Primary Healthcare Centre Modriča, Modriča, the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Centre for Biomedical Research, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Emergency Department, Primary Healthcare Centre Banja Luka, the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Department of Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, the Republic of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Background/Aim: In addition to well-established central effects, benzodiazepines, but also some other allosteric modulators of gamma-amino-butyric acid (GABA) receptor exhibit significant vascular effects. However, there are currently no elucidated mechanisms for manifested vasodilatory properties and very little is known about GABA gamma-amino-butyric acid function and GABAA receptor expression within peripheral blood vessels. Methods: In the present study, we demonstrated the vasorelaxant properties of diazepam, GABA and novel imidazobenzodiazepine amide ligands GL-II-73 and GLII-74, which are characterized as positive allosteric modulators of α5containing GABAA receptor. Using isometric organ bath system, we examined the vascular responses to phenylephrine, in the presence and absence of various ligands, in the rat thoracic aorta. Results: The observed significant and strong attenuation of the maximal contractile response of phenylephrine indicates a non-competitive antagonism of diazepam, GL-II-73 and GL-II-74 (p < 0.001), whereas GABA does not affect phenylephrine contraction. Since the strongest inhibitory effect was observed with compound GL-II-74, that, compared to other tested ligands, exhibited a higher potentiation at α5 GABAARs, it could be assumed that the α5 subunit plays a significant role in the structure of putatively present “vascular” GABAARs. Conclusion: This work emphasizes the importance of GABAARs research in the periphery and also points to the possibility of using α5 selective GABAAR modulators as potential therapeutic targets for novel vasodilators.

Introduction: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is one of the m ost common and most dramatic manifestations of ischaemic h eart disease and distinguishing of ACS from non-cardiac chest pain represents a diagnostic challenge. Objective: Determine the frequency of ACS types: NSTEMI, STEMI and unstable angina pectoris (UAP) and examine the frequency and significance of risk factors and cardiospecific enzymes in patients with ACS. Methods: The analysis included patients who were referred from the prehospital level of the Banja Luka Primary Healthcare Centre (Emergency Department and Family Medicine Department) and treated under the ACS diagnosis in the coronary unit of the Cardiovascular Diseases Clinic of the Banja Luka University Clinical Centre of the Republic of Srpska (UCCRS) in the first 6 months of 2011. The study included patients older than 18, with recorded information on their gender, age, smoking status, hypertension, diabetes, obesity and family burden. Values of cholesterol, triglycerides, serum potassium, creatine kinase (CK), CK-MB, cardiac tro - ponin T (cTnT) were measured. Results: The total of 192 patients were referred under the referral diagnosis of ACS and treated in the coronary unit of the CVD Clinic of the Banja Luka UCCRS. At the same time, ACS was confirmed in 178 cases. STEMI was confirmed in 86 patients (48.31 %), NSTEMI in 55 (30.90 %) and UAP in 37 (20.79 %). ACS was statistically significantly more common in men (112 men and 66 women), in particular younger men (average age for men was 62.7 and 69.2 for men and women, respectively) (U = 2.472 x 103, p NSTEMI > UAP. Conclusion: Half of patients with ACS did not have STEMI (which is presumably easy to diagnose). Third of patients with ACS reported atypical symptoms, which further complicates the early recognition of MI without ST elevation. Precaution is needed in women and in elderly. Determination of cTnT should be available in every examination room.

1Academy of Medical Sciences of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina 2 Clinic of Urology, University Clinical Center of Republika Srpska, Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 Medical Faculty, University of Banja Luka, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina 4Primary Health Care Center, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina 5Day Oncology Hospital ZU Estetic, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina

Introduction/Objective. Benign transient hyperphosphatasemia (BTH) is a pathogenetic insufficiently clear clinical entity that is mostly seen in infants and young children. The objective of this paper is to present our experience regarding the age of occurrence, the conditions of the discovery, and the length of duration of BTH in children. Methods. The study was realized on a sample of 18 children, nine boys and nine girls, aged 10?42 (21.06 ? 9.35) months with BTH. The diagnosis of BTH is based on the absence of bone and hepatobiliary diseases, and its spontaneous disappearance over the course of several months. Results. One patient was in the first year, 13 in the second, three in the third, and one in the fourth. Isolated high activity of serum alkaline phosphatase, which was 2.04?21.9 (8.05 ? 5.31) times above the upper reference value for the corresponding age, in 14 cases it was found during the acute diarrhea, and in four with acute rhinopharyngitis, of which in two complicated with otitis media. The cause of diarrhea in six cases was rotavirus, in two Campylobacter, and in one adenovirus, and otitis media in one case was caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae, while in others, etiologic factors of infection were not identified. Spontaneous normalization of serum alkaline phosphatase activity was recorded between one and three months after the onset. Conclusion. BTH is a harmless biochemical disorder that spontaneously subsides within three months after initial observation. It is found randomly as a routine laboratory finding most often within the treatment of acute gastrointestinal and respiratory infections.

Abstract Innovation and exporting both play a vital role in the sustained business performance of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Unfortunately, few studies have simultaneously examined the effects of technological and non-technological innovations on SMEs' export growth while considering SMEs' financial constraints, let alone explicated the effects of a firm's geographic diversification on the marketing innovations–export growth relationship. To address these limitations, the authors theoretically ground their research model in the resource-based and dynamic capabilities views, and empirically test it using survey data from SMEs operating in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). The results indicate the SMEs' export growth depends not merely on successful technological innovations, but also on organizational innovations that, along with product innovations, foster SMEs' marketing innovations. Further, financial constraints amplify the positive effect of organizational innovations on product innovations. Finally, the authors show that exporting SMEs benefit more from marketing innovation when they diversify geographically.

