Proteins are in the focus of research due to their importance as biological catalysts in various cellular processes and diseases. Since the experimental study of proteins is time-consuming and expensive, in silico prediction and analysis of proteins is common. Template-based prediction is the most reliable, which is why the aim of this study is to analyze how important are the primary features of proteins for their quality score. Statistical analysis shows that protein models with a resolution lower than 3 Å or R value lower than 0.25 have higher quality scores when compared individually to their counterparts. Machine learning algorithm random forest analysis also shows resolution to have the highest importance, while other features have lower but moderate importance scores. The exception is the presence of ligand in protein models, which does not have an effect on the global protein quality scores, both through statistical and machine learning analyses.

A method was proposed for the preparation of silica powders using sodium silicate as the silica source and carbon dioxide and hydrochloric acid as precipitating reagents. The effect of reaction temperature (20, 40, 60, and 80 °C) and SiO2 concentration in sodium silicate solutions (4, 6, 8, and 10 %) on silica morphology, dibutyl phthalate absorption, aggregate size distribution, and dispersion ability (agglomerates fragility) were investigated. The best properties of silica powder were achieved at reaction temperature 40 °C and SiO2 concentration 8 %. The properties of the silica sample obtained at optimal conditions were compared with properties of high-quality commercial silica used as rubber reinforcing filler. Also, the vulcanization characteristics and mechanical characteristics of rubber composites containing these two silica fillers were investigated. It was found that silica filler with excellent properties can be produced using the proposed method, while by tuning temperature and precursor concentration, the silica properties that are important for its reinforcing potential may be closely controlled.

Dynamic analysis can be used to find dynamic displacements, time history, and the frequency content of the load. One analysis technique for calculating the linear response of structures to dynamic loading is a modal analysis. In modal analysis, we decompose the response of the structure into several vibration modes. A mode is defined by its frequency and shape. Structural engineers call the mode with the shortest frequency (the longest period) the fundamental mode. Holzer and Stodola's approximate methods for determining the forms and periods of oscillation for frame structures are presented in the paper. An approximation method, based on approximate relative stiffnesses of the storeys and the ground floor, is analyzed and proposed. The results obtained by the proposed approximate procedure do not greatly deviate from those obtained by more accurate calculations. It is therefore emphasized that the method can be used both in practice and for checking computer-based analysis of complex systems. At the end of the paper was given a comparison of the results obtained by approximate methods and some engineering software.

Introduction: Assessment of quality of life is an important subject of research in various disciplines and today it is an integral part of the evaluation of rehabilitation and therapeutic procedures. The aim of the study was to assess the quality of life and to assess the impact of depression on the quality of life in patients with breast cancer and lung cancer. Material and methods : The study included 60 people, of whom 30 were diagnosed with lung cancer and 30 with breast cancer. The questionnaire was constructed by researchers for this research. Quality of Life Assessment Questionnaire SF-36 and assessment of depression, Beck Depression Scale. Results: The presence of complications is a statistically significant source of differences in the domain of the total physical score, and is not a statistically significant source of differences in other domains from the SF36 questionnaire. Based on the data from the previous table, we can see that the values on the Beck Depression Inventory range from 23 to 35, with AS = 30.00 and SD = 2.584. Conclusion: Respondents who have a higher score on the Beck Depression Inventory also have a higher score on the dimension of physical functioning.

