Insight into chromium adsorption from contaminated soil using Mg/Al LDH-zeolite.

The study investigated the effectiveness of Mg/Al LDH-zeolite (MALZ) in immobilizing exchangeable Cr (e-Cr) within the soil. The research systematically evaluated various variables affecting the immobilization of e-Cr in contaminated soil (CS), including soil pH levels (ranging from 5.0 to 9.0), different weight ratios of MALZ (1 %, 3 %, and 5 %), durations of differing incubation periods (15, 30 and 45 days), and different SM content levels (30 %, 50 %, and 70 %). The initial concentration of Cr in the CS was maintained at 50 mg/kg. The investigation findings revealed that the optimal conditions for immobilizing the e-Cr were a soil pH of 5.0, an MALZ weight ratio of 3 %, an incubation period of 30 days, and an SM level of 70 %. Under these ideal conditions, the percentage of e-Cr within the CS decreased significantly, from 87.49 % (45.64 mg/kg) in the control treatment (CT) to just 19.82 % (10.08 mg/kg) when incubated with MALZ. The primary mechanisms responsible for immobilizing the e-Cr onto MALZ included pore filling, reduction processes, co-precipitation, organic interactions and electrostatic attractions leading to the formation of carbonate-bound complexes such as Cr(VI)-carbonate, Cr(III)-carbonate, and organic complexes. Surface functional groups on MALZ, housing iron and aluminium oxyhydroxides and silicon and oxygen elements, expedited these procedures. This study provided a valuable understanding of the mitigation of soils contaminated with chromium and contributed to understanding the relations between MALZ and the e-Cr in the soil. The discoveries carry substantial consequences for the advancement of efficient remediation technologies.

Unemployed, Immigrant, and Older Asian Workers in a U.S.-Based Job-Training Program: Their Experiences and Well-Being, and Strategies for Reaching This Important Population.

The Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) is a U.S.-based job-training program that serves unemployed workers aged 55 and older with incomes at or below 125% of the federal poverty level. While federal funds are set aside to serve Asian workers in SCSEP, little is known about their characteristics and experiences. In response, this pilot study aimed to document the health, well-being, and experiences of older Asian SCSEP participants in Massachusetts through the completion of a survey. Respondents (N = 39) ranged in age from 58 to 73 and identified as either Chinese (72%) or Vietnamese (28%). All were immigrants, and almost all spoke a language other than English at home. Most reported "good" health as well as financial difficulties. They also stated that their supervisors in their placements were supportive. On average, respondents noted moderate interest in searching for a paid job after exiting SCSEP, although more reported interest in searching for a volunteer role. Key to the success of this study was a robust collaboration with a local human services organization with strong ties to the Chinese and Vietnamese communities. The findings highlight the importance of this growing group of older workers.

Phytochemical constituents from the rhizomes of Kaempferia parviflora Wall. ex Baker and their acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity.

Phytochemical study on the rhizomes of Kaempferia parviflora led to the isolation of twenty-three compounds including six phenolic glycosides (1-6), thirteen flavones (7-19), and five phenolic compounds (20-23). Of these, the new compounds were determined to be 2,4-dihydroxy-6-methoxyacetophenone-2-ß-D-apiofuranosyl-(1→6)-ß-D-glucopyranoside (1), 2-hydroxy-4-propionyl-phenyl O-ß-D-glucopyranoside (2), and 4-hydroxy-3,5-dimethoxyacetophenone 8-O-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→6)-ß-D-glucopyranoside (3) and named as kaempanosides A-C, respectively. Their chemical structures were established based on HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR spectra. All compounds 1-23 exhibited acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity with IC50 values ranging from 57.76 to 253.31 µM.

Synthesis of CoWO4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction for the efficient photodegradation of diazinon with the addition of H2O2.

Pesticides are on the list of substances that are routinely monitored by agencies and organizations in various natural environments and habitats. Diazinon (DZN) is the active ingredient in more than 20 agricultural pesticides, it causes the most damage and has been prohibited in many countries around the world. The final product CoWO4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction was successfully synthesized in this work, where CoWO4 nanoparticles were deposited on the surface of g-C3N4. CoWO4/g-C3N4 structure allowed for the efficient separation of photo-generated electron-hole pairs, with electrons at the CoWO4 CB migrating to the g-C3N4 VB and preserving the electrons at the g-C3N4 CB and holes in the CoWO4 VB. The photodegradation efficiency of DZN using CoWO4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction was investigated, as compared with its precursors, such as CoWO4, and g-C3N4. CoWO4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction demonstrated the highest degradation capacity for DZN removal. Based on the results, the photocatalysis of the CoWO4/g-C3N4 Z-scheme heterojunction can be recycled for the effective removal of DZN by simple washing after three runs, proving the heterojunction's stability and suggesting CoWO4 as a promising material for the removal of DZN from contaminated water sources.

