Sugar-cane extract may favorably alter lipid level

Dr. Zeljko Reiner from University Hospital Center Zagreb in Croatia
 

Mon Nov 28, 2005 8:33 PM GMT
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The results of a new study provide more evidence that rice policosanol -- a mixture of alcohols extracted from sugar-cane wax -- has favorable effects on serum lipids.

In an 8-week study of 70 patients with very high cholesterol levels, 10 milligrams of rice policosanol daily significantly reduced total cholesterol concentrations in plasma and increased apolipoprotein A1 -- a protein portion of "good" HDL cholesterol that carries cholesterol in the blood.

Dr. Zeljko Reiner from University Hospital Center Zagreb in Croatia and two associates describe their study in the journal Clinical Drug Investigation.

The combination of high total cholesterol and "bad" LDL cholesterol and low "good" HDL cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart disease, they note in the paper. Large studies have clearly shown that lowering elevated total and LDL cholesterol through diet, exercise, and cholesterol-lowering drug therapy is beneficial.

However, concerns regarding side effects of chemically derived cholesterol-lowering drugs have fueled interest in naturally derived agents, such as rice policosanol. This compound has been shown to lower total and LDL cholesterol in animal models, healthy volunteers, and in those with very high cholesterol levels.

The current findings from Reiner and colleagues support rice policosanol's favorable effects on serum lipids.

Compared with placebo, policosanol for 8 weeks significantly lowered plasma total cholesterol from 7.37 to 6.99 mmol/L and increased Apo A1 from 1.49 to 1.58 mmol/L, Reiner and colleagues report.

In this brief study, however, the researchers could not prove a significant reduction in triglycerides or LDL cholesterol or increase in HDL cholesterol with policosanol, as has been shown in other studies. It may be that the dose of policosanol used (10 milligrams daily) was too low and the duration of the study was too short, the authors offer.

There were no side effects from policosanol therapy.

Reiner and colleagues conclude that further study of rice policosanol as a potentially natural cholesterol-lowering aid is warranted.

SOURCE: Clinical Drug Investigation, November 2005.

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=healthNews&storyID=2005-11-28T203332Z_01_FLE873937_RTRIDST_0_HEALTH-SUGAR-CANE-DC.XML&archived=False
 

Milan Zudic

Mr. Zudic died Dec. 27, 2005, at his residence.

Funeral services for Milan Zudic, 83, of Euclid, will be 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Christine Catholic Church, 840 E. 222 St., in Euclid.

Milan Zudic
Funeral services for Milan Zudic, 83, of Euclid, will be 9:30 a.m. Saturday at St. Christine Catholic Church, 840 E. 222 St., in Euclid. Mr. Zudic died Dec. 27, 2005, at his residence.
Born July 27, 1922, in Croatia, he had lived in Cleveland before moving to Euclid 30 years ago.
He came to the United States in 1967, from Croatia. He was a hard worker, honest, loyal and firm in his beliefs.
Mr. Zudic retired from Cleveland Twist Drill, where he had worked as a mason/machinist.
Survivors are his wife, Ana; son, Mirko (Ann) of Euclid; daughters, Maria Kobal of Euclid and Nevia Avzlahar of Wickliffe; grandchildren, Alex (Heidi) Kobal, Erik (Nadia) Kobal, Michael Zudic, Michelle Zudic and Daniel Zudic; great-grandson, Joseph Kobal; brother, Joe Zudic of Canada; sister, Stefi Rosen of Australia; and many brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, cousins, nieces, nephews, great-nieces and nephews. His brother, Zeljko Zudic; sister, Maria Zudic; and son-in-law, Drago Avzlahar, are deceased. Friends may call 2 to 5 and 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the DeJohn-Flynn-Mylott Funeral Home of Willoughby Hills, 28890 Chardon Road, (between Bishop Road and Route 91). Burial will be in All Souls Cemetery in Chardon Township. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be made to Hospice of the Western Reserve, 300 E. 185th St., Cleveland 44119, or the charity of your choice.
Directions online at www.DeJohnFuneral.com.

http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1698&dept_id=21847&newsid=15830851&PAG=461&rfi=9

News-Herald serving northeast Ohio
 

Vjekoslav Mihic

Obituaries
08/21/2005

Funeral services for Vjekoslav Mihic, 75, of Timberlake, will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Monreal Funeral Home, 35400 Curtis Blvd., Eastlake.

