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Over the past half decade several stem injection methods have been developed for cereal plants. These methods allow researchers to administer solutions to cereal plants to study their effects on plant physiology. However, little work has been done to extend this technique to non-cereals. An experiment was conducted to test an injection technique that could be suitable for soybean plants (Glycine max [L.] Merr.), and to study the effect of long-term injection of sucrose on the growth of soybean plants. An injection setup comprising a supporting stand and a fluid injection system was established. Pressure was applied to the plunger of a 5 ml syringe using ceramic bricks to force test solutions into the plants. Solutions of 0, 150, and 300 g sucrose I−1 were injected into soybean plants for 8 weeks starting at the seedling VC stage. Distilled water had the greatest uptake rate, followed by the 150, and then the 300 g sucrose I−1 solutions. The overall average uptake during the injection period was 77.3 ml. Average sucrose uptake values were 11.8 and 13.5 g per plant for the 150 and 300 g sucrose I−1 treatments. This represented approximately 65% of the total dry weight of the plants. Sucrose injection increased leaf area and pod number relative to the control plants. Nodule numbers were lower for sucrose injected treatments, but their dry weights were higher than the control. Above-soil dry matter was higher for the plants injected with 300 g sucrose I−1 than those injected with water. The injection system tested was able to administer concentrated solutions into soybean plants for most of their period of growth and development. The sucrose supplementation had positive effects on soybean growth but suppressed photosynthesis.

WITH the growing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS)-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) infection, a parallel growing interest arose concerning potential preventive and adjunct therapies, dietary and lifestyle modifications, and remedies that may boost the immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection. Furthermore, as Ramadan intermittent religious fasting that is practiced by about one and a half billion Muslims throughout the globe is coincide this year with COVID-19 pandemic, a growing debate rose concerning the expected impact of fasting during Ramadan month and the associated dietary and lifestyle behaviors on the body's immunity against the pandemic infection. Published literature was searched to find out how intermittent fasting (IF) and its model of Ramadan affect the various aspects related to the body's immunity against microbial infections. IF was found to impact immunity by changing different related elements, including oxidative stress and inflammation, metabolism, body weight, and body composition. Dietary and lifestyle modifications during Ramadan month and their impact on immunity, such as water intake and hydration status, sleep duration and timing, caloric intake and mealtime, and social and spirtual activities, were addressed. Further research is warranted to figure out how IF during ramadan affects immunity against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Levels of cortisol, melatonin, ghrelin, and leptin are highly correlated with circadian rhythmicity. The levels of these hormones are affected by sleep, feeding, and general behaviors, and fluctuate with light and dark cycles. During the fasting month of Ramadan, a shift to nighttime eating is expected to affect circadian rhythm hormones and, subsequently, the levels of melatonin, cortisol, ghrelin, and leptin. The present study aimed to examine the effect of diurnal intermittent fasting (DIF) during Ramadan on daytime levels of ghrelin, leptin, melatonin, and cortisol hormones in a group of overweight and obese subjects, and to determine how anthropometric, dietary, and lifestyle changes during the month of Ramadan correlate with these hormonal changes. Fifty-seven overweight and obese male (40) and female (17) subjects were enrolled in this study. Anthropometric measurements, dietary intake, sleep duration, and hormonal levels of serum ghrelin, leptin, melatonin, and salivary cortisol were assessed one week before the start of Ramadan fasting and after 28 days of fasting at fixed times of the day (11:00 am-1:00 pm). At the end of Ramadan, serum levels of ghrelin, melatonin, and leptin significantly (P<0.001) decreased, while salivary cortisol did not change compared to the levels assessed in the pre-fasting state. DIF during Ramadan significantly altered serum levels of ghrelin, melatonin, and serum leptin. Further, male sex and anthropometric variables were the most impacting factors on the tested four hormones. Further studies are needed to assess DIF's impact on the circadian rhythmicity of overweight and obese fasting people.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is the causative agent for the COVID-19 pandemic, which generated more than 1.82 million deaths in 2020 alone, in addition to 83.8 million infections. Currently, there is no antiviral medication to treat COVID-19. In the search for drug leads, marine-derived metabolites are reported here as prospective SARS-CoV-2 inhibitors. Two hundred and twenty-seven terpene natural products isolated from the biodiverse Red-Sea ecosystem were screened for inhibitor activity against the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) using molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations combined with molecular mechanics/generalized Born surface area binding energy calculations. On the basis of in silico analyses, six terpenes demonstrated high potency as Mpro inhibitors with ΔGbinding ≤ −40.0 kcal/mol. The stability and binding affinity of the most potent metabolite, erylosides B, were compared to the human immunodeficiency virus protease inhibitor, lopinavir. Erylosides B showed greater binding affinity towards SARS-CoV-2 Mpro than lopinavir over 100 ns with ΔGbinding values of −51.9 vs. −33.6 kcal/mol, respectively. Protein–protein interactions indicate that erylosides B biochemical signaling shares gene components that mediate severe acute respiratory syndrome diseases, including the cytokine- and immune-signaling components BCL2L1, IL2, and PRKC. Pathway enrichment analysis and Boolean network modeling were performed towards a deep dissection and mining of the erylosides B target–function interactions. The current study identifies erylosides B as a promising anti-COVID-19 drug lead that warrants further in vitro and in vivo testing.

