Search

Ceratonia siliqua L. is a medicinal plant that has long been used in traditional Moroccan medicine to treat many diseases. This study aimed to assess the impact of the stages of the immature phase of carob pulp (M1, M2, M3, M4, and M5) on phytochemical composition, antioxidant activity, and antidiabetic activity of Ceratonia siliqua L. The identification of the phenolic profile by HPLC-UV/MS-MS and the study of the antidiabetic effect by in silico, in vitro, and in vivo studies were carried out for extracts with high contents of phenolic compounds from immature wild carob pulp from the communes of Timoulit (TM), Bin Elouidane (AW), and Ouaouizerth (TG) in the province of Azilal in the Béni Mellal-Khénifra region. The results revealed a gradual increase in total sugar content over the pulp’s ripening period, reaching a value of 2134 ± 56.23 mg GE/100 g fresh weight (FW) for TG. The three locations showed peak values for total polyphenol content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), and total condensed tannin (TCT) at the M2 stage. AW had the highest concentrations of TPC (3819 ± 226.4 mg GAE/100 g FM), TFC (1034 ± 57.08 mg QE/100 g FM), and TCT (1472 ± 28.46 mg CE/100 g FM). The DPPH assay (7892 ± 296.1 mg TE/100 g FM) and the FRAP assay (278.2 ± 7.85 mg TE/100 g FM) both demonstrated that the TG zone is a highly potent antioxidant zone. In contrast, the AW site exhibited a markedly elevated value of 725.4 ± 103.6 mg TE/100 g FM in the ABTS assay. HPLC-UV-MS/MS analysis showed that the methanolic extracts of immature carob pulp (MEICP) from the three areas contained several different chemical compounds. The most prevalent were 3-O-p-coumaroyl-5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin 3-methyl ether, gallic acid, and galloylquinic acid. Immature carob pulp extract (ICPE) from AW showed the strongest in vitro inhibition of pancreatic α-amylase (IC50 = 0.405 µg/mL) and TG extracts were most potent against intestinal α-glucosidase (IC50 = 0.063 µg/mL). In vivo, AW, TG, and TM extracts significantly reduced postprandial glycemia in rats, with AW having the greatest effect. These results highlight the antidiabetic potential of ICPE. The 3-O-p-Coumaroyl-5-O-caffeoylquinic acid showed better affinity for α-amylase compared to acarbose and interacted significantly with several amino acid residues of the enzyme. Similarly, this molecule and 3,4-Dicaffeoylquinic acid demonstrated a strong affinity for α-glucosidase, suggesting their potential as natural inhibitors of enzymes involved in carbohydrate metabolism. Most of the compounds are not substrates of P-glycoprotein and exhibited high intestinal absorption. Furthermore, the majority of these compounds did not act as inhibitors or substrates of CYP450 enzymes, reinforcing their suitability for development as oral medications. These results underscore the potential of immature carob pulp as a promising antidiabetic agent.

Abstract The main cost in aquaculture production is feed, so management practices and feeding strategies aim to optimize both feed intake and efficiency. This study aimed to evaluate the growth performance of beluga, Huso huso, affected by periodic changes in dietary protein sources and hence identify possible innovative feeding strategies toward more efficient use of dietary protein. This study was designed with two experimental diets, namely fish meal (diet A) and plant protein blend (diet B) (protein 40%, fat 16%), which were used in different food schedules for feeding beluga (initial weight 82.08 ± 4.1 g) during 8 weeks. The experimental treatments included: continuously feeding a fish meal diet (A); continuously feeding a plant protein diet (B); alternating between diet A in the morning and diet B in the afternoon (A am/B pm); alternating between diet B in the morning and diet A in the afternoon (B am/A pm); and alternating between diet A for one day and diet B for one day (1A/1B). At the end of the eight‐week trial, superior growth performance and feed utilization were respectively observed in fish receiving A, Bam/Apm, and Aam/Bpm diets compared with the remaining treatments. The specific activity of trypsin and chymotrypsin was significantly high in fish fed Aam/Bpm and Bam/Apm. Feeding the fish‐meal‐based diet (A) continuously, led to decreased protein and increased fat deposition in the carcass. Among the mixed feeding schedules, the highest cost‐saving was recorded with the Aam/Bpm and Bam/Apm schedules. Based on economic analysis, applying Aam/Bpm and Bam/Apm schedules led to the reduced cost of beluga production compared with the other treatments. Therefore, the optimal feeding schedules for beluga are Aam/Bpm and Bam/Apm, which should be used as a practical feeding guideline for H. huso production.

