Variation of chemical composition of essential oils in wild populations of Thymus algeriensis Boiss. et Reut., a North African endemic Species

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Thymus algeriensis </it>is an endemic aromatic plant to Tunisia largely used in folk medicine and as a culinary herb. The bulks aromatic plants come from wild populations whose essential oils compositions as well as their biological properties are severely affected by the geographical location and the phase of the plant development. Therefore, the aim of the present work is to provide more information on the variation of essential oil composition of <it>T. algeriensis </it>collected during the vegetative and the flowering phases and from eight different geographical regions. Besides, influence of population location and phenological stage on yield and metal chelating activity of essential oils is also assessed.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The essential oil composition of <it>Thymus algeriensis </it>was determined mainly by GC/FID and GC/MS. The chemical differentiation among populations performed on all compounds was assessed by linear discriminate analysis and cluster analysis based on Euclidean distance.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A total of 71 compounds, representing 88.99 to 99.76% of the total oil, were identified. A significant effect of the population location on the chemical composition variability of <it>T. algeriensis </it>oil was observed. Only 18 out of 71 compounds showed a statistically significant variation among population locations and phenological stages. Chemical differentiation among populations was high. Minor compounds play an important role to distinguish between chemical groups. Five chemotypes according to the major compounds have been distinguished. Chemotypes distribution is linked to the population location and not to bioclimate, indicating that local selective environmental factors acted on the chemotype diversity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The major compounds at the species level were α-pinene (7.41-13.94%), 1,8-cineole (7.55-22.07%), <it>cis</it>-sabinene hydrate (0.10-12.95%), camphor (6.8-19.93%), 4-terpineol (1.55-11.86%), terpenyl acetate (0-14.92%) and viridiflorol (0-11.49%). Based on major compounds, the populations were represented by (α-pinene/1,8-cineole/<it>cis</it>-sabinene hydrate/camphor/viridiflorol), (1,8-cineole/camphor/terpenyl acetate), (α-pinene/1,8-cineole/camphor), (1,8-cineole/camphor/4-terpineol) and (α-pinene/1,8-cineole/<it>cis</it>-sabinene hydrate/camphor/4-terpineol) chemotypes. Variation of phenological stage did not have a statistically significant effect on the yield and metal chelating activity of the essential oil. These results can be used to investigate the geographical location and the harvesting time of this plant for relevant industries.</p

Change of Diet, Plasma Lipids, Lipoproteins, and Fatty Acids during Ramadan: A Controversial Association of the Considered Ramadan Model with Atherosclerosis Risk

Different Islamic populations have different alimentary habits, notably during Ramadan. The paper reports the change of diet, lipids, and lipoproteins produced during Ramadan in one Tunisian population. During Ramadan, the study subjects consumed more proteins, cholesterol, vitamin E (p<0.01), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (p<0.05). At the same time, they exhibited an increase in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (p<0.01) and apoprotein B (p<0.05) and a decrease in the ratio of apoprotein AI to apoprotein B (p<0.01). All assayed saturated fatty acids were unaffected by Ramadan fasting while three unsaturated fatty acids (C18:1cis9, C18:2n-6, and C30:4n-6) increased significantly. A return to the habitual diet for a four-week period was not sufficient to restore the pre-fasting patterns. For the study subjects, Ramadan was clearly associated with a change of diet and biochemical profile but its effective impact on atherosclerosis risk was unclear, perhaps, because other non-alimentary changes ought to be considered too. Future studies considering the non-alimentary factors, such as sleep and physical activity, would be useful to clarify the contribution of dietary change in the observed modification of biological profile

Complete cervical agenesis: successful surgical treatment: one case report

Cervical agenesis is a rare congenital pathology linked to an abnormality in the development of the Mullerian system, the mechanism of this anomaly is unknown. We reported a case of complete cervical agenesis in a 17-year-old girl who underwent a successfully utero-vaginal anastomosis

Fermentation for Designing Innovative Plant-Based Meat and Dairy Alternatives

Fermentation was traditionally used all over the world, having the preservation of plant and animal foods as a primary role. Owing to the rise of dairy and meat alternatives, fermentation is booming as an effective technology to improve the sensory, nutritional, and functional profiles of the new generation of plant-based products. This article intends to review the market landscape of fermented plant-based products with a focus on dairy and meat alternatives. Fermentation contributes to improving the organoleptic properties and nutritional profile of dairy and meat alternatives. Precision fermentation provides more opportunities for plant-based meat and dairy manufacturers to deliver a meat/dairy-like experience. Seizing the opportunities that the progress of digitalization is offering would boost the production of high-value ingredients such as enzymes, fats, proteins, and vitamins. Innovative technologies such as 3D printing could be an effective post-processing solution following fermentation in order to mimic the structure and texture of conventional products.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Impact of Obesity on Laparo-Endoscopic Single-Site (LESS) Appendectomy in Children

