Synthetic Sources Research Articles

Artificial Neural Networks for Modeling and Optimizing Egg Cost in Second-Cycle Laying Hens Based on Dietary Intakes of Essential Amino Acids

Egg production is a significant source of animal protein for human consumption. Feed costs significantly impact the profitability of egg production, representing more than 70% of the variable costs. This study evaluated the effect of dietary intakes of three essential amino acids (EAAs) on the egg cost for H&N Brown second-cycle laying hens. The hens were fed for 20 weeks with 23 diets that varied in their lysine, methionine + cystine, and threonine contents. These amino acids were derived from both dietary and synthetic sources. Zootechnical results were used to calculate the feed cost per kilogram of egg (FCK), considering the cost of raw materials and the diet composition. Multivariate polynomial models and artificial neural networks (ANNs) were validated to predict FCK as a function of the EAAs and time. The EAA intakes that minimize FCK over time were optimized using the best model, a cascade-forward ANN with a softmax transfer function. The optimal scenario for FCK (0.873 USD/kg egg) at 20 weeks was achieved at 943.7 mg lysine/hen-day, 858.3 mg methionine + cystine/hen-day, and 876.8 mg threonine/hen-day. ANNs could be a valuable tool for predicting the egg cost of laying hens based on the nutritional requirements. This could help improve economic efficiency and reduce the feed costs in poultry companies.

Ex vivo antiacetylcholinesterase studies on silver nanoparticles synthesized using green approach

For the green fabrication of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), scientists are favoring herbal sources to avoid the toxic effects of synthetic sources. Thus, in this study, the AgNPs were generated using the herbal extract of the whole plant Hippeastrum hybridum L. (HH) and 1 mM AgNO3 aqueous solution. These HH‐AgNPs were characterized via UV–Vis Spectroscopy, which showed a maximum absorbance of 1.61 at a 432 nm sharp peak; FT‐R analysis, which confirmed the functional groups in HH extract and their AgNPs; XRD analysis, which gives 4‐Bragg's reflections at 2θ and confirmed the HH‐AgNPs crystal structure with 13.3 nm average size; SEM analysis, which confirmed the irregular‐shaped morphology with 40 nm mean size; and EDX analysis, which confirmed the elemental composition and reported that Ag was present in 22.75%. After characterization, these AgNPs were tested as anti‐Alzheimer agents against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in ex vivo activity using rat brain homogenate as a source of AChE enzyme. AChE showed 48 ± 0.03 and 42 ± 0.05% activity at 150 μg concentration of HH plant and HH‐AgNPs, respectively, with 145 ± 0.24 and 124.2 ± 0.14 μg IC50 concentration. According to enzyme kinetics results, the plant extract inhibits AChE in competitive mode (Km increased from 166.2% to 1,379.2% and Vmax not affected), while HH‐AgNPs showed the mixed mode of inhibition (Km increased from 0.029 to 0.048, and Vmax decreased from 9 to 5.4). KIapp and Vmaxiapp were also calculated (KIapp increased from 39 to 95.1 μg, and Vmaxiapp remained constant for the plant), while for HH‐AgNPs, both Kmaxipp and Vmaxiapp increased from 122.32 to 325 μg and 8.15 to 9.8 μg, respectively. The Km, Ki, and KI were also calculated and were found to be 0.017 mM (HH‐plant) and 0.2 mM (HH‐AgNPs); 98 μg (HH‐plant); and 129 μg (HH‐AgNPs), 53 μg (HH‐plant), and 179 μg (HH‐AgNPs), respectively. γKm (18 mM) was calculated for HH‐AgNPs, while for HH‐plant, it is not applicable. In conclusion, it could be said that HH‐plant plays a significant role in the generation of small‐size HH‐AgNPs. These AgNPs exhibited significant anti‐AChE potential as compared to HH‐plant extract and proved to be an herbal source for the treatment of AD.

