Determination of potentially toxic heavy metals in traditionally used medicinal plants for HIV/AIDS opportunistic infections in Ngamiland District in Northern Botswana

The determination of four potentially toxic heavy metals, arsenic, chromium, lead and nickel in twelve plant species used for the treatment of perceived HIV and AIDS-associated opportunistic infections by traditional healers in Ngamiland District in Northern Botswana, a metal mining area, was carried out using atomic absorption spectrometry. The medicinal plants; Dichrostachys cinerea, Maerua angolensis, Mimusops zeyheri, Albizia anthelmintica, Plumbago zeylanica, Combretum imberbe, Indigofera flavicans, Clerodendrum ternatum, Solanum panduriforme, Capparis tomentosa, Terminalia sericea and Maytenus senegalensis contained heavy metals in varying quantities: arsenic 0.19–0.54 μg g⁻¹, chromium 0.15–1.27 μg g⁻¹, lead 0.12–0.23 μg g⁻¹ and nickel 0.09–0.21 μg g⁻¹ of dry weight. Chromium was found to be the most abundant followed by arsenic and lead. Nickel was undetectable in nine plant species. M. senegalensis contained the largest amounts of arsenic, chromium and lead. All metals determined were below the WHO permissive maximum levels. The possible maximum weekly intakes of the heavy metals following treatment regimes were insignificant compared to the provisional tolerable weekly intake levels recommended by WHO and the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives. This suggests that heavy metal exposure to patients originating from consumption of traditional medicinal plant preparations is within non health-compromising limits.     

Surgénérateurs ; l'état des matériaux aux hautes irradiations, hautes puissances locales et températures, leurs gradients et propriétés mécaniques adaptées aux contraintes qui en résultent

The motivations to realize nuclear breeder reactors are developed in the present context of a strong growth in electronuclear power stations in many countries, using mostly moderated and water cooled reactors.The past studies can be of a substantial profit in France and, to a lesser degree, in other countries of the EU. However, to use fully the 238 uranium isotope, the materials for these breeders must withstand much harder radiation than those for water reactors. The power densities and thermal gradients will also be much more intense. The mechanical stresses, both static and dynamic, will be large and will act on materials with altered mechanical properties. Fuel elements will have to be produced with materials already irradiated several times and therefore showing such alterations.A field of studies concerning materials and their mechanical behavior in new and severe conditions is sketched here, both in construction and working conditions, together with proposed necessary instrumentation and research orientations.     

Extraction and analysis of ellagic acid from novel complex sources

Ellagic acid (EA) was quantified by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RPHPLC) coupled with photodiode array detection (DAD) in five fine-powdered plants collected from the semiarid region of Mexico. Samples analysed included Jatropha dioica branches (Dragon’s blood), Euphorbia antisyphyllitica branches (Candelilla), Turnera diffusa Willd leaves (Damiana), Flourensia cernua leaves (hojasén) and Punica granatum husk (pomegranate) at two maturity stages (“turning” or intermediate and maturated fruit, considered as positive controls). The results demonstrated high EA concentrations in all tested samples which are novel sources of this natural antioxidant. The method developed for the EA analysis is fast and it showed an excellent linearity range, repeatability, intra-and inter-day precision and accuracy with respect to the methods reported for the EA analysis.     

Integrated rate expression for the production of glucose equivalent in C4 green plant and the effect of temperature

A temperature-dependent integrated kinetics for the overall process of photosynthesis in green plants is discussed. The C₄ plants are chosen and in these plants, the rate of photosynthesis does not depend on the partial pressure of O₂. Using some basic concepts like chemical equilibrium or steady state approximation, a simplified scheme is developed for both light and dark reactions. The light reaction rate per reaction center (R′ ₁) in thylakoid membrane is related to the rate of exciton transfer between chlorophyll neighbours and an expression is formulated for the light reaction rate R′ ₁. A relation between R′ ₁ and the NADPH formation rate is established. The relation takes care of the survival probability of the membrane. The CO₂ saturation probability in bundle sheath is also taken into consideration. The photochemical efficiency (ϕ) is expressed in terms of these probabilities. The rate of glucose production is given by R _glucose = (8/3)(R′ ₁ v _L )ϕ(T) _g (T) ([G3P]/[P _i]² _leaf)_SS Q _{G3P→glucose} where g is the activity quotient of the involved enzymes, and G3P represent glycealdehyde-3-phosphate in steady state. A Gaussian distribution for temperature-dependence and a sigmoid function for de-activation are incorporated through the quotient g. In general, the probabilities are given by sigmoid curves. The corresponding parameters can be easily determined. The theoretically determined temperature-dependence of photochemical efficiency and glucose production rate agree well with the experimental ones, thereby validating the formalism.     

