BIOACTIVITY OF ANTIDESMA BUNIUS LEAVES (EUPHORBIACEAE) AND THEIR MAJOR PHENOLIC CONSTITUENTS

Chromatographic fractionation of the methanol extract of Antidesma bunius leaves afforded six polyphenols, namely, corilagin (1), gallic (2), ferrulic (3) and ellagic (4) acids in addition to the flavone vicinin II (5) and the dimmer amentoflavone (6). Their structures were elucidated by NMR and HRESI analysis. This is the first reported occurrence of the biflavone (amentoflavone) and vicinin in this species. The total phenolic content was estimated at 90 mg/ml of gallic acid equivalent (GAE) per 100 g plant extract using the Folin-Ciocalteu method. Antioxidant biochemical assay of the plant methanol extract was carried out using culture medium of hepatocyte cell lines. An increase in glutathione reductase enzyme and a reduction of the nitric oxide level in the cell culture revealed that A. bunius leaf extract possesses significant antioxidant activity in comparing with quercetine as a reference. The hepatotoxicity and hepatoprotective activities of A.bunius leaf extract and the pure isolated compounds: 1 , 2 and 5 were evaluated by adopting the MTT colorimetric assay. Compounds 1 and 2 revealed a margin of safety on the monolayer hepatocyte with an IC50 > 1000 μg/ml while for 5, IC50 was at 125 μg/ml. The hepatoprotective activities for A.bunius leaf extract, 1 and 2 in comparison to Silymarin (50 μg/ml) were at 6.5, <12.5 and 12.5 μg/ml respectively while 5 did not show hepatoprotective activity at the tested concentrations

Network coding for wireless communication networks

This special issue includes a collection of 19 outstanding research papers which cover a diversity of topics on the application of network coding in wireless communication networks.published_or_final_versio

AN EFFICIENT WEED DETECTION PROCEDURE USING LOW-COST UAV IMAGERY SYSTEM FOR PRECISION AGRICULTURE APPLICATIONS

The use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) imagery systems for Precision Agriculture (PA) applications drew a lot of attention through the last decade. UAV as a platform for an imagery sensor is providing a major advantage as it can provide high spatial resolution images compared to satellite platform. Moreover, it provides the user with the ability to collect the needed images at any time along with the ability to cover the agriculture fields faster than terrestrial platform. Therefore, such UAV imagery systems are capable to fit the gap between aerial and terrestrial Remote Sensing. One of the important PA applications that using UAV imagery system for it showed great potentials is weed management and more specifically the weed detection step. The current weed management procedure depends on spraying the whole agriculture field with chemical herbicides to execute any weed plants in the field. Although such procedure seems to be effective, it has huge effect on the surrounding environment due to the excessive use of the chemical, especially that weed plants don’t cover the whole field. Usually weed plants spread through only few spots of the field. Therefore, different efforts were introduced to develop weed detection techniques using UAV imagery systems. Though the different advantages of the UAV imagery systems, they systems didn’t draw the users interest due to many limitations including the cost of the system. Therefore, the proposed paper introduces a new weed detection methodology from RGB images acquired by low-cost UAV imagery system. The proposed methodology adopts detecting the high-density vegetation spots as indication for weed patches spots. The achieved results showed the potential of the proposed methodology to use low-cost UAV imagery system equipped with low-cost RGB imagery sensor for detecting weed patches in different cropped agriculture fields even from different flight height as 20, 40, 80, and 120 meters

Listeria monocytogenes: Overview and Targeting Advances

Listeria monocytogenes is a serious foodborne zoonotic pathogen capable of causing gastroenteritis and severe systemic infections such as septicemia, meningitis or abortion in the infected individuals what is called listeriosis. The bacterium is reported as the third leading cause of death among the foodborne pathogens preceded by nontyphoidal Salmonella spp. and Toxoplasma gondii. The power to tolerate a wide range of temperatures is considered the most prominent trait distinguishing it from the other foodborne pathogens. Within the infected host, the bacteria harbor inside macrophages and jump from cell to another without leaving the safeguarding milieu of the host's cells utilizing a set of genes including hly (listeriolysin O), plcA (phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase c), plcB (phosphatidylcholine-phospholipase C) and actA (actin-assembly inducing protein). In addition to the health concerns associated with antibiotics, treatment failure likely occurs among listeriosis-infected persons especially with the inability of most antibiotics to access intracellular replicative niches and achieve the optimum therapeutic concentrations within the infected cells. Recently, one novel choice, peptide nucleic acid (PNA), has been emerged to target this bacterium as a model of targeting intracellular pathogens with anti-sense agents. PNA is a one of the DNA analogues which works via specific inhibition of bacterial gene expression

Effects of surface damage on rf cavity operation

We describe a model of damage in rf cavities and show how this damage can limit cavity operation. We first present a review of mechanisms that may or may not affect the ultimate fields that can be obtained in rf cavities, assuming that mechanical stress explains the triggers of rf breakdown events. We present a method of quantifying the surface damage caused by breakdown events in terms of the spectrum of field enhancement factors, , for asperities on the surface. We then model an equilibrium that can develop between damage and conditioning effects, and show how this equilibrium can determine cavity performance and show experimental evidence for this mechanism. We define three functions that quantify damage, and explain how the parameters that determine performance can be factored out and measured. We then show how this model can quantitatively explain the dependence of cavity performance on material, frequency, pulse length, gas, power supply, and other factors. The examples given in this paper are derived from a variety of incomplete data sets, so we outline an experimental program that should improve these predictions, provide mechanisms for comparing data from different facilities, and fill in many gaps in the existing data

