Smart capacitive moisture sensor calibration in mineral wool and green roof soil substrate

The environmental benefits of green roofs have been widely recognized. In recent years, increasing attention has been paid to moisture management in the green roof systems. The moisture in the green roof has an influence on its thermal and hydrological performances. An accurate measurement of water content in green roof substrate is important for irrigation monitoring, optimal irrigation management, and plant growth. Knowing the performance and characteristics of the sensor for the chosen substrate layer in a green roof system is essential. This paper presents laboratory calibration of the capacitive moisture sensor in two types of the green roof substrate layer. The volumetric water content of several mineral wool and soil samples, with the water content from low until saturated, were measured using the gravimetric method and related to frequency obtained by the sensor. The results have shown that the capacitive moisture sensor has a good response to water content variation

Risks of trafficking in children and inclusion

Deca spadaju u kategoriju posebno osetljivih žrtava trgovine ljudima. Oblici trgovine ljudima kojima su deca izložena daleko su brojniji i raznovrsniji u poređenju sa oblicima trgovine punoletnim ženama i muškarcima. Faktori koji doprinose izloženosti dece trgovini ljudima povezani su sa globalnim društvenim procesima i njihovim posledicama na strukturalnu viktimizaciju, marginalizaciju i društvenu isključenost velikog broja dece. Siromaštvo, povećanje jaza između bogatih i siromašnih, politička nestabilnost i ratovi, kao i rodna diskriminacija, spadaju među najznačajnije makro faktore guranja dece u rizike trgovine. Na mikro planu, oni nalaze odraz u čitavom nizu nepovoljnih socijalnih uslova u kojima žive deca koja su zbog svojih bio-psiholoških i-ili socijalnih karakteristika društveno marginalizovana i lišena osnovnih ljudskih prava. Polazeći od analize rezultata dosadašnjih istraživanja sprovedenih u svetu i u Srbiji, ovaj rad ima za cilj da identifikuje karakteristike dece koja ih čine posebno izloženim viktimizaciji trgovinom ljudima, da analizira viktimogene predispozicije u vezi sa društvenom isključenošću dece, kao i da ukaže na potencijal inkluzije za prevenciju trgovine decom.Children belong to very vulnerable category of the trafficking victims. The forms of trafficking in children are more numerous and diverse comparing with forms of trafficking in adult women and men. Factors that contribute to children’ s vulnerability to trafficking in human beings are connected to global social processes and their consequences to structural victimization, marginalization and social exclusion of the great number of children. Poverty, deepening of the gap between the rich and poor, political instability and wars, gender discrimination, are among the most important macro pushing factors to trafficking in children. At micro level, they find the expression in the range of bad social conditions in which the children, marginalized and deprived in gaining their human rights in connection to their biopsychological and/or social characteristics, live. Starting from the analysis of the results of the up to date research conducted in the world and in Serbia, the aim of this paper is to identify characteristics of the children who are specially vulnerable to trafficking in human begins, to analyze victimization factors connected to social exclusion of children, and to draw attention to the potential of the inclusion for the prevention of trafficking in children

Establishing presence of antibodies against bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV), parainfluenza virus 3 (PI3) and bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV 1) in blood serum of cattle using indirect immunoenzyme probe

A total of 92 samples of bovine blood serum were examined for the presence of antibodies against the bovine respiratory syncytial virus using indirect immunoenzyme probe - iELISA. Specific antibodies against the bovine respiratory syncytial virus (BRSV) were established in 46, or 50% blood serum samples. Investigations of the 92 blood serum samples of cattle for the presence of antibodies against the parainfluenza virus 3 (PI 3), revealed their presence in 77, or 83.69% of the samples, and the presence of antibodies against the bovine herpesvirus 1 (BHV 1) was established in 19, or 20.65% of the samples

