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Copper-contained products that are widely employed yearly in viticulture for vine disease management, lead to Cu accumulation in topsoil creating an increased risk for land workers and for leaching and/or uptake of Cu by plants, especially in acidic soils where Cu mobility is higher. In this study, the impact of two biochar types on Cu distribution and redistribution in fractions was evaluated in four acidic vineyard soils in relation to incubation time. The two biochars were derived from sewage sludge (SG) and olive tree prunings (OL). Soils (control) and biochar-amended soils with application rate of 20 % (w/w) were spiked with CuCl2 (160 mg kg−1) and incubated in the laboratory at ambient temperature 22 ± 5 °C. After 1, 3, 7, 15, 36, and 90 days of incubation, modified BCR sequential extraction procedure was used to determine Cu distribution in the four soil chemical phases and to examine potential Cu redistribution between these fractions both in soils and in amended soils with biochars. Results show that biochar amendment affects Cu distribution in different soil fractions. In SG treatment, from the 1st and up to 36th incubation day, both exchangeable and reducible Cu fractions decreased, while oxidizable Cu increased, in relation to control soils. At 90th incubation day, a redistribution of Cu was observed, mainly from the oxidizable to the residual fraction. In OL treatment, during the first 36 incubation days exchangeable and oxidizable Cu slightly increased, while reducible Cu decreased. At the 90th incubation day the higher percentage of Cu was extracted from the residual fraction, but exchangeable Cu was present in remarkable quantities in the three of the four studies soils. SG application in the studied soils highly restricted the availability of added Cu promoting Cu-stable forms thus reducing the environmental risk while OL did not substantially reduce Cu available fraction over the experimental incubation period. Fourier transformation infrared analysis (FTIR) provided convincing explanations for the different behavior of the two biochar types.

Biocompatible Ionic Liquids (Bio-ILs) are a new class of ILs that are task-specifically designed to derive from naturally occurring compounds and/or derivatives thereof, as well as molecules well known for their biocompatibility (e.g., active pharmaceutical ingredients or non-toxic bioactive compounds) in terms of sustainability and biocompatibility. Owing to their remarkable physicochemical properties that can be tailor made to comply with the requirements of each application, Bio-ILs have emerged as novel, efficient and green technology, appropriate for a vast variety of scientific fields. Herein, this review describes the state-of-the-art scientific research regarding the synthesis, characterization and applications of Bio-ILs reported in the literature for the period between 2020 and 2022.

Flavanones and their biochemical precursors, chalcones, are naturally occurring compounds and consist of privileged scaffolds used in drug discovery due to their wide range of biological activities. In this work, two novel flavanones (3 and 4), the arylidene flavanone 5, and the chalcone 6, displaying structural analogies with butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT), were synthesized via an aldol reaction. According to the antioxidant activity studies of the synthesized flavanones, the arylidene flavanone 5 was the most potent antioxidant (70.8% interaction with DPPH radical and 77.4% inhibition of lipid peroxidation). In addition, the ability of the synthesized compounds to bind with ctDNA was measured via UV-spectroscopy, revealing that chalcone 6 has the strongest interaction with DNA (Kb = 5.0 × 10−3 M−1), while molecular docking was exploited to simulate the compound-DNA complexes. In an effort to explore the conformational features of the novel synthetic flavanones (3 and 4), arylidene flavanone 5, and chalcone 6, theoretical calculations were applied and the calculation of their physicochemical properties was also performed.

A series of novel multi-substituted coumarin derivatives were synthesized, spectroscopically characterized, and evaluated for their antioxidant activity, soybean lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitory ability, their influence on cell viability in immortalized human keratinocytes (HaCaT), and cytotoxicity in adenocarcinomic human alveolar basal epithelial cells (A549) and human melanoma (A375) cells, in vitro. Coumarin analogues 4a–4f, bearing a hydroxyl group at position 5 of the coumarin scaffold and halogen substituents at the 3-phenyl ring, were the most promising ABTS•+ scavengers. 6,8-Dibromo-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-4-methyl-chromen-2-one (4k) and 6-bromo-3-(4,5-diacetyloxyphenyl)-4-methyl-chromen-2-one (3m) exhibited significant lipid peroxidation inhibitory activity (IC50 36.9 and 37.1 μM). In the DCF-DA assay, the 4′-fluoro-substituted compound 3f (100%), and the 6-bromo substituted compounds 3i (80.9%) and 4i (100%) presented the highest activity. The 3′-fluoro-substituted coumarins 3e and 4e, along with 3-(4-acetyloxyphenyl)-6,8-dibromo-4-methyl-chromen-2-one (3k), were the most potent lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitors (IC50 11.4, 4.1, and 8.7 μM, respectively) while displaying remarkable hydroxyl radical scavenging ability, 85.2%, 100%, and 92.9%, respectively. In silico docking studies of compounds 4e and 3k, revealed that they present allosteric interactions with the enzyme. The majority of the analogues (100 μΜ) did not affect the cell viability of HaCaT cells, though several compounds presented over 60% cytotoxicity in A549 or A375 cells. Finally, the human oral absorption (%HOA) and plasma protein binding (%PPB) properties of the synthesized coumarins were also estimated using biomimetic chromatography, and all compounds presented high %HOA (>99%) and %PPB (60–97%) values.

