Sub-chronic and acute toxicity of aqueous extracts subsp. (Maire) Figuerola to rodents.

Background: subsp. (Maire) Figuerola (SBm) is a plant endemic to Morocco and is one of the less studied species of Salvia. Herbal therapy is becoming more and more popular, especially in underdeveloped nations where access to medicinal herbs is affordable.

Uniform large-area surface patterning achieved by metal dewetting for the top-down fabrication of GaN nanowire ensembles.

The dewetting of thin Pt films on different surfaces is investigated as a means to provide the patterning for the top-down fabrication of GaN nanowire ensembles. The transformation from a thin film to an ensemble of nanoislands upon annealing proceeds in good agreement with the void growth model. With increasing annealing duration, the size and shape uniformity of the nanoislands improves.

Assessment of the acute and subacute toxicity of the aqueous extract of Moroccan fruit in a mouse model.

L. is thought to possess a wide range of therapeutic qualities. This plant's safety is critical regarding its potential uses as a medicine.

Psychometric properties of Clinical Learning Environment Inventory and its association with Moroccan nursing students' satisfaction: A PLS-SEM approach.

Background: The Clinical Learning Environment (CLE) is integral to pre-registration nursing curricula. Assessing the student's perceptions of their CLE is essential to adjust clinical placement to trainees' needs. Clinical Learning Environment Inventory (CLEI) appears to be widely used in measuring CLE, but no previous study has reported a full structural validity and its association with students' satisfaction in the Moroccan context.

A route for the top-down fabrication of ordered ultrathin GaN nanowires.

We introduce a facile route for the top-down fabrication of ordered arrays of GaN nanowires with aspect ratios exceeding 10 and diameters below 20 nm. Highly uniform thin GaN nanowires are first obtained by lithographic patterning a bilayer Ni/SiNhard mask, followed by a combination of dry and wet etching in KOH. The SiNis found to work as an etch stop during wet etching, which eases reproducibility.

The way COVID-19 transforms our sexual lives.

During the early stages of the outbreak, insufficient attention was paid to the impact on sexual function, which is logical in the face of potentially harmful and fatal infections. It is well documented that any close contact (6 feet or 2 m) with an infected person can result in exposure to SARS-CoV-2 so while coronavirus disease: (COVID-19) may not be "sexually transmitted" (through semen or vaginal fluids) the risks of proximal exposure are great-whether the activity is engaged in is sexual or not. For the last 3-4 months, scientific studies have shown that a mild or severe coronavirus infection can lead to sexual complications and prolonged libido problems as well as erectile dysfunction.

Compact acousto-optic multimode interference device in (Al,Ga)As.

Multimode interference (MMI) devices are key components in modern integrated photonic circuits. Here, we present acoustically tuned optical switches on an (Al,Ga)As platform that enable robust, compact and fast response systems improving on recently demonstrated technology. The device consists of a 2 × 2 MMI device fine-tuned in its center region by a focused surface acoustic wave (SAW) beam working in the low GHz range.

Why nobody discusses the adverse psychiatric effects of chloroquine in case it might become the future treatment against COVID-19?

Chloroquine represents at least a basic prototype antimalarial drug, widely applied in several branches of medicine and also recently against a new zoonotic origin coronavirus. At present, there is little awareness of chloroquine's psychiatric side effects, which appear to be overlooked by the Scientific Committee, although they may manifest in a worryingly wide range of symptoms. This is likely to interfere with the course of specifically long-term (high-dose) COVID-19 treatment in some aggravated forms (25% of coronavirus patients were still carrying the virus 6 days after taking hydroxychloroquine).

[Liver X receptors define the immune response during general adaptation syndrome (GAS)].

The impact of stressful conditions on immunity seems mixed and at times counterbalanced. Such inconsistencies can often be attributed to the fact that the notion of stress has a very wide meaning and covers a large number of different situations. Research on liver X receptors using both natural and synthetic ligands may help to solve this conflict.

Electroluminescence and current-voltage measurements of single-(In,Ga)N/GaN-nanowire light-emitting diodes in a nanowire ensemble.

