Photoelectron Circular Dichroism in the Spin-Polarized Spectra of Chiral Molecules

We studied strong-field multiphoton ionization of 1-iodo-2-methylbutane enantiomers with 395 nm circularly polarized laser pulses experimentally and theoretically. For randomly oriented molecules, we observe spin polarization up to about 15%, which is independent of the molecular enantiomer. Our experimental findings are explained theoretically as an intricate interplay between three contributions from HOMO, HOMO-1, and HOMO-2, which are formed of 5p-electrons of the iodine atom. For uniaxially oriented molecules, our theory demonstrates even larger spin polarization. Moreover, we predict a sizable enantiosensitive photoelectron circular dichroism of about 10%, which is different for different spin states of photoelectrons.

Molecular docking and physicochemical studies of 1,3-benzodioxole tagged Dacarbazine derivatives as an anticancer agent

Cancer, the biggest cause of death globally, remains a tough illness despite enormous advances in therapy. In the present study, 1,3-benzodioxole-tagged dacarbazine derivates were investigated as microtubule inhibitors in order to control cancer as microtubules are involved in cell proliferation. The tubulin protein was analyzed and its structure was validated by various protein validation tools. The binding potential of 1,3-benzodioxole-based dacarbazine-tagged derivatives with tubulin was checked using molecular docking software HEX 8.0 CUDA and AutoDock Vina. Swiss ADME online Web server and pkCSM are used for studying pharmacokinetic and pharmacological studies of compounds. The docking analysis ADME studies displayed that Compounds 1 and 2 bind effectively with the tubulin protein and showed potential properties to use as a potent anticancer drug.

Development of bioactive 2-substituted benzimidazole derivatives using an MnOx/HT nanocomposite catalyst

Benzimidazole is a vital moiety found in a wide range of naturally and pharmacologically active molecules. We prepared a proficient and facile manganese oxide-supported magnesium and aluminium-based nanocomposite catalytic framework using the deposition-precipitation method and characterised it with XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, and TGA techniques. Following that, the catalyst was used in the green synthesis of highly functional 2-substituted benzimidazole derivatives in an ethanol-water solvent system at room temperature using various assorted benzaldehydes and o-phenylenediamine as substituents. The synthesised catalyst operates efficiently and is applicable to a wide range of electron-withdrawing and electron-donating substrates, resulting in good to excellent yields. The advantages of this process include the use of a greener solvent, high yield, high conversions, no use of additives or bases, a good TOF, and a shorter reaction time.

A Novel Generative Adversarial Network-Based Approach for Automated Brain Tumour Segmentation

Background: Medical image segmentation is more complicated and demanding than ordinary image segmentation due to the density of medical pictures. A brain tumour is the most common cause of high mortality. Objectives: Extraction of tumorous cells is particularly difficult due to the differences between tumorous and non-tumorous cells. In ordinary convolutional neural networks, local background information is restricted. As a result, previous deep learning algorithms in medical imaging have struggled to detect anomalies in diverse cells. Methods: As a solution to this challenge, a deep convolutional generative adversarial network for tumour segmentation from brain Magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI) images is proposed. A generator and a discriminator are the two networks that make up the proposed model. This network focuses on tumour localisation, noise-related issues, and social class disparities. Results: Dice Score Coefficient (DSC), Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), and Structural Index Similarity (SSIM) are all generally 0.894, 62.084 dB, and 0.88912, respectively. The model's accuracy has improved to 97 percent, and its loss has reduced to 0.012. Conclusions: Experiments reveal that the proposed approach may successfully segment tumorous and benign tissues. As a result, a novel brain tumour segmentation approach has been created.

Efficient method for the synthesis of novel methyl 4-cinnolinecarboxylate

A new method is designed for the synthesis of some novel methyl 3-aryl/alkyl-4-cinnolinecarboxylate with developed a general Richter cyclization through diazotization strategy of commercially available 2-aryl/alkyl ethynyl aniline and methyl acetate. Most substrates were achieved in moderate to excellent yields in one-pot procedures under mild reaction conditions.

