One of the genes considered as a risk factor for coronary artery disease (CAD) is the angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) gene. Many studies have been published regarding the relation between the ACE gene insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism and CAD. However, studies have provided controversial results. To explore this further in the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina, we compared the ACE I/D genotypes and alleles distribution between two groups: 100 CAD patients and 100 healthy control subjects. The higher distribution of DD genotype (47.0%) and D allele (65.5%) were found in CAD patients compared to controls (DD 34.0%; D allele 51.0%). Genotype odds ratio, (DD + ID) on the II, was 2.471 (1.252 – 4.876; 95% CI; p < 0.05). This leads to the conclusion that the DD genotype of the ACE I/D polymorphism affects the risk for development of coronary artery disease in Bosnian population.

Tartrazine (E 102) is widely used yellow food colorant. It is used in nonalcoholic and sports drinks, spicy chips, jams, jelly and chewing gum and also found in many non-food products like soaps, cosmetics, shampoo, vitamins and some drugs. Tartrazine belongs to the most important and diverse group of synthetic dyes – azo dyes. Their use often creates controversies in the public since some of them are toxic, carcinogenic, mutagenic and cause different disorders or allergic reactions. In this study we aimed to evaluate genotoxic potential of tartrazine in human lymphocytes culture and its cytotoxic potential in human lymphocytes and melanoma GR-M cell line. For testing of its genotoxic and cytotoxic potential in human lymphocyte culture, we used chromosome aberration analysis and cytokinesis-block micronucleus cytome assay. For the analysis of its cytotoxic potential in human melanoma cell culture, we applied trypan blue exclusion assay.

The Dinaric endemic plant species Moltkia petraea (Tratt.) Griseb. is often called a "living fossil" of ancient Tertiary flora, with great importance for Bosnia and Herzegovina’s biodiversity. Considering its narrow and limited distribution range, insufficient data on the molecular background of this species is given so far. Due to the presence of various secondary metabolites that interfere with the DNA, isolation of nucleic acids from plant cells is known to be challenging. Even in closely related species it is necessary to optimize DNA isolation protocol in order to obtain high quality PCR amplifiable DNA. We collected 91 samples from five populations in Herzegovina. Doyle and Doyle (1987) CTAB protocol was modified by adding vitamin C (ascorbic acid) to the cell lysis buffer to improve DNA yield and quality. trnL(UAA) intron and nrDNA (ITS1, ITS2) molecular markers were applied to demonstrate amplifiability of isolated DNA and elucidate the intra- and interpopulation genetic diversity. Our results suggest a successful PCR amplification for 81% of the analyzed samples. PCR-RFLP analysis of trnL(UAA) revealed that all individuals in five populations have the same haplotype based on the obtained enzymatic profile for three enzymes (TaqI, HinfI, HindII). Alignment and comparison of ITS sequences didn’t reveal any hypervariable portion that could be informative in elucidating the genetic diversity of M. petraea populations. Further studies with additional application of microsatellite loci, RAPD and AFLP methods are necessary in an attempt to get insights into the genetic diversity of M. petraea.

This study compares the results obtained using two multiplex systems, PowerPlex® 16 System and PowerPlex® Fusion System, to evaluate the probability of a specific kinship relationship between the offspring of three pairs of identical twins, such as full kinship (siblings), first-degree relatives (first cousins) and half-siblings. Genomic DNA was isolated and amplified from buccal swab and selected short tandem repeat (STR) markers were detected. Electropherograms were generated and analyzed for all persons, using two multiplex systems. Paternity testing for every nine offspring of six examined couples was performed and in all cases the probability that the alleged father is the true father, was over 99.9999%. Kinship analyses were performed setting up two different hypotheses and calculating the likelihood ratio (LR) and kinship probability. Determining the degree of kinship between persons who were full siblings, likelihood ratio showed the highest values contrary to other two types of kinship. Kinship analyses between first cousins showed a higher probability that the examined persons are half-siblings, rather than they are first cousins. In most cases, the introduction of additional seven loci included in PowerPlex® Fusion System increased the values of average likelihood ratios. It is recommendable to use over 20 STR loci in complex kinship analyses.

