Evaluation of COVID-19 protease and HIV inhibitors interactions

The epidemic of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) that started in 2019 has evoked an urgent demand for finding new potential therapeutic agents. In this study, we performed a molecular docking of anti-HIV drugs to refine HIV protease inhibitors and nucleotide analogues to target COVID-19. The evaluation was based on docking scores calculated by AutoDock Vina and top binding poses were analyzed. Our results suggested that lopinavir, darunavir, atazanavir, remdesivir, and tipranavir have the best binding affinity for the 3-chymotrypsin-like protease of COVID-19. The comparison of the binding sites of three drugs, namely, darunavir, atazanavir and remdesivir, showed an overlap region of the protein pocket. Our study showed a strong affinity between lopinavir, darunavir, atazanavir, tipranavir and COVID-19 protease. However, their efficacy should be confirmed by in vitro studies since there are concerns related to interference with their active sites

Chemical composition and antibacterial activities of essential oils from fruits of Melicope pteleifolia (Champ. Ex Benth.) T.G. Hartley grown in Lam Dong Province, Vietnam

In the present study, chemical composition and antibacterial properties of essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of the Melicope pteleifolia (Champ. ex Benth.) T.G Hartley in Dalat were evaluated. Essential oil was isolated through hydro-distillation. Twenty-nine constituents comprising 100% of the essential oil were characterized by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. The major compounds in the essential oil were (+)-Sabinene (34.73%), Cis-α-bergamotene (13.15%), Z-α-trans-bergamotol (5.28%), β-mycrene (4.98%), and 1,3,6-octatriene, 3,7-dimethyl-(4.71%). Antibacterial activities of Melicope pteleifolia essential oil were investigated against Gram-positive and-negative bacteria. Results showed significant activities against Streptococcus pyogenes and Escherichia coli using an agar well diffusion method. The application of this essential oil in preventing and eliminating bacteria could be useful in fields as medicine and cosmetics.

Chronic scrotal heat stress causes testicular interstitial inflammation and fibrosis: An experimental study in mice

Background: Chronic heat stress is a risk factor that adversely affects the reproduction system. Inflammation and fibrosis are 2 important response processes to damaged tissues. Objective: This study investigates the association of chronic scrotal heat stress with testicular interstitial inflammation and fibrosis in mice. Materials and Methods: For all experiments, 8-10 wk old male Swiss mice (Mus musculus) (20-23 gr) were divided into 3 groups (n = 10/each). The heat-stress groups were submerged in a water bath at 37°C and 40°C, while the control group was treated at 25°C. The testicular tissues underwent hematoxylin and eosin staining, picro sirius red staining, and immunohistochemistry for intercellular adhesion molecule-1, fibroblast-specific protein 1, F4/80, collagen I, and Ki-67 staining to determine the testicular interstitial inflammation and fibrosis. Results: Chronic scrotal heat stress impairs spermatogenesis and reverses testicular histological structure. In this study, heat stress significantly induced increased interstitial cell proliferation and upregulation of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 expression in the interstitial testicular tissue. In the interstitial testicular tissue, the number of F4/80-positive macrophages and the number of fibroblast-specific protein 1- positive fibroblasts were significantly increased in the heat-exposed groups compared to those in the control group. The heat exposed groups had substantially increased extracellular matrix collagen accumulation in their testicular interstitial tissues. Conclusion: Heat stress adversely affects the testicular structure and spermatogenesis, causes inflammation, and leads to testicular interstitial fibrosis. Key words: Heat stress, Testicular, Inflammation, Fibrosis