Vjekoslav Mihic
Funeral services for Vjekoslav Mihic, 75, of Timberlake, will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Monreal Funeral Home, 35400 Curtis Blvd., Eastlake.
Born March 30, 1930, in Zagreb, Croatia, he lived in Euclid before moving to Timberlake 30 years ago.
Survivors are his wife of 31 years, Elinor (Reed); son, John; sister, Ana (Josip) Svircevic; niece, Tia Svircevic; nephew, Daniel Svircevic; and many cousins living in Croatia.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ivan and Ecija Mihic.
Friends may call 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Monday at the funeral home. Burial will be in All Souls Cemetery, Chardon Township. Online at www.monreal.com.

http://www.news-herald.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1698&dept_id=21847&newsid=15071355&PAG=461&rfi=9
 

The Cookies

At an airport one night
With several long hours
Before her flight.
She hunted for a book
In an airport shop,
Bought a bag of cookies
And found a place to drop.
She was engrossed in her book
But happened to see,
That the man sitting beside her,
As bold as could be,
Grabbed a cookie or two
From the bag in between,
Which she tried to ignore
To avoid a scene.
So she munched the cookies
And watched the clock,
As the gutsy cookie thief
Diminished her stock.
She was getting more irritated
As the minutes ticked by,
Thinking, "If I wasn't so nice,
I would blacken his eye."
With each cookie she took,
He took one too,
When only one was left,
She wondered what he would do.
With a smile on his face,
And a nervous laugh,
He took the last cookie
And broke it in half.
He offered her half,
As he ate the other,
She snatched it from him
And thought....ooh, brother!
This guy had some nerve
And he's also rude,
Why he didn't even show
Any gratitude!
She had never known
When she'd been so galled,
And sighed with relief
When her flight was called.
She gathered her belongings
And headed to the gate,
Refusing to look back
At the thieving ingrate.</! DIV
She boarded the plane,
And sank in her seat,
Then she sought her book,
Which was almost complete.
As she reached in her baggage,
She gasped with surprise,
There was her bag of cookies,
In front of her eyes.
If mine are here,
She moaned in despair,
The others were his,
And he tried to share.
Too late to apologize,
She realized with grief,
That she was the rude one,
The ingrate, the thief!
How many times have we absolutely known that something was a certain
way, only to discover later that what we believed to be true....was not?
"Always Keep An Open Mind And An Open Heart.
Because........You Just Never Know!
 

AAASS National Convention in Washington, DC, November 16-19, 2006

ACS members and friends,

I just want to remind all that the next AAASS National Convention will
take place in Washington, DC, November 16-19, 2006. Deadline for
submitting panel or roundtable proposals is January 13, 2006. If you
have not done so, start organizing your panels ASAP and submit them on
time! I especially urge our young(er) scholars to get involved and
organize or participate in AAASS Conventions, and if I or the ACS can be
of any help, please let us know.

In case you don’t have a copy of the October 2005 NewsNet (AAASS
publication), go to the AAASS Web site: www.aaass.org . All necessary
forms and guidelines for panel proposals can be found there. Please,
follow closely the submission instructions published by the AAASS. Let
your panel organizer know in case you might need any audiovisual
equipment. The AAASS provides up to $100.00 worth of equipment.

If the ACS can be of any help in organizing your panel, please let us
know. Let’s make it a good and productive convention in Washington.

Ante Cuvalo
 

Book Review 'Mother’s Memoirs - The Life and Stories of Lucy Marincel'

by Emily Marincel Amberg

By Katarina Tepesh

Among the best way to remember and honor your parents is to listen to their stories, take details notes and eventually write and publish a book. Emily, one of the ten children from Lucija Majnaric and Franjo Marincel, dedicated the book to her parents with grateful thanks for their having the courage to venture to a new land from Croatia.

George Prpic noted how people from Lika, the territory formerly belonging to the Military Frontier, were tough, courageous, witty, naturally intelligent peasant stock. They emigrated primarily for economic reasons: lack of land, overpopulation, destruction caused by phylloxera, poverty, and heavy taxation. But they came also to escape conscription and for other political reasons: the Hapsburg oppression and Magyarization (1867 to 1914), dictatorship in Yugoslavia (1918 to 1939), and Communist take-over in 1945. More than 70,000 (16 percent of the entire population) left Croatia for the United States and the exodus continues.

The main character in the book, Lucija Agnes Majnaric was born on December 13, 1884 in Kosinj, Lika, Croatia.

Much of the book is dedicated to the survival on homestead. The role of religion and church; how young men had to register to serve three years in the ‘foreign’ army where German was spoken under Austro-Hungarian rule. Descriptions of farming and gardening, what food they managed to produce and various cooking recipes for potica, sarma, sauerkraut, stews and soups; joyful Christmas celebrations and traditions; how they produced their own clothing and managed the laundry, a need for constant repairs of the old house and meaning of home; Their undying love for Croatians songs and tamburitza music. Included are also wedding, marriage and inheritance customs, as well as childhood chores and games.

