Obesity is a growing health problem worldwide. It is associated with an increased cardiovascular risk on the one hand of obesity itself and on the other hand of associated medical conditions (hypertension, diabetes, insulin resistance, and sleep apnoea syndrome). Obesity has an important role in atherosclerosis and coronary artery disease. Obesity leads to structural and functional changes of the heart, which causes heart failure. The altered myocardial structure increases the risk of atrial fibrillation and sudden cardiac death. However, obesity also has a protective effect on the clinical outcome of underlying cardiovascular disease, the phenomenon called obesity paradox. The improved cardiac imaging techniques allow the early detection of altered structure and function of the heart in obese patients. In this review, we attempt to summarize the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular diseases and outline the underlying mechanisms. The demonstrated new techniques of cardiac diagnostic procedures allow for the early detection and treatment of subclinical medical conditions and, therefore, the prevention of cardiovascular events.

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SSc is an autoimmune disease characterized by microvascular damage, endothelial dysfunction and fibrosis of the skin and the internal organs. Cardiac manifestation in patients with SSc is one of the major organ involvements. Approximately 20% of SSc patients suffer from primary cardiovascular disease and another 20% may have secondary cardiac involvement. Although cardiac arrhythmias are mostly linked to myocardial fibrosis, atrioventricular conduction abnormalities are secondary to the fibrosis of the pulse conduction system. Despite the severe consequences of ventricular rhythm disturbances in patients with SSc, the exact role of electrocardiographic markers in the prediction of these arrhythmias has not yet been clearly elucidated. Therefore, the question is whether certain ECG parameters reflecting ventricular repolarization may help to recognize scleroderma patients with increased risk for ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death.

Thoron ( 220 Rn) is the second most abundant radon isotope in our living environment.In some dwellings it is present in significant amount which calls for its identification and remediation. Indoor thoron originates mainly from building materials. In this work we have developed and tested an experimental technique to measure thoron generation rate in building material samples using RAD7 radon-thoron detector. The mathematical model of the measurement technique provides the thoron concentration response of RAD7 as a function of the sample thickness. For experimental validation of the technique an adobe building material sample was selected for measuring the thoron concentration at nineteen different sample thicknesses. Fitting the parameters of the model to the measurement results, both the generation rate and the diffusion length of thoron was estimated. We have also determined the optimal sample thickness for estimating the thoron generation rate from a single measurement.