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Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) have taken worldwide attention in recent years. Several PFCs are being used in manufacturing food contact materials, including non-stick coatings (polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or Teflon) for cookware and also their use in paper coatings for oil- and moisture-resistant. PFCs are suggested as a new class of Persistent organic pollutant (POP), where they are chemical stability and do not degrade well naturally hence may accumulate in the body and poses problems for human safety. Thus, it is necessary to assess the migration of PFCs from food contact articles to food under typical cooking conditions. The main objective of this investigation was to study the effect of cooking at prolonged use (repeating for ten times) in household Tefal utensils on leaching PFOA and PFOS compounds from the Teflon layer which coats the inner surface of utensils to food-contact such as tomatoes fruit as the acidic food and white dry beans as the non-acidic food without and with adding of table salt. Also, measurement the surface morphology of Tefal layer before and after cooking by using small shapes as a pattern of Tefal cookware which analyzed by X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and X-ray Microanalysis (EDX), as well Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM). The obtained results indicated that, when the repeat of cooking increased from 1 up to 10 times, the amounts of Perfluorinated compounds (PFOS and PFOA, especially PFOS) were progressively increased in the food contact (tomatoes paste or white dry beans) from the Tefal cookware. On the other side, the addition of table salt to the tested samples at all repeats of cooking (1, 5 and 10 times) caused a highly leaching of perfluorinated compounds from the Teflon layer to food-contact more than the same tested samples at the same conditions without salt. Therefore, the acidic food such as tomatoes paste was more effect on the amounts of both PFOS and PFOA in the food-contact than the non-acidic food. Before that, the ESEM images of coating surface of Tefal layer after repeat of cooking exhibited some damage.

Although carbon (C) efflux from soils treated with organic wastes was widely covered in temperate and cold regions, still such data is not sufficient from arid and semi-arid regions. Saudi Arabia produces more than 335,000 tons/year of cow manure (CM), this CM either left as raw manure or being composted. The application of high C/N amendments is expected to increase soil organic carbon and reduce CO2 fluxes. A 90-day incubation experiment was conducted to study CO2 efflux, organic C microbial biomass C, available NH4+and NO3-when added to agricultural soil. Six manure types were added: cow manure, cow manure compost, cow manure biochar, cow manure stripped ammonia at pH 12 with a temperature of 95oC, cow manure stripped ammonia at pH 9 with a temperature of 95oC and control. The application of CM resulted in a considerable increase in soil available nitrogen, CO2 efflux compared to other treatments. Cow manure biochar showed the lowest CO2 efflux. Cumulative CO2 effluxes of cow manure effluents were lower than CM this possibly due to the relatively high C:N ratio of manure effluent. The content of, P, Fe, Cu, Zn and Mn were decreased as incubation time increased. microbial biomass C of cow manure stripped ammonia at pH 12 with a temperature of 95oC were increased at 7 and 60 days illustrating to temperature effect on the decomposing of manure materials.

SARS-CoV-2 currently lacks effective first-line drug treatment. We present promising data from in silico docking studies of new Methisazone compounds (modified with calcium, Ca; iron, Fe; magnesium, Mg; manganese, Mn; or zinc, Zn) designed to bind more strongly to key proteins involved in replication of SARS-CoV-2. In this in silico molecular docking study, we investigated the inhibiting role of Methisazone and the modified drugs against SARS-CoV-2 proteins: ribonucleic acid (RNA)-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp), spike protein, papain-like protease (PlPr), and main protease (MPro). We found that the highest binding interactions were found with the spike protein (6VYB), with the highest overall binding being observed with Mn-bound Methisazone at −8.3 kcal/mol, followed by Zn and Ca at −8.0 kcal/mol, and Fe and Mg at −7.9 kcal/mol. We also found that the metal-modified Methisazone had higher affinity for PlPr and MPro. In addition, we identified multiple binding pockets that could be singly or multiply occupied on all proteins tested. The best binding energy was with Mn–Methisazone versus spike protein, and the largest cumulative increases in binding energies were found with PlPr. We suggest that further studies are warranted to identify whether these compounds may be effective for treatment and/or prophylaxis.