Risks of trafficking in children and inclusion

Deca spadaju u kategoriju posebno osetljivih žrtava trgovine ljudima. Oblici trgovine ljudima kojima su deca izložena daleko su brojniji i raznovrsniji u poređenju sa oblicima trgovine punoletnim ženama i muškarcima. Faktori koji doprinose izloženosti dece trgovini ljudima povezani su sa globalnim društvenim procesima i njihovim posledicama na strukturalnu viktimizaciju, marginalizaciju i društvenu isključenost velikog broja dece. Siromaštvo, povećanje jaza između bogatih i siromašnih, politička nestabilnost i ratovi, kao i rodna diskriminacija, spadaju među najznačajnije makro faktore guranja dece u rizike trgovine. Na mikro planu, oni nalaze odraz u čitavom nizu nepovoljnih socijalnih uslova u kojima žive deca koja su zbog svojih bio-psiholoških i-ili socijalnih karakteristika društveno marginalizovana i lišena osnovnih ljudskih prava. Polazeći od analize rezultata dosadašnjih istraživanja sprovedenih u svetu i u Srbiji, ovaj rad ima za cilj da identifikuje karakteristike dece koja ih čine posebno izloženim viktimizaciji trgovinom ljudima, da analizira viktimogene predispozicije u vezi sa društvenom isključenošću dece, kao i da ukaže na potencijal inkluzije za prevenciju trgovine decom.Children belong to very vulnerable category of the trafficking victims. The forms of trafficking in children are more numerous and diverse comparing with forms of trafficking in adult women and men. Factors that contribute to children’ s vulnerability to trafficking in human beings are connected to global social processes and their consequences to structural victimization, marginalization and social exclusion of the great number of children. Poverty, deepening of the gap between the rich and poor, political instability and wars, gender discrimination, are among the most important macro pushing factors to trafficking in children. At micro level, they find the expression in the range of bad social conditions in which the children, marginalized and deprived in gaining their human rights in connection to their biopsychological and/or social characteristics, live. Starting from the analysis of the results of the up to date research conducted in the world and in Serbia, the aim of this paper is to identify characteristics of the children who are specially vulnerable to trafficking in human begins, to analyze victimization factors connected to social exclusion of children, and to draw attention to the potential of the inclusion for the prevention of trafficking in children

Optimization of the heterologous expression of banana glucanase in Escherichia coli (vol 77, pg 43, 2012)

For the heterologous production of a banana glucanase in Escherichia coli, its gene (GenBank GQ268963) was cloned into a pGEX-4T expression vector as a fusion protein with glutathione-S-transferase (GST). BL21 cells transformed with the GST-Mus a 5 construct were employed for production of the protein induced by 1 mM isopropyl-beta-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). The conditions for protein expression were optimized by varying the temperature (25, 30 and 37 C) and duration of protein expression (3, 6 and 12 h). The level of protein production was analyzed by densitometry of the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel (SDS-PAG) after electrophoretic resolution of the respective cell lysates. The optimal protein expression for downstream processing was obtained after 12 h of cell growth at 25 degrees C upon addition of IPTG. Recombinant GST-Mus a 5 purified by glutathione affinity chromatography revealed a molecular mass of about 60 kDa. The IgE and IgG reactivity of the rGST-Mus a 5 was confirmed by dot blot analysis with sera of individual patients from subjects with banana allergy and polyclonal rabbit antibodies against banana extract, respectively. The purified recombinant glucanase is a potential candidate for banana allergy diagnosis.Za potrebe proizvodnje u Escherichia coli gen glukanaze iz banane (GenBank GQ268963) je ukloniran u ekspresioni vektor pGEX-4T sa glutation-S-transferazom (GST). Proizvodnja ovog proteina u ćelijama je indukovana 1 mM izopropil-β-D-tiogalaktopiranozidom (IPTG). Uslovi za ekspresiju proteina su optimizovani variranjem temperature (25, 30 i 37°C) i dužine trajanja proteinske sinteze (3, 6 i 12 h). Nivo proizvodnje proteina je analiziran denzitometrijom SDS-PA gela nakon elektroforetskog razdvajanja ćelijskih lizata. Optimalna proizvodnja proteina za njegovo dalje procesovanje je dobijena gajenjem ćelija nakon dodatka IPTG na 25°C tokom 12 h. Rekombinantni GST-Mus a 5 prečišćen afinitetnom hromatografijom sa glutationom pokazuje molekulsku masu od 60 kDa. IgE i IgG reaktivnost izolovane glukanaze potvrđena je u 'dot blot' sa pojedinačnim serumima osoba alergičnih na bananu, i sa poliklonskim zečijim antitelima na ekstrakt banane, redom. Prečišćena rekombinantna glukanaza je potencijalan kandidat za dijagnozu alergije na bananu