Emerging trends and future opportunities for coumarin-heterocycle conjugates as antibacterial agents

Infectious diseases resulting from various strains of pathogenic bacteria are among the leading causes of death and morbidity worldwide. The currently-available antibacterial medications developed from natural or synthetic sources are the cornerstone of bacterial infection intervention, but somehow the mounting spread and expansion of multidrug-resistant harmful bacteria has become a major concern for medical-providing communities and pharmaceutical-releasing companies. The pervasiveness of coumarin-based products in nature and the simplicity of their lab chemical synthesis, in addition to the ability of the coumarin backbone to communicate, may interact with the bacterial DNA gyrase at the B subunit and hinder DNA secondary structure by abolishing ATPase activity; thus, coumarin-based products and their conjugates may have the potential to act as antibacterial agents. It is conceivable that conjugation of the coumarin chemical nucleus with other heterocyclic-based antibacterial scaffolds may present opportunities for the creation of novel antibacterial drugs. This presentation may be based on the fact that several coumarin-heterocycle conjugates, including clorobiocin, coumermycin A1, and novobiocin, have already been used in medical methods for the treatment of various infectious bacterial diseases. This study explores, during the period of the last 5 years, the relationships between the structure and activity of coumarin-heterocycle conjugates with potential for antibacterial action. This investigation also explored the potential for developing these conjugates into antibacterial medicines.

Multicomponent Synthesis Strategies, Catalytic Activities, and Potential Therapeutic Potential of Pyranocoumarins: A Comprehensive Review.

Fused coumarins, because of their remarkable biological and therapeutic properties, particularly pyranocoumarins, have caught the interest of synthetic organic chemists, leading to the development of more efficient and environmentally friendly protocols for synthesizing pyranocoumarin derivatives. These compounds are the most promising heterocycles discovered in both natural and synthetic sources, with anti-inflammatory, anti-HIV, antitubercular, antihyperglycemic, and antibacterial properties. This review employed the leading scientific databases Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PubMed up to the end of 2022, as well as the combining terms pyranocoumarins, synthesis, isolation, structural elucidation, and biological activity. Among the catalysts employed, acidic magnetic nanocatalysts, transition metal catalysts, and carbon-based catalysts have all demonstrated improved reaction yields and facilitated reactions under milder conditions. Herein, the present review discusses the various multicomponent synthetic strategies for pyranocoumarins catalyzed by transition metal-based catalysts, transition metal-based nanocatalysts, transition metal-free catalysts, carbon-based nanocatalysts, and their potential pharmacological activities.

The SPASS dataset: A new synthetic polyphonic dataset with spatiotemporal labels of sound sources

Environmental noise in urban settings has several adverse effects on the population’s health and quality of life. Detecting and classifying sound sources is a primary task to control this noise. Currently, advanced sound event detection (SED) is achieved through the use of deep learning (DL) models. However, one downside of DL is the large amount of labeled data required to train the models effectively. Labeling large datasets is costly and time-consuming, and synthetically generated datasets created so far have yet to be able to provide the spatiotemporality of the sound sources within the soundscape. To address these problems, this paper introduces a synthetic polyphonic ambient sound source (SPASS), a novel synthetic polyphonic dataset that features spatiotemporal labels of sound sources. The new dataset, created with acoustic virtual reality tools, is used to pre-train a DL model for polyphonic SED in urban soundscapes. The SPASS dataset was created by simulating five different soundscapes to ensure that DL models are not tailored to any specific soundscape type. The DL model was evaluated using a transfer learn- ing methodology on two real-world SED tasks involving urban sound events. The DL model pre-trained with SPASS significantly outperformed that trained solely on actual data and achieved similar results as one pre-trained using Google Au- dioset, a dataset that is 100 times larger than SPASS. Additionally, pre-training with the new SPASS dataset proved to be better at effectively detecting and classifying traffic-related sound sources in urban soundscapes.

