bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Combinatorial Ligand Assisted Simultaneous Control of Axial and Central Chirality in Highly Stereoselective C−H Allylation
Authors: Bhattacharya Trisha , Ghosh Supratim , Dutta Subhabrata , Guin Srimanta , Ghosh Animesh , Ge Haibo , Sunoj Raghavan B , Maiti Debabrata
Published: November 2023

The significance of stereoselective C−H bond functionalization thrives on its direct application potential to pharmaceuticals or complex chiral molecule synthesis. Complication arises when there are multiple stereogenic elements such as a center and an axis of chirality to control. Over the years cooperative assistance of multiple chiral ligands has been applied to control only chiral centers. In this work, we harness the essence of cooperative ligand approach to control two different stereogenic elements in the same molecule by atroposelective allylation to synthesize axially chiral biaryls from its racemic precursor. The crucial roles played by chiral phosphoric acid and chiral amino acid ligand in concert helped us to obtain one major stereoisomer out of four distinct possibilities.
Ligand‐Promoted Iron‐Catalyzed Nitrene Transfer for the Synthesis of Hydrazines and Triazanes through N‐Amidation of Arylamines
Authors: Zhu Shi‐Yang , He Wen‐Ji , Shen Guan‐Chi , Bai Zi‐Qian , Song Fang‐Fang , He Gang , Wang Hao , Chen Gong
Published: November 2023

Herein, we report that bulky alkylphosphines such as PtBu3 can switch the roles from actor to spectator ligands to promote the FeCl2‐catalyzed N‐amidation reaction of arylamines with dioxazolones, giving hydrazides in high efficiency and chemoselectivity. Mechanistic studies indicated that the phosphine ligands could facilitate the decarboxylation of dioxazolones on the Fe center, and the hydrogen bonding interactions between the arylamines and the ligands on Fe nitrenoid intermediates might play a role in modulating the delicate interplay between the phosphine ligand, arylamine, and acyl nitrene N, favoring N−N coupling over N−P coupling. The new ligand‐promoted N‐amidation protocols offer a convenient way to access various challenging triazane compounds via double or sequential N‐amidation of primary arylamines.
Determination of Reaction Kinetics by Time‐Resolved Small‐Angle X‐ray Scattering during Polymerization‐Induced Self‐Assembly: Direct Evidence for Monomer‐Swollen Nanoparticles
Authors: Liao Guoxing , Derry Matthew J. , Smith Andrew J. , Armes Steven P. , Mykhaylyk Oleksandr O.
Published: November 2023

The kinetics of heterogeneous polymerization is determined directly using small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). This important advancement is exemplified for the synthesis of sterically‐stabilized diblock copolymer nanoparticles by reversible addition‐fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) dispersion polymerization of benzyl methacrylate (BzMA) in mineral oil at 90 °C. The principle of mass balance is invoked to derive a series of equations for the analysis of the resulting time‐resolved SAXS patterns. Importantly, there is a continuous change in the X‐ray scattering length density for the various components within the reaction mixture. This enables the volume fraction of unreacted BzMA monomer to be calculated at any given time point, which enables the polymerization kinetics to be monitored in situ directly without relying on supplementary characterization techniques. Moreover, SAXS enables the local concentration of both monomer and solvent within the growing swollen nanoparticles to be determined during the polymerization. Data analysis reveals that the instantaneous rate of BzMA polymerization is proportional to the local monomer concentration within the nanoparticles. In principle, this powerful new time‐resolved SAXS approach can be applicable to other heterogeneous polymerization formulations.
Green synthesis and characterization of NiFe2O4@ZnMn2O4 magnetic nanocomposites: An efficient and reusable spinel nanocatalyst for the synthesis of tetrahydropyrimidine and polyhydroquinoline derivatives under microwave irradiation
Authors: Moradnia Farzaneh , Taghavi Fardood Saeid , Ramazani Ali
Published: November 2023

In this study, for the first time, NiFe2O4@ZnMn2O4 magnetic nanocomposites (MNCs) were synthesized using a simple green sol–gel method. The synthesized nanocomposites comprehensive characterized using various analytical techniques including X‐ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy, powder X‐ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscope, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray analysis, vibrating sample magnetometer, Brunauer Emmett Teller, and elemental mapping. XRD confirmed the spinel crystal structure of NiFe2O4@ZnMn2O4 MNCs. ZnMn2O4 has tetragonal spinel structure while NiFe2O4 cubic. In microwave‐assisted tetrahydropyrimidine and polyhydroquinoline derivative production, NiFe2O4@ZnMn2O4 MNCs showed good catalytic activity. An external magnet can remove catalyst from reactions, and their efficacy stays stable after four cycles.
Investigation of novel polyanilines as new antioxidants for ethylene propylene diene monomer rubber composites
Authors: Zidan T. A. , Kandil H. S.
Published: November 2023

