Anthocyanins: Novel Antioxidants in Diseases Prevention and Human Health

Anthocyanins are a category of water-soluble natural pigments that exist widely in all kinds of vegetables, fruits, and seeds. In fact, the chemical nature of anthocyanins is a group of compounds, and possesses antioxidant capacity like flavonoids. Anthocyanins show antioxidant activity by scavenging free radicals, activating antioxidant enzyme, and chelating metal ions. Anthocyanins, therefore, are recognized as one of the most effective natural antioxidant in the human body. Anthocyanins for a variety of disease prevention and health care are closely related to their strong antioxidant activity and scavenging free radical ability. The present chapter reviewed anthocyanins eliminating free radicals for preventing neoplasm, modulating antioxidant enzyme for preventing Alzheimer’s disease, losing weight for preventing diabetes, regulating lipid metabolism for preventing cardiovascular disease, and inhibiting photoreceptor apoptosis for treating xerophthalmia and for other diseases treated. In addition, some healthy food added of anthocyanins was used as precaution for some diseases, else, there are some cosmetics added with anthocyanins, including sunscreen, creams, mouthwash, and shampoo. Specific creams for characteristics of Chinese old people skin in Chinese Company were developed and achieved anti-wrinkle and moisturizing efficacy. Simultaneously, anthocyanins can also be as a food additive to lactic acid milk, cakes, and other food

Responses of Hydroponically Grown Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.M) to Zinc (Zn) Stress

Abiotic stress especially due heavy metals is one of the major environmental problems that threatens food security and pose greater risks to human health worldwide. In this research, greenhouse hydroponic experiments were carried out to study the morphological and biochemical responses of Sorghum bicolor L.M to different Zinc (Zn) levels. Two-week-old seedlings transplanted in hydroponic solutions were treated with different doses of Zn in the concentration ranges of 5, 25, 50, 100 and 200 mg/L supplied as ZnSO4. 5H2O. After 21 day of culture, the plants were harvested, blotted to dryness and separated into roots and shoots. The root and shoot lengths, dry weights and non-enzymatic biochemical parameters such as proline, Chlorophyll a, b, Carotenoids (pigments) were determined. The results indicate that Zn applications significantly (P<0.05) depressed the lengths of root and shoot, dry weights and pigment contents compared to untreated plants (control). The effects were more pronounced with increased Zn dosage. The accumulation of the metal and proline contents in treated plants however, increase gradually with increasing Zn concentrations (P<0.05). The changes in these parameters had resulted in toxicity symptoms and overall growth retardation especially at elevated concentrations and the estimated critical toxicity thresholds in both solution and tissue concentrations suggest that sorghum bicolor L.M should not be grown beyond Zn concentration of above 3.2 mg/L. &nbsp

QEOSA: A Pedagogical Model That Harnesses Cultural Resources to Foster Creative Problem-Solving

The nature of creative thinking is complex and multifaceted, often involving cognitive processes and dispositions modulated by implicit cultural belief systems and ways of thinking. In this article, we build on existing research on the relations of creative thinking and culture, and explore how specific cultural resources can be harnessed to foster creative problem-solving in education. We first review the recent changes in our understanding of creative thinking, from an exclusive focus on cognitive processes to a more inclusive view of creative problem-solving as socially negotiated and culturally modulated, carrying important cultural functions. We then introduce a pedagogical model, QEOSA, to illustrate how cultural resources, particularly culture-specific ways of thinking about the world, can be harnessed to foster creative thinking in education, and what developmental and pedagogical considerations are involved to make it effective. We finally conclude this article by indicating the value of this line of work that integrates psychological, cultural, developmental, and educational principles in fostering the development of a creative mind-set with relevant knowledge, skills, dispositions, and values

Petrology and Geochemistry of the Harlan, Kellioka, and Darby Coals from the Louellen 7.5-Minute Quadrangle, Harlan County, Kentucky

The Harlan, Kellioka, and Darby coals in Harlan County, Kentucky, have been among the highest quality coals mined in the Central Appalachians. The Middle Pennsylvanian coals are correlative with the Upper Elkhorn No. 1 to Upper Elkhorn No. 3½ coals to the northwest of the Pine Mountain thrust fault. Much of the mining traditionally was controlled by captive, steel-company-owned mines and the coal was part of the high volatile A bituminous portion of the coking coal blend. Overall, the coals are generally low-ash and low-sulfur, contributing to their desirability as metallurgical coals. We did observe variation both in geochemistry, such as individual lithologies with significant P2O5/Ba + Sr/Rare earth concentrations, and in maceral content between the lithotypes in the mine sections

Petrology, Palynology, and Geochemistry of Gray Hawk Coal (Early Pennsylvanian, Langsettian) in Eastern Kentucky, USA