Creating synthetic datasets for collaborative filtering recommender systems using generative adversarial networks

Research and education in machine learning requires diverse, representative, and open datasets that contain sufficient samples to handle the necessary training, validation, and testing tasks. Currently, the Recommender Systems area includes a large number of subfields in which accuracy and beyond-accuracy quality measures are continuously being improved. To feed this research variety, it is both necessary and convenient to reinforce the existing datasets with synthetic ones. This paper proposes a Generative Adversarial Network (GAN)-based method to generate collaborative filtering datasets in a parameterized way by selecting their preferred number of users, items, samples, and stochastic variability. This parameterization cannot be performed using regular GANs. Our GAN model is fed with dense, short, and continuous embedding representations of items and users, instead of sparse, large, and discrete vectors, to ensure fast and accurate learning, as compared to the traditional approach based on large and sparse input vectors. The proposed architecture includes a DeepMF model to extract the dense user and item embeddings and a clustering process to convert the dense GAN generated samples to the discrete and sparse samples necessary to create each required synthetic dataset. The results from three different source datasets show adequate distributions and expected quality values and evolutions in the generated datasets compared to the source datasets. Synthetic datasets and source codes are available to researchers.

The green synthesis of carbon quantum dots (CQDs) and characterization of polycaprolactone (PCL/CQDs) films

The synthesis of photoluminescent carbon quantum dots (CQD) from natural products is one of the most remarkable types of carbon-based nanomaterials due to their small size, high water solubility, nontoxicity, high stability, and excellent biocompatibility. New RC-CQDs have been prepared from natural material (rosehip fruit) via a hydrothermal method. CA-CQDs samples were synthesized from a synthetic carbon source (citric acid) by the same method for comparison with RC-CQDs. The maximum quantum yields of the as-prepared RC-CQDs and CA-CQDs samples were 23.8% and 9.6%, respectively. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (RTEM) of RC-CQDs revealed a sphere shape with an approximate size of 5 nm, CA-CQDs were greater than 5 nm. Biodegradable polycaprolactone (PCL), which is used in bioengineering applications thanks to its mechanical and biodegradable properties, was used as a polymer matrix in this study. The PCL/RC-CQDs and PCL/CA-CQDs nanocomposite films were produced via liquid phase ultrasonic mixing at different amounts of RC-CQDs and CA-CQDs in PCL matrix (0.3-; 0.5-; 1.2-; 2.0% and 4.0% by weight), while unfilled PCL was also produced for comparison. The structural, mechanical, and biodegradable behaviors of PCL/RC-CQDs nanocomposite films have been investigated to improve the mechanical properties of PCL and increase its potential usability in load-bearing applications. PCL/RC-CQDs-2.0 film gave the maximum tensile strength value (17.65 MPa) with an increment of 27.7% and the highest value of the yield strength 9.02 MPa (an increase of 40.9%) and the highest value of microhardness 4.80 HV0,025 (an increase of 14.8%) were obtained using PCL/RC-CQDs-4.0 film compared with the PCL. The tensile strength and % elongation at break values of the PCL/CA-CQDs-0.3 film decreased by 14.8% and 133.1% compared with the PCL, respectively. The microhardness of the PCL/CA-CQDs-0.3 film was 5.48 HV0,025, increasing by 31.1% in comparison with 4.18 HV0,025, for the PCL. Biodegradability test results showed that films containing RC-CQDs exhibited lower weight loss than the PCL and films containing CA-CQDs. This result was attributed to the amorphous structure, low surface roughness and high contact angle of the RC-CQDs containing films. And also, CA-CQDs made PCL films more hydrophilic according to low contact angle results.

