Prediction of anti-Alzheimer’s activity of flavonoids targeting acetylcholinesterase in silico

Introduction – Prenylated and pyrano-flavonoids of the genus Artocarpus J. R. Forster & G. Forster are well known for their acetylcholinesterase (AchE) inhibitory, anticholinergic, antiinflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiproliferative and tyrosinase inhibitory activities. Some of these compounds have also been shown to be effective against Alzheimer’s disease. Objective – The aim of the in silico study was to establish protocols to predict the most effective flavonoid from prenylated and pyrano-flavonoid classes for AchE inhibition linking to the potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Methodology – Three flavonoids isolated from Artocarpus anisophyllus Miq. were selected for the study. With these compounds, Lipinski filter, ADME/Tox screening, molecular docking and QSAR were performed in silico. In vitro activity was evaluated by bioactivity staining based on the Ellman’s method. Results – In the Lipinski filter and ADME/Tox screening, all test compounds produced positive results, but in the target fishing, only one flavonoid could successfully target AchE. Molecular docking was performed on this flavonoid, and this compound gained the score as -13.5762. From the QSAR analysis the IC50 was found to be 1659.59 nM. Again, 100 derivatives were generated from the parent compound and docking was performed. The derivative number 20 was the best scorer i.e., -31.6392 and IC50 was predicted as 6.025 nM. Conclusion – Results indicated that flavonoids could be efficient inhibitors of AchE and thus, could be useful in the management of Alzheimer’s disease

Medicinal formulations of a Kanda tribal healer – a tribe on the verge of disappearance in Bangladesh

The Kanda tribe is one of the lesser known small tribes of Bangladesh with an estimated population of about 1700 people (according to them), and on the verge of extinction as a separate entity. To some extent, they have assimilated with the surrounding mainstream Bengali-speaking population, but they still maintain their cultural practices including traditional medicinal practices, for which they have their own tribal healers. Nothing at all has been documented thus far about their traditional medicinal practices and formulations, which are on the verge of disappearance. The Kanda tribe can be found only in scattered tea gardens of Sreemangal in Sylhet district of Bangladesh; dispersion of the tribe into small separated communities isalso contributing to the fast losing of traditional medicinal practices. The objective of the present study was to conduct an ethnomedicinal survey among the traditional healers of the Kanda tribe (in fact, only one such healer was found after extensive searches). Information was collected from the healer with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire and the guided field-walk method. A total of 24 formulations were obtained from the healer containing 34 plants including two plants, which could not beidentified. Besides medicinal plants, the Kanda healer also used the body hairs of the Asiatic black bear (Ursus thibetanus) and bats (Pteropus giganteus giganteus) in one of his formulation for treatment of fever with shivering. The ailments treated by the Kanda healer were fairly common ailments like cuts and wounds, skin diseases, helminthiasis, fever,  respiratory problems (coughs, asthma), gastrointestinal disorders (stomach pain, constipation, diarrhea), burning sensations during urination, various types of pain (headache, body ache, toothache, ear ache), conjunctivitis, poisonous snake, insect or reptile bites, jaundice, andbone fractures. A number of important drugs in allopathic medicine like quinine, artemisinin, and morphine (to name only a few) have been discovered from observing indigenous medicinal practices. From that view point, the formulations used by the Kanda healer merit scientific studies for their potential in the discovery of cheap and effective new drugs. Scientific validation of the medicinal formulations of the Kanda healer can also be effective for treatment of ailments among this tribe, which does not have or does not want to have any contact with modern medicine

Phytochemical profiling and evaluation of modified resazurin microtiter plate assay of the roots of Trillium govanianum

Trillium govanianum Wall. ex D. Don (Melanthiaceae alt. Trilliaceae), is native to the Himalayas. The present study, for the first time, was undertaken to explore the antimicrobial potential, to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values of the methanol extract of the roots of Trillium govanianum and its solid phase extraction (SPE) fractions by using resazurin microtiter assay (REMA) against Gram positive and Gram negative bacterial registered strains and to carry out phytochemical analysis. The remarkable amount of gallic acid equivalent phenolic and quercetin equivalent flavonoid content was manifested by MeOH extract (20.27±3.03 mg GAE/ g DW and 9.25± 0.50 mg QE/ g DW respectively). The GC/MS analysis revealed the presence saturated and unsaturated components. Considerable level of antibacterial potential against Gram-positive bacteria (MIC: 2.5-0.009 mg/mL) than against Gram-negative bacteria (MIC: 2.5-0.165 mg/mL). The use of microtiter plates has the advantage of lower cost, fast and quantitative results

