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An alternative method in finding the surface temperature of an opaque solid with varying thermal parameters is proposed. The novel method is derived from a Riccati first-order ordinary differential equation and assumes sinusoidally modulated surface heating. The data from a layered model that approximates the original k-profiles with a steplike variation of the thermal conductivity are compared with the surface temperature obtained from the Riccati equation. Results from various computer simulated data are presented.

In this study five indigenous species on parking lots in Novi Sad, Serbia were examined (Acer platanoides 'Globosum', Celtis australis L., Tilia tomentosa Moench., Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata', and Corylus colurna L.). The aim of this study is to represent their adaptability to urban stress and harsh environmental conditions which are present on parking lots by valuing their dimensions and vitality. Results showed that well-adapted species are Celtis australis L. and Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata'. Other species had low vitality values, asymmetrical canopy, and mechanical damages that were caused by insufficient root and canopy space and insufficient distance from buildings and traffic. Choosing well-adapted indigenous species for alleys can be very challenging. Adaptability assessment of indigenous trees on parking lots in Novi Sad can be used as guidance to urban planning in Novi Sad and other cities which have a high share of pavement to reduce the climate change effect.

Biodiversity and biodiversity preservation are some of the most important topics in ecology. Protecting biodiversity in urban ecosystems is especially challenging. Urban parks are a valuable part of green infrastructure in cities, as they contribute to preserving natural habitats for many species. Biodiversity can be quantified by calculating different diversity indices, and in this paper, we have calculated alpha indices (Shannon, Simpson, Fisher, Berger-Parker and Margalef index) and beta indices (Sorensen index, Jaccard distance and Bray-Curtis index) for the Futog park in Novi Sad, Serbia, within two periods, 2005 and 2020. The goal of the paper is to analyze the current values of biodiversity indices in the park and compare them with the ones from 15 years ago. In addition to the analysis of biodiversity indices values, the paper provides the comparison of taxonomic structure of flora, and the abundance of native, endemic and invasive species in the park, in 2005 and 2020. The results show that the values of biodiversity indices have decreased in the indicated period of time, and one of the main causes can be related to the spread of invasive species within the park. For calculation purposes, we have used the R program and the R package “vegan”.

Orange mullein is a biennial plant belonging to the figwort (Scrophulariaceae) family. The vivid yellow flowers are arranged in spikes located on the top of the stem. It is a drought and cold-tolerant plant requiring much sunlight that grows on pastures, roadsides, and in dry weed associations. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of different solvents (water, 70% acetone, 70% methanol, and 70% ethanol) on the assessment of antioxidant capacity of leaves and flowers of orange mullein. Total phenolics are higher in the leaves and reach a value of up to 15.70 mg of gallic acid per one g of dry leaf weight, while flavonoids are more dominant in flowers and reach a value of 5.82 mg of quercetin per one g of dry flower. Correlation was performed between total phenolics, total tannins, total flavonoids, and antioxidant tests. It is the flavonoids that are mainly responsible a the high antioxidant activity establishing a correlation with all the tests performed, including FRAP, ABTS, DPPH, total antioxidant activity, total reduction capacity, and NBT reduction test.

