The potential of different plant species for nickel accumulation

Contamination of the environment with toxic heavy metals is a mayor environmental problem. Aimed to find effective and economical attractive solutions for environment cleaning, scientists intensively evolve various phytoremediation techniques. Nickel is one of the essential micronutrients for plants, animals, and humans, but toxic at elevated concentrations. Also, it belongs to a group of heavy metals. In respect of the fact that Ni uptake relies upon plant species and that some of them show hyperaccumulation effects, the aim of our study was to analyse Ni concentration in certain plant species affected by Ni contamination of air and surface soil. Ni deposition in the air was below 60 mu g/m(2)/month, while Ni content in the soil was between 42 and 150 mu g/g. Average Ni content in plants ranged from 0. 1 to 5. 0 mu g/g. Regardless the analysed locality, the highest Ni (7.1 mu g/g) was obtained with the hogweed, whereas the lowest (4.5 mu g/g) with the vines. Ambrosia artemis folia and Taraxum officinale accumulated the greatest amounts of Ni (10. 72 and 10. 61 mu g/g, respectively). It may be concluded that the analysed plant species exhibit various phytoremediation potential for Ni under the same ecological conditions

Chemical composition and cholesterol content in M. longissimus dorsi from free-range reared Swallow-belly Mangalitsa: the effect of gender

The objective of this study was to determine chemical composition and cholesterol content in M. longissimus dorsi (MLD) of Swallow-belly Mangalitsa, free-range reared, and to investigate possible effects of gender on these quality parameters of its meat. Average moisture and fat contents were significantly different in male and female pig muscles. The differences in average values of ash, protein and cholesterol contents between the two groups (genders) of meat samples were not significant. In MLD samples of female pigs, total fat had a significant influence on cholesterol content, while this influence was not established in MLD of male pigs. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

Comparison of two Analytical Methods (ELISA and LC-MS/MS) for Determination of Aflatoxin B1 in Corn and Aflatoxin M1 in Milk

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to assess the closeness of agreement between results of ELISA and LC-MS/MS methods for determination of aflatoxin B1 in corn and aflatoxin M1 in milk. Samples of corn (n=100) and milk (n=250) were simultaneously analyzed using ELISA and LC-MS/MS methods, after the severe drought that affected Serbia in summer 2012 resulting in occurrence of aflatoxin B1 in corn and aflatoxin M1 in milk. Regression analysis showed higher level of agreement between aflatoxin B1 samples (R2=0.994), compared to aflatoxin M1 samples (R2=0.920). However, both techniques were satisfactory in meeting the requirements for official control purposes

Procena sadržaja metala i elemenata u tkivima 4 komercijalne vrste riba iz Dunava kod Beograda

Cilj ovog istraživanja je bio da se proceni akumulacija elemenata u četiri komercijalne vrste riba na dva lokaliteta na Dunavu, u Beogradu. U ovom istraživanju, određene su koncentracije 11 elemenata (As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Ni, Se, i Zn) u tkivima mišića, jetre i škrga sledećih vrsta: mrena (Barbus barbus), deverika (Abramis brama), štuka (Esox lucius) i smuđ (Sander lucioperca). Rezultati su ukazali da je distribucija metala i elemenata u tragovima u različitim tkivima specifična za vrstu. Koncentracije As, Cd, Fe, Hg, i Zn u mišićima riba su bile ispod maksimalno dozvoljenih koncentracija MDK, utvrđenih od strane EU i Republike Srbije. Na osnovu dobijenih rezultata, neophodno je uspostaviti program stalnog monitoringa na Dunavu u Beogradskom regionu

High frequency of the R75Q CFTR variation in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

AbstractWe performed the complete screening of the CFTR gene in a group of 31 patients with COPD in order to investigate the impact of mutations and polymorphisms in the CFTR gene. The cumulative frequency of CFTR mutations (17.74%) was significantly higher than in our general population (P<0.0001). The R75Q was significantly overrepresented in COPD patients (8.06%; P=0.002). In all patients carrying the R75Q chronic bronchitis was a dominant symptom of COPD, and all were homozygous for the V470 allele. These findings suggest that R75Q mutation could be characteristic CFTR variant for COPD patients

Identification of a rare p.G320R alpha-1-antitrypsin variant in emphysema and lung cancer patients

The alpha-1-antitrypsin (A1AT) gene is highly polymorphic, with more than 100 genetic variants identified of which some can affect A1AT protein concentration and/or function and lead to pulmonary and/or liver disease. This study reports on the characterization of a p.G320R variant found in two patients, one with emphysema and the other with lung cancer. This variant results from a single base-pair substitution in exon 4 of the A1AT gene, and has been characterized as P by isoelectric focusing. Functional evaluation of the A1AT p.G320R variant was through comparing specific trypsin inhibitory activity in two patients with pulmonary disorders, carriers of the p.G320R variant, and 19 healthy individuals, carriers of normal A1AT M variants. Results showed that specific trypsin inhibitory activity was lower in both emphysema (2.45 mU/g) and lung cancer (2.07 mU/g) patients than in carriers of the normal variants (range 2.51-3.71 mU/g). This rare A1AT variant is associated with reduced functional activity of A1AT protein. Considering that it was found in patients with severe pulmonary disorders, this variant could be of clinical significance

Effect of traffic on the soil contamination with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)

The level of the environment pollution with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons is mainly in correlation with degree of the region industrialization and the traffic density. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of exhaust gases of gasoline and diesel motors on the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) accumulation in the soil, along the main road M-21. Soil samples were collected from seven localities, at two depths (0-20 and 20-40 cm). The method used for PAHs determination was gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The obtained results showed that PAH concentrations, mainly originating from diesel motors, were lower than 1 mg/kg soil. Concentrations of phenanthrene, benzo(a)anthracene and benzo(b)fluoranthene were elevated at all chosen localities and at depths of 0-40 cm

Comparative Analysis of Economic Indices in Serbian Companies: Period 2003-2010

This paper presents the analysis of the state of economic indices in Serbian companies. The analysis was carried out on the grounds of collected data, obtained by polling 100 managers (experts) employed in Serbian companies. The experts valued quantitatively the selected economic indices by giving them the mark from the interval 1 - 5, according to the state in their companies. The final marks of the indices were obtained as average values of individual experts' marks. This research has been carried out in 2010, and the same analysis was carried out in 2003, as well. Thanks to that it was possible to compare the state of economic indices in Serbian companies from 2003 to 2010. The crucial conclusion is that the companies in Serbia have made a progress in the observed period, in other words, the level of economic indices has been increased considerably in the last seven years. Moreover, the research results make possible the efficient review of the current state of the analyzed indices as well as the effective selection of the future activities aimed at improving the business results