144 research outputs found
Ekonomski odnosi Kraljevine Jugoslavije i Nemačke od 1929. do 1941. godine
The aim of this paper is to use a critical analysis of the data available from unpublished archival material and published sources of domestic and foreign origin, as well as relevant historiographic literature, in order to contribute to a better understanding of economic relations between the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and Germany between 1929 and 1941, with a necessary overview of all political and economic factors influencing them, both in these two countries, and on the international scene in the mentioned period. The results obtained are based on a chronological and thematic principle.
Observed from the point of view of economic history, the mentioned period was marked by the Great Depression (1929-1933) and its devastating consequences, while in the domain of political history and international relations, such a role was played by one of the most important and most defining events in the entire interwar period – the coming to power of the Nazis in Germany in 1933, which at the same time marked the beginning of their intense efforts to revitalize plans to create the so-called Grosswirtschaftsraum as one of the main backbones of German foreign policy since the time of national unification, and in which Yugoslavia, severely affected by the consequences of the crisis, was to play an important role. When the Nazi regime came into power, securing political and economic influence in the countries of Southeast Europe became one of the imperatives of German foreign policy, and the entire economic policy of the National Socialist regime was subordinated to the same foreign policy goal – the economic onslaught into the Balkans and the Danube region in order to suppress the French, Italian and British influences from this part of Europe and work on the formation of the Grosswirtschaftsraum, which Germany should use to supplement the lack of agricultural products and strategic raw materials necessary for the decisive victory in the future war conflict. In the case of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, German efforts came to fruition thanks to a trade agreement of 1934, which opened the period of the most intensive trade exchange between the two countries, leading gradually to the growing dependence of the Yugoslav economy on the Third Reich on the eve of World War II, contributed by the increasing participation of German capital in some of its most important branches
Effects of interleukin-17 on mesenchymal and endothelial cell functions and mechanisms involved
Interleukin (IL) 17 familija citokina se smatra najmanje istraženom citokinskom
familijom sa značajnom ulogom u procesu inflamacije. Ubikvitarna rasprostranjenost
receptora za IL-17 omogućava ovom citokinu mnogobrojne biološke efekte u
organizmu, poput važne uloge u imunskom odgovoru i regulaciji procesa hematopoeze,
ali i u progresiji različitih bolesti, uključujući inflamatorna, autoimunska i maligna
oboljenja. IL-17 ima ulogu u ćelijskim procesima poput proliferacije i diferencijacije, i
to prvenstveno na hematopoetskim matičnim i progenitor ćelijama, pri čemu IL-17
ispoljava različite efekte na proliferaciju i diferencijaciju zavisno od tipa ćelijske loze i
stepena diferencijacije ćelija. Takoñe, zbog ubikvitarne rasprostranjenosti svog
receptora, IL-17 je uključen u interakcije izmeñu imunskog sistema i somatskih tkiva.
Novija istraživanja su pokazala da IL-17 ima i ulogu finog regulatora diferencijacije
mezenhimskih matičnih ćelija (MSC, Mesenchymal stem cells), s obzirom na to da
stimuliše osteogenu diferencijaciju dok, s druge strane, inhibira adipogenu diferencijciju
humanih MSC.
Savremena istraživanja biologije MSC ukazala su na širok opseg njihove potencijalne terapijske primene, prvenstveno u regenerativnoj medicini, jer ove
multipotentne adultne matične ćelije koje predstavljaju nediferencirane ćelije sa
sposobnošću samoobnove, imaju sposobnost diferenciranja u ćelije tkiva mezenhimskog
porekla, poput osteoblasta, hondroblasta i adipocita, a prema saznanjima koja imamo
danas, i u ćelije tkiva ektodermalnog i endodermalnog porekla. Matične ćelije različitog
stepena multipotentnosti izolovane su iz raznih adultnih tkiva, kao i perinatalnih tkiva
koja se poslednjih godina sve češće pominju kao povoljan izvor MSC. Meñutim, i pored
velikog napretka u ovoj oblasti, nema konačnih saznanja kako o mehanizmima
odgovornim za regulaciju višestrukih funkcija MSC, tako i o njihovom ukupnom
terapijskom potencijalu. Kako biološke funkcije MSC umnogome zavise od konteksta mikrosredine, ispitivanje interakcija MSC i IL-17 u održavanju multipotentnosti,
mobilizaciji i usmerenoj diferencijaciji MSC je od posebnog značaja.
