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Purpose: Aphasia has a negative impact on a person’s quality of life (QOL). The Stroke Aphasia Quality of Life-39 scale (SAQOL-39) is a widely-used measure of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) developed for people with aphasia that has been translated into several languages. Its psychometric properties have been examined not only in English, but also in other languages. This study examined the reliability and validity of a translation and adaptation of the SAQOL-39 into Serbian in Serbian-speaking people with aphasia.Method: Using forward and backward translation, the SAQOL-39 was translated and adapted from English into Serbian and its psychometric properties were examined in 90 Serbian-speaking people with a broad range of times post-onset of aphasia. Internal consistency, test–retest reliability and other analyses were conducted.Result: Internal consistency and test–retest reliability of the Serbian version was high (Cronbach’s α > 0.9; ICC ≥0.87), which is similar to versions of the scale in other languages.Conclusion: The Serbian translation and adaptation of the SAQOL-39 was shown to be a valid and reliable measure of QOL in people with aphasia with reliable psychometric properties and is suitable for the assessment of Serbian people with aphasia. acceptedVersion This is the peer‐reviewed version of the article: VukoviĆ, M.; Sukur, Ž.; VukoviĆ, I.; Salis, C.; Code, C. Reliability and Validity of the Stroke and Aphasia Quality of Life Scale-39 (SAQOL-39) for a Serbian Population. International Journal of Speech-Language Pathology 2021, 0 (0), 1–5. [https://doi.org/10.1080/17549507.2021.1971298]

We investigated the ability of graphene quantum dot (GQD) nanoparticles to protect SH-SY5Y human neuroblastoma cells from oxidative/nitrosative stress induced by iron-nitrosyl complex sodium nitroprusside (SNP).GQD reduced SNP cytotoxicity by preventing mitochondrial depolarization, caspase-2 activation, and subsequent apoptotic death. Although GQD diminished the levels of nitric oxide (NO) in SNP-exposed cells, NO scavengers displayed only a slight protective effect, suggesting that NO quenching was not the main protective mechanism of GQD. GQD also reduced SNP-triggered increase in the intracellular levels of hydroxyl radical (•OH), superoxide anion (O2•- ), and lipid peroxidation. Nonselective antioxidants, •OH scavenging, and iron chelators, but not superoxide dismutase, mimicked GQD cytoprotective activity, indicating that GQD protect cells by neutralizing •OH generated in the presence of SNP-released iron. Cellular internalization of GQD was required for optimal protection, since a removal of extracellular GQD by extensive washing only partly diminished their protective effect. Moreover, GQD cooperated with SNP to induce autophagy, as confirmed by the inhibition of autophagylimiting Akt/PRAS40/mTOR signaling and increase in autophagy gene transcription, protein levels of proautophagic beclin-1 and LC3-II, formation of autophagic vesicles, and degradation of autophagic target p62. The antioxidant activity of GQD was not involved in autophagy induction, as antioxidants N-acetylcysteine and dimethyl sulfoxide failed to stimulate autophagy in SNP-exposed cells. Pharmacological inhibitors of early (wortmannin, 3-methyladenine) or late stages of autophagy (NH4Cl) efficiently reduced the protective effect of GQD. Therefore, the ability of GQD to prevent the in vitro neurotoxicity of SNP depends on both •OH/NO scavenging and induction of cytoprotective autophagy. This is the peer-reviewed version of the article: Matija Krunić, Biljana Ristić, Mihajlo Bošnjak, Verica Paunović, Gordana Tovilović- Kovacević, Nevena Zogović, Aleksandar Mirčić, Zoran Marković, Biljana Todorović- Marković, Svetlana Jovanović, Duška Kleut, Miloš Mojović, Đura Nakarada, Olivera Marković, Irena Vuković, Ljubica Harhaji-Trajković, Vladimir Trajković, Graphene quantum dot antioxidant and proautophagic actions protect SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells from oxidative stress-mediated apoptotic death, Free Radical Biology and Medicine, 2021, 177, 167-180, doi: [https://doi.org/10.1016/j.freeradbiomed.2021.10.025] The published version: [https://cer.ihtm.bg.ac.rs/handle/123456789/4812]

