It is commonly thought that human genetic diversity in non-African populations was shaped primarily by an out-of-Africa dispersal 50–100 thousand yr ago (kya). Here, we present a study of 456 geographically diverse high-coverage Y chromosome sequences, including 299 newly reported samples. Applying ancient DNA calibration, we date the Y-chromosomal most recent common ancestor (MRCA) in Africa at 254 (95% CI 192–307) kya and detect a cluster of major non-African founder haplogroups in a narrow time interval at 47–52 kya, consistent with a rapid initial colonization model of Eurasia and Oceania after the out-of-Africa bottleneck. In contrast to demographic reconstructions based on mtDNA, we infer a second strong bottleneck in Y-chromosome lineages dating to the last 10 ky. We hypothesize that this bottleneck is caused by cultural changes affecting variance of reproductive success among males.

Introduction: Appropriate vitamin D turnover is essential for many physiological function. Knowledge of it’s function was improved in last two decades with enlargement of scientific confirmation and understanding of overall importance. In addition to classical (skeletal) roles of vitamin D, many other function (no classical), out of bone and calcium-phosphate metabolism, are well defined today. Aim: To analyze vitamin D level in the blood in dialysis and pre dialysis patients and evaluate efficacy of supplementation therapy with vitamin D supplements. Methods: Vitamin D3 level in form of 25-hydroxivitamin D3 was measured in dialysis and pre dialysis patients, using combination of enzyme immunoassay competition method with final fluorescent detection (ELFA). Parathormone was measured by ELISA method. Other parameters were measured by colorimetric methods. Statistical analysis was done by nonparametric methods, because of dispersion of results of Vitamin D and parathormone. Results: In group of dialysis patients 38 were analyzed. Among them 35 (92%) presented vitamin D deficiency, whether they took supplementation or not. In only 3 patients vitamin D deficiency was not so severe. Vitamin D form were evaluated in 42 pre dialysis patients. Out of all 19 patients (45 %) have satisfied level, more than 30 ng/ml. Moderate deficiency have 16 patients (38%), 5 of all (12%) have severe deficiency, and two patients (5%) have very severe deficiency, less than 5 ng/ml. Parathormone was within normal range (9.5-75 pg/mL) in 13 patients (34 %), below normal range (2 %) in one subject, and in above normal range in 24 (63 %). Conclusion: Vitamin D3 deficiency was registered in most hemodialysis patients; nevertheless supplemental therapy was given regularly or not. It is to be considered more appropriate supplementation of Vitamin D3 for dialyzed patients as well as for pre dialysis ones. In pre dialysis patient moderate deficiency is shown in half of patients but sever in only two.

Abstract Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) fall in the framework of cyberphysical systems due to the interaction between physical systems (vehicles) and distributed information acquisition and dissemination infrastructure. With the accelerated development of wireless Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V) and Vehicle-to Infrastructure (V2I) communications, the integrated acquiring and processing of information is becoming feasible at an increasingly large scale. Accurate prediction of the traffic information in real time, such as the speed, flow, density has important applications in many areas of Intelligent Transport systems. It is a challenging problem due to the dynamic changes of the traffic states caused by many uncertain factors along a travelling route. In this paper we present a V2V based Speed Profile Prediction approach (V2VSPP) that was developed using neural network learning to predict the speed of selected agents based on the received signal strength values of communications between pairs of vehicles. The V2VSPP was trained and evaluated by using traffic data provided by the Australian Centre for Field Robotics. It contains vehicle state information, vehicle-to-vehicle communications and road maps with high temporal resolution for large numbers of interacting vehicles over a long time period. The experimental results show that the proposed approach (V2VSPP) has the capability of providing accurate predictions of speed profiles in multi-vehicle trajectories setup.

