Robust ferromagnetism in two-dimensional GeC/CrN heterobilayers

We have investigated the electronic and finite temperature magnetic properties of germanium carbide (GeC) and ferromagnetic chromium nitride (CrN) heterobilayers by using first-principles calculations based on density functional theory with Hubbard U correction and an effective anisotropic Heisenberg spin model. The dynamical stability of different stacking formations of heterobilayers is ensured by considering the phonon spectra. All the stacking patterns show half-metallicity with an out-of-plane easy-axis ferromagnetic ground state. We find a high Curie temperature for GeC/CrN heterobilayers within the random phase approximation (RPA). In addition to the symmetric stackings, i.e., AA and AB, the electronic properties of non-symmetric stackings at three different twist angles are also analyzed. The electronic structure analysis of twisted structures demonstrates that the half-metallicity of the GeC/CrN heterobilayer is stack independent. Furthermore, we have investigated the electronic properties, magnetic anisotropy energy, Curie temperature, and spin wave spectrum in the presence of biaxial strain. It is shown that the compressive strain dramatically reduces the magnetic anisotropy energy of the GeC/CrN heterobilayer and Curie temperature, but the Curie temperature still remains well above room temperature for all strain values. The increasing values of tensile strain reduce the magnetic exchange while it increases the magnetic anisotropy energy of the heterobilayer system which enhances the Curie temperature of the structures. The monolayer CrN on the GeC with a wide band gap and commensurate lattice together with a high Tc value can be a feasible candidate for future spintronic applications.

Easy-axis rotation in ferromagnetic monolayer CrN induced by fluorine and chlorine functionalization

The schematic energy diagram with crystal-field splitting of the d states before and after functionalization of CrN is reported.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of diosmin content of hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis) in response to salinity stress

Hyssop (Hyssopus officinalis L.) is a perennial subshrub, which is distributed across the eastern Mediterranean region to central Asia. One of the most important bioactive compounds of hyssop is diosmin, a flavone glycoside of diosmetin, with application in the field of cardiovascular therapy. Salinity as one of the most essential environmental stress factors is able to alter secondary metabolite content in plants. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the effect of salinity on the levels of total flavonoid content and diosmin in hyssop. Accordingly, salinity stress was imposed by watering plants with four different concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl) (50, 100, 150 and 200 mM) for 4 weeks. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was used for purification of diosmin from dried leaves and measurement of it in dried shoots. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was applied for determination of the structure of diosmin. The obtained results showed that high salinity levels lead to a higher amount of total flavonoid and diosmin content in treated plants. Although alteration in diosmin content was not significant in treatments up to 100 mM NaCl, higher amounts of diosmin were observed in 150 and 200 mM NaCl salinity levels. We concluded that the contents of total flavonoid and diosmin were significantly elevated after exposure of hyssop plants to salt stress conditions.

Comparing the effect of aromatherapy with peppermint and lavender on the sleep quality of cardiac patients: a randomized controlled trial

Background

Sleep disorder is a critical problem in cardiac patients. This study aimed to compare the effects of aromatherapy ‌with peppermint and lavender essential oils on the sleep quality of cardiac patients.

Methods

A total of 105 patients were randomly allocated to three groups of peppermint essential oil, lavender essential oil, and control. In each experimental group, the patients inhaled three drops of lavender and peppermint essential oils, whereas the control group received aromatic distilled water. Data were collected using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The participants completed PSQI before and after the intervention.

Results

There was a significant difference in the mean score of PSQI in each of the experimental groups before and after the intervention; however, the difference was not statistically significant between the experimental groups.

Conclusion

Aromatherapy with lavender and peppermint essential oils can improve the sleep quality of cardiac patients. Therefore, use of this non-pharmacological intervention, as an effective and simple approach, is recommended for cardiac patients.

Trial registration

IRCT, IRCT201601244736N10. Registered 4 November 2016.

