Constant Values Research Articles

APPROACH TO A PATIENT WITH CLINICALLY AND BIOCHEMICALLY ACTIVE PRIMARY HYPERPARATHYROIDISM DESPITE NEGATIVE SESTAMIBI 99MTC

Introduction: Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) resulting from increased parathyroid hormone (PTH) secretion. In 80% of cases the cause is a solitary adenoma. It occurs more often in women. The gold standard in the diagnosis of PHPT is MIBI 99m Tc scintigraphy. Patient presentation. A 35-year-old women is referred to outpatient clinic due to high values of PTH, calcium and frequent recurring nephrolithiasis. From the laboratory analysis we show: PTH 317 pg/ml, Ionized calcium 1.71 (1.16 to 1.31 mmol/L); phosphates 0.73mmol/L; Vitamine D3 18.68 ng/ml. The patient is referred for neck ultrasound and bone densitometry (DEXA). A hypoechoic nodule with dimensions of 0.69x0.63x0.67 cm is visualized on ultrasound under the right lobe of the thyroid gland. In the DEXA scan, osteopenia is detected (T-score -2.2). Sestamibi scintigraphy was performed in two repetitions where no adenoma of the parathyroid gland was detected. The patient is referred for neck computed tomography (CT); a small nodule suspicious for parathyroid adenoma is visualized. Due to the clinical manifestation and the constant high values of hypercalcemia, the patient is referred for parathyroidectomy. After the operation, a few days later, the values of PTH (63.5 pg/ml) and ionized calcium (1.18 mmol/L) were normal. Conclusion. Sestamibi scintigraphy is rarely negative during clear clinical and biochemical signs. The sensitivity of Sestamibi is 80-100%, and in cases where it is negative, especially when the volume of the nodule in PHPT is small, additional analyzes such as neck CT, 18FCholine PET/CT enable the decision-making of the definitive treatment – parathyroidectomy in PHPT.

Treatment and nutrient recovery from landfill leachate by sequential persulfate oxidation and struvite precipitation: An evaluation of technical feasibility.

The technical feasibility of advanced oxidation process, in particular persulfate (PS) oxidation followed by struvite precipitation for landfill leachate treatment and nutrient recovery has been depicted in the current study. Furthermore, the impact of activation of PS with thermal and ultraviolet (UV) irradiation techniques on COD removal efficiency is also investigated. A maximum COD removal efficiency of 96% is accomplished at 65°C together with supply of UV irradiation. The impact of persulfate dose, pH, and PS/65°C/UV system on COD and biodegradability is also illustrated in the current study. Additionally, decomposition rate constant values are also ascertained in the present study. Afterwards, nutrient recovery using struvite precipitation is carried out for sustainable utilization of resources. Preliminary treatment of leachate with PS/65°C/UV system is greatly conducive to recovering high quality struvite crystals. Besides, 94.9%, 83.5%, and 91.3% of PO43- -P, NH4+ -N, and Mg2+ recovery efficiency attained respectively at pH 9.5 and 1.2:1:1 molar ratio of Mg2+: NH4+-N: PO43--P. Additionally, all the nutrient recovery studies are validated using chemical equilibrium model Visual MINTEQ. Later, bioavailable fraction of PO43--P in the recovered struvite is also investigated for utilization as fertilizer. The presence of Cu and Zn in the recovered struvite precipitate enhanced its economic value as a fertilizer. Since Cu and Zn are vital micronutrients for growth of plants. The low soluble values of recovered struvite precipitate confirmed its utilization as slow releasing fertilizer.

A model for operational risk of industrial facilities including ageing/test degradation effects and maintenance effectiveness

The paper presents a model for operational risk of industrial facilities with applications to nuclear power plants and uranium mining. The traditional models update the risk profile for specific operational conditions setting to one the failure probability of components which are known to be unavailable by failure or maintenance, while constant mean unavailability values from the original Probabilistic Safety Analysis (PSA) are kept for the rest. The proposed methodology considers the time dependency of standby failure probabilities through instantaneous unavailability models, depending on the specific standby time for each component at the given moment, instead of using the same constant values. It also incorporates ageing, testing degradation effects and maintenance effectiveness, not explicitly considered in traditional models, as well as the instantaneous reevaluation of common cause failure probabilities. The results show significant risk underestimations when components specific standby times, ageing, testing degradation effects and maintenance effectiveness are not considered.