Our study aimed to clarify the relationship between obesity and the risk of postoperative morbidity following LESS appendectomy. We performed a retrospective review of all patients who underwent LESS appendectomy from January 2013 to December 2016.LESS appendectomy was performed in 109 patients during the study period. Among these patients, 17 (15.6%) were obese.There were no significant differences in operative time, postoperative length of stay, surgical site infections, emergency department visits, or readmissions among nonobese and obese groups. In conclusion,obesity did not have any impact on the intraoperative course or short-term postoperative complications after LESS appendectomy

Effects of Physical Ripening Conditions and Churning Temperature on the Butter-Making Process and the Physical Characteristics of Camel Milk Butter

peer reviewe

Microstructure and chemical composition of camel and cow milk powders’ surface

This study aimed at investigating the chemical composition and microstructure of spray dried camel and cowmilk powders' surfaces with two different milk-fat contents (1 and 20g 100 g−1). The SEM (Scanning ElectronMicroscopy) micrographs showed that spherical particles with a ‘brain’-type surface for both milk powders wereproduced. The surface roughness (Ra) of whole (WDMP) and skimmed (SDMP) camel milk powders(Ra=7.6 ± 0.4 nm and 5.6 ± 0.7 nm, respectively) were significantly lower as compared with the partiallyskimmed (PSCMP) and skimmed (SCMP) cow milk powders. The XPS (X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy)analysis highlighted that the surface of skimmed camel milk powders contained twice the lactose amount(17.7 ± 0.8%) as compared to cow milk powders (8.7 ± 0.4%). Furthermore, both milk powders showed theoverexposure of proteins and fats at their surfaces regardless of the fat content. The CLSM (Confocal LaserScattering Microscopy) micrographs highlighted that most of the camel milk fat globules were encapsulated bythe proteins near the powder surface. Camel milk fat behavior during particle formation was attributed to theirlower size distribution and their higher crystallization temperature

Change of Diet, Plasma Lipids, Lipoproteins, and Fatty Acids during Ramadan: A Controversial Association of the Considered Ramadan Model with Atherosclerosis Risk

Different Islamic populations have different alimentary habits, notably during Ramadan. The paper reports the change of diet, lipids, and lipoproteins produced during Ramadan in one Tunisian population. During Ramadan, the study subjects consumed more proteins, cholesterol, vitamin E (p&lt;0.01), and polyunsaturated fatty acids (p&lt;0.05). At the same time, they exhibited an increase in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (p&lt;0.01) and apoprotein B (p&lt;0.05) and a decrease in the ratio of apoprotein AI to apoprotein B (p&lt;0.01). All assayed saturated fatty acids were unaffected by Ramadan fasting while three unsaturated fatty acids (C18:1cis9, C18:2n-6, and C30:4n-6) increased significantly. A return to the habitual diet for a four-week period was not sufficient to restore the pre-fasting patterns. For the study subjects, Ramadan was clearly associated with a change of diet and biochemical profile but its effective impact on atherosclerosis risk was unclear, perhaps, because other non-alimentary changes ought to be considered too. Future studies considering the non-alimentary factors, such as sleep and physical activity, would be useful to clarify the contribution of dietary change in the observed modification of biological profile

Creep age forming of Al-Cu-Li alloy: Application to thick sheet forming of double curvature aircraft panel

Creep-age-forming of a thick Al-Cu-Li sheet is studied. An industrial stamping press is used to form a double curvature panel at a reduced scale. This forming, which includes several relaxation steps, is modelled using ABAQUS. A material model describing an elasto-viscoplastic behaviour with anisotropy effect has been identified and implemented in ABAQUS using Fortran subroutine. The numerical model is validated by comparing experiments and numerical results in terms of deformed shapes and an improved forming cycle is suggested.This paper is part of the METAFOR project managed by IRT Jules Verne (French Institute in Research and Technology in Advanced Manufacturing Technologies for Composite, Metallic and Hybrid Structures). The authors wish to associate the industrial and academic partners of this project; respectively ACB, STELIA, AIRBUS, CONSTELLIUM, ENSAM

A Comparative Analysis between Right and Left Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernias

Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) is a rare congenital anomaly of the diaphragm with an incidence of 1:2000-5000 of live births. This study retrospectively evaluated patients who had been operated on for CDH at our department of Pediatric Surgery between January 2013 and December 2016. The Demographic Data and outcomes of right CDH cases (Group 1) were compared with left CDH cases (Group 2)