A risk-based soft sensor for failure rate monitoring in water distribution network via adaptive neuro-fuzzy interference systems.

Water Distribution Networks (WDNs) are considered one of the most important water infrastructures, and their study is of great importance. In the meantime, it seems necessary to investigate the factors involved in the failure of the urban water distribution network to optimally manage water resources and the environment. This study investigated the impact of influential factors on the failure rate of the water distribution network in Birjand, Iran. The outcomes can be considered a case study, with the possibility of extending to any similar city worldwide. The soft sensor based on the Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) was implemented to predict the failure rate based on effective features. Finally, the WDN was assessed using the Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) technique. The results showed that pipe diameter, pipe material, and water pressure are the most influential factors. Besides, polyethylene pipes have failure rates four times higher than asbestos-cement pipes. Moreover, the failure rate is directly proportional to water pressure but inversely related to the pipe diameter. Finally, the FMEA analysis based on the knowledge management technique demonstrated that pressure management in WDNs is the main policy for risk reduction of leakage and failure.

Reanalyzing the genetic history of Kra-Dai speakers from Thailand and new insights into their genetic interactions beyond Mainland Southeast Asia.

Thailand is a country where over 60 languages from five language families (Austroasiatic, Austronesian, Hmong-Mien, Kra-Dai, and Sino-Tibetan) are spoken. The Kra-Dai language family is the most prevalent, and Thai, the official language of the country, belongs to it. Previous genome-wide studies on Thailand populations revealed a complex population structure and put some hypotheses forward concerning the population history of the country. However, many published populations have not been co-analyzed, and some aspects of population history were not explored adequately. In this study, we employ new methods to re-analyze published genome-wide genetic data on Thailand populations, with a focus on 14 Kra-Dai-speaking groups. Our analyses reveal South Asian ancestry in Kra-Dai-speaking Lao Isan and Khonmueang, and in Austroasiatic-speaking Palaung, in contrast to a previous study in which the data were generated. We support the admixture scenario for the formation of Kra-Dai-speaking groups from Thailand who harbor both Austroasiatic-related ancestry and Kra-Dai-related ancestry from outside of Thailand. We also provide evidence of bidirectional admixture between Southern Thai and Nayu, an Austronesian-speaking group from Southern Thailand. Challenging some previously reported genetic analyses, we reveal a close genetic relationship between Nayu and Austronesian-speaking groups from Island Southeast Asia (ISEA).

Sequence capture: Obsolete or irreplaceable? A thorough validation across phylogenetic distances and its applicability to hybrids and allopolyploids.

As whole-genome sequencing has become pervasive, some have suggested that reduced genomic representation approaches, for example, sequence capture, are becoming obsolete. In the present study, we argue that these techniques still provide excellent tools in terms of price and quality of data as well as in their ability to provide markers with specific features, as required, for example, in phylogenomics. A potential drawback of the wide-scale application of reduced representation approaches could be their drop in efficiency with increasing phylogenetic distance from the reference species. While some studies have focused on the degree and performance of reduced representation techniques in such situations, to our knowledge, none of them evaluated their applicability to inter-specific hybrids and polyploids. This highlights a significant gap in current knowledge since there is increasing evidence for the frequent occurrence of natural hybrids and polyploids, as well as for the major importance of both phenomena in evolution. The main aim of the present study was to carry out a thorough validation of SEQcap applicability to (1) a set of non-model taxa with a wide range of phylogenetic relatedness and (2) inter-specific hybrids of various ploidies and genomic compositions. Considering the latter point, we especially focused on mechanisms causing allelic bias and consequent allelic dropout, as these could have confounding effects with respect to the evolutionary genomic dynamics of hybrids, especially in asexuals, which virtually reproduce as a frozen F1 generation.

Utilization of Crushed Pavement Blocks in Concrete: Assessment of Functional Properties and Environmental Impacts.

Production of concrete is connected to extensive energy demands, greenhouse gases production or primary sources depletion. Reflecting current economical, social, or environmental trends, there is strong pressure on mitigation these requirements and impacts. The exploitation of secondary- or waste materials in production processes has therefore a great potential which is not related solely to binders but also to fillers. In this light, this paper aims at thorough investigations of concrete mixtures with crushed concrete pavements as partial or full replacement of natural coarse aggregates. The research combines experimental techniques to quantify the influence of the substitution on basic physical, mechanical, and heat/moisture transport/storage parameters. The experimental data obtained are further exploited as input data for computational prediction of coupled heat and moisture transport to assess the influence of the aggregates substitution on hygrothermal performance of the built-in concretes. In the last step, the environmental impacts are assessed. Since the changes in the hygrothermal performance were found to be insignificant (i), the compressive strength were improved by up to 25% (ii) and most of the environmental impact indicators were decreased (iii) at the same time, the findings of the research presented predeterminate such a reuse strategy to wider application and use.

