Identification and antibacterial evaluation of bioactive compounds from Garcinia kola (Heckel) seeds

We assessed the bioactivity of G. kola seeds on Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Plesiomonas shigelloides and Salmonella typhimurium. The crude ethyl acetate, ethanol, methanol, acetone and aqueous extracts were screened by the agar-well diffusion method and their activities were further determined by Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays. The extracts were fractionated by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC). Bioautography was used to assess the activity of the possible classes of compounds present in the more active extracts. Column chromatography was used to purify the active compounds from the mixture, while GC-MS was used to identify the phytocomponents of the fractions. The inhibition zone diameters of the extracts ranged from 0-24 ± 1.1 mm, while MIC and MBC values ranged between 0.04-1.25 mg/mL and 0.081-2.5 mg/mL, respectively. The chloroform/ethyl acetate/formic acid (CEF) solvent system separated more active compounds. The MIC of the fractions ranged between 0.0006-2.5 mg/mL. CEF 3 (F3), CEF 11 (F11) and CEF 12 (F12) revealed the presence of high levels of linoleic acid, 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid and 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl ester, respectively. The results obtained from this study justify the use of this plant in traditional medicine and provide leads which could be further exploited for the development of new and potent antimicrobials.     

Some Isoperimetric Inequalities in Electrochemistry and Hele Shaw Flows

Isoperimetric inequalities are applied to a moving-boundaryproblem for doubly-connected domains. This problem occurs forexample in electrochemistry, in which case the domains in questionare the electrolyte of an electrolytic cell. The two electrodessurrounding the electrolyte are assumed to grow or dissolve,at different rates in general, by electrochemical reaction.We obtain optimal estimates showing, for example, that the leastchange in volume of each electrode always occurs in sphericalsymmetry.     

Preliminary phytochemical screening and in vitro anti-helicobacter pylori activity of extracts of the stem bark of Bridelia micrantha (Hochst., Baill., Euphorbiaceae)

Helicobacter pylori is a major risk factor for gastritis, ulcers and gastric cancer. This study was aimed to determine the antimicrobial activity of the stem bark of Bridelia. micrantha on H. pylori isolated in South Africa. Extracts and clarithromycin were tested against 31 clinical strains, including a standard strain (NCTC 11638) of H. pylori, by measuring the diameters of the corresponding inhibition zones, followed by determination of the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) (using metronidazole, and amoxicillin as control antibiotics) and the rate of kill. Preliminary phytochemical screening was also done. Inhibition zone diameters which ranged from 0-23 mm were observed for all five of the extracts and 0-35 mm for clarithromycin. Marked susceptibility of strains (100%) was noted for the acetone extract (P < 0.05), followed by ethyl acetate extract (93.5%). The MIC?? values ranged from 0.0048 to 0.156 mg/mL for the ethyl acetate extract and 0.0048 to 0.313 mg/mL for the acetone extract. The MIC?? values ranged from 0.0048 to 2.5 mg/mL for the ethyl acetate extract and 0.078 to > 0.625 mg/mL for the acetone extract, respectively. Insignificant statistical difference in potency was observed when comparing the crude ethyl acetate extract to metronidazole and amoxicillin (P > 0.05). Complete killing of strain PE430C by the ethyl acetate extract was observed at 0.1 mg/mL (2 × MIC) and 0.2 mg/mL (4 × MIC) at 66 and 72 h. For strain PE369C, 100% killing was observed at 0.1 mg/mL (2 × MIC) in 66 and 72 h. The ethyl acetate extract could thus be a potential source of lead molecules for the design of new anti-Helicobacter pylori therapies as this study further confirmed the presence of phytochemicals including alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, tannins and saponins.     

MODELING CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE EFFECT ON THE NORWEGIAN SALMON FARMING INDUSTRY

Abstract Global warming is expected to affect the ecosystem in the Northeast Atlantic, and substantial changes will also affect the aquaculture industry. Farming of salmon and trout is the biggest aquaculture industry in Norway, with an export value of about 3 billion US dollars in 2007. The objective of the paper is to analyze the potential economic effect a general increase in sea temperature can have on the Norwegian salmon aquaculture industry. The assessment of the economic impact of global warming is made possible by estimating a growth function, which explicitly includes sea water temperature. The analysis compares the economic effect of a climate change on fish farming plants in the south and the north of Norway. The scenarios are based on a model with monthly seasonal variation in temperature.     

II: PROPERTIES OF DIATOMIC AND TRIATOMIC MOLECULES

Results are presented from a theoretical study of the × ⁶Σ⁺, A ⁶Σ⁺ and ⁶Δ electronic states of CrH using multiconfiguration second-order perturbation theory in the multi-state formalism (MS-CASPT2). It is shown that the results for the spectroscopic constants and radiative lifetimes for the A state are in agreement with experiment and an earlier multireference configuration interaction study only if the two close lying × and A states are allowed to interact at a level of approximation that includes dynamic correlation.     

