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OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to demonstrate the relationship between thorax computed tomography (CT) findings at the time of admission and prognosis using a semiquantitative CT severity scoring system in patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who tested positive for reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 305 patients aged 18 years and older who were diagnosed with COVID-19 confirmed by RT-PCR and underwent thorax CT at the time of admission, were included in the study between March and July 2020. The demographic data of the patients, their presenting complaints at the time of admission, RT-PCR results, and thorax CT images were scanned retrospectively from electronic medical records. Lesions on thorax CT were evaluated for the presence of ground glass opacity, consolidation, and septal thickening and scoring. RESULTS: No significant relationship was found between mortality and CT score or other parameters. A significant relationship was found between admission to the intensive care unit and CT scoring (p=0.014), aortic diameter (p=0.032), chronic pulmonary disease (p=0.004), halo sign (p=0.031), mortality (p<0.001), fever (p=0.038), and dyspnea (p=0.031). A statistically significant difference was detected in the score parameter between discharged patients and intensive care unit patients who survived and those who died (p<0.001). In the parameter of the number of lobes, a statistically significant difference was found only between discharged patients and intensive care unit patients who survived (p=0.016). CONCLUSIONS: Thorax CT is an advisor for early diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis assessment of the disease. Semiquantitative CT severity scoring can provide valuable information about the prognosis of the patient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato is one of the worldwide major foods consumed fresh, cooked, or processed. Mineral elements, vitamins, and antioxidant content of tomatoes are of interest because of their nutritional value and beneficial health effects. The present study was performed to evaluate the macro- and micro-elements contents of leaves and fruits of seven wild tomato species, in addition to morphological traits. Wild tomato species had variations for all elements in fruits. Coefficient of variation was calculated for elements as 18.50 to 94.32% for potassium and phosphor, respectively. Most of the wild tomato species had higher content of all mineral elements than cultivated tomato. Resistance genes (Frl, I-2, I-3, Mi-3, Pto Ty-1, Ty-3 and Sw-5) of wild tomato species were screened using molecular markers. LA1971, with six resistant genes, and LA1393 and LA1777, with five resistant genes, were considered the most promising parental candidates for breeding. The results of the analysis of mineral elements of seven wild tomatoes species are useful for future tomato breeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, Cu−Cr−Zr alloy specimens were first subjected to aging heat treatment at 500 °C for two different durations (2 hours and 4 hours). Three different coating processes (silver, silver/copper duplex, and copper/silver duplex) were applied to the aged specimens using the physical vapor deposition method. Tensile test, microhardness measurement, wear test, electrical conductivity measurement and structural analysis (x‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope) were applied to the specimens. After the aging processes, the highest hardness and strength values of the Cu−Cr−Zr alloy were obtained in the specimens that were aged at 500 °C for 4 hours. When the wear resistance and electrical conductivity of the coated specimens were examined, it was determined that the specimens with duplex surface treatment performed better. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: β-Elemene, a sesquiterpene with a broad anti-cancer spectrum, is particularly effective against drug-resistant and complex tumors. It can also be efficient against FLT3-expressed acute myeloid leukemia. This research aims to determine whether β-Elemene has cytotoxic effects on FLT3 ITD-mutated AML cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cytotoxicity, cell morphology, mRNA analysis with apoptotic markers, and analysis of 43 distinct protein markers related to cell death, survival, and resistance were all performed to elucidate its mechanism. Additionally, in order to understand how β-Elemene and FLT3 interact, molecular docking, molecular dynamics simulations, and computational ADME investigations were performed. RESULTS: β-Elemene exhibited cytotoxic activity against FLT3-mutated MV4-11 and FLT3 wild-type THP-1 cells, with an IC50 of around 25 μg/ml. The molecular studies revealed that β-Elemene inhibited cell proliferation by inducing p53, and the involvement of p21, p27, HTRA, and HSPs were also demonstrated. The interactive inhibition in proliferation was confirmed via molecular docking and dynamics analyses. β-Elemene occupied the FLT3 enzymatic pocket with good stability at the FLT3 active site. CONCLUSIONS: We concluded from our observations that β-Elemene causes cell death in ITD mutant AML cells, together with the effects of stress factors and inhibiting cell division. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anticipating that large eddy simulations will increasingly become the future engineering tool for research, development, and design, it is deemed necessary to formulate some quality assessment measures that can be used to judge the resolution of turbulent scales and the accuracy of predictions. In this context some new and refined measures are proposed and compared with those already published by the authors in the common literature. These measures involve (a) fraction of the total turbulent kinetic energy, (b) relative grid size with respect to Kolmogorov or Taylor scales, and (c) relative effective subgrid/numerical viscosity with respect to molecular viscosity. In addition, an attempt is made to segregate the contributions from numerical and modeling errors. Proposed measures are applied to various test cases and validated against fully resolved large eddy simulation and/or direct numerical simulation whenever possible. [DOI: 10.1115/1.3059703] Keywords: quality assessment measures, LES, modeling and numerical errors, LES quality

A random flow generation (RFG) algorithm for a previously established large eddy simulation (LES) code is successfully incorporated into a finite element fluid flow solver to generate the required inflow/initial turbulence boundary conditions for the three-dimensional (3D) LES computations of viscous incompressible turbulent flow over a nominally two-dimensional (2D) circular cylinder at Reynolds number of 140,000. The effect of generated turbulent inflow boundary conditions on the near wake flow and the shear layer and on the prediction of integral flow parameters is studied based on long time average results. Because the near-wall region cannot be resolved for high Reynolds number flows, no-slip velocity boundary function is used, but wall effects are taken into consideration with a near-wall modeling methodology that comprises the no-slip function with a modified form of van Driest damping approach to reduce the subgrid length scale in the vicinity of the cylinder wall Simulations are performed for a 2D and a 3D configuration, and the simulation results are compared to each other and to the experimental data for different turbulent inflow boundary conditions with yawing degree of inflow turbulence to assess the functionality of the RFG algorithm for the present LES code and, hence, its influence on the vortex shedding mechanism and the resulting flow field predictions. [DOI: 10.1115/1.2734225] Keywords: LES method, turbulent inflow data, random flow generation (RFG) algorithm, circular cylinder, turbulent wake, subcritical flow regime, turbulence

Some novel substituted thiazolylhydrazine derivatives were designed, synthesized and their inhibitory effects on acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BuChE) enzymes and antioxidant activities were investigated. The structures of the synthesized compounds were determined using different spectroscopic techniques such as 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and HRMS. According to the enzyme inhibition results, the synthesized compounds showed selectivity against BuChE enzyme inhibition. Compounds 5e, 5g, 5i and 5j displayed significant BuChE inhibition potencies. Among them, compound 5i was found to be the most effective derivative with an IC50 value of 56.01 ± 0.054 µM. In addition, their antioxidant properties were evaluated in vitro through the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) assay. For compounds 5e, 5g, 5i and 5j in silico molecular docking and 100 ns molecular dynamics simulations studies against the BuChE enzyme were performed to determine possible protein-ligand interactions and stability. DFT-D3 study was performed to stabilize of compounds 5e, 5g, 5i and 5j both in gas and solvent medium and investigated their electronic properties. Of all geometries, that of DMSO is the lowest one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]