Phenolic compounds, antioxidant and antibacterial activities of three Ericaceae from Algeria

Herbs of the Ericaceae family are commonly found in Algeria and used in traditional medicine as anti- septic, diuretic, astringent, depurative, and to treat scalds and wounds. The methanolic extracts of three species, Arbutus unedo L. (A. unedo, leaves), Erica arborea L. (E. arborea, flowered aerial parts), and Erica multiflora L. (E. multiflora, flowered aerial parts), were compared regarding their content in pheno- lic compounds, their antioxidant, and antibacterial activities. A. unedo harbors the highest content in total phenolics and flavonoids, followed by E. arborea E. multiflora. The contents in total phenolics and flavonoids showed a correlation with the measured antioxidant (hydrogen-donating) activities; this was particularly the case for flavonoids content. The A. unedo extract showed antibacterial activity against all the tested strains (Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 6538, S. aureus C100459, Escherichia coli ATCC 25922, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 9027); however, the E. arborea and E. multiflora extracts showed antibacterial activity only against Gram positive bacteria. Some polyphenols were identified in the three herbs by thin-layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array and mass spectrometry detection; from these, caffeic acid, p-coumaric acid, naringin, quercetin and kaempferol are reported for the first time in E. multiflora.

Novel DNA sensor for guanine content.

The bifunctional complex [Ru(TAP)(2)POQ-Nmet](2+), 1, formed with a [Ru(TAP)(2)Phen](2+) metallic unit linked to a quinoline moiety, and [Ru(TAP)(2)Phen](2+), 2, as reference, have been tested as photoprobes of DNA. Interestingly, 1 exhibits an emission enhancement of a factor of 16-17 upon binding to calf thymus DNA. Moreover, this emission is modulated by the nucleic base content of the polynucleotide. It varies by almost an order of magnitude from a polynucleotide containing 100% of G-C to a guanine-free nucleic acid where the excited-state lifetime reaches about 2 micros. The origins of these interesting properties are analyzed by comparing 1 with reference 2 in the presence of different polynucleotides.

Nations' income inequality predicts ambivalence in stereotype content: How societies mind the gap

Income inequality undermines societies: The more inequality, the more health problems, social tensions, and the lower social mobility, trust, life expectancy. Given people's tendency to legitimate existing social arrangements, the stereotype content model (SCM) argues that ambivalence-perceiving many groups as either warm or competent, but not both-may help maintain socio-economic disparities. The association between stereotype ambivalence and income inequality in 37 cross-national samples from Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Asia, and Africa investigates how groups' overall warmth-competence, status-competence, and competition-warmth correlations vary across societies, and whether these variations associate with income inequality (Gini index). More unequal societies report more ambivalent stereotypes, whereas more equal ones dislike competitive groups and do not necessarily respect them as competent. Unequal societies may need ambivalence for system stability: Income inequality compensates groups with partially positive social images. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.