Optimizacija heterologe proizvodnje glukanaze iz banane u E. coli

For the heterologous production of a banana glucanase in Escherichia coli, its gene (GenBank GQ268963) was cloned into a pG EX-4T expression vector as a fusion protein with glutathione-S-transferase (GST). BL21 cells transformed with the GST-Mus a 5 con struct were employed for production of the protein induced by 1 mM isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). The conditions for protein expression were optimized by varying the temperature (25, 30 and 37°C) and duration of protein expression (3, 6 and 12 h). The level of protein production was analyzed by densitometry of the sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel (SDS-PAG) after electrophoretic resolution of the respective cell lysates. The optimal protein expression for downstream processing was obtained after 12 h of cell growth at 25°C upon addition of IPTG. Recombinant GST-Mus a 5 purified by glutathione affinity chromatography revealed a molecular mass of a bout 60 kDa. The IgE and IgG reactivity of the rGST-Mus a 5 was confirmed by dot blot an analysis with sera of individual patients from subjects with banana allergy and polyclonal rabbit antibodies against banana extract, respectively. The purified recombinant glucanase is a potential candidate for banana allergy diagnosis.Za potrebe proizvodnje u Escherichia coli gen glukanaze iz banane (GenBank GQ268963) je ukloniran u ekspresioni vektor pGEX-4T sa glutation-S-transferazom (GST). Proizvodnja ovog proteina u ćelijama je indukovana 1 mM izopropil-β-D-tiogalaktopiranozidom (IPTG). Uslovi za ekspresiju proteina su optimizovani variranjem temperature (25, 30 i 37°C) i dužine trajanja proteinske sinteze (3, 6 i 12 h). Nivo proizvodnje proteina je analiziran denzitometrijom SDS-PA gela nakon elektroforetskog razdvajanja ćelijskih lizata. Optimalna proizvodnja proteina za njegovo dalje procesovanje je dobijena gajenjem ćelija nakon dodatka IPTG na 25°C tokom 12 h. Rekombinantni GST-Mus a 5 prečišćen afinitetnom hromatografijom sa glutationom pokazuje molekulsku masu od 60 kDa. IgE i IgG reaktivnost izolovane glukanaze potvrđena je u 'dot blot' sa pojedinačnim serumima osoba alergičnih na bananu, i sa poliklonskim zečijim antitelima na ekstrakt banane, redom. Prečišćena rekombinantna glukanaza je potencijalan kandidat za dijagnozu alergije na bananu

Autoimunskog miokarditisa primenom pentoksifilina

We designed the present study to provide evidence of the immunomodulatory effects of pentoxifylline (PTX) in experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) in rats. PTX is xantine-derived agent known to inhibit the production of TNF-α and his beneficial effects have been reported in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy. In this study we examined the efficacy of PTX in the treatment of experimental autoimmune myocarditis as a paradigm of the autoimmune mechanisms involved in pathogenesis of dilated cardiomiopathy. Male DA rats immunized with porcine cardiac myosin were treated i.m. with PTX (200 mg/kg/day) over 7 days, begenning either on the day of immunization (early treatment group), or on day 14. postimmunization (late treatment group). Disease course and severity were evaluated by macroscopic score of the heart, heart weight/body weight ratio (Hw/Bw), histological and immunohistochemical analysis of cardiac tisssue. We found in our study that PTX exhibited both preventive and therapeutical effects in EAM.U radu je ispitivan uticaj pentoksifilina (PTX) na razvoj i tok eksperimentalnog autoimunog miokarditisa pacova. Pentoksifilin je derivat ksantina sa inhibitornim efektom na produkciju TNF-α, a klinički je potvrđen i njegov pozitivan učinak u terapiji pacijenata sa dilatacionom kardiomiopatijom. U ispitivanju je testiran imunomodulatorni efekat PTX u tretmanu eksperimentalnog autoimunog miokarditisa koji predstavlja eksperimentalni model za proučavanje autoimunskih mehanizama uključenih u razvoj dilatacione kardiomiopatije. Pacovi DA soja imunizovani srčanim miozinom tretirani su pentoksifilinom u dozi od 200 mg/kg t.m., počev od 0.-6. dana (rani tretman), ili od 14.-20. dana (kasni tretman) u odnosu na termin imunizacije miozinom. Razvoj i intenzitet miokarditisa praćeni su analizom makroskopskih karakteristika srca, indeksa masa srca/telesna masa (Hwt/Bwt), histoloških i imunohistohemijskih analiza miokarda. Dobijeni rezultati su pokazali da PTX ispoljava profilaktičan i terapijski učinak u eksperimentalnom autoimunom miokarditisu

