Background: With an average suicide rate of 20 per 100,000 in the last
decade, Slovenia is above the EU average. There are considerable regional differences in
suicide mortality within the country. ...Aim: We aimed to investigate the
relationship between selected indicators at area level and the suicide rate in Slovenian
municipalities. Method: Sociodemographic, socioeconomic, and (mental)
health data in the years 2012-2016 were analyzed for 212 municipalities. Robust
correlation and regression analyses were performed to determine the relationship between
different variables and the suicide rate. Results: The suicide rate was
positively associated with the percentage of male inhabitants, the high social cohesion in
the neighborhood, and the number of sick leave days per capita. It was negatively related
to the net income per capita, the marriage rate, the divorce rate, and the availability of
professional mental healthcare services. Limitations: The small suicide
frequencies within municipalities constitute a limitation of the study.
Conclusion: Factors at local, municipal level can be linked to the risk
of suicide. In Slovenia, neighborhood cohesion is one of the factors that should be
considered when designing suicide prevention measures in a community.
In the first months of 2020, the SARS-CoV-2 virus spread all over the world and numerous measures were adopted that had a strong impact on both personal and public life. This contribution explores ...changes in alcohol and tobacco use during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Slovenia.
Self-reported changes in alcohol and tobacco use during the first few months of the Covid-19 pandemic were recorded in 495 Slovenian adults, as part of the European Alcohol Use and COVID-19 survey.
About half of the Slovenian sample indicated that the frequency of drinking occasions did not change in the months after the pandemic's outbreak, while the remainder stated either a decrease (26.0%) or an increase (24.2%). 23.1% reported a decrease and 17.3% an increase in the quantity of alcohol consumed per occasion. Respondents who reported that their overall alcohol consumption decreased were more likely to be male than female and more likely to be younger than middle-aged. Those who reported experiencing at least a substantial level of distress due to financial loss were at a four-times increased risk of reporting an increase in their alcohol consumption compared to individuals who reported no or only some financial distress. Of the 120 people reporting the use of tobacco, almost half indicated an increase in tobacco consumption within the previous month, and about 20% reported a decrease in use. The differences in the results between Slovenia and other European countries are small and the overall pattern suggests that the situation in Slovenia was comparable to other European countries.
As this pandemic continues to evolve, further monitoring is needed to identify the long-term effects of alcohol and tobacco use on public health in relation to the management of COVID-19.
Slovenia ranks amongst the countries with the highest recorded alcohol consumption. The mortality rate attributed to alcohol-related causes of death in Slovenia also exceeds the EU average. The aim ...of our research was to confirm the changes in alcohol consumption in Slovenia during the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic on a representative sample and to identify vulnerable groups at higher risk of increasing alcohol consumption.
Two consecutive data collections of the National Survey on the Impact of the Pandemic on Life, each in different epidemiological situations, were conducted. A structured questionnaire was used to monitor the number of alcoholic beverages consumed during the pandemic, compared to the time before the pandemic.
The majority of the population did not change the number of alcoholic beverages consumed, and among those with changes, there were significantly more of those who drank less than those who drank more. Among respondents who drank a greater number of alcoholic beverages, statistically significantly higher proportions were found in younger age groups, people with post-secondary vocational education or higher, and people with a higher probability of mental health problems.
During the pandemic crisis, we need to pay special attention to vulnerable groups that are at higher risk of increasing alcohol use.
The diversity of endometrial cancer (EC) dictates the need for precise early diagnosis and pre-operative stratification to select treatment options appropriately. Non-invasive biomarkers invaluably ...assist clinicians in managing patients in daily clinical practice. Currently, there are no validated diagnostic or prognostic biomarkers for EC that could accurately predict the presence and extent of the disease.
Our study analyzed 202 patients, of whom 91 were diagnosed with EC and 111 were control patients with the benign gynecological disease. Using Luminex xMAP™ multiplexing technology, we measured the pre-operative plasma concentrations of six previously selected angiogenic factors - leptin, IL-8, sTie-2, follistatin, neuropilin-1, and G-CSF. Besides basic statistical methods, we used a machine-learning algorithm to create a robust diagnostic model based on the plasma concentration of tested angiogenic factors.
