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University academic success is influenced by a number of variables. One of the factors influencing both neurotypical and neurodiverse students’ academic success at university is their social life. Students that are neurodiverse, however, also face additional challenges in maneuvering through their social life in comparison with neurotypical students. This paper argues that academic success for neurodiverse individuals is significantly influenced by their experiences in university social life. The social model of disability is the theoretical framework used in this article to examine and understand the relationship between the experiences in the social life of neurodiverse university students and their academic success. This paper argues that to increase the level of support provided to neurodiverse students, all stakeholders must work together.

Schistosomiasis is a neglected tropical disease affecting over 250 million people worldwide. The disease is the second most prevalent neglected tropical disease after malaria. Treatment of schistosomiasis relies on the administration of praziquantel (also known as biltricide). Reliance on a single drug poses a threat to the public health system as the parasite may become resistant as shown by some laboratory findings. The possibility of the resistance rising to clinically significant levels has motivated the scientific community to search for new drug nominees. For a long time, natural products have always been a foundation for the identification of drug leads in the pharmaceutical industry. This paper reviews the progress made in the discovery of natural anti-schistosomal agents in the field of drug discovery. We focus mainly on natural products that have been tested on the schistosome parasite and exhibited potency. We also highlight applications of advanced techniques in drug discovery, with a major focus on computer-aided drug discovery methods. Specifically, we discuss structure-based drug discovery and ligand-based drug design approaches, with an emphasis on virtual screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Copyright of African Crop Science Journal is the property of African Crop Science Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Abstract Background Rapidly determining the causes of a depressed level of consciousness (DLOC) including coma is a common clinical challenge. Quantitative analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG) has the potential to improve DLOC assessment by providing readily deployable, temporally detailed characterization of brain activity in such patients. While used commonly for seizure detection, EEG-based assessment of DLOC etiology is less well-established. As a first step towards etiological diagnosis, we sought to distinguish focal and diffuse causes of DLOC through assessment of temporal dynamics within EEG signals. Methods We retrospectively analyzed EEG recordings from 40 patients with DLOC with consensus focal or diffuse culprit pathology. For each recording, we performed a suite of time-series analyses, then used a statistical framework to identify which analyses (features) could be used to distinguish between focal and diffuse cases. Results Using cross-validation approaches, we identified several spectral and non-spectral EEG features that were significantly different between DLOC patients with focal vs. diffuse etiologies, enabling EEG-based classification with an accuracy of 76%. Conclusions Our findings suggest that DLOC due to focal vs. diffuse injuries differ along several electrophysiological parameters. These results may form the basis of future classification strategies for DLOC and coma that are more etiologically-specific and therefore therapeutically-relevant.

پژوهش حاضر باهدف بررسی دیدگاه دانشجویان درباره نقش عوامل اجتماعی در تعلیم و تربیت انجام شده است.روش پژوهش توصیفی از نوع پیمایشی است.همه ی شرکت کنندگان در این پژوهش دانشجویان دوره ی کارشناسیدانشگاه یزد در نیمسال دوم سال تحصیلی 91 - 1390 بودند. بدین منظور 405 نفراز دانشجویان دانشگاه یزد به روشنمون هگیری تصادفی طبقه ای انتخاب شدند. ابزارتحقیق پرسشنامه ای نگرش سنج با 63 ماده بود. داده ها با استفاده ازآزمون های همبستگی پیرسون، من ویتنی وکروسکال والیس تحلیل شدند. نتایج نشان داد تمام عوامل اجتماعیِ موردبررسی، شاملِ فرهنگ، خانواده، گروه های دوستی، ورزش و سرگرمی و ارتباطات و اطلاعات، به ترتیب ذکر شده بیشترینتأثیر را برتعلیم و تربیت دارند و روابط معناداری بین جنسیت و اعتقاد به نقش عامل فرهنگ، وضعیت تاهل و شغل پدرو اعتقاد به نقش عامل خانواده، نوع سکونت با اعتقاد به نقش عامل گروه دوستی در تعلیم و تربیت مشاهده گردید. لذادر نظر گرفتنِ نقش این عوامل در برنامه ربز یهای فرهنگی و اجتماعی دانشگاه ها توصیه می شود.

Schistosomiasis, which causes over 200 000 deaths annually, has since the 1970s been controlled by praziquintel. The reliance on a single drug to combat schistosomiasis, and reports of laboratory resistance to the drug, has created an urgent need in the scientific community to develop new chemotherapies to complement or supplement praziquantel. Medicinal plants are a potential reservoir of compounds with schistosomicidal activity. In the current study, we carried out computer-aided screening of Abrus precatorius compounds to discover compounds with potential to inhibit Schistosoma mansoni purine nucleoside phosphorylase ( Sm PNP). Thus, 99 compounds retrieved from Lotus Natural Compounds Database were docked into the active site of Sm PNP. The top-ranked compounds were subjected to Lipinski's druglikeness and toxicity risk predictions. Three lead compounds, abrusogenin, cirsimaritin and hispidulin, were identified as having high binding affinities, favourable interactions with Sm PNP active site residues and good toxicity risk prediction results. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were used to assess the stability of the interactions of these lead compounds with Sm PNP. Collectively, analyses of the MD trajectories confirms that the lead compounds bound and interacted stably with active site residues of Sm PNP. We conclude that abrusogenin, cirsimaritin and hispidulin could serve as hit compounds for the development of new antischistosomal drugs, based on plant-derived natural products. However, experimental studies are required to further evaluate the potentials of these compounds as possible therapeutics against schistosomiasis., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

