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Our study aimed to investigate the impact of toluene and/or noise exposure on rat brains and assess the preventive effects of Olea europaea L. leaf extract (OLE) through biochemical, histopathologic analyses, behavior tests, and in silico study. Forty-eight male Wistar rats were randomly divided into eight groups: a control group, an OLE group, a noise-exposed group, a noise-exposed group treated with OLE, a toluene-exposed group, a toluene-exposed group treated with OLE, a co-exposed group to noise and toluene, and a co-exposed group to noise and toluene treated with OLE. OLE was orally administered at 40 mg/kg daily for six weeks. The results showed that noise and toluene exposure significantly disrupted brain tissue structure, causing oxidative damage, as evidenced by increased lipid peroxidation, decreased catalase and superoxide dismutase activities, and increased acetylcholinesterase (AChE) activity. However, OLE administration alleviated oxidative stress by restoring antioxidant biomarker levels, maintaining AChE close to normal, and preserving brain histology, while also improving rat behavior and learning. These findings suggest that OLE may protect brain tissue against simultaneous exposure to noise and toluene. Importantly, these results have significant implications for the prevention and treatment of neurotoxicity associated with exposure to toluene and noise, highlighting the potential practical applications of our research.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the pulmonary damage resulting from isolated or combined exposure to inhaled toluene (300 ppm) and noise 85 dB (A), with a focus on evaluating the potential protective effects of Olea europaea L. leaf extract (OLE). Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups: control (C), OLE treatment (O), noise exposure (N), noise exposure with OLE treatment (N+OLE), toluene exposure (T), toluene exposure with OLE treatment (T + OLE), co-exposure to toluene and noise (NT), and co-exposure with OLE treatment (NT + OLE). OLE (40 mg/kg/day) was administered daily for six weeks via oral gavage. Exposure to toluene and noise resulted in significant disruption of the pulmonary tissue structure, accompanied by oxidative stress, as evidenced by increased lipid peroxidation, diminished catalase and superoxide dismutase activities, and elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines IL6, IL-β, and TNF-α. Notably, the administration of OLE effectively mitigated oxidative stress and inflammation and preserved pulmonary histology. In conclusion, exposure to toluene and its combination with noise significantly elevated oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and histological disruptions in the lung tissue. In contrast, noise exposure alone is characterized by minimal effects, although it is still associated with an inflammatory response. Notably, Olea europaea L. leaf extract (OLE) exhibits a substantial protective role, effectively mitigating the adverse effects of combined exposure and highlighting its potential as a therapeutic agent for lung health.

The Juglans regia root aqueous extract (JRRAE) phytochemical variability and the investigation of their antimicrobial, antibiofilm, insecticidal, and anti-leishmanial properties were studied. As a result, the JRRAE chemical profile revealed the presence of biomolecules using UV, HPLC, and FT-IR analysis. The investigations showed marked antibacterial activities, highlighted inhibited biofilm formation, induced lethality Leishmania amazonensis promastigotes (50%), and possess an insecticidal activity at 100 µg/ml. A molecular docking study was performed against S. aureus gyrase, S. aureus tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase, human peroxiredoxin 5, cyclooxygenase-2, and trypanothione reductase and confirmed that the activities are mainly due to coumarin, epicatechin, juglone, epicatechin, and epicatechin presence, respectively. The stability of these complexes is essentially related to the strong hydrogen bonds formed between the most active compounds and the binding site amino acids. The identified compounds were found to pass the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion property as well as five Lipinski’s rules with good drug-likeness and pharmacokinetic behavior.

Abstract Background To curb the spread of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Swiss government declared a state of health emergency and ordered a legal restriction concerning the opening of healthcare institutions. In this study, we aimed to assess the proportion of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) physicians and therapists who consulted patients regarding COVID-19 during the first wave of the pandemic in 2020 in Switzerland, as well as the extent to which COVID-19 affected their practices during the same period. Methods A retrospective study was performed by using a questionnaire from January to April 2021 among a random sample of TCM physicians and therapists based in Switzerland. The survey included questions on demographic characteristics, opening status of practices, channels of communication used for the medical encounter, and experience in managing the prevention, acute, and recovery stages of COVID-19 infection. Results Among the 320 participants, 76% consulted a patient regarding COVID-19 at least once. Overall, physicians and therapists consulted more patients during recovery (76.3%) and prevention (67.8%) than during the acute stage (19.8%) of the disease. Acupuncture was the most frequently used technique among TCM therapists and physicians consulting for prevention (80.4%) and recovery (92.5%), whereas Chinese pharmacopeia was the most used technique among those consulting for the acute stage (59.3%). Of those who closed their practices from March to April 2020 but kept consulting, telephone (30.4%) and home visits (29.9%) were the two principal methods of consultation. Conclusions The restriction concerning the opening of practices induced a loss of the health workforce, especially among TCM therapists. Nonetheless, TCM therapists and physicians consulted patients regarding COVID-19, especially during the recovery stage. As there is a demand for the use of TCM in the context of COVID-19, it raises the need for a better consideration of TCM in the Swiss health care system.

