Modelling personal exposure to particulate air pollution: An assessment of time-integrated activity modelling,Monte Carlo simulation & artificial neural network approaches

An experimental assessment of personal exposure to PM₁₀ in 59 office workers was carried out in Dublin, Ireland. 255 samples of 24-h personal exposure were collected in real time over a 28 month period. A series of modelling techniques were subsequently assessed for their ability to predict 24-h personal exposure to PM₁₀. Artificial neural network modelling, Monte Carlo simulation and time–activity based models were developed and compared. The results of the investigation showed that using the Monte Carlo technique to randomly select concentrations from statistical distributions of exposure concentrations in typical microenvironments encountered by office workers produced the most accurate results, based on 3 statistical measures of model performance. The Monte Carlo simulation technique was also shown to have the greatest potential utility over the other techniques, in terms of predicting personal exposure without the need for further monitoring data. Over the 28 month period only a very weak correlation was found between background air quality and personal exposure measurements, highlighting the need for accurate models of personal exposure in epidemiological studies.     

Antifertility Effects of Pouzolzia Mixta in Female Wistar Rats

The continued use of plants by women to prevent pregnancy suggests there are plants out there with potential use as contraceptives. In Zimbabwe, Pouzolzia mixta is used as a “morning after” contraceptive, thus it may possess postcoital antifertility activity. To test contraceptive activity, animals (n=8/group) were orally pretreated with aqueous (AqPM) or ethanolic (EtPM) extract of P. mixta at 300mg/kg b.wt for 7 days followed by mating with continued treatment for 10 days post-conception. To test for postcoital activity, treatment was initiated on day-1 of pregnancy and continued for 10 days. Laparotomy was performed and implantations counted. For estrogenic activity, immature ovariectomised rats were treated for 7 days after which vaginal opening and uterine weights were determined. In vitro oxytocic effects were performed using uterine tissue in an organ bath with De Jalon''s solution. Acetylcholine (Ach) was the positive control. Results showed modest contraceptive activity with EtPM more effective in inhibiting fertility compared to AqPM (37.5% vs 25%) with a similar trend for antiimplantation effects (31% vs 19%). There was potent postcoital antifertility effects with AqPM more effective in inhibiting implantation (94.6% vs 86%) and fertility (87.5% vs 75%) compared to EtPM. Immature rat bioassay for estrogenic activity demonstrated pronounced estrogenic activity by both extracts. Oxytocic effects at 400ng/ml were more pronounced for the AqPM (92% of 100ng/ml Ach) than EtPM (25% of 100ng/ml Ach). Findings demonstrate the antifertility effects of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of P. mixta. The antifertility effects may be attributed to antiimplantation, estrogenic and oxytocic effects of the plant extracts.     

Antileishmanial Activity of Some Plants Growing in Algeria: Juglans Regia,Lawsonia Inermis and Salvia Officinalis

The current study was undertaken to evaluate in vitro the antileishmanial activity of three plants growing wild in Algeria : Juglans regia, Lawsonia inermis and Salvia officinalis. The hydroalcoholic extracts of these plants were tested on the growth of the promastigotes of Leishmania major. The plant extract effects were compared with three controls : CRL1 composed of 1 ml RPMI inoculated with 10⁶ of promastigotes, CRL2 composed of 1 ml RPMI inoculated with 10⁶ of promastigotes and 100 µl of hydroalcoholic solvent, CRL3 composed of 1 ml RPMI inoculated with 10⁶ of promastigotes and 100 µl of Glucantim as a reference drug in the management of leishmaniasis. The results showed that both J. regia and L. inermis extracts reduced the promastigotes number significantly (P<0.01). however, S. officinalis showed a total inhibition of the Leishmania major growth.     

Hypolipidemic activity of a hydroalcoholic extract of Cyperus scariosus Linn. root in guinea pigs fed with a high cholesterol diet

Lipid-lowering and antioxidant activities of a hydroalcoholic extract of Cyperus scariosus Linn. root（HCS） were evaluated in guinea pigs fed with a high cholesterol diet. Serum lipid profile（total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C, VLDL-C, and HDL-C）, atherogenic indices and serum enzymes（ALT, AST, ALP, LDH, and CK-MB） were performed in each group at 0 days and at the end of 60 days. Histological study of liver and kidney was done in groups 1, 2, 5, 6 and 7. The total phenolic and flavonoid content in HCS and its antioxidant activity were evaluated by the DPPH assay. Both doses of HCS decreased serum lipid profile and atherogenic indices（P 〈 0.05）. HCS has lipid lowering, immunosuppressive and antioxidant properties, and mays have value in atherosclerosis prevention. The higher dose of HCS also reduced serum AST, ALP, and LDH levels and rosuvastatin increased AST and ALP levels（P 〈 0.05）. Histology of the liver showed decreased lipid accumulation and improvement in hepatocytes in HCStreated animals. The antioxidant activity of HCS may be responsible for its lipid lowering and cytoprotective action. HCS had significant lipid lowering and antioxidant activity, which; may be due to the phenolic compounds. HCS may be a safe and cost effective alternative to current statin therapy for patients with dyslipidaemia.     

