Search results for: fungal growth inhibition

Authors: Ourvashi Bissoon

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Sub-Saharan Africa in addition to being resource rich is increasingly being seen as having a huge growth potential and as a result, is increasingly attracting MNEs on its soil. To empirically assess the effectiveness of GDP in tracking sustainable resource use and the role played by MNEs in Sub-Saharan Africa, a panel data analysis has been undertaken for 32 countries over thirty-five years. The time horizon spans the period 1980-2014 to reflect the evolution from before the publication of the pioneering Brundtland report on sustainable development to date. Multinationals’ presence is proxied by the level of FDI stocks. The empirical investigation first focuses on the impact of trade openness and MNE presence on the traditional measure of economic growth namely the GDP growth rate, and then on the genuine savings (GS) rate, a measure of weak sustainability developed by the World Bank, which assumes the substitutability between different forms of capital and finally, the impact on the adjusted Net National Income (aNNI), a measure of green growth which caters for the depletion of natural resources is examined. For countries with significant exhaustible natural resources and important foreign investor presence, the adjusted net national income (aNNI) can be a better indicator of economic performance than GDP growth (World Bank, 2010). The issue of potential endogeneity and reverse causality is also addressed in addition to robustness tests. The findings indicate that FDI and openness contribute significantly and positively to the GDP growth of the countries in the sample; however there is a threshold level of institutional quality below which FDI has a negative impact on growth. When the GDP growth rate is substituted for the GS rate, a natural resource curse becomes evident. The rents being generated from the exploitation of natural resources are not being re-invested into other forms of capital namely human and physical capital. FDI and trade patterns may be setting the economies in the sample on a unsustainable path of resource depletion. The resource curse is confirmed when utilising the aNNI as well, thus implying that GDP growth measure may not be a reliable to capture sustainable development.

Keywords: FDI, sustainable development, genuine savings, sub-Saharan Africa

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Authors: Naif Al-Jomah, Falah H Al-Mohanna, Abdelilah Aboussekhra

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Active breast cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), the most influential cells in breast tumor microenvironment, express/secrete high levels of the proinvasive/metastatic interleukin-6 (IL-6). Therefore, we have tested here the effect of the IL-6 receptor (IL-6R) inhibitor tocilizumab (TCZ; Actemra) on different active breast CAFs. We have shown that TCZ potently and persistently suppresses the expression of various CAF biomarkers, namely α-SMA, SDF-1 as well as the STAT3 pathway and its downstream target AUF1. TCZ also inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion abilities of active breast CAF cells. Additionally, TCZ repressed the ability of CAF cells in promoting epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and enhancing the migratory/invasive and proliferative capacities of breast cancer cells in vitro. Importantly, these findings were confirmed in orthotopic humanized breast tumors in mice. Furthermore, TCZ suppressed the expression of the pro-angiogenic factor VEGF-A and its transactivator HIF-1α in CAF cells, and consequently inhibited the angiogenic-promoting effect of active CAFs both in vitro and in orthotopic tumor xenografts. These results indicate that inhibition of the IL-6/STAT3/AUF1 pathway by TCZ can normalize active breast CAFs and suppress their paracrine pro-carcinogenic effects, which paves the way toward development of specific CAF-targeting therapy, badly needed for more efficient breast cancer treatments.

Keywords: angiogenesis, interleukin-6, paracrine, cancer-associated fibroblasts

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Authors: Sulaiman A. Alrumman, Abd El-Latif Hesham

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Despite medical progress worldwide, dental caries are still widespread. Miswak is derived from the plant arak (Salvadora persica). It is used by Muslim people as a natural product for the cleansing of teeth, to ensure oral and dental hygiene. This study was designed to evaluate the antimicrobial effects of ethanol, methanol, and ethanol/methanol extracts of miswak against three bacterial pathogens of the oral cavity. The pathogens were isolated from the oral cavity of volunteers/patients and were identified on the basis of 16S rRNA gene amplification data. Sequence comparisons were made with 16S rRNA gene sequences available in the GenBank database. The results of sequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis identified the three pathogens as being Staphylococcus aureus strain KKU-020, Enterococcus faecalis strain KKU-021 and Klebsiella pneumoniae strain KKU-022. All miswak extracts showed powerful antimicrobial activity against the three pathogens. The maximum zone of inhibition (40.67±0.88 mm) was observed against E. faecalis with ethanolic extracts whilst methanolic extracts showed the minimum zone of inhibition (10.33±0.88 mm) against K. pneumonia KKU-022. Based on the significant effects of the miswak extracts against the oral cavity pathogens in our study, we recommend that miswak is to be used as a dental hygiene method to prevent tooth caries.

Keywords: antibacterial, miswak, Salvadora persica, oral cavity pathogens

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Authors: M. Sakthivel, A. Devaki, D. Balasubramanyam, P. Kumarasamy, A. Raja, R. Anilkumar, H. Gopi

