Evidencing Protective and Risk Factors for Harmful Alcohol Drinking in Adolescence: A Prospective Analysis of Sport-Participation and Scholastic-Achievement in Older Adolescents from Croatia.

: The prevalence of alcohol drinking (AD) in Croatian adolescents is alarming, but there is an evident lack of prospective analyses of the protective/risk factors of AD. This study aimed to prospectively investigate the relationships between scholastic and sport factors and harmful alcohol drinking (HD) in older adolescents. : The participants (n = 644, 53.

Status of faecal pollution in ports: A basin-wide investigation in the Adriatic Sea.

Ports are subject to a variety of anthropogenic impacts, and there is mounting evidence of faecal contamination through several routes. Yet, little is known about pollution in ports by faecal indicator bacteria (FIB). FIB spatio-temporal dynamics were assessed in 12 ports of the Adriatic Sea, a semi-enclosed basin under strong anthropogenic pressure, and their relationships with environmental variables were explored to gain insight into pollution sources.

Potential transfer of aquatic organisms via ballast water with a particular focus on harmful and non-indigenous species: A survey from Adriatic ports.

Ballast water discharges may cause negative impacts to aquatic ecosystems, human health and economic activities by the introduction of potentially harmful species. Fifty untreated ballast water tanks, ten in each port, were sampled in four Adriatic Italian ports and one Slovenian port. Salinity, temperature and fluorescence were measured on board.

Phytoplankton diversity in Adriatic ports: Lessons from the port baseline survey for the management of harmful algal species.

An inventory of phytoplankton diversity in 12 Adriatic ports was performed with the port baseline survey. Particular emphasis was put on the detection of harmful aquatic organisms and pathogens (HAOP) because of their negative impact on ecosystem, human health, and the economy. Phytoplanktonic HAOP are identified as species, either native or non-indigenous (NIS), which can trigger harmful algal blooms (HAB).

Citrus fruits freshness assessment using Raman spectroscopy.

The freshness of citrus fruits commonly available in the market was non-destructively assessed by Raman spectroscopy. Intact clementine, mandarin and tangerine species were characterised concerning their carotenoids skin Raman signalling in a time course from the moment they were acquired as fresh stock, supplying the market, to the physical degradation, when they were no longer attractive to consumers. The freshness was found to strongly correlate to the peel Raman signal collected from the same area of the intact fruits in a time course of a maximum of 20days.

Distribution and diversity of marine picocyanobacteria community: Targeting of Prochlorococcus ecotypes in winter conditions (southern Adriatic Sea).

Adriatic, the northernmost part of the Mediterranean Sea, due its oligotrophy, topography, and hydrology dynamics, and complex circulation patterns, was suggested as an important study site for rapid climatology impacts. Its southern part is mainly oligotrophic and dominated by picophytoplankton, with cyanobacteria as main representatives. Diversity and distribution patterns of different Prochlorococcus ecotypes were investigated by molecular tools and flow cytometry during the winter convection event in the southern Adriatic (BIOTA winter cruise; February/March 2015).

Prospective Analysis of the Influence of Sport and Educational Factors on the Prevalence and Initiation of Smoking in Older Adolescents from Croatia.

The prevalence of smoking among Croatian adolescents is alarmingly high, but no previous study has prospectively examined the sport- and academic-factors associated with smoking and smoking initiation. This study aimed to prospectively examine the associations between scholastic (educational) achievement and sport factors and smoking in 16- to 18-year-old adolescents. This two-year prospective cohort study included 644 adolescents who were 16 years of age at baseline (46% females).

Early detection of COPD patients in GOLD 0 population: an observational non-interventional cohort study - MARKO study.

Background: Main risk factor for the development of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is smoking, although only less than 1/3 of smokers develop clinically manifest COPD. COPD's progressive nature with high disability and mortality makes it plausible to detect it as early as possible thus allowing for an early intervention. The only tool for an early diagnosis that could be used on the global scale is spirometry, even though symptoms and deprivation of health related quality of life (HRQoL) precede relevant spirometric changes.

Fish fin-clips as a non-lethal approach for biomonitoring of mercury contamination in aquatic environments and human health risk assessment.

Muscle tissue and pectoral fins of two important indicator fish species, frequently used in biomonitoring programs, were sampled and analysed for total mercury content (THg) at six localities within the Czech Republic. The relationship between mercury concentration in muscle and in fin-clips was described. Mean values of THg fin-clip concentration correlate significantly (p < 0.

Diagnostic accuracy of a pocket screening spirometer in diagnosing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in general practice: a cross sectional validation study using tertiary care as a reference.

Background: COPD-6™ is a lung function testing device for a rapid pre-spirometry testing to screen-out at-risk individuals not having COPD and indicating those at risk. The aim of this study was to validate COPD-6™ lung function testing (index test) in general practice in discriminating patients with COPD out of the population at risk - smokers/ex-smokers with no previous diagnosis of COPD, using measurements at tertiary care as reference standard.

Methods: Consecutive 227 subjects (115 women, 185 smokers/42 ex-smokers, ≥20 pack-years) with no previous diagnosis of COPD, aged 52.

Exhaled Breath Temperature as a Novel Marker of Future Development of COPD: Results of a Follow-Up Study in Smokers.