Optimizing Boiler Efficiency by Data Mining Teciques: A Case Study

In a fertilizer plant, the steam boiler is the most important component. In order to keep the plant operating in the effective mode, the boiler efficiency must be observed continuously by several operators. When the trend of the boiler efficiency is going down, they may adjust the controlling parameters of the boiler to increase its efficiency. Since manual operation usually leads to unex-pectedly mistakes and hurts the efficiency of the system, we build an information system that plays the role of the operators in observing the boiler and adjusting the controlling parameters to stabilize the boiler efficiency. In this paper, we first introduce the architecture of the information system. We then present how to apply K-means and Fuzzy C-means algorithms to derive a knowledge base from the historical operational data of the boiler. Next, recurrent fuzzy neural network is employed to build a boiler simulator for evaluating which tuple of input values is the best optimal and then automatically adjusting controlling inputs of the boiler by the optimal val-ues. In order to prove the effectiveness of our system, we deployed it at Phu My Fertilizer Plant equipped with MARCHI boiler having capacity of 76-84 ton/h. We found that our system have improved the boiler efficiency about 0.28-1.12% in average and brought benefit about 57.000 USD/year to the Phu My Fertilizer Plant

Enzimatska obrada iskorištenih listića zelenog čaja i njihova primjena u proizvodnji čajnog peciva s velikim udjelom prehrambenih vlakana

Research background. By-products of food industry have been studied as sources of high fibre and antioxidant ingredients for healthy food products, because of their economic and environmental benefits. However, the soluble dietary fibre content of these materials is usually lower than the recommended value that is claimed to bring positive health effects. Enzymatic treatment could be an efficient method for modifying insoluble and soluble dietary fibre contents of these materials. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of enzymatic treatment conditions on soluble, insoluble and total dietary fibre mass fractions in spent green tea leaves, and evaluate the quality of dough and cookies when different mass fractions of untreated and treated leaves were added to the recipe. Experimental approach. The mass fractions of soluble, insoluble and total dietary fibre in spent tea leaf powder was evaluated after the leaves were treated with cellulase amount of 0−25 U/g for 0 to 2 h. Wheat flour was replaced by untreated and treated spent tea leaf powder at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% in cookie formulation. Textural properties of dough, proximate composition, physical properties and overall acceptability of cookies were analysed. Results and conclusions. The appropriate conditions for enzymatic treatment were enzyme loading of 20 U/g and biocatalytic time of 1.5 h, under which the mass fraction of soluble dietary fibre in spent tea leaves increased by 144.5% compared to that of the control sample. The addition of spent tea leaves led to the increase in dough hardness. Increase in the spent tea leaf amount also enhanced fibre mass fraction, antioxidant activity and hardness of cookies but reduced their overall acceptability. Moreover, the enzymatic treatment of spent tea leaves improved the soluble to total dietary fibre ratio of the cookies, which influenced their textural properties and health benefits. The cookies with added 20% untreated or treated spent tea leaves were overall accepted by the panel. Novelty and scientific contribution. For the first time, spent tea leaves have been treated with enzymes to improve their soluble to total dietary fibre ratio. The treated spent tea leaves are a new promising high-fibre antioxidant ingredient for cookie preparation.Pozadina istraživanja. Nusproizvodi prehrambene industrije ispituju se iz ekonomskih i ekoloških razloga kao izvori sastojaka s velikim udjelom prehrambenih vlakana i antioksidacijskim učinkom koji se mogu upotrijebiti u proizvodnji zdrave hrane. Međutim, udjel topljivih prehrambenih vlakana u nusproizvodima je obično manji od preporučenih vrijednosti koje mogu imati pozitivan učinak na zdravlje. Enzimatska obrada bi mogla biti učinkovita metoda modificiranja netopljivih i topljivih prehrambenih vlakana iz otpada prehrambene industrije. Svrha je ovog rada bila ispitati utjecaj različitih uvjeta enzimatske obrade na masene udjele topljivih, netopljivih i ukupnih prehrambenih vlakana u iskorištenim listićima zelenog čaja, te procijeniti kakvoću tijesta i čajnog peciva s dodatkom različitih masenih udjela obrađenih i neobrađenih listića. Eksperimentalni pristup. Maseni udjeli topljivih, netopljivih i ukupnih prehrambenih vlakana u prahu od iskorištenih listića zelenog čaja mjereni su nakon njihove obrade s 0–25 U/g celulaze tijekom 0 do 2 h. U smjesi za čajno pecivo je pšenično brašno zamijenjeno s 0, 10, 20, 30 i 40 % obrađenog ili neobrađenog praha iskorištenih listića zelenog čaja. Ispitani su tekstura tijesta te kemijski sastav, fizikalna svojstva i ukupna prihvatljivost dobivenog čajnog peciva. Rezultati i zaključci. Pri povoljnim uvjetima enzimatske obrade, a to su 20 U/g enzima i vrijeme trajanja biokatalitičkog procesa od 1,5 sata, maseni udjel topljivih prehrambenih vlakana u iskorištenim listićima zelenog čaja porastao je za 144,5 % u usporedbi s kontrolnim uzorkom. Dodatkom iskorištenih listića zelenog čaja povećala se tvrdoća tijesta. Povećanjem količine listića čaja povećali su se i maseni udjel vlakana, antioksidacijska svojstva i tvrdoća čajnog peciva, ali se smanjila njihova prihvatljivost. Osim toga, enzimatskom se obradom iskorištenih listića zelenog čaja poboljšao omjer topljivih i ukupnih vlakana u čajnom pecivu, što je utjecalo na njegovu teksturu i pozitivan učinak na zdravlje. Panel ocjenjivača je okarakterizirao čajno pecivo s dodatkom 20 % obrađenih ili neobrađenih iskorištenih listića čaja kao prihvatljive. Novina i znanstveni doprinos. Prvi put je enzimatskom obradom iskorištenih listića zelenog čaja poboljšan njihov omjer topljivih i ukupnih prehrambenih vlakana. Obrađeni iskorišteni listići zelenog čaja novi su obećavajući sastojak s antioksidacijskim svojstvima koji se može upotrijebiti u pripremi čajnog peciva