In Vitro Ciclopirox Glucuronidation in Liver Microsomes from Humans and Various Experimental Animals.

Ciclopirox is a widely used antifungal drug, redisposition of which has drawn increasing attentions due to multiple promising activities. The drug undergoes extensive glucuronidation, which acts as a major obstacle in the ongoing novel application and still remains poorly understood. The current study aims to phenotype ciclopirox glucuronidation pathway and as well to decipher the related species differences. Ciclopirox glucuronidation was investigated in liver microsomes from humans (HLM) and various experimental animals. Assays with recombinant uridine diphosphate glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs), enzyme kinetic analyses and selective inhibitors were used to determine the role of individual UGTs in ciclopirox glucuronidation. HLM is highly active in ciclopirox glucuronidation withMichaelis-Menten constant (Km),maximum velocity (Vmax), and intrinsic clearance (CLint)values of 139 μM, 7.89 nmol/min/mg, and 56 μL/min/mg, respectively. UGT1A9 displays by far the highest activity, whereas several other isoforms (UGT1A6, UGT1A7, and UGT1A8) catalyze formation of traced glucuronides. Further kinetic analysis demonstrates that UGT1A9 has a closed Km value (167 μM) to HLM. UGT1A9 selective inhibitor (magnolol) can potently inhibit ciclopirox glucuronidation in HLM with the IC50 value of 0.12 μM. The reaction displays remarkable differences across liver microsomes from mice, rats, cynomolgus monkey, minipig, and beagle dog, with the CLint values in the range of 26-369 μL/min/mg. In addition, ciclopirox glucuronidation activities of experimental animals' liver microsomes were less sensitive to magnolol than that of HLM. Ciclopirox glucuronidation displays remarkable species differences with UGT1A9 as a dominant contributor in humans. It is suggested that the pharmacological or toxicological effects ofciclopirox may be UGT1A9 and species dependent.

Weighed ssGBLUP enhances the genomic prediction accuracy for milk citrate predicted by milk mid-infrared spectra of Holstein cows in early lactation

Previous studies have shown that milk citrate predicted by milk mid-infrared spectra (MIR) is strongly affected by a few genomic regions. This study aimed to explore the effect of the weighted single-step GBLUP on the accuracy of genomic prediction (GP) for MIR-predicted milk citrate in early lactation Holstein cows. A total of 134,517 test-day predicted milk citrate collected within the first 50 d in milk on 52,198 Holstein cows from the first 5 parities were used. There were 122,218 animals in the pedigree, of them 4,479 had genotypic data for 566,170 SNPs. Two data sets (partial and whole data sets) were used to verify whether the accuracy of GP is improved using the following different methods. The (genomic) estimated breeding values (EBV or GEBV) in the partial and whole data sets were estimated by pedigree-based BLUP (ABLUP), single-step GBLUP (ssGBLUP, pedigree-genomic combined using no weight for SNP), weighted ssGBLUP (WssGBLUP, pedigree-genomic combined using weighted SNP), respectively. The difference between the 2 data sets is that the phenotypic data from 2017 to 2019 in the partial data set were set as missing values. 181 youngest cows with genomic were selected as the validation population. A linear regression method was used to compare EBV (GEBV) predicted for partial and whole data sets. The accuracies of GP for ABLUP and ssGBLUP were 0.42 and 0.70, respectively. The accuracies of GP for WssGBLUP in the 5 iterations with different CT (constant) values (determines departure from normality for SNP effects) ranged from 0.70 to 0.86. This study showed that weighted SNP is beneficial in improving prediction accuracy for predicted milk citrate.

