Divlje deteline na zaslanjenim staništima Vojvodine

On soil habitats used as pastures and hayfields the presence of wild trefoils is significant. Wild trefoils are important fodder crops and they increase the nutritive value of the plant biomass. 10 out of the 22 species of the genus Trifolium, which are found on the soil habitats in Vojvodina, are shown and they characterize the given ecosystems. Their general distribution is shown as well as their floristical element, distribution in Europe, ecological indices, life form, the major morphological characteristics and their distribution on the soil habitats in Vojvodina.Na slatinskim staništima, koja se koriste kao pašnjaci i senokosi, značajno je prisustvo divljih detelina, koje su važne krmne biljke i povećavaju hranljivu vrednost biljne biomase. Od 22 vrste roda Trifolium, koje su konstatovane na slatinama Vojvodine, prikazane su 10 koje karakterišu date ekosisteme. Dato je njihovo opšte rasprostranjenje, florni element rasprostranjenje u Evropi, ekološki indeksi, životna forma, najvažnije morfološke karakteristike i njihovo rasprostranjenje na slatinama u Vojvodini

HCMV pUL135 remodels the actin cytoskeleton to impair immune recognition of infected cells

Immune evasion genes help human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) establish lifelong persistence. Without immune pressure, laboratory-adapted HCMV strains have undergone genetic alterations. Among these, the deletion of the UL/b’ domain is associated with loss of virulence. In a screen of UL/b’, we identified pUL135 as a protein responsible for the characteristic cytopathic effect of clinical HCMV strains that also protected from natural killer (NK) and T cell attack. pUL135 interacted directly with abl interactor 1 (ABI1) and ABI2 to recruit the WAVE2 regulatory complex to the plasma membrane, remodel the actin cytoskeleton and dramatically reduce the efficiency of immune synapse (IS) formation. An intimate association between F-actin filaments in target cells and the IS was dispelled by pUL135 expression. Thus, F-actin in target cells plays a critical role in synaptogenesis, and this can be exploited by pathogens to protect against cytotoxic immune effector cells. An independent interaction between pUL135 and talin disrupted cell contacts with the extracellular matrix

Rasprostranjenje vrsta roda Lathyrus L. 1753 (Fabales, Fabaceae) u Vojvodini

Most of the Lathyrus species of the Vojvodina Province arc cultivated for fodder. They are protein-containing herbs which easily recover after grazing. Some perennial species survive in grassland communities for ten years or more. Certain species are important melliferous plants. In the Vojvodina Province, they inhabit different habitats like forests and grasslands, dry and wet sites, thus showing a wide distribution range. Besides their floristic and vegetation aspects, their role as green and dry fodder crops should be emphasized.U radu je dato rasprostranjenje vrste roda Lathyrus u Vojvodini, na UTM kartama sa UTM kodovima i konkretnim lokalitetima. Podaci potiču iz literature koja obuhvata vremenski period od oko 140 godina, Herbarijuma Departmana za biologiju i ekologiju (BUNS) i sopstvenih terenskih istraživanja. Daje se njihov florni element, odnosno areal rasprostranjenja tipovi zemljišta i staništa na kojima rastu, njihov privredni značaj i broj hromozoma. S obzirom da su divlji graškovi značajne krmne biljke, mogle bi biti uključene u gajene ili korišćene u selekciji i oplemenjivanju. U flori Vojvodine raste 16 vrsta roda Lathyrus od kojih 11 njih ima privredni značaj a još dve bi mogle biti koršićene kao krma. U toku je njihovo anatomsko ispitivanje, što će ukazati na nivo ekološke adaptacije i upotrebljivosti u ishrani stoke. Takođe je u toku fiziološka analiza vrsta, analiza makroelemenata, koncentracija pigmenata i intenzitet disanja i fotosinteze od čega zavisi produkcija organske biljne mase

HER2-HER3 heterodimer quantification by FRET-FILM and patient subclass analysis of the COIN colorectal trial

