Antimicrobial,Antioxidant, Anti-Acetylcholinesterase,Antidiabetic, and Pharmacokinetic Properties of Carum carvi L. and Coriandrum sativum L. Essential Oils Alone and in Combination

Herbs and spices have been used since antiquity for their nutritional and health properties, as well as in traditional remedies for the prevention and treatment of many diseases. Therefore, this study aims to perform a chemical analysis of both essential oils (EOs) from the seeds of Carum carvi (C. carvi) and Coriandrum sativum (C. sativum) and evaluate their antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-acetylcholinesterase, and antidiabetic activities alone and in combination. Results showed that the EOs mainly constitute monoterpenes with γ-terpinene (31.03%), β-pinene (18.77%), p-cymene (17.16%), and carvone (12.20%) being the major components present in C. carvi EO and linalool (76.41%), γ-terpinene (5.35%), and α-pinene (4.44%) in C. sativum EO. In comparison to standards, statistical analysis revealed that C. carvi EO showed high and significantly different (p < 0.05) antioxidant activity than C. sativum EO, but lower than the mixture. Moreover, the mixture exhibited two-times greater ferric ion reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) (IC₅₀ = 11.33 ± 1.53 mg/mL) and equipotent chelating power (IC₅₀ = 31.33 ± 0.47 mg/mL) than the corresponding references, and also potent activity against 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) (IC₅₀ = 19.00 ± 1.00 mg/mL), β-carotene (IC₅₀ = 11.16 ± 0.84 mg/mL), and superoxide anion (IC₅₀ = 10.33 ± 0.58 mg/mL) assays. Antimicrobial data revealed that single and mixture EOs were active against a panel of pathogenic microorganisms, and the mixture had the ability to kill more bacterial strains than each EO alone. Additionally, the anti-acetylcholinesterase and α-glucosidase inhibitory effect have been studied for the first time, highlighting the high inhibition effect of AChE by C. carvi (IC₅₀ = 0.82 ± 0.05 mg/mL), and especially by C. sativum (IC₅₀ = 0.68 ± 0.03 mg/mL), as well as the mixture (IC₅₀ = 0.63 ± 0.02 mg/mL) compared to the reference drug, which are insignificantly different (p > 0.05). A high and equipotent antidiabetic activity was observed for the mixture (IC₅₀ = 0.75 ± 0.15 mg/mL) when compared to the standard drug, acarbose, which is about nine times higher than each EO alone. Furthermore, pharmacokinetic analysis provides some useful insights into designing new drugs with favorable drug likeness and safety profiles based on a C. carvi and C. sativum EO mixture. In summary, the results of this study revealed that the combination of these EOs may be recommended for further food, therapeutic, and pharmaceutical applications, and can be utilized as medicine to inhibit several diseases.     

Glass transition,thermal expansion and relaxation in B2O3 glass measured by time-resolved X-ray diffraction

In situ heating experiments using high-energy, high-intensity synchrotron radiation, can be successfully designed to study structural evolution with temperature of glassy materials. Coherent diffraction from glassy materials forms a succession of halos or diffraction maxima in reciprocal space and the variation with temperature, of the wave-vector Q_max or angular position of the first diffracted intensity I(Q_max) maximum below T_g can be used to determine the iso-structural volume expansion. In the present work we have obtained synchrotron X-ray diffraction patterns in transmission during in situ heating of a B₂O₃ glass. Samples were obtained by melting the B₂O₃ glass rods which were then air-cooled or liquid nitrogen-cooled. The evolution with temperature (and time) of the position of the first diffraction maximum of the diffraction pattern accurately reflected the thermal expansion coefficient and the relaxation behavior of the B₂O₃ glass. Such results allowed determination by diffraction of the glass transition temperature, T_g, at 580 K, as well as information on the structural relaxation during thermal annealing. The total volume changes due to relaxation were measured to be about 1.5 vol.% and 2.5 vol.%, for the air-cooled and the liquid nitrogen-cooled B₂O₃ glass, respectively.     

An adjusted K‐medoids clustering algorithm for effective stability in vehicular ad hoc networks

Recently, the routing problem in vehicular ad hoc networks is one of the most vital research. Despite the variety of the proposed approaches and the development of communications technologies, the routing problem in VANET suffers from the high speed of vehicles and the repetitive failures in communications. In this paper, we adjusted the well‐known K‐medoids clustering algorithm to improve the network stability and to increase the lifetime of all established links. First, the number of clusters and the initial cluster heads will not be selected randomly as usual, but based on mathematical formula considering the environment size and the available transmission ranges. Then the assignment of nodes to clusters in both k‐medoids phases will be carried out according to several metrics including direction, relative speed, and proximity. To the best of our knowledge, our proposed model is the first that introduces the new metric named “node disconnection frequency.” This metric prevents nodes with volatile and suspicious behavior to be elected as a new CH. This screening ensures that the new CH retains its property as long as possible and thus increases the network stability. Empirical results confirm that in addition to the convergence speed that characterizes our adjusted K‐medoids clustering algorithm (AKCA), the proposed model achieves more stability and robustness when compared with most recent approaches designed for the same objective.     