Post-seismic gravity change modelling based on non-linear power-law upper mantle rheology

SUMMARY Post-seismic gravity change modelling is commonly based on earth model with Newtonian linear rheology. Here, we present a novel way of modelling post-seismic gravity change by using a non-linear power-law rheology earth model. The method is constructed based on the framework of spectral finite element method (SFEM). SFEM has been proven practical for the purpose of modelling gravity change occurring during megathrust earthquakes. Our method implements the strain rate expression of non-linear power-law rheology into the mathematical framework of SFEM. Using our method, simulations of geoid change caused by synthetic point source earthquakes were made. The results revealed the potential of using non-linear power-law rheology for the explanation of rapid gravity changes in the beginning of the post-seismic epoch. Further on, we computed the post-seismic gravity change of the 2011 M9.0 Tohoku-Oki earthquake based on Maxwell non-linear power-law rheology in the upper mantle. It demonstrated the potential of power-law upper mantle flow as a possible candidate for the explanation of post-seismic gravity change after the earthquake occurs. However, a Maxwell non-linear power-law rheology alone is insufficient for the explanation of the post-seismic gravity change occurred.

Computational methods to analyze and predict the binding mode of inhibitors targeting both human and mushroom tyrosinase

Tyrosinase, a copper-containing enzyme critical in melanin biosynthesis, is a key drug target for hyperpigmentation and melanoma in humans. Testing the inhibitory effects of compounds using tyrosinase from Agaricus bisporus (AbTYR) has been a common practice to identify potential therapeutics from synthetic and natural sources. However, structural diversity among human tyrosinase (hTYR) and AbTYR presents a challenge in developing drugs that are therapeutically effective. In this study, we combined retrospective and computational analyses with experimental data to provide insights into the development of new inhibitors targeting both hTYR and AbTYR. We observed contrasting effects of Thiamidol™ and our 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl-derivative (6) on both enzymes; based on this finding, we aimed to investigate their binding modes in hTYR and AbTYR to identify residues that significantly improve affinity. All the information led to the discovery of compound [4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)piperazin-1-yl](2-methoxyphenyl)methanone (MehT-3, 7), which showed comparable activity on AbTYR (IC50 = 3.52 μM) and hTYR (IC50 = 5.4 μM). Based on these achievements we propose the exploitation of our computational results to provide relevant structural information for the development of newer dual-targeting molecules, which could be preliminarily tested on AbTYR as a rapid and inexpensive screening procedure before being tested on hTYR.

Human neutrophil elastase inhibitors: Classification, biological-synthetic sources and their relevance in related diseases.

Human neutrophil elastase is a multifunctional protease enzyme whose function is to break the bonds of proteins and degrade them to polypeptides or amino acids. In addition, it plays an essential role in the immune mechanism against bacterial infections and represents a key mediator in tissue remodeling and inflammation. However, when the extracellular release of this enzyme is dysregulated in response to low levels of its physiological inhibitors, it ultimately leads to the degradation of proteins, in particular elastin, as well as other components of the extracellular matrix, producing injury to epithelial cells, which can promote sustained inflammation and affect the innate immune system, and, therefore, be the basis for the development of severe inflammatory diseases, especially those associated with the cardiopulmonary system. This review aims to provide an update on the elastase inhibitory properties of several molecules, either synthetic or biological sources, as well as their classification and relevance in related pathologies since a clear understanding of the function of these molecules with the inhibitory capacity of this protease can provide valuable information for the development of pharmacological therapies that manage to modify the prognosis and survival of various inflammatory diseases. Collected data from scientific databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Science Direct, Nature, Wiley, Scopus, and Scielo. Articles published in any country and language were included. We reviewed and included 132 articles conceptualizing neutrophil elastase activity and known inhibitors. Understanding the mechanism of action of elastase inhibitors based on particular aspects such as their kinetic behavior, structure-function relationship, chemical properties, origin, pharmacodynamics, and experimental progress has allowed for a broad classification of HNE inhibitors.

