The response to bacterial inoculation is cultivar-related in strawberries

This study was carried out to evaluate the impact of biofertilizer and cultivar on vegetative potential (height of the plant, number of crowns and leaves per plant, and the area of a single leaf), leaf mineral composition (micro- and macroelements), yield potential (number of inflorescences and fruit set per plant, yield per plant, and yield per square meter), fruit characteristics (mass, length, width, and fruit shape index), and chemical traits (soluble solids content, titratable acidity (TA), vitamin C, total anthocyanins (TACY), total phenolic content (TPC), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC)) in the fruits of Clery, Joly and Dely strawberry plants. Two types of biofertilizer were applied: Biofertilizer 1 (inoculums of the mixture of liquid bacteria cultures of the genera Azotobacter, Derxia, and Bacillus) and Biofertilizer 2 (inoculums of liquid culture of diazotrophic bacteria belonging to the genus Klebsiella). The applied biofertilizers made a significant impact on the parameters of vegetative potential and contents of some macroelements and microelements in the leaf, as well as the values of TA, TACY, TPC, and TAC. Cultivar demonstrated a significant impact on plant height and the number of crowns in it, leaf macroelement and microelement content, generative potential parameters, and morphometric and chemical fruit parameters

Mesenchymal Stem Cells from Periapical Lesions Upregulate the Production of Immunoregulatory Cytokines by Inflammatory Cells in Culture

The pathophysiology of periapical lesions (PLs) is under control of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory (mainly immunoregulatory) cytokines. We have recently established mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) from PLs and showed their suppressive effects on the production of proinflammatory cytokines from PLs inflammatory cells (ICs). In this work we studied the production of interleukin (IL)-10, IL-27 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-β, by PL-ICs in direct or indirect contacts with PL-MSCs. PL-ICs, which were isolated from four different asymptomatic PLs, predominantly composed of lymphocytes, followed by neutrophil granulocytes, macrophages and plasma cells. PLMSCs, expressing typical MSC markers, were co-cultivated with PL-ICs at 1:10 ratio, either in direct contact or in a transwell-system, for 24 hours. The levels of cytokines in cell-culture supernatants were tested by ELISA. The results showed that PL-MSCs up-regulated the production of all three immunoregulatory cytokines by PL-ICs. PL-MSCs stimulated the production of IL-10 and IL-27 via soluble factors, whereas the up-regulation of TGF-β required direct cell-to-cell contacts. In conclusion, our results showed for the first time the involvement of PL-MSCs in restriction of inflammation in PLs by up-regulation of immunoregulatory cytokines

Biocompatibility and cytotoxicity study of nanophotonic rigid gas permeable contact lens material

Since materials on nanoscale have different characteristics from materials on macro scale their biocompatibility should be precisely and specifically investigated. Fullerenes, the third carbon allotrope, are one of the most used nanomaterials. The least stable and the most common is fullerene C-60. One of the main disadvantages of fullerene is its low solubility in water. In order to make it soluble, it must be functionalized with polar groups such as -OH and -COOH. From all the water soluble fullerenes the most important ones are those with -OH groups attached named fullerols. We have developed new materials for contact lenses by adding fullerene (C-60) and fullerol (C-60(OH)(24)) into PMMA. The aim of our investigation was to compare the influences of those materials on aqueous solutions similar to tear film. For the analysis of the solutions we used opto-magnetic imaging and IR spectroscopy. The acquired spectrums were commented and compared with the standard contact lens material, which was analyzed by the same methods. The ISO 10993 cytotoxicity test on extract of nanophotonic material with incorporated C-60 was done as well. This research contributes to better understanding of the biocompatibility of new rigid gas permeable contact lens materials

Pathogenicity and diversity of vegetative compatibility of Fusarium verticillioides

