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Gelatin-sodium alginate-based active packaging films were formulated by including date pits extracts (DPE), as bioactive compound, in raw minced beef meat packaging. The DPE effects at 0.37, 0.75 and 1.5% (w/w, DPE/ gelatin-sodium alginate) on physical, optical, antioxidant and antibacterial properties of established films were assessed. Findings showed that film lightness decreased with the incorporation of DPE. Physical, antioxidant and anti-food-borne pathogens capacities were enhanced by increasing DPE concentration in the films. For 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), the films with 1.5% DPE had the greatest levels (94 and 88%, respectively). DPE films (1.5%) also exhibited the highest anti-Listeria moncytogenes activity, with an inhibition zone of 25 mm. Moreover, during 14 days at 4 °C, the bio-preservative impact of gelatin-sodium alginate film impregnated with DPE at three levels on microbial, chemical, and sensory characteristics of meat beef samples was evaluated. By the end of the storage, DPE at 1.5% enhanced the instrumental color, delayed chemical oxidation and improved sensory traits. By chemometric techniques (principal component analysis (PCA) and heat maps), all data allowed to obtain helpful information by segregating all the samples at each storage time. PCA and heat maps could connect oxidative chemical changes, instrumental color parameters, and microbiological properties to sensory attributes. These data offer an approach to well interpreting the sensory quality and how they are affected by chemical and microbiological changes in the studied meat samples. Our findings indicated the potential of the gelatin-sodium alginate film incorporated with DPE for enhancing meat safety and quality., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no competing interests., (Copyright © 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Encapsulation is currently considered as one the most valuable methods for preserving aromatic compounds or hiding odors, enhancing their thermal and oxidative stability, and expanding their food applications. Indeed, this current article was aimed to provide an overview regarding the encapsulation of plant bioactive compounds and the spray-drying and extrusion processes with a focused discussion regarding the encountered challenges for meat and meat product preservation. Furthermore, different ranges of carbohydrates as wall materials (carriers) besides the process conditions' effects on the encapsulation effectiveness and the particle size of the encapsulated bioactive compounds have been discussed. The encapsulation of these compounds ameliorates the quality of the stored meat products by further delaying in microflora growth and lipid/protein oxidation. Therefore, the innovative technologies for plant active compounds encapsulation offer a prospective alternative for natural preservation development in the meat industry., (Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The agricultural processing industry produces a notable quantity of by-products rich in bioactive compounds, which can be exploited for agri-food applications. From pistachio industrial processing, pistachio's hull is one of the major by-products. This work aimed to evaluate the potential of pistachio hull, as a potential source of natural antioxidant, to preserve the meat quality. Here, we investigated the impact of aqueous pistachio hull extract (PHE) at 0.156% (PHE1), 0.312% (PHE2), and 0.625% (PHE3) on the quality of raw minced beef meat stored for 14 days at 4°C. At the end of storage, mesophilic total viable plate, psychotropic and Enterobacteriaceae counts, showed significantly lower ( P < 0.05) microbial count in PHE samples. PHE3 revealed a powerful inhibitory effect on lipid/protein oxidation, and sensory characteristics were positively ( P < 0.05) affected. Principal component analysis and heat map indicated complex and close synchronized relations among lipid/protein oxidation processes, microbial loads, and sensory attributes. Obtained results using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis underlined the importance of using different mathematical approaches, which are complementary to each other and could provide considerable information about the minced beef meat treated by PHE. Therefore, compared to synthetic antioxidants, PHE could be a clean-label alternative that can protect and enhance the quality of meat products., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2021 Khaoula Elhadef et al.)

Rapid climate and environmental change at limited, regional, and general scales have been a major concern for researchers in a number of fields, such as topography, economy, environment, and sustainable development. Changes in land cover and land use have taken into account due to potential impacts on soil depletion, amplified run-off, water balance, and climate change. A detailed understanding of the characteristics of land exploitation and land structure is indispensable for the study of their influences on life and nature. In addition, urban extension is a major form of land extraction and land transformation, as it relates to the rise in population and the availability of financial services. Remote sensing records have been shown to be important for reporting and perceiving urban development and transition, and for providing critical information for future growth. Transformation and shift identification are the tools used to recognise distinctions in a land cover by tracking them at various times. In addition, various change identification and detection approaches are routinely tested with the goal of providing the greatest change detection deductions for a particular appliance. This review would aim to establish a practical plan that combines remote sensing techniques, on the one hand, and modelling approaches, on the other, to track land use, to cover changes, and to predict future trends., Competing Interests: Conflict of InterestThe authors declare no competing interests., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021.)

