Anticancer evaluation of ruthenium (III) complexes with N-donor ligands tethered to coumarin or uracil moieties:
- Authors: Gramni, Larusha , Vukea, Nyeleti , Chakraborty, Abir , Samson, William J , Dingle, Laura M K , Xulu, Bheki , de la Mare, Jo-Anne , Edkins, Adrienne L , Booysen, Irvin N
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/163477 , vital:41041 , DOI: 10.1016/j.ica.2019.04.01
- Description: In this study, the synthesis and characterization of new paramagnetic ruthenium(III) complexes: cis-[RuCl2(urdpa)] (1) {Hurdpa = 6-((bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl)uracil} and fac-[RuCl3(chrdpa)] (2) {chrdpa = 4-((bis(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)amino)methyl)-7-methoxycoumarin} are reported. These metal complexes have been comprehensively characterized by an array of physicochemical techniques and the X-ray solid-state structures of 1 and Hurdpa have been attained.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Anticholinesterase and Antioxidant Activities of Spilanthes filicaulis Whole Plant Extracts for the Management of Alzheimer’s Disease
- Authors: Elufioye, Taiwo O. , Unachukwu, Cynthia C. , Oyedeji, Adebola O.
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Alzheimer’s disease , Cholinesterase inhibitors , Antioxidants , Spilanthes , Flavonoids , Phenolic
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/11260/6534 , vital:46450 , xlink:href="https://10.2174/1573408015666190730113405"
- Description: Background: Spilanthes filicaulis is a tropical herb implicated as a memory enhancer in ethnomedicine. Objective: The study investigated acetyl/butyryl cholinesterase inhibitory and antioxidant activities of different extracts of S. filicaulis whole plant and correlated them to its phytochemical constituents. Methods: The powdered whole plant was successively extracted with n-hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol. Acetyl cholinesterase (AChE) and Butyryl cholinesterase (BuChE) inhibitory activity were evaluated by Ellman colorimetry assay. Antioxidant activity was tested using 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging, ferric reducing power and nitric oxide scavenging assays. Total phenolic, flavonoid and tannin were estimated using standard methods. Correlation was determined using Quest Graph™ Regression Calculator. Results: Various extracts exhibited concentration-dependent AChE and BuChE inhibitory activity with ethyl acetate extract being the highest with IC50 of 0.77 μg/mL and 0.92 μg/mL for AChE and BuChE respectively. The ethyl acetate extract also showed the highest reducing power when compared with the other extracts. The methanol extract had slightly higher phenolic and flavonoid content and showed the highest DPPH radical scavenging effect. DPPH scavenging, AChE and BuChE inhibition had high correlation with the total flavonoid content with R2 values of 1.00, 0.800 and 0.992 respectively while nitric oxide scavenging had high correlation with phenolics and tannins with R2 = 0.942 and 0.806 respectively. Conclusion: These results show that the extracts of the whole plant of S. filicaulis possess significant AChE/BuChE inhibitory and antioxidant properties, mostly due to its flavonoid content, suggesting the possible use of the plant in neurodegenerative diseases such as AD.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Culicoides species as potential vectors of African horse sickness virus in the southern regions of South Africa:
- Authors: Riddin, Megan A , Venter, G J , Labuschagne, K , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140727 , vital:37913 , DOI: 10.1111/mve.12391
- Description: African horse sickness (AHS), a disease of equids caused by the AHS virus, is of major concern in South Africa. With mortality reaching up to 95% in susceptible horses and the apparent reoccurrence of cases in regions deemed non‐endemic, most particularly the Eastern Cape, epidemiological research into factors contributing to the increase in the range of this economically important virus became imperative. The vectors, Culicoides (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae), are considered unable to proliferate during the unfavourable climatic conditions experienced in winter in the province, although the annual occurrence of AHS suggests that the virus has become established and that vector activity continues throughout the year. Surveillance of Culicoides within the province is sparse and little was known of the diversity of vector species or the abundance of known vectors, Culicoides imicola and Culicoides bolitinos. Surveillance was performed using light trapping methods at selected sites with varying equid species over two winter and two outbreak seasons, aiming to determine diversity, abundance and vector epidemiology of Culicoides within the province. The research provided an updated checklist of Culicoides species within the Eastern Cape, contributing to an increase in the knowledge of AHS vector epidemiology, as well as prevention and control in southern Africa.