Successive oxidation–condensation reactions using a multifunctional gold-supported nanocomposite (Au/MgCe–HDO)

Successive oxidation–condensation reactions of substituted benzyl alcohol were carried out using a Au/MgCe–HDO nanocomposite catalyst.

Recent Advances in the Application of Barbituric Acid Derivatives in Multicomponent Reactions

Abstract:

Barbituric acid is a pyrimidine heterocyclic organic compound, which is pharmacologically active. It is important to build structures containing various medicinal activities. This compound attracts the scientific research community in organic synthesis. It can be used in the synthesis of polyheterocyclic, natural, medicinal compounds, and organic sensors. Herein, the utilization of barbituric or thiobarbituric acid in multicomponent reactions is reported from 2016-2021 in this manuscript.

Conversion of Limonene over Heterogeneous Catalysis: An Overview

The natural terpene limonene is widely found in nature. The (R)-limonene (the most abundant enantiomer) is present in the essential oils of lemon, orange, and other citrus fruits, while the (S)-limonene is found in peppermint and the racemate in turpentine oil. Limonene is a low-cost, low toxicity biodegradable terpene present in agricultural wastes derived from citrus peels. The products obtained from the conversion of limonene are valuable compounds widely used as additives for food, cosmetics, or pharmaceuticals. The conversion of limonene to produce different products has been the subject of intense research, mainly with the objective to improve catalytic systems. This review focused on the application of heterogeneous catalysts in the catalytic conversion of limonene.

Video super resolution using convolutional neural network and image fusion techniques

Recently, huge progress has been achieved in the field of single image super resolution which augments the resolution of images. The idea behind super resolution is to convert low-resolution images into high-resolution images. SRCNN (Single Resolution Convolutional Neural Network) was a huge improvement over the existing methods of single-image super resolution. However, video super-resolution, despite being an active field of research, is yet to benefit from deep learning. Using still images and videos downloaded from various sources, we explore the possibility of using SRCNN along with image fusion techniques (minima, maxima, average, PCA, DWT) to improve over existing video super resolution methods. Video Super-Resolution has inherent difficulties such as unexpected motion, blur and noise. We propose Video Super Resolution – Image Fusion (VSR-IF) architecture which utilizes information from multiple frames to produce a single high- resolution frame for a video. We use SRCNN as a reference model to obtain high resolution adjacent frames and use a concatenation layer to group those frames into a single frame. Since, our method is data-driven and requires only minimal initial training, it is faster than other video super resolution methods. After testing our program, we find that our technique shows a significant improvement over SCRNN and other single image and frame super resolution techniques.

Biological Evaluation of Noscapine analogues as Potent and Microtubule-Targeted Anticancer Agents

In present investigation, an attempt was undertaken to modify the C-9 position of noscapine (Nos), an opium alkaloid to yield 9 -hydroxy methyl and 9 -carbaldehyde oxime analogues for augmenting anticancer potential. The synthesis of 9-hydroxy methyl analogue of Nos was carried out by Blanc reaction and 9-carbaldehyde oxime was engineered by oxime formation method and characterized using FT-IR, ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, mass spectroscopy, and so on techniques. In silico docking techniques informed that 9-hydroxy methyl and 9-carbaldehyde oxime analogues of Nos had higher binding energy score as compared to Nos. The IC50 of Nos was estimated to be 46.8 µM signficantly (P < 0.05) higher than 8.2 µM of 9-carbaldehyde oxime and 4.6 µM of 9-hydroxy methyl analogue of Nos in U87, human glioblastoma cells. Moreover, there was significant (P < 0.05) difference between the IC50 of 9-carbaldehyde oxime and 9-hydroxy methyl analogue of Nos. Consistent to in vitro cytotoxicity data, 9-hydroxy methyl analogue of Nos induced significantly (P < 0.05) higher degree of apoptosis of 84.6% in U87 cells as compared to 78.5% and 64.3% demonstrated by 9-carbaldehyde oxime and Nos, respectively. Thus the higher therapeutic efficacy of 9-hydroxy methyl analogue of Nos may be credited to higher solubility and inhibitory constant (K).