Strong and sustained winds on Mars have been considered rare, on the basis of surface meteorology measurements and global circulation models (1,2), raising the question of whether the abundant dunes and evidence for wind erosion seen on the planet are a current process. Recent studies (3-6) showed sand activity, but could not determine whether entire dunes were moving--implying large sand fluxes--or whether more localized and surficial changes had occurred. Here we present measurements of the migration rate of sand ripples and dune lee fronts at the Nili Patera dune field. We show that the dunes are near steady state, with their entire volumes composed of mobile sand. The dunes have unexpectedly high sand fluxes, similar, for example, to those in Victoria Valley, Antarctica, implying that rates of landscape modification on Mars and Earth are similar., The Martian surface displays abundant bedforms (ripples and dunes) (7), and evidence for wind erosion ranging from centimetre-scale ventifact rock textures (8) to kilometre-scale yardangs and exhumed mantles (7). But [...]

In this study, we aimed to compare the phytochemical compounds (polyphenols and flavonoids), antioxidant activity, functional groups present in the compounds (FTIR), and anti-microbial effects, in aqueous and methanol extracts obtained from flowers of commercial Hypericum perforatum and native Papaver Rhoeas from Morocco. P. Rhoeas L was collected from El Lhaj Kaddour near Meknes, while H. perforatum L was bought in a dried state from a Moroccan herbalist in the same city. Total polyphenols were evaluated using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, respectively. The antioxidant activity was assessed via DPPH and anti-microbial effects were tested against six bacteria (Gram- and Gram+). In aqueous and methanol extracts of P. Rhoeas had the highest TPC value (23.67 ± 0.94 mg GAE/g; 15.86 ± 0.65 mg GAE/g) compared to H. perforatum (15.26 ± 1.30 mg GAE/g; 5.50 ± 1.13 GAE/g). The aqueous extract of Papaver Rhoeas exhibited the highest TFC at 14.36 ± 0.49 mg QE/g, while the methanol extract of Hypericum perforatum had the highest 10.65 ± 0.49 mg QE/g in TFC. In contrast, methanol and aqueous extracts of H. perforatum showed significant zones of inhibition against Staphylococcus aureus (9.5 ± 0.5 mm and 10.17 ± 0.29 mm) and Staphylococcus epidermidis (8.33 ± 0.58 mm and 9.33 ± 0.58 mm) respectively, with a minimum inhibitory concentration was estimated at 10 µL/ml. The FTIR analysis demonstrated that the extracts of both plants are rich in bioactive molecules with potential biological activities and a pharmaceutical industry perspective. Consequently, these Papaver Rhoeas and Hypericum perforatum extracts exhibit antioxidant and antibacterial activities.

This work describes a small-signal microwave method for determining the differential carrier lifetime and transport effects in electrically injected InGaN/GaN light-emitting diodes (LEDs). By considering the carrier diffusion, capture, thermionic escape, and recombination, the rate equations are used to derive an equivalent small-signal electrical circuit for the LEDs, from which expressions for the input impedance and modulation response are obtained. The expressions are simultaneously fit to the experimental data for the input impedance and modulation response for nonpolar InGaN/GaN micro-LEDs on free-standing GaN substrates. The fittings are used to extract the transport related circuit parameters and differential carrier lifetimes. The dependence of the parameters on the device diameter and current density is reported. We also derive approximations for the modulation response under low and high injection levels and show that the transport of carriers affects the modulation response of the device, especially at low injection levels. The methods presented are relevant to the design of high-speed LEDs for visible-light communication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background The sturgeon group has been economically significant worldwide due to caviar production. Sturgeons consist of 27 species in the world. Mitogenome data could be used to infer genetic diversity and investigate the evolutionary history of sturgeons. A limited number of complete mitogenomes in this family were sequenced. Here, we annotated the mitochondrial Huso huso genome, which revealed new aspects of this species. Results In this species, the mitochondrial genome consisted of 13 genes encoding proteins, 22tRNA and 2rRNA, and two non-coding regions that followed other vertebrates. In addition, H. huso had a pseudo-tRNA-Glu between ND6 and Cytb and a 52-nucleotide tandem repeat with two replications in 12S rRNA. This duplication event is probably related to the slipped strand during replication, which could remain in the strand due to mispairing during replication. Furthermore, an 82 bp repeat sequence with three replications was observed in the D-loop control region, which is usually visible in different species. Regulatory elements were also seen in the control region of the mitochondrial genome, which included termination sequences and conserved regulatory blocks. Genomic compounds showed the highest conservation in rRNA and tRNA, while protein-encoded genes and nonencoded regions had the highest divergence. The mitochondrial genome was phylogenetically assayed using 12 protein-encoding genes. Conclusions In H. huso sequencing, we identified a distinct genome organization relative to other species that have never been reported. In recent years, along with the advancement in sequencing identified more genome rearrangements. However, it is an essential aspect of researching the evolution of the mitochondrial genome that needs to be recognized.

