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Introduction: Tretinoin has a variety of skin-beneficial properties. However, when used at the dosages required to get the best outcomes, it also has significant adverse effects. Aim: Side-effects caused by tretinoin could be avoided or minimized by integratingit into lecithin liposomes, which have long-term stability and the ability to penetrate into the deep layers of skin. Material and Methods: Electron paramagnetic resonant spectroscopy imaging (EPRI) was used to study deep skin penetration of hydrogenated lecithin liposomes containing tretinoin, into the porcine skin. To make liposomes EPR-detectable, they were spin-labeled using 16-doxylstearic acid. This paper is a part of an academic (non commercial) study. Results and Conclusion: EPRI proved to be a powerful technique for tracking the spatial distribution of liposomes in the tissue (skin), with the potential to be applied in pharmaceutical trials. To the best of our knowledge, herein it was used for the first time to track the distribution of tretinoin liposomes through the skin.

Honey bees play a pivotal role in shaping ecosystems and sustaining human health as both pollinators and producers of health‐promoting products. However, honey bee colony mortality is on the rise globally, driven by various factors, including parasites, pesticides, habitat loss, poor nutrition, and climate change. This has far‐reaching consequences for the environment, economy, and human welfare. While efforts to address these issues are underway, the current progress in electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) instrumentation affords using the immense potential of this magnetic resonance technique to study small samples such as honey bees. This paper presents the pioneering 2D in vivo EPR imaging experiment on a honey bee, revealing the ongoing redox‐status of bees' intestines. This way, by monitoring the spatio‐temporal changes of the redox‐active spin‐probes' EPR signal, it is possible to gain access to valuable information on the course of ongoing bees' pathologies and the prospect of following‐up on the efficiency of applied therapies. Employing a selection of diverse spin‐probes could further reveal pH levels and oxygen concentrations in bee tissues, allowing a noninvasive assessment of bee physiology. This approach offers promising strategies for safeguarding pollinators and understanding their biology, fostering their well‐being and ecological harmony. Research Highlights: Honey bees face rising mortality from parasites, pesticides, and climate change. This paper introduces original use of in vivo electron paramagnetic resonance imaging (EPRI) method to explore redox processes in honey bee intestines, advancing our understanding of these vital insects' health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Liposomes are small, spherical artificial vesicles that can be created from cholesterol and natural non-toxic phospholipids. Due to their size, hydrophobic and hydrophilic character (besides biocompatibility), liposomes are promising drug delivery systems. Topic: Liposomal formulations of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) can be used in all population groups (children, adults, and the elderly) which gives them a wide range of applications. NSAIDs oral administration is associated with severe adverse effects in the gastrointestinal tract such as epigastric pain, heartburn, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, peptic ulcer, and hepatic impairment. It has been observed in clinical trials, that liposomal formulations enhanced the drug permeability and the percentage of accumulated dose in the skin compared to control conventional gel formulations. Liposomal gel controls ibuprofen release and drug permeability in vitro and has shown a permeability pattern conducive to maintaining constant drug levels. Application: So far, liposomes containing sodium diclofenac, indomethacin, aceclofenac, and related NSAIDs have been produced in laboratory conditions. Liposomal technology is most commonly applied in cosmetology, cancer therapy and yet unexplored application possibilities for liposomes, such as therapy for Alzheimer's disease. Although varying in size and structure, they all possess certain common advantages - increased dermal availability of lipophilic drugs and their targeted delivery onto the required location. Liposomes have been proven highly effective in terms of retaining the NSAIDs in the synovial cavity, mostly because of their size and chemical composition. Undesirable therapy effects, fast clearance, and exposure to nontargeted sites could be minimized by administering NSAIDs using liposomes as carriers. Side effects and complications associated with the long-term oral and intramuscular applications of NSAIDs could especially be avoided using their liposomal formulations. Liposomes can be seen as ideal carriers for anti-inflammatory drugs as their ability to (passively) target sites of inflammation and release their content to inflammatory target cells enables them to increase local efficacy with only limited systemic exposure and adverse effects, improving bioavailability and patient compliance. A few NSAIDs are experimentally formulated in liposomes having improved pharmacokinetic characteristics. Further clinical investigations will show their pharmaco-dynamic effects. The in vitro release and ex vivo permeation (permeability) study showed a prolonged diclofenac release with high permeation flux. Conclusion: The use of liposomes as drug carriers becomes a notable positive step in the treatment of inflammatory, pain-causing, and rheumatic diseases. Liposomes present an attractive delivery system due to their flexible physicochemical and biophysical properties, which allow easy manipulation to address the different delivery considerations. The main objectives for the development of NSAIDs in liposomal carriers are deeper penetration of the active substance, fewer side effects, better and longer effect, the ability to change the characteristics of both the drug and the carrier, and adequate dose adjustment. Despite several challenges that accordingly still need to be addressed, liposomal drug formulations have significant health-promoting potential. Despite the encouragement of NSAID development and research studies, it still takes a long time for liposomal NSAID formulations to become available for everyday use.