The use of complementary medicine has recently increased in an attempt to find effective alternative therapies that reduce the adverse effects of drugs. Pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) by-products, such as seeds, is a rich source of phytochemicals with a high antioxidant activity, thus possessing health benefits. For the identification and quantification of the pomegranate seeds chemical compounds, particular attention has been drawn to the latest developments in the HPLC coupling with electrospray ionization (ESI) MS/MS detection. In fact, a wide range of phytochemicals including phenolic acid, anthocyanins, flavonoids, hydrolysable tannins and other polyphenols were characterized. Furthermore, an exhaustive review of the scientific literature on pomegranate seeds on biomedicine and pharmacotherapy was carried out. Indeed, both in vitro and in vivo studies have demonstrated how pomegranate seeds possess antioxidant, anti- cardiovascular diseases, anti-osteoporosis, antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory and anticancer activities. The present review describes a recent tendency in research focusing on the chemical and biomedical features of the pomegranate seeds to value them as natural additives or active compounds for first-order diseases.

The biopreservative effect of Ephedra alata aqueous extract (EAE), used at 0.156, 0.312 and 0.624%, on minced beef meat was evaluated by microbiological, physicochemical and sensory analyses during storage at 4 °C for 14 days. The results showed that EAE significantly (P < .05) delayed the formation of thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances and carbonyls and reduced the sulfhydryl loss in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that EAE had a protective effect against lipids and protein oxidation. Concomitantly, an increase of redness and loss of lightness and yellowness was observed. Furthermore, two multivariate exploratory techniques, namely Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical Cluster Analysis (HCA) were applied to all obtained data describing the main characteristics attributed to refrigerated meat samples. During storage time, the used chemometric approaches were useful in discriminating meat samples, and therefore offers an approach to underlay connections between meat quality features. The obtained findings demonstrated the strong potential of EAE as a natural preservative in meat and meat products., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Growing worldwide, the genus Ephedra (family Ephedraceae) had a medicinal, ecological, and economic value. The extraordinary morphological diversity suggests that Ephedra was survivor of an ancient group, and its antiquity is also supported by fossil data. It has recently been suggested that Ephedra appeared 8-32 million years ago, and a few megafossils document its presence in the Early Cretaceous. Recently, the high analytical power provided by the new mass spectrometry (MS) instruments is making the characterization of Ephedra metabolites more feasible, such as ephedrine series. In this regard, the chemical compounds isolated from crude extracts, fractions, and few isolated compounds of Ephedra species were characterized by MS-based techniques (LC-MS, LC-ESI-MS, HPLC-PDA-ESI/MS, LC-DAD-ESI/MSn, LC/Orbitrap MS, etc.). Moreover, we carry out an exhaustive review of the scientific literature on biomedicine and pharmacotherapy (anticancer, antiproliferative, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic, antiarthritic, and anti-influenza activities; proapoptotic and cytotoxic potential; and so on). Equally, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities were discussed. This review is focused on all these topics, along with current studies published in the last 5 years (2015-2019) providing in-depth information for readers., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2020 Khaoula Elhadef et al.)

The increasing challenge of antibiotic resistance requires not only the discovery of new antibiotics, but also the development of new alternative approaches. Therefore, in the present study, we investigated for the first time the antibacterial potential of phytic acid (myo-inositol hexakisphosphate, IP6), a natural molecule that is 'generally recognized as safe' (FDA classification), against the proliferation of common foodborne bacterial pathogens such as Listeria monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Salmonella Typhimurium. Interestingly, compared to citric acid, IP6 was found to exhibit significantly greater inhibitory activity (P<0.05) against these pathogenic bacteria. The minimum inhibitory concentration of IP6 varied from 0.488 to 0.97 mg/ml for the Gram-positive bacteria that were tested, and was 0.244 mg/ml for the Gram-negative bacteria. Linear and general models were used to further explore the antibacterial effects of IP6. The developed models were validated using experimental growth data for L. monocytogenes, S. aureus and S. Typhimurium. Overall, the models were able to accurately predict the growth of L. monocytogenes, S. aureus, and S. Typhimuriumin Polymyxin acriflavine lithium chloride ceftazidime aesculin mannitol (PALCAM), Chapman broth, and xylose lysine xeoxycholate (XLD) broth, respectively. Remarkably, the early logarithmic growth phase of S. Typhimurium showed a rapid and severe decrease in a period of less than one hour, illustrating the bactericidal effect of IP6. These results suggest that IP6 is an efficient antibacterial agent and can be used to control the proliferation of foodborne pathogens. It has promising potential for environmentally friendly applications in the food industry, such as for food preservation, food safety, and for prolonging shelf life., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist

