Cold Plasma as a Potential Activator of Plant Biostimulants

Agriculture has become a sector with a huge impact on the natural environment. The interest of agriculture in the category of innovative bio-stimulants is due to the intensive search for preparations based on natural substances. This is not possible without developing and implementing innovative technologies, e.g., cold plasma, along with innovative technologies supporting farmers. Therefore, given the need to prevent environmental damage caused by intensive agriculture, plant production and protection must be targeted at merging the stimulation of crop growth and the elimination of threats to humans and the environment. The analysis of how cold plasma can influence the production of organic bio-stimulants seems to be an unavoidable step in future approaches to this topic. Since allelopathic plants represent a source of many chemical compounds promoting crop growth and development, the coupling of biologically-active compound extraction with plasma activation of allelopathic extracts has interesting potential in offering the most modern alternative to conventional agriculture. However, its implementation in practice will only be feasible after a comprehensive and thoughtful investigation of the mechanisms behind crops’ response to such bio-stimulants.

Pyrolysis of Waste Polyolefin’s and E-component to Produce Renewable Green Fuel (RGF) Over CdCO3

The interest and relevance of the present paper is in the current waste plastics valorization scenario. The rapid depletion of fossil sources carbon as crude oil and their ever-increasing costs has led to an intensive search for alternative fuels. The renewable green fuel (RGF) or alternative fuel was obtained from waste low and high-density polyethylene (LD-PE, HD-PE) or polyolefin’s and computer-body through pyrolysis process using a CdCO3 from 23 °C to 400 °C. Five types of hydrocarbons were observed through 2D GCxGC/TOFMS, such as 7.621 % paraffin’s, 53.66 % branched / cyclic hydrocarbons, 14.83 % aromatics, 0.37 % phenanthrenes, and some unclassified compounds were 27.11 %. The research octane number of RGF was 88.29. The bromine number of RGF is 34.03 %. RGF was suitable for diesel engines and diesel furnaces without any upgrading. During the first, second and third pyrolysis experiments, 98 g, 95 g and 100 g (wt %) waste granules with 2 g, 5 g and 0 g (wt %) CdCO3 into RGFs were 85 %, 89 % and 80 % collected; uncondensed gases were 14.22 %, 10.15 % and 19.52 % collected; the residue were 0.78 %, 0.85 % and 0.48 % collected.

Fungal microbiota in seeds, seedlings and mature plants of raspberry (Rubus ideaus L.)

Presently, there is an intensive search for fungal endophytes to be used in agriculture for the protection and condition improvement of plants and in medicine. We screened for the presence of endophytes in raspberry, which occurs naturally in the Białowieża Forest. The fungal isolates representative of each morphotype were analysed using the molecular markers ITS1 and ITS2. In total, we found 34 taxa of endophytic fungi. The majority were potential pathogens. As many as 27 taxa were found in the leaves of mature plants. No fungi could be isolated from the surface sterilized seeds obtained from these plants. Seedlings were grown from the seeds deposited in the soil seed bank in the Białowieża Geobotanical Station of the University of Warsaw in Białowieża. 8 taxa of endophytic fungi were found in seedlings. It could be due to a possibility of seed infection with these endophytes in soil conditions.

Structure of Anther Epidermis and Endothecium, Production of Pollen, and Content of Selected Nutrients in Pollen Grains from Six Rubus idaeus L. Cultivars

