Low Back Pain (LBP) is one of the most common incidences all over the world. For the assessment of LBP, descriptive medical scores are widely used. Nevertheless, there is a need for the quantitative ...assessment of LBP by appropriate physiological and kinematic measurements. Quantitative assessment methods are of interest since they might provide reliable and repeatable measures related to low back pain in both everyday clinical practice and at home or work. In this paper, we proposed simple measurements of the trunk angle and the activity of back muscles during simple flexion/relaxation task for an improved assessment of LBP (Low Back Pain). The application of the proposed instrumentation and signal processing is evaluated in three healthy subjects and in two individuals with LBP.The presented data analysis indicates that angle velocity might be a promising parameter in a combination with electromyography profiles for differentiation between healthy subjects and in individuals with LBP for improved medical diagnostics and assessment. / Bol u leđima je jedan od najčešćih zdravstvenih problema ljudi u celom svetu. Za ocenu oporavka pacijenata sa bolom u leđima i dijagnostiku u upotrebi su deskriptivne medicinske skale. Međutim, kako bi se kvantitativno ocenio oporavak pacijenata neophodno je definisati odgovarajuće fiziološke i kinematičke mere. One su značajne kako bi se obezbedila neophodna ponovljivost i pouzdanost ocene za njihovu primenu u kliničkoj praksi i u kućnim uslovima. U ovom radu predloženo je jednostavno merenje elektromiografskih (EMG) signala mišića leđa i merenje ugla trupa tokom fleksije/ekstenzije trupa. Primena predložene instrumentacije i rutina za procesiranje signala testirani su merenjima na tri zdrava ispitanika i na dva ispitanika sa bolom u leđima. Predložena analiza izmerenih signala pokazala je da bi se za kvantitativnu ocenu pacijenata i zdravih ispitanika mogla koristiti brzina fleksije/esktenzije trupa u kombinaciji sa profilima aktivacije mišića trupa. Rezultati testiranja pokazali su da je analizom trajektorija ugla u trupu, brzine trupa i mišićnih profila moguće razlikovati zdrave i bolne profile fleksije trupa, što bi značajno unapredilo današnju medicinsku dijagnostiku. / Боли в спине одна из самых распространенных заболеваний во всем мире. Для установления диагноза и прогноза реабилитации пациентов применяется описательные шкалы. Но для достоверной количественной оценки реабилитации пациентов необходимо определить подходящие физиологические и кинематические меры. Такие меры важны для обеспечения точности оценки, и могут применяться как в клинических, так и в домашних условиях. В статье рассматривается обыкновенное электромиографическое исследование (ЭМГ) сигналов мышц спины и измерение угла туловища при сгибании/разгибании позвоночника. Был проведен эксперимент по предложенным процедурам измерения сигнала на трех здоровых людях и 2-х пациентах с болями в спине. Проведенный эксперимент измерения сигнала показал, что на точность количественной оценки больных и здоровых обследуемых влияет скорость сгибания/разгибания позвоночника, и свойства активированных мышц туловища. Результаты исследования показали, что при анализе траектории угла туловища, скорости сгибания/разгибания, и профиля мышц, возможно различить здоровые профили сгибания туловища от больных. Применение данных результатов могло бы значительно улучшить эффективность современной медицинской диагностики.
St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum, Hypericaceae) has long been used in traditional medicine as a potent remedy, while many other species of this genus have not been thoroughly investigated. The ...study aimed to detect the biological activity, including antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, anticholinergic, antimicrobial and monoaminoxidase inhibitory potential, of water-alcoholic extracts of three species autochthonous for Serbia and Greece from plant genus Hypericum (section Hypericum—H. tetrapterum, H. maculatum ssp. immaculatum and H. triquetrifolium), followed by phytochemical profiling. The highest amount of phenolics was recorded in H. maculatum subsp. immaculatum extract, while the highest abundance of flavonoids was characteristic of H. tetrapterum extract. Hypericin and hyperforin, quercetin, and its flavonoid, rutin, were present in all of the evaluated species. The evaluated species were good scavengers of DPPH, OH and NO radicals, as well as potent reducers of ferric ions in FRAP assay. Furthermore, the evaluated species were shown as potent inhibitors of monoaminoxidase A and α-glucosidase and modest inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase, monoaminoxidase B and α-amylase. No anti-Candida activity was recorded, but the extracts were effective against MRSA Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus sp., as well as against Proteus mirabilis. The obtained results strongly highlight the need for further in vivo studies in order to better define the potential of the medicinal application of the studied species.
