Impact of core polarity on smectic B-induced hydrogen bond liquid crystals.

The novel series of hydrogen bond liquid crystals were synthesized from the 2-methylglutaric acid (MGA) and 4-alkyloxybenzoic acid (nOBA) compounds. The induced smectic B phase with different texture (spine texture, needle texture, mosaic texture, natural mosaic texture and marble texture) were identified by polarizing optical microscope. Due to breaking of in-plane rotational symmetry within molecular layers, smectic B phase is tempted by suppressing other usual mesophases. The mesomorphic transition temperature, enthalpy and entropy values were calculated by differential scanning calorimeter which strongly proves the existence of mesomorphism. H-bond interaction and functional groups were confirmed by the observed peak between 2910 and 2954 cm-1 in the FTIR spectra. Thermal stability and extended mesophase width (for MGA + 12OBA = 31.1) of Sm B mesophase were reported and it clearly reveals the existence of mono-phase variance in the MGA + nOBA HBLC complex. Due to the steric effect, and the increased molecular core polarity, the highly stabilized Sm B phase with different textures were observed while varying alkyloxy carbon number n = 7 to 12. Further, the origination of Sm B phase and its detailed characteristics were reported.

Evaluation of xanthene-appended quinoline hybrids as potential leads against antimalarial drug targets.

A series of fused heterocycle xanthene-appended quinoline 6a-n was successfully synthesized with regioselectivity and characterized using IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and mass spectral data. Molecular docking was performed to find the binding efficacy of all these newly synthesized compounds towards thirteen antimalarial drug targets. Molecular dynamics simulation was carried out to predict the stability of the ligand-bound complex in a solvent medium. Blind and site-directed docking with compounds 6a-n against 13 drug targets revealed most of the ligands to have a good binding affinity with the targets. Analysis on the basis of binding energy, binding modalities of the ligands, intermolecular interactions, and pharmacophore, we identified only one of the ligand-receptor complexes to provide better results. Molecular dynamic simulation of the selected receptor-ligand complex revealed that the synthesized compound had a better binding affinity with the receptor than the native ligand complex. Further analysis of the synthesized ligand in the laboratory may prove promising results in the search for potential antimalarial drugs.

Developing priorities for quality improvement in acute medicine using a modified Delphi method A consensus process hosted by the Society for Acute Medicine Quality Improvement Committee (SAM-QI).

INTRODUCTION: The SAM Quality Improvement Committee (SAM-QI), set up in 2016, has worked over the last year to determine the priority Acute Medicine QI topics. They have also discussed and put forward proposals to improve QI training for Acute Medicine professionals. METHODS: A modified Delphi process was completed over four rounds to determine priority QI topics. Online meetings were also used to develop proposals for QI training. RESULTS: Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) was chosen as the priority topic for QI work within Acute Medicine. CONCLUSION: The SAM-QI group settled on SDEC being the priority topic for Acute Medicine QI development. Throughout the Delphi process SAM-QI has also developed proposals for QI training that will help Acute Medicine professionals deliver coordinated meaningful improvements in care.

Mannich Base Based (ß-Amino Carbonyl Compound) Receptor for Efficient and Selective Sensing of Fluoride Ions.

Mannich Base (MB) based (ß-Amino carbonyl compound) (4) was synthesized by adopting one pot Mannich reaction by taking 3,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde, aniline and acetophenone as starting materials and the product was characterized using analytical techniques such as FT-IR, NMR, mass spectrometry, UV-Visible spectroscopy. The compound 4 utilized as colorimetric sensor for selective sensing of F- ions. The particular sensing of F- is obviously noticeable to the naked eye with a dissimilar colour variation. The F- detection mechanism has been examined by UV-visible and 1H NMR titration experimentations. The 1H NMR titration data describes the deprotonation of OH and N-H protons by F- as a noticeable stage in the detection. Furthermore, the studies was also carried out for reproduction of deprotonated 4 using trifluoroacetic acid as protonating agent. In addition, Boolean logic gates were fabricated for demonstrating the fluoride sensing mechanism and compound 4 in methyl cellulose biofilm was also been made and effectively used for film based detection of fluoride ion.

Challenges faced in diabetes risk prediction among an indigenous South Asian population in India using the Indian Diabetes Risk Score.

