Growing skull fracture

Background. Growing skull fracture or craniocerebral erosion is a rare complication of linear skull fracture in childhood. It is characterized by progressive diastatic enlargement of the fracture line, which leads to a cranial defect, dural cleft, and cerebral herniation. It is presented as a soft pulsabile scalp swelling above the fracture, with a clear cranial defect. Case report. In this paper we presented a patient, an 8-month-old boy with the growing skull fracture revealed four weeks after the injury. After the surgical treatment, the boy was in a good general condition without the presence of neurologic impairment. Conclusion. Early recognition of craniocerebral erosion is very important. Timely detection prevents further progression of the disease and the evolution of neurological impairment. Surgery is the method of choice for treating a growing skull fracture

Application of 1-methylcyclopropene in fruit of five apple cultivars grown in Serbia

Fruits of five apple cultivars were treated using 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP or SmartFresh (TM)) after cropping and were stored at normal atmosphere 2 +/- 0.5 degrees C, 90 +/- 5% relative humidity (RH) and 20.9 kPa O-2 + lt 0.5 kPa CO2. Fruit firmness was assessed at three periods: 7 d after storing, 120 d after storing and 30 d after the second assessment and storing at room temperature. Contents of K in all of the cultivars and in all years of study varied within the average values between 1390.5 and 2028.0 mg kg(-1), while the Ca content varied between 21.7 and 59.5 mg kg(-1). The K:Ca ratio was the lowest in cultivar 'Granny Smith' (24.0) and the highest in 'Redchief ' (99.1). Application of 1-MCP made the strongest impact on fruit firmness of the cultivars 'Granny Smith' and 'Idared' in all measuring periods. Cultivars 'Redchier', 'Cadel' and 'Morrens Ionagored' responded well to the application of 1-MCP in the storage conditions, whereas the effect of its application influenced conservability of the fruits stored at room temperature except in fruits of the cultivar 'Morens Jonagored'. Application of 1-MCP made an important effect on the preservation of fruit firmness, all in accordance with the degree of ripeness of the fruits subjected to the treatment and the contents of K, Ca and K:Ca ratio. This study indicates that the use of 1-MCP treatment in post harvest handling of apples is promising for maintaining the freshness and quality of fruits

Optical sensors of fluid concentration based on evanescent fleld

Optički senzori su deo mnogobrojnih sistema u industriji, transportu, telekomunikacijama, medicini i nauci. Koriste se za merenje temperature, pritiska, istezanja, indeksa prelamanja okolne sredine i indirektno za merenje koncentracije gasova i tečnosti, vlažnosti i drugog. Uglavnom zahvaljujući naglom razvoju optičkih telekomunikacionih tehnologija, razvoj optičkih senzora pratio je opšti trend smanjivanja i integracija ka malim, robusnim i prenosivim urađajima. Pri tom su se izdvojila dva osnovna tipa senzora: senzori na bazi optičkih vlakana i integrisani senzori, koji su dalje funkcionalizovani hemijskim putem i korišćenjem nanotehnologija. Razvoj metoda za proizvodnju minijaturnih senzora i tankih filmova koji se nanose na površinu senzora je značajno uticao na razvoj optičkih senzora. U distertaciji su istraživani senzori na bazi integrisanih svetlosnih talasovoda funkcionalizovani tankim poroznim filmom. Princip detekcije je interakcija merene tečnosti ili gasa sa evanescentnim elektromagnetim poljem. Kod gasova je dominantna rezonantna apsorpcija svetlosti, a kod tečnosti promena profila i propagacione konstante moda usled promena indeksa prelamanja tečnosti. U oba slučaja poroznost filma omogućava veće preklapanje polja moda sa fluidom koji se meri i time osetljivost senzora. Ova teza se bavi proučavanjem uticaja parametara tankog filma na performanse senzora, osetljivost i opseg, kao i optimizacijom geometrije senzora u cilju dobijanja najviše osetljivosti. Pritom su korišćeni parametri tankih filmova i njihove varijacije određeni eksperimentalno. Rezultat rada su predlozi i dizajn ovih tipova optičkih senzora pogodnih karakteristika za određivanje koncentracije fluida upotrebom poznatih nanotehnologija. Pokazano je da se najbolja osetljivost senzora gasa javlja u slučaju talasovodnih struktura koje podržavaju modove pretežno lokalizovane u oblasti tankog poroznog filma. Takođe je pokazano da se korišćenjem poroznih filmova osetvljivost senzora povećava 20 puta u odnosu na neporozne, kao i da male varijacije debljine i poroznosti filma od 1% značajno smanjuju osetljivost senzora. Proračuni su izvedeni za senzor ugljen-dioksida u bliskom infra-crvenom opsegu...Optical sensors are nowadays present in many industrial systems, transport, telecommunication, medicine and science. These are used for measurements of temperature, pressure, refractive index of surrounding and implicitly concentration of gasses and liquids, humidity etc. Mostly due to development of telecommunication systems, optical sensors were following the trend of size decrease and integration to small, robust and transferable devices. Two types of sensor are most significant in this sense: optical fibre sensors and integrated sensors. These can be further functionalized with nanotechnology. An important influence to the development of the optical sensors is in establishing new methods of miniature sensor preparation together with methods of thin films deposition. The sensors based on integrated light waveguides with thin porous films are investigated in this dissertation. The detection principle is based on interaction of liquids and gases with evanescent electromagnetic field. Interaction of resonant light absorption is dominant in the case of gases, while the change of the mode profile and propagation constant due to change of liquid refractive index is dominant for liquids. In both cases the film porosity enables better overlapping of the mode field with the measurand which brings higher sensor sensitivity. Influence of thin film parameters on sensor performances, sensitivity and range, as well as optimization of sensor geometry with the goal to obtain the best sensitivity are the topics of investigation presented in this dissertation. Used film parameters and their variations are experimentally determined. The outcome of the investigation is the proposed design of the optical sensors for determination of fluid concentration based on usage of known nanotechnologies. It has been shown that the best gas sensor sensitivity is obtained in the case of waveguiding structures which support modes picked in the thin film area. Also, it is shown that usage of porous films increases the sensor sensitivity 20 times with respect to nonporous films and that the small variation of the film thickness (1nm) and porosity (1.5%) significantly decreased the sensor sensitivity. Calculations are conducted for CO2 in near infrared spectrum..

