Antioxidant,Antimicrobial, and Insecticidal Properties of a Chemically Characterized Essential Oil from the Leaves of Dittrichia viscosa L.

Since some synthetic insecticides cause damage to human health, compounds in plants can be viable alternatives to conventional synthetic pesticides. Dittrichia viscosa L. is a perennial Mediterranean plant known to possess biological activities, including insecticidal properties. The chemical composition of an essential oil (EOD) from D. viscosa, as well as its antioxidant, antimicrobial, and insecticidal effects on the cowpea weevil (Callosobruchus maculatus) were determined. Forty-one volatile compounds were identified in EOD, which accounted for 97.5% of its constituents. Bornyl acetate (41%) was a major compound, followed by borneol (9.3%), α-amorphene (6.6%), and caryophyllene oxide (5.7%). EOD exhibited significant antioxidant activity in all tests performed, with an IC₅₀ of 1.30 ± 0.05 mg/mL in the DPPH test and an EC₅₀ equal to 36.0 ± 2.5 mg/mL in the FRAP assay. In the phosphor-molybdenum test, EOD results ranged from 39.81 ± 0.7 to 192.1 ± 0.8 mg AAE/g E. EOD was active on E. coli (9.5 ± 0.5 mm), S. aureus (31.0 ± 1.5 mm), C. albicans (20.4 ± 0.5 mm), and S. cerevisiae (28.0 ± 1.0 mm), with MICs ranging from 0.1 mg/mL to 3.3 mg/mL. We found that 1 µL of EOD caused 97.5 ± 5.0% insect mortality after 96 h in the inhalation test and 60.0 ± 8.3% in the ingestion assay. The median lethal concentration (LC₅₀) was 7.8 ± 0.3 μL EO/L, while the effective concentration in the ingestion test (LC₅₀) was 15.0 ± 2.1 μL EO/L. We found that 20 µL of EOD caused a reduction of more than 91% of C. maculatus laid eggs.     

Antibacterial Mechanisms of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticle against Bacterial Food Pathogens Resistant to Beta-Lactam Antibiotics

The increase in β-lactam-resistant Gram-negative bacteria is a severe recurrent problem in the food industry for both producers and consumers. The development of nanotechnology and nanomaterial applications has transformed many features in food science. The antibacterial activity of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and their mechanism of action on β-lactam-resistant Gram-negative food pathogens, such as Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Serratia marcescens, Klebsiella pneumoniae, and Proteus mirabilis, are investigated in the present paper. The study results demonstrate that ZnO NPs possesses broad-spectrum action against these β-lactamase-producing strains. The minimal inhibitory and minimal bactericidal concentrations vary from 0.04 to 0.08 and 0.12 to 0.24 mg/mL, respectively. The ZnO NPs elevate the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and malondialdehyde in the bacterial cells as membrane lipid peroxidation. It has been confirmed from the transmission electron microscopy image of the treated bacterial cells that ZnO NPs diminish the permeable membrane, denature the intracellular proteins, cause DNA damage, and cause membrane leakage. Based on these findings, the action of ZnO NPs has been attributed to the fact that broad-spectrum antibacterial action against β-lactam-resistant Gram-negative food pathogens is mediated by Zn²⁺ ion-induced oxidative stress, actions via lipid peroxidation and membrane damage, subsequently resulting in depletion, leading to β-lactamase enzyme inhibition, intracellular protein inactivation, DNA damage, and eventually cell death. Based on the findings of the present study, ZnO NPs can be recommended as potent broad-spectrum antibacterial agents against β-lactam-resistant Gram-negative pathogenic strains.     

Antibacterial Activity of a Novel Oligosaccharide from Streptomyces californics against Erwinia carotovora subsp. Carotovora

The present study aims to characterize and predict models for antibacterial activity of a novel oligosaccharide from Streptomyces californics against Erwinia carotovora subsp. carotovora using an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system and an artificial neural network. The mathematical predication models were used to determine the optimal conditions to produce oligosaccharide and determine the relationship between the factors (pH, temperature, and time). The characteristics of the purified antibacterial agent were determined using ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV/Vis), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (¹H- and ¹³C-NMR), and mass spectrometry (MS). The best performances for the model were 39.45 and 35.16 recorded at epoch 1 for E. carotovora Erw₅ and E. carotovora EMCC 1687, respectively. The coefficient (R²) of the training was more than 0.90. The highest antimicrobial production was recorded after 9 days at 25 °C and a pH of 6.2, at which more than 17 mm of the inhibition zone was obtained. The mass spectrum of antimicrobial agent (peak at R.T. = 3.433 of fraction 6) recorded two molecular ion peaks at m/z = 703.70 and m/z = 338.30, corresponding to molecular weights of 703.70 and 338.30 g/mol, respectively. The two molecular ion peaks matched well with the molecular formulas C₂₉H₅₃NO₁₈ and C₁₄H₂₆O₉, respectively, which were obtained from the elemental analysis result. A novel oligosaccharide from Streptomyces californics with potential activity against E. carotovora EMCC 1687 and E. carotovora Erw₅ was successfully isolated, purified, and characterized.     

Improved general correlation for critical heat flux during upflow in uniformly heated vertical tubes

An improved version of the author's earlier correlation for CHF in vertical tubes is presented. It is compared with data that include 23 fluids (water, refrigerants, cryogens, chemicals, and liquid metals), tube diameters 0.315 to 37.5 mm, tube length 1.3 to 940 times diameter, mass flux 4 to 29051 kg/m²s, reduced pressures 0.0014 to 0.96, inlet quality −4 to +0.85, and critical quality −2.6 to +1. These data, from 62 independent sources, are also compared with Katto's general correlation and those of Bowring for water and Subbotin for helium. The present correlation shows much better agreement with data.     