This study presents recently collected data examining the organic petrology, palynology, mineralogy and geochemistry of the Gray Hawk coal bed. From the Early Pennsylvanian, Langsettian substage, Gray Hawk coal has been mined near the western edge of the eastern Kentucky portion of the Central Appalachian coalfield. While the coal is thin, rarely more than 0.5-m thick, it has a low-ash yield and a low-S content, making it an important local resource. The Gray Hawk coal palynology is dominated by Lycospora spp., and contains a diverse spectrum of small lycopods, tree ferns, small ferns, calamites, and gymnosperms. The maceral assemblages show an abundance of collotelinite, telinite, vitrodetrinite, fusinite, and semifusinite. Fecal pellet-derived macrinite, albeit with more compaction than is typically seen in younger coals, was observed in the Gray Hawk coal. The minerals in the coal are dominated by clay minerals (e.g., kaolinite, mixed-layer illite/smectite, illite), and to a lesser extent, pyrite, quartz, and iron III hydroxyl-sulfate, along with traces of chlorite, and in some cases, jarosite, szomolnokite, anatase, and calcite. The clay minerals are of authigenic and detrital origins. The occurrence of anatase as cell-fillings also indicates an authigenic origin. With the exception of Ge and As, which are slightly enriched in the coals, the concentrations of other trace elements are either close to or much lower than the averages for world hard coals. Arsenic and Hg are also enriched in the top bench of the coal and probably occur in pyrite. The elemental associations (e.g., Al2O3/TiO2, Cr/Th-Sc/Th) indicate a sediment-source region with intermediate and felsic compositions. Rare metals, including Ga, rare earth elements and Ge, are highly enriched in the coal ashes, and the Gray Hawk coals have a great potential for industrial use of these metals. The rare earth elements in the samples are weakly fractionated or are characterized by heavy-REE enrichment, indicating an input of natural waters or probably epithermal solutions

Autophagic Degradation Deficit Involved in Sevoflurane-Induced Amyloid Pathology and Spatial Learning Impairment in APP/PS1 Transgenic Mice

The adverse effects of anesthetics on elderly people, especially those with brain diseases are very concerning. Whether inhaled anesthetics have adverse effects on Alzheimer’s disease (AD), which is the most common form of dementia with brain degenerative changes, remains controversial. Autophagy, a crucial biological degradation process, is extremely important for the pathogenesis of AD. In this study, the inhaled anesthetic sevoflurane elicited many enlarged autolysosomes and impaired the overall autophagic degradation in the hippocampus of an AD mouse model, which is involved in the accumulation of amyloid-β (Aβ) and spatial learning deficits. However, rapamycin treatment counteracted all these effects. The results suggested that inhaled anesthetics may accelerate the pathological process of AD, and enlarged autolysosomes may be a new marker for prediction and diagnosis of the neurotoxicity of anesthetics in AD

In-plane uniaxial pressure-induced out-of-plane antiferromagnetic moment and critical fluctuations in BaFe2_2As2_2

A small in-plane external uniaxial pressure has been widely used as an effective method to acquire single domain iron pnictide BaFe$_2$As$_2$, which exhibits twin-domains without uniaxial strain below the tetragonal-to-orthorhombic structural (nematic) transition temperature $T_s$. Although it is generally assumed that such a pressure will not affect the intrinsic electronic/magnetic properties of the system, it is known to enhance the antiferromagnetic (AF) ordering temperature $T_N$ ($<T_s$) and create in-plane resistivity anisotropy above $T_s$. Here we use neutron polarization analysis to show that such a strain on BaFe$_2$As$_2$ also induces a static or quasi-static out-of-plane ($c$-axis) AF order and its associated critical spin fluctuations near $T_N/T_s$. Therefore, uniaxial pressure necessary to detwin single crystals of BaFe$_2$As$_2$ actually rotates the easy axis of the collinear AF order near $T_N/T_s$, and such effect due to spin-orbit coupling must be taken into account to unveil the intrinsic electronic/magnetic properties of the system.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, Supplementary information is available upon reques

Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial and Insecticidal Activities of Essential Oils of Discarded Perfume Lemon and Leaves (Citrus Limon (L.) Burm. F.) as Possible Sources of Functional Botanical Agents

Two essential oils were isolated from discarded perfume lemon and leaves (Citrus limon (L.) Burm. F.) by hydro-distillation with good yield (0.044% for perfume lemon and 0.338% for leaves). Their biological activities were evaluated against five selected bacterial strains and Aedes albopictus (Ae. albopictus, Diptera: Culicidae). Chemical composition indicated that both essential oils were rich in essential phytochemicals including hydrocarbons, monoterpenes and sesquiterpene. These constituents revealed some variability among the oils displaying interesting chemotypes (R)-(+)-limonene (12.29–49.63%), citronellal (5.37–78.70%) and citronellol (2.98–7.18%). The biological assessments proved that the two essential oils had similar effect against bacterial (inhibition zones diameter ranging from 7.27 ± 0.06 to 10.37 ± 0.15 mm; MICs and MBCs ranging from 1.6 to 6.4 mg/mL); against Ae. albopictus larvae (LC(50) ranging from 384.81 to 395.09 ppm) and adult mosquito (LD(50) ranging from 133.059 to 218.962 μg/cm(2)); the activity of the two chemotypes ((R)-(+)-limonene and citronellal): larvae (LC(50) ranging from 267.08 to 295.28 ppm), which were all presented in dose-dependent manners. Through this work, we have showcased that recycling and reusing of agriculture by-products, such as discarded perfume lemon and leaves can produce eco-friendly alternatives in bacterial disinfectants and mosquito control product