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Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024Naturally occurring substances and their derivatives function as vital resources for pesticides that can be used in fields, such as insecticide production and fungicide...
Naturally occurring substances and their derivatives function as vital resources for pesticides that can be used in fields, such as insecticide production and fungicide development. As a botanical entity displaying multifaceted biological functions, wormwood has received thorough scrutiny across multiple sectors. The insect repellency potency combined with antibacterial and antifungal activities of wormwood position it as a potential candidate for prospective development into eco-friendly chemical pesticides. In this research, Wormwood essential oil was procured via ethanol water under ultrasonic scenarios and subsequently diluted with PEG 400 to formulate green chemical pesticides. The defensive efficacy of this green pesticide on plants was validated through 2 weeks of clustered plant growth experiments. Active constituents that exerted their effects were scrutinized by GC-MS. Furthermore, this green pesticide also displays efficacious effects on the prevention and management of aphids, exhibiting a dose-dependent relationship. 4-terpenol, eucalyptol, carvacrol, and L-borneol were identified by GC-MS as the predominant active constituents in this green chemical pesticide. Wormwood can be leveraged to develop green chemical pesticides, which can protect plants without contaminating the environment.
Topics: Insecticides; Animals; Oils, Volatile; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Cymenes; Green Chemistry Technology; Aphids; Eucalyptol; Camphanes
PubMed: 38930942
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29122877 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024This study is the first to investigate the chemical composition and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic activities of leaf oil. A yellow oil was obtained...
This study is the first to investigate the chemical composition and antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and cytotoxic activities of leaf oil. A yellow oil was obtained through hydro-distillation, with a yield of 0.1% (/). The GC-MS analysis revealed 66 compounds, constituting 99.6% of the oil. Sesquiterpene hydrocarbons predominated (70.4%), followed by monoterpene hydrocarbons (13.2%), oxygenated sesquiterpenes (12.4%), non-terpenic compounds (2.0%), and oxygenated monoterpenes (1.6%). Major constituents included germacrene D (25.1%), ()-caryophyllene (17.4%), bicyclogermacrene (6.6%), -pinene (6.2%), and -pinene (4.7%). The assessment of antioxidant capacity via 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay yielded a weak effect, with an IC value > 100 µg/mL. The inhibition of lipopolysaccharide-induced nitric oxide production in RAW 264.7 cells was quantified using the MTT assay, showing an IC value of 15.15 ± 0.68 µg/mL. Furthermore, cytotoxic effects on SK-LU-1 cell line growth were evaluated using the sulforhodamine B assay, resulting in an IC value of 37.45 ± 2.43 μg/mL. The anti-inflammatory activity was notable among the analyzed bioactivities of this oil. By employing a computational model, the predominant secondary metabolites in the essential oil were selected as candidates for interaction analysis with cyclooxygenase-2, an enzyme implicated in the inflammatory response. Our findings suggest that leaf oil could serve as a potential source of natural compounds with prospective therapeutic effects in treating inflammatory conditions.
Topics: Oils, Volatile; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Antioxidants; Mice; Animals; RAW 264.7 Cells; Peperomia; Nitric Oxide; Plant Leaves; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Computer Simulation; Southeast Asian People
PubMed: 38930872
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29122808 -
Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024Seven new abietane diterpenoids, comprising medusanthol A-G (-, , -) and two previously identified analogs ( and ), were isolated from the hexane extract of the aerial...
Seven new abietane diterpenoids, comprising medusanthol A-G (-, , -) and two previously identified analogs ( and ), were isolated from the hexane extract of the aerial parts of The structures of the compounds were elucidated by HRESIMS, 1D/2D NMR spectroscopic data, IR spectroscopy, NMR calculations with DP4+ probability analysis, and ECD calculations. The anti-neuroinflammatory potential of compounds - was evaluated by determining their ability to inhibit the production of nitric oxide (NO) and the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-α in BV2 microglia stimulated with LPS and IFN-γ. Compounds - and exhibited decreased NO levels at a concentration of 12.5 µM. Compound demonstrated strong activity with an IC of 3.12 µM, and compound had an IC of 15.53 µM; both compounds effectively reduced NO levels compared to the positive control quercetin (IC 11.8 µM). Additionally, both compounds significantly decreased TNF-α levels, indicating their potential as promising anti-neuroinflammatory agents.
