Maruška Vidovič

Croatia is known in the world of population genetics for its many island isolates with low level of heterozygosity and high level of inbreeding that have already been extensively studied. We have analyzed maternal genetic variation of two Croatian regions, Southern Dalmatia (Islands of Mljet and Lastovo and the city of Dubrovnik) and the Žumberak province (northern Croatia), which also offers an interesting genetic story based on its turbulent demographic history and the presence of Uskoks. Mitochondrial DNA polymorphisms were explored in 68 inhabitans from Mljet, 51 from Lastovo, 181 from the coastal city of Dubrovnik and 81 from Žumberak. All mtDNA detected haplogroups were of typical European origin. However, the frequency distribution of their subclades differed to a certain extent from other Croatian and European populations. Island of Mljet has the lowest reported haplotype and nucleotide diversity recorded among Croatian isolates and Island of Lastovo a new sublineage of a us...

Dementia has been the subject of numerous medical and anthropological studies for more than two decades. This serious neurodegenerative disease that mainly affects the elderly can occur also in people who are still employed which is associated with the impairment of their ability to work and consequently with costs. The aim of our study was to display the economic consequences due to health absenteeism related to dementia in Slovenia in the period from 2015 to 2019. The methodology of direct and indirect costs was used. We limited ourselves to show the indirect cost-health absenteeism due to dementia, which includes loss of goods, services, early retirement, and premature death. The Database on temporary absence from work was used as data source and International Classification of Diseases as the source of the diagnoses. The cost of absenteeism due to dementia amounted to 11% of all calculated indirect costs in the period 2015–2019. All indirect costs amounted to 0.025% of health ex...

Slovenia is a European country situated at the crossroads of main European cultural and trade routes. It is geographically more linked to Central Europe, but history draws it closer together to its ex-Yugoslavian, Southeast European (SEE) neighbors. Slovenian maternal heritage has not been analyzed since 2003 and our aim was to analyze SNP markers of 97 Slovenian mtDNAs in high resolution to see where this population fits according to its maternal genetic variation. We compared the Slovenian sample with the neighboring SEE populations, as well as with other published European population datasets. Also, we compared the obtained mtDNA variation results with the available Slovenian Y chromosome data to see how these two uniparental marker systems correspond to each other. In the PC plot based on mtDNA haplogroups frequencies, Slovenian population has an outlying position mostly due to the increased prevalence of J (14.4%) and T (15.4%) clade and especially because of the abundance and ...

The results of the retrospective analysis of data on vaccination coverage in the preschool-aged and school-aged Roma children (436 preschool and 551 schoolchildren) in three geographical regions of Slovenia were analyzed to establish the differences concerning coverage for specific vaccinations: poliomyelitis, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, measles, mumps and rubella between the two generation. The data were obtained from health records, immunization records (Vaccination booklet) and National Computerized Immunization System (CEPI 2000). Vaccination coverage was calculated by comparing the number of children eligible for immunization with the number of vaccinated children. This article performs the log-rank statistical test, also known as the Mantel-Haenszel test. Log rang test is comparing survival curves for two generations. Preschool-aged Roma children showed higher vaccination coverage than the school-aged Roma generation. There was no significance difference in the generations...

The historical records of Selska Valley reveal that the eastern part of this area was first settled by Slovene agrarian colonists, the western part by German colonists and the central part by Friulians. These were later followed by Slovene and Slovenized settlers, who penetrated the valley from north to south. Because of its reproductive isolation, the population of Selska Valley is highly suitable for the study of population structures. The quantitative traits of the digital and palmar dermatoglyphs are polygenetically determined characteristics, which, due to their selective inertness to changes, may provide an insight into microevolutionary processes. The purpose of our study was to identify the possible differences between the populations of villages in the valley and the mountain villages attributable to various migration flows through history. Altogether 340 finger and palm prints of 163 males and 177 females were collected in two groups of villages: (1) the lowland villages (Praprotno, Bukovica, Sevlje, Dolenja vas, Selca, Zelezniki and Zali log), and (2) the mountain villages (Podlonk, Prtovc, Spodnje Danje, Zgornja Sorica and Spodnja Sorica). The 18 dermatoglyphic variables were analyzed. A statistical analysis using standard methods was performed and the latent structure evaluated using factor analysis. The discriminant analysis and latent structure of the quantitative properties of dermatoglyphs suggest the presence of certain differences in gene pools of two studied populations (the group of villages in the valley and the group of mountain villages). It is highly probable that these differences can be attributed to low migration in the Selska Valley and to the 'selective inertness' of quantitative dermatoglyphic traits. In a previous study, no significant biological differences between the studied populations were found in qualitative dermatoglyphic traits. This indicates that Selska Valley and its village populations represent a specific isolate, and therefore expanded studies of this type could significantly contribute to a better understanding of the population concerned and isolates in general.

