How to Compose, Write and Publish a Scientific or Professional Communication.

There is an ample number of recommendations, guides and monographs addressing the art of composing and publishing written, oral or visual communications in science and various professions. In order to write an article, autors have to follow certain rules. Presentation of the article (oral or poster presentation) also requires skill, meaning that you have to fulfill certain guidelines and regulations.

[Psychoneurogenic factors and apoptosis].

Immunity is regulated by its signal molecules, interleukins, as well as by cellular contacts; however, in addition to these 'local' mechanisms there is also neuroendocrine regulation of the immune system, at the level of the organism as a whole that attunes the immunoreaction up or down. The systemic regulation is accomplished by nervous and endocrine signals that translate and transmit inputs from emotional, cognitive and associative processes in the brain. At the cellular level, neuroendocrine signals join local networks to influence biochemical processes in the cytoplasm and nuclei of the lymphocytes, macrophages and other cells of the immune system.

Altered iron metabolism, inflammation, transferrin receptors, and ferritin expression in non-small-cell lung cancer.

The involvement of iron and inflammation parameters on overall survival in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients was studied. Furthermore, transferrin receptors 1 (TfR1) and ferritin expression in tumor tissue, tumor stroma, and normal lung tissue were analyzed. Iron metabolism and inflammation parameters were determined by automated laboratory measurements at the time of diagnosis.

[Psychoneuroimmunology--regulation of immunity at the systemic level].

Innate and acquired immune reactions are controlled by their intrinsic regulatory mechanisms, ie. by an array of cytokines that mediate communication among cells of the immune system itself and with other cells and tissues, e. g.

Increasing rate of childhood tuberculosis in a region of east Croatia.

Background: The incidence of childhood tuberculosis as well as the number of children being in contact with persons having tuberculosis has increased in the region of Slavonski Brod during the past decade (1993-2003). The region is located in east Croatia along the border with Bosnia and close to the besieged and destroyed town of Vukovar. The region was heavily involved in recent military activities and migrations in Croatia and Bosnia (1991-1995).

Emotional and physical abuse in family: survey among high school adolescents.

Aim: To determine the prevalence of different forms of child abuse among high school pupils in Slavonski Brod, Croatia.

Method: The study included 2140 first and fourth-grade pupils aged between 14 and 18 years from all 10 high schools in Slavonski Brod and the area (4 grammar and 6 vocational schools). The pupils were asked to complete an anonymous structured questionnaire during a 45-minute class.

Leber's hereditary optic neuroretinopathy (LHON) associated with mitochondrial DNA point mutation G11778A in two Croatian families.

Leber's hereditary optic neuroretinopathy (LHON) is manifested as a bilateral acute or subacute loss of central vision due to optic atrophy. It is linked to point mutations of mitochondrial DNA, which is inherited maternally. The most common mitochondrial DNA point mutations associated with LHON are G3460A, G11778A and T14484C.

Sources of infection in childhood tuberculosis in a region of east Croatia.

Possible sources of tuberculosis (TBC) infection in children have been assessed in a retrospective epidemiological study covering a north-east region of Croatia in which the incidence of childhood tuberculosis has been increasing since the war in 1991-1995. During the past decade (1993-2003), 271 children up to 18 years of age have been referred for hospital care because of known contacts with tuberculosis (142 children, group A) or because of indicative clinical signs and symptoms (129 children, group B). Possible sources of infection were identified on the basis of medical documentation and field investigations.

Diagnostic value of a peroral sucrose permeability test in children with recurrent upper abdominal pain.

The access of ingested sucrose into blood and urine indicates the presence of mucosal lesions in the upper gastrointestinal tract. The study involved 42 children, aged 5-15, having recurrent upper abdominal pain and 43 peers with minor extra-abdominal complaints. Sucrose in urine was determined by thin layer chromatography.

A pilot study of mitochondrial DNA point mutation A3243G in a sample of Croatian patients having type 2 diabetes mellitus associated with maternal inheritance.

In this work, patients having type 2 diabetes mellitus and diabetic mothers were tested for the presence of mitochondrial DNA point mutation A3243G. This mutation is associated with the MELAS syndrome (mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes), diabetes and deafness. Twenty-two diabetic persons were screened.

Low levels of immunoglobulin A in children with intrinsic asthma: a possible protection against atopy.

Immunoglobulin A and G (IgA, IgG) serum concentrations were detected in children with nonallergic/intrinsic (36 children) or allergic/extrinsic asthma (43 children) and in age-matching control children (40 children). Asthmatic children with allergic asthma had lower IgA (1.36+/-0.

Breastfeeding practices in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina: cross-sectional self-report study.

Aim: To investigate breastfeeding practices among mothers of infants in the city of Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Methods: The cross-sectional self-report study was conducted among 326 mothers of infants visiting the Advisory Center for Infants at the Medical Center in Mostar and at the Children's Department of Mostar University Hospital between January and May 2003. The data were collected from mothers by trained interviewers using a structured interview.