Oxidative aging is a significant deterioration process that affects the performance and durability of rubber materials in various applications. Therefore, this study focuses on the development of new antioxidants‐based on polyaniline for ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber to enhance its resistance to oxidative aging. The novel polyanilines were prepared using in situ polymerization method and characterized using Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). FTIR illustrates the success synthesis of polyanilines as it shows their characteristic functional groups. The thermal stability of the formed polyanilines is discussed through TGA and derivative of thermogravimetry (DTG) curves. The curves prove the good thermal stability of the synthesized polymers. The prepared polyaniline compounds were mixed to carbon black filled‐EPDM rubber composites using a roll mill and then vulcanized using sulfur curing process. Accelerated aging tests for the prepared EPDM rubber composites were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the antioxidants. Moreover, their impact on rheometer, mechanical, and swelling properties was studied. The results showed that the EPDM samples with the prepared polyaniline compounds exhibited improved oxidative properties compared to the EPDM sample with commercial antioxidant 2,2,4‐trimethyl‐1,2‐dihydroquinoline. These findings suggest that the novel antioxidants have the potential to enhance the durability and performance of EPDM rubber in various applications.
Metallaaromatic Complexes as Candidates for Future Molecular Materials and Electronic Devices: Recent Advancements
Authors: Yang Xiao Fei , Zhang Ming‐Xing , Liu Sheng Hua , Hartl František
Published: November 2023

In recent years, the field of organometallic chemistry has made a great progress and diverse types of metallaaromatics have successively been reported. In those studies, incorporation of ligated osmium centers into metallaaromatic systems played a prominent role. The reviewed literature documents that certain metallaaromatics with unconventional photophysical properties, redox and electronic transport properties and magnetism, have potential to be widely used in diverse practical applications, with selected examples of amino acid and fluoride anion identification, photothermal effects, functional materials, photodynamic therapy (PDT) in biomedicine, single‐molecule junction conductors, and electron‐transport layer materials (ETLs) in solar cells.
Advances in three dimensional metal enhanced fluorescence based biosensors using metal nanomaterial and nano‐patterned surfaces
Authors: Goodrum Rebecca , Li Huiyan
Published: November 2023

Metal enhanced fluorescence (MEF) is a phenomenon that increases fluorescence signal through placement of metal near a fluorophore. For biosensing applications, MEF‐based biosensors are becoming increasingly popular as it enables highly sensitive detection of molecules, important for early diagnosis. The structure and size of the metal influence the optical properties through enhancing the fluorophore photostability and light absorption and emission. In recent years, many metal nanostructures have been fabricated and examined for their effectiveness in developing MEF‐based biosensors. This review focuses on the latest applications of three‐dimensional nanostructures and nano‐patterned surfaces used to develop and improve fluorescence sensing via MEF. Current reviews mostly discussed the applications of two dimensional MEF and metal‐nanoparticles‐based MEF with a focus on fabrication of nanoparticles and metal substrates. In this article, we focused more on the effect of the metal nanostructure and size on MEF and then provided an in‐depth summary of the performance of the state‐of‐the‐art three dimensional MEF‐based biosensors. While more work is needed to demonstrate applicability for complex samples, it is evident that with the use of metal nanoparticles and three dimensional nano‐patterns, the assay sensitivity of fluorescence‐based detection can be greatly improved, making it suitable for use in early disease diagnostics.
Liver‐tumor mimics as a potential translational framework for planning and testing irreversible electroporation with multiple electrodes
Authors: Vera‐Tizatl Adriana Leticia , van der Hee Regine , Cornelissen Jeroen , Vera‐Tizatl Claudia Elizabeth , Abayazid Momen , Fütterer Jurgen J.
Published: November 2023

Irreversible electroporation (IRE) has emerged as an appealing non‐ionizing, non‐thermal ablation therapy, independent of antineoplastic drugs. Limited but successful outcomes in IRE conducted in vivo, in small focal hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), have been reported. Nonetheless, the electric parameters of IRE are usually delivered in an unplanned manner. This work investigates the integration of computational modeling to hydrogels mimicking the HCC microenvironment, as a powerful framework to: circumvent ethical concerns of in vivo experimentation; safely tune the electric parameters reaching the IRE electric field threshold; and propel the translation of IRE as a routine clinical alternative to the treatment of HCC. Therefore, a parametric study served to evaluate the effects of the pulse amplitude, the number of pulses and electrodes, the treatment time, the hydrogel–tumor size, and the cell type. The ablation extent was surveyed by confocal microscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in cylindrical and realistic tumor‐shaped hydrogels, respectively. A large ablation (70%–100%) was verified in all constructs.
Post‐purchase effects of impulse buying: A review and research agenda
Authors: Obukhovich Svetlana , Sipilä Jenni , Tarkiainen Anssi
Published: November 2023

Although impulse buying has been studied for decades, prior research mostly focuses on reasons for impulse buying rather than its outcomes. In recent years this trend has changed, due to the emerging sustainability agenda and the attention to impulse buying as one of the main antecedents of overconsumption. However, existing research on the outcomes of impulse buying is currently less systematically synthesised compared to research on the antecedents. Therefore, we present a framework‐based systematic literature review on the outcomes of impulse buying based on 54 articles, drawing on the frameworks of theory, context, characteristics and methods (TCCM) and antecedents–decisions–outcomes (ADO). The results include a review and classification of impulse buying outcomes and their interconnections. This study unpacks the outcomes of impulse buying for consumers, society and business. The review also includes impulse buying antecedents to the extent that they are connected to the outcomes. Furthermore, we derive a conceptual framework of the impulse buying process that reveals the cyclic nature of impulse buying. Based on the findings, recommendations for future research are provided under the prism of theoretical, methodological, contextual, and conceptual development. The review also has implications for businesses and policymakers.
Source, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Natural Occurring 2,2′‐Bipyridines
Authors: Sharma Amar Nath , Verma Rajni
Published: November 2023

