Measuring Industry Concentration of Equity Investment Funds in the Republic of Croatia

The overall objective of this work is to investigate further development of the capital markets in the Republic of Croatia with a focus on industry concentration of equity investment funds with a public offering, and the changes that they have experienced since 2004 to date. Visage the Croatian capital market has changed in this period and therefore the aim is to measure investment capital concentration in the industry of equity investment funds. It is required to determine if in industry is perfect equality present or if the investment capital is directed only to a small number of large funds. Uncertainty, distrust, and a great level of risk are characteristics of the capital markets in development, such as Croatia. The aim is to determine whether the size of net assets of investment fund puts safety at the investor, and thus encourages investors to future investment in the fund, which generally speaking, increase the concentration of capital only in funds with a high value of net assets.Process of transition in the Republic of Croatia affected the development of capital markets and the emergence of new participants, namely an open investment fund. The foundations for longterm sustainable growth of the Croatian capital markets are currently still extremely unstable, and development of the market itself is tied to a sense of distrust and insecurity of its participants. It is necessary to investigate, in poorly developed capital market, if investors perceived greater safety of investments in large funds, which are the symptoms of a large concentration of capital in a small number of funds. We will also investigate whether the development of capital markets leads to a reduction of industrial concentration. Research and hypotheses are focused on the industry of equity investment funds with a public offering in the Republic of Croatia.Industry concentration, Equity funds, Open investment funds, Herfindahl-Hirschman index, Gini index

Selection of Optimal Portfolio by Use of Risk Diversification Method

The paper will discuss how securities investors can protect themselves from risk through diversification. There will be proposals how investors should structure their portfolio, i.e. proposals of investment percentages for particular shares, in order to achieve stable solid returns at a low level of risk. The paper will analyze three types of stock: INA – Oil Industry Plc., IGH – Croatian Institute of Civil Engineering Plc. and Viro Sugar Factory Plc., which can be used to gain a better understanding of the investment business. We shall describe the basic tenets of modern portfolio theory so as to explicate some fundamental issues of securities investment and portfolio creation. The paper will provide an analysis of Markowitz’ theory as the origin of modern portfolio optimization theory, which in turn represents the starting point for securities investments.risk, diversification, Markowitz’ theory, decision making, securities analysis, programming.

Ultrasound in material diagnostics

Cílem semestrálního projektu je prostudovat fyzikální základy ultraakustiky a seznámit se s možnostmi využití ultrazvuku v diagnostice materiálů. Dále se seznámit s funkcemi a obsluhou ultrazvukového zařízení EPOCH LT od firmy OLYMPUS a provést měření tloušťek a rychlostí šíření ultrazvuku u vybraných materiálů.Objectives of the semestral project are to study the physical basis of ultra acoustic and comprehend the basics of ultrasound usage in diagnostic of materials. I should also become familiar with functions and usage of ultrasound device EPOCH LT made by OLYMPUS and perform measurement of thickness and speed of ultrasound spreading in selected materials.

The non-obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle by acetylcholine

The concept of Endothelium Derived Relaxing Factor (EDRF), put forward by Furchgott in the earlier 80s of the past century, implies that nitric oxide (NO) produced by NO synthase (NOS) in the endothelium in response to acetylcholine (ACh) passively diffuses to the underlying vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMC) thereby reducing vascular tension. It was thought that VSMC do not express NOS by themselves, but to the time of those studies immunohistochemical techniques were not what they are now. State-of-the-art immunohistochemistry permits nowadays to localize NOS both to the endothelium and to VSMC. However, the principal question remained unanswered, is the NO generation by VSMC physiologically relevant? We hypothesized that the destruction of the vascular wall anatomical integrity by rubbing the blood vessel intimal surface may increase vascular superoxides that, in turn, reduce NO bioactivity. To address this issue, we examined ACh-induced vasorelaxation in endothelium-deprived blood vessels under protection against oxidative stress and found that superoxide scavengers - tempol and N-acetyl-L-cysteine - restored vasodilatory responses to ACh in endothelium-deprived blood vessels without influencing the vascular wall tension in intact blood vessels. Herewith we provided the first evidence that VSMC can release NO in amounts sufficient to account for the vasorelaxatory response to ACh. In contrast to the commonly accepted concept of the obligatory role of endothelial cells in the relaxation of arterial smooth muscle, the local NO generation by VSMC can modulate vascular functions in an endothelium-independent manner

Intact Radial and Median Nerve after Open Third Degree Distal Fracture of the Humerus

A 54 year old man sustained a third degree open fracture at the distal part of the right humerus with massive soft tissue defect involving most of the upper arm. The radial and median nerves were completely bared and exposed by 6 cm for radial and 3 cm for median nerve. The nerves were in continuity, but there was complete rupture of surrounding muscles: biceps, triceps and brachialis. The fracture was stabilized by external fixation method – reinforced by wires. Preoperative and postoperative sensorimotor status of the right hand was good. One year later sensory and motoric status of right hand showed no deficiencies, but flexion and extension in elbow were limited to 100 and 180 degrees respectively. Pronosupination was restricted. This case report is consistent with results of biomechanical studies in vitro confirming high tolerance of radial and median nerve to stretching injury

The Effect of Chronic NO Synthase Inhibition on the Vasoactive and Structural Properties of Thoracic Aorta, NO Synthase Activity, and Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Young SHR.

Although the role of nitric oxide (NO) in essential hypertension is still unclear, the effects of long-term NO deficiency have not yet been investigated during the critical juvenile period in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). We aimed to analyze the effects of chronic NO synthase (NOS) inhibition on systolic blood pressure (sBP), vasoactivity, morphological changes and superoxide level in the thoracic aorta (TA), NOS activity in different tissues, and general biomarkers of oxidative stress in plasma of young SHR. Four-week-old SHR were treated with NG-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME, 50 mg/kg/day, p.o.) for 4-5 weeks. L-NAME treatment induced a transient sBP increase only, and surprisingly, slightly inhibited endothelium-dependent relaxation of TA. Hereby, the inhibition of NOS activity varied from tissue to tissue, ranging from the lowest in the TA and the kidney to the highest in the brain stem. In spite of an increased sensitivity of adrenergic receptors, the maximal adrenergic contraction of TA was unchanged, which was associated with changes in elastin arrangement and an increase in wall thickness. The production of reactive oxygen species in the TA was increased; however, the level of selected biomarkers of oxidative stress did not change. Our findings proved that the TA of young SHR responded to chronic NO deficiency by the development of adaptive mechanisms on the functional (preserved NO-derived vasorelaxation, unincreased contraction) and molecular (preserved NOS activity) level