Introduction: Based on the statistics the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina is getting older. In 2013 the average life span for women was 73.6 years and 68.1 for men. The chronic hemodialysis program is mainly reserved for elderly patients with high mortality risk. The most common cause of hemodialysis mortality relates to cardiovascular diseases (60.2%), regardless of frequent innovations and improvement of hemodialysis procedures. The aim of the study: was to determine the mortality rate by age groups with comments on the presence of non-traditional predictors (anemia, hypoalbuminemia, CRP, vascular access and PTH) in dialysis patients in the follow-up period of 36 months. Methods: The study included all patients undergoing chronic hemodialysis treatment at the Clinic of Hemodialysis of the Clinical Center University of Sarajevo (CCUS). Results: Out of a total number of hemodialysis patients (n=232), the specific mortality rate in patients under 65 years of age was 16.8%, and 50.5% in patients over 65 years of age. According to the age groups the mortality rate in elderly patients is as follows: from 65 to 74 years (45.1%), from 75 to 84 years (55.0%), over ≥85 years (75.0%). The most frequent vascular access in patients under and above 65 is arteriovenous fistula (79.6% and 62.1 %), temporary hemodialysis catheter (11.7% and 43.8 %) and long-term hemodialysis catheter (8.8% and 4.2 %). In the age group under 65 years of age the temporary hemodialysis catheter is significantly and more frequently used in diseased patients in respect to survivors (34.8% vs. 7.0%) [χ2(2)=15.769, p=0.001]. Diseased patients from the age group over 65 had a significantly lower mean value of haemoglobin in blood (M=100.9±17.5 g/L) in respect to survivors (M=109.2±17.1)[t(93)=2.339; p=0.021], lower mean value of albumin in blood (Me=32.0; IQR=29.0 do 35.0) in respect to survivors (Me=34.0; IQR=32.0 to 38.0) [U=762.5; p=0.006], and higher mean value of CRP in blood (Me=19.3 mg/L; IQR=6.6 to 52.0) in respect to survivors (Me=7.8; IQR=4.0 to 16.7) [U=773.5; p=0.008]. Diseased patients belonging to the age group over 65 had lower mean value of PTH, but without statistical significance (p>0.05). Conclusion: older age, temporary vascular access, anaemia and hypoalbuminemia are strong predictors of mortality in hemodialysis patients. Old age does not present contraindication for hemodialysis treatment, and treatment of terminal renal illness should not be abandoned.

We propose a system able to represent others' actions as well as to internally simulate their likely continuation from a partial observation. The approach presented here is the first step towards a more ambitious goal of endowing an artificial agent with the ability to recognise and predict others' intentions. Our approach is based on the associative self-organising map, a variant of the self-organising map capable of learning to associate its activity with different inputs over time, where inputs are processed observations of others' actions. We have evaluated our system in two different experimental scenarios obtaining promising results: the system demonstrated an ability to learn discriminable representations of actions, to recognise novel input, and to simulate the likely continuation of partially seen actions.

Bone material is composed of an organic matrix of collagen fibers and apatite nanoparticles. Previously, vibrational spectroscopy techniques such as infrared (IR) and Raman spectroscopy have proved to be particularly useful for characterizing the two constituent organic and inorganic phases of bone. In this work, we tested the potential use of high intensity synchrotron-based far-IR radiation (50–500 cm−1) to gain new insights into structure and chemical composition of bovine fibrolamellar bone. The results from our study can be summarized in the following four points: (I) compared to far-IR spectra obtained from synthetic hydroxyapatite powder, those from fibrolamellar bone showed similar peak positions, but very different peak widths; (II) during stepwise demineralization of the bone samples, there was no significant change neither to far-IR peak width nor position, demonstrating that mineral dissolution occurred in a uniform manner; (III) application of external loading on fully demineralized bone had no significant effect on the obtained spectra, while dehydration of samples resulted in clear differences. (IV) using linear dichroism, we showed that the anisotropic structure of fibrolamellar bone is also reflected in anisotropic far-IR absorbance properties of both the organic and inorganic phases. Far-IR spectroscopy thus provides a novel way to functionally characterize bone structure and chemistry, and with further technological improvements, has the potential to become a useful clinical diagnostic tool to better assess quality of collagen-based tissues.

The aim of our study was to determine the efficacy of three different adsorbents, inorganic (modified zeolite), organic (esterified glucomannans) and mixed (inorganic and organic components, with the addition of enzymes), in protecting broilers from the toxic effects of ochratoxin A in feed. Broilers were fed diets containing 2 mg/kg of ochratoxin A (OTA) and supplemented with adsorbents at the recommended concentration of 2 g/kg for 21 days. The presence of OTA led to a notable reduction in body weight, lower weight gain, increased feed conversion and induced histopathological changes in the liver and kidneys. The presence of inorganic, organic and mixed adsorbents in contaminated feed only partially reduced the negative effects of OTA on the broiler performances. Broilers that were fed with adsorbent-supplemented feed reached higher body weight (17.96%, 19.09% and 13.59%), compared to the group that received only OTA. The presence of adsorbents partially alleviated the reduction in feed consumption (22.68%, 12.91% and 10.59%), and a similar effect was observed with feed conversion. The applied adsorbents have also reduced the intensity of histopathological changes caused by OTA; however, they were not able to prevent their onset. After the withdrawal of the toxin and adsorbents from the feed (21–42 days), all previously observed disturbances in broilers were reduced, but more remarkably in broilers fed with adsorbents.

