RELIABILITY OF THE BICAUDATE PARAMETER IN THE REVEALING OF THE ENLARGED LATERAL VENTRICLES IN SCHIZOPHRENIA PATIENTS

Introduction: In schizophrenia patients the lateral ventricle enlargement has mostly been reported in relationship with smaller cortical and/or subcortical brain volumes; and it has been observed that ventricular system growth may be a consequence of the smaller caudate nucleus volume. Bicaudate parameters have been used in the Alzheimer dementia and Huntington’s chorea diagnosing in order to evaluate brain changes and the enlargement of the lateral ventricles. Subjects and methods: This study has been carried out on 140 patients out of which 70 patients (30 men and 40 women) who met the ICD 10 criteria for schizophrenia and 70 healthy controls (30 men and 40 women) matched on sex and age with the studied group. All of them underwent direct caudatometry and volume computation based on MRI scans. Results: Except for the bicorporal line, for all the parameters were obtained the statistically highly significant differences between the examined and control groups. Significant correlation was established for the majority of bicaudate parameters and volumes of the caudate nuclei and lateral ventricles. Discussion: Enlargement of the lateral ventricles is one of the most frequent MRI finding in schizophrenia patients. Ventricles are enlarging gradually and frontal horns are more affected than other parts. The increased volumes of the caudate nuclei signalized that ventricular enlargement is not the consequence of the caudate atrophy. Conclusion: Bicaudate parameters are reliable parameters for the quick orientation in order to assess the enlarged ventricles in schizophrenia patients

Ground Level Air Beryllium-7 and Ozone in Belgrade

Three sets of data covering the 2004-2007 period are examined: two beryllium-7 series and ozone measured in ground level air. The measuring sites are at three different locations in Belgrade, Serbia. The temporal evolution of beryllium-7 and ozone is presented, as well as their mutual correlations. Beryllium-7 data for Belgrade agree well with the results for other locations in the region. The correlation between two beryllium-7 data sets is 0.57. The results for ozone indicate that Belgrade is not a common continental site, as the maximum in ozone distribution is reached in springtime. The overall correlation between beryllium-7 and ozone is good, but varies over different seasons. A large correlation (0.67) is noted between beryllium-7 measured at the site in Vinca, Serbia, and the monthly maximum ozone in autumn. An analysis which assumes the transport of air masses from the stratosphere, along which the only process changing the air mass composition is radioactive decay of beryllium-7, does not conclusively confirm the high correlation between beryllium-7 and ozone in autumn

Extending the use of air quality indices to reflect effective population exposure

Although there are tendencies to develop a single common index which would describe an overall air quality status within an area, constructed from a choice of measurements of individual pollutants, indices describing individual pollutants themselves have several potentials which can be used in ways which are not possible with pollutant concentrations. On the case of Belgrade, Serbia, we investigated possibilities of using such indices for comparisons between pollutants, characterization of monitoring sites, and extending their use to include elements of population exposure. A methodology of adjusting the results obtained at monitoring stations located in severe pollution conditions, like street canyons, is proposed and used

Chemical composition, antibacterial and antifungal activity of the essential oils of Cotinus coggygria from Serbia

Essential oils from leaves with young branches of Cotinus coggygria Scop. from two localities in Serbia (Deliblatska pescara and Zemun), obtained by hydrodistillation, were analysed by GC–MS. Thirty-one component were identified from both oils and among them monoterpenic hydrocarbons were the dominant class (87.4 and 93.1 %). The dominant constituent in both essential oils was limonene (47.0 and 39.2 %). Both oils were also tested for antibacterial and antifungal activities. In comparison to streptomycin, both oils showed slightly higher activity (against most Gram-positive bacteria) in the disc diffusion method and slightly lower activity when the microdilution method was employed. They also exhibited antifungal potential higher than that of the commercial fungicide bifonazole