The commercial Nigerian peanut cultivars Ex-Dakar, Samnut-22 and Samnut-26, the Egyptian cultivar Ismailia-1 and the American cultivar NC-7 were genetically differentiated and the cultivars&rsquo, effects on growth and yield components, total lipid contents, including saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, and oil body size and number were investigated. Experiments were carried out at Cairo University Research Station, Giza, Egypt, during the summer seasons of 2016 and 2017. All cultivars had high contents of total unsaturated fatty acids and low contents of saturated fatty acids. Variations among tested cultivars in oil body size and number were documented and cultivars were ranked based on their oil bodies&rsquo, size as Ismailia-1 &gt, Samnut-26 &gt, NC-7 &gt, Ex-Dakar &ge, Samnut-22. Oil body size and number were inversely related. This variation can be explained by the different amounts of acidic amino acids and the protein structure on the surface of the oil bodies of these cultivars. The distributions of protein bodies and oil bodies seemed to be negatively correlated. Cultivar effect was significant, and variation was found in seed production and quality in addition to the size and number of oil bodies, oil productivity, and oil quality among cultivars. Seasonal effects were not evident due to the stability of the climatic conditions during the two seasons of the study.

Liesegang rings (LRs) are benign and concentric non-cellular lamellar structures, occasionally found in kidney, synovium, conjunctiva, and eyelid. They are uncommon pathological findings which may cause diagnostic dilemmas for pathologists. We report a rare case of a 40-year-old female patient presenting with the left-sided lumbar pain, burning micturition, and hematuria for 1 week. With the radiological impression of a renal tumor, she underwent left radical nephrectomy. A diagnosis of clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the WHO/ISUP Grade II, and a stage of pT2aNxMx was made. An additional feature noted was the presence of LRs at the periphery of the tumor. It is important to recognize these rings to avoid mistaking them with parasites and dystrophic calcification. Hence, awareness among pathologists about these lesions would help in the proper management of the patients.

Abiotic stresses in sandy soil, which include saline water, saline soil, and lack of nutrients, affect the productivity and quality traits of peanuts (Arachis hypogaea L). Elemental calcium (Ca2+) is necessary for the proper development of peanut pods. This work aimed at comparing conventional Ca and nano-Ca form effects on peanut production and quality traits. Two randomized complete block field experiments were conducted in the 2015 and 2016 seasons. Treatments were control, gypsum plus calcium nitrate Ca(NO3)2, Ca(NO3)2, and chelated calcium, as well as 100, 75, 50, 25, and 12.5% of Ca(NO3)2 doses in a nano form. The results indicated that the treatment of gypsum plus conventional CaNO3 achieved the highest yield and best quality traits, followed by the Ca(NO3)2 and 100% nano Ca(NO3)2 treatments. The treatments of the control, gypsum, and 12.5% nano Ca(NO3)2 had the lowest effect on peanut performance. The conventional treatment of gypsum plus Ca(NO3)2 resulted in the greatest seed yield (1.6 ton ha−1), oil yield (700.3 kg ha−1), and protein yield (380.1 kg ha−1). Peanuts may benefit from Ca2+ better by using gypsum as the soil application and calcium nitrate as the foliar application to prevent disorders of Ca2+ deficiency under sandy soil conditions.

Five analogues of Polymyxin E1 antibiotic were synthesized via Fmoc- solid phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) strategy using Biotage® Initiator+Alstra™ microwave peptide synthesizer. The aim of this work is to study the importance of the cyclization conditions of the lactam ring on the purity and yield of the final compounds. For this purpose, replacing L-Thr10 with L-Asp allowed the application of different cyclization methodologies. In all analogues, the Dab5,8,9 residues were replaced with Arg, while the Dab4 residue involved in lactam cyclization was replaced with Lys. Modification of the linear tripeptide tail was applied to two of the analogues. The obtained compounds were characterized with different spectroscopic techniques and will be tested for their antimicrobial activity.

