Peculiar Properties and Possible Ways of Improvement of Current Fourfold Village Settlements Classifications in Republic of Serbia

Statement of the problem. At the current moment, a system of typological classification of village settlements in Republic of Serbia is made out of four independent classifications, which are only loosely tied to each other. These classifications are based on: the way of settlements’ occurrence, settlements’ urban-morphological features, its size, and its function inside a broader set of settlements. Results. Summed up, the results of all four typologies create an abundance of input information for a later process of urban planning and design: they make it sluggish, and so, uneasy to handle. This is especially noticeable in large-scale spatial planning, which strongly relies on spatial diagrams, so it is in the need of concentrated information. Having in mind all aforementioned, the authors took the liberty to try to optimize the current fourfold classification system. The optimization was done through checking the output data relevance in context of modern urban planning and design workflows, and assuring, that there is no overlapping information. Conclusions As a result, a brand new, purified and optimized village settlement classification was proposed, along with short demonstration of its practical use

Mesenchymal stem cells attenuate acute liver failure by promoting expansion of regulatory T cells in an indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase-dependent manner

© 2020, University of Kragujevac, Faculty of Science. All rights reserved. The influence of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on the phenotype and function of CD4+CD49b+FoxP3-regulatory cells has not been elucidated. We used Concanavalin A (ConA)-and α-galactosylceramide (α-GalCer)-induced acute liver injury to estimate the effects of MSCs on liver-infiltrating CD4+CD49b+FoxP3-regulatory cells. MSCs significantly reduced ConA-and α-GalCer-mediated liver injury in C57BL/6 mice, as demonstrated by biochemical tests, reduced influx of inflammatory CD4+ T cells, and increased presence of CD4+CD49b+FoxP3-regulatory cells in the injured livers. The number of CD4+CD49b+FoxP3-regulatory cells was also significantly increased in α-GalCer-treated mice that received MSC-derived condi-tioned medium (MSC-CM). The presence of 1-methyltryp-tophan, a specific inhibitor of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), in MSC-CM completely abrogated the hepatopro-tective effect of MSCs and significantly decreased the total number of liver-infiltrated CD4+CD49b+FoxP3-regulatory cells, indicating the crucial importance of MSC-derived IDO for the expansion of CD4+CD49b+FoxP3-regulatory cells and the consequent MSC-dependent attenuation of acute liver injury

Therapeutic efficacy of mesenchymal stem cells for cardiovascular diseases

Despite the improvements in pharmacological and surgical treatments, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are the number one cause of death worldwide. During the last two decades, the search for new therapies has been revolutionized with the growing knowledge of stem cell biology. Due to their huge differentiation capacity and paracrine effects, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are a promising tool for the treatment of CVDs. The encouraging outcomes of preclinical studies using MSCs as a treatment for diseased myocardium have set the scene for worldwide clinical trials. In this review, we overview either complete or ongoing clinical trials using MSCs for the therapy of CVDs. In particular, we analyze the biological properties of MSCs, elucidate recent clinical findings and clinical trial phases of investigation, highlight clinical therapeutic effects of MSCs, and discuss challenges towards the clinical use of these cells in the therapy of CVDs

pH-Responsive Hydrogel Beads Based on Alginate, k-Carrageenan and Poloxamer for enhanced curcumin, natural bioactive compound, encapsulation and controlled release efficiency

Polyphenolic compounds are used for treating various diseases due to their antioxidant and anticancer properties. However, utilization of hydrophobic compounds is limited due to their low bioavailability. In order to achieve a greater application of hydrophobic bioactive compounds, hydrogel beads based on biopolymers can be used as carriers for their enhanced incorporation and controlled delivery. In this study, beads based on the biopolymers-k-carrageenan, sodium alginate and poloxamer 407 were prepared for encapsulation of curcumin. The prepared beads were characterized using IR, SEM, TGA and DSC. The curcumin encapsulation efficiency in the developed beads was 95.74 +/- 2.24%. The release kinetics of the curcumin was monitored in systems that simulate the oral delivery (pH 1.2 and 7.4) of curcumin. The drug release profiles of the prepared beads with curcumin indicated that the curcumin release was significantly increased compared with the dissolution of curcumin itself. The cumulative release of curcumin from the beads was achieved within 24 h, with a final release rate of 12.07% (gastric fluid) as well as 81.93% (intestinal fluid). Both the in vitro and in vivo studies showed that new hydrogel beads based on carbohydrates and poloxamer improved curcumin’s bioavailability, and they can be used as powerful carriers for the oral delivery of different hydrophobic nutraceuticals