High-level production of violacein by the newly isolated Duganella violaceinigra str. NI28 and its impact on Staphylococcus aureus

A violacein-producing bacterial strain was isolated and identified as a relative of Duganella violaceinigra YIM 31327 based upon phylogenetic analyses using the 16S rRNA, gyrB and vioA gene sequences and a fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) analysis. This new strain was designated D. violaceinigra str. NI28. Although these two strains appear related based upon these analyses, the new isolate was phenotypically different from the type strain as it grew 25% faster on nutrient media and produced 45-fold more violacein. When compared with several other violacein producing strains, including Janthinobacterium lividum, D. violaceinigra str. NI28 was the best violacein producer. For instance, the crude violacein yield with D. violaceinigra str. NI28 was 6.0 mg/OD at 24 hours, a value that was more than two-fold higher than all the other strains. Finally, the antibacterial activity of D. violaceinigra str. NI28 crude violacein was assayed using several multidrug resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Addition of 30 mu M crude violacein led to a 96% loss in the initial S. aureus population while the minimum inhibitory concentration was 1.8 mu M. Consequently, this novel isolate represents a phenotypic variant of D. violaceinigra capable of producing much greater quantities of crude violacein, an antibiotic effective against multidrug resistant S. aureusopen

Epidemiology of H. pylori and its relation with gastrointestinal disorders, a community-based study in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Helicobacter pylori infection is common worldwide and its prevalence is higher in the developing countries. Earlier studies in using urea breath test showed a high prevalence (67%) of H. pylori in early childhood in Bangladesh. Data on H. pylori prevalence using bacterial culture is limited in Bangladesh. The aim of the study was to investigate the prevalence of H. pylori in Bangladeshi subjects using bacterial culture. We also determined the prevalence of infection among different age groups and find out the correlation between the prevalence of H. pylori and the related sociodemographic parameters. A cross-sectional study was conducted among randomly selected households from a peri-urban community in Dhaka, Bangladesh to get an idea about H. pylori status in the lower socioeconomic area. Sociodemographic and clinical information and stool specimen for screening H. pylori infection by stool antigen test were collected. Gastric biopsy was collected for culture from those positive in stool antigen test. A total of 287 subjects were screened by stool antigen test, of them, 92.7% were positive for stool antigen test. Of 259 stool antigen positive sample, 59.1% (n=153) were H. pylori culture positive. Our data suggest that H. pylori infection is significantly associated with age and smoking habit (P value <0.05). In addition, dyspeptic symptoms are significantly higher in H. pylori culture positive subjects than the H. pylori culture negative subjects. Endoscopic examination suggests that the gastroesophageal pathologies are significantly associated (P value <0.05) and duodenal pathologies are moderately associated (P value 0.059) with H. pylori infection. So, H. pylori culture test is auspicating the significant colonization that might lead to pathological outcomes

Enhancing prediction accuracy of Remaining Useful Life in lithium-ion batteries: A deep learning approach with Bat optimizer

Remaining Useful Life (RUL) prediction in lithium-ion batteries is crucial for assessing battery performance. Despite the popularity of deep learning methods for RUL prediction, their complex architectures often pose challenges in interpretation and resource consumption. We propose a novel approach that combines the interpretability of a convolutional neural network (CNN) with the efficiency of a bat-based optimizer. CNN extracts battery data features and characterizes degradation kinetics, while the optimizer refines CNN parameters. Tested on NASA PCoE data, our method achieves exceptional results with minimal computational burden and fewer parameters. It outperforms traditional approaches, yielding an R2-score of 0.9987120, an MAE of 0.004397067 Ah, and a low RMSE of 0.00656 Ah. The proposed model outperforms traditional deep learning models, as confirmed by comparative analysis

