Balkans' Asteraceae Species as a Source of Biologically Active Compounds for the Pharmaceutical and Food Industry

Herbal drugs are a useful source of different bioactive compounds. Asteraceae species, as the most widespread vascular plants, can be used both as food and as medicine due to the great diversity of recorded chemical components - different phenolic compounds, terpenes, carotenoids, vitamins, alkaloids, etc. The Balkan Peninsula is characterized by great diversity of plants from Asteraceae family, including presence of rare and endemic species. In this review, results of the survey of chemical composition and biological activity, mainly focusing on antioxidant, antimicrobial and anticancer effects of selected Balkans' Asteraceae species were provided. In addition, information on edible plants from Asteraceae family is presented, due to growing interest for the so-called 'healthy diet' and possible application of Balkans' Asteraceae species as food of high nutritional value or as a source of functional food ingredients.This is peer-reviewed version of the following article: Kostić, A.; Janacković, P.; Kolasinac, S. M.; Dajić-Stevanović, Z. Balkans’ Asteraceae Species as a Source of Biologically Active Compounds for the Pharmaceutical and Food Industry. Chemistry & Biodiversity 2020, 17 (6). [https://doi.org/10.1002/cbdv.202000097

Prognostic factors for recovery following acute lateral ankle ligament sprain: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: One-third of individuals who sustain an acute lateral ankle ligament sprain suffer significant disability due to pain, functional instability, mechanical instability or recurrent sprain after recovery plateaus at 1 to 5 years post injury. The identification of early prognostic factors associated with poor recovery may provide an opportunity for early-targeted intervention and improve outcome. METHODS: We performed a comprehensive search of AMED, EMBASE, Psych Info, CINAHL, SportDiscus, PubMed, CENTRAL, PEDro, OpenGrey, abstracts and conference proceedings from inception to September 2016. Prospective studies investigating the association between baseline prognostic factors and recovery over time were included. Two independent assessors performed the study selection, data extraction and quality assessment of the studies. A narrative synthesis is presented due to inability to meta-analyse results due to clinical and statistical heterogeneity. RESULTS: The search strategy yielded 3396 titles/abstracts after duplicates were removed. Thirty-six full text articles were then assessed, nine of which met the study inclusion criteria. Six were prospective cohorts, and three were secondary analyses of randomised controlled trials. Results are presented for nine studies that presented baseline prognostic factors for recovery after an acute ankle sprain. Age, female gender, swelling, restricted range of motion, limited weight bearing ability, pain (at the medial joint line and on weight-bearing dorsi-flexion at 4 weeks, and pain at rest at 3 months), higher injury severity rating, palpation/stress score, non-inversion mechanism injury, lower self-reported recovery, re-sprain within 3 months, MRI determined number of sprained ligaments, severity and bone bruise were found to be independent predictors of poor recovery. Age was one prognostic factor that demonstrated a consistent association with outcome in three studies, however cautious interpretation is advised. CONCLUSIONS: The associations between prognostic factors and poor recovery after an acute lateral ankle sprain are largely inconclusive. At present, there is insufficient evidence to recommend any factor as an independent predictor of outcome. There is a need for well-conducted prospective cohort studies with adequate sample size and long-term follow-up to provide robust evidence on prognostic factors of recovery following an acute lateral ankle sprain. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Prospero registration: CRD42014014471

Above room temperature heat capacity and phase transition of lithium tetrahydroborate

International audienceNew calorimetric determinations of molar heat capacity C(p,m) of lithium tetrahydroborate (LiBH(4)) were performed in order to analyze the origin of the previously observed "anomaly" before the polymorphous transition at 386 K. The above room temperature dependence of LiBH(4) C(p,m) was measured until approaching the melting point of the compound at 553 K and the abnormal behaviour was attributed to lattice defects independent of the main crystalline phase transition. As a result, lower entropy of the transition Delta(trs)S = 13.11 +/- 0.23J K(-1) mol(-1) than that proposed in literature was obtained, which is in agreement with the observed anisotropy and crystal density decrease before the transition from recent X-ray diffraction indexing. An estimate of the liquid C(p,m) of LiBH(4) "molten salt" is proposed. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

The interaction between copper and TixNy at low temperature

International audienceSub- and over-stoichiometric TixNy films have been processed by varying the flow rate of nitrogen in the chamber. In order to study the copper diffusion through Ti and TixNy layers, these layers were systematically coated with a Cu layer 50 nm thick. For some of the stacks a Si3N4 layer 50 nm thick is deposited over the Cu layer. Specimens were isothermally heat treated from 240 to 430 A degrees C under primary vacuum and under argon atmosphere. Cu/BL/SiO2/Si and Si3N4/Cu/BL/SiO2/Si stacks (where BL = Ti or TixNy) where characterized by transmission electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis, time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry and X-ray diffraction. These characterizations indicate clear differences on the copper diffusion through the system depending on the film compositions and microstructures as well as on the annealing temperature. The diffusion of copper through the TixNy and the reactivity between Cu and TixNy films strongly depend on their composition but also on the processing conditions of these films. Moreover, the performances of some of these films, with respect to copper diffusion and/or reaction, are degraded as the temperature increases from 260 to 430 A degrees C. Diffusion of copper through the TixNy films as well as reaction conditions are studied and discussed