Abstract

BACKGROUND: Increased fructose consumption correlateswith rising prevalence of variousmetabolic disorders, some of which

were linked to oxidative stress. The relationship between fructose consumption and oxidative stress is complex and effects of

a fructose-rich diet on the young population have not been fully elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate whether

high-fructose diet applied in the period from weaning to adulthood induces oxidative stress in the liver, thus contributing to

induction or aggravation of metabolic disturbances in later adulthood. To that end we examined the effects of high-fructose

diet on expression and activity of antioxidant enzymes, markers of lipid peroxidation and protein damage in the liver as the

main fructose metabolizing tissue.

RESULTS: High-fructose diet increased only SOD2 (mitochondrial manganese superoxide dismutase) activity, with no effect on

other antioxidant enzymes, lipid peroxidation or accumulation of damaged proteins in the liver.

CONCLUSION: The results show that fructose-induced metabolic disturbances could not be attributed to oxidative stress, at

least not at young age. The absence of oxidative stress in the liver observed herein implies that young organisms are capable of

maintaining redox homeostasis when challenged by fructose-derived energy overload.

A novel organic compound containing antipyrine and thiadiazole moieties, N-(5-{[antipyrinyl-hydrazono]-cyanomethyl}-[1,3,4]thiadiazol-2-yl)-benzamide (ACTB) has been synthesized. The thermal properties, alternating current electrical conductivity (σAC) and electrical modulus of ACTB have been reported. The thermal properties were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric measurements. The AC measurements of bulk ACTB were performed in frequency range 100 Hz–5 MHz and temperature range 303–503 K. The frequency dependence of AC conductivity is found to follow Jonscher’s universal power law with the applicability of the correlated barrier hopping model. The temperature dependence of σAC could be described in terms of Arrhenius relation with two activation energies. The activation energy decreases with increasing frequency. The dielectric relaxation behavior is explained in terms of electric modulus formalism. At relatively higher temperatures, the imaginary modulus spectra exhibit asymmetric maxima with peak-width much broader than that of the Debye peak and are skewed toward the high frequency sides of the maxima with increasing temperature. The relaxation time is calculated and exhibited thermally activated process with activation energy of 0.77 eV.

The primary focus of this study is to investigate the relation between Earnings Management (EM) and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the UK. While there are few studies in the existing literature that examined the relationship between EM and CSR, there is a lack of studies examining this relation in the UK. Furthermore, the existing academic literature appears to provide inconsistent results.

These considerations motivate this study to bridge this gap in the literature by providing evidence of whether or not EM and CSR are related in the UK. The present study carried out through three empirical stages based on the data obtained from the FTSE 350 Index between 2008 and 2010.

The first stage examined the EM practice using three EM models to estimate discretionary accruals as proxy for EM. The models were the Jones (1991), modified Jones (Dechow et al. 1995) and performance - matched (Kothari et al. 2005) models.

Firstly, these models were tested using multivariate analysis; the findings revealed that the performance - marched model has been identified as the model that could most accurately measure the presence of EM. Secondly, by applying univariate analysis, the study has found insignificant differences between the high and low EM practices in UK firms and that the highest and the lowest levels of EM were in 2008. Similar results were discovered when comparing the differences between income - increasing and income - decreasing EM.

The second stage tested CSR by applying both content analysis and disclosure index approaches to identify the level of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure (CSD) as proxy of CSR. The findings from the content analysis revealed that the employees (EMP) theme had the highest level of CSR information, followed by community (COM), environment (ENV), others (OTH), products and services (PRO), and customers (CUS). Similar results were obtained when the disclosure index approach was employed.

The relationship between EM and CSR was tested in the final stage by using univariate and multivariate analyses. The findings revealed that firms with more CSR information reported lower EM. Further tests were performed to investigate the link between EM and CSR themes and the findings revealed that firms with more information of EMP, COM, EVE and PRO reported lower EM. However, no evidence suggested that CUS and OTH information affect EM. Overall, the findings suggest that the level of CSR improve financial reports’ quality. This study aspires to contribute to our understanding and knowledge on the issue related to the role of CSR regarding the quality of reported earnings.

