Adopting IoT-based solutions for smart homes: The perspective of the Romanian users

IoT (Internet of Things) is a concept that defines a world in which all objects are connected to each other via the Internet. The ability of smart devices to connect, communicate and transfer data has enabled the innovation and development of various solutions for industry, business organizations and final consumers. In this article, we have chosen to discuss the solutions related to smart homes. Thus, our paper presents, in the first part, the conceptual delimitations regarding IoT, areas of application, and characteristics of the solutions dedicated to smart homes, showing that adoption of IoT-based smart home solutions has been too little addressed in the literature. Most of the work in the field insists on the technical aspects and only subsidiarily deals with the issues regarding the level of understanding of the IoT smart home concept by potential or actual users and the degree of adoption and use of these solutions. In order to cover these gaps identified in the literature, we presented, in the second part of the paper, the methodology and results of an exploratory research, conducted on a sample of 471 persons, which allowed us to identify the socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents (users of IoT solutions), level of understanding the IoT concept, degree of the adoption and, also, the associated benefits and challenges, from the perspective of the Romanian users. We also developed a binary logistic regression model, for in-depth analysis of the results and for correlating the findings of our research with those of other studies

Phytochemical Characterization and Antioxidant Activity Evaluation for Some Plant Extracts in Conjunction with Pharmacological Mechanism Prediction: Insights into Potential Therapeutic Applications in Dyslipidemia and Obesity

Lipid metabolism dysregulation can lead to dyslipidemia and obesity, which are major causes of cardiovascular disease and associated mortality worldwide. The purpose of the study was to obtain and characterize six plant extracts (ACE—Allii cepae extractum; RSE—Rosmarini extractum; CHE—Cichorii extractum; CE—Cynarae extractum; AGE—Apii graveolentis extractum; CGE—Crataegi extractum) as promising adjuvant therapies for the prevention and treatment of dyslipidemia and its related metabolic diseases. Phytochemical screening revealed that RSE was the richest extract in total polyphenols (39.62 ± 13.16 g tannic acid/100 g dry extract) and phenolcarboxylic acids (22.05 ± 1.31 g chlorogenic acid/100 g dry extract). Moreover, the spectrophotometric chemical profile highlighted a significant concentration of flavones for CGE (5.32 ± 0.26 g rutoside/100 g dry extract), in contrast to the other extracts. UHPLC-MS quantification detected considerable amounts of phenolic constituents, especially chlorogenic acid in CGE (187.435 ± 1.96 mg/g extract) and rosmarinic acid in RSE (317.100 ± 2.70 mg/g extract). Rosemary and hawthorn extracts showed significantly stronger free radical scavenging activity compared to the other plant extracts (p 2+. Further studies are warranted to experimentally validate the predicted CA5A inhibitory activities of RA and CGA and to investigate the hypolipidemic and antioxidant activities of the proposed plant extracts in animal models of dyslipidemia and obesity

The Influence of Phytosociological Cultivation and Fertilization on Polyphenolic Content of Menthae and Melissae folium and Evaluation of Antioxidant Properties through In Vitro and In Silico Methods

Since medicinal plants are widely used in treating various diseases, phytoconstituents enrichment strategies are of high interest for plant growers. First of all, we investigated the impact of phytosociological cultivation on polyphenolic content (total flavonoids—TFL, and total polyphenols—TPC) of peppermint (Mentha piperita L.) and lemon balm (Melissa officinalis L.) leaves, using spectrophotometric methods. Secondly, the influence of chemical (NPK) and organic (BIO) fertilization on polyphenolic content and plant material quality was also assessed. Dry extracts were obtained from harvested leaves using hydroethanolic extraction solvents for further qualitative and quantitative assessment of phytoconstituents by FT-ICR MS and UHPLC-MS. Furthermore, the antioxidant activity of leaf extracts was determined in vitro using DPPH, ABTS and FRAP methods. Molecular docking simulations were employed to further evaluate the antioxidant potential of obtained extracts, predicting the interactions of identified phytochemicals with sirtuins. The concentration of polyphenols was higher in the plant material harvested from the phytosociological culture. Moreover, the use of BIO fertilizer led to the biosynthesis of a higher content of polyphenols. Higher amounts of phytochemicals, such as caffeic acid, were determined in extracts obtained from phytosociological crops. The antioxidant activity was dependent on polyphenols concentration, more potent inhibition values being observed for the extracts obtained from the phytosociological batches. Molecular docking studies and MM/PBSA calculations revealed that the obtained extracts have the potential to directly activate sirtuins 1, 5 and 6 through several polyphenolic compounds, such as rosmarinic acid, thus complementing the free radical scavenging activity with the potential stimulation of endogenous antioxidant defense mechanisms. In conclusion, growing medicinal plants in phytosociological cultures treated with biofertilizers can have a positive impact on plant material quality, concentration in active constituents and biological activity