Evolutionary Multi-Objective Design of SARS-CoV-2 Protease Inhibitor Candidates

Computational drug design based on artificial intelligence is an emerging research area. At the time of writing this paper, the world suffers from an outbreak of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. A promising way to stop the virus replication is via protease inhibition. We propose an evolutionary multi-objective algorithm (EMOA) to design potential protease inhibitors for SARS-CoV-2's main protease. Based on the SELFIES representation the EMOA maximizes the binding of candidate ligands to the protein using the docking tool QuickVina 2, while at the same time taking into account further objectives like drug-likeliness or the fulfillment of filter constraints. The experimental part analyzes the evolutionary process and discusses the inhibitor candidates.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, submitted to PPSN 202

Towards Customary Legal Empowerment

Rule of Law and Development: Formation, Implementation and Improvement of Law and Governance in Developing Countrie

Measurement of the CP-violating phase ϕ<inf>s</inf> in Bs0→J/ψϕ decays in ATLAS at 13 TeV

A measurement of the Bs0→J/ψϕ decay parameters using 80.5fb-1 of integrated luminosity collected with the ATLAS detector from 13 Te proton–proton collisions at the LHC is presented. The measured parameters include the CP-violating phase ϕs, the width difference Δ Γ s between the Bs0 meson mass eigenstates and the average decay width Γ s. The values measured for the physical parameters are combined with those from 19.2fb-1 of 7 and 8 Te data, leading to the following: ϕs=-0.087±0.036(stat.)±0.021(syst.)radΔΓs=0.0657±0.0043(stat.)±0.0037(syst.)ps-1Γs=0.6703±0.0014(stat.)±0.0018(syst.)ps-1Results for ϕs and Δ Γ s are also presented as 68% confidence level contours in the ϕs–Δ Γ s plane. Furthermore the transversity amplitudes and corresponding strong phases are measured. ϕs and Δ Γ s measurements are in agreement with the Standard Model predictions

Invasive weed species – a threat to sustainable agriculture

There are two main threats to biodiversity in the world. One of them is the direct inadvertent destruction of habitats by people which is done basically through inappropriate resource use or pollution the other highly serious but under estimated problem is the threat to natural and semi-natural habitats by invasion of alien organisms it is the lasting threat as compared to the first one because when exploitation stops the existing aliens do not disappear but continue to spread and consolidate. Our planet is quickly being taken over by hundreds of hardy aggressive species spread either knowingly or accidentally by human hands these are considered the second most significant threat to biodiversity after habitat destruction. These weeds are causing damages worth billions of dollars world wide and Pakistan being no exception. The countries rich repository of 6,000 of vesicular plants is highly threatened by a number of alien weeds among those some are worth mentioning such as Parthenium weed (Parthenium hysterophorus), Lantana (Lantana camara), Paper mulberry (Brossonetia papyrifera), Mesquet (Prosopis juliflora), Wild tamarind (Leucaena leucocephala), Khakiweed (Alternanthera pungens) etc. These weeds especially P. hysterophorus are highly noxious plant species and threatening the natural and agriculture ecosystem of the country. Parthenium is allergenic to both humans and animals and after invading Punjab is quickly moving towards NWFP. This is primarily because of unawareness about this plant and secondly that it is being constantly used in floral bouquets. Similarly there are many more in the list developed by IUCN in the year 2000 for Pakistan. Though it is difficult to manage these aggressive alien organisms but success stories have been documented regarding biological/chemical control and other integrated approaches. More over a careful revision of legislation regarding quarantine and enforcement of the same may prove useful to mitigate the threats of these weeds