Sci, Volume 4, Issue 2 (June 2022) – 11 articles

As woody oil crop, pecan [Carya illinoinensis (Wangenh.) K. Koch] may be a solution to the shortage of edible oil in the future. In this study, fruit traits, kernel nutrition and fatty acid composition of 10 pecan varieties were determined to assess the potential of pecans for exploitation as edible oil, as well as to further screen varieties that could be used as edible oil resources and to understand their development prospects for cultivation in mountainous hills. The study showed that all the fruit trait indicators measured, including green-fruit weight (mean 28.47 g), nut weight (10.33 g), kernel weight (5.25 g), nut percentage (36.83%) and kernel percentage (50.50%), showed highly significant differences among the 10 varieties. Among the main nutritional indicators of the kernels, the crude fat content was stable (mean 70.01%) with non-significant differences, while protein (67.50 mg·g⁻¹), soluble sugar (10.7 mg·g⁻¹) and tannin (6.07 mg·g⁻¹) showed highly significant differences between varieties. The oil percentage of nuts (kernel percentage * crude fat) averaged 35.36%, with highly significant differences between varieties. The fatty acid composition was dominated by unsaturated fatty acids (mean 91.82%), with unsaturated fatty acids being 11.24 times more abundant than saturated fatty acids. Among the monounsaturated fatty acids, oleic acid was the highest (mean 70.02%), with highly significant differences between varieties, followed by cis-11-eicosanoic acid (0.25%), with non-significant differences between varieties; among the polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic acid was the highest (19.58%), followed by linolenic acid (0.97%), both of which showed highly significant differences between varieties; monounsaturated fatty acids were 2.42 times more abundant than polyunsaturated fatty acids. Compared to other oilseed crops, pecan has the potential to produce “nutritious, healthy and stable” edible oil, while its wide habitat and good productivity benefits offer broad prospects for development in the hills and mountains of subtropical China. Full article

Everlasting inflation has far-reaching implications for cosmology and the standing of self-localizing inferences made by observers, which have been subjects of renewed interest in light of the growing acceptance of theory landscapes and the attendant anthropic arguments. Under what assumptions and to what extent does inflation generically produce an eternal “multiverse,” without fine-tuning with respect to measures over the space of inflationary cosmologies driven by a single minimally coupled scalar field? We address this and related questions with numerical simulations of inflationary dynamics across populations of randomly generated inflation models, instantiating a few particular simply-defined measures. Full article

One of the challenges in understanding chemical evolution is the large number of starting organics and environments that were plausible on early Earth. Starting with realistic organic mixtures and using chemical analyses that are not biologically biased, understanding the interplay between organic composition and environment can be approached using statistical analysis. In this work, a mixture of 73 organics was cycled through dehydrating conditions five times, considering environmental parameters of pH, salinity, and rehydration solution. Products were analyzed by HPLC, amide and ester assays, and phosphatase and esterase assays. While all environmental factors were found to influence chemical evolution, salinity was found to play a large role in the evolution of these mixtures, with samples diverging at very high sea salt concentrations. This framework should be expanded and formalized to improve our understanding of abiogenesis. Full article

Within the large family of Dioscoreaceae, Dioscorea communis (L.) Caddick & Wilkin (syn. Tamus communis L.) is considered among the four most widespread representatives in Europe, and it is commonly known under the name black bryony or bryonia. To date, reports have revealed several chemical components from the leaves and tubers of this plant. Nevertheless, an extensive phytochemical investigation has not been performed on its berry juice. In the present study, metabolite profiling procedures, using LC-MS, GC-MS, and NMR approaches, were applied to investigate the chemical profile of the D. communis berries. This work reveals the presence of several metabolites belonging to different phytochemical groups, such as fatty acid esters, alkylamides, phenolic derivatives, and organic acids, with lactic acid being predominant. In parallel, based on orally transmitted traditional uses, the initial extract and selected fractions were tested in vitro for their antibacterial effects and exhibited good activity against two bacterial strains related to skin infections: methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Cutibacterium acnes. The MIC and MBC values of the extract were determined at 1.56% w/v against both bacteria. The results of this study provide important information on the chemical characterization of the D. communis berry juice, unveiling the presence of 71 metabolites, which might contribute to and further explain its specific antibacterial activity and its occasional toxicity. Full article