Topics: Abietanes; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Animals; Nitric Oxide; Mice; Microglia; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; Plant Extracts; Cell Line; Molecular Structure; Lipopolysaccharides; Plant Components, Aerial
PubMed: 38930790
DOI: 10.3390/molecules29122723 -
Micromachines May 2024Conventional microfluidic systems that rely on capillary force have a fixed structure and limited sensitivity, which cannot meet the demands of clinical applications....
Conventional microfluidic systems that rely on capillary force have a fixed structure and limited sensitivity, which cannot meet the demands of clinical applications. Herein, we propose a dual-drive microfluidic device for sensitive and flexible detection of multiple pathogenic microorganisms antigens/antibodies. The device comprises a portable microfluidic analyzer and a dual-drive microfluidic chip. Along with capillary force, a second active driving force is provided by a removable self-driving valve in the waste chamber. The interval between these two driving forces can be adjusted to control the reaction time in the microchannel, optimizing the formation of antigen-antibody complexes and enhancing sensitivity. Moreover, the material used in the self-driving valve can be changed to adjust the active force strength needed for different tests. The device offers quantitative analysis for respiratory syncytial virus antigen and SARS-CoV-2 antigen using a 35 μL sample, delivering results within 5 min. The detection limits of the system were 1.121 ng/mL and 0.447 ng/mL for respiratory syncytial virus recombinant fusion protein and SARS-CoV-2 recombinant nucleoprotein, respectively. Although the dual-drive microfluidic device has been used for immunoassay for respiratory syncytial virus and SARS-CoV-2 in this study, it can be easily adapted to other immunoassay applications by changing the critical reagents.
PubMed: 38930655
DOI: 10.3390/mi15060685 -
Microorganisms May 2024Respiratory diseases arising from co-infections involving () and (Mo) pose a substantial threat to the sheep industry. This study focuses on the isolation and...
Respiratory diseases arising from co-infections involving () and (Mo) pose a substantial threat to the sheep industry. This study focuses on the isolation and identification of the strain extracted from the lung tissue of an argali hybrid sheep infected with Mo. Kunming mice were used as a model to assess the pathogenicity of . Subsequently, whole genome sequencing (WGS) of was conducted using the Illumina NovaSeq PE150 platform. The whole genome sequencing analysis involved the construction of an evolutionary tree to depict conserved genes and the generation of a genome circle diagram. identified as serotype A, was named SHZ01. Our findings reveal that SHZ01 infection induces pathological manifestations, including hemorrhage and edema, in mice. The phylogenetic tree of conserved genes analyzing from different countries and different host sources indicates close relatedness between the SHZ01 strain and the 40540 strain (A:12), originating from turkeys in Denmark. The genome of SHZ01 comprises 2,378,508 base pairs (bp) with a GC content of 40.89%. Notably, this strain, designated , exhibits two distinct gene islands and harbors a total of 80 effector proteins associated with the Type III Secretion System (T3SS). The SHZ01 strain harbors 82 virulence genes and 54 resistance genes. In the SHZ01 strain, the proteins, genes, and related GO and KEGG pathways have been annotated. Exploring the relationship between these annotations and the pathogenicity of the SHZ01 strain would be valuable. This study holds great significance in further understanding the pathogenesis and genetic characteristics of the sheep-derived SHZ01 strain. Additionally, it contributes to our understanding of respiratory diseases in the context of co-infection.
PubMed: 38930454
DOI: 10.3390/microorganisms12061072 -
Materials (Basel, Switzerland) Jun 2024The risk of the releasing of nanometric particles from construction materials with nanometric components might be one of the biggest threats to further development of...
The risk of the releasing of nanometric particles from construction materials with nanometric components might be one of the biggest threats to further development of them. One of the possible ingress routes to human organisms is the respiratory system. Therefore, it is crucial to determine the risk of emission of nanometric particles during material usage. In the presented paper, abrasion of mortar samples with nanometric TiO was investigated. A special abrasion test setup was developed to reflect everyday abrasion of the concrete surface of pavements. In the study, three TiO-modifed mortar series (and respective reference series) underwent the developed test protocol and the grains were mobilized from their surface due to the applied load analyzed (granulation, morphology, and chemical composition). For a comparative analysis, an abrasion parameter was developed. Based on the obtained results, the modification of cementitious composites with nanometric TiO contributed to a reduction in the emission of aerosols and, therefore, confirmed the compatibility between TiO and cement matrix.
