The effect of lengthening of the percutaneous implant in the surgical treatment of Th-L ankylosed spine fractures: 4 segment fixation versus 5 to 8 segment fixation.

Background: Fractures of thoracolumbar spine in the field of ankylosing diseases such as ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and diffuse idiopathic skeletal hyperostosis (DISH) can by surgically treated with miniinvasive posterior transpedicular fixation. The exact length of implant is the subject of several studies. In our study, we retrospectively evaluated the treatment of B3 fractures of the ankylosed thoracolumbar spine with use a shorter versus longer implant, always with 8 screws.

The Influence of Phenol on the Growth, Morphology and Cell Division of .

Phenol, a monocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon with various commercial uses, is a major pollutant in industrial wastewater. is a unicellular freshwater flagellate possessing secondary chloroplasts of green algal origin. This protist has been widely used for monitoring the biological effect of various inorganic and organic environmental pollutants, including aromatic hydrocarbons.

Comparison of ultrasound-guided and palpation-inserted peripheral venous cannula in -patients before primary hip or knee arthroplasty: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Background: More than 2 billion peripheral vascular cannulas are introduced globally each year. It is the most frequently performed invasive procedure in medicine worldwide. There is a group of patients with difficult intravenous access (DIVA).

Translation, intercultural adaptation, and validation of the Slovak version of AOSpine patient reported outcome for spinal trauma tool.

Objectives: The implementation of patient-reported outcome measurements has become a standard component of evaluating the effect of treatment. For spine injuries, an evaluation tool AOSpine Patient Reported Outcome for Spinal Trauma (AOSpine PROST) has been developed. The aim of this study was to translate, interculturally adapt and validate the Slovak version of AOSpine PROST.

Effect of after-school physical activity on body composition in primary school children: The Slovak "PAD" project.

Physical activity is associated with many physical and mental health benefits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of a 24-month after-school physical activity intervention on body composition in normal-weight children. Participating students (6-7 years of age at baseline) were divided by reason of their parental preference to intervention and control groups.

Diurnal variation in red blood cell variables in athletes after single and repeated bouts of exercise.

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the diurnal and exercise-related changes in red blood cell variables which serve as indirect markers of doping in sports.

Methods: Ten men and 7 women, all undoped highly trained endurance athletes aged 19-34 years, were included in the study. Before and on the day with single and repeated bouts of exercise, blood samples were collected at 07:00, 09:00, 13:00, 18:00, and 21:00, at least 2 hours after exercise.

Prevalence of Conventional Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients with Acute Coronary Syndromes in Slovakia.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a major health problem and the leading cause of death and disability in Slovakia. This is the first study to describe the prevalence rate of conventional cardiovascular risk factors in patients hospitalized for ACS.

Methods: Hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia and cigarette smoking were documented in 1,567 cases (mean age, SD: 66.

Lipoprotein(a) in Children of Asian Indian Descendants and Their Caucasian Neighbors: The Slovak Lipid Community Study.

To elucidate a higher rate of premature cardiovascular disease (CVD) in Asian Indian descendants (Roma) in Slovakia, we investigated frequency distribution, correlates and relationship of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)] to family CVD risk factors in Roma children and their Caucasian neighbors. The study sample consisted of 607 healthy children aged 7-18 years (55% Roma, 48% male) as part of the biracial (Roma-Caucasian) Slovak Lipid Community Study. Overall, frequency distribution data of Lp(a) were highly skewed to low concentrations, with markedly higher Lp(a) levels in Roma than in Caucasian children (median and range, mg/dL: 14.

The prevalence of cigarette smoking and its relation to certain risk predictors of cardiovascular diseases in central-Slovakian Roma children and adolescents.

The objective of the study was to determine some Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk factors in relation to cigarette smoking in 174 Roma children and adolescents (88 males and 86 females) and 131 non-Roma probands (males and females) aged 7-18 in central Slovakia. In this biethnic study, 26.4% of the Roma children and adolescents (more than twice contrary to the control group) were smokers.

Recommendations for terminology and databases for biochemical thermodynamics.

Chemical equations are normally written in terms of specific ionic and elemental species and balance atoms of elements and electric charge. However, in a biochemical context it is usually better to write them with ionic reactants expressed as totals of species in equilibrium with each other. This implies that atoms of elements assumed to be at fixed concentrations, such as hydrogen at a specified pH, should not be balanced in a biochemical equation used for thermodynamic analysis.

Biochemical thermodynamics and rapid-equilibrium enzyme kinetics.

Biochemical thermodynamics is based on the chemical thermodynamics of aqueous solutions, but it is quite different because pH is used as an independent variable. A transformed Gibbs energy G' is used, and that leads to transformed enthalpies H' and transformed entropies S'. Equilibrium constants for enzyme-catalyzed reactions are referred to as apparent equilibrium constants K' to indicate that they are functions of pH in addition to temperature and ionic strength.

Cardiovascular risk predictors in central Slovakian Roma children and adolescents: regional differences.

The objective of the study was to determine some Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) risk factors in 174 Roma children and adolescents (88 males and 86 females) aged 7-18 in 3 Central Slovakian cities (44 from Zilina, 39 from Bansk, Bystrica and 91 from Rimavská Sobota). Venous blood samples were drawn in the morning, after a 12 hour overnight fast for biochemical analysis. Total cholesterol (TC) and triglycerides (TG) were determined enzymatically.

