Murine brain endothelial cells differently modulate interferon-γ and interleukin-17 production in vitro

Brain endothelial cells (BEC) are the major constituents of the blood-brain barrier (BBB), the structure that controls entrance of immune cells into CNS parenchyma. Our aim was to investigate the influence of BEC on production of IL-17 and IFN-γ-cytokines that are important for CNS inflammation. To that end, co-cultivations of the bEnd.3 brain endothelial cell line and lymph node cells (LNC) were performed, and gene expression and production of IL-17 and IFN-γ were determined. It was found that bEnd.3 cells inhibited expression and production of IFN-γ, but not of IL-17. Additionally, bEnd.3 cells also reduced production of the major IFN-γ-promoting cytokine - IL-12 - in LNC. The observed variation in modulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines by BEC could be of importance for the understanding of CNS inflammation

Description and pilot evaluation of the Metabolic Irregularities Narrowing down Device software: a case analysis of physician programming

Background: There is a gap between the abilities and the everyday applications of Computerized Decision Support Systems (CDSSs). This gap is further exacerbated by the different ‘worlds’ between the software designers and the clinician end-users. Software programmers often lack clinical experience whereas practicing physicians lack skills in design and engineering. Objective: Our primary objective was to evaluate the performance of Metabolic Irregularities Narrowing down Device (MIND) intelligent medical calculator and differential diagnosis software through end-user surveys and discuss the roles of CDSS in the inpatient setting. Setting: A tertiary care, teaching community hospital. Study participants: Thirty-one responders answered the survey. Responders consisted of medical students, 24%; attending physicians, 16%, and residents, 60%. Results: About 62.5% of the responders reported that MIND has the ability to potentially improve the quality of care, 20.8% were sure that MIND improves the quality of care, and only 4.2% of the responders felt that it does not improve the quality of care. Ninety-six percent of the responders felt that MIND definitely serves or has the potential to serve as a useful tool for medical students, and only 4% of the responders felt otherwise. Thirty-five percent of the responders rated the differential diagnosis list as excellent, 56% as good, 4% as fair, and 4% as poor. Discussion: MIND is a suggesting, interpreting, alerting, and diagnosing CDSS with good performance and end-user satisfaction. In the era of the electronic medical record, the ongoing development of efficient CDSS platforms should be carefully considered by practicing physicians and institutions

WAITING FOR THE ADOPTION OF THE DRAFT CIVIL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF SERBIA : IMPORTANT FOR THE LAW REGULATION OF THE FRANCHISING AGREEMENT

In 2006, the Commission for drafting the Civil Code of the Republic of Serbia was established. The first book of the Civil Code was completed and made available to the public in 2007. To the present, not much progress has been made in the effort to adopt and enter into force the Civil Code, with primaly work being done developong amendments to the working versions. The working versions of the code envisage the regulation of a new and specific agreement, the franchise agreement. Listening to the needs of the market, as well as the need to introduce this type of business into legal frameworks, the editors of the Civil Code (now the Draft Civil Code – DCC) for the first time legally standardise a franchise agreement.  It should be noted that legal standardisation of franchising agreements has significant advantages in terms of legal transactions and contracting parties.  However, although there is are strong intentions, it should be noted that there are some shortcomings in the legal standardisation of the franchising agreement in the Serbian document. Shortcomings are observed in the standardisation of the franchising agreement, especially in circumstances where the franchising agreement is unknown to much of the legal theory, business and case law of the Republic of Serbia. This creates the feeling that this business was approached in a superficial manner without a deeper analytical approach, looking at solutions provided in the legal acts and case law of countries with developed franchising business.  The shortcomings of the DCC of the Republic of Serbia are in the part related to legal standardisation of franchising agreements that could be brought to the attention of: a) the concept of contracting parties; b) the subject matter of the agreement; c) specific obligations (e.g. obligation of the franchisee to apply the business concept of franchise network in an independent business); d) use of legal implants without explaining their content (e.g. goodwill), etc.  The author will point out the shortcomings of legal standardisation of the franchise agreement in the DCC and the possible solutions.  Keywords: Draft Civil Code of Serbia, franchising, franchisor, franchisee, franchising agreement, regulation, registration, sub-franchising, transferred rights, pre-contractual disclosure, goodwil

Geosite Assessment Using Three Different Methods; a Comparative Study of the Krupaja and the Zagubica Springs - Hydrological Heritage of Serbia