The growing demand for natural food preservatives has promoted investigations on their application for preserving perishable foods. Consequently, the meat market is demanding natural antioxidants, free of synthetic additives and able to diminish the oxidation processes in high-fat meat and meat products. In this context, the present review discuss the development of healthier and shelf stable meat products by the successful use of pomegranate peel extracts containing phenolics as natural preservative agent in meat and meat products. This paper carries out an exhaustive review of the scientific literature on the main active phenolic compounds of pomegranate peel identified and quantified by advances in the separation sciences and spectrometry, and its biological activities evaluation. Moreover, the impact of pomegranate peel use on the quality and oxidative stability of meat products is also evaluated. As natural preservative, pomegranate peel phenolics could improve stored meat products quality, namely instrumental color retaining, limitaion of microflora growth, retardation of lipid and protein oxidation., (Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Pomegranate ( Punica granatum L.) peel is a potential source of polyphenols known for their activity against foodborne pathogen bacteria. In this study, the effects of pomegranate peel extraction time (10-60 min), agitation speed (120-180 rpm), and solvent/solid ratio (10-30) on phytochemical content and antibacterial activity were determined. Response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods were used, respectively, for multiresponse optimization and predictive modelling. Compared with the original conditions, the total phenolic content (TPC), the total flavonoid content (TFC), and the total anthocyanin content (TAC) increased by 56.22, 63.47, and 64.6%, respectively. Defined by minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC), the maximum of antibacterial activity was higher than that from preoptimized conditions. With an extraction time of 11 min, an agitation speed 125 rpm, and a solvent/solid ratio of 12, anti- S . aureus activity remarkably decreased from 1.56 to 0.171 mg/mL. Model comparisons through the coefficient of determination ( R 2 ) and mean square error (MSE) showed that ANN models were better than the RSM model in predicting the photochemical content and antibacterial activity. To explore the mode of action of the pomegranate peel extract (PPE) at optimal conditions against S. aureus and S. enterica , Chapman and Xylose Lysine Deoxycholate broth media were artificially contaminated at 10 4  CFU/mL. By using statistical approach, linear (ANOVA), and general (ANCOVA) models, PPE was demonstrated to control the two dominant foodborne pathogens by suppressing bacterial growth., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that there are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright © 2019 Mariam Fourati et al.)

Objectives: The use of thin skin flaps in the reconstruction of postburn cervical contractures associated with functional impacts., Material and Methods: We conducted a descriptive observational study on about five patients who had reconstruction of postburn cervical contractures using various thin skin flaps in a plastic surgery department. The follow-up period was ranged from 12 to 18 months. We determined the characteristics of the retraction according to the Vandenbussche classification, the indications of the flaps, and the functional and aesthetic results., Results: Most of our patients were young adults presenting segmental retraction of the neck associated with moderate functional impact. The occipito-cervico-dorsal flap was used in three cases. The occipito-cervico-shoulder flap was used in two cases. The aesthetic and functional results were satisfactory for all patients, but a "neck-collar" aspect of the cervical-chin angle was noticed., Conclusion: Postburn cervical contractures remain frequent. Their reconstruction is a difficult process as it is ideally done with a skin similar to the original one. The use of thin skin flaps seems to be an excellent option.

