A Framework for Assessing Nature-Based Urban Stormwater Management Solutions: A Preliminary Spatial Analysis Approach Applied to Southeast Serbia

The development of the stormwater management strategies, e.g., low-impact development (LID), water-sensitive urban design (WSUD), and sustainable drainage solutions (SUDS), was initiated in the mid-1980s as a set of engineering approaches and technologies to reduce the harmful effects of stormwater. Over time, all of them evolved in the holistic, multidisciplinary approaches and, today, they are increasingly viewed and implemented under the umbrella term “Nature-based Solutions” (NbS). The technical elements and measures of these NbS represent various technical solutions, implemented i.a., according to the suitability of the site to achieve their maximum efficiency. Currently, there are no standards or procedures for the application of NbS technologies in Serbia. To overpass this and encourage implementation, we carried out preliminary assessment of NbS elements suitability for application in eight urban settlements in the Region of Southern and Eastern Serbia. The assessment is based on publicly available data and performed according to the existing recommendations in the field of spatial planning and rainwater management for WSUD. The analyses were conducted by GIS tools that involved spatial analyses of various terrain characteristics and provided an insight into the criteria, i.e., constraints that are key to the placement of various technical elements, including bioretention, rain garden, and permeable pavement. Research findings point out that creation of the thematic maps with area suitability ratings for individual NbS stormwater elements might represent a good starting point for further investigation, planning, and design. The proposed framework for preliminary assessment is potentially useful for the countries and regions without regulations in the field of NbS for stormwater management.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Circulating resistin protein and mRNA concentrations and clinical severity of coronary artery disease

Introduction: Previous studies have implicated a strong link between circulating plasma resistin and coronary artery disease (CAD). The aim of this study was to evaluate the differences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) resistin mRNA and its plasma protein concentrations between the patients with CAD of different clinical severity. Material and methods: This study included 33 healthy subjects as the control group (CG) and 77 patients requiring coronary angiography. Of the latter 30 was CAD negative whereas 47 were CAD positive [18 with stable angina pectoris (SAP) and 29 with acute coronary syndrome (ACS)]. Circulating resistin was measured by ELISA; PBMC resistin mRNA was determined by real-time PCR. Results: Resistin protein was significantly higher in the ACS group compared to the CG (P = 0.001) and the CAD negative group (P = 0.018). Resistin mRNA expression did not vary across the study groups, despite the positive correlation seen with plasma resistin (rho = 0.305, P = 0.008). In patients, plasma resistin and PBMC resistin mRNA negatively correlated with HDL-C (rho = -0.404, P lt 0.001 and rho = -0.257, P = 0.032, respectively). Furthermore, the highest plasma resistin tertile showed the lowest HDL-C (P = 0.006). Plasma resistin was positively associated with serum creatinine (rho = 0.353, P = 0.002). Conclusion: Significant increase of plasma resistin in patients with ACS compared to CG and CAD negative patients was observed. Despite no change in PBMC resistin mRNA in different disease conditions a positive association between resistin mRNA and resistin plasma protein was evident. Both plasma resistin and PBMC resistin mRNA were negatively associated with plasma HDL-C, and plasma resistin positively with serum creatinine

Higher circulating resistin protein and PBMCs resistin mRNA levels are associated with increased prevalence of small dense LDL particles in coronary artery disease patients

Recent in vitro experiments have indicated that human resistin increases the number of lipoprotein particles secreted by the human hepatocytes and also influences their quality, in terms of generating more proatherogenic lipid particles. The aim of this study is to investigate associations of plasma resistin and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) resistin messenger RNA (mRNA) levels with different prevalence of small, dense low-density lipoprotein particles (sdLDL) in patients with indications for coronary angiography. This study included 65 patients requiring coronary angiography. There were 41 patients without significant stenosis and 24 patients with significant stenosis in at least one major coronary artery. Circulating resistin was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; PBMC resistin mRNA was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The LDL and high density lipoprotein subclasses were determined by gradient gel electrophoresis. Plasma resistin (P = 0.031) and PBMCs resistin mRNA (P = 0.004) were significantly higher in patients with proportion of sdLDL particles >= 50%, compared to the group with relative proportion of sdLDL particles lt 50%. Plasma resistin correlated positively with creatinine (r = 0.456, P lt 0.001) and resistin mRNA (r = 0.298, P = 0.014) but negatively with body mass index (r = -0.254, P = 0.034) and total cholesterol (r = -0.286, P = 0.021). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed LDL particle diameter as the only independent predictor of resistin mRNA (R-2 = 0.258; adjR(2) = 0.190). A significant association between resistin, both PBMCs mRNA and plasma protein, and the relative proportion of sdLDL particles in the circulation of coronary artery disease patients has been established, which implies that increased gene expression of resistin in PBMCs and higher resistin concentration in plasma are related to pro-atherogenic LDL particle phenotype