Studies assessing the dynamics and duration of antibody responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection or vaccination are an invaluable tool for vaccination schedule planning, assessment of risk groups and management of pandemics. In this study, we developed and employed ELISA assays to analyze the humoral responses to Nucleocapsid and Spike proteins in vaccinated health-care workers (HCW) and critically ill COVID-19 patients. Sera of more than 1000 HCWs and critically ill patients from the Clinical Hospital Center Rijeka were tested across a one-year period, encompassing the spread of major SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern (VOCs). We observed 97% of seroconversion in HCW cohort as well as sustained anti-Spike antibody response in vaccinees for more than 6 months. In contrast, the infection-induced anti-Nucleocapsid response was waning significantly in a six-month period. Furthermore, a substantial decrease in vaccinees’ anti-Spike antibodies binding to Spike protein of Omicron VOC was also observed. Critically ill COVID-19 patients had higher levels of anti-Spike and anti-Nucleocapsid antibodies compared to HCWs. No significant differences in anti-Spike and anti-Nucleocapsid antibody levels between the critically ill COVID-19 patients that were on non-invasive oxygen supplementation and those on invasive ventilation support were observed. However, stronger anti-Spike, but not anti-Nucleocapsid, antibody response correlated with a better disease outcome in the cohort of patients on invasive ventilation support. Altogether, our results contribute to the growing pool of data on humoral responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccination.

Since the appearance of the novel coronavirus disease of 2019—COVID-19, various therapeutic approaches were attempted, with complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) taking an important place. The aim of this study was to investigate the use of CAM with the purpose of prevention or treatment of COVID-19 during the pandemics. A prospective, cross-sectional study, in the form of an on-line survey was conducted. A total of 1704 responses were collected. Among the respondents, 2.76% declared currently and 22.12% previously having COVID-19. Approximately one quarter of interviewees (23.24%) declared themselves as phytotherapy users. The most frequently used medicinal plants were garlic, ginger and chamomile. The majority of respondents stated that they expected positive effects on immune and respiratory system. Medicinal plants were frequently used, on a daily basis. The main sources of information for applied self-medication were populistic thematic literature, followed by the Internet. Approximately one-third of phytotherapy users (35.25%) consulted with a medical professional before the application of phytotherapy. Regarding dietotherapy, 41.14% of respondents reported using non-herbal dietary supplements, while only 7.16% reported specific diet. The presented results suggest that CAM is recognized and readily used as a potential alternative and complementary regimen in the fight against COVID-19.

The aim of this study was to explore diplopia as a symptom of undetected COVID-19 infection or as a possible side effect of COVID-19 vaccination. We examined 380 patients with diplopia admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology of the University Hospital Centre Sestre milosrdnice in Zagreb, Croatia, from July 2020 to June 2022. After excluding patients with confirmed organic underlying diplopia causes or monocular diplopia, we linked the patient information with the national COVID-19 and vaccination registries. Among the 91 patients included in this study, previously undetected COVID-19 infection as the possible cause of diplopia was confirmed in five of them (5.5%). An additional nine patients (9.9%) were vaccinated within one month from the onset of their symptoms, while the remaining 77 had neither and were therefore considered as controls. The breakdown according to the mechanism of diplopia showed no substantial difference between the vaccinated patients and the controls. We detected marginally insignificant excess abducens nerve affection in the COVID-positive group compared with that in the controls (p = 0.051). Post-vaccination diplopia was equally common in patients who received vector-based or RNA-based vaccines (21.4 vs. 16.7%; p = 0.694). COVID-19 testing should be performed for all cases of otherwise unexplained diplopia. The risk of post-vaccination diplopia was similar in both types of vaccines administered, suggesting a lack of evidence linking specific vaccine types to diplopia.

In this work we introduce the concept and method of so-called cooperative solar generation forecasting, where geographically close data sources are utilized in order to improve forecasting accuracy. We devised and examined various largescale one-hour-ahead artificial neural networks based solar generation forecasting scenarios to prove the benefits of cooperation. The introduced cooperative solar generation forecasting method showed significant improvement in forecasting accuracy, especially when combined with previous generation data, where a root mean square error reduction of at least 50% could be achieved in the majority of cases. We believe these results point to a scientific and economical benefit of international cooperation in solar generation forecasting.