OBJECTIVES: Indigenous populations around the world have a higher health disparity and an increased risk of diabetes. Scientific literature on the prevalence of diabetes in India is not available, and the current work is a pilot study to explore the risk of diabetes in one such indigenous population in India. STUDY DESIGN: This is a cross-sectional survey and screening study. METHODS: The study took place in a remote tribal hamlet of Machuru in South India. A door-to-door survey was conducted in the hamlet with a population of 555. The Indian Diabetes Risk Score (IDRS) questionnaire was completed by 160 individuals older than 25 years. Capillary blood glucose levels were measured to compare the glycaemic status with the predicted IDRS. RESULTS: Of 160 adults who completed the questionnaire, 37 were at high risk (23.13%) as per the IDRS, 52 at medium risk (32.5%) and 71 at low risk (44.38%). None of the respondents knew their family history of diabetes owing to the lack of awareness about the condition. Interestingly, the villagers had a sedentary lifestyle owing to their unique family dynamics but a healthy diet. Five participants were diagnosed with diabetes, and 18 were diagnosed with impaired fasting glucose or prediabetes. CONCLUSIONS: The IDRS might not be an accurate measure to understand the risk of diabetes in this particular population owing to their unique family dynamics and a lack of awareness about diabetes. The best possible way to assess the diabetes risk might be through blood examination.

A randomized double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate the safety and efficacy of live Bifidobacterium longum CECT 7347 (ES1) and heat-treated Bifidobacterium longum CECT 7347 (HT-ES1) in participants with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome.

To determine the efficacy of the probiotic Bifidobacterium longum CECT 7347 (ES1) and postbiotic heat-treated Bifidobacterium longum CECT 7347 (HT-ES1) in improving symptom severity in adults with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome (IBS-D), a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with 200 participants split into three groups was carried out. Two capsules of either ES1, HT-ES1 or placebo were administered orally, once daily, for 84 days (12 weeks). The primary outcome was change in total IBS-Symptom Severity Scale (IBS-SSS) score from baseline, compared to placebo. Secondary outcome measures were stool consistency, quality of life, abdominal pain severity and anxiety scores. Safety parameters and adverse events were also monitored. The change in IBS-SSS scores from baseline compared to placebo, reached significance in the ES1 and HT-ES1 group, on Days 28, 56 and 84. The decrease in mean IBS-SSS score from baseline to Day 84 was: ES1 (-173.70 [±75.60]) vs placebo (-60.44 [±65.5]) (p < .0001) and HT-ES1 (-177.60 [±79.32]) vs placebo (-60.44 [±65.5]) (p < .0001). Secondary outcomes included changes in IBS-QoL, APS-NRS, stool consistency and STAI-S and STAI-T scores, with changes from baseline to Day 84 being significant in ES1 and HT-ES1 groups, compared to the placebo group. Both ES1 and HT-ES1 were effective in reducing IBS-D symptom severity, as evaluated by measures such as IBS-SSS, IBS-QoL, APS-NRS, stool consistency, and STAI, in comparison to the placebo. These results are both statistically significant and clinically meaningful, representing, to the best of the authors' knowledge, the first positive results observed for either a probiotic or postbiotic from the same strain, in this particular population.

What is already known on this topicIBS is a chronic functional gastrointestinal disorder characterized by abdominal pain, bloating and abnormalities in stool frequency or form. The gut microbiota of people living with IBS differs markedly to the microbiota of healthy individuals. Gut microbiota may play a key role in IBS aetiology and IBS symptoms may be alleviated by modulating the gut microbiota. Several proposed ways to modulate gut health include normalizing the gut microbiota, preventing the overgrowth of pathogenic bacteria, modulating visceral afferent pathways, and enhancing intestinal barrier function. However, significant heterogeneity between studies, study quality and population, study design and concerns about sample size have limited national and supranational bodies from recommending probiotics for IBS. Further well-powered, randomized, repeatable and controlled trials are warranted.What this study addsThe results of this study substantially contribute to the IBS research field, firstly by providing clinically meaningful and statistically significant results from a rigorous, well designed randomized, placebo-controlled trial and secondly, by exploring the use of postbiotics in IBS, an area of research still in its infancy. Probiotic (ES1) and postbiotic (HT-ES1) supplementation significantly reduced IBS symptom severity scores compared to placebo. This study met primary and secondary outcomes and strongly suggest that ES1 and HT-ES1 could be beneficial in the management of IBS.How this study might affect research, practice, or policyThis study adds to the current evidence base, supporting the use of probiotic/postbiotics for IBS. This research could be used to inform health professionals about using probiotics in IBS and help improve the quality of life and wellbeing for people living with the condition.

