The selection of appropriate solvents is crucial for determining both the composition and quantity of secondary metabolites extracted from medicinal plants. This study investigates the influence of solvent polarity on the extraction yield and phytochemical profile of Heracleum persicum fruits. Various solvents were tested as extragents, including polar (methanol, ethanol, acetone, acetonitrile), non-polar (hexane), and binary mixtures (ethanol/hexane, ethanol/water). Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) were employed to analyze the extracts. Hexane, the least effective solvent, extracted only one compound, which can be isolated in pure form. Methanol, the most efficient solvent for quantitative extraction, yielded 7 out of 12 extracted compounds. However, ethanol extracted the highest number of compounds, with a total of 16. Additionally, a new criterion for assessing solvent extraction power is proposed, based on the sum of peak areas in the chromatograms, providing an objective measure of solvent effectiveness.

We report on the synthesis and characterization of a novel fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-containing thioxo-triazole-bearing dipeptide 5, evaluated for potential therapeutic applications. The compound was tested for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, demonstrating significant effects in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibiting microbial growth, particularly when combined with plant extracts from an endemic Peonia species from the Caucasus. Circular dichroism (CD) binding studies with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and calf thymus DNA revealed important interactions, suggesting the dipeptide’s potential in biomedically relevant conditions that involve DNA modulation. Molecular docking and CD spectra deconvolution provided additional insights into the binding mechanisms and structural characteristics of the formed complexes with the biomolecular targets. The Fmoc group enhances the dipeptide’s lipophilicity, which may facilitate its interaction with cellular membranes, supporting efficient drug delivery. A computational evaluation at the ωB97XD/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory was carried out, confirming the experimental results and revealing a powerful potential of the peptide as an antioxidant, through FMOs, MEP analysis, and antioxidant mechanism assessments. Together, these findings suggest that this dipeptide could be valuable as an antimicrobial and antioxidant agent, with potential applications in pathologies involving oxidative stress, DNA modulation, and microbial infections.

The present study investigated the anion composition of drinking water from various cities and villages in Armenia, including spring water and tap water samples. The simultaneous separation was achieved for fluoride, chloride, bromide, nitrite, nitrate, sulfate, and phosphate anions with the correlation coefficients >0.998. Validation of the method was carried out in accordance with the requirements of guidelines in terms of selectivity, specificity, system suitability, linearity, accuracy, precision, lower limits of detection and quantitation, robustness, and stability. The method was suitable for routine drinking water quality assessment in line with the national or World Health Organization (WHO) regulations. The validated method was further used to analyze drinking water samples from different regions of Armenia. The observed concentrations for the anions in drinking water complied with the WHO limits for drinking water with some exceptions. The test method can be submitted to quality control laboratories as a convenient and practical tool for routine analysis and monitoring studies.

The present article examines the methods and stages of the policy of Turkification of the non-Muslim toponyms in the Ottoman Empire and the Republic of Turkey. Being stable linguistic facts, toponyms supply valuable material for topography and studies of dialects, ethnography, history and geography. They also contain important linguistic facts which can confirm the national belonging of a given settlement. Hence, realizing the strategic value of toponyms, the Turkish authorities have changed, distorted and have tried to get hold of the Armenian, Greek, Assyrian, Laz toponyms through translations ascribing them Turkish and at times Kurdish origins. The article contains the translated version of Enver Pasha’s decree on Turkification of toponyms issued on January 5, 1916 – a document which aims to conceal the traces of the Armenian Genocide. The article also examines the political aims of the Turkish authorities to replace the term Western Armenia with Eastern Anatolia as well as the dangerous consequences of the use of this term we could face. The Armenian toponyms that have been around since ancient times do not serve as linguistic evidence only. Rather, they provide unbiased historical evidence that reveals the whole truth of the real native masters of the Armenian Highland. Therefore, the protection, preservation and restoration of the Armenian toponyms is of great strategic significance for us.

We report the synthesis and characterization of a novel fluorenyl-methoxycarbonyl (Fmoc)-containing thioxo-triazole-bearing dipeptide Fmoc-(S)-Asp(O-tert-butyl)-(S)-β-(4-phenyl- 3-propyl-5-thioxo-4,5-dihydro-1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-Ala, evaluated for potential therapeutic ap-plications. The compound was tested for its antioxidant and antimicrobial properties, demon-strating significant effects in scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) and inhibiting microbial growth, particularly when combined with plant extracts from an endemic Peonia species from the Caucasus. Circular Dichroism (CD) binding studies with bovine serum albumin (BSA) and calf thymus DNA revealed important interactions, suggesting the dipeptide’s potential in biomedical-ly-relevant conditions that involve DNA modulation. Molecular docking and CD spectra decon-volution provided additional insights into its binding mechanisms and structural characteristics of the formed complexes with the biomolecular targets. The Fmoc group enhances the dipeptide’s lipophilicity, which may facilitate its interaction with cellular membranes, supporting efficient drug delivery. A computational evaluation at B97XD/aug-cc-pVDZ level of theory was carried out, confirming the experimental results and revealing a powerful potential of the peptide as an-tioxidant, throughout FMOs, MEP analysis and antioxidant mechanism assessments. Together, these findings suggest that this dipeptide could be valuable as an antimicrobial and antioxidant agent, with potential applications in pathologies involving oxidative stress, DNA modulation, and microbial infections.