Sex differences in cigarette smoking following a mindfulness-based cessation randomized controlled trial.

Some interventions for smoking cessation such as quit smoking aids show sex-specific effects on outcomes, but behavioral interventions such as mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) for smoking cessation lack formal reporting of sex-intervention tests of interaction to date. To address this gap, we conducted a secondary analysis of a RCT dataset (N = 213), recruiting participants from California, to statistically test a sex-intervention interaction effect on complete 7-day point prevalence abstinence (PPA), proportion of days abstinent, and daily cigarettes smoked. Smoking was assessed using the timeline follow back method spanning the four weeks following a daily 14-day app-based intervention and a planned smoking quit date immediately following the intervention phase.

Synthesis and Anticancer Activity of 3,4-Diaryl-1,2-dihydro- and 1,2,3,4-Tetrahydroquinolines.

Tetrahydroquinolines are key structures in a variety of natural products with diverse pharmacological utilities and other applications. A series of 3,4-diaryl-5,7-dimethoxy-1,2,3,4-tetrahydroquinolines were synthesized in good yield by reacting 3-aryl-5,7-dimethoxy-2,3-dihydroquinolin-4-ones with different Grignard reagents followed by the dehydration of the intermediate phenolic compounds. Subsequent reduction and deprotection were carried out to achieve the desired tetrahydroquinolone moiety.

Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of glucose metabolism inhibitors as anticancer agents.

Compared to normal cells, tumour cells exhibit an upregulation of glucose transporters and an increased rate of glycolytic activity. In previous research, we successfully identified a promising hit compound BH10 through a rigorous screening process, which demonstrates a potent capacity for inhibiting cancer cell proliferation by targeting glucose metabolism. In the current study, we identify Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1) as a potential protein target of BH10via avidin pull-down assays with biotinylated-BH10.

Effect of a mindfulness training app on a cigarette quit attempt: an investigator-blinded, 58-county randomized controlled trial.

Background: Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable cancers. A majority of the 34 million people who currently smoke report wanting to quit. Mindfulness training apps offer a guided telehealth intervention to foster individuals' behavioral meditation practice.

Antimicrobial Peptidomimetics Prevent the Development of Resistance against Gentamicin and Ciprofloxacin in Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas Bacteria.

Bacteria readily acquire resistance to traditional antibiotics, resulting in pan-resistant strains with no available treatment. Antimicrobial resistance is a global challenge and without the development of effective antimicrobials, the foundation of modern medicine is at risk. Combination therapies such as antibiotic-antibiotic and antibiotic-adjuvant combinations are strategies used to combat antibiotic resistance.

Mindful attention is inversely associated with pain via mediation by psychological distress in orthopedic patients.

Background: Orthopedic patients report pain as their main symptom complaint. Subjective pain experience is correlated with self-reported psychological state, such as distress.

Purpose: This study tests whether scores from a measure of mindful attention are associated with subjective pain levels and whether psychological distress scores function as a mediation path.

Synthesis of Novel Quinazolinone Analogues for Quorum Sensing Inhibition.

As bacteria continue to develop resistance mechanisms against antimicrobials, an alternative method to tackle this global concern must be developed. As the system is the most well-known and responsible for biofilm and pyocyanin production, quinazolinone inhibitors of the system in were developed. Molecular docking following a rationalised medicinal chemistry approach was adopted to design these analogues.

Tuning the Anthranilamide Peptidomimetic Design to Selectively Target Planktonic Bacteria and Biofilm.

There is a pressing need to develop new antimicrobials to help combat the increase in antibiotic resistance that is occurring worldwide. In the current research, short amphiphilic antibacterial and antibiofilm agents were produced by tuning the hydrophobic and cationic groups of anthranilamide peptidomimetics. The attachment of a lysine cationic group at the tail position increased activity against by >16-fold (from >125 μM to 15.

Hydrogels with intrinsic antibacterial activity prepared from naphthyl anthranilamide (NaA) capped peptide mimics.

In this study, we prepared antibacterial hydrogels through the self-assembly of naphthyl anthranilamide (NaA) capped amino acid based cationic peptide mimics. These ultra-short cationic peptide mimics were rationally designed with NaA as a capping group, L-phenylalanine, a short aliphatic linker, and a cationic group. The synthesized peptide mimics efficiently formed hydrogels with minimum gel concentrations between 0.

Novel quinazolinone disulfide analogues as pqs quorum sensing inhibitors against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

It is well established that the quorum sensing (QS) in Pseudomonas aeruginosa is primarily responsible for the synthesis and the release of several virulence factors including pyocyanin and are involved in biofilm formation. In the Pseudomonas quinolone signal (PQS) system, autoinducers such as PQS and HHQ bind and activate the transcription regulator protein receptor PqsR (MvfR). Targeting PqsR with competitive inhibitors could be a promising strategy to inhibit QS in P.

Short Tryptamine-Based Peptoids as Potential Therapeutics for Microbial Keratitis: Structure-Function Correlation Studies.

Peptoids are peptidomimetics that have attracted considerable interest as a promising class of antimicrobials against multi-drug-resistant bacteria due to their resistance to proteolysis, bioavailability, and thermal stability compared to their corresponding peptides. Staphylococcus aureus is a significant contributor to infections worldwide and is a major pathogen in ocular infections (keratitis). S.

Test of daily app-based mindfulness meditation preceding a planned smoking quit attempt date on abstinence: Protocol for a randomized controlled trial recruiting across the 58 counties of California.