Graves' disease, hypoparathyroidism, systemic lupus erythematosus, alopecia, and angioedema: autoimmune polyglandular syndrome variant or coincidence?

Data on coexisting Graves' disease (GD), hypoparathyroidism, and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are limited. The thyroid and parathyroid glands may be extra sensitive to irradiation damage in an underlying autoimmune condition. A 34-year-old black woman presented with tetanic-like cramps, easy skin bruising, fatigue, weight gain, nocturia and back pain. She was previously diagnosed with GD in 2001 and underwent radioiodine therapy (RAI) in 9/01 using 6 mCi. PostRAI (November 2001) she developed hypocalcemia and hypothyroidism (2/02). In 2007, SLE was diagnosed. In October 2009, s-calcium and PTH were still low at 7.1 mg/dl and 9 pg/mL, respectively, although the patient denied symptoms on vitamin D and calcium supplementation. To identify possible autoimmune damage of the parathyroids, we evaluated the presence of activating antibodies to the CaSR and also analyzed the DNA sequence of all 6 translated exons and flanking intronic sequences of her CaSR gene for a functionally significant CaSR mutation but neither was positive. The initial autoimmune damage to her thyroid and possibly parathyroid glands followed by irradiation of them seems to have contributed to her developing both hypoparathyroidism (11/01) and hypothyroidism (2002). The patient could potentially have had parathyroid autoantibodies in 2001 that disappeared by 2009 when she was tested for them. We consider that the multiple autoimmune conditions developed over the past decade of her life with the concurrent irradiation contributing to her brittle hypoparathyroidism. Select patients with GD and perhaps parathyroid autoantibodies with a slowly developing destructive impact on the parathyroid glands may then develop overt hyoparathyroidism with rather low dose RAI ablation. This patient adds to the evolving spectrum of polyglandular syndrome variants.

An analysis on the approximate controllability of neutral impulsive stochastic integrodifferential inclusions via resolvent operators.

This article focuses on the approximate controllability of impulsive neutral stochastic integrodifferential inclusions in Hilbert spaces. We used resolvent operators, fixed point approaches, and semigroup theory to achieve the article's main results. First, we focus on the existence of approximate controllability, and we develop the existence results with nonlocal conditions. At last, an application is provided to illustrate the concept.

Simple, fast and efficient synthesis of ß-keto esters from the esters of heteroaryl compounds, its antimicrobial study and cytotoxicity towards various cancer cell lines.

A series of ß-keto esters were synthesized from heteroaryl esters and ethyl acetate using LiHMDS as base at -50 to -30 °C. The increase in yields of cross condensed product were observed and the percentage of self condensed product was reduced drastically by applying the suitable base (LiHMDS), solvent and the minimum amount of ethyl acetate. All these ß-keto esters were characterized using (1)H NMR, (13)C NMR and mass spectral data. A plausible mechanism is also depicted to prove the formation of trans-esterified products. All the synthesized compounds were subjected to test for their cytotoxicity towards various cancer cell lines and also tested for their antimicrobial activity towards various bacterial and fungal strains and some of them were found to have promising activity.

10a-Hy-droxy-9-(4-meth-oxy-phen-yl)-3,4,5,6,7,8a,9,10a-octa-hydro-1H-xanthene-1,8(2H)-dione.

In the title compound, C(20)H(22)O(5), the tetra-hydro-pyran, cyclo-hexene and cyclo-hexane rings of the xanthene ring system adopt half-chair, half-boat and chair conformations, respectively. The mean plane of the four roughly planar atoms of the tetra-hydro-pyran ring (r.m.s. deviation = 0.111 Å) forms a dihedral angle of 82.91 (4)° with the meth-oxy-benzene group. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked via O-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds into sheets lying parallel to the ac plane. The crystal is further consolidated by weak C-H⋯π inter-actions.

Diisobutyl 4-(3-eth-oxy-4-hy-droxy-phen-yl)-2,6-dimethyl-1,4-dihydro-pyridine-3,5-dicarboxyl-ate.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(25)H(35)NO(6), contains two independent mol-ecules. In each mol-ecule, the 1,4-dihydro-pyridine ring adopts a flattened boat conformation. The dihedral angles between the 1,4-dihydro-pyridine and benzene rings are 87.55 (7) and 87.23 (7)°. In one of these mol-ecules, one of the isobutyl groups is disordered over two sets of sites, with an occupancy ratio of 0.890 (2):0.110 (2). In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked through N-H⋯O, O-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds forming two-dimensional networks parallel to the ab plane. The crystal structure is further stabilized by weak C-H⋯π inter-actions.

