UPORABA UMJETNIH NEURONSKIH MREŽA U PREDVIĐANJU PROFESIONALNIH KRETANJA MATURANATA

Aim of this paper is to examine the possibility of predicting professional choice of secondary school graduates by using artificial neural network for the needs of enrolment policy planning at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Belgrade. The problem of professional choices prediction for graduates has been carried out on the sample of 119 graduates from two Belgrade vocational schools. Factors influencing professional choice of secondary school students grouped in twelve input variables proved to be as suitable for predicting professional movements of graduates. Results of this research represent the base for the further researches aiming to improve the Faculty enrolment policy.Svrha ovog rada je istražiti mogućnosti predviđanja izbora profesije maturanata uporabom umjetnih neuronskih mreža zbog potrebe planiranja upisne politike Strojarskog fakulteta u Beogradu. Istraživanje predviđanja odabira profesije provedeno je na uzorku od 119 maturanata dvije beogradske strukovne srednje škole. Svrstavanje čimbenika koji utječu na izbor profesije kod srednjoškolaca u dvanaest ulaznih varijabli pokazalo se odgovarajućim za predviđanje profesionalnih kretanja maturanata. Rezultati ovog istraživanja predstavljaju osnovu za daljnja istraživanja usmjerena poboljšanju upisne politike Fakulteta

EPS-SJ exopolisaccharide produced by the strain Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei BGSJ2-8 is involved in adhesion to epithelial intestinal cells and decrease on E. coli association to Caco-2 cells

The aim of this study was to determine the role of an exopolysaccharide produced by natural dairy isolate Lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei BGSJ2-8, in the adhesion to intestinal epithelial cells and a decrease in Escherichia coli's association with Caco-2 cells. Annotation of the BGSJ2-8 genome showed the presence of a gene cluster, epsSJ, which encodes the biosynthesis of the strain-specific exopolysaccharide EPS-SJ, detected as two fractions (P1 and P2) by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) coupled with multi-angle laser light scattering (MALLS) detection. SEC-MALLS analysis revealed that an EPS-SJ- mutant (EPS7, obtained by insertion mutagenesis of the glps_2198 gene encoding primary glycosyltransferase) does not produce the P2 fraction of EPS-SJ. Transmission electron microscopy showed that EPS7 mutant has a thinner cell wall compared to the EPS-SJ strain BGSJ2-83 (a plasmid free-derivative of BGSJ2-8). Interestingly, strain BGSJ2-83 showed higher adhesion to Caco-2 epithelial intestinal cell line than the EPS7 mutant. Accordingly, BGSJ2-83 effectively reduced E. coli ATCC25922's association with Caco-2 cells, while EPS7 did not show statistically significant differences. In addition, the effect of EPS-SJ on the proliferation of lymphocytes in gastrointestinal associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) was tested and the results showed that the reduction of GALT lymphocyte proliferation was higher by BGSJ2-83 than by the mutant. To the best of our knowledge this is the first report indicating that the presence of EPS (EPS-SJ) on the surface of lactobacilli can improve communication between bacteria and intestinal epithelium*Implying its possible role in gut colonization.Peer Reviewe

Dental care during the Covid-19 pandemic - To treat or not to treat?

© 2020 Dacic et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The recent spread of COVID-19 presents a huge public health concern. Clinical presentations of COVID-19 range from asymptomatic cases to severe pneumonia that can lead to death. Drastic measures were necessary to prevent the disease from spreading and protect the most vulnerable groups in the general population. The rapid reorganization of the healthcare system and great efforts made by medical staff were needed to admit to hospitals and then treat a progressively growing number of patients. The predominant route of virus transmission is through direct contact with an infected individual or respiratory droplets, therefore, all dental procedures with aerosol-formation pose an extremely high risk for the spread of infection. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the current epidemiological situation, routes of transmission, and specific recommendations for dental practices including patient screening and triage, infection control, and treatment protocols. In this situation, it is essential that all dental healthcare workers make wise clinical decisions and educate themselves and their patients on how to prevent the spread of infection

Determination of two reactive dyes concentration in dyed cotton fabric

The purpose of this paper was to determine the unknown concentration of dichlortriazinyl reactive dyes, namely Reactive Yellow 22 and Reactive Blue 163, in dyed cotton fabric. The samples of cotton fabric were dyed individually with each dye as well as with a mixture of two dyes. The unknown concentrations of dyes were determined by measuring the corresponding reflectance values of dyed fabric samples and then using the relation between the concentration and reflectance values of the samples. The method set by Kubelka and Munk was used. The accuracy and repeatability of the concentrations determination were calculated by the statistical processing of the data obtained by measurements. Relative errors of individual determination of Reactive Yellow 22 and Reactive Blue 163 were 3.66% and 5.94% respectively. Relative errors in determination of Reactive Yellow 22 and Reactive Blue 163 in a mixture were 3.47% and 3.19% respectively. The results showed that reflectance spectrophotometry can be successfully used as the method for concentration determination of Reactive Yellow 22 and Reactive Blue 163 in dyed cotton fabric and can therefore be applied as the shade control method in dyeing

Dental care during the Covid-19 pandemic – To treat or not to treat?

The recent spread of COVID-19 presents a huge public health concern. Clinical presentations of COVID-19 range from asymptomatic cases to severe pneumonia that can lead to death. Drastic measures were necessary to prevent the disease from spreading and protect the most vulnerable groups in the general population. The rapid reorganization of the healthcare system and great efforts made by medical staff were needed to admit to hospitals and then treat a progressively growing number of patients. The predominant route of virus transmission is through direct contact with an infected individual or respiratory droplets, therefore, all dental procedures with aerosol-formation pose an extremely high risk for the spread of infection. The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the current epidemiological situation, routes of transmission, and specific recommendations for dental practices including patient screening and triage, infection control, and treatment protocols. In this situation, it is essential that all dental healthcare workers make wise clinical decisions and educate themselves and their patients on how to prevent the spread of infection

Exopolysaccharide Production and Ropy Phenotype Are Determined by Two Gene Clusters in Putative Probiotic Strain Lactobacillus paraplantarum BGCG11

Lactobacillus paraplantarum BGCG11, a putative probiotic strain isolated from a soft, white, artisanal cheese, produces a high-molecular-weight heteropolysaccharide, exopolysaccharide (EPS)-CG11, responsible for the ropy phenotype and immunomodulatory activity of the strain. In this study, a 26.4-kb region originating from the pCG1 plasmid, previously shown to be responsible for the production of EPS-CG11 and a ropy phenotype, was cloned, sequenced, and functionally characterized. In this region 16 putative open reading frames (ORFs), encoding enzymes for the production of EPS-CG11, were organized in specific loci involved in the biosynthesis of the repeat unit, polymerization, export, regulation, and chain length determination. Interestingly, downstream of the eps gene cluster, a putative transposase gene was identified, followed by an additional rfb gene cluster containing the rfbACBD genes, the ones most probably responsible for dTDP-l-rhamnose biosynthesis. The functional analysis showed that the production of the high-molecular-weight fraction of EPS-CG11 was absent in two knockout mutants, one in the eps and the other in the rfb gene cluster, as confirmed by size exclusion chromatography analysis. Therefore, both eps and rfb genes clusters are prerequisites for the production of high-molecular-weight EPS-CG11 and for the ropy phenotype of strain L. paraplantarum BGCG11