Antibacterial Activity of Francoeuria crispa, Pulicaria undulata, Ziziphus spina-christi and Cucurbita pepo Against Seven Standard Pathogenic Bacteria

The antibacterial potentials of the medicinal plants Francoeuria crispa (Forssk.) Cass., Pulicaria undulata (L.) Kostel, Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Desf. and Cucurbita pepo L. Ethanol, petroleum ether, ethyl Acetate, methanol and aqueous extracts, at a concentration of 100 mg/ml, were evaluated against selected bacterial strains: Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923), Bacillus subtilis (NCTC 8236), Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), Proteus vulgaris (ATCC 6380), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (ATCC 27853), Salmonella para typhi B (0650) and Klebsiella pneumoniae (ATCC 1312) using the Agar Diffusion Technique in vitro. Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) values were also determined for the most active plant extracts. Of all extracts the ethanolic extract of Pulicaria undulata was the most active, whereas, the aqueous extract of Ziziphus spina – christi stem bark was the most active of all aqueous extracts tested. The ethyl acetate extract of F. crispa showed activity against both Gram positive and Gram negative bacteria. Most susceptible Gram-negative bacteria were E. coli and P. vulgaris and least susceptible was S. para typhi B. In Gram –positive bacteria, most and least susceptible were S. aureus and B. subtilis respectively. The lowest MIC values were \u3c3.125 and 6.25 μg/ml for the crude extracts of ethyl acetate of Pulicaria undulata and crude methanolic extract of Ziziphus spinachristi, respectively. These results provide promising baseline information for the potential use of these crude extracts in the treatment of bacterial infections

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Greedy algorithms for optimal computing of matrix chain products involving square dense and triangular matrices

This paper addresses a combinatorial optimization problem (COP), namely a variant of the (standard) matrix chain product (MCP) problem where the matrices are square and either dense (i.e. full) or lower/upper triangular. Given a matrix chain of length n, we first present a dynamic programming algorithm (DPA) adapted from the well known standard algorithm and having the same O(n3) complexity. We then design and analyse two optimal O(n) greedy algorithms leading in general to different optimal solutions i.e. chain parenthesizations. Afterwards, we establish a comparison between these two algorithms based on the parallel computing of the matrix chain product through intra and inter-subchains coarse grain parallelism. Finally, an experimental study illustrates the theoretical parallel performances of the designed algorithms

IKZF1 genetic variants rs4132601 and rs11978267 and acute lymphoblastic leukemia risk in Tunisian children: a casecontrol study

Background Associations between IKZF1 gene variants and Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) was recently reported. We examined whether the common IKZF1 polymorphisms rs4132601 T/G and rs111978267 A/G are associated with ALL among a Tunisian pediatric cohort. Methods This case-control study involved 170 patients with ALL and 150 control subjects. SNP genotyping was performed by TaqMan® SNP Genotyping Assay

Antioxidant and α-glucosidase activities and phytochemical constituents of Chrysanthoglossum trifurcatum (Desf.)

Objective: To investigate the antioxidant and α-glucosidase properties and phytochemical constituents of roots, stems, leaves and flowers extracts and aerial parts oil of Chrysanthoglossum trifurcatum (Desf.) (C. trifurcatum). Methods: For extraction from roots, stems, leaves and flowers of C. trifurcatum, methanol, ethyl acetate and petroleum ether solvents were used. Phenols, flavonoids, flavonols and tannins contents were evaluated. More, C. trifurcatum aerial parts oil composition was determined using chromatography/mass spectrometry. The antioxidant effect was estimated by DPPH, ABTS and reducing power test systems. The α-glucosidase inhibition was determined by colorimetric assay using the enzyme from Aspergillus niger and the p-nitrophenyl glucopyranoside (pNPG) as substrate. Results: The highest amounts of polyphenols, flavonoids, flavonols and tannins were shown by the methanolic extract of leaves. The main components of the aerial parts oil were limonene (29.21%), γ -terpinene (12.96%), 4-terpenyl acetate (12.18%) and α -pinene (5.76%). The activity evaluated by DPPH, ABTS and reducing power tests was important for stems (IC50=0.68 mg/mL) and flowers (IC50=0.67 mg/mL) methanolic extracts and essential oil (IC50=0.72 mg/mL). Findings of α-glucosidase activity revealed that petroleum ether extracts of leaves and roots together with aerial parts oil showed a highest activity with IC50 of 0.044, 0.045 and 0.049 mg/mL, respectively. Conclusions: Observed antioxidant and α-glucosidase activities of oil and extracts are attributed to the presence of the active phytochemicals in C. trifurcatum organs. Thus, the C. trifurcatum can be used as a source of antioxidant compounds and dietary supplement to treat patients with type 2 diabetes