Olive leaf extract (OLE) has been used traditionally as a herbal supplement since it contains polyphenolic compounds with beneficial properties ranging from increasing energy levels, lowering blood ...pressure, and supporting the cardiovascular and immune systems. In addition to the beneficial effects on human health, OLE also has antimicrobial properties. The aim of this work was to investigate the antimicrobial effect of OLE against major foodborne pathogens, including
O157:H7, and
Enteritidis. Our results demonstrated that at a concentration of 62.5 mg/ml, OLE almost completely inhibited the growth of these three pathogens. In addition, OLE also reduced cell motility in
, which correlated with the absence of flagella as shown by scanning electron microscopy. Moreover, OLE inhibited biofilm formation in
and
. Enteritidis. Taken together, OLE, as a natural product, has the potential to be used as an antimicrobial to control foodborne pathogens.
The ability to reprogram somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) offers an opportunity to generate pluripotent patient-specific cell lines that can help model human diseases. These ...iPSC lines could also be powerful tools for drug discovery and the development of cellular transplantation therapies. Many methods exist for generating iPSC lines but those best suited for use in studying human diseases and developing therapies must be of adequate efficiency to produce iPSCs from samples that may be of limited abundance, capable of reprogramming cells from both skin fibroblasts and blood, and footprint-free. Several reprogramming techniques meet these criteria and can be utilized to derive iPSCs in projects with both basic scientific and therapeutic goals. Combining these reprogramming methods with small molecule modulators of signaling pathways can lead to successful generation of iPSCs from even the most recalcitrant patient-derived somatic cells.
After signing the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership trade agreement, China became a proposed signatory to another important trilateral free-trade agreement – the China-Japan-South Korea ...Free Trade Agreement. In the context of the agreement, we explore the potential effect and internal influencing mechanism of trade openness on this region's carbon emissions from 1970 to 2019. We further detect the impact of the agreement by splitting the full sample into two subsamples, one subperiod before the agreement was signed and the other after it was signed. Then we separately analyze the impacts of imports and exports on carbon emissions and find that: (i) Trade openness positively affects the greenhouse effect, and the signing of the agreement can reduce the promotion effect of trade openness on carbon emissions; (ii) imports contribute to increased carbon emissions while exports significantly reduce carbon emissions in a country; and (iii) expanding trade openness not only directly affects carbon emissions directly, but also has indirect impacts by affecting three main effects (i.e., scale effect, technical effect, and structure effect). Finally, several important policy suggestions are provided to mitigate the greenhouse effect and promote high-quality trade openness.
•We assess the trade openness-CO2 nexus and the impact mechanism in the China-Japan-ROK FTA countries.•Trade openness significantly promotes CO2 emissions in these countries.•The signing of the FTA can reduce the CO2 promotion effect brought by trade openness.•Imports induce more national CO2 emissions, while exports can inhibit domestic CO2 emissions.•Trade openness can also indirectly affect CO2 emissions through the scale, technical, and structure effects.
This study developed a highly efficient serum‐free pluripotent stem cell (PSC) neural induction medium that can induce human PSCs into primitive neural stem cells (NSCs) in 7 days, obviating the need ...for time‐consuming, laborious embryoid body generation or rosette picking. This method of primitive NSC derivation sets the stage for the scalable production of clinically relevant neural cells for cell therapy applications in good manufacturing practice conditions.
Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs), including human embryonic stem cells and human induced pluripotent stem cells, are unique cell sources for disease modeling, drug discovery screens, and cell therapy applications. The first step in producing neural lineages from hPSCs is the generation of neural stem cells (NSCs). Current methods of NSC derivation involve the time‐consuming, labor‐intensive steps of an embryoid body generation or coculture with stromal cell lines that result in low‐efficiency derivation of NSCs. In this study, we report a highly efficient serum‐free pluripotent stem cell neural induction medium that can induce hPSCs into primitive NSCs (pNSCs) in 7 days, obviating the need for time‐consuming, laborious embryoid body generation or rosette picking. The pNSCs expressed the neural stem cell markers Pax6, Sox1, Sox2, and Nestin; were negative for Oct4; could be expanded for multiple passages; and could be differentiated into neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes, in addition to the brain region‐specific neuronal subtypes GABAergic, dopaminergic, and motor neurons. Global gene expression of the transcripts of pNSCs was comparable to that of rosette‐derived and human fetal‐derived NSCs. This work demonstrates an efficient method to generate expandable pNSCs, which can be further differentiated into central nervous system neurons and glia with temporal, spatial, and positional cues of brain regional heterogeneity. This method of pNSC derivation sets the stage for the scalable production of clinically relevant neural cells for cell therapy applications in good manufacturing practice conditions.
