Triterpenoid saponins from the aerial parts of Trifolium argutum Sol. and their phytotoxic evaluation

Four triterpenoid saponins (1–4) were isolated from the aerial parts of Trifolium argutum Sol. (sharptooth clover) and their structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectroscopic analysis, including 1D and 2D NMR techniques, mass spectrometry and chemical methods. Two of them are new compounds, characterized as 3-O-[α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→2)-β-D-glucuronopyra- nosyl]-3β,24-dihydroxyolean-12-ene-22-oxo-29-oic acid (1) and 3-O-[β-D-galactopyranosyl-(1→2)- β-D-glucuronopyranosyl]-3β,24-dihydroxyolean-12-ene-22-oxo-29-oic acid (2). The occurrence of 3β,24-dihydroxyolean-12-ene-22-oxo-29-oic acid (melilotigenin) in its natural form is reported for the first time as a triterpenoid aglycone within Trifolium species. The phytotoxicity of compounds was evaluated on four STS at concentration 1 μM to 333 mM. Compound 1 was the most active, showing more than 60% inhibition on the root growth of L. sativa at the higher dose, with IC50 (254.1 μM) lower than that of Logran1 (492.6 μM), a commercial herbicide used as positive control. The structure–activity relationships indicated that both aglycones and glycosidic parts may influence the phytotoxicity of saponins

Triterpene Saponins from the Aerial Parts of Trifolium medium L. var. sarosiense

Seven previously unreported triterpene glycosides (1−7) were isolated from methanol extract of the aerial parts of Trifolium medium var. sarosiense (zigzag clover). Their structures were established by the extensive use of 1D and 2D NMR experiments along with ESI-MS and HRMS analyses. Compounds 1−7 are oleanane derivatives characterized by the presence of a keto group at C-22 of an aglycone and a primary alcoholic function at C-24 and differing functions at C-30. Among these, compounds 1−3 and 6 showed a secondary alcoholic function at C-11, which is methoxylated in compounds 4 and 7. Compound 5 was shown to possess a known aglycone, wistariasapogenol A; however, it is described here for the first time as a saponin constituent of the Trifolium genus. Some aspects of taxonomic classification of zigzag clover are also discussed

INSURANCE RISK AND FIRE RISK

Ryzyko według inżynierów jest całkowicie możliwe do wyrażenia w kategoriach obliczeniowych. Natomiast wśród społeczeństwa odczuwanie zagrożenia, również jak w przypadku bezpieczeństwa intuicyjne związane z ryzykiem, jest całkowicie subiektywne. Wiąże się to z innym odbieraniem tych samych warunków otoczenia w zależności od wielu czynników geospołecznych, takich jak położenie geograficzne, historia czy rozwój cywilizacyjny danej grupy społecznej. Szczególnym przypadkiem ryzyka jest ryzyko ubezpieczeniowe. Zakłady ubezpieczeniowe, które ubezpieczają dane ryzyko, zdefiniowane jako możliwość wystąpienia pewnej straty, muszą je określić i odpowiednio oszacować. Ryzyko ubezpieczeniowe w literaturze wyrażane jest w różny sposób. Jednak sens definicji zawsze pozostaje ten sam. Ryzyko ubezpieczeniowe oznacza możliwość wystąpienia strat określonej wielkości z określonym prawdopodobieństwem. W polskiej teorii ubezpieczeń, ryzyko pożarowe jest iloczynem prawdopodobnych strat pożarowych i częstotliwości powstawania pożarów w konkretnym obiekcie. W praktyce definicja ta przyjęła się jako tzw. inżynierska definicja ryzyka pożarowego. Ryzyko pożarowe według definicji inżynierskiej będzie więc uzależnione od prawdopodobieństwa wybuchu pożaru i rozmiaru strat przez niego spowodowanych. Ubezpieczenia odgrywają szczególną rolę w dziedzinie rozwoju prewencji, czyli wszelkiej działalności materialnej i niematerialnej, zmierzającej do zmniejszenia szkód losowych poprzez ograniczenie ich rozmiarów oraz zmniejszenia prawdopodobieństwa realizacji ryzyk. Korzyści płynące z tego typu przedsięwzięć, opisywane wielokrotnie, dotyczą zarówno ubezpieczyciela jak i ubezpieczonych.According to engineers the risk is entirely possible to express in terms of computing. In contrast, the public perception of risk, as well as the case of safety related risks intuitive, it is completely subjective. This is connected with the other receiving the same environmental conditions depending on many factors geo-social, such as geographic location, history and civilization development of a social group. A special case of risk is insurance risk. Insurance companies that insure the risk, defined as the possibility of a loss, must first determine and adequately assess it. Insurance risk is expressed in the literature in different ways. But the sense of the definition always remains the same. Insurance risk is the possibility of loss of a certain size with a certain probability. The Polish insurance theory, the risk of fire is the product of the probable loss of fire and frequency of fires in the formation of a particular object. In practice, this definition is adopted as the so-called. engineering definition of the fire risk. Fire risk according to the definition of engineering will therefore depend on the probability of fire and the size of the losses caused by it. Insurance plays a special role in the development of prevention, that is, any activity material and immaterial, aiming to reduce the chance of damage by limiting their size and reduce the probability of risks. The benefits of this type of projects, described repeatedly, concern both the insurer and the insured