We present the combined analysis of electroluminescence (EL) and current-voltage (-) behavior of single, freestanding (In,Ga)N/GaN nanowire (NW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) in an unprocessed, self-assembled ensemble grown by molecular beam epitaxy. The data were acquired in a scanning electron microscope equipped with a micromanipulator and a luminescence detection system. Single NW spectra consist of emission lines originating from different quantum wells, and the width of the spectra increases with decreasing peak emission energy.

Impact of the Shadowing Effect on the Crystal Structure of Patterned Self-Catalyzed GaAs Nanowires.

The growth of regular arrays of uniform III-V semiconductor nanowires is a crucial step on the route toward their application-relevant large-scale integration onto the Si platform. To this end, not only does optimal vertical yield, length, and diameter uniformity have to be engineered, but also, control over the nanowire crystal structure has to be achieved. Depending on the particular application, nanowire arrays with varying area density are required for optimal device efficiency.

Top-down fabrication of ordered arrays of GaN nanowires by selective area sublimation.

We demonstrate the top-down fabrication of ordered arrays of GaN nanowires by selective area sublimation of pre-patterned GaN(0001) layers grown by hydride vapor phase epitaxy on AlO. Arrays with nanowire diameters and spacings ranging from 50 to 90 nm and 0.1 to 0.

Stress as an immunomodulator: liver X receptors maybe the answer.

Stress is a reflex response, both psychological and physiological, of the body to a difficult situation that requires adaptation. Stress is at the intersection of the objective event and the subjective event. The physiological mechanisms involved in chronic stress are numerous and can contribute to a wide variety of disorders, in all systems including the immune system.

Threefold rotational symmetry in hexagonally shaped core-shell (In,Ga)As/GaAs nanowires revealed by coherent X-ray diffraction imaging.

Coherent X-ray diffraction imaging at symmetric Bragg reflections was used to resolve the structure of GaAs/InGaAs/GaAs core-shell-shell nanowires grown on a silicon (111) substrate. Diffraction amplitudes in the vicinity of GaAs 111 and GaAs 333 reflections were used to reconstruct the lost phase information. It is demonstrated that the structure of the core-shell-shell nanowire can be identified by means of phase contrast.

Prenatal noise and restraint stress interact to alter exploratory behavior and balance in juvenile rats, and mixed stress reverses these effects.

We aimed to investigate in adolescent rats the individual and combined effects of prenatal noise and restraint stress on balance control, exploration, locomotion and anxiety behavior. Three groups of pregnant rats were exposed to daily repeated stress from day 11 to day 19 of pregnancy: 3 min noise (Noise Stress, NS); 10 min restraint (restraint stress, RS); or 3 min noise followed by 10 min restraint (mixed stress, MS). On postnatal days (PND) 44, 45 and 46, four groups of male rats (Control, NS, RS:, MS; 16 rats each), were tested as follows: (1) beam walking (BW), (2) open field (OF) and (3) elevated plus maze (EPM).

Berberis vulgaris L. effects on oxidative stress and liver injury in lead-intoxicated mice.

Background Berberis vulgaris L. (BV), commonly known as "Aghriss" in Moroccan pharmacopoeia, is used to cure liver disorders and other diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the protective effect of BV aqueous extract against lead-induced toxicity in mice liver.

Effects of quercetin on predator stress-related hematological and behavioral alterations in pregnant rats and their offspring.

This study aims at investigating the effect of a psychogenic stress during gestation on the behaviour and haematological indices in dams as well as on the neonatal haematological status and periadolescent behaviour in their offspring. Moreover, the ability of quercetin, a natural flavonoid, to prevent the stress-induced changes was estimated. Pregnant Wistar rats were pretreated with quercetin before the exposure to a predator stress on gestational day 19.

A modified Shockley equation taking into account the multi-element nature of light emitting diodes based on nanowire ensembles.