An improved class of predictive estimators of population distribution function in the presence of non-response

In the present work, we have proposed a novel general class of estimators for the estimation of population distribution function in two distinct situations of non-response. The estimation of distribution function (DF) may play an important role in environmental sciences such as in modelling the annual data of atmospheric NOx temporal concentration, drug removal rates from the body, to present the distribution of gene expression levels across cells etc. Similarly, it may also be useful in other environmental data like groundwater quality, rainfall, wind speed, river discharges, etc. for effective analysis leading to predictive modelling. In this study, it is shown that the suggested estimators of DF are among the best of all other considered estimators. Some estimators are also derived from the proposed family by choosing the suitable values of constants used. Theoretical comparisons of the proposed family of estimators with other family of estimators have been discussed. An empirical study based on two real data sets from literature has been conducted where it has been found that the performance of the proposed family of estimators is superior in terms of enhanced percentage relative efficiencies (PREs) than other family of estimators considered in this study. Further, a simulation study is also carried out which validates the competency behaviour of suggested estimators.

Identification and characterization of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HP-B1083-derived β-glucuronidase and its application for baicalin biotransformation

Baicalein, showing higher bioavailability and stronger pharmacological activity, can be obtained via a β-glucuronidase (GUS)-catalyzed transformation of baicalein 7-O-β-D-glucuronide (baicalin). Recently, we have found that the fermentation broth of Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus HP-B1083 can efficiently convert baicalin to baicalein. In this study, the L. rhamnosus HP-B1083-derived enzyme involved in baicalin biotransformation was identified and characterized. First, the LruidA gene, encoding the responsible enzyme, was cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed that the deduced enzyme (designated as LrUidA) belonged to the glycosyl hydrolase family 2. The recombinant LrUidA was expressed and purified for characterization. LrUidA had a molecular weight of 70 kDa, with an optimal temperature of 50 °C and pH 4.5. Although LrUidA was susceptible to temperature, it possessed a relative pH stability. Its Michaelis–Menten constant, maximum reaction velocity and catalytic constant values were 9.710 mM, 13.08 mM/min/mg, and 14.95 s−1, respectively. Site-directed mutagenesis experiment results demonstrated that the enzyme reaction uses side chains of E509 and E415 to hydrolyze the glycosidic bond of baicalin and involves three negatively charged residues, E450, D451, and D452, respectively. Surprisingly, biotransformation was performed under optimized reaction conditions by incubating the purified enzyme with 0.1 % baicalin for 4 h, resulting in a considerable conversion ratio of 99 %. Altogether, our findings provide insights into the properties of L. rhamnosus HP-B1083-derived enzyme and expand our understanding regarding using GUS for the industrial production of baicalein.

Improvement of horizontal streak on disparity map thru parameter optimization for stereo vision algorithm

In this paper, an improved local based stereo vision disparity map (SVDM) algorithm is proposed. The proposed local based SVDM algorithm include four stages and they are matching cost computation, cost aggregation disparity optimization and disparity refinement. The matching cost computation started by combining pixel to pixel matching techniques, which are absolute difference (AD) and gradient matching (GM) in producing the initial disparity map. Next, the cost aggregation uses minimum spanning tree (MST) segmentation, which equipped with edge preserving properties and noise filtering. Then, disparity optimization uses local approach with winner-take-all (WTA) technique. At the final stage, disparity refinement uses bilateral filter (BF) with weighted median (WM), which can improve the disparity map through noise removing and edges preserving. Then, the research continues to optimize the proposed local based SVDM algorithm through parameters optimization in obtaining the final disparity map. Here, multiple parameters from the proposed SVDM algorithm are manipulated and they are constant values for GM and several constant parameters in BF. By selecting the optimum parameter values, the performance of the proposed SVDM algorithm increased, especially robustness towards the horizontal streaks.

