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Betulinic acid (BA) and oleanolic acid (OA) are plant-derived conjugates found in various medicinal plants that have emerged as potential antitumor agents. Herein, a series of novel BA and OA derivatives were synthesized by conjugation with per

Influenza hemagglutinin that drives viral entry into cells via the membrane fusion process is an up-and-coming antiviral drug target. Herein, we described for the first time the design, synthesis, and biological characteristics of a new class of pentacyclic triterpenoid-based proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) to enhance the degradation of hemagglutinin target. Among these PROTACs

A simple and efficient method for the oxidative coupling of terminal alkynes is reported for the first time, making use of imidazol(in)ium aurates as pre-catalysts. This approach displays high functional group tolerance and leads to a broad range of 1,3-diyne compounds in moderate to excellent yields using low catalyst loading and is performed in air under mild and sustainable conditions.

The lane-change transportation research usually focuses on the efficiency and stability of the macro traffic flow while ignoring the driving comfort of individual vehicles. And many studies of lane-change models are often limited to the performance of a single vehicle, which leads to a lack of macroscopic evaluation. To solve the above limitations, an automatic lane-change generalized dynamic model is adopted. In this model, the lane-change behavior of an individual vehicle is considered as the generalized excitation and the restraining force between vehicles is described with the car-following model. Macro and micro evaluation indexes are also adopted to evaluate the automatic lane-change behavior in traffic flow. Furthermore, this paper proposes a modified intelligent driver model (IDM) to describe the state change process during lane change. The hyperbolic tangent transition function is used to eliminate the vehicle state mutation. The simulation results show that the proposed automatic lane-change generalized dynamic model can reflect the macro and micro parameters of the traffic flow. And compared with the traditional IDM model, the proposed HC-IDM model achieves higher comfort performance and lower fluctuation of traffic flow.

A synthetic route making use of a weak inorganic base has been developed to easily access [M(diketonato)(NHC)] complexes.

The Columbia lance nematode Hoplolaimus columbus has been reported frequently from North America due to its negative impact on agricultural production. In this study, for the first time, we sequenced the whole genome of a female specimen by using whole-genome amplification and Illumina MiSeq. Data were de novo assembled to form scaffolds of 205.75 Mbp consisting of 118,374 contigs. The largest scaffold was 636,881 bp. Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs completeness was 66.6% (eukaryotic dataset), and >8,000 unique genes were predicted by GeneMark-ES. In total, 61,855 protein sequences were predicted by AUGUSTUS, and 10,085 of them were annotated by PANNZER2 with at least one function. These data will provide valuable resources for studies focusing on pathogenicity and phylogenomics of plant-parasitic nematodes.

A set of 12 abietane diterpene derivatives have been synthesised by the Ugi-four component reaction (Ugi-4CR) and tested for cytotoxicity and activity against influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) and SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus. Five dipeptide derivatives demonstrated a selectivity index (SI) higher than 10 and IC50 values from 2 to 32 μM against influenza virus. Compound 11 was found to be a lead with SI of 200, and time-of-addition experiments showed the viral entry into the cell and the binding of the virus to the receptor as a possible target. Compound 7 was the only one showed weak anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity with EC50 value of 80.96 µM. Taken together, our data suggest the potency of diterpene acids-Ugi products as new effective anti-influenza compounds.

A simple and efficient synthetic route to [RuCl2(NHC)(p-cymene)] and [Ru(CO3)(NHC)(p-cymene)] complexes making use of a weak base, under aerobic conditions, is reported. This method enables access to a series of NHC-ruthenium compounds with moderate to good yields under mild conditions. The Ru pre-catalysts were successfully used in olefin oxidation catalysis at low catalyst loading and reach complete conversion in short times.

A novel, efficient and facile protocol for the synthesis of a series of [Ru(NHC)(CO3)(p-cymene)] complexes is reported. This family of Ru-NHC complexes was obtained from imidazol(in)ium tetrafluoroborate or imidazolium hydrogen carbonate salts in moderate to excellent yields, employing sustainable weak base. The ruthenium complexes were successfully utilized in the transfer hydrogenation of ketones as highly active multifunctional catalysts.

