the fermented extract was more potent than the unfermented one. No effect against lung A549, cervix Hela cancer cell lines or normal HFB4 cells was observed for both extracts. A GC/MS analysis was carried out to determine the compounds responsible for antioxidant and anticancer activities. The results showed the presence of methyl palmitate, methyl oleate, and ethyl oleate in the methanolic extract of unfermented olive pomace, while that of the fermented one showed the production of carvacrol, thymol, eugenol, caryophyllene oxide and methyl isopalmitate.El orujo de oliva considerado como uno de los peores residuos agroindustriales en los países mediterráneos fue ensayado para la producción de compuestos bioactivos mediante fermentación en estado sólido de Kluyveromyces marxianus. Se extrajeron los compuestos fenólicos de orujos fermentados y no fermentados ambos con potentes actividades biológicas y se evaluaron sus actividades antioxidantes y anticancerígenas. Se optimizaron las condiciones para la recuperación fenólica óptima con actividad antioxidante máxima, estas se lograron usando metanol como disolvente de extracción con una relación de muestra a disolvente de 1:10 a 50 °C durante 2 horas. La actividad anticancerígena in vitro de ambos extractos se evaluó frente a diferentes líneas celulares de cáncer humano. Los resultados revelaron que ambos extractos ejercen un efecto anticancerígeno cercano al valor del fármaco doxorrubicina contra líneas celulares hepáticas HepG2 y MCF-7 de mama, y actividad moderada contra líneas celulares de PC3 de próstata y HCT116 de colon, sin embargo, el extracto fermentado fue más potente que el no fermentado. No se observó ningún efecto contra las líneas celulares A549 de cáncer el pulmón, de cuello de útero o células HFB4 normales, para ambos extractos. El análisis GC/MS se llevó a cabo para determinar los compuestos responsables de las actividades antioxidantes y anticancerígenas. Los resultados mostraron la presencia de palmitato de metilo, oleato de metilo y oleato de etilo en el extracto metanólico de orujo de oliva no fermentado, mientras que el fermentado mostró la producción de carvacrol, timol, eugenol, óxido de cariofileno e isopalmitato de metilo

Induction of cryptic antifungal pulicatin derivatives from <i>Pantoea agglomerans</i> by microbial co-culture

Microbial co-culture or mixed fermentation proved to be an efficient strategy to expand chemical diversity by the induction of cryptic biosynthetic pathways, and in many cases led to the production of new antimicrobial agents. In the current study, we report a rare example of the induction of silent/cryptic bacterial biosynthetic pathway by the co-culture of Durum wheat plant roots-associated bacterium Pantoea aggolomerans and date palm leaves-derived fungus Penicillium citrinum. The initial co-culture indicated a clear fungal growth inhibition which was confirmed by the promising antifungal activity of the co-culture total extract against Pc. LC-HRMS chemical profiling demonstrated a huge suppression in the production of secondary metabolites (SMs) of axenic cultures of both species with the emergence of new metabolites which were dereplicated as a series of siderophores. Large-scale co-culture fermentation led to the isolation of two new pulicatin derivatives together with six known metabolites which were characterised using HRESIMS and NMR analyses. During the in vitro antimicrobial evaluation of the isolated compounds, pulicatin H (2) exhibited the strongest antifungal activity against Pc, followed by aeruginaldehyde (1) and pulicatin F (4), hence explaining the initial growth suppression of Pc in the co-culture environment

EFFICIENCY OF CERTAIN INSECTICIDES ON WHITEFLY LEAF CURL VIRUS AND THEIR RESIDUES IN TOMATO FRUITS

The work was conducted to clarify the efficiency of certain insecticides on the population of whitefly B. tabaci and incidence of yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) in tomato field. The experiment was carried out during Nili plantation of two successive seasons at El-Fayoum governorate. The obtained data showed that the alternate use of etofenprox /thiamethoxam; imidacloprid/ thiamethoxam; acetamiprid/ etofenprox; single continuous application of etofenprox; etofenprox / imidacloprid; acetamiprid/ imidacloprid; thiamethoxam/ acetamiprid; imidacloprid; thiamethoxam and acetamiprid gave excellent initial mortality over 90% on the adult stage of B. tabaci and incidence of tomato yellow leaf curl virus without significant differences between treatments. Thimethoxam as soil drench proved to be the most effective insecticide against adult and immature stages of whitefly, while acetamiprid achieved the lowest mortality for these two stages as well as short residual mortality. On the other hand, alternation of etofenprox / imidacloprid showed the highest initial mortality on nymphs. Residue levels in tomato fruits were also investigated at 30, 45 and 60 days after application of tested insecticides. For imidacloprid residues were found in amounts nearly above maximum residue levels MRLs 30 days while degraded to amounts below MRL by the progression of time to 45 and 60 days after application. Application of imidacloprid in alternate spray program with thiamethoxam; etofenprox; acetamiprid resulted in residues below MRL at the 3 preharvest intervals. Acetamiprid when used at the recommended rate showed the residue of 0.36 mg/kg at early season and then decreased to 0.08 mg/kg at late season. Alternate use of acetamiprid with thiamethoxam; etofenprox or imidacloprid reduce MRLs in tomato fruits. The successive applications of etofenprox alone at the recommended rate resulted in residues above MRL after 30 and 45 days and approximately near MRL at 60 days. On the other hand, the half rate in alternative use with imidacloprid; acetamiprid or thiamethoxam showed residues below MRL at all sampling intervals. Thiamethoxam when used in single successive applications gave residues of 2.5, 1.9 and 1.5 mg/kg at the 3 preharvest intervals, respectivel