Essential Oils of the Leaves of Epaltes australis Less. and Lindera myrrha (Lour.) Merr.: Chemical Composition, Antimicrobial, Anti-inflammatory, Tyrosinase Inhibitory, and Molecular Docking Studies.

Epaltes australis Less. has been traditionally used to treat fever and snake bites, whereas Lindera myrrha (Lour.) Merr. is well-known for addressing colds, chest pain, indigestion, and worm infestations. This study marks the first report on the chemical compositions and biological potentials of essential oils extracted from the leaves of Epaltes australis and Lindera myrrha. Essential oils obtained by hydro-distillation were analysed using the GC/MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). E. australis exhibited a predominant presence of non-terpenic compounds (46.3 %), with thymohydroquinone dimethyl ether as the major compound, constituting 44.2 % of the oil. L. myrrha leaf oil contained a good proportion of sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (56.8 %), with principal compounds including (E)-caryophyllene (22.2 %), ledene (9.7 %), selina-1,3,7(11)-trien-8-one (9.6 %), and α-pinene (7.0 %). Both essential oils exhibited antimicrobial activity against the bacteria Bacillus subtilis and Clostridium sporogenes, and Escherichia coli, and the fungus Aspergillus brasiliensis. L. myrrha leaf essential oil exhibited potent control over the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae with a MIC of 32 µg/mL. Additionally, L. myrrha leaf oil showed strong anti-inflammatory activity with an IC50 value of 15.20 µg/mL by inhibiting NO (nitric oxide) production in LPS (lipopolysaccharide)-stimulated RAW2647 murine macrophage cells. Regarding anti-tyrosinase activity, E. australis leaf oil showed the best monophenolase inhibition with the IC50 of 245.59 µg/mL, while L. myrrha leaf oil successfully inhibited diphenolase with the IC50 of 152.88 µg/mL. From molecular docking study, selina-1,3,7(11)-trien-8-one showed the highest affinity for both COX-2 (cyclooxygenase-2) and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-α) receptors. Hydrophobic interactions play a great role in the bindings of ligand-receptor complexes.

Neural Networks for Portfolio Analysis in High-Frequency Trading.

High-frequency trading proposes new challenges to classical portfolio selection problems. Especially, the timely and accurate solution of portfolios is highly demanded in financial market nowadays. This article makes progress along this direction by proposing novel neural networks with softmax equalization to address the problem. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that softmax technique is used to deal with equation constraints in portfolio selections. Theoretical analysis shows that the proposed method is globally convergent to the optimum of the optimization formulation of portfolio selection. Experiments based on real stock data verify the effectiveness of the proposed solution. It is worth mentioning that the two proposed models achieve 5.50 % and 5.47 % less cost, respectively, than the solution obtained by using MATLAB dedicated solvers, which demonstrates the superiority of the proposed strategies.

Low-Income Asian Americans: High Levels Of Food Insecurity And Low Participation In The CalFresh Nutrition Program.

Little is known about food insecurity and the extent of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participation in the heterogeneous Asian American population. Using California Health Interview Survey data from the period 2011-20, we examined both issues among low-income Asian American adults from six origin groups: Chinese, Filipino, Japanese, Korean, South Asian, and Vietnamese. We found high and varied levels of overall food insecurity, with the highest burden among Filipino adults (40 percent). Food insecurity by severity was also heterogenous; very low food security affected 2 percent of Chinese adults but 9 percent and 10 percent of Filipino and Japanese adults, respectively. Participation in CalFresh (California-implemented SNAP) ranged from 11 percent and 12 percent among Korean and Chinese adults, respectively, to 20 percent among Vietnamese adults. Compared with English-proficient low-income Asian American adults, those with limited English proficiency were no less likely to participate in CalFresh, possibly reflecting language assistance required by California law and provided by community-based organizations. These results underscore the importance of collecting and reporting disaggregated data by Asian origin group that could inform targeted outreach and interventions.

Xanthine oxidase, α-glucosidase and α-amylase inhibitory activities of the essential oil from Piper lolot: In vitro and in silico studies.