Derivation of seed viability constants (KE and CW) and prediction of longevity of Solanum aethiopicum seeds

The seed viability equation uses species viability constants to predict seed longevity under different storage conditions. There are already established universal values of constants that account for the effect of temperature on seed longevity (CH and CQ) which can be applied to different crop species. However, constants accounting for the effect of seed moisture (CW) and genotype (KE) are species-specific. This study aimed to derive viability constants and predict seed longevity for African eggplant (Solanum aethiopicum) under genebank conditions. The seeds were subjected to experimental storage at 40°C and different seed moisture contents (6, 8, 10 and 12%) for 120 days to derive survival curves and hence, CW and KE. CW and KE values for S. aethiopicum were 3.32 and 7.4978, respectively. The validation of the derived constants show that they can be used to predict seed longevity of other seed lots within the same species. The genebank curators and other commercial seed technologists may be able to accurately predict longevity of African eggplant seeds under cold dry storage conditions using the improved viability equation and the constants established in this research.

Improvement the dielectric and impedance properties of Pb-free Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-SrTiO3 piezoelectric materials modified by Fe2O3

The focus of this study is on the Fe2O3-doped Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-SrTiO3 piezoelectric material. This is important to find ecologically acceptable piezoelectric materials. This research aims to obtain a lead-free piezoelectric material because lead is a material that is not environmentally friendly. An alternative solution is a piezoelectric material based on BNT-ST, which in this case is doped with Fe2O3 material. The study of Fe2O3 doped Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-SrTiO3 piezoelectric material prepared by the solid-state reaction method was carried out to determine the optimum composition of the material formed. Doping variations are 0; 2.5; 5; 7.5; and 10 in mol %. The examinations were performed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) spectroscopy, a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), and an LCR meter. The Fe2O3 doped Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-SrTiO3 produced a new compound in the form of FeBi5Ti3O15-Na2Ti3O7-SrTiO3 with the crystal structure of cubic, orthorhombic, and monoclinic, as well as the increasing crystalline size with the addition of dopants, exclude at 5 mol % and 7.5 mol %. FeBi5Ti3O15-Na2Ti3O7-SrTiO3 also produces varying particle sizes, which are between 0.88–8.23 µm. From the obtained data, the optimum composition of Fe2O3 doped Bi0.5Na0.5TiO3-SrTiO3 was the 2.5 mol % of Fe2O3 due to it having the highest dielectric constant (er ) and temperature Curie (Tc ), and also the lowest material impedance (Z) with the er of 12.037 at Tc of 400 °C and Z of 135 kΩ. The high piezoelectricity, which is indicated by the high value of the dielectric constant and Curie temperature, is possible due to the presence of a greater number of sodium ions in the Na2Ti3O7 phase. Sodium ions are ions with good electrical storage capabilities. The increase in dielectric constant in the BNT-ST piezoelectric obtained by the addition of Fe2O3 shows that this material can be used as a substitute for lead-based piezoelectric materials so that it is secure for the environment. The piezoelectric material of BNT-ST doped with Fe2O3 earned from this research can be applied to obtain electricity with a optimal value when given mechanical pressure

Exploring fluorinated heptose phosphate analogues as inhibitors of HldA and HldE, key enzymes in the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide

The growing threat of bacterial resistance to antibiotics has led to the rise of anti-virulence strategies as a promising approach. These strategies aim to disarm bacterial pathogens and improve their clearance by the host immune system. Lipopolysaccharide, a key virulence factor in Gram-negative bacteria, has been identified as a potential target for anti-virulence agents. In this study, we focus on inhibiting HldA and HldE, bacterial enzymes from the heptose biosynthesis pathway, which plays a key role in lipopolysaccharide biosynthesis. We present the synthesis of two fluorinated non-hydrolysable heptose phosphate analogues. Additionally, the inhibitory activity of a family of eight heptose phosphate analogues against HldA and HldE was assessed. This evaluation revealed inhibitors with affinities in the low μM range, with the most potent compound showing inhibition constant values of 15.4 μM for HldA and 16.9 μM for HldE. The requirement for a phosphate group at the C-7 position was deemed essential for inhibitory activity, while the presence of a hydroxy anomeric group was found to be beneficial, a phenomenon rationalized through computational modeling. Additionally, the introduction of a single fluorine atom α to the phosphonate moiety conferred a slight advantage for inhibition. These findings suggest that mimicking the structure of d-glycero-β-d-manno-heptose 1,7-bisphosphate, the product of the phosphorylation step in heptose biosynthesis, could be a promising strategy to disrupt this biosynthetic pathway. In terms of the in vivo effects, these heptose phosphate analogues neither demonstrated significant LPS-disrupting effects nor exhibited growth inhibitory activity on their own. Additionally, they did not alter the susceptibility of bacteria to hydrophobic antibiotics. The highly charged nature of these molecules may hinder their ability to penetrate the bacterial cell wall. To overcome this limitation, alternative strategies such as incorporating protecting groups that facilitate their entry and can subsequently be cleaved within the bacterial cytoplasm could be explored.

