Context: Evaluation of visual quality in soft and rigid gas-permeable contact lens wearers, with an emphasis on twilight vision. Purpose: To assess the visual acuity and visual performance at dusk before and after soft and rigid gas-permeable contact lens (CL) correction in healthy subjects. Settings and Design: This prospective study was conducted in a tertiary eye-care center. Methods: Sixty eyes corrected with soft contact lenses (SCLs) and 30 eyes with rigid gas-permeable contact lenses (RGPCLs) were enrolled in this study. Patients underwent corrected distance visual acuity with spectacles (CDVAs), corrected distance visual acuity with contact lenses (CDVAcl), and twilight vision (TV) testing (Vista Vision Far-Pola, DMD MedTech charts). Parameters were evaluated before and after the CL fitting and repeated 3 months after the baseline visit. Statistical Analysis Used: MedCalc for Windows, version 11.4 (MedCalc Software, Ostend, Belgium). Results: Rigid gas-permeable CL wear showed significant improvement in CDVAcl compared to wearing spectacles on both visits (P = 0.0039 and P = 0.0003, respectively). TV with CLs was significantly better in both groups compared to the TV with spectacles at the baseline visit (P = 0.0011 in SCL group; P = 0.0001 in RGPCL group), and at the follow-up visit, this significance was proven for the RGPCL group (P = 0.001). Also, spectacle TV showed a significant improvement on the follow-up visit (P = 0.0022 in SCL group; P = 0.0269 in RGPCL group). Conclusion: Contact lens wear improves visual performance compared to spectacles. TV results showed superiority of CLs compared to the spectacles, without a statistical difference regarding the CL type.

For many years, cargo traffic was marred by inefficiency, slow work systems, extensive paperwork and inaccuracies in the supply chain and transportation to the final destination. Processes within the chain itself entailed slow work, which resulted in large deviations in terms of transport and delivery time to the end user. To overcome these shortcomings and improve cargo traffic, the focus of the work will be on the application of innovative technologies in cargo traffic, the analysis of the application and the advantages it provides. A special aspect of the work is the analysis of cargo traffic in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the application of innovative technologies in its area.

Europski ariš (Larix decidua Mill.) pokazao je vrlo dobar rast i prilagodljivost ekološkim uvjetima u Bosni i Hercegovini. Cilj istraživanja je utvrditi varijabilnost morfoloških svojstava ariša na pokusnoj površini kod Kaknja, te varijabilnosti u početku osržavanja, kao i postojanje korelacija između ovih svojstava. U sjemenskoj sastojini ariša, osnovanoj sadnicama starosti 2+0 1979. godine, napravljena je trajna pokusna površina od 0,45 hektara i na njoj mjerene su visine i promjeri stabala 2002. i 2020. godine, te izračunate temeljnica i volumen. Stabla su 2020. godine bušena na prsnoj visini Preslerovim svrdlom kako bi se odredio udio osrženosti. Izračunate su prosječne vrijednosti svih svojstava. Zatim je odabrano po deset, pet i jedno najbolje stablo po svojstvima promjera, visine, temeljnice, volumena i izračunate razlike između prosječnih vrijednosti za deset stabala i ukupnog prosjeka, prosjeka za pet stabala i ukupnog prosjeka, te razlike između maksimalnih i prosječnih vrijednosti za istraživana svojstva. Također je izračunavat Pearsonov koeficijent korelacije između svih istraživanih svojstava. Prosječan promjer stabala starih 41 godinu bio je 24,6 cm, prosječna visina 21,8 m. Rezultati istraživanja osrženosti su pokazali da ariš prosječno počinje osržavati pri starosti od 14 godina. Pearsonov koeficijent korelacije za 2020. godinu pokazuje da postoji negativna korelacija između početka osržavanja prema svim ostalim svojstvima, odnosno stabla koja ranije osržavaju imaju veće vrijednosti svojstava rasta. Rezultati će biti korišteni u procesima individualne selekcije ariša sa dobrim visinskim i debljinskim prirastom i ranim osržavanjem.

