Background: SARS-CoV-2 is a coronavirus that causes a respiratory disease, COVID-19. For COVID-19 testing, real-time PCR is considered gold standard and therefore many commercial SARS-Cov-2 detection kits are available. Objective: The aim of the study is to determine diagnostic values of 10 different commercially available SARS-CoV-2 detection kits, based on their Ct value. Methods: For this study thirty clinical nasopharyngeal samples were collected in ALEA Genetic Center. Twenty four of them were positive, while six were negative and used as a negative control. Positive samples were selected based on the day when first symptoms appeared. RNA was extracted using the same extraction method for all samples. For amplification and comparison of detection kits, the same RT- PCR instrument was used. Results: Accuracy, sensitivity, specificity and Cohen’s kappa coefficient were estimated to evaluate diagnostic values of the tested kits. This study showed that all kits showed 100% specificity. Accuracy, sensitivity and kappa coefficient varied among examined assays. Based on clinical features, LabGunTM COVID-19 Assay by LabGenomics proved to be the most sensitive, the most accurate and most specific. Therefore this assay was used as a reference kit. Conclusion: If things from practice are taken into account, accuracy and reliability of the tested commercial kits can vary compared to those obtained in this study where results were based on ideal functioning of the kits. When choosing the convenient commercial SARS-CoV-2 detection kit using RT-PCR method, many parameters need to be considered.

Aim To analyze an additional set of Y-chromosome genetic markers to acquire a more detailed insight into the diversity of the Croatian population. Methods A total of 518 Yfiler Plus profiles were genotyped. Allele frequencies, haplotype frequencies, and haplotype diversity were calculated by using the STRAF software v. 2.0.4. Genetic distances were quantified by Rst with AMOVA online tool from the YHRD. The evolutionary history was inferred with the neighbor-joining method of phylogenetic tree construction in the MEGAX software. Whit Athey's Haplogroup Predictor v. 5 was used for additional comparison with regional and other European populations. Results A total of 507 haplotypes were used for genetic STR analysis. An interpopulation study on 17 Y-STR markers showed the lowest genetic diversity between the Croatian and Bosnian-Herzegovinian populations and the highest between the Croatian and Irish populations. Additional interpopulation comparison with the original 27 Y-STR markers (for the population with available data) was also performed. A total of 518 haplotypes were used in the determination of haplogroup diversity. Haplogroup I with its sublineage I2a expressed the highest prevalence. The second most prevalent haplogroup was R, with its major sublineage R1a, except for the subpopulation of Hvar, where E1b1b was the second most prevalent haplogroup. Rare haplogroups also confirmed in this study were L, T, and Q. G1 was detected for the first time in the Croatian population. Conclusion We obtained a new insight into the differences between examined subpopulations of Croatia and their possible (dis)similarities with neighboring and distant populations.

Background The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) causes a respiratory illness named coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is one of the main global health problems since 2019. Glycans attached to the Fc portion of immunoglobulin G (IgG) are important modulators of IgG effector functions. Fc region binds to different receptors on the surface of various immune cells, dictating the type of immune response. Here, we performed a large longitudinal study to determine whether the severity and duration of COVID-19 are associated with altered IgG glycosylation. Methods Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography analysis of released glycans, we analysed the composition of the total IgG N-glycome longitudinally during COVID-19 from four independent cohorts. We analysed 77 severe COVID-19 cases from the HR1 cohort (74% males, median age 72, age IQR 25-80); 31 severe cases in the HR2 cohort (77% males, median age 64, age IQR 41-86), 18 mild COVID-19 cases from the UK cohort (17% males, median age 50, age IQR 26-71) and 28 mild cases from the BiH cohort (71% males, median age 60, age IQR 12-78). Findings Multiple statistically significant changes in IgG glycome composition were observed during severe COVID-19. The most statistically significant changes included increased agalactosylation of IgG (meta-analysis 95% CI [0.03, 0.07], adjusted meta-analysis P= <0.0001), which regulates proinflammatory actions of IgG via complement system activation and indirectly as a lack of sialylation and decreased presence of bisecting N-acetylglucosamine on IgG (meta-analysis 95% CI [-0.11, -0.08], adjusted meta-analysis P= <0.0001), which indirectly affects antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity. On the contrary, no statistically significant changes in IgG glycome composition were observed in patients with mild COVID-19. Interpretation The IgG glycome in severe COVID-19 patients is statistically significantly altered in a way that it indicates decreased immunosuppressive action of circulating immunoglobulins. The magnitude of observed changes is associated with the severity of the disease, indicating that aberrant IgG glycome composition or changes in IgG glycosylation may be an important molecular mechanism in COVID-19. Funding This work has been supported in part by Croatian Science Foundation under the project IP-CORONA-2020-04-2052 and Croatian National Centre of Competence in Molecular Diagnostics (The European Structural and Investment Funds grant #KK.01.2.2.03.0006), by the UKRI/MRC (Cov-0331 - MR/V027883/1) and by the National Institutes for Health Research Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre and by Ministry Of Science, Higher Education and Youth Of Canton Sarajevo, grant number 27-02-11-4375-10/21.