A chemical library was constructed based on the resin acids (abietic, dehydroabietic, and 12-formylabietic) and its diene adducts (maleopimaric and quinopimaric acid derivatives). The one-pot three-component CuCl-catalyzed aminomethylation of the abietane diterpenoid propargyl derivatives was carried out by formaldehyde and secondary amines (diethylamine, pyrrolidine, morpholine, and homopiperazine). All compounds were tested for cytotoxicity and antiviral activity against influenza virus A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) in MDCK cells and SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus in BHK-21-hACE2 cells. Among 21 tested compounds, six derivatives demonstrated a selectivity index (SI) higher than 10, and their IC

Background The plant-parasitic nematode Hoplolaimus columbus is a pathogen that uses a wide range of hosts and causes substantial yield loss in agricultural fields in North America. This study describes, for the first time, the complete mitochondrial genome of H. columbus from South Carolina, USA. Methods The mitogenome of H. columbus was assembled from Illumina 300 bp pair-end reads. It was annotated and compared to other published mitogenomes of plant-parasitic nematodes in the superfamily Tylenchoidea. The phylogenetic relationships between H. columbus and other 6 genera of plant-parasitic nematodes were examined using protein-coding genes (PCGs). Results The mitogenome of H. columbus is a circular AT-rich DNA molecule 25,228 bp in length. The annotation result comprises 12 PCGs, 2 ribosomal RNA genes, and 19 transfer RNA genes. No atp8 gene was found in the mitogenome of H. columbus but long non-coding regions were observed in agreement to that reported for other plant-parasitic nematodes. The mitogenomic phylogeny of plant-parasitic nematodes in the superfamily Tylenchoidea agreed with previous molecular phylogenies. Mitochondrial gene synteny in H. columbus was unique but similar to that reported for other closely related species. Conclusions The mitogenome of H. columbus is unique within the superfamily Tylenchoidea but exhibits similarities in both gene content and synteny to other closely related nematodes. Among others, this new resource will facilitate population genomic studies in lance nematodes from North America and beyond.

The article under consideration reveals the significant role of the piano as a powerful medium of music culture, including Chinese one, where piano musicianship has become a meaningful developmental factor. Chinese culture of pianoforte performance went through a complicated long-lasting formation stage. The issue of worldwide known Chinese pianists’ performance mastery level is being disclosed. This is confirmed with their remarkable achievements at International pianoforte competitions. The fact of a great many Chinese pianists’ integration in the world’s performance artistry, as well as Ukrainian music and teacher training institutions’ growing interest to supporting their musicians nationwide, are being revealed. The article suggests an analysis referring to specifics of revealing several Chinese musicians’ piano genius in the process of their artistic evolvement; the constituent elements of the phenomenon are also put forward. A number of case studies for further Chinese piano culture awareness are also being introduced, such as: Liu Shih-Kun, Li Yundi, Fou Ts'Ong, Zhu Xiao-Mei, Siqian Li, Wang Yuja, Chen Sa, Zhang Haochen, Zhang Shengliang, Anke Chen. The information of Liu Shih-Kun, Chinese and world influential teacher, the Second International Tchaikovskyi Competition Laureate, facilitator of thirty music schools in various Chinese cities, is provided. Due to this contribution, the number of pianoforte contests in China has increased for the recent decades; hundreds of young musicians perfect their skills and demonstrate them at international music competitions. Since the nineties, Chinese pianists have been given prestige awards at international contests. The progress of Li Yundi, one of the prominent pianists, is also rendered; at the age of seventeen the musician participated in Frederic Chopin competition (Warsaw, 2000) where he won the First Award. Fou Ts'Ong, another distinguished teacher and musician, was granted the Third Award at Chopin Competition in 1955. In the early 21st century, the development of Chinese pianoforte culture was marked with a significant event, i.e. the rise of Lang Lang, who was given the first awards at Shenyang and Beijing contests. Another outstanding profile is the one of Zhu Xiao-Mei’s, a Chinese pianist who has become one of the most honourable musicians of today, and who is a great devotee of Johann Sebastian Bach’s compositions. Tian Tsang, one of virtuoso pianists, the status he was credited with after his debut in Carnegie Hall in the late 20th century, is also presented. Background information of Siqian Li, Grand-Prix and special prize owner (International V. Krainev young pianists contest, Ukraine) and her performances that are highly evaluated in great many world pianists’ responses and recognised by prestigious Spanish, French, Egyptian festivals, is rendered in the article. By the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the names of Chinese pianists having started their career in China in their early years have become famous worldwide. Thus, Wang Yuja was granted the Third Award and young musician’s special prize at Japanese competition in 2001 when she was only fourteen; Chen Sa, whose successful career started with the First Awards in China, 2005 and being granted the Fourth Award at the Twelfth International Van Cliburn pianists competition, the USA. Zhang Haochen, Zhang Shengliang, Anke Chen, who started perfecting their skills in their early years and attained remarkable results in their music career, are given their due as well. The information and data presented in the article reveal the issue of activating Chinese pianists’ artistic endeavour within the context of performance culture, as well as the significance of their contribution in the world pianoforte domain.