Antimicrobial Peptide Designing and Optimization Employing Large-Scale Flexibility Analysis of Protein-Peptide Fragments

The mankind relies on the use of antibiotics for a healthy life. The epidemic-like emergence of drug-resistant bacterial strains is increasingly becoming one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality, which gives rise to design a potential antimicrobial peptide (AMP). Here, we have designed the potential AMP using the extensive dynamics simulation since protein-peptide interactions are linked to large conformational changes. Therefore, we have employed the advanced computational avenue CABS molecular docking method that enabled the flexible peptide-protein molecular docking with a large-scale rearrangement of the protein. Lead AMP was investigated against the wild-type (WT) and mutant-PBP5 (MT-PBP5) proteins (antiresistance property). AMP20 showed strong interactions with wtPBP5 and mtPBP5 and involvement of a large number of elements in interactions determined through an atomic model study. Full flexibility analysis showed the stable interaction of AMP20 with both the wild-type and mutant form of PBP5 with root-mean-square deviation (RMSD) values of ∼4.51 and 4.85 Å, respectively. Moreover, peptide dynamics showed involvement of all residues of AMP20 through contact map analysis, and extensive simulation confirmed the stable interaction of AMP20, with lower values of RMSD, radius of gyration, and root-mean-square fluctuation. This study paves the way for a potential approach to design the AMP with amino acid walking and large-scale conformational rearrangements of amino acids.

Preclinical evaluation and molecular docking of 1,3-benzodioxole propargyl ether derivatives as novel inhibitor for combating the histone deacetylase enzyme in cancer

Even after huge strides in medicine, cancer continues to be a formidable disease, which is slated to become the leading cause of death worldwide. The present study investigates the 1,3-benzodioxole and its propargyl ether derivatives as a novel histone deacetylase enzyme inhibitor in order to cure cancer, as aberrant expression of histone deacetylases (HDACs) is associated with carcinogenesis. Bioinformatics approaches were employed to carry out preclinical and pharmacological evaluations of designed benzodioxole derivatives. Furthermore, their interaction with HDAC-1 enzyme was studied through computational methods for their specific inhibitory effects and evaluated for their LD50 (oral rat acute toxicity) value. In addition to this work, three-dimensional (3D) structure of HDAC-1 enzyme was extracted and evaluated using various parameters including Ramachandran plot and molecular docking stimulation. In our study, we found that compound 7 and compound 9 have higher binding score than approved drugs (SAHA, TSA and VPA). Importantly, these compounds were found to possess good pharmacological and pharmacokinetic properties and can be considered as potent novel compound to combat the HDAC-1 enzyme to cure cancer. Compounds were also analyzed and validated with parameters like absorption, metabolism, excretion, toxicity and synthetic accessibility during the preclinical evaluation. This study paves way to search for novel and potent small chemical compounds for inhibiting HDAC-1 enzyme and in particular to combat the cancer progression by interrupting the cell cycle.

Exploring the interplay between autoimmunity and cancer to find the target therapeutic hotspots

Autoimmunity arises when highly active immune responses are developed against the tissues or substances of one's own body. It is one of the most prevalent disorders among the old-age population with prospects increasing with age. The major cause of autoimmunity and associated diseases is the dysregulation of host immune surveillance. Impaired repairment of immune system and apoptosis regulation can be seen as major landmarks in autoimmune disorders such as the mutation of p53 gene which results in rheumatoid arthritis, bowel disease which consequently lead to tissue destruction, inflammation and dysfunctioning of body organs. Cytokines mediated apoptosis and proliferation of cells plays a regulatory role in cell cycle and further in cancer development. Anti-TNF therapy, Treg therapy and stem cell therapy have been used for autoimmune diseases, however, with the increase in the use of immunomodulatory therapies and their development for autoimmune diseases and cancer, the understanding of human immune system tends to become an increasing requirement. Hence, the findings associated with the relationship between autoimmune diseases and cancer may prove to be beneficial for the improvement in the health of suffering patients. Here in, we are eliciting the underlying mechanisms which result in autoimmune disorders causing the onset of cancer, exploration of interactome to find the pathways which are mutual to both, and recognition of hotspots which might play important role in autoimmunity mediated therapeutics with different therapies such as anti-TNF therapy, Treg therapy and stem cell therapy.