Poland is the largest European Union producer of Rubus idaeus. This species provides insects with nectar and pollen from June to September. The rationale behind the present research is the increasing commercial production and the use of food attractants for pollinators increasing fruit yields. The intensive search for phytochemicals applicable in industry and phytotherapy together with the unavailability of data on anther epidermis and endothecium structure justify undertaking these investigations. The pollen mass, the content of elements, protein, and fat, as well as the composition of amino acids and fatty acids in the pollen of six R. idaeus cultivars were compared. In terms of pollen production, the cultivars ranked as follows: ’Pokusa’ < ‘Polana’ < ‘Glen Ample’ < ‘Polka’ < ‘Radziejowa’ < ‘Laszka’. The protein content (26–31%) in the pollen indicates its good quality and high attractiveness. Exogenous amino acids, including those with dietary importance, constituted a substantial proportion (33–39%). The content of MUFAs and PUFAs was 32–47% and 3.7–9.1%, respectively. The presence of elements that determine the nutritional value and proper development of pollen was detected in the mineral composition of the exine. The data on the epidermis and endothecium structure provide new information about the micromorphology, anatomy, ultrastructure of and generative organs and auxiliary criteria in the taxonomy of related species.

Nanoarchitectonics: Complexes and Conjugates of Platinum Drugs with Silicon Containing Nanocarriers. An Overview

The development in the area of novel anticancer prodrugs (conjugates and complexes) has attracted growing attention from many research groups. The dangerous side effects of currently used anticancer drugs, including cisplatin and other platinum based drugs, as well their systemic toxicity is a driving force for intensive search and presents a safer way in delivery platform of active molecules. Silicon based nanocarriers play an important role in achieving the goal of synthesis of the more effective prodrugs. It is worth to underline that silicon based platform including silica and silsesquioxane nanocarriers offers higher stability, biocompatibility of such the materials and pro-longed release of active platinum drugs. Silicon nanomaterials themselves are well-known for improving drug delivery, being themselves non-toxic, and versatile, and tailored surface chemistry. This review summarizes the current state-of-the-art within constructs of silicon-containing nano-carriers conjugated and complexed with platinum based drugs. Contrary to a number of other reviews, it stresses the role of nano-chemistry as a primary tool in the development of novel prodrugs.

Uncovering the multi-level response of Glycine max L. to the application of allelopathic biostimulant from Levisticum officinale Koch

The interest expressed by the agriculture in the category of innovative biostimulants is due to the intensive search for natural preparations. Our study is the first ever to report a complex approach to the use of allelopathic extracts from Levisticum officinale Koch. roots in soybean cultivation, includes analyses of morphological observations, and analyses of biochemical indicators. Hot method of aqueous extraction was applied. The extracts were administered via foliar application and soil treatment. Lovage extracts had high contents of polyphenolic compounds and rich micro- and macroelemental composition. The infusions did not contain gibberellic acid and indole-3-acetic acid but the abscisic acid and saccharose, glucose, and fructose were found. The extracts modified soybean plant physiology, as manifested by changes in biometric traits. Plants responded positively by increased yield. Seeds from the treated plants had higher contents of micro- and macroelements, as well as total concentrations of lipids (with a slight decrease in protein content). In addition, they featured changes in their amino acid profile and fatty acid composition. The application of allelopathic biostimulant caused increased concentrations of isoflavones and saponins. The natural biostimulants from Levisticum officinale may become a valuable tool in the sustainable agriculture.

Dragonflies as an Important Aquatic Predator Insect and Their Potential for Control of Vectors of Different Diseases

Mosquitoes belong to order of Diptera. The main important vectors are genus Aedes, Culex and Anopheles. They transmit different agents such bacteria, viruses, and parasites. According to the latest information around 7 hundred million people around the world are suffering from mosquitoborne illness resulting over one million deaths. The main important disease transmitted by Anopheles is malaria. Other genus of mosquitoes including Aedes and Culex species transmit different arboviral disease to human. According to guideline of World Health Organization, the mina control of disease is vectors control. The main important vector control is using different insecticides. Using chemical insecticides for controlling mosquitoes is limited because they develop resistance against these insecticides. So, efforts have been made to control the mosquito vectors by eco-friendly techniques. In this research all, the relevant information regarding the topic of research is research through the internet and used in this paper. An intensive search of scientific literature was done in “PubMed”, “Web of Knowledge”, “Scopus”, “Google Scholar”, “SID”, etc Results shows that one of important environmental friendly vector control is biological control, using different predators and other microorganisms for vector and pest control. Dragonflies do eat mosquitos and serve as mosquito predators. They feed on mosquitos and reduce their number in outdoor areas. The dragonflies are scary biters, but they are dangerous to mosquitos. Worldwide results showed that dragonflies are able to control Aedes, Culex and Anopheles mosquito species. The artificial rearing of these predators and releasing for biological control is an appropriate measure for vector control worldwide.

