Myocardial Bridging: A cause for concern?

Myocardial bridging(MB) is a condition where a segment of a coronary artery, which normally runs on the surface of the heart muscle, instead dives into the heart muscle and then re-emerges to continue its normal path. In MB, a segment of the coronary artery dives into the heart muscle during systole and re-emerges during diastole. This can lead to compression of the artery, reducing blood flow to the heart muscle during systole and causing symptoms such as chest pain or shortness of breath

Undergraduate Grade Point Average is a Poor Predictor of Scientific Productivity Later in Career

The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of the undergraduate grade point average in prediction of scientific production of research trainees during their fellowship and later in career. The study was performed in 1,320 research trainees whose fellowships from the Croatian Ministry of Science, Education and Sports were terminated between 1999 and 2005. The data were analyzed using logistic regression. The results indicated that undergraduate grade point average was negatively associated with scientific productivity both during and after the fellowship termination. Other indicators, such as undergraduate scientific productivity exhibited much stronger positive association with scientific productivity later in career and should be given more weight in candidate selection process in science and research

Ethical aspects of human biobanks: a systematic review

Aim To systematically assess the existing literature on ethical aspects of human biobanks. Method We searched the Web of Science and PubMed databases to find studies addressing ethical problems in biobanks with no limits set (study design, study population, time period, or language of publication). All identified articles published until November 2010 were included. We analyzed the type of published articles, journals publishing them, involvement of countries/institutions, year of publication, and citations received, and qualitatively assessed every article in order to identify ethical issues addressed by the majority of published research on human biobanking. Results Hundred and fifty four studies satisfied our review criteria. The studies mainly came from highly developed countries and were all published in the last two decades, with over half of them published in 2009 or 2010. They most commonly discussed the informed consent, privacy and identifiability, return of results to participants, importance of public trust, involvement of children, commercialization, the role of ethics boards, international data exchange, ownership of samples, and benefit sharing. Conclusions The focus on ethical aspects is strongly present through the whole biobanking research field. Although there is a consensus on the old and most typical ethical issues, with further development of the field and increasingly complex structure of human biobanks, these issues will likely continue to arise and accumulate, hence requiring constant re-appraisal and continuing discussion

Searching for carbonylome biomarkers of aging – development and validation of the proteomic method for quantification of carbonylated protein in human plasma

Aim To develop a method for measuring protein carbonylation in human plasma and serum samples, which was previously implied in numerous age-related phenotypes. Methods Protein expression and carbonylation were analyzed in plasma samples obtained from 12 healthy human individuals by using a novel method that combines affinity-based albumin and immunoglobulin G removal, and aminooxy dyeing in one- or two-dimensional gels. In addition, carbonylome profile of plasma and serum was compared. Coefficients of variation and intra-class correlation coefficients were used in statistical analysis. Results Following a step-wise laboratory development and optimization process, we measured the protein expression and carbonylation for 813 proteins from the plasma. The analysis of repeated measurements suggested excellent coefficients of variation, which rarely exceeded 10%. The average value of intra-class correlation based on absolute agreement (ICC) for protein expression was 0.97 ± 0.02, while for carbonylation it was 0.73 ± 0.24. The removal of the most extreme protein outlier in carbonylation assessment increased the average ICC to 0.87 ± 0.04. Low protein spot volume substantially reduced repeatability. Serum carbonylation estimates were similar to those from plasma, with the ICC in the range of 0.86-0.89. Conclusion We developed a reliable method for the measurement of human plasma protein carbonylation, which can be used for the assessment of carbonylome biomarkers of aging

Patient Doses Received During Interventional Cardiology Procedures at the University Hospital Osijek

Posljednjih godina znatno se povećava broj zahvata intervencijske kardiologije. Iako od velike koristi za bolesnika, koronarne su intervencije zahvati koji uključuju izloženost visokim dozama zračenja. Mjerenje doza koje su bolesnici primili pri radiološkim zahvatima u Republici Hrvatskoj propisano je zakonom, ali se ono, u pravilu, ne primjenjuje. U KBC-u Osijek uveden je priručnik za kontrolu kvalitete u koronarnim intervencijama. Priručnik, osim provjera tehničkih karakteristika uređaja, propisuje i stalno mjerenje apsorbiranih doza bolesnicima u intervencijskoj kardiologiji te njihovu analizu. Rezultati prvih istraživanja pokazuju da su se mjerene doze snizile tijekom vremena i u skladu su s literaturom, ali i dalje postoji mogućnost dodatne optimizacije opreme i načina rada. Pri visokim dozama zračenja koje bolesnici primaju tijekom koronarnih intervencija postoji mogućnost ozljeda kože uzrokovanih zračenjem koje često ostanu neprepoznate. Zbog toga se bolesnici koji su ozračeni dozama pri kojima postoji rizik od ozljede upozoravaju te pozivaju na kontrolne preglede. Do sada nije zabilježena nijedna ozljeda kože, ali je postupak uveden kao redovit. Ovaj je rad jedan u nizu koraka koji je potrebno učiniti da bi se bolesnici što bolje zaštitili od nepoželjnih učinaka zračenja.Apart from its benefi ts, the interventional cardiology (IC) is known to generate high radiation doses to patients and medical staff involved. Measuring patient doses in radiological procedures is required by law in Croatia, but rarely implemented. The Osijek University Hospital implements its own radiation protection quality guidelines. Among other, the guidelines require constant measuring of patient doses in IC and their periodic analysis. Doses measured until now are within the acceptable limits compared to literature. With time the doses were reduced signifi cantly, but there is room to downsize them still further. IC procedures can generate skin doses over 2 Gy, which is considered the threshold for erythema. Depending on the dose received, IC patients at the Osijek University Hospital are informed about the risk and examined for skin injuries. Until now we have found none, but this practice remains to be routine