Knowledge and attitudes of the Montenegrin population about transplantation

Montenegro is a country where the transplantation system is underdeveloped. The aim of this paper is to examine the knowledge and attitudes of the Montenegrin population about transplantation. The survey was conducted in January 2019 by filling the questionnaire in three Montenegrin municipalities. The results were processed using descriptive statistics. The total number of respondents was 660 (360 female and 300 male) with the average age of 53 years. The largest number of respondents are Orthodox (80%) and on 1-5 scale they rate their religiosity on average with 3.3. Almost 14% of respondents think it is possible to transplant the brain, and almost 20% of them do not know that the liver can be transplanted. Only 70% of the respondents would donate organs after death, and only 51% of them would allow the organs of the deceased member of family to be transplanted. Two-thirds of respondents have trust in doctors who deal with transplants in Montenegro, but on the other hand about 80% of respondents think that doctors would be less likely to save their life if they knew they were registered organ donors. Only 28% of respondents are sure that the list of patients waiting for a transplant is made on the principle of justice. Our results show that there is insufficient level of knowledge about transplantation among the citizens of Montenegro. Also, the level of trust in the transplantation system is not at a satisfactory level, which requires additional engagement of all those responsible in this medicine area

Knowledge and attitudes of the Montenegrin population about transplantation

Montenegro is a country where the transplantation system is underdeveloped. The aim of this paper is to examine the knowledge and attitudes of the Montenegrin population about transplantation. The survey was conducted in January 2019 by filling the questionnaire in three Montenegrin municipalities. The results were processed using descriptive statistics. The total number of respondents was 660 (360 female and 300 male) with the average age of 53 years. The largest number of respondents are Orthodox (80%) and on 1-5 scale they rate their religiosity on average with 3.3. Almost 14% of respondents think it is possible to transplant the brain, and almost 20% of them do not know that the liver can be transplanted. Only 70% of the respondents would donate organs after death, and only 51% of them would allow the organs of the deceased member of family to be transplanted. Two-thirds of respondents have trust in doctors who deal with transplants in Montenegro, but on the other hand about 80% of respondents think that doctors would be less likely to save their life if they knew they were registered organ donors. Only 28% of respondents are sure that the list of patients waiting for a transplant is made on the principle of justice. Our results show that there is insufficient level of knowledge about transplantation among the citizens of Montenegro. Also, the level of trust in the transplantation system is not at a satisfactory level, which requires additional engagement of all those responsible in this medicine area

Deashing and desulfurization of subbituminous coal from the East field (Bogovina Basin, Serbia) - insights from chemical leaching

The study is focused on the determination of the most effective chemical leaching process for the simultaneous demineralization/deashing and desulfurization of subbituminous coal from the Bogovina Basin. Coal was treated for 30 min, at different temperatures, using variable concentrations of hydrochloric, nitric, acetic and citric acids; hydrogen peroxide, mixture of hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid (pH 2), as well as by the stepwise leaching process (nitric acid + mixture of hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid, pH 2). The changes in mineral composition, caused by the chemical leaching, are followed using X-ray diffraction, whereas alterations of coal organic matter are tracked by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and the content of fixed carbon. Inorganic acid leaching, regardless of the temperature and acid concentration, enabled the successful deashing of coal, whereas the percent of desulfurization was insufficient. The organic acid leaching was not satisfactory for both, deashing and desulfurization. Leaching by H2O2 and H2O2/HNO3 mixture (pH 2) resulted in moderate desulfurization, but the ash reduction was low. The most suitable method for the simultaneous effective ash (78 wt.%) and the sulfur (66 wt. %) removal from Bogovina coal is the two-step leaching, combining 10 vol. % HNO3 and mixture of 35 vol. % H2O2/10 vol. % HNO3 of pH 2 at 60°C

Biologial activity of plant metabolites

As part of theoretical and applied botanical research, medicinal plant raw materials and their ingredients are studied. Certain plant species contain active substances, compounds with proven pharmacological, that is, biological activity. The mentioned compounds mainly belong to the secondary metabolites of plants

New records and noteworthy data of plants, algae and fungi in SE Europe and adjacent regions, 13

This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: brown alga Heribaudiella fluviatilis, red alga Batrachospermum skujae, saprotrophic fungus Gnomonia geranii-macrorrhizi, mycorrhizal fungi Amanita alseides and Russula griseascens, liverwort Ricciocarpos natans, moss Blindia acuta, Leucodon sciuroides var. morensis and Pseudostereodon procerrimus, monocots Allium ampeloprasum, Carex ferruginea and Carex limosa and dicots Convolvulus althaeoides, Fumana aciphylla, Hieracium petrovae, Lamium bifidum subsp. bifidum and Ranunculus fontanus are given within SE Europe and adjacent region

New records and noteworthy data of plants, algae and fungi in SE Europe and adjacent regions, 15

This paper presents new records and noteworthy data on the following taxa in SE Europe and adjacent regions: saprotrophic fungus Geastrum morganii, Guignardia istriaca and Hypoxylon howeanum, mycorrhizal fungus Amanita friabilis and Suillus americanus, xanthophyte Vaucheria frigida, stonewort Chara hispida, liverwort Calypogeia integristipula and Ricciocarpus natans, moss Campylopus introflexus, Dicranum transsylvanicum, Tortella pseudofragilis and Trematodon ambiguus, fern Ophioglossum vulgatum subsp. vulgatum, monocots Epipactis exilis, Epipactis purpurata and Epipogium aphyllum and dicots Callitriche cophocarpa, Cornus sanguinea subsp. hungarica and Viscum album subsp. austriacum are given within SE Europe and adjacent regions

ISPITIVANJE KLIJAVOSTI SEMENA Tribulus terrestris

Tribulus terrestris uglavnom je invazivna korovska biljna vrsta koja je od ranije poznata u kineskoj i indijskoj tradicionalnoj medicini za lečenje seksualne disfunkcije, problema sa očima i nadutošću stomaka. Poreklom je pretežno iz južne Evrope, Azije, širom Afrike i Australije iz toplih umerenih i tropskih regiona. Uglavnom se razmnožava isključivo semenom, pri čemu je procenat klijavosti T. terrestris veoma nizak u prirodnim i laboratorijskim uslovima. Prikupljena semena T. terrestrisa iz samoniklih populacija su do ispitivanja čuvana na sobnoj temperaturi. Testiranje klijavosti semena obavljeno je tokom maja 2022. godine primenom tretmana potapanja u vodi u različitim vremenskim intervalima i metodom skarifikacije semena nakon kog je postavljeno u petri posude između filter papira. Na osnovu dobijenih rezultata utvrđeno je da je u svim tretmanima koji uključuju potapanje i skarifikaciju klijavost bila bolja nego u kontrolnom tretmanu, pri čemu je najbolja klijavost (76.3 %) postignuta tretmanom potapanja semena u trajanju od 12h. Ključne reči: Skarifikacija; tretman potapanja; babin zub;Tribulus terrestris is mainly an invasive weedy plant species that has long been known in Chinese and Indian traditional medicine to treat sexual dysfunction, eye problems, and stomach bloating. It is native mainly from southern Europe, Asia, throughout Africa and Australia from warm temperate and tropical regions. It is mainly propagated exclusively by seed, with the percentage of germination of T. terrestris being very low in natural and laboratory conditions. Collected seeds of T. terrestris from wild populations were stored at room temperature until testing. Seed germination testing was carried out during May 2022 using the water immersion treatment at different time intervals and the seed scarification method, after which it was placed in a petri dish between filter papers. Based on the obtained results, it was determined that in all treatments that include immersion and scarification, germination was better than in the control treatment, where the best germination (76.3%) was achieved with the treatment of seed immersion for 12 hours

The catalytic effect of honey on formation of reducing sugars during sucrose hydrolysis