This study examines the role of cleaner energy, technological innovation and militarization on green economic growth (GEG) under different economic conditions in the context of Turkey. To this end, ...we apply Autoregressive Distributed Lags (ARDL) under the assumption of symmetric and asymmetric adjustment approaches to analyse a time series data over the period 1980–2017. We initially examine GEG by adding merit goods and deducting natural resources depletion, the damage of carbon emissions and other particulate emissions impairments from gross domestic product (GDP). Our analysis demonstrates that cleaner energy and technological innovation are driving factors in promoting GEG in the long-term. Militarization is found to be detrimental for GEG in the Turkish economy in the long run. The research further finds that the impacts of cleaner energy, technological innovation, militarization and population density on GEG follow an asymmetric adjustment in the long run. Our findings provide important policy implications for promoting GEG in Turkey.
•This study assesses the impact of cleaner energy, technological and militarization on green economic growth in Turkey.•Cleaner energy is a driving factor in promoting green economic growth.•Technological innovation fosters green economic growth.•Militarization is detrimental with green economic growth.
Targeted genome engineering to robustly express transgenes is an essential methodology for stem cell-based research and therapy. Although designer nucleases have been used to drastically enhance gene ...editing efficiency, targeted addition and stable expression of transgenes to date is limited at single gene/locus and mostly PPP1R12C/AAVS1 in human stem cells. Here we constructed transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) targeting the safe-harbor like gene CLYBL to mediate reporter gene integration at 38%-58% efficiency, and used both AAVS1-TALENs and CLYBL-TALENs to simultaneously knock-in multiple reporter genes at dual safe-harbor loci in human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and neural stem cells (NSCs). The CLYBL-TALEN engineered cell lines maintained robust reporter expression during self-renewal and differentiation, and revealed that CLYBL targeting resulted in stronger transgene expression and less perturbation on local gene expression than PPP1R12C/AAVS1. TALEN-mediated CLYBL engineering provides improved transgene expression and options for multiple genetic modification in human stem cells.
Oleuropein is the most abundant biologically active phenolic compound in olives. It has been extensively studied for human health benefits but its role in plant development processes has received ...limited attention. Changes in the levels of oleuropein during early stages of flower formation and during fruit development and maturation were determined using high performance liquid chromatography. Oleuropein and other phenolic compounds were identified by comparing retention time and UV spectra with standard compounds using photodiode array detectors. Quantitative measurements were based on peak areas relative to standards. Oleuropein levels sharply decreased during the transition from vegetative to flower buds, consistent with earlier reports that higher levels of exogenously applied oleuropein inhibited flowering in
Kalanchoe blossfeldiana. Oleuropein levels rapidly increased with the expansion of fertilized pistils and then sharply declined with fruit maturity. There was only a modest decline in oleuropein levels between immature and fully expanded leaves. Hesperidin, which occurs in relatively small amounts, also declined considerably during early floral buds formation. Maximum levels of verbascoside were found in fully developed green fruits while maximum levels of luteolin-7-
O-glucoside and luteolin-4-
O-glucoside were found in fully expanded leaves.
Critical thinking skill is highly required to face the industrial era 4.0 in the 21st century that is integrated into the knowledge, skills and attitudes and mastery of ICT. The purpose of this study ...was to see the effect of applying Problem Based Learning to improve critical thinking skills in Entrepreneurship learning. This research employed the quasi-experimental method to compare the results of the experimental class treatment with the control class. The design used in this study was the non-equivalent control group design. The sample of this study was students of the Electronics Engineering Education study program at the Faculty of Engineering, Makassar State University who were registered in the entrepreneurship course. The results showed that: (1) the application of Problem Based Learning on Entrepreneurship Learning could significantly improve critical thinking skills, and (2) the application of Problem Based Learning could improve student learning activities.
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