Soy sauce is worldwide popular condiment of Asian origin. With the advent of GM soybean production, soy sauce drew the interest of food safety control. Samples collected for inspection are generally of industrial grade soy sauce type, which is produced from hydrolyzed soybean and grain. Following the failure to perform RealTime PCR based GMO screening on a number of submitted samples we tested our screening system on soy sauce produced following traditional method based on fermentation. Four batches of soy sauce were produced and DNA extracted. DNA concentration ranged from 32,68 to 65,36 ng/μl. Amplification of taxon specific target was successful with rather high Ct ( > 30). Promoter P-35S sequence was not detected, but T-NOS was detected in three samples with values reaching or exceeding LOD of the method. The results show that it is possible to detect transgenic elements in traditionally produced soy sauce while DNA extraction from industrial grade soy sauce is not possible.

Cervical cancer represents a serious health problem affecting women worldwide especially in developing countries due to low socioeconomic status, inadequate health-care infrastructure, weaknesses in education on this particular issue and lack of effective screening programmes. The primary aim of this study was to assess alternative screening method for the improvement of cervical cancer prevention in conditions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), which could be applicable in other developing countries as well. The study was conducted on 101 subjects who provided their self-sampled vaginal swabs and/or cervical specimens collected by their gynecologists. Universal Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) primer set optimized to detect a wide range of HPV types was used for HPV genotyping from obtained swab samples in multiplex PCR. Amplicons were analyzed in agarose gel and Agilent 2100 bioanalyzer – a platform based on microfluid technology. Inter-rater agreement kappa (MedCalc2) was used to assess concordance between results of cervical and vaginal sample analysis. Out of 39 subjects who provided their vaginal and cervical samples, results of HPV detection mismatched in 10% of the cases. Inter-rater agreement showed good strength of coincidence between the results of cervical and vaginal sample analysis (kappa=0,748, CI=95 %). We presented an alternative PCR method for the detection of HPV based on vaginal self sampling which is affordable, informative, simple and applicable with high coverage level of defined targeted population and potentially significant in the given cultural and socioeconomic context.

This paper presents development of Artificial Neural Network (ANN) for prediction of the size of nanoparticles (NP) and microspore surface area (MSA). Developed neural network architecture has the following three inputs: the concentration of the biodegradable polymer in the organic phase, surfactant concentration in the aqueous phase and the homogenizing pressure. Two-layer feedforward network with a sigmoid transfer function in the hidden layer and a linear transfer function in the output layer is trained, using Levenberg-Marquardt training algorithm. For training of this network, as well as for subsequent validation, 36 samples were used. From 36 samples which were used for subsequent validation in this ANN, 80,5% of them had highest accuracy while 19,5% of output data had insignificant differences comparing to experimental values.

The focus of this study was microsatellite diversity of crossbred horses raised in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Genomic DNA was extracted from blood samples of 20 individuals (KBA group – 7 individuals, crosses between Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse and Arabian horse; KBR group – 9 individuals, crosses between Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain and Belgian horses, crosses between Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horses and Holstein, crosses between Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain and Lipizzaner horses and KBN group – 4 individuals, crosses between Bosnian and Herzegovinian mountain horse with an unknown origin of the other parent). The samples were profiled using 17 microsatellite markers. This method consisted of multiplex PCR procedure and generated reasonable amplification across all the loci. All samples were genotyped successfully. Considering all the observed parameters, VHL20 locus showed the highest microsatellite diversity. Locus HMS7 was the least variable in KBR group, while HMS1 locus was the least diverse in KBN group. The highest microsatellite diversity in KBA group was found at AHT5 locus while HTG6 locus was the least diverse. Obtained results suggest that the investigated populations of crossbred horses from Bosnia and Herzegovina are not affected by substantial loss of genetic diversity, as indicated by the presence of reasonably high level of genetic variation. An increase in the inbreeding coefficient and sufficient heterogenity in KBN group indicate occurrence of consanguineous mating. The present research contributes to the knowledge of current status of genetic structure of the investigated crossbred horses.

Atmospheric pollution is among the largest anthropogenic impacts on the ecosystem. In numerous studies it was observed that plants, especially those that grow in urban areas, are heavily influenced by different pollutants and their survival is correlated with structural and metabolic adaptation to stressful environmental conditions. Primary objective of this study was to determine the index of tolerance to air pollution (APTI) of plantain (Plantago major), on two locations in Zenica. The results indicated that index of tolerance to air pollution of P. major, APTI, is higher in individuals sampled from the contaminated site, than those in the control area.