In our continuing efforts toward the design of novel pentacyclic triterpene derivatives as potential anti-influenza virus entry inhibitors, a series of homogeneous heptavalent glycyrrhetinic acid derivatives based on

A novel, efficient and facile protocol for the synthesis of a series of [Ru(NHC)(CO

Summary Hoplolaimus smokyensis n. sp. is a new species of lance nematode collected in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Females of H. smokyensis n. sp. have a labial region characterised by six, occasionally five, annules. The basal lip annule is subdivided by about 24 longitudinal striae. The stylet averages 47 μm long with robust, tulip-shaped stylet knobs bearing anterior projections. The hemizonid is ca 4 μm anterior to the excretory pore. The lateral field is incompletely areolated and has four continuous incisures from the metacorpus region to the tail region. There are three pharyngeal gland nuclei. Vulval epiptygma are absent. The scutellate phasmids are located one anterior and one posterior to the vulva. The male is shorter than the female and the head region is higher and more rounded than that of the female. The bursa extends to the tail tip and the gubernaculum is large and protrusible and has titillae and a capitulum. Morphologically, H. smokyensis n. sp. is most similar to H. galeatus and H. stephanus, but can be distinguished by differences such as the number of annules and longitudinal striae on the lip region and morphometric values. Hoplolaimus smokyensis n. sp. is also genetically distinct from other species according to comparisons of ribosomal and mitochondrial DNA sequences. Phylogenetic analyses based on ribosomal and mitochondrial gene sequences suggest that H. smokyensis n. sp. is a lineage distinct from related Hoplolaimus species.

The development of novel and operationally simple synthetic routes to carbene‐metal‐amido (CMA) complexes of copper, silver and gold relevant for photonic applications are reported. A mild base and sustainable solvents allow all reactions to be conducted in air and at room temperature, leading to high yields of the targeted compounds even on multigram scales. The effect of various mild bases on the N−H metallation was studied in silico and experimentally, while a mechanochemical, solvent‐free synthetic approach was also developed. Our photophysical studies on [M(NHC)(Cbz)] (Cbz=carbazolyl) indicate that the occurrence of fluorescent or phosphorescent states is determined primarily by the metal, providing control over the excited state properties. Consequently, we demonstrate the potential of the new CMAs beyond luminescence applications by employing a selected CMA as a photocatalyst. The exemplified synthetic ease is expected to accelerate the applications of CMAs in photocatalysis and materials chemistry., N−H metallation routes: Interest in carbene‐metal‐amido (CMA) complexes of the coinage metals has inspired comprehensive efforts towards simplifying their synthesis. We now showcase simple and sustainable routes to various CMAs, using mild conditions for the N−H metallation of carbazole and other amines. The action of a mild base is studied computationally and the photophysical properties of some new CMA complexes are examined.

Background Hoplolaimus galeatus is a plant-parasite nematode with a broad range of hosts. This nematode is known to damage cotton, corn, and soybean crops. Hoplolaimus galeatus is also an economically important pest of turfgrasses. Despite its economical importance, no genomic resources exist for this parasite. Methods Using 300 bp paired-end short read sequencing, this study estimated genome size, analyzed a nearly complete mitochondrial chromosome, and explored nuclear repetitive elements, including microsatellites, in H. galeatus for the first time. The phylogenetic placement of H. galeatus in the superfamily Tylenchoidea was also examined. Results The average haploid genome size estimated using a k-mer approach was 517.69 Mbp. The partially assembled mitochondrial genome of H. galeatus is 16,578 bp in length and comprised of 11 protein-coding genes, two ribosomal RNA genes, and 16 transfer RNA genes. A maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis confirmed the monophyly of the genus Hoplolaimus and the superfamily Tylenchoidea. Repetitive elements constituted 50% of the nuclear genome while half of the genome represented single- or low-copy sequences. A large portion of repetitive sequences could not be assigned to known repeat element families. Considering only annotated repetitive elements, the most ubiquitous belonged to Class II- Subclass 2-Maverick elements, Class I-LTR-Ty-3/Bel-Pao elements, and satellites. 45S ribosomal DNA was also abundant and a total of 36 SSRs were identified.This study developed genomic resources for the plant-parasitic nematode Hoplolaimus galeatus that will contribute to the better understanding of meta-population connectivity and putative genomic mechanisms involved in the exploitation of the broad range of host plants used by H. galeatus.