Safety aspects and probiotic properties of Enterococcus faecium FL31 strain producing an enterocin, named BacFL31 were previously demonstrated. Taking into account its originality, the enterocin BacFL31 was added alone at 200 AU/g or in combination with the aqueous peel onion ( Allium cepa ) extract (APOE) at 1.56 ± 0.3 mg/mL to ground beef meat. Its biopreservative effect was evaluated by microbiological, physicochemical and sensory analyses during 14 days at 4°C. The APOE was characterized for its phytochemical content: total phenolic (TPC), flavonoids (TFC) and tannins contents (TAC), its antioxidant capacity using the in vitro 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and its antilisterial activity. APOE had a high TPC, TFC and TAC respectively with 140 ± 2.05 (mg GAE/g), 35 ± 0.5 (mg QE/g) and 20.6 ± 1.4 (mg CE/g). Equally, APOE showed a potential radical scavenging activity compared to the butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), with an anti-radical power (ARP) of 46 ± 1.5. During 14 days of storage at 4°C, the combination between APOE and BacFL31 limited the microbial deterioration ( P < 0.05), led to a decrease in thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values and slowed down the metmyoglobin (MetMb) and carbonyl group accumulation and delayed the disappearance of sulfphydryl proteins ( P < 0.05). The combination was also efficient ( P < 0.05) against microflora proliferation, decreased primary and secondary lipid oxidation ( P < 0.05), reduced protein oxidation and enhanced significantly ( P < 0.05) the sensory attributes. Thus, the enterocin BacFL31 use from a safe Enterococcus faecium combined with APOE as a potential natural preservative to biocontrol ground beef was promising as it was effective at low concentration. The data lay bases for new tests to be carried out in other food matrices.

Forearm fractures are common injuries in childhood. Median nerve entrapment is a rare complication of forearm fractures, but several cases have been reported in the literature. This case report discusses the diagnosis and management of median nerve entrapment in a 13-yearold male who presented acutely with a both-bone forearm fracture and numbness in the median nerve distribution. Following the delayed diagnosis, surgical exploration revealed complete nerve entrapment and a nerve graft was performed.

Electrical burns are a major cause of bodily harm due to the mechanism and effect of the lesions. This prompts us to study these lesions and their management in order to reduce the morbidity caused by this type of accident. We conducted a retrospective descriptive observational study of patients hospitalized for electrical burns. This study includes 23 patients. The average age was 25.74 years. The most common occurrence was a domestic accident in 13 cases (56.5%), a work accident in 8 cases (34.8%), and a road traffic accident in 2 cases (8.7%). Fasciotomy was performed on six patients: five had high voltage injuries. Necrosis excision was performed at 8.26 days ± 5.55 days. Seven amputations were performed including 6 at the upper limb. Twenty flaps were used on 12 patients. Locoregional flaps were performed for 15 zones, and distant flaps as a solution in the event of locoregional flap failure. Five cases had immediate reconstruction because of exposure of noble elements, 3 showing necrosis of the flap. The average healing time was 45 days. Seven patients who underwent a reconstruction by flap healed after this period. The main results of the study show that conventional emergency decompression does not appear to reduce the amputation rate, the use of local and locoregional flaps in the initial phase (<21 days) carries a significant risk of suffering and necrosis, and that antithrombotic prevention or the use of flaps does not seem to have an impact on healing delays.

In this manuscript, a multiple enterocin-producing Enterococcus lactis strain named 4CP3 was used to control the proliferation of Listeria monocytogenes in refrigerated raw beef meat model. Also, the intraspecific genetic differentiation of 4CP3 strain was assessed by Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA Polymerase Chain Reaction (RAPD-PCR) analysis. E. lactis 4CP3 strain was found to produce the enterocins A, B, and P. It displayed activity against L. monocytogenes EGDe 107776 by agar-well diffusion method. The application of E. lactis 4CP3 culture at 10 7  CFU/g in raw beef meat was evaluated using both ANOVA and ANCOVA linear models in order to examine its effect on the growth of the pathogen L. monocytogenes during refrigerated storage. Hence, a very interesting result in decreasing ( P <0.05) and suppressing the growth of L. monocytogenes in refrigerated raw beef meat was shown during 28 days of storage. In conclusion, E. lactis 4CP3 strain might be useful for prevention of the proliferation and survival of L. monocytogenes in raw meat during refrigerated storage.

