Chemical composition and antifungal activity of Salvia macrochlamys and Salvia recognita essential oils

Essential oils of Salvia macrochlamys and Salvia recognita were obtained by hydrodistillation of dried aerial parts and characterized by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. One hundred and twenty identified constituents representing 97.7% in S. macrochlamys and 96.4% in S. recognita were characterized, and 1,8-cineole, borneol, and camphor were identified as major components of the essential oils. The oils were evaluated for their antimalarial, antimicrobial, and antifungal activities. Antifungal activity of the essential oils from both Salvia species was nonselective at inhibiting growth and development of reproductive stroma of the plant pathogens Colletotrichum acutatum, Colletotrichum fragariae, and Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. S. macrochlamys oil had good antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium intracellulare; however, the oils showed no antimicrobial activity against human pathogenic bacteria or fungi up to a concentration of 200 microg/mL. S. recognita oil exhibited a weak antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum.     

Potent Skin Cancer Chemopreventing Activity of Some Novel Semi-synthetic Cembranoids from Marine Sources

In the course of our continuing research in development and evaluation of novel skin cancer chemopreventive agents from marine sources, five semi-synthetic cembranoids derived from the marine natural product sarcophine, isolated from the soft coral Sarcophyton glaucum, were synthesized and shown to exhibit a remarkable chemopreventive activity in the in-vitro Epstein Barr Virus Early Antigen (EBV-EA) activation assay. These compounds were assayed in vivo using the two-stage carcinogenesis test of mouse skin tumors induced by 7,12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA) as an initiator, and 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA) as a promoter by topical administration. They showed potent inhibition of both percentage incidence of skin tumor as well as the multiplicity of skin tumors per mouse compared to untreated controls.     

仿鼹鼠足趾排列的旋耕-秸秆粉碎锯齿刀片设计与试验

随着保护性耕作的不断发展,实际作业中对旋耕刀性能要求愈发严格,该文在国标旋耕刀基础上,将正、侧切削刃上设计成锯齿状,然后考察实际作业过程中功耗、受力以及作业质量,检测仿鼹鼠足趾排列的旋耕-秸秆粉碎锯齿刀片的田间作业功耗和作业质量。针对该锯齿刀片和国标旋耕刀片在有秸秆颗粒和无秸秆颗粒下进行仿真分析,对比可知:在有秸秆颗粒下,由于刀具要与秸秆接触并发生挤压和剪切作用,从而导致受力以及扭矩值较大。结合理论分析,利用扭矩传感器对仿生锯齿刀和国标旋耕刀进行田间试验。根据0.5 m×0.5 m地表设置不同质量秸秆,分别为0、0.375和0.75 kg(0%、50%、100%),测定拖拉机输出扭矩以及功耗,并依照国标测试方法测定作业质量。田间试验得到扭矩与仿真变化趋势一致。当地表无秸秆和地表含50%秸秆时,锯齿刀片扭矩分别为404.05和438.33 N·m;国标旋耕刀片上扭矩分别为389.27和443.79 N·m。当地表秸秆质量分数为100%时,锯齿刀和国标旋耕刀片上扭矩分别为557.92和507.34 N·m。耕作后地表秸秆和土壤评价结果显示:不同质量含量秸秆覆盖下,仿生锯齿刀耕作后的秸秆掩埋率、土壤破碎率、长度≤15 cm秸秆比例等方面都优于国标旋耕刀。田间试验和仿真结果都显示当地表覆盖秸秆量为0%和100%时,仿生锯齿刀的扭矩高于国标旋耕刀。虽然仿生锯齿刀只在秸秆覆盖量为50%时扭矩与功耗优于国标旋耕刀,但在3种秸秆覆盖量下仿生锯齿刀的耕后地表质量都明显优于国标旋耕刀。综上考虑,在实际作业中,可适当收集田间秸秆。该研究为实现只应用一种刀片来完成旋耕和秸秆粉碎2种不同作业目标提供了参考。     

Effect of Ascorbic Acid Concentrations,Methods of Cooling and Freezing on Boer Goat Semen Cryopreservation

To improve the Boer goat semen quality during cryopreservation process, three experiments were carried out to investigate the effect of (i) different concentration of ascorbic acid supplementation (ii) rate of cooling with chilled semen characteristics and (iii) method of freezing on post‐thaw Boer goat sperm using Tris‐based extender. Ascorbic acid at 8.5 mg/ml improved the sperm parameters (motility, integrity of membrane and acrosome, morphology and viability), compared to control in cooled samples (p < 0.05). With regard to other concentrations and post‐thawed parameters, ascorbic acid at 2.5–8.5 mg/ml led to higher percentages of sperm motility and integrities of membrane and acrosome when compared to control (p < 0.05). Slow cooling rises to higher percentages of sperm motility, acrosome integrity and viability, in comparison with fast cooling, in terms of cooled and frozen samples (p < 0.05). Programmable freezing method produced the higher percentages of sperm motility, integrities of membrane and acrosome and viability when compared to the freezing method of polystyrene box during goat sperm freezing (p < 0.05). In conclusion, chilled and post‐thawed sperm quality of Boer goat was improved when a Tris‐based extender supplemented with ascorbic acid was used at stages of different cooling rates and freezing methods.     

