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.

We investigate how changes in network structure can lead to pathological oscillations similar to those observed in epileptic brain. Specifically, we conduct a bifurcation analysis of a network of two Jansen-Rit neural mass models, representing two cortical regions, to investigate different aspects of its behavior with respect to changes in the input and interconnection gains. The bifurcation diagrams, along with simulated EEG time series, exhibit diverse behaviors when varying the input, coupling strength, and network structure. We show that this simple network of neural mass models can generate various oscillatory activities, including delta wave activity, which has not been previously reported through analysis of a single Jansen-Rit neural mass model. Our analysis shows that spike-wave discharges can occur in a cortical region as a result of input changes in the other region, which may have important implications for epilepsy treatment. The bifurcation analysis is related to clinical data in two case studies.

In these mini-proceedings we review the results of the workshop `Impact of $B\to\mu^+\mu^-$ on New Physics Searches' that took place at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI) on the 18th-19th December 2017.

This paper presents a new algorithm for distribution system reconstruction planning based on Mamdani type fuzzy inference and BellmanZadeh multi criteria decision making method. The proposed algorithm takes system attributes as inputs (number of customers served by renewed infrastructure, energy losses, power demand and cost of investment) and returns crisp output values which are used as planning criteria. The aim of this paper is to provide a logical decision making framework which can be used to model, evaluate, and rank projects according to required criteria. The proposed model is flexible and can be extended to include additional planning criteria. The proposed method is tested on a realistic distribution system to demonstrate its relevance. It is expected that this paper will make a contribution toward more effective management of power distribution network planning process and that it will be used by planning engineers in practical problems.

Abstract Context Acetyl-l-carnitine (ALC), a mitochondrial carrier involved in lipid oxidation and glucose metabolism, decreased systolic blood pressure (SBP), and ameliorated insulin sensitivity in hypertensive nondiabetic subjects at high cardiovascular risk. Objective To assess the effects of ALC on SBP and glycemic and lipid control in patients with hypertension, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D), and dyslipidemia on background statin therapy. Design After 4-week run-in period and stratification according to previous statin therapy, patients were randomized to 6-month, double-blind treatment with ALC or placebo added-on simvastatin. Setting Five diabetology units and one clinical research center in Italy. Patients Two hundred twenty-nine patients with hypertension and dyslipidemic T2D >40 years with stable background antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, and statin therapy and serum creatinine <1.5 mg/dL. Interventions Oral ALC 1000 mg or placebo twice daily on top of stable simvastatin therapy. Outcome and Measures Primary outcome was SBP. Secondary outcomes included lipid and glycemic profiles. Total-body glucose disposal rate and glomerular filtration rate were measured in subgroups by hyperinsulinemic–euglycemic clamp and iohexol plasma clearance, respectively. Results SBP did not significantly change after 6-month treatment with ALC compared with placebo (−2.09 mm Hg vs −3.57 mm Hg, P = 0.9539). Serum cholesterol, triglycerides, and lipoprotein(a), as well as blood glucose, glycated hemoglobin, fasting insulin levels, homeostatic model assessment of insulin resistance index, glucose disposal rate, and glomerular filtration rate did not significantly differ between treatments. Adverse events were comparable between groups. Conclusions Six-month oral ALC supplementation did not affect blood pressure, lipid and glycemic control, insulin sensitivity and kidney function in hypertensive normoalbuminuric and microalbuminuric T2D patients on background statin therapy.

Anthropometric characteristics, represent one of the most important subsystems within the “system” of man, and which can be in affected by physical exercises in the direction of the desired transformation. Very often the anthropometric parameters (height and weight) are used in the assessment of the morphological status of an individual, and on the basis of the results of Body Mass Index (BMI) bring certain estimates and conclusions. BMI as a statistical measures, is used in many public health campaigns as an approximate measure of the ideal body mass and the degree of nutrition of a population. The main goal of the research was to determine and analyze differences in BMI parameters between male and female students, aged 18±0.5 years, and determine the trend of changes. Using the T-test module, the obtained results confi rmed that there are statistically signifi cant differences in body height (t=8,17; p<0.001) and body weight (t=5,29; p<0.001), while in BMI values there are not statistically signifi cant differences (t=-0.68, p>0.001). Based on BMI values, a positive trend of somatic changes of both poles is evident. Research Article The body composition analysis: Differences between students and the trend of their change Ratko Pavlović1*, Zoran Radić2, Irina Juhas3 and Mensur Vrcić4 1Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2Faculty of Physical Education, Sport and Health, University of Skopje, Macedonia 3Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Belgarde, Serbia 4Faculty of Sport and Physical Education, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina *Address for Correspondence: Ratko Pavlović, Faculty of Physical Education and Sport, University of East Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Email: pavlovicratko@yahoo.com Submitted: 09 March 2018 Approved: 21 March 2018 Published: 22 March 2018 Copyright: 2018 Pavlović R, et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.