Influence of the building energy efficiency on indoor air temperature: The case of a typical school classroom in Serbia

Greenhouse gases emission as well as total energy consumption in buildings of public importance, such as schools, municipal buildings, health care centers, can be significantly reduced by increasing buildings’ energy efficiency. Buildings’ energy consumption adds up to 37% of total energy consumption in the EU countries. In the Republic of Serbia this amount is significantly higher, about 50%. School buildings are considered as one of the most diverse structures from the point of energy-efficient design and construction. The main aim of this paper is to determine the most appropriate settings for possible improvements in energy efficiency and temperature comfort inside a typical primary school classroom in Serbia. The energy efficiency analysis was performed during the heating season for the naturally ventilated primary school classroom located in the eastern Serbia region. The analysis was performed using novel CFD model, suggested in this paper. The suggested model was used to solve two hypothetical scenarios. The first scenario simulates the temperature field in classroom with current energy characteristic envelope of the school building. The calculated numerical data from the first scenario were compared with in-situ measurements values of temperature and wall heat fluxes and showed satisfying accuracy. The second scenario was simulated to indicate possible improvements, which would allow energy consumption decrease and thermal quality enhancement. The analyzed results, calculated using the suggested numerical model under the second scenario conditions, showed that using appropriate set of measures, it is possible to obtain desired temperature comfort levels without need for increase in the building energy consumption

The Effects ofAronia melanocarpaJuice Consumption on the mRNA Expression Profile in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells in Subjects at Cardiovascular Risk

Foods and food products that contain polyphenols are proposed to modulate risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this three-arm, crossover, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled intervention study was to examine the impact ofAronia melanocarpajuice (AMJ), high-polyphenol (AMJ treatment, 1.17 g/100 mL polyphenols) and low-polyphenol (dAMJ treatment, 0.29 g/100 mL polyphenols) dose, on the transcriptome in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of 19 subjects at cardiovascular risk. Transcriptome data were obtained by microarray. Bioinformatic functional annotation analysis was performed on both the whole transcriptome datasets and the differentially expressed genes (DEGs). Expression of selected DEGs was validated by RT-qPCR. Administration of AMJ and dAMJ treatments during the two consecutive four-week treatment periods had additive effects on PBMC transcriptome profiles, with the most pronounced and specific effect noticed for AMJ in the last treatment period (TP3) of the trial. Between the high-dose and low-dose treatments in TP3, there was a multitude of overlapping DEGs and DEG-enriched biological processes and pathways, which primarily included immunomodulation and regulation of cell proliferation/death. Increased expression ofTNF,IL1B,IL8,RGS1,OSM, andDUSP2in TP3 was confirmed by RT-qPCR. The results suggest the immunomodulatory effects of prolonged habitual consumption of polyphenol-rich aronia juice in individuals at cardiovascular risk

Correction to: Redox Status and Antioxidative Cofactor Metals Influence Clinical and Pathological Characteristics of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and Colloid Goiter (Biological Trace Element Research, (2020), 197, 2, (349-359), 10.1007/s12011-019-01995-x)

Papillary thyroid carcinoma (PTC) is the endocrine neoplasm that occurs the most often worldwide, and its molecular pathophysiology is still not well characterized. Redox status is recognized as an important factor of carcinogenesis, but its influence on the PTC's clinical course needs to be better elucidated. The aim of this research was to determine the tissue redox status of 65 PTC and 45 colloid goiter (CG) patients together with antioxidative cofactor metal profiling. The malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration was used to access the prooxidation level, while antioxidant mechanisms were estimated by assaying the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and glutathione reductase (GR). The antioxidative cofactor metals included quantification of Se, Cu, Zn, and Mn concentration. PTC tissues had normal prooxidation levels and increased GPx and GR activity. The activity of SOD has been significantly reduced in multicentric PTC dissemination and increased in smokers. SOD activity was directly dependent on MDA levels in CG tissues. CG patients with retrosternal goiter had reduced MDA concentration and SOD activity. Numerous correlations between redox parameters in PTC tissues reveal good co-activation of antioxidative mechanisms and cooperative response on prooxidation. PTC tissues had decreased Se levels and increased concentration of Cu and Mn in comparison to other tissues. MDA concentration and SOD activity were significant predictors of PTC's multicentric dissemination and for the existence of lymph node metastases, respectively. Particularly, the concentration of Cu predicted the retrosternal localization in CG patients. Significant findings presented in this study provide a possibility for development of novel prognostic molecular biomarkers of PTC and CG.The contribution corrects an equation from the paper: Rovcanin, B.; Stojsavljevic, A.; Kekic, D.; Gopcevic, K.; Manojlovic, D.; Jovanovic, M.; Knezevic, S.; Zivaljevic, V.; Diklic, A.; Paunovic, I. Redox Status and Antioxidative Cofactor Metals Influence Clinical and Pathological Characteristics of Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma and Colloid Goiter. Biol Trace Elem Res 2020, 197 (2), 349–359. [https://doi.org/10.1007/s12011-019-01995-x

