Anacyclus pyrethrum (L): Chemical Composition,Analgesic, Anti-Inflammatory,and Wound Healing Properties

Background: Anacyclus pyrethrum (A. pyrethrum) is a wild species belonging to the family Asteraceae, which is used in traditional medicines. Aim of the study: This work was undertaken to study the chemical composition, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and wound healing properties of hydroalcoholic extracts of different parts (roots, seeds, leaves, and capitula) of A. pyrethrum. Material and Methods: The phytochemical analysis of the studied extracts was conducted by GC-MS. The analgesic activity was evaluated in mice using acetic acid and formaldehyde methods. The anti-inflammatory activity was tested using the inhibitory method of edema induced in rats. The healing activity of the hydroethanolic extracts was explored by excision and incision wound healing models in rats. Results: The phytochemical analysis of the studied plant extracts affirmed the presence of interesting compounds, including some newly detected elements, such as sarcosine, N-(trifluoroacetyl)-butyl ester, levulinic acid, malonic acid, palmitic acid, morphinan-6-One, 4,5.alpha.-epoxy-3-hydroxy-17-methyl, 2,4-undecadiene-8,10-diyne-N-tyramide, and isovaleric acid. The extracts of different parts (roots, seeds, leaves, and capitula) exhibited promising anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and wound healing effects, with percentages of inhibition up to 98%, 94%, and 100%, respectively. Conclusion: This study might contribute towards the well-being of society as it provides evidence on the potential analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and wound healing properties of A. pyrethrum.     

Antiproliferative and bactericidal activity of diiron and monoiron cyclopentadienyl carbonyl complexes comprising a vinyl-aminoalkylidene unit

A series of diiron complexes with two cyclopentadienyls, two carbonyls, and one bridging vinyl-aminoalkylidene as ligands, [ 3a – h ]CF₃SO₃ and [ 4a – d ]CF₃SO₃, was synthesized in 66–94% yields from diiron μ-aminocarbyne precursors. The subsequent reactions with pyrrolidine led to selective fragmentation to aminoalkylidene-ferracyclopentenone derivatives ( 5a – h and 6a – c ) in 30–84% yields. The compounds were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared and NMR spectroscopy, and by single crystal X-ray diffraction in three cases. The stability in aqueous media relevant to biological trials, the carbon monoxide release, and the catalytic activity in NADH oxidation were evaluated for selected compounds by NMR spectroscopy and gas chromatography. The in vitro antiproliferative activity of the compounds was determined towards cancer (A2780, A2780cisR) and noncancer (HEK-293) cell lines. Moreover, the antibacterial activity was tested on Gram-positive (vancomycin-resistant E. faecium and methicillin-resistant S. aureus) and Gram-negative strains (A. baumannii and P. aeruginosa).     

A multi-population hybrid biased random key genetic algorithm for hop-constrained trees in nonlinear cost flow networks

Genetic algorithms and other evolutionary algorithms have been successfully applied to solve constrained minimum spanning tree problems in a variety of communication network design problems. In this paper, we enlarge the application of these types of algorithms by presenting a multi-population hybrid genetic algorithm to another communication design problem. This new problem is modeled through a hop-constrained minimum spanning tree also exhibiting the characteristic of flows. All nodes, except for the root node, have a nonnegative flow requirement. In addition to the fixed charge costs, nonlinear flow dependent costs are also considered. This problem is an extension of the well know NP-hard hop-constrained Minimum Spanning Tree problem and we have termed it hop-constrained minimum cost flow spanning tree problem. The efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed method can be seen from the computational results reported.     

Chemical Composition and Anti-Urolithiatic Activity of Extracts from Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels Press-Cake and Acacia senegal (L.) Willd

Ethnobotanical studies have reported the traditional medicinal uses of Acacia senegal (L.) Willd. and Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels against kidney stone formation and other chronic kidney diseases. The present work is undertaken to study the litholytic activity and the inhibiting activity of calcium oxalate crystallization by bioactive compounds identified in Argania spinosa (L.) Skeels press-cake (residue of Argan oil) and in Acacia senegal (L.) Willd. The litholytic activity was studied in vitro on cystine and uric acid stones using a porous bag and an Erlenmeyer glass. The study of the inhibiting activity of calcium oxalate crystallization, was based on temporal measurements of the optical density, registered at a 620 nm wavelength for 30 min using an ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometer. The silylation method was performed to identify phytochemicals, followed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrophotometry (GC/MS) analysis. The results show significant litholytic activity of Argania Spinosa press-cake hydro-ethanolic extract on uric acid and cystine stones, respectively, with dissolution rates (DR) of 86.38% and 60.42% versus 3.23% and 9.48% for the hydro-ethanolic extract of Acacia senegal exudate. Furthermore, the percentages of nucleation inhibition are 83.78% and 43.77% (p ˂ 0.05) for Argania spinosa and Acacia senegal, respectively. The results point to the detection of 17 phytochemicals in Argania spinosa press-cake extract, the majority of which are phenolic acids and have potent anti-urolithiatic action.     