Structural properties and electrical behaviour in the polycrystalline lanthanum-deficiency La1−x□xMnO3 manganites

Electrical conductance and X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements of lanthanum-deficiency La_1−x□_xMnO₃ (x=0.05, 0.10 and 0.20) polycrystalline samples were performed to examine the effect of the internal pressure at B-site on the conduction mechanism. The structural study reveals that all samples crystallize in the rhombohedral system. The electronic conduction appears to be thermally activated at high temperature, which indicates the presence of semiconductor behaviour. The increase of the x content converts 3x Mn³⁺ to 3x Mn⁴⁺ ions with smaller ionic radius, which reduces the internal pressure and leads to the increase of the one-electron bandwidth W. This increase causes the appearance of metallic behaviour at low temperature for x=0.10 and 0.20 content.     

Construction of a stable vehicular ad hoc network based on hybrid genetic algorithm

Telecommunication Systems - In vehicular ad hoc networks, the vehicle speed can exceed 120 kmph. Therefore, any node can enter or leave the network within a very short time. This mobility adversely...     

Plasticity induced by nanoparticle dispersions in bulk metallic glasses

We show room temperature plasticity in several ZrCu-based bulk metallic glasses (BMG) after dispersions of crystalline nanoparticles were generated prior to mechanical testing. BMGs are heated in synchrotron light in transmission such that annealing can be interrupted at the very first detection of nucleation of the crystallites. Effect of embedded nanocrystals on the mechanical properties of BMG-Composites was investigated by compressive testing. When nanocrystal dispersions were generated, zirconium-copper-based BMGs that initially showed no plastic deformation prior to fracture, exhibited ductile behavior in compression with about 10% deformation.     

Development of some linguistic aggregation operators with conservation of interaction between criteria and their application in multiple attribute group decision problems

Decision making problems with fuzzy linguistic information and Choquet integral is investigated in this paper, to introduce three new aggregation operators: 2-tuple choquet integral averaging operator (TCIA), 2-tuple ordered choquet integral averaging operator (TOCIA) and combined 2-tuple choquet integral averaging operator which can be used to aggregate preference information that takes not only the form of linguistic variables but also study some of its desirable properties. Also, we developed a practical method based on TCIA as well as TOCIA operators for multiple attribute group decision making. Furthermore, in this approach alternative assessments are computed by the aggregation of 2-tuple linguistic information. Therefore, ranking alternatives or selecting the most desirable ones will be the outcome of the comparison between the 2-tuple linguistic information. Ultimately, the demonstration of the developed approaches, its practicality and its effectiveness is proved by a numerical example and a comparison with results issued from Wan method (Knowl-Based Syst 45:31–40, 2013).     

Synthesis,structural characterisation and thermal decomposition of a new organic–inorganic hybrid material (C5H14N2)[Cu(SO4)2(H2O)4] · H2O

The crystal structure of copper sulfate templated by 2-methylpiperazine, (C₅H₁₄N₂)[Cu(SO₄)₂(H₂O)₄] · H₂O, was investigated using single crystal X-ray diffraction data. At room temperature, it crystallises in the monoclinic P2₁/n space group with the following unit-cell parameters: a = 6.9153(1), b = 23.1295(3), c = 10.4472(1) Å, β = 104.227(1)°, V = 1619.75(4) Å³ and Z = 4. The Cu^II cation adopts a slightly distorted octahedral geometry, arising from four water molecules and two sulfate tetrahedra leading to the formation of [Cu(SO₄)₂(H₂O)₄] units. The structure consists of isolated [Cu(SO₄)₂(H₂O)₄]²⁻ anions, 2-methylpiperazinediium cations (C₅H₁₄N₂)²⁺ and water molecules connected by a three-dimensional hydrogen-bond network. The thermal decomposition of the precursor, studied by thermogravimetry and temperature-dependent X-ray powder diffraction, proceeds through four stages giving rise to the copper oxide.     

Structural characterization,thermal, ac conductivity and dielectric properties of (C7H12N2)2[SnCl6]Cl2·1.5H2O

(C₇H₁₂N₂)₂[SnCl₆]Cl₂·1.5H₂O is crystallized at room temperature in the monoclinic system (space group P2₁/n). The isolated molecules form organic and inorganic layers parallel to the (a, b) plane and alternate along the c-axis. The inorganic layer is built up by isolated SnCl₆ octahedrons. Besides, the organic layer is formed by 2,4-diammonium toluene cations, between which the spaces are filled with free Cl^? ions and water molecules. The crystal packing is governed by means of the ionic N—H···Cl and Ow—H···Cl hydrogen bonds, forming a three-dimensional network. The thermal study of this compound is reported, revealing two phase transitions around 360(±3) and 412(±3) K. The electrical and dielectric measurements were reported, confirming the transition temperatures detected in the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The frequency dependence of ac conductivity at different temperatures indicates that the correlated barrier hopping (CBH) model is the probable mechanism for the ac conduction behavior.     

Antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Artemisia herba-alba essential oil cultivated in Tunisian arid zone

This study was conceived to examine the antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of four essential oil types extracted by hydrodistillation from the aerial parts of Artemisia herba-alba cultivated in southern Tunisia. The chemical composition was investigated using both capillary GC and GC/MS techniques. β-thujone, α-thujone, α-thujone/β-thujone and 1,8-cineole/camphor/α-thujone/β-thujone were respectively, the major components of these oil types. The antimicrobial activity of different oils was tested using the diffusion method and by determining the inhibition zone. The results showed that all examined oil types had great potential of antimicrobial activity against strains. In addition, antioxidant capacity was assessed by different in vitro tests and weak activity was found for these A. herba-alba oils.