Antifungal activity and phytochemical screening of extracts from Phoenix dactylifera L. cultivars

In this study, the rachis extracts of eight date palm Phoenix dactylifera L. cultivars were analysed by phytochemical screening and bioautography on Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. albedinis (Foa). The choice of cultivars was based on their reaction to Foa (resistant, tolerant and sensitive). Phytochemical screening was realised for flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids and coumarins. Antifungal effects were mostly represented by dichloromethanic extracts (seven out of nine inhibition zones). The best results were represented by the dichloromethanic extract of the cultivar 'Bent-Cherk' rachis (6.50?±?1.41?mm) and the ethyl acetate extract of the cultivar 'Rotbi' rachis (6.00?±?1.41?mm). The date palm cultivars presented some similarities concerning phytochemical screening results related to their resistance or sensibility to Foa. From the correlation between phytochemical screening and bioautography, it was observed that the majority of bioactive compounds against Foa seem to be polyphenols. Thus, the natural defence mechanism in vivo against Foa is probably related to the action of polyphenols. The difference between resistant, tolerant and sensitive cultivars is related to their mechanism of action.     

Enterprise security economics: A self‐defense versus cyber‐insurance dilemma

We propose a model that optimizes enterprise investments in cybersecurity using expected utility theory. The model allows computing (a) investment in self‐defense to reduce the risk of security breaches, (b) investment in cyber insurance to transfer the residual risk to insurance companies, and (c) investment in forensic readiness to make the insured firms capable of generating provable insurance claims about security breaches. A three‐phase–based model of vulnerability rate evolution over time is proposed and used to estimate the different planned security expenditures throughout the investment horizon. At the starting time of investment, a decision maker invests to cover the existing risk of breach and periodically spends to cover the additional risk observed due to the release of new vulnerabilities. In this work, the intermediate tranches are determined while considering three different attitudes of decision makers, namely, optimistic, pessimistic, and realistic. An analysis is conducted to assess the performance of the proposed models.     

Determination of thermal conductivity and diffusivity of soaked steels using the “Mirage effect” method

In this work, we intend to study the thermal properties of the soaked steels like XC48 and their evolution according to the heating temperature and for different soaking media, using the “Mirage effect” method which permits the simultaneous determination of thermal conductivity and diffusivity. We have observed a discontinuity of thermal conductivity and diffusivity at the temperature of the ferro-paramagnetic transition.     

Synthesis, Spectral and Structural Study of N-[1-(N,N,N′,N′-Tetramethylphosphoramidoyl)- 1H-Benzimidazol-2-yl]-Propionimidic Ethyl Ether

The preparation of N-[1-(N,N,N,N-tetramethylphosphoramidoyl)-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl]-proponimidic ethyl ester 2 has been achieved by the reaction of N-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)-proponimidic acid ethyl ester 1 with N,N,N,N-tetramethylchlorophosphoramide. The structure of compound 2 has been determined by X-ray diffraction. The results of (¹H, ¹³C, ³¹P) NMR, IR, EI-MS spectral data are consistent with those obtained from the X-ray diffraction. The compound crystallizes in the triclinic system, following the EsZ conformation. In the crystal, there are two weak C3–H3s1 and C15–H15sO1 intermolecular hydrogen bonds.     

Cohomology Rings of Aspherical Groups

It is shown by construction that the only restriction on theintegral cohomology ring of a finitely presented asphericalgroup is that it has dimension at most 2.     

Dynamic and acoustic response of bidirectionally stiffened plates with eccentric stiffeners subject to airborne and structure-borne excitations

An analytical method based on the modal expansion technique was developed to predict the vibro-acoustic response of both unidirectionally and bidirectionally stiffened flat panel. This paper presents the response to diffuse acoustic field (DAF) and turbulent boundary layer (TBL) excitations in terms of their joint acceptance. Numerical results for the dynamic and acoustic responses are compared with finite element method (FEM) and boundary element (BEM) results for stiffened panel with complex and eccentrically shaped stiffeners subject to point force excitation. A theoretical prediction of the transmission loss (TL) is also compared with laboratory measurements conducted on flat panels representing aircraft models as well as with hybrid statistical energy analysis (SEA)-FEM periodic model. The results confirm that the stiffened panel has the same acoustic response as the skin without stiffeners at frequencies where the structural wavelengths are equal to the spacing between the stiffeners. In addition, the transmission loss is lowered by the presence of the stiffeners at some particular region of frequencies below the critical frequency with respect to the unstiffened panel.     

Expressions of dissipated powers and stored energies in poroelastic media modeled by {u,U} and {u,P} formulations

This paper is devoted to the rigorous obtention of the energy balance in porous materials. The wave propagation in the porous media is described by Biot-Allard's {u,U} and {u,P} formulations. The paper derives the expressions for stored kinetic and strain energies together with dissipated energies. It is shown that, in the case of mixed formulations, these expressions do not correspond to the real and imaginary parts of the variational formulations. A quantitative convergence analysis of finite element scheme is then undertaken with the help of these indicators. It is shown that the order of convergence of these indicators for linear finite-element is one and that they are then well fitted to check the validity of finite-element models.     

Novel synthesis of 3-cyano-2-pyridones derivatives catalyzed by Au–Co/TiO2

Research on Chemical Intermediates - The current work described a new and highly selective method for the synthesis of substituted 3-cyano-2-pyridones scaffolds using gold-cobalt supported on TiO2...     

Chitosan-Based Materials for the Removal of Nickel Ions from Aqueous Solutions

Russian Journal of Physical Chemistry A - Sorption of Ni(II) ions from liquid effluents utilizing chemically modified chitosan; (vanillin, polymer I) and (ortho-vanillin, polymer II) is studied...