Two novel diterpenes, phyllanes A and B, were isolated from the roots of Phyllanthus acidus, along with the cleistanthane diterpene, spruceanol. Their chemical structures were unambiguously ...elucidated by extensive 1D and 2D NMR analyses and high resolution mass spectroscopic data, as well as by comparison with literature data. While phyllanes A and B are respectively reminiscent of amphilectane and serrulatane diterpenoids, their highly unusual substitution patterns and their co-occurrence with spruceanol led us to assume that they might correspond to an unprecedented type of re-arranged cleistanthane-diterpenoid precursors, resulting in final products that display a unique scaffold among terrestrial diterpenoids. Accordingly, a possible biosynthetic route to the two new compounds from the readily accessible spruceanol is proposed herein. These two compounds were evaluated for their cytotoxic activities against two cancer cell lines. Only phyllane B exerted a moderate activity against K562 and HepG2 cell line with IC50 values of 28.90 and 45.23 μg/mL, respectively.
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Soil displacement induced when installing controlled modulus columns (CMC) as ground reinforcement could affect the columns installed close by. Realising numerical analyses may provide useful ...insights, this paper describes a numerical approach to investigate how groups of CMC installed in different sequences could affect columns installed previously. Coupled consolidation analyses in large strain mode and incorporating soil-CMC interaction were carried out using the three-dimensional finite difference software package FLAC3D. The CMCs were modelled using advanced non-linear Hoek-Brown material with a tensile yield criterion while soils with a typical profile were characterised using the modified Cam Clay and the elastic-perfectly plastic material with a Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion. Where possible, the predicted responses of ground surrounding the CMCs were compared to a number of existing analytical methods. Predictions revealed that lateral soil movement and soil heave near existing CMCs induced by installing new CMCs towards the existing CMCs were approximately 15% and 25% greater than corresponding predictions when a reverse installation sequence was adopted. The maximum excess pore water pressures, induced near existing columns due to installing new columns towards the existing ones, were almost twice more than those caused by the reverse sequence of installation. Moreover, the predicted bending moments generated in the existing columns induced by installing new columns towards the existing CMCs were almost 22% greater than the corresponding values when the reverse installation sequence was adopted. This shows the importance of selecting an appropriate installation sequence in the CMC construction process as well as considering the initial stress field and bending moments in the surrounding soil and CMCs, respectively when designing embankments on improved soft soils.
A new C
41
-spiroterpenoid, norreticulatin (
1
), has been isolated from the thalli of
Parmotrema cristiferum
together with four known compounds, anadensin (
2
), fusicoauritone (
3
), ergosterol (
4
...), and betulin (
5
). The structure of the new compound
1
was determined through spectroscopic and MS analyses. Compound
1
exhibited potent inhibition, with an IC
50
value of 8.8 μM, much lower than that of the acarbose-positive control (IC
50
331 μM).
In order to extract more detailed features, many recent practical applications work with 3-D models instead of 2-D images. However, 3-D reconstruction usually requires either multiple cameras or a ...depth sensor and a turntable. This paper proposes an approach for performing a 3-D reconstruction using only one depth camera together with two or more mirrors. Mirrors are employed as virtual depth cameras placed at different positions. All measured depth data are provided in only one frame at each time. Significant depth distortion behind a mirror, which occurred with a standard time-of-flight depth sensor, is reduced by removing unreliable points and/or re-estimating better positions for these points. The experiments on easy-to-evaluate geometric objects show that the proposed approach could play a basic role in reconstructing intermediate 3-D object models in practical applications using only cheap devices.
Chemical investigation of the lichen Parmotrema tinctorum (Nyl.) Hale led to the isolation of two new phenolic compounds, 2-ethylhexyl orsellinate (1) and tinctorinone (2). The structures were ...determined by analysis of their MS and NMR data as well as by comparison with literature data. The 2-ethylhexyl ester group of 2-ethylhexyl orsellinate is uncommon among lichen metabolites. Tinctorinone revealed strong inhibition towards α-glucosidase.