Aim: To evaluate the incidence, characteristics, transmission, and outcomes of COVID-19 infection in hospitalized neonates in Tuzla Canton and to emphasize the importance of quality triage in the prevention and control of infection. Material and Methods: A retrospective cohort study, which included all consecutive neonates suspected of COVID-19 infection, and which required screening supervision in the triage department, from those who required hospital treatment at the Pediatric Clinic, University Clinical Center Tuzla for 12 months. (January 1 to December 31, 2020). Statistical analysis applied standard methods, and the research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the institution. Results: In the observed period, in the neonatal triage department, 111 neonates suspected to COVID-19 were treated, with no gender difference. Among them were 92 neonates of mothers suspected of COVID-19 (66 admitted immediately after birth, 26 readmitted after discharge home), and 19 neonates of mothers positive for COVID-19 (16 admitted immediately after birth, 3 readmitted). Cesarean delivery was a more common delivery option, and fever a more common symptom in COVID-19 positive mothers, but without statistical significance. The neonates from COVID-19 suspected mothers formed a heterogeneous group, with common perinatal problems, while neonates from COVID-19 positive mothers, hospitalized immediately after birth, were almost term neonates with appropriate birth weight, without need for a lot of treatment. All neonates hospitalized immediately after birth were negative for COVID-19.  The only three COVID-19 positive neonates were readmitted after previous discharge home, and they had mild symptoms, mostly one-day fever, and they all recovered completely. All of these neonates are under further follow-up after discharge from the hospital, and all are, for now, in good general condition, and all have continued to breastfeed. Conclusion: Neonates born to mothers with positive COVID-19 infection generally have favorable outcomes, with no convincing case of vertical transmission. Neonatal COVID-19 is mostly asymptomatic, acquired postnatally, and associated with favorable outcomes. The importance of quality triage in the prevention and control of infection is crucial, with consistent implementation of safe practices including proper patient isolation and appropriate protective equipment.

While cross-sectional imaging has seen continuous progress and plays an undiscussed pivotal role in the diagnostic management and treatment planning of patients with rectal cancer, a largely unmet need remains for improved staging accuracy, assessment of treatment response and prediction of individual patient outcome. Moreover, the increasing availability of target therapies has called for developing reliable diagnostic tools for identifying potential responders and optimizing overall treatment strategy on a personalized basis. Radiomics has emerged as a promising, still fully evolving research topic, which could harness the power of modern computer technology to generate quantitative information from imaging datasets based on advanced data-driven biomathematical models, potentially providing an added value to conventional imaging for improved patient management. The present study aimed to illustrate the contribution that current radiomics methods applied to magnetic resonance imaging can offer to managing patients with rectal cancer.

Abstract In the last decade, the automotive industry incorporated multiple electronic components into vehicles introducing various capabilities for adversaries to generate diverse types of attacks. In comparison to older types of vehicles, where the biggest concern was physical security, modern vehicles might be targeted remotely. As a result, multiple attack vectors aiming to disrupt different vehicle components emerged. Research and practice lack a comprehensive attack taxonomy for the automotive domain. In this regard, we conduct a systematic literature study, wherein 48 different attacks were identified and classified according to the proposed taxonomy of attack mechanisms. The taxonomy can be utilized by penetration testers in the automotive domain as well as to develop more sophisticated attacks by chaining multiple attack vectors together. In addition, we classify the identified attack vectors based on the following five dimensions: (1) AUTOSAR layers, (2) attack domains, (3) information security principles, (4) attack surfaces, and (5) attacker profile. The results indicate that the most applied attack vectors identified in literature are GPS spoofing, message injection, node impersonation, sybil, and wormhole attack, which are mostly applied to application and services layers of the AUTOSAR architecture.

Developing ‘climate smart forestry’ (CSF) indicators in mountain forest regions requires collection and evaluation of local data and their attributes. Genetic resources are listed among the core indicators for ‘forest biological diversity’. This study is a report on the evaluation of the standing genetic diversity within and across 12 pure beech stands (Fagus sylvatica L.) established within the CLIMO project, using nuclear microsatellite markers. The sampling sites were set along the species’ distribution range, including the Balkan region and extending towards the Iberian Peninsula. Cores or leaves from 20-23, old, mature trees per plot were sampled for DNA analysis. Genetic diversity indices were high across the range (HE = 0.74 - 0.81) with the highest in the Bosnian Mountains. Genetic divergence increased significantly with the geographical distance (Mantel test: r=0.81. p<0.001). Most of the stands exhibited an excess of heterozygotes, with the highest value at the Hungarian site (HO/HE = 1.177), where beech persists close to the eastern xeric limit of the species’ distribution. STRUCTURE revealed within–region differentiation in the Balkan Peninsula, where Bulgarian stand was the most outstanding. The genetic parameters of each stand could be assessed as a resource for CSF indicators interpreted especially at the local level.