Poly(lactic acid), PLA, was blended with multifunctional acrylate monomer (dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate) in various weight ratios (1:1 and 9:1). The reaction of photopolymerization of the acrylate monomer in poly(lactic acid) matrix was conducted to obtain semi-interpenetrating networks in the form of films dedicated for use in the packaging industry. Next, the PLA/polyacrylate films were exposed to UVC radiation in order to examine their photostability under the influence of high energy radiation, which can be used as sterilizing factor. In these studies, the following methods have been applied: contact angle measurements, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). These methods made it possible to determine the influence of sample composition on the surface properties and photochemical resistance. It was found that PLA was the most susceptible to UVC-irradiation among the studied samples. In PLA/polyacrylate films UV light induced a slight increase in surface roughness and only negligible changes in surface polarity and chemical composition. The mechanism of photodegradation in the tested specimens was also discussed.

This study examined patterns of acquired dyslexia in Serbian aphasic speakers, comparing profiles of groups with Broca’s versus Wernicke’s aphasia. The study also looked at the relationship of reading and auditory comprehension and between reading comprehension and reading aloud in these groups. Participants were 20 people with Broca’s and 20 with Wernicke’s aphasia. They were asked to read aloud and to understand written material from the Serbian adaptation of the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination. A Serbian Word Reading Aloud Test was also used. The people with Broca’s aphasia achieved better results in reading aloud and in reading comprehension than those with Wernicke’s aphasia. Those with Wernicke’s aphasia showed significantly more semantic errors than those with Broca’s aphasia who had significantly more morphological and phonological errors. From the data we inferred that lesion sites accorded with previous work on networks associated with Broca’s and Wernicke’s aphasia and with a posterior-anterior axis for reading processes centred on (left) parietal-temporal-frontal lobes.

Purpose: Public awareness of aphasia has been surveyed in a number of countries revealing that it is universally low. We report results of surveys in the Balkan countries Serbia and Montenegro and compare results with data from Croatia and Slovenia. Methods: Convenience surveys of the general public were conducted in public places like shopping centers/malls and parks in Serbia (N=400) and Montenegro (N=500) using an adapted version of the public awareness of aphasia survey questionnaire. Respondents were asked whether they have heard of aphasia and tested with questions about aphasia. Information on gender, age, occupation and education was recorded. Outcomes: Twelve percent (Serbia) and 11% (Montenegro) had heard of aphasia, but just 4% (Serbia) and 3.2% (Montenegro) had a basic knowledge of aphasia. Age, gender and occupation interacted variably with awareness. Between 16% (Slovenia) and 60% (Croatia) said they had heard of aphasia (10.5% overall mean for the four countries) and basic knowledge of aphasia across the four countries ranged between 3.2 and 7%. Conclusions: Levels of awareness of aphasia in the Balkans are low and variably associated with age, gender, socio-economic and educational levels. Respondents with some knowledge of aphasia gained it through personal or professional interaction with aphasia or the media. The data provide a basis for awareness raising in Balkan countries to reduce stigmatization, improve community access and understanding. Implications for rehabilitation Awareness of aphasia is low universally, even among healthcare workers. Low public awareness of a condition, like aphasia, results in under-funded research and service provision. In order to raise public awareness of aphasia we need to know how many members of the general public know about it. Improvements in public awareness could positively affect funding, the quality of services, and the public understanding and acceptance of individuals with aphasia in the community. Improving awareness of aphasia in those who come into contact with aphasic people, like healthcare workers, could significantly improve the healthcare experience of people with aphasia and their families.