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

Real Space Periodic Electron Density Modulations and Vortex Core Spectroscopy in Heavily Overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ

We study high temperature superconductivity of heavily overdoped (p~0.22) Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d with the objective to find signatures of the more conventional superconductivity anticipated in comparison to its more widely studied underdoped counterpart. We find some similarities as well as distinctly different properties, in particular a short-range static periodic modulation caused by quasiparticle interference (QPI) due to scattering off smooth disorder, without invoking density waves. Our study further lifts a long-standing puzzle about the electronic vortex core structure in this compound. We find convincing evidence that QPI is also responsible for low-energy periodic modulations reported inside vortex cores at high magnetic fields (B=3T). Reducing the applied magnetic field by over an order of magnitude (B=0.16T) nearly completely suppresses QPI and vortex-vortex interactions, revealing spectral signatures in these more isolated vortex cores that are in striking agreement with BCS expectations

iNaturalist is an Unexploited Source of Plant-Insect Interaction Data

The aim of this study was to assess whether it is possible to extract useful interaction data between flowers and visiting insects using photographs from citizen science. Ultimately the longer-term aim is to understand possible impacts of invasive species on pollination networks. We used data from iNaturalist (https://www.inaturalist.org), GBIF (https://www.gbif.org), and GLOBI (https://www.globalbioticinteractions.org). From iNaturalist, we used photographs to extract flower visitation interactions. GBIF data were used for plant and pollinator occurrences, and GLOBI was used for information about known interactions between plants and pollinators. For this study we selected four plant species: Oxalis pes-caprae (Bermuda buttercup), Cirsium vulgare (spear thistle) Amorpha fruticosa (false indigo) and Lantana camara (common lantana). These species are relatively common, frequently photographed and known to be attractive to insects. All of these species are also considered invasive in different parts of world. We found that over 60% of all photographs identified as a picture of a bee (Apoidea) also showed a flower that the insect was visiting. Thirty-nine percent of butterflies (Papilionoidea) were photographed on a flower and 38% of Syrphidae. Currently, there are about 170,000 pictures of bees; 700,000 butterflies and 50,000 Syrphidae on iNaturalist from all over the world. This means there is a vast untapped resource of insect-plant interaction data on iNaturalist just waiting for exploitation. iNaturalist provides a standardized and cost-efficient enhancement to specimen collection, and it can be easily adapted for specific research goals. However, the relatively high rate of photographs without both species identifications (plant and visitor) highlights the importance of investing in resources to promote this approach and the importance of determining the identity of all species in a photograph

Stem Cells: New Hope For Spinal Cord Injury

Stem cell therapy offers several attractive strategies for spinal cord repair. The regenerative potential of pluripotent stem cells was confirmed in an animal model of Spinal Cord Injury (SCI); nevertheless, optimized growth and differentiation protocols along with reliable safety assays should be established prior to the clinical application of hESCs and iPSCs. Th e therapeutic effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in SCI result from neurotrophin secretion, angiogenesis, and antiinflammatory actions. Several preclinical SCI studies have reported that the occurrence of axonal extension, remyelination and neuroprotection occur after the transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs). The transplantation of neural stem cells NSCs (NSCs) promotes partial functional improvement after SCI because of their potential to differentiate into neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes. The ideal source of stem cells for safe and efficient cell-based therapy for SCI remains a challenging issue that requires further investigation

Analysis of Specific Electric Conductivity of Thin Films of Polyaniline Doped with Sulfuric and Hydrochloric Acid

This paper describes the specific electric conductivity of thin films of the polymer polyaniline, depending on the type of material that is used for doping the specified polymer. In our own laboratory, there were made four series of doped samples of polyaniline thin films of which two series were doped with sulfuric acid (PANI-H2SO4), and the other two were doped with hydrochloric acid (PANI-HCl). It is also significant that two series of the mentioned samples of thin films were obtained at room temperature (20°C), and the other two at 0°C. Next, the analysis of the specific electrical conductivity of all series was performed in order to demonstrate that the material that reaches the thin film affects its electrical conductivit

Wang-MacDonald d-wave vortex cores observed in heavily overdoped Bi₂Sr₂CaCu₂O_8+δ

Low magnetic field scanning tunneling spectroscopy of individual Abrikosov vortices in heavily overdoped Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ unveils a clear d-wave electronic structure of the vortex core, with a zero-bias conductance peak at the vortex center that splits with increasing distance from the core. We show that previously reported unconventional electronic structures, including the low energy checkerboard charge order in the vortex halo and the absence of a zero-bias conductance peak at the vortex center, are direct consequences of short inter-vortex distance and consequent vortex-vortex interactions prevailing in earlier experiments