Spontaneous chromosomal aberrations are structural or numerical changes of chromosomes that occur naturally, without exposure to external genotoxic factors. They are not inherited, occur randomly in the karyotype, and do not have direct clinical significance. However, they can affect genomic instability and disease predisposition. They can result from DNA replication or repair processes errors, and typically are observed in cells that are actively dividing. Spontaneous chromosomal aberrations may arise due to the natural chromosomal instability and can be elevated in individuals exposed to mutagens. We analyzed frequencies of spontaneous chromosomal aberrations in 137 individuals subjected to karyotype analysis at the Laboratory for Cytogenetics and Genotoxicology, University of Sarajevo – Institute for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, during 2008-2023. Whole blood samples were cultivated for 72 hours with the thymidine added in the 48th hour. Metaphases were arrested by colcemid 60 minutes before harvesting. GTG banding was performed and slides were analyzed under 1000x magnification in accordance with An International System for Human Cytogenetic Nomenclature and E.C.A. Cytogenetic Guidelines and Quality Assurance. Constitutionally aberrant karyotypes were found in 2.92% of analysed individuals as well as altered karyotypes considered as normal chromosomal variants. In the total of 3092 analyzed metaphases, 20 spontaneous chromosomal aberrations were found in 13 individuals. This study contributes to the limited knowledge of the cytogenetic status of the Bosnian and Herzegovinian population. Further monitoring of spontaneous chromosomal aberrations incidences is recommended.

Cross-kingdom RNA interference (ckRNAi), the bidirectional communication between microbes and their host counterparts, is a key element in the outcome of host colonization. Whether mutualistic fungi of the Serendipitaceae family with their broad host range use small RNA effectors (sRNAs) to colonize plant roots is still under debate. To investigate if ckRNAi is a factor in the symbiosis of Serendipita indica (Si) with Arabidopsis thaliana (Ath), we established a pipeline to validate expression, translocation and post-transcriptional gene silencing of host genes by Si-derived sRNAs (SisRNAs). First, we confirmed the expression of SisRNAs both in axenic fungal culture and during Ath root colonization using stem-loop PCR. Then, to verify the translocation of putative SisRNA effectors, an ARGONAUTE 1 immuno-purification assay (AtAGO1-IP) was employed, detecting fungal SisRNAs being loaded into the plant RNAi machinery in Si-colonised roots. Subsequently, SisRNAs and artificial sRNAs (amiRNAs), were transiently expressed in Ath protoplasts to test their gene silencing activity. Stem-loop PCR confirmed expression of sRNA effectors and qPCR validated post-transcriptional gene silencing of their predicted target genes involved in cell wall organization, hormonal signalling regulation, plant immunity and gene expression. Moreover, 5’-RLM-RACE analysis revealed amiRNA-mediated canonical cleavage in Arabidopsis targets. In conclusion, this study provides a blueprint for rapid selection and analysis of sRNA effectors in plant-microbe interactions in general and suggests cross-kingdom communication in the Sebacinoid symbiosis.

Abstract:  In informal circles there can still be found division of sport according to criterion of sex, therefore we have so called "male" and "female" sports. Reasons for this division can be found in different places but it seems that gender (in) equality, which was particularly pronounced in the past, is the foundation of this understanding of sports. Tradition observes sport as "male" activity in which certain anthropological dimensions, such as body constitution or muscle strength determine success, dominantly, where participation of women in such activities becomes pointless, unnecessary and irrelevant, because they have "weaker body constitution". This approach and understanding of sport lead to the opinion that historically speaking, women in all aspect of social development didn't have equal rights in doing physical activities and sport, in general, although their needs for movement were and still are on the same level as men's. The goal was to use a descriptive method to analyze and define certain gender differences in the area of anthropological dimensions (morphology, cardiovascular system, functional abilities, body composition, somatic changes during life, ...) on the basis of which certain recommendations were given for physical activity and the training process of women. Playing sports and physical exercise are important for women's health, physical fitness and physical appearance and improve their quality of life. It can be concluded that physical activity has an extremely good and positive effect on the psychophysical state of the female organism and numerous health benefits compared to women who lead a sedentary lifestyle.