The plasma levels of leptin were significantly higher in EC patients than in control patients. Leptin was higher in type 1 EC patients versus control patients, and IL-8 was higher in type 2 EC versus control patients, particularly in poorly differentiated endometrioid EC grade 3. IL-8 plasma levels were significantly higher in EC patients with lymphovascular or myometrial invasion. Among univariate models, the model based on leptin reached the best results on both training and test datasets. A combination of age, IL-8, leptin and G-CSF was determined as the most important feature for the multivariate model, with ROC AUC 0.94 on training and 0.81 on the test dataset. The model utilizing a combination of all six AFs, BMI and age reached a ROC AUC of 0.89 on both the training and test dataset, strongly indicating the capability for predicting the risk of EC even on unseen data.
According to our results, measuring plasma concentrations of angiogenic factors could, provided they are confirmed in a multicentre validation study, represent an important supplementary diagnostic tool for early detection and prognostic characterization of EC, which could guide the decision-making regarding the extent of treatment.
The exploration of hunting tourism reveals its multifaceted benefits, encompassing nature preservation and tourism expansion. This study delves into the dynamics and prospective trends within hunting ...tourism, specifically in Prlekija's administrative unit of Gornja Radgona, Slovenia. It commences with a comprehensive international comparative analysis, followed by insightful semi-structured interviews involving key stakeholders within the destination. Hunting tourism emerges as a pivotal facet of tourism within this locale, exhibiting substantial potential for further growth, particularly in terms of diversification, regional integration, and synergy with other tourism offerings. However, it's imperative to address the adverse impacts of hunting tourism on biodiversity. As a counterbalance, the study underscores the increasing global emphasis on sustainable variants of hunting tourism, such as wildlife photography, fostering a more conscientious approach to animal tourism practices.
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•Electrostatic interactions mainly contribute to the viscosity of protein solutions.•Novel proline-based compounds reduce the viscosity of monoclonal antibody solution.•These ...viscosity reducers do not jeopardise the stability of the protein.•Novel viscosity-reducing agents appear to be non-toxic, thus useful as excipients.
Administration of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) is currently focused on subcutaneous injection associated with increased patient adherence and reduced treatment cost, leading to sustainable healthcare. The main bottleneck is low volume that can be injected, requiring highly concentrated mAb solutions. The latter results in increased solution viscosity with pronounced mAb aggregation propensity because of intensive protein-protein interactions. Small molecule excipients have been proposed to restrict the protein-protein interactions, contributing to reduced viscosity. The aim of the study was to discover novel compounds that reduce the viscosity of highly concentrated mAb solution. First, the chemical space of proline analogs was explored and 35 compounds were determined. Viscosity measurements revealed that 18 proline analogs reduced the mAb solution viscosity similar to or more than proline. The compounds forming both electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions with mAb reduced the viscosity of the formulation more efficiently without detrimentally effecting mAb physical stability. A correlation between the level of interaction and viscosity-reducing effect was confirmed with molecular dynamic simulations. Structure rigidity of the compounds and aromaticity contributed to their viscosity-reducing effect, dependent on molecule size. The study results highlight the novel proline analogs as an effective approach in viscosity reduction in development of biopharmaceuticals for subcutaneous administration.
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•An analytical method for 8 pharmaceuticals and 2 pesticides was successfully validated.•Most of the selected compounds were detected in wastewater samples.•The advanced oxidation ...treatments of compounds were tested under laboratory conditions.•Boron-doped diamond and mixed metal oxide electrodes revealed high degradation efficiency.•The prototype cell could be a feasible option to upgrade wastewater treatment plants.
The presence of pharmaceuticals and pesticides in the environment has been frequently confirmed and has been recognized as a potential threat to the environment. This paper describes an advanced wastewater treatment process based on the electrochemical oxidation of pollutants, and the development of a sensitive analytical method to monitor the analytes in wastewater samples comprised of solid phase extraction followed by LC–MS/MS analysis. The analytical method was successfully validated and achieved low limits of quantification (2.5–12.5ng/L).
