Chemical characterisation and the anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and antibacterial properties of date fruit (Phoenix dactylifera L.)

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Date fruit, Phoenix dactylifera L. has traditionally been used as a medicine in many cultures for the treatment of a range of ailments such as stomach and intestinal disorders, fever, oedema, bronchitis and wound healing. Aim of the review: The present review aims to summarise the traditional use and application of Phoenix dactylifera date fruit in different ethnomedical systems, additionally the botany and phytochemistry are identified. Critical evaluation of in vitro and in vitro studies examining date fruit in relation to anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic and antimicrobial activities are outlined. Key Findings: The ethnomedical use of Phoenix dactylifera in the treatment of inflammatory disease has been previously identified and reported. Furthermore, date fruit and date fruit co-products such as date syrup are rich sources of polyphenols, anthocyanins, sterols and carotenoids. In vitro studies have demonstrated that date fruit exhibits antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and anti-angiogenic activity. The recent interest in the identification of the numerous health benefits of dates using in vitro and in vivo studies have confirmed that date fruit and date syrup have beneficial health effects that can be attributed to the presence of natural bioactive compounds. Conclusions: Date fruit and date syrup have therapeutic properties, which have the potential to be beneficial to health. However, more investigations are needed to quantify and validate these effects

Infected pancreatic necrosis: outcomes and clinical predictors of mortality. A post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study

: The identification of high-risk patients in the early stages of infected pancreatic necrosis (IPN) is critical, because it could help the clinicians to adopt more effective management strategies. We conducted a post hoc analysis of the MANCTRA-1 international study to assess the association between clinical risk factors and mortality among adult patients with IPN. Univariable and multivariable logistic regression models were used to identify prognostic factors of mortality. We identified 247 consecutive patients with IPN hospitalised between January 2019 and December 2020. History of uncontrolled arterial hypertension (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.135-15.882; aOR 4.245), qSOFA (p = 0.005; 95% CI 1.359-5.879; aOR 2.828), renal failure (p = 0.022; 95% CI 1.138-5.442; aOR 2.489), and haemodynamic failure (p = 0.018; 95% CI 1.184-5.978; aOR 2.661), were identified as independent predictors of mortality in IPN patients. Cholangitis (p = 0.003; 95% CI 1.598-9.930; aOR 3.983), abdominal compartment syndrome (p = 0.032; 95% CI 1.090-6.967; aOR 2.735), and gastrointestinal/intra-abdominal bleeding (p = 0.009; 95% CI 1.286-5.712; aOR 2.710) were independently associated with the risk of mortality. Upfront open surgical necrosectomy was strongly associated with the risk of mortality (p < 0.001; 95% CI 1.912-7.442; aOR 3.772), whereas endoscopic drainage of pancreatic necrosis (p = 0.018; 95% CI 0.138-0.834; aOR 0.339) and enteral nutrition (p = 0.003; 95% CI 0.143-0.716; aOR 0.320) were found as protective factors. Organ failure, acute cholangitis, and upfront open surgical necrosectomy were the most significant predictors of mortality. Our study confirmed that, even in a subgroup of particularly ill patients such as those with IPN, upfront open surgery should be avoided as much as possible. Study protocol registered in ClinicalTrials.Gov (I.D. Number NCT04747990)

An exhaustive analysis of SEU effects in the SRAM memory of soft processor

International audienceThe Embedded system design is characterized by its daily complexity. It integrates a hardware and software parts together on a common platform. These parts may be defective by a spurious signal, subsequently found to be two types of errors. The software and hardware errors can attack the embedded system. In this paper an exhaustive analysis of the effects of Single Event Upset into the Static Random Access Memory occupied area of Aeroflex Gaisler LEON3 processor is presented. It is a soft core pipeline processor that is part of the GRLIB IP library based on Scalable Processor Architecture, SPARC V8, implemented in Virtex-5 FPGA. A new software methodology allowing fault injection is explored and illustrated in order to classify the defective behaviours while executing several benchmarks. This investigation is done by an exhaustive fault injection campaign (More than 200000 transient faults) into SRAM memory of LEON3 considered as a processor. The proposed method makes error rate predictions more accurate compared to other techniques

Empirical models for estimating the mechanical and morphological properties of recycled low density polyethylene/snail shell bio-composites

The empirical models for estimating the mechanical properties and morphological of recycled low density polyethylene/snail shell bio-composites was investigated. The snail shell of particle sizes 75, 125, 250 and 500 μm with a weight percentage of 0, 5, 10 and 15 (wt%) with recycled polyethylene (RLDPE) were prepared by compounding and compressive moulding technique. Samples were cut from the panel and subjected to mechanical testing such as tensile, flexural and impact energy. Scanning electron microscope was used to analyse the fracture surface of the samples. Linear regression equation and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were employed to investigate the influence of process parameters on the mechanical properties of the samples. Results obtained showed that: as the wt% snail shell particles increased from 5 to 15, there was a raise in the tensile strength by (2.69) and the flexural strength (1.53). Also the increase in the snail shell particle size from 75 to 500 μm decreased the tensile strength by −5.46, flexural strength −3.97 and impact energy by −1.97. The predicted results obtained were in good agreement with the experimental results. Hence, the work can be used for indoor and outdoor structural applications

Squealing characteristics of worn brake pads due to silica sand embedment into their friction layers

Disc brake squeal is a very annoying sound and a source of considerable discomfort that leads to customer dissatisfaction. There are various possible mechanisms that could trigger brake squeal generation either from a structural dynamics and/or tribological point of view. This research investigates a characterization of worn surface of friction material squealing with external silica sand particles (SSP). The objective is to study the embedment mechanisms of these particles with different size in the case of a brake pad/disc system in order to correlate their effect to the friction and dynamic behaviour. In the first stage, the squealing characteristics, the friction coefficient, and the wear of brake pads is examined without silica sand. Then, three different sizes of silica sand particles are introduced into the brake pad/disc interface. Surface topography and friction layers of the squealing brake pad with and without the presence of silica sand particle are examined. A correlation between SSP size, squeal and friction behaviours and embedment mechanism is established to highlight the impact of the introducing particle on the friction layer

Experimental studies of friction-induced brake squeal: Influence of environmental sand particles in the interface brake pad-disc

The disc brake squeal is a very annoying sound which affects the customer comfort. The generation of this noise is considered as a structural dynamics and/or tribological problems of the pad-disc system. Unlike drum brake design, this system is exposed to external environmental sand particles, wear debris and water spray. Their presence into the disc and pad interface may create dynamic and physics phenomena induced by friction surface changes which lead to brake noise and vibration issues. Thus, this paper aims to investigate the effect of environmental sand particles (silica sand and road sand particles) with a range size of 100–150, 150–200 and 300–400 �m on the brake squeal noise occurrences. The sensitivity of the sand particles to produce noise is correlated with the wear scar, friction coefficient and variation of brake operational parameters. It was concluded that the primary reason for the reduced squeal noise generation was contributed to the reduced COF with the particle embedment. The analysis of the particle size influence on the squeal occurrence indicated that a small size of silica sand particle produces less squeal occurrence than that of road sand particles. However, the biggest silica and sand particles seriously damage the pad surface and reduce consequently the real contact surface, inducing a decrease on the friction coefficient