Molecules containing bipyridine scaffold are fascinating and versatile compounds in the field of natural product chemistry and drug discovery, and these molecules have possible therapeutic applications due to possession of potent biological activities such as antimicrobial, immunomodulatory, antitumor, and phytotoxic. Significant efforts have been devoted to isolating various 2,2′ bipyridine compounds from natural sources, with antimicrobial, anti‐cancer, and immunosuppressive properties. This review describes recent developments in isolation from different microbial origins, synthesis, and investigation of different kinds of biological activities of 2,2′ bipyridines, with a particular emphasis on caerulomycins, collismycins, and related derivates thereof in detail.
Benchmarking La‐Based Perovskites as Bifunctional Cathodes For Primary and Rechargeable Zinc−Air Batteries with Biopolymer‐Based Electrolyte
Authors: Frattini Domenico , Hernando‐Cuadra Alvaro , Accardo Grazia , García‐Gaitán Estibaliz , Bonilla Francisco , Letona‐Elizburu Arantzazu , Cid Rosalía , Ortiz‐Vitoriano Nagore
Published: November 2023

State‐of‐the‐art perovskite‐based electrocatalysts for zinc−air batteries (ZABs) may include one or more Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) like Co, Ru, and rare earth elements, for oxygen reduction/evolution reactions. Under the warnings described by the CRMs Act in Europe, future research in this field must limit the use of these elements, find more sustainable formulations, and better design/integration strategies to trade off costs, supply, and performances. In this benchmarking study, three main perovskites, i. e., LaNiO3‐δ (LNO), LaMnO3+δ (LMO), and LaMn0.5Ni0.5O3 (LMNO), are studied as quasi‐CRM‐free benchmarks and integrated with a novel gel electrolyte from a natural biopolymer in primary and secondary ZABs. By comparing literature performances based on the number of total/active site CRMs for the first time, these reference perovskites showed Zn utilizations >90 % in primary ZABs, with LMO and LMNO approaching 94 % at 2 mA/cm2, the highest result in the field. In secondary ZABs, LMO demonstrated limited cyclability (62 cycles), while LMNO had a moderate number of cycles (117 cycles) and the highest round‐trip efficiency (54.3 %), while LNO presented the lowest charge potential (2.04 V) and longer cyclability (455 cycles). This work demonstrates encouraging performance with fewer CRMs and proper integration in more sustainable ZABs, opening the way to future CRM‐free perovskites.
Urea‐Promoted Neat Synthesis of Fused Dihydroisoquinolines and Disubstituted Pyridines: A Mechanistic Observation with Molecular‐Sensing Studies
Authors: Azad Sk Abulkalam , Bera Anirban , Samanta Jayanta , Sepay Nayim , Jana Rathin , Pal Chandan Kumar , Molla Mijanur Rahaman , Maiti Debabrata , Samanta Shubhankar
Published: November 2023

An efficient and short synthesis of fused dihydroisoquinolines, diaryl substituted pyridine derivatives in good to high yields has been established by using an environmentally safe, solvent‐metal‐oxidant‐free tandem approach. In this article, we discuss how the electrocyclic reaction is more pronounced in the solid phase in the presence of urea, whereas the typical aza‐Michael addition is more prominent in presence of arylamine in the solution phase for 3‐(2‐formylcycloalkenyl)acrylic ester derivative substrates. The wide range of substrates and urea‐promoted neat synthesis made our approach more significant in medical and also analytical science. Moreover, an isoquinoline alkaloid decumbenine B analogue has been synthesized by using our newly developed neat methodology. We have also investigated the photophysical properties of the synthesized fused dihydroisoquinoline derivatives. One of the synthesized molecules was used as a sensor for the selective detection of toxic picric acid. Therefore, the effective neat synthesis and molecular sensing applications of these compounds made our approach more exciting in the field of heterocyclic chemistry.
Adaptive Doppler bio‐signal detector and time‐frequency representation based on non‐Liènard oscillator
Authors: Pancóatl‐Bortolotti Pedro , Enríquez‐Caldera Rogerio A. , Costa Antonio H. , Tello‐Bello Maribel , Guerrero‐Castellanos Jose F.
Published: November 2023

The work presented here provides the guidelines and results for designing and implementing a highly sensitive modified Van der Pol – Duffing oscillator with a trigonometric damping function (VTD). This VTD can exhibit periodic and quasi‐chaotic behavior necessary for application in weak signal detection. Here, we present two proposals: (1) A method based on a quasi‐chaotic intermittent array (ANLIOA), whose all VTD parameters are calculated and fine‐tuned toward a critical state between chaotic and periodic state through a Lyapunov exponent procedure, and (2) A method based on a single oscillator in an adaptive stopping oscillation system (ANLSOS), where VTD is established within an oscillatory regime. Both systems can detect non‐stationary signals while reconstructing the time‐frequency spectrogram in high resolution within severe noise conditions. The systems were adapted for the detection of a synthesized Doppler signal corresponding to the blood flow velocity profile from an artery. Comparative results using typical oscillators such as Duffing or Van der Pol demonstrate the superiority of the VTD oscillator in detection when used for both methods, whose mean absolute percentage error reached around 6% for a signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) of −10 dB. Furthermore, compared to other time‐frequency methods, ANLIOA and ANLSOS promise high precision in detecting Doppler signals with low rates of frequency changes while minimizing energy emission and avoiding possible bio‐thermal effects.
Improving targeted small molecule drugs to overcome chemotherapy resistance
Authors: Rismanbaf Amirhossein
Published: November 2023

