Theoretical Insights into Different Complexation Modes of Dioxovanadium(V) Compounds with Pyridoxal Semicarbazone/Thiosemicarbazone/S-Methyl-iso-thiosemicarbazone Ligands.

Vanadium complexes have gained considerable attention as biologically active compounds. In this contribution, three previously reported dioxovanadium(V) complexes with pyridoxal semicarbazone, thiosemicarbazone, and S-methyl-iso-thiosemicarbazone ligands are theoretically examined. The intermolecular stabilization interactions within crystallographic structures were investigated by Hirshfeld surface analysis. These experimental structures were optimized at the B3LYP-D3BJ/6-311++G(d,p)(H,C,N,O,S)/def2-TZVP(V) level of theory, and crystallographic and optimized bond lengths and angles were compared. High correlation coefficients and low mean absolute errors between these two data sets proved that the selected level of theory was appropriate for the description of the system. The changes in structures and stability were examined by adding explicit solvent molecules. The Quantum Theory of Atoms in Molecules (QTAIM) was employed to analyze the intramolecular interactions with special emphasis on the effect of substituents. A good correlation between electron density/Laplacian and interatomic distance was found. Through molecular docking simulations towards Bovine Serum Albumin (BSA), the binding affinity of complexes was further investigated. The spontaneity of binding in the active position of BSA was shown. Further experimental studies on this class of compounds are advised.

Synthesis of MnSe-Based GO Composites as Effective Photocatalyst for Environmental Remediations.

In this work, a manganese selenide/graphene oxide (MnSe/GO)-based composite was prepared for wet-chemical assisted method against organic dye; herein, methylene blue (MB) dye removal from the water was employed as a metal selenide-based photocatalyst. The synthesized MnSe/GO composite was systematically characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform electron microscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis. DRS). The structural characteristic revealed the adequate synthesis of the sample with good crystallinity and purity of the obtained products. The morphological analysis indicates the formation of MnSe nanoflakes composed of tiny particles on their surface. At the same time, the GO nanosheets with high aggregation were formed, which may be due to the van der Waals forces. The bond interaction and compositional analysis studies confirmed and supported the structural findings with high purity. The optical analysis showed the bandgap energies of MnSe and their composites MnSe (1.7 eV), 7% GO-MnSe (2.42 eV), 14% GO-MnSe (2.6 eV), 21% GO-MnSe (3.02 eV), and 28% GO-MnSe (3.24 eV) respectively, which increase the bandgap energy after GO and MnSe recombination. Among different contents, the optimized 21% GO-MnSe composite displayed enhanced photocatalytic properties. For instance, a short time of 90 min was taken compared with other concentrations due to the narrow bandgap of MnSe and the highly conductive charge carrier's support, making the process to remove MB from water faster. These results show that the selenide-based photocatalyst can be an attractive candidate for future advanced photocatalysis applications.

Microbiology of Healthcare-Associated Infections: Results of a Fourth National Point Prevalence Survey in Serbia.

Millions of patients acquire healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) every year, putting them at risk for serious complications and prolonged hospitalization. Point prevalence surveys (PPS), guided by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control framework, are one of the primary methods by which countries in the European Union conduct surveillance of HAIs. Serbia, though not in the EU, implemented this approach in its national PPS. The microbiological and antimicrobial resistance (AMR) analyses comprised patients in 61 out of 65 hospitals included in the fourth PPS conducted in November 2017. A total of 515/12,380 (4.2%) of the adult patients included in the PPS had at least one HAI, with intensive care units carrying the highest prevalence of 15.9%. Urinary tract and surgical site infections were the most frequently identified types of HAIs (23.9% and 23.0%, respectively). Enterobacterales comprised almost half (47.0%) of all causative agents, most notably Klebsiella spp. (16.7%). AMR was very high for most pathogens-80.5% of nonfermentative Gram-negative bacilli were resistant to carbapenems whereas 62.9% of Enterobacterales were resistant to third generation cephalosporins. The calculated AMR index of 61% is one of the highest in Europe. Further efforts are needed to reduce the burden of HAIs in Serbia that carry very high resistance rates to antibiotics currently used in clinical practice.

Tuberculosis and associated risk factors among children and adolescent population in Serbia: 12 year's retrospective study.

INTRODUCTION: Recognition and epidemiological control of childhood and adolescent tuberculosis (TB) is essential to achieve effective control of TB in general as it presents high risk for transmission in the community. The aim of the study is to provide a descriptive and analytic overview of the trends in childhood and adolescent TB notifications and treatment outcomes and to identify factors associated with treatment success in a twelve-year period in Serbia. METHODOLOGY: We performed a retrospective trend analysis and analysis of treatment outcomes of 596 child and adolescent TB cases notified in Serbia in the period 2005-2016 from all health facilities, as well as logistic regression analysis to identify predictors of treatment success. RESULTS: Factors independently associated with treatment success were: new TB (OR=2.60; 95% CI: 1.45-3.74), male sex (OR=2.55; 95% CI: 2.09-3.00), pulmonary TB (OR=3.34; 95% CI: 2.34-4.34), comorbidities (OR=2.58; 95% CI: 2.24-2.91), age below 5 years (OR=0.37; 95% CI: 0.32-0.43), and social vulnerability (OR=0.40; 95% CI: 0.34-0.46). CONCLUSIONS: In order to improve TB treatment outcomes among children and adolescent population in Serbia, it is important to focus on female, age group 5-18, EPTB, retreatment cases and socially vulnerable groups.