A new aerobic bacterium TN71 was isolated from Tunisian Saharan soil and has been selected for its antimicrobial activity against phytopathogenic bacteria. Based on cellular morphology, physiological characterization and phylogenetic analysis, this isolate has been assigned as Streptomyces sp. TN71 strain. In an attempt to increase its anti-Agrobacterium tumefaciens activity, GYM + S (glucose, yeast extract, malt extract and starch) medium was selected out of five different production media and the medium composition was optimized. Plackett-Burman design (PBD) was used to select starch, malt extract and glucose as parameters having significant effects on antibacterial activity and a Box-Behnken design was applied for further optimization. The analysis revealed that the optimum concentrations for anti-A. tumefaciens activity of the tested variables were 19.49 g/L for starch, 5.06 g/L for malt extract and 2.07 g/L for glucose. Several Artificial Neural Networks (ANN): the Multilayer perceptron (MLP) and the Radial basis function (RBF) were also constructed to predict anti-A. tumefaciens activity. The comparison between experimental with predicted outputs from ANN and Response Surface Methodology (RSM) were studied. ANN model presents an improvement of 12.36% in terms of determination coefficients of anti A. tumefaciens activity. To our knowledge, this is the first work reporting the statistical versus artificial intelligence based modeling for optimization of bioactive molecules against phytopathogens., (Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Virgin olive oil is appreciated for its particular aroma and taste and is recognized worldwide for its nutritional value and health benefits. The olive oil contains a vast range of healthy compounds such as monounsaturated free fatty acids, especially, oleic acid. The SAD.1 polymorphism localized in the Stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase gene (SAD) was genotyped and showed that it is associated with the oleic acid composition of olive oil samples. However, the effect of polymorphisms in fatty acid-related genes on olive oil monounsaturated and saturated fatty acids distribution in the Tunisian olive oil varieties is not understood., Methods: Seventeen Tunisian olive-tree varieties were selected for fatty acid content analysis by gas chromatography. The association of SAD.1 genotypes with the fatty acids composition was studied by statistical and Bayesian modeling analyses., Results: Fatty acid content analysis showed interestingly that some Tunisian virgin olive oil varieties could be classified as a functional food and nutraceuticals due to their particular richness in oleic acid. In fact, the TT-SAD.1 genotype was found to be associated with a higher proportion of mono-unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), mainly oleic acid (C18:1) (r = - 0.79, p < 0.000) as well as lower proportion of palmitic acid (C16:0) (r = 0.51, p = 0.037), making varieties with this genotype (i.e. Zarrazi and Tounsi) producing more monounsaturated oleic acid (C18: 1) than saturated acid. These varieties could be thus used as nutraceuticals and functional food., Conclusion: The SAD.1 association with the oleic acid composition of olive oil was identified among the studied varieties. This correlation fluctuated between studied varieties, which might elucidate variability in lipidic composition among them and therefore reflecting genetic diversity through differences in gene expression and biochemical pathways. SAD locus would represent an excellent marker for identifying interesting amongst virgin olive oil lipidic composition.

Tissue expansion in burn sequelae has been associated with high complication rates. A critical analysis of 8 years (2008-2015) of experience with 45 expanders placed in 31 consecutive burns sequelae was performed to identify those factors that predispose to complications. Major and minor complications occurred in 33.4% of procedures. The factor associated with a statistically significant increase in complications was limbs localization. In addition, complications were significantly more likely to occur within the second stage. Factors that did not influence complication rate included patient age, the volume of the expander, and aesthetic or functional indications.

Virgin olive oils extracted from three principal Tunisian olive cultivars (Chemlali, Chetoui and Zarrazi) and coming from four different regions (Sfax, Beja, Gabes and Medenine) along the Tunisian costs were analysed. The quality indices as well as fatty acids and phenolic acids content of oil samples were examined using univariate and multivariate statistical analysis. The finding demonstrated that significant differences (p < 0.05) were found in quality indices between the different cultivars and that fatty acid content is the most informative in discriminating olive oils from production sites that are different by geographical and climatic parameters. In fact, southern cultivars (Zarrazi Gabes and Zarrazi Medenine) have the best fatty acid combination according to their oxidative effect. Besides, phenolic acids content was not useful in discriminating olive oil samples and could depend not only on geographic location but also on olive variety and agronomic practices. Nevertheless, Principal Component Analysis allowed us to highlight the Chemlali Beja olive oil for its interesting oxidative stability, fatty acid composition and its richness in phenolic acids content.