Diethyl 2,6-dihy-droxy-4-(3-nitro-phen-yl)-2,6-bis-(trifluoro-meth-yl)piperidine-3,5-dicarboxyl-ate.

In the title compound, C(19)H(20)F(6)N(2)O(8), the eth-oxy and ethyl groups are disordered over two sets of sites, with occupancy ratios of 0.212 (18):0.788 (18) and 0.746 (6):0.254 (6), respectively. The piperidine ring adopts a chair conformation. In the mol-ecule, intra-molecular O-H⋯O hydrogen bonds form two S(6) ring motifs. In the crystal, mol-ecules are linked via O-H⋯O and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming dimers.

Cervical Cancer Diagnostics Healthcare System Using Hybrid Object Detection Adversarial Networks.

Cervical cancer is one of the common cancers among women and it causes significant mortality in many developing countries. Diagnosis of cervical lesions is done using pap smear test or visual inspection using acetic acid (staining). Digital colposcopy, an inexpensive methodology, provides painless and efficient screening results. Therefore, automating cervical cancer screening using colposcopy images will be highly useful in saving many lives. Nowadays, many automation techniques using computer vision and machine learning in cervical screening gained attention, paving the way for diagnosing cervical cancer. However, most of the methods rely entirely on the annotation of cervical spotting and segmentation. This paper aims to introduce the Faster Small-Object Detection Neural Networks (FSOD-GAN) to address the cervical screening and diagnosis of cervical cancer and the type of cancer using digital colposcopy images. The proposed approach automatically detects the cervical spot using Faster Region-Based Convolutional Neural Network (FR-CNN) and performs the hierarchical multiclass classification of three types of cervical cancer lesions. Experimentation was done with colposcopy data collected from available open sources consisting of 1,993 patients with three cervical categories, and the proposed approach shows 99% accuracy in diagnosing the stages of cervical cancer.

Rosette-induced separation of T cells by acoustophoresis.

Breakthrough cell therapies for the treatment of cancers require the separation of specific cells, such as T cells, from the patient's blood. Current cell therapy processes rely on magnetic separation, which adds clinical risk and requires elevated manufacturing controls due to the added foreign material that constitutes the magnetic beads. Acoustophoresis, a method that uses ultrasound for cell separation, has demonstrated label-free enrichment of T cells from blood, but residual other lymphocytes limit the ultimate purity of the output T cell product. Here, to increase the specificity of acoustophoresis, we use affinity reagents to conjugate red blood cells with undesired white blood cells, resulting in a cell-cell complex (rosette) of increased acoustic mobility. We achieve up to 99% purity of T cells from blood products, comparable to current standards of magnetic separation, yet without the addition of separation particles.

Deep Learning Techniques for the Effective Prediction of Alzheimer's Disease: A Comprehensive Review.

"Alzheimer's disease" (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder in which the memory shrinks and neurons die. "Dementia" is described as a gradual decline in mental, psychological, and interpersonal qualities that hinders a person's ability to function autonomously. AD is the most common degenerative brain disease. Among the first signs of AD are missing recent incidents or conversations. "Deep learning" (DL) is a type of "machine learning" (ML) that allows computers to learn by doing, much like people do. DL techniques can attain cutting-edge precision, beating individuals in certain cases. A large quantity of tagged information with multi-layered "neural network" architectures is used to perform analysis. Because significant advancements in computed tomography have resulted in sizable heterogeneous brain signals, the use of DL for the timely identification as well as automatic classification of AD has piqued attention lately. With these considerations in mind, this paper provides an in-depth examination of the various DL approaches and their implementations for the identification and diagnosis of AD. Diverse research challenges are also explored, as well as current methods in the field.

MRI Brain Tumor Image Classification Using a Combined Feature and Image-Based Classifier.

