Green fabricated CuO nanobullets via Olea europaea leaf extract shows auspicious antimicrobial potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Maqbool, Qaisar; Iftikhar, Sidra; Nazar, Mudassar; Abbas, Fazal; Saleem, Asif; Hussain, Talib; Kausar, Rizwan; Anwaar, Sadaf; Jabeen, Nyla

2017-06-01

In present investigation, copper oxide (CuO) nanostructures have been prepared via green chemistry. Olea europaea leaf extract act as strong chelating agent for tailoring physical as well as bio-medical characteristics of CuO at the nano-size. Physical characterisation such as scanning electron microscope analysis depicts the formation of homogenised spherical shape nanoparticles (NPs) with average size of 42 nm. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy further confirmed the crystalline pure phase and monoclinic structure. High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) testing is performed to evaluate the relative concentration of bioactive molecules in the O. europaea leaf extract. From HPLC results capping action of organic molecules around CuO-NPs is hypothesised. The antimicrobial potency of biosynthesised CuO-NPs have been evaluated using colony forming unit (CFU) counting assay and disc diffusion method which shows a significant zone of inhibition against bacterial and fungal strains may be highly potential for future antimicrobial pharmaceutics. Furthermore, reduction of various precursors by plant extract will reduce environmental impact over chemical synthesis.

Maximizing Lipid Yield in Neochloris oleoabundans Algae Extraction by Stressing and Using Multiple Extraction Stages with N-Ethylbutylamine as Switchable Solvent

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

The extraction yield of lipids from nonbroken Neochloris oleoabundans was maximized by using multiple extraction stages and using stressed algae. Experimental parameters that affect the extraction were investigated. The study showed that with wet algae (at least) 18 h extraction time was required for maximum yield at room temperature and a solvent/feed ratio of 1:1 (w/w). For fresh water (FW), nonstressed, nonbroken Neochloris oleoabundans, 13.1 wt % of lipid extraction yield (based on dry algae mass) was achieved, which could be improved to 61.3 wt % for FW stressed algae after four extractions, illustrating that a combination of stressing the algae and applying the solvent N-ethylbutylamine in multiple stages of extraction results in almost 5 times higher yield and is very promising for further development of energy-efficient lipid extraction technology targeting nonbroken wet microalgae. PMID:28781427

Three New Escherichia coli Phages from the Human Gut Show Promising Potential for Phage Therapy.

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Marion Dalmasso

Full Text Available With the emergence of multi-drug resistant bacteria the use of bacteriophages (phages is gaining renewed interest as promising anti-microbial agents. The aim of this study was to isolate and characterize phages from human fecal samples. Three new coliphages, ɸAPCEc01, ɸAPCEc02 and ɸAPCEc03, were isolated. Their phenotypic and genomic characteristics, and lytic activity against biofilm, and in combination with ciprofloxacin, were investigated. All three phages reduced the growth of E. coli strain DPC6051 at multiplicity of infection (MOI between 10-3 and 105. A cocktail of all three phages completely inhibited the growth of E. coli. The phage cocktail also reduced biofilm formation and prevented the emergence of phage-resistant mutants which occurred with single phage. When combined with ciprofloxacin, phage alone or in cocktail inhibited the growth of E. coli and prevented the emergence of resistant mutants. These three new phages are promising biocontrol agents for E. coli infections.

Bioguided Fractionation Shows Cassia alata Extract to Inhibit Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Growth and Biofilm Formation

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Samuel Takashi Saito

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Plant extracts have a long history to be used in folk medicine. Cassia alata extracts are known to exert antibacterial activity but details on compounds and mechanism of action remain poorly explored. We purified and concentrated the aqueous leaf extract of C. alata by reverse phase-solid phase extraction and screened the resulting CaRP extract for antimicrobial activity. CaRP extract exhibited antimicrobial activity for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, and Bacillus subtilis. CaRP also inhibited biofilm formation of S. epidermidis and P. aeruginosa. Several bacterial growth-inhibiting compounds were detected when CaRP extract was fractionated by TLC chromatography coupled to bioautography agar overlay technique. HPLC chromatography of CaRP extract yielded 20 subfractions that were tested by bioautography for antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and S. epidermidis. Five bioactive fractions were detected and chemically characterized, using high-resolution mass spectrometry (qTOF-MS/MS. Six compounds from four fractions could be characterized as kaempferol, kaempferol-O-diglucoside, kaempferol-O-glucoside, quercetin-O-glucoside, rhein, and danthron. In the Salmonella/microsome assay CaRP showed weak mutagenicity (MI<3 only in strain TA98, pointing to a frameshift mutation activity. These results indicate that C. alata leaf extract contains a minimum of 7 compounds with antimicrobial activity and that these together or as single substance are active in preventing formation of bacterial biofilm, indicating potential for therapeutic applications.

Bioguided Fractionation Shows Cassia alata Extract to Inhibit Staphylococcus epidermidis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa Growth and Biofilm Formation

Science.gov (United States)

Saito, Samuel Takashi; Trentin, Danielle da Silva; Macedo, Alexandre José; Pungartnik, Cristina; Gosmann, Grace; Silveira, Jaqueline de Deos; Guecheva, Temenouga Nikolova; Henriques, João Antonio Pêgas; Brendel, Martin

2012-01-01

Plant extracts have a long history to be used in folk medicine. Cassia alata extracts are known to exert antibacterial activity but details on compounds and mechanism of action remain poorly explored. We purified and concentrated the aqueous leaf extract of C. alata by reverse phase-solid phase extraction and screened the resulting CaRP extract for antimicrobial activity. CaRP extract exhibited antimicrobial activity for Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus epidermidis, S. aureus, and Bacillus subtilis. CaRP also inhibited biofilm formation of S. epidermidis and P. aeruginosa. Several bacterial growth-inhibiting compounds were detected when CaRP extract was fractionated by TLC chromatography coupled to bioautography agar overlay technique. HPLC chromatography of CaRP extract yielded 20 subfractions that were tested by bioautography for antimicrobial activity against S. aureus and S. epidermidis. Five bioactive fractions were detected and chemically characterized, using high-resolution mass spectrometry (qTOF-MS/MS). Six compounds from four fractions could be characterized as kaempferol, kaempferol-O-diglucoside, kaempferol-O-glucoside, quercetin-O-glucoside, rhein, and danthron. In the Salmonella/microsome assay CaRP showed weak mutagenicity (MI < 3) only in strain TA98, pointing to a frameshift mutation activity. These results indicate that C. alata leaf extract contains a minimum of 7 compounds with antimicrobial activity and that these together or as single substance are active in preventing formation of bacterial biofilm, indicating potential for therapeutic applications. PMID:22548121

A comparison of accelerated solvent extraction, Soxhlet extraction, and ultrasonic-assisted extraction for analysis of terpenoids and sterols in tobacco.

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Jinchao; Shao, Xueguang

2005-11-01

The performance of accelerated solvent extraction in the analysis of terpenoids and sterols in tobacco samples was investigated and compared with those of Soxhlet extraction and ultrasonically assisted extraction with respect to yield, extraction time, reproducibility and solvent consumption. The results indicate that although the highest yield was achieved by Soxhlet extraction, ASE appears to be a promising alternative to classical methods since it is faster and uses less solvent, especially when applied to the investigation of large batch tobacco samples. However, Soxhlet extraction is still the preferred method for analyzing sterols since it gives a higher extraction efficiency than other methods.

Platform construction and extraction mechanism study of magnetic mixed hemimicelles solid-phase extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Xiao, Deli; Zhang, Chan; He, Jia; Zeng, Rong; Chen, Rong; He, Hua

2016-12-01

Simple, accurate and high-throughput pretreatment method would facilitate large-scale studies of trace analysis in complex samples. Magnetic mixed hemimicelles solid-phase extraction has the power to become a key pretreatment method in biological, environmental and clinical research. However, lacking of experimental predictability and unsharpness of extraction mechanism limit the development of this promising method. Herein, this work tries to establish theoretical-based experimental designs for extraction of trace analytes from complex samples using magnetic mixed hemimicelles solid-phase extraction. We selected three categories and six sub-types of compounds for systematic comparative study of extraction mechanism, and comprehensively illustrated the roles of different force (hydrophobic interaction, π-π stacking interactions, hydrogen-bonding interaction, electrostatic interaction) for the first time. What’s more, the application guidelines for supporting materials, surfactants and sample matrix were also summarized. The extraction mechanism and platform established in the study render its future promising for foreseeable and efficient pretreatment under theoretical based experimental design for trace analytes from environmental, biological and clinical samples.

Combretum lanceolatum flowers extract shows antidiabetic activity through activation of AMPK by quercetin

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Carlos Roberto Porto Dechandt

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The present study evaluated the antidiabetic activity of the Combretum lanceolatum Pohl ex Eichler, Combretaceae, flowers extract (ClEtOH in diabetic rats. Streptozotocin-diabetic rats were divided into four groups: diabetic control, diabetic treated with 500 mg/kg of metformin and diabetic treated with 250 or 500 mg/kg of ClEtOH for 21 days. The treatment of diabetic rats with 500 mg/kg of ClEtOH promoted an increase in the weight of liver, white adipose tissues and skeletal muscles, improving body weight gain. Diabetic rats treated with 500 mg/kg of ClEtOH also presented reduction in glycemia, glycosuria and urinary urea levels, and increase in liver glycogen content. HPLC chromatogram showed that quercetin is the major compound in the extract. The phosphorylation levels of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase were increased in liver slices incubated in vitro with 50 µg/mL of ClEtOH, similarly to the incubation with metformin (50 µg/mL or quercetin (10 µg/mL. The antihyperglycemic effect of ClEtOH was similar to that of metformin and appears to be through inhibition of gluconeogenesis, since urinary urea was reduced and skeletal muscle mass was increased. These data indicate that the antidiabetic activity of the Combretum lanceolatum extract could be mediated, at least in part, through activation of adenosine monophosphateactivated protein kinase by quercetin.

Aloe vera extract as a promising treatment for the quality maintenance of minimally-processed table grapes

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Giuseppina Rosaria Antonella Alberio

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The effect of an edible film obtained from a commercial Aloe vera extract, on the quality maintenance of minimally processed grapes belonging to three different cultivars (Sugar One, Victoria and Black Magic was evaluated by enzymatic (PPO, PME, β-GAL, physicochemical (pH, acidity, °Brix, and sensorial methods. All the analyzed parameters were measured in extracts obtained from minimally processed grapes packaged in ordinary atmosphere and stored at 4 °C for 15 days. Samples dipped into Aloe vera showed significant differences (p≤0.05 compared to untreated ones. The determination of such parameters and the evaluation of consumer acceptability were helpful to determine the effectiveness of the post-harvest treatment with Aloe vera for a storage period of 15 days.

Analytical, antioxidant and hepatoprotective studies on extracts of oxalis corniculata linn

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, I.S.; Islam, M.; Khan, M.T.

2014-01-01

Despite a number of traditional medicinal uses and pharmacological properties, the usefulness of Oxalis corniculata Linn. (Family: Oxalidaceae) is a question due to its high oxalate content which can form insoluble salts with physiological calcium. Therefore, the present study aimed to reduce oxalates in extracts and to investigate such extracts chemically and biologically. The extraction was carried out using different solvents and methods, and analytical studies of extracts indicated that oxalate contents decrease on drying the material. Furthermore, extraction of both fresh and dried materials using 1 % aqueous calcium chloride and ferric chloride solutions resulted in lowering oxalate contents. Methanolic extracts of stems and leaves having lower oxalates were obtained using sequential extraction, which showed good in vitro antioxidant activity - by DPPH and beta-carotene linoleate models - and in vivo hepatoprotective activity in isoniazid and rifampicin-induced oxidative stressed rats (P < 0.05). It was concluded that methanolic extracts of leaves and stems of Oxalis corniculata had lower oxalates and showed promising antioxidant and hepatoprotective activities. (author)

Classification of Textures Using Filter Based Local Feature Extraction

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Bocekci Veysel Gokhan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available In this work local features are used in feature extraction process in image processing for textures. The local binary pattern feature extraction method from textures are introduced. Filtering is also used during the feature extraction process for getting discriminative features. To show the effectiveness of the algorithm before the extraction process, three different noise are added to both train and test images. Wiener filter and median filter are used to remove the noise from images. We evaluate the performance of the method with Naïve Bayesian classifier. We conduct the comparative analysis on benchmark dataset with different filtering and size. Our experiments demonstrate that feature extraction process combine with filtering give promising results on noisy images.

Ipomoea aquatica Extract Shows Protective Action Against Thioacetamide-Induced Hepatotoxicity

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A. Hamid A. Hadi

2012-05-01

Full Text Available In the Indian system of traditional medicine (Ayurveda it is recommended to consume Ipomoea aquatica to mitigate disorders like jaundice. In this study, the protective effects of ethanol extract of I. aquatica against liver damage were evaluated in thioacetamide (TAA-induced chronic hepatotoxicity in rats. There was no sign of toxicity in the acute toxicity study, in which Sprague-Dawley (SD rats were orally fed with I. aquatica (250 and 500 mg/kg for two months along with administration of TAA (i.p injection 200 mg/kg three times a week for two months. The results showed that the treatment of I. aquatica significantly lowered the TAA-induced serum levels of hepatic enzyme markers (ALP, ALT, AST, protein, albumin, bilirubin and prothrombin time. The hepatic content of activities and expressions SOD and CAT that were reduced by TAA were brought back to control levels by the plant extract supplement. Meanwhile, the rise in MDA level in the TAA receiving groups also were significantly reduced by I. aquatica treatment. Histopathology of hepatic tissues by H&E and Masson trichrome stains displayed that I. aquatica has reduced the incidence of liver lesions, including hepatic cells cloudy swelling, infiltration, hepatic necrosis, and fibrous connective tissue proliferation induced by TAA in rats. Therefore, the results of this study show that the protective effect of I. aquatica in TAA-induced liver damage might be contributed to its modulation on detoxification enzymes and its antioxidant and free radical scavenger effects. Moreover, it confirms a scientific basis for the traditional use of I. aquatica for the treatment of liver disorders.

Antiproliferative Activities of Bouea Macrophylla Seed Extracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arapoc, D.J.; Mohamed Zaffar Ali Mohamed Amiroudine; Zainah Adam; Rosniza Razali; Shafii Khamis

2016-01-01

Bouea macrophylla or commonly known as kundang fruit in Malaysia is a tropical fruit tree native to Southeast Asia. This plant belongs to the family Anacardiaceae which are cultivated for their edible fruits, seeds and medicinal compounds. The present study was conducted to evaluate the anti proliferation activities of aqueous, methanolic, chloroform and hexane extracts from the seed of B. macrophylla. The extracts were screened on human squamous cell carcinoma (HTB-43), breast cancer (MCF7) and (MDA-MB-231) cell lines by using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Most effective concentration were screened for apoptosis induction in cells using Hoechst stain. Our present study has shown that aqueous, methanolic, chloroform dan hexane extracts exhibited promising inhibition activity against HTB43 cell lines with the IC50 values were 29.32±5.80, 18.65±2.94, 21.14±6.97 and 34.36±16.50 μg/ mL, respectively. Meanwhile, only hexane extract showed inhibition against MCF7 (59.07±5.76) and MDA-MB-231(123.35±28.65). Besides that, the results also indicate that promising anticancer activity and causes loss in cancer cell viability by activating the apoptotic process. These findings suggest that B. macrophylla may have novel therapeutic applications for the treatment of different cancer types. (author)

Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Eucalyptus globulus Bark—A Promising Approach for Triterpenoid Production

Science.gov (United States)

Domingues, Rui M. A.; Oliveira, Eduardo L. G.; Freire, Carmen S. R.; Couto, Ricardo M.; Simões, Pedro C.; Neto, Carlos P.; Silvestre, Armando J. D.; Silva, Carlos M.

2012-01-01

Eucalyptus bark contains significant amounts of triterpenoids with demonstrated bioactivity, namely triterpenic acids and their acetyl derivatives (ursolic, betulinic, oleanolic, betulonic, 3-acetylursolic, and 3-acetyloleanolic acids). In this work, the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of Eucalyptus globulus deciduous bark was carried out with pure and modified carbon dioxide to recover this fraction, and the results were compared with those obtained by Soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane. The effects of pressure (100–200 bar), co-solvent (ethanol) content (0, 5 and 8% wt), and multistep operation were studied in order to evaluate the applicability of SFE for their selective and efficient production. The individual extraction curves of the main families of compounds were measured, and the extracts analyzed by GC-MS. Results pointed out the influence of pressure and the important role played by the co-solvent. Ethanol can be used with advantage, since its effect is more important than increasing pressure by several tens of bar. At 160 bar and 40 °C, the introduction of 8% (wt) of ethanol greatly improves the yield of triterpenoids more than threefold. PMID:22837719

Reversible Cysteine Protease Inhibitors Show Promise for a Chagas Disease Cure

Science.gov (United States)

Beaulieu, Christian; Black, W. Cameron; Isabel, Elise; Vasquez-Camargo, Fabio; Nath-Chowdhury, Milli; Massé, Frédéric; Mellon, Christophe; Methot, Nathalie

2014-01-01

The cysteine protease cruzipain is essential for the viability, infectivity, and virulence of Trypanosoma cruzi, the causative agent of Chagas disease. Thus, inhibitors of cruzipain are considered promising anti-T. cruzi chemotherapeutic agents. Reversible cruzipain inhibitors containing a nitrile “warhead” were prepared and demonstrated 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) as potent as 1 nM in baculovirus-generated cruzipain enzyme assays. In epimastigote and intracellular amastigote in vitro assays, the most potent compounds demonstrated antiparasitic behavior in the 5 to 10 μM IC50 range; however, trypomastigote production from the amastigote form was ∼90 to 95% inhibited at 2 μM. Two key compounds, Cz007 and Cz008, with IC50s of 1.1 and 1.8 nM, respectively, against the recombinant enzyme were tested in a murine model of acute T. cruzi infection, with oral dosing in chow for 28 days at doses from 3 to 50 mg/kg of body weight. At 3 mg/kg of Cz007 and 3 mg/kg of Cz008, the blood parasitemia areas under the concentration-time curves were 16% and 25% of the untreated group, respectively. At sacrifice, 24 days after immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide, parasite presence in blood, heart, and esophagus was evaluated. Based on negative quantitative PCR results in all three tissues, cure rates in surviving animals were 90% for Cz007 at 3 mg/kg, 78% for Cz008 at 3 mg/kg, and 71% for benznidazole, the control compound, at 50 mg/kg. PMID:24323474

Antioxidant activity of Rafflesia kerrii flower extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Puttipan, Rinrampai; Okonogi, Siriporn

2014-02-01

Rafflesia kerrii has been used in Thai traditional remedies for treatment of several diseases. However, scientific data particularly on biological activities of this plant is very rare. The present study explores an antioxidant activity of R. kerrii flower (RKF). Extracting solvent and extraction procedure were found to play an important role on the activity of RKF extract. The extract obtained from water-ethanol system showed higher antioxidant activity than that from water-propylene glycol system. Fractionated extraction using different solvents revealed that methanol fractionated extract (RM) possessed the highest antioxidant activity with Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and inhibitory concentration of 50% inhibition (IC50) values of approximately 39 mM/mg and 3 μg/mL, respectively. Phytochemical assays demonstrated that RM contained extremely high quantity of phenolic content with gallic antioxidant equivalent (GAE) and quercetin equivalent (QE) values of approximately 312 mg/g and 16 mg/g, respectively. Ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy (UV- VIS) and high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) indicated that gallic acid was a major component. RM which was stored at 40°C, 75% RH for 4 months showed slightly significant change (p antioxidant activity with zero order degradation. The results of this study could be concluded that R. kerrii flower was a promising natural source of strong antioxidant compounds.

Actinides complexes in solvent extraction. The amide type of extractants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Musikas, C.; Condamines, N.; Charbonnel, M.C.; Hubert, H.

1989-01-01

The N,N-dialkylamides and the N,N'-tetraalkyl. 2-alkyl 1,3-diamide propane are two promising classes of extractants which could replace advantageously the organophosphorus molecules for the separations of the actinide. The main advantages of the amides lie in their complete incinerability and the small interference of their radiolytic and hydrolytic degradation products for the processes. The actinide extraction chemistry with various amides is reviewed in this paper

Bioactive compounds fractionated from endophyte Streptomyces SUK 08 with promising ex-vivo antimalarial activity

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Noraziah Mohamad Zin

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Objective: To determine ex vivo antimalarial activity and cytotoxicity of endophytic Streptomyces SUK 08 as well as the main core structure fractionated from its crude extract. Methods: The activities of SUK 08 crude extract were evaluated by using the Plasmodium lactate dehydrogenase assay and synchronization test against rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei, instead of human malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The cytotoxicity of the crude extract was determined by MTT assay. The crude extract was analyzed by thin-layer chromatography and gas chromatography–mass spectrophotometry. Results: The ethyl acetate crude extract showed very promising antimalarial activity with IC50 of 1.25 mg/mL. The synchronization tests showed that ethyl acetate extraction could inhibit all stages of the Plasmodium life cycle, but it was most effective at the Plasmodium ring stage. On the basis of a MTT assay on Chang Liver cells, ethyl acetate and ethanol demonstrated IC50 values of >1.0 mg/mL. The IC50 of parasitemia at 5% and 30% for this extract was lower than chloroquine. Thin-layer chromatography, with 1: 9 ratio of ethyl acetate: hexane, was used to isolate several distinct compounds. Based on gas chromatography–mass spectrophotometry analysis, three core structures were identified as cyclohexane, butyl propyl ester, and 2,3-heptanedione. Structurally, these compounds were similar to currently available antimalarial drugs. Conclusions: The results suggest that compounds isolated from Streptomyces SUK 08 are viable antimalarial drug candidates that require further investigations. Keywords: Butyl–propyl–ester, Cyclohexane, 2,3-Heptanedione, Endophyte, Streptomyces, Antimalarial

Extract of Bauhinia vahlii Shows Antihyperglycemic Activity, Reverses Oxidative Stress, and Protects against Liver Damage in Streptozotocin-induced Diabetic Rats

Science.gov (United States)

Elbanna, Ahmed H.; Nooh, Mohammed M.; Mahrous, Engy A.; Khaleel, Amal E.; Elalfy, Taha S.

2017-01-01

Background: Several studies have affirmed the effectiveness of some Bauhinia plants as antihyperglycemic agents. Objective: We investigated the possible effect of Bauhinia vahlii leaves extract in reducing hyperglycemia and reversing signs of organ damage associated with diabetes in streptozotocin (STZ) rat model. Materials and Methods: Both polar fraction of the B. vahlii leaves (defatted ethanolic extract [DEE]) and nonpolar fraction (n-hexane extract) were evaluated in vitro for α-glucosidase inhibition and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging potential. DEE was selected for further in vivo studies and was administered at two doses, i.e., 150 or 300 mg/kg to STZ-diabetic rats for 4 weeks. Results: Only DEE exhibited in vitro antioxidant and antihyperglycemic activities and its oral administration at both dose levels resulted in significant reduction in fasting blood glucose and glycated hemoglobin. Furthermore, signs of oxidative stress as indicated by hepatic reduced glutathione, nitric oxide, and malondialdehyde levels were completely reversed. In addition, histopathological examination and measurement of serum aspartate transaminase and alanine transaminase levels showed that DEE protected the liver from signs of liver pathogenesis when compared to diabetic untreated animals and those treated with metformin. Phytochemical analysis of DEE showed high flavonoids content with quercitrin as the major constituent along with other quercetin glycosides. Conclusion: This study strongly highlights the possible beneficial effect of B. vahlii leaves extract in relieving hyperglycemia and liver damage in STZ-diabetic rats and recommends further investigation of the value of quercetin derivatives in controlling diabetes and ameliorating liver damage associated with it. SUMMARY The polar fraction of the Bauhinia vahlii leaves (defatted ethanolic extract [DEE]) exhibited both in vitro antioxidant activity in 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl scavenging assay and

Non-classical nonlinear feature extraction from standard resonance vibration data for damage detection.

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Eiras, J N; Monzó, J; Payá, J; Kundu, T; Popovics, J S

2014-02-01

Dynamic non-classical nonlinear analyses show promise for improved damage diagnostics in materials that exhibit such structure at the mesoscale, such as concrete. In this study, nonlinear non-classical dynamic material behavior from standard vibration test data, using pristine and frost damaged cement mortar bar samples, is extracted and quantified. The procedure is robust and easy to apply. The results demonstrate that the extracted nonlinear non-classical parameters show expected sensitivity to internal damage and are more sensitive to changes owing to internal damage levels than standard linear vibration parameters.

Molecular design of highly efficient extractants for separation of lanthanides and actinides by computational chemistry

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Uezu, Kazuya; Yamagawa, Jun-ichiro; Goto, Masahiro

2006-01-01

Novel organophosphorus extractants, which have two functional moieties in the molecular structure, were developed for the recycle system of transuranium elements using liquid-liquid extraction. The synthesized extractants showed extremely high extractability to lanthanides elements compared to those of commercially available extractants. The results of extraction equilibrium suggested that the structural effect of extractants is one of the key factors to enhance the selectivity and extractability in lanthanides extractions. Furthermore, molecular modeling was carried out to evaluate the extraction properties for extraction of lanthanides by the synthesized extractants. Molecular modeling was shown to be very useful for designing new extractants. The new concept to connect some functional moieties with a spacer is very useful and is a promising method to develop novel extractants for treatment of nuclear fuel. (author)

The Promises of Biology and the Biology of Promises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lee, Jieun

2015-01-01

commitments with differently imagined futures. I argue that promises are constitutive of the stem cell biology, rather than being derivative of it. Since the biological concept of stem cells is predicated on the future that they promise, the biological life of stem cells is inextricably intertwined...... patients’ bodies in anticipation of materializing the promises of stem cell biology, they are produced as a new form of biovaluable. The promises of biology move beyond the closed circuit of scientific knowledge production, and proliferate in the speculative marketplaces of promises. Part II looks at how...... of technologized biology and biological time can appear promising with the backdrop of the imagined intransigence of social, political, and economic order in the Korean society....

Cytotoxicity screening of Bangladeshi medicinal plant extracts on pancreatic cancer cells

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Abbasi Atiya

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background There has been a long standing interest in the identification of medicinal plants and derived natural products for developing cancer therapeutics. Our study focuses upon pancreatic cancer, due to its high mortality rate, that is attributed in part to the lack of an effective chemotherapeutic agent. Previous reports on the use of medicinal plant extracts either alone or alongside conventional anticancer agents in the treatment of this cancer have shown promising results. This work aims to investigate the therapeutic properties of a library of medicinal plants from Bangladesh. Methods 56 extracts of 44 unique medicinal plants were studied. The extracts were screened for cytotoxicity against the pancreatic adenocarcinoma cell line Panc-1, using a label-free biosensor assay. The top cytotoxic extracts identified in this screen were tested on two additional pancreatic cancer cell lines (Mia-Paca2 and Capan-1 and a fibroblast cell line (Hs68 using an MTT proliferation assay. Finally, one of the most promising extracts was studied using a caspase-3 colorimetric assay to identify induction of apoptosis. Results Crude extracts of Petunia punctata, Alternanthera sessilis, and Amoora chittagonga showed cytotoxicity to three cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging between 20.3 - 31.4 μg/mL, 13.08 - 34.9 μg/mL, and 42.8 - 49.8 μg/mL, respectively. Furthermore, treatment of Panc-1 cells with Petunia punctata was shown to increase caspase-3 activity, indicating that the observed cytotoxicity was mediated via apoptosis. Only Amoora chittagonga showed low cytotoxicity to fibroblast cells with an IC50 value > 100 μg/mL. Conclusion Based upon the initial screening work reported here, further studies aimed at the identification of active components of these three extracts and the elucidation of their mechanisms as cancer therapeutics are warranted.

Microalgae wet extraction using N-ethyl butylamine for fatty acid production

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Ying Du

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Microalgae are considered a promising feedstock for the production of food ingredients, cosmetics, pharmaceutical products and biofuels. The energy intensity of drying and cell breaking of algae and solvent recovery afterwards hindered the route of algae biorefinery. In this work the influences of freeze drying and cell breaking to the extraction efficiency of crude lipid yield and fatty acid yield were investigated. Results showed that drying and cell breaking are not necessary for N-ethyl butylamine extraction, because good yields were obtained without. Crude lipid yield and fatty acid yield using N-ethyl butylamine were comparable with Bligh & Dyer extraction, making N-ethyl butylamine a candidate for further development of an energy efficient lipid extraction technology for non-broken microalgae. Keywords: Microalgae, Lipids, Extraction, Switchable solvent, Secondary amine

Desulfurization of fuels with ionic liquids by extraction and oxidative extraction processes

OpenAIRE

Rodríguez Cabo, Borja

2014-01-01

The excessive emission of pollutants to the atmosphere has been a problem during the last few decades due to, among other reasons, the massive use of transports. In order to avoid this problem, many methods are being investigated as an alternative to the classical hydrodesulfurization technique, such as adsorption, biodesulfurization, extraction and oxidation. The extractive desulfurization is one of the most promising alternatives. Moreover, its enhancement with selective oxidation of sulfur...

Larvicidal activity of some Cerrado plant extracts against Aedes aegypti.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodrigues, A M S; De Paula, J E; Degallier, N; Molez, J E; Espindola, L S

2006-06-01

One hundred ninety hexanic and ethanolic extract from 27 plant species from the Cerrado biome of Brazil were tested for larvicidal activity against 3rd-stage Aedes aegypti larvae at 500 microg/ml. Fourteen extracts from 7 species showed activity (>65% mortality) against the larvae. Of these Dugeutia furfuracea, Piptocarpha rotundifolia, Casearia sylvestris var. lingua, Serjania lethalis, and Xylopia aromatica were active at 56.6, 162.31, 232.4, 285.76, and 384.37 microg/ml, respectively. Annona crassiflora and Cybistax antisyphilitica showed activity at 23.06 and 27.61 microg/ml. The larvicidal properties of these species are described for the first time, and may prove to be promising in active chemical compound isolation.

Optimization of polysaccharides extraction from watermelon rinds: Structure, functional and biological activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Romdhane, Molka Ben; Haddar, Anissa; Ghazala, Imen; Jeddou, Khawla Ben; Helbert, Claire Boisset; Ellouz-Chaabouni, Semia

2017-02-01

In the present work, optimization of hot water extraction, structural characteristics, functional properties, and biological activities of polysaccharides extracted from watermelon rinds (WMRP) were investigated. The physicochemical characteristics and the monosaccharide composition of these polysaccharides were then determined using chemical composition analysis, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gas chromatography-flame ionization detection (GC-FID). SEM images showed that extracted polysaccharides had a rough surface with many cavities. GC-FID results proved that galactose was the dominant sugar in the extracted polysaccharides, followed by arabinose, glucose, galacturonic acid, rhamnose, mannose, xylose and traces of glucuronic acid. The findings revealed that WMRP displayed excellent antihypertensive and antioxidant activities. Those polysaccharides had also a protection effect against hydroxyl radical-induced DNA damage. Functional properties of extracted polysaccharides were also evaluated. WMRP showed good interfacial dose-dependent proprieties. Overall, the results suggested that WMRP presents a promising natural source of antioxidants and antihypertensive agents. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Supercritical fluid extraction of uranium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Pradeep

2017-01-01

Uranium being strategic material, its separation and purification is of utmost importance in nuclear industry, for which solvent extraction is being employed. During solvent extraction significant quantity of radioactive liquid waste gets generated which is of environmental concern. In recent decades supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has emerged as promising alternative to solvent extraction owing to its inherent advantage of reduction in liquid waste generation and simplification of process. In this paper a brief overview of research work carried out so far on SFE of uranium by BARC has been given

Rational kernels for Arabic Root Extraction and Text Classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Attia Nehar

2016-04-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we address the problems of Arabic Text Classification and root extraction using transducers and rational kernels. We introduce a new root extraction approach on the basis of the use of Arabic patterns (Pattern Based Stemmer. Transducers are used to model these patterns and root extraction is done without relying on any dictionary. Using transducers for extracting roots, documents are transformed into finite state transducers. This document representation allows us to use and explore rational kernels as a framework for Arabic Text Classification. Root extraction experiments are conducted on three word collections and yield 75.6% of accuracy. Classification experiments are done on the Saudi Press Agency dataset and N-gram kernels are tested with different values of N. Accuracy and F1 report 90.79% and 62.93% respectively. These results show that our approach, when compared with other approaches, is promising specially in terms of accuracy and F1.

Functionalized ionic liquids: new agents for the extraction of actinides/lanthanides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ouadi, A.; Hesemann, P.; Billard, I.; Gaillard, C.; Gadenne, B.; Moreau, Joel J.E; Moutiers, G.; Mariet, C.; Labet, A.

2004-01-01

The potentialities of hydrophobic ionic liquids BumimPF 6 and BumimTf 2 N for their use in the nuclear fuel cycle were investigated, in particular for the liquid liquid extraction. We demonstrate that the use of RTILs in replacement of the organic diluents for actinides partitioning is promising. In our contribution, we present the synthesis of several task-specific ionic liquids. Our results show that grafting metal complexing groups increases the affinity of metals to the IL phase and gives rise to suitable media for the liquid-liquid extraction of actinides. (authors)

Polyphenols: Extraction Methods, Antioxidative Action, Bioavailability and Anticarcinogenic Effects

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Eva Brglez Mojzer

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Being secondary plant metabolites, polyphenols represent a large and diverse group of substances abundantly present in a majority of fruits, herbs and vegetables. The current contribution is focused on their bioavailability, antioxidative and anticarcinogenic properties. An overview of extraction methods is also given, with supercritical fluid extraction highlighted as a promising eco-friendly alternative providing exceptional separation and protection from degradation of unstable polyphenols. The protective role of polyphenols against reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, UV light, plant pathogens, parasites and predators results in several beneficial biological activities giving rise to prophylaxis or possibly even to a cure for several prevailing human diseases, especially various cancer types. Omnipresence, specificity of the response and the absence of or low toxicity are crucial advantages of polyphenols as anticancer agents. The main problem represents their low bioavailability and rapid metabolism. One of the promising solutions lies in nanoformulation of polyphenols that prevents their degradation and thus enables significantly higher concentrations to reach the target cells. Another, more practiced, solution is the use of mixtures of various polyphenols that bring synergistic effects, resulting in lowering of the required therapeutic dose and in multitargeted action. The combination of polyphenols with existing drugs and therapies also shows promising results and significantly reduces their toxicity.

Comparative ovicidal activity of Moringa oleifera leaf extracts on Fasciola gigantica eggs

Science.gov (United States)

Hegazi, Ahmed G.; Megeed, Kadria N. Abdel; Hassan, Soad E.; Abdelaziz, M. M.; Toaleb, Nagwa I.; Shanawany, Eman E. El; Aboelsoued, Dina

2018-01-01

Background: Fasciolosis is an important zoonotic disease affecting the productive performance of farm animals in Egypt. Aim: The aim of the present study was comparing the ovicidal effect of different extracts as an alcoholic (Methanolic and Ethanolic) and aqueous Moringa oleifera leaf extracts on Fasciola gigantica non-embryonated and developed eggs. Materials and Methods: Tested concentrations of extracts ranged from 12.5 to 800 mg/ml. Nitroxynil was used as reference drug with a dose of 100 mg/ml. Results: M. oleifera alcoholic and aqueous extracts showed a concentration-dependent ovicidal effect on F. gigantica non-embryonated and developed eggs. Based on LC50 values, water extract showed the highest ovicidal activity since it registered the lowest values of 2.6 mg/ml on non-embryonated eggs. Non-embryonated eggs were more susceptible to aqueous extract than developed eggs. On the other hand, the developed eggs were more susceptible to ethanolic extract than non-embryonated eggs even the lowest LC50 (12.38 mg/ml). Conclusion: M. oleifera leaf extracts especially aqueous extract could be a promising step in the field of controlling fascioliasis. Further, in vivo studies are needed to enlighten the therapeutic potential of M. oleifera extracts in treating F. gigantica infection. PMID:29657406

Comparative ovicidal activity of Moringa oleifera leaf extracts on Fasciola gigantica eggs

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Ahmed G. Hegazi

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Background: Fasciolosis is an important zoonotic disease affecting the productive performance of farm animals in Egypt. Aim: The aim of the present study was comparing the ovicidal effect of different extracts as an alcoholic (Methanolic and Ethanolic and aqueous Moringa oleifera leaf extracts on Fasciola gigantica non-embryonated and developed eggs. Materials and Methods: Tested concentrations of extracts ranged from 12.5 to 800 mg/ml. Nitroxynil was used as reference drug with a dose of 100 mg/ml. Results: M. oleifera alcoholic and aqueous extracts showed a concentration-dependent ovicidal effect on F. gigantica non-embryonated and developed eggs. Based on LC50 values, water extract showed the highest ovicidal activity since it registered the lowest values of 2.6 mg/ml on non-embryonated eggs. Non-embryonated eggs were more susceptible to aqueous extract than developed eggs. On the other hand, the developed eggs were more susceptible to ethanolic extract than non-embryonated eggs even the lowest LC50 (12.38 mg/ml. Conclusion: M. oleifera leaf extracts especially aqueous extract could be a promising step in the field of controlling fascioliasis. Further, in vivo studies are needed to enlighten the therapeutic potential of M. oleifera extracts in treating F. gigantica infection.

In vitro antimycobacterial activity of acetone extract of Glycyrrhiza glabra

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Swapna S. Nair

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Context: Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice has been used since ages as expectorant, antitussive and demulcent. G. glabra has been indicated in Ayurveda as an antimicrobial agent for the treatment of respiratory infections and tuberculosis. Aims: To evaluate the antimycobacterial activity of acetone extract of G. glabra by in vitro techniques. Methods: The anti-tubercular activity of acetone extract of G. glabra, obtained by Soxhlet extraction, was evaluated against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv (ATCC 27294. The in vitro anti-tubercular activity was determined by Resazurin Microtiter Plate Assay (REMA and colony count method. Further, the anti-tubercular activity of acetone extract of G. glabra was determined in human macrophage U937 cell lines and was compared against that of the standard drugs isoniazid, rifampicin and ethambutol. Results: G. glabra extract showed significant activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, when evaluated by REMA/colony count methods and in U937 human macrophage cell lines infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv. The activity of the extract was comparable to those of standard drugs. It was observed that the extract showed time and concentration dependent antimycobacterial activity. Conclusions: The present study reveals that G. glabra extract has promising anti-tubercular activity by preliminary in vitro techniques and in U937 macrophage cell line. Therefore, it has the definite potential to be developed as an affordable, cost-effective drug against tuberculosis.

Phytochemical and antifungal activity of anthraquinones and root and leaf extracts of Coccoloba mollis on phytopathogens

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Iuri Bezerra de Barros

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to study the phytochemical and antifungal activity of anthraquinones and root and leaf extracts of Coccoloba mollis on phytopathogens. The chemical analysis of ethanolic extracts showed a mixture of long-chain hydrocarbons, carboxyl esters and 3-taraxerone in the leaf extract. Two anthraquinones (emodin and physcion were isolated and identified from the root extract. Phytochemical screening using the pharmacognostic methods revealed the presence of flavonoids and tannins in the leaves and roots. Anthraquinones were only found in the root extract, no alkaloids, coumarins, saponins and simple phenolics were present. The antifungal activity of C. mollis extracts and anthraquinones isolated from the root of this plant against Botryospheria ribis, B. rhodina, Lasiodiplodia theobromae and Fusarium sp showed promising results for their use as fungicides, where emodin was the most active compound, which inhibited the microorganisms tested up to 44%.

Extraction spectrophotometric analyzer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batik, J.; Vitha, F.

1985-01-01

Automation is discussed of extraction spectrophotometric determination of uranium in a solution. Uranium is extracted from accompanying elements in an HCl medium with a solution of tributyl phosphate in benzene. The determination is performed by measuring absorbance at 655 nm in a single-phase ethanol-water-benzene-tributyl phosphate medium. The design is described of an analyzer consisting of an analytical unit and a control unit. The analyzer performance promises increased productivity of labour, improved operating and hygiene conditions, and mainly more accurate results of analyses. (J.C.)

Fuzzy promises

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Anker, Thomas Boysen; Kappel, Klemens; Eadie, Douglas

2012-01-01

as narrative material to communicate self-identity. Finally, (c) we propose that brands deliver fuzzy experiential promises through effectively motivating consumers to adopt and play a social role implicitly suggested and facilitated by the brand. A promise is an inherently ethical concept and the article...... concludes with an in-depth discussion of fuzzy brand promises as two-way ethical commitments that put requirements on both brands and consumers....

RF extraction issues in the relativistic klystron amplifiers

Science.gov (United States)

Serlin, Victor; Friedman, Moshe; Lampe, Martin; Hubbard, Richard F.

1994-05-01

Relativistic klystron amplifiers (RKAs) were successfully operated at NRL in several frequency regimes and power levels. In particular, an L-band RKA was optimized for high- power rf extraction into the atmosphere and an S-band RKA was operated, both in a two-beam and a single-beam configuration. At L-band the rf extraction at maximum power levels (>= 15 GW) was hindered by pulse shortening and poor repeatability. Preliminary investigation showed electron emission in the radiating horn, due to very high voltages associated with the multi-gigawatt rf power levels. This electron current constituted an electric load in parallel with the radiating antenna, and precipitated the rf pulse collapse. At S-band the peak extracted power reached 1.7 GW with power efficiency approximately 50%. However, pulse shortening limited the duration to approximately 50 nanoseconds. The new triaxial RKA promises to solve many of the existing problems.

Evaluation of antibacterial, antioxidant and GC-MS analysis of ethanolic seed extract of Myristica dactyloides

Science.gov (United States)

Bhavani, R.; Vijayalakshmi, R.; Venkat Kumar, S.; Rajeshkumar, S.

2017-11-01

In this present investigation we analysed the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of ethanol extract of Myristica dactyloides. The antimicrobial activity of the ethanol extract was evaluated by the agar well diffusion method against of E. coli, Klebsiella pneumonia, Streptococcus sp, and Staphylococcus aureus at different concentrations. The antibacterial activity showed the result in a dose-dependent manner. The free radical scavenging was evaluated against DPPH, hydroxyl, and nitric oxide radicals. In DPPH, hydroxyl and nitric oxide scavenging assay showed the IC 50 value of the extract was found to be 20 μg/ml, 48.25 and 30 μg/ml, respectively. The plant can be considered as promising antioxidant properties with high potential value for drug development for various diseases.

Brine shrimp lethality and antibacterial activity of extracts from the bark of Schleichera oleosa

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Laxman Pokhrel

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Objective: To determine the antibacterial efficacy and brine shrimp toxicity of extracts (hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water obtained from the bark of Schleichera oleosa. Methods: The powdered bark sample was Soxhlet extracted sequentially in hexanes, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water. Antibacterial evaluation was carried out by following the agar diffusion method and amoxicillin disc was used as a reference. Slightly modified Meyer’s method was used to determine the toxicity of the extracts in brine shrimps. Results: Among the nine bacterial strains tested, the methanolic and aqueous extracts showed promising antibacterial efficacy against Serratia marcescens, Escherarichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Micrococcus luteus. None of the extracts were found significantly toxic to brine shrimps. Conclusions: Strong antibacterial activity and low brine shrimp toxicity of methanolic and aqueous extracts can provide new antibacterial compounds.

Caesalpinia decapetala Extracts as Inhibitors of Lipid Oxidation in Beef Patties

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Maria G. Gallego

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In this study we investigated the effects of Caesalpinia decapetala (CD extracts on lipid oxidation in ground beef patties. Plant extracts and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT were individually added to patties at both 0.1% and 0.5% (w/w concentrations. We assessed the antioxidant efficacy of CD by the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP assay and evaluated their potential as natural antioxidants for meat preservation by thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS values, hexanal content, fatty acid composition and color parameters. These were tested periodically during 11 days of refrigerated storage. TBARS levels were significantly lower (p ≤ 0.05 in the samples containing plant extracts or BHT than in the non-treated control. In addition, the beef patties formulated with the selected plant extracts showed significantly (p ≤ 0.05 better color stability than those without antioxidants. These results indicate that edible plant extracts are promising sources of natural antioxidants and can potentially be used as functional preservatives in meat products.

In vitro antimicrobial potential of organic solvent extracts of novel ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SAM

methanol and water extracts of selected promising actinomycetes strains were studied towards Gram- positive ... Glucose and all other chemicals were obtained from Himedia. (India). ..... acetate, benzene, n-butanol and ethanol to extract the.

Eupafolin and Ethyl Acetate Fraction of Kalanchoe gracilis Stem Extract Show Potent Antiviral Activities against Enterovirus 71 and Coxsackievirus A16

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Ching-Ying; Huang, Shun-Chueh; Lai, Zhen-Rung; Ho, Yu-Ling; Jou, Yu-Jen; Kung, Szu-Hao; Zhang, Yongjun; Chang, Yuan-Shiun; Lin, Cheng-Wen

2013-01-01

Enterovirus 71 (EV71) and coxsackievirus A16 (CoxA16) are main pathogens of hand-foot-and-mouth disease, occasionally causing aseptic meningitis and encephalitis in tropical and subtropical regions. Kalanchoe gracilis, Da-Huan-Hun, is a Chinese folk medicine for treating pain and inflammation, exhibiting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Our prior report (2012) cited K. gracilis leaf extract as moderately active against EV71 and CoxA16. This study further rates antienteroviral potential of K. gracilis stem (KGS) extract to identify potent antiviral fractions and components. The extract moderately inhibits viral cytopathicity and virus yield, as well as in vitro replication of EV71 (IC50 = 75.18 μg/mL) and CoxA16 (IC50 = 81.41 μg/mL). Ethyl acetate (EA) fraction of KGS extract showed greater antiviral activity than that of n-butanol or aqueous fraction: IC50 values of 4.21 μg/mL against EV71 and 9.08 μg/mL against CoxA16. HPLC analysis, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, and plaque reduction assay indicate that eupafolin is a vital component of EA fraction showing potent activity against EV71 (IC50 = 1.39 μM) and CoxA16 (IC50 = 5.24 μM). Eupafolin specifically lessened virus-induced upregulation of IL-6 and RANTES by inhibiting virus-induced ERK1/2, AP-1, and STAT3 signals. Anti-enteroviral potency of KGS EA fraction and eupafolin shows the clinical potential against EV71 and CoxA16 infection. PMID:24078828

Eupafolin and Ethyl Acetate Fraction of Kalanchoe gracilis Stem Extract Show Potent Antiviral Activities against Enterovirus 71 and Coxsackievirus A16

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ching-Ying Wang

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Enterovirus 71 (EV71 and coxsackievirus A16 (CoxA16 are main pathogens of hand-foot-and-mouth disease, occasionally causing aseptic meningitis and encephalitis in tropical and subtropical regions. Kalanchoe gracilis, Da-Huan-Hun, is a Chinese folk medicine for treating pain and inflammation, exhibiting antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Our prior report (2012 cited K. gracilis leaf extract as moderately active against EV71 and CoxA16. This study further rates antienteroviral potential of K. gracilis stem (KGS extract to identify potent antiviral fractions and components. The extract moderately inhibits viral cytopathicity and virus yield, as well as in vitro replication of EV71 (IC50 = 75.18 μg/mL and CoxA16 (IC50 = 81.41 μg/mL. Ethyl acetate (EA fraction of KGS extract showed greater antiviral activity than that of n-butanol or aqueous fraction: IC50 values of 4.21 μg/mL against EV71 and 9.08 μg/mL against CoxA16. HPLC analysis, UV-Vis absorption spectroscopy, and plaque reduction assay indicate that eupafolin is a vital component of EA fraction showing potent activity against EV71 (IC50 = 1.39 μM and CoxA16 (IC50 = 5.24 μM. Eupafolin specifically lessened virus-induced upregulation of IL-6 and RANTES by inhibiting virus-induced ERK1/2, AP-1, and STAT3 signals. Anti-enteroviral potency of KGS EA fraction and eupafolin shows the clinical potential against EV71 and CoxA16 infection.

Extraction, radiolabeling and in vivo biological evaluation of {sup 131}I labeled egonol glycosides extract

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Akguel, Yurdanur; Pazar, Erdinc [Ege Univ., Izmir (Turkey). Chemistry Dept.; Yilmaz, Habibe; Sanlier, Senay Hamarat [Ege Univ., Izmir (Turkey). Biochemistry Dept.; Lambrecht, Fatma Yurt [Ege Univ., Izmir (Turkey). Dept. of Nuclear Applications; Yilmaz, Osman [Dokuz Eyluel Univ., Izmir (Turkey). Dept. of Lab. Animal Science

2015-09-01

Crude extract of S. officinalis L. was found to have suspending agent, hemolytic, antitumor, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities. Its major components benzofurans and benzofuran glycosides have antifungal, anticancer, antibacterial and anticomplement activities and display acetylcholinesterase-cyclooxygenase inhibitory and cytotoxic properties. Recently, it has been reported that egonolgentiobioside is a valuable target for structural modification and warrants further investigation for its potential as a novel pharmaceutical tool for the prevention of estrogen deficiency induced diseases. The aim of the current study is to perform in vivo biological evaluation of a glycosides extract, which was isolated from the fruits endocarp of Styrax officinalis L, identified as egonolgentiobioside and homoegonolgentiobioside and labeled with {sup 131}I. The radiolabeled glycosides extract was labeled with {sup 131}I with high yield. The labeled obtained radiolabeled compound was found to be quite stable and lipophilic. In order to determine its tissue distribution, an in vivo study was performed using healthy female Albino Wistar rats injected by {sup 131}I-glycosides. The biodistribution results showed that clearance of the radiolabeled compound is through the hepatobiliary pathway. The experimental study indicated that the radiolabeled glycosides extract accumulated in the large intestine. Therefore, the potential of {sup 131}I-glycosides might be evaluated in colon cancer cell lines and this might be a promising of tumor-imaging agent.

Storage stability of sterilized liquid extracts from pomegranate peel

Science.gov (United States)

Pomegranate marc, a byproduct of commercial juice production, has shown promise as a starting material for the recovery of health promoting phenolic compounds. The stability of aqueous extracts prepared from pomegranate marc was evaluated in preparation to directly using these extracts as nutraceuti...

Aqueous Extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa Calyces to Control Aichi Virus.

Science.gov (United States)

D'Souza, Doris H; Dice, Lezlee; Davidson, P Michael

2016-06-01

Aqueous Hibiscus sabdariffa extracts possess antimicrobial properties with limited information available on their antiviral effects. Aichi virus (AiV) is an emerging foodborne pathogen that causes gastroenteritis. Vaccines are currently unavailable to prevent their disease transmission. The objective of this study was to determine the antiviral effects of aqueous H. sabdariffa extracts against AiV. AiV at ~5 log PFU/ml was incubated with undiluted (200 mg/ml), 1:1 (100 mg/ml) or 1:5 (40 mg/ml) diluted aqueous hibiscus extract (pH 3.6), phosphate-buffered saline (pH 7.2 as control), or malic acid (pH 3.0, acid control) at 37 °C over 24 h. Treatments were stopped by serially diluting in cell-culture media containing fetal bovine serum and titers were determined using plaque assays on confluent Vero cells. Each treatment was replicated thrice and assayed in duplicate. AiV did not show any significant reduction with 1:1 (100 mg/ml) or 1:5 (40 mg/ml) diluted aqueous hibiscus extracts or malic acid after 0.5, 1, or 2 h at 37 °C. However, AiV titers were reduced to non-detectable levels after 24 h with all the three tested concentrations, while malic acid showed only 0.93 log PFU/ml reduction after 24 h. AiV was reduced by 0.5 and 0.9 log PFU/ml with undiluted extracts (200 mg/ml) after 2 and 6 h, respectively. AiV treated with 1:1 (100 mg/ml) and 1:5 (40 mg/ml) diluted extracts showed a minimal ~0.3 log PFU/ml reduction after 6 h. These extracts show promise to reduce AiV titers mainly through alteration of virus structure, though higher concentrations may have improved effects.

An improved method for extraction of nutraceutically important polyphenolics from Berberis jaeschkeana C.K. Schneid. fruits.

Science.gov (United States)

Belwal, Tarun; Giri, Lalit; Bhatt, Indra D; Rawal, Ranbeer S; Pande, Veena

2017-09-01

Berberis jaeschkeana fruits, source of nutraceutically important polyphenolics were investigated. A total of 32 experimental run were conducted under Plackett-Burman and central composite design. Microwave power, methanol and HCl concentration significantly (pextraction of polyphenols under linear, quadratic and interactive effect. The model showed good fitness with significant (pextraction (MAE) condition the total phenolics, flavonoids, tannins and antioxidant activity were in closed context with predicted values. As compared to ultrasonic (UAE) and maceration extraction (ME), MAE showed significantly (pantioxidant activity. HPLC-DAD analysis detects a total of 10 polyphenolic compounds under MAE as compared to 9 under UAE and ME. Designing of MAE conditions showed promising results for polyphenolic antioxidants extraction as revealed by higher yield with lesser time and solvent consumption, which can contribute in green extraction technology and its application in nutraceutical industry. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biological activities from extracts of endophytic fungi isolated from Viguiera arenaria and Tithonia diversifolia.

Science.gov (United States)

Guimarães, Denise O; Borges, Warley S; Kawano, Cristina Y; Ribeiro, Patrícia H; Goldman, Gustavo H; Nomizo, Auro; Thiemann, Otávio H; Oliva, Glaucius; Lopes, Norberto P; Pupo, Mônica T

2008-01-01

A total of 39 endophytic fungi have been isolated from Viguiera arenaria and Tithonia diversifolia, both collected in São Paulo State, Brazil. The isolates were identified based on their ribosomal DNA sequences. The ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extracts of all endophytic fungi were evaluated for their antimicrobial, antiparasitic and antitumoral activity. Antimicrobial screening was conducted using an agar diffusion assay against three pathogenic microorganisms: Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. Antiparasitic activity was determined by enzymatic inhibition of gGAPDH of Trypanosoma cruzi and adenine phosphorybosiltransferase (APRT) of Leishmania tarentolae. Antitumoral activity was tested against human T leukemia cells by the Mosmann colorimetric method. All extracts showed activity in at least one assay: 79.5% of the extracts were cytotoxic against leukemia cells, 5.1% of the extracts were active against S. aureus, 25.6% against E. coli and 64.1% against Candida albicans. Only one extract showed promising results in the inhibition of parasitic enzymes gGAPDH (95.0%) and three were found to inhibit APRT activity. The cytotoxic extract produced by the strain VA1 (Glomerella cingulata) was fractionated and yielded nectriapyrone and tyrosol. Nectriapyrone showed relevant cytotoxic activity against both human T leukemia and melanoma tumor cell lines.

Solvent extraction in analytical chemistry of tungsten (Review)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ivanov, V.M.; Busev, A.I.; Sokolova, T.A.

1975-01-01

The use of extraction for isolating and concentrating tungsten with subsequent determination by various methods is considered. For tungsten extractants of all types are employed: neutral, basic and acidic. Neutral extractants are used for isolating and concentrating tungsten, basic and acidic ones are employed, as a rule, for the isolation and subsequent determination of tungsten. This type of extractants is highly promising, since, selectively extracting tungsten, they allow its simultaneous determination. Neutral extractants are oxygen-containing solvents, TBP; basic extractants are aniline, pyridine, 1-naphthylamine, trialkylbenzylammoniumanitrate. As acidic reagents use is made of 8-oxyquinoline and its derivatives, oximes and hydroxamic acids, β-diketones, carbaminates. In the extraction radioactive isotope 185 W is employed

Pyridinium ionic liquid-based liquid-solid extraction of inorganic and organic iodine from Laminaria.

Science.gov (United States)

Peng, Li-Qing; Yu, Wen-Yan; Xu, Jing-Jing; Cao, Jun

2018-01-15

A simple, green and effective extraction method, namely, pyridinium ionic liquid- (IL) based liquid-solid extraction (LSE), was first designed to extract the main inorganic and organic iodine compounds (I - , monoiodo-tyrosine (MIT) and diiodo-tyrosine (DIT)). The optimal extraction conditions were as follows: ultrasonic intensity 100W, IL ([EPy]Br) concentration 200mM, extraction time 30min, liquid/solid ratio 10mL/g, and pH value 6.5. The morphologies of Laminaria were studied by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The recovery values of I - , MIT and DIT from Laminaria were in the range of 88% to 94%, and limits of detection were in the range of 59.40 to 283.6ng/g. The proposed method was applied to the extraction and determination of iodine compounds in three Laminaria. The results showed that IL-based LSE could be a promising method for rapid extraction of bioactive iodine from complex food matrices. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Inhibition of LDL oxidation and oxidized LDL-induced foam cell formation in RAW 264.7 cells show anti-atherogenic properties of a foliar methanol extract of Scoparia dulcis.

Science.gov (United States)

Nambiar, Sinjitha S; Shetty, Nandini Prasad; Bhatt, Praveena; Neelwarne, Bhagyalakshmi

2014-04-01

Oxidation of low density lipoproteins and their further uptake by macrophages is known to result in the formation of foam cells, which are critical in the initiation of atherosclerosis through activation of inflammatory signalling cascades. Thus, powerful dietary antioxidants are receiving attention for the reversal of such pathological states. Extracts of Scoparia dulcis have been used as tea and health drinks with various health promoting effects. In the present study, we examined the reactive oxygen scavenging potential as well as anti-inflammatory and anti-atherogenic efficacies, using leaf extracts obtained after successive extraction with various solvents. A methanol extract showed potent antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 570 μg/ml, caused hydrogen peroxide scavenging (28.9 µg/ml) and anti-inflammatory effects by improving human erythrocyte membrane stabilisation (about 86%). The methanol extract also efficiently inhibited lipid peroxidation and oxidation of low density lipoproteins, thus preventing foam cell formation in cultured RAW 264.7 cells. Furthermore, phytochemical screening of the extracts showed high accumulation of flavonoids. The foliar methanol extract of Scoparia dulcis has a strong anti-atherogenic potential and this property could be attributed maybe due to presence of flavonoids since HPLC analysis showed high concentrations of myricetin and rutin in the methanol extract.

Para rubber seed oil: new promising unconventional oil for cosmetics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lourith, Nattaya; Kanlayavattanakul, Mayuree; Sucontphunt, Apirada; Ondee, Thunnicha

2014-01-01

Para rubber seed was macerated in petroleum ether and n-hexane, individually, for 30 min. The extraction was additionally performed by reflux and soxhlet for 6 h with the same solvent and proportion. Soxhlet extraction by petroleum ether afforded the greatest extractive yield (22.90 ± 0.92%). Although antioxidant activity by means of 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay was insignificantly differed in soxhleted (8.90 ± 1.15%) and refluxed (9.02 ± 0.71%) by n-hexane, soxhlet extraction by n-hexane was significantly (p < 0.05) potent scavenged 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothaiazoline)-6-sulfonic acid) or ABTS radical with trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) of 66.54 ± 6.88 mg/100 g oil. This extract was non cytotoxic towards normal human fibroblast cells. In addition, oleic acid and palmitic acid were determined at a greater content than in the seed of para rubber cultivated in Malaysia, although linoleic and stearic acid contents were not differed. This bright yellow extract was further evaluated on other physicochemical characters. The determined specific gravity, refractive index, iodine value, peroxide value and saponification value were in the range of commercialized vegetable oils used as cosmetic raw material. Therefore, Para rubber seed oil is highlighted as the promising ecological ingredient appraisal for cosmetics. Transforming of the seed that is by-product of the important industrial crop of Thailand into cosmetics is encouraged accordingly.

