The Significance of the Knowledge management and Relevant Factors of its Implementation in the Organizations of the Telecommunication Market in the Republic of Macedonia

Considering the current situation of the open markets, it becomes clear why organizations need a new management paradigm of work that corresponds to the current conditions. Markets are increasingly competitive and environment is rapidly changing. The knowledge management is considered as a strategy to gain competitive advantage of the open market. This concept comprehends the most important and relevant issues related to the adaptation of the organization, its survival and its competencies. The knowledge management implementation in an organization depends on several factors such as organizational culture, human resource management and information technology. Therefore, the objective of the thesis was to research the significance of the knowledge management and the influence of the relevant factors of its implementation. The research was conducted on the telecommunication market in the Republic of Macedonia which is characterized as an open and dynamic market. The research was carried out in 10 companies, to a sample of 100 respondent

INDIVIDUAL AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PERSONALITY INFLUENCE THE DIAGNOSIS OF MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

Background: In order to explore whether gender differences are present in self-reports on personality measures when all Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) participants are diagnosed at an equal intensity, the aim of this study was to investigate individual and gender differences in personality between healthy participants and those suffering from severe feature MDD. Subjects and methods: The sample consisted of 632 participants: 385 in the healthy control group and 247 MDD, the latter comprised of patients in their first diagnosed episode or recurrent. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) was used to measure symptom severity. Beck’s Depression Inventory was administered when depression symptoms had lessened, establishing it as minor when filling out the personality questionnaire (NEO-PI-R). Results: The results indicate a broad difference in personality between the healthy control and the MDD groups. High neuroticism and low extraversion, accompanied by low scores on openness and conscientiousness, were the most important personality dimensions in understanding distinctions. While agreeableness did not indicate any important role, it did significantly influence the understanding of gender differences within groups. Females were found more agreeable in both groups, but those from the healthy group were also more open and conscientiousness than healthy males. Females from the MDD group were found to be also higher on neuroticism than males of the same group. Conclusions: A general conclusion from the study is that personality dimensions are more important in understanding vulnerability to depression in comparison to gender differences in personality within groups. As females in the MDD group tend to self-report higher levels of agreeableness and neuroticism than do males in the same group when the level of their depression is categorized as equal MDD-severe type, this may influence practitioners to unequally diagnose depression in males and females

Photoelectrochemical properties of sol–gel obtained titanium oxide

The photoelectrochemical properties of a sol–gel prepared titanium oxide coating applied onto a Ti substrate were investigated. The oxide coating was formed from an inorganic sol thermally treated in air at 350 °C. The coating consisted of agglomerates of narrow size distribution around 100 nm. The photoelectrochemical characteristics were evaluated by investigating the changes in the open circuit potential, current transients and impedance characteristics of a Ti/TiO2 electrode upon illumination by UV light in H2SO4 solution and in the oxidation of benzyl alcohol. The electrode was found to be active for photoelectrochemical reactions in the investigated solutions

SERUM LEVELS OF INTERLEUKIN-6 AND TUMOR NECROSIS FACTOR-ALPHA IN EXACERBATION AND REMISSION PHASE OF SCHIZOPHRENIA

Background: The variations in proinflamatory cytokine levels have been associated with schizophrenia (SCH), duration of illness, psychopathology and treatment. The aim of the study was to investigate serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factoralpha (TNF-α) in schizophrenic patients during exacerbation and remission, and its association with course of illness and therapy. Subjects and methods: We measured serum levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in 43 schizophrenic patients in exacerbation and remission and compared them to 29 healthy controls, matched by sex, age, body mass index (BMI) and smoking habits. The severity of psychopathology was assessed using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results: There was no difference in levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in exacerbation compared to remission in schizophrenic patients. IL-6 was higher and TNF-α was lower in schizophrenic patients in both exacerbation and remission in comparison with healthy controls. TNF-α in exacerbation was in negative correlation with IL-6 in remission. No statistical significance was found between levels of cytokines and sex, age, BMI, smoking habits, antipsychotic medication, duration of treatment and duration of illness. IL-6 levels were in positive correlation with the age of onset and the duration of untreated psychosis. In schizophrenic patients on adjunctive treatment with mood stabilizers, TNF-α levels increased in remission. Conclusion: Our results suggest that the connection between schizophrenia, cytokines and medication is multifaceted, and not necessarily linear. Adjunct mood stabilizers not only ameliorate psychopathology, but might convey immunomodulatory effects as well. Further longitudinal studies could elucidate potential beneficial effect of combined therapy in treatment of SCH

Analysis of cardiac manifestation and treatment of multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children related to SARS-CoV-2