Brain tumor classification plays a niche role in medical prognosis and effective treatment process. We have proposed a combined feature and image-based classifier (CFIC) for brain tumor image classification in this study. Carious deep neural network and deep convolutional neural networks (DCNN)-based architectures are proposed for image classification, namely, actual image feature-based classifier (AIFC), segmented image feature-based classifier (SIFC), actual and segmented image feature-based classifier (ASIFC), actual image-based classifier (AIC), segmented image-based classifier (SIC), actual and segmented image-based classifier (ASIC), and finally, CFIC. The Kaggle Brain Tumor Detection 2020 dataset has been used to train and test the proposed classifiers. Among the various classifiers proposed, the CFIC performs better than all other proposed methods. The proposed CFIC method gives significantly better results in terms of sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy with 98.86, 97.14, and 98.97%, respectively, compared with the existing classification methods.

Hybrid Model for Detection of Cervical Cancer Using Causal Analysis and Machine Learning Techniques.

Cervical cancer has become the third most common form of cancer in the in-universe, after the widespread breast cancer. Human papillomavirus risk of infection is linked to the majority of cancer cases. Preventive care, the most expensive way of fighting cancer, can protect about 37% of cancer cases. The Pap smear examination is a standard screening procedure for the initial screening of cervical cancer. However, this manual test procedure generates many false-positive outcomes due to individual errors. Various researchers have extensively investigated machine learning (ML) methods for classifying cervical Pap cells to enhance manual testing. The random forest method is the most popular method for anticipating features from a high-dimensional cancer image dataset. However, the random forest method can get too slow and inefficient for real-time forecasts when too many decision trees are used. This research proposed an efficient feature selection and prediction model for cervical cancer datasets using Boruta analysis and SVM method to deal with this challenge. A Boruta analysis method is used. It is improved from of random forest method and mainly discovers feature subsets from the data source that are significant to assigned classification activity. The proposed model's primary aim is to determine the importance of cervical cancer screening factors for classifying high-risk patients depending on the findings. This research work analyses cervical cancer and various risk factors to help detect cervical cancer. The proposed model Boruta with SVM and various popular ML models are implemented using Python and various performance measuring parameters, i.e., accuracy, precision, F1-Score, and recall. However, the proposed Boruta analysis with SVM performs outstanding over existing methods.

(2E)-1-(6-Chloro-2-methyl-4-phenyl-quinolin-3-yl)-3-(4-chloro-phen-yl)prop-2-en-1-one.

Two independent mol-ecules comprise the asymmetric unit of the title chalcone, C(25)H(17)Cl(2)NO, and while each has an E configuration about the ethyl-ene double bond, they differ in the relative orientations of the carbonyl and ethyl-ene double bonds within the prop-2-en-1-one residues, i.e. anti and syn. For each mol-ecule, the benzene [dihedral angles = 71.04 (9) and 73.34 (12)°] and prop-2-en-1-one [C-C-C-O = 91.2 (2) and -119.1 (3)°] substituents are twisted out of the plane of the quinoline moiety to which they are attached. The crystal structure is stabilized by C-H⋯π and π-π [Cg(quinoline)⋯Cg(quinoline) = 3.7809 (12) and 3.8446 (11) Å] inter-actions.

4-{[5-(4-Chloro-phen-yl)-1-(4-fluoro-phen-yl)-1H-pyrazol-3-yl]carbon-yl}-N-ethyl-piperazine-1-carboxamide.

The asymmetric unit of the title compound, C(23)H(23)ClFN(5)O(2), contains two crystallographically independent mol-ecules. In one mol-ecule, the pyrazole ring makes dihedral angles of 43.93 (7) and 35.82 (7)°, respectively, with the fluoro- and chloro-substituted benzene rings, while the corresponding angles in the other mol-ecule are 52.26 (8) and 36.85 (7)°. The piperazine rings adopt chair conformations. In the crystal, adjacent mol-ecules are connected via inter-molecular N-H⋯O, C-H⋯F, C-H⋯N and C-H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming a two-dimensional network parallel to the bc plane. The crystal structure is further stabilized by a weak π-π inter-action with a centroid-centroid distance of 3.6610 (8) Šand by C-H⋯π inter-actions.

(E)-4-(1,3-Benzodioxol-5-yl)but-3-en-2-one.

In the title compound, C(11)H(10)O(3), the benzodioxole ring adopts a flattened [puckering parameters: q(2) = 0.107 (2) Å, ϕ(2) = 160 (1)°] envelope conformation with the methylene C atom as the flap. The crystal packing features chains, parallel to the c axis, composed of dimers connected by weak C-H-O hydrogen bonds and extending in layers in the bc plane.