This study focuses on synthesizing a new series of isoxazolinyl-1,2,3-triazolyl-[1,4]-benzoxazin-3-one derivatives 5a–5o. The synthesis method involves a double 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction following a “click chemistry” approach, starting from the respective [1,4]-benzoxazin-3-ones. Additionally, the study aims to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of these newly synthesized compounds through in silico methods. This synthesis approach allows for the combination of three heterocyclic components: [1,4]-benzoxazin-3-one, 1,2,3-triazole, and isoxazoline, known for their diverse biological activities. The synthesis procedure involved a two-step process. Firstly, a 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition reaction was performed involving the propargylic moiety linked to the [1,4]-benzoxazin-3-one and the allylic azide. Secondly, a second cycloaddition reaction was conducted using the product from the first step, containing the allylic part and an oxime. The synthesized compounds were thoroughly characterized using spectroscopic methods, including 1H NMR, 13C NMR, DEPT-135, and IR. This molecular docking method revealed a promising antidiabetic potential of the synthesized compounds, particularly against two key diabetes-related enzymes: pancreatic α-amylase, with the two synthetic molecules 5a and 5o showing the highest affinity values of 9.2 and 9.1 kcal/mol, respectively, and intestinal α-glucosidase, with the two synthetic molecules 5n and 5e showing the highest affinity values of −9.9 and −9.6 kcal/mol, respectively. Indeed, the synthesized compounds have shown significant potential as antidiabetic agents, as indicated by molecular docking studies against the enzymes α-amylase and α-glucosidase. Additionally, ADME analyses have revealed that all the synthetic compounds examined in our study demonstrate high intestinal absorption, meet Lipinski’s criteria, and fall within the required range for oral bioavailability, indicating their potential suitability for oral drug development.

The bacterial community of the forestomach plays important roles in the digestive processes of ruminants and pseudo-ruminants. To investigate the rumen microbiota in the pseudo-rumen of camels (Camelus dromedarius) raised in a natural environment in Algeria, bacterial diversity was determined from 25 dromedaries using 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing. A total of 25 bacterial phyla were identified across all the samples, including Firmicutes (close to 85℅), Bacteroidetes (about 12%) and to a lesser extent Proteobacteria (< 1%), with these three phyla together accounting for more than 97% of all sequences. Our results are consistent with previous observations of bacterial communities diversity and abundancy in the rumen or pseudo-rumen of other ruminant species (either domestic or wild), although the abundance of individual bacterial phyla showed remarkably high disparities. Links between the richness and type of diet and the composition of the rumen microbiome are discussed.

Introduction: The bacterium Burkholderia Pseudomallei is the cause of melioidosis disease. BLF1 plays an important role in the pathogenesis and infection of B. Pseudomallei. STxB has an adjuvant and carrier role and can be produced by mixing vaccine-candidate antigens with this adjuvant to produce a suitable vaccine. This study aimed to construct and evaluate the immunogenicity of trimethyl chitosan nanoparticles containing BLF1-stxB protein by subcutaneous injection. Material & Methods: In this study, the expression of recombinant BLF1-stxB protein was induced in the expression host, and the protein was purified by affinity chromatography. Then, nanoparticles were fabricated by ion gelation method and the size and shape of nanoparticles were assessed by electron microscopy and injected subcutaneously into mice four times. Antibody titration was evaluated by indirect ELISA. BLF1 toxin was used for immunogenicity. (Ethic code: 6272) Findings: The results of this study showed that protein-containing nanoparticles have higher size and PDI, and lower zeta potential than protein-free nanoparticles. The protein charge in nanoparticles was about 65%. The highest antibody titer belonged to the group receiving protein without nanoparticles. The results showed a 75% conservation challenge of the nanoparticle-free protein group. Discussion & Conclusion: This study showed that the nanoparticle form containing this recombinant protein leads to a weaker immune response, compared to the non-nanoparticle form by injection. The results of the challenge showed that this recombinant chimeric protein provides better protection when subcutaneously injected with an adjuvant.