Created in the 7th century, Uzrit love poetry or desert love poetry is inspired by love. It is named after the tribe to which poet Džemil (Ğamīl), one of the most famous love poets, belonged. In these poems, a lover spends his whole life in longing and absence, yearning for his beloved one. At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, European romanticists sang and composed songs following, among others, Uzrit poets. Thus, Heinrich Heine sang the song Der Azra, writing down the Arab tradition of the Banu ʻUzra (Banū ʻUḏra) tribe that "for love lose their heads and die when they kiss". Hajne also influenced romanticists, such as Bašagić and Kostić. We can assume that Bašagić was directly influenced by the Arab love poetry of the desert because he knew the Arabic language, studied at university, and translated numerous poems from the Arabic language. However, when it comes to Kostić, the influence was indirect. A factor that should not be excluded from the research on the influence of Uzrit love, as a phenomenon, on romanticism, but also on the entire literature of the Balkan peoples, is folk poetry, which is filled with motifs from the East, and especially the Uzrit understanding of love. We witness the unavoidable influence of numerous folk songs, which later grew into songs sung with musical instruments, sevdalinkas, which the poets of the Balkans, regardless of national-confessional affiliation were exposed to. That folk lyric sang about exactly what Uzrit poetry sang about and it often drew its motifs from the Uzrit understanding of love. Keywords: comparative literature, Uzrit poetry, romanticism, Safvet-beg Bašagić, Laza Kostić

A normal 5-edge-coloring of a cubic graph is a coloring such that for every edge the number of distinct colors incident to its end-vertices is 3 or 5 (and not 4). The well known Petersen Coloring Conjecture is equivalent to the statement that every bridgeless cubic graph has a normal 5-edge-coloring. All 3-edge-colorings of a cubic graph are obviously normal, so in order to establish the conjecture it is sufficient to consider only snarks. In our previous paper [J. Sedlar, R. \v{S}krekovski, Normal 5-edge-coloring of some snarks superpositioned by the Petersen graph, Applied Mathematics and Computation 467 (2024) 128493], we considered superpositions of any snark G along a cycle C by two simple supervertices and by the superedge obtained from the Petersen graph, but only for some of the possible ways of connecting supervertices and superedges. The present paper is a continuation of that paper, herein we consider superpositions by the Petersen graph for all the remaining connections and establish that for all of them the Petersen Coloring Conjecture holds.

The stability of the electroweak scale, challenged by the absence of deviations in flavor physics, prompts the consideration of SMEFT scenarios governed by approximate SM flavor symmetries. This study examines microscopic theories that match onto a set of $U(3)^5$-symmetric dimension-6 operators. Renormalization group mixing from the ultraviolet to the electroweak scale yields significant phenomenological constraints, particularly pronounced for UV-motivated directions. To demonstrate this, we explore a complete suite of tree-level models featuring new spin-0, 1/2, and 1 fields, categorized by their irreducible representations under the flavor group. We find that for the leading directions, corresponding to a single-mediator dominance, RG mixing effects occasionally serve as the primary indirect probe.

For the first time in nearly two centuries, one ethnic group now constitutes an absolute majority of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s population: the Bosniaks. It is an unlikely development given that, scarcely thirty years ago, they were targeted for extermination and expulsion by Serbia’s Slobodan Milošević. Even as the Bosniak community fought to survive these atrocities, it simultaneously came under attack from militants led by Croatian president Franjo Tuđman, who attempted to partition Bosnia and Herzegovina between Zagreb and Belgrade. Improbably, the Bosniaks and the Bosnian state survived these campaigns. But the country’s fractious sectarian post-war order has produced the world’s most convoluted constitutional regime, always teetering on the brink of collapse. Jasmin Mujanović illuminates the sources of contemporary Bosniak political identity, tracing the evolution of a religious community into a secular nation, and shedding light on the future of a nation at a crossroads. He explores the idea of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a “national homeland,” considers how narratives of genocide influence self-identity, and probes how demographic changes are putting pressure on the country’s political framework. The fate of Bosnia and Herzegovina’s peace and democracy rests on the Bosniaks’ shoulders--and with it, the stability of all Southeastern Europe.