Recent Achievement in the Synthesis of Imidazoles

Abstract: Imidazole derivatives, which belong to 1,3-diazole family, have two nitrogen atoms at 1 and 3 positions in the aromatic ring. Imidazole derivatives diversely appear both in nature and synthetic sources. Some natural imidazoles play important roles in human life such as histidine, histamine and biotin. Imidazole-based compounds possess a wide range of bioactivities such as those including antimicrobial, anticancer, antiparasitic, antihypertensive, antineuropathic and anti-inflammatory activities. Many compounds with imidazole skeleton have been marketed as drugs in the market. The synthesis of imidazole derivatives has drawn great attention of chemists and numerous articles on the synthesis of this class of heterocyclic compound have been reported over the years. In this article, we will give a comprehensive review on the synthesis of imidazoles which date back to 2013. In this articles, 182 studies on the synthesis of imidazoles are summerized. The Debus–Radziszewski imidazole synthesis have still recceived great attention of chemists and many articles have been published recently. Besides, a huge number of novel methods have also developed. We have also tried to describe reaction mechanisms as much as we can. The work might be useful for chemists who are involved in the synthesis of heterocycles or drug chemistry.

Underwater power compensated white light source based on synthetic white laser

The semiconductor white laser light source is used as a light source for underwater illumination. The required standard color temperature of white light is obtained at the underwater target surface. We studied the power compensation of a synthetic white laser source and its application to underwater illumination. First, the power ratios of the red (638 nm), green (520 nm), and blue (450 nm) lasers at a color temperature of 6500 K were obtained by using chromaticity theory. Next, the three-color and synthetic white laser parameters were obtained with transmission distance, according to the exponential attenuation characteristics of different light in clear water and seawater medium. The three-color laser power at the output was compensated, and the underwater target illumination surface reached the standard 6500 K color temperature of the white laser, improving the illumination. Finally, an experimental system for underwater white laser illumination based on power compensation was established. The errors between experimental and theoretical results of color temperature and illuminance are no more than 0.43% and 22.15%. This power-compensated synthetic white laser light source has both the advantages of long-range underwater detection and the spectral advantages of LED white light sources. The white laser light source meets specific requirements by compensating for power and optimizing white light characteristics for underwater lighting applications.

Isolation Evaluation and Estimation of Calcium Citrate from Herbal Source

In the modern organic chemistry, various methods are now a day widely utilized for isolation of different organic compounds. From the ancient era to the present the various methods of extraction like Maceration, Percolation, Decoction and Soxhlet extraction are widely utilized. Calcium citrate also known as calcium salt of citric acid which is a member of tricarboxylic acid derivatives used occasionally as food ingredients and preservatives but it is well known source of calcium and utilized as calcium supplement. Thus the present study was initiated with aim to isolate, evaluate and estimate the calcium citrate from lemon juice by using decoction method. Calcium chloride was used for the crystallization of calcium isolated from lemon juice. Theoretical and practical yield of calcium citrate after isolation were determined. For further evaluation of isolated calcium citrate basic identification tests like solubility, melting point (MP), loss on drying (LOD) and assay of calcium citrate were done. The present study further proceeded to confirmatory evaluation by UV-Vis spectroscopy and thin layer chromatography (TLC). The basic identification tests found the presence of calcium citrate with M.P in the range of 119°C-121°C with percentage practical yield of 24.02%w/w and LOD was 9.40%. The UV-Vis absorbance shown at λ-Max 0.036 and TLC reported Rf value 0.68 and 0.53 using various polar, semipolar and non polar solvents. As ample amount of calcium citrate was isolated from herbal source i.e. lemon juice, the study reached to the conclusion that instead of synthetic sources, the herbal source can be very useful and economical approach for the isolation of calcium citrate from lemon juice.