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The influence of inbreeding on growth traits in the New Zealand White rabbits maintained at Sheep Breeding and Research Station, Sandynallah, The Nilgiris, India was studied in a closed herd. Data were collected over a period of 15 years (1998 to 2012). The traits studied were body weights at weaning (W42), post-weaning (W70) and marketing (W135) age and growth efficiency traits viz., average daily gain (ADG), relative growth rate (RGR) and Kleiber ratio (KR) estimated on a daily basis at different age intervals (1=42 to 70 days; 2=70 to 135 days and 3=42 to 135 days) from weaning to marketing. The effects of inbreeding along with other non-genetic factors (sex of the kit, season and period of birth of the kit) were analyzed using least-squares method. The inbreeding (F) and equivalent inbreeding (EF) coefficients were taken as fixed classes as well as covariates in separate analyses. When taken as covariate, the effect was analyzed as partial regression of respective growth trait on individual inbreeding coefficient (F or EF). The mean body weights at weaning, post-weaning and marketing were 0.715, 1.276 and 2.187 kg, respectively. The maximum growth efficiency was noticed between weaning and post-weaning. Season and period had highly significant influence on all the growth parameters studied and sex of the kit had significant influence on certain growth efficiency traits only. The average coefficients of inbreeding and equivalent inbreeding in the population were 13.233 and 17.585 percent, respectively. About 11.17 percent of total matings were highly inbred in which full-sib, half-sib and parent-offspring matings were 1.20, 6.30 and 3.67 percent, respectively. The regression of body weight traits on F and EF showed negative effect whereas most of the growth efficiency traits showed positive effects. Significant inbreeding depression was observed in W42 and W70. The depression in W42 was 0.214 kg and 0.139 kg and in W70 was 0.269 kg and 0.172 kg for every one unit increase in F and EF, respectively. Though the trait W135 showed positive value and ADG1 showed depression, the effects of inbreeding and equivalent inbreeding were non-significant in these traits. Higher values of inbreeding depression could be due to more variance of F or EF in the population. The analysis of the effect of level of inbreeding on growth traits revealed that the inbreeding class was significant on W70, ADG2, RGR2 and KR2 while EF classes had significant influence only on ADG2, RGR2 and KR2. Obviously, inbreeding does not have a positive effect, therefore, these results suggest that inbreeding had no effect on these traits.

Keywords: growth parameters, equivalent inbreeding, inbreeding effects, rabbit genetics

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Authors: Jiyaul Haque, Vandana Srivastava, M. A. Quraishi

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The amino acids based corrosion inhibitors 2-(3-(carboxymethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium-1-yl) acetate (Z-1),2-(3-(1-carboxyethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium-1-yl) propanoate (Z-2) and 2-(3-(1-carboxy-2-phenylethyl)-1H-imidazol-3-ium-1-yl)-3- phenylpropanoate (Z-3) were synthesized by the reaction of amino acids, glyoxal and formaldehyde, and characterized by the FTIR and NMR spectroscopy. The corrosion inhibition performance of synthesized inhibitors was studied by electrochemical (EIS and PDP), surface and DFT methods. The results show, the studied Z-1, Z-2 and Z-3 are effective inhibitors, showed the maximum inhibition efficiency of 88.52 %, 89.48 and 96.08% at concentration 200ppm, respectively. The results of potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) study showed that Z-1 act as a cathodic inhibitor, while Z-2 and Z-3 act as mixed type inhibitors. The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies showed that zwitterions inhibit the corrosion through adsorption mechanism. The adsorption of synthesized zwitterions on the mild steel surface was followed the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. The formation of zwitterions film on mild steel surface was confirmed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The quantum chemical parameters were used to study the reactivity of inhibitors and supported the experimental results. An inhibitor adsorption model is proposed.

Keywords: electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, green corrosion inhibitors, mild steel, SEM, quantum chemical calculation, zwitterions

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Authors: Vaishnavi Unde, Srikanth Mutnuri

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Today dye stuff sector is one of the major chemical industries in India. Indigo is a blue coloured dye used all over the world in large quantity. The indigo dye produced and used in textile industries is synthetic having toxic effect, thus there is an increase in interest for natural dyes owing to the environmental concerns. The present study focuses on the use of a strain Pandoraea sp. isolated from garage soil, for the production of indigo in fed batch bioreactor. A comparative study between single phase and two phase production was carried out in this work. The blue colour produced during the experiments was analyzed using, TLC, UV-visible spectrophotometer and FTIR technique. The blue pigment was found to be indigo. The production of bio-indigo was done in a single phase fermentor carrying medium and substrate indole in dissolved form and was found to produce maximum of 0.041 g/L of indigo. Whereas there was an increase in production of indigo to 0.068 g/L in a two phase, water-silicone oil system. In this study the advantage of using second phase as silicone oil has enhanced the indigo production, as the second phase made the substrate available to the bacteria by increasing the surface area as well as it helped to prevent the inhibition effect of the high concentration of substrate, indole. The effect of single and two phases on the growth of bacteria was also studied.

Keywords: dyes, fed batch reactor, indole, Indigo

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Authors: Jyh-Cheng Chen, Tai-Jing Wang, Yun-Wei Lin

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Astaxanthin has been demonstrated to exhibit a wide range of beneficial effects including anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. However, the molecular mechanism of astaxanthin-induced cytotoxicity in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells has not been identified. Rad51 plays a central role in homologous recombination and high levels of Rad51 expression are observed in chemo- or radioresistant carcinomas. In this study, astaxanthin treatment inhibited cell viability and proliferation of two NSCLC cells, A549 and H1703. Treatment with astaxanthin decreased Rad51 expression and phospho-AKT protein level in a time and dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, expression of constitutively active AKT (AKT-CA) vector significantly rescued the decreased Rad51 protein and mRNA levels in astaxanthin-treated NSCLC cells. Combined treatment with PI3K inhibitors (LY294002 or wortmannin) and astaxanthin further decreased the Rad51 expression in NSCLC cells. Knockdown of Rad51 enhanced astaxanthin-induced cytotoxicity and growth inhibition in NSCLC cells. These findings may have implications for the rational design of future drug regimens incorporating astaxanthin for the treatment of NSCLC.

