Synthesis, crystal structure and Hirshfeld surface analysis of 2-phenyl-3-(prop-2-yn-1-yl-oxy)quin-oxaline.

In the title compound, C17H12N2O, the quinoxaline moiety shows deviations of 0.0288 (7) to -0.0370 (7) Šfrom the mean plane (r.m.s. deviation of fitted atoms = 0.0223 Å). In the crystal, corrugated layers two mol-ecules thick are formed by C-H⋯N hydrogen bonds and π-stacking inter-actions.

Multi-target rational design and synthesis of novel diphenyl-tethered pyrazolopyrimidines targeting EGFR and topoisomerase II with potential DNA intercalation and apoptosis induction.

Herein, we envisioned the design and synthesis of novel pyrazolopyrimidines (confirmed by elemental analysis, 1H and 13C NMR, and mass spectra) as multitarget-directed drug candidates acting as EGFR/TOPO II inhibitors, DNA intercalators, and apoptosis inducers. The target diphenyl-tethered pyrazolopyrimidines were synthesized starting from the reaction of phenyl hydrazine and ethoxymethylenemalononitrile to give aminopyrazole-carbonitrile 2. The latter hydrolysis with NaOH and subsequent reaction with 4-chlorobenzaldhyde afforded the corresponding pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-4-ol 4. Chlorination of 4 with POCl3 and sequential reaction with different amines afforded the target compounds in good yields (up to 73 %). The growth inhibition % of the new derivatives (6a-m) was investigated against different cancer and normal cells and the IC50 values of the most promising candidates were estimated for HNO97, MDA-MB-468, FaDu, and HeLa cancer cells. The frontier derivatives (6a, 6i, 6k, 6l, and 6m) were pursued for their EGFR inhibitory activity. Compound 6l decreased EGFR protein concentration by a 6.10-fold change, compared to imatinib as a reference standard. On the other side, compounds (6a, 6i, 6k, 6l, and 6m) underwent topoisomerase II (TOPO II) inhibitory assay. In particular, compounds 6a and 6l exhibited IC50s of 17.89 and 19.39 µM, respectively, surpassing etoposide with IC50 of 20.82 µM. Besides, the DNA fragmentation images described the great potential of both candidates 6a and 6l in inducing DNA degradation at lower concentrations compared to etoposide and doxorubicin. Moreover, compound 6l, with the most promising EGFR/TOPO II inhibition and DNA intercalation, was selected for further investigation for its apoptosis induction ability by measuring caspases 3, 7, 8, and 9, Bax, p53, MMP2, MMP9, and BCL-2 proteins. Additionally, molecular docking was used to explain the SAR results based on the differences in the molecular features of the investigated congeners and the target receptors' topology.

Management of Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children for Dental Procedures.

Background A common psychiatric problem called attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is characterized by impulsivity with resultant behavior issues and a very short attention span. The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare the management of dental procedures in children with and without ADHD employing various behavior modification techniques. Materials and methods The study consisted of 121 children divided into two groups with 60 children diagnosed with ADHD and 60 children without ADHD between 7 and 15 years of age. Each of the three sessions, which were spaced a week apart, included a dental examination, oral prophylaxis, and a minor restorative procedure. The pulse rate (PR) and oxygen saturation (SpO2) were measured during each of these sessions. The study was conducted to evaluate the Tell-Show-Do (TSD) method, audiovisual distraction, and pharmacological management of children with and without ADHD during the dental procedure. IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 22 (Released 2013; IBM Corp., Armonk, New York, United States) was used to statistically analyze the findings. The mean values of the parameters from the three sessions were analyzed and compared using the Z-test. Result The children with ADHD included 39 (65%) boys and 21 (35%) girls, and the children without ADHD consisted of 27 (44.26%) boys and 33 (54.09%) girls. The mean values of the PR during sessions two and three were found to be statistically highly significant between the children with and without ADHD for TSD and audiovisual aids. In both groups, the mean SpO2 values for all the sessions were found to be statistically highly significant for the techniques evaluated (p<0.01). The change in the mean PR score for the ADHD children revealed a declining trend from sessions one through three for all the techniques evaluated (p<0.05), demonstrating a statistically significant effectiveness of the various techniques between the two groups and thereby revealing a decreased level of anxiety. Between sessions one and three, all of the three techniques showed a decreasing trend of SpO2 scores, with the exception of the pharmacological management of ADHD children (p<0.01) indicating that the uncontrollable ADHD children feel less anxious than in the other two approaches. Conclusion The findings of the study demonstrated that behavior management techniques were found to be effective at reducing anxiety in ADHD children than in children without ADHD. Our study further suggests that scheduling dental appointments into a series of short visits could enhance the effectiveness of the therapy and better cooperation of the children.

Mechanism and principle of doping: realizing of silver incorporation in CdS thin film via doping concentration effect.

A high-quality buffer layer serves as one of the most significant issues that influences the efficiency of solar cells. Doping in semiconductors is an important strategy that can be used to control the reaction growth. In this study, the influence of Ag doping on the morphological, optical and electrical properties of CdS thin films have been obtained. Herein, we propose the mechanism of CdS film formation with and without Ag ions, and we found that changes in the reaction of preparing CdS by the chemical bath deposition (CBD) method cause a shift in the geometric composition of the CdS film. XRD showed that the position of peaks in the doped films are displaced to wider angles, indicating a drop in the crystal lattice constant. The optical analysis confirmed direct transition with an optical energy gap between 2.10 and 2.43 eV. The morphological studies show conglomerates with inhomogeneously distributed spherical grains with an increase of the Ag ratio. The electrical data revealed that the annealed Ag-doped CdS with 5% Ag has the highest carrier concentration (3.28 × 1015 cm-3) and the lowest resistivity (45.2 Ω cm). According to the results, the optimal Ag ratio was obtained at Ag 5%, which encourages the usage of CdS in this ratio as an efficient buffer layer on photovoltaic devices.

