Cilj ovog istraživanja bio je utvrditi koncentraciju kadmija i žive u 10 vrsta jestivih gljiva i supstratu tla sa područja Žumberka te prikladnost gljiva kao bioakumulatora navedenih elemenata. ...Analitički postupak određivanja koncentracija teških metala proveden je metodom induktivno spregnute plazme optičkom emisijom spektrometrije (ICP-OES; Optima 8000, Perkin Elemer, SAD) sa ugrađenim uređajem za automatsko uzorkovanje. Najviša prosječna koncentracija kadmija od 1,83 mg kg-1 ustanovljena je u vrsti Agaricus campestris, dok je najviša vrijednost žive utvrđena u vrsti Boletus aestivalis (1,32 mg kg-1). Koncentracija kadmija i žive utvrđena u anatomskim djelovima istraživanih vrsta gljiva bila je različita, pri čemu je značajno veća (p < 0,05) koncentracija navedenih metala utvrđena u klobuku u odnosu na stručak. Biokoncentracijski faktor za kadmij i živu u analiziranim gljiva bio je veći od 1. Istraživane saprotrofne vrste gljiva akumulirale su veće koncentracije ispitivanih metala u odnosu na simbiontske, izuzev vrsta roda Boletus, koje su se pokazale najbolji akumulacijski potencijal prema živi. Usporedbom koncentracija kadmija i žive u gljivama i propisanim zakonskim odredbama, može se zaključiti da konzumacija istih ne predstavlja negativan učinak na zdravlje ljudi.
Physical activity has a beneficial effect on systemic hemodynamics, physical strength, and cardiac function in cardiovascular (CV) patients. Potential beneficial effects of dietary intake of n-3 ...polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs), such as α-linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, and docosahexaenoic acid on hemorheology, vascular function, inflammation and potential to improve physical performance as well as other CV parameters are currently investigated. Recent meta-analysis suggests no effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on CV function and outcomes of CV diseases. On the other hand, some studies support beneficial effects of n-3 PUFAs dietary intake on CV and muscular system, as well as on immune responses in healthy and in CV patients. Furthermore, the interaction of exercise and dietary n-3 PUFA intake is understudied. Supplementation of n-3 PUFAs has been shown to have antithrombotic effects (by decreasing blood viscosity, decreasing coagulation factor and PAI-1 levels and platelet aggregation/reactivity, enhancing fibrinolysis, but without effects on erythrocyte deformability). They decrease inflammation by decreasing IL-6, MCP-1, TNFα and hsCRP levels, expression of endothelial cell adhesion molecules and significantly affect blood composition of fatty acids. Treatment with n-3 PUFAs enhances brachial artery blood flow and conductance during exercise and enhances microvascular post-occlusive hyperemic response in healthy humans, however, the effects are unknown in cardiovascular patients. Supplementation of n-3 PUFAs may improve anaerobic endurance and may modulate oxygen consumption during intense exercise, may increase metabolic capacity, enhance endurance capacity delaying the onset of fatigue, and improving muscle hypertrophy and neuromuscular function in humans and animal models. In addition, n-3 PUFAs have anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive effects and may attenuate delayed-onset muscle soreness and muscle stiffness, and preserve joint mobility. On the other hand, effects of n-3 PUFAs were variably observed in men and women and they vary depending on dietary protocol, type of supplementation and type of sports activity undertaken, both in healthy and cardiovascular patients. In this review we will discuss the physiological effects of n-3 PUFA intake and exercise on hemorheology, microvascular function, immunomodulation and inflammation and physical performance in healthy persons and in cardiovascular diseases; elucidating if there is an interaction of exercise and diet.
Genotype-dependent responses of apples to drought stress were evaluated between commercial and traditional apple cultivars. The results indicate different mechanisms of tolerance to investigated ...drought stress conditions. Chlorophyll fluorescence induction (OJIP) parameters, chlorophyll and carotenoid content, malondialdehyde (MDA), hydrogen peroxide (H
O
), proline, phenols and leaf water content (WC) were measured. The traditional cultivar "Crvenka" confirmed the best tolerance to a drought stress condition, presenting higher photosynthetic efficiency, higher leaf water content, higher levels of chlorophyll content and lower lipid peroxidation with greater membrane stability. The commercial cultivar "Golden Delicious Reinders" showed decreased water content in leaves, increased lipid peroxidation levels and photoinhibition. Considering all results, the commercial cultivar "Golden Delicious Reinders" was adversely affected by drought, while traditional cultivars exhibited better tolerance to drought stress.
