Phytoplankton temporal dynamics in the coastal waters of the north-eastern Adriatic Sea (Mediterranean Sea) from 2010 to 2017

Phytoplankton community structure was analysed from 2010 to 2017 at C1-LTER, the coastal Long-Term Ecological Research station located in the Gulf of Trieste, which is the northernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea. Phytoplankton abundance and relevant oceanographic parameters were measured monthly in order to describe the seasonal cycle and interannual variability of the main phytoplankton taxa (diatoms, dinoflagellates, coccolithophores and flagellates) and to analyse their relationship with environmental conditions. Overall, phytoplankton abundances showed a marked seasonal cycle characterised by a bloom in spring, with the peak in May. During the summer, phytoplankton abundances gradually decreased until September, then slightly increased again in October and reached their minima in winter. In general, the phytoplankton community was dominated by flagellates (generally <10 µm) and diatoms co-occurring in the spring bloom. In this period, diatoms were also represented by nano-sized species, gradually replaced by larger species in summer and autumn. Phytoplankton assemblages differed significantly between seasons (Pseudo-F = 9.59; p < 0.01) and temperature and salinity were the best predictor variables explaining the distribution of the multivariate data cloud. At the interannual scale, a strong decrease of the late-winter bloom was observed in recent years with the spring bloom being the main phytoplankton increase of the year

Liječenje kronične maligne boli na Klinici za onkologiju u Kliničkom Bolničkom Centru Zagreb Therapy of cancer related chronic pain in Oncology Clinic of University Hospital Centre Zagre

Cilj: istražiti učestalost pojave i liječenje kronične maligne boli u bolesnika koji se liječe na Klinici za onkologiju KBC-a Zagreb. Materijali i metode: u istraživanju je sudjelovalo 58 bolesnika s kroničnom malignom boli koji su se liječili na Klinici za onkologiju KBC-a Zagreb od ožujka do lipnja 2014. godine. Konstruiran je upitnik za potrebe istraživanja pojave i liječenja kronične maligne bolesti koji je sadržavao 13 pitanja. Zaključak: u sklopu istraživanja saznali smo kada i s kime su bolesnici prvi put razgovarali o boli, tko ih je potaknuo na razgovor, koliki je bio intenzitet boli prilikom prvog razgovora, je li je bol mjerena po VAS-u [validirana vizualna analogna ljestvica] te je li nakon prvog razgovora bilo uvedeno antidolorozno liječenje. Nadalje, vidljivo je u kojoj je mjeri bol utjecala na obavljanje svakodnevnih aktivnosti. Rezultati prikazuju koliki je aktualni intenzitet boli, jesu li se doze antidoloroznih lijekova povisile od prvog razgovora, kakve su nuspojave samih lijekova te kakav je sadašnji utjecaj boli na obavljanje svakodnevnih aktivnosti. Zaključujemo da se odgovarajućom primjenom antidoloroznih lijekova i drugih metoda [kemoterapija i radioterapija], maligna bol može uspješno liječiti i smanjiti [mjereno VAS-om], a time se i poboljšava kvaliteta života bolesnika oboljelih od malignih tumora

Multispectral data by the new generation of high-resolution satellite sensors for mapping phytoplankton blooms in the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy)

The HR (High-Resolution) EO (Earth Observation) satellite systems Landsat 8 OLI and Sentinel 2 were tested for mapping the frequent phytoplankton blooms and Chl a distributions in the sea basin of the Mar Piccolo of Taranto (Ionian Sea, southern Italy), using the sea truth calibration data acquired in 2013. The data were atmospherically corrected for accounting of the aerosol load on optically complexes waters (case II). Various blue-green and additional spectral indices ratios, were then satisfyingly tested for mapping the distribution of Chl a and differently sized phytoplankton populations through PLS (Partial Least Square regression) models, regressive statistical models and bio-optical algorithms. The PLS models demonstrated higher robustness for assessing the distribution of all the phytoplankton and Chl a except for those related to sub-surface micro-phytoplankton. The distributions obtained via a bio-optical approach (OC3 algorithm and full physically based inversion) showed a general agreement with the previous ones produced by statistical methods. The reflectance signals, captured by OLI and Sentinel 2 sensors in the visible and shorter wavelengths once atmospherically corrected, were found to be useful to map the coastal variability at detailed scale of Chl a and different phytoplankton populations, in the optically complexes waters of the Mar Piccolo