Background

Conventional cancer treatments face the challenge of therapeutic resistance, which causes poor treatment outcomes. The use of combination therapies can improve treatment results in patients and is one of the solutions to overcome this challenge. Chemotherapy is one of the conventional treatments that, due to the non‐targeted and lack of specificity in targeting cancer cells, can cause serious complications in the short and long‐term for patients by damaging healthy cells. Also, the employment of a wide range of strategies for chemotherapy resistance by cancer cells, metastasis, and cancer recurrence create serious problems to achieve the desired results of chemotherapy. Accordingly, targeted therapies can be used as a combination treatment with chemotherapy to both cause less damage to healthy cells, which as a result, they reduce the side effects of chemotherapy, and by targeting the factors that cause therapeutic challenges, can improve the results of chemotherapy in patients.

Recent Findings

Small molecules are one of the main targeted therapies that can be used for diverse targets in cancer treatment due to their penetration ability and characteristics. However, small molecules in cancer treatment are facing obstacles that a better understanding of cancer biology, as well as the mechanisms and factors involved in chemotherapy resistance, can lead to the improvement of this type of major targeted therapy.

Conclusion

In this review article, at first, the challenges that lead to not achieving the desired results in chemotherapy and how cancer cells can be resistant to chemotherapy are examined, and at the end, research areas are suggested that more focusing on them, can lead to the improvement of the results of using targeted small molecules as an adjunctive treatment for chemotherapy in the conditions of chemotherapy resistance and metastasis of cancer cells.
Design of smart nanoparticles for the electrochemical detection of 3,4‐methylenedioxymethamphetamine to allow in field screening by law enforcement officers
Authors: Truta Florina Maria , Cruz Alvaro Garcia , Dragan Ana‐Maria , Tertis Mihaela , Cowen Todd , Stefan Maria‐Geogia , Topala Tamara , Slosse Amorn , Piletska Elena , Van Durme Filip , Kiss Bela , De Wael Karolien , Piletsky Sergey A. , Cristea Cecilia
Published: November 2023

A portable and highly sensitive sensor was designed for the specific detection of 3,4‐methyl‐enedioxy‐methamphetamine (MDMA), in a range of field‐testing situations. The sensor can detect MDMA in street samples, even when other controlled substances drugs, or adulterants are present. In this work, we report for the first time a sensor using electroactive molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles computationally designed to recognize MDMA and then produced using solid phase synthesis. A composite comprising chitosan, reduced graphene oxide, and molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles synthesized for MDMA for the first time was immobilized on screen‐printed carbon electrodes. The sensors displayed a satisfactory sensitivity (106.8 nA × μM−1), limit of detection (1.6 nM; 0.31 ng/mL), and recoveries (92–99%). The accuracy of the results was confirmed through validation using Ultra‐High Performance Liquid Chromatography coupled with tandem Mass Spectrometry (UPLC‐MS/MS). This technology could be used in forensic analysis and make it possible to selectively detect MDMA in street samples.
Palladium‐Catalyzed Heck Type Regioselective β‐Vinylation of Thiophenes Using a Bromo Substituent as Traceless Directing Group
Authors: Liu Linhao , Doucet Henri
Published: November 2023

Functionalization of β‐C−H bonds of thiophenes such as their vinylation is more challenging than for their α‐positions. The use of Pd‐catalysis allowed us to vinylate such thienyl β‐positions. Oxidative addition of 2‐(2‐bromoaryl)thiophenes to palladium followed by a Pd 1,4‐migration activates these thienyl β‐C−H positions, then, classical Pd‐catalyzed Heck reaction gives the β‐vinylated 2‐arylthiophene derivatives. In the course of this coupling reaction, the bromide substituent on the aryl unit acts as a traceless directing group. It should also be mentioned that the created C−C bond results from the functionalization of two C−H bonds. This synthesis scheme tolerates a range of substituents on both the aryl ring and the alkene. In addition, this procedure employs an easily available air‐stable catalyst and an inexpensive base. This reaction allows the programmed Pd‐catalyzed synthesis of 2,3,5‐trisubstituted thiophenes using first Suzuki C2‐coupling, then Pd‐catalyzed direct C5‐arylation and finally Pd 1,4‐migration Heck C3‐vinylation.
Contextual factors in persistent severe back pain: A longitudinal analysis among German employees
Authors: Zimmer Julia‐Marie , Fauser David , Golla André , Bethge Matthias , Mau Wilfried
Published: November 2023

Background

Chronic back pain in employees compromises participation in social and daily activities, as well as work.

Objectives

To examine the severity of back pain after 2 years and identify factors predicting stagnation at this level of pain.

Methods

Data were derived from a prospective cohort study with randomized sampling of insurants in the German Pension Insurance using a questionnaire at baseline and follow‐up after 2 years. The sample consisted of middle‐aged employees (45–59 years) with strong limitations due to back pain (Chronic Pain Grade III or IV), who had not applied for disability pension and did not use medical rehabilitation in the previous 4 years before baseline. Stepwise multivariable logistic regression models with backwards selection were used to identify relevant contextual factors in the stagnation of severe back pain.

Results

Of 1208 persons with severe back pain at baseline, 48% had stagnated at that pain level after 2 years. Predictors of persistent severe back pain were older age, poorer general health, more additional disabling conditions, more depressive symptoms, caregiving burden, less pain‐related self‐efficacy and more fear avoidance beliefs.