Pathogenicity of 10 Fusarium verticillioides isolates, originated from grain of wheat (five isolates) and maize (five isolates), were studied under greenhouse conditions. Based on different parameters of the pathogenicity estimate (a scale for % of nonemerged plants, % of survived plants, plant vigour - the growth and dry weight of roots and epicotyls and disease severity) it was determined that all F. verticillioides isolates expressed a different degree of pathogenicity. According to % of nonemerged plants six three and one F. verticillioides isolates expressed low, moderate and high degree of pathogenicity, respectively. All F. verticillioides isolates reduced the plant survival rate and vigour, while the disease severity ranged from 2.0 to 3.54. Two types of nit mutants, nit1 and NitM, were obtained by the use of the method of vegetative compatibility. The frequency of nit1 mutants was greater (58.79%) than the frequency of NitM mutants (5.77%). A total of 10 vegetative compatibility groups (VCGs) of F. verticillioides were established in the complementation tests. These results point out to a high genetic diversity of F. verticillioides population

Some Aspects of the Three-Dimensional Interface Cracks Analysis

Many problems of interfacial cracks are three dimensional in nature. Three-dimensional cracks at an interface of the two materials are analysed in this paper. For a crack at an interface, the stress intensity factors, load phase angle and energy release rate depend on elastic characteristics of two bonded materials and on geometry and the load conditions of a bimaterial sample. Influence of Dundurs\u27 parameters on stress intensity factors, load phase angle and energy release rate for different bi-material combinations and for the quarter-circular corner crack are discussed in this paper. Results show that elastic properties of materials constituting the interface have significant influence on behaviour of the 3D interface crack. Mode I stress intensity factor KI increases when the crack front approaches the free surface, while KII remains almost constant having the highest values between 10° and 80°, what results in high values of the load phase angle. The KIII stress intensity factor is zero in the symmetry plane, while its value increases as the crack front approaches free surfaces. The energy release rate diagrams show that the crack of a quarter circular front propagates faster closer to free surfaces than in the middle what means that the crack front would have the tendency of straightening

THE FREQUENCY AND USAGE OF OVER-DERIVATIVES IN TEXTS ON COVID-19

Being stylistically neutral, prefix over- is used in different functional styles. Here the focus is on its usage in words appearing in written newspaper texts on COVID-19. The main goal of the paper is to examine the overall frequency of overderivatives in this type of text. The idea is to illustrate the most frequent word class of derivatives, show their meanings and to analyse morphological and colligational patterns in which and with which they occur. Derivational prefixes can change either the meaning of the word they are attached to or the word class. Taking into account the frequency and features derived words with this prefix show, we consider that this paper will give a significant contribution to further research on over-words in different types of texts

Ispitivanje uticaja nanofotoničnih tvrdih gaspropusnih kontaktnih sočiva na fiziološki rastvor akvafotomikom i opto-magnetnom imidžing spektroskopijom

Contact lenses represent biomaterials whose main purpose is to correct the specific refractive anomaly of the eye. Since the visible light on its way to the perceptive part of the eye has to pass through the contact lens, the characteristics of the materials can significantly modify it. Biocompatibility of the lens surface is one of the most important issues in achieving contact lens wear without problems. We have developed new nanophotonic contact lens materials by adding nanoparticles of fullerene and their derivatives into standard PMMA RGP material. The aim of our investigation was to compare the influences of these materials on saline which is similar to tear film. We used NIR spectroscopy based on 12 vibration modes, called Aquaphotomics and Opto-magnetic imaging (OMI) spectroscopy as methods for characterizing the samples. The acquired spectrums were commented and compared with the standard contact lens material, which was analyzed by the same method.Kontaktna sočiva predstavljaju biomaterijale čija je glavna svrha ispravljanje specifičnih refraktivnih anomalija oka. S obzirom da vidljiva svetlost na svom putu do perceptivnog dela oka mora da prođe kroz kontaktno sočivo, karakteristike materijala mogu značajno da je izmene. Biokompatibilnost površine sočiva je jedno od najvažnijih pitanja u postizanju nošenja kontaktnih sočiva bez problema. Razvijeni su novi nanofotonični materijali za kontaktna sočiva dodavanjem nanočestica fulerena i njihovih derivata u standardni PMMA materijal za tvrda gas propusna kontaktna sočiva. Cilj našeg istraživanja je bilo poređenje uticaja ovih materijala na fiziološki rastvor koji je sličan suznom filmu. Za karakterizaciju uzoraka koristili smo blisku infracrvenu spektroskopiju zasnovanu na 12 vibracionih modova, poznatiju kao Akvafotomika. Dobijeni spektri su komentarisani i upoređeni sa standardnim materijalom za kontaktna sočiva, koji je analiziran istom metodom

