Antioxidant activity of an anatolian herbal tea—Origanum minutiflorum: isolation and characterization of its secondary metabolites

Origanum species are significant aromatic and medicinal plants used in food and pharmaceutical industries. Isolation of bioactive compounds was executed on n-butanol extract to yield the compounds responsible for the activities. Tricosan-1-ol (1), (8E,16E)-tetracosa-8,16-diene-1,24-diol (2), azepan-2-one (3), 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (4), apigenin (5), eriodictyol (6), globoidnan-A (7), luteolin (8), rosmarinic acid (9), apigenin-7-O-glucuronide (10), and vicenin-2 (11) were isolated by chromatographic methods (column chromatography and semi-preparative High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic techniques including 1D/2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Liquid chromatography/Time-of-flight/Mass spectrometry (LC-TOF/MS). The isolated compounds and extracts were applied for antioxidant assays including 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH^?) scavenging, 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid) (ABTS^?+) scavenging, reducing power, and cuprac techniques. 3,4-Dihydroxy benzoic acid (4), eriodictyol (6), luteolin (8), and rosmarinic acid (9) revealed the considerable antioxidant activities.     

On numerical design technique of wideband microwave amplifiers based on GaN small-signal device model

This work presents an application of Normalized Gain Function (NGF) method to the design of linear wideband microwave amplifiers based on small-signal model of a device. NGF has been originally developed to be used together with an S-parameter (*.s2p) file, whereas this work enables the NGF to be able to work with explicit S-parameter formulae derived from the small-signal model of the device. This approach provides the designer to be able to use simple set of S-parameter equations instead of S-parameter file of the device. Representation of the device simply by several model equations not only eliminates the need of carrying large number of data but also provides the capability of equation-based easy, realistic and equispaced S-parameter data generation in any desired resolution in frequency axis without requiring interpolation. NGF is defined as the ratio of T and |S₂₁|², i.e. T_N = T/|S₂₁|², gain function of the amplifier to be designed and transistor forward gain function, respectively. Synthesis of output/input matching networks (OMN/IMN) of the amplifier requires two target gain functions in terms of T_N, to be used in two sequential non-linear optimization procedures, respectively. An amplifier with a flat gain of ~10 dB operating in 0.8–2.35 GHz is designed using a small-signal model of an experimental GaN-HEMT. Theoretical amplifier performance obtained in Matlab is shown to be in excellent agreement with the simulated performance in MWO (Microwave Office, AWR Inc.). A prototype low-power amplifier having a ~10 to 12 dB gain, operating in (0.9–1.5 GHz) is also produced and measured which yielded good performance results.     

The investigation of synergistic inhibition effect of rhodanine and iodide ion on the corrosion of copper in sulphuric acid solution

The synergistic inhibition effect of rhodanine (Rdn) and iodide ion on the corrosion of copper in 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution was studied using electrochemical techniques. The surface morphologies of the substrates were examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Elemental analysis of electrode surface exposed to test solution was determined by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). It was found that Rdn provided satisfactory inhibition on the corrosion of copper. Moreover, its inhibition efficiency further increased in the presence of iodide ions due to synergistic effect. Finally, a mechanism of inhibition is proposed and discussed.     

Adsorption and corrosion inhibition effect of 2-((5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-ylimino)methyl)phenol Schiff base on mild steel

In this study, the inhibition effect of 2-((5-mercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazol-2-ylimino)methyl)phenol Schiff base (MTMP) on mild steel corrosion in 0.5 M HCl solution was studied. For this aim, electrochemical techniques such as potentiodynamic polarization curves, weight loss (WL), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and linear polarization resistance (LPR) were used. It was shown that, the MTMP Schiff base has remarkable inhibition efficiency on the corrosion of mild steel in 0.5 M HCl solution. Polarization measurements indicated that, the studied inhibitor acts as mixed type corrosion inhibitor with predominantly control of cathodic reaction. The inhibition efficiency depends on the concentration of inhibitor and reaches 97% at 1.0 mM MTMP. The remarkable inhibition efficiency of MTMP was discussed in terms of blocking of electrode surface by adsorption of inhibitor molecules through active centers. The adsorption of MTMP molecules on the mild steel surface obeys Langmuir adsorption isotherm.     