Conclusions

In a high‐risk subgroup with several co‐existing conditions, this analysis highlights (mental) health, social and personal (contextual) factors associated with long‐term unfavourable back pain progression.

Significance

Back pain is a condition that often has a chronic or recurrent course, threatening participation in many areas of life. In this study it was found that the unfavourable condition of severe back pain can remain stable for long periods of time in a significant proportion of sufferers. Contextual factors (self‐efficacy, fear‐avoidance beliefs, caregiving burden) as well as additional health problems should be considered when identifying persons with stagnating pain courses.
Dual surface/bulk engineering of Nb2O5 for high‐rate sodium storage
Authors: Jiang Yingjun , Hu Xianluo
Published: November 2023

Orthorhombic Nb2O5 is a highly promising fast‐charging anode material for sodium‐ion capacitors. However, its poor intrinsic electronic/ionic conductivity limits its performance. Here, we developed a one‐step heat treatment method to create an N‐doped carbon coating on the outside and S‐doped Nb2O5 on the inside (CN‐SCN). Ionic liquids are used as the source of C/N/S, which synergistically enhance the surface and bulk electronic/ionic conductivity. The N‐doped carbon coating on the surface exhibits excellent electronic conductivity and a low ion‐diffusion barrier, thanks to the high nitrogen ratio and extremely low content (<2 wt%). Auger electron spectroscopy analysis confirms that S atoms detach from the carbon chain of the ionic liquids and enter the bulk Nb2O5, resulting in S‐doped Nb2O5, significantly facilitating reaction kinetics. The CN‐SCN electrodes exhibit outstanding rate capability, achieving a capacity of up to 94 mAh g−1 even at a high current rate of 50 C. When paired with activated carbon as the positive electrode, the sodium‐ion capacitor with the CN‐SCN anode exhibits a high‐energy density of up to 59 Wh kg−1 and a long cycle life with 73% capacity retention after 10,000 cycles. This work opens up possibilities for low‐cost and large‐scale production of high‐rate Nb2O5 for sodium‐storage applications.
Dynamic service function chains placement based on parallelized requests in edge computing environment
Authors: Guo ChengJun , Rezaeipanah Amin
Published: November 2023

The advent of Network Function Virtualization (NFV) technology brings flexible traffic engineering to edge computing environments. Online services in NFV are chained as Service Function Chains (SFCs), which consist of ordered sequences of Virtual Network Functions (VNFs). The SFC Placement (SFCP) problem is solved under Quality of Service (QoS) requirements and limited resource availability by directing traffic to the required VNFs. However, SFC assembly leads to high latency and network congestion by increasing the count of VNFs, which parallelized SFC can overcome this problem. With parallelizing an SFC request, independent VNFs are activated simultaneously and computational acceleration is realized by reducing the SFC length. Any pair of VNFs that do not conflict with traffic can be activated simultaneously. Most VNFs are deployed on distributed servers for load balancing, which makes SFC parallelization challenging. Meanwhile, the cost of merging/duplicating packets for parallelized SFCs between different servers is not negligible. Hence, in this article, Distributed Parallel Chaining (DPC) is proposed which is an algorithm based on Deep Reinforcement Learning (DRL) approaches. The DPC algorithm solves the SFCP problem to maximize the Long‐Term Expected Cumulative Reward (LTECR). DPC incorporates an Asynchronous Advantage Actor‐Critic (A3C) algorithm as a new approach based on DRL to increase the admission ability of future SFC requests by maximizing LTECR. The evaluation results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm from different aspects. Specifically, compared to the best existing approaches, DPC can reduce SFC latency by 8.7%.
Genetic relationships between sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) and sour cherry (P. cerasus L.) as revealed using fruit characterizations and chloroplast microsatellites
Authors: Khadivi Ali , Goodarzi Somayeh , Shams Mostafakamal
Published: November 2023

In the present study, the genetic diversity as well as the relationship between sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) and sour cherry (P. cerasus L.) genotypes were investigated based on fruit traits and chloroplast microsatellites (cpSSRs). Analysis of variance showed that the studied genotypes have significant differences in the studied traits. In sweet cherries, the average fruit weight was 4.49 g with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 15.62%, the average stone weight was 0.34 g with a CV of 15.67%, and the average total soluble solids was 11.90% with a CV of 22.06%. Also, in sour cherries, the average fruit weight was 2.65 g with a coefficient of variation (CV) of 14.27%, the average stone weight was 0.28 g with a CV of 12.27%, and the average total soluble solids was 10.90% with a CV of 19.80%. Principal component analysis (PCA) showed that 83.80% of the observed variance was explained by the first three components. The cluster analysis separated genotypes of sweet and sour cherries and put them into two main groups. Four cpSSR primers produced distinct and different alleles among sweet and sour cherries. The cpSSR loci separated sweet and sour cherries from each other, which confirms the theory that chloroplast genome of sour cherry is not derived from sweet cherry. The present results provided new insights regarding the extent of diversity of individuals and also determined the relatedness and obtained information on genetic diversity of sweet and sour cherries.
The dependence of evaporative efficiency of vegetated surfaces on ground cover mass fractions in vegetated soils in mesic ecosystems
Authors: Wang Yi , Petrone Richard M. , Van Huizen Brandon
Published: November 2023