Tasty THC: Promises and Challenges of Cannabis Edibles

Science.gov (United States)

Barrus, Daniel G.; Capogrossi, Kristen L.; Cates, Sheryl C.; Gourdet, Camille K.; Peiper, Nicholas C.; Novak, Scott P.; Lefever, Timothy W.; Wiley, Jenny L.

2016-01-01

Food products containing cannabis extract (edibles) have emerged as a popular and lucrative facet of the legalized market for both recreational and medicinal cannabis. The many formulations of cannabis extracts used in edibles present a unique regulatory challenge for policy makers. Though edibles are often considered a safe, discreet, and effective means of attaining the therapeutic and/or intoxicating effects of cannabis without exposure to the potentially harmful risks of cannabis smoking, little research has evaluated how ingestion differs from other methods of cannabis administration in terms of therapeutic efficacy, subjective effects, and safety. The most prominent difference between ingestion and inhalation of cannabis extracts is the delayed onset of drug effect with ingestion. Consumers often do not understand this aspect of edible use and may consume a greater than intended amount of drug before the drug has taken effect, often resulting in profoundly adverse effects. Written for the educated layperson and for policy makers, this paper explores the current state of research regarding edibles, highlighting the promises and challenges that edibles present to both users and policy makers, and describes the approaches that four states in which recreational cannabis use is legal have taken regarding regulating edibles. PMID:28127591

Laurel leaf extracts for honeybee pest and disease management: antimicrobial, microsporicidal, and acaricidal activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Damiani, Natalia; Fernández, Natalia J; Porrini, Martín P; Gende, Liesel B; Álvarez, Estefanía; Buffa, Franco; Brasesco, Constanza; Maggi, Matías D; Marcangeli, Jorge A; Eguaras, Martín J

2014-02-01

A diverse set of parasites and pathogens affects productivity and survival of Apis mellifera honeybees. In beekeeping, traditional control by antibiotics and molecules of synthesis has caused problems with contamination and resistant pathogens. In this research, different Laurus nobilis extracts are tested against the main honeybee pests through an integrated point of view. In vivo effects on bee survival are also evaluated. The ethanol extract showed minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of 208 to 416 μg/mL, having the best antimicrobial effect on Paenibacillus larvae among all substances tested. Similarly, this leaf extract showed a significant antiparasitic activity on Varroa destructor, killing 50 % of mites 24 h after a 30-s exposure, and on Nosema ceranae, inhibiting the spore development in the midgut of adult bees ingesting 1 × 10(4) μg/mL of extract solution. Both ethanol extract and volatile extracts (essential oil, hydrolate, and its main component) did not cause lethal effects on adult honeybees. Thus, the absence of topical and oral toxicity of the ethanol extract on bees and the strong antimicrobial, microsporicidal, and miticidal effects registered in this study place this laurel extract as a promising integrated treatment of bee diseases and stimulates the search for other bioactive phytochemicals from plants.

EXPERT SYSTEMS SHOW PROMISE FOR CUSTOMER INQUIRIES

Science.gov (United States)

This article describes results of an agreement between the North Penn Water Authority in Lansdale, Pa., and the US Environmental Protection Agency, Drinking Water Research Division, Cincinnati, Ohio, to study use of expert systems technology in a water utility. The threeyear stud...

Effect of extracts of Trichilia silvatica C. DC., on development and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SAM

2014-05-14

May 14, 2014 ... indicate that the extracts affected the biology of S. frugiperda, with LTS being the most promising. Key words: Meliaceae, methanolic extracts, insecticides, ...... Effects of neem seed derivatives on behavioral and physiological.

Phytochemicals Content, Antioxidant and α-Glucosidase Inhibition Activity of Bouea Macrophylla Griff Seed Extract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zainah Adam; Hazlina Ahmad Hassali; Rosniza Razali

2016-01-01

Bouea macrophylla Griff or locally known as kundang is one of the common fruit plant available in Malaysia. This plant from Anacardiaceae family is native to Southeast Asia particularly in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. Medicinal values of this plant is not yet been explored. The present study was done to evaluate phytochemicals constituents in B. macrophylla seed extract qualitatively and quantitatively. Biological evaluations focusing on antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibition were also performed. Qualitative phytochemicals screening revealed the presence of anthraquinones, terpenoids, flavanoids, tannins, alkaloids, glycosides, reducing sugar, steroids, triterpenes, phenolic, coumarine and proteins in B. macrophylla seed extract. Quantitative determination showed that B. macrophylla seed extract contains high amount of phenolic compounds (689.17±37.50 mg GAE/ g extract), but low amount of flavonoids (2.78±0.01 mg QE/ g extract), suggesting that most of the phenolics in B. macrophylla seed extract were non-flavonoids. Antioxidant assays showed that the extract possesses strong reducing power and DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC_5_0: 4.73±0.51 μg/ ml). These activities were almost comparable to that of vitamin C. α-Glucosidase inhibition study showed that the extract inhibited alpha-glucosidase activity potently with the IC_5_0 value of 0.55±0.04 mg/ ml, suggesting the ability of the plant to delay glucose absorption in small intestine, hence reduces hyperglycemia in diabetic condition. Potent antioxidant and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the extract might be attributed to the presence of high amount of phenolic compounds. In conclusion, this study showed that B. macrophylla seed extract contains various phytochemicals, possess strong antioxidant property and showed promising antidiabetic activity. These results indicate that B. macrophylla might have the potential to be developed as new pharmacological agent targeting on oxidative stress

Establishing an ISO 10001-based promise in inpatients care.

Science.gov (United States)

Khan, Mohammad Ashiqur Rahman; Karapetrovic, Stanislav

2015-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to explore ISO 10001:2007 in planning, designing and developing a customer satisfaction promise (CSP) intended for inpatients care. Through meetings and interviews with research participants, who included a program manager, unit managers and registered nurses, information about potential promises and their implementation was obtained and analyzed. A number of promises were drafted and one was finally selected to be developed as a CSP. Applying the standard required adaptation and novel interpretation. Additionally, ISO 10002:2004 (Clause 7) was used to design the feedback handling activities. A promise initially chosen for development turned out to be difficult to implement, experience that helped in selecting and developing the final promise. Research participants found the ISO 10001-based method useful and comprehensible. This paper presents a specific health care example of how to adapt a standard's guideline in establishing customer promises. The authors show how a promise can be used in alleviating an existing issue (i.e. communication between carers and patients). The learning can be beneficial in various health care settings. To the knowledge, this paper shows the first example of applying ISO 10001:2007 in a health care case. A few activities suggested by the standard are further detailed, and a new activity is introduced. The integrated use of ISO 10001:2007 and 10002:2004 is presented and how one can be "augmented" by the other is demonstrated.

AUTOMATIC RAILWAY POWER LINE EXTRACTION USING MOBILE LASER SCANNING DATA

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S. Zhang

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Research on power line extraction technology using mobile laser point clouds has important practical significance on railway power lines patrol work. In this paper, we presents a new method for automatic extracting railway power line from MLS (Mobile Laser Scanning data. Firstly, according to the spatial structure characteristics of power-line and trajectory, the significant data is segmented piecewise. Then, use the self-adaptive space region growing method to extract power lines parallel with rails. Finally use PCA (Principal Components Analysis combine with information entropy theory method to judge a section of the power line whether is junction or not and which type of junction it belongs to. The least squares fitting algorithm is introduced to model the power line. An evaluation of the proposed method over a complicated railway point clouds acquired by a RIEGL VMX450 MLS system shows that the proposed method is promising.

Some new developments in actinide solvent extraction systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Navratil, J.D.

1988-01-01

Consideration is given to application of neutral and acid organophosphoric compounds, adsorbed on various natural and synthetic carriers, in extraction chromatography for separation and isolation of actinides. It is shown that trioctylphosphine oxide (TOPO) on a solid combustible carrier represents the promising material for plutonium extraction. It was established experimentally that polyurethane foam possessed the maximal capacity with respect to TOPO; extractant losses at that after passing of 50 column volumes of nitric acid don't exceed 2 %

Phytochemical analysis and differential in vitro cytotoxicity assessment of root extracts of Inula racemosa.

Science.gov (United States)

Mohan, Shikha; Gupta, Damodar

2017-05-01

The root of Inula racemosa is known for its antifungal, hypolipdemic and antimicrobial properties in traditional Indian Ayurvedic and Chinese system of medicine. The biological efficacy of Inula species is mainly due to the presence sesquiterpene lactone (Isoalantolactone and Alantolactone), which are reported to be inducers of Nrf2 antioxidant pathway. The investigation of properties and efficacy of root extracts of I. racemosa and their comparison was done with a view to find most efficacious extract for use at cellular level (both normal and transformed). In the present study different extracts of root of I. racemosa (aqueous, ethanolic, and 50% aqueous-ethanolic) were prepared and compared for their antioxidant potential, reducing capacity, polyphenol content and flavonoid content. Our investigations suggested that the aqueous extract possess highest antioxidant capacity and reducing potential. The polyphenol content was found to be highest in aqueous extract in comparison with other two extracts. However, all the three extracts showed less flavonoid content. Further, the preliminary phytochemical screening of all the extracts revealed the presence of terpenoids, phytosterols and glycosides. The TLC profile of ethanolic and 50% aqueous-ethanolic extracts showed the presence of alantolactone while aqueous extracts did not exhibit its strong presence. This warrants the need of more stringent techniques for characterization of aqueous extract in future. The in vitro cell based toxicity assays revealed that the aqueous extract was less toxic to kidneys cells while ethanolic extract was toxic to cells even at low concentrations. Hence, the current investigations showed better efficacy of the aqueous extract with respect to other extracts and found to be promising for its future application at in vitro levels. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Antioxidant Activity of Potato Peel Extracts in a Fish-RapeseedOil Mixture and in Oil-in-Water Emulsions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Farvin, Sabeena; Nielsen, Nina Skall; Jacobsen, Charlotte

2010-01-01

The objectives of the present work were (a) to extract the phenolic fraction from the peels of two Danish varieties of potatoes, viz. Sava and Bintje, and examine their antioxidant capacity in in-vitro systems (b) to evaluate the effect of these extracts on the storage stability of a fish- rapeseed...... oil mixture and oil-in-water emulsions. Multiple antioxidant activity of the potato peel extracts was evident from in-vitro systems as they showed strong reducing power, radical scavenging ability, ferrous ion chelating activity and prevented oxidation in a liposome model system. The Sava variety...... in emulsions. Thus, the results of the present study show the possibility of utilizing waste potato peel as a promising source of natural antioxidants for retarding lipid oxidation....

Acetylcholinesterase inhibition by somes promising Brazilian medicinal plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Feitosa, C M; Freitas, R M; Luz, N N N; Bezerra, M Z B; Trevisan, M T S

2011-08-01

A microplate assay and a thin-layer chromatography (TLC) "in situ" assay based on the Ellman assay was used to screen for acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Brazilian medicinal plants of families that, according to the literature, have traditional uses that might be connected with acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Eighteen species belonging to Convolvulaceae, Crassulaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Leguminosae, Malvaceae, Moraceae, Nyctaginaceae and Rutaceae families were tested. The most active plants were Ipomoea asarifolia (IC50 = 0.12 mg/mL), Jatropha curcas (IC50 = 0.25 mg/mL), Jatropha gossypiifolia (IC50 = 0.05 mg/mL), Kalanchoe brasiliensis (IC50 = 0.16 mg/mL) and Senna alata (IC50 = 0.08 mg/mL). The most promising extracts were the Jatropha gossypiifolia and Senna alata species assuming there were compounds with a similar activity to galanthamine, which should contain about 1% of an active compound, or if present at lower levels even more active compounds than galanthamine (IC50 = 0.37 x 10-3 mg/mL) should be present.

Acetylcholinesterase inhibition by somes promising Brazilian medicinal plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

CM. Feitosa

Full Text Available A microplate assay and a thin-layer chromatography (TLC "in situ" assay based on the Ellman assay was used to screen for acetylcholinesterase inhibitors from ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Brazilian medicinal plants of families that, according to the literature, have traditional uses that might be connected with acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Eighteen species belonging to Convolvulaceae, Crassulaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Leguminosae, Malvaceae, Moraceae, Nyctaginaceae and Rutaceae families were tested. The most active plants were Ipomoea asarifolia (IC50 = 0.12 mg/mL, Jatropha curcas (IC50 = 0.25 mg/mL, Jatropha gossypiifolia (IC50 = 0.05 mg/mL, Kalanchoe brasiliensis (IC50 = 0.16 mg/mL and Senna alata (IC50 = 0.08 mg/mL. The most promising extracts were the Jatropha gossypiifolia and Senna alata species assuming there were compounds with a similar activity to galanthamine, which should contain about 1% of an active compound, or if present at lower levels even more active compounds than galanthamine (IC50 = 0.37 x 10-3 mg/mL should be present.

Bioactive extracts and chemical constituents of two endophytic strains of Fusarium oxysporum

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Andréa M. do Nascimento

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Ethyl acetate extracts of cultures grown in liquid Czapek and on solid rice media of the fungal endophyte Fusarium oxysporum SS46 isolated from the medicinal plant Smallanthus sonchifolius (Poepp. H. Rob., Asteraceae, exhibited considerable cytotoxic activity when tested in vitro against human cancer cells. Chromatographic separation yielded anhydrofusarubin (1 and beauvericin (2 that were identified based on their ¹H and 13C NMR data. Compounds 1 and 2 showed the strongest cytotoxic activity against different cancer cell lines. Compound 2 also showed promising activity against Leishmania braziliensis. Hexanic extract of F. oxysporum SS50 grown on solid rice media also afforded a mixture of compounds that displayed cytotoxic activity against different cancer cell lines. Chemical analysis of the mixture of compounds, investigated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS, showed that there was a predominance of methyl esters of fatty acids and alkanes.

Analysis of phytochemical profile of Terminalia arjuna bark extract with antioxidative and antimicrobial properties.

Science.gov (United States)

Mandal, Shreya; Patra, Arpita; Samanta, Animesh; Roy, Suchismita; Mandal, Arpita; Mahapatra, Tapasi Das; Pradhan, Shrabani; Das, Koushik; Nandi, Dilip Kumar

2013-12-01

To investigate phytochemical screening, antimicrobial activity and qualitative thin layer chromatographic separation of flavonoid components, antioxidant activity and total flavonoid compound of Terminalia arjuna. For phytochemical screening, some common and available standard tests were done. Antimicrobial bioassay was done through agar well diffusion method. Detection of antioxidant activity and flavonoid compounds were done through thin layer chromatography. Total antioxidant activity was measured by 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) in colorimetric method. Aluminum chloride colorimetric method was used for total flavonoid determination. Phytochemical screening showed the active compounds presence in high concentration, such as phytosterol, lactones, flavonoids, phenolic compounds and tannins and glycosides. The antimicrobial activity of extract showed that greater inhibition zone against Gram negative bacteria than Gram positive bacteria. This methanolic extract showed a promising antioxidant activity, as absorption of DPPH redicles decreased in DPPH free radical scavenging assay. Flavonoids components having antioxidant property present in the methanol extract at a level of 199.00 mg quercetin equivalent/g of dried methanol extract in colorimetric method. The Terminalia arjuna bark extract revealed the presence of bio-active constituents which are known to exhibit medicinal as well as physiological activities. Copyright © 2013 Asian Pacific Tropical Biomedical Magazine. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Patent Keyword Extraction Algorithm Based on Distributed Representation for Patent Classification

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Hu

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Many text mining tasks such as text retrieval, text summarization, and text comparisons depend on the extraction of representative keywords from the main text. Most existing keyword extraction algorithms are based on discrete bag-of-words type of word representation of the text. In this paper, we propose a patent keyword extraction algorithm (PKEA based on the distributed Skip-gram model for patent classification. We also develop a set of quantitative performance measures for keyword extraction evaluation based on information gain and cross-validation, based on Support Vector Machine (SVM classification, which are valuable when human-annotated keywords are not available. We used a standard benchmark dataset and a homemade patent dataset to evaluate the performance of PKEA. Our patent dataset includes 2500 patents from five distinct technological fields related to autonomous cars (GPS systems, lidar systems, object recognition systems, radar systems, and vehicle control systems. We compared our method with Frequency, Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF, TextRank and Rapid Automatic Keyword Extraction (RAKE. The experimental results show that our proposed algorithm provides a promising way to extract keywords from patent texts for patent classification.

Incremental Ontology-Based Extraction and Alignment in Semi-structured Documents

Science.gov (United States)

Thiam, Mouhamadou; Bennacer, Nacéra; Pernelle, Nathalie; Lô, Moussa

SHIRIis an ontology-based system for integration of semi-structured documents related to a specific domain. The system’s purpose is to allow users to access to relevant parts of documents as answers to their queries. SHIRI uses RDF/OWL for representation of resources and SPARQL for their querying. It relies on an automatic, unsupervised and ontology-driven approach for extraction, alignment and semantic annotation of tagged elements of documents. In this paper, we focus on the Extract-Align algorithm which exploits a set of named entity and term patterns to extract term candidates to be aligned with the ontology. It proceeds in an incremental manner in order to populate the ontology with terms describing instances of the domain and to reduce the access to extern resources such as Web. We experiment it on a HTML corpus related to call for papers in computer science and the results that we obtain are very promising. These results show how the incremental behaviour of Extract-Align algorithm enriches the ontology and the number of terms (or named entities) aligned directly with the ontology increases.

Antioxidant and Ex Vivo Immune System Regulatory Properties of Boswellia serrata Extracts

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Daniela Beghelli

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Boswellia serrata (BS is an important traditional medicinal plant that currently represents an interesting topic for pharmaceutical research since it possesses several pharmacological properties (e.g., anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antitumour. The safety and versatility of this dietary supplement should allow for its use in numerous pathological conditions; however the quality of the extracts needs to be standardized to increase the clinical success rate resulting from its use. In the present study, different commercially available B. serrata extracts were employed to compare their AKBA content and in vitro antioxidant power. Furthermore, their ability to modulate the immune system regulatory properties was investigated. Our results showed that the AKBA content varied from 3.83±0.10 to 0.03±0.004%, with one sample in which it was not detectable. The highest antioxidant power and phenolic content were shown by the same extract, which also exhibited the highest AKBA concentration. Finally, the BS extracts showed the ability to influence the regulatory and effector T-cell compartments. Our results suggest that frankincense should be further investigated for its promising potentiality to modulate not only inflammation/oxidative stress but also immune dysregulation, but attention should be paid to the composition of the commercial extracts.

Extract of Indian green mussel, Perna viridis (L.) shows inhibition of blood capillary formation in vitro

Digital Repository Service at National Institute of Oceanography (India)

Mirshahi, M.; Mirshahi, P.; Negro, S.; Soria, J.; Sreekumar, P.K.; Kotnala, S.; Therwath, A; Chatterji, A

The extract of the Indian green mussel (Perna viridis L.) was found to inhibit the formation of endothelial cell capillary tube in a concentration dependent manner in vitro. At a concentration of 5 mg/ml of crude extract, there no formation...

Characterization of an Antimicrobial Extract from Elaeagnus angustifolia

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Mohammad Hossein Dehghan

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Background: According to ethnobotanical data, Elaeagnus angustifolia fruit has wound healing activity, anti-inflammatory effect and antifebrile prosperities. Objectives: This study was performed as to the best of our knowledge; there has been no scientific report on the characterization of antimicrobial effect of E. angustifolia extract. Materials and Methods: An aqueous extract of Elaeagnus angustifolia was prepared and antimicrobial activity tests were performed on various target cultures. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC and minimal bactericidal concentration (MBC of the extract was done using the broth dilution technique. To characterize the extract, shelf life, thermal and pH stability, effects of detergents such as Tween 80, Tween 20, Triton X100, toluene and enzymes on the antimicrobial activity of Elaeagnus angustifolia extract, were examined. Results: The MIC values ranged from 7.5 to 0.1 mg/mL, showing maximum activity (1.62 mg/mL against E. coli. Similarly, the MBC of the extract against E. coli was 1.62 mg/mL. Antimicrobial activity of the extract was relatively stable when kept in the refrigerator for 60 days. The antimicrobial activity of Elaeagnus angustifolia extract was absolutely stable at temperatures up to 700° C. After exposure of the Elaeagnus angustifolia extract to different pH solutions in the range of 4-10, almost 100% residual activity was found against E. coli at pH 4, 5, 6, and 7. Treatment of the extract with detergents, lipase and lysozyme eliminated its antimicrobial activity. Conclusions: Our study gives an indication of the presence of promising antimicrobial compounds and provides basic information about the nature of the Elaeagnus angustifolia extract. Future studies should elucidate the components responsible for antimicrobial activity of these extracts against target cultures.

Do promises matter? An exploration of the role of promises in psychological contract breach.

Science.gov (United States)

Montes, Samantha D; Zweig, David

2009-09-01

Promises are positioned centrally in the study of psychological contract breach and are argued to distinguish psychological contracts from related constructs, such as employee expectations. However, because the effects of promises and delivered inducements are confounded in most research, the role of promises in perceptions of, and reactions to, breach remains unclear. If promises are not an important determinant of employee perceptions, emotions, and behavioral intentions, this would suggest that the psychological contract breach construct might lack utility. To assess the unique role of promises, the authors manipulated promises and delivered inducements separately in hypothetical scenarios in Studies 1 (558 undergraduates) and 2 (441 employees), and they measured them separately (longitudinally) in Study 3 (383 employees). The authors' results indicate that breach perceptions do not represent a discrepancy between what employees believe they were promised and were given. In fact, breach perceptions can exist in the absence of promises. Further, promises play a negligible role in predicting feelings of violation and behavioral intentions. Contrary to the extant literature, the authors' findings suggest that promises may matter little; employees are concerned primarily with what the organization delivers.

Application of 2k Full Factorial Design in Optimization of Solvent-Free Microwave Extraction of Ginger Essential Oil

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Mumtaj Shah

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The solvent-free microwave extraction of essential oil from ginger was optimized using a 23 full factorial design in terms of oil yield to determine the optimum extraction conditions. Sixteen experiments were carried out with three varying parameters, extraction time, microwave power, and type of sample for two levels of each. A first order regression equation best fits the experimental data. The predicted values calculated by the regression model were in good agreement with the experimental values. The results showed that the extraction time is the most prominent factor followed by microwave power level and sample type for extraction process. An average of 0.25% of ginger oil can be extracted using current setup. The optimum conditions for the ginger oil extraction using SFME were the extraction time 30 minutes, microwave power level 640 watts, and sample type, crushed sample. Solvent-free microwave extraction proves a green and promising technique for essential oil extraction.

Methanol extract of grain dust shows complement fixing activity and other characteristics similar to tannic acid.

Science.gov (United States)

Skea, D; Broder, I

1986-01-01

We have found several similarities between tannic acid and grain dust extract prepared with methanol. Both formed a precipitate with IgG, and these interactions were inhibited by albumin. In addition, both preparations fixed complement; this activity was heat stable and was removed by prior adsorption of the preparations with hide powder. Adsorption with polyvinyl polypyrrolidone reduced the complement-fixing activity of tannic acid but not that of the methanol grain dust extract. The similarities between tannic acid and the methanol grain dust extract are consistent with the presence of a tannin or tanninlike material in grain dust. Images FIGURE 1. PMID:3709479

Ultrasonic-assisted Aqueous Extraction and Physicochemical Characterization of Oil from Clanis bilineata.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Mingmei; Xu, Xiao; Zhang, Qiuqin; Rui, Xin; Wu, Junjun; Dong, Mingsheng

2018-02-01

Ultrasound-assisted aqueous extraction (UAAE) was used to extract oil from Clanis bilineata (CB), a traditional edible insect that can be reared on a large scale in China, and the physicochemical property and antioxidant capacity of the UAAE-derived oil (UAAEO) were investigated for the first time. UAAE conditions of CB oil was optimized using response surface methodology (RSM) and the highest oil yield (19.47%) was obtained under optimal conditions for ultrasonic power, extraction temperature, extraction time, and ultrasonic interval time at 400 W, 40°C, 50 min, and 2 s, respectively. Compared with Soxhlet extraction-derived oil (SEO), UAAEO had lower acid (AV), peroxide (PV) and p-anisidine values (PAV) as well as higher polyunsaturated fatty acids contents and thermal stability. Furthermore, UAAEO showed stronger antioxidant activities than those of SEO, according to DPPH radical scavenging and β-carotene bleaching tests. Therefore, UAAE is a promising process for the large-scale production of CB oil and CB has a developing potential as functional oil resource.

Antihyperglycemic effect of crude extracts of some Egyptian plants and algae.

Science.gov (United States)

AbouZid, Sameh Fekry; Ahmed, Osama Mohamed; Ahmed, Rasha Rashad; Mahmoud, Ayman; Abdella, Ehab; Ashour, Mohamed Badr

2014-03-01

Diabetes mellitus is a major global health problem. Various plant extracts have proven antidiabetic activity and are considered as promising substitution for antidiabetic drugs. The antihyperglycemic effect of 16 plants and 4 algae, commonly used in Egypt for the treatment of diabetes mellitus, was investigated. A diabetes model was induced by intraperitoneal injection of nicotinamide (120 mg/kg body weight [b.wt.]), then streptozotocin (200 mg/kg b.wt.) after 15 min. Hydroethanolic extracts (80%) of the plants and algae under investigation were prepared. The extracts were orally administered to nicotinamide-streptozotocin-induced diabetic mice by a gastric tube at doses 10 or 50 mg/kg b.wt. for 1 week. The antidiabetic activity was assessed by detection of serum glucose concentrations at the fasting state and after 2 h of oral glucose loading (4.2 mg/kg b.wt.). Extracts prepared from Cassia acutifolia, Fraxinus ornus, Salix aegyptiaca, Cichorium intybus, and Eucalyptus globulus showed the highest antihyperglycemic activity among the tested plants. Extracts prepared from Sonchus oleraceus, Bougainvillea spectabilis (leaves), Plantago psyllium (seeds), Morus nigra (leaves), and Serena repens (fruits) were found to have antihyperglycemic potentials. Extracts prepared from Caulerpa lentillifera and Spirulina versicolor showed the most potent antihyperglycemic activity among the tested algae. However, some of the tested plants have insulinotropic effects, all assessed algae have not. Identification of lead compounds from these plants and algae for novel antidiabetic drug development is recommended.

In vitro antimicrobial assessment of Cuban propolis extracts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lianet Monzote

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Propolis is a resinous mixture of different plant exudates collected by honeybees. Currently, propolis is widely used as a food supplement and in folk medicine. We have evaluated 20 Cuban propolis extracts of different chemical types, brown (BCP, red and yellow (YCP, with respect to their in vitro antibacterial, antifungal and antiprotozoal properties. The extracts inhibited the growth of Staphylococcus aureus and Trichophyton rubrum at low µg/mL concentrations, whereas they were not active against Escherichia coli and Candida albicans. The major activity of the extracts was found against the protozoa Leishmania, Trypanosoma and Plasmodium, although cytotoxicity against MRC-5 cells was also observed. The BCP-3, YCP-39 and YCP-60 extracts showed the highest activity against P. falciparum, with 50% of microbial growth (IC50 values of 0.2 µg/mL. A positive correlation between the biological activity and the chemical composition was observed for YCP extracts. The most promising antimicrobial activity corresponds to YCP subtype B, which contains acetyl triterpenes as the main constituents. The present in vitro study highlights the potential of propolis against protozoa, but further research is needed to increase selectivity towards the parasite. The observed chemical composition-activity relationship of propolis can contribute to the identification of the active principles and standardisation of this bee product.

Aqueous Extracts of the Marine Brown Alga Lobophora variegata Inhibit HIV-1 Infection at the Level of Virus Entry into Cells

KAUST Repository

Kremb, Stephan

2014-08-21

In recent years, marine algae have emerged as a rich and promising source of molecules with potent activities against various human pathogens. The widely distributed brown alga Lobophora variegata that is often associated with tropical coral reefs exerts strong antibacterial and antiprotozoal effects, but so far has not been associated with specific anti-viral activities. This study investigated potential HIV-1 inhibitory activity of L. variegata collected from different geographical regions, using a cell-based full replication HIV-1 reporter assay. Aqueous L. variegata extracts showed strong inhibitory effects on several HIV-1 strains, including drug-resistant and primary HIV-1 isolates, and protected even primary cells (PBMC) from HIV-1-infection. Anti-viral potency was related to ecological factors and showed clear differences depending on light exposition or epiphyte growth. Assays addressing early events of the HIV-1 replication cycle indicated that L. variegata extracts inhibited entry of HIV-1 into cells at a pre-fusion step possibly by impeding mobility of virus particles. Further characterization of the aqueous extract demonstrated that even high doses had only moderate effects on viability of cultured and primary cells (PBMCs). Imaging-based techniques revealed extract effects on the plasma membrane and actin filaments as well as induction of apoptosis at concentrations exceeding EC50 of anti-HIV-1 activity by more than 400 fold. In summary, we show for the first time that L. variegata extracts inhibit HIV-1 entry, thereby suggesting this alga as promising source for the development of novel HIV-1 inhibitors.

Evaluation of the insecticidal activity of the extracts from Piper grande Vahl (Piperaceae) using the biological model Drosophila melanogaster

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Granados N, Hillmer; Saez V, Jairo; Robles, Carolina; Vasquez, Luis F; Moreno, Maria E; Acevedo, Jose M; Pelaez, Carlos A; Callejas, Ricardo

2002-01-01

In this study, using the life cycle interruption test with the Drosophila melanogaster model, under (in-vitro conditions), the n-Hexane (roots and stems) and the EtOAc (roots and leaves) extracts were evaluated as insecticides and the results were promising. The larvae instars showed a significant activity reflected in the reduction of pupae population with respect to the control. The step from Pupae to adult did no show inhibition because in all cases the average of the relation pupae adult is found in values very near 1. The n-Hexane and the EtOAc extracts from roots were the most active with LC50 of 698.2 ppm and 1210.7 ppm. The n-Hexane (stems) and EtOAc (leaves) extracts showed a moderate activity with LC50 of 1654.1 ppm and 2376.0 ppm

Elicited vs. voluntary promises

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ismayilov, H.; Potters, Jan

2017-01-01

We set up an experiment with pre-play communication to study the impact of promise elicitation by trustors from trustees on trust and trustworthiness. When given the opportunity a majority of trustors solicits a promise from the trustee. This drives up the promise making rate by trustees to almost

Ultrasonic extraction, antioxidant and anticancer activities of novel polysaccharides from Chuanxiong rhizome.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Jie; Jia, Xuejing; Fang, Xiaobin; Li, Peng; He, Chengwei; Chen, Meiwan

2016-04-01

Ultrasonic-assisted extraction technology was employed to prepare Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort polysaccharide. Single factor test and orthogonal experimental design were used to optimize the extraction conditions. The results showed that the optimal extraction conditions consisted of ultrasonic temperature of 80°C, ultrasonic time of 40 min and water to raw material ratio of 30 mL/g. Three novel polysaccharides fractions, LCX0, LCX1 and LCX2, were isolated and purified from the crude polysaccharides using DEAE-52 cellulose and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. The molecular weight and monosaccharide composition of three LCX polysaccharides fractions were analyzed with gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and HPLC analysis, respectively. Furthermore, the antioxidant and in vitro anticancer activities of the polysaccharides were investigated. Compared with LCX0, LCX2 and LCX1 showed relative higher antioxidant activity and inhibitory activity to the growth of HepG2, SMMC7721, A549 and HCT-116 cells. It is suggested that the novel polysaccharides from rhizome of L. chuanxiong could be promising bioactive macromolecules for biomedical use. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

In Vivo and In Vitro Toxicity Evaluation of Hydroethanolic Extract of Kalanchoe brasiliensis (Crassulaceae) Leaves.

Science.gov (United States)

Fonseca, Aldilane Gonçalves; Ribeiro Dantas, Luzia Leiros Sena Fernandes; Fernandes, Júlia Morais; Zucolotto, Silvana Maria; Lima, Adley Antoninni Neves; Soares, Luiz Alberto Lira; Rocha, Hugo Alexandre Oliveira; Lemos, Telma Maria Araújo Moura

2018-01-01

The species Kalanchoe brasiliensis , known as "Saião , " has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antihistamine activities. It also has the quercetin and kaempferol flavonoids, which exert their therapeutic activities. With extensive popular use besides the defined therapeutical properties, the study of possible side effects is indispensable. The objective of this study is to evaluate the toxicity in vitro and in vivo from the hydroethanolic extract of the leaves of K. brasiliensis . The action of the extract (concentrations from 0.1 to 1000 uL/100 uL) in normal and tumor cells was evaluated using the MTT method. Acute toxicity and subchronic toxicity were evaluated in mice with doses of 250 to 1000 mg/kg orally, following recognized protocols. The in vitro results indicated cytotoxic activity for 3T3 cell line (normal) and 786-0 (kidney carcinoma), showing the activity to be concentration-dependent, reaching 92.23% cell inhibition. In vivo , the extract showed no significant toxicity; only liver changes related to acute toxicity and some signs of liver damage, combining biochemical and histological data. In general, the extract showed low or no toxicity, introducing itself as safe for use with promising therapeutic potential.

Evaluation of antimicrobial activity of selected plant extracts by rapid XTT colorimetry and bacterial enumeration.

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Bakri, Amal G; Afifi, Fatma U

2007-01-01

The aim of this study was to screen and evaluate the antimicrobial activity of indigenous Jordanian plant extracts, dissolved in dimethylsulfoxide, using the rapid XTT assay and viable count methods. XTT rapid assay was used for the initial screening of antimicrobial activity for the plant extracts. Antimicrobial activity of potentially active plant extracts was further assessed using the "viable plate count" method. Four degrees of antimicrobial activity (high, moderate, weak and inactive) against Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively, were recorded. The plant extracts of Hypericum triquetrifolium, Ballota undulata, Ruta chalepensis, Ononis natrix, Paronychia argentea and Marrubium vulgare had shown promising antimicrobial activity. This study showed that while both XTT and viable count methods are comparable when estimating the overall antimicrobial activity of experimental substances, there is no strong linear correlation between the two methods.

A review on green trend for oil extraction using subcritical water technology and biodiesel production.

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Abdelmoez, Weal; Ashour, Eman; Naguib, Shahenaz M

2015-01-01

It became a global agenda to develop clean alternative fuels which were domestically available, environmentally acceptable and technically feasible. Thus, biodiesel was destined to make a substantial contribution to the future energy demands of the domestic and industrial economies. Utilization of the non edible vegetable oils as raw materials for biodiesel production had been handled frequently for the past few years. The oil content of these seeds could be extracted by different oil extraction methods, such as mechanical extraction, solvent extraction and by subcritical water extraction technology SWT. Among them, SWT represents a new promising green extraction method. Therefore this review covered the current used non edible oil seeds for biodiesel production as well as giving a sharp focus on the efficiency of using the SWT as a promising extraction method. In addition the advantages and the disadvantages of the different biodiesel production techniques would be covered.

Plant extracts as potential mosquito larvicides.

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Ghosh, Anupam; Chowdhury, Nandita; Chandra, Goutam

2012-05-01

Mosquitoes act as a vector for most of the life threatening diseases like malaria, yellow fever, dengue fever, chikungunya ferver, filariasis, encephalitis, West Nile Virus infection, etc. Under the Integrated Mosquito Management (IMM), emphasis was given on the application of alternative strategies in mosquito control. The continuous application of synthetic insecticides causes development of resistance in vector species, biological magnification of toxic substances through the food chain and adverse effects on environmental quality and non target organisms including human health. Application of active toxic agents from plant extracts as an alternative mosquito control strategy was available from ancient times. These are non-toxic, easily available at affordable prices, biodegradable and show broad-spectrum target-specific activities against different species of vector mosquitoes. In this article, the current state of knowledge on phytochemical sources and mosquitocidal activity, their mechanism of action on target population, variation of their larvicidal activity according to mosquito species, instar specificity, polarity of solvents used during extraction, nature of active ingredient and promising advances made in biological control of mosquitoes by plant derived secondary metabolites have been reviewed.

[An improved algorithm for electrohysterogram envelope extraction].

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Lu, Yaosheng; Pan, Jie; Chen, Zhaoxia; Chen, Zhaoxia

2017-02-01

Extraction uterine contraction signal from abdominal uterine electromyogram(EMG) signal is considered as the most promising method to replace the traditional tocodynamometer(TOCO) for detecting uterine contractions activity. The traditional root mean square(RMS) algorithm has only some limited values in canceling the impulsive noise. In our study, an improved algorithm for uterine EMG envelope extraction was proposed to overcome the problem. Firstly, in our experiment, zero-crossing detection method was used to separate the burst of uterine electrical activity from the raw uterine EMG signal. After processing the separated signals by employing two filtering windows which have different width, we used the traditional RMS algorithm to extract uterus EMG envelope. To assess the performance of the algorithm, the improved algorithm was compared with two existing intensity of uterine electromyogram(IEMG) extraction algorithms. The results showed that the improved algorithm was better than the traditional ones in eliminating impulsive noise present in the uterine EMG signal. The measurement sensitivity and positive predictive value(PPV) of the improved algorithm were 0.952 and 0.922, respectively, which were not only significantly higher than the corresponding values(0.859 and 0.847) of the first comparison algorithm, but also higher than the values(0.928 and 0.877) of the second comparison algorithm. Thus the new method is reliable and effective.

Antiulcerogenic activity of crude extract, fractions and populnoic acid isolated from Austroplenckia populnea (Celastraceae).

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Andrade, Sérgio F; Antoniolli, Daiane; Comunello, Eros; Cardoso, Luis G V; Carvalho, José C T; Bastos, Jairo K

2006-01-01

Many plant crude extracts and their isolated compounds are the most attractive sources of new drugs and show promising results for the treatment of gastric ulcers. Austroplenckia populnea is commonly known as "marmelinho-do campo, mangabeira-brava, mangabarana and vime" and it has been used in folk medicine as anti-dysenteric and anti-rheumatic. Powdered bark wood (3.25 kg) was macerated with aqueous ethanol (96%) and the extract was concentrated under reduced pressure to yield 406 g of crude hydralcoholic extract. The hydralcoholic extract was suspended in aqueous methanol and partitioned with hexane, chloroform and ethyl acetate (EtOAc) in sequence, yielding 8.0 g, 9.5 g and 98.17 g of crude extracts, respectively. Chromatography of the hexane extract over a silica gel column led to the isolation of the triterpene populnoic acid. The oral administration of hydralcoholic, hexane, chloroform and EtOAc extracts (200 mg/kg) decreased the ulcer lesion index (ULI) by 83.15%, 46.87%, 32.2%, 68.12%, respectively. Oral administration of populnoic acid (100 mg/kg) diminished the ULI by 55.29%. All the obtained results were significant in comparison with the negative control, with exception of the chloroform extract.

Supercritical Fluid Extraction of Eucalyptus globulus Bark—A Promising Approach for Triterpenoid Production

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Carlos M. Silva

2012-06-01

Full Text Available Eucalyptus bark contains significant amounts of triterpenoids with demonstrated bioactivity, namely triterpenic acids and their acetyl derivatives (ursolic, betulinic, oleanolic, betulonic, 3-acetylursolic, and 3-acetyloleanolic acids. In this work, the supercritical fluid extraction (SFE of Eucalyptus globulus deciduous bark was carried out with pure and modified carbon dioxide to recover this fraction, and the results were compared with those obtained by Soxhlet extraction with dichloromethane. The effects of pressure (100–200 bar, co-solvent (ethanol content (0, 5 and 8% wt, and multistep operation were studied in order to evaluate the applicability of SFE for their selective and efficient production. The individual extraction curves of the main families of compounds were measured, and the extracts analyzed by GC-MS. Results pointed out the influence of pressure and the important role played by the co-solvent. Ethanol can be used with advantage, since its effect is more important than increasing pressure by several tens of bar. At 160 bar and 40 °C, the introduction of 8% (wt of ethanol greatly improves the yield of triterpenoids more than threefold.

Unary probabilistic and quantum automata on promise problems

OpenAIRE

Gainutdinova, Aida; Yakaryilmaz, Abuzer

2015-01-01

We continue the systematic investigation of probabilistic and quantum finite automata (PFAs and QFAs) on promise problems by focusing on unary languages. We show that bounded-error QFAs are more powerful than PFAs. But, in contrary to the binary problems, the computational powers of Las-Vegas QFAs and bounded-error PFAs are equivalent to deterministic finite automata (DFAs). Lastly, we present a new family of unary promise problems with two parameters such that when fixing one parameter QFAs ...

Anticancer activity and apoptosis inducing effect of methanolic extract of Cordia dichotoma against human cancer cell line

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Md. Azizur Rahman

2015-03-01

Full Text Available MTT assay and DAPI staining test were performed to evaluate anticancer potential and to assess apoptosis inducing effect of methanolic extract of Cordia dichotoma leaves (MECD against human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa. Changes in MMP and intracellular ROS level were also assessed by JC-1 and DCFH-DA staining. Total phenolic contents were determined by colorimetric principle. Levels of statistical significance were determined by one-way analysis of variance followed by Dunnett’s posttest. Results showed that MECD with obtained IC50 of 202 µg/mL inhibited in vitro proliferation of human cervical cancer cells and induced apoptosis indicating its promising anticancer activity as compared to the standard tamoxifen with obtained IC50 of 48 µg/mL. Total phenolic contents was found to be 176.5 mg GAE/g dried extract. It was concluded that MECD possess promising anticancer activity and induce apoptosis.

Extraction of plutonium(IV) by bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfoxide: a novel branched-chain extractant (Preprint No. ST.23)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shukla, J.P.; Kedari, C.S.

1989-01-01

Di-n-alkyl sulfoxides offer certain distint advantages over other common extractants for use in actinides separation particularly in the presence of high radiation fields. Despite widespread interest in these extractants, practical applications of such sulfoxides in nuclear fuel reprocessing have been seriously hampered owing to their poor solubility in common aliphatic hydrocarbon diluents. Recently a promising new branched-chain sulfoxide extractant, bis( 2-ethylhexyl) sulfoxide (BESO) has been introduced as a novel extracting agent for uranium. It possesses almost all the advantages of other sulfoxides, but excels the rest in terms of its complete miscibility with dodecane and the highest Ksub(H) value reported for any sulfoxide. As a part of comprehensive program to explore its analytical usefulness, data concerning preliminary studies on the extraction of plutonium with BESO form nitric acid solutions are reported. (author)

Antioxidant activity and sensory analysis of a rosmarinic acid-enriched extract of garden sage (Salvia officinalis)

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A novel extract of S. officinalis (garden sage) was prepared using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction, followed by a Soxhlet hot water extraction. The resulting extract was enriched in polyphenols, including rosmarinic acid (RA), which has shown promising health benefits in animals. Th...

Marine organisms as source of extracts to disrupt bacterial communication: bioguided isolation and identification of quorum sensing inhibitors from Ircinia felix

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Jairo Quintana

Full Text Available AbstractIn this study, 39 extracts from marine organisms were evaluated as quorum sensing inhibitors, collected in the Colombian Caribbean Sea and the Brazilian Coast including 26 sponges, seven soft corals, five algae and one zooanthid. The results showed that crude extracts from the soft coral Eunicea laciniata, and the sponges Svenzea tubulosa, Ircinia felix and Neopetrosia carbonaria were the most promising source of quorum sensing inhibitors compounds without affecting bacterial growth, unlike the raw extracts of Agelas citrina, Agelas tubulata, Iotrochota arenosa, Topsentia ophiraphidites, Niphates caycedoi, Cliona tenuis, Ptilocaulis walpersi, Petrosia pellasarca, and the algae Laurencia catarinensis and Laurencia obtusa, which displayed potent antibacterial activity against the biosensors employed. The crude extract from the sponge I. felix was fractionated, obtaining furanosesterterpenes which were identified and evaluated as quorum sensing inhibitors, showing a moderate activity without affecting the biosensor's growth.

Singular value decomposition based feature extraction technique for physiological signal analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chang, Cheng-Ding; Wang, Chien-Chih; Jiang, Bernard C

2012-06-01

Multiscale entropy (MSE) is one of the popular techniques to calculate and describe the complexity of the physiological signal. Many studies use this approach to detect changes in the physiological conditions in the human body. However, MSE results are easily affected by noise and trends, leading to incorrect estimation of MSE values. In this paper, singular value decomposition (SVD) is adopted to replace MSE to extract the features of physiological signals, and adopt the support vector machine (SVM) to classify the different physiological states. A test data set based on the PhysioNet website was used, and the classification results showed that using SVD to extract features of the physiological signal could attain a classification accuracy rate of 89.157%, which is higher than that using the MSE value (71.084%). The results show the proposed analysis procedure is effective and appropriate for distinguishing different physiological states. This promising result could be used as a reference for doctors in diagnosis of congestive heart failure (CHF) disease.

Keeping the Promise

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Whissemore, Tabitha

2016-01-01

Since its launch in September 2015, Heads Up America has collected information on nearly 125 promise programs across the country, many of which were instituted long before President Barack Obama announced the America's College Promise (ACP) plan in 2015. At least 27 new free community college programs have launched in states, communities, and at…

In vitro antimicrobial activity of plant extracts of Avicennia alba against some important pathogens

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Varahalarao Vadlapudi

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Objective: In this present study antimicrobial activity of aerial parts of Avicennia alba were evaluated against the resistant pathogens belong to aquatic, human and plant origin. Methods: Soxhlet extraction method was used to get the corresponding extracts of hexane, chloroform and methanol. The antimicrobial activities of the organic solvent extracts on the various test microorganisms, including bacteria and fungi investigated using agar well diffusion technique. The length of inhibition zone was measured in millimeters from the edge of the well to the edge of the inhibition zone. Methanol and chloroform extracts exhibited promising antimicrobial activity than hexane extracts. Results: The zone of inhibition of chloroform varies from (9 to 17 mm where as with methanol (11 to 28 mm at 100 mg/ml concentration. Among all microorganisms studied Erwinia caratovara and Pseudomonas syringae showed the considerable growth inhibition with chloroform and methanolic extracts. Conclusions: A. alba can be used in the treatment of infectious diseases caused by resistant pathogenic microorganisms. Further studies are being carried out in order to separate the individual components that are present in plant extracts of A. alba using column chromatography.

Crude extract and fractions from Eugenia uniflora Linn leaves showed anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antibacterial activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Falcão, Tamires Rocha; de Araújo, Aurigena Antunes; Soares, Luiz Alberto Lira; de Moraes Ramos, Rhayanne Thaís; Bezerra, Isabelle Cristinne Ferraz; Ferreira, Magda Rhayanny Assunção; de Souza Neto, Manoel André; Melo, Maria Celeste Nunes; de Araújo, Raimundo Fernandes; de Aguiar Guerra, Andreza Conceição Véras; de Medeiros, Juliana Silva; Guerra, Gerlane Coelho Bernardo

2018-03-09

This study showed phytochemical composition and evaluates the anti-inflammatory, and analgesic activities of crude extract (CE) and fractions from E. uniflora Linn leaves. Polyphenols present in crude extract (CE), in aqueous fraction (AqF), and ethyl acetate (EAF) treated fractions from E. uniflora Linn leaves were shown by chromatographic analysis in order to conduct a phytochemical characterization. Antibacterial activity was evaluated based on minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) determined using the agar dilution method. Doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg of the CE and fractions were applied for conducting in vivo models (male Swiss mice, 8-10 weeks old). The peritonitis experimental model was induced by carrageenan following of Myeloperoxidase activity (MPO), Total glutathione and malondialdehyde (MDA), IL-1β and TNF-α levels by spectroscopic UV/VIS analysis. Antinociceptive activity was evaluated based on an abdominal writhing model and hot plate test. The results were statistically evaluated using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Bonferroni's post-hoc test. The level of statistical significance was p fractions obtained from E. uniflora Linn leaves (0.05-0.87%w/w, 0.20-0.32%w/w, and 1.71-6.56%w/w, respectively). In general, the CE had lower MIC values than the fractions, including the lowest MIC against the MRSA strain. The CE and AqF also significantly reduced leukocyte migration and MPO activity (p fractions exhibited an antioxidant effect (p fractions from the studied E. uniflora Linn leaves exhibited antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and analgesic activity in the performed assays.

Mathematical Profiles and Problem Solving Abilities of Mathematically Promising Students

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Budak, Ibrahim

2012-01-01

Mathematically promising students are defined as those who have the potential to become the leaders and problem solvers of the future. The purpose of this research is to reveal what problem solving abilities mathematically promising students show in solving non-routine problems and type of profiles they present in the classroom and during problem…

[Antiinflammatory activity of extracts and fractions obtained from Physalis peruviana L. calyces].

Science.gov (United States)

Franco, Luis A; Matiz, Germán E; Calle, Jairo; Pinzón, Roberto; Ospina, Luis F

2007-03-01

Cape gooseberry calyces (Physalis peruviana) have been used in folk medicine for their medicinal properties including anticancer, antimycobacterial, antipyretic, diuretic, immunomodulatory and antiinflammatory properties. The antiinflammatory effect was evaluated for extracts and fractions obtained from Physalis peruviana calyces in a mice model of acute inflammation. The fractions responsible for antiinflammatory activity were extracted for possible identification. The Physalis peruviana calyces were extracted by percolation with organic solvents. The primary hydroalcoholic fraction was purified by column chromatography. The antiinflammatory effect of extracts and fractions was evaluated using the 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced mouse model of ear edema. Thirty-eight secondary fractions were obtained by column chromatography of primary hydroalcoholic fraction. Six fractions, evaluated in 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate-induced inflammation assay, showed significant antiinflammatory activity (pPhysalis peruviana calyces was confirmed and validated its use in folk medicine. Fractions responsible for the antiinflammatory action were identified and seem promising for phytomedicinal development. Further studies are needed to isolate and identify the active constituents of these fractions as well as to ascertain the mechanisms involved in the antiinflammatory effect.

Change of Monascus pigment metabolism and secretion in different extractive fermentation process.

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Chen, Gong; Tang, Rui; Tian, Xiaofei; Qin, Peng; Wu, Zhenqiang

2017-06-01

Monascus pigments that were generally produced intracellularly from Monascus spp. are important natural colorants in food industry. In this study, change of pigment metabolism and secretion was investigated through fed-batch extractive fermentation and continuous extractive fermentation. The biomass, secreting rate of pigment and total pigment yield closely correlated with the activated time of extractive fermentation as well as the composition of feeding nutrients. Metal ions played a key role in both the cell growth and pigment metabolism. Nitrogen source was necessary for a high productivity of biomass but not for high pigment yield. Furthermore, fermentation period for the fed-batch extractive fermentation could be reduced by 18.75% with a nitrogen source free feeding medium. Through a 30-day continuous extractive fermentation, the average daily productivity for total pigments reached 74.9 AU day -1 with an increase by 32.6 and 296.3% compared to that in a 6-day conventional batch fermentation and a 16-day fed-batch extractive fermentation, respectively. At the meantime, proportions of extracellular pigments increased gradually from 2.7 to 71.3%, and yellow pigments gradually became dominated in both intracellular and extracellular pigments in the end of continuous extractive fermentation. This findings showed that either fed-batch or continuous extractive fermentation acted as a promising method in the efficient production of Monascus pigments.

Phytochemical investigation and antimicrobial activity of leaves extract of Vernonia auriculifera Hiern.

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Bekele Albejo

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Context: The genus Vernonia is one of the largest groups in the family Compositae constituting more than 500 species distributed widely in tropical and sub-tropical regions of Africa, Asia, and America. Traditionally the genus is used for the treatment of schistosomiasis, amoebic dysentery, gastrointestinal problems, malaria, venereal diseases, wounds, hepatitis, and diabetes. Vernonia auriculifera Hiern is used for healing wounds as ointment around the injured areas. Aims: To investigate the phytochemical constituents and evaluate antimicrobial activity of leaves extract of Vernonia auriculifera Hiern. Methods: Phytochemical screening tests were conducted to identify the class of compounds present in the leaves extracts of V. auriculifera. Silica gel column chromatographic technique was applied to separate the constituents of the extracts. Various spectroscopic techniques (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, DEPT-135, COSY, gHSQC, and gHMBC were applied to determine the structures of isolated compounds. Results: Phytochemical screening of the methanol leaf extract revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins and absence of anthraquinones, steroids, and alkaloids. Silica gel column chromatography of the methanol leaves extract yielded one compound. The hexane, chloroform, methanol and water extracts were tested against Staphylococcus aureus. The methanol and water extracts showed promising growth suppression at minimum inhibitory concentration of 200 mg/mL. Conclusions: The polar extracts of the leaves of Vernonia auriculifera Hiern possess antimicrobial activity.

[Antifungal effect of phenolic and carotenoids extracts from chiltepin (Capsicum annum var. glabriusculum) on Alternaria alternata and Fusarium oxysporum].

Science.gov (United States)

Rodriguez-Maturino, Alfonso; Troncoso-Rojas, Rosalba; Sánchez-Estrada, Alberto; González-Mendoza, Daniel; Ruiz-Sanchez, Esau; Zamora-Bustillos, Roberto; Ceceña-Duran, Carlos; Grimaldo-Juarez, Onecimo; Aviles-Marin, Mónica

2015-01-01

The effect of phenolic and carotenoid extracts from chiltepin fruits on mycelial growth and the inhibition of conidial germination of Alternaria alternata and Fusarium oxysporum were investigated in the present work. Phenolic extracts inhibited mycelial growth of A.alternata by 38.46%, and significantly reduced conidial germination on the fifth day after treatment to 92% in relation to control. No significant changes were observed in the inhibition of mycelial growth in Fusarium oxysporum; however, the number of germinated conidia was reduced, showing 85% inhibition five days after treatment in relation to control. Moreover, carotenoid extracts showed 38.5% inhibition of mycelial growth and 85.3% inhibition of conidial germination of A.alternata, five days after treatment. Carotenoid extracts showed less inhibition of mycelial growth (20.3%) in F.oxysporum, with respect to A.alternata; while there was greater inhibition of conidial germination (96%) on the fifth day after treatment. Phenolic and carotenoid extracts from chiltepin may be a promising alternative as a natural fungicide against fungi of agricultural importance. Copyright © 2014 Asociación Argentina de Microbiología. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Antimicrobial activity of ethanolic extracts from algae against Penicillium expansum Link (Trichocomaceae, Ascomycota

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Argus Cezar da Rocha Neto

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Penicillium expansum is a cosmopolitan, highly aggressive pathogen that causes blue mold, a disease of great importance that leads to losses in quality and quantity of harvested fruits. The application of chemicals is traditionally used as a control method. However, algae bioprospecting has revealed many antifungal compounds that can be used to control pathogens. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of ethanolic extracts from seven microalgae and five macroalgae against P. expansum. The antifungal potential was evaluated by analyzing germination percentage, the size of the germ tube, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC, and the median effective concentration (EC50. The spectrophotometric profile was determined for extracts that showed an inhibitory effect. Among the investigated algae, the Chlorella sp. and H. pluvialis extracts, which had final concentrations of 18.8 and 125.95mg.mL-1, inhibited 100% and 91% germination, respectively. The EC50 was 2.93 and 61.20 mg.mL-1 for Chlorella sp. and H. pluvialis, respectively. Chlorella sp. showed absorption peaks in the range of chlorophyll-a and H. pluvialis presented a peak in the range of phenolic compounds. Although further studies are required to characterize the extracts, Chlorella sp. and H. pluvialis showed promising antifungal effects on the control of P. expansum.

Combined effects of plant extracts in inhibiting the growth of Bacillus cereus in reconstituted infant rice cereal.

Science.gov (United States)

Jun, Hyejung; Kim, Jinsol; Bang, Jihyun; Kim, Hoikyung; Beuchat, Larry R; Ryu, Jee-Hoon

2013-01-01

A study was done to determine the potential use of plant extracts to inhibit the growth of Bacillus cereus in reconstituted infant rice cereal. A total of 2116 extracts were screened for inhibitory activity against B. cereus using an agar well diffusion assay. The minimal inhibitory concentrations (MIC) and minimal lethal concentrations (MLC) of 14 promising extracts in tryptic soy broth (TSB) were determined. Dryopteris erythrosora (autumn fern) root extract showed the lowest MIC (0.0156 mg/ml), followed by Siegesbeckia glabrescens (Siegesbeckia herb) leaf (0.0313 mg/ml), Morus alba (white mulberry) cortex (0.0313 mg/ml), Carex pumila (sand sedge) root (0.0625 mg/ml), and Citrus paradisi (grapefruit) seed (0.0625 mg/ml) extracts. The order of MLCs of extracts was D. erythrosora root (0.0156 mg/ml)extracts against B. cereus in TSB were determined using a checkerboard assay. A combination of D. erythrosora and C. pumila extracts showed a partial synergistic inhibition, with a fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) of 0.75. Single and combined inhibitory activities of selected plant extracts against B. cereus in reconstituted infant rice cereal were investigated. The MICs of S. glabrescens, M. alba, D. erythrosora, and C. pumila extracts against B. cereus were 1.0, 2.0, 2.0, and 8.0mg/ml, respectively. A combination of D. erythrosora (1.00 mg/ml) and C. pumila (1.00 mg/ml) extracts showed a partial synergistic effect (FICI 0.63) in inhibiting the growth of B. cereus. Results indicate that by combining extracts, the amounts of D. erythrosora and C. pumila extracts can be reduced by 50% and 87.5%, respectively, compared with individual extracts, and give similar inhibitory activity in reconstituted infant rice cereal. Sensory evaluation showed that supplementing reconstituted infant rice cereal with plant extracts reduces sensorial quality. These observations will be useful when developing and applying interventions using natural plant extracts to inhibit B

Optimization of the microwave-assisted extraction of phlorotannins from Saccharina japonica Aresch and evaluation of the inhibitory effects of phlorotannin-containing extracts on HepG2 cancer cells

Science.gov (United States)

He, Zhizhou; Chen, Yongshun; Chen, Yongheng; Liu, Haohuai; Yuan, Guanfu; Fan, Yaming; Chen, Kun

2013-09-01

The use of a microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) method for the extraction of phlorotannins from Saccharina japonica Aresch ( S. japonica) has been evaluated with particular emphasis on the influential parameters, including the ethanol concentration, solid/liquid ratio, extraction time, extraction temperature, and microwave power. The MAE procedure was optimized using single-factor design and orthogonal array design (OAD). The content of total phlorotannins in S. japonica was determined using a Folin-Ciocalteu (FC) assay. A maximum total phlorotannin content of 0.644 mg of phloroglucinol equivalent per gram of dry weight plant (mg PGE/g DW) was obtained using the optimized model, which included an ethanol concentration of 55%, solid/liquid ratio of 1:8, extraction time of 25 min, irradiation power of 400 W, and temperature of 60°C. Under similar conditions, the application of a conventional extraction method led to a lower phlorotannin yield of 0.585 mg PGE/g WD. These results demonstrated that the MAE approach provided better results for the extraction of phlorotannins from S. japonica and was a promising technique for the extraction of phenolic compounds from S. japonica and other materials. In addition, screening tests for the inhibitory activity showed that the phlorotannin-containing extracts significantly inhibited the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2) by inducing their apoptosis. The morphological changes that occurred during cell apoptosis were characterized using Hoechst33258 staining.

