Antibacterial Activities and Underlying Mechanisms of the Compound SYAUP-491 against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae.

SYAUP-491 is a novel alkyl sulfonamide. In this study, in vivo and in vitro tests were performed along with a proteomic analysis to determine the effects and underlying mechanisms of the antibacterial activity of SYAUP-491 against the causative agent of bacterial leaf blight in rice. The antibacterial test results suggested that SYAUP-491 exhibited significant activities against Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo) in vitro and in vivo. The minimal EC50 values reached 6.96 µg/mL and the curative activity reached 74.1%. Detailed studies demonstrated that SYAUP-491 altered membrane permeability and caused morphological changes. Based on proteomics results, SYAUP-491 might inhibit bacterial protein synthesis. SYAUP-491 may disrupt and alter cell membrane permeability and could further act on ribosomes in the bacterial body. Given the above results, SYAUP-491 could serve as a new lead compound in the research of antibacterial control of plant pathogenic bacterial disease.

Domain Adaptation Based on Semi-Supervised Cross-Domain Mean Discriminative Analysis and Kernel Transfer Extreme Learning Machine.

Good data feature representation and high precision classifiers are the key steps for pattern recognition. However, when the data distributions between testing samples and training samples do not match, the traditional feature extraction methods and classification models usually degrade. In this paper, we propose a domain adaptation approach to handle this problem. In our method, we first introduce cross-domain mean approximation (CDMA) into semi-supervised discriminative analysis (SDA) and design semi-supervised cross-domain mean discriminative analysis (SCDMDA) to extract shared features across domains. Secondly, a kernel extreme learning machine (KELM) is applied as a subsequent classifier for the classification task. Moreover, we design a cross-domain mean constraint term on the source domain into KELM and construct a kernel transfer extreme learning machine (KTELM) to further promote knowledge transfer. Finally, the experimental results from four real-world cross-domain visual datasets prove that the proposed method is more competitive than many other state-of-the-art methods.

Genetically Engineered Nanoparticles of Asymmetric Triblock Polypeptide with a Platinum(IV) Cargo Outperforms a Platinum(II) Analog and Free Drug in a Murine Cancer Model.

The development of platinum(Pt)-drugs for cancer therapy has stalled, as no new Pt-drugs have been approved in over a decade. Packaging small molecule drugs into nanoparticles is a way to enhance their therapeutic efficacy. To date, there has been no direct comparison of relative merits of the choice of Pt oxidation state in the same nanoparticle system that would allow its optimal design. To address this lacuna, we designed a recombinant asymmetric triblock polypeptide (ATBP) that self-assembles into rod-shaped micelles and chelates Pt(II) or enables covalent conjugation of Pt(IV) with similar morphology and stability. Both ATBP-Pt(II) and ATBP-Pt(IV) nanoparticles enhanced the half-life of Pt by ∼45-fold, but ATBP-Pt(IV) had superior tumor regression efficacy compared to ATBP-Pt(II) and cisplatin. These results suggest loading Pt(IV) into genetically engineered nanoparticles may yield a new generation of more effective platinum-drug nanoformulations.

HC-1119, a deuterated Enzalutamide, inhibits Migration, Invasion and Metastasis of the AR-positive triple-negative breast Cancer cells.

Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBCs) are aggressive, and they develop metastasis at earlier stages, relapse more frequently, and exhibits poorer prognosis than other subtypes of breast cancer. Due to the lack of estrogen receptor for endocrine therapy and HER2 for targeted therapy, new targeted therapies for TNBCs are urgently needed. Enzalutamide is a second-generation androgen receptor (AR) inhibitor, and HC-1119 is a new synthetic deuterated enzalutamide. Owing to the isotope effect, HC-1119 has many advantages over enzalutamide, including slow metabolism, high plasma concentration and low brain exposure. However, the efficacy of HC-1119 in inhibition of AR function in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has not been studied. In this study, we found high-level AR expression in both Hs578T and SUM159PT TNBC cell lines. Activation of AR by dihydrotestosterone (DHT) in both cell lines increased AR protein, induced AR-nuclear localization, enhanced cell migration and invasion in culture, and promoted liver metastasis in mice. Importantly, cotreatment with HC-1119 of these cells efficiently abolished all of these effects of DHT on both Hs578T and SUM159PT cells. These results indicate that HC-1119 is a very effective new second-generation AR antagonist that can inhibit the migration, invasion and metastasis of the AR-positive TNBC cells.

Preliminary Study of Resistance Mechanism of Botrytis cinerea to SYAUP-CN-26.

