This study intends to valorize by-products of the industrial processing of tobacco to obtain nicotine and phenolics as value-added compounds. Three influential parameters of the microwave-assisted extraction-MAE (temperature, treatment time, and solvent/solid ratio) were studied for the optimization of the extraction protocol for tobacco leaves and three types of waste—scrap, dust, and midrib, respectively. Nicotine was the dominant bioactive compound in all extracts, ranging from 1.512 to 5.480% in leaves, 1.886 to 3.709% in scrap, 2.628 to 4.840% dust, and 0.867 to 1.783% in midrib extracts. Five phenolic compounds were identified and quantified, predominated by chlorogenic acid and rutin. Additionally, total phenol content and antioxidant activity were determined using spectrophotometric assays. Optimization was performed in two aspects: to obtain a maximum extraction yield with minimum nicotine content and to obtain a maximum extraction yield with maximum nicotine content. These findings demonstrate that tobacco waste is a valuable source of bioactive compounds and MAE can be a promising alternative technique to obtain extracts rich in targeted bioactive compounds, especially nicotine.

As the largest herpesviruses, the 230 kb genomes of cytomegaloviruses (CMVs) have increased our understanding of host immunity and viral escape mechanisms, although many of the annotated genes remain as yet uncharacterised. Here we identify the m15 locus of murine CMV (MCMV) as a viral modulator of natural killer (NK) cell immunity. We show that, rather than discrete transcripts from the m14, m15 and m16 genes as annotated, there are five 3′-coterminal transcripts expressed over this region, all utilising a consensus polyA tail at the end of the m16 gene. Functional inactivation of any one of these genes had no measurable impact on viral replication. However, disruption of all five transcripts led to significantly attenuated dissemination to, and replication in, the salivary glands of multiple strains of mice, but normal growth during acute infection. Disruption of the m15 locus was associated with heightened NK cell responses, including enhanced proliferation and IFNγ production. Depletion of NK cells, but not T cells, rescued salivary gland replication and viral shedding. These data demonstrate the identification of multiple transcripts expressed by a single locus which modulate, perhaps in a concerted fashion, the function of anti-viral NK cells.

Objectives: Food supplements and medicines which are not on the list of prohibited substances of the World Anti-Doping Agency are included in the group of permitted pharmacological agents for athlete’s recovery. The aim of this study was to describe qualitatively and quantitatively food supplements (FS) and over-the-counter drugs use among athletes in the last six month. Methods: This was a cross sectional study. Data on food supplements and the over-the-counter drugs, usage were collected during 2018 by self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. Results: A total of 112 athletes completed the survey. A total of 51.8% (n = 58) athletes reported the use of food supplements. The use of medical supplements was reported by 50.0% (n = 56) of athletes, 26.8% (n = 30) reported using ergogenic supplements, 1.8% (n = 2) using of sports food and 4.5% (n = 5) using other supplements. The use of over-the-counter drugs was reported by 35.7% (n = 40) of athletes. The over-the-counter analgesic drugs were used by 95% (n = 38) of over-the-counter drug users. Concomitant administration two or more over-the-counter drugs was reported by 40% (n = 16) athletes. Doctors and coaches had no advisory role in the use of food supplements or over-the-counter drugs.

This work is motivated by growing evidence that the standard Cyclic Prefix (CP) length, adopted in the Long Term Evolution (LTE) physical layer (PHY) specifications, is oversized in propagation environments ranging from indoor to typical urban. Although this ostensibly seems to be addressed by 5G New Radio (NR) numerology, its scalable CP length reduction is proportionally tracked by the OFDM symbol length, which preserves the relative CP overhead of LTE. Furthermore, some simple means to optimize fixed or introduce adaptive CP length arose from either simulations or models taking into account only the bit-oriented PHY transmission performance. On the contrary, in the novel crosslayer analytical model proposed here, the closed-form expression for the optimal CP length is derived such as to minimize the effective average codeblock length, by also considering the error recovery retransmissions through the layers above PHY—the Medium Access Control (MAC) and the Radio Link Control (RLC), in particular. It turns out that, for given protective coding, the optimal CP length is determined by the appropriate rms delay spread of the channel power delay profile part remaining outside the CP span. The optimal CP length values are found to be significantly lower than the corresponding industry-standard ones, which unveils the potential for improving the net throughput.

Takayasu arteritis (TA) is a challenging chronic inflammatory vasculitis of large vessels with unknown etiology. It usually affects the aorta and its main branches and in few cases it affects other arteries like pulmonary and coronary. We report a case of a young woman with transient ischemic attack (TIA) as the initial presentation followed later by ischemic limb syndrome and then ischemic stroke. Lack of specific diagnostic biomarkers for this disease makes early diagnosis and treatment challenging.

In today's globalized, fast-changeable, and digitalized market, companies strongly need and seek talents, who, besides basic skills, possess higher levels, as well as the optimal mix of different competencies and qualifications. Attracting the best employees, developing and retaining them represents a crucial success factor for any firm and requires well-organized talent management. The purpose of this study is to analyze the influence of talent management, viewed through attracting, developing, and retaining talents, on organizational performance improvement in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Data collection is based on a questionnaire, related to core elements of talent management and organizational performance (profitability and sales growth), with respondents from the population of talented managers, who work in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The findings indicate that talent management has a positive statistically significant influence on observed organizational performance in companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Since talented managers are a key strategic resource, who lead organizations to accomplish excellent organizational performance, companies in developing countries need to tailor effective and customized talent management strategies, to achieve continuous improvement of organizational outcomes.

The current study examined anxiety, neuroticism and extraversion amongst Bosnian high school and university students who were studying English as a foreign language (EFL). By employing the Public Speaking Class Anxiety Scale and the Big Five Inventory (BFI) test, the authors showed that this group of students was characterised by a relatively high level of extraversion and a medium level of neuroticism and anxiety about public speaking in class. The study further investigated the variation in both personality traits and anxiety based on gender, the level of education and out-of-school exposure to English as the target language. The first two factors had an insignificant effect on personality traits and anxiety, whereas out-of-school exposure to English proved to be significant in all contexts. Finally, the multiple regression analysis suggested that anxiety, extraversion and neuroticism were not significant predictors of students’ average EFL grades, while extraversion was a significantly positive predictor and anxiety was a significantly negative predictor of the students’ self-reported EFL knowledge. The study contributes to the further individualisation of formal language teaching and learning, as well as to the promotion of the development of independent life-long learners.

The influence of the production method, i.e. casting technology on the cleanliness and thus the quality of carbon steels is best determined through the presence and type of non-metallic inclusions. A large number of inclusions, especially oxide and complex ones, can significantly affect the mechanical properties of carbon steels and limit their application for the production of finished products. This paper presents the influence of the presence, type and amount of non - metallic inclusions in B500B carbon steel according to ASTM / AISI produced by continuous casting technology without and with the application of stream protection.