Lucija’s parents accompanied her on the first leg of the journey, a two-day walk from the homestead in Rudinka, through Krasna, to the village of Sveti Juraj on the coast. They spent the night sleeping on the ground along the road. From Sveti Juraj, Lucija and her parents took a small boat to Fiume or Rijeka. The gut wrenching goodbye with her loving parents knowing they will never see each other again.

One way trip to America for Lucija cost about $80.00. During the long voyage of 21 days to the United States, the passengers helped with the work on the ship as part of the price of their passage. Lucija set tables, served food, and washed the dishes.

She arrived in 1911 and married her childhood sweetheart, handsome Franjo Stjepan Marincel, a gentleman and honorable men. In the wedding photo, both look serious, kind of touching hands in the form of shaking hands, as in ‘our hearts are full of hope and now we have a partnership.’ Pretty Lucija wore a veil, gloves and beautiful wedding dress made of soft peach satin. The family has kept the dress for ninety years, but now it is in very poor condition, the material in shreds.

Following church ceremony and the wedding party, Lucija and Franjo went directly to their new home, a shack in one of the mining camps near Virginia. But the time they arrived, it was dawn, time to be up, start cooking, and get to work.

They settled in Mountain Iron, Minnesota, where Lucija gave birth to ten children. Two died in infancy, seven surviving and pregnant with her eighth child when her husband Franjo died in 1931, at age of 47, from pneumonia.

While alive, Franjo worked 10 hours in the iron mines for $2.00 per day. His grueling labor there preceded and followed by hours of additional work at home. Lucija worked the gardens, cooked, cleaned, washed the laundry, took care of the animals (milking, feeding, gathering eggs), and cared for the children. They had boarders in the house as a source of additional income. Lucija cooked and washed for them.

As in most mining towns, life was ‘rough and tough’ on the Iron Range. For the rest of her life, Lucija was often busy making yards of rugs on her homemade loom or braiding round and oblong rugs by hand. Over the years she won many awards. Or else she was knitting mittens or making ‘coklje,’ homemade shoes. She could not write, but dictated letters to her family in Croatia, sending cash and packages of food and clothes.

Keeping in close touch with her numerous brothers and sisters from Croatia, helped Lucija understand the killings taking place during the WWII. There is nothing more powerful than ordinary people telling the truth about the conflict between Croats and Serbs. By reading the book you will find out which soldiers came to the village to steal their last piece of bread, forced the shoes off their feet and shot them in the back when they raised their hands in the gesture of surrender trying to peacefully move towards safety and freedom.

In America, Lucija’s children served in the military and graduated from Colleges. One daughter become active in politics and became the first woman elected to the Hopkins City Council. Though fighting cancer, she helped bring into existence a shelter for battered women and served citizens in many other areas.

After an absence of 60 years, Lucija returned to Croatia for a visit in 1972.

Lucija lived in Minnesota until she celebrated 102. At her funeral in 1987, her grandson said, 'We remember the abiding religious faith that helped her endure a succession of trials – early widowhood, cancer, a broken hip, the deaths of several of her children, and finally old age itself. I remember her always in the middle of family gatherings; seated like a queen on her throne….She represented a living connection with Croatia, with rural life.'

'Mother’s Memoirs' book was privately published in 2004. Copies may be purchased for $15.00 from the author Emily Marincel Amberg, 16510 Tranquility Ct., SE, #203, Prior Lake, MN 55372.
 

New Issue of the Journal of Croatian Studies

The Croatian Academy of America published volume 43 of the Journal of Croatian Studies, an annual interdisciplinary periodical dedicated to Croatian studies.

This exceptional volume includes contributions on recent Bosnian history; towering cultural figures such as Ivo Andrić, Tin Ujević, Ruđer BoĹĄković, and Josip Juraj Strossmayer; the Croatian Renaissance; and Istrian history at the close of World War II when the Allies established a military government in Pula.

