An ecologically acceptable “green” method of extraction cold-pressing is applied in order to reduce the use of organic solvents and preserve bioactive substances from raw material. Therefore, the ...work aimed to characterize cold-pressed oils obtained from non-intensively grown walnuts. Walnut samples were collected on the territory of Western and Central Serbia. 12 cold-pressed oils were used for the analysis. The content of water and volatile substances, index of refraction and specific absorbances, content of total phenols and antioxidant activity of the hydrophilic and lipophilic fraction of the oil were examined. Microbiological analyses included: the total number of bacteria, the total number of molds, and the presence of sulphite-reducing clostridia and Escherichia coli. In 11 oil samples, the content of water and volatile substances was in accordance with the national Rulebook. The refractive index varies from 1.4725 to 1.4745 for walnut oils. Cold-pressed walnut oils differ in the ranges of specific absorbances (1.08–1.75 at 232 nm and 0.04–0.15 at 270 nm). The content of total phenols in walnut oil was from 3.25 to 5.41 mg GAE/100 mL. The lipophilic fraction of oils showed a significantly higher antioxidant potential compared to the hydrophilic fraction. The results of DPPH• radical scavenging activities the lipophilic fraction was from 17.53% to 39.21%. In all tested walnut oil samples, the total number of bacteria and molds was low. The presence of sulfite-reducing clostridia and Escherichia coli was not detected. In addition to the general quality and biological value of the oils, it is important that they are microbiologically safe.
Background. Oxidative stress and inflammation are closely related pathophysiological processes, both occurring in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In addition to the standard treatment of T2DM, a ...potential strategy has been focused on the use of bile acids (BAs) as an additional treatment. Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA), as the first BA used in humans, improves glucose and lipid metabolism and attenuates oxidative stress. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential metabolic, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidative effects of UDCA in patients with T2DM. Methods. This prospective, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical study included 60 patients with T2DM, randomly allocated to receive UDCA or placebo. Subjects were treated with 500 mg tablets of UDCA or placebo administered three times per day (total dose of 1500 mg/day) for eight weeks. Two study visits, at the beginning (F0) and at the end (F1) of the study, included the interview, anthropometric and clinical measurements, and biochemical analyses. Results. UDCA treatment showed a significant reduction in body mass index (p=0.024) and in diastolic blood pressure (p=0.033), compared to placebo. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference in waist circumference in the UDCA group before and after treatment (p<0.05). Although no statistical significance was observed at the two-month follow-up assessment, an average decrease in glucose levels in the UDCA group was observed. After two months of the intervention period, a significant decrease in the activity of liver enzymes was noticed. Furthermore, a significant reduction in prooxidative parameters (TBARS, NO2-, H2O2) and significant elevation in antioxidative parameters such as SOD and GSH were found (p<0.001). Conclusions. The eight-week UDCA administration showed beneficial effects on metabolic and oxidative stress parameters in patients with T2DM. Thus, UDCA could attenuate the progression and complications of diabetes and should be considered as an adjuvant to other diabetes treatment modalities. This trial is registered with NCT05416580.
The manual command to line-of-sight guidance system of the antitank missiles requires a human operator in the guidance loop. His task is to track both the target and the missile and to generate ...commands in order to bring the missile into line-of-sight. The efficiency of the guidance depends on the skill of the human operator. A new type of training flight simulator for manual command to line-of-sight guidance, which realization is based on simulation of the missile silhouette over the pre-recorded videos of the background with fixed or moving target, is given in the paper. Coordinates of the target, read from the recorded videos of the background, are transformed to the real position of the target in the space. These target positions in function of time are input to the mathematical model of the missile movement relative to the target. The calculated coordinates of the missile are transformed to the missile silhouette position on the screen display of the flight simulator. The complete mathematical model and description of the hardware realization are given in the paper.