Sensory Characteristics of Seasoning Powders from Overripe Tempeh, a Solid State Fermented Soybean

AbstractFresh tempeh and overripe tempeh were oven–dried and freeze–dried to produce tempeh powders. Freeze–dried tempeh powders maintained aroma while oven–drying of the same product increased color intensity of the samples. Overripe tempeh powders had higher levels of sourness, umami, bitterness, saltiness, and pungent aroma compared to fresh tempeh. Oven–dried overripe and fresh tempeh powders showed higher glutamic acid content (14.5%, 15.9%) compared to freeze–dried tempeh powders (13.9%; 13.9%) and the original tempeh cakes (12.8%, 12.6%), respectively. The results indicated potencies of fermented soybean for seasoning development

MAT-725: SELF LEVELING MORTAR: WHY AND HOW?

Concrete floors can develop faults over time which can cause damage thus hindering smooth transportation, industrial aspects and some residential drawbacks. In addition, flaws and cracks are known to progress into more serious damage with time and use. Self leveling mortar has been used on a relatively limited scale worldwide to allow for more even, higher performance and easy-to-apply flooring. However, there has been little information available with respect to their use and best practices. The primary focus of this work is to prepare mortar that possesses self-levelling flow characteristics. Hence, several mixtures have been designed using various constituents with moderate 28-day strength of 35 MPa. Chemical and mineral admixtures have been incorporated together with limestone to enhance the flow and cohesiveness as well as improve performance. The results reveal that self-levelling mortar can be successfully produced with comparable properties to ready-to-use market product. These mixtures were evaluated to have both performance and economic merits

Mejora de la producción de lípidos de un prometedor hongo oleaginoso Aspergillus sp. cepa EM2018 para la formación de biodiesel: optimización de las condiciones de cultivo e identificación

Oleaginous fungi have recently gained increasing attention among different microorganisms due to their ability for lipid production for the preparation of biofuel. In the present study, a locally isolated fungus E45, identified genetically as Aspergillus sp. strain EM2018, was found to produce 25.2% of the total lipids content of its dry cell weight (DCW). Optimization of culture conditions was performed and lipid accumula­tion increased by about 2.4 fold (from 25.2% to 60.1% of DCW) when the fungus was grown for seven days in the potato dextrose (50 g/L) liquid medium at pH 5.0, incubation temperature at 30 ºC and inoculum size of 2 × 106 spore/mL. Supplementation of the medium with yeast extract and NaNO3 at a concentration of 0.05% as organic and inorganic nitrogen sources, respectively, increased lipid production (53.3% lipid/dry biomass). Gas chromatography analysis of fungal lipids revealed the presence of saturated (mainly palmitic acid C16:0 (33%) and lignoceric acid C24:0 (15%)) and unsaturated fatty acids in different proportions (mainly linoleic acid C18:2 (24.4%), oleica cid C18:1 (14%) and arachidonic C20:4 (7.4%). These findings suggest this new oleaginous fungus as a promising feedstock for various industrial applications and for the preparation of biodiesel.Los hongos oleagino­sos recientemente están ganando una creciente atención entre diferentes microorganismos debido a sus capaci­dades de producción de lípidos para la preparación de biocombustibles. En el presente estudio, se descubrió que un hongo E45 aislado localmente, identificado genéticamente como la cepa Aspergillus sp. EM2018, produce un 25,2% de lípidos totales de su peso de células secas (DCW). Se realizó la optimización de las condiciones de cultivo y la acumulación de lípidos se incrementó aproximadamente 2,4 veces (del 25,2% al 60,1% de DCW) cuando el hongo creció durante siete días en un medio líquido de dextrosa de papa (50 g/L) a pH 5.0, 30 °C de temperatura de incubación y 2 × 106 esporas/ml de tamaño de inóculo. La suplementación del medio con extracto de leva­dura y NaNO3 a una concentración de 0,05% como fuentes de nitrógeno orgánico e inorgánico, respectivamente, aumentó aún más la producción de lípidos (53,3% de lípidos/biomasa seca). El análisis mediante cromatografía de gases de los lípidos fúngicos reveló la presencia de ácidos grasos saturados (principalmente palmítico C16:0 (33%) y lignocérico C24:0 (15%)) y ácidos grasos insaturados en diferentes proporciones (principalmente linoleico C18:2 (24.4%), oleico C18:1 (14%) y araquidónico C20:4 (7,4%). Estos hallazgos sugieren que este nuevo hongo oleaginoso es una materia prima prometedora para diversas aplicaciones industriales y preparación de biodiésel

Hungry for change: the Sydney Food Fairness Alliance

The Sydney Food Fairness Alliance is one of a growing number of nascent food movements in Australia to have emerged out of concern for the country’s food future, as well as the deleterious effect the present food system is having on its citizens’ health and the continent’s fragile environment. The Alliance’s structure and activities clearly position it as a new social movement (NSM) engaged in collective action on a specific issue, in this instance, food security/justice, and operating outside the political sphere while aiming to influence and affect societal change. Food security as a human right lies at the heart of the Alliance’s philosophy, and equitable, sustainable food policies for New South Wales are a core focus of its advocacy work. The authors argue that the Alliance is a distinctive food movement in that it positions itself as an \u27umbrella\u27 organization representing a wide range of stakeholders in the food system. This chapter reflects on the values, achievements, issues of concern, strengths and weaknesses, and future of the Sydney Food Fairness Alliance. This resource is Chapter 8 in \u27Food Security in Australia: Challenges and Prospects for the Future\u27 published by Springer in 2013