Lubarda, B. & Topalić-Trivunović, Lj.: Alien flora of the city of Banja Luka (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Nat. Croat., Vol. 29, No. 2, 217-226, 2020, Zagreb. In the urban area of Banja Luka, 77 species of alien plants have been found, most of them neophytes (64.94%) while a smaller percentage are archeophytes (35.06%). Most of the plants originate from America (34), and Asiatic species rank second (17). Most of the alien plants belong to the Compositae family, in terms of life form are therophytes, and intention has been involved in their arrival in this area.The anthropogenic change indicator values have been shown to have a significant anthropogenic impact on the overall flora.

In this paper, cotton, polyester and cotton/polyester fabrics were modified by using herbal extract of Picea omorika and copper ferrite nanoparticles and their antibacterial and dielectric properties were investigated. Antibacterial activities of all samples were examined against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Most of the fabrics modified by copper ferrite showed antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli, while the addition of the herbal extract improved their antibacterial protection. Dielectric properties were measured in frequency range from 24 Hz to 75 kHz at room temperature and the results showed that the modification of all three fabrics with copper ferrite caused increase in their electrical conductivity. The obtained results point to the possibility of using investigated fabrics for antibacterial protection as well as for the electromagnetic shielding application.

Constructed wetlands, as an alternative to conventional methods, are systemsdesigned on the basis of the application of natural purification processes that take placein watery and swampy overgrown habitats, with certain microbiological groups. In thewastewater treatment process various types of constructed wetlands can be combinedto achieve a higher efficiency of the purification.In this study, the removal effectiveness of the organic substances from municipalwastewater was monitored, using a horizontal pilot - scale constructed wetlandutilizing Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis. In addition to the measurement oforganic substances content through COD, BOD and KMnO4 consumption, and totaldissolved substances (TDS) in influent and effluent, microbiological sample analysis wasperformed, monitored by total number of coliform bacteria.The aim of this study was to calculate the effectiveness of removing organicsubstances from municipal wastewater, depending on the season, as well as theeffectiveness of eliminating total coliform bacteria.The results of one-year research have shown that the removal effectiveness ofthe organic substances from municipal wastewater, expressed as the chemical oxygendemand (COD), was the highest in summer - 87.82% ± 2.83%, and the lowest in thewinter - 64.51% ± 5.89%. During the study, effectiveness of elimination of total coliformbacteria was 97.88 ± 0.80% and total dissolved substances 71.27% .

Biljke iz roda Achillea (familija Compositae) obiluju biološki aktivnim sastojcima, međukojima su najvažnija flavonoidna jedinjenja. Flavonoidi su sekundarni metaboliti kojisu široko zastupljeni u biljnom svijetu i imaju različite funkcije u metabolizmu biljaka.U ovom radu su dati rezultati istraživanja biološke aktivnosti najvažnijih flavonoidnihjedinjenja prisutnih u biljkama roda Achillea među kojima su najzastupljeniji apigenin,luteolin i kvercetin, te njihovi glukozidi. Među flavonoidnim heterozidima pronađenisu monoglukozidi (uglavnom O-glukozidi, C-glukozidi i O-glukuronidi) i diglukozidi(O-diglukozidi, C-diglukozidi, O-rutinozidi). Eksperimenti su pokazali da flavonoidipronađeni u biljkama ovog roda imaju širok spektar bioloških aktivnosti. Istraživanjesprovedeno na terminalnom ileumu zamorčeta je pokazalo spazmolitičku aktivnostapigenina, luteolina i kvercetina. Dokazano je da apigenin i luteolin imaju estrogenuaktivnost, a značajno je i antidijabetičko djelovanje luteolina usljed inhibicije enzimaα-glukozidaze. Na različitim ćelijskim linijama karcinoma je dokazano da kasticin icentaureidin, takođe važni flavonoidi roda Achillea, imaju antitumorsku aktivnost, aeksperiment sproveden na pacovima je pokazao antihipertenzivno djelovanje flavonoidaartemetina. Poznato je da flavonoidi imaju antioksidativno djelovanje, a to je potvrđenoi kod vrsta roda Achillea.

