Flipped classroom and psycholinguistic factors : an evaluation

Psycholinguistic factors, i.e., motivation, foreign language anxiety, and self-confidence, affect adult EFL learners’ learning process in a major way, positively or negatively. Research studies show that in a conventional classroom setup psycholinguistic factors affect the learning process of a large number of adult EFL learners negatively because their motivation and self-confidence are low while their foreign language anxiety is high. In the present research study, a survey was conducted with pre-university students in Saudi Arabia who were taught English as a foreign language using Flipped Classroom Model (FCM) as a pedagogy approach. The objective of this investigation was to measure the degree of impact of psycholinguistic factors on the language learning process of students learning English through an unconventional pedagogic approach, that is, Flipped Classroom Model. The results indicate that the teaching approach, even if being highly learner-centred, hardly makes any significant difference to learners’ anxiety, motivation, or self-confidence as regards learning English as a foreign language. However, in comparison to the conventional classroom environment, a slightly less number of learners reported the influence of affective factors on their English learning process under the FCM approach

Computational study and in vitro evaluation of the anti-proliferative activity of novel naproxen derivatives

In the present work, five naproxen derivatives, i.e., 3-amino-(4E)-5-imino-1-[2-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)propanoyl]-4-(benzylidene)-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole (a), 3-amino-(4E)-5-imino-1-[2-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)propanoyl]-4-(4-bromobenzylidene)-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole (b), 3-amino-(4E)-5-imino-1-[2-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)-propanoyl]-4-(4-methoxybenzylidene)-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole (c), 3-amino-(4E)-5-imino-1-[2-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)propanoyl]-4-(4-methylbenzylidene)-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole (d), 3-amino-(4E)-5-imino-1-[2-(6-methoxy-2-naphthyl)propanoyl]-4-(4-nitrobenzylidene)-4,5-dihydro-1H-pyrazole (e) were synthesized then characterized by FTIR, 1H and 13C NMR techniques. The ground state geometries were optimized by B3LYP functional of density functional theory (DFT) with three different basis sets (6-31G∗, 6-31G∗∗ and 6-31+G∗∗). The absorption wavelengths, oscillator strengths and major transitions were calculated using time dependent DFT. The effect of electron withdrawing groups (–NO2 and –Br) and electron donating groups (–CH3 and –OCH3) was intensively studied with respect to structure–activity relationship (SAR), quantitative structure–activity relationship (QSAR), frontier molecular orbitals (FMOs), molecular electrostatic potentials (MEP) and global reactivity descriptors. By the analysis of molecular docking work, it was found that pure hydrophobic substitution at position 4 of aldehyde part is more favorable than hydrophilic one. Compound c showed strong anti-proliferative activity against MCF-7 cells with IC50 value of 1.49 μM, and compound d showed moderate activity. The docking studies revealed that normal alkane chain is improving the biological activity in compound c, which endorsed to bury well in the active site resulting to enhance the hydrophobic interactions. The newly synthesized compounds against tested cell lines showed stronger antiproliferative activity as compared to the naproxen

Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of 1,2,3-Triazole Tethered Thymol-1,3,4-Oxadiazole Derivatives as Anticancer and Antimicrobial Agents

A library of 1,2,3-triazole-incorporated thymol-1,3,4-oxadiazole derivatives (6–18) hasbeen synthesized and tested for anticancer and antimicrobial activities. Compounds 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11 exhibited significant antiproliferative activity. Among these active derivatives, compound 2-(4-((5-((2-isopropyl-5-methylphenoxy)methyl)-1,3,4-oxadiazol-2-ylthio)methyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)phenol (9) was the best compound against all three tested cell lines, MCF-7 (IC50 1.1 μM), HCT-116 (IC50 2.6 μM), and HepG2 (IC50 1.4 μM). Compound 9 was found to be better than the standard drugs, doxorubicin and 5-fluorouracil. These compounds showed anticancer activity through thymidylate synthase inhibition as they displayed significant TS inhibitory activity with IC50 in the range 1.95–4.24 μM, whereas the standard drug, Pemetrexed, showed IC50 7.26 μM. The antimicrobial results showed that some of the compounds (6, 7, 9, 16, and 17) exhibited good inhibition on Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus). The molecular docking and simulation studies supported the anticancer and antimicrobial data. It can be concluded that the synthesized 1,2,3-triazole tethered thymol-1,3,4-oxadiazole conjugates have both antiproliferative and antimicrobial potential