Variation of the Polyphenolic Composition and Antioxidant Capacity of Freshly Prepared Pomegranate Leaf Infusions over One-Day Storage

In recent decades, an intensive search for natural and novel types of antioxidant polyphenolics has been carried out on numerous plant materials. However, the current literature has very little information on their storage stability in the form of freshly prepared infusions. This study aims to characterize the polyphenolic composition and the antioxidant capacity of pomegranate (Punica granatum L.) leaf infusions over one-day storage (analyzed at 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, and 24 h). Spectrophotometric evaluation demonstrated that the infusion presented no significant changes in the content of total phenols (131.40–133.47 mg gallic acid g−1) and ortho-diphenols (239.91–244.25 mg gallic acid g−1). The infusion also maintained high stability (over 98% and 82%, respectively) for flavonoids (53.30–55.84 mg rutin g−1) and condensed tannins (102.15–124.20 mg epicatechin g−1), with stable (>90%) potent antioxidant capacity (1.5–2.2 mmol Trolox g−1) throughout 0–24 h storage. The main decrease was observed during 0–2 h storage of flavonoids, 8–24 h storage of tannins, and 0–4 h storage of antioxidant capacity. Chromatographic analysis further revealed that 7 decreased and 11 increased compounds were found within 0–24 h storage. The good stability of the total polyphenolics and antioxidant properties might be related to the complex conversion and activity compensation among these compounds. The findings suggest that pomegranate leaf infusion could be of great interest in the valorization of high added-value by-products and in the application of green and functional alternatives in the food-pharma and nutraceutical industries.

Crowdsourced mapping of unexplored target space of kinase inhibitors

Despite decades of intensive search for compounds that modulate the activity of particular protein targets, a large proportion of the human kinome remains as yet undrugged. Effective approaches are therefore required to map the massive space of unexplored compound–kinase interactions for novel and potent activities. Here, we carry out a crowdsourced benchmarking of predictive algorithms for kinase inhibitor potencies across multiple kinase families tested on unpublished bioactivity data. We find the top-performing predictions are based on various models, including kernel learning, gradient boosting and deep learning, and their ensemble leads to a predictive accuracy exceeding that of single-dose kinase activity assays. We design experiments based on the model predictions and identify unexpected activities even for under-studied kinases, thereby accelerating experimental mapping efforts. The open-source prediction algorithms together with the bioactivities between 95 compounds and 295 kinases provide a resource for benchmarking prediction algorithms and for extending the druggable kinome.

Improving the technology of gold ore X-ray radiometric separation

Introduction. Gold ore pre-concentration is an urgent issue that can efficiently be solved by the technology of X-ray radiometric separation (XRS). Quarts and quarts-sulfide gold ore XRS is based on the methods of indirect sorting by gold accompanying chemical elements or genetic associate minerals laying the foundation for the creation of separation characteristics for these ores. Additional separation characteristics are required for efficient gold-quartz and gold-quartz-sulfide ore sorting; Irgiredmet Research Institute works on these characteristics search and development. Research methodology. Optimal ore separation characteristics for each specific deposit are chosen after studying and analyzing the spectral information acquired at XRF separators when detecting secondary characteristic radiation from each specific deposit ore samples. The recent modernization of XRF separators significantly enhanced the technological capabilities of XRS concerning intensive search and study of new separation characteristics for gold ore. It has been established that most ores can be efficiently sorted by three characteristics. Research results. A new method of gold ore XRS has been developed which consists of simultaneously applying three, two, or one decision criterion of a lump separation depending on the type, geologicalmineralogical properties, and material composition of the processed ore