Sustainable development demands research into safe, renewable energy sources. Wood briquettes offer numerous advantages, but they can contain heavy metal(oid)s, posing environmental challenges, particularly in the ash produced during combustion. This study examines the concentrations of heavy metal(oid)s (Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb, Co, Zn, and As) in wood briquettes and their residual ash. Samples were prepared via wet digestion using 65% nitric acid (HNO3) in polytetrafluoroethylene vessels, followed by analysis using flame and graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The results showed that arsenic (As) had the lowest concentration in wood briquettes, while iron (Fe) was the highest. In the ash, chromium (Cr) was detected at the lowest concentration (0.80 mg/kg), while iron (Fe) reached 5830 mg/kg. Heavy metal concentrations in wood briquettes often exceeded permissible limits, and the concentrations in ash were significantly higher, making some ash samples unsuitable for agricultural use. The ash content ranged from 0.70% to 2.34%. This study provides valuable quantitative data on heavy metal(oid)s before and after combustion, highlighting their potential environmental impact and emphasizing the need for careful management of wood briquette ash.

Cornus mas L. is traditionally used for various medicinal purposes, although systematic data on its pharmacognostic properties are still limited. Considerable variation was observed among plant organs, so phenolic and flavonoid content varied by plant part, with location-related differences among samples, with the highest in leaf and fruit from Bijeljina and the lowest in leaf from Sarajevo. Antioxidant activity was much better in leaf and bark than in fruit. Extracts inhibited ESBL-producing Escherichia coli, with MICs mainly at 125 µg/mL; bark extract (Tuzla) showed 250 µg/mL and reduced biofilm formation. Leaf and bark extracts showed dose-dependent cytotoxicity against PC-9, MCF-7, and MDA-MB-231 cells, while fruit extracts were weaker. In human lymphocytes, bark (Bileća) and leaf (Tuzla) extracts decreased nuclear division and induced micronuclei at 200 µg/mL. Molecular docking indicated strong bacterial target binding for loganin and cornuside, supporting the antibacterial and antitumor potential of C. mas.

Marine natural products represent a diverse collection of structurally distinct metabolites, many of which have untapped therapeutic potential. This study screened 161 marine-derived coumarin and xanthene compounds for their binding affinity to the histamine H2 receptor and the gastric H+/K+-ATPase, the primary regulators of gastric acid secretion. Docking simulations were performed using curated structures of both targets, followed by an evaluation of the compounds for drug-likeness and predicted absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion (ADME) properties. Thirty-four compounds demonstrated a stronger predicted affinity for the H2 receptor than famotidine; however, only three compounds (1, 5, and 150) met all drug-likeness criteria, achieving quantitative estimates of drug-likeness (QED) values exceeding 0.67. Screening against the proton pump yielded 98 hits with higher affinity than soraprazan, with compound 150 being the only candidate to fulfill all medicinal chemistry filters. Interaction analysis indicated that compound 150 binds to the proton pump in a manner that largely overlaps with soraprazan. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were utilized to characterize the electronic properties of the most promising compounds. ADME predictions suggested favorable permeability and a low risk for human ether-à-go-go-related gene (hERG) inhibition, although high plasma protein binding and the potential for cytochrome P450 (CYP) inhibition may require further optimization. These findings underscore the potential of pyranocoumarin compound 150, along with xanthene derivatives 1 and 5, as promising candidates for the development of new acid-suppressive agents.