Keywords: astaxanthin, cytotoxicity, AKT, non-small cell lung cancer, PI3K

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Authors: Ewa Mojs, Katarzyna Wiechec, Maia Kubiak, Wlodzimierz Samborski

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Interactions between mother’s psychological condition and child’s health status are complex and derive from the nature of the mother-child relationship. The aim of the study was to analyze the issue of anxiety amongst mothers of short children in the aspect of growth hormone therapy. The study was based on a group of 101 mothers of originally short-statured children – 70 with growth hormone deficiency (GHD) treated with recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) and 31 undergoing the diagnostic process, without any treatment. Collected medical data included child's gender, height and weight, chronological age, bone age delay, and rhGH therapy duration. For all children, the height SDS and BMI SDS were calculated. To evaluate anxiety in mothers, the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) was used. Obtained results revealed low trait anxiety levels, with no statistically significant differences between the groups. State anxiety levels were average when mothers of all children were analyzed together, but when divided into groups, statistical differences appeared. Mothers of children without diagnosis and treatment had significantly higher levels of state anxiety than mothers of children with GHD receiving appropriate therapy. These results show, that the occurrence of growth failure in children is not related to high maternal trait anxiety, but the lack of diagnosis and lack of appropriate treatment generates higher levels of maternal state anxiety than the process of rh GH therapy in the offspring. Commencement of growth hormone therapy induce a substantial reduction of the state anxiety in mothers, and the duration of treatment causes its further decrease.

Keywords: anxiety, development, growth hormone deficiency, motherhood

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Authors: Vaishali Patil, Neeraj Masand

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In older people, Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is turning out to be a lethal disease. According to the amyloid hypothesis, aggregation of the amyloid β–protein (Aβ), particularly its 42-residue variant (Aβ42), plays direct role in the pathogenesis of AD. Aβ is generated through sequential cleavage of amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β–secretase (BACE) and γ–secretase (GS). Thus in the treatment of AD, γ-secretase modulators (GSMs) are potential disease-modifying as they selectively lower pathogenic Aβ42 levels by shifting the enzyme cleavage sites without inhibiting γ–secretase activity. This possibly avoids known adverse effects observed with complete inhibition of the enzyme complex. Virtual screening, via drug-like ADMET filter, QSAR and molecular docking analyses, has been utilized to identify novel γ–secretase modulators with sulphonamide nucleus. Based on QSAR analyses and docking score, some novel analogs have been synthesized. The results obtained by in silico studies have been validated by performing in vivo analysis. In the first step, behavioral assessment has been carried out using Scopolamine induced amnesia methodology. Later the same series has been evaluated for neuroprotective potential against the oxidative stress induced by Scopolamine. Biochemical estimation was performed to evaluate the changes in biochemical markers of Alzheimer’s disease such as lipid peroxidation (LPO), Glutathione reductase (GSH), and Catalase. The Scopolamine induced amnesia model has shown increased Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) levels and the inhibitory effect of test compounds in the brain AChE levels have been evaluated. In all the studies Donapezil (Dose: 50µg/kg) has been used as reference drug. The reduced AChE activity is shown by compounds 3f, 3c, and 3e. In the later stage, the most potent compounds have been evaluated for Aβ42 inhibitory profile. It can be hypothesized that this series of alkyl-aryl sulphonamides exhibit anti-AD activity by inhibition of Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) enzyme as well as inhibition of plaque formation on prolong dosage along with neuroprotection from oxidative stress.

Keywords: gamma-secretase inhibitors, Alzzheimer's disease, sulphonamides, QSAR

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Authors: Fatimah Al-Hayazi, Ehteram. A. Noor, Aisha H. Moubaraki

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The inhibitive effect of Securigera securidaca seed extract (SSE) on mild steel corrosion in 1 M HCl solution has been studied by weight loss and electrochemical techniques at four different temperatures. All techniques studied provided data that the studied extract does well at all temperatures, and its inhibitory action increases with increasing its concentration. SEM images indicate thin-film formation on mild steel when corroded in solutions containing 1 g L-1 of inhibitor either at low or high temperatures. The polarization studies showed that SSE acts as an anodic inhibitor. Both polarization and impedance techniques show an acceleration behaviour for SSE at concentrations ≤ 0.1 g L-1 at all temperatures. At concentrations ≥ 0.1 g L-1, the efficiency of SSE is dramatically increased with increasing concentration, and its value does not change appreciably with increasing temperature. It was found that all adsorption data obeyed Temkin adsorption isotherm. Kinetic activation and thermodynamic adsorption parameters are evaluated and discussed. The results revealed an endothermic corrosion process with an associative activation mechanism, while a comprehensive adsorption mechanism for SSE on mild steel surfaces is suggested, in which both physical and chemical adsorption are involved in the adsorption process. A good correlation between inhibitor constituents and their inhibitory action was obtained.

Keywords: corrosion, inhibition of steel, hydrochloric acid, thermodynamic study

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Authors: Saad M. Howladar, Mike Dennett

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The effect of salinity (0-200 mMNaCl) on wheat growth (leaf and tiller numbers, and fresh and dry weights) underseed soaking (6 and 24 hs) insalicylic acid (SA) was investigated. The impact of salinity was less pronounced in salt tolerant cultivars (Sakha 93 and S24) than Paragon and S24. Chlorophyll content was increased as a response to salinity stress. It was raised in 100 mMNaCl more than 200 mMNaCl. The same trend was found in 24 hs soaking, except chlorophyll content in Paragon and S24 under 200 mMNaCl was more than 100 mMNaCl. SA application induced a positive effect on growth parameters in some cultivars, particularly Paragon under saline and non-saline condition. Soaking for 6 hs was more effective than 24 hs soaking, especially in Paragon and Sakha 93. SA supply caused a slight effect on chlorophyll content but this was not significant and there was no significant difference between both soaking hs. The effect of SA on growth parameters and chlorophyll content depends on cultivar genotype and SA concentration.

