Honey is a product of high nutritive value, used as a raw material for obtaining mead. The quality of mead can be improved by adding fruit juices, including chokeberry juice. This paper aims to assess the effects that adding different quantities of chokeberry juice, with the variation of 3 amounts of inoculated yeast, has on the fermentation course, physicochemical, antioxidant and antimicrobial properties of mead. The parameters analyzed are the dry matter content, pH value, and content of volatile acids, ethanol and methanol, total phenols and flavonoids, FRAP, DPPH and ABTS tests and antimicrobial properties. The results obtained in this paper show that adding chokeberry juice improves antioxidant properties of the final product and affects positively the course of mead fermentation, i.e. it has led to an increase of the maximum concentration of ethanol (Pm). In terms of the chemical composition of mead, there is no significant difference, except in the obtained ethanol content, which is the highest in samples with 10% of added chokeberry juice. Control sample showed the best antimicrobial activity, while sample with 5 % of added chokeberry juice showed the weakest effect. The strongest effect was seen in the sample with 20% of added chokeberry juice.

Background / Aim: Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory disease that most often affects apocrine gland-bearing areas of the skin. The treatment depends on the severity of the clinical presentation. The paper objective was to present new modalities in management and treatment of HS. Methods: The subjects in this research included the patients suffering from the severe form of HS, who were treated in the University Clinical Centre of the Republic of Srpska for the past three years. The effect of treatment of HS were monitored. In four patients, biologic therapy with adalimumab or adalimumab biosimilars was administered, while four patients received radiotherapy and 17 of them, were treated surgically. Depending on the type of treatment, the effects of therapy were monitored after 6-12 weeks by using clinical examination and by assessing the disease stage according to the Hurley staging. Due to a small number of subjects, especially in patients treated with biologic and radiotherapy, it was not possible to perform any statistical analysis and the results were presented by description, in tables and photographs. Results: Biologic therapy: Adalimumab was administered subcutaneously 80 mg, twice a month. After 12 weeks, in 4 patients was observed a regression of changes by 60-70 % when compared to previous skin changes. Radiotherapy: the total radiation dose was 5 Gy, distributed in 5 or 10 fractions. After 12 weeks an improvement by 60-70 % was observed. Surgical treatment: after 6-8 weeks, the patients were fully recovered. Conclusions: Application of biologic and radiotherapy after 12 weeks had similar results, ie it brought to regression of changes by 60-70 %. The best results were achieved after surgical treatment of HS.

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Our aim was to determine the prevalence of potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs) and to identify relevant factors associated with the occurrence of the most dangerous or contraindicated pDDIs (pCDDIs) in hospitalized patients with spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage (sICH). A retrospective cross-sectional study was performed enrolling all consecutive patients with sICH treated at the Neurological Intensive Care Unit, Clinical Center in Kragujevac, Serbia, during the three-year period (2012-2014). The inclusion criteria encompassed patients aged 18 years and over, those diagnosed with ICH, and those prescribed at least two drugs during hospitalization, while we did not include patients whose hospitalization lasted less than 7 days, those who were diagnosed with other neurological diseases and patients with incomplete medical files. For each day of hospitalization, the online checker Micromedex® software was used to identify pDDIs and classify them according to severity. A total of 110 participants were analysed. A high prevalence of pDDIs (98.2%) was observed. The median number of pDDIs regardless of severity, was 8.00 (IQR 4.75-13.00;1-30). The pairs of drugs involving cardiovascular medicines were the most commonly identified pDDIs. Twenty percent of the total number of participants was exposed to pCDDIs. The use of multiple drugs from different pharmacological-chemical subgroups and the prescribing of anticoagulant therapy significantly increase the chance of pCDDI (aOR with 95% CI 1.19 (1.05-1.35) and 7.40 (1.13-48.96), respectively). This study indicates a high prevalence of pDDIs and pCDDIs in patients with sICH. The use of anticoagulant therapy appears to be the only modifiable clinically relevant predictor of pCDDIs.

