Poultry meat production is one of the most dynamic sectors in agriculture, recording the quickest growth in the food industry, while egg production has shown strong growth in the last twenty years. Combined with meat production, it is achieving the highest growth when it comes to meeting protein needs for the global population. In economic terms, coccidiosis is one of the most significant poultry diseases. Effective application of coccidiostats in poultry feed has been playing a key role in development of commercial poultry production for more than 50 years. The aim of this research was to estimate occurrence and residue concentrations of coccidiostats in table eggs, poultry liver and meat, available on the market in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Residues of lasalocid were found in table eggs, while residues of nicarbazin, maduramicin and diclazuril were detected in broiler meat and liver.

This research aimed to study the influence of differences in the composition and storage length of mechanically deboned poultry meat (MDPM) on the sensory properties of frankfurters. Three variants of frankfurters were produced from three respective alternatives of MDPM that differed solely in proportions of meat from broiler backs and necks. Similarly, a commercially available and freshly produced MDPM of unknown composition was used as the control. All the four variants of MDPM were stored at -18 °C for 1, 45 and 90 days. Sensory profiling of the frankfurters was performed by 8 panellists using a quantitative-descriptive analysis (QDA). Two-factorial ANOVA and principal component analysis (PCA) of the sensory evaluation results revealed significant (p < 0.05) effects of the storage time of the MDPM variants on sensory characteristics of the frankfurters, regardless of their composition.

BACKGROUND Septic arthritis of the temporomandibular joint (SATMJ) is acute or chronic bacterial or fungal infection involving temporomandibular joint (TMJ) space. It is a disease with high mortality in whole body joints, and about three-fourths of survivors have residual malfunctioning of the affected joint. OBJECTIVE The aim of this review was to search systematically, evaluate and then summarize scientific literature about etiology, signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of the SATMJ in adults. METHODS After registration at PROSPERO this systematic review was conducted and reported according to the PRISMA checklist. The following databases were systematically searched: MEDLINE, EBSCO, The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (Central), SCIndex, Scopus, Google Scholar and Registry of clinical studies with human participants. RESULTS In total 37 studies with 91 patients were included in the review. Dominant signs and symptoms of SATMJ were pain and trismus, while fever was infrequent. The most frequent isolates from the TMJ were Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococci; however, less than 20% of patients had data about susceptibility of the isolates to antibiotics. Combination of third generation cephalosporin and metronidazole was the most frequently prescribed empirically, and antibiotics especially active against S. aureus (glycopeptides and anti-staphylococcal beta-lactams) were under-prescribed. Administration of antibiotics was prolonged (median over 30 days), although two weeks are sufficient treatment for SATMJ if right choice of antibiotics was made. There was high rate of repeated surgical interventions (53.5%), which were linked to higher risk of long-term functional defects. CONCLUSIONS The SATMJ is serious infection that requires early empiric administration of antibiotics with good coverage of Gram-positive bacteria, and subsequent correction of antibiotic therapy according to susceptibility of isolates. Appropriate antibiotic therapy decreases risk of long-term functional disorders.

Background and Objectives: Although vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is prevalent in children with allergic diseases, recommendations for supplementation dosing regimens are imprecise and variable in the literature, because clinical trials aiming to determine optimal doses were scarce in the past. This study aimed to investigate supplementation of vitamin D3 that may achieve therapeutically effective but not toxic serum levels in a subpopulation of children with allergic diseases and concomitant hypovitaminosis D. Materials and Methods: The retrospective, observational study with a cross-sectional design included 94 children suffering from allergic diseases and having vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency who were prescribed high-dose vitamin D3 supplementation by a pediatrician for at least 6 weeks and not more than 9 weeks. Serum levels of the major metabolite of vitamin D (25-(OH)D) were determined in all children twice: before and two weeks after the end of vitamin D3 supplementation. Results: An increase in serum level of the 25-(OH)D after supplementation was significant. However, if the subjects had higher serum levels of the 25-(OH)D before the supplementation, and if the supplementation lasted 8 instead of 6 weeks, the absolute increase in serum level of the 25-(OH)D was lower. Patients taking corticosteroids as inhalation or intranasally had a more intense effect of vitamin D3 supplementation, i.e., the absolute increase in levels of 25-(OH)D was higher than in patients not using such medication. Conclusions: Vitamin D deficiency and insufficiency in children with allergic diseases can be treated with maximal recommended doses of vitamin D3 for a short period of time, especially if they were prescribed with inhalation or intranasal corticosteroids.

The COST Action Gene Regulation Ensemble Effort for the Knowledge Commons (GREEKC, CA15205, www.greekc.org) organized nine workshops in a four-year period, starting September 2016. The workshops brought together a wide range of experts from all over the world working on various parts of the knowledge cycle that is central to understanding gene regulatory mechanisms. The discussions between ontologists, curators, text miners, biologists, bioinformaticians, philosophers and computational scientists spawned a host of activities aimed to update and standardise existing knowledge management workflows, encourage new experimental approaches and thoroughly involve end-users in the process to design the Gene Regulation Knowledge Commons (GRKC). The GREEKC consortium describes its main achievements, contextualised in a state-of-the-art of current tools and resources that today represent the GRKC.