The aim of this study was to determine the values of micronuclei (MN) and structural chromosomal aberrations (CA) in peripheral blood lymphocytes from 200 healthy participants of both genders from general population of FBH and of the age in both genders. Frequency distribution of CTAs and CSAs between male and female groups showed predominance of CTAs over CSAs, independently of gender. The results of this study will be incorporated into reference data base for comparative research in future.

Aim: Research into quality of life has become very important recently, since quality of life is increasingly used to characterise diseases and estimate the efficiency of therapeutics. The aim of this study was to determine significant factors that are associated with the quality of life of patients with schizophrenia accommodated in social welfare institutions. Material and methods: The study was conducted at the Institution for the Accommodation of Adults “Male Pcelice,” Kragujevac, Serbia. It was designed as a cross-sectional study. The quality of life was measured by using five distinct scales. The data on factors that might be associated with the quality of life were obtained from case records and the patients’ questionnaires. The association of every single factor was evaluated by using comparative analysis and the method of multiple linear regression. Results: Multiple linear regression shows that EuroQoL Five-dimensions – Five-Level scale score was associated with gender (B = −0.059 ± 0.021; p = 0.006) and daily dose (B = −0.051 ± 0.015; p = 0.001); Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction Questionnaire score was associated with the patient’s level of education (B = 2.873 ± 1.054; р = 0.007); the number of prescribed antipsychotics was associated with the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale score (B = 3.150 ± 1.111; р = 0.007); the physical domain of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF was associated with the year of disease onset (B = −0.142 ± 0.055; р = 0.011) and the daily dose (B = −2.335 ± 0.787; р = 0.004); the psychological domain of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF was associated with gender (B = −2.686 ± 1.216; р = 0.029); the social relationship domain of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF was associated with the level of education (B = 3.109 ± 1.289; р = 0.017) and the number of prescribed antipsychotics (B = −3.297 ± 1.516; р = 0.031); the environment domain of the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF was associated with the number of prescribed antipsychotics (B = −1.420 ± 0.653; р = 0,031). Conclusion: The quality of life of patients with schizophrenia was higher in males with a university degree, when the duration of the disease was shorter, negative symptoms were less pronounced, and with fewer side effects. Efforts to improve the quality of life in patients with schizophrenia accommodated in social welfare institutions should be made that could contribute to the prevention of adverse outcomes.

A decision-making process often requires knowledge of numerous parameters and their interaction in order to make valid decisions that will result in meeting the objectives set. Multi-criteria decision-making is an area that helps in decision-making processes considering a set of criteria and alternatives. A new MCDM approach has been developed in this paper with a view to better managing the uncertainties and the subjectivity of real decision problems. In the last few years, the integration of Rough numbers and multi-criteria decision-making methods has enjoyed a great popularity, so in this paper, the Rough Step-wise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis (SWARA) approach has been developed. The developed approach has been verified throughout a sensitivity analysis, which involves the comparison of the obtained results with two other methods for determining the weight values, the Rough Best Worst method (BWM) and Rough Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The correlation of obtained ranks using the Rough SWARA approach with the ranks of Rough BWM and Rough AHP is complete, i.e. the ranks are identical, which confirms the stability and credibility of the developed approach.

The entrepreneurial involvement of educational institutions at the elementary and the secondary educational levels has not been systematically analyzed in the existing body of literature, although the decentralization and autonomy of educational institutions have been emphasized in educational policies since the 1980s. This study provides an empirical analysis of the entrepreneurial orientation, as related to the schools in Croatia and Bosnia & Herzegovina and their principals. The influence of this orientation is analyzed from the perspectives of principals’ personal job satisfaction, perceived contribution to the society and the perception of the social role/influence of principalship. The empirical findings show that the entrepreneurial orientation of schools and their principals in Croatia and B&H are closely inter-related. More enterprising principals are also more satisfied with their jobs, and they feel to be contributing to the society more. However, the same does not apply to their perceived social standing/status, which could be attributed to their intrinsic motivation, but such a conclusion needs to be verified by further research. The results of this study show that the entrepreneurial orientation(s) of schools and school principals should be considered as useful descriptors of individual and institutional behaviour in the educational systems of South-East Europe.