Pored mezenhimskih ćelija, IL-17 ostvaruje svoje efekte delovanjem na
endotelske ćelije. Jedan od terapijskih ciljeva u regenerativnoj medicini, koji je još uvek
nedovoljno objašnjen, je i podsticanje revaskularizacije oštećenog tkiva. Stimulacija
postojećih, in situ prisutnih endotelskih ćelija na angiogenezu je jedan od mogućih
mehanizama. Efekti IL-17 na endotelske ćelije nisu do sada u potpunosti opisani, i
poznato je samo da IL-17 u prisustvu drugih poznatih angiogenih faktora stimuliše
sposobnost endotelskih ćelija za angiogenezu. Pored toga, poznato je da se funkcije
ćelija kao i delovanje citokina značajano razlikuju u zavisnosti od procenta kiseonika
prisutnog u mikrosredini ćelija. Efekat delovanja IL-17 na endotelske ćelije u prisustvu
različitih koncentracija kiseonika do sada nije istraživan. Takoñe je još uvek nepoznato
da li IL-17 može uticati na diferencijaciju MSC u endotelske ćelije. Da bi se sprovela
istraživanja u ovom pravcu, neophodno je uspostaviti pogodan model za diferencijaciju
MSC u endotelske ćelije Cilj istraživanja ove disertacije bilo je ispitivanje efekata IL-17 na različite
ćelijske funkcije mezenhimskih i endotelskih ćelija u specifičnim uslovima
mikrosredine. Analizirano je dejstvo IL-17 na proliferaciju, migraciju, angiogenezu i
diferencijaciju ćelija. Istraživani su i molekularni mehanizmi koji omogućavaju finu
regulaciju ćelijskih funkcija od strane IL-17, analizom aktivacije signalnih molekula,
kao i ekspresije gena i proteina neophodnih za specifične funkcije. Posebna pažnja u
istraživanjima bila je posvećena izolaciji, karakterizaciji i endotelskoj diferencijaciji
primarnih MSC iz tkiva pupčanika (UC-MSC, Umbilical cord-mesenchymal stem cells).
U okviru razjašnjavanja efekata i mehanizama delovanja IL-17 na diferencijaciju
mezenhimskih ćelija, primenjena je multipotentna mišja C2C12 ćelijska linija. Uticaj
IL-17 na diferencijaciju analiziran je na osnovu ekspresije gena i proteina specifičnih za
odreñeni tip diferencijacije: teškog lanca miozina (MyHC, Myosin heavy chain) i
miogenina za miogenu, a alkalne fosfataze (ALP, Alkaline phosphatase), Runx2/Cbfa1
(Runt-related transcription factor 2/Core-binding factor subunit alpha-1)
transkripcionog faktora i ciklooksigenaze 2 (Cox-2, Cyclooxygenase 2) za osteogenu
diferencijaciju. Pored toga, utvrñivano je učešće mitogenom aktiviranih protein kinaza
(MAPK) i morfogenetskih proteina kosti (BMP, Bone morphogenic proteins) u IL-17-usmerenoj diferencijaciji C2C12 ćelija. Rezultati su pokazali da IL-17 inhibira miogenu
i stimuliše osteogenu diferencijaciju C2C12 ćelija, s obzirom na to da je IL-17-zavisna
inhibicija miogeneze povezana sa redukcijom ekspresije iRNK za miogenin, redukcijom
ekspresije MyHC i izostankom formiranja miotuba, dok je IL-17-zavisna indukcija
osteogeneze povezana sa indukcijom ekspresije iRNK za Runx2/Cbfa1, indukcijom
ekspresije Cox-2 i povišenom aktivnošću ALP. Rezultati su takoñe pokazali da IL-17
ostvaruje ove efekte putem aktivacije ERK1,2 MAPK signalnog puta, nezavisno od
BMP-Smad signalnog puta.