Former Bosnian Ambassador to the EU and NATO, Miles Vitomir RaguĹž, opens the volume with an examination of Croatia’s decisive role in saving Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1995 through Operation Storm. Coming less than a month after the Srebrenica massacre and an imminent attack on the UN safe haven of Bihać, it completely altered the balance of power in the region and brought about the conditions for peace. Details the diplomatic meetings between Croatia and the United States, as far back as 1993, which led to the strategy of using Croatian forces as a substitute for military power that no Western country was willing to apply on the ground. While RaguĹž shows how peace came about in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Marko Babić, an associate of the Miroslav KrleĹža Lexicographical Institute, details the catastrophic results of the Dayton Peace Accords for the Croatian population of the Bosnian Posavina region. Compares the ethnic structure of pre- and post-Dayton Bosnian Posavina revealing that before Serb forces launched their assault, Croats constituted the largest ethnic group in the region with a population of 136,266. Five years after the Dayton Peace Accords had given the Posavina to the Serb entity ('Bosanska Srpska'), only 10,881 Croats remained. Reveals that out of a pre-war Croatian population of 760,852, almost fifty percent have been ethnically cleansed from Bosnia-Herzegovina, while only 1,090 have been allowed to return to their homes in 'Bosanska Srpska' as of June 2000.

University of Toronto Professor Ralph Bogert reveals the changes in reception of the writer Ivo Andrić (1892-1975), the only South Slavic recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature. Discusses efforts to claim, disclaim, and reclaim Andrić for Croatian culture and literature, and concludes that Andrić will eventually be treated like other writers whose works have crossed national boundaries. Harvard University’s Ellen Elias-Bursać explores Tin Ujević’s (1891-1955) trajectory from student of philosophy and literature, through disaster of neglect, to poetry, focusing on his 1926 collection of poems entitled Kolajna. Shows the significance of the collection for an understanding of the Ujević’s development. The third contribution dealing with literature is University of Waterloo Professor Vinko GrubiĹĄić’s regional survey of the Latin and Italian influences on Croatian Renaissance writers who belonged to the intellectual universality of humanist Europe. GrubiĹĄić also reviews the book Marko Marulić Marul (Zagreb, 1999), an up-to-date account of the life and works of the Croatian Renaissance writer and 'father of Croatian literature,' Marko Marulić (1450-1524) by Mirko Tomasović, a leading Marulićian scholar and editor of Colloquia Maruliana.

Two giant figures in Croatian history, scientist Ruđer BoĹĄković (1711-1787) and Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer (1815-1905) are also featured in the volume. Well-known Croatian linguist from Britain, Branko Franolić, explores the motives for BoĹĄković’s traveling to Isaac Newton’s native land. Regarded as the first to have a scientific vision of the Unified Field Theory ('Theory of Everything'), BoĹĄković’s theory of natural philosophy had a deep impact on leading British scientists and philosophers. Ljerka Dulibić of Zagreb explores Strossmayer’s role in politics, religion and culture in Croatia during the latter half of the 19th century. Focuses on his involvement with the establishment of the University of Zagreb and the Academy of Sciences and Arts, the construction of the cathedral in Đakovo and the Academy Palace, the collecting of art work, the founding of art history studies, and his donation to, and assistance in, establishing what became known as the Strossmayer Gallery of Old Masters.

In the final contribution, John Peter Kraljic examines the power struggle over Istria between the Allies, who established an Allied Military Government (AMG) in Pula in order to secure its lines of communication to Trieste, and Tito’s Yugoslavia at the close of World War II and during the emerging Cold War. Discusses the roles played by the Italian, Croat and Slovene populations in Istria during this period, and the eventual inclusion of AMG-controlled territories in Yugoslavia.

A review of French intellectual Alain Finkielkraut’s collection of interviews, commentaries and essays critiquing Western policy toward Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina from 1991-1996, and of a catalogue showcasing Croatian books published in emigration from 1900-2000 complete the book review section of this 202-page issue of the Journal of Croatian Studies.

The Croatian Academy of America was established in 1953 and has published the Journal of Croatian Studies since 1960. Managing editors of the Journal are Karlo Mirth and Jerome Jareb.

Single issues of the Journal may be ordered at a price of US $25 for individuals and US $40 for institutions. Due to delays, volume 43 (2002) was published in 2005.

To order a copy of the Journal contact:

The Croatian Academy of America, Inc.

P.O. Box 1767, Grand Central Station

New York, NY 10163-1767 U.S.A.

Fax (516) 935-0019; e-mail croatacad@aol.com  

Web site: www.croatianacademy.org

Articles appearing in the Journal are indexed by ABC-CLIO Historical Abstracts, MLA International Bibliography of the Modern Languages Association and Public Affairs Information Service.

News from the City of Rijeka

University Campus and University hospital - an Acropolis of knowledge

Dear Crown,

good news from Rijeka. The University of Rijeka started last week with construction of its University campus on the location of former barracks (first of Yugoslav after Croatian army) in Trsat quarter of the City (widely famous because of Madonna of Trsat pilgrimage shrine). With these work begins construction of the first phase of the Campus which includes construction of several faculty buildings, student's cultural centre and dormitory, University library, roads, parking facilities, central square etc. First phase, worth about 500 mill. kunas (or aprox. 80 mill. US dollars) is planned to be finished till 2009th when more than 5.000 students will attend their lectures there.

