Antioxidant Capacity of Several Romanian Forest Fruits (Rosa canina L., Prunus spinosa L., Vaccium vitis-idaea L. and Cornus mas L.)

The comparison of the antioxidant activity of the studied forest fruits emphasized a hierarchy of the antioxidant capacity in rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. The purpose of the study was to investigate the antioxidant capacity and nutritional value of rosehip, blackthorn, lingonberry and cornelian cherry. In the current study, the FT-IR spectroscopy technique was applied to detect molecular components in forest fruits samples. Antioxidant capacity was evaluated with photochemical assay as well as humidity, protein, fibre, lipid and carbohydrate content. The FT-IR results revealed the presence of different bio-active compounds in berries such as flavonoids, tannins, sugars, acids, proanthocyanidins, carotenoids, citric metabolites and others. The highest antioxidant capacity was observed in rosehip 105.67±1.38 and blackthorn 49.89±1.92 (μg/mg equivalent ascorbic acid). Regarding nutritional parameters, rosehip showed the most increased content of protein displaying average values of 1.60, carbohydrates 38.20 and fibre 24.10 (g/100 g/sample). These results can provide useful information providing a research interest for the identification of new molecular compounds from Romanian flora samples

Chrysin-based supramolecular cyclodextrin-calixarene drug delivery system: a novel approach for attenuating cardiac fibrosis in chronic diabetes

Introduction: Cardiac fibrosis is strongly induced by diabetic conditions. Both chrysin (CHR) and calixarene OTX008, a specific inhibitor of galectin 1 (Gal-1), seem able to reduce transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β)/SMAD pro-fibrotic pathways, but their use is limited to their low solubility. Therefore, we formulated a dual-action supramolecular system, combining CHR with sulfobutylated β-cyclodextrin (SBECD) and OTX008 (SBECD + OTX + CHR). Here we aimed to test the anti-fibrotic effects of SBECD + OTX + CHR in hyperglycemic H9c2 cardiomyocytes and in a mouse model of chronic diabetes.Methods: H9c2 cardiomyocytes were exposed to normal (NG, 5.5 mM) or high glucose (HG, 33 mM) for 48 h, then treated with SBECD + OTX + CHR (containing OTX008 0.75–1.25–2.5 µM) or the single compounds for 6 days. TGF-β/SMAD pathways, Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases (MAPKs) and Gal-1 levels were assayed by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assays (ELISAs) or Real-Time Quantitative Reverse Transcription Polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Adult CD1 male mice received a single intraperitoneal (i.p.) administration of streptozotocin (STZ) at a dosage of 102 mg/kg body weight. From the second week of diabetes, mice received 2 times/week the following i.p. treatments: OTX (5 mg/kg)-SBECD; OTX (5 mg/kg)-SBECD-CHR, SBECD-CHR, SBECD. After a 22-week period of diabetes, mice were euthanized and cardiac tissue used for tissue staining, ELISA, qRT-PCR aimed to analyse TGF-β/SMAD, extracellular matrix (ECM) components and Gal-1.Results: In H9c2 cells exposed to HG, SBECD + OTX + CHR significantly ameliorated the damaged morphology and reduced TGF-β1, its receptors (TGFβR1 and TGFβR2), SMAD2/4, MAPKs and Gal-1. Accordingly, these markers were reduced also in cardiac tissue from chronic diabetes, in which an amelioration of cardiac remodeling and ECM was evident. In both settings, SBECD + OTX + CHR was the most effective treatment compared to the other ones.Conclusion: The CHR-based supramolecular SBECD-calixarene drug delivery system, by enhancing the solubility and the bioavailability of both CHR and calixarene OTX008, and by combining their effects, showed a strong anti-fibrotic activity in rat cardiomyocytes and in cardiac tissue from mice with chronic diabetes. Also an improved cardiac tissue remodeling was evident. Therefore, new drug delivery system, which could be considered as a novel putative therapeutic strategy for the treatment of diabetes-induced cardiac fibrosis

Composition, crystallization conditions and genesis of sulfide-saturated parental melts of olivine-phyric rocks from Kamchatsky Mys (Kamchatka, Russia)

