Antioxidant aand antimicrobial activity of herbal teas made from Hungarian medicinal plants

Total phenol content and antioxidant activity of herbal teas made from different Hungarian medicinal plants, chamomile (Matricaria recutita), rose hip (Rosa canina), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and yarrow (.Achillea millefolium) were determined. Total phenol content and ferric reducing power was highest in rose hip samples (6216 mg GAE/100 g and 1984 mg AE/100 g) followed by yarrow, chamomile and stinging nettle. Radical scavenging activity of some rose hip and yarrow samples were very similar (78.5 and 77.8%). There were significant differences in the measured values of the same teas from different producers. We found strong correlation between total phenol content and ferric reducing power, and also good correlation between phenol content and DPPH radical scavenging activity, indicating that heat resistant phenolics were mainly responsible for the antioxidant activity of herbal teas. According to our results, herb teas with the highest phytochemical content and antioxidant activity were purchased from the same producer indicating the importance of adequate handling of the herbs

Antioxidant aand antimicrobial activity of herbal teas made from Hungarian medicinal plants

Total phenol content and antioxidant activity of herbal teas made from different Hungarian medicinal plants, chamomile (Matricaria recutita), rose hip (Rosa canina), stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) and yarrow (.Achillea millefolium) were determined. Total phenol content and ferric reducing power was highest in rose hip samples (6216 mg GAE/100 g and 1984 mg AE/100 g) followed by yarrow, chamomile and stinging nettle. Radical scavenging activity of some rose hip and yarrow samples were very similar (78.5 and 77.8%). There were significant differences in the measured values of the same teas from different producers. We found strong correlation between total phenol content and ferric reducing power, and also good correlation between phenol content and DPPH radical scavenging activity, indicating that heat resistant phenolics were mainly responsible for the antioxidant activity of herbal teas. According to our results, herb teas with the highest phytochemical content and antioxidant activity were purchased from the same producer indicating the importance of adequate handling of the herbs

Micro-scale Experimental System Coupled with Fluorescence-based Estimation of Fungal Biomass to Study Utilisation of Plant Substrates.

The degradation capacity and utilisation of complex plant substrates are crucial for the functioning of saprobic fungi and different plant symbionts with fundamental functions in ecosystems. Measuring the growth capacity and biomass of fungi on such systems is a challenging task. We established a new micro-scale experimental setup using substrates made of different plant species and organs as media for fungal growth. We adopted and tested a reliable and simple titration-based method for the estimation of total fungal biomass within the substrates using fluorescence-labelled lectin. We found that the relationship between fluorescence intensity and fungal dry weight was strong and linear but differed among fungi. The effect of the plant organ (i.e. root vs. shoot) used as substrate on fungal growth differed among plant species and between root endophytic fungal species. The novel microscale experimental system is useful for screening the utilisation of different substrates, which can provide insight into the ecological roles and functions of fungi. Furthermore, our fungal biomass estimation method has applications in various fields. As the estimation is based on the fungal cell wall, it measures the total cumulative biomass produced in a certain environment

Novel role for galectin-1 in T-cells under physiological and pathological conditions

Secreted, extracellular galectin-1 (exGal-1) but not intracellular Gal-1 (inGal-1) has been described as a strong immunosuppressive protein due to its major activity of inducing apoptosis of activated T-cells. It has previously been reported that T-cells express Gal-1 upon activation, however its participation in T-cell functions has remained largely elusive. To determine function of Gal-1 expressed by activated T-cells we have carried out a series of experiments. We have shown that Gal-1, expressed in Gal-1-transgenic Jurkat cells or in activated T-cells, remained intracellularly indicating that Gal-1-induced T-cell death was not a result of an autocrine effect of the de novo expressed Gal-1. Rather, a particular consequence of the inGal-1 expression was that T-cells became more sensitive to exGal-1 added either as a soluble protein or bound to the surface of a Gal-1-secreting effector cell. This was also verified when the susceptibility of activated T-cells from wild type or Gal-1 knockout mice to Gal-1-induced apoptosis were compared. Murine T-cells expressing Gal-1 were more sensitive to the cytotoxicity of the exGal-1 than their Gal-1 knockout counterparts. We also conducted a study with activated T-cells from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a disease in which dysregulated T-cell apoptosis has been well described. SLE T-cells expressed lower amounts of Gal-1 than healthy T-cells and were less sensitive to exGal-1. These results suggested a novel role of inGal-1 in T-cells as a regulator of T-cell response to exGal-1, and its likely contribution to the mechanism in T-cell apoptosis deficiency in lupus

A koronavírus-járvány hatása a magyar ápolók mentális egészségére = The Impact of the Coronavirus Epidemic on the Mental Health of Hungarian Nurses