An idea about how to reuse former barracks site goes back to 1991. but serious preparation work started after 1995., when Homeland's war was finished. So, it was possible in 2003./04. to organize public competition for urbanistic solution of the Campus. Following winning work of architect Dario Gabrić, City Council of Rijeka approved last month Detail plan (which made arc. Gabrić also) for the area of University Campus and University hospital, which enables further construction works.

This Campus has to become an Acropolis of knowledge, acclaimed our famous architect Mr. MagaĹĄ (well-known as the author of Split soccer stadium Poljud) aimed to its position on the plain of the hill above the rest of the city. We shall agree, because we recognized it at the very start. This is an ambition of the city and Rijeka University, too.

If anyone would be moved by this article, let contact Rijeka university for further information.

All the best to all,
architect Srdjan Skunca
 

SINOC U SARAJEVU - Muzicki spektakl

Last night in Sarajevo - Musical Spectacle

Laibach,  Nenad Bach, Eric Burdon

Sinoc je u ljetnom kinu Metalac odrzan cetverosatni koncert koji
predstavlja grandioznu zavrsnicu projekta Bridge (Most), u okviru kojeg
je otvorena izlozba egipatskog umjetnika Mohameda Moustafe i odrzana
medjunarodna panel diskusija. Ovaj svojevrsni muzicki spektakl otvorio je
Eric Burdon, pjevac grupe Animals, pjesmom "House of the raising sun" u
pratnji Simfonijskog orkestra. Zajedno su nastupili Sarajevska
filharmonija, Britanska rok simfonija, grupe Transglobal Underground,
Tuup, Laibach, Dajm Fam, te Nenad Bach, Eric Burdon, zatim hor Tabackog
Mesdzida i hafiz Aziz Alili. Koncert je u potpunosti opravdao simboliku
naziva, povezavsi i na ovaj nacin na prvi pogled nespojive muzicke pravce
i ukuse, okupivsi na jednom mjestu predstavnike svih generacija.


Copyright © 1997-98 CyberBosna
Sva prava zadrzana


izvor: Informer - Cyberbosna agencijske vijesti
(http://www.djikic.com/cyberbosna/informer/)

http://groups.google.com/group/soc.culture.bosna-herzgvna/browse_thread/thread/224e90ff1b461ba8/cd027b6298f58e3a?lnk=st&q=%22nenad+bach%22&rnum=70&hl=en#cd027b6298f58e3a
 

Two Croatians in Bosnia erects Bruce Lee statue
 

Date: 27/11/05
By Miran Jelenek

Bosnia's southern town of Mostar has unveiled the world's first statue of kung fu legend Bruce Lee, paying homage to a childhood hero of all its divided ethnic groups. The life-size 1.68 metre bronze statue is situated in Mostar's central park, close to the former frontline of Bosnia's 1992-95 civil war. A decade after the conflict, Mostar's Muslim and Croat inhabitants remain deeply split.

Unveiled by its initiators, Veselin Gatalo and Nino Raspudic of Mostar's Urban Movement, the statue portrays the Chinese-American actor, who died 32 years ago, in a typical defensive fighting position.

"This does not mean that Bruce Lee will unite us, because people are different and cannot be united and we will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats," Gatalo said.

"But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee."

Gatalo has said Lee - a hero to teenagers all over Bosnia in the 1970s and 1980s - epitomised justice, mastery and honesty, virtues the town had badly missed.

The statue shows Lee facing north, so that Muslims in the eastern part of Mostar and Croats in its western half do not see him as poised for a fight with them. Croatia is in the south.

The ceremony on a rainy autumn day was attended by dozens of people and the ambassadors of China and Germany, both of which helped the project. They watched a display of martial arts by Bosnian youths.

Hong Kong, where Lee grew up, will unveil its own statue of the martial arts master on what would be his 65th birthday at a ceremony attended by his widow Linda.

Lee was born in San Francisco and shot to fame with a series of martial arts movies, including Enter the Dragon in 1973. He died aged 32 from swelling on the brain.

Mostar's most famous symbol - a 16th century bridge which the Bosnian Croat artillery destroyed in 1993 during some of the fiercest battles of the war - was rebuilt last year but unification and reconciliation in the town have been slow.

Raspudic said the statue would help Mostar find a new association. "It's no longer a black hole," he said.

It took Gatalo and Raspudic, both ethnic Croats, more than two years to realise their idea for a statue of Lee, the town's authorities having finally granted permission in September.

http://seven.com.au/news/topstories/124413