Mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms were analyzed in of 1,610 randomly chosen adult men from 11 different regions from southeastern Europe (Croatians, Bosnians and Herzegovinians, Serbians, Macedonians ...and Macedonian Romani). MtDNA HVS-I region together with RFLP sites diagnostic for main Euroasian and African mtDNA haplogroups were typed to determine haplogroup frequency distribution. The most frequent haplogroup in studied populations was H with the exception of Macedonian Romani among whom the most frequent were South Asian (Indian) specific variants of haplogroup M. The multidimensional scaling plot showed two clusters of populations and two outliers (Macedonian Romani and the most distant from mainland Croatian island of Korčula). The first cluster was formed by populations from three Croatian islands (Hvar, Krk and Brač) and the second cluster was formed by Macedonians, Serbians, Croatians from mainland and coast, Herzegovinians, Bosnians, Slovenians, Poles and Russians. The present analysis does not address a precise evaluation of phylogenetic relations of studied populations although some conclusions about historical migrations could be noticed. More extended conclusions will be possible after deeper phylogenetic and statistical analyses.
The carbon fiber based composites: carbon fiber reinforced plastic and 3D carbon fiber reinforced carbon composites were exposed to the Nd3+: YAG laser beams (1064 nm). Experimental parameters for ...the interaction of the laser beam with 1.5 Hz pulse frequency and with pulse duration 0.7 ms varied: energy density between 128 and 1915 J cm−2, pulse energy from 1 to 3 J and mean power in the range between 0.4 and 6.5 kW. Apparently, the energy absorbed by the composite samples was mainly converted into thermal energy, causing a range of damages, from instantaneous evaporation to cracking and melting, which resulted in a crater-like damage. Program ImageJ was executed for quantitative analysis of generated damages based on micrographs obtained by SEM and light microscopes. Obtaied results enable identification of the laser induced changes in the material.
A series of novel anthraquinone–thiosemicarbazone derivatives in a tautomerizable keto-imine form was synthesized and tested for their in vitro cytotoxic activity against human cancer cells (HeLa, ...MDA-MB-361, MDA-MB-453, K562, A549) and human normal MRC-5 cells. Several compounds efficiently inhibited cancer cell growth at micromolar concentrations, especially against K562 and HeLa cells. As determined by flow cytometric analysis, anthraquinone–thiosemicarbazone caused significant increase in the number of sub-G1 phase of HeLa cells and apoptosis in a concentration-dependent manner. Also, inhibition of caspase-3, -8, and -9 with specific caspase inhibitors reduced the apoptosis mediated by the tested compounds in HeLa cells. All anthraquinone–thiosemicarbazones exhibit calf thymus DNA-binding activity, but no cleavage of plasmid DNA was observed.
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•Tautomerizable anthraquinone–thiosemicarbazones were prepared and tested for their cytotoxic potential.•The compounds promoted apoptosis by a caspase dependent manner in cervix adenocarcinoma HeLa cells.•All derivatives exhibit calf thymus DNA-binding activity, but no cleavage of plasmid DNA was detected.
Between 1995-1997 the First Croatian health Project conducted surveys on health attitudes, knowledge, behaviour and risks in the post-war Croatian population. The project included issues related to ...cardiovascular risk factors. Study population comprised 5,840 adults from all 21 Croatian counties. The sample corresponds by age, sex and geographical distribution to the general Croatian population. In addition to body mass index (BMI) and blood pressure(BP), data on general knowledge and attitudes on health issues, smoking history, alcohol consumption, nutrition habits, and physical activity were collected. About 48% of man and 35% of women are overweight (BMI=25-29.99kg/m2) and as many as 31% of men and 15% of women are severely overweight (BMI＞or=30kg/m2). The overall prevalence of hypertension (systolic BP＞or=140mmHg and diastolic BP＞or=90mmHg) is about 32% in man and 24% in women. Prevalence of regular smokers is very high： 34% in men and 27% in women. The important regional differences have been observed in alcohol consumption, nutrition and physical activity patterns. Most of the population is aware about the basic risk factors for cadiovascular diseases but there is a marked discrepancy between knowledge on health-related issues and health behaviour.
New molecular insights provided plausible scenarios for importance of inbreeding in mediating susceptibility to complex chronic diseases Still, hardly anything is known of the risks of inbreeding in ...postreproductive age. This study investigated the relationship between inbreeding and prevalence of 10 complex chronic diseases (coronary disease, stroke, cancer, two common psychiatric disorders, asthma, diabetes, gout, peptic ulcer and epilepsy) in 14 isolate villages on 3 neighboring islands in Croatia. These populations are unique as specific historic circumstances led some to favor and other to avoid inbreeding while sharing similar environment and lifestyle. Variation in education, occupation, diet, smoking and obesity was characterized and inbreeding coefficient (F) of each village computed in adult population based on 3 different methods. Prevalence of diseases was determined through a review of medical records by two trained physicians and a local GP in six villages with the greatest F (N=1,401), four with intermediate F(N=998) and four the with lowest F (N=1,501). After standardizing the rates by sex and age, it has been shown that inbreeding could be responsible for observed non-specific increase in prevalence of all studied diseases except stroke and adult-type diabetes, showing dose-response effect and the relative risks ranging between 1.2 and 8.8 per 5% of inbreeding Subsequent cohort and case-control study at the level of individual examinees provided further insight into genetic architecture of complex chronic diseases.
Considerable uncertainty exists regarding the genetic architecture underlying human quantitative traits. The contribution of recessive alleles to human hypertension has been investigated by examining ...the effects of inbreeding on blood pressure (BP) as a quantitative trait in 2760 adult individuals from 25 villages within a Croatian island isolate. A strong linear relationship was found between the inbreeding coefficient (F) and both sysolic and diastolic BP, indicating that recessive or partially recessive quantitative trait locus (QTL) alleles account for 10-15% of the total variation BP in this populatlon. An increase in F of 0.01 corresponded to an increase of approximately 3 mm Hg in systolic and 2 mm Hg in diastolic BP. Regression of F on BP indicated that at least several hundred (300-600) QTL contribute to BP variability. A model of the distribution of locas effects bans suggests that the 8-16 QTL of largest effect together account for a maximum of 25% of this variation while the remaining 75% of the variation is mediated by QTL of very small effect, unlikely to be detectable using current technologies and sample sizes. Recent inbreeding accounts for 36% of all hypertension in this population. The global impact of inbreeding on hypertension may be substantial since, although inbreeding is declining in western societies, an estimated 1 billion people globally show rates of consanguineous marriages greater than 20%. In addition, the impact of inbreeding may be greater for late-onset than for early-onset traits.
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