The current research was designed to investigate the anti-inflammatory action of 100% Saussurea lappa roots’ ethanol extract compared to paracetamol through carrageenan induced hind paw edema model with using of ibuprofen 40 mg/kg as a positive control. Prior to testing, it was important to check the acute toxicity effects of the plant, thus the evaluation test processed by the fixed-dose procedure (FDP). Statistical analysis was attempted to check the mean differences via one-way ANOVA, at that point followed by post-Tukey and Dunnett two-sided tests. The FDP test revealed that extract was safe for additional in-vivo testing, and it was classified as category 5/unclassified on globally harmonized system (GHS) for the classification of chemicals which cause acute toxicity. The extract showed a significant antiphlogistic potential of 15.11% at 500 mg/kg compared to 13.23% of paracetamol 100 mg/kg at P< 0.01. It is assumed that the fundamentally mindful phytoconstituents to share this impact are sesquiterpene lactones (costunolide and dehydrocostus lactone), in which numerous examinations uncovered that these mixtures which found in numerous plants have a powerful anti-inflammatory activity.

Abstract

The growth of two wetland forage grasses Leptochloa fusca (L.) Kunth. and Echinochloa stagnina (L.) P. Beauv. was investigated under NaCl salinity regarding the morphological traits, plant chemical composition, photosynthesis and the antioxidant enzymes POD and CAT. Plants of both species were irrigated with 0, 50, 100, 200, 300 and 400 mM NaCl in a sand/perlite mixture of 1:1 (v/v). Salinity negatively affected morphological traits and plant biomass of both species, particularly E. stagnina. Soluble sugars and proline within limits, protein contents of the foliage were increased to different extents by increasing salinity, but insoluble sugar decreased. K⁺/Na⁺ ratio of shoot and root of both species was decreased as a consequence of Na⁺ accumulation and restricted K⁺ uptake. NaCl salinity adversely affected photosynthetic rate, transpiration rate, stomatal conductance and water use efficiency of both species particularly E. stagnina. Tolerance of L. fusca and E. stagnina to salinity stress can be based on stomatal closure and reduction in leaf area, in order to minimize water loss via transpiration and increase the activity of some antioxidant enzymes to detoxifying ROS generated during stress.

 The influence of samarium (Sm) content on the solidification characteristics, microstructure, and mechanical 

properties of Mg–2.8wt%Nd–1.5wt%Gd–0.5wt%Zn–0.5wt%Zr magnesium alloy was studied. The cooling curves and 

microstructure analysis results showed that Sm rare earth element refined the grains of the alloys, where the solidification 

time of α-Mg phase of decreased as addition of Sm, which reflected to the microstructure of alloy and the grains became 

refined, also Sm combined with the initial phase of the intermetallic base alloy and crystallized along the grain boundaries. In 

addition, Mg41Sm5

, Mg3Zn6Sm and (Mg, Zn)3Sm new intermetallic phases were formed as addition of Sm. Both grain 

refinement and formed intermetallic phases led to the improvement in hardness and tensile strength.

Abstract

This paper is the report of the first Under-Display Camera (UDC) image restoration challenge in conjunction with the RLQ workshop at ECCV 2020. The challenge is based on a newly-collected database of Under-Display Camera. The challenge tracks correspond to two types of display: a 4k Transparent OLED (T-OLED) and a phone Pentile OLED (P-OLED). Along with about 150 teams registered the challenge, eight and nine teams submitted the results during the testing phase for each track. The results in the paper are state-of-the-art restoration performance of Under-Display Camera Restoration. Datasets and paper are available at https://yzhouas.github.io/projects/UDC/udc.html.

Keywords

Under-display camera Image restoration Denoising Debluring 

Abstract

Objective: Chronic diabetes mellitus is associated with detrimental cardiovascular complications and electrolyte imbalances such as hypomagnesaemia. We investigated the effect of magnesium (Mg2+) on cardiac function and the possible role of histological and electrical alterations in chronic, streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats.

Methods: Wistar rats were treated once intraperitoneally with streptozotocin or citrate, and then daily with MgSO4 or saline for four weeks. Cardiac contractile and electrocardiographic parameters were measured on Langendorff-perfused hearts. Other hearts were histologically stained or immunoblotted for the mitochondrial ATP synthase (ATP5A).

Results: In diabetic hearts, Mg2+ prevented a diabetes-induced decrease in left ventricular developed pressure and improved contractility indices, as well as attenuated the reduction in heart rate and prolongation of QT interval, but not the QT interval corrected for heart rate (QTc). Histologically, there

were neither differences in cardiomyocyte width nor interstitial collagen. The expression of ATP5A was not different among the treatment groups.

Conclusion: Mg2+ supplementation improved cardiac contractile activity in chronic diabetic hearts via mechanisms unrelated to electrocardiographic or histologically detectable myocardial alterations.

Financial information manipulation has been one of the most important issues since the failure of major corporations worldwide such as Enron, World.Com, Arthur Anderson and others. Although, these companies differ in their core and operations, they share the same causes for their failure, which is really the practice of financial information manipulation. These manipulation activities are commonly referred to as "creative accounting." However, the concept of creative accounting is sometimes used as a synonym for accounting fraud in literature. Thereby, this research aims to review the existing literature in order to shed more light on the main features of creative accounting and accounting fraud, as well as the distinctions between them. In doing so, the findings of other prior studies, using a range of alternative available resources to gather the related literature, were reviewed to present the results of this research. The main findings of this research suggest that professional accountants and companies‘ executives are still able to find loopholes in the existing accounting standards to manipulate financial reports. In addition, it is still difficult to establish a framework that incorporates all the considerations that are essential to distinguish between creative accounting and accounting fraud. To overcome

on this phenomenon, the potential solution is by identifying executives‘ motivations to engage in manipulation behaviour, which can enable academics and regulators to establish a framework for distancing them, as well as may help to identify fraudulent actions by pursuing how executives behave to achieve their goals and intentions.

Background: Ginkgo biloba extract (GbE) is known to contain several bioactive compounds and exhibits free radical scavenging activity. Parkinson's Disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons and is associated with oxidative stress, neuroinflammation and apoptosis.

Objective: The current study aimed to investigate the neuroprotective effect of GbE in a rat model of PD induced by rotenone (ROT; a neurotoxin).

Methods: Twenty-four male albino rats were randomly divided into four groups of six rats each: normal control, GbE treated, toxin control (ROT treated) and GbE+ROT group.

Results: Oral administration of ROT (2.5 mg/kg b.w.) for 50 days caused an increased generation of lipid peroxidation products and significant depletion of reduced glutathione, total thiol content and activities of enzymatic antioxidants, i.e., superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase in the brains of treated rats. Furthermore, ROT caused an elevation in acetylcholinesterase, interleukin-1β, interleukin- 6 and tumor necrosis factor-α and a significant reduction in dopamine in the stratum and substantia nigra. Immunohistochemical results illustrated that ROT treatment reduced the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). GbE treatment (150 mg/kg b.w./day) significantly reduced the elevated oxidative stress markers and proinflammatory cytokines and restored the reduced antioxidant enzyme activities, DA level and TH expression. These results were confirmed by histological observations that clearly indicated a neuroprotective effect of GbE against ROT-induced PD.

Conclusion: GbE mitigated ROT-induced PD via the inhibition of free-radical production, scavenging of ROS, and antioxidant enhancement.

Keywords: Ginkgo biloba; Parkinson's disease; ROT treatment; neuroprotection; oxidative stress; rotenone.