Quality Improvement: A guide for services

This guide provides information for clinicians from organisations and services participating in PCOC to use their reports and the suite of PCOC quality improvement tools for continuous improvement, and to demonstrate improvement in patient and family/carer outcomes

Phenolic composition and biological activities of geographically different type of propolis and black cottonwood resins against oral streptococci, vaginal microbiota and phytopathogenic Fusarium species

Aims: A multidisciplinary approach was used to compare phenolic composition, radical scavenging and antimicrobial activity of propolis samples from different geographical localities, and plant resin against various microorganisms. Methods and Results: Using UHPLC-qqqMS quantitative analysis, 28 phenolic compounds were determined. Caffeic and p-coumaric acids were identified as main phenolic acids in poplar propolis samples, except samples from Russia (P6) and China (P7). Radical scavenging activity (applying DPPH spectrophotometric assay) showed the highest activity of Serbian (40·51%) and Chinese (53·21%) propolis samples. Broth microdilution method was used for the oral cavity, fungal phytopathogenic and human vaginal isolates which have been identified at a molecular level. The most sensitive bacterial isolates were Lactobacillus acidophilus (MIC of 0·03–0·13 mg ml−1) and the oral streptococci isolates (MIC values of 0·19–0·13 mg ml−1). The most sensitive fungal phytopathogenic isolate was Fusarium oxysporum (MIC 0·003 mg ml−1). All samples, except propolis from Serbia (P4) and Turkey (P5), showed a strong antifungal activity against Fusarium sporotrichioides, Fusarium subglutinans and Fusarium proliferatum. Conclusion: The results of various tests indicate good radical scavenging and antimicrobial activity against important human and plant pathogens. Significance and Impact of the Study: A detailed propolis analysis is important when proposing a preparation of new biological antimicrobial products which have a positive impact on human health and reduce antibacterial resistance

Native Mesorhizobium strains improve yield and nutrient composition of the common bird's-foot trefoil grown in an acid soil

10 Pág.Acid soils occupy more than 3.95 billion ha of the world soils, and finding an adequate solution for the limitation of crop production on these soils is indispensable. Using highly effective rhizobia tolerant to low pH enables successful nodulation and quality crop production of legumes in acid soils. In this study, isolation and characterization of native rhizobia associated with root nodules of bird's-foot trefoil (Lotus corniculatus L.) from Serbia were conducted. Their effects on the plant yield and nutrient composition of bird's-foot trefoil grown in an acid soil (pH 5.4), in a pot experiment were evaluated. Out of 72 strains isolated, 40 could nodulate bird's-foot trefoil when reinoculated in the test tubes under gnotobiotic conditions, and 23 isolates showed high nitrogen-fixing efficiency. Overall, all isolates could grow well in medium with a pH between 4.5 and 8. Indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) production was detected in all nodulating isolates and 24 could solubilize inorganic phosphates. The identification of selected isolates showed that all belong to Mesorhizobium genus (M. tianshanense, M. erdmanii, M. cantuariense, M. loti, M. jarvisii and M. caraganae). Four acid-tolerant isolates (1M12, 631oz, U1C, and 754) with high nitrogen-fixing efficiency in vitro and particular PGP traits were selected for the pot experiment with acid soil. All applied bacterial treatments (except 1M12) increased the shoot dry weight of bird's-foot trefoil plants (up to 50%), compared to the control. In addition, N uptake and N% were increased up to 20% by inoculation. All applied treatments influenced the concentrations and improved uptake of macro (P, K, Ca, and Mg) and micronutrients (Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Zn, and B) in the plant material. The obtained results indicated that satisfactory yield and mineral composition of L. corniculatus in acid soils could be achieved by inoculation with selected Mesorhizobium strains.This research was supported by the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, under the contract numbers 451-03-9/2021-14/200011 and 451-03-9/2021-14/200178.Peer reviewe