Wettability studies of topologically distinct titanium surfaces

Biomedical implants made of titanium-based materials are expected to have certain essential features including high bone-to-implant contact and optimum osteointegration, which are often influenced by the surface topography and physicochemical properties of titanium surfaces. The surface structure in the nanoscale regime is presumed to alter/facilitate the protein binding, cell adhesion and proliferation, thereby reducing post-operative complications with increased lifespan of biomedical implants. The novelty of our TiO2 nanostructures lies mainly in the high level control over their morphology and roughness by mere compositional change and optimisation of the experimental parameters. The present work focuses on the wetting behaviour of various nanostructured titanium surfaces towards water. Kinetics of contact area of water droplet on macroscopically flat, nanoporous and nanotubular titanium surface topologies was monitored under similar evaporation conditions. The contact area of the water droplet on hydrophobic titanium planar surface (foil) was found to decrease during evaporation, whereas the contact area of the droplet on hydrophobic nanorough titanium surfaces practically remained unaffected until the complete evaporation. This demonstrates that the surface morphology and roughness at the nanoscale level substantially affect the titanium dioxide surface–water droplet interaction, opposing to previous observations for microscale structured surfaces. The difference in surface topographic nanofeatures of nanostructured titanium surfaces could be correlated not only with the time-dependency of the contact area, but also with time-dependency of the contact angle and electrochemical properties of these surfaces

The Position of the Croatian Society of Hypertension on the Observed Increase in Risk of Non-melanoma Skin Cancer Associated with Hydrochlorothiazide Treatment

Upravni odbor Hrvatskoga društva za hipertenziju na svojoj elektroničkoj sjednici održanoj 12. prosinca 2018. raspravljao je o opaženom povećanom riziku za nastanak nemelanomskih karcinoma kože povezanom s liječenjem hidroklorotiazidom i pripremio sljedeće mišljenje. Zaključci 1. Rizik od nemelanomskoga karcinoma kože i usnica veći je u bolesnika liječenih hidroklorotiazidom nego što je u osoba koje nisu liječene ovim lijekom. Rizik se povećava s duljinom trajanja liječenja, tj. s kumulativnom dozom. 2. Mehanizam karcinogenosti hidroklorotiazida temelji se na fotosenzitivnosti. UV zračenje dovodi do disocijacije kloridnoga dijela molekule lijeka, čime se stvara pretpostavka za sintezu slobodnih radikala kisika i posljedično oštećenje molekule DNK. 3. Korist od primjene hidroklorotiazida veća je od rizika. 4. Omjer koristi i rizika napose je veći u starijih i teže bolesnih osoba. 5. Bolesnik mora biti informiran o postojećem riziku. 6. Bolesnik mora biti informiran o postojećoj alternativnoj terapiji koja je na raspolaganju u Hrvatskoj. 7. Svaki liječnik mora u svakoga pojedinog bolesnika procijeniti omjer koristi i rizika te nakon razgovora s bolesnikom odlučiti nastavlja li terapiju hidroklorotiazidom ili se odlučuje za postojeću alternativu. 8. Svim bolesnicima, a napose bolesnicima koji su liječeni hidroklorotiazidom, treba preporučiti uporabu adekvatne fotoprotekcije i redovito provjeravanja pojave ili promjena na koži

The global spread of misinformation on spiders

Non peer reviewe

An expert-curated global database of online newspaper articles on spiders and spider bites

Mass media plays an important role in the construction and circulation of risk perception associated with animals. Widely feared groups such as spiders frequently end up in the spotlight of traditional and social media. We compiled an expert-curated global database on the online newspaper coverage of human-spider encounters over the past ten years (2010-2020). This database includes information about the location of each human-spider encounter reported in the news article and a quantitative characterisation of the content-location, presence of photographs of spiders and bites, number and type of errors, consultation of experts, and a subjective assessment of sensationalism. In total, we collected 5348 unique news articles from 81 countries in 40 languages. The database refers to 211 identified and unidentified spider species and 2644 unique human-spider encounters (1121 bites and 147 as deadly bites). To facilitate data reuse, we explain the main caveats that need to be made when analysing this database and discuss research ideas and questions that can be explored with it.Peer reviewe