In this project we use an age-stratified sample of 100 men and 100 women aged 55 years and older who were residents of the Selska valley in order to explore two health indices, allostatic load (AL), and frailty. AL assesses lifelong stress responses using commonly assessed and clinically meaningful aspects of physiology; our frailty index assesses current somatic well-being using 5 aspects of functioning. Both correlate with clinical morbidity, self-reported health, life style, health history, and well-being. Our research site includes 9 villages located in the isolated Selska valley. Given their relative isolation, residents of this region provide a natural experimental setting for assessing stress, frailty, morbidity, and senescence in a local isolate. This isolated alpine setting provides numerous advantages for continuing research on health, disease and senescence. Our fieldwork protocols include detailed health demographic and SES interviews, measurement of blood pressure, anth...

Frailty, multi-system dysregulation following multiple life stressors, is associated with age and vulnerability to negative health. Our model posits that variables such as age and sex affect biocultural changes resulting from lifestyle and alter frailty. We assessed frailty with a four-factor index. We expand understanding of frailty by examining associations with demographic, health, and lifestyle factors in a Slovenian sample. Between 2008 and 2009, 40 residents of the Selska Valley, Slovenia aged 55 to 85 years (X = 72, SD = 7.24) participated in physical assessments, responded to the SF-36, and self-reported their own and family history of non-communicable diseases. Participants included 26 women (age 59-86) and 14 men (age 57-82). We used linear regression and t-tests to assess associations of these factors with frailty. Frailty was significantly positively associated with age, sex, length of residence in the village, and multiple self-reported health factors. Conversely, frail...

Frailty, multi-system dysregulation following multiple life stressors, is associated with age and vulnerability to negative health. Our model posits that variables such as age and sex affect biocultural changes resulting from lifestyle and alter frailty. We assessed frailty with a four-factor index. We expand understanding of frailty by examining associations with demographic, health, and lifestyle factors in a Slovenian sample. Between 2008 and 2009, 40 residents of the Selska Valley, Slovenia aged 55 to 85 years (X = 72, SD = 7.24) participated in physical assessments, responded to the SF-36, and self-reported their own and family history of non-communicable diseases. Participants included 26 women (age 59-86) and 14 men (age 57-82). We used linear regression and t-tests to assess associations of these factors with frailty. Frailty was significantly positively associated with age, sex, length of residence in the village, and multiple self-reported health factors. Conversely, frail...

The paper presents nutrition as a fundamental biological function in connection with art from wider Skofjelosko-Selska area on the examples of medieval wall paintings-frescoes, painted beehive panels and examples of folk art such as small breads, Dražgose breads and some other folk arts related to nutrition. The study on nutrition and art was included in the multi-year project Research of the Population Structures of Slovenia, with which we determine the types of populations, the direction of their development, their ecological, genetic and other effects, as well as their interactions. DOI   https://doi.org/10.5671/ca.45.1.9

To assess age and symptom experience at menopause in a high-altitude population in the Selska Valley of Slovenia. In four mountain villages, all houses were approached and 80% of eligible residents were interviewed. Additional women were interviewed for comparison in the valley below. Age at interview ranged from 32.7 to 85.5 years, with a mean of 58.2 years. The majority of women (62%) were aged 40 to 65 years. Of the 58 women interviewed, 7 had undergone menopause by hysterectomy (12%). Recalled age at natural menopause ranged from 42 to 54, with a mean of 50.3 (SD 2.9). By probit analysis, median age at natural menopause was 52.03. Fifty-five percent of participants reported ever having experienced a hot flash, although only 24% reported hot flashes during the 2 weeks before being interviewed. When the sample was limited to women aged 40 to 65, frequency of hot flashes in the 2 weeks before the interview was 39%. For all participants, the most frequent complaint was lack of energy (66%), followed by backaches (59%), and joint stiffness (53%). In contrast to expectations, age at menopause was not earlier and hot flash frequency was not significantly lower at higher elevations.

High mtDNA variation in Southeastern Europe (SEE) is a reflection of the turbulent and complex demographic history of this area, influenced by gene flow from various parts of Eurasia and a long history of intermixing. Our results of 1035 samples (488 from Croatia, 239 from Bosnia and 130 from Herzegovina, reported earlier, and 97 Slovenians and 81 individuals from Žumberak, reported here for the first time) show that the SEE maternal genetic diversity fits within a broader European maternal genetic landscape. The study also shows that the population of Žumberak, located in the continental part of Croatia, developed some unique mtDNA haplotypes and elevated haplogroup frequencies due to distinctive demographic history and can be considered a moderate genetic isolate. We also report seven samples from the Bosnian population and one Herzegovinian sample designated as X2* individuals that could not be assigned to any of its sublineages (X2a'o) according to the existing X2 phylogeny. In an attempt to clarify the phylogeny of our X2 samples, their mitochondrial DNA has been completely sequenced. We suppose that these lineages are signs of local microdifferentiation processes that occurred in the recent demographic past in this area and could possibly be marked as SEE-specific X2 sublineages.