Bare soil evaporation has been studied extensively, but less is certain regarding how site‐specific features, especially the overstory tree canopy and ground covers, mediate evaporation processes. Inspired by recent advances on modelling bare soil evaporative efficiency (SEE), this study explored SEE over a range of soil substrates and ground cover types, with and without the presence of an overstory canopy in three mesic ecosystems in Canadian Rocky Mountains. A significant relationship was found between the critical soil water content and ground cover mass fractions across various ground cover types, both with and without the presence of an overstory canopy. This relationship is expected to be prevalent across various ecosystems. Moreover, a simple approach for modelling SEE of vegetated surfaces and a correction method to account for below‐canopy SEE is also proposed. The model yields satisfactory simulations, and the approach is expected to be widely applicable, given the strength that its parameters are easily acquired, and its formulations are simple and straightforward. While the model may be particularly suited to mesic ecosystems, the underlying mechanism of SEE suggests that this model can also be applied in dryer conditions. This approach will greatly improve ET parameterization in land‐surface models (LSMs) and increase our knowledge of the global water cycle and ecosystem responses under climate change impacts.
Clinical efficacy of budesonide combined with acetylcysteine in the treatment of mycoplasma pneumonia infection
Authors: Chen Jing , Zhu Ying , Zheng Chunfeng , Zhao Wei , Liu Qi
Published: November 2023

Objective

Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia (MPP) is a common respiratory tract infectious disease in children. The study aimed to elucidate the therapeutic efficacy of aerosolized budesonide and N‐acetylcysteine combination therapy for MP infection in children.

Methods

One hundred and twenty children with MP infection were included and divided into the control group (received aerosol inhalation of budesonide) and the experimental group (aerosolized budesonide and N‐acetylcysteine). After treatment, the disappearance time of clinical symptoms and efficacy were contrasted between the two groups.

Results

With the passage of treatment time, the children's cough score of the two groups were gradually reduced. The children in the experimental group got well from the cough faster than the control group, and the difference reached a significant level on the 5th and 7th days. The time required for fever, rale, and cough to disappear in the experimental group was shorter than those in the control group. As the treatment progressed, a gradual decrease in serum interleukin‐6, tumor necrosis factor‐α, and C‐reactive protein values was detected in both groups, and the decrease was more significant in the experimental group. The total effective rate of the experimental group was 98.33%, which surpassed the control group (93.33%).

Conclusion

Budesonide and N‐acetylcysteine combination therapy in the treatment of MP infection in children has a significant effect, and can quickly relieve the clinical symptoms of children with good safety. It is worthy of widespread clinical use.
Astragalus polysaccharide ameliorates insulin resistance in HepG2 cells through activating the STAT5/IGF‐1 pathway
Authors: Yue Xinxin , Hao Wei , Wang Min , Fu Yang
Published: November 2023

Background

Insulin resistance (IR) is considered as a major factor initiating type 2 diabetes mellitus and can lead to a reduction in glucose uptake that mainly occurs in the liver. Astragalus polysaccharide (APC), extracted from the traditional Chinese medicine, has been recorded to suppress IR. However, the underlying mechanism remains inadequately explored.

Methods

IR was induced in HepG2 cells which further underwent APC treatment. Cell viability was determined by cell counting kit‐8 assay. Pretreatment with AG490, an inhibitor of signal transducer and activator of transcription 5 (STAT5) signaling, was performed for investigating the influence of STAT5 on APC. Glucose uptake level was reflected by 2‐deoxyglucose‐6‐phosphate content determined through colorimetric assay. Expression levels of insulin‐like growth factor 1 (IGF‐1), IGF‐1 receptor (IGF‐1R), phosphorylated‐STAT5/STAT5, and p‐protein kinase B (AKT)/AKT in the cells were assessed by Western blot. Radioimmunoassay (RIA) was used to detect IGF‐1 secretion in the cells.

Results

APC at doses of 10 and 20 mg increased the viability of HepG2 cells with/without IR induction, and abrogated IR‐induced inhibition of glucose intake. Meanwhile, APC (10 mg) offset IR‐induced inhibition on the expressions of IGF‐1R and IGF‐1, the activation of AKT and STAT5, and the secretion of IGF‐1 in HepG2 cells. More importantly, the reversal effect of APC on IR‐induced alterations in HepG2 cells was counteracted by AG490.

Conclusion

APC ameliorates IR in HepG2 cells through activating the STAT5/IGF‐1 pathway.
Impact of the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic on the overall respiratory viruses' transmission in a cancer care setting
Authors: Mubarak Sawsan , Alsmadi Osama , Tbakhi Abdelghani , Ata Osama Abu , Hassan Ala'a , AlGhawrie Hadeel
Published: November 2023

Introduction and Objective

The emergence of the COVID‐19 pandemic raised questions about the interaction between severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2) and other respiratory viruses. The objective of this study is to validate the impact of the SARS‐CoV‐2 pandemic and its interventional measures on the respiratory viruses' transmission/infection rates.

Methods

A retrospective chart review was conducted for cancer patients who underwent laboratory‐confirmed respiratory virus polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing from January 2018 to June 2022. COVID‐19 PCR tests from March 2020 to June 2022 were also included. Joinpoint regression analysis was applied to evaluate trends in respiratory virus rates. Statistical analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Science software.

