Abstract Nutritional risk factors can have a significant impact on mental and physical health of the student population. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional status and quality of diet given to the recommended (RDA) input of nutrients, and to determine the eating habits of the student population of the University of Bihac (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The survey included 428 respondents (60.98% F and 39, 02% M) with an average age between 19 and 23 years. The research results indicate that students can be categorized as normal weight (97.60% of them), while female students (31.03% of them) fall into the category of moderately lean. Both sexes, with regard to daily energy share, take more fat in their diet (29.49 M and 28.50% F) compared to the RDA recommendations. Breakfast is a regular meal of more than half of the students (67.4%), 94.96% of the student body has lunch regularly, and 80.96% of students have their dinner. The most common diet is the “fast food”. Meat and meat preparations are daily consumed by 54.67% of the student body. Fresh fruits were part of daily diet of 34.2%, and fresh vegetables 31.14% of the student body. Milk and dairy products were consumed among 26.30% of the students. The proportion of students who smoke, and those who consume alcohol is too high.

Micromeria longipedunculata Bräuchler (syn. M. parviflora (Vis.) Rchb.) is an endemic Illyric-Balkan plant species from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Albania. We investigated types and distribution of trichomes, pollen morphology, and chemical composition of essential oil (analysed by GC and GC-MS) in M. longipedunculata. Non-glandular trichomes, peltate trichomes, and two types of capitate trichomes (type 1 composed of one basal epidermal cell, and one head cell with subcuticular space; type 2 composed of one basal epidermal cell, two or three stalk cells, and one head cell with subcuticular space) were observed on leaves, bracteoles, the calyx, corolla, and the stem. The pollen grains had six apertures which were set in the equatorial pollen belt and showed medium reticulate ornamentation. A phytochemical analysis of essential oils from four different localities is characterized by similar chemical composition with spathulenol (23.7–39.5%), piperitone oxide (7.7–12.1%) and piperitone (7.3–8.9%) as the major compounds.

Soil samples from the industrial area in the town of Bužim, Bosnia and Herzegovina were analysed in order to determine their different manganese species. Samples were extracted from seven locations - at the manganese mine and the surrounding area. The paper aims to present the use of the sequential extraction method in determination of the specific distribution of Mn in soil, as well as in estimation of its origin, mobility and bioavailability in the sampling locations. Sequential extraction used here included determination of the amount of Mn in various soil fractions: the water-soluble fraction, exchangeable fraction, carbonate fraction, easily reduced fraction and the organic fraction. Additionally, it included manganese oxides or moderately reduced oxides, amorphous iron oxide, crystalline iron oxide and the residual fraction. It was determined that chemical properties of soil considerably affect the distribution of heavy metals within different soil fractions. The highest percentage of natural Mn was determined in the residual fraction (27.00%) at Popovic polje, while the highest percentage of anthropogenic origin Mn was determined at Bucevci (57.00%) in the Fe-Mn oxides fraction. The highest near-total content of Mn was determined at Popovic polje (20950.00 mg/kg). The highest percentage of natural Mn (27.00%) was determined in the same area. The highest percentage of Mn of an anthropogenic origin (57.00%) was determined at Bucevci.

Confocal Raman microspectroscopy and fluorescence imaging are two well-established methods providing functional insight into the extracellular matrix and into living cells and tissues, respectively, down to single molecule detection. In living tissues, however, cells and extracellular matrix coexist and interact. To acquire information on this cell-matrix interaction, we developed a technique for colocalized, correlative multispectral tissue analysis by implementing high-sensitivity, wide-field fluorescence imaging on a confocal Raman microscope. As a proof of principle, we study early stages of bone formation in the zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae because the zebrafish has emerged as a model organism to study vertebrate development. The newly formed bones were stained using a calcium fluorescent marker and the maturation process was imaged and chemically characterized in vivo. Results obtained from early stages of mineral deposition in the zebrafish fin bone unequivocally show the presence of hydrogen phosphate containing mineral phases in addition to the carbonated apatite mineral. The approach developed here opens significant opportunities in molecular imaging of metabolic activities, intracellular sensing, and trafficking as well as in vivo exploration of cell-tissue interfaces under (patho-)physiological conditions.

We investigate the local and global character of the equilibrium and the local stability of the period-two solution of the difference equation xn+1=βxnxn−1+γxn−12+δxnBxnxn−1+Cxn−12+Dxn where the parameters β, γ, δ, B, C, D are nonnegative numbers which satisfy B+C+D>0 and the initial conditions x−1 and x0 are arbitrary nonnegative numbers such that Bxnxn−1+Cxn−12+Dxn>0 for all n≥0. MSC:39A10, 39A11, 39A30.

Background:Breast cancer is one of the most common malignancies in women. Genome-wide association studies have identified FGFR2 as a breast cancer susceptibility gene. Common variation in other fibroblast growth factor (FGF) receptors might also modify risk. We tested this hypothesis by studying genotyped single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and imputed SNPs in FGFR1, FGFR3, FGFR4 and FGFRL1 in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium.Methods:Data were combined from 49 studies, including 53 835 cases and 50 156 controls, of which 89 050 (46 450 cases and 42 600 controls) were of European ancestry, 12 893 (6269 cases and 6624 controls) of Asian and 2048 (1116 cases and 932 controls) of African ancestry. Associations with risk of breast cancer, overall and by disease sub-type, were assessed using unconditional logistic regression.Results:Little evidence of association with breast cancer risk was observed for SNPs in the FGF receptor genes. The strongest evidence in European women was for rs743682 in FGFR3; the estimated per-allele odds ratio was 1.05 (95% confidence interval=1.02–1.09, P=0.0020), which is substantially lower than that observed for SNPs in FGFR2.Conclusion:Our results suggest that common variants in the other FGF receptors are not associated with risk of breast cancer to the degree observed for FGFR2.