Theory of photoferroelectric response in SmC* liquids

We are concerned with the modification of liquid crystalline and polar order in SmC* liquids by illumination. In particular we show that non-uniformity due to absorption and also dynamics, can be complex. The variation of polarization with temperature, while illuminated, is modified from that assuming uniformity. Apparent changes of polarization with illumination will be shown to be underestimated due to non-uniformity. The dynamics is shown to depend on propagating fronts of photo-conversion penetrating the sample.Comment: 6 pages, 7 figure

Antifungal Activity and Inhibitory Effect on Urease of Some Organo-Mercuric Compounds

A number of aliphatic and aromatic organo-·mercuric compounds of the general formula R-Hg-X, in which R represents a n organic radical and X an anionic radical, were prepared. The antifungal and inhibitory effect of the tested compounds was compared by app ly1ng the aiuxa nographic diffusion method and by measuring the degree of inhibition of urease. It was found that the antifungal activity d epends mainly on the organic radical R and that the antonic radical h as no effect on fungitoxicity

Implanto-Prosthetic Rehabilitation of the Mandible by Means of Two Implants

Edentulousness is a considerable problem in Croatia. So far prevention has not become the most important part of the dental profession. On the other hand,poor medical knowledge, reduced rights concerning health insurance costs as well as an increasing number of impoverished people in Croatia has resulted in postponed prosthetic rehabilitation. For the above mentioned reasons the Croatian people suffer from premature loss of their teeth. Also lower jaw atrophy occurs, which makes prosthetic rehabilitation even more difficult to achieve. In spite of some disadvantages, the double-implant borne prosthetic suprastructure has proved to be a simple and good solution to the patient\u27s problem, mainly because it is cost-effective. This particularly applies to Croatia patients. Over the last five years we have placed double -implants in 26 patients, in the anterior region of the mandible. The implants were placed in the region of the lower canine or slightly more mesially. Severe atrophy was determined in 13 patients (50%) which impeded their complete denture wearing even before the implant placement started. However, we made up for the loss in two patients by placing the implants again. This time we placed them slightly more mesially. We made one borne implant complete denture for one patient because the examination revealed severe atrophy in one segment of his mandible. In addition since the osseointegration prognosis for this patient was questionable we decided against any additional surgical treatment. Since the belts of the attached gingiva in our patients were wide enough and the diameters of the implants were not very long, no vestibuloplasty was necessary. We installed ITI, IMZ, ASTRA and Ankylos implants. All systems proved to be equally functional

Ispitivanje povezanosti težine srca sa rupturom srca kod 119 slučajeva umrlih od akutnog infarkta miokarda

Introduction. Cardiovascular and blood vessel diseases are the most common cause of death, which is shown by data obtained in our and foreign authors' research, and acute myocardial infarction is the most common emergency in internal medicine and its mortality is very high, about one third of total mortality. The aim of this paper is to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in heart weight in deceased patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with heart rupture and with AMI without heart rupture. Methods. The research material is made up of 119 autopsied patients at the Institute of Pathology of the University of Kragujevac Medical Faculty and Clinical Center Kragujevac. The following pathological morphological research methods were applied: autopsy, macroscopic diagnostics and microscopic analysis. In addition, a statistical processing of results was performed, and the Pharmocologic Circulapon System Student's t-test statistical software package was used to test the significance of differences. A value of p lt 0.05 was considered as a statistically significant difference, and a value of p lt 0.01 as highly significant. Results and Discussion. Out of 119 cases of AMI deaths, of which 74 male and 45 female, heart rupture was found in 21 cases. Of the 74 men who died of AMI, 13 had a rupture, and of the 45 women who died of AMI, 8 had a rupture. The heart weight was measured in each respondent who died of AMI and the correlation between heart weight and rupture was investigated. The study showed that there was a statistically significant difference (p lt 0.05) in the average heart weight between the autopsied who had and those who did not have heart rupture, and that those who did not have heart rupture had significantly more heart weight. The study showed that there was a statistically significant difference (p lt 0.05) in the average heart weight between the autopsied men who had and those who did not have heart rupture. The heart of those men who did not have heart rupture had more weight. There were no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) in the mean heart weight between the autopsied women who had and those who did not have heart rupture. Conclusion. The study showed the difference in the heart weight of autopsied patients who had and those who did not have heart rupture, and that those who did not have heart rupture had significantly more heart weight. In relation to sex, the heart of those men who did not have heart rupture had more weight, while in women there are no statistically significant differences (p>0.05) in the average heart weight in those with and without rupture of the heart.Uvod. Bolesti srca i krvnih sudova predstavljaju najčešći uzrok smrti, što pokazuju podaci dobijeni u istraživanjima naših i stranih autora, a akutni infarkt miokarda je najčešće urgentno stanje u internoj medicini i mortalitet mu je veoma visok, jer od ukupnog mortaliteta jedna trećina otpada na infarkt miokarda. Cilj rada je bio da utvrdimo postoji li statistički značajna razlika u težini srca kod umrlih pacijenata sa akutnim infarktom miokarda (AIM) sa rupturom srca i sa AIM-om bez rupture srca. Metode. Istraživački materijal čini 119 obdukovanih pacijenata u Institutu za patologiju Medicinskog fakulteta u Kragujevcu i KBC Kragujevac. Primenjene su patološko morfološke metode istraživanja: obdukcija, makroskopska dijagnostika i mikroskopska analiza. Pored toga, vršena je statistička obrada rezultata, a za testiranje značajnosti razlika korišćen je Studentov test softverski paket statističkih testova Pharmocologic Circulapon Sistem. Kao statistički značajna smatrana je razlika ako je p lt 0,05 i visoko značajna ako je p lt 0,01. Rezultati i diskusija. Od 119 slučajeva umrlih od AIM-a, od čega je 74 muškarca i 45 žena, ruptura srca nađena je u 21 slučaju. Od 74 muškarca koji su umrli od AIM-a, 13 je imalo rupturu, a od 45 žena koje su umrle od AIM-a, osam je imalo rupturu. Merena je težina srca kod svakog ispitanika koji je umro od AIM-a i ispitivana povezanost težine srca sa rupturom. Ispitivanje je pokazalo da postoji statistički značajna razlika (p lt 0,05) u prosečnoj težini srca između obdukovanih koji su imali i onih koji nisu imali rupturu srca i da je značajno teže srce onih koji nisu imali rupturu srca. Ispitivanje je pokazalo da postoji statistički značajna razlika (p lt 0,05) u prosečnoj težini srca između obdukovanih muškaraca koji su imali i onih koji nisu imali rupturu srca. Značajno je teže srce onih muškaraca koji nisu imali rupturu srca. Nema statistički značajnih razlika (p>0,05) u prosečnoj težini srca između obdukovanih žena koje su imale i onih koje nisu imale rupturu srca. Zaključak. Ispitivanje je pokazalo razliku u težini srca između obdukovanih koji su imali i onih koji nisu imali rupturu srca i da je značajno teže srce onih koji nisu imali rupturu srca. U odnosu na pol značajno je teže srce onih muškaraca koji nisu imali rupturu srca, dok kod žena nema statistički značajnih razlika (p>0,05) u prosečnoj težini srca kod onih sa i bez rupture srca

