Impact of conflict in Syria on Syrian children at the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan

This paper describes a study performed to investigate the impact of the conflict in Syria on Syrian refugee children. The Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan was chosen for this task. Two control (comparison) groups of children were selected: one from the Jordanian Ramtha district, which is just across the border from Syria, and that indirectly feel the consequences of the Syrian conflict, and the other from Amman, the capital of Jordan, which is far away from the border. The study compared the Zaatari, Ramtha and Amman groups in terms of expressed anxiety and depression symptoms. They were also compared with respect to their gender and age. The Zaatari children were more distressed than the others, and the symptom ‘thoughts of ending your life’ was expressed only by this group. The Ramtha group also expressed some distress. The fact that this group indirectly experiences the consequences of violence emphasises the dire circumstances of children inside Syria who are trapped between fighting groups.     

Study on combined effects of blanching and sonication on different quality parameters of carrot juice

This study was conducted to evaluate the combined effects of blanching and sonication on carrot juice quality. Carrots were blanched at 100?°C for 4?min in normal and acidified water. Juice was extracted and sonicated at 15?°C for 2?min keeping pulse duration 5?s on and 5?s off (70% amplitude level and 20?kHz frequency). No significant effect of blanching and sonication was observed on Brix, pH and titratable acidity except acidified blanching that decreased pH and increased acidity significantly. Peroxidase was inactivated after blanching that also significantly decreased total phenol, flavonoids, tannins, free radical scavenging activity, antioxidant capacity and ascorbic acid and increased cloud and color values. Sonication could improve all these parameters significantly. The present results suggest that combination of blanching and sonication may be employed in food industry to produce high-quality carrot juice with reduced enzyme activity and improved nutrition.     

Efficacy of crude neem seed kernel extracts against natural infestation of Sarcoptes scabiei var. ovis

This study was aimed to evaluate the efficacy of crude aqueous-methanol and aqueous extracts of neem (Azadirachta indica) seed kernel against sarcoptic mange of sheep. Crude aqueous-methanol (AME) and aqueous extracts (AE) of neem seed kernel (NSK) were prepared and formulated as 10% and 20% ointments (w/w), using Vaseline as vehicle. Forty-two lambs of Pak Karakul breed, having natural infection of sarcoptic mange were divided into seven experimental groups. Skin scrapings and clinical examination were carried out at scheduled intervals after treatment. Ivermectin (positive control) completely cleared infesting mites from animals after 10 days and 20% AME after 16 days. While, clinical mange was completely cured after 16 and 20 days with ivermectin and 20% AME, respectively, under field conditions. Only the higher concentration (20% AME) of NSK extracts completely cured the clinical mange, suggesting a dose-dependent response. Our results consolidate the belief that use of folk remedies can provide an effective and economic way of combating sarcoptic mange in sheep.     

Role of Nigella sativa and a number of its antioxidant constituents towards azoxymethane-induced genotoxic effects and colon cancer in rats

This study examined the chemopreventive effect of Nigella sativa and some of its antioxidant constituents on a number of colon cancer biomarkers in rats induced with azoxymethane (AOM). Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into ten subgroups: vehicle (1-5) and experimental (6-10). The rats in each group were fed one of the following diets: basal diet, (200 mg/kg) Nigella sativa, (0.2 mg/kg) selenium, (1.2 mg/kg) all-trans-retinol plus (100 mg/kg) DL-alpha-tocopherol and (10 mg/kg) thymoquinone, respectively. Only rats in subgroups 6-10 were injected with AOM (15 mg/kg) once per week for 2 weeks. Both groups were fed their respective diets for 5 weeks. Then they were killed and examined for colonic aberrant crypt foci (ACF). Our result showed that only vitamin supplementation was effective on ACF. Nigella sativa revealed inhibitory effects only on DNA damage (day 34) in the AOM-treated rat group. Alternatively, selenium, thymoquinone and vitamins inhibited the MDA content in the liver. Although the exact mechanisms involved in the protective role of Nigella sativa against the initiation of colon carcinogenesis are not clearly understood, the results suggest that its inhibitory effects might depend on the combined competitive inhibition of various antioxidant constituents of this plant.     

Diluted magnetic semiconductor properties in TM doped ZnO nanoparticles

The hydrothermal method was used to create dilute magnetic semiconductor nanoparticles of Zn_1−xCo_xO (x = 0, 0.01, 0.05, 0.09). The effect of cobalt doping on the microstructure, morphological and optical properties of Zn_1−xCo_xO was also studied and the Co doping to host ZnO was confirmed from XRD and EDX analysis. The structural analysis showed that doping of cobalt into ZnO decreased the crystallinity, but the preferred orientation didn''t change. SEM analysis revealed that the cobalt dopant did not have a strong influence on the shape of the synthesized nanoparticles. No defect-related absorption peaks were observed in the UV-Vis spectra. The crystallinity of the doped samples was improved by high growth temperature and long growth time. Ferromagnetic behavior above room temperature was detected in co-doped ZnO nanoparticles. The ferromagnetic behavior increased with increasing Co (up to x = 0.05) doping. The ferromagnetic behavior declined when the Co content was further increased. Related research shows that doped ZnO nanoparticles have better dielectric, electrical conductivity, and magnetic properties than pure ZnO. This high ferromagnetism is usually a response reported for dilute magnetic semiconductors. These semiconductor nanoparticles were further used to designed spintronic based applications.