Variations of glaucine, quercetin and kaempferol contents in Nigella arvensis against Al2O3, NiO, and TiO2 nanoparticles

The present study was designed to determine the glaucine, quercetin and kaempferol contents in the root and shoot parts of Nigella arvensis, treated for 21 days with different concentrations of the nanoparticles (NPs), including titanium dioxide (TiO2), alumina (Al2O3) and nickel oxide (NiO) by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results showed a significant increase in the total flavonoid and total alkaloid content in treated plants. Glaucine content in shoot parts was significantly higher than the root parts. The highest amount of glaucine was obtained in shoots and roots exposed to NiONPs at concentrations of 1000 and 2500 mg/L with up to 3.2 and 2.6 fold increase compared to the control group, respectively. The maximum content of quercetin was observed in the shoot and root parts under 50 mg/L NiONPs with 2.2 and 1.8 fold increase compared to the control group, respectively. The kaempferol content was significantly decreased in all treatment, except for 1000 mg/L NiONPs treatment in the root parts, which was 2.9 fold higher than the control group. Apart from the toxic effects of some NPs, our findings suggest that the NPs at specific levels can be considered as new and appropriate elicitors for in vitro production and increasing the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites to use in pharmaceutical applications.

Evaluation of the Cytotoxic and Apoptogenic Effects of Glabridin and Its Effect on Cytotoxicity and Apoptosis Induced by Doxorubicin Toward Cancerous Cells

Purposes: In the present study, we tried for the first time to examine the anti-proliferative and anti-apoptogenic effect of Glabridin (Glab) toward three groups of cancer cells (SKNMC, H1299, and A2780). Furthermore, the possibility of co-administration of Glab with doxorubicin (DOX) to these cells was also examined to find out whether Glab can potentiate the cytotoxic effect of this chemotherapy agent.

Methods: Different cellular assays (MTT, caspase-3 activity, MMP, RT-PCR analysis) were carried out on the cancer cells treated with Glab.

Results: Cellular toxicity assay revealed that Glab can potentially reduce the viability of these cells with IC50 concentrations up to 10, 12, and 38 μM toward A2780, SKNMC, and H1299 cell lines, respectively. The results of MMP and caspase-3 activity assays, in association with the results corresponding to the BAX and Bcl-2 gene expressions, altogether revealed that Glab can exert apoptogenic effect on these cells. The intrinsic mitochondrial pathway was found to be the main mechanism, in which Glab induced apoptosis toward H1299 cells and SKNMC cells, while the apoptosis mechanism for A2780 cells could be probably through extrinsic pathway. Glab also potentiated the cytotoxic effect of DOX and its accumulation in H1299 cell line.

Conclusion: The results of this study revealed the promising cytotoxic role of Glab on different carcinoma cells. These data also suggested that co-chemotherapy method using Glab could be effective for treatment of cancer, but further in-vivo and clinical studies are still needed to assure these results.

Electronic structure and optical properties of novel monolayer gallium nitride and boron phosphide heterobilayers

An external electric field modifies the electronic structure, charge distribution and energy band gap in the heterobilayer of gallium nitride/boron phosphide.

Protective effect of Malva sylvestris L. extract in ischemia-reperfusion induced acute kidney and remote liver injury

Mallow (Malva sylvestris L.) has had medicinal and therapeutic uses in addition to its oral consumption. The present study was conducted to examine the protective effect of Malva sylvestris L. extract on ischemia-reperfusion-induced kidney injury and remote organ injuries in the liver. Before ischemia-reperfusion, rats in the different groups received intraperitoneal normal saline or mallow extract at the doses of 200, 400 or 600 mg/kg of body weight. After 30-minutes of bilateral renal ischemia followed by 24-hours of reperfusion, tissue damage in the kidney and liver samples were determined through studying H&E-stained slides under a light microscope. The degree of leukocyte infiltration and tissue mRNA expressions of TNF- and ICAM-1 were then measured to examine the degree of renal inflammation. The renal tissue MDA and FRAP levels were measured for determining the amount of oxidative stress. Plasma concentrations of creatinine, urea, ALT and ALP were also measured. Ischemia-reperfusion led to a significant increase in plasma concentrations of creatinine, urea, ALT and ALP, and renal tissue MDA, and a significant decrease in renal tissue FRAP. The expression of pro-inflammatory factors in the kidney tissue, the level of leukocyte infiltration and the amount of tissue damage in the kidney and liver also increased. Pretreatment by mallow extract led to a significant improvement in all the variables measured. The 200- and 400-mg doses yielded better results in most parameters compared to the 600-mg dose. The findings showed that mallow extract protects the kidney against ischemia-reperfusion and reduces remote organ injury in the liver.