Evolution of antibiotic resistance in the anaerobes was reviewed using recent data covering 2000-2013 as compared to previous years. All studies reported growing moxifloxacin resistance in Bacteroides/Parabacteroides spp. in Europe and USA and in Clostridium difficile in Europe. In half or more studies, the resistance rates in Bacteroides/Parabacteroides spp. to amoxicillin-clavulanate or ampicillin-sulbactam and clindamycin rose. In some studies, an increase in resistance was found in Bacteroides/Parabacteroides spp. to cefoxitin/cefotetan and carbapenems, in Prevotella spp. to penicillins, in anaerobic cocci to clindamycin and in Bacteroides/Parabacteroides spp. and C. difficile to metronidazole. Decreasing resistance was also observed, e.g. in Bacteroides/Parabacteroides spp. to cephalosporins, in Prevotella spp. and C. difficile to tetracyclines and in C. difficile to rifampin. No resistance changes were found to tigecycline, in Bacteroides/Parabacteroides spp. to chloramphenicol and in C. difficile to vancomycin. Factors influencing the resistance were the species, ribotype, country, hospital centre, antibiotic consumption and specimen type. In conclusion, the antibiotic resistance changes in the anaerobes are diverse and dynamic. Regular national surveys of resistance and both anaerobic microbiology and susceptibility testing of the isolates become more and more valuable., (Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Actinomycosis is a rare subacute or chronic, endogenous infection mainly by Actinomyces species, showing low virulence through fimbriae and biofilms. Cervicofacial, thoracic, abdominal, pelvic and sometimes cerebral, laryngeal, urinary and other regions can be affected. Actinomycosis mimics other diseases, often malignancy. Disease risk in immunocompromised subjects needs clarification. Diagnosis is often delayed and 'sulfur granules' are helpful but nonspecific. Culture requires immediate specimen transport and prolonged anaerobic incubation. Imaging, histology, cytology, matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry and molecular methods improve the diagnosis. Actinomycetes are β-lactam susceptible, occasionally resistant. Treatment includes surgery and/or long-term parenteral then oral antibiotics, but some 1-4-week regimens or oral therapy alone were curative. For prophylaxis, oral hygiene and regular intrauterine device replacement are important.

Head-and-neck infections often involve anaerobes such as Prevotella species. Aim of the present study was to assess the evolution and the factors associated with resistance in Prevotella species to penicillin, clindamycin, metronidazole, tetracycline and β-lactams/β-lactamase inhibitors (BL/BLIs). In total, 192 Prevotella strains, isolated from patients with oral and head-and-neck infections, were evaluated. Common isolates were Prevotella intermedia and Prevotella melaninogenica within the pigmented species as well as Prevotella oris and Prevotella oralis group within the non-pigmented species. Overall resistance was 43.2% for penicillin, 10.9% for clindamycin, 0% for metronidazole. Nonsusceptibility to tetracycline was 29.1% without significant differences in resistance rates between pigmented and other species. Penicillin resistant strains were β-lactamase positive. From 2003-2004 to 2007-2009, penicillin resistance rates increased about four-fold (from 15.4% to 60.6%). Clindamycin resistance did not show evolution, whereas tetracycline nonsusceptibility decreased from 43.3% in 2003-2004 to 20.7% in 2007-2009. Except for one (0.5%) P. oralis strain with intermediate susceptibility to BL/BLIs, the other strains were susceptible to the agents. In conclusion, in Prevotella strains from patients with head-and-neck infections, the resistance rate to penicillin increased, that to clindamycin remained stable and the nonsusceptibility rate to tetracycline decreased during the period. Activity against >99% of Prevotella strains was observed with metronidazole and BL/BLIs. The penicillin resistance and tetracycline nonsusceptibility were associated with the year of study, national antibiotic consumption and possibly with previous treatment (for tetracycline). The evolution of penicillin resistance in Prevotella strains was highly dynamic., (Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Management of anaerobic infections encompasses surgical procedures, antibacterial therapy and adjuncts. At present, metronidazole, penems, beta-lactam/beta-lactamase inhibitor combinations and chloramphenicol have the highest activity against obligate anaerobes. Tigecycline is a promising new agent. Other antibacterials (e.g., nitazoxanide, moxifloxacin, garenoxacin and ramoplanin) and nonantibiotic agents show potential but need further investigation. The patient's characteristics, mixed anaerobic/aerobic infections, infection sites, bacterial resistance patterns, bactericidal activity of agents and their pharmacokinetics, toxicity and influence on the normal flora should be considered. Susceptibility patterns of anaerobes have become less predictable owing to increasing antibacterial resistance. Emergence of highly virulent or multidrug-resistant strains is challenging the current therapy. To counteract these trends, regular resistance surveillance in anaerobes, rational antibiotic use and evaluation of new treatment alternatives are important.

The aim of the present study was to define more accurately the necessary health care in patients with the primary Sjogren's syndrome and to compare it to those necessary for patients with another autoimmune disease--rheumatoid arthritis without a concomitant Sjogren's syndrome (Tab. 1, Ref. 5). Full Text (Free, PDF) www.bmj.sk.