In our survey of some Slovenian wastewater samples, the occurrence of seven compounds from the list of ten monitored pollutants was confirmed and quantified. Bisoprolol, carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, and metoprolol were determined in every assayed sample, while diclofenac reached the highest concentration (2μg/L). Therefore, under laboratory conditions the degradation efficiency of investigated compounds by various electrode materials, including boron-doped diamond (BDD), mixed metal oxide (MMO), platinum electrode, and high voltage sparks (HVS) were tested. The applicability of methodologies was evaluated on a synthetic mixture comprised of eight frequently prescribed pharmaceuticals (bisoprolol, carbamazepine, ciprofloxacin, clofibric acid, diclofenac, fluoxetine, imatinib and metoprolol) and two pesticides (atrazine, simazine). The BDD and MMO electrodes showed >85% degradation in 60min of treatment for the majority of the compounds, while the platinum electrode and HVS revealed low overall degradation efficiency. In addition, the BDD electrodes demonstrated an operational efficiency up to 70% also in a complex matrix of wastewater samples.
Based on our observations of the prototype electrolytic cell degradation efficiency of some pollutants commonly presents in wastewaters, one can assume that this new technology could be a viable and feasible option to upgrade existing wastewater treatment plants in order to achieve a significantly greater cleaning efficiency, and to lessen the ecological burden.
Heparin is widely used as an anticoagulant for the treatment and prevention of various thrombotic diseases. However, due to its high anionic charge, heterogeneity in size distribution and high ...polarity, its analysis is very challenging. In this paper, a novel method based on size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) for quantitative determination of intact heparin in pharmaceuticals is presented. Analyses were performed on a BioSep-SEC-S 2000 column with Larginine solution at pH 6.5 as mobile phase and UV detection at 210 nm. The proposed method was found to be selective, linear (R
> 0.997) over the concentration range of 3.1 to 1222 μg mL
, with a limit of detection of 1.0 μg mL
. Intraday and inter-day precision were below 5.1 % and inaccuracy expressed as bias did not exceed 6.5 %. The reported method is simple, selective, sensitive, and requires no laborious sample preparation, which makes it appropriate for routine quantitative analysis of heparin in pharmaceuticals
Suicide in Slovenia Between 1997 and 2010 Roškar, Saška; Zorko, Maja; Podlesek, Anja
Crisis : the journal of crisis intervention and suicide prevention,
01/2015, Letnik:
36, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Background: With an average suicide rate of approximately 30
per 100,000, Slovenia has been regarded as a country with a high suicide rate.
In the last decade, however, the suicide rate has gradually ...decreased to 20.3
per 100,000. Aim: To undertake an analysis of the suicide rate
and its characteristics between 1997 and 2010 and to establish whether
preventive activities had a significant effect on the suicide rate in the period
studied. Method: Data on all 7,317 completed suicides between
1997 and 2010 were obtained from the National Mortality Database. Trends over
this period were assessed separately for gender, age, method of suicide, and
regional distribution. Data on implemented suicide preventive activities were
assessed via regional Public Health Institutes. Results: The
suicide rate declined in both genders and in all age groups, except in males
aged 10-19 years. The most frequently used method in both genders was
hanging. Regions with the highest suicide rate are concentrated in the eastern
part of Slovenia. The suicide rate significantly decreased in six regions, but
no firm association with preventive activities could be established.
Conclusion: Suicide in Slovenia declined significantly
during the study period. Preventive activities appear not to have had any
notable effect on this decline.
Suicide in Slovenia Between 1997 and 2010 Roškar, Saška; Zorko, Maja; Podlesek, Anja
Crisis : the journal of crisis intervention and suicide prevention,
06/2015, Letnik:
36, Številka:
2
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Background: With an average suicide rate of approximately 30 per 100,000, Slovenia has been regarded as a country with a high suicide rate. In the last decade, however, the suicide rate has gradually ...decreased to 20.3 per 100,000. Aim: To undertake an analysis of the suicide rate and its characteristics between 1997 and 2010 and to establish whether preventive activities had a significant effect on the suicide rate in the period studied. Method: Data on all 7,317 completed suicides between 1997 and 2010 were obtained from the National Mortality Database. Trends over this period were assessed separately for gender, age, method of suicide, and regional distribution. Data on implemented suicide preventive activities were assessed via regional Public Health Institutes. Results: The suicide rate declined in both genders and in all age groups, except in males aged 10-19 years. The most frequently used method in both genders was hanging. Regions with the highest suicide rate are concentrated in the eastern part of Slovenia. The suicide rate significantly decreased in six regions, but no firm association with preventive activities could be established. Conclusion: Suicide in Slovenia declined significantly during the study period. Preventive activities appear not to have had any notable effect on this decline.
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