The rise of nationalism that deepens hatred of the ‘other’, long-standing divisions and legacies of oppression threaten democracy around the globe. Despite the urgency of advancing transformative democratic education in the face of these daunting challenges, in real classrooms, most teachers do not take up this endeavour. Teacher education has a vital role to play in preparing teachers to educate democratic civic agents in contentious political contexts. This article presents teaching practices from two teacher educators from very different locations, Sarajevo and San Francisco, who equip pre-service teachers with pedagogical experiences and curricular tools that prepare them for five distinctive roles. These roles empower novices to bring transformative democratic education into their future classrooms.

Gold nanorods have been implicated in several biomedical applications. Herein, the effect of two surface-modified gold nanorods on the early stages of embryogenesis and angiogenesis was investigated using avian embryos at three days and their chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) at five days of incubation. We found that gold nanorods (GNR) modified with PEGylated phospholipid moiety show a high mortality rate in embryos after four days of exposure compared to GNR modified with PEGylated cholesterol moiety. Meanwhile, our data revealed that surface modified-GNR significantly inhibit the formation of new blood vessels in the treated CAM model after 48 h of exposure. Moreover, we report that surface-modified GNR significantly deregulate the expression of several genes implicated in cell proliferation, invasion, apoptosis, cellular energy metabolism, and angiogenesis. On the other hand, our data point out that GNR treatments can modulate the expression patterns of JNK1/2/3, NF-KB/p38, and MAPK, which could be the main molecular pathways of the nanorods in our experimental models.

Abstract To model fiber failures in random fiber networks, we have developed an elastoplastic Timoshenko beam finite element with embedded discontinuities. The method is based on the theory of strong discontinuities where the generalized displacement field is enhanced by a jump. The continuum mechanics formulation accounts for a fracture process zone and a bulk material while retaining traction continuity across the discontinuity. The additional degrees of freedom that are associated with the discontinuity are represented by a midpoint node, which is statically condensed to enable the implementation in commercial software through the user element interface . We propose a quasi-brittle fracture model, where the failure-related deformation is uncoupled from the plastic deformation in the bulk material. To retain the positive definite finite element stiffness matrix of the bulk material, we neglect the fracture-related softening of the discontinuity and employ a modified Newton iteration in the strain softening domain. Our implementation facilitates the integration into commercial finite element software and examples illustrate the robustness of the method. The FORTRAN source code is freely available to benchmark our model. We show that fiber failures contribute to the nonlinear stress–strain response of paper. Together with fiber–fiber bond failures, they can potentially explain the nonlinear stress–strain response of paper and nanopaper.

With an exclusive diet of hard-shelled mollusks, the black drum fish (Pogonias Cromis) exhibits one of the highest bite forces among extant animals. Here we present a systematic microstructural, chemical, crystallographic, and mechanical analysis of the black drum teeth to understand the structural basis for achieving the molluscivorous requirements. At the material level, the outermost enameloid shows higher modulus (Er = 126.9 ± 16.3 GPa, H = 5.0 ± 1.4 GPa) than other reported fish teeth, which is attributed to the stiffening effect of Zn and F doping in apatite crystals and the preferential co-alignment of crystallographic c-axes and enameloid rods along the biting direction. The high fracture toughness (Kc = 1.12 MPa•m1/2) near outer enameloid also promotes local yielding instead of fracture during crushing contact with mollusk shells. At the individual-tooth scale, the molar-like teeth, high density of dentin tubules, enlarged pulp chamber, and specialized dentin-bone connection, all contribute to the functional requirements, including confinement of contact compressive stress in the stiff enameloid, enhanced energy absorption in the compliant dentin, and controlled failure of tooth-bone composite under excessive loads. These results show that the multi-scale structures of black drum teeth are adapted to feed on mollusks. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE: : The black drum fish feeds on hard-shelled mollusks, which requires strong, tough, and wear-resistant teeth. This study presents a comprehensive multiscale material and mechanical analysis of the black drum teeth in achieving such remarkable biological function. At microscale, the fluoride- and zinc-doped apatite crystallites in the outer enameloid region are aligned perpendicular to the occlusal surface, representing as one of the stiffest biomineralized materials found in nature, while these apatite crystals are arranged into intertwisted rods with crystallographic misorientation in the inner enameloid region for increased crack resistance and toughness. At macroscale, the molariform geometry, the two-layer design based on the outer enameloid and inner dentin, enlarged pulp chamber and the underlying strong bony toothplate work synergistically to contribute to the teeth's crushing resistance.