The effects of consumption of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) enriched hen eggs on endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent vasodilation in microcirculation, and on endothelial ...activation and inflammation were determined in young healthy individuals. Control group (
= 21) ate three regular hen eggs/daily (249 mg n-3 PUFAs/day), and n-3 PUFAs group (
= 19) ate three n-3 PUFAs enriched hen eggs/daily (1053 g n-3 PUFAs/day) for 3 weeks. Skin microvascular blood flow in response to iontophoresis of acetylcholine (AChID; endothelium-dependent) and sodium nitroprusside (SNPID; endothelium-independent) was assessed by laser Doppler flowmetry. Blood pressure (BP), body composition, body fluid status, serum lipid and free fatty acids profile, and inflammatory and endothelial activation markers were measured before and after respective dietary protocol. Results: Serum n-3 PUFAs concentration significantly increased, AChID significantly improved, and SNPID remained unchanged in n-3 PUFAs group, while none was changed in Control group. Interferon-γ (pro-inflammatory) significantly decreased and interleukin-10 (anti-inflammatory) significantly increased in n-3 PUFAs. BP, fat free mass, and total body water significantly decreased, while fat mass, interleukin-17A (pro-inflammatory), interleukin-10 and vascular endothelial growth factor A significantly increased in the Control group. Other measured parameters remained unchanged in both groups. Favorable anti-inflammatory properties of n-3 PUFAs consumption potentially contribute to the improvement of microvascular endothelium-dependent vasodilation in healthy individuals.
: Burn wound dressing and debridement are excruciatingly painful procedures that call for appropriate analgesia-typically multimodal. Better post-procedural pain management, less opioid use, and ...consequently fewer side effects, which could prolong recovery and increase morbidity, are all benefits of this type of analgesia. Intravenously administered ketamine can be effective as monotherapy or in combination with opioids, especially with procedural sedation such as in burn wound dressing.
: This observational study investigated the effect of ketamine administered in subanesthetic doses combined with opioids during burn wound dressing. The study was conducted from October 2018 to October 2021. A total of 165 patients met the inclusion criteria. A total of 82 patients were in the ketamine group, while 83 patients were dressed without ketamine. The main outcome was the effect of ketamine on intraprocedural opioid consumption. The secondary outcome included the effect of ketamine on postprocedural pain control.
: Patients dressed with ketamine were significantly older (
= 0.001), while the mean doses of intraoperatively administered propofol and fentanyl were significantly lower than in patients dressed without ketamine (150 vs. 220 mg,
< 0.001; and 0.075 vs. 0.150 mg,
< 0.001; respectively).
: Ketamine was an independent predictor of lower intraoperative fentanyl consumption, according to the multivariate regression analysis (
= 0.015). Contrarily, both groups of patients required postoperative tramadol treatment, while intraoperative ketamine administration had no beneficial effects on postoperative pain management.
In this paper, a prototype of a reference block with disk reflectors for sensitivity calibration of ultrasonic testing system with angle beam probes was designed and produced. This paper aims to ...investigate the possibility for sensitivity calibration of ultrasonic angle beam probes with disk reflectors, with flat reference surfaces. The reference blocks with three artificially produced disk reflectors, located at angles of 45°, 60°, and 70°, were made by additive manufacturing technology direct metal laser sintering (DMLS), since DMLS has provided the possibility of producing components with complex inner geometries, which traditional processes could not produce. The exact size of the reference block is obtained by using CT scanning, and the equivalent reflector size (ERS) is estimated by the distance gain size (DGS) diagram and using DGS mode of the ultrasonic instrument by Pulse-Echo. The results are compared with each other and with both the nominal values and the exact size, obtained by CT scan.
Major depressive disorder is the greatest burden of developed countries in the context of morbidity caused by mental disorders. Until recent, ketamine has been mostly used for anesthesia, analgesia, ...sedation and treatment of chronic pain syndromes. However, unique pharmacodynamic properties of ketamine have increased interests in it's use for treatment of depression. It is assumed that ketamine reverses synaptic chronic stress pathology within one day of administration by postsynaptic glutamate activation, providing synaptic connectivity restoration that last for days or weeks. Potential glutamatergic agents, in context of treatment of major depressive disorder are not entirely novel phenomenon. Considering the aforementioned, current neurobiological view of depression as a solely monoaminergic phenomenon should be reassessed in order to prompt discovery of putative antidepressant drugs of novel generation. Acute side effects, such as increased salivation, increase in heart rate, systemic arterial pressure and intracranial pressure necessitate careful monitoring during intravenous administration of ketamine, even in subanesthetic doses. However, major burden of ketamine administration lies in it's ability to produce psychotomimetic side effects and emergence delirium. Esketamine nasal spray has now been widely approved and is considered safe in terms of acute side effects, tolerability and consistent therapeutic benefit.