: This paper investigates the relationship of information communication technology (ICT) and virtual reality (VR), and tourism, or specifically its interrelations and links to tourism sustainability. As a consumer technology, VR is still a relatively new concept, although it has been researched and used in the tourism industry for marketing purposes. The aim is to understand the different aspects of VR and ICTs and potentially link them to sustainability and perspectives on mass tourism, as well as to the potential future developments related to the ability of ICT and tourism to meet the tourists’ needs to a greater extent in the future. By use of the systematic mapping methodology, the insights into these concepts and their relations to each other are provided. The study reveals the evolution and links between the investigated concepts, the existing challenges and solutions, and the remaining gaps. The present findings indicate that VR as a trend in the tourism industry still needs significant work and improvement until it is ready to fully immerse itself into the tourism sector and especially involve itself into the issues concerning tourism and the potential of sustainability concept within the industry. Many of the concerns and conflicts still exist, but the potential of its right implementation is enormous.

Prisoner exchange is as old as warfare itself. Along with ransom, it was one of the few hopes for prisoners of war until the advent of modern international law. By the beginning of the 17th century, prisoner exchange had become a recognized institute of rules and customs of war, with European states agreeing on exchange arrangements (so-called “cartels”) whenever they fought. The prime motive behind the exchange was the need to get one’s own trained soldiers back as soon as possible, but also to minimize the cost of keeping enemy prisoners. Only full-fledged “civilized” nations could form a cartel; native tribes and rebels were not seen as subjects of law. It is therefore not surprising that the British did their utmost to avoid entering a general cartel during the Revolutionary War (1775–83), for by doing so they would recognize the legitimacy of the nascent United States and their Continental Army. Approximately ninety years later, the Federal government in Washington faced the same problem and kept refusing an all-encompassing cartel with the Southern “rebels” for over a year after the beginning of hostilities in April of 1861. The deal was eventually reached in July of 1862 and would be in place until May of 1863. Although the official text read that the Union representatives signed the agreement with the people who had been “commissioned by the authorities they respectively represent,” the signing was a ...

The total excellence of university teaching largely depends on pedagogical and didactical­methodical competencies of university professors. The development and promotion of academic teaching is enabled by the modernization of the teaching process which does not encompass only modernization of curriculum but the entire didactical­methodical organization of teaching. Pleasure and requirements of students are to be accentuated accordingly, as well as competencies of teachers and expectations of labor market. The purpose of this paper is to establish which element of didactical­methodical organization of university teaching is the most important dimension of excellence of teaching as well as in what way university professors perform self­evaluation of the excellence of didactical­methodical organization of teaching at the University of Tuzla. The analytical­descriptive survey method was used as a variant of analytical­descriptive method as well as procedures of analysis of contents and polling. It is supposed that there is statistically significant difference in self­evaluation of the importance of elements of excellence in didactical­methodical organization of teaching at the University of Tuzla and that self­evaluations of the importance of individual elements of excellence of university teaching differ with regard to age, sex, teaching/academic title, years of experience in academic institutions and scientific field the faculty belongs to. The results of this research show that the excellence of planning and preparation and excellence in choice of teaching methods are the most important elements of excellence in the organization of university teaching, and that 90% of teaching personnel evaluates that the classes they organize are at very high level of excellence.

Ukupna izvrsnost sveučilišne nastave najviše ovisi o pedagoškim i didaktičko­metodičkim kompetencijama sveučilišnih nastavnika. Za razvoj i unaprjeđenje sveučilišne nastave važno je osuvremenjivanje nastavnog procesa koje ne podrazumijeva samo osuvremenjivanje kurikula, nego cjelokupnoga didaktičko­metodičkog organiziranja nastavnoga rada. Pritom je potrebno naglasiti zadovoljstvo i potrebe studenata, kompetencije visokoškolskih nastavnika i očekivanja radnog tržišta. Cilj ovoga rada bio je ustvrditi koja je sastavnica didaktičko­metodičkog organiziranja sveučilišne nastave najvažniji čimbenik izvrsnosti nastavnog rada te kako sveučilišni nastavnici Univerziteta u Tuzli vrjednuju vlastitu izvrsnost didaktičko­metodičkog organiziranja nastavnog rada. Koristilo se analitičko­deskriptivnim upitnikom kao inačicom analitičko­deskriptivne metode, postupcima analize sadržaja i anketiranjem. Pretpostavljeno je kako postoji statistički značajna razlika u samovrjednovanju važnosti čimbenika izvrsnosti didaktičko­metodičke organizacije nastavnog rada visokoškolskih nastavnika Univerziteta u Tuzli te da se samovrjednovanja važnosti pojedinih čimbenika izvrsnosti sveučilišne nastave razlikuju s obzirom na dob, spol, znanstveno­nastavno/umjetničko zvanje, godine radnog iskustva u visokoškolskim ustanovama te znanstveno područje kojemu Fakultet pripada. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su kako su izvrsnost planiranja i pripremanja te izvrsnost izbora nastavnih metoda najvažniji čimbenici ukupne izvrsnosti organiziranja sveučilišne nastave, a 90 % nastavnog osoblja ocjenjuje kako je nastava koju organiziraju visoke razine izvrsnosti.