Browse Articles

Complex forming properties of cannabinoid acids in a green solvent and bioassays focused on gastric disease caused by Helicobacter pylori infection

Postmarketing safety evaluation of pemetrexed using FAERS and JADER databases

Photocatalytic degradation of azithromycin and ceftriaxone using synthesized Ag/g-C3N4/Fe3O4 nanocomposites in aqueous solution

Antiviral activity of newly synthesized pyrazole derivatives against Newcastle disease virus

Abstract Newcastle disease virus (NDV) is a highly contagious poultry disease that affects the respiratory, nervous, and digestive systems, causing significant losses to the poultry industry. Pyrazole-based scaffolds had significant potential as antiviral agents targeting various pathogens. Thus, a series of 4-substituted pyrazole derivatives were synthesized by reacting 5-chloro-4-formyl-3-methyl-1-phenylpyrazole with some nitrogen and carbon-based nucleophiles. The antiviral efficacy of these compounds was evaluated against NDV by assessing their ability to inhibit virus-induced haemagglutination. Notably, hydrazone 6 and thiazolidinedione derivative 9 achieved complete (100%) protection against NDV with 0% mortality, while the pyrazolopyrimidine derivative 7 provided 95% protection. Additionally, tetrazine 4 and chalcone 11 conferred 85% and 80% protection, respectively. Molecular docking simulation targeting immune receptor TLR4 protein (PDB ID: 3MU3) revealed that compound 6 achieved the highest docking score, surpassing both the reference drug (amantadine) and the co-crystallized ligand (LP4), primarily through hydrophobic interactions with PHE 46 residue. Compound 9 formed two hydrogen bonds with THR 122 and exhibited hydrophobic interaction with TYR 117, whereas compound 7 interacted hydrophobically with THR 122. Pharmacokinetic modeling using the BOILED-Egg model indicated that some compounds are likely to cross the blood-brain barrier (yellow region), while others remain in the white area. Impressively, the compounds also demonstrated desirable drug-likeness profiles. These findings suggest that the synthesized compounds hold promise as potent antiviral candidates.

Investigating the effect of electrical and thermal transport properties on oxide-based memristors performance and reliability

Deep learning reconstruction enhances tophus detection in a dual-energy CT phantom study

Differences in the activity intensity distribution over the day between boys and girls aged 3 to 17 years

Association between exposure to air pollutants and cardiovascular mortality in Iran: a case-crossover study

Light-Induced, Lysine-Targeting Irreversible Covalent Inhibition of the Human Oxygen Sensing Hydroxylase Factor Inhibiting HIF (FIH)

Fatigue safety factor of a transonic centrifugal compressor impeller subject to blade thickness

Synthesis and characterization of cetylpyridinium peroxyphosphotungstate and their catalytic properties for linalool oxidation

Classification of Indian classical dances using MnasNet architecture with advanced polar fox optimization for hyperparameter optimization

Russia-Ukraine conflict and Malaysian palm oil: An analysis of market impacts and public sentiment

The Russia-Ukraine conflict, which began in February 2022, has significantly impacted global commodity markets, particularly the Malaysian palm oil industry. This study examines the effects of the conflict on key market indicators—price, production quantity, oil extraction rate, and exports—while also analyzing the role of public sentiment in shaping market dynamics. Using data from the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) and online engagement metrics, a composite sentiment index was developed through Principal Component Analysis (PCA). The findings indicate that palm oil prices spiked sharply following the conflict due to supply chain disruptions and speculative trading, while production and extraction rates remained stable. Exports showed increased volatility, reflecting trade realignments and policy interventions. Public sentiment shifted from a fragmented geopolitical discourse to an economically driven narrative, strongly correlating with price fluctuations and concerns over supply chain stability. This study highlights the growing importance of sentiment analysis in understanding market behavior and provides insights for policymakers and industry stakeholders to mitigate the effects of geopolitical crises on the palm oil sector.

Machine learning based prediction of cognitive metrics using major biomarkers in SuperAgers

Performance evaluation of Vietnamese industrial goods and services during and post-COVID-19 era based on multi-criteria decision-making methods

The industrial goods and services sector is crucial for the advancement of the Vietnamese economy in terms of its substantial economic contribution and positive impact on employment. Performance evaluation has become critical in this industry, which has constantly developed and had an intensive rivalry. This paper aims to analyze the performance of industrial goods and services firms during and after COVID-19 using an objective integrated multi-criteria decision-making technique. This study suggests a three-phase model. Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) eliminates human judgment errors, increases accuracy, and maintains objectivity in the evaluation variable weighting phase. Then, Evaluation based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) and Technique of Order Preference Similarity to the Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are used as effective cross-validation techniques to evaluate and rank forty-five Vietnam Stock Exchanges-listed firms for each year from 2020 to 2022. The reliability of the CRITIC-based weights is verified by the Statistical Variance Procedure. The research results reveal that the debt term structure is the most vital among the fifteen financial research indicators reflecting a business’s solvency, profitability, growth, operating efficiency, and capital structure. Additionally, the research findings indicate discrepancies in the rankings produced by EDAS and TOPSIS. However, the disparities are not grave, and the top and bottom positions, in particular, remain consistent between the two approaches. PDN was the best firm during COVID-19 and was succeeded by CIA after the pandemic. Pursuing digital transformation, sustainable development, and keeping inventory turnover at high levels are common characteristics of successful businesses in this industry. For the first time, the article provides a performance analysis of Vietnamese industrial goods and services firms. It is a significant reference for domestic and international investors in portfolio selection, financial institutions in loan approval, managers and policymakers in planning and policy development, and researchers conducting investigations within this domain.