The Columbia lance nematode

Vermicompost was used as an additive in swine manure composting, and the expression of bacterial functional genes on biotransformation of nutrient was investigated. Results showed that vermicompost extended the thermophilic period to 12 days, decreased the NH4+ -N/NO3− -N ratio to 0.85 and increased GI value to 166%. With vermicompost addition, higher relative abundances of Firmicutes were observed in substrate at the beginning. The dominant phyla of Proteobacteria was decreased in thermophilic stage, as well as its pathogenic related genera Acinetobacter and Stenotrophomonas, while the potentially beneficial genera Actinomadura and Chryseolinea were increased. And the activities of primary functional genes associated with metabolisms of carbohydrate, amino acid and xenobiotics at the level 2 and fatty acid metabolism at the level 3 were enhanced during the thermophilic phase. Besides, most dominant genera showed strengthened correlations with NO3−-N and GI with vermicompost amendment, and they were the strongest environmental factors for bacterial communities. Network analysis showed dominant genera Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Stenotrophomonas Oceanobacter associated metabolic pathways increased from two to three with vermicompost added in substrate. These results indicated that vermicompost promoted the composting efficiency by increasing the potentially beneficial bacteria, decreasing pathogenic bacteria and enhancing the metabolic capacity of bacterial communities.

Vermicompost was used as an additive in swine manure composting to investigate the expression of bacterial functional genes on nutrients biotransformation. Three treatments with vermicompost compositions of 10%, 20%, and 30% in swine manure were set up. Raw manure was used as the control. The thermophilic period increased to 12 days, the NH4+ -N/NO3- -N ratio decreased to 0.85, and the germination index (GI) increased to 166% after vermicompost addition. Furthermore, higher relative abundances of Firmicutes were observed in the substrate during the initial stages of experiment. The abundance of the dominant phylum Proteobacteria and its related pathogenic genera Acinetobacter and Stenotrophomonas decreased in the thermophilic stage while the potentially beneficial genera Actinomadura and Chryseolinea increased. The expression of primary functional genes associated with the metabolism of carbohydrates, amino acids, xenobiotics, and fatty acids was enhanced during the thermophilic phase. Besides, most dominant genera showed strengthened correlations with NO3−-N and GI, which were the strongest environmental factors for bacterial communities. Network analysis revealed a new metabolic pathway associated with dominant genera Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter, Stenotrophomonas, and Oceanobacter, whose abundance increased with vermicompost addition. Collectively, the results of this study indicate that vermicompost can promote composting efficiency by increasing the potentially beneficial bacteria, decreasing pathogenic bacteria, and enhancing the metabolic capacity of bacterial communities.

The last two decades have seen a veritable explosion in the use of gold(I) complexes bearing N-heterocyclic carbene (NHC) and phosphine (PR3) ligands. Both ligand families have significantly contributed to the stability and design of a plethora of gold complexes. Design is oftentimes associated with application. Here, we wish to present an overview of the synthesis and structural properties of dinuclear gold(I) complexes reported to date with their applications across numerous research areas.

An efficient copper-catalyzed intramolecular C-H alkoxylation of 1,4-disubstituted 1,2,3-triazoles has been developed. The chemistry was applied to a wide range of substrates, generating tricyclic benzoxazine-fused 1,2,3-triazoles in good yields. Mechanistic studies suggest that a radical pathway may be involved in this transformation. The triazole products were found to exhibit strong antifungal activity against ginseng root-rot disease, demonstrating their potential as a scaffold in medicinal chemistry research.

Additional file 1: Table S1. Model selection for phylogenetic analysis by smart model selection (SMS). Table S2. Microsatellite repeats in intergenic spaces. Table S3. Microsatellite repeats in non-coding regions. Table S4. Tandem repeats in non-coding regions.

Additional file 2: Figure S1. Secondary structure prediction analysis of non-coding regions in the mitochondrial genome of Hoplolaimus columbus by FORNA.