CdSe Quantum Dots for Solar Cell Devices

CdSe quantum dots have been prepared with different sizes and exploited as inorganic dye to sensitize a wide bandgap TiO2 thin films for QDs solar cells. The synthesis is based on the pyrolysis of organometallic reagents by injection into a hot coordinating solvent. This provides temporally discrete nucleation and permits controlled growth of macroscopic quantities of nanocrystallites. XRD, HRTEM, UV-visible, and PL were used to characterize the synthesized quantum dots. The results showed CdSe quantum dots with sizes ranging from 3 nm to 6 nm which enabled the control of the optical properties and consequently the solar cell performance. Solar cell of 0.08% performance under solar irradiation with a light intensity of 100 mW/cm2 has been obtained. CdSe/TiO2 solar cells without and with using mercaptopropionic acid (MPA) as a linker between CdSe and TiO2 particles despite a Voc of 428 mV, Jsc of 0.184 mAcm-2, FF of 0.57, and η of 0.05% but with linker despite a Voc of 543 mV, Jsc of 0.318 mAcm-2 , FF of 0.48, and η of 0.08%, respectively

Oval Domes: History, Geometry and Mechanics

An oval dome may be defined as a dome whose plan or profile (or both) has an oval form. The word Aoval@ comes from the latin Aovum@, egg. Then, an oval dome has an egg-shaped geometry. The first buildings with oval plans were built without a predetermined form, just trying to close an space in the most economical form. Eventually, the geometry was defined by using arcs of circle with common tangents in the points of change of curvature. Later the oval acquired a more regular form with two axis of symmetry. Therefore, an “oval” may be defined as an egg-shaped form, doubly symmetric, constructed with arcs of circle; an oval needs a minimum of four centres, but it is possible also to build polycentric ovals. The above definition corresponds with the origin and the use of oval forms in building and may be applied without problem until, say, the XVIIIth century. Since then, the teaching of conics in the elementary courses of geometry made the cultivated people to define the oval as an approximation to the ellipse, an “imperfect ellipse”: an oval was, then, a curve formed with arcs of circles which tries to approximate to the ellipse of the same axes. As we shall see, the ellipse has very rarely been used in building. Finally, in modern geometrical textbooks an oval is defined as a smooth closed convex curve, a more general definition which embraces the two previous, but which is of no particular use in the study of the employment of oval forms in building. The present paper contains the following parts: 1) an outline the origin and application of the oval in historical architecture; 2) a discussion of the spatial geometry of oval domes, i. e., the different methods employed to trace them; 3) a brief exposition of the mechanics of oval arches and domes; and 4) a final discussion of the role of Geometry in oval arch and dome design

First aid for obstetric haemorrhage: the pilot study of the non-pneumatic antishock garment in

Objective To compare the effect of non-pneumatic anti-shock garment (NASG) on blood loss from obstetric haemorrhage with standard management of obstetric haemorrhage. Design Observational study of consecutive obstetric haemorrhage cases before and after introduction of the NASG. Setting Four tertiary care maternity facilities in Egypt. Sample The sample consisted of women with obstetric haemorrhage and signs of shock and the entry criteria were: &gt;750 mL of blood loss and either pulse of &gt;100 beats per minute or systolic blood pressure of &lt;100 mmHg. A total of 158 women were in the preintervention group and 206 in the postintervention group. Methods All the women with haemorrhage meeting the eligibility criteria were treated according to the standard protocol for 4 months (May-August 2004); blood loss was measured and recorded. The NASG was then introduced, and all the women meeting the eligibility criteria were treated according to the standard haemorrhage protocol plus the NASG for 4 months (September-December 2004). Main outcome measures Measured blood loss collected in a closed-end, graduated, plastic, under buttocks collection drape. Results Median measured blood loss in the drape following study entry was 50% lower in those treated with the NASG (250 versus 500 mL, P &lt; 0.001). There was also a non-statistically significant decrease in morbidity and mortality. Conclusions This is the first comparative study of the NASG with a standard obstetric haemorrhage treatment protocol. The NASG shows promise for management of obstetric haemorrhage, particularly in lower resource settings. Larger studies will be needed to determine if the NASG contributes to statistically significant decreases in morbidity and mortality