The oxidative desulfurization of five (5) model sulfur compounds and eleven (11) surrogate blends was investigated using the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-acetic acid (CH3COOH) system. Consequently, extractive desulfurization was carried out using conventional solvents. The model sulfur compounds, as well as the solvent, are present in petroleum middle distillates. The selection of the compounds was made so that they represent various kinds of sulfur compounds. The goal of this study was the implementation of a simple and economical oxidative and extractive system for the desulfurization of surrogate mixtures with an intermediate sulfur concentration 1% w/w, at the mild temperature of 70°C, and without the use of supplementary and assisting methods such as heterogeneous catalysis or ultrasound irradiation. The sulfur content was estimated using X-ray fluorescence. The progress of the oxidation reaction was monitored using liquid FT-IR. The solid sediments of the oxidation procedure were identified with solid-state FT-IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy.

This paper seeks to explore how age as a determining category of identity was represented on the American stage in the years following the American Revolution. By bringing early American drama—a field largely neglected in itself—into the discussion of performance and age studies, this paper examines age from a political perspective, as performance of the emerging American republican culture and as metaphor for national identity-formation and development.

2′-hydroxy-chalcones are naturally occurring compounds with a wide array of bioactivity. In an effort to delineate the structural features that favor antioxidant and lipoxygenase (LOX) inhibitory activity, the design, synthesis, and bioactivity profile of a series of 2′-hydroxy-chalcones bearing diverse substituents on rings A and B, are presented. Among all the synthesized derivatives, chalcone 4b, bearing two hydroxyl substituents on ring B, was found to possess the best combined activity (82.4% DPPH radical scavenging ability, 82.3% inhibition of lipid peroxidation, and satisfactory LOX inhibition value (IC50 = 70 μM). Chalcone 3c, possessing a methoxymethylene substituent on ring A, and three methoxy groups on ring B, exhibited the most promising LOX inhibitory activity (IC50 = 45 μM). A combination of in silico techniques were utilized in an effort to explore the crucial binding characteristics of the most active compound 3c and its analogue 3b, to LOX. A common H-bond interaction pattern, orienting the hydroxyl and carbonyl groups of the aromatic ring A towards Asp768 and Asn128, respectively, was observed. Regarding the analogue 3c, the bulky (-OMOM) group does not seem to participate in a direct binding, but it induces an orientation capable to form H-bonds between the methoxy groups of the aromatic ring B with Trp130 and Gly247.

The effect of different extraction methods of rosemary leaves on the total phenolic content (TPC), and the antioxidant activity of the extracts was herein investigated. Firstly, the solid-liquid conventional extraction (CEM) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) were implemented in an effort to identify the effect of the solvent and of microwave irradiation on the extract quality. The extract obtained from CEM at room temperature, using ethanol/water 95:5 v/v, showed the highest antioxidant activity (IC50 = 12.1 μg/mL). MAE using ethanol/water 50:50 v/v provided an extract with TPC and DPPH radical scavenging ability in a significantly shorter extraction time (1 h for MAE and 24 h for CEM). Enzyme-assisted extraction (EAE) using five commercial enzyme formulations was implemented, and the kinetic equation was calculated. Finally, the effect of EAE as a pretreatment method to CEM was examined. Pretreatment of the plant material with pectinolytic enzymes for 1 h prior to a 24 h CEM with 50% hydroethanolic solvent was found to be the optimum conditions for the extraction of rosemary leaves, providing an extract with higher DPPH radical scavenging ability (IC50 14.3 ± 0.8 μg/mL) and TPC (15.2 ± 0.3 mgGAE/grosemary) than the corresponding extract without the enzyme pretreatment.