When Intervention Becomes Imperative: A Case Report of Spontaneous Vulvar Edema During Pregnancy

Spontaneous idiopathic vulvar edema during the second trimester is a rare condition. The approach to managing this condition involves relieving symptoms, identifying underlying causes, and implementing appropriate treatment. Managing such cases during pregnancy is challenging because of concerns for potential adverse fetal outcomes. Conservative management expects the condition to be relieved spontaneously postpartum, whereas invasive treatment offers a more rapid resolution. Treatment choices are controversial because each method has its pros and cons and influences the delivery process to a certain extent. Surgical drainage becomes a viable option when patients are not responsive to medications. We report a case of spontaneous massive vulvar edema in a 22-year-old primigravida in her 23rd week of pregnancy. After ruling out other notable causes of vulvar edema, we decided to intervene using an invasive procedure because she complained of progressive symptoms and discomfort. Subsequently, the edema subsided postprocedure, and the patient experienced successful labor with no complications. This report aims to alert clinicians that drainage attempts should be considered in pregnant patients with worsening symptoms

A universal genome sequencing method for rotavirus A from human fecal samples which identifies segment reassortment and multi-genotype mixed infection.

BACKGROUND: Genomic characterization of rotavirus (RoV) has not been adopted at large-scale due to the complexity of obtaining sequences for all 11 segments, particularly when feces are used as starting material. METHODS: To overcome these limitations, we developed a novel RoV capture and genome sequencing method combining commercial enzyme immunoassay plates and a set of routinely used reagents. RESULTS: Our approach had a 100% success rate, producing >90% genome coverage for diverse RoV present in fecal samples (Ct < 30). CONCLUSIONS: This method provides a novel, reproducible and comparatively simple approach for genomic RoV characterization and could be scaled-up for use in global RoV surveillance systems. TRIAL REGISTRATION (PROSPECTIVELY REGISTERED): Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN88101063 . Date of registration: 14/06/2012