When dealing with simple phenols such as caffeic acid (CA) and ferulic acid (FA), found in a variety of plants, it is very important to have control over the most important factors that accelerate their degradation reactions. This is the first report in which the stabilities of these two compounds have been systematically tested by exposure to various different factors. Forced degradation studies were performed on pure standards (trans-CA and trans-FA), dissolved in different solvents and exposed to different oxidative, photolytic and thermal stress conditions. Additionally, a rapid, sensitive, and selective stability-indicating gas chromatographic-mass spectrometric method was developed and validated for determination of trans-CA and trans-FA in the presence of their degradation products. Cis-CA and cis-FA were confirmed as the only degradation products in all the experiments performed. All the compounds were perfectly separated by gas chromatography (GC) and identified using mass spectrometry (MS), a method that additionally elucidated their structures. In general, more protic solvents, higher temperatures, UV radiation and longer storage times led to more significant degradation (isomerization) of both trans-isomers. The most progressive isomerization of both compounds (up to 43%) was observed when the polar solutions were exposed to daylight at room temperature for 1 month. The method was validated for linearity, precision as repeatability, limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantitation (LOQ). The method was confirmed as linear over tested concentration ranges from 1−100 mg L−1 (r2s were above 0.999). The LOD and LOQ for trans-FA were 0.15 mg L−1 and 0.50 mg L−1, respectively. The LOD and LOQ for trans-CA were 0.23 mg L−1 and 0.77 mg L−1, respectively.

The endemic brown macroalga Fucus virsoides J. Agardh from the Adriatic Sea was in the focus of the present research. The volatiles of fresh (FrFv) and air-dried (DrFv) samples of F. virsoides obtained by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and hydrodistillation (HD) were analyzed by gas chromatography equipped with flame ionization detector and mass spectrometry (GC-FID/MS). The major HS-FrFv compound was pentadecane (61.90–71.55%) followed by pentadec-1-ene (11.00–7.98%). In HS-DrFv, pentadec-1-ene was not present, and few lower aliphatic compounds appeared, as well as benzaldehyde and benzyl alcohol. In HD-FrFv, particularly abundant were alkenes (such as pentadec-1-ene (19.32%), or (E)-pentadec-7-ene (8.35%)). In HD-DrFv, more oxidation products were present (e.g., carbonyl compounds such as tridecanal (18.51%)). The fatty acids profile of freeze-dried sample (FdFv) after conversion to methyl esters was determined by GC-FID, and oleic acid was dominant (42.28%), followed by arachidonic acid (15.00%). High-performance liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization (HPLC-ESI-HRMS) was used for the screening of less polar fractions (F3 and F4) of F. virsoides. Mono- and diglycerides of stearic, palmitic, oleic, and arachidonic acids were found. Terpenoids and steroids comprised the compounds C20H30(32)O2 and C29H48O(2). Among carotenoids, fucoxanthin was identified. Chlorophyll derivatives were also found (C55H74(72)N4O(5-7)), dominated by pheophytin a. The antioxidant activity of the fractions was investigated by in vitro assays (oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC), reduction of radical cation (ABTS•+), 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH) assay, and ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP)) and by in vivo zebrafish model (along with fish embryotoxicity). In vitro experiments proved good radical scavenging abilities of F3 and F4 fractions, which were additionally supported by the protective effect against hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress in zebrafish embryos.

