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Kofoed Davies posted an update 3 weeks, 5 days ago
Bioassay-guided fractionation was conducted on dichloromethane extract from the rhizomes of Globba schomburgkii Hook.f. which have previously been reported as the part with the highest antibacterial activity. 10 fractions and 20 sub-fractions were obtained and evaluated for their potency against various strains of bacteria. The most active sub-fractions were 8 times more effective against Staphylococcus aureus and Micrococcus luteus than the original crude extract. GSK’963 price Moreover, 2 pure compounds namely petasol and (E)-15,16-dinorlabda-8(17),11-dien-13-one were successfully isolated and characterized, for the first time from this plant species. Untargeted compound analysis of all fractions and sub-fractions was performed by gas chromatography hyphenated with mass spectrometry, leading to positive identification of 167 compounds according to comparison with the mass spectrum and retention index database, 137 of which have never been reported for G. schomburgkii. The correlation between antibacterial activity and composition of each fraction suggests that the bioactive compounds could be 4,8-β-epoxy-caryophyllene, methyl isocostate, (E)-labda-8(17),12-diene-15,16-dial, α-kessyl acetate, zederone, clovanediol, ledene oxide-(I), alantolactone, or 8α,11-elemadiol.Natural aminoglycosides are therapeutically useful antibiotics as well as very efficient RNA ligands. They are oligosaccharides containing several ammonium groups able to interfere with the translation process in prokaryotes upon binding to bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) thus impairing protein synthesis. Even if aminoglycosides are commonly used in therapy, these RNA binders lack selectivity, being able to bind to a wide number of RNA sequences/structures. This is one of the reasons for their toxicity and limited applications in therapy. At the same time, the ability of aminoglycosides to bind to various RNAs renders them a great source of inspiration for the synthesis of new binders with improved affinity and specificity toward several therapeutically relevant RNA targets. Thus, a number of studies have been performed on these complex and highly functionalized compounds leading to the development of various synthetic methodologies toward the synthesis of conjugated aminoglycosides. The aim of this review is to highlight recent progresses in the field of aminoglycoside conjugation paying particular attention to the modifications performed toward the improvement of affinity and especially to the selectivity of the resulting compounds. This will help readers understand how to introduce a desired chemical modification for future developments of RNA ligands as antibiotics, antiviral and anticancer compounds.Background There are racial and ethnic disparities in the risk of contracting COVID-19. This study sought to assess how occupational segregation according to race and ethnicity may contribute to the risk of COVID-19. Methods Data about employment in 2019 by industry and occupation and race and ethnicity were obtained from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Current Population Survey. This data was combined with information about industries according to whether they were likely or possibly essential during the COVID-19 pandemic and the frequency of exposure to infections and close proximity to others by occupation. The percentage of workers employed in essential industries and occupations with a high risk of infection and close proximity to others by race and ethnicity was calculated. Results People of color were more likely to be employed in essential industries and in occupations with more exposure to infections and close proximity to others. Black workers in particular faced an elevated risk for all of these factors. Conclusion Occupational segregation into high-risk industries and occupations likely contributes to differential risk with respect to COVID-19. Providing adequate projection to workers may help to reduce these disparities.Statistical inferences play a critical role in ecotoxicology. Historically, Null Hypothesis Significance Testing (NHST) has been the dominant method for inference in ecotoxicology. As a brief and informal definition of NHST, researchers compare (or “test”) an experimental treatment or observation against a hypothesis of no relationship (the “null hypothesis”) using the collected data to see if the observed values are statistically “significant” given predefined error rates. The resulting probability of observing a value equal to or greater than the observed value assuming the null hypothesis is true is the p-value. Criticisms of NHST have existed for almost a century and have recently grown to the point where statisticians, including the American Statistical Association (ASA), have felt the need to clarify the role of NHST and p-values beyond their current common use. These limitations also exist in ecotoxicology. For example, a review of the 2010 Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (ET&C) volume found many authors did not correctly report p-values. We repeated this review looking at the 2019 volume of ET&C. Incorrect reporting of p-values still occurred almost a decade later. Problems with NHST and p-values highlight the need for statistical inferences besides NHST, something long known in ecotoxicology and the broader scientific and statistical communities. Furthermore, concerns such as these led the Executive Director of the ASA to recommend against use of “statistical significance” in 2019. In light of these criticisms, ecotoxicologists require alternative methods. In this paper, we describe some alternative methods including confidence intervals, regression analysis, dose-response curves, Bayes factors, survival analysis, and model selection. Lastly, we provide insights for what ecotoxicology might look like in a post-p-value world. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Objective Suicidal ideation is common in cancer patients and may be associated with hopelessness, demoralization, and depression. This study aims to investigate the serial multiple mediation of demoralization and depression in the relationship between hopelessness and suicidal ideation in cancer patients. Methods A total of 244 cancer patients were investigated by using the following standardized self-reported questionnaires self-rating idea of suicide scale, Beck hopelessness scale, demoralization scale-Mandarin version, and patient health questionnaire depression scale-9. The mediation hypothesis was tested with a serial multiple mediation model (PROCESS model 6). An exploratory graph analysis was performed to detect the correlations among the dimensions of the mental conditions measured by these instruments. Results Bootstrap analyzes indicate that there were direct and indirect effects of hopelessness on suicidal ideation mediated solely by demoralization (B = 2.3074, SE = 0.1724, P less then .001) or by demoralization together with depression (B = 0.