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2 Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of Serbia, Radoslava Grujica 11, 11000 Belgrade, Ser- ABSTRACT: Microfungi can colonize stone surfaces and form sub-aerial biofilms which can lead to biodeterioration of historic monuments. In this investigation samples for mycological analyses were collected from stone material with visible alteration on stone walls of Gradac monastery exterior. The prevailing fungi found on stone walls were dema- tiaceous hyphomycetes with melanized hyphae and reproductive structures (Alternaria, Aureobasidium, Cladosporium and Epicoccum species). The frescoes inside the monastery building were also analyzed for the presence of mycobiota. The predominant fungi found on frescoes were osmophilic species from genera Aspergillus and Penicillium. The signifi- cant result is identification of human pathogen species Aspergillus fumigatus on frescoes.

In this work a new enzymatic method for the determination of uric acid in human serum has been developed. The method is based on the oxidative coupling reaction between the N-methyl-N-(4-aminophenyl)-3-methoxyaniline (NCP) reagent and the hydrogen donor reagent, N-ethyl-N-(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)-3-methylaniline (TOOS), in the system involving three enzymes: uricase, peroxidase and ascorbate oxidase. Using this method uric acid could be determined in concentrations up to 1.428 mmol/L, with a relative standard deviation of up to 1.8 %. The effect of the medium pH and the NCP concentration on the linearity of the chromogen absorbance versus the uric acid concentration curve was investigated. The influence of the uricase activity on the maximum rate of uric acid oxidation was also examined. The use of the NCP reagent demonstrated a more precise and more sensitive determination of the uric acid compared to the determination with 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AA) as the coupling regent. The sensitivity of the method determined from the calibration curve was 0.71 absorbance units per mmol/L of uric acid; the limit of detection was LOD = 0.0035 mmol/L and the limit of quantification was LOQ = 0.015 mmol/L of uric acid.

In this work a new enzymatic method for the determination of uric acid in human serum has been developed. The method is based on the oxidative coupling reaction between the N-methyl-N-(4-aminophenyl)-3-methoxyaniline (NCP) reagent and the hydrogen ? donor reagent N-ethyl-N-(2-hydroxy-3-sulfopropyl)-3-methylaniline (TOOS), in the system involving three enzymes: uricase, peroxidase and ascorbate oxidase. Using this method uric acid could be determined in concentrations up to 1.428 mmol/L, with a relative standard deviation of up to 1.8 %. The effect of the medium pH and the NCP concentration on the linearity of the chromogen absorbance versus the uric acid concentration curve was investigated. The influence of the uricase activity on the maximum rate of uric acid oxidation was also examined. The use of the NCP reagent demonstrated a more precise and more sensitive determination of the uric acid compared to the determination with 4-aminoantipyrine (4-AA) as the coupling regent. The sensitivity of the method determined from the calibration curve was 0.71 absorbance units per mmol/L of uric acid; the limit of detection was LOD = 0.0035 mmol/L and the limit of quantification was LOQ = 0.015 mmol/L of uric acid.

The protonation constants of some substituted 4-quinolone carboxylic acid anions (ofloxacin, pefloxacin and ciprofloxacin) were determined in lithium chloride solution of various concentrations at 293, 303 and 313 K using the pH-metric and spectrophotometric methods. The values of thermodynamic parameters (deltaG, deltaH and deltaS) for the first protonation step of these anions in 0.1M lithium chloride at 293 K, are reported. The formation of intramolecular hydrogen bonds is discussed.

Morin is a flavonol antioxidant. In ethanol-water mixtures (70 wt% of ethanol) it reacts with Al(3+) to give Al(Morin)(2) in the pH range 3-6. The conditional stability constant of this complex at 298 K was found to be log beta(2) = 16.96 +/- 0.02 at pH 4.40. The complex shows strong fluorescence emission at 500 nm upon excitation at 410 nm. The fluorescence intensity is pH dependent with maximum emission at pH 4.40. Since the complexation reaction enhances the fluorescence of morin, this property was used for the determination of morin in human serum. A linear dependence of the intensity of fluorescence of the complex on the concentration of morin was obtained in morin concentration range from 1.5-30.5 ng mL(-1), relative standard error of measurements was 1.4%. The LOD was 0.02 ng mL(-1) while LOQ was 1.0 ng mL(-1). Serum concentration of morin was also determined using HPLC as a reference method. A C-18 Hypersil Gold AQ column was used with acetonitrile-0.1% v/v phosphoric acid (30:70% v/v) as the mobile phase at 1.0 mL min(-1) flow rate and UV detection at 250 nm. Acceptable relative standard errors (less than 5%) between determinations obtained by the two methods indicate that the fluorescence method is reliable.