A nationwide assessment of the burden of healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial use among surgical patients: results from Serbian point prevalence survey, 2017.

BACKGROUND: As the only non-European Union (EU) country, Serbia participated in a second point prevalence survey of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and antimicrobial use (AMU) organized by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in the EU countries. Here, we aimed to estimate the prevalence of HAI and AMU in patients who had recently undergone a surgery and to compare risk profile, HAI rates, and AMU among surgical patients and non-surgical patients. METHODS: A national PPS was performed in 65 Serbian acute-care hospitals, in November 2017. In this paper, the data of 61 hospitals for adult acute-care were analyzed. To ensure the comparability of study design we used the Serbian translation of ECDC case definitions and ECDC PPS protocol. The trained infection control staff, led by a hospital coordinator, reviewed medical records to identify HAI active at the time of the survey and AMU. Only inpatients admitted to the ward before 8 a.m. on the day if the survey were included. RESULTS: A total of 12,478 patients from 61 hospitals for adult acute-care were eligible for inclusion in this study. Significantly higher proportions of surgical patients were female, belonged to the 60-to-79 age group, and were less severely ill. Also, extrinsic factors (invasive devices, hospitalization at the ICU, and prior antibiotics therapy) were more frequent in surgical patients. Prevalence of HAIs was higher among surgical patients (261/3626; 7.2%) than among non-surgical patients (258/8852; 2.9%) (p < 0.0001). The highest prevalence of all HAIs was noted in patients who had kidney transplantation (4/11; 36.4%), while SSIs were the most prevalent among patients who had peripheral vascular bypass surgery (3/15; 20.0%). Non-surgical patients received treatment for community-acquired infections in significantly higher proportion (2664/8852; 64.3) (p < 0.001). Surgical prophylaxis for more than 1 day was applied in 71.4% of surgical patients. CONCLUSION: We have provided an insight into the burden of HAIs and AMU among Serbia acute-care hospitals, and highlighted several priority areas and targets for quality improvement.

Anthocyanins Protect Hepatocytes against CCl4-Induced Acute Liver Injury in Rats by Inhibiting Pro-inflammatory mediators, Polyamine Catabolism, Lipocalin-2, and Excessive Proliferation of Kupffer Cells.

: This study examined the hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory effects of anthocyanins from Vaccinim myrtillus (bilberry) fruit extract on the acute liver failure caused by carbon tetrachloride-CCl4 (3 mL/kg, i.p.). The preventive treatment of the bilberry extract (200 mg anthocyanins/kg, orally, 7 days) prior to the exposure to the CCl4 resulted in an evident decrease in markers of liver damage (glutamate dehydrogenase, sorbitol dehydrogenase, malate dehydrogenase), and reduced pro-oxidative (conjugated dienes, lipid hydroperoxide, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances, advanced oxidation protein products, NADPH oxidase, hydrogen peroxide, oxidized glutathione), and pro-inflammatory markers (tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-6, nitrite, myeloperoxidase, inducible nitric oxide synthase, cyclooxygenase-2, CD68, lipocalin-2), and also caused a significant decrease in the dissipation of the liver antioxidative defence capacities (reduced glutathione, glutathione S-transferase, and quinone reductase) in comparison to the results detected in the animals treated with CCl4 exclusively. The administration of the anthocyanins prevented the arginine metabolism's diversion towards the citrulline, decreased the catabolism of polyamines (the activity of putrescine oxidase and spermine oxidase), and significantly reduced the excessive activation and hyperplasia of the Kupffer cells. There was also an absence of necrosis, in regard to the toxic effect of CCl4 alone. The hepatoprotective mechanisms of bilberry extract are based on the inhibition of pro-oxidative mediators, strong anti-inflammatory properties, inducing of hepatic phase II antioxidant enzymes (glutathione S-transferase, quinone reductase) and reduced glutathione, hypoplasia of Kupffer cells, and a decrease in the catabolism of polyamines.

Protective effects of anthocyanins from bilberry extract in rats exposed to nephrotoxic effects of carbon tetrachloride.