The knowledge regarding the impacts and management of black triangles among dental professionals and laypeople

Abstract This study aimed to assess the knowledge regarding impacts, causes and management of black triangles (BT) among participants from different educational backgrounds including dental students, dentists and laypeople. This descriptive cross-sectional observational research included 435 participants who comprised 4 groups: pre-clinical (3rd year) dental students, clinical (4th and 5th year) dental students, dentists, and laypeople. A constructed self-reported questionnaire was utilized to assess participants’ demographic data and their knowledge of the impacts, causes and management of BT. The VAS scale was used to assess participants’ ratings for the impacts of BT on esthetics, with 0 meaning no impact and 10 meaning very severe negative impacts. The most reported treatments for BT were “cannot be treated” 99.3% and “non-surgical periodontal treatment” 67.1%. Meanwhile, the least reported was “modify the porcelain” 41.8%. The most reported cause of BT was “periodontal disease” 85.1%. However, the least reported were “parafunction” and “deep implants” 33.1% each. Dental professionals had better knowledge of the causes (t = 8.189, P < 0.001) and management (t = 8.289, P < 0.001) of BT than the non-dental participants. The dentists had the best knowledge, while the laypeople had the least knowledge of the causes (F = 62.056, P < 0.001) and treatment (F = 46.120, P < 0.001) of BT. The knowledge of the causes (t = 0.616, P = 0.538) and treatment (t = 1.113, P = 0.266) for BT was not significantly different between males and females. Age was not significantly related to the total knowledge about the causes (r = −0.034, P = 0.475) or treatment (r = −0.034, P = 0.482) for BT. Dental professionals had better knowledge of the impacts, causes and management of BT than the non-dental participants. The dentists were the best, while the laypeople were the worst in this regard. Age and gender had no relationships with the knowledge of causes or management of BT

Chemical Characterization of Honey and Its Effect (Alone as well as with Synthesized Silver Nanoparticles) on Microbial Pathogens&rsquo; and Human Cancer Cell Lines&rsquo; Growth

The antibacterial, anticancer, and wound-healing effects of honey can vary according to the type, geographical region, honey bee species, and source of the flowers. Nanotechnology is an innovative and emerging field of science with an enormous potential role in medical, cosmetics, and industrial usages globally. Metal nanoparticles that derived from silver and range between 1 nm and 100 nm in size are called silver nanoparticles (AgNPs). Much advanced research AgNPs has been conducted due to their potential antibacterial and anticancer activity, chemical stability, and ease of synthesis. The purpose of the present study was to explore the physicochemical properties of honey and the potential to use forest honey to synthesize AgNPs as well as to appraise the nanoparticles&rsquo; antimicrobial and anticancer effects. Here, we used three different percentages of forest honey (20%, 40%, and 80%) as biogenic mediators to synthesize AgNPs at room temperature. The development of AgNPs was confirmed by color change (to the naked eye) and ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy studies, respectively. The absorbance peak obtained between 464 to 4720 nm validated both the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band and the formation of AgNPs. Regarding the sugar profile, the contents of maltose and glucose were lower than the content of fructose. In addition, the results showed that the SPR band of AgNPs increased as the percentage of forest honey increased due to the elevation of the concentration of the bio-reducing agent. A bacterial growth kinetic assay indicated the strong antibacterial efficacy of honey with silver nanoparticles against each tested bacterial strain. Honey with nanotherapy was the most effective against hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG2) and colon cancer (HCT 116) cells, with IC50s of 23.9 and 27.4 &micro;g/mL, respectively, while being less effective against breast adenocarcinoma cells (MCF-7), with an IC50 of 32.5 &micro;g/mL