Characterization of Phoenician pottery from Mothia by neutron activation analysis

The concentration of 7 elements (Na, Al, Mg, Ti, Ca, V, Mn) was determined by Neutron Activation Analysis in 35 samples of pottery and 14 samples of clay. The samples were collected in Mothia (a Phoenician stronghold in Sicily during 5^th–4^th century B. C.) and in its neighbourhoods. Cluster analysis of the data showed that most of the samples are homogeneous and confirmed the archaeological evidence that they are mostly local ware. The detailed results of the analyses are reported and the technique used for cluster analysis is described.     

Untargeted Phytochemical Profile,Antioxidant Capacity and Enzyme Inhibitory Activity of Cultivated and Wild Lupin Seeds from Tunisia

Lupin seeds can represent a valuable source of phenolics and other antioxidant compounds. In this work, a comprehensive analysis of the phytochemical profile was performed on seeds from three Lupinus species, including one cultivar (Lupinus albus) and two wild accessions (Lupinus cossentinii and Lupinus luteus), collected from the northern region of Tunisia. Untargeted metabolomic profiling allowed to identify 249 compounds, with a great abundance of phenolics and alkaloids. In this regard, the species L. cossentinii showed the highest phenolic content, being 6.54 mg/g DW, followed by L. luteus (1.60 mg/g DW) and L. albus (1.14 mg/g DW). The in vitro antioxidant capacity measured by the ABTS assay on seed extracts ranged from 4.67 to 17.58 mg trolox equivalents (TE)/g, recording the highest values for L. albus and the lowest for L. luteus. The DPPH radical scavenging activity ranged from 0.39 to 3.50 mg TE/g. FRAP values varied between 4.11 and 5.75 mg TE/g. CUPRAC values for lupin seeds ranged from 7.20 to 8.95 mg TE/g, recording the highest for L. cossentinii. The results of phosphomolybdenum assay and metal chelation showed similarity between the three species of Lupinus. The acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibition activity was detected in each methanolic extract analyzed with similar results. Regarding the butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) enzyme, it was weakly inhibited by the Lupinus extracts; in particular, the highest activity values were recorded for L. albus (1.74 mg GALAE/g). Overall, our results showed that L. cossentinii was the most abundant source of polyphenols, consisting mainly in tyrosol equivalents (5.82 mg/g DW). Finally, significant correlations were outlined between the phenolic compounds and the in vitro biological activity measured, particularly when considering flavones, phenolic acids and lower-molecular-weight phenolics.     

Weighted approximation of functions by Szász--Mirakyan-type operators

Summary We give error estimates for the weighted approximation of functions with singularities at the endpoints on the semiaxis by some modifications of Sz\'asz--Mirakyan operators. To do so, we define a new weighted modulus of smoothness and prove its equivalence to the weighted K-functional. Also, the class of functions for which the modified Sz\'asz--Mirakyan operator can be defined will be extended to a much wider set than for the original operator.