The classification of homomorphism homogeneous oriented graphs

The modern theory of homogeneous structures begins with the work of Roland Fra\"iss\'e. The theory developed in the last seventy years is placed in the border area between combinatorics, model theory, algebra, and analysis. We turn our attention to its combinatorial pillar, namely, the work on the classification of structures for given homogeneity types, and focus onto the homomorphism homogeneous ones, introduced in 2006 by Cameron and Ne\v{s}et\v{r}il. An oriented graph is called homomorphism homogeneous if every homomorphism between finite induced subgraphs extends to an endomorphism. In this paper we present a complete classification of the countable homomorphism homogeneous oriented graphs.Comment: 17 page

Relationship between labour analgesia modalities and types of anaesthetic techniques in categories 2 and 3 intrapartum caesarean deliveries

General anaesthesia is typically recommended for category 1 emergency caesarean delivery (CD). For categories 2-4 emergencies, either regional and general anaesthesia could be used. However, the factors influencing the choice of anaesthetic technique in these categories remain poorly understood. We analysed the association between the type of labour analgesia and subsequent anaesthetic techniques employed for intrapartum categories 2 and 3 CD. A prospective longitudinal cohort study was conducted at the University Medical Centre Ljubljana. A total of 300 women who underwent emergency CD between March and October 2021 were consecutively enrolled and categorised according to Lucas's classification of CD urgency. Parturients with category 1 and category 4 emergency CD were excluded from the analysis. Demographic, obstetric, and anaesthetic data were recorded. The techniques of anaesthesia (general, spinal, and epidural anaesthesia) employed for CD were analysed with respect to labour analgesia methods (remifentanil patient-controlled analgesia [remifentanil-PCA], epidural analgesia, and nitrous oxide). Of the participants, 124 (41.3%) had category 2, and 96 (32%) had category 3 emergency CD. Epidural analgesia was the most frequent analgesic option (43.8%), followed by remifentanil-PCA (20.7%) anditrous oxide (5.1%), while 30.4% of parturient women received no analgesia. All anaesthetic methods showed a significant relationship with analgesic modalities (P < 0.001). Remifentanil-PCA was associated with a higher incidence of general anaesthesia. Contraindication to epidural analgesia was the primary factor related to the transition from remifentanil-PCA to general anaesthesia. Most parturients who received epidural analgesia were successfully converted to epidural anaesthesia. Spinal anaesthesia was the most common technique in women using N2O and those without labour analgesia. General anaesthesia was associated with lower 5 min Apgar scores. The method of labour analgesia is associated with the anaesthesia technique employed for categories 2 and 3 CD. This finding may guide patient counselling and intrapartum anaesthetic planning. However, the analysis should be cautiously interpreted as the selection of anaesthesia is a complex decision influenced by several clinical considerations.

The effect of a plasma needle on bacteria in planktonic samples and on peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells

In this paper, we study the application of a plasma needle to induce necrosis in planktonic samples containing a single breed of bacteria. Two different types of bacteria, Staphylococcus aureus (ATCC 25923) and Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922), were covered in this study. In all experiments with bacteria, the samples were liquid suspensions of several different concentrations of bacteria prepared according to the McFarland standard. The second system studied in this paper was human peripheral blood mesenchymal stem cells (hPB-MSC). In the case of hPB-MSC, two sets of experiments were performed: when cells were covered with a certain amount of liquid (indirect) and when the cell sample was in direct contact with the plasma. Most importantly, the study is made with the aim to see the effects when the living cells are in a liquid medium, which normally acts as protection against the many agents that may be released by plasmas. It was found that a good effect may be expected for a wide range of initial cell densities and operating conditions causing destruction of several orders of magnitude even under the protection of a liquid. It was established independently that a temperature increase could not affect the cells under the conditions of our experiment, so the effect could those hPB-MSC that were not protected by a liquid, gas flow proved to produce a considerable effect, presumably due to poor adhesion of the cells, but in a liquid the effect was only due to the plasma. Further optimization of the operation may be attempted, opening up the possibility of localized in vivo sterilization