<p><strong>Introduction. </strong>The adoption of correct walking patterns is an indicator of the locomotor system readiness to establish optimal interaction between body force and the surface, and the way of creating pressure exerted by the feet during the walking cycle. The aim was to examine how the speed and characteristics of the terrain affect the distribution of force and plantar pressure during the gait of children with different levels of physical activity.</p> <p><strong>Methods.</strong> A prospective comparative study included 150 students aged 11&ndash;12 years and their parents from Banja Luka. According to the protocol, each group of subjects walked at average and maximum speed on flat and 5% inclined terrain. For the purposes of the research, the Physical Activity Questionnaire PAQ-C (The Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children), a survey questionnaire for parents, measurement of anthropometric parameters and Zebris strips (Zebris Medical GmbH, Germany) were used for gait analysis.</p> <p><strong>Results.</strong> When walking at maximum speed in inactive subjects, the maximum force on the left (F(148) = 14.878, p &lt; 0.001) and right (F(148) = 8.204, p &lt; 0.001) heel decreased, while in moderately and highly active subjects it grew moderately. In highly active subjects, the highest value of maximum pressure was registered (d = -1.41 for the left leg and d = 1.36 for the right leg). When the slope of the terrain changes in inactive subjects, the maximum force on the front part of both feet decreased (F(148) = 5.043, p = 0.008, d = 0). The influence of terrain characteristics was such that walking on a 5% incline almost as a rule had greater effects on inactive children, while moderately and highly physically active children gave an adequate response when walking on the 5% incline.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion.</strong> Urbanization and new developments in society impose the need to involve children in organized activities so that children acquire the skills and demonstrate the competence they face in their environment.</p>

Resumo .

Previous research on archaeological skeletal remains in Bosnia and Herzegovina rarely included odontological analysis. The objective of this research was biological profiling through odontological analysis (dental morphological characteristics, estimation of sex and dental age at death) in medieval archaeological skeletal remains samples from Krešića greblje in Paoča (Čitluk municipality, Bosnia and Herzegovina). After the excavations of the archaeological site, odontological analysis was performed before genetic analysis. The sample comprised 22 permanent teeth from 6 individuals. Odontological analysis included odontometric estimation of sex, estimation of age at death by two morphological methods, and an analysis of dental traits and dental pathology. Genetic analysis was used for sex determination. The results of odontological analysis classified all individuals as adults, with estimated age at death 20-25 in one individual, 30-35 in three individuals, 35-45 in one individual, and one individual older than 45 years of age. Odontometric sex estimation was in high concordance with sex determination by genetic analysis, and correctly classified five individuals’ sex (four females and one male). In one individual odontometric sex was assessed as female while genetic analysis revealed male. Morphological dental traits and dental pathology were investigated as well, adding to a better understanding of the odontological characteristics of the medieval population in the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Sex and dental age estimation given by odontological analysis provide fast and cost-effective information, and should be performed as an auxiliary before genetic analysis.

Objective. Anticoagulant therapy is a risk factor for repeated intratumoral hemorrhage and acute enlargement of a vestibular schwannoma (VS) with neurological deficits. Therefore, we describe two cases of patients on oral anticoagulant therapy with intratumoral hemorrhage in which anticoagulant therapy prior to surgical resection was discontinued. We also discuss other similar cases from the literature since this is a rare event. Case Reports. We described the two cases of intratumoral hemorrhage in acoustic neurinoma and conducted a literature review of similar cases of patients with intratumoral hemorrhage in acoustic neurinoma who were also on oral anticoagulants. Both patients presented with CN-VII palsy prior to surgery; both also fully recovered after surgery except for hearing loss on the tumor side. Our literature review found 50 cases of VS (reported as vestibular schwannomas in the literature) with intratumoral hemorrhage. From this total, 11 patients used oral anticoagulant therapy with reported poor outcomes and high mortality; 9 of these 11 cases were reported in the past 20 years. The incidence is expected to rise due to increased use of anticoagulant therapy due to onset of atrial fibrillation, atherosclerosis, and thromboembolism from longer human lifespan. Conclusion. Anticoagulant therapy represents a risk factor for intratumoral hemorrhage and acute enlargement of VS tumor mass with neurological deficits.

