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The carrageenan/psyllium composite hydrogels with embedded montmorillonite have been successfully prepared for the synthesis of a new hydrogel material that is natural, biodegradable and to be used as an absorbent in agriculture. Hydrogels with different composition ratios were found to have the water absorption capacities attaining 2893% and 775%, for free and under load conditions, respectively. The one-way compressional test results have yielded the module values reaching to 226 kPa and showed that they increase with the carrageenan and montmorillonite contents. The hydrogels exhibited different morphological structure depending on the composition ratios. On the other hand, the contribution of the gels to the water absorption and the water retention properties of the soil was investigated by applying various tests to the soil samples mixed with hydrogels. The results showed that including the hydrogels into soil at a ratio of 0.4% increased the water holding capacity of soil from 0.533 to 0.836 g/g and raised the water content % of the soil more than 60%. Additionally, biodegradation test results indicated that depending on the compositional ratios, the hydrogels exhibited a high biodegradation behavior with a weight loss of 39.88% at the end of 35th day. These all finding suggest that these new natural composite hydrogels would be an eco-friendly alternative to present synthetic soil conditioners.

Epoxy-based composites, valued for their cost-effectiveness and remarkable mechanical properties, attract considerable attention from researchers in academia and industry. This study explores the impact of low concentrations (1% to 3%) of walnut shell (WS) and talc additives on the density, water absorption, and mechanical (tensile, three-point bending, impact, hardness) as well as thermal (TGA, DSC) properties of epoxy composites. While prior research has extensively covered epoxy composites with high concentrations of walnut shell and talc, their utilization in lower concentrations remains underexplored. Findings highlight the substantial influence of incorporating low percentages of walnut shell and talc on the Tg temperatures of epoxy composites, with talc reducing Tg temperature and WS elevating it. TGA tests reveal that both WS and talc contribute to increased Tmax temperature and residue content compared to pure epoxy. Mechanical properties exhibit variations based on filler type and amount, with walnut shell enhancing the elastic modulus and talc decreasing it compared to pure epoxy. Impact resistance sees significant reductions related to particle size. Talc boosts density, while WS has a more pronounced effect on hardness. Water absorption tests demonstrate higher water absorption in WS-containing epoxy composites. Glossiness and surface roughness undergo changes, with talc increasing roughness and decreasing glossiness. In conclusion, even minor filler percentages noticeably impact epoxy composite properties compared to pure epoxy, providing avenues for customized modifications, particularly with challenging or costly fillers, offering viable alternatives for researchers in diverse fields.

This study sought to examine the chemical profile, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antibiofilm, and anti-quorum sensing potential of two propolis ethanolic extracts (PEEs) collected from northeast Algeria. To achieve the main objectives of this study, multiple tests were employed. The phenolic and flavonoid contents were analyzed, and the chemical composition of both PEE was determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. The antioxidant properties of the propolis extracts were investigated using six complementary tests. The inhibitory effects of propolis extracts were evaluated against multidrug-resistant (MDR) clinical isolates using agar well diffusion and microdilution methods, whereas their antibiofilm and quorum-sensing disruption effects were determined by spectrophotometric microplate methods. The results demonstrated that phenolic and flavonoid contents were higher in propolis from the Guelma (PEEG) region (PEEG; 188.50 ± 0.33 μg GAE/mg E, 144.23 ± 1.03 μg QE/mg E), respectively. Interestingly, different components were identified, and cynarin was the major compound detected. The PEEG sample exhibited potential antioxidant effects in scavenging ABTS radicals with minimal inhibitory concentration values equal to 10.46 ± 1.40 µg/mL. Furthermore, the highest antibacterial activity was recorded by PEEG against Gram-positive MDR1. Similarly, PEEG effectively inhibited the biofilm formation of MDR1 and the degradation of biofilm was up to 60%. In addition, quorum sensing disruption revealed that both extracts have a moderate capacity for violacein inhibition by the ATCC 12472 strain in a concentration-dependent manner. These findings indicate that propolis can be regarded as a natural therapeutic agent for health problems associated with MDR bacteria and oxidative stress.