U drugom delu ove studije ispitivan je efekat IL-17 na funkcije endotelskih
ćelija na modelu humane endotelske ćelijske linije, EA.hy 926, praćenjem njihove
proliferacije, migracije i tubulogeneze u uslovima normoksije i hipoksije. Analizirana je
i ekspresija gena za endotelsku azot monoksid sintazu (eNOS, Endothelial nitric oxide
synthase) i Cox-2, kao i njihovih proteinskih produkata, budući da ovi molekuli imaju
važnu ulogu u procesu angiogeneze. Dobijeni rezultati su potvrdili da IL-17 stimuliše
ključne funkcije uključene u proces angiogeneze EA.hy 926 ćelija, poput ćelijske
migracije i tubulogneze, kao i ekspresiju eNOS i Cox-2 u ovim ćelijama. Pro-angiogeni
efekti IL-17 su pokazani u uslovima normoksije (20% O2). Uslovi hipoksije (3% O2)
pokazali su toksično dejstvo na ovu ćelijsku liniju, dok je IL-17 u ovakvim uslovima
umanjio broj apoptotičnih ćelija. U okviru trećeg dela ove disertacije MSC su izolovane iz vezivnog tkiva
pupčanika, tzv. Vartonove sluzi, umnožene i okarakterisane prema važećim
preporukama i kriterijumima Meñunarodnog društva za ćelijsku terapiju. Zatim je
ispitan i odreñen optimalni protokol za njihovu efikasnu diferencijaciju u endotelske
ćelije, u cilju uspostavljanja novog ćelijskog modela za buduća istraživanja. Princip
diferenciranja UC-MSC u endotelske ćelije zasnivao se na inhibiciji signalizacije
faktora transformacije rasta (TGF-β, Transforming growth factor beta), i to njegovog
receptora, aktivinu-nalik kinaze 5 (ALK5, Activin-like kinase). Na osnovu dobijenih
rezultata, zaključeno je da se UC-MSC odlikuju visokom sposobnošću samoobnove i
visokim kapacitetom za diferencijaciju kao i da se mogu diferencirati u endotelske ćelije
putem inhibicije ALK5 receptoraInterleukin (IL) 17 cytokine family is considered the least explored cytokine
family with an important role in inflammation. Due to the ubiquitous expression of its
receptor, IL-17 has been implicated in interactions between the immune system and
somatic tissues. In this context, recent findings have shown that IL-17 acts as a fine
regulator of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) differentiation. Having in mind that
behaviour of MSC depends on the surrounding microenvironment, it is important to
analyze the interactions between MSC and IL-17 involved in the maintenance of their
multipotency, mobilization and directed differentiation. In addition to mesenchymal
cells, IL-17 exerts its roles by acting on endothelial cells as well. Even though IL-17’s
effects on endothelial cells have not been fully discovered yet, it is well known that IL-
17, in the presence of other angiogenic factors, has the ability to stimulate endothelial
cells to undergo angiogenesis. Furthermore, it is well known that cellular functions, as
well as cytokine effects can be significantly modulated by the percentage of oxygen
present in their microenvironment. However, effects of IL-17 on endothelial cells in the
context of different O2 concentrations have not been explored yet. Also, it is still
unknown whether IL-17 can affect endothelial differentiation of MSC, but to address
this issue, it is necessary to create a valid model of endothelial differentiation of MSC. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of IL-17 on different
functions of mesenchymal and endothelial cells in specific microenvironmental
conditions. The influence of IL-17 on proliferation, migration, angiogenesis and
differentiation was analyzed, as well as the molecular mechanisms involved. The
activation of various signaling molecules and the expression of genes and proteins
involved in specific functions were examined. Yet another objective was to establish an
appropriate model for the mesenchymal-endothelial transdifferentiation. For this task
primary MSC from umbilical cord tissue (UC-MSC) were isolated and characterized
with emphases on their endothelial differentiation. In order to elucidate the effects and mechanisms involved in IL-17 acting on
mesenchymal cell differentiation, a multipotent mouse C2C12 cell line was used. The
influence of IL-17 on cell differentiation was analyzed based on the expression of genes
and proteins specific for the certain type of differentiation: Myosin heavy chain
(MyHC) and Myogenin for myogenic, and Alkaline phosphatase (ALP), Runt-related
transcription factor 2/Core-binding factor subunit alpha-1 (Runx2/Cbfa1) and
Cyclooxygenase-2 (Cox-2) for osteogenic differentiation. Additionaly, the involvement
of Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPK) and Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP)
in IL-17-directed differentiation of C2C12 cells was investigated. Results obtained
demonstrated that IL-17 inhibits myogenic and stimulates osteogenic differentiation of
C2C12 cells, by down-regulating the Myogenin mRNA expression, MyHC expression
and myotube formation, while up-regulating the Runx2/Cbfa1 mRNK expression, Cox-
2 expression and ALP activity. IL-17 exerted these effects by activating ERK1,2 MAPK
signaling pathway, which in turn regulated the expression of relevant genes and proteins
to inhibit myogenic differentiation and induce osteogenic differentiation. It was also
shown that the induction of osteogenic differentiation by IL-17 is independent of the
BMP-Smad signaling pathway. In the second part of this study the effect of IL-17 on endothelial cell functions
was investigated using human endothelial cell line EA.hy 926 as a model. The changes
in cells’ proliferation, migration and tubulogenesis were analyzed, along with the
expression of genes for endothelial Nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and Cox-2, and their
corresponding protein products, since these molecules have important roles in
angiogenesis. The influence of the environmental stimuli (normoxia vs. hypoxia) was
also investigated. Results obtained demonstrated that IL-17 stimulates crutial events
involved in angiogenesis of EA.hy 926 cells, such as cell migration and tubulogenesis,
along with the expression of eNOS and Cox-2. However, the effects of IL-17 were
dependent on the O2 concentration, since pro-angiogenic effects of IL-17 were noticed
in the presence of 20% O2, while 3% O2 exerted toxic effect on this cell line, and IL-17
in these conditions decreased the number of apoptotic cells.