Expression of CD13/aminopeptidase N and CD10/neutral endopeptidase on cultured human keratinocytes.

Keratinocytes actively participate in immune response and inflammation by secreting cytokines and chemokines. Membrane-bound peptidases serve as negative loop in controlling concentration of peptide signalling molecules. Recently, they have also been proposed as additional mechanism of cell-to-cell interaction and as signalling molecules.

Incidence of major congenital malformations in a region of Bosnia and Herzegovina allegedly polluted with depleted uranium.

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of major congenital malformations in West Herzegovina, a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, immediately and five years after 1991-1995 military activities, which allegedly included the use of weapons with depleted uranium.

Methods: The study included all live-born and stillborn neonates and excluded all aborted fetuses in two one-year cohorts (1995 and 2000) of neonates in the Maternity Ward of the Mostar University Hospital. Malformations were recorded according to the recommendations of the EUROCAT protocol.

Chronic tension-type headache in school-aged children--personality traits and behavior.

Basic personality traits and specific behavior characteristics were assess in 39 patients (12 to 15 years old) having chronic tension-type headache. Patients were referred for clinical examination to the Neural-pediatrics Ward of the Department of Pediatrics, Osijek, Croatia. Eysenck Personality Questionnaire--Juniors (EPQ-J), a new Croatian personality Questionnaire of domination, aggression, introversion and ambition (DAIA), were applied for the testing.

Methionine enkephalin suppresses metabolic activity of a leukemic cell line (NALM-1) and enhances CD10 expression.

NALM-1 cells (a cell line derived from human pre-B leukemia) were exposed to the opioid pentapeptide methionine-enkephalin (Met-enkephalin) and/or to thiorphan, an inhibitor of the enzyme that degrades the enkephalins (membrane endopeptidase EC 3.4.24.

Oligopeptide fragments of the enkephalin molecule interfere with hematopoietic cell colony formation.

Dipeptide Tyr-Gly and tripeptide Tyr-Gly-Gly representing the NH(2)-end of the Met-enkephalin molecule inhibited the GM-colony formation in clonal cultures of mouse bone marrow cells. Intermediate or C00H-terminal dipeptides Gly-Gly and Phe-Met respectively were inneffective. The suppressive effects were not abolished by opioid receptor blocking agent naloxone and only partly so by depletion of the accessory (adherent) cells.

Spinal dysraphism associated with congenital heart disorder in a girl with MELAS syndrome and point mutation at mitochondrial DNA nucleotide 3271.

We describe a case of mitochondrial encephalopathy, lactacidosis, and stroke-like episode (MELAS syndrome) associated with ventricular septal defect and meningocele at the L3 level in a 5-year-old girl. Mitochondrial DNA analysis showed point mutation at nucleotide 3271--> TC. The occurrence of heart and neural tube defects in association with usual features of the MELAS syndrome might be explained by either defective high-energy metabolism during early embryogenesis or a common genetic cause.

The effect of the zeolite clinoptilolite on serum chemistry and hematopoiesis in mice.

Zeolites are natural or synthetic crystalline alumosilicates with ion exchanging properties. Supplied in fodder, they promote biomass production and animal health. Our aim was to assess the effects of the natural zeolite, clinoptilolite, on hematopoiesis, serum electrolytes and essential biochemical indicators of kidney and liver function in mice.

[What a physician should know about zeolites].

Zeolites are natural and synthetic hydrated crystalline aluminosilicates endowed with absorptive and ion exchange properties. They have found numerous and multifarous applications--in industry as catalysts and absorbents, in water sanitation for the removal of ammonia and heavy metals, in agriculture as fertilizers, and in animal husbandry as the absorbents of excreted material and as food additives. Medical applications have included the use in filtration systems for anesthesia or dialysis and as the contrast materials in NMR imaging.

Effect of opioid peptide methionine-enkephalin in long-term cultures of human bone marrow.

Methionine enkephalin, an opioid peptide belonging to the family of neuropeptides, has been shown to function as a neurotransmitter, hormone and growth factor. The present work explored its effects in long-term culture of bone marrow cells, harvested from a patient with acute lymphoid leukemia (ALL-L3) in the second complete remission. Nine cultivation flasks were established and maintained for five weeks, with medium renewal once a week.

Effects of a membrane-metallopeptidase blocking agent thiorphan in long-term cultures of human bone marrow.

Thiorphan [(DL-3-mercapto-2-benzylpropanoyl)-glycine], a drug blocking the activity of membrane metalloendopeptidase EC 3.4.24.

Thiorphan, an inhibitor of neutral endopeptidase/enkephalinase (CD10/CALLA) enhances cell proliferation in bone marrow cultures of patients with acute leukemia in remission.

Thiorphan, (DL-mercapto-2-benzylpropanoyl)-glycine is a potent and specific inhibitor of membrane metallo-endopeptidase (EC 3.4.24.