The evaluation of the antibacterial and antioxidant activity of Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.) essential oil and its chemical composition

Background: Food born pathogenic bacteria are the most important agents of infections in humans, and food spoilage also results in economic losses in food industry. Objectives: The aim of this study was the evaluation of chemical components, total phenolic content, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Artemisia dracunculus essential oil. Materials and Methods: The essential oil of Tarragon was analyzed by gas chromatography-flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antioxidant activity and total phenolic content were evaluated by bleaching of β-carotene and folin ciocalteu methods, respectively. The antibacterial effect of the essential oil was inspected on seven Gram- positive and negative bacteria using the microdilution method. Results: A total of 19 compounds were identified by GC-FID and GC-MS. The main compounds were methyl chavicol (84.83), trans-ocimene (3.86), z-β-ocimene (3.42), limonene (1.79) and α-pinene (0.57). Total phenols were 10.16 ± 0.08 mg/g Gallic acid equivalent. The essential oil showed good antioxidant activity in bleaching of β-carotene method (50 ± 1.63). The minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBC) for essential oil ranged between 3.8 to 250 mg/mL, respectively. Conclusions: The essential oil of Tarragon might be replaced by synthetic antioxidant and preservatives in food industry. © 2013, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences; Published by Kowsar Corp

An Olfactory Cocktail Party: Figure-Ground Segregation of Odorants in Rodents

In odorant-rich environments, animals must be able to detect specific odorants of interest against variable backgrounds. However, studies have found that both humans and rodents are poor at analyzing the components of odorant mixtures, suggesting that olfaction is a synthetic sense in which mixtures are perceived holistically. We found that mice could be easily trained to detect target odorants embedded in unpredictable and variable mixtures. To relate the behavioral performance to neural representation, we imaged the responses of olfactory bulb glomeruli to individual odors in mice expressing the $Ca^{2+}$ indicator GCaMP3 in olfactory receptor neurons. The difficulty of segregating the target from the background depended strongly on the extent of overlap between the glomerular responses to target and background odors. Our study indicates that the olfactory system has powerful analytic abilities that are constrained by the limits of combinatorial neural representation of odorants at the level of the olfactory receptors.Molecular and Cellular Biolog

Functional Properties of Cortical Feedback Projections to the Olfactory Bulb

SummarySensory perception is not a simple feed-forward process, and higher brain areas can actively modulate information processing in “lower” areas. We used optogenetic methods to examine how cortical feedback projections affect circuits in the first olfactory processing stage, the olfactory bulb. Selective activation of back projections from the anterior olfactory nucleus/cortex (AON) revealed functional glutamatergic synaptic connections on several types of bulbar interneurons. Unexpectedly, AON axons also directly depolarized mitral cells (MCs), enough to elicit spikes reliably in a time window of a few milliseconds. MCs received strong disynaptic inhibition, a third of which arises in the glomerular layer. Activating feedback axons in vivo suppressed spontaneous as well as odor-evoked activity of MCs, sometimes preceded by a temporally precise increase in firing probability. Our study indicates that cortical feedback can shape the activity of bulbar output neurons by enabling precisely timed spikes and enforcing broad inhibition to suppress background activity

Analysis and Synthesis in Olfaction

Natural environments contain numerous volatile compounds emanating from a large number of sources, and the survival of many animals depends on their ability to segregate odors of interest within complex odorous scenes. In a recent paper, we described how the ability of mice to detect odors within mixtures depends on the chemical structure and neural representation of the target and background odorants

Ballistic and Diffuse Electron Transport in Nanocontacts of Magnetics

The transition from the ballistic electron transport to the diffuse one is experimentally observed in the study of the magnetic phase transition in Ni nanocontacts with different sizes. It is shown that the voltage $U_C$ needed for Joule heating of the near-contact region to the critical temperature does not depend on the contact size only in the diffuse mode. For the ballistic contact it increases with decrease in the nanocontact size. The reduction of the transport electron mean free path due to heating of NCs may result in change of the electron transport mode from ballistic to diffusive one.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures accepted for the publication in JETPL (http://www.jetpletters.ac.ru). Will be published on 25 april 201

Fermentación controlada de aceitunas verdes picholine marroquíes sometidas a choque térmico e inoculadas sin sal