Chelating, antioxidant and hypoglycaemic potential of Muscari comosum (L.) Mill. bulb extracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Loizzo, Monica R; Tundis, Rosa; Menichini, Federica; Pugliese, Alessandro; Bonesi, Marco; Solimene, Umberto; Menichini, Francesco

2010-12-01

The metal chelating activity, antioxidant properties and the effect on carbohydrate-hydrolysing enzyme inhibition of Muscari comosum extracts have been investigated. M. comosum bulbs contain a total amount of the phenols with a value of 56.6 mg chlorogenic acid equivalent per gram of extract and a flavonoid content of 23.4 mg quercetin equivalent per gram of extract. In order to evaluate the non-polar constituents, n-hexane extract was obtained. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis revealed the presence of fatty acids and ethyl esters as major constituents, with different aldehydes and alkanes as minor components. Ethanolic extract had the highest ferric-reducing ability power (66.7 μM Fe(II)/g) and DPPH scavenging activity with a concentration giving 50% inhibition (IC₅₀) value of 40.9 μg/ml. Moreover, this extract exhibited a good hypoglycaemic activity with IC₅₀ values of 81.3 and 112.8 μg/ml for α-amylase and α-glucosidase, respectively. In conclusion, M. comosum bulbs show promising antioxidant and hypoglycaemic activity via the inhibition of carbohydrate digestive enzymes. These activities may be of interest from a functional point of view and for the revalorization of this ancient non-cultivated vegetable of Mediterranean traditional gastronomy.

In Vivo and In Vitro Toxicity Evaluation of Hydroethanolic Extract of Kalanchoe brasiliensis (Crassulaceae Leaves

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aldilane Gonçalves Fonseca

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The species Kalanchoe brasiliensis, known as “Saião,” has anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and antihistamine activities. It also has the quercetin and kaempferol flavonoids, which exert their therapeutic activities. With extensive popular use besides the defined therapeutical properties, the study of possible side effects is indispensable. The objective of this study is to evaluate the toxicity in vitro and in vivo from the hydroethanolic extract of the leaves of K. brasiliensis. The action of the extract (concentrations from 0.1 to 1000 uL/100 uL in normal and tumor cells was evaluated using the MTT method. Acute toxicity and subchronic toxicity were evaluated in mice with doses of 250 to 1000 mg/kg orally, following recognized protocols. The in vitro results indicated cytotoxic activity for 3T3 cell line (normal and 786-0 (kidney carcinoma, showing the activity to be concentration-dependent, reaching 92.23% cell inhibition. In vivo, the extract showed no significant toxicity; only liver changes related to acute toxicity and some signs of liver damage, combining biochemical and histological data. In general, the extract showed low or no toxicity, introducing itself as safe for use with promising therapeutic potential.

Acaricidal activity of extracts from Petiveria alliacea (Phytolaccaceae) against the cattle tick, Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus (Acari: ixodidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Rosado-Aguilar, J A; Aguilar-Caballero, A; Rodriguez-Vivas, R I; Borges-Argaez, R; Garcia-Vazquez, Z; Mendez-Gonzalez, M

2010-03-25

The acaricidal activity of crude extracts and fractions from stems and leaves of Petiveria alliacea (Phytolaccaceae) was carried out on larvae and adults of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus using the larval immersion test (LIT) and adult immersion test (AIT), respectively. Methanolic extracts of stems and leaves of P. alliacea showed 100% mortality on the LIT bioassay. On the other hand, methanolic extracts of leaves and stem on the AIT test showed 26% and 86% of mortality, respectively, egg laying inhibition of 40% and 91%, respectively and hatchability inhibition of 26% and 17%, respectively. Purification of the active stem methanolic extract showed that the activity was present in the n-hexane non-polar fraction. Bioassay-guided purification of the n-hexane fraction produced 10 semi-purified fractions; fraction B had the highest activity against tick larvae (100% mortality). Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry demonstrated that the chemical composition of the active fraction B samples were mainly composed of benzyltrisulfide (BTS) and benzyldisulfide (BDS). These metabolites might be responsible for the acaricidal activity of stem extract of P. alliacea. However, further experiments to evaluate the acaricidal activity of BTS and BDS on larvae and adults of R. (B.) microplus are needed. Our results showed that P. alliacea is a promising biocontrol candidate as acaricide against R. (B.) microplus resistant strains.

Stem cell therapy in spinal cord injury: Hollow promise or promising science?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aimee Goel

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Spinal cord injury (SCI remains one of the most physically, psychologically and socially debilitating conditions worldwide. While rehabilitation measures may help limit disability to some extent, there is no effective primary treatment yet available. The efficacy of stem cells as a primary therapeutic option in spinal cord injury is currently an area under much scrutiny and debate. Several laboratory and some primary clinical studies into the use of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells or embryonic stem cell-derived oligodentrocyte precursor cells have shown some promising results in terms of remyelination and regeneration of damaged spinal nerve tracts. More recently,laboratory and early clinical experiments into the use of Olfactory Ensheathing Cells, a type of glial cell derived from olfactory bulb and mucosa have provided some phenomenal preliminary evidence as to their neuroregenerative and neural bridging capacity. This report compares and evaluates some current research into selected forms of embryonic and mesenchymal stem cell therapy as well as olfactory ensheathing cell therapy in SCI, and also highlights some legal and ethical issues surrounding their use. While early results shows promise, more rigorous large scaleclinical trials are needed to shed light on the safety, efficacy and long term viability of stem cell and cellular transplant techniques in SCI.

Di-hydroxyurea-a Promising Reducing Reagent for the U/Pu split in the PUREX process

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Taihong, Yan; Weifang, Zheng; Guoan, Ye; Yu, Zhang; Liang, Xian; Ying, Di; Xiaoyan, Bian [Department of Radiochemistry, China Institute of Atomic Energy - CIAE, Beijing 102413 (China)

2009-06-15

In the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel by the Purex process, the separation of U and Pu is a major stage. This is commonly achieved by a redox process, in which a reducing agent (e.g. U(IV) or (FeII)) and a stabiliser (e.g. N{sub 2}H{sub 4} or NH{sub 2}SO{sub 3}H) are added to reduce extractable Pu{sup 4+} to un-extractable Pu{sup 3+}. The stabiliser prevents the nitrous acid catalysed re-oxidation of Pu(III) back to Pu(IV). One of the key objectives is to reduce both the number of solvent extraction cycles and the waste stream volumes [1]. One option for Advanced Purex flowsheets is to adopt a new salt-free reductant in the U/Pu split. Di-hydroxyurea(DHU)-a new Reducing reagent was synthesized with tri-associated solid phosgene (Bis(trichloromethyl)Carbonate) solved in dioxane and hydroxylamine hydrochloride solved in potassium acetate solution. The Reduction of Pu(IV) by DHU was investigated using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The reduction back-extraction behavior of Pu(IV) in 30%TBP /OK was firstly investigated under conditions of different temperature, different concentration of DHU and HNO{sub 3} and various phase contract time respectively.The results showed that Pu(IV) in organic phase can be stripped rapidly to aqueous phase by DHU. Simulating the 1B contactor of the Purex process by DHU with nitric acid solution as the stripping agent,the separation factors of uranium/plutonium can reach 2.1 10{sup 4}. This indicates that DHU is a promising salt free agent for uranium/plutonium separation. (authors)

Biological activities of Umbilicaria crustulosa (Ach. frey acetone extract

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Zlatanović Ivana

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper reports for the first time the effect of an acetone extract of Umbilicaria crustulosa on the micronucleus distribution of human lymphocytes, and on the cholinesterase activity and antioxidant activity by the cupric ion reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC method. Additionally, the total phenolic compounds (TPC and the antioxidant properties were estimated via DPPH, ABTS and TRP assays. Moreover, the antibacterial activity against two Gram-positive and three Gram-negative bacteria were determined. Acetone extract of U. crustulosa at concentration of 1 and 2 μg mL-1 decreased a frequency of micronuclei (MN by 10.8 and 16.8 %, respectively, acting more or slightly less than the synthetic protector amifostine (AMF, WR-2721, 11.4 %, at concentration of 1 μg mL-1. The tested extract did not inhibit cholinesterase activity nor did it exhibit activity toward the examined bacteria. The extract reduced the concentration of DPPH and ABTS radicals by 88.7 and 96.2 %, respectively. Values for total reducing power (TRP and cupric reducing capacity (CUPRAC were 0.6197±0.0166 μg ascorbic acid equivalents (AAE per mg of dry extract, and 19.7641±1.6546 μg trolox equivalents (TE per mg of dry extract, respectively. The total phenol content was 350.4188 ±14.587 μg gallic acid equivalents (GAE per mg of dry extract. The results of the present study showed that U. crustulosa acetone extract is a promising candidate for in vivo experiments considering its antioxidant activity and protective effect on human lymphocytes. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 172047

Some developments in the extraction of gold from Witwatersrand ores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laxen, P.A.

1975-01-01

The extraction of gold from most ores of the Witwatersrand has been consistently high - approximately 95 per cent - for many years. The present high price of gold has stimulated research and development into potential improvements of the standard procedures. The occurrence of the gold and its association with other minerals is described briefly. The Witwatersrand reefs also contain uranium and pyrite, and some of the improvements to the standard gold-extraction process are associated with the recovery or concentration of one or both of these valuable constituents. For instance, the 'reverse-leach' process, in which acid treatment for the extraction of uranium precedes cyanidation, results in improved gold extraction. Some concentration techniques used on the present residues from cyanidation offer promise in improving the overall gold recoveries. Thucholite is an important carrier of residual gold, and its recovery from some residues by flotation appears to be economically justifiable. Wet high-intensity magnetic separation has given promising results, in the laboratory and on the pilot plant, for the recovery of both uranium and gold from a number of cyanide tailings. The benefits of gravity concentration and of the application of empirical modelling to the gold-extraction process have been demonstrated by a mining group. Some developments in instrumentation for control during cyanidation are discussed briefly [af

Gastroprotective Effect of Ethanolic Extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza Leaf against Ethanol-Induced Gastric Mucosal Lesions in Sprague-Dawley Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nurhidayah Ab. Rahim

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Herbal medicines appeared promising in prevention of many diseases. This study was conducted to investigate the gastroprotective effect of Curcuma xanthorrhiza leaf in the rats induced gastric ulcer by ethanol. Normal and ulcer control received carboxymethycellulose (5 mL/kg orally, positive control was administered with 20 mg/kg omeprazole (reference drug and 2 groups were received 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg of the leaf extract, respectively. To induce of gastric ulcers formation, ethanol (5 mL/kg was given orally to all groups except normal control. Gross ulcer areas, histology, and amount of prostaglandin E2, superoxide dismutase and malondialdehyde were assessed to determine the potentiality of extract in prevention against gastric ulcers. Oral administration of extract showed significant gastric protection effect as the ulcer areas was remarkably decreased. Histology observation showed less edema and leucocytes infiltration as compared with the ulcer control which exhibited severe gastric mucosa injury. Furthermore, the leaf extract elevated the mucus weight, level of prostaglandin E2 and superoxide dismutase. The extract also reduced malondialdehyde amount significantly. Results showed leaf extract of Curcuma xanthorrhiza can enhanced the gastric protection and sustained the integrity of gastric mucosa structure. Acute toxicity test did not showed any sign of toxicity (2 g/kg and 5 g/kg.

Experimental Therapy Shows Promise for Type 1 Diabetes

Science.gov (United States)

... triggers cells to take up sugar from the blood. In type 1 diabetes, the immune system The cells and tissues that ... people to eat or drink to raise their blood sugar levels. However, many people with type 1 diabetes can’t tell when their blood sugar is ...

Stem cells show promising results for lymphoedema treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Toyserkani, Navid Mohamadpour; Quaade, Marlene Louise; Sheikh, Søren Paludan

2015-01-01

Abstract Lymphoedema is a debilitating condition, manifesting in excess lymphatic fluid and swelling of subcutaneous tissues. Lymphoedema is as of yet still an incurable condition and current treatment modalities are not satisfactory. The capacity of mesenchymal stem cells to promote angiogenesis......, secrete growth factors, regulate the inflammatory process, and differentiate into multiple cell types make them a potential ideal therapy for lymphoedema. Adipose tissue is the richest and most accessible source of mesenchymal stem cells and they can be harvested, isolated, and used for therapy...... in a single stage procedure as an autologous treatment. The aim of this paper was to review all studies using mesenchymal stem cells for lymphoedema treatment with a special focus on the potential use of adipose-derived stem cells. A systematic search was performed and five preclinical and two clinical...

Promising More Information

Science.gov (United States)

2003-01-01

When NASA needed a real-time, online database system capable of tracking documentation changes in its propulsion test facilities, engineers at Stennis Space Center joined with ECT International, of Brookfield, Wisconsin, to create a solution. Through NASA's Dual-Use Program, ECT developed Exdata, a software program that works within the company's existing Promise software. Exdata not only satisfied NASA s requirements, but also expanded ECT s commercial product line. Promise, ECT s primary product, is an intelligent software program with specialized functions for designing and documenting electrical control systems. An addon to AutoCAD software, Promis e generates control system schematics, panel layouts, bills of material, wire lists, and terminal plans. The drawing functions include symbol libraries, macros, and automatic line breaking. Primary Promise customers include manufacturing companies, utilities, and other organizations with complex processes to control.

Kernel-based discriminant feature extraction using a representative dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Honglin; Sancho Gomez, Jose-Luis; Ahalt, Stanley C.

2002-07-01

Discriminant Feature Extraction (DFE) is widely recognized as an important pre-processing step in classification applications. Most DFE algorithms are linear and thus can only explore the linear discriminant information among the different classes. Recently, there has been several promising attempts to develop nonlinear DFE algorithms, among which is Kernel-based Feature Extraction (KFE). The efficacy of KFE has been experimentally verified by both synthetic data and real problems. However, KFE has some known limitations. First, KFE does not work well for strongly overlapped data. Second, KFE employs all of the training set samples during the feature extraction phase, which can result in significant computation when applied to very large datasets. Finally, KFE can result in overfitting. In this paper, we propose a substantial improvement to KFE that overcomes the above limitations by using a representative dataset, which consists of critical points that are generated from data-editing techniques and centroid points that are determined by using the Frequency Sensitive Competitive Learning (FSCL) algorithm. Experiments show that this new KFE algorithm performs well on significantly overlapped datasets, and it also reduces computational complexity. Further, by controlling the number of centroids, the overfitting problem can be effectively alleviated.

Comparative study of hypoglycemic and antibacterial activity of organic extracts of four Bangladeshi plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Shah Hafez Kabir

2016-03-01

]. Only methanol extract of A. bulbifer showed (8.50 ± 0.50 mm and (7.20 ± 0.76 mm zone of inhibition against Pseudomomas aeruginosa at 1 000 and 800 µg/disk dose respectively. Conclusions: Through our study, it was found that S. colocasiifolia could be considered as very promising and beneficial hypoglycemic agent. Although C. recurvata and S. colocasiifolia showed comparable high antibacterial activity, further studies should be needed to develop new antibacterial agent from them. S. colocasiifolia may be a potential source for the development of new oral hypoglycemic agent.

Antioxidant Efficacy of Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn.) Pericarp Extract in Sheep Meat Nuggets

Science.gov (United States)

Das, Arun K.; Rajkumar, Vincent; Nanda, Pramod K.; Chauhan, Pranav; Pradhan, Soubhagya R.; Biswas, Subhasish

2016-01-01

In the present study, the efficacy of litchi fruit pericarp (LFP) extract (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% concentration) in retarding lipid oxidation of cooked sheep meat nuggets was evaluated and compared to butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT, 100 ppm). The total phenolic content and antioxidant potential of LFP extracts were determined. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS) values were evaluated to assess the potential of LFP extracts as natural antioxidants for oxidative stability of cooked nuggets during 12 days of refrigerated storage. Results show that total phenolics content in 10 mg LFP powder was comparable to 100 ppm BHT, but 15 mg LFP powder had significantly higher (p < 0.05) total phenolics content and reducing power than the synthetic antioxidant. LFP extract did not affect pH, cooking yield and the sensory attributes of cooked nuggets. Non-treated control and nuggets with 1.0% LFP extract had significantly lower total phenolics than nuggets with 1.5% extract and BHT. TBARS values were significantly lower (p < 0.05) throughout the storage period in cooked meat nuggets containing either LFP extract or BHT than in non-treated control. Results indicate that LFP extracts are promising sources of natural antioxidants and can potentially be used as functional food additives in meat products at 1.5% without affecting products’ acceptability. PMID:27213457

Antioxidant Efficacy of Litchi (Litchi chinensis Sonn. Pericarp Extract in Sheep Meat Nuggets

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arun K. Das

2016-05-01

Full Text Available In the present study, the efficacy of litchi fruit pericarp (LFP extract (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5% concentration in retarding lipid oxidation of cooked sheep meat nuggets was evaluated and compared to butylated hydroxyl toluene (BHT, 100 ppm. The total phenolic content and antioxidant potential of LFP extracts were determined. The thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS values were evaluated to assess the potential of LFP extracts as natural antioxidants for oxidative stability of cooked nuggets during 12 days of refrigerated storage. Results show that total phenolics content in 10 mg LFP powder was comparable to 100 ppm BHT, but 15 mg LFP powder had significantly higher (p < 0.05 total phenolics content and reducing power than the synthetic antioxidant. LFP extract did not affect pH, cooking yield and the sensory attributes of cooked nuggets. Non-treated control and nuggets with 1.0% LFP extract had significantly lower total phenolics than nuggets with 1.5% extract and BHT. TBARS values were significantly lower (p < 0.05 throughout the storage period in cooked meat nuggets containing either LFP extract or BHT than in non-treated control. Results indicate that LFP extracts are promising sources of natural antioxidants and can potentially be used as functional food additives in meat products at 1.5% without affecting products’ acceptability.

Prunus domestica, Prunus persica and Prunus avium extracts ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background: Nowadays antioxidants from plants origin are considered as a promising source of biologically active substances; as synthetic agents are ... suitable for preparing new antioxidant emulsions loaded with pleasant fruity extracts which remain economical, effective and completely safe for human skin therefore, ...

Towards a Relation Extraction Framework for Cyber-Security Concepts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jones, Corinne L [ORNL; Bridges, Robert A [ORNL; Huffer, Kelly M [ORNL; Goodall, John R [ORNL

2015-01-01

In order to assist security analysts in obtaining information pertaining to their network, such as novel vulnerabilities, exploits, or patches, information retrieval methods tailored to the security domain are needed. As labeled text data is scarce and expensive, we follow developments in semi-supervised NLP and implement a bootstrapping algorithm for extracting security entities and their relationships from text. The algorithm requires little input data, specifically, a few relations or patterns (heuristics for identifying relations), and incorporates an active learning component which queries the user on the most important decisions to prevent drifting the desired relations. Preliminary testing on a small corpus shows promising results, obtaining precision of .82.

Antioxidant Characterization of Oak Extracts Combining Spectrophotometric Assays and Chemometrics

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Boris M. Popović

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Antioxidant characteristics of leaves, twigs, and acorns from two Serbian oak species Quercus robur L. and Quercus petraea L. from Vojvodina province (northern Serbia were investigated. 80% ethanol (in water extracts were used for antiradical power (ARP determinations against DPPH•, NO•, and O2∙- radicals, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP, total phenol, tannin, flavonoid, and proanthocyanidin contents. Permanganate reducing antioxidant capacity (PRAC was determined using water extracts. Beside, mentioned parameters, soluble proteins, lipid peroxidation (LP, pigments and proline contents were also determined. The data of different procedures were compared and analyzed by multivariate techniques (correlation matrix calculation and principal component analysis (PCA. PCA found that investigated organs of two different oak tree species possess similar antioxidant characteristics. The superior antioxidant characteristics showed oak leaves over twigs and acorns and seem to be promising source of antioxidants with possible use in industry and pharmacy.

Evaluation of lipid extractability after flash hydrolysis of algae

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Teymouri, Ali; Adams, Kameron J.; Dong, Tao; Kumar, Sandeep

2018-07-01

Microalgae is identified as a promising feedstock for producing renewable liquid transportation fuels; however, lipids extraction from microalgae for downstream processing to biofuels is one of the important challenges for algal based biorefineries. This work aims at evaluating the potential of applying flash hydrolysis (FH) as a chemical-free technique to increase the lipids extractability of algal biomass as well as its integration with the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae to enhance the biocrude yields and characteristics for fuel production. To this aim, the FH process was performed on three different algal species (Scenedesmus sp., Nannochloropsis sp., and Chlorella vulgaris) at 280 degrees C and 10 s of residence time. Following FH, in addition to the nutrients rich hydrolysate, approximately, 40 wt% of solids containing almost all (>90 wt%) the lipids termed as biofuels intermediates (BI), were recovered. Kinetics study on lipids extractability from the BI and their lipid profile analyses were conducted for each algal species. The results showed that the FH process had significantly enhanced the lipids extractability. For all three algae species, lipid yields from BI were higher than that of the raw algae. Lipid yields of Chlorella vulgaris in the first 15 min were more than five times higher (52.3 +/- 0.8 vs. 10.7 +/- 0.9 wt%) than that of raw algae during n-hexane based solvent extraction. The kinetics of lipids extractability followed a zero-order reaction rate for all wet raw microalgae and the BI of Scenedesmus sp., while the BI recovered from the other two algal species were determined as a second-order reaction. Comparison of fatty acids profiles indicated the contribution of the FH process in saturating fatty acids. Subsequent to lipids extraction, a conventional hydrothermal liquefaction was performed at 350 degrees C and 1 h to compare the biocrude yields from raw versus BI of Chlorella vulgaris microalgae. The results showed that the

ALKALI EXTRACTION OF HEMICELLULOSE FROM DEPITHED CORN STOVER AND EFFECTS ON SODA-AQ PULPING

OpenAIRE

Heli Cheng; Huaiyu Zhan; Shiyu Fu; Lucian A. Lucia

2011-01-01

A biorefinery using the process of hemicellulose pre-extraction and subsequent pulping provides a promising way for the utilization of straw biomass and resolution of problems related to silicon. In this work, hemicellulose was extracted from depithed corn stover with sodium hydroxide solution before soda-AQ pulping. Components of the extracts were quantified by ion chromatography. The parameters (alkali concentration and temperature) affecting hemicellulose pre-extraction were optimized. The...

Chemical Composition of Apricot Pit Shells and Effect of Hot-Water Extraction

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Derek B. Corbett

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Agricultural residues, such as corn stover, wheat straw, and nut shells show promise as feedstocks for lignocellulosic biorefinery due to their relatively high polysaccharide content and low or no nutritional value for human consumption. Apricot pit shells (APS were studied in this work to assess their potential for use in a biorefinery. Hot water extraction (HWE; 160 °C, 2 h, proposed to remove easily accessible hemicelluloses, was performed to evaluate the susceptibility of APS to this mild pretreatment process. The chemical composition of APS before and after HWE (EAPS was analyzed by standard methods and 1H-NMR. A low yield of the remaining HW-extracted APS (~59% indicated that APS are highly susceptible to this pretreatment method. 1H-NMR analysis of EAPS revealed that ~77% of xylan present in raw APS was removed along with ~24% of lignin. The energy of combustion of APS was measured before and after HWE showing a slight increase due to HWE (1.61% increase. Near infrared radiation spectroscopy (NIRS, proposed as a quick non-invasive method of biomass analysis, was performed. NIRS corroborated results of traditional analysis and 1H-NMR. Determination of antioxidizing activity (AOA of APS extracts was also undertaken. AOA of organic APS extracts were shown to be more than 20 times higher than that of a synthetic antioxidizing agent.

Development of Silicate Extraction Method for Detection of Irradiated Potatoes by Thermoluminescence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Teerasarn, Wannapha; Sudprasert, Wanwisa

2009-07-01

Full text: Thermoluminescence (TL) is a promising technique used for detection of irradiated foods. In practice, silicate minerals are first isolated from foods by density gradient with sodium poly tungstate of a density 2.0 g/cm 3 , which is very expensive. The study was carried out to develop a new low-cost reagent for silicate extraction. The silicate minerals were extracted from irradiated potatoes (at doses of 0, 0.05, 0.15, 0.25, 0.5 and 1 kGy) using potassium carbonate of a density 2 g/cm 3 . X-ray diffraction spectroscopy (XRD) was employed to investigate the types of silicate minerals present in the extracts. The TL measurement was performed to identify the irradiation status of the samples using a TL reader. The results showed that quartz was found as the major mineral of the samples. The TL analysis of glow curve showed that irradiated potatoes exhibited a maximum glow peak between 208-280 c degree, where as non-irradiated potatoes exhibited a maximum glow peak between 289-351 C degree. The results clearly indicated that the silicate minerals can effectively be isolated from potatoes by using potassium carbonate instead of sodium poly tungstate for the purpose of irradiation identification. In this sense, the cost of irradiation identification will be reduced at least 20 times comparing to using the conventional extraction reagent

Actinobacteria from Termite Mounds Show Antiviral Activity against Bovine Viral Diarrhea Virus, a Surrogate Model for Hepatitis C Virus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marina Aiello Padilla

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Extracts from termite-associated bacteria were evaluated for in vitro antiviral activity against bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV. Two bacterial strains were identified as active, with percentages of inhibition (IP equal to 98%. Both strains were subjected to functional analysis via the addition of virus and extract at different time points in cell culture; the results showed that they were effective as posttreatments. Moreover, we performed MTT colorimetric assays to identify the CC50, IC50, and SI values of these strains, and strain CDPA27 was considered the most promising. In parallel, the isolates were identified as Streptomyces through 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. Specifically, CDPA27 was identified as S. chartreusis. The CDPA27 extract was fractionated on a C18-E SPE cartridge, and the fractions were reevaluated. A 100% methanol fraction was identified to contain the compound(s responsible for antiviral activity, which had an SI of 262.41. GC-MS analysis showed that this activity was likely associated with the compound(s that had a peak retention time of 5 min. Taken together, the results of the present study provide new information for antiviral research using natural sources, demonstrate the antiviral potential of Streptomyces chartreusis compounds isolated from termite mounds against BVDV, and lay the foundation for further studies on the treatment of HCV infection.

The Cytotoxic, Antibacterial and Free Radical Scavenging Activities of Crude Extracts of Matricaria chamomilla, Salvadora persica and Artemisia annua

KAUST Repository

Seddek, Ahmed

2011-12-01

The discovery of drugs from natural sources has been a rapidly growing science in this era. Plants used for medicinal purposes have been usually studied as rich sources of bioactive chemical compounds that can be used as medications. Several plant-derived drugs have been approved so far. Cancer and infectious diseases have been common targets for the science of drug discovery, due to the high mortality rates caused by these diseases all over the world. Several plant-derived compounds are being marketed now as anti-cancer agents. However, finding novel antimicrobial and anti-cancer compounds has become an important goal to overcome the problems of existing anti-cancer and antimicrobial agents, such as resistance and non-selectivity. In this thesis project, an attempt to find out useful biological activities of the crude extracts of some plants used traditionally for medicinal purposes in Saudi Arabia has been made. Matricaria chamomilla, Salvadora persica and Artemisia annua have been selected for study, based on the literature review performed. These plants were screened for three biological activities; anti-cancer, anti-bacterial and free radical scavenging activities. The experimental part of the study consisted of some common in-vitro techniques, such as cytotoxicity and cell viability assays, disk diffusion assay and 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl assay. In addition, the crude extract of Matricaria chamomilla has undergone chemical fractionation and four solvent fractions were obtained using column chromatography. The crude extract of Matricaria chamomilla showed a promising anti-bacterial activity against Escherichia coli and a very promising free radical scavenging activity that was comparable to ascorbic acid, an important anti-oxidant. The four solvent fractions obtained from that extract showed that these activities were produced by more than one compound belonging to different solvent fractions. In addition, the crude extract of Artemisia annua showed

Propolis extract in postharvest conservation Solo papaya cv. 'Golden'

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flávia Regina Passos

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The high perishability of papaya (Carica papaya L. reduces its lifespan as well as limits marketing. Coating the fruits is an alternative to aid food preservation. We aimed to evaluate the effects of coating propolis extract on the physicochemical characteristics of papaya stored at room temperature. Solo papayas cv. 'Golden' were randomly divided into five postharvest treatment groups, three forms of dip-coating (70% alcohol, hydroalcoholic extract of propolis to 2.5%, and hydroalcoholic extract of propolis to 5% and two controls (one uncoated and one with refrigerated uncoated fruits. The weight loss, firmness, soluble solids (SS, titratable acidity (TA, SS/TA, and hydrogen potential (pH were evaluated at the intervals of 4 days every 12th storage day. Sensory analysis was performed on the 4th day of storage of papayas and evaluated by untrained through the acceptance testing. Treatments “refrigerated”, “propolis 2.5%”, and “5% propolis” presented with the lowest weight loss. The firmness level for treatment propolis 5% was superior to that of control, alcohol, and 2.5% propolis treatments. The SS was greater for propolis 5% treatment, which only differed from the alcohol treatment. The TA and SS/TA did not vary with the treatments, but with the storage time. The pH of refrigerated papaya showed significant differences in relation to other treatments. The fruits subjected to refrigerated treatment presented with chilling injury. Papayas coated with propolis extract showed sensory acceptability similar to that in other treatments on the 4th day of storage. The coating of propolis extract is a promising alternative for the control of weight loss and for the maintenance of firmness in Solo papaya cv. 'Golden'.

Extraction of transuranic elements from high-level waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morita, Y.; Kubota, M.; Tani, S.

1991-01-01

The present study on the counter-current continuous extraction and back-extraction offered a promising prospect of separating TRU from HLW by the DIDPA extraction process which consisted of the following three steps; simultaneous extraction of TRU, Np, Pu, Am and Cm (and rare earths) with 0.5 M DIDPA - 0.1 M TBP solvent, back-extraction of trivalent TRU, Am and Cm, with 4 M HNO 3 , and back-extraction of TRU actinides, Np and Pu, with oxalic acid. At the extraction step, temperature should be raised and H 2 O 2 should be added several times. The contacting time of the aqueous and organic phases is the most important parameter for Np extraction. Raising temperature at the first back-extraction step also has a good effect on the recovery of Am and Cm. The back-extraction of Np with oxalic acid is a simple process without change of Np oxidation state. A small part of Ru remained in the used solvent. However, its concentration was not so high that its remaining would have no influence on the several times recycling of the solvent. (author)

Development of a New Process for the Selective Extraction of Uranium from Phosphate Rocks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bernier, G.; Miguirditchian, M.; Pacary, V.; Balaguer, C.; Bertrand, M.; Camès, B.; Hérès, X.; Mokhtari, H.

2014-01-01

Conclusions: • Amido-phosphonate DEHCNPB is very promising for U extraction from phosphoric acid – Selective extraction of U even among high concentrations of iron in genuine 5 M H3PO4 solution : [Fe]/[U] reduced from 30 (feed) to 4.3 10-4 (product); • Parametric laboratory studies: – Characterize the stoichiometry of extracted complex in organic phase; – Propose extraction mechanisms; • Model developed and implemented in CEA PAREX code: – Modelling and flowsheet design; • Counter-current test on PROUST platform in G1 facility with genuine industrial phosphoric solution: – Treatment of an industrial phosphoric acid in laboratory-scale mixer-settlers; – Very promising performances of the run with good U recovery (91%) and good decontamination ([Fe] / [U] < ASTM specifications); – Experimental and calculated profiles of U and Fe in good agreement; • Experiments in progress to optimize this flowsheet

Alginate hydrogel as a promising scaffold for dental-derived stem cells: an in vitro study.

Science.gov (United States)

Moshaverinia, Alireza; Chen, Chider; Akiyama, Kentaro; Ansari, Sahar; Xu, Xingtian; Chee, Winston W; Schricker, Scott R; Shi, Songtao

2012-12-01

The objectives of this study were to: (1) develop an injectable and biodegradable scaffold based on oxidized alginate microbeads encapsulating periodontal ligament (PDLSCs) and gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs); and (2) investigate the stem cell viability, and osteogenic differentiation of the stem cells in vitro. Stem cells were encapsulated using alginate hydrogel. The stem cell viability, proliferation and differentiation to adipogenic and osteogenic tissues were studied. To investigate the expression of both adipogenesis and ontogenesis related genes, the RNA was extracted and RT-PCR was performed. The degradation behavior of hydrogel based on oxidized sodium alginate with different degrees of oxidation was studied in PBS at 37 °C as a function of time by monitoring the changes in weight loss. The swelling kinetics of alginate hydrogel was also investigated. The results showed that alginate is a promising candidate as a non-toxic scaffold for PDLSCs and GMSCs. It also has the ability to direct the differentiation of these stem cells to osteogenic and adipogenic tissues as compared to the control group in vitro. The encapsulated stem cells remained viable in vitro and both osteo-differentiated and adipo-differentiated after 4 weeks of culturing in the induction media. It was found that the degradation profile and swelling kinetics of alginate hydrogel strongly depends on the degree of oxidation showing its tunable chemistry and degradation rate. These findings demonstrate for the first time that immobilization of PDLSCs and GMSCs in the alginate microspheres provides a promising strategy for bone tissue engineering.

Cellulose fibers extracted from rice and oat husks and their application in hydrogel.

Science.gov (United States)

Oliveira, Jean Paulo de; Bruni, Graziella Pinheiro; Lima, Karina Oliveira; Halal, Shanise Lisie Mello El; Rosa, Gabriela Silveira da; Dias, Alvaro Renato Guerra; Zavareze, Elessandra da Rosa

2017-04-15

The commercial cellulose fibers and cellulose fibers extracted from rice and oat husks were analyzed by chemical composition, morphology, functional groups, crystallinity and thermal properties. The cellulose fibers from rice and oat husks were used to produce hydrogels with poly (vinyl alcohol). The fibers presented different structural, crystallinity, and thermal properties, depending on the cellulose source. The hydrogel from rice cellulose fibers had a network structure with a similar agglomeration sponge, with more homogeneous pores compared to the hydrogel from oat cellulose fibers. The hydrogels prepared from the cellulose extracted from rice and oat husks showed water absorption capacity of 141.6-392.1% and high opacity. The highest water absorption capacity and maximum stress the compression were presented by rice cellulose hydrogel at 25°C. These results show that the use of agro-industrial residues is promising for the biomaterial field, especially in the preparation of hydrogels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Littorina littorea and Galatea paradoxa

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Lawrence Sheringham Borquaye

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The aquatic environment is a vital resource for bioprospecting pharmacologically important natural products. Molluscs are known to harbour compounds with antimicrobial, antitumor and antioxidant activities. This study evaluated the antimicrobial and antioxidant properties of ethyl acetate and methanol tissue extracts of two molluscs, Littorina littorea (L. littorea and Galatea paradoxa (G. paradoxa. Agar diffusion and broth dilution assays were used to test for antimicrobial activity against nine microbes. The 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH method was used to determine antioxidant activity of the extracts. Extracts of both molluscs showed significant activity against all the bacteria strains tested but were inactive towards the fungus. The best antibacterial activity was recorded by methanol extract of L. littorea towards Pseudomonas aeruginosa. In comparison to ethyl acetate extracts, methanol extracts were more efficient in scavenging the DPPH radical. Methanol extracts of L. littorea had an IC50 of 0.37 mg/mL which was closer to that of the standard ascorbic acid drug (0.0048 mg/mL than any of the other extracts. The findings of this work indicate that the tissue extracts of L. littorea and G. paradoxa are promising sources of antimicrobial and antioxidant agents that can be utilized for pharmaceutical and nutraceutical purposes.

Antioxidant Properties of Crude Extract, Partition Extract, and Fermented Medium of Dendrobium sabin Flower

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Farahziela Abu

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Antioxidant properties of crude extract, partition extract, and fermented medium from Dendrobium sabin (DS flower were investigated. The oven-dried DS flower was extracted using 100% methanol (w/v, 100% ethanol (w/v, and 100% water (w/v. The 100% methanolic crude extract showed the highest total phenolic content (40.33 ± mg GAE/g extract and the best antioxidant properties as shown by DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. A correlation relationship between antioxidant activity and total phenolic content showed that phenolic compounds were the dominant antioxidant components in this flower extract. The microbial fermentation on DS flower medium showed a potential in increasing the phenolic content and DPPH scavenging activity. The TPC of final fermented medium showed approximately 18% increment, while the DPPH of fermented medium increased significantly to approximately 80% at the end of the fermentation. Dendrobium sabin (DS flower showed very good potential properties of antioxidant in crude extract and partition extract as well as better antioxidant activity in the flower fermented medium.

Antioxidant activities of extracts from five edible mushrooms using different extractants

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Suphaphit Boonsong

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Extractions were performed of the total phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant properties of five edible mushroom samples—Lentinus edodes, Volvariella volvacea, Pleurotus eous, Pleurotus sajor-caju and Auricularia auricular—using three different extractants. Among the three different extractants, 50% (volume per volume; v/v ethanol was the most suitable for antioxidant extraction from the mushroom samples. The 50% (v/v ethanolic extract of dried L. edodes contained higher total phenolic and flavonoid contents than in the other mushroom extract samples. The antioxidant activities of 50% (v/v ethanolic extract of dried L. edodes showed the strongest 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical-scavenging assay (64.34% compared to butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA and α-tocopherol at 500 μg/mL. The ethanolic extract showed a lower reducing power of 0.10 compared to BHA and α-tocopherol at 500 μg/mL. Moreover, the L. edodes ethanolic extract also had the highest chelating ability (66.28% which was lower than for ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid at 500 μg/mL and showed the strongest superoxide radical-scavenging activity (64.17% compared to BHA and α-tocopherol. Therefore, the 50% (v/v ethanolic extract of L. edodes could be used as a potential natural antioxidative source or as an ingredient in the fish and fishery product industries.

ANTHELMINTIC AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF ALCOHOLIC EXTRACTS OF DIFFERENT PARTS OF COLEUS AMBOINICUS LOUR

OpenAIRE

Bhattacharjee Prasenjit; Hullatti K.K.; Vijay Kumar M.L.

2011-01-01

The present study reports anthelmintic activity of alcoholic extracts of leaf, stem and root of Coleus amboinicus against Indian earthworms Pheritima posthuma. The results revealed that all the tested extracts of Coleus amboinicus possessed significant anthelmintic activity in a dose-dependent manner. The activities were comparable with the reference drug Piperazine citrate and Albendazole. Among the tested extracts, the leaf extract was found to be more promising in comparison to stem and ro...

Extracts of Equisetum giganteum L and Copaifera reticulate Ducke show strong antiviral activity against the sexually transmitted pathogen herpes simplex virus type 2.

Science.gov (United States)

Churqui, Marianela Patzi; Lind, Liza; Thörn, Karolina; Svensson, Alexandra; Savolainen, Otto; Aranda, Katty Terrazas; Eriksson, Kristina

2018-01-10

Equisetum giganteum L and Copaifera reticulate Ducke have been traditionally used by women of the Tacana tribe in the Bolivian Amazonas for genital hygiene and for treatment of genital infection/inflammation. To assess the ability of extracts from Equisetum giganteum L and Copaifera reticulate Ducke to block genital viral infection by herpes simplex virus type 2. Equisetum giganteum L and Copaifera reticulate Ducke were collected from the Amazon region of La Paz, Bolivia. Extracts were prepared and screened for anti-viral activity against herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) using both in vitro and in in vivo models of infection. Equisetum giganteum L and Copaifera reticulate Ducke efficiently blocked HSV-2 infection of cell cultures without major cell cytotoxic effects. Extracts of Equisetum giganteum L and Copaifera reticulate Ducke could prevent HSV-2 disease development when administered together with virus in a mouse model of genital HSV-2 infection. In vitro analyses revealed that both plant extracts exerted their anti-HSV-2 effects by interfering with viral cell attachment and entry, but could not block viral replication post entry. These studies show that extracts of Equisetum giganteum L and Copaifera reticulate Ducke have potent antiviral activities against HSV-2 comparable to those two previously identified plants, Croton lechleri Müll. Arg. and Uncaria tomentosa (Willd. ex Schult.) DC. These studies confirm that plants used by the Tacana tribe could be explored further for the development of novel topical antiviral microbicides. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Pilot cultivation of the chlorophyte microalga Scenedesmus obliquus as a promising feedstock for biofuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Abomohra, Abd El-Fatah; El-Sheekh, Mostafa; Hanelt, Dieter

2014-01-01

Scenedesmus obliquus was discussed by phycologists as a promising microalga for biofuel production based on its biomass and fatty acid productivity. In the present study, S. obliquus was pilot cultivated for large scale production in a semicontinuous culture for 3 months using polyethylene transparent bags. Cultivation of S. obliquus resulted in a maximum biomass productivity of 0.14 g L −1  d −1 and maximum esterified fatty acid productivity of 17.37 mg L −1  d −1 at light intensity of 130 μmol m −2  s −1 . Using of different flocculants for biomass harvest showed maximum flocculation efficiency of 82% using 250 mg L −1 of NaOH for 2 h. Drying of the harvested biomass showed significant increase of esterified fatty acid content by 5 and 7% with respect to control at 75 and 100 °C, respectively. In addition, fatty acid profile and iodine number of S. obliquus oil meet biodiesel standard specifications which make the fatty acid of S. obliquus eligible for further research to be used as a feedstock for biofuel production. Furthermore, the present investigation showed that after oil extraction, the residual algal biomass increased survival and fresh weight of Artemia (brine shrimp) which confirms that the residual algal biomass can be significantly used as food additives for animal feeding. - Highlights: • Scenedesmus obliquus was cultivated in plastic bags in a semicontinuous culture for high biomass production. • Different flocculants were used for harvesting of S. obliquus and the oil was chemically extracted. • The residual algal biomass was used for feeding of Artemia. • The annual productivity of EFA from S. obliquus would be nearly 5 times higher than Jatropha. • The residual algal biomass increased survival and fresh weight of Artemia

Extraction of actinides from chloride medium using pentaalkylpropanediamides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cuillerdier, C.; Musikas, C.

1991-01-01

Pyrometallurgical processes for the purification of plutonium create waste solutions containing actinides, mainly americium, in chloride medium. Studies have been undertaken to study the extraction of actinides in chloride medium (hydrochloric acid mixed with concentrated salts such as LiCl, CaCl 2 , MgCl 2 , KCl) using pentaalkylpropanediamides as extractants. Plutonium (IV) is very easily extracted, Am (III) needs a salting out agent such as LiCl. Back extraction of trivalent cations is easy in HCl <5M. Plutonium(IV) and (VI) can be stripped by reduction either with ascorbic acid or hydroxylammonium salts in weak acid medium. Several diluents can be used (aromatic, chlorinated or even aliphatic) with addition of decanol to prevent third phase formation. In conclusion diamides can be used for various wastes declassification, they are potentially completely incinerable, and, as the synthesis has been optimized, they appear to be promising extractants

Subcritical Fluid Extraction of Chinese Quince Seed: Optimization and Product Characterization.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Li; Wu, Min; Liu, Hua-Min; Ma, Yu-Xiang; Wang, Xue-De; Qin, Guang-Yong

2017-03-25

Chinese quince seed (CQS) is an underutilized oil source and a potential source of unsaturated fatty acids and α-tocopherol-rich oil. Subcritical fluid (SCF) extraction is executed at lower pressures and temperatures than the pressures and temperatures used in supercritical fluid extraction. However, no studies on the SCF extraction of CQS oil are reported. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate the use of SCF for the extraction of CQS oil and to compare the use of SCF with the classical Soxhlet (CS) and supercritical CO₂ (SC-CO₂) extraction methods. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to investigate the extraction conditions: temperature (45-65 °C), time (30-50 min), and solvent/solid ratio (5-15 mL/g). The optimization results showed that the highest yield (27.78%) was obtained at 56.18 °C, 40.20 min, and 12.57 mL/g. The oil extracted by SCF had a higher unsaturated fatty acid content (86.37%-86.75%), higher α-tocopherol content (576.0-847.6 mg/kg), lower acid value (3.97 mg/g), and lower peroxide value (0.02 meq O₂/kg) than extractions using CS and SC-CO 2 methods. The SCF-defatted meal of oilseed exhibited the highest nitrogen solubility index (49.64%) and protein dispersibility index (50.80%), demonstrating that SCF extraction was a promising and efficient technique as an alternative to CS and SC-CO 2 methods, as very mild operating conditions and an eco-friendly solvent can be used in the process with maximum preservation of the quality of the meal.

Exploring optimal supplement strategy of medicinal herbs and tea extracts for bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Bor-Yann; Liao, Jia-Hui; Hsu, An-Wei; Tsai, Po-Wei; Hsueh, Chung-Chuan

2018-05-01

This first-attempt study used extracts of appropriate antioxidant abundant Camellia and non-Camellia tea and medicinal herbs as model ESs to stably intensify bioelectricity generation performance in microbial fuel cells (MFCs). As electron shuttles (ESs) could stimulate electron transport phenomena by significant reduction of electron transfer resistance, the efficiency of power generation for energy extraction in microbial fuel cells (MFCs) could be appreciably augmented. Using environmentally friendly natural bioresource as green bioresource of ESs is the most promising to sustainable practicability. As comparison of power-density profiles indicated, supplement of Camellia tea extracts would be the most appropriate, then followed non-Camellia Chrysanthemum tea and medicinal herbs. Antioxidant activities, total phenolic contents and power stimulating activities were all electrochemically associated. In particular, the extract of unfermented Camellia tea (i.e., green tea) was the most promising ESs to augment bioenergy extraction compared to other refreshing medicinal herb extracts. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recognition of reversible and irreversible myocardial injury by technetium pyrophosphate extraction kinetics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva, R.; Chen, Y.F.; Sell, T.L.; Lowe, J.E.; Jones, R.H.

1987-01-01

The need for a more accurate method of detecting episodes of myocardial ischemia during cardiac operations, particularly during the ischemic arrest interval, prompted us to investigate the usefulness of measuring the active extraction of technetium pyrophosphate in identifying and quantitating ischemic injury. Twenty-four adult mongrel dogs were subjected to cardiopulmonary bypass, and normothermic global ischemia was induced by cross-clamping the proximal aorta. Technetium pyrophosphate (1 mCi) was injected through a standard cardioplegia line with normal saline, simulating administration of cardioplegic solution, upon placement of the aortic cross-clamp (time 0), at 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes of global ischemia, and with the onset and completion of ischemic contracture. Radioactive counts were recorded over the heart at 1 second intervals, and the extraction fraction and half-time of clearance were calculated. The extraction fraction increased from 0.22 at time 0 to 0.58 at 15 minutes, 0.82 at 30 minutes, 0.85 at 45 minutes, and 0.91 at 60 minutes. The halftime increased from a baseline of 114 seconds (time 0) to a maximum of 321 seconds at 60 minutes of ischemia. The onset and completion of ischemic contracture showed a return toward baseline of both the extraction fraction and halftime of clearance, with an extraction fraction of 0.44 and 0.46 and a halftime of 135 and 133 seconds, respectively. These data clearly show that reversible myocardial injury increased the extraction and reduced the clearance of technetium pyrophosphate and that the magnitude of change related to the extent of injury. The progression to irreversible myocardial injury decreased the active extraction of technetium pyrophosphate. This simple procedure for real-time documentation of myocardial injury promises to provide easily obtainable endpoints of injury for use during cardiac operations in humans

Analysis of essential oils from Voacanga africana seeds at different hydrodistillation extraction stages: chemical composition, antioxidant activity and antimicrobial activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Xiong; Yang, Dongliang; Liu, Jiajia; Ren, Na

2015-01-01

In this study, essential oils from Voacanga africana seeds at different extraction stages were investigated. In the chemical composition analysis, 27 compounds representing 86.69-95.03% of the total essential oils were identified and quantified. The main constituents in essential oils were terpenoids, alcohols and fatty acids accounting for 15.03-24.36%, 21.57-34.43% and 33.06-57.37%, respectively. Moreover, the analysis also revealed that essential oils from different extraction stages possessed different chemical compositions. In the antioxidant evaluation, all analysed oils showed similar antioxidant behaviours, and the concentrations of essential oils providing 50% inhibition of DPPH-scavenging activity (IC50) were about 25 mg/mL. In the antimicrobial experiments, essential oils from different extraction stages exhibited different antimicrobial activities. The antimicrobial activity of oils was affected by extraction stages. By controlling extraction stages, it is promising to obtain essential oils with desired antimicrobial activities.

Anthocephalus cadamba (Roxb. Miq., Rubiaceae, extract shows hypoglycemic effect and eases oxidative stress in alloxan-induced diabetic rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad A. Alam

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The hydroethanolic extract of the flowering tops of Anthocephalus cadamba (Roxb. Miq., Rubiaceae, a Bangladeshi medicinal plant, was studied for its potential hypoglycemic effect and antioxidant property in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. The extract induced significant reduction in serum glucose, and transaminases, e.g. aspartate transaminase (AST, alanine transaminase (ALT and alkaline phosphatases (ALP, activities. Significant changes in the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS, peroxidase and catalase levels during the experimental period were also observed. The results established that the hydroethanolic extract of the flowering tops of A. cadamba possesses hypoglycemic property and is able to protect liver and brain from oxidative damages caused by diabetes.

Trifolium pratense and T. repens (Leguminosae: Edible Flower Extracts as Functional Ingredients

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Rosa Tundis

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Trifolium pratense (red clover and T. repens (white clover edible flowers were investigated for their chemical profile and health properties. The total phenols and flavonoids contents were evaluated. Quercetin, kaempferol, luteolin, rutin, and myricetin were used as markers and quantified by HPLC. The antioxidant effects were investigated by using different in vitro assays. Moreover, α-amylase, α-glucosidase and lipase inhibitory activities were evaluated. T. repens flowers extract showed a good radical scavenging activity in both DPPH and ABTS tests with IC50 values of 10.3 and 21.4 μg/mL, respectively. White clover extract demonstrated promising α-amylase and lipase inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 25.0 and 1.3 μg/mL, respectively. The obtained results support the use of Trifolium flowers as healthy food ingredients.

Inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor in apple juice extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Kern, Melanie; Tjaden, Zeina; Ngiewih, Yufanyi; Puppel, Nicole; Will, Frank; Dietrich, Helmut; Pahlke, Gudrun; Marko, Doris

2005-04-01

The polyphenol-rich extract of a consumer-relevant apple juice blend was found to potently inhibit the growth of the human colon cancer cell line HT29 in vitro. The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and its subsequent signaling cascade play an important role in the regulation of cell proliferation in HT29 cells. The protein tyrosine kinase activity of an EGFR preparation was effectively inhibited by the polyphenol-rich apple juice extract. Treatment of intact cells with this extract resulted in the suppression of the subsequent mitogen-activated protein kinase cascade. Amongst the so far identified apple juice constituents, the proanthocyanidins B1 and B2 as well as quercetin-3-glc (isoquercitrin) and quercetin-3-gal (hyperoside) were found to possess substantial EGFR-inhibitory properties. However, as to be expected from the final concentration of these potential EGFR inhibitors in the original polyphenol-rich extract, a synthetic mixture of the apple juice constituents identified and available so far, including both proanthocyanidins and the quercetin glycosides, showed only marginal inhibitory effects on the EGFR. These results permit the assumption that yet unknown constituents contribute substantially to the potent EGFR-inhibitory properties of polyphenol-rich apple juice extract. In summary, the polyphenol composition of apple juice possesses promising growth-inhibitory properties, affecting proliferation-associated signaling cascades in colon tumor cells.

New method to enhance the extraction yield of rutin from Sophora japonica using a novel ultrasonic extraction system by determining optimum ultrasonic frequency.

Science.gov (United States)

Liao, Jianqing; Qu, Baida; Liu, Da; Zheng, Naiqin

2015-11-01

A new method has been proposed for enhancing extraction yield of rutin from Sophora japonica, in which a novel ultrasonic extraction system has been developed to perform the determination of optimum ultrasonic frequency by a two-step procedure. This study has systematically investigated the influence of a continuous frequency range of 20-92 kHz on rutin yields. The effects of different operating conditions on rutin yields have also been studied in detail such as solvent concentration, solvent to solid ratio, ultrasound power, temperature and particle size. A higher extraction yield was obtained at the ultrasonic frequency of 60-62 kHz which was little affected under other extraction conditions. Comparative studies between existing methods and the present method were done to verify the effectiveness of this method. Results indicated that the new extraction method gave a higher extraction yield compared with existing ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and soxhlet extraction (SE). Thus, the potential use of this method may be promising for extraction of natural materials on an industrial scale in the future. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fetal source extraction from magnetocardiographic recordings by dependent component analysis

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Araujo, Draulio B de [Department of Physics and Mathematics, FFCLRP, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil); Barros, Allan Kardec [Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal University of Maranhao, Sao Luis, Maranhao (Brazil); Estombelo-Montesco, Carlos [Department of Physics and Mathematics, FFCLRP, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil); Zhao, Hui [Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Filho, A C Roque da Silva [Department of Physics and Mathematics, FFCLRP, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil); Baffa, Oswaldo [Department of Physics and Mathematics, FFCLRP, University of Sao Paulo, Ribeirao Preto, SP (Brazil); Wakai, Ronald [Department of Medical Physics, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States); Ohnishi, Noboru [Department of Information Engineering, Nagoya University (Japan)

2005-10-07

Fetal magnetocardiography (fMCG) has been extensively reported in the literature as a non-invasive, prenatal technique that can be used to monitor various functions of the fetal heart. However, fMCG signals often have low signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and are contaminated by strong interference from the mother's magnetocardiogram signal. A promising, efficient tool for extracting signals, even under low SNR conditions, is blind source separation (BSS), or independent component analysis (ICA). Herein we propose an algorithm based on a variation of ICA, where the signal of interest is extracted using a time delay obtained from an autocorrelation analysis. We model the system using autoregression, and identify the signal component of interest from the poles of the autocorrelation function. We show that the method is effective in removing the maternal signal, and is computationally efficient. We also compare our results to more established ICA methods, such as FastICA.

Optimization of enzymatic extraction of pectin from Opuntia ficus indica cladodes after mucilage removal.

Science.gov (United States)

Bayar, Nadia; Friji, Marwa; Kammoun, Radhouane

2018-02-15

In this study, pectin was isolated from Opuntia ficus indica (OFI) cladodes after removing mucilage using the xylanase and cellulase. The process variables were optimized by the Box Behnken design with three factors at three levels. The optimal extraction condition obtained was: liquid to solid (LS), cellulase to xylanase and enzymes to matter ratios of 22ml/g, 2:1U/U and 4U/g, respectively. The simulated extraction yield of 17.91% was validated by the experimental result (16.67±0.30). The enzyme-extracted pectin from OFI cladodes (EAEPC) was low methylated, with a high uronic acid content, a water and oil holding capacity of 5.42g/g and 1.23g/g, respectively, a good foam and emulsion stability and important DPPH radical scavenging activity. Both the OFI cladodes and enzymatic process present promising alternatives to traditional sources and extraction processes of pectin, respectively. EAEPC thus represents a promising additive in food industries. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor of maxilla showing sarcomatous change in an edentulous site with a history of tooth extraction following periodontitis: A case report with discussion.

Science.gov (United States)

Biniraj, K R; Janardhanan, Mahija

2014-05-01

Inflammatory myofibroblastic tumor (IMT) is a rare tumor of uncertain origin with variable biological behavior ranging from reactive lesions to highly aggressive malignancy. Oral IMTs are extremely rare and only 25 cases had been reported so far. A case of IMT with sarcomatous transformation in an extraction site with a history of tooth extraction following tooth mobility of an upper left molar tooth is presented here. The tooth was extracted following a complaint of gingival swelling and mobility of tooth. Though malignant transformation in IMTs had been documented in the extra oral sites, wide search of associated literature suggests, this is the first case of oral IMT showing malignant change associated with gingiva. The case report attempts to highlight the variant possibilities of tooth mobility other than periodontitis and the importance of assessing the primary cause of such conditions.

Sustainability, Innovation, and Green Chemistry in the Production and Valorization of Phenolic Extracts from Olea europaea L.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Annalisa Romani

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This paper describes a circular economy process based on environmentally and economically sustainable procedures which was applied to the sector of olive oil processing on an industrial scale. Olea europaea L. tissues and by-products represent a renewable and low-cost source of polyphenols, in particular hydroxytyrosol (HTyr, a naturally occurring compound well known for its biological properties. Specifically, green leaves (GL, dried leaves (DL, and pitted olive pulp were treated with water in a pneumatic extractor to obtain the corresponding polyphenolic extracts. Three standardized fractions, named Soft Extract Olea GL, Soft Extract Olea DL, and Soft Extract Olea HTyr resulted after the following two steps: a separation process carried out by membrane technology, and a concentration step performed under reduced pressure and low temperature. The polyphenolic fractions showed antiradical activity and have potential industrial applications in the food, nutraceutical, pharmaceutical, feed, and agronomic fields. Novel functionalized extracts containing hydroxytyrosol methyl carbonate (HTyr-MC were obtained from Soft Extract Olea HTyr through an innovative approach based on green chemistry procedures, which appear to be a promising tool to increase the applications of the polyphenolic extracts.

Th(Ⅳ) and U(Ⅵ) removal by TODGA in ionic liquids: extraction behavior and mechanism, and radiation effect

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Zhen Dong; Wei-Jin Yuan; Chao Liu; Long Zhao; Chao Zhao; Fang-Dong Tang; Lin-Feng He

2017-01-01

Extraction behavior of thorium(Ⅳ) and uranium(Ⅵ) from nitric acid (HNO3) was studied using N,N,N',N'-tetraoctyldiglycolamide (TODGA) as extractant in different ionic liquids,and isooctane as comparison.Slope analyses with varying HNO3 concentrations and diluents revealed the extraction mechanism.With increasing length of alkyl chain and HNO3 concentration,the extraction mechanism of TODGA/IL system changed from cation exchange to neutral complex and/or anion exchange,and the molar ratio between TODGA and metal ions varied gradually from 2∶1 to 1∶1 for Th(Ⅳ) and 3∶1 to 1∶1 for U(Ⅵ).The kinetics and thermodynamic studies of Th(Ⅳ) and U(Ⅵ) by the best TODGA/[C2mim][NTf2] system showed that the extraction equilibrium was reached within 2 h and extraction reactions were endothermic.Compared to TODGA/isooctane system,TODGA/[C2mim][NTf2] system presented higher radiation stability under γ-irradiation.Therefore,it would have a promising application in spent fuel reprocessing.

Real Time Extraction Kinetics of Electro Membrane Extraction Verified by Comparing Drug Metabolism Profiles Obtained from a Flow-Flow Electro Membrane Extraction-Mass Spectrometry System with LC-MS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fuchs, David; Jensen, Henrik; Pedersen-Bjergaard, Stig

2015-01-01

A simple to construct and operate, "dip-in" electromembrane extraction (EME) probe directly coupled to electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (ESI-MS) for rapid extraction and real time analysis of various analytes was developed. The setup demonstrated that EME-MS can be used as a viable...... alternative to conventional protein precipitation followed by liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) for studying drug metabolism. Comparison of EME-MS with LC-MS for drug metabolism analysis demonstrated for the first time that real time extraction of analytes by EME is possible. Metabolism kinetics...... offering a significant time saving as compared to conventional LC-MS where laborious protein precipitation or other sample pretreatments are required before analysis. This makes the developed EME-MS setup a highly promising sample preparation method for various kinds of applications where fast and real-time...

