Technological Forecasting at the Stock Market

Under the assumption that competition (Darwinian in nature) reigns in the stock market, we analyzethe behavior of company stocks as if they were species competing for investors’ resources. The approachrequires the study of dollar values and share volumes, daily exchanged in the stock market, via logistic growthfunctions. These two variables, in contrast to prices, obey the law of natural growth in competition, which likeevery natural law, is endowed with predictability. A number of unexpected insights about the stock marketemerge. The forecasts indicate that whereas there is no looming crash in the near future, no significant growthshould be expected either. The DJIA is to hover around 9500 depicting large erratic excursions above andbelow this level for a few years. The use of Volterra-Lotka equations demonstrates that the 1987 crash alteredthe stock-bond interaction from a symbiotic to a predator-prey relationship with stocks acting as predators. This research work has lead to the publication of the book "An S-Shaped Trail to Wall Street" by T. Modis,(Growth Dynamics, Geneva, 1999).

Three Types Halogen Bond Interaction Studied Between Pyrazine And XF

Except σ-type and π-type halogen bond, a new type of the parallel halogen bond interactions between pyrazine (C4H4N2) and XF (X=F,Cl,Br and I) have been discovered at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level. Through comparing the calculated interaction energy,we can know that the π-type halogen bonding interactions are weaker than the corresponding σ-type halogen bonding interactions, and parallel halogen-bond interactions are weaker than the corresponding π-type halogen bonding interactions in C4H4N2-XF complexes. SAPT analysis shows that the electrostatic energy are the major source of the attraction for the σ-type halogen bonding interactions while the parallel halogen-bond interactions are mainly dispersion energy. For the π-type halogen bonding interactions in C4H4N2-XF(X=F and Cl) complexes, electrostatic energy are the major source of the attraction, while in C4H4N2-XF(X=Br and I) complexes the electrostatic term, induction and dispersion play equally important role in the total attractive interaction.NBO analysis, AIM theory and Conceptual DFT are also be utilized.

Potent and Selective Inhibitors of Human Monoamine Oxidase A from an Endogenous Lichen Fungus Diaporthe mahothocarpus

Using 126 endogenous lichen fungus (ELF) extracts, inhibitory activities against monoamine oxidases (MAOs) and cholinesterases (ChEs) were evaluated. Among them, extract ELF29 of the endogenous fungus Diaporthe mahothocarpus of the lichen Cladonia symphycarpia showed the highest inhibitory activity against hMAO-A. Compounds alternariol (AT), 5′-hydroxy-alternariol (HAT), and mycoepoxydiene (MED), isolated from the extract, had potent inhibitory activities against hMAO-A with IC50 values of 0.020, 0.31, and 8.68 µM, respectively. AT, HAT, and MED are reversible competitive inhibitors of hMAO-A with Ki values of 0.0075, 0.116, and 3.76 µM, respectively. The molecular docking studies suggested that AT, HAT, and MED had higher binding affinities for hMAO-A (−9.1, −6.9, and −5.6 kcal/mol, respectively) than for hMAO-B (−6.3, −5.2, and −3.7 kcal/mol, respectively). The relative tight binding might result from a hydrogen bond interaction of the three compounds with a Tyr444 residue in hMAO-A, whereas no hydrogen bond interaction was proposed in hMAO-B. In silico pharmacokinetics, the three compounds showed high gastrointestinal absorption without violating Lipinski’s five rules, but only MED showed high probability to cross the blood–brain barrier. These results suggest that AT, HAT, and MED are candidates for treating neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression and cardiovascular disease.