We investigate the difference between hadron resonance gas (HRG) calculations for chemical freeze-out parameters at fully and partly chemical equilibria. To this end, the results are compared with the particle ratios measured in central Au-Au collisions at a wide range of nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energies, √ s N N = 7.7 − 200 GeV as offered by the STAR experiment. We restrict the discussion to STAR, because of large statistics and overall homogeneity of STAR measurements (one detector) against previous experiments. We find that the matter produced at these energies is likely in fully chemical equilibrium, which is consistent with recent lattice QCD results. The possible improvements by partial chemical equilibrium (γ S = 1) are very limited. We also discuss these results with the ones deduced from φ/π − and Ω − /π − ratios. These hadron ratios are sensitive to the degree of chemical equilibrium. Accordingly, the conclusion that the matter produced reaches fully chemical equilibrium in central Au-Au at RHIC energies is confirmed.

At thermal equilibrium, different chemical freezeout conditions have been proposed so far. They have an ultimate aim of proposing a universal description for the chemical freezeout parameters (T ch and µ b ), which are to be extracted from the statistical fitting of different particle ratios measured at various collision energies with calculations from thermal models. A systematic comparison between these conditions is presented. The physical meaning of each of them and their sensitivity to the hadron mass cuts are discussed. Based on availability, some of them are compared with recent lattice calculations. We found that most of these conditions are thermodynamically equivalent, especially at small baryon chemical potential. We propose that further crucial consistency tests should be performed at low energies. The fireball thermodynamics is another way of guessing conditions describing the chemical freezeout parameters extracted from high-energy experiments. We endorse the possibility that the various chemical freezeout conditions should be interpreted as different aspects of one universal condition.

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Objective: This investigation was designed to analyze the phytochemicals of the ethanolic extracts of grape and guava seeds and to assess their possible ameliorating effects on gentamicin (GM)-induced nephropathy in rats. Material and methods: Sixty-four male Sprague Dawley rats were randomly allocated into eight groups and treated for ten consecutive days as follows: Group 1 (control group) was injected intraperitoneally with saline solution; Groups 2, 3, and 4 received a daily oral dosage of grape seed extract (GrSE, 40 mg/kg b.wt /day, p.o), guava seed extracts (GuSE, 300 mg/ b.wt /day, p.o) or a combination of both, respectively. Group 5 was intoxicated with GM (100 mg/kg/ b.wt /day, i.p). Groups 6, 7, and 8 received an oral dose of GrSE and/or GuSE, along with an intraperitoneal injection of GM. Results: Chemical analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography with diode-array detection (HPLC-DAD) showed that the ethanolic extracts of GrSE and GuSE are rich in phenolic compounds such as gallic acid, chlorogenic acid, 3-hydroxycinnamic acid, ferulic acid, caffeic acid, ellagic acid, daidzein, apigenin, syringic acid, naringenin, p-coumaric acid, quercetin, rutin, and vanillic acid. GrSE or GuSE oral administration did not cause any considerable biochemical or histological alterations in the normal rats. Rats treated with GM showed significant elevation in serum concentration of urea and creatinine and a significant reduction in serum levels of total proteins, sodium, and potassium. In contrast, serum alkaline phosphatase activity was significantly elevated. Additionally, GM injection resulted in a significant rise in the serum levels of triacylglycerol (TG), total cholesterol (TC), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL), and a significant decrement in serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL). Furthermore, GM-injected rats displayed a substantial decline in the activity of erythrocyte copper, zinc superoxide dismutase (Cu, Zn-SOD), and blood and renal levels of reduced glutathione (GSH) along with elevation in the renal level of malondialdehyde (MDA). Upregulation of kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1) and nuclear factor kappa B p65 subunit (NF-κB p65) gene expression was also observed in GM-injected rats compared with control. Simultaneous administration of GrSE and/or GuSE with gentamicin attenuated the nephrotoxic effects of GM as indicated by improvement in renal function parameters, normalization of serum electrolytes, restoration of serum lipid profile, reduction in renal lipid peroxidation, enhancement of the antioxidant status and down-regulation of KIM-1 and NF-κB p65 gene expression. The results of the histopathological evaluation confirmed these biochemical findings. Conclusion: Treatment with grape and guava seed extracts ameliorated gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity via hypolipidemic, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory effects.