The deepwater Gulf of Mexico : promises delivered?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pickering, D.R.

1999-01-01

A summary review of deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM) oil production was presented for the years 1989 to 1998. Trends and prospects in deepwater GOM production and leasing were assessed. Promises and forecasts made in the early 1990s were compared with what actually happened since then. Forecasts in the early 1990s promised deeper, faster and cheaper developments in the deepwater Gulf. Results of the comparison showed that the prognosticators were correct on all three counts. Regarding the future of the Gulf, one can be justified in being optimistic in so far as more experience, robust economics, more and cheaper rigs can be taken as reliable indicators of optimism. In contrast, there are certain negatives to consider, such as low commodity prices, budget constraints, lease expirations, technical challenges and increased competition. . 12 figs

Antidiarrheal activity of extracts from Maytenus gonoclada and inhibition of Dengue virus by lupeol

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FERNANDO C. SILVA

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Diarrhea is an infectious disease caused by bacterial, virus, or protozoan, and dengue is caused by virus, included among the neglected diseases in several underdeveloped and developing countries, with an urgent demand for new drugs. Considering the antidiarrheal potential of species of Maytenus genus, a phytochemical investigation followed by antibacterial activity test with extracts of branches and heartwood and bark of roots from Maytenus gonoclada were conducted. Moreover, due the frequency of isolation of lupeol from Maytenus genus the antiviral activity against Dengue virus and cytotoxicity of lupeol and its complex with β-cyclodextrins were also tested. The results indicated the bioactivity of ethyl acetate extract from branches and ethanol extract from heartwood of roots of M. gonoclada against diarrheagenic bacteria. The lupeol showed potent activity against Dengue virus and low cytotoxicity in LLC-MK2 cells, but its complex with β-cyclodextrin was inactive. Considering the importance of novel and selective antiviral drug candidates the results seem to be promising.

In vitro antioxidant and antimalarial activities of leaves, pods and bark extracts of Acacia nilotica (L.) Del.

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Sadiq, Muhammad Bilal; Tharaphan, Pattamon; Chotivanich, Kesinee; Tarning, Joel; Anal, Anil Kumar

2017-07-18

The emergence of drug resistant malaria is threatening our ability to treat and control malaria in the Southeast Asian region. There is an urgent need to develop novel and chemically diverse antimalarial drugs. This study aimed at evaluating the antimalarial and antioxidant potentials of Acacia nilotica plant extracts. The antioxidant activities of leaves, pods and bark extracts were determined by standard antioxidant assays; reducing power capacity, % lipid peroxidation inhibition and ferric reducing antioxidant power assay. The antimalarial activities of plant extracts against Plasmodium falciparum parasites were determined by the 48 h schizont maturation inhibition assay. Further confirmation of schizonticide activity of extracts was made by extending the incubation period up to 96 h after removing the plant extract residues from parasites culture. Inhibition assays were analyzed by dose-response modelling. In all antioxidant assays, leaves of A. nilotica showed higher antioxidant activity than pods and bark. Antimalarial IC 50 values of leaves, pods and bark extracts were 1.29, 4.16 and 4.28 μg/ml respectively, in the 48 h maturation assay. The IC 50 values determined for leaves, pods and bark extracts were 3.72, 5.41 and 5.32 μg/ml respectively, after 96 h of incubation. All extracts inhibited the development of mature schizont, indicating schizonticide activity against P. falciparum. A. nilotica extracts showed promising antimalarial and antioxidant effects. However, further investigation is needed to isolate and identify the active components responsible for the antimalarial and antioxidant effects.

Extractables analysis of single-use flexible plastic biocontainers.

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Marghitoiu, Liliana; Liu, Jian; Lee, Hans; Perez, Lourdes; Fujimori, Kiyoshi; Ronk, Michael; Hammond, Matthew R; Nunn, Heather; Lower, Asher; Rogers, Gary; Nashed-Samuel, Yasser

2015-01-01

Studies of the extractable profiles of bioprocessing components have become an integral part of drug development efforts to minimize possible compromise in process performance, decrease in drug product quality, and potential safety risk to patients due to the possibility of small molecules leaching out from the components. In this study, an effective extraction solvent system was developed to evaluate the organic extractable profiles of single-use bioprocess equipment, which has been gaining increasing popularity in the biopharmaceutical industry because of the many advantages over the traditional stainless steel-based bioreactors and other fluid mixing and storage vessels. The chosen extraction conditions were intended to represent aggressive conditions relative to the application of single-use bags in biopharmaceutical manufacture, in which aqueous based systems are largely utilized. Those extraction conditions, along with a non-targeted analytical strategy, allowed for the generation and identification of an array of extractable compounds; a total of 53 organic compounds were identified from four types of commercially available single-use bags, the majority of which are degradation products of polymer additives. The success of this overall extractables analysis strategy was reflected partially by the effectiveness in the extraction and identification of a compound that was later found to be highly detrimental to mammalian cell growth. The usage of single-use bioreactors has been increasing in biopharmaceutical industry because of the appealing advantages that it promises regarding to the cleaning, sterilization, operational flexibility, and so on, during manufacturing of biologics. However, compared to its conventional counterparts based mainly on stainless steel, single-use bioreactors are more susceptible to potential problems associated with compound leaching into the bioprocessing fluid. As a result, extractable profiling of the single-use system has become

Combining cationic and anionic mixed-mode sorbents in a single cartridge to extract basic and acidic pharmaceuticals simultaneously from environmental waters.

Science.gov (United States)

Salas, Daniela; Borrull, Francesc; Fontanals, Núria; Marcé, Rosa Maria

2018-01-01

The aim of the present study is to broaden the applications of mixed-mode ion-exchange solid-phase extraction sorbents to extract both basic and acidic compounds simultaneously by combining the sorbents in a single cartridge and developing a simplified extraction procedure. Four different cartridges containing negative and positive charges in the same configuration were evaluated and compared to extract a group of basic, neutral, and acidic pharmaceuticals selected as model compounds. After a thorough optimization of the extraction conditions, the four different cartridges showed to be capable of retaining basic and acidic pharmaceuticals simultaneously through ionic interactions, allowing the introduction of a washing step with 15 mL methanol to eliminate interferences retained by hydrophobic interactions. Using the best combined cartridge, a method was developed, validated, and further applied to environmental waters to demonstrate that the method is promising for the extraction of basic and acidic compounds from very complex samples.

An investigation of electrospun Henna leaves extract-loaded chitosan based nanofibrous mats for skin tissue engineering

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yousefi, Iman, E-mail: iman_yousefi@ut.ac.ir [School of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Medical Biomaterials Research Center (MBRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Pakravan, Mehdi [Department of Chemical Engineering, Ecole Polytechnique de Montreal, Montreal, Quebec (Canada); Rahimi, Hoda [Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Bahador, Abbas; Farshadzadeh, Zahra [Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Haririan, Ismael, E-mail: haririan@tums.ac.ir [Medical Biomaterials Research Center (MBRC), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Pharmaceutical Biomaterial, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

2017-06-01

Wound healing characteristics of some plant extracts have been well known for many years, and they have been utilized for such applications in traditional way. Recently electrospun nanofibrous mats showed promising properties for tissue engineering and especially for skin repair. It is expected that incorporation of plant extracts into such structures could provide higher performance and synergistic effect for biomedical and wound healing applications. The final purpose of this study is to fabricate chitosan based nanofiber mats loaded with a traditional plant extract of Lawsonia inermis (Henna) leaves to enhance the antibacterial efficacy and wound healing of the precursor nanofibers. The morphology, structure, mechanical properties and swelling and weight loss degree of the electrospun nanofibers have been investigated in this study. Antibacterial activity, cell biocompatibility evaluations and in vivo wound healing activity of the abovementioned mats were also studied. The FESEM images of Henna leaves extract-loaded nanofibers proved that homogeneous, smooth and defect free nanofibers of 64–87 nm in diameter have been prepared. Presence of Henna extract in the electrospun fibers was approved by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Incorporation of Henna extract into the nanofiber mats exhibited significant synergistic antibacterial activity against bacterial cells. It was well supported by the results of cell viability and proliferation of human foreskin fibroblast cells on the prepared scaffolds. Therefore, the results of this work showed that Henna leaves extract incorporated chitosan nonwoven mats have a great potential to be used as the biodegradable, biobased and antibacterial wound healing dressings. - Highlights: • Henna leaves extract were successfully loaded into chitosan based nanofiber mats. • These mats demonstrated significant synergistic antibacterial activity. • Combined properties of chitosan nanofibers and Henna promoted cell

An investigation of electrospun Henna leaves extract-loaded chitosan based nanofibrous mats for skin tissue engineering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yousefi, Iman; Pakravan, Mehdi; Rahimi, Hoda; Bahador, Abbas; Farshadzadeh, Zahra; Haririan, Ismael

2017-01-01

Wound healing characteristics of some plant extracts have been well known for many years, and they have been utilized for such applications in traditional way. Recently electrospun nanofibrous mats showed promising properties for tissue engineering and especially for skin repair. It is expected that incorporation of plant extracts into such structures could provide higher performance and synergistic effect for biomedical and wound healing applications. The final purpose of this study is to fabricate chitosan based nanofiber mats loaded with a traditional plant extract of Lawsonia inermis (Henna) leaves to enhance the antibacterial efficacy and wound healing of the precursor nanofibers. The morphology, structure, mechanical properties and swelling and weight loss degree of the electrospun nanofibers have been investigated in this study. Antibacterial activity, cell biocompatibility evaluations and in vivo wound healing activity of the abovementioned mats were also studied. The FESEM images of Henna leaves extract-loaded nanofibers proved that homogeneous, smooth and defect free nanofibers of 64–87 nm in diameter have been prepared. Presence of Henna extract in the electrospun fibers was approved by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy. Incorporation of Henna extract into the nanofiber mats exhibited significant synergistic antibacterial activity against bacterial cells. It was well supported by the results of cell viability and proliferation of human foreskin fibroblast cells on the prepared scaffolds. Therefore, the results of this work showed that Henna leaves extract incorporated chitosan nonwoven mats have a great potential to be used as the biodegradable, biobased and antibacterial wound healing dressings. - Highlights: • Henna leaves extract were successfully loaded into chitosan based nanofiber mats. • These mats demonstrated significant synergistic antibacterial activity. • Combined properties of chitosan nanofibers and Henna promoted cell

Effects of Acetone Fraction From Buchenavia tomentosa Aqueous Extract and Gallic Acid on Candida albicans Biofilms and Virulence Factors

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Guilherme R. Teodoro

2018-04-01

Full Text Available A promising anti-Candida activity of Buchenavia tomentosa extracts was recently described. In the present work, experiments were carried out to determine the fraction with higher antifungal activity from a B. tomentosa extract. Acetone fraction (AF was obtained from the aqueous extract from dried leaves (5 min/100°C and it was the most effective one. Gallic acid (GA was identified by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI–MS and also chosen to perform antifungal tests due to its promising activity on Candida albicans. Minimal inhibitory and fungicidal concentrations (MIC and MFC were determined by broth microdilution technique. The effect on virulence factors of C. albicans was evaluated, and the cytotoxicity was determined. MIC50 and MIC90 values were both equal to 0.625 mg ml-1 for AF and 2.5 and 5 mg ml-1, respectively, for GA. AF and GA showed ability to inhibit C. albicans adherence and to disrupt 48 h-biofilm. AF and GA were effective in reducing the formation of hyphae of C. albicans SC5314. AF and GA decreased adherence of C. albicans to oral epithelial cells. AF and GA showed slight to moderate toxicity to Vero cells. This result suggests further studies for topic use of these compounds. AF, which contains a combination of several molecules, presented greater potential of antimicrobial activity than GA, with lower values of MIC and lower cytoxicity.

A simple and rapid infrared-assisted self enzymolysis extraction method for total flavonoid aglycones extraction from Scutellariae Radix and mechanism exploration.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Liping; Duan, Haotian; Jiang, Jiebing; Long, Jiakun; Yu, Yingjia; Chen, Guiliang; Duan, Gengli

2017-09-01

A new, simple, and fast infrared-assisted self enzymolysis extraction (IRASEE) approach for the extraction of total flavonoid aglycones (TFA) mainly including baicalein, wogonin, and oroxylin A from Scutellariae Radix is presented to enhance extraction yield. Extraction enzymolysis temperature, enzymolysis liquid-to-solid ratio, enzymolysis pH, enzymolysis time and infrared power, the factors affecting IRASEE procedure, were investigated in a newly designed, temperature-controlled infrared-assisted extraction (TC-IRAE) system to acquire the optimum analysis conditions. The results illustrated that IRASEE possessed great advantages in terms of efficiency and time compared with other conventional extraction techniques. Furthermore, the mechanism of IRASEE was preliminarily explored by observing the microscopic change of the samples surface structures, studying the main chemical compositions change of the samples before and after extraction and investigating the kinetics and thermodynamics at three temperature levels during the IRASEE process. These findings revealed that IRASEE can destroy the surface microstructures to accelerate the mass transfer and reduce the activation energy to intensify the chemical process. This integrative study presents a simple, rapid, efficient, and environmental IRASEE method for TFA extraction which has promising prospects for other similar herbal medicines. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Biological activity of Xanthium strumarium seed extracts on different cancer cell lines and Aedes caspius, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae

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Fahd A. Al-Mekhlafi

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Effects of methanol extracts of Xanthium strumarium on different cancer cell lines and on the mortality rates of Aedes caspius, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae were investigated. Among the cell lines tested, the Jurkat cell line was the most sensitive to the methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction, with reported LC50 values of 50.18 and 48.73 μg/ml respectively. Conversely, methanol extracts were not that toxic to the A549 cell line though the toxicity increased on further purification. The percentage of growth inhibition was dose dependent for the methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction. The ethyl acetate fraction showed higher toxicity to all cell lines tested when compared to the methanol extract. The results showed that methanol extracts of plant seeds caused 100% mortality of mosquito larvae at a concentration of 1000 μg/ml after 24 h of treatment. The LC50 and LC90 values of X. strumarium were found to be 531.07 and 905.95 μg/ml against Ae. caspius and 502.32 and 867.63 μg/ml against Cx. Pipiens, respectively. From the investigations, it was concluded that the crude extract of X. strumarium showed a weak potential for controlling the larval instars of Ae. caspius and Cx. pipiens. However, on further purification the extract lost the larvicidal activity. The ethyl acetate fraction showed higher toxicity to all cell lines tested when compared to the methanol extract. The ethyl acetate fraction investigated in this study appears to have a weak larvicidal activity but a promising cytotoxic activity. Future studies will include purification and investigation in further detail of the action of X. strumarium on Cancer Cell Lines and mosquitoes.

Biological activity of Xanthium strumarium seed extracts on different cancer cell lines and Aedes caspius, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae).

Science.gov (United States)

Al-Mekhlafi, Fahd A; Abutaha, Nael; Mashaly, Ashraf M A; Nasr, Fahd A; Ibrahim, Khalid E; Wadaan, Mohamed A

2017-05-01

Effects of methanol extracts of Xanthium strumarium on different cancer cell lines and on the mortality rates of Aedes caspius, Culex pipiens (Diptera: Culicidae) were investigated. Among the cell lines tested, the Jurkat cell line was the most sensitive to the methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction, with reported LC 50 values of 50.18 and 48.73 μg/ml respectively. Conversely, methanol extracts were not that toxic to the A549 cell line though the toxicity increased on further purification. The percentage of growth inhibition was dose dependent for the methanol extract and ethyl acetate fraction. The ethyl acetate fraction showed higher toxicity to all cell lines tested when compared to the methanol extract. The results showed that methanol extracts of plant seeds caused 100% mortality of mosquito larvae at a concentration of 1000 μg/ml after 24 h of treatment. The LC 50 and LC 90 values of X. strumarium were found to be 531.07 and 905.95 μg/ml against Ae. caspius and 502.32 and 867.63 μg/ml against Cx. Pipiens, respectively. From the investigations, it was concluded that the crude extract of X. strumarium showed a weak potential for controlling the larval instars of Ae. caspius and Cx. pipiens . However, on further purification the extract lost the larvicidal activity. The ethyl acetate fraction showed higher toxicity to all cell lines tested when compared to the methanol extract. The ethyl acetate fraction investigated in this study appears to have a weak larvicidal activity but a promising cytotoxic activity. Future studies will include purification and investigation in further detail of the action of X. strumarium on Cancer Cell Lines and mosquitoes.

Antioxidant activity of flower, stem and leaf extracts of Ferula gummosa Boiss

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Mohammad Nabavi, Seyed

2010-09-01

Full Text Available The Antioxidant and antihemolytic activities of hydroalcoholic extracts of the flowers, stems and leaves of the Ferula gummosa Boiss were investigated employing different in vitro assay systems. Leaf extract showed better activity in DPPH radical scavenging. In addition it showed better activity in nitric oxide and H2O2 scavenging and Fe2+ chelating activity than the other parts. The extracts exhibited good antioxidant activity in linoleic acid system test but were not comparable with vitamin C (p2O2 induced hemolysis. Among the extracts, the flowers had higher phenolic and flavonoid contents. This plant is very promising for further biochemical experiments.La actividad antihemolítica y antioxidante de extractos hidroalcohólicos de flores, tallos y hojas de Ferula gummosa Boiss fueron investigados empleando diferentes ensayos in vitro. Los extractos de hojas mostraron una mejor actividad captadora de radicales libres. Además, mostraron una mejor actividad captadora de óxido nítrico y H2O2 y actividad quelatante de Fe2+ que las otras partes. Los extractos exhibieron una buena actividad antioxidante en el ensayo con ácido linoleico pero no comparable con la vitamina C (pF. gummosa mostraron una mejor actividad antihemolítica contra la hemolisis inducida con H2O2. Entre los extractos, las flores tienen los más altos contenidos de fenoles y flavonoides. Esta planta es muy prometedora para futuros experimentos bioquímicos.

Potential of Piper betle extracts on inhibition of oral pathogens.

Science.gov (United States)

Phumat, Pimpak; Khongkhunthian, Sakornrat; Wanachantararak, Phenphichar; Okonogi, Siriporn

2017-01-01

In the present study, antimicrobial activity of Piper betle crude ethanol extract against 4 strains of oral pathogens; Candida albicans DMST 8684, C. albicans DMST 5815, Streptococcus gordonii DMST 38731 and Streptococcus mutans DMST 18777 was compared with other medicinal plants. P. betle showed the strongest antimicrobial activity against all tested strains. Fractionated extracts of P. betle using hexane, ethyl acetate, and ethanol, respectively, were subjected to antimicrobial assay. The result revealed that the fractionated extract from ethyl acetate (F-EtOAc) possessed the strongest antimicrobial activity against all tested strains. Its inhibition zones against those pathogens were 23.00 ± 0.00, 24.33 ± 0.58, 12.50 ± 0.70 and 11.00 ± 0.00 mm, respectively and its minimum inhibitory concentrations were 0.50, 1.00, 0.50 and 1.00 mg/mL, respectively. Interestingly, the minimum concentration to completely kill those pathogens was the same for all strains and found to be 2.00 mg/mL. Killing kinetic study revealed that the activity of F-EtOAc was dose dependent. HPLC chromatograms of P. betle extracts were compared with its antimicrobial activity. An obvious peak at a retention time of 4.11 min was found to be a major component of F-EtOAc whereas it was a minor compound in the other extracts. This peak was considered to be an active compound of P. betle as it was consistent with the antimicrobial activity of F-EtOAc, the most potential extract against the tested pathogens. It is suggested that F-EtOAc is a promising extract of P. betle for inhibition of oral pathogens. Separation and structure elucidation of the active compound of this extract will be further investigated.

High-capacity conductive nanocellulose paper sheets for electrochemically controlled extraction of DNA oligomers.

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Aamir Razaq

Full Text Available Highly porous polypyrrole (PPy-nanocellulose paper sheets have been evaluated as inexpensive and disposable electrochemically controlled three-dimensional solid phase extraction materials. The composites, which had a total anion exchange capacity of about 1.1 mol kg(-1, were used for extraction and subsequent release of negatively charged fluorophore tagged DNA oligomers via galvanostatic oxidation and reduction of a 30-50 nm conformal PPy layer on the cellulose substrate. The ion exchange capacity, which was, at least, two orders of magnitude higher than those previously reached in electrochemically controlled extraction, originated from the high surface area (i.e. 80 m(2 g(-1 of the porous composites and the thin PPy layer which ensured excellent access to the ion exchange material. This enabled the extractions to be carried out faster and with better control of the PPy charge than with previously employed approaches. Experiments in equimolar mixtures of (dT(6, (dT(20, and (dT(40 DNA oligomers showed that all oligomers could be extracted, and that the smallest oligomer was preferentially released with an efficiency of up to 40% during the reduction of the PPy layer. These results indicate that the present material is very promising for the development of inexpensive and efficient electrochemically controlled ion-exchange membranes for batch-wise extraction of biomolecules.

Anti-ulcerogenic Activity of Extract and Some Isolated Flavonoids from Desmostachia bipinnata (L. Stapf

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Amani, S. Awaad

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Five main flavonoid glycosides were isolated, for the first time, from the ethanol extract of Desmostachia bipinnata (L.Stapf ( Gramineae . They were identified as kaempferol(1, quercetin(2, quercetin-3-glucoside(3, trycin(4 and trycin-7-glucoside(5. The structure elucidation was based on UV, Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESIMS, 1H and 13C NMR, proton- proton correlation spectroscopy ( 1H- 1H Cosy, distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer (DEPT, heteronuclear single quantum coherence (HSQC, and heteronuclear multiple bond correlations spectrum (HMBC. The total extract (200 and 300 mg/kg and two of the isolated compounds (trycin and trycin-7-glucoside.100 mg/kg each showed a very promising antiulcerogenic activity with curative ratios; 68.31, 70.54, 77.39 and 78.93%, respectively.

Digital PCR for direct quantification of viruses without DNA extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Pavšič, Jernej; Žel, Jana; Milavec, Mojca

2016-01-01

DNA extraction before amplification is considered an essential step for quantification of viral DNA using real-time PCR (qPCR). However, this can directly affect the final measurements due to variable DNA yields and removal of inhibitors, which leads to increased inter-laboratory variability of qPCR measurements and reduced agreement on viral loads. Digital PCR (dPCR) might be an advantageous methodology for the measurement of virus concentrations, as it does not depend on any calibration material and it has higher tolerance to inhibitors. DNA quantification without an extraction step (i.e. direct quantification) was performed here using dPCR and two different human cytomegalovirus whole-virus materials. Two dPCR platforms were used for this direct quantification of the viral DNA, and these were compared with quantification of the extracted viral DNA in terms of yield and variability. Direct quantification of both whole-virus materials present in simple matrices like cell lysate or Tris-HCl buffer provided repeatable measurements of virus concentrations that were probably in closer agreement with the actual viral load than when estimated through quantification of the extracted DNA. Direct dPCR quantification of other viruses, reference materials and clinically relevant matrices is now needed to show the full versatility of this very promising and cost-efficient development in virus quantification.

Service Users perspectives in PROMISE and research.

Science.gov (United States)

Rae, Sarah

2017-09-01

Since its inception in 2013, PROMISE (PROactive Management of Integrated Services and Environments) has been supporting service users and staff at the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust (CPFT) on a journey to reduce reliance on force. The author's own personal experiences led to the founding of PROMISE and illustrates how individual experiences can influence a patient to lead change. Coproduction is actively embedded in PROMISE. Patients have been meaningfully involved because they are innovators and problem solvers who bring an alternative viewpoint by the very nature of their condition. A patient is more than just a person who needs to be 'fixed' they are individuals with untapped skills and added insight. There have been 2 separate Patient Advisory Groups (PAGs) since the project was first established. The first Patient Advisory Group was recruited to work with the PROMISE researchers on a study which used a participatory qualitative approach. Drawing on their lived experience and different perspectives the PAG was instrumental in shaping the qualitative study, including the research questions. Their active involvement helped to ensure that that the study was sensitively designed, methodologically robust and ethically sound. The 2 nd PAG was formed in 2016 to give the project an overall steer. Patients in this group contributed to the work on the 'No' Audit and reviewed several CPFT policies such as the Seclusion and Segregation policy which has impacted on frontline practice. They also made a significant contribution to the study design for a funding application that was submitted by the PROMISE team to the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). Both PAGs were supported by funding from East of England Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRC EoE) and were influential in different ways. An evaluation of the 2 nd PAG which was conducted in June 2017 showed very high satisfaction levels. The free text

Lunar Oxygen Production and Metals Extraction Using Ionic Liquids

Science.gov (United States)

Marone, Matthew; Paley, Mark Steven; Donovan, David N.; Karr, Laurel J.

2009-01-01

Initial results indicate that ionic liquids are promising media for the extraction of oxygen from lunar regolith. IL acid systems can solubilize regolith and produce water with high efficiency. IL electrolytes are effective for water electrolysis, and the spent IL acid media are capable of regeneration.

Phytotoxicity and biodirected fractionation of extracts of barks of Blepharocalyx salicifolius (Kunth O.Berg. (Myrtaceae

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Eduardo Habermann

2015-02-01

Full Text Available This study aimed to evaluate the phytotoxicity of extracts and fractions of barks of Blepharocalyx salicifolius on elongation of etiolated coleoptiles of Triticum aestivum (wheat. The extracts hexane (Hx, ethyl acetate (AcOET, and aqueous (H2O were obtained by means of exhaustive extraction with CH2Cl2/CH3OH and subsequent fractionation by partition chromatography coefficient. The extracts AcOET and Hx were fractionated by column chromatography by using organic solvents in increasing order of polarity, yielding 7 hexanic fractions and 6 ethylic acetate fractions. Subsequently, the fractions Hx1 and Hx5 were subfractionated by column chromatography. The extracts AcOET and Hx inhibited elongation of coleoptiles. Four ethylic acetate fractions inhibited elongation of coleoptiles at all concentrations. Five hexanic fractions inhibited elongation of coleoptiles, the fractions Hx5 and Hx1 fractions showed phytotoxic effects equivalent or superior to those observed by the herbicide GOAL® at the same concentrations. All subfractions obtained by means of fractionation of Hx1 inhibited elongation of coleoptiles. Six fractions obtained by means of fractionation of Hx5 inhibited elongation of coleoptiles at all concentrations. This study proves the phytotoxicity of extracts of barks of B. salicifolius, providing indications that they may act as promising natural herbicides.

Report on strategic survey on promising areas for geothermal development in fiscal 1999. Hohi Area (second report); 1999 nendo chinetsu kaihatsu yubo chiiki wo taisho to shita senryakuteki chosa hokokusho. 2. Hohi chiiki

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2000-03-01

This paper describes a strategic consideration on promising areas for geothermal development in fiscal 1999. Areas of importance to be given surveys corresponding to the geothermal development promotion survey range C were extracted from the promising areas extracted in the previous year, based on further objective analysis and evaluation criteria. Geothermal structure models were prepared on each promising area from geological and geothermal structural elements according to the standard method for the geothermal structure model structuring technology. Amount of geothermal resources in the promising areas was evaluated by using the evaluation supporting tools. In order to extract the areas of importance to be given the surveys, the extraction criteria were discussed based on the resource density, the Natural Park Law, and the data accuracy. Furthermore, comprehensive evaluation was given on geothermal structure properties, location and environmental conditions based on the geothermal structure models. Areas expected of effective achievements in the development promotion survey were selected, and a reservoir conception model was prepared. Assuming the single flash power generation, the resource amount was evaluated by using the Monte Carlo analysis of the Stored Heat Law. Social and environmental issues were also considered. A draft of the optimum survey program corresponding to each survey stage was prepared, with the areas of importance to be given the survey as the object. (NEDO)

Using Conditional Random Fields to Extract Contexts and Answers of Questions from Online Forums

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ding, Shilin; Cong, Gao; Lin, Chin-Yew

2008-01-01

Online forum discussions often contain vast amounts of questions that are the focuses of discussions. Extracting contexts and answers together with the questions will yield not only a coherent forum summary but also a valuable QA knowledge base. In this paper, we propose a general framework based...... on Conditional Random Fields (CRFs) to detect the contexts and answers of questions from forum threads. We improve the basic framework by Skip-chain CRFs and 2D CRFs to better accommodate the features of forums for better performance. Experimental results show that our techniques are very promising....

In vitro activities of plant extracts from Saudi Arabia against malaria, leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness and Chagas disease.

Science.gov (United States)

Abdel-Sattar, Essam; Maes, Louis; Salama, Maha Mahmoud

2010-09-01

The in vitro activity of the methanol extracts of 51 plants randomly collected from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and some of their fractions (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous) were evaluated against Plasmodium falciparum, Trypanosoma brucei brucei, T. cruzi and Leishmania infantum, as well as toxicity against MRC-5 fibroblast cells. Ten crude methanolic extracts that demonstrated potent and adequately selective antiprotozoal activity were subjected to solvent fractionation using petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and chloroform. Only three samples showed promising antiprotozoal activity. Argemone ochroleuca (CHCl(3) fraction) showed pronounced activity against P. falciparum(GHA) (IC(50) 0.32 microg/mL) and T. cruzi (IC(50) 0.30 microg/mL) with low cytotoxicity against MRC-5 cells (CC(50) 11.6 microg/mL). Capparis spinosa (EtOAc fraction) showed pronounced activity against P. falciparum(GHA) with an IC(50) 0.50 microg/mL in the absence of toxicity against MRC-5 cell line (CC(50) > 30 microg/mL). Heliotropium curassavicum (CHCl(3) fraction) showed similar activity against P. falciparum (IC(50) 0.65 microg/mL; MRC-5 CC(50) > 30 microg /mL). These three extracts will be subjected for further extensive studies to isolate and identify their active constituents. Copyright 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Towards A New Approach For Arabic Root Extraction:Exploit Relations Between The Word Letters And Their Placement In The Word For Arabic Root Extraction

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Fatma Abu Hawas

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper we present a new root-extraction approach for Arabic words. The approach tries to assign for Arabic word a unique root without having a database of word roots, a list of words patterns or even a list of all the prefixes and the suffixes of the Arabic words. Unlike most of Arabic rule-based stemmers, it tries to predict the letters positions that may form the word root one by one using some rules based on the relations among the Arabic word letters and their placement in the word. This paper will focus on two parts of the approach. The first one deals with the rules that distinguish between the Arabic definite article “ال -AL” and the permanent component “ال -AL” that may found in any Arabic word. The second part of the approach adopts the segmentation of the word into three parts and classifies Arabic letters in to groups according to their positions in each segment. The proposed approach is a system composed of several modules that corporate together to extract the word root. The approach has been tested and evaluated using the Holy Quran words. The results of the evaluation show a promising root extraction algorithm.

Selective extraction of high-value phenolic compounds from distillation wastewater of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) by pressurized liquid extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Pagano, Imma; Sánchez-Camargo, Andrea Del Pilar; Mendiola, Jose Antonio; Campone, Luca; Cifuentes, Alejandro; Rastrelli, Luca; Ibañez, Elena

2018-01-31

During the essential oil steam distillation from aromatic herbs, huge amounts of distillation wastewaters (DWWs) are generated. These by-products represent an exceptionally rich source of phenolic compounds such as rosmarinic acid (RA) and caffeic acid (CA). Herein, the alternative use of dried basil DWWs (dDWWs) to perform a selective extraction of RA and CA by pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) employing bio-based solvent was studied. To select the most suitable solvent for PLE, the theoretical modelling of Hansen solubility parameters (HSP) was carried out. This approach allows reducing the list of candidate to two solvents: ethanol and ethyl lactate. Due to the composition of the sample, mixtures of water with those solvents were also tested. An enriched PLE extract in RA (23.90 ± 2.06 mg/g extract) with an extraction efficiency of 75.89 ± 16.03% employing a water-ethanol mixture 25:75 (% v/v) at 50°C was obtained. In the case of CA, a PLE extract with 2.42 ± 0.04 mg/g extract, having an extraction efficiency of 13.86 ± 4.96% using ethanol absolute at 50°C was achieved. DWWs are proposed as new promising sources of natural additives and/or functional ingredients for cosmetic, nutraceutical, and food applications. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

In Vitro and In Vivo Antimalarial Activity Assays of Seeds from Balanites aegyptiaca: Compounds of the Extract Show Growth Inhibition and Activity against Plasmodial Aminopeptidase

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Peter Kusch

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Balanites aegyptiaca (Balanitaceae is a widely grown desert plant with multiuse potential. In the present paper, a crude extract from B. aegyptiaca seeds equivalent to a ratio of 1 : 2000 seeds to the extract was screened for antiplasmodial activity. The determined IC50 value for the chloroquine-susceptible Plasmodium falciparum NF54 strain was 68.26 g/L±3.5. Analysis of the extract by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detected 6-phenyl-2(H-1,2,4-triazin-5-one oxime, an inhibitor of the parasitic M18 Aspartyl Aminopeptidase as one of the compounds which is responsible for the in vitro antiplasmodial activity. The crude plant extract had a of 2.35 g/L and showed a dose-dependent response. After depletion of the compound, a significantly lower inhibition was determined with a of 4.8 g/L. Moreover, two phenolic compounds, that is, 2,6-di-tert-butyl-phenol and 2,4-di-tert-butyl-phenol, with determined IC50 values of 50.29 M±3 and 47.82 M±2.5, respectively, were detected. These compounds may contribute to the in vitro antimalarial activity due to their antioxidative properties. In an in vivo experiment, treatment of BALB/c mice with the aqueous Balanite extract did not lead to eradication of the parasites, although a reduced parasitemia at day 12 p.i. was observed.

Lung region extraction based on the model information and the inversed MIP method by using chest CT images

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tomita, Toshihiro; Miguchi, Ryosuke; Okumura, Toshiaki; Yamamoto, Shinji; Matsumoto, Mitsuomi; Tateno, Yukio; Iinuma, Takeshi; Matsumoto, Toru.

1997-01-01

We developed a lung region extraction method based on the model information and the inversed MIP method in the Lung Cancer Screening CT (LSCT). Original model is composed of typical 3-D lung contour lines, a body axis, an apical point, and a convex hull. First, the body axis. the apical point, and the convex hull are automatically extracted from the input image Next, the model is properly transformed to fit to those of input image by the affine transformation. Using the same affine transformation coefficients, typical lung contour lines are also transferred, which correspond to rough contour lines of input image. Experimental results applied for 68 samples showed this method quite promising. (author)

Molecular Mechanisms by Which a Fucus vesiculosus Extract Mediates Cell Cycle Inhibition and Cell Death in Pancreatic Cancer Cells

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Ulf Geisen

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Pancreatic cancer is one of the most aggressive cancer entities, with an extremely poor 5-year survival rate. Therefore, novel therapeutic agents with specific modes of action are urgently needed. Marine organisms represent a promising source to identify new pharmacologically active substances. Secondary metabolites derived from marine algae are of particular interest. The present work describes cellular and molecular mechanisms induced by an HPLC-fractionated, hydrophilic extract derived from the Baltic brown seaweed Fucus vesiculosus (Fv1. Treatment with Fv1 resulted in a strong inhibition of viability in various pancreatic cancer cell lines. This extract inhibited the cell cycle of proliferating cells due to the up-regulation of cell cycle inhibitors, shown on the mRNA (microarray data and protein level. As a result, cells were dying in a caspase-independent manner. Experiments with non-dividing cells showed that proliferation is a prerequisite for the effectiveness of Fv1. Importantly, Fv1 showed low cytotoxic activity against non-malignant resting T cells and terminally differentiated cells like erythrocytes. Interestingly, accelerated killing effects were observed in combination with inhibitors of autophagy. Our in vitro data suggest that Fv1 may represent a promising new agent that deserves further development towards clinical application.

LARVICIDAL ACTIVITY OF PERESKIA BLEO (KUNTH) DC. (CACTACEAE) FRUIT ENDOCARP CRUDE AND FRACTIONATED EXTRACTS AGAINST AEDES AEGYPTI (L.) (DIPTERA: CULICIDAE).

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Thongwat, Damrongpan; Ganranoo, Lucksagoon; Chokchaisiri, Ratchanaporn

2014-11-01

The use of insecticides can cause adverse effects in vector control, a plant bio-insecticide is an advantageous substitute. Currently, the promising mosquito larvicidal activity from plant extracts has been reported worldwide, including Thailand. In this study, the endocarp of Pereskia bleo (Kunth) DC. fruit was extracted with distilled water and ethanol. Crudes and fractionated groups of the extracts were evaluated for their larvicidal efficacy against the 3rd instar larvae of Aedes aegypti. At 48 hours of exposure, it was found that the activities of the extracts were higher than 24-hour's. The ethanolic extracts showed stronger activities than the aqueous ones, indicating the lower LC50 values of both crude and fractionated group extracts. The most toxic activity was found in a fractionated group of the ethanolic extract, E-Gr3, with significantly lowest LC50 values of 707.94 and 223.12 ppm for 24- and 48-hour detection times, respectively. The bioassay results indicated the larvicidal property against the Ae. aegypti mosquito of the P. bleo plant extracts. A safety for non-target organisms or an action on other mosquito vectors of this plant, should be further investigated.

Multi-criteria optimization for ultrasonic-assisted extraction of antioxidants from Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae using response surface methodology, an activity-based approach.

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Zeng, Shanshan; Wang, Lu; Zhang, Lei; Qu, Haibin; Gong, Xingchu

2013-06-01

An activity-based approach to optimize the ultrasonic-assisted extraction of antioxidants from Pericarpium Citri Reticulatae (Chenpi in Chinese) was developed. Response surface optimization based on a quantitative composition-activity relationship model showed the relationships among product chemical composition, antioxidant activity of extract, and parameters of extraction process. Three parameters of ultrasonic-assisted extraction, including the ethanol/water ratio, Chenpi amount, and alkaline amount, were investigated to give optimum extraction conditions for antioxidants of Chenpi: ethanol/water 70:30 v/v, Chenpi amount of 10 g, and alkaline amount of 28 mg. The experimental antioxidant yield under the optimum conditions was found to be 196.5 mg/g Chenpi, and the antioxidant activity was 2023.8 μmol Trolox equivalents/g of the Chenpi powder. The results agreed well with the second-order polynomial regression model. This presented approach promised great application potentials in both food and pharmaceutical industries. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Bio-guided fractionation of methanol extract of Ziziphus mauritiana Lam. (bark and effect of the most active fraction on cancer cell lines

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Richard Simo Tagne

2015-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: To investigate the anticancer and antioxidant potential of methanol bark extract of Ziziphus mauritiana (Z. mauritiana, which is used by traditional healers to cure some cases of cancer in Cameroon. Methods: The methanol crude extract of Z. mauritiana has the antiproliferative activity on four cancer cell lines and its antioxidant activity. The extract was partitioned in five different solvents, and each fraction was tested. The effect of the most antiproliferative fraction on cell cycle was determined. Bio-guided fractionation was performed on the fraction with the highest antiproliferative and the highest antioxidant activities. Results: Z. mauritiana methanol extract was active on all tested cells, and showed promising antioxidant activity. All fractions except hexane fraction were active with the dichloromethane fraction being the most active and showed S and G2-M phase arrest (P<0.01 on cell cycle progression of NCI-H460 and MCF-7, respectively. Bio-guided fractionation of the dichloromethane fraction led to lupeol and betulinic acid. The greatest antioxidant activity was recorded with ethyl acetate fraction and its fractionation led to catechin and epigallocatechin. Conclusions: Overall, this study showed that Z. mauritiana barks has benefits as a chemoprevention agent cancer.

Electromembrane extraction of peptides - fundamental studies on the supported liquid membrane

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Seip, Knut Fredrik; Stigsson, Jeanette; Gjelstad, Astrid

2011-01-01

L) was after extraction analyzed directly, or with some dilution, on CE or HPLC. This article has identified mono- or di-substituted phosphate groups as the prominent group of carrier molecules needed to obtain acceptable recoveries. For the organic solvents, primary alcohols and ketones have shown promise...... in the concentration 10 µg/mL was used. Extraction time was 5 min with an electric potential of 10 V and 900 rpm agitation of the sample vial. The samples were extracted through a hollow fiber-based SLM with different compositions of organic solvents and carriers. A small volume of acidified acceptor solution (25 µ...

Texture Feature Extraction and Classification for Iris Diagnosis

Science.gov (United States)

Ma, Lin; Li, Naimin

Appling computer aided techniques in iris image processing, and combining occidental iridology with the traditional Chinese medicine is a challenging research area in digital image processing and artificial intelligence. This paper proposes an iridology model that consists the iris image pre-processing, texture feature analysis and disease classification. To the pre-processing, a 2-step iris localization approach is proposed; a 2-D Gabor filter based texture analysis and a texture fractal dimension estimation method are proposed for pathological feature extraction; and at last support vector machines are constructed to recognize 2 typical diseases such as the alimentary canal disease and the nerve system disease. Experimental results show that the proposed iridology diagnosis model is quite effective and promising for medical diagnosis and health surveillance for both hospital and public use.

ZnO nanorod array solid phase micro-extraction fiber coating: fabrication and extraction capability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wang Dan; Zhang Zhuomin; Li Tiemei; Zhang Lan; Chen Guonan; Luo Lin

2009-01-01

In this paper, a ZnO nanorod array has been introduced as a coating to the headspace solid phase micro-extraction (HSSPME) field. The coating shows good extraction capability for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by use of BTEX as a standard and can be considered suitable for sampling trace and small molecular VOC targets. In comparison with the randomly oriented ZnO nanorod HSSPME coating, ZnO nanorod array HSSPME fiber coating shows better extraction capability, which is attributed to the nanorod array structure of the coating. Also, this novel nanorod array coating shows good extraction selectivity to 1-propanethiol.

Vernonia condensata Baker (Asteraceae): A Promising Source of Antioxidants

Science.gov (United States)

da Silva, Jucélia Barbosa; Temponi, Vanessa dos Santos; Gasparetto, Carolina Miranda; Fabri, Rodrigo Luiz; Aragão, Danielle Maria de Oliveira; Pinto, Nícolas de Castro Campos; Ribeiro, Antônia; Scio, Elita; Del-Vechio-Vieira, Glauciemar; de Sousa, Orlando Vieira

2013-01-01

The present study evaluated the antioxidant potential of Vernonia condensata Baker (Asteraceae). Dried and powdered leaves were exhaustively extracted with ethanol by static maceration followed by partition to obtain the hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate, and butanol fractions. Total phenols and flavonoids contents were determined through spectrophotometry and flavonoids were identified by HPLC-DAD system. The antioxidant activity was assessed by DPPH radical scavenging activity, TLC-bioautography, reducing power of Fe+3, phosphomolybdenum, and TBA assays. The total phenolic content and total flavonoids ranged from 0.19 to 23.11 g/100 g and from 0.13 to 4.10 g/100 g, respectively. The flavonoids apigenin and luteolin were identified in the ethyl acetate fraction. The IC50 of DPPH assay varied from 4.28 to 75.10 µg/mL and TLC-bioautography detected the antioxidant compounds. The reducing power of Fe+3 was 19.98 to 336.48 μg/mL, while the reaction with phosphomolybdenum ranged from 13.54% to 32.63% and 56.02% to 135.00% considering ascorbic acid and rutin as reference, respectively. At 30 mg/mL, the ethanolic extract and fractions revealed significant effect against lipid peroxidation. All these data sustain that V. condensata is an important and promising source of bioactive substances with antioxidant activity. PMID:24489987

Ilexgenin A, a novel pentacyclic triterpenoid extracted from Aquifoliaceae shows reduction of LPS-induced peritonitis in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Sun, Weidong; Liu, Chang; Zhang, Yaqi; Qiu, Xia; Zhang, Li; Zhao, Hongxia; Rong, Yi; Sun, Yun

2017-02-15

Ilexgenin A (IA) is a novel pentacyclic triterpenoid, which extracted from leaves of Ilex hainanensis Merr. In the present study, we aim to explore anti-inflammatory activity of IA on LPS-induced peritonitis and its underlying molecular mechanism. The results determined that IA was capable of suppressing peritonitis in mice induced by intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of lipopolysaccaride (LPS). Furthermore, the results showed that IA dramatically inhibited levels of inflammatory cells infiltration in peritoneal cavity and serum in LPS-induced mice peritonitis model. Besides, IA could dramatically inhibit levels of inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α) in peritoneal cavity in LPS-induced mice peritonitis model. In vitro study, the results showed that IA inhibited production of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α at transcriptional and translational levels in RAW 264.7 cells induced by LPS. Furthermore, IA could suppress the LPS-induced activation of Akt and downstream degradation and phosphorylation of kappa B-α (IκB-α). Moreover, IA could significantly inhibit ERK 1/2 phosphorylation in RAW 264.7 cells induced by LPS. These results were concurrent with molecular docking which revealed ERK1/2 inhibition. These results demonstrated that IA might as an anti-inflammatory agent candidate for inflammatory disease therapy. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extraction of prostatic lumina and automated recognition for prostatic calculus image using PCA-SVM.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhuocai; Xu, Xiangmin; Ding, Xiaojun; Xiao, Hui; Huang, Yusheng; Liu, Jian; Xing, Xiaofen; Wang, Hua; Liao, D Joshua

2011-01-01

Identification of prostatic calculi is an important basis for determining the tissue origin. Computation-assistant diagnosis of prostatic calculi may have promising potential but is currently still less studied. We studied the extraction of prostatic lumina and automated recognition for calculus images. Extraction of lumina from prostate histology images was based on local entropy and Otsu threshold recognition using PCA-SVM and based on the texture features of prostatic calculus. The SVM classifier showed an average time 0.1432 second, an average training accuracy of 100%, an average test accuracy of 93.12%, a sensitivity of 87.74%, and a specificity of 94.82%. We concluded that the algorithm, based on texture features and PCA-SVM, can recognize the concentric structure and visualized features easily. Therefore, this method is effective for the automated recognition of prostatic calculi.

Extraction of Prostatic Lumina and Automated Recognition for Prostatic Calculus Image Using PCA-SVM

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhuocai; Xu, Xiangmin; Ding, Xiaojun; Xiao, Hui; Huang, Yusheng; Liu, Jian; Xing, Xiaofen; Wang, Hua; Liao, D. Joshua

2011-01-01

Identification of prostatic calculi is an important basis for determining the tissue origin. Computation-assistant diagnosis of prostatic calculi may have promising potential but is currently still less studied. We studied the extraction of prostatic lumina and automated recognition for calculus images. Extraction of lumina from prostate histology images was based on local entropy and Otsu threshold recognition using PCA-SVM and based on the texture features of prostatic calculus. The SVM classifier showed an average time 0.1432 second, an average training accuracy of 100%, an average test accuracy of 93.12%, a sensitivity of 87.74%, and a specificity of 94.82%. We concluded that the algorithm, based on texture features and PCA-SVM, can recognize the concentric structure and visualized features easily. Therefore, this method is effective for the automated recognition of prostatic calculi. PMID:21461364

Extraction of functional ingredients from spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) using liquid solvent and supercritical CO₂ extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaime, Laura; Vázquez, Erika; Fornari, Tiziana; López-Hazas, María del Carmen; García-Risco, Mónica R; Santoyo, Susana; Reglero, Guillermo

2015-03-15

In this work three different techniques were applied to extract dry leaves of spinach (Spinacia oleracea): solid-liquid extraction (SLE), pressurised liquid extraction (PLE) and supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) to investigate the influence of extraction solvent and technique on extracts composition and antioxidant activity. Moreover, the influence of carotenoids and phenolic compounds on the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of spinach extracts was also studied. The higher concentrations of carotenoids and the lower content of phenolic compounds were observed in the supercritical CO₂ extracts; whereas water and/or ethanol PLE extracts presented low amounts of carotenoids and the higher concentrations of phenolic compounds. PLE extract with the highest content of phenolic compounds showed the highest antioxidant activity, although SFE carotenoid rich extract also showed a high antioxidant activity. Moreover, both extracts presented an important anti-inflammatory activity. PLE seems to be a good technique for the extraction of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds from spinach leaves. Moreover, spinach phenolic compounds and carotenoids present a high antioxidant activity, whereas spinach carotenoids seem to show a higher anti-inflammatory activity than phenolic compounds. It is worth noting that of our knowledge this is the first time the anti-inflammatory activity of lipophilic extracts from spinach leaves is reported. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Enzymatic generation of hydrogen peroxide shows promising antifouling effect

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kristensen, J.B.; Olsen, Stefan Møller; Laursen, B.S.

2010-01-01

Proteobacteria, tested in microtiter plates. However, enzymatically produced H2O2 released from a coating did not impede biofilm formation by bacteria in natural seawater tested in a biofilm reactor. A field trial revealed a noticeable effect of the enzyme system: after immersion in the North Sea for 97 days...

VAN method of short-term earthquake prediction shows promise

Science.gov (United States)

Uyeda, Seiya

Although optimism prevailed in the 1970s, the present consensus on earthquake prediction appears to be quite pessimistic. However, short-term prediction based on geoelectric potential monitoring has stood the test of time in Greece for more than a decade [VarotsosandKulhanek, 1993] Lighthill, 1996]. The method used is called the VAN method.The geoelectric potential changes constantly due to causes such as magnetotelluric effects, lightning, rainfall, leakage from manmade sources, and electrochemical instabilities of electrodes. All of this noise must be eliminated before preseismic signals are identified, if they exist at all. The VAN group apparently accomplished this task for the first time. They installed multiple short (100-200m) dipoles with different lengths in both north-south and east-west directions and long (1-10 km) dipoles in appropriate orientations at their stations (one of their mega-stations, Ioannina, for example, now has 137 dipoles in operation) and found that practically all of the noise could be eliminated by applying a set of criteria to the data.

Mastering JavaScript promises

CERN Document Server

Hussain, Muzzamil

2015-01-01

This book is for all the software and web engineers wanting to apply the promises paradigm to their next project and get the best outcome from it. This book also acts as a reference for the engineers who are already using promises in their projects and want to improve their current knowledge to reach the next level. To get the most benefit from this book, you should know basic programming concepts, have a familiarity with JavaScript, and a good understanding of HTML.

Turbo-extraction of glycosides from Stevia rebaudiana using a fractional factorial design

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Paula M. Martins

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Stevia rebaudiana (Bertoni Bertoni, Asteraceae, leaf extract has recently called the attention of food industry as a proposal for natural sweetener. The sweet flavor is attributed to the glycosides, in especial stevioside and rebaudioside A, which are the plant main chemical markers. The aim of the work reported here was to optimize the turbo-extraction of stevia leaves using water, ethanol 70% and 90% (w/w as green solvents. A 25-2 factorial design was applied to study the linear effects of the drug size, solvent to drug ratio, temperature, time and also the turbolysis speed on the extraction of glycosides. The glycosides exhaustive extraction showed that ethanol 70% gave better results and was used for turbo-extraction. The stevioside and rebaudioside A contents were quantified by a validated method by high performance liquid chromatographic with photodiode array detector. The contents of stevioside and rebaudioside A in fluid extract increased with the drug size, but decreased at high shearing speeds and solvent to drug ratio, while their yields decreased at higher temperature and were not affected by turbo speed. An increase in solvent to drug ratio reduced significantly the glycosides percent in dried extract. Optimal solution for S. rebaudiana leaves turbo-extraction was determined by desirability functions. The optimal extraction condition corresponded to drug size of 780 µm, solvent to drug ratio of 10, extraction time of 18 min; temperature of 23 ºC and turbo speed of 20,000 rpm, resulting in yields of 4.98% and 2.70%, for stevioside and rebaudioside A, respectively. These yields are comparable to the ones recently published for dynamic maceration, but with the advantage of shorter extraction times. This work demonstrates that turbolysis is promising for S. rebaudiana glycosides extraction and stimulate new research on the purification of these extracts, which may become an interesting source of income for developing

Study on microwave assisted process in chemical extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Amer Ali; Rosli Mohd Yunus; Ramlan Abd Aziz

2001-01-01

The microwave assisted process is a revolutionary method of extraction that reduces the extraction time to as little as a few seconds, with up to a ten-fold decrease in the use of solvents. The target material is immersed in solvent that is transparent to microwaves, so only the target material is heated, and because of the microwaves tend to heat the inside of the material quickly, the target chemical are expelled in a few seconds. benefits from this process include significant reductions in the amount of energy required and substantial reductions in the cost and dispose of hazardous solvents. A thorough review has been displayed on: using the microwave in extraction, applications of microwave in industry, process flow diagram, mechanism of the process and comparison between microwave process and other extraction techniques (soxhlet, steam distillation and supercritical fluid). This review attempts to summarize the studies about microwave assisted process as a very promising technique. (Author)

Direct Reprogramming of Human Bone Marrow Stromal Cells into Functional Renal Cells Using Cell-free Extracts

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Evangelia Papadimou

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The application of cell-based therapies in regenerative medicine is gaining recognition. Here, we show that human bone marrow stromal cells (BMSCs, also known as bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal cells, can be reprogrammed into renal proximal tubular-like epithelial cells using cell-free extracts. Streptolysin-O-permeabilized BMSCs exposed to HK2-cell extracts underwent morphological changes—formation of “domes” and tubule-like structures—and acquired epithelial functional properties such as transepithelial-resistance, albumin-binding, and uptake and specific markers E-cadherin and aquaporin-1. Transmission electron microscopy revealed the presence of brush border microvilli and tight intercellular contacts. RNA sequencing showed tubular epithelial transcript abundance and revealed the upregulation of components of the EGFR pathway. Reprogrammed BMSCs integrated into self-forming kidney tissue and formed tubular structures. Reprogrammed BMSCs infused in immunodeficient mice with cisplatin-induced acute kidney injury engrafted into proximal tubuli, reduced renal injury and improved function. Thus, reprogrammed BMSCs are a promising cell resource for future cell therapy.

Microalgae based biorefinery: evaluation of oil extraction methods in terms of efficiency, costs, toxicity and energy in lab-scale

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Ángel Darío González-Delgado

2013-06-01

Full Text Available Several alternatives of microalgal metabolites extraction and transformation are being studied for achieving the total utilization of this energy crop of great interest worldwide. Microalgae oil extraction is a key stage in microalgal biodiesel production chains and their efficiency affects significantly the global process efficiency. In this study, a comparison of five oil extraction methods in lab-scale was made taking as additional parameters, besides extraction efficiency, the costs of method performing, energy requirements, and toxicity of solvents used, in order to elucidate the convenience of their incorporation to a microalgae-based topology of biorefinery. Methods analyzed were Solvent extraction assisted with high speed homogenization (SHE, Continuous reflux solvent extraction (CSE, Hexane based extraction (HBE, Cyclohexane based extraction (CBE and Ethanol-hexane extraction (EHE, for this evaluation were used the microalgae strains Nannochloropsis sp., Guinardia sp., Closterium sp., Amphiprora sp. and Navicula sp., obtained from a Colombian microalgae bioprospecting. In addition, morphological response of strains to oil extraction methods was also evaluated by optic microscopy. Results shows that although there is not a unique oil extraction method which excels in all parameters evaluated, CSE, SHE and HBE appears as promising alternatives, while HBE method is shown as the more convenient for using in lab-scale and potentially scalable for implementation in a microalgae based biorefinery

Neurobehavioral and Antioxidant Effects of Ethanolic Extract of Yellow Propolis

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Cinthia Cristina Sousa de Menezes da Silveira

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Propolis is a resin produced by bees from raw material collected from plants, salivary secretions, and beeswax. New therapeutic properties for the Central Nervous System have emerged. We explored the neurobehavioral and antioxidant effects of an ethanolic extract of yellow propolis (EEYP rich in triterpenoids, primarily lupeol and β-amyrin. Male Wistar rats, 3 months old, were intraperitoneally treated with Tween 5% (control, EEYP (1, 3, 10, and 30 mg/kg, or diazepam, fluoxetine, and caffeine (positive controls 30 min before the assays. Animals were submitted to open field, elevated plus maze, forced swimming, and inhibitory avoidance tests. After behavioral tasks, blood samples were collected through intracardiac pathway, to evaluate the oxidative balance. The results obtained in the open field and in the elevated plus maze assay showed spontaneous locomotion preserved and anxiolytic-like activity. In the forced swimming test, EEYP demonstrated antidepressant-like activity. In the inhibitory avoidance test, EEYP showed mnemonic activity at 30 mg/kg. In the evaluation of oxidative biochemistry, the extract reduced the production of nitric oxide and malondialdehyde without changing level of total antioxidant, catalase, and superoxide dismutase, induced by behavioral stress. Our results highlight that EEYP emerges as a promising anxiolytic, antidepressant, mnemonic, and antioxidant natural product.

Solid phase extraction of magnetic carbon doped Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Jing; Li, Jia-yuan; Qiao, Jun-qin; Lian, Hong-zhen; Chen, Hong-yuan

2014-01-17

Carbon decorated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4/C) are promising magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) sorbents in environmental and biological analysis. Fe3O4/C based MSPE method shows advantages of easy operation, rapidness, high sensitivity, and environmental friendliness. In this paper, the MSPE mechanism of Fe3O4/C nanoparticles has been comprehensively investigated, for the first time, through the following three efforts: (1) the comparison of extraction efficiency for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) between the Fe3O4/C sorbents and activated carbon; (2) the chromatographic retention behaviors of hydrophobic and hydrophilic compounds on Fe3O4/C nanoparticles as stationary phase; (3) related MSPE experiments for several typical compounds such as pyrene, naphthalene, benzene, phenol, resorcinol, anisole and thioanisole. It can be concluded that there are hybrid hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding interaction or dipole-dipole attraction between Fe3O4/C sorbents and analytes. It is the existence of carbon and oxygen-containing functional groups coated on the surface of Fe3O4/C nanoparticles that is responsible for the effective extraction process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Polyoxygenated Cyclohexenoids with Promising α-Glycosidase Inhibitory Activity Produced by Phomopsis sp. YE3250, an Endophytic Fungus Derived from Paeonia delavayi.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Rong; Jiang, Bo-Guang; Li, Xiao-Nian; Wang, Ya-Ting; Liu, Si-Si; Zheng, Kai-Xuan; He, Jian; Wu, Shao-Hua

2018-02-07

Seven new polyoxygenated cyclohexenoids, namely, phomopoxides A-G (1-7), were isolated from the fermentation broth extract of an endophytic fungal strain Phomopsis sp. YE3250 from the medicinal plant Paeonia delavayi Franch. The structures of these compounds were established by spectroscopic interpretation. The absolute configurations of compounds 1 and 4 were confirmed by X-ray crystallographic analysis and chemical derivative approach. All isolated compounds showed weak cytotoxic activities toward three human tumor cell lines (Hela, MCF-7, and NCI-H460) and weak antifungal activities against five pathogenic fungi (Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger, Pyricularia oryzae, Fusarium avenaceum, and Hormodendrum compactum). In addition, compounds 1-7 showed a promising α-glycosidase inhibitory activity with IC 50 values of 1.47, 1.55, 1.83, 2.76, 2.88, 3.16, and 2.94 mM, respectively, as compared with a positive control of acarbose (IC 50 = 1.22 mM).

