Oregano: chemical analysis and evaluation of its antimalarial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities

Abstract: GC‐FID and GC‐MS analysis of essential oil from oregano leaves (Origanum compactum) resulted in the identification of 46 compounds, representing more than 98% of the total composition. Carvacrol was the predominant compound (36.46%), followed by thymol (29.74%) and p‐cymene (24.31%). Serial extractions with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, ethanol, and water were performed on aerials parts of Origanum compactum. In these extracts, different chemical families were characterized: polyphenols (gallic acid equivalent 21.2 to 858.3 g/kg), tannins (catechin equivalent 12.4 to 510.3 g/kg), anthocyanins (cyanidin equivalent 0.38 to 5.63 mg/kg), and flavonoids (quercetin equivalent 14.5 to 54.7 g/kg). The samples (essential oil and extracts) were subjected to a screening for antioxidant (DPPH and ABTS assays) and antimalarial activities and against human breast cancer cells. The essential oil showed a higher antioxidant activity with an IC₅₀= 2 ± 0.1 mg/L. Among the extracts, the aqueous extract had the highest antioxidant activity with an IC₅₀= 4.8 ± 0.2 mg/L (DPPH assay). Concerning antimalarial activity, Origanum compactum essential oil and ethyl acetate extract showed the best results with an IC₅₀ of 34 and 33 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, ethyl acetate extract (30 mg/L) and ethanol extract (56 mg/L) showed activity against human breast cancer cells (MCF7). The oregano essential oil was considered to be nontoxic.     

Structural Analysis of Partial and Total Esters of Glycerol Undecenoate and Diglycerol Undecenoate

The direct esterification reaction between glycerol and undecylenic acid or between diglycerol and undecylenic acid generates all the possible types of glycerol or diglycerol esters. Purification by silica gel chromatography resulted in the isolation of each of these types of ester in a pure form. The molecular structures of the compounds isolated were characterized and identified by mass spectrometry, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR and DEPT‐135. We then studied the composition of esters of undecylenic acid formed with glycerol or diglycerol as a function of their reaction conditions, which constitute a highly complex system. We purified undecylenic acid esters from each polyol family to allow the structural identification of each ester of glycerol and each ester of diglycerol with undecylenic acid. We found that the polarity of these non‐ionic amphiphilic esters directly affected their affinity for organic and inorganic solvents and that these esters behaved very differently from anionic amphiphilic molecules, such as undecylenic acid.     

Revisitation of Formaldehyde Aniline Condensation. VII. 1,3,5-Triarylhexahydro-sym-triazines and 1,3,5,7-Tetraaryl-1,3,5,7-tetrazocines from Aromatic Amines and Paraformaldehyde

A product study of the reaction between a number of aromatic amines substituted with widely different groups and paraformaldehyde in inert solvents was performed and found to yield 1,3,5-triaryl-1,3,5-hexahydrotriazines, 1,3,5,7-tetraaryl-1,3,5,7-tetrazocines and formaminals. It was not possible to correlate the product outcomes with the actual structure of the amine substrate. The X-ray diffraction structural determination of 1,3,5-tri-(t-butylphenyl)-( 1b ) and 1,3,5-tri-(m-fluorophenyl)-1,3,5-hexahydrotriazine ( 1c ) showed the diaxial arrangement of the N-substituents.     

Revisitation of Formaldehyde Aniline Condensation. I High Yield Synthesis of 1,3,5-Triphenylhexahydro-symtriazine and its X-Ray Crystal Structure Determination

A rapid and efficient preparation of 1,3,5-triphenylhexahydro-sym-triazine ( 10 ) using paraformaldehyde is reported. The trimeric nature of the compound and its structure in solid state, where a biaxial chair conformation is favoured, are conclusively shown by X-ray diffraction analysis. A recent report on a preparation of 1,3-diphenyl-1,3-diazetidine is invalidated.     