SYAUP-CN-26 (1S, 2R-((3-bromophenethyl)amino)-N-(4-chloro-2-trifluoromethylphenyl) cyclohexane-1-sulfonamide) is a novel sulfonamide compound with excellent activity against Botrytis cinerea. The present study sought to explore the mutant of B.cinerea resistant to SYAUP-CN-26 using SYAUP-CN-26 plates. Moreover, the cell membrane functions of B.cinerea, histidine kinase activity, relative conductivity, triglyceride, and cell membrane structure were determined, and the target gene histidine kinase Bos1 (AF396827.2) of procymidone was amplified and sequenced. The results showed that compared to the sensitive strain, the cell membrane permeability, triglyceride, and histidine kinase activity of the resistant strain showed significant changes. The relative conductivity of the sensitive strain increased by 6.95% and 9.61%, while the relative conductivity of the resistant strain increased by 0.23% and 1.76% with 26.785 µg/mL (EC95) and 79.754 µg/mL (MIC) of SYAUP-CN-26 treatment. The triglyceride inhibition rate of the resistant strain was 23.49% and 37.80%, which was 0.23% and 1.76% higher than the sensitive strain. Compared to the sensitive strain, the histidine kinase activity of the resistant strain was increased by 23.07% and 35.61%, respectively. SYAUP-CN-26 significantly damaged the cell membrane structure of the sensitive strain. The sequencing of the Bos1 gene of the sensitive and resistant strains indicated that SYAUP-CN-26 resistance was associated with a single point mutation (P348L) in the Bos1 gene. Therefore, it was inferred that the mutant of B.cinerea resistant to SYAUP-CN-26 might be regulated by the Bos1 gene. This study will provide a theoretical basis for further research and development of sulfonamide compounds for B. cinerea and new agents for the prevention and control of resistant B. cinerea.

Design, Synthesis and Structure-Activity Relationship of Novel Pinacolone Sulfonamide Derivatives against Botrytis cinerea as Potent Antifungal Agents.

To develop new fungicides with high efficiency, 46 novel sulfonamide derivatives were designed and synthesized by introducing pinacolone fragment into chesulfamide which was used as lead compound. All compounds were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and MS spectra, and the structure of compound P-27 was also confirmed by X-ray single crystal diffraction. It was found that a variety of compounds present excellent inhibitory effect against Botrytis cinerea. The inhibition rates of P-29 on tomato and strawberry were 90.24% (200 mg/L) and 100% (400 mg/L) in vivo respectively, which were better than the lead compound chesulfamide (59.23% on tomato seedlings and 29.63% on strawberries).

Phase I clinical trial of HC-1119: A deuterated form of enzalutamide.

The purpose of our study was to investigate the safety, pharmacokinetics (PK), and initial antitumor efficacy of HC-1119 in patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC). Eligible mCRPC patients were included in our study (NCT03774056) with two parts. Part A was a dose escalation study in which patients received a dose escalation of HC-1119 (40, 80, 160 and 200 mg/day). Part B was a dose expansion study in which patients received HC-1119 at the dose of 80 and 160 mg. Safety assessment and pharmacokinetic samplings were performed for all patients at the given time points; preliminary tumor response was also assessed. Twenty-four patients were enrolled in part A and 19 patients in part B, respectively. HC-1119 was safe, well tolerated and no dose-limiting toxicity was observed. Fatigue was the most common treatment-related adverse event and no seizures were observed. At the dose levels of 40, 80 and 160 mg, the AUC and Cmax of HC-1119 in plasma increased almost dose-proportionally at the steady state in mCRPC patients. Maximum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response rates (≥50% reduction from the baseline) in dose escalation and dose expansion cohorts were 77% and 75%, respectively; the overall disease control rate (22 patients available for imaging analysis) was 72.7%, with PR in 4 patients, SD in 12 patients and PD in 6 patients; the 2-year overall survival rate in patients from Part B was 56.8%. HC-1119 was safe, well tolerated and efficacious and HC-1119 at 80 mg/day is recommended for further studies.

Genetically Encoded Stealth Nanoparticles of a Zwitterionic Polypeptide-Paclitaxel Conjugate Have a Wider Therapeutic Window than Abraxane in Multiple Tumor Models.