Genus Silene (Caryophyllaceae) is very rich in secondary metabolites and has an antiviral, antimalarial, antitumor, antibacterial and antioxidant properties, but Balkan endemic Silene sendtneri (Sendtner's campion) is not analyzed from the aspect of phenolic composition and their biological activities. Evaluation of total phenolic contents (TPC) and total flavonoid contents (TFC), and antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of hydromethanolic extracts from inflorescences, stem, rhizome, and seeds of S. sendtneri, was done in this study for the first time. The TPC, TFC, and antioxidant activity (DPPH; 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) were determined by UV/VIS spectrophotometry. Antimicrobial activity was estimated against selected test microorganisms (Staphylococcus epidermididis, Staphylococcus aureus subsp. aureus, Salmonella abony, Escherichia coli, and Candida albicans) using a disc diffusion assay. The inflorescences had the highest (11.587 mg GAEg-1 DW) and rhizome the lowest TPC (2.017 mg GAEg-1 DW). The inflorescences extract exhibited the highest TFC (69.824 mg CEg-1 DW), while TFC was not detected in the rhizome extract. The stem’s extract had the highest antioxidant activity (IC50; 20.51%), while the rhizome had the lowest (61.89%). All extracts showed moderate antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus epidermididis and low activity against the three remaining tested organisms. Antifungal activity of inflorescence and rhizome extracts was moderate. Obtained results provide a basis for further investigations of various S. sendtneri extracts, which can be a potential natural antioxidant and antimicrobial agents

The past decade within Bosnia and Herzegovina and thus in the Sarajevo Canton has shown that tourism has become a significant segment of the economy with a pronounced constant positive growth. He is one of the most important trump cards in economic development and positive recognition of the Sarajevo Canton and thus the state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The paper analyzes the current state of sports and recreational tourism in Sarajevo Canton in the period from 2011 to 2021 and its possibilities through the sports and tourism offer. The research covered the administrative borders of Sarajevo Canton, which consists of 9 municipalities: Centar, Hadžići, Ilidža, Ilijaš, Novi Grad, Novo Sarajevo, Stari Grad, Trnovo and Vogošća. The paper analyzes the number of registered business entities (tourist units), the number of tourist arrivals (countries from which tourists come and by months of the year), the number of overnight stays, tourist arrivals individually or organized, the analysis of sports facilities and infrastructure for sports and tourism offer (mountaineering, sport climbing, athletic stadiums, swimming pools, bike and mountain bike trails, sports halls, golf courses, mountain walking trails, racetracks (equestrian sports), skating rinks, football stadiums and football fields, ski lifts, ski lifts, snowboard, point and toboggan runs, cross-country skiing, tennis courts). For the purposes of this research, a combination of: primary field research related to the state of sports facilities and sports infrastructure in the Sarajevo Canton as well as a secondary method of data collection through available official data, databases and reports of relevant public, private institutions, media, sports associations. By analyzing the situation and the results we have obtained, we can determine the direction for the development and expansion of services in terms of sports and recreational tourism in Sarajevo Canton. This does not require large investments, especially in the rural parts of Sarajevo Canton, which has all the benefits for further development of sports and recreational forms of offer in the direction of hiking, mountaineering, cycling, running, alpine, touring and Nordic skiing. Sarajevo Canton with its sports and competitive heritage as well as the existing specific sports infrastructure and facilities provide a great opportunity for tourism development and positive recognition of the Canton and the city of Sarajevo. Keywords: Seasonality, sports facilities, sports infrastructure, sports and recreational services and sports programs.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has become a major cause of stress and anxiety worldwide. It has generated stress among people from all sections of society, especially to workers who have been assigned to cater to healthcare service or those constrained to secure daily essential items. Yoga practice is actively sought to achieve reduced anxiety and stress so that improved sleep may positively impact immunity. Objective: The aim of this cross-sectional study was to determine whether those who practice Yoga during the COVID-19 pandemic have lower levels of stress, anxiety, and depression than those who do not. Methods: The sample consists of 51 females who have been attending Yoga sessions for many years and who continued this practice during the COVID-19 pandemic twice a week. The control group consisted of 50 non-Yoga respondents. The survey was conducted during April 2021. The Revised Event Impact Scale (IES-R) (4) and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) (Derogatis, 1993) were used to assess stress. Student T-test was used to check the statistical significance of differences. Results: In our research yoga practitioners show a statistically significantly lower average severity of stress symptoms compared to those who do not practice yoga on 5 of the 6 stress indicators shown. The only statistically significant difference was not obtained on the measure of total number of symptoms (PST). Conclusion: The results suggest that yoga practice during COVID-19 pandemic is associated with lower levels of stress, anxiety and depression.

