Introduction: Estrogen deficiency leads to bone mass loss and increased risk for osteoporosis. The aim of this study was to examine influence of cigarette smoking on bone mineral density in postmenopausal women with estrogen deficiency in menstrual history.Methods: The total of 100 postmenopausal women living in Sarajevo area, aged 50-65 years, with estrogen deficiency in menstrual history participated in this prospective study. The subjects were divided in two groups, examination and control group, based on bone mineral density values. The women in the examination group had osteoporosis while in the control group were women with osteopenia or normal bone mineral density. Bone mineral density was measured at the lumbar spine and proximal femur by Dual–Energy X–ray Absorptiometry using Hologic QDR-4000 scanner. Smoking habits were assessed for each subject.Results: The average number of cigarettes smoked per day in women with estrogen deficiency in menstrual history was 14.86 in the examination group and 4.67 in the control group. The difference in the average number of cigarettes smoked per day between the two groups was statistically significant (p <0.01). The coefficient of linear correlation between T score and the number of cigarettes smoked per day among women with estrogen deficiency in menstrual history in the examination group was statistically significant (p<0.01). The coefficient of linear correlation between T score and the number of cigarettes smoked per day among women with estrogen deficiency in menstrual history in the control group was statistically significant ( p<0.05).Conclusion: Results of this study suggest that cigarette smoking has negative impact on bone mineral density and that healthy lifestyle (no smoking) has the potential to reduce bone loss in postmenopausal women with estrogen deficiency in menstrual history.

Introduction: Whey-acidic protein human epididymis protein 4 (HE4) is a new promising biomarker for epithelial ovarian cancer. The measured HE4 values may depend on the testing procedure used. The aim of this study was to evaluate the Methods : We evaluated a HE4 method on Elecsys 2010 analyzer. The method for quantitative determination of HE4 is direct, competitive chemiluminescent immunoassay. For quality control we use Elecsys PreciControl HE4 1 and 2. HE4 was measure on sera obtained from 56 women ( 20 healthy and 36 with epithelial ovarian cancer). Results: The Roche HE4 assays showed a good linearity (r=0.99) and precision (intrassayed total CV<5%). The median HE4 serum concentrations was significantly higher among EOC patients than healthy females (p<0,05). Elevated levels HE4 were found in 78 % patients with epithelial ovarian cancer. Conclusions : The presented results of the analytical evaluation methods for the determination of HE4 on the Elecsys 2010 analyzer showed an acceptable accuracy and precision.

DiGeorge syndrome (DGS) which is also known as velocardiofacial syndrome is caused by a submicroscopic chromosome deletion of band 22q11. It is associated with a disturbed development of the pharyngeal arches. In this report we describe two unrelated male children with clinical features consistent with 22q11.2 microdeletion syndrome characterized by cardiac defect, recurrent respiratory infections and developmental deficiency. Definitive diagnosis is made by Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization analysis (FISH). Children underwent surgical correction of congenital heart defects. During surgery thymic aplasia was confirmed in both children, postoperative course proceeded without major complications. Our report suggests that the criteria in searching for microdeletion 22q11.2 should be expanded and applied in patients with conotruncal and non-conotruncal congenital heart defects and at least one typical feature of this syndrome.

Information is the key asset of all organizations and can exist in many forms. It can be printed or written on paper, stored electronically, transmitted by mail or by electronic means, shown in films, or spoken in conversation. In today's competitive business environment, such information is constantly under threat from many sources, which can be internal, external, accidental, or malicious. Joomla is a very popular Content Management System (CMS) used for web page maintenance. This highly versatile software has found itself in both large corporate web portals, and simple web pages such as blogs. Such popularity increases its vulnerability to potential attacks and therefore needs an appropriate security management. ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) and IEC (the International Electrotechnical Commission) created the series of standards aimed at providing a model for establishing, implementing, operating, monitoring, reviewing, maintaining and improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS). This paper shows how principles set in ISO/IEC 27000 series of standards can be used to improve security of Joomla based web portals.