Diagnostic challenges with intraoral myeloid sarcoma: report of two cases & review of world literature

BACKGROUND

Myeloid sarcomas (MS) are rare extramedullary tumors composed of blasts of myeloid lineage that either precede, follow or present concomitantly with acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) or myeloproliferative neoplasms. The diagnosis of MS is especially challenging in patients without an antecedent history of leukemia.

METHODS

We present 2 cases of intraoral MS that presented as de novo lesions. A detailed review of cases of intraoral MS that either preceded or presented along with leukemia has been done with emphasis on diagnostic criteria used.

RESULTS

Two male patients aged 28 and 5 years presented with MS with one patient presenting with concomitant AML. A combination of morphological and immunohistochemical methods was used for diagnosis. A thorough review of world literature revealed 44 cases of intraoral MS that presented as de novo lesions.

CONCLUSION

Intraoral MS is a rare tumor with poor prognosis. It may be diagnostically challenging due to its protean clinical manifestations and histological overlap with other tumors.

Hepatitis A with pleural effusion: a rare association

Hepatitis A is the most common cause of viral hepatitis in children. Its association with pleural effusion has rarely been reported. The present communication describes three cases of hepatitis A associated with pleural effusion. All three had complete clinical, biochemical and radiological recovery. In view of spontaneous resolution, diagnostic or therapeutic pleural tap is not warranted.

Is there a case for a specialist forensic psychiatry service for the elderly?

BACKGROUND

The number of elderly offenders in England and Wales is increasing. There is, therefore, a concern that their needs may not be met by existing forensic services. However, there is a paucity of information on elderly patients referred to existing forensic psychiatric units.

METHOD

Data on patients over the age of 65 years referred to a large medium secure forensic psychiatric unit in London were collected for a 13-year period using a retrospective design. The sample was divided into those who had first offended before the age of 65 and those who had offended after the age of 65. Data was also collected on victims of the offences.

RESULTS

5477 referrals were made during the study period. Those aged over 65 years accounted for 78 (1.4%) of all referrals. These 78 referrals were for 55 patients. Forty-five of these had offended. Case notes of 42 patients from this group were screened. Sexual and violent offences accounted respectively for 20 (47%) and 15 (36%) of offences. 31% had no psychiatric disorder but organic disorders accounted for 21% of cases. Only eight (19%) required admission to the medium secure unit. Fourteen (33%) had first offended after the age of 65 while others were known to either the forensic services or criminal justice system before the age of 65. The two groups did not differ from each other.

CONCLUSIONS

The elderly accounted for very few referrals to the medium secure forensic service, yet there is a high prevalence of psychiatric morbidity in both remand and sentenced elderly prisoners. Therefore, elderly offenders with psychiatric morbidity may benefit from specialist old age psychiatric forensic services, perhaps at a supraregional level.

Guidelines for clinical use of the antinuclear antibody test and tests for specific autoantibodies to nuclear antigens. American College of Pathologists

The following guideline presents a series of recommendations based on published medical literature for use of the antinuclear antibody (ANA) test and tests for specific autoantibodies to nuclear antigens in the diagnostic evaluation, prognostic assessment, and monitoring of patients with systemic rheumatic diseases. The guideline emphasizes the need for clinical evaluation to improve the usefulness of test results in patient management. Consideration is given to appropriate use of the generic ANA test in the initial evaluation of patients with signs and symptoms of a systemic rheumatic disease, the evaluation of patients suspected of having lupus erythematosus, use in clinical situations in which the ANA test is required to establish a disease diagnosis, and identification of clinical situations in which the ANA test has little value. Sections are also devoted to recommendations aimed at improving the analytic methods used to detect and measure ANA and specific autoantibodies to nuclear antigens and to the appropriate use of tests for specific autoantibodies in several disease situations that commonly occur in patients with suspected or documented systemic rheumatic diseases. Emphasis is placed on the use of these tests only in situations in which the test results can be expected to provide information necessary for clinical decision making. Those tests of limited medical usefulness and situations in which test results are likely to be misleading are also identified.