Soil fertility is pivotal for agricultural productivity, and iron (Fe) is a critical micro- nutrient essential for a successful crop development. This study investigates a potential of ensemble machine-learning methods in geospatial prediction of soil Fe in Croatia. Using a dataset of 686 soil samples, three individual machine-learning methods, including the extreme gradient boosting (XGB), support vector machine (SVM), and Cubist, as well as their ensemble, were evaluated for the soil Fe predi- ction. The ensemble method outperformed the individual models, exhibiting a higher prediction accuracy expressed by the coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.578), with a lower root-mean-square error (RMSE = 0.837) and the mean absolute error (MAE = 0.550). The soil clay content emerged as the most influential predictor, followed by the sand content, pH values, and select bioclimatic variables. This study’s results demonstrate the effectiveness of ensemble machine learning in an accurate predicti- on of soil Fe content and contribute to an informed decision-making in sustainable agricultural land-use planning and management. By including the complementary machine-learning methods into an ensemble with the representative environmental covariates, a geospatial prediction aids to a reliable comprehension of soil proper- ties and their spatial variability.

The concept of sustainable use of pesticides implies a series of rules, procedures and skills in the use of pesticides that are prescribed by the relevant legislation in the European Union, and which countries that are in the process of joining it are obliged to follow and apply. These prescribed norms include the development of a national action plan to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides; application of the principle of integral protection of plants; establishing a continuous training system for professional users of pesticides, distributors and advisors; establishment of appropriate conditions for the sale and distribution of pesticides; handling and storage of pesticides and disposal of their packaging and residues; regular control of pesticide application devices; keeping records and databases; informing the public and raising the level of awareness about the sustainable use of pesticides; application of measures to reduce the risk of pesticide use; the application of special practices in the use of pesticides, including aerial spraying, special measures for the protection of aquatic environments and drinking water, the application of pesticides on public and green areas, the reduction of pesticide use in certain areas, and the protection of bees during the application of pesticides, as well as the application of risk indicators, reporting and exchange of information on the sustainable use of pesticides. The purpose of this legislation is to achieve the sustainable use of pesticides and reduce the risks and negative effects from the use of pesticides in a way that ensures a high degree of protection of human and animal health, along with the protection and preservation of the environment and biodiversity, as well as the introduction of mandatory application of the basic principles of integral protection of plants for control of harmful organisms, including alternative approaches and techniques, such as non-chemical plant protection measures with the aim of achieving sustainable and competitive agriculture.

A broad range of ecological issues may be traced back to agricultural soil management methods that have a significant influence on ecosystems health across the globe. Agriculture has a major influence on the environment via soil quality deterioration or degradation. There are several types i.e., salinity, erosion, water logging and soil pollution with organic and inorganic contaminants and contributing factors to soil degradation. The inclusion of sustainable development goals (SDGs) related to the soil use as zero hunger (SDG 2), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), climate action (SDG 13), life on land (SDG 15) contributes and important in human wellbeing via producing food crops (SDG 2), increasing economic growth (SDG 8), sequestering atmospheric emissions for climate change mitigation (SDG 13), and betterment of life on earth (SDG 13). Factors include non-suitable agricultural practices, usage of wide fields without limits to impede water flow, and improper ploughing techniques. The key element to limit the soil degradation is reducing pressure on natural resources and their over-exploitation. In this chapter, authors have discussed the soil degradation, causes and their remedies in detail.

