Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore the potential link between gross capital formation and CO2 emissions by using the Toda and Yamamoto approach. The annual time-series data were collected for the period 1971-2014. Due to the fact that Kuwait aims to become a major trading hub by 2035, it has made significant efforts to improve the infrastructure. Moreover, Turkey is also making strong efforts to improve the manufacturing sector as well as infrastructure, and represents an important trading hub that links Europe with the Middle East. Thus, Turkey and Kuwait are expected to strengthen their economic ties and expand trade, which was the motivation for comparing the link of interest in these two countries. The study’s findings confirm the bidirectional links between all of the variables of interest not only in the case of Turkey but also in the case of Kuwait, suggesting some important policy implications.

OBJECTIVE Orthodontic anomalies with impaired facial aesthetics and disturbed oral functions have a major effect on emotional and social development. It is necessary to determine the degree of acceptance of treatment. This study includes an evaluation of the Index of Orthodontic Treatment Need (IOTN) according to the Aesthetic Component (AC) of dental health in schoolchildren. METHODS The research included 300 schoolchildren (150 girls, 150 boys) with an age range from 12 to 15 years. An evaluation of the need for orthodontic treatment according to the AC consisted of a ten-grade scale illustrated with a sequence of ten intraoral photographs showing different degrees of acceptability of dental appearance. Results were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies. The Chi-square test (in the absence of the expected frequencies of Fisher's Exact test) was used for testing the significance of differences. Cohen's kappa statistic measure was used for measuring the agreement between the children and dentists. RESULTS There is a significant substantial agreement between children and dentists in assessing the need for orthodontic treatment. Differences in assessment of the degree of orthodontic anomalies by the doctor of dental medicine with respect to boys and girls, are negligible, and statistical analysis did not show any significant difference. Analysis of the need for orthodontic treatment with respect to the age of the children showed a significant difference. CONCLUSION The need for orthodontic treatment is more pronounced in older children, and there is no difference between boys and girl.

Multimodality of input in incidental L2 vocabulary learning has recently been a topic of interest among language acquisition researchers, yet the results have been somewhat contradictory. This study seeks to compare the impacts of two different multimodalities on incidental L2 vocabulary learning, namely, reading-plus-watching (experimental group I) vs. reading-plus-listening (experimental group II), as compared to the reading only condition, which is included as a control measure. Experimental group I watched and read the transcriptions of four news texts with electronic glosses for the target words, while experimental group II read and listened to the same news texts again with electronic glosses for the same 20 target words. Next, the two experimental groups swapped roles with a new set of four news texts glossed for another group of 20 target words. The control group only read the same eight news texts without glosses. The results suggest that reading-plus-listening can be a more conducive multimodal presentation for incidental vocabulary learning as compared to reading-plus-watching. The results also challenge the validity of some principles of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning in incidental L2 vocabulary learning, while providing supporting evidence for some other principles.

The increasing incidence of West Nile virus (WNV) in the Euro-Mediterranean area warrants the implementation of effective surveillance programs in animals. A crucial step in the fight against the disease is the evaluation of the capacity of the veterinary labs to accurately detect the infection in animal populations. In this context, the animal virology network of the MediLabSecure project organized an external quality assessment (EQA) to evaluate the WNV molecular and serological diagnostic capacities of beneficiary veterinary labs. Laboratories from 17 Mediterranean and Black Sea countries participated. The results of the triplex real time RT-PCR for simultaneous detection and differentiation of WNV lineage 1 (L1), lineage 2 (L2) and Usutu virus (USUV) were highly satisfactory, especially for L1 and L2, with detection rates of 97.9% and 100%, respectively. For USUV, 75% of the labs reported correct results. More limitations were observed for the generic detection of flaviviruses using conventional reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), since only 46.1% reported correct results in the whole panel. As regards the serological panel, the results were excellent for the generic detection of WNV antibodies. More variability was observed for the specific detection of IgM antibodies with a higher percentage of incorrect results mainly in samples with low titers. This EQA provides a good overview of the WNV (and USUV) diagnostic performance of the involved veterinary labs and demonstrates that the implemented training program was successful in upgrading their diagnostic capacities.