Keywords: salinity, salicylic acid, growth parameters, chlorophyll content, wheat cultivars

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Authors: Mingyue Sheng, Basil Sharp

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Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from national transport account for the largest share of emissions from energy use in New Zealand. Whether the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship exists between environmental degradation indicators from the transport sector and economic growth in New Zealand remains unclear. This paper aims at exploring the causality relationship between CO₂ emissions from the transport sector, fossil fuel consumption, and the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita in New Zealand, using annual data for the period 1977 to 2013. First, conventional unit root tests (Augmented Dickey–Fuller and Phillips–Perron tests), and a unit root test with the breakpoint (Zivot-Andrews test) are employed to examine the stationarity of the variables. Second, the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test for co-integration, followed by Granger causality investigated causality among the variables. Empirical results of the study reveal that, in the short run, there is a unidirectional causality between economic growth and transport CO₂ emissions with direction from economic growth to transport CO₂ emissions, as well as a bidirectional causality from transport CO₂ emissions to road energy consumption.

Keywords: economic growth, transport carbon dioxide emissions, environmental Kuznets curve, causality

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Authors: Cleopatra Oluseye Ibukun

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Following the endogenous growth theory, entrepreneurship has been considered pivotal to economic growth and development, particularly in developing countries like Nigeria. Meanwhile, efforts to reduce unemployment has yielded minimal result with over 36% of youth unemployment and a dwindling economic growth despite the country’s natural and human resource endowment. This study, therefore, investigates the effects of entrepreneurship and institutional quality on economic growth and unemployment in Nigeria over the period 1996 to 2018. The data is obtained from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), World Bank’s World Development Indicators (WDI), and the World Bank’s World Governance Indicators (WGI). The study period is guided by the availability of data, and the study employs both descriptive and econometric techniques of analysis (specifically, the Auto-regressive Distributed Lag Approach). This approach is preferable given that the variables are stationary at the first difference, while the bounds test suggests the existence of co-integration among the variables. By implication, an increase in entrepreneurship significantly improves economic growth, and it reduces unemployment in both the short-run and the long-run. Besides, institutional quality proxied by the control of corruption, political stability, and government effectiveness significantly mediates the interaction between entrepreneurship and macroeconomic performance. This study concludes that improved institutional quality enhances the effect of entrepreneurship on economic growth and unemployment in Nigeria, and it recommends an improvement in Nigeria’s institutional quality because it can jeopardise or augment the effect of entrepreneurship on macroeconomic performance.

Keywords: entrepreneurship, institutional quality, unemployment, gross domestic product, Nigeria

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Authors: Assaad Ghazouani

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Tunisia is ranked among the countries with low energy diversification, but this configuration makes the country too dependent on fossil fuel exporting countries and therefore extremely sensitive to any oil crises, many measures to diversify electricity production must be taken in making use of other forms of renewable and nuclear energy. One of the solutions required to escape this dependence is the liberalization of the electricity industry which can lead to an improvement of supply, energy diversification, and reducing some of the negative effects of the trade balance. This paper examines the issue of renewable electricity and economic growth in Tunisia consumption. The main objective is to study and analyze the causal link between renewable energy consumption and economic growth in Tunisia over the period 1980-2010. To examine the relationship in the short and in the long terms, we used a multidimensional approach to cointegration based on recent advances in time series econometrics (test Zivot - Andrews, Test of Cointegration Johannsen, Granger causality test, error correction model (ECM)).

Keywords: renewable electricity, economic growth, VECM, cointegration, Tunisia

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Authors: S. O. Okoro

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Some words become the catch phrase of a particular decade. Globalization, Openness, and Privatization are certainly among the most frequently encapsulation of 1990’s; the market is ‘in’, ‘the state is out’. In the 1970’s, there were many political economists who spoke of autarky as one possible response to global economic forces. Be self-contained, go it alone, put up barriers to trans-nationalities, put in place import-substitution industrialization policy and grow domestic industries. In 1990’s, the emasculation of the state is by no means complete, but there is an acceptance that the state’s power is circumscribed by forces beyond its control and potential leverage. Autarky is no longer as a policy option. Nigeria, since its emergence as an independent nation, has evolved two macroeconomic management regimes of the interventionist and market friendly styles. This paper investigates Nigeria’s growth performance over the periods incorporating these two regimes and finds that there is no structural break in Total Factor Productivity, (TFP) growth and besides, the TFP growth over the entire period of study 1970-2012 is very negligible and hence growth can only be achieved by the unsustainable factor accumulation. Another important finding of this work is that the openness-human capital interaction term has a significant impact on the TFP growth, but the sign of the estimated coefficient does not meet it a theoretical expectation. This is because the negative coefficient on the human capital outweighs the positive openness effect. The poor quality of human capital is considered to have given rise to this. Given these results a massive investment in the education sector is required. The investment should be targeted at reforms that go beyond mere structural reforms to a reform agenda that will improve the quality of human capital in Nigeria.