PubMed: 38930390
DOI: 10.3390/ma17123022 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Jun 2024Respiratory effort is considered important in the context of the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), as well as other sleep disorders. However, current...
Respiratory effort is considered important in the context of the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), as well as other sleep disorders. However, current monitoring techniques can be obtrusive and interfere with a patient's natural sleep. This study examines the reliability of an unobtrusive tracheal sound-based approach to monitor respiratory effort in the context of OSA, using manually marked respiratory inductance plethysmography (RIP) signals as a gold standard for validation. : In total, 150 patients were trained on the use of type III cardiorespiratory polygraphy, which they took to use at home, alongside a neck-worn AcuPebble system. The respiratory effort channels obtained from the tracheal sound recordings were compared to the effort measured by the RIP bands during automatic and manual marking experiments. A total of 133 central apnoeas, 218 obstructive apnoeas, 263 obstructive hypopneas, and 270 normal breathing randomly selected segments were shuffled and blindly marked by a Registered Polysomnographic Technologist (RPSGT) in both types of channels. The RIP signals had previously also been independently marked by another expert clinician in the context of diagnosing those patients, and without access to the effort channel of AcuPebble. The classification achieved with the acoustically obtained effort was assessed with statistical metrics and the average amplitude distributions per respiratory event type for each of the different channels were also studied to assess the overlap between event types. The performance of the acoustic effort channel was evaluated for the events where both scorers were in agreement in the marking of the gold standard reference channel, showing an average sensitivity of 90.5%, a specificity of 98.6%, and an accuracy of 96.8% against the reference standard with blind expert marking. In addition, a comparison using the Embla Remlogic 4.0 automatic software of the reference standard for classification, as opposed to the expert marking, showed that the acoustic channels outperformed the RIP channels (acoustic sensitivity: 71.9%; acoustic specificity: 97.2%; RIP sensitivity: 70.1%; RIP specificity: 76.1%). The amplitude trends across different event types also showed that the acoustic channels exhibited a better differentiation between the amplitude distributions of different event types, which can help when doing manual interpretation. : The results prove that the acoustically obtained effort channel extracted using AcuPebble is an accurate, reliable, and more patient-friendly alternative to RIP in the context of OSA.
PubMed: 38930155
DOI: 10.3390/jcm13123628 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Jun 2024: COPD patients who are frail have been reported to develop brain atrophy, but no non-invasive diagnostic tool has been developed to detect this condition. Our study...
: COPD patients who are frail have been reported to develop brain atrophy, but no non-invasive diagnostic tool has been developed to detect this condition. Our study aimed to explore the diagnostic utility of the Kihon Checklist (KCL), a frailty questionnaire, in assessing hippocampal volume loss in patients with COPD. : We recruited 40 COPD patients and 20 healthy individuals using the KCL to assess frailty across seven structural domains. Hippocampal volumes were obtained from T1-weighted MRI images, and ROC analysis was performed to detect hippocampal atrophy. : Our results showed that patients with COPD had significantly greater atrophic left hippocampal volumes than healthy subjects ( < 0.05). The univariate correlation coefficient between the left hippocampal volume and KCL (1-20), which pertains to instrumental and social activities of daily living, was the largest (ρ = -0.54, < 0.0005) among the KCL subdomains. Additionally, both KCL (1-25) and KCL (1-20) demonstrated useful diagnostic potential (93% specificity and 90% sensitivity, respectively) for identifying individuals in the lowest 25% of the left hippocampal volume (AUC = 0.82). : Our study suggests that frailty questionnaires focusing on daily vulnerability, such as the KCL, can effectively detect hippocampal atrophy in COPD patients.
PubMed: 38930118
DOI: 10.3390/jcm13123589 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Jun 2024: This study evaluated early childhood comorbidities of cerebral palsy (CP) in low birth weight (LBW) children and assessed the impact of maternal bio-psychosocial...
