Chemical composition, antibacterial and antioxidant activities of essential oils from flowers, leaves and aerial parts of Tunisian Dittrichia Viscosa

The objective of this work was to determine the chemical composition, the antioxidant and antibacterial activities of the essential oils (EOs) extracted by hydrodistillation from different organs of the D. viscosa: flowers, leaves and aerial parts. The main compounds identified by GC/MS are oxygenated sesquiterpenes. Among these compounds, (E)-nerolidol (40.7%) is the most abundant constituent of flowers’ essential oil while caryophyllene oxide (9.9%), isolongifolan-7-α-ol (10.3%) and α -eudesmol (9.1%) are the major constituents of the leaves’ essential oil. The presence of these compounds in the aerial parts’ essential oil is solely due to those of the flowers and leaves that constitute these aerial parts. The volatile extracts showed antioxidant effects with IC50 values ranging between 9.25 and 9.75 mg.mL−1. On the other hand, EOs showed antibacterial effects on both Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The highest activity was obtained with flowers’ essential oil against Enterococcus faecalis and Escherichia coli

Screening of antioxidant potentials and bioactive properties of the extracts obtained from two Centaurea L. species (C. kroumirensis coss. and C. sicula L. subsp sicula)

Herbal medicines, dietary supplements, or infusions with health promoting effects can note strong consumer demand. Hence, researchers and scientists have been increasingly focusing on the promotion of medicinal plants. In this respect, the present study has the evaluation of the biological properties of different extracts (hexane, chloroform, methanol, ultrasonic, essential oil, and supercritical) obtained from two Centaurea species (C. kroumirensis (Coss.) and C. sicula L. subsp sicula) as purpose. Antioxidative activities were assessed by in vitro assays including total phenolic content, free radical scavenging assay and ferric ion reducing power. Among the fourteen extracts examined, the highest total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant abilities were recorded in ultrasonic ethanol extracts of both Centaurea species. Additionally, these extracts exhibited a noticeable strong protective effect of the human skin fibroblast cell line (HS-68) that was exposed to oxidative stress induced by hydrogen peroxide. According to our results, the sonication with ethanol might be an ideal, rapid, and eco-friendly extraction method for obtaining a polyphenol-rich extract that exhibited high antioxidant activity. The results presented herein suggest that Centaurea species could be promoted as an antioxidant resource that could be exploited for the development of nutraceuticals or in pharmacology industry

(4-Chloro­phen­yl)methanaminium chloride hemihydrate

In the title hydrated salt, C7H9ClN+·Cl−·0.5H2O, the water O atom lies on a crystallographic twofold axis. In the crystal, the monoprotonated 4-chloro­benzyl­ammonium cation forms N—H⋯Cl and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds and the water mol­ecule forms O—H⋯Cl hydrogen bonds, generating layers lying parallel to the bc plane

4-Chloro­anilinium hydrogen oxalate hemihydrate

In the title hydrated mol­ecular salt, C6H7ClN+·C2HO4 −·0.5H2O, the water O atom lies on a crystallographic twofold axis. In the crystal, the anions are linked by O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming chains propagating along the b axis. These chains are inter­connected through O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds from the water mol­ecules and N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds from the cations, building layers parallel to the ab plane

Adsorption of emerging pollutants on lignin-based activated carbon: Analysis of adsorption mechanism via characterization, kinetics and equilibrium studies

Lignin has been employed as a precursor to synthesize activated carbons with the aim of lignin-biomass revalorization. The properties of these activated carbons were compared, and the best adsorbent was employed to remove two emerging pollutants from water, acetaminophen and acetamiprid. The adsorption mechanisms of pharmaceutical and pesticide compounds were analyzed, modeled and interpreted via statistical physics models. In particular, adsorption kinetics and isotherms of acetaminophen and acetamiprid at temperatures between 20 and 60 ◦C were quantified experimentally. Equilibrium data were fitted to different statistical physics-based isotherm models to establish the corresponding adsorption mechanism. A double layer adsorption model with one type of functional group was the best to correlate and explain the removal of these organic molecules. Steric parameters for the adsorption of these organic compounds were also calculated thus determining that their adsorption was multi-molecular. At tested operating conditions, acetaminophen adsorption was endothermic, while acetamiprid removal was exothermic. Physical adsorption forces were expected to be responsible for the removal of both compounds. This study reports new insights on the adsorption mechanisms of relevant emerging pollutants commonly found in water worldwid

