Introduction. Assessment of the occupational risk of exposure to the new coronavirus of workers engaged in the COVID-19 Departments of the University Clinical Center of Republic of Srpska and the use of personal protective equipment was the aim of this research. Method. In the University Clinical Center of Republic of Srpska (UKC RS), in the COVID-19 Departments, a KAP study (Knowledge Attitudes Practice Study) was conducted among 102 employees of all educational profiles, using the questionnaire of the World Health Organization (WHO), which was adapted for this research. The survey was voluntary and anonymous with the informed approval consent of the respondent. Results. Out of 102 surveyed, 13 of them tested positive for SARSCoV-2. On average, 95.0% of respondents always wear PPE in the COVID-19 Departments of the UKC RS. Putting on/removing PPE and decontamination of contact surfaces have been always carried out by 88.2% of respondents. Out of 64 respondents who used PPE for aerosol generating procedures, 10 of them (15.6%) were positive for SARSCoV-2 and of the other 38 respondents who did not participate in such procedures, three of them (7.9%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2. Statistical data processing was done in the SPSS program package, version 20.0, with a significance level of difference of 5% (p=0.412). Conclusion. There was no significant difference between SARSCoV-2 positive and negative personnel regarding the use and change of PPE, hand hygiene and surface decontamination. The assessment of the occupational risk of exposure to SARS-CoV-2, in addition to the proper use of PPE, takes into account the local epidemiological situation, specific characteristics of the work environment and tasks, the hierarchy of controls and the level of adherence to preventive measures and infection control.

Background: Identifying risk factors for the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is the first step in developing a prevention strategy. Objective: The aim of the study is to investigate the presence of risk factors and assess the overall risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Methods:.This cross sectional and experimental study involved 203 respondents of both sexes from the working population group aged 40 to 65 years. Results: Hypertension was diagnosed in 154 (75,9%) respondents, hyperglycemia in 177 (87,19%) respondents, dyslipidemia in 182 (89,66%) respondents and Diabetes mellitus type 2 was diagnosed in 53 (26,1%) respondents. Excess body mass was observed in 84 (41,4%) respondents, while obesity was noted in 91 (44,8%) respondents, and smoking habit in 117 (57,6%) respondents. Analyzing the above data using Q3 risk assessment for cardiovascular disease occurrence, it was found that the overall Q3 risk was significantly higher in male respondents, 21,8 (12.4-30.6), while female respondents had a median value of 14,7 (14-22,5), with an apparent statistically significant difference of p=0,001. Conclusion: To establish a strategic prevention program to eliminate the existing risk factors can only be achieved through multidisciplinary planning and the involvement of a multidisciplinary team of experts that will help improve the lifestyle of the individual and the entire community. From this work, we can see that the Q3 risk tool is well suited for risk assessment because it incorporates multidisciplinary parameters, whereas lipid indices can only be useful in cardiovascular disease risk assessment by comparing all indices.

Sedentary lifestyle and physical inactivity are some of the leading risk factors for cardiovascular diseases and total mortality. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of dosed physical exercise on the nutritional status of recreational athletes. In this study, we included 50 respondents of both sexes between the ages of 18 and 55, who engage in recreational physical exercise, were included in the study. All subjects had their body mass and height measured before the start of exercise and after three months, based on which the body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, and body fat percentage were determined. The exercise was carried out according to the plan 3 times a week for 75 minutes and combined anaerobic training (45 minutes) and aerobic training (30 minutes). The average body weight of all subjects at the beginning of the study was 81.74 kg, while at the end it was 80.16 kg. The average body weight of men at the end of the study was 1.95 kg less than the initial value, while it was 0.71 kg less for women. There is a statistically significant difference in BMI, waist circumference and fat percentage in the total number of respondents at the beginning and at the end of the study. Regular physical activity and exercise have a positive effect on BMI, waist circumference and body fat percentage, showing the importance of exercise in the prevention of obesity and chronic non-communicable diseases.

The paper presents the distribution of grassland and forest vegetation in the Republika Srpska, zoning by natural regions and altitude zones and the changes that occurred in the period 2000-2018. The territory of Republika Srpska belongs to three large natural regions of different physical and geographical characteristics, with specific environmental factors that affect the distribution of vegetation. Altitude significantly affects the occurrence and types of vegetation, so a digital elevation model with a 25 m resolution was used for the analysis of vertical zonality, in order to process data on the distribution of grasslands and forests by altitude zones. Copernicus Grassland and Forest databases were used, for the period 2012-2018. Given climate change and increasing droughts, which indirectly affect the quantity and quality of vegetation, monitoring and managing grasslands and forests will be an important challenge for Republika Srpska. The results of the research show that the grassland according to the Copernicus Grassland database occupies 19.7%, and the forest vegetation according to the Copernicus Forest covers 60.1%, which is almost 80% of the territory of Republika Srpska. Grasslands are most widespread in the area of medium-high and high karst fields of eastern Herzegovina. There are more pastures in the lower altitude zones, while natural grasslands predominate in the higher zones. Forests predominate in the central mountain-valley region. Broad-leaved forests dominate at lower altitudes and coniferous forests at higher altitudes. The European program for monitoring the Earth's surface via satellite remote sensing is a new technology, so the results obtained for the territory of Republika Srpska can be considered a novelty, which is the most significant contribution of this paper.