The enlarged central part M–H loop shows for the Co = 0.09 doped ZnO sample, the ferromagnetic (FM) behavior increased, i.e., a M_r of 0.2412 emu g⁻¹ with a H_c of 85 Oe.     

Immune responses induced by BCG recombinant for human papillomavirus L1 and E7 proteins

Recombinant bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) based vaccine delivery systems could potentially share the safety and effectiveness of BCG. We therefore prepared recombinant BCG vaccines which expressed the L1 late protein of the human papillomavirus (HPV) 6b or the E7 early protein of the HPV 16. The two recombinants were evaluated as immunogens in C57BL/6J and BALB/c mice, and compared with a conventional protein/adjuvant system using E7 or L1 mixed with Quil-A adjuvant. rBCG6bL1 and rBCG16E7 primed specific immune responses, represented by DTH, T-proliferation and antibody, and rBCG16E7 induced cytotoxic immune response to E7 protein. The magnitude of the observed responses were less than those elicited by protein/adjuvant vaccine. As recombinant BCG vaccines expressing HPV6bL1 or HPV16E7 persist at low levels in the immunised host, they may be beneficial to prime or retain memory responses to antigens, but are unlikely to be useful as a single component vaccine strategy.     

Hypopharyngeal pH monitoring artifact in detection of laryngopharyngeal reflux

Hypopharyngeal pH artifacts have been a concern in the detection of laryngopharyngeal reflux. Our purpose was to analyze and quantify artifacts from dual-sensor hypopharyngeal pH monitoring. In all, 42 hypopharyngeal and 58 esophageal pH studies were reviewed. Type 1 (out of range), type 2 (pH drift), and type 3 (isolated pH drop) artifacts were identified. The proportion of proximal-sensor pH drop to <4 that was artifactual was determined. The median number (range) of artifacts was 1 (0–17) and 2 (0–28) for hypopharyngeal and esophageal pH studies, respectively (P = NS). The median proportion of artifactual pH drop to <4 was 1% (0–84%) and 2% (0–74%) for hypopharyngeal and esophageal pH studies, respectively (P = NS). The diagnosis did not change in any patient after excluding pH artifacts. In all, 19% of the combined 2432 hypopharyngeal pH drops of <4 were artifacts. In conclusion, hypopharyngeal pH artifacts per study were uncommon but can be prominent in a few patients. One can identify these artifacts and exclude them from analysis.     

Punica granatum (pomegranate) flower extract possesses potent antioxidant activity and abrogates Fe-NTA induced hepatotoxicity in mice.

Most pomegranate (Punica granatum Linn., Punicaceae) fruit parts are known to possess enormous antioxidant activity. The present study evaluated antioxidant and hepatoprotective activity of pomegranate flowers. Alcoholic (ethanolic) extract of flowers was prepared and used in the present study. The extract was found to contain a large amount of polyphenols and exhibit enormous reducing ability, both indicative of potent antioxidant ability. The extract showed 81.6% antioxidant activity in DPPH model system. The ability of extract to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS) was tested and it was found to significantly scavenge superoxide (O(2)(.-)) (by up to 53.3%), hydrogen peroxide (H(2)O(2)) (by up to 30%), hydroxyl radicals (()OH) (by up to 37%) and nitric oxide (NO) (by up to 74.5%). The extract also inhibited (.)OH induced oxidation of lipids and proteins in vitro. These results indicated pomegranate flower extract to exert a significant antioxidant activity in vitro. The efficacy of extract was tested in vivo and it was found to exhibit a potent protective activity in acute oxidative tissue injury animal model: ferric nitrilotriacetate (Fe-NTA) induced hepatotoxicity in mice. Intraperitoneal administration of 9 mg/kg body wt. Fe-NTA to mice induced oxidative stress and liver injury. Pretreatment with pomegranate flower extract at a dose regimen of 50-150 mg/kg body wt. for a week significantly and dose dependently protected against Fe-NTA induced oxidative stress as well as hepatic injury. The extract afforded up to 60% protection against hepatic lipid peroxidation and preserved glutathione (GSH) levels and activities of antioxidant enzymes viz., catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPX) glutathione reductase (GR) and glutathione-S-transferase (GST) by up to 36%, 28.5%, 28.7%, 40.2% and 42.5% respectively. A protection against Fe-NTA induced liver injury was apparent as inhibition in the modulation of liver markers viz., aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bilirubin and albumin in serum. The histopathological changes produced by Fe-NTA, such as ballooning degeneration, fatty changes, necrosis were also alleviated by the extract. These results indicate pomegranate flowers to possess potent antioxidant and hepatoprotective property, the former being probably responsible for the latter.