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- Date Issued: 2019
He says, she says: ecosystem services and gender among indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon
- Authors: Cruz-Garcia, Gisella S , Cubillos, Martha V , Torres-Vitolas, Carlos , Harvey, Celia A , Shackleton, Charlie M , Schreckenberg, Kate , Willcock, Simon , Navarrete-Frías, Carolina , Sachet, Erwan
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: South Africa To be catalogued 1836-1909 Maps
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/179627 , vital:43128 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2019.100921"
- Description: Although it has been hypothesized that men and women vary in the way they value ecosystem services, research on ecosystem services rarely incorporates a gender dimension. We conducted research with nine indigenous communities in the Colombian Amazon to understand which ecosystem services men and women perceive as most important for their wellbeing and to rank them according to locally-defined criteria of importance. Participants identified a total of 26 ecosystem services and 20 different ranking criteria. Ecosystem services such as land for agricultural fields (a supporting service), and provision of fish and medicinal plants were equally important for both men and women. Wild fruits and resources to make handicrafts were more frequently mentioned by women, whereas timber, materials for making tools and coca leaves were more frequently mentioned by men. There were also differences in the criteria used to value ecosystem services, with 11 criteria mentioned by both men and women, five mentioned exclusively by women and another four only by men. Our results suggest that taking gender differences into account in ecosystem services assessments may result in the prioritization of different services in conservation and sustainable development programs, and may lead to different outcomes for ecosystem service provision and local livelihoods.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Mulling over Art with Andrew Mulenga:
- Authors: Mulenga, Andrew
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/146815 , vital:38560 , https://www.themastonline.com/2019/06/18/mulling-over-art/
- Description: Life, which is the loosest translation of the Nyanja word “Umoyo”, an apt title for the ongoing exhibition that opened at the Henry Tayali Gallery last Friday has several visual morsels that are delightful to look at. The two-man show by schoolteachers based in the Eastern Province who are trying to break the mold from just being educators of art in their respective schools to wet their beaks in the contemporary art scene has several visual morsels that are delightful to look at.
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- Date Issued: 2019
Pigs vs people: the use of pigs as analogues for humans in forensic entomology and taphonomy research
- Authors: Matuszewski, Szymon , Hall, Martin J R , Moreau, Gaétan , Schoenly, Kenneth G , Tarone, Aaron M , Villet, Martin H
- Date: 2019
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/140557 , vital:37898 , DOI: 10.1007/s00414-019-02074-5
- Description: Most studies of decomposition in forensic entomology and taphonomy have used non-human cadavers. Following the recommendation of using domestic pig cadavers as analogues for humans in forensic entomology in the 1980s, pigs became the most frequently used model cadavers in forensic sciences. They have shaped our understanding of how large vertebrate cadavers decompose in, for example, various environments, seasons and after various ante- or postmortem cadaver modifications. They have also been used to demonstrate the feasibility of several new or well-established forensic techniques. The advent of outdoor human taphonomy facilities enabled experimental comparisons of decomposition between pig and human cadavers. Recent comparisons challenged the pig-as-analogue claim in entomology and taphonomy research. In this review, we discuss in a broad methodological context the advantages and disadvantages of pig and human cadavers for forensic research and rebut the critique of pigs as analogues for humans. We conclude that experiments using human cadaver analogues (i.e. pig carcasses) are easier to replicate and more practical for controlling confounding factors than studies based solely on humans and, therefore, are likely to remain our primary epistemic source of forensic knowledge for the immediate future. We supplement these considerations with new guidelines for model cadaver choice in forensic science research.
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- Date Issued: 2019