Wound healing potential of adipose tissue stem cell extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Na, You Kyung; Ban, Jae-Jun; Lee, Mijung; Im, Wooseok; Kim, Manho

2017-03-25

Adipose tissue stem cells (ATSCs) are considered as a promising source in the field of cell therapy and regenerative medicine. In addition to direct cell replacement using stem cells, intercellular molecule exchange by stem cell secretory factors showed beneficial effects by reducing tissue damage and augmentation of endogenous repair. Delayed cutaneous wound healing is implicated in many conditions such as diabetes, aging, stress and alcohol consumption. However, the effects of cell-free extract of ATSCs (ATSC-Ex) containing secretome on wound healing process have not been investigated. In this study, ATSC-Ex was topically applied on the cutaneous wound and healing speed was examined. As a result, wound closure was much faster in the cell-free extract treated wound than control wound at 4, 6, 8 days after application of ATSC-Ex. Dermal fibroblast proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix (ECM) production are critical aspects of wound healing, and the effects of ATSC-Ex on human dermal fibroblast (HDF) was examined. ATSC-Ex augmented HDF proliferation in a dose-dependent manner and migration ability was enhanced by extract treatment. Representative ECM proteins, collagen type I and matrix metalloproteinase-1, are significantly up-regulated by treatment of ATSC-Ex. Our results suggest that the ATSC-Ex have improving effect of wound healing and can be the potential therapeutic candidate for cutaneous wound healing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Ionic liquid screening for ethylbenzene/styrene separation by extractive distillation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jongmans, M.T.G.; Schuur, B.; Haan, de A.B.

2011-01-01

The separation of ethylbenzene from styrene by distillation is very energy-intensive, because of the low relative volatility (1.3–1.4). Extractive distillation is a promising alternative to separate the close boiling mixture, in which the solvent selection is crucial for the process feasibility. In

Rosa canina Extracts Have Antiproliferative and Antioxidant Effects on Caco-2 Human Colon Cancer.

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Sandra Jiménez

Full Text Available The in vitro antiproliferative and antioxidant effects of different fractions of Rosa canina hips on human colon cancer cell lines (Caco-2 was studied. The compounds tested were total extract (fraction 1, vitamin C (fraction 2, neutral polyphenols (fraction 3 and acidic polyphenols (fraction 4. All the extracts showed high cytotoxicity after 72 h, both low and high concentrations. The flow cytometric analysis revealed that all the fractions produce disturbances in the cell cycle resulting in a concomitant cell death by an apoptotic pathway. Changes in the redox status of Caco-2 cells in response to Rosa canina hips were determined. Cells were exposed to hydrogen peroxide in presence of plant fractions and the production of Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS was significantly decreased. Therefore, our data demonstrate that rosehip extracts are a powerful antioxidant that produces an antiproliferative effect in Caco-2 cells. Therefore, these results predict a promising future for Rosa canina as a therapeutic agent. Thus, this natural plant could be an effective component of functional foods addressed towards colorectal carcinoma.

Antioxidative and Antimelanoma Effects of Various Tea Extracts via a Green Extraction Method

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Yihui Chen

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Tea (Camellia sinensis contains high level of antioxidant elements and is a well-known beverage consumed worldwide. The purpose of this study is to compare different concentrations of green tea, black tea, oolong tea 861, oolong tea 732, and jasmine green tea. These five types of tea extracts were known to have antioxidative properties, reducing power, and metal ion chelating activity. The current study compared these five extracts in terms of their inhibiting effects on human malignant melanoma: A2058 and A375. To determine the cell viability between normal cell and malignant melanoma cells, an MTT assay was applied to evaluate the cytotoxic potential on human melanoma cells, with all tea extracts showing decreased cell viability with increasing tea extract concentrations. Cytotoxicity on HaCat (normal skin cells showed no effect on the cell viabilities at lower concentrations of the tea extracts. These results suggest the antioxidative effect of five tea extracts that protect against oxidation and melanoma production, with green tea and jasmine green tea showing the lowest cell viability when tested against malignant melanoma cells.

Partitioning of minor actinides from HLLW using the DIAMEX process. Pt. 1. Demonstration of extraction performances and hydraulic behaviour of the solvent in a continuous process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Courson, O.; Lebrun, M.; Malmbeck, R.; Pagliosa, G.; Roemer, K.; Saetmark, B.; Glatz, J.P.

2000-01-01

The French DIAMEX process shows very promising capabilities in separating minor actinides from HLLW. A counter-current centrifugal extractor experiment has been conducted to investigate the capabilities and possibilities of the DIAMEX process (hydraulic and extraction behaviour), for the separation of lanthanides from a simulated high level liquid waste (HLLW), corresponding in concentration to a raffinate from the PUREX process. A ''hot'' batch test, using genuine HLLW, and a continuous counter-current experiment have verified the excellent extraction and hydraulic behaviour, respectively. With only four extraction stages in the cold experiment, lanthanide decontamination factors were higher than 2000, except for europium. Co-extraction of molybdenum and zirconium was efficiently prevented using oxalic acid in the feed solution. The back-extraction was very efficient, yielding in 4 stages more than 99% recovery of lanthanides. Palladium and ruthenium were more difficult to back-extract and for these elements further investigations are needed. (orig.)

Extractive text summarization system to aid data extraction from full text in systematic review development.

Science.gov (United States)

Bui, Duy Duc An; Del Fiol, Guilherme; Hurdle, John F; Jonnalagadda, Siddhartha

2016-12-01

Extracting data from publication reports is a standard process in systematic review (SR) development. However, the data extraction process still relies too much on manual effort which is slow, costly, and subject to human error. In this study, we developed a text summarization system aimed at enhancing productivity and reducing errors in the traditional data extraction process. We developed a computer system that used machine learning and natural language processing approaches to automatically generate summaries of full-text scientific publications. The summaries at the sentence and fragment levels were evaluated in finding common clinical SR data elements such as sample size, group size, and PICO values. We compared the computer-generated summaries with human written summaries (title and abstract) in terms of the presence of necessary information for the data extraction as presented in the Cochrane review's study characteristics tables. At the sentence level, the computer-generated summaries covered more information than humans do for systematic reviews (recall 91.2% vs. 83.8%, p<0.001). They also had a better density of relevant sentences (precision 59% vs. 39%, p<0.001). At the fragment level, the ensemble approach combining rule-based, concept mapping, and dictionary-based methods performed better than individual methods alone, achieving an 84.7% F-measure. Computer-generated summaries are potential alternative information sources for data extraction in systematic review development. Machine learning and natural language processing are promising approaches to the development of such an extractive summarization system. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Antioxidant, Hepatoprotective, and Antidepression Effects of Rumex tingitanus Extracts and Identification of a Novel Bioactive Compound

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Dhekra Mhalla

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Over the last few decades, Rumex species have been recognized as a promising source of new compounds with numerous pharmacological activities. Therefore, the antioxidant activity of Rumex tingitanus (R. tingitanus leaves extracts was evaluated in vitro and then confirmed in vivo as well as the antidepressant-like and toxicological effects of the extracts. The ethyl acetate fraction (Rt EtOAcF followed by hydroalcoholic extract (Rt EtOH-H2O showed a remarkable in vitro antioxidant activity. The hydroalcoholic extract (Rt EtOH-H2O showed significant hepatoprotective activity against carbon tetrachloride- (CCl4- induced liver toxicity which is seen from inhibition of the malondialdehyde (MDA accumulation and enhancement of the liver antioxidant enzymes activities. The Rt EtOH-H2O and Rt EtOAcF extracts were able to reduce the immobility time in mice and then elicited a significant antidepressant-like effect. The ethyl acetate fraction (Rt EtOAcF was purified and resulted in the identification of a new antioxidant component called 4′-p-acetylcoumaroyl luteolin. The Rt EtOAcF and the 4′-p-acetylcoumaroyl luteolin revealed a strong antioxidant activity using DPPH test with IC50 of 11.7 ± 0.2 and 20.74 ± 0.6 μg/ml, respectively, and AAI of 3.39 and 1.92 better than that of BHT, used as control.

Evaluation of Photoprotective Potential and Percutaneous Penetration by Photoacoustic Spectroscopy of the Schinus terebinthifolius Raddi Extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Bulla, Milena K; Hernandes, Luzmarina; Baesso, Mauro L; Nogueira, Ana C; Bento, Antonio C; Bortoluzzi, Bruno B; Serra, Lara Z; Cortez, Diogenes A G

2015-01-01

Schinus terebinthifolius is a plant rich in phenolic compounds, which have antioxidant properties and can provide new opportunities for treatment and prevention of diseases mediated by ultraviolet radiation like photoaging and skin cancer. The aim of this study was to evaluate the photoprotective potential and ex vivo percutaneous penetration of the crude extract of Schinus terebinthifolius leaves. The extract was tested for antioxidant activity using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) method and β-carotene bleaching test. The sun protection factor was also evaluated. The ex vivo skin permeation of the emulsion and gel formulations were assayed. Fractionation of the extract resulted in gallic acid, ethyl gallate and a mixture of flavonoids, suggesting derivatives of quercetin and myricetin. The phenolic content of the extract was 384.64 ± 2.60 mg GAE g(-1) extract. The antioxidant activity was superior to butylated hydroxytoluene, in DPPH method, and ascorbic acid and rutin, in β-carotene bleaching assay. The extract showed UV absorption with photoprotector potential in the UVB region. The photoacoustic spectroscopy measurements confirmed absorption in the UV region and topical application of the formulations caused no histological changes in the rats' skin. These results suggest that the crude extract of Schinus terebinthifolius leaves may be a promising natural sunscreen product. © 2015 The American Society of Photobiology.

Screening of anti-dengue activity in methanolic extracts of medicinal plants

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Tang Leon IC

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Dengue fever regardless of its serotypes has been the most prevalent arthropod-borne viral diseases among the world population. The development of a dengue vaccine is complicated by the antibody-dependent enhancement effect. Thus, the development of a plant-based antiviral preparation promises a more potential alternative in combating dengue disease. Methods Present studies investigated the antiviral effects of standardised methanolic extracts of Andrographis paniculata, Citrus limon, Cymbopogon citratus, Momordica charantia, Ocimum sanctum and Pelargonium citrosum on dengue virus serotype 1 (DENV-1. Results O. sanctum contained 88.6% of total flavonoids content, an amount that was the highest among all the six plants tested while the least was detected in M. charantia. In this study, the maximum non-toxic dose (MNTD of the six medicinal plants was determined by testing the methanolic extracts against Vero E6 cells in vitro. Studies also determined that the MNTD of methanolic extract was in the decreasing order of M. charantia >C. limon >P. citrosum, O. sanctum >A. paniculata >C. citratus. Antiviral assay based on cytopathic effects (CPE denoted by degree of inhibition upon treating DENV1-infected Vero E6 cells with MNTD of six medicinal plants showed that A. paniculata has the most antiviral inhibitory effects followed by M. charantia. These results were further verified with an in vitro inhibition assay using MTT, in which 113.0% and 98.0% of cell viability were recorded as opposed to 44.6% in DENV-1 infected cells. Although methanolic extracts of O. sanctum and C. citratus showed slight inhibition effect based on CPE, a significant inhibition was not reflected in MTT assay. Methanolic extracts of C. limon and P. citrosum did not prevent cytopathic effects or cell death from DENV-1. Conclusions The methanol extracts of A. paniculata and M. charantia possess the ability of inhibiting the activity of DENV-1 in in vitro assays

Evaluation of anthelmintic activity and in silico PASS assisted prediction of Cordia dichotoma (Forst. root extract

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Prasad G Jamkhande

2014-01-01

Conclusion: The findings of the present work suggest that the extract of C. dichotoma significantly interferes with motility pattern of P. posthuma. The paralysis and mortality of P. posthuma might be due to the combined effects different phytoconstituents. The extract of C. dichotoma promises natural sources to control worm infection.

Phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using aqueous leaf extracts of Lippia citriodora: Antimicrobial, larvicidal and photocatalytic evaluations

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Elemike, Elias E., E-mail: 28437063@nwu.ac.za [Material Science Innovation and Modelling (MaSIM) Research Focus Area, Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho (South Africa); Department of Chemistry, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), Mmabatho 2735 (South Africa); Department of Chemistry, College of Sciences, Federal University of Petroleum Resources Effurun, Delta State (Nigeria); Onwudiwe, Damian C. [Material Science Innovation and Modelling (MaSIM) Research Focus Area, Faculty of Agriculture, Science and Technology, North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), Private Bag X2046, Mmabatho (South Africa); Department of Chemistry, School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, North-West University (Mafikeng Campus), Mmabatho 2735 (South Africa); Ekennia, Anthony C.; Ehiri, Richard C.; Nnaji, Nnaemeka J. [Department of Chemistry, Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (FUNAI), P.M.B. 1010, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State (Nigeria)

2017-06-01

Nanoscience and nanotechnology represent new and enabling platforms that promise to provide broad range of novel and improved technologies for environmental, biological and other scientific applications. This study reports the synthesis of silver nanoparticles mediated by aqueous leaf extract of Lippia citriodora at two different temperatures of 50 °C and 90 °C. The synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was monitored by the use of UV–visible spectroscopy at different temperatures and time intervals. The surface plasmon bands (SPBs) showed peaks between 417 and 421 nm at 90 °C and around 430 nm at 50 °C, indicating a red shift at lower temperature. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of the nanoparticles showed the presence of similar peaks found in the spectra of the plant extract. The size of the AgNPs was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which indicated an average size of 23.8 nm (90 °C) and 25 nm (50 °C). The nanoparticles showed better antimicrobial activities when compared to the crude plant extract against several screened pathogens: Gram negative (Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhi) and Gram positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) strains and a fungi organism; Candida albicans. In addition, the AgNPs showed good larvicidal efficacy against early 4th instar of Culex quinquefasciatus (a vector of lymphatic filariasis). Finally, the nanoparticles exhibited photocatalytic properties on an industrial waste pollutant, methylene blue. - Highlights: • AgNPs have been synthesised in this work using Lippia citriodora plant extract. • The UV-vis spectroscopy showed immediate appearance of surface plasmon bands around 420 nm in just 2 min of the reaction. • AgNPs were very active against Gram positive and negative bacteria but were moderately active against Candidas Albicans. • The AgNPs showed enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. • The synthesized AgNPs showed improved

Phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using aqueous leaf extracts of Lippia citriodora: Antimicrobial, larvicidal and photocatalytic evaluations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Elemike, Elias E.; Onwudiwe, Damian C.; Ekennia, Anthony C.; Ehiri, Richard C.; Nnaji, Nnaemeka J.

2017-01-01

Nanoscience and nanotechnology represent new and enabling platforms that promise to provide broad range of novel and improved technologies for environmental, biological and other scientific applications. This study reports the synthesis of silver nanoparticles mediated by aqueous leaf extract of Lippia citriodora at two different temperatures of 50 °C and 90 °C. The synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was monitored by the use of UV–visible spectroscopy at different temperatures and time intervals. The surface plasmon bands (SPBs) showed peaks between 417 and 421 nm at 90 °C and around 430 nm at 50 °C, indicating a red shift at lower temperature. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of the nanoparticles showed the presence of similar peaks found in the spectra of the plant extract. The size of the AgNPs was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which indicated an average size of 23.8 nm (90 °C) and 25 nm (50 °C). The nanoparticles showed better antimicrobial activities when compared to the crude plant extract against several screened pathogens: Gram negative (Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhi) and Gram positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) strains and a fungi organism; Candida albicans. In addition, the AgNPs showed good larvicidal efficacy against early 4th instar of Culex quinquefasciatus (a vector of lymphatic filariasis). Finally, the nanoparticles exhibited photocatalytic properties on an industrial waste pollutant, methylene blue. - Highlights: • AgNPs have been synthesised in this work using Lippia citriodora plant extract. • The UV-vis spectroscopy showed immediate appearance of surface plasmon bands around 420 nm in just 2 min of the reaction. • AgNPs were very active against Gram positive and negative bacteria but were moderately active against Candidas Albicans. • The AgNPs showed enhanced photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue. • The synthesized AgNPs showed improved

White bread enriched with polyphenol extracts shows no effect on glycemic response or satiety, yet may increase postprandial insulin economy in healthy participants.

Science.gov (United States)

Coe, Shelly; Ryan, Lisa

2016-02-01

Extracts from different plant sources have been shown to modify starch digestion from carbohydrate-rich foods and lower resulting glycemia. It was hypothesized that extracts rich in polyphenols, added to white bread, would improve the glycemic response and insulin response and increase satiety in healthy participants. An in vitro dose-response analysis was performed to determine the optimal dose of a variety of extracts (baobab fruit extract, green tea extract, grape seed extract, and resveratrol) for reducing rapidly digestible starch in white bread. The 2 extracts with the greatest sugar reducing potential were then used for the human study in which 13 volunteers (9 female and 4 male) were recruited for a crossover trial of 3 different meals. On separate days, participants consumed a control white bread, white bread with green tea extract (0.4%), and white bread with baobab fruit extract (1.88%). Glycemic response, insulin response, and satiety were measured 3 hours postprandially. Although enriched breads did not reduce glycemic response or hunger, white bread with added baobab fruit extract significantly (P bread to improve insulin economy in healthy adults. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Test~of~Beam~Extraction~by~Crystal~Channeling~at~the~SPS: A First Step towards a LHC Extracted Beam

CERN Multimedia

2002-01-01

% RD22 \\\\ \\\\ The availability of a beam extracted out of the LHC accelerator would open up very interesting possibilities for B-physics, in particular for the study of CP-violation. Channeling in bent crystals appears to be the most promising method to produce an extracted beam of intensity $\\sim$~10$^{8}$ p/sec. This would provide as many as 10$^{10}$ $ B \\bar{B} $ pairs per year of run, two orders of magnitude more than could be produced by an e$^+$e$^-$ B-factory with L~=~10$^{34}$ cm$^{-2}$s$^{-1}$ We propose a R\\&D program to study beam extraction at the CERN SPS, using a silicon bent crystal to be installed in the SPS beam pipe and placed next to the beam in such a way as to intercept the beam halo. Transverse excitation of the beam in presence of non-linearities will be used to create halo conditions similar to what are expected for LHC.

Examination of soil contaminated by coal-liquids by size exclusion chromatography in 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone solution to evaluate interference from humic and fulvic acids and extracts from peat.

Science.gov (United States)

Morgan, T J; Herod, A A; Brain, S A; Chambers, F M; Kandiyoti, R

2005-11-18

Soil from a redundant coke oven site has been examined by extraction of soluble materials using 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) followed by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) of the extracted material. The extracted material was found to closely resemble a high temperature coal tar pitch. Standard humic and fulvic acids were also examined since these materials are very soluble in NMP and would be extracted with pitch if present in the soil. Humic substances derived from peat samples and NMP-extracts of peats were also examined. The results show that the humic and fulvic substances were not extracted directly by NMP from peats. They were extracted using caustic soda solution and were different from the peat extracts in NMP. These results indicate that humic and fulvic acids were soluble in NMP in the protonated polyelectrolyte form but not in the original native polyelectrolyte form. The extraction of soil using NMP followed by SEC appears to be a promising method for identifying contamination by coal-based industries.

Predictive Validity of an Empirical Approach for Selecting Promising Message Topics: A Randomized-Controlled Study

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Stella Juhyun; Brennan, Emily; Gibson, Laura Anne; Tan, Andy S. L.; Kybert-Momjian, Ani; Liu, Jiaying; Hornik, Robert

2016-01-01

Several message topic selection approaches propose that messages based on beliefs pretested and found to be more strongly associated with intentions will be more effective in changing population intentions and behaviors when used in a campaign. This study aimed to validate the underlying causal assumption of these approaches which rely on cross-sectional belief–intention associations. We experimentally tested whether messages addressing promising themes as identified by the above criterion were more persuasive than messages addressing less promising themes. Contrary to expectations, all messages increased intentions. Interestingly, mediation analyses showed that while messages deemed promising affected intentions through changes in targeted promising beliefs, messages deemed less promising also achieved persuasion by influencing nontargeted promising beliefs. Implications for message topic selection are discussed. PMID:27867218

Coral-Associated Bacteria as a Promising Antibiofilm Agent against Methicillin-Resistant and -Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Biofilms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shanmugaraj Gowrishankar

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The current study deals with the evaluation of two coral-associated bacterial (CAB extracts to inhibit the biofilm synthesis in vitro as well as the virulence production like hemolysin and exopolysaccharide (EPS, and also to assess their ability to modify the adhesion properties, that is cell surface hydrophobicity (CSH of methicillin-resistant (MRSA and -susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA. Out of nine CAB screened, the ethyl acetate extract of CAB-E2 (Bacillus firmus and CAB-E4 (Vibrio parahemolyticus have shown excellent antibiofilm activity against S. aureus. CAB-E2 reduced the production of EPS (57–79% and hemolysin (43–70%, which ultimately resulted in the significant inhibition of biofilms (80–87% formed by both MRSA and MSSA. Similarly, CAB-E4 was also found to decrease the production of EPS (43–57%, hemolysin (43–57% and biofilms (80–85% of test pathogens. CLSM analysis also proved the antibiofilm efficacy of CAB extracts. Furthermore, the CAB extracts strongly decreased the CSH of S. aureus. Additionally, FT-IR analysis of S. aureus treated with CAB extracts evidenced the reduction in cellular components compared to their respective controls. Thus, the present study reports for the first time, B. firmus—a coral-associated bacterium, as a promising source of antibiofilm agent against the recalcitrant biofilms formed by multidrug resistant S. aureus.

Green solvents and technologies for oil extraction from oilseeds.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, S P Jeevan; Prasad, S Rajendra; Banerjee, Rintu; Agarwal, Dinesh K; Kulkarni, Kalyani S; Ramesh, K V

2017-01-01

Oilseeds are crucial for the nutritional security of the global population. The conventional technology used for oil extraction from oilseeds is by solvent extraction. In solvent extraction, n -hexane is used as a solvent for its attributes such as simple recovery, non-polar nature, low latent heat of vaporization (330 kJ/kg) and high selectivity to solvents. However, usage of hexane as a solvent has lead to several repercussions such as air pollution, toxicity and harmfulness that prompted to look for alternative options. To circumvent the problem, green solvents could be a promising approach to replace solvent extraction. In this review, green solvents and technology like aqueous assisted enzyme extraction are better solution for oil extraction from oilseeds. Enzyme mediated extraction is eco-friendly, can obtain higher yields, cost-effective and aids in obtaining co-products without any damage. Enzyme technology has great potential for oil extraction in oilseed industry. Similarly, green solvents such as terpenes and ionic liquids have tremendous solvent properties that enable to extract the oil in eco-friendly manner. These green solvents and technologies are considered green owing to the attributes of energy reduction, eco-friendliness, non-toxicity and non-harmfulness. Hence, the review is mainly focussed on the prospects and challenges of green solvents and technology as the best option to replace the conventional methods without compromising the quality of the extracted products.

In silico Prediction and Wet Lab Validation of Arisaema tortuosum (Wall.) Schott Extracts as Antioxidant and Anti-breast Cancer Source: A Comparative Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Kant, Kamal; Lal, Uma Ranjan; Ghosh, Manik

2018-01-01

Globally, reactive oxygen species have served as an alarm predecessor toward pathogenesis of copious oxidative stress-related diseases. The researchers have turned their attention toward plant-derived herbal goods due to their promising therapeutic applications with minimal side effects. Arisaema tortuosum (Wall.) Schott (ATWS) is used in the traditional medicine since ancient years, but scientific assessments are relatively inadequate and need to be unlocked. Our aim was designed to validate the ATWS tuber and leaf extracts as an inhibitor of oxidative stress using computational approach. The reported chief chemical entities of ATWS were docked using Maestro 9.3 (Schrödinger, LLC, Cambridge, USA) tool and further ATWS extracts (tubers and leaves) were validated with 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis (3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) diammonium salt (ABTS), ferric-reducing ability of plasma (FRAP), and sulforhodamine B assays experimentally. In silico results showed notable binding affinity of ATWS phytoconstituents with the receptor (PDB: 3ERT). Experimentally, butanolic tuber fraction confirmed promising antioxidant potential (ABTS: IC 50 : 271.67 μg/ml; DPPH: IC 50 : 723.41 μg/ml) with a noteworthy amount of FRAP (195.96 μg/mg), total phenolic content (0.087 μg/mg), and total flavonoid content (7.5 μg/mg) while chloroform fraction (leaves) showed considerable reduction in the cell viability of MCF-7 cell line. The current findings may act as a precious tool to further unlock novel potential therapeutic agents against oxidative stress. Quercetin showed top.ranked glide score with notable binding toward 3ERT receptorAmong extracts, butanolic tubers confirmed as promising antioxidant with remarkable amount of TPC and TFCIn addition, chloroform fraction (leaves) revealed considerable decline in the cell viability of MCF-7 cell line. Abbreviations used: ATWS: Arisaema tortuosum (Wall.) Schott, DPPH: 2,2'-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl

Green Extraction of Antioxidants from Different Varieties of Red Grape Pomace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

María José Otero-Pareja

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The extraction yield, phenolic content, anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity of extracts from different varieties of red grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Tempranillo and Tintilla, using pressurized green solvents have been analyzed. Two techniques were studied and compared: supercritical fluid extraction (SFE with CO2 + 20% ethanol and pressurized liquid extraction (PLE with either ethanol, water or an ethanol/water mixture as the extraction solvents. The Petit Verdot variety allowed the highest global and phenolic yield, and antioxidant activity. The best conditios for PLE obtained from the experimental design and kinetic study were 50% ethanol/water as the pressurized solvent at 90 bar, 120 °C, a flow rate of 5 g/min and, an extraction time of 90 min. A statistical analysis of variance has been performed and it was found that temperature is the only variable that has a statistical influence on the extraction yield. The antioxidant activity levels of the extracts are very promising and they are similar to those obtained with the antioxidant tocopherol.

Green extraction of antioxidants from different varieties of red grape pomace.

Science.gov (United States)

Otero-Pareja, María José; Casas, Lourdes; Fernández-Ponce, María Teresa; Mantell, Casimiro; Martínez de la Ossa, Enrique J

2015-05-26

The extraction yield, phenolic content, anthocyanin content and antioxidant activity of extracts from different varieties of red grapes, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Petit Verdot, Syrah, Tempranillo and Tintilla, using pressurized green solvents have been analyzed. Two techniques were studied and compared: supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) with CO2 + 20% ethanol and pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) with either ethanol, water or an ethanol/water mixture as the extraction solvents. The Petit Verdot variety allowed the highest global and phenolic yield, and antioxidant activity. The best conditios for PLE obtained from the experimental design and kinetic study were 50% ethanol/water as the pressurized solvent at 90 bar, 120 °C, a flow rate of 5 g/min and, an extraction time of 90 min. A statistical analysis of variance has been performed and it was found that temperature is the only variable that has a statistical influence on the extraction yield. The antioxidant activity levels of the extracts are very promising and they are similar to those obtained with the antioxidant tocopherol.

Antioxidant activity and potential photoprotective from amazon native flora extracts.

Science.gov (United States)

Martins, Francislene J; Caneschi, César A; Vieira, José L F; Barbosa, Wagner; Raposo, Nádia R B

2016-08-01

Plant species are sources of active compounds that can fight and/or prevent damage caused by reactive oxygen species, which enables the development of natural products that can help to prevent premature aging caused by exposure to solar radiation. This study assessed the antioxidant and photoprotective activities of six dried extracts of plants from the Brazilian Amazon biome. Plant extracts were prepared in 70% (v/v) ethanol by dynamic maceration for 72h in the dark, and then filtered, concentrated and lyophilized. The extracts were subjected to a phytochemical screening. The antioxidant activity was measured using a 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay and the photoprotection assay was performed using the diffuse transmittance technique. The data obtained from the antioxidant activity assay was evaluated by Student's t-test for independent samples, with the aid of Statistical Package for Social Sciences v.14.0 for Windows software. The flavonoids represent a special metabolites class present in all analyzed extracts. The antioxidant activity (μgmL(-1)) decreased in the following order: Aniba canelilla (1.80±0.16), Brosimum acutifolium (2.84±0.38), Dalbergia monetaria (5.46±0.17) or Caesalpinia pyramidalis (6.45±1.18), Arrabidaea chica (15.35±0.86), and Aspidosperma nitidum (99.14±2.3). Only D. monetaria showed a considerable sun protection factor allowing for labeling (6.0±0.3). The D. monetaria extract was considered the most promising sample because it had optimal antioxidant and photoprotective activities against solar radiation, considering the limit established by regulatory agencies. These extracts with antioxidant potential can be used in photoprotective formulations, providing synergistic photoprotective effect or elevating the adeed value of the product. Additionally, these formulations are attractive to a population who searchs for products made with natural ingredients. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Towards a method of rapid extraction of strontium-90 from urine: urine pretreatment and alkali metal removal

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hawkins, C. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Dietz, M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Kaminski, M. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Mertz, C. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States); Shkrob, I. [Argonne National Lab. (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)

2016-03-01

A technical program to support the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention is being developed to provide an analytical method for rapid extraction of Sr-90 from urine, with the intent of assessing the general population’s exposure during an emergency response to a radiological terrorist event. Results are presented on the progress in urine sample preparation and chemical separation steps that provide an accurate and quantitative detection of Sr-90 based upon an automated column separation sequence and a liquid scintillation assay. Batch extractions were used to evaluate the urine pretreatment and the column separation efficiency and loading capacity based upon commercial, extractant-loaded resins. An efficient pretreatment process for decolorizing and removing organics from urine without measurable loss of radiostrontium from the sample was demonstrated. In addition, the Diphonix® resin shows promise for the removal of high concentrations of common strontium interferents in urine as a first separation step for Sr-90 analysis.

Salivary exosomal PSMA7: a promising biomarker of inflammatory bowel disease

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Xiaowen Zheng

2017-05-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD is an intestinal immune-dysfunctional disease worldwide whose prevalence increasing in Asia including China. It is a chronic disease of the gastrointestinal tract with unknown cause. Exosomes are small vesicles in various body fluids. They have diameters of 40–120 nm, and one of their functions is long-distance transfer of various substances. In this study, we investigated the contents of salivary exosomes in patients with IBD and in healthy controls to explore a new biomarker in patients with IBD. In this study, whole saliva was obtained from patients with IBD (ulcerative colitis (UC, n = 37; Crohn’s disease (CD, n = 11 and apparently healthy individuals (HC, n = 10. Salivary exosomes were extracted from samples, and the proteins within the exosomes were identified by liquid chromatograph-mass spectrometer (LC-MS/MS. The results showed that more than 2000 proteins were detected in salivary exosomes from patients with IBD. Through gene ontology analysis, we found that proteasome subunit alpha type 7 (PSMA7 showed especially marked differences between patients with IBD and the healthy controls, in that its expression level was much higher in the CD and UC groups. This exosomal protein is related to proteasome activity and inflammatory responses. So we conclude that in this research, salivary exosomal PSMA7 was present at high levels in salivary exosomes from subjects with IBD. It can be a very promising biomarker to release the patients from the pain of colonoscopy.

Phase associations and potential selective extraction methods for selected high-tech metals from ferromanganese nodules and crusts with siderophores

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mohwinkel, Dennis; Kleint, Charlotte; Koschinsky, Andrea

2014-01-01

Highlights: • Phase associations of metals in marine Fe–Mn nodules and crusts were determined. • Selective leaching experiments with siderophore desferrioxamine B were conducted. • Siderophores selectively mobilize high-tech metals associated with Fe carrier phases. • Base metal liberation including Fe and Mn is limited. • Siderophores have promising potential for application in ore processing industries. - Abstract: Deep-sea ferromanganese deposits contain a wide range of economically important metals. Ferromanganese crusts and nodules represent an important future resource, since they not only contain base metals such as Mn, Ni, Co, Cu and Zn, but are also enriched in critical or rare high-technology elements such as Li, Mo, Nb, W, the rare earth elements and yttrium (REY). These metals could be extracted from nodules and crusts as a by-product to the base metal production. However, there are no proper separation techniques available that selectively extract certain metals out of the carrier phases. By sequential leaching, we demonstrated that, except for Li, which is present in an easily soluble form, all other high-tech metals enriched in ferromanganese nodules and crusts are largely associated with the Fe-oxyhydroxide phases and only to subordinate extents with Mn-oxide phases. Based on this fact, we conducted selective leaching experiments with the Fe-specific organic ligand desferrioxamine-B, a naturally occurring and ubiquitous siderophore. We showed by leaching of ferromanganese nodules and crusts with desferrioxamine-B that a significant and selective extraction of high-tech metals such as Li, Mo, Zr, Hf and Ta is possible, while other elements like Fe and the base metals Mn, Ni, Cu, Co and Zn are not extracted to large extents. The set of selectively extracted elements can be extended to Nb and W if Mn and carbonate phases are stripped from the bulk nodule or crust prior to the siderophore leach by e.g. a sequential leaching technique. This

Techno-economic assessment of hybrid extraction and distillation processes for furfural production from lignocellulosic biomass.

Science.gov (United States)

Nhien, Le Cao; Long, Nguyen Van Duc; Kim, Sangyong; Lee, Moonyong

2017-01-01

Lignocellulosic biomass is one of the most promising alternatives for replacing mineral resources to overcome global warming, which has become the most important environmental issue in recent years. Furfural was listed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory as one of the top 30 potential chemicals arising from biomass. However, the current production of furfural is energy intensive and uses inefficient technology. Thus, a hybrid purification process that combines extraction and distillation to produce furfural from lignocellulosic biomass was considered and investigated in detail to improve the process efficiency. This effective hybrid process depends on the extracting solvent, which was selected based on a comprehensive procedure that ranged from solvent screening to complete process design. Various solvents were first evaluated in terms of their extraction ability. Then, the most promising solvents were selected to study the separation feasibility. Eventually, processes that used the three best solvents (toluene, benzene, and butyl chloride) were designed and optimized in detail using Aspen Plus. Sustainability analysis was performed to evaluate these processes in terms of their energy requirements, total annual costs (TAC), and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. The results showed that butyl chloride was the most suitable solvent for the hybrid furfural process because it could save 44.7% of the TAC while reducing the CO 2 emissions by 45.5% compared to the toluene process. In comparison with the traditional purification process using distillation, this suggested hybrid extraction/distillation process can save up to 19.2% of the TAC and reduce 58.3% total annual CO 2 emissions. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis of the feed composition and its effect on the performance of the proposed hybrid system was conducted. Butyl chloride was found to be the most suitable solvent for the hybrid extraction/distillation process of furfural production. The proposed

Extraction of vitexin from binahong (Anredera cordifolia (Ten.) Steenis) leaves using betaine - 1,4 butanediol natural deep eutectic solvent (NADES)

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Mulia, Kamarza; Muhammad, Fajri; Krisanti, Elsa

2017-03-01

The leaves of binahong (Anredera cordifolia (Ten) Steenis) contain flavonoids as bioactive substances that have efficacy to treat wounds and diseases caused by bacteria. One of the flavonoids contained in the leaves is 8-glucopyranosyl-4'5'7-trihydroxyflavone or vitexin. Conventional extraction of flavonoids from leaves of binahong has been developed and usually using non-friendly organic solvent. To overcome these problems, a Natural Deep Eutectic Solvent (NADES) is used to replace the conventional organic solvents, as it is an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and high boiling point solvent. In this study, a betaine-based NADES combined with 1,4-butanediol in 1:3 mole ratio was used as the extraction solvent. Vitexin in the extract was analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively using an HPLC. The extraction of vitexin from binahong leaves at room temperature (27 °C) for four hours give yield of 46 ppm, much lower than 200 ppm yield obtained after extraction at 55 °C for 90 minutes. This results showed that (a) NADES consisting of betaine and 1,4 butanediol is a promising green solvent for extraction of vitexin from binahong leaves, and, (b) the extraction can be performed above ambient temperature, as long as it does not exceed the degradation temperature of the bioactive compound extracted.

Effect of aqueous extracts of Achyranthes aspera Linn. on experimental animal model for inflammation.

Science.gov (United States)

Bhosale, Uma A; Yegnanarayan, Radha; Pophale, Prachi; Somani, Rahul

2012-04-01

Achyranthes aspera is known as Chirchita (Hindi), Apamarga (Sanskrit), Aghedi (Gujarati), Apang (Bengali), Nayurivi (Tamil), Kalalat (Malyalam) and Agadha (Marathi) in our country. It possesses valuable medicinal properties and used in treatment of cough, bronchitis and rheumatism, malarial fever, dysentery, asthma, hypertension and diabetes in Indian folklore. Present study was designed to evaluate anti-inflammatory activity of an aqueous extracts of Achyranthes aspera (AEAA). AEAA leaves and whole plant (i.e. Aqueous extracts of Achyranthes aspera leaves (AEAAL)/Aqueous extracts of A. aspera whole plant (AEAAW) were studied in albino mice using carrageenan induced left hind paw edema. Both extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical analysis and acute toxicity of the extracts was also studied using Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD guidelines 423. Acute toxicity study confirmed toxic dose of AEAA to be more than 2,000 mg/kg. Flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins and triterpenoids were the major constituents found in extracts. AEAA reduced the edema induced by carrageenan by 35.71-54.76% on intraperitoneally administration of 400 mg/kg and 800 mg/kg as compared to the untreated control group. Diclofenac sodium at 10 mg/kg inhibited the edema volume by 42.85%. The results indicated that the AEAA 800 mg/kg body weight shows more significant (P < 0.01, P < 0.001) anti-inflammatory activity when compared with the standard and untreated control respectively. Both AEAA exhibit promising anti-inflammatory activity attributed to flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins and triterpenoids phytoconstituents.

Extraction of liver volumetry based on blood vessel from the portal phase CT dataset

Science.gov (United States)

Maklad, Ahmed S.; Matsuhiro, Mikio; Suzuki, Hidenobu; Kawata, Yoshiki; Niki, Noboru; Utsunomiya, Tohru; Shimada, Mitsuo

2012-02-01

At liver surgery planning stage, the liver volumetry would be essential for surgeons. Main problem at liver extraction is the wide variability of livers in shapes and sizes. Since, hepatic blood vessels structure varies from a person to another and covers liver region, the present method uses that information for extraction of liver in two stages. The first stage is to extract abdominal blood vessels in the form of hepatic and nonhepatic blood vessels. At the second stage, extracted vessels are used to control extraction of liver region automatically. Contrast enhanced CT datasets at only the portal phase of 50 cases is used. Those data include 30 abnormal livers. A reference for all cases is done through a comparison of two experts labeling results and correction of their inter-reader variability. Results of the proposed method agree with the reference at an average rate of 97.8%. Through application of different metrics mentioned at MICCAI workshop for liver segmentation, it is found that: volume overlap error is 4.4%, volume difference is 0.3%, average symmetric distance is 0.7 mm, Root mean square symmetric distance is 0.8 mm, and maximum distance is 15.8 mm. These results represent the average of overall data and show an improved accuracy compared to current liver segmentation methods. It seems to be a promising method for extraction of liver volumetry of various shapes and sizes.

Data showing chemical compositions of the essential oils of the leaves of Cymbopogon citratus obtained by varying pH of the extraction medium

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E.O. Ajayi

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This article describes the various chemical components as obtained from the oils in the leaves of Cymbopogon citratus using hydrodistillation and solvent-free microwave extraction methods. Furthermore, extractions of the oils were also carried out with a slight in pH variation and compared, “GC–MS evaluation of C. citratus (DC Stapf oil obtained using modified hydrodistillation and microwave extraction methods” (Ajayi et al., 2016 [1]. The current article contains one table exhibiting a list of compounds in the four different methods of extraction. Comparative studies amongst the various methods of extraction are highlighted in the table. Keywords: Essential oil, Cymbopogon citratus, pH Extraction medium

Development of an attract-and-kill co-formulation containing Saccharomyces cerevisiae and neem extract attractive towards wireworms.

Science.gov (United States)

Humbert, Pascal; Vemmer, Marina; Mävers, Frauke; Schumann, Mario; Vidal, Stefan; Patel, Anant V

2017-12-27

Wireworms (Coleoptera: Elateridae) are major insect pests of worldwide relevance. Owing to the progressive phasing-out of chemical insecticides, there is great demand for innovative control options. This study reports on the development of an attract-and-kill co-formulation based on Ca-alginate beads, which release CO 2 and contain neem extract as a bioinsecticidal compound. The objectives of this study were to discover: (1) whether neem extract can be immobilized efficiently, (2) whether CO 2 -releasing Saccharomyces cerevisiae and neem extract are suitable for co-encapsulation, and (3) whether co-encapsulated neem extract affects the attractiveness of CO 2 -releasing beads towards wireworms. Neem extract was co-encapsulated together with S. cerevisiae, starch and amyloglucosidase with a high encapsulation efficiency of 98.6% (based on measurement of azadirachtin A as the main active ingredient). Even at enhanced concentrations, neem extract allowed growth of S. cerevisiae, and beads containing neem extract exhibited CO 2 -emission comparable with beads without neem extract. When applied to the soil, the beads established a CO 2 gradient of >15 cm. The co-formulation containing neem extract showed no repellent effects and was attractive for wireworms within the first 24 h after exposure. Co-encapsulation of S. cerevisiae and neem extract is a promising approach for the development of attract-and-kill formulations for the control of wireworms. This study offers new options for the application of neem extracts in soil. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

The promises and prospects of worldwide wireless power transfer

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Voorhies, K.L.; Smith, J.E.

1991-01-01

The promise of worldwide wireless power transfer began with the pioneering work of Nikola Tesla about 100 years ago. His principal approach is summarized. The viability of such a system must still be demonstrated and many questions remain. Potentially, a wireless system can transfer power more efficiently and flexibly, especially to and from remote regions. This paper includes principle elements of worldwide wireless power transfer: the source: an oscillator/transmitter, the path: the cavity bounded by the earth and the ionosphere, and the receiver: a means of extracting power from the path. The system transfers and stores energy via the resonance modes of the cavity. The key challenges facing demonstration of technical feasibility are in finding an efficient means of coupling power into and out of the earth-ionosphere cavity, and in devising a feasible receiver that is both small and efficient. Along with demonstrating technical feasibility, new research must consider safety, environmental impact, susceptibility to weather, and effects on weather

PHENOLIC DERIVATIVES AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY OF POLAR EXTRACTS FROM Bauhinia pulchella

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Adonias Almeida Carvalho

Full Text Available A tea made with the leaves or stem bark of Bauhinia pulchella Benth (Fabaceae is used in the treatment of diabetes. Ethanol (EEF and aqueous (EAF extracts were obtained from the leaves and the antioxidant and citotoxic activities were tested, as well as quantify the content of flavonoids and phenolic compounds (TPC. EEF and EAF showed similar profiles by HPLC, with the presence of three compounds. Column chromatography reverse phase (C18 and Sephadex LH-20, followed by semi preparative HPLC-C18 of EAF resulted in three flavonoids. Their structures were identified by 1H and 13C NMR as myricitrin (1, quercitrin (2 and afzelin (3. In assay of determination of reactive substances to thiobarbituric acid (TBARS, with DPPH, ABTS and nitric oxide (NO• free radicals, EAF showed antioxidant potential higher than the EEF. This is the first report of the occurrence of the flavonoids 1-3, in the species B. pulchella. EEF and EAF were inactive in the cytotoxicity assays. In short, the polar extracts from the leaves of B. pulchella proved to be promising sources of biomolecules phenolic, with antioxidant potential, which may, in the future, be used as chemical markers for species and validation of therapeutic use.

Helium Extraction from LNG End Flash

OpenAIRE

Kim, Donghoi

2014-01-01

Helium is an invaluable element as it is widely used in industry such as cryo-genics and welding due to its unique properties. However, helium shortage is expected in near future because of increasing demand and the anxiety of sup-ply. Consequently, helium production has attracted the attention of industry. The main source of He is natural gas and extracting it from LNG end-flash is considered as the most promising way of producing crude helium. Thus, many process suppliers have proposed proc...

Prediction-Oriented Marker Selection (PROMISE): With Application to High-Dimensional Regression.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Soyeon; Baladandayuthapani, Veerabhadran; Lee, J Jack

2017-06-01

In personalized medicine, biomarkers are used to select therapies with the highest likelihood of success based on an individual patient's biomarker/genomic profile. Two goals are to choose important biomarkers that accurately predict treatment outcomes and to cull unimportant biomarkers to reduce the cost of biological and clinical verifications. These goals are challenging due to the high dimensionality of genomic data. Variable selection methods based on penalized regression (e.g., the lasso and elastic net) have yielded promising results. However, selecting the right amount of penalization is critical to simultaneously achieving these two goals. Standard approaches based on cross-validation (CV) typically provide high prediction accuracy with high true positive rates but at the cost of too many false positives. Alternatively, stability selection (SS) controls the number of false positives, but at the cost of yielding too few true positives. To circumvent these issues, we propose prediction-oriented marker selection (PROMISE), which combines SS with CV to conflate the advantages of both methods. Our application of PROMISE with the lasso and elastic net in data analysis shows that, compared to CV, PROMISE produces sparse solutions, few false positives, and small type I + type II error, and maintains good prediction accuracy, with a marginal decrease in the true positive rates. Compared to SS, PROMISE offers better prediction accuracy and true positive rates. In summary, PROMISE can be applied in many fields to select regularization parameters when the goals are to minimize false positives and maximize prediction accuracy.

Ontology-Based Information Extraction for Business Intelligence

Science.gov (United States)

Saggion, Horacio; Funk, Adam; Maynard, Diana; Bontcheva, Kalina

Business Intelligence (BI) requires the acquisition and aggregation of key pieces of knowledge from multiple sources in order to provide valuable information to customers or feed statistical BI models and tools. The massive amount of information available to business analysts makes information extraction and other natural language processing tools key enablers for the acquisition and use of that semantic information. We describe the application of ontology-based extraction and merging in the context of a practical e-business application for the EU MUSING Project where the goal is to gather international company intelligence and country/region information. The results of our experiments so far are very promising and we are now in the process of building a complete end-to-end solution.

Inhibitory Effects of Pterodon emarginatus Bean Oil and Extract on Staphylococcus aureus.

Science.gov (United States)

Mendes, V S; Sant'Anna, J B; Oliveira, S C C; Maldonade, Iriani Rodrigues; Machado, Eleuza Rodrigues

2017-01-01

Pterodon emarginatus is a tree of the Brazilian Savannah. The beans of this tree are used in folk medicine as anti-inflammatory preparations, especially for infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus . These bacteria can cause simple infections or serious illnesses such as pneumonia, meningitis, endocarditis, toxic shock syndrome, septicemia, and others. This study had the goal of verifying the effect of the essential oil (OE) from P. emarginatus on the inhibition of S. aureus in culture medium, i.e., " in vitro " tests. The vegetable material was cut and crushed with a press. The OE was obtained by extraction using hexane, alcohol, and water. The P. emarginatus extracts obtained were used to evaluate the antimicrobial effect on S. aureus (ATCC 25923) by tests of well diffusion, disc diffusion, and microdilution. The strain used in the assays was maintained in brain heart infusion broth and nutrient agar until testing. Afterward, the bacteria were spread on agar plates with Mueller-Hinton agar medium. In the wells and on the paper discs, the OE suspensions were placed in the following volumes: 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 40, and 80 μL and subsequently they were incubated at 35°C ± 2°C. After 24 h, the number of colony-forming unit was determined. Pure OE and hydroalcoholic extract inhibited the growth of S. aureus , while aqueous extract had no effect on bacterial growth in all microbial methods used. Thus, the present study showed the potential of sucupira-based extracts against S. aureus growth, opening new perspectives for the evaluation of these bioactive compounds as phytopharmaceutical products. Plant extract act as antimicrobials to prevent and reduce bacterial contaminationBeans of Pterodon emarginatus has antibacterial propertiesExtraction with different solvents might implicate on the rate of bacterial deathThe effect of different microbiological methods (well diffusion, disc diffusion and microdilution) was evaluated on reducing CFUThe results showed by MBC

Filaricidal activities on Onchocerca ochengi and Loa loa, toxicity and phytochemical screening of extracts of Tragia benthami and Piper umbellatum.

Science.gov (United States)

Cho-Ngwa, Fidelis; Monya, Elvis; Azantsa, Boris K; Manfo, Faustin Pascal T; Babiaka, Smith B; Mbah, James A; Samje, Moses

2016-08-30

Onchocerciasis is the world's second leading infectious cause of blindness. Its control is currently hampered by the lack of a macrofilaricidal drug and by severe adverse events observed when the lone recommended microfilaricide, ivermectin is administered to individuals co-infected with Loa loa. Therefore, there is the need for a safe and effective macrofilaricidal drug that will be able to cure the infection and break transmission cycles, or at least, an alternative microfilaricide that does not kill L. loa microfilariae (mf). Fourteen extracts from two medicinal plants, Tragia benthami and Piper umbellatum were screened in vitro against Onchocerca ochengi parasite and L. loa mf. Activities of extracts on male worms and microfilariae were assessed by motility reduction, while MTT/Formazan assay was used to assess biochemically the death of female worms. Cytotoxicity and acute toxicity of active extracts were tested on monkey kidney cells and Balb/c mice, respectively. At 500 μg/mL, all extracts showed 100 % activity on Onchocerca ochengi males and microfilariae, while 9 showed 100 % activity on female worms. The methylene chloride extract of Piper umbellatum leaves was the most active on adult male and female worms (IC50s: 16.63 μg/mL and 35.65 μg/mL, respectively). The three most active extracts on Onchocerca ochengi females were also highly active on Loa loa microfilariae, with IC50s of 35.12 - 13.9 μg/mL. Active extracts were generally more toxic to the worms than to cells and showed no acute toxicity to Balb/c mice. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, steroids, tannins and flavanoids in the promising extracts. These results unfold potential sources of novel anti-Onchocerca lead compounds and validate the traditional use of the plants in onchocerciasis treatment.

Ficus septica plant extracts for treating Dengue virus in vitro

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Nan-Chieh Huang

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Dengue virus types 1-4 (DENV-1-4 are positive-strand RNA viruses with an envelope that belongs to the Flaviviridae. DENV infection threatens human health worldwide. However, other than supportive treatments, no specific therapy is available for the infection. In order to discover novel medicine against DENV, we tested 59 crude extracts, without cytotoxicity, from 23 plants in vitro; immunofluorescence assay revealed that the methanol extracts of fruit, heartwood, leaves and stem from Ficus septica Burm. f. had a promising anti-DENV-1 and DENV-2 effect. However, infection with the non-envelope picornavirus, Aichi virus, was not inhibited by treatment with F. septica extracts. F. septica may be a candidate antiviral drug against an enveloped virus such as DENV.

First stage of bio-jet fuel production: non-food sunflower oil extraction using cold press method

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Xianhui Zhao

2014-06-01

Full Text Available As a result of concerning petroleum price increasing and environmental impact, more attention is attracted to renewable resources for transportation fuels. Because not conflict with human and animal food resources, non-food vegetable oils are promising sources for developing bio-jet fuels. Extracting vegetable oil from oilseeds is the first critical step in the pathway of bio-jet fuel production. When sunflower seeds are de-hulled, there are always about 5%–15% broken seed kernels (fine meat particles left over as residual wastes with oil content up to 48%. However, the oil extracted from these sunflower seed residues is non-edible due to its quality not meeting food standards. Genetically modified sunflower grown on margin lands has been identified one of sustainable biofuel sources since it doesn't compete to arable land uses. Sunflower oils extraction from non-food sunflower seeds, sunflower meats, and fine sunflower meats (seed de-hulling residue was carried out using a cold press method in this study. Characterization of the sunflower oils produced was performed. The effect of cold press rotary frequency on oil recovery and quality was discussed. The results show that higher oil recovery was obtained at lower rotary frequencies. The highest oil recovery for sunflower seeds, sunflower meats, and fine sunflower meats in the tests were 75.67%, 89.74% and 83.19% respectively. The cold press operating conditions had minor influence on the sunflower oil quality. Sunflower meat oils produced at 15 Hz were preliminarily upgraded and distilled. The properties of the upgraded sunflower oils were improved. Though further study is needed for the improvement of processing cost and oil recovery, cold press has shown promising to extract oil from non-food sunflower seeds for future bio-jet fuel production.

Phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticles using aqueous leaf extracts of Lippia citriodora: Antimicrobial, larvicidal and photocatalytic evaluations.

Science.gov (United States)

Elemike, Elias E; Onwudiwe, Damian C; Ekennia, Anthony C; Ehiri, Richard C; Nnaji, Nnaemeka J

2017-06-01

Nanoscience and nanotechnology represent new and enabling platforms that promise to provide broad range of novel and improved technologies for environmental, biological and other scientific applications. This study reports the synthesis of silver nanoparticles mediated by aqueous leaf extract of Lippia citriodora at two different temperatures of 50°C and 90°C. The synthesis of colloidal silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) was monitored by the use of UV-visible spectroscopy at different temperatures and time intervals. The surface plasmon bands (SPBs) showed peaks between 417 and 421nm at 90°C and around 430nm at 50°C, indicating a red shift at lower temperature. Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis of the nanoparticles showed the presence of similar peaks found in the spectra of the plant extract. The size of the AgNPs was confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) which indicated an average size of 23.8nm (90°C) and 25nm (50°C). The nanoparticles showed better antimicrobial activities when compared to the crude plant extract against several screened pathogens: Gram negative (Escherichia coli, and Salmonella typhi) and Gram positive (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus) strains and a fungi organism; Candida albicans. In addition, the AgNPs showed good larvicidal efficacy against early 4th instar of Culex quinquefasciatus (a vector of lymphatic filariasis). Finally, the nanoparticles exhibited photocatalytic properties on an industrial waste pollutant, methylene blue. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Liquid-Liquid Extraction in Systems Containing Butanol and Ionic Liquids – A Review

OpenAIRE

Kubiczek Artur; Kamiński Władysław

2017-01-01

Room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) are a moderately new class of liquid substances that are characterized by a great variety of possible anion-cation combinations giving each of them different properties. For this reason, they have been termed as designer solvents and, as such, they are particularly promising for liquid-liquid extraction, which has been quite intensely studied over the last decade. This paper concentrates on the recent liquid-liquid extraction studies involving ionic liqu...

Toxicity status and antiulcerative potential of Sansevieria trifasciata leaf extract in Wistar rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Ighodaro, Osasenaga Macdonald; Adeosun, Abiola Muhammad; Ojiko, Barinemene Francis; Akorede, Abeeb Taiwo; Fuyi-Williams, Oyindamola

2017-01-01

The lethal dose 50% (LD 50 ) and antiulcerative potentials of Sansevieria trifasciata (ST) leaf extract were investigated. LD 50 was determined through two routes of administration (intraperitoneal [i.p] and oral [p.o]) using the method of Lorke. The antiulcerative activity was evaluated in indomethacin-induced ulcer model (40 mg/kg body weight [BW], i.p, single dose) against a reference drug, cimetidine (100 mg/kg BW, p.o). ST was assessed at two different doses (200 and 400 mg/kg BW, p.o). Treatments were done twice daily at 8 h interval for 7 days before indomethacin administration. The i.p LD 50 was determined as 774.60 mg/kg BW and oral administration of the extract at 18,000 mg/kg BW dosage did not cause any negative behavioral changes in the animals, and no mortality was recorded after 24 h of the experiment. ST-pre-treated animals showed some improvement against indomethacin-induced ulceration. The extract curtailed indomethacin-induced reduction in gastric volume (36.1%), free acidity (55.3%), total acidity (35.6%) while minimizing the increase in pH by 13.3%. Moreover, the extract showed 17.92% and 14.96% ulcer protective ability at 200 and 400 mg/kg BW, respectively. The phytochemical analysis of ST extract revealed the presence of phytoconstituents such as glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, tannins, anthraquinone, and glycosides. ST apparently has a promising antiulcerative potential, and is safe for use in folk medicine. This valuable medicinal property is probably due to the array of important phytochemicals contained in the plant as observed in this study. However, a further study involving bioassay-guided identification of the main antiulcerative compound in ST is required to establish the use of the plant as a viable antiulcerative agent.

PHYTOCHEMICAL ASSESSMENT ON N-HEXANE EXTRACT AND FRACTIONS OF Marsilea crenata Presl. LEAVES THROUGH GC-MS

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Burhan Ma'arif

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Estrogen deficiency causes various health problems in postmenopausal women, including osteoporosis. Phytoestrogen emerged as a potential alternative of estrogen with minimum side effects. Green clover (Marsilea crenata Presl. is a typical plant in East Java which suspected contains estrogen-like substances. The aim of this research was to report the phytochemical properties of M. crenata using GC-MS as a preliminary study. M. crenata leaves were dried and extracted with n-hexane, then separated using vacuum column chromatography to get four fractions, after that the n-hexane extract and four fractions were identified with GC-MS. The results of GC-MS analysis showed some compounds contained in M. crenata leaves like monoterpenoid, diterpenoid, fatty acid compounds, and other unknown compounds. The results obtained in this research indicated a promising potential of M. crenata as medicinal plants, especially as antiosteoporotic agent.

Evaluation of extractants and chelating resins in polishing actinide-contaminated waste streams

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schreiber, S.B.; Dunn, S.L.; Yarbro, S.L.

1991-06-01

At the Los Alamos National Laboratory Plutonium Facility, anion exchange is used for recovering plutonium from nitric acid solutions. Although this approach recovers >99%, the trace amounts of plutonium and other actinides remaining in the effluent require additional processing. We are doing research to develop a secondary unit operation that can directly polish the effluent so that actinide levels are reduced to below the maximum allowed for facility discharge. We selected solvent extraction, the only unit operation that can meet the stringent process requirements imposed; several carbonyl and phosphoryl extractants were evaluated and their performance characterized. We also investigated various engineering approaches for solvent extraction; the most promising was a chelating resin loaded with extractant. Our research now focuses on the synthesis of malonamides, and our goal is to bond these extractants to a resin matrix. 7 refs., 12 figs., 1 tab

Novel extractants with high selectivity for valuable metals in seawater. Calixarene derivatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kakoi, Takahiko; Goto, Masahiro

1997-01-01

Seawater contains various valuable metals such as uranium and lithium. Therefore, attempts are being made to develop highly selective extractants which recognize target metal ions in reclaimed seawater. In this review, we have focused our study on the application of novel cyclic compound calixarene based extractants. A novel host compound calixarene, which is a cyclic compound connecting some phenol rings, is capable of forming several different extractant ring sizes and introducing various kinds of functional groups towards targeting of metal ions in seawater. Therefore, calixarene derivatives are capable of extracting valuable metals such as uranium, alkaline metals, heavy metals, rare earth metals and noble metals selectively by varying structural ring size and functional groups. The novel host compound calixarene has given promising results which line it up as a potential extractant for the separation of valuable metal ions in seawater. (author)

PERFORMANCE OF UPLAND RICE PROMISING LINES AND VARIETIES AS INTERCROPPING OF PLANTATION

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Amrizal Yusuf

2013-01-01

Full Text Available In 2008, introduction of upland rice promising lines and varieties as intercropping rubber plant had been done at Sibunga-Bunga Hilir village STM Hulu Sub District, Deli Serdang District, North Sumatra Province, there are two promise line and two pre-eminent upland rice varieties were planted among six until 18 mounths old rubber plants. Aim of this assessment was to improving productivity and farmers income through the utilization of land available under rubber plants by upland rice. The assessment was conducted using 2.0 ha upland done by three cooperator farmers and 1, 5 ha done by non-cooperator farmers. The activity was started in September 2008 and was completed January 2009. A field day was done on 13 January 2009. The result of the assessment showed that TB409-B-TB-14-3 promise lines gave the highest yield (4.32 t per ha, followed by TB490C-TB-1-2-1 (4, 28 t per ha, Situ Patenggang variety (3.66 t per ha and Limboto variety (3.17 t per ha. The financial analysis for TB409-B-TB-14-3 promise line showed that net profit of IDR 5.42 m per ha, with a B/C ratio of 0.63. Break event point was reached at IDR 1.989 per kg giving positive margin of IDR 1.211 per kg.