Ordered Mesoporous Carbon as Adsorbent for the Removal of a Triphenylmethane Dye from Its Aqueous Solutions.

A nanostructured material, ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC), was synthesised in metal- and halide-free form and its use for the sequestration of crystal violet, a hazardous triphenylmethane dye, is reported for the first time. The OMC material is characterised using scanning transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy for chemical analysis, by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and by nitrogen gas physisorption. The ideal conditions for the uptake of crystal violet dye were determined in batch experiments covering the standard parameters: pH, concentration, contact time, and adsorbent dosage. Experimental data are validated by applying Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Temkin isotherms. The thermodynamic parameters, ΔH°, ΔG°, and ΔS°, are calculated and it has been found that the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic with increasing disorder. An in-depth analysis of the kinetics of the adsorption process, order of the reaction and corresponding values of the rate constants was performed. The adsorption of crystal violet over OMC has been found to follow pseudo-second-order kinetics through a film diffusion process at all temperatures studied. Continuous flow column operations were performed using fixed bed adsorption. Parameters including percentage saturation of the OMC bed are evaluated. The exhausted column was regenerated through a desorption process and column efficiency was determined.

Vacuum energy in the effective field theory of general relativity with a scalar field

A consistency condition of general relativity as an effective field theory in Minkowskian background uniquely fixes the value of the cosmological constant. In two-loop calculations, including the interaction of gravitons with matter fields, it has been shown that this value of the cosmological constant leads to vanishing vacuum energy, under the assumption that the energy-momentum tensor of the gravitational field is given by the pseudotensor of Landau-Lifshitz’s classic textbook. Here, we demonstrate that this result also holds when the self-interaction of a scalar field is taken into account. That is, our two-loop-order calculation suggests that, in an effective field theory of metric and scalar fields, one arrives at a consistent theory with massless gravitons if the cosmological constant is fixed from the condition of vanishing vacuum energy. Vice versa, imposing the consistency condition in Minkowskian background leads to a vanishing vacuum energy. Published by the American Physical Society 2024

Study on the effect of fiber orientation on the elastic constants of carbon fiber reinforced polypropylene composites

In order to predict the effects of different fiber orientations on the elastic constants of composites, this paper takes carbon fiber reinforced polypropylene composites as an example, and adopts the Mori-Tanaka method to establish the Random Volume Element (RVE) model of fiber composites with five different fiber orientations, namely, 0 °, 30 °, 45 °, 60 °, and 90 °, and investigates the effects of the fiber The effects of fiber orientation and fiber volume fraction on their elastic constants were investigated to obtain the required data by this method instead of experiment. By improving the Halpin-Tsai model, the value of the orientation factor was determined on the basis of the random orientation factor, and the original shape factor was modified to an exponential shape factor, the orientation degree factor was introduced, and finally, the relationship equations between the modified exponential shape factor and the volume fraction and orientation degree were obtained. The results show that for the same fiber orientation and volume fraction, the smaller the value of shape factor, the higher the elastic modulus. The fitting errors of the four values of elastic constants were also analyzed, and it was found that the improved Halpin-Tsai model could be used to predict the elastic constants of carbon fiber-reinforced polypropylene composites in a certain range, thus providing a method to study the prediction of the elastic constants of composites by fiber orientation.