BACKGROUND: The phase 3 MRC COIN trial showed no statistically significant benefit from adding the EGFR-target cetuximab to oxaliplatin-based chemotherapy in first-line treatment of advanced colorectal cancer. This study exploits additional information on HER2-HER3 dimerization to achieve patient stratification and reveal previously hidden subgroups of patients who had differing disease progression and treatment response. METHODS: HER2-HER3 dimerization was quantified by 'FLIM Histology' in primary tumor samples from 550 COIN trial patients receiving oxaliplatin and fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy +/-cetuximab. Bayesian latent class analysis (LCA) and covariate reduction was performed to analyze the effects of HER2-HER3 dimer, RAS mutation and cetuximab on progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: LCA on a cohort of 398 patients revealed two patient subclasses with differing prognoses (median OS: 1624 days [95%CI=1466-1816] vs 461 [95%CI=431-504]): Class 1 (15.6%) showed a benefit from cetuximab in OS (HR = 0.43 [95%CI=0.25-0.76]; p = 0.004). Class 2 showed an association of increased HER2-HER3 with better OS (HR = 0.64 [95%CI=0.44-0.94]; p = 0.02). A class prediction signature was formed and tested on an independent validation cohort (N = 152) validating the prognostic utility of the dimer assay. Similar subclasses were also discovered in full trial dataset (N = 1,630) based on 10 baseline clinicopathological and genetic covariates. CONCLUSIONS: Our work suggests that the combined use of HER dimer imaging and conventional mutation analyses will be able to identify a small subclass of patients (>10%) who will have better prognosis following chemotherapy. A larger prospective cohort will be required to confirm its utility in predicting the outcome of anti-EGFR treatment

Suppression of costimulation by human cytomegalovirus promotes evasion of cellular immune defenses.

CD58 is an adhesion molecule that is known to play a critical role in costimulation of effector cells and is intrinsic to immune synapse structure. Herein, we describe a virally encoded gene that inhibits CD58 surface expression. Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) UL148 was necessary and sufficient to promote intracellular retention of CD58 during HCMV infection. Blocking studies with antagonistic anti-CD58 mAb and an HCMV UL148 deletion mutant (HCMV∆UL148) with restored CD58 expression demonstrated that the CD2/CD58 axis was essential for the recognition of HCMV-infected targets by CD8+ HCMV-specific cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs). Further, challenge of peripheral blood mononuclear cells ex vivo with HCMV∆UL148 increased both CTL and natural killer (NK) cell degranulation against HCMV-infected cells, including NK-driven antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, showing that UL148 is a modulator of the function of multiple effector cell subsets. Our data stress the effect of HCMV immune evasion functions on shaping the immune response, highlighting the capacity for their potential use in modulating immunity during the development of anti-HCMV vaccines and HCMV-based vaccine vectors

In situ Biological Dose Mapping Estimates the Radiation Burden Delivered to ‘Spared’ Tissue between Synchrotron X-Ray Microbeam Radiotherapy Tracks

Microbeam radiation therapy (MRT) using high doses of synchrotron X-rays can destroy tumours in animal models whilst causing little damage to normal tissues. Determining the spatial distribution of radiation doses delivered during MRT at a microscopic scale is a major challenge. Film and semiconductor dosimetry as well as Monte Carlo methods struggle to provide accurate estimates of dose profiles and peak-to-valley dose ratios at the position of the targeted and traversed tissues whose biological responses determine treatment outcome. The purpose of this study was to utilise γ-H2AX immunostaining as a biodosimetric tool that enables in situ biological dose mapping within an irradiated tissue to provide direct biological evidence for the scale of the radiation burden to ‘spared’ tissue regions between MRT tracks. Γ-H2AX analysis allowed microbeams to be traced and DNA damage foci to be quantified in valleys between beams following MRT treatment of fibroblast cultures and murine skin where foci yields per unit dose were approximately five-fold lower than in fibroblast cultures. Foci levels in cells located in valleys were compared with calibration curves using known broadbeam synchrotron X-ray doses to generate spatial dose profiles and calculate peak-to-valley dose ratios of 30–40 for cell cultures and approximately 60 for murine skin, consistent with the range obtained with conventional dosimetry methods. This biological dose mapping approach could find several applications both in optimising MRT or other radiotherapeutic treatments and in estimating localised doses following accidental radiation exposure using skin punch biopsies