Genome Fractionation and Loss of Heterozygosity in Hybrids and Polyploids: Mechanisms, Consequences for Selection, and Link to Gene Function.

Hybridization and genome duplication have played crucial roles in the evolution of many animal and plant taxa. The subgenomes of parental species undergo considerable changes in hybrids and polyploids, which often selectively eliminate segments of one subgenome. However, the mechanisms underlying these changes are not well understood, particularly when the hybridization is linked with asexual reproduction that opens up unexpected evolutionary pathways. To elucidate this problem, we compared published cytogenetic and RNAseq data with exome sequences of asexual diploid and polyploid hybrids between three fish species; Cobitis elongatoides, C. taenia, and C. tanaitica. Clonal genomes remained generally static at chromosome-scale levels but their heterozygosity gradually deteriorated at the level of individual genes owing to allelic deletions and conversions. Interestingly, the impact of both processes varies among animals and genomic regions depending on ploidy level and the properties of affected genes. Namely, polyploids were more tolerant to deletions than diploid asexuals where conversions prevailed, and genomic restructuring events accumulated preferentially in genes characterized by high transcription levels and GC-content, strong purifying selection and specific functions like interacting with intracellular membranes. Although hybrids were phenotypically more similar to C. taenia, we found that they preferentially retained C. elongatoides alleles. This demonstrates that favored subgenome is not necessarily the transcriptionally dominant one. This study demonstrated that subgenomes in asexual hybrids and polyploids evolve under a complex interplay of selection and several molecular mechanisms whose efficiency depends on the organism's ploidy level, as well as functional properties and parental ancestry of the genomic region.

No evidence for accumulation of deleterious mutations and fitness degradation in clonal fish hybrids: Abandoning sex without regrets.

Despite its inherent costs, sexual reproduction is ubiquitous in nature, and the mechanisms to protect it from a competitive displacement by asexuality remain unclear. Popular mutation-based explanations, like the Muller's ratchet and the Kondrashov's hatchet, assume that purifying selection may not halt the accumulation of deleterious mutations in the nonrecombining genomes, ultimately leading to their degeneration. However, empirical evidence is scarce and it remains particularly unclear whether mutational degradation proceeds fast enough to ensure the decay of clonal organisms and to prevent them from outcompeting their sexual counterparts. To test this hypothesis, we jointly analysed the exome sequences and the fitness-related phenotypic traits of the sexually reproducing fish species and their clonal hybrids, whose evolutionary ages ranged from F1 generations to 300 ky. As expected, mutations tended to accumulate in the clonal genomes in a time-dependent manner. However, contrary to the predictions, we found no trend towards increased nonsynonymity of mutations acquired by clones, nor higher radicality of their amino acid substitutions. Moreover, there was no evidence for fitness degeneration in the old clones compared with that in the younger ones. In summary, although an efficacy of purifying selection may still be reduced in the asexual genomes, our data indicate that its efficiency is not drastically decreased. Even the oldest investigated clone was found to be too young to suffer fitness consequences from a mutation accumulation. This suggests that mechanisms other than mutation accumulation may be needed to explain the competitive advantage of sex in the short term.

Hybrid asexuality as a primary postzygotic barrier between nascent species: On the interconnection between asexuality, hybridization and speciation.