Célkitűzés: Kutatásunk célja az volt, hogy kiderítsük, milyen hatással volt a járvány a magyarországi ápolók mentális egészségére a második hullám idején. Vizsgálat módszere: A kvantitatív, leíró jellegű keresztmetszeti kutatáshoz az adatgyűjtés országos szintű online kérdőívvel történt 2021.01.26. és 2021.02.26. között. Felmértük a leterheltség, szorongás, álmatlanság, ingerlékenység és bizonytalanság szintjét a járvány előtt, alatt, és ha volt átvezénylés, annak időtartama alatt, illetve, hogy ezeket a tüneteket mi befolyásolta a leginkább. Az SPSS 25.0 és Microsoft Excel 2010 program segítségével leíró statisztika mellett χ2 -próbát, ANOVAtesztet, T-próbát alkalmaztunk (p<0,05). Eredmények: A 700 kitöltő eredményéből láthatjuk, hogy mind a fent említett öt tünet értéke megemelkedett a járvány hatására (p<0,0001). A megfelelő védőfelszerelés a szorongás értékét csökkentette (p=0,043). A válaszadók 11,6%-a jelölte meg azt, hogy nem folyik náluk tesztelés. Az oltási hajlandóság ebben az időben 70% volt, amit a végzettség szignifikánsan befolyásolt (p=0,039). Következtetések: A koronavírus-járvány jelentősen rontotta az ápolók mentális egészségét. Az időszak nehézségét az is jelzi, hogy az ápolók nagy részének nélkülöznie kellett a szociális kapcsolatait, és 60% jelölte azt, hogy eszébe jutott, hogy elhagyja az egészségügyet. = Purpose: The aim of our research was to find out the impact of the epidemic on the mental health of nurses in Hungary during the second wave. Methods: We assessed the levels of lethargy, anxiety, insomnia, irritability and insecurity before, during and, if there was a reassignment, during the epidemic and what influenced these symptoms the most. Descriptive statistics using SPSS 25.0 and Microsoft Excel 2010 were used along with χ2 -test, ANOVA test, T-test (p<0.05). Results: The results of 700 respondents showed that all the five symptoms mentioned above increased in value as a result of the epidemic (p<0.0001). Appropriate protective clothing decreased the value of anxiety (p=0.043). 11.6% of respondents indicated that they were not tested. Willingness to vaccinate was 70% at this time, significantly influenced by education (p=0.039). Conclusions: The coronavirus epidemic has significantly worsened the mental health of nurses. The difficulty of the period is also indicated by the fact that a large proportion of nurses were deprived of social contacts and 60% indicated that they had thought about leaving the health care system

SOIL SCIENTIFIC EVALUATION OF HAJDÚNÁNÁS-ZAGOLY ETA-01 KURGAN

Publisher Copyright: © 2022 Szent István University, Institute of Nature Conservation and Landscape Management. All rights reserved.Burial mounds, known as kurgans, are characteristic landscape monuments of the Central and Eastern European plains, including the Great Hungarian Plain. These formations are not only highly important from the archaeological and cultural heritage protection perspective. Their nature conservation value is also outstanding, as in many cases they are home to valuable flora and fauna elements. They are time capsules that hide invaluable information about the burial practice and the human remains placed in the grave. They are also unique in respect of environmental history. In the case of the kurgan, excavated at Zagolya-dulo near Hajdúnánás, the phenomenon of cultural recycling could be identified. The original Yamnaya burial mound was re-used many times by later cultures. Imprints of the Baden inhabitation, and footprints of much later cultures of the Migration Period and the Árpád Ages were also detected. In this paper we summarize the results of the systematic stratigraphic and the related archaeological features' soil analyses. In addition to the observations of the on-site soil examination (soil morphology), we also present the soil physical and chemical data obtained by high-resolution sampling and laboratory analyses. Data of the field survey and laboratory tests are supplemented by macroarchaeobotanical and phytolith analyses as well. By this interdisciplinary approach, we not only provide a detailed soil and sediment description of the kurgan, but also highlight the advantages of conjoint methodologies.Peer reviewe

Comparative genomics provides insights into the lifestyle and reveals functional heterogeneity of dark septate endophytic fungi

Dark septate endophytes (DSE) are a form-group of root endophytic fungi with elusive functions. Here, the genomes of two common DSE of semiarid areas, Cadophora sp. and Periconia macrospinosa were sequenced and analyzed with another 32 ascomycetes of different lifestyles. Cadophora sp. (Helotiales) and P. macrospinosa (Pleosporales) have genomes of 70.46 Mb and 54.99 Mb with 22,766 and 18,750 gene models, respectively. The majority of DSE-specific protein clusters lack functional annotation with no similarity to characterized proteins, implying that they have evolved unique genetic innovations. Both DSE possess an expanded number of carbohydrate active enzymes (CAZymes), including plant cell wall degrading enzymes (PCWDEs). Those were similar in three other DSE, and contributed a signal for the separation of root endophytes in principal component analyses of CAZymes, indicating shared genomic traits of DSE fungi. Number of secreted proteases and lipases, aquaporins, and genes linked to melanin synthesis were also relatively high in our fungi. In spite of certain similarities between our two DSE, we observed low levels of convergence in their gene family evolution. This suggests that, despite originating from the same habitat, these two fungi evolved along different evolutionary trajectories and display considerable functional differences within the endophytic lifestyle