Results

A total of 6298 respiratory virus PCRs and 40,000 COVID‐19 PCRs were performed. Data showed a significant decrease in respiratory viruses' positive cases, total respiratory tests, and respiratory viruses' activity during the pandemic period compared with the pre‐pandemic period (p = .0209, .026, and .028, respectively). The joinpoint regression analysis showed a significant decrease of 13.85% in the tested positive cases of respiratory viruses between the years 2018 and 2022. Monthly, the analysis indicated a significant decrease in the positive cases by 13.46% from December 2019 to May 2021. Weekly analysis following lockdown initiation showed a reduction in respiratory virus cases.

Conclusion

This study provides valuable insights into the interplay between COVID‐19 and other respiratory viruses, suggesting that the measures taken for COVID‐19 were effective in reducing the spread of viral respiratory infections, aiding future infection control strategies to protect vulnerable populations, including cancer patients, from seasonal respiratory infections.
Changes in intestinal flora of mice induced by rEg.P29 epitope peptide vaccines
Authors: Zhang Tingting , Lv Yongxue , Zhao Yinqi , Yang Jihui , Qian Bingshuo , Zhu Yazhou , Zhao Wei , Zhu Mingxing
Published: November 2023

Objective

Cystic echinococcosis (CE), a zoonotic parasitic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus, remains a public health and socioeconomic issue worldwide, making its prevention and treatment of vital importance. The aim of this study was to investigate changes in the intestinal microbiota of mice immunized with three peptide vaccines based on the recombinant antigen of E. granulosus, P29 (rEg.P29), with the hope of providing more valuable information for the development of vaccines against CE.

Methods

Three peptide vaccines, rEg.P29T, rEg.P29B, and rEg.P29T + B, were prepared based on rEg.P29, and a subcutaneous immunization model was established. The intestinal floras of mice in the different immunization groups were analyzed by 16 S rRNA gene sequencing.

Results

The intestinal microbiota analysis at both immunization time points revealed that Firmicutes, Bacteroidota, and Verrucomicrobiota were the predominant flora at the phylum level, while at the genus level, Akkermansia, unclassified_Muribaculaceae, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, and uncultured_rumen bacterium were the dominant genera. Some probiotics in the intestines of mice were significantly increased after immunization with the peptide vaccines, such as Lactobacillus_taiwanensis, Lactobacillus_reuteri, Lachnospiraceae_NK4A136_group, Bacteroides_acidifaciens, and so forth. Meanwhile, some harmful or conditionally pathogenic bacteria were decreased, such as Turicibacter sanguinis, Desulfovibrio_fairfieldensis, Clostridium_sp, and so forth, most of which are associated with inflammatory or infectious diseases. Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes enrichment analysis revealed that the differential flora were enriched in multiple metabolic pathways, primarily biological systems, human diseases, metabolism, cellular processes, and environmental information processing.

Conclusion

In this study, we comprehensively analyzed and compared changes in the intestinal microbiota of mice immunized with three peptide vaccines as well as their related metabolic pathways, providing a theoretical background for the development of novel vaccines against E. granulosus.
Cell‐based therapies for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis
Authors: Moghaddam Maryam Zare , Mousavi Mohammad Javad , Ghotloo Somayeh
Published: November 2023

Autoimmune diseases, including rheumatoid arthritis that is the most prevalent rheumatic autoimmune disorder, affect autologous connective tissues caused by the breakdown of the self‐tolerance mechanisms of the immune system. During the last two decades, cell‐based therapy, including stem cells and none‐stem cells has been increasingly considered as a therapeutic option in various diseases. This is partly due to the unique properties of stem cells that divide and differentiate from the specialized cells in the damaged tissue. Moreover, stem cells and none‐stem cells, impose immunomodulatory properties affecting the diseases caused by immunological abnormalities such as rheumatic autoimmune disorders. In the present review, the efficacy of cell‐based therapy with four main types of stem cells, including mesenchymal stem cells, hematopoietic stem cells, embryonic stem cells, and human amniotic membrane cells, as well as none‐stem cells, including regulatory T cells, chimeric antigen receptor T cells, and tolerogenic dendritic cells will be evaluated. Moreover, other related issues, including safety, changes in immunological parameters, suitable choice of stem cell and none‐stem cell origin, conditioning regimen, limitations, and complications will be discussed.
Ursolic acid regulates key EMT transcription factors, induces cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 breast cancer cells, an in‐vitro and in silico studies
Authors: Mallepogu Venkataswamy , Sankaran Karunakaran Reddy , Pasala Chiranjeevi , Bandi Lokesh Reddy , Maram Rajasekhar , Amineni Uma Maheswari , Meriga Balaji
Published: November 2023