Unlabelled: The aim was to evaluate the effect of 30% ethanolic extract of Bulgarian propolis on 94 clinical anaerobic strains. The strains were tested by both agar-well diffusion (wells, 7 mm diameter) and disk-diffusion methods. Only 15% of Clostridium-, 3.3% of other Gram-positive- and 9.1% of Gram-negative anaerobic strains were not inhibited by 30 microL propolis extract per well. Propolis extract was more active than the ethanol (P < 0.001). By 30 microL extract per well, mean inhibitory diameters of the clostridia, other Gram-positive- and Gram-negative anaerobes were 11.5, 13.1, and 11.3 mm, and those by 90 microL were 16, 18.1 and 15.4 mm, respectively. Mean inhibitory diameters of all strains by 30 and 90 microL ethanol were only 8.4 and 9.5 mm. By 30 microL propolis extract per well, inhibitory diameters of 15 mm or more were more common in Gram-positive (32%) than in Gram-negative bacteria (13.6%, P < 0.05). Moist propolis disks inhibited more strains (89.4%) than dried disks (68.1%, P < 0.001). Most (81.8%) Bacteroides fragilis group strains and 75% of clostridial strains were inhibited by moist EEP disks., Conclusion: Bulgarian propolis was active against most anaerobic strains of different genera. In addition to oral pathogens, an activity of propolis against Clostridium, Bacteroides and Propionibacterium species was observed. The results could motivate a higher medical interest and further trials for evaluating the use of bee glue for prophylaxis or treatment of some anaerobic infections such as oral, skin and wound diseases.

A case with histologically verified nasal carcinoma and concomitant lupus erythematosus is presented. Total resection of the nasal pyramid was performed with local postoperative tumor control. The defect of the nose was repaired with silicone prosthesis without special holders, still the support of the spectacles was established. A satisfactory cosmetic effect was achieved.

Primary Sjögren's syndrome (PSS) is an autoimmune disease of the exocrine glands that is presented with progressive ocular and oral dryness, parotid enlargement and often with systemic (extraglandular) manifestations. In patients with PSS the risk of development of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is 44-fold compared to healthy population. The risk is associated with certain characteristics of the disease's course: recurrent changes in the parotid glands, lymph node enlargement, skin vasculitis, peripheral neuropathy, anemia and lymphopenia. According to the morphologic and phenotypic characteristics, B-cell low-grade lymphomas prevail. This communication presents a 65-year-old woman with PSS who developed a follicular type B-cell NHL 21 years after the autoimmune disease had been diagnosed. The analysis of our case and the literature review summarize the characteristics of the course of PSS, histologic variants, and evolution and prognosis of NHL in this kind of patients.

The problem of chronic periostitis of the jaws and the difficulties that sometimes arise in differentiation from a tumourous process is briefly discussed. A case of a ten year old child with chronic ossifying periostitis is described that caused considerable differentiation-diagnostic difficulties, mainly because of the X-ray findings of orthopantomography and computer tomography, presenting data suggesting more a tumourous disease of the lower jaw. After the extraction of the sixth tooth of the lower jaw, with a chronic periapical process, and after antibiotic treatment, the disease was healed.

The authors, for the first time in our country, created working conditions for stomatoscopy on materials and trial-copies to be studied in advance, approaching in type and form to the oral cavity mucosa in norm and pathology. The magnifying possibilities of stomatoscope in observation of working trial-copies are clearly illustrated. Stomatoscopy is recommended as a diagnostic method in pathology of oral cavity mucosa after acquiring the necessary habits and skill, based on the experimental stomatoscopy described.

A brief literature review is presented at the beginning of the paper, revealing that the necrotic fasciitis of odontogenic origin in the region of head and face is rarely observed with just a few communications in literature. Proceeding from the fact that term has not been introduced so far in the Bulgarian stomatological literature and that no communications are available about that disease, the author describes a 52-old female patient, affected by severe diabetes. Grave necrotic fasciitis in the infratemporal, temporal, parietal and occipital region advanced after the extraction of lower molars without any pretreatment on the background of the diabetes. The patient was healed by radical necrotomy of the affected fasciae and subcutaneous adipose tissue and via active antibiotic, general tonic and antidiabetic therapy.