Introduction: Piper lolot is a species of herb used as a popular food in Vietnam. Furthermore, the species has been used as a Vietnamese traditional medicine to treat many diseases. Methods: Chemical constituents in the essential oil from leaves of Piper lolot were determined using GC/MS analysis. The anti-gout and anti-diabetic activities of the essential oil were determined through the inhibitory assays against xanthine oxidase, α-glucosidase and α-amylase enzymes. In addition, molecular docking simulations were used to elucidate the inhibitory mechanism between the main compounds and the enzymes. Results: The dominant constituents of the Piper lolot essential oils were determined as ß-caryophyllene (20.6%), ß-bisabolene (11.6%), ß-selinene (8.4%), ß-elemene (7.7%), trans-muurola-4(14),5-diene (7.4%), and (E)-ß-ocimene (6.7%). The essential oil displayed xanthine oxidase, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase inhibitory activities with IC50 values of 28.4, 130.6, and 59.1 µg/mL, respectively. The anti-gout and anti-diabetic activities of the essential oil from the P. lolot species are reported for the first time. Furthermore, molecular docking simulation was consistent to in vitro experiments. Conclusion: The present study provides initial evidence that the essential oil of P. lolot may be a potential natural source to develop new diabetes preparations.

New Dibenzocyclooctadiene Lignans and Phenolics from Kadsura heteroclite with Anti-Inflammatory Activity.

A chemical investigation of K. heteroclite led to isolation of two new dibenzocyclooctadienes (1 and 2) together with 14 known compounds (3-16) by using multiple chromatographic techniques. New compounds (1 and 2) were obtained and identified by spectroscopic methods (HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR, and ECD) as well as by comparison of their experimental data with those reported in the literatures. All the isolates were evaluated for their ability to modulate TNF-α production in lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated RAW264.7 cells. Among them, compound 5 displayed the most inhibition against tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α production with IC50 value of 6.16±0.14 µM. Whereas, compounds (1, 3, and 6) showed the significant inhibition (IC50 values ranging from 9.41 to 14.54 µM), and compounds (2, 4, 9, 10, 13, 15, and 16) exhibited moderate inhibition (IC50 values ranging from 19.27 to 40.64 µM) toward TNF-α production, respectively.

A Novel Colorimetric and Fluorometric Dual-Channel Chemosensor based on A Conjugated Perylene-Benzothiazole System for Highly Selective Detection of Cyanide in Aqueous Media.

A novel cyanine compound based on the conjugated perylene-benzothiazole system (PBI) as a colorimetric and fluorometric dual-channel sensor for cyanide (CN- ) detection was synthesized and characterized via UV-vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. PBI exhibited a high sensitivity and rapid optical response for CN- due to the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) mechanism. The detection limit of PBI for CN- was 1.15×10-7  M in the mixture of DMSO/H2 O (1 : 1, v/v). Moreover, probe PBI demonstrated high selectivity and sensitivity for CN- over other common anions, including Cl- , Br- , F- , I- , AcO- , ClO4 - , HSO4 - , SO4 2- , NO2 - , NO3 - and SCN- . This work provided a simple and effective approach to trace the toxic CN- ion with rapid response, high selectivity, and sensitivity that is possibly applied in environmental control and agricultural management.

The first maternal genetic study of hunter-gatherers from Vietnam.

The current limitation of ancient DNA data from Vietnam led to the controversy surrounding the prehistory of people in this region. The combination of high heat and humidity damaged ancient bones that challenged the study of human evolution, especially when using DNA as study materials. So far, only 4 k years of history have been recorded despite the 65 k years of history of anatomically modern human occupations in Vietnam. Here we report, to our knowledge, the oldest mitogenomes of two hunter-gatherers from Vietnam. We extracted DNA from the femurs of two individuals aged 6.2 k cal BP from the Con Co Ngua (CCN) site in Thanh Hoa, Vietnam. This archeological site is the largest cemetery of the hunter-gatherer population in Southeast Asia (SEA) that was discovered, but their genetics have not been explored until the present. We indicated that the CCN haplotype belongs to a rare haplogroup that was not detected in any present-day Vietnamese individuals. Further matrilineal analysis on CCN mitogenomes showed a close relationship with ancient farmers and present-day populations in SEA. The mitogenomes of hunter-gatherers from Vietnam debate the "two layers" model of peopling history in SEA and provide an alternative solution for studying challenging ancient human samples from Vietnam.