Simple Summary: This study investigated the impact of toluene and noise exposure on pulmonary damage, focusing on the potential protective effects of Olea europaea leaf extract (OLE). Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups, each subjected to varying exposure conditions and OLE treatment. The results indicated that exposure to toluene and noise resulted in significant pulmonary tissue disruption, increased oxidative stress, and elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines. However, OLE administration effectively mitigated these adverse effects, reducing oxidative stress and inflammation and preserving lung histology. This study demonstrates the considerable potential of OLE as a protective agent against environmental pollutants and elucidates its therapeutic potential in preventing pulmonary damage induced by combined exposure to noise and toluene. The primary objective of this study was to investigate the pulmonary damage resulting from isolated or combined exposure to inhaled toluene (300 ppm) and noise 85 dB (A), with a focus on evaluating the potential protective effects of Olea europaea L. leaf extract (OLE). Forty-eight male Wistar rats were divided into eight groups: control (C), OLE treatment (O), noise exposure (N), noise exposure with OLE treatment (N+OLE), toluene exposure (T), toluene exposure with OLE treatment (T + OLE), co-exposure to toluene and noise (NT), and co-exposure with OLE treatment (NT + OLE). OLE (40 mg/kg/day) was administered daily for six weeks via oral gavage. Exposure to toluene and noise resulted in significant disruption of the pulmonary tissue structure, accompanied by oxidative stress, as evidenced by increased lipid peroxidation, diminished catalase and superoxide dismutase activities, and elevated pro-inflammatory cytokines IL6, IL-β, and TNF-α. Notably, the administration of OLE effectively mitigated oxidative stress and inflammation and preserved pulmonary histology. In conclusion, exposure to toluene and its combination with noise significantly elevated oxidative stress, inflammatory responses, and histological disruptions in the lung tissue. In contrast, noise exposure alone is characterized by minimal effects, although it is still associated with an inflammatory response. Notably, Olea europaea L. leaf extract (OLE) exhibits a substantial protective role, effectively mitigating the adverse effects of combined exposure and highlighting its potential as a therapeutic agent for lung health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying the stability of slopes is of great interest since it is associated to various geotechnical applications, e.g., access embankments and landslide mitigation. This paper describes the research conducted to determine the failure load applied at the top of excavations in sandy soils during the construction of deep digs without the use of retaining systems. An experimental program was performed to measure the failure load of ten laboratory-compacted sand slope models that were constructed using different slope angle values and different locations for the applied loading, which consisted of an imposed uniform rate of vertical displacement at the top of the slope. Then, a three-dimensional (3D) numerical model of the laboratory tests was developed to simulate the observed behavior during the experiments by the Plaxis 3D code. The Mohr–Coulomb (MC) and hardening soil (HS) models were used to describe the behavior of the compacted sand. The results showed that the 3D numerical simulations based on the MC model were able to predict the measured failure load within a relative difference of less than 11% for nine tested slope models, while the HS model was better in predicting the measured failure load (a relative difference of 3.5%) for only one experimental setup when the slope angle was equal to 35°. Furthermore, analytical prediction of the failure load using the yield design theory (YDT) permitted the validation of the log-spiral curve describing the observed failure surface for the tested sand slope models.

Disability is an important and often overlooked component of diversity. Individuals with disabilities bring a rare perspective to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) because of their unique experiences approaching complex issues related to health and disability, navigating the healthcare system, creatively solving problems unfamiliar to many individuals without disabilities, managing time and resources that are limited by physical or mental constraints, and advocating for themselves and others in the disabled community. Yet, individuals with disabilities are underrepresented in STEMM. Professional organizations can address this underrepresentation by recruiting individuals with disabilities for leadership opportunities, easing financial burdens, providing equal access, fostering peer-mentor groups, and establishing a culture of equity and inclusion spanning all facets of diversity. We are a group of deaf and hard-of-hearing (D/HH) engineers, scientists, and clinicians, most of whom are active in clinical practice and/or auditory research. We have worked within our professional societies to improve access and inclusion for D/HH individuals and others with disabilities. We describe how different models of disability inform our understanding of disability as a form of diversity. We address heterogeneity within disabled communities, including intersectionality between disability and other forms of diversity. We highlight how the Association for Research in Otolaryngology has supported our efforts to reduce ableism and promote access and inclusion for D/HH individuals. We also discuss future directions and challenges. The tools and approaches discussed here can be applied by other professional organizations to include individuals with all forms of diversity in STEMM.

Abstract The mechanisms behind the transmission of chromosomal aberrations (CA) remain unclear, despite a large body of work and major technological advances in chromosome identification. We reevaluated the transmission of CA to second- and third-division cells by telomere and centromere (TC) staining followed by M-FISH. We scored CA in lymphocytes of healthy donors after in vitro irradiation and those of cancer patients treated by radiation therapy more than 12 years before. Our data demonstrate, for the first time, that dicentric chromosomes (DCs) decreased by approximately 50% per division. DCs with two centromeres in close proximity were more efficiently transmitted, representing 70% of persistent DCs in ≥M3 cells. Only 1/3 of acentric chromosomes (ACs), ACs with four telomeres, and interstitial ACs, were paired in M2 cells and associated with specific DCs configurations. In lymphocytes of cancer patients, 82% of detected DCs were characterized by these specific configurations. Our findings demonstrate the high stability of DCs with two centromeres in close proximity during cell division. The frequency of telomere deletion increased during cell cycle progression playing an important role in chromosomal instability. These findings could be exploited in the follow-up of exposed populations.