Safety-critical automation often requires redundancy to enable reliable system operation. In the context of integrating sensors into such systems, the one-out-of-two (1oo2) sensor architecture is one of the common used methods used to ensure the reliability and traceability of sensor readings. In taking such an approach, readings from two redundant sensors are continuously checked and compared. As soon as the discrepancy between two redundant lines deviates by a certain threshold, the 1oo2 voter (comparator) assumes that there is a fault in the system and immediately activates the safe state. In this work, we propose a novel fault prognosis algorithm based on the discrepancy signal. We analyzed the discrepancy changes in the 1oo2 sensor configuration caused by degradation processes. Several publicly available databases were checked, and the discrepancy between redundant sensors was analyzed. An initial analysis showed that the discrepancy between sensor values changes (increases or decreases) over time. To detect an increase or decrease in discrepancy data, two trend detection methods are suggested, and the evaluation of their performance is presented. Moreover, several models were trained on the discrepancy data. The models were then compared to determine which of the models can be best used to describe the dynamics of the discrepancy changes. In addition, the best-fitting models were used to predict the future behavior of the discrepancy and to detect if, and when, the discrepancy in sensor readings will reach a critical point. Based on the prediction of the failure date, the customer can schedule the maintenance system accordingly and prevent its entry into the safe state—or being shut down.

Background: Sternotomy is a classical surgical procedure for approaching the heart and mediastinum. Sternotomy wound infections can be superficial or deep. Objective: The aim of this study is to retrospectively evaluate the results of two treatments for deep sternal wound infection (DSWI), closed treatment (debridement, refixation and retrosternal irrigation) and open treatment (debridement, VAC therapy and then pectoral flap). Methods: Retrospective analysis of two methods of treatment of DSWI in the period of six years. The first group (G1): surgical debridement, sternum fixation with, if necessary, retrosternal irrigation. The second group (G2): surgical debridement, open sternum with VAC therapy and subsequent pectoral flap with sternum refixation if necessary. Sternotomy wound infection will be classified according to the depth of the affected areas and the time of infection. Risk factors, outcome, local findings, number of revisions, number of hospital treatment days, types of isolates, etiology of sternotomy, time from onset of sternal instability to first surgical treatment will be observed.: Results: The number of patients with DSWI was 16, which represents 1% of all sternotomy in the observed period. Mortality in the DSWI group was 35%. Surgical myocardial revascularization was initially performed in 73% of patients with DSWI. Two risk factors for DSWI were in 32% of patients and 25% had diabetes mellitus. The average time for DSWI development in G1 was 10 days (min 0, max 30) and in G2 was 20 days (min 12, max 30). Number of revisions in G1 (min 1, max 2), G2 (min 1, max 3). Average number of hospital days were in G1 23.50 days (SD 13.15), and in G2 38.17 days (SD 28.65). The sternum was osteomyelitic and fragmented in 20% of patients. More than one revision occurred in 40% of patients. The main initial isolate was Enterococcus faecalis in 27% of all DSWI (dominantly in G1 2/3 of all): Conclusion: We found that there is no statistically significant difference in observed treatments, and that each treatment has its own indications. We suggested that studies with a larger sample are needed for a definite opinion on this issue.

Seventy years of continuous publishing of the Journal “Radovi Šumarskog fakulteta Univerziteta u Sarajevu” (Works of the Faculty of Forestry University of Sarajevo) represents a significant indicator of the importance of the topics it publishes in its content. The main goal of this paper is to present the Journal through History and show his continuity of work. The main material for this paper is all published issues and articles from 1952 to 2021. With this analysis, we will show a History of the Journal, and its design change, and analyze the number of published papers per year, per editor during these 70 years of existence.

Background: The economic burden induced by all types of Diabetes mellitus (DM) and their complications has reached 1.8% of gross domestic product (GDP) globally. The economic burden of diabetes mellitus in Bosnia & Herzegovina (B&H) is still unknown. Objective: To investigate the economic burden of diabetes in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the costs of diagnosing and treating diabetes and its complications. Methods: The study was designed as a top-down cost of illness study, based on prevalence, analyzing both direct and indirect costs of DM and complications caused by DM. All types of DM were taken into account, and estimates were based on total B&H population. Costs of services per patient were calculated by multiplication of share of treated population, service utilization data and unit costs. Results: Annual economic burden associated with DM in B&H is around 189 million euro (739 euro per patient), which makes 1.11% of gross domestic product (GDP) of B&H in 2020 (16,993,101,523 euro, according to the World Bank data). The largest part of this burden was created by DM medication and costs of managing complications (heart failure and stable angina being major cost drivers among the complications), followed by laboratory tests and physician visits. Conclusion: Total costs of DM per patient in B&H are within the range of costs in other Central-Eastern European (CEE) countries, reflecting significant economic burden, but also determination of healthcare payers in B&H to provide optimal management of DM in congruence with contemporary clinical guidelines