In this work we study how the multi-element nature of light emitting diodes (LEDs) based on nanowire (NW) ensembles influences their current voltage (I-V) characteristics. We systematically address critical issues of the fabrication process that can result in significant fluctuations of the electrical properties among the individual NWs in such LEDs, paying particular attention to the planarization step. Electroluminescence (EL) maps acquired for two nominally identical NW-LEDs reveal that small processing variations can result in a large difference in the number of individual nano-devices emitting EL.

Acoustically driven arrayed waveguide grating.

We demonstrate compact tunable phased-array wavelength-division multiplexers driven by surface acoustic waves (SAWs) in the low GHz range. The devices comprise two couplers, which respectively split and combine the optical signal, linked by an array of single-mode waveguides (WGs). Two different layouts are presented, in which multi-mode interference couplers or free propagating regions were separately employed as couplers.

Compatibility of the selective area growth of GaN nanowires on AlN-buffered Si substrates with the operation of light emitting diodes.

AlN layers with thicknesses between 2 and 14 nm were grown on Si(111) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. The effect of the AlN layer thickness on the morphology and nucleation time of spontaneously formed GaN nanowires (NWs) was investigated by scanning electron microscopy and line-of-sight quadrupole mass spectrometry, respectively. We observed that the alignment of the NWs grown on these layers improves with increasing layer thickness while their nucleation time decreases.

Correlation of electrical and structural properties of single as-grown GaAs nanowires on Si (111) substrates.

We present the results of the study of the correlation between the electrical and structural properties of individual GaAs nanowires measured in their as-grown geometry. The resistance and the effective charge carrier mobility were extracted for several nanowires, and subsequently, the same nano-objects were investigated using X-ray nanodiffraction. This revealed a number of perfectly stacked zincblende and twinned zincblende units separated by axial interfaces.

Quercetin mitigates Adriamycin-induced anxiety- and depression-like behaviors, immune dysfunction, and brain oxidative stress in rats.

This study was designed to evaluate the effect of quercetin, a natural flavonoid, on behavioral alterations, brain oxidative stress, and immune dysregulation caused by a chemotherapeutic agent, Adriamycin (ADR; 7 mg/kg of body weight). Different subsets of male Wistar rats were used to determine the benefit of quercetin on ADR-related depression-like and anxiety-like behaviors in the forced swim test, open field, and elevated plus maze, respectively. Quercetin (60 mg/kg of body weight) was administered 24, 5, and 1 h before the test session of forced swim test (FST) or at the same time points before the elevated plus maze/open field (EPM/OF) tests.

Coaxial multishell (In,Ga)As/GaAs nanowires for near-infrared emission on Si substrates.

Efficient infrared light emitters integrated on the mature Si technology platform could lead to on-chip optical interconnects as deemed necessary for future generations of ultrafast processors as well as to nanoanalytical functionality. Toward this goal, we demonstrate the use of GaAs-based nanowires as building blocks for the emission of light with micrometer wavelength that are monolithically integrated on Si substrates. Free-standing (In,Ga)As/GaAs coaxial multishell nanowires were grown catalyst-free on Si(111) by molecular beam epitaxy.

High-temperature, continuous-wave operation of terahertz quantum-cascade lasers with metal-metal waveguides and third-order distributed feedback.

Currently, different competing waveguide and resonator concepts exist for terahertz quantum-cascade lasers (THz QCLs). We examine the continuous-wave (cw) performance of THz QCLs with single-plasmon (SP) and metal-metal (MM) waveguides fabricated from the same wafer. While SP QCLs are superior in terms of output power, the maximum operating temperature for MM QCLs is typically much higher.

Liver X receptors interfere with the deleterious effect of diethylstilbestrol on testicular physiology.

Liver X receptors LXRα (NR1H3) and LXRβ (NR1H2) are transcription factors belonging to the nuclear receptor superfamily, activated by specific oxysterols, oxidized derivatives of cholesterol. These receptors are involved in the regulation of testis physiology. Lxr-deficient mice pointed to the physiological roles of these nuclear receptors in steroid synthesis, lipid homeostasis and germ cell apoptosis and proliferation.