Epithelial–mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a vital process in tumorigenesis and metastasis of breast cancer. In our quest to explore effective anticancer alternatives, ursolic acid (UA) was purified fromCapparis zeylanicaand investigated for its anticancer activity against MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 breast cancer cells. The apparent anticancer activity of UA on MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 cells was evident from IC50 values of 14.98 and 15.99 μg/mL, respectively, in MTT assay and also through enhanced generation of ROS. When MDA‐MB‐231 and MCF‐7 cells were treated with 20 μg/mL UA, an absolute decrease in cell viability of 47.6% and 48.6%, enhancement of 1.35% and 1.10% in early apoptosis, and 21.90% and 21.35% in late apoptosis, respectively and G0/G1phase, S phase, G2/M phase cell cycle arrest was noticed. The gene expression studies revealed that UA could significantly (p < 0.001) downregulate the expression of EMT markers such as snail, slug, and fibronectin at molecular level. Further, the obtained in vitro results of snail, slug, and fibronectin were subjected to quantum‐polarized‐ligand (QM/MM) docking, which predicted that the in silico binding affinities of these three markers are in good correlation with strong hydrogen and van der Waal interactions to UA with −53.865, −48.971 and −40.617 MMGBSA (ΔGbind) scores, respectively. The long‐range molecular dynamics (50 ns) simulations have showed more consistency by UA. These findings conclude that UA inhibits breast cancer cells growth and proliferation through regulating the expression of key EMT marker genes, and thus UA is suggested as a potential anticancer agent.
Intrinsically disordered proteins and liquid–liquid phase separation in SARS‐CoV‐2 interactomes
Authors: Vasović Lazar M. , Pavlović‐Lažetić Gordana M. , Kovačević Jovana J. , Beljanski Miloš V. , Uversky Vladimir N.
Published: November 2023

This paper discusses the properties of proteins and their relations in the interactomes of the selected subsets of SARS‐CoV‐2 proteome—the membrane protein, nonstructural proteins, and, finally, full proteome. Protein disorder according to several measures, liquid–liquid phase separation probabilities, and protein node degrees in the interaction networks were singled out as the features of interest. Additionally, viral interactomes were combined with the interactome of human lung tissue so as to examine if the new connections in the resulting viral–host interactome are linked to protein disorder. Correlation analysis shows that there is no clear relationship between raw features of interest, whereas there is a positive correlation between the protein disorder and its neighborhood mean disorder. There are also indications that highly connected viral hubs tend to be on average more ordered than proteins with a small number of connections. This is in contrast to previous similar studies conducted on eukaryotic interactomes and possibly raises new questions in research on viral interactomes.
High intramuscular adipose tissue content associated with prognosis and postoperative complications of cancers
Authors: Liu Rongqiang , Qiu Zhendong , Zhang Lilong , Ma Wangbin , Zi Liuliu , Wang Kunpeng , Kuang Tainrui , Zhao Kailiang , Wang Weixing
Published: November 2023

Sarcopenia has been considered an adverse prognostic factor in cancer patients. Intramuscular adipose tissue content, as a new marker of sarcopenia, can effectively reflect skeletal muscle quality. The aim of this study was performed to evaluate the association between high intramuscular adipose tissue content (IMAC) and survival outcomes and postoperative complications in cancer patients. Specific databases, including the Web of Science, Embase and Web of Science, were systematically searched to identify relevant articles evaluating the prognostic value of IMAC in cancer patients. Hazard ratios (HRs) or odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were utilized for comprehensive analysis. All data analyses were performed using STATA 12.0 software. A total of 25 studies from 24 articles including 5663 patients were enrolled in the study. Meta‐analysis showed that high IMAC was associated with unfavourable overall survival (OS) (HR: 2.21, 95% CI: 1.70–2.86, P < 0.001), relapse‐free survival (RFS) (HR: 1.51, 95% CI: 1.30–1.75, P < 0.001) and disease‐specific survival (DSS) (HR: 1.64, 95% CI: 1.19–2.28, P = 0.003). Subgroup analysis revealed that high IMAC remained an adverse prognostic factor when stratified by different country, treatment methods, cancer type or analysis type. High IMAC had better predictive value for gallbladder carcinoma (GBC) (HR: 3.50, 95% CI: 1.98–6.17, P < 0.001), hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) (HR: 1.84, 95% CI: 1.45–2.33, P < 0.001), pancreatic cancer (PC) (HR: 2.11, 95% CI: 1.67–2.66, P < 0.001) and colorectal cancer (CRC) (HR: 2.54, 95% CI: 1.27–5.10, P = 0.009). High IMAC was also identified as a significant risk factor for postoperative complications (OR: 2.05, 95% CI: 1.22–3.46, P = 0.007). High IMAC was associated with an adverse prognosis and an increased risk of postoperative complications in cancer patients. IMAC may be a good indicator of sarcopenia.
K2‐Hamiltonian graphs: II
Authors: Goedgebeur Jan , Renders Jarne , Wiener Gábor , Zamfirescu Carol T.
Published: November 2023

In this paper, we use theoretical and computational tools to continue our investigation of ‐hamiltoniangraphs, that is, graphs in which the removal of any pair of adjacent vertices yields a hamiltonian graph, and their interplay with ‐hamiltoniangraphs, that is, graphs in which every vertex‐deleted subgraph is hamiltonian. Perhaps surprisingly, there exist graphs that are both ‐ and ‐hamiltonian, yet non‐hamiltonian, for example, the Petersen graph. Grünbaum conjectured that every planar ‐hamiltonian graph must itself be hamiltonian; Thomassen disproved this conjecture. Here we show that even planar graphs that are both ‐ and ‐hamiltonian need not be hamiltonian, and that the number of such graphs grows at least exponentially. Motivated by results of Aldred, McKay, and Wormald, we determine for every integer that is not 14 or 17 whether there exists a ‐hypohamiltonian, that is non‐hamiltonian and ‐hamiltonian, graph of order , and characterise all orders for which such cubic graphs and such snarks exist. We also describe the smallest cubic planar graph which is ‐hypohamiltonian, as well as the smallest planar ‐hypohamiltonian graph of girth 5. We conclude with open problems and by correcting two inaccuracies from the first article.