An effective and robust fingerprint enhancement by adaptive filtering in frequency domain

Extensive research of automatic fingerprint identification system (AFIS), although started in the early 1960s, has not yet give the answer to reliable fingerprint recognition problem. A critical step for AFIS accuracy is reliable extraction of features (mostly minutiae) from the input fingerprint image. However, the effectiveness of a feature extraction relies heavily on the quality of the input fingerprint images. This leads to the incorporation of a fingerprint enhancement module in fingerprint recognition system to make the system robust with respect to the quality of input fingerprint images. In this paper we propose an adaptive filtering in frequency domain in order to enhance fingerprint image. Two different directional filters are proposed and results are compared

Skyrmions in a Doped Antiferromagnet

Magnetization and magnetoresistance have been measured in insulating antiferromagnetic La_{2}Cu_{0.97}Li_{0.03}O_{4} over a wide range of temperatures, magnetic fields, and field orientations. The magnetoresistance step associated with a weak ferromagnetic transition exhibits a striking nonmonotonic temperature dependence, consistent with the presence of skyrmions.Comment: 4+ pages, 3 figures (some low resolution), supplementary material (3 pages); discussion expanded, references added; as publishe

The influence of brake pads thermal conductivity on passanger car brake system efficiency

In phase of vehicle braking system designing, besides of mechanical characteristics, it is also necessary to take under consideration the system's thermal fatures. This is because it is not enough just to achieve proper braking power, for the brake system to be effective but equally important thing is the dissipation of heat to the environment. Heat developed in the friction surfaces dissipate into the environment over the disk in one hand and through the brake linings and caliper, in the other. The striving is to make that greatest amount of heat to dissipate not threw the brake pads butthrew disc. The experimental researching of heat transfer process taking place at vehicle brakes was made in the R&D Center of Zastava automobili car factory in order to increase the efficiency of brake system. The standard laboratory and road test procedures were used, according to factory quality regulations. The modern equipment such as thermo camera, thermo couples, torque transducers, signal amplifiers, optical speed measuring system and laptop computer were used. In this paper will be shown the part of the experimental researching, whichrefers to the thermal conductivity ofbrake pad friction linings

Cerebrospinal fluid and plasma concentration of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule1, vascular cell adhesion molecule1 and endothelial leukocyte adhesion molecule in patients with acute ischemic b

