The aim of this study was to assess the psychometric properties of the Maslach Burnout Inventory—Educators Survey (MBI-ES). The presence of burnout syndrome, its relationship with personality traits, intention to change career and work abroad were assessed in a cross-sectional multi-center trial conducted among educators at three medical faculties in the Western Balkans during 2019. Translation and cultural adaptation were made based on internationally accepted principles. Personality traits were assessed by the Big Five Plus Two questionnaire. In total, 246 medical faculty members, predominantly females (61%), were enrolled. The three-factor structure of the MBI-ES questionnaire (exhaustion, cynicism, and professional efficacy) was validated. Analysis of internal consistency yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.785, indicating scale reliability. The majority of respondents (85.6%) reported moderate level of burnout. Aggressiveness, neuroticism, and negative valence were associated with emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, while extraversion, conscientiousness, openness, and positive valence correlated with personal accomplishment. Emotional exhaustion and depersonalization in a multivariate regression model were significantly associated with intentions to change career and work abroad (p < 0.05). The present study provided evidence for the appropriate metric properties of the Serbian version of MBI-ES. Presence of burnout syndrome, which was identified as a common problem in medical academia, and directly linked to personality traits, affected intention to career change and work abroad.

Aim To identify E. coli from chicken meat, establish their antibiotic resistance profiles and to confirm ESBL isolates with real time PCR, as well as to identify risk factors and farming practice associated with the antimicrobial resistance E. coli. Methods The study included 100 chicken skin samples collected randomly from retail supermarkets, butcheries and slaughterhouses. Disk susceptibility testing was performed using the Kirby-Bauer method. Detection of ESBL-producing isolates was performed with double disk synergy test. Molecular analysis of phenotypic ESBL-producing Escherichia coli strains was performed at 7500 real time PCR System. Molecular-genetic analysis included detection of CTX-M 1, 2, and 9 gene families and mutations in the TEM and SHV encoding extended spectrum β-lactamases. Results Prevalence of the phenotypic ESBL-producing E. coli isolates was 29%, and they exhibited remarkable sensitivity to carbapenems (100%) as well as to amikacin (93.10%). All ESBL-producing strains were multidrug resistant. Molecular analysis was performed as the final confirmation of the production of extended spectrum β - lactamases for 24 isolates out of 29 phenotypicaly ESBL-producing E. coli isolates. Conclusion It is important to pay attention to people's awareness of bacterial antimicrobial resistance in food chain, as well as to understand its effects on human health and the environment. Phenotypic and molecular analysis demonstrated the presence of ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from chicken skin samples.

Aim To investigate the association of ABO blood types and appearance of myocardial infarction (MI) among the population in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods This was a cross sectional study conducted at the Department for Cardiovascular Surgery at the Clinical Centre of the University of Sarajevo from January 1st to December 31st 2019. Patients were divided into two groups, defined by their blood type, A (N=91) and non-A (N=109). ABO blood groups were determined using standard agglutination techniques. Information regarding history of MI was taken from their medical documentation during the preparation for surgery. Results In total 200 patients were involved in this study. The study sample consisted of 151 (74.5%) males and 49 (25.5%) females. Mean age was 62.98 ± 7.73. Various risk factors associated with myocardial infarction were tobacco 92 (46.0%) and alcohol 54 (27.0%) consumption, obesity 77 (38.5%), diabetes mellitus 47 (23.5%) and hypertension 91 (45.3%). Being A blood type (OR=3.308; 95% Cl 1.317-8.311; p=0.011) and being male and having hypertension (OR=3.086; 95% Cl 1.262-7.545; p=0.013) significantly increased the risk for the development of MI among young adults. Patients with A blood type were significantly younger [median 58.0 vs. 63.0; U = 2738.5; p =0.027] when they developed MI compared to non-A blood type. Conclusion The age of myocardial infarction occurrence in the population of Bosnia and Herzegovina is lower in patients with blood group A compared to non-A blood types.

An initial study of the effects vortex generators (VGs) have on the mitigation of vortex-induced vibrations (VIVs) of hydrofoils have been performed at the Waterpower laboratory of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. The VGs are placed close to the trailing edge of a blunt hydrofoil. Reasonable design parameters of the VGs were found from the literature with regard to which would induce the strongest vortices with the lowest drag. Vibration frequencies of the hydrofoil were measured using flush mounted strain gauges located close to the trailing edge. This paper presents the design of the VGs and some initial results of the experiments performed with these devices. The preliminary results indicate a possible mitigation of VIVs. This could be because of the interference between the primary vortices generated by the hydrofoil and the longitudinal vortices generated by the VGs, but further work is necessary to make a conclusion.

SUMMARY: Success in artistic gymnastics certainly depends on the morphological characteristics of the athletes, some of which are basic body height and weight. The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference in body height and weight between the male and female participants on the Olympic Games from 1996 to 2016. The following variables were chosen: body weight (kg), body height (cm). The results did show significant differences between women's artistic gymnastics in body weight and height over a 20-year period. In men's artistic gymnastics we didn't find the difference. This research is important in setting comparative parameters in the selection process and sport specialization regarding morphological characteristics according to different events of gymnasts at the elite level.