IMPACT OF DIFFERENCES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIOECONOMIC STABILITY ON BENZODIAZEPINE EXPOSURE BETWEEN THE THREE BALKANS COUNTRIES

Introduction: Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders. Benzodiazepines belong to the group of anxiolytic sedatives and the most prescribed drugs in the world. The aim in ours study was to evaluate the differences in the exposure of the population to benzodiazepines (in period from 2014-2018) be tween Serbia, Slovenia and Croa tia, the three countries of th e Southwestern Balkans with varying degrees of socioeconomic development. Study design: A academic investigator initiated, pharmacoepidemiological difference-in -difference time se ries analysis of population exposure to benzodiazepines between the three, geogr aphically close Balkans countries (Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia) wi th varying degrees of socioeconomic developmen t has been carried out. Study was conducted as academic investigator initiated, in a retrospective manner on monthly basis international data set from January 2014 to December 2018. Results: At the annual level, during the study period from Januar y 2014 to December 2018, compared to Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia had higher DIDs, from 5 fold (Croatia) to 6 fold (Serbi a), for all benzodiazepines in total. By analyzing the differenc es-in- difference, we have shown that influence of both time (month) and c ountry on DIDs is significant as well as their mutual intera ction (the country × month) for all benzodiazepines in total. Conclusion: Serbia and Croatia must implement exp licit measures of reduci ng benzodiazepine prescription in health primary care based on evidence-based recommendations in the indicati ons where general medicine practitioners/family doctors most commonly prescribe these medicines. Without providing a realistic supplement/alternative to benzodiazepines such as increasing the availability of psychotherapy and impr oving the structure of psyc hiatric professionals in healthcare settings, implicit measures are not recommended for reducing pr escription, implementing accountability measures for prolonged prescription of benzodiazepines, and in particular for“ masked ”somatic diseases . All this comes to the fore by raising economic development and socioeconomic stabilit

IMPACT OF DIFFERENCES IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIOECONOMIC STABILITY ON BENZODIAZEPINE EXPOSURE BETWEEN THE THREE BALKANS COUNTRIES

Introduction: Anxiety disorders are among the most common mental disorders. Benzodiazepines belong to the group of anxiolytic sedatives and the most prescribed drugs in the world. The aim in ours study was to evaluate the differences in the exposure of the population to benzodiazepines (in period from 2014-2018) be tween Serbia, Slovenia and Croa tia, the three countries of th e Southwestern Balkans with varying degrees of socioeconomic development. Study design: A academic investigator initiated, pharmacoepidemiological difference-in -difference time se ries analysis of population exposure to benzodiazepines between the three, geogr aphically close Balkans countries (Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia) wi th varying degrees of socioeconomic developmen t has been carried out. Study was conducted as academic investigator initiated, in a retrospective manner on monthly basis international data set from January 2014 to December 2018. Results: At the annual level, during the study period from Januar y 2014 to December 2018, compared to Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia had higher DIDs, from 5 fold (Croatia) to 6 fold (Serbi a), for all benzodiazepines in total. By analyzing the differenc es-in- difference, we have shown that influence of both time (month) and c ountry on DIDs is significant as well as their mutual intera ction (the country × month) for all benzodiazepines in total. Conclusion: Serbia and Croatia must implement exp licit measures of reduci ng benzodiazepine prescription in health primary care based on evidence-based recommendations in the indicati ons where general medicine practitioners/family doctors most commonly prescribe these medicines. Without providing a realistic supplement/alternative to benzodiazepines such as increasing the availability of psychotherapy and impr oving the structure of psyc hiatric professionals in healthcare settings, implicit measures are not recommended for reducing pr escription, implementing accountability measures for prolonged prescription of benzodiazepines, and in particular for“ masked ”somatic diseases . All this comes to the fore by raising economic development and socioeconomic stabilit