Insulin resistance is believed to be an integral component of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Beta (ß) cell dysfunction is also found in PCOS. In the study, we determined the influence of age, ...body mass index (BMI), and waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) on insulin response to oral glucose load (OGTT) and on insulin sensitivity (Si) and ß-cell function in young women with PCOS. One hundred fourteen patients with PCOS and 41 controls with normal basal plasma glucose were studied. A 75-g OGTT was performed to determine glucose tolerance and insulin response. Insulin sensitivity and ß-cell function were studied using a modified frequently sampled IV glucose tolerance test (FISGTT) to determine the acute insulin response (AIRG), as well as Si by minimal model analysis. Si was decreased in PCOS women (2.49 0.18 vs. 3.41 ± 0.36, p<0.05), but no difference in AIRG existed between the PCOS and control group (75.1 ± 4.6 vs. 63.4 ± 4.6, p<0.05). BMI and WHR correlated negatively with Si (r = −0.43; r = −0.289, p<0.001, respectively), but not with AIRG (r = 0.116; r = −0.02, p>0.05, respectively). Increasing age correlated negatively with AIRG (r = −0.285, p<0.001). There was a significant interaction between disease (PCOS), BMI, and WHR on Si as well as between age and PCOS on AIRG. Thus, patients below the age of 25 with PCOS showed enhanced AIRG (89.5 ± 7.1 vs. 65.1 ± 6.7, p<0.05) and decreased Si (2.43 ± 0.25 vs. 4.52 ± 0.62, p<0.05) compared to age-matched controls. In conclusion, these data suggest that not all patients with PCOS have basal and stimulated hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, and impaired glucose tolerance. Based on these data in young PCOS subjects, the development of insulin resistance and T2DM may be prevented with appropriate treatment strategies.
Carbohydrate sulfotransferases (CHST) were shown to be involved in carcinogenesis. The aim of the study was to assess the diagnostic value of serum CHST7 concentration in differentiation between lung ...cancer and non-malignant pulmonary inflammations.
Clinical case-control study involving 125 participants was conducted: the control group containing cases of pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was compared to the lung cancer group composed of primary and metastatic cancers. Serum concentrations of CHST7 and routinely used markers including carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), cytokeratin fragment 21-1 (CYFRA 21-1) and neuron-specific enolase (NSE) were determined for each participant using immunochemical methods. Statistical association, receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and cross-validation were used for the evaluation of CHST7 either as a standalone biomarker or as a part of a biomarker panel.
In comparison to the control group, serum CHST7 was elevated in lung cancer (p<0.001), but no differences between the overall stages of primary cancers were detected (p=0.828). The differentiation performance in terms of ROC area under curve (AUC) was 0.848 making CHST7 superior biomarker to the NSE (p=0.031). In comparison to CEA and CYFRA 21-1, the performance differences were not detected. CHST7 was not correlated to other biomarkers, and its addition to the routine biomarker panel significantly improved the cross-validated accuracy (85.6% vs. 75.2%) and ROC AUC (p=0.004) of the differentiation using a machine learning approach.
Serum CHST7 is a promising biomarker for the differentiation between lung cancer and non-malignant pulmonary inflammations.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of two foliar fertilizers applied on five maize (Zea mays L.) lines. Fertilizers were applied at different growth stages of maize, during three ...consecutive years (2010–2012) at the experimental field of the Maize Research Institute “Zemun Polje”, Serbia. Maize growth parameters such as fresh matter, height, leaf area and grain yield were recorded. Foliar fertilizer with amino acids (FAA) was more advantageous to maize plants compared to fertilizer containing phosphorus (FP) as a main component. Applied FAA has shown positive effects by increasing fresh matter, leaf area index, and plant height in all three years. In 2012, due to unfavorable meteorological conditions, grain yield and harvest index were very low, compared to the previous two years, although, positive effects on morphological traits were observed 21 days after treatments (DAT), as well as in the anthesis stage. The best results of 30% of grain yield and harvest index increase were recorded in line L1 in 2010 and 2011. The same line had an increase of more than 40% of fresh matter and leaf area on average for all three years. The positive effects that have been noticed in this research could recommend foliar fertilizing with fertilizer containing N in a form of an amino acids complex.