The paper presents an online system named REDBUL, which is aimed at reverse engineering of relational databases. REDBUL enables database designers to automatically extract the schema from an existing relational database, and visualize it in a web browser, whereby the extracted schema is represented by the standard UML class diagram. Currently, two relational database management systems are supported by the REDBUL system, MS SQL and MySQL, while the paper illustrates reverse schema engineering for a MySQL database.

At the end of 2019 the world became aware of the existence of a new virus stemming from the Coronaviridae family and causing a specific disease – COVID-19. In less than three months, the virus and its consequences, developed from being a local public health problem in China to a daunting global problem we all had to face. On March 11, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a pandemic of COVID-19. On the international scale, even in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), the response of the professionals and scientists has been rapid, although not always consistently efficient enough. Despite the selfless cooperation of scientists and practitioners worldwide, countries with developed economies, good public health and a strong scientific system have had the advantage in the fight against the disease over developing countries. Despite the fact that by these criteria BiH is not one of the most resilient countries, so far, its response to the pandemic has seemed to be satisfactory. The Academy of Sciences and Arts of Bosnia and Herzegovina (ANUBiH) was one of the first institutions of the science system to respond to the pandemic. On the initiative and under the leadership of academician Mirsada Hukić, on March 22, 2020 the development of the project "Epidemic Location Intelligence System (ELIS)" and its Geoportal began on a voluntary basis, with the task of permanently monitoring the spread of COVID-19. Theoretical and professional parts of the project in the areas of medicine, public health and informatics were completed by April 2, 2020. Thanks to the support to the project by the Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mr. Šefik Džaferović, the expert system received additional hardware support and was filled in time with data from across the country. This enabled the system to become operational as early as on April 8, 2020. The results of all these efforts are visible in this publication. Initially, the ELIS project was important for the epidemiological and public health area. The abundance of collected data and obtained virus samples enabled the extension of the project idea to the sequencing of viruses found in BiH and their typology. The transition of research to the clinical aspects of COVID-19 is the next phase in the development of the ELIS project. ANUBiH has already started the work on examining the economic and pedagogical consequences of COVID-19 in order to look at this medical phenomenon in the broadest possible context. All the results of ANUBiH in response to the epidemic challenges of COVID-19 are achieved due to the synergistic action of numerous individuals and institutions in different fields of science and public health in cooperation with government. Therefore, I believe that the ELIS project has shown the way to go in solving the burning problems of our society which we will encounter in the future.

Aim The damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made the prevention of its further spread at the top of the list of priorities of many governments and state institutions responsible for health and civil protection around the world. This prevention implies an effective system of epidemiological surveillance and the application of timely and effective control measures. This research focuses on the application of techniques for modelling and geovisualization of epidemic data with the aim of simple and fast communication of analytical results via geoportal. Methods The paper describes the approach applied through the project of establishing the epidemiological location-intelligence system for monitoring the effectiveness of control measures in preventing the spread of COVID-19 in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Results Epidemic data were processed and the results related to spatio-temporal analysis of the infection spread were presented by compartmental epidemic model, reproduction number R, epi-curve diagrams as well as choropleth maps for different levels of administrative units. Geovisualization of epidemic data enabled the release of numerous information from described models and indicators, providing easier visual communication of the spread of the disease and better recognition of its trend. Conclusion The approach involves the simultaneous application of epidemic models and epidemic data geovisualization, which allows a simple and rapid evaluation of the epidemic situation and the effects of control measures. This contributes to more informative decision-making related to control measures by suggesting their selective application at the local level.

Identifying at-risk students is a crucial step in different learning settings. Predictive modeling technique can be used to create an early warning system which predicts students’ success in courses and informs both the teacher and the student of their performance. In this paper we describe a course-specific model for prediction of at-risk students. The proposed model uses the case-based reasoning (CBR) methodology to predict at-risk students at three specific points in time during the first half of the semester. In general, CBR is an approach of solving new problems based on solutions of similar previously experienced problem situation encoded in the form of cases. The proposed model classifies students as at-risk based on the most similar past cases retrieved from the casebase by using the k-NN algorithm. According to the experimental evaluation of the model accuracy, CBR model that is being developed for a specific course showed potential for an early prediction of at-risk students. Although the presented CBR model has been applied for one specific course, the key elements of predictive model can be easily reused by other courses.

In contrast to classical appendectomy where the appendiceal stump is secured by a single or double ligature, in laparoscopic appendectomy various ways of securing the stump are mentioned. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages. Since different possibilities exist for closing the stump, it is very important to find the optimum method for closure of the appendiceal stump, bearing in mind their simplicity, biocompatibility and price. The aim of this review article has been to present the problem of securing the base of the appendix during laparoscopic appendectomy.