Background. Leukocyte migration into the ischemic area is a complex process controlled by adhesion molecules (AM) in leukocytes and endothelium, by migratory capacity of leukocytes and the presence of hemotaxic agents in the tissue. In this research it was supposed that in the blood and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of patients in the acute phase of ischemic brain disease (IBD) there were relevant changes in the concentration of soluble AM (sICAM-1 sVCAM-1 and sE-selectin), that could have been the indicators of the intensity of damaging processes in central nervous system (CNS). Methods. The study included 45 IBD patients, 15 with transient ischemic attack (TIA) 15 with reversible ischemic attack (RIA), and 15 with brain infarction (BI) of both sexes, mean age 66±7. Control group consisted of 15 patients with radicular lesions of discal origin, subjected to diagnostic radiculography without the signs of interruption in the passage of CSF. Changes of selected biochemical parameters were determined in all patients in frame 72 hours since the occurence of an ischemic episode. Concentrations of soluble AM were determined in plasma and CSF by ELISA. Total number of leukocytes (TNL) in peripheral blood was determined by hematological analyzer. Results. The results showed that during the first 72 hrs of IBD significant increases occured in TNL and that the increase was progressive compared to the severeness of the disease. Significant increase of soluble AM concentration was shown in plasma of IBD patients. The increase was highest in BI somewhat lower in RIA and the lowest in TIA patients compared to the control. In CSF concentrations of sICAM-1, sVCAM-1 and sE-selectin demonstrated similar increasing trend as in plasma. Conclusion. TNL, as well as the soluble AM concentrations in plasma and CSF, were increased during the acute IBD phase and progressive in relation to the severeness of the disease, so that they might have been the indicators of CNS inflammatory reaction intensity. Furthermore, the results indicated their role in IBD pathogenesis and offered the possibility of researching the application of antagonists and/or activity modulators of some of them in IBD therapy

Origin and characterization of Montenegrin grapevine varieties

Viticultural tradition in Montenegro dates back before the Roman period. Viticulture and winemaking of Montenegro is still mainly based on autochthonous grapevine varieties ('Vranac', 'Kratošija', 'Krstač' and 'Žižak'). Relevant historical data concerning the origin of Montenegrin grapevine varieties, as well as Montenegrin germplasm characterization reviews are reported in this paper. The available literature data indicate a long tradition and an important breeding history of grapevine evaluation in Montenegro, especially concerning 'Vranac' and 'Kratošija'. Through international projects, by ampelographic analysis and DNA profiles, the originality of 'Vranac', 'Žižak' and 'Krstač' varieties was confirmed, while it was found that 'Kratošija' has the same genetic profile as 'Primitivo', 'Zinfandel' and 'Crljenak Kaštelanski'. According to the literature and to the exploration in vine growing regions, it can be concluded that Montenegro has a very rich grapevine germplasm, yet not investigated enough. Further works on Montenegrin germplasm will contribute to the better evaluation of the grapevine genetic resources of Montenegro, and, therefore, to the enrichment of grapevine diversity in Europe

Reduction of hexavalent chromium by bacillusspp. Isolated from heavy metal-polluted soil

Hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), one of the major pollutants from industrial facilities, is very toxic and harmful for human health and environmental quaky. Due to the lack of conventional methods, bioremediation was recommended as an environmentally friendly and effective technique. The aim of this paper was the isolation, identification and selection of the microorganisms which are capable of Cr(VI) reduction in vitro. Heavy metal concentration, detected in four soil samples, within and around the former bicycle factory Wog" (Republic . of Slovenia), was measured using the ICP-OES method. Bacteria were isolated and tested for chromium tolerance using LB agar supplemented with various Cr(VI) concentrations, whilst Cr(VI) reduction and bacterial growth was determined using the LB liquid medium. From 53 bacterial isolates, five of them showed a tolerance of 1000 mg/L of Cr(VI). Those five isolates showed the capability of growth under various Cr(VI) concentrations (50-1000 mg/L). Initial Cr(VI) concentrations ranging from 50 to 100 mg/L were completely reduced by four bacterial isolates, whilst 500 to 1000 mg/L by Bacillus safensis 342-9. Using 16S rDNA and tuf gene sequence analyses, isolates 270-9R and 342-9 were identified as Bacillus safensis, isolates 351-9 and 270-9C as Bacillus subtilis subsp. subtilis, and 212-9 as Bacillus thuringiensis. These results indicated that these bacteria may be promising tools for remediation of metal-polluted sites

Design and Development of Static Load Test Stand for Various Sizes of Multicopter Arms

The constant advance in the usage of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) of all types, including electric multicopters (rotary-wing drones), requests further advancement on all project levels in order to create a competitive final product. With the usage of composite materials, mainly carbon fiber in epoxy resin, it is possible to have a very lightweight structure that is strong enough to sustain all anticipated loads. Arms are a crucial part of multicopter structures that are often made entirely of composite materials. Each multicopter arm has at least one electric motor and propeller on one and a connection with the body on the other end. A static load test stand for various sizes of arms is designed and developed in order to test prototypes within the design process and to be able to test the mechanical characteristics of each produced final part that will be later assembled with other parts. The test stand consists of a robust steel frame, part mounting clamps, a movable low-speed hydraulic cylinder with an appropriate hydraulic power pack powered by an electric motor which is controlled by a variable frequency drive, a load cell for force measurement, and a linear displacement transducer for displacement. A custom digital electronic circuit with a microcontroller is developed in order to control the actuator and obtain data from sensors. Also, custom user-friendly software with a graphical user interface is designed to control experiments and process measurements