Morphometric Analysis of Nonsclerosed Glomeruli Size and Connective Tissue Content during the Aging Process

Number of sclerotic glomeruli increases during the aging process. Consequently, majority of remained nonsclerosed glomeruli become hypertrophic and some of them sclerotic, too. The aim of this study was to quantify the size and connective tissue content of nonsclerosed glomeruli and to evaluate the percentage of hypertrophic ones in examined human cases during the aging. Material was right kidney's tissue of 30 cadavers obtained during routine autopsies. Cadavers were without previously diagnosed kidney disease, diabetes, hypertension, or any other systemic disease. Tissue specimens were routinely prepared for histological and morphometric analysis. Images of the histological slices were analyzed and captured under 400x magnification with digital camera. Further they were morphometrically and statistically analyzed with ImageJ and NCSS-PASS software. Multiple and linear regression of obtained morphometric parameters showed significant increase of glomerular connective tissue area and percentage. Cluster analysis showed the presence of two types of glomeruli. Second type was characterized with significantly larger size, connective tissue content, and significantly lower cellularity, in relation to the first type. Such glomeruli might be considered as hypertrophic. First type of glomeruli was predominant in younger cases, while second type of glomeruli was predominant in cases older than 55 years

HSA carbonylation with methylglyoxal and the binding/release of copper(II) ions

The potential of carbonylation with methylglyoxal to alter HSA's binding affinity for copper(II) ions and its influence on the release of copper(II) ions from copper-HSA complexes were studied. The affinity of HSA to coordinate copper(II) decreased upon carbonylation of the Cys34-SH group. Carbonylation of copper-HSA complexes caused a decrease in Cys34-SH content, conformational changes and the release of copper(II) ions. The ratio between the percentage of reduction in the Cys34-SH group content and the percentage of release of copper(II) from complexes is 2.12 +/- 0.28. Because the same ratio (1.96 +/- 0.36) was obtained upon oxidation of the Cys34-SH group (with no changes in HSA conformation), the binding/release of copper (II) by HSA depended mainly on the redox state of the Cys34-SH group. The contents of Cys34-SH and HSA-bound copper(II) ions in the diabetic group (0.457 +/- 0.081 mol SH per mol HSA, 10.7 +/- 0.01 mmol per mol HSA, resp.) were significantly lower (p lt 0.01) compared to the control group (0.609 +/- 0.027 mol SH per mol HSA; 13.4 +/- 0.01 mmol per mol HSA, resp.). Very strong correlations between the values for HSA-SH and glycated haemoglobin, HbA1c, (R = -0.803, p lt 0.01), and between the values for the HSA-bound copper(II) content and HSA-SH content (R = 0.841, p lt 0.002) were found in the diabetic group. Thus, HSA carbonylation leads to decrease in HSA-SH content and to the impairment of its copper(II) binding capacity that could contribute to further enhancement of oxidative and carbonyl stress in diabetes (as well as in other diseases with carbonyl stress)

ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES OF THE ESSENTIAL OIL AND SOLVENT EXTRACTS OF MENTHA PULEGIUM L.

