Introduction: Many evidence indicates that Carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) and Carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA 19-9) have strong reactivity with tumor cells and may serve as a useful marker in identifying patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Objectives: The goal of this study was to evaluate the relationship between preoperative concentration of serum levels of CEA and CA 19-9 and progression of colorectal cancer. Methods: The retrospective study included 80 patients operated for colorectal cancer at the Clinic for General and Abdominal Surgery, Clinical Center of University of Sarajevo, from 2013 to 2018. The following clinical and laboratory parameters were observed: age, sex, preoperatively measured concentrations of CEA and CA 19-9 antigens, CRC localization, postoperative histopathological findings and CRC stage (TNM classification). All of the data above were processed by relevant statistical methods, with an accepted level of statistical significance of p <0.05. Results: The highest serum levels of CEA and CA 19-9 were observed in stage IV of CRC. Average CEA and CA 19-9 values did not differ significantly between tumor stages (p>0.05). Preoperatively measured serum concentrations of CEA and CA 19-9 in patients with CRC were significantly correlated (rho = 0.328, p = 0.001). An increase in the depth of tumor invasion of the intestinal wall tumor (pT) is followed by an increase in the serum value of the CEA marker, but this ratio was not statistically significant (rho=0.194, p=0.080), while the relationship between depth of intestinal wall invasion and serum level of CA 19-9 was significantly positive correlation (rho = 0.252, p = 0.024). However, the linear regression analysis model showed that serum levels of CEA and CA 19-9 could not be predictors of CRC stage and depth of tumor invasion of the intestinal wall (p> 0.05). Conclusion: Preoperatively measured serum values of CEA and CA 19-9 cannot indicate the specific stage and histopathological size of the CRC.

Background: Respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature neonates has high morbidity, and it is encountered as one of the most common pathological conditions in these patients. This prospective study included 51 patients with a mean gestational age of 31 gestational weeks, hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in a tertiary-level university hospital. Aims and Objectives: The aim of our study is a comparison between lung ultrasound (US) and chest radiography in diagnosing RDS in premature neonates. Materials and Methods: US findings were classified into three profile scales and X-ray findings into a four-grade radiographic scale. Results: The results show a good concordance between chest radiography and lung US with kappa, sensitivity, and negative predictive value results in favor of US. Most of the patients had US-profile 1, which corresponds to X-ray profiles 3 and 4. US finding included the presence of confluent B lines, “white lungs,” subpleural consolidations, and thick pleura, but also A-lines, mostly found in a resolution of the disease and mild cases. Conclusion: Lung US still is not a routine procedure despite its wide use in NICUs, and as non-harmful, repeatable method, it can be used as a complementary modality to a chest X-ray. By introducing lung US as a standard method of examination in day-to-day work, it would be possible to reduce the use of X-ray studies in premature neonates.

A combined inorganic and organic geochemical study was carried out on marls and mudstones collected from the Lower Miocene Lopare Basin, Bosnia and Herzegovina. A total of 46 samples collected from two boreholes, Pot 1 (depth of 193 m) and Pot 3 (depth of 344 m), showed that element abundances like boron (B), lithium (Li), strontium (Sr), uranium (U), chromium (Cr), nickel (Ni), magnesium (Mg), sodium (Na) and calcium (Ca) are much higher than average than in the upper continental crust (UCC). Chemical composition indicates at least two sources: (i) Mesozoic ophiolites occurring in the north of the investigated area, and (ii) dacito‐andesitic pyroclastics (Mesozoic to Cenozoic). Lopare Basin sedimentation was influenced by strong evaporation resulting in a partly hypersaline lake, which formed during a warm climatic period, probably during the Miocene Climatic Optimum. A brief episode of humid climate conditions resulted in the basin filling‐up and deposition of felsic sediments enriched in thorium (Th). Organic geochemistry shows that the majority of studied sediments contains predominantly immature to marginally mature algal organic matter (OM). The biomarker patterns are generally in agreement with the geological history of the Lopare Basin and inorganic and mineralogical data. Conversely, the molecular distribution of n‐alkanes as reliable climatic and δ‐MTTC as paleosalinity indicators do not support this conclusion.

Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common infectious cause of birth defects. It maycause both, immediate and long term health problems in infants. These include variety of symptoms, suchas hearing loss, microcephaly, jaundice, hepatosplenomegaly and seizures. In more severe cases CMVinfection can cause the death of an unborn baby and loss of pregnancy. Despite being one of the mostextensively studied vertically transmitted infections recently, the adverse effects of vertically transmittedCMV infection are still not well presented to the general public, resulting in a low awareness amongpotential expectant mothers in Bosnia and Herzegovina. This study aims to elucidate the sensitivity of urinesamples for CMV detection in infants as well as to reflect the importance of quantitative real-time PCR(qRT-PCR) in diagnostics of CMV infection in infants. qRT-PCR was used in this study as a technique forthe screening of CMV DNA in a cohort of patients based in Sarajevo Canton. These results have shownthat urine samples are sufficiently sensitive for the detection of CMV DNA in infants. Furthermore, thesimultaneous analysis of several patients has shown a higher number of CMV DNA copies amplified inurine compared to blood samples, derived from the same patient, thus proposing urine as a reliable sampleof choice for congenital CMV diagnostics. These findings may propose a need to classify qRT-PCR CMVtest among one of the recommended first-trimester pregnancy screening tests, which could help in earlydetection of CMV infection in Sarajevo Canton.

is why many birds exploited positive wind assistance which occurred on intense migration nights. This implies that the seasonal wind regimes over the North Sea alter its migratory dynamics which is reflected in headings, timing and intensity of migration.