Keywords: globalization, emasculation, openness and privatization, total factor productivity

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Authors: Gylych Jelilov

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This paper investigates the effect of foreign debt on economic growth. Example has been chosen from Africa, Nigeria. By conducting cointegration test we have tested for a long-run relationship between. GDP = Real gross domestic product, EXTDEBT = External debt, INT = Interest rate, CAB = Current account balance, and EXCHR = Real exchange rate over the period 1990 to 2012. It was found out by the study that there is a negative but insignificant relationship between external debt and real gross domestic product. While a positive relationship exists between external debt and economic growth. Also, showed a negative and significant relationship between interest rate and real gross domestic product and there was a positive but insignificant relationship between current account balance and real gross domestic product.

Keywords: economic growth, foreign debt, Nigeria, sustainable development, economic stability

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Authors: Himali N. Balasooriya, Kithsiri B. Dassanayake, Saman Seneweera, Said Ajlouni

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Increase in atmospheric CO₂ concentration [CO₂] and ambient temperature associated with changing climatic conditions will have significant impacts on agriculture crop productivity and quality. Independent effects of the above two environmental variables on the growth, yield and quality of strawberry were well documented. Higher temperatures over the optimum range (20-25ºC) lead to crop failures, while elevated [CO₂] stimulated plant growth and yield but compromised the physical quality of fruits. However, there is very limited understanding of the interaction between these variables on the plant growth, yield and quality. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the interactive effect of high temperature and elevated [CO₂] on growth, yield and quality of strawberries. Strawberry cultivars ‘Albion’ and ‘San Andreas’ were grown under six different combinations of two temperatures (25 and 30ºC) and three [CO₂] (400, 650 and 950 µmol mol^-1) in controlled-environmental growth chambers. Plant growth measurements such as plant height, canopy area, number of flowers, and fruit yield were measured during phonological development. Photosynthesis and transpiration, the ratio of intercellular to atmospheric [CO₂] (Ci/Ca) were measured to estimate the physiological adjustment to climate stress. The impact of temperature and [CO₂] interaction on growth and yield of strawberry was significant (p < 0.05). Across both cultivars, highest fruit yields were observed at 650 µmol mol^-1 [CO₂], which was particularly clear at 25°C. The fruit yield gradually decreased at 30°C under all the treatment combinations. However, photosynthesis rates were highest at 650 µmol mol^-1 [CO₂] but no increment was found at 900 µmol mol^-1 [CO₂]. Interestingly, Ci/Ca ratio increased with increasing atmospheric [CO₂] which was predominant at high temperature. Similarly, fruit yield was substantially reduced at high [CO₂] under high temperature. Our findings suggest that increased Ci/Ca ratio at high temperature is likely reduces the photosynthesis and thus yield response to elevated [CO₂].

Keywords: atmospheric CO₂ concentration, fruit yield, strawberry, temperature

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Authors: Thilivhali Emmanuel Tshikalange, Phiwokuhle Mamba

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Ten medicinal plants used traditionally in the treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and urinary tract infections (UTIs) were selected from an ethnobotanical database developed in Mpumalanga. The plants were investigated for their antimicrobial activity against five bacterial strains (Escherichia coli, Klebsiella oxytoca, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Staphylococcus aureus) and one fungal strain (Candida albicans). Eight of the plants inhibited the growth of all microorganisms at a concentration range of 0.4 mg/ml to 12.5 mg/ml. Acacia karroo showed the most promising antimicrobial activity, with a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 0.4 mg/ml on Staphylococcus aureus and 0.8 mg/ml on Neisseria gonorrhoeae. All ten plants were further investigated for their antioxidant activities using the DPPH scavenging method. Acacia karroo and Rhoicissus tridentata subsp. cuneifolia showed good antioxidant activity with IC50 values of 0.83 mg/ml and 0.06 mg/ml, respectively. The toxicity of plants was determined using the XTT reduction method against Vero cells. None of the ten plants showed toxicity on the cells. The obtained results confirmed that Acacia karroo and possibly Rhoicissus tridentata subsp. cuneifolia have the potential of being used as antimicrobial agents in the treatment of STDs and UTIs. These results support and validate traditional use of medicinal plants studied.

Keywords: antimicrobial, antioxidant, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, sexually transmitted diseases

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Authors: Sergejs Kolesovs, Armands Vigants

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The use of dairy industry by-products and wastewater as a cheap substrate for microalgal growth is gaining recognition. However, the mechanisms of lactose utilization remain understudied, limiting the potential of successful microalgal biomass production using various dairy by-products, such as whey and permeate. The necessity for microalgae to produce a specific enzyme, β-galactosidase, requires the selection of suitable strains. This study focuses on a freshwater microalgal isolate's ability to grow on a semi-synthetic medium supplemented with lactose. After 10 days of agitated cultivation, an axenic microalgal isolate achieved significantly higher biomass production under mixotrophic growth conditions (0.86 ± 0.07 g/L, dry weight) than heterotrophic growth (0.46 ± 0.04 g/L). Moreover, mixotrophic cultivation had significantly higher biomass production compared to photoautotrophic growth (0.67 ± 0.05 g/L). The activity of β-galactosidase was detected in both supernatant and microalgal biomass under mixotrophic and heterotrophic growth conditions, showing the potential of extracellular and intracellular mechanisms of enzyme production. However, the main limiting factor in this study was the increase of pH values during the cultivation, significantly reducing the activity of the β-galactosidase enzyme after 3rd day of cultivation. It highlights the need for stricter control of growth parameters to ensure the enzyme's activity. Further research will assess the isolate's suitability for dairy by-product bioconversion and biomass composition.