Stability Constant and Potentiometric Sensitivity of Heavy Metal-Organic Fluorescent Compound Complexes: QSPR Models for Prediction and Design of Novel Coumarin-like Ligands.

Industrial wastewater often consists of toxic chemicals and pollutants, which are extremely harmful to the environment. Heavy metals are toxic chemicals and considered one of the major hazards to the aquatic ecosystem. Analytical techniques, such as potentiometric methods, are some of the methods to detect heavy metals in wastewaters. In this work, the quantitative structure-property relationship (QSPR) was applied using a range of machine learning techniques to predict the stability constant (logßML) and potentiometric sensitivity (PSML) of 200 ligands in complexes with the heavy metal ions Cu2+, Cd2+, and Pb2+. In result, the logßML models developed for four ions showed good performance with square correlation coefficients (R2) ranging from 0.80 to 1.00 for the training and 0.72 to 0.85 for the test sets. Likewise, the PSML displayed acceptable performance with an R2 of 0.87 to 1.00 for the training and 0.73 to 0.95 for the test sets. By screening a virtual database of coumarin-like structures, several new ligands bearing the coumarin moiety were identified. Three of them, namely NEW02, NEW03, and NEW07, showed very good sensitivity and stability in the metal complexes. Subsequent quantum-chemical calculations, as well as physicochemical/toxicological profiling were performed to investigate their metal-binding ability and developability of the designed sensors. Finally, synthesis schemes are proposed to obtain these three ligands with major efficiency from simple resources. The three coumarins designed clearly demonstrated capability to be suitable as good florescent chemosensors towards heavy metals. Overall, the computational methods applied in this study showed a very good performance as useful tools for designing novel fluorescent probes and assessing their sensing abilities.

Pelliolatifolias A-D, Four Undescribed Compounds from Pellionia latifolia Boerl. and Their Nitric Oxide Production Inhibitory Activity.

Four undescribed compounds (1-4) named pelliolatifolias A-D together with seven known compounds trans-clovamide (5), N-trans-caffeoyl-4-hydroxyphenylalanine methyl ester (6), N-trans-caffeoyl-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine methyl ester (7), luteolin 4'-O-ß-D-glucopyrannoside (8), cis-syringin (9), trans-syringin (10), and citroside A (11) have been isolated from the methanol extract of the Pellionia latifolia leaves. Their chemical structures were elucidated based on extensive analyses of HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR, and CD spectra. Compounds 1-7, 9 and 10 showed moderate inhibition of NO production in LPS-activated RAW264.7 cells with their IC50 values ranging from 39.27 to 75.42 µM, compared to that of the positive control compound, dexamethasone, IC50 value of 14.20 µM.

Potential from synergistic effect of quercetin and paclitaxel co-encapsulated in the targeted folic-gelatin-pluronic P123 nanogels for chemotherapy.

Dual-drug delivery systems for anticancer therapy have recently attracted substantial attention due to their potency to overcome limitations of conventional anti-cancer drugs, tackle drug resistance problems, as well as improve the therapeutic efficacy. In this study, we introduced a novel nanogel based on folic acid-gelatin-pluronic P123 (FA-GP-P123) conjugate to simultaneously deliver quercetin (QU) and paclitaxel (PTX) to the targeted tumor. The results indicated that the drug loading capacity of FA-GP-P123 nanogels was significantly higher than that of P123 micelles. The kinetic release profiles of QU and PTX from the nanocarriers were governed by Fickian diffusion and swelling behavior, respectively. Notably, FA-GP-P123/QU/PTX dual-drug delivery system induced higher toxicity to MCF-7 and Hela cancer cells than either QU or PTX individual delivery system, and the non-targeted dug delivery system (GP-P123/QU/PTX), indicating the synergistic combination of dual drugs and FA positive targeting effect. Furthermore, FA-GP-P123 could effectively deliver QU and PTX to tumors in vivo after administration into MCF-7 tumor-bearing mice, which resulted in 94.20 ± 5.90 % of tumor volume reduced at day 14. Moreover, the side effects of the dual-drug delivery system were significantly reduced. Overall, we suggest FA-GP-P123 as potential nanocarrier for dual-drug delivery for targeted chemotherapy.

Causes and risk factors of death among people who inject drugs in Indonesia, Ukraine and Vietnam: findings from HPTN 074 randomized trial.