A majority of the 34 million people who currently smoke cigarettes report wanting to quit smoking yet most attempts to quit end in relapse. A mindfulness based intervention (MBI) is an intervention package used to reinforce an individual's practice of mindfulness meditation in daily life. MBIs delivered by phone app offer daily prompts to guide bouts of mindfulness meditation, that is, sustained attention to moment-by-moment experience without behavior reactivity.

Cholic Acid-Based Antimicrobial Peptide Mimics as Antibacterial Agents.

There is a significant and urgent need for the development of novel antibacterial agents to tackle the increasing incidence of antibiotic resistance. Cholic acid-based small molecular antimicrobial peptide mimics are reported as potential new leads to treat bacterial infection. Here, we describe the design, synthesis and biological evaluation of cholic acid-based small molecular antimicrobial peptide mimics.

Bioinspired Polydopamine Coatings Facilitate Attachment of Antimicrobial Peptidomimetics with Broad-Spectrum Antibacterial Activity.

The prevention and treatment of biofilm-mediated infections remains an unmet clinical need for medical devices. With the increasing prevalence of antibiotic-resistant infections, it is important that novel approaches are developed to prevent biofilms forming on implantable medical devices. This study presents a versatile and simple polydopamine surface coating technique for medical devices, using a new class of antibiotics-antimicrobial peptidomimetics.

Synthesis of Alkyne-Substituted Dihydropyrrolones as Bacterial Quorum-Sensing Inhibitors of .

The Quorum-sensing system in is responsible for the pathogenicity and the production of virulence factors and biofilm formation. Dihydropyrrolones were previously found to act as inhibitors of QS-dependent bacterial phenotypes. In this study, a range of dihydropyrrolone (DHP) analogues was synthesized via the lactone-lactam conversion of lactone intermediates followed by the formation of novel acetylene analogues of dihydropyrrolones from brominated dihydropyrrolones via Sonogashira coupling reactions in moderate to high yields.

The Acute Relationship between Affective States and Stress Biomarkers in Ethnic Minority Youths.

: Whether affective states acutely predict the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activities and whether energy balance-related behaviors moderate the affect-HPA axis relationship in obese youths are not well-understood. : 87 mostly obese (94.3% obese) minority adolescents (mean: 16.

Inhibitors of bacterial RNA polymerase transcription complex.

A series of hybrid compounds that incorporated anthranilic acid with activated 1H-indoles through a glyoxylamide linker were designed to target bacterial RNA polymerase holoenzyme formation using computational docking. Synthesis, in vitro transcription inhibition assays, and biological testing of the hybrids identified a range of potent anti-transcription inhibitors with activity against a range of pathogenic bacteria with MICs as low as 3.1 μM.

Synthesis and Characterisation of Novel Tricyclic and Tetracyclic Furoindoles: Biological Evaluation as SAHA Enhancer against Neuroblastoma and Breast Cancer Cells.

The dihydropyranoindole structures were previously identified as promising scaffolds for improving the anti-cancer activity of histone deacetylase inhibitors. This work describes the synthesis of related furoindoles and their ability to synergize with suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA) against neuroblastoma and breast cancer cells. The nucleophilic substitution of hydroxyindole methyl esters with α-haloketones yielded the corresponding arylether ketones, which were subsequently cyclized to tricyclic and tetracyclic furoindoles.

Polyphenylglyoxamide-Based Amphiphilic Small Molecular Peptidomimetics as Antibacterial Agents with Anti-Biofilm Activity.

The rapid emergence of drug-resistant bacteria is a major global health concern. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) and peptidomimetics have arisen as a new class of antibacterial agents in recent years in an attempt to overcome antibiotic resistance. A library of phenylglyoxamide-based small molecular peptidomimetics was synthesised by incorporating an -alkylsulfonyl hydrophobic group with varying alkyl chain lengths and a hydrophilic cationic group into a glyoxamide core appended to phenyl ring systems.

Effect of Telephone Call and Text Message Reminders on Patient Return to Acupuncture Follow-Up Treatment: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

Telephone calls and text messages function as cues to elicit patient behavior. We tested the effect of telephone call and text message reminders on patient return to acupuncture follow-up treatment. This is a randomized controlled trial.

Mindfulness-Based Intervention Effects on Substance Use and Relapse Among Women in Residential Treatment: A Randomized Controlled Trial With 8.5-Month Follow-Up Period From the Moment-by-Moment in Women's Recovery Project.

Objective: We tested the efficacy of Moment-by-Moment in Women's Recovery (MMWR), a mindfulness training program adapted for ethnoculturally diverse women with complex social and clinical histories in residential treatment for substance use disorder, on substance use and relapse outcomes.

Methods: Participants were randomized to MMWR (n = 100; 60% Hispanic/Latina, 18% non-Hispanic Black) or the attention control condition, Neurobiology of Addiction (n = 100; 56% Hispanic/Latina, 21% non-Hispanic Black). Substance use outcomes (days until first use, days of use, and relapse status: abstained, lapsed, relapsed) were obtained from interviewer-assisted timeline followback for an 8.

Natural Product Rottlerin Derivatives Targeting Quorum Sensing.

Rottlerin is a natural product consisting of chalcone and flavonoid scaffolds, both of which have previously shown quorum sensing (QS) inhibition in various bacteria. Therefore, the unique rottlerin scaffold highlights great potential in inhibiting the QS system of Rottlerin analogues were synthesised by modifications at its chalcone- and methylene-bridged acetophenone moieties. The synthesis of analogues was achieved using an established five-step synthetic strategy for chalcone derivatives and utilising the Mannich reaction at C6 of the chromene to construct morpholine analogues.