This paper presents the results of testing the psychometric properties and clinical significance of Serbian aphasia screening test. The sample consisted of 36 adult patients with speech and language impairment caused by the damage of the left hemisphere, representing clinical (experimental) group. Participants in the clinical group were divided into two groups according to the time of testing: the first group consisted of 21 patients with acute brain damage; the second group consisted of 16 patients with the chronic form of aphasia. Out of the total number of participants in clinical groups, 20 participants were diagnosed with one of the classic types of aphasia, using Boston diagnostic aphasia examination battery, while 16 patients had symptoms that did not correspond to any known aphasic syndrome. The control group consisted of 36 healthy participants. All participants, both in clinical and control group, were subjected to testing with Screening test for aphasia (STA). The results showed that STA represents a valid measuring instrument for detecting language impairment in persons with brain damage. The validity of the test was observed in acute and chronic phase of aphasia. Additionally, it was observed that the test is valid for monitoring the recovery of language abilities. It was concluded that STA has a good potential for measuring language impairment that must be examined in a larger sample for the purpose of test standardization.

Phonation is a fundamental feature of human communication. Control of phonation in the context of speech-language disturbances has traditionally been considered a characteristic of lesions to subcortical structures and pathways. Evidence suggests however, that cortical lesions may also implicate phonation. We carried out acoustic and perceptual analyses of the phonation of /a/ in 60 males with aphasia (20 Wernicke’s, 20 Broca’s, 20 subcortical aphasia) and 20 males matched in age with no neurological or speech-language disturbances. All groups with aphasia were significantly more impaired on the majority of acoustic and perceptual measures as compared with the control speakers. Within the subjects with aphasia, subjects with subcortical aphasia were more impaired on most measures compared to subjects with Broca’s aphasia, and they, in turn, more impaired than those with Wernicke’s aphasia. Lesions in regions involved in sound production–perception result in dysfunction of the entire neurocognitive system of articulation–phonological language processing.

Three different, multifunctional acrylic monomers were photopolymerized in a matrix of poly(lactic acid), PLA, using 2-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-phenyl-propan-1-one as a photoinitiator. The kinetics of the photopolymerization of monomers in PLA, studied with Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy, has been compared to analogous processes of pure monomers under the same conditions (room temperature, air atmosphere). Additionally, poly(ethylene glycol) was added to acrylate/PLA blends as plasticizer.The highly crosslinked networks obtained were characterized by FTIR and optical microscopy. The amount of insoluble gel has been estimated gravimetrically. It was found that the studied systems are char- acterized by very high polymerization rate, moreover, efficient grafting of polyacrylates on PLA takes place. The observed morphology indicates the heterogeneity of formed networks. The glass transition temperature of PLA in studied blends has been determined by differential scanning calorimetry.

The blends of pectin (PEC) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) at different components ratios were prepared by mixing in water. Thin polymeric films of PEC/PVA blends and pure polymers were obtained by casting method. All samples were then artificially aged using Suntest apparatus (Atlas) up to 780 h. The changes in chemical structure during sample ageing have been monitored by infrared and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopies. The first stage of weathering (up to ∼ 300 h) was very slow and alteration of chemical structure was negligible in all samples. Prolonged ageing (>300 h) caused more significant degradation processes. FTIR spectra exhibited the highest changes in hydroxyl and carbonyl band ranges indicating the efficient photooxidation of macromolecules. The mechanisms of the observed processes have been discussed. It was found that PVA undergoes faster photoxidative degradation than pectin aged at the same conditions. The PEC/PVA blends exhibited the improved resistance to weathering comparing with both polymers aged individually. Mutual stabilization effect can be explained by intermolecular interactions between PEC and PVA confirmed by spectroscopic methods. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011