Highlights • Parental melts of sulfide-bearing KM rocks have near primary MORB-like composition. • Crystallization of these S-saturated melts occurred in near-surface conditions. • Extensive fractionation and crustal assimilation are not the causes of S-saturation. • S content in melts can be restored by accounting for daughter sulfide globules. Abstract Sulfide liquids that immiscibly separate from silicate melts in different magmatic processes accumulate chalcophile metals and may represent important sources of the metals in Earth's crust for the formation of ore deposits. Sulfide phases commonly found in some primitive mid-ocean ridge basalts (MORB) may support the occurrence of sulfide immiscibility in the crust without requiring magma contamination and/or extensive fractionation. However, the records of incipient sulfide melts in equilibrium with primitive high-Mg olivine and Cr-spinel are scarce. Sulfide globules in olivine phenocrysts in picritic rocks of MORB-affinity at Kamchatsky Mys (Eastern Kamchatka, Russia) represent a well-documented example of natural immiscibility in primitive oceanic magmas. Our study examines the conditions of silicate-sulfide immiscibility in these magmas by reporting high precision data on the compositions of Cr-spinel and silicate melt inclusions, hosted in Mg-rich olivine (86.9–90 mol% Fo), which also contain globules of magmatic sulfide melt. Major and trace element contents of reconstructed parental silicate melts, redox conditions (ΔQFM = +0.1 ± 0.16 (1σ) log. units) and crystallization temperature (1200–1285 °C), as well as mantle potential temperatures (~1350 °C), correspond to typical MORB values. We show that nearly 50% of sulfur could be captured in daughter sulfide globules even in reheated melt inclusions, which could lead to a significant underestimation of sulfur content in reconstructed silicate melts. The saturation of these melts in sulfur appears to be unrelated to the effects of melt crystallization and crustal assimilation, so we discuss the reasons for the S variations in reconstructed melts and the influence of pressure and other parameters on the SCSS (Sulfur Content at Sulfide Saturation)

What's law got to do with it?: Assessing international courts' contribution to reparative justice for victims of mass atrocities through their reparations regimes

Summary This thesis aimed to assess how four international courts mandated to provide reparations may contribute to reparative justice for victims of international crimes and gross human rights violations (i.e. mass atrocities) by means of their reparations regimes. The four courts are the International Criminal Court, the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the European Court of Human Rights, and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Drawing on a robust literature review, this thesis proposed a taxonomy of reparative justice (conceptualized as procedural justice and substantive justice) to study international courts’ reparations regimes. The core of the thesis are individual chapters devoted to analyses of each of the Court’s practice on reparations utilizing the taxonomy of reparative justice, ultimately putting forward an assessment on how each court may potentially contribute to reparative justice for victims through their reparations regimes. To scrutinize each court’s practice on reparations, a qualitative data analysis software was employed – Atlas.ti – which enabled robust and systematic identification, coding and analysis of all elements pertaining to procedural justice and substantive justice throughout the courts’ entire jurisprudence on reparations for mass atrocities. The final chapter put forward a general reflection on how international courts that are mandated to provide reparations may contribute to reparative justice for victims of mass atrocities. In the first part, this chapter advanced one of the most complex overviews existing in the literature to date, highlighting the legal characteristics, standards, and practices around reparations in the context of international courts, combined with an articulation of the aspects that help to explain the courts’ potential contribution to reparative justice. In the second part, the chapter pondered on possible implications flowing from this research’s findings. First, it argued for a need to rethink the notions and elements pertaining to reparative justice. It posited that studying the courts’ contribution to reparative justice as procedural justice and substantive justice requires more robust theoretical notions that go beyond the courts’ formal roles and account for the complexities identified in the research. Second, for international courts mandated to provide reparations to enhance their potential contribution to reparative justice, it was recommended that: 1) International courts expand the number of beneficiaries of reparative justice; 2) International courts provide adequate support for victims to actualize their statutory rights and prerogatives, which might include support to the legal representatives, the Victims’ Units, TFV and other relevant actors; 3) International courts flesh out an accountability mechanism for the various actors actualizing the victims’ rights and prerogatives before courts; 4) International courts reduce the length of proceedings; 5) International courts award reparations that respond as much as possible to the victims’ harm and where possible, their preferences; 6) Deeper reflection on the possibilities to actualize the reparations regimes when international courts are established; 7) Lower expectations are attached to reparations in the context of international courts. Finally, the section reflected on the suitability of including a reparations regime and aspirations of reparative justice within the mandate of international courts. It put forward legal and moral arguments to highlight the importance of including reparations regimes and aspirations of reparative justice within the mandates of international courts. At the same time, it highlighted the importance of employing additional efforts to those of international courts to afford reparative justice to victims of mass atrocities