Introduction: Laboratory and anthropometric parameters for assessing lipid metabolism disorders are important for atherogenesis and the occurrence of cardiovascular disease. Material and Methods: The study was designed as a prospective longitudinal study, meant to assess the risk of cardiovascular disease, which included initial measurement of lipid status, CRP, and BMI, and repeated measurement after DASH diet and exercise. It was conducted on a sample of 60 female respondents. Results: Following the WHO categorization of BMI, the study found that 62% of respondents were overweight, 26% were obese, and only 12% of respondents were at ideal body weight. After the DASH diet and exercise program, the average value of BMI M = 27.02 was established. Analyzing the values of the CASTELLI 1 index in 95.9% of respondents, high values of M = 5.3 were observed, which indicates a high risk of CVD. The study results indicate that the average value of cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL-C significantly reduced after two months of adherence to the DASH diet and exercise. With the help of Spearman’s rank, the correlation coefficient indicated the existence of a positive relationship between the CASTELLI 1 index and total cholesterol, triglycerides and HDL-C. In the initial analysis, CRP had a high value (M = 10 mg/L). In contrast, after the program, the CRP value decreased to (M = 4 mg/L), and a significant negative correlation (p <0.01) was observed between CRP and HDL-C, indicating that HDL-C value as a protective lipoprotein for blood vessels increased. CRP decreased after two months of DASH diet and exercise. Conclusion: With this research, we aim to draw attention to the importance of promoting healthy lifestyles and creating adequate risk assessment models with a well-developed strategy that will include anthropometric, laboratory and other multidisciplinary aspects to combat cardiovascular

Introduction : Scoliosis is a three-dimensional deformity of the spine that is defined mainly on the basis of lateral curvature of the spine. It is divided into functional and structural scoliosis. Scoliosis can lead to prolonged improper posture, back pain

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Objectives: Improved serological detection of specific antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 could help estimate the true number of infections. Methods: A total of 443 serum samples provided by unvaccinated patients of all ages with unknown COVID-19 status that were originally submitted for routine screening or clinical management from outpatient laboratory during the March–April 2021 (third wave) were collected. Seroprevalence of IgM/IgG antibodies was determined by lateral flow immunoassay (Tigsun, Beijing, China). Results: Among 443 serum samples, 186 (42.0%) were positive (incidence of 5.2/1000) with slight predominace of females, 104 (55.9%), highest seropositivity in 25–50 and 51–64 years age groups, 61 (32.8%) and 57 (30.6%), respectively (P < 0.05); rural population was more prevalent, 101 (54.3%) (P < 0.05) and active workers, 86 (41.1%). Almost equal number of patients was with or without symptoms, 48.4% and 51.6%, respectively. For the comparison, in the same period it was registered 296 (out of 855; 34.6%) PCR SARS-CoV-19 positive persons (incidence of 8.2/1000) with the higher gender (females) and the highest age prevalence in 51–64 years age group (36.8%). In the period March 2020–June 2021, it was registered 804 (out of 3323; 24.2%) (incidence of 22.3/1000) PCR SARS-CoV-19 positive persons with no significant gender and significant age difference (25–50 and 51–64 years group, respectively). Conclusion: In the regions with high prevalence/incidence of SARS-CoV-2 in the general population (Bosnia and Herzegovina is on the World top on the number of deaths) seroprevalence measuring can help tracking the spread of disease.

Purpose: The current study is theoretically grounded in the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Social Influence Theory. It attempts to explain how acts of others influence attitudes and behaviors of individuals in the context of the adoption of cloud computing services. Methodology: The present study used the convenience sampling technique to conduct empirical research. Data collection was performed via an online survey. We used Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to test the proposed research model. Results: Our findings suggest that a favorable social norm towards cloud computing services produces a positive and statistically significant effect on perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and willingness to use cloud computing services. In terms of mediating the role of perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness, findings revealed that perceived ease of use mediates the relationship between social norms and willingness to use cloud computing services. Conclusion: The present study advances our understanding of the role of social influence and individual perceptions of technology (i.e., usefulness and ease of use) in the intention to use technology in the cloud computing context.

