Sustainability assessment and comparison of waste management systems: The Cities of Sofia and Niš case studies.

Sustainability assessment of a waste management system is a very complex problem for numerous reasons. Firstly, it is a problem of environmental assessment, economic viability and social acceptability, and also a choice of the most practical waste treatment technique, taking into account all the specific areas in which a waste management system is implemented. For these reasons, among others, it is very important to benchmark, cooperate and exchange experiences in areas with similar characteristics.

Association of fibronectin with hypogalactosylated immunoglobulin G in gingival crevicular fluid in periodontitis.

Background: Fibronectin (FN) can bind to immunoglobulins (Ig), influencing both the normal clearance and abnormal deposition of circulating immune complexes. This study focuses on the possible interaction between FN and IgG present in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of periodontitis patients and periodontally healthy controls, with the aim to determine whether such interaction may be connected with the glycosylation profile of IgG and, thus, consequentional in accumulation of proinflammatory IgG in periodontal pockets.

Methods: The study included 30 patients with initial or advanced periodontitis, and 13 periodontally healthy subjects.

Glycosylation of IgG B cell receptor (IgG BCR) in multiple myeloma: relationship between sialylation and the signal activity of IgG BCR.

Little is known about the glycosylation of the isotype switched B cell receptor (BCR) in multiple myeloma, and the way it might affect receptor function. In this work IgG BCRs isolated from the individual lysates of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) of 32 patients with IgG multiple myeloma and healthy controls were investigated for the expression of sialic acid (SA), galactose (Gal) and N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc), the sugars known to specify the glycoforms of human serum IgG. The degree of glycosylation and signaling status of all 32 isolated myeloma IgG BCRs were correlated and compared with the glycosylation of the IgG paraproteins isolated from sera of the same patients.

Signaling status of IgG B cell receptor (IgG BCR) is indicative for an activated state of circulating B cells in multiple myeloma.

Circulating post-switch B cells have been proposed as proliferative and disseminating progenitors in multiple myeloma. It is unclear whether the class-switched antigen receptor expressed at the surface of these cells plays a role in their expansion. In this work, the signaling status of IgG B cell receptor (BCR) isolated from the lysates of peripheral blood lymphocytes of 32 patients with IgG multiple myeloma, at the time of diagnosis, was investigated by examining whether phosphorylation of BCR Igalpha and Igbeta signal transducer factors (co-receptors) or other signaling molecules was abnormal in these cells when compared with healthy controls.

Hypogalactosylation of salivary and gingival fluid immunoglobulin G in patients with advanced periodontitis.

Background: Altered glycosylation of immunoglobulin G (IgG) has been found to affect certain immunological activities of IgG and to correlate with increased inflammation in various disease states. This work deals with the changes in distribution and galactosylation of IgG subclasses present in saliva and gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) of patients with initial and advanced periodontitis and of normal controls.

Methods: IgG subclasses were quantified by dot-blot assay, and the degrees of expression of galactose in the total IgG and its individual subclasses were estimated by lectin immunoblot assay after sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) separation of IgG and by capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), using biotinylated Ricinus communis (RCA-I) and Bandeiraea simplicifolia (BS-II) lectins.