Objective To report the effort of the European Reference Network for Rare and Complex CONnective tissue and musculoskeletal diseases NETwork working group on Ehlers-Danlos syndromes (EDS) and related disorders to assess current available clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) specifically addressed to EDS, in order to identify potential clinician and patient unmet needs. Methods Systematic literature search in PUBMED and EMBASE based on controlled terms (MeSH and Emtree) and keywords of the disease and publication type (CPGs). All the published articles were revised in order to identify existing CPGs on diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of EDS. Results Literature revision detected the absence of papers reporting good quality CPGs to optimise EDS patient care. The current evidence-based literature regarding clinical guidelines for the EDS was limited in size and quality, and there is insufficient research exploring the clinical features and interventions, and clinical decision-making are currently based on theoretical and limited research evidences. Conclusions Many clinician and patient unmet needs have been identified.

Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is a rare disease characterised by venous and/or arterial thrombosis, pregnancy complications and the presence of specific autoantibodies called antiphospholipid antibodies. This review aims to identify existing clinical practice guidelines (CPG) as part of the ERN ReCONNET project, aimed at evaluating existing CPGs or recommendations in rare and complex diseases. Seventeen papers providing important data were identified; however, the literature search highlighted the scarceness of reliable clinical data to develop CPGs. With no formal clinical guidelines in place, diagnosis and treatment of APS is largely based on consensus and expert opinion. Patients’ unmet need refers to the understanding of the disease and its clinical picture and implications, the need of education for patients, family members and healthcare providers, as well as to the development of monitoring pathways involving multiple healthcare providers.

Despite its importance being acknowledged in a plethora of studies, developing reading strategies appears absent from many classrooms, which justifies a considerable research interest in this topic. The present study aims to investigate how gender, nationality, and grade point average affect the frequency of the usage of different types of reading strategies among Bosnian university students. The research sample comprised 228 students studying at three universities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The analysis revealed moderate to high awareness of reading strategies, the problem-solving strategies being most frequently used. A three-way ANOVA showed a significant main effect of gender as well as a significant interaction effect of Nationality × Grade Point Average on The Survey of Reading Strategies questionnaire. Moreover, a three-way MANOVA revealed that gender had a significant main effect on the combined variables, namely global, support, and problem-solving reading strategies. Similarly, the interaction effect of Nationality × Grade Point Average was significant on the three combined variables, while the interaction effects of Grade Point Average × Gender and Grade Point Average × Nationality proved significant only on the Problem-Solving subscale. The current study is expected to contribute to understanding the reading strategy use in a foreign language context, and to inspire educators to recognize the importance of their use in the classroom.

Introduction: The objective of this research was to determine whether vesicoureteral reflux(VUR) was associated with evolution to renal scarring (RS) following a febrile urinary tract infection (UTI) in infants. Materials and methods: Our research included 100 infants, ages up to 1 year with a first febrile UTI. The diagnostic was based on results of: laboratory findings, ultrasonography (USG), voiding cystourethrography (VCUG) and initial and control renal scintigraphy (DMSA renal scan) withtechnetium99mTcsuccimer (dimercaptosuccinic acid), to assess the acute pyelonephritis (APN), VUR and RS. Results: APN was proven with DMSA renal scan in 66 (66%) infants. Twenty-two infants (33.3%) had VUR in-group of patients with APN. On the control DMSA scan, performed 6 months after the first DMSA, the presence of RS was found in 18 (27.27%) infants. In infants with renal scars VUR were discovered in 9 of them (50%). Conclusions: The pathogenesis of RS after febrile UTI in young children is multifactorial. Children with VUR have an increased risk for APN and RS. However, VUR is not the only precondition for RS. Creating a renal scarring cannot be imagined without the inflammatory process of the upper urinary system. Therefore, early detection and treatment of febrile UTIs in children and identify children at risk for RS are of primary importance.

