Extraction of Bioactive Metabolites from Achillea millefolium L. with Choline Chloride Based Natural Deep Eutectic Solvents: A Study of the Antioxidant and Antimicrobial Activity.

In this study, the extraction efficiency of natural deep eutectic solvents (NADES) based on choline chloride as a hydrogen bond acceptor (HBA) and five different hydrogen bond donors (HBD; lactic acid, 1,4-butanediol, 1,2-propanediol, fructose and urea) was evaluated for the first time for the isolation of valuable bioactive compounds from Achillea millefolium L. The phytochemical profiles of NADES extracts obtained after ultrasound-assisted extraction were evaluated both spectrophotometrically (total phenolic content (TPC) and antioxidant assays) and chromatographically (UHPLC-MS and HPLC-UV). The results were compared with those obtained with 80% ethanol, 80% methanol, and water. The highest TPC value was found in the lactic acid-based NADES (ChCl-LA), which correlated with the highest antioxidant activity determined by the FRAP analysis. On the other hand, the highest antiradical potential against ABTS+• was determined for urea-based NADES. Phenolic acids (chlorogenic acid and dicaffeoylquinic acid isomers), flavones (luteolin and apigenin), and their corresponding glucosides were determined as the dominant individual phenolic compounds in all extracts. The antibacterial and antifungal properties of the extracts obtained against four bacterial cultures and two yeasts were evaluated using two methods: the agar dilution method to obtain the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and the minimum bactericidal or fungicidal concentration (MBC or MFC), and the disc diffusion method. ChCl-LA had the lowest MIC and MBC/MFC with respect to all microorganisms, with an MIC ranging from 0.05 mg mL-1 to 0.8 mg mL-1, while the water extract had the weakest inhibitory activity with MIC and MBC/MFC higher than 3.2 mg mL-1.

Development of the automated software and device for determination of wicking in textiles using open-source tools.

The development of automated software and the device for determination of wicking of textile materials, using open-source ImageJ libraries for image processing, and newly designed additional algorithm for the determination of threshold, is presented in this paper. The description of the device, design of the open-source software "Kapilarko", as well as an explanation of the steps: image processing, threshold determination and reading of wicking height, are provided. We have also investigated the possibility of using the artificial neural networks for automatic recognition of the wicking height. The results showed that the recognition of the wet area of the sample, based on the application of artificial neural networks was in a very good agreement with the experimental data. The device's utility for the measurement of wicking ability of textile materials was proved by testing various knitted fabrics. The constructed device has the advantages of providing automated measurement and minimization of the subjective errors of the operators; extremely fast or long-term measurements; digital recording of results; consistency of experimental conditions; possibility of using water instead of colors and, last but not least, low cost of the device. Considering the importance and frequent measurements of wicking ability of textile materials, the advantages of the presented device, as well as the fact that commercial software without publishing the source-code, are used for most of the available devices, we believe that our idea to design the automated software and device by applying the "open-source" approach, will be of benefit to scientists and engineers in using or improving wicking experiments.

Clinical and morphological characteristics of cutaneous melanoma.

The incidence of cutaneous melanoma has increased significantly worldwide over the last several decades. The aim of this study is to determine clinical and morphology characteristics of primary melanoma, since some of them are important prognostic factors. This retrospective study included 172 patients. The data were collected by the Consulting team for malignant skin tumors in the Banja Luka Clinical Centre from 2009 to 2011. We did not use dermoscopy as a diagnostic tool in our investigation. We determined that melanoma occurs equally commonly in both sexes, in women in the sixth decade and the seventh in men. The most common sub-type was nodular melanoma (59.5%, P<0.05), followed by superficial spreading (27.8%) and acral lentiginous melanoma (11.4%). The most common localization was on the back in men (34.3%) and on the legs in women (P<0.05). More than half of our patients (55.8%) had melanoma thickness from 1.0 to 4.0 mm, and 38% had a melanoma thicker than 4.0 mm. The average Breslow thickness is 4.6 mm. More women than men had melanoma thicker than 4 mm (P<0.05). Spread of the primary tumor localization was found in 31.4% of patients, more frequently in men than in women (P<0.05). In most cases it was abstraction of lymph nodes (P<0.05). The average thickness of the melanoma in our patients is much higher than the average in the world and the countries of Europe. The results of this study indicate a need for better unique regional registry in this part of Bosnia and Herzegovina and improvement of preventive measures in the early diagnosis of melanoma.