How deep is a problem of second victims for medical staff? A pilot study in Croatia

Adverse events lead to the emergence of several groups of victims, among which the second victims are medical staff involved in them. The suffering of second victims can lead to new adverse events and new victims. This study describes the cycle of an adverse event and its victims. Using the example of the largest Croatian hospital centre, authors try to understand how deep medical staff experience adverse events, and how different groups of medical staff (by profession, gender, qualification, and position) perceive adverse events. With the help of a special survey using the Bonferroni method from ANOVA, it was established that males feel more mental stress after adverse events than females. The results indicate that medical staff of different professions perceive adverse events differently, e.g. they are the least painful for psychiatrists and microbiologists and the most stressing for emergency and intensive care workers. In addition, nurses are more vulnerable to adverse events and experience various types of mental disorders more deeply than doctors. However, qualifications do not seem to affect the extent to which medical staff perceive adverse events. The results of this study differ from previous data for other countries and suggest new implications.peer-reviewe

Abnormal hypermethylation at imprinting control regions in patients with S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (AHCY) deficiency

S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase (AHCY) deficiency is a rare autosomal recessive disorder in methionine metabolism caused by mutations in the AHCY gene. Main characteristics are psychomotor delay including delayed myelination and myopathy (hypotonia, absent tendon reflexes etc.) from birth, mostly associated with hypermethioninaemia, elevated serum creatine kinase levels and increased genome wide DNA methylation. The prime function of AHCY is to hydrolyse and efficiently remove S-adenosylhomocysteine, the by-product of transmethylation reactions and one of the most potent methyltransferase inhibitors. In this study, we set out to more specifically characterize DNA methylation changes in blood samples from patients with AHCY deficiency. Global DNA methylation was increased in two of three analysed patients. In addition, we analysed the DNA methylation levels at differentially methylated regions (DMRs) of six imprinted genes (MEST, SNRPN, LIT1, H19, GTL2 and PEG3) as well as Alu and LINE1 repetitive elements in seven patients. Three patients showed a hypermethylation in up to five imprinted gene DMRs. Abnormal methylation in Alu and LINE1 repetitive elements was not observed. We conclude that DNA hypermethylation seems to be a frequent but not a constant feature associated with AHCY deficiency that affects different genomic regions to different degrees. Thus AHCY deficiency may represent an ideal model disease for studying the molecular origins and biological consequences of DNA hypermethylation due to impaired cellular methylation status

Influence of Diet on Dental Caries in Diabetics

Two groups of population consisting of 84 patients suffering from diabetes (60 type I, 24 type II) and 69 nondiabetics of the same age have been examined on: oral hygiene index (OHI), frequency of daily tooth brushing, dietary habits and incidence of dental caries by registration of the decayed, missed and filled dental surfaces (DMFS-index). OHI in type I and type II diabetes was found to bee slightly worse than in nondiabetics, but not significantly (p > 0.05). In the number of daily tooth brushing there is not significant difference between diabetics and nondiabetics. All diabetics have considerably lower daily intake of total as well as simple carbohydrates than nondiabetics. The diabetics have a significantly higher daily intake of dietary fibers, calcium and phosphorus as well as the number of meals with simple carbohydrates and also DMFS-index than the nondiabetics. A significantly higher incidence (p < 0.01) of caries location was found on the buccal and labial cervical areas among patients suffering from diabetes. Explanation for this could be more frequent daily intake of lowmolecular carbohydrates with an improper calcium phosphorus ratio