Abstract Objectives Prenatal cardiology is a part of preventive cardiology based on fetal echocardiography and fetal interventional cardiology, which facilitates treatment of congenital heart defects (CHD) in pediatric patients and consequently in adults. Timely prenatal detection of CHD plays a pivotal role in facilitating the appropriate referral of pregnant women to facilities equipped to provide thorough perinatal care within the framework of a well-structured healthcare system. The aim of this paper is to highlight the role of left atrial strain (LAS) in prenatal evaluation of fetal heart and prediction of structural and functional disorders. Methods We conducted a comprehensive literature review searching PubMed for articles published from inception up until August 2023, including the search terms “left atrial strain”, “fetal echocardiography”, and “prenatal cardiology” combined through Boolean operators. In addition, references lists of identified articles were further reviewed for inclusion. Results Our review underscores the significance of LAS parameters in fetal echocardiography as a screening tool during specific gestational windows (starting from 11 to 14 weeks of gestation, followed by better visualization between 18 and 22 weeks of gestation). The left atrial strain technique and its parameters serve as valuable indicators, not only for identifying cardiac complications but also for predicting and guiding therapeutic interventions in cases of both cardiac and noncardiac pregnancy complications in fetuses. Evidence suggests establishment of second-trimester reference strain and strain rate values by speckle-tracking echocardiography in the healthy fetal cohort is essential for the evaluation of myocardial pathologies during pregnancy. Conclusions Finding of LAS of fetal heart is feasible and probably can have potential for clinical and prognostic implications.

Background and Objectives Progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) is a crucial determinant of overall disability accumulation in multiple sclerosis (MS). Accelerated brain atrophy has been shown in patients experiencing PIRA. In this study, we assessed the relation between PIRA and neurodegenerative processes reflected by (1) longitudinal spinal cord atrophy and (2) brain paramagnetic rim lesions (PRLs). Besides, the same relationship was investigated in progressive MS (PMS). Last, we explored the value of cross-sectional brain and spinal cord volumetric measurements in predicting PIRA. Methods From an ongoing multicentric cohort study, we selected patients with MS with (1) availability of a susceptibility-based MRI scan and (2) regular clinical and conventional MRI follow-up in the 4 years before the susceptibility-based MRI. Comparisons in spinal cord atrophy rates (explored with linear mixed-effect models) and PRL count (explored with negative binomial regression models) were performed between: (1) relapsing-remitting (RRMS) and PMS phenotypes and (2) patients experiencing PIRA and patients without confirmed disability accumulation (CDA) during follow-up (both considering the entire cohort and the subgroup of patients with RRMS). Associations between baseline MRI volumetric measurements and time to PIRA were explored with multivariable Cox regression analyses. Results In total, 445 patients with MS (64.9% female; mean [SD] age at baseline 45.0 [11.4] years; 11.2% with PMS) were enrolled. Compared with patients with RRMS, those with PMS had accelerated cervical cord atrophy (mean difference in annual percentage volume change [MD-APC] −1.41; p = 0.004) and higher PRL load (incidence rate ratio [IRR] 1.93; p = 0.005). Increased spinal cord atrophy (MD-APC −1.39; p = 0.0008) and PRL burden (IRR 1.95; p = 0.0008) were measured in patients with PIRA compared with patients without CDA; such differences were also confirmed when restricting the analysis to patients with RRMS. Baseline volumetric measurements of the cervical cord, whole brain, and cerebral cortex significantly predicted time to PIRA (all p ≤ 0.002). Discussion Our results show that PIRA is associated with both increased spinal cord atrophy and PRL burden, and this association is evident also in patients with RRMS. These findings further point to the need to develop targeted treatment strategies for PIRA to prevent irreversible neuroaxonal loss and optimize long-term outcomes of patients with MS.