The Prevalence and Risk Analysis of Cerebral Palsy and Other Neuro-Psychological Comorbidities in Children with Low Birth Weight in Taiwan: A Nationwide Population-Based Cohort Study.
: This study evaluated early childhood comorbidities of cerebral palsy (CP) in low birth weight (LBW) children and assessed the impact of maternal bio-psychosocial factors on CP risk in preterm infants of varying birth weights (BWs). : Data from 15,181 preterm infants (2009-2013) and 151,810 controls were analyzed using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. CP prevalence and LBW-associated comorbidities were examined, and odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. : This study confirmed increasing prematurity and LBW rates in Taiwan, with LBW infants showing higher CP prevalence. Significant maternal risk factors included age extremes (<20 and >40 years). LBW infants exhibited higher risks for respiratory, circulatory, nervous system, and psycho-developmental comorbidities compared with controls, with the lowest BW having even higher ORs. Maternal factors such as family income, the number of hospital admissions, and length of hospital stay were remarkably correlated with BW and subsequent complications. Each additional gestational week crucially reduced the risk of complications in premature infants. : LBW infants are at a higher risk for CP and various comorbidities, with maternal bio-psychosocial factors playing a critical role. Addressing these factors in prenatal care and interventions is essential to improve outcomes for premature infants.
PubMed: 38930008
DOI: 10.3390/jcm13123480 -
Journal of Clinical Medicine Jun 2024(1) : Dexmedetomidine is a sedative for patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) that previous single-site studies have found to be associated with...
Association between Dexmedetomidine Use and Mortality in Patients with COVID-19 Receiving Invasive Mechanical Ventilation: A U.S. National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) Study.
(1) : Dexmedetomidine is a sedative for patients receiving invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) that previous single-site studies have found to be associated with improved survival in patients with COVID-19. The reported clinical benefits include dampened inflammatory response, reduced respiratory depression, reduced agitation and delirium, improved preservation of responsiveness and arousability, and improved hypoxic pulmonary vasoconstriction and ventilation-perfusion ratio. Whether improved mortality is evident in large, multi-site COVID-19 data is understudied. (2) : The association between dexmedetomidine use and mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving IMV was assessed. This retrospective multi-center cohort study utilized patient data in the United States from health systems participating in the National COVID Cohort Collaborative (N3C) from 1 January 2020 to 3 November 2022. The primary outcome was 28-day mortality rate from the initiation of IMV. Propensity score matching adjusted for differences between the group with and without dexmedetomidine use. Adjusted hazard ratios (aHRs) for 28-day mortality were calculated using multivariable Cox proportional hazards models with dexmedetomidine use as a time-varying covariate. (3) : Among the 16,357,749 patients screened, 3806 patients across 17 health systems met the study criteria. Mortality was lower with dexmedetomidine use (aHR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73-0.90; < 0.001). On subgroup analysis, mortality was lower with earlier dexmedetomidine use-initiated within the median of 3.5 days from the start of IMV-(aHR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.60-0.76; < 0.001) as well as use prior to standard, widespread use of dexamethasone for patients on respiratory support (prior to 30 July 2020) (aHR, 0.54; 95% CI, 0.42-0.69; < 0.001). In a secondary model that was restricted to 576 patients across six health system sites with available PaO/FiO data, mortality was not lower with dexmedetomidine use (aHR 0.95, 95% CI, 0.72-1.25; = 0.73); however, on subgroup analysis, mortality was lower with dexmedetomidine use initiated earlier than the median dexmedetomidine start time after IMV (aHR, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.53-0.98; = 0.04) and use prior to 30 July 2020 (aHR, 0.22; 95% CI, 0.06-0.78; = 0.02). (4) : Dexmedetomidine use was associated with reduced mortality in patients with COVID-19 receiving IMV, particularly when initiated earlier, rather than later, during the course of IMV as well as use prior to the standard, widespread usage of dexamethasone during respiratory support. These particular findings might suggest that the associated mortality benefit with dexmedetomidine use is tied to immunomodulation. However, further research including a large randomized controlled trial is warranted to evaluate the potential mortality benefit of DEX use in COVID-19 and evaluate the physiologic changes influenced by DEX that may enhance survival.
PubMed: 38929961
DOI: 10.3390/jcm13123429