Counteracting Crime in the Fire Insurance Market

Publikacja recenzowana / Peer-reviewed publicationArtykuł zawiera charakterystykę pojęcia przestępstwa ubezpieczeniowego oraz jego rodzaje: umyślne spowodowanie i upozorowanie zdarzenia ubezpieczeniowego, ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem podpaleń. Opisano w nim etapowość procesu uzyskiwania nienależnego odszkodowania za przestępstwo związane z podpaleniem. Wskazano znaczny udział podpaleń w ogólnej liczbie pożarów, posłużono się danymi statystycznymi na temat przyczyn pożarów w Polsce w ostatnich 5 latach. Omówione zostały czynności zarządcze oraz środki zapobiegania przestępczości ubezpieczeniowej, z podziałem na środki ekonomiczne i prawne. Opisane zostały ponadto możliwości przeciwdziałania podpaleniom, jako głównej przyczyny szkód w ubezpieczeniach ogniowych.The article includes the characteristics of the insurance crime concept and its types: the wilful faking of an insured event, with particular emphasis on arson. Consecutive steps are described in the process of obtaining an undue compensation for crime-related arson. Statistical data concerning the causes of fires in Poland in the last 5 years are presented, indicating a significant share of arson-related fires in the total number of fires. The paper describes the management activities and prevention of insurance crime, broken down into economic and legal measures. It also describes how to tackle arson as the main cause of damage to the fire insurance

Application of an Integrated Risk Assessment Software to Quantify the Life Safety Risk in Building during a Fire

We develop an integrated probabilistic risk assessment software called Aamks for the purpose of quantifying the life safety level of people present in buildings in the context of fire safety design. The software implements easy to use and computationally efficient quantitative risk assessment method - multisimulation. The method consists in deterministic sub-models and probabilistic techniques for sampling and quantifying the fire safety level by means of failure probabilities, individual and societal risk. Following the theoretical description of the method, a case study of a five storey hotel building 20.000 m2 is elaborated and discussed as proof of concept

Glass Cullet as Additive to New Sustainable Composites Based on Alumina Binder

The article investigated the possibility of reusing heat resistant glass cullet to improve the mechanical properties of high-temperature composites. This is an excellent recycled aggregate that may be used as a substitute for alumina cement, and for fine natural aggregate in the production of concrete based on hydraulic binder. The experimental programme comprised of strength testing conducted on 40 × 40 × 160 mm cuboidal samples. The model mixture was modified by filler that comprised glass recyclate, amounting to 5%, 10%, and 15% of the mass of gravel and cement. Given the degree of glass grounding, use was made of two fractions, 0/4 and 0/0.125 mm. Six modified mixtures were produced. Tests were then carried out on their selected physical and mechanical properties as well as the impact of temperature, topography, and chemical composition exerted on the composite. Next, the progress and development of compressive strength and flexural strength after 14 and 28 days of curing were studied. Results showed that concrete with a 5% content of glass dust had a maximum compressive strength at the level of 85.1 MPa. Results also showed that concrete (Zk.I.5) heated at a temperature of 500 °C had a 46% higher compressive strength when compared to basic concrete (Z.I.0). The results show that it is possible to use the described components to obtain a composite that meets requirements imposed on structural materials used in construction engineering

New Bufadienolides Isolated from the Roots of Kalanchoe daigremontiana (Crassulaceae)