The level of banking concentration has increased significantly in the banking sector of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a result of the successful completion of privatization, the formation of new banks, the slow transition and rapid liberalization. Rapid liberalization has introduced strong competition in the domestic banking sector on the one hand, while on the other hand there has been an increased concentration of some larger banks in the system.The main goal of this research will be to analyze the correlation between the basic measures of the oligopolistic position of banks and their impact on improving or deteriorating the performance of domestic banks, such as return on assets (ROA), return on equity (ROE) and net interest margin (NIM). The survey period covers the years from 2008: Q1 to 2020: Q4 on a quarterly basis. The following variables were used as independent variables in the model: HHI market concentration index in the context of loans, share of foreign banks in the total ownership structure of banks (FB), bank size (BS) and growth rate of total loans (GRTL).The interdependence of variables in this study was tested via the OLS regression model (FE model as well as GLS model). Both models were suitable for obtaining results via the Hausman test. The results of the research showed that the strongest (positive impact) on the first dependent variable, i.e., on return on assets (ROA), was achieved by the following independent variable: foreign-owned banks (FB). On the other hand, the strongest negative impact was recorded by the following independent variables: the size of the bank (BS) as well as the market concentration index for loans (HHI_loans). The strongest (positive impact) on the second dependent variable, i.e., return on equity (ROE), was achieved by the following independent variables: growth rate of total loans (GRTL) as well as the variable related to foreign-owned banks (FB). On the other hand, the strongest negative impact was recorded by the following independent variables: market concentration index for loans (HHI_loans) and bank size (BS). The third independent variable, i.e., net interest margin (NIM), had the strongest positive impact on the following independent variables: foreign-owned banks (FB) and credit growth rate (GRTL). On the other hand, the strongest negative impact was recorded by the following independent variables: concentrations for credit placements (HHI) and bank size (BS).

Objectives: Diabetic patients are often diagnosed with several comorbidities. The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between different combinations of risk factors and complications in diabetic patients. Research design and methods: We used a longitudinal, population-wide dataset of patients with hospital diagnoses and identified all patients (n = 195,575) receiving a diagnosis of diabetes in the observation period from 2003–2014. We defined nine ICD-10-codes as risk factors and 16 ICD-10 codes as complications. Using a computational algorithm, cohort patients were assigned to clusters based on the risk factors they were diagnosed with. The clusters were defined so that the patients assigned to them developed similar complications. Complication risk was quantified in terms of relative risk (RR) compared with healthy control patients. Results: We identified five clusters associated with an increased risk of complications. A combined diagnosis of arterial hypertension (aHTN) and dyslipidemia was shared by all clusters and expressed a baseline of increased risk. Additional diagnosis of (1) smoking, (2) depression, (3) liver disease, or (4) obesity made up the other four clusters and further increased the risk of complications. Cluster 9 (aHTN, dyslipidemia and depression) represented diabetic patients at high risk of angina pectoris “AP” (RR: 7.35, CI: 6.74–8.01), kidney disease (RR: 3.18, CI: 3.04–3.32), polyneuropathy (RR: 4.80, CI: 4.23–5.45), and stroke (RR: 4.32, CI: 3.95–4.71), whereas cluster 10 (aHTN, dyslipidemia and smoking) identified patients with the highest risk of AP (RR: 10.10, CI: 9.28–10.98), atherosclerosis (RR: 4.07, CI: 3.84–4.31), and loss of extremities (RR: 4.21, CI: 1.5–11.84) compared to the controls. Conclusions: A comorbidity of aHTN and dyslipidemia was shown to be associated with diabetic complications across all risk-clusters. This effect was amplified by a combination with either depression, smoking, obesity, or non-specific liver disease.

The goal of this work is to explore the effects of various factors that affect the employment of graduates of the University of Zenica. Additional analysis of variables as well as links between variables will offer input information that can contribute in the decision-making process of new curriculums. The survey was conducted in the Zenica-Doboj Canton, which involved N = 47 respodenators. To process data the following programs were used: Microsoft Excel, SPSS and SmartPL S3 – SEM program. The verification of the validity and reliability of the measuring scale was carried out by calculating the Cronbach Alaf co-efficiency. The review of the set hypotheses was carried out by Regrasion's analysis of the varians, which of the four hypothesises were three accepted and one rejected. The set hypotheses confirmed that the adopted expertise of graduates, the level of acquired skills and cooperation of the University with the check has a statistically significant impact on the confidentiality of graduates. The organizational abilities of graduates do not have a statistically significant impact on the job ability of graduates of the University of Zenica.