Voice of vocal professionals is exposed to great temptations, i.e. there is a high probability of voice alterations. Smoking, allergies and respiratory infections greatly affect the voice, which can change its acoustic characteristics. In smokers, the vocal cords mass increases, resulting in changes in vocal fold vibratory cycle. Pathological changes of vocal folds deform the acoustic signal and affect voice production. As vocal professionals, teachers are much more affected by voice disorders than average speakers. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in acoustic parameters of voice between smoking and nonsmoking teachers, in a sample of vocal professionals. The sample consisted of 60 female subjects, aged from 25 to 59. For voice analysis we used Computer lab, model 4300, 'Kay Elemetrics Corporation'. The statistical significance of differences in the values of acoustic parameters between smokers and nonsmokers was tested by ANOVA. Results showed that in the sample of female teachers, professional use of voice combined with the smoking habit can be linked to the changes in voice parameters. Comparing smokers and nonsmokers, average values of the parameters in short-term and long-term disturbances of frequency and amplitude proved to be significantly different. Kod vokalnih profesionalaca glas je posebno podložan oštećenjima. Pušenje, alergije i respiratorne infekcije u velikoj meri utiču na glas, što se odražava i na njegove akustičke karakteristike. Kod pušača masa glasnica se povećava, što rezultira promenama u vibratornom ciklusu glasnica. Patološke promene na glasnicama deformišu akustički signal i utiču na produkciju glasa. Kao osobe koje pripadaju struci vokalnih profesionalaca, nastavnici su znatno skloniji poremećajima glasa nego prosečni govornici. Cilj ovog rada bio je da se ispitaju razlike između akustičkih parametara glasa kod nastavnika pušača i nepušača. Istraživanje je sprovedeno na uzorku od 60 ispitanika, nastavnika razredne nastave, ženskog pola, starosne dobi od 25 do 59 godina. U istraživanju je korišćena kompjuterska laboratorija za analizu glasa, model 4300, 'Kay Elemetrics' korporacije. Statistička značajnost razlika u vrednostima akustičkih parametara između pušača i nepušača ispitana je primenom jednofaktorske analize varijanse. Rezultati su pokazali da se prosečne vrednosti parametara kratkotrajnih i dugotrajnih poremećaja frekvencije i amplitude kod pušača i nepušača statistički značajno razlikuju. Ovaj podatak sugeriše da se profesionalna upotreba glasa, u kombinaciji sa navikom pušenja, može povezati sa promenama akustičkih parametara glasa.

Specific language impairment (SLI) is usually defined as a developmental language disorder which does not result from a hearing loss, autism, neurological and emotional difficulties, severe social deprivation, low non-verbal abilities. Children affected with SLI typically have difficulties with the acquisition of different aspects of language and by definition, their impairment is specific to language and no other skills are affected. However, there has been a growing body of literature to suggest that children with SLI also have non-linguistic deficits, including impaired motor abilities. The aim of the current study is to investigate language and motor abilities of a group of thirty children with SLI (aged between 4 and 7) in comparison to a group of 30 typically developing children matched for chronological age. The results showed that the group of children with SLI had significantly more difficulties on the language and motor assessments compared to the control group. The SLI group also showed delayed onset in the development of all motor skills under investigation in comparison to the typically developing group. More interestingly, the two groups differed with respect to which language abilities were correlated with motor abilities, however Imitation of Complex Movements was the unique skill which reliably predicted expressive vocabulary in both typically developing children and in children with SLI.

In this study we investigated the recovery patterns of language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke. The correlation of specific language functions and cognitive functions was analyzed in the acute phase and 6 months later. Significant recovery of the tested functions was observed in both groups. However, in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits the degree of recovery of most language functions and some cognitive functions was higher. A significantly greater correlation was revealed within language and cognitive functions, as well as between language functions and other aspects of cognition in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits than in patients with aphasia following a stroke. Our results show that patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits have a different recovery pattern and a different pattern of correlation between language and cognitive functions compared to patients with aphasia following a stroke. Learning outcomes: (1) Better understanding of the differences in recovery of language and cognitive functions in patients who have suffered strokes and those who have experienced traumatic brain injury. (2) Better understanding of the relationship between language and cognitive functions in patients with post-traumatic language processing deficits and in patients with aphasia following a stroke. (3) Better understanding of the factors influencing recovery.