Deep learning has found widespread application in diabetic retinopathy (DR) screening, primarily for lesion detection. However, this approach encounters challenges such as information loss due to convolutional operations, shape uncertainty, and the high similarity between different lesions types. These factors collectively hinder the accurate segmentation of lesions. In this research paper, we introduce a novel dual-branch U-Net architecture, referred to as Dual-Branch (DB)-U-Net, tailored to address the intricacies of small-scale lesion segmentation. Our approach involves two branches: one employs a U-Net to capture the shared characteristics of lesions, while the other utilizes a modified U-Net, known as U2Net, equipped with two decoders that share a common encoder. U2Net is responsible for generating probability maps for lesion segmentation as well as corresponding boundary segmentation. DB U-Net combines the outputs of U2Net and U-Net as a dual branch, concatenating their segmentation maps to produce the final result. To mitigate the challenge of imbalanced data, we employ the Dice loss as a loss function. We evaluate the effectiveness of our approach on publicly available datasets, including DDR, IDRiD, and E-Ophtha. Our results demonstrate that DB U-Net achieves AUPR values of 0.5254 and 0.7297 for Microaneurysms and soft exudates segmentation, respectively, on the IDRiD dataset. These results outperform other models, highlighting the potential clinical utility of our method in identifying retinal lesions from retinal fundus images.

Photovoltaic (PV) power has became an attractive research subject, despite the variability and uncertainty of the phenomenon, PV power forecasting is considered as a promising solution for successful PV power integration, and also an important decision making information for both, grid operators and energy traders. Forecasting the aggregated PV power in different spatiotemporal scales is very relevant for grid operators, but unfortunately, in the state of the art, few works deal with this subject. In the aim to forecast directly the next day aggregate photovoltaic power of scattered small rooftop installations based only on historical production data, we propose in this paper a hybrid nonlinear autoregressive regression model, composed from a combination of empirical mode decomposition (EMD), stepwise regression (SWR) and least square support vector regression (LsSVR) techniques. To address the lack of meteorological parameters, we propose a different data preprocessing strategy, this strategy will also allow capturing the diurnal component of the PV power time series in an efficient way. An in depth analysis of the proposed approach using publicly available database was conducted. We compared the results of the proposed approach with three other models, two nonlinear autoregressive models based on LsSVR (AR-LsSVR) and FFNN (AR-FFNN), and the third one is a persistent forecaster. Three accuracy metrics were adopted to compare the different models, the nMAE, nMBE and nMRSE. In general good results were obtained in clear and partially cloudy days, but there are few days characterized by sudden change in the time series pattern that the model cant handle. But still competitive results are obtained, the hybrid model gives an nMAE = 4.12% compared to 4.94%, 4.95% and 164.98% for AR-LsSVR, AR-FFNN and the persistent forecaster respectively. The projection of the obtained results on five recently developed models shows the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Background and aimMalnutrition is a major public health problem, especially in developing countries. The aim of this study was to analyze the trend in malnutrition among children under 5 years of age in Iran over recent decades and to estimate malnutrition status for 2020.MethodsThis study took the form of a secondary analysis of the reports and data from three cross-sectional national surveys on children's nutritional status conducted between 1998 and 2017. Anthropometric indices, including markers of underweight, wasting, stunting, overweight, and obesity, were used as indicators of the nutritional status of children under 5 years. Malnutrition indicators are reported separately based on regional food security status. Linear mixed-effects modeling was used to predict the status of malnutrition indicators for 2020.ResultsThe results of this study indicated a downward trend in the prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting, from 15.4 to 4.8%, 10.9 to 4.3%, and 4.9 to 4.3%, respectively, between 1998 and 2017. The proportion of children at risk of overweight and prevalence of childhood overweight/obesity showed a downward trend between 2010 and 2017, from 3.73 to 3.02% and from 12.1 to 10.3%, respectively. However, the trend varied between different provinces. Estimates of the prevalence of malnutrition in 2020 also indicated a decrease in the prevalence of all indicators among children.ConclusionDespite the decreasing trend in malnutrition over the past three decades, the prevalence of stunting, underweight, and wasting is still high in food-insecure provinces. Moreover, following the COVID-19 pandemic and its economic consequences, an increase in the prevalence of malnutrition, especially in food-insecure provinces, is plausible.