Modeling of pressure rise in SF6 GIS (Gas Insulated Switchgear) due to internal arc faults is a complex and challenging task, due to a large number of highly variable factors, which influence the whole process. This is especially the case in GIS with high rated short circuit currents, where the effects, such as material evaporation and erratic arc behavior, and consequently the pressure build-up rate, are much more pronounced. These severe conditions ultimately determine the design limits and must therefore be carefully investigated. The enhanced internal arc simulation model, presented in this paper, considers the impact of evaporation of different materials on gas properties and the pressure rise, as well as the dependence of released arc energy, thermal transfer and evaporation intensity on the state of gas. The experimental set-up and the test configuration, used to validate the calculation results, are evaluated and discussed. An evident finding, which is supported by measurements, is that the implemented improvements of the basic simulation model (introduced in the Technical Brochure 602 by the CIGRÉ working group A3.24) increase the prediction accuracy of GIS withstand performance during internal arc faults.

Introduction: The source of scientific information, methods for their evaluation, and methodology of their use are critical for serious scientific research and publishing of the scientific research results. Certain methodological principles should be inexcusably followed when designing clinical or observational research to avoid bias and presentation of results that do not reflect the truth about the phenomenon that is the object of the study. Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the methodological quality of clinical trials and observational studies published in medical journals from ex-Yugoslav countries indexed in Web of Science (WoS) and Pubmed/MEDLINE. Methods: Clinical studies published in medical journals of ex-Yugoslav countries were retrieved from the WoS and Pubmed database, and the sample for analysis was randomly chosen from the retrieved publications. The rate of the most common errors in the design of clinical/observational studies was established by a careful reading of the sampled publications and their checking against predefined criteria. Results: Number and percent of the evaluated studies that failed to meet each of the methodological criteria tested, number of the evaluated criteria not satisfied per database and number of studies that satisfied more than 4 criteria were analyzed per database. When explanatory potential of journal impact factor, number of citations, time elapsed from publication and a database where a journal is referred were tested by linear regression in regard to the number of methodological criteria satisfied per study, the linear regression model was obtained by backward deletion method and achieved R2 adjusted of 0.166 (F=13.827, df1 = 2, df2 = 127, p=0.000). The methodological quality of studies was directly related to impact factor of the journals (B = 0.976, 95% confidence interval 0.539 – 1.413, p=0.000) and inversely with the database where a journal is referred (B =–0.444, 95% confidence interval–0.824 – -0.064, p = 0.022). Each additional unit of impact factor increased number of satisfied methodological criteria for about 1, while referring a journal only in WoS decreased number of satisfied criteria for 0.45 points in comparison with journals referred in both WoS and Pubmed/MEDLINE, and for 0.9 points in comparison to journals referred only in MEDLINE. Conclusion: Methodological and scientometric quality of clinical studies published in medical journals from ex-Yugoslav region varies significantly, and the variations are higher in journals referenced only in WoS than in journals referenced in Pubmed/MEDLINE only, or in both Pubmed and Web of Science databases.

Introduction: Pseudo journals, hijacked journals, fraudulent journals, fake journals, and predatory journals waste valuable research when authors publish their studies in them. Aim: This article described novel suggested features for the identification of fraudulent journals and aimed to explain this issue to help inexperienced scientists avoid publishing in predatory journals. Methods: The articles related to this topic in were retrieved from PubMed and trustable Internet sources. Results: Unfortunately, some fake journals have made their way into reputable databases, such as PubMed, PubMed Central, MEDLINE, SCOPUS, and Web of Science; thus, the serious question has been raised regarding how we should address this problematic phenomenon. We recommended 28 suggested characteristics of predatory journals for readers to take into consideration. Conclusion: Unaware of the detrimental effects associated with publishing in disreputable journals, inexperienced researchers can fall victim to them. Together, as both readers and writers, we should completely boycott predatory journals.

Aim To determine preferable type of treatment in our clinical circumstances by following two groups of patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI), who were treated endovascularly and surgically. Methods Research was carried out in the form of a prospective study of 80 patients with CLI and Trans-Atlantic Inter-Society Consensus (TASC) C or D type of arterial disease, with American Society of Anesthesiology (ASA) class III risk, who were randomly divided in two groups as per the treatment they received, surgical and endovascular. Patients were followed during 28 months using clinical examination and Duplex Ultrasound (DUS) in accordance with prescheduled control visits. Results There was a statistical difference between surgical and endovascular group in two years patency (82.5% vs. 55%; p=0.022) but it did not result in the difference in amputation free survival (AFS) (95% vs. 85%; p=0.171) or two-year freedom from major adverse limb events (MALE) (87.5 vs. 77.5; p=0.254). Also, there was no difference in the overall survival of patients (100% vs. 97.5%; p=0.317). Conclusion Initial endovascular treatment is a preferred form of the treatment for selected patient population.

No abstract.