Natural and anthropogenic impact on the microclimate and particulate matter in the UNESCO show cave.

Particulate matter concentrations (PM, PM, PM) and microclimatic parameters (air temperature, CO) were monitored in the Škocjan Caves (Slovenia). The effects of tourist visits on the PM concentrations and the cave's microclimate are immediate and direct, but these values normalise relatively quickly. The results showed seasonal, diurnal, and spatial differences in all parameters studied.

A common allele increases endometrial Wnt4 expression, with antagonistic implications for pregnancy, reproductive cancers, and endometriosis.

The common human SNP rs3820282 is associated with multiple phenotypes including gestational length and likelihood of endometriosis and cancer, presenting a paradigmatic pleiotropic variant. Deleterious pleiotropic mutations cause the co-occurrence of disorders either within individuals, or across population. When adverse and advantageous effects are combined, pleiotropy can maintain high population frequencies of deleterious alleles.

Fine particulate matter (PM) exposure assessment among active daily commuters to induce behaviour change to reduce air pollution.

Fine particulate matter (PM), a detrimental urban air pollutant primarily emitted by traffic and biomass burning, poses disproportionately significant health risks at relatively limited exposure during commuting. Previous studies have mainly focused on fixed locations when assessing PM exposure, while neglecting pedestrians and cyclists, who often experience higher pollution levels. In response, this research aimed to independently validate the effectiveness of bicycle-mounted low-cost sensors (LCS) adopted by citizens, evaluate temporal and spatial PM exposure, and assess associated health risks in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Differential influence of basic psychological needs on burnout and academic achievement in three southeast European countries.

Several studies show the importance of basic psychological needs (BPN) for decreasing burnout and increasing grade point average (GPA), but, to our knowledge, no prior study has explored the potential contextual differences in Southeastern European countries. Moreover, even less is known about how this relationship may differ during stressful (exam) and less stressful (beginning of the semester) periods. Measures of the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey and BPN Satisfaction and Frustration Scale were translated and adapted.

Systematic Literature Review: Inter-Reletedness of Innovation, Resilience and Sustainability - Major, Emerging Themes and Future Research Directions.

Rationale: Research has been using resilience, sustainability and innovation interchangeably, but there is a lack of research that would provide an insight into how they are related to each other. This systematic literature review thus investigates research on sustainability, innovation and resilience, how they are related to each other, and also identifies major, emerging themes and future research directions on these topics.

Procedure: We used Bibliometrix software to visually describe articles with the highest number of citations, to present the thematic evolution of the field and present a historical map.

Continuous Dopaminergic Stimulation Improves Cortical Maladaptive Changes in Advanced Parkinson's Disease.

Background: With the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD), pulsatile treatment with oral levodopa causes maladaptive changes within basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical circuits, which are clinically expressed as motor fluctuations and dyskinesias. At the level of the motor cortex, these changes may be detected using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), as abnormal corticospinal and intracortical excitability and absent response to plasticity protocols.

Objective: We investigated the effect of continuous dopaminergic stimulation on cortical maladaptive changes related to oral levodopa treatment.

Effect of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown to elemental composition of peat mosses.

Sphagnum mosses are used for biomonitoring air pollution. In 2019, samples were taken from two peat bogs areas in Germany and two in Slovenia to determine differences in their levels of potentially toxic elements (PTE). The Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) lockdown caused a global decrease in air pollution.

Sleep and Safety Improve Physicians' Psychological Functioning at Work During Covid-19 Epidemic.

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic caused a massive healthcare crisis. To investigate what makes healthcare system resilient and physicians better at coping during a crisis situation, our study investigated the role risk exposure, such as working at COVID-19 entry points, sleep, and perceived work safety played in reducing negative psychological functioning at work, as well as their effects on adverse and potentially fatal incidences of compromised safety and medical errors.

Methods: Our study included a representative sample of 1,189 physicians, from all 12 Slovenian regions and all medical occupations, as registered by the Medical Chamber of Slovenia.

Contamination of children's sandboxes with potentially toxic elements in historically polluted industrial city.

When playing in sandboxes, children are particularly vulnerable to poisoning with potentially toxic elements (PTE) due to their hand-to-mouth behaviour. In Slovenia, the city of Celje is heavily contaminated due to zinc ore smelting and iron industry. In some sandboxes, sand from Mežica Pb-Zn mine waste was used.

Central nystagmus in progressive supranuclear palsy: A neglected clinical feature?

Background: Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) features parkinsonism characterized by early postural instability, falls and prominent eye movement abnormalities that consist of saccadic slowing, followed by gaze limitation. Nystagmus is not considered typical for PSP, being more commonly associated with multiple system atrophy.

Objectives: To describe the prevalence and phenomenology of nystagmus in patients with PSP.

Sources of sulphate minerals in limestone cave-a possible evidence of anthropogenic activity: a case study in Črna Jama Cave (Slovenia).

In the caves, the formation of cave minerals is a consequence of a variety of chemical reactions, some of them also due to human activity. There are many caves in Slovenia, but sulphate minerals are not very often reported and analysed. In this study, the presence of sulphate minerals is detected by SEM/EDS analysis of speleothems from Črna Jama, a cave near Kočevje (southern Slovenia).

Environmental characterisation of sewage sludge/paper ash-based composites in relation to their possible use in civil engineering.