Effect of different vitamin E sources on growth performance, nutrient utilization, anti-oxidant status and carcass characteristics in broiler chicken

This study aimed to compare the efficacy of supplementation with a synthetic (DL-α-tocopherol acetate) or herbal source of vitamin E on performance of broiler chicken during a 35-days feeding trial. Day-old broiler chicks (180) were randomly assigned to one of four treatment groups, each with three replicates. T1 (control) received a basal diet, Group T2 received a basal diet with synthetic vitamin E @ 100 g/quintal of feed, Group T3 received a basal diet with herbal vitamin E @ 100 g/quintal of feed and Group T4 received a basal diet with synthetic vitamin E @ 50 g/ quintal of feed + herbal vitamin E @ 50 g/quintal of feed. Supplementation of herbal vitamin E enhanced growth performance traits (average weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio and economics of broiler production), retention of nutrients (dry matter, nitrogen, and ether extract), haematological parameters (Hb, PCV, and TEC) and serum total cholesterol in broiler chicks. Antioxidant status revealed significant increase in GSH but not SOD and CAT. A marked increase in the antibody titer against Newcastle Disease vaccine was recorded in the herbal vitamin E supplemented group. The carcass quality was statistically similar among different dietary treatments, however, lowest abdominal fat and meat cholesterol were recorded in the group supplemented with herbal vitamin E. The study depicts that dietary supplementation of synthetic or herbal vitamin E and their combination @ 100 g/quintal of feed improved the growth performance, antioxidant status and carcass quality of broiler chickens; and that herbal vitamin E was economical and more effective as compared to the synthetic vitamin E in improving the performance of broiler chickens.

The justification of the optimal composition and research of a local hemostatic agent based on naturally occurring polysaccharides

The analysis of existing methods and products for controlling bleeding reveals that medical means exhibit significantly higher efficacy compared to mechanical methods of achieving hemostasis. However, it is important to note that medical means cannot entirely replace surgical hemostasis in cases of severe bleeding from large veins and arteries. In emergency situations, such as during military conflicts or workplace injuries, the use of local contact hemostatic agents is preferred. These agents do not require specialized skills for application, making them accessible to individuals in need of immediate assistance. If included in a first-aid kit, these agents enable victims to address minor injuries promptly and control bleeding. In critical bleeding situations, any nearby individual can use the tool to provide aid. Given the ongoing military activities within our country’s territory, the development of effective domestic hemostatic agents has become an urgent priority. This initiative aims to ensure the availability of such products to our military personnel. Aim. The aim of this work is to justify the optimal composition of a local hemostatic agent based on readily available raw materials and feasible technologies. Materials and methods. After conducting an extensive review of domestic and foreign literature, the basis for the development of the future contact hemostatic agent was chosen to be adsorbing materials derived from biologically active components of mineral, synthetic, phyto-, and organic origins. The focus of this study is on natural polysaccharides with potential hemostatic activity, specifically alginate, kappa carrageenan, guar gum, and xanthan gum. One key property of polysaccharides is their ability to swell, which positively influences hemostasis. The hemostatic effect of model hemostatic compositions was evaluated using a femoral artery bleeding model induced by mechanical damage. Additionally, a model involving capillary-parenchymal bleeding from a laceration wound on the liver in adult rats was employed for further investigation. Results. Experimental studies have provided evidence of the hemostatic effect of natural polysaccharides due to their water absorption and swelling properties. In comparison with well-known medical products Celox and Revul®, substances with hemostatic activity, including alginate, kappa carrageenan GU 805, and the comparative drug Celox, have demonstrated significant reductions in bleeding time. Specifically, alginate, kappa carrageenan GU 805, and Celox have shown reductions of 38 %, 53 %, and 57 % respectively, compared to the positive control (PC) group. To enhance the hemostatic activity, a combination of the leading compounds with the addition of 7 % calcium gluconate was developed. The inclusion of calcium gluconate in the combination is associated with the involvement of calcium ions in all stages of blood coagulation, thereby increasing the overall hemostatic effect of the combination. Based on the obtained results, it can be concluded that substances with hemostatic activity, such as alginate, kappa carrageenan GU 805 in combination with calcium gluconate, miramistin, and a mixture of phytocomponents, as well as the comparative drugs Celox and Revul®, reliably reduce bleeding time by 46 %, 47 %, 37 %, and 36 %, respectively, in comparison to the PC group. Conclusions. The optimal composition of a contact hemostatic agent, formulated as a multicomponent powder known as Plantor, has been developed. This composition is based on natural saccharides and incorporates a complex of antiseptic and wound-healing substances derived from natural and synthetic sources. The formulation of Plantor demonstrates optimal consistency, biopharmaceutical properties, and pharmacotechnological characteristics. The addition of 7 % calcium gluconate to the composition was found to effectively enhance the level of hemostatic activity. This enhancement is attributed to the involvement of calcium ions in all stages of blood coagulation. Experimental studies conducted using a hemostatic model have confirmed that the proposed composition of the pharmacotherapeutic agent significantly reduces bleeding time by 47 % and accelerates the overall process of hemostasis. The observed efficacy of the Plantor formulation surpasses that of reference local hemostatic agents, indicating its superior effectiveness in promoting hemostasis.