Correction: Mechanism and principle of doping: realizing of silver incorporation in CdS thin film via doping concentration effect.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/D2RA04790J.].

Biological yields through agricultural extension activities and services: A case study from Al-Baha region - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

PURPOSE: This research determines the extent to which farmers benefit from agricultural extension activities and services through realizing higher biological crop yields in the Al-Baha region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Additionally, the nature of the relationship between the personal, economic and social characteristics of farmers and the degree to which they benefit from agricultural extension activities and services are studied. METHODOLOGY: A simple random sample representing the community of 315 farmers was drawn. Data were collected through a personal interview with a pre-tested questionnaire to satisfy the objectives of the study. Data are subjected to analyses and are interpreted in terms of percentages, arithmetic averages, and standard deviations in addition to the simple Pearson correlation coefficients. RESULTS: The results show that most of the respondents depend on personal experience, friends, family and neighbors, merchants and sellers of agricultural production supplies as sources of agricultural information for enhanced crop yields. Multiple regression analysis reveals that both the educational status and the agricultural information sources are important factors that increase farmers benefit from extension activities. Farmers receive most benefits from the extension activities and services from bringing in foreign workers, conducting field trips to farms, and identifying problems faced by farmers. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: The outcome of this questionnaire limits generalization of the findings for other parts of the Kingdom due to geographical and natural resources variations. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: The personal and socio-economic characteristics of the surveyed population provide the extension service with insight into their composition - a basis to formulate workable extension programs. For the extension planners of the area, this effort provides a baseline study and may assist with targeting the appropriate farmers and catering the right solutions to the problems. Such a study will help devise meaningful extension programs and save time and resources. ORIGINALITY/VALUE: Little previous research on the usefulness of the Extension Service has been conducted in the region. CONCLUSIONS: Effective, well-planned extension programs targeting the educated and mature farmers provided more benefits and helped them obtain higher crop yields.

Influence of Social Media towards the Selection of Hollywood Smile among the University Students in Riyadh City.

BACKGROUND: Hollywood smile refers to the aesthetic development of dental appearance inspired by the beauty displayed by the movie actors. Therefore, the present study was conducted to determine the extent of social media effect on the decision making of university students towards selecting Hollywood smile as the choice of their aesthetic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted by utilizing a self-designed closed-ended questionnaire among under-graduate students from the various public as well as private universities of Riyadh city. The questionnaire was constructed online using Google forms and began with questions related to demographics; questions like Do you notice celebrity's smile on social media? Have you visited a dentist solely after getting inspired by a celebrity's smile? etc., Responses were on a 5-point likert scale ranging from highly dissatisfied or strongly disagree to highly satisfied or strongly agree whenever applicable. Chi-square test was used to compare the differences among the groups with the value of significance kept under 0.05 by using SPSS version 19. RESULTS: The majority of the female participants reported noticing the celebrity's smile on social media. Influence by the celebrity smiles on social media was found more in the older age group participants. However, the term "Hollywood smile" was slightly more known among the younger aged participants. CONCLUSION: The overall effect of social media in decision making of opting for Hollywood smile was found to be moderate. More studies should be conducted to investigate how much social medial is effecting the perceptions of youngsters.

Activation of aryl hydrocarbon receptor signaling by a novel agonist ameliorates autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a widespread neurological autoimmune disease that includes episodes of demyelination in the central nervous system (CNS). The accumulated evidence has suggested that aryl hydrocarbon receptor (Ahr), a ligand-activated transcription factor, is a promising treatment target for MS. Thus, the current study aimed to identify a novel Ahr ligand with anti-inflammatory potential in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). METHODS: An in silico analysis was carried out to predict interactions between Ahr and potential natural ligands. The effects of a predicted interaction were examined in vitro using CD4+ T cells under T helper17 (Th17) cell-polarizing conditions and lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated macrophages. Silencing Ahr and microRNA (miR)-132 was achieved by electroporation. Myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)35-55 and the adoptive transfer of encephalitogenic CD4+ T cells were used to induce EAE. RESULTS: Molecular docking analysis and in vitro data identified gallic acid (GA) as a novel Ahr ligand with potent activation potential. GA induced the expression of Ahr downstream genes, including cytochrome P450 family 1 subfamily A member 1 (Cyp1a1) and the miR-212/132 cluster, and promoted the formation of the Ahr/Ahr nuclear translocator (Arnt) complex. In vivo, GA-treated mice were resistant to EAE and exhibited reduced levels of proinflammatory cytokines and increased levels of transforming growth factor-ß (TGF-ß). Furthermore, GA reduced infiltration of CD4+CD45+ T cells and monocytes into the CNS. The anti-inflammatory effects of GA were concomitant with miR-132-potentiated cholinergic anti-inflammation and the regulation of the pathogenic potential of astrocytes and microglia. Inducing EAE by adoptive transfer revealed that CD4+ T cells were not entirely responsible for the ameliorative effects of GA. CONCLUSION: Our findings identify GA as a novel Ahr ligand and provide molecular mechanisms elucidating the ameliorative effects of GA on EAE, suggesting that GA is a potential therapeutic agent to control inflammation in autoimmune diseases such as MS.