Rhinoviruses (RV) account for a significant number of asthma exacerbations, and RV species C may be associated with a severe course in vulnerable patient groups. Despite important evidence on the role of RV reported by clinicians and life scientists, there are still unanswered questions regarding their influence on asthma exacerbation in young patients. Thus, we measured the RVspecies-specific IgG titers in our German pediatric exacerbation cohort using a microarray-based technology. For this approach, human sera of patients with exacerbated asthma and wheeze, as well as healthy control subjects (n = 136) were included, and correlation analyses were performed. Concordantly with previously published results, we observed significantly higher cumulative levels of RV species A-specific IgG (p = 0.011) and RV-C-specific IgG (p = 0.051) in exacerbated asthma group compared to age-matched controls. Moreover, atopic wheezers had increased RV-specific IgG levels for species A (p = 0.0011) and species C (p = 0.0009) compared to non-atopic wheezers. Hypothesizing that bacterial infection positively correlates with immune memory against RV, we included nasopharyngeal swab results in our analyses and detected limited correlations. Interestingly, the eosinophil blood titer positively correlated with RV-specific IgG levels. With these observations, we add important observations to the existing data regarding exacerbation in pediatric and adolescent medicine. We propose that scientists and clinicians should pay more attention to the relevance of RV species in susceptible pediatric patients.

The aim of this study was to analyze the spike length, number of grains per spike and grain weight per spike of winter wheat in agro–ecological conditions of Banja Luka at different sowing densities. Three winter wheat varieties (NS 40S, Prima and Nova Bosanka) were examined at seven sowing densities (384, 424, 451, 504, 544, 588 and 604 seeds/m2) in two growing seasons (2013/14 and 2014/15). Experimental design was a completely random system with four replications. In all wheat varieties, sowing was carried out from the 6th to 8th November in 2013/14 and from the 3rd to 5th November in 2014/15. Sampling of plants was done in the first decade of July in both experimental years. Factorial ANOVA 2×8×3 and LSD‒test were performed, with year, sowing density and variety as main factors. For different varieties, the average number of grains per spike ranged from 34.53 to 38.19 while the average grain weight per spike (g) ranged from 1.58 to 1.73 g. The spike length ranged from 7.58 to 8.20 cm for varieties with statistically significant interaction effect variety × year at P ≤ 0.01. Spike parameters were generally higher in the second experimental year (2014/15).

The sowing density of wheat is important for expression of number of spikes per unit area, grain yield as well as other yield components. The aim of this work is investigation of variability of grain yield and number of spikes per unit area influenced by different sowing densities under different environmental conditions. Three wheat genotypes NS 40, Prima and Nova Bosanka were studied at seven different sowing densities (384, 424, 451, 504, 544, 588 and 604 seeds m-2) with four replications on experimental plot of one m2 on field experiment in agro‒ecological conditions of Banja Luka during two successive growing seasons. In all studied wheat cultivars, the lowest number of spikes m-2 and the lowest grain yield were found on variant of lowest sowing density (384 seeds m-2), while the highest number of spikes m-2 and the highest grain yield were found on variant of 588 seeds m-2 in both years. The wheat genotype NS 40S had the highest number of spikes m-2, while Nova Bosanka had the lowest at all variants of sowing densities in both years. Mainly, at all variants of sowing densities, the highest values of analyzed traits were expressed in first year of experimental investigation. Depending of year and variant of sowing density the highest grain yield were found in NS 40 and Prima, while the lowest grain yield had Nova Bosanka in both years of experiment. In general, the recommended wheat sowing rates should be confirmed in the specific area of production and for the specific genotype.

The aim of this two‒year research was to determine the rate of productive tillers per plant of different winter wheat cultivars under different sowing densities in the agroecological conditions of Banja Luka. NS 40S, Prima and Nova Bosanka wheat cultivars were sown at eight different sowing densities: 384, 424, 451, 504, 544, 584, 588 and 604 seeds m-2. The experiment was set up in the open field, and each wheat cultivar was sown at different sowing density in four replications. Statistical analysis was performed using factorial analysis of variance 2×8×3 while significant differences between treatments were tested by LSD test. The highest average rate of productive tillers per plant was achieved for the winter wheat cultivar NS 40S (2.29). The highest average rate of productive tillers per plant was achieved at sowing density of 384 seeds m-2 and the lowest at sowing density of 588 seeds m-2.

Wheat overwintering ability affects the final number of plants that are able to continue their growth and development when necessary conditions are established. This research was conducted to study the overwintering ability of winter wheat cultivars (NS 40S, Prima and Nova Bosanka) under different sowing densities during 2013/14 and 2014/15 in agroecological conditions of Banja Luka. Standard agronomic practices for winter wheat were performed. Wheat cultivars were sown manually, under sowing densities with different seed arrangements: 384, 424, 451, 504, 544, 584, 588, and 604 seeds m-2. Counting of wheat plants in both examined years was carried out in the second decade of February. Statistical analysis was performed using factorial analysis of variance 2×8×3, while significant differences between treatments were tested by LSD test. The average overwintering plants percentage for all three examined wheat cultivars was 50.06%. Sowing density of 588 seeds m-2 stands out as the density with a tendency of the highest percentage of overwintering plants in both years.