In order to decrease the measuring cycle time on the coordinate measuring machine (CMM) a robot workstation for the positioning of measuring objects was created. The application of a simple 5-axis industrial robot enables the positioning of the objects within the working space of CMM and measuring of different surfaces on the same object without human intervention. In this article an upgrade of an existing robot workstation through different design measures is shown. The main goal of this upgrade is to improve the measuring accuracy of the complex robot-CMM system.

Forces generated in the muscles and tendons actuate the movement of the skeleton. Accurate estimation and application of these musculotendon forces in a continuum model is not a trivial matter. Frequently, musculotendon attachments are approximated as point forces; however, accurate estimation of local mechanics requires a more realistic application of musculotendon forces. This paper describes the development of mapped Hill‐type muscle models as boundary conditions for a finite volume model of the hip joint, where the calculated muscle fibres map continuously between attachment sites. The applied muscle forces are calculated using active Hill‐type models, where input electromyography signals are determined from gait analysis. Realistic muscle attachment sites are determined directly from tomography images. The mapped muscle boundary conditions, implemented in a finite volume structural OpenFOAM (ESI‐OpenCFD, Bracknell, UK) solver, are employed to simulate the mid‐stance phase of gait using a patient‐specific natural hip joint, and a comparison is performed with the standard point load muscle approach. It is concluded that physiological joint loading is not accurately represented by simplistic muscle point loading conditions; however, when contact pressures are of sole interest, simplifying assumptions with regard to muscular forces may be valid. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Weappliedanewapproachtodeterminethepolepositionsandresiduesfrompionphotoproductionmultipoles. The method is based on a Laurent expansion of the partial-wave T matrices, with a Pietarinen series representing the regular part of energy-dependent and single-energy photoproduction solutions. The method is applied to multipole fits generated by the MAID and George Washington University SAID (GWU-SAID) groups. We show that the number and properties of poles extracted from photoproduction data correspond very well to results from πN elastic data and values cited by the Particle Data Group (PDG). The photoproduction residues provide new information for the electromagnetic current at the pole position, which are independent of background parametrizations, which is not the case for the Breit-Wigner representation. Finally, we present the photodecay amplitudes from the current MAID and SAID solutions at the pole for all four-star nucleon resonances below W = 2 GeV.

BackgroundInsulin resistance (IR) assessed by the Homeostatic Model Assessment (HOMA) index in the acute phase of myocardial infarction in non-diabetic patients was recently established as an independent predictor of intrahospital mortality. In this study we postulated that acute IR is a dynamic phenomenon associated with the development of myocardial and microvascular injury and larger final infarct size in patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) treated by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (pPCI).MethodsIn 104 consecutive patients with the first anterior STEMI without diabetes, the HOMA index was determined on the 2nd and 7th day after pPCI. Worst-lead residual ST-segment elevation (ST-E) on postprocedural ECG, coronary flow reserve (CFR) determined by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography on the 2nd day after pPCI and fixed perfusion defect on single-photon emission computed tomography myocardial perfusion imaging (SPECT-MPI) determined six weeks after pPCI were analyzed according to HOMA indices.ResultsIR was present in 55 % and 58 % of patients on day 2 and day 7, respectively. Incomplete post-procedural ST-E resolution was more frequent in patients with IR compared to patients without IR, both on day 2 (p = 0.001) and day 7 (p < 0.001). The HOMA index on day 7 correlated with SPECT-MPI perfusion defect (r = 0.331), whereas both HOMA indices correlated well with CFR (r = -0.331 to -0.386) (p < 0.01 for all). In multivariable backward logistic regression analysis adjusted for significant univariate predictors and potential confounding variables, IR on day 2 was an independent predictor of residual ST-E ≥ 2 mm (OR 11.70, 95% CI 2.46-55.51, p = 0.002) and CFR < 2 (OR = 5.98, 95% CI 1.88-19.03, p = 0.002), whereas IR on day 7 was an independent predictor of SPECT-MPI perfusion defect > 20% (OR 11.37, 95% CI 1.34-96.21, p = 0.026).ConclusionIR assessed by the HOMA index during the acute phase of the first anterior STEMI in patients without diabetes treated by pPCI is independently associated with poorer myocardial reperfusion, impaired coronary microcirculatory function and potentially with larger final infarct size.