Coupling and nucleophilic reactions of a diazotized pyrazolopyridine derivative

948-95

Plastic hinge relocation in reinforced concrete beams using Cu-Al-Mn SMA bars

costs. The use of Ni-Ti superelastic shape memory alloy (SMA) constitutes a considerable portion of this research. Cu-Al-Mn superelastic SMA has been recently developed to eliminate the high cost of Ni-Ti SMA, as well as, to have better machining characteristics. This paper explores the use of Cu-Al-Mn SMA bars to relocate the plastic hinge of concrete beams through an experimental–numerical study. The cyclic performance of four beams was examined. The first was reinforced with steel bars and the remaining three were reinforced with combination of SMA and steel bars. The location of the SMA bars was different for each of the examined beams. The beams were loaded such that the moment diagram is zero at midspan and maximum at the ends to simulate the expected seismic moments. Results of the experimental–numerical investigation confirmed the recentering capability of SMA RC beams. Relocating the plastic hinge, by placing Cu-Al-Mn SMA bars away from the beam ends, improved the strength, rigidity, and energy dissipation

Calli Essential Oils Synergize with Lawsone against Multidrug Resistant Pathogens.

The fast development of multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms increasingly threatens global health and well-being. Plant natural products have been known for centuries as alternative medicines that can possess pharmacological characteristics, including antimicrobial activities. The antimicrobial activities of essential oil (Calli oil) extracted from the Calligonum comosum plant by hydro-steam distillation was tested either alone or when combined with lawsone, a henna plant naphthoquinone, against MDR microbes. Lawsone showed significant antimicrobial activities against MDR pathogens in the range of 200-300 µg/mL. Furthermore, Calli oil showed significant antimicrobial activities against MDR bacteria in the range of 180-200 µg/mL, Candida at 220-240 µg/mL and spore-forming Rhizopus fungus at 250 µg/mL. Calli oil's inhibition effect on Rhizopus, the major cause of the lethal infection mucormycosis, stands for 72 h, followed by an extended irreversible white sporulation effect. The combination of Calli oil with lawsone enhanced the antimicrobial activities of each individual alone by at least three-fold, while incorporation of both natural products in a liposome reduced their toxicity by four- to eight-fold, while maintaining the augmented efficacy of the combination treatment. We map the antimicrobial activity of Calli oil to its major component, a benzaldehyde derivative. The findings from this study demonstrate that formulations containing essential oils have the potential in the future to overcome antimicrobial resistance

Pozitivan učinak L-karnitina na imuno- metabolički odgovor i antioksidacijski status u koza s gravidnosnom toksemijom

According to the literature, there have been limited studies describing the efficacy of L-carnitine (LC) administration in goats. The present study was designed to evaluate the influence of orally administered LC on some immune- metabolic variables, as well as the redox status in goats with experimentally induced pregnancy toxemia (PT). The study included eighteen clinically healthy Baladi goats at 110 ± 5 days of gestation. The animals were randomly allocated into three equally-sized groups: control, toxemic (PT), and toxemic treated with LC (TLC). On day 110 ± 5 of gestation, the goats in the TLC group received 10 mL of LC given as an oral drench once daily. Administration of LC was continued for 20 consecutive days. At day 130 of gestation, PT was experimentally induced in the animals of the PT and TLC groups by means of feed withdrawal for 72 hours. For biochemical analyses, blood samples were collected from each investigated doe via jugular vein puncture before PT induction (T0), and once daily for five consecutive days (T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5). The clinical findings of PT appeared in all the goats of the PT group after 72 hours of feed withdrawal, while the goats of the TLC group did not show any clinical symptoms throughout the study period. Administration of LC elicited initial and sustained low serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α), and high serum glucose, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and interleukin (IL)-10 at T0 compared with those of the control and PT groups. At T3, goats that received LC showed significantly lower values of β-hydroxybutyric acid, non-esterified fatty acid, triacylglycerols, MDA, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and higher values of total cholesterol, glutathione peroxidase, SOD, and IL-10 than those of the PT group. Our data suggest that orally administered LC could be useful in ameliorating the immune status and improving lipid metabolism in goats with PT.Prema podacima iz literature postoji ograničen broj istraživanja primjene L-karnitina (LK) u koza. Cilj ovog rada bio je procijeniti učinak oralno primijenjenog LK-a na određene imuno-metaboličke pokazatelje i redoksni status u koza u kojih je eksperimentalno izazvana gravidnosna tokesmija (GT). Istraživanje je uključilo 18 klinički zdravih koza baladi pasmine čija je gravidnost iznosila 110 ± 5 dana. Životinje su nasumično podijeljene u tri jednake skupine: kontrolnu, toksemijsku (GT) i toksemijsku kojoj je davan LK (TLK). Koze u skupini TLK su od 110. ± 5 dana gravidnosti jedanput dnevno dobivale 10 mL LK-a oralnom drenčer špricom. Primjena LK-a nastavljena je sljedećih dvadeset dana uzastopno. Na 130. dan gravidnosti GT je eksperimentalno izazvan u skupinama GT i TLK, uz uskraćivanje hrane tijekom 72 sata. U svake je koze iz jugularne vene uzeta krv za biokemijsku analizu prije izazivanja GT-a (T0) i jedanput dnevno sljedećih pet dana (T1, T2, T3, T4 i T5). Klinički je GT ustanovljen u svih koza u skupini GT 72 sata nakon što im je uskraćena hrana, dok koze iz skupine TLK nisu pokazale kliničke simptome za vrijeme istraživanja. Primjena LK-a prouzročila je niske serumske vrijednosti malondialdehida (MDA), faktora tumorske nekroze (TNF-α) i visoke serumske vrijednosti glukoze, superoksidne dismutaze (SOD) i interleukina (IL)- 10 prije izazivanja GT-a (T0) u usporedbi s kontrolnom i GT skupinom. Treći dan (T3) koze koje su primile LK pokazale su znakovito niže vrijednosti β-hidroksimaslačne kiseline, neesterificirane masne kiseline, triacilglicerola, MDA-a, TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6 te veće vrijednosti ukupnog kolesterola, glutation-peroksidaze, SOD-a i IL-10 od onih u skupini GT. Rezultati su pokazali da bi oralno primijenjen LK mogao pridonijeti poboljšanju imunosnog statusa i metabolizma masnoća u koza s GT-om