Small-molecule therapeutics demonstrate suboptimal pharmacokinetics and bioavailability due to their hydrophobicity and size. One way to overcome these limitations-and improve their efficacy-is to use "stealth" macromolecular carriers that evade uptake by the reticuloendothelial system. Although unstructured polypeptides are of increasing interest as macromolecular drug carriers, current recombinant polypeptides in the clinical pipeline typically lack stealth properties. We address this challenge by developing new unstructured polypeptides, called zwitterionic polypeptides (ZIPPs), that exhibit "stealth" behavior in vivo. We show that conjugating paclitaxel to a ZIPP imparts amphiphilicity to the polypeptide chain that is sufficient to drive its self-assembly into micelles. This in turn increases the half-life of paclitaxel by 17-fold compared to free paclitaxel, and by 1.6-fold compared to the nonstealth control, i.e., ELP-paclitaxel. Treatment of mice bearing highly aggressive prostate or colon cancer with a single dose of ZIPP-paclitaxel nanoparticles leads to near-complete eradication of the tumor, and these nanoparticles have a wider therapeutic window than Abraxane, an FDA-approved taxane nanoformulation.

Novel sulfonamides against Botrytis cinerea with no positive cross-resistance to commercial fungicides: Design, synthesis and SAR study.

Thirty-four novel compounds were synthesized using chesulfamide (N-(2-trifluoromethyl-4-chlorophenyl)-2-oxocyclohexyl sulfonamide), a high-profile fungicide, as the lead compound, and their structures were characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS and elemental analysis. Additionally, the structure of (1S,2R)-2-((3-bromophenethyl)amino)-N-(4-chloro-2-trifluoromethylphenyl)cyclohexane-1-sulfonamide (IV-9) was confirmed by X-ray single crystal diffraction. The mycelium inhibition tests, spore germination inhibition tests, tomato pot tests and field trials were performed against strains of B. cinerea. Bioassay results showed that most of target compounds had good fungicidal activity against B. cinerea, in particular, IV-9 exhibited similar or superior effects to procymidone, boscalid and pyrisoxazole in all in vitro and in vivo tests. Moreover, there was no positive cross-resistance found between the compound IV-9 and eight commercial fungicides (azoxystrobin, boscalid, chlorothalonil, diethofencarb, fludioxonil, procymidone, pyrimethanil and pyrisoxazole) in the cross-resistance validation test performed by an innovative method.

Correlation between the migration scale index and the number of new confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 cases in China.

In late December 2019, patients of atypical pneumonia due to an unidentified microbial agent were reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. Subsequently, a novel coronavirus was identified as the causative pathogen which was named SARS-CoV-2. As of 12 February 2020, more than 44 000 cases of SARS-CoV-2 infection have been confirmed in China and continue to expand. Provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions of China have launched first-level response to major public health emergencies one after another from 23 January 2020, which means restricting movement of people among provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions. The aim of this study was to explore the correlation between the migration scale index and the number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases and to depict the effect of restricting population movement. In this study, Excel 2010 was used to demonstrate the temporal distribution at the day level and SPSS 23.0 was used to analyse the correlation between the migration scale index and the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. We found that since 23 January 2020, Wuhan migration scale index has dropped significantly and since 26 January 2020, Hubei province migration scale index has dropped significantly. New confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Wuhan gradually increased since 24 January 2020, and showed a downward trend from 6 February 2020. New confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Hubei province gradually increased since 24 January 2020, and maintained at a high level from 24 January 2020 to 4 February 2020, then showed a downward trend. Wuhan migration scale index from 9 January to 22 January, 10 January to 23 January and 11 January to 24 January was correlated with the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Wuhan from 22 January to 4 February. Hubei province migration scale index from 10 January to 23 January and 11 January to 24 January was correlated with the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases per day in China except for Hubei province from 22 January to 4 February. Our findings suggested that people who left Wuhan from 9 January to 22 January, and those who left Hubei province from 10 January to 24 January, led to the outbreak in the rest of China. The 'Wuhan lockdown' and the launching of the first-level response to this major public health emergency may have had a good effect on controlling the COVID-19 epidemic. Although new COVID-19 cases continued to be confirmed in China outside Wuhan and Hubei provinces, in our opinion, these are second-generation cases.

Heuristics for the Optimal Presentation of Bioactive Peptides on Polypeptide Micelles.