In order to make chemical characterization of two Origanum vulgare L. subspecies in Montenegro, the essential oils of five wild growing populations were analyzed. Among 67 oil constituents, in O. vulgare subsp. hirtum dominant one was oxygenated monoterpene carvacrol (74.3%), while in O. vulgare subsp. vulgare prevailed sesquiterpene hydrocarbons: germacrene D (15.4–27.9%) and β-caryophyllene (7.7–14.6%), and among oxygenated monoterpenes: α- terpineol (4.8–17.8%), linalyl acetate (0.5–9.6%), linalool (3.0–8.8%), thymol (0.2–8.3), terpinene 4-ol (1.5–8.3%). Several of the main essential oil constituents appeared to be highly intercorrelated. Strong positive correlations (r > 0.70; P < 0.01) were observed between α-terpineol and linalyl acetate, α-terpineol and thymol, linalyl acetate and thymol, γ-terpenene and carvacrol, (E)-β-ocimene and β-bisabolene, while strong negative correlations (r < −0.70; P < 0.01) were evidenced between γ-terpenene and β-caryophyllene, γ-terpenene and germacrene D, p-cymene and germacrene D. Multivariate analyses allowed the grouping of the populations into three distinct chemotypes. Population P5 (Origanum vulgare subsp. hirtum) was distinguished from O. vulgare subsp. vulgare populations by predominance of carvacrol, while within the typical subspecies the population P1 (Boljevići) separated from P2 (Radovče), P3 (Lipovo) and P4 (Grahovo) by high oil levels of α-terpineol, linalyl-acetate and thymol.

Relative age effect (RAE) is a worldwide phenomenon described as consequences of age variations between individuals competing in the same cohort. RAE is based on systems that use January 1 as a cut-off date, probably used to attempt to minimize developmental differences between ages and to ensure a more equitable competition. Previously, in artistic gymnastics, a majority of studies on RAE was conducted in gymnasts of national levels. This study analysed RAE both among and between elite female (NF=1268) and male gymnasts (NM=1186) who participated at all Olympic Games held from 1964 to 2016. By using χ2 test, significant difference were found: 1) within frequencies of total sample of male gymnasts born in a certain month (p<0.001); 2) within frequencies of groups of male gymnasts apparatus finalists born in a certain month (p<0.005); 3) within frequencies of groups of male apparatus finalists born in a certain quarter of the year (p<0.005); 4) within frequencies of groups of male apparatus finalists born in a certain half of the year (p<0.005). As far as female gymnasts are concerned, significant differences have not been found within frequencies of any female group born in a certain month, quarter or halves of the year. Regarding differences between genders, no significant differences have been obtained between frequencies of male and female gymnasts born in certain month, quarter and halves of the year. Despite certain differences among and between genders, the general conclusion was that RAE is not present in elite gymnasts of both genders.

Article history: Received 3 June 2018 Received in revised form 15 August 2018 Accepted 20 August 2018 The development of ultra-hard cutting tool materials such as cubic boron nitride and ceramics exhibiting excellent wear resistance, chemical stability and hardness at high temperatures have enabled much higher cutting speeds and dry machining. In order to achieve high performance cutting, it is necessary to know the true properties of the cutting tool materials in real operating conditions as well as mechanisms of their failure. The aim of this paper is to determine the properties of certain types of polycrystalline advanced ceramics at a range of loading rates, including dynamics involved in these processes. In order to determine the dynamic fracture toughness of two grades of the material, a crack closure integral method was applied, showing some discrepancy to the static values at high loading rates.

This article deals with the normative trajectory of the constitutional right to a quality education, in the interdisciplinary perspective of Education and Law. It is linked to the activities of Master's Research in School of Education by Unesp – FCLAr and to the interdisciplinary studies of the Research Group on Educational Public Policies in Brazil, presented orally in the XII EIDE – Ibero-American Meeting of Education in Alcala in Spain. On methodological basis of qualitative research in education articulated to the hypothetical deductive methodology and argumentative-dialectical juridical analysis with emphasis on documental research with legal basis. It was prioritized to address the Brazilian Constitution of 1988 (CF), the Statute of the Child and Adolescent (ECA) and the Law of Basic Guidelines of Education – Law 9.394/96 (LDB). It is worth noting the social relevance of this issue, it was approached the importance in the training of legal professionals iterated on the subject for the effective realization of this subjective public right and the quality indicators for the community.