GC-MS Analysis, Antioxidant, Antimicrobial and Anticancer Activities of Extracts from Ficus sycomorus Fruits and Leaves

Higher plants have been utilized worldwide as characteristic drug a long time to cure human diseases. About 80% of individuals globally use plants as safe sources of medication to cure human diseases through completely different medicine system. One of the available indigenous medicinal plants, Ficus sycomorus belongs to the Moraceae family. The plant contains totally different teams of biologically active compounds that square measure chargeable for the biological activity. Ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts of leaves of Ficus sycomorus contain higher concentrations of total phenols, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and steroids than the fruit extracts. Ethanolic extract in both fruits and leaves gave higher concentrations of phytochemical compounds than the ethyl acetate extracts. Therefore, fruit and leaves extract have antioxidant and antimicrobial activity against gram positive, negative bacteria and fungus. Also, the percentage of Liver cell line (HepG2), Colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) and Breast cell line (MCF-7) viability was decreased with increasing the concentrations of the ethanolic extract of fruits and leaves of Ficus sycomorus. The high concentrations of ethanolic extract of fruits caused high reduction in the viability of cancer cells, especially in Colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cell line. In addition, phytochemical compound screened by GC-MS method. In GC-MS analysis, 12 bioactive phytochemical compounds were identified in fruits and 29 bioactive compounds were detected in leaves extract. These totally different active phytochemicals are found to possess a good vary of activities, which can facilitate within the protection against incurable diseases

Rational synthesis of ternary PtIrNi nanocrystals with enhanced poisoning tolerance for electrochemical ethanol oxidation

The development of highly efficient and durable anode materials for ethanol electro-oxidation remains a challenge. Herein, we report the synthesis of Pt1−x−yIrxNiy nanocrystals via one-step procedure by ultrasonic-assisted co-reduction of the metal precursors using ascorbic acid as a mild reducing agent and pluronic F127 as a structure directing agent. The catalytic performance of this ternary catalyst towards electrochemical oxidation of ethanol was examined and compared to its mono and binary Pt counterparts (Pt, Pt1−xIrx, and Pt1−yNiy) that are synthesized by the same method. TEM analysis showed a porous nanodendritic structure for the synthesized ternary electrocatalyst with an average size of 20 ± 1 nm. The electrochemical measurements revealed an electrochemically active surface area, ECSA, of 73 m2 g−1. The as-synthesized ternary electrocatalyst showed an improved catalytic activity towards ethanol oxidation in 1 M KOH with a measured mass activity of 3.8 A mg−1 which is 1.7, 2.0, and 3.2 times higher than that of Pt1−xIrx, Pt1−yNiy, and Pt, respectively. Additionally, the Pt1−x−yIrxNiy nanocrystals expressed high poisoning tolerance (jf/jb = 4.5) and high durability compared to its mono and binary counterparts.Scopu

Response of Silybum marianum plant to irrigation intervals combined with fertilization