Background: Management of the child who has swallowed a foreign body should be guided by the risk of complication. Objective of the Review: This review discusses the patient and foreign body characteristics most likely to be associated with complications. Discussion: Most swallowed foreign bodies will pass through the GI tract without complication. Children with pre-existing GI tract abnormalities of any sort, or those who swallow higher-risk foreign bodies, are at higher risk. Higher-risk foreign bodies include long, sharp, or pointed objects, button batteries, and small magnets. Nearly any child who presents to an Emergency Department or other acute care setting after foreign body ingestion should undergo plain radiography; other forms of imaging may also be appropriate. Primary care providers may opt for an initial observation period when there is lower risk of complication. Esophageal button batteries should be emergently removed; other esophageal objects should be promptly removed or, if low risk, allowed a brief period to pass spontaneously. Most lower GI tract foreign bodies will pass spontaneously. Prevention, while not always possible, is preferable to management of foreign body ingestion. Conclusions: Management strategies for children who have swallowed foreign bodies can be optimized by considering relevant patient and foreign body factors, and how they contribute to the risk of complication. Full article

In recent years, innovative progress in information and communication technology (ICT) has introduced new sources for traffic data collection and analysis. On-board sensors like GPS-GPRS boxes, generally installed for insurance purposes, communicate information from circulating vehicles to data centers. Geographic location, date and time, vehicles’ speed and direction, are systematically transmitted and stored as Historical Car Data (HCD) from probe vehicles in the traffic stream. These databases provide a good opportunity to analyze the vehicles’ motion both in the temporal and spatial domains. The aim of this study is to pay attention to the reliability of this kind of data gathering. Since instrumented vehicles account for a small percentage of the entire vehicle fleet, it is important to understand if they can be considered as a sample representative of the whole population. The paper presents a comparison of speed data obtained from HCD with the ones recorded by inductive-loop detectors and microwave radar sensors; the performed analysis required the definition of specific methodologies and procedures. The obtained results show a high correspondence between the two sets of data. Therefore, HCD can be proposed for the detailed monitoring of, and studies on, the operating conditions of mobility along road networks. Full article

Complexes linked by various interactions are analysed in this study. They are characterized by the tetrahedral configuration of the Lewis acid centre. Interactions, being a subject of this study, are classified as σ-hole bonds, such as the halogen, chalcogen, pnicogen, and tetrel bonds. In the case of strong interactions, the tetrahedral configuration of the Lewis acid centre changes into the trigonal bipyramid configuration. This change is in line with the Valence-Shell Electron-Pair Repulsion model, VSEPR, and this is supported here by the results of high-level ab initio calculations. The theoretical results concerning the geometries are supported mainly by the Natural Bond Orbital, NBO, method. Full article

The current paper explores the potential of the areas between mathematics and poetry. We will first recall some definitions and results that are needed to construct solutions of the Yang–Baxter equation. A new duality principle is presented and Boolean coalgebras are introduced. A section on poetry dedicated to the Yang–Baxter equation is presented, and a discussion on a poem related to a mathematical formula follows. The final section presents our conclusions and further information on these topics. Full article

Apoptosis is an evolutionarily conserved sequential process of cell death to maintain a homeostatic balance between cell formation and cell death. It is a vital process for normal eukaryotic development as it contributes to the renewal of cells and tissues. Further, it plays a crucial role in the elimination of unnecessary cells through phagocytosis and prevents undesirable immune responses. Apoptosis is regulated by a complex signaling mechanism, which is driven by interactions among several protein families such as caspases, inhibitors of apoptosis proteins, B-cell lymphoma 2 (BCL-2) family proteins, and several other proteases such as perforins and granzyme. The signaling pathway consists of both pro-apoptotic and pro-survival members, which stabilize the selection of cellular survival or death. However, any aberration in this pathway can lead to abnormal cell proliferation, ultimately leading to the development of cancer, autoimmune disorders, etc. This review aims to elaborate on apoptotic signaling pathways and mechanisms, interacting members involved in signaling, and how apoptosis is associated with carcinogenesis, along with insights into targeting apoptosis for disease resolution. Full article