In the final task, MSC were isolated from the umbilical cord Wharton’s jelly,
expanded in culture and characterized according to the recomendations from the
International Society for Cell Therapy. Following this, an optimal protocol for the endothelial diffrentiation of UC-MSC was established. The endothelial-directed
differentiation was based on the inhibition of the Transforming growth factor beta
(TGF-β) signaling, specifficaly its receptor activin-like kinase 5 (ALK5). Based on the
results gained, it was concluded that UC-MSC have a high ability to selfrenew and high
diferentiation capacity, as well as that these cells can be differentiated into endothelial
cells by inhibiting ALK5 recepto
The Phase Diagram of Compact QED Coupled to a Four-Fermi Interaction
Compact lattice Quantum Electrodynamics (QED) with four species of fermions
is simulated with massless quarks by using the QED scheme of adding a
four-fermi interaction to the action. Simulations directly in the chiral limit
of massless quarks are done with high statistics on , and lattices,
and the phase diagram, parameterized by the gauge and the four-fermi couplings,
is mapped out. The line of monopole condensation transitions is separate from
the line of chiral symmetry restoration. The simulation results indicate that
the monopole condensation transition is first order while the chiral transition
is second order. The challenges in determining the Universality class of the
chiral transition are discussed. If the scaling region for the chiral
transition is sufficiently wide, the simulations predict critical
indices far from mean field values. We discuss a speculative scenario in which
anti-screening provided by double-helix strands of monopole and anti-monopole
loops are the agent that balances the screening of fermion anti-fermion pairs
to produce an ultra-violet fixed point in the electric coupling.Comment: 29 pages, 8 figures and 2 table
Scaling Analysis of Chiral Phase Transition for Two Flavors of Kogut-Susskind Quarks
Report is made of a systematic scaling study of the finite-temperature chiral
phase transition of two-flavor QCD with the Kogut-Susskind quark action based
on simulations on (=8, 12 and 16) lattices at the quark mass of
and 0.01. Our finite-size data show that a phase
transition is absent for , and quite likely also at .
The scaling behavior of susceptibilities as a function of is consistent
with a second-order transition at . However, the exponents deviate from
the O(2) or O(4) values theoretically expected.Comment: Talk presented by M. Okawa at the International Workshop on ``
LATTICE QCD ON PARALLEL COMPUTERS", 10-15 March 1997, Center for
Computational Physics, University of Tsukuba. 7 LaTeX pages plus 5 postscript
figures, uses espcrc2.st
Finite-temperature chiral transitions in QCD with the Wilson quark action
We investigate the finite-temperature phase structure and the scaling of the
chiral condensate in lattice QCD with two degenerate light quarks, using a
renormalization group improved gauge action and the Wilson quark action. We
obtain a phase diagram which is consistent with that from the parity-flavor
breaking scenario. The scaling relation for the chiral condensate assuming the
critical exponents and the scaling function of the three dimensional O(4) model
is remarkably satisfied for a wide range of parameters. This indicates that the
chiral transition in two flavor QCD is of second order in the continuum limit.Comment: LaTeX, 3 pages, 4 EPS figures, Talk presented at LATTICE97 (finite
temperature
Antifungal activities of basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) extract on Fusarium species
The basil extract composition was determined by the GC-MS method and 38 different components were identified. The major components of the basil extract were estragol (86.72%), trans-α-bergamotene (2.91%), eucalyptol (2.67%), trans-ocimene (1.04%), linalool (0.72%), methyl-eugenol (0.71%), etc. The antifungal potential of the basil extract was tested against Fusarium oxysporum, F. proliferatum, F. subglutinans, and F. verticillioides isolated from cakes, using the agar plate method. Extract concentrations of 0.35 and 0.70% (v/v) significantly inhibited the growth of F. proliferatum (33.37 and 44.30%, respectively) and F. subglutinans (24.74 and 29.27%, respectively) whereas other investigated Fusarium species exhibited much lower sensitivity. The basil extract completely inhibited the growth of investigated Fusarium spp. at the concentration of 1.50% (v/v). Higher concentrations (0.35 and 0.70% (v/v)) reduced growth of aerial mycelium in all tested species. Strong medium pigmentation in the case of F. proliferatum and F. verticillioides was observed. The microscopic examination of the samples confirmed the presence of hyphae deformations with a frequent occurrence of fragmentations, thickenings and diminished sporulation. In addition to the basic, sensory, role the extract of basil has in the food product, it exerted significant antifungal properties, depending on its concentration.Key words: Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) extract, components, antifungal activity, Fusarium spp