The purpose of this work was to examine the influence of non-coherent polarized light upon the growth of Escherichia coli. Experiments were designed to test the main hypothesis that this kind of polychromatic light can produce decimal reductions in numbers of E. coli bacteria. Two strains of E. coli - isolated from ground pork and commercial culture E. coli ATCC 25922, were both exposed to light for 20, 30, 40 and 60 minutes. The source of non-coherent polarized light was a Bioptron-1 lamp (Zepter, Swiss) with the following technical char - acteristics: wavelength 400-2000 nm, polarization > 95%, and constant radiation dose 2.4 J/cm 2 per minute. The result for both strains showed a slight increase in bacterial count in response to an irradiation time of 20 min and decreases in bacterial counts for irradiation times of 30, 40 and 60 min without characteristics of a decimal reduction. Bacterial counts after treatments displayed a linear relationship with the total count of bacteria before treatments as well as the percentage surviving bacteria and irradiation time. Data analysis (ANOVA two factors with replication) showed that the survival of bacteria was influenced significantly by duration time ( P < 0.01), bacterial culture (p<0.05), and interaction between duration time and bacterial culture ( P < 0.01). Neither E. coli ATCC 25922 nor E. coli isolated from ground pork showed a decimal reduction after irradiation with non-coherent polychromatic polarized light.

Environmental care, higher requirements for quality of effluent, high cost of conventional wastewater treatment, and increased energy costs required for their work, have led scientists to more comprehensive research on a possibility of using a constructed wetland in wastewater treatment technology. Constructed wetlands are artificially shaped swamps with the aim of creating conditions conducive to the purification of wastewaters flowing through them. They are used for treatment of municipal wastewater from small settlements and a small industrial facility, as well as other types of wastewater. The educational pilot scale constructed wetland on which the research was conducted is located in the area of Bihać municipality, on a plot used by the Biotechnical Faculty in Bihać. The pilot scale constructed wetland for wastewater treatment covers an area of 20 m2 and is dimensioned for 10 equivalents of population. In this research we have examined the effectiveness of domestic wastewater treatment in the "Grmeč" Teaching Center using pilot scale constructed wetland. Plants planted in the constructed wetland were Typha latifolia and Phragmites australis, and the substrate was made of sand and pebbles of different granulations. The recipient of purified wastewater is the Drobnica stream, which is about 10 m away from the site. The research was conducted in May, with the flow varied depending on a weekly student workload. Efficiency of purification using constructed wetland depended on flow rate and organic wastewater load, ranging from 37.15% at a minimum flow of 9.89x10-6 m3/s and HPK values of 35 mgO2/L, up to 89.48% at the highest flow value of 2.51x10-5 m3/s, and HPK values of 189 mgO2/L. The highest concentration of ammonia in the influent was 145.62 mg N/L, and the lowest concentration of ammonia in the effluent was 6.31. mg N/L.

In this paper we examined the effect of plasma pretreatment on the structure and antimicrobial properties of knitted fabrics (100% cotton, 100% bamboo and 50% cotton/50% bamboo) treated with alcoholic herbal extracts of Achillea millefolium L. and Reynoutria japonica Houtt. The influence of water vapour plasma pretreatment on the surface functionalization or change of the structure of the knitted fabrics is evaluated with SEM. Antimicrobial properties of knitted fabrics treated with herbal extracts were tested on Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans by using the parallel streaking method (AATCC TM 147-2004). The degree of coloration was evaluated with CIELAB method and with stereomicroscope. It was found that the plasma pretreatment and processing with the herbal extract of Reynoutria japonica Houtt. had a positive impact on the antimicrobial activity of the knitted fabrics against Staphylococcus aureus.

The antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of Equisetum arvense L. harvested in a polluted urban area were investigated. The total phenolic content determined by a modified Folin-Ciocalteu method was 335.8 mg of GEA/g of the dried ethanol extract. Antioxidant activity determined by FRAP method was 28.7 mM Fe(II)/g of extract, whereas antioxidant activity index for stable DPPH free radicals was 3.86. The results were compared with control antioxidants (gallic acid, vitamin C, BHA and BHT). Antimicrobial activity was tested by monitoring the impact of different extract concentrations through measuring the change in optical density of bacterial suspension over time and by determining MIC and MBC using macrodilution method. E. arvense extract has been effective on the tested microorganisms depending on the concentration and exposure time. The extract had the strongest antibacterial activity on Staphylococcus aureus, with MIC and MBC of 11.14 mg/mL and 22.28 mg/mL respectively, and the weakest effect on Bacillus cereus, with MIC of 89.10 mg/mL.