A theoretical analysis of the excited states in 2-benzoylthiophene

The lower excited states of 2-benzoylthiophene have been studied using ab initio quantum chemical methods based on multiconfigurational wave functions. Six singlet and six triplet excited states have been characterized. The geometry has been optimized for the two lowest triplet states, which are responsible for the photoreactivity of the chromophore in the photosensitizing drug tiaprofenic acid. The T¹(π → π?) and T₂(n → π?) states have been found to be close in energy with the π → π? state slightly lower. The excited states have been characterized using density difference and spin density plots. The different photochemical behaviour of the two triplet states can be rationalized from the theoretical data.     

PHOTOINACTIVATION OF CATALASES FROM MAMMAL LIVER, PLANT LEAVES AND BACTERIA. COMPARISON OF INACTIVATION CROSS SECTIONS AND QUANTUM YIELDS AT 406 nm

Abstract— Photoinactivation in vitro at pH 7.0 of catalases from different sources (bovine liver, spinach leaves, and Micrococcus lysodeikticus) was studied. The wavelength of the inactivating light was close to the Soret peak of catalase. No great difference in light sensitivity between soluble catalases were found; the inactivation cross sections found ranged from 3.8.10^-4 to 5.0. 10^-4Ų/molecule. The inactivation quantum yield is 2.2. 10^-5 for bovine liver catalase and 3.110^-5 for Micrococcus catalase. The quantum yield for soluble spinach catalase is of a similar order of magnitude. There are some indications of a greater resistance to photodestruction of the spinach leaf catalase activity associated with small particles.     

Unpolarized structure functions and the parton distributions for nucleon in an independent quark model

Considering the nucleon as consisting entirely of its valence quarks confined independently in a scalar-vector harmonic potential; unpolarized structure functions F ₁(x, μ ²) and F ₂(x, μ ²) are derived in the Bjorken limit under certain simplifying assumptions; from which valence quark distribution functions u _v(x, μ ²) and d _v(x, μ ²) are appropriately extracted satisfying the normalization constraints. QCD-evolution of these input distributions from a model scale of μ ²=0.07 GeV² to a higher Q ² scale of Q ₀ ² =15 GeV² yields xu _v(x, Q ₀ ² ) and xd _v(x, Q ₀ ² ) in good agreement with experimental data. The gluon and sea-quark distributions such as G(x, Q ₀ ² ) and q _s(x, Q ₀ ² ) are dynamically generated with a reasonable qualitative agreement with the available data; using the leading order renormalization group equations with appropriate valence-quark distributions as the input.     

Characterization of yeast strains for wine production

Sixteen yeast strains isolated from grapefruit (Citrus paradis), orange (Citrus sinensis) and pineapple (Ananas comosus) were characterized using standard microbiological procedures. The species were identified as Saccharomyces uvarum, S. cerevisiae, S. carlbergensis, and S. ellipsoideus. Their abilities for wine production were tested by using sugar and ethanol tolerance tests. The best biochemically active strain, S. ellipsoideus, was used along with commercially available baker's yeast (S. cerevisiae) to produce wine from grapefruit, orange, and pineapple juices. After fermentation for 14 d with S. cerevisiae and 21 d with S. ellipsoideus, wines produced were compared with Baron de Valls (standard). The highest (10.47% [v/v]) and lowest (7.68% [v/v]) alcohol concentrations with corresponding residual sugar concentrations of 1.88% (w/v) and 7.7% (w/v) were produced from orange after fermentation with S. cerevisiae and S. ellipsoideus, respectively. S. ellipsoideus was found to be the best yeast strain producing wine with the highest acceptable score of 7.41 from orange. The study revealed the possibility of producing wine from our locally available fruits using simple, cheap, and adaptable technology with biochemically characterized yeast strains.     

High scale parity invariance as a solution to the SUSY CP problem and an explanation of small ε′/ε

It is shown that if the supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) emerges as the low energy limit of a high scale left-right symmetric gauge structure, the number of uncontrollable CP violating phases of MSSM are drastically reduced. In particular it guarantees the vanishing of the dangerous phases that were at the root of the so called SUSY CP problem. Such a symmetric gauge structure is independently motivated by the smallness of neutrino masses that arise via seesaw mechanism automatic in the theory. The minimal version of this theory also provides an explanation of the smallness of ε′/ε as a consequence of the high scale parity invariance. This talk is based on work done in collaboration with K S Babu and B Dutta.