Relay feedback analysis for a class of servo plants

In this paper, a class of second-order servo plants under relay feedback is studied. Complete results on the uniqueness of solutions, existence and stability of the limit cycles are established using the point transformation method. And a numerical method is developed for determining the amplitude and period of a stable limit cycle from the plant parameters.     

The Mediterranean aromatic plants and their culinary use.

Over the centuries, aromatic plants have acquired both practical relevance and socio-cultural meanings that have influenced the evolution of humanity itself and created relevant economic value. In fact, since a long time ago spices were promoted to a leading economic role, and their profitability has been often comparable to that of other commodities traded in much larger volumes. Many geographical discoveries, explorations, worldwide relationships between populations in different continents, were undertaken in order to meet the quest for new flavours, new tastes, new medicinal plants or to find new markets for those already known. While the use of plants in medicine offers an extensive written documentation produced by most ancient human civilizations, the same can not be said for food herbs and flavouring spices. However, without the adequate selection of edible, reliable and valuable plants from the whole biodiversity pool operated by folk cultures everywhere in the world, their proper combination would have never been elaborated and cuisines, like the Mediterranean ones, would have not attained such unique mix of flavour, taste and nutrient content that has no equal in the world. Therefore, any consideration on herbs and aromatic plants in the kitchen leads inequivocally to a journey into tradition.     

Proteome profile of salt gland‐rich epidermis extracted from a salt‐tolerant tree species

Preparation of proteins from salt‐gland‐rich tissues of mangrove plant is necessary for a systematic study of proteins involved in the plant's unique desalination mechanism. Extraction of high‐quality proteins from the leaves of mangrove tree species, however, is difficult due to the presence of high levels of endogenous phenolic compounds. In our study, preparation of proteins from only a part of the leaf tissues (i.e. salt gland‐rich epidermal layers) was required, rendering extraction even more challenging. By comparing several extraction methods, we developed a reliable procedure for obtaining proteins from salt gland‐rich tissues of the mangrove species Avicennia officinalis. Protein extraction was markedly improved using a phenol‐based extraction method. Greater resolution 1D protein gel profiles could be obtained. More promising proteome profiles could be obtained through 1D‐LC‐MS/MS. The number of proteins detected was twice as much as compared to TUTS extraction method. Focusing on proteins that were solely present in each extraction method, phenol‐based extracts contained nearly ten times more proteins than those in the extracts without using phenol. The approach could thus be applied for downstream high‐throughput proteomic analyses involving LC‐MS/MS or equivalent. The proteomics data presented herein are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD001691.     

Hard uncertainties in multiobjective layout optimization of photovoltaic power plants

This paper describes how to treat hard uncertainties defined by so-called uncertainty maps in multiobjective optimization problems. For the uncertainty map being set-valued, a Taylor formula is shown under appropriate assumptions. The hard uncertainties are modeled using parametric set optimization problems for which a scalarization result is given. The presented new approach for the solution of multiobjective optimization problems with hard uncertainties is then applied to the layout optimization of photovoltaic power plants. Since good weather forecasts are difficult to obtain for future years, weather data are really hard uncertainties arising in the planning process. Numerical results are presented for a real-world problem on the Galapagos island Isabela.     

Inhibitory effects of the extracts with different solvents from three compositae plants on cyanobacterium Microcystis aeruginosas

The algicidal activity of the terrestrial plants is a novel and promising means for alga control of eutrophic waters.In this study,three compositae plants — Artemisia annua(A.annua),Conyza canadensis(C.canadensis),and Erigeron annuus(E.annuus) were selected and antialgal activity of petroleum ether(PE),ethyl acetate(EA) and ethanol extracts of these plants on blue algae Microcystis aeruginosa was investigated.The result shows the EA extracts of these plants present the stronger inhibitory effects.The result...     

Advanced development in analysis of phytochemicals from medicine and food dual purposes plants used in China

The concept of "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" was widely accepted for thousand years. It is now well known that some foods and food components have beneficial physiological and psychological effects. In China, the Ministry of Health of the People's Republic of China announced 87 items of materials, including 81 plants, could be used as both medicine and food. Increasing consumer demand for safety and health benefits, it is of critical importance to have high-quality and comprehensive data on bioactive compounds (phytochemicals) in these materials. In this review, we summarized the advanced development (2006-2010) in analysis of phytochemicals from medicine and food dual purposes plants (MFDPP) used in China.