Robotic radiation shielding system reduces radiation-induced DNA damage in operators performing electrophysiological procedures

Impact of Vgsc-1014 mutations on the feeding pattern of Phlebotomus argentipes

Knockdown resistance alleles (kdr alleles) within the para voltage-gated sodium channel gene (Vgsc) are a common mechanism of DDT and pyrethroid resistance in insect vectors. In the primary Asian visceral leishmaniasis vector, Phlebotomus argentipes, two kdr alleles in codon 1014 of the Vgsc are associated with insecticide resistance, potentially presenting challenges to vector control efforts in the Indian subcontinent. Here, we screened Vgsc-1014 alleles and blood meal origin in P. argentipes females collected between September 2013 and August 2015 in Bangladesh (Mymensingh), to understand how Vgsc-1014 alleles could impact feeding patterns. The sand fly collection took place in parallel with the vector control agency’s biannual indoor residual spraying (IRS) programme. In this region, the wild-type leucine (wt-leucine) was the most common allele (66.7%), followed by the mutant serine (19.4%) and phenylalanine alleles (13.9%). Only 55 sand fly blood meals (13%) came from humans, with most of bovine origin (61%). However, sand flies that had fed on humans showed strongly contrasting Vgsc-1014 genotypic frequencies compared to those feeding on other blood sources. Whilst most (81%) P. argentipes with human blood possessed kdr genotypes with two mutant alleles, most (81%) sand flies feeding on other blood sources possessed genotypes with wt-leucine alleles (P < 0.001). Significant spatial variation in kdr frequencies was detected, but there was no clear temporal trend nor effect of sampling year on any results, and no significant impact of recent IRS in any analyses. The association between human feeding and kdr alleles in parallel with pyrethroid spraying indicates a new mechanism of how kdr alleles might impact VL control programs.

Greedy gradient-free adaptive variational quantum algorithms on a noisy intermediate scale quantum computer

Abstract Hybrid quantum-classical adaptive Variational Quantum Eigensolvers (VQE) hold the potential to outperform classical computing for simulating many-body quantum systems. However, practical implementations on current quantum processing units (QPUs) are challenging due to the noisy evaluation of a polynomially scaling number of observables, undertaken for operator selection and high-dimensional cost function optimization. We introduce an adaptive algorithm using analytic, gradient-free optimization, called Greedy Gradient-free Adaptive VQE (GGA-VQE). In addition to demonstrating the algorithm’s improved resilience to statistical sampling noise in the computation of simple molecular ground states, we execute GGA-VQE on a 25-qubit error-mitigated QPU by computing the ground state of a 25-body Ising model. Although hardware noise on the QPU produces inaccurate energies, our implementation outputs a parameterized quantum circuit yielding a favorable ground-state approximation. We demonstrate this by retrieving the parameterized operators calculated on the QPU and evaluating the resulting ansatz wave-function via noiseless emulation (i.e., hybrid observable measurement).

Regulating Reversible Untwisting and Twisting Motions in Helical Dynamic Molecular Crystals

Portuguese translation, cultural adaptation, and validation of the Person-Centered Practice Inventory – Care

Background In person-centered practice implementation and development, it is essential to incorporate standardized measurements that consider the perspectives of those involved in the therapeutic relationship. This work aims to translate, culturally adapt, and validate the Person-Centered Practice Inventory – Care (PCPI-C) for the Portuguese healthcare context. The PCPI-C is derived from the middle-range theory of the Person-Centered Practice Framework and is an 18-item self-reported inventory. Methods This methodological study followed a two-stage research design entailing the translation and cultural adaptation of the PCPI-C from English to European Portuguese and the Portuguese healthcare context in phase I, followed by a psychometric evaluation (N = 312) conducted using principal component and confirmatory factor analysis in SPSS version 27.0 and SPSS AMOS version 21.0 in phase II. The model was continuously and iteratively refined until it was considered acceptable per gold standard estimators. Results In phase I, the results revealed linguistic and contextual cultural differences compared to the original version. The cognitive debriefing showed that the respondents considered the items understandable and adequate for the purpose. In phase II, among the two adjusted PCPI-C models fit, i.e., first-order, and single-factor, the best fit to the empirical data was revealed by the single-factor structure, reflecting a good fit (x2/df = 2.408, CFI = .93, RMSEA = .07, SRMR = .05). Conclusions The PCPI-C is a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the perceptions of Portuguese service users regarding person-centered practice. It is necessary to consider the purpose for which the instrument is used to select the most appropriate measurement model, i.e., process evaluation as an outcome or as an inventory measure for continuous improvement.