Increased fructose consumption is correlated with the rising prevalence of obesity, metabolic

syndrome, and type 2 diabetes. It is believed that reactive oxygen species contribute to the

development and progression of metabolic disturbances, especially those associated with

insulin resistance. Dietary fructose produces both pro-oxidative and antioxidative effects,

depending upon the experimental conditions, dosage, duration of treatment, and

pathophysiological milieu. The effects of fructose overconsumption on young populations,

which have an increased risk of developing metabolic disorders in adulthood, have not been

fully elucidated.Wehavepreviously shownthat rats subjected toa long-termfructose-enriched

diet immediately after weaning display impaired hepatic insulin sensitivity. In this study, we

tested the hypothesis that long-term fructose consumption induces alterations in the redox

setting of the liver. Starting fromthe 21st day after birth,maleWistar ratsweremaintained for 9

weeks on a standard diet (control) or a fructose-enriched diet that consisted of standard food

and 10%fructose solution instead of drinkingwater. The expression and activity of antioxidant

enzymes aswell as lipid peroxidation and protein damagemarkersweremeasured. The results

showed that a fructose-enriched diet led to an increased expression of mitochondrial

manganese superoxide dismutase but did not affect antioxidant enzymes activity, lipid

peroxidation, thiol content, and the level of protein oxidation. Therefore, our results suggest

that the decrease in hepatic insulin sensitivity that was previously observed in rats that were

kept on the same diet regimemight be attributed to molecular mechanisms other than redox

disbalance. A possible fructose-related micronutrient deficiency should be examined.

• © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Abstract

SU-8 has drawn a lot of attention during the last decades due to its promising mechanical and electrical properties. Extensive research regarding the mechanical properties of negative photoresists SU-8 has been carried out during the last decades. A lot of effort has been put into developing methods to properly characterize features such as effect of pyrolysis temperature and the pyrolysis time on shrinkage properties and morphology of SU-8. In this work photo patterned SU-8 were fabricated on silicon wafers by spin process for different speed steps (step (1) 250rpm and time 10sec, step (2) 450rpm and time 30sec, step (3) 0rpm and time 5sec), then Soft baked at 95°C for 4min before cooling for 10min. Exposure to ultraviolet (UV) light was necessary to obtain the shape of the mask, increase crosslinking degree in the irradiated areas and stabilizes them against the action of solvents during development step. The density of UV used was 6 mW/cm² at 365 nm and exposure time was 5min, while the volume of SU-8 developer was 40cm³ at 10min. Samples were cut into 2cmx2cm dimensions. The pyrolysis was carried out in a closed quartz tube furnace in an inert nitrogen gas (N₂) flow at 1500 standard cubic centimeters per minute (SCCM) and different parameter of temperature (350^oC, 400^oC, 450^oC and 500^oC) and time (10min and 20min). Peeling of the SU-8 occurs due to a poor adhesion of the resist to the substrate, thicker films or faster heating rates during the pyrolysis of SU-8. Increasing pyrolysis parameters (temperature and time) lead to larger vertical and horizontal shrinkage, lower sheet resistivity and roughness. The scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM) and profilometer were used to examine the shrinkage and roughness of SU-8, in order to gain an understanding of how it can affect the shrinkage properties and determine the optimized pyrolysis conditions. 

This paper examines the possibility of exploitation sea water in the agriculture of coastal deserts in Libya, some of which salt-tolerant plants (Halophyte), especially that used to feed animals, and convert marshes coastal useless life to nature reserves attract many kinds of migratory birds and marine lives after the cultivation of these marshes by type of plants, which grow in saltwater. In other words this paper will present a study of how to use the seawater as a renewable resource for agriculture in Libya and how this will contribute in sustainable development in this sprawling country. The advantage of this resource can be taken to fill up the gap of natural grassland and the growing demand for animal feed which has caused rising prices of livestock and meats, not to mention the tribal conflicts that occur because of the dispute over grasslands. The most significant reasons that force us to exploit the seawater are:(1) Lack of inventory of underground water in the coastal areas and overlapping with seawater in several areas. In contrast, Libya has the longest coastline on the Mediterranean with a length of more than 1,900 kilometers;(2) Fluctuation rate of the amount of rainfall, which has affected negatively on the natural grassland;(3) More than 90% of the country's population in the coastal areas, that causing a large drain of groundwater which already meager in this region, for this reason the government has worked to establish Artificial River project, which delivers water from the south to the northern areas to reduce this problem, and (4) Depletion and degradation of natural grassland is largely due to overgrazing.