Concrete structures, such as bridges or viaducts, play an important role in global road infrastructure. These types of structures are relatively expensive to build and they are susceptible to outer external influences, which in time deteriorate and lead to the reduction of their structural resistance. To reduce this effect, regular inspection is needed, which is often done manually by using specialized equipment to reach certain parts of bridges and viaducts. This process is both expensive and dangerous for the inspectors to conduct. Within the research project ASAP (Autonomous System for Assessment and Prediction of Infrastructure Integrity) in order to overcome these challenges, we have developed a prototype of a wall-climbing robot (WCR) for nondestructive testing (NDT). In this paper, different iterations of the developed WCR prototypes are presented. In four consecutive prototype designs, we have evaluated and upgraded the adhesion and locomotion system. Finally, a fifth prototype that carries the NDT equipment is presented. The final version of the WCR is equipped with robust and flexible adhesion that enables the robot to adhere to different types of surfaces. We have also addressed the challenges of integrating NDT equipment into the robot. To successfully conduct an inspection, besides the WCR, a safety system, control, and power systems are needed, which are further presented and discussed.

abstract:Population genetic studies have shown that the Bosnian-Herzegovinian (B&H) population is a part of the European gene pool, but there has been limited information on the genetic structure of ancient B&H populations. This study aimed to determine the frequency and distribution of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups for a medieval Bosnian population. Thirty-four samples, excavated from medieval necropolises located within the borders of medieval Bosnia, were analyzed. Sequencing of the mtDNA hypervariable segment 1 (HVS1) region and RFLP analysis were performed for haplogroup determination. All 32 samples were identified as haplogroup H, with subhaplogroups H2a and H5 in 30 and 2 samples, respectively. The frequency of the H haplogroup was significantly different between the studied samples and previous studies of contemporary B&H populations, where the H haplogroup frequency was approximately half that of the ancient population studied here. A significant difference in H haplogroup frequency compared with other medieval populations outside of Bosnia was also observed: the ancient B&H population is most similar to ancient Italians. These results provide insight into the mitochondrial landscape of populations that inhabited the territory of present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Middle Ages. Our study reveals that inhabitants of medieval Bosnia carried genetic lineages that exist today in B&H populations, suggesting continuity of mtDNA haplogroups over a long period of time, regardless of various historical demographic events that shaped the genetic structure of the modern B&H population.

Background: Medical professionals (doctors and other medical staff) in the field of healthcare everyday must make calculated decisions which have important consequences, impacting patients on the individual level, local (community), national or global level. Healthcare professionals must at times make these choices with limited information, resources, and knowledge, and yet is is expected that these decisions are highly calculated and accurate. It is important to familiarise oneself with the exact definitions regarding medical decision making. Objective: The aim of this study was to describe application of the most important rules to help decision makers to be good or excellent decision makers in medical practice at every level of health care system. Methods: The author used descriptive method of explanation teoretical and practical issues regarding application of od decision making processes in the praxis, based on searchied scientific literature about this topic deposited in online databases. Results and Discussion: The author of this paper discussed about important topics: a) the importance of medical decision in emergency situations; b) the varies of decision making with solving problems by medical professionals; c) the limitations when it comes to medical decison making; and d) what doctors need to follow regarding decision making in the praxis. Two factors that have influenced to the decision process: a) degree of uncertainty about future events; b) usefulness of outcomes in any particular case. The clinical decision problem analysis process demands: a) explicit formalization of a decision making problem or the description of the medical problem decision with a registration of all possible actions which have to be undertaken and registration of all the possible so determined outcomes. b) construction of the decision tree which presents all described actions and outcomes with predictions of the probabilities and the choice of the most optimal action based on the probability outcome and its use. Doing this allows us to delve deeper into more intricate options present within medical decision making. Simple put, a decision is a choice between two options. The person or entity conducting that decision is the decision maker. The exact definition is “Under the decision should imply some specific action which is selected from several variables or which satisfies the expectation that is previously set”.Many different factors and individuals may be involved in medical decision making, with varying consequences, according to different players and settings. Conclusion: A vital component of medical decision making is evaluation. Decision makers must concisely evaluate situations, in order to make better choices. For example, when examining a health care system, their decisions should consider the following questions, such as, what is the health status of the given population? What economic resources are at the disposal of our patients, and government? How effective is the current healthcare model that is already in place? Does the existing social system pay enough attention to the healthcare protection? Does the organisation structure of the healthcare system satisfy? Are the existing practice and the healthcare technologies secure, effective, and suitable? Are the planning, programming, determination and the choice of priority the adequate to the needs of people? How are the monitoring and evaluation of healthcare system quality organised? These are a few examples of evaluation in medical decision making.