Biliverdin-copper complex at the physiological pH

Biliverdin (BV) is a degradation product of heme catabolism, which is rapidly converted to bilirubin (BR) by BV reductase 1. Biliverdin and unconjugated BR, commonly named bile pigments, have important function in biochemical processes. The presence of copper and other biological and toxic transitional metals at significant concentrations in bile implies the possibility that metal complexes with bile pigments can be formed 2. Consequently, our interest was to study the complex of BV with copper in physiological conditions – phosphate buffer with pH 7.4. UV-Vis spectrophotometry was applied to investigate formation/degradation of complex of BV with copper ions and to check stoichiometry by titration, showing that BV interacted with Cu2+ in 1:1 stoichiometry. Mass spectroscopy analysis confirmed this – ion at m/z 643.36 was detected. The results of Raman spectroscopy of BV were in good agreement with previous reports 3. Comparing spectra of BV and BV-Cu complex, the following differences were observed: a new band at low wave number is emerged for the complex may be attributed to Cu-N bond vibration; the band which was shifted to lower energies implicates increased stability of BV in the complex; intensity changes imply a more planar structure of BV in the complex, while stronger bands in complex imply higher delocalization of π-electrons and consequently a higher stability of the BV structure. Pertinent to this, it has been proposed that complexes of BV model compounds with Cu2+ may show unusual electronic structures that exhibit a significant ligand radical character. 1H NMR spectrum of BV in phosphate buffer had a poor resolution of signals, which may originate from aggregation, but this was of little relevance here, since the addition of copper ions led to very strong effect - the complete loss of almost all lines. The loss of signals represents the result of strong paramagnetic effects that may come from an unpaired e- that is delocalized in pπ orbitalss of the ring/ligand influencing all protons in the complex. The EPR spectrum of Cu2+ (S = 1/2; I = 3/2) in phosphate buffer shows that Cu2+ is weakly coordinated in an axial symmetry with one gr line and four lines coming from hyperfine coupling along gs. The addition of BV in equimolar concentration led to the loss of Cu2+ signal. The remaining signal in the [BV]/[Cu2+] = 1 system was broad, and did not show hyperfine structure. The g-value of the isotropic signal of BV-Cu complex was significantly lower than the average g-value of Cu2+ in the phosphate buffer indicating delocalization of the spin away from the metal nucleus. Similar EPR signals have been reported previously 4. Parallel-mode EPR showed no signal. Furthermore, the spectra were run over a wide field range and no half field lines were observed, either in parallel or in perpendicular mode. These results are consistent with S = 0 for the copper center. Further, redox properties of the complex were examined. BV showed a well-defined anodic peak. The [BV]/[Cu2+] = 2 system showed two additional oxidation peaks at much lower potentials than BV. The former potential corresponds to the oxidation of Cu1+, as we have shown previously 5. There was a slight consumption of O2 in [BV]/[Cu2+] = 1 system, which may be explained by traces of ‘free’ copper. However, in the presence of an excess of copper ([BV]/[Cu2+] = 0.5), the consumption of O2 was significant. This implies that ‘free’ Cu2+ reacts with the complex and ‘shuttles’ an e- to O2. The complex was susceptible to oxidizing agents but not to reducing agents. Considering the results obtained we conclude that, at physiological pH, BV builds a complex with copper ions in 1:1 stoichiometry. The formation of complex involves the rearrangement of electronic structure which provides increased energetic stability and strong paramagnetic effects. We believe that a complex with a highly delocalized unpaired e- and the formal BV•+-Cu1+ character best suites the outlined properties, but other structures of the complex cannot be completely ruled out. The presented results may shed new light on long-standing issues of BV chemistry and catalysis in biological systems

