Impact of COVID pandemic on attitude and prevalence of plant-based food products consumption in Serbia

COVID pandemic influence on eating behavior and dietary habits with respect to various plant-based foods in Serbia were estimated by an anonymous questionnaire. Most examinees agree that fruits and vegetables contribute to strengthening immunity and that herbal medicines and natural products have beneficial effects on health. Around 55% of examinees consider their diet balanced, and 4% have started to drink herbal teas more often when the pandemic started. Garlic and ginger were the most frequently reported newly included plants in examinees’ diet. The attitudes toward plant-based food products are not strongly dependent on the education level. The age and previous dietary habits of examinees have great influence in the current frequency of consuming fruits, vegetables, herbal teas, spices, and dietary supplements. There was a significant shift toward greater use of herbal teas and dietary supplements, especially among the population that has already consumed them occasionally. Somewhat concerning is the fact that around half of respondents use dietary supplements without the recommendation of an expert. People with good dietary habits and the elderly were most prone to improving their diet. Roughly 15% of all respondents now have the same habits as before the pandemic, although they improved their diets temporarily at the beginning of COVID pandemic

Do we have primary health care reform? The story of the Republic of Serbia

Objective To provide insight of national activities and international assistance in PHC reform and to assess their effects on technical and allocative efficiency as well as financial sustainability of primary health care in the Republic of Serbia.Materials and methods Analytical framework of the study consisted of gathering and reviewing of relevant political documents, international assistance project documentation, and analysis of routinely collected national statistical data based on the evaluation model of three groups of criteria: allocative, technical efficiency and financial sustainability in the public sector of Serbia from 2000 to 2007. Time trends were analyzed by Poisson regression models using average annual percentage changes - AAPC, and the percent of targeted change achieved by progress quotient - PQ.Results Allocative efficiency of the PHC during period of 8 years was improved, but technical efficiency was almost unchanged for all service, except for preschool health care. Financial sustainability was also improved measured by indirect indicators of health expenditure.Conclusions Results of this study indicated that we are on the right track with PHC reform, and international support is in accordance with the reform goals. Our approach has been and will remain incremental, gradualist and multi-faceted.PHC reform Evaluation Projects and activities Republic of Serbia

Biological activity of Pinus nigra terpenes-Evaluation of FtsZ inhibition by selected compounds as contribution to their antimicrobial activity

In the current work, in vitro antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal activites of the needle terpenes of three taxa of Pinus nigra from Serbia (ssp. nigra, ssp. pallasiana, and var. banatica) were analyzed. The black pine essential oils showed generally weak antioxidative properties tested by two methods (DPPH and ABTS scavenging assays), where the highest activity was identified in P. nigra var. banatica (IC50=25.08 mg/mL and VitC=0.67 mg (vitamin C)/g when tested with the DPPH and ABTS reagents, respectively). In the antimicrobial assays, one fungal (Aspergilus niger) and two bacterial strains (Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus cereus) showed sensitivity against essential oils of all three P. nigra taxa. The tested oils have been shown to possess inhibitory action in the range from 20.00 to 0.62 mg/mL, where var. banatica exhibited the highest and ssp. nigra the lowest antimicrobial action. In order to determine potential compounds that are responsible for alternative mode of action, molecular docking simulations inside FtsZ (a prokaryotic homolog of tubulin) were performed. Tested compounds were the most abundant terpenoid (germacrene D-4-ol) and its structurally similar terpene (germacrene D), both present in all three essential oils. It was determined that the oxygenated form of the molecule creates stable bonds with investigated enzyme FtsZ, and that this compound, through this mechanism of action participates in the antimicrobial activity. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Serbia {[}173029