Background and Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) stands as a pervasive neurodegenerative ailment of global concern, necessitating a relentless pursuit of remedies. This study aims to furnish a comprehensive exposition, delving into the intricate mechanistic actions of medicinal herbs and phytochemicals. Furthermore, we assess the potential of these compounds in inhibiting human acetylcholinesterase through molecular docking, presenting encouraging avenues for AD therapeutics. Materials and Methods: Our approach entailed a systematic exploration of phytochemicals like curcumin, gedunin, quercetin, resveratrol, nobiletin, fisetin, and berberine, targeting their capability as human acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors, leveraging the PubChem database. Diverse bioinformatics techniques were harnessed to scrutinize molecular docking, ADMET (absorption, distribution, metabolism, excretion, and toxicity), and adherence to Lipinski’s rule of five. Results: Results notably underscored the substantial binding affinities of all ligands with specific amino acid residues within AChE. Remarkably, gedunin exhibited a superior binding affinity (−8.7 kcal/mol) compared to the reference standard. Conclusions: These outcomes accentuate the potential of these seven compounds as viable candidates for oral medication in AD treatment. Notably, both resveratrol and berberine demonstrated the capacity to traverse the blood-brain barrier (BBB), signaling their aptitude for central nervous system targeting. Consequently, these seven molecules are considered orally druggable, potentially surpassing the efficacy of the conventional drug, donepezil, in managing neurodegenerative disorders.

The aim of this paper is twofold. The first objective is to measure the technical efficiency of mixed crop-livestock (CL) smallholder producers operating under conservation agriculture systems in Tunisian rainfed areas. The second objective is to explore complementarities, synergies, and economies of diversification across the different production system components of these crop-livestock producers using the cross-partial derivative framework of output variables in the distance function. A simple random sampling process was employed to select and survey 59 CL smallholders operating under conservation agriculture. The collected data were analyzed using a stochastic input distance function in which synergies were estimated based on the second cross-partial derivative concept of output variables in the distance function. Results show that technical inefficiencies are significant in integrated crop-livestock systems, and there is evidence that economic diversification provides a productivity buffer against climate change threats. As a sustainable intensification strategy, this integrated system also offers a potential advantage. The results further contribute to the debate on crop diversification vs. specialization. Although an enhanced system integration could be a financially and ecologically viable option for mixed crop-livestock systems, more pathways for profitable and viable diversification of cereal-based or orchard-based systems remain to be explored.

Objective: The present study aims to investigate the mediating role of organizational image in the relationship between organizational identity and academic optimism in Islamic schools in Tehran. Method: The study is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive and correlational in terms of method. The statistical population includes all of 270 teachers of Islamic primary schools in Tehran. The sample size was 159 using Krejcie and Morgan (1970) table. Simple random sampling method was used to select the statistical sample. In order to collect the data and information required in this study, the Academic Optimism Questionnaire of Beard, (and Hoy, and Woolfolk Hoy, 2010), the Organizational Identification Questionnaire of Mael and Ashforth (1992) and the researcher-made organizational image questionnaire were used. The reliability of them was 0.85, 0.81 and 0.79, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the data. Findings: The Findings showed that there was a relationship between organizational identity and academic optimism, between organizational identity and organizational image, and between organizational image and academic optimism. Furthermore, the findings showed that there was a relationship between organizational identity by the mediating role of organizational image, and academic optimism. Conclusion: Academic optimism is one of the signs of success in schools, and what will improve this important component in Islamic schools is paying attention to the organizational identity and organizational image of Islamic schools. The beneficiaries’ improper understanding of the organizational identity and organizational image of Islamic schools and its capacities will affect the quality of education and the overall performance of these schools