Introduction: Comprising of a unique combination of bioactive polyphenol compounds, grapes are shown to have a beneficial effect on the skin as well as the whole body. They exhibit high antioxidative and antiradical activity through mechanisms of heavy metals chelation, scavenging reactive oxygen species, inhibiting lipid peroxidation, and preserving the integrity of the cell membranes. In the winemaking industry, after crushing and pressing, grape pomace (stems, seeds, pulp, and skin) is removed as a by-product. This valuable source of bioactive compounds is often treated as animal food, compost, raw material in the brewery, but unfortunately mostly disposed of as unusable waste. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare redox properties of absolute EtOH, 50% EtOH, and H2 O grape wine skin extracts in a way of scavenging DPPH radicals, showing that biowaste obtained from grape wineskins could be used as an immense source of bioactive compounds with high antiradical activity. Material and Methods: Electron Paramagnetic Resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to detect the activity of grape skin extracts toward DPPH radicals and UHPLC-DAD MS/MS analysis to separate, identify and quantify their active components. Results: The results show that Cabernet Sauvignon and Pinot Blanc grape skin extracts have unexpectedly large potential to remove DPPH radicals from the system. Having in mind the concentration of redox-active components obtained by UHPLC-DAD MS/MS analysis and presented EPR results, there is strong evidence that primarily quercetin 3-O-glucoside, as well as kaempferol 3-O-glucoside, isorhamnetin 3-O-glucoside, kaempferol 7-O-glucoside supplemented with catechin and rutin are responsible for the antioxidative capacity of extracts. Conclusions: This study demonstrates that extracts obtained from grape skins, initially intended as biowaste, exhibit high antiradical activity. The largest quantity of the most redox-active components could be found in 50% EtOH extracts, which we propose to be the starting material for making potent redox-active cosmetic products and dietary supplements.

Introduction: Benzodiazepines belong to the group of anxiolytic sedatives and the most prescribed drugs in the world. The authors conducted this pilot study based n large number of patients reports that they were less anxious and felt better overall by migrating to sunnier environments. Aim: We estimated the impact of the total sunshine hours per month on daily exposure of the population to Benzodiazepine anxiolytic on a monthly basis in the Republic of Serbia. Material and Methods: We conducted a retrospective academic IV phase study, which tested the correlation of time series of monthly sold Benzodiazepine anxiolytics in pharmacies and total sunshine hours per month in the Republic of Serbia, from January 2014 to May 2019. Results: According to the seasons, we did not find any difference in the increase of the population exposure to benzodiazepines. A difference was found between bromazepam consumption compared to cumulative monthly. Bromazepam consumption was negatively correlated with the cumulative monthly sunshine hours. The cutoff value for bromazepam was 131.45 cumulative monthly sunshine hours. Conclusion: This is the first pharmaco-epidemiologic study to prove that the population's exposure to benzodiazepines, in addition to the implicit health and economic effects on physicians' prescribing habits for these drugs, can be independently linked to the cumulative effects of monthly sunshine hours on the population. No difference in Benzodiazepine consumption was found in relation to the seasons (spring/summer vs autumn/winter). In months where sunshine hours was ≥135.45, the need for bromazepam was significantly reduced. Seasonal variation of climatic effects of total monthly sunshine hours is significantly correlated with the population's need for benzodiazepines with anxiolytic effects longer than 12 hours.

Introduction: Benzodiazepines belong to the group of anxiolytic sedatives and the most prescribed drugs in the world. Since these drugs have a potential for rapid anxiolytic effect and sedation, as well as driver capability impairment, there is a lack data of safety of benzodiazepines in traffic accidents. The aim: To make an assessment of the interconnection of time series of traffic accidents outcomes with time series of Benzodiazepine anxiolytic consumption in the Republic of Serbia. Methods: This paper is a part of IV phase academic study regarding the factors potentially affecting Benzodiazepine consumption and effects. We conducted a pharmaco-epidemiological time series analysis study of monthly sold Benzodiazepine anxiolytics in pharmacies and indicators of the crush road outcome on a monthly basis in the Republic of Serbia. The research was performed from January 2014 to December 2018. Results: Applying ARIMAX modeling we found a significantly link between DID of alprazolam with monthly total traffic accident, a high stochastic regression positive association of DID of Diazepam with the dependent variable monthly total traffic accident, the prediction of monthly fatalities of traffic accident or traffic accident with severe or slight injuries per total traffic accident we have demonstrated positive influence of DID of alprazolam in second-order autoregressive and moving average model with constant. In prediction of monthly fatalities traffic accident, a significant positive influence of DID of benzodiazepines (all together) in auto-regression model without constant was demonstrated. Conclusion: Consumption of both long-acting (over 12 h) and short-acting benzodiazepines together with all other causes highly determined the total number of traffic accidents on a monthly basis in 2014-2018 in the Republic of Serbia. An assessment of the interconnection of time series of traffic accidents outcomes with time series of Benzodiazepine anxiolytic consumption in the Republic of Serbia we found a significant positive influence of DID of benzodiazepines on traffic accidents outcomes. In total, all used benzodiazepines increase the number of fatal traffic accidents by 8.5 fold per month. Alprazolam additionally contributed with about ten percent (9.7%) to the frequency of traffic accidents on a monthly basis. Measures to prevent traffic accidents at all levels should be effective immediately in order to achieve positive results timely. The authors suggest that the great responsibility is raising awareness of compliance with traffic regulations with doctors who prescribe benzodiazepines.