Keywords: microalgae, lactose, whey, permeate, beta-galactosidase, mixotrophy, heterotrophy

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Authors: A. Bouaouiche, M. S. Boulakoud

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The functioning of the pineal gland, the transducer body of environmental information to the neuroendocrine system is subject to a circadian rhythm. Melatonin is the main neuro-hormone expressing this operation. It is synthesized in the pinealocytes after conversion serotonin via N-acetyl-transferase enzyme, itself subject to a photoperiodic modulation (activation dark inhibition by light). Some authors have suggested that melatonin is involved in diabetic disease and found that it could have a diabetogenic effect. To this study the effect of this hormone on glucose metabolism has long been subject to controversy. Agreeing in effect and hyperinsulinemic hypoglycemic effect. In order to illustrate the level of interaction of melatonin with neuro-immune- corticotropin axis and its impact on carbohydrate metabolism, we studied the impact homeostatic (glucose) through the solicitation of two control systems (gland pineal and corticotropin axis). We then found that melatonin could have an indirect influence on insulin control (glucose metabolism) to the levels of the growth hormone axis (somatostatin) and adrenocorticotropic (corticotropin). In addition, we have suggested that melatonin might limit the hyperglycemic action of corticosteroids by direct action at peripheral level.

Keywords: pinéal gland, melatonin, neuro-immuno-corticotrop, metabolism

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Authors: Dessie Fisseha, Derbew Belew, Ambecha Olika

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Potato is a high-potential food security crop in Ethiopia. However, the yield and productivity of the crop have been far below the world average. This is due to several factors, including appropriate agronomic practices, such as time of earthing-up and inflorescence management. A field experiment was conducted at Jimma, Southwest Ethiopia, during 2016/17 under irrigation to determine the effect of time of earthing-up and inflorescence removal on the growth, yield, and quality of potatoes. The treatments consisted of a time of earthing-up (no earthing-up, earthing-up at 15, 30, and 45 days after complete plant emergence) and inflorescence removal (inflorescence removed and not removed). Potato variety (Belete) was used for this experiment. A 2x4 factorial experiment was laid out with three replications. Data collected on the growth, yield, and quality components of potatoes were analyzed using SAS Version 9.3 statistical software. Inflorescence removal affected the majority of the growth and yield parameters, while the time of earthing-up affected all growth, yield, and quality (green tuber number) parameters. Earthing-up at 15 days in combination with inflorescence removal (at 60 days after complete plant emergence) gave better plant growth and maximum tuber yield of the Belete potato variety under irrigated conditions. Since the current research was conducted at one location, in one season, and with one potato cultivar (Belete), it would be advisable to repeat the experiment so as to arrive at a final conclusion and subsequent recommendation.

Keywords: Belete, earthing-up, inflorescence, yield

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Authors: Anjali Verma, Mahesh Pal, Veena Pande, Dalip Kumar Upreti

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The present study is carried out to explore the anti-hyperglycemic activity of Leucas cephalotes plant parts. A fruit, leaves, stems, and roots part of the Leucas cephalotes has been extracted in ethanol and have been evaluated for anti-hyperglycemic activity. The present study indicated that, ethanolic extract of fruit and leaves have shown significant α- amylase inhibitory activity with IC50 value of 92.86 ± 0.89 μg/mL and 98.09 ± 0.69 μg/mL respectively. Two known compounds β-sitosterol and lupeol were isolated from ethanolic extract of L. cephalotes leaves and were subjected to anti-hyperglycemic activity. Lupeol shows the best activity with IC50 55.73 ± 0.47 μg/mL and the results were verified by docking study of these compounds with mammalian α-amylase was carried out on its active site. It was concluded from the study that β-sitosterol and lupeol form one H-bond interactions with the active site residues either Asp212 or Thr21. The estimated free energy binding of β-sitosterol was found to be -9.47 kcal mol-1 with an estimated inhibition constant (Ki) of 558.94 nmol whereas the estimated free energy binding of lupeol was -11.73 kcal mol-1 with an estimated inhibition constant (Ki) of 476.71pmmol. The present study clearly showed that lupeol is more potent in comparison to β-sitosterol. The study indicates that L. cephalotes have significant potential to inhibit α-amylase enzyme.

Keywords: alpha-amylase, beta-sitosterol, hyperglycemia, lupeol

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Authors: Chona Gelani, Mylene Uy, Keisuke Yasuda, Emi Ohta, Shinji Ohta

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The marine environment is undoubtedly a rich source of diverse organisms that possess bioactive secondary metabolites with important pharmacological activities. Marine sponges have since been contributing a wide array of compounds of biomedical and pharmaceutical importance. This study is an attempt to contribute to the growing and advancing marine natural products research. It aims to evaluate the cytotoxicity of the hexane extract (H) from the Philippine marine sponges, Rhabdastrella globostellata (Rg), Callyspongia sp. (Calsp), Callyspongia aerizusa (Ca), Carteriospongia sp. (Carsp), and Cinachyrella sp. (Cisp) using the eggs of starfish, Asterina pectinifera, and sea urchin, Hemicentrotus pulcherrimus. Specifically, the cytotoxicity of the marine sponge hexane extract was determined through its inhibition of starfish and sea urchin embryonic development. After 24 hours, CarspH and RgH inhibited early gastrulation of sea urchin at a minimum concentration of 15.63 and 31.25 μg/mL, respectively. CalspH inhibited the early gastrulation of both sea urchin and starfish at 125 μg/mL, whereas CaH halted the morula of sea urchin and early gastrulation of starfish at 250 μg/mL. CispH exhibited relatively weak inhibitory activity on starfish embryogenesis but inhibited the early gastrulation of sea urchin at 250 μg/mL. The results obtained from this study were used as basis for the separation, isolation and purification of the component(s) of the hexane extracts from the five Philippine marine sponges.