© 2017, Association of Chemists and Chemical Engineers of Serbia. All rights reserved. In commercial apiculture, beekepers usually remove honey from hives and replenish food reserves with sugar syrup. When honeybees use sugar syrup (sucrose solution), they break down sucrose into glucose and fructose. These processes exhaust and weaken bees. In order to prevent bee exhaustion resulting from this processing, bees should preferably be supplied with ready made food before winter, i.e., with syrup in which sucrose has already been inverted. Feeding with inverted syrups is the most popular way of honeybee feeding. Beekeepers usually prepare inverted syrups by adding a weak organic acid (citric, oxalic, acetic or lactic acid) to sucrose solution at elevated temperatures. Inverted syrup production under uncontrolled pH, temperature and time conditions can cause the formation of 5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde (HMF), a compound harmful to bees. High quality inverted syrup can be obtained through the hydrolytic decomposition of sucrose by the enzyme invertase. Due to its invertase content, honey can be used as a biocatalyst for sucrose inversion. Invertase activity depends on the type, method and time of honey storage. This study evaluates the catalytic effect of acacia honey on formation of reducing sugars during hydrolysis of 50 wt.% sucrose solution. The ratio of reducing sugars and sucrose at 40 °C, after 5 days of hydrolysis at a concentration of honey and 10 wt.% was 0.30 g reducing sugars/g of sucrose. The highest content of reducing sugars was achieved at a temperature of 35 °C, after 48 h of invertion. In all samples of hydrolysates obtained at different temperatures (35–65 °C), HMF was detected at concentrations of less than 4.32 mg kg–1. A high degree of negative correlation (coefficient of linearity –0.94) was established between parameters of volumetric and polarimetric measurements during the hydrolysis of sucrose

DETERMINATION OF OPTIMAL CONTOURS OF OPEN PIT MINE DURING OIL SHALE EXPLOITATION, BY MINEX 5.2.3. PROGRAM

By examination and determination of optimal solution of technological processes of exploitation and oil shale processing from Aleksinac site and with adopted technical solution and exploitation of oil shale, derived a technical solution that optimize contour of the newly defined open pit mine. In the world, this problem is solved by using a computer program that has become the established standard for quick and efficient solution for this problem. One of the computer’s program, which can be used for determination of the optimal contours of open pit mines is Minex 5.2.3. program, produced in Australia in the Surpac Minex Group Pty Ltd Company, which is applied at the Mining and Metallurgy Institute Bor (no. of licenses are SSI - 24765 and SSI - 24766). In this study, authors performed 11 optimization of deposit geo - models in Minex 5.2.3. based on the tests results, performed in a laboratory for soil mechanics of Mining and Metallurgy Institute, Bor, on samples from the site of Aleksinac deposits

Markers of inflammation and antioxidant enzyme activities in restenosis following percutaneous coronary intervention

The efficacy of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is often compromised by the need for repeat revascularization, because of restenosis development. Numerous studies have tried to establish the predictive value of different biochemical markers of restenosis, with conflicting results. The aim of this study was to assess the prognostic significance of inflammatory and lipid markers, and major antioxidant enzyme activity for the development of in-stent restenosis (ISR) following PCI. Serum high sensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), soluble intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1 (sICAM-1), transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β), lipoprotein(a) and oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL) levels, as well as serum extracellular superoxide dismutase (EC-SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity were determined in 44 patients before stent implantation procedure, and after 6-month follow-up. Results after follow-up revealed that, in patients that developed angiografically confirmed ISR, the increase in serum hs-CRP levels was significanty higher, compared to those without stenosis. Stent implantation induced compensatory increase in serum antioxidant enzyme activities at follow-up, with significantly lower CAT activity in patients with ISR, possibly contributing to stenosis development. No significant changes in circulating levels of ICAM-1, TGF-β, oxLDL and Lp(a) were observed between the groups. In conclusion, serum hs-CRP level and CAT activity may be considered as useful biochemical markers for monitoring patients during follow-up after stent implantation