Safflower seed yield is generally lower than that of other oil-seed crops. So for this reason, it is necessary to increase safflower yield. Information regarding the effect of growth regulators and its suitable concentration on growth and yield of safflower is very limited. Therefore, two field experiments were conducted at the Desert Experimental Station in Wadi El-Natroon, Fac. Agric., CairoUniv., during 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 seasons. Three growth regulators i.e., Melagrow, gibberellic acid, cytokininwere applied at three different concentrations viz., 20, 40 and 60 ppm, as well as, the control treatment of distilled water. The results revealed that all safflower traits were significantly affected by the tested growth regulators, except seed index and seed-oil %. Foliar application of the growth promoter Melagrow gave higher values for all studied traits compare with GA3 and Cytokinin, except plant height and linoleic%. Increase concentration of growth regulators from 0 up to 60 ppm significantly increased petal yield plant-1 by 48.3% and 37.1%, seed yield fed-1 by 26.4% and 21.3%, as well as, oil yield fed-1 by 29.4% and 27.5% in the first and second seasons, respectively. Quality traits, in terms of carthamin%, carthamidin%, oleic%, and oleic/linoleic ratio were significantly increased by increasing levels of growth regulators in both seasons. The highest values of such traits were obtained at 60 ppm level. The interaction effect between growth regulators and concentration on number of capitula plant-1, seed weight plant-1, petal yield plant-1, seed and oil yields fed-1 was significant in both seasons. Spraying Giza-1 cultivar with Melagrow at 40 or 60 ppmfour times was recommended for improving yields and its quality.

Zinc chloride and potassium fluoride doped on natural phosphate (ZnCl 2 /NP and KF/NP) and sodium nitrate modified natural phosphate (Na/NP) catalyze efficiently the transesterification reaction. The reaction proceeds in refluxing condition without remove of alcohol formed. Na/NP can be easily regenerated and reused.

Transesterification of methylbenzoate with various alcohols was catalyzed by natural phosphate with or without solvent in heterogeneous media. The molar ratio of alcohol/ester, solvent effect, and weight of catalyst effect have been studied. We have found that the nature of alcohol and the reaction temperature play an important role in the transesterification process. The catalyst can be regenerated and reused without lost of activity.

Multiple pesticide residues have been observed in some samples of canned foods, frozen vegetables, and fruit jam, which put the health of the consumers at risk of adverse effects. It is quite apparent that such a state of affairs calls for the need of more accurate, cost-effective, and rapid analytical techniques capable of detecting the minimum concentrations of the multiple pesticide residues. The aims of this paper were first, to determine the effectiveness of the use of Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE) and Supercritical Fluid Chromatography (SFC) techniques in the analysis of the levels of pesticide residues in canned foods, vegetables, and fruits; and second, to contribute to the promotion of consumer safety by excluding pesticide residue contamination from markets. Fifteen different types of imported canned and frozen fruits and vegetables samples obtained from the Houston local food markets were investigated. The major types of pesticides tested were pyrethroids, herbicides, fungicides, and carbamates.By using these techniques, the overall data showed 60.82% of the food samples had no detection of any pesticide residues under this investigation. On the other hand, 39.15% different food samples were contaminated by four different pyrethroid residues ± RSD% ranging from 0.03 ± 0.005 to 0.05 ± 0.03 ppm, of which most of the pyrethroid residues were detected in frozen vegetables and strawberry jam. Herbicide residues in test samples ranged from 0.03 ± 0.005 to 0.8 ± 0.01 ppm. Five different fungicides, ranging from 0.05 ± 0.02 to 0.8 ±0.1 ppm, were found in five different frozen vegetable samples. Carbamate residues were not detected in 60% of investigated food samples. It was concluded that SFE and SFC techniques were accurate, reliable, less time consuming, and cost effective in the analysis of imported canned foods, fruits, and vegetables and are recommended for the monitoring of pesticide contaminations.

The efficiency of supplemented diets with dicalcium phosphate' (DCP) and phytase (500 and 1000 units) replaced with dietary fish meal instead of soybean meal or full fat soybean at two replacing levels of 50% or 75% for Nile tilapia was investigated. The results of Nile tilapia (initial weight 12.10 ± 0.6 gm) revealed that the average growth performance of fish fed diet supplemented with phytase (500 and 10C0 units) had improved feed conversion ratio and specific growth rate. However, it was also shown that the replacing 50% of the fish meal with soybean meal or soybean full fat in tilapia diet were successful and had no adverse effect on growth. The diet supplemented with DCP or phytase (500 or 1000 units) significantly (PO.01) increased body protein content, body fat, body ash and calcium concentration in both vertebral column and the whole body than control. An inverse relationship between phytase dose and fat content was seen in the present results. However, fish fed the control diet or diet contained 50% of the protein from either soybean full fat or soybean meal gave the highest body protein content, crude ash and the lowest value of ether extract and gross energy content. Calcium content of whole body was higher in the fish fed the control diet than in fish fed any diet containing plant protein sources. The same trend was observed for calcium in the vertebral