Bioactive peptides describe a very large group of compounds with diverse functions and wide applications, and their multivalent display by nanoparticles can maximize their activities. However, the lack of a universal nanoparticle platform and design rules for their optimal presentation limits the development and application of peptide ligand-decorated nanoparticles. To address this need, we developed a multivalent nanoparticle platform to study the impact of nanoparticle surface hydrophilicity and charge on peptide targeting and internalization by tumor cells. This system consists of micelles of a recombinant elastin-like polypeptide diblock copolymer (ELPBC) that present genetically encoded peptides at the micelle surface without perturbing the size, shape, stability, or peptide valency of the micelle, regardless of the peptide type. We created the largest extant set of 98 combinations of 15 tumor-homing peptides that are presented on the corona of this ELPBC micelle via 8 different peptide linkers that vary in their length and charge and also created control micelles that present the linker only. Analysis of the structure-function relationship of tumor cell targeting by this set of peptide-decorated nanoparticles enabled us to derive heuristics to optimize the delivery of peptides based on their physicochemical properties and to identify a peptide that is likely to be a widely useful ligand for targeting across nanoparticle types. This study shows that ELPBC micelles are a robust and convenient system for the presentation of diverse peptides and provides useful insights into the appropriate presentation of structurally diverse peptide ligands on nanoparticles based on their physicochemical properties.

Respiratory Toxicity of Azoxystrobin, Pyraclostrobin and Coumoxystrobin on Chlorella vulgaris.

Azoxystrobin (AZ), pyraclostrobin (PYR) and coumoxystrobin (COU) exert negative impacts on Chlorella vulgaris. Thus, in this study, C. vulgaris was used to assess the respiratory toxicity of AZ, PYR and COU by determining the acute toxicity, complex III activity and ATP viability. The 96 h-EC50 values of AZ, PYR and COU for C. vulgaris were 1.85, 2.21 and 1.62 mg/L, respectively. AZ, PYR and COU exerted significant effects on complex III activity and ATP viability after exposure to 0.71, 1.01 and 1.08 mg/L of the fungicides. The binding potentials of AZ, PYR and COU toward ubiquinone were - 10.44, - 9.31 and - 12.98 kcal/mol, respectively, which had adverse effects on amino acids. These results provided new insight into the potential acute respiratory toxicity mechanisms of these strobilurin fungicides in algae.

Conjugate of Doxorubicin to Albumin-Binding Peptide Outperforms Aldoxorubicin.

Short circulation time and off-target toxicity are the main challenges faced by small-molecule chemotherapeutics. To overcome these shortcomings, an albumin-binding peptide conjugate of chemotherapeutics is developed that binds specifically to endogenous albumin and harnesses its favorable pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics for drug delivery to tumors. A protein-G-derived albumin-binding domain (ABD) is conjugated with doxorubicin (Dox) via a pH-sensitive linker. One to two Dox molecules are conjugated to ABD without loss of aqueous solubility. The albumin-binding ABD-Dox conjugate exhibits nanomolar affinity for human and mouse albumin, and upon administration in mice, shows a plasma half-life of 29.4 h, which is close to that of mouse albumin. Additionally, 2 h after administration, ABD-Dox exhibits an approximately 4-fold higher concentration in the tumor than free Dox. Free Dox clears quickly from the tumor, while ABD-Dox maintains a steady concentration in the tumor for at least 72 h, so that its relative accumulation at 72 h is ≈120-fold greater than that of free Dox. The improved pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of ABD-Dox result in enhanced therapeutic efficacy in syngeneic C26 colon carcinoma and MIA PaCa-2 pancreatic tumor xenografts, compared with free Dox and aldoxorubicin, an albumin-reactive Dox prodrug currently in clinical development.

Synthesis, fungicidal activity and SAR of 3,4-dichloroisothiazole-based cycloalkylsulfonamides.

To develop more valuable and effective fungicide candidates, a novel series of 3,4-dichloroisothioxazole-based cycloalkylsulfonamides were synthesized and their structures were identified by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, MS and elemental analysis. Compound 3k was further confirmed by X-ray single crystal diffraction. The in vitro bioassay results demonstrated that the target compounds showed significant fungicidal activity on mycelial growth and spore germination of Botrytis cinerea. Especially, compound 3j, with prominent inhibition effect on mycelial with EC50 and EC80 values of 1.4 and 23.7 µg/mL respectively, was comparable to the selected commercial fungicide. Moreover, at 50 µg/mL, the inhibition rate of compound 3j on spore germination was recorded up to 89.7%. The further in vivo bioassay results indicated compound 3j continued to show high control effect on tomato leaves, flowers and fruit at 200 µg/mL, with control efficiencies of 94.3%, 89.3% and 91.9%, respectively. The structure-activity relationship showed that the compound with a five-membered ring possessed the best activity after the introduction of the active fragment of the 3,4-dichloroisothioxazole, provided a valuable idea for further creation of new fungicides.

