Antioxidant Capacities and Phenolic Levels of Different Varieties of Serbian White Wines

The biologically active compounds in wine, especially phenolics, are responsible for reduced risk of developing chronic diseases (cardiovascular disrease, cancer, diabetes, etc.), due to their antioxidant activities. We determined the contents of total phenolics (TP) and total flavonoids (TF) in selected Serbian white wines by colorimetric methods. Total antioxidant activity (TAA) of the white wines was analyzed using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging capacity assay. Međaš beli had the highest content of TP, TF and TAA. The radical scavenging capacity (RSC) and total antioxidant activity (TAA) of white wines were 15.30% and 1.055 mM Trolox equivalent, respectively. Total phenolic (TP) and total flavonoid (TF) contents in white wines ranged from 238.3 to 420.6 mg gallic acid equivalent per L of wines and 42.64 to 81.32 mg catechin equivalent per L of wines, respectively. A high and significant correlation between antioxidant activity and total phenolic content was determined in wines (R2 = 0.968, p < 0.01). For the individual polyphenols determination we used a high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection (DAD) technique. The majority of white wine polyphenols was represent by four hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs)

Polyphenol Content and Antioxidant Activity of Sour Cherries From Serbia

The aim of this study was to evaluate the content of phenolics: the total phenols (TP), flavonoids (TF), anthocyanins (TA), as well as the total antioxidant\ud capacity (TAC) in three sour cherry cultivars (Prunus cerasus L.) introduced to the southeast Serbia climate conditions. Among the investigated sour cherries,\ud „Oblačinska“ cultivar contained the highest amounts of all groups of phenolics, followed by „Cigančica“ > „Marela“. A significant difference were observed in the phenolic content among different cultivars and growing seasons (p  0.05), and the phenolic compounds were significantly higher in the growing season 2009. The examined cultivars possess a high antioxidant capacity, and all phenolics of highy correlation with TAC. The following compounds were identified and quantified using HPLC-DAD: 4 anthocyanins, the most abundant of which was cyanidin-3-glucoside in “Marela” and “Oblačinska”, and cyanidin-3-glucosylrutinoside in „Cigančica“, and 4 hydroxycinnamic acids, the most abundant of which was neochlorogenic acid in all sour cherry cultivars. The growing and ripening process on the tree of sour cherry cv. „Oblačinska“ was evaluated also. The results showed significant increases in total phenols during the ripening, the total anthocyanins and total antioxidant capacity and 4 quantified anthocyanins, however the neochlorogenic acid decreased during the ripening. The study indicated that the growing and climate conditions in southeast Serbia are convenient for introducing sour cherry cultivars.\u

Some differential inequalities and criteria for univalency in the unit disk

In this paper, Jack lemma is used for obtaining several differential inequalities over analytic functions that later on, lead to new criteria for univalency in the unit disk

Direct targeting of hippocampal neurons for apoptosis by glucocorticoids is reversible by mineralocorticoid receptor activation

Prova tipográfica (In Press)An important question arising from previous observations in vivo is whether glucocorticoids can directly influence neuronal survival in the hippocampus. To this end, a primary postnatal hippocampal culture system containing mature neurons and expressing both glucocorticoid (GR) and mineralocorticoid (MR) receptors was developed. Results show that the GR agonist dexamethasone (DEX) targets neurons (microtubule-associated protein 2-positive cells) for death through apoptosis. GR-mediated cell death was counteracted by the MR agonist aldosterone (ALDO). Antagonism of MR with spironolactone ([7a-(acetylthio)-3-oxo-17a-pregn- 4-ene,21 carbolactone] (SPIRO)) causes a dose-dependent increase in neuronal apoptosis in the absence of DEX, indicating that nanomolar levels of corticosterone present in the culture medium, which are sufficient to activate MR, can mask the apoptotic response to DEX. Indeed, both SPIRO and another MR antagonist, oxprenoate potassium ((7a,17a)-17-Hydroxy-3-oxo-7- propylpregn-4-ene-21-carboxylic acid, potassium salt (RU28318)), accentuated DEX-induced apoptosis. These results demonstrate that GRs can act directly to induce hippocampal neuronal death and that demonstration of their full apoptotic potency depends on abolition of survival-promoting actions mediated by MR

Short Linear Motifs recognized by SH2, SH3 and Ser/Thr Kinase domains are conserved in disordered protein regions

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein interactions are essential for most cellular functions. Interactions mediated by domains that appear in a large number of proteins are of particular interest since they are expected to have an impact on diversities of cellular processes such as signal transduction and immune response. Many well represented domains recognize and bind to primary sequences less than 10 amino acids in length called Short Linear Motifs (SLiMs).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we systematically studied the evolutionary conservation of SLiMs recognized by SH2, SH3 and Ser/Thr Kinase domains in both ordered and disordered protein regions. Disordered protein regions are protein sequences that lack a fixed three-dimensional structure under putatively native conditions. We find that, in all these domains examined, SLiMs are more conserved in disordered regions. This trend is more evident in those protein functional groups that are frequently reported to interact with specific domains.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The correlation between SLiM conservation with disorder prediction demonstrates that functional SLiMs recognized by each domain occur more often in disordered as compared to structured regions of proteins.</p

Condition-specific or generic preference-based measures in oncology? A comparison of the EORTC-8D and the EQ-5D-3L.