Chalcones: Synthetic Chemistry Follows Where Nature Leads

Chalcones belong to the flavonoid class of phenolic compounds. They form one of the largest groups of bioactive natural products. The potential anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, and antiparasitic properties of naturally occurring chalcones, and their unique chemical structural features inspired the synthesis of numerous chalcone derivatives. In fact, structural features of chalcones are easy to construct from simple aromatic compounds, and it is convenient to perform structural modifications to generate functionalized chalcone derivatives. Many of these synthetic analogs were shown to possess similar bioactivities as their natural counterparts, but often with an enhanced potency and reduced toxicity. This review article aims to demonstrate how bioinspired synthesis of chalcone derivatives can potentially introduce a new chemical space for exploitation for new drug discovery, justifying the title of this article. However, the focus remains on critical appraisal of synthesized chalcones and their derivatives for their bioactivities, linking to their interactions at the biomolecular level where appropriate, and revealing their possible mechanisms of action

Enhancing security of Internet of Robotic Things: A review of recent trends, practices, and recommendations with encryption and blockchain techniques

The Internet of Robotic Things (IoRT) integrates robots and autonomous devices, transforming industries such as manufacturing, healthcare, and transportation. However, security vulnerabilities in IoRT systems pose significant challenges to data privacy and system integrity. To address these issues, encryption is essential for protecting sensitive data transmitted between devices. By converting data into ciphertext, encryption ensures confidentiality and integrity, reducing the risk of unauthorized access and data breaches. Blockchain technology also enhances IoRT security by offering decentralized, tamper-proof data storage solutions. By offering comprehensive insights, practical recommendations, and future directions, this paper aims to contribute to the advancement of knowledge and practice in securing interconnected robotic systems, thereby ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of data exchanged within IoRT ecosystems. Through a thorough examination of encryption requisites, scopes, and current implementations in IoRT, this paper provides valuable insights for researchers, engineers, and policymakers involved in IoRT security efforts. By integrating encryption and blockchain technologies into IoRT systems, stakeholders can foster a secure and dependable environment, effectively manage risks, bolster user confidence, and expedite the widespread adoption of IoRT across diverse sectors. The findings of this study underscore the critical role of encryption and blockchain technology in IoRT security enhancement and highlight potential avenues for further exploration and innovation. Furthermore, this paper suggests future research areas, such as threat intelligence and analytics, security by design, multi-factor authentication, and AI for threat detection. These recommendations support ongoing innovation in securing the evolving IoRT landscape

Global, regional, and national comparative risk assessment of 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or clusters of risks for 195 countries and territories, 1990–2017 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017

