chemical constituents from methanolic extract of Garcinia mackeaniana leaves and their antioxidant activity

A phytochemical investigation of the methanolic extract of Garcinia mackeaniana leaves led to the isolation, and determination of five secondary metabolites, including one benzophenone 4,3',4'-trihydroxy-2,6-dimethoxybenzophenone (1), two flavone C-glucosides vitexin (2) and its 2''-O-acetyl derivative (3), one biflavone amentoflavone (4), and one mono-phenol methyl protocatechuate (5). The chemical structures of these compounds were characterized by the NMR-spectroscopic method. These isolated compounds were isolated from G. mackeaniana species for the first time. Benzophenone derivative 1 has shown to be associated with a significant IC50 value of 14.97±0.8 µg/mL in the DPPH-antioxidant assay

The validation of organisational culture assessment instrument in healthcare setting: results from a cross-sectional study in Vietnam

BACKGROUND: Organisational culture (OC) has increasingly become a crucial factor in defining healthcare practice and management. However, there has been little research validating and adapting OCAI (organisational culture assessment instrument) to assess OC in healthcare settings in developing countries, including Vietnam. The purpose of this study is to validate the OCAI in a hospital setting using key psychometric tests and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study. Self-administered structured questionnaire was completed by 566 health professionals from a Vietnamese national general hospital, the General Hospital of Quang Nam province. The psychometric tests and CFA were utilized to detect internal reliability and construct validity of the instrument. RESULTS: The Cronbach\u27s alpha coefficients (alpha-reliability statistic) ranged from 0.6 to 0.8. In current culture, the coefficient was 0.80 for clan and 0.60 for adhocracy, hierarchy and market dimension, while in expected culture, the coefficient for clan, adhocracy, hierarchy, and market dimension was 0.70, 0.70, 0.70 and 0.60, respectively. The CFA indicated that most factor loading coefficients were of moderate values ranging from 0.30 to 0.60 in both current and expected culture model. These models are of marginal good fit. CONCLUSIONS: The study findings suggest that the OCAI be of fairly good reliability and construct validity in measuring four types of organisational culture in healthcare setting in resource-constrained countries such as Vietnam. This result is a first step towards developing a valid Vietnamese version of the OCAI which can also provide a strong case for future research in the field of measuring and managing organisational culture

Gene Family Abundance Visualization based on Feature Selection Combined Deep Learning to Improve Disease Diagnosis

Advancements in machine learning in general and in deep learning in particular have achieved great success in numerous fields. For personalized medicine approaches, frameworks derived from learning algorithms play an important role in supporting scientists to investigate and explore novel data sources such as metagenomic data to develop and examine methodologies to improve human healthcare. Some challenges when processing this data type include its very high dimensionality and the complexity of diseases. Metagenomic data that include gene families often have millions of features. This leads to a further increase of complexity in processing and requires a huge amount of time for computation. In this study, we propose a method combining feature selection using perceptron weight-based filters and synthetic image generation to leverage deep-learning advancements in order to predict various diseases based on gene family abundance data. An experiment was conducted using gene family datasets of five diseases, i.e. liver cirrhosis, obesity, inflammatory bowel diseases, type 2 diabetes, and colorectal cancer. The proposed method provides not only visualization for gene family abundance data but also achieved a promising performance level

Cytotoxic naphthoquinones from Diospyros fleuryana leaves

In the search for anti-cancer plants in Vietnam, the leaves of Diospyros fleuryana were selected for chemical investigation. Phytochemical analysis of the ethyl acetate (EtOAc) extract led to the isolation of two naphthoquinones isodiospyrin (1), and 8'-hydroxyisodiospyrin (2), and one isoflavone 7-O-methylbiochanin A (3). The chemical structures of isolated compounds were determined by 1D-NMR (1H, and 13C-NMR), 2D-NMR spectra (HSQC, and HMBC), and MS spectroscopy. Compound 3 was isolated from genus Diospyros for the first time. Regarding the strong IC50 values of 2.27, and 8.0 µM against KB, and Hep cell lines respectively, cytotoxic examination suggested that compound 2 is a promising agent in anti-cancer treatment.Â

Soybean yield, seed quality and thresh efficiency by mechanisation at different harvesting stages and postharvest ripening