The Western Balkan region is known for emitting alarmingly high sulphur dioxide amounts from coal-fired power plants. Though a number of environmental regulations have been introduced in recent years (e.g. desulphurisation installations, construction of modern power plants), the pollution burden is still much higher than recommended by the authorities. A number of different montoring systems are required to observe the growing pollution situation in the Western Balkan region, partly caused by a high energy demand from outside (e.g. Western Europe).Several of the top ten SO2 polluters in Europe are located in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Here we present the first in situ measurements of sulphur dioxide in this region conducted with a German research aircraft in cooperation with local scientists in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia. Two of the strongtest emitting coalfired power plants were selected for the measurements in autumn 2020: Tuzla in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Nikola Tesla in Serbia (Nikola Tesla). The measurements were mainly conducted in the boundary layer (below ~1 km altitude in winter). Downwind of the power plants, extremely high SO2 mixing ratios exceeding 100 parts per billion (ppb = nmol mol-1 ) were measured at a distance of ~20-40 km from the sources. The SO2 plumes from the power plants were trapped in well-defined inversion layers between ~500-1000 m altitude. The airborne measurements can be used to validate synchronous spaceborne SO2 measurements from the TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) onboard the Sentinel-5P satellite. A first intercomparison indicates some problems with dense smoke clouds frequently covering these countries in the winter months. However, it turned out that the Nikola Tesla flight is to some extent suited for a TROPOMI-SO2 validation, since it was obtained during cloud-free conditions with a well-defined vertical extension of the probed SO2 plume (needed to estimate the Vertical Column Density, VCD, measured by the satellite). In addition, these airborne measurements accompanied by model simulations can be used to determine the SO2 emission strength of the power plants and to compare it to the source strength reported by the power plant operators. The results indicate a reasonable agreement between the airborne measurements, model results, emission inventories, and satellite measurements for the Nikola Tesla power plants.

The level of radio frequency radiation is followed by the growth of the new telecommunication technologies and the needs of the user. In order to prevent increasing of exposure over doses of electromagnetic radiation permitted for the general population, it requires to planing the construction of antenna systems and examine the living as well as working environment in their surroundings. City zones are potentially the most vulnerable on the exposure to high-frequency non-ionizing radiation, described below with examples of sensitive locations in Banja Luka such as the vicinity of schools, kindergartens and the hospital center. Review of data and their analysis in order to determine environment contamination level in the Republic of Srpska with non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation is the primary goal of this study. The measurement methods and theoretical assessment tools used for detection and prediction of these physical pollutants, which tend to grow permanently due to lifestyle, are also presented.

The problem of air pollution has been a challenge for modern humanity in recent times. The environment, including the air, is burdened by a large amount of pollutants that are released into the environment. The atmosphere contains primary and secondary pollutants, emitted as basic or specific pollutants. Air pollution is present in industrial areas and larger cities, with the fact that there are no areas without any impact of air pollution. Air pollution is also present in the Republic of Srpska, as is the case in other areas. Areas of increased pollution in Republic of Srpska, with high concentrations of pollution, can further worsen the impact on the population and lead to unwanted health effects.

Water is a unique and irreplaceable natural resource of limited quantities and uneven spatial and temporal distribution. All life forms and all human activities are more or less related to water, clearly showing the importance of the relationship with water. It is a necessary resource in households as drinking water, washing and food preparation, in agriculture for irrigation, and in industry it plays an important role in almost all industrial processes. Economic development and urbanization lead, on the one hand, to a large increase in water demand, and on the other hand to the threat to water resources and the aquatic environment. Water can thus become a limiting factor in development, a threat to human health and the sustainability of natural ecosystems. Until recently, there was a centuriesold illusion of water inexhaustibility, and the concept of minimum investments for the purification of used water and water protection in general appeared. Much of the water used is not purified before it is discharged into watercourses and thus pollutes the water mass and reduces the resources of drinking water. Providing enough drinking water is one of the world's most important issues today. Therefore, it is especially important for every society to balance these relations and devise policies and strategies for the regulation, exploitation and protection of water resources.