Curcumin‘s Therapeutic Potential

Куркумата (Curcuma longa L., сем. Zingiberaceae) е подправка, която е широко използвана в индийската медицина. В спектъра на заболяванията, при които намира приложение, влизат жлъчни и чернодробни заболявания, безапетитие, синузит, ревматизъм, навяхвания и рани. Основното биологично активно вещество в корена от куркума е куркуминът, съпътствано от други близкородствени съединения. За терапевтичния потенциал на куркумина има редица данни от експериментални изследвания, както и клинични данни. Многобройни проучвания показват, че той има значителна противотуморна и в частност противомиеломна активност и откриват перспектива за бъдещото му приложение като лекарствен продукт. Лабилността му при орално приложение, както и потенциалните лекарствени взаимодействия с различни медикаменти, ограничават неговото свободно приложение под формата на капсулни и таблетни форми, но приемът му като подправка е показал само и единствено ползи за употребяващите го.Turmeric (Curcuma longa L., Zingiberaceae) is a spice that is widely used in Indian medicine. The spectrum of diseases in which it is applied includes bile and liver diseases, dizziness, sinusitis, rheumatism, sprains and wounds. The main biologically active substance in the turmeric root is curcumin, accompanied by other closely related compounds. For the therapeutic value of curcumin, there are a number of data from experimental studies as well as clinical data. Numerous studies have shown that it has significant anti-tumor and, in particular, anti-myeloma activity, and have discovered prospects for its future use as a medicinal product. Its lability in oral administration as well as potential drug interactions with various drugs restrict its free use in the form of capsule and tablet formulations, but its administration as a spice has only shown benefits to the patients

Cannabinoids Usage In The Fight Against Oncological Diseases

През последното десетилетие класическата химиотерапия отстъпва място на нови фармакологични подходи, насочени към патологично изменените сигнално-трансдукционни пътища. Канабисът е една от множеството древни билки използвани от американските индианци от хилядолетия насам. В наши дни научните данни за ползотворните му ефекти при широк спектър от заболявания непрекъснато нарастват. Има много експериментални данни, както и експериментални модели и при хора изследващи, повлияваните от биологично активните вещества в него, сигнални каскади.В този обзор са описани редица изследвания и клинични проучвания, които показват значителния напредък постигнат последните години при изпозлването на канабиноидите за борба с онкологичните заболявания. Няколко проучвания in vivo и in vitro доказват добрата поносимост и безопасност на канабидиола при хора и животни. Положителния ефект на субстанцията при различни състояния, възпалителни и онкологични трябва да бъде отчетен, но за да навлезе по-пълно в медицинската практика са необходими още много задълбочени проучвания.Over the last decade, classical chemotherapy has given way to new pharmacological approaches aimed at pathologically altered signal transduction pathways. Cannabis is one of the many ancient herbs used by American Indians for millennia. Nowadays, scientific data on its beneficial effects over a wide range of diseases are constantly increasing. There are many experimental data, as well as experimental models, and in humans studying the signal cascades influenced by the biologically active substances in it.This review describes a number of studies and clinical trials that show the significant advances made in recent years in the use of cannabinoids to combat oncological diseases. In vivo and in vitro studies demonstrate the good tolerability and safety of cannabidiol in humans and animals. The positive effect of the substance in various conditions, inflammatory and oncological, should be taken into account, but more extensive research is needed to gain access to medical practice

Solar walls for high-performance buildings

Passive solar design can reduce building energy demand for heating, cooling and ventilation, while also contributing to the comfort, well-being and productivity of the building’s occupants. The successful application of passive solar features, such as solar walls, requires a good understanding of the factors influencing their energy performance and a correct assessment of this performance during the design process. This paper discusses some basic design strategies for successful application of solar walls and the factors with the most significant impact on their efficiency. It summarizes the principle results and findings of an experimental study, based on dynamic simulations and test site measurements. The energy performance of various configurations of unvented solar walls was investigated in different climatic conditions. The outcomes of the dynamic simulations were used to develop a simplified quasisteady-state model, which can be used for approximate evaluation of the heat gains and heat losses through an unvented solar wall on a monthly basis. The model is compatible with the monthly method of EN ISO 13790.This work has been supported by The National Science Fund of Bulgaria under projects number ДУНК-01/3 (DUNK-01/3) and ДФНИ Е 02/17 (DFNI E 02/17)

Refrigerated warehouses as intelligent hubs to integrate renewable energy in industrial food refrigeration and to enhance power grid sustainability

Background Independence from fossil fuels, energy diversification, decarbonisation and energy efficiency are key prerequisites to make a national, regional or continental economy competitive in the global marketplace. As Europe is about to generate 20% of its energy demand from Renewable Energy Sources (RES) by 2020, adequate RES integration and renewable energy storage throughout the entire food cold chain must properly be addressed. Scope and approach Refrigerated warehouses for chilled and frozen foods are large energy consumers and account for a significant portion of the global energy demand. Nevertheless, the opportunity for RES integration in the energy supply of large food storage facilities is often neglected. In situ power generation using RES permits capture of a large portion of virtually free energy, thereby reducing dramatically the running costs and carbon footprint, while enhancing the economic competitiveness. In that context, there exist promising engineering solutions to exploit various renewables in the food preservation sector, in combination with the emerging sustainability-enhancing technology of Cryogenic Energy Storage (CES). Key findings and conclusions Substantial research endeavours are driven by the noble objective to turn the Europe's Energy Union into the world's number one in renewable energies. Integrating RES, in synchrony with CES development and proper control, is capable of both strengthening the food refrigeration sector and improving dramatically the power grid balance and energy system sustainability. Hence, this article aims to familiarise stakeholders of the European and global food preservation industry with state-of-the-art knowledge, know-how, opportunities and professional achievements in the concerned field

