No abstract

Alzheimer’s disease is an age-related, neurodegenerative disorder, characterized by cognitive impairment and restrictions in activities of daily living. This disease is the most common form of dementia with complex multifactorial pathological mechanisms. Many therapeutic approaches have been proposed. Among them, inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and prolyl oligopeptidase can be beneficial targets in the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Roots, along with aerial parts of Argemone platyceras, were extracted with ethanol and fractionated on an alumina column using light petrol, chloroform and ethanol. Subsequently, repeated preparative thin-layer chromatography led to the isolation of (+)-laudanosine, protopine, (–)-argemonine, allocryptopine, (–)-platycerine, (–)-munitagine, and (–)-norargemonine belonging to pavine, protopine and benzyltetrahydroisoquinoline structural types. Chemical structures of the isolated alkaloids were elucidated by optical rotation, spectroscopic and spectrometric analysis (NMR, MS), and comparison with literature data. (+)-Laudanosine was isolated from A. platyceras for the first time. Isolated compounds were tested for human blood acetylcholinesterase, human plasma butyrylcholinesterase and recombinant prolyl oligopeptidase inhibitory activity. The alkaloids inhibited the enzymes in a dose-dependent manner. The most active compound (–)-munitagine, a pavine alkaloid, inhibited both acetylcholinesterase and prolyl oligopeptidase with IC50 values of 62.3 ± 5.8 µM and 277.0 ± 31.3 µM, respectively.

No abstract

The need to reduce the content of questionable health preservatives leads to the search for new methods to extend the shelf-life of meat products. The spectrum of possible approaches includes physical methods and the use of additives from natural sources. In this study, we examined the influence of the combination of high-pressure processing (HPP) and the addition of natural antimicrobials on the shelf-life of cooked ham. The samples of cooked ham were produced in a professional meat processing plant. One half of the samples were produced according to a traditional recipe, and the other was enriched with potassium lactate in the form of a commercial product PURASAL^® Hirer P Plus. This product is produced via sugar fermentation and contains high levels of potassium lactate, a compound with high antimicrobial activity. Cooked hams were inoculated by bacteria Serratia liquefaction, vacuum packaged and treated by HPP. Packaged ham samples were stored at 3°C for 40 days and the total microbial count was examined during this storage period in defined intervals. The combination of HPP and potassium lactate from natural sources significantly reduced the total microbial counts in cooked hams and, thus, could be a suitable solution for the meat industry.

INTERACT is an international research and innovation project which boosts the emergence of Energy Communities as one crucial building block to achieve Positive Energy Districts. It is designing an optimal organization and structure for Energy Communities based on success-factors of existing PED/PEN approaches, stakeholder needs and motivation, the available technologies, and a holistic LINK-based architecture. Technological and market-related solutions are delivered that maximize the benefit for the environment and society, considering the current legal framework and available business models. The project will develop a roadmap for the Energy Community's secure and reliable embedding into the power system structure, focusing on two pilot regions, a green-field project in Sweden and an~existing municipality in Austria. The holistic architecture is used to ensure the integrity of the solution by harmonizing all interactions within the Energy Community itself, between it and the market, and the European power system. Its standardized and flexible structure allows the straightforward application of the roadmap to perfectly meet the diverse necessities of local communities, thus supporting the large-scale roll-out of the new control paradigms.