Micro‐RNAs (miRNAs) are highly evolutionarily conserved short‐length/noncoding RNA molecules that modulate a wide range of cellular functions in many cell types by regulating the expression of a variety of targeted genes. miRNAs have also recently emerged as key regulators of neuronal genes mediating the effects of psychostimulant drugs and memory‐related neuroplasticity processes. Smoking is a predominant addictive behaviour associated with millions of deaths worldwide, and nicotine is a potent natural psychoactive agonist of cholinergic receptors, highly abundant in cigarettes. The influence of miRNAs modulation on cholinergic signalling in the nervous system remains however poorly explored. Using miRNA knockout mice and biochemical, electrophysiological and pharmacological approaches, we examined the effects of miR‐132/212 gene disruption on the levels of hippocampal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, total ERK and phosphorylated ERK (pERK) and MeCP2 protein levels, and studied the impact of nicotine stimulation on hippocampal synaptic transmission and synaptic depression and strengthening. miR‐132/212 deletion significantly altered α7‐nAChR and pERK protein levels, but not total ERK or MeCP2, and resulted in both exacerbated synaptic depression and virtually abolished memory‐related synaptic strengthening upon nicotine stimulation. These observations reveal a functional miRNAs/nicotinergic signalling interplay critical for nicotinic‐receptor expression and neuroplasticity in brain structures relevant for drug addiction and learning and memory functions.

Different types of drinking yoghurts were made with different types and concentrations of stabilizers. 6 treatments were made (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6) using 0.2% and 0.4% of different types stabilizers (pectin, guar gum, and mixture (1:1) of both pectin and guar gum) for production of other yoghurt drink treatments beside the control without any stabilizers. All treatments were stored up to 14 days at 5±1°C. Drinking yoghurt samples were evaluated for chemical, reholigical, microbiological and sensory attributes. No significant differences were observed in chemical and microbiological properties among control and treated samples. All drinking yoghurt contained levels of (10 6-10 7 cfu/g) lactic acid bacteria at the end of the refrigerated storage. Addition of stablizers showed significant differences in viscocitey and serum separation of final product. The effect was more obvious with using 0.2% stabilizer mixture (0.1% guar gum + 0.1% High Methoxy Pectin) than other all treatments. The drinking yoghurt containing 0.2% mix stabilizers (0.1% guar gum + 0.1% High Methoxy Pectin) ranked higher sensory scores than other treatments. The best drinking yoghurt that containing 50% yoghurt, 8% sugar and 42% water should be fortified with 0.2% mix stabilizers (0.1% guar gum + 0.1% High Methoxy Pectin)

In this study, anticancer activity of Zygophyllum album and Suaeda palastina extracts was evaluated. Dichloromethane, methanol and hot water were used as solvents for extraction. Results indicated that the highest half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) on human lung carcinoma (A549) cell lines was achieved by dichloromethane extracts of Z. album and S. palastina (70.48 μg/ml and 34.82 μg/ml respectively) compared to methanolic and hot water extracts. Furthermore, dichloromethane extracts of both plants had antiproliferative effect and highly cytotoxicity on human cancer cells. IC50 of Z. album was 27.74 μg/ml in the human hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2), while IC50 of S. palaestina was 30.76 μg/ml with no cytotoxic activity on normal cell lines. In conclusion, these results suggest that Z. album and S. palaestina could be a good candidate species as a natural source of anticancer agents.

Effect of salted whey medium after optimization as culture medium on the chemical composition and Functional properties of exopolysaccharide produced by Halomonas eurihalina F2-7 and Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris was studied. All polymers (EPSs) extracted from optimized reconstituted salted whey medium (ORSW) had lower contents of carbohydrates (29.34-23.72%) but, were highly proteins (8.79-12.15%) than synthetic media-EPSs. Considerable quantities of uronic acid and sulfates were detected in Halomonas-EPSs (4.7-3.8% and 8.33-17.11%, respectively). All polymers produced viscous solutions with pseudoplastic behavior and emulsified sunflower oil. Aqueous solutions (1%, w/v) of Xanthomonas-EPS, especially, collected from synthetic medium(MM) were highly viscous (97.7cPs) at pH 7 and also were of the highest viscosity (122.4cPs), when heated at 70ºC. The polymers extracted from ORSW medium, especially, Halomonas-EPS had the highest emulsifying activity at pH 3 and 7(80 and 71.25-E96 respectively) .The most interesting EPSs, was Halomonas-EPS which extracted from ORSW medium, where produced viscous solutions, their viscosity increased from 15.4 to 82.7cPs at pH 3 and also produced stable emulsion (80-E240) till 240 hr at the same pH. These properties makes it potentially useful for various industrial applications.

Free-fat yoghurt manufactured from skim milk treated with transglutaminase (TG; 1 Ug -1 milk protein) and buttermilk powder (BMP; 1% and 2%); either individually or in combination, was investigated. For comparison, the full-fat and free-fat variants without TG or BMP addition were also studied. The results reveal that TG did not interfere with the pH reduction during fermentation progress, while BMP addition had fairly accelerated the pH drop during incubation time. Although TG treatment or BMP addition has significantly (P<0.05) improved the yoghurt gel strength by means of improving the water holding capacity functionality, the free-fat yoghurts made from TG-treated milk in combination with BMP addition obtained the highest values which were similar to that of full-fat control yoghurt. Furthermore, addition of BMP enhanced the reactivity of TG as indicated by the extended and excessive appearance of high molecular weight protein polymers bands in electrophoreses patterns. This result was confirmed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis as a more compact and dense structure accompanied by tortuous clusters of protein aggregates were observed within micrographs of free-fat yoghurt made with combination of TG and BMP. Addition of TG or BMP individually had a marked affirmative impact on free-fat gel network, represented in a denser and more homogeneous systematic protein aggregate network characterised by a finer-meshed network. It is worthwhile to state that this impact was more pronounced within BMP addition (either 1% or 2%) than for TG treatment. Free-fat yoghurts of individually BMP addition exhibited the most desirable organoleptic attributes as indicated by the assessors and were similar to the full-fat yoghurt perception, whereas, the combined TG-BMP treatments received fairly criticized scores due to its firmer and crumbly mouth-feel. Overall, addition of TG or BMP appears to be a valuable alternative in free-fat yoghurt production, and BMP can be worthy considered as a source of extra protein level, which in-turn offers a promising option to develop innovative functional free-fat yoghurt.