Background: The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2017 comparative risk assessment (CRA) is a comprehensive approach to risk factor quantification that offers a useful tool for synthesising evidence on risks and risk outcome associations. With each annual GBD study, we update the GBD CRA to incorporate improved methods, new risks and risk outcome pairs, and new data on risk exposure levels and risk outcome associations. Methods: We used the CRA framework developed for previous iterations of GBD to estimate levels and trends in exposure, attributable deaths, and attributable disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs), by age group, sex, year, and location for 84 behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risks or groups of risks from 1990 to 2017. This study included 476 risk outcome pairs that met the GBD study criteria for convincing or probable evidence of causation. We extracted relative risk and exposure estimates from 46 749 randomised controlled trials, cohort studies, household surveys, census data, satellite data, and other sources. We used statistical models to pool data, adjust for bias, and incorporate covariates. Using the counterfactual scenario of theoretical minimum risk exposure level (TMREL), we estimated the portion of deaths and DALYs that could be attributed to a given risk. We explored the relationship between development and risk exposure by modelling the relationship between the Socio-demographic Index (SDI) and risk-weighted exposure prevalence and estimated expected levels of exposure and risk-attributable burden by SDI. Finally, we explored temporal changes in risk-attributable DALYs by decomposing those changes into six main component drivers of change as follows: (1) population growth; (2) changes in population age structures; (3) changes in exposure to environmental and occupational risks; (4) changes in exposure to behavioural risks; (5) changes in exposure to metabolic risks; and (6) changes due to all other factors, approximated as the risk-deleted death and DALY rates, where the risk-deleted rate is the rate that would be observed had we reduced the exposure levels to the TMREL for all risk factors included in GBD 2017. Findings: In 2017,34.1 million (95% uncertainty interval [UI] 33.3-35.0) deaths and 121 billion (144-1.28) DALYs were attributable to GBD risk factors. Globally, 61.0% (59.6-62.4) of deaths and 48.3% (46.3-50.2) of DALYs were attributed to the GBD 2017 risk factors. When ranked by risk-attributable DALYs, high systolic blood pressure (SBP) was the leading risk factor, accounting for 10.4 million (9.39-11.5) deaths and 218 million (198-237) DALYs, followed by smoking (7.10 million [6.83-7.37] deaths and 182 million [173-193] DALYs), high fasting plasma glucose (6.53 million [5.23-8.23] deaths and 171 million [144-201] DALYs), high body-mass index (BMI; 4.72 million [2.99-6.70] deaths and 148 million [98.6-202] DALYs), and short gestation for birthweight (1.43 million [1.36-1.51] deaths and 139 million [131-147] DALYs). In total, risk-attributable DALYs declined by 4.9% (3.3-6.5) between 2007 and 2017. In the absence of demographic changes (ie, population growth and ageing), changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs would have led to a 23.5% decline in DALYs during that period. Conversely, in the absence of changes in risk exposure and risk-deleted DALYs, demographic changes would have led to an 18.6% increase in DALYs during that period. The ratios of observed risk exposure levels to exposure levels expected based on SDI (O/E ratios) increased globally for unsafe drinking water and household air pollution between 1990 and 2017. This result suggests that development is occurring more rapidly than are changes in the underlying risk structure in a population. Conversely, nearly universal declines in O/E ratios for smoking and alcohol use indicate that, for a given SDI, exposure to these risks is declining. In 2017, the leading Level 4 risk factor for age-standardised DALY rates was high SBP in four super-regions: central Europe, eastern Europe, and central Asia; north Africa and Middle East; south Asia; and southeast Asia, east Asia, and Oceania. The leading risk factor in the high-income super-region was smoking, in Latin America and Caribbean was high BMI, and in sub-Saharan Africa was unsafe sex. O/E ratios for unsafe sex in sub-Saharan Africa were notably high, and those for alcohol use in north Africa and the Middle East were notably low. Interpretation: By quantifying levels and trends in exposures to risk factors and the resulting disease burden, this assessment offers insight into where past policy and programme efforts might have been successful and highlights current priorities for public health action. Decreases in behavioural, environmental, and occupational risks have largely offset the effects of population growth and ageing, in relation to trends in absolute burden. Conversely, the combination of increasing metabolic risks and population ageing will probably continue to drive the increasing trends in non-communicable diseases at the global level, which presents both a public health challenge and opportunity. We see considerable spatiotemporal heterogeneity in levels of risk exposure and risk-attributable burden. Although levels of development underlie some of this heterogeneity, O/E ratios show risks for which countries are overperforming or underperforming relative to their level of development. As such, these ratios provide a benchmarking tool to help to focus local decision making. Our findings reinforce the importance of both risk exposure monitoring and epidemiological research to assess causal connections between risks and health outcomes, and they highlight the usefulness of the GBD study in synthesising data to draw comprehensive and robust conclusions that help to inform good policy and strategic health planning

Trade and conservation implications of new beak and feather disease virus detection in native and introduced parrots

Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD), caused by Beak and feather disease virus (BFDV), has spread rapidly around the world, raising concerns for threatened species conservation and biosecurity risks associated with the global pet bird trade. BFDV has been reported in several wild parrot populations, but data is lacking for many taxa and geographical areas with high parrot endemism. This data deficit impedes the development of strategies to mitigate the threats posed by BFDV. We aimed to advance understanding of BFDV distribution in many data deficient areas and determine phylogenetic and biogeographic associations of the virus from five parrot species in Africa, the Indian Ocean islands, Asia and Europe. BFDV was detected in eight countries where it was not known to occur previously, indicating the virus is more widely distributed than currently recognised. We document for the first time the presence of BFDV in wild populations of the highly traded and invasive Psittacula krameri within its native range in Asia and Africa. BFDV was detected among introduced 15 P. krameri on the Indian Ocean islands of Mauritius and the Seychelles, raising concerns for island endemic species in the region. Examination of the phylogenetic relationships between viral sequences, including those detected among wild-sourced parrots seized from illegal trade in Western Africa, revealed likely pathways of transmission between populations. A close degree of phylogenetic relatedness between viral variants from geographically distant populations suggests recent introductions, likely driven by global trade. These findings highlight the need for effective regulation of international trade in live parrots, particularly in regions with high parrot endemism or vulnerable taxa where P. krameri could act as a reservoir host