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•Cryogel delivered similar drug amounts as PAA/PVA and PAA/PVP adhesive hydrogels.•Decreasing NaCl concentration enhanced drug permeation through the skin.•PAA/PVA and PAA/PVP can be ...used for commercial iontophoretic adhesive patches.
The use of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) cryogel as a model hydrogel for iontophoretic transdermal investigations is proposed. Due to the excellent combination of its properties, it could be used for evaluating iontophoretic transdermal delivery of variety of drugs, regardless of pKa, pH or presence of auxiliary ions. Applicability of PVA Cryogel for drug delivery purposes was compared to those of polyacrylic acid/polyvinyl alcohol (PAA/PVA) and polyacrylic acid/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PAA/PVP) adhesive interpenetrating networks. Swelling properties of PVA Cryogel were shown to be almost independent on pH and NaCl concentration, while swelling of PAA-based gels was significantly affected. Addition of PVA and PVP to PAA decreased swelling degrees and increased adhesivity and compression moduli. Iontophoretic experiments were performed using a donor gel/skin/receptor gel configuration; current density and delivery duration were varied. Dexamethasone sodium phosphate was used as model drug molecule. PVA Cryogel was used for investigating the influence of NaCl concentration, which can alter the amount of current carried by the drug ions and, therefore, the delivery rate. By using PVA Cryogel it was possible to easily determine the amount of drug permeated through the skin into the receptor gel, the amount retained by the skin and the amount remained in the donor hydrogel. Decreasing NaCl concentration in PVA Cryogel resulted in higher total amounts of drug delivered and significantly enhanced drug permeation through the lower layers of the skin into the receptor hydrogel.
Electrotactile stimulation is a technology that reproducibly elicits tactile sensations and can be used as an alternative channel to communicate information to the user. The presented work is a part ...of an effort to develop this technology into an unobtrusive communication tool for first responders. In this study, the aim was to compare the success rate (SR) between discriminating stimulation at six spatial locations (static encoding) and recognizing six spatio-temporal patterns where pads are activated sequentially in a predetermined order (dynamic encoding). Additionally, a procedure for a fast amplitude calibration, that includes a semi-automated initialization and an optional manual adjustment, was employed and evaluated. Twenty subjects, including twelve first responders, participated in the study. The electrode comprising the 3 × 2 matrix of pads was placed on the lateral torso. The results showed that high SRs could be achieved for both types of message encoding after a short learning phase; however, the dynamic approach led to a statistically significant improvement in messages recognition (SR of 93.3%), compared to static stimulation (SR of 83.3%). The proposed calibration procedure was also effective since in 83.8% of the cases the subjects did not need to adjust the stimulation amplitude manually.
The binding of spin-labeled fatty acids (SLFAs) to the human serum albumin (HSA) examined by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was studied to evaluate the potential of the ...HSA/SLFA/EPR technique as a biomarking tool for cancer. A comparative study was performed on two spin labels with nitroxide groups attached at opposite ends of the fatty acid (FA) chain, 5-doxyl stearic (5-DS) and 16-doxyl stearic (16-DS) acid. The effects of incubation time, different SLFA/HSA molar ratios, ethanol, and temperature showed that the position of the nitroxide group produces certain differences in binding between the two SLFAs. Spectra for different SLFA/HSA molar ratios were decomposed into two spectral components, which correspond to the weakly and strongly bound SLFAs. The reduction of SLFA with ascorbate showed the existence of a two component process, fast and slow, confirming the decomposition results. Warfarin has no effect on the binding of the two SLFAs, whereas ibuprofen significantly decreases the binding of 5-DS and has no effect on 16-DS. Together, the results of this study indicate that both SLFAs, 5-DS and 16-DS, should be used for the study of HSA conformational changes in blood induced by various medical conditions.