Guidelines for clinical use of the antinuclear antibody test and tests for specific autoantibodies to nuclear antigens. American College of Pathologists

The following guideline presents a series of recommendations based on published medical literature for use of the antinuclear antibody (ANA) test and tests for specific autoantibodies to nuclear antigens in the diagnostic evaluation, prognostic assessment, and monitoring of patients with systemic rheumatic diseases. The guideline emphasizes the need for clinical evaluation to improve the usefulness of test results in patient management. Consideration is given to appropriate use of the generic ANA test in the initial evaluation of patients with signs and symptoms of a systemic rheumatic disease, the evaluation of patients suspected of having lupus erythematosus, use in clinical situations in which the ANA test is required to establish a disease diagnosis, and identification of clinical situations in which the ANA test has little value. Sections are also devoted to recommendations aimed at improving the analytic methods used to detect and measure ANA and specific autoantibodies to nuclear antigens and to the appropriate use of tests for specific autoantibodies in several disease situations that commonly occur in patients with suspected or documented systemic rheumatic diseases. Emphasis is placed on the use of these tests only in situations in which the test results can be expected to provide information necessary for clinical decision making. Those tests of limited medical usefulness and situations in which test results are likely to be misleading are also identified.

The Combination of Insulin and Metformin in Treatment of Non-Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

OBJECTIVE

To assess whether, in the treatment of non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), (1) metformin in conjunction with insulin can safely cause a decrease in glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) to 7% or less and (2) this combination therapy may result in weight loss and lower insulin dose in comparison with insulin treatment alone.

METHODS

Forty patients with NIDDM being treated with insulin on their first visit to the Diabetes Center were identified by retrospective review of medical records of all patients encountered during a 1-year period. These patients were classified into groups who were receiving insulin only (group 1) or insulin + metformin (group 2) at the most recent visit. Group 2 was subdivided into those with a body mass index of either =30 kg/m 2 (group 2A) or >30 kg/m 2 (group 2B). Blood glucose, HbA1c, insulin dose, and weights were analyzed from their initial and most recent visits.

RESULTS

HbA1c decreased from 10 +/- 2.7% to 7 +/- 1.1% (P<0.01) in group 1 and from 9.8 +/- 2.1% to 7.2 +/- 1.4% (P<0.01) in group 2. The magnitude of decrease in HbA1c, however, was not different between the two groups. Total insulin dose increased from 40 (33 to 50) U/day to 58 (41 to 67) U/day (P<0.05) in group 1 and from 63 (42 to 118) U/day to 67 (50 to 96) U/day in group 2 (not significantly different). The median increase in insulin dose was 8 U in group 1, whereas the median decrease was 3 U in group 2 (P<0.05). Similar decreases were noted in group 2A. The decrease in insulin dose was inversely related to the initial insulin dose per kilogram of body weight in group 2 (r = -0.5; P<0.01). Patients in group 1 had an increase in weight from 75.0 +/- 8.6 kg to 77.7 +/- 9.0 kg (P<0.01), whereas weight decreased from 100.4 +/- 24.2 kg to 98.5 +/- 22.3 kg in group 2 (P<0.05). A decrease in weight was seen even in group 2A. The increase in weight was 3 +/- 3.3 kg in group 1, whereas weight decreased by 1.9 +/- 3.9 kg in group 2 (P<0.01).

CONCLUSION

Insulin + metformin is safe and is as effective as insulin alone in improving glycemic control in obese and nonobese patients with NIDDM. This combination therapy, however, lowers insulin dose and promotes weight loss, which may be of importance in decreasing the cardiovascular risk factors in these subjects.

Detection of hydroquinone-induced nonrandom breakage in the centromeric heterochromatin of mouse bone marrow cells using multicolor fluorescence in situ hybridization with the mouse major and minor satellite probes