This study examined the nephroprotective effects of 15 different anthocyanins from the bilberry extract on the acute kidney injury caused by CCl4. The acute nephrotoxicity in rats was induced 24 h after the treatment with a single dose of CCl4 (3 mL/kg, i.p.).The nephroprotective effects of the anthocyanins were examined in the animals that had been given the bilberry extract in a single dose of 200 mg of anthocyanins/kg daily, 7 days orally, while on the seventh day, 3 h after the last dose of anthocyanins, the animals received a single dose of CCl4 (3 mL/kg, i.p.) and were sacrificed 24 h later. When the nephrotoxicant alone was administered, it resulted in a substantial increase of the pro-oxidative (TBARS, CD, H2O2, XO, and GSSG) and pro-inflammatory markers (TNF-α, NO, and MPO), as well as a noticeable reduction of the antioxidant enzymes (CAT, SOD, POD, GPx, GST, GR) and GSH when compared to the results of the control group. Moreover, the application of CCl4 significantly influenced a reduction of the renal function, as well as an increase in the sensitive and specific injury indicators of the kidney epithelial cells (ß2-microglobulin, NGAL, KIM1/TIM1) in the serum and urine of rats. The pretreatment of the animals poisoned with CCl4 with the anthocyanins from the bilberry extract led to a noticeable reduction in the pro-oxidative and pro-inflammatory markers with reduced consumption of the antioxidant defence kidney capacity, compared to the animals exposed to CCl4 alone. Anthocyanins have been protective for the kidney parenchyma, with an apparent absence of the tubular and periglomerular necrosis, severe degenerative changes, inflammatory mononuclear infiltrates and dilatation of proximal and distal tubules, in contrast to the CCl4-intoxicated animals. The nephroprotective effects of anthocyanins can be explained by strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects achieved through the stabilization and neutralization of highly reactive and unstable toxic CCl4 metabolites.

Bilberry: Chemical Profiling, in Vitro and in Vivo Antioxidant Activity and Nephroprotective Effect against Gentamicin Toxicity in Rats.

We assessed possible protective effect of bilberry diet in rat model of nephrotoxicity. In vivo and in vitro antioxidant activity and chemical profiling of this functional food was performed. With aid of HPLC-DAD and spectrophotometric method, 15 individual anthocyanins were quantified alongside total tannin, phenylpropanoid, and anthocyanin content. The study was conducted on four groups of rats: control, treated with only gentamicin, treated with only bilberry, and treated with both gentamicin and bilberry. Kidney function was evaluated by tracking urea and creatinine. Morphology of renal tissue and its changes were recorded pathohistologically and quantified morphometrically. Bilberry (100 mg/kg daily) showed strong nephroprotective effect against gentamicin toxicity in rats (as shown through MDA, AOPP, and catalase levels). In conclusion, the demonstrated protective activity of bilberry extract matched well with the assessed in vivo and in vitro antioxidant activity as well as with its polyphenolic content, particularly with high anthocyanin levels. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[Incidence of surgical site infections in a urology department].

OBJECTIVES: To determine the incidence of surgical site infections (SSI) in the urology wards as well as the SSI incidence in relation to the ASA score and surgical site contamination class. MATERIALS AND METHODS: One-year prospective cohort study was conducted in the Urologic department, General hospital, Sabac. The patients were daily examined and their diagnoses were made according to the definition of hospital infections using concurrently the ASA score and surgical site contamination class. RESULTS: Out of 241 operated patients, 32 patients were diagnosed with 33 SSI. The overall incidence rate of patients with SSI was 5.9% while incidence rate of SSI was 6.1%. There were not the differences in the incidence rates according to the ASA score of patients (p > 0.05). The incidence of SSI was 5.0% in the clan wounds, 11.2% in the clean-contaminated, and 20.7% in the contaminated wounds (Chi2 = 8.2 DF = 2 p < 0.016). The patients with SSIs were hospitalized approximately 2 times longer than the patients without SSI (t = -6.28; df = 239; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that it is necessary to maintain continuous surveillance of surgicical site infections and to implement the preventive measures, especially for clean and clean-contaminated surgery.

[Frequency of hospital infections at Department of Urology].

INTRODUCTION: At departments of urology, as well as other hospital departments, hospital infections represent an important problem. The objective of this work was to determine the frequency and the most common localizations of hospital infections at the Department of urology. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All the patients hospitalized for longer than 48 hours at the Department of Urology, General hospital, Sabac were included in a prospective study of incidence in the period of 12 months. The everyday epidemiological surveillance was carried out, as well as the inspection of the existing medical files. The diagnosis of hospital infections was made on the basis of known definitions. RESULTS: Ninety-four out of 554 hospitalized patients included in the research had 122 hospital infections. One hospital infection was recorded in 64 of those included in the research, whereas two and three infections were recorded in 26 and 2 patients, respectively. The incidence rate of the patients with hospital infections was 17.3%, and the rate of the incidence of the infections 22.4%. The incidence rate by 1,000 patients-hospitalization days was 12.4. Out of the total number of infections, 69.7% were urinary tract infections, 27% surgical site infections and 3.3% sepses. The incidence rate of the patients with urinary infections was 14.7% and the incidence rate of urinary infections 15.6%. The rate of urinary infections in the patients with urinary catheter (19.6%) was significantly higher than in those patients without urinary catheter (p < 0.001). The rate of incidence of surgical site infections was 6.1% and the incidence rate of blood infections was 0.7%. CONCLUSION: The most common hospital infections in our work were urinary infections and surgical site infections. The rates recorded in our study are similar to those in the hospitals that have only started the surveillance of hospital infections.