The latest trends in hazelnut production are moving in the direction of selection and breeding of more productive cultivars, isolation of native clones, and more intensive clonal selection of ...rootstocks aimed at enhancing the agronomic performance of plants. Serbia stands out in the production of quality planting material by grafting on Turkish filbert (
L.), which does not form shoots and develops in the form of a tree. The aim of this research was to investigate the success achieved by grafting leading Italian cultivars (Tonda gentile romana, Tonda di Giffoni, and Tonda Gentile della Langhe) and their clones on Turkish filbert seedlings using technology developed at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Agriculture, Serbia, as well as determine possible differences in the quality and variability of the obtained planting material. For this purpose, from the end of March to the end of April, two-year-old
generative rootstocks (seedlings) were grafted by the whip and tongue method. At the beginning of September, the grafted plants were counted, and after the plants entered the dormant period (autumn in the year of grafting), they were taken out of the soil and classified. The obtained results revealed that the chosen hazel cultivars and clones exhibited excellent grafting success rate. In both analyzed years, as well as throughout the entire study period, greater grafting success was achieved using clones relative to the main cultivars. Over the two-year study period, the highest grafting success was achieved by clone AD17. Class I grafted plants were obtained in 80% of the cases, especially with Tombesi and AD17 clones, while significantly fewer Class I grafted plants were produced by grafting basic cultivars. Clones AD17 and Tombesi also produced grafted plants of greatest height and graft union diameter. All clones exhibited superior uniformity (i.e., a more stable grafting success) relative to their basic cultivars.
St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum, Hypericaceae) has long been used in traditional medicine as a potent remedy, while many other species of this genus have not been thoroughly investigated. The ...study aimed to detect the biological activity, including antioxidant, antihyperglycemic, anticholinergic, antimicrobial and monoaminoxidase inhibitory potential, of water-alcoholic extracts of three species autochthonous for Serbia and Greece from plant genus Hypericum (section Hypericum—H. tetrapterum, H. maculatum ssp. immaculatum and H. triquetrifolium), followed by phytochemical profiling. The highest amount of phenolics was recorded in H. maculatum subsp. immaculatum extract, while the highest abundance of flavonoids was characteristic of H. tetrapterum extract. Hypericin and hyperforin, quercetin, and its flavonoid, rutin, were present in all of the evaluated species. The evaluated species were good scavengers of DPPH, OH and NO radicals, as well as potent reducers of ferric ions in FRAP assay. Furthermore, the evaluated species were shown as potent inhibitors of monoaminoxidase A and α-glucosidase and modest inhibitors of acetylcholinesterase, monoaminoxidase B and α-amylase. No anti-Candida activity was recorded, but the extracts were effective against MRSA Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus sp., as well as against Proteus mirabilis. The obtained results strongly highlight the need for further in vivo studies in order to better define the potential of the medicinal application of the studied species.
Sr3Fe2WO9 and Ba3Fe2WO9 triple perovskites have been prepared in nanocrystalline form using a modified sol–gel route with citric acid as a chelating agent. These materials have been studied by X-ray ...powder diffraction (PXRD), energy-dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and unpolarized Raman spectroscopy, while their magnetic properties have been determined using SQUID measurements. At room temperature, the crystal structure of 6H-perovskite Ba3Fe2WO9 is hexagonal, space group P63/mmc, with a = 5.7577(2) and c = 14.1095(5) Å, whereas Sr3Fe2WO9 presents a tetragonal lattice, space group I4/m, with a = 5.5803(1) and c = 7.8745(3) Å. Both compounds are nanocrystalline with average crystallite sizes of 25.6(1) nm for Ba3Fe2WO9 and 35.9(1) nm for Sr3Fe2WO9 with moderate microstrain. They exhibit a disordered perovskite structure, in which Fe3+ and W6+ cations distribute randomly at the B-sites of the perovskite lattice: Sr2Fe0.72W0.282aFe0.61W0.392bO6 and Ba6Fe1.71W0.292aFe2.29W1.714fO18. The detected hysteresis loops with non-zero remanent magnetization and a rather large coercive field reveal ferrimagnetic ordering with ordering temperatures of 373 K for Sr3Fe2WO9 and 330 K for Ba3Fe2WO9. Magnetic measurements show the onset of ferrimagnetic ordering at relatively high temperatures of 717 and 711 K for the Sr and Ba compounds, respectively; however the magnetization isotherms at 2 K exhibit, for H = 50 kOe, maximum magnetization values close to 0.8 μB (f.u.)−1 and 0.35 μB (f.u.)−1 for Sr and Ba compounds, respectively, although full saturation is not reached.
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