Hydrological heritage is a relatively new concept in the field of geosite assessment. The principal aim of this study is to apply M-GAM (Modified geosite assessment model) for comparative analysis of the Krupaja spring and the Zagubica (Mlava) spring, located in Homolje area, in Eastern Serbia. According to the classification of geosites of Institute for Nature Conservation of Serbia, these sites are on the list of protected sites ("hydro(geo)logical" heritage sites) of extraordinary national importance; however, they still have not gained necessary recognition in Serbia. Thus, their assessment according to different target groups should provide a clearer picture of their current condition. As M-GAM considers that not all indicators for evaluation of geosites are of the same importance, this paper applies two methods for comparing and determining the importance of indicators and subindicators in the model (Analytical-hierarchy process (AHP) and descriptive statistics conducted by SPSS). Also, it is assumed that different target groups will give different importance to some indicators in the model, which would result in various evaluation scores for the same geosites. The paper also provides a comparative analysis of the assessment carried out by two different target groups - potential geotourists and geoexperts. The results obtained by AHP and descriptive statistics are quite similar, which confirms the reliability of respondents' answers and the results gained. The analyzed sites are differently positioned in the evaluation matrix, and implications are further discussed in the paper

Resistance to erythromycin of Campylobacter jejuni and Campylobacter coli isolated from animals and humans

The sensititivity of thermophilic Campylobacter strains isolated from caecum of broiler chickens as well as caecum and colon of pigs and human stools, were tested against erythromycin. In 16 strains isolated in broiler chickens, resistance rate was found to be 12.50%. Three of 10 strains of Campylobacter jejuni and one of 6 strains of Campylobacter coli isolated from broiler chickens were resistant to erythromycin. In 15 strains of thermophilic Campylobacters isolated from pigs, resistance rate to erythromycin was 40.00%. Resistance was exhibited more often in C. coli (50.00%) as compared to C. jejuni (20.00%). In 24 strains isolated from humans, resistance was demonstrated at the rate of 12.50%. Out of 17 strains of C. jejuni isolated from humans, resistance was exhibited in 17.65% strains. None of 7 strains of C. coli isolated from humans exhibited resistance to erythromycin. Thermophilic campylobacters, especially C. coli isolated from pigs were more resistant to erythromycin than strains isolated from humans and broiler chickens. Therefore, a great attention should be directed to the macrolides monitoring in swine farming in order to prevent resistance in animals and its subsequent spread to human

Contribution to the knowledge of distribution of certain macrophytes, invasive and threatened species in Serbia

This paper contains a short report about new and unpublished chorological data for the following species: Hydrocharis morsus-ranae L., Bidens cernuus L., Najas marina L., Potamogeton lucens L., Schoenoplectus triqueter (L.) Palla, Cyperus rotundus L., Polypogon monspeliensis (L.) Desf. and Paspalum distichum L.. Despite the fact that this paper provides insight into the distribution of analyzed species, it could be used as a base for invasive species’ Paspalum distichum L. expanding patterns research, and as a base for reevaluation of the threatened status of Schoenoplectus triqueter (L.) Palla and Cyperus rotundus L. in Serbia