Estimating the Net Magnetic Moment of Geological Samples From Planar Field Maps Using Multipoles

AbstractRecent advances in magnetic microscopy have enabled studies of geological samples whose weak and spatially nonuniform magnetizations were previously inaccessible to standard magnetometry techniques. A quantity of central importance is the net magnetic moment, which reflects the mean direction and the intensity of the magnetization states of numerous ferromagnetic crystals within a certain volume. The planar arrangement of typical magnetic microscopy measurements, which originates from measuring the field immediately above the polished surface of a sample to maximize sensitivity and spatial resolution, makes estimating net moments considerably more challenging than with spherically distributed data. In particular, spatially extended and nonuniform magnetization distributions often cannot be adequately approximated by a single magnetic dipole. To address this limitation, we developed a multipole fitting technique that can accurately estimate net moment using spherical harmonic multipole expansions computed from planar data. Given that the optimal location for the origin of such expansions is unknown beforehand and generally unconstrained, regularization of this inverse problem is critical for obtaining accurate moment estimates from noisy experimental magnetic data. We characterized the performance of the technique using synthetic sources under different conditions (noiseless data, data corrupted with simulated white noise, and data corrupted with measured instrument noise). We then validated and demonstrated the technique using superconducting quantum interference device microscopy measurements of impact melt spherules from Lonar crater, India and dusty olivine chondrules from the CO chondrite meteorite Dominion Range 08006.

Fungal Metabolites: A Potential Source of Antidiabetic Agents with Particular Reference to PTP1B Inhibitors.

Diabetes is a growing health concern worldwide because it affects people of all age groups and increases the risk of other diseases such as renal impairment and neural and cardiovascular disorders. Oral hypoglycemic drugs mainly control diabetes; however, their associated side effects limit their use in patients with other complications. PTP1B is a viable drug target to explore new antidiabetic drugs. PTP1B acts as a negative regulator of the insulin-signaling pathway, and therefore, PTP1B inhibitors display antihyperglycemic activity. Several classes of compounds from natural and synthetic sources act as PTP1B inhibitors. Fungi are comprehensive in their diversity and recognized as a valuable source for therapeutically active molecules. In recent years, researchers have reported diverse classes of fungal secondary metabolites as potent PTP1B inhibitors. Some metabolites such as 6-O-methylalaternin, fumosorinone A, nordivaricatic acid, and the divarinyl divarate showed good activity and can be taken forward as a lead to develop novel PTP1B inhibitors and antidiabetic drugs. Therefore, the present review focuses on the fungal metabolites identified in the last five years possessing PTP1B inhibitory activity. A total of 128 metabolites are reviewed. Their fungal species and source, chemical structure, and activity in terms of IC50 are highlighted.

