Comprehensive environmental monitoring and assessment of protected wetland and lake water quality in Croatia and Serbia.

The irresponsible and uncontrolled use of water bodies for long period of time leads to pollution and water quality degradation, particularly in sensitive protected terrestrial and aquatic areas as lakes and wetlands situated in the vicinity of human habitations. Vulnerable ecosystems, the Lake Zobnatica, Serbia and the Wetlands of Tompojevci, Croatia, are characterized as protected natural areas and are surrounded by agricultural land and developed anthropogenic activities. In the samples of surface, ground water and agricultural runoff the key physicochemical parameters were determined. The results of analysed water characterized the Lake water quality class as IV-V. The measured parameters for the Lake show the high values of nutrients, particularly in ground water and agricultural runoff, pH value higher than 8.5 and lower values of dissolved oxygen (DO) than 5 mg/L in the most of the examined water samples. According to the results and maximal allowable values Wetlands belong to the class V water quality, with high trophic state and poor eco-status according to Croatian and Serbian national Laws and By-Laws. The pH value higher than 8.5 of ground water in Wetlands of Tompojevci signifies alkaline groundwater. The maximum concentrations of orthophosphates in ground water and agricultural runoff (10.875 and 10.886 mg/L, respectively) imply the high level of agricultural pollution. Research study of water samples has been performed from 2017 to 2019 within the Interreg IPA CBC Croatia-Serbia Project AF_HR-RS135_SeNs_Wetlands. This type of parallel and comparative research in Serbia and Croatia was conducted for the first time.

Phase III safety study of intravenous NEPA: a novel fixed antiemetic combination of fosnetupitant and palonosetron in patients receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy.

Background: NEPA, an oral fixed combination of the NK1RA netupitant (300 mg) and clinically/pharmacologically distinct 5-HT3RA palonosetron (PALO, 0.50 mg), is the first fixed antiemetic combination to have been approved. A single oral NEPA capsule plus dexamethasone (DEX) given before anthracycline-cyclophosphamide (AC) and non-AC highly emetogenic chemotherapy (HEC) showed superior prevention of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting (CINV) over PALO plus DEX for 5 days postchemotherapy. The safety of NEPA was well-established in the phase II/III clinical program in 1169 NEPA-treated patients. An intravenous (i.v.) formulation of the NEPA combination (fosnetupitant 235 mg plus PALO 0.25 mg) has been developed. Patients and methods: This randomized, multinational, double-blind, stratified (by sex and country) phase III study (NCT02517021) in chemotherapy-naïve patients with solid tumors assessed the safety of a single dose of i.v. NEPA infused over 30 min before initial and repeated cycles of HEC. Patients received either i.v. NEPA or oral NEPA, both with oral DEX on days 1-4. Safety was assessed primarily by treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) and electrocardiograms. Results: A total of 404 patients completed 1312 cycles. The incidence and type of treatment-emergent AEs were similar for both treatment groups with the majority of AEs as mild/moderate in intensity. There was no increased incidence of AEs in subsequent cycles in either group. The incidence of treatment-related AEs was similar and relatively low in both groups (12.8% i.v. NEPA and 11.4% oral NEPA during the entire study), with constipation being the most common (6.4% i.v. NEPA, 6.0% oral NEPA). No serious treatment-related AEs occurred in either group. No infusion site or anaphylactic reactions related to i.v. NEPA occurred. No clinically relevant changes in QTc and no cardiac safety concerns were observed. Conclusions: Intravenous NEPA was well-tolerated with a similar safety profile to oral NEPA in patients with various solid tumors receiving HEC.

Low-level gamma ray counting on environmental samples.

One of the major demands in gamma spectrometry of environmental samples is the accurate determination of activity concentration of present radionuclides (naturally occurring and those of artificial origin), due to the fact they are commonly of relatively low content. Thus, all these measurements have in common that the detection limit, in the spectral region of interest should be as low as possible. For this reason, the construction of a good passive, as well as active shield requires a detailed knowledge of the origin of the background events in the absence of an environmental sample. In addition, an analysis of the impact on detection limits due to the presence of the sample itself is also important. Also, the knowledge of the statistical basics for low-level counting is helpful to enable the best choice of detector characteristics (relative efficiency, peak to Compton ratio, resolution), measuring time, and required level of precaution against the different background contributions. In this paper, the background spectra of several gamma spectroscopy systems (with passive and active veto shields) are analyzed and discussed, regarding their capabilities for measurements of environmental samples. Furthermore, various environmental samples are analyzed by low-level gamma spectrometry, including the sample measurements in the presence of an active veto shield against cosmic-ray muons. The disturbance of radioactive equilibrium between members of radioactive series in the samples is commented on, together with the possibility of use of certain gamma lines (including their interference and the corresponding intensities) for radionuclide activities determination.

Exotic quantum spin models in spin-orbit-coupled Mott insulators.

We study cold atoms in an optical lattice with synthetic spin-orbit coupling in the Mott-insulator regime. We calculate the parameters of the corresponding tight-binding model using Peierls substitution and "localized Wannier states method" and derive the low-energy spin Hamiltonian for bosons and fermions. The spin Hamiltonian is a combination of Heisenberg model, quantum compass model and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions and it has a rich classical phase diagram with collinear, spiral and vortex phases. We discuss the state of the art of experiments to realize and detect magnetic orderings in strongly correlated optical lattices.

Vascular manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosis.