The environmental acceptability of geotechnical composites made of treated municipal sewage sludge (SwS) and paper ash (PA) after two different curing periods has been investigated. The mineral composition of such composites, including their content of major oxides, is mainly influenced by the PA. The content of potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in the initial materials and in the composites varies considerably.

Application of Scanning Electron Microscopy/Energy-Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy for Characterization of Detrital Minerals in Karst Cave Speleothems.

Micro-scale observations in karst caves help to identify different processes that shaped local morphology. Scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy inspection of speleothems from two karst caves in Slovenia, Predjama and Črna Jama, confirmed the presence of sub-angular to sub-rounded detrital fragments of clay minerals, feldspars, quartz, Fe-oxides/hydroxides, rutile and Nb-rutile, xenotime, kassite, allanite, fluorapatite, epidote, ilmenite, monazite, sphene, and zircon, between 2 and 50 μm across. These occur in porous layers separating calcite laminae in the clayey coating on the layer below the surface of the speleothems, and are also incorporated within actual crystals.

Serious games for improving knowledge and self-management in young people with chronic conditions: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Objective: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials assessing the effectiveness of serious games in improving knowledge and/or self-management behaviors in young people with chronic conditions.

Materials And Methods: The authors searched the databases PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Sciences, and PsychINFO for articles published between January 1990 and January 2014. Reference lists were hand-searched to retrieve additional studies.

Effectiveness of structured patient education on the knowledge level of adolescents and adults with congenital heart disease.

Background: Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) have poor understanding of their heart condition, treatment and prevention of complications. To improve their level of health-related knowledge, a structured education program was implemented in the adult congenital heart disease program. This study aimed (a) to evaluate the level of knowledge of patients who received structured CHD education as compared to patients who did not receive this education; (b) to explore if the provision of structured education is an independent determinant of knowledge; and (c) to evaluate whether patients who received structured education reached the educational target (>80% correct answers).

Health risk behaviors in adolescents and emerging adults with congenital heart disease: psychometric properties of the Health Behavior Scale-Congenital Heart Disease.

Background: To optimize long-term outcomes, patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) should adopt health-promoting behaviors. Studies on health behavior in afflicted patients are scarce and comparability of study results is limited. To enlarge the body of evidence, we have developed the Health Behavior Scale-Congenital Heart Disease (HBS-CHD).

Epilepsy treatment in Rett syndrome.

Rett syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder predominately affecting females. The majority of patients have epilepsy in the early stages of the disease. This study evaluates the clinical course of epilepsy and the effect of antiepileptic drug treatment in Rett syndrome using retrospective data analysis.

Manifestations and treatment of Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia: 14 new cases and a review of the literature.

Unlabelled: Schimke immuno-osseous dysplasia (SIOD) is a rare autosomal recessive spondylo-epiphyseal dysplasia. The characteristic features of SIOD include 1) short stature with hyperpigmented macules and an unusual facies, 2) proteinuria with progressive renal failure, 3) lymphopenia with recurrent infections, and 4) cerebral ischaemia. Although 25 patients have been reported with this disorder, the clinical course and phenotype of SIOD are not well characterized.

Concomitant chemoradiotherapy for incompletely resected supratentorial low-grade astrocytoma in children: preliminary report.

Background: In incompletely resected low-grade supratentorial astrocytoma, long-term survival is poor; the effect of any additional treatment to surgery still remains poorly defined. The aim of this study was to evaluate the response, the survival, and the benefit of concomitant chemoradiotherapy in eight children who had incompletely resected supratentorial low-grade astrocytoma.

Procedure: There were six boys and two girls, aged 4-15 years.

Genetic epidemiology of Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophy in Slovenia.

Most population studies on Duchenne (DMD) and Becker (BMD) muscular dystrophies predated the discovery of the gene and its product dystrophin. The diagnosis of these conditions and consequent epidemiological estimates were therefore limited to clinical criteria. In our study of the Slovene population the prevalence and cumulative incidence of DMD and BMD were calculated by including additional diagnostic tests: deletion screening in the dystrophin gene as well as dystrophin immunocytochemistry.

Two unusual recurrences of intracranial germinoma.

Two recurrent cases of intracranial suprasellar germinoma, with relapses at 55 and 16 months, respectively, after the end of primary therapy strongly effective against pure germinoma, are presented. Human chorionic gonadotropin beta subunit was elevated in the cerebrospinal fluid and in the serum in both patients at the time of recurrence but not before. This and resulting treatment failures suggest that there were also other, more resistant elements within the primary tumor, which have not been identified in biopsy specimens.

Intracranial germinoma: report of seven cases.

Seven children with histologically verified intracranial germinomas, treated between 1983-1987, are reviewed. The four boys were 12, 14, 15, and 16 years old; two girls were 9, and one girl was 10 years old. Four tumors were suprasellar, and three were in the pineal region.

Plasma acetylcholinesterase in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

Muscle acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in unregulated in animal and human muscular dystrophies and its activity is elevated in plasma of dystrophic chickens, probably due to a leakage from affected muscles. It is possible to measure AChE activity in human plasma in spite of high butyrylcholinesterase activity if acetyl-beta-methylcholine is used as the substrate and butyrylcholinesterase is inhibited by iso-OMPA. It has been found that, unlike in chickens, the plasma AChE activity in human newborns is not higher than that in adults.