Biliverdin-copper complex at the physiological pH

Biliverdin (BV) is a degradation product of heme catabolism, which is rapidly converted to bilirubin (BR) by BV reductase 1. Biliverdin and unconjugated BR, commonly named bile pigments, have important function in biochemical processes. The presence of copper and other biological and toxic transitional metals at significant concentrations in bile implies the possibility that metal complexes with bile pigments can be formed 2. Consequently, our interest was to study the complex of BV with copper in physiological conditions – phosphate buffer with pH 7.4. UV-Vis spectrophotometry was applied to investigate formation/degradation of complex of BV with copper ions and to check stoichiometry by titration, showing that BV interacted with Cu2+ in 1:1 stoichiometry. Mass spectroscopy analysis confirmed this – ion at m/z 643.36 was detected. The results of Raman spectroscopy of BV were in good agreement with previous reports 3. Comparing spectra of BV and BV-Cu complex, the following differences were observed: a new band at low wave number is emerged for the complex may be attributed to Cu-N bond vibration; the band which was shifted to lower energies implicates increased stability of BV in the complex; intensity changes imply a more planar structure of BV in the complex, while stronger bands in complex imply higher delocalization of π-electrons and consequently a higher stability of the BV structure. Pertinent to this, it has been proposed that complexes of BV model compounds with Cu2+ may show unusual electronic structures that exhibit a significant ligand radical character. 1H NMR spectrum of BV in phosphate buffer had a poor resolution of signals, which may originate from aggregation, but this was of little relevance here, since the addition of copper ions led to very strong effect - the complete loss of almost all lines. The loss of signals represents the result of strong paramagnetic effects that may come from an unpaired e- that is delocalized in pπ orbitalss of the ring/ligand influencing all protons in the complex. The EPR spectrum of Cu2+ (S = 1/2; I = 3/2) in phosphate buffer shows that Cu2+ is weakly coordinated in an axial symmetry with one gr line and four lines coming from hyperfine coupling along gs. The addition of BV in equimolar concentration led to the loss of Cu2+ signal. The remaining signal in the [BV]/[Cu2+] = 1 system was broad, and did not show hyperfine structure. The g-value of the isotropic signal of BV-Cu complex was significantly lower than the average g-value of Cu2+ in the phosphate buffer indicating delocalization of the spin away from the metal nucleus. Similar EPR signals have been reported previously 4. Parallel-mode EPR showed no signal. Furthermore, the spectra were run over a wide field range and no half field lines were observed, either in parallel or in perpendicular mode. These results are consistent with S = 0 for the copper center. Further, redox properties of the complex were examined. BV showed a well-defined anodic peak. The [BV]/[Cu2+] = 2 system showed two additional oxidation peaks at much lower potentials than BV. The former potential corresponds to the oxidation of Cu1+, as we have shown previously 5. There was a slight consumption of O2 in [BV]/[Cu2+] = 1 system, which may be explained by traces of ‘free’ copper. However, in the presence of an excess of copper ([BV]/[Cu2+] = 0.5), the consumption of O2 was significant. This implies that ‘free’ Cu2+ reacts with the complex and ‘shuttles’ an e- to O2. The complex was susceptible to oxidizing agents but not to reducing agents. Considering the results obtained we conclude that, at physiological pH, BV builds a complex with copper ions in 1:1 stoichiometry. The formation of complex involves the rearrangement of electronic structure which provides increased energetic stability and strong paramagnetic effects. We believe that a complex with a highly delocalized unpaired e- and the formal BV•+-Cu1+ character best suites the outlined properties, but other structures of the complex cannot be completely ruled out. The presented results may shed new light on long-standing issues of BV chemistry and catalysis in biological systems

Impact of depression on gait variability in Parkinson's disease

Objective The goal of this study was to analyze how depression associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD) affected gait variability in these patients using a dual-task paradigm. Additionally, the dependency of the executive functions and the impact of depression on gait variability were analyzed. Patients and Methods Three subject groups were included: patients with PD, but no depression (PD-NonDep; 14 patients), patients with both PD and depression (PD-Dep; 16 patients) and healthy controls (HC; 15 subjects). Gait was recorded using the wireless sensors. The participants walked under four conditions: single-task, motor dual- task, cognitive dual-task, and combined dual-task. Variability of stride length, stride duration, and swing time was calculated and analyzed using the statistical methods. Results Variability of stride duration and stride length were not significantly different between PD-Dep and PD-NonDep patients. The linear mixed model showed that swing time variability was statistically significantly higher in PD-Dep patients compared to controls (p = 0.001). Hamilton Disease Rating Scale scores were significantly correlated with the swing time variability (p = 0.01). Variability of all three parameters of gait was significantly higher while performing combined or cognitive task and this effect was more pronounced in PD-Dep group of patients. Conclusions Depression in PD was associated with swing time variability, and this effect was more prominent while performing a dual-task. Significance Diagnosing and treating depression might be important for gait improvement and fall reduction in PD patients