Mercury exposure is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease and profound cardiotoxicity. However, the correlation between Hg(2+)-mediated toxicity and alteration in cardiac cytochrome P450s (Cyp) and their dependent arachidonic acid metabolites has never been investigated. Therefore, we investigated the effect of acute mercury toxicity on the expression of Cyp-epoxygenases and Cyp-ω-hydroxylases and their associated arachidonic acid metabolites in mice hearts. In addition, we examined the expression and activity of soluble epoxide hydrolase (sEH) as a key player in arachidonic acid metabolism pathway. Mercury toxicity was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection (IP) of 2.5 mg/kg of mercuric chloride (HgCl₂). Our results showed that mercury treatment caused a significant induction of the cardiac hypertrophy markers, atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP) and brain natriuretic peptide (BNP); in addition to Cyp1a1, Cyp1b1, Cyp2b9, Cyp2b10, Cyp2b19, Cyp2c29, Cyp2c38, Cyp4a10, Cyp4a12, Cyp4a14, Cyp4f13, Cyp4f15, Cyp4f16 and Cyp4f18 gene expression. Moreover, Hg(2+) significantly increased sEH protein expression and activity levels in hearts of mercury-treated mice, with a consequent decrease in 14,15-, and 11,12-epoxyeicosatrienoic acids (EETs) levels. Whereas the formation of 14,15-, 11,12-, 8,9-dihydroxyeicosatrienoic acids (DHETs) was significantly increased. In conclusion, acute Hg(2+) toxicity modulates the expression of several Cyp and sEH enzymes with a consequent decrease in the cardioprotective EETs which could represent a novel mechanism by which mercury causes progressive cardiotoxicity. Furthermore, inhibiting sEH might represent a novel therapeutic approach to prevent Hg(2+)-induced hypertrophy.

The electrical and dielectric properties of the synthesized 2-(antipyrin-4-ylhydrazono)-2-(4-nitrophenyl)acetonitrile (AHNA) have been studied. The direct and alternating current (DC and AC) conductivities and complex dielectric constant were investigated in temperature range 303–403 K. The AC conductivity and dielectric properties of AHNA were investigated over frequency range 100 Hz–5 MHz. From DC and AC measurements, electrical conduction is found to be a thermally activated process. The frequency-dependent AC conductivity obeys Jonscher's universal power law in which the frequency exponent decreases with increasing temperature. The correlated barrier hopping (CBH) is the predominant model for describing the charge carrier transport in which the electrical parameters are evaluated. The activation energy is found to decrease with increasing frequency. The behaviors of dielectric and dielectric loss are discussed in terms of a polarization mechanism. The dielectric loss shows frequency power law from which the maximum barrier height is determined as 0.19 eV in terms of the Guintini model.

Several new pyridine derivatives were prepared via reacting the enaminoketones 1a-d with active hydrogen reagents. Reaction of the enaminoketones 1a-c with 4-acetyl-1,5-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1H-pyrazol-3(2H)-one 2a yielded the pyridines 3a-c. Condensation of the enaminonitrile 1d with 2b-d or 3-(1,5-dimethyl-3-oxo-2-phenyl-2,3- dihydro-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-3-oxopropanenitrile 8 give the pyridine derivatives 6a-c and 10 respectivly. Also, (E)-3- (3-(dimethylamino)acryloyl)-2H-chromen-2-one 1a reacted with active methylenes in diethyl 3-oxopentanedioate 12 and 4-methyl-6-oxo-2-thioxo-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine-3-carbonitrile 15 to afford the pyridine derivatives 14 and 16 respectively.