Although the importance of bilateral cortical innervation in the control of swallowing is well known, neurogenic dysphagia caused by unilateral hemispheric ischemic lesion has been also reported. Our ...patient is a 41-year-old male who developed difficulty swallowing liquids, oral apraxia, and motor dysphasia, followed by right-hand ataxia. Brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed subcortical tumefactive conglomerate of cystic lesions in the left frontal, precentral region, which were sharp edged, with perilesional edema, concordant with lesions in Marburg's variant of multiple sclerosis. Steroid treatment and plasma exchange therapy led to disappearance of neurological symptoms. Treatment with interferon β-1a 40 mcg sc was initiated. During a 3-year follow-up, clinical/brain MRI scan showed no new neurological manifestations, a significant regression of lesion size, and no new brain lesions. To the best of our knowledge, this is a first case of dysphagia caused by unilateral hemispheric lesion in a multiple sclerosis patient.
The global demand for rapeseed makes it one of the fastest growing markets in crop production, with a need for increasing growing area and productivity, both of which depend on effective pathogen ...control strategies. Alternaria pathogens cause serious losses of brassica crops and occur in most rapeseed‐growing regions around the world. In this study, morphological, molecular, and pathogenic analyses of 113 isolates collected from nine important rapeseed‐growing areas in Serbia identified four pathogens: Alternaria brassicae, A. brassicicola, A. japonica, and A. alternata, causing leaf spot disease. Molecular analyses of ITS, GAPDH, Alt a1, and ATP sequences revealed one multilocus haplotype for A. brassicae and A. japonica isolates, whereas for A. brassicicola and A. alternata three and five haplotypes were distinguished, respectively. Pathogenicity tests showed that A. brassicicola was the most virulent while A. brassicae and A. japonica exhibited the same level of pathogenicity. The A. alternata population was generally weakly pathogenic with one nonpathogenic, genetically separated but closely related group of isolates, suggesting that pathogenicity is more unstable in this phylogenetic lineage. The data recorded on rate of growth and sporulation of isolates at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, and 40 °C revealed significant differences in evolutionary strategies among species, as A. alternata had the widest optimum range and the fastest growth rate, A. brassicicola showed the highest sporulation intensity, and A. brassicae expressed lower optimum temperatures for sporulation compared to other groups. All species indicated the potential for cross‐infection of cabbage, and some haplotypes of A. brassicicola were previously isolated from horseradish in Serbia, suggesting the presence of one persistent Alternaria population on multiple brassica hosts in the region. This report describes the first detailed study of Alternaria spp. in rapeseed in Serbia.
Leaf spot on rapeseed in Serbia is caused by a range of Alternaria spp. with different epidemiological and genetic traits and the presence of one persistent Alternaria population on multiple brassica hosts in the region is suggested.
Cognitive impairment is one of the most frequently reported symptoms in persons with multiple sclerosis (MS). The Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis (BICAMS) has been ...recommended as a standardized international screening and monitoring tool for brief cognitive assessment. The aim of our study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Serbian version of the BICAMS. A total of 500 relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) patients and 69 age-, gender- and education-matched healthy control (HC) subjects were examined. All participants performed the BICAMS test battery, which includes the oral version of the Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT), California Verbal Learning Test second edition (CVLT-II), and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test Revised (BVMTR). A randomly selected subset of patients were retested one to three weeks after baseline. Statistically significant differences between patients and HCs were evident on the SDMT and BVMTR (p<0.001). HCs had higher CVLT-II scores but this difference did not reach statistical significance (p=0.063). Cognitive impairment, defined as an abnormal test score on greater than or equal to1 subtest, was found in 62.9% of MS patients. There were statistically significant correlations between BICAMS scores and age, education, EDSS and disease duration in patient sample. Test-retest reliability was confirmed with Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.70 in all measures. This study supported the reliability and validity of the Serbian BICAMS, although the CVLT-II version tested here lacked sensitivity to detect MS compared to healthy volunteers. Key words: Multiple sclerosis; BICAMS; Cognition; Cognitive impairment; Validation
Species of the genus Monilinia are important causal agents of fruit rot on pome and stone fruits in Serbia. The pathogen is very harmful, especially on small properties and cottage plantations where ...intensive control measures are not applied. Quince is important host for the pathogens of this genus. During spring 2010, intensive occurrence of mummified fruits overwintering on branches of the quince was observed. The pathogen was isolated using standard phytopathological methods. Pathogenicity of eight obtained isolates was tested by artificial inoculation of injured apple fruits. Identification was performed according to pathogenic, morphological and ecological properties, and was confirmed by Multiplex polimeraze chain reaction, PCR. All the isolates studied caused brown rot on inoculated apple fruits. The isolates form light yellow colonies with lobate margins, with single-celled, transparent, elliptical or oval conidia in chains, regardless temperature or light presence. Sclerotia are observed in 14 days old cultures. The highest growth rate of most of the isolates is at 27°C and in dark. Based on studied pathogenic, morphological and ecological characteristics, it was found that the Monilinia fructigena is causal agent of brown rot of quince. Using specific primers (MO368-5, MO368-8R, MO368-10R, Laxa-R2) for detection of Monilinia species in Multiplex PCR reaction, the expected fragment 402 bp in size was amplified, which confirmed that the studied isolates belonged to the species M. fructigena.
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