Introduction: Monitoring and diagnosing glaucoma until 2017 included funduscopy, IOP measurements, gonioscopy, pachymetry, as well as visual field tests, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A). Radial peripapillary capillaries (RPC) can be observed by fluorescein angiography, as well as histologically - superficial and deep capillary layer. Aim: To correlate density of radial peripapillary capillary network (RPC) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in eight peripapillary segments in patients with a primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) which have the disease under 10 years of duration, over 10 years of duration and in a group of healthy patients. Methods: This is a cross-sectional review which included three groups of patients: POAG patients under 10 years of disease duration, over 10 years of disease duration and control group of patients. The study is performed on the commercial optical coherence tomography angiography system (AngioVue, Avanti RTVue-XR, Optovue, CA). Sectoral RPC density values, RPC maps and RNFL thickness were analyzed in three groups of patients, data was compared and correlation between parameters was examined. Results: Mean RPC Density values in both superior segments (S1, S2) were significantly lower in patients with glaucoma over 10 years of disease duration compared to patients with glaucoma under 10 years of disease duration (p<0.05). Statistically significant positive correlation was established between RNFL thickness and RPC density in all eight peripapillary segments. Conclusion: Analysis of radial peripapillary capillary network density on optical coherence tomography angiography may provide an earliest functional sign of progressive optic nerve disease and new insights into the pathophysiology of glaucomatous damage.

Aim To determine the degree of accuracy in determining the sex of the skull based on classical morphometric analysis of the mastoid process. Morphometric analysis excluded a subjective approach expressed in osteoscopic analysis. Methods The study was conducted on a sample of 100 macerated skulls of known gender and age from the second half of the 20th century, including the Bosnian population. Of the 100 skulls, 50 (50%) were male and 50 (50%) were female. Male skulls were on average 60 (47-71) years old and female 57 (43-76) years old. At each mastoid process, 3 measurements were made: mastoid length, mastoid width (medio-lateral diameter) ML) and anteroposterior diameter (AP) of the mastoid process. Results Using the univariate method, we found a significant difference between length, width, AP diameter and size of mastoid processes as well as between gender (p <0.05). Multivariate binary logistic regression showed statistically significant differences in AP diameter of the mastoid process (p<0.05). Conclusion The created model "P" ("P"=exp [X]/1+exp [X]) for sex determination based on mastoid process showed sensitivity of 82% correct prediction for female skulls and 65% accurate prediction for male skulls. This discourse with respect of population standards grants most effective anthropological proof and as such may be suggested for forensic expertise based on human skull.

Aim Steady progress in intensive treatment worldwide has increased the survival of immature neonates, but with multiple invasive procedures, which have increased the risk of infection, thus the bacterial resistance to antibiotics. The aim of this study was to analyse the epidemiology of multidrug resistance pathogens as causative agents of neonatal sepsis in the neonatal intensive care unit. Methods A retrospective cohort study conducted at the Intensive care unit of the Paediatric Clinic of Tuzla over a three-year period (2016-2018) analysed epidemiology of neonatal sepsis caused by multidrug resistance pathogens. Statistical analysis applied standard methods, and the research was approved by the Ethics Committee of the institution. Results Of the total of 921 treated neonates, multidrug resistance (MDR) pathogens among causative agents of neonatal sepsis were found in 22 neonates (2.38%) with no gender difference. Prematurity and low birth weight were confirmed as the most significant risk factors. From the maternal risk factors a significant difference was found in the first birth and in vitro fertilization. Clinically, MDR sepsis manifested frequently as late onset sepsis, with longer hospital stay and higher mortality. The findings of leukopenia, thrombocytopenia and coagulation disorders were significant. Gram negative bacteria were frequently isolated, in particular Acinetobacter, which showed the greatest resistance to antibiotics. Conclusion Neonatal MDR sepsis is a threat to life, it complicates the treatment, increases costs and mortality. Outcomes can be improved by preventive strategies, earlier and more accurate diagnosis and rational use of antibiotics.

Aim Phlebotominae sandflies are primary vectors of phleboviruses, causing the sandfly fever disease. The aim of this study was to detect and report the presence of flaviviruses in Phlebotominae sandflies captured in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Methods After a microscopic and morphometric analysis, the final identification of collected Phlebotomus specimens was confirmed by PCR, using a hemi-nested polymerase chain reaction on extracted and reversely transcribed RNA. Results We obtained a 155 nt long fragment of the viral non-structural protein 5 (NS5) gene (GenBank accession no. MN090154). The acquired nucleotide sequence, provisionally named as Drežnica, showed a maximum of 70-80% identity in 70-88% (110-137 nucleotides) of the query coverage with several Anopheles, Sabethes, Calbertado and Culex flaviviruses. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analysis showed that the new flavivirus Drežnica clusters together with the flavivirus isolated from Culiseta annulata mosquitos. Conclusion We report the presence of flavivirus in Phlebotominae sandflies, captured in Drežnica, Herzegovina for the first time. The next phase of research will be directed towards virus cultivation, obtaining a longer or complete virus sequence and clarifying the medical and epidemiological importance of the Drežnica virus.