We report the total phenolic (TPC; expressed as gallic acid equivalents, GAE, per milligram of dry extract weight) and the total flavonoid contents (TFC; expressed as quercetin equivalents, QE, per milligram of dry extract weight) and antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of the essential oil and hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Mentha pulegium L. (Lamiaceae) collected in Serbia. The total phenolic content was in the range of 129.43-388.29 μg GAE/mg, while TFC ranged from 57.81 to 160.94 QE/mg; the highest TPC and TFC were found in the methanol extract. The antimicrobial activity (against five bacteria and two fungi species) of the essential oil and solvent extracts was assessed using disc-diffusion method. However, the studied samples demonstrated a poor antimicrobial potential. The antioxidant activity was screened using five different tests: 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging assay (DPPH), 2,2'-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulphonic acid radical cation decolorization assay (ABTS), total reducing power (TRP), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) and cupric reducing antioxidant capacity assay (CUPRAC); the methanol extract showed the strongest antioxidant potential. The results of the different antioxidant assays were correlated mutually and with the total flavonoid and total phenolic contents (regression analysis and agglomerative hierarchical clustering). ANTIOKSIDANTNA I ANTIMIKROBNA AKTIVNOST ETARSKOG ULJA I EKSTRAKATA BILJNE VRSTE MENTHA PULEGIUM L.U ovom radu je određen sadržaj ukupnih fenola (TPC; izražen u ekvivalentima galne kiseline, GAE, po miligramu suvog biljnog ekstrakta) i ukupnih flavonoida (TPC; izražen u ekvivalentima kvarcetina, QE, po miligramu suvog biljnog ekstrakta), kao i antimikrobna i antioksidantna aktivnost etarskog ulja i heksanskog, dietil-etarskog, etil-acetatnog i metanolnog ekstrakta biljne vrste Mentha pulegium L. (Lamiaceae; populacija iz Srbije). Sadržaj ukupnih fenola analiziranih uzoraka se kretao u opsegu od 129,43 do 388,29 μg GAE/mg, dok je TFC bio u interval od 57,81 do 160,94 QE/mg; najviše vrednosti za TPC i TFC nađene su za metanolni ekstrakt. Antimikrobna aktivnost (prema pet bakterijskih i dva soja gljivica) etarskog ulja i ekstrakata je određena disk-difuzionom metodom. Proučavani uzorci su imali slabu antimikrobnu aktivnost. Antioksidantna aktivnost je ispitivana pomoću DPPH (2,2-difenil-1-pikrilhidrazil radikal), ABTS (2,2'-azino-bis(3-etilbenzotijazolin-6-sulfonska kiselina radikal katjon), TRP (ukupna redukciona sposobnost), FRAP (sposobnost redukcije feri-jona) i CUPRAC (sposobnost redukcije Cu(II)-jona) metodama; najviši antioksidantni potencijal je imao metanolni ekstrakt. Rezultati različitih metoda za određivanje antioksidantnog potencijala su korelisani međusobno, kao i sa sadržajem ukupnih fenola i flavonoida (regresiona analiza i aglomerativna hijerarhijska klaster analiza). HIGHLIGHTSThe essential oil and hexane, diethyl ether, ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Mentha pulegium L. collected in Serbia were studied.Their total phenolic content was in the range of 129.43-388.29 μg GAE/mg, while total flavonoid content ranged from 57.81 to 160.94 QE/mg.Solvent extracts (SE) and essential oil of the studied M. pulegium population were poor antimicrobials.Antioxidant activities of SE were studied using five different methods.Differences between the previous and the present results suggest M. pulegium metabolic profile might be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors

Uticaj modifikacije na strukturna, teksturalna i adsorpciona svojstva bentonita

Natural bentonite clay from the Bogovina locality in Serbia was Na-exchanged and modified using hexadecyll-trimethylammonium bromide as surfactant and organobentonite was obtained. The influence of modifications on the structural, textural and sorption properties of bentonite was investigated. It was estimated that modifications solely replace exchangeable cations in smectite layers, whereas other admixture minerals (quartz, calcite, feldspar) in bentonite remain unaffected. According to X-ray results the modification lead to changes in the smectite structure by either decreasing, for Na-bentonite, or increasing, for organobentonite, the interplanar spacing, d(001). The appearance of three new bands in IR spectra of HDTMA-bentonite comparing to those of raw and Na-bentonite assigned to the methylene vibrations confirmed the embedding of aliphatic cations into smectite structure. In organobentonite a significant change in textural properties was observed. In particular, specific surface area dramatically decreased while originally meso and microporous material became almost completely non-porous. Despite almost insignificant specific surface area the synthesized organobentonite due to gained organophyllity of its surface exhibits exquisite adsorption properties toward investigated textile dyes having adsorption capacity approx. 2 times higher than activated carbon.Prirodna bentonitna glina sa lokaliteta Bogovina u Srbiji je natrijumski izmenjena i modifikovana heksadeciltrimetil amonijum-bromidom kao surfaktantom, pri čemu je dobijen organobentonit. Ispitivan je uticaj modifikacije na strukturu, teksturalna i adsorpciona svojstva bentonita. Utvrđeno je da primenjeni postupci modifikacije dovode isključivo do izmene katjona u medulamelamom sloju smektita, dok modifikacija ne deluje na druge prateće minerale u bentonitu (kvare, kalcit, feldspat). Uprkos neznatnoj specifičnoj površini sintetizovani organobentonit zahvaljujući novodobijenoj organofilnosti površine pokazuje izuzetna adsorpciona svojstva prema tekstilnim bojama, imajući adsorpcioni kapacitet oko 2 puta veći od aktivnog uglja