An aqueous extract from the roots of Kalanchoe daigremontiana turned out to be a rich source of bufadienolides. The existing literature data relate mainly to the aerial parts of Kalanchoe but there is no information about the metabolic profile of the roots, which are also used in traditional medicine. Our investigation concerning the roots of K. daigremontiana led to the isolation and characterization of eight new bufadienolides, namely 1β,3β,5β,14β,19-pentahydroxybufa-20,22-dienolide (1), 19-(acetyloxy)-1β,3β,5β,14β-tetrahydroxybufa-20,22-dienolide (2), 3β-O-α-l-rhamno-pyranosyl-5β,11α,14β,19-tetrahydroxybufa-20,22-dienolide (3), 19-(acetyloxy)-3β,5β,11α,14β-tetrahydroxybufa-20,22-dienolide (4), 3β,5β,11α,14β,19-pentahydroxy-12-oxo-bufa-20,22-dienolide (5), 19-(acetyloxy)-3β,5β,11α,14β-tetrahydroxy-12-oxo-bufa-20,22-dienolide (6), 19-(acetyloxy)-1β,3β,5β,11α,14β-pentahydroxy-12-oxo-bufa-20,22-dienolide (7) and 1β-(acetyloxy)-3β,5β,11α,14β,19-pentahydroxy-12-oxo-bufa-20,22-dienolide (8), together with seven known compounds: 11α,19-dihydroxytelocinobufagin (9), bersaldegenin-1-acetate (10), daigredorigenin-3-acetate (11), bersaldegenin-1,3,5-orthoacetate (12), bryotoxin B (13), bryophyllin B (14) and bersaldegenin (15). The structures were established applying extensive 1D- and 2D-NMR and MS spectroscopic analyses

Novel Phenolic Constituents of Pulmonaria officinalis L. LC-MS/MS Comparison of Spring and Autumn Metabolite Profiles

Lungwort (Pulmonaria officinalis L., Boraginaceae) is considered to possess therapeutic properties and it has been traditionally used as a remedy against various lung disorders in many countries. Nevertheless, very few data concerning its phytochemical composition are available. This research aims to provide a detailed description of specialized metabolites from the aerial parts of lungwort. Nine previously undescribed and 36 known phenolic compounds were detected in the 50% methanolic extract. Following multistep preparative procedures, structures of newly discovered compounds were determined using one- and two-dimensional techniques of NMR spectroscopy. Among the identified compounds were caffeic acid esters with aliphatic hydroxycarboxylic acids, conjugates of dicaffeic acid with rosmarinic acid, and previously unknown isomers of isosalvianolic acid A and yunnaneic acid E, as well as other lignans. Concentrations of all identified phenolic derivatives in the investigated herbal material were estimated using a method based on liquid chromatography with high-resolution mass spectrometry detection. Seasonal changes in the concentration of metabolites were also investigated using targeted and untargeted metabolomics techniques

A Mineral By-Product from Gasification of Poultry Feathers for Removing Cd from Highly Contaminated Synthetic Wastewater

Ash from poultry feather gasification was investigated as an adsorbent for Cd removal from synthetic wastewater under a range of operational conditions: initial pH (2–8) and salinity (8–38 mS/cm) of wastewater, ash dosage (2.5–50 g/L), Cd concentration (25–800 mg/L) and contact time (5–720 min). The ash was highly alkaline and had low surface area and micropores averaging 1.12 nm in diameter. Chemical/mineralogical analysis revealed a high content of P2O5 (39.9 wt %) and CaO (35.5 wt %), and the presence of calcium phosphate, hydroxyapatite and calcium. It contained only trace amounts of heavy metals, BTEX, PAHs and PCBs, making it a safe mineral by-product. Cd adsorption was described best with Langmuir and pseudo-second order models. At pH 5, an ash dosage of 5 g/L, 40 min contact time and 100 mg Cd/L, 99% of Cd was removed from wastewater. The salinity did not affect Cd sorption. The maximum adsorption capacity of Cd was very high (126.6 mg/g). Surface precipitation was the main mechanism of Cd removal, possibly accompanied by ion exchange between Cd and Ca, coprecipitation of Cd with Ca-mineral components and Cd complexation with phosphate surface sites. Poultry ash effectively removes high concentrations of toxic Cd from wastewater.Validerad;2020;Nivå 2;2020-11-30 (alebob)</p