Keywords: embryonic development, marine sponge cytotoxicity, Philippine marine sponges, sea urchin and starfish embryogenesis

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Authors: Muhammad Ajmair

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This empirical study followed structural vector auto regression (SVAR) approach proposed by the so-called AB-model of Amisano and Giannini (1997) to check the impact of relevant macroeconomic determinants on economic growth in Pakistan. Before that auto regressive distributive lag (ARDL) bound testing technique and time varying parametric approach along with general to specific approach was employed to find out relevant significant determinants of economic growth. To our best knowledge, no author made such a study that employed auto regressive distributive lag (ARDL) bound testing and time varying parametric approach with general to specific approach in empirical literature, but current study will bridge this gap. Annual data was taken from World Development Indicators (2014) during period 1976-2014. The widely-used Schwarz information criterion and Akaike information criterion were considered for the lag length in each estimated equation. Main findings of the study are that remittances received, gross national expenditures and inflation are found to be the best relevant positive and significant determinants of economic growth. Based on these empirical findings, we conclude that government should focus on overall economic growth augmenting factors while formulating any policy relevant to the concerned sector.

Keywords: economic growth, gross national expenditures, inflation, remittances

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Authors: H. Barati, M. Wu, A. Kharicha, A. Ludwig

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A transient model for nozzle clogging has been developed and successfully validated against a laboratory experiment. Key steps of clogging are considered: transport of particles by turbulent flow towards the nozzle wall; interactions between fluid flow and nozzle wall, and the adhesion of the particle on the wall; the growth of the clog layer and its interaction with the flow. The current paper is to investigate the mesh (size and type) sensitivity of the model in both two and three dimensions. It is found that the algorithm for clog growth alone excluding the flow effect is insensitive to the mesh type and size, but the calculation including flow becomes sensitive to the mesh quality. The use of 2D meshes leads to overestimation of the clog growth because the 3D nature of flow in the boundary layer cannot be properly solved by 2D calculation. 3D simulation with tetrahedron mesh can also lead to an error estimation of the clog growth. A mesh-independent result can be achieved with hexahedral mesh, or at least with triangular prism (inflation layer) for near-wall regions.

Keywords: clogging, continuous casting, inclusion, simulation, submerged entry nozzle

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Authors: Jiangbo Li, Wenqian Huang

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Early detection of fungal infection in citrus fruit is one of the major problems in the postharvest commercialization process. The automatic and nondestructive detection of infected fruits is still a challenge for the citrus industry. At present, the visual inspection of rotten citrus fruits is commonly performed by workers through the ultraviolet induction fluorescence technology or manual sorting in citrus packinghouses to remove fruit subject with fungal infection. However, the former entails a number of problems because exposing people to this kind of lighting is potentially hazardous to human health, and the latter is very inefficient. Orange is used as a research object. This study would focus on this problem and proposed an effective method based on Vis-NIR hyperspectral imaging in the wavelength range of 400-1000 nm with a spectroscopic resolution of 2.8 nm. In this work, three normalization approaches are applied prior to analysis to reduce the effect of sample curvature on spectral profiles, and it is found that mean normalization was the most effective pretreatment for decreasing spectral variability due to curvature. Then, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to a dataset composing of average spectra from decayed and normal tissue to reduce the dimensionality of data and observe the ability of Vis-NIR hyper-spectra to discriminate data from two classes. In this case, it was observed that normal and decayed spectra were separable along the resultant first principal component (PC1) axis. Subsequently, five wavelengths (band) centered at 577, 702, 751, 808, and 923 nm were selected as the characteristic wavelengths by analyzing the loadings of PC1. A multispectral combination image was generated based on five selected characteristic wavelength images. Based on the obtained multispectral combination image, the intensity slicing pseudocolor image processing method is used to generate a 2-D visual classification image that would enhance the contrast between normal and decayed tissue. Finally, an image segmentation algorithm for detection of decayed fruit was developed based on the pseudocolor image coupled with a simple thresholding method. For the investigated 238 independent set samples including infected fruits infected by Penicillium digitatum and normal fruits, the total success rate is 100% and 97.5%, respectively, and, the proposed algorithm also used to identify the orange infected by penicillium italicum with a 100% identification accuracy, indicating that the proposed multispectral algorithm here is an effective method and it is potential to be applied in citrus industry.