The paradox of the binomial Ixodes ricinus activity and the observed unimodal Lyme borreliosis season in Hungary

The change of ambient temperature plays a key role in determining the run of the annual Lyme season. Our aim was to explain the apparent contradiction between the annual unimodal Lyme borreliosis incidence and the bimodal Ixodes ricinus tick activity run – both observed in Hungary – by distinguishing the temperature-dependent seasonal human and tick activity, the temperature-independent factors, and the multiplicative effect of human outdoor activity in summer holiday, using data from Hungary in the period of 1998–2012. This separation was verified by modeling the Lyme incidence based on the separated factors, and comparing the run of the observed and modeled incidence. We demonstrated the bimodality of tick season by using the originally unimodal Lyme incidence data. To model the outdoor human activity, the amount of camping guest nights was used, which showed an irregular run from mid-June to September. The human outdoor activity showed a similar exponential correlation with ambient temperature to that what the relative incidence did. It was proved that summer holiday has great influence on Lyme incidence.     

Synthesis of stable nanosilver particles (AgNPs) by the proteins of seagrass Syringodium isoetifolium and its biomedicinal properties

A simple eco-friendly approach for the hasty synthesis of stable, potent and benign silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) using seagrass, Syringodium isoetifolium was proposed and described here. The UV–Vis, DLS, XRD, AFM, FESEM, EDX and HRTEM analysis highly characterized and confirmed the presence of polydispersed (2–50 nm) spherical and stable AgNPs. FT-IR and phytochemical analysis suggested that the proteins act as reducing and also as capping agent. A hypothetical approach using bioinformatics tools revealed that the Phytochrome B protein of S. isoetifolium might be responsible for the biosynthesis of NPs. Furthermore, biosynthesized AgNPs showed magnificent antibacterial activity against thirteen clinical bacterial pathogens with maximum zone of inhibition of 14.3 ± 0.12 mm due to their smaller size and longer stability even at minimal nanomolar (nM) concentration. In addition, the MIC and MBC values also suggested the same. Moreover, the percentage of haemolysis (8.49 ± 3.10 to 73.34 ± 1.79%) and haemolytic index revealed the satisfactory biocompatibility of AgNPs that showed less/no haemolysis up to 3 nM concentration. Further, the toxicity effect of biosynthesized AgNPs against the brine shrimp, Artemia salina exhibited significantly increasing mortality (13 ± 4.7 to 100%) with LC₅₀ value at 4 nM concentration. Thus, the optical property, crystal structure, size, shape, stability, bactericidal activity, cytotoxicity, and biocompatibility apparently proved that the biologically synthesized AgNPs have typical properties of nanomaterials.     

Antidiabetic activity of Syzygium calophyllifolium in Streptozotocin-Nicotinamide induced Type-2 diabetic rats

The study was initiated to determine the antidaibetic activity of Syzygium calophyllifolium in Streptozotocin-Nicotinamide (STZ-NA) induced diabetic rats. The rats were treated with 100 and 200 mg/kg of the Syzygium calophyllifolium bark methanol extract (SCBM) and compared with the diabetic, normal and standard glibenclamide groups. The blood glucose level and body weight of the rats in different groups were monitored at regular intervals. The serum, blood biochemical and histopathological parameters of liver, kidney and pancreas were also analyzed. In vivo antioxidants like SOD, CAT, GST, GSH and GR levels were estimated in liver and kidney. SCBM (100 mg/kg) extract could reduce the blood glucose level from the 15th day itself (213.67 mg/dL) and the best reduction was observed till the end of the study with 259.25 mg/dL (200 mg/kg). Initial decrease in body weight was recovered after drug treatment and an increase in body weight was observed on the 4th week. The haematological parameters like total haemoglobin, packed cell volume percentage, total WBC and RBC content were found normal compared to that of normal untreated rats. Glibenclamide was also equally effective. The higher dose of SCBM extract could normalize the triglycerides, HDL, cholesterol and VLDL constituents in blood serum to the levels almost similar to that of normal rats. The results of the in vivo antioxidant levels showed that there are no significant difference in SOD, GSH and GR levels in all the groups compared to the normal control. SCBM and SMBM at 200 mg/kg dose were much effective over the lower dose. The histology revealed that SCBM 200 mg/kg could protect the cellular architecture of liver kidney and pancreas. The results from the study confirm ethnopharmacological significance of the plant and could be taken further for the development of an effective pharmaceutical drug against diabetes.     

Synthesis,Tautomeric Structures,and Antitumor Activity of New Perimidines

New series of perimidine derivatives and fused perimidines were derived from the reaction of ketene aminals 1 and 2 with diazotized anilines or hydrazonoyl chlorides. In addition, 8,10‐disubstituted‐[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3‐a]perimidines ( 20a–m ) were prepared through the reaction of perimidine‐2‐thione ( 15 ) with hydrazonoyl chlorides. The structures of the newly synthesized compounds were established on the basis of spectral data and elemental analyses. Some products were investigated for their antitumor activities against the human breast cancer cell line MCF‐7 and the liver carcinoma cell line HEPG‐2, and the results of some derivatives showed promising activity.