Although only less than one-third of smokers develop COPD, early marker(s) of COPD development are lacking. The aim of this research was to assess the ability of an average equilibrium exhaled breath temperature (EBT) in identifying susceptibility to cigarette smoke so as to predict COPD development in smokers at risk. The study was a part of a multicenter prospective cohort study in current smokers (N = 140, both sexes, 40-65 years, ≥20 pack-years) with no prior diagnosis of COPD.

Evidencing the association between swimming capacities and performance indicators in water polo: a multiple regression study.

Background: Swimming capacities are hypothesized to be important determinants of water polo performance but there is an evident lack of studies examining different swimming capacities in relation to specific offensive and defensive performance variables in this sport. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between five swimming capacities and six performance determinants in water polo.

Methods: The sample comprised 79 high-level youth water polo players (all males, 17-18 years of age).

WITHDRAWN: First record and distribution of the black pygmy mussel, Limnoperna securis (Lamarck, 1819) in the eastern Adriatic and Ionian seas.

This article has been withdrawn at the request of the author(s) and/or editor. The Publisher apologizes for any inconvenience this may cause. The full Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal can be found at http://www.

A hundred years of change in wild vegetable use in southern Herzegovina.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Wild vegetable mixes used in southern Europe are interesting from the pharmacological point of view, as they contain many species which have considerable nutritional and medicinal value, but some are potentially toxic to humans. Although many ethnobotanical studies document the rich tradition of using wild vegetables at the turn of the 20th and 21st century in the Mediterranean region, there is a dearth of older historical studies which could help us to assess the extent of Traditional Knowledge loss.

Material And Methods: The aim of this study was to document the use of wild foods in an area of southern Herzegovina (in Bosnia-Herzegovina) and to compare it with a list of 27 taxa of wild green vegetables used there, compiled in 1913 by Vejsil Ćurčić.

Bacterial diversity in the South Adriatic Sea during a strong, deep winter convection year.

The South Adriatic Sea is the deepest part of the Adriatic Sea and represents a key area for both the Adriatic Sea and the deep eastern Mediterranean. It has a role in dense water formation for the eastern Mediterranean deep circulation cell, and it represents an entry point for water masses originating from the Ionian Sea. The biodiversity and seasonality of bacterial picoplankton before, during, and after deep winter convection in the oligotrophic South Adriatic waters were assessed by combining comparative 16S rRNA sequence analysis and catalyzed reporter deposition-fluorescence in situ hybridization (CARD-FISH).

Amnesic shellfish poisoning biotoxin detection in seawater using pure or amino-functionalized Ag nanoparticles and SERS.

Domoic acid (DA) biotoxin responsible for the amnesic shellfish poisoning (ASP) has been unambiguously detected in seawater in a broad range of concentration, with both pure and amino-functionalized Ag nanoparticles employed for surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). To achieve this, a comprehensive SERS study on DA dissolved in distilled water has been conducted. SERS of DA dissolved in seawater in concentrations ranging from 3.

Sport-specific and anthropometric factors of quality in junior male water polo players.

There is evident lack of studies which examined anthropological determinants of success in water polo. The aim of this investigation was to study the physical fitness differences between two qualitative levels of junior water polo players (males; 16-18 years of age; 6+ year of experience in water polo). The sample (N = 54) comprised of 13 members of the junior national-squad (5 centers and 8 perimeter players), and 41 team-athletes (11 centers and 30 perimeter players).

Controlling factors of phytoplankton seasonal succession in oligotrophic Mali Ston Bay (south-eastern Adriatic).

Fine spatial and temporal phytoplankton variability in Mali Ston Bay has been observed for the first time based on physicochemical properties and small herbivorous zooplankton. Extensive year-through research was conducted during 2002 at Usko station which is traditionally an area of intensive shellfish farming. The Neretva River inflow, submarine springs ("vruljas") and precipitation are additional sources of nutrients in the bay.

Mass occurrence of the ctenophore Bolinopsis vitrea (L. Agassiz, 1860) in the nearshore southern Adriatic Sea (Kotor Bay, Montenegro).

The ctenophore Bolinopsis vitrea has been rarely observed in the Mediterranean Sea. A bloom of B. vitrea is here reported for the first time in the southern Adriatic Sea in the spring and summer of 2009, together with its effect on the plankton of Kotor Bay.

Reproductive cycles of Mugil cephalus, Liza ramada and Liza aurata (Teleostei: Mugilidae).

The reproductive cycles of three mullet species from the Eastern Adriatic coast were described using several biological parameters (gonado-somatic index, oocyte diameter and sex ratio) to improve knowledge about their reproduction.

[Meleda disease (Mal de Meleda): historical shifts in perception].

Nowadays, hereditary diseases are viewed through molecular mechanisms, and one of them, which keeps occurring rather frequently in medical publications, has been named after the Island of Mljet. The world first learned about mal de Meleda from a Dubrovnik physician Luka Stulli in 1826. He described it in a number of his island patients as a non-contagious hereditary skin disease, and named it mal de Meleda (a disease of Mljet).

Methyl mercury inhibits short-circuit current and Cl- influx across isolated epipodite of European lobster (Homarus gammarus).

The effect of methyl mercuric chloride (MeHg) on short-circuit current (I(SC)) was studied in the isolated perfused epipodite preparation from the branchial chamber of European lobster (Homarus gammarus) acclimated to dilute seawater. When applied at the apical surface, 0.2, 1.