Benzoxazoles possess a wide range of therapeutic activities, including antimicrobial, antitumor, anti‐inflammatory, and other. Using in silico and in vitro approaches, we determined the potential antitumor activity of benzoxazoles synthesized from thymoquinone in diffuse large B‐cell lymphoma (DLBCL) cells. Molecular docking analysis showed strong binding affinities of benzoxazoles toward Akt and nuclear factor kappa B (NF‐κB) protein targets that promote cancer cell proliferation and survival and whose expression is linked to tumorigenesis of activated B‐cell (ABC) and germinal center B‐cell (GCB) DLBCL subtypes. WST‐8 assay showed the highest inhibitory activity of benzoxazole derivative bearing thiophene substituent in both DLBCL models. Western blot analysis indicated the inhibitory activity of selected compounds in HBL‐1 cells, with decreased p‐NF‐κB and p‐Akt protein expression, whereas treatment of DHL‐4 cells stimulated the expression of p‐Akt and p‐NF‐κB protein levels. These data suggest distinct, cell line‐dependent activities of the substances that potentially act through diverse oncogenic signaling pathways in DLBCL cells and activation of compensatory cell mechanisms that could be an important step for combinatorial treatment approaches.

Although COVID-19 is not a pandemic anymore, the virus frequently mutates, resulting in new strains and presenting global public health challenges. The lack of oral antiviral drugs makes it difficult to treat him, which makes the creation of broadly acting antivirals necessary to fight current and next epidemics of viruses. Using the molecular docking approach, 118 compounds derived from marine organisms and 92 previously synthesized compounds were screened to assess their binding affinity for the main protease and papain-like protease enzymes of SARS-CoV-2. The best candidates from the xanthene, benzoxazole, and coumarin classes were identified. Marine-derived compounds showed slightly better potential as enzyme inhibitors, though the binding affinities of synthesized compounds were similar, with the best candidates displaying affinity values between 0.2 and 0.4 mM. Xanthenes, among both marine origin and synthesized compounds, emerged as the most promising scaffolds for further research as inhibitors. The papain-like protease was found to be more druggable than the main protease. Additionally, all top candidates met the criteria for various drug-likeness properties, indicating good oral bioavailability and low risk of adverse effects. This research provides valuable insights into the comparative affinities of marine origin and synthesized compounds from the xanthene, coumarin, and benzoxazole classes, highlighting promising candidates for further in vitro and in vivo studies.

Iron deficiency anemia is one of the main health issues that has an impact on cognitive function, physical ability, immune function, and reproductive performance. Therefore, this study focused on the determination of iron content in leafy plants cultivated in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the average daily intake of iron via consumption of these plants. The plant samples were prepared by wet digestion with nitric acid (HNO3), and iron content was determined using flame atomic absorption spectrometry (FAAS). The mean concentration of Fe ranged from 41.97 mg/kg for Brassica oleracea var. acephala to 338.73 mg/kg for Spinacia oleracea. Daily intakes for different leafy plants were also calculated. The leafy plants were arranged by daily iron intake in the following decreasing order Spinacia oleracea > Beta vulgaris > Atriplex hortensis > Urtica dioica > Brassica oleracea var. acephala. Results from this study indicate that leafy plants can be a significant source of iron. The findings conclusively suggest that our local leafy plants are good source of iron through diet.

Aims: The aim of this study was to conduct antimicrobial analysis on novel Schiff base-derived cobalt(II) complexes (Co(L1) 2 and Co(L2) 2 )

Ash is a by-product of wood biomass combustion that must be removed daily from stoves or fireplaces. Therefore, operators or owners are exposed to the potential impact of ash. The goal of this study was to determine whether heavy metal present in wood pellet ash posed a health concern to stove operators/owners. The risk assessment procedure was carried out in several steps, including exposure evaluation, toxicity evaluation, and risk categorisation. The hazard coefficient (HQ) and non-carcino genic hazard index (HI) were calculated for Cd, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn. HQ had the highest value for the ingestion pathway (3.62 ∙ 10 −6 ), and the value for non-carcinogenic HI was 3.70 ∙ 10 −6 . The value HI < 1 suggests that there is no risk to operator health related to heavy metals in analysed wood pellets ash. The carcinogenic risk (CR) was calculated for Ni, Pb, Cr, and Cd, and the values were within the permitted limits. The risk assessment based on HI and CR indicators proved that there was no significant health concern regarding exposure to the analysed ashes.