Alumina powders, pure and doped with nickel, were synthetized by sol-gel method and calcined at 500, 900 and 1100°C in order to obtain mesoporous structures with a high specific surface area, well adapTab. to catalytic application. The characterization of samples was performed by XRD, EPR spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). XRD analysis showed that the addition of Ni2+, as well as the annealing temperature, affects the structural properties of the obtained composites. EPR analysis revealed the traces of Fe3+ impurities, the presence of oxy defects in alumina and Ni2+ in tetrahedral position for samples calcined at 1100°C. The impedance of the Nafion/alumina modified GCE depended on combined effect of porous structure and surface properties of alumina samples. The electrochemical behavior of a glassy carbon electrode modified with Ni (II)-doped aluminas was studied in 0.5 M NaOH solution, with and without methanol. The electrochemical activity of nickel-doped alumina composites was dictated by the amount of present NiO impurity. [Project of the Serbian Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development, Grant no. III 45001, Grant no. ON 172015, Grant no. III 41005]

The aim of the study was to establish whether hydroxyl radicals (•OH) were produced in UV-irradiated aqueous solutions of uranyl salts. The production of •OH was studied in uranyl acetate and nitrate solutions by an EPR spin trap method over a wide pH range, with variation of the uranium concentrations. The production of •OH in uranyl solutions irradiated with UV was unequivocally demonstrated for the first time using the EPR spin-trapping method. The production of •OH can be connected to speciation of uranium species in aqueous solutions, showing a complex dependence on the solution pH. When compared with the results of radiative de-excitation of excited uranyl (+22*UO ) by the quenching of its fluorescence, the present results indicate that the generation of hydroxyl radicals plays a major role in the fluorescence decay of + 22 *UO . The role of the presence of carbonates and counter ions pertinent to environmental conditions in biological systems on the production of hydroxyl radicals was also assessed in an attempt to reveal the mechanism of +22*UO de-excitation. Various mechanisms, including •OH production, are inferred but the main point is that the generation of •OH in uranium containing solutions must be considered when assessing uranium toxicity.

In this paper we will present results for plasma sterilization of planktonic samples of two reference strains of bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 27853 and Enterococcus faecalis ATCC 29212. We have used a plasma needle as a source of non-equilibrium atmospheric plasma in all treatments. This device is already well characterized by OES, derivative probes and mass spectrometry. It was shown that power delivered to the plasma is bellow 2 W and that it produces the main radical oxygen and nitrogen species believed to be responsible for the sterilization process. Here we will only present results obtained by electron paramagnetic resonance which was used to detect the OH, H and NO species. Treatment time and power delivered to the plasma were found to have the strongest influence on sterilization. In all cases we have observed a reduction of several orders of magnitude in the concentration of bacteria and for the longest treatment time complete eradication. A more efficient sterilization was achieved in the case of gram negative bacteria.

Plant plasma membranes are known to produce superoxide radicals, while the production of hydroxyl radical is thought to occur only in the cell wall. In this work it was demonstrated using combined spin-trap and spin-probe EPR spectroscopic techniques, that plant plasma membranes do produce superoxide and hydroxyl radicals but by kinetically different mechanisms. The results show that superoxide and hydroxyl radicals can be detected by DMPO spin-trap and that the mechanisms and location of their production can be differentiated using the reduction of spin-probes Tempone and 7-DS. It was shown that the mechanism of production of oxygen reactive species is NADH dependent and diphenylene iodonium inhibited. The kinetics of the reduction of Tempone, combined with scavengers or the absence of NADH indicates that hydroxyl radicals are produced by a mechanism independent of that of superoxide production. It was shown that a combination of the spin-probe and spin-trap technique can be used in free radical studies of biological systems, with a number of advantages inherent to them.

The applicability of lanthanide doped alkaline metal sulphates as a new type of dosimeters for EPR dosimetery of ionizing radiation has been investigated in an attempt to obtain a dosimeter with better characteristics than the commonly used alanine dosimeter. Irradiation of samples doped with different lanthanides (Y, Ln, Gd) showed that the best sensitivity is obtained using dosimeters doped with Y2(S04)3. Different procedures for manufacturing dosimeters were studied and an optimum procedure was established. The time stability of the EPR signal of the irradiated Y2(S04)3 dosimeter was investi­gated using a 15N-PDT standard and no fading of the EPR signal was observed over at least two weeks. The dose dependence of alanine and Y2(S04)3 doped K3Na(S04)2 dosimeters irradiated in the range 20 Gy - 200 kGy was analysed using a combination of 1-hit and 2-hit mechanisms of free radicals creation.