Development of novel 2-substituted acylaminoethylsulfonamide derivatives as fungicides against Botrytis cinerea.

Botrytis cinerea is an economically important fungal pathogen with a host range of over 200 plant species. Unfortunately, gray mold disease caused by B. cinerea has not been effectively controlled because of its high risk for fungicide resistance development. As a part of our ongoing efforts to develop novel sulfonamides as agricultural fungicides against Botrytis cinerea, we introduced 2-aminoethanesulfonic acid (taurine) substructure, designed and synthesized a series of novel 2-substituted acylaminoethylsulfonamides. The newly synthesized sulfonamides were evaluated in vitro and in vivo for their fungicidal activity against Botrytis cinerea, of which the 2-ethoxyacetylamide derivative (V-A-12, EC50 = 0.66 mg·L-1) exhibited the highest potency in vitro and superior fungicidal activity compared with procymidone (EC50 = 1.06 mg·L-1). In vivo bioassay indicated that compound V-A-12 could be effective for the control of tomato gray mold. Moreover, the structure-activity relationship of these sulfonamides was analyzed by establishing a three-dimensional quantitative structure-activity relationship (3D-QSAR) model, which can provide guidance for the development of sulfonamides as fungicides. Finally, the effeicacy of sulfonamide derivatives was again verified in the activity evaluation against resistant Botrytis cinerea strains. These results further enhance the development value of 2-substituted acylaminoethylsulfonamides to control the tomato gray mold.

Dispersive solid-phase extraction combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for simultaneous determination of seven succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor fungicides in watermelon by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry.

In this study, a simple and accurate sample preparation method based on dispersive solid-phase extraction and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction has been developed for the determination of seven novel succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor fungicides (isopyrazam, fluopyram, pydiflumetofen, boscalid, penthiopyrad, fluxapyroxad, and thifluzamide) in watermelon. The watermelon samples were extracted with acetonitrile, cleaned up by dispersive solid-phase extraction procedure using primary secondary amine, extracted and concentrated by the dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction procedure with 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, and then analyzed by ultra high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. The main experimental factors affecting the performance of dispersive solid-phase extraction and dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction procedure on extraction efficiency were investigated. The proposed method had a good linearity in the range of 0.1-100 µg/kg with correlation coefficients (r) of 0.9979-0.9999. The limit of quantification of seven fungicides was 0.1 µg/kg in the method. The fortified recoveries of seven succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor fungicides at three levels ranged from 72.0 to 111.6% with relative standard deviations of 3.4-14.1% (n = 5). The proposed method was successfully used for the rapid determination of seven succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor fungicides in watermelon.

Genetically Encoding Albumin Binding into Chemotherapeutic-loaded Polypeptide Nanoparticles Enhances Their Antitumor Efficacy.

We report the development of drug-encapsulating nanoparticles that bind endogenous albumin upon intravenous injection and evaluate their in vivo performance in a murine as well as canine animal model. The gene encoding a protein-G derived albumin binding domain (ABD) was fused to that of a chimeric polypeptide (CP), and the ABD-CP fusion was recombinantly synthesized by bacterial expression of the gene. Doxorubicin (DOX) was conjugated to the C-terminus of the ABD-CP fusion, and conjugation of multiple copies of the drug to one end of the ABD-CP triggered its self-assembly into ∼100 nm diameter spherical micelles. ABD-decorated micelles exhibited submicromolar binding affinity for albumin and also preserved their spherical morphology in the presence of albumin. In a murine model, albumin-binding micelles exhibited dose-independent pharmacokinetics, whereas naked micelles exhibited dose-dependent pharmacokinetics. In addition, in a canine model, albumin binding micelles resulted in a 3-fold increase in plasma half-life and 6-fold increase in plasma exposure as defined by the area under the curve (AUC) of the drug, compared with naked micelles. Furthermore, in a murine colon carcinoma model, albumin-binding nanoparticles demonstrated lower uptake by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) system organs, the liver and spleen, that are the main target organs of toxicity for nanoparticulate delivery systems and higher uptake by the tumor than naked micelles. The increased uptake by s.c. C26 colon carcinoma tumors in mice translated to a wider therapeutic window of doses ranging from 20 to 60 mg equivalent of DOX per kg body weight (mg DOX equiv·kg-1 BW) for albumin-binding ABD-CP-DOX micelles, as compared to naked micelles that were only effective at their maximum tolerated dose of 40 mg DOX equiv·kg-1 BW.