Acute and subchronic toxicological evaluation of Stachys lavandulifolia aqueous extract in Wistar rats

Stachys lavandulifolia (S. lavandulifolia) is a plant that has been widely used as an herbal medicine in Iran. Unfortunately, despite the prevalent medicinal uses of the plant, there are no reports on the possible toxic effects of S. lavandulifolia. In the present study the potential toxicity of S. lavandulifolia after acute and subchronic administration in rats was evaluated. Rats were orally treated with single doses of S. lavandulifolia aqueous extract and screened for signs of toxicity two weeks after administration. In the sub-chronic toxicity study, S. lavandulifolia was administered for 45 days. Mortality, clinical signs, body weight changes were assayed during the study. After 45 days animals were sacrificed and hematological and biochemical parameters, as well as weight of some organs were measured. All of the rats treated with different concentrations of water extracts of S. lavandulifolia were alive for all 14 days of observation. No hematological changes were observed a part from significant increase in WBC and neutrophils counts. Moreover, serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and creatinine significantly increased. Histopathological examinations showed fatty change, degeneration of hepatocytes and renal glomerular atrophy in the male rats. In the female rats, atrophy of hepatocytes and dilatation of sinusoids in liver, hyperemia and degeneration of renal epithelium mostly in cortical region were observed. Based on the results of this study no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) of the total aqueous extract of S. lavandulifolia considered to be 250 and 100 mg/kg/day for the male and female rats, respectively.

Phytotherapeutic management of polycystic ovary syndrome: role of aerial parts of wood betony (Stachys lavandulifolia)

Pharmacological treatments of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) have side effects. We compared the efficacy and safety of the aerial parts of wood botany (AWB) with those of Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) in the management of abnormal uterine bleeding (AUB) due to PCOS. We conducted a randomized clinical trial of 66 women aged 15-45 years, with AUB. Participants were randomly assigned to either cyclical 10-mg BD MPA for three cycles or 5 g ABW TDS for three months. Clinical symptoms and paraclinical parameters were recorded before and 3 months after initiation of the treatment. Comparisons were made using generalized linear models. Age-adjusted prevalence rate of different patterns of AUB, decreased from 2.7 (95%CIs: 0.6-48.0) to 1.1 (95%CIs: 0.1-18.3) for patients taking MPA, and from 2.5 (95% CIs: 0.2-40.2) to 0.7 (95%CIs: 0.0-12.1). Decrease in prevalence rate was similar across two arms of the study (P value = 0.248). Adverse effects were observed less frequently (24.2%) among participants on MPA than among those on AWB (45.5%). The multivariate-adjusted odds for developing adverse reaction of MPA was 0.40 (95%CIs: 0.14-1.19, P value = 0.099) time odds of AWB. In conclusion, AWB may be used as an alternative for MPA in the treatment of AUB caused by PCOS.

Identification and cloning of the Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase gene from halophyte plant Aeluropus littoralis

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) derived from molecular oxygen under biotic and abiotic stress such as salinity which have deleterious effects on cell metabolism. The toxic effect of ROS counteract by enzymatic as well as non-enzymatic antioxidant system. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) has a potential role for elimination of ROS. Halophytes respond to salt stress at different levels and can be a model for increasing salt tolerance in crop plants. Thus salt tolerance gene isolation and cloning of gene as well as subsequent transformation are first step for sensitive crop improvement. Aeluropus littoralis is a halophyte plant from poaceae family can be as a beneficial plant with high potential for creal breeding. There was no report on isolation of SOD gene from A. littoralis and little genomic study of this plant carried out. In this study a novel gene from A. littoralis isolated. This gene amplified by reverse transcription-PCR and cloned in E. coli pTZ57R/T cloning vector. The AlSOD gene sequence contained 456 bp and the deduced transcripts encoding 152 amino acids shared a high homology with those putative CuZnSOD of higher plants like Zea mays and Oryza sativa.