Two new cembrane diterpenes (+)-polydactylide (1) and (+)-7alpha,8beta-dihydroxydeepoxysarcophine (2) together with (+)-sarcophine (3) and (+)-sarcophytoxide (4) have been isolated from the soft coral Sinularia polydactyla. The new cembrane diterpene (-)-7beta-hydroxy-8alpha-methoxydeepoxysarcophine (5) has been obtained from the soft coral Sarcophyton trocheliophorum and the known briarane diterpene briaexcavatolide W (6) from the gorgonian coral Briareum sp.The structures were determined primarily by NMR spectroscopy. The assignment of NMR signals was performed by means of (1)H-(1)H COSY, ROESY, HMQC and HMBC experiments.

Resume Les meilleures conditions (proportion de catalyseur, temperature et duree de reaction) pour obtenir la metathese croisee du cyclopentene (CP) avec l'octene-4 ( 1a ) et l'hexene-3 dioate de dimethyle ( 1b ) par utilisation du catalyseur WCl 6 /Sn(CH 3 ) 4 , ont ete recherchees. Les oligopentenameres dieniques et trieniques sont isoles et des produits secondaires identifies. L'application des conditions requises pour la metathese croisee de 1b avec CP, a CP seul provoque l'oligomerisation cationique de CP et l'alkylation du solvant. Les resultats sont en accord avec l'hypothese de stabilisation des especes actives en metathese par les fonctions esters.

With [Me- 14 C]choline as marker and after separation of choline and phosphocholine by ion-exchange column chromatography or thin layer chromatography on alumina, it is shown that 40 μM hemicholinium-3 (HC-3) inhibits the cytosolic choline-kinase of rat liver and Krebs cells. This inhibition is competitive ( Km different, Vm similar) in the first case and mixed in the second ( Km and Vm different). Despite this general inhibition of the phosphocholine formation, the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine (PC) by post-nuclear supernatants of rat liver and Krebs cells is different when tested with HC-3. It is unaffected in rat liver; however, HC-3 induces a PC deficiency in Krebs cells which is time-course dependent between 15 and 120min and proportional to the drug concentrations in the interval 5–40 μM. Incorporation of AT-[ γ 32 P] or [2- 14 C]ethanolamine into phospholipids shows that the sequential methylation pathway is not detectable in Krebs cells. These results are discussed in relation to those established concerning HC-3 action on phospholipid metabolism in other tissues.

Krebs II ascites cells have a low affinity uptake system for choline ( K m = 36 μ M, V m = 76 nmol/min per 2·10 8 cells). Choline entered the cells and was rapidly phosphorylated (95% of total intracellular soluble label). Trans acceleration of labeled choline from cells preloaded with radiolabeled choline and postincubated in the presence of unlabeled choline indicates that choline transport in Krebs II ascites cells is carrier mediated. Ethanolamine competed for the choline carrier. The uptake was reduced by hemicholinium-3, iodoacetamide and ouabain. The mechanism of choline transport in Krebs Ii ascites cells is in agreement with a linear transport model.

A quantitative automated immunoturbidimetric procedure for the analysis of apolipoprotein A-II (Apo A-II) in human serum is described. Dilution of antibody with a 5% solution of PEG 6000 enhanced the quantification. The within- and between-assay coefficients of variation were less than 5%. Results correlated well with those obtained by classic electroimmunodiffusion and immunonephelometry. No extraction of samples with organic solvent was necessary, whatever the triglyceride concentration. Large lipoproteins such as VLDL and immunocomplexes did not affect the method, nor was there interference from icteric or hemolyzed serum or from serum with excessive hyperlipemia. Physiological values of Apo A-II were determined in a normal population. Concentrations were found to be age-dependent, and higher in women than in men. The procedure is very suitable for the rapid, precise, reproducible and inexpensive assay of Apo A-II.

