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Ecologic and health effects of applying materials with advanced functions for leather surface finishing are priorities for the European leather industry and contribute to the increase of added value and durability of leather and fur articles. The innovative properties of Ag/TiO2 nanomaterials (NMs) on leather surface are due to their antimicrobial, self-cleaning and flame retardant characteristics. The NANO_SAFE_LEATHER project aims to contribute to the industrial development of safer and advanced leathers that make use of Ag/TiO2NMs, which are ecological alternatives to volatile organic biocides, organic solvents and halogenated flame retardants. The cytotoxicity study of the Ag/TiO2NM's efficiency for leather functionalization related to the dose response on human health is very important for their large scale application in footwear industry. The paper presents the strategy of research regarding the leather surface finishing by spraying and by physical deposition of Ag/TiO2NMs, the impact of NMs use in industrial environment and in connection with wearing behavior. In vitro assay to study the cytotoxicity of the Ag/TiO2NMs, leather functionalized with Ag/TiO2NMs and leached Ag/TiO2NMs on different human cells, the cell morphology and cell death mechanism as well as the exposure risk assessment on lung cells will allow to estimate for the first time the impact of NMs industrial application in leather and footwear industry and on consumer health. In silico study of human cells in vitro interacted with Ag/TiO2NMs provides information on the potential changes induced by the NPs on cellular morphology and helps build a domain ontology.

Abstract. The development of in silico methods with application in scientific research is in full progress. They have the advantage of being modest consumers of material resources and time and, also, of being easy to be used by researchers from various field of specialization. The research work described in this paper has pursued building an ontological model for the evaluation of the impact of nanoparticle on the human cell. This model can be used to determine the inflammatory and cytotoxic effects of nanomaterials on human cells by complements and refining of the data achieved by well-known laboratory techniques.

Allelopathy is generally defined as any direct or indirect harmful or beneficial effect of one plant on another mediated by the production allelochemicals. The scope of this study was the evaluation of the potential allelopathic effect of Jasminum officinale against some weed species. The effects of extracts obtained from root, stem and leaves of J. officinale, were evaluated against ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), ryegrass (Lolium perenne), and Johnsonn grass (Sorghum halepense). The aqueous leachates of jasmine demonstrated promising allelopathic potential by inhibiting seed germination and radicle elongation of all tested species. The best results were observed against Johnsonn grass, with the leaves extract strongly inhibiting the germination rate, while the roots extract inhibited the radicle elongation. The more profound research in the field of allelopathy will eventually lead to the development of bioproducts designed for pest or weed control using allelochemicals.

The present work describes the study of obtaining new catalysts from affordable raw materials, respectively two different types of antacid drugs and egg shells. It was also studied their efficiency in heterogeneous catalysis process. In order to determine the optimal reaction conditions, the catalysts were activated in a thermal annealing oven following to be tested the different conditions of their usage: concentration of catalyst, activation temperature, reaction time, and number of reutilizations. Aiming to standardize the process, the samples used were measured to exactly 20 mL methanol and 50 mL safflower crude oil. All the catalysts tested had high yields of over 86%; the best performance was recorded in case of a catalyst derived from pills containing magnesium carbonate and calcium (92%) in a period of about 6 hours. The biodiesel obtained was analyzed qualitatively, especially for the presence of calcium ions in solution. The catalysts revealed a good potential for utilization in biodiesel production.