Recurrent coarctation is a complication which is seen at a consistent rate following repair for coarctation of the aorta in young infants.This retrospective analysis was carried out to compare the results between resection with end-to-end anastomosis (ETE), and resection with extended end-to-end anastomosis (E-ETE), in this age group during late follow-up period. The role of ductus arteriosus is not clearly defined and the second objective of this study was to analyze intimal thickening in aortic coarctation.From 1999 to 2003, 45 patients less than 3 months of age underwent repair of aortic coarctation. Mean age was 24 days (2-89 days), average weight was 3.5 +/- 0.6 kg (2.4-5.2 kg). The method of repair was ETE in 14 (31.1%) patients, E-ETE in 29 (64.4%) patients and other techniques were applied in 2 cases. Demographic, morphometric, clinical and operative variables were analyzed for correlation with recurrent arch obstruction. In order to characterize the components of intimal thickening in coarctation, narrowed segments of aorta resected from 16 neonates during surgery were examined immunocytochemically and by electron microscopy. For light microscopy, the specimens were dehydrated in graded ethanol (70-100%), cleared in xylol and embedded in paraffin. Immunocytochemical staining was performed in 5 microm sections from formaldehyde-fixed paraffin-embedded blocks, using a labeled streptavidin-biotin method with an LSAB kit (Dako).Early mortality was 6.7% (CI 95%, 2.9%-10.4%). All early deaths (3 patients) occurred in infants with associated ventricular septal defects (p0.05). The mean follow-up for all patients was 30 +/- 21 months (range 1.5-63 months). During mean follow-up of 2 months, recurrent arch obstruction was diagnosed in 9 patients (21.4%). Two patients with associated complex heart defects died before re-intervention, one had mild gradient on catheterization (20 mm Hg) and one is waiting for catheterization. Five patients were reoperated and the mean time to re-intervention was 4 months (range 2.6-6 months). Kaplan-Meier freedom from recoarctation was 78.1 +/- 6.4% at 5 years in the whole group. Freedom from recoarctation was 60.6 +/- 15.4% at 25 months in ETE group and 86.2 +/- 6.4% at 60 months in E-ETE group (p=0.062). Factors associated with recoarctation, obtained by univariable Cox regression, included abnormal right subclavian artery (p=0.003), hypoplastic proximal transverse aortic arch (Zor = -2, p=0.025) and weight at operationor = 3 kg (p=0.02). Abnormal origin of the right subclavian artery was the only independent predictor of recoarctation obtained by multivariable Cox regression analysis.All examined specimens had intimal thickening of the posterior aortic wall, with accumulation of smooth muscle cells (SMC) with alpha smooth muscle actin (alpha-SMA) and vimentin-immunoreactivity (but not desmin and MHC) and also expressed PCNA and S-100. In the inner media of the anteromedial wall of the aorta, all specimens had large number of SMC expressing desmin and MHC. SMC in the inner media exhibit contractile phenotype and their origin could be ductal.Both procedures are effective for coarctation repair in young infants. Risk of recoarctation is a function of the complex anatomy of the arch, while residual ductal tissue may play a significant role.

The blends based on poly(lactic acid), (PLA) and polyacrylates (1:1 weight ratio) have been prepared by photopolymerization of three different multifunctional acrylate monomers (pentaerythritol triacrylate, pentaerythritol tetraacrylate and dipentaerythritol pentaacrylate) in matrix of linear PLA. The structure of these systems has been studied by Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray Diffraction (XRD). It was found that the blends are highly crosslinked, rough, heterogeneous and some of them – semicrystalline. The effect of UV-irradiation on surface morphology of obtained mixtures was studied. The viscometry has been applied for measurements of changes of PLA molecular weight resulting of photodegradation. It was shown that blends are much more photostable than pure PLA.