Kavezno izlaganje lubina (Dicentrarchus labrax) u procjeni genotoksičnog utjecaja onečišćenja

Genotoxic effects are often the earliest signs of pollution-related environmental disturbance. In this study, we used the comet assay and micronucleus test to assess DNA damage in the erythrocytes of the European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax) exposed to environmental pollution in situ. Fish were collected from a fi sh farm in the Trogir Bay and their cages placed at an unpolluted reference site Šolta (Nečujam Bay) and a polluted site Vranjic (Kaštela Bay) for four weeks. A group of fi sh which remained at the fi sh farm Trogir Bay were used as the second control group. Fish exposed at the Vranjic site showed a signifi cantly higher erythrocyte DNA damage, measured by the comet assay, than either control group. Micronucleus induction showed a similar gradient of DNA damage, but did not reach statistical signifi cance. Our results show that cage exposure of a marine fi sh D. labrax can be useful in environmental biomonitoring and confi rm the comet assay as a suitable tool for detecting pollution-related genotoxicity.Genotoksični učinak često je jedan od najranijih pokazatelja štetnog djelovanja onečišćenja okoliša. U ovom radu procijenjeno je oštećenje DNA u eritrocitima lubina (Dicentrarchus labrax) izloženima okolišnom onečišćenju s pomoću komet-testa i mikronukleus-testa. Lubini su prikupljeni na ribogojilištu i kavezno izloženi u periodu od četiri tjedna na dvije postaje različitog stupnja onečišćenja na jadranskoj obali: na kontrolnoj postaji Šolta (zaljev Nečujam) i na onečišćenoj postaji Vranjic (Kaštelanski zaljev). Zasebna skupina lubina skupljena na ribogojilištu poslužila je kao druga kontrola. Rezultati komet-testa pokazali su statistički značajan porast oštećenja DNA na postaji Vranjic u usporedbi s obje kontrolne postaje. Rezultati mikronukleus-testa pokazali su sličan gradijent onečišćenja, iako nisu dosegli statističku značajnost. Ovi rezultati upućuju na primjenjivost kaveznog izlaganja lubina D. labrax u biomonitoringu vodenog okoliša te potvrđuju korisnost komet-testa kao prikladne metode za detekciju genotoksičnog utjecaja onečišćenja

Body Mass Index and Blood Pressure-to-Height Ratio in Predicting Incidence of Hypertension in Serbian Children

Background: A new method using blood pressure-to-height ratio for diagnosing elevated blood pressure/hypertension in children has been introduced recently. We aimed to compare blood pressure-to-height ratio (BPHR) and Body Mass Index (BMI) in predicting incidence of hypertension (HTN). Methods: The sample consisted of 1133 boys and 1154 girls aged 7&ndash;15. We used the following equations for BPHR: systolic BPHR (SBPHR) = SBP (mm&thinsp;Hg)/height (cm) and diastolic BPHR (DBPHR) = DBP (mm&thinsp;Hg)/height (cm). In order to determine the accuracy of SBPHR, DBPHR and BMI as diagnostic tests for elevated blood pressure (elevated BP), we used the receiveroperating characteristic curve analyses. Results: The area under the curve (AUC) values for BMI ranged from 0.625 to 0.723 with quite low sensitivity rates from 62% to 72.5% and specificities from 58.2% to 67.3% showing a modest ability to identify children with elevated BP and HTN. On the contrary, BPHR showed a great predictive ability to identify elevated BP and HTN with AUC values of 0.836 to 0.949 for SBP and from 0.777 to 0.904 for DBP. Furthermore, the sensitivity ranged from 78.5% to 95.7%, and the specificity from 73.9% to 87.6%. Conclusion: the current study showed that BPHR is an accurate index for detecting elevated BP and HTN in children aged 7 to 15 years and can be used for early screening