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune connective disease, where vascular lesions are one of the typical symptoms. The differentiation of the type of vascular complications in SLE is very difficult, sometimes impossible, and requires an in-depth immune and histopathological approach, and extensive clinical experience. It may play a key role in the choice of treatment strategy and prediction of patient prognosis. SLE is a prototype of a multisystem autoimmune connective tissue disease, marked by immune complex-mediated lesions of blood vessels in diverse organs. Therefore, awareness of the aetiology, pathophysiology, the clinical and histopathogical setting, and SLE-associated vascular complications is of great clinical significance. In this review, the spectrum of vascular abnormalities and the options currently available to treat the vascular manifestations of SLE are discussed.

Drug-induced vasculitis: a clinical and pathological review.

Drug-induced vasculitis is an inflammation of blood vessels caused by the use of various pharmaceutical agents. Vasculitis causes changes in the walls of blood vessels, including thickening, weakening, narrowing and scarring. Inflammation can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic) and can be so severe that the tissues and organs supplied by the affected vessels do not get enough blood. The shortage of blood can result in organ and tissue damage, even death. Drug-induced vasculitis is the most common form of vasculitis. The differential diagnosis between drug-induced and idiopathic vasculitic conditions may be difficult in the individual patient. Withdrawal may be helpful to distinguish between these syndromes. Withdrawal of the offending agent alone is often sufficient to induce prompt resolution of clinical manifestations, obviating the need for immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory drugs. Increasing understanding of the pathophysiological characteristics of all inflammatory vasculitides should lead to better diagnostic and therapeutic approaches to drug-induced vasculitis.

Infectious disease as aetiological factor in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis.

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterised by vascular obliteration, excessive extracellular matrix deposition and fibrosis of the connective tissues of the skin, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, heart, and kidneys. The pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis is extremely complex; at present, no single unifying hypothesis explains all aspects. Over the last 20 years increasing evidence has accumulated to implicate infectious agents in the aetiology of systemic sclerosis. Increased antibody titres, a preponderance of specific strains in patients with systemic sclerosis, and evidence of molecular mimicry inducing autoimmune responses suggest mechanisms by which infectious agents may contribute to the development and progression of systemic sclerosis. Here we review the current state of knowledge of infectious risk factors in systemic sclerosis and the possible mechanisms by which infectious exposures might induce pathologic processes.

The possible impact of dialysis modality on cognitive function in chronic dialysis patients.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a growing public health problem. Individuals in all stages of CKD are at higher risk for development of cognitive impairment and this may be a major determinant in their quality of life (QOL). The prevalence of cognitive deficits is particularly high in subjects with end-stage renal disease (ESRD). While it is sufficiently well documented that ESRD is linked with a change in cognitive function, little is known about the influence of different dialysis modalities on cognitive function. The effect of dialysis modality on risk of cognitive impairment is unclear. Some data suggest that patients with ESRD treated with chronic ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) had consistently better cognitive function than patients treated with haemodialysis (HD). We concluded that the previously observed apparent difference between two modalities of dialysis treatments resulted either from very low dialysis delivery or comparison with poorly matched controls. Regarding these data from previous studies we hypothesised that well-dialysed, well-nourished and medically stable HD patients had no cognitive dysfunction in comparison with well-dialysed, well-nourished, medically stable and demographically matched CAPD patients. Also, future studies are needed to differentiate between modality as a risk factor from the factors contributing to selection bias among patients choosing CAPD over HD.

[The influence of protein and phosphorous restricted diet supplemented with essential aminoacids (EAA) and their alpha-keto-analogues (KAA) on nutritional status of children with chronic renal failure (CRF)]. / Uticaj normoenergetske, neselekcione niskoproteinske dijete na stanje uhranjenosti dece s hronicnom insuficijencijom bubrega.

The purpose of the study was to establish the influence of protein restricted diet supplemented with EAA/KAA on nutritional status of children with CRF. Seven childredn (four girls and three boys), aged from 7 years and eight months to 14 years and two months, with glomerular filtration rate of 42.6-9.2 ml/min/1.73 m2 and proteinuria of 0.025-1.125 g/24 h, who were on conservative treatment and who lived at home, were observed for six months. In prescribing energy value and protein intake WHO recommendations were used for healthly children (age for height). Through food 80-90% of energy and 80-85% of protein needs were provided. The remaining energy and proteins were provided by glucodextrin and EAA/KAA supplements respectevely. Average daily phosphorous intake amounted to about 550-800 mg. The obtained results showed that stunting and kwashiorkor like aminoacid disbalance were the prominent nutritional problems. This dietary regimen had a beneficial effect on all studied parameters. especially on height standard deviation score which increased from 1.71 +/- 2.6 to 1.5 +/- 4.3 (t = 2.809, p < 0.05); total essential/nonessential aminoacid score increased from 0.38 +/- 0.2 to 0.56 +/- 0.2 (t = 2.763, p < 0.05). The ratio between plasma concentration of four nonessential (glycine+serinet glutamine+taurine) to four essential (leucine+isoleucine+valine+methionine) amino acids decreased from 3.82 +/- 1.2 to 2.7 +/- 0.4 (t = 2.528, p < 0.05). Lymphocyte count increased from 1.809 x 10(9) +/- 0.268 x 10(9)/l to 2.314 x 10(9) +/- 0.922 x 10(9)/l (t = 2.431, p < 0.05). No significant changes were found in the values of relative body weight, arm circumpherence, triceps skinfold thickness, total plasma protein, albumin, transferine, complement C3 and plasma valin/glycin and phenylalanine/thyrosine ratio. It should be noted that the significant changes were not found in the results of these latter anthropometric biochemical parameters in relation to their primary almost insignificant values.