Promoting Effect of Soluble Polysaccharides Extracted from Ulva spp. on Zea mays L. Growth

Seaweeds can play a vital role in plant growth promotion. Two concentrations (5 and 10 mg/mL) of soluble polysaccharides extracted from the green macroalgae Ulva fasciata and Ulva lactuca were tested on Zea mays L. The carbohydrate and protein contents, and antioxidant activities (phenols, ascorbic, peroxidase, and catalase) were measured, as well as the protein banding patterns. The soluble polysaccharides at 5 mg/mL had the greatest effect on the base of all of the parameters. The highest effects of soluble polysaccharides on the Zea mays were 38.453, 96.76, 4, 835, 1.658, 7.462, and 38615.19, mg/mL for carbohydrates, proteins, phenol, µg ascorbic/mL, mg peroxidase/g dry tissue, and units/g tissue of catalase, respectively. The total number of protein bands (as determined by SDS PAGE) was not changed, but the density of the bands was correlated to the treatments. The highest band density and promoting effect were correlated to 5 mg/mL soluble polysaccharide treatments extracted from Ulva fasciata in Zea mays, which can be used as a biofertilizer.     

New Converging Collimator for Cold Neutrons Time-Of-Flight Measurements

An idea to design a new converging collimator for cold neutron time-of-flight measurements is presented. Using this new facility in combination with a neutron time-of-flight spectrometer, we may have neutron intensity gain factors about three times that obtained using the conventional straight slit collimators. Expressions for calculating the collimators dimensions as well as the intensity gain and the time resolution broading were presented.     

Two operator representations for the trivariate <Emphasis Type="Italic">q</Emphasis>-polynomials and Hahn polynomials

In this paper, we introduce a trivariate q-polynomials \(F_n(x,y,z;q)\) as a general form of Hahn polynomials \(\psi _n^{(a)}(x|q)\) and \(\psi _n^{(a)}(x,y|q)\). We represent \(F_n(x,y,z;q)\) by two operators: the homogeneous q-shift operator \(L(b\theta _{xy})\) given by Saad and Sukhi (Appl Math Comput 215:4332–4339, 2010), and the Cauchy companion operator \(E(a,b;\theta )\) given by Chen (q-Difference Operator and Basic Hypergeometric Series, 2009) to derive the generating function, symmetric property, Mehler’s formula, Rogers formula, another Roger-type formula, linearization formula, and an extended Rogers formula for the trivariate q-polynomials. Then, we give the corresponding formulas for our new definitions of Hahn polynomials \(\psi _n^{(a)}(x|q)\) and \(\psi _n^{(a)}(x,y|q)\) by representing Hahn polynomials by the operators \(L(b\theta _{xy})\) and \(E(a,b;\theta )\), and by a special substitution in the trivariate q-polynomials \(F_n(x,y,z;q)\).     

The Field-Dependent Magnetization of d5–d7 Metal β−Diketonate Complexes and Their Macromolecular Polymers

A vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) has been used to study the field-dependent magnetization, M(H), of the d⁵?d⁷ metal acetates [M(OAc)₂.nH₂O], metal β?diketonate complexes [M(tba)₂(H₂O)₂] and the macromolecular polymers [M(tba)₂(4,4-bipy)]_n (where, M = Mn(II), Fe(II), and Co(II), OAc = O₂CCH₃, tba = deprotonated 3-benzoyl-1.1.1-trifluoroacetone, and 4,4-bipy = 4,4′-bipyridine). The magnetic field strength (H) was applied in the range of 0?10⁴ O_e at ambient temperature (ca. 23°C). The experimental results showed that the d⁵?d⁷ metal acetate, complexes and polymers exhibit low paramagnetic properties excepting [Fe(tba)₂(4,4-bipy)]_n polymer, which had negative magnetization M(emu/g) showing diamagnetic properties in the range 0?10⁴ O_e. The magnetization was almost equal to zero without an applied magnetic field (H(O_e)) for each d⁵?d⁷ metal acetate, complex, and polymer. The linear M(H) curve had a magnetic saturation for iron and manganese acetate species at the magnetic field strengths of 3.1 × 10³ and 4.7 × 10³ Oe, respectively. The external magnetic field reached 9.0 × 10³ O_e without any saturation magnetization for the cobalt compounds. The coordination effect of 3-benzoyl-1.1.1-trifluoroacetone (H-tba) and 4,4′-bipyridine (4,4′-bipy) ligands on the field-dependent magnetization M(H) and paramagnetic behavior of d⁵?d⁷ metal atoms is discussed. The field-dependent magnetization M(H) curves of metal β?diketonate complexes and the polymers including d⁵?d⁷ metal acetates showed a weak field octahedral geometry.     

Amplitude equation for the stochastic reaction‐diffusion equations with random Neumann boundary conditions

In this paper, we consider a quite general class of reaction‐diffusion equations with cubic nonlinearities and with random Neumann boundary conditions. We derive rigorously amplitude equations, using the natural separation of time‐scales near a change of stability and investigate whether additive degenerate noise and random boundary conditions can lead to stabilization of the solution of the stochastic partial differential equation or not. The nonlinear heat equation (Ginzburg–Landau equation) is used to illustrate our result. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.