Fluorescence in situ hybridization with a mouse major satellite probe and CREST staining were used to characterize the origin of micronuclei occurring in mouse bone marrow erythrocytes following administration of the benzene metabolite hydroquinone. Hydroquinone was administered to male CD-1 mice by i.p. injection on three consecutive days and the bone marrow cells were harvested 24 h later. A pronounced difference in the results was observed using the two approaches: 63% of the micronuclei induced by hydroquinone labeled with the major satellite probe whereas only 28% labeled with the CREST antibody. To determine whether the observed difference was due to a disruption of the kinetochore or a result of breakage within centromeric heterochromatin, we developed a tandem label multicolor hybridization assay, which requires the presence of both the mouse major and minor satellite probes in a micronucleus for a classification of chromosomal loss. The minor probe targets a centromeric region physically linked to the short arm of mouse chromosomes, whereas the major probe hybridizes to the centromeric heterochromatin adjacent to the long arm. Using this approach, 29% of the micronuclei induced by hydroquinone hybridized with both the major and minor satellite probes, indicating chromosome loss; an additional 37% labeled with only the major satellite probe indicating breakage within the centromeric heterochromatin. Although the region targeted by the major satellite probe comprises only 5-10% of the mouse genome, these major-probe containing micronuclei represent 53% of the micronuclei formed as the result of chromosome breakage.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Chromosomal loss and breakage in mouse bone marrow and spleen cells exposed to benzene in vivo

Benzene is a widely recognized human and animal carcinogen. In spite of considerable research, relatively little is known about the genotoxic events that accompany benzene exposure in vivo. To gain insights into the mechanisms underlying the genotoxic effects of benzene, we have characterized the origin of the micronuclei that are formed in bone marrow erythrocytes and splenic lymphocytes of benzene-treated mice using two molecular cytogenetic approaches: (a) fluorescence in situ hybridization with a centromeric DNA probe; and (b) staining with the calcinosis-Raynaud's phenomenon-esophageal dismobility-sclerodactyly-telangiectasia syndrome of scleroderma (CREST) antibody, an antibody recognizing a centromeric protein. Following the p.o. administration of benzene (220 or 440 mg/kg) to male CD-1 mice, a significant increase in micronuclei was observed in the bone marrow erythrocytes. In situ hybridization with a centromeric DNA probe and immunofluorescent staining with the CREST antibody indicated that the micronuclei in bone marrow erythrocytes were formed from both chromosome loss and breakage. The majority of the micronuclei originated from chromosome breakage. A dose-related increase in micronucleated cells was also observed in splenocyte cultures established from these benzene-treated animals. In contrast to the bone marrow erythrocyte results, the majority of benzene-induced micronuclei in the cytokinesis-blocked splenocytes labeled with the CREST antibody indicating that these micronuclei were the result of whole chromosome loss. These data demonstrate that both aneuploidy and chromosomal breakage are early genotoxic events induced by benzene or its metabolites in vivo and also indicate that the nature of the chromosomal alterations may vary depending on the target organ or cell type.

Efficient transformation of previously activated and dividing T lymphocytes by human T cell leukemia-lymphoma virus

Modifying previously reported techniques, we attempted to increase the efficiency of human T cell leukemia-lymphoma virus (HTLV) transformation of human T lymphocytes. Lethally irradiated donor cells (DCs) were cultured with target mononuclear cells (TMCs). DCs included ten HTLV+ T cell lines with varying degrees of virus expression or seven cell lines that do not express HTLV. TMCs were prepared from 20 cord and 16 adult peripheral blood samples, including eight patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). TMCs were either added directly to the DCs or were first stimulated with phytohemagglutinin (PHA) (5 micrograms/mL) and grown in T cell growth factor (TCGF) prior to exposure to DCs. The presence of integrated HTLV proviral DNA in the transformed cells was determined by dot blot hybridization, utilizing a cloned probe to the HTLV-I genome. HTLV production by transformed TMCs was assessed for HTLV p19, reverse transcriptase, and virus particles. No transformation occurred with T cell donor lines that do not express HTLV. Low virus expressor DCs could only, with rare exception, transform preactivated TMCs. High-titer virus-producing DCs could transform activated and nonactivated cord blood cells and activated adult TMCs. Only MT-2 could routinely transform nonactivated normal adult and activated AIDS TMCs. HUT 102 B2 could transform only one activated AIDS sample, the cells of which initially expressed HTLV-like proteins and virions. Transformed cell lines contained subsets of mature T lymphocytes with variable HTLV expression. Prior activation and culture of the T lymphocytes increases the probability and rate of transformation by HTLV, allowing for biologic detection of low HTLV-producing cells and for in vitro expansion of T lymphocyte subsets from selected patients.