Evaluation of anthelmintic activity and in silico PASS assisted prediction of Cordia dichotoma (Forst.) root extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Jamkhande, Prasad G; Barde, Sonal R

2014-01-01

Worm infection and associated complications are severe problems that afflict a large population worldwide. Failure of synthetic drugs in worm infections because of drug resistance has made alternative drug therapy desirable. Cordia dichotoma (Forst.) is an ethnomedicinal plant which is rich in several secondary metabolites. Traditionally, the plant has been claimed to have high medicinal properties including antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. The study begun with an aim to explore plant-based natural anthelmintic agents against Pheretima posthuma, an Indian earthworm. Methanol extract of the drug was obtained by successive soxhlet extraction. The extract was tested for different phytochemicals. Worms were exposed to 10 mg/ml, 25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml, and 75 mg/ml concentrations of extract and standard drug, albendazole. A software-based tool, prediction of activity spectra for substances was used to estimate anthelmintic efficacy of plant metabolites. The phytochemical analysis revealed presence of alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, and phenols. The extract showed dose-dependent effects, affecting worm motility, viability, and mortality. It was also found that the biological activity spectrum of the plant phytoconstituents such as octacosanol, lupeol, caffeic acid, and hentricontanol were >0.5 (probable activity > 0.5). The findings of the present work suggest that the extract of C. dichotoma significantly interferes with motility pattern of P. posthuma. The paralysis and mortality of P. posthuma might be due to the combined effects different phytoconstituents. The extract of C. dichotoma promises natural sources to control worm infection.

Realizing the promises of marine biotechnology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luiten, EEM; Akkerman, [No Value; Koulman, A; Kamermans, P; Reith, H; Barbosa, MJ; Sipkema, D; Wijffels, RH

High-quality research in the field of marine biotechnology is one of the key-factors for successful innovation in exploiting the vast diversity of marine life. However, fascinating scientific research with promising results and claims on promising potential applications (e.g. for pharmaceuticals,

Realizing the promises of marine biotechnology

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Luiten, E.E.M.; Akkerman, I.; Koulman, A.; Kamermans, P.; Reith, H.; Barbosa, M.J.; Sipkema, D.; Wijffels, R.H.

2003-01-01

High-quality research in the field of marine biotechnology is one of the key-factors for successful innovation in exploiting the vast diversity of marine life. However, fascinating scientific research with promising results and claims on promising potential applications (e.g. for pharmaceuticals,

Leishmanicidal activity of lipophilic extracts of some Hypericum species.

Science.gov (United States)

Dagnino, Ana Paula; Barros, Francisco Maikon Corrêa de; Ccana-Ccapatinta, Gari Vidal; Prophiro, Josiane Somariva; Poser, Gilsane Lino von; Romão, Pedro R T

2015-01-15

extracts presented low cytotoxicity against murine macrophages. At 48h of incubation H. polyanthemum presented significant leishmanicidal activity with a 50% inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 36.1µg/ml. The leishmanicidal activity of H. myrianthum was significantly lower than that presented by H. polyanthemum, H. carinatum and H. linoides extracts. H. brevistylum and H. caprifoliatum showed significant leishmanicidal activity only at high concentrations (500 and 1000µg/ml), while H. andinum and H. silenoides were ineffective. The promising results demonstrate the importance of the species of the genus Hypericum as source of compounds potentially useful for the treatment of leishmaniasis. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

Fatty Acid Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) Seed Oil Extracted by Optimized Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuefei; Sun, Da; Chen, Hao; Qian, Lisheng; Xu, Ping

2011-01-01

Seeds are another product in addition to leaves (raw materials for teas) of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) plant. The great increase of tea consumption in recent years raises the challenge of finding commercial applications for tea seeds. In the present study, supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2) extraction edible oil from tea seed was carried out, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize processing parameters including time (20–90 min), temperature (35–45 °C) and pressure (50–90 MPa). The fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity of the extracted oil was also investigated. The highest yield of oil (29.2 ± 0.6%) was obtained under optimal SC-CO2 extraction conditions (45 °C, 89.7 min and 32 MPa, respectively), which was significantly higher (p Soxhlet extraction. Meanwhile, tea seed oil extracted by SC-CO2 contained approximately 80% unsaturated fatty acids and showed a much stronger scavenging ability on the DPPH radical than that extracted by Soxhlet. SC-CO2 is a promising alternative for efficient extraction of edible oil from tea seed. Moreover, tea seed oil extracted by SC-CO2 is highly edible and has good antioxidant activity, and therefore may play a potential role as a health-promoting food resource in human diets. PMID:22174626

Fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) seed oil extracted by optimized supercritical carbon dioxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Yuefei; Sun, Da; Chen, Hao; Qian, Lisheng; Xu, Ping

2011-01-01

Seeds are another product in addition to leaves (raw materials for teas) of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) plant. The great increase of tea consumption in recent years raises the challenge of finding commercial applications for tea seeds. In the present study, supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO(2)) extraction edible oil from tea seed was carried out, response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize processing parameters including time (20-90 min), temperature (35-45 °C) and pressure (50-90 MPa). The fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity of the extracted oil was also investigated. The highest yield of oil (29.2 ± 0.6%) was obtained under optimal SC-CO(2) extraction conditions (45 °C, 89.7 min and 32 MPa, respectively), which was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that (25.3 ± 1.0%) given by Soxhlet extraction. Meanwhile, tea seed oil extracted by SC-CO(2) contained approximately 80% unsaturated fatty acids and showed a much stronger scavenging ability on the DPPH radical than that extracted by Soxhlet. SC-CO(2) is a promising alternative for efficient extraction of edible oil from tea seed. Moreover, tea seed oil extracted by SC-CO(2) is highly edible and has good antioxidant activity, and therefore may play a potential role as a health-promoting food resource in human diets.

Fatty Acid Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Tea (Camellia sinensis L. Seed Oil Extracted by Optimized Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ping Xu

2011-11-01

Full Text Available Seeds are another product in addition to leaves (raw materials for teas of tea (Camellia sinensis L. plant. The great increase of tea consumption in recent years raises the challenge of finding commercial applications for tea seeds. In the present study, supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO2 extraction edible oil from tea seed was carried out, response surface methodology (RSM was used to optimize processing parameters including time (20–90 min, temperature (35–45 °C and pressure (50–90 MPa. The fatty acid composition and antioxidant activity of the extracted oil was also investigated. The highest yield of oil (29.2 ± 0.6% was obtained under optimal SC-CO2 extraction conditions (45 °C, 89.7 min and 32 MPa, respectively, which was significantly higher (p < 0.05 than that (25.3 ± 1.0% given by Soxhlet extraction. Meanwhile, tea seed oil extracted by SC-CO2 contained approximately 80% unsaturated fatty acids and showed a much stronger scavenging ability on the DPPH radical than that extracted by Soxhlet. SC-CO2 is a promising alternative for efficient extraction of edible oil from tea seed. Moreover, tea seed oil extracted by SC-CO2 is highly edible and has good antioxidant activity, and therefore may play a potential role as a health-promoting food resource in human diets.

Political Reputations and Campaign Promises

OpenAIRE

Aragones, Enriqueta; Palfrey, Thomas R.; Postlewaite, Andrew

2006-01-01

We analyze conditions under which candidates' reputations may affect voters' beliefs over what policy will be implemented by the winning candidate of an election. We develop a model of repeated elections with complete information in which candidates are purely ideological. We analyze an equilibrium in which voters' strategies involve a credible threat to punish candidates who renege on their campaign promises and in which all campaign promises are believed by voters and honored by candidates....

Use of Plant Extracts as an Effective Manner to Control Clostridium perfringens Induced Necrotic Enteritis in Poultry

Science.gov (United States)

Dominguez, J. E.; Chacana, A. P.

2016-01-01

Necrotic enteritis (NE) is an important concern in poultry industry since it causes economic losses, increased mortality, reduction of bird welfare, and contamination of chicken products for human consumption. For decades, the use of in-feed antimicrobial growth promoters (AGPs) has been the main strategy to control intestinal pathogens including Clostridium perfringens (CP), the causative agent of NE. However, the use of AGPs in animal diet has been linked to the emergence and transmission of antimicrobial resistance through food-borne microorganisms, which has led to the ban of AGPs in many countries. This scenario has challenged the poultry industry to search for safer alternative products in order to prevent NE. In this context, the utilization of natural plant extracts with antimicrobial properties appears as a promising and feasible tool to control NE in chicken. In this paper, we review the scientific studies analyzing the potential of plant extracts as alternative feed additives to reduce NE in poultry, with focus on two types of plant products that arise as promising candidates: tannins and essential oils. Some of these products showed antimicrobial activity against CP and coccidia in vitro and in vivo and are able to increase productive performance, emulating the bioactive properties of AGPs. PMID:27747227

High intensity pulsed electric field as an innovative technique for extraction of bioactive compounds-A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Yan, Liang-Gong; He, Lang; Xi, Jun

2017-09-02

How to extract bioactive compounds safely and efficiently is one of the problems for the food and pharmaceutical industry. In recent years, several novel extraction techniques have been proposed. To pursue a more efficient method for industrial production, high intensity pulsed electric field (HIPEF) extraction technique has been developed. HIPEF extraction technique, which is based on the conventional pulsed electric field (PEF), provided higher electric field intensity and a special continuous extraction system, and it has confirmed less extraction time, higher extraction yield, and mild processing temperature. So this innovative technique is promising for application of industrial production. This review was devoted to introducing the recent achievement of HIPEF extraction technique, including novel HIPEF continuous extraction system, principles and mechanisms; the critical process factors influencing its performance applications; and comparison of HIPEF extraction with other extraction techniques. In the end, the defects and future trends of HIPEF extraction were also discussed.

Emerging Cancer Vaccines: The Promise of Genetic Vectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aurisicchio, Luigi; Ciliberto, Gennaro

2011-01-01

Therapeutic vaccination against cancer is an important approach which, when combined with other therapies, can improve long-term control of cancer. In fact, the induction of adaptive immune responses against Tumor Associated Antigens (TAAs) as well as innate immunity are important factors for tumor stabilization/eradication. A variety of immunization technologies have been explored in last decades and are currently under active evaluation, such as cell-based, protein, peptide and heat-shock protein-based cancer vaccines. Genetic vaccines are emerging as promising methodologies to elicit immune responses against a wide variety of antigens, including TAAs. Amongst these, Adenovirus (Ad)-based vectors show excellent immunogenicity profile and have achieved immunological proof of concept in humans. In vivo electroporation of plasmid DNA (DNA-EP) is also a desirable vaccine technology for cancer vaccines, as it is repeatable several times, a parameter required for the long-term maintenance of anti-tumor immunity. Recent findings show that combinations of different modalities of immunization (heterologous prime/boost) are able to induce superior immune reactions as compared to single-modality vaccines. In this review, we will discuss the challenges and requirements of emerging cancer vaccines, particularly focusing on the genetic cancer vaccines currently under active development and the promise shown by Ad and DNA-EP heterologous prime-boost

Biotechnological potential of the seaweed Cladophora rupestris (Chlorophyta, Cladophorales) lipidic extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Stabili, L; Acquaviva, M I; Biandolino, F; Cavallo, R A; De Pascali, S A; Fanizzi, F P; Narracci, M; Cecere, E; Petrocelli, A

2014-09-25

Recently, with the advent of modern technologies, various marine organisms including algae are being studied as sources of natural substances effective on classical microorganisms and able to also combat the new trend of acquired resistance in microbes. In the present study the antimicrobial activity of the lipidic extract of the green seaweed Cladophora rupestris collected in a Mediterranean area, in two sampling periods (January and April), was assayed. The chemical characterization of the lipidic fractions was performed by gas-chromatography and multinuclear and multidimensional NMR spectroscopy. In the lipidic extract of C. rupestris collected in January an antibacterial activity against Enterococcus sp., Streptococcus agalactiae and Vibrio cholerae non-O1 was recorded; by contrast, bacterial inhibition was measured on several Vibrio species only in April. The fatty acid profile of C. rupestris lipidic extract, analyzed by gas chromatography, resulted mainly composed of palmitic, myristic, oleic, α linolenic, palmitoleic and linoleic acids. Moreover, since α-linolenic acid was the predominant ω3 fatty acid in April, we suggest its involvement in the antibacterial activity observed in this month, taking also into account that pure α-linolenic acid resulted effective towards some vibrios strains. C. rupestris fatty acid profile revealed also an interesting composition in polyunsaturated fatty acids in both the considered periods with the ω6/ω3 ratio lower than 1, leading to conclude that this macroalga may be employed as a natural source of ω3. Finally, the (1)H NMR spectrum in CDCl3 of algal lipid fractions showed the characteristic signals of saturated (SAFAs) and unsaturated fatty acids (UFAs) as well as other metabolites and a marked difference in free fatty acids (FFAs) content for the two examined algal lipid fractions. It is noteworthy that C. rupestris lipidic extracts show, by NMR spectroscopy, the signal pattern of polyhydroxybutyrate, a natural

Kinetics of hydrophobic organic contaminant extraction from sediment by granular activated carbon

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rakowska, M.I.; Kupryianchyk, D.; Smit, M.; Koelmans, A.A.; Meent, van de D.

2014-01-01

Ex situ solid phase extraction with granular activated carbon (GAC) is a promising technique to remediate contaminated sediments. The methods' efficiency depends on the rate by which contaminants are transferred from the sediment to the surface of GAC. Here, we derive kinetic parameters for

Anticancer Effects of Salvia miltiorrhiza Alcohol Extract on Oral Squamous Carcinoma Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Hung Wang

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Researchers have reported significant effects from Danshen (Salvia miltiorrhiza in terms of inhibiting tumor cell proliferation and promoting apoptosis in breast cancer, hepatocellular carcinomas, promyelocytic leukemia, and clear cell ovary carcinomas. Here we report our data indicating that Danshen extracts, especially alcohol extract, significantly inhibited the proliferation of the human oral squamous carcinoma (OSCC cell lines HSC-3 and OC-2. We also observed that Danshen alcohol extract activated the caspase-3 apoptosis executor by impeding members of the inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP family, but not by regulating the Bcl-2-triggered mitochondrial pathway in OSCC cells. Our data also indicate that the extract exerted promising effects in vivo, with HSC-3 tumor xenograft growth being suppressed by 40% and 69% following treatment with Danshen alcohol extract at 50 and 100 mg/kg, respectively, for 34 days. Combined, our results indicate appreciable anticancer activity and significant potential for Danshen alcohol extract as a natural antioxidant and herbal human oral cancer chemopreventive drug.

The optimization of extraction of antioxidants from apple pomace by pressurized liquids.

Science.gov (United States)

Wijngaard, Hilde; Brunton, Nigel

2009-11-25

Pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) is a green extraction technique that can enhance extraction rates of bioactive compounds. PLE was used to extract antioxidants and polyphenols from industrially generated apple pomace at two different temperature ranges: 160 to 193 degrees C and 75 to 125 degrees C. Antioxidant activity (DPPH radical scavenging test), total phenol content and three individual polyphenol groups were determined. Response surface methodology was used to optimize the five response values. Maximum antioxidant activity was obtained at a temperature of 200 degrees C, but unwanted compounds such as hydroxymethylfurfural were formed. Therefore a lower temperature range between 75 and 125 degrees C is recommended. Using this temperature range, a maximum antioxidant activity was determined at 60% ethanol and 102 degrees C. By using PLE the antioxidant activity was increased 2.4 times in comparison to traditional solid-liquid extraction, and the technique may be a promising alternative to conventional techniques for extracting antioxidants.

Growing Eremanthus erythropappus in crushed laterite: A promising alternative to topsoil for bauxite-mine revegetation.

Science.gov (United States)

Machado, Naiara Amaral de Miranda; Leite, Mariangela Garcia Praça; Figueiredo, Maurílio Assis; Kozovits, Alessandra Rodrigues

2013-11-15

Topsoil is the preferred substrate for areas requiring rehabilitation after bauxite mining. However, topsoil is sometimes lacking and so there is a need to test the suitability of other, locally available substrates. In an abandoned bauxite mine in Southeastern Brazil, small patches of native vegetation spontaneously established in shallow depressions over weathered laterite, suggesting that granulometric reduction may have facilitated the establishment of plants. To test this hypothesis, blocks of laterite collected in the area were crushed to simulate texture observed in the vegetation patches. Topsoil collected in a preserved ferruginous field near to the extraction area was also used as a substrate in which Eremanthus erythropappus seedlings, a native woody species, were grown. Seedlings were cultivated without fertilizers in these two substrates and also directly over the exposed and uncrushed laterite. The species proved to be very promising for the revegetation, showing a high survival rate in all substrates. Higher annual growth rates and higher final biomass values were observed in topsoil, but the granulometric reduction of laterite doubled plant growth rate in comparison to the exposed laterite. This result was likely due to the increased availability of essential nutrients to plants and to the improvement in physical conditions for root growth and functioning. Moreover, seedling allometry was not altered by the type of substrate, suggesting that the species was highly tolerant to the new substrate conditions, a fundamental characteristic for success of revegetation of bauxite extraction degraded areas. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of Selected Plant Extracts and D- and L-Lysine on the Cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miquel Lürling

2014-06-01

Full Text Available We tested extracts from Fructus mume, Salvia miltiorrhiza and Moringa oleifera as well as L-lysine and D-Lysine as curative measures to rapidly suppress the cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosa NIVA-CYA 43. We tested these compounds under similar conditions to facilitate comparisons. We hypothesized that for each compound, relatively low concentrations—i.e., 5–50 mg L−1, would reduce M. aeruginosa biomass. At these low concentrations, only L-lysine caused a decline in M. aeruginosa biomass at ≥4.3 mg L−1. F. mume extract was effective to do so at high concentrations, i.e., at ≥240 mg L−1, but the others were virtually non-effective. Low pH caused by organic acids is a probable explanation for the effect of F. mume extract. No complete wipe-outs of the experimental population were achieved as Photosystem II efficiency showed a recovery after six days. L-lysine may be effective at low concentrations—meaning low material costs. However, the effect of L-lysine seems relatively short-lived. Overall, the results of our study did not support the use of the tested plant extracts and amino-acid as promising candidates for curative application in M. aeruginosa bloom control.

A comprehensive study of charge trapping in organic field-effect devices with promising semiconductors and different contact metals by displacement current measurements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bisoyi, Sibani; Tiwari, Shree Prakash; Rödel, Reinhold; Zschieschang, Ute; Klauk, Hagen; Kang, Myeong Jin; Takimiya, Kazuo

2016-01-01

A systematic and comprehensive study on the charge-carrier injection and trapping behavior was performed using displacement current measurements in long-channel capacitors based on four promising small-molecule organic semiconductors (pentacene, DNTT, C 10 -DNTT and DPh-DNTT). In thin-film transistors, these semiconductors showed charge-carrier mobilities ranging from 1.0 to 7.8 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . The number of charges injected into and extracted from the semiconductor and the density of charges trapped in the device during each measurement were calculated from the displacement current characteristics and it was found that the density of trapped charges is very similar in all devices and of the order 10 12 cm −2 , despite the fact that the four semiconductors show significantly different charge-carrier mobilities. The choice of the contact metal (Au, Ag, Cu, Pd) was also found to have no significant effect on the trapping behavior. (paper)

Inhibitory effects of an extract from non-host plants on physiological characteristics of two major cabbage pests.

Science.gov (United States)

Dastranj, M; Borzoui, E; Bandani, A R; Franco, O L

2018-06-01

The diamondback moth (Plutella xylostella) and small white cabbage butterfly (Pieris rapae) are the two main serious pests of cruciferous crops (Brassicaceae) that have developed resistance to chemical control methods. In order to avoid such resistance and also the adverse effects of chemical pesticides on the environment, alternative methods have usually been suggested, including the use of plant enzyme inhibitors. Here, the inhibitory effects of proteinaceous inhibitors extracted from wheat, canola, sesame, bean and triticale were evaluated against the digestive α-amylases, larval growth, development and nutritional indecs of the diamondback moth and small white cabbage butterfly. Our results indicated that triticale and wheat extracts inhibited α-amylolytic activity in an alkaline pH, which is in accordance with the moth and butterfly gut α-amylase optimum pH. Dose-dependent inhibition of two crucifer pests by triticale and wheat was observed using spectrophotometry and gel electrophoresis. Implementation of specificity studies showed that wheat and triticale-proteinaceous extract were inactive against Chinese and purple cabbage amylase. Triticale and wheat were resistant against insects' gut proteases. Results of the feeding bioassay indicated that triticale-proteinaceous extract could cause a significant reduction in survival and larval body mass. The results of the nutritional indecs also showed larvae of both species that fed on a Triticale proteinaceous inhibitor-treated diet had the lowest values for the efficiency of conversion of ingested food and relative growth rate. Our observations suggested that triticale shows promise for use in the management of crucifer pests.

Extraction of zirconium from raffinate stream of Zirconium Oxide Plant raffinate

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pandey, Garima; Chinchale, R.; Renjith, A.U.; Mukhopadhyay, S.; Shenoy, K.T.; Ghosh, S.K.

2013-01-01

Solution. The process conditions were, phase ratio for dispersion O/A: 1, organic: 0.1 M MAPO in 80:20 dodecane: isodecanol, strip: 0.2 M Oxalic acid and the agitation speed for dispersion: 3000 RPM. Feed solution at tube side was kept at a pressure of 1.5 Psig higher than the dispersion at shell-side. Flowrate of feed solution from shell side was maintained at 200 mlpm and that of dispersion at tube side was kept at 600 mlpm. The extent of extraction achieved after 4 hours of recirculation was 69%. Strip concentration of zirconium obtained was 0.628 g/L leading to 81 % stripping. The studies show that with adequate optimization of operating parameters, the HFDLM process shows promise for recovery of the Zr from lean streams like raffinate of Zr plant

Performance of nucleic acid amplification following extraction of 5 milliliters of whole blood for diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteremia.

Science.gov (United States)

Crump, John A; Tuohy, Marion J; Morrissey, Anne B; Ramadhani, Habib O; Njau, Boniface N; Maro, Venance P; Reller, L Barth; Procop, Gary W

2012-01-01

To investigate the performance of a nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) for the diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis bacteremia, 5-ml aliquots of blood were inoculated into bioMérieux mycobacterial (MB) bottles and incubated, and 5-ml aliquots of blood were extracted and tested by real-time PCR. Of 25 samples from patients with M. tuberculosis bacteremia, 9 (36.0%) were positive and 1 (1.5%) of 66 control samples was positive by NAAT. The NAAT shows promise, but modifications should focus on improving sensitivity.

Detection of uranium extraction zone by axial temperature profiles in a pulsed column for Purex process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsukada, T.; Takahashi, K.

1991-01-01

A new method was presented for detecting uranium extraction zone in a pulsed column by means of measuring axial temperature profile originated from reaction heat during uranium extraction. Key parameters of the temperature profiles were estimated with a code developed for calculating temperature profiles in a direct-contact heat exchanger such as a pulsed column, and were verified using data from a small pulsed column simulating reaction heat with injecting hot water. Finally, the results were compared with those from an actual uranium extraction tests, indicating that the method presented was promising for detecting uranium extraction zone in a pulsed column. (author)

Determination of major aromatic constituents in vanilla using an on-line supercritical fluid extraction coupled with supercritical fluid chromatography.

Science.gov (United States)

Liang, Yanshan; Liu, Jiaqi; Zhong, Qisheng; Shen, Lingling; Yao, Jinting; Huang, Taohong; Zhou, Ting

2018-04-01

An on-line supercritical fluid extraction coupled with supercritical fluid chromatography method was developed for the determination of four major aromatic constituents in vanilla. The parameters of supercritical fluid extraction were systematically investigated using single factor optimization experiments and response surface methodology by a Box-Behnken design. The modifier ratio, split ratio, and the extraction temperature and pressure were the major parameters which have significant effects on the extraction. While the static extraction time, dynamic extraction time, and recycle time had little influence on the compounds with low polarity. Under the optimized conditions, the relative extraction efficiencies of all the constituents reached 89.0-95.1%. The limits of quantification were in the range of 1.123-4.747 μg. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.3368-1.424 μg. The recoveries of the four analytes were in the range of 76.1-88.9%. The relative standard deviations of intra- and interday precision ranged from 4.2 to 7.6%. Compared with other off-line methods, the present method obtained higher extraction yields for all four aromatic constituents. Finally, this method has been applied to the analysis of vanilla from different sources. On the basis of the results, the on-line supercritical fluid extraction-supercritical fluid chromatography method shows great promise in the analysis of aromatic constituents in natural products. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Single pot synthesized gold nanoparticles using Hippophae rhamnoides leaf and berry extract showed shape-dependent differential nanobiotechnological applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Bhavana; Deswal, Renu

2018-04-04

A facile one-pot green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with different geometries was achieved using an underutilized Himalayan bioresource Hippophae rhamnoides. Aqueous leaf (LE) and berry extracts (BE) showed rapid synthesis of monodispersed spherical LEAuNPs (27 ± 3.2 nm) and anisotropic BEAuNPs (55 ± 4.5 nm) within 2 and 15 min, respectively. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy showed involvement of polyphenolics/flavonoids in AuNPs reduction. LE AuNPs (IC 50 49 µg) exhibited higher antioxidant potential than BE AuNPs (IC 50 57 µg). Both BE nanotriangles and LE nanospheres exhibited cytotoxicity against Jurkat cell lines. These nanocatalysts also exhibited effective (80-99%) reductive degradation of structurally different carcinogenic azo dyes. Kinetic studies revealed that BE nanotriangles exhibited higher catalytic efficiency (14-67%) than LE nanospheres suggesting shape-dependent regulation of biological activities. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis confirmed conversion of toxic methyl orange dye to non-toxic intermediates. Probable degradation mechanism involving adsorption and catalytic reduction of azo bonds was proposed. The present synthesis protocol provided a facile and energy saving procedure for rapid synthesis of highly stable nanoparticles with significant antioxidant and anticancer potential. This is the first report of H. rhamnoides-mediated green synthesis of multipurpose AuNPs as antioxidant, anticancer and nanocatalytic agents for treatment of dye contaminated waste water and future therapeutic applications.

A Karnaugh-Map based fingerprint minutiae extraction method

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunil Kumar Singla

2010-07-01

Full Text Available Fingerprint is one of the most promising method among all the biometric techniques and has been used for thepersonal authentication for a long time because of its wide acceptance and reliability. Features (Minutiae are extracted fromthe fingerprint in question and are compared with the features already stored in the database for authentication. Crossingnumber (CN is the most commonly used minutiae extraction method for fingerprints. In this paper, a new Karnaugh-Mapbased fingerprint minutiae extraction method has been proposed and discussed. In the proposed algorithm the 8 neighborsof a pixel in a 33 window are arranged as 8 bits of a byte and corresponding hexadecimal (hex value is calculated. Thesehex values are simplified using standard Karnaugh-Map (K-map technique to obtain the minimized logical expression.Experiments conducted on the FVC2002/Db1_a database reveals that the developed method is better than the crossingnumber (CN method.

Gravitational wave extraction based on Cauchy-characteristic extraction and characteristic evolution

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Babiuc, Maria [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Szilagyi, Bela [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA 15260 (United States); Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Muehlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm (Germany); Hawke, Ian [Max-Planck-Institut fuer Gravitationsphysik, Albert-Einstein-Institut, Am Muehlenberg 1, D-14476 Golm (Germany); School of Mathematics, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 1BJ (United Kingdom); Zlochower, Yosef [Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Center for Gravitational Wave Astronomy, University of Texas at Brownsville, Brownsville, TX 78520 (United States)

2005-12-07

We implement a code to find the gravitational news at future null infinity by using data from a Cauchy code as boundary data for a characteristic code. This technique of Cauchy-characteristic extraction (CCE) allows for the unambiguous extraction of gravitational waves from numerical simulations. We first test the technique on non-radiative spacetimes: Minkowski spacetime, perturbations of Minkowski spacetime and static black hole spacetimes in various gauges. We show the convergence and limitations of the algorithm and illustrate its success in cases where other wave extraction methods fail. We further apply our techniques to a standard radiative test case for wave extraction, a linearized Teukolsky wave, presenting our results in comparison to the Zerilli technique, and we argue for the advantages of our method of extraction.

Insufficient Antifungal Potential of Crude Extracts of Carissa Carandas Linn. & Nerium Oleander Linn.”

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fartyal, M.; Kumar, P.

2016-07-01

Objective: To evaluate the antifungal potential of crude extracts from different parts of Carissa carandas Linn. (Leaf, stem & root) and Nerium oleander Linn. (Leaf, stem & root). Material & method: Different parts of plants were collected, dried and then extracted by using soxhlet extraction method in different polar and non-polar solvents (Water, Methanol & petroleum ether). Extracts were then screened for antifungal activity using ‘Disc Diffusion Assay’ against Candida albicans (Yeast), Aspergillus flavus & Tricophyton mentagrophyte (fungi). Minimum inhibitory concentration, Minimum fungicidal concentration & Total activity were studied. Mean and Standard Deviation have also been calculated. Result: The results indicate that all the tested extracts were found to have no antifungal activity against all the tested microorganisms. Conclusion: The tested extracts did not have, or had too little, antifungal activity. Hence, may not be explored as promising source of new antimicrobial drugs.

Antifungal activity of medicinal plant extracts; preliminary screening studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Webster, Duncan; Taschereau, Pierre; Belland, René J; Sand, Crystal; Rennie, Robert P

2008-01-04

In the setting of HIV and organ transplantation, opportunistic fungal infections have become a common cause of morbidity and mortality. Thus antifungal therapy is playing a greater role in health care. Traditional plants are a valuable source of novel antifungals. To assess in vitro antifungal activity of aqueous plant extracts. The minimum inhibitory concentrations were determined for each extract in the setting of human pathogenic fungal isolates. Plants were harvested and identification verified. Aqueous extracts were obtained and antifungal susceptibilities determined using serial dilutional extracts with a standardized microdilution broth methodology. Twenty-three fungal isolates were cultured and exposed to the plant extracts. Five known antifungals were used as positive controls. Results were read at 48 and 72 h. Of the 14 plants analyzed, Fragaria virginiana Duchesne, Epilobium angustifolium L. and Potentilla simplex Michx. demonstrated strong antifungal potential overall. Fragaria virginiana had some degree of activity against all of the fungal pathogens. Alnus viridis DC., Betula alleghaniensis Britt. and Solidago gigantea Ait. also demonstrated a significant degree of activity against many of the yeast isolates. Fragaria virginiana, Epilobium angustifolium and Potentilla simplex demonstrate promising antifungal potential.

Purification of nattokinase by reverse micelles extraction from fermentation broth: effect of temperature and phase volume ratio.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Jun-Guo; Xing, Jian-Min; Chang, Tian-Shi; Liu, Hui-Zhou

2006-03-01

Nattokinase is a novel fibrinolytic enzyme that is considered to be a promising agent for thrombosis therapy. In this study, reverse micelles extraction was applied to purify and concentrate nattokinase from fermentation broth. The effects of temperature and phase volume ratio used for the forward and backward extraction on the extraction process were examined. The optimal temperature for forward and backward extraction were 25 degrees C and 35 degrees C respectively. Nattokinase became more thermosensitive during reverse micelles extraction. And it could be enriched in the stripping phase eight times during backward extraction. It was found that nattokinase could be purified by AOT reverse micelles with up to 80% activity recovery and with a purification factor of 3.9.

Enzyme-treated Asparagus officinalis extract shows neuroprotective effects and attenuates cognitive impairment in senescence-accelerated mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakurai, Takuya; Ito, Tomohiro; Wakame, Koji; Kitadate, Kentaro; Arai, Takashi; Ogasawara, Junetsu; Kizaki, Takako; Sato, Shogo; Ishibashi, Yoshinaga; Fujiwara, Tomonori; Akagawa, Kimio; Ishida, Hitoshi; Ohno, Hideki

2014-01-01

Increases in the number of patients with dementia involving Alzheimer's disease (AD) are seen as a grave public health problem. In neurodegenerative disorders involving AD, biological stresses, such as oxidative and inflammatory stress, induce neural cell damage. Asparagus (Asparagus officinalis) is a popular vegetable, and an extract prepared from this reportedly possesses various beneficial biological activities. In the present study, we investigated the effects of enzyme-treated asparagus extract (ETAS) on neuronal cells and early cognitive impairment of senescence-accelerated mouse prone 8 (SAMP8) mice. The expression of mRNAs for factors that exert cytoprotective and anti-apoptotic functions, such as heat-shock protein 70 and heme oxygenase-1, was upregulated in NG108-15 neuronal cells by treatment with ETAS. Moreover, when release of lactate dehydrogenase from damaged NG108-15 cells was increased for cells cultured in medium containing either the nitric oxide donor sodium nitroprusside or the hypoxia mimic reagent cobalt chloride, ETAS significantly attenuated this cell damage. Also, when contextual fear memory, which is considered to be a hippocampus-dependent memory, was significantly impaired in SAMP8 mice, ETAS attenuated the cognitive impairment. These results suggest that ETAS produces cytoprotective effects in neuronal cells and attenuates the effects on the cognitive impairment of SAMP8 mice.

Extraction of Tetravalent Uranium by Certain Acidic Organophosphorus Extractants from Phosphate Medium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Daoud, J.A.; Zeid, M.M.; Aly, H.F.

1998-01-01

The extraction of U(IV) by octylphenyl acid phosphate (OPAP) or di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid (HDEHP) in kerosene from phosphoric acid was carried out. The effect of extractant, phosphoric acid, uranium, Fe(II) and Fe(III) concentration on the extraction process was separately investigated. The effect of different reagents and temperature on the stripping of U(IV) was also investigated. The results obtained for the extraction of U(IV) by HDEHP showed that the extraction with the increase in HDEHP and Fe(III) concentration while it decreases with the increase in phosphoric acid, uranium and Fe(II) concentration. In case of extraction with OPAP, the extraction of U(IV) was found to decrease with the phosphoric acid, Fe(II) and initial uranium concentration while the increase in OPAP concentration slightly affected the extraction. The use of high phosphoric acid concentration as stripper at low temperature was found to give the best stripping results

Polyphenolic Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts from Uncaria tomentosa Bark and Leaves

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Mirtha Navarro-Hoyos

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Uncaria tomentosa constitutes an important source of secondary metabolites with diverse biological activities mainly attributed until recently to alkaloids and triterpenes. We have previously reported for the first-time the polyphenolic profile of extracts from U. tomentosa, using a multi-step process involving organic solvents, as well as their antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial activity on aerial bacteria, and cytotoxicity on cancer cell lines. These promising results prompted the present study using food grade solvents suitable for the elaboration of commercial extracts. We report a detailed study on the polyphenolic composition of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of U. tomentosa bark and leaves (n = 16, using High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-DAD/TQ-ESI-MS. A total of 32 compounds were identified, including hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids, flavan-3-ols monomers, procyanidin dimers and trimers, flavalignans–cinchonains and propelargonidin dimers. Our findings showed that the leaves were the richest source of total phenolics and proanthocyanidins, in particular propelargonidin dimers. Two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA indicated that the contents of procyanidin and propelargonidin dimers were significantly different (p < 0.05 in function of the plant part, and leaves extracts showed higher contents. Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity (ORAC and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhidrazyl (DPPH values indicated higher antioxidant capacity for the leaves (p < 0.05. Further, correlation between both methods and procyanidin dimers was found, particularly between ORAC and propelargonidin dimers. Finally, Principal Component Analysis (PCA analysis results clearly indicated that the leaves are the richest plant part in proanthocyanidins and a very homogenous material, regardless of their origin. Therefore, our findings revealed that both ethanol and water extraction processes are adequate for the elaboration of

Separation and Extraction of Some Heavy and Toxic Metal Ions from Their Wastes by Ionic Membranes

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Sayed Hegazy, A.; Kamal, H.; Mahmoud, Gh. A.; Khalifa, N.A.

1999-01-01

Preparation and characterisation of a series of ion-exchange membranes for the purpose of separation and extraction of some heavy and toxic metal ions from their wastes have been studied. Such ion exchange membranes prepared by γ-radiation grafting of acrylonitrile (AN) and vinyl acetate (VAc) in a binary monomers mixture onto low density polyethylene (LDPE) using direct technique of grafting. The reaction conditions at which grafting process proceeds successfully have been determined. Many modification treatments have been attempted for the prepared membranes to improve their ion-exchange properties. The possibility of their practical use in waste water treatment from some heavy and toxic metal ions such as Pb 2+ , Cd 2+ ,Cu 2+ ,Fe 3+ ,Sr 2+ and Li + have been investigated. These grafted membranes showed great promise for its use in the field of extraction and removal of some heavy and toxic metals from their wastes

Liquid-liquid reductive extraction in molten fluoride salt/liquid aluminium as a core of process for the An/Ln group separation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Conocar, O.

2007-06-01

This report concerns a pyrochemical process based on liquid-liquid extraction in a molten fluoride/liquid aluminium system as a core process for actinide (An)/lanthanide (Ln) group separation, studied at CEA. The basic and demonstrative experiments have established the feasibility of the An/Ln group separation in the molten fluoride/liquid aluminium system (U, Pu, Np, Am, Cm traces from Nd, Ce, Eu, Sm, Eu, La - An/Ln separation factors over 1000 - An recovery yield over 98 % in one batch). The main experimental efforts must now be targeted on the recovery of actinides from the Al matrix. A thermodynamic and bibliographical survey has been done. It shows that back-extraction in a molten chloride melt could be a promising technique for this purpose

Liquid-liquid reductive extraction in molten fluoride salt/liquid aluminium as a core of process for the An/Ln group separation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Conocar, O

2007-06-15

This report concerns a pyrochemical process based on liquid-liquid extraction in a molten fluoride/liquid aluminium system as a core process for actinide (An)/lanthanide (Ln) group separation, studied at CEA. The basic and demonstrative experiments have established the feasibility of the An/Ln group separation in the molten fluoride/liquid aluminium system (U, Pu, Np, Am, Cm traces from Nd, Ce, Eu, Sm, Eu, La - An/Ln separation factors over 1000 - An recovery yield over 98 % in one batch). The main experimental efforts must now be targeted on the recovery of actinides from the Al matrix. A thermodynamic and bibliographical survey has been done. It shows that back-extraction in a molten chloride melt could be a promising technique for this purpose.

Phytochemical screening, anti-oxidant activity and in vitro anticancer potential of ethanolic and water leaves extracts of Annona muricata (Graviola).

Science.gov (United States)

Gavamukulya, Yahaya; Abou-Elella, Faten; Wamunyokoli, Fred; AEl-Shemy, Hany

2014-09-01

To determine the phytochemical composition, antioxidant and anticancer activities of ethanolic and water leaves extracts of Annona muricata (A. muricata) from the Eastern Uganda. Phytochemical screening was conducted using standard qualitative methods and a Chi-square goodness of fit test was used to assign the relative abundance of the different phytochemicals. The antioxidant activity was determined using the 2, 2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl and reducing power methods whereas the in vitro anticancer activity was determined using three different cell lines. Phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed that they were rich in secondary class metabolite compounds such as alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids, coumarins and lactones, anthraquinones, tannins, cardiac glycosides, phenols and phytosterols. Total phenolics in the water extract were (683.69±0.09) μg/mL gallic acid equivalents (GAE) while it was (372.92±0.15) μg/mL GAE in the ethanolic extract. The reducing power was 216.41 μg/mL in the water extract and 470.51 μg/mL GAE in the ethanolic extract. In vitro antioxidant activity IC50 was 2.0456 mg/mL and 0.9077 mg/mL for ethanolic and water leaves extracts of A. muricata respectively. The ethanolic leaves extract was found to be selectively cytotoxic in vitro to tumor cell lines (EACC, MDA and SKBR3) with IC50 values of 335.85 μg/mL, 248.77 μg/mL, 202.33 μg/mL respectively, while it had no cytotoxic effect on normal spleen cells. The data also showed that water leaves extract of A. muricata had no anticancer effect at all tested concentrations. The results showed that A. muricata was a promising new antioxidant and anticancer agent. Copyright © 2014 Hainan Medical College. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Extracts against Various Pathogens

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Ritika Chauhan

2013-07-01

The present study shows that tested lichen Parmotrema sp. extracts demonstrated a strong antimicrobial effect. That suggests the active components from methanol extracts of the investigated lichen Parmotrema sp. can be used as natural antimicrobial agent against pathogens.

Antimicrobial and Antiproliferative Activity of Bauhinia forficata Link and Cnidoscolus quercifolius Extracts commonly Used in Folk Medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Alves, Erika P; de F Lima, Rennaly; de Almeida, Carolina M; Freires, Irlan A; Rosalen, Pedro L; Ruiz, Ana Ltg; Granville-Garcia, Ana F; Godoy, Gustavo P; Pereira, Jozinete V; de Brito Costa, Edja Mm

2017-08-01

Bauhinia forficata and Cnidoscolus quercifolius plants are commonly used in folk medicine. However, few studies have investigated their therapeutic potential. Herein, we evaluated the antimicrobial activity of B. forficata and C. quercifolius extracts against microorganisms of clinical relevance and their antiproliferative potential against tumor cells. The following tests were performed: Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC)/minimum fungicidal concentration (MFC), inhibition of biofilm adhesion, and effects on cell morphology. Antiproliferative tests were carried out with human keratinocytes and six tumor lines. Bauhinia forficata showed antimicrobial activity only against C. albicans with MIC of 15.62 ug/mL and MFC higher than 2000 ug/mL. It also inhibited biofilm adhesion and caused alterations in cell morphology. Cnidoscolus quercifolius showed no significant activity (MIC > 2.0 mg/mL) against the strains. Bauhinia forficata and C. quercifolius extracts showed cytostatic activity against the tumor cells. Bauhinia forficata has promising anti-Cand/da activity and should be further investigated for its therapeutic potential. The use of medicinal plants in the treatment of infectious processes has an important function nowadays, due to the limitations of the use of synthetic antibiotics available, related specifically to the microbial resistance emergence.

Promise Zones for Applicants

Data.gov (United States)

Department of Housing and Urban Development — This tool assists applicants to HUD's Promise Zone initiative prepare data to submit with their application by allowing applicants to draw the exact location of the...

Evaluation of anthelmintic activity and in silico PASS assisted prediction of Cordia dichotoma (Forst.) root extract

Science.gov (United States)

Jamkhande, Prasad G.; Barde, Sonal R.

2014-01-01

Background: Worm infection and associated complications are severe problems that afflict a large population worldwide. Failure of synthetic drugs in worm infections because of drug resistance has made alternative drug therapy desirable. Cordia dichotoma (Forst.) is an ethnomedicinal plant which is rich in several secondary metabolites. Traditionally, the plant has been claimed to have high medicinal properties including antimicrobial activity and cytotoxicity. Materials and Methods: The study begun with an aim to explore plant-based natural anthelmintic agents against Pheretima posthuma, an Indian earthworm. Methanol extract of the drug was obtained by successive soxhlet extraction. The extract was tested for different phytochemicals. Worms were exposed to 10 mg/ml, 25 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml, and 75 mg/ml concentrations of extract and standard drug, albendazole. A software-based tool, prediction of activity spectra for substances was used to estimate anthelmintic efficacy of plant metabolites. Result: The phytochemical analysis revealed presence of alkaloids, tannins, glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, and phenols. The extract showed dose-dependent effects, affecting worm motility, viability, and mortality. It was also found that the biological activity spectrum of the plant phytoconstituents such as octacosanol, lupeol, caffeic acid, and hentricontanol were >0.5 (probable activity > 0.5). Conclusion: The findings of the present work suggest that the extract of C. dichotoma significantly interferes with motility pattern of P. posthuma. The paralysis and mortality of P. posthuma might be due to the combined effects different phytoconstituents. The extract of C. dichotoma promises natural sources to control worm infection. PMID:25737609

Tapering-induced enhancement of light extraction efficiency of nanowire deep ultraviolet LED by theoretical simulations

KAUST Repository

Lin, Ronghui

2018-04-21

A nanowire (NW) structure provides an alternative scheme for deep ultraviolet light emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs) that promises high material quality and better light extraction efficiency (LEE). In this report, we investigate the influence of the tapering angle of closely packed AlGaN NWs, which is found to exist naturally in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown NW structures, on the LEE of NW DUV-LEDs. It is observed that, by having a small tapering angle, the vertical extraction is greatly enhanced for both transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) polarizations. Most notably, the vertical extraction of TM emission increased from 4.8% to 24.3%, which makes the LEE reasonably large to achieve high-performance DUV-LEDs. This is because the breaking of symmetry in the vertical direction changes the propagation of the light significantly to allow more coupling into radiation modes. Finally, we introduce errors to the NW positions to show the advantages of the tapered NW structures can be projected to random closely packed NW arrays. The results obtained in this paper can provide guidelines for designing efficient NW DUV-LEDs.

Tapering-induced enhancement of light extraction efficiency of nanowire deep ultraviolet LED by theoretical simulations

KAUST Repository

Lin, Ronghui; Galan, Sergio Valdes; Sun, Haiding; Hu, Yangrui; Alias, Mohd Sharizal; Janjua, Bilal; Ng, Tien Khee; Ooi, Boon S.; Li, Xiaohang

2018-01-01

A nanowire (NW) structure provides an alternative scheme for deep ultraviolet light emitting diodes (DUV-LEDs) that promises high material quality and better light extraction efficiency (LEE). In this report, we investigate the influence of the tapering angle of closely packed AlGaN NWs, which is found to exist naturally in molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) grown NW structures, on the LEE of NW DUV-LEDs. It is observed that, by having a small tapering angle, the vertical extraction is greatly enhanced for both transverse magnetic (TM) and transverse electric (TE) polarizations. Most notably, the vertical extraction of TM emission increased from 4.8% to 24.3%, which makes the LEE reasonably large to achieve high-performance DUV-LEDs. This is because the breaking of symmetry in the vertical direction changes the propagation of the light significantly to allow more coupling into radiation modes. Finally, we introduce errors to the NW positions to show the advantages of the tapered NW structures can be projected to random closely packed NW arrays. The results obtained in this paper can provide guidelines for designing efficient NW DUV-LEDs.

Ionic Liquids as Benign Solvents for the Extraction of Aromatics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hossain, Md. Anwar; Lee, Jeesun; Kim, Dai Hyun; Nguyen, Dinh Quan; Cheong, Minserk; Kim, Hoon Sik

2012-01-01

Ionic liquids (ILs) have been extensively investigated as promising alternatives to conventional organic solvents such as sulfolane and N,N-dimethylformamide for the selective extraction of aromatic hydrocarbons from the C 6 -C 10 hydrocarbon mixtures produced from the cracking processes of naphtha and light oils. The most important advantage of ILs over conventional organic solvents is that they are immiscible with aliphatic hydrocarbons, and thus the back extraction of ILs from the raffinate phases and top hydrocarbon-rich layers is not necessary. In this paper, a brief review on the state of the art in the utilization of ILs for aromatics separation is presented

Tritium extraction technologies and DEMO requirements

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Demange, D., E-mail: david.demange@kit.edu [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Technical Physics, Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Antunes, R.; Borisevich, O.; Frances, L. [Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Institute for Technical Physics, Tritium Laboratory Karlsruhe, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen (Germany); Rapisarda, D. [Laboratorio Nacional de Fusión, EURATOM-CIEMAT, 28040 Madrid (Spain); Santucci, A. [ENEA for EUROfusion, Via E. Fermi 45, 00044 Frascati, Roma (Italy); Utili, M. [ENEA CR Brasimone, 40032 Camugnano, BO (Italy)

2016-11-01

Highlights: • We detail the R&D plan for tritium technology of the European DEMO breeding blanket. • We study advanced and efficient extraction techniques to improve tritium management. • We consider inorganic membranes and catalytic membrane reactor for solid blankets. • We consider permeator against vacuum and vacuum sieve tray for liquid blankets. - Abstract: The conceptual design of the tritium extraction system (TES) for the European DEMO reactor is worked out in parallel for four different breeding blankets (BB) retained by EUROfusion. The TES design has to be tackled in an integrated manner optimizing the synergy with the directly interfacing inner fuel cycle, while minimizing the tritium permeation into the coolant. Considering DEMO requirements, it is most likely that only advanced technologies will be suitable for the tritium extraction systems of the BB. This paper overviews the European work programme for R&D on tritium technology for the DEMO BB, summaries the general first outcomes, and details the specific and comprehensive R&D program to study experimentally immature but promising technologies such as vacuum sieve tray or permeator against vacuum for tritium extraction from PbLi, and advanced inorganic membranes and catalytic membrane reactor for tritium extraction from He. These techniques are simple, fully continuous, likely compact with contained energy consumption. Several European Laboratories are joining their efforts to deploy several new experimental setups to accommodate the tests campaigns that will cover small scale experiments with tritium and inactive medium scale tests so as to improve the technology readiness level of these advanced processes.

Comparison of low-level polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediment revealed by Soxhlet extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, and pressurized liquid extraction

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Itoh, Nobuyasu; Numata, Masahiko; Aoyagi, Yoshie; Yarita, Takashi

2008-01-01

We analyzed polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) present in lake sediment at low levels ( -1 ) by using Soxhlet extraction (Soxhlet), microwave-assisted extraction (MAE), and pressurized liquid extraction (PLE) in combination with gas chromatography and isotope-dilution mass spectrometry. Although all extraction techniques showed good repeatability for five target PAHs (relative standard deviation MAE > Soxhlet. Differences in the results originated mainly from differences in the extraction efficiencies of the techniques for native PAHs, because all techniques gave comparable recovery yields of corresponding 13 C-labeled PAHs ( 13 C-PAHs) (51-84%). Since non-negligible amounts of both native PAHs and 13 C-PAHs were re-adsorbed on matrix in MAE, not only recovery yields of 13 C-PAHs but also efficiencies of extraction of native PAHs should be examined to evaluate the appropriateness of any analytical procedures

Protein Replacement Therapy Shows Promise in Treating Rare Skin Disorder

Science.gov (United States)

... Ther. 2013 Jul:21(7):135-44. doi:10.1038/mt.2013.87. PMID:23670575. Intravenously Injected Recombinant ... Dermatol. 2013 Jul;133(7):1910-3. doi: 10.1038/jid.2013.10. PMID: 23321924. The mission of ...

Monoclonal Antibody Shows Promise as Potential Therapeutic for MERS | Poster

Science.gov (United States)

A monoclonal antibody has proven effective in preventing Middle Eastern Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in lab animals, suggesting further development as a potential intervention for the deadly disease in humans, according to new research. MERS is a newly emerged coronavirus first detected in humans in 2012. Most cases have occurred in the Middle East, but the disease has appeared elsewhere. In all, MERS has infected more than 1,700 individuals and killed more than 600, according to the World Health Organization. No vaccines or antiviral therapies currently exist. Several candidate vaccines are being developed, and some have been tested in animal models, a prerequisite to human clinical trials.

New bimetallic EMF cell shows promise in direct energy conversion

Science.gov (United States)

Hesson, J. C.; Shimotake, H.

1968-01-01

Concentration cell, based upon a thermally regenerative cell principle, produces electrical energy from any large heat source. This experimental bimetallic EMF cell uses a sodium-bismuth alloy cathode and a pure liquid sodium anode. The cell exhibits reliability, corrosion resistance, and high current density performance.

Antioxidant capacity and larvicidal activity of essential oil and extracts from Lippia grandis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Evelyn Ivana T. Damasceno

2011-02-01

Full Text Available The leaves and thin branches of Lippia grandis Schauer, Verbenaceae, are used for flavoring of food in the Brazilian Amazon, as substitute for oregano. In this study the constituents of the essential oil were identified and the antioxidant capacity and larvicidal activity of the oil and methanol extract and its sub-fractions were evaluated. A sensory evaluation was determined in view of absence of toxicity. The oil showed a yield of 2.1% and its main constituents were thymol (45.8%, p-cymene (14.3%, γ-terpinene (10.5%, carvacrol (9.9% and thymol methyl ether (4.8%, totalizing 85%. The DPPH radical scavenging activity showed values for the EC50 between 9.0 and 130.5 µg mL-1 and the TEAC/ABTS values varied from 131.1 to 336.0 mg TE/g, indicating significant antioxidant activity for the plant. The total phenolic content ranged from 223.0 to 761.4 mg GAE/g, contributing to the antioxidant activity observed. The crude extracts inhibited the bleaching of β-carotene and the oil showed the greatest inhibition (42.5%. The oil (LgO, 7.6±2.4 µg mL-1 showed strong larvicidal activity against the brine shrimp bioassay. The sensory evaluation was highly satisfactory in comparison to oregano. The results are very promising for the use of L. grandis in seasoning and antioxidant products.

Complexation of f elements by tripodal ligands containing aromatic nitrogens. Application to the selective extraction of actinides(III)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wietzke, Raphael

1999-01-01

This work initiates a research project, whose aim is the actinides(lll)/lanthanides(III) separation by liquid-liquid extraction. We were interested in the study of the coordination chemistry of lanthanides(III) and uranium(III) (uranium(III) as model for the actinides(III)), with the aim to show differences between the two families and to better understand the coordination properties involved in the extraction process. We studied the lanthanide(III) and uranium(III) complexation with tripodal ligands containing aromatic nitrogens. Several tripodal ligands were synthesized varying the type and the number of the donor atoms. The lanthanide(III) complexes have been characterized in the solid state and in solution (by several techniques: "1H NMR, ESMS, luminescence, UV spectrophotometry, conductometry). Differences in the coordination were found depending on the nature of the donor atoms. The new ligands, tris(2-pyrazinylmethyl)amine (tpza) et tris(N,N-diethyl-2-carbamoyl-6- pyridylmethyl)amine (tpaa), have shown a selectivity for the actinides(III) with promising results in liquid-liquid extraction. The comparison between the lanthanum(III) and uranium(III) complexes with the ligand tpza showed differences in the bonding nature, which could be attributed to a covalent contribution to the metal-ligand bond. (author) [fr

An image-processing methodology for extracting bloodstain pattern features.

Science.gov (United States)

Arthur, Ravishka M; Humburg, Philomena J; Hoogenboom, Jerry; Baiker, Martin; Taylor, Michael C; de Bruin, Karla G

2017-08-01

There is a growing trend in forensic science to develop methods to make forensic pattern comparison tasks more objective. This has generally involved the application of suitable image-processing methods to provide numerical data for identification or comparison. This paper outlines a unique image-processing methodology that can be utilised by analysts to generate reliable pattern data that will assist them in forming objective conclusions about a pattern. A range of features were defined and extracted from a laboratory-generated impact spatter pattern. These features were based in part on bloodstain properties commonly used in the analysis of spatter bloodstain patterns. The values of these features were consistent with properties reported qualitatively for such patterns. The image-processing method developed shows considerable promise as a way to establish measurable discriminating pattern criteria that are lacking in current bloodstain pattern taxonomies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Point Cloud Classification of Tesserae from Terrestrial Laser Data Combined with Dense Image Matching for Archaeological Information Extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Poux, F.; Neuville, R.; Billen, R.

2017-08-01

Reasoning from information extraction given by point cloud data mining allows contextual adaptation and fast decision making. However, to achieve this perceptive level, a point cloud must be semantically rich, retaining relevant information for the end user. This paper presents an automatic knowledge-based method for pre-processing multi-sensory data and classifying a hybrid point cloud from both terrestrial laser scanning and dense image matching. Using 18 features including sensor's biased data, each tessera in the high-density point cloud from the 3D captured complex mosaics of Germigny-des-prés (France) is segmented via a colour multi-scale abstraction-based featuring extracting connectivity. A 2D surface and outline polygon of each tessera is generated by a RANSAC plane extraction and convex hull fitting. Knowledge is then used to classify every tesserae based on their size, surface, shape, material properties and their neighbour's class. The detection and semantic enrichment method shows promising results of 94% correct semantization, a first step toward the creation of an archaeological smart point cloud.

Gravitational-wave astronomy: delivering on the promises

Science.gov (United States)

Schutz, B. F.

2018-05-01

Now that LIGO and Virgo have begun to detect gravitational-wave events with regularity, the field of gravitational-wave astronomy is beginning to realize its promise. Binary black holes and, very recently, binary neutron stars have been observed, and we are already learning much from them. The future, with improved sensitivity, more detectors and detectors like LISA in different frequency bands, has even more promise to open a completely hidden side of the Universe to our exploration. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue `The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'.

The path to fulfilling the promise

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrett, J. [Canadian Nuclear Association, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

2014-07-01

'Full text:'Countries work together to develop effective governance and regulation. Canada has made big investments in these areas and it carries a premium for us. The rapid build-out of nuclear technology around the Pacific Rim holds vast promise for our populations in better climate, better air, affordable and reliable electricity, and longer lives. The biggest risk is not another accident: rather, it is the risk of failing to fulfill that promise to our people. Every country that wants the benefits of nuclear must also want to be sure that those benefits are realized and sustained by good governance and regulation. Canada has the people, laws, organizations, public institutions, and relationships that can help our partners fulfill the whole and lasting promise of nuclear technology. (author)

Toxicity of lemon grass Cymbopogon citratus powder and methanol extract against rice weevil Sitophilus oryzae (Coleoptera: Curculionidae

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Osaigbokan Uwamose

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Objective: To evaluate the toxicity potential of lemon grass [Cymbopogon citratus (C. citratus] products against adult rice weevil, Sitophilus oryzae. Methods: Lemon grass (C. citratus leaves were sundried for 7 days, pulverized and sieved using 0.5 mm mesh size to obtain fine powders. About 500 g of the powder were dissolved in 1000 mL of 90% methanol to produce the extract. The powder and extract were used for the bioassay. The powder was tested at 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 and 2.5 g/10 g rice grains, respectively. The toxic potential of the extract of concentration of 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, and 2.5 mg/mL were evaluated using the filter paper method. The experiment was setup on a completely randomized design using three replicates per treatment. Results: The results indicated significant difference (F = 7.450; df = 3.15; P < 0.05 in mean percentage mortality after 24, 48, 72, and 96 h exposure with the powder compared with the control. Significantly (F = 5.519; df = 3.15; P < 0.05 higher percentage adult mortality was also observed in the extract after 24, 48, 72, and 96 h exposure compared with the control. The LC50 value of the powder was 4.91 g/10 g of rice while the LT50 was 160.51 h. The LC50 value of the extract was 2.16 mg/20 mL of methanol with an LT50 of 75.10 h. The methanol extract of C. citratus showed the highest mortality compared to the powder which was less toxic. Conclusions: The study showed that C. citratus products are promising insecticides and can be used effectively in the management of Sitophilus oryzae in storage..

