Publications by authors named "Lucian Copolovici"

Environmental concerns have consistently been a focal point for the scientific community. Pollution is a critical ecological issue that poses significant threats to human health and agricultural production. Contamination with heavy metals and pesticides is a considerable concern, a threat to the environment, and warrants special attention.

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This review explores the application of graphene-based materials (GBMs) in biomedicine, focusing on graphene oxide (GO) and its interactions with peptides and proteins. GO, a versatile nanomaterial with oxygen-containing functional groups, holds significant potential for biomedical applications but faces challenges related to toxicity and environmental impact. Peptides and proteins can be functionalized on GO surfaces through various methods, including non-covalent interactions such as π-π stacking, electrostatic forces, hydrophobic interactions, hydrogen bonding, and van der Waals forces, as well as covalent bonding through reactions involving amide bond formation, esterification, thiol chemistry, and click chemistry.

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In seeking alternative cancer treatments, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), sourced from various life forms, emerge as promising contenders. These endogenous peptides, also known as host defense peptides (HDPs), play crucial roles in immune defenses against infections and exhibit potential in combating cancers. With their diverse defensive functions, plant-derived AMPs, such as thionins and defensins, offer a rich repertoire of antimicrobial properties.

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Elevated carbon dioxide and drought are significant stressors in light of climate change. This study explores the interplay between elevated atmospheric CO, drought stress, and plant physiological responses. Two varieties (cauliflowers and cabbage) were utilized as model plants.

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Membrane-active peptides (MAPs) possess unique properties that make them valuable tools for studying membrane structure and function and promising candidates for therapeutic applications. This review paper provides an overview of the fundamental aspects of MAPs, focusing on their membrane interaction mechanisms and potential applications. MAPs exhibit various structural features, including amphipathic structures and specific amino acid residues, enabling selective interaction with multiple membranes.

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Climate change is one of the main challenges for actual and future generations. Global warming affects plants and animals and is responsible for considerable crop loss. This study studied the influence of antagonist successive stresses, cold-heat and heat-cold, on two medicinal plants L.

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The purpose of this study is to reveal the chemical and biochemical characteristics and the potential aromatherapy applications of the essential oil (EO) of Salvia officinalis (common sage) within a hospital environment. The chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography with mass spectrometry and ATR-FTIR spectroscopy. Three types of sage EOs were included in this study: two commercial oils and one oil obtained by in-house hydrodistillation.

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Engineered nanomaterials are increasingly used in everyday life applications and, in consequence, significant amounts are being released into the environment. From soil, water, and air they can reach the organelles of edible plants, potentially impacting the food chain and human health. The potential environmental and health impact of these nanoscale materials is of public concern.

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During and following the processing of a plant's raw material, considerable amounts are wasted, composted, or redistributed in non-alimentary sectors for further use (for example, some forms of plant waste contribute to biofuel, bioethanol, or biomass production). However, many of these forms of waste still consist of critical bioactive compounds used in the food industry or medicine. Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common functional gastrointestinal disorders.

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Climate change will determine a sharp increase in carbon dioxide in the following years. To study the influence of elevated carbon dioxide on plants, we grew 13 different species and varieties from the family at three carbon dioxide concentrations: 400, 800, and 1200 ppmv. The photosynthetic parameters (assimilation rate and stomatal conductance to water vapor) increase for all species.

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Many plants belonging to the family are rich in essential oils (EOs) which are intensively used for aromatherapy, food and beverage flavoring, alternative medicine, cosmetics, and perfumery. Aerial parts of L., All.

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The purpose of this study was to analyze the chemical composition and antimicrobial activity of some thymus populations collected from five different locations in Western Romania. The chemical compositions of the essential oils (EOs) were studied through GC-MS, and the biological activities were evaluated using the microdilution method. The EO yield ranged between 0.

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Persistent pollutants such as pharmaceuticals, pesticides, musk fragrances, and dyes are frequently detected in different environmental compartments and negatively impact the environment and humans. Understanding the impacts of diffuse environmental pollutants on plants is still limited, especially at realistic environmental concentrations of contaminants. We studied the effects of key representatives of two major classes of environmental pollutants (nine different antibiotics and six different textile dyes) on the leaf carotenoid (violaxanthin and neoxanthin) content in wheat ( L.