Abstract Background: The world tourism industry is subject to big changes. A number of tourists traveling steadily grows, resulting in turnover and income. The destinations, that tourists are attracted, to are numerous, and there are also newcomers who arrive to a certain destination for the first time. Nowadays, even some very distant places are on the travellers’ bucket lists. What is more, tourists are looking for authenticity, in terms of which the concept of ethno village proves to be such an example. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate how this kind of tourism is regulated in Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. The emphasis will be on the study of specific ethno villages. Methods: Regarding the article, desk analysis will be done. The data were gathered from the world web, from the World Tourism Organisation’s data and from the data gathered from Slovenian and Bosnian national statistical office as well. The Excel was used for the analyses. Two examples of an ethno village are also described. Results: The ethno village as a part of rural tourism offers great opportunities for new work posts but capacities should be used to a greater extent and the problem of seasonality should also be overcome. All the key aims of rural development must be defined by the following strategy: the development of sustainable and efficient agricultural sector, the living standard of the population who lives from agriculture, creation of social and economic conditions in the rural regions; all of it within the National strategy of the rural development. Conclusions: Tourism industry is being developing as a part of modern touristic migration. There are more and more visitors coming overseas or coming from more remote places. They stay for a short period of time and they have different expectations as before.

Introduction. Art reception and experiencing is a complex process, containing creative components. The experience of a work of art involves reproduction, in the viewer's consciousness, of the experiences and excitement that the artist himself or herself have undergone in the process of creating the same works of art. When viewing visual images, our perception is directed towards the identification of objects, and when viewing visual images as works of art, we also tend to experience them - we subjectively react to elements, such as stylistic and structural characteristics. The aim of the research is to examine the effectiveness of the experimental program named the Impact of Verbal, Auditory and Visual Incentives, designed to foster students' visual perception and visual reception during art education. Methods. The experimental method with parallel groups was used. The research included the sample consisting of 98 students, out of which 45 belonged to experimental group while 53 were control students from Trebinje region. Test LV1, examining visual creativity, as well as visual perception and visual reception (art appreciation), was used. Results. The results indicated that the experimental program influenced the development of the visual perceptive (F = 3.76; p = 0.05) and visual receptive (F = 8.01; p = 0.00) abilities among students during art education because the experimental group students achieved significantly better results than the control group students. The experimental program was aligned with the curriculum and designed to influence the development of students' visual-perceptual and visual-receptive abilities. Conclusion. The obtained results indicate that it is possible to influence the development of students' visual-perceptual and visual-receptive abilities by using a specially designed program, aimed at stimulating verbal, auditory and visual aspects of visual expression.

Introduction: Changes in the skin can occur as part of a diabetic, metabolic disorder or diabetic complications. Studies have shown that diabetes has an extremely strong negative impact on quality of life, especially diabetes with complications. Aim: Examine the impact of skin changes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus on quality of life. Methods: A prospective study analysed the quality of life in 200 respondents with type 2 diabetes mellitus which had diabetes-related skin changes. Subjects were divided into four groups according to the type of skin changes associated with diabetes mellitus. Group 1 consisted of patients which had skin changes with a greater or lesser association with diabetes mellitus, group 2 patients with infections, group 3 patients with cutaneous manifestations of diabetic complications and group 4 patients with allergic reactions to antidiabetic therapy. Quality of life assessment was performed using the Skindex-29 questionnaire, and the Nijsten categorization was used to assess the impact of skin changes in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus on quality of life. Results: There were (51.95%) respondents in group 1, group 2 (24.02%), group 3 (22.22%) and group 4 (1.8%) respondents. In the scale of emotions in 84 respondents (43.0%) the impact on quality of life was serious, in the scale of symptoms in 96 (48%) was moderate, and in the scale of social and physical functioning 106 (55%) also had a moderate impact on quality of life, as well as in the total score of 94 respondents (47%). There was a statistically significant difference in the scale of social and physical functioning in the presence of skin changes in group 1 (x2 = 7.95; df = 3, p = 0.045) and group 3 (x2 = 12.48, df = 3; p = 0.006), and in the total score of Skindex-29 when it comes to changes in the skin of group 3 (x2 = 7.26, df = 3, p = 0.05). Conclusion: the quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus which have skin changes is significantly reduced.

