The Lokve Barite Deposit, Croatia: an Example of Early Diagenetic Sedimentary Ore Deposits

Syngenesis versus epigenesis in the Kupferschiefer genetic model is still a matter of controversy. The title of the article seems to be a paraphrase of a well-known paper by WEDEPOHL (1971), “Kupferschiefer as a prototype of syngenetic sedimentary ore deposits”. It is intended, however, more as a paradigm for the genesis of the hydrogen-sulphide geochemical barrier, an important ore formation episode prior to heavy metal accumulation, which shows the utility of RENFRO’s (1974) epigenetic model. Barite mineralization in Lokve is a stratabound ore deposit conformably situated at the Permian-Triassic boundary. It bears only two ore minerals, barite and pyrite exclusively, separated into two distinct, juxtaposed horizons stretching for tens of kilometers. The discovery of cryptalgal fabrics and other conspicious sedimentary features in underlying siliciclastics with massive pyrite and surmounting barite-bearing dolomites supports their affiliation to a tidal flat facies and sabkha environment. Barite and pyrite accumulation were formed by an early diagenetic, bacteriogenic sulphate reduction in a peritidal muddy environment, concommitant to a widespread process of evaporative dolomitization. The early diagenetic model is supported by an analysis of the sedimentary facies, trace element geochemistry and sulfur isotope distribution along two vertical profiles across the stratabound barite and pyrite mineralization

DISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN PAPILLOMA VIRUS GENOTYPES IN WOMEN WITH CERVICAL CANCER IN SLOVENIA AND GENOMIC VARIANTS OF HPV 16, HPV 18 AND HPV 33

Background. To establish the distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes in representative population of women with cervical cancer (CC) in Slovenia in order to contribute the lacking data on HPV in CC and to assess the potential local benefit of future prophylactic HPV vaccination. Furthermore, we wanted to determine genomic variants of the most common HPV genotypes. Methods. Polymerase chain reaction with GP5+/GP6+ primers was performed in all 278 CC samples for HPV DNA detection and genotyping. Negative samples were additionally tested using CPI/CPIIg primers and INNO-LiPA HPV genotyping assay. Genomic variants of HPV 16, HPV 18 and HPV 33 were determined by sequencing of LCR, E6 and E7 genetic regions. Results. A total of 262/278 CC samples (94.2 %) were HPV DNA positive. HPV genotypes in Slovenian women with CC, in decreasing order of frequency, were: 16, 18, 33, 45, 31, 51, 58, 59, 35, 52, 73 and 82. Detailed genomic analysis was carried out on 40/178 isolates of HPV 16, 20/34 isolates of HPV 18 and 11/13 isolates of HPV 33. A total of 26 genomic variants of HPV 16 were identified. Thirty-eight isolates (95 %) belonged to the European branch; one isolate (2.5 %) belonged to the Asian-American branch and one (2.5 %) to African branch.1, 2 A total of 18 genomic variants of HPV 18 were identified. Nineteen isolates (95 %) belonged to the European branch and one isolate (5 %) belonged to the African branch.2, 3 Seven genomic variants of HPV 33 were identified. Five isolates (45.5 %) belonged to prototypic variants and 6 (54.5 %) belonged to non-prototypic variants.4 Conclusions. Distribution of all HPV genotypes in Slovenian women with CC was in the present study established for the first time and represents baseline distribution before mandatory HPV vaccination. Prophylactic HPV vaccination with currently available vaccines could prevent up to 77.1 % of CC in Slovenia caused by HPV 16 or HPV 18. Almost all isolates of HPV 16 and HPV 18 belonged to European branches; prototypic and non-prototypic HPV 33 variants were almost equally distributed among Slovenian patients with CC

Impact of high-volume, intermediate-volume and low-volume bowel preparation on colonoscopy quality and patient satisfaction

Background: Although optimal bowel preparation is essential for high-quality screening colonoscopy, documentation of preparation quality, patient satisfaction and adherence is scarce. Aim: The aim of this article is to compare low-volume (LV, 300 ml sodium picosulfate), intermediate-volume (IV, 2 l polyethylene glycol, PEG + ascorbic acid and sodium ascorbate), and high-volume (HV, 4 l PEG) purgatives.Results: A total of 5000 individuals (50.5% women) were enrolled between March 2015 and July 2017 (LV:IV:HV = 3.61:1.54:1). Overall sex- and age-adjusted adenoma detection rate was 25.4% (LV 23.8%, IV 25.4%, HV 29.8%), median age was 59.6 years, and cleansing was successful in 96.8%. Success rates of bowel cleansing were highest with HV (97.6%), followed by LV (97.2%) and IV (95.3%) with OR 2.04 (CI 95% 1.20–3.45, p = 0.008) and OR 1.79 (CI 95% 1.27–2.50, p = 0.001), respectively, compared to IV. A total of 93.5% of the LV group would use the same purgative in the future, 73.2% of IV and 69.4% of HV. A total of 84.4% would prefer overnight preparation, 12.1% same-day preparation.Conclusion: All purgatives investigated showed good bowel cleansing quality results, patient satisfaction and compliance. Improvement in patient information might lead to even higher participation rates in screening colonoscopy since one in five patients stated that bowel preparation worried him or her most prior to colonoscopy