Constraining the value of the dielectric constant of the ferroelectric nematic phase.

Ferroelectric nematic liquid crystals are currently being subject to a plethora of investigations since they are of great fundamental interest and could potentially foster promising applications. However, many basic aspects are still poorly understood, among which the problem of the dielectric constant stands out. Ferroelectric nematics have previously been reported to exhibit giant dielectric constants whose value depends on the thickness of the measurement cell, claims that have recently been shown to be the result of an incorrect interpretation of the experimental data. The intrinsic permittivity of these materials has not been determined yet. In this work, we tackle this problem by modeling the dielectric response of the liquid crystal filled cell through an equivalent circuit proposed by Clark et al. [Phys. Rev. Res. 6, 013195 (2024)2643-156410.1103/PhysRevResearch.6.013195] accounting for polarization reorientation and the effect of insulating interfacial layers. We arrive at the conclusion that the perpendicular component of the permittivity ɛ_{⊥} is of the order of 10 in the prototypical ferroelectric nematogen DIO, while the parallel component ɛ_{∥} is of the order of 150. In this way, the dielectric tensor of DIO has been fully determined.

Kinetic analysis of an optically pumped rare gas lasing medium with a nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharge in Ar-He mixture

A kinetic model of a lasing medium for an optically pumped rare gas laser (OPRGL) was developed that accounts for the production of excited argon atoms Ar* in a nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharge (NRPD). Analytical formulas were derived for the frequency of Ar* radiation losses, population of the energy levels involved in the laser cycle and specific powers for pump absorption and lasing in the limit of bleaching of pump and lasing transitions. The formulas use the kinetic constants of the model as parameters and Ar* number density as the independent variable. Periodic solutions for number density of plasma components, pump absorption and small signal gain, specific pump absorption and lasing were obtained numerically. Mean over the NRPD period values of Ar* number density, specific pump absorption and lasing were calculated as the functions of the preset peak values of the reduced electric field E/N. Triangular electric field pulses of 80 ns FWHM duration and 200 kHz frequency were considered. Optical pumping increases Ar* loss by more than a factor of 10, due to excess spontaneous emission from Ar* levels that populates the 1s4 state of argon, resulting in a reduced NRPD plasma ionization and Ar* production. As a result, without auxiliary optical pumping from the 1s4 state that compensates this loss, the averaged across the discharge period Ar* number density decreases by a factor of 30. Moreover, the average specific heat release in plasma becomes almost equal to the specific lasing power in the acceptable operating modes, making auxiliary optical pumping mandatory for scaling of an OPRGL. The sensitivity of the results to the values of kinetic constants in the model is analyzed.

Skew generalized von Neumann-Jordan constant in Banach Spaces

We introduce a new geometric constant $C^{p}_{NJ}(\zeta,\eta,X)$ in Banach spaces, which is called the skew generalized von Neumann-Jordan constant. First, the upper and lower bounds of the new constant are given for any Banach space. Then we calculate the constant values for some particular spaces. On this basis, we discuss the relation between the constant $C^{p}_{NJ}(\zeta,\eta,X)$ and the convexity modules $\delta_X(\varepsilon)$, the James constant $J(X)$. Finally, some sufficient conditions for the uniform normal structure associated with the constant $C^{p}_{NJ}(\zeta,\eta,X)$ are established.

On Various Soil Moisture Measurement Techniques Available in the Literature

The sustainability and health of soil associated with its productivity and health are closely related to soil moisture. The amount of water or moisture in the soil is an important parameter in the mobility of nutrients in the soil, in soil reclamation studies, and in the washing-transportation and mixing of fertilizers and other chemicals applied to the soil into the ground water. On the other hand, it has become important today not only to minimize water consumption but also to accurately measure the amount of moisture in the soil so that proper amount of water that the plant needs can be circulated to the root zone of the plant. In this context, information was given about various measurement methods for determining soil moisture (direct and indirect - thanks to correlations) existing in the literature, and among these studies, especially the studies on microwave methods were examined. Comparison results of the dielectric constant values obtained for three different soil samples with different gravimetric volumetric moisture rates by one of the calibration-independent non-resonant microwave measurement methods, which has a high application potential and is different from the existing calibration-requiring microwave measurement methods, and the dielectric constant values predicted by the Mironov model in the literature are presented. The comparison result showed that this new type of microwave measurement method has a high potential for measuring the moisture value of soil samples