The objective of this research was to determine the probability of road overtopping occurrence for a road culvert caused by surface runoff from the upstream catchment. A hydrological–hydraulic model ...was used for the development of an algorithm for road culvert maintenance based on the overtopping occurrence probability (CMOOP algorithm) for small mountain catchments. The hydrological model defines the regression dependence between the runoff hydrograph peak values and the probability of occurrences, whereas the hydraulic model calculates the culvert flow capacity by including in the calculation the level of sediment that culvert is filled with. The relationship between occurrences of overtopping and peak runoff value was defined using the runoff hydrograph transformation model in the accumulation on the upstream side of the road. In addition to the calculation of overtopping occurrence probability for the existing culvert condition, the CMOOP algorithm was used to analyze the impact of rehabilitation and reconstruction works from the perspective of legally based safety criterion for road overtopping occurrence probability (SCROOP). The CMOOP algorithm was appled to 67 concrete culverts located in a mountain road section in the Republic of Serbia. The results show that the application of rehabilitation works on selected culverts will increase the percentage of culverts that satisfy SCROOP from 49.25% to 89.55%, which confirms that the accumulated stone sediment is the main reason for the SCROOP unfulfillment.
Takotsubo syndrome (TTS) is an acute heart failure syndrome characterised by catecholamine-induced oxidative tissue damage.
, a fruit-bearing tree, is known to have high polyphenolic content and has ...been proven to be a potent antioxidant. This study aimed to investigate the effects of pomegranate peel extract (PoPEx) pre-treatment on isoprenaline-induced takotsubo-like myocardial injury in rats. Male Wistar rats were randomised into four groups. Animals in the PoPEx(P) and PoPEx + isoprenaline group (P + I) were pre-treated for 7 days with 100 mg/kg/day of PoPEx. On the sixth and the seventh day, TTS-like syndrome was induced in rats from the isoprenaline(I) and P + I groups by administering 85 mg/kg/day of isoprenaline. PoPEx pre-treatment led to the elevation of superoxide dismutase and catalase (
< 0.05), reduced glutathione (
< 0.001) levels, decreased the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (
< 0.001), H
O
, O
(
< 0.05), and NO
(
< 0.001), in the P + I group, when compared to the I group. In addition, a significant reduction in the levels of cardiac damage markers, as well as a reduction in the extent of cardiac damage, was found. In conclusion, PoPEx pre-treatment significantly attenuated the isoprenaline-induced myocardial damage, primarily via the preservation of endogenous antioxidant capacity in the rat model of takotsubo-like cardiomyopathy.
Radial nerve injuries are often associated with humeral shaft fractures. The results of treatment of these injuries, by contemporary surgical approaches, remain diverse. In this paper we presented ...the outcomes and analyzed the patient, clinical, and surgical procedure related characteristics and factors that may influence the outcome overall, in 77 patients treated at Clinic for Neurosurgery, Clinical Center of Serbia during a 20 years period. The nerve injuries were verified by US and EMNG. The majority of patients were treated by neurolysis or sural nerve grafting, while only few were treated by direct suture. The final recovery was evaluated by muscle strength assessment and classified using MRC. We analyzed extension of the wrist, extension of the fingers including the thumb, and abduction of the thumb. There was a significant statistical difference in MRC grade following the treatment. The total rate of useful functional recovery was achieved in 69 (89.61%) out of all studied patients, out of whom 20 (28.99%) achieved excellent recovery, 26 (37.68%) achieved good recovery and 23 (33.33%) achieved fair recovery. Only 8 (10.39%) out of all studied patients achieved poor recovery. The injured nerves, that were preserved in continuity, acquired by a low-energy trauma, and treated earlier than the 6 months were associated with better functional outcome following the surgery. In addition, there was a trend of better functional improvement with aging, keeping in mind that the old were subjected to lower energy trauma. The expectant management followed by surgery of radial nerve injury associated with humeral shaft fracture should be around 3 months, and the surgical nerve repair should not be performed later than the 6 months after injury. The energy of trauma may be a factor predicting patient's final recovery following the treatment.
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