Phenolic composition,antioxidant, antibacterial,larvacidal against Culex pipiens,and cytotoxic activities of Hyacinthella lineata steudel extracts

This study reports the phenolic composition, antioxidant, antibacterial, larvacidal, and cytotoxic activity of methanol and acetone extracts of Hyacinthella lineata leaves and bulbs. The phenolic composition of H. lineata was determined by HPLC. The most abundant component was gallic acid (421.9µg/g). The β-carotene/DPPH/ABTS/FRAP decoloration method was used to estimate the total antioxidant activity. The total antioxidant activity was the highest for bulb-methanol fraction (65.41 ± 0.05%). The total phenolic content for leaves-methanol extract of the plant was determined as 6.56 ± 4.027mg/mL gallic acid equivalents. Analysis of the antibacterial activity showed that the methanolic-bulb extract are efficient against gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The cytotoxic effect on Artemia salina was assessed by Brine shrimp assay. Brine shrimp lethality assay showed that LC₅₀ values of HBM were obtained as 4.105 ± 2.42μg/ml. The bulb extract of H. lineata showed the highest larvicidal activity against Cx pipiens with value LC₅₀ (64.3275μg/ml). This study suggested that H. lineata may be used as a potential source of antioxidant, and for their biological activity, cytotoxic and antimicrobial properties.     

High-Temperature Transverse Fracture Toughness of Nicalon-Fiber-Reinforced CAS-II Glass-Ceramic Matrix Composite

Cracking parallel to the fibers in off-axis plies is usually the initial form of damage in composite laminates. This cracking process has been associated with the (transverse) fracture toughness, defined by the critical strain energy release rate, G _Ic. The measurement of G _Ic provides basic information about the transverse crack resistance. In this study, the utility of the double torsion (DT) test technique to determine _G Ic in a glass-ceramic matrix composite (Nicalon/CAS-II) at temperatures up to 1000°C has been demonstrated. _G Ic did decrease moderately with increasing temperature (as does the bulk matrix); however, no evidence of an interphase oxidizing effect on crack growth (parallel to the fibers) could be found. The inevitable misalignment of fibers in the material was not very efficient at bridging the crack in the DT specimens, in contrast to the significant matrix crack interactions with the fibers reported for other geometries such as double cantilever beam and flexure specimens.     

Impact characterization of glass/epoxy composite plates: An experimental and numerical study

This study presents the effects of impact energy, impactor mass and impact velocity on the maximum contact force, maximum deflection, contact time, absorbed energy, and overall damage area of glass/epoxy laminated composites, experimentally and numerically. The stacking sequence of the composite plates was chosen as [0°/30°/60°/90°]_S. The impact event was simulated and analyzed by using 3DIMPACT finite element code. The overall delamination area obtained from experimental study and numerical analyses were also examined. It is seen that the numerical results are in good agreement with experimental results.     

The effect of process parameter on the properties of spot welded cold deformed AISI304 grade austenitic stainless steel

The electrode force, weld current, and weld time are three essential parameters of the resistance spot welding process. This paper deals with the characterization and understanding the effect of weld time and the influence of different weld atmospheres in the resistance spot weldability of AISI304 grade stainless steel deformed in tension by 5%, 10%, or 20%. Therefore, the microstructure of the weldment was evaluated and the hardness and tensile shear load bearing capacity of weldment were also determined. It was found that the final mechanical properties of weldment are directly related to the parameters of the process used, knowing the weld time and rate of deformation prior to welding.     

Disaggregate energy consumption and industrial output in the United States

This paper investigates the effect of disaggregate energy consumption on industrial output in the United States. Most of the related research utilizes aggregate data which may not indicate the relative strength or explanatory power of various energy inputs on output. We use monthly data and employ the generalized variance decomposition approach to assess the relative impacts of energy and employment on real output. Our results suggest that unexpected shocks to coal, natural gas and fossil fuel energy sources have the highest impacts on the variation of output, while several renewable sources exhibit considerable explanatory power as well. However, none of the energy sources explain more of the forecast error variance of industrial output than employment.     

Calculation of radiation attenuation coefficients in Portland cements mixed with silica fume,blast furnace slag and natural zeolite

This paper presents the radiation attenuation coefficients expressed as mass attenuation coefficients for Portland cement, zeolite, blast furnace slag, silica fume and their mixed types in function of the Photon energy over the energy range of 1 keV to 2 MeV. It was observed that different percentages of constituents in cement and cement mixed with different additives such as zeolite, silica fume and blast furnace slag, lead to significant variations in total mass attenuation coefficients. The elemental compositions of samples were analyzed using a wavelength dispersive XRF spectrometer. The calculated values of total mass attenuation coefficients were discussed on the basis of different percentages of constituents of cement and cement mixed with different additives.