The Effect of (1S,2R-((3-bromophenethyl)amino)-N-(4-chloro-2-trifluoromethylphenyl) cyclohexane-1 -sulfonamide) on Botrytis cinerea through the Membrane Damage Mechanism.

In recent years, Botrytis cinerea has led to serious yield losses because of its resistance to fungicides. Many sulfonamides with improved properties have been used. (1S,2R-((3-bromophenethyl)amino)-N-(4-chloro-2-trifluoromethylphenyl)cyclohexane-1-sulfonamide) (abbreviation: SYAUP-CN-26) is a new sulfonamide compound that has excellent activity against B. cinerea. This study investigated the effect of SYAUP-CN-26 on electric conductivity, nucleic acids leakage, malondialdehyde (MDA) content, and reducing sugars and membrane structure reduction of B. cinerea. The results showed that the cell membrane permeability of B. cinerea increased with increasing concentrations of SYAUP-CN-26; meanwhile, the sugar content decreased, the malondialdehyde content increased, and relative electric conductivity and nucleic acid substance leakage were observed in the cell after exposure to 19.263 mg/L SYAUP-CN-26 for 24 h. After 48 h of exposure to 1.823 mg/L and 19.263 mg/L SYAUP-CN-26, the cell membranes of B. cinerea mycelia were observed to be damaged under propidium iodide (PI) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations. It is assumed that SYAUP-CN-26 was responsible for the damage of cell membrane. Overall, the results indicate that SYAUP-CN-26 could inhibit the growth of B. cinerea cells by damaging the cell membranes.

Synthesis, Fungicidal Activity and SAR of 2-Thiazolamide/Pyrazolamide-Cyclohexylsulfonamides against Botrytis cinerea.

In order to explore more efficient sulfonamides against Botrytis cinereal, 36 novel cyclohexylsulfonamides were synthesized by N-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-N'-ethylcarbodiimide (EDCI) and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole (HOBt) condensation reaction using chesulfamide as a lead compound, introducing thiazole and pyrazole active groups. Their structures were characterized by 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, mass spectrum (MS), and elemental analysis. Compound III -31 was further confirmed by X-ray single crystal diffraction. The in vitro and in vivo fungicidal activities against B. cinerea were evaluated by three bioassay methods. The results of mycelial growth demonstrated that median effective concentration (EC50) values of nine compounds were close to boscalid (EC50 = 1.72 µg/mL) and procymidone (EC50 = 1.79 µg/mL) against B. cinerea (KZ-9). In the spore germination experiment, it was found that compounds III-19 and III-31 inhibited germination 93.89 and 98.00%, respectively; at 10 µg/mL, they approached boscalid (95.97%). In the tomato pot experiment, the control effects of two compounds (III-21 and III-27) were 89.80 and 87.90%, respectively, at 200 µg/mL which were significantly higher than boscalid (81.99%). The structure-activity relationship (SAR) was also discussed, which provided a valuable idea for developing new fungicides.

Factors affecting effects of ultrasound guided high intensity focused ultrasound for single uterine fibroids: a retrospective analysis.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate factors affecting effects of ultrasound guided high intensity focused ultrasound (USgHIFU) in the treatment of single uterine fibroids (UFs) with different magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features. METHODS: A total of 207 patients with single symptomatic UFs who were treated with HIFU were retrospectively analyzed. All UFs were grouped according to MRI features, and factors affecting HIFU ablation were set as independent variables. Non-perfusion volume ratio (NPVR) and energy efficiency factor (EEF) were set as dependent variables to establish multiple linear regression models with a stepwise method. RESULTS: All patients had successful HIFU treatment, with the mean NPVR of 74.7 ± 15.1% and the mean EEF of 7.4 ± 5.2 j/mm3. The NPVR was negatively correlated with transmural type of UFs, hyperintense on T2 weighted image (T2WI), enhancement type on T1 weighted image (T1WI), distance from UFs ventral side to skin and posterior location of UFs, but positively correlated with anterior location of UFs, hypointense on T2WI and anteverted uterus (uterine location). The EEF was negatively correlated with size, anterior location of UFs and hypointense on T2WI, but positively correlated with distance from UFs ventral side to skin, enhancement type on T1WI and transmural type of UFs. The UFs size and enhancement type on T1WI were the greatest factors affecting the ablation effect. CONCLUSIONS: The effect of HIFU treatment for single UFs is affected by multiple factors, and the UFs of hypointense on T2WI, large size, mild enhancement on T1WI and anteverted uterus can be easily ablated with high ablation efficiency.