Although sexual reproduction is ubiquitous throughout nature, the molecular machinery behind it has been repeatedly disrupted during evolution, leading to the emergence of asexual lineages in all eukaryotic phyla. Despite intensive research, little is known about what causes the switch from sexual reproduction to asexuality. Interspecific hybridization is one of the candidate explanations, but the reasons for the apparent association between hybridization and asexuality remain unclear. In this study, we combined cross-breeding experiments with population genetic and phylogenomic approaches to reveal the history of speciation and asexuality evolution in European spined loaches (Cobitis). Contemporary species readily hybridize in hybrid zones, but produce infertile males and fertile but clonally reproducing females that cannot mediate introgressions. However, our analysis of exome data indicates that intensive gene flow between species has occurred in the past. Crossings among species with various genetic distances showed that, while distantly related species produced asexual females and sterile males, closely related species produce sexually reproducing hybrids of both sexes. Our results suggest that hybridization leads to sexual hybrids at the initial stages of speciation, but as the species diverge further, the gradual accumulation of reproductive incompatibilities between species could distort their gametogenesis towards asexuality. Interestingly, comparative analysis of published data revealed that hybrid asexuality generally evolves at lower genetic divergences than hybrid sterility or inviability. Given that hybrid asexuality effectively restricts gene flow, it may establish a primary reproductive barrier earlier during diversification than other "classical" forms of postzygotic incompatibilities. Hybrid asexuality may thus indirectly contribute to the speciation process.

Structure-activity relationships of 2-benzylsulfanylbenzothiazoles: synthesis and selective antimycobacterial properties.

A set of 2-benzylsulfanyl derivatives of benzothiazole was synthesized and evaluated for antimicrobial and cytotoxic activities. The biological screening on antimicrobial activity against a panel of Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, yeasts and fungi identified benzylsulfanyl derivatives of benzothiazole as selective inhibitors of mycobacteria. The lead compounds in the set, dinitro derivatives exhibited significant activity against sensitive and multidrug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis and low cytotoxicity. The QSAR study indicated that the antituberculotic activity is connected with LUMO and HOMO energies. The lower lipophilicity and the increased size of the molecule contribute to antituberculotic activity. Thus, dinitrobenzylsulfanyl derivatives of benzothiazole represent promising smallmolecule synthetic antimycobacterials.

A novel and unusually long-lived chemiluminophore based on the 7-hydroxycoumarin scaffold.

Synthesis and chemiluminescent properties of a new 1,2-dioxetane chemiluminophore bearing a 7-hydroxycoumarin moiety are presented. The 1,2-dioxetane decomposition ended up with strong and long-lived emission of light. This new structure opens way to the development of a new generation of bright chemiluminescent bio-probes.

Solid-phase synthesis and chemical properties of 2-(2-amino/hydroxyethyl)-1-aryl-3,4-dihydropyrazino[1, 2-b]indazol-2-iums.

Amino alcohols, diamines, benzenesulfonyl chlorides, and bromoketones were used to prepare polymer-supported 2-(2-(2-(amino/hydroxyl)ethylamino)ethyl)-3-benzoyl-2H-indazoles. Acid-mediated release yielded 2-((amino/hydroxyl)ethyl)-1-aryl-3,4-dihydropyrazino[1,2-b]indazole-2-iums. In neutral pH, iminiums spontaneously cyclized to complex fused heterocycles 3,6,9,10-tetraazatetracyclo[7.7.0.0(2,6).0(11,16)]hexadeca-11,13,15-trienes, 3-oxa-6,9,10-triazatetracyclo[7.7.0.0(2,6).0(11,16)]hexadeca-11,13,15-trienes, and 3,7,10,11-tetraazatetracyclo[8.7.0.0(2,7).0(12,17)]heptadeca-12,14,16-trienes. Transformations were carried out under mild conditions and tolerated diverse substitution patterns.

Unprecedented rearrangement of 2-(2-aminoethyl)-1-aryl-3,4-dihydropyrazino[1,2-b]indazole-2-ium 6-oxides to 2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[1,2-b]indazoles.

Easily accessible 2-(2-aminoethyl)-1-aryl-3,4-dihydropyrazino[1,2-b]indazole-2-ium 6-oxides rearranged to 2,3-dihydro-1H-imidazo[1,2-b]indazoles under mild conditions. The rearrangement appeared to be general, tolerated a wide range of functional groups, and provided access to an as yet unexplored class of heterocycles. Herein we report the characterization of these heterocycles.

Polymer-supported alpha-acylamino ketones: preparation and application in syntheses of 1,2,4-trisubstituted-1H-imidazoles.

Polymer-supported alpha-acylamino ketones were prepared from resin-bound amines, bromoketones, and carboxylic acids. Selective monoalkylation of amines by bromoketones was carried out via 4-nitrobenzenesulfonamides. There was a striking difference in the reaction outcome between 2-Nos and 4-Nos derivatives. Alpha-acylamino ketones were converted to imidazoles. The cyclization was performed on resin, allowing further polymer-supported elaboration of imidazoles including synthesis of bis-heterocyclic compounds. A small combinatorial array of imidazoles was synthesized. Target compounds were prepared under mild conditions using commercially available building blocks for the introduction of three points of diversity.