In vitro biosinteza ohratoksina A kod izolata Aspergillus ochraceus E'G

This paper deals with the biosynthetic capacity for ochratoxin A (OTA) production by Aspergillus ochraceus E'G isolate derived from A. ochraceus CBS 108.08 strain, during 2007. Preliminary analysis of fungal potential for the production of OTA were performed according to the modified method of Filtenborg et al. (1983). Toxin production was tested in the following liquid media: (i) glucose-peptone-yeast extract broth (GPY - pH 5.6), (ii) potato-dextrose broth (PDB - pH 6.9), (iii) yeast extract-sucrose broth (YES - pH 6.5), and (iv) YES broth supplemented with 0.23 mg/l ZnSO4 x 5 H2O (YESZn - pH 6.5) after stationary and submerged cultivation. Dynamics of OTA biosynthesis was tested after the cultivation of A. ochraceus E'G on natural solid substrates, such as wet sterilized rice, corn and wheat grain. Cultivations were performed during different time periods (ranging from four days to few weeks) at different temperatures (ranging from 21°C to 30°C). The presence of OTA was determined as follows: (i) in liquid media according to the method of Balzer et al. (1978) modified by Bočarov-Stančić et al. (2003), and (ii) in the solid substrates according to the Serbian official methods for sampling and analyzing of fodder (Official Gazette of SFRY, No. 15/87). After the cultivation of A. ochraceus E'G isolate in liquid media, the highest yield of OTA (6.4 mg/l) was obtained after submerged cultivation in PDB (4 days, 128 rpm, 21-23°C). In the case of cultivation on solid substrates, the highest amount of OTA (800.0 mg/kg of dry matter) was recorded after several week long cultivation on wheat grain at 30±1°C.Ispitivanjem je bio obuhvaćen izolat Aspergillus ochraceus E'G izveden iz soja A. ochraceus CBS 108.08. Preliminarne analize prisustva ohratoksina A (OTA) su izvršene prema modifikovanoj metodi Filtenborg -a i sar. (1983) na agarizobanim podlogama. Proizvodnja toksina je testirana u sledećim tečnim podlogama: 1) glukoza-pepton-ekstrakt kvasca u bujonu (GPY - pH 5,6), 2) krompir - dekstroznom bujonu (PDB - pH 6,9), 3) ekstrakt kvasca - saharoznom bujonu (YES - pH 6,5) i 4) ekstrakt kvasca-saharoznom bujonu sa dodatkom 0,23 mg/l ZnSO4 x 5 H2O (YESZn - pH 6,5) u uslovima stacionarne i submerzne kultivacije. Dinamika biosinteze ohratoksina A praćena je nakon gajenja na prirodnim čvrstim supstratima (zrno pirinča, kukuruza i pšenice) tokom višenedeljne kultivacije. Ohratoksin A je izolovan iz tečnih podloga za kultivaciju i produkciju primenom metode Balzera i sar. (1978) modifikovane prema Bočarov-Stančić i sar. (2003), dok je kvantitacija OTA u prirodnim čvrstim supstratima izvršena prema Pravilniku o metodama uzimanja uzoraka i metodama fizičkih, hemijskih i mikrobioloških analiza stočne hrane ('Sl. list SFRJ', br. 15/87). Pri gajenju izolata A. ochraceus E'G u tečnim podlogama najveći prinos OTA je dobijen pri korišćenju PDB (6,4 mg/l) i to u uslovima submerzne kultivacije (4 dana, 128 o/min, 21-23°C). U slučaju kultivacije na zrnu žitarica najveću količinu OTA je izolat A. ochraceus E'G biosintetisao posle višenedeljne kultivacije na zrnu pšenice i 30±1°C (800,0 mg/kg)

Meteoroid Fragmentation in the Martian Atmosphere and the Formation of Crater Clusters

The current rate of small impacts on Mars is informed by more than one thousand impact sites formed in the last 20 years, detected in images of the martian surface. More than half of these impacts produced a cluster of small craters formed by fragmentation of the meteoroid in the martian atmosphere. The spatial distributions, number and sizes of craters in these clusters provide valuable constraints on the properties of the impacting meteoroid population as well as the meteoroid fragmentation process. In this paper, we use a recently compiled database of crater cluster observations to calibrate a model of meteoroid fragmentation in Mars' atmosphere and constrain key model parameters, including the lift coefficient and fragment separation velocity, as well as meteoroid property distributions. The model distribution of dynamic meteoroid strength that produces the best match to observations has a minimum strength of 10–90 kPa, a maximum strength of 3–6 MPa and a median strength of 0.2–0.5 MPa. An important feature of the model is that individual fragmentation events are able to produce fragments with a wide range of dynamic strengths as much as 10 times stronger or weaker than the parent fragment. The calibrated model suggests that the rate of small impacts on Mars is 1.5–4 times higher than recent observation‐based estimates. It also shows how impactor properties relevant to seismic wave generation, such as the total impact momentum, can be inferred from cluster characteristics

Engineering CAR-T therapies for autoimmune disease and beyond

Chimeric antigen receptor-T cell (CAR-T) therapy has transformed the management of refractory hematological malignancies. Now that targeting pathogenic cells of interest with antigen-directed cytotoxic T lymphocytes is possible, the field is expanding the reach of CAR-T therapy beyond oncology. Recently, breakthrough progress has been made in the application of CAR-T technology to autoimmune diseases, exploiting the same validated targets that were used by pioneering CAR-T therapies in hematology. Here, we discuss recent advances and outcomes that are paving the way for extension to new therapeutic areas, including autoimmunity

Supplementary data for article : Lozo, J.; Mirkovic, N.; O’Connor, P. M.; Malesevic, M.; Miljkovic, M.; Polović, N.; Jovcic, B.; Cotter, P. D.; Kojić, M. O. Lactolisterin BU, a Novel Class II Broad-Spectrum Bacteriocin from Lactococcus Lactis Subsp Lactis Bv. Diacetylactis BGBU1-4. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 2017, 83 (21). https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01519-17

Supplementary material for: [ https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.01519-17]Related to published version: [http://cherry.chem.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/2541