PurposeThis study aims to examine the relationship between foreign finance, economic growth and CO2 to investigate if the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) exists as an empirical evidence in 32 selected Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries.Design/methodology/approachThis study used quantitative analysis to test two main hypotheses: H1 is the U-shape relationship between foreign finance and environment, and H2 is the N-shaped association between economic growth and environment. In doing so, this study used panel data techniques. The panel set contained 32 countries over the period from 1990 to 2015, with 27 observations for each country. This study applied a panel OLS estimator via fixed-effects control to address heterogeneity and mitigate endogeneity. Generalized method of moments (GMM) with fixed effects-instrumental variables (FE-IV) and diagnostic tests were also used.FindingsThe results showed that foreign finance and environmental quality have an inverted U-shaped association. The three proxies’ foreign investment, foreign assets and remittance in the first stages contribute significantly to CO2 emissions, but after the threshold point is reached, these proxies become “environmentally friendly” by their contribution to reducing CO2 emissions. Also, a non-linear relationship denotes that foreign investment in OECD countries enhances the importance, as a proxy of foreign finance has greater environmental quality than foreign assets. Additionally, empirical results show that remittances received is linked to the highest polluted levels until a threshold point is reached, at which point it then helps reduce CO2 emissions. The GMM and FE-IV results provide robust evidence on inverse U-shaped relationship, while the N-shaped relationship explains that economic growth produces more CO2 emissions at the first phase of growth, but the quadratic term confirms this effect is negative after a specific level of GDP is reached. Then, this economic growth makes the environment deteriorate. These results are robust even after controlling for the omitted variable issue. The IV-FE results indicate an N-shaped relationship in the OECD countries.Practical implicationsMost studies have used different economic indicators as proxies to show the effects of these indicators on the environment, but they are flawed and outdated regarding the large social challenges facing contemporary, socio-financial economic systems. To overcome these disadvantages, the social, institutional and environmental aspects of economic development should also be considered. Hence, this study aims to explain this issue as a relationship with several proxies in regard to environmental, foreign finance and economic aspects.Originality/valueThis paper uses updated data sets for analyzing the relationship between foreign finance and economic growth as a new proxy for pollution. Also, this study simulates the financial and environmental future to show their effect on investments in different OECD countries. While this study enhances the literature by establishing an innovative control during analysis, this will increase to add value. This study is among the few studies that empirically investigate the non-linear relationship between finance and environmental degradation.

In this study, we experimentally investigated the nonlinear optical properties of Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) that were prepared in pure distilled water using the laser ablation method. The Au NPs were prepared using a nanosecond Nd:YAG laser with an ablation time of 5 or 10 min at a constant laser energy of 100 mJ. The structure and the linear optical properties of the Au NPs were investigated using a transmission electron microscope (TEM) and UV-visible spectrophotometer analysis, respectively. The TEM measurements showed that the average size of the Au NPs varied from 20.3 to 14.1 nm, depending on the laser ablation time. The z-scan technique was used to investigate the nonlinear refractive index (n2) and nonlinear absorption coefficient (γ) of the Au NPs, which were irradiated at different excitation wavelengths that ranged from 740 to 820 nm and at different average powers that ranged from 0.8 to 1.6 W. The Au NP samples exhibited a reverse saturable absorption (RSA) behavior that increased when the excitation wavelength and/or incident laser power increased. In addition, the Au NPs acted as a self-defocusing material whenever the excitation wavelength or incident power were modified.