Schistosomiasis, otherwise known as bilharzia or snail fever, is a disease that usually affects poor people and people exposed to poor sanitation. The disease affects over 200 million people worldwide annually. Schistosomiasis has been treated using a single drug, praziquantel, since the 1970s and this is resulting in schistosomes becoming resistant. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new antischistosoma drugs and vaccines. This study focuses on identifying potential antischistosomal compounds from the plant Salvia fruticosa . We virtually screened a library of 163 S fruticosa compounds by docking against Schistosoma mansoni sulfotransferase ( Sm SULT) using the PyRx software. Docking scores ranged from -4.7 to -9.3 kcal/mol. Compounds with binding affinity of -7.6 or stronger were subjected to drug-likeness assessments using the DataWarrior software. We also employed the PAINS removal tool to filter off false-positive results. Twelve compounds passed the drug-likeness screen, and these were subjected to in silico toxicity predictions to determine their mutagenic, tumorigenic and reproductive potential. Seven compounds were predicted to be nontoxic. After considering the toxicity analysis results and drug scores of the compounds, we identified rosmarinic acid and hispidulin as qualifying for further evaluation as potential drugs against schistosomiasis. Free energy calculations using the fastDRH webserver and molecular dynamics simulations using CABS-flex showed that the receptor-ligand complexes for the 2 lead compounds are stable under physiological conditions. We recommend that rosmarinic acid and hispidulin be used as hit compounds for the development of potential antischistosomal drugs., Competing Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2024.)

In order to understand the mechanism of desiccation tolerance in Xerophyta schlechteri , we carried out an in silico study to identify hub proteins and functional modules in the nuclear proteome of the leaves. Protein-protein interaction networks were constructed and analyzed from proteome data obtained from Abdalla and Rafudeen. We constructed networks in Cytoscape using the GeneMania software and analyzed them using a Network Analyzer. Functional enrichment analysis of key proteins in the respective networks was done using GeneMania network enrichment analysis, and GO (Gene Ontology) terms were summarized using REViGO. Also, community analysis of differentially expressed proteins was conducted using the Cytoscape Apps, GeneMania and ClusterMaker. Functional modules associated with the communities were identified using an online tool, ShinyGO. We identified HSP 70-2 as the super-hub protein among the up-regulated proteins. On the other hand, 40S ribosomal protein S2-3 (a protein added by GeneMANIA) was identified as a super-hub protein associated with the down-regulated proteins. For up-regulated proteins, the enriched biological process terms were those associated with chromatin organization and negative regulation of transcription. In the down-regulated protein-set, terms associated with protein synthesis were significantly enriched. Community analysis identified three functional modules that can be categorized as chromatin organization, anti-oxidant activity and metabolic processes., Competing Interests: No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors., (© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.)

Natural compounds are increasingly becoming an important source of drug leads for computer-aided drug design approaches. Cucurbita maxima has been observed to have medicinal properties and can, therefore, be a potential source of novel drug leads. However, before compounds can be synthesized in the lab for tests, modern approaches require that the candidate compounds be screened for drug-likeness characteristics and toxicity, among others. In this work, the computational tools, SwissADME and DataWarrior were used to screen C. maxima compounds for their potential consideration as drug leads. A total of 130 compounds, downloaded from the LOTUS natural products database, were computationally analysed. The data set presented in this work will be useful to researchers searching for novel drug leads based on natural compounds., Competing Interests: No competing interests were disclosed., (Copyright: © 2022 Shoko R.)

Schistosomiasis, a disease usually related to poverty and poor sanitation, affects more than 200 million people worldwide. Since the 1970s, the medical sector has depended on a single drug, praziquantel, for the treatment of the disease. The emerging evidence of resistance of the Schistosoma parasite to praziquantel and the drug's inefficacy against juvenile stages of the parasite makes the need to find alternative drugs an urgent matter. In this study, we explored the inhibition potential of compounds from Cucurbita maxima using molecular docking studies on Schistosoma mansoni purine nucleoside phosphorylase ( Sm PNP) and Schistosoma haematobium 28-kDa glutathione S-transferase ( Sh 28kDaGST). Following molecular docking studies and analysis of the active sites, the primary amino acids that were observed and shown to be involved in the Sm PNP-ligand interaction are CYS 33, ARG 86, HIS 88, TYR 90, ALA 118, ALA 119, PRO 200, TYR 202, GLU 203, VAL 219, MET 221, THR 244, ASN 245, PRO 257 and HIS 259. For the Sh2 8dKa-ligand interaction, the primary amino acids were PHE 11, ARG 16, TRP 41, LEU 53, GLU 70 and SER 71. Momordicoside I aglycone binds to Sm PNP with the lowest binding affinity of -7.9 kcal/mol by pi sigma bond interactions with HIS 88. Balsaminoside B binds to Sh 28kDaGST with a binding affinity of -7.6 kcal/mol by hydrogen bond interaction with TRP 41, LEU 53 and SER 71. Pharmacokinetic studies showed favourable drug-like properties for the 10 compounds that exhibited the lowest binding energies. Therefore, we propose that bioactive compounds from C. maxima be considered as potential novel drug hits in the treatment of schistosomiasis., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.