Concave minimum cost network flow problems solved with a colony of ants

In this work we address the Single-Source Uncapacitated Minimum Cost Network Flow Problem with concave cost functions. This problem is NP-Hard, therefore we propose a hybrid heuristic to solve it. Our goal is not only to apply an ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm to such a problem, but also to provide an insight on the behaviour of the parameters in the performance of the algorithm. The performance of the ACO algorithm is improved with the hybridization of a local search (LS) procedure. The core ACO procedure is used to mainly deal with the exploration of the search space, while the LS is incorporated to further cope with the exploitation of the best solutions found. The method we have developed has proven to be very efficient while solving both small and large size problem instances. The problems we have used to test the algorithm were previously solved by other authors using other population based heuristics. Our algorithm was able to improve upon some of their results in terms of solution quality, proving that the HACO algorithm is a very good alternative approach to solve these problems. In addition, our algorithm is substantially faster at achieving these improved solutions. Furthermore, the magnitude of the reduction of the computational requirements grows with problem size.     

Solid-Liquid Equilibria of the Ternary System Na+, Mg++ // Cl--H2O at 10°C

The isothermal section at 10°C of the solubility diagram of the ternary system Na+, Mg++// ClH₂O was established by conductimetric and analytical measurements. Two solid phases, NaCl and MgCl₂·6H₂O are observed. The solubility range of NaCl is large, while the liquidus curve of MgCl₂·6H₂O is very short. The composition of the eutonic point, determined by two methods was: 0.32 g% NaCl and 33.80 g% MgCl₂. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Thermodynamic study of the SOLID-LIQUID equilibria in the MIPO3-Cu(PO3)2 systems

Thermodynamic exploration of solid-liquid equilibria of the M^IPO₃-Cu(PO₃)₂ (with MI=Li, Na, K, Rb, Cs, Ag, Tl) systems is carried out with a semi-empirical equation of the liquidus curves. The enthalpies of fusion of pure polyphosphates and some intermediate compounds were determined from DTA curves. The temperature, enthalpy and entropy of fusion are calculated for each solid phase with the exception of silver polyphosphate and the intermediate compound Cs₄Cu(PO₃)₆ which have very limited crystallization fields. The calculated values of the melting enthalpies are approximately equal to the measured ones. The melting enthalpy of Cu(PO₃)₂ calculated from different binary systems shows a wide variation in the obtained values, 35-54 kJ mol^-1. The experimental value is 33.65 kJ mol^-1. The calculated temperatures and compositions in most binary systems are in good agreement with experimental determinations. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Mathematical programming study 4

Notice

Mathematical programming study 4Computational Practice in Mathematical Programming     

Mechanical behaviour of MWCNTs reinforced electrospun nanofibres

Abstract

The nanoscale dimension of electrospun polymeric nanofibres produced by electrospinning are highly captivating, yet facing limitation of resisting external forces due to the weak tensile properties. Carbon nanotubes providing tremendous toughness due to extraordinary strong sp² bonding network of carbon atoms in honeycomb lattice structure, augmented the physical resistant strength and is easily recover to its original state after load is removed. This study reports the performance of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) as filler in the electrospinning of poly (_L-lactide)-co-ε-caprolactone) (PLCL) composite nanofibres. Voltage of 10?kV is applied to the spinning solution mixture of 11?wt% (w/v) PLCL and MWCNTs, yielded nanofibres having diameters less than 400?nm. Results obtained showed the formation of composite nanofibres with tailored tensile behavior by modifying the content of MWCNTs. The addition of MWCNTs improved the tensile properties of resultant composite nanofibres, signified by tensile strength of 5.82 to 15.95?MPa, which were obtained using 0.1 to 1.0?wt% of MWCNTs. The structural integrity of nanofibres mats were retained in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) medium. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) micrographs revealed the minimal of fiber deformation over 30?days of incubation and are closely identical to the initial diameter of as-spun fiber.