We investigated the production conditions and optoelectrical properties of thin film material consisting of regularly ordered core/shell Ge/Al and Ge/Si3N4/Al quantum dots (QDs) in an alumina matrix. The materials were produced by self–assembled growth achieved by means of multilayer magnetron sputtering deposition. We demonstrated the successful fabrication of well-ordered 3D lattices of Ge/Al and Ge/Si3N4/Al core/shell quantum dots with a body-centred tetragonal arrangement within the Al2O3 matrix. The addition of shells to the Ge core enables a strong tuning of the optical and electrical properties of the material. An Al shell induces a bandgap shift toward smaller energies, and, in addition, it prevents Ge oxidation. The addition of a thin Si3N4 shell induces huge changes in the material spectral response, i.e., in the number of extracted excitons produced by a single photon. It increases both the absolute value and the width of the spectral response. For the best sample, we achieved an enhancement of over 250% of the produced number of excitons in the measured energy range. The observed changes are, as it seems, the consequence of the large tensile strain in Ge QDs which is induced by the Si3N4 shell addition and which is measured to be about 3% for the most strained QDs. The tensile strain causes activation of the direct bandgap of germanium, which has a very strong effect on the spectral response of the material.

This paper considers second-order statistics of non-stationary channels with arbitrary mobile antenna motion, by relaxing the constant velocity assumption inherent to stationary channel models. By assuming obstructed Line-of-Sight and horizontal signal propagation, analytical expressions for the Level-Crossing Rate (LCR) and Average Fade Duration are derived for non-isotropic scattering scenarios with Von Mises Distribution of angles of arrival. To demonstrate the non-stationary effects arising from non-linear motion, the obtained expressions are employed to investigate an off-body communications scenario with the user walking and the wearable antennas placed on the torso, wrist and lower leg. While the torso antenna yields an essentially stationary channel, for the latter two antenna locations the fading dynamics change periodically over the walking cycle. Two distinct phases with faster and slower signal variations are observed, with the former yielding 4.64 times higher LCR for the lower leg antenna.

Abstract Background falls and fall-related injuries are common in older adults, have negative effects on functional independence and quality of life and are associated with increased morbidity, mortality and health related costs. Current guidelines are inconsistent, with no up-to-date, globally applicable ones present. Objectives to create a set of evidence- and expert consensus-based falls prevention and management recommendations applicable to older adults for use by healthcare and other professionals that consider: (i) a person-centred approach that includes the perspectives of older adults with lived experience, caregivers and other stakeholders; (ii) gaps in previous guidelines; (iii) recent developments in e-health and (iv) implementation across locations with limited access to resources such as low- and middle-income countries. Methods a steering committee and a worldwide multidisciplinary group of experts and stakeholders, including older adults, were assembled. Geriatrics and gerontological societies were represented. Using a modified Delphi process, recommendations from 11 topic-specific working groups (WGs), 10 ad-hoc WGs and a WG dealing with the perspectives of older adults were reviewed and refined. The final recommendations were determined by voting. Recommendations all older adults should be advised on falls prevention and physical activity. Opportunistic case finding for falls risk is recommended for community-dwelling older adults. Those considered at high risk should be offered a comprehensive multifactorial falls risk assessment with a view to co-design and implement personalised multidomain interventions. Other recommendations cover details of assessment and intervention components and combinations, and recommendations for specific settings and populations. Conclusions the core set of recommendations provided will require flexible implementation strategies that consider both local context and resources.

OBJECTIVE To examine the influence of vehicles on the stability of extemporaneous suspensions of proton pump inhibitors (PPIs), to single out the formulation most suitable for children, providing appropriate evidence and arguments. METHODS A review was performed of data identified from Medline, Embase, Science Direct, as well as public digital archive PubMed, including reference texts, related to the field of stability testing of extemporaneous PPI suspensions. RESULTS Fourteen selected formulations of extemporaneous suspensions are presented and discussed. Depending on the vehicle and its composition, which was analyzed and explained in detail, the suspensions had various beyond-use dates (BUDs). CONCLUSIONS Selected vehicles and the process of preparation had great influence on the stability of extemporaneous PPI suspensions. The suspension with the longest BUD has been singled out, which is especially suitable for use in newborns. Because an explanation is provided for the influence of individual vehicle components on the stability of the mentioned suspensions, this can aid not only in the selection of an adequate formulation, but also in the development of new ones, which will be suited to individual patients.