INTRODUCTION: The HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN) 074 study demonstrated a positive effect of an integrated systems navigation and psychosocial counseling intervention on HIV treatment initiation, viral suppression, medication assisted treatment (MAT) enrollment, and risk of death among people who inject drugs (PWID). In this sub-study, we analyzed the incidence, causes, and predictors of death among HIV-infected and uninfected participants. METHODS: The HPTN 074 randomized clinical trial was conducted in Indonesia, Ukraine, and Vietnam. HIV-infected PWID with unsuppressed viral load (indexes) were recruited together with at least one of their HIV-negative injection partners. Indexes were randomized in a 1:3 ratio to the intervention or standard of care. RESULTS: The trial enrolled 502 index and 806 partner participants. Overall, 13% (66/502) of indexes and 3% (19/806) of partners died during follow-up (crude mortality rates 10.4 [95% CI 8.1-13.3] and 2.1 [1.3-3.3], respectively). These mortality rates were for indexes nearly 30 times and for partners 6 times higher than expected in a population of the same country, age, and gender (standardized mortality ratios 30.7 [23.7-39.0] and 5.8 [3.5-9.1], respectively). HIV-related causes, including a recent CD4 < 200 cells/µL, accounted for 50% of deaths among indexes. Among partners, medical conditions were the most common cause of death (47%). In the multivariable Cox model, the mortality among indexes was associated with sex (male versus female aHR = 4.2 [1.5-17.9]), CD4 count (≥ 200 versus < 200 cells/µL aHR = 0.3 [0.2-0.5]), depression (moderate-to-severe versus no/mild aHR = 2.6 [1.2-5.0]) and study arm (intervention versus control aHR = 0.4 [0.2-0.9]). Among partners, the study arm of the index remained the only significant predictor (intervention versus control aHR = 0.2 [0.0-0.9]) while controlling for the effect of MAT (never versus ever receiving MAT aHR = 2.4 [0.9-7.4]). CONCLUSIONS: The results confirm that both HIV-infected and uninfected PWID remain at a starkly elevated risk of death compared to general population. Mortality related to HIV and other causes can be significantly reduced by scaling-up ART and MAT. Access to these life-saving treatments can be effectively improved by flexible integrated interventions, such as the one developed and tested in HPTN 074.

Emerging waste-to-wealth applications of fly ash for environmental remediation: A review.

The considerable increase in world energy consumption owing to rising global population, intercontinental transportation and industrialization has posed numerous environmental concerns. Particularly, in order to meet the required electricity supply, thermal power plants for electricity generation are widely used in many countries. However, an annually excessive quantity of waste fly ash up to 1 billion tones was globally discarded from the combustion of various carbon-containing feedstocks in thermoelectricity plants. About half of the industrially generated fly ash is dumped into landfills and hence causing soil and water contamination. Nonetheless, fly ash still contains many valuable components and possesses outstanding physicochemical properties. Utilizing waste fly ash for producing value-added products has gained significant interests. Therefore, in this work, we reviewed the current implementation of fly ash-derived materials, namely, zeolite and geopolymer as efficient adsorbents for the environmental treatment of flue gas and polluted water. Additionally, the usage of fly ash as a catalyst support for the photodegradation of organic pollutants and reforming processes for the corresponding wastewater remediation and H2 energy generation is thoroughly covered. In comparison with conventional carbon-based adsorbents, fly ash-derived geopolymer and zeolite materials reportedly exhibited greater heavy metal ions removal and reached the maximum adsorption capacity of about 150 mg g-1. As a support for biogas reforming process, fly ash could enhance the activity of Ni catalyst with 96% and 97% of CO2 and CH4 conversions, respectively.

Nurses' perceptions about patient safety culture in public hospital in Vietnam.

AIM: This paper is aimed to assess nurses' perceptions of patient safety culture in four public general hospitals in Hanoi, Vietnam. BACKGROUND: Patient safety culture is a vital component in ensuring high quality and safe patient care. Assessment of nurses' perceptions on existing hospital patient safety culture (PSC) is the first step to promote PSC. METHODS: The cross-sectional study surveyed 705 nurses utilizing the validated Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSOPSC) in an online format. RESULTS: The average positive response rate was high at 72.8 % and varied from 52.9 % to 93.4 %. The strongest areas are teamwork within units (93.7 %) and supervisor/manager expectations and actions promoting patient safety (85.0 %). The areas for improvement are staffing (52.9 %) and non-punitive response to error (57.6 %). The communication openness, staffing, frequency of events reported, lengths of services in hospital and unit are significant factors that predict the overall patient safety grade. CONCLUSIONS: Initiatives are necessary to improve response to errors, staffing, and error reporting. Nurse managers could develop and implement interventions and program to improve patient safety, including providing education related to patient safety culture, encouraging staff to notify incidents and avoiding punitive responses.