Preparation and in vitro evaluation of benzylsulfanyl benzoxazole derivatives as potential antituberculosis agents.

A set of 2-benzylsulfanyl derivatives of benzoxazole was synthesized and evaluated for their in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, non-tuberculous mycobacteria and multidrug-resistant M. tuberculosis. The activities were expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in mmol/L. The substances showed similar activity against all tested strains. The lead compounds in the set, dinitro derivatives exhibited significant activity against both sensitive and resistant strains of M. tuberculosis and also against non-tuberculous mycobacteria. To facilitate drug design of benzoxazole as potential antituberculosis agent, we have explored the quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR). We demonstrated that lower lipophilicity has significant contribution to activity. Dinitrobenzylsulfanyl derivative of benzoxazole represents the promising small-molecule synthetic antimycobacterials.

Synthesis and antimycobacterial activity of pyridylmethylsulfanyl and naphthylmethylsulfanyl derivatives of benzazoles, 1, 2, 4-triazole, and pyridine-2-carbothioamide/-2-carbonitrile.

A set of four types of benzazoles, 1, 2, 4-triazole, and pyridine-2-carbonitrile/-2-carbothioamide substituted with 1-naphthylmethylsulfanyl or pyridylmethylsulfanyl was prepared to modify the structure of benzylsulfanyl derivatives of the above-mentioned heterocycles. The compounds were evaluated for in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, M. avium, and two strains of M. kansasii. The activities were expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC). The MIC values fall into a range of 2 to >1000 micromol/L. Introduction of a pyridyl moiety into the molecule mostly decreased the activity. A naphthyl moiety did not influence the activity in comparison with a phenyl. The most active substances were 4-(3-pyridylmethylsulfanyl)pyridine-2-carbothioamide (7b) (MIC = 2 - >62.5 micromol/L) and 4-(1-naphthylmethylsulfanyl)pyridine-2-carbothioamide (7d) (MIC = 2 - >32 micromol/L).

Heterocyclic benzazole derivatives with antimycobacterial in vitro activity.

The series of 2-benzylsulfanyl derivatives of benzoxazole and benzothiazole were synthesized, evaluated for their in vitro antimycobacterial activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and the activity expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) in micromol/L. The substances bearing two nitro groups (4e, 4f, 5e, 5f) or a thioamide group (4i, 4j, 5i, 5j) exhibited appreciable activity particularly against non-tuberculous strains. The most active compounds were subjected to the toxicity assay and were evaluated as moderately cytotoxic.

New benzimidazole derivatives as antimycobacterial agents.

A set of 2-alkylsulfanyl derivatives of 5-methylbenzimidazole was synthesized and evaluated for antimycobacterial activity. The structures of the compounds were confirmed by 1H NMR and IR data, and their purity by elemental analysis. Antimycobacterial activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and nontuberculous mycobacteria were expressed as the minimum inhibitory concentration. The substances exhibited significant antimycobacterial activity, in particular against both strains of Mycobacterium kansasii. The effect of the most active compound in the set, 3,5-dinitro derivative 3t, exceeded that of the standard isoniazide against M. kansasii and Mycobacterium avium.

Synthesis and preliminary evaluation of benzimidazole derivatives as antimicrobial agents.

A series of 2-alkylsulphanylbenzimidazoles was synthesised and the compounds were evaluated for their in vitro antimicrobial activity. The structures of the compounds were confirmed by 1H-NMR and IR data, and their purity by elemental analysis. Antimycobacterial activities against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and non-tuberculous mycobacteria as well as antifungal activities against Candida albicans, Candida tropicalis, Candida krusei, Candida glabrata, Trichosporon beigelii, Trichophyton mentagrophytes and Aspergillus fumigatus were expressed as the corresponding MIC values. The substances exhibited appreciable antimycobacterial activity, in particular, against non-tuberculous mycobacteria. The activity of the most active compound in the set, 3,5-dinitro derivative 4t, exceeded that of the standard isoniazide against M. kansasii and M. avium. The antifungal activities of the compounds were relatively low. A weak antifungal effect was observed against the dermatophyte Trichophyton mentagrophytes. None of the compounds showed significant inhibitory activity against yeasts.