Mg-ion batteries (MIBs) have emerged as a promising alternative to Li-ion batteries (LIBs) since Mg metal is more abundant, cheaper, and safer than Li metal. However, the growth of Mg dendrites on metal Mg anodes is still very controversial, while several studies claim that Mg dendrites do not form on Mg metal anodes; other studies claim the opposite. Recently, a new class of MIB electrolytes which we refer to here as MACT has received extensive attention due to its higher ionic conductivity and wider potential window. MACT is made of magnesium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (Mg(TFSI)2), aluminum chloride (AlCl3), and magnesium chloride (MgCl2) in 1,2-dimethoxyethane (DME). Previous studies have claimed that Mg dendrites do not grow in conditioned MACT electrolytes. This article explores the formation of magnesium (Mg) dendrites in a conditioned MACT electrolyte during electrodeposition. A symmetric cell configuration, Mg|MACT|Mg, was utilized to investigate the dendrite formation at different current densities. The morphology, chemical composition, and crystal structure of the deposition products were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Our findings demonstrate the growth of Mg dendrites within the MACT electrolyte. We observed that the morphology of these dendrites undergoes evolution with varying the electrodeposition current density, transitioning between mossy clusters, granular structures, and porous mesh formations in a size range from approximately 10 to 125 μm. These results significantly enhance our understanding of Mg dendrite formation in MIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the privileged scaffold of 4-hydroxy-2quinolinone is investigated through the synthesis of carboxamides and hybrid derivatives, as well as through their bioactivity evaluation, focusing on the ability of the molecules to inhibit the soybean LOX, as an indication of their anti-inflammatory activity. Twenty-one quinolinone carboxamides, seven novel hybrid compounds consisting of the quinolinone moiety and selected cinnamic or benzoic acid derivatives, as well as three reverse amides are synthesized and classified as multi-target agents according to their LOX inhibitory and antioxidant activity. Among all the synthesized analogues, quinolinone–carboxamide compounds 3h and 3s, which are introduced for the first time in the literature, exhibited the best LOX inhibitory activity (IC50 = 10 μM). Furthermore, carboxamide 3g and quinolinone hybrid with acetylated ferulic acid 11e emerged as multi-target agents, revealing combined antioxidant and LOX inhibitory activity (3g: IC50 = 27.5 μM for LOX inhibition, 100% inhibition of lipid peroxidation, 67.7% ability to scavenge hydroxyl radicals and 72.4% in the ABTS radical cation decolorization assay; 11e: IC50 = 52 μM for LOX inhibition and 97% inhibition of lipid peroxidation). The in silico docking results revealed that the synthetic carboxamide analogues 3h and 3s and NDGA (the reference compound) bind at the same alternative binding site in a similar binding mode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chitosan is a cationic natural polysaccharide, which has emerged as an increasingly interesting biomaterialover the past few years. It constitutes a novel perspective in drug delivery systems and nanocarriers’ formulations due to its beneficial properties, including biocompatibility, biodegradability and low toxicity. The potentiality of chemical or enzymatic modifications of the biopolymer, as well as its complementary use with other polymers, further attract the scientific community, offering improved and combined properties in the final materials. As a result, chitosan has been extensively used as a matrix for the encapsulation of several valuable compounds. In this review article, the advantageous character of chitosan as a matrix for nanosystemsis presented, focusing on the encapsulation of natural products. A five-year literature review is attempted covering the use of chitosan and modified chitosan as matrices and coatings for the encapsulation of natural extracts, essential oils or pure naturally occurring bioactive compounds are discussed.

This paper assesses energy savings in terms of heating, cooling, and artificial lighting achieved in an office building with a high Window to Wall Ratio (WWR), located in Athens and Stockholm. Six different configurations of triple pane windows combining thermochromic, electrochromic, and low-e coatings in Insulated Glass Units (IGUs) are examined to quantify the potential of increasing energy savings in office buildings. The combination of electrochromic and thermochromic layers on the outer pane of the triple IGU, achieved an 18.5% and 8.1% reduction in annual primary energy use for Athens and Stockholm, respectively. The used switching strategy ensured the visual comfort of the employees and provided adequate daylight in both cases. It was found that in Stockholm the cooling system can be downsized considerably, achieving important cost reduction in the HVAC system. The analysis also takes into account the reduction of thermal storage in the building envelope due to the switchable windows. This reduction is beneficial in the case of Athens, but it can reduce energy savings in Stockholm. Therefore, for colder climates, it is important to increase window heat gains through the development of layers with higher g-value in the clear state and through the application of appropriate switching strategies.

The natural process of aging gradually causes changes in living organisms, leading to the deterioration of organs, tissues, and cells. In the case of osteoarthritis (OA), the degradation of cartilage is a result of both mechanical stress and biochemical factors. Natural products have already been evaluated for their potential role in the prevention and treatment of OA, providing a safe and effective adjunctive therapeutic approach. This review aimed to assess the therapeutic potential of natural products and their derivatives in osteoarthritis via a systematic search of literature after 2008, including in vitro, in vivo, ex vivo, and animal models, along with clinical trials and meta-analysis. Overall, 170 papers were obtained and screened. Here, we presented findings referring to the preventative and therapeutic potential of 17 natural products and 14 naturally occurring compounds, underlining, when available, the mechanisms implicated. The nature of OA calls to initially focus on the management of symptoms, and, in that context, several naturally occurring compounds have been utilized. Underlying a global need for more sustainable natural sources for treatment, the evidence supporting their chondroprotective potential is still building up. However, arriving at that kind of solution requires more clinical research, targeting the implications of long-term treatment, adverse effects, and epigenetic implications.