USE OF BETA BLOCKERS IN ACUTE CORONARY SYNDROME IN SERBIA IN THE PERIOD 2000 – 2005

The approaches in prevention and therapy of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) are different ways of conservative and invasive procedures which have contributed to reduction of mortality of ischemic heart disease (IHD) by 20 %, approximately, in many parts of the world in the recent 20 years. Beta blockers (BB) gave significant contribution to prevention and therapy of ACS, especially their use in ACS and in the first years of secondary prevention of IHD. The aim of the study was the estimation of patients with ACS in Serbia in the period 2000 – 2005, as well as the evaluation of use of BB in ACS and resolving dilemma concerning their prescription.The data about patients were obtained from the National Register for ACS in Serbia. Lately, there has been a marked increase in the number of coronary units (CU) and patients with ACS. In admission diagnoses, there was the largest number of patients with AMI or 69,7 %, with the highest total mortality of 11,7 %. In addition, higher rates of male patients than female ones, as well as an increase of male patients in the age group of 50-59 years, and increase of female patients in the age group of 70-79 years were reported. It is interesting that the rate of female patients is higher than presented in literature. It is noted that the rate of AMI with ST segment elevation (STEMI) is more frequent than AMI without ST elevation (NSTEMI). STEMI is more frequent in younger patients and male ones. Case-fatality of STEMI patients is significantly higher compared with NSTEMI patients (P<0,000). The percentage of patients with ACS treated with BB is still low and it has not been changed significantly in recent years

Revisiting digital technologies: envisioning biodigital bodies

In this paper the contemporary practices of human genomics in the 21st century are placed alongside the digital bodies of the 1990s. The primary aim is to provide a trajectory of the biodigital as follows: First, digital bodies and biodigital bodies were both part of the spectacular imaginaries of early cybercultures. Second, these spectacular digital bodies were supplemented in the mid-1990s by digital bodywork practices that have become an important dimension of everyday communication. Third, the spectacle of biodigital bodies is in the process of being supplemented by biodigital bodywork practices, through personal or direct-to-consumer genomics. This shift moves a form of biodigital communication into the everyday. Finally, what can be learned from putting the trajectories of digital and biodigital bodies together is that the degree of this communicative shift may be obscured through the doubled attachment of personal genomics to everyday digital culture and high-tech spectacle.Keywords: genomics, biodigital, bodies, spectacle, everyda

Psychiatric manifestations of multiple sclerosis and acute disseminated encephalomyelitis

It is unusual for acute disseminated encephalomyelitis and multiple sclerosis to present as purely psychiatric disorders. We report five patients with such demyelinating diseases and symptoms of psychosis, depression or anxiety. The importance of excluding demyelination as the basis for these psychiatric disturbances is emphasized, especially in the presence of unexplained neurologic findings. The possible relationship between psychiatric symptoms and demyelinating disorders is explored

MERE AFIRMATIVNE AKCIJE: TERMINOLOŠKO ODREĐENJE I UVODNA RAZMATRANJA O SADRŽINI POJMA

The affirmative action is one of the most complex concepts of the contemporary law and there is still no a unique understanding of the content of this notion. The attempts aimed at constructing a general definition of the affirmative action are weakened by the lack of a terminological consistency in the field. Although the affirmative action measures are endorsed by the very Constitution of Serbia and are contained in the action plans of the state institutions for a number of years already, the theoretical basis for their application is almost completely missing in Serbia. The objective of this article is to encourage future research in this field and to serve as a theoretical starting point for the application of the affirmative action measures in practice through their terminological determination and an analysis of some of the existing general definitions of the affirmative action measures and their constitutive elements.Mere afirmativne akcije jedan su od najsloženijih koncepata savremenog prava i još uvek ne postoji teorijska saglasnost oko toga šta sve ulazi u sadržinsko polje ovog pojma. Nastojanja da se dođe do opšte definicije mera afirmativne akcije dodatno otežava terminološka neujednačenost. Iako su u Srbiji afirmativne mere omogućene već samim Ustavom a državni organi ih već godinama unose u svoje strategije i akcione planove, teorijska osnova za njihovu primenu skoro i da ne postoji. Cilj ovog rada je da olakša buduća istaživanja na ovom polju i pruži početno teoretsko uporište za primenu mera afirmativne akcije kroz njihovo terminološko određenje te analizu nekih od opštih definicija afirmativnih mera i njihovih konstitutivnih elemenata