Goal: This study aimed to investigate the differences in values of K1 and K2 readings, the central corneal thickness (PAH) before the collagen crosslinking procedure (CXL) and 3, 6, 12 months later. Methods: 64 eyes were evaluated in retrospective cross sectional study. The corneal biomechanical parameters were taken with WaveLight Allegro Oculyzer produced by Alcon before the CXL, 3,6, 12 months after the procedure. The curvature of K1 reading and K2 reading were taken and the central corneal thickness were considered due to the time after CXL. Results: The value of K1 reading before the treatment was 48.8 diopters (D) (46.65-50.50) and was statistically significant lower comparing to the value of K1 3 months after the collagen CXL procedure 46.30 D (43.57-49.45) (p=0.0006), K1 reading one year post collagen CXL procedure was 47.20 D (44.35-50.07) (p=0.002). The value of K2 reading before the collagen CXL procedure was 52.65 D (47.55-54.72), 3 months after the procedure was 51.4 (45.05-54.0), 6 months later 48.55 D (47.20-50.62), 12 months later 51.30 D (47.22-54.77). There is statistically significant lower value of K2 reading 6 months after the treatment comparing to the values 3 months postoperatively (p=0.014). However there is significantly lower values of K2 reading 12 months postoperatively comparing to preoperative period (p=0.006). The value of central corneal thickness preoperative was 431.0 microns (398.0-446.25), 3 months after collagen CXL procedure was 373.50 microns (363.25-430.75), 6 months later 435.0 microns (360.0-464.75), 12 months after the CXL procedure was 429.50 microns (357.75-496.25). There is statistically significant lower values of central corneal thickness 3 months after collagen CXL treatment comparing to the central corneal thickness preoperative (p<0.005). There is statistically significant lower values of pachymetry 12 months after the CXL procedure comparing to the values 6 months later (p=0.036) and those preoperativelly (p=0.032). There is no statistically significant difference in the values of central corneal thickness in the period from 3 and 6 months postoperatively. Conclusion: After riboflavin-UVA CXL in eyes with keratokonus there was significant decrease in central corneal thickness 3 and 6 months after the procedure and the thickness is almost the same 12 months. However, K2 (Kmax) reading is significantly changed 3 and 6 months later and is followed by changing of K1 reading.

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), once known as reflex sympathetic dystrophy, Sudeck's dystrophy and causalgia, is a pain syndrome with indistinctive pathophysiology and unpredictable clinical course. CRPS can develop after a limb fracture, injury or damage to the peripheral or central nervous system. The diagnosis of CRPS is based on the signs and symptoms obtained from the medical history and physical examination. The disease is often resistant to treatment, and its course is not always favorable. A brief overview of this clinical entity is presented, and most relevant and up-to-date information is discussed.

BACKGROUND/AIM In prostate tumors, angiogenesis, measured as microvessel density, is associated with tumor stage and Gleason score. The aim of this study was determine neovascularization of prostatic adenocarcinomas in core biopsies and corresponding prostatectomies. METHODS The study population included 61 patients who underwent radical prostatectomy (RP) for localized prostate carcinoma patients and did not receive chemohormonal, or radiation therapy before surgery. Tumor blocks were immunostained using the endothelial-specific antibody CD31 and subsequently evaluated at x 400 magnification in both biopsies and corresponding prostatectomies. RESULTS When comparing microvessel density in core biopsies and corresponding prostatectomies, no statistically significant difference was found (p > 0.1). A statistically significant positive correlation was found when determining correlation between microvessel density (as linear and categorical variable, i.e., with the cut-off value of 48) that was associated with the Gleason score (p < 0.05) and tumor stage (p < 0.0001). There was no correlation between microvessel density and preoperative values of serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) (p > 0.1). CONCLUSION Microvessel density can be reliably applied to needle prostate biopsy specimens. Quantification of the microvascular density in biopsies is an accurate pre-operative predictor of tumor stage, discriminating between organ-confined and organ-extending neoplasms.

Aim: The aim of the research was to compare the relationship between inflammatory biomarkers and procoagulants with kidney function assessed by using cystatin C, serum creatinine, and eGFR and determine the sensitivity of cystatin C, serum creatinine and eGFR to total cardiovascular morbidity in patients with CKD stages 1-4. Methods: The research included 120 patients older than 18 years with CKD stages 1-4 monitored over a period of 24 months. Results: Serum cystatin C correlates with fibrinogen (p<0.01), serum albumin (p<0.01), D-dimer (p<0.05), antithrombin III (p<0.01) strongly in relation to the evaluation of kidney function based on serum creatinine and eGFR. By following cystatin C, creatinine and eGFR with comparison of ROC to total cardiovascular morbidity, the highest sensitivity in relation to the presence of cardiovascular morbidity shows cystatin C, then eGFR and the lowest, creatinine, with a significant difference between cystatin C and serum creatinine (p<0.05). Conclusion: Serum cystatin C is more strongly correlated with some biomarkers (fibrinogen, serum albumin, D-dimer, antithrombin III), while simultaneously showing a stronger sensitivity in relation to total cardiovascular morbidity compared with the assessment of kidney function based on serum creatinine and eGFR.