Honey, a nutritious and healthy product, has recently been the focus of research due to its characteristic chemical composition and a wide variety of biological properties. The current study aims to investigate the phenolic profiles and tyrosinase, acetylcholinesterase (AChE), urease and butyrylcholinesterase (BChE) enzymes inhibitory, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial and quorum sensing inhibition activities of twelve cotton honeys in 2 different regions from Turkey with the chemometric approach. The phenolic profile was determined by HPLC–DAD and gallic acid (8.95–84.47 μg/g) and p-hydroxybenzoic acid (0.21–1.45 μg/g) were detected in all cotton honeys studied. The SB-coded cotton honey from Şanlıurfa showed the highest activity in β-carotene linoleic acid (IC50: 5.94 ± 0.25 mg/mL), ABTS (IC50: 12.95 ± 0.49 mg/mL), CUPRAC (A0.50: 8.65 ± 0.41 mg/mL), metal chelating (IC50: 5.46 ± 0.28 mg/mL), AChE (13.65 ± 0.21%) and BChE (9.78 ± 0.11%) assays. The SE-coded cotton honey from Şanlıurfa was found to be the strongest in DPPH (IC50: 37.62 ± 1.40 mg/mL), anti-QS (44 mm zone) and swarming motility inhibition (30.47%) activities. Among all the other cotton honeys studied, AK1-coded cotton honey from Adana showed the highest antimicrobial activity against S. aureus (22 mm zone), L. monocytogenes (13 mm zone) bacteria and C. albicans (13 mm zone), C. tropicalis (15 mm zone) strains, and anti-inflammatory activity against COX-2 (16.59 ± 0.24%) and COX-1 (42.71 ± 0.56%). According to the PCA and HCA analysis results of cotton honeys based on phenolic compounds and biological activities, it is seen that cotton honeys from Adana and Şanlıurfa were clustered separately.

In this study, the lipase-producing bacterium Streptomyces violascens (GenBank number MF621564) was identified, and the extracellular S. violascens OC125-8 lipase produced by this strain was characterised for use in wastewater treatment. The lipase was partially purified by ammonium sulphate precipitation at a final yield of 3.28-fold purification and a recovery of 56%. The S. violascens OC125-8 lipase exhibited optimum catalytic activity at 40 °C and pH 8.0; it was stable at 30–40 °C with more than 86% residual activity after 1 h; it was also stable over a relatively broad pH range of pH 7.0–11.0, retaining 83.3–100% activity. Vmax and Km values were calculated as 0.61 µmol/min/mg and 0.259 mM, respectively. Enzyme activity significantly increased in the presence of Fe2+ ion but was inhibited by Ca2+, Mn2+, Cu2+ and Mg2+. The addition of a serine protease inhibitor, phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF), strongly inhibited enzyme activity while ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), a metal chelating agent, had no inhibitory effect. The enzyme was fairly stable in the presence of surfactants as well as sodium perborate. Examination of commercial detergent tolerance revealed that the lipase was strongly stable in Tursil (88%), Pril (97%) and Fairy (98.5%), while the lipase was activated in Omo (113.4%) and Ariel (128.3%). Moreover, the lipase showed highest activity towards olive oil (100%), sunflower oil (90%) and burned sunflower oil (55%), while corn oil (44%) and burned olive oil (15%) were less hydrolysed by the enzyme. These properties demonstrate that S. violascens OC125-8 lipase is an ideal choice for oily wastewater management.