The diuretic effect in human subjects of an extract of Taraxacum officinale folium over a single day.

Science.gov (United States)

Clare, Bevin A; Conroy, Richard S; Spelman, Kevin

2009-08-01

Taraxacum officinale (L.) Weber (Asteraceae) has been extensively employed as a diuretic in traditional folk medicine and in modern phytotherapy in Europe, Asia, and the Americas without prior clinical trial substantiation. In this pilot study, a high-quality fresh leaf hydroethanolic extract of the medicinal plant T. officinale (dandelion) was ingested by volunteers to investigate whether an increased urinary frequency and volume would result. Volume of urinary output and fluid intake were recorded by subjects. Baseline values for urinary frequency and excretion ratio (urination volume:fluid intake) were established 2 days prior to dandelion dosing (8 mL TID) and monitored throughout a 1-day dosing period and 24 hours postdosing. For the entire population (n = 17) there was a significant (p officinale ethanolic extract shows promise as a diuretic in humans. Further studies are needed to establish the value of this herb for induction of diuresis in human subjects.

Kinetics of hydrophobic organic contaminant extraction from sediment by granular activated carbon.

Science.gov (United States)

Rakowska, M I; Kupryianchyk, D; Smit, M P J; Koelmans, A A; Grotenhuis, J T C; Rijnaarts, H H M

2014-03-15

Ex situ solid phase extraction with granular activated carbon (GAC) is a promising technique to remediate contaminated sediments. The methods' efficiency depends on the rate by which contaminants are transferred from the sediment to the surface of GAC. Here, we derive kinetic parameters for extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from sediment by GAC, using a first-order multi-compartment kinetic model. The parameters were obtained by modeling sediment-GAC exchange kinetic data following a tiered model calibration approach. First, parameters for PAH desorption from sediment were calibrated using data from systems with 50% (by weight) GAC acting as an infinite sink. Second, the estimated parameters were used as fixed input to obtain GAC uptake kinetic parameters in sediment slurries with 4% GAC, representing the ex situ remediation scenario. PAH uptake rate constants (kGAC) by GAC ranged from 0.44 to 0.0005 d(-1), whereas GAC sorption coefficients (KGAC) ranged from 10(5.57) to 10(8.57) L kg(-1). These values are the first provided for GAC in the presence of sediment and show that ex situ extraction with GAC is sufficiently fast and effective to reduce the risks of the most available PAHs among those studied, such as fluorene, phenanthrene and anthracene. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extraction of Am (III) and Nd (III): comparison of TODGA and TEHDGA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gujar, R.B.; Murali, M.S.; Ansari, S.A.; Manchanda, V.K.

2009-01-01

Belonging to the class of extractants, diglycolamides which are recently explored and promising for actinide partitioning, two reagents (N, N, N', N'-tetraoctyl diglycolamide) TODGA and its isomerically substituted counterpart, (N, N, N', N'- tetraethylhexyl diglycolamide) TEHDGA after addition of suitable phase modifiers, Dihexyoctanamide and isodecanol respectively in dodecane have been compared in their extraction abilities for Am (III) and Nd (III) from nitric acid as well as simulated high-level waste solutions (SHLW) equivalent to HLW arising from PHWR fuel reprocessing. Both 0.1M TODGA + 0.5M DHOA and 0.2M TEHDGA + 30% isodecanol in dodecane display high distribution ratios for the trivalent metal ions of f-elements. Similarities and differences in their extraction are discussed. (author)

Microwave-assisted aqueous enzymatic extraction of oil from pumpkin seeds and evaluation of its physicochemical properties, fatty acid compositions and antioxidant activities.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiao, Jiao; Li, Zhu-Gang; Gai, Qing-Yan; Li, Xiao-Juan; Wei, Fu-Yao; Fu, Yu-Jie; Ma, Wei

2014-03-15

Microwave-assisted aqueous enzymatic extraction (MAAEE) of pumpkin seed oil was performed in this study. An enzyme cocktail comprised of cellulase, pectinase and proteinase (w/w/w) was found to be the most effective in releasing oils. The highest oil recovery of 64.17% was achieved under optimal conditions of enzyme concentration (1.4%, w/w), temperature (44°C), time (66 min) and irradiation power (419W). Moreover, there were no significant variations in physicochemical properties of MAAEE-extracted oil (MAAEEO) and Soxhlet-extracted oil (SEO), but MAAEEO exhibited better oxidation stability. Additionally, MAAEEO had a higher content of linoleic acid (57.33%) than SEO (53.72%), and it showed stronger antioxidant activities with the IC50 values 123.93 and 152.84, mg/mL, according to DPPH radical scavenging assay and β-carotene/linoleic acid bleaching test. SEM results illustrated the destruction of cell walls and membranes by MAAEE. MAAEE is, therefore, a promising and environmental-friendly technique for oil extraction in the food industry. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Extraction of Natural Antioxidants from the Thelephora ganbajun Mushroom by an Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Technique and Evaluation of Antiproliferative Activity of the Extract against Human Cancer Cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dong-Ping Xu

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The Thelephora ganbajun mushroom has been found to be a potential rich source of natural antioxidants. In this study, an ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE technique together with GRAS (generally recognized as safe solvents (ethanol and water was used to maximize the extraction of antioxidants from Thelephora ganbajun. Five extraction parameters (ethanol concentration, solvent to solid ratio, extraction time, temperature and ultrasound power were investigated by single-factor experiments, and then a central composite rotatable design was employed to study interaction of three key extraction parameters. The optimum conditions were as follows: 57.38% ethanol, 70.15 mL/g solvent to solid ratio, 10.58 min extraction time, 40 °C extraction temperature and 500 W ultrasound power. Under the optimum conditions, the antioxidant activity obtained was 346.98 ± 12.19 µmol Trolox/g DW, in accordance with the predicted value of 344.67 µmol Trolox/g DW. Comparison of UAE with conventional maceration and Soxhlet extraction, the UAE method showed stronger extract efficiency in a shorter extraction time. These results showed that UAE was an effective technique to extract antioxidants from Thelephora ganbajun. Furthermore, the extracts obtained under the optimized conditions exhibited antiproliferative activities toward human lung (A549, breast (MCF-7, liver (HepG2 and colon (HT-29 cancer cells, especially for liver and lung cancer cells. In addition, rutin, 2-hydrocinnamic acid and epicatechin were identified in the extract, which might contribute to antioxidant and antiproliferative activities.

Extraction of Natural Antioxidants from the Thelephora ganbajun Mushroom by an Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction Technique and Evaluation of Antiproliferative Activity of the Extract against Human Cancer Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Dong-Ping; Zheng, Jie; Zhou, Yue; Li, Ya; Li, Sha; Li, Hua-Bin

2016-10-01

The Thelephora ganbajun mushroom has been found to be a potential rich source of natural antioxidants. In this study, an ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) technique together with GRAS (generally recognized as safe) solvents (ethanol and water) was used to maximize the extraction of antioxidants from Thelephora ganbajun . Five extraction parameters (ethanol concentration, solvent to solid ratio, extraction time, temperature and ultrasound power) were investigated by single-factor experiments, and then a central composite rotatable design was employed to study interaction of three key extraction parameters. The optimum conditions were as follows: 57.38% ethanol, 70.15 mL/g solvent to solid ratio, 10.58 min extraction time, 40 °C extraction temperature and 500 W ultrasound power. Under the optimum conditions, the antioxidant activity obtained was 346.98 ± 12.19 µmol Trolox/g DW, in accordance with the predicted value of 344.67 µmol Trolox/g DW. Comparison of UAE with conventional maceration and Soxhlet extraction, the UAE method showed stronger extract efficiency in a shorter extraction time. These results showed that UAE was an effective technique to extract antioxidants from Thelephora ganbajun . Furthermore, the extracts obtained under the optimized conditions exhibited antiproliferative activities toward human lung (A549), breast (MCF-7), liver (HepG2) and colon (HT-29) cancer cells, especially for liver and lung cancer cells. In addition, rutin, 2-hydrocinnamic acid and epicatechin were identified in the extract, which might contribute to antioxidant and antiproliferative activities.

Supercritical fluid extraction of uranium and thorium employing dialkyl amides

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, Ankita; Kumar, Pradeep

2014-01-01

Extraction and purification of actinides from different matrices is of utmost importance to the nuclear industry. In recent decades, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has emerged as a promising alternative to solvent extraction owing to its inherent potential of minimization of liquid waste generation. N,N-dialkyl aliphatic amides have been proposed to be an alternative to TBP in the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel due to several attractive features like innocuous nature of degradation products (mainly carboxylic acids/ amines), possibility of complete incineration of the used extractant leading to reduction in volume of secondary waste. Also, physico-chemical properties of this class of extractants can be tuned by the judicious choice of alkyl groups. In the present work, N,N-dialkyl aliphatic amides with varying alkyl groups viz. N,N-dibutyl-2-ethylhexanamide (DBEHA), N,N-dibutyl-3,3-dimethylbutanamide (DBDMBA), N,N-dihexyloctanamide (DHOA), N,N-disecbutylpentamide (DBPA), N,N-dibutyloctanamide (DBOA), have been evaluated for supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of uranium and thorium from nitric acid medium as well as tissue paper matrix. Amides were obtained from Department of Chemistry, Delhi University and were used as such. This fact could be exploited for separation of thorium and uranium

Comparison of Protein Extracts from Various Unicellular Green Sources.

Science.gov (United States)

Teuling, Emma; Wierenga, Peter A; Schrama, Johan W; Gruppen, Harry

2017-09-13

Photosynthetic unicellular organisms are considered as promising alternative protein sources. The aim of this study is to understand the extent to which these green sources differ with respect to their gross composition and how these differences affect the final protein isolate. Using mild isolation techniques, proteins were extracted and isolated from four different unicellular sources (Arthrospira (spirulina) maxima, Nannochloropsis gaditana, Tetraselmis impellucida, and Scenedesmus dimorphus). Despite differences in protein contents of the sources (27-62% w/w) and in protein extractability (17-74% w/w), final protein isolates were obtained that had similar protein contents (62-77% w/w) and protein yields (3-9% w/w). Protein solubility as a function of pH was different between the sources and in ionic strength dependency, especially at pH < 4.0. Overall, the characterization and extraction protocol used allows a relatively fast and well-described isolation of purified proteins from novel protein sources.

Potential of using plant extracts for purification of shallow well water in Malawi

Science.gov (United States)

Pritchard, M.; Mkandawire, T.; Edmondson, A.; O'Neill, J. G.; Kululanga, G.

There has been very little scientific research work into the use of plant extracts to purify groundwater. Research studies on the purification of groundwater have mainly been carried out in developed countries and have focused on water purification systems using aluminium sulphate (a coagulant) and chlorine (a disinfectant). Such systems are expensive and not viable for rural communities due to abject poverty. Shallow well water, which is commonly available throughout Africa, is often grossly contaminated and usually consumed untreated. As a result, water-related diseases kill more than 5 million people every year worldwide. This research was aimed at examining natural plant extracts in order to develop inexpensive ways for rural communities to purify their groundwater. The study involved creating an inventory of plant extracts that have been used for water and wastewater purification. A prioritisation system was derived to select the most suitable extracts, which took into account criteria such as availability, purification potential, yield and cost of extraction. Laboratory trials were undertaken on the most promising plant extracts, namely: Moringa oleifera, Jatropha curcas and Guar gum. The extracts were added to water samples obtained from five shallow wells in Malawi. The trials consisted of jar tests to assess the coagulation potential and the resulting effect on physico-chemical and microbiological parameters such as temperature, pH, turbidity and coliforms. The results showed that the addition of M. oleifera, J. curcas and Guar gum can considerably improve the quality of shallow well water. Turbidity reduction was higher for more turbid water. A reduction efficiency exceeding 90% was achieved by all three extracts on shallow well water that had a turbidity of 49 NTU. A reduction in coliforms was about 80% for all extracts. The pH of the water samples increased with dosage, but remained within acceptable levels for drinking water for all the extracts

In Vivo Study on Analgesic, Muscle-Relaxant, Sedative Activity of Extracts of Hypochaeris radicata and In Silico Evaluation of Hypochaeris Glucoside and Guaiane-Type Sesquiterpene

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tareq Abu-Izneid

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Hypochaeris radicata (flatweed from the family Asteraceae is a medicinal plant found in Europe, Middle East, and India. In folkloric medication, it is used to heal jaundice, dyspepsia, constipation, rheumatism, and hypoglycemia as well as renal problems. Leaves and roots of the plant have antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The plant is a rich source of pharmacologically active phytochemicals; however, it is explored scantily. The objective of the current study was to identify the chemical composition and investigate the in vivo biological potency of crude extracts of this plant. Methods. The crude extract and the fractions were screened for various phytochemical groups of constituents following standard procedures. The acute toxicity was assayed for safe range of dose determination. The analgesic potential of the extract and fractions was assessed by acetic acid-induced writhing test. The muscle-relaxant activity was examined by standard inclined-plane test and traction test. Sedative potential of extract/fractions was assessed by using standard white wood procedures. Furthermore, docking analysis of two compounds isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of the plant was assessed against 3D cyclooxygenase-1 and -2 (COX-1 and COX-2. Results. The extract/fractions of H. radicata showed significant analgesic effect in in vivo model of peripheral algesia. The docking analysis of previously isolated molecules from the plant also exhibited promising interaction with COX-1 and COX-2. Also, the plant has a mild sedative and muscle-relaxant potential. Thus, our study provided pharmacological rationale for the traditional uses of the plant as analgesic and anti-inflammatory remedy. Conclusion. The crude extracts and fractions exhibited excellent activity due to active phytochemicals. These active phytochemicals also exhibited promising interaction with COX-1 and COX-2. This finding directed researcher to isolate active compounds from H

Inhibitory efficacy of the quantified prunellae spica extract on H22 tumor bearing mice

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Zhi-ping; Chen, Tong-sheng

2013-02-01

Hepatocarcinoma, a malignant cancer, threaten human life badly. It is a current issue to seek the effective natural remedy from plant to treat cancer due to the resistence of the advanced hepatocarcinoma to chemotherapy. In this report, we assessed the antitumor activity of a prunellae spica aqueous extract (PSE) in vitro and in vivo. PSE was quantified by HPLC and UV. MTT assay showed that PSE did not effectively inhibit the growth of H22 cells. The in vivo anti-tumor activity was assessed by using the mice bearing H22 tumor. In vivo studies showed the higher antitumor efficacy of PSE without significant side effect assessed by the reduced tumor weight, and the extended survival time of the mice bearing H22 solid and ascites tumor. Collectively, PSE is a promising Chinese medicinal herb for treating hepatocarcinoma.

Extraction and Quantitative HPLC Analysis of Coumarin in Hydroalcoholic Extracts of Mikania glomerata Spreng: ("guaco" Leaves

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Celeghini Renata M. S.

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Methods for preparation of hydroalcoholic extracts of "guaco" (Mikania glomerata Spreng. leaves were compared: maceration, maceration under sonication, infusion and supercritical fluid extraction. Evaluation of these methods showed that maceration under sonication had the best results, when considering the ratio extraction yield/extraction time. A high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC procedure for the determination of coumarin in these hydroalcoholic extracts of "guaco" leaves is described. The HPLC method is shown to be sensitive and reproducible.

Pressurized Hot Water Extraction of anthocyanins from red onion: A study on extraction and degradation rates

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Petersson, Erik V.; Liu Jiayin; Sjoeberg, Per J.R.; Danielsson, Rolf [Uppsala University, Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, P.O. Box 599, SE-751 24, Uppsala (Sweden); Turner, Charlotta, E-mail: Charlotta.Turner@kemi.uu.se [Uppsala University, Department of Physical and Analytical Chemistry, P.O. Box 599, SE-751 24, Uppsala (Sweden)

2010-03-17

Pressurized Hot Water Extraction (PHWE) is a quick, efficient and environmentally friendly technique for extractions. However, when using PHWE to extract thermally unstable analytes, extraction and degradation effects occur at the same time, and thereby compete. At first, the extraction effect dominates, but degradation effects soon take over. In this paper, extraction and degradation rates of anthocyanins from red onion were studied with experiments in a static batch reactor at 110 deg. C. A total extraction curve was calculated with data from the actual extraction and degradation curves, showing that more anthocyanins, 21-36% depending on the species, could be extracted if no degradation occurred, but then longer extraction times would be required than those needed to reach the peak level in the apparent extraction curves. The results give information about the different kinetic processes competing during an extraction procedure.

Plant location and extraction procedure strongly alter the antimicrobial activity of murta extracts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Shene, Carolina; Reyes, Agnes K.; Villarroel, Mario

2009-01-01

plants grown nearer to the mountain (58 mg GAE/g murta), subjected to extreme summer/winter-day/night temperature changes and rainy regime. Extracts from leaves collected in the valley and coast contained 46 and 40 mg GAE/g murta, respectively. A mixture of 50% ethanol/water was the most efficient......Leaves and fruits of Murta (Ugni Molinae Turcz.) growing in three locations of Chile with diverse climatic conditions were extracted by using ethanol/water mixtures at different ratios and the antimicrobial activity was assessed. Extracts containing the highest polyphenolic content were from murta...... in extracting polyphenols, showing pure solvents-both water and ethanol-a lower extraction capacity. No correlation between antioxidant capacity and polyphenolic content was found. Extracts from Murta leaves provoked a decrease in the growing of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus...

Polyphenolic Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts from Uncaria tomentosa Bark and Leaves.

Science.gov (United States)

Navarro-Hoyos, Mirtha; Alvarado-Corella, Diego; Moreira-Gonzalez, Ileana; Arnaez-Serrano, Elizabeth; Monagas-Juan, Maria

2018-05-11

Uncaria tomentosa constitutes an important source of secondary metabolites with diverse biological activities mainly attributed until recently to alkaloids and triterpenes. We have previously reported for the first-time the polyphenolic profile of extracts from U. tomentosa , using a multi-step process involving organic solvents, as well as their antioxidant capacity, antimicrobial activity on aerial bacteria, and cytotoxicity on cancer cell lines. These promising results prompted the present study using food grade solvents suitable for the elaboration of commercial extracts. We report a detailed study on the polyphenolic composition of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of U. tomentosa bark and leaves ( n = 16), using High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (HPLC-DAD/TQ-ESI-MS). A total of 32 compounds were identified, including hydroxybenzoic and hydroxycinnamic acids, flavan-3-ols monomers, procyanidin dimers and trimers, flavalignans⁻cinchonains and propelargonidin dimers. Our findings showed that the leaves were the richest source of total phenolics and proanthocyanidins, in particular propelargonidin dimers. Two-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that the contents of procyanidin and propelargonidin dimers were significantly different ( p rich in proanthocyanidins and exhibiting high antioxidant activity.

Biological activity and safety of Tripterygium extract prepared by sodium carbonate extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Fang, Wei; Peng, Fan; Yi, Tao; Zhang, Cong; Wan, Chunxi; Xu, Huibi; Lam, Christopher Waikei; Yang, Xiangliang

2012-09-17

The commercial preparation named “Tripterygium glycosides” prepared by column chromatography has been used for the treatment of inflammatory and autoimmune diseases with significant efficacy but concurrent toxicity. The aim of this study was to reduce the toxicity of Tripterygium extracts, using cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory activity of the three principal active components of Tripterygium wilfordii Hook. F. (TWHF)as guiding parameters. Column chromatography was replaced by sodium carbonate extraction for removing the acidic compounds and enriching epoxyditerpenoids and alkaloids in the extract. Results showed that the therapeutic index (IC50/EC50) on murine macrophage Raw 264.7 cells and rat mesangial HBZY-1 cells of the extract prepared by sodium carbonate extraction was significantly higher than that of Tripterygium glycosides(0.8 and 5.2 vs. 0.3 and 2.6, p sodium carbonate extraction may represent a potentially optimal source of medicine with good therapeutic index.

Development of extract library from indonesian biodiversity: exploration of antibacterial activity of mangrove bruguiera cylindrica leaf extracts

Science.gov (United States)

Audah, K. A.; Amsyir, J.; Almasyhur, F.; Hapsari, A. M.; Sutanto, H.

2018-03-01

Antibacterial drugs derived from natural sources play significant roles in the prevention and treatment of bacterial infections since antibiotics have become less effective against many infectious diseases. Mangroves are very potential natural antibacterial sources among great numbers of wild medicinal plants. Bruguiera cylindrica is one of the many mangroves species which spread along Indonesian coastline. The aim of this study was to explore the antibacterial activity of B. cylindrica wet and dried leaf extracts. The wet extracts study was conducted with three different solvents system (water, ethanol, and n-Hexane) against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. While, the dried extracts study was conducted with four different solvents system (water, ethanol, chloroform and n-Hexane) against three types of bacteria, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus. The study showed that ethanol was the best solvent for extraction of phenolic and flavonoid. Antibacterial actitivity was measured by zone of inhibition which obtained from agar-disk diffusion method. The widest area of zone of inhibition was showed by wet extracts with ethanol against S. aureus and E. coli are 14.30 and 13.30 mm, respectively. While, the zone of inhibition dried extracts with ethanol against S. aureus, S. epidermidis and E. coli are 9.32, 6.59 and 6.20 mm, respectively. In conclusion, both type of extracts showed significant antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria as crude extracts.

Effects of Extract from Solid-State Fermented Cordyceps sinensis on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

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Wei-Chih Kan

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Diabetes mellitus is the most common chronic disease in the world, and a wide range of drugs, including Chinese herbs, have been evaluated for the treatment of associated metabolic disorders. This study investigated the potential hypoglycemic and renoprotective effects of an extract from the solid-state fermented mycelium of Cordyceps sinensis (CS. We employed the KK/HIJ diabetic mouse model, in which the mice were provided with a high-fat diet for 8 weeks to induce hyperglycemia, followed by the administration of CS or rosiglitazone for 4 consecutive weeks. Several parameters were evaluated, including changes in body weight, plasma lipid profiles, oral glucose tolerance tests, insulin tolerance tests, and plasma insulin concentrations. Our results show that the CS extract significantly elevated HDL/LDL ratios at 4 weeks and decreased body weight gain at 8 weeks. Interestingly, CS treatment did not lead to obvious improvements in hyperglycemia or resistance to insulin, while in vitro MTT assays indicated that CS protects pancreatic beta cells against the toxic effects of STZ. CS also enhanced renal NKA activity and reduced the accumulation of mesangial matrix and collagen deposition. In conclusion, CS extract can potentially preserve β-cell function and offer renoprotection, which may afford a promising therapy for DM.

Enhanced lipid extraction from microalgae in biodiesel production

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Kim Myung-Gyun

2017-01-01

Full Text Available In order to secure more effective lipid extraction method, this research investigated new lipid extraction method using laser with absorbent and sought its optimum operation control. In addition, this study compared lipid extraction efficiency and FAME conversion rate between laser extraction method at optimum condition and existing extraction method. Results from experiments for optimizing lipid extraction method using laser showed that the maximum extraction efficiency (81.8% was attained when using laser with an output capacity of 75Wh/L. Extraction efficiency increased up to 90.8% when microwave treatment as pretreatment process was conducted. Addition of absorbents during lipid extraction process with laser showed higher extraction efficiency than laser and chemical method. It was also found that laser extraction method with absorbent had higher total fatty acid content (853.7 mg/g oil in extracted lipid than chemical extraction method (825.4 mg/g oil. Furthermore, it had the highest FAME conversion rate (94.2%.

Tennessee Promise: A Response to Organizational Change

Science.gov (United States)

Littlepage, Ben; Clark, Teresa; Wilson, Randal; Stout, Logan

2018-01-01

Community colleges in Tennessee, either directly or indirectly, experienced unprecedented change as a result of Tennessee Promise. The present study explored how student support service administrators at three community colleges responded to organizational change as a result of the Tennessee Promise legislation. Investigators selected community…

Gravitational-wave astronomy: delivering on the promises.

Science.gov (United States)

Schutz, B F

2018-05-28

Now that LIGO and Virgo have begun to detect gravitational-wave events with regularity, the field of gravitational-wave astronomy is beginning to realize its promise. Binary black holes and, very recently, binary neutron stars have been observed, and we are already learning much from them. The future, with improved sensitivity, more detectors and detectors like LISA in different frequency bands, has even more promise to open a completely hidden side of the Universe to our exploration.This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'The promises of gravitational-wave astronomy'. © 2018 The Author(s).

Comparative screening of the anti-oxidant and antimicrobial activities of Sempervivum marmoreum L. extracts obtained by various extraction techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

SASA S. STOJICEVIC

2008-06-01

Full Text Available This paper presents a comparative study of the anti-oxidant and anti-microbial activities, total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids in extracts obtained from houseleek (Sempervivum marmoreum L. leaves by the classical (maceration, ultrasonic and Soxhlet extraction (CE, UE and SE, respectively. The extract obtained by the CE contained higher amounts of phenolic and flavonoid compounds and showed a better antioxidant activity than those obtained using other two techniques. All the extracts, independent of the extraction technique applied, showed antimicrobial activities against Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans only but not against the tested bacteria.

In vitro antiviral activity of plant extracts from Asteraceae medicinal plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Visintini Jaime, María F; Redko, Flavia; Muschietti, Liliana V; Campos, Rodolfo H; Martino, Virginia S; Cavallaro, Lucia V

2013-07-27

.9), which showed antiviral activity during the first 4 h of the viral replication cycle of PV-2 and from which the flavonoid apigenin (EC50 = 12.2 ± 3.3 μM) was isolated as a major compound. The results showed that, among the species studied, B. gaudichaudiana seemed to be the most promising species as a source of antiviral agents.

Fast copper extraction from printed circuit boards using supercritical carbon dioxide.

Science.gov (United States)

Calgaro, C O; Schlemmer, D F; da Silva, M D C R; Maziero, E V; Tanabe, E H; Bertuol, D A

2015-11-01

Technological development and intensive marketing support the growth in demand for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), for which printed circuit boards (PCBs) are vital components. As these devices become obsolete after short periods, waste PCBs present a problem and require recycling. PCBs are composed of ceramics, polymers, and metals, particularly Cu, which is present in highest percentages. The aim of this study was to develop an innovative method to recover Cu from the PCBs of old mobile phones, obtaining faster reaction kinetics by means of leaching with supercritical CO2 and co-solvents. The PCBs from waste mobile phones were characterized, and evaluation was made of the reaction kinetics during leaching at atmospheric pressure and using supercritical CO2 with H2O2 and H2SO4 as co-solvents. The results showed that the PCBs contained 34.83 wt% of Cu. It was found that the supercritical extraction was 9 times faster, compared to atmospheric pressure extraction. After 20 min of supercritical leaching, approximately 90% of the Cu contained in the PCB was extracted using a 1:20 solid:liquid ratio and 20% of H2O2 and H2SO4 (2.5 M). These results demonstrate the efficiency of the process. Therefore the supercritical CO2 employment in the PCBs recycling is a promising alternative and the CO2 is environmentally acceptable and reusable. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A pH-Sensing Film from Tamarind Seed Polysaccharide with Litmus Lichen Extract as an Indicator

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Tieqiang Liang

2017-12-01

Full Text Available A new pH-sensing film was developed by using tamarind seed polysaccharide (TSP and natural dye extracted from litmus lichen (LLE. The addition of LLE from 0 to 2.5% decreased the tensile strength and elongation at break from 30.20 to 29.97 MPa and 69.73% to 60.13%, respectively, but increased the water vapor permeability from 0.399 × 10−9 to 0.434 × 10−9 g·s−1·m−1·Pa−1. The UV–Vis spectra of the litmus lichen extract (LLE in the pH range of 4–10 showed that the color clearly changed from orange to blue. The characterization results showed that TSP interacted with LLE through hydrogen bonds. The color of the film varied from orange (pH 4.0 to blue-violet (pH 10.0. The full cream milk spoilage test indicated that the film is suitable for application in full cream milk spoilage detection. The developed pH-sensing film could be used as a promising diagnostic tool for the detection of food spoilage.

Extraction of oil from microalgae for biodiesel production: A review.

Science.gov (United States)

Halim, Ronald; Danquah, Michael K; Webley, Paul A

2012-01-01

The rapid increase of CO(2) concentration in the atmosphere combined with depleted supplies of fossil fuels has led to an increased commercial interest in renewable fuels. Due to their high biomass productivity, rapid lipid accumulation, and ability to survive in saline water, microalgae have been identified as promising feedstocks for industrial-scale production of carbon-neutral biodiesel. This study examines the principles involved in lipid extraction from microalgal cells, a crucial downstream processing step in the production of microalgal biodiesel. We analyze the different technological options currently available for laboratory-scale microalgal lipid extraction, with a primary focus on the prospect of organic solvent and supercritical fluid extraction. The study also provides an assessment of recent breakthroughs in this rapidly developing field and reports on the suitability of microalgal lipid compositions for biodiesel conversion. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Characterization of phytoconstituents and evaluation of antimicrobial activity of silver-extract nanoparticles synthesized from Momordica charantia fruit extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Rashid, Md Mamun Or; Akhter, Kazi Nahid; Chowdhury, Jakir Ahmed; Hossen, Foysal; Hussain, Md Saddam; Hossain, Md Tanvir

2017-06-26

Our present study was conducted to characterize the phytoconstituents present in the aqueous extract of Momordica charantia and evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of silver-extract nanoparticles (Ag-Extract-NPs). Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were prepared by reducing AgNO 3; and NaBH 4 served as reducing agent. After screening of phytochemicals; AgNPs and aqueous extract were mixed thoroughly and then coated by polyaniline. These NPs were characterized by using Visual inspection, UV spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM and TEM techniques. Antimicrobial activities were assessed against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Aqueous extract of M. charantia fruits contain alkaloid, phenol, saponin etc. UV-Vis spectrum showed strong absorption peak around 408 nm. The presence of -CH, -NH, -COOH etc. stretching in FTIR spectrum of Ag-Extract-NPs endorsed that AgNPs were successfully capped by bio-compounds. SEM and TEM result revealed that synthesized NPs had particle size 78.5-220 nm. Ag-Extract-NPs showed 34.6 ± 0.8 mm zone of inhibition against E. coli compared to 25.6 ± 0.5 mm for ciprofloxacin. Maximum zone of inhibition for Ag-Extract-NPs were 24.8 ± 0.7 mm, 26.4 ± 0.4 mm, 7.4 ± 0.4 mm for S. aureus, P. aeruginosa and S. typhi. We found that Ag-Extract-NPs have much better antibacterial efficacy than AgNPs and M. charantia extract has individually. It is also noticed that gram negative bacteria (except S. typhi) are more susceptible to Ag-Extract-NPs than gram positive bacteria. Ag-Extract-NPs showed strong antibacterial activity. In order to make a reliable stand for mankind, further study is needed to consider determining the actual biochemical pathway by which AgNPs-extracts exert their antimicrobial effect.

Di-4-octylphenylphosphoric acid as extractant : extraction of vanadium (IV) and beryllium

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gajankush, R.B.

1976-01-01

The extraction of vanadium and beryllium has been studied using di-4-octylphenyl phosphoric acid (DOPPA) as metal extractant. The factors which affect the extraction have been studied in detail. An attempt has been made to clarify the mechanism of extraction and compare the results with those reported for di-2-ethylhexyl phosphoric acid (DEHPA). In the case of vanadium it was found that vanadium (IV) is more suitable for extraction. Synergistic extractionwas observed in the presence of neutral organophosphorous compounds like tri-n-butyl phosphate (TBP), dibutyl butyl phosphate (DBBP) and tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO). The possibility of separating vanadium and uranium when they are present together in leach solutions has also been studied. The extraction of beryllium was found to be a slow process. The factors controlling the rate as well as the extent of extraction have been investigated. However, the results showed that in both respects DOPPA is better than DEHPA which was earlier studied by other authors. The separation of aluminium from beryllium has also been studied. (author)

Automatic building extraction from LiDAR data fusion of point and grid-based features

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Shouji; Zhang, Yunsheng; Zou, Zhengrong; Xu, Shenghua; He, Xue; Chen, Siyang

2017-08-01

This paper proposes a method for extracting buildings from LiDAR point cloud data by combining point-based and grid-based features. To accurately discriminate buildings from vegetation, a point feature based on the variance of normal vectors is proposed. For a robust building extraction, a graph cuts algorithm is employed to combine the used features and consider the neighbor contexture information. As grid feature computing and a graph cuts algorithm are performed on a grid structure, a feature-retained DSM interpolation method is proposed in this paper. The proposed method is validated by the benchmark ISPRS Test Project on Urban Classification and 3D Building Reconstruction and compared to the state-art-of-the methods. The evaluation shows that the proposed method can obtain a promising result both at area-level and at object-level. The method is further applied to the entire ISPRS dataset and to a real dataset of the Wuhan City. The results show a completeness of 94.9% and a correctness of 92.2% at the per-area level for the former dataset and a completeness of 94.4% and a correctness of 95.8% for the latter one. The proposed method has a good potential for large-size LiDAR data.

In vivo bioavailability of polyphenols from grape by-product extracts, and effect on lipemia of normocholesterolemic Wistar rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Olivero-David, Raul; Ruiz-Roso, Maria Belen; Caporaso, Nicola; Perez-Olleros, Lourdes; De Las Heras, Natalia; Lahera, Vicente; Ruiz-Roso, Baltasar

2018-04-24

The direct use of phenolic extracts from grape by-products can be useful to formulate functional food to improve consumers' health. The use of phenolic extracts instead of pure polyphenols as an ingredient is relevant in this context. The current work studied the bioavailability and absorption of polyphenols from grape by-product extracts and their health effect on cholesterolemia, by adding the extract (GE) to Wistar rats diet (50 g/kg) in vivo. GE caused the appearance of (+)-catechin, myricetin and quercetic acid in plasma and liver. (+)-Catechin was the most abundant compound, with 6 μg/mL in plasma and 0.7 μg/mg protein in liver, while no phenolic compounds were detected in plasma or liver in the control group. Similarly, 3,4-hydroxyphenylacetic (DOPAC), a major product of polyphenol digestion, was detected in the plasma, liver and urine of the GE-group only. GE-group had significantly lower cholesterol level and lower total cholesterol/HDL ratio in plasma. Total bile acid (TBA) content significantly increased in faecal matter after 24 h administration of the GE-enriched diet. Grape extract polyphenols are partially bioavailable and showed improvement in lipid metabolism. Thus, the results suggest that GE is promising as a functional ingredient in the prevention of hypercholesterolemia. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Development of a pericardial acellular matrix biomaterial: biochemical and mechanical effects of cell extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Courtman, D W; Pereira, C A; Kashef, V; McComb, D; Lee, J M; Wilson, G J

1994-06-01

There is evidence to suggest that the cellular components of homografts and bioprosthetic xenografts may contribute to calcification or immunogenic reactions. A four-step detergent and enzymatic extraction process has been developed to remove cellular components from bovine pericardial tissue. The process results in an acellular matrix material consisting primarily of elastin, insoluble collagen, and tightly bound glycosaminoglycans. Light and electron microscopy confirmed that nearly all cellular constituents are removed without ultrastructural evidence of damage to fibrous components. Collagen denaturation temperatures remained unaltered. Biochemical analysis confirmed the retention of collagen and elastin and some differential extraction of glycosaminoglycans. Low strain rate fracture testing and high strain rate viscoelastic characterization showed that, with the exception of slightly increased stress relaxation, the mechanical properties of the fresh tissue were preserved in the pericardial acellular matrix. Crosslinking of the material in glutaraldehyde or poly(glycidyl ether) produced mechanical changes consistent with the same treatments of fresh tissue. The pericardial acellular matrix is a promising approach to the production of biomaterials for heart valve or cardiovascular patching applications.

Data of furfural adsorption on nano zero valent iron (NZVI) synthesized from Nettle extract.

Science.gov (United States)

Fazlzadeh, Mehdi; Ansarizadeh, Mohammad; Leili, Mostafa

2018-02-01

Among various water and wastewater treatment methods, adsorption techniques are widely used to remove certain classes of pollutants due to its unique features. Thus, the aim of this data article is to synthesize zero valent iron nanoparticles (NZVI) from Nettle leaf extract by green synthesis method as an environmentally friendly technique, and to evaluate it's efficiency in the removal of furfural from aqueous solutions. The data of possible adsorption mechanism and isotherm of furfural on the synthesized adsorbent are depicted in this data article. The data acquired showed that the adsorption trend follows the pseudo-second order kinetic model and that the Langmuir isotherm was suitable for correlation of equilibrium data with the maximum adsorption capacity of 454.4 mg/g. The information of initial furfural concentration, pH, adsorbent dosage and contact time effects on the removal efficiency are presented. Considering the findings data, the developed nanoparticle from Nettle leaf extract, as a low cost adsorbent, could be considered as promising adsorbent for furfural and probably similar organic pollutants removal from aqueous solutions.

Promise-based management: the essence of execution.

Science.gov (United States)

Sull, Donald N; Spinosa, Charles

2007-04-01

Critical initiatives stall for a variety of reasons--employee disengagement, a lack of coordination between functions, complex organizational structures that obscure accountability, and so on. To overcome such obstacles, managers must fundamentally rethink how work gets done. Most of the challenges stem from broken or poorly crafted commitments. That's because every company is, at its heart, a dynamic network of promises made between employees and colleagues, customers, outsourcing partners, or other stakeholders. Executives can overcome many problems in the short-term and foster productive, reliable workforces for the long-term by practicing what the authors call "promise-based management," which involves cultivating and coordinating commitments in a systematic way. Good promises share five qualities: They are public, active, voluntary, explicit, and mission based. To develop and execute an effective promise, the "provider" and the "customer" in the deal should go through three phases of conversation. The first, achieving a meeting of minds, entails exploring the fundamental questions of coordinated effort: What do you mean? Do you understand what I mean? What should I do? What will you do? Who else should we talk to? In the next phase, making it happen, the provider executes on the promise. In the final phase, closing the loop, the customer publicly declares that the provider has either delivered the goods or failed to do so. Leaders must weave and manage their webs of promises with great care-encouraging iterative conversation and making sure commitments are fulfilled reliably. If they do, they can enhance coordination and cooperation among colleagues, build the organizational agility required to seize new business opportunities, and tap employees' entrepreneurial energies.

Extraction Optimization, Characterization, and Bioactivities of Polysaccharides from Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum Cum Alumine Employing Ultrasound-Assisted Extraction.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yu-Jie; Mo, Xue-Lin; Tang, Xiao-Zhang; Li, Jiang-Hua; Hu, Mei-Bian; Yan, Dan; Peng, Wei; Wu, Chun-Jie

2017-06-09

In this study, the ultrasound-assisted extraction of polysaccharides (PSA) from Pinelliae Rhizoma Praeparatum Cum Alumine (PRPCA) was optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). The structural characteristics of PSA were analyzed by UV-vis spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, high performance gel permeation chromatography and high performance liquid chromatography, respectively. In addition, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of PSA were studied by different in vitro assays. Results indicated that the optimal extraction conditions were as follows: the ratio of water to raw of 30 mL/g, extraction time of 46.50 min, ultrasonic temperature of 72.00 °C, and ultrasonic power of 230 W. Under these conditions, the obtained PSA yield (13.21 ± 0.37%) was closely agreed with the predicted yield by the model. The average molecular weights of the PSA were estimated to be 5.34 × 10³ and 6.27 × 10⁵ Da. Monosaccharide composition analysis indicated that PSA consisted of mannose, galactose uronic acid, glucose, galactose, arabinose with a molar ratio of 1.83:0.55:75.75:1.94:0.45. Furthermore, PSA exhibited moderate antioxidant and antibacterial activities in vitro. Collectively, this study provides a promising strategy to obtain bioactive polysaccharides from processed products of herbal medicines.

Magnetic Partitioning Nanofluid for Rare Earth Extraction from Geothermal Fluids

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McGrail, Bernard P. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Thallapally, Praveen K. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Liu, Jian [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States); Nune, Satish K. [Pacific Northwest National Lab. (PNNL), Richland, WA (United States)

2017-08-21

Rare earth metals are critical materials in a wide variety of applications in generating and storing renewable energy and in designing more energy efficient devices. Extracting rare earth metals from geothermal brines is a very challenging problem due to the low concentrations of these elements and engineering challenges with traditional chemical separations methods involving packed sorbent beds or membranes that would impede large volumetric flow rates of geothermal fluids transitioning through the plant. We are demonstrating a simple and highly cost-effective nanofluid-based method for extracting rare earth metals from geothermal brines. Core-shell composite nanoparticles are produced that contain a magnetic iron oxide core surrounded by a shell made of silica or metal-organic framework (MOF) sorbent functionalized with chelating ligands selective for the rare earth elements. By introducing the nanoparticles at low concentration (≈0.05 wt%) into the geothermal brine after it passes through the plant heat exchanger, the brine is exposed to a very high concentration of chelating sites on the nanoparticles without need to pass through a large and costly traditional packed bed or membrane system where pressure drop and parasitic pumping power losses are significant issues. Instead, after a short residence time flowing with the brine, the particles are effectively separated out with an electromagnet and standard extraction methods are then applied to strip the rare earth metals from the nanoparticles, which are then recycled back to the geothermal plant. Recovery efficiency for the rare earths at ppm level has now been measured for both silica and MOF sorbents functionalized with a variety of chelating ligands. A detailed preliminary techno-economic performance analysis of extraction systems using both sorbents showed potential to generate a promising internal rate of return (IRR) up to 20%.

Potential of mangrove Avicennia rumphiana extract as an antioxidant agent using multilevel extraction

Science.gov (United States)

Sulmartiwi, L.; Pujiastuti, D. Y.; Tjahjaningsih, W.; Jariyah

2018-04-01

Avicennia rumphiana is one of abundant mangrove found in Indonesia. Multilevel extraction methods were simultaneously conducted to screen the antioxidant activity from mangrove. The leaves, fruits and barks were consequently extracted using n-hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol. The presence of phenolic, flavonoids and tannins compounds were characterized by quantitative and qualitative phytochemical assay as well as the antioxidant activity was examined using DPPH-free radical scavenging assay. The phytochemical test revealed that all of the extracts showed positive result. The fruits extract exhibited the highest phenolic, flavonoid and tannin (23.86 mg/g, 13.77 mg/g and 74.63 mg/g), respectively. The extracts were further confirmed for antioxidant using IC50 value and revealed that ethyl acetate extract has antioxidant activity better than n-hexane and ethyl acetate extract. Furthermore, this study indicated that mangrove Avicennia rumphiana could be subsequently explored for other biological activities due to their potential secondary metabolites.

CHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF DENSE-GAS EXTRACTS FROM LIME FLOWERS

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Demyanenko DV

2015-04-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this work was to make qualitative and quantitative analysis of phenolic biologically active substances (BAS in the extracts produced from lime flowers with condensed gases, using method of high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC. Materials and methods: materials for this study were the extracts obtained by consequent processing of the herbal drug and marcs thereof with various condensed gases: difluorochloromethane (Freon R22, difluoromethane (Freon R32, azeotropic mixture of difluoromethane with pentafluoroethane (Freon 410A and freon-ammonium mixture. Extracts obtained with the latter were subjected to further fractionation by liquidliquid separation into hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and aqueous-alcohol phases. Besides, the supercritical СО2 extract, obtained from the herbal drug under rather strong conditions (at temperature 60°С and pressure 400 bar, was studied in our previous research. Presence of phenolic BAS and their quantity in the researched samples were determined by method of HPLC with UVspectrometric detection. Results and discussion: It has been found that Freon R22 extracted trace amounts of rutin from lime flowers – its content was only 0.08% of the total extract weight. On the other hand, Freons R32 and R410А showed good selectivity to moderately polar BAS of lime flowers (derivatives of flavonoids and hydroxycinnamic acids: in particular, the extract obtained with freon R32 contained about 1.3% of the total phenolic substances, and it was the only one of the investigated condensed gases used by us which took the basic flavonoid of lime flowers tiliroside – its content was 0.42% of extract weight. Also Freons R32 and R410А were able to withdraw another compound dominating among phenolic substances in the yielded extracts. Its quantity was rather noticeable – up to 0.87% of extract weight. This substance was not identified by existing database, but its UV-spectrum was similar to those of

Fique Fabric: A Promising Reinforcement for Polymer Composites

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Sergio Neves Monteiro

2018-02-01

Full Text Available A relatively unknown natural fiber extracted from the leaves of the fique plant, native of the South American Andes, has recently shown potential as reinforcement of polymer composites for engineering applications. Preliminary investigations indicated a promising substitute for synthetic fibers, competing with other well-known natural fibers. The fabric made from fique fibers have not yet been investigated as possible composite reinforcement. Therefore, in the present work a more thorough characterization of fique fabric as a reinforcement of composites with a polyester matrix was performed. Thermal mechanical properties of fique fabric composites were determined by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA. The ballistic performance of plain woven fique fabric-reinforced polyester matrix composites was investigated as a second layer in a multilayered armor system (MAS. The results revealed a sensible improvement in thermal dynamic mechanical behavior. Both viscoelastic stiffness and glass transition temperature were increased with the amount of incorporated fique fabric. In terms of ballistic results, the fique fabric composites present a performance similar to that of the much stronger KevlarTM as an MAS second layer with the same thickness. A cost analysis indicated that armor vests with fique fabric composites as an MAS second layer would be 13 times less expensive than a similar creation made with Kevlar™.

Ruta graveolens Extracts and Metabolites against Spodoptera frugiperda.

Science.gov (United States)

Ayil-Gutiérrez, Benjamin A; Villegas-Mendoza, Jesús M; Santes-Hernndez, Zuridai; Paz-González, Alma D; Mireles-Martínez, Maribel; Rosas-García, Ninfa M; Rivera, Gildardo

2015-11-01

The biological activity of Ruta graveolens leaf tissue extracts obtained with different solvents (ethyl acetate, ethanol, and water) and metabolites (psoralen, 2- undecanone and rutin) against Spodoptera frugiperda was evaluated. Metabolites levels in extracts were quantified by HPLC and GC. Ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts showed 94% and 78% mortality, respectively. Additionally, psoralen metabolite showed a high mortality as cypermethrin. Metabolite quantification in extracts shows the presence of 2-undecanone (87.9 µmoles mg(-1) DW), psoralen (3.6 µmoles mg(-1) DW) and rutin (0.001 pmoles mg(-1) DW). We suggest that these concentrations of 2-undecanone and psoralen in R. graveolens leaf tissue extracts could be responsible for S. frugiperda mortality.

In vivo antimalarial activity of extracts of Tanzanian medicinal plants used for the treatment of malaria.

Science.gov (United States)

Nondo, Ramadhani S O; Erasto, Paul; Moshi, Mainen J; Zacharia, Abdallah; Masimba, Pax J; Kidukuli, Abdul W

2016-01-01

Plants used in traditional medicine have been the source of a number of currently used antimalarial medicines and continue to be a promising resource for the discovery of new classes of antimalarial compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo antimalarial activity of four plants; Erythrina schliebenii Harms, Holarrhena pubescens Buch-Ham, Phyllanthus nummulariifolius Poir, and Caesalpinia bonducella (L.) Flem used for treatment of malaria in Tanzania. In vivo antimalarial activity was assessed using the 4-day suppressive antimalarial assay. Mice were infected by injection via tail vein with 2 × 10(7) erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA. Extracts were administered orally, once daily, for a total of four daily doses from the day of infection. Chloroquine (10 mg/kg/day) and solvent (5 mL/kg/day) were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The extracts of C. bonducella, E. schliebenii, H. pubescens, and P. nummulariifolius exhibited dose-dependent suppression of parasite growth in vivo in mice, with the highest suppression being by C. bonducella extract. While each of the plant extracts has potential to yield useful antimalarial compounds, the dichloromethane root extract of C. bonducella seems to be the most promising for isolation of active antimalarial compound(s). In vivo antimalarial activity presented in this study supports traditional uses of C. bonducella roots, E. schliebenii stem barks, H. pubescens roots, and P. nummulariifolius for treatment of malaria.

In vivo antimalarial activity of extracts of Tanzanian medicinal plants used for the treatment of malaria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ramadhani SO Nondo

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Plants used in traditional medicine have been the source of a number of currently used antimalarial medicines and continue to be a promising resource for the discovery of new classes of antimalarial compounds. The aim of this study was to evaluate in vivo antimalarial activity of four plants; Erythrina schliebenii Harms, Holarrhena pubescens Buch-Ham, Phyllanthus nummulariifolius Poir, and Caesalpinia bonducella (L. Flem used for treatment of malaria in Tanzania. In vivo antimalarial activity was assessed using the 4-day suppressive antimalarial assay. Mice were infected by injection via tail vein with 2 Χ 10 7 erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA. Extracts were administered orally, once daily, for a total of four daily doses from the day of infection. Chloroquine (10 mg/kg/day and solvent (5 mL/kg/day were used as positive and negative controls, respectively. The extracts of C. bonducella, E. schliebenii, H. pubescens, and P. nummulariifolius exhibited dose-dependent suppression of parasite growth in vivo in mice, with the highest suppression being by C. bonducella extract. While each of the plant extracts has potential to yield useful antimalarial compounds, the dichloromethane root extract of C. bonducella seems to be the most promising for isolation of active antimalarial compound(s. In vivo antimalarial activity presented in this study supports traditional uses of C. bonducella roots, E. schliebenii stem barks, H. pubescens roots, and P. nummulariifolius for treatment of malaria.

Structural characteristics of pumpkin pectin extracted by microwave heating.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Sang-Ho; Lee, Byeong-Hoo; Lee, Heungsook; Lee, Suyong; Bae, In Young; Lee, Hyeon Gyu; Fishman, Marshall L; Chau, Hoa K; Savary, Brett J; Hotchkiss, Arland T

2012-11-01

To improve extraction yield of pumpkin pectin, microwave heating was adopted in this study. Using hot acid extraction, pumpkin pectin yield decreased from 5.7% to 1.0% as pH increased from pH 1.0 to 2.0. At pH 2.5, no pectin was recovered from pumpkin flesh powder. After a pretreatment at pH 1.0 and 25 °C for 1 h, pumpkin powder was microwave-extracted at 120 °C for 3 min resulting in 10.5% of pectin yield. However, premicrowave treatment at 60 °C for 20 min did not improve extraction yield. When microwave heating at 80 °C for 10 min was applied after premicrowave treatment, final pectin yield increased to 11.3%. When pH was adjusted to 2.0, the yield dropped to 7.7% under the same extraction conditions. Molecular shape and properties as well as chemical composition of pumpkin pectin were significantly affected depending on extraction methods. Galacturonic acid content (51% to 58%) of pumpkin pectin was lower than that detected in commercial acid-extracted citrus pectin, while higher content of neutral sugars and acetyl esters existed in pumpkin pectin structure. Molecular weight (M(w) ) and intrinsic viscosity (η(w) ) determined for microwave-extracted pumpkin pectins were substantially lower than acid-extracted pectin, whereas polydispersity was greater. However, microwave-extracted pectin at pH 2.0 had more than 5 times greater M(w) than did the pectin extracted at pH 1.0. The η(w) of microwave-extracted pectin produced at pH 2.0 was almost twice that of other microwave-extracted pectins, which were comparable to that of acid-extracted pectin. These results indicate that extraction yield of pumpkin pectin would be improved by microwave extraction and different pectin structure and properties can be obtained compared to acid extraction. Pumpkin is a promising alternative source for pectin material. Pumpkin pectin has a unique chemical structure and physical properties, presumably providing different functional properties compared to conventional commercial

Effects of Hypericum perforatum extract on rat irritable bowel syndrome

OpenAIRE

Mozaffari, Shilan; Esmaily, Hadi; Rahimi, Roja; Baeeri, Maryam; Sanei, Yara; Asadi-Shahmirzadi, Azar; Salehi-Surmaghi, Mohammad-Hossein; Abdollahi, Mohammad

2011-01-01

Context: In irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), disturbance of bowel motility is associated with infiltration of inflammatory mediators and cytokines into the intestine, such as neutrophils, myeloperoxidase (MPO), tumor necrosis factor alfa (TNF-?), and lipid peroxide. Aims: Regarding promising anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidative effects of Hypericum perforatum (HP) extract, besides its anti-depressant effect, this study was designed to evaluate the effects of HP in an experimental model of IBS....

Pharmacological activity of the hydroalcoholic extract from Hovenia dulcis thunberg fruit and the flavonoid dihydromyricetin during hypercholesterolemia induced in rats

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Juliana Tensol Pinto

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Cerebrovascular accidents and coronary artery disease are the leading causes of cardiovascular mortalities in Brazil and high levels of LDL cholesterol are one of the main risk factors. In this context, several plant extracts and natural substances have shown promise as cholesterol-lowering. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of the hydroalcoholic extract of the fruit of H. dulcisand of dihydromyricetin in cholesterol reduction in hypercholesterolemic rats. Forty-two Wistar male rats were distributed into seven groups of six animals that received diets supplemented with 1% cholesterol and 0.3% cholic acid, with the exception of the control group, which received conventional diets. Animals were treated with oral suspensions containing: atorvastatin 1.0 mg/kg; H. dulcisextract at 50.0 and 100.0 mg/kg and dihydromyricetin at 25.0 and 50.0 mg/kg vehicle (control group. The following biochemical markers were evaluated; total cholesterol, HDL-C, LDL-C, triglycerides, AST, ALT, and alkaline phosphatase. The hypercholesterolemic diet was effective in inducing hypercholesterolemia, increasing total cholesterol by 112.7% relative to the control group. The treatments with two doses of the extract proved to be promising hypocholesterolemic agents, as they were able to substantially reduce total cholesterol and LDL-C, without significantly altering triglycerides, hepatic transaminases, and alkaline phosphatase, thereby encouraging the studies with the plant H. dulcis. The groups treated with the flavonoid dihydromyricetin, although they showed a significant reduction in total cholesterol and LDL-C, and found increases in triglycerides and hepatic transaminases, which is unwanted in the context of hypercholesterolaemia.

Extraction of Glycyrrhizic Acid from Glycyrrhiza uralensis Using Ultrasound and Its Process Extraction Model

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Jiangqing Liao

2016-10-01

Full Text Available This work focused on the intensification of extraction process of glycyrrhizic acid (GA from Glycyrrhiza uralensis using ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE method. Various process parameters such as ultrasonic power, ultrasonic frequency, extraction temperature, and extraction time which affect the extraction yield were optimized. The results showed that all process parameters had exhibited significant influences on the GA extraction. The highest GA yield of 217.7 mg/g was obtained at optimized parameters of 125 W, 55 kHz, 25 °C, and 10 min. Furthermore, the extraction kinetics model of this process was also investigated based on Fick’s first law available in the literature. Kinetic parameters such as equilibrium concentration (Ce and integrated influence coefficient (λ for different ultrasonic powers, ultrasonic frequencies, and extraction temperatures were predicted. Model validations were done successfully with the average of relative deviation between 0.96% and 4.36% by plotting experimental and predicted values of concentration of GA in extract. This indicated that the developed extraction model could reflect the effectiveness of the extraction of GA from Glycyrrhiza uralensis and therefore serve as the guide for comprehending other UAE process.

In Vitro effect of some medicinal plant extracts on stimulating theimmune system in cancer patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shawar, Said M [Biotechnology Program, Arabian Gulf Univ., Manama (Bahrain); Al-Aqtum, Musa T [Zarqa Private Univ., Zarqa (Jordan); Al-Kayed, Sameer A [Nuclear Medicine Dept., Al-Basheer Hospital, Amman (Jordan)

2008-07-01

The difficulty to treat cancer without side effects by surgery,chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, has led investigators to lookfor phytotherapy as a new strategy in cancer medicine. The immune systemplays an important role in anti-tumor defenses, thus, we evaluated theproliferation potential of aqueous extracts from five medicinal plants onperipheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from 118 properly consented volunteers.We examined the aqueous extract of Thyme, Sage, Clove, Calament and BlackSeed in vitro on PBLs from 100 cancer patients seeking treatment atAl-Basheer Hospital in Amman and 18 apparently healthy volunteers. PBLs wereisolated from blood samples collected in heparin tubes. Then,Ficoll-Hypaquedensity gradient configuration was employed to enrich forlymphocytes. Cells were collected in RPMI containing 10% human serum at106/mL before culturing them at an appropriate density. Three concentrationsof the aqueous extract from each plant were assayed in duplicates on culturedPBLs for 72 hours. Cell proliferation was quantified using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) standardmethod. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was used as a positive proliferation controland sterile RPMI medium was used as a negative control. Among the fivedifferent aqueous extracts used in this study, only sage aqueous extractdemonstrated promising results. Sage extract was effective in proliferatingPBLs of all normal controls and cancer patients tested. Proliferation of themajority of PBLs from cancer patients was highly effective. However, somesamples showed a weaker index of proliferation. PBLs proliferation exhibiteda dose-dependent effect. The effectiveness among cancer patients was age,sex, cancer-type and cancer-stage independent. Our data suggest that theaqueous extract of sage contains a polyclonal mitogen(s) that enhances theimmune system in a non-specific fashion. (author)

In Vitro effect of some medicinal plant extracts on stimulating theimmune system in cancer patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shawar, Said M.; Al-Aqtum, Musa T.; Al-Kayed, Sameer A.

2008-01-01

The difficulty to treat cancer without side effects by surgery,chemotherapy, radiotherapy and immunotherapy, has led investigators to lookfor phytotherapy as a new strategy in cancer medicine. The immune systemplays an important role in anti-tumor defenses, thus, we evaluated theproliferation potential of aqueous extracts from five medicinal plants onperipheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) from 118 properly consented volunteers.We examined the aqueous extract of Thyme, Sage, Clove, Calament and BlackSeed in vitro on PBLs from 100 cancer patients seeking treatment atAl-Basheer Hospital in Amman and 18 apparently healthy volunteers. PBLs wereisolated from blood samples collected in heparin tubes. Then,Ficoll-Hypaquedensity gradient configuration was employed to enrich forlymphocytes. Cells were collected in RPMI containing 10% human serum at106/mL before culturing them at an appropriate density. Three concentrationsof the aqueous extract from each plant were assayed in duplicates on culturedPBLs for 72 hours. Cell proliferation was quantified using 3-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) standardmethod. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was used as a positive proliferation controland sterile RPMI medium was used as a negative control. Among the fivedifferent aqueous extracts used in this study, only sage aqueous extractdemonstrated promising results. Sage extract was effective in proliferatingPBLs of all normal controls and cancer patients tested. Proliferation of themajority of PBLs from cancer patients was highly effective. However, somesamples showed a weaker index of proliferation. PBLs proliferation exhibiteda dose-dependent effect. The effectiveness among cancer patients was age,sex, cancer-type and cancer-stage independent. Our data suggest that theaqueous extract of sage contains a polyclonal mitogen(s) that enhances theimmune system in a non-specific fashion. (author)

Rubidium extraction using an organic polymer encapsulated potassium copper hexacyanoferrate sorbent

KAUST Repository

Naidu, Gayathri

2016-07-11

Sea water reverse osmosis (SWRO) brine contains significant quantity of Rb. As an economically valuable metal, extracting Rb using a suitable and selective extraction method would be beneficial. An inorganic sorbent, copper based potassium hexacyanoferrate (KCuFC), exhibited high selectivity to extract Rb compared to potassium hexacyanoferrate consisting of other transition metal combinations such as Ni, Co and Fe. An organic polymer (polyacrylonitrile, PAN) encapsulated KCuFC (KCuFC-PAN) achieved a Langmuir maximum Rb sorption capacity of 1.23 mmol/g at pH 7.0 ± 0.5. KCuFC-PAN showed Rb selectivity over a wide concentration range of co-existing ions and salinity of SWRO brine. High salinity (0.5-2.5 M NaCl) resulted in 12-30% sorption capacity reduction. At a molar ratio of Li:Rb (21:1), Cs:Rb (0.001:1) and Ca:Rb (14,700:1) commonly found in SWRO brine, sorption reduction of only 18% occurred. Nevertheless, at a very high K:Rb molar ratio (7700:1), KCuFC-PAN sorption capacity of Rb reduced significantly by 65-70%. KCuFC-PAN was well suited for column operation. In a fixed-bed KCuFC-PAN column (influent concentration 0.06 mmol Rb/L, flow velocity 2 m/h), two sorption/desorption cycles were successfully achieved with a maximum Rb sorption capacity of 1.01 (closely similar to the batch study) and 0.85 mmol/g in the first and second cycles, respectively. Around 95% of Rb was desorbed from the column with 0.2 M KCl. Resorcinol formaldehyde (RF) resin showed promising results of separating Rb from K/Rb mixed solution in effluents from a fixed-bed column, and a subsequent sequential acid desorption, producing 68% purified Rb.