To enhance table olive tree authentication, relationship, and productivity, we consider the analysis of 18 worldwide table olive cultivars (Olea europaea L.) based on morphological, biological, and physicochemical markers analyzed by bioinformatic and biostatistic tools. Accordingly, we assess the relationships between the studied varieties, on the one hand, and the potential productivity-quantitative parameter links on the other hand. The bioinformatic analysis based on the graphical representation of the matrix of Euclidean distances, the principal components analysis, unweighted pair group method with arithmetic mean, and principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) revealed three major clusters which were not correlated with the geographic origin. The statistical analysis based on Kendall's and Spearman correlation coefficients suggests two highly significant associations with both fruit color and pollinization and the productivity character. These results are confirmed by the multiple linear regression prediction models. In fact, based on the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) value, the best model demonstrated the power of the pollinization on the tree productivity (R 2  = 0.846). Moreover, the derived directed acyclic graph showed that only two direct influences are detected: effect of tolerance on fruit and stone symmetry on side and effect of tolerance on stone form and oil content on the other side. This work provides better understanding of the diversity available in worldwide table olive cultivars and supplies an important contribution for olive breeding and authenticity.

Background: Genotyping of the FAD2.1 and FAD2.3 polymorphisms in the fatty acid desaturase 2 gene (FADS2) shows that they are associated with the fatty acids composition of olive oil samples. However, these associations require further confirmation in the Tunisian olive oil cultivars, and little is known about the effect of polymorphisms in fatty acid-related genes on olive oil mono- and poly- unsaturated fatty acids distribution., Methods: A set of olive oils from 12 Tunisian cultivars was chosen. The fatty acid composition of each olive oil sample was determined by gas chromatography. Statistical and modeling Bayesian analyses were used to assess whether the FAD2.1 and FAD2.3 genotypes were associated with fatty acids composition., Results: The TT-FAD2.1 and the GG-FAD2.3 genotypes were found to be associated with a lower proportion of oleic acid (C18:1) (r = -0.778, p = 0.003; r = -0.781, p= 0.003) as well as higher proportion of linoleic (C18:2) (r = 0.693, p = 0.012; r = -0.759, p= 0.004) and palmitic acids (C16:0) (r = 0.643, p = 0.024; r = -0.503, p= 0.095), making varieties with this haplotype (i.e. Chemlali Sfax and Meski) producing more saturated (C16: 0) and polyunsaturated acids than oleic acid. The latter plays a major role in preventing several diseases., Conclusion: The two associations FADS2 FAD2.1 and FADS2 FAD2.3 with the fatty acid compositions of olive oil samples were identified among the studied olive cultivars. These associations differed between studied cultivars, which might explain variability in lipidic composition among them and consequently reflecting genetic diversity through differences in gene expression and biochemical pathways. FADS2 locus would constitute thus a good marker for detecting interesting lipidic chemotypes among commercial olive oils.

The aim of the present work was to develop a model that supplies accurate predictions of the yields of delta-endotoxins and proteases produced by B. thuringiensis var. kurstaki HD-1. Using available medium ingredients as variables, a mathematical method, based on Plackett-Burman design (PB), was employed to analyze and compare data generated by the Bootstrap method and processed by multiple linear regressions (MLR) and artificial neural networks (ANN) including multilayer perceptron (MLP) and radial basis function (RBF) models. The predictive ability of these models was evaluated by comparison of output data through the determination of coefficient (R 2 ) and mean square error (MSE) values. The results demonstrate that the prediction of the yields of delta-endotoxin and protease was more accurate by ANN technique (87 and 89% for delta-endotoxin and protease determination coefficients, respectively) when compared with MLR method (73.1 and 77.2% for delta-endotoxin and protease determination coefficients, respectively), suggesting that the proposed ANNs, especially MLP, is a suitable new approach for determining yields of bacterial products that allow us to make more appropriate predictions in a shorter time and with less engineering effort.