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Chemical composition, antioxidant capacity, and antimicrobial activity of lavender essential oils (LEOs) extracted from three different varieties of Mill. (1-Moldoveanca 4, 2-Vis magic 10, and 3-Alba 7) have been determined. These plants previously patented in the Republic of Moldova were cultivated in an organic agriculture system in the northeastern part of Romania and then harvested in 3 consecutive years (2017-2019) to obtain the essential oils.

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L. (hemp) is a plant used in the textile industry and green building material industry, as well as for the phytoremediation of soil, medical treatments, and supplementary food products. The synergistic effect of terpenes, flavonoids, and cannabinoids in hemp extracts may mediate the biogenic synthesis of metal nanoparticles.

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Benzene, toluene, and total BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene) concentrations registered for one year (2016) have been determined every month for one high-density traffic area. The assessment was performed in Arad City, Romania, to evaluate these pollutants and their influence on the inhabitants' health. The contaminants were sampled using a static sampling method and analyzed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry.

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is mainly used as an oilseed crop; its edible oil is being also used as a traditional home remedy for the treatment of ulcers, wounds, and eye inflammations, due to the antioxidant activities. In the present study, the chemically characterized alcoholic extracts of var. defatted seeds (5 g/kg body weight p.

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Satureja hortensis is one of the representative plants from the Lamiaceae family, and its essential oil has been used in various applicative fields, from the food industry to aromatherapy. The changes that occur in heated samples at different temperatures (160, 175, 190 ºC) over different periods (0.5 and 2.

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Țaga cheese is a traditional Romanian smear-ripened cheese made from bovine milk and identified with the name of the village and caves where it is produced. As no previously reported microbiological and chemical studies have been undertaken on this product, this research aimed to investigate the microbiological and biochemical characteristics which ensure the uniqueness of Țaga cheese during the ripening process, to inform producers as to key quality determinants. Cheese samples, consisting of retail blocks, were collected on days 2, 5, 12, 18, and 25 of the ripening process.

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The global presence of pharmaceuticals in the environment has been particularly considered a concerning problem with unknown consequences. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are among the most frequently prescribed drugs in the world, and as a result, they are commonly found in different environmental compartments. In the present work, we studied the effects of NSAIDs (diclofenac, ibuprofen, and naproxen) on the composition and ultrastructure of Atriplex patula L.

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Understanding the effects of many essential non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on plants is still limited, especially at environmentally realistic concentrations. This paper presents the influence of three of the most frequently used NSAIDs (diclofenac, ibuprofen, and naproxen) at environmentally realistic concentrations on the autochthonous green leafy vegetables: orache (Atriplex patula L.), spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.

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Fusarium Head Blight (FHB) caused by Fusarium graminearum pathogens constitutes a major threat to agricultural production because it frequently reduces the yield and quality of the crop. The disease severity is predicted to increase in various regions owing to climate change. Integrated management where biocontrol plays an important role has been suggested in order to fight FHB.

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The aim of the present study was to establish the influence of high-temperature heating on the composition and thermal behavior of coffee oils obtained from Arabica green and roasted coffee beans, respectively. Morphological studies performed using scanning electron microscopy revealed the oil bodies uniformly distributed within the cells in both types of coffee beans analyzed. The obtained oils have a fatty acid composition rich in linoleic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid, stearic acid, arachidic acid and linolenic acid.

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Exposure to recurrent desiccation cycles carries a risk of accumulation of reactive oxygen species that can impair leaf physiological activity upon rehydration, but changes in filmy fern stress status through desiccation and rewatering cycles have been poorly studied. We studied foliage photosynthetic rate and volatile marker compounds characterizing cell wall modifications (methanol) and stress development (lipoxygenase [LOX] pathway volatiles and methanol) through desiccation-rewatering cycles in lower-canopy species Hymenoglossum cruentum and Hymenophyllum caudiculatum, lower- to upper-canopy species Hymenophyllum plicatum and upper-canopy species Hymenophyllum dentatum sampled from a common environment and hypothesized that lower canopy species respond more strongly to desiccation and rewatering. In all species, rates of photosynthesis and LOX volatile emission decreased with progression of desiccation, but LOX emission decreased with a slower rate than photosynthesis.

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Gypsy moth ( L., Lymantriinae) is a major pest of pedunculate oak () forests in Europe, but how its infections scale with foliage physiological characteristics, in particular with photosynthesis rates and emissions of volatile organic compounds has not been studied. Differently from the majority of insect herbivores, large larvae of rapidly consume leaf area, and can also bite through tough tissues, including secondary and primary leaf veins.

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