Antibacterial activity of herbal extracts against multi-drug resistant Escherichia coli recovered from retail chicken meat.

Science.gov (United States)

Shaheen, Arfat Yousaf; Sheikh, Ali Ahmad; Rabbani, Masood; Aslam, Asim; Bibi, Tasra; Liaqat, Fakhra; Muhammad, Javed; Rehmani, Shafqat Fatima

2015-07-01

Increasing incidence rate of multiple drug resistance in Escherichia coli (E. coli) due to extensive uses of antibiotics is a serious challenge to disease treatment. Contaminated retail chicken meat is one of the major sources of spread of multi drug resistant (MDR) E. coli. Current study has been conducted to study the prevalence of MDR E. coli in retail chicken meat samples from Lahore city of Pakistan and it was found that 73.86% of E. coli isolates have MDR pattern. In vitro evaluation of antibacterial activity of crude ethanolic extracts of six herbs against MDR E. coli phenotypes has revealed that clove and cinnamon have maximum zones of inhibition as compared to other herbal extracts. Mint and coriander gave the intermediate results while garlic and kalonji showed the least antibacterial activity against the MDR E. coli phenotypes using the agar well diffusion technique. Average Minimum Inhibitory Concentrations (MICs) for clove, mint, cinnamon, coriander, kalonji and garlic extracts were 1.15, 1.38, 0.5, 1.99, 2.41, 8.60 mg/mL respectively using the broth micro dilution method. The results obtained in present study were revealed that crude ethanol extracts of selected herbs have had significant antibacterial activity. Hence they can be used as promising alternatives of antimicrobials against MDR E. coli species and can be used for cooked food preservation.

Young children mostly keep, and expect others to keep, their promises.

Science.gov (United States)

Kanngiesser, Patricia; Köymen, Bahar; Tomasello, Michael

2017-07-01

Promises are speech acts that create an obligation to do the promised action. In three studies, we investigated whether 3- and 5-year-olds (N=278) understand the normative implications of promising in prosocial interactions. In Study 1, children helped a partner who promised to share stickers. When the partner failed to uphold the promise, 3- and 5-year-olds protested and referred to promise norms. In Study 2, when children in this same age range were asked to promise to continue a cleaning task-and they agreed-they persisted longer on the task and mentioned their obligation more frequently than without such a promise. They also persisted longer after a promise than after a cleaning reminder (Study 3). In prosocial interactions, thus, young children feel a normative obligation to keep their promises and expect others to keep their promises as well. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

ZnO nanorod array polydimethylsiloxane composite solid phase micro-extraction fiber coating: fabrication and extraction capability.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Dan; Wang, Qingtang; Zhang, Zhuomin; Chen, Guonan

2012-01-21

ZnO nanorod array coating is a novel kind of solid-phase microextraction (SPME) fiber coating which shows good extraction capability due to the nanostructure. To prepare the composite coating is a good way to improve the extraction capability. In this paper, the ZnO nanorod array polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite SPME fiber coating has been prepared and its extraction capability for volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has been studied by headspace sampling the typical volatile mixed standard solution of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX). Improved detection limit and good linear ranges have been achieved for this composite SPME fiber coating. Also, it is found that the composite SPME fiber coating shows good extraction selectivity to the VOCs with alkane radicals.

Influence of Tannin Extract and Yeast Extract on Color Preservation and Anthocyanin Content of Mulberry Wine.

Science.gov (United States)

You, Yilin; Li, Na; Han, Xue; Guo, Jielong; Liu, Guojie; Huang, Weidong; Zhan, Jicheng

2018-04-01

The color of mulberry wine is extremely unstable in processing and aging. This paper investigates the effects of tannin extract and yeast extract on the color and color-preserving characteristics of mulberry wine made from the Dashi cultivar. The results showed that the maximum absorption wavelength in both tannin extract and yeast extract groups changed generating the red shift effect. The color of the tannin extract maintained a good gloss in the first 4 months, while the yeast extract group showed remarkable color preservation for the first 3 months. The total anthocyanin and cyanidin-3-rutinoside contents in both experiment groups were significantly higher than that of the control group, thus proving that tannin extract and yeast extract both exert a remarkably positive effect on preserving the color of mulberry wine during its aging. Moreover, sensory analysis indicated that the quality of mulberry wine treated with tannin extract was significantly higher than that of the control. The distinct color of mulberry wine is one of the foremost qualities that imprints on consumers' senses, but it is extremely unstable in processing and aging. However, the color protection of mulberry wine was not studied previously. In this study, we found that tannin extract and yeast extract both exert a remarkably positive effect on preserving the color of mulberry wine during aging. The study is of great significance as a guide to improving the color stability of mulberry wine, thereby also improving and promoting the development of the mulberry deep processing industry. © 2018 Institute of Food Technologists®.

Model-based Extracted Water Desalination System for Carbon Sequestration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Gettings, Rachel; Dees, Elizabeth

2017-03-23

The focus of this research effort centered around water recovery from high Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) extracted waters (180,000 mg/L) using a combination of water recovery (partial desalination) technologies. The research goals of this project were as follows: 1. Define the scope and test location for pilot-scale implementation of the desalination system, 2.Define a scalable, multi-stage extracted water desalination system that yields clean water, concentrated brine, and, salt from saline brines, and 3. Validate overall system performance with field-sourced water using GE pre-pilot lab facilities. Conventional falling film-mechanical vapor recompression (FF-MVR) technology was established as a baseline desalination process. A quality function deployment (QFD) method was used to compare alternate high TDS desalination technologies to the base case FF-MVR technology, including but not limited to: membrane distillation (MD), forward osmosis (FO), and high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO). Technoeconomic analysis of high pressure reverse osmosis (HPRO) was performed comparing the following two cases: 1. a hybrid seawater RO (SWRO) plus HPRO system and 2. 2x standard seawater RO system, to achieve the same total pure water recovery rate. Pre-pilot-scale tests were conducted using field production water to validate key process steps for extracted water pretreatment. Approximately 5,000 gallons of field produced water was processed through, microfiltration, ultrafiltration, and steam regenerable sorbent operations. Improvements in membrane materials of construction were considered as necessary next steps to achieving further improvement in element performance at high pressure. Several modifications showed promising results in their ability to withstand close to 5,000 PSI without gross failure.

Wound healing potential of adipose tissue stem cell extract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Na, You Kyung; Ban, Jae-Jun; Lee, Mijung; Im, Wooseok; Kim, Manho

2017-01-01

Adipose tissue stem cells (ATSCs) are considered as a promising source in the field of cell therapy and regenerative medicine. In addition to direct cell replacement using stem cells, intercellular molecule exchange by stem cell secretory factors showed beneficial effects by reducing tissue damage and augmentation of endogenous repair. Delayed cutaneous wound healing is implicated in many conditions such as diabetes, aging, stress and alcohol consumption. However, the effects of cell-free extract of ATSCs (ATSC-Ex) containing secretome on wound healing process have not been investigated. In this study, ATSC-Ex was topically applied on the cutaneous wound and healing speed was examined. As a result, wound closure was much faster in the cell-free extract treated wound than control wound at 4, 6, 8 days after application of ATSC-Ex. Dermal fibroblast proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix (ECM) production are critical aspects of wound healing, and the effects of ATSC-Ex on human dermal fibroblast (HDF) was examined. ATSC-Ex augmented HDF proliferation in a dose-dependent manner and migration ability was enhanced by extract treatment. Representative ECM proteins, collagen type I and matrix metalloproteinase-1, are significantly up-regulated by treatment of ATSC-Ex. Our results suggest that the ATSC-Ex have improving effect of wound healing and can be the potential therapeutic candidate for cutaneous wound healing. - Highlights: • Topical application of ATSC-Ex results in faster wound closure than normal wound in vivo. • ATSC-Ex enhances dermal fibroblast proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix production. • This study suggests that ATSC-Ex is an effective source to augment wound healing.

Comparative Evaluation of Anthelmintic Activity of Edible and Ornamental Pomegranate Ethanolic Extracts against Schistosoma mansoni

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Doaa A. Yones

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Due to the development of praziquantel (PZQ schistosomes resistant strains, the discovery of new antischistosomal agents is of high priority in research. This work reported the in vitro and in vivo effects of the edible and ornamental pomegranate extracts against Schistosoma mansoni. Leaves and stem bark ethanolic extracts of both dried pomegranates were prepared at 100, 300, and 500 μg/mL for in vitro and 600 and 800 mg/kg for in vivo. Adult worms Schistosoma mansoni in RPMI-1640 medium for in vitro and S. mansoni infected mice for in vivo tests were obtained from Theodor Bilharz Research Institute, Cairo, Egypt. In vitro activity was manifested by significant coupled worms separation, reduction of motor activity, lethality, and ultrastructural tegumental alterations in adult worms. In vivo activity was manifested revealed by significant reduction of hepatic granulomas number and diameter, decreased number of bilharzial eggs in liver tissues, lowered liver inflammatory infiltration, decreased hepatic fibrosis, and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS expression. Ethanolic stem bark extract of edible pomegranate exhibited highest antischistosomal activities both in vitro and in vivo. Therefore, pomegranate showed a good potential to be used as a promising new candidate for the development of new schistosomicidal agents.

Modeling and prediction of extraction profile for microwave-assisted extraction based on absorbed microwave energy.

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Chung-Hung; Yusoff, Rozita; Ngoh, Gek-Cheng

2013-09-01

A modeling technique based on absorbed microwave energy was proposed to model microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) of antioxidant compounds from cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) leaves. By adapting suitable extraction model at the basis of microwave energy absorbed during extraction, the model can be developed to predict extraction profile of MAE at various microwave irradiation power (100-600 W) and solvent loading (100-300 ml). Verification with experimental data confirmed that the prediction was accurate in capturing the extraction profile of MAE (R-square value greater than 0.87). Besides, the predicted yields from the model showed good agreement with the experimental results with less than 10% deviation observed. Furthermore, suitable extraction times to ensure high extraction yield at various MAE conditions can be estimated based on absorbed microwave energy. The estimation is feasible as more than 85% of active compounds can be extracted when compared with the conventional extraction technique. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Promising Compilation to ARMv8 POP

OpenAIRE

Podkopaev, Anton; Lahav, Ori; Vafeiadis, Viktor

2017-01-01

We prove the correctness of compilation of relaxed memory accesses and release-acquire fences from the "promising" semantics of [Kang et al. POPL'17] to the ARMv8 POP machine of [Flur et al. POPL'16]. The proof is highly non-trivial because both the ARMv8 POP and the promising semantics provide some extremely weak consistency guarantees for normal memory accesses; however, they do so in rather different ways. Our proof of compilation correctness to ARMv8 POP strengthens the results of the Kan...

Sesquiterpene lactone containing extracts from two cultivars of forage chicory (Cichorium intybus) show distinctive chemical profiles and in vitro activity against Ostertagia ostertagi

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pena-Espinoza, Miguel Angel; Boas, Ulrik; Williams, Andrew

2015-01-01

The study investigated direct anthelmintic effects of sesquiterpene lactones (SL)-containing extracts from forage chicory against free-living and parasitic stages of Ostertagia ostertagi. Freeze-dried leaves from chicory cultivars ‘Spadona’ and ‘Puna II’ were extracted using methanol/water. Total...

Extraction, characterization and biological studies of phytochemicals from Mammea suriga

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahesha M. Poojary

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The present work involves extraction of phytochemicals from the root bark of a well-known Indian traditional medicinal plant, viz. Mammea suriga, with various solvents and evaluation of their in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities using standard methods. The phytochemical analysis indicates the presence of some interesting secondary metabolites like flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids, saponins and tannins in the extracts. Also, the solvent extracts displayed promising antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis and Cryptococcus neoformans with inhibition zone in a range of 20–33 mm. Further, results of their antioxidant screening revealed that aqueous extract (with IC50 values of 111.51±1.03 and 31.05±0.92 μg/mL in total reducing power assay and DPHH radical scavenging assay, respectively and ethanolic extract (with IC50 values of 128.00±1.01 and 33.25±0.89 μg/mL in total reducing power assay and DPHH radical scavenging assay, respectively were better antioxidants than standard ascorbic acid. Interestingly, FT-IR analysis of each extract established the presence of various biologically active functional groups in it. Keywords: Mammea suriga, Phytochemical analysis, Antimicrobial activity, Antioxidant assay, FT-IR analysis

Protective Effect of the Plant Extracts of Erythroxylum sp. against Toxic Effects Induced by the Venom of Lachesis muta Snake

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Eduardo Coriolano de Oliveira

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Snake venoms are composed of a complex mixture of active proteins that induce toxic effects, such as edema, hemorrhage, and death. Lachesis muta has the highest lethality indices in Brazil. In most cases, antivenom fails to neutralize local effects, leading to disabilities in victims. Thus, alternative treatments are under investigation, and plant extracts are promising candidates. The objective of this work was to investigate the ability of crude extracts, fractions, or isolated products of Erythroxylum ovalifolium and Erythroxylum subsessile to neutralize some toxic effects of L. muta venom. All samples were mixed with L. muta venom, then in vivo (hemorrhage and edema and in vitro (proteolysis, coagulation, and hemolysis assays were performed. Overall, crude extracts or fractions of Erythroxylum spp. inhibited (20%–100% toxic effects of the venom, but products achieved an inhibition of 4%–30%. However, when venom was injected into mice before the plant extracts, hemorrhage and edema were not inhibited by the samples. On the other hand, an inhibition of 5%–40% was obtained when extracts or products were given before venom injection. These results indicate that the extracts or products of Erythroxylum spp. could be a promising source of molecules able to treat local toxic effects of envenomation by L. muta venom, aiding in the development of new strategies for antivenom treatment.

Therapeutic Significance of Loligo vulgaris (Lamarck, 1798) ink Extract: A Biomedical Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Nadarajah, Sri Kumaran; Vijayaraj, Radha; Mani, Jayaprakashvel

2017-01-01

Background: The squid ink extract is well known for its biomedical properties. Objective: In this study, squid Loligo vulgaris was collected from Tuticorin costal water, Bay of Bengal, India. Materials and Methods: Proximate composition of the crude squid ink was studied and found to have protein as the major component over lipid and carbohydrates. Further, bioactive fractions of squid ink were extracted with ethanol, and therapeutic applications such as hemolytic, antioxidant, antimicrobial, and in vitro anti-inflammatory properties were analyzed using standard methods. Results: In hemolytic assay, the squid ink extract exhibited a maximum hemolytic activity of 128 hemolytic unit against tested erythrocytes. In DPPH assay, the ethanolic extract of squid ink has exhibited an antioxidant activity of 83.5%. The squid ink was found to be potent antibacterial agent against the pathogens tested. 200 μL of L. vulgaris ink extract showed remarkable antibacterial activity as zone of inhibition against Escherichia coli (28 mm), Klebsiella pneumoniae (22 mm), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (21 mm), and Staphylococcus aureus (24 mm). The 68.9% inhibition of protein denaturation by the squid ink extract indicated that it has very good in vitro anti-inflammatory properties. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis of the ethanolic extracts of the squid ink indicated the presence of functional groups such as 1° and 2° amines, amides, alkynes (terminal), alkenes, aldehydes, nitriles, alkanes, aliphatic amines, carboxylic acids, and alkyl halides, which complements the biochemical background of therapeutic applications. Conclusion: Hence, results of this study concluded that the ethanolic extract of L. vulgaris has many therapeutic applications such as antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory activities. SUMMARY Squid ink is very high in a number of important nutrients. It’s particularly high in antioxidants for instance, which as well all know help to protect

Toxicity status and anti-ulcerative potential of Sanseviera trifasciata leaf extract in wistar rats

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Osaseaga Macdonald Ighodaro

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Aims: The lethal dose (LD50 and anti-ulcerative potentials of Sansevieria trifasciata (ST leaf extract were investigated. Methods: LD50 was determined through two routes of administration (intraperitoneal and oral using the method of Lorke. The anti-ulcerative activity was evaluated in indomethacin-induced ulcer model (40 mg/kg BW, i.p, single dose against a reference drug, Cimetidine (100 mg/kg BW, per ox (p.o. ST was assessed at two different doses (200 and 400 mg/kg BW, p.o. Treatments were done twice daily at 8 h interval for 7 days prior to indomethacin injection. Results: The intraperitoneal (i.p LD50 was determined as 774.60 mg/kg BW and oral administration of the extract at 18,000 mg/kg BW dosage did not cause any negative behavioral changes in the animals, and no mortality was recorded after 24h of the experiment. ST- pre-treated animals showed some improvement against indomethacin-induced ulceration. The extract was able to an extent prevent indomethacin-induced reduction in gastric volume (36.1 %, free acidity (55.3 %, total acidity (35.6 % while minimizing increase in pH by (13.3 %. Moreover, the extract showed 17.92% and 14.96 % ulcer-protective ability at 200 and 400 mg/kg BW respectively. The phytochemical analysis of ST extract revealed the presence of phytoconstituents such as glycosides, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, tannins, Anthraquinone and glycosides. Conclusions: Sansevieria trifasciata apparently has a promising anti-ulcerative potential, and is safe for use in folk medicine. This valuable medicinal property is probably due to the array of important phytochemicals contained in the plant as observed in this study. However, further study involving bioassay-guided identification of the main anti-ulcerative compound in ST is required to establish the use of the plant as a viable anti-ulcerative agent. [J Complement Med Res 2017; 6(2.000: 234-239

Extracting Tag Hierarchies

Science.gov (United States)

Tibély, Gergely; Pollner, Péter; Vicsek, Tamás; Palla, Gergely

2013-01-01

Tagging items with descriptive annotations or keywords is a very natural way to compress and highlight information about the properties of the given entity. Over the years several methods have been proposed for extracting a hierarchy between the tags for systems with a "flat", egalitarian organization of the tags, which is very common when the tags correspond to free words given by numerous independent people. Here we present a complete framework for automated tag hierarchy extraction based on tag occurrence statistics. Along with proposing new algorithms, we are also introducing different quality measures enabling the detailed comparison of competing approaches from different aspects. Furthermore, we set up a synthetic, computer generated benchmark providing a versatile tool for testing, with a couple of tunable parameters capable of generating a wide range of test beds. Beside the computer generated input we also use real data in our studies, including a biological example with a pre-defined hierarchy between the tags. The encouraging similarity between the pre-defined and reconstructed hierarchy, as well as the seemingly meaningful hierarchies obtained for other real systems indicate that tag hierarchy extraction is a very promising direction for further research with a great potential for practical applications. Tags have become very prevalent nowadays in various online platforms ranging from blogs through scientific publications to protein databases. Furthermore, tagging systems dedicated for voluntary tagging of photos, films, books, etc. with free words are also becoming popular. The emerging large collections of tags associated with different objects are often referred to as folksonomies, highlighting their collaborative origin and the “flat” organization of the tags opposed to traditional hierarchical categorization. Adding a tag hierarchy corresponding to a given folksonomy can very effectively help narrowing or broadening the scope of search

Extracting tag hierarchies.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gergely Tibély

Full Text Available Tagging items with descriptive annotations or keywords is a very natural way to compress and highlight information about the properties of the given entity. Over the years several methods have been proposed for extracting a hierarchy between the tags for systems with a "flat", egalitarian organization of the tags, which is very common when the tags correspond to free words given by numerous independent people. Here we present a complete framework for automated tag hierarchy extraction based on tag occurrence statistics. Along with proposing new algorithms, we are also introducing different quality measures enabling the detailed comparison of competing approaches from different aspects. Furthermore, we set up a synthetic, computer generated benchmark providing a versatile tool for testing, with a couple of tunable parameters capable of generating a wide range of test beds. Beside the computer generated input we also use real data in our studies, including a biological example with a pre-defined hierarchy between the tags. The encouraging similarity between the pre-defined and reconstructed hierarchy, as well as the seemingly meaningful hierarchies obtained for other real systems indicate that tag hierarchy extraction is a very promising direction for further research with a great potential for practical applications. Tags have become very prevalent nowadays in various online platforms ranging from blogs through scientific publications to protein databases. Furthermore, tagging systems dedicated for voluntary tagging of photos, films, books, etc. with free words are also becoming popular. The emerging large collections of tags associated with different objects are often referred to as folksonomies, highlighting their collaborative origin and the "flat" organization of the tags opposed to traditional hierarchical categorization. Adding a tag hierarchy corresponding to a given folksonomy can very effectively help narrowing or broadening the scope of

Extracting tag hierarchies.

Science.gov (United States)

Tibély, Gergely; Pollner, Péter; Vicsek, Tamás; Palla, Gergely

2013-01-01

Tagging items with descriptive annotations or keywords is a very natural way to compress and highlight information about the properties of the given entity. Over the years several methods have been proposed for extracting a hierarchy between the tags for systems with a "flat", egalitarian organization of the tags, which is very common when the tags correspond to free words given by numerous independent people. Here we present a complete framework for automated tag hierarchy extraction based on tag occurrence statistics. Along with proposing new algorithms, we are also introducing different quality measures enabling the detailed comparison of competing approaches from different aspects. Furthermore, we set up a synthetic, computer generated benchmark providing a versatile tool for testing, with a couple of tunable parameters capable of generating a wide range of test beds. Beside the computer generated input we also use real data in our studies, including a biological example with a pre-defined hierarchy between the tags. The encouraging similarity between the pre-defined and reconstructed hierarchy, as well as the seemingly meaningful hierarchies obtained for other real systems indicate that tag hierarchy extraction is a very promising direction for further research with a great potential for practical applications. Tags have become very prevalent nowadays in various online platforms ranging from blogs through scientific publications to protein databases. Furthermore, tagging systems dedicated for voluntary tagging of photos, films, books, etc. with free words are also becoming popular. The emerging large collections of tags associated with different objects are often referred to as folksonomies, highlighting their collaborative origin and the "flat" organization of the tags opposed to traditional hierarchical categorization. Adding a tag hierarchy corresponding to a given folksonomy can very effectively help narrowing or broadening the scope of search. Moreover

Extraction optimization, characterization and antioxidant activity of polysaccharide from Gentiana scabra bge.

Science.gov (United States)

Cheng, Zhenyu; Zhang, Yuewei; Song, Haiyan; Zhou, Hongli; Zhong, Fangli; Hu, Haobin; Feng, Yu

2016-12-01

In this study, optimization of smashing tissue extraction (STE), preliminary chemical characterization and antioxidant activity in vitro of crude polysaccharides (CPS) from Gentiana scabra bge (G. scabra) were investigated. The optimal extraction conditions were determined as follows: sample particle size of 80mesh, solid/liquid ratio of 1:34, extraction voltage of 157.09V and extraction time of 130.38s. Under these conditions, the extraction yield of CPS had reached 15.03±0.14% (n=3). Chemical composition analysis indicated CPS was mainly composed of mannose, rhamnose, galacturonic acid, glcose, galactose, arabinose and fucose in a molar ratio of 1.00:9.89:51.59:35.37:38.06:99.13:21.34, respectively. The average molecular weight of CPS was estimated to be 3.8×10 4 Da. In addition, the potential antioxidant activity of CPS extracted by STE were demonstrated by DPPH radical scavenging assay, superoxide anion radical scavenging assay, hydroxyl radical scavenging assay and ferric reducing power assay. Overall, this study provided an effective extraction technique for G. scabra polysaccharides which would be explored as a promising natural antioxidant agent applied in functional foods or medicines. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

New extraction technique for alkaloids

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Djilani Abdelouaheb

2006-01-01

Full Text Available A method of extraction of natural products has been developed. Compared with existing methods, the new technique is rapid, more efficient and consumes less solvent. Extraction of alkaloids from natural products such as Hyoscyamus muticus, Datura stramonium and Ruta graveolens consists of the use of a sonicated solution containing a surfactant as extracting agent. The alkaloids are precipitated by Mayer reagent, dissolved in an alkaline solution, and then extracted with chloroform. This article compares the results obtained with other methods showing clearly the advantages of the new method.

Using text mining techniques to extract phenotypic information from the PhenoCHF corpus.

Science.gov (United States)

Alnazzawi, Noha; Thompson, Paul; Batista-Navarro, Riza; Ananiadou, Sophia

2015-01-01

Phenotypic information locked away in unstructured narrative text presents significant barriers to information accessibility, both for clinical practitioners and for computerised applications used for clinical research purposes. Text mining (TM) techniques have previously been applied successfully to extract different types of information from text in the biomedical domain. They have the potential to be extended to allow the extraction of information relating to phenotypes from free text. To stimulate the development of TM systems that are able to extract phenotypic information from text, we have created a new corpus (PhenoCHF) that is annotated by domain experts with several types of phenotypic information relating to congestive heart failure. To ensure that systems developed using the corpus are robust to multiple text types, it integrates text from heterogeneous sources, i.e., electronic health records (EHRs) and scientific articles from the literature. We have developed several different phenotype extraction methods to demonstrate the utility of the corpus, and tested these methods on a further corpus, i.e., ShARe/CLEF 2013. Evaluation of our automated methods showed that PhenoCHF can facilitate the training of reliable phenotype extraction systems, which are robust to variations in text type. These results have been reinforced by evaluating our trained systems on the ShARe/CLEF corpus, which contains clinical records of various types. Like other studies within the biomedical domain, we found that solutions based on conditional random fields produced the best results, when coupled with a rich feature set. PhenoCHF is the first annotated corpus aimed at encoding detailed phenotypic information. The unique heterogeneous composition of the corpus has been shown to be advantageous in the training of systems that can accurately extract phenotypic information from a range of different text types. Although the scope of our annotation is currently limited to a single

The Aqueous Extract of Gynura divaricata (L. DC. Improves Glucose and Lipid Metabolism and Ameliorates Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

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Jinnan Li

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM is a chronic disease characterized by hyperglycemia and dyslipidemia caused by impaired insulin secretion and resistance of the peripheral tissues. A major pathogenesis of T2DM is obesity-associated insulin resistance. Gynura divaricata (L. DC. (GD is a natural plant and has been reported to have numerous health-promoting effects on both animals and humans. In this study, we aimed to elucidate the regulatory mechanism of GD improving glucose and lipid metabolism in an obesity animal model induced by high-fat and high-sugar diet in combination with low dose of streptozocin and an insulin-resistant HepG2 cell model induced by dexamethasone. The study showed that the water extract of GD (GD extract A could significantly reduce fasting serum glucose, reverse dyslipidemia and pancreatic damage, and regulate the body weight of mice. We also found that GD extract A had low toxicity in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, GD extract A may increase glucose consumption in insulin-resistant HepG2 cells, markedly inhibit NF-κB activation, and decrease the impairment in signaling molecules of insulin pathway, such as IRS-1, AKT, and GLUT1. Overall, the results indicate that GD extract A is a promising candidate for the prevention and treatment of T2DM.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using methanolic root extracts of Diospyros paniculata and their antimicrobial activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rao, N.Hanumanta; Lakshmidevi, N.; Pammi, S.V.N.; Kollu, Pratap; Ganapaty, S.; Lakshmi, P.

2016-01-01

Since the discovery and subsequent widespread use of antibiotics, a variety of bacterial species of human and animal origin have developed numerous mechanisms that render bacteria resistant to some, and in certain cases to nearly all antibiotics, thereby limiting the treatment options and compromising effective therapy. In the present study, the green synthesis of nanoparticles is carried out by the reduction of silver acetate in the presence of crude methanolic root extracts of Diospyros paniculata, a member of family Ebenaceae. The UV–Vis absorption spectrum of the biologically reduced reaction mixture showed the surface plasmon peak at 428 nm, a characteristic peak of silver nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the face-centered cubic crystalline structure of metallic silver. The average diameter of Ag NPs is about 17 nm from Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) which is in good agreement with the average crystallite size (19 nm) calculated from XRD analysis. Further the study has been extended to the antimicrobial activity against test pathogenic Gram (+), Gram (−) bacterial and fungal strains. The biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles showed promising activity against all the tested pathogenic strains and the activity has been enhanced with the increased dose levels. - Highlights: • Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using root extracts of Diospyros paniculata. • Average diameter of Ag NPs is about 17 nm from TEM analysis which is in good agreement with XRD analysis. • Antimicrobial activities of root extract mediated synthesis of silver Ag NPs were discussed in detail.

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using methanolic root extracts of Diospyros paniculata and their antimicrobial activities

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rao, N.Hanumanta [Advanced Analytical Laboratory, DST-PURSE Programme, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530003 (India); Lakshmidevi, N. [Department of Microbiology, College of Science and Technology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530003 (India); Pammi, S.V.N. [Advanced Analytical Laboratory, DST-PURSE Programme, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530003 (India); Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Chungnam National University, Daeduk Science Town, 305-764, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kollu, Pratap [DST-INSPIRE Faculty, Department of Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai 400076 (India); Ganapaty, S. [GITAM Institute of Pharmacy, GITAM University, Visakhapatnam (India); Lakshmi, P., E-mail: lmkandregula@gmail.com [Department of Microbiology, College of Science and Technology, Andhra University, Visakhapatnam 530003 (India)

2016-05-01

Since the discovery and subsequent widespread use of antibiotics, a variety of bacterial species of human and animal origin have developed numerous mechanisms that render bacteria resistant to some, and in certain cases to nearly all antibiotics, thereby limiting the treatment options and compromising effective therapy. In the present study, the green synthesis of nanoparticles is carried out by the reduction of silver acetate in the presence of crude methanolic root extracts of Diospyros paniculata, a member of family Ebenaceae. The UV–Vis absorption spectrum of the biologically reduced reaction mixture showed the surface plasmon peak at 428 nm, a characteristic peak of silver nanoparticles. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis confirmed the face-centered cubic crystalline structure of metallic silver. The average diameter of Ag NPs is about 17 nm from Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) which is in good agreement with the average crystallite size (19 nm) calculated from XRD analysis. Further the study has been extended to the antimicrobial activity against test pathogenic Gram (+), Gram (−) bacterial and fungal strains. The biologically synthesized silver nanoparticles showed promising activity against all the tested pathogenic strains and the activity has been enhanced with the increased dose levels. - Highlights: • Biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using root extracts of Diospyros paniculata. • Average diameter of Ag NPs is about 17 nm from TEM analysis which is in good agreement with XRD analysis. • Antimicrobial activities of root extract mediated synthesis of silver Ag NPs were discussed in detail.

The Promise of a College Scholarship Transforms a District

Science.gov (United States)

Ritter, Gary W.; Ash, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Promise programs are place-based scholarships, generally tied to a city or school district, offering near-universal access to all living in the "place." While Promise programs share some characteristics with other scholarship programs, they're unique because they seek to change communities and schools. Underlying such promise programs is…

Cyanobacteria: Promising biocatalysts for sustainable chemical production.

Science.gov (United States)

Knoot, Cory J; Ungerer, Justin; Wangikar, Pramod P; Pakrasi, Himadri B

2018-04-06

Cyanobacteria are photosynthetic prokaryotes showing great promise as biocatalysts for the direct conversion of CO 2 into fuels, chemicals, and other value-added products. Introduction of just a few heterologous genes can endow cyanobacteria with the ability to transform specific central metabolites into many end products. Recent engineering efforts have centered around harnessing the potential of these microbial biofactories for sustainable production of chemicals conventionally produced from fossil fuels. Here, we present an overview of the unique chemistry that cyanobacteria have been co-opted to perform. We highlight key lessons learned from these engineering efforts and discuss advantages and disadvantages of various approaches. © 2018 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

Seed treatment with an aqueous extract of Agave sisalana improves seed health and seedling growth of sorghum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andresen, Marianne; Wulff, Ednar Gadelha; Mbega, Ernest R.

2015-01-01

An aqueous extract of the sisal agave, A. sisalana, was prepared from dried stem tissue by boiling in water. The sisal extract (SE) displayed a broad inhibition of the seed-borne mycoflora when applied to farmer-saved seeds of Sorghum bicolor. Species of Fusarium (belonging to the Gibberella......-old plants (p agave, Yucca schidigera. Both extracts were found to reduce seed-borne Fusarium and crown rot more efficiently than fungicides based on tebuconazole, enilconazole...... and fludioxonil (p agave is a waste product in fiber production. From our findings A. sisalana stem appears to represent an abundant source of antifungal activity, simple to extract, easy to store and with a promising potential in biological seed treatment....

Producing ashless coal extracts by microwave irradiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ozgur Sonmez; Elife Sultan Giray [Mersin University, Mersin (Turkey). Department of Chemistry

2011-06-15

To produce ashless coal extracts, three Turkish coals were extracted with N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP), NMP/ethylenediamine (EDA) (17/1, vol/vol) mixture and NMP/tetralin (9/1, vol/vol) mixture through thermal extraction and microwave extraction. Solvent extraction by microwave irradiation (MI) was found to be more effective than that by thermal extraction. Extraction yield of coals in NMP enhanced by addition of a little EDA, but tetralin addition showed variances according to extraction method used. While tetralin addition caused a decrease in the thermal extraction yield, it increased the yield of the extraction by MI. Following the extraction, the solid extracts were produced with ash content ranging from 0.11% to 1.1%. Ash content of solid extract obtained from microwave extraction are less than ash contents of solid extracts obtained from thermal extraction. 34 refs., 7 figs., 5 tabs.

Cytotoxic Effects of Bangladeshi Medicinal Plant Extracts

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Shaikh J. Uddin

2011-01-01

Full Text Available To investigate the cytotoxic effect of some Bangladeshi medicinal plant extracts, 16 Bangladeshi medicinal plants were successively extracted with n-hexane, dichloromethane, methanol and water. The methanolic and aqueous extracts were screened for cytotoxic activity against healthy mouse fibroblasts (NIH3T3 and three human cancer-cell lines (gastric: AGS; colon: HT-29; and breast: MDA-MB-435S using the MTT assay. Two methanolic extracts (Hygrophila auriculata and Hibiscus tiliaceous and one aqueous extract (Limnophila indica showed no toxicity against healthy mouse fibroblasts, but selective cytotoxicity against breast cancer cells (IC50 1.1–1.6 mg mL−1. Seven methanolic extracts from L. indica, Clerodendron inerme, Cynometra ramiflora, Xylocarpus moluccensis, Argemone mexicana, Ammannia baccifera and Acrostichum aureum and four aqueous extracts from Hygrophila auriculata, Bruguiera gymnorrhiza, X. moluccensis and Aegiceras corniculatum showed low toxicity (IC50 > 2.5 mg mL−1 against mouse fibroblasts but selective cytotoxicity (IC50 0.2–2.3 mg mL−1 against different cancer cell lines. The methanolic extract of Blumea lacera showed the highest cytotoxicity (IC50 0.01–0.08 mg mL−1 against all tested cell lines among all extracts tested in this study. For some of the plants their traditional use as anticancer treatments correlates with the cytotoxic results, whereas for others so far unknown cytotoxic activities were identified.

Strategies for the extraction and analysis of non-extractable polyphenols from plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Domínguez-Rodríguez, Gloria; Marina, María Luisa; Plaza, Merichel

2017-09-08

The majority of studies based on phenolic compounds from plants are focused on the extractable fraction derived from an aqueous or aqueous-organic extraction. However, an important fraction of polyphenols is ignored due to the fact that they remain retained in the residue of extraction. They are the so-called non-extractable polyphenols (NEPs) which are high molecular weight polymeric polyphenols or individual low molecular weight phenolics associated to macromolecules. The scarce information available about NEPs shows that these compounds possess interesting biological activities. That is why the interest about the study of these compounds has been increasing in the last years. Furthermore, the extraction and characterization of NEPs are considered a challenge because the developed analytical methodologies present some limitations. Thus, the present literature review summarizes current knowledge of NEPs and the different methodologies for the extraction of these compounds, with a particular focus on hydrolysis treatments. Besides, this review provides information on the most recent developments in the purification, separation, identification and quantification of NEPs from plants. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The Effect of Bangpungtongsung-san Extracts on Adipocyte Metabolism

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Sang Min, Lee

2008-03-01

Full Text Available Objective : The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of Bangpungtongsung-san extracts on the preadipocytes proliferation, of 3T3-L1 cell line. lipolysis of adipocytes in rat's epididymis and localized fat accumulation of porcine by extraction methods(alcohol and water. Methods : Diminish 3T3-L1 proliferation and lipogenesis do primary role to reduce obesity. So, 3T3-L1 preadipocyte and adipocytes were performed on cell cultures, and using Sprague-Dawley rats for the lipogenesis, and treated with 0.01-1 ㎎/㎖ Bangpungtongsung-san Extracts depend on concentrations. Porcine skin including fat tissue after treated Bangpungtongsung-san Extracts by means of the dosage dependent variation are investigated the histologic changes after injection of these extracts. Results : Following results were obtained from the 3T3-L1 preadipocyte proliferation and lipolysis of adipocyte in rats and histologic investigation of fat tissue. 1. Bangpungtongsung-san extracts were showed the effect of decreased preadipocyte proliferation on the high dosage(1.0㎎/㎖. 2. Bangpungtongsung-san extracts were showed the effect of decreased the activity of glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase(GPDH on the high dosage(1.0㎎/㎖ and Specially, alcohol extract of Bangpungtongsung -san was clear as time goes by high concentration. 3. Bangpungtongsung-san extracts were showed tries to compare the effect of lipolysis, alcohol extract of Bangpungtongsung-san on the high dosage(1.0㎎/㎖ was observed the effect is higher than water extract. 4. Investigated the histological changes in porcine fat tissue after treated Bangpungtongsung-san extracts, we knew that water extract of Bangpungtongsung-san was showed the effect of lipolysis on the high dosage(10.0㎎/㎖ and alcohol extract of Bangpungtongsung-san was showed significant activity to the lysis of cell membranes in all concentration. Conclusion : These results suggest that Bangpungtongsung-san extracts efficiently

Hypercrosslinked particles for the extraction of sweeteners using dispersive solid-phase extraction from environmental samples.

Science.gov (United States)

Lakade, Sameer S; Zhou, Qing; Li, Aimin; Borrull, Francesc; Fontanals, Núria; Marcé, Rosa M

2018-04-01

This work presents a new extraction material, namely, Q-100, based on hypercrosslinked magnetic particles, which was tested in dispersive solid-phase extraction for a group of sweeteners from environmental samples. The hypercrosslinked Q-100 magnetic particles had the advantage of suitable pore size distribution and high surface area, and showed good retention behavior toward sweeteners. Different dispersive solid-phase extraction parameters such as amount of magnetic particles or extraction time were optimized. Under optimum conditions, Q-100 showed suitable apparent recovery, ranging in the case of river water sample from 21 to 88% for all the sweeteners, except for alitame (12%). The validated method based on dispersive solid-phase extraction using Q-100 followed by liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry provided good linearity and limits of quantification between 0.01 and 0.1 μg/L. The method was applied to analyze samples from river water and effluent wastewater, and four sweeteners (acesulfame, saccharin, cyclamate, and sucralose) were found in both types of sample. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Antiproliferative Effects of Cynara cardunculus L. var. altilis (DC Lipophilic Extracts

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Patrícia A. B. Ramos

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Besides being traditionally used to relieve hepatobiliary disorders, Cynara cardunculus L. has evidenced anticancer potential on triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC. This study highlights the antiproliferative effects of lipophilic extracts from C. cardunculus L. var. altilis (DC leaves and florets, and of their major compounds, namely cynaropicrin and taraxasteryl acetate, against MDA-MB-231 cells. Our results demonstrated that MDA-MB-231 cells were much less resistant to leaves extract (IC50 10.39 µg/mL than to florets extract (IC50 315.22 µg/mL, during 48 h. Moreover, leaves extract and cynaropicrin (IC50 6.19 µg/mL suppressed MDA-MB-231 cells colonies formation, via an anchorage-independent growth assay. Leaves extract and cynaropicrin were also assessed regarding their regulation on caspase-3 activity, by using a spectrophotometric assay, and expression levels of G2/mitosis checkpoint and Akt signaling pathway proteins, by Western blotting. Leaves extract increased caspase-3 activity, while cynaropicrin did not affect it. Additionally, they caused p21Waf1/Cip1 upregulation, as well as cyclin B1 and phospho(Tyr15-CDK1 accumulation, which may be related to G2 cell cycle arrest. They also downregulated phospho(Ser473-Akt, without changing total Akt1 level. Cynaropicrin probably contributed to leaves extract antiproliferative action. These promising insights suggest that cultivated cardoon leaves lipophilic extract and cynaropicrin may be considered toward a natural-based therapeutic approach on TNBC.

Influence of different extraction methods on the yield and linalool content of the extracts of Eugenia uniflora L.

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Galhiane, Mário S; Rissato, Sandra R; Chierice, Gilberto O; Almeida, Marcos V; Silva, Letícia C

2006-09-15

This work has been developed using a sylvestral fruit tree, native to the Brazilian forest, the Eugenia uniflora L., one of the Mirtaceae family. The main goal of the analytical study was focused on extraction methods themselves. The method development pointed to the Clevenger extraction as the best yield in relation to SFE and Soxhlet. The SFE method presented a good yield but showed a big amount of components in the final extract, demonstrating low selectivity. The essential oil extracted was analyzed by GC/FID showing a large range of polarity and boiling point compounds, where linalool, a widely used compound, was identified. Furthermore, an analytical solid phase extraction method was used to clean it up and obtain separated classes of compounds that were fractionated and studied by GC/FID and GC/MS.

Duplex-imprinted nano well arrays for promising nanoparticle assembly

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiangping; Manz, Andreas

2018-02-01

A large area nano-duplex-imprint technique is presented in this contribution using natural cicada wings as stamps. The glassy wings of the cicada, which are abundant in nature, exhibit strikingly interesting nanopillar structures over their membrane. This technique, with excellent performance despite the nonplanar surface of the wings, combines both top-down and bottom-up nanofabrication techniques. It transitions micro-nanofabrication from a cleanroom environment to the bench. Two different materials, dicing tape with an acrylic layer and a UV optical adhesive, are used to make replications at the same time, thus achieving duplex imprinting. The promise of a large volume of commercial manufacturing of these nanostructure elements can be envisaged through this contribution to speeding up the fabrication process and achieving a higher throughput. The contact angle of the replicated nanowell arrays before and after oxygen plasma was measured. Gold nanoparticles (50 nm) were used to test how the nanoparticles behaved on the untreated and plasma-treated replica surface. The experiments show that promising nanoparticle self-assembly can be obtained.

Bioactivity of Neem (Azadirachta indica) callus extract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmed, I.M.

2008-04-01

This study was conducted in order to explore the possibility of utilizing plant tissue culture techniques for production of secondary metabolites from callus culture of Azadirachta indica (Neem) and to investigate the bioactivity of the established callus extract in comparison with the extract from the intact leaves. The presence of secondary metabolites in the extracts was detected by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). Both the callus and leaf extracts eluted five fraction of compounds and it were observed that callus extract had a good resolution. various extract concentration (5.10. and 20 mg/ml) were determined for the rate and extent of inhibition kinetics against staphylococcus aureus. Escherichia coli, and candida albicans. Results showed that callus extract of A. indica wiped out all viable cells of C. albicans within 18 hours and the subsequent concentration 5 and 10 mg/ m1 retard the growth after 24 h. A higher concentration of 20 mg/ ml had the same effect on S. aureus after 6 h and the E. coli cells were completely inhibited by the extracts after 24 h. Similar kinetics were showed by leaf extract but in slight rate as compared to the callus extract. In general both extract posses antimicrobial activity with notable efficient rates. For assaying of the inhibitory effect on some phyto pathogens the effect of different concentrations of the callus and leaf extracts on the radial growth of Drechslera rostrata. Fusarium oxysporum and Alterneria alternata were in vitro assessed. Obvious inhibitory effect was observed on the mycelia radial growth of the three treated fungi. The level of inhibition increased with the increase of te extract concentration. The maximum inhibitory effect (84%) was recorded with Drechslera rostrata when inoculated in media contain 20 mg/ ml of callus while the inhibition rate of mycelia growth of the same species reaches 61% when inoculated in a medium contain the same concentration of the neem leaf extract. The subsequent

Application of supercritical fluid extraction in analytical science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kumar, Pradeep

2015-01-01

In the recent years, supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) has emerged as a promising alternative to conventional solvent extraction process owing to its potential to minimize the generation of the liquid volume and simplification of the extraction process.This technology is some times referred to as 'green technology' and 'clean technology'. Supercritical fluid extraction process assumes significance as it exhibits practical advantages such as enhanced extraction rate due to rapid mass transfer in supercritical fluid medium and change of solvent properties such as density by tuning pressure/temperature conditions. Supercritical fluids (SCF) offer faster, cleaner and efficient extraction owing to low viscosity, high density, low surface tension and better diffusivity properties. Higher diffusivity than liquids facilitates rapid mass transfer and faster completion of reaction. Due to low viscosity and surface tension, SCF can penetrate deep inside the material, extracting the component of interest. Liquid like solvating characteristics of SCFs enable dissolution of compounds whereas gas like diffusion characteristics provide conditions for high degree of extraction in shorter time duration. CO 2 has been widely employed as supercritical fluid owing to its moderate critical constants (Pc= 72.9 atm, Tc =304.3 K, ñ c = 0.47 g mL -1 ) and attractive properties such as being easily available, recyclable, non-toxic, chemically inert, non inflammable and radio-chemically stable. SCF finds application in variety of fields. In nuclear industry for separation and purification of actinides from liquids and solid matrices. In food industry, Decaffeination of coffee is done by SCF. Pharmaceutical industry, organic compounds can be extracted from plants by SC CO 2 avoiding liquid solvent usage. SCF may also be utilised for the production of fine powders. In polymer and plastics industries, examples of applications include the impregnation of medical material

Effect of gamma irradiation on the extraction yield, antioxidant, and antityrosinase activities of pistachio green hull extract

Science.gov (United States)

Abolhasani, Ali; Barzegar, Mohsen; Sahari, Mohammad Ali

2018-03-01

In this study, the antioxidant activity and tyrosinase inhibitory of non-irradiated and irradiated pistachio green hull (PGH) extracts were investigated. After irradiation of PGH by different doses of gamma ray (0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 kGy), their phenolic compounds were extracted by water. Antioxidant activities of extracts were examined by DPPH• and FRAP methods. The results showed that irradiation not only do not have negative effects on antioxidant activity but also it can increase the amount of total phenolic compounds of water extract in comparison with non-irradiated sample. Water extract of irradiated PGH at the dose of 30 kGy, showed the highest antioxidant activity in the DPPH° test with EC50 equal to 289.0 ± 1.2 μg/ml. Irradiated (30 kGy) and non-irradiated water extracts had the highest antityrosinase activities with IC50 of 10.8 ± 1.1 and 11.9 ± 1.2 μg phenolic/ml, respectively. In addition, it was found that the water extract of irradiated PGH can prevent enzymatic browning in sliced raw potatoes. According to the antityrosinase potential of PGH extract, it may be suggested as an antibrowning agent in some foodstuffs or cosmetic products.

RED WINE EXTRACT OBTAINED BY MEMBRANE-BASED SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION: PRELIMINARY CHARACTERIZATION OF CHEMICAL PROPERTIES.

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W. Silva

Full Text Available ABSTRACT This study aims to obtain an extract from red wine by using membrane-based supercritical fluid extraction. This technique involves the use of porous membranes as contactors during the dense gas extraction process from liquid matrices. In this work, a Cabernet Sauvignon wine extract was obtained from supercritical fluid extraction using pressurized carbon dioxide as solvent and a hollow fiber contactor as extraction setup. The process was continuously conducted at pressures between 12 and 18 MPa and temperatures ranged from 30 to 50ºC. Meanwhile, flow rates of feed wine and supercritical CO2 varied from 0.1 to 0.5 mL min-1 and from 60 to 80 mL min-1 (NCPT, respectively. From extraction assays, the highest extraction percentage value obtained from the total amount of phenolic compounds was 14% in only one extraction step at 18MPa and 35ºC. A summarized chemical characterization of the obtained extract is reported in this work; one of the main compounds in this extract could be a low molecular weight organic acid with aromatic structure and methyl and carboxyl groups. Finally, this preliminary characterization of this extract shows a remarkable ORAC value equal to 101737 ± 5324 µmol Trolox equivalents (TE per 100 g of extract.

Emotion Discrimination using spatially Compact Regions of Interest extracted from Imaging EEG Activity

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Jorge Ivan Padilla-Buritica

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Lately, research on computational models of emotion had been getting much attention due to their potential for understanding the mechanisms of emotions and their promising broad range of applications that potentially bridge the gap between human and machine interactions. We propose a new method for emotion classification that relies on features extracted from those active brain areas that are most likely related to emotions. To this end, we carry out the selection of spatially compact regions of interest that are computed using the brain neural activity reconstructed from electroencephalography data. Throughout this study, we consider three representative feature extraction methods widely applied to emotion detection tasks, including Power spectral density, Wavelet, and Hjorth parameters. Further feature selection is carried out using principal component analysis. For validation purpose, these features are used to feed a support vector machine classifier that is trained under the leave-one-out cross-validation strategy. Obtained results on real affective data show that incorporation of the proposed training method in combination with the enhanced spatial resolution provided by the source estimation allows improving the performed accuracy of discrimination in most of the considered emotions, namely: dominance, valence, and linking.

Present status of uranium extraction from seawater

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kusakabe, Katsuki; Morooka, Shigeharu

1993-01-01

For the research on the extraction of uranium from seawater, various processes have been examined, but the most promising process is adsorption. Its key point is the performance of the adsorbent. The system as compact as possible, in which a large quantity of seawater effectively contacts with the adsorbent, must be constructed economically. As the inorganic adsorbent, titanium oxide is the best, but organic amidoxime is superior to it. The present state of the development of the adsorbent, the rate of adsorption of the adsorbenbt, the seawater uranium adsorption system and the experiment in Imari Bay are reported. (K.I.)

Comparative analysis of essential oil composition of Iranian and Indian Nigella sativa L. extracted using supercritical fluid extraction and solvent extraction

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Ghahramanloo KH

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Kourosh Hasanzadeh Ghahramanloo,1 Behnam Kamalidehghan,2 Hamid Akbari Javar,3 Riyanto Teguh Widodo,1 Keivan Majidzadeh,4 Mohamed Ibrahim Noordin1 1Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; 2Medical Genetics Department, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB, 3Department of Pharmaceutics, Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS, 4Breast Cancer Research Center (BCRC Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research, Tehran, Iran Abstract: The objective of this study was to compare the oil extraction yield and essential oil composition of Indian and Iranian Nigella sativa L. extracted by using Supercritical Fluid Extraction (SFE and solvent extraction methods. In this study, a gas chromatography equipped with a mass spectrophotometer detector was employed for qualitative analysis of the essential oil composition of Indian and Iranian N. sativa L. The results indicated that the main fatty acid composition identified in the essential oils extracted by using SFE and solvent extraction were linoleic acid (22.4%–61.85% and oleic acid (1.64%–18.97%. Thymoquinone (0.72%–21.03% was found to be the major volatile compound in the extracted N. sativa oil. It was observed that the oil extraction efficiency obtained from SFE was significantly (P<0.05 higher than that achieved by the solvent extraction technique. The present study showed that SFE can be used as a more efficient technique for extraction of N. Sativa L. essential oil, which is composed of higher linoleic acid and thymoquinone contents compared to the essential oil obtained by the solvent extraction technique. Keywords: Nigella sativa L., essential oil extraction, supercritical fluid extraction, solvent extraction, fatty acid composition, thymoquinone, linoleic acid

Ethanol extract of Cymbopogon winterianus on mortality and number of eggs of Tetranychus urticae

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Victor Bernardo Vicentini

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Plant extracts have been studied as a promising source of natural insecticides. This study assessed the effect of the ethanol extract of Cymbopogon winterianus Jowitt (citronella grass in comparison with an insecticide containing azadirachtin (ICA on mortality and number of eggs of Tetranychus urticae Koch (Acari: Tetranychidae in laboratory conditions. For the tests, the mites were sprayed with the aid of a Potter spray tower. To assess the mortality of females, LC50 value for extract of citronella grass and ICA was, respectively, 2.63 and 2.83%. With respect to the number of eggs, the greatest reduction was observed at a concentration of 5% for the evaluation period of 120h, both for the extract of citronella grass (86% and for ICA (81%. These results suggest the potential of the ethanol extract of citronella grass to control of T. urticae. However, experiments, under field conditions, involving other populations of T. urticae should be performed to verify the efficacy of this extract as an alternative to be used in pest management programs

Efficacy of different methanolic plant extracts on anti-methanogenesis, rumen fermentation and gas production kinetics in vitro.

Science.gov (United States)

Sirohi, S K; Goel, N; Pandey, P

2012-01-01

The present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of methanolic extracts of three plants, mehandi (Lawsonia inermis), jaiphal (Myristica fragrans) and green chili (Capsicum annuum) on methanogenesis, rumen fermentation and fermentation kinetic parameters by in vitro gas production techniques. Single dose of each plant extract (1 ml / 30 ml buffered rumen fluid) and two sorghum fodder containing diets (high and low fiber diets) were used for evaluating the effect on methanogenesis and rumen fermentation pattern, while sequential incubations (0, 1, 2, 3, 6 9, 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 and 96 h) were carried out for gas production kinetics. Results showed that methane production was reduced, ammonia nitrogen was increased significantly, while no significant effect was found on pH and protozoal population following addition of different plant extracts in both diets except mehandi. Green chili significantly reduced digestibility of dry matter, total fatty acid and acetate concentration at incubation with sorghum based high and low fiber diets. Among all treatments, green chili increased potential gas production, while jaiphal decreased the gas production rate constant significantly. The present results demonstrate that methanolic extracts of different plants are promising rumen modifying agents. They have the potential to modulate the methane production, potential gas production, gas production rate constant, dry matter digestibility and microbial biomass synthesis.

Neural Network Modeling for the Extraction of Rare Earth Elements from Eudialyte Concentrate by Dry Digestion and Leaching

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Yiqian Ma

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Eudialyte is a promising mineral for rare earth elements (REE extraction due to its good solubility in acid, low radioactive, and relatively high content of REE. In this paper, a two stage hydrometallurgical treatment of eudialyte concentrate was studied: dry digestion with hydrochloric acid and leaching with water. The hydrochloric acid for dry digestion to eudialyte concentrate ratio, mass of water for leaching to mass of eudialyte concentrate ratio, leaching temperature and leaching time as the predictor variables, and the total rare earth elements (TREE extraction efficiency as the response were considered. After experimental work in laboratory conditions, according to design of experiment theory (DoE, the modeling process was performed using Multiple Linear Regression (MLR, Stepwise Regression (SWR, and Artificial Neural Network (ANN. The ANN model of REE extraction was adopted. Additional tests showed that values predicted by the neural network model were in very good agreement with the experimental results. Finally, the experiments were performed on a scaled up system under optimal conditions that were predicted by the adopted ANN model. Results at the scale-up plant confirmed the results that were obtained in the laboratory.

Biotechnology for uranium extraction and environmental control

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Natarajan, K.A.

2012-01-01

India is looking forward to augmenting mining and extraction of uranium mineral for its nuclear energy needs. Being a radio-active mineral, mining and processing of uranium ore deposits need be carried out in an environmentally acceptable fashion. In this respect, a biotechnological approach holds great promise since it is environment-friendly, cost-effective and energy-efficient. There are several types of microorganisms which inhabit uranium ore bodies and biogenesis plays an important role in the mineralisation and transport of uranium-bearing minerals under the earth's crust. Uranium occurrences in India are only meagre and it becomes essential to tap effectively all the available resources. Uraninite and pitchblende occurring along with sulfide mineralisation such as pyrite are ideal candidates for bioleaching. Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans present ubiquitously in the ore deposits can be isolated, cultured and utilised to bring about efficient acidic dissolution of uranium. Many such commercial attempts to extract uranium from even lean ores using acidophilic autotrophic bacteria have been made in different parts of the world. Anaerobes such a Geobacter and Sulfate Reducing Bacteria (SRB) can be effectively used in uranium mining for environmental control. Radioactive uranium mined wastes and tailing dumps can be cleaned and protected using microorganisms. In this lecture use of biotechnology in uranium extraction and bioremediation is illustrated with practical examples. Applicability of environment-friendly biotechnology for mining and extraction of uranium from Indian deposits is outlined. Commercial potentials for bioremediation in uranium-containing wastes are emphasised. (author)

Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Oleuropein from Olea europea (Olive Leaf Extract and Antioxidant Activities

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Jiao-Jiao Yuan

2015-02-01

Full Text Available Oleuropein (OE, the main polyphenol in olive leaf extract, is likely to decompose into hydroxytyrosol (HT and elenolic acid under the action of light, acid, base, high temperature. In the enzymatic process, the content of OE in olive leaf extract and enzyme are key factors that affect the yield of HT. A selective enzyme was screened from among 10 enzymes with a high OE degradation rate. A single factor (pH, temperature, time, enzyme quantity optimization process and a Box-Behnken design were studied for the enzymatic hydrolysis of 81.04% OE olive leaf extract. Additionally, enzymatic hydrolysis results with different substrates (38.6% and 81.04% OE were compared and the DPPH antioxidant properties were also evaluated. The result showed that the performance of hydrolysis treatments was best using hemicellulase as a bio-catalyst, and the high purity of OE in olive extract was beneficial to biotransform OE into HT. The optimal enzymatic conditions for achieving a maximal yield of HT content obtained by the regression were as follows: pH 5, temperature 55 °C and enzyme quantity 55 mg. The experimental result was 11.31% ± 0.15%, and the degradation rate of OE was 98.54%. From the present investigation of the antioxidant activity determined by the DPPH method, the phenol content and radical scavenging effect were both decreased after enzymatic hydrolysis by hemicellulase. However, a high antioxidant activity of the ethyl acetate extract enzymatic hydrolysate (IC50 = 41.82 μg/mL was demonstated. The results presented in this work suggested that hemicellulase has promising and attractive properties for industrial production of HT, and indicated that HT might be a valuable biological component for use in pharmaceutical products and functional foods.