PVA/CMC/PEG blended polymer loaded with ZnCo1.9Al0.1O4/carbon nanoparticles/PANi as a promising films for UV radiation shielding

Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) have been employed as polymeric matrices for the synthesis of polymeric nanocomposite films that incorporate ZnCo1.9Al0.1O4, carbon nanoparticles (CNPs) and polyaniline (PANI) as fillers. X-ray diffraction technique was utilized to examine the structure of ZnCo1.9Al0.1O4 filler and the formed PVA/CMC/PEG/ZnCo1.9Al0.1O4/CNPs/x wt % PANi blends. The morphology of the doped blend was explored using the scanning electron microscopy technique. The increases in absorbance, especially in the UV spectrum, demonstrate the potential of these blends in UV-blocking and UV-filtering applications. The minimum direct and direct optical energy gaps are 5.62 and 4.77 eV obtained as the quantity of PANi became 0.3 wt %. The highest refractive index values (n = 1.66 at 600 nm) were acquired as the blend was doped with 0.4 wt % PANi. The impact of different fillers on the linear and nonlinear optical parameters was explored. The inclusion of ZnCo1.9Al0.1O4/CNPs/x wt % PANi resulted in an improvement in PVA/CMC/PEG blended polymer's optical conductivity. The FL intensities of the loaded blends are comparatively lower than those of the undoped blend. The values of the dielectric constants of doped blends with x = 0 or 0.4 are notably higher than those of other blends. Doped blend with x = 0.2 exhibited the highest energy density value (9 × 10−3 J/m3 at 1 kHz). The doped blend with x = 0.4 has the highest ac conductivity (1.53 × 10−8 Sm−1 at 1 kHz). The influence of doping on the relaxation time and capacitance behavior of the host blend was inspected. These outcomes suggest the opportunity of employing the created nanocomposites in capacitive energy storage and optoelectronic devices.

Abietane diterpenoid salvipisone: Structure elucidation, conformational analysis, and antimicrobial activity

Salvipisone, an abietane diterpenoid, was isolated from the roots of Salvia aethiopis L. using a combination of chromatographic separation techniques. Its structure was elucidated employing a variety of spectroscopic methods, including ultraviolet (UV), infrared (IR), 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and mass spectrometry. A comprehensive analysis of experimental 1D and 2D NMR data, incorporating 1H iterative full spin analysis and higher-order multiplet simulation, revealed discrepancies with previously reported NMR data for this compound. Detailed examination of the 1H NMR spectrum's spin-spin coupling structure provided insights into the relative populations of the three staggered conformers around the C12–C13 bond at room temperature. The conformer populations were determined using the relationship between the experimental values for vicinal coupling constants and the estimated ones for the preferred staggered conformers, yielding a ratio of approx. 80:4:16 for anti, gauche, and gauche′-conformers, respectively. Possible reasons for the observed unevenly populated staggered conformers were also discussed. The antimicrobial activity of salvipisone was evaluated using in vitro and in silico methods. In vitro antimicrobial assays demonstrated that salvipisone exhibited the highest inhibitory effect against Staphylococcus aureus ATCC and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC (MIC = 3.125 μg/mL), followed by Bacillus subtilis ATCC (MIC = 6.25 μg/mL). In contrast, concentrations above 100 μg/mL were necessary to inhibit Escherichia coli ATCC and Klebsiella pneumoniae ATCC. In silico studies suggested that salvipisone, particularly its keto form, has significant potential for inhibiting the enzyme gyrase, highlighting its mechanism of antimicrobial action. Our findings highlight the promising antimicrobial and inhibitory properties of salvipisone, particularly against Gram-positive bacteria such as S. aureus.