It is proposed in this paper a reliable approach for human gait symmetry assessment using a Time-of-Flight (ToF) depth camera and two mirrors. The setup formed from these devices provides a sequence ...of 3D point clouds that is the input of our system. A cylindrical histogram is estimated for describing the posture in each point cloud. The sequence of such histograms is then separated into two sequences of sub-histograms representing two half-bodies. A cross-correlation technique is finally applied to provide values describing gait symmetry indices. The evaluation was performed on 9 different gait types to demonstrate the ability of our approach in assessing gait symmetry. A comparison between our system and related methods, that employ different input data types, is also provided.
•Estimating gait symmetry index based on a sequence of point clouds.•Describing walking postures by cylinder-based histograms.•Experiments and comparisons on a dataset of multiple data types.•Providing relevant gait symmetry information for clinical applications.
Phytochemical analysis of Euphorbia antiquorum stem extracts afforded two new ent-atisane compounds, ent-3α-acetoxy-16β,17,18-trihydroxyatisane (1) and ent-3α,14,16β,17-tetrahydroxyatisane (2) ...together with three known compounds, 20-deoxy-16-hydroxyingenol (3), ent-14S,16α,17-trihydroxyatisan-3-one (4), and agallochaol C (5). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic data analysis and comparison with published NMR data. Compounds 1-5 were evaluated for α-glucosidase inhibition and cytotoxicity. Compounds 1, 4, and 5 revealed significant inhibitory activity against α-glucosidase with the IC
50
values of 119.9, 135.5, and 134.3 µM, respectively. None showed activity in cytotoxicity assay.
Two new cycloartanes, combretic acid C (1) and combretanone I (3), were isolated from the leaves of Combretum quadrangulare Kurz, together with the previously-reported combretic acids A-B (2 and 5) ...and combretanone A (4). An extensive set of spectroscopic methods were used to elucidate the structures of these compounds. Cytotoxicity against the K562 cancer cell line was evaluated. Compound 1 showed strong activity, with an IC
50
value of 9.7 µM. The other compounds showed moderate activity. Alpha-glucosidase inhibition was also evaluated. The isolated compounds showed moderate inhibition, with IC
50
values in the range 102.2-194.7 µM.
Running multiple breeding programs for the same species requires a high level of investment and management; hence, to date there have not been any attempts to develop specialised genetic lines for ...different environments in any aquaculture species. This study made the first attempt to conduct a comprehensive genetic evaluation of the breeding programs for improved growth in two Liptopenaeus vannamei lines selected in both tank and pond environments over three generations from 2014 to 2017. The pedigree included 95,696 shrimp individuals (offspring of 352 common sires and 423 dams). Genetic analysis was carried out separately for each line and environment, using restricted maximum likelihood and mixed model approaches. The estimates of heritability for body weight were comparable between the lines (Line 1 was selected in tank and Line 2 in pond). In each line, the estimates of heritability for body weight were environment-dependent. The common full-sib effects (c2) were large in both tank and pond environments (ranging from 16 to 21% across traits). There were, however, no significant differences in the c2 estimates between the two lines and between the two environments. The between-environment genetic correlations, as a measure of genotype by environment interaction, were low in both lines. Genetic gain measured as estimated breeding values (EBVs) was greater in Line 2 (selected in pond) than Line 1 (selected in tank); the gain expressed in genetic standard deviation unit (SDA) for body weight was 3.27 SDA in pond vs. 1.70 SDA in tank in the latest generation (2017). It is concluded that selection in pond achieved greater genetic gain than selection in tank when their descendants were tested in both environments (i.e., tank and pond).
•Selection in pond resulted in greater genetic gain than in tank.•Heritability estimates for body traits differed slightly between the two environments.•Genetic correlations for homologous traits between tank and pond environments were low.•Potentially there were line by environment interactions for body traits in this population.
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A series of novel N-substituted hydrazide derivatives were synthesized by reacting atranorin, a compound with a natural depside structure (1), with a range of hydrazines. The natural ...product and 12 new analogues (2–13) were investigated for inhibition of α-glucosidase. The N-substituted hydrazide derivatives showed more potent inhibition than the original. The experimental results were confirmed by docking analysis. This study suggests that these compounds are promising molecules for diabetes therapy. Molecular dynamics simulations were carried out with compound 2 demonstrating the best docking model using Gromac during simulation up to 20 ns to explore the stability of the complex ligand-protein. Furthermore, the activity of all synthetic compounds 2–13 against a normal cell line HEK293, used for assessing their cytotoxicity, was evaluated.
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