Technology is acting as a catalyst for the transformation towards sustainability in education and as a means of reshaping the educational experience. This transformation is part of an overall transformation in our society, and education should be dedicated to creating satisfied students able to think autonomously, take responsibility for their views, and contribute to society. Both sustainable education and education for sustainability benefit from blended learning, which facilitates participatory teaching and empowers learners. The aim of our research was to determine teachers’ and students’ (a) awareness of the development of digital platforms for teaching and learning, (b) perception of their own digital skills, (c) use and experience of Coursera, and (d) attitudes towards the content and benefits of digital platforms, such as Coursera, for teaching and learning. The analysis was carried out using a questionnaire in which we collected feedback from students and teachers at the University of Sarajevo about their awareness and preferences of the contents offered by Coursera and their readiness to use those additional learning and teaching resources. The results of this study show that there is a lack of awareness of online e-learning platforms among students, with more than half of the sample professing ignorance about these sites. The identified lack of experience and a noticeable lack of motivation could present significant repressors in the transformation of education if not addressed properly.

The aim of this study was to investigate the efficiency of the automated DNA extraction method using the EZ2 Connect Fx instrument (QIAGEN), showcasing its ability to achieve swift and reliable results from bone samples. Genomic DNA extraction from 16 archaelogical and recent bone samples was performed with a commercial EZ1&2® DNA Investigator® Kit (QIAGEN). Prior to PCR amplification, DNA concentration was quantified using Qubit™ Fluorometer (Thermo Fisher Scientific). Amplification was carried out with the Investigator 24plex Kit (QIAGEN). DNA profiles were generated using 3500 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems) and analysed with GeneMapper™ ID-X 1.6 Software (Applied Biosystems). For nine archaeological dental samples, eight exhibited partial profiles, and one showed no amplified loci. Among the seven recent femoral bone samples, one exhibited a partial profile, while six presented complete DNA profiles. In this study, we investigated the benefits of automated DNA extraction, particularly its ability to generate timely and reliable results. Additionally, this method reduces pipette and tip usage, almost completely minimising the risk of human error, exogenous DNA contamination and cross-contamination. Such efficiency is of paramount importance, especially when working with skeletal remains, namely archaeological skeletal remains that pose a challenge for molecular genetic analyses.

Natriuretic peptide (NP) uptake varies in Emergency Departments (EDs) across Europe. The ‘Peptide for Life’ (P4L) initiative, led by Heart Failure Association, aims to enhance NP utilization for early diagnosis of heart failure (HF). We tested the hypothesis that implementing an educational campaign in Western Balkan countries would significantly increase NP adoption rates in the ED.

We present rules to stabilize the origin of a networked system, where data exchanges between the plant and the controller only occur when an output-dependent inequality has been satisfied for a given amount of time. This strategy, called Event-Holding Control (EHC), differs from time-regularized event-triggered control (ETC) techniques, which generate transmissions as soon as a triggering condition is verified and the time elapsed since the last transmission is larger than a given bound. Indeed, the clock involved in EHC is not running continuously after each transmission instant, but only when a criterion is verified. We propose an output-based design of these triggering mechanisms that are robust to additive measurement noise and ensure an input-to-state stability (ISS) property. This EHC scheme naturally has a positive lower bound on the transmission interval. Additionally, we show via an example that, in presence of measurement noise, Zeno-like behavior, where events are generated near the minimum inter-event time consistently, may occur when the system is close to the attractor. We introduce space-regularization to mitigate this issue, resulting in an input-to-state practical stability (ISpS) property rather than ISS.

This paper studies the stabilisation problem for a class of nonlinear systems with two time scales, where only a single communication channel is available to allocate both low and high-frequency transmissions from slow and fast subsystems, respectively. A clock mechanism is proposed to govern the transmissions, and the closed-loop system is modelled by a hybrid singularly perturbed system. Singular perturbation-based analysis is used to obtain individual maximum allowable transmission intervals for both slow and fast transmissions, and also to guarantee semi-global practical asymptotic stability with respect to the minimum allowable transmission interval of slow transmissions. We illustrate the results via a numerical example.