Abstract Background The aim of the study was to determine the ability of ferritin, haemoglobin, albumin and total cholesterol to identify nutritional risk and malnutrition among elderly primary care patients. Methods The cross-sectional study included 446 elderly adults over 65 years of age from four areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina. In addition to anthropometric, functional, cognitive and biochemical indicators, nutritional status was evaluated using 24-hour recall of meals, the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA), and Seniors in the Community: Risk Evaluation for Eating and Nutrition, Version II (SCREEN II). Results Malnourished/at-risk study respondents had lower mean levels of haemoglobin (P=0.001) and total cholesterol (P<0.001), compared to those with normal nutritional status. Albumin levels significantly differed regarding nutritional status (P=0.004), but not nutritional risk level (P=0.521). Significant differences in serum ferritin levels were not found between malnourished and normally nourished study respondents (P=0.779) Determinants of albumin level were eating more than three meals a day (P<0.001), fewer than two portions of fruit and vegetables a day (P=0.024), drinking one glass of wine (P<0.001) and reporting functional independence (P=0.011). The AUC curves for serum ferritin, albumin and total cholesterol levels in men and women, as well as for haemoglobin levels in women, were poor to fair (AUC<0.800). Conclusion Although ferritin, haemoglobin, albumin and total cholesterol may be useful biomarkers of nutritional status, their accuracy in diagnosing malnutrition and nutritional risk among elderly primary health care patients is limited.

Background: Diabetes is a metabolic disease that is taking an epidemic proportion around the world. The occurrence of microvascular complications and diabetic foot ulcer is associated with an increased mortality and morbidity incidence, which is the most serious complication of this disease, which significantly reduce the quality of patient life. Objective. The aim of the study was to determine the correlation of extracutaneous microvascular complications with diabetic foot ulcer in patients with type 2 diabetes. Method. The study was prospective, and included 160 patients with type 2 diabetes. It was conducted at the University Clinical Center of the Republic of Srpska in the period from January 2016 until December 2019. The respondents were adults, of both sexes, suffering from type 2 diabetes, in whom complications of this disease are present. Glycemic control was established based on a target HbA1c value of 7%. Results. Of the 160 patients in the study, 53.8% were men and 46.2% were women. The average age of the patients was 70.11%±10.05 years. Extracutaneous microvascular complications were present in 85 patients (53.1%); of which 30.2% had well-regulated glycemia (HbA1c≤7.0%), while 61.5% (p<0.001) had unregulated glycemia (HbA1c≥7.0). Polyneuropathy was present in 23.3% of patients with HbA1c≤7.0%, while 41.0% of patients had HbA1c≥7.0% (p<0.043). Nephropathy with HbA1c≤7.0% was present in 36.8% of cases compared to patients with HbA1c≥7.0 in whom the prevalence was 36.8% (p<0.004). Out of total, 25.6% had retinopathy with HbA1c≤7.0%, while in 41.9% of patients with HbA1c≥7.0% (p <0.067). Diabetic ulcer foot was present in 13 patients with HbA1c≥7 (11.1%) compared to patients with HbA1c≤7.0% where there was no occurrence of this complication 0.0% (p<0.021). At the same time, 5.6% of patients had a diabetic foot ulcer with polyneuropathy (p=0.010), 4.4% had neuropathy (p=0.058) and 5.6% had retinopathy (p=0.014). Conclusion: The high incidence of extracutaneous microvascular complications and diabetic foot ulcer in patients with type 2 diabetes requires a multidisciplinary approach of medical professionals that includes prevention of risk factors and good regulation of glycemia.

Background: Video-Assisted Thoracoscopic Surgery (VATS) has recently occupied a significant place in the surgical treatment of primary pleural empyema (PPE). Patients with anamnesis shorter than 4 weeks have a good chance of being cured only by VATS. As it is not easy to define precisely the beginning of the disease, it is difficult to say strictly to which period VATS method will be successful in PPE treatment. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the efficacy of the VATS method in the surgical treatment of primary pleural empyema. Methods: The study included 50 patients with findings appropriate for PPE over a period of three years, in whom the VATS method was applied in the surgical treatment of pleural empyema. Results: The established total length of treatment was 13.56 ± 7.98 days and the length of hospital treatment after surgery was 9.90 ± 3.315. The duration of thoracic drainage was 8.06 ± 3.005. Treatment was completed by the primary procedure without additional interventions in 94% of patients. Based on the final outcome, all patients from the clinic were discharged as cured Conclusion: The best time to indicate surgical treatment by using VATS method is history of disease in duration of four weeks Debridement or VATS decortication method is safe and efficient surgical procedure, especially in the first two stages. It is recommended to use this method as the first surgical option for patients in early stages of the disease.