Consumption of hydrogen ions in rapid-equilibrium enzyme kinetics.

Enzyme-catalyzed reductase reactions in particular are characterized by large changes in the binding of hydrogen ions Δ(r)N(H). This is a thermodynamic property of the reaction that is catalyzed. For example, in the ferredoxin-nitrite reductase reaction, there is an increase of eight in the binding of hydrogen ions for every molecule of nitrite reduced to ammonia H(2)O.

Distribution and correlations of non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol in Roma and Caucasian children: the Slovak Lipid Community Study.

Non-high-density lipoprotein (non-HDL) cholesterol [total cholesterol minus high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol] is considered a better predictor of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk than low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol. The Slovak Roma population have approximately 2.5-fold higher premature CHD mortality than the overall population.

Estimation of kinetic parameters when modifiers are bound in enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

Modifiers of enzyme-catalyzed reactions can have various types of effects on the velocity, but the most important effect is that they provide multiple pathways to products. The rapid-equilibrium kinetic effects of modifiers are explored for the enzyme-catalyzed reaction A --> products. When a single molecule of modifier X is bound, the mechanism involves three independent equilibrium expressions and two rate constants.

Determination of rapid-equilibrium kinetic parameters of ordered and random enzyme-catalyzed reaction A+B=P+Q.

This article deals with the rapid-equilibrium kinetics of the forward and reverse reactions together for the ordered and random enzyme-catalyzed A+B=P+Q and emphasizes the importance of reporting the values of the full set of equilibrium constants. Equilibrium constants that are not in the rate equation can be calculated for random mechanisms using thermodynamic cycles. This treatment is based on the use of a computer to derive rate equations for three mechanisms and to estimate the kinetic parameters with the minimum number of velocity measurements.

Determination of kinetic parameters of enzyme-catalyzed reaction a + B + C --> products with the minimum number of velocity measurements.

Rapid-equilibrium rate equations are derived for the five different mechanisms for the enzymatic catalysis of A + B + C --> products using a computer. These rate equations are used to determine the minimum number of velocities required to estimate the values of the kinetic parameters. The rate equation for the completely ordered mechanism involves four kinetic parameters, and the rate equation for the completely random mechanism involves eight kinetic parameters.

Determination of kinetic parameters of enzyme-catalyzed reactions with a minimum number of velocity measurements.

Duggleby [Duggleby, R.G., 1979.

Rapid-equilibrium rate equations for the enzymatic catalysis of A+B=P+Q over a range of pH.

This article shows how pKs for the enzymatic site and enzyme-substrate complexes can be obtained from kinetic experiments on the reaction A+B=P+Q, with and without the consumption of hydrogen ions. The rapid-equilibrium rate equation makes it possible to obtain the pKs and chemical equilibrium constants involved in the mechanism, the apparent equilibrium constant K' for the catalyzed reaction, and the number of hydrogen ions consumed in the rate-determining reaction. Experimentally-determined Michaelis constants can be adjusted for the pKs of the substrates A, B, P, and Q so that it is easier to obtain the pKs of E, EA, EB, EAB, EQ, and EPQ, and the chemical equilibrium constants.

Effects of pH in rapid-equilibrium enzyme kinetics.

The effects of pH on the rates of enzyme-catalyzed reactions are very important because they yield information on the pKs of acidic groups in the enzymatic site and the various enzyme-substrate complexes. But many enzyme-catalyzed reactions produce or consume hydrogen ions in a way that cannot be explained with pKs. These pH effects extend over the whole pH range of interest.

Three mechanisms and rapid-equilibrium rate equations for a type of reductase reaction.

Rapid-equilibrium rate equations for enzyme-catalyzed reactions are especially useful when the mechanism involves a number of pKs, but they are also useful when some reactants have stoichiometric numbers greater than one or hydrogen ions are produced or consumed in the rate-determining step. The pH dependencies of limiting velocities, Michaelis constants, and reaction velocities for the forward reaction are discussed for two examples of reductase reactions of the type mR + O -> products, where R is the reductant and O is the oxidant. For the nitrate reductase reaction (EC 1.

Neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy for esophageal cancer using weekly Paclitaxel and Carboplatin plus infusional 5-Fluorouracil.

Purpose: To evaluate neoadjuvant therapy with weekly paclitaxel/carboplatin plus 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) with conformal radiotherapy in a phase II trial in resectable esophageal carcinoma.

Methods: Twenty-four patients with T2-4N0-1M0-1a esophageal carcinoma were treated with paclitaxel 45 mg/m(2) intravenously over 1 hour and carboplatin at an area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) of 2 intravenously over 30 minutes on days 1, 8, 15, 22, and 29. 5-Fluorouracil 225 mg/m(2) was delivered as a continuous infusion on days 1-33.

Two different ways that hydrogen ions are involved in the thermodynamics and rapid-equilibrium kinetics of the enzymatic catalysis of S=P and S+H2O=P.

Hydrogen ions are involved in two different ways in the thermodynamics and rapid-equilibrium kinetics of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The two ways are through pKs and through the production or consumption of hydrogen ions in the mechanism. These ways are examined for the catalyzed reactions S=P and S+H2O=P.