Microelectronics miniaturization and fractal electronic frontiers
The intergrain ceramic structures are very complex and difficult to describe by using traditional analytical methods. In this study, in order to establish grain shapes of sintered ceramics, new approach on correlation between microstructure and properties of doped BaTiO3 -ceramics based on fractal geometry has been developed. BaTiO3 ceramics doped with CeO2, Bi2O3, Fe2O3, CaZrO3 Nb2O5, MnCO3 , La2O3, Er2O3, Yb2O3 and Ho2O3, were prepared using conventional solid state procedure and sintered at 1350°C. The sintered specimens microstructure was investigated by SEM-5300 and capacitance has been done using LCR-metra Agilent 4284A. The fractal modeling method using a reconstruction of microstructure configurations, like grains or intergranular contacts shapes has been successfully done. Furthermore, the area of grains surface was calculated by using fractal correction which expresses the grains surface irregularity through fractal dimension. For better and deeper the ceramics material microstructure characterization the Voronoi model and mathematical statistics calculations, are applied, also. The fractal nature for ceramics structure analysis providing a new ideas for modeling the grain shape and relations between the BaTiO3 ceramic structure and dielectrical properties and new frontier for higher integration on electronic circuits. The presented results indicate that fractal method for structure ceramics analysis creates a new approach for describing, predicting and modeling the grain shape and relations between the BaTiO3 -ceramic structure and dielectric and generally electric and microelectronics properties
On the Triviality of Textbook Quantum Electrodynamics
By adding a small, irrelevant four fermi interaction to the action of lattice
Quantum Electrodynamics (QED), the theory can be simulated with massless quarks
in a vacuum free of lattice monopoles. This allows an ab initio high precision,
controlled study of the existence of "textbook" Quantum Electrodynamics with
several species of fermions. The lattice theory possesses a second order chiral
phase transition which we show is logarithmically trivial. The logarithms of
triviality, which modify mean field scaling laws, are pinpointed in several
observables. The result supports Landau's contention that perturbative QED
suffers from complete screening and would have a vanishing fine structure
constant in the absence of a cutoff.Comment: reference to Phys. Rev. Lett.80, 4119(1998) adde
DATA COLLECTION TOOL FOR PROCESS IDENTIFICATION USING PLC AND KEPWARE TOOLS
In this paper, we are using the Kepware tools as a data collection tool to collecting data for identifying the process and making the mathematical models is described in this paper. The connection to the process was made using a programmable logic controller like a real time DAQ (Data Acquisition Board and System) device, database and a client application developed for these purposes. Special attention is paid to the possibility of collecting a large amount of process data as the same moment time of data sampling
Chiral transition and monopole percolation in lattice scalar QED with quenched fermions
We study the interplay between topological observables and chiral and Higgs
transitions in lattice scalar QED with quenched fermions. Emphasis is put on
the chiral transition line and magnetic monopole percolation at strong gauge
coupling. We confirm that at infinite gauge coupling the chiral transition is
described by mean field exponents. We find a rich and complicated behaviour at
the endpoint of the Higgs transition line which hampers a satisfactory analysis
of the chiral transition. We study in detail an intermediate coupling, where
the data are consistent both with a trivial chiral transition clearly separated
from monopole percolation and with a chiral transition coincident with monopole
percolation, and characterized by the same critical exponent .
We discuss the relevance (or lack thereof) of these quenched results to our
understanding of the \chupiv\ model. We comment on the interplay of magnetic
monopoles and fermion dynamics in more general contexts.Comment: 29 pages, 13 figures included, LaTeX2e (elsart
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