A LATE PLEISTOCENE RODENT FAUNA (MAMMALIA: RODENTIA) FROM HADŽI PRODANOVA CAVE NEAR IVANJICA (WESTERN SERBIA)

Hadži Prodanova Cave in western Serbia is a multilayered site which, in addition to Palaeolithic tools, has yielded a relatively rich fauna of small and large vertebrates. In this paper the rodent fauna from this site is described. In total, 13 species of rodents have been found: Spermophilus cf. citelloides, Sicista subtilis, Mesocricetus newtoni, Arvicola cf. terrestris, Chionomys nivalis, Microtus arvalis/agrestis, Microtus subterraneus, Clethrionomys glareolus, Apodemus sylvaticus, Apodemus cf. uralensis, Spalax sp., Muscardinus avellanarius. This fauna has a mixed character and includes species of both open and forest habitats, the former being more numerous. According to its overall composition, it is tentatively ascribed to a relatively mild and wet period of the Last Glacial, probably MIS 3

New Data about the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic in the Western Morava valley

A relatively small number of Lower and Middle Palaeolithic open-air sites have been registered in southeast Europe. There are only two regions where sites from this period have been systematically surveyed, and where they have been encountered in considerable numbers: the valley of the Pineios river in Greece and northern Bosnia. Not a single site with significant concentration of finds has been found in Serbia and isolated artifacts ascribed to the Middle Palaeolithic were found at few sites. All this has changed dramatically in recent years when a large number of sites with finds from the Lower and Middle Palaeolithic have been recorded in the zone from Čačak to Kraljevo in the West Morava valley. The site surveying in the area has opened an entirely new perspective in the investigation of the Palaeolithic in this part of the Balkans

Plasticity increase of beech veneer by steaming and gaseous ammonia treatment

Ammonia treatment was used in order to change the colour of wood and also to plasticize the wood before bending or compressing. The mechanism and the process of gaseous ammonia treatment impact on wood are not very well known. The goal of this study was to quantify the effect of gaseousammonia on mechanical properties, i.e., modulus of elasticity (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR) and deflection at maximal loading force (yFmax). When wood was treated by water and ammonia vapour together, significant changes in plasticity of wood were observed. The samples which were firstlyexposed to water vapour and then to ammonia vapour exhibit the lowest values of MOE and MOR and an enhanced flexibility of the material. The results show that ammonia treatment increases wood plasticity. This process can be used for manufacturing of bent furniture

Lanthanum/manganese oxide- based composite with reduced Pt load for oxygen reduction reaction

The main objective of this research is a systematic development of advanced micro/nanostructured materials based on most used metal-oxides for ORR and metal-oxide with extremely low-loading of Pt for comparison. Hybrid composites that were compared are: MnO2, La2O3, LMO and LMO-Pt. The influence of reduced amount of noble metal, as well as single oxide activity toward ORR was analyzed. The complete electrochemical performances of the hybirde materials have been done by means of CV, LSV and EIS

Lysozyme and Cytochrome C adducts of ruthenium(II)-cymene complexes

Objective. In contrast to platinum-based antitumour compounds, the mode of action of ruthenium-based compounds is via protein targets involved in cellular signaling pathways and the histone proteins. As proteins are the first potential binding targets for the complexes in the bloodstream after their intravenous administration, interactions of anticancer therapeutics with proteins are very important to be investigated with aim to elucidate their pharmacokinetic pathways. Four half-sandwich ruthenium(II)-cymene complexes, developed earlier and with promising cytotoxic activity, are investigated for their interactions with proteins, cytochrome c and lysozyme. Material and Methods. Ruthenium(II)-cymene complexes were incubated for 24 and 48 h at 37 °C in the presence of cytochrome c and lysozyme, both in 20 mM ammonium hydrogen carbonate pH 7.4 and water. High-resolution LTQ-Orbitrap ESI MS was used to monitor the adducts formed between ruthenium complexes and proteins. Results. The complexes with two Cl- ligands have shown higher reactivity to proteins than those with only one, and were more reactive toward cytochrome c in comparison to lysozyme. The complex with S,N-chelating ligand was less reactive to proteins than one with O,N-chelating ligand. Species initially coordinating the proteins are most likely dehalogenated complexes. During the time, vivid ligand exchange of non-arene organic ligand L with CO32- and OH- takes place after initial formation of protein adducts. In water, only dehalogenated adducts were identified suggesting that in vivo, in the presence of various anions, dynamic ligand exchange could be expected generating different intermediate protein species. Conclusions. Protein reactivity toward Ru(II) complexes is determined by protein structure and ligands in Ru(II) coordination sphere, but this reactivity should be described from both kinetics, as well as stability aspect. In extracellular or intracellular milieu, ability of metal binding ligands (such as carbonate ions) to bind and to leave, determinate both the extent and mechanism of the binding of ruthenium complexes to the target biomacromolecules for cancer therapy

