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Alternative water sources offer opportunities to contribute to the water supply to meet non-potable urban demand, closing water supply–demand gaps. Detailed assessments of these schemes are often data intensive, which can be a barrier in resource-scarce locations. A data-light approach is proposed and applied to assess the potential contribution of alternative water sources in five cities in the Global South, and to identify barriers preventing their widespread uptake. These barriers include perception, space, cost, home ownership and capacity constraints. This approach is applicable elsewhere, supporting assessment for city water planners/managers for preliminary planning to promote discussion on alternative sources to water security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the anti-Leishmania major and the lung adenocarcinoma (A549) cytotoxicity of Withania somnifera root and fruit. The total extracts were obtained by homogenisation in aqueous MeOH, and the sub-extracts [n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), n-butanol (n-BuOH), and methanol (MeOH)] were obtained by flash chromatography. The activity evaluation showed that n-BuOH sub-extracts from root and fruit exhibited noticeable antileishmanial promastigote properties. The n-hexane and EtOAc sub-extracts from both organs, and the MeOH sub-extract from the fruit exerted mild to moderate effects on the promastigotes. In-vitro growth-inhibitory test results on axenic amastigote and cytotoxicity testing on macrophages (RAW264.7), the parasite-host at the amastigote stage, revealed that the activity was mainly concentrated in the root EtOAc and n-BuOH sub-extracts and to a lesser extent the fruit MeOH and EtOAc, and the root n-hexane sub-extracts. Only the roots' EtOAc and n-BuOH sub-extracts demonstrated low cytotoxicity on the A549 cell line. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ethyl acetate and dichloromethane-soluble fractions, from a soft coral Sarcophyton trocheliophorum total methanolic extract, exhibited significant anti-leishmanial and cytotoxic activities. These active fractions yielded a new cembranoid diterpene (1), two known analogues [sarcotrocheliol (2) and sarcophine (3)], and two sterols [(24S)-24-methylcholesterol (4) and gorgosterol (5)]. The structure of the new diterpene (1) was determined via a detailed analysis of its spectroscopic data. Compounds 3 and 5 demonstrated noticeable cytotoxicity on A549 (IC50 17.4 ± 1.9 µg/ml) and HepG2 (IC50 17.7 ± 1.5 µg/ml) cell lines, respectively. None of the isolates 1‒5 showed detectable anti-leishmanial activity (IC50 >100 µg/ml). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Three new [nilotinins M8‒M10 (1‒3)] and two known [tamarixinin A (4) and gemin D (5)] ellagitannins and seven simple phenolics [gallic acid (6), methyl gallate (7), 3,4-di-O-methylgallic acid (8), ellagic acid (9), 3-O-methylellagic acid (10), methyl ferulate 3-O-sulphate (11), and 7,4′-di-O-methylkaempferol (12)] were isolated from the halophytic plant Tamarix nilotica (Ehrenb.) Bunge (Tamaricaceae). Their structures were determined based on intensive spectroscopic studies and comparisons with reported data. Compounds 4, and 6–8 were evaluated for their cytotoxicity against lung adenocarcinoma cell line (A549) and anti-leishmanial activity against Leishmania major. Compounds 4, 6 and 7 showed promising cytotoxic properties against A549 (IC50 29 ± 2.3, 10.5 ± 0.7, and 20.7 ± 1.9 μg/mL), while compounds 4 and 7 showed higher growth-inhibitory effects against L. major promastigotes (IC50 40.5 ± 2.7 and 38.4 ± 2.5 μg/mL), as compared with the standards doxorubicin (IC50 0.42 µg/mL) and miltefosine (IC50 9.43 μg/mL), respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presented an analytical and closed-form solution for the harmonic contents that were injected in the five-level inverters from asymmetrical DC sources or batteries which were suitable for renewable energy sources. In the five-level inverters, two DC sources V1 and V2 were used to synthesize the output voltage. Therefore, two transcendental equations were formulated for the fundamental and the third harmonic orders based on the unequal DC sources V1 and V2. These transcendental equations were solved analytically for low switching control technique. The proposed solution included the modulation index change which resulted in changing the fundamental component. Therefore, two switching angles are formulated and solved analytically to control the amplitude of the fundamental voltage and cancel the third order harmonic. A well-known third order equation was generated. Thus, a closed-form solution for the above two switching angles will be generated in terms of the modulation index. The proposed solution was tested for a wide range of V1/V2 ratio. Some selected simulation and experimental results were provided to validate the proposed method for wide ranges of both modulation index and V1/V2 ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, a new single-stage high boosting ratio converter for grid-connected photovoltaic systems is proposed. The proposed system consists of a high voltage gain switched inductor buck-boost inverter that employs a folded cascade H-bridge circuit and operates at line frequency. The proposed system has a single switch operated with a sine wave modulation control. This applied control achieves maximum power point tracking of the input photovoltaic system in addition to the required injected sinusoidal grid current. The proposed system achieves the highest voltage boosting ratio of transformer-less topologies to the authors' best knowledge—more than ten times. In addition, it lowers switching losses and reduces the ground leakage current. A 150-W prototype with input voltage of 20 V and output voltage of 240 V has been developed with the purpose of obtaining experimental results and validating the proposed topology. Results report a boosting voltage gain of about ten times and system efficiency above 85%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]