Prevalence of microalbuminuria and its risk factors in type 2 diabetic patients

A cross-sectional study was performed from November 2005 to July 2007 to determine the prevalence of microalbuminuria and its risk factors among type 2 diabetic patients.. Two hundred and eighty-eight type 2 diabetic patients (141 males and 147 females) referred to Yazd diabetes research center were randomly recruited for the study. Microalbuminuria was detected by measuring the albumin to creatinine ratio in the early morning urine. Microalbuminuria was diagnosed if this ratio was between 30 and 300 mg/g on two occasions during three months. Prevalence of microalbuminuria was 14.2%. Chi-square analysis revealed that microalbuminuria was correlated with the diastolic blood pressure (P = 0.003) and the duration of diabetes (P = 0.000). No statistically significant correlation was found between microalbuminuria and age, sex, body mass index, levels of fasting blood sugar, glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c), serum triglyceride, and serum cholesterol, or systolic blood pressure. For 240 patients for whom the duration of diabetes was known from the answers in their questionnaires, logistic regression was used for analysis. Results showed that two variables including the duration of diabetes and Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) play a role in this model and the following Logic association was obtained: g; (x) = -9.233 +/- 0.079 DBP +/- 0.114 duration according to this model, both DBP and duration of diabetes were directly correlated with microalbuminuria. Determination of the urine albumin to creatinine ratio is an easy method for screening of microalbuminuria that is suggested for all diabetic patients, especially diabetic patients with hypertension and long-term diabetes.

Chemical composition, in vitro anti-microbial, antifungal and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and methanolic extract of Hymenocrater longiflorus Benth., of Iran

In this study we identified the chemical composition, anti-microbial and antioxidant effects of essential oil and methanolic extract of Hymenocrater longiflorus Benth. Totally 87 volatile compounds from the essential oil in H. longiflorus, were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). These compounds are mainly monoterpene hydrocarbons, sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, oxygenated monoterpenes and oxygenated sesquiterpenoids compounds. The anti-microbial and antifungal activity of plants extracts against several pathogenic microorganisms was studied by disc diffusion and minimum inhibitory concentration procedures. The results revealed that the essential oil and polar sub-fraction are effective mostly against Staphylococcus aureus, Aspergillus niger and Candida albicans. The antioxidant activity was also determined by 1,1'-diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging, beta-carotene linoleic acid assay and reducing power. In addition the total phenol of essential oil (54.6+/-1.2), polar sub-fraction (50.0+/-1.4) and non-polar sub-fraction (64.7+/-2.0) were determined.

Furanolabdane Diterpene Glycosides from Eremostachys Laciniata

Three furanolabdane diterpene glycosides, phlomisoside II (1), eremostachiin (2) and β-D-glucopyranosyl ester of phlomisoic acid (3, named laciniatiin), the latter being a new natural product, were isolated from the methanol extract of the rhizomes of Eremostachys laciniata. The structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectroscopic means.

Eremostachiin: a new furanolabdane diterpene glycoside from Eremostachys glabra

The reversed-phase preparative HPLC analysis of the methanol extract of the rhizomes of Eremostachys glabra (Lamiaceae) led to the isolation of two furanolabdane diterpene glycosides, phlomisoside II, and beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-->2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester of phlomisoic acid (named eremostachiin), the latter being a novel natural product. The structure of the new compound has been elucidated unambiguously by HRMS and a series of 1D- and 2D-NMR spectroscopic techniques. The free radical scavenging activity of these compounds was assessed using the DPPH assay.

Iridoid glycosides from Eremostachys glabra

Reversed-phase preparative HPLC of a methanol extract of the rhizomes of Eremostachys glabra yielded three new iridoid glycosides, namely, 6,9-epi-8-O-acetylshanziside methyl ester, 5,9-epi-penstemoside, and 5,9-epi-7,8-didehydropenstemoside. Their structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data interpretation. The free-radical scavenging activity of these compounds was assessed using the DPPH assay.