TPS612 Background: The ongoing, multi-center FLEX trial (NCT03053193) began in the United States in 2017, with the ultimate goal of 30,000 patients enrolled. The primary objective is to create a large-scale collaborative registry of early-stage breast cancer patients that links comprehensive clinical and full genome expression data to reveal new prognostic and/or predictive gene signatures. A key secondary objective of the trial is to enable investigator-initiated studies to explore early-stage breast cancer at a relatively low cost to the investigator. Methods: The prospective FLEX trial enrolls patients aged ≥ 18 years with histologically proven stage I-III breast cancer, with negative or 1-3 positive lymph nodes. Eligible patients have received MammaPrint, with or without BluePrint testing as standard of care, and consent to clinically annotated full transcriptome data collection. The FLEX base study protocol permits investigators to submit their own concept proposal, and upon review and approval by the Research and Scientific Review Committees, investigators interrogate clinical and genomic data from the FLEX database. The 10-year enrollment goal is a minimum of 30,000 patients. Since April 2017, 9,170 patients have been enrolled at over 109 sites in the United States. To date, 38 investigator-initiated substudies have been approved and are in progress, and 28 abstracts have been published in the US scientific congresses. To ensure inclusion of diverse populations, patients from local communities and 11 National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers were included. Our diverse data set is helping meet the needs of historically under-represented patients with breast cancer. Of the self-reported ethnicities within the FLEX database, 65% are White or Caucasian, 8% Black or African American, 4% Latin American, and 2% Asian. There are 5 ongoing FLEX sub studies investigating racial disparities. The molecular profiling and differential gene expression analysis in early-stage breast cancer patients of African American, Asian, Hispanic ancestries helps to provide critical insights that correlate tumor biology with treatment outcomes. FLEX is expanding globally with sites anticipated in multiple European countries. The FLEX trial continues to expedite the discovery and development of novel genomic profiles, bringing precision oncology into the clinic to improve breast cancer management. Clinical trial information: NCT03053193.

The paper discusses a control strategy that merges position and force control into a single control structure. The structure, denoted as the universal motion controller in our previous work, can be utilized to build a smart actuating system that runs a mechanical system with $n$ degrees of freedom. A smart actuating system has an integrated controller and it can be used in plug-and-play fashion for different trajectory tracking and force control tasks, defined either in configuration space, or in the task space. The only input of the actuating system is the attraction force in configuration space. Based on the attraction force, the smart actuating system is capable of imposing input forces to the mechanical system that will ensure execution of a specified task.

Introduction Schizophrenia (SCH) and bipolar affective disorder (BP) are complex disorders that overlapping both in their clinical symptoms and certain familiar characteristics. They share some common characteristcs but there are also key differences. The frequency of overlapping symptoms between these diseases could give us more information about the current validity of the diagnosis based on existing diagnostic criteria. Similarities within and between these two disorders in the future, can possibly redefine greater reliability of diagnosis. Objectives The aim of the study was to investigate the frequency of overlapping symptoms between BP and SCH. Methods The sample included 159 patients diagnosed with SCH and 61 with BP who were followed over a two year period. The research was conducted at the UCCS Psychiatric Clinic. Assessment of clinical symptoms and diagnosis were performed using a structured clinical interview (SCID I), a list of operationalized criteria (OPSCRIT), a scale for the assessment of positive and negative symptoms (PANSS), a scale for the assessment of manic symptoms (YMRS). Results The overall PANSS score was significantly higher in patients with SCH compared to patients with BP, but on the general psychopatology there are no significant differences betwen SCH and BP. Symptoms of mania are significantly more pronounced in patients with BP compared to those with SCH. Conclusions Our results of overlapping of individual symptoms between SCH and BP can speak infavor of the theory of disease continuum. And can also help us in understanding symptoms and guide us to develop optimal treatment strategies. Disclosure No significant relationships.

Women’s rights have increasingly become an international concern and various in-ternational conventions on women’s rights came into being in the last decades. Bosnia-Herzegovina has signed and ratified all important international conven-tions relating to women’s rights, whereas the numerous women's civil society organ-izations continue to advocate for the proper implementation of conventions while helping women to claim their rights guaranteed in these conventions and locally enacted laws on gender equality. This article, based on interviews conducted be-tween August 2020 and June 2021 with members of women's civil society organiza-tions in Bosnia-Herzegovina, takes a closer look at the process of norm diffusion. In particular, this article aims to contribute to the understanding of the processes of norm implementation and the related challenges from the perspective of women’s civil society organizations in the specific context of Bosnia-Herzegovina.