Objective. Diabetes mellitus and arterial hypertension are chronic, mass non-communicable diseases that are global health problems with characteristics of epidemiology where complications of these diseases are the common reason for visual handicap and disability in the work productive population. The primary aim of this paper was to analyze the frequency of visual dysfunction, and behavioral habits in diabetic and hypertensive patients and the second aim was to analyze the occurrence of work disability in patients with these diseases. Methods. The research is a cross-sectional study made in two Health Centers in the City of Eastern Sarajevo in a period of July 2018 to July 2019 (12 months). 192 patients with diabetes and 100 patients with hypertension were selected using the random sampling method. A special questionnaire was created for this purpose, and statistic analysis was made by SPSS (IBM, Chicago version 19). Statistical significance was tested with ch2 test. Results. Diabetic patients significantly have more visual disturbances than hypertensive patients according to subjective assessment (ch2=14.21, p< 0.001). Worsening of visual acuity is presented more in diabetic than in hypertensive patients (ch2=6.17, p<0.001). There is no significant difference in behavioral habits between diabetic and hypertensive patients for smoking (ch2=1.778, p=0.411) and alcohol consumption.( ch2=2.158, p=0.142). Patients with diabetes are more frequent in the status of work disability than those with hypertension (ch2=13,46, p<0,001). Conclusion. Mass non-communicable diseases are a common cause of visual dysfunction. Diabetes mellitus is the main reason for visual disability in the adult population from the region of Eastern Sarajevo. Behavioral habits like smoking and alcohol consumption have a serious impact on the prognosis of those patients.

Background: Pretreatment differentiation between glioblastoma and metastasis is a frequently encountered dilemma in neurosurgical practice. Distinction is required for precise planning of resection or radiotherapy, and also for defining further diagnostic procedures. Morphology and spectroscopy imaging features are not specific and frequently overlap. This limitation of magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy was the reason to initiate this study. The aim of the present study was to determine whether the dataset of diffusion tensor imaging metrics contains information which may be used for the distinction between primary and secondary intra-axial neoplasms. Methods: Two diffusion tensor imaging parameters were measured in 81 patients with an expansive, ring-enhancing, intra-axial lesion on standard magnetic resonance imaging (1.5 T system). All tumors were histologically verified glioblastoma or secondary deposit. For qualitative analysis, two regions of interest were defined: intratumoral and immediate peritumoral region (locations 1 and 2, respectively). Fractional anisotropy and mean difusivity values of both groups were compared. Additional test was performed to determine if there was a significant difference in mean values between two locations. Results: A statistically significant difference was found in fractional anisotropy values among two locations, with decreasing values in the direction of neoplastic infiltration, although such difference was not observed in fractional anisotropy values in the group with secondary tumors. Mean difusivity values did not appear helpful in differentiation between these two entities. In both groups there was no significant difference in mean difusivity values, neither in intratumoral nor in peritumoral location. Conclusion: The results of our study justify associating the diffusion tensor imaging technique to conventional morphologic magnetic resonance imaging as an additional diagnostic tool for the distinction between primary and secondary intra-axial lesions. Quantitative analysis of diffusion tensor imaging metric, in particular measurement of fractional anisotropy in peritumoral edema facilitates accurate diagnosis.

Background/Aim: Irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) belongs to the gastrointestinal disorders characterised by abdominal discomfort and pain, altered constipation, diarrhoea and stomach distension. The aim was to assess relationship between the selected genetic polymorphisms with IBS, their combined genotype effect as well as to assess a difference in the distribution of allele and genotype frequencies of selected loci between case and control group. Methods: This was a prospective study which included 29 participants, 20 individuals diagnosed with IBS based on Rome III criteria and 9 healthy individuals. The study analysed the selected genetic polymorphisms as possible risk factors for IBS according to the model of the case-control study. Genotyping was performed for FKBP5, DRD2 and DAT polymorphisms qualified as risk factors for IBS in previous researches. Results: The results revealed a significant association between DAT polymorphism with IBS, both, at the allelic level (p = 0.006) and genotype level (p = 0.031). Individuals with 434 allelic variant in the genotype have six time higher probability for developing IBS, in comparison to the individuals without this allelic variant. The statistical association between other analysed polymorphism and IBS was not reached. The analysis of combined effects of selected polymorphisms revealed no association with IBS, except FKBP5 and DAT which result was at the level of statistical significance (p = 0.05). Conclusion: Further analysis which would include DAT polymorphism with larger sample size, as well as other genes involved in dopamine neurotransmitter system would be of great interest to define closer conclusion of IBS aetiology.