Two databases related to grassland in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) have been used in this research-the Copernicus Grassland (GRA) and CORINE Land Cover (CLC). The data have been processed by using GIS tools, and the spatial distribution of grass vegetation in relation to three biogeographical and four elevation zones has been determined. By using the Copernicus Water and Wetness (WaW) database, an insight into the coverage of grass vegetation in wetlands has been obtained. In addition, the analysis of changes in databases determined the total amount and location of the largest grassland losses. Based on GRA database, B&H is one of the richest countries, with 22.4% of its territory covered by grassland. According to the CLC database, pastures occupy 6.3% and natural grasslands 5.6% of the territory of B&H. However, grassland is exposed to various anthropogenic and natural processes that affect its distribution, quality, functions, etc. The CLC database has been processed by extracting the grasslands (pastures and natural grasslands) and calculating their spatial coverage and changes which happened during the three six-year periods from 2000 to 2018. The trend of decreasing pasture areas and increasing natural grasslands has been noticed. The pastures are most endangered by the processes of conversion to other types of agricultural land, while natural grassland increased spatial coverage during the period 2012-2018 mostly due to the revitalization and grazing of burned areas in the region of Herzegovina. Grasslands have been particularly targeted for afforestation and cropland conversion at present.

Cancer is an abnormal proliferation of cells that is characterized by the presence of genomic alterations including DNA mutations, deletions, insertions, translocations, inversions, and others. KRAS gene is one of the most mutated genes across different cancer types. The most common mutations in KRAS are found in codons 12 and 13 of KRAS protein, which are associated with a lack of response to anti- epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) antibody therapy. This study assessed and compared the performance between two diagnostic methods: droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) and next generation sequencing (NGS). The main goal was to determine KRAS G12 / G13 mutant allele fraction using NGS and to compare the accuracy toddPCR. A total of 28 samples of non – small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and colorectal cancer (CRC) were analyzed using ddPCR and NGS methods. Our results show that even though both methods exhibited high rate of concordance and correlation, the study proved that ddPCR is more superior when it comes to detecting low frequency mutations. Even though strong correlation was observed, based on the values obtained, we concluded that ddPCR is more accurate, reliable, and sensitive in comparison with NGS.

Greenhouse gases emission as well as total energy consumption in buildings of public importance, such as schools, municipal buildings, health care centers, can be significantly reduced by increasing buildings? energy efficiency. Buildings? energy consumption adds up to 37% of total energy consumption in the European Union countries. In the Republic of Serbia this amount is significantly higher, about 50%. School buildings are considered as one of the most diverse structures from the point of energy-efficient design and construction. The main aim of this paper is to determine the most appropriate settings for possible improvements in energy efficiency and temperature comfort inside a typical primary school classroom in Serbia. The energy efficiency analysis was performed during the heating season for the naturally ventilated primary school classroom located in the Eastern Serbia region. The analysis was performed using novel computational fluid dynamics model, suggested in this paper. The suggested model was used to solve two hypothetical scenarios. The first scenario simulates the temperature field in classroom with current energy characteristic envelope of the school building. The calculated numerical data from the first scenario were compared with in-situ measurements values of temperature and wall heat fluxes and showed satisfying accuracy. The second scenario was simulated to indicate possible improvements, which would allow energy consumption decrease and thermal quality enhancement. The analyzed results, calculated using the suggested numerical model under the second scenario conditions, showed that using appropriate set of measures, it is possible to obtain desired temperature comfort levels without need for increase in the building energy consumption.

The energy transition basically implies a phased and significant reduction in the use of fossil fuels, until the final cessation of use in the near future. Renewable energy sources and alternative fuels are an increasingly important part of the energy transition. At the same time, it is necessary that energy systems increase energy efficiency and environmental acceptability. In this regard, great efforts are being made to expand the portfolio of primary fuels in existing large energy systems, e.g. thermal power plants. Therefore, today in large boilers, in order to reduce NOx emission, staged air supply for combustion is inevitably used as the primary measure in the furnace (air staging). In addition to the previous measure, there are many examples of staged fuel supply to the combustion zone (fuel staging), and still a small number of examples of the use of third or additional fuel, e.g. application of biogas or natural gas in combustion of pulverized solid fuels (reburning technology). General, these measures simultaneously increase the efficiency of primary energy conversion from fuel and reduce the emission of undesirable components into the environment. The results of this paper show the extent to which the effects of the use of natural gas in the co-firing of Bosnian coal and waste wood biomass are expressed. In this process there is an additional reduction of NOx in proportion to the share of gas - at a process temperature of 1350 °C and at 10% of the energy content of gas in combustion with coal, compared to emissions without additional fuel, recorded reduction of NOx emissions by more than 250 mg/mn 3.