Incorporation of [Me- 14 C]choline or/and [2- 14 C]ethanolamine into phospholipids of Krebs II ascites cells in toto have been tested in the presence of hemicholinium-3. With [Me- 14 C]choline, labelling of cell pellet, intracellular choline, phosphocholine and total lipid extract is inhibited by hemicholinium-3 in a dose-dependent way between 6.25 × 10 −6 M and 10 −3 M. These effects are caused by a diminution of the choline or/and ethanolamine transport across the cell membrane and by a choline-kinase inhibition. In Krebs cells, choline is taken up by a low affinity Na + sensitive uptake system ( K T - 46 × 10 −6 M) which is competitively inhibited by hemicholinium-3 ( K Ti = 161 × 10 −6 M). Krebs cells exert a counter-transport (i.e. an exchange of choline across the membrane) against a concentration gradient of 10 mM choline whereas 10 mM hemicholinium-3 has no effect. Choline-kinase is also inhibited ( I 50 = 57 × 10 −6 M) in Krebs cells in toto and time-course data suggest that choline transport and phosphorylation might be tightly coupled. Specific radioactivities of phosphocholine and choline-glycerophospholipids decrease owing to the effect of the drug on the uptake and phosphorylation system. With 4 × 10 −5 M hemicholinium-3 and [Me- 14 C]choline as a marker, labelled choline-glycerophospholipids are decreased by 22%. With [2- 14 C]ethanolamine, labelled ethanolamine-phospholipids are decreased by 26% and choline-glycerophospholipids remain unlabelled. With the two markers, the additional effect produces a 35% decrease. It is concluded that hemicholinium-3 might be able to induce a depression of the intracellular choline and phosphocholine pool which could provoke a serious quantitative deficiency of major phospholipids in Krebs cells.

With [ 3 H] VM26 as marker,the uptake and binding of teniposide have been made in cells of Krebs II ascitic tumors. The intracellular accumulation of drug displayed a passive diffusion and a saturation kinetics with an apparent Michaelis-Menten constant of 37.54 10 −6 M and a flux of 13.4 nM/min/mg of protein. VM26 was rapidly taken and an equilibrium was established with the extracellular drug in about 30 min. The steady-state accumulation was diminished by Na + and Ca 2+ absence and VP16-213, whereas, K + and Mg 2+ have no effect. Energy dependence of the system was characterized by a Q 10 of 1.75 ± 0.2 and the uptake was reduced by ouabain and iodoacetamide, when 2-4-dinitrophenol and glucose absence were without appreciable change. The study of the efflux showed that about 87% of the uptaken drug was removed, the residual amount being probably irreversibly bound. The intracellular accumulation of the drug was associated with various cell organelies, however, only the nuclear fraction demonstrated a high affinity binding.

Background The beneficial effects of the polyphenol (PP) rich fruits and Lactic acid bacteria fermented foods had been reported as cost-effective strategies for health promotion. Randomized controlled trial was designed to test the hypothesis that daily intake of polyphenol rich pomegranate juice (PGJ) or/ and lactic acid bacteria fermented sobya (FS) improved selected biomarkers of relevance to heath status. Methods The design of the human trial consisted of 35 healthy adults, who were distributed to 5 equal groups; The first group served as control and received no supplements; the second group received fresh apricot fruits (200 g); the third (PGJ) (250 g), the fourth a mixture of PGJ (150 g) and FS (140 g) and the fifth group received (FS) (170 g). The supplements were served daily between 5 – 6 pm for 21 days. Blood and urine samples were collected at days zero and 22 of the dietary intervention. The supplements were analyzed chemically for (PP) contents and total antioxidative activities and microbiologically for selected bacteria and yeast counts. The blood samples were assayed for plasma antioxidative activities and for erythrocytic glutathione transferase activity (E-GST). Urine samples were analyzed for the excretions of total PP, antioxidative activity and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Statistical analysis: Two way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted and included the main effects of treatment, time and treatment x time interaction. Results Daily intake of (PGJ) for 3 weeks significantly increased the plasma and urinary anti-oxidative activities and reduced the urinary excretion of (TBARS). Daily intake of (FS) for 3 weeks increased only (E-GST) activity. Daily intake of a mixture of PGJ and (FS) was also effective. Conclusions The daily intakes of PGJ and/ or (FS) affected positively selected biomarkers of relevance to health status. These functional foods have potential implication for use as bio-therapeutic foods. Trial registration The study was approved by the research ethical committee of the Ministry of Health & population, Egypt. The trial registration - the unique identifying number. (REC) decision No 12-2013-9, which complied with the Declaration of Helsinki guidelines (2004). The protocol was fully explained to all subjects and written informed consent was obtained before their participation in the trial.