Keywords: citrus fruit, early rotten, fungal infection, hyperspectral imaging

Procedia PDF Downloads 287

Authors: S. B. Q. Tran

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Drop condensation is the phenomenon that the tiny drops form when the oversaturated vapour present in the environment condenses on a substrate and makes the droplet growth. Recently, this subject has received much attention due to its applications in many fields such as thin film growth, heat transfer, recovery of atmospheric water and polymer templating. In literature, many papers investigated theoretically and experimentally in macro droplet growth with the size of millimeter scale of radius. However few papers about nanodroplet condensation are found in the literature especially theoretical work. In order to understand the droplet growth in nanoscale, we perform the numerical simulation work to study nanodroplet growth. We investigate and discuss the role of the droplet shape and monomer diffusion on drop growth and their effect on growth law. The effect of droplet shape is studied by doing parametric studies of contact angle and disjoining pressure magnitude. Besides, the effect of pinning and de-pinning behaviours is also studied. We investigate the axisymmetric homogeneous growth of 10–100 nm single water nanodroplet on a substrate surface. The main mechanism of droplet growth is attributed to the accumulation of laterally diffusing water monomers, formed by the absorption of water vapour in the environment onto the substrate. Under assumptions of quasi-steady thermodynamic equilibrium, the nanodroplet evolves according to the augmented Young–Laplace equation. Using continuum theory, we model the dynamics of nanodroplet growth including the coupled effects of disjoining pressure, contact angle and monomer diffusion with the assumption of constant flux of water monomers at the far field. The simulation result is validated by comparing with the published experimental result. For the case of nanodroplet growth with constant contact angle, our numerical results show that the initial droplet growth is transient by monomer diffusion. When the flux at the far field is small, at the beginning, the droplet grows by the diffusion of initially available water monomers on the substrate and after that by the flux at the far field. In the steady late growth rate of droplet radius and droplet height follow a power law of 1/3, which is unaffected by the substrate disjoining pressure and contact angle. However, it is found that the droplet grows faster in radial direction than high direction when disjoining pressure and contact angle increase. The simulation also shows the information of computational domain effect in the transient growth period. When the computational domain size is larger, the mass coming in the free substrate domain is higher. So the mass coming in the droplet is also higher. The droplet grows and reaches the steady state faster. For the case of pinning and de-pinning droplet growth, the simulation shows that the disjoining pressure does not affect the droplet radius growth law 1/3 in steady state. However the disjoining pressure modifies the growth rate of the droplet height, which then follows a power law of 1/4. We demonstrate how spatial depletion of monomers could lead to a growth arrest of the nanodroplet, as observed experimentally.

Keywords: augmented young-laplace equation, contact angle, disjoining pressure, nanodroplet growth

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Authors: Ahmed Sakr Ashour, Hoda Saad AboRemila

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An attempt was made to fill the gap in the macro analysis of corruption by suggesting a conceptual framework that differentiates four types of macro corruption: state capture, political, bureaucratic and financial/corporate. The economic consequences or forward linkages (growth, inclusiveness and sustainability of development) and macro institutional determinants constituting the backward linkages of each type were delineated. The research implications of the macro perspective and proposed framework were discussed. Implications of the findings for theory, research and reform policies addressing macro corruption issues were discussed.

Keywords: economic growth, inclusive growth, macro corruption, sustainable development

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Authors: Bensaid Fatiha

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The objective of our present work is the description of the antagonistic capacities of one strain of Pseudomonas fluorescens and the nonpathogenic fungic isolate Fusarium oxysporum against phytopathogenic agent Fusarium oxysporum F. Sp. lycopersici. This work has been achieved in two main parts: the first is interested on the in vitro antagonistic activities; the second was interested to study the soil receptiveness of fusarium wilt tomato. The use of strain of fluorescent Pseudomonas and a non-pathogenic strain of F. oxysporum in the different antagonism tests, has allowed assuring a certain bio-protection from the plants of tomatoes opposite to F. oxysporum F. Sp. lycopersici, agent of a wilt of tomato. These antagonistic have shown a substantial in vitro antagonistic activity on the three mediums (KB, PDA, KB+PDA) against F. oxysporum F. Sp. lycopersici, by inhibiting its growth mycelium with rate of inhibition going until 80 % with non-pathogen of Fusarium oxysporum and 60 % with strain of fluorescens Pseudomonas. Soil microbial balance, between the antagonistic population and that of pathogenic, can be modulated through microbiological variations or abiotic additives influencing directly or indirectly the metabolic behavior microbial. In this experiment, addition of glucose or EDTA, could increase or decrease the resistance of soil by activation of pathogenic or antagonists, as a result of modification and modulation in their metabolic activities.

Keywords: fluorescents, nonpathogenic, fusarium oxysporum, fusarium wilt, antagonism, biological control, soil receptivity

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Authors: Farzad Doostishoar, Abdolreza Hasanzadeh, Seyed Amin Ayatolahi Mousavi

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Introduction and Goals: Deuterium has different action from its isotopes hydrogen in chemical reactions and biochemical processes. It is not a significant difference in heavier atoms between the behavior of heavier isotope and the lighter One but for very lighter atoms it is significant . According to that most of the weight of all creatures body is water natural rate can be significant. In this article we want to study the effect of reduced deuterium on the fungus cell. If we saw the dependence of deuterium concentration of environment on the cells growth we can test this in invivo models too. Methods: First we measured deuterium concentration of the distillated water this analyze was operated by Arak’s heavy water company. Then the deuterium was diluted to ½ ¼ 1/8 1/16 by adding water free of deuterium for making media. In tree of samples the deuterium concentration was increased by adding D2O up to 10,50,100 times more concentrated. For candida albicans growth we used sabor medium and for aspergillus fomigatis growth we used sabor medium containing chloramphenicol. After culturing the funguses species we put the mediums for each species in the shaker incubator for 10 days in 25 centigrade. In different days and times the plates were studied morphologically and some microscopic characteristics were studied too. This experiments and cultures were repeated 3 times. Results: Statistical analyzes by paired-sample T test showed that aspergilus fomigatoos growth was decreased in concentration of 72 ppm( half deuterium concentration of negative control) significantly. In deuterium concentration reduction the growth reduce into the negative control significantly. The project results showed that candida albicans was sensitive to reduce and decrease of the deuterium in all concentrations.

Keywords: deuterium, cancer cell, growth, candida albicans

Procedia PDF Downloads 392