Aromatic plants represent a natural source of bioactive compounds. Even their essential oils attracted the interesting of many researchers for their biological activities. Therefore, the aims of this work were to analyze the volatile (aroma) compounds of three wild Algerian plants (Thymus algeriensis, Origanum glandulosum and Eucalyptus globulus) and determinate the composition of their essential oils (EO) by HS-SPME-GC/MS and GC-FID/GC–MS technics, respectively. Followed by evaluation of the antioxidant activity of the studied essential oils by five complementary methods. MICs determination and antibiofilm activity of these essential oils were determined against six pathogenic microorganisms. The main compound for T. algeriensis aroma and EO was thymol with 50.15% and 70.58%, respectively. Whereas carvacrol with percentage of 35.60% and 33.97% was the major component in O. glandulosum aroma and EO, respectively. In the case of E. globulus aroma, α-pinene (26.21%), p-cymene (24.45%), 1,8-cineole (22.80%) were the major compounds, but 1,8-cineole (17.93%), p-cymene (16.08%) and p-cymen-8-ol (15.55%) were the dominated constituents in EO. Essential oil of T. algeriensis exhibited highest antioxidant activities in ABTS·+ and CUPRAC assays with IC50 values of 9.95 ± 0.17 and 29.21 ± 0.74 µg/mL, respectively. Essential oils allowed antibiofilm effects agains all tested strains with low MICs. Particularly, essential oil of T. algeriensis showed the lowest MICs (0.078–1.25 µL/mL) for all tested microorganisms. According to these results, T. algeriensis and O. glandulosum could be used as bioresource of thymol and carvacrol respectively by pharmaceutic industry. Also, the studied essential oils can be exploited as naturel antipathogenic and antioxidant agents alone or like additives.

The decomposition behavior of cotton fibers is examined using thermogravimetric analysis. The effect of the test parameters on the thermal degradation of raw cotton fibers is determined. Focus is given to the influence of water immersion on the thermal behavior of cotton fibers. For less mature fibers a clear difference is noted between the degradation profiles of the water-immersed and untreated samples. On the contrary, only a small change is noted on the degradation profile for more mature fibers after water immersion. The maturity and variations in water-soluble content of the fiber are found to be important factors influencing the thermal behavior of raw cotton fibers. Inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) is used to underpin the effect of water immersion on cotton fibers. This improved understanding for the role of maturity and water soluble constituents in thermal degradation of cotton fibers may lead to develop routes that improve thermal stability and smoldering characteristics of cotton fibers as relevant for future applications.

The moisture sorption behavior of developing cotton fibers is studied by dynamic vapor sorption. Mature fibers show a typical sigmoidal isotherm, IUPAC type II, describing the adsorption on macroporous and non-porous adsorbents with a typical hysteresis. This is different from the type III isotherms exhibited by elongating fibers explained by the weak adsorbate–adsorbent interactions. The maximum sorption capacity clearly decreases throughout the cotton fiber development. This decrease is very rapid during the elongation phase of the fibers, but declines beyond 25 days post anthesis (DPA). This transition corresponds to the time point where the secondary cell wall becomes dominant over the primary cell wall, as confirmed with FT-IR. Also only little moisture hysteresis appeared during the elongation phase whereas from 25 DPA onwards a distinct hysteresis is observed that remains almost constant until maturation of the fiber. The study clearly elucidates the sorption mechanism during the elongation phase of the fiber to be different from the one during the secondary cell wall synthesis. This improved understanding of the cotton sorption behavior is important for optimal application of cotton fiber in novel materials.

Rapport formats, a fundamental element of textile design, significantly influence the aesthetic appeal of patterned fabrics. Despite their importance in shaping visual perception, limited research has systematically investigated the impact of different rapport formats on user preferences. This study addresses this gap by exploring the aesthetic preferences for various rapport formats applied to floral and geometric patterns in home textiles, employing a Kansei Engineering approach to understand and quantify user perceptions. The research investigates the impact of five commonly used rapport formats -straight, half-drop, diagonal half-drop, mirror, and turned- on both floral and geometric patterns. A survey of 115 participants, comprising textile industry professionals and design academics, was conducted to evaluate the designs. Participants rated the patterns on a semantic differential scale, assessing their emotional and aesthetic responses. Descriptive statistics and exploratory factor analysis were employed to analyse the collected data, revealing patterns and relationships between rapport formats and perceived aesthetic qualities. The findings indicate that straight and mirror rapports consistently emerged as the most preferred formats across both floral and geometric designs. This preference stemmed from their visual balance, simplicity, and modern appeal, suggesting a desire for order and clarity in textile patterns. In contrast, more complex rapports, such as turned and diagonal half-drop, while perceived as visually intriguing, lacked the same level of order and clarity favoured by participants. These findings provide textile designers with evidence-based guidance for selecting rapport formats that enhance the aesthetic appeal and user acceptance of their designs, ultimately contributing to more user-centred and appealing textile products.