Co-occurrence of risky lifestyle behavior with overweight, excess abdominal fat and high blood pressure - case oriented approach [Zajednička pojavnost rizičnog ponašanja i prekomjerne tjelesne težine, abdominalne debljine i visokog tlaka - studija slučajeva]

The objective was to estimate the proportion of cases developed interim risk factors (INTF: overweight, excess abdominal fat, high blood pressure) in relation with behavioral risk factors (BEHF: smoking, heavy alcohol intake, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity). NOBIR group was defined as cases with no BEHF and BIR as those with them. Both groups show higher proportions of INTF in older age. The increase by age varies of twofold (overweight: 13.2-29.2 for men, 18.1-42.6 for women) to six fold (high blood pressure: 4.6-26.5 for men, 6.6-40.8 for women) in proportions. Women show higher proportions of INTF than men in both groups, but BIR group shows higher proportions than NOBIR in all the age groups taking the both gender together. As a BEHF the physical inactivity has a markedly increase with age (from 4% to more than 25%). Smoking is the only BEHF decreasing in oldest for all the INTF

Mechanisms of B-cell lymphoma development

Mehanizmi koji kontroliraju normalnu diferencijaciju i aktivaciju B-stanice često su u stanici limfoma kako bi u konačnici transformirana stanica imala neograničen rast i razvoj. B-stanice osobito su podložne malignim transformacijama zato što procesi koji dovode do velike raznolikosti imunoglobulina, koja je potrebna u normalnom imunološkom odgovoru, često vode do kromosomskih translokacija i onkogenih mutacija koje uključuju jake promotore Ig gena i mnoge tumor supresorske gene, kao i onkogene. Takvi događaji često vode do blokiranja diferencijacije, sprječavanja apoptoze i/ili poticanja proliferacije B-stanice koja konačno može biti prvi događaj u tranformaciji B-stanice u tumorsku stanicu. Dodatno, mnogi B-stanični limfomi trebaju ekspresiju BCR-a kako bi preživjeli, u nekim limfomima aktivacija stanice preko signalnog puta B-staničnog receptora te u nekima specifični faktori mikrookoliša tumora imaju važnu ulogu u tumorogenezi. Istraživanja na polju strukturne i funkcionalne genomike u zadnjih 10 godina značajno su doprinijela spoznajama o mehanizmima uključenim u patogenezu B-limfoma. Opisani su brojni signalni putovi koji su poremećeni u B-staničnim limfomima i koji vode do konsititutivne aktivacije brojnih drugih putova koji potiču preživljavanje tumorske stanice. Također, ovakav pristup istraživanja doveo je do klasifikacije B-limfoma prema stanicama od kojih su nastali budući da se zna kako su transformirane tumorske stanice u genetičkim i imunofenotipskim karakteristikama nalik nekom od tipova normalnih B-stanica. U godinama koje dolaze, nagli napredak genomike mogao bi dovesti do otkrića još mnogih drugih mehanizama koji su uključeni u transformaciju normalne B-stanice, što bi moglo pomoći u razvoju što uspješnijeg liječenja limfoma.Mechanisms that control normal B-cell differentiation and activation are frequently disrupted in lymphoma cells which in the end leads to their unlimited growth and survival. B cells are particulary prone to malignant transformation because processes that normally create imunoglobulin diversity, which is necessary for normal imunnologic response, often can cause chromosomal translocations and oncogenic mutations which include strong promoters of Ig genes, tumor–supressor genes, and oncogenes. Such aberations often lead to block in differentiation, prevention of apotosis and/or promotion of proliferation which can represent first oncogenic hit in B-cell transformation. In addition, most of B-cell lymphoma depend on expression of a BCR for their survival. In some lymphomas antigen activation of lyphoma cells through BCR signalling snd specific factors from the microenviroment are equally important in tumorogenesis. Reserach and development of funtional and structural genomics greatly improved understanding of mechanisms involved in B-cell lymphoma pathogenesis. Discovery of many signalling pathways which are aberrant in B cell lymphomas, leading to constitutive activation of many prosurvival pathways are now known. In addition, such research showed that B-cell lymhoma can be classified by their cell of origin because transformed cells often resemble normal stages of B-cell differentiation by immunophenotypic and genetic characteristics. In conclusion, development od field of genomics could lead to better understanding of mechanisms that drive B-cell lymphoma pathogenesis, all for one cause - efficient lymphoma therapies

IST Austria Thesis

A qubit, a unit of quantum information, is essentially any quantum mechanical two-level system which can be coherently controlled. Still, to be used for computation, it has to fulfill criteria. Qubits, regardless of the system in which they are realized, suffer from decoherence. This leads to loss of the information stored in the qubit. The upper bound of the time scale on which decoherence happens is set by the spin relaxation time. In this thesis I studied a two-level system consisting of a Zeeman-split hole spin confined in a quantum dot formed in a Ge hut wire. Such Ge hut wires have emerged as a promising material system for the realization of spin qubits, due to the combination of two significant properties: long spin coherence time as expected for group IV semiconductors due to the low hyperfine interaction and a strong valence band spin-orbit coupling. Here, I present how to fabricate quantum dot devices suitable for electrical transport measurements. Coupled quantum dot devices allowed the realization of a charge sensor, which is electrostatically and tunnel coupled to a quantum dot. By integrating the charge sensor into a radio-frequency reflectometry setup, I performed for the first time single-shot readout measurements of hole spins and extracted the hole spin relaxation times in Ge hut wires

Echocardiographic Screening Parameters for Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy.

The application of diverse possibilities of treatment in ever greater number of patients with heart failure represents a significant progress in improvement of prognosis, quality of life and extension of life. Variables obtained on the basis of echocardiography may much more contribute to making indication for the implantation of biventricular pacemaker than what has been the case so far. In many diverse variables, it is necessary to define those applied in screening patients for implantation and monitoring symptomatic patients with implanted device, for the purpose of optimization of resynchronization system. The purpose of this article written following the debate by the participants of the 12th Croatian Symposium on Arrhythmias and Electrostimulation is to stimulate further constructive debate

Three Pillars of Novel Nonthermal Food Technologies:Food Safety, Quality, and Environment

This review gives an overview of the impact of novel nonthermal food technologies on food safety, on quality, and on the environment. It confirms that research in this field is mainly focused on analyzing microbial and/or chemical aspects of food safety. However, recent research shows that in spite of various food safety benefits, some negative (quality oriented) features occur. Finally, this paper shows the necessity of analyzing the environmental dimension of using these technologies

Fast Hole Tunneling Times in Germanium Hut Wires Probed by Single-Shot Reflectometry

Heavy holes confined in quantum dots are predicted to be promising candidates for the realization of spin qubits with long coherence times. Here we focus on such heavy-hole states confined in Germanium hut wires. By tuning the growth density of the latter we can realize a T-like structure between two neighboring wires. Such a structure allows the realization of a charge sensor, which is electrostatically and tunnel coupled to a quantum dot, with charge-transfer signals as high as 0.3e. By integrating the T-like structure into a radio-frequency reflectometry setup, single-shot measurements allowing the extraction of hole tunneling times are performed. The extracted tunneling times of less than 10$\mu$s are attributed to the small effective mass of Ge heavy-hole states and pave the way towards projective spin readout measurements