The present work reports the controlled fermentation of heat-shocked, unsalted and inoculated green olives. The effects of heat-shock (60, 70 and 80 °C three times for 5 min), inoculation with the oleuropeinolytic strain of L. plantarum FSO175 (L.p-FSO175) and the addition of Cell-Free Supernatant of C. pelliculosa L18 (CFS of C.p-L18) on the fermentation process of unsalted green olives were examined. The results showed a drastic reduction in the initial indigenous Enterobacteria, and an improvement in the acidification of heat-shocked olives at 70 and 80 °C, when compared to 60 °C. The inoculation with L.p-FSO175 and addition of CFS of C.p-L18 enhanced the fermentation and preservation of unsalted green olives, indicated by a significant decrease in pH, increase in free acidity and total disappearance of Enterobacteria. The heat-shock treatment at high temperature (80 °C), inoculation with L.p-FSO175 and addition of CFS of C.p-L18 led to the best reduction in bitterness, and favorable color changes (L, a, and b) in fermented olives. This sequential method led to more appreciated sensory characteristics (mainly bitterness and color) of fermented olives, lower spoilage incidence in olives, and reduced fermentation time to 50 days, and therefore may be suitable to control the fermentation of unsalted green olives of the Moroccan picholine variety.El presente trabajo reporta la fermentación controlada de aceitunas verdes sometidas a choque térmico, sin salar e inoculadas. Se estudian los efectos del choque térmico (60 °C, 70 °C y 80 °C tres veces durante 5 min), la inoculación con cepa oleuropeinolítica de L. plantarum FSO175 (L.p-FSO175) y la adición de sobrenadante libre de células de C. pelliculosa L18 (CFS de C.p-L18), sobre el proceso de fermentación de aceitunas verdes sin salar. Los resultados mostraron la drástica reducción de las enterobacterias autóctonas iniciales, y la mejora de la acidificación de las aceitunas sometidas a choque térmico de 70 °C y 80 °C, en comparación con 60 °C. La inoculación con L.p-FSO175 y la adición de CFS de C.p-L18 mejoró la fermentación y conservación de las aceitunas verdes sin salar, indicada por una disminución significativa del pH, aumento de la acidez libre y desaparición total de enterobacterias. El choque térmico a alta temperatura (80 °C), la inoculación con L.p-FSO175 y la adición de CFS de C.p-L18 condujeron a una mejor reducción del amargor y cambios de color favorables (L, a y b) en aceitunas fermentadas. Este método secuencial, que permitió apreciar las características sensoriales (principalmente amargor y color) de las aceitunas fermentadas, y una menor incidencia de deterioro en las aceitunas, y redujo el tiempo de fermentación a 50 días, puede ser adecuado para controlar la fermentación de aceitunas verdes sin salar de Marruecos, variedad picholine

Fermentación controlada de aceitunas verdes picholine marroquí mediante cepas de lactobacilos degradantes de oleuropeína

The control of the spontaneous fermentation process of un-debittered Moroccan Picholine green olives was undertaken basing the inoculation with two lactobacilli strains (Lactobacillus plantarum S175 and Lactobacillus pentosus S100). These strains, previously selected in our laboratory for their oleuropein-degrading capacity, were inoculated in olives brined at 5% of NaCl, and then incubated at 30 ÅãC. The physico-chemical parameters (pH, free acidity, reducing sugars, sodium chloride, oleuropein and its hydrolysis products), and the microbiological parameters (mesophilic aerobic bacteria, coliforms, Staphylococcus, lactic acid bacteria and yeasts and moulds), were regularly analyzed during the fermentation time. The results obtained showed the effectiveness of the lactic acid bacteria strains to develop suitable oleuropein biodegradation and controlled lactic fermentation processes more than the un-inoculated olives (control). This result was confirmed by the rapid elimination of coliforms and staphylococcus, the accumulation of hydroxytyrosol as a result of oleuropein biodegradation, and a drastic reduction in spoiled olives with good quality fermented olives.Se llevó a cabo el control del proceso de fermentación espontánea de aceitunas verdes sin desamargar picholine marroquí basado en la inoculación con dos cepas de lactobacilos (Lactobacillus plantarum S175 y Lactobacillus pentosus S100). Estas cepas, seleccionadas previamente en nuestro laboratorio por su capacidad de degradar a la oleuropeína, se inocularon en las aceitunas en salmuera al 5 % de NaCl, y después se incubaron a 30 °C. Los parámetros físico-químicos (pH, acidez libre, reducción de azúcares, cloruro sódico, oleuropeína y sus productos de hidrólisis) y los parámetros microbiológicos (bacterias aerobias mesófilas, coliformes, estafilococos, bacterias lácticas y levaduras y mohos), fueron analizados regularmente durante el tiempo de fermentación. Los resultados obtenidos mostraron la eficacia de las cepas de bacterias lácticas para desarrollar una adecuada biodegradación de la oleuropeina y los procesos de fermentación láctica controlados más que en el caso de las aceitunas no inoculadas (control). Estos resultados fueron confirmados por la rápida eliminación de coliformes y estafilococos, por la acumulación de hidroxitirosol como resultado de biodegradación de la oleuropeína, y por ladrástica reducción de aceitunas estropeadas y por la buena calidad de las aceitunas fermentadas

Mosaic trisomy 22 in a 4-year-old boy with congenital heart disease and general hypotrophy: A case report

Background: Trisomy 22 mosaicism is a rare autosomal anomaly with survival compatibility. Recognition of the complete trisomy 22 which is incompatible with life from the mosaic form is critical for genetic counseling. Affected mosaic cases have prevalent clinical presentations such as webbed neck, developmental delay, abnormal ears, cardiac disorders, and microcephaly. Phenotype of these patients is milder than full chromosomal aneuploidy, and the severity of the phenotype depends on the count of trisomic cells. We describe a 4-year-old boy with mosaic trisomy 22 from healthy parents and no family history of any genetic disorders in the pedigree. Method and Results: The patient had determined dysmorphic clinical features including facial asymmetry, cleft palate, gastroenteritis, hydronephrosis, developmental delay, genital anomalies, dysplastic toenails, flattened nasal bridge, congenital heart defect, hearing loss, cryptorchidism, and hypotonic muscle. He is the first reported with hypothyroidism and larynx wall thickness in worldwide and the first with atrial septal defect (ASD) from Iran. Chromosomal analyses using G-banding indicated a de novo Mos 47,XY,+22(6)/46,XY(44) karyotype with no other chromosomal structural changes. Conclusions: Our observations confirm the importance of cytogenetic analyses for determining the cause of congenital anomalies and provide a useful genetic counseling. In addition, due to the fact that some of mosaic trisomy 22 features are unavoidable such as CHD and general hypotrophy, we suggest including echocardiography test for early diagnosis during the clinical assessment. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc