The role of human resources on the economy: a study of the Balkan eu member states

In this paper we analyze the impact of the quality of human capital on the main economic indicators of South-Eastern Europe countries [SEE] at the NUTS 2 level. The subjects of this research are the human capital indicators of regional competitiveness. The quality of human capital depends largely on the age structure of the population and the quality of education. Those regions, which have the highest percentage of the working-age population and highly educated people, are able to achieve higher productivity and gain a competitive advantage over other regions. As main indicators of the quality of human capital we identified: population; persons aged 25-64 with tertiary education attainment; students in tertiary education and participation of adults aged 25-64 in education and training and human resources in science and technology. As main economic indicators, we identified: regional gross domestic product; employment and income of households. The aim of this paper is to determine whether there is a correlation between the indicators of the quality of human capital and economic indicators. As a main methodology we have used the correlation coefficient which shows interdependence of the analyzed indicators. As part of our analysis, we consider only EU member states that belong to the SEE countries: Slovenia, Croatia, Romania, Bulgaria and Greece. We conclude that in all countries there is a high multiple correlation coefficient between the indicators human resources in science and technology, number of students and employment.This paper is the result of the project No. 47007 III funded by the Ministry for Education, Science and Technological Development of Republic of Serbia

Statistical territorial units with purpose of measuring level of development of regions in Serbia

Дан общий обзор существующей классификации статистических территориальных единиц в соответствии с классификацией NSTJ в Сербии. Цель работы - изучить и проанализировать классификации NSTJ в Сербии и определить, соответствует ли она классификации в ЕС. Сформирован перечень возможных мер, которые государство должно предпринять для того, чтобы выровнять степень развития регионов. Рассмотрены возможности использования имеющихся ресурсов. Установлено, что Сербия не имеет региональной политики, целью которой было бы выравнивание регионов и управление их более равномерным развитием в Сербии, как это предусмотрено Конституцией. После распада Югославии в 1991 году Сербия становится одной из европейских стран с крупнейшимими различиями в развитии регионов

Superspreading: Mechanisms and Molecular Design

The intriguing ability of certain surfactant molecules to drive the superspreading of liquids to complete wetting on hydrophobic substrates is central to numerous applications that range from coating flow technology to enhanced oil recovery. Despite significant experimental efforts, the precise mechanisms underlying superspreading remain unknown to date. Here, we isolate these mechanisms by analyzing coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations of surfactant molecules of varying molecular architecture and substrate affinity. We observe that for superspreading to occur, two key conditions must be simultaneously satisfied: the adsorption of surfactants from the liquid–vapor surface onto the three-phase contact line augmented by local bilayer formation. Crucially, this must be coordinated with the rapid replenishment of liquid–vapor and solid–liquid interfaces with surfactants from the interior of the droplet. This article also highlights and explores the differences between superspreading and conventional surfactants, paving the way for the design of molecular architectures tailored specifically for applications that rely on the control of wetting

Genetic Variation Shapes Protein Networks Mainly through Non-transcriptional Mechanisms

Variation in the levels of co-regulated proteins that function within networks in an outbred yeast population is not driven by variation in the corresponding transcripts

International Veterinary Epilepsy Task Force consensus proposal: Medical treatment of canine epilepsy in Europe

In Europe, the number of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) licensed for dogs has grown considerably over the last years. Nevertheless, the same questions remain, which include, 1) when to start treatment, 2) which drug is best used initially, 3) which adjunctive AED can be advised if treatment with the initial drug is unsatisfactory, and 4) when treatment changes should be considered. In this consensus proposal, an overview is given on the aim of AED treatment, when to start long-term treatment in canine epilepsy and which veterinary AEDs are currently in use for dogs. The consensus proposal for drug treatment protocols, 1) is based on current published evidence-based literature, 2) considers the current legal framework of the cascade regulation for the prescription of veterinary drugs in Europe, and 3) reflects the authors’ experience. With this paper it is aimed to provide a consensus for the management of canine idiopathic epilepsy. Furthermore, for the management of structural epilepsy AEDs are inevitable in addition to treating the underlying cause, if possible

