Thymoquinone Lowers Blood Glucose and Reduces Oxidative Stress in a Rat Model of Diabetes

The aim of the present study was to assess the short-term effects of Thymoquinone (TQ) on oxidative stress, glycaemic control, and renal functions in diabetic rats. DM was induced in groups II and III with a single dose of streptozotocin (STZ), while group I received no medication (control). The rats in groups I and II were then given distilled water, while the rats in group III were given TQ at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight/day for 4 weeks. Lipid peroxidase, nitric oxide (NO), total antioxidant capacity (TAC), glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c), lipid profiles, and renal function were assessed. Moreover, the renal tissues were used for histopathological examination. STZ increased the levels of HbA1c, lipid peroxidase, NO, and creatinine in STZ-induced diabetic rats in comparison to control rats. TAC was lower in STZ-induced diabetic rats than in the control group. Furthermore, rats treated with TQ exhibited significantly lower levels of HbA1c, lipid peroxidase, and NO than did untreated diabetic rats. TAC was higher in diabetic rats treated with TQ than in untreated diabetic rats. The histopathological results showed that treatment with TQ greatly attenuated the effect of STZ-induced diabetic nephropathy. TQ effectively adjusts glycaemic control and reduces oxidative stress in STZ-induced diabetic rats without significant damaging effects on the renal function.     

X-ray Photon Correlation Spectroscopy of Dynamics in Thermosensitive Gels

Summary : Temperature-sensitive hydrogels undergo a volume phase transition (VPT) when heated above a critical temperature T_c. For the poly(N-isopropyl acrylamide) (PNIPA)-water system, T_c. = 34 °C. Below T_c the gels are transparent and highly swollen. On warming above T_c they promptly turn white and start to deswell. The rate of deswelling, however, can be orders of magnitude slower than that of swelling below T_c. The unstable intermediate structure above T_c, can retain the solvent and conserve the sample volume for may days, even with millimetre-sized samples. Light scattering observations of the internal structure of these gels above T_c are precluded by their strong turbidity. Small angle X-ray scattering measurements (SAXS), on the other hand, are less subject to multiple scattering as X-rays penetrate more easily into the bulk material. Conventional (incoherent) SAXS observations reveal intense scattering from smooth internal water-polymer interfaces with an estimated surface area of about 7 m²/g in the swollen gel. The dynamics in the off-equilibrium high temperature state, investigated by X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS), displays a relaxation rate that is linearly proportional to the wavevector q, rather than to q² as in diffusion processes. The physical origin of this relaxation is consistent with jamming, a phenomenon that is common in other disordered systems.     

Unified analytical treatment of one-electron two-center integrals with noninteger n Slater-type orbitals

A unified treatment of one-electron two-center integrals over noninteger n Slater-type orbitals is described. Using an appropriate prolate spheroidal coordinate system with the two atomic centers as foci, all the molecular integrals are expressed by a single analytical formula which can be readily and compactly programmed. The analysis of the numerical performance of the computational algorithm is also presented. Received: 1 April 1999 / Accepted: 2 July 1999 / Published online: 2 November 1999     

Investigating Route to Chaos in Nonlinear Plasmonic Dimer

The route to chaos of a plasmonic dimer formed of two identical nanoparticles with Kerr-type nonlinear response and illuminated by an external electric field is reported. It is shown that this system has a complex dynamical behavior with chaotic nature. This complexity is analyzed using Lyapunov exponents, the Kaplan–Yorke dimension, and correlation dimensions. The existence of familiar period-doubling sequences route to chaos is pointed out, and domains corresponding to the onset of period doubling and chaos in the plane of parameters are evidenced.     

Fibonacci numbers and real quadratic p-rational fields

Periodica Mathematica Hungarica - We characterize p-rational real quadratic fields in terms of generalized Fibonacci numbers. We then use this characterization to give numerical evidence to a...     

A simple nonconforming quadrilateral finite element

We introduce and analyze a simple nonconforming quadrilateral finite element and then we derive optimal a priori error estimates for arbitrary regular quadrilaterals. The idea of extension to some non-conforming elements for three-dimensional hexahedrons is also presented.