Cardiovascular manifestations are common (35–100%) in the multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. Our study aimed to analyze treatment impact and cardiovascular involvement in patients with multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children. The retrospective cohort included 81 patients treated between April 2020 and December 2021 (9.3±4.6 years). Elevated cardiac troponin I and pro-B-type natriuretic peptide were observed in 34.2% and 88.5% of patients, respectively. Myocardial dysfunction was observed in 50.6%. Children older than 10 years had a 4-fold increased risk of myocardial dysfunction (odds ratio [OR] 3.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4-8.9; p=0.006). A moderate negative correlation was proved between left ventricle ejection fraction and C-reactive protein (rr = - 0.48; p < 0.001). More than one-fifth of the patients presented with shock. Coronary artery dilatation was observed in 6.2% of patients. Mild pericardial effusion was detected in 27.1% of children. On standard electrocardiogram, 52.6% of children had negative T waves in the inferior and/or precordial leads; transient QTc prolongation was registered in 43% of patients. Treatment failure was observed in 19 patients. Patients initially treated with intravenous immunoglobulins had 10-fold higher chances for treatment failure than patients treated with corticosteroids (OR 10.6, 95% CI 3,18 – 35.35; p < 0.001). Cardiovascular manifestations were observed in more than half of the patients, with acute myocardial dysfunction being the most common, especially in children older than 10 years. We established a negative association between the degree of elevation of inflammatory markers and left ventricular ejection fraction. Patients treated with intravenous immunoglobulins who had cardiovascular manifestations had treatment failures more frequently than patients treated with corticosteroids

Gal-3 plays an important pro-inflammatory role in the induction phase of acute colitis by promoting activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and production of IL-β in macrophages

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Galectin-3 [Gal-3] is an endogenous lectin with a broad spectrum of immunoregulatory effects: it plays an important role in autoimmune/inflammatory and malignant diseases, but the precise role of Gal-3 in pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis is still unknown. METHODS: We used a model of dextran sulphate sodium [DSS]-induced acute colitis. The role of Gal-3 in pathogenesis of this disease was tested by evaluating disease development in Gal-3 deficient mice and administration of Gal-3 inhibitor. Disease was monitored by clinical, histological, histochemical, and immunophenotypic investigations. Adoptive transfer was used to detect cellular events in pathogenesis. RESULTS: Genetic deletion or pharmacological inhibition of Gal-3 significantly attenuate DSS-induced colitis. Gal-3 deletion suppresses production of pro-inflammatory cytokines in colonic macrophages and favours their alternative activation, as well as significantly reducing activation of NOD-like receptor family, pyrin domain containing 3 [NLRP3] inflammasome in macrophages. Peritoneal macrophages isolated from untreated Gal-3(-/-) mice and treated in vitro with bacterial lipopolysaccharide or DSS produce lower amounts of tumour necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α] and interleukin beta [IL-1β] when compared with wild type [WT] cells. Genetic deletion of Gal-3 did not directly affect total neutrophils, inflammatory dendritic cells [DCs] or natural killer [NK] T cells. However, the total number of CD11c+ CD80+ DCs which produce pro-inflammatory cytokines, as well as TNF-α and IL-1β producing CD45+ CD11c- Ly6G+ neutrophils were significantly lower in colons of Gal-3(-/-) DSS-treated mice. Adoptive transfer of WT macrophages significantly enhanced the severity of disease in Gal-3(-/-) mice. CONCLUSIONS: Gal-3 expression promotes acute DSS-induced colitis and plays an important pro-inflammatory role in the induction phase of colitis by promoting the activation of NLRP3 inflammasome and production of IL-1β in macrophages

Growth and early characterization of neural organoids derived from patients with a neurodevelopmental and progeroid disease

noneCockayne syndrome (CS) is a rare genetic disease characterized by precocious aging, neurodegeneration, and hypersensitivity to ultraviolet-(UV) radiation, with the brain being one of the most affected organs. This disease is difficult to study, due to the lack or poor representativity of animal models, and the elusive genotype-phenotype correlation concerning the severity of the disease. Cerebral organoids (COs) generated from patient cells reprogrammed into induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may provide a good experimental model to study molecular defects in CS, in particular neural dysfunctions. COs recapitulate the cytoarchitecture and cell composition of the early developing human brain, including neural rosettes that structure neural stem cells. Previous data in the lab showed that neural rosettes are altered, or absent in the most severe cases, in CS COs. I have generated and analyzed, mainly by immunofluorescence, COs from various CS patients and healthy controls at different time points. Results indicate that CS COs do not form proper neural rosettes, even as early as 16 days, discarding the hypothesis that in CS these structures form and disappear prematurely. I also observed increased cell-to-cell interactions in CS neural rosettes. Apparent reversion of major CS defects was occasionally observed, suggesting compensatory mutations during culturing