Jellyfish stings trigger gill disorders and increased mortality in farmed sparus aurata (linnaeus, 1758) in the mediterranean sea

Jellyfish are of particular concern for marine finfish aquaculture. In recent years repeated mass mortality episodes of farmed fish were caused by blooms of gelatinous cnidarian stingers, as a consequence of a wide range of hemolytic, cytotoxic, and neurotoxic properties of associated cnidocytes venoms. The mauve stinger jellyfish Pelagia noctiluca (Scyphozoa) has been identified as direct causative agent for several documented fish mortality events both in Northern Europe and the Mediterranean Sea aquaculture farms. We investigated the effects of P. noctiluca envenomations on the gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata by in vivo laboratory assays. Fish were incubated for 8 hours with jellyfish at 3 different densities in 300 l experimental tanks. Gill disorders were assessed by histological analyses and histopathological scoring of samples collected at time intervals from 3 hours to 4 weeks after initial exposure. Fish gills showed different extent and severity of gill lesions according to jellyfish density and incubation time, and long after the removal of jellyfish from tanks. Jellyfish envenomation elicits local and systemic inflammation reactions, histopathology and gill cell toxicity, with severe impacts on fish health. Altogether, these results shows P. noctiluca swarms may represent a high risk for Mediterranean finfish aquaculture farms, generating significant gill damage after only a few hours of contact with farmed S. aurata. Due to the growth of the aquaculture sector and the increased frequency of jellyfish blooms in the coastal waters, negative interactions between stinging jellyfish and farmed fish are likely to increase with the potential for significant economic losses

Extension of the Hamaneh - Taylor model using the macroscopic polarization for the description of chiral smectic liquid crystals

Chiral smectic liquid crystals exhibit a series of phases, including ferroelectric, antiferroelectric and ferrielectric commensurate structures as well as an incommensurate SmCalpha phase. We carried out an extension of the phenomenological model, recently presented by M. B. Hamaneh and P. L. Taylor, based upon the distorted clock model

Implementation of a multilayer statistical physics model to interpret the adsorption of food dyes on a chitosan film

This paper reports the application of an advanced multilayer model to study the adsorption of food dyes FD&C blue No. 2, acid red 18, FD&C red No. 2, and FD&C yellow 5 from aqueous solutions with a chitosan film. These dyes' adsorption mechanisms were discussed and analyzed at 298–328 K and pH 4–7 via statistical physics calculations. Physicochemical parameters were utilized to explain the dye adsorption at the molecular scale. Modeling results showed dye aggregation phenomena where each functional group of chitosan film adsorbed several dye molecules simultaneously at different tested temperatures. Aqueous solution temperature reduced the dye adsorption capacities, attributed to the exothermic nature of dye removal. The chitosan film was more effective for the adsorption of dye FD&C yellow 5. The estimated adsorption energies for dye-chitosan film and dye-dye interactions confirmed an exothermic physisorption associated with van der Waals forces and hydrogen bonding. This study's results contributed to expanding the knowledge on the adsorption mechanisms of dye molecules using biopolymers like chitosan

Burden of disease attributable to risk factors in European countries: a scoping literature review

Objectives: Within the framework of the burden of disease (BoD) approach, disease, and injury burden estimates attributable to risk factors are a useful guide for policy formulation and priority setting in disease prevention. Considering the important differences in methods, and their impact on burden estimates, we conducted a scoping literature review to: (1) map the BoD assessments including risk factors performed across Europe, and (2) identify the methodological choices in comparative risk assessment (CRA) and risk assessment methods. Methods: We searched multiple literature databases, including grey literature websites, and targeted public health agencies' websites. Results: A total of 113 studies were included in the synthesis and further divided into independent BoD assessments (54 studies) and studies linked to the Global Burden of Disease (59 papers). Our results showed that the methods used to perform CRA varied substantially across independent European BoD studies. While there were some methodological choices that were more common than others, we did not observe patterns in terms of country, year, or risk factor. Each methodological choice can affect the comparability of estimates between and within countries and/or risk factors since they might significantly influence the quantification of the attributable burden. From our analysis, we observed that the use of CRA was less common for some types of risk factors and outcomes. These included environmental and occupational risk factors, which are more likely to use bottom-up approaches for health outcomes where disease envelopes may not be available. Conclusions: Our review also highlighted misreporting, the lack of uncertainty analysis, and the under-investigation of causal relationships in BoD studies. Development and use of guidelines for performing and reporting BoD studies will help understand differences, and avoid misinterpretations thus improving comparability among estimates.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio