Ischaemia‐reperfusion (IR) is the most common form of testicular injury that results in oxidative damage and inflammation ending by subinfertility. Paeonol, a natural phenolic compound, exhibits antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects. Thus, the present study investigated the role of paeonol in rat testicular IR injury. Thirty adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups; sham, sham treated with paeonol, IR injury, and IR pre‐treated with paeonol at low and high doses. Serum testosterone and testicular levels of malondialdehyde and reduced glutathione (GSH) besides superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity were determined. Gene quantifications for tumour necrosis factor‐α (TNF‐α), hypoxia‐inducible factor‐1α (HIF‐1α) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) were also assessed. Histopathological pictures and the immunohistochemical expression of testicular nuclear factor erythroid 2‐related factor 2 (Nrf2), interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β) and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) were shown. Pre‐treatment with paeonol prevented the drop in serum testosterone, alongside with improvement of testicular malondialdehyde and GSH levels plus SOD activity. Paeonol regained the normal spermatogenesis with prevention of IR‐induced increase in TNF‐α, HIF‐1α and HSP70 gene expression besides IL‐1β and IL‐6 immunostaining and reduction in Nrf2 protein expression. Paeonol exerted a dose‐dependent beneficial effect on testicular IR injury. This effect was achieved by its antioxidant and anti‐inflammatory effects.

Objective. We aimed to assess the protective role of verapamil, L-type calcium channel blockers, against early lung damage in diabetic rats. Lung injury has recently been recognized as a consequent complication of diabetes mellitus. Hyperglycemia induces inflammatory changes in lung tissue early in the disease. Methods. Twenty four adult male rats were grouped into control, diabetic, diabetic treated with verapamil, and verapamil control. Streptozotocin (STZ) was used to induce diabetes. Oxidative parameters and antioxidative mechanisms were assessed in lung homogenate. Tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) protein was measured as a pro-inflammatory mediator. Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT3) gene expression and nuclear erythroid factor 2 (Nrf2) immunoexpression were screened. Results. The lung showed oxidative damage and inflammatory infiltration in STZ diabetic rats early at 2 weeks. The parameters significantly improved in lung tissue treated with verapamil. Histopathology of the lung tissue confirmed the results. Inhibition of STAT3/TNFα pathway was involved in the protection offered by verapamil. Activation of Nrf2 together with an increasing antioxidant capacity of diabetic lung significantly ameliorates the injury induced by diabetes. Conclusions. Verapamil afforded protection in diabetic lung injury. The protection was mediated by the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of verapamil.

Objectives: This study evaluates translucency parameter (TP) and microstructural characterization of three types of translucent zirconia (Y-TZP) after Er:YAG laser treatment. Materials and Methods: For this evaluation, test specimens were prepared from Cercon Translucent Zirconia (ht) (Dentsply, Sirona, USA), Cercon High Translucent Zirconia (xt) (Dentsply, Sirona, USA) and Cercon Ultra Translucent Zirconia (xtml) (Dentsply, Sirona, USA) that were divided into control (untreated) group and laser treatment group. Laser treated specimens were subjected to Er:YAG laser with following parameters: wavelength of 2940 nm, frequency of 10 Hz, energy of 200 mj and a power of 2W for 10 seconds. The specimens from both groups were subjected to TP measurements using a spectrophotometer. For the characterization, zirconia discs from each group were analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Energy Dispersive X-Ray Analysis (EDX). Results:The results revealed significant decrease in the average TP in all groups after laser surface treatment: (5.65 and 5.32) for groups IA and IB respectively, (8.54 and 8.05) for groups IIA and IIB respectively, and (12.12 and 11.21) for groups IIIA and IIIB, respectively. For XRD analysis, results showed appearance of a monoclinic phase after laser treatment. Elemental composition by EDX analysis showed the presence of Carbon (C), Oxygen (O), Aluminum (Al), Ytteria (Y) and Zirconium (Zr). The results were analyzed using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Shapiro-Wilk test and Two-way ANOVA test (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion:Er: YAG Laser surface treatment significantly affected the TP and XRD analysis.

Aim:The aim of this research was to assess the reinforcing effect of silica nanoparticles on two provisional materials, by measuring the flexural strength and diametral tensile strength, as well as the influence on colour change Methods: A total of sixty samples of two provisional materials were constructed and classified into two groups (n=30), group 1 (Voco structure 2sc) and group 2 (Charm temp). Each group was classified into two subgroups (n=15) according to modification by silica nanoparticles, subgroup 1 (control) and subgroup II (modified by silica nanoparticles). Each subgroup was classified into three classes according to the type of the test (n=5) Flexural strength, diametral tensile strength tests which were measured by using the universal testing machine, and colour change test was performed by spectrophotometer. Data were collected, tabulated and statically analyzed.Results: Diametral tensile strength results showed a significant increase in modified samples (11.4±1.7, 14.2±3.7) in comparison to control samples (6.1±1.7, 8.3±2.2) in charm and voco, respectively. Regarding the flexural strength results, there was a non-significant decrease in modified samples (59.4±4.1, 33.5±4.9) in comparison to control samples (62.7±1.2, 42.1±11) in charm and voco, respectively. Colour change results showed a statistically significant increase in (ΔΕ) value in charm temp (5.1±1.7) in comparison to voco provisional material (2.4±0.8). Conclusions:The addition of silica nanoparticles to both provisional materials significantly improves the diametral tensile strength, whereas decreases the flexural strength insignificantly. Colour change in voco structure 2sc was within the acceptable clinical range whereas in charm was above this range.

Two experiments were conducted to test the allelopathic potential of aqueous extracts concentrations of maize (Zea mays L.) and sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L.) on some physiological characteristics of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) and broad bean (Vicia faba L.) plants in two cultures. The effective allelochemicals available in extracts of maize and sorghum have been isolated and identified. The experiments included two factors, the Main plots were the growing culture (Sand culture and Soil culture) and the Sub-plots were five concentrations of (0,25,50,75 and 100%) the aqueous extracts of the whole plants (root and shoot for maize (in first experiment) and sorghum (in the second one), Results indicated that: Most of the studied characteristics in wheat and broad bean decreased in sand culture when treated with the aqueous extracts of maize and sorghum. Increasing the aqueous extracts of maize to 100% decreased the plant content of  soluble carbohydrate, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, protein to 0.29 ,0.39, 0.39 and 0.28 % in wheat, and to 0.28 , 0.46 , 0.53 and 0.46 % in broad bean. While Increasing the aqueous extracts of sorghum to 100% decreased the plant content of  soluble carbohydrate, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, protein to 0.34 and 0.56 and 0.64 and 0.39 % in wheat, and to 0.41 and 0.47 and 0.44 and 0.20 % in broad bean, respectively  compared to control treatment (0%). Chromatographic analysis revealed the presence of 8 compounds in aqueous extracts of maize. The isolated compounds are phenolic in nature and known to have potential phytotoxicity as syringic, gallic, caffeic, vanillic, ferulic, coumaric, catechol and hydroxybenzoic. While Chromatographic analysis revealed the existence of 10 compounds in aqueous extracts of sorghum, 8 of them similar to what found in maize in addition to  quinon, benzaquinon