There have been a significant number of publications about digital workplace transformation. This is due to technological developments in the last decades as well as the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there is no adequate overall definition of the term. This leads to misunderstandings and confused interpretation of the digital workplace, sometimes even narrowing it down to a set of tools or a platform. Given the complexity of digital workplace transformation, there is a need to have an integrated prospective and analyze it not just from a technological perspective, but from an organizational and processes point of view as well. Therefore, this paper is an attempt to review the concept and offer a comprehensive definition of the digital workplace. This includes all the important aspects of the transformation including tools and platforms as well as personal issues, organization, processes and management. The paper provides a systematic literature review of the publications in leading bibliographic and citation bases, starting from Web of Science and Scopus to SpringerLink, IEEE Xplore and Association for Information Systems eLibrary. The review includes not only journal papers, but also leading proceedings, books and other referent publications. It addresses the authors' approaches, perspectives, terminologies, focusses and understanding of workplace transformation over the last decade by a comprehensive review of the state of art of the literature in the field of digital workplace. Finally, a set of recommendations are made to further research in increasingly important subject of digital workplace transformation.

During mechanical activation, qualitative changes that can produce various phenomena occur in the material. In this study, anhydrous sodium carbonate was mechanically activated for 2, 7, 14, and 28 minutes in a vibro mill at a frequency of 3000 oscillations per minute. After activation, four series of activated samples were stored in the air at room conditions for 31 days (relaxation period). To monitor the kinetics of the transformation process of activated sodium carbonate samples, i.e. the mechanism of sodium bicarbonate formation during relaxation, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy analysis was used. FTIR testing was performed as a function of relaxation time for all four series of samples, with characteristic groups observed: CO32-, HCO3- and OH-. The obtained results provided kinetics parameters for the transformation of sodium carbonate into sodium bicarbonate due to the chemisorption of moisture and carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Background: Vaginal microflora plays an important role in cervical carcinogenesis. An increase in vaginal pH is associated with the severity of squamous intraepithelial lesion (SIL) and a decrease in the number of lactobacilli. Microbial dysbiosis contributes to the damage of the epithelial barrier, as well as the reprogramming of immune and metabolic signaling. Dysbiotic bacteria cause damage to the epithelial barrier, immune dysregulation and genotoxicity and create a tumor-permissive microenvironment. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the presence of risk factors (abnormal colposcopic and microbiological status, elevated pH of the vaginal environment) in regular Pap tests and LSIL. Methods: Retrospective prospective study 2021-2022. 90 women with pap smears were analyzed: 40 with LSIL at the Gynecological Center “Dr. Mahira Jahić” Tuzla and 50 with normal findings at the Tesanj Health Center. General data such as: age of the subjects, reproductive status, contraception, smoking and data on colposcopic examination, microbiological findings and vaginal pH value were analyzed. Statistical data processing was done in the SPSS program. Results: The average age of the test subjects is 39.94, in normal Pap 41.20 years, and in LSIL 38.38 years. The vital characteristics of the subjects did not differ significantly, except for smoking, where in LSIL findings, they consumed cigarettes significantly more often. Abnormal colposcopic examination were found in 85% (N-34) of women with LSIL. In subjects with LSIL, a positive microbiological test for enterobacteria was found in 47.5% (N-19) and a normal pap test in 12% (N-6). Statistically significant difference p=0.00523 p<0.05, E faecalis and E coli had the highest prevalence in LSIL. The mean pH value of the vaginal environment in LSIL is 5.38, and 4.96 in a regular pap test. Subjects with LSIL in 10% (N-4) had a normal pH test, and 48% (N-24) had a normal Pap test. P=0.00129 p < (0.05). A normal pH value was significantly more common in subjects with a normal Pap test. Microbiological flora, especially enterogenic bacteria, are more common in LSIL than in women with a regular pap test. Conclusion: when monitoring women with LSIL, special attention should be paid to the elimination of present enterobacteria (E.faecalis and E.coli) as a possible risk factor in the development of precancerous lesions (SIL) and cervical cancer.

The aim of this study was to compare the yield and fruit quality characteristics of raspberry (Rubus idaeus L.) cultivar ʽMeeker' grown in organic and conventional cultivation systems. The total soluble solids, titratable acidity, ascorbic acid content, total phenolic and flavonoid contents and total antioxidant capacity of raspberry fruits were assessed. The analyses showed that raspberry yields per cane were significantly higher in the conventional cultivation system. In contrast, fruits from organic farming had higher antioxidant levels. The findings of this study indicated that organic farming in the study region increased raspberry quality, but decreased yield, as compared to conventional farming.