Interactions of ruthenium(II)-cymene complexes with cytochrome c

The ruthenium-based antitumour compounds act more via protein targets involved in carcinogenesis, in contrast to platinum-based compounds. Also, after intravenous administration of antitumour complexes proteins are the first binding targets in circulation. Therefore, interactions of anticancer compounds with proteins are important for elucidation of their pharmacokinetic pathways. Four half-sandwich ruthenium(II)-cymene complexes (C1, C2, C3 and C4), developed earlier and with promising cytotoxic activity, are investigated for their interactions with cytochrome c (Cyt). Complexes were incubated with Cyt for 48 h at 37 °C and high-resolution LTQ-Orbitrap ESI MS was used to monitor the formed adducts. The changes in heme state and tertiary structure around the heme were monitored by CD and UV-VIS spectra in the presence of oxygen. The complexes containing two chloride ligands (C2 and C3) were more reactive toward Cyt than those with only one (C1 and C4). The complex with S,N-chelating ligand (C4) was less reactive than one with O,N-chelating ligand (C1). All complexes reduced heme iron of Cyt, but the extent of reduction was inverse to the order of their reactivity to Cyt (C1>C4>>C2>C3). CD spectra in Soret region indicated that Cyt reduction was accompanied with slight tertiary structure change, the rupture of ferro-Met-80 and occupation of this heme coordination site by His-33/His-26. Extent of heme reduction by complexes inverse with respect to their reactivity implies that initially noncovalent binding of complexes occures, causing heme reduction, followed by comlex coordination to protein. In the presence of less reactive complexes more intensive reduction of heme leaves less available histidine residues (main targets for Ru coordination), leading to less efficient formation of adducts

A NUMERICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSIS OF THE DYNAMIC STABILITY OF HYDRAULIC EXCAVATORS

The paper presents the results of a numerical and experimental analysis of the dynamic stability of hydraulic excavators. The analysis has employed the software developed on the basis of a defined general dynamic mathematical model of an excavator grounded in Newton-Euler equations as well as the measured quantities of the excavator operating state in exploitation conditions. The defined model is used to model the members of the excavator kinematic chain using rigid bodies while the actuators (hydraulic cylinders and hydraulic motors) of the excavator drive mechanisms are modeled with elastically dampened elements. The elastically dampened characteristics of the actuators are defined with regard to the size of the actuator as well as to the compressibility and temperature of the hydraulic oil used in the excavator hydrostatic drive system. To illustrate the analysis, the paper provides the results of the analysis of the dynamic stability of a 16000 kg tracked excavator equipped with a manipulator digging bucket of 0.6 m3 in capacity

Genetic and geographic influence on phenotypic variation in European sarcoidosis patients

IntroductionSarcoidosis is a highly variable disease in terms of organ involvement, type of onset and course. Associations of genetic polymorphisms with sarcoidosis phenotypes have been observed and suggest genetic signatures.MethodsAfter obtaining a positive vote of the competent ethics committee we genotyped 1909 patients of the deeply phenotyped Genetic-Phenotype Relationship in Sarcoidosis (GenPhenReSa) cohort of 31 European centers in 12 countries with 116 potentially disease-relevant single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Using a meta-analysis, we investigated the association of relevant phenotypes (acute vs. sub-acute onset, phenotypes of organ involvement, specific organ involvements, and specific symptoms) with genetic markers. Subgroups were built on the basis of geographical, clinical and hospital provision considerations.ResultsIn the meta-analysis of the full cohort, there was no significant genetic association with any considered phenotype after correcting for multiple testing. In the largest sub-cohort (Serbia), we confirmed the known association of acute onset with TNF and reported a new association of acute onset an HLA polymorphism. Multi-locus models with sets of three SNPs in different genes showed strong associations with the acute onset phenotype in Serbia and Lublin (Poland) demonstrating potential region-specific genetic links with clinical features, including recently described phenotypes of organ involvement.DiscussionThe observed associations between genetic variants and sarcoidosis phenotypes in subgroups suggest that gene–environment-interactions may influence the clinical phenotype. In addition, we show that two different sets of genetic variants are permissive for the same phenotype of acute disease only in two geographic subcohorts pointing to interactions of genetic signatures with different local environmental factors. Our results represent an important step towards understanding the genetic architecture of sarcoidosis