Hendawy SF, Hussein MS, Youssef AA, El-Mergawi RA. 2013. Response of Silybum marianum plant to irrigation intervals combined with fertilization. Nusantara Bioscience 5: 21-28. This study was investigated to evaluate the influence of different kinds of organic and bio fertilization under different irrigation intervals on the growth, production and chemical constituents of Sylibium marianum plant. Data indicated that all studied growth and yield characters were significantly affected by the duration of irrigation intervals. Fertilizer treatments had a primitive effect on growth and yield characters. The interaction between irrigation intervals and fertilizer treatments has a clear considerable effect on growth and yield characters. The obtained results indicated the favorable effect of organic and bio fertilizers which reduce the harmful effect of water stress. Different treatments had a pronounced effect on silymarin content

Value of Entheseal Ultrasonography and Serum Cartilage Oligomeric Matrix Protein in the Preclinical Diagnosis of Psoriatic Arthritis

Objective: To evaluate the utility of entheseal ultrasonography and serum COMP in the preclinical diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. Methods: 60 psoriatic patients were divided into: 30 patients with psoriasis (group I) and 30 patients with psoriatic arthritis as control (group II). They underwent independent clinical and ultrasonographic examination of both lower limbs at the calcaneal insertions of Achilles tendons. Psoriatic arthritis disease activity and severity was assessed by modified DAS28 and Steinbrockers scores. Serum levels of COMP were measured for all patients by ELISA. Results: On clinical examination, no entheseal abnormalities were detected in group I while they were present in 23.3% of group II with statistically significant difference between them (P < 0.001). Ultrasonographic entheseal abnormalities were detected in 33.3% of group I and in 46.7% of group II with no significant difference between them (P > 0.05). Serum COMP were significantly elevated in group I and II with no statistically significant difference between them (mean ± SD 5.9 ± 3 and 6.8 ± 12 respectively, P > 0.05). Entheseal ultrasound was more specific (67%) while serum COMP was more sensitive (87%) in the preclinical diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. Serum COMP levels were significantly correlated with CRP in both groups and with DAS28 and Steinbrockers scores in group II (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Entheseal ultrasonography and serum COMP levels may be used complementary to each other for preclinical diagnosis of psoriatic arthritis. Serum COMP seems to be promising prognostic marker for psoriatic arthritis patients

Purification of kappa (k)-carrageenase from locally isolated Cellulosimicrobium cellulans

Partial purification of the crude kappa (k)-carrageenase present in the culture filtrates of Cellulosimicrobium cellulans was carried out by fractional precipitation, using ammonium sulphate, acetone and ethanol individually. The highest recovered protein (37.08%) combined with enzyme activity was obtained with ammonium sulphate. The fraction precipitated by 90% ammonium sulphate was re-purified by anion exchange chromatography diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) cellulose, A-52 and 79 fractions were obtained. The loaded protein was separated into 4 peaks. The third protein peak was the major one which contained the most recovered enzyme activity (84.95%) from the eluted fractions. The collected fractions of this peak were subjected to further purification by re-chromatography on Sephadex G-100. The k-carrageenase activity was fractionated into 2 peaks. The first peak was the major one containing 95.622% of the total recovered activity. The pooled fractions of the major protein component showed a specific k-carrageenase activity of 46.22 U/mg protein, yielding about 4.6 fold purification of the crude enzyme preparation. Some properties of purified k-carrageenase obtained from cellusimicrobium cellulans cultures were studied. The optimum reaction temperature of the purified k-carrageenase was 30°C and the maximum activity occurred at a reaction pH of 6.Key words: Cellulosimicrobium cellulans, k-carrageenase, purification, sephadex G-100, diethylaminoethyl (DEAE) sephadex A-52

NIS method for uncertainty estimation of airborne sound insulation measurement in field

In structures, airborne sound insulation is utilized to characterize the acoustic nature of barriers between rooms. However, the assessment of sound insulation index is once in a while troublesome or indeed, even questionable, both in field and laboratory measurements, notwithstanding the way that there are some unified measurement methodology indicated in the ISO 140 series standards. There are issues with the reproducibility and repeatability of the measurement results. A few troubles might be brought on by non-diffuse acoustic fields, non-uniform reverberation time, or blunders of the reverberation time measurements. Some minor issues are additionally postured by flanking transmission. In this paper, investigation of the uncertainties of the above specified measurement parts and their impact on the consolidated uncertainty in 1/3-octave frequency band. The total measurement uncertainty model contributes several different partial uncertainties, which are evaluated by the method of type A or type B. Also, the determination of the sound reduction index decided by ISO 140-4 has been performed