Objectives: We aimed to assess whether a 7-day high-salt (HS) diet affects endothelium-dependent and/or endothelium-independent microvascular function in the absence of changes in arterial blood ...pressure (BP), and to determine whether such microvascular changes are associated with changes in body composition and fluid status in healthy young humans. Materials and Methods: Fifty-three young healthy individuals (28 women and 25 men) were assigned to a 7-day low-salt diet (<3.5 g salt/day) followed by a 7-day HS diet (∼14 g salt/day). Skin microvascular blood flow in response to iontophoresis of acetylcholine (ACh) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) was assessed by laser Doppler flowmetry, and BP, heart rate (HR), plasma renin activity (PRA), serum aldosterone, serum and 24 h-urine sodium, potassium, urea and creatinine levels, together with body composition and fluid status measurement with a 4-terminal portable impedance analyzer were measured before and after diet protocols. Results: BP, HR, body composition and fluid status were unchanged, and PRA and serum aldosterone level were significantly suppressed after HS diet. ACh-induced dilation (AChID) was significantly impaired, while SNP-induced dilation was not affected by HS diet. Impaired AChID and increased salt intake, as well as impaired AChID and suppressed renin-angiotensin system were significantly positively correlated. Changes in body composition and fluid status parameters were not associated with impaired AChID. Conclusion: 7-day HS diet impairs microvascular reactivity by affecting its endothelium-dependent vasodilation in young healthy individuals. Changes are independent of BP, body composition changes or fluid retention, but are the consequences of the unique effect of HS on endothelial function.
Carnosine is a dipeptide synthesized in the body from β-alanine and L-histidine. It is found in high concentrations in the brain, muscle, and gastrointestinal tissues of humans and is present in all ...vertebrates. Carnosine has a number of beneficial antioxidant properties. For example, carnosine scavenges reactive oxygen species (ROS) as well as alpha-beta unsaturated aldehydes created by peroxidation of fatty acid cell membranes during oxidative stress. Carnosine can oppose glycation, and it can chelate divalent metal ions. Carnosine alleviates diabetic nephropathy by protecting podocyte and mesangial cells, and can slow down aging. Its component, the amino acid beta-alanine, is particularly interesting as a dietary supplement for athletes because it increases muscle carnosine, and improves effectiveness of exercise and stimulation and contraction in muscles. Carnosine is widely used among athletes in the form of supplements, but rarely in the population of cardiovascular or diabetic patients. Much less is known, if any, about its potential use in enriched food. In the present review, we aimed to provide recent knowledge on carnosine properties and distribution, its metabolism (synthesis and degradation), and analytical methods for carnosine determination, since one of the difficulties is the measurement of carnosine concentration in human samples. Furthermore, the potential mechanisms of carnosine's biological effects in musculature, metabolism and on immunomodulation are discussed. Finally, this review provides a section on carnosine supplementation in the form of functional food and potential health benefits and up to the present, neglected clinical use of carnosine.
Background and Objectives: The careful selection of adequate SLNB candidates not only aims at reducing the surgical risk while identifying SLN metastasis, but also plays a crucial role in identifying ...the patients eligible for adjuvant therapy. Objectives: The purpose of our study was to investigate the clinical and histologic aspects of primary melanomas that correlate with the likelihood of a positive SLNB result. Materials and Methods: A total of 101 primary melanoma patients who underwent sentinel lymph node biopsies were included in the study. General patient demographics were obtained as well as localization and melanoma-specific characteristics of primary melanoma from histologic reports in addition to data derived from SLNB melanoma histopathology reports. Results: The patients with positive SLN results had a statistically significant increased Breslow thickness (3.8 mm vs. 1.97 mm, p = 0.002), higher mitotic index rate (5/mm2 vs. 2/mm2, p = 0.009), as well as the presence of ulceration (68.4% vs. 31.6%, p = 0.007). Univariate regression analysis showed the Breslow thickness (p = 0.008), the mitotic index rate (p = 0.054), the presence of ulceration (p = 0.009), as well as the pT3-4 stage (p = 0.009) to be significant predictors of SLN positivity. The optimal cut-off values for Breslow thickness and the number of mitoses scores were determined based on ROC curve analysis. Using the Breslow thickness, mitotic index rate, presence of ulceration, and pT3-4 stage significant coefficients from the univariate regression model, a chance prediction score was developed. Conclusions: The newly developed and proposed scoring system can aid in patient selection for SLN biopsy by facilitating a more efficient risk assessment in the detection of lymph node metastases in melanoma patients.
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