The potential of optical proteomic technologies to individualize prognosis and guide rational treatment for cancer patients

Genomics and proteomics will improve outcome prediction in cancer and have great potential to help in the discovery of unknown mechanisms of metastasis, ripe for therapeutic exploitation. Current methods of prognosis estimation rely on clinical data, anatomical staging and histopathological features. It is hoped that translational genomic and proteomic research will discriminate more accurately than is possible at present between patients with a good prognosis and those who carry a high risk of recurrence. Rational treatments, targeted to the specific molecular pathways of an individual’s high-risk tumor, are at the core of tailored therapy. The aim of targeted oncology is to select the right patient for the right drug at precisely the right point in their cancer journey. Optical proteomics uses advanced optical imaging technologies to quantify the activity states of and associations between signaling proteins by measuring energy transfer between fluorophores attached to specific proteins. Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) and fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM) assays are suitable for use in cell line models of cancer, fresh human tissues and formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue (FFPE). In animal models, dynamic deep tissue FLIM/FRET imaging of cancer cells in vivo is now also feasible. Analysis of protein expression and post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation and ubiquitination can be performed in cell lines and are remarkably efficiently in cancer tissue samples using tissue microarrays (TMAs). FRET assays can be performed to quantify protein-protein interactions within FFPE tissue, far beyond the spatial resolution conventionally associated with light or confocal laser microscopy. Multivariate optical parameters can be correlated with disease relapse for individual patients. FRET-FLIM assays allow rapid screening of target modifiers using high content drug screens. Specific protein-protein interactions conferring a poor prognosis identified by high content tissue screening will be perturbed with targeted therapeutics. Future targeted drugs will be identified using high content/throughput drug screens that are based on multivariate proteomic assays. Response to therapy at a molecular level can be monitored using these assays while the patient receives treatment: utilizing re-biopsy tumor tissue samples in the neoadjuvant setting or by examining surrogate tissues. These technologies will prove to be both prognostic of risk for individuals when applied to tumor tissue at first diagnosis and predictive of response to specifically selected targeted anticancer drugs. Advanced optical assays have great potential to be translated into real-life benefit for cancer patients

Letter of donation, 1995

The 1995 donation letter from Borivoj Franko-Filipašić, to the then Queensland University of Technology, Gardens Point Branch Library Manager, Robyn Smit

An interview with Dr Borivoj Franko-Filipasic "Bori" 26 August, 2015, Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA

The files attached are an oral history record of an interview conducted by Jennifer Thomas and Bori Franko on 26 August 2015 in Bensalem, Pennsylvania, USA. In 1944, Bori Franko, a US Naval Officer, was invalided from the Admiralty Islands to the US Naval Hospital in Camp Hill, Brisbane. Whilst recuperating in Brisbane, Bori bought an album full of old photos of Brisbane and other areas of Queensland, at a bookstore as a souvenir (see links below). The album was originally donated in 1894 by a class of chemistry students to their chemistry professor and prominent medical doctor in Brisbane, Dr Wilton Wood Russell Love. In 1995, after 50 years of cherished ownership, Bori returned the album to Queensland University of Technology and "to the city that transformed [him] into a Queenslander". The YouTube link https://youtu.be/e3BzxH4BaFw gives a short version of the oral history. Via the files attached you can watch the whole interview

Manganese content in the soil and foliage of some tree species in NP "Fruška Gora"

This paper analyses manganese content in the air, in the soil and in the vegetative parts of seven tree species at seven localities. Soil and plants contaminated by heavy metals can cause environmental risk and cause health problems. Heavy metals are substances which signalize environmental pollution. Within the study of other heavy metals (lead, nickel, zinc and iron), manganese content was analyzed in some tree species depending on the concentrations of manganese in the soil and air in the National Park "Fruška Gora", along the road M-21