Molecular tools for utilization of mitochondrial diversity in faba bean (vicia faba)

We performed in silico PCR analyses utilizing complete mitochondrial (mtDNA) genome sequences of faba bean (Vicia faba) and two related species, Vigna angularis and Vigna radiata, currently available in GenBank, to infer whether 15 published universal primer pairs for amplification of all 14 cis-spliced introns in genes of NADH subunits (nad genes) are suitable for V. faba and related species. Then, we tested via PCR reactions whether seven out of 15 primer pairs would generate PCR products suitable for further manipulation in 16 genotypes of V. faba representing all botanical varieties of this species (major, minor, equina and subsp. paucijuga) of various levels of improvement (traditional and improved cultivars) originating from Europe, Africa, Asia and south America. We provide new PCR primers for amplification of nad1 intron 2/3 in V. faba, and demonstrate intraspecific variability in primary nucleotide sequences at this locus. Based on outcomes of both in silico predictions and PCR amplification, we report a set of PCR primers for amplification of five introns in nad genes that are promising molecular tools for future phylogeographic and other studies in this species for which unambiguous data on wild ancestors, centre of origin and domestication are lacking

Are Prothrombotic Mutations a Time-to-Event Risk Factor?

Background: Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) represents a common disorder involving genetic and acquired risk factors. It has been proposed that acquired risk factors are more important with aging than genetic factors, indicating different prevalence of prothrombotic mutations throughout the lifespan. Objective: To determine the role of the most frequent prothrombotic genetic risk factors (Factor V [FV] Leiden and Factor II [FII] G20210A mutations) in first-time DVT etiology in patients of different ages. Method: This retrospective study included 701 patients living in Serbia with diagnosed DVT as a first-time thrombotic event. Results: Risk assessment for mutations as age-related markers showed no statistical difference (FV Leiden mutation-OR, 1.027; 95% confidence interval [CI],.87-1.22; P=.76 and FII G20210A mutation-OR, 0.940, 95% CI,.74-1.19; P=.61). Our results show similar mutation prevalence regardless of how old the patients were at the time of the first DVT occurrence. Conclusion: Our results indicate that these 2 mutations cannot be used as prognostic marker for time-to-event first DVT in the Serbian population; however, further studies are required

Characterization of extra-hard cheese produced from donkeys’ and caprine milk mixture

International audienceAbstractCheese cannot be produced solely from equine or donkeys’ milk, because of the unique physico-chemical properties of these milks. The purpose of this study was to characterize a novel dairy product, cheese produced from donkeys’ and caprine milk mixture (60:40% v/v), regarding its chemical, microbiological, textural and sensory properties. Fully ripened cheese was classified as a high-fat, extra-hard cheese, with high sodium (29.97 g.kg−1), magnesium (3.07 g.kg−1) and potassium (4.70 g.kg−1) content. The characterization by lab-on-a-chip electrophoresis revealed lysozyme, α-lactalbumin, immunoglobulins and casein fractions. Palmitic (C16:0) and oleic fatty acids (C18:2 n9-cis) with 25.11 and 24.70%, respectively, were found at the highest concentrations. The medium-chain fatty acids account 18.21% of the total fatty acid content in analysed cheese samples. Escherichia coli, Salmonella spp., Enterobacteriaceae, coagulase-positive staphylococci, Listeria monocytogenes, Bacillus cereus, Clostridium perfringens as well as moulds were under the limit of detection in all analysed samples. After 6 months of cheese ripening (0.94 aw, pH 4.71), total bacterial count, the counts of lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were 6.34 ± 0.03, 4.80 ± 0.10 and 5.81 ± 0.11 log CFU.g−1, respectively. The texture of mature cheese was moderately hard and crumbly. The cheese was described as very salty with strong pronounced creamy, fatty and acidic taste. The characterized donkey/caprine cheese could position this type of cheese as a high-quality functional product, thus having a potential impact on the market