PURPOSE: It has been argued that generic health-related quality of life measures are not sensitive to certain disease-specific improvements; condition-specific preference-based measures may offer a better alternative. This paper assesses the validity, responsiveness and sensitivity of a cancer-specific preference-based measure, the EORTC-8D, relative to the EQ-5D-3L. METHODS: A longitudinal prospective population-based cancer genomic cohort, Cancer 2015, was utilised in the analysis. EQ-5D-3L and the EORTC QLQ-C30 (which gives EORTC-8D values) were asked at baseline (diagnosis) and at various follow-up points (3 months, 6 months, 12 months). Baseline values were assessed for convergent validity, ceiling effects, agreement and sensitivity. Quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) were estimated and similarly assessed. Multivariate regression analyses were employed to understand the determinants of the difference in QALYs. RESULTS: Complete case analysis of 1678 patients found that the EQ-5D-3L values at baseline were significantly lower than the EORTC-8D values (0.748 vs 0.829, p < 0.001). While the correlation between the instruments was high, agreement between the instruments was poor. The baseline health state values using both instruments were found to be sensitive to a number of patient and disease characteristics, and discrimination between disease states was found to be similar. Mean generic QALYs (estimated using the EQ-5D-3L) were significantly lower than condition-specific QALYs (estimated using the EORTC-8D) (0.860 vs 0.909, p < 0.001). The discriminatory power of both QALYs was similar. CONCLUSIONS: When comparing a generic and condition-specific preference-based instrument, divergences are apparent in both baseline health state values and in the estimated QALYs over time for cancer patients. The variability in sensitivity between the baseline values and the QALY estimations means researchers and decision makers are advised to be cautious if using the instruments interchangeably

Protein disorder in the human diseasome: unfoldomics of human genetic diseases

Background Intrinsically disordered proteins lack stable structure under physiological conditions, yet carry out many crucial biological functions, especially functions associated with regulation, recognition, signaling and control. Recently, human genetic diseases and related genes were organized into a bipartite graph (Goh KI, Cusick ME, Valle D, Childs B, Vidal M, et al. (2007) The human disease network. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104: 8685–8690). This diseasome network revealed several significant features such as the common genetic origin of many diseases. Methods and findings We analyzed the abundance of intrinsic disorder in these diseasome network proteins by means of several prediction algorithms, and we analyzed the functional repertoires of these proteins based on prior studies relating disorder to function. Our analyses revealed that (i) Intrinsic disorder is common in proteins associated with many human genetic diseases; (ii) Different disease classes vary in the IDP contents of their associated proteins; (iii) Molecular recognition features, which are relatively short loosely structured protein regions within mostly disordered sequences and which gain structure upon binding to partners, are common in the diseasome, and their abundance correlates with the intrinsic disorder level; (iv) Some disease classes have a significant fraction of genes affected by alternative splicing, and the alternatively spliced regions in the corresponding proteins are predicted to be highly disordered; and (v) Correlations were found among the various diseasome graph-related properties and intrinsic disorder. Conclusion These observations provide the basis for the construction of the human-genetic-disease-associated unfoldome

Antimicrobial consumption and resistance in adult hospital inpatients in 53 countries:results of an internet-based global point prevalence survey

Summary: Background: The Global Point Prevalence Survey (Global-PPS) established an international network of hospitals to measure antimicrobial prescribing and resistance worldwide. We aimed to assess antimicrobial prescribing and resistance in hospital inpatients. Methods: We used a standardised surveillance method to collect detailed data about antimicrobial prescribing and resistance from hospitals worldwide, which were grouped by UN region. The internet-based survey included all inpatients (adults, children, and neonates) receiving an antimicrobial who were on the ward at 0800 h on one specific day between January and September, 2015. Hospitals were classified as primary, secondary, tertiary (including infectious diseases hospitals), and paediatric hospitals. Five main ward types were defined: medical wards, surgical wards, intensive-care units, haematology oncology wards, and medical transplantation (bone marrow or solid transplants) wards. Data recorded included patient characteristics, antimicrobials received, diagnosis, therapeutic indication according to predefined lists, and markers of prescribing quality (eg, whether a stop or review date were recorded, and whether local prescribing guidelines existed and were adhered to). We report findings for adult inpatients. Findings: The Global-PPS for 2015 included adult data from 303 hospitals in 53 countries, including eight lower-middle-income and 17 upper-middle-income countries. 86 776 inpatients were admitted to 3315 adult wards, of whom 29 891 (34·4%) received at least one antimicrobial. 41 213 antimicrobial prescriptions were issued, of which 36 792 (89·3%) were antibacterial agents for systemic use. The top three antibiotics prescribed worldwide were penicillins with β-lactamase inhibitors, third-generation cephalosporins, and fluoroquinolones. Carbapenems were most frequently prescribed in Latin America and west and central Asia. Of patients who received at least one antimicrobial, 5926 (19·8%) received a targeted antibacterial treatment for systemic use, and 1769 (5·9%) received a treatment targeting at least one multidrug-resistant organism. The frequency of health-care-associated infections was highest in Latin America (1518 [11·9%]) and east and south Asia (5363 [10·1%]). Overall, the reason for treatment was recorded in 31 694 (76·9%) of antimicrobial prescriptions, and a stop or review date in 15 778 (38·3%). Local antibiotic guidelines were missing for 7050 (19·2%) of the 36 792 antibiotic prescriptions, and guideline compliance was 77·4%. Interpretation: The Global-PPS showed that worldwide surveillance can be accomplished with voluntary participation. It provided quantifiable measures to assess and compare the quantity and quality of antibiotic prescribing and resistance in hospital patients worldwide. These data will help to improve the quality of antibiotic prescribing through education and practice changes, particularly in low-income and middle-income countries that have no tools to monitor antibiotic prescribing in hospitals. Funding: bioMérieux