Changes in mobility amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Sapporo City, Japan: An investigation through the relationship between spatiotemporal population density and urban facilities.

By the end of 2021, the Omicron variant of coronavirus disease 2019 had become the dominant cause of a worldwide pandemic crisis. This demands a deeper analysis to support policy makers in creating interventions that not only protect people from the pandemic but also remedy its negative effects on the economy. Thus, this study investigated people's mobility changes through the relationship between spatiotemporal population density and urban facilities. Results showed that places related to daily services, restaurants, commercial areas, and offices experienced decreased visits, with the highest decline belonging to commercial facilities. Visits to health care and production facilities were stable on weekdays but increased on holidays. Educational institutions' visits decreased on weekdays but increased on holidays. People's visits to residential housing and open spaces increased, with the rise in residential housing visits being more substantial. The results also confirmed that policy interventions (e.g., declaration of emergency and upgrade of restriction level) have a great impact on people's mobility in the short term. The findings would seem to indicate that visit patterns at service and restaurant places decreased least during the pandemic. The analysis outcomes suggest that policy makers should pay more attention to risk perception enhancement as a long-term measure. Furthermore, the study clarified the population density of each facility type in a time series. Improving model performance would be promising for tracking and predicting the spread of future pandemics.

Polypunctosides E-K: seven new steroidal saponins from Polygonatum punctatum Royle ex Kunth and their nitric oxide production inhibitory activities.

Polygonatum punctatum Royle ex Kunth is a high-value medicinal plant found in old natural forests. A phytochemical study on the roots of this plant led to the isolation of seven new steroidal saponins including four furostans (1-4) and three furospirostans (5-7). Their structures were elucidated as (25R)-26-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-furost-5-ene-3ß,17α,22α,26-tetraol 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-ß-D-galactopyranoside (1), (25R)-26-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-furost-5-ene-3ß,14α,17α,22α,26-pentaol 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-ß-D-galactopyranoside (2), (25R)-26-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-furost-5-ene-22α-methoxy-3ß,17α,26-triol 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-ß-D-galactopyranoside (3), (25R)-26-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-furost-5-ene-22α-methoxy-3ß,17α,26-triol 3-O-[α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)]-[acetoxy-(→ 6)]-ß-D-galactopyranoside (4), 26-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-14α,17α-dihydroxynuatigenin 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-ß-D-galactopyranoside (5), 26-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-17α-hydroxynuatigenin 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-ß-D-galactopyranoside (6), and 26-O-(ß-D-glucopyranosyl)-14α-hydroxynuatigenin 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranosyl-(1 → 2)-ß-D-glucopyranosyl-(1 → 4)-ß-D-galactopyranoside (7) by extensive spectroscopic analyses, including infrared, high-resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry, and one- and two-dimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Compounds 1-7 inhibited nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide activated RAW264.7 cells with IC50 values ranging from 41.5 ± 3.2 to 62.2 ± 3.7 µM, compared to 33.8 ± 2.6 µM for the positive control compound L-NMMA.

Longitudinal Trajectories of Alcohol Use in Vietnamese Adults with Hazardous Alcohol Use and HIV.

A three-armed drinking cessation trial in Vietnam found that both a brief and intensive version of an intervention effectively reduced hazardous drinking in people living with HIV. We used group-based trajectory modeling (GBTM) to assess the extent to which findings may vary by latent subgroups distinguished by their unique responses to the intervention. Using data on drinking patterns collected over the 12 months, GBTM identified five trajectory groups, three of which were suboptimal ["non-response" (17.2%); "non-sustained response" (15.7%), "slow response" (13.1%)] and two optimal ["abstinent" (36.4%); "fast response" (17.6%)]. Multinomial logistic regression was used to determine that those randomized to any intervention arm were less likely to be in a suboptimal trajectory group, even more so if randomized to the brief (vs. intensive) intervention. Older age and higher baseline coping skills protected against membership in suboptimal trajectory groups; higher scores for readiness to quit drinking were predictive of it. GBTM revealed substantial heterogeneity in participants' response to a cessation intervention and may help identify subgroups who may benefit from more specialized services within the context of the larger intervention.