Profiling of antioxidant potential and phytoconstituents of Plantago coronopus

The halophyte species Plantago coronopus has several described ethnomedicinal uses, but few reported biological activities. This work carried out for the first time a comparative analysis of P. coronopus organs in terms of phenolic composition and antioxidant activity of organic and water extracts from roots, leaves and flowers. The leaves contents in selected nutrients, namely amino acids and minerals, are also described. Roots (ethyl acetate and methanol extracts) had the highest radical scavenging activity (RSA) towards 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) radicals, while leaves (hexane extract) had higher RSA on nitric oxide radical and iron chelating ability. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis identified eighteen phenolics from which salicylic acid and epicatechin are here firstly described in Plantago species. Leaves had mineral levels similar to those of most vegetables, proving to be a good source for elements like calcium, sodium, iron and magnesium, and also for several of the essential amino acids justifying it use as food. Our results, especially those regarding the phenolics composition, can explain the main traditional uses given to this plantain and, altogether, emphasize the potential of P. coronopus as a source of bioactive molecules particularly useful for the prevention of oxidative stress-related diseases

Contourite depositional system after the exit of a strait: Case study from the late Miocene South Rifian Corridor, Morocco

Idealized facies of bottom current deposits (contourites) have been established for fine-grained contourite drifts in modern deep-marine sedimentary environments. Their equivalent facies in the ancient record however are only scarcely recognized due to the weathered nature of most fine-grained deposits in outcrop. Facies related to the erosional elements (i.e. contourite channels) of contourite depositional systems have not yet been properly established and related deposits in outcrop appear non-existent. To better understand the sedimentary facies and facies sequences of contourites, the upper Miocene contourite depositional systems of the South Rifian Corridor (Morocco) is investigated. This contourite depositional system formed by the dense palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water. Foraminifera assemblages were used for age-constraints (7.51 to 7.35 Ma) and to determine the continental slope depositional domains. Nine sedimentary facies have been recognized based on lithology, grain-size, sedimentary structures and biogenic structures. These facies were subsequently grouped into five facies associations related to the main interpreted depositional processes (hemipelagic settling, contour currents and gravity flows). The vertical sedimentary facies succession records the tectonically induced, southward migration of the contourite depositional systems and the intermittent behaviour of the palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water, which is mainly driven by precession and millennial-scale climate variations. Tides substantially modulated the palaeo-Mediterranean Outflow Water on a sub-annual scale. This work shows exceptional examples of muddy and sandy contourite deposits in outcrop by which a facies distribution model from the proximal continental slope, the contourite channel to its adjacent contourite drift, is proposed. This model serves as a reference for contourite recognition both in modern environments and the ancient record. Furthermore, by establishing the hydrodynamics of overflow behaviour a framework is provided that improves process-based interpretation of deep-water bottom current deposits

Operation and performance of the ATLAS semiconductor tracker

The semiconductor tracker is a silicon microstrip detector forming part of the inner tracking system of the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The operation and performance of the semiconductor tracker during the first years of LHC running are described. More than 99% of the detector modules were operational during this period, with an average intrinsic hit efficiency of (99.74±0.04)%. The evolution of the noise occupancy is discussed, and measurements of the Lorentz angle, δ-ray production and energy loss presented. The alignment of the detector is found to be stable at the few-micron level over long periods of time. Radiation damage measurements, which include the evolution of detector leakage currents, are found to be consistent with predictions and are used in the verification of radiation background simulations

Measurement of the correlation between flow harmonics of different order in lead-lead collisions at √sNN = 2.76 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Correlations between the elliptic or triangular flow coefficients vm (m=2 or 3) and other flow harmonics vn (n=2 to 5) are measured using √sNN=2.76 TeV Pb+Pb collision data collected in 2010 by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 7 μb−1. The vm−vn correlations are measured in midrapidity as a function of centrality, and, for events within the same centrality interval, as a function of event ellipticity or triangularity defined in a forward rapidity region. For events within the same centrality interval, v3 is found to be anticorrelated with v2 and this anticorrelation is consistent with similar anticorrelations between the corresponding eccentricities, ε2 and ε3. However, it is observed that v4 increases strongly with v2, and v5 increases strongly with both v2 and v3. The trend and strength of the vm−vn correlations for n=4 and 5 are found to disagree with εm−εn correlations predicted by initial-geometry models. Instead, these correlations are found to be consistent with the combined effects of a linear contribution to vn and a nonlinear term that is a function of v22 or of v2v3, as predicted by hydrodynamic models. A simple two-component fit is used to separate these two contributions. The extracted linear and nonlinear contributions to v4 and v5 are found to be consistent with previously measured event-plane correlations

Search for H→γγ produced in association with top quarks and constraints on the Yukawa coupling between the top quark and the Higgs boson using data taken at 7 TeV and 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

A search is performed for Higgs bosons produced in association with top quarks using the diphoton decay mode of the Higgs boson. Selection requirements are optimized separately for leptonic and fully hadronic final states from the top quark decays. The dataset used corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 4.5 fb−14.5 fb−1 of proton–proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV and 20.3 fb−1 at 8 TeV recorded by the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. No significant excess over the background prediction is observed and upper limits are set on the tt¯H production cross section. The observed exclusion upper limit at 95% confidence level is 6.7 times the predicted Standard Model cross section value. In addition, limits are set on the strength of the Yukawa coupling between the top quark and the Higgs boson, taking into account the dependence of the tt¯H and tH cross sections as well as the H→γγ branching fraction on the Yukawa coupling. Lower and upper limits at 95% confidence level are set at −1.3 and +8.0 times the Yukawa coupling strength in the Standard Model