This study determined the most appropriate and earliest soybean harvesting stage and the number of days of postharvest ripening with minimal effects on seed losses and quality when mechanical harvest and threshing were applied. Harvesting stages at four physiological maturities (60, 70, 80, and 90%) and various days of postharvest ripening treatment (1, 2, and 3 days) were applied for two soybean varieties DT12 and DT26. Harvesting at physiological maturity of 90% recorded the highest seed-shattering loss but the least seed damage (<5%) and highest seed quality, followed by a physiological maturity of 80%. There were no significant differences in seed yields between harvesting stages of 80 and 90% maturity. Harvesting soybeans at a physiological maturity of 60 and 70% resulted in no seed losses but a significant reduction in seed quality. To avoid adverse weather, an early harvest stage at a physiological maturity of 80% is suggested. Although postharvest ripening of soybeans for early harvest caused seed shattering losses (2-5%), it was necessary to ensure seed quality. These results indicate effective and practical methods for farmers at small households to use in early mechanical harvesting of soybeans

Efficient methane dry reforming process with low nickel loading for greenhouse gas mitigation

In this study, a series of nickels supported on gamma alumina with a metal dosage ranging from 0.5 to 3 wt.% were prepared and employed as the catalysts. The effect of nickel dosage on material properties, reaction performance, and catalyst deactivation was investigated. At a low dosage, the nickel-free having low metal-support interaction contributed significantly to the total active site. The basicity of the material was enhanced along with the increase in nickel loading. The presence of active metal showed a great impact at the beginning leading to big improvements in feedstock conversion. However, beyond a nickel dosage of 2 wt.%, further additions did not noticeably influence the reaction performance. Regarding catalyst deactivation, different carbon species were observed on catalyst surface, depending on the nickel dosage. Catalysts with less than 2 wt.% nickel exhibited amorphous carbon as the dominant morphology on the spent catalyst. In contrast, catalysts with 2Ni/Al2O3 and 3Ni/Al2O3 compositions showed graphitic carbon as the main side product. These findings provide insights into the relationship between nickel dosage, catalyst properties, and catalytic performance in methane dry reforming. By understanding the effects of nickel loading on material properties and reaction behavior, researchers can optimize catalyst design and develop more efficient and stable catalysts for sustainable syngas production

Carbon dioxide reforming of methane over modified iron-cobalt alumina catalyst : Role of promoter

Cobalt-based catalysts are widely employed in methane dry reforming but tend to deactivate quickly due to coke deposits and metal sintering. To enhance the performance, iron, a cost-effective promoter, is added, improving cobalt's metal dispersibility, reducibility, and basicity on the support. This addition accelerates carbon gasification, effectively inhibiting coke deposition. Methods: A series of iron-doped cobalt alumina MFe-5Co/Al2O3 (M= 0, 0.4, 0.8, 1, 2 wt.%) were prepared via simple incipient-wetness impregnation. The catalysts were thoroughly characterized via modern techniques including BET, XRD, H2-TPR, CO2-TPD. Significant findings: The addition of iron had a minimal impact on the properties of γ-Al2O3, but it significantly affected the dispersibility of cobalt. At an optimal dosage of 0.8 wt.%, there was a notable decrease of 29.44% in Co3O4 particle size. However, excessive iron loading induced agglomeration of Co3O4, which was reversible. The presence of iron also resulted in a decrease in the reduction temperature of Co3O4. The material's basicity was primarily influenced by the loading of iron, reaching its highest value of 705.7 μmol CO2 g−1 in the 2Fe-5Co/Al2O3. The correlation between catalytic activity and the physicochemical properties of the material was established. The 0.8Fe-5Co/Al2O3 sample exhibited excellent performance due to the favorable dispersibility of cobalt, its reducibility, and its affordable basicity

Challenges and Opportunities for the Future of iCampuses

Meeting the educational needs of students currently requires moving towardcollaborative electronic and mobile learning systems that parallel the vision ofWeb 2.0. However, factors such as data freedom, brokerage, interconnectivityand the Internet of Things add to a vision for Web 3.0 that will require con-sideration in the development of future campus-based, distance and vocationalstudy. So, education can, in future, be expected to require deeper technologicalconnections between students and learning environments, based on significantuse of sensors, mobile devices, cloud computing and rich-media visualization.Therefore, we discuss challenges associated with such a futuristic campus con-text, including how learning materials and environments may be enriched byit. As an additional novel element the potential for much of that enrichmentto be realized through development by students, within the curriculum, is alsoconsidered. We will conclude that much of the technology required to embracethe vision of Web 3.0 in education already exists, but that further research inkey areas is required for the concept to achieve its full potential