A new evaluation model for corporate financial performance using integrated CCSD and FCM-ARAS approach

The financial performance is an indicator of financial stability, health and condition of any organisation. It could be utilised as a proper measure of the firm’s credibility and its ability to pay off debts. Financial institutions use this measure to determine the lending policy and applicants’credits. This study proposes a model based on the CCSD weighing method and hybrid FCM- ARAS approach for clustering and evaluating the financial performance to enable banks to identify target groups and design appropriate and relevant policies. Based on previous studies and the views of senior financial managers of a public bank in Iran, eight economic criteria were evaluated. The presented method was used to assess the financial performance of 58 manufacturing companies applying for loans from a federal bank in Iran. However, the CCSD method was used to calculate criteria weights, and a hybrid FCM-ARAS approach was developed and applied to financial evaluation and clustering the companies. The use of the CCSD method can eliminate errors caused by subjective models and human judgments, and increase the accuracy of the assessment. In this study, the debt ratio and equity to total assets and ROA were identified as the main criteria to assess financial performanc

Bioactive sesquiterpene lactone from Artemisia santolina

Most species of genus Artemisia L. (Compositae) are medicinal herbswith several uses in the folk medicine worldwide. In the present study, methanol extract of Artemisia santolina has been subjected for isolation of its metabolites along with evaluation of cytotoxic activity against Artemia salina larvae. The structures of the compounds determined by 1H-and 13C-NMR, HMQC, HMBC, 1H-1H COSY and Mass spectral analysis. Two sesquiterpenes, 1,5-dihydroxy- 4(15)eudesman-12,6-olid (artemin) (1), 2-hidroxy-2,6,10-trimethyl-7,10- oxide-3,11-dodecadien-5-one (2) and one flavonoid, 5,7,4'-trihydroxy-6,3'-dimethoxyflavone (jaceosidin) (3) have been successfully characterized. Cytotoxicity of the sesquiterpene lactone (1), was assessed on Artemia salina larvae and resulted in IC50 value of 6.44 μg/mL, which was more potent compared to the positive standard berberine hydrochloride (IC50 = 26 μg/mL). In this study, the separation and identification of two sesquiterpenes and one flavone from the aerial parts of A. santolina is described. Among them the compound artemin (1) showed a toxicity effect against A. salina nauplii

Global burden of 288 causes of death and life expectancy decomposition in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations, 1990–2021: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021

BACKGROUND Regular, detailed reporting on population health by underlying cause of death is fundamental for public health decision making. Cause-specific estimates of mortality and the subsequent effects on life expectancy worldwide are valuable metrics to gauge progress in reducing mortality rates. These estimates are particularly important following large-scale mortality spikes, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. When systematically analysed, mortality rates and life expectancy allow comparisons of the consequences of causes of death globally and over time, providing a nuanced understanding of the effect of these causes on global populations. METHODS The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2021 cause-of-death analysis estimated mortality and years of life lost (YLLs) from 288 causes of death by age-sex-location-year in 204 countries and territories and 811 subnational locations for each year from 1990 until 2021. The analysis used 56 604 data sources, including data from vital registration and verbal autopsy as well as surveys, censuses, surveillance systems, and cancer registries, among others. As with previous GBD rounds, cause-specific death rates for most causes were estimated using the Cause of Death Ensemble model-a modelling tool developed for GBD to assess the out-of-sample predictive validity of different statistical models and covariate permutations and combine those results to produce cause-specific mortality estimates-with alternative strategies adapted to model causes with insufficient data, substantial changes in reporting over the study period, or unusual epidemiology. YLLs were computed as the product of the number of deaths for each cause-age-sex-location-year and the standard life expectancy at each age. As part of the modelling process, uncertainty intervals (UIs) were generated using the 2·5th and 97·5th percentiles from a 1000-draw distribution for each metric. We decomposed life expectancy by cause of death, location, and year to show cause-specific effects on life expectancy from 1990 to 2021. We also used the coefficient of variation and the fraction of population affected by 90% of deaths to highlight concentrations of mortality. Findings are reported in counts and age-standardised rates. Methodological improvements for cause-of-death estimates in GBD 2021 include the expansion of under-5-years age group to include four new age groups, enhanced methods to account for stochastic variation of sparse data, and the inclusion of COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality-which includes excess mortality associated with the pandemic, excluding COVID-19, lower respiratory infections, measles, malaria, and pertussis. For this analysis, 199 new country-years of vital registration cause-of-death data, 5 country-years of surveillance data, 21 country-years of verbal autopsy data, and 94 country-years of other data types were added to those used in previous GBD rounds. FINDINGS The leading causes of age-standardised deaths globally were the same in 2019 as they were in 1990; in descending order, these were, ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lower respiratory infections. In 2021, however, COVID-19 replaced stroke as the second-leading age-standardised cause of death, with 94·0 deaths (95% UI 89·2-100·0) per 100 000 population. The COVID-19 pandemic shifted the rankings of the leading five causes, lowering stroke to the third-leading and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to the fourth-leading position. In 2021, the highest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 occurred in sub-Saharan Africa (271·0 deaths [250·1-290·7] per 100 000 population) and Latin America and the Caribbean (195·4 deaths [182·1-211·4] per 100 000 population). The lowest age-standardised death rates from COVID-19 were in the high-income super-region (48·1 deaths [47·4-48·8] per 100 000 population) and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania (23·2 deaths [16·3-37·2] per 100 000 population). Globally, life expectancy steadily improved between 1990 and 2019 for 18 of the 22 investigated causes. Decomposition of global and regional life expectancy showed the positive effect that reductions in deaths from enteric infections, lower respiratory infections, stroke, and neonatal deaths, among others have contributed to improved survival over the study period. However, a net reduction of 1·6 years occurred in global life expectancy between 2019 and 2021, primarily due to increased death rates from COVID-19 and other pandemic-related mortality. Life expectancy was highly variable between super-regions over the study period, with southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania gaining 8·3 years (6·7-9·9) overall, while having the smallest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 (0·4 years). The largest reduction in life expectancy due to COVID-19 occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean (3·6 years). Additionally, 53 of the 288 causes of death were highly concentrated in locations with less than 50% of the global population as of 2021, and these causes of death became progressively more concentrated since 1990, when only 44 causes showed this pattern. The concentration phenomenon is discussed heuristically with respect to enteric and lower respiratory infections, malaria, HIV/AIDS, neonatal disorders, tuberculosis, and measles. INTERPRETATION Long-standing gains in life expectancy and reductions in many of the leading causes of death have been disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the adverse effects of which were spread unevenly among populations. Despite the pandemic, there has been continued progress in combatting several notable causes of death, leading to improved global life expectancy over the study period. Each of the seven GBD super-regions showed an overall improvement from 1990 and 2021, obscuring the negative effect in the years of the pandemic. Additionally, our findings regarding regional variation in causes of death driving increases in life expectancy hold clear policy utility. Analyses of shifting mortality trends reveal that several causes, once widespread globally, are now increasingly concentrated geographically. These changes in mortality concentration, alongside further investigation of changing risks, interventions, and relevant policy, present an important opportunity to deepen our understanding of mortality-reduction strategies. Examining patterns in mortality concentration might reveal areas where successful public health interventions have been implemented. Translating these successes to locations where certain causes of death remain entrenched can inform policies that work to improve life expectancy for people everywhere. FUNDING Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Selective inhibition of the biosynthesis of penicillic acid.