Test automation has been an acknowledged software engineering best practice for years. However, the topic involves more than the repeated execution of test cases that often comes first to mind. Simply running test cases using a unit testing framework is no longer enough for test automation to keep up with the ever-shorter release cycles driven by continuous deployment and technological innovations such as microservices and DevOps pipelines. Now test automation needs to rise to the next level by going beyond mere test execution.

Abstract Hypoxia is an essential hallmark of several serious diseases such as cardiovascular and metabolic disorders and cancer. A decline in the tissue oxygen level induces hypoxic responses in cells which strive to adapt to the changed conditions. A failure to adapt to prolonged or severe hypoxia can trigger cell death. While some cell types, such as neurons, are highly vulnerable to hypoxia, cancer cells take advantage of a hypoxic environment to undergo tumour growth, angiogenesis and metastasis. Hypoxia‐induced processes trigger complex intercellular communication and there are now indications that extracellular vesicles (EVs) play a fundamental role in these processes. Recent developments in EV isolation and characterization methodology have increased the awareness of the importance of EV purity in functional and cargo studies. Cell death, a hallmark of severe hypoxia, is a known source of intracellular contaminants in isolated EVs. In this review, methodological aspects of studies investigating hypoxia‐induced EVs are critically evaluated. Key concerns and gaps in the current knowledge are highlighted and future directions for studies are set. To accelerate and advance research, an in‐depth analysis of the functions and cargo of hypoxic EVs, compared to normoxic EVs, is provided with the focus on the altered microRNA contents of the EVs.

Magnesium has little resistance to corrosion and therefore its production and use are quite limited. The problem of corrosion associated with these alloys has been alleviated to some extent by the advantages obtained from fine coatings. An additional dense barrier against corrosion is created, using coatings obtained from sol-gel. As an alternative for Cr-based conversion coatings, rare-earth elements-based ones are been increasingly investigated for Mg and its alloys due to being eco-friendly. Because of chemical inertness, low friction, and high hardness, diamond-like carbon (DLC) coatings have exhibited the best protection for Mg and its alloys. In this review, we shed light on recent advancements in novel coatings for Mg alloys including hybrid, rare-earth conversion, composite polymeric (polymer composite is a multi-phase material in which reinforcing fillers are integrated with a polymer matrix), and DLC coatings.

This paper presents a combined subjective and objective evaluation of an application mixing interactive virtual reality (VR) experience with 360° storytelling. The hypothesis that the modern immersive archaeological VR application presenting cultural heritage from a submerged site would sustain high levels of presence, immersion, and general engagement was leveraged in the investigation of the user experience with both the subjective (questionnaires) and the objective (neurophysiological recording of the brain signals using electroencephalography (EEG)) evaluation methods. Participants rated the VR experience positively in the questionnaire scales for presence, immersion, and subjective judgement. High positive rating concerned also the psychological states linked to the experience (engagement, emotions, and the state of flow), and the experience was mostly free from difficulties linked to the accustomization to the VR technology (technology adoption to the head-mounted display and controllers, VR sickness). EEG results are in line with past studies examining brain responses to virtual experiences, while new results in the beta band suggest that EEG is a viable tool for future studies of presence and immersion in VR.

UDC 517.9We present necessary and sufficient conditions for the reducibility of a self-adjoint linear relation in a Krein space. Then a generalized Nevanlinna function Q represented by a self-adjoint linear relation A in a Pontryagin space is decomposed by means of the reducing subspaces of A . The sum of two functions Q i ∈ N κ i ( ℋ ) , i = 1,2 , minimally represented by the triplets ( 𝒦 i , A i , Γ i ) is also studied. For this purpose, we create a model ( 𝒦 ˜ , A ˜ , Γ ˜ ) to represent Q : = Q 1 + Q 2 in terms of ( 𝒦 i , A i , Γ i ) . By using this model, necessary and sufficient conditions for κ = κ 1 + κ 2 are proved in the analytic form. Finally, we explain how degenerate Jordan chains of the representing relation A affect the reducing subspaces of A and the decomposition of the corresponding function Q .

The study examines the relationship between strategic leadership, strategic performance, and corecompetence among teachers from Lebanon's educational sector. Using a sample size of 106 observations,with a convenient sampling method (quantitative), the results, which are attained using regression analysis,showed that core competence has a direct effect on strategic performance and strategic leadership.Conversely, strategic leadership has not shown its significant mediation role in effecting strategicperformance through core competence. The examination of the data is performed using the mediationregression model. Other implications, limitations, and future works are further discussed.