STRENGTHENING THE INTERNATIONAL REGIME FOR THE PREVENTION OF THE ILLICIT TRADE IN CULTURAL GOODS

This Article examines the applicable international and regional legal instruments aimed to the strengthening of the current regime to prevent the illicit recovery, movement and trade in cultural property. It illustrates the differences between the various regimes, as well as the history and development of the international legal framework directed towards combating illicit trade in moveable cultural heritage. A particular emphasis is placed on the complementarity among, and functioning of the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property, the Council Directive 93/7/EEC of 15 March 1993 on the return of cultural objects unlawfully removed from the territory of a Member State and the 1995 UNIDROIT Convention on Stolen or Illegally Exported Cultural Objects. This review points up the need, notwithstanding the existence of these regimes, for the further legal development of the existing international regime.Članak izučava međunarodno pravne i regionalne instrumenate koji su usmereni na zabranu i sprečavanje nedozvoljenog prometa kulturnim dobrima. Analiziraju se razlike između pojedinih pravnih režima, i prikazuje razvoj međunarodno pravnih instituta u pomenutoj oblasti. Autori pre svega proučavaju komplementarnost i dejstvo UNESCO Konvencije o merama za zabranu i sprečavanje nedozvoljenog uvoza, izvoza i prenosa svojine kulturnih dobara, (1970), Direktive (EEZ) broj 93/7 od 15.03.1993. o povraćaju kulturnih objekata nezakonito iznetih sa teritorije država članica i UNIDROIT Konvencije o ukradenim ili ilegalno izvezenim kulturnim dobrima (1995). Autori naglašavaju potrebu za daljim usavršavanjem postojećeg međunarodnopravnog uređenja u oblasti suzbijanja nezakonitog prometa kulturnim dobrima

The effect of encapsulated amount of caffeine on the mechanism of its release from hydrogels based on poly(methacrylic) and casein

Researchers are making everyday efforts to develop new drugs or improve present ones in order to enhance therapies of various diseases, especially serious ones like cancer. Drug delivery systems (DDS) are one of the solutions for safer and more efficient therapy. Hydrogels based on poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) are extensively investigated as DDS due to their nontoxicity, biocompatibility and pH sensitivity. Many chemotherapeutics are poorly watersoluble, so it is quite challenging to encapsulate them into highly hydrophilic PMAA. In our previous study we overcome this limitation by modifying PMAA with amphiphilic casein and demonstrated that poorly water-soluble model drug – caffeine can be successfully encapsulated and released in control manner from these samples (H hydrogels). In present study we go step forward and investigated how the change in the amount of encapsulated caffeine affect the mechanism of caffeine release from the H hydrogels in medium with pH of 6.8 (which simulates the environment in human intestines). Commonly used models for the analysis of kinetics of drug release from hydrogels: Ritger-Peppas, Higuchi and Kopcha model are employed for the analysis of the mechanism of caffeine release. Presented results indicate that it is possible to adjust the manner and mechanism of drug release by changing the amount of encapsulated drug, due to which the H hydrogels can adapt to the unique requirements of the therapy

Fractals, Materials and Energy Technologies

World’s perennial need for energy yields the whole spectra of technological challenges and scientific tasks. An important stream in finding new solutions leads over materials characterized by precise microstructural architecture based on fractal geometry/analysis covering wide size ranges down to nano scale. Having such a deep geometric hierarchy opens new possibilities in energy storage capacities supported by fractal resources. These novel ideas are natural continuation of some early fractal applications have been used as a tool in energy research, applying on diverse energy technologies, from photovoltaics to fuel cells and carbon capture. All three items that are essential regarding energetic questions, free energy stocks location, energy harvesting and short/ long term energy storage have their specific common points with fractal nature. Also, the concept of energy as physical objects property, share some features characteristic to fractal objects. In other words, fractal, as a crucial concept of modern theoretical-experimental physics is tightly connected with the process of cultivating the wild energy as well. Here, the above items will be discussed. The term “geometry” as it is custom in plain language, understands “shape” rather than the science of geometry. In this sense, “geometry” describes property of hierarchy that is more present in every day’s life than we are usually aware of. Just note that all our senses often convey information on the quality of some matter by absorbing certain hierarchical order. The touch feeling of smooth or rough surface, olfactory or taste data differ by energetic level that generates according to geometry of particles or clusters that follow fractal patterns. Adjusting specific, a priori constructed fractal micro or nano architecture make the energetic flow more effective by decrease losses made by non-conformal geometry

Curie-Weiss Law Fractal Corrections and Clausius-Mossotti Equation

The Clausius–Mossotti relation emerged as a combination of the analysis of indices of refraction (by Rudolf Clausius) and the relationship between the dielectric constants of two different media (Ottaviano-Fabrizio Mossotti). Since it connects dipole’s polarizability with the electric permittivity of a material made of those dipoles, it is one of the fundamental relationship that can be derived from Maxwell’s conductivity equation. Also, it is tightly connected both the Curie and Curie–Weiss laws which are correlation relations. Using fractal approach in Curie–Weiss equation and fractal correction applied recently by the authors, the Clausius–Mossotti relation is also subjected to modification with respect to ferroelectric materials fractal nature. The correction is operationally performed by introducing fractal correction factor a0 > 1, as a multiplier to the usual dielectric constant er to gain the bigger value a0er. This shows that the Clausius–Mossotti relation is also “permeated” by fractal nature being inherited from the material’s morphology. Our experiments were carried out on BaTiO3-ceramics as characteristic representative of perovskites but the conclusions can be applied on any other ceramics materials as well as on thin film layers and coating in general. By shapes control and contact surfaces numbers on the entire BaTiO3-ceramic sample level, the control over structural properties of these ceramics can be done, with the aim of correlation between material electronic properties and corresponding microstructure. The fractal correction has wide consequences on many phenomena like PTC, ferroelectrics, ferromagnetics, piezo- and optoelectronic properties as well as electrochemical thermodynamic and fluid dynamics parameters