In the present study the mould Penicillium-cyclopium was chosen as a model system, with a view to exploring the possibility of selectively inhibiting the interconversion of its metabolites, orsellinic acid and penicillic acid. This sequence necessitates a ring fission, involving cleavage of the bond linking carbon atoms 4 and 5 of orsellinic acid. This thesis is divided into three chapters: 1. A general introduction consisting of a survey of the background literature relating to the biosynthesis of penicillic acid. 2. This describes the syntheses of potential inhibitors including some derivatives of orsellinic acid. The established pathway for the preparation of orsellinic acid from ethyl acetoacetate and ethyl crotonate via bromination, hydrolysis and debromination is also evaluated, and the existing confusion in the literature concerning the bromination stage of this procedure is discussed. 3. This chapter is divided into two parts: Part one concerns an investigation of various aspects of the course of the fermentation of P. cyclopium and its relationship to the biosynthesis of penicillic acid. In addition, the recovery of the culture filtrate metabolites 3-methoxy-2,5-toluquinol and the corresponding quinone is described. Part two is devoted to a study of the feasibility of selectively inhibiting penicillic acid biosynthesis, using strategically-designed derivatives of advanced intermediates such 5-chloroorsellinic acid. The inhibitory effect of low concentrations of this inhibitor was demonstrated through a series of feeding and autoradiographic experiments, which also led to the observation of the concomitant accumulation of other metabolites, two of which were shown to be precursors of penicillic acid

Analysis of Photodegraded Lignin and Lignin Model Compounds by ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy

In this study, optical behavior of methylated and unmethylated Bjorkman lignin from poplar wood and two lignin model compound (phenolic and non phenolic) with β-O-4 linkages was investigated. First, these lignins were precipitated on a cellulosic matrix (Whatman Paper) using different times (0, 5, 10, 15, 20 h) and then matrixcovered surface was analyzed using Attenuated Total Reflectance FTIR technique. The results showed that irradiation altered the chemical structure of all samples. Lignin was the most sensitive component to photodegradation and the intensities of its characteristic bands decreased significantly during the process of irradiation. This was accompanied by formation of new carbonyl groups appearing at 1735 cm_1. Compared with the unmethylated forms, the rate of lignin degradation and carbonyl formation was relatively lower in methylated forms. In other words, methylation of phenolic hydroxyl group reduced the chemical changes induced by irradiation

New Facile Route to Synthesize Furo[3,2-<i>e</i>][1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-<i>c</i>]pyrimidine and Furo[3,2-<i>e</i>][1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-<i>c</i>]pyrimidine Derivatives

<div><p></p><p>A new facile route for synthesis of 3-(aryl)-8,9-diphenylfuro[3,2-<i>e</i>][1,2,4]triazolo pyrimidines derivative from the same starting material, 2-amino-4,5-diphenylfuran-3-carbonitrile, has been developed through heterocyclization of the corresponding arylidene-hydrazono-5,6-diphenylfuro[2,3-<i>d</i>]pyrimidine and <i>N</i>-(arylmethylene)-4-imino-5,6-diphenylfuro[2,3-<i>d</i>]pyrimidin-3(4<i>H</i>)-amine under refluxing condition with acetic anhydride followed by air oxidation. The products were obtained in good yield with an easy workup along with the purification of products by a nonchromatographic method. This general synthetic procedure can be extended to the preparation of a wide range of isomeric triazoles using 2-amino 3-carbonitrile bifunctional derivatives.</p> </div