Young drivers are generally associated with risky driving behaviors that can lead to crash involvement. Many self-report measurement scales are used to assess such risky behaviors. This study is aimed to understand the risky driving behaviors of young adults in Qatar and how such behaviors are associated with crash involvement. This was achieved through the usage of validated self-report measurement scales adopted for the Arabic context. A nationwide cross-sectional and exploratory study was conducted in Qatar from January to April 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the survey was conducted online. Therefore, respondents were selected conveniently. Hence, the study adopted a non-probability sampling method in which convenience and snowball sampling were used. A total of 253 completed questionnaires were received, of which 57.3% were female, and 42.7% were male. Approximately 55.8% of these young drivers were involved in traffic accidents after obtaining their driving license. On average, most young drivers do have some risky driving behavior accompanied by a low tendency to violate traffic laws, and their driving style is not significantly controlled by their personality on the road. The older young drivers are more involved in traffic accidents than the younger drivers, i.e., around 1.5 times more likely. Moreover, a young male driver is 3.2 times less likely to be involved in traffic accidents than a female driver. In addition, males are only 0.309 times as likely as females to be involved in an accident and have approximately a 70% lower likelihood of having an accident versus females. The analysis is complemented with the association between young drivers’ demographic background and psychosocial-behavioral parameters (linking risky driving behavior, personality, and obligation effects on crash involvement). Some interventions are required to improve driving behavior, such as driving apps that are able to monitor and provide corrective feedback.

Objectives: Aloe vera and tulsi were compared in this study to see how well they treated oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF). Materials and Method: The study involved thirty healthy volunteers aged from 20 to 55 without any systemic complications. The patients were given medications that needed to be applied two to three times daily. For four months, patients were followed up with monthly follow-up visits. The differences in the mouth opening and changes to the burning sensation on the visual analog scale (VAS) were statistically analyzed. Results: Both the burning sensation and mouth opening showed a statistically significant improvement. Conclusion: Tulsi and aloe vera provide a secure and effective method for treating OSMF symptoms.

The coronavirus pandemic has affected more than 150 million people, while over 3.25 million people have died from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). As there are no established therapies for COVID-19 treatment, drugs that inhibit viral replication are a promising target; specifically, the main protease (Mpro) that process CoV-encoded polyproteins serves as an Achilles heel for assembly of replication-transcription machinery as well as down-stream viral replication. In the search for potential antiviral drugs that target Mpro, a series of cembranoid diterpenes from the biologically active soft-coral genus Sarcophyton have been examined as SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors. Over 360 metabolites from the genus were screened using molecular docking calculations. Promising diterpenes were further characterized by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations based on molecular mechanics-generalized Born surface area (MM-GBSA) binding energy calculations. According to in silico calculations, five cembranoid diterpenes manifested adequate binding affinities as Mpro inhibitors with ΔGbinding < −33.0 kcal/mol. Binding energy and structural analyses of the most potent Sarcophyton inhibitor, bislatumlide A (340), was compared to darunavir, an HIV protease inhibitor that has been recently subjected to clinical-trial as an anti-COVID-19 drug. In silico analysis indicates that 340 has a higher binding affinity against Mpro than darunavir with ΔGbinding values of −43.8 and −34.8 kcal/mol, respectively throughout 100 ns MD simulations. Drug-likeness calculations revealed robust bioavailability and protein-protein interactions were identified for 340; biochemical signaling genes included ACE, MAPK14 and ESR1 as identified based on a STRING database. Pathway enrichment analysis combined with reactome mining revealed that 340 has the capability to re-modulate the p38 MAPK pathway hijacked by SARS-CoV-2 and antagonize injurious effects. These findings justify further in vivo and in vitro testing of 340 as an antiviral agent against SARS-CoV-2.