Volatile constituents of several Seseli species with acetylcholinesterase activity

Apiaceae is a well-known family of plants with characteristic umbels comprising a lot of aromatic plants important from the economic, medical and ecological points of view. Species from the Seseli L. genus are used in traditional medicine since ancient times from their antimicrobial, antiinflammatory and analgesic activities. Plants belonging to the genus Seseli are also a rich source of coumarin compounds of different type, which show the ability to inhibit several important enzymes, e.g. acetylcholinesterase (inhibitors of AChE are used in Alzheimer’s disease treatment).                Extracts containing volatile compounds were prepared from several Seseli representatives (S. elatum subsp. osseum (Crantz) P.W.Ball, S. andronakii Woronow ex Schischk., S. hartvigii Parolly & Nordt, and S. petraeum M. Bieb.). AChE-inhibitory activity of the tested extracts from Seseli species was determined by TLC-bioautography on TLC plates (0.2-mm thickness) covered with silica gel. All TLC plates were developed with the optimized the mobile phase system containing an optimal concentration of 2-naphthyl acetate (30 mg/20 mL).                The GC-MS analysis was carried out on a Shimadzu GC-2010 Plus chromatograph coupled to a QP2010 Ultra mass spectrometric detector using a Phenomenex capillary column ZB-5MS (30 m; diameter of 0.25 mm and thickness of 0.25 µm). The initial column temperature was set to 50 °C, which was held for 3 min, and in the next step, the column was heated to 250 °C at a rate of 8 °C per min (and was then held at that temperature for 2 min). The split ratio after the injection of 1 µL was 1:20 and helium was used as the carrier gas (the flow rate was 1 mL per min). Ionization was performed by electron impact at 70 eV. The identification of compounds was based on a comparison of their mass spectra with those of MassFinder and NIST mass spectral libraries, as well as by retention index (calculated based on a homologous series of n-alkanes) comparison

Bodies, places and time: Islamic visibilities in the public sphere and the contestations of secular modernity in Turkey

This dissertation explores the ways in which the current constitutional system in Turkey is being contested and negotiated around the constitutive norm of secularism and the place and role of Islam, as these negotiations are carried out in various sites of everyday life. Islamic identities began to emerge in the secular public sphere around mid-1980s and gained a more forceful presence after 1994 when the Islamist political party, Refah , came to power in Istanbul upon winning the municipal elections. Tracing Islamist interventions in public spaces, I explore the formations of political identities around the categories of gender, class, nationalism and religious orientation, and how the performance of such identities contest and call into question established norms around which the public sphere is organized. My analysis focuses on bodies (the construction of the national subject), places (the construction of social space) and time (the construction of national history) as three main sites from which interventions and contestations are carried out. I examine interventions regarding (1) the clothing of bodies through state regulations, the proliferation of women\u27s images in the media and the propagation of the image of the veiled woman in various public performances; (2) the construction of social space, as illustrated in the representations of the city of Istanbul and the restructuring of various city spaces in the performance of both secular and Islamic identities; and (3) the making and contestations of national history, as illustrated in the unofficial commemoration of May 29, 1453 by Islamic circles as “the Conquest of Istanbul Day.” I conclude that, under Refah Party, Islamic discourse turns into a nationalist political project, which contests the authority of secularism, but retains the national, homogenizing and authoritative systems of state control intact and uncontested. This is partially the reason why Islamism is perceived as a threat to the secular system, which compelled the military to intervene in 1997 and led to the eventual closure of Refah Party. This intervention allowed the military to establish itself as the ultimate overseer of the secular system, and closed all venues to the formal negotiation of the constitutional norm of secularism

Secularism and islamic modernism in Turkey Secularismo e modernismo islâmico na Turquia

This paper focuses on the institutionalization of secularism in Turkey through the establishment of a Directorate of Religious Affairs as a state office, vested with full authority over Islamic thought and practice. It explores the ways in which the state promoted this Directorate as the only legitimate Islamic authority in Turkey and how, in the 1990s, alternative voices representing Islamic thought and practice gained salience and challenged the authority of official Islam. It is in such a context that the Islamic modernizers emerged as a new political movement around AK (Justice and Development) Party, which broke off from the former Islamist party Refah/Fazilet, and won a major victory at the 2002 general elections. The paper addresses the emergence of AK Party and its policy toward secularism, political Islam and nationalism.<br>Este texto aborda a institucionalização do secularismo na Turquia, promovida através da implantação de uma Secretaria de Estado dos Assuntos Religiosos, investida de completa autoridade sobre o pensamento e prática islâmica. Exploram-se as formas através das quais o estado promoveu esta secretaria como a única autoridade islâmica legítima na Turquia e como, nos anos 90 do século XX, vozes alternativas do pensamento e prática islâmica ganharam visibilidade e desafiaram a autoridade do Islão oficial. É neste contexto que emergiram modernizadores islâmicos como um novo movimento politico afecto ao partido AK (Justiça e Desenvolvimento), que se desligou do antigo partido islamista Rafeh/Fazilet e obteve uma importante vitória nas eleições gerais de 2002. O texto descreve a emergência do AK e as suas políticas relativamente ao secularismo, Islão político e nacionalismo

Seseli petraeum M. Bieb. (Apiaceae) Significantly Inhibited Cellular Growth of A549 Lung Cancer Cells through G0/G1 Cell Cycle Arrest.

Seseli L. is an important genus of the Apiaceae family, with a large number of aromatic species. It is used in traditional medicine extensively, but there is quite limited information on their phytochemicals and biological activities. Seseli petraeum M. Bieb. grows in Northern Anatolia, and there are no phytochemical studies on this species. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the effect of the extracts of S. petraeum on A549 lung cancer cell proliferation. For this purpose, the antiproliferative effect was determined via MTT assay, and the extracts obtained from the root of S. petraeum showed a significant inhibitory effect on cell proliferation. The hexane extract of the root exhibited potent inhibition on A549 cancer cell growth at the 24th hour with 3.432 mg/mL IC50 value. The results also showed that the hexane extract had displayed cytotoxic effect through an arrest at the G0/G1 phase of the cell cycle and induced apoptosis as well as DNA damage of A549 cells. Consequently, this study demonstrated the antiproliferative potential of the extracts from S. petraeum, especially hexane extract from the roots. Further studies are required to identify the mechanisms underlying these effects