Towards a better understanding concerning carbon to nitrogen ratio and the carbon source in aerobic granular sludge

This study investigated the effects of the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio on aerobic granular sludge (AGS) using two identical biological reactors (C/N = 5 and C/N = 10). After 84 days of operation, the reactors' organic substrate was switched from a simple synthetic carbon source (acetate and propionate) to a more complex carbon source (50% volatile fatty acids and 50% fermentable substrate). The C/N = 10 resulted in smaller, uniform granules (200 < Diameter(D)(μm) < 500) with improved settling characteristics (sludge volumetric index - SVI5 < 30 mL gTSS L−1). The nitrogen compounds in the influent influenced the protein/polysaccharide ratio (PN/PS), with higher PS content observed under C/N = 5 and lower PS content under C/N = 10. Both C/N ratios achieved high carbon removal rates (∼90%), but ammonia oxidation was lower under C/N = 5 (up to 45%) due to alkalinity deficiency. Insufficient alkalinity and higher nitrogen compounds in the influent negatively affected phosphorus removal by reducing the activity of phosphorus-accumulating organisms and promoting the growth of glycogen-accumulating organisms. The complexity of the organic substrate hindered microbial activities through intermediate products from glucose and amino acid metabolic pathways. EPS-producing denitrifying organisms (Thauera and Xanthomonas) were favored in C/N = 5, while at C/N = 10, organisms associated with granular biomass stability (Zoogloea and Flavobacterium) were selected. The addition of glucose in the effluent led to a significant increase in fermentative organisms (Aeromonadaceae). This study emphasizes the crucial role of the C/N ratio and organic substrate complexity in achieving optimal performance in AGS systems.

Geometry-Aware Network for Domain Adaptive Semantic Segmentation

Measuring and alleviating the discrepancies between the synthetic (source) and real scene (target) data is the core issue for domain adaptive semantic segmentation. Though recent works have introduced depth information in the source domain to reinforce the geometric and semantic knowledge transfer, they cannot extract the intrinsic 3D information of objects, including positions and shapes, merely based on 2D estimated depth. In this work, we propose a novel Geometry-Aware Network for Domain Adaptation (GANDA), leveraging more compact 3D geometric point cloud representations to shrink the domain gaps. In particular, we first utilize the auxiliary depth supervision from the source domain to obtain the depth prediction in the target domain to accomplish structure-texture disentanglement. Beyond depth estimation, we explicitly exploit 3D topology on the point clouds generated from RGB-D images for further coordinate-color disentanglement and pseudo-labels refinement in the target domain. Moreover, to improve the 2D classifier in the target domain, we perform domain-invariant geometric adaptation from source to target and unify the 2D semantic and 3D geometric segmentation results in two domains. Note that our GANDA is plug-and-play in any existing UDA framework. Qualitative and quantitative results demonstrate that our model outperforms state-of-the-arts on GTA5-&gt;Cityscapes and SYNTHIA-&gt;Cityscapes.

Cyclic Peptides with Antifungal Properties Derived from Bacteria, Fungi, Plants, and Synthetic Sources.

Fungal infections remain a significant concern for human health. The emergence of microbial resistance, the improper use of antimicrobial drugs, and the need for fewer toxic antifungal treatments in immunocompromised patients have sparked substantial interest in antifungal research. Cyclic peptides, classified as antifungal peptides, have been in development as potential antifungal agents since 1948. In recent years, there has been growing attention from the scientific community to explore cyclic peptides as a promising strategy for combating antifungal infections caused by pathogenic fungi. The identification of antifungal cyclic peptides from various sources has been possible due to the widespread interest in peptide research in recent decades. It is increasingly important to evaluate narrow- to broad-spectrum antifungal activity and the mode of action of synthetic and natural cyclic peptides for both synthesized and extracted peptides. This short review aims to highlight some of the antifungal cyclic peptides isolated from bacteria, fungi, and plants. This brief review is not intended to present an exhaustive catalog of all known antifungal cyclic peptides but rather seeks to showcase selected cyclic peptides with antifungal properties that have been isolated from bacteria, fungi, plants, and synthetic sources. The addition of commercially available cyclic antifungal peptides serves to corroborate the notion that cyclic peptides can serve as a valuable source for the development of antifungal drugs. Additionally, this review discusses the potential future of utilizing combinations of antifungal peptides from different sources. The review underscores the need for the further exploration of the novel antifungal therapeutic applications of these abundant and diverse cyclic peptides.