Samples of white and red wines produced in two different wine-growing regions, coastal (Dalmatia) and continental (Hrvatsko zagorje) of Croatia, were analysed for biogenic amines content. Biogenic amines content was determined, and its concentration levels were associated with the geographical origin of the wine. Due to its high sensitivity, HPLC method with ultraviolet detector was used, including the derivatisation step with dansyl chloride. The method was applied to detect and quantify 11 biogenic amines in 48 red and white wines. It was found that both Dalmatian red and white wines are characterised by tryptamine (0.23–1.22 mg L−1), putrescine (0.41–7.5 mg L−1) and ethanolamine (2.87–24.32 mg L−1). White wines from the Hrvatsko zagorje region are characterised by content of isopentylamine (0.31–1.47 mg L−1), putrescine (0.27–1.49 mg L−1) and ethanolamine (3.80–17.96 mg L−1). In contrast to white wines from the Hrvatsko zagorje region, in the red wines, all biogenic amines except ethylamine, were found and equally presented.

This paper presents the performance analysis of five full-reference objective quality assessment measures on compressed high-resolution video sequences from two publicly available video datasets. Quantitative measures that were accepted by the international research community used in the performance analysis - the correlation coefficient of ranks and the linear correlation coefficient between subjective and objective quality scores. The performance analysis is carried out globally - the level of complete datasets and on subsets of sequences with common characteristics (compression type or source sequence). Three types of compressed video content were analyzed - H.265 and its predecessors H.264 and MPEG-2. The correlation between subjective and objective quality scores is analyzed in different scales (resolutions) of the video signal. From the analysis of the results, very important conclusions on the objective quality assessment of the compressed video signals were derived, as well as the directions for further work.

INTRODUCTION West Nile virus (WNV) immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies have been shown to persist for up to 500 days in certain patients. To evaluate the usefulness of immunoglobulin G (IgG) avidity assessment in the diagnosis of WNV infection, we analyzed 54 WNV IgM- and/or IgG-positive serum samples from 39 patients with neuroinvasive disease and 15 asymptomatic cases tested during a seroprevalence investigation. METHODS Serological tests (WNV IgM/IgG antibody detection, IgG avidity) were performed using commercially available enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays. RESULTS WNV IgM antibodies were detected in 47 (87%) samples. Acute/recent WNV infection was confirmed based on low/borderline avidity index (AI) in 44 IgM-positive samples (93.6%). In three IgM-positive samples (6.4%), high IgG AIs were detected, thus indicating persisting IgM antibodies from previous infections. All IgM-negative samples showed high AIs. Patients with WNV neuroinvasive disease tested within 30 days showed low AIs. In six patients tested 34-50 days after disease onset, AI was borderline (42%-60%), suggesting earlier WNV IgG maturation. Samples with the highest IgM values were associated with the lowest AIs (Spearman's rho coefficient -0.767, p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Our results indicate that IgG avidity differentiates current/recent WNV infection from persistent IgM seropositivity from the previous WNV transmission season both in patients with WNV neuroinvasive disease and in asymptomatic persons. A strong negative correlation between IgM antibody levels and AI indicates that in cases with very high IgM levels, determination of IgG avidity may not be necessary. As many patients showed rapid avidity maturation, low IgG avidity is indicative of WNV infection within the previous month.

This work was financially supported by: Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007457 (CONSTRUCT - Institute of R&D in Structures and Construction) and by project POCI-01- 0145-FEDER-007633 (ISISE), funded by FEDER funds through COMPETE2020 - Programa Operacional Competitividade e Internacionalizacao (POCI), and by national funds through FCT - Fundacao para a Ciencia e a Tecnologia. FCT and FEDER (COMPETE2020) are also acknowledged for the funding of the research project IntegraCrete PTDC/ECMEST/1056/2014 (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016841). The financial support of COST Action TU1404 through its several networking instruments is also gratefully acknowledged.