Aim To present characteristics of collecting autologous peripheral blood stem cells over a one-year period with an emphasis on efficiency and safety. Methods A retrograde analysis of 24 leukapheresis in 20 adult patients with malignant haematological diseases in the Blood Transfusion Institute of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo, was done. Cell separators Amicus and Spectra Optia were used for collection procedures. Results The patient's age ranged from 27 to 65 years. Target cells were collected in one procedure in sixteen patients, while in four patients they were collected in two procedures. The mean CD34+ collection efficiency was 57.7%. The median number of CD34+ cells and percentage of CD34+ cells in the products were 5.52x10e6/kg (range 3.28-9.00) and 1.57% (range 0.96-2.91). A strong positive correlation was found between the number of CD34+ cells in peripheral blood on the apheresis day and the amount of CD34+ cells collected in the products (rs =0.73). A total of 95% of patients collected the amount of ≥3x10e6/kg and 55% of ≥5x10e6/kg CD34+ cells for a single transplant. A decrease in platelet count, haemoglobin and haematocrit values after the procedure was not significant. Potassium decrease showed statistical significance (p<0.000). Adverse events occurred during one procedure (4.2%). Conclusion A low number of adverse events and good collection efficiency with adequate patient monitoring, indicate that leukapheresis is a safe procedure that is successfully used in the autologous transplantation process in the treatment of malignant haematological diseases.

Abstract In this study, high hydrostatic pressure extraction (HHPE) and ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) were used for the improvement of pectin and polyphenol recovery from tomato peel waste. HHPE enhanced pectin recovery by 15% after 45 min of recycling, in comparison with the conventional extraction (CE) for 180 min. Similar mass fractions of anhydrouronic acid, total sugars and total phenols were obtained by using both methods. FTIR and 1H NMR data confirmed that chemical composition of pectin obtained by HHPE and CE is identical, therefore it was concluded that the faster HHPE method can be used for its further isolation. Although depectinized residues subjected to UAE in 70% ethanol for 15 min contained two times lower values of total phenols (1625.7 mg/100 g) than pectinized samples (3643.9 mg/100 g), their quantities are not negligible, considering the fact that they are generated after HHPE. At the end of UAE, the residues were exploited as a source of fatty acids, among which lauric, palmitic and stearic acids are dominant. In conclusion, by shortening the extraction time using HHPE and UAE, it is possible to efficiently produce two valuable functional ingredients, pectin and polyphenols, and at the same time to reduce peel waste from tomato canning industry, which presents an environmental problem. Industrial relevance Utilizing HHPE and UAE as novel and emerging technologies, and combining them with traditional ones (Soxhlet) is given the solution for sequential isolation of pectin, polyphenols and fatty acids from tomato peel waste, generated by canning factory. Shortening of extraction time using HHPE and UAE, it is possible to replace the conventional techniques, and achieve efficient production of pectin and polyphenols. Overall, the extraction methodology proposed in this work could provide two valuable benefits, i.e. the producers could find mode for decreasing of disposal costs of waste and consumer would take opportunity that isolated compounds could be reintroduced into food.

This paper aims to examine the impact of digital tools in mathematics and the readiness of teachers and students applying these interactive tools in teaching. The data used in the research are obtained from the test results of 526 students, in five secondary schools in North Macedonia. The students in this research, are divided into two groups: mainly as a control group and an experimental group. The control group is the group of students who do not have access to the interactive tools at home and who use interactive tools only once a week in the school while the group of students in the experimental group have access to them and have the opportunity to use these interactive applications every day. The students in the control group and the experimental group were selected from the same year and the gender equality of the groups was taken into account. To further understand the relationship between teaching with digital tools and learning after testing was surveyed the participants. The results in our research suggest that interactive teaching tools have a positive impact on the teaching process and increase students' knowledge.

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.

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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.

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.

This article describes the life and medical activities of Jadwiga Olszewska (1855-1932) in Serbia from 1895-1899, AustroHungarian (AH)-occupied and annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina (BH) from 1899-1918, and the newly founded Kingdom of Yugoslavia, from 1919-1932. In summer 1899, Olszewska replaced Teodora Krajewska as an AH official female physician in Tuzla. Born in Congress Poland, Olszewska had enrolled in 1873 in the medical courses for women in St. Petersburg but had left Russia in 1880 to study medicine in France. She had lived as a student and single parent in Paris since 1883, and she was awarded her Doctorate in Medicine from the University of Paris in 1894. She could not practice medicine in Russian-occupied Poland because of her French diploma, and she could not practice in most Western countries due to her gender. Therefore, she decided to move to Serbia, where she worked as an assistant physician in the district hospitals of Loznica (1895-1897?) and Požarevac (1897-1899). Driven by the need for a higher income to fund her son's education, she engaged her network of Polish compatriots and procured the position of an AH official female physician of Tuzla in 1899, where she performed her duties in an exemplary manner. After the breakdown of the Austro-Hungarian Empire (AHE) in 1918, Olszewska remained in Tuzla and retired as a Yugoslav official physician in 1923. When she died in Tuzla in 1932, local colleagues had to arrange for a proper funeral because Olszewska did not leave any savings due to her insufficient pension. Olszewska's grave never received a tombstone, and it is untraceable today. CONCLUSION: Jadwiga Olszewska (1855-1932) was a woman pioneer of medicine from Poland, who practiced her profession first as an assistant physician in Serbia (1895-1899) and then as an AH and Yugoslavian official female doctor in Tuzla, BH (1899-1923).