Cast Iron Inoculation Enhanced by Supplementary Oxy-sulfides Forming Elements

Inoculation is one of the most important metallurgical treatments applied to the molten cast iron immediately prior to casting, to promote solidification without excessive eutectic undercooling, which favors carbides formation usually with undesirable graphite morphologies. The paper focused on the separate addition of an inoculant enhancer alloy [S, O, oxy-sulfides forming elements] with a conventional Ca-FeSi alloy, in the production of gray and ductile cast irons. Carbides formation tendency decreased with improved graphite characteristics as an effect of the [Ca-FeSi + Enhancer] inoculation combination, when compared to other Ca/Ca, Ba/Ca, RE-FeSi alloy treatments. Adding an inoculant enhancer greatly enhances inoculation, lowers inoculant consumption up to 50% or more and avoids the need to use more costly inoculants, such as a rare earth bearing alloy. The Inoculation Specific Factor [ISF] was developed as a means to more realistically measure inoculant treatment efficiency. It compares the ratio between the improved characteristic level and total inoculant consumption for this effect. Addition of any of the commercial inoculants plus the inoculant enhancer offered outstanding inoculation power [increased ISF] even at higher solidification cooling rates, even though the total enhancer addition was at a small fraction of the amount of commercial inoculant used.     

Cloud-assisted body area networks: state-of-the-art and future challenges

Body area networks (BANs) are emerging as enabling technology for many human-centered application domains such as health-care, sport, fitness, wellness, ergonomics, emergency, safety, security, and sociality. A BAN, which basically consists of wireless wearable sensor nodes usually coordinated by a static or mobile device, is mainly exploited to monitor single assisted livings. Data generated by a BAN can be processed in real-time by the BAN coordinator and/or transmitted to a server-side for online/offline processing and long-term storing. A network of BANs worn by a community of people produces large amount of contextual data that require a scalable and efficient approach for elaboration and storage. Cloud computing can provide a flexible storage and processing infrastructure to perform both online and offline analysis of body sensor data streams. In this paper, we motivate the introduction of Cloud-assisted BANs along with the main challenges that need to be addressed for their development and management. The current state-of-the-art is overviewed and framed according to the main requirements for effective Cloud-assisted BAN architectures. Finally, relevant open research issues in terms of efficiency, scalability, security, interoperability, prototyping, dynamic deployment and management, are discussed.     

The History of ICRP and the Evolution of its Policies

Within 12 months of the discovery of X rays in 1895, papers appeared in the literature reporting adverse effects from high exposure. In 1925, the first International Congress of Radiology, held in London, considered the need for a protection committee, which it established at its second congress in Stockholm in 1928. This paper celebrates the 80^th anniversary of ICRP by tracing the history of the development of its policies, and identifying a few of the personalities involved from its inception up to the modern era. The paper follows the progress from the early controls on worker doses to avoid deterministic effects, through the identification of stochastic effects, to the concerns about public exposure and increasing stochastic risk estimates. The key features of the recommendations made by ICRP from 1928 up to the most recent in 2007 are identified.     

Behavior of Paramagnetic Iron during the Thermal Transformations of Kaolinite

Kaolinites with various degrees of structural order and iron content were heated and subsequently analyzed via electron paramagnetic resonance. Iron was present in two different states in the heated materials, either as dilute structural Fe³⁺ ions or in concentrated Fe³⁺ phases. During metakaolinization, the environment of dilute Fe³⁺ ions changed, following modifications of the Al³⁺ coordination, and the Fe³⁺ concentration increased. With the breakdown of metakaolinite, the diffusion of Fe³⁺ ions induced their exsolution in superparamagnetic iron-rich domains (Fe³⁺ clusters in γ-Al₂O₃ and/or Fe³⁺ oxide nanophases), which produced a decrease in the dilute Fe³⁺ concentration. The subsequent breakdown of γ-Al₂O₃ and the formation of mullite made the dilute Fe³⁺ concentration increase again, because of the incorporation of Fe³⁺ ions in the mullite structure.