Policy recommendations on cycling tourism for the countries of the Danube region

EcoVelo Tour Project (Fostering enhanced ecotourism planning along the Eurovelo cycle route network in the Danube region (DTP-055-2.2) aims to develop cycling tourism and ecotourism in connection with the Eurovelo international cycle routes crossing the Danube Region. It exploits synergies of the Eurovelo network, works out and ensures communication opportunities for ecotourism in the region, promotes cultural and natural values through cycling tourism, and strives for preserving biodiversity, landscape elements and air quality while developing ecotourism strategies

Size and aging effects on antimicrobial efficiency of silver nanoparticles coated on polyamide fabrics activated by atmospheric DBD plasma

Recently, renewed interest has arisen in silver nanopar@cles for biomedical devices because of their high surface energy, enhanced physicochemical and biological proper@es and extremely large surface area, which provides beAer contact with microorganisms. Atmospheric plasma is an alterna@ve and cost- compe@@ve method to wet chemical nanopar@cles deposi@on methods, avoiding the need of toxic solvents, expensive vacuum equipment and allowing con@nuous and uniform processing of material surfaces. However, there are no reports on the size and @me-dependent an@microbial, physical and chemical surface effects of the silver nanopar@cles immobilized on plasma func@onalized polymers. Thus, the purposes of this study were: (i) the silver nanopar@cle size and aging effects aCer 30 days on the an@microbial ac@vity aCer deposi@on onto DBD plasma-treated polyamide 6,6 fabrics, and (ii) the aging effect on the physico-chemical binding mechanism between different sized silver nanopar@cles and the plasma treaded polyamide 6,6. Five different in size commercial silver nanopar@cles have been employed (10, 20, 40 60 and 100 nm).This work was funded by Portuguese Founda@on for Science and Technology FCT/MCTES (PIDDAC) and co-financed by European funds (FEDER) through the PT2020 program, research project M-ERA-NET/0006/2014 and COMPETE program through FCT within the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007136 and UID/CTM/00264.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Size effects on antimicrobial efficiency of DBD plasma coated silver nanoparticles on textiles

This work studies the surface characteristics, the antimicrobial activity and the aging effect, of plasma pre-treated polyamide 6,6 fabrics (PA66) coated with silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), with the aim to identify the optimum size of nanosilver exhibiting antibacterial properties suitable for manufacturing of hospital textiles. The release of bactericidal Ag+ ions from the 10, 20, 40, 60 and 100 nm AgNPs-coated PA66 surface were function of the particles size, number and aging. Plasma pre-treatment promoted both ionic and covalent interactions between AgNPs and the formed oxygen species on the fibers (Figure 1), favoring the deposition of smaller in diameter AgNPs that consequently showed better immediate and durable antimicrobial effect against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus bacteria. Surprisingly, after 30 days of aging, a comparable bacterial growth inhibition was achieved for all the fibers treated with AgNPs of <100 nm in size. The Ag+ in the coatings also favored the electrostatic stabilization of the plasma-induced functional groups on the PA66 surface, thereby retarding the aging process (Figure 2). At the same time, the size-related ratio Ag+/Ag0 of the AgNPs between 40 and 60 nm allowed for controlled release of Ag+ rather than bulk silver. Overall, the results suggest that instead of reducing the AgNPs size, which is associated to higher toxicity, similar long-term effects can be achieved with larger NPs (40-60 nm), even in lower concentrations. Since the antimicrobial efficiency of AgNPs larger than 30 nm is mainly ruled by the release of Ag+ over time and not by the size and number of the AgNPs, this parameter is crucial for the development of efficient antimicrobial coatings on plasma-treated surfaces, and contribution to the safety and durability of clothing used in clinical settings

Refrigerated warehouses as intelligent hubs to integrate renewable energy in industrial food refrigeration and to enhance power grid sustainability

© 2016 Elsevier LtdBackground Independence from fossil fuels, energy diversification, decarbonisation and energy efficiency are key prerequisites to make a national, regional or continental economy competitive in the global marketplace. As Europe is about to generate 20% of its energy demand from Renewable Energy Sources (RES) by 2020, adequate RES integration and renewable energy storage throughout the entire food cold chain must properly be addressed. Scope and approach Refrigerated warehouses for chilled and frozen foods are large energy consumers and account for a significant portion of the global energy demand. Nevertheless, the opportunity for RES integration in the energy supply of large food storage facilities is often neglected. In situ power generation using RES permits capture of a large portion of virtually free energy, thereby reducing dramatically the running costs and carbon footprint, while enhancing the economic competitiveness. In that context, there exist promising engineering solutions to exploit various renewables in the food preservation sector, in combination with the emerging sustainability-enhancing technology of Cryogenic Energy Storage (CES). Key findings and conclusions Substantial research endeavours are driven by the noble objective to turn the Europe's Energy Union into the world's number one in renewable energies. Integrating RES, in synchrony with CES development and proper control, is capable of both strengthening the food refrigeration sector and improving dramatically the power grid balance and energy system sustainability. Hence, this article aims to familiarise stakeholders of the European and global food preservation industry with state-of-the-art knowledge, know-how, opportunities and professional achievements in the concerned field