Correlation and Path Coefficient Analysis for Some New Released (00) Spring Rapeseed Cultivars Grown under Different Competitive Systems

The inter-relationships between fifteen quantitative characters of spring oilseed rape were computed using four "free erucic acid" cultivars viz. Callypso, Semit 2080, Semu DNK 203/84 and Semu 304 , grown under two different distances between drill rows (16 and 32 cm) and three population densities (30, 60 and 90 plants/m²). The experiments were carried out in Kiel, West Germany, in 1986 and 1987 seasons.
Positive and highly significant values were obtained in the two seasons between seed yield per plant and the characters: dry matter (DM) per plant, per main stem and per branches, number of branches, siliqua per plant or per branches and yield per branches. All the characters that showed strong association with yield/plant behaved in a similar way and similar magnitudes with yield/branches. By contrast, yield/main stem showed different magnitudes in the two years with the previous characters and the association was weak or absent in most cases.
Seed index and the quality traits (oil and protein %) did not correlate significantly with the majority of the characters studied. Only the association between DM/main stem and protein content showed highly significant negative values in both seasons.
Path coefficient analysis revealed that number of siliqua per plant had the highest direct effect on seed yield/plant in both years. The source character (DM) affected yield/plant indirectly through number of siliqua per plant and the indirect contribution was high m both years.     

Study into wild Egyptian plants of potential medicinal activity. Ninth communication: hypoglycaemic activity of some selected plants in normal fasting and alloxanised rats

31 desert plants belonging to 17 families were collected from different Egyptian localities. 21 plants extracts were orally given to normal rats, and 15 were tested on fasted and to alloxanised rats. The results were compared with a standard oral hypoglycaemic drug (Daonil, Hoechst) used as a positive control. The following findings were obtained: 8 plants exhibited persistent hypoglycaemic effects, Lycium shawii, Salvia (S.) aegyptiaca, Pergularia tomentosa, Convolvulus (C.) althaeoides, Haloxylon salicornicum, Ephedra alata, Scrophularia deserti, and Crotalaria aegyptiaca. Transient hypoglycaemic effects appeared only 1 hour after administration in response to 4 plants, Silena succulenta, Lygos raetam, C. lanatus, and Pulicaria incisa. In the cases of Ochradenus baccatus and Zygophyllum album, slow hypoglycaemic activity was produced and appeared 3 hours after administration. 5 plants showed hypoglycaemic effects viz, Thymus capitatus, Launaea nudicaulis, Conyza dioscorides, Nitraria retusa, and Limonium tubiflorum. Among the 15 plant extracts tested on alloxanised diabetic rats only 4 showed hypoglycaemic effects more potent than those of the administered dose of Daonil. These were Matthiola livida, S. aegyptiaca, Astragalus species, and Arthrocnemum glaucum. The hypoglycaemic effect of S. aegyptiaca in fasting rats has been confirmed also in alloxanised diabetic animals. This emphasises the importance of conducting both experiments in order to obtain a reliable conclusion.     

Dietary effects of soy and citrus flavonoid on antioxidation and microbial quality of meat in broilers

The current study investigated dietary effects of soy genistein (SG) and citrus hesperidin (CH) on microbial spoilage and antioxidant quality of chicken meat. Broilers were divided to six treatment groups: control (C), SG and CH, supplemented with 5 mg of SG and 20 mg of CH per kg of feed, respectively, and SGCH1, SGCH2 and SGCH3, supplemented with 5, 10 or 20 mg of SG + CH (1:4) per kg of feed respectively. Both SG and CH reduced (p < .01) the microbial load of spoilage organisms in breast meat at 0 and 15 days of refrigeration. Hepatic and muscle total antioxidant and superoxide dismutase activities, and crude protein contents were generally improved (p < .05), whereas hepatic malondialdehyde concentration and muscle fat was decreased (p < .01) by the dietary treatments. In conclusion, soy genistein and CH supplementation could improve meat composition, antioxidant and microbial quality of broilers meat.     

Chlorinated Didemnins from the Tunicate Trididemnum solidum

Chemical investigation of the tunicate Trididemnum solidum resulted in the isolation of two new chlorinated compounds belonging to the didemnin class, along with two known compounds didemnin A and didemnin B. The structural determination of the compounds was based on extensive NMR and mass spectroscopic analysis. The isolated compounds 1–4 were tested for their anti-inflammatory activity using in vitro assays for inhibition of inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB) activity. The anti-cell proliferative activity of the above compounds was also evaluated against four solid tumor cell lines.