Variations of Plasmid Content in Rickettsia felis

Background: Since its first detection, characterization of R. felis has been a matter of debate, mostly due to the contamination of an initial R. felis culture by R. typhi. However, the first stable culture of R. felis allowed its precise phenotypic and genotypic characterization, and demonstrated that this species belonged to the spotted fever group rickettsiae. Later, its genome sequence revealed the presence of two forms of the same plasmid, physically confirmed by biological data. In a recent article, Gillespie et al. ( PLoS One. 2007; 2( 3): e266.) used a bioinformatic approach to refute the presence of the second plasmid form, and proposed the creation of a specific phylogenetic group for R. felis. Methodology/ Principal Findings: In the present report, we, and five independent international laboratories confirmed unambiguously by PCR the presence of two plasmid forms in R. felis strain URRWXCal(2)(T), but observed that the plasmid content of this species, from none to 2 plasmid forms, may depend on the culture passage history of the studied strain. We also demonstrated that R. felis does not cultivate in Vero cells at 37 degrees C but generates plaques at 30 degrees C. Finally, using a phylogenetic study based on 667 concatenated core genes, we demonstrated the position of R. felis within the spotted fever group. Significance: We demonstrated that R. felis, which unambiguously belongs to the spotted fever group rickettsiae, may contain up to two plasmid forms but this plasmid content is unstable

A review of the international early recommendations for departments organization and cancer management priorities during the global COVID-19 pandemic: applicability in low- and middle-income countries.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a new virus that has never been identified in humans before. COVID-19 caused at the time of writing of this article, 2.5 million cases of infections in 193 countries with 165,000 deaths, including two-third in Europe. In this context, Oncology Departments of the affected countries had to adapt quickly their health system care and establish new organizations and priorities. Thus, numerous recommendations and therapeutic options have been reported to optimize therapy delivery to patients with chronic disease and cancer. Obviously, while these cancer care recommendations are immediately applicable in Europe, they may not be applicable in certain emerging and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). In this review, we aimed to summarize these international guidelines in accordance with cancer types, making a synthesis for daily practice to protect patients, staff and tailor anti-cancer therapy delivery taking into account patients/tumour criteria and tools availability. Thus, we will discuss their applicability in the LMICs with different organizations, limited means and different constraints

Peak intensity prediction in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry: A machine learning study to support quantitative proteomics

Timm W, Scherbart A, Boecker S, Kohlbacher O, Nattkemper TW. Peak intensity prediction in MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry: A machine learning study to support quantitative proteomics. BMC Bioinformatics. 2008;9(1):443.Background: Mass spectrometry is a key technique in proteomics and can be used to analyze complex samples quickly. One key problem with the mass spectrometric analysis of peptides and proteins, however, is the fact that absolute quantification is severely hampered by the unclear relationship between the observed peak intensity and the peptide concentration in the sample. While there are numerous approaches to circumvent this problem experimentally (e. g. labeling techniques), reliable prediction of the peak intensities from peptide sequences could provide a peptide-specific correction factor. Thus, it would be a valuable tool towards label-free absolute quantification. Results: In this work we present machine learning techniques for peak intensity prediction for MALDI mass spectra. Features encoding the peptides' physico-chemical properties as well as string-based features were extracted. A feature subset was obtained from multiple forward feature selections on the extracted features. Based on these features, two advanced machine learning methods (support vector regression and local linear maps) are shown to yield good results for this problem (Pearson correlation of 0.68 in a ten-fold cross validation). Conclusion: The techniques presented here are a useful first step going beyond the binary prediction of proteotypic peptides towards a more quantitative prediction of peak intensities. These predictions in turn will turn out to be beneficial for mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics

The G67E mutation in hMLH1 is associated with an unusual presentation of Lynch syndrome

Germline mutations in the mismatch repair (MMR) genes are associated with Lynch syndrome, also known as hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC) syndrome. Here, we characterise a variant of hMLH1 that confers a loss-of-function MMR phenotype. The mutation changes the highly conserved Gly67 residue to a glutamate (G67E) and is reminiscent of the hMLH1-p.Gly67Arg mutation, which is present in several Lynch syndrome cohorts. hMLH1-Gly67Arg has previously been shown to confer loss-of-function (Shimodaira et al, 1998), and two functional assays suggest that the hMLH1-Gly67Glu protein fails to sustain normal MMR functions. In the first assay, hMLH1-Gly67Glu abolishes the protein's ability to interfere with MMR in yeast. In the second assay, mutation of the analogous residue in yMLH1 (yMLH1-Gly64Glu) causes a loss-of-function mutator phenotype similar to yMLH1-Gly64Arg. Despite these molecular similarities, an unusual spectrum of tumours is associated with hMLH1-Gly67Glu, which is not typical of those associated with Lynch syndrome and differs from those found in families carrying the hMLH1-Gly67Arg allele. This suggests that hMLH1 may have different functions in certain tissues and/or that additional factors may modify the influence of hMLH1 mutations in causing Lynch syndrome