This study was undertaken to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal activities of Rumex tingitanus leaves extracts as well as the identification of bioactive components and their performance in meat preservation. Total phenolics and flavonoids showed the highest content of phenolics and flavonoids in the ethyl acetate fraction (Rt EtOAcF). For antimicrobial efficacy, leaves extract and derived fraction were tested for their capacity to inhibit bacterial and fungal proliferation in vitro and in vivo. The ethyl acetate fraction showed the most potent antibacterial and antifungal activities compared to the others extracts. Thus, the efficacy of this extract to inhibit the proliferation of Listeria monocytogenes in minced beef meat model was examined. This fraction eradicates the L. monocytogenes population in meat in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. A bio-guided purification of the Rt EtOAc fraction resulted in the isolation of the compound responsible for the observed antimicrobial activity. This compound was identified as luteolin by analysis of spectroscopic data., Chemical Compounds Isolated in This Article: Luteolin (PubChem CID: 5280445); p-iodonitrotetrazolium chloride (PubChem CID: 64957); Amphotericin B (PubChem CID: 5280965); Gentamicin and (PubChem CID: 6419933); Hexane (PubChem CID: 8058); Methanol (PubChem CID: 887); Ethanol (PubChem CID: 702); Dimethylsulfoxide (PubChem CID: 679); Quercetin (PubChem CID: 5280343); Gallic acid (PubChem CID: 370)., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Bacillus thuringiensis is a bacterium with unusual properties that make it useful for pest control in ecoagriculture. It can form a parasporal crystal containing polypeptides (also called delta-endotoxins). These entomopathogenic toxins are made during the stationary phase of the bacterial growth cycle and were initially characterized as an insect pathogen. Nowadays, the use of saturated two-level designs is very popular. This method is especially used in industrial applications where the cost of experiments is expensive. Standard classical approaches are not appropriate to analyze data from saturated designs. It is due to the fact that they only allow to estimate the main factor effects and cannot assure enough freedom degrees to estimate the error variance. In this paper, we propose the use of empirical Bayesian procedures to get inferences for data obtained from saturated designs, inspired from Hadamard matrices. The proposed methodology is illustrated by assuming a dataset to prove the model robustness. The comparison between the two studied mathematical techniques, based on mean square error values (MSE), revealed that Bayesian method (BM) was more accurate than least square method (LSM): for example, the results showed that 2002 and 2000.7 mg/l for experimental and predicted (BM) data were obtained against 2002 and 1991 mg/l for experimental and predicted (LSM) data. This suggested method could be generalized in several application fields in biological sciences.

The genetic diversity of 22 olive tree cultivars (Olea europaea L.) sampled from different Mediterranean countries was assessed using 5 SNP markers (FAD2.1; FAD2.3; CALC; SOD and ANTHO3) located in four different genes. The genotyping analysis of the 22 cultivars with 5 SNP loci revealed 11 alleles (average 2.2 per allele). The dendrogram based on cultivar genotypes revealed three clusters consistent with the cultivars classification. Besides, the results obtained with the five SNPs were compared to those obtained with the SSR markers using bioinformatic analyses and by computing a cophenetic correlation coefficient, indicating the usefulness of the UPGMA method for clustering plant genotypes. Based on principal coordinate analysis using a similarity matrix, the first two coordinates, revealed 54.94 % of the total variance. This work provides a more comprehensive explanation of the diversity available in Tunisia olive cultivars, and an important contribution for olive breeding and olive oil authenticity.

The major compounds in Mentha piperita essential oil (EOMP) were menthol (33.59%) and iso-menthone (33%). The biopreservative effect of EOMP used alone at 0.25 or 0.5% and in combination with the semi-purified bacteriocin BacTN635 at 500 or 1000AU/g, on minced beef meat was evaluated by microbiological, physicochemical and sensory analyses during storage at 4°C for 21days. EOMP used alone limited the microbial deterioration of minced meat (P<0.05). Furthermore, the combination between EOMP and BacTN635 led to a decrease in TBARS values and slowed down the accumulation of MetMb. This combination was more efficient (P<0.05) against microflora proliferation and enhanced the sensory acceptability extending thus the shelf life of meat beef by approximately 7days. On the basis of these results, physicochemical and sensorial parameters could be used for constructing regression models to predict overall acceptability. Overall, the strongest preservative effect was achieved by using the combination of EOMP at 0.5% with BacTN535 at 1000AU/g., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Olive (Olea europaea), whose importance is mainly due to nutritional and health features, is one of the most economically significant oil-producing trees in the Mediterranean region. Unfortunately, the increasing market demand towards virgin olive oil could often result in its adulteration with less expensive oils, which is a serious problem for the public and quality control evaluators of virgin olive oil. Therefore, to avoid frauds, olive cultivar identification and virgin olive oil authentication have become a major issue for the producers and consumers of quality control in the olive chain. Presently, genetic traceability using SSR is the cost effective and powerful marker technique that can be employed to resolve such problems. However, to identify an unknown monovarietal virgin olive oil cultivar, a reference system has become necessary. Thus, an Olive Genetic Diversity Database (OGDD) (http://www.bioinfo-cbs.org/ogdd/) is presented in this work. It is a genetic, morphologic and chemical database of worldwide olive tree and oil having a double function. In fact, besides being a reference system generated for the identification of unkown olive or virgin olive oil cultivars based on their microsatellite allele size(s), it provides users additional morphological and chemical information for each identified cultivar. Currently, OGDD is designed to enable users to easily retrieve and visualize biologically important information (SSR markers, and olive tree and oil characteristics of about 200 cultivars worldwide) using a set of efficient query interfaces and analysis tools. It can be accessed through a web service from any modern programming language using a simple hypertext transfer protocol call. The web site is implemented in java, JavaScript, PHP, HTML and Apache with all major browsers supported. Database URL: http://www.bioinfo-cbs.org/ogdd/., (© The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.)

Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a Gram-positive bacterium. The entomopathogenic activity of Bt is related to the existence of the crystal consisting of protoxins, also called delta-endotoxins. In order to optimize and explain the production of delta-endotoxins of Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki, we studied seven medium components: soybean meal, starch, KH₂PO₄, K₂HPO₄, FeSO₄, MnSO₄, and MgSO₄and their relationships with the concentration of delta-endotoxins using an experimental design (Plackett-Burman design) and Bayesian networks modelling. The effects of the ingredients of the culture medium on delta-endotoxins production were estimated. The developed model showed that different medium components are important for the Bacillus thuringiensis fermentation. The most important factors influenced the production of delta-endotoxins are FeSO₄, K2HPO₄, starch and soybean meal. Indeed, it was found that soybean meal, K₂HPO₄, KH₂PO₄and starch also showed positive effect on the delta-endotoxins production. However, FeSO4 and MnSO4 expressed opposite effect. The developed model, based on Bayesian techniques, can automatically learn emerging models in data to serve in the prediction of delta-endotoxins concentrations. The constructed model in the present study implies that experimental design (Plackett-Burman design) joined with Bayesian networks method could be used for identification of effect variables on delta-endotoxins variation.

Soft tissue chondromas are rare slowly-progressing benign tumours. We report 5 new cases of soft-tissue chondromas of the hand. The median age at the time of diagnosis was 38 years. The evolution ranged from one month to 5 years. Standard radiographs showed variable images depending on the degree of calcification. An excision biopsy was performed in all patients. A well encapsulated and limited tumour was found at surgery. Positive diagnosis was provided by the pathology examination. Simple excision-biopsy should suffice to treat the condition but care should be taken to make the excision complete in order to avoid recurrence.

The authors report a series of 12 patients who underwent digital arthroplasty using a swanson implant. Six patients had the sequellae of an injured hand, and the other six patients had rheumatoid arthritis. The majority of patients were men with an average age of 33 years. The patients were examined again about 4 years later on average. The lateral stability of the operated finger was considered to be satisfactory in 11 cases. The mean movement gain was 40 degrees. There was no sign of silicone particle synovitis, because it was fixed arthroplasty.

The carpal scaphoid is an uncommon localization for chondroma. Ten cases have been reported in the literature. We report a new case of right carpal scaphoid chondroma complicated by fracture in a 30 year-old man. The diagnosis was strongly suggested by the computed tomography scan and confirmed at pathology examination of the operative specimen. Treatment consisted in tumor enucleation and a cortico-cancellous graft to fill the gap followed by plaster case immobilization. Clinical and radiological outcome was favorable.

Central aplasia represent under 10% of congenital malformations of the hand. It is characterised by the partial or complete absence of the median ray. We adopted the classification of Swanson and considered this anomaly a stop of median longitudinal development. We separate 2 groups: Hand in folk: the aplasia interested only the median digits, all metacarpal are present. Hand in lobster's pincer: all median rays are absent including the metacarpal. We report a set of 16 children carriers of 23 central aplasia of the hand, it was about 14 hands in lobster'pincer